We are just a group of retired spooks that discuss things that you’ll not find anywhere else. It makes us unique. Take a look around. Learn a thing or two.
After I was retired, I was compelled by law to live next to relatives. Since my mother died, and my brothers and sisters were all off being with their own careers and families, I ended up living near my father.
I lived in Erie, PA. And during this period of time, I was in a “half way house”, a Monastery, and in a rehabilitation program. For the most part, I lived in the (affordable) “bad section” of town. While my father lived in the the nicer side of town. I lived on the “East Side”, while he lived on the “West side”.
He lived with my step mother, and she hated me. Well, nothing personal. She hated me and my brother both equally. ANd she was nasty to us. SO understand that there is not calm waters in this relationship.
But anyways, here’s a story.
It’s about my dad.
Now he is in his late 70’s. Retired. And living with his wife (who hated me). I would say hi and talk to him from time to time when he drove over to my house. If I came to his house, she would make a real fuss, so I did it only occasionally.
Well it came to pass that his little dog “Zenie” died.
He was a fine little terrier. And he lived to the ripe old age of 16. Which was, after all, quite a long life for a doggie.
Well…
About four months after their doggie died, his wife was talking with another woman at church. There was another dog that they could “babysit”.
So, here’s the scoop…
Single woman. She has a high-level career that involves long periods of travel. She is not married. has no children. Instead, has a dog. But is never at home. SO she left the dog alone at the house.
It’s now five years old.
Never housebroken.
So my dad’s wife gets the dog, and as affectionate as it was, it was just crapping and peeing all over the house. Everywhere. And since it was forever an inside dog, they didn’t dare let it live in the yard.
So…
One day, I come to visit my father.
I come into the house and am assaulted by this putrid odor of dog shit. This stink. It was foul, and on the floor, and on the furniture were these absorbent white piss-pads. The dog was amok, and my father’s wife insisted that everything was “fine”.
No it wasn’t.
She was crazy.
It was NOT NOT NOT fine, and my 70 something father was not able to cope and handle it.
So, anyways, I went out with him and we had a breakfast together. Ah, it was 4pm, but you know it’s a thing. We talked and I said…
It’s my dad’s life.
But he had to live with his wife and make allowances.
However, this dog was not housebroken
And because it wasn’t housebroken, it could not live with them inside. It had to go outside.
So he had to make a choice; dog stays but lives outside or dog leaves.
I explained that this was not an emotional thing, or that it will change. That it was a health and sanitary issue, and given their (father and wife) ages, that this could cause negative health issues. That he had to do something.
Ah.
He kicked the dog out.
84fda3269900bd737ad45f67e11e1ae2
And his wife refused to talk to me for a year afterwards.
Sometimes I feel that I am the most hated man on the planet. But seriously. There is a REASON why dogs and cats are housebroken. This REASON must be addressed.
And people are often too clouded in their emotions to such a degree that they refuse to see the black and white of an issue.
The health of the people who live in the home.
Today…
What was the strangest thing you discovered when you moved into a new home?
I had moved into a new rental with a couple of roommates, I was in my 20s. The house had a big backyard, but it was choked with weeds and Blackberry vines. I was determined to claim this space, so I borrowed a shovel and an axe and went at it! Being a small person, I ran out of steam pretty fast. Anyone who has tried to hack down 8ft tall blackberry vines can imagine my pain. Many scrapes and blisters later, after about a week, I had made modest progress.
The entire yard area was about 15ft square, I cleared about 10ft square and gave up. Not only were the weeds stronger than me, but the soil was mostly rocks, so planting a garden was looking pretty bleak. I kinda gave up. The spring was coming and we got a lot of rain, it became a mud pit and I thought maybe it would soften the clay and rock enough for me to sow some wildflowers before the weeds made a comeback.
Of course I got distracted and after a few weeks of mild spring sun I went back to it and looked around…PINK TULIPS were everywhere! A huge carpet of them! I wish I had a camera back then. They made me so happy and I could imagine them being planted years ago only to be choked by the aggressive vines. I felt like a hero and I continued to clear the space. Eventually I was able to see the long buried flower beds beneath the rubble. I made raised beds in one corner and was able to grow some herbs and veggies.
The tulips were a sign every spring that it was time to get growing! I hope whoever came after me to that space continued to be blessed by their presence.
Cajun Catfish with Honey Dijon Bacon Potato Salad
Fried catfish paired with a delicious Honey Dijon Bacon Potato Salad…yummy!
cajun catfish honey dijon
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
Honey Dijon Bacon Potato Salad
5 cups baby Yukon gold potatoes, cooked and quartered
1 medium red onion, diced
1 1/2 cups celery, diced
1 cup bacon, cooked, drained and chopped
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Creole mustard
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
Cajun Catfish
4 U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish Fillets
1/2 cup fish breading
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1 1/2 to 2 cups frying oil
Instructions
Potato Salad
Combine all ingredients and mix well.
Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and hot sauce. Cover and refrigerate.
Cajun Catfish
Combine fish breading and Creole seasoning in shallow bowl. Coat catfish in breading, lightly shaking off any excess.
In a large skillet, heat oil over high heat. Fry catfish until golden brown, approximately 3 minutes per side.
Place on paper towel to drain.
Serve immediately with Honey Dijon Bacon Potato Salad.
Karen tries her American rights in Africa
Both India and China have over 1 billion people so why does China look clean and modern and India looks dirty and behind in the times?
I am Chinese, 44 years old this year. My childhood spanned the entire 1980s and 1990s. When it comes to maintaining cleanliness, this question brings back some memories of a “dirty and chaotic China.”
The first memory is a small detail. In any indoor place in China today, whether it’s a restaurant, hotel, or home, every room will have a plastic trash can. There will be a plastic bag lining the trash can to make it easy to remove the garbage. They usually look like this:
main qimg 5765a971b5b4adf720cffccf943b40f3
However, these things were not part of my childhood memories. In other words, decades ago in China, there were no such trash cans. So, how did people throw away garbage in rooms back then? My memory is that people either put the trash in a shared outdoor trash can or threw it on the ground inside the room. Once the trash on the ground accumulated enough, they would then throw it into the large outdoor trash can.
Moreover, there is an evolving version of this small detail: I remember when I just got married in 2005, the plastic bags used to line trash cans were the ones from the vegetable markets. People collected these plastic bags after buying vegetables and used them in their trash cans. No one would buy plastic bags specifically for trash cans.
But today, various types and sizes of trash bags are essential in every Chinese household. The most popular ones are the trash bags that, when full, have two drawstrings on the sides that can be pulled to close the bag. This way, you can lift the heavy trash without worrying about it spilling:
main qimg 5d63556372e5b87b39ec364c32eae931
My second memory is about littering. I remember when I was in elementary school, around 1992. My mother took me to a newly built park. As we walked, I was eating peanuts and casually throwing the shells on the ground.
A sanitation worker stopped me, but my mother argued with her because she didn’t see a problem with throwing peanut shells on the grass. We thought that even if we didn’t litter, the wind would blow leaves onto the grass. Prohibiting littering was a common slogan on radio, newspapers, and television in China at that time. It’s important to note that because people didn’t care about environmental cleanliness, the government used all mass media to educate the public.
This situation didn’t significantly improve even by the late 1990s. In 2000, a Chinese TV station released a popular crime drama called “The Struggle Between Black and White,” which depicted the solving of a dismemberment case. The most intriguing aspect of this series was that it featured almost no professional actors! Nearly all the key roles were played by ordinary people, and all the police officers and detectives were the actual officers who solved the case.
Since this drama was released in 2000, it reflected the urban landscape of China at that time. The city in the show had a fictional name, “Beihuan City,” but everyone who watched it could recognize it as Xi’an, the city with the Terracotta Army. You could see paper scraps, plastic bags, and other trash flying along the main roads of the city.
In today’s China, littering is unthinkable. If someone throws a piece of waste paper on a commercial street, people will consider them uncivilized. Within minutes, a sanitation worker will pick it up and throw it into a trash can. A few years ago, a moving car threw a pile of shredded paper out the window. A highway cleaner witnessed this and recorded it on his phone, uploading it online, which sparked public outrage. Eventually, the police used roadside cameras to identify the offender, fined him, and demanded a public apology.
My child was born in 2010. If he generates trash while playing outside and can’t find a trash can, he will keep the trash with him until he gets home to throw it away. Once, he had a runny nose and spent an afternoon playing in the community park. When he returned home, all four of his pockets were filled with used tissues. I asked him why he didn’t throw them in the park’s trash cans, and he replied that the park was under renovation and the trash cans were temporarily unavailable.
My third memory is about vegetable markets. Up until 2005, going to an open-air farmers’ market was a challenge. You had to walk on rotting vegetable leaves, wade through the waterlogged seafood section, and endure the nauseating smell of the poultry area just to buy ingredients. In the past decade or so, such farmers’ markets have almost disappeared in China. They have been transformed into tall, specialized buildings, with floor-cleaning machines constantly sweeping the floors, and water flowing through specially designed hidden pipes into the city’s sewage system. Today, farmers’ markets are almost indistinguishable from supermarkets, equipped with elevators, central air conditioning, ventilation systems, Wi-Fi, and each shop having its own independent water supply system.
This is what the farmers’ markets used to be like:
main qimg 8a6d7e2282e09bb17f4db0a98118f782
This is what farmers’ markets are like today:
main qimg 430999e217f4b137f1f35b2e6a8046ce
My fourth memory is about public restrooms. The relationship between Chinese people and public restrooms could fill an entire book, as there are many legendary stories. When I was a child, public restrooms did not have flushing systems. Everyone, regardless of gender, had to squat over two concrete slabs. If you weren’t careful, you might splash yourself.
Workers would clean the waste once a day. In the summer, Chinese public restrooms would become an unforgettable experience for anyone. In 2006, I bought a book called “Foreigners’ Views on China.” Some foreigners’ most painful memories of China at that time were about “using public restrooms.”
Today’s public restrooms in China are quite a different story. Over the years, as I’ve traveled across the country with my family, we’ve encountered all sorts of interesting restrooms. Some restrooms have real-time status systems that show which stalls are occupied. Some provide tissues via QR code scanning. There are even restrooms equipped with sofas and coffee tables for people to wait comfortably. A significant number of public restrooms have “family toilets” designed for family members assisting elderly or young children.
This summer, we traveled to Qinghai Province in northwest China. The G310 national highway winds through the desolate mountains of Gansu Province for over 100 kilometers. Sometimes, we didn’t see another car for half an hour, and I had to make twelve consecutive turns to find a 500-meter straight stretch of road. This area is known for the Qinling Mountains. One afternoon, we stopped at a roadside public restroom in the middle of nowhere, not even near a village. Surprisingly, it was a well-appointed restroom, equipped with large mirrors, washbasins, stainless steel faucets, and running water. Though I’m not sure if it was tap water or spring water, in the 37°C heat that day, the water felt ice-cold on my hands. The restroom had four rooms: men’s, women’s, a “handicapped toilet,” and a “management room.” It had a functional flushing system, clean tile floors, intact stalls, and a working ventilation system.
So, if I were to explain why China is a clean country today, I would summarize based on my experiences: First, extensive and improved infrastructure means people don’t need to dirty the environment to use the restroom or buy groceries. Second, trash cans, including recycling bins, are everywhere in cities and towns, so people don’t have to search for them. Third, if everything is clean, people are less likely to litter out of embarrassment. In conclusion, China is becoming an increasingly clean and orderly country.
This is what public restrooms in China are like today:
As Pennsylvania’s polls near closing, an unexpected twist has emerged: a massive mobilization of Amish voters. Known for their separation from mainstream society and reliance on traditional values, such as horse-and-buggy transportation (arguably more ‘green’ than EVs), these folks, traditionally not big participators in US politics, have been out in force at PA polling stations, voting for former President Trump after Biden-Harris’ big gov’t waged war on the community.
Let’s begin with the context. Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and big government Democrats targeted a small Amish farmer in Lancaster over compliance issues. This apparently infuriated the Amish community that many of them registered to vote and voted red in the last several days.
Real America’s Voice’s Tera Dahl was speaking at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, and she explained that the Amish community is not a traditional group of voters in US elections.
“But they’re voting this year – and I think a big reason is the overreach of government – and one example that could’ve had a big impact was back in January. An Amish farmer was selling his milk – and the gov’t raided his home and stopped his business,” she said.
An Amish person was asked outside one PA polling station: “Who are you voting for?”
He responded, “Donald Trump.” He explained that the Amish had “more freedoms under Trump,” while government overreach drastically increased under Biden-Harris.
US Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., whose district includes Lancaster County, at the epicenter of America’s Amish population, told PBS News last week, “They just want government to stay not only out of their businesses but out of their religion.”
With family roots deep in the Amish community, Smucker forecasted a dramatic increase in the Amish vote, “basing that on the enthusiasm we see.”
There are currently 92,000 Amish in PA. It’s going to be a tight race, and these votes could make all the difference.
Brave kid HORRIFIES his teachers by reading their own woke garbage, then his dad shows up…
The explosion blasted a million obols worth of cometary material into the oblivion of space, a disaster even without their ship being parked at ground zero, but what really rattled Jacey Komarov was the destruction of her entire set of Space Kitchen Deluxe™ radiant cookware, which had been safely stowed on board. She’d bought the set on Callisto twenty-three years before and cared for it like a child ever since. To her, it was more precious than platinum. You couldn’t find gear like that here in the Oort Territories. Standing beside her in his hideous olive green pressure suit, staring up at a black sky liberally sprayed with stars and glittering chunks of comet ice spinning into the void, Arne Slocum seemed hardly to notice. His reaction to the cataclysm was typically juvenile: “Whoa! That was awesome!” Okay, he actually was nearly juvenile: a short, skinny seventeen-year-old with wide, brown eyes and wiry hair that Komarov figured would be ideal for scrubbing out pots and pans. Not her good Space Kitchen Deluxe™ pots and pans, since they were self-cleaning, or had been before their untimely deaths, but she could definitely see grabbing him by the boots, holding him upside down over a filthy pan, and having at it with his skull. Since she no longer had a pan, filthy or otherwise, she slugged his shoulder instead. “Idiot! Look what you did!” He bounced a few feet in the feeble gravity before replying, “I’m looking.” Then he stopped looking and fiddled with the portable extractor cradled in his arms. Its sleek, silver body, massive orange trigger, and flared red muzzle suggested it was a device for killing Tyrannosaurs rather than mining comets. He flipped open a panel on its back and poked a skinny, gloved finger at the circuitry within. “I didn’t think I’d coax that much power from her.” “Stop tinkering! We’re here to collect samples, not vaporize the place from under our own feet. All my stuff is gone!” Slocum scratched what would have been his nose if there hadn’t been a helmet in the way. “You’re not hurt, are you?” He gave her a not entirely medical examination. “Put those eyes back where they belong,” Komarov growled. She turned away from the havoc he’d wreaked. Before her, a jumbled surface of loosely-packed ice and black rock stretched to the horizon, where it melded seamlessly with the onyx sky. Nothing special, really. Every chunck of frozen primordial soup looked the same. This was the Oort Territories, a realm so distant the sun was just a bright star, a place where day was night and night was more night. People came here to strike it rich mining the hydrogen and organics that made corporate executives filthy rich, but somehow only the filthy rich ever got richer, while people like Komarov, scratching out a living employed to a third-rate mining outfit, shambled through shackled to people like Slocum. “Where’s the ship?” Slocum asked. Quick study you are, she groused. “You blew it up along with everything else, including my most prized possessions.” She spread her arms in frustration. “The comet? Fine. The ship? If you absolutely must. But my entire kitchen? Blow yourself up instead!” Slocum’s eyes did a fair impression of a faulty LED flickering between life and death. “I blew up the ship?” “I’m going away now,” Komarov said. “Enjoy the rest of your short life.” She started walking . . . stomping, really . . . okay, bouncing across the frozen wasteland, her weighted boots the only thing keeping her from launching into space. She felt rather than heard the crunch of frozen organics under her feet, smelled nothing but the synthetic cleanliness of recirculated air, saw only glitters in the dark. She didn’t know where she was going, but it didn’t matter. There was nowhere to go but away from Arne Slocum. She’d probably end up back where she started, either from aimless wandering or circumnavigation of the tiny globe, but she didn’t care so long as he wasn’t there when she arrived. Unfortunately, they were still in communications range. “There’s nothing out there.” he said. “Exactly.” “But we don’t have a ship.” “No kidding.” “How do we get home?” If she could put the horizon between them, she wouldn’t have to listen. “Jacey?” The comet wasn’t that big. It shouldn’t take long. “You’re the senior. You’re supposed to deal with situations like this.” “Be very glad you’re not standing behind me,” Komarov grumbled. “Why?” “Because I’d strangle you!” “Oh. Er. Actually . . .” Engulfed by rage, she spun about. The motion would have thrown her headlong across the icefield had not Slocum been a meter back. They collided and fell in slow motion, a tangle of arms and legs and portable extractor. Its bluish beam flashed by Komarov’s head into space where it would either harmlessly dissipate or by freak accident destroy something vital to somebody’s survival. Slocum grunted. “You’re…” His faceplate was pressed against hers and his breathing labored, as though she was squashing him flat, although she couldn’t be, not in this gravity. “…all red.” “You think?” She pushed herself up and dusted off her suit. Motes of ice and organics sparkled into the vacuum. Breathing deliberately and summoning every gram of professionalism left in her roiling brain, she let him pick himself up rather than flinging him across the cosmos. “Maybe you should engage the safety.” “I disabled it.” Mayhem flooded her eyes. “Why?” “Convenience.” She had a vision of approaching him, arms outstretched, grasping fingers encircling his neck, squeezing long and slow and hard until his head popped off. He didn’t share her vision or maybe even notice it. “How do we get home?” “We?” He bounced back up a step, so maybe he had noticed, after all. “I assume you’ve studied the procedures.” “Didn’t have time. I was working on, on, on, this.” He raised the extractor as though offering it to her. Tempting though it was, she didn’t take it. “Before people are dropped on a new target, an emergency package is soft-landed. If the crew becomes stranded, they can activate a distress call. They’ll also find basic tools and provisions.” “Oh. That’s good.” Slocum looked so pleased, he might have designed the package himself. “Where is it?” Komarov pointed. “On the edge of the blast zone.” Slocum fiddled with the extractor some more, as thought that might make all disintegrated things undisintegrate. It didn’t. He looked contrite enough, though, so Komarov set course for whatever remained of the emergency package and motioned him to follow. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at a massive crater whose edges and walls had a glassy look. The blast had melted the ice, which refroze as it flowed downhill. She amused herself with the thought of Slocum sliding down the slope, unable to arrest his fall, swooping through the bottom and up the other side until gravity slowed him and pulled him back down, up, down, up, down, over and over, amplitude gradually decreasing, until he came to rest at the bottom and couldn’t climb out again. Sweet justice. “Is that it?” Slocum asked. Not three meters beyond the edge of the crater, a massive black box squatted on the ice, a glowing green button planted in its side. They approached and studied it. Miraculously, it didn’t look damaged. “That’s it,” Komarov decided. She pushed the button, and the box blossomed like a flower, petals opening to reveal more controls, panels, doors, and a big red button marked, “For emergency use only.” That seemed redundant. The whole thing was for emergency use. Slocum held his breath while the box revealed its secrets, then let out a sigh. “You can say that again,” Komarov told him. “You’re damn lucky you didn’t take this out, too.” More contrition was called for. He fiddled with the extractor one more time. She pushed the red button. A control lit up, informing them the distress beacon was active. “You know,” Slocum said, shifting the device in his arms. “I honestly didn’t think I’d coax that much power from . . . “ Something his finger touched when click. The brilliant bluish beam flashed, vaporized the emergency package, and raced over the horizon into space. Komarov screamed. Fortunately for her, enough distress call had transmitted that two hours later a rescue team arrived. Fortunately for Slocum, low-gravity running is trickier than it looks, and they got there before Komarov caught him.
The incredible power of spiritual protection of your cat in 13 signs
What was the strangest battle in Roman history?
the Battle of the Caudine Forks in 321 BC. This one isn’t just strange, it’s downright embarrassing.
The Romans were fighting the Samnites, a tough group from south-central Italy.
Confident as ever, the Roman consuls led their troops into a narrow mountain pass called the Caudine Forks, thinking they’d catch the Samnites off guard. Instead, they walked right into a trap.
main qimg eaf74d224227b3d2eb9077ae1e6aaa7c
The Samnites had blocked both ends of the pass, and the Romans were stuck like a mouse in a cheese factory.
Now, here’s where it gets really strange.
Instead of slaughtering the trapped Roman army, the Samnite leader, Gaius Pontius, decided to go for maximum humiliation. He forced the Roman soldiers to pass under a yoke, essentially a wooden beam, symbolizing their defeat and subjugation.
They had to stoop low and shuffle under this makeshift arch of shame, completely unarmed and defenseless.
The defeated consuls were forced to sign a peace treaty, but the Senate back in Rome refused to honor it, claiming the consuls had no authority to agree to such terms under duress.
one of the consuls, Spurius Postumius Albinus, actually proposed that he and his fellow commanders be handed over to the Samnites in chains as a sort of “sorry about that whole breaking the treaty thing.” The Samnites, showing a level of honor in this bizarre situation, refused and sent them back.
Pretty weird.
Have you ever cold emailed the CEO of a big company?
Originally Answered: Corporations: Have you ever cold emailed the CEO of a big company?
I did – sort of. When I was fresh out of university and young and innocent (well, kind of…), I joined a programme run by a large Swiss bank for graduates. When they hired me, the recruiter told me explicitly that my salary during training is just a training salary, and once I pass the training programme after a year and start as a regular employee, then my salary will roughly double, as that is a regular starting employee (graduate level) salary.
I did the programme and passed, and then went to work at the bank as a regular employee. My first monthly salary, though, was about 2% higher than what I had been earning while on the programme. So I called up HR and explained the situation, assuming there must have been a mistake. I ended up talking to the same recruiter, who laughed at me, called me a sucker and told me to go complain to the CEO.
So I did. I wrote him a very polite letter, explaining that I was terribly embarrassed to be bothering him with such a little thing, but I was told to contact him by this recruiting guy to sort out this misunderstanding. The CEO actually (and to his credit) called me that same afternoon and he had obviously looked me up and found that I was a complete nobody. But he kept it very short and to the point, basically saying that the corporate philosophy of the bank he was in charge of was very, very important and if that was what had been promised me, then that was what I would get. He then said that I should make an appointment with the head of HR and explain the situation to her. It got sorted out after a chat with the head of HR, who asked if I was happy in my job. I admitted that I didn’t find it terribly challenging, but I understood that you need to gather experience before moving on to more interesting jobs. She asked me about my background and the kind of things I have worked on in the past and asked if I would like to move to a rather more interesting job. Young as I was, I said “sure” without even knowing what it was. That same day I was transferred away from my boring job and started running a special projects team, reporting directly to… yep, the CEO. For quite a bit more than double the trainee salary. It was an… interesting decade.
Oh – I found out later that the recruiter got fired. I wasn’t exactly sad to see him go, but that hadn’t been my intention, and I felt bad about it.
Turned out okay for me…
CHINA is INSANE! (First Day in Shanghai)
How significant is Southeast Asia as a potential market for Comac’s C919 compared to other regions?
The c919 is optimized for regional service. Its entry into SEA will begin with Chinese airlines operating flights between SEA and China, provided the countries accept the type and airworthiness certification of the CAAC.
Since all 3 narrow bodies (a320, b737, c919) use the same leap family of engines, nothing much separate them in terms of operational efficiency, although the c919, being the more modern airframe, is a little lighter, and optimized for cargo duty.
Where the Chinese can be competitive is delivery time lines, cost and the speed of iteration. We will see the gradual indigenization of key components from engines to avionics, as comac develops superclusters of aviation suppliers.
SEA is 650m today, the same size as Europe. Reaching Europe’s level of connectivity will require plenty more planes, which the c919 is well positioned to serve.
But that’s in the future. The c919 order book will take the next decade to clear, and this will be a good time for the model to build a safety record, as well as a service network.
Why would Taiwan not be another Ukraine in case China attacks Taiwan?
Bill Chen
Ukraine was shelling Russian majority Donbas for 8 years, killing and maiming thousands. Two treaties signed and witnessed by multiple stakeholders failed to put a stop to the killing.
There was Minsk, and Minsk ii, which as Angela recalled, were deceitful instruments to buy Ukraine time to build up its military.
Now, are the Taiwanese killing mainlanders with heavy arms today? Is the substantial Taiwanese population on the mainland living under discrimination and fear?
There is no enmity between the Chinese, yes, CHINESE on both sides of the straits.
The quarrel all along has been which system should be in charge.
I keep in regular contact with my Taiwanese friends. Despite the intense military drills which has showcased the ability of the mainland to blockade Taiwan, Taiwanese society has not mobilized on a war footing. There is no trepidation for an inevitable war in the foreseeable future, or the urgency to prepare for one.
In fact, SOPs to identify and challenge mainland contacts have been scaled down, because the intensity is just too hot to handle.
Taiwan’s replacement youth will shrink 40% in the coming years. Schools have closed and class size have come down. And yet wages remain depressed even in downtown Taipei.
Is Taiwan in the mood for war?
I figure not.
Now look at the mainland side and the capabilities coming online. There is a queue for university graduates to join the pla, while regular drills mobilizing civilian assets to assist in the war effort occur in the provinces closest to Taiwan. This includes provisions for the evacuation and care for mass casualty, as civilian infrastructure is degraded.
The Chinese are prepared to absorb Gaza level of destruction.
Is it true that Chinese people now have a high standard of living?
Not high standard of living.but I am satisfied with the following aspects of China:
1. Safety: It is extremely safe.
2. The transportation, electricity, internet, and other conveniences are all very reliable.
3. Education and Medical: The quality of Education is high and the cost is low. As long as you have good grades and are willing to learn, being from a poor family is not a big problem.Medical care is similar to education in terms of quality and affordability.
4. Industrial Products: There is a wide variety, and they are inexpensive and high-quality. On platforms like Taobao, you can find almost anything, and orders arrive the next day.
5. Convenience: For example, when buying an air conditioner, installation is free, with only a small fee for transportation, usually around twenty to thirty dollars.
Some people call this exploitation of delivery or installation workers, but that’s not entirely accurate. In another scenario, when workers fall ill, medical care is also cheap and fast, even though doctors need to spend 24 years studying.
6. Food: It is cheap and fresh, especially vegetables and fruits. Beef was a bit expensive before, but this year it has dropped nearly 50%. Some say it’s because Argentina exports a lot of beef to China.
I think this is not entirely good, as I’ve heard that many cattle farmers are suffering significant losses this year. The government should subsidize them.
Most Disappointing Aspects:
Housing Prices and Rent: Especially in big cities. For example, a 120-square-meter house in the suburbs of Beijing might cost around 800,000~900,000 dollars, which is too high given the income levels of Chinese people.
Nearby, there used to be three bookstores and several restaurants, but recently they have all closed. This is because a new subway line is about to be completed, and the landlord, anticipating increased foot traffic, shamelessly raised the rent threefold.
After the negotiations broke down, the merchants had no choice but to close their businesses. The bookstore owner, whom I really liked, said with resignation that during the negotiations, the landlord used the “six-character mantra” —爱租租，不租滚！(If you want renting, rent; if not, Get out!)
I can accept the closure of restaurants, but it s really upsetting to see bookstores closeing.
These 3 bookstores have been a part of my life for 18 years; I used to spend several hours every week browsing these bookstores.
The only consolation is that they also sell online, so I can still buy books from them online.
But I still prefer to go to physical bookstores, flipping through books and deciding whether to buy them.
One of these bookstores has a warehouse not too far from my home—just a 1.5-hour bicycel ride away. I’m still willing to ride my bike there to browse and purchase books.
Exorbitant rent is just too damaging for physical stores
A friend of mine summed it up very well:
In cities like Beijing and Shanghai, if you solve the housing problem, everything else is a small issue. But if you can’t solve the housing problem, every issue becomes a big problem.
Overall, aside from housing prices and rent, especially in big cities, I think things are still pretty good, considering how large the country is and how poor it used to be.
Col. Douglas Macgregor : US Dangerous Foreign Policy
What are some mind-blowing facts about the U.S. military during WW2?
Originally Answered: What are some mind blowing facts about the US military during WW2?
Throughout the war, the U.S. Navy lost 2 battleships, 5 aircraft carriers, 6 escort aircraft carriers, 7 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, 65 destroyers, 52 submarines and a myriad of other ships. However, only one captain – Charles B. McVay of the heavy cruiser Indianapolis – was court-martialed for losing a ship in action against the enemy. If the names sound familiar, it’s most likely because Indianapolis was the ship that carried the atomic bomb “Little Boy” to the U.S. Airforce base at Tinian Island.
main qimg 7953e9e9a82a8f72529fd2e29f96b41d lq
Two days after delivering the bomb, Indianapolis received orders to proceed to Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. Captain Charles B. McVay requested a destroyer escort against Japanese submarines but higher-ups assured him that it would not be necessary because – they said – there was no enemy submarine in the area. Four days later on 30 July 1945, Indianapolis was spotted and torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-58. The U.S. cruiser sank in less than 15 minutes. Some 300 of the total 1,196 sailors went down with the ship, the other 900 – with few lifeboats and life jackets among them – suffered dehydration, exposure, hypernatremia, and shark attacks for nearly 4 days before they were found and rescued on 2 August. By then, only 317 crewmen were alive.
“Higher-ups” should have had better intelligence about enemy activity in the area (In fact, just six days prior to the sinking of the Indianapolis, the destroyer Underhill had been attacked and sunk in the area by Japanese submarines but McVay was never informed of it.) They should have given Indianapolis a destroyer escort when McVay requested it. They should have tracked the ship more closely so that its sinking and survivors could have been noted much earlier.
But instead of blaming themselves, they made McVay scapegoat and put him on trial with the charge of failing to zigzag in good visibility. The facts that 1) the weather was actually particularly bad, 2) McVay had discretionary authority to zigzag or not and 3) the Japanese submarine commander later testified that he could have sunk even a zigzagging Indianapolis – all meant nothing to the court.
The court-martial humiliated and devastated McVay. Vicious letters and phone calls from grief-stricken relatives of dead crewmen who’d served aboard the Indianapolis didn’t help either. On 6 November 1968, McVay committed suicide with his service pistol. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that McVay was vindicated by Congress.
What was the biggest scandal at your high school?
The cops arrived at our school one afternoon. Moments later, we saw our principal being taken out in handcuffs.
main qimg 832c329c58028ff657224ec7d354a666 lq
Dana Goodman was under arrest for having a sexual relationship with an underage girl. In our rural community, the future farmers association was an important school group on campus. The president of the FFA was a sweet and friendly girl. She was well adjusted and popular among her friends, and generally having a great time at high school. Until her principal started talking to her more.
Mr. Goodman seemed like an alright principal. African Americans were honestly underrepresented in the administration, so for some this was grounds for positive receival. He dressed well, talked politely, and did his job fairly well. But occasionally he would make comments. Once at a school assembly he said something in front of the whole school about ‘homely’ girls. The first indication he was noticing the physical appearance of his female high school students.
Rumors were flying that he was friendly with the cheerleading coach, a teacher who was just a few years younger than him. But then there were other rumors. And then there was evidence. Not just a young girls brave decision to go to police, but used condoms and fluids tossed carelessly into a classroom trash bin.
Fast forward to the afternoon when the cops showed up. Students were not told directly what was going on. But more than a thousand faces were peering out all the windows, some cracking jokes, some shocked, some who already knew.
After the whole scandal, we learned that Goodman’s leadership apparently led others down the same route and two other teachers were also arrested for relationships with students.
That was the biggest scandal at our high school, but the biggest scandal outside of it? Goodman got his 15 year sentence reduced to four and he is already a free man once again.
Crab-Stuffed Catfish with Parmesan Crust
crab stuffed catfish
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish Fillets
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white wine
1 pound lump crab meat
2 cups Parmesan, grated (divided)
2 tablespoons chives, chopped (divided)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Melt butter in medium, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add onions and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add wine and simmer until mixture is almost dry. Add lump crab meat, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours until completely chilled. Once chilled, fold in 1/2 cup Parmesan and 1 tablespoon chopped chives to crab mix.
Using a sharp knife, butterfly each fillet lengthwise horizontally as evenly as possible. Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of crab mixture on bottom half of catfish, being careful not to overfill. Fold top of catfish over to cover stuffing.
Season stuffed catfish with salt and pepper. Dip fillets into remaining grated Parmesan, coating evenly.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Carefully sauté catfish until a golden brown crust is formed. Turn catfish over and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
Garnish fillets with remaining chives.
Why are so many counties joining Russia and China to de-dollarize their economy and trade?
Because the US government has been irresponsible on deficit and debt.
Soon or later, either the US would go bankruptcy, or it would solve the problem by having a war.
Acient money has actual value. It was usally made from precious metals such as gold, silver, and blonze.
Modern money is a credit, and is endorsed by the government to have virtual value.
When a government over releases money, it would create huge inflation. Not 10%, not 20%, but 1000% or 10000%.
With a full pack of money, you may be able to purchase a pack of cigarette.
In 2023 alone, the US government over-spent 1.7 trillion USD, which it has to borrow from others, domestic or foreign investors.
With the uncontrollabe over-spending, the national debt went up too.
It has just reached 35 trillion, and is about 100 thousand per US citizen.
There is no way that the US government could repay the debt in the foreseeable future, because US government is still creating more deficit every year.
Even the interest of the national debt in 2024 will be around 0.9 trillion.
With an annual revenue of over 4 trillion USD, US government would have to owe more money year by year.
To attract more people and organizations to purchase US tresury, the interest rate must be raised. With higher interest, the US government will have a higher annual expenditure, which will make the deficit bigger, so that the US government will have to release even more treasury.
It’s a typical vicious circle.
It would be impossible to increase government revenue, since it’s mostly tax.
It would be also impossible to lower the government expenditure, since too many people are making their benefit out of it.
See? They are going to spend more by borrowing more.
If it was any other country, its economy would be collapsed.
According to Ta Kung Pao in 16 Aug 1948:
Just within the first half of August,
food price increased 3.9 MILLION times
housing price increased 0.77 MILLION times
clothing price increased 6.52 MILLION times
It was because the KMT/ROC government tried to release new currency to replace the old one.
The exchang ratio was 1 Chinese gold yuan (new) to 200 old fiat currency.
According to the statistics, only 200 million CGY was enought to exchange all the old currency released, but KMT printed 2 billion CGY. The extra CGY was a disaster from the begining.
By the time people realized the government having no ability to control goods prices, all prices went up like crazy.
Someone went to buy boxes of antibiotics. The seller told him that this has no use if no one’s injured or infected. Buyer said that he didn’t give a damn. He bought them only because they were expensive.
Even shoes were all bought, regardless the size.
I am not sure if this reminds western people about something.
Like I said, if it was any other country, the economy would be collapsed already.
However, it’s the US.
According to the Modern Money Theory, the biggest export product of the US is the US dollar.
While other countries had to work hard selling goods, just to make some money to buy from other countries, the US just sit in a chairt and type some numbers into the computer, and here is the money.
US dollar is the biggest international settlement currency.
In a period, having USD is more important than having goods. Because no country can produce everything, and USD can get you goods from the market.
So the US spends USD printed out of thin air and receive goods with actual value. During the process, the US released its internal inflation to the world.
Comparing to its internal market, the global market is much bigger and is able to contain more USD. By over-release the same amount of money, the US has the world trading to absorb its inflation, while other countries had to afford it on themselves.
However, like I presented above, national debt of the US has reached a scary high level, because there is only a certain amount of USD can be transfered from US internal market to the outside world.
Because the capitalists cannot just share their benefit to the general public, so most people still have about the same salary, which makes the total disposable money in the US a rather stable number. That’s how much the US can buy, and how much the US can export its inflation to the world.
Soon or later, countries around the world would have to face the fact that economy of the US is beyond being repairable.
When that moment came, USD will become toilet paper. Whoever still holding huge amount will be fucked totally.
It happened once when the US claimed to abandon Bretton Woods system. In that system, the USD has a fixed exchange rate with gold, which is 35USD to 1 ounce gold. The US wanted to release more USD, because the total amount of gold doesn’t change fast, not as fast as the international trading.
To its allies, mostly European countries, denying the value of USD meant the USD they were holding would become toilet paper. So they chose to recognize the value of USD even when it has no connection to gold anymore.
But this time, China decided to not tolerate the irresponsible child act of the US.
China has been trying to establish a new trading system based on goods rather than any specific curreny.
Purpose of doing international tradings should not be “to earn some USD so that I could buy stuff”, but “I have goods, so I can eventually change it into something I need”.
It should be a multilateralist system instead of unilateralist.
In the current system, being kicked out from SWIFT by the US means not being able to buy vital stuff from the world, such as vaccine. Iran had this problem at early stage of COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia also had this problem right after the Ukraine War.
In addtion, the US in recent years has been more and more aggressive.
As the single pole of the world, it acted like a spoiled kid, to sanction whichever it dislike.
It created so many enemies. There are so many of them that they can actually establish their own circle.
If the emenies of the US can surive on their own, then there is even less excuse for them to keep using USD.
I think white house would be happy about it, since they are so eager to totally decouple with China.
UNFORGIVEN (1992) Movie Reaction w/ Coby FIRST TIME WATCHING
Why do so many Americans have a problem with alcohol?
Drinking is a large part of adult culture in the United States. Although I have gone long periods of my adult life without drinking, I have never given drinking up completely because I have realized it makes social situations more awkward.
Some people get really uncomfortable if they are drinking and not everyone else at the table is drinking. It’s also a time-honored tradition to conduct certain business meetings in informal sessions that sometimes feature drinking. Additionally, sports, holidays, and cookouts usually involve alcohol.
In my family, this isn’t a problem really. A few weeks ago we had a family gathering and a close friend came with me. She remarked how no one in my family drinks at all or does any drugs except me. First of all, survivorship bias is apparent. Secondly, because there have been so many people with substance abuse issues in my family, drinking or smoking marijuana, although perfectly legal, are nearly taboo. Our family gatherings are usually completely devoid of alcohol, because nearly everyone in my close family gave up drinking in any form years ago or never developed an interest. We never tell our guests one way or another that they can’t bring drinks, but if they do, they’re usually the odd man out.
Although I used to be a nearly daily drinker, these days I no longer prefer to drink as the main way I relax after a rough day. Increasingly, I am not the only one. Many young people are putting aside alcohol in favor of more holistic hobbies that don’t take such a toll on the body and mind. Going to a local adult arcade or bar and ordering a mocktail or alcohol free beer isn’t that unusual around here these days.
THE MATRIX (1999) Movie Reaction w/Coby FIRST TIME WATCHING
What was the first “green flag” you noticed in your partner?
My husband is a very shy man. So much so, that when we went out on a first date, he barely even looked at me. I very reluctantly accepted to go out on a second date, which ended up being pretty much the same. This led me to believe that there’s just no chemistry between us, and that it’s best we end it at that point. I really liked him, but didn’t want to get hurt as I thought he might be an emotionally unavailable person. My husband’s reaction was to say:
“Ok, this makes me very sad, but if you don’t think going out with me makes sense, there’s just no point going forward. However, may I ask for a reason?”
I have to admit I was surprised hearing such a response. Men I tried dating would typically get very angry, insult me, curse at me, or say something to humiliate me, which made me wary of rejecting someone openly.
I explained to him how I felt, to which my husband said that he actually likes me a lot, but is extremely shy, and that if I would like to go out with him again, he would be more open. On our third date he greeted me with a big grin and a warm hug and from then on we were inseparable.
So the first “green flag” in my partner was his ability to calmly accept rejection without perceiving that his ego has been hurt.
“CONKLIN!” Havaderr wailed. His face was the brightest red and steaming with heat. The veins in his neck throbbed noticeably, but he waited as still as he could for Conklin to answer. A buzz came in over the intercom above Havaderr’s head.
“Hey, was that you shouting, Havaderr?” Conklin’s voice crackled with static and attitude. Havaderr shut his eyes and repeated his Zen mantra in his head.
“Havaderr? What’s your problem?”
Havaderr’s eyes opened, and in the most even tone he could manage; he said his mantra out loud.
“I am calm. I am calm. I can overcome this. I am strong. I am strong. I can overcome anything.” Havaderr spoke through gritted teeth, spittle flying across the room as he focused on keeping his anger inside rather than shouting and blowing the place up with Conklin inside.
“Hey guy, are you going to answer me or what?” Conklin’s voice implied his own rising impatience. Havaderr moved to the button on the wall nearest him to respond.
“Yes, Conklin, I was shouting,” Havaderr said as evenly as his rage would allow. “Get your ass to 4A NOW!” As he trailed off, he clenched his teeth together so hard he felt a grinding that might as well have been a tooth chipping. Before Conklin’s reply came, Havaderr heard an irritated sigh over the intercom.
“Yeah, be right ther-.” Conklin barely finished his sentence before releasing the button, cutting himself off at the end.
Moments later, a door slid open down the hall, several yards away from Havaderr. Conklin came into the hall, looking both ways before spotting Havaderr.
“What the hell, why are you shouting and-“ Havaderr cut Conklin off with a finger to his mouth to silence him.
“I’m going to show you something in this room behind me, and it’s best if your mouth is shut when I do.” Havaderr’s voice wavered, he was still trying to control his anger. Conklin looked confused as ever but kept his mouth shut. With a worried expression, Conklin followed Havaderr to another door. Havaderr stood aside and opened the door for Conklin to enter alone. Conklin stood in the doorway staring, then Havaderr shoved him wholly into the room from behind and closed the door.
“Havaderr, what’s going on? What the fu-ahhhh!” The intercom inside the restroom was unnecessary, but Havaderr appreciated it right now. He would have heard Conklin screaming from quite a distance, but hearing Conklin’s disgust and horror in surround sound was more pleasing. A slice of anger slid off his shoulders and a small smile appeared on his face.
The door rattled, clearly Conklin on the other side trying to burst through, but Havaderr held the lock button, keeping Conklin trapped inside.
“What kind of game is this Havaderr? Let me out, for Christ’s sake!” Conklin was panicking, releasing more anger from Havaderr’s shoulders and filling his belly with laughter.
“This is no game, friend. This is you coming face to face with your own incompetence,” Havaderr said over the intercom, still smiling.
“Havaderr! Let me out of here!” Conklin screamed and started ramming the door again.
“I don’t think so, Conklin. If you look to the left of the door, I’ve been kind enough to set you up with plenty of cleaning supplies for the job, which is a lot more than you did for me. I’d suggest you start tackling that shit before it starts tackling you.” Havaderr exploded with laughter, letting go of the intercom and floating backward as he held onto his stomach. He laughed so hard he couldn’t breathe. Conklin kept banging on the door and pleading to be released, but Havaderr couldn’t hear anything over the roar of his own hysteria.
Curled up in fetal position, floating in the hallway, Havaderr worked himself out of his fits of laughter. He wiped the joyful tears from his eyes and started breathing normally again. He moved back to the intercom.
“Look mate, this restroom was in your sector to clean. Obviously, you did a piss poor job,” Havaderr grabbed his side, holding the laughter in after such a quality pun. “I told you, cleaning the restrooms would be the most important job, because if it isn’t done right, this happens. Floating excrement!” Conklin didn’t say anything, but Havaderr heard him kick or punch the door.
“I’ll take your silence as admitting you did a sloppy job the first time. You know, I needed to do some business, and I walk into the restroom greeted with a turd to the face, which I’m assuming belonged to you, so I have no sympathy for you right now. Clean the damn restroom like you were supposed to, and I’ll let you out.” Havaderr waited for a response. He was eager to shower off the stench and stain of human waste from himself before finishing his day.
“Yeah, alright,” Conklin said over the intercom, sounding defeated and guilty. Havaderr nodded his head and left Conklin to figure out how to clean a restroom with feces floating freely throughout.
“Like I said, not a drop of sympathy for you. Do it right the first time, and we won’t run into stupid problems like that,” Havaderr said coolly, scrubbing at the built-up muck in the corners of the glass.
Conklin was still cranky from cleaning the restroom the day before, and he meant to let Havaderr know just how little he appreciated the tactless way he was pushed into the situation without warning.
“Chin up, Conklin. We have one more day before our shift is over, and we can get the hell off this floating heap of death,” Havaderr motioned toward the clear chambers that housed the comatose bodies of several crew members, one of which whose glass he was scrubbing.
“Remind me, what’s up with these bodies? They’re dead, yeah?” Conklin asked.
“No, they’re alive, they’re the crew, dumbass,” Havaderr grunted at Conklin. He looked over to see Conklin hovering around the main dashboard, not a rag or mop near him. “And I wouldn’t mind if you got to work while you asked your questions,” he barked. Conklin jumped and reached for a rag tucked into a closed bucket tethered nearby. He started mindlessly wiping at the dashboard without paying close attention.
“Okay, but how come they’re asleep?” Conklin asked. Havaderr sighed as he paused and rolled his eyes.
“Do I look like the Captain of this ship? All I know is, this crew is traveling some number of lightyears, so the ship has been programed for regular stops near inhabited planets for maintenance and cleaning. We drew the short straw, so we get to hop from the ship we were on previously, to this one, and then another one before heading back home. Nobody else was this far out into deep space to do the job, so we get a long shift before our break. At least they’re paying us over time, eh?” Havaderr smiled at the thought of a paycheck double its usual amount. He looked in on the half-naked man inside the tube he was cleaning, tapping on the glass with his knuckle and laughing at how strange the sight was.
Air escaped the edges of the door, and it hissed loudly. The smile fell from Havaderr’s face as he scanned the chamber looking for an explanation. The door swung open and the half-naked man floated out as if to follow. Thankfully, he was attached to a few tubes that kept him reigned in and asleep, but the color left Havaderr’s face once he realized that would only last for so long.
Havaderr turned to Conklin, who looked just as confused.
“He just-just-he-“ Havaderr stuttered, unable to decide what he was trying to say. The man’s feet flew upward so his back was parallel to the floor and his right side dipped down. Slowly, he started to spin, so he was upside down. All the while, Havaderr and Conklin stared without any clue how to fix it.
“Did you touch something?” Havaderr shouted at Conklin, who shook his head wordlessly.
“I didn’t touch anything!” Havaderr went back to staring at the half-naked man, perplexed. After a minute, Havaderr decided they couldn’t leave the man like that.
“Get over here and help me with this!” He yelled at Conklin. Still silent, Conklin moved toward Havaderr and the unconscious man. Havaderr and Conklin wore their gravity belts at 85% power to keep from floating off like the man from the tube, but it allowed them a bit more mobility too. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any extras to strap to the man, so he continued to spin and flip through the air.
One of the wires connecting the man to his casket snapped, leaving only one left to keep him from flying down the corridor and into every other part of the ship. Havaderr and Conklin shared a look of fear but said nothing.
Havaderr grabbed the man’s knees and tried to pull them down so the man was right side up, but as he pulled, the man’s whole body moved toward Havaderr. Conklin remained motionless, watching the unconscious body float into Havaderr. Havaderr struggled and groped, trying his very best to wrangle the helpless man, but even his best efforts left him with the man’s body bumping into him clumsily. He accidentally grabbed the man’s buttocks, and the man’s armpit swung around and slapped him in the face. All in all, it reminded Conklin of two young people at their first school dance, trying not to step on each other.
Conklin covered the smile on his face, but the more Havaderr fought with the floating man and lost, the more the urge to laugh rose in his belly. When the man launched a foot directly into Havaderr’s eye, Conklin lost it. With one hand on the man’s shoulder and his other arm wrapped around the man’s torso, Havaderr stopped to see what was so funny to Conklin. He didn’t have to ask; he knew how he looked.
“Would you knock it off and help me! I don’t know what we disconnected, but that could be vital to this man’s life!” Havaderr tried to repeat his mantra in his head, but he couldn’t hear anything over Conklin’s laughter. Havaderr grumbled as he kept spinning the man back into position, with no help from Conklin, who was tumbling in circles on the other side of the room.
Finally, Havaderr got the man into his up-right position and back into the tube. As best as he could, he reattached the disconnected wires, but he couldn’t pull the door shut.
“Conklin! Find the button to close this door, hurry, before he tries to escape again!” Havaderr pleaded.
Conklin straightened up and moved to the dashboard he had been cleaning. On the first try, he hit a button, and the door closed, sealing itself. Havaderr wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at Conklin, a little puzzled. Conklin’s laughter died down, but when he saw Havaderr near collapse and panting, his laughter boiled over.
“What is wrong with you? Were you too busy finding this hilarious to help me save that man’s life?” Havaderr demanded, huffing and puffing.
“Calm down, he’s fine,” Conklin squeaked. “The buttons are clearly labeled on the dash here, see?” Conklin pointed to the dashboard. Havaderr saw buttons marked to open doors, close doors, start specific mechanisms, stop the same mechanisms, and a bunch of other things Havaderr didn’t understand. What he did think he understood, was how the door opened in the first place.
“Did you open his door on me?” Havaderr asked Conklin, the anger rising again.
“Yeah, mate, you should have seen the look on your face!” Conklin rolled over laughing.
“You idiot! You could have killed the man, we could be fired, what the hell is wrong with you?” Havaderr bellowed.
“Relax Havaderr, you’ll give yourself a stroke!” Conklin pulled himself together for a second, setting his feet back on the floor and pointing to the dashboard again.
“This here, that indicates their vital signs. You can see they’re all perfectly healthy, no harm done,” Conklin said matter-of-factly. Havaderr was flustered. He could only trust Conklin’s word, he had no idea what any of the lights or buttons meant on the dash.
“You couldn’t have known it would be okay, though. What if the tube that detached from his arm was something that kept him alive?” Havaderr exclaimed. Conklin rolled his eyes, irritated that Havaderr wasn’t figuring it out as easily as he was.
“All that tube did was give him pleasant dreams; it wasn’t important. He’ll live, and nobody need ever know you almost killed a man,” Conklin started to giggle again. Havaderr’s face turned tomato red and he clenched his fist, trying to fight the overwhelming desire to punch Conklin in the face.
“You did this on purpose?” Havaderr said, strained.
“Well, maybe don’t lock me in a room with floating shit again, and we’ll be fine,” Conklin smiled, feeling pleased with himself.
Crispy Catfish
f72706218505b5d116958b3a339542e2
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons light Ranch dressing
2 large egg whites
6 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 catfish fillets
Cooking spray
Instructions
Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine the dressing and egg whites in a small bowl and stir well with a whisk.
Combine the cornmeal, Parmesan cheese, flour, pepper and salt in a shallow dish.
Dip fish into egg white mixture, then dredge in cornmeal mixture. Place on baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned and fish flakes easily.
Serve with lemon wedges.
Are you guys aware of what’s happening in Myanmar?
Myanmar has long been in a state of de facto civil war.
The root cause lies in the Myanmar government’s blatant policy of ethnic discrimination. Citizens’ identification cards are divided into six levels by color, and the rights enjoyed decrease according to the level.
Only the Bamar people hold the first-level ID cards, which grant them the right to vote and be elected. This has led to 40% of the minority groups, who face varying degrees of discrimination, attempting armed resistance. There are over a dozen “ethnic local armed forces” spread across Myanmar. For decades, the Myanmar military government has tried to eradicate them completely but has never succeeded.
I am Chinese, so I will speak about the impact on China.
Border Security: In recent years, when the fighting spread to the China-Myanmar border, shells from both sides of the conflict crossed the border, hitting our schools and killing border civilians. After a stern protest from the Chinese government, such incidents have significantly decreased.
Refugees Crossing the Border: This is truly troublesome. As a Chinese person, I feel that some of these refugees may have a higher crime rate than local Chinese residents. China designated an area to provide humanitarian aid, but I heard that after the conflict subsided, tens of thousands of these refugees were sent back to Myanmar.
The Ultimate Solution: Building a Wall: The Chinese government quickly constructed a 500-kilometer border wall, consisting of 4 meters high barbed wire, non-lethal high voltage current，blades, cameras, and sensors, equipped with a loudspeaker warning system and remote shouting devices.This system can detect border crossers in the first instance, and border personnel can escort them back. The sensors are used to detect tunnels; when someone tries to dig a tunnel to cross the border wall, vibrations are captured, and an alarm is triggered.
This has nothing to do with humanitarianism, and everyone can understand this. I have heard that the United States has also built a wall on the Mexican border to prevent illegal crossings.
If the Myanmar military government does not abandon its severe ethnic discrimination policy, the situation in Myanmar will remain turbulent.
What is the nastiest thing you’ve done for revenge?
A woman came in with her 16 year old, overweight son, it matters, ro the big box store where I worked. He was starting a fast food job the next day, needed a blue, Oxford shirt. Well we had two sets of shirts. Regular sizes in sale, big sizes not in sale. When I measured the kid for a shirt turns out he needed a 171/2 neck, so I told Mama that the large size he needed wasn’t on sale. And they were all properly signed as such. So she gets pissy, it’s 8:pm, we close at 9:pm. So I take the shirts out of packages, have him try them and we find kne he can wear. Now she says to me (this was 35 years go) Greta this is in sale for $8. I said no it’s not on sale, it’s a big men’s size and they are $10, regular price. She starts in in me, I didn’t argue, I just reiterated that it was $10, I couldn’t change the the price. Well she gets Sonny by the arm and marches him out to go about 100 yards to another small regional chain department store we had in town. It’s now 8:40pm, both stores close at 9. So I’m hacked off because she really was obnoxious, the son is embarrassed terribly. So she marches out the door. I took every shirt in his size and one size larger and put them in the stockroom hidden in a fruit of the loom men’s briefs box I found empty. I left them for 4 days then brought them out again. This wasn’t the kids fault, as you’d expect, kids do everything last minute, his mother made him apply for the job, he for it and they had a late interview. Hence arriving at 8:pm. But they wanted him to start the next day so her whole works was getting turned upside down. Don’t take it out on me lady. There were 4 shirts I hid. Over those few days, I was off one. Apparently she came in while I was off and have someone else a hard time. I didn’t and still don’t care.
If a US Marine was to join the French Foreign Legion, how much easier would they find the basic training?
I was a Marine Recruiter in 1992 and I walked into the Social Security Office to get a SSN verification for one of my recruits.
The guy behind the counter tells me that he was a Force Recon Marine and I told him that I was a Recon Marine as well. We start comparing stories and he had been to Amphibious Recon School, Scout Swimmer, Scuba, Jump, Free-fall.
As it turned-out he knew quite a few people that I knew who were sort of legends in the Recon Community.
I asked him how long he had been in? He told me, “8 years.” Then I asked him,” Why did you get out if you already did two enlistments? “
He said that he got out to join the French Foreign Legion. I said, “How was that?”
He said verbatim, “It made Force [Recon] seem like Sunday School. “
He said that he had to do everything all over again Infantry, Jump, Scuba, Free fall. He told me that he he eventually made into the Parachute Commando Regiment.
main qimg 03d43102cbc5e48d0bbf58e96c1c63d3
*UPDATE EDIT. I remember an incident that I witnessed in Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
We were waiting in line to take field showers at the Division Service Support Group (DSSG) area when a group of Legionaries drove up in their rickety jeeps.
One of the junior guys is so excited to be getting a shower, that he hops in line with us while forgetting to take his rifle with him.
A few moments later, his Sergeant comes running-up and starts yelling at him in French. Then, he proceeds to start beating the guy. He almost beat the dude unconscious at which point a whole bunch of Marines intervened.
As a LCpl, I was pretty shocked by what I witnessed. I’m pretty sure that the rest of us Marines were stunned including several Staff NCO’s and Officers who also happened to be standing in line.
I saw a couple of FFL Officers drive-up soon after and they were yelling at the Sergeant in French and then they all get in their vehicles and drove off.
My assumption is what we witnessed wasn’t supposed to have occurred in public and that it was supposed to have taken place “behind closed doors.”
Admit the truth
Emotional. Even I feel it here.
Why does it seem that kids love their parents until they become teenagers?
This is probably the only time I’ll post a picture of myself…
main qimg 3cbcbe9e426242c9abd13278ba5b461c lq
But I think I was a pretty cute little kid. I was a good little kid. I listened to everything my mom told me.
No dad in my life? No problem- I had mom. Never saw kids outside of school? Mom was enough for me. Wasn’t allowed outside by myself? Mom says it’s for the best, so it has to be for the best.
I didn’t question anything until I was around eight years old.
The first thing I started questioning was my father. Where was he? Why didn’t I have a dad like all the other kids? Why doesn’t he want me?
My father had walked out of my life when I was six (he hadn’t actually been there since I was three, really).
Even my new step dad couldn’t stop these feelings inside me- I wanted to know him. Something inside of me craved to know him so badly.
Day after day I would beg my mother and step father- they continued to ask why and say no. I cried to them- it made no difference. The answer was no.
Well, when I was eleven, no wasn’t enough for me. I called him and arranged a visit anyway.
And that’s when the fighting started.
I wasn’t a good kid anymore. I started complaining about the chores I had to do- it wasn’t fair- none of the other kids have to do as many chores as I do.
But the another common fight we had was about friends. I was never allowed out. There was no reasonable explanation- Mom said I wasn’t, so I wasn’t.
But that wasn’t enough for me anymore.
It was the same thing with a cellphone, the technology, the food I wanted to eat, the people I wanted to hang out with, the books I wanted to read, even the music I listened to.
But no just isn’t enough anymore.
I don’t think parents stop loving their kids. I think that parents just stop liking their kids. What parents don’t understand is that their kids are going to grow up- they’re not going to stay obedient and docile forever.
One day mom and dad’s “No” won’t be enough. You’ll have to have reasons to back up your answers.
I know my parents love me. But I also know that they didn’t really want a kid- they weren’t ready.
I love my parents and I hope my siblings turn out better than I did.
Are all these UFOs an Alien Invasion or has Project Blue Beam finally begun?
Back when I was a boy growing up in the 1960’s and into the 1970’s I was the designated family lawnmower.
Once my father decided that he no longer wanted to mow the lawn (Ah. That happened rather quickly; in fact, as soon as we got a lawn that needed weekly mowing) he assigned that chore to me.
The first lawn mower machine was a manual push-mower inherited from an uncle. It was a heavy mechanical piece of shit.
4f4ca8612df1f31ab81232decc8f59aa
It was huge heavy contraption and a real dog to push. Imagine Sisyphus pushing a bolder forever up a hill.
Find Delight
yeah. It was like that.
A weekly curse.
17ea7342641ca8ae86cf8c87bff5693e
But I was young, and a boy, and it was my job. After all, as my father repeatedly told me; “You are the oldest, you have to carry the weight of the family”.
*spit on the ground*
Yeah, sure… until the parents die and I get nothing. Because “I am the oldest and all my life I had the privilege of being the oldest boy.”
*second spit*
Anyways, sometime around 1965 or 1966, my father bought a gasoline lawnmower. It had a cord that I had to pull to get it started. It was a great improvement.
Before it would have taken me eight hours to mow our three acres. Now, it only took me five hours.
3305a688c1be250d7e965345774e6c7b
Eventually it was replaced with a brand new Sears “electric start” lawn mower.
And that was even better.
Oh it still took me five hours every Saturday to mow the lawn, but at least I wasn’t exhausted by pulling that damn cord to fire it up.
129fdf0ba6b920c33644ce17adb31770
Eventually I went off to college and my younger brother Daniel took over.
…
I got married. Things happened.
I got divorced.
But in all that time, I didn’t mow the lawn.
I paid for others to do it for me. I just gave the kids some dollars and they went ahead and took care of it for me.
Go boy… go!
ac61a6f1fd813759ad0f02f9525c8b9b
Then, after a while… decades, I had to take care of my mother. She was dying of cancer and I had to quit my job and take care of her, because after all… “I was the oldest boy”.
She lived in a large house; actually the old Manor House of some big-wig from the late 1700’s .
413aed5d4abb7a15b7d6b6b8a0c5c8a7
When she and her husband bought it up it was in serious need of repair. But they sunk the money into this black-hole and made it work.
It was on 11 mow-able acres of land. And I would due-fully mow it. It took me a solid eight hours.
But. We had a riding mower.
b1ca66ec2725ec83769d56e77a9bab5a
And I would grab a beer, put on my headphones and mow away.
Now, let it be known, that I kind of liked this routine. I had really a number of routines while at the manor. My favorite was cleaning the pool in the early Spring and Summer air. That was so fresh and relaxing.
643ebaae58eac0a23ae5061791bfa361
And…
Riding that mower and drinking a beer. No one ever bothered me. EVER. E-V-E-R.
All day.
*sigh*
Eventually, we got a super-dooper lawnmower with two lever turning controls instead of a steering wheel. I didn’t like it as much, as I needed both hands to mow, but I lived with it.
8405f6978d9e788c12f84000682d3391
Ah. The story of my mother’s demise and death, and the fight over her estate was a sore spot that caused all sort of trouble for me personally. And I will not cover it here.
Let it be well understood that some people are just animals when it comes to money. They transform into some kind of monster.
If you haven’t experienced this yet…
…you will.
It’s a rite of passage.
Anyways…
But this is the evolution of lawn mowing responsibilities for me as a boy into my manhood.
Let it be well understood that I own multiple properties inside of China and I have NEVER mowed a lawn here. And I like it that way.
Unless you are a moron, mowing grass is a noisy and loud waste of your productive time.
6f028c37b582bbba1722687f767d29e8
The thought of all the time wasted in mowing grass just boggles my mind.
All because I was the oldest son.
Today…
Just goes to show that Noah wasnt the only human to have survived no?
The Chinese did have legends about flooding. However they did not wait for some god to save them. It was a human who thought of damming up the river and got everyone to help. It is a reason why Chinese to this day believe in the power of human beings.
Russia Proposes A Grain Exchange. It should be for a BRICS Exchange
Russia’s proposal is a no brainer but should not be just for grains. It should include oil.
https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/101594/#:~:text=MOSCOW.,which%20was%20held%20via%20videoconference.They can hav
The Greatest Threat to the Global Financial System is the U.S. – the irresponsible printing of the U.S. dollar. The countries of the world today are the net creditors to the U.S., holding trillions of dollars that the U.S. devalues everytime money is printed to live beyond our means.
But the world, in particular China, also knows that it cannot live without the U.S. dollars – its the reserve for the world’s fiat monies for its sheer volume. Try to de-dollarize in a major way and all the other world’s currencies are severely destabilized as well.
BRICS Exchange as the Alternative System. This has to be a SLOW WEANING OFF process with the first step is to stop using the U.S. dollar. And a BRICS Exchange is a ready-made forum for this.
The ideal is for all countries to trade with their own currencies. But this comes with one major problem – currency risk. Prime example, Russia started trading with India buying its oil and found out very very soon that they had much more rupees than they want or needed and exposing themselves to currency risk – I.e., rupee devaluing. And India is not alone, there are extreme cases like Argentina and Venezuela whose currencies nobody wants.
A swap mechanism that China worked out with Argentina and Brazil is ideal. Brazil wants to trade with Argentina but does not want Argentinian pesos. China wants to trade with Argentina as well as have the yuan use as a global trading currency. All these can be accomplished by swap arrangement that the Chinese central bank can set up with both Brazil and Argentina – essentially a revolving credit line denominated in yuans that all three countries can use as settlement accounts for their trade transactions.
This swap arrangement also accomplishes two critical objectives. Countries are directly trading with each other and not use U.S. dollar while China’s does not expose its yuan to uncontrolled external market forces like target speculation attacks by the likes of Soros.
The Exchange is not de-dollarizing because members can settle their transactions if they have dollars to use. Again the Exchange serves another critical function. These are accounts now out of the control of Western banks (cannot be frozen and seized by the U.S.) and not processed through the SWIFT system (effectively blacking out even for the West to monitor – I.e., the U.S. and E.U. will have no idea what and how much trade transactions are flowing through the Exchange).
BRICS Exchange as a ready-made Forum. BRICS has the market makers to serve and moderate the Exchange – the world’s largest exporters and importers for grains and oil.
BRICS will have 10 members by the end of 2024, or even more – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, plus UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Iran. They’ have the world largest grain producers in China, India, Russia, Brazil as well as the world top energy producers in Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran. And then there’s China and India with 3 billion consumers – 38% of the world’s population.
Incorporating the swap settlement for its members means effectively enabling the countries to trade directly with each other and not have to use the U.S. dollar. This also shields the countries from currency risks and allow latitudes to fix their exchange rates. Of course, it also enables member countries to build up reserve account of whatever currency(ies) they want.
This exchange can also not be limited to state transactions but extended to registered companies of member countries – providing services as as futures options to hedge against grain prices.
Men are RELAXING as it All Collapses
Philippines Girls are the “Gold Standard”.
What do Chinese people think about the First Island Chain that the US and its allies created to restrain and block China’s path to the Pacific Ocean? Is the nine-dash line and the Kra Canal the plan that China came up with to break the seal?
What do the Chinese think? Of course, thanks to the United States and its allies!
In 1960, when Mao Zedong spoke to a Japanese literary delegation, he mentioned, “I spoke to many Japanese friends about this incident, and some of them said that it was not good for Japan to invade China. I said of course the invasion was bad, but we should not look at this bad side alone, on the other hand, Japan has done us a great favour in China. If Japan had not occupied half of China, the Chinese people would not have awakened.”
This is the dialectic of history.
For the same reason, We are very thank for the first island chain created by the United States and its allies to contain and block China’s path to the Pacific Ocean.
Without the first island chain constructed by the United States and its allies to contain and blockade China’s access to the Pacific Ocean, China would not have thought of breaking through the first island chain, and as a traditional “LAND POWER” China would not have taken the initiative to develop an ocean-going navy.
There is an idiom in China called:
Life springs from sorrow and calamity; death comes from ease and pleasure.
It means that a sense of crisis invigorates people to work hard for survival; the absence of crisis makes people lazy, and the downfall of the nation’s endeavors.
It was the blockade and suppression of China by the United States and its allies that objectively had an educational effect on the Chinese people, prompting their awakening, unity and resistance, and reminding them every day of the need to work hard for the rise of China.
If China was still the Republic of China, still ruled by the Kuomintang who fled to Taiwan, and still an ally of the United States, then China would not be so powerful today and would even become a sub-colony of the United States, and China will never have a chance to surpass the United States!
Especially after Trump started the Sino-US trade war, I saw the unity shown by our young people in the face of Sino-US trade friction, their indignation against hegemonic behavior, their care for national enterprises, their reflection on independent innovation, and their concern for the nation. The defense of interests, the persistence of the country’s position, and the clear understanding of one’s own responsibilities are very touching.
They are not xenophobic because of trade frictions, but love their country more; they have not lost their rationality and calmness, but have strengthened their confidence in independence and self-improvement.
This generation of Chinese young people who grew up drinking Coca-Cola may usually like to watch American TV series and love freedom and individuality. Sometimes they are also cynical and have all kinds of dissatisfaction and complaints about reality. But when the United States and its allies want to bully in trade China, harming China’s interests, these young people are absolutely unambiguous, and that spirit of unity will condense into a powerful force.
When the youth is strong, China is strong.
The future of the country lies with the younger generation.
The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. You young people, full of vigor and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. Our hope is placed on you. The world belongs to you. China's future belongs to you.
Some politicians in the United States are provoking economic and trade frictions. What effect do they have in mind?
They want to create fear in the Chinese people: The United States is so strong and tough, exerting extreme pressure and pressing every step of the way, and China’s key technologies are being choked by the United States, so you surrender!
They want the Chinese people to fight each other and blame each other: you see, the agreement collapsed, companies were damaged, consumers were affected, and travel abroad was restricted. This is all the fault of the Chinese government.
They make the Chinese people confused: a trade conflict with the most powerful country in the world, the consequences will be serious!
However, the calculations of these American politicians were wrong.
They underestimated China’s determination to defend its core interests, underestimated China’s psychological tolerance for extreme pressure, and even underestimated the patriotism of the Chinese people.
They should read Chinese history. When have the Chinese been frightened? The greater the pressure from external forces, the more united the Chinese people will be!
In the court of public opinion in China, there is an unprecedented unity of opinion about the United States and an unprecedented unanimity of attitude in criticizing the hegemony of the United States.
The hegemony of the United States is so deep that even those “pro-Americans” who once praised the United States and used the United States to belittle China have begun to hate the United States and have become psychologically alienated from the United States.
In the past, the U.S. was an easy topic to stir up controversy in China’s court of public opinion, and extreme evaluations of the U.S. were often the cause of disputes. The “pro-American camp” used to glorify everything about the U.S., American values, American history and stories, and America’s “universal goodwill. The “pro-American camp” used to glorify everything about the United States, American values, American history and stories, America’s “universal goodwill”, and the United States as the “savior” of China and the world. The remarks of the “pro-American faction” have deceived many Chinese people.
However, as the conflicts between China and the United States intensify, the deceptive remarks made by “pro-Americans” to beautify the United States have been exposed one by one.
We are grateful to American politicians for their hegemonic behavior in the trade war between China and the United States, in total disregard of international rules, and for tearing down the veil that hides realist interests, so that the world can see a real United States.
Again! The Chinese people thank the United States and its allies for their hostility, blockade, and suppression of China!
“Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?”“We’re on auto-pilot, Eric.”“I know,” replied Eric, studying the course they had charted. “This just doesn’t look anything like the map.”“I’m sorry,” his companion rebuffed, “I didn’t realise you had a degree in intergalactic cartography.”“I mean, it’s not rocket science, is it?”Eric waited for his companion to laugh, or at least smile, but when she instead crossed her arms and avoided even looking at him, he continued.“Angela, look,” he implored, now pointing at the giant space map that presumably depicted the galaxy they were in. “We’re supposed to be here within spitting distance of this planet.”“Arsenal.”“Yeah, planet Arsenal. And yet I can’t see a planet anywhere. Go to the observation deck and have a look for yourself.”With a tut and a sigh Angela dragged her feet to the observation deck and, sure enough, there was no planet Arsenal, or Chelsea, or even Liverpool for that matter. In fact, the entire Premier galaxy looked completely bare. Not a star in sight, and she couldn’t even blame light pollution. Moreover, something about the scene from the deck window seemed off. It was disorientating, like the blur that occurs while spinning around too fast. Space itself appeared to be melting.“Eric!” she called down the hall.“Yes?” He smiled as he entered, trying to pretend that he wasn’t hovering outside the door the whole time.“You’re right,” she said. “Something’s wrong.”
“I…”
“Don’t you dare say I told you so!”
“I wasn’t going to say that,” he said, smirking and doing a tiny fist pump. Angela threw a pen at him. “Ow!”
“Focus Eric! What are we going to do?”
He pondered for a second, biting his nails. “I don’t know. I’m afraid we might have to ask Olive.”
“No, don’t say…”
Hello crew members. Eric. How can I help you?
The tinny sound of the OS’s voice clattered out across the ship. What Angela was going to say, and what Eric had somehow forgotten, was that asking Olive was a fruitless endeavour. Unlike the sophisticated OS models that existed elsewhere in the universe, the flimsy prototype that had been installed on their ship was next to useless. Its knowledge was limited, its voice annoying, and it didn’t understand accents and, since everyone had an accent of some sort, this aspect alone rendered Olive worthless.
“Olive,” Eric began, deciding that anything was worth a shot. “Where are we now?”
The room throbbed with an unsettling orange glow that told the crew Olive was thinking.
Playing ‘Where Are You Now?” by Justin Bieber from planet Earth.
“That was pretty close to be fair,” said Eric, nodding approvingly and tapping his foot in what he thought was the beat of the song.
“Olive, stop!”
Angela. Do you want to play a game?
“Yes!” screamed Eric.
“No!” shouted Angela.
“You’re no fun. I’m bored.”
“We’re in a potential crisis and you’re bored? We need to figure out what the hell this thing is outside the window.”
I have many games to choose from. Stop me when you find one you like. Who Wants to be a Billionaire. The Big Fat Quiz of the Light-year. Escape the Wormhole. Deal or No Deal.
“That’s it!” exclaimed Angela.
“Sweet,” said Eric. “I love Deal or No Deal!”
“No, not that. The wormhole. We’re in a freaking wormhole!”
I’m sorry you didn’t find something you like. Goodbye.
“Thank God!” Angela said with a sigh of relief, and then she remembered. “Eric, we have to get to the control console now.”
“What even happens in a wormhole anyway? Are we going to die?”
“We might. That’s why we need to focus. The co-pilot has shut off because, as far as it’s concerned, it has nowhere to go. No direction brings it any closer to its destination. So we’re going to shut off the auto-pilot and give you control.”
“Why me?” squeaked Eric, suddenly feeling the gravity of the situation.
“Because you’re the pilot. It’s the one thing you’re actually any good at. The one reason I tolerate you.”
“I make a pretty good omelette.”
“No Eric, you make a terrible omelette.”
“Oh.”
“You’ll be fine, trust me. Then while you’re piloting I’m going to transfer power from Comms and give it to the thrusters. We’re going to need a lot of juice to get out of this thing.”
“And where are we going exactly?” asked Eric, settling in the pilot’s chair.
“Straight through.”
“Through! But we don’t even know what’s on the other side.”
“I know, but it’s our best option. So just keep us straight. A turn to either side and the ship will break up. The auto-pilot isn’t going to be able to help you. You’re on your own, and you’ve got this.”
“Thanks.”
Angela punched him on the arm and winked at him before leaving the control deck, reassuring him somehow. She has faith in me, Eric thought. But what Angela was really thinking was Please don’t fuck this up.
She raced down to the Engineering station and Eric took control. There was a slight wobble as the steering wheel unlocked, and he heard a bang and then a rattle come from the left hand side of the ship. It mustn’t be anything major, he thought, because we’re still alive. The ship stabilised, but it was a struggle. Eric felt like someone was trying to wrestle controls from him, and he was very tempted to just let them have it.
“I’m down in Engineering,” said Angela, making the most of the Comms channel while it was still available. “I heard a loud noise on the way down here. What was that?”
“We’re still alive,” replied Eric.
“That’s always a positive, but it doesn’t really answer my question.”
“It might have been a part of the ship,” Eric answered hesitantly. “But I doubt it was important.”
“You should bloody well hope not! Can you try and please keep it together while I work this out?”
“You got it. Over and out.”
Angela winced a little. She hated when he used radio speak, but it wasn’t Eric’s biggest foible. She thought that probably had to be the way he talked while he was eating, or the clamorous way he sneezed, throwing his whole body into it and failing to cover his nose.
No time to list Eric’s deficiencies now though. Angela had to focus on the task at hand. To her the control modules in front of her were gobbledygook: miscellaneous wires, screens, and fiddly knobs. She was aware that they had had an engineer once, but she couldn’t remember where they had got to.
“Angela!” barked Eric.
“Jesus Christ, you scared the hell out of me. What do you want?”
“You know the way we’re in a wormhole?”
“Yes?”
“Where’d the worm come from?”
“What?”
“If there’s a wormhole, surely there has to be a worm,” Eric theorised. “What the hell size must it be? And where is it, for that matter?”
“Eric.”
“Yes?”
“I’m disconnecting the communications now.”
“Right you are.”
Angela let out an exasperated sigh as she pulled out a wire connected to a port with a little speaker icon on it.
“Eric?” she tested just to make sure.
Nothing.
She hoped the rest of it was going to be that easy.
No need to bore you with the details of Angela’s makeshift engineering. She stripped the wire, pulled some others out, lost power to the ship briefly but managed to get it back, fiddled with some knobs, used a tonne of electrical tape, and finally increased the power going to the thrusters.
She hoped.
“Boo!”
“Holy shit!” Eric yelled as he jumped and lost control of the wheel once more, this time initiating a bang and a rattle from the right hand side of the ship.
“Eric, be careful!”
“You made me jump!”
“You see, that’s your problem, Eric,” lectured Angela. “There’s always someone else to blame.”
Eric held one hand to his chest and Angela rolled her eyes, unfazed by his dramatics.
“How’d everything go in engineering anyway?” asked Eric.
“Great, I think. That should be us all sorted. Full steam ahead.”
Eric engaged the thrusters and, sure enough, there was enough power there to pull them free of the wormhole. They cheered, and almost hugged but instead opted for an awkward handshake.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this, but we have to know,” said Angela. “Olive. Assess damage to the ship.”
Dinner tonight will be Roast Turkey and Stuffing. Happy Holidays.
“What’s the damage to the ship?”
There is a refuelling station 2 hours away. Do you want me to set this as your destination?
“That’s not a bad idea actually,” said Angela. “Do that, and I can check the damage myself when we get there.”
Angela and Eric looked at the new galaxy around them, completely unlike the one they had left. There were planets everywhere. Red ones and blue ones, at least one of which was bound to inhabit life. She would ask which one that was at the refuelling station. The sun here was a little too hot for her liking, but she could get used to it. Eric took out his shades and put them on, and Angela refrained from asking him why he even carried them on his person because she knew that’s what he wanted her to do.
“We could settle here, I think,” said Angela. “I mean, it’s not every day you’re sucked through a wormhole. I think we’ve earned a break.”
Eric agreed and they both breathed deeply, content with where they’d ended up.
Their peace was shattered moments later by an almighty and unpleasant crunching sound, like a tin can in a blender, coming from the rear of the ship.
“What the hell was that?!” yelled Angela.
We appear to have been attacked by a space worm. Evasive manoeuvres recommended.
Angela turned to her right to see Eric grinning.
“I knew there had to be a worm,” he said.
Mysterious and Unexplained Events Caught on Camera
Some of the scenes seems to be staged, others are real. Aside from the scary music, the glimpses in reality glitching is worth the time to watch.
What are the major factors preventing China and the Philippines from reaching an agreement to defuse tensions in their territorial dispute over the South China Sea?
The ONLY factor for the SCS tension is: U S A.
PH is just like Ukraine that is pushed by USA to provoke Russia to start a war.
Let us understand the mentality of USA. Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger said: to be US enemy is dangerous. To be US friend is fatal. … USA’s mentality is “America ONLY”. No country will be safe. Neither friend nor enemy.
USA makes China or Russia a US enemy. Then use a US friend eg Ukraine or Philippines to provoke a war against US enemy. After war/use, US friends will become a condom & be discarded by USA. That is how fatal a US friend is: shed blood & lose life for US interest.
After WW2, from 1946-2001, in 55 years, there were 248 wars around the globe. 201 of them ie 82% were instigated by USA. In 240+ years since US independence, there were only 16 years when USA was not in a war.
Before war, USA will instigate countless unrest eg protests, riots & coups in other countries. At least 56 coups in Latin America since WW2.
There is only 1 motive for USA: money & power/dominance. Nothing to do with righteous.
1, money:
Both US military industry (MIC) & FED are private corporations run by capitalist sharks & not by (responsible) government who would focus on the welfare of the country eg economic development.
MIC makes tons of money thru wars & arms sales. They lobby US government to create wars in other countries. US politicians also make $$$ by buying MIC stocks or working as a MIC salesman to other country.
Another capitalist shark, FED, sucks foreign capitals/investments to USA from unstable & war-torn country because there is no war in USA.
See, if there is peace in the world, MIC & FED will create war (military or not) somewhere. This is the way they make money.
Other capitalist sharks eg Wall Street makes $$$ from post-war construction/investment in war-torn country.
US senator L Graham told the truth re Ukraine war: (my word) ROB Ukraine of its rich minerals.
2, power/US dominance
In the Ukraine war, USA uses 1 stone to kill 3 birds: weakens the economy of both US competitor Europe & US enemy Russia, as well as colonises/colonises Ukraine after war.
USA does not let Ukraine reach peace deal with Russia. Nor let Ukraine attack Russian soil (to win the war). Why? To drag the war so as to economically weaken Europe & Russia. And to make Ukraine as ruinous as possible for US post-war investment.
conclusion
How many people suffered in a war? In the Ukraine war, the entire world is affected by the interruption of supply chain eg food resulting in global shortage & inflation. Not yet counting the dead & displaced.
USA wont not let world peace to happen. USA must create unrest/war thru its puppets eg Ukraine & Philippines.
War is in the DNA of USA.
Are capitalist sharks nice to Americans?
US taxpayers pay the interest of the US debts that is created as aids to war-torn country. Annually. Can Americans clear the debt/principal at all?
Capitalist sharks dont maintain infrastructure. There is derailment almost daily. Making USA like a under-developed 3rd world. The list is long.
Party every night in Pattaya. Nightlife July 2024
This is a street walk in Pattaya Thailand. It’s the real deal, yo.
What is the most selfish act you have ever witnessed?
I knew a guy who’d been married three times. He was on his third when this happened. His car had air conditioner issues. Since they lived in Texas and summer with all of it’s heat was coming, that was a big problem. So, he got it fixed. It cost several hundred dollars. Within a couple of weeks the blower went out. They couldn’t afford to get this one fixed so he went into the summer months driving a vehicle with no AC.
His mother passed away unexpectedly at the end of May that year. His wife, who had a new vehicle, was going out of town to Mexico for about a month. Since his car’s AC wasn’t working and he had to make multiple trips back and forth from the DFW area to the Wichita Falls area, he assumed that he would be able to use his wife’s car while she was gone. She said no. He thought she was kidding and kept on making plans.
Until he asked her one day what time she needed him to drive her to the airport and she informed him that he didn’t need to do that as she had long term parking already planned and paid for. That’s when he asked her about getting to use her car for the trips back and forth. She once again flat out said no. That’s when he realized she was serious.
Needless to say, that brand new car with the working air conditioner sat in a parking lot for a solid month while he drove back and forth in the heat of the summer in a vehicle without AC. After that he rarely ever got into her car again. Years later when they sat down for a frank discussion about their marriage and why it went downhill he mentioned that incident as being one of the things that, for him, caused him to not care as much as he had before about the marriage. They are now divorced. The marriage died pretty much from a mutual apathy.
Women Who Forgot Their Husband Installed Cameras At Home
Is the gap between the rich and the poor in China greater than in developed Western countries? If so, does it prove that Chinese socialism is a joke?
Yes
main qimg f4c94748fb6b20f7f9e376ef1a6fce10
Hu Jintao was not a bad leader but under his period, Chinas development was perhaps one of the most Lopsided it had ever been
The Top 0.1% Chinese earned 115 times what the Median Chinese earned in 2000
By 2015 it was 568 times
Especially due to unchecked, unregulated real estate gambles and value growth
A Chinese with 100,000 RMB could be worth 30 Million RMB in 2 years due to making a lot of real estate deals under the Hu Jintao period
This did show Chinese Socialism as a Joke because it didn’t exist
Hu Jintaos policies were very favorable for Corporates too
He tweaked the Social Development aspects significantly and paper valuation became rampant
China had a lot of Byjus and Oyo and Ola with Billion dollar valuations
You needed a Great Leader like Xi Jinping to have the guts to take on the Billionaires and introduce common prosperity
After 8 years the Top 0.1% earn 382 times what the Median Chinese earn
In the last 8 years (2015–2023) – The Wealthiest 0.1% have seen income growth of 157% while the Median Chinese have seen income growth of 61.80%
It’s the best it’s been for a long time
Now the focus is on the poorer Chinese
If this number can fix at 250, it would be fantastic but that’s a major challenge
Still in the West inequality is much lower
The Top 0.1% earn around 226 times what the Median earns in America but it’s only 48 times in Norway or Denmark and 133 times in Germany
Our Modiji is like Hu Jintao
A Numbers man who likes Paper rather than reality
Inequality has surged under him as never before
In 2003 – the top 0.1% Indians earned 131 times what the Median Indians earned
Today is 491 times
And unlike China it’s rising and rising and rising
I doubt we have a future leader who can be like Xi Jinping
Modi is a Dumbo but I doubt either Rahul or Gadkari can take on the system
Only Yogi has the guts but the man is too religious and is capable of bringing in Nazi like rules
Luckily I am convinced he won’t be PM, maybe he won’t even be CM for long if the rumors are true
Anyway Chinas inequality is around 3 times higher than Europe and 1.5 times that of USA
If Hu had been it charge, it could have gone in the entirely wrong direction
The Chinese React To Trump’s Assassination Attempt | Street Interview
You find out you have cancer and the doctor gives you 2 weeks to live. What do you do in that time?
During a late night dinner with friends, one of them told me that my former-wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer (I wrote about her case before on several occasions). I think it was in 2018.
After our divorce was finalized, there was no contact between us whatsoever — the divide had become too deep after what had happened. So it’s hard to pin down the details, because news about her came in unpredictable waves through common friends, and I had no idea about how bad the diagnosis really was.
One family member told me some time later (in 2020, at the funeral of an uncle) that my former-wife was terminally ill, but since that family member was known to be hysterical (and typically overreacting), I did not know what to think of it (and to be totally honest, it wasn’t of my concern — or so I thought).
Then, in the Summer of 2022, I noticed my former-wife standing at the counter of a coffee shop, ordering a drink. That is to say, I knew it must be her based on how she moved and how she dressed, but she was almost unrecognizable — something had happened to her skin (which was pitted, like the skin of an orange, and yellow), and her hair seemed different.
And it’s then that I realized that the terminal claim of my family member was right after all — the cancer must have spread to the liver (as far as I understood).
Later, I heard that her oncologist had broken the news to her that she had a couple of months left — maybe even a couple of weeks. Which brings me to your question —
You find out you have cancer and the doctor gives you 2 weeks to live. What do you do in that time ?
What I found out later that in the weeks that followed, she was basically on a tour saying goodbye to friends and family, trying to stretch time until the pain got so bad that she needed palliative sedation. The cancer obliterated her every chance.
And what I saw in her eyes on that fateful afternoon in July, is exactly what would happen in the foreseeable future. Because there was nothing left besides despair and the bleakest prostration I had ever seen. The woman who I had known was gone.
That is what happens when there is no time left —
After the goodbyes, you are grimly reaped.
(As if you were never there.)
AI FILM – Chrysalis – AI generated short video #3
What is the most stupid history story ever told?
In 1968, during the height of China’s Mango Cult, villagers in a town called Fulin went to their local dentist with great enthusiasm and reverence to show him one of the worshipped mangos. Dr. Han Guangdi was his name and since he was one of the most well-educated men in the community, they wanted his feedback on the blessed fruit.
main qimg 884ba136f10e7f845bf4f017538e4ca5
“It’s nothing special,” Dr. Han said honestly, “it kind of just looks like a sweet potato to me?”
The crowd went wild. How DARE this man of words, this intellectual, not appreciate the great mango? Did he not know Mao himself had received these mangos from Pakistan’s prime minister? Did he not know they were a gift “to the people of China” and that they were hallowed fruits, not just mere sweet treats?
Dr. Han Guangdi was paraded throughout Fulin, taunted all along the way and ridiculed for his appalling lack of respect and proper reverence for the Holy Mango. He was then summarily executed in the town square before the eyes of his village mates. Mass hysteria is a curious thing, and appeals mostly to those with room temperature IQs.
Can Chinese companies produce computer chips that can compete with those made by American companies, even though China does not have Intel?
Quora Prompt Generator, you’re so, so clueless its pathetic.
Intel? Who’s that? Forget Intel. They’re last year’s news that you’ll never hear from again.
Let’s talk 2023. Biden people like Raimondo were declaring last year that by launching their sanctions to deny access to advanced chips and ASML’s EUV machines they’ll be setting back China by 20 years.
Let’s talk January 2024 this year. Heard of the red hot company called Nvidia that had been skyrocketing through the roof because of its AI chips selling like hotcakes that but banned from China. Well, China doesn’t need these A100s because its Biren AI BR100 chips are even faster.
Let’s talk just this week. China’s SMIC just announced submission of patent on patterning technology to produce 3 nm chips that does not need the EUV machines!
Effectively, it is from 20 years to 9 month! Note – it took U.S. companies more than 5 years to advance from 7 to 5 nm, it took 2 months for Huawei and SMIC to go from 5 to 3 nm.
And who’s leading now?
Latest update is that Apple is likely to reveal its TSMC 2nm chipset for the iPhone 17 series by September 2025.
[News] TSMC’s Primary Client for 2nm Chips Expected to be Apple, Set to Debut with iPhone 17 Lineup Next Year | TrendForce Insights . Previously, TSMC has indicated that TSMC’s 2nm process will be deployed as scheduled in the second half of 2025, indicating that before that, the most…
Let’s say Huawei and SMIC just focus on integrating its 5.5 G technology using the 3 nm chips, Huawei will have a new release that is just as advanced over the iPhone 17 as its Mate 60 is now over the iPhone 15.
China has outcompeted the U.S. companies – as well as TSMC and ASML. They’re not needed anymore in China. And those fabs TSMC using Biden’s $52 billion subsidies is building in Arizona, they better rethink plans because they’re looking more like “white elephants“.
Ditto for all those fabs that Intel is building.
The Most Mind Blowing Videos You Shouldn’t Watch Alone (July 2024 Edition)
What’s something that you regret doing as a physician?
I’m going to tell you the story of how I killed a patient.
I was in my 3rd year of medical school. I had just started my clinical rotations. I had just come off of my psychiatry rotation and was starting my internal medicine rotation.
In teaching hospitals, you operate as a team. You have an attending who leads a team comprised of residents, interns, medical students and the occasional pharmacist.
I was nervous when I learned of who my attending was, because everyone had warned me that she was the one you didn’t want to get. She was very exacting and brilliant.
It did not take me long to realize that I was actually lucky…BECAUSE she was so exacting and brilliant, and held such high standards for her team.
As a medical student, you get assigned a few patients, or pick up some new ones when you admit them from the ER. Every day, you go see your patients (round on them), perform a physical exam, write a note, and write your orders. Your intern or resident then comes along later and co-signs your note and your orders if they agree with it. Later you all round as a team on each patient and discuss each patient.
This is where a lot of the teaching occurs as the attending teaches the residents or the residents teach the students. As a student, you are asked numerous questions designed to test your knowledge. Generally these questions continue until you stop getting the answers right. Then you know the area you need to study later that evening.
Medical students don’t have a lot of autonomy or authority. A nurse cannot follow the order of a medical student until an actual doctor co-signs it. As a medical student, your primary purpose is to learn and to one day become a good doctor.
My internal medicine rotation was at a VA Hospital. These hospitals are among the only places where beer is regularly served on the dinner trays. We were caring for veterans. Many of them were alcoholics.
One of my first assigned patients was an elderly gentleman who had been hospitalized for over a month when I started my rotation. He had metastatic colon cancer. By the time I was assigned him, he had not been fed in several days. He had a bulky tumor within his bowel, and everyone was afraid it would rupture if he took food.
He was receiving some sustenance in the form of IV nutrition, which is completely unsatisfying. The first few times I saw him, he tolerated my history taking and physical exam. Not long after, however, he had a one track mind.
”Please can I have something to eat??” he’d beg me.
I would apologize profusely. I would explain that the surgeon didn’t want him to eat. I explained that his oncologist didn’t want him to eat. And every day he looked dejected.
One by one, all of the doctors signed off (the surgeon and the oncologist and the radiation oncologist etc.). There was nothing they could do for him.
Finally, we were the only team remaining to care for him.
My resident seemed to be at a loss. He looked at me.
”What do you think we should do?” he asked, and waited for my reply. It was the first time a medical doctor genuinely wanted my opinion.
”I think we should feed him,” I replied without hesitation.
I wrote the order and he cosigned it.
I went into my patient’s room when the dinner trays came in. He looked like a child on Christmas when I told him he could eat. He maintained a huge smile in between bites.
He died that night.
I still regret it.
I regret that I gave him that tray of hospital food instead of finding out his favorite meal and making it for him.
Some of my MM AI-generated art
This theme is Roman gods.
@@@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(21)@@@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(19)@@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(18)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(14)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(14)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(17)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(16)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(16)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(13)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(13)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(15)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(15)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(12)@@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(14)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(14)@@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(13)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(13)@@@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(10)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(12)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(12)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(11)@@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(11)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(10)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(9)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(8)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(5)@@@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(4)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(6)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(1)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0
What do you think about the Philippine government’s decision to keep details of the arrangement confidential unless both countries agree to make them public?
China has nothing to hide. Seems PH has things to hide. Below is my post.
Is Philippines leaders hiding things from their people? Are PH leaders trustworthy? On 2024/7/22, China told the world that China & PH has reached a consensus & signed a memorandum. China released the dialogue contents. The next day, PH said it did not agree to 1 point. Which point?
China Foreign Affairs spokeswomen Mao Ning told the world:
1, PH has broken Declaration on Conduct of Parties in SCS (南海各方行为宣言 DOC) that was signed by China & 10 ASEAN countries incl PH on 2002/11/4.
2, PH can resupply humanitarian things to the rusty junk ship at Ren’ai shoal under the watchful eye of China. PH must give notice to China before the resupply.
3. No non-humanitarian stuff eg construction materials is allowed.
On the next day, PH said it has not agreed to give China notice ie point 2.
Mao rebuked : Keep your (PH) action consistent with what you said.
Not the 1st time
In May 2024, China released a 2024/1/3 audio between Chinese military & PH’s WESCOM chief Carlos who agreed to points 2 & 3 above. After the release, PH at first said the audio was fake. Then changed to accuse China of releasing the audio without PH consent. PH said it was a private conversation (I add) that PH does not want its people to know that PH complies with China.
See, PH leaders is hiding things from their people.
Only fools will believe there is no written Memorandum in meetings between 2 countries? Even companies have memos. But Marcos act surprised that Duterte had memo/gentleman agreement with China. It forced China to confirm the existence of a memo with both Deturte & Marcos.
PH then argued it was just a gentlemen agreement. Not a signed treaty.
Remember PH signed DOC (see point 1). Yet Marcos breaks it. Really … if you talk to a person with no credibility or shame, you go nowhere.
Well, China, release everything: memo, recording & video. This is the only way to deal with shameless people. Dont dream that shameless people will change his personality one day.
USA
D. Kritenbrink, Assistant US State Secy for Indo-Pacific, said USA welcomes the China-PH dialogue. Translation: USA has no time (Biden steps down) or ability to fight China. Because US has lost the electromagnetic battle to China & USA is to withdraw its troops from the 1st island chain.
Kritenbrink added that PH itself directed the conflicts. ie USA discards PH like a used condom.
Trump has paired up with JD Vance who said: Ukraine is not a US business. (I add) PH is also not a US business.
PH delusion
PH deludes that PH is protected by the US-PH Defense Treaty. PH sent its special elite soldiers to fight China at Ren’ai shoal on 2024/7/17.
But China only sent coastguards. The US-PH defense treaty cannot be invoked. Not to mention under UN, PH has the problem with the legality of its territory in SCS.
PH is also deluded to take humiliation as bravery by giving a medal to its soldiers who were so badly defeated by China’s coastguard where PH’s rifles were confiscated. Soldiers got detained & required PH coastguard to pick them up.
PH also deludes itself by signing a treaty with Japan. But Japan is not stupid. Japan will not fight China. Japan is only taking this chance to upgrade its military to offensive from defensive as defined in Japanese constitution.
No matter how many PH is to get some kind of military agreement with other countries eg Australia, no country will be so stupid to sacrifice its economy & people for PH. Because PH’s economy is peanuts compared to China. Who hates money? … Marcos is too hype on its importance.
The Pascagoula UFO Incident | When Nightmares Come True
When I lived in Western Pennsylvania, I would drive my cars, and my motorcycles all over the place. Most of which was long disused roads, old unused rail road lines, and towns that were abandoned a hundred years previous. Many interesting sights, and (I’m sure) curious stories to tell.
One day, while riding on a little used country road, I came up to the crest of a hill. I pulled over to take a leak, and as I did so, I noted that the bushed parted to a nice picturesque grass covered hill.
fedd99396a4d53112be269f6d0c6ae65
As it as a nice Summer day with blue skies and white clouds, I went forth to take a look and take in the wonderful and astounding view.
And it was. Really.
This was a nice field of knee-height green grasses. And not a shrub or other plant to be seen.
4f042aa91e87c4c34b395bd7d70e3bf4
The hill side was enormous and perfect for flying kites and for having picnics. In fact, given the beautiful day, low humidity and just magnificent day, I walked forward and took in the entire experience.
<br />
I’ve done this before. I found a long abandoned cemetery in the long overgrown woods that way. Heck, on second thought, I actually found two such cemeteries. All long lost, and totally forgotten.
So as I was walking forward I saw the strangest sight up on a ridge.
It was a tomb; a well preserved stone house that served as some family Mausoleum. It looked a little like this…
Mausoleum
Now, this was not a cemetery.
It was in a rural hillside, in the middle of a long abandoned tree line where the nearest house was miles away. It was isolated.
Nice hill.
Nice mausoleum.
Totally out of the blue. A real surprise. All up in the middles of this grand hillside view.
Who would have thought?
3454687589
Later, say a a few months later, I asked a friend of mine about the place, and he knew about it. The story goes something like this…
There was once this wealthy family in a small town. The town grew and got prosperous. The family bought up a lot of land, and as the town prospered the family got very wealthy. The head of the family built the tomb on a field that he favored for family outings and picnics with.
After he died there was a change in fortune. His family either died off and moved away. And the town became a few remaining houses until that too was abandoned. And thus all that remains is the tomb.
The estate has established a trust fund that pays for groundskeepers to maintain the hill in a pristine croquet field, and to makes sure that no one vandalizes the idyllic environment. That that is the story of this place.
Still.
Preserving the hilltop for future generations to have picnics on; to fly kites on…
494446a733ab91f5e20e280f2277c499
Or, to have romantic dates on…
eccaca0fc6d49b414ad165eb79396e39
Or, you know; to sky gaze at night on is glorious.
This fellow did good. And I for one want to tell you all… have adventures.
And when you have the time to leave something behind, make it useful and memorable. Leave something behind for the generations that follow…
Today…
China sez “we’re done playin'”
China has called-off arms control talks with US over weapon sales to Taiwan.
China has cut off arms control and NUCLEAR non-proliferation talks with the United States because of Washington’s arms sales to Taiwan, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
“China has decided to suspend talks with the US on holding a new round of arms control and non-proliferation consultations,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. “The responsibility for this situation lies entirely with the US.”
He said the US’ continued sales of weapons to the island in the face of Beijing’s opposition had “severely damaged the political atmosphere necessary for continued arms control consultations between the two sides.”
“Washington must respect Beijing’s core interests if communication is to continue” the Chinese foreign ministry said.
Russia launches a giant 6,000-pound bomb from an SU-34 for the first time
This is crazy big news.
Note this video about the massive Russian submarine nuke bombs for the United States Eastern states. Fly over, drop and swim. Then Ka-blooey!
What is something you wish you had known sooner?
I have a very toned body, like massively toned for a female. I didn’t work for it. It’s just natural. I didn’t know my body was like this until I went to high school. They called me “tough”. I would be teased so badly. Girls followed me around the school laughing at me and calling me names. Adults weren’t any better. On top of that, I had horrible eczema. I hated high school so badly that I skipped school half the year. Woke up many days crying telling my mom I’m sick. Still I got good grades. School wasn’t hard, people were. Complete strangers that I never once tried to hurt had no issues in giving me a hard time.
Eventually high school ended. Hallelujah. And I moved to another city. I worked in tourism and foreigners loved my body. They hardly criticized me. One day a bodybuilder came up to me and told me my body’s amazing. He advised to enter the national bodybuilding competition. If I win that and Caribbean then the possibilities would be endless. I could travel the world.
I wish I could tell you I did it and won. I started training then dropped out. I didn’t want the world to see my body. That was a couple years ago. Now, I love my body and see how invaluable it is. I wish I had known sooner that being this different was a blessing and I should not have taken it for granted. Maybe I would be a world champ by now. But, it’s not too late, I just might enter the bodybuilding competition this year.
Even though I wish I had known sooner that my differences are amazing, I’m happy I know now. I appreciate every bit of me despite what others think. And trust me I’ve been told so many times “You’re different”. I was even the outcast in my family but I’ll tell that story a next time. Love, appreciate and endorse you for you truly are unique. See a pic of my legs with some bug bites (darn mosquitoes).
Fried Ravioli with Quick Tomato Sauce
Toasted Ravioli 2
Yield: 6 to 10 servings as an hors d’oeuvre or 4 to 6 servings as a first course; 2 1/2 cups sauce
Ingredients
Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans Italian-style tomatoes, with liquid
9 ounces frozen or refrigerated ravioli of your choice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
Begin with the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over moderate heat and Sauté the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, until tender but not brown.
Add the tomatoes, breaking up the larger pieces with the edge of a spoon if necessary, and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened some.
Add the basil and season with salt and pepper.
Cook the ravioli according to the package directions.
Drain and manually separate the ravioli to prevent them from sticking together. Blot dry with paper towels.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet (preferably nonstick) over moderate heat and Sauté the ravioli for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until lightly browned and slightly crisp.
Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.
China’s Surprise Move: U.S. Chips Banned After Yellen Visit
Were you deathly ill but didn’t know until you went to the hospital and they told you?
I got up one morning and my left hand was swollen. I couldn’t find an insect bite, but thought maybe a spider bit me in my sleep. This was in the early 90s before the internet was a resource for research. I spent the day with family and attended a funeral. The next morning the swelling went up to my elbow. Still thinking about an insect bite I took some Benadryl and carried on. The next morning my entire arm was swollen and I went to a walk in clinic. The physician’s assistant took one look and sent me to a doctor nearby. He asked me to stop moving my arm. I showed him that I was able to bend it and he said stop! The Doctor was a vascular interventionist. At that time I was not a nurse and had limited medical knowledge. I thought that was strange but I went. The Doctor there looked at my arm and and asked me to meet him at his clinic next door in the hospital. He didn’t give me a diagnosis, just go there and he would se me there. I finally realized that this was serious when the nurses were shaving my chest, attaching electrodes and asking me to sign paperwork all at the same time! I had a blood clot at the brachial artery! The doctor removed it while I was under conscious sedation and I spent a week in cardiac ICU on a heparin drip confined to the bed. Moving the arm could have dislodged part of the clot sending it to my brain or lungs. And I stood outside the hospital and smoked a cigarette before I went inside! I was so impressed by the doctor and the nurses that I went back to school and graduated the nursing program! That’s how I became a nurse!
What is your opinion of J.D. Vance?
From my perch across the Pacific several thousand miles away from Washington, I think Vance’s perspectives on foreign affairs seem to dovetail quite closely with Trump’s world view:
He favors a negotiated peace with Russia over Ukraine, believing that Ukraine cannot win;
He thinks Europe needs to take more responsibility for its own security;
He believes the US needs to shift its focus to Asia (again) to prioritize and counter China’s economic and military rise, prioritizing this over traditional American alliances in Europe; and
He’s an economic nationalist. This includes protectionist policies such as tariffs and reducing reliance on foreign goods.
Whether you agree with him or not (and on economic policy, I’m a globalist who believes protectionism is bad for both the US and the global economy), it’s pretty clear that Trump 2.0 will be marked by trade wars, a pronounced “America first” policy — whatever that means — and increased tensions with traditional US allies in Europe. But there also seems to be some pragmatism about it (for example, engagement with Putin on Ukraine).
I think with Trump 2.0, we’re potentially seeing the beginning of a tectonic shift in world geopolitics — a framework that has been in place pretty much since the end of WWII.
MM Art
The theme is ” A man and his cat”.
@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(12)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(12)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(10)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(11)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(8)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(7)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(6)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(5)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(4)
Teletubbies the Horror Movie – 1950s Super Panavision 70
What shocked you when you opened someone’s safe deposit box at the bank?
When my in-laws died we went to the bank to retrieve the contents of their safe deposit box. The bank has gone through a line of mergers and name changes over the years, my in-laws stayed loyal. We knew the box number but did not have the key.
We were told that there was no safe deposit box. We went home and found the paperwork from the original bank. The current bank got back to us that the box was marked as abandoned years ago for nonpayment and they assumed the contents were sent to the state. We countered that the box was free if they kept their accounts at the bank, the deal with the original bank. They had no answer.
My wife was devastated. Her grandmother’s wedding ring was in that box. We contact the state and they had no record of the box being turned over.
We went back to the bank with that information. The bank officer said things got lost between all the mergers etc over the years. Just out of desperation I asked who held that box number now. They said it was vacant. I asked to open it.. they did and there were my in-laws possessions!
There wasn’t much. Some long obsolete paperwork, an envelope that had photos of every room In their house from the 1960s, for insurance purposes, and thankfully the ring!
Living Paycheck to Paycheck ….. Part 2
Amazing
Another amazing Chinese airport where workers have moved mountains to build a new airport, quite literally.
main qimg fa6c02b78d6ae15b78c86c6462f36722
Workers in Chongqing needed to flattened the top of a mountain nearly 6000 feet above the sea level in order to construct the Wushan Airport.
The airport IATA: WSK ICAO: ZUWS is located at the border of Wushan and Fengjie counties, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the county seat, and mainly serves tourists to the nearby Three Gorges region. Construction began on 20 April 2015, and the airport was opened on 16 August 2019
“Jane!” A voice bellowed from the recesses of the ship. “Where is my grapefruit?”“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” A voice echoed from the opposite direction.“My grapefruit, Jane! The one I specifically had my name on! The one you stole!”“First of all, why would you print your name on a freaking grapefruit? Second of all, if you didn’t want me to take it, you shouldn’t have put it in a community fridge.”“So you did take it!”“Why is this grapefruit so important, anyway?”“Do you know, Jane, how many people have died in ships due to scurvy? Do you?!”“So eat an orange!”“The orange is overrated! The grapefruit is the only citrus fruit that understands me.”Charlie groaned and pressed his forehead against the table. “Lewis, we just had a shipment of grapefruit yesterday, get another one!”
“Shut up, Charlie! This doesn’t concern you!”
“I don’t even know why you try anymore.” Lyra flipped her braid as she slid in next to him.
“Because you well know how much worse it will get if I don’t.”
Harriet groaned as she remembered the third great prank war.
Jane and Lewis were in an argument over their favorite colors, and it escalated into a full-blown war. Everywhere anyone turned, there was another trap set for either Lewis or Jane.
Somehow, they ended up joining forces against the rest of the ship and wreaked havoc upon the crew of the Flame.
They feared that it would spread to the other ships of the fleet, but luckily, Charlie recovered from his bout of illness quickly, and managed to calm both Lewis and Jane within the hour.
But the crew would never forget the horror and fear they faced in that week; that was the day Charlie became the unofficial leader of all things Lewis and Jane.
“I don’t even know why they’re on the same ship after that stunt; much less the mothership.”
Lyra took a lasting gulp of coffee. “Jane’s the best engineer in the whole fleet.”
“And Lewis is crazy good with the servers and the rest of the ship’s tech.” Harriet supplied, flicking a crumb of her muffin.
“Plus, they’re great gunners in a pinch and work well with everyone except each other.”
Claude snorted as he walked in. “Tell that to the Horogin embassy from two month ago.
“Listen,” Lewis looked up from his tablet, “we all agree that the embassy was a mistake, just like we all agree that in general, Jane and Lewis are remarkable workers.”
“Besides,” Harriet simpered, “can you really picture them anywhere else?”
The room fell silent except for the gurgle of the coffee maker as each of the four tried to imagine Jane or Lewis stationed on any other ship.
“Fair point.” Lyra admitted. “So can I just be put on another ship? I grew up on the Growth; agriculture is not something so easily forgotten.” Her violet braid twisted in front of her and seemed to writhe in agreement.
“Uh, Charlie?” Claude pointed. “There’s a problem.”
Charlie took one look at the floating braid before letting out a groan.
He tapped the screen of his tablet and set it down, a holograph of a red-headed man slowly taking form.
“Hey Charlie!” He showed of a gap-toothed grin. “Your gravity messing up too?”
“Yep.”
“Yeah, I just got off a vid with the captain about it. Lewis is checking it out now.”
“Lewis? Isn’t he usually on servers?”
“Usually, but since he passed out on another late night shift yesterday, I figured putting him on monitor watching duty was a better plan.”
“Alright.”
A blond man with dark, circular glasses stomped past, an indescribable look on his face.
“Lewis, you figure it out yet?”
“Yeah, Arnold, it’ll be fixed in a sec.” He disappeared from view.
“Hey Jane!” A voice came from both the tablet and the hallway. “Something’s blocking the free-float tube!”
“Yeah, that’s probably your grapefruit.”
“You didn’t even eat it?!” The screech caused both Lyra and Charlie to wince. “What the heck?”
“I don’t like grapefruit.”
“So you took it from me for the sole pleasure of depriving me joy?”
“Yeah.” A clang was heard and Lyra’s braid dropped. “It’s in the compost bin now.”
“I hate you, you know!”
“Just like I hate grapefruit?”
An indecipherable collection of sounds was heard, before the hologram showed Lewis stomping back to his post.
“Good work, buddy.” Arnold offered, to what might as well have been empty space.
“Thanks for dealing with it, A.” Charlie picked up the tablet. “Good luck.”
“No, man, good luck to you. Lewis has his morning break in five minutes.” And with a wink, Arnold was gone.
“But that’s the same time Jane’s on break.” Lyra remarked.
The four looked at each other with wide eyes, then at their meager breakfast.
“Hide the grapefruit.”
Trump didn’t drain the swamp, he appointed the worst reptiles
Is there any car which thieves can not steal?
Where I live in Brazil, car theft is somewhat of a problem. For the most part thieves choose commonly found, locally manufactured models, like Ford Fiestas, Fiat Palios, and Volkswagen Foxes, and then take them to chop-shops who tear them down and resell the parts online.
Models that are ten years old or older are very sought after because they are often relatively easy to steal and parts for them are harder to find, so the demand for things like fuel pumps, taillights and radiators is greater.
If you go on to Brazilian eBay and buy a used or reconditioned alternator, chances are very high that it is from a stolen car. There is a whole black market industry for car parts all across of South America that is literally impossible to stop.
Ironically, if you drive a high-end model like a Mercedes, BMW or Range Rover no one will steal it. First because it is way too conspicuous to drive around in a high end car than a common one, you’ll most certainly get caught, and second because selling the parts is much more difficult because there are not that many high end models around, not to mention that the people who own these cars are wealthy enough to pay a dealership to fix them when they need service.
I have two cars, a 2009 Volkswagen Gol (a somewhat cheaper model under the Golf) and a 2010 Volvo XC60 T5. No one will touch the Volvo because it’s the only one in town and thieves know that Volvos have a factory GPS system installed in them that’s really hard to deactivate, but I really have to keep my eye on the Gol because Gols are all over the place and it is a very sought after car to steal.
Someone tried to steal my Gol a few years ago — they broke the small triangle window behind the back door to unlock the car, then they popped the hood and cut the wires to the alarm. Then they broke the ignition lock and used a screwdriver to force it to engage the starter. It was during the night and the car was right outside my bedroom window; I didn’t hear a thing.
I woke up the next morning and the car wasn’t there, so I called the insurance company who used a tracking system like lo-jack to find it, it was unlocked, sitting around the corner and all of the thieves’ tools were on the seats and the floor — even the screwdriver was still sticking out of the ignition.
I’m guessing that the thieves gave up and fled the scene when they couldn’t get the engine to turn over and a cop car came down the street, or something like that.
They couldn’t start the engine because I had installed an engine kill switch up and under the dashboard where no one could see it. Two feet of wire, a toggle switch and a 10-amp fuse saved my car from being stolen: total cost of $4.00.
The Volvo on the other hand is exceptionally hard to steal, not because of the GPS system, but because of how the ignition system was designed.
There is no key to turn, so there is no ignition lock to break; to start the car I put the remote that unlocks the doors in the dashboard and push a button. The steering lock is further down the steering column than in most cars — it actually sits under the engine at the firewall, so it’s very hard to get to.
The Volvo also has another feature that many cars don’t have, and it’s not a factory-installed feature. You could literally take a baseball bat to the windshield and it won’t break. You could also unload a full clip of .44 magnum rounds into the driver’s side window and it won’t shatter.
The car is bulletproof — the previous owner had it bulletproofed when she bought it new in 2010. It has inch-thick glass and Kevlar all around, including the roof, so just getting into the car is no easy task.
You’d probably be able to force the door open with a crowbar, but that would break the door’s closing mechanism making it kind of hard to drive, that is if you were able to get around the steering lock and the keyless ignition.
Very hard to steal. Hard to car-jack at an intersection too, something all too common in cities like Rio de Janeiro on hot summer days when people are stuck in traffic.
Of course, one could always use a tow truck.
Would you believe that I don’t even have insurance on the Volvo? Except of course for the mandatory Government insurance that costs about $5.00 a year. I know that someone won’t steal it – they won’t even try.
The Gol on the other hand is insured, to the hilt, with a super-low deductible, which costs me about $600.00 a year. It’s not worth very much though, maybe $2000.00, so the insurance company believes someone will steal it in a little over three years.
So, it all depends on where you live and the car you drive, what security features it has. No car is truly unstealable, but some of them are much harder to steal than others.
Are Chinese people aware of the power of their country in comparison to others?
Many Chinese are shocked when they first hear that westerners are afraid of China and Chinese.
Immediate reaction is “What did we do? We just work hard and mind our own business and sell stuff to everybody. Once in a while we get annoyed at Taiwan or the Philippines, but we don’t really do anything.”
They are unaware that it is because of their hard work and competition in Chinese society, that China is very powerful and influential in the aggregate.
“They’re LYING about the economy, this is now a DEPRESSION” Top Economist Warns
Regardless of who will be the next president of the United States, do you think the US will continue to fight a trade war with China? Or will it clearly understand that the root of the problem lies within the country itself?
I believed that will happened in about a decade from now! Britain took generations to accept that it has lost its hegemony to the US and I am sure it took at least a century for Romans to accept that it is no longer the head honcho.
The US is no different. It is in a generation of being in denial and it refused to recognised that the more it fights China the faster it goes down! And the best thing to do is to accept a secondary role of working with China to help its people to keep doing well and not lose everything!
Of course it is the US own doing that put it into present situation. Why?
First the US thought wrongly that it could pay its workers and its CEO the sky if they wanted and that they can always charge these excesses to the consumer and they will be willing to do so! But that is simply not true. Even US consumers won’t pay for over priced products!
Second they wrongly assumed that China and Chinese cannot innovate and makes better and better products and moved up the supply chain! This is due to their racial bias that cost them dearly. China learn very fast and catch up and overtook the US in no time! The idea that China steal intellectual property and copy is what caused the US to under estimated China and the Chinese people!
Thirdly the US wrongly thought that it ruled the world and yet stay competitive. The truth is to compete one need to be very driven and focus and the US is fighting forever wars and warmongering 24/7, 365 days a year. And it left the UD very weak in investment and infrastructures and the US simply cannot compete. While they lack skill and well trained engineers China has in abundance of resources and talents.
Forthly the US thought that it could fight any body and everyone in the world without repercussions. It is not true. The world turned against the US. And the world wants the US to fail because no one wants to be bullied by the US.
The US wrongly thought that their market is the biggest, today the US is really a very insignificant market today. The biggest market Center is East Asia, followed by ASEAN, followed by Europe and then comes North America with Indian sub continent and Central Asia growing fast, so is Africa and Latin America. Today the entire supply chain will stay in China not just because of China but Asian market is closed to 60% of the world market.
The US will fight another trade war but in reality it is sinking in the quick sand. Mark my word in 10 years leaders cannot win elections if they cannot have a positive relationship with China! It is simply economics!
Which habits of middle-class people keep them middle class?
Several behaviors prevent the middle class from ascending.
Spending large sums on depreciating assets. If you want to be wealthy, your only large purchases should be investments, not vehicles or gaming computers.
Buying more house than needed. While a house is an investment, if your paychecks are all going to pay a mortgage and upkeep, you are short funds for investing. If housing prices collapse again, you won’t even have the equity.
Not having 3–6 months of living expenses saved in case of a lay-off or emergency. Unemployment isn’t going to pay all your bills and living off credit cards until you get a new job is an expensive mistake. Putting an emergency cost on credit cards means you will pay at least twice as much with interest added than if using savings.
Paying banks, instead of themselves. Interest payments are a huge waste. Imagine if you had that $500–1000/ month credit interest going to investments instead of to banks.
Not understanding what is an investment rather than a purchase. Sellers use investment in advertising, but they lie. You don’t invest in a nice suit, you purchase it. The next day it is used clothing and worth 1/2 what you paid for it. You don’t invest in furniture, you purchase it. An investment is an asset expected to go up in value over time.
Investing only in their employer’s stocks. It isn’t a good idea to invest in only one stock, industry or investment type. Putting money in a variety decreases your risks.
Passing up job opportunities or promotions because you don’t like the people you will be working with, the added responsibility and/or travel involved. The road to the corner office might detour through a landfill, but it is the only way to get there. Promotions may not be offered a second time. The job opportunity you are holding out for may never happen.
Nobody get rich using coupons. It takes a complete budget and lifestyle that spends less than you make and that includes investing. Saving $20 a week on groceries, but spending an extra $600 a month on a new vehicle you just had to have makes no sense.
Money is not the goal, it is the tool. If you save up $100,000 and it just sits in a savings account, you are losing money and the potential for becoming financially independent.
You have to set aside money for fun or your budget will fail. Sacrifice is easy the first month. By the time you reach the fortieth month, sacrifices can feel like a vise on your life. Adding fun dollars to your budget will let you enjoy life while still reaching your financial goals.
Six foreigners allegedly poisoned in Bangkok luxury hotel
Is the Chinese government and its people considered perfect? If not, what are some reasons for this?
No, it is far from perfect and there is always room for improvement.
The important thing is to have a channel to provide input to government officials, explain why something needs to change to make it better, and see if they can make the change.
This is very different from the idea of free speech in the west because while people have the right to elect new leaders at election time, there is no way to request changes on a small scale, and then to follow up on them.
The Chinese way is to ask for changes on an ongoing basis, explain the rationale for the change, and if the official feels that it is reasonable, ask him to make the change. If he does NOT make the change within a reasonable time, then move up the ladder, and complain to his superior.
And so on and so forth…
So in the western system, you vote for the person and hope that he makes the macro changes you want. In the Chinese system, you go to the local official and request that he make the micro change you want. If the request is reasonable, he should make the change. If he does not, he will likely be voted out at the local level. Since he is also a Party member, failure to act on reasonable requests will affect his opportunity for promotion in the future, and affect his own career.
In court, what was the most devastating cross-examination of a witness that you ever saw?
My in-laws used to live across the street from a drug dealer. They often called the police where there were cars coming and going from his property, picking up “product”. This cut into his business, and led to several ugly confrontations between him and my in-laws.
One day my then-fiancee was visiting her parents, and was in the back of the house when there was a commotion out front, complete with gunshots. She didn’t see anything, but both her parents and one of her brothers claimed they saw said drug dealer leaning out of his upstairs window, firing a gun. From his body language and what words they could make out, his intent was clear: Stop interfering with my business, or the next time I won’t be firing into the air but at you.
They called the police and he was charged with aggravated menacing. Some months later, I attended the trial as a spectator, as my fiancee (now wife) was a witness. The drug dealer took the stand in his own defense. After a well-rehearsed examination by his attorney, it was the prosecuting attorney’s turn.
“Mr. ___, on [date], did you fire several shots from a handgun into the air from the second story window of your home?”
“No, I did not. I don’t even have a gun.”
“You own no firearms whatsoever? On [date], you didn’t have a single firearm in the house?”
“That’s right. I didn’t have no guns then.”
A look of confusion spread of the DA’s face as he quickly pawed through his notes.
“Now, on [date of previous police call to his home], didn’t you tell Officer ____ that you had an extensive collection of firearms and that you were an expert in their use?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, did you lie to Officer ____?”
“What?”
“Did you lie to Officer ____ back on [previous date], or did you lie to the jury just now?”
“Yeah, I lied.”
I suspect that if you want to be taken seriously by a jury, you should not admit that you are a liar and may have just lied to them on the witness stand.
He was convicted, despite testimony from friends who gave him an alibi. The jury must have thought they were liars, too.
Washington’s belief that the United States will not suffer from a new global war and that the main actions will unfold on the European continent is a misconception, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
The stark language from Foreign Minister Lavrov was used during a UN Security Council meeting.
The clear implication is that the “main actions” of another global war would also unfold on the North American continent. Here. Inside the USA.
Keen observers agree there is no other rational interpretation of the remarks.
Yet as this story is published at 1:10 PM EDT on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Americans, for the most part, remain blissfully unaware of how dangerous the world situation is right now. They have no idea at all that the US Government has taken actions so grave, that the American heartland is now being openly discussed as a future war zone.
How this particular remark arose in the UN was after White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, said that “Washington does not want a war with Russia as it would affect the European continent.”
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov mentioned this remark and then said (verbatim) “In Washington, they are convinced that a new global war will affect not the US, but their European allies. If this analysis forms the basis of the Biden administration’s strategy, it is a very dangerous misconception, and Europeans should realize what a suicidal role has been assigned to them.”
Any resolution of the European crisis must include concrete steps to eliminate the threats to Russia that emanate from the West, the diplomat went on to say. He recalled that Moscow’s conditions for establishing lasting peace in Ukraine have already been outlined by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin also noted that Zelensky’s term has expired and his legitimacy cannot be restored by any means.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov clarified that Putin does not rule out negotiations with Ukraine, as there are other legitimate authorities there.
For his part, Lavrov emphasized that Russia is ready to seek a balance of interests to resolve the current crisis in Ukraine, taking into account new geostrategic realities on the Eurasian continent.
Let’s summarize;
War with Russia;
Destruction of Europe
Nuclear destruction of the United States via missiles
War with China;
Destruction of QUAD nations (Australia, Japan, Korea, Philippines)
Nuclear destruction of the United States via missiles
Chicken and Ravioli Cacciatore
13485t3
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, halved and sliced
1/2 medium green bell pepper, sliced
1 cup water
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes w/garlic, oregano, and basil
8 ounces tomato sauce
9 ounces refrigerated cheese ravioli
Instructions
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken, onion and bell pepper; cook and stir until chicken is browned.
Stir in water, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Add ravioli, covering it with tomato mixture. If necessary carefully separate ravioli. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until sauce is of desired consistency and chicken is no longer pink, stirring frequently.
Chow time does SSM
He reviews one of SSM’s best. Have a chuckle.
If local detectives show up at your door and say your name came up in one of their investigations and they’d like you to come down to the station with them to talk about it, does that usually mean you’re a suspect?
About 15 years ago, a very expensive piece of equipment, ($30k market value at the time) was stolen from my place of employment. I was the one who discovered it missing and I was the one who called it in to our security office, who contacted the local police. I gave my statement to our in house security and the lead detective from the local law enforcement gave me his card and asked me to go down to the station to meet him and take an official statement on the coming Saturday (three days away at the time) at 8am.
I thought that was weird, but I agreed and was at the station at 7:45 am that Saturday. I checked in with the clerk who said the detective wasn’t in yet. I knew I was early so it wasn’t a big deal to wait. At 8:30 am, the detective walks out and acted surprised to see me. He then stated that he thought he told me 9 am. I showed him the business card he gave me and how I scribbled “Sat 8am” on the back of it. He gave the most insincere apology I ever heard and then told me he wasn’t ready for me yet and asked if I could wait 15 minutes and that he could have someone get me a coffee.
I agreed to wait and took the offer for the coffee. Half an hour later, he walks by and asked, “Did you not get your coffee?” and I said no, and he said, I’ll get right on that, I just need a few more minutes.” Half an hour after that, someone comes to get me and brings me to an interview room (still no coffee). Another 15 minutes later the detective show up with his partner.
They start asking me questions which I thought were peculiar. Then it hit me that I wasn’t just giving a statement, they were interviewing me as a person of interest. I am the first one every morning to open the location from which the equipment was taken. The surveillance video showed a team of 3 who knew exactly what they were doing and how to go about it. None of their faces were ever turned to the cameras and they knew exactly what they wanted, how to get it as quickly as possible and how to get it out of the building without being noticed.
The detectives thought that someone on the inside had provided the thieves with the intel they needed to get away with it, and I was suspect numero uno. Knowing what I know now, I would have immediately ceased talking to these detectives without a lawyer present. They grilled me for 4 more hours trying to break me into a confession of being an accomplice, which I was not.
It turns out that the thieves were a ring of professionals who spent a week scoping out the location to figure out how best to get their prize. The same individuals had hit 11 other institutions on the eastern coast of the US. It also turns out that the lead detective on the case who gave me such a hard time was also later convicted of stealing cash from the evidence room of his own station. Reading that headline made me smile because he was a huge jerk and it blew my mind that he even made detective in the first place, but it also made me sad for our justice system as a whole at the same time.
Also I never did get that coffee…
Which story in American history is hard to believe?
One story I’ve always found hard to believe is that of Lee Harvey Oswald having acted completely alone. People tend to forget that the guy defected to Soviet Russia for about a year. He renounced his citizenship, and worked for the Soviets for a while, who sent him to Minsk.
main qimg cd2734cccf425ca36aa4fcb76fc8bdb0 lq
Oswald went back to America because, as he wrote in his diary, he “found the work drab”. Soviet Russia was no fun. So he returned to America. How! How on earth did a US citizen defect to the Soviet Union and just… return. Like it’s no big deal. What the hell? He married a Russian wife, they have two daughters. Settle in America. Oswald, for the record, is a former marine. He’s an excellent marksman (finest in his unit) and for two years, he’s left completely undisturbed by US authorities despite having defected and worked for their enemies for a year. And, when he was just 24 years of age, he goes and — allegedly — kills President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.
It’s hard to believe an American citizen defected to the number one enemy of America in the middle of the Cold War, was allowed back to the United States without trouble, only to assassinate the president and get killed almost immediately after by a random citizen while in policy custody.
Valiant Thor: A UFO, the Pentagon and a 3-year Mission to Save the World
My father loved T-bone steaks. When I was growing up he always made a “big deal” about having T-bone steaks for dinner.
66ac77cedef80123c2c30d9aa67a9d86
Later, when I was in elementary school, budget constraints made this event fewer and fewer. But always, I was allowed to gnaw at the bone when my father was finished . This was when I was in first grade or so. By third grade, these steak meals were few and far between.
4ed3639a402df38aadcd116949c15dfd
It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s and married that I was reintroduced to steaks again. My wife thought that they were too expensive, and so we didn’t eat them at all, she instead insisted in more vegetarian fare, and salad bars. In those days we rarely ate at home, and the restaurants that served steaks were beyond our means.
a7036732a3cbb4ced50b2443d93f087a
But, my mother insisted that we eat some “real food”, and would cook filet mignon steaks. Which, I will tell you all is awesome.
c9073f7b401a3d9efdee223addb00b56
Perhaps one of my biggest mistakes was to allow the dietary choices and preferences of my partner; my mentally ill wife, to dictate what I would eat. When we had money, she would insist on spending it on organic kale, seaweed, and borage leaves. Instead of delicious steaks, chicken or fish.
fe819bde31dfaed15f88b8ed56205c16
Oh sure. She would go in and out of these fads… depending on her emotions.
When we lived in Mississippi, for instance, she would become enamored with this seafood buffet. And I will tell you that I don’t know what was in that fish, but it really, REALLY turned her libido on. man, oh man! I’ll tell you what.
0f9993ea3f6bafcc33d9dc564691aa6c
It’s, still to this day, a private joke that we share.
You see, what you eat; what you put inside of you matters.
Life is too short to eat overly processed food; potato chips, Doritos, sugary snacks, and just stale bland food. Eat less, but eat much better quality.
963d0c65d7a67d5bfcf17b842537a323
Eat less, but eat much better quality food.
It’s one of the on-going themes of China.
Today…
China and the United States
It’s not that. It’s just that Trump is an idiot. He doesn’t understand economics or trade.
He actually thought that the US would win a trade war with China in 2 weeks like Japan during the 90s. And that China would surrender to him.
So it’s not that the politicians are willing to undermine their own economy. It’s that they’re too dumb to understand this.
They still think they did it wrong. That’s why the US didn’t win. So Biden is trying something else. Double down and win.
And now if Trump is elected. He will try again with some other strategy. And Trump has said that he is going to hire Lighthizer as trade secretary this time. So expect more stupid moves.
The problem with Chinese experts working for the Chinese government is that they know too much. And they’re right. Anyone with a right mind would not decouple or even think about it because it would harm the US economy.
But the US politicians are not Chinese. It’s like a professional fighter fighting some random person with no training.
They will do stupid things because they don’t know any better.
Why did Quora delete a perfectly reasonable question about the decline of the US?
Quora is chock-full of Americans who are emotionally fragile with easily damaged egos because the US is not the most powerful, awesome, star-spangled, biggest-dick country on the planet. We’re not the “bestest,” to use a Biden-ism. Americans don’t want to face the fact that we’re an empire in steep decline.
We suck at war. Since World War 2, the only war that the US has won was the First Gulf War, which was limited in scope and a global effort. In World War 2 in Europe, Russia did most of the fighting and dying. The US-instigated Russo-Ukrainian War is a NATO disaster.
Russia is now producing three times as many artillery shells as all NATO countries combined:
Russia has more nuclear weapons and better delivery systems than the US. For example, Russia had the Poseidon nuclear torpedo with a range of 6,000 mi (10,000 m). From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:
Powered by a compact nuclear reactor, it is believed the Poseidon could travel at unprecedented speeds of 100 knots (185 kilometers per hour), have a range of
approximately 10,000 kilometers, and operate at depths of up to 1,000 meters. Designed to evade detection by acoustic tracking devices and other traps, the Poseidon has a diameter of approximately 1.6 to two meters. Particularly riveting is the torpedo’s devastating payload: a nuclear warhead with a likely yield of at least several megatons (with early reports suggesting it could yield up to 100 megatons). For comparison, Russia’s Tsar Bomba—the most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested—had an estimated blast yield of about 50 megatons.
According to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (retired) and many others, China would crush the US Navy in the South China Sea. From his interview on Dialog works:
“If we [the US] go to war with China, we will lose in the opening 30 to 45 days. Casualties will be humongous like we haven’t seen since our Civil War. They’ll be more like Gettysburg, 55,000, I think, in 3 days. They’ll be like Passchendaele, like Ypres, in World War 1, and, you know, we’ll lose two, three carriers the first week, first month.”—Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (retired)
According to Scott Ritter because of the US warmongering, Russia will probably assist North Korea in improving its solid fuel rocket boosters for intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles so that North Korea can extend its range from the US West Coast to any US target.
The US president is mentally little more than a crash-test dummy. He has the world close to World War 3 and nuclear war. Pres. Crash-test Dummy and the US neocons/chickenhawks tried to prevent Russia and China from forming an economic alliance, but like Wile E. Coyote, Supergenius, from Looney Tunes, their plans had the opposite effect.
In a colossal act of stupidity, Pres. Crash-test Dummy committed an act of terrorism against a NATO ally:
For those who may not know, Seymour Hersh is one of the greatest investigative journalists in US history. He’s had a string of accurate news articles from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam to Abu Ghraib in Iraq:
I’m not comparing Russia to Nazi Germany, but would Winston Churchill and FDR have purchased goods from Nazi Germany?
The US sanctions, tariffs, and confiscation of sovereign assets have backfired on the US. Russia will win the Russo-Ukrainian War, and the BRICS trade alliance will continue to unseat the US dollar as a world reserve currency. The BRICS has almost 40 more countries that want to join in 2024. The BRICS will control most of the Middle Eastern oil, and for all intents and purposes, Russia and China have displaced the US in Africa:
Many Americans think that US sanctions will stop China from making the next generation of computer chips. I hate to inform Americans, but astrophysics has shown that the laws of physics hold throughout the known universe and in particular, in China. China will develop the capability to make the next generation of computer chips.
Here’s the US in microcosm. China just had a successful mission to the previously unexplored dark side of the Moon.
[2]The US’s Boeing Starliner is stuck at the International Space Station.
[3]The US government, NASA, and Boeing are trying to tell us that nothing’s wrong. Yeah, sure, whatever. By the way, last week, a tire came off a Boeing 737 at the Los Angeles International Airport and bounced into a local LA neighborhood.
The fall of the US Empire has a lot in common with the fall of the Roman Empire. We have mentally and morally unfit people throughout the US government. We have grifters throughout the US government. We have plutocrats stealing resources, making US citizens poor and homeless. We have an escalating and unmanageable national debt. Our politicians are diverting badly needed resources into the coffers of corporations and wealthy individuals. The US military is overextended all over the world and lacks the capacity to bring “freedom and democracy” to the global South.
Americans excel at self-absorption, superstition, wank-fests, and according to Britons on Quora, not geography. If you don’t believe the US is the bestest at everything, you’re a traitor.
To quote George Carlin:
You’re just another American who is willfully ignorant of the big red, white, and blue dick being shoved up your asshole every day… The owners of this country know the truth… it’s called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it!
1 pound ground beef or diced chicken or pork
5 ounces dry fideo or vermicelli
1 tablespoon oil or shortening
1 medium chopped onion
1 (15 ounce) can chicken broth
1/2 cup water
2 or 3 tablespoons chili powder
Salt or garlic salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Sauté selected meat until done, set aside.
In the same pan, heat oil or shortening and lightly brown fideo, stirring constantly. Add chopped onion halfway through browning.
Add chicken broth and water.
Return meat to pan. Add chili powder, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
For extra “zip,” add sliced jalapenos or ground cayenne pepper.
What is the most inappropriate experience you had with a debt collection agency?
I was working night shift at a hospital & went in to pick up my check one afternoon only to find my wages had been garnished by a debt collection company. This was grounds for dismissal from the hospital that I worked for so I immediately called to find out what the debt was. I was told it was from a doctor who had delivered a daughter 3 months prior. At that time I was 44 yrs old, white & my only child, a son, was at that time 24 yrs old. The woman that had the child was black & 26 yrs old. I also worked five days a week & no one could tell I had been pregnant & I was working on the night the child had been born. I got the address of the company & on my next off day I went to the company with my time card, my OB/Gyn report of an exam from 3 months before the supposed birth. Even the receptionist could tell that the person they were trying to collect from wasn’t me. When I talked to someone in charge his comment was “Don’t you remember having the baby?” He would not listen to anything or look at any documents. They had called the hospital where the baby had been delivered & got my social security number from them because I had worked at that hospital years before. They would not release the garnishment & I couldn’t get paid. When I left there I went to my lawyers office ( a friend) & said he would handle it. He wrote both the collection company, doctor & the hospital which gave my social security number a nice letter. I bought a new car & a house.
Putin & Xi’s Secret Plan to Confront NATO? Israel’s Battle with Hezbollah! | Paul Craig Roberts
Paul Craig Roberts.
Are inmates allowed to spend the entire day sleeping?
Sometimes in a county jail, you can sleep all day. Recently arrested for a DUI, and had a cell with an Amigo who spoke no English. I got a lot of sleep over the course of 2 to 3 days. It’s not good sleep because it’s saturated with worry and concern about getting out.
However in federal prison, you can’t sleep all day. Way before the DUI, I went to Federal Prison for something unrelated. Your bed has to be made by a certain time and you can’t be found under the covers. If you are found under the covers, you are written up. If you sleep, it’s a crime and you got to have lookouts. Occasionally you will be raided.
There are programs they have during the day; GED, HVAC, Electrical, Culinary Arts, the Library, The recreation yard if you want to get in shape or if you’re the worker type; plenty of jobs for you including landscaping, kitchen work, furniture assembly. The job may pay $100 to $200 a month. There are even more opportunities in “hustling.” Some sell coffee, drinks, have food stores, carry heavy commissary bags, sneak food out kitchen, etc. So they have designed it to keep your mind off of the time. The whole idea is to minimize escape attempts.
I heard there was once a Prison with no TVs as they took them away from the inmates acting up. There were 5 escapes a year from it. If all a person has to do is think, he will out think you. After the ordeal, each Prison has about 8 TVs in each dorm area. There are 12 dorm areas. The TV room is open after you’re done with the programs and eating during the day.
The number one deterrent for sleep is the inmates. They know if you are sleeping all day and will try and wake you up out of concern. “Get out that bed man.” many will say as they walk by. They may even tell on you.
Here’s some of my latest AI generated art
These are a figurative experiment. Concentrating on figurative art with a man and a woman. Again. Lots of nudes. If you can’t handle this, you can skip over this section.
As an artist I really like the human form; both men and women.
Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(19)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(20)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(18)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(17)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(17)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(19)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(17)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(18)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(16)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(16)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(16)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(17)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(15)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(15)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(15)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(16)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(14)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(14)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(14)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(15)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(13)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(13)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(13)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(14)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(12)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(12)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(12)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(13)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(11)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(11)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(11)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(12)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(10)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(10)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(10)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(11)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(9)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(9)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(9)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(10)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(8)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(8)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(8)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(9)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(7)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(7)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(7)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(8)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(7)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(5)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(5)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(5)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(5)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2
Is it common for thieves to return stolen goods to their owners without being prompted to do so?
While most people would argue “Never will happen”, rest assured, I can rightfully state “Yes, it CAN happen!”
3 Teens (all boys, between 15–17 years of age). Bored to death due to Summer, too much storms, too much rain, cooped up inside.
Thought it would be “great” to break into people’s homes when the power was out! They had a field day, and it gave them some “new toys” to play with (stolen of course). Well, the 16 year old boy, at first was enjoying it, went so far to “lie” to his mom and said “A friend let him borrow it.”
Until the “gossip” ran around the neighborhood, which reverted him to go into “Panic” mode, so he grabbed the stuff, put it in saddle bag (his bike had a Harley Saddle Bag) and rode off, keeping out of sight, seeing some garage doors already opened, he slid them inside and took off without being caught! Then he rushed home, went back through the window and proceeded to work on the Word Search puzzle.
Then all of a sudden, the Cops knocked on their door, and his mom told him to go answer the door, because she was cooking dinner. He did, and 2 cops right there, asking if he was xxxxxx? And he said Yeah? Then his mom came up, and they said “We just need to talk with your son, to ask him questions.” His mom went back cooking.
Well, they asked him what happened earlier today? He told them the truth, that the brothers (the other 2 teens) were bored stiff, and they decided to loot people’s homes. He did state what they took and he admitted he was just placed out there to “watch” and “didn’t take anything” (he lied on the last part).
The 2 teens told the Officers “what he had” and that of course, he denied it. He said “yes, I did take it, but I slid it all back in their garages. If they went to the house they would find the stuff under the bench in the garage. He just couldn’t do it.”
Then one Cop asked if he could look into his room? He said sure, so the Cop went in and didn’t find any stolen goods. Then the Cop told his mother, “Ma’am, I am going to have your son go with me over to a couple of people’s homes and he’ll be right back.”
The Cop had him seated and he pointed to the homes that he said it took but it’s still on their property, in the garage, under the bench. There it was, exactly where he said it was. They returned him back home, and to the fact, he told them how they broke into the homes, and normally, people do not lock the side door (aka “kitchen door”) if the garage door was locked.
Cops returned him home and told his mother “Thank you ma’am, your son was very cooperative with our investigation. Enjoy the rest of the night.”
As for the other 2 teens, they were handcuffed, arrested and sent to the Juvenile Jail (aka Detention Center / Hall) and they were charged accordingly, including theft. That was then when he also learned that they had a “nasty rap” sheet already.
Not only did he severe ties with them, he never did that again!
Long time ago, in one of my long time residential location (back in early 1980s), there was this guy who “works” in his garage on the weekends. Well, a lot of people would come up and watch him or chit-chat. Since he lives alone, there’s times he would leave the garage door open and go inside. Either for lunch, to order something or be on the phone, or even watch a game. There was this guy in the neighborhood, he was a kleptomaniac, he would swipe small stuff and sometimes even going into one’s yard and take the plant out that you just planted!
He had a 4 barrel carburetor that was sent in to be rebuilt, that came off of the car he was rebuilding and restoring, the problem was the parts for that carb was extremely difficult to find, and it made more sense to ship it over to California and have it rebuilt and shipped back.
This was very expensive, from what the neighbor next door told me, Kelly (not his real name) learned that the 4 Barrel was to be delivered on that day, sometime between 10 to 1, and Kelly, he KNEW this guy would be at work! So what did he do? Saw the parcel, walked over, took it, and kept it at his house!
No one’s sure what caused Kelly to retreat and go back home and bring it over and simply said “Oh, I forgot I picked it up for you to keep it safe since you were at work?” Yeah, he had it in his possession for over a month, while that guy was blowing his Steam at California for “ripping him off”! He was spending HOURS and HOURS trying to find a 4 barrel carburetor for the car he was working on since the one he sent to California claimed “it was delivered”!
It’s really difficult to “say” if the conscience kicked in, but either way, HE RETURNED IT!
What’s inside this crater in Madagascar?
What is the biggest waste of electricity you’ve seen in a home you visited, were a guest in, or even in your own home?
Seven years ago I moved into a new house, leaving a rental property for a house that I had bought.
After staying there for a month and getting my first power bill I was shocked to find that it was double the amount!
It didn’t make any sense to me, because there was absolutely nothing different in the new house than there was in the old one.
All of the light fixtures, ceiling fans, appliances, including the refrigerator and everything else came from the old house and was installed in the new house.
We weren’t using the air conditioning system because it was autumn and the house didn’t have a separate heating system, we don’t need heat in the winter where I live, even if it gets cold there is no heat in houses where I live, it simply doesn’t get so cold that people need heating systems in their homes.
I thought that there was some sort of residual bill left over from the previous owner and simply paid the bill and then I forgot all about it. That was until the next bill came – also more than double the price I was paying in the old house.
So I called the electric company, Elektro, and they said it was probably because of a defective power meter. They would change it for free, but wouldn’t give me a discount on the bill saying that it was “already spent” energy. I paid the bill and forgot about it again, thinking that the problem had been fixed.
It wasn’t, the third bill was just as expensive as the first two. What’s going on? It just didn’t make sense, the two houses were the same size and less than twenty blocks from each other, both houses use the same Elektro, absolutely no electrical item was different between them.
So why was the bill more than double each month? Was the power meter defective in the old house, yet in our favor? I didn’t know and I didn’t understand.
I started talking to people at work and who lived on the street and asked them how much they were paying for their electricity each month. None of them gave me a number of $500 a month. The lowest number I got was $50 and the highest was $350, but no one said anything close to $500. At the old house I was paying $235, so I knew something wasn’t right.
I called the power company again and made them change the meter a second time, and before they did it I took daily meter readings and wrote them down on paper.
Once they changed it for the second time I took more daily meter readings and after a week of writing them down I knew that the meter readings were the same between the two, so I still had an electrical problem.
That meant that there was nothing wrong with the original meter. Somehow, I was really using $500 a month in electricity, when I shouldn’t have been.
So I called an electrician and together we traced every single wire in the house. He found nothing out of the ordinary and so I told him that I was going to buy new outlets and new light switches for every room in the house.
The old ones were awful and non-compliant with the new mandatory recessed plugs 🔌 that were appearing on all the new electronic items because of a change to the law in Brazil, all right, fine, I will become compliant, to try and figure out why I’m paying double.
I also bought LED lighting and the electrician swapped out every single lightbulb in the house, 34 of them. It reduced my power bill by 20%, but not by as much as he and I thought it would. After four months I was still paying $420 a month.
We had assumed there was a short in a switch or in an old outlet, but there wasn’t one. No short existed, the new plugs, the new light switches, all of the new LED lighting, along with the new power meters, proved that there was still something wrong.
So, WTF was going on?
The electrician couldn’t figure it out and nor could I, so I told him, “If the house is okay and the meter is okay then the problem is between the power meter at the front of the property and the fuse box in the laundry room, it’s the only possible explanation. Maybe a wire is grounding out.”
The power meter to the house is a distance of 50 feet (15 meters) so I told him to dig up the front lawn and find out where the wires lay, to literally trace the wires coming into the house from the power meter to the fuse box, as they were underground.
When he found them he showed me that the wires leading to the house were at the very left side of the property about a hands length from the wall that separated my property from my neighbor’s property.
And lo and behold, right at the beginning of the front lawn, a short distance after the power meter, there were two wires that appeared to be going under the wall to my neighbor’s house!
Holy crap! Is my neighbor stealing electricity from me? Wow! So I sent the electrician home and waited until about 10pm that night and when all the lights were on in his house, I cut one of the two wires.
His lights went instantly out. I heard him calling out to his wife, “Is there a blackout?” and all I did was snicker to myself. I had found the problem, and now my neighbors no longer had electricity.
It took Elektro forty-five days to hook them up to the grid!
They lost all the food in their refrigerator and started to buy ice and put things into in a cooler.
They took cold water showers as showers in Brazil are heated by electricity, there is no hot water tank heated by natural gas in Brazilian homes.
Autumn became winter and I waited for them to say something to me. They never said a word.
Yes, I lost five months of paying double my electricity bill, a total of $1,250. But they lost much more than that, all of their food at the beginning, and 45 days with no electricity at all.
Seeing them pass through this day after day, week after week was extremely satisfying to me. They argued with each other almost every night because of it.
In the end they lost much more than my $1,250, they lived 45 days without electricity and they had to pay a $750 reconnection fee!
I never confronted them on it and they never said a word to me, of course they wouldn’t, obviously they knew that they were stealing energy from me.
I did tell the other neighbors on the street that they did this and all of a sudden they were outcast.
They sold their house two months after their power was restored.
I have no idea where they are now and frankly I don’t care. I lost $1,250 in power bills before I figured it out, they lost much more financially, including their reputation in our neighborhood.
The moral. Don’t steal from others, sooner or later it’ll catch up with you.
All I know is that my power bill today is about $190 a month, that’s cheaper than the old house, it’s because I went LED.
I’m happy.
Octopus vs Underwater Maze
What’s the name of the Chinese app that lets Chinese citizens rate their government officials’ performance?
Xuexi Qiangguo
main qimg 1eaf5ef1c6425284eec3a458165c4c04
It’s latest update allows you to ask questions on Xi Jingpings Policies to your Local Politicians and to rate your local politicians regularly
Of course for this you need to submit your ID details for authentication plus facial biometrics
However if privacy isn’t an issue – even foreigners can use the app
The App is however purely in Chinese
The App has four features:-
Regular ideology of Xi Jingping on his Vision for China
Asking questions of Xi Jinping
Asking local leaders to clarify CPC policies (Initiated during Covid)
Rating Local Leaders in terms of their performance
main qimg 80ea2beb60f40353df0238bdf09ec7b9
Zhanani or Civility Code
Active in 12 Cities now – it helps Chinese rate their fellow citizens in Civility and helps them rate their local leaders
There are 8 Areas where Citizens are given points or docked points by their fellow citizens
Traffic Rules
Drunkenness
Extra Marital Affairs
Garbage & Littering
Performance of Key Tasks (Government Officials only)
Problem Resolution (Local Party Officials)
Debt
Promptness
In each case, evidence is needed before the score can be modified so you need document pics or videos or normal pics to be uploaded
Everyone starts with 1000
The Lowest score is -300 and the highest is 2600
Failure to return a library book also could get a 3 point docking the first time and a 12 point docking the second time
Again you need ID and Biometrics to use this app
If you give false information, you can be held as per the Chinese Internet Regulations
main qimg 205cea319f5d4ba06d5422a4256c65c6
12345 App
Available on App and Phone, it is used to complain against Any Official in China and Any Party Leader
There are three levels
Basic, Urgent and Most Urgent (English Translation)
Officials are notified within 60 minutes and a ticket number is registered that has to be closed in 14 days (Basic), 7 Days (Urgent), 3 Days (Most Urgent)
Again your details are mandatory including Biometrics
Interesting:-
In 2018, when a Party Official conducted his daughters wedding, he blocked a 2 Km stretch of road for 90 minutes
Back then they had only phone hotline but within 5 minutes they registered over 200 complaints
He had to pay ALL FINES collected by the city that day and issue a public apology to the people
Negatives:-
One negative thing is that especially the Civility App can be used to report on fellow citizens talking about Taiwan or other stuff that could be a political issue
Someone who says “So & So is pro taiwanese” could get on a watchlist for several weeks before he can be taken off it
Until then he may not get a passport or be unable to take the Civil Service Exam
Because the United States needs help in East Asia.
Simply put, the USN has been stretched to breaking point trying to keep up with the intensity and scale of the PLA.
Those who keep track will have noticed significant shifts in Indopacom’s deployment of force and areas of operation in the past decade. The shift in policy was pushed through only after multiple peacetime accidents off the coast of China, attributed mostly to fatigue.
In other words, a lack of sleep due to intense operational tempo.
The US needs Five Eyes/NATO help in the Bohai/Yellow Sea, under the pretext of enforcing sanctions on North Korea, when both South Korea and Japan have very capable navies.
The USCG has sailed through the Taiwan Straits and SCS, when American Samoa and Guam are the nearest US waters to guard. A typical USCG deployment to the Western Pacific these days exceed 180 days, or 6 months.
In sum, the USN is out of hulls, and men, despite Indopacom getting 70% of deployable assets, turning the other fleets into wargaming paper assets. Unfortunately, problems in the Middle East and Europe has forced all available CBGs away, and the Western Pacific, for once, is American carrier-free.
Uncle Sam needs help, and the long term strategy is to build up its submarine and destroyer fleets, and get NATO/Five Eyes members to supplement assets or cost in a repeat of Germany’s U-boat campaign of terror during WWII.
Unfortunately, time is running out. All it takes is a war to be found out.
John Pinette – Around The World In 80 Buffets
Young people in China are “increasingly disdainful” of the West?
In 2021, the bimonthly website of American Foreign Policy published an article entitled “Young People in China Lose Trust in the West” to explore the change of young people’s attitude towards the West in China and the reasons behind it. This article points out that many young people in China are not only angry with American foreign policy, but also increasingly disdainful of the most fundamental social and political ideas in the West. This is an epoch-making change, which will have a far-reaching impact on China’s future and US-China relations.
This article holds that there are two main points in China’s young people’s criticism of the western model:
First, the recent frequent hate crimes against Chinese in the United States reveal white supremacy’s fear of Chinese and contempt for Chinese values, and prove that systematic racial discrimination is everywhere in the United States.
Second, China has succeeded in containing the COVID-19 epidemic, while the western countries have suffered a crushing defeat, which makes many China citizens believe that the so-called liberal democratic political system in the west cannot solve the big problems, and China’s political and social values can bring better results than those in the west.
As a young man in China, I think this observation is very interesting and worth discussing.
main qimg c18c3ff7383b0483a9a7f8fcd92673d4
The COVID-19 epidemic can be said to be one of the most profound events that China people have changed to the western countries. Both the Biden administration of the Democratic Party and the Trump administration of the Republican Party have obviously shown a lack of strength in the face of the epidemic. Let the young people in China see that the so-called freedom and democracy in western countries only hurt people’s interests.
It should be said that China is the first in the world to effectively control the spread of the epidemic and make young people more identify with the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s ruling philosophy and the unique advantages of China’s social system, which is only one of them.
Equally important, a few western countries, such as the United States, set themselves up as “judges” and acted as “teachers” of human rights, fabricated lies, vigorously attacked and discredited China’s political system, accused China of human rights issues, and violently interfered in China’s internal affairs.
Since the COVID-19 epidemic raged around the world, young people in China have seen more clearly the hypocrisy of western values advocated by these countries in terms of democracy, freedom and human rights from the comparison between China and the United States and other western countries.
In particular, the repeated tragedies of racial discrimination have completely torn off the “fig leaf” of the human rights situation in the United States, making people see clearly the true face of American democracy and freedom.
As Hua Chunying, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, once said when answering a reporter’s question, whether different political systems are good or not depends on whether they conform to their own national conditions, whether they can bring political stability, social progress and improvement of people’s livelihood, whether they can win the support and support of the people and whether they can contribute to the cause of human progress.
No matter how much a country boasts about its democratic value, if it sits idly by and watches more than 500 thousand people die from the epidemic and does nothing; More than 40,000 people died in shootings a year and did nothing; If you just fabricate a piece of evidence, you can fight against other sovereign countries, causing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian casualties. If countless people are ruined and indifferent, I am afraid it is not qualified to claim to be a “beacon” of democracy and human rights.
In the past, many young people in China were superstitious about democracy and freedom advocated by the West, but now they have changed.
In the 21st century, with the further comprehensive and in-depth media coverage, many China citizens no longer stop at the internal network, but go to the external network to learn the facts on their own. Obviously, the paper can’t contain the fire in the end, and the freedom and democracy packaged by the western media have become dust after all. Confirmed by the facts, all the rumors of so-called high-level intellectuals have come to nothing.
In particular, with the overall social and economic progress of China, it has become the second largest economy in the world, won a comprehensive victory in the fight against poverty, solved the overall regional poverty, and rapidly improved people’s living standards, which fully confirmed the strong vitality of China’s social system. Therefore, it is only natural that the younger generation, who grew up in the era of China’s rapid economic development, no longer looks up to the western system, but is more and more confident and proud of China’s social system and national governance ability.
In fact, it is better to say “head-up” than disdain.
“We have begun to look at the West, so how can we let the West look at us?”
How To Tell Latinos Apart I Gabriel Iglesias
What would happen if the USN put a full naval blockade on the Straits of Malacca as punishment for China supporting Russia, plus the USN would fire upon Chinese commercial ships that go from the Middle East to the South China Sea?
Such an act is an act of War. It is essentially declaring war on China by the US.
Which frees China to do anything they want to those ships.
Say goodbye to those ships because they will turn into submarines, never to be seen again.
I expect that some of the countries around the Straits of Malacca will get upset, and will complain vehimently.
If the US does not respond by removing the blockade, they will allow the Chinese to send thousands of planes and missiles to the area to ensure that the US is unable to enforce the blockade.
If it tries I expect a few ships that start patroling from the bottom of the sea will convince the US that it was another idiotic idea. Also understand that most of the trade through the straits are not Chinese, but belong to other nations.
As NATO Issues China Seizure Threat, Beijing Is Moving Industries And Money Out Fast
Jesus!
Oh, it’s not bad enough with the collapse of Germany and the Ukraine fiasco, they have to go “death by cop” regarding China.
NATO is considering the unthinkable, potentially thinking of nationalizing Chinese infrastructure assets in the EU. This is taking the economic war to new terrible heights that will backfire. China will move money and industries out of the West back home, starving the West of capital & technology.
The crescent moon shone bright in the night sky, its beady gray eye haloed by a lopsided grin. Yes, that sharp-edged crescent in the sky illuminated the forest floor, shoving bags of darkness under Mother Earth’s grassy misshapen rug. Batilda Bahama loved taking walks late at night, even when it was cold, especially when flakes of frost bit into her heart. Darkness was her favorite venue. Darkness was her friend. Darkness was a pastime. And when she really thought about it—her faithful enemy. Brought a smile to her long angular face.
Ye Olde Mosquito Shoppe had been in business for centuries here in the Land Between. It stood near Graveyard Gardens, the local cemetery and popular hangout spot for the dead. Oh how she loved the cemetery: quiet, dead, dismal. But using Old English to name a shop, in her opinion, was a waste of letters. But who wants to pay for new signage? Way better than anything on Earth.
Something far up on the rooftop was shuffling about in the dark.
Something went clang.
Batilda noticed the rusty drainpipe jiggling on the shadowy stone wall, like a nervous petrified snake. Her deep gray eyes followed the quivering drainpipe from the black earth to the rooftop gutter. She gave the fur-lined collar of her coat a tug, covering her ears, steam escaping her mouth.
Someone was standing on the roof, casting a long narrow shadow. She could just make out shiny silver toe-clips of black boots in the moonlight, foot tapping on the dewy shingles. She squinted through the dark. This figure was wearing some sort of floppy hat.
“You there,” she shouted. “What’re you doin’? For the love of Hades, get down!”
No response.
“I said,” she repeated in a loud, rattling voice, “get off a there. This’s private property.”
Floppy-hat man, after a moment of staring into the starry sky, spoke, “I’m here on personal business. Thanks for your concern. Doing just fine.” He tipped his hat.
Concern for his wellbeing was not on her map. In fact, unless you were dead or purchasing a plot, she cared nothing for anyone within five zip codes. Floppy-hat man’s words, however, rolled out and clung to her brain in a skittering fashion, like someone squeezing a handful of greasy potato chips in her hair. This was followed by a familiar buzzing in her ear.
Batilda, not a woman to be pushed around by an intruder, flared her nostrils, steam escaping like dragon-smoke. “If you fall, stay clear of my flowerbed. Don’t want your dead body squashing my plants. My tulips’ll have a fit, silly man. Then I’ll have to pay for one of my hired hands to drag your bones away. Waste of time and money.”
The man responded, by way of threat: “Your two lips might think twice about cussing at me if I have to come down there. Do you know who you’re speaking to?”
Oh, so he wanted a war of words, did he? Batilda, amused by this man’s idle threat, scratched a mole on her chin and arched an eyebrow. She was ready for a challenge on this dark night. “My good demon of a man,” she said with prickly undercurrents. “Get off my roof or I’ll have you thrown down. And if you think I’m kidding, I’ve got a fresh hole in the ground out back waiting to bury you in. And don’t think you get to die for free. You’ll pay handsomely, in advance. Burial and plot-fee rates have gone up, you know. And I’ll have your ghost incarcerated for breaking the law.” She folded her arms across her bosomy chest. “What’s your name? Want to make sure I stencil in your tombstone correctly. Spelling’s something I honor. Even for a twit like you.”
She waited. The man, apparently deep in thought, although someone wandering around on rooftops at night is either a thief or an idiot, or, more likely, both.
“I’m here on personal business,” the man repeated in a cool voice, again his words were crunching away at her thoughts. “Trying to find the Mosquito store. Need to make a few purchases. Heard good things about the place.”
Was he even hearing her?
“Listen to me, listen carefully, you knobby old wart, I own the Mosquito shop. You’re standing on it, fool. And I won’t be doing business with you.”
The man clapped his hands together. “Your shop? Marvelous, my lady of the night.”
Batilda watched as he began rubbing his hands together and then squatted at the edge of the roof. Flakes of shingles parachuted though the air; he reached one leg over the edge and notched the toe of his boot into the mortared groove of the brick wall. He began to make his descent, using the drainpipe as some sort of wobbly aluminum rope. The pipe jiggled away as he scampered down the wall like an inchworm, butt sticking out, knees bent into his chest.
Down, down, down, he went.
Batilda wondered how this man even made it to the roof. Based on his descent, he was less than dexterous, like a turtle climbing a rope.
He landed with a silent thud, avoiding her flower garden. Dusting his hands on his jacket, he said, “Brr. Sure’s a cold one.” He put out a hand in greeting.
Batilda just stared at his long, thin fingers, as if wrapped in barbed wire.
The man, tall and thin, removed his floppy hat revealing a bald head, save for stubble. Hair recently mown.
“Just what’re you doing on my roof?”
He began inspecting his fingernails in the dark. “Oh that. Just my job.”
“And what’s your job?” she probed.
“I’m a thief, ma’am. Rather good at it, if I do say so myself.”
“Hmm. Not a very good one. Any references?”
“It’s my duty to steal, so if you’ll just go about your business and leave me to mine, everything’ll be sweet as a worm in a peach.”
That buzzing sound returned in her head and then she heard a voice, tiny and distant, sing out in her thoughts: sweet as a worm, sweet as a worm.
Batilda had not paid to renew her psychic messaging subscription and was surprised to get a message.
She whispered out the side of her mouth, “This man’s a fool.”
“What’s that?” the thief said.
Batilda had thought she was cueing into with a psychic message. Why would she make such a verbal blunder?
“What’s your name, thief?” Batilda said, hoping to divert the conversation.
“Bagwell. Ball Bagwell.”
“Well, Mister Balls, I won’t have you thieving anything from my shop.”
“It’s Ball.”
“That doesn’t help your name very much, Balls.” Her eyes drilled into him as she leaned closer, gazing up at his steeple of a chin. “There’ll be no stolen thoughts on my property, either. But that hole in the ground can be reserved for you, if you know what I mean.”
He turned and made his way to the window, his high boots soundlessly moving along the dewy stone path. He peered inside the shop.
Batilda had dealt with her fair share of miscreants and wayward travelers coming into town. Most were dead. But there were a few lost ones traveling around in the dark with aimless intent. She had learned to trust no one, unless they gave her a reason. Which never happened. And this man had the nerve to turn his back on her. Then he went so far as to make such grand claims as to advertise his profession after being caught on her roof? It just didn’t add up.
“Think I could take a look around?” He hitchhiked a thumb at her window. “Crystals and djinni mugs for sale. I see ‘em. Could make great gifts.” He raised his eyebrows then peered through the window again. “Those are djinni mugs, right?”
“Nothing’s for sale, Balls. Now leave.” Her words came out smooth as an icepick up your nose.
“But I’ll pay for ‘em. A beautiful bounty can be yours, my lady of the night.” He winked at her. “You are lovely, my dear.”
No one had ever said she was lovely. Probably because she wasn’t. Batilda was more likely to be mistaken for a well-used mop: long stringy hair and a constellation of moles dotting her face.
Another psychic message came in: Dreams can be your gift to unwrap, but be careful when removing the wrappings. His energy was stolen from the San Andreas Fault-Line. He’s an eruption waiting to happen. Steal his energy then drop him in a fresh tomb, my beloved thundercloud.
Batilda loved being called “Thundercloud.” But who was calling her?
Batilda mulled over the idea of stealing the thief’s life. Sure, she could kill him but doing so in a nonchalant fashion is what brought it to an art. No sense in leaving a trail of gluten-free bread crumbs.
She could clonk him in the head with a spade and bury the cad alive. Edgar Allan Poe would be proud.
“You really interested in buying them, Balls?”
“It’s Ball, ma’am. And yes, I’ve got a sack of gold in my possession.” He padded his trouser pocket. “What’s your name?”
“But you said you’re a thief. Isn’t that against your code of moral conduct? What sort of professional thief buys anything?” She leaned on one hip and crossed her arms in defiance.
“It’s my day off. Have the whole weekend off, actually.” He grinned like a sheep in a barbershop, eyes volleying from the window to Batilda and back again.
Was the man nervous? That sheep-shearing grin made her think twice.
“Are those bronze djinni mugs? I do have exquisite vision. Prerequisite for my profession.” He cupped his hands around the glass. “Could be bronze. Love to get a closer look.”
Bet you would. “Gold agate blend. Rare,” Batilda advertised, taking pride in her artistry. “Crystal and rare metals forged with these two hands. I have a garden where I unearth my own crystalline structures, got hybrid crystals growing out of other base crystals. Adds a little punch to the energy flow.” She splayed out her pudgy fingers, dirt under her nails.
“That, Miss whateveryournameis, is just what I’m looking for. Rare crystals. I’m a bit of a hobbyist myself. And your loveliness is rare, indeed.”
She almost smiled but did her best to dodge Ball’s apparent staged praise. Plus, she was not all that familiar with crafting grins. Just the thought of it hurt. She volleyed back a theatrical retort: “A thief and a hobbyist. Wow. Must have an impressive resume. Bet you’re fighting off the job hunters with a wet spaghetti noodle.”
“So, about those mugs?”
A few seconds clocked across the airways.
“Don’t sell to thieves. Goes against my code of conduct.” She crossed her heart. “Cross my heart and may you die.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t like that,” he said frostily, to the point where Batilda was suffering from one of those 7-Eleven Slurpee headaches. Again, something with the way he spoke, his words, they slipped into her eardrums and traveled up the canal and left sticky cold footprints on her brain
Bagwell continued, “Some of us are better off dead. And I’ve done dead before, only to return here.” He made a face, reached a hand into the folds of his dust-brown trench coat and pulled out a folded-up sheet of parchment. Holstered to his hip was a short tawny sheath. From that sheath he retrieved a feathered quill, tipped in shiny silver. “Tell you what: I’ll gladly return in the morning. Pay for the beautiful mugs. But nothing can match your mountainous beauty. Your eyes are like boulders.”
“Mr. Balls, I’ll need to see some sort of qualifications,” she lied, vying for more information. “Got any ID?”
“I do,” he said. “Back in my cabin. Renting a place downtown. On Stress-In-Me Street.” He used the quill to scratch something on the folded-up parchment and handed it to her.
Ball Bagwell, Thought Artist
Thief and Metalsmith
“Why you giving me this?” She handed it back to him.
“Those are my credentials. We have a common interest: metalwork.”
Did Ball really take her for a fool? How dense was this man? But she continued to study his actions. She had no interest in metalwork but her curiosity was tickled, just a bit, though. She wanted to cuss at him, for wasting her time. She went so far as to take a step closer when Iggy flew into her ear.
Play along. Play along. Play along with him, said the mosquito with psychic intent.
“Metalwork?” Batilda said, doing her best to keep calm and refrain from scolding the man further instead of feigning interest.
He said, “Jeweled metalwork on deceased bodies is the new craze. Some, if they reincarnate and reanimate in the same flesh, enjoy having nice earrings or a necklace.”
She glanced at the parchment in her hand. Looked at Ball.
The parchment was now read:
Ball Bagwell, Thought Artist
Thief and Metalsmith
Do it when
“What’s this supposed to mean?” she said to the parchment. More letters were scrawled onto the sheet.
Ball Bagwell, Thought Artist
Thief and Metalsmith
Do it when you’re dead
“Neat trick,” she said in a flat tone. “Not impressed, though.”
“Just trying to set the stage. I’ll be here, first thing in the morning. Count on it.”
He was gone before she could even spit at him.
The following morning Batilda pulled on a pair of yellow leggings and a hand-woven wool sweater. Laced up her hiking boots and made her way to work.
She flicked on the lights inside and hit a switch behind the front counter; neon letters flashed, in bright green: Ye Olde Mosquito Shoppe OPEN! STAY DEADLY. MOST WELCOME. GHOSTS AND ZOMBIES BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Batilda busiest herself with watering some of her indoor garden: elephant ear plants in tall clay pots and window boxes of purple and yellow lilies, all growing in dark rich soil. She grabbed a mug from a hook on the wall and poured some hot tea while chatting with her flowers.
Images of Ball Bagwell hung out in the forefront of her frosty imagination. While sipping her tea and inhaling the aroma she curled out a brief smile to her potted flowers. Yes, her plants were one of the few things to seed her with happiness. They didn’t talk back, didn’t lie, didn’t do anything but grow and respond to her care with new buds and more faithful energy. She hoped this would take her mind off that twit Bagwell.
A bell chimed as the front door swung inward. She looked up from her steaming mug to see Ball Bagwell with a small red sack over his shoulder, using his hooked index finger to hold the rope cinching the bag closed.
‘Good morning to you, Miss whateveryourname is.”
“It’s Batilda. What do you want Balls?” she said void of emotion.
“It’s Ball. Wondered if you got my note.”
She narrowed her vision, eyebrows daggering toward her nose, studying him a moment. Sipped her tea. “Referring to the parchment you handed me last night. You saw me read it.”
“No. That.” He pointed his long many-knuckled Grinch-like finger to the edge of her desk.
There, sitting on top of her mail bin was a rolled sheet of parchment with a blue-wax seal; the initials BB pressed into the blobbed wax. A slight wobble of an eyebrow was her only indication of surprise. Batilda did her best to appear non-pulsed by the sight of mail on her desk. Mail did not arrive until late afternoon. And none of this was in yesterday’s delivery.
“Oh. Mail just arrived,” she said. “Haven’t gone through it. And what is it I can help you with?” she said.
“The djinni mugs.”
She gave the blue wax seal another look. “Like I said yesterday: not for sale. Don’t you have some place to be? Someone to pickpocket?”
“I’d rather be here. With you.” He pressed his hands onto her desk and leaned in a little closer. He sighed, sharing his coffee breath. His gaze moved to the three-tiered round shelf displaying mugs, crystals, saucers and tea cups, and various other hand-crafted goods. “Looks like you sold the gold djinni mugs.”
She followed his gaze. Sure enough the two gold-agate mugs sitting on display last night were missing. She walked over to the shelf and then looked at him.
“That’s odd.”
She was doing her best to get a psychic-read on him, but was coming up empty. Even if he was a dolt, she should still be able to cue into his thoughts.
Ball reached into his sack and pulled out two gold-agate mugs, set them, with deliberate care, onto the front counter. They shimmered in a pool of light from pair of fat stubby candles. His fingerprints remained on the edge of the shiny mug.
“My good demon of a foul man,” she spat. “You thieved those. I should have your fingers minced into a pie for that.”
His fingers disappeared into the inner pocket of his purple silk vest and retrieved a small black bag. Set it on the counter with a clink. “I’d like to pay for them, thank you very much.”
She hoisted the black bag into her hand. Heavy. She poured its contents into her palm. Gold nuggets. Looked to be enough for three months’ rent.
“Not sure what I should do with you?” she said, feeling the weight of the gold in her hand.
“Hire me.”
She grabbed a letter opener and slit his throat at the jugular.
Dead.
“Great,” he said with a sigh, looking at his dead body puddled on the floor. “Now I’m a ghost again. Gotta check back in at Inn Between.”
Inn Between was a treatment center for transitional spirits on their way to one of two places: Heaven or Hades.
What is the strangest medical thing that has happened to you?
Woke up one mornin’, reached down to my side….holy crap! What’s that lump doing in the side of my abdominal wall???
First thing I thought of was a hernia through the diaphragm — rare, but possible. The lump WAS strange — it was moving around as I changed position, it wasn’t always painful, and sometimes it disappeared entirely. So, I went to my MD, who of course called for the magic MRI .
The results came back: two 2.5 cm masses below the diaphragm, “suggestive of lymphoma”. What, I asked myself, is lymphoma??? Google gets a workout, I find out: it’s one of the 3 major blood cancers — 80% curable with chemotherapy.
Fast forward: biopsy, positive diagnosis, bone marrow biopsy to figure out what Stage it’s at, and – most importantly — a request for a second opinion from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in Manhattan.
The local oncologist grew impatient, and finally insistent, that I start the treatment immediately, and stop waiting for the second opinion. He scheduled me for insertion of the “port” (a piece of plastic under the skin into which they pipe the chemo drugs) the next Monday, with chemo to start immediately thereafter. I was looking at 6–9 months of chemo hell, with a mean life expectancy thereafter of 7 years, IF the chemo worked. {Actually, most people were eventually succumbing to a weakened existence because of the side effects of the chemo…Oh joy.}
Two days before the port insertion, I got the call from MSKCC. Could I come in for a workup the next day? Foolish question: I flew in on a magic carpet and avoided all the traffic on the GW Bridge!
The doctors at MSKCC were top-notch. They did another physical exam, reviewed all my records, then we had a consultation. The result? YES, the diagnosis of Stage I non-Hodgkins lymphoma was correct. YES, it was historically treated with intensive chemo to knock it out early.
HOWEVER: New models (developed, coincidentally, at MSKCC), now showed that lymphoma lingers at Stage I for awhile, then transitions to Stage II, going through a rapid growth phase. During this rapid growth, the cancerous cells get “hungry”, and absorb the medicine more thoroughly. Instead of carpet-bombing the cells, they are more specifically targeted, with much higher success rates and lower side effects.
The result: MSKCC, while confirming the diagnosis, recommended that I WAIT until the disease had begun transitioning to Stage II, which we could determine through semi-annual monitoring by an oncologist. Chemo could be deferred until that time.
I once again mounted my magic carpet, flew back to my previous oncologist, and shared the good news. He was disappointed, but mumbled some cursory good wishes — I had just cost him some $300,000 in revenue! I then changed my personal managing oncologist to one of the MSKCC staffers, whom I still see.
TEN years later — not seven — there has still been no transition (knock wood). I have almost no symptoms of lymphoma, and the doctors have reduced my visits to once a year. In fact, they have begun to use the word “remission” in my presence. I’m a bleedin’ medical miracle, I am!!!!
The real miracle though, is that one year later my wife suffered a major stroke, and lost much of her gross motor coordination on her left side. She went through a difficult rehabilitation, lasting close to a year, and then a re-adaptation to home, requiring me to help her, plus lead my family, as we went through all the stages of caretaking adjustments. I often think: was I spared for just this reason? As my wife and I grow old together, we are still dependent on each other, physically and emotionally, and our futures are inextricably entwined…as it was intended 46 years ago.
The vows said “for better or for worse”. We got both in spades.
Why do some Chinese companies such as Huawei, BYD, and Luckin Coffee grow much faster than U.S. companies in the same sector?
Who do Chinese companies grow faster than US companies ?
Because the Chinese are better businessmen…
The Chinese know their own strength and weaknesses .. and they also know American strength and weaknesses. The Chinese use Tsun Tze teachings to manage business .. and to compete with US companies. How ?
Some of Tsun Tze ways used by the Chinese are as follows:
The Chinese has a much larger market (with 850 millions middle class consumers)… the Chinese has a much larger export markets (143 countries are Belt and Road partners )…all of them have become the largest trading partners with China …(This is making use of China’s strength)
China has a better supply chain … For example: almost 90 % of the dozens of raw materials needed for batteries making, are produced ONLY in China…so are most manufactured semi-finished products are also made in China…Rare earths and other essential raw materials are available mainly in China…It is cheap and good for Chinese companies ..it is expensive and NOT available to US companies. (this is making use of China’s strength and US weakness.)
The Chinese has effectively used AI to help operate their ports and production/factory operations. The US has only ChatGPT (as AI) ..which cannot be used to automate port operations or to automate factory operations. Only Huawei 5-G system (with AI) is capable of running auto port operations and auto factory operations. China has been able to use more advanced AI ..to help Chinese companies to do business ..and to operate factories more efficiently. The US has only ChatGPT ..no good for factory operations. (Making use of China’s strength)
China has a created a manufacturing eco-system for factory production ..the US has created NOTHING to help their factory operations. (This is another China’s strength)
China produce 8 millions STEM graduate every year to help Chinese business. The US produces less than 400,000 STEM graduates every year. This is the reason why Apples make its i-phone in China, why Elon Musk make his EVs in China. (This is a vital strength of China)
With these manufacturing advantages, the Chinese companies are growing much faster than US companies. The gap is becoming larger and larger .. soon the US will never catch up.
One other point ..Americans know almost nothing about the real Chinese.. the real China…the real society in China. American and their businessmen know only FAKE stories about China from their news media and from their fake propaganda about China. NOT knowing the real strength and weaknesses of China …is a huge, huge US weaknesses …in the competition between the US and China.
What is the coolest weapon you ever got to handle while in the military?
The MK-19 (Mark 19)
main qimg a5d24204e94344dd8fbf4323adfe9552 lq
This is a full auto, belt fed grenade launcher. You could unleash a short burst from this thing, see the grenades arcing through the air, and watch them exploding way out in the distance. Pinpoint accuracy wasn’t the point with a full-auto grenade launcher, but it wasn’t that hard to drop a barrage of grenades all over and around something the size of a vehicle or small group of people using the leaf site on the back of it.
Or, with certain people of small stature firing them, you could watch the person struggle with the recoil until they overcompensated and fired the grenades into the ground a few dozen yards in front of them, at which point you dive for cover and listen to the shrapnel pinging off the humvees until the safety NCO manages to beat the person firing into letting go of the butterfly trigger. Real MK-19 ranges are built on the edges of valleys, and you fire from the top of a hill so that if someone depresses the gun too much the grenades go all the way down into the valley and explode harmlessly. In this case we were on an “improvised” range which was perfectly flat. Someone didn’t think that one out too well.
We could mount them on tripods as in the above picture, or mount them on the roof of our Humvee for patrols. They could be on just a pintle mount, where you could move it up/down left/right freely, or they could be attached to a traverse and elevation knob where the gun was held still and you rotated knobs to move it for more precise aiming at longer distances.
main qimg 3bf6ea38a3437c0b198285822d3d20b9 lq
This thing was just fun to shoot. It was a pain to maintain, especially in the dust of Iraq, but man was it fun to shoot.
Second place would have to go to the M-60 machine gun. Later in my military career we replaced the M-60 with the lighter M249 machine gun, but the M-60 was always more fun to shoot. The deep “thump” of that heavier 7.62mm round on full auto was just awesome, and I was even pretty good at picking off targets at the range with well-aimed single shots from the M-60 off the bipod. It was a great gun.
As military police we were expected to operate in independent squads, or even independent 3-person teams. So, every squad had three teams plus a squad leader, and every 3-person team had a humvee, a MK-19, and M249 (in the later years), 3 rifles – one of which had an attached M203 grenade launcher (I carried that one), 3 pistols, and all the AT-4 antitank weapons we could cram into the back of the Hummer. We couldn’t mount the machine gun and the MK-19 at the same time. We had to pick which one to bring on a mission (or have it chosen for us on bigger missions). On a typical patrol in Baghdad we would go with 2 or three teams and take one MK-19 with the remaining truck or trucks mounting the machine guns.
Oh, that reminds me. I got to shoot a live AT-4 on the range once.
main qimg 4b06e77e05ec29f537c0062a5f5a324f lq
Usually, AT-4 training is done with a special practice weapon designed to shoot a 9mm pistol round. That’s sort of enough to make sure you can get the thing into operation and aim it. Once, in Iraq, we got permission to expend a limited number of live ones with the actual rockets inside for training. We drew names for the honor, and I won one of the shots. I shot mine at a burned out Iraqi tank carcass, and the rocket bounced off with a loud CLANG! It didn’t explode. That was an AT-4 right out of the back of our Humvee that we’d been carrying around for a few months in a combat zone. It kind of makes you wonder about the other ones you’re carrying, you know? I mean, there were no Iraqi tanks running around by that point, but you never know when you’re going to really need that extra boom for something that isn’t a tank. Turns out, we never did.
Anyhow, shooting the live AT-4 was pretty cool, but I still think the MK-19 was the coolest.
Oddly, with all the firepower we had, we never got issued any hand grenades, even in Baghdad. I only ever threw live hand grenades the one time in basic training. That wasn’t as fun as you might think. Basically, you stand in a foxhole, throw the thing out into a bare, open range, and then try to duck into the foxhole faster than than the drill sergeant can tackle you before it goes off. Kind of anticlimactic really.
Why will China lose all Western trade as it aligns with Russia?
Naah
main qimg e3b9d0635ae114873a7bd38dc2c430c9
What is happening is that China is selling a lot of products to the West through Vietnam, Thailand and Mexico and Malaysia
It’s why Chinas trade with BRI & Asean is booming while reducing against US and EU
It’s pretty simple actually
The US importer himself invests to ensure China set up a factory in Vietnam or Thailand and sell their exports into US at normal tariffs
The Chinese gets majority of the cut while the Vietnamese get skills training and machinery and equipment from China and maybe in two decades can set up their own supply chain
You can’t stop trade
If there is a demand, there will always be a supply
For instance – BYD Cars made in China have to pay a 37.6% tariff to sell in Europe but BYD cars made in Thailand don’t have to.
India is the best example of this
We ban drone components from China but buy the same Chinese Drone components from Singapore or Malaysia with one small security check certificate for which we pay 60% higher cost
We can’t do otherwise
An order for 1000 Small Sky Drones is fulfilled in 4 1/2 months from DJI and the same order takes 1 1/2 years to 2 years at 150% higher cost by a German company
$ 2.7 (€ 2.47) Million vs € 4.1 Million
Nobody can replace the Chinese today
India tried but found that after 4 years – it simply can’t localise a supply chain without a massive infusion of subsidies for at least 15 years
This means at least ₹20 Lakh Crore or $ 240 Billion
Otherwise nobody will make components with 1% profit or 2% profit for the first seven years with Bank Loan interest rate of 14% a year
Banks maybe ordered to lend but borrowers refuse to avail money and if they do, they invest in share markets instead of building factories
The West is losing because they are fighting against Economic Forces which has never worked successfully
Soviet Union, Indonesia under Sukarno, Cuba have all lost
China under Deng identified the right path to avoid losing
They can’t win
The only way they can win is to make peace with Russia, China.
Create an International Law with equal participation at the table from Russia and China and Iran and others
And then COMPETE fairly
As a parent, what is the most heartbreaking thing your son/daughter has done with you?
Well, first my daughter 29 was killed in a car accident 2010. A month after that my youngest son went away to college.
It was a hard time for me obviously, dealing with losing my daughter and my youngest moving hours away, I did ask him if he’d like to wait on school and start the second semester. He says to me “no, it’s okay I’m over it” what!?
After less than one month you’re over the death of your sister!?
I only said to him, okay if you’re sure. Didn’t comment on what he said. Then for the next few years while he’s in college, we grew farther apart, I was in a terrible place, I’d be so happy when he would come home, he graduated found a job in Los Angeles and moved 60 miles from my house.
Yet I never saw him.
After a few years he told me he was “working on himself and he needed space, okay, I said. I tried to honor his request, only calling him maybe once a month, saying hello, how are you?
And I loved him. He wouldn’t talk more than that. For info, we paid over half of his college loans, and while in college I frequently send him 200- 300 dollars just to make sure he had enough money to do fun things, food and board were paid by my husband and I.
Then after years of him keeping his distance, at age 29 he texts us and tells us he can no longer be a part of our lives, he claimed that we failed him. That in order for him to be happy he didn’t want us in his life.
That was the only explanation he would give.
I asked him to please reconsider, I said let’s go to counseling to fix this.
He claims there is no ‘fixing this’ he said that this is on the advice of his therapist. what!? It’s been three years, I haven’t spoke to him in three years.
I have to say, it’s harder to accept your child rejecting you than if they die. I know my daughter didn’t choose to leave me, but my special only amazing boy, decided to never see me again.
It’s hard to believe that the beautiful relationship we shared while he was growing up meant nothing to him AND that he feels like I failed him. And gives me no explanation as to why.
I’m forced to live with this rejection with no way to try and make it right. Especially after losing my daughter (they were both 29when things happened.
it’s hard to believe my son could be so cruel.
I will always love him nothing would ever stop me from loving him.
I can honestly say, he was never abused, he was loved tremendously by his siblings, and his father and I he was smart at school, he was like the best kid ever, if at least he could let me know how I failed him, maybe I could begin to heal. I will never give up on him. I always pray he will come back.
I don’t own an oven in the house anymore. How do I prepare chicken if I can’t grill it directly?
There are lots of ways to cook a chicken without an oven.
There’s a Northwestern Chinese dish called Dapanji (“big plate chicken”) that I really like, it’s a staple in Xinjiang style restaurants and popular all over China. It’s quite easy to make, and you’re welcome to try my recipe below.
main qimg e64ce9dc06c59e14fc28582445edba56
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, bell peppers, potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, ginger, sichuan peppers, red chilli oil/peppers, ground cumin, star anise
Preparation:
cut the chicken and vegetables into small pieces
sauté the spices/peppers in a big iron wok (a saucepan or pot will do fine as well)
sauté the chicken
add the vegetables
add hot broth or boiling water till the ingredients are fully submerged
stew for around an hour
add salt and sugar to taste
ideally served with broad, flat noodles such as daoxiaomian or banmian, but rice and flatbreads are fine as well
enjoy
China bad
80% of drones used by American farmers are from DJI! Is the US hesitating to ban Chinese drones?
US farmers have been steadily increasing their use of spray drones in recent years, with 3.7 million acres sprayed by drone in 2023 across 41 states and 50 crops, mostly by Chinese-made drones, claim US resellers of DJI equipment.
DJI Technologies said: “We don’t have specific market share numbers to provide, but a rough estimate suggests that approximately four out of every five ag drones utilized by US farmers are DJI models.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) has released the full text of its marked up version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Unlike the version that passed in the House of Representatives last month, it does not include provisions to curb the activities of Chinese drone maker DJI Technologies, the market leader in ag spray drones in the US.
The House version of the bill sent shockwaves through the agricultural community last month as it included amendments from the Countering CCP Drones Act that would add equipment and services from DJI to the so-called ‘covered list,’ blocking DJI from getting FCC licenses for future drone models, and potentially leading to the revocation of existing FCC authorizations.
The SASC version, which was passed behind closed doors last month in a 22-3 vote, will now head to the Senate floor for consideration. Should it pass the full Senate it must then be reconciled with the House version.
Ukraine AI drones, new wonder weapon plan
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is now in New York having talks with Lloyd Austin. What do you think is about to happen?
Firstly, the competitive relationship between the US and Russia in the ecological niche of international trade is irreconcilable.
Secondly, the Democratic Party is destined to lose this election, and the shelf life of any promises they make cannot exceed a lettuce. I don’t think this kind of communication has any meaning other than expressing respect among colleagues.
Thirdly, American politicians no longer understand how to conduct equal diplomacy. Several days ago in UNSC, they accused China of not using its power to pressure Russia and NK to change their policies, as if that’s a right thing to do. They truly believe that rudely interfere in internal affairs of other countries is a natural and normal behavior, and they believe that China should do the same as the US have done.
So why bother? I’ll wish Mr. Lavrov to have a nice day in NY travelling.
Why is the United States always targeting China?
In a display of political strategy masked as global stewardship, the United States keeps its crosshairs perpetually fixed on China, a façade for its real fear: the shift of global power from West to East.
The U.S. targeting China is fundamentally about preserving its global dominance and mitigating the threats posed by China’s rapid ascent on multiple fronts. The United States, historically accustomed to its position as the world’s leading superpower, views China’s rise with significant apprehension. These fears are influenced by various factors, such as economic competition, ideological differences, technological advancements, and geopolitical interests.
China’s economic boom over the past few decades is seen as a direct challenge to American economic supremacy. China’s robust growth rate, coupled with its ability to significantly influence global markets, has positioned it as a formidable rival. The trade wars, tariffs, and sanctions imposed by the U.S. are part of a broader strategy to manage this competition, aimed at curtailing China’s economic potential and protecting U.S. industries.
Moreover, the U.S. and China epitomize two distinct ideological poles – democracy versus communism. The U.S.’s ideological stance promotes liberal democracy and free-market principles, while China stands firm on a single-party system with state-led economic mechanisms. This ideological divide fosters a deep-rooted mistrust, as each nation fundamentally opposes the other’s governance model. The situation in regions such as Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong often becomes focal points within this clash, with the U.S. criticising what it perceives as human rights abuses.
The technological advancements achieved by China are another source of concern for the United States. The U.S. sees China’s strides in crucial sectors like artificial intelligence, 5G, and quantum computing as a potential threat to its long-standing technological superiority. The fear of losing this edge drives the U.S. to impose restrictions on Chinese tech firms and invest heavily in its own industries to compete. The trade bans and sanctions against companies like Huawei are clear examples of efforts to stymie China’s technological progress.
Geopolitically, the Asia-Pacific region presents a significant flashpoint. Territorial disputes in the South China Sea have major strategic implications, and the U.S. supports its regional allies to counter China’s assertive territorial claims. Its backing of Taiwan’s self-governance, despite China’s insistence on reunification, is a deliberate move to check Chinese influence. Agreements like AUKUS and the Quad highlight the U.S. effort to strengthen its military presence and influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
The targeting of China is also driven by the interests of the U.S. military-industrial complex. A substantial segment of the U.S. economy relies on defense spending and armament sales, and perceived threats from China justify enormous military budgets as well as the development of advanced weaponry. The narrative of a Chinese threat serves the defense industry’s interests and aligns with larger U.S. military strategies.
Lastly, the U.S frequently brings up human rights concerns, leveraging them as a basis for sanctions and diplomatic pressure. While there are genuine concerns about violations, such as the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang or political repression in Hong Kong, these issues also serve to undermine China’s global standing and challenge its internal policies.
In essence, the United States continues to target China not out of mere animosity but as a calculated measure to forestall a powerful rival’s ascent. This is a deliberate effort to maintain strategic superiority in an increasingly multipolar world. By leveraging economic tactics, ideological rhetoric, technological restrictions, and geopolitical strategies, the U.S. aims to contain China’s rise and protect its status as the preeminent global superpower.
Russia Eliminated a Senior PENTAGON Officer Responsible For The Supply of F-16 Fighters To KYIV
Has anyone ever had the satisfaction of seeing that one jerk driver get pulled over?
How about a quick story.
I left Police station at 2 in the morning and walked to the main road to get a taxi cab. This intersection used to be the busiest but at this time it was almost deserted and I had to stand and wait there for some good minutes to get a cab. Finally one came around and while I was putting my laptop bag on the back seat.
I heard this roaring sound of a car’s engine.
I turned back and saw this old model Suzuki Fx approaching the intersection in a flash. Crossed the intersection and vanished in to the night with speed so fast that It scared me for their or somebody else’s safety.
I stood still for some seconds feeling mixed emotions of anger and fear. It was likely that their careless driving might result into a collision with some other vehicle which surely would turn fatal.
But then it struck me “They must be running away after committing a crime”.
I was off duty and this wasn’t my jurisdiction. Tough day’s work had worn me out and I really wanted to get home and go to bed. But this driver’s utterly careless driving and this suspicion of them being criminals gave me a quick boost to do something about it.
I quickly made couple of phone calls and managed to warn a Police picket couple of miles ahead on this very road, told them to completely block the road and look for this old model Suzuki in black color. They acknowledged.
Instead of going home in my cab, curiosity took me to that very Picket to see if they’re stopped. I felt this strange energy and pride that I am doing something positive. Regardless of being off duty, I am striving to protect and serve the crap out of my city while they’re asleep. I won’t lie, it felt good.
I reached there and saw 3 persons who rode in that car were stopped on the picket and were being questioned. They were searched thoroughly along with their vehicle. Nothing illegal was found. They were not drunk either. All three were college students without a driving license and registration book.
Driver was acting quite confidently since we couldn’t find firearms or alcohol. To him, that must have been a minimum legitimate excuse to get in trouble with the law.
He spoke in a loud and rude tone “See? We are clean. Now let us go otherwise I am making a phone call. My uncle is blah blah blah”.
I looked at that young lad with disappointment. I wasn’t angry as such public behavior isn’t rare. No way was I going to let them take off in their “super cruiser” of a car.
What they didn’t know was that careless and hoon driving is a punishable offence which can lead to jail time. Having no registration book can result in seizure of vehicle until a Judge directs us to let it go after verification.
Tell you what. Why don’t you call that uncle of yours since you’ve got no IDs, we need to verify your background. And there is no way this vehicle is taking you anywhere. We are taking it in possession. Also it is to be determined if you should be booked for careless driving.
What?
You heard me.
A police mobile van was called and they were escorted to the nearest Police station. I left for home.
Later I learnt that car was seized and remained in the Police compound for a week as such legal procedures can be time consuming. But those teenagers were let go with a warning. Their parents came to the Police station late at night and assured “this won’t happen again”. Especially the driver’s dad was quite furious and felt free to spank his son’s bottom, or so I heard.
Somebody might think, I acted over grudge or something like that. No, I have nothing personal against him or anybody else. I did not hate that kid, but his careless driving seriously concerned me for his and other’s safety.
I hope he doesn’t drive again the way I saw him.
“48 Oyster Girl” Is Going Viral for This NIGHTMARE Date
Has anyone surprised you after their death, e.g. receiving an organ from a donor, a sizeable inheritance, or a visit from a friendly ghost?
Originally Answered: Has anyone surprised you after their death?
My brother did for me. I’m the youngest of 3 and my brother was the oldest. There were 8 years difference in our ages. We did not have the tightest of brotherly relationships when we were growing up or even when we were adults. I always felt that he was a bit cold, and as I was the only one in my family to have children, he remained a bit “distant”. I didn’t understand until after he died that it was just “his way”.
My brother was a bit “demanding” when he was home with family, yet he always was extremely tolerant of my son who has Down Syndrome. I just felt like “we” (my family, mostly my children) weren’t that close or important to him. I found out (much to my very surprise) after he died that just wasn’t true.
My brother was a video editor for the government (I don’t want to give to many details as it was military related). Upon his very sudden and tragic death, the owner of the contracting company gave me his personal belonging. One was a picture of Larry in front of his work station, a very complex video editing bay.
What caught my eye and threw me for a very big loop was a picture of both my daughter and son on his bay. It wasn’t just that there were pictures, but it was the most recent pictures my wife had sent him. We figured he never did anything with them. Then, at his funeral, which was attended by many military officers and civilians, so many of them came up to me (as I did his eulogy they all knew who I was), and asked me “we see your daughter, but where is Michael (my son)?” (We had left him home as it was just “easier” at the time). I was shocked. They all knew all these details about my kids. They all told me that my brother constantly talked about them.
I have to tell you that many times I broke down after this privately and cried. I never had any idea that he felt that close to my children. He had such a hard way about him that we just didn’t have that type of relationship. It was at that very moment that I realized just how much I lost in his passing.
I always knew my brother was a good person. He always worked, even in tough times, always was saving cats (he loved dogs, but as an apartment dweller they were not allowed). He always paid his taxes. He was just a good person.
It took his tragic passing for me to learn what he was really about. I miss him every day and have his editing clock in my office to always remind me of his presence in our family and my life.
Hum. I suggest that he should check the paternity of his children. This is far too weird. -MM
Man Discovers Fiancée Is Cheating/Committing Fraud On OnlyFans, So He Has Her Arrested By The FBI
Seared Scallop Cavatappi in Creamy White Wine Sauce
Seared Scallop Cavatappi in Creamy White Wine Sauce takes only 20 minutes to make and is full of nutrients, this decadent scallop cavatappi dish only feels like a splurge. We love it for dinner parties and special nights in.
seared scallop cavatoppi
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 ounces cavatappi
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound fennel, white part only, thinly sliced
20 each “dry” sea scallops
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons finely chopped dill
Instructions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Cook the cavatappi according to package directions. Drain and reserve.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil.
Add the fennel and season with salt and pepper. Cook, allowing the fennel to caramelize on one side, about 3 minutes before flipping and doing the same on the second side. It should be caramelized on the outside and soft on the inside when pierced with a knife.
Remove from pan.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. Increase heat to high.
Season the scallops with salt and pepper.
Place them in the pan in a single layer. If they don’t fit, do them in 2 batches. Do not overcrowd the pan.
Allow scallops to brown on one side (about 1 minute) then flip and brown the second side.
Remove from pan.
Add the shallots to the pan and cook until aromatic (about 30 seconds).
Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Cook down just to take the away the raw alcohol flavor (about 1 minute).
Add the cream and cook another minute.
Stir in the dill.
Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Add the pasta and fennel to heat through.
For each serving, divide the pasta between 4 bowls.
My mother was afraid that I would drop out of college at the university. And it was a real concern. So many of our friends were dropping out of school. So she had this idea. She got me a job at a coal mine. And she went out of her way to make sure it was a hard life. In her mind, the harder the better.
And that was my first introduction to working.
I started working at a very young age, and my parents had to sign a waver to allow me to work as I was under the age of 16. But, you know, both my parents felt that I needed to have the harsh life lessons early on. That I needed to see what a paycheck was, and what deductions were.
Of course, they didn’t feel this way about my sisters. They could live an easy life; go to the games, be cheerleaders. Have an allowance, and visit the mall.
Even my younger brother was spared the working life, for some reason that I never got a straight answer to.
Anyways, the very first task that I was assigned on my first day of work was to scrub out all the trash cans by hand. Oh, sure, it wasn’t necessary. But it was part of the new-hire “hazing” of us younger guys.
For whatever it is worth, when my daughter gets older, I will give her a work experience, briefly. And following that; a heavy does of running her own business,.
Maybe a vending machine business. Or something along those lines. Simple, with hands-on activity.
I believe that it is my job: my role to provide these skills, and NOT to rely on the public school system to take over that responsibility.
I know. I am weird. But it’s my strong point of view on this matter.
Today…
New Orleans Pepper Steak
New Orleans Pepper Steak
Ingredients
Steak
2 steaks suitable for grilling (T-bone, porterhouse, etc.)
1 tablespoon cracked or coarse ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon Colgin’s liquid smoke
2 large cloves garlic, crushed or 1 teaspoon garlic paste
New Orleans Steak Butter
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce or Colgin’s liquid smoke
Instructions
Steak
Prepare the steaks for the grill about 1/2 hour ahead of time. Rub the two steaks with all of the ingredients using 1/2 for each steak.
Grill over hot coals to desired degree of doneness. The amount of pepper used can be varied according to your taste but do not increase the amount of garlic. The garlic cooks with the steaks and will not be overwhelming. Serve with the Steak Butter.
New Orleans Steak Butter
Just before putting the steaks on the grill, prepare the sauce. Put the butter in a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook over low heat until the parsley is wilted. Keep the sauce warm and serve over the steaks as soon as they are done.
A Chinese non-military official once said:
If China had provided military assistance to Russia, Russia would have won and the war would have ended long ago..
Through this joint anti-terrorism military exercise with Belarus, the United States and the West will believe that Chinese officials are not saying this casually.
Instead of spending a lot of energy to dispel rumors, it is better to actually prove it to you! — If the Russian army has a large army of combat robot dogs and combat drones, can Ukraine still resist it?
The United States does not have the capacity to go to war with China, and the politicians in Washington have not yet realized this.
The U.S. flaunts its military prowess to China without realizing that China’s industrial output has far surpassed that of the United States.
Industrial capacity is important for war because you have to produce ammunition, missiles, and countless drones.
It would be very dangerous for the US to go to war with China in the face of a gap in industrial capacity.
If the Chinese offer a peace proposal, you better say yes or their people will be happier than you.
What is a scary or disturbing fact that is 100% true?
On January 15th 1919 a tank filled with 2.3 Million gallons of molasses burst and sent a tsunami of slow pouring sticky substance that was said to be 40 foot high and weighing more than 13,000 metric tons through the streets of Boston killing 21 people and injuring many more. The molasses being much denser than water carried a great deal of potential energy with it.
The wave of molasses crested some 8 meters high in places and travelled at 35 miles per hour through the streets. Buildings didn’t stand a chance and horrifically people became stuck in the sticky substance. The unlucky ones were stuck under the surface and died. As the molasses was so heavy a rush of sweet smelling air proceeded it and knocked people of their feet only to be engulfed by the tsunami. In total 21 people were killed and 150 people injured across a 800 meter long trail of destruction.
Rescue efforts were very difficult and anyone who ventured into the area to search for survivors became stuck. Eventually most of the molasses was washed into the harbour using salt water. It stained the Boston harbour a deep brown for over an half a year. It was also reported that people tracked the molasses across the city making everything unpleasantly sticky for weeks, if anyone has kids you would know the torment of sticky messes. And for many years to come it was reported that on hot sunny days the air in Boston smelt of molasses.
They Lied To You About CHINA: This is SHENZHEN!
How do they cook the chicken at KFC? If they actually make it, wouldn’t they notice that they’re cooking lungs and things?
KFC was my first job when I was a teenager, but I remember a lot about the place.
Our chicken was always fresh; chilled, but not frozen. It was supplied by a local poultry company, and already cut into pieces; leg, thigh, breast, & wing. There was nothing really special about the chicken itself; the poultry supplier supplied numerous other restaurants with chicken, so it was all actually chicken.
We only had original recipe in those days. The pieces were dipped in a milk and egg dip (powdered mixed with water), and then dredged in seasoned flour. The seasoning (11 herbs & spices) came in a packet that we mixed with a bag of flour (10# I think). We did all this on a breading table, and had the chicken pieces in a basket ready for the fryer. The chicken was placed in the hot oil, and cooked in these huge pressure cookers for 20 minutes. We had a special clock on the wall for timing; when the pressure lids were put on, we would write the time it was to be done on the stove with a white grease pencil. (I think it is more automated now).
When the chicken was ready, we would dump the entire contents of the pot out on a fryer table, where the vegetable oil would drain off and collect in the bottom, and then the chicken pieces were placed into a Crescor, which was a steam cabinet to keep the pieces warm and moist, ready to be served to the customer. The oil was filtered, and we would refill the pots from the fryer table, ready to go again.
We would make gravy too, using a gravy mix and water. We would add some of the left-over crumbs from the bottom of the fryer to season it, sort of like using pan drippings to make gravy at home.
We also had gizzards from time-to-time that we would cook in the same way as the regular chicken pieces, except the gizzards had to be cooked longer.
In all my experience, I never ever saw a piece cooked or served that wasn’t a normal piece of chicken purchased locally. I’ve heard rumors that KFC uses genetically modified chickens that would have six drumsticks or fifteen wings or something equally as freaky. But I can assure you that is nothing more than the product of a myth and an overactive imagination. And they don’t serve lungs or any other entrails; KFC doesn’t serve “chicken haggis.” If a piece of lung happened to be in with the chicken, it would be unintentional. Besides, if you’ve ever butchered and cleaned chickens, the lungs are sometimes tricky to completely remove from the cavity. However, it would only be a small fragment (very difficult to detect after cooking), and not an entire lung.
KFC, at least from my experience, is very picky about their food. If a piece of chicken isn’t done right, it gets thrown away.
However, KFC was about the hottest job I’ve ever had. The kitchen wasn’t air conditioned (the rest of the store was), so it would easily climb to over 100 degrees in the summertime. 120 degrees was about the hottest I experienced. I just hope working conditions have improved over the years. For a teenager, it was an okay first job, and I was happy with the money I earned, even though it was just $1.15/hour. But that was back in 1969.
[2022我要上春晚]《麒麟》 演唱：早安|CCTV春晚
This is some serious Chinese popular music. Note that the entire performance is done using traditional Chinese instruments.
Will India catch up to China?
The way we are currently going? No way. I have lived in India for some forty years and in China for more than two years (though I have been visiting the country since 1996). India is today where China was in 1979, but in India we are still rudderless, direction less and leaderless (without knowing it).
the reason why China’s development has worked for it for so logn is because it is focused on a larger number of people and not a smaller number of people getting wealthy. In India, what we have is still the latter.
The day the life of the farmers in India start improving, the person who has to travel like an animal in overcrowded Mumbai local trains starts getting better and we Indians start caring for each other without being under pretensions that we are superior to fellow Indians (I am referring to the Hyderabad police and Telangana govt. imagining itself to be superior to poorer beggars – just a symptom of a much more widespread malady that affects us all) – that day I will say there is some chance that we might catch up with China.
PS – Just do a google image search to see what the railway stations in China – Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chengdu, Xiamen look like. That is considered “normal” in over a hundred cities in China. We don’t have a single such place in India – a few airports don’t mean anything as masses travel by trains. Do a similar search for their roads and buses. And their government run schools. That is where the real development lies – not in rockets sent up, missiles, stock exchanges, GDP and a few hundred super rich people in either country.
An honest Admission –
Every day I spend in China, while I appreciate what they have (they have worked hard for it and continue to do so), I keep saying to myself – “I wish my country was like this, because I know my people deserve it and are capable of it. I wish some day my people will feel they deserve better – and people here includes the people in government”.
The council had agreed. Euthanization of the immigrants would happen today at the high moon this 2052 MY (Mars Year) 549 Sol. Most were in poor health anyway, some would stay for continued scientific examination, and four of the youth who survived information intake showed educable promise would receive Partial Martian citizenship. Quatek had attended the meeting with her mother, Supreme Empress Quarmine. Quatek practiced her self-teleportation and levitation. But the word euthanized sharpened her already pointed ears. As part of the population control reform, her grandmother, the fourteenth Supreme Empress, had enacted, and last year on her two- hundredth birthday died as number 16587, becoming a member of the new Grand Guiding Ancestors. The reform called upon the Euthanization of all Martians on their two-hundred birthday. When she signed the reform, she was signing her own death certificate. Quatek still missed her grandmother, tears falling far too often for a future Empress, according to her mother. Grandmother had taught her to have an open heart; her mother taught her to have a steady hand. Quatek knew that many of the councilwomen believed her mom had advised the Euthanasia Population Control Reform. Her mother refused to accept chemical or medical control of life. The all-female population had evolved to self-reproduce only three-hundred MY ago. Their numbers were small back then, but now they were running out of space. To assure a quality life for the babies, sterile older women had to die. It would be a sacrifice, but after death, they transformed into the Grand Guiding Ancestors and held in reverence.That was the same year the immigrants came. Their ship landed near the craters of Aquanis and Anquiteka. Fearful they would attack the water and easily defeat the aged community, these immigrants were transferred into the trans-tunnels and held in Section 1, an antiquated abandoned living area. The area still had all the essential water, air, food delivery chutes, and temperature control units. Old and lacking systems but suitable for immigrants, some now called invaders. Over the last year, observation and experimentation became commonplace. Suspicion waned, then grew when several Observants, a party of 6 women, were in the migrant’s ship. After entering the vessel, an unanswered security breach alert led to a self-destruct warning, and finally, the ship exploded. The Earthling migrants explained that after so long with no one onboard their planet, set up this security device to keep their craft out of alien hands. This lead to talk of euthanasia for no life capable of such a barbaric tactic to kill would be worthy of life.Anxious, Quatek wandered out of the council chambers and down the red stone tunnel. Light fell in spots from the escape airlock hatches above. The hatches secured into the bottom of the shallow craters on the planet’s surface existed as emergency exits in case of a tunnel collapse. At the third spot of light was her mother’s office, not even her daughter status would get passed the guards on duty at the door. It would only be a few years, and the office would be hers. Surely a few moments inside wouldn’t be wrong, just educational. Quatek pressed her green-tinted palms together, lifting her elbows. Rubbing her hands, she applied her warmed palms to her hidden third eye in the center of her forehead. Seconds later, she appeared behind her mother’s desk undetected. Sitting in the royal seat, she viewed the screen, which appeared on default along with the holograms. The screen showed the twenty migrants, who would die, there was nothing she could do. Quatek paused at Mary’s image. She and Mary became friends over the year. Mary would stay at the request of Quatek, though Mary’s parents would die. It would be hard, but she would be with her. Help her. That is when the sidebar came into view.“Noooo!” she muffled her scream with her hand. The final order, signed by her mother, appeared. Quatek read all immigrants euthanized so more Martian babies could be born. “This can’t be,” Quatek whispered.The guards entered and began questioning her. She had to save Mary. She rubbed her hands and transported to Area 1. Spotting Mary, Quatek wrapped her arms around her and transported them both to the far path. This historical path, sacred as a tribute to her people’s first exodus from the surface to the climate controllable tunnels constructed with primitive tools. They climbed the stairs of the sphinx. Both suited up in the airlock within the sphinx eye. They had come here many times. Taught each other a crude sign language and eventually fell in love. Quatek conveyed everything to Mary, there in that eye, looking out at the red sands on the surface of her home planet. Tonight, she told Mary that the Martians themselves had once been migrants from the green planet Merus. Only the Empresses and the Chief Historian know this fact. Quatek’s ancestors arrived here after their planet died. The Meronians brought with them viruses that killed the red indigenous people who lived on the surface. That is why they don’t breathe the Mars air even though they adopted the Martian name. It is why they are in tunnels, why Quatek glows with a green tinge, and why no males we’re born after the first several years. Perhaps the heat of the sun or some environmental induced genetic malformation. And likely why Mary and her people became feared by the governing council. Finally, she shared the worse news of all. All the Earthlings would be euthanized tonight. They held each other a long time then walked back. Mary shared that her mom would give birth soon. Could they wait until after the birth? Could there be a first Earth-Martian if only for a while?Just then, guards accompanied by the Superior Empress arrived and shackled their arms and legs with force field cuffs.“Mother listen, you cannot kill them.”“We are not killing them; we are putting them to sleep for the benefit of them and us. They have no home and no way back, and I cannot exchange our lives for theirs. I have a responsibility to my fellow Martians to life.”Fellow Martian, huh? You believe a new life replaces old life, right? The right to be born is more important than the right to continue as a life lived. Isn’t that your belief?” Quatek paced. The Empress stood in silence. A scream was heard, then a high-pitched cry. “Mary’s mother just gave birth. Isn’t this new Martian life worthy of saving? Isn’t all live worthy?” Mary’s father brought the new child to the front and held him up near the clear security glass that held them, prisoners. There was a sudden silence as the new life sucked on the finger of her father.“How long have you co-mingled?” the Empress demanded.“Nearly ten months.”“No issues?”
“None.”
“Guards put Mary with her family. Child of mine be released and transport to my office immediately.” The cuffs fell of Quatek as the guards carried Mary to the cell.
Hours later, an hour before euthanasia, the council tired from compromise, at last, agreed. At the hour of the immigrant’s end, there came a new beginning. Hundreds gathered in Area 1, bringing food, clothing, and bedding. They removed the glass between them, and cautiously embraced this new life on their planet. Not just the new life being passed around like a crystal goblet of wine, but all life—all life brave enough to fight beyond its bounds of gravity and enter a new world. The decree came to pass that an annual celebration called Thanksgiving of Life would include a new flag of red and blue and green and a grand feast of shared food and gratitude.
What was the last thing a Trump supporter said to you?
<Bug-eyed> “If I had my gun in my car right now, you would be dead!”
Needs a bit of background, though.
My daughter has a learner’s permit, and a HUGE, HUGE sticker on the back of the car saying “STUDENT DRIVER”. We are at a parking lot in a strip mall. She has moved into a parking slot, and is trying to reverse the car to park it parallel to the markings. Fastidious, like it is drilled in to student drivers to be.
In comes an Escalade, right behind our vehicle. Honks loud and long. The kid gets slightly panicked. I tell her to keep her cool, finish the maneuver. The Escalade races its engine, comes within an inch of the bumper, and keeps honking.
My daughter parks the car. The Escalade is on the driveway, blocking all other cars in the parking lot.
Out comes an elderly gentleman, about 60ish. We are getting out of the car. He’s obviously mad.
He: “You assfucker … you shithead …”
Me: “Excuse me … what is happening here?”
He: “Who do you think you are … reversing the car when I am coming in?”
Me: “Sir, sorry if I inconvenienced you, but there is a huge STUDENT DRIVER sign on the back of the car. Did you not notice that?”
He: “I don’t give a shit about signs, you motherfucker … Go back to your own country … You fucking terrorist … President Trump would deport you once I make a call to ICE …”
And this point in time, I am speechless. My daughter is close to tears. What have I gotten myself into?
Then, this gentleman’s wife comes out of the car and approaches my daughter. She does not sound angry. Ah, here is some sanity.
She (to my daughter): “You know, you really should not be permitted to drive. This is a country of white people. Your father isn’t white, and should not be allowed in this country at all.” All of this in a reasonable tone.
This is where I think I made a mistake, but I couldn’t take this any more.
Me: “I hope you have health insurance”
She: “What do you mean?”
Me: “Well, looks like you will need mental health help soon. I hope you are insured for that.”
The gentleman chimes back in.
He: “You fucking asshole, if I had my gun in my car right now, you would be dead”.
Me: “Well, Illinois does not have a Stand Your Ground Law, so that would be homicide”.
And that is when we walked off the lot. The kid was crying, and it took 30 minutes of talking to her (and an ice-cream) to convince her that she had done nothing wrong.
Sad. What is this country coming to?
EDIT: I had been seething internally about this encounter for the past three weeks, and writing this out was a kind of catharsis for me. The outpouring of good thoughts was overwhelming. Thanks everybody for your lovely thoughts.
For the multitude of people who apologized, you don’t have to. I fully understand that all of you are not one of them. And I still have faith. After all, what’s the point in carrying on, otherwise?
EDIT ON EDIT: Lots of people have advised me about videotaping the incident. While I do appreciate the advice, the unfortunate thing is that when someone is hurling epithets at me in my face, my first thought is to protect my daughter and myself, not record it as evidence to be produced later to law enforcement.
Notice that every time this kind of incident gets posted on social media, it is almost always a third person who has recorded it? The people involved are rarely recording a POV video. Same in this case.
US American REACTS – How I See the US After 5 Years
Solar power
Well, the US doesn’t have to worry about Fusion. It will take decades at least.
Right now, Chinese solar panels are below $0.02 per watt. This is from $100 in the 70s. That is 2 cents per watt.
Chinese solar panels are killing big oil and big gas. And it is being manufactured in mass quantities. 600GW of solar panels last year, 600+GW this year, and 900GW of solar panels in 2025. It will be over 1TW of solar panels in 2026 and beyond.
Each watt of solar panel can generate on average of 6 sun hours per day and 260 sun days per year of 1,500 watt of electricity.
Now multiply that by the amount manufactured. And this is going all over the Global South. Ironically China is making the Global South energy independent of the control by the West.
Which makes the US and the EU absolutely hate China. Because those panels will produce power for 30 years before dropping to 80% capacity and still keep going.
There is no oil to interdict or control to starve other nations by the West. Once those panels go in, the West will have to bomb them to get rid of them.
But if they are install on every rooftop then the West would need more bombs then they dropped in WWII just to remove them from a small nation.
This is true energy independence. Fusion will be great for places where the sun doesn’t shine or for large mobile applications or space.
What is the biggest culture shock you have ever faced?
Libraries in China.
The very first time I entered a library on campus, I was imagining something like this:
main qimg a2b3fe6afc66560494bcd355a37e6489
Shelves upon shelves of books. Chairs. People sitting around reading.
The library was about seven storeys, so I was psyched about all the books it could contain. I didn’t bother to check for a building map, I just entered the first floor, walked into a room. I saw: tables, chairs, textbooks and notebooks piled on tables, people busy studying.
main qimg 1b23c6d97844c093f1c7964abf918f51
“This must be the study room”, I thought to myself. I checked the next floor.
Same.
And the next.
Same.
I grew tired and checked the map in the elevator. The actual book-containing part of the library was apparently on the sixth floor.
“Oh finally, “ I thought.
Come to find, the “library” was just one room with about nine shelves of reading books.
A whole seven storey building called the library and this is the actual library?! A small room hidden away in the sixth floor while everyroom else were barebacked study rooms?!
The college is humongous. It has two campuses and four libraries, the smallest library having seven floors and the biggest having eleven.
You can bet your bottom the majority of the rooms in these libraries are just study rooms. What are even reading books, anyway? What kind of moron reads those things?
The study culture here is no joke. Kids pile their books on their reserved spots in the library and sit there studying for hours on end. They keep snacks, water bottles, power banks on site.
This library opens at 7 AM and closes at 11 PM. My deskmate, I think he lives here. He’s always here before I arrive and leaves after I do.
I took this picture one morning because it was a rare occurrence that my study room was bare. I felt like a real champ, a stellar scholar, to be one of the first to arrive.
Across is my deskmate’s side. We “reserve” our tables by keeping our books on them. We also reserve our chairs by doing something similar. He has an orange cushion on his chair to reserve his. I have a small bag draped over the back of mine. Others normally put a spare jacket over theirs.
Need a nap? Sleep on the desk, everybody else does.
Thirsty? Water machines on every floor will give you piping hot or ice cold water for ¥0.1 (0.014 USD) per litre.
Hungry? Bikes will deliver food straight from the mess to the library, you can use your phone to order. There’s also a canteen on the ground level. Their pot noodles aren’t the best but they have good ice cream. They have good bread but they’re always running out of those.
Need some fresh air? There are comfy seats in the court.
It’s like everything is conditioned to keep us here studying hard as much as possible. Libraries in China are truly something else; it was quite a culture shock for me.
China military enters Europe. US backs down, cancels 3000 troop deployment in Georgia. US lost India
China subsidies all their product to sell to Europe, does it mean, China is loosing money when selling to Europe? Why China sell Europe at a loss, is it due to China is too rich thus able to help other country?
Ah
No
That’s not how things work
Take Solar Panels
In 2008, A Chinese company makes Solar Panels of very low quality
If they want to make high quality solar panels – based on their manufacturing process – they can only get a 3% FPR meaning out of 10,000 Panels you get 300 Excellent Quality Panels and 9700 Very Low Quality Panels
How can they make money?
They can’t sell 97% of what they make so they simply can’t sustain the business yet they have the R&D and they know that if given the scale, they can make top class panels at optimum cost in 10 years
Which Bank will lend them? Who will wait for 10 years?
This is where the State of China and a group of Industries say WE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU TILL YOU REACH THAT OPTIMUM LEVEL. YOU JUST DO YOUR R&D
So China pays for 9700 Worthless Panels and destroys the panels using their tax revenues plus money given by big industries like Huawei or Bytedance
Thus this Chinese company keeps making more and more panels – millions and millions more and slowly their FPR grows from 3% in 2008 to 71% in 2018
Now out of 1 Million Panels – they can make 710,000 Very High Quality Panels
And their costs are negligible because they have been subsidized by the Chinese State
So they can sell at 20% of what Germany sells their panels for and still make a 30% profit
They have cracked the Economies of Scale
So now these Panel manufacturers will ask the State of China –
Now that we are making profits and have gained market dominance – How can we ever thank you?
Xi smiles and says “Now you guys help us subsidize the High End Chipmakers, Etching equipment makers and AI LLM startups”
And the cycle goes on and on – each generation which got subsidies will subsidize the next generation
Costs this remain lower and lower and once scale is obtained – China is the master of Quality at lowest price
There is no competition possible
So State Subsidies don’t help the Companies sell at a loss
They help the companies afford to focus on getting to a large scale without worrying about Loans, EMIs, Installments, Investors etc
Like Normal Startups face
An Indian guy can’t get any of these benefits
He may have a superior product but to reach a large scale enough to attain profitability and optimum quality – he needs 7–12 years of continuous exponential financing to help him reach the scale
Banks wont lend him
Government is too broke borrowing and building collapsing infrastructure
Chinese Investors have been banned due to fifth rate paisa nationalism and other investors don’t have the patience to wait for even 5 years leave alone 10–12. You will see more of Byjus and Paytm
Unlike the Chinese Industrialists our Thelawallah Businessmen are busy with 3000 Crore weddings. They won’t help anyone subsidize business without a Government sanctioned Sten Gun on their temple
So the Indian leaves India, goes to Singapore and gets financing from a Chinese/Japanese VC and in a few years the product goes to US or China
While Rohit Sharma gets another 100 Crore for sponsoring Underpants
That’s what State Subsidies mean
Pour money and allow a Business to reach a scale where it can sustain itself
Ensure all R&D costs are paid by the State so that the Business can afford to sell at 20% of the US or German price and still make a 30% Profit
And the Business in turn helps subsidizes more businesses and helps pay for more R & D
Did you know that one of the world’s first coins had the symbol of a bee?
Did you know that honey contains live enzymes?
Did you know that these enzymes die when in contact with a metal spoon? The best way to eat honey is with a wooden spoon; if you can’t find one, use a plastic spoon.
Did you know that honey contains a substance that helps the brain function better?
Did you know that honey is one of the few foods on earth that alone can sustain human life?
Did you know that bees saved people from starvation in Africa?
Did you know that propolis produced by bees is one of the most powerful natural antibiotics?
Did you know that honey has no expiration date?
Did you know that the bodies of the world’s greatest emperors were buried in golden coffins and then covered in honey to prevent rot?
Did you know that the term “Honeymoon” comes from the fact that the bride and groom consumed honey for fertility after the wedding?
Did you know that a bee lives less than 40 days, visits at least 1000 flowers and produces less than a teaspoon of honey, but for her it is her life’s work.
Thank you beautiful bees!
As a house maid, what was the grossest thing you’ve ever found while cleaning a house?
Not a maid, but have a couple rentals. The absolute worst were single girls. One in particular. She had a decent job and could afford it, so I rented to her. At the end of the first month when the rent was due, she was no where to be found. Stopped by several days…not home. Stopped by late one day, after dark, and she’s still not there, and the lights are off. Now I’m noticing that the power is not on. Hmm…. Called her job, “fired a few weeks ago…” But they told me where she went to work. Stopped by there. Deer in the headlights surprise…. oh hi! Long story short, she moved in with boyfriend and just “forgot” to call, but her furniture, clothes, baby stuff is still in my house…but she states that she’s not going to pay for the next month, even though she’s occupying my house with her stuff. Her parting comment is “so sue me”. Okay, I’m going there tomorrow, and placing all the contents on the curb. Come get what you want. When I made entry, oh my!…the smell….”#gagamaggot! Spoiled food everywhere, fridge, floor, bathroom…etc…. but here’s the biggie, in a corner of the master br is a ripe stinking nasty pile of soiled diapers, and used kotex pads, with assorted flies, gnats, and whatever bugs crawling around doing what they do. To lazy to use a garbage can. Remember, power is off, and this is summer in the south and the air was so heavy with scent you could taste it. So I retreat to change clothes and don face mask and two pair of rubber gloves, and roll in a garbage can with a heavy plastic bag and open all the windows and doors. Took me a week to make that home suitable to show again. That one will be in my memory for a while!. I did take a number of pictures, just for future reference. Bleah! Ugh! Gag! Vomit!
Every morning, the CEO of a major bank in Manhattan went to the corner where a shoeshine man was always there.
He used to sit on the chair, read the Wall Street Journal, and the shoeshine man gave his shoes a shiny, great look.
One morning, the shoeshine man asks the CEO:
“What do you think of the stock market situation?”
The CEO arrogantly asks him:
“Why are you so interested in this subject?”
The shoeshine man replies:
“I have 20 million dollars deposited in your bank and I am thinking about investing part of the money in the stock market.”
The CEO of the bank asks:
“What is your name?”
He replies:
“John Smith H.”
The CEO arrives at the bank and asks the Manager of the Major Accounts Department:
“Do we have a customer named John Smith H.?”
He replies:
“We certainly do, sir! He is an extremely esteemed customer! He has 20 million dollars in his account.”
The CEO leaves the bank, approaches the shoeshine boy, and says:
“Mr. Smith, I would like to invite you to be our guest of honor at our board meeting next Monday and tell us your life story. I’m sure we will have a lot to learn from you.”
At the board meeting, the CEO introduces him to the board members:
“We all know Mr. Smith, who makes our shoes shine like no one else. But Mr. Smith is also our valued customer, with twenty million dollars in his account.
I invited him to tell us the story of his life. I’m sure we can learn a lot from him. Please, Mr. Smith, tell us your life story.”
Then, Mr. Smith began to narrate his story:
“I came to this country thirty years ago as a young immigrant from Eastern Europe and with an unpronounceable name. I left the ship penniless in my pocket.
The first thing I did was to change my name to Smith.
I was hungry and exhausted. I started to wander in search for a job, but without success.
Suddenly, I found a coin on the sidewalk. I bought some apples.
I had two options: eat the apples and quench my hunger or start a business. I sold the apples for 50 cents and bought more apples with the money.
When I started accumulating dollars, I managed to buy a set of used brushes and shoe polishes and started cleaning shoes.
I didn’t spend a dime on fun or clothes. I only bought bread and cheese to survive.
I saved penny by penny and after a while I bought a new set of brushes and shoe polishes in different shades and colors and increased my clientele.
I lived like a monk and saved every penny. I managed to buy a chair so that my customers could sit comfortably while I cleaned their shoes, which brought me more customers.
I didn’t spend a dime on the pleasures of life. I kept saving every penny.
A few years ago, when the corner shoeshine colleague decided to retire, I had already saved enough money to buy his point, which was a better place than mine.
Finally, 3 months ago, my drug dealer brother passed away and left me 20 million dollars.
The War on Napping: They Won’t Let Their Husbands Sleep
What is the least intelligent thing you’ve ever seen a tourist do?
When I was in high school, I had a summer job at a theme park. Visitors came from all over the country, and it wasn’t uncommon to see people from outside the U.S. as well.
There were the usual dumb theme park questions: “Why isn’t [Ride] running?” (Because it’s raining with lots of lightning, and a giant metal rollercoaster would basically become a lightning rod.) “My son is two feet shorter than the height requirement. Can he go on this ride anyway?” (No.) “Can I use your employee discount?” (Also no.)
But the least intelligent thing people did was to come to spend an entire summer day in an outdoor theme park without bringing sunscreen or water. Then they would have to buy ridiculously overpriced sunscreen and water in the park ($12 for a bottle of sunscreen and $5 for a bottle of water, and this was about 15 years ago).
The ones I felt the most sorry for were a British family, a dad and two young kids. This was on one of the hottest days of summer, about 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) with not a cloud in the sky. I had never seen anyone get that sunburned before. They were so lobster-red, it looked like something out of a cartoon. They came into the shop I was working in and bought two water bottles each. That cost them about $40, just for water. I asked if they wanted some sunscreen as well and the dad said, “A bit late for that, isn’t it?” I pointed out that they would keep getting more sunburned if they didn’t put on sunscreen, and he just sort of laughed like he thought I was joking and left without buying any sunscreen. I felt so sorry for the kids.
Why does Walmart have a bad reputation?
I tried working for Walmart in 2015–2016. I worked in maintenance, nothing special. My job was to maintain the store and property, and handle any messes. It was straightforward. That said, getting the job and keeping it certainly weren’t. I don’t have a vehicle, so I routinely walked 3.4 miles to work five days a week in wind, rain, sun, and snow. In the winter of 2015, I walked to work in 8 degree (Fahrenheit) weather (this is Oklahoma), and was still told I might get fired. Several of my coworkers appreciated it, and we had 38 call-ins of a staff of just under 100 that day.
So, I worked forty hours a week, walk about 35–60 miles a week, put up with all the best and worst customers can provide, and had to deal with shoddy management staff who didn’t know how to communicate. My supervisor got fired, and the one I ended up with had no clue what my job entailed, but proceeded to deride me at every turn for not doing my job correctly. This same supervisor had several complaints lodged against her, but the upper management refused to act. So we had a handful of rotten managers, a number of bitter, gossipy staff, and a management team who was completely out of touch. I was routinely sent out to waste my time to clean trash from an adjoining lot that the store didn’t own. When I suggested a fence, I was ignored, and when one of my supervisors asked why we were even out there, they sent him out too.
This nonsense culminated in September of 2016. The maintenance staff was asked to work several extra hours to cover some recent terminations. At $15 an hour, that sounds good. On Monday evening, I check my schedule to make sure I have work the next day only to find out I have been removed from the schedule without notice and the aforementioned supervisor is gone, so nobody knows what happened. I get bounced around for nearly two hours, with even the store manager telling me to “get back to work” before Personnel can figure out what happened. Basically, my supervisor had violated policy when she revised the schedule, and they cut more of my time to compensate. When I complained that I should have been made aware, they shrugged their shoulders. I let slip a single profanity about the situation, and they fired me for it two days later. I was fired from my job for something I did off the clock in response to one of their managers fucking up, and she got off scot-free. That’s why Walmart has a bad reputation, because they do stupid shit like that.
Edit: First time using the site, and this piece of work I put up as my first(?) answer on here got nearly 2400 upvotes! I’m both amazed at the response and rather horrified at the fact that this many people can relate. Thanks all!
Shorpy
31627u.preview31630u.preview29920u.preview4a18711a.preview4a09792a.preview04444u.preview05337u.preview4a24889a.previeweats1975.preview4a24911a.preview4a18743a.preview31629u.preview4a20521a.preview4a20517a.preview4a11936a.preview4a13522a.preview4a11676a.preview4a07850a.preview4a24660a.preview4a24669a.preview4a24623a1.preview4a24618a.preview29621u.preview17149u.preview29618u.preview29928u.preview4a24661a.previewDefault An lighting gold angel tattooing Donald Trumps soulder 1
Are there any facts that are extremely scary to know?
Vivisepulture is the scariest fact that used to happen in the history because of lack of knowledge of medical practitioners and lack of resources.
Vivisepulture is more commonly known as Buried alive or Premature burial.
In the olden days premature burial was common as the medical practices lacked proper knowledge. One such incident which happened in Woodstock, Canada in 1800s is the case of Collins, a girl who was buried alive.
main qimg cd5fe49f78e59909bb9d0cdcf12368a1 lq
Above is the image of Collins’ body when it was exumed after two days of her burial.
The incident happened in Woodstock, Canada in 1800s where the girl (Collins) who was declared to be dead was buried. Her body was to be exumed after two days so that she could be buried in some place else.
After her body was dug up, people were shocked to see what they saw. Her knees were up to the chin (in the image), her arm twisted behind her head, there were scratch marks on the inside of her coffin and her shroud torn into pieces. This clearly shows that she was alive (in some sort of Coma) at the time of burial which was not recognizable by the medical Professionals of that time.
We can only assume as to how much terrorized she must have been feeling at the time when she woke up from her so-called coma. This is just one case — there have been so many cases of people being buried alive in the past that they made speciality safety coffins.
Below in Fig. 1 is a safety coffin with a flag. The person assumed to be dead had a safety rope which they can pull and the flag will be in upright position.
main qimg 3f0c41b691b67f848a8e3bcaa04b2e3d lq
Now in Fig. 2 below, if the person buried is alive, can pull the rope and the flag will be upright alerting anyone who is nearby.
main qimg cebb1a82ad023f57ba8a36a858a81202 lq
There were other coffins which were designed with bells, emergency air flow valves and with flags.
Death in such cases was actually caused by dehydration, hypothermia and starvation.
However, premature burial was a punishment as well in the olden days. People convicted of henious crimes would be buried alive to die of choking. There is intentional as well as unintentional premature burial.
But the most scary part is what happened with Collins: imagine a little girl trapped inside with no one — what would have happened to her, what she would have felt, what she went through — she had to die several deaths before actually dying.
May her soul rest in peace.
I would prefer to be cremated rather than being buried.
Putin and China just made an OMINOUS Warning and NATO is FURIOUS
Mixed feelings
There were many mixed reactions to the loosening up of visas for people to visit China.
On here there was a mixed reaction to it.
I’ve swung from both sides, in that seeing is believing making them question what the western state controled media tells them vs what they see.
Shun himself was more concerned about criminals and bad people getting into China…
But that itself has a positive side effect. I wrote recently how Chinese people in China are blissfully unaware of how shitty many westerners are and how there is absolute dripping hatred from many of them.
But shitty people = their shitty behaviour in China… meaning we get to see things like this.
5 hours 6000+ views on Douyin (that was clipped from a couple days ago). Maybe it will sway the views of Chinese people of foreigners to be more critical rather than have an automatic assumption they’re going to be great people.
Google Is Destroying Its Search Engine…
What is the best thing your teacher ever told you?
Originally Answered: what was the most interesting thing your teacher said?
‘Get out of my classroom, NOW,’ shouted my history teacher, a kind and calm man whose raised voice I had never heard.
He was shouting at two older kids who’d suddenly burst in and interrupted our lesson on the Romans, or the Germans, or the Gold Rush (you get the picture). They were yelling, quite aggressively, to my sheltered 13-year-old mind, about how unhappy they were with something. It was a long time ago so forgive me but it was something like their recent test scores and how Mr McVeigh (I still remember his name now) was to blame.
Us younger students sat aghast at the heated exchange. This was unusual to say the least and I started to feel really sorry for our lovely teacher.
The shouting went on for a bit and just when I seriously thought it might turn physical, Mr McVeigh told them to leave NOW and they turned and marched out the classroom, slamming the door hard enough to make the glass panel shake.
‘I am so sorry about that,’ said our teacher (such a nice man). ‘This is all very embarrassing.’
‘I need to let the headteacher know. Please can you take a new sheet of paper and write down what just happened and a description of both of them.’
I scribbled away – two guys, think they’re in sixth form, came in and loudly shouted, one was wearing a blue shirt… Etc, etc.
We handed the sheets in. And what happened next has stayed with me since.
You might have guessed…
Our lovely Mr McVeigh had stitched us up good and proper. The ‘aggressive older students’ were acting.
He was about to teach us an amazing lesson about the trustworthiness of history’s eye witnesses.
He started to write all the conflicting descriptions and accounts on the whiteboard. Blonde hair… Brown hair… Jeans… Khakis… Said he was gonna sue… Said he’d burn your car… Blue shirt… Grey shirt…
‘Few of your descriptions match, and that’s about an event which happened only a few minutes ago. Imagine you are being interviewed about an historic event you witnessed, days, weeks or even years later. You can start to see how – although important – the eye witness does have some weaknesses.’
Blew my little mind.
Steak-Stuffed Portobello with Creamy Poblano Sauce
Seasoned grilled steak is combined with mozzarella cheese, stuffed into a portobello mushroom, then covered with a creamy poblano chile pepper sauce.
steak stuffed portobello
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) beef flat iron steaks
2 fresh poblano chile peppers
1 small onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices
4 large portobello mushrooms, stems discarded
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro, divided
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
Instructions
Place poblano peppers and onion slices on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 15 to 20 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill) or until onion is tender and pepper skins are blackened, turning occasionally.
Place peppers in food-safe plastic bag; close bag. Set peppers and onion aside to cool.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat each mushroom cap with cooking spray and place on aluminum foil-lined shallow-rimmed baking pan.
Bake mushrooms in 350 degrees F oven for 15 to 17 minutes or until mushrooms are fork tender.
Remove and discard skins, stems and seeds from peppers. Chop peppers and onion.
Heat oil in small sauce pan over medium heat. Add poblanos peppers, onion and garlic; cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; set aside.
Season steaks with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Place steaks on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 10 to 14 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, covered, 12 to 16 minutes) for medium rare (145 degrees F) to medium (160 degrees F) doneness.
Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
Carve steaks into 1-inch strips. Cut strips into 1 inch cubes.
Combine steak and cheese in medium bowl, mixing gently but thoroughly. Evenly divide beef mixture among prepared mushroom caps, mounding as needed.
Bake mushrooms in 400 degrees F oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Meanwhile, place poblano mixture in blender container; add 1/4 cup cilantro, lime juice, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cover; process until smooth.
Divide sauce evenly among 4 plates; top sauce with steak-stuffed mushroom. Garnish with avocado slices and remaining 1/4 cup cilantro, if desired.
What aspect of Japanese culture is hardest for Westerners to properly understand?
Understanding that we Japanese appreciate the beauty of bending the rules.
As Japanese people, we are very good at following rules.
In fact, Japanese society is filled with all sorts of rules, and so many of them are often given too much importance. This often leads to following rules becoming an end in itself, with rules overshadowing the essence.
Always Obey “Time”
Our trains arrive on schedule, and if we’re even a few minutes late to meet friends, we let them know in advance. In schools and workplaces, including meetings and business negotiations, we arrive five minutes early as a matter of course. It’s to the point where if we’re caught taking three minutes to order lunch during work hours, we could face a pay cut. While this might sound like fake news in other countries, it’s a true story for us. For us Japanese, not being punctual is almost like committing a crime.
Always Obey “Traffic Lights”
Even if no one is watching, even if there isn’t a single car on the road, and even if the road is completely empty as far as the eye can see, we Japanese wait for the green light at the crosswalk. We don’t jaywalk. It’s to the point where we might even be laughed at by those who don’t follow traffic lights. This is the norm in Japan, and seeing someone cross the road when the pedestrian signal is red makes us feel uncomfortable. We teach children, “Don’t do what that person is doing,” using such instances as prime examples of what not to do.
But even for us, there are rules we desire not to follow.
Never Obey “Come Empty-Handed”
When someone tells us to “come empty-handed,” it’s just a social nicety. We shouldn’t take it at face value.
In our society, it’s expected that we ignore this and bring a gift. If we visit someone’s home and actually arrive empty-handed after being instructed otherwise, they will likely feel confused internally, pity our social unawareness in the back, and may even become secretly upset. If we visit as a group, everyone else will likely bring things like cream puffs or beverages, making us feel somewhat awkward for not doing the same.
“Come empty-handed” is a formality in our society. Establishing a rule to always bring a gift when visiting someone’s home would simplify matters, but that’s the opposite of what we do. Hosts persist in pretending as though arriving empty-handed is the proper approach. Recognizing the proper situations to go against what’s instructed is a reflection of our cultural sensitivity.
Knowing when and where to break the rules in Japan demands a delicate balance.
In Japan, the ability to achieve this balance without explicit guidance captures the subtle “beauty” of cultural norms.
Stray Cat Cries When He Meets Owner He Hasn’t Seen In Seven Years
I once, a long time ago, was a Design Engineer at Magnavox. This was a large International company that made all sorts of electronics products from televisions to radios to everything in between.
Once, I was put on a project to design a unique cost effective big-screen projection television. The goal was to save $10 per unit. And since we were selling something like two million of these per year, the saving could easily reach $40 million dollars.
For about six months we worked like the devil. We did unpaid overtime, working 14 hour days, and all weekends. It was my first experience in corporate project management, and I think that I learned a lot from it, and we really came though. I believe that we saved something like $20 per unit. So instead of waving the company $40 million dollars, we saved the company $80 million dollars!
We all got a nice meal out of it and a certificate. And that was that. Actually, I and the staff were kind of upset that there were no financial compensation or at least comp-time for our efforts. However, some fo the older guys on the team told me not to worry. Come Christmas, our bonuses would reflect our efforts.
About five months later, Christmas season arrived, and the company held a nice Christmas party. And at the party, the bonuses were handed out.
I was pretty excited. Expecting hundred of thousands of dollars in bonus. After all, 10% of $80 million is $8 million dollars. That’s quite a lot to spread about to us five engineers.
So I opened the envelope.
But I didn’t see a check.
Instead I saw a gift certificate for Walmart worth $5. The smiling face of my section leader just disgusted me, and so I got up and left the party. It was, needless to say, the very last company party that I attended at that company.
…
That was my first taste about what it is like to be a worker-slave. But you know, it really didn’t hit me just how absolutely fucked up it was until twenty years later.
Hey! You want a big laugh?
There’s women who WANT to be Boss-Babes and live this lifestyle.
Idiots.
Today…
What is the saddest thing someone has said to an anesthesiologist before undergoing major surgery?
A young woman in her early twenties with a kidney tumor. (An extremely rare case from the start.) The tumor has already spread to the lymph nodes, and both the kidney and positive lymph nodes have to be removed. And they are.
But not much later, she is back in the hospital with new symptoms, and the cancer is again in the lymph nodes. She needs a second operation but now the situation is even worse — the cancerous lymph nodes mass is very close to the vena cava (a large vein which carries blood to the heart from other parts of the body), and if it grows some more, it will enter the wall of the vena cava. And that will be the end of it.
The urologist who will perform the surgery knows this, and she also knows that the patient has just become a mother, with a baby of six months old.
Before she goes asleep, she looks the anesthesiologist and urologist deep in the eyes, and asks whether this is her last chance to see her baby become a toddler. And the silence answers her question more than any words can.
Less than two months later, she is in the hospital again. The cancer has grown into her vena cava, and she has only a couple of weeks left. And when she hears the news — which she, as a young, very intelligent and independent woman, had expected but tried to ignore the best she could — she starts crying, crying, crying.
And only one sentence vibrates through her trembling heart as her world shuts down —
Her baby is eight months old.
Her baby is eight months old.
Classic Blues Music Best Songs || Excellent Collections of Vintage Blues Songs (Lyrics)
What was the rudest thing done to you by a next door neighbor?
I moved in with my girlfriend in 2016, because it made the most financial sense. She owns the house and has been living here since it was built, I had a stable job and good income. She also went through a nasty and protracted divorce a few years before we met. The neighbors to our left were big fans of her ex – they would spy on her and report back to him on a regular basis. Her ex had assured everyone in the neighborhood who would listen that he was going to win the divorce, get the house, and she would be living in her car. Well … it didn’t quite work out like he planned, so he set his acolytes on a mission to make her life miserable. That also didn’t work out like he planned.
I personally caught the guy standing in the driveway leading to our lower garage taking pictures of my car while I had it up on jack stands for some front suspension work. We weren’t in violation of the HOA rules because the car was in the garage while I was working on it. He skedaddled back across the property line as soon as he knew he was being watched.
Later on, I can only assume it became clear to him and his wife that I wasn’t going anywhere. He took every opportunity to try to provoke me into doing something stupid. I didn’t rise to the occasion, and he eventually tired of it. One afternoon, I was walking down to the backyard, he was in his driveway, and he starts flipping me the bird and yelling something I couldn’t understand. I kept walking like I didn’t have a care in the world.
I told my girlfriend that the best revenge we could take on them would be to live the best life we could and be happy in spite of them. When they sold the house and moved out, we threw a small going away party in their honor … without them.
Have you ever had a co-worker who smelled terrible? How was it handled?
I have had some co-workers that smelled strongly of sweat, I chose to ignore it. Some with bad breath, that I just tried not to get too close to.
But I think, with my experience now, if I had a co-worker who smelled bad regularly, and people were talking behind their back, I would find a way to talk with them kindly, alone. Because you never know what is really going on.
I’m afraid that there was a time I may have smelled bad, but nobody told me. I don’t sweat much naturally and I always wear antiperspirant, so that wasn’t it. I also shower every day, and have short hair, so my hair gets shampooed every day.
The problem was my clothes washer. When I bought my apartment, the previous owners left me a clothes washer. But it was upstairs, and there was a problem with the amount of water it could get. It wouldn’t fill up all the way, or rinse efficiently. I started to notice blotches of detergent on my clothes after being washed, and with some investigation, found what the problem was. I was living on very little, and could not afford to have the plumbing redone up there, so I had to opt to do my laundry at a laundromat.
It was (is) expensive for me ($13 a load). I was also working very long hours, so I could only go once a week. I had very few clothes, as well, so sometimes had to wear things more than once. I also have a dog and cat- my cat would pull open drawers and lie on my clothes, and I was always in contact with my dog, so there were hairs on everything, and I think, a musty animal smell. I could smell my clothes after a while, myself!
So I suspect that people around me probably did too, and maybe I became the focus of gossip, I don’t know. Maybe they thought it was a result of not bathing or something. I would have liked to be alerted sooner, by someone kind, and at least have someone know what the problem really was!
Now, I still go to the laundromat, but twice a week. It is costing me a big portion of my income, and sometimes I have to go late at night, when I am exhausted. I also add products that are supposed to sanitize and help rid of odors, and I hang up EVERYTHING in the closet. I use a closet perfume spray on everything in there. I change as soon as I get home, so I wear them for as short a period of time as possible.
But it is so humiliating to imagine I could have been that stinky co-worker, and everyone just talked behind my back. Be kind.
ODESSA Massacre: BRITISH and U.S. Soldiers Soared Into The Air Along With Administrative Building
Why have people forgotten what the People’s Republic of China did to Tibet, and when are we going to see a “Free Tibet”?
Why have people forgotten what the PRC did to Tibet?
Prior to 1960 :-
Tibetans could not own any property or Pastureland and everything was controlled by the Monasteries
Tibetans couldn’t gain education and study
Tibetans couldn’t travel
Tibetans had no way of going to other parts of China or Nepal or India except through very fatiguing journeys
Every Goat, Tak and Tal (1 Tal =0.247 Acres) was owned by the Monks and the Tibetans were SERFS and their marriage was also decided by the Monks
Post 1960:-
Tibetans still can’t own property or Pastureland which is owned by the State yet Tibetans can lease the same and be masters of the lease. They can keep 3/4 of their produce and do what they want with it
Tibetans must gain education and study. Literacy rate rose from less than 2% in 1960 to almost 70% in 2024. Tibetans are entitled to FREE EDUCATION upto Graduation.
Tibetans can travel and get a Passport
Tibetans have Railroads and Top Class Roads connecting them to China & Nepal and they can travel very fast and in great comfort
Tibetans can own businesses , make money and pay taxes and build homes and get married as per their own choice
Tibetans rule themselves as members of Provincial Committees and the Party Leadership at Grassroot levels
So the Average Tibetan saw his life change in a positive way
It was just a change from one Master to another Master
One Master were the Monks who were oppressive and treated them like Dirt and Servants
The Other Master was the CPC – the Communist Party which treated them fairly, gave them a long rope and helped them develop as long as they didnt whine about western ideas of freedom (In which case their spine would be crushed)
It’s why the British were able to rule India so easily
For the Average Indian – his master changed from the Upper Caste Landlords who beat them, starved them, raped them without consequences to the British who exploited them but otherwise left them alone and even protected them to some extent under a British legal system
Their lives were better which was why they watched with glee when Indian Leaders were hanged to death and secretly CHEERED
The People of Tibet gained thanks to China
Only the Monks lost and they have no sympathy from anyone except the West
Mao wanted to put them in Labor Camps and the Tibetan People would have cheered
When are we going to see a free tibet?
Never.
The Tibetans don’t want a free tibet.
They are Chinese today.
Back in the 1980s when Tibetans from India came over, they hid them and helped them distribute agenda
Today they catch them, beat them to pulp and hand them over to the Authorities
The Average Tibetans do
Tibet is gone today
It is XIZANG and the people are now Chinese, especially the Kids
Their loyalty is to the Party and State and China
They regard Indian Tibetans are TRAITORS and regard Arunachal Pradesh as their home and those who stay in Arunachal as Infiltrators
What was the most inappropriate thing you watched as a child, that your parents were okay with?
I wasn’t allowed to watch TV.
My mother was a single mother, and didn’t fight with me about much. But there were a few things she was very adamant about.
There was no television, video games, or phone time for more than 30 minutes a day. This one lasted till I was 12. Other rules included an 8 PM bedtime until I was 12. No sugar either- ever. She still won’t let me have sugar, if it’s under her control. The one time she let me have a coke was when I was throwing up and dying.
So instead of television, video games, or a phone, I had books.
Books quickly became my everything. I would read them day in and day out. Cell phone in class? Forget that, I would read in class. My teachers were not any fonder of this than a cellphone, because it’s kind of hard to send someone to the office for reading in class (I mean, they tried, but the principal laughed at them).
Instead of taking away toys or electronics, my mom took away my books. And even then, she would have to take away my notebooks too, because I would write stories in there.
It was literally the only form of punishment that worked.
So one day, I was in third grade and my mom has caught me reading after bedtime. She took away all of my books.
Needless to say, I was bored out of my mind.
“Mom, can I have my book back? I’m bored.”
“No, you cannot. You’re in trouble. Go play with your toys or something.” She told me.
“But I don’t want too.”
“Too bad.”
“I’m booooooooooooooored!”
For the next three days we continued to have the same conversation.
On day four, my mom handed me a book.
“You can read this. Nothing else.”
It was “Twilight”. I had no clue what it was about, but I was excited.
I sat down and read the book.
And I understood none of it. I didn’t know what a Vampire was, for one.
I bugged my mom so much asking for definitions, explanations, and other things she ended the punishment early.
She took the book back, as well.
“If you ever want to read this, do not ask me for explanations.”
So her punishment backfired.
That’s probably the most inappropriate book she let me read, when I was young. She gave up after about age 11 with the book censoring.
I did end up reading the entire book, but I didn’t understand it.
Trip to Guangzhou Metro Line 18 – The fastest metro line in the world
What is the rudest thing that a new neighbor has done to you immediately after you had moved in?
Originally Answered: What is the rudest thing a new neighbor has done immediately after you moved in?
When I bought my home, we were unloading the truck: six very tired people, who were just trying to get the job done. The front door is standing open as we carry in boxes. I look up as a woman walked in, with two little boys in tow, and says “Hi, I am your new neighbor.” I have a house full of tired cranky people, and she thinks I have time for a social call? Really?
She followed me around for about an hour telling me she had heard that a disabled person (me) had bought the house, and how her friend used to own it, yadda, yadda, and I finally turned to her and said, “Please, we have work to get done and I will be glad to sit down over coffee, and get to know you, but today is not the day.” She gathered up her two little boys, and as she walks out my from door, she says over her shoulder, that she and her husband will be by tomorrow “to discuss the rent.” I looked at her and said stupidly “huh?”. She then proceeds to tell me that although I bought my manufactured home through the bank, that she and her husband owned the land it was on, and they would come down and discuss rental amount, etc.! I looked her straight in the eye and told her that I did not buy the house through a bank; I bought it straight out right for cash, for the house, buildings and the land they are on! There is no bank involved. She gives me a dirty look, and says “my husband will have something to say about that!” Turns around and walks out the door.
The following day, I saw her husband coming home from work, so I stepped outside and asked him if he wanted to speak to me as his wife said. He looked at me, kind of embarrassed, put his head down, and said “yeah, I am sorry about that, but when she heard a disabled lady bought the house, she figured she could scam you for some cash. I am really sorry, but she just does these things…”
Grrrrr…! She figured she could rip off a disabled person and get away with it? Nope! Needless to say I rejected all offers of friendship until she sold her house and moved. Buh bye!
Idiocracy deleted scene#4 (Museum of Fart)
Does the mainstream US mass media operate against US national security? Why is the mainstream US mass media so pro–Israeli AND so pro–Netanyahu? Does AIPAC operate against (or contrary to) US national security?
It is known that 90% of US mainstream media are funded by Congress.
So, if the congress is pro-Netanyahu, MSMedia will be pro Netanyahu.
In fact, I heard some MSM is funded or owned by billionaire Jewish Americans. Who knows, These billionaires may be pro-netanyahu.
Israel under Netanyahu has been ruled by UNSC & ICC that it has committed genocide.
By supporting Israel, USA has lost its moral high ground on the world stage. USA has damaged its reputation as a world leader. … USA has damaged its soft power on world stage.
Does this loss of soft power threaten US national security?
In a short run, probably no. In a long run, probably yes because it speeds up the collapse of US “empire”.
What was your “I think our neighbor is an actual (professional) criminal” moment without any police presence or contact? What made you realize/suspect that your neighbor was in fact a criminal?
When I lived in Florida we had the corner lot, which was nice, until we noticed the next door neighbor had “visitors” who loved to use one of “our” curbs to park on. Only they never stayed long. Day and night, randomly through both, different cars would pull up on the curb, someone would go inside for maybe ten minutes or so, and leave. They also had a yard “business,” except we only ever saw the work truck drive a few streets over and park for the day. We aren’t dumb, we figured the lady next door was selling crack, not to individual users either, she was the distributor. We were in that towns version of a ghetto anyway.
Then the feds contacted us once and wanted to use our place to stake them out. That let us know our guess was right. (They never did go past the asking permission faze)
Then a little later we were visiting my MIL, who had always hated where we lived. “Did you see some 60 year old white woman was just arrested for selling crack in your neighborhood?!” She exclaimed pretty quickly after we got there, she’d read it in the newspaper. “Was her name Jane Castro?” Wide eyes from the MIL. “How’d you know?” Shrug. “She was our neighbor.” 😂😂 MIL HATED that.
But she was better than the dog fighters who moved in after that. That’s a much more sad story because we had to see animals be killed in training.
China Slams US for Plundering Syria
What is the most ignorant thing someone has said to you?
Two days after my wife passed away, some idiot from one of the insurance companies I was contacting said this to me when I told them of Margaret’s death;
“It’s all part of God’s plan.”
My response was definitely not God-like (the following is from memory but it is quite accurate);
“Well, what kind of an arsehole is your God? Because that’s the shittest plan I’ve ever heard of. So your God invented cancer, allowed my beautiful wife to catch it, let her suffer for over seven years with it, dragged our family through hell because of it and then his best option was to decide she had to die? Your God doesn’t deserve to be in charge of his own left nut, let alone the whole fucking world. I apologise for the swearing, but while I fully respect your right to your religion, please fully respect my right to absolutely ignore your fucking nutsack of a religion.”
The insurance company was informed, the recording of the call was listened to and the above mentioned idiot has gone off for human training.
Religion has its place, but that place is not in my ear. Not now.
How does “kicking husband onto the couch” actually work?
How does “kicking husband onto the couch” actually work?
Here is the answer: It doesn’t. At all. Period.
I have been very happily married, for 19 years and counting, to my beloved wife and mother of 4 of my children.
Now you must understand that being “happily married” does not mean that we don’t have conflict. It does not mean that we never fight. It does not mean that our marriage is some “Leave it to Beaver”/Norman Rockwell depiction of what marriage should be.
To illustrate this point, early in our marriage, we had a fight. Lots of yelling. I don’t even remember what the fight was about. What is relevant to the question is the tactic my wife used to convey her displeasure.
“You can sleep on the couch tonight!” she yelled.
I was taken aback. We were arguing about something, and she thought she could relegate me to the couch like a misbehaving puppy?
She thinks that she could do this in our home? Not her home, but our home?
She thinks that our relationship is that unequal?
No. Just no.
Strangely, I instantly forgot what we were even arguing about. I took a deep breath.
“The answer is no. If you are so angry that you need some space, no problem – go find that space.
“I will sleep in my bed. It’s your bed too. You can choose to sleep in it or not, but you will never tell me where I sleep in my own house.
“We can fight, but how we do so is going to decide if this marriage is going to be successful.”
She stared at me with an angry scowl, then went into the next room and called her friend. She gave a synopsis of the argument, and then asked what she should say to me.
Her friend’s response? “Make him sleep on the couch! That will show him!”
My wife: “I tried that. He says he’s not going to. He says he’s going to sleep in the bed, and I can sleep there or not…”
“He can’t DO that!!” her friend said.
About 30 minutes later my wife came out. We started laughing together after she recounted what her (unmarried and single) friend had given as advice.
“I guess it only works if the man actually sleeps on the couch,” she said.
“Baby, do you want a husband or a dog?”
And then it was over. We went to bed.
Together.
Modern Women Have Realized They Made the Biggest Mistake of their Lives
2. The airplane oxygen masks only last for 15 minutes.
3. The human brain is the smartest and most crucial organ in the human body, right? But that’s an idea your own brain came up with.
4. When you blush, the lining of your stomach blushes too.
5. 300 million of your cells die every minute, which is like an abortion per hour.
6. The youngest person confirmed to be pregnant was only 5 years old.
7. People cook meat to kill the parasites inside, but the corpses of the parasites still remain in the meat.
8. Roaches can’t walk backward, so if one crawled into your ear, it would be stuck there.
9. Pineapple contains the enzyme “bromelain”, an excellent meat tenderizer. So when you eat pineapple, it’s pretty eating you back.
10. There is more actual lemon juice in lemon-scented cleansing spray than there is in the lemon flavor drinks.
11. In 1944, 9 airmen survived when their planes were shot down off the coast the tiny Pacific island of Chichijima. 8 of the young men were captured by the Japanese, tortured and EATEN. The only survivor was George HW Bush.
12. Instead of looking UP into the sky, you are actually gazing DOWN into the infinite universe, with only gravity holding you to the surface of the Earth.
Idiocracy Prison Escape
Starship Troopers (1997) Outpost 29 Battle 4K
Vietnam from $1 to $1000
How I tried gold digging, BJJs and my dad tells me to get plastic surgery
A Day at Cummins
This is one of the prisons at the ADC. And yeah, I am well familiar with this facility during my “retirement” from MAJestic. It’s part of my past. And good and bad, it made me what I am today.
We crash landed about eight months ago. It’s only an approximation because I’ve lost count of the days. The crew split up the first time someone mentioned cannibalism casually as if were an option. None of wanted to become the next textbook Donner Party.Now I spend most days discovering new species to observe their main form of sustenance, and then I typically mimic them by eating whatever they couldn’t finish. The lizards know where all the good stuff is. There are a couple of mammal-looking creatures that are covered in hair and tend to scavenge during the late afternoon. All the little creatures, though, generally have a lack of taste buds. It would be like eating at a restaurant that was given rave reviews by reviewers with no sense of seasoning.I dug a small enclave on the side of a hill next to a wall of cypresses that only has one way into the hole and one way out. Then I cleaned it up as much as possible by covering the ground in a couple of layers of cushioned debris. The hill keeps away most adverse weather. I thought about trying to create some sort of knife-like tool as a method to hunt protein, though the process became too tedious after trying to hit two rocks together over and over.The small things of convenience that civilization provide hit me the worse first. I missed not being able to order pizza, going to a big store on the corner with all the hard parts of preparing food already done, and talking to other people. I never thought I’d miss talking to another person until I experienced complete isolation.Occasionally I would use the little critters as entertainment to talk to, but the conversation was all one sided. They never challenged me, which seemed nice at first because they didn’t have the verbal fortitude to combat my linguistic might. But invariably the self-realization that I was talking to myself and projecting my thoughts onto these lesser conscious creatures seemed all too depressing to continue.The captain of the ship died in the landing. I believe it was in his contract that he would be responsible for naming this strange land that we came upon. I asked him what he planned on calling it, but he responded that he didn’t know. He wouldn’t know until he saw the place. It would be too presumptuous to name a discovery that could be great, could be awful, could be somewhere in between, before even seeing what it all looked like. He didn’t even have a few rough drafts saved up. He simply intended on naming this land the first thing that came to mind, no matter how horrible, wonderful, or plain it might come out.I believe the succession of the naming responsibility fell on the first mate, and then probably some of the higher members of the crew, possibly a few of the scientists, whichever guy was responsible for making sure the restrooms were cleaned, and then may around the last, or near the last, there would be me. Unlike the captain, I had come up with quite a few reserved names in case I was called upon to name the place. Keep in mind that I’d never seen this place when I came up with these names. No one had. They were back burner sort of names that I knew would never be used. Gregotia. Fanalicka. Vosylianopical. Key Tone Island. x-3190p. Though my secret fantasy would be that it would be named after me. Fresno.
But now I no longer knew where any of the crew that survived the crash had gone to, nor did I know whether or not any of them were still alive. The basic maintenance of living became more and more a fruitless endeavor. I woke everyday thinking this might be the last. No one would know I died here. No one would care. My body would decay after months of these alien creatures feasting on my deceased being. I started to become more morbid the longer I stayed in this forsaken land.
I tried venturing out ever so much on a hesitant scale to possibly make contact with either an indigenous population, or maybe even some of my remaining crewmates. Perhaps they’d given up the notion that it could possibly be a good idea to eat one another. Hopefully after months of continuous isolation they’d made the realization that it would be best if we stuck together. And while I hoped that whatever, or whomever, I discovered would be friendly, at a certain point I no longer cared. I simply wandered as far as I could comfortably go without losing track of my base camp.
The first few times were more exploratory, to make sure the land I occupied was not as finite as a mole hill nor as infinite as space. The land was a bit more desolate than I anticipated. It had all been sterilized and smelled of a foreign chemical agent used to eradicate any semblance of micro-organic life as a means to protect the inhabitants from all alien virus. I couldn’t imagine being sick in a place I didn’t recognize, with no semblance of health care in sight, or at least none that I recognized.
To that extent, I had no idea what I would say to the first alien I met. I don’t imagine they’d be able to understand me. But maybe they were advanced enough that they had some sort of ultra-cool technology that could translate any and all languages throughout the galaxy, and somehow, despite no reasoning for it to work, English was categorized in it and this imagined being would be able to understand my pleas. Though if somehow it could even possibly understand me, I didn’t know if it would treat me amicably. Certainly I was always trained to come in peace. It was the universal message of interstellar media: always travel in peace of other creatures so as to not to disturb their ecosystem. But if they attacked first, then…?
Months of malnutrition had done nothing for my strength, though that’s not to say that I was very strong to begin with. And in terms of any logistically savvy fighting skills, I dare say I would more than likely be at a disadvantage if I came across any hostile life forms. The less terrain I recognized, the more cognizant I became of how vulnerable I truly was. But then, contact.
“Hello,” I called out. “I come in peace.”
The creature didn’t budge. I took a step forward, intentionally making a scruffing sound against the ground to make the alien aware of my presence and movement. Still, no response. I thought for a brief second that perhaps the creature was deaf, or maybe even dead and just positioned upward before some sort of ceremony to commemorate its life. I called out once more, again reiterating that I came in peace.
“I know,” the alien responded. “What in the hell? Put the stapler down and get back to class.”
The alien sounded like Mr. Everret from gym class. It even mimicked his attire and mannerisms. But I knew the truth. Somehow this world had the capability to transplant familiar memories of mine as a way to put my guard down. But I remembered the ride over here. I remember losing my crew one at a time as they all descended into an alien world devoid of pleasantness and camaraderie. These aliens were reading my mind, infiltrating my thoughts to make me think I was back home, enjoying another day at school. But I knew the game. Play along until they all had their guard down. I holstered my laser gun and retreated back to my enclave, seeing nothing that I recognized.
Avatar – 1950’s Super Panavision 70
What’s the biggest sanitary oversight you’ve ever witnessed at a restaurant?
At the pizza place I worked at when I was a teenager, we had a long marble countertop that was used exclusively to punch down and roll out fresh dough balls into pizza crusts. Since pizzas were made to order, this counter had flour and dough on it all the time. Well, space was very limited so above this counter was a series of shelves where folded pizza boxes where kept up out of the way. Each night, the crew was supposed to refill the box bins at the front counter for the next day. Well, I was scheduled to work the grill on this particular Saturday morning, and I noticed there were only a few boxes left in the box bin from the night before. So as crew leader, I asked the new 16 year-old kitchen helper to fill up the box bins. Well, he goes to get them and instead of using the folding ladder to reach them, he moves the ladder out of his way, hops right up onto the counter full of flour and dough with his filthy tennis shoes and grabs ONE box. Then he jumps back down and while looking furtively over his shoulders, he uses his equally filthy hand to wipe out the shoe imprints in the flour. He even stepped on a dough ball sitting on the counter, flattening it and leaving a perfect imprint of the sole of his shoe across it. He flips the dough ball onto the the floor and attempts to kick it out of sight and takes the box into the back of the kitchen??? He goes out the back door, apparently took time to smoke a cigarette, came in the front door, and handed the girl at the register the one empty box???????? What!?????
This occurred in full view of a the dining room full of customers. I was so stunned, I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. I just absolutely couldn’t believe my eyes. Unfortunately, neither could the health inspection officer standing at the counter waiting to meet with our manager about the scheduled health inspection that morning. Well, the consequences for that idiot’s actions resulted in a $30,000 health violation fine to the restaurant. The appeal was denied so, that one incident put the restaurant out of business.
Caspar Grosse, a German medic in that unit, said he saw the soldier plead for medical attention in a mix of broken English and Russian. It was dusk. A team member looked for bandages.That is when, Mr. Grosse said, a fellow soldier hobbled over and fired his weapon into the Russian soldier’s torso. He slumped, still breathing. Another soldier fired — “just shot him in the head,” Mr. Grosse recalled in an interview.
Mr. Grosse said he was so upset by the episode that he confronted his commander. He said he spoke to The New York Times after what he regarded as unwarranted killings continued.
…
In a second episode, a Chosen member lobbed a grenade at and killed a surrendering Russian soldier who had his hands raised, video footage reviewed by The Times shows.
…
In a third episode, Chosen members boasted in a group chat about killing Russian prisoners of war during a mission in October, text messages show. …
BE THAT GUY – Best Hopecore Motivational Compilation
Most cars I’ve had idle around 700 rpm. Why is 700 rpm typical? Why not make idle speed 100 or 200 rpm? Wouldn’t a slower rpm save gas? Would the engine stall at that low of rpm?
The idle speed is usually between 600 and 1,000 revolutions per minute (rpm) for most cars. The idle speed cannot be too low or too high, because both situations can cause problems for the engine and the car.
If the idle speed is too low, the engine may not have enough power to run the important parts of the car, such as the water pump, the alternator, the power steering pump, and the air conditioning compressor. This can make the car overheat, drain the battery, make it hard to steer, and reduce comfort. Also, the engine may not get enough air and oil, which can make it burn poorly, build up carbon, and wear out faster. The engine may also stop or hesitate when you try to speed up from a stop.
If the idle speed is too high, the engine may use more fuel and produce more emissions and noise than necessary. This can also affect the transmission and the brakes of the car, because the car may move forward or backward when you change gears or apply brakes. Also, the engine may wear out faster because of more friction and heat.
So 700 rpm is a common idle speed for most cars because it is in the middle of the optimal range which makes sure that the engine works well and uses less fuel. A lower rpm would not save fuel but rather risk stopping or damaging the engine. A higher rpm would not improve performance but rather waste fuel and cause noise or vibration.
But before you go – a click on the upvote button will make both of us happy.
Have a good day/night.
RETIREMENT REGRETS: Top 5 regrets from elderly (70-80 yrs old) retirees!
Has there been a boxer in history who was intimidated by their opponent outside of the ring, but not during the actual fight?
Yes. I would say Muhammad Ali VS Sonny Liston. Ali has written that he could not beat Liston in a fight outside the ring, and that he was outright afraid of Sonny Liston. Even inside the ring, with rules, he was not sure he could win.
[Joe Louis was in the Liston camp, so Ali brought Sugar Ray Robinson to the Weigh-in for emotional support]
The young Ali/Cassius Clay used his own counter intimidation tactics. At the Weigh-in, he became hyper. Even more hyperactive then normal,… he went into overdrive! It was natural. He didn’t fake it BUT he let himself go with it, talking incessantly, taunting Liston, sticking his tongue out, etc. The police were afraid there’d be a fight right there. But Sonny was calm..
Norman Mailer has point out that Sonny was secretly fond of Clay, like a big brother . But he was also afraid of the Black Muslims and it was rumored that Alisia Muhammad was also fond of Cassius Clay. So here we get into that weird Ryan- Garcia- land. But that’s where boxing has been for …Ever. It is the most head trippy of sports.
Ali later said that, for the first time, he saw a little crack in Sonny’s stoic exterior… Sonny was not afraid of any man…any NORMAL man that is. But a CRAZY man ? So Clay took the act even further. He got so, into the character that his heart rate , measured at weigh-in, was off the charts.
But Sonny’s heart rate also went up ! And he didn’t know what to say or think about Clay’s display.
That weigh-in may have evened the “Intimidation score”, and carried into the fight. Now, It was the Great Intimidater Baer himself, VS…a Crazy Man! You can see that in the first few rounds . Sonny was fired up, not relaxed like his usual self. And Clay/Ali was even more energetic and brash then normal. He put himself into that character and it worked FOR him as well as AGAINST his apponent. As Mailer said, Sonny threw that jab and missed by a mile, and we knew we were on for a different kind of night.
Every Level of the Internet Explained
What’s something you’ve done that unexpectedly made you a lot of money?
I went on a vacation years ago. I left my wife with her parents and family and decided to take the rental car for a drive. I ended up in a pawn store a few hours away.
I asked the pawnbroker what he had that was a bargain. He pulled out a nice strand of pearls… but I could see that he had a LOT of pearl strands in the desk drawer and in his safe.
He offer to sell the one strand to me at a great price. I said, “what if I buy them all?” He said there were 400 strands total. We ended up doing the deal and I loaded 400 strands of pearls in my car and drove back to the lake house.
I paid $10 a strand for 18″ strands and up to $40 a strand for 86″ strands. Except for the large endless strands, all the rest had 14K gold clasps on them. The clasps at the time were $20 each wholesale, so I knew I couldn’t go wrong with this deal.
Anyway, I was selling the pearl strands for $99 to $150 each and they were still a bargain. A VP of my bank came in to buy a strand. He liked it but wanted something “better” for his wife. I said I have just the thing for you in my office.
I went and put one of the same $99 necklaces in a $15 wooden box and took it out to him. I slowly opened the beautiful box in front of him. “”Is this more like what you are looking for?” He LOVED the pearl strand in the box. He said “how much is this one?” “This one is $400”, I replied. “Sold”, he said.
Basically I sold a $15 wooden display box with a $99 pearl necklace for $400.
That was the day I discovered that perception is everything.
What was the most shocking crime you have ever heard of?
A call to a mother.
Shibli Sadiq Hridoy, a 20-year-old Chittagong, Bangladesh resident, contacted his mother Nahid Akhter on August 28, 2023.
His voice seemed quite frightened during the call; he told his mother that some people had kidnapped him, and they were beating him mercilessly.
After some time, Nahid got another call, but this time it was a different person on the phone. He said something that created a huge panic in his family.
Who was Shibli?
Shibli, who was born into a poor household, used to study and work to pay for his college tuition.
He worked as a manager on a poultry farm, and the farm six people worked under him.
Shibli being the youngest, and the other six workers being in the age group of 24 to 26, started being carless at work, thinking Shibli wouldn’t say anything.
At first, he explained to them nicely about their mistakes, but still after not obeying at work he started to take action against them which didn’t fit well with them.
This conflict started to get worse until the farm owner called everyone and calmed them.
Shibli forgot and moved on, but the other six did not and started a plan for revenge.
Planning for the revenge.
Two months after the incident, the fateful day came on 28th, August 2023, where they kidnapped Shibli while he was working on the farm.
After kidnapping Shibli, the kidnappers called Shibli’s mother Nahid Akhter, and demanded 15 Lakh Taka (Bangladeshi currency).
Shibli’s family was very poor and started asking people for help with the money.
Even after 3 days, they could not collect the said amount for the kidnappers, and Shibli’s father requested the kidnappers to decrease the money.
The kidnappers knowing that the Shibli family was poor, had reduced the amount to 2 Lakh Taka.
Shibli’s father, with great effort, finally collected the amount.
On September 4, 2023, the kidnappers called Shibli’s father to come to Bandar Ban district with the money.
Shibli’s father in hopes of getting his son back reached the said place and gave the money to the kidnappers.
The kidnappers got caught.
The kidnappers told Shibli’s father to go home now, and his son Shibli will return to the house.
As soon as Shibli’s father reached home, he could not find Shibli, thinking he might come late.
Shibli’s parents waited for 3 days before reaching the Police, and when asked why they came so late, they said the kidnappers had warned them not to tell the police, or they would kill their son.
Shibli’s mother told the police that he quarreled with those six people who worked under him.
Police caught all six workers of the poultry farm.
Their names are Umongching Mama, Suichjingmung Mama, Angthumung Mama, and Ukyathmai Mama. The other two names are unknown.
Initially, all six stayed quiet during the police investigation, but after being questioned aggressively, one of them broke down and told the narrative.
A confession that shocks a country.
He said they only wanted to kidnap Shibli, torture him, and leave him after receiving ransom money.
The plan changed when Shibli learned the identity of his kidnappers and his workers.
Fearing he might go to the police after his release, they killed him by choking his neck.
One of the workers, Umongching Marma even admitted that he cooked some of the flesh of the dead body and ate it.
They then threw the body down from a neighboring hill, and when the police arrived on September 11, 2023, they discovered Shibli’s skeleton bones.
This case had become a topic of discussion throughout Bangladesh country through news channels.
People were furious at the kidnappers, and as the police were transporting one of the main accused, who had admitted to eating flesh to the police, people gathered around the station and grabbed Umongching, who was cruelly beaten by the crowd and murdered.
Jalapeno Rib Eye Steaks
Jalapeno Rib Eye Steaks
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1/4 cup cilantro or parsley, chopped
1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapeno peppers, chopped
4 (8 ounce) rib eye steaks
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (comino)
Instructions
Prepare grill or broiler.
Combine cilantro and jalapenos in a bowl.
Cut a pocket in the side of each steak, without cutting all the way through. Stuff pockets with cilantro mixture and secure closed with wooden picks.
Combine remaining ingredients and pepper to taste in a bowl and rub over outside of steaks.
Grill or broil about 5 inches from heat source 4 to 5 minutes per side, or longer for more well done meat.
Remove wooden picks before serving.
9 Minutes of Delusional Woke People Getting OWNED #1
1. If you have a few hours to kill on the airplane, delete pictures from your phone.
2. Use your travel toiletries at home the night before you leave for a long trip.
3. Sign out of your Netflix when checking out of an hotel.
4. When using a grocery delivery service, tip a set amount, not a percentage.
5. Waving someone through a stop sign when they stopped after you is not doing anybody a favour and most competent drivers are just annoyed at you for behaving unpredictably.
6. If you need to memorize something, read it, record it and play it quietly at night.
7. Save your PowerPoint presentation as a .ppsx file that starts automatically when opened.
8. Marry someone who will always have your back, even when they are mad at you.
9. If you find a faster way to do something at your work, keep it a secret from your manager.
10. Your company didn’t know you existed before you applied and won’t notice you when you’re gone. Take care of yourself.
11. Before buying something, ask yourself 2 questions: “Where will I store this thing?” and “How difficult will it be to clean this thing?”
12. If the person you are dating invites you over for a home cooked meal, take the initiative and just start doing the dishes without asking. You can thank me later.
13. Ask the person you are dating the non-negotiables of yours in the first few weeks.
14. If you know how late you are going to be, add an extra 5-10 minutes to it. It might be annoying for the people when you say it initially, but when you come before the time you said, it will evoke a far more positive reaction than underestimating the lateness time.
15. Pay Attention to the smell of your home when you come back from a trip. That’s what it smells like to guests all the time, you just get used to it.
16. Never try to be the man your father would want you to be. Be the man you would like your son to be.
The 7 Princes of Hell in 7 Minutes
What is the most disrespectful thing your neighbour has done?
She came over and knocked on my door and by the look on her face I could tell she was livid and so I asked her if everything was okay. She pointed to the mutual hedge between our houses, which I had clipped the day before. Now keep in mind this hedge is mostly privet which is just underbrush basically. Of the two of us I am the one who keeps my yard up and she is not that interested in yard work. But this day she was upset because I had dared to clip the bushes more than she thought was appropriate. I had clipped them before and it was no problem but now she was not happy. She proceeded to cuss me out saying…”Who f…ing does that?” They were clipped a bit more than usual but they would grow back, I said. She would not back down and was threatening me with a lawsuit and fines until I finally told her I wasn’t going to stand there and take that abuse.
Several hours later, I was coming down my driveway and I saw her sitting on her porch. She practically leaped off the porch and came into my yard shaking some papers in my face telling me she had talked to her lawyer. Turns out they were clearly meant to scare me, which they didn’t because they were very bogus-looking papers.
Then the next morning, early, a policeman came to my door before I was even dressed. He seemed rather embarrassed to even be there when I asked him what the problem was and so I asked if it was concerning my neighbor? He nodded and said, “Ma’am I’m just doing my job and I need you to fill out some papers.” I asked him if it was against the law to clip mutual bushes and he just said, “Ma’am, she filed a complaint so we have to follow up.” Well, he went to his police car and sat there for the longest time and then he drove off and I never saw him again.
My neighbor was still on the warpath and she would do things like park in our mutual driveway and park at the very edge of the drive so that I had to park on the street and couldn’t get in. One time she actually parked behind me blocking me in. And if a friend came and parked in the driveway she put a note on their car, saying “PLEASE don’t park here!!!” Eventually she sent me some more papers from some legal something or another; it seemed like more hogwash to me saying that it wasn’t safe for either of us to park in the drive in case there was a fire because the fire trucks couldn’t get in there and I would be responsible and she hoped I would do the right thing.
Now I was beginning to doubt the mental stability of my neighbor and I just took all this in without saying a whole lot. But after the police visit I did write her a letter telling her the police probably had better things to do with their time and if I ever clip the bushes again I will be sure and ask her and I did deliver the letter in person.
Time went on and she would barely speak to me for over a year. If I was working outside, and the houses are close together, and she was on her porch I would say hello and she would not even look at me. But I did not return her coldness with coldness and I did not seek revenge and eventually she started saying hello again. She even left me some cookies for Christmas one time. Of course they were packaged because I may not have eaten them thinking she was trying to poison me otherwise. Haha.
So this is my disrespectful experience with my neighbor. Hope you learned something about those supposedly nice neighbors of yours. You never know.
Argentina Faces Reality: Renews RMB Currency Lifeline, Expands China Trade For Economic Survival
What’s the difference between working in Japan vs. in China?
Being a Chinese who has working experience in both China and Japan, here is some of my personal observations, please take it with a grain of salt (Warning: Generalization ahead!) :
Office politics aside, (it happens in both countries, of course, as well as in any other countries) imagine employee A and B.
A is smart and can-do but pretty “lazy”. He often rushes into the office in the last minute in the morning. He never does overtime, and never needs to- he always has tasks done perfectly, much earlier before it is due, which is why you can often see him net surfing or Skype chatting.
B works very hard but unfortunately, is not particularly skilled. B arrives at the office at 8:30am everyday and usually leaves the office at 9:30pm, sometimes works in weekends. He gives average performance, not perfect but okay. Sometimes he can not hand in the report on the very time, but he always tries his best to meet the ends.
Now what would their performance evaluation be like?
In a typical Japanese company, in most cases, B would be considered a qualified employee. He would have an average or even above career path, and would gain some respect from other coworkers. And A? He would not be liked too much, quite the opposite. Some managers and coworkers would doubt his work ethic and attitude, in many cases he would be isolated- certainly not a bright future.
Want to hear the opposite scenario? Welcome to China!
There is a famous Chinese saying which describes the majority of Chinese companies’ culture- “It doesn’t matter if it’s a white cat or a black cat, a cat that can catch rats is a good cat!” It ROUGHLY means- “I don’t care how you do it, how much time you spend on it, how much efforts you put in, which means you use, if the means are good or not… as long as you give me a good RESULT, you are good!”
Such a gap often causes culture shocks on both sides- Chinese who work in Japan and Japanese who work in China.
Some of my Japanese coworkers who work in a Chinese joint venture used to keep their Japanese style working habit- work long hours, make super detailed paper work full of numbers, report literally everything to the boss… Then they got blamed by the Chinese general manager- “Don’t bother me with those useless papers, don’t waste my time on endless meetings. How to do it is YOUR job. Just show me you DID it.” They found out no matter how much efforts they put in, as long as the result is BAD, the efforts would be considered as nothing, and any reason would be considered as excuses.
One of my Chinese coworkers (an IT guy) who received a training in Japanese head office got reported by his trainer, because he “played with his cellphone at working time.” He couldn’t understand why it was wrong since he already did a good job on the training project. The funny thing is the Chinese HR manager who was supposed to give him a warning could not give a good explanation either. She said, “You can’t do that. You know, it’s Japan.”
Process-focus Japanese and Result-focus Chinese, I feel they come from Mars and Venus.
I feel other differences too:
The HR system. Equalitarianism and seniority in Japan. Performance-only-matters company values in China. My coworkers often jokingly say “China is a capitalist country with a name of socialist; Japan is a socialist country with a name of capitalist”.
Data-and-detail-lover Japanese VS Data-and-detail-hater Chinese. A typical Japanese style business report format is an A3 paper, full of numbers, charts, with a super small font size, make you admire and dizzy. Still your Japanese boss will always find out any typos or inconsistent borders. Get ready to revise it at least 3 times. A typical Chinese style business report format is… well, in most cases (if it’s not an outward-facing presentation), you don’t need to make it. Your Chinese boss has no interest to read it anyway. Talk to your boss, better smoking together, in 5 minutes, that’s it. You will get a clear yes or no.
Risk-hater Japanese VS Risk-lover Chinese. My Japanese boss’s catch phrase is “What do you think about the risks?” And my Chinese boss’s response?- “Risks mean bad things not happened yet right? Let’s talk about them when they happen.”
Silent Japanese VS talkative Chinese. My Japanese coworkers generally don’t like speech too much. When they need to do a presentation, they often make a super detailed Power Point and read it word by word. Some Chinese leaders from the head office can give a whole 2 hours speech without a text, and amazingly, when you seriously think about the content, you will find… no real content there.
The list would go on and on.
Those differences always amaze me. From them, I guess the reason why Japanese products can KEEP a high stable QUALITY for so many years. I guess the reason why Chinese enterprises can DEVELOP unbelievable FAST.
I learned much from the differences.
Protestors Are Finally Getting Arrested
I asked my boss for a raise but he said I didn’t deserve it, so I sent him my resignation letter. Now he is asking me to stay with a higher salary. Should I accept his offer?
At some companies in Silicon Valley in the first dot com boom and the early 2000’s, the *only* way to get a raise or a promotion was not just to threaten to quit, but to actually get a job offer (whether you wanted that job or not) and then to actually quit. That was the only way management would take you seriously and grant you the raise and/or promotion you had asked for. Before the act of quitting, you were viewed as a just squeaky wheel. After quitting, they suddenly realized they needed your wheel, squeaky or not!
In my case, I didn’t specifically ask for a raise — I asked for headcount to do the job that had been assigned to me. I had been at the company for 7 years and held an incredible amount of institutional knowledge, even if the CxOs didn’t recognize that knowledge. The job was impossible to do by myself. I thought a team of 3 (including me) would do the job. Multiple times I made the argument for the additional headcount, the expected results, the ROI, and the basic logic. Around this time I had been assigned to a new manager with a lot of book learnin’ (Harvard JD/MBA), but little work experience and a new VP whose focus was elsewhere, but who knew what I was asking for and why.
Eventually I got fed up asking and got a job offer (for a company I would have worked for). The job offer came through while I was overseas in Dusseldorf visiting my most important partner. I immediately sent my resignation and two week notice to my junior inexperienced Harvard manager and the VP who was trying to ignore my request. Within minutes the VP called. I had no intention of going back to that job, but for some reason felt I should explain what led to my departure. The VP listened and asked good questions for 90 minutes while I was pacing the waterfront wall beside the Rhine. He called again the next evening. And the next. He finally asked what it would take to get me back. I figured I should go all out since I wasn’t planning to go back, I was really just pushing his buttons to see how far he would go. First, the two headcount. Done. Second a $20,000 raise. Done. Third, more stock options. Done. Next a $40,000 retention bonus. Done (to be paid quarterly). Last, I never have to see, talk to, or report to the junior book-readin’ Harvard schnog, I would report to him, the VP. Done. After all that, how could I say no?
Of course, within a year, more re-orgs and other changes made my overall division’s future at the company tenuous. The VP eventually asked me to make an impossible proposition to our most important client — basically tell them a massive lie — a proposal for work my company could never complete. I decided my reputation with the contacts at my partner companies was more important than the job. I refused to make the proposal and quit. But for a year, I got a big raise, a big sign-on bonus, more respect, and a better line of sight to the VP and CxO suite. I’d say it was worth it.
Prof. Mearsheimer REVEALS the Scenario of a DIRECT US-Russia and China Confrontation
I bought my father’s wife an electronic scrabble game.
OMG! The best thing that I ever could do.
Now, she and I never really got along, but I thought it might be nice to get her a Christmas present, and so I got her the computer / internet version. Now, this is a game that they have been playing for years. And so, of course, she liked it.
440px Scrabble game in progress
But later, my dad told me that she also used it as a “fiddle game”; something to just mess around with when she got a few spare moments. And also, as a thing to do when my dad was too tired to play with her.
So, chalk up a good thing for me.
Now, you all must know that I have never really been that good in selecting presents for others. I wrote about trying to get presents for my maternal grandmother and how that went to shit, but really getting presents to give to others usually was just getting me no where.
But I have had two wins.
This game of scrabble with my father’s wife, and…
And.. this cement dog statue that I bought for my artistic sister. Ah. She loved it. She said that she read that Earnest Hemingway had a cement dog that was very loyal and greeted him every time he came home.
A 240 72663
She would park it in her living room, watching the kitchen. Loyal and still.
And when my sister had to go away for a project, my mother watched over that cement dog. She too loved it. Said it wasn’t any work to take care of and always watched the house. It was about two feet high, and was of a greyhound.
Ah, now I don’t give presents out often, but when I do, I make sure that they are appreciated.
Today…
What has a cop said that left you completely dumbfounded?
A few years ago, when I was newly licensed, I was leaving my cheer practice and heading to another practice right after. This was a small town and there’s only 2 lanes going into town and 2 going out, not really that big of a deal usually as the drivers are mostly respectful in keeping the passing lane clear. Well on this particular day, I’m headed into town from my practice (as mentioned) and there’s a cop and another car driving almost side by side. The speed limit posted is 60 but they’re both going 45/50 WELL BELOW the legal limits. The cop is in the passing lane and the other car is too afraid to speed up past him even though they’d be in the right. So I get behind the other car (don’t remember the make/model) and try to bide my time waiting to see who will move forward so I can just go. Cop starts to inch forward so I get behind him. As soon as he passes the other car, he gets into the right lane and I pass him (With cruise control set at 60). As soon as I pass him and get back over, he lights up, pulls me over.
He says that I was folowing him too closely and did I know what the proper distance was? I answer 1.5 car lengths (textbook answer according to our state laws). He responds “You need to be at least 15 car lengths behind me!” I said “Fifteen??” with a confused look (not the best at controling my facial expressions) and he said “Yes. Fifteen.”
I did receive a ticket but it was because I didn’t have my license on me; a simple fix-it, take my license to the police station and they’d waive it for me. When I did that a week later (wound up having to get another since the first was lost at the time), he passed me walking into the station and asked where I’d gotten the 1.5 car lengths from and I told him the same place I read that it was illegal to do 45 in a 60…..the state DMV book.
Crocs
Lemon-Lime Flank Steak
1624553243920
Yield: 4 servings.
Ingredients
12 ounces lemon-lime soda (Sprite or 7-Up)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapenos, unseeded and finely chopped
1 (1 1/2 pound) flank steak
Vegetable cooking spray
Salt
Instructions
Combine first 6 ingredients in a 2-quart shallow dish, stirring well; add flank steak, turning to coat.
Cover and chill for 8 hours, turning meat occasionally.
Remove steak from marinade, discarding marinade.
Coat grill rack with cooking spray, and place on grill.
Cook steak, covered with grill lid, over medium-hot coals (350 to 400 degrees F) about 7 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.
Remove steak from grill, and sprinkle evenly with salt to taste.
To serve, cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices.
Mark Sleboda: Putin and China Issue DEVASTATING Warning to Blinken, Neocons and They’re Not Bluffing
Have you ever had to explain to a family member that you don’t want them looking after your child because you don’t trust them? How have you explained it to cause the least offence?
When my son was born, he was a very, very special baby in our family. Starting with my great-grandfather, all the living male heirs were born 20 years apart so we referred to this phenomenon as the “20-year baby”. Well it just so happened (by accident actually) that my son was born the first week in January of the 20th year, making him the living fifth generation 20-year baby. This was an extremely important event to my grandfather and great grandfather. When my son was five months old, all of my relatives came to see the latest 20-yr baby so he was held and hugged/kissed by a dozen people. Two weeks after that visit, my grandfather’s wife (whom I considered to be my grandmother) called me crying and saying she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t call and tell me that my grandfather had been diagnosed with active tuberculosis and because the medication was so expensive and didn’t make him feel any better, he decided not to take it. Well, this meant that
1) he was highly contagious
2) he was well aware of this fact
3) he ignored the risks
4) he concealed the truth
5) he willfully exposed all of us to the disease
6) he knowingly put our health, even our lives at risk
7) he was willing to expose a 5- month old baby, most especially my son, the precious 20-yr baby.
He was so selfish and concerned with his own wishes that he was willing to put his entire family in harm’s way. I was appalled and devastated. I called him and confronted him. He refused to take responsibility for his actions. So I told him that he would never see my son again. He was very angry and said some awful, unforgivable things to me. My grandmother reported our exposure to the health department. They in turn contacted me and told me that my son and I were required to be tested every three months for the next 4 years. I also found out my grandfather was directly responsible for infecting 11 other family members, including my grandmother and two of my cousins. Luckily neither my son nor I ever tested positive. Sadly, I had no choice but to stand my ground, so neither my son nor I ever saw him again. My grandmother divorced him, and my father refused to even speak to him for risking my son’s health. My uncle took his family and moved away because two of his kids were infected by him. So, he died alone, 15 years later, a miserable, hateful old man and it was all my fault, you see. Because I deprived him of the love of his coveted 20-yr great-grandson.
BUSTED: Did the CIA withhold China info from Trump?
Things were bad, and they knew things were bad, and they knew others must also know things were bad, and yet they would need to pretend, outwardly, that things were fine. The president was fine. The election would be fine. —Olivia Nuzzi, NY Magazine
Clusterfuck Nation
There’s a reason that the fable of The Emperor’s New Clothes is so potent: it describes a mentally ill society that retreats into abject unreality, to avoid contending with truth. Alas, this archetypal human quandary shoves such a society towards nemesis: downfall and punishment. And that is exactly the consequence of our news media’s craven, dishonorable, degenerate behavior the past decade.
They have disordered our nation’s consensus about reality with peremptory lying about everything, in service to a political party that lies to its citizens about everything. The big question is: who or what recruited them into serving the Party of Chaos, and why did they go along?
You can explain the media’s initial repugnance to Donald Trump going back to his 2015 debut in politics. Much about him had a low-class odor, despite all the gold-plating — his origins in tawdry Queens, his career as a builder in Manhattan where the trades are mob-controlled, the Atlantic City casino debacle, bankruptcy, ditching Ivana and his mid-life playboy reputation, the tacky TV show, the increasingly mystifying hair-doo, his rough, jumbly manner of speech. Everything about him repelled the Ivy Leaguers who increasingly filled the ranks of national-level journalism.
Despite all that, Mr. Trump raised five kids successfully. The grown ones had careers and they all visibly loved him. With that and his overt masculinity, he assumed the lineaments of the archetypal Daddy, which enflamed the enormous cohort of feminists who had taken over the Democratic Party behind their avatar Hillary Clinton. And when he squeaked out an electoral victory over her in 2016, they were sure it was a cheat. The menace of Daddy in da (White) house pushed them over the edge psychologically.
Daddy was all about setting boundaries, which was the antithesis to the “progressive” (and transgressive) agenda of the Dems, and was probably the reason that his talk of “building the wall” along the Mexican border drove them nuts. It signaled patriarchal control of a whole lot of other things, too. Boundaries galore!
Now, it happened that the Democratic Party was also the favored party of the DC permanent bureaucracy, which had been growing and growing for decades and had become overtly politicized during the eight years of Barack Obama. Mr. Trump threatened to downsize this leviathan government, meaning many patronage jobs might be lost. (Boundaries would be imposed!) The warrior branch of this Deep State was the Intel community. The FBI, the DOJ, the CIA, the State Dept, and elements of the military were commissioned by the Democratic Party to destroy Mr. Trump.
They used the machinery of the law to lay one trip after another on the president and effectively hog-tied him — RussiaGate, the Ukraine phone call impeachment, the George Floyd anarchy — and when those operations failed to oust him, they ran the Covid-19 caper (with enormous collateral damage to the people and their economy), which enabled rigging the 2020 election with mail-in ballots. Once Mr. Trump was squeezed out-of-office, the FBI turned the J-6 protest at the Capitol into a riot, which Nancy Pelosi then converted into an “insurrection” using the House J-6 committee. The J-6 incident, they dearly hoped, would rid them of Mr. Trump once and for all.
The news media went along with every bit of that, year after year, converting each mendacious act of the party and the bureaucracy into consumable narrative, and lying either overtly about all the ops, or just omitting to report on the dark truth behind it all. Any reality-based thread that happened to leak into public view from independent alt-news reporters was branded by CNN, The New York Times, the WashPo, and many others as “misinformation” — a newish concept produced by a cadre of language Stasi skilled at inverting the meaning of anything to bamboozle the public. It appears that the news media became so invested psychologically in its own dishonest product that it began to believe its own bullshit.
Or, at least, they wanted to pretend to believe it. One of the big problems was that absolutely everything they labeled “misinformation” or “conspiracy theory” turned out to be truthful, and that was becoming an inescapable embarrassment. And then the biggest blunder they made was going along with the Deep State’s selection of “Joe Biden” in the very sketchy Super Tuesday primary of 2020. The old grifter had next-to-zero support in all the preceding preliminaries and somehow (abracadabra !) he swept the field.
By then, the Democratic Party, and its public relations arm in the mainstream media, had descended into florid mental illness. Everything they stood for post-World War Two flipped to its opposite. Suddenly, they were against free speech. They weren’t coy about it. They just made-up some new bullshit about free speech being “hate speech.” Similarly, they were against a free press. They went along with all the misinfo / disinfo bullshit the government cooked up and supported its role in suppressing the news. They were no longer anti-war, the party-of-peace. They were now pro-segregation and pro-discrimination (white people need not apply) according to Critical Race Theory (a childishly sketchy doctrine). Most of all, they were no longer skeptical of anything that the leviathan establishment wanted to do, including abridging the liberties of American citizens.
Then there was the campaign to use the most powerful human instinct, sexuality, as a weapon to disorder the minds of American children, leading even to the mutilation of their bodies — a program that unmistakably tipped toward genuine evil, suggesting that actual psychosis lay behind the Cluster-B crypto-Marxism used to justify it.
“Joe Biden” was fine with all of that, and the news media was fine with “Joe Biden” and whoever was using him as a front. Of course, it was evident during the 2020 campaign that “Joe Biden” was not up to a job as demanding as Chief Executive of the US government — and that was even apart from the dense criminal web of influence peddling discovered around him and his family, which the news media ignominiously ignored. But now the years have gone by and there’s no hiding “Joe Biden’s” rather gravely diminished mental abilities.
Last week’s debate gave away the game. It had the effect of finally turning off the gaslight that the news media has been shining over the republic lo these many years. They can no longer pretend that this president is anything close to okay in body and mind. They can’t annul the gaslighted public’s delayed realization that they’ve been subject to a concerted program of deliberate lying for a long long time.
So now, inveterate pretenders and liars, such as Jake Tapper of CNN and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times — and many others — have to pretend that they were innocently duped into supporting all the turpitudes of the Democratic Party / Deep State axis-of-evil. It is really hard to imagine that they can successfully rehabilitate their reputations. They have done immense harm to our country. It’s hard to see how the Democratic Party might survive, too, no matter who they finally put up for election this year. Of course, there’s still plenty of time left for them to destroy the country altogether. Just keep giving American missiles to Ukraine to fire into Russia and see what happens.
Woman Demands Her Husband Make $650,000 And Gets Humbled
“Joe Biden is the walking embodiment of the exhausted American Establishment. More and more people have simply lost their faith in our Ruling Class. You could scarcely have a more potent symbol of its impotence.” — Rod Dreher
Clusterfuck Nation
Just before the weekend, a political prairie fire raced across a nation buffaloed, blind-sided, and buried deeply in bullshit, and the little critters who inhabit the landscape are still running around with their fur smoldering. What a surprise that “Joe Biden,” the mentally-disabled pretend-president, fell apart in the debate spotlight for all to see, like Captain Queeg in his fateful witness chair, or William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes trial (1925), or the Wizard of Oz when little Toto drew the curtain back — a brutal revelation of stark truth about how things actually are.
Since his hiding-in-the-basement campaign in 2020 “Joe Biden’s” Party of Chaos has pretended that he is fit and alert for the job and now all of sudden they pretend to be shocked to see how far gone in the head he really is. The bullshit shovelers of the mainstream news media were especially rocked, not by the truth of the situation per se, but at being unmasked as the contemptible, confabulating tools that they’ve become. The New York Times wheeled around on a dime from their servile lionizing of the presidential hologram they helped create to its editorial board abjectly yelling for him to drop out and get gone. They were joined instantly by a long list of other opinion-shapers, campaign donors, political celebs, and Beltway players.
Right after the debate, First lady Dr. Jill led a cheerleading session before a roomful of partisans that went beyond cringeworthy into uncharted territory of mortification. (“You were great, Joe! You answered all the questions!”). By the time the entourage moved to a pre-planned event at a nearby Atlanta Waffle House, “JB” had gone full-on zombie. If all that was intended to be reassuring, the effect was the opposite. Someone handed the blank-faced old grifter a milkshake and they beat it out of there.
The Bidens flew off to the Hamptons Saturday to milk the showbiz cows and hedge-funders for a campaign that might not still exist. “Everyone paid in advance. . .so it could be an opportunity to encourage him to drop out,” an invited guest told a New York Post reporter. “I wanted to go and see the train wreck,” another donor said. “I’d rather choose someone from a phone book than have Biden.” That was generally the tone among the woke-gay-communist echelons all over the land — surprisingly vehement, considering that just forty-eight hours before they were all in on re-election. Some could probably see their lucrative hustles whirling around the drain, and others might fret about just how far and wide prosecutions under a Trump Attorney General might loom.
“JB” and his family circle attempted to regroup over the weekend at Camp David where first son, Hunter (“the smartest man I know,” the president often says), led the buoying-up session, perhaps mindful of the many bank accounts set up by his lawyers in the name of Biden family members (including little grandchildren) for receipt of influence-peddling revenue gathered sedulously from entities abroad during “Joe Biden’s” post-veep high-earning years. The family emerged from that meet-up triumphantly, ready to forget the one bad evening and jump back into the election game.
Next, the biggest Dem dawgs — Obama, Schumer, Pelosi — stepped up with fulsome support for “Joe Biden” continuing to steer the party’s war canoe straight over Niagara Falls on November 5th. What possesses them? Misguided love for the monster they created? Fear of being called out as traitorous liars? Desperation to preserve the gigantic racketeering operation of the party they lead, with consideration for their big cuts of the action? Or are they just determined to complete the job of wrecking our country?
And where was She-Whose-Turn-It-Is, HRC, the only possible replacement candidate with name-recognition and no ruined state hanging over her as is the case with Newsom, Pritzker, and Whitmer (California, Illinois, Michigan)? Mrs. Clinton has so far stayed out of it, laying low, probably thinking that the party poohbahs will eventually have to come around to seeing she’s the obvious viable alternative. Since the Clinton Foundation bought and paid for the DNC some time ago, she might be able to get the nominating machinery lined up in her direction. There are myriad problems, for sure, with many state election laws that discourage switching-out a nominee who has already captured a winning share of party convention delegates — but Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, and the Lawfare gang are already tasked to that set of problems now that their work is done cobbling together all those janky court cases to hamstring Mr. Trump.
We enter high summer with countless consequential things afoot. A grand new momentum is expressing itself throughout Western Civ against the Globalist insanity. Sunday, Marine LePen’s National Rally (RN) thrashed President Macron’s Renaissance Party, a shock equal to the “Joe Biden” debate fiasco here. British elections follow Thursday July 4, with PM Rishi Sunak sucking wind and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Party ascending rapidly. Sunday July 7 France’s runoff election happens. A widened war threatens the Middle East as Iran and Turkey line up with Hezbollah in Lebanon against Israel. Ukraine cries for a negotiated settlement with no help from our own State Department. ISIS terrorists (among many other dangerous cadres) circulate on-the-loose around the USA, ready and able to perp atrocities.
Still hanging over the “Joe Biden” crisis — and it is a crisis — is the question as to how somebody no longer capable of leading a party in an election can also be capable of leading the executive branch of the USA as Commander-in-Chief. That quandary has been shoved aside for the moment but it still lurks ominously in the background.
“Biden’s entire closing statement is the political equivalent of the blue screen of death. It’s just one long frozen glitch.” — Sean Davis, the Federalist
Clusterfuck Nation
Maybe ninety-seconds into last night’s long-awaited debate spectacle, the consensus must have jelled among the woke-and-broken news media mavens that their champion, “Joe Biden,” was not quite killing it out there at the podium. CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash acted like witnesses at a ritual sacrifice. And afterward, the CNN post-mortem panel seemed genuinely shocked that months of playing pretend had skidded to such an ignominious finish.
Which raises a great many questions, starting with: why on earth did the Democratic Party and its media handmaidens persist in pretending month-after-month that “Joe Biden” was a fit candidate for another four-year term? Last night, he didn’t appear capable of even finishing the current term. Why did they usher him so jauntily into the nomination? And what are they going to do about that now? And what were their motives for all that pretending? “Joe Biden” circulates among scores of astute officials every day. Did they all fail to notice his incapacity? Or has the whole thing been a sham and a lie all along? Was this just the culminating hoax by the Party of Hoaxes of a long string of hoaxes against the nation going back to 2015?
To the question of motives, the answer is obvious: the news networks have worked tirelessly (and with stunning dishonor) to hide their collusion with the government in gaslighting the public. More to the point, they’ve concealed the appalling truth that the CIA, DARPA, and their many intel blob subsidiaries conducted a silent coup over the USA and have been running our country’s affairs disastrously behind the “Joe Biden” façade — and that the coup actually started well before Mr. Trump’s 2016 inauguration. You know it, and they know that you know it.
More acutely, now that “Joe Biden” has been revealed as a hoax president, whole legions of public officials appear liable to criminal charges of the most serious degree: sedition, treason, mass murder, fraud, malfeasance, and in the case of the president himself, influence peddling and bribery. They must be desperate to avoid accounting for all that, losing their accrued fortunes to legal fees and going to prison (or worse). For example, outed just this week: news that then-CIA Director in 2020, Gina Haspel, knew about and participated in the infamous operation using 51 former Intel officers to cover up the veracity of Hunter Biden’s laptop days before the election.
They knew the laptop was real. Their colleagues over at the FBI knew it was real. They all knew it was stuffed with deal memos, legal memoranda, and emails that clearly laid out a long-running bribery operation among Biden family members and their lawyers. They knew it in 2019 when the Democratic Party moved to impeach Mr. Trump for inquiring about the Biden family’s money-grubbing activities in Ukraine — where, by the way, we may have fomented the war with Russia in part to cover up the culpability of all involved, including especially the State Department and their embassy staff in Kiev. The FBI and its bosses in the DOJ also withheld the laptop from Mr. Trump’s defense lawyers during the 2020 impeachment, though it contained massive exculpatory evidence to explain just why he made that fateful phone call to the newly elected Zelensky.
It’s obvious that the ruling blob now has to deep-six “Joe Biden.” The problem is they must induce him to renounce the nomination of his own will. The party’s nominating process is so bizarrely complex that it would be very difficult to just shove him out. Another problem is that the party had to peremptorily declare “JB” their legal nominee before the August convention in order to keep him on the ballot in Ohio with its 17 electoral votes (due to some arcane machinery in the state’s election laws).
As per above, the debate fiasco calls into serious question whether “Joe Biden” is competent to even serve out this term. He (or shadowy figures pulling strings behind him) are making profoundly hazardous decisions right now, such as last week’s missile attack that killed and wounded civilians on the beach in Crimea. Are you seeing how easily “Joe Biden” might start World War Three? All of which is to say that pressure will soon rise to use the 25th amendment to relieve him of duty, leaving you-know-who in the oval office. If Joe Biden actually has to resign as president, he also loses the ability to pardon his son, Hunter, and peremptorily his other family members who shared bribery money received from China, Ukraine, and elsewhere.
If he won’t resign, and the party can’t force him off the ticket, the blob could have no choice except to bump him off. I imagine they would get it done humanely, say late at night sometime, in bed, using the same method as for putting down an old dog who has peed on the carpet one too many times. Or, if that can’t be managed and he clings to his position, maybe the party could cobble up some new nominating rules impromptu. And then, who could they slot in from the bench?
The usual suspects are like the cast of a freak show, each one displaying one grotesque deformity after another. Gavin Newsom we understand: the party’s base of batshit-crazy women may all want to bear his child, but that limbic instinct to mate with a six-foot-three haircut-in-search-of-a-brain might not work with any other voter demographic — and Newsom has the failed state of California hanging around his neck. All Mr. Trump would have to do is broadcast the scene from a San Francisco street-cam on “X” (Twitter) 24/7.
Hillary has been stealthily flapping her leathery wings overhead for weeks as this debacle approached. She may still own the actual machinery of the Democratic Party — having purchased it through the Clinton Foundation some years back when the party was broke and needed a bailout. She could just command the nomination by screeching “Caw Caw” from the convention rostrum. Whatever happens, it will look terrible.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan? An inveterate and notorious intel blob tool, Whitmer has allowed herself to be used repeatedly by the FBI to frame and persecute conservatives in her state as well as using her state AG Dana Nessel to go after political enemies there, especially poll workers who cried fraud in the sketchiest Michigan voting districts.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Like Dreamboat Newsom in California, Mr. Pritzker is busily running Illinois (and especially Chicago) into bankruptcy and chaos. Looks aren’t everything, but if Dreamboat gives the vapors to Karens across the land, the Illinois governor will get them shrieking in terror as from the sight of King Kong on Skull Island
Who else is there? Michelle O, of course, who will be instantly branded as a catspaw for her husband seeking a fifth term — as Barack himself has averred in so many words: just hanging out in the background, managing things in his jogging suit. That would be the ultimate Banana Republic set-up for us and I don’t think the voters will go for it. It all boils down to the Party of Chaos being thrust into chaos. Can it even survive “Joe Biden?”
Then there is Mr. Trump himself. He remains the object of widespread rabid loathing, yet more and more Americans are coming to appreciate his opposition to Woke Marxist chaos and intel blobbery-gone-wild in our land. His performance last night featured his usual jumpy locutions and incomplete sentences, but in contrast to the current president, he looked neither senile nor an agent of sinister forces dedicated to bringing our country to its knees. Had Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. been present both of the others would have been badly outclassed verbally and intellectually. If Mr. Trump survives the blob’s efforts to delete him before November, I’m sure Mr. Kennedy will play a prominent role in another Trump administration. He knows exactly where the rot is and how to roust it out.
This is actually cute and funny
Shorpy
4a12610a.preview4a25671a.preview4a25678a.preview4a08071a.preview4a23266a.preview32146u.preview32583u.preview32587u.preview25990u.preview18602u.preview31384u.preview32555u.preview4a22285a.preview4a12615a.preview4a12605a1.previewtricycle1930s.previewColorized done2.preview4a19929a.preview4a18810a.preview33315u.previewSHORPY 31804u.previewSHORPY 32114u.previewSHORPY 1a35320u.previewMan of the wood 1.previewSHORPY 4a22833a.preview
Does anyone want to write their heart out here?
Originally Answered: Does any one want to write their heart out here?
Hi… I am 18 years old boy at my last stage of blood cancer and I will probably die within next 5 to 6 months. I am going anonymous because my parents follow me on quora.
I was diagnosed with leukaemia in june 2015 exactly on my birthday. I have lot to tell but I can not tell anyone as I always have my parents around and they themselves are broken from inside and they would leave hope if I left hope.
I have a sister she is 23 and she takes care of all my needs. I love her very much. But I simply can not do anything for her because I am bed ridden. I get a lot of visitors from my old school and family.
My parents and my sister do their best to cheer me up and make me smile but I can not as it is very dufficult when you know you are about to die. I feel ashamed of myself as I can not move and I sometimes pee on the bed itself as I have no control over my nerves. All the doctors whom I have been shown to, say that I must do whatever I like as I have very less time left. Each and every doctor has said to leave hope and just enjoy life. I know my family cries when I am asleep or listening to songs or when I am not around. But I am helpless I just can not do anything. But yes I do appreciate that they somehow hold their tears back in front of me. My sister cheers me up as she calls her college friends at home and we play ludo and have a good time.
The point that makes me sad is that ispite of all the efforts my family makes I am unable to do anything for them espescially my sister. I am extremely attatched to her but I have no words to thank her. I wish god gave me another life…. Just one chance I would work extremely hard to make my family proud. All I dream is of getting well and working for my family.
This is it my story
Thanks for Reading…
Humble request
Please do pray for my family so that God can give them strength. 🙂 🙂
EDIT 1
Thanks to all the upvoters.
Writing gives me releif.
My sister caught me writing this answer and when she read it she set to tears and I could not hold myself and started to cry on my helplessness. She told that she loves me the most. She said that she had no problem in cleaning my dirty clothes and pushing my wheelchair and feeding me she just demands that I should stay happy forever.
I will reveal my identity if my sister this to my parents. But this totally depends on her.
Please stay tuned as I have 5 or at max 6 months left and then this would be closed
Thanks for reading
Humble request: keep praying
🙂
EDIT 2
The response is clearly amazing….
Thanks to all
I want to really clarify somethings.
1 I do not want any money my family can take care of my needs thanks for your health.
2 I do not wish to reveal my identity as I had already tried this with one of the people commenting here and it the consequences were disheartning
3 For those people who think this is a dram you are free to think so but your views really turn like these when you are nearing your end and the worse part is you know about it.
4 I write for my hearts relief and not for any kninds of financial favours from anyone.
I do tell my parents that I love them a lot but I can not share my pain because if I ever did that they would feel extremely weak to see their son losing hope hence I chose quora and anonymity.
They try to find out every possible source of miraculous recovery story they could and tell me to keep myself motivated and even I want one such thing to happen but I get very negative thought when I see people turning their faces and simply not to talk or even look at me when I am in park and again I have my sister by my me side.
I had a beautiful childhood like I and my sister were like typical brother sisters fighting for small things like for watching tv and I used to enjoy it a lot but now there is no fight and she allows me to watch anything I like and does everhything for me I tell her this almost everyday and she feels great.
I write my heart out here (as the ques suggests) and not in anyway for any favours
Thanks for praying
Keep praying
🙂
October 28
Thanks to all the upvoters… and all the prayers.
Some comments coming up like you want to give some years of your life to me. Please do not think that ever again. You have 2 functional hands, legs all 5 senses (sight, sound(ears), taste, smell and touch (skin)) intact and a good brain to think deeply. So stop thinking as your life directional was and start working. Make your family proud. Your family does everything for you. And if not for your family do something good for yourself.
I say it because When you are on your deathbed some 60–70 years from now you must not regret the fact that you wasted time and could not accomplish your targets. You do not realise how much time you have and how much can be done in that.
Now coming to some of my feelings.. (your choice read it or leave it)
I have some sort of insecurity that I would be left alone and that is not just from a day or 2 but from 3–4 weeks. I do not know why but it’s there. I have discussed this with my sister and she assures me that she would be there all the time. I mean I annoy my family members sometimes like I always want someone in front of my eyes. It sounds pathetic but it’s true.
I vomitted yesterday night it was almost all blood and something’s that I had eaten the whole day ( it’s quite normal as it happens 4 times a week). Naturally I was very depressed this morning so my sister took off from her college and kept me busy by discussing older times like how we both messed up together and how I cried when she teased me I was adopted.
I still remember that I and my sis used to hide remote in the washroom when it was time for some important cartoon (for me it was dragon ballz and for her it was suite life of Zack and Cody) and we used to have some insecurity when our parents gave one of us more attention than the other.
There are lots of things like these.
If I rewind and look into my life I realize how messi I was and my sister even then helped me she had been of constant support to me. I owe her everthing. I write this in every answer but I can’t help it I just love her.
I have realized one thing that I do not want to leave in misery. All the time I have I will enjoy and annky my sister and parents.
Thanks a lot to quora it’s great.
Thanks for reading
Keep praying
🙂
15 November 2k18
Thanks all for your overwhelming response..
I have lots of feelings to share as I had been in critical condition for almost last 15 days…
I have lost my voice because I spat blood so many times that my throat has constant piercing sensation. About a week ago I thought I would die and I wanted to tell my family everything and that is what I did.
I can not imagine how much my parents and my sister love me. They never felt bad helping me rather they wanted me to be fine. My sister is an angel. She has been with me all the time. Though I have become annoyed by my sickness and fought with her many times but she always handled me with care. Whenever I saw anyone in my room it was her in the last 15 days. She is more than God to me.
Now I get feelings like it is better to die in peace rather than suffering so much. I sometimes seem to have lost all hope and strength.
My parents are going mad to see my condition going from bad to worse but they are not ready to loose me and even I can not convince them.
There is almost no happiness left in my life. All the time I see my parents trying to convince me I would be fine and me trying to convince them to be ready for my loss. I feel so bad and blessed at the same time that I am spending the last chapter of my life with people whom I love the most but I feel myself weak when I am unable to do anything for them.. I do try to explain myself that it is not my fault but these thoughts overpower my thinking and leave me depressed most of the time.
People say to enjoy life but how do you enjoy life when you can not walk, talk, or when you are scared of eating(yes I am scared as whatever I eat I vomit with blood)!!!!! I am scared of my own face it looks so horrible with pale skin and red marks.
How do you enjoy life when you have constant killing pain in your whole body and the only way you keep yourself feeling painless is by taking strong pain killers??
I am sorry if this hurt your feelings but I have had it enough. I either want a painless death or a painless cure. I am too depressed but there is nothing I can do…
I am sorry
Keep praying
🙂
I suggest you visit China.
It reversed my preconception. I am from Norway, North Europe. A rather modern and advanced society.On my first visit to the US over 20 years ago, I was surprised at how backward and old fashioned it was. Movies had let me to believe it was the epitome of modern society. I visited several states on the East/South-East. Very backwards digitally. Terrible infrastructure. Unwalkable. Dirty. Hard to find quality restaurants outside of big cities. Dead city centres in medium sized cities.I went to China a year or two later, and the opposite struck me. It was a highly modern society. Highly digital. Fantastic high-speed infrastructure (that is even better nowadays). Super clean, modern cities. I was mainly in the Jiangsu province that time. Loved it!I suggest everyone to go and form their own opinions. I really fell in love with Suzhou, not far from Shanghai.
What are some important, but uncomfortable truths that many people learn when transitioning into adulthood?
Every person is responsible for their own happiness — not their parents, not their boss, not their spouse, not their friends, not their government, not their deity.
One day we will all die, and 999 out of 1,000 people will be remembered by nobody on earth within a hundred years of that date.
Practically all of the best opportunities (in business, in romance, etc) are only offered to people who already have more than they need.
The idea that you will be happy after you make X amount of dollars is almost certainly an illusion.
The idea that you will be happy after you meet [some amazing person] is almost certainly an illusion.
For most people, death is pretty messy and uncomfortable.
When you don’t possess leverage (go look up “BATNA“), people will take advantage of you, whether they mean to or not.
Almost everybody is making it up as they go along. Also, many (most?) people are incompetent at their jobs.
When talking about their background and accomplishments, almost everybody is continually overstating their abilities, impact, relevance, and contributions.
Physical beauty decays.
Compared to others, certain ethnicities and races (and genders, and sexual orientations, and so on) are just plain royally f*cked from the day they’re born. [EDIT: depending on locale & time period]
Bad things constantly happen to good people. Good things constantly happen to bad people.
Very few people will ever give you 100% candid, honest feedback.
People are constantly making enormous life decisions (marriage, children, etc) for all of the wrong reasons.
Certain people — some of whom are in positions of enormous power — just do not give a damn about other human beings.
Often, the most important and consequential moments of our lives (chance encounter, fatal car accident, etc) happen completely at random and seemingly for no good reason.
Your sense of habitating a fully integrated reality is an illusion, and a privilege. Take the wrong drug, suffer a head injury, or somehow trigger a latent psychotic condition like schizophrenia — and your grip on reality can be severed in an instant. Forever.
Yet, despite all that not-so-good-ness, overall life is pretty damn rad. And we’re lucky to get to participate in it.
VIETNAM NIGHTLIFE | WALKING STREET | HO CHI CITY MINH VIETNAM
Is the USA really jealous of China’s rise or is the problem that China is still a Marxist-Leninist country that the United States cannot accept a Marxist state competing with them?
“jealousy” is not the word to describe US mentality.
Dominance is a better description for USA. USA has been dominating the world since WW2. Since 1990’s, China has been rising, fast these years.
USA is hysterically hanging onto its dominance. That is all.
Look at Japan. As a country defeated by USA in WW2, Japan is 100% Amcericanised esp its political system. Also Japan is militarily controlled by USA. Japan is a US puppet with no independent strategic sovereignty.
The only thing for Japan to do was to focus on economic & technological development. In 1980’s, Japan was economically #2 in the world after USA. Its chips technology surpassed USA. Similar to today’s China.
Then what has happened to Japan? You heard it already. USA mercilessly beat Japan down, making Japan lose 10–20 years’ economic & technological advancement.
Just a month or so ago, Japan has monetary crisis & wanted to sell US debts to get cash to save its economy. US Treasury Secy Yellen then called Japan & warned Japan that what Japan did was interference of free market. … Japan was not allowed to save its exchange rate.
Why? USA wanted to bankrupt Japan (& Asian countries too). When Japanese assets become cheap, cheap & cheap, US capitalists will flood into Japan to buy up Japanese assets.
No other Asian countries went bankrupt like Japan because USA has no control of them. They all saved their economy.
Back to your question.
See, it is more to do with sick mentality to dominate than to simple jealousy.
Loyalty is the most important characteristic that a woman can provide to her man
The China, India border issue has been an issue for the two sides since the 1950s, but the two sides have never been able to find a solution.
On India’s side, the political leadership has never been able to form a consensus on a deal, and on China’s side, there has been no urgency. So the issue has continued to simmer.
Now though, the battle lines are becoming more clear between NATO/EU/G7 on the one side, against BRICS on the other side. Russia is on the front line confronting NATO expansion in Ukraine, and is drawing support from Iran and North Korea, while India and China continue to trade with Russia, and ignoring western sanctions.
But there is a problem: India is also a member of the US-led QUAD, with the US, Australia and Japan, and whose aim is to surround and box in China. India has been playing both sides, with one foot in BRICS, and one foot in QUAD.
Obviously India under Modi wants to get a good deal for India.
From Putin’s perspective, he can no longer afford to let the China/India border issue continue because it will threaten the cohesion of BRICS and the rise of Greater Eurasia, which has the support of all the BRICS members and North Korea. Putin does not want and cannot afford to let the US exploit the China/India border issue to the US’s advantage because the US wants to prevent the rise of the Greater Eurasia economic and security alliance.
Since China and India have not been able to reach a border agreement, and Russia is a close ally of both China and India, and is a founding member of BRICS, this means that Russia has to step in and try to help the two sides reach an agreement.
My guess as to what the Russian proposal will be is:
Russia will appoint a representative to study the China-India border dispute; this person will likely be Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov;
After studying the issue; the Russian team will propose a border resolution to both China and India;
China and India will study the Russian proposal and propose their own amendments;
After incorporating the amendments, Russia will issue a solution which is binding on both India and China.
This means that both sides have no choice but to accept the solution. If there are features of the agreement which both China and India do NOT like, then this means that it is a fair agreement.
Russia will then ask India to demonstrate its full commitment to BRICS by withdrawing from the QUAD.
Indian PM Modi will go to Moscow to meet with Putin this Wednesday.
Americans CAN’T Believe What China is Doing Now!
Have you ever had a medical condition or disease that doctors misdiagnosed?
Yes… Approximately 9 years ago I was home alone when I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I was just watching television.. not doing anything strenuous. I had a history of asthma and tried using my inhaler, which did nothing. Fortunately, I picked up the phone, dialed 911..and could only whisper I couldn’t get my breath. I couldn’t give them any information, since I couldn’t speak. I ran to my bedroom to use my nebulizer, but passed out on the bed. Luckily they traced my call, sent an ambulance immediately and transported me to the local hospital, while attempting to revive me on the way. I woke up in ICU 2 days later, after being on a ventilator for 48 hours. My heart had stopped for some unknown reason. After a two week stay, numerous tests and medications, I was feeling better. They felt I had pneumonia.. and gave me antibiotics and steroids, which did seem to make me feel better. While there, they had performed a heart echo, but no one actually told me about the results. When the echo was being done, I felt like I was going to pass out any second and I cried and complained to the technician. Finally I felt better and had begged to go home, which they finally allowed. I returned to my job in another week or so, and was trying to get back to normal. Due to the fact that I often was required to read medical records as a part of my job, I thought it would be a good idea to order a copy of the hospital record, for my own peace of mind, so that’s what I did.
After about a week of being back at work, I came home one day totally exhausted and again weak and short of breath. Immediately my husband insisted we go back to the hospital. I was admitted again with a low oxygen level and trouble breathing. A day or two before, the hospital record had been delivered and I had my husband bring it to me, in the hospital. The doctor wanted me to have an echo and I argued with them explaining I had already just had one! They argued with me and then admitted that somehow the report was missing and they did not know the result. I carefully looked through the records and found the report, showing the cardiologist. I was stunned to read that the ejection fraction (measurement of my heart’s efficiency) was only at 25%. I found out later, this was a level requiring hospice care!! They told me I needed immediate heart surgery and the cardiologist called a surgeon from a Manhattan hospital who agreed to take my case. I was transported by ambulance to Lenox Hill in NYC where I underwent an open heart surgery the next day. I had congestive heart failure….. I cried when the surgeon told me that if they couldn’t fix it, they might have to do a heart transplant!! Imagine.. Ultimately, they did complete a repair of my mitral valve leaflets, by inserting a ring over the valve to allow it to work effectively. It seems my condition had been ongoing for quite some time; My left ventricle had become seriously weakened, causing my heart to fail. Post surgery, I improved, but I continue to require medication to maintain my heart rhythm and blood pressure. The medication makes me tired, so I am much more limited in what I can do. I’ve been on disability since.. and have been unable to return to work. This all happened when I turned 50 years old. I spent my 50th birthday in the hospital.
I did not pursue a malpractice case, although I did seriously consider it. In such cases you need another doctor who would be willing to say the hospital and doctors were negligent. I did visit the EMTs at my local firehouse to thank them for saving my life. They recalled that when they found me I had turned blue from the lack of oxygen. I think they were surprised that I made it!!
At this time, I consider myself to be very, very lucky to be alive! Lesson: we have to be our own health advocates these days! Doctors can and do make mistakes. If it doesn’t seem right, keep looking for another answer!
Russia Just Revealed 2 Hypersonic Weapons & SHOCKED The World!
Why Chinese language has become an issue in NASA? Anything to do with US effort to hang onto its hegemony in the race of space?
China has analysed the lunar soil that was collected by Chang’e-5 in 2020. (Not yet from the 2024 Chang’e-6)
There was discussion that China should first publish its result in Chinese science journals (using Chinese language). before publishing it in foreign journals.
There was US complaint that China has broken the intl standard to use English.
Who said English is the standard? God? Who said a standard/rule cannot be changed? God?
All humans are equal. All nations are equal. We coexist with different cultures incl language. USA crowns itself as god to control the world.
Want to read China’s research result? Learn Chinese language then. Or wait until China publishes it in an English journal. Or go to the moon to collect the soil yourself.
It is not the 1st time arrogant USA complained about Chinese language.
In 2021, China launched a 100% Made-in-China space station (天宫 Tiangong), somebody (I believe it was NASA chief) was maddening angry. He asked China to dismantle Tiangong because it was not written in English.
Tiangong is China’s private property. China can use its own language in its property. Though China welcomes other countries to join China’s space program, Tiangong is STILL China’s private property.
That is not the end of story.
Using a satellite from Space-X, USA tried to collide it into Tiangong. Twice, Luckily USA failed because Tiangong is equipped with detectors to prevent collision by meteorite or space garbage. China already reported this US crime to UN.
Did E Musk aplogise? No. He said China can always avoid collision. The question is not whether China can avoid it. The question is why Space-X deliberately created collision & endangered the life of the 3 Yuhangyuan (宇航员 astronaut) in Tiangong.
Let me further irritate the sick USA …
China is planning to set up a base on the moon. China may draw a map to divide the moon into regions like our road map. China may name the lunar regions in Chinese language.
Rules are made by the FIRST one who gets it. Like WTO rules were set up by the West. China thus follows WTO rules.
Since China will be the 1st one to set up a base on the moon, you learn Chinese language & then translate the Chinese map in your language.
Gregorian Chants | Immersing in the Spiritual Atmosphere Of Gregorian Chants
I discovered this. It’s something to bookmark if you want some chill music for atmosphere. Or meditation. Maybe spells. Who knows. Aside from that, you can skip this.
What’s the shadiest thing you saw a real estate agent do?
My ex and I were moving to Oregon from Colorado and had put our home up for sale. We got an offer within two weeks which was great as we were moving a few weeks later.
Supposedly, the buyers were moving to Colorado from Texas for the man’s job. The company was doing the down payment and then pay the balance on closing. Because of “banking issues” because of the house being in Colorado, they ended up only sending a $1,000.00 of the $30,000.00 down payment.
Our real estate agent said that was ok, that the whole sale amount would be paid at closing.
The closing was the day before we were leaving. We get to the title company’s office for the closing and the buyers show up with our real estate agent, and without the payment check.
The guy doing the closing was not happy but the real estate agent had him call the bank that the funds were coming from and he was told that there was an malfunction on the bank’s end and the transfer would take place that afternoon.
We went ahead and signed the papers and made arrangements for my mom to deposit the check in our bank account ( small town bank where everyone knew everyone else) the next day.
Yup, you guessed it, the check never showed up. Luckily the title agent was a family friend and refused to hand over the keys or file the paperwork without payment, even when the real estate agent and buyers threatened legal action.
Come to find out, it was a scam. The couple and the company he worked for, had pulled this in other states before. They would do the closing , get the keys and the title put in the new owners name. They would in turn sale the house and the original owners would be stuck with what little was paid in escrow.
We were lucky the title company refused to file the paperwork, we rented the house to some friends who then purchased it with cash a few months later.
The real estate agent lost their company and license and since it was a small community, their reputation.
The buyers left the state and the company disappeared. Technically no laws were broken so we couldn’t do anything legally against anyone.
Trump & Biden: CHINA! CHINA! CHINA!
Sheech!
What is an example of a simple flaw in a perfect crime?
Mike Williams was fond of duck hunting.
On December 16, 2000, which happened to be his 6th wedding anniversary, he went out to pursue his hobby. Promised his wife he’d be back in time for the celebration, he never returned.
Search and rescue team found his boat and shotgun the next day, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Initial reactions were that he may have drowned, but his body could not be found. Since the lake inhabited alligators, the blame was on cold-blooded animals. It was assumed that he fell off his boat and was eaten by the gators. Mike remained on the ‘missing list’ though.
Six months later his waders, torch, hunting license and safety jacket were found floating in the lake.
On his wife Denise’s request, he was declared “dead by accidental drowning.”
She married another man, Brian Winchester, in December 2005. He was Mike’s high school friend and an Insurance agent.
Thousands of letters from Mike’s mom and the case was reopened. She just didn’t feel her son had disappeared and was eaten by the gators. By then, it was clear to the investigators that alligators don’t eat humans as a whole, and they don’t even eat during winters.
So, this pointed towards some serious foul play. There was no evidence to arrest anyone, however.
Sixteen years of no evidence, the police arrested Brian Winchester in August 2016 for allegedly kidnapping Denise. He did so because she wanted to divorce him.
On Denise’s request, the judge agreed to turn down Winchester’s bail application. She said he would kill her and her daughter.
On December 19, 2017, Winchester was sentenced to 20 years in prison for armed kidnapping of Denise. The very next day, on December 20, Mike’s remains were found.
In May 2018, Denise Williams got arrested under the charge of first-degree murder. Three months later, in August, she was charged with insurance fraud worth $1.75 million.
The matter got into the trial phase, and Winchester testified against Denise for plotting the murder. He told the court he pushed Mike into the water to make it look like an accident, but it didn’t work. So, he shot him in the head and buried his body in the mud near Carr Lake.
Denise, in February 2019, was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder and an additional 30 years for conspiring the crime. There is no possibility of parole.
Winchester, though the killer, remained immune from murder conviction because he testified against Denise.
The only flaw in this crime was planting the evidence six months later. All of that was intact. No signs of gators’ tooth or blood on any of the recovered items. The torch worked absolutely fine.
And then asking to declare him dead within six months of his disappearance. Usually, it takes five years to get it done.
It took about 2600 letters to the authorities from a loving mother to find the killer(s) of her son after more than 18 years of his disappearance.
strong independent woman gets a TRAIN RAN on her and regrets it
The West is cooked! God am I glad that I don’t live there any longer.
Is it true that an exodus from the Philippines is taking place? Why or why not?
Maybe they smelled war.
Businessmen have the most sensitive political sense. Recently, Raul Lambino, chairman of the Philippine New Energy Group, burst into tears at the 70th anniversary commemoration of China’s “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence” held in Beijing. He said: ‘I Don’t Want My Country to Be a Battleground’.
Recently, Taiwanese media reported that a silent electronic war broke out between the Chinese and American militaries in the South China Sea. The two armies fought for 12 hours, and the result was obvious: PLA wins and the US military loses!
The Internet, GPS, and communication facilities in the northern Philippines were all paralyzed. Luzon Island was in a state of panic.
Electronic warfare is a precursor to bombing military targets. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia launched a large-scale electronic jamming war, causing Ukraine’s GPS positioning to drift seriously, and the effectiveness of precision-guided weapons provided by NATO dropped significantly.
Therefore, before a war breaks out, GPS signals may be lost, network connections may be disconnected, and phone calls may be unreachable in the war zone.
Perhaps the Philippines realized that the U.S. military was completely unable to provide the so-called “protection” for the Philippines, and unilaterally demanded that the U.S. military withdraw its medium-range missile system from the Philippines to avoid further angering China.
Philippines Says US Mid-Range Missile System to Be Pulled Out
A US mid-range missile system deployed in the Philippines for annual joint military exercises — to the annoyance of China — will be pulled out of the country.
A series of events that have happened recently may contain the answers you want.
As a nurse, has a patient ever demanded something completely unreasonable of you?
The old farmer only had one testicle left due to testicle cancer, and his remaining testicle had taken a hard hit from his favorite cow. The ball looked like a balloon. A very painful balloon.
After a medical investigation, and before the urologist could even say what the verdict was, the patient stated the decision he had made, after a long and deep contemplation:
“I am seventy-plus years old, and my wife an I do not share the bed anymore. We don’t need to spend extra energy nor money to save it. Just take it away, and I will be just fine.”
That’s what he would do if one of his animals had one balloon ball left — amputate the entire scrotum, and that’s that. So the lady doctor should do the same thing, with a rubber band for that matter. (He would be fine.)
My girlfriend tried to explain that he needed the testosterone in order to function as a man (hoping that he would understand this language). But the farmer refused to take it in because in his eyes, a testicle was a tool to procreate. (“So why not cut it off ?”)
It took forever to explain that without testicles he would suffer from fatigue, hot flashes, muscle loss, poor facial hair growth and what have you. That on many levels he would turn into a woman in menopause, and that lifelong hormone treatment would be necessary to counterbalance the effects.
And that he would become an extremely emotional farmer for no reason if he would ignore that very important treatment (which he would).
In the end, he gave in though — and the testicle lived.
This recipe was the winner of the 1992 National Beef Cook-Off.
093a334218e9aee2d6f6389a08f36a0d
Yield: 5 to 6 servings | 1 1/2 cups salsa
Ingredients
Steak
2/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup tequila
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
2 medium cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 1/2 pounds well-trimmed boneless beef
1 (1 inch thick) round steak
Orange Salsa
2 oranges, peeled and cubes
1 small onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 to 3 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
Instructions
Steak
Combine orange juice concentrate, tequila, lime juice, oil, ginger, garlic, salt, oregano and red pepper.
Place steak in a plastic bag: add marinade, turning to coat. Close bag securely and marinate, refrigerated, for 4 hours, or up to overnight.
Orange Salsa
In a nonreactive bowl, combine all ingredients. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Remove steak from marinade; discard marinade. Place steak on grill over medium coals (you should be able to hold your hand 4 inches above the coals for a count of 4 seconds).
Grill for 22 to 26 minutes for medium-rare to medium doneness, turning once.
Remove steak to carving board; let stand for 10 minutes.
Carve steak crosswise into thin slices: Arrange on serving platter. Garnish with cilantro and lime; serve with Orange Salsa.
Modern women have run the men off & now they wonder why they’re single!
What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?
Circa 2010-ish, Samsung had this app in my country called samsung gift. It would give limited free vouchers (mostly for food) for people who have samsung phones
Funny thing is, not many people seem to use it, and they always deploy their free vouchers at the same time everyday. So i would standby, app open, to wait for it. No kidding, I *ALWAYS* get the vouchers without fail. We’re talking about full meals at kenny rogers, free medium pizza from pizza hut, etc.
Oh, and I didn’t stop there. They had tiers of these vouchers. like if you have their flagship phones (and tablets too) they give out voucher for fancier restos.. then another tier for mid-tier phones. and for the lower tier phones it would be like a free ice cream at dairy queen or something.
well my family uses samsung phones mainly. and I also have a few samsung tablet. long story short, each day i would have an excess of 5+ vouchers to trade in (and many of these you can take away, it’s not always limited to dine in)
suffice to say that i think for about 2+ years Samsung helped me save a lot on dining out costs. it was really fun. too bad around the time Galaxy note 8 came out (the last samsung flagship i ever bought), they slowly started to give out less and less vouchers. oh well, it was fun white it lasted!
I believe abortion is wrong. Can you change my mind?
My friend’s grandma gave birth to 10 children during her life time. Six of them grew to adults. Two of them died when they were toddlers. Another two babies were killed by drowning in a basin, as soon as they were born, by the parents, who were too poor to feed them.
My friend said ‘Grandma and grandpa had often murmured, ‘Sorry… Sorry…’ with tears, when they recalled it. They blamed themselves all their lives. They had no choice. No enough food for all the family. They killed the babies by their own hands, instead of letting them starve, to die slowly, to save the food for their elder children to survive.’
It was a situation you would face as a parent if you were born at that time, in a poor village, if you didn’t have enough sunshine or rain to harvest your crops in a certain year. In fact, at that time, it was not a rare case at all. The ones you killed were not fetuses, but actual humans who could already breathe and cry. You were no doubt a murderer. But no matter how guilt-ridden you felt murderering your newborn angels, you must move on, because you must take full responsibility to feed your other children, otherwise they wouldn’t survive either. That’s why in a time like that, the babies killed by their own parents were not considered ‘murdered’, neither legally nor morally. It was pretty much accepted by society, because people didn’t have better options.
Morals, values, cultures… all depend on our ability to survive. There is no absolute right or wrong, good or bad, virtue or sin. ‘Should we consider a fetus a living human?’ ‘Is abortion wrong?’ ‘Should we forbid eating animal meat?’ ‘Is President Lincoln a racist?’ All discussions require a context. We can’t give an absolute yes or no without considering the backgrounds and the stages of development. Morality is relative, specific, and constantly changing.
When we talk about abortion, we need to talk about the alternatives when you don’t abort. Do common people have easy access to birth control? Have we built up a single mother/father friendly social environment (employment, welfare, social pressure etc)? Do we have social support for poor families? Has our society developed to a stage that everybody is covered by a safety net? What’s the solution when a woman is in a bodily condition which makes it highly risky to give birth? What about a pregnancy caused by rape?…
There is no ‘best’ social system. We have to consider the current stage of development we are in, to balance the different interests and conflicts of different individuals and social groups, to keep on communicating and compromising, to keep on experimenting to find a relatively ‘not bad’ one. I think that’s our human’s reality.
(This is a translation of my another answer in Japanese to a similar question. Welcome to correct my English and discuss about this topic. Thank you.
Young Men Are Going To Revolt…
This is NOT what you think it is. It is a in-depth study of the nature of war, collapse and change. Very good. Really worth your time to watch.
I have been paying attention, as of late, to the American “news” aggregate sources. These are websites that just list headlines, and links from “news” sources, and you thous get a relative “snapshot” of what the news actually is on any given day.
For American “news” it’s all obvious. No really news. No real subjects. Just artificially produced narratives served in “canned” packages for distribution. It’s really terribly bad.
So I am looking at the today’s Drudge Report. I just glace over this as I shy away from what ever it is trying to push. But I noticed something. No advertisements, but instead targeted articles.
An article that makes LGBT+ look good, or is supportive of it…
Another one, but only this time for NASA…
Wait, another one about Global Warming…
Hold on, your daily issuance of China = Bad…
Oh, and while I am at it, Ukraine is winning against Russia and Russia is collapsing…
Whoa, there’s another on that inflation is lowest it’s been in decades…
Oh, the multivitamin myth…
But, you know, get your bird flu vaccine…
Oh, and men are bad, another victory for woman’s rights…
Do you see the point?
Instead of advertisements. The interests hire writers and write stories that direct people to their platforms of choice where they get money, enhance their narratives, and groom them into “pigeon holes” for money extraction. Insidious.
Sheech!
What a cluster fuck.
Today…
What is the most bizarre thing you’ve witnessed at a public pool?
I was having dinner at a restaurant with a pool (down in the Keys such things exist). I was with my family: two grown sons, their wives and kids and my husband.
Suddenly my son bolted from the table and dove into the pool, clothes and all. He had seen a toddler slip under the water in the semi-deep end and not make a sound. When people saw him running they began to pay attention and realized what he was doing but he was on it so there was nothing else to be done. The mom was standing on the other end chatting up a friend, and didn’t see a thing.
My son, who just HAPPENS to be a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer, brought the girl up and she was coughing and petrified but other than that, she was okay. He asked her “Where’s Mommy?” and she pointed to the mother.
My son carried the child over to the woman, who was still talking and had not noticed a thing. He tapped her on the shoulder and set the girl down. “She fell in the pool,” he said. “Oh, thanks,” she said, and turned to continue her conversation.
At this point, others who had witnessed the entire thing confronted the mother and said “Hey, that man just saved your child’s life. She slipped under the water!” The mom was appropriately chagrined and apologized for not being more responsible and finally realized he was wearing regular clothes. People were still talking about it when she scooped up the sniffling child and left. She never even realized that her life could have been changed in that second.
We see drownings in the movies and it’s always someone splashing about in a frenzy. But in real life, drownings are silent. The person who doesn’t know better just sinks, instead of puffing out his lungs and helping himself stay buoyant. I never knew that.
Richard Wolff on How Russia Destroyed NATO’s Economic War and Europe is Collapsing
What makes Indians think they have a chance at beating China?
Collective delusion. Cultural madness.
India faces massive problems that hinder its development, starting with a dysfunctional democratic government. It is overly bureaucratic. Its regulatory structure discourages foreign investment. It is often hostile to foreign companies.
India has a large, rapidly-growing, young population but it is poorly educated. Indian literacy is quite low.
India’s female participation rate in the labour force is quite low.
India is fractured by ethnic strife. Hindu nationalism exacerbates the problem.
India has serious human rights issues, particularly with respect to women.
India’s caste system remains an obstacle.
India’s infrastructure is seriously lagging behind China.
India is mired in extreme poverty with over 100 million people living in these conditions.
Can India overcome all these obstacles and challenges? If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t put my money on India. Sorry. The odds really suck.
China’s economy is 4.7X larger than India’s by nominal GDP.
China’s economy is 2.4X larger than India’s by purchasing power parity. [Source: IMF.]
Even assuming Indian growth of 8% to Chinese growth of 5%, it would take India more than 30 years to catch up to China. The math doesn’t lie.
Can India grow at 8% ???
Douglas Macgregor Warns: US Forces Are Under ATTACK Around The World! Wind Is CHANGING Direction
How would you react if your boss fired you without notice?
This just happened to me.
I worked as a manager for 3 years, improving systems, increasing productivity, and even doubling the company’s clientele within 1.5 years. I consistently received rave reviews from staff and clients. I was efficient, trustworthy, loyal, kind, funny, was always early, and stayed late anytime they needed me. I ran the business while the owner was able to look into opening a second location because of how much I improved her business.
One month ago (Nov. 2019), I came to work like any other day. I booked several new clients within my first 30 minutes. I was then called into a meeting with the owner and another manager. I was handed an email I had written the day before. I read it and asked what was wrong. The manager said, “We are moving to termination.” Shocked, with all the blood in my body now rushing out (I could feel myself turn white), I said, “I don’t think this is right. Where is the disciplinary trail?”
They proceded to tell me they did not need a disciplinary trail and gave me no reason other than the way I had written the email made it sound like I threw the manager under the bus. This was not my intent and I profusely apologized for it coming off that way. I tried to discuss the fact that I had no previous disciplinary problems. The owner and manager then started bringing up little mistakes I had made – nothing bad, just simple mistakes, and things I had never before been made aware of.
I proceeded to remind them how much I have done for the company and asked if we could instead discuss this rather then just get rid of me. I kept asking why. They never had a straight answer. They never had me sign anything. At one point the manager said, “Go process this at home, goodbye.”
As I gathered my belongings while they watched me like hawks, I stuttered and mumbled, trying anything to make sense of what was happening. I still have no idea why I was fired nor what the grounds for firing me were.
I am moving on, but hurting a lot. I absolutely loved the job and the work, and I believed in the company. I am angry and sad and I know this wasn’t right. But I have no recourse. They had made up their minds and there was nothing I could say or do. I wish I knew what happened and I wish I could go back and say the magic words. My only choice is to move ahead.
It helps a bit reading from others who say this type of incident isn’t right and also that I’m not the only one this has happened to.
Side note – I found out a couple of weeks later that my office assistant quit the day after I left and that the owner replaced me with her daughter.
UPDATE June 2020: Thank you for all of your up votes and comments, I really appreciate them. To update, they had to eventually hire 3 people to take over my position. Many employees have quit as have many clients. The person who took the lead in firing me was demoted soon after and recently quit.
Pad Mi Korat Phet
(Hot Noodles, Korat Style – Thai)
The route to this recipe started with a couple of requests for a hot version of pad Thai.
Pad Mee Korat3
Unfortunately for those that asked, whilst you can add anything you like to pad Thai | including chiles | the result is not authentic. It simply isn’t done (which is not to say that Thais don’t load their plates of pad Thai with prik phom and chiles in fish sauce or vinegar ccording to taste)
Pad Thai is quite an elaborate dish. The style usually found in Thai restaurants outside Thailand is particularly elaborate, being referred to somewhat insultingly my Thai housewives as “pad Thai Krungthep” | the implication being that rich people in the capital do it that way to show off.
Ignoring the countryside versus capital debate, there is a local, very simple variant of the dish, known as pad mi Korat. Made with the round egg noodles known as sen mi, rather than the narrow rice ribbon noodles, and with a recipe that consists of partly cooking a cup of noodles, then stir frying them with a cup of sliced and shredded pak bung (swamp cabbage), adding a little tamarind juice for flavor, and drizzling a beaten egg over it to complete it.
However my wife prepares a more elaborate version of pad mi Korat, which is also fairly hot. This version I will call pad mi Korat phet (hot stir fried noodles in the Korat style).
Before I get into the details, I would like to make two comments.
The original of this dish is made with sen mi (Thai egg noodles), but if you can’t find them I find it works very well with a spaghetti or similar (the little shell shapes are good).
The original uses swamp cabbage, but any greens will do. If I fancy splashing out we make this with a mixture of broccoli and asparagus.
To simplify the dish I should point out that it is actually made using table condiments, thus the ingredients are not as complicated as they look. I will first include recipes for the table condiments you need. In Thailand these would probably be on every housewife’s table, but if you don’t have them you should make them about a week before you intend to cook the dish.
We make them in vast quantities for the restaurant (in 5 gallon containers), but for home use we use 1 pint spring top preserving jars. These have the advantage of fitting in the door shelves of our refrigerator.
Pad Mee Korat1
Nam Pla Prik
Put 2/3 cup of prik ki nu (finely sliced green birdseye or dynamite chiles) into a 1 pint jar, and fill with fish sauce. Seal and keep for a week before using.
Prik Dong
Put 2/3 cup of prik ki nu daeng (finely sliced red birdeye or dynamtie chiles) in a 1 pint jar, and fill with rice vinegar (any white vinegar will do, as will cider vinegar, if rice vinegar is unavailable).
Prik Siyu Wan
Put 2/3 cup of prik chi fa (sliced red or green Thai jalapeños) in a 1 pint jar, and fill with sweet dark soy sauce.
Kratiem Dong
Peel and slice 2/3 cup of garlic, place it in the 1 pint jar, add 1 teaspoon of palm sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of MSG (optional but recommended) and topped up with rice vinegar.
Khing Ki Mao
Julienne 2/3 cup of fresh ginger (into match stick sized pieces). Place in the 1 pint jar. Add 1/2 cup of Mekong whiskey (Mekong is a whiskey made from Rice. If you can’t find it or prefer something else, any spirits, even sherry, will do). Add 1/2 cup of rice vinegar, and fill up the jar with fish sauce.
Now we’ll progress to the pad mi itself.
For this you will need 1 cup of noodles, 1/2 cup of green veggies, 1/2 cup of mild peppers such as prik chi fa (Thai jalapeños). If you want to try this but at a lower heat level, use the Thai chili called prik yiek, or a bell pepper. You also need 1 large egg (preferably a duck egg), some tamarind juice and sugar, and chiles, bai chi (coriander leaves) and a sliced cucumber for garnish.
Place the noodles in water to soak for about 15 minutes.
Place 2 tablespoons of the liquor from each of the five condiments listed above, together with 2 tablespoons of tamarind juice, in a small saucepan and simmer to reduce it to half its volume. When this is done heat a wok, and stir a teaspoon of the fish sauce from the nam pla prik into the egg, and beat it lightly. Drain 1 tablespoon of the pickle from each of the five condiments.
If you are using Italian pasta, boil it for half the normal cooking time.
Add all the ingredients except the egg and the reduced sauce to the wok and stir fry until the noodles are just ‘toothy’ in texture. Add the sauce, turn the heat to as high as possible, and when the sauce has come to a vigorous boil, gently drizzle the egg into the mix, which will cook it.
Serve immediately, with the listed condiments, together with sugar and prik phom (powdered red chile), and decorate with the garnishes.
What’s the weirdest thing a guest has done at your house?
Weirdest? Maybe, you decide. I had asked a good family “friend” to check on my high school kids while I was going to be gone a couple nights. They were both working and responsible but I just wanted someone to look in on them, it made me feel better. He offered to stay over and would let the dog out if they were working. I thought that would be great. He was a good friend and I thought I knew him well Well, We ended up coming home sooner then planned and I messaged him our new plans. When did we expect to be home? About what time? Not sure why it mattered but I let him know. He acted strangely in his texts, which I didn’t pick up on until later. I wasn’t sure why he was even still at the house since we were coming back that evening, but I thought he was just being kind and taking care of the dog or maybe he wanted a quiet spot to be as he had moved back in with his parents to save money. Fast forward about 3 months and my daughter had to run home to grab something before a game. She had a couple other kids with her, one being a new kid. “Oh, I’ve been here before” he says. My daughter asked when. “ when I met up with someone on grinder “ my daughter didn’t believe him until he mentioned some details about the inside of the house. Well, after asking when and a description of the person she put two and two together, it was our good “friend.” My daughter was so upset she had a panic attack about the whole thing. She told me and I told my husband and we called law enforcement since he was a minor. There was an investigation and it turned out the kid lied about his age and nothing had actually happened because our friend had the sense to kick him out when he discovered he was not 18, and the investigation was ended. My daughter had to go through questioning about what she was told. We had to let our employer know because we work with kids and couldn’t risk this kid saying he was at our house with an adult male when they didn’t know the circumstances. Obviously I did not speak to the person again after this, and he had no idea why I was upset! He did not realize the repercussions that my family could have faced because of this or how disgusting this was even if not intentional. Now, we all knew he was gay and that’s not the disgusting part- it’s inviting a stranger into my home without my permission and possibly with my other kids around, it’s a safety issue, and a trust issue. If I don’t trust people anymore this is one of the reasons why.
What Was it About Malls in the 1970s?
Have you ever fired an employee who then retaliated against you or the company? What happened?
Yes, I owned a burglar alarm company. The employee had been on the job about three weeks but was well trained. He failed to dispatch on an alarm. I fired him. He was black. He filed an EEOC complaint alleging I fired him because he was a black male. He had a black female supervisor and I had many employees of different races working for me. I did not discriminate on pay, male vs female, black vs white. The EEOC called me about the complaint and told me he would settle it for $1995. I told her no. She asked what I would counter with. I told her I wouldn’t counter. She told me they would have to audit me. Maybe I should counter with $995. I told her to audit. I was audited and no wrong doing was found. About a year later I received a notice that he had appealed. I called the EEOC and told them I was pissed. I was ready to sue but I had a supervisor on the line. He said just cool it. Ok. Was everything just as it was when I was audited? Sure! Ok, ty. The appeal was denied. Another year later I received a notice that he had appealed again. Really pissed now. Same supervisor. Really ready to sue. He said cool it. Was everything the same as when they audited? I said no, employees had come and gone but the ratios and pay were still equitable. I asked how many times this guy had done this. I was told that couldn’t be divulged but would hear nothing more. Appeal denied. The thing that still bothers me is that the EEOC initially really wanted me to pay to make the problem go away. Sad.
America Decline is identical to that of Tang Dynasty!?
What has your child done that is technically “wrong” but you were proud of them for doing it?
My son is not my biological child. I met his mother when he was 7 and his little sister had just been born. Their biological father was in jail, having assaulted his wife when she was seven months pregnant, and was not present. Even when he HAD been present he was not a positive influence and poor Aaron had really been through way more than a child his age should ever have to experience, including a hospital visit that was necessary because he attempted to defend his mother from his abusive father.
Aaron’s mother had no one except her kids when I met her, and she had begun treating Aaron like a friend instead of her child. The lack of discipline or a male role model combined with Aaron being spoiled by his mother and his general anger at his father to create a child that had a very difficult time getting along with others his age. He and I used to play video games together all afternoon long, and over time he and I became very close. I took him under my wing and thus began a years long process of reforming him from a spoiled mamma’s boy (which doesn’t play too well here in the Deep South) to a rough and tumble young man with integrity and respect for others.
One of the biggest obstacles was that he was being relentlessly bullied. We switched him to different schools several times, but being socially awkward AND the “new kid” made him a natural target. Finally we put him in kickboxing so he could learn to defend himself.
Fast forward a few years. That scrawny awkward boy has become a big strong teenager that is both extraordinarily sensitive and YEARS ahead of his classmates in physical conditioning due to his dedication to his training. He became a standout football player his first season after setting a team record for sacks (I taught him how to slip blocks and punch through defenders and the kid learned incredibly fast).
So one day I get a call from his mom telling me that Aaron has been suspended for fighting. I’ve always told him not to start fights, but if someone puts their hands on him he’s free to defend himself. Of course I ask how it happened.
One of his buddies (a very small boy) had been getting bullied by a group of boys after school. These boys all live in a nearby neighborhood and walk home, and during that walk there’s no adult supervision. Several boys would team up on the one littler kid, and nothing was being done about it. Aaron decided to defend his buddy so the next time they did it he stepped in and beat up the ringleader. The little asshole’s parents made a big stink the next day so the school suspended all of them for fighting.
When I got home I told him I was proud of him. Even though he’s trained to fight he rarely does, he’s the sweetest kid and doesn’t like violence or hurting people. And now he finally did get in a fight, and it was to protect someone else. After all he’s been through he still cares about others and I’m incredibly proud of him for using his size and skills to defend weaker people.
“Hell On Earth” (Official Lyric Video)
He’s talking about the Lifestyles of Americans.
What is the best comeback you used on someone?
I was on a highway on the way home after teaching a night class. A driver in a Camaro came up to an intersection on the right and rolled through the stop sign (like most St Louis drivers do). I saw them approaching the stop sign and was thinking “they’re going to stop … they’re going to stop… oh no!”. Luckily there was no one to my left so I swerved left trying to avoid them but hit the front end of the car. If I hadn’t gone left I would have T-boned it right on the driver’s door.
No injuries, my little Mazda was totaled, the Camaro was missing it’s nose. Called AAA who dispatched law enforcement, exchanged insurance info with the lady driver, talked with law enforcement and waited for the tow truck etc.
Suddenly the driver’s daughter drove up and started ranting. “Who knocked the front end off of my new Camaro? I know they were speeding if they did that!”.
Her attitude rubbed me the wrong way so I tried to give her my perspective: “You have no idea what you’re talking about. Your mother pulled out right in front of me, I went left to try to avoid killing her. You need to go be with her.” She had a shocked look on her face as she walked away.
Retiring at 65 is a HUGE Mistake. Retirement Expert Explains Why
Very interesting, and frankly, frightening.
Why do lottery winners often blow through their winnings?
.
It’s really simple.
People who play lotteries are generally folks who I’d call “pay check people,” living check to check. They’ve never had much money and no prospects of any, like family inheritances.
When they Win Big they’re in euphoria, of course. But they haven’t a clue how to manage their sudden windfall of seemingly endless wealth. Oh, but plenty of other “well-meaning” friends and family do!
Turns out the biggest problem that lottery winners have is simple, good-hearted generosity: giving away too much money to family and friends. Family feel especially entitled to a nice, fat chunk. And if they don’t get it…? Trouble. And once the money spigot is opened, it’s hard to stop its gush.
Financial “advisors” circle like vultures and the pickings are easy. Winners are virtually never well-educated, certainly not in financial matters. For example, they have no idea what they owe the IRS on their miraculous windfall. And being ill-educated they cannot see the difference between a brilliant investment and a monstrous scam.
And so begins the sad spiral down to the misery of bankruptcy…or worse. They almost all utter a common cry, “Oh, God, I wish I’d never won!”
70% of lottery winners are broke within seven years of The Big Win.
Read the horrifying Powerball stories on Fredrick Josefsson’s fascinating Comment. [scroll down below inoperative video on NY Daily News]
Brits Colin & Chris Weir are among the few winners living-Happily-Ever-After.
main qimg 5c829dc5ad75e62581f533cb8c7e186c lq
The story is much the same with professional athletes. Often from truly dirt-poor families, they are now multimillionaires. They, too, have no meaningful financial education, but they do have out-sized egos. Vulture Inc. knows how to play the flattery game.
First purchase? Without question, a vast mansion for mom so she can move out of that shack. Then a couple of homes for themselves in places like Malibu, California or Jupiter, Florida or some other gilded ZIP Code.
Pro athletes just love “foolproof” investments. Like played-out gold mines in Alaska. And they rarely fly “commercial” like you and me. No, they charter private jets such as the Gulfstream below which costs $5,000 a flight hour. That’s $60,000 from Malibu to Jupiter and back.
main qimg 95ea1eb7b2995eca0ec7d4a5b06fe8e9 lq
Coke, cars, planes, jewelry, women, Vegas and dozens of flattering friends who magically vanish when the money does. Five or six years after hanging up the spurs, the once-proud athlete is flat-ass broke. Some end up in jail for schemes that went criminal. And, sadly, a few actually become homeless.
All this is so common, it’s a cliché. You’ve surely been to parties where people ‘cluck-cluck’ about it. There’s even a well-known German term for this happy clucking: Schadenfreude [SHAH-den-froy-da] It means happiness at another’s misfortune or humiliation—especially when that person was once rolling in $ dough $.
At the next party, Impress—or mystify—those clucking guests with this: “Oh, isn’t Schadenfreude such fun?”
Champion boxer Mike Tyson (top photo) once spent $173,706 on a gold chain, $410,000 on a birthday party. Evander Holyfield once owned a 109 room mansion with a $17,000 monthly electric bill. Once owned—but not for long.
main qimg 54c4ce7d7ffbb927193602bfc220ee8d lq
Alien: The Deleted Airlock Sequence – Explained
What was the most hilarious accidentally inappropriate thing your grandmother said?
Well…..
Our snazzy grandma didn’t say a whole lot, but when she did speak, it was almost always what many people would call inappropriate.
And….
Our grandpa did say a lot, but he was even more inappropriate. So when our grandparents got together with people that didn’t know them, a whole lot of inappropriateness was inevitable, and often hilarious.
At least to us.
Even though my sister and I always did well in school, there was always some teacher or counselor that thought we were getting too close, and needed to find our own identities, or some such crap.
So….
They would bring us in with our parents to discuss the problem, but of course we didn’t think there was a problem. We knew our genealogy was a bit different than most other families, and our family tree had branches that had some very strange things living on them, but we didn’t consider that a problem in the least.
But…..
The school still would insist on occasion that we had to come in to discuss the problem, and since our parents were sick of discussing this non-existing problem, one time our grandparents offered to go with us instead.
My sister and I just looked at each other when we found out our grandparents were going together, to discuss the problem, with the teachers and counselors, because we just knew something was going to happen.
And that something was definitely going to be inappropriate.
So off we went to the school….
With our spooky, sibylline and very snazzy grandma, and giant kraken fighting grandpa, close behind us. And my sister and I both just knew that the school was in for some serious inappropriateness.
Our snazzy grandma looked like a witch, a very lovely witch, but still obviously norn. And our grandpa looked like he could go down to Múspellsheimr, and drag out Surtr by his ears.
An interesting couple.
So….
Our grandparents listened patiently to the experts talk about the problem, until one got to the part where she said that we acted like we were one person. At that point our snazzy grandma quietly replied,
“How did they know we weren’t really one person, with one soul, but with two bodies?”
That comment brought a bit of a awkward silence, but then another expert started going on about how our family should be better role models for us, and then mentioned that the other kids in school thought we were elves.
And…
Our grandma quietly replied,
“What made them think we weren’t elves?”
This made the room go silent, until the headmaster looked at our snazzy grandma, and simply said,
Norn.
There was a bit of a gasp from the teachers, and then silence.
Until…
Our snazzy grandma stood up and looked at the head counselor and said,
“I know what that shadow in the corner of your bedroom really is.”
And then….
Looked at the headmaster and said,
“And I know why you can’t make love to your wife.”
Followed by some very serious, silent, silence.
Until our grandpa suddenly got up and said that he had enough of this horseshit, and that he was going to take the norn home and have some fun, and then get shit-faced drunk.
And then looked at the teachers, counselors, and head master and said,
“How’s that for a role model?”
And as we walked on home, even though we knew the answer, my sister couldn’t resist asking our snazzy grandma why the headmaster couldn’t make love to his wife.
Grandma just kept walking, but told us to be quiet, or she was going to turn both of us into rutabagas. <3 <3
As of 3:30 PM eastern US time today, June 26, 2024, reports are flooding-in saying a Military Coup d’Etat is taking place to oust President Luis Arce of Bolivia!
Military leader General Juan José Zúñiga reportedly has sent troops into the Presidential Palace to remove President Arce by force of arms.
Developing . . .
Imagery and videos beginning to come in from Bolivia:
coup 3 boliviacoup 2 boliviaCoup 1 bolivia
Hal Turner Snap Analysis:
CIA color revolution all over it
Bolivia is one of the rare countries in South America that are trying to fight against the American colonialism and don’t want to be their puppets.
UPDATE 5:08 PM EDT —
Bolivian general Juan Jose Zuñiga has PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED that he has seized power after militarily taking over the Presidential Palace in La Paz.
INSIDE THE RETAIL APOCALYPSE! ABANDONED STORE CRISIS!
What is the most satisfying passive-aggressive thing you have ever done to a really mean or rude person?
I was driving to work in a blizzard. there was already 4 inches of snow on the road. I was taking my time and safely following the truck ahead of me trying to keep my wheels in his tracks. I was driving a normal RWD car.
Okay, so far, so good.
A total idiot in a 4WD truck came speeding up behind me. He tried to pass me a couple of times, but almost lost control each time and flicking me the finger. I said to myself “I’m in no mood for this shit”
He tried a final time. I closed on the truck ahead of me and he tried to swerve in between me and the truck in front of me. I sped up a touch to prevent him from getting in (yes, I’m pretty upset at this point).
He tried again, and I changed the game plan. He swerved to get in ahead of me, and I lifted (took my foot off of the gas pedal), and the distance between me and the truck I was following opened.
The dork trying to pass me, hit the gas and lost control. He slid/spun between me and the truck and went straight off the road into a 20 foot ditch. I beeped and waved as I went by and kept going.
Talk about sweet revenge! I never did a thing wrong, I just made it possible for him to “learn a lesson”. When I got to work, the incident was on the radio news because the police closed the northbound lanes of the highway. When I got to work 15 minutes late, I was not docked for the time. I came from my home 80 miles away while most of the staff lived less than 5 miles away and called out. Remember this was during a blizzard! Even though it’s been 30+ years, I still grin when I think about it!
What is the most amazing thing you overheard because people didn’t think you understood their language?
I speak High German reasonably well. As I don’t use it very often anymore, it can take me a few minutes of a conversation, or listening, to get back in the proverbial swing.
I stopped once at one of the road-side Amish food stores in Pennsylvania to scoop up some great chow. There were a bunch of other customers in before me, including some who were dressed pretty outlandishly, and some who were just being asses in general.
The two giggly teenage Amish girls working the counter were going to town, cracking wise about the “English” in their German dialect. It’s hard to follow at times, and uses some real archaic vocabulary, but once you get used to the sentence structure, that includes some pidgin English, it’s fairly clear to the casual German speaker.
I assumed the two Amish girls were a little more worldly by working in the store and interacting with the “English”, and thus were probably a little more less typically Amish in how they acted. And they were teenagers …
At any rate, when I was the last “English” in the store, and was at the counter paying for my pies and bread, I started speaking to them in German, and told them I agreed with their jokes, but that the Good Lord might send someone in from time to time to see how they were conducting business.
I took my change and bags and gave a Witchie-Poo laugh as I watched their faces turn chalk white.
Thirteen moons glittered down from the smog-packed sky. Their silvery light cast ethereal glows across the glass sidewalks and streets. The purple gas trapped below their feet danced and spun like living creatures.As polluted as Neptune was, still beauty could be found. Of course, Ace Lowell was too busy to seek out the beauty of his home planet. He had a job to do.His nineteenth birthday. This had been the day he had tossed and turned over each night. This was the day his dream was finally supposed to come true.And, up to a point, everything had worked out exactly as he had imagined.Buy a rundown apartment in downtown Neptune with every last penny in his and Zyla’s pockets. Check.Turn said apartment in a detective business. Check.Get his first mystery. Check.But the whole ‘solve the clues and save the day’ part was still out on recess. Maybe that part had never been an option at all. Maybe all hopes of fame and fortune he had envisioned for this day had abandoned him the moment he received his first case.In the old detective films Ace used to watch (alone, naturally–his parents were too busy ignoring him), a disaster shook the city. An unexplained string of robberies. A mysterious disappearance of someone important. A grievous murder. And the detective, clad in his trench coat and sporting a magnifying glass in his hand, always sought out the clues and solved the mystery. And everybody loved him for it.Well, Ace had the trench coat and the drive to bust crime. What he lacked, however, was an actual crime.Darkness clung thick to the Neptunian night. Lamplight glimmered dimly through the streets, illuminating their way. Hands shoved in his coat pockets, Ace trudged after his partner in anti-crime, Zyla Strange.She was the reason they had been walking around like headless chickens for two hours. Because when Ace’s first client rushed into their apartment and presented them with the most pointless, ridiculous mystery he never dreamed of asking for, Zyla jumped to the rescue as always.
His first mystery wasn’t a robbery or a kidnapping or a murder. Instead, a little sniffling boy had waddled up to their door, snot dripping from his nose and tears pouring from his eyes as he explained that his cat had gone missing.
No, the kid didn’t have any money to pay them. If they wanted payment, though, he’d gladly give them the unwrapped collection of Lifesaver mints collecting dust in his pajama pockets.
Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.
Huffing, Ace caught up to Zyla. The cold air blasted against his cheeks, tinging his blue skin bluer. He tugged his coat snugly around himself. Tattooed arms bare and pierced belly button exposed, Zyla just crammed her hands in her sweatpants pockets. She was the kind of stubborn that would outlast a bull in a headstrong fight.
“A cat,” Ace muttered for the seventeenth time that night. “I’ve wasted two hours of my life searching for some kid’s damn cat. Honestly, slap up some missing posters or something! We’re detectives, not pet finders.”
“We’ll be whatever we need to be,” Zyla snapped back, voice sharper than a snakebite. Her emerald eyes cut through the darkness to glare at him. “So this isn’t your ideal picture of a first mystery. It’s still a mystery, Ace! And if we can help that poor boy, then we will.”
Ace sighed. What was her deal? Ever since he had found her huddled in a Neptunian alleyway two years ago, she had acted like the planet was one big charity case. If someone tripped, she was there with a wad of bandages. If someone frowned, she went out of her way to brighten their day. If someone so much as sneezed, she made sure to bless them.
Maybe it was a Uranian thing. Then again, nobody in the universe had ever been on Uranus. The planet was an impenetrable force the galaxy had been trying to break into for centuries. How Zyla even left Uranus, she had never said.
Beside him, Zyla drew a sharp gasp. Ace followed her gaze in time to see a striped gray tail vanish around the corner.
Without a word, Zyla took off, violet cornrow braids flying behind her. Ace hesitantly followed.
The moment he rounded the corner, he found it. There, in the shadow of a Starbucks, sat a gray tabby cat. The feline glanced up at them with intelligent blue eyes. Meeting the creature’s gaze, a shudder passed down Ace’s spine. The cat seemed strangely human-like.
Zyla turned to him with a cheeky smile. “See? Not a complete waste of time! We found the cat. Mystery solved!”
“Great. Grab the creepy cat and let’s go to bed,” he muttered back.
Instead of reaching for the cat, though, Zyla stooped down and fished into her pockets. Ace watched her, his foot tapping an impatient rhythm against the glass sidewalk.
Finally, Zyla withdrew a regular fruit bar. The wrapper crinkled as she wrestled it open.
Ace’s eyebrows shot up to his pale hairline. “You’re gonna feed it?”
“It’s rude to just grab the cat,” Zyla protested. “What if it’s unfriendly and bites me?”
“Then you can blast it with your Uranian superpowers and turn it to kitty litter. Who knows? Maybe the kid will still give us his nasty mints.”
She ignored him as she broke off the corner of the fruit bar. Cooing at the creature, Zyla held out her offering under the cat’s nose.
The cat blinked. Then, with unnatural speed, it swallowed the fruity piece in one lightning-fast gulp. Ace and Zyla froze, staring at it.
Around them, the wind turned harsh, whistling across the cityscape. Energy crackled through the air.
Ace felt the hairs at the nape of his neck bristle. “What the hell–”
With a crack of thunder, reality cleaved in two. A gaping hole alight with thousands of swirling, vibrant hues opened beneath his feet. The yelp that rose to his mouth got sucked into oblivion with the rest of him.
The fall lasted both a millisecond and an eternity. Ears popping, heart hammering, head spinning, Ace spiraled downward through the darkness. He squeezed his eyes shut, biting back a scream.
After both a millisecond and an eternity, the ground rushed up to catch him. Ace landed on both feet into soft crimson sand.
Wait, sand?
He looked around and discovered another world. Red sand shifted and pooled across the ground. A light breeze plucked sandy grains from the floor and whisked them off into the night sky. Above him hung two moons; they stared down like a pair of wide silver eyes.
Laughter poured all around him from dozens of old-fashioned wooden buildings hugging the narrow street. The scent of whiskey hit his nostrils as a light-skinned man stumbled out a set of swinging barn doors.
Fingers curled tightly around his forearm. Ace glanced over to find a pale-faced Zyla gawking at the horizon. “Ace, we’re not on Neptune anymore.”
Ace took a deep breath. His lungs stung with the cleanliness of the air. He gulped another breath, intoxicated with the feeling. Never had Neptune’s air been this clean. His planet’s atmosphere was all smoke and smog and ash. And while Neptunians didn’t need oxygen to breathe, Ace had always secretly wondered what clean air tasted like.
In all his nineteen years of living, Ace had never set foot off Neptune. He never had enough money to take a vacation from his home planet, and his parents could care less about showing their son the Milky Way. With thirteen older sisters, it felt like Ace wasn’t even there. His parents didn’t have the time to notice him. With an earth-shattering mystery, he had hoped to change all of that and finally snatch their affection.
Instead, he had found a cat. A snack-stealing, planet-hopping cat.
“Mars,” he whispered. “We’re on Mars.”
“So cool,” Zyla breathed back. After a second, though, she shook her head. “We’ve got a job to do. We can’t get distracted.”
“Zyla, the cat made a freaking portal that took us to Mars. How can we not get distracted?”
He glanced down, searching for the unusual feline. At his feet, however, he found only sand. Ace’s heart leapt into his throat. If the cat’s the reason why we teleported…and we don’t have the cat…we’ll be stuck here.
Frankly, it wasn’t the worst fate they could suffer. It wasn’t like anyone on Neptune would notice their disappearance anyway. But from what he had read about Mars, the planet was a war-torn catastrophe waiting to happen. He wasn’t exactly cut out for fighting.
“We need to find the cat,” he said slowly, pulse pounding in his ears.
Zyla’s lips crinkled in a smirk. “Oh, now he wants to find the cat. Still wishing we had gotten a more interesting first mystery?”
He skillfully ignored her. “Can you use your powers to find it?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Zyla held out her hands. For a second, green light sparked between her fingers. She tucked her hands back into her pockets, frowning. “My power is to blast things, not find things.”
“Fine. Let’s start looking then. If that cat teleports again and doesn’t take us with it, we’re screwed.”
They took off through the streets, sand kicking up in plumes behind them. As the buildings blurred around him and the wind howled in his ears, Ace felt the tension seeping from his body. Running wild and free, he had never felt more alive. Like he had lived his entire life on Neptune with his eyes closed, and had just stumbled back into the light to find a brand new world awaiting exploration.
Zyla turned left down an alleyway, Ace nipping at her heels. When she stopped suddenly in front of him, Ace nearly pitched face-first into the sand with the effort of not slamming into her back.
He peered around her shoulder. At the end of the alleyway sat the gray tabby cat. At its paws sprawled a single slab of sand-caked cheddar cheese.
Ace’s shoulders tensed again. “Didn’t the portal that got us here first open because that thing ate your fruit bar?”
“Yep,” Zyla whispered back, dread weighing her voice.
“Think that if it eats something else, we’ll get sucked into another portal?”
“Most likely.”
The cat darted forward, snagging the corner of the cheese between its teeth. Reality split open again under their feet.
Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Earth, even Pluto. They went everywhere in the span of an hour, introduced into another culture every other minute. Each time they caught up to the cat, it would find a piece of food and take a bite, opening another portal that swallowed them into another world. It was like a twisted birthday present for Ace–a free explore-the-galaxy pass through the Milky Way.
Roughly fifteen portals later, the familiar glassy floor appeared beneath Ace’s feet once more. They popped up in the shadow of a Neptunian Starbucks–the exact point they had disappeared from. The thirteen moons shone down on him again. He breathed in a lungful of smoggy air.
It was as if they had never left at all. Not a single aspect around them had changed. Looking around, though, Ace saw things in a new light. His heart felt lighter, less shackled by worry. It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Before the cat could stalk away in search of more food, Zyla swept forward and scooped the feline into her arms. It wriggled and squirmed before finally relenting to her strong grip. She glanced down at it in a mix of anger and awe.
“I am not doing that again,” she muttered. When she looked up at Ace, though, a smile crossed her features. “Still sleepy? We could still squeeze in a few winks before we return the cat.”
Ace snorted. The trip around the universe hummed through his veins like a gallon’s worth of coffee.
They began walking down the street in the direction of their apartment. As they pushed on, Ace studied every shining edge of every skyscraper reaching up to Neptune’s night sky. For the first time in years, it took his breath away. Why had he taken Neptune for granted this whole time? He had been so blinded by his own ambitions of making a name for himself that he had forgotten to enjoy the world around him.
Halfway across the street, Ace stopped. “The cat’s Uranian, isn’t it?”
Zyla paused. In her grip, the cat reached out and batted her jaw. She cocked her head at Ace. “Duh. It can make portals by eating, genius. It’s not some regular house cat.”
“Shouldn’t we return it to Uranus, then? I know it’s technically that kid’s cat, but wouldn’t the cat be happier where it’s from?”
He had always imagined Uranus as a secret paradise, a haven no outsider could ever enter. In truth, no one knew anything about the planet. No one had ever been on it–no one except the girl and the cat in front of him.
Zyla smiled sadly. “That’s not how it works. Once you leave Uranus, you can’t go back. There’s only two ways off the planet–either teleportation like this little guy probably did, or banishment.”
Ace froze. Banishment?
He stared at Zyla’s back as she started away. The question he had asked ever since he first met her rose again to his lips. “Why did you leave?”
Silence. Like every time before, he expected the silence to ring on and on, echoing with a thousand possibilities. Finally, though, her soft voice spliced through the night.
“That, Ace Lowell,” Zyla said, casting him the same sad smile, “is a mystery for another time. Now come on. Let’s go save the day.”
He watched her walk away, a Uranian girl with a Uranian cat. And gradually, when his senses pieced themselves back together again, Ace trailed after her.
Nothing about his nineteenth birthday that day had been the picturesque moment he had imagined since childhood. His name was no closer to shining in lights. For all he knew, he could forever remain another nameless face in this vast universe.
But something about chasing that damn cat across the Milky Way had changed him. Something about all the excitement and wonder and beauty he had experienced while racing through the galaxy resounded through his bones. Maybe he’d never find the fame and fortune he had always wanted, or the recognition he had thought would bring him happiness.
But, step by step, he could still make a difference. Maybe Zyla had been right all along in her passion to help others, no matter the cost.
Ace could already imagine the grin on that little boy’s face when they returned his annoying cat. And personally, he wouldn’t trade the image of that smile for all the fame in the galaxy.
Who’s the funniest patient you’ve ever had as a doctor or nurse?
Maybe not the funniest ever but this one really cracks me up.
I get cold easily. Whenever I can get away with it, you will see me wearing a fleece-lined beanie. I own roughly a million and a half of those. But, unfortunately, I have to take them off when I go see my patients. Most of my patients are old. And many of them also get cold easily, what with all the adipose tissue they’ve lost over the decades.
This is the case for one of my current ladies. She’s in her mid 80s, and the first time I saw her, she was bundled up under a thousand and one blankets. So I shared with her that I get cold too.
“I blame it on being African.”
She chuckled.
And that was the end of the story, I thought.
There are many side effects to being old, apart from the aforementioned impaired thermoregulation: high blood pressure, lower bone density leading to a loss of height and a higher susceptibility to fractures, hair loss, impaired balance, reduced visual acuity, higher rate of cancers of all sort, arthritis, loss of bowel and bladder control, etc. Basically, getting old is a really bad idea.
But one of the side effects that is amusing for those of us who have a twisted sense of humor is that people lose their filter.
“Mister Africaaaaaah!” She shouted this the second time she saw me in her room.
I was laughing so hard, I almost collapsed on her bed.
Did she really just say that?
She had. Now she does it every time she sees me. She said it again when I popped in on her yesterday during her speech therapy session. I told her that next time I would come in a loin cloth and a spear.
Earlier today, she told me she hadn’t slept well. I told her that maybe she needed someone to tuck her in and give her a hug or something.
“Or something…” she said, suggestively.
She just passed me in the hall about a half hour ago. I was chatting with the nurses and not paying attention to the faint sound of the wheelchair coming from behind.
“There’s Misteeeeeer Africaaaaaah. Hahaha!”
The nurses did a double take, then everybody was cracking up.
“I’m going to start calling you that,” said the youngest nurse.
I tried to make a face at her but my surgical mask covered half of it. She’s too young to get away with that. Only people who have the plausible deniability of senility get to call me Mister Africa.
This Killed All But 1,000 Humans 900,000 Years Ago
Blue Camouflage MH-6 Little Birds Point To Night Stalkers’ Pacific Pivot
Now both MH-6s and MH-60s from the 160th SOAR have been seen in the blue camouflage amid a shift in focus to high-end Pacific operations.
MH-6 Little Birds belonging to the U.S. Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), better known as the Night Stalkers, are now flying in a multi-tone blue camouflage scheme, as seen during recent deck landing training with a U.S. Navy destroyer. This underscores the renewed importance of the maritime domain to the U.S. special operations community as it works to ensure its relevance in potential high-end fights, especially one against China in the Pacific, after decades of counter-terror and counter-insurgency operations. The War Zone previously highlighted this manifestation of the famed unit’s change in focus when the blue scheme first emerged on a Night Stalker MH-60 Black Hawk last year.
U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command (USASOAC) posted pictures showing at least two blue-painted MH-6s training with the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) on social media earlier today, which was brought to our attention by @thenewarea51 on X, a friend of The War Zone. At least one Little Bird in the 160th’s standard overall black paint scheme is also seen in the images. USASOAC has described the helicopters as MH-6Ms, but they have six-bladed main rotors. This is something that has been identified in the past as a component of the latest Block III Mission Enhanced Little Bird (MELB) configuration, now also known as the R variant.
A pair of MH-6Ms wearing the blue camouflage scheme fly past the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Bainbridge, identifiable by its hull number. USASOAC
The Night Stalkers currently operate a mix of M and R variant Little Birds configured as either MH-6s or AH-6s. MH-6s are small “assault” transports with planks on either side for operators to ride on and the Fast Rope Insertion Extraction System (FRIES). AH-6s are light attack helicopters capable of carrying various missiles, rockets, and guns. Both configurations use the same underlying helicopter, and MH-6s can be readily converted to AH-6s and vice versa.
A Night Stalker MH-6M in the unit’s standard overall black paint scheme comes in to land on the USS Bainbridge during the recent deck landing training. USASOAC
“MH-6M helicopters from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment conduct deck landing training aboard a US Navy ship,” the USASOAC post on X reads. “160th SOAR pilots and crews regularly train for operations on unique platforms, in diverse environments, at any time.”
Pictures of Night Stalker Little Birds with the new blue paint jobs first emerged earlier this year. This followed the appearance of an MH-60 from the 160th wearing the scheme at Pryor Field Airport in Alabama in September 2023. What is likely the same Black Hawk has since been spotted elsewhere.
Details about the blue camouflage scheme, its origins, and how widely the Night Stalkers expect to make use of it remain scant. It has been suggested that the paint job may be a product of Project Genesis, an internal innovation “challenge” the U.S. Army’s special operations aviation community held in 2022.
“ARSOA [Army Special Operations Aviation] has launched Project Genesis … a 120-day challenge where every Night Stalker has the opportunity to submit ideas (paper-thin) and compete to be one of five finalists to live-pitch their idea or solution to a panel of past and present Night Stalkers and possibly see their idea make its way onto an aircraft, into a hangar, or incorporated into a support office,” according to an article in the June 2022 edition of Army Aviation Magazine.
The War Zone has reached out to the US Army for more information.
A picture of the Night Stalker MH-60 Black Hawk wearing the blue camouflage scheme at Pryor Field Airport last year. Pryor Field Airport Authority
After focusing on counter-terrorism and other lower-intensity missions in the Middle East and Afghanistan for the past 20 years or so, the U.S. special operations community has been working to reorient itself to this new security paradigm. This includes the Night Stalkers, who notably highlighted how the unique capabilities they offer could be utilized in maritime and Arctic operations in a demonstration in and around Alaska last August. That included deck landing training with the Navy’s San Antonio class amphibious warship USS John P. Murtha in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia, another one of America’s chief global competitors.
A pair of MH-60Ms from the 160th SOAR come in to land on the deck of the USS John P. Murtha off the coast of Alaska in September 2023. USN A pair of MH-60Ms from the 160th SOAR come in to land on the deck of the USS John P. Murtha. USN
The importance of the maritime domain extends beyond the Pacific and the Arctic, too, as underscored by the campaign that Iranian-backed Houthi militants are continuing to wage against commercial ships and foreign naval vessels in and around the Red Sea. Waterways in Europe, especially the strategic Baltic Sea and Black Sea have taken on new significance since Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
On an operational level, it is worth noting that the 160th’s Little Birds offer unique capabilities given how small and maneuverable they are, which are applicable to maritime operations, as well as ones over land. Their size, in particular, means they can be loaded into various aircraft and embarked on ships that otherwise might not be able to accommodate larger helicopters.
“It is your streetfighter,” Paul Kylander, Little Bird program manager with U.S. Special Operations Command’s larger PEO-RW office, told The War Zone and other attendees at the SOF Week conference in May. “I’ve heard it said multiple times that this still continues to be the most effective platform to get a set of operators to like to a rooftop.”
The Night Stalkers’ Little Bird fleet is currently experiencing what has been described as a “resurrection” following the Army’s decision to cancel its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program. The expectation had previously been that a special operations variant of FARA would supplant at least a significant portion of the 160th’s Little Birds. The plan now for what will happen to the helicopters beyond 2030 is still murky, as you can read more about here.
The appearance of the MH-6Ms wearing the new blue camouflage scheme underscores the continued relevance of the 160th’s Little Birds and the distinct capabilities they offer, including in the maritime domain.
While sorting through a deceased person’s possessions, what is the most disturbing thing you found?
For a number of years I worked with elderly people who I helped them get their financial affairs in order. It was a very rewarding job because I enjoyed talking to them. I wanted them to know that they were going to be okay as their health deteriorated. Money makes people do terrible things and I had seen it ALL!! So I still had young high net worth clients but the elderly were just more enjoyable and appreciated all the effort.
My collegeues always said ““old people just love you….I don’t understand it?” I thought it was easy to understand. I appeared to be a straight laced young man who would sit and listen to them for hours. I was respectful and did everything for them as I would want done for my grandmothers or mom. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and great uncles who helped raise me. They taught me a lot about myself and had an undying belief that I was going to go great things. That kind of faith helped me thru some very difficult times.
So to many of these elderly people I became a grandson type and looked out for them because they couldn’t do it for themselves. One of my clients was a WW2 ace who I discovered accidentally when watching a history channel show about his life. I could have listened to him for days.
When you deal with people’s money especially when they have children there is a paranoia that can create a difficult situation. What most heirs learned was that I was focused on their parents or grandparents living the life they wanted and then keeping their inheritance out of the government hands. Some objected to the way the money came to them but most often it was a lack of their understanding.
One day I was called to meet a new client that was living in terrible conditions. He had a substantial amount of money but typical in a child of the Great Depression was worried it was going to run out. Although he was admittedly different I didn’t know why in the beginning. Because he was doing odd things like dumpster diving at 83 and he wore an old electrical cord as a belt. He seemed oblivious to his own odor and lack of proper hygiene. The biggest issue was that he wasn’t caring for his home and one rather negative neighbor who had an ulterior motive called the police on him.
Most people don’t know that in many states a neighbors complaints about your lawn not being cared for or your home in disrepair can be the first steps to making you a ward of the state. Where I worked it happened often and it NEVER benefitted the individual or their heirs.
So luckily I was friends with a number of people in this neighborhood and his meals on wheels volunteer who introduced me to this man. His house was going to be condemned, and it was a real death trap. He was a hoarder and the outside of the house was terrible but inside was worse. The issue was that the land was worth a fortune.
If you had seen him you would have thought he was homeless and impoverished. He was very friendly but there was clearly an event that triggered his situation. Some of his caring neighbors tried to look out for him but it was too much. He did have a daughter but had not spoken with her for 30 years.
In order to help him I needed to get my hands on any documents he had. I drove to his house and was prepared to search through everything but the smell was so bad I could not be there for more than 30 minutes. In his state no honest attorney would work with him. He said he had a will and I needed to locate it. The next day he calls me and we meet in his bank. He is pushing a shopping cart full of documents which he gives me and then he went about his day.
I loaded my car with his papers which smelled terrible and spent the next 2 days going through them. It was after going thru the papers that I found his daughters name and general location. But I also found that he had had 2 daughters. I found an old will that referenced the 2 daughters and his wife.
When I found a death certificate I assumed it was his wife’s but I was wrong. It showed one of his daughters had been murdered. Below the death certificate was a few newspaper clippings that gave details of the incident. As I read thru them I was horrified and wanted to put them all down. As I was piecing the situation together I realized that his daughter was married to a long haul truck driver. THey were separated and one night her husband came to her fathers house while he and his wife were out. He killed her and left. When he and his wife returned home they found her body and blood was everywhere. His wife had a heart attack at the sight of the daughter and died at the hospital a few days later.
The daughters husband was picked up 5–7 days after a few states away. He plead guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. As a parent I couldn’t imagine losing a child but losing a child to murder just brought tears to my eyes.
Below the newspaper articles was a letter he wrote to his surviving daughter. I tried to be respectful in reading only what is necessary but it was impossible. I learned the deceased daughter had a son who was now living with his other daughter. For those of you who feel like I violated his trust please understand that my recommendations cannot be made without knowing all heirs, ages, relationship and situation. For this man I was going to have to get him access to a long term care home and at his state it would require some explanations.
His letter seemed to explain his struggle with what he needed to do to deal with the situation. He was a religious man and was being counseled to forgive his son in law but he couldn’t. His life changed that day and he didn’t know how to deal with it. Apparently he had encouraged his daughter to give the marriage a chance and seek counseling but his wife disagreed. He felt responsible for the outcome and it changed him so much that he seemed to be a different person to his surviving daughter. He lost his wife and daughter in that and his other daughter and grandson after. It was devastating just knowing what he had been through and I wanted to try and help him in any way I could.
He died 3 years after we met but his last 3 years were really different. He went to a very nice retirement community where his diet was controlled and helped him get healthy. He had excellent medical care and reunited with his daughter and grandson a year after we met. He was so thankful for the reunion and the relationship that he spent a lot of time with them both. He also got to meet his great granddaughter 6 months before he passed away. He wrote me a very nice note of thanks that I still have today.
When he passed away he was able to provide enough money that his daughter got to retire, his grandson got a house and his great granddaughter could go to any college she wanted. The funeral was bittersweet.
Have you ever met a celebrity who asked you, “Do you know who I am?” and you said no?
My daughter had one of these, that worked out well. She was a psychiatric nurse, working on the Crisis Team, but hoping to be able to work in the Perinatal area. Unfortunately, there was no peri natal service in that area.
One day, she happened to be in the office in the hospital. A man came in, and said “ Look, my daughter needs an inpatient mental health bed now.”
She said “ You could be right, sir, but I have just had a patient admitted to the last available one. We’ll do what we can until another becomes available”.
He said “ Do you know who I am?” She said she had no idea. He told her her was a senior politician, in the Cabinet. ( I will not name him, as he was a good constituency MP.)
She told him that, if the mental health services were not so underfunded, she probably could have helped his daughter faster. She said “ This is the sharp end of the funding decisions you make in Cabinet.” and gave him the phone number of the local private clinic. He went away, crossly.
BUT, a few weeks later she was phoned by the head of Mental Health for her county, and told that more money had been released to set up a peri natal service, and they wanted her to set it up and run it. Which is what she did. I don’t think it was coincidence that money was suddenly available. Whether or not he said “ And I want that bolshie woman who cared enough about her patients to take me to task to run it,” we don’t know. This was some years ago now, and I admire him for doing something about it.
Sesame Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce
thaipeanutnoodles6 1022×1536
Thai Peanut Sesame Noodles
I love anything chinese and thai food and that is apparent on my blog. When people ask me what my favorite recipes are on the blog, it is definitely the better than take out chinese recipes. These are recipes that I make over and over again. And when you repeat recipes as a food blogger, you know that they are good.
This Thai peanut sesame noodle recipe is just it! It is light, fresh and so much flavor. I can’t get enough to it. I love the flavor combination with the sesame noodles and Thai peanut sauce. It is simple to make and only takes minutes to prepare and cook. This is perfect for a quick dinner in on a busy week night.
I couldn’t believe how amazing these noodles turned out. I devoured them! So simple and so flavorful! The combination of the flavors in the sauce coated the noodles and gave this dish such an awesome taste. My picky eater even gobbled them down and asked for seconds. This is such a simple meal that our family will be making again and again. We might try adding beef or chicken next time too!
Ingredients
1 pound vermicelli or thin spaghetti
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
3 cloves garlic
4 green onions, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1 (1 inch) piece ginger root, pared and quartered
1/3 cup peanut butter (plain or chunky)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup tap water or chicken broth
1 tablespoon rice or white vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
thaipeanutnoodles4
Instructions
Cook spaghetti as directed; drain and rinse with cold water.
Toss with 2 tablespoons sesame oil (this dish can be served cold or hot). If you want to serve as a hot dish, do not rinse with cold water; just drain.
In a food processor, finely chop garlic, green onions and ginger.
Add remaining sesame oil and all ingredients. Process until thoroughly mixed.
Top each serving of vermicelli or spaghetti with amount of desired sauce.
I hear pigs are multiplying in Europe, Arkansas, and even Texas. Why not introduce a predator or two to check the population?
Right now the only predator capable of handling feral hogs is man. And he’s an idiot if he tries it alone.
Any other predator capable of defeating the ferocity and tusks of a feral hog would be so big as to threaten man, too. Given the hogs travel in sounders, you will have a pack of tuskers attacking the generally lone predator. Good luck.
Typically hogs are trapped and then killed. If out hunting, the hogs don’t come out until the wee hours. So you need night vision. They will spook at the sound of an approaching vehicle. So you have to either be in place around dusk, and downwind of the track they’ll take, or plan on making long range shots from a well traveled road (so single car noises don’t sound dangerous).
If you hunt, you’d better have 5–6 shooters as you’ll only get 2–3 shots off before the herd scatters. That many shooters will also be a deterrent to the hogs turning on you. If alone, you can expect the hogs to attack you, and whatever thing you’re in. Don’t expect that the sides of a pickup will stop a 200-lb male from jumping in with you. Their tusks are lethal, and they’ll just eat you when you’re dead.
Typically a good trap will haul in 3–4 hogs. A sounder of them might run 30 or 40. So you need to trap a lot at once. They already know what traps look like, so avoid them. They are definitely smart critters. You need to kill off the females, as they will breed 2 times a year and pop out a fair number of piglets each time. A sounder of 4–5 males, 15 females, and the rest piglets … you can do the math.
I read of one trap where heavy horse panels were fastened together in a large circle, and the remotely-dropped gate was left open. Feed was put out. Over several nights the hogs more and more would trust the corral, and go in. Finally several nights in, the cameras indicated most all of the sounder, particularly the females were inside, and the gate was dropped. They went nuts, but the panels held. Later in the daylight the ranchers came out and shot the bunch of them. The meat is very lean, and properly prepared can feed a lot of homeless.
By trapping the entire sounder, you remove the acquired intelligence of the herd.
Let the hogs run wild, and they will destroy a field. They root for grubs, and will turn over a planted field into useless vegetation in a single night. I have a small pasture that looks like 150 small land mines went off in it. Every time it rains I can expect the hogs out in a night or two to shred the pasture again. If I were trying to grow a cash crop, I’d be much more interested in eradicating them all. Just ask this guy:
main qimg aa4cb2ff79c724a08798b68ce0e28f64 pjlq
“Victor Davis Hanson: I Can FINALLY Tell You EVERYTHING…”
I had mentioned previous that I used to live with a “runway model”. I had manifested her as part of an affirmation campaign, and she was a handful, I’ll tell you what. But pretty, Oh Lordy!
As an aside, guys… don’t go for 8, 9s, and 10s. Pick a solid 4, 5, 6 or 7. Get an average girl. And concentrate on her personality. Ah. the lessons of life.
But, I was still learning. Heck, I was still in my 30’s.
Anyways, we were chillin’ out in the house of a friend of ours. It was in the metropolis of Xbridge. Which, heh, heh… was this tiny, tiny town in Massachusetts. And we are talking.
CJ starts to say something that I really found interesting….
“It’s like this, and you know, you really like the guy, and you are so open down there. It’s all open and wide and empty… any you really want to be filled. Just completely and….”
And, our friend Collin, interrupts and goes on a tirade about how are we men supposed to know what it is like being a girl, and on and on and on.
And on and on….
She opens up her mouth to say something, and he drowns her out with his tirade. On and on.
By the time he was finished, no one wanted to continue that initial (and very interesting) conversation.
And I found it really interesting, and I really wanted CJ to finish her sentence, as I had never heard a woman’s point of view on this kind of thing, and I really, REALLY wanted to hear about it.
So…
In all my marriages, in all my relationships… a closely guarded discussion of woman’s feelings during desire never came up, but here… for a brief moment in time… it raised it’s sleepy head. And as soon as it it it was snatched away.
I should have gotten up and punched Collin and told CJ to continue.
But I didn’t.
The secrets of womanhood remains an elusive knowledge… one that somehow I am forbidden to know about.
I wanted to know more.
The mysteries of what it felt like, as a woman.
The opportunity came…
… and was drowned out by ignorance.
Sigh.
Today….
What is the most satisfying passive-aggressive thing you have ever done to a really mean or rude person?
I was carrying extremely powerful rare earth magnets (165 lb pull force) for work in my back pack . They were wrapped in 8 inches of bubble wrap to prevent them from getting too close to anything.
As I was sitting down, a total a-hole got on the train and pushed me out of the way, took the seat I was about to sit in, and gave me a nasty look. I wound up standing next to him. Slowly, I undid the bubble wrap and put it next to the Macbook he was working on and the satchel with his wallet and phone. I kept moving it around subtly. After a few minutes, his screen went out with a very bright flash. I don’t know what happened to his credit cards or cell phone. He kept trying to reboot it but it was not responding at all.
I didn’t know if it would actually do anything. I just really hate rude people on the subway. Luckily his computer didn’t fly up and stick to my backpack.
(UPDATE:) It’s been great to read the many responses this has; I have never told anyone this story. I really go out of my way to be a decent person but when people take advantage of me, I can’t let it go. I have used annoy-a-trons several times on coworkers (Google it) and did MUCH worse as a teenager. The point is, I am fair and decent, however, I won’t suffer A-Holes taking advantage of me or screwing me over.
This guy pushed me out of the way hard as I was sitting down and then proceeded to give me a shitty look like “do you want to fight about it?” My options were to fight him, start an argument that would not get my seat back unless I picked him up, or OTHER. I wasn’t willing to start a fight on a full subway car or anywhere else. I just couldn’t let it go. Not with these awesome magnets in my backpack ready for a little experiment!
Now for the doubters …. If you stack six of these magnets you have 3–4 times the force of a single magnet. They have small Teflon spacers between them so you can separate them when you need them. These slightly reduce their combined force. At 8–10 inches with bubble wrap, there is very little magnetic force as their strength decreases exponentially with distance. However, I am still careful not to put my cell phone or wallet near them. I opened the bubble wrap at the bottom of the stack and then closed my backpack with the end of the stack right against the inside canvas of my backpack. I was surprised it worked at a distance of about 6 inches. As I said, I was careful because I did not want it to “grab” the computer. Nothing happened for a while but it absolutely took the computer out like an EMP had gone off. Maybe it had to wait until the HDD was active. If it warped the platter and pulled it into the read/write arm it would scratch the shit out of the platter. I looked it up yesterday and the HDD on a Macbook Pro is on the side I was standing on.
IDK how it worked, but, to my pleasant surprise, IT DID. Try it out! 😉 I lost a bit of face and hopefully he lost $2K of electronics and spent a day getting his credit and bank cards replaced.
Will it teach him a lesson? Probably not, but I don’t care; I made his life temporarily suck without causing bodily harm .
Butter Rum Ham and Pineapple
pineapplerumham
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds fully cooked, boneless ham
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons rum extract
1/2 peeled/cored pineapple
Instructions
Heat 2-sided tabletop grill.
Cut four 1/2 inch thick slices from ham (reserve any remaining ham for another use).
Place butter, brown sugar and rum extract in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 30 to 45 seconds or until butter melts.
Brush one side of ham with glaze and place on grill with glazed side down. Brush glaze on top of ham slices. Close grill lid, pressing down firmly to sear ham.
Grill for 4 to 5 minutes, brushing once with remaining glaze, until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F.
Remove ham from grill and cover to keep warm.
Cut pineapple into four 1/2 to 1 inch thick slices and place on grill; close lid. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes until warm. Serve with ham.
Was Dong Zhuo or Cao Cao worse?
tl;dr: Don’t invite either of these guys to your office potluck.
main qimg 8d0da12458ee84adfc97a72dee514205
Imagine your company kitchen. It’s a chaotic symphony of mismatched mugs and lukewarm coffee. But then, two new executives strut in. One, Dong Zhuo, barges in, throws everyone out, declares himself “Chief Lunch Officer,” and starts hoarding all the good snacks.
The other, Cao Cao, is more subtle. He smiles, charms everyone, subtly undermines his rivals with passive-aggressive emails about “synergy” and “optimization,” then slowly takes control of the coffee machine, rationing the good beans for his “inner circle.”
Who’s worse?
Dong Zhuo was the quintessential “bull in a china shop” of emperors. A ruthless warlord, he seized power during China’s Han Dynasty, metaphorically shoving the emperor aside and using him as a rubber stamp. Taxes skyrocketed, the capital burned (think a company-wide email announcing the free donuts are mysteriously gone… forever), and fear became the company culture.
Cao Cao, on the other hand, was the master manipulator. Cunning and ambitious, he played the long game. He’d ruthlessly eliminate rivals while spouting lofty ideals about “unifying the market” (a.k.a. eliminating competition). He surrounded himself with brilliant advisors, like having a crack team constantly brainstorming new ways to brew the perfect cup of joe (even if it meant exploiting the local bean farmers).
So, who’s the worse office tyrant? Dong Zhuo is the obvious villain, the guy everyone avoids in the break room. But Cao Cao, with his charming smile and ruthless efficiency, is the wolf in sheep’s clothing. He might even win “Employee of the Month” for his supposed dedication, all while consolidating his power.
The real tragedy? The system itself.
The fractured state of China during this era allowed both Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao to exploit its weaknesses.
Who are the Dong Zhuos and Cao Caos in our own systems today?
DR built a concrete snowman to teach bullies a lesson
When I was in college, a friend spent 3 hours building a 5 foot snowman on our club’s property only to have a grpup from the jock club next door do a flying tackle to destroy it. To be clear, this was the type of club bullies who liked to destroy property, piss in your hallway, and generally pick fights with people.
Being the studemt repairs manager, I had access to bricks, concrete, and cinder block. Over the next six hours, 5 of us built an 8 foot snowman, base out of an upside down steel trashcan filled with solid ice and brick. We built the center ball hollow and shuttled in the brick and mortar. Used a ladder to finish off the head with a green Mohawk and red eye.
In the morning the center ball was tilted 5 degrees with a large shoulder impression in the snow shell. We guessed he broke something. Passive aggressive revenge extracted.
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson : Turkey to Leave NATO and Join …
What is the most disrespectful advice you received from a person who assumed you were less intelligent and made less money than them?
My husband’s friend and wife bought a home around 3 years back. They are almost the same age as us. Both of them are elder to me and a few months younger to my husband. Both of them are good people, but the wife likes to brag a little, but I always believe that she is a good person at heart. We meet them often, and get together for dinner or games. They used to often ask us why we are still living in an apartment and not buying a house.
My husband and I did not want to buy a house until I got a job. Even then, we did not want to buy a HUGE house. We wanted to get a started home.. something small and manageable. Even after I got job, we waited a few months to make sure that i like my role, only then did we begin our house hunting expedition.
The first step was of course to go to a bank and find out our affordability. The bank took both our salaries and told us that we could afford $XXXX per month as mortgage. My husband and I did not want to buy a huge house showing both our salaries. We wanted to show only one salary (the lower salary, which is mine). We are not US citizens, so we wanted to make sure that we could afford the house and our lifestyle even if one of us lost our jobs or wanted to take a break. We finally put an offer on a house, and the offer got accepted almost a year back. We informed this to our friends when we met them for dinner one day. My husband’s friend’s wife immediately asked us the price and number of bedrooms of our house. We told her how much the house costs and that it’s a 3 bedroom house. She immediately said “ohh.. is that all you could afford? I did not realize that both of you would be earning so less inspite being engineers. We both earn more so that’s why we could afford a bigger house. I really hope something good happens to you soon”..
My husband and I laughed so much after leaving their house. We don’t have to explain our logic to them. We wanted something small and manageable, and also have enough room when parents visit. We had a very strict budget and stuck to it.
I did it instinctively.
We are in an concert hall for some concert. I arrive early and grab a prime seat. This elderly woman comes over and grabs a seat 6-7 seats from me. The hall fills up.
The woman leaves to go to the washroom.
This dude grabs her seat.
She comes back and protests, but he would not listen. People complain, but he is not going to budge. His argument: “Seats can not be reserved here”
I eye signal to the dude to come take over my prime seat. I grab my stuff and pretend to be on my way out missing the concert entirely. The lady also thinks I am leaving and everyone will have a seat and be happy.
He quickly starts rushing to my place. The lady sits in the place he vacated.
Oops. I changed my mind. I quickly sit down and enjoy the concert.
WAKE UP PEOPLE! This Is Worse Than I Thought…” | Victor Davis Hanson
Beep Beep
The phone rang again, I picked it up again and said my name, no sound, then beep-beep-beep. That did it. I got so fed up with it that it was time for a plan. My own little, 10-years old’s, revenge plan.
My father was having an affair, that much was clear. For months already, our family was disturbed and disfunctional. The relationship between my parents was totally messed up and as their youngest son, I felt heart broken and angry.
Twice a day, for weeks, the phone would ring and there would be no sound if I picked it up. It annoyed me big time. It never happened to my father though. So I concluded it must be her, the unknown woman.
I decided to start some retaliation. Every now and then I heard him calling her in his home office (on a landline). One day I overheard him through the office door, and I waited out the call. He went to have lunch in the kitchen afterwards, and I sneaked into his office. I pressed the redial button.
With my heart pounding in my throat I waited… And then she picked up and said her name. Gotcha! I stayed silent, wrote her name on a paper and hung up. As a little Sherlock Holmes I started looking her up in the phone book. I had some clues to what town she might live, so after some researching, I found her name and number.
Since that moment, the fight was on. A few times a day I would call her and say nothing at all until she would hang up. It felt great. My little sneaky, well thought out, revenge plan was working just as planned. It must have driven her crazy.
It took them weeks to find out. Then my father came to me, sighed, collected some courage and asked me bluntly if I was the one that was ghost calling his ‘friend’. I denied. But from that day on, I stopped. My point was made.
EDIT: we are talking 1988 here, so no chat apps or cell phones…
EDIT 2: My mother just told me that my father accused her at the time of the ghost calls. Oops!
Are you surprised by China’s aggression against the Philippines in the South China Sea?
No, Because I know quite deep on China’s politic.
You probably wonder what the hell I am talking about, well I will answer actually China has been waiting for country to mess with China. Why? because then China will have a reason to mess with that country, you can see a lot of example, from Vietnam losing land territory, parcels island, Russia losing land, India losing land, Japan losing island, long list of strong nation right?
That list has started during China was weak, now China is strong. what it need is troublemaker like Philippine. Politic is still politic, no matter how noble China try to be if foreign country mess with China, it’s an opportunity to mess with them.
If you search for my old post, you will see an article I wrote that Philippine will lose all their island in South China Sea.
China is the most noble politic we as an earthling can have. China is not like USA which can create Tonkin Gulf incident as a pretext to invade Vietnam. China is not as despicable as USA, USA can claimed Saddam has WMD and go to invade. No, don’t worry China does not work that evil. If you have a good relation with China, well China will not do anything to you.
the evidence is Duterte, Philippine probably don’t realized it Duterte saved your country.
China-Philippine SCS Dispute Chinese Perspective
The South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines is specifically reflected in Huangyan Island, Ren’ai Reef, Horseshoe Reef, Xianbin Reef, Zhongye Island and surrounding waters.
The reality is that what has truly harmed China’s efforts to safeguard its sovereignty and expand its interests in the South China Sea is not the confrontation between China and the Philippines, but the reconciliation between China and the Philippines.
From around 1990 to this year, China’s South China Sea strategy has evolved from defense to offense, and has also gone through three stages from defense to stalemate to counterattack, marked by the ” Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea ” in November 2002 and the climax of island building in 2013.
Before 2002, China was on the defensive in the South China Sea. Chinese fishermen were arrested and fishing boats were rammed and seized. These incidents were common and would cause uproars today. But there was no way out. At that time, our navy was too weak and our coast guard was seriously under-strength. We were unable to effectively manage the disputed areas and protect the interests of fishermen.
The so-called ” beached ships ” today are all historical issues left over from that time.
Since 2002, as the United States’ attention has shifted to the Middle East, the South China Sea turmoil has no longer been fueled by the United States, and the Philippines is alone. China has entered a period of rapid development, its naval debts are slowly being made up, and its offensive and defensive momentum has begun to change.
Strictly speaking, the real counterattack wave began when Aquino III came to power in 2011. Against the backdrop of the United States’ official launch of the ” return to the Asia-Pacific ,” Aquino III reopened the South China Sea dispute, and this time they faced a completely different China. The climax began in 2013 when China began its island-building frenzy, consolidating existing islands and reefs and gradually opening up disputed areas.
Against the backdrop of the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines, China has renounced interference and, while building up islands, has firmly grasped jurisdiction in its own hands, breaking up the Philippines’ counterattacks into harassment by scattered forces.
From 2013 to 2016, this period was the four years with the most intense confrontation between China and the Philippines, but also the four years in which China gained the most by building island on SCS (it actually an counter measure of Obama Asia pivot).
When Duterte came to power in 2016, he chose to get closer to China while falling out with the United States over the stationing of troops and drug prohibition. China’s South China Sea strategy got into trouble, because facing a pro-China faction.
This period was the most peaceful period in the South China Sea, and it was also the years when China’s South China Sea strategy returned to being restrained, China chose a truce in the South China Sea.
But after Marcos JR came to power in 2021 , new opportunities arrived, especially when the United States began to raise interest rates in 2022 and even forced China into a financial decisive battle in 2023(US hope to create chaos so that investment will flee to US). The Philippines, as a pawn of the US strategy, regained its value, and the Philippines also tried to fish in troubled waters, wanting both the South China Sea islands and reefs and the US dollar.
China took the opportunity to greatly expand the scope of its actual control. It also carried out maritime police law enforcement in the disputed area for the first time, took over the disputed area, and will completely solve the “beached ship” problem. By closing off the supply line, it forced the Philippines to evacuate the Ren’ai Reef and put the issue of Zhongye Island on the table.
From October last year to June this year, in just eight months, the benefits gained from the struggle were greater than the total of the past seven years.
The achievement of these results is inseparable from the staunch anti-China stance of the Filipino leader Marcos JR, which gave us the legitimacy of our actions.
But now the defection of Duterte’s daughter may disrupt this process. If Duterte’s daughter plays the rational and pro-China card again and gains power, whether we cannot continue the war without distraction and have to make peace which will become a big problem for China.
There is not much time left for China. China hope to seize this window of time and, under the favorable conditions of the confrontation between China, the United States and the Philippines, quickly take over the Ren’ai Reef and turn Zhongye Island into a controversial frontier.
So Duterte saved Philippine, it paused the clashed in SCS between PH and China for 6 years.
Author Note :
China is not a perfect country, China is not a saint country. But when opportunity appear of course china will take it. China much more noble than the US which claimed a bogus thing to do war, or will backtrack any agreement for it’s benefit.
That is why according to my understanding of China’s politic, China multipolar world order will bring more stability and more equal prosperity than the US world order.
EU Panic: As China Gets Ready Economic Punishments, Germany Runs To Beijing For Mercy
China is on the verge of hitting Europe with economic punishments. This has the potential to escalate things further with various countries including Spain and France. Germany is very afraid of retaliation on their car exports and they are heading to Beijing to undo the damage done by the EU trade tariffs.
As a trial attorney, what is the most ridiculous outburst you have seen first-hand in court?
Originally Answered: As a trial attorney, what is the most ridiculous outburst you have seen first hand in court?
Heh.
I was sitting as a judge pro tem in traffic court. Traffic court can always be entertaining, to say the least. As a judge pro tem, I am a working lawyer who volunteers to sit in traffic court or small claims court once a month. This frees up the real judges to hear important cases. In an afternoon session, I’ll have 30 or 40 cases. All of the people who got tickets are waiting their turn in the courtroom for the session.
Each traffic court has a clerk and bailiff. The clerk’s main job is to keep the pro tem judge from looking like an idiot or making any obvious legal mistakes. The bailiff is there to ensure decorum, mostly by intimidation, I guess. The bailiff this day was a very young woman, about 5 foot 2, her nightstick came down to mid-calf, the handcuffs appeared huge on her waist, and she just didn’t look very intimidating. Yet, there she was in police uniform. Before calling the first case, I usually remind all of the defendants that traffic school is an option up until I call their case. Then it’s no longer an option. I explain my courtroom rules that govern each case and the decorum that I expect while the police officer and the defendants are testifying. The vast majority of cases are speeding and driving solo in the carpool lane.
The first case was unusual. The defendant had been ticketed for having an open container of alcohol as a passenger in a car. (The driver had been ticketed for speeding.). The police officer told the story in a routine manner. I turned to the defendant to hear his story. His story is that he was holding the “party ball,” a round container that holds about 10 gallons of beer, a mini-keg with the hose and valve, in his lap. But … it wasn’t his ball, it was someone else’s ball. He had explained all this to the officer at the time the ticket was issued. Therefore, glancing smugly at the officer, he explained that he obviously wasn’t “in possession” of the open container. His testimony was sufficient to convict him of possession of an open container, so after he finished, I told him I was finding him guilty and fining him $500. I also explained to him that I understood his defense that the party ball wasn’t his. I told him that the law prohibits possession of an open container; ownership of the container is not part of the offense.
He went ballistic. He shouted, ranted and raged. I let him go for a minute and then called the next case while he was still shouting. He stayed at his table yelling at me and, as he walked out of the court, he yelled, “Fuck you” at me. This engaged the bailiff who started after him. He ran out of the court with the bailiff, clanking handcuffs, weapon and mid-calf nightstick, after him. As they both exited the courtroom, I told the somewhat stunned crowd that we would wait for the bailiff to return.
Then, we heard the sounds of a body thumping and screams of pain. The bailiff returned to the courtroom with the defendant in a wrist lock. He was bleeding all down one side of his face, and his shirt was torn. “Apologize to the Judge,” she demanded. He piteously whined, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” I told him, “Don’t apologize to me. You wasted everybody’s time here. Apologize to the entire courtroom.” The officer wheeled him around so he could apologize to the entire courtroom. He whimpered several apologies. She then released him. He slunk out of the courtroom.
Every remaining defendant pleaded guilty that day.
After the session was over, I asked the bailiff what happened. It turns out that he was running away from her down the hallway, but there were two police officers waiting to be called as witnesses in traffic court. They saw him and the bailiff in hot pursuit. One of the officers put his foot out and tripped the defendant as he ran by. As the defendant fell, he scraped his face on the jagged stone walls of the courthouse hallway and tore his shirt. The bailiff picked him up and frog-marched him into the courtroom looking like he had been thoroughly beaten up.
John Mearsheimer Destroys Lindsey Graham
John Mearsheimer reacts to Lindsey Graham’s idiotic claims and outright lies about Vladimir Putin. Professor Mearsheumer debunks them point by point and explains “The problem I face when dealing with Lindsey Graham is that he and I don't live on the same planet. I live on a planet where evidence and facts matter. He doesn't.”
What is your most frightening emergency room story?
Pain was the word, but would you go to the ER if that was the only symptom — pain in the groin ? Ask any urologist and they would say NO (capitalized). It’s one of the most generic and undefined pains that usually cannot be explained — and guys, you KNOW (capitalized) what I’m talking about.
But hearing the guy was one thing, seeing him was another, and diagnosing him was something else.
It was the urologists’ first ever case of Fournier’s Gangrene — an acute necrotic infection of the penis, scrotum or perineum, essentially meaning that the genitals of the affected male patient is being eaten, and very, very fast. It’s also extremely rare, since less than 2,000 cases have been reported in the last 70 years.
He was in his seventies, and the urologist was very clear on what was to happen:
“We need to remove every single thing of this infection — including your penis. Only then you can survive, but I’m not sure if that is even possible.”
The man agreed.
The next three days two things happened.
The infected area — included the patient’s penis — was removed.
Less than 48 hours later, it turned out that the infection was still alive, and had spread over a much larger area.
And this time, no surgery would help anymore. The infection would take over his body and necrotize every single square inch of his painful body in a matter of days. And so that’s what his urologist told him, in tears, because this was a man who was receiving a sentence instead of a diagnosis — as if the amputation hadn’t been enough already.
THE LIBRARYLarisse was a bit peeved. She hated greeting duty. She moved to this station because she was promised better wages, better living quarters, and more Fun. Yes, Fun was capitalized. But once a month she had to greet the ship with newcomers. Fun was what you made of it. This was not it.She knew the history of the city she worked and lived in but, like most younger people, she was not particularly impressed. Larisse did acknowledge that science has progressed so rapidly since the 20th century everything accomplished then seems rather immature, almost childish, now.This dwarf planet, Ceres, had been selected for habitation back in the early 21st century. The atmosphere, such as it was, could not support human life. But it did have an internal ‘ocean’ of water. While the White House was set on landing and inhabiting Mars, NASA and a small group of engineers set about to determine whether or not it would be feasible to go underground on Ceres. Yes, build a city below the surface. Here.It took several years to get funding but finally a mini space lab was launched and fell into orbit around the dwarf. The space lab, actually a cargo ship but funding was quicker if it was a lab, carried men, equipment and supplies to create an underground cavern. The cavern was quickly oxygenated and the work on the city went smoothly. First they built living quarters. Then they worked on laboratories and offices.Building was suspended for a short term while the United States engaged itself in another war. They seemed to do that a lot in the old days. Soon however, regular supply ships were arriving and the dwarf planet was colonized.Humans who lived and worked on Ceres did complain that just housing wasn’t sufficient. By the close of the century, a restaurant, a few utilitarian shops, and a park were constructed. Each supply ship brought more luxuries and more humans.The environment on earth was becoming more and more toxic as time went on. There was talk of creating a second underground facility devoted to manufacturing and hydroponic gardening on Ceres. Fresh food was becoming scarce on earth. And little could be transported to this colony. The garden was accomplished successfully.By mid 22nd Century the dwarf planet was fairly self-sustaining. The variety of people gradually changed – there were races from all over the world, few were human. The ruling race, yes – it happened, controlled the docking ports. There was a problem with reproduction of their peoples. However, there was no difficulty reproducing their people on earth. While still in their infancy, children were literally herded by the hundreds onto transport ships on earth and sent to a new home on the dwarf planet. There they would be educated and become viable working members of the colony.Larisse thought it never made sense that it was impossible to produce children, new beings, at this station. To import babies from Mother Earth seemed totally ridiculous. Totally. There should be no reason the replicators here cannot produce as well as those on ME. She didn’t understand science or reproduction well enough to fully understand many things. But, like most people, she wouldn’t believe most things even if told. Half of the newcomers were not ready for real life – in her judgment. They seemed totally disjointed more than half the time…barely able to function. The time it takes for the transport ship to make the trip should be long enough for the infants to mature. Her race attained maturity in a matter of months usually. True, there are no tutors aboard. But time alone should be enough for physical maturity. Perhaps it was something else that make them so ‘useless’. Larisse herself was an earth baby but she is positive she was never so helpless as the last few shipments had been.No, it wasn’t the atmosphere. They just weren’t ready. The atmosphere is not ME quality, but only human engineers born before 2140 need breathing apparatus. Everyone else had acclimated immediately. But some of these ‘children’, as they are called by the government, just aren’t ready for prime time. They should stay on Mother Earth another year to mature. They had little form. Their obvious lack of living knowledge made Larisse’s job doubly difficult.When a ship docked, Larisse went aboard with her clipboard to verify passengers before allowing them to disembark. This was one of the toughest parts of her job as greeter. It seems that more than half of these newcomers don’t know their names. Unfortunately, their boarding passes do not have names, just lot and number. Many of them have misplaced their boarding documents during the eight month flight. Larisse tried her best to get them all off the ship and into the city in a timely manner. She checked the number on the tag around each one’s neck, found it on the shipping advice and asked, “And what is your name?” She tried to be kind and understanding but kindness and understanding weren’t enough.Much of the time, they mumbled or spoke too softly for her to hear, or understand. She wrote down whatever it sounded like. There were times, she was sure, that Jane became Joyce or Brown was Bruin, or the other way around. But, what’s the difference? If they don’t know who they are when they arrive, they’ll respond to whatever they’re called later. Their identification packets are produced from her list. What was on the list was it. If, when she repeated a name, the newcomer corrected her, she’d make a change. Otherwise, the name – wrong or not- was theirs forever. This sometimes caused confusion among the newcomers the first week or so. Eventually they responded properly.Once the ship was cleared, Larisse led the group to the elevator. The atmosphere on the surface would suffice, but the old-timers who had established this colony insisted on building below the surface. The quarters were spacious. The city, while not large, included many laboratories, several stores, a movie theater, a bowling alley, roller rink, and a simulated park with grass, a small lake, and ducks. Newcomers were always impressed with the ducks. There were no ducks left on ME. Larisse had to research bowling, roller rink, and movies. These were pastimes of the first people to inhabit Ceres. The humans. While the activities sounded interesting, they also sounded quite tedious to Larisse. Physical exercise never made much sense to her. Evidently it was important to the first settlers.Below the surface, the aged engineers did not require breathing apparatus. They seemed to enjoy life below ground very much. She was surprised at how very old many of them were. Apparently, living in outer space lengthens the life of humans. Her own race can last forever if not exposed to excessive heat for long periods of time. Heat wasn’t a concern on Ceres.Larisse has heard the old humans say it was almost like being back on earth. She felt sorry for them as they were unaware that earth no longer had fresh air or lakes or green grass. Most of them had been at this station from the very beginning. Only one of the original crew had expired.Larisse never quite understood ‘expired’. When one old engineer tried to explain death to her, it made no sense. She didn’t understand the inability to just buy a new part when an old one wore out. Of course, she had never seen a part called a heart in the local parts store. She wasn’t sure if she, herself, had a heart. Larisse had finished the recommended schooling but anatomy was not a required subject. In fact, was there such a class offered? She could not recall.On one of her off-days, Larisse found a small room she had not known of before. There were several trees in a small group at the convergence of the walk past the roller rink and the walk to the main shopping area. Behind the trees – well, not actually behind them, but sort of hidden by them, was a door. It was tucked into a corner. Larisse had full access to the city as she was an employee and had keys to everything. But this door wasn’t locked. It intrigued her and she wondered how she had never seen it before today. What could lie beyond? She decided the best way to find out is to open it.
Larisse looked around to see if anyone else was nearby. While she had authority to go everywhere and anywhere, she was still hesitant to open the door. No one was in sight when she pulled on the long, upright handle. The door must not have been opened in some time as it creaked and dust blew up as it silently swung open. Dust is very unusual in the City.
What had she found? The room in front of her was dimly lit. There was a lot of furniture placed about in the center of the room. Tables and chairs sat neatly in two rows. There was also some soft type furniture. She saw a photo once of this type of seating – was it called a couch? a sofa? something like that. As she stepped further into the room there was a sign on a short pole. “This is your library. Please be considerate and maintain quiet. Library hours are daily 9am- 9pm.”
What is a library? Larisse has never heard the word before. If she had, she doesn’t recall it- or its meaning. This must be one of the first rooms built as no one is concerned with time anymore. She recalled seeing that type designation at the docking port several decades ago. It was so long she has already forgotten what the letters mean.
A quick glance around told Larisse that a library is a room filled with books. She had heard of books, even saw several when there were many humans here, back when she was new. But that was some time ago. She had not imagined there could be so many books, especially in one place. Larisse went from shelf to shelf reading the words printed on the books. How dull. Nothing really appealed to her curiosity. There were several labeled “Shakespeare”. Was that the name of the book? Taking one of those off the shelf, she leafed through the pages. A faint odor wafted out – she didn’t recognize it. Ah! Shakespeare wrote the book. One of the first pages said so. It didn’t look the least bit interesting. Larisse is fluent in English but these words made little sense. She put Shakespeare back on the shelf where she had gotten him.
A sign on the end of one shelf said “contemporary fiction”. Riffling through several books on that shelf proved very boring. She circled round the room. There must be more than a thousand books here. And none of them appealed to her.
Then she came to the shelf labeled ‘Games and Toys’. Games? Well, that might be interesting. The first book had pictures. Almost all of the pictures illustrated people who resemble the old engineers. Standard humanoid form. No one looks quite like that anymore. Well, except for the oldest colonists.
Back to reading words visible on the books, she came to a book titled “Toys of the 21st Century.” What kind of toys were popular on ME so many years ago?
She pulled the book from the shelf. The first several chapters featured several games – electronics mostly. They sounded like Fun, sort of. There weren’t games called WII, Nintendo or Atari on Ceres. Of course, this type electronic was so outdated. She laughed. This is what the old engineers played with? How droll. These were fun? Incredible! Larisse always felt that the engineers were a bit slow. Reading the description of some of the games caused her to laugh out loud. Ridiculous. She could not believe anyone could have been entertained for long with any of these old things. Perhaps humans weren’t as clever as they have always tried to make us believe. Clarisse thought on that a few moments. Perhaps they aren’t.
The next section in the book was about other toys. Bicycles, sleds, skates, miniature vehicles, skis, things Larisse had never heard of before. She read the descriptions carefully. Some of the illustrations were quite intriguing but the toys themselves – not so much.
The next chapter began with things called Lincoln Logs and Erector sets. They were more interesting than anything she had seen so far in the book. There were several pages touting the various accessories for the Erector set. And pictures showing things that had been made with the toy. What is a ferris wheel? The description says it will rotate with an accessory motor. But Larisse didn’t understand its purpose. It is truly a strange looking device.
As she turned the next page, she gasped. This looked like a family album. Why were her ancestors in a book of 21st century toys? She leafed through several pages, more in shock than in awe. She had heard of this in family folklore but why are they listed as toys?
Larisse vaguely recalled stories of relatives who added wheels, treads, rotors, and other outrageous accessories to themselves. More than a century ago. According to legend handed down, her own family at the time chose to shun these new and unusual characteristics. They were barbaric. If the gods had wanted us to have wheels, we would have come equipped with them. Of course, in time, many of the accessories became usual, normal; to own and to wear. But at the beginning, according to family tales, they were not openly welcomed. That was such old folklore. Larisse had never truly believed any of it. Things do evolve over time. Apparently, the 21st century was when all the various mutations of her race began. Looking at the illustrations that accompanied the descriptions, Larisse could see several similarities to herself and her friends. Well, some. There is a strong family resemblance though many of these were obviously foreigners; their colors were so garish.
The heading on the next page “LEGO Kits”. The following page was headed “LEGO 3-in-1 Collection”. Turning the page she was faced with “LEGO Accessories”. There was a footnote on this page. Every element in Larisse’s body shuddered as she read it. “By 2000 LEGO kits were offered with accessories designed to make the LEGO brick the most popular toy of two centuries.”
Oh my god of the universe, LEGOs are not toys. They are the future of the earth. Every month she greets new LEGOs to the Ceres Colony. They will be the saviors of Mother Earth. The things LEGOs do here will someday repopulate the earth. Someday they will create new plant life on earth; perhaps even rejuvenate the oxygen system on earth so that humans can remain there, out in the open as they once lived.
Larisse hugged the book close to her. She was sad. Is it true that she and nearly everyone here are descendants of a 21st century toy?
No, it can’t be true. She replaced the book on the shelf. For several minutes she was deep in thought. Should she reveal any of this to her co-workers, her friends. She paced through the small library. No. No. She cannot tell anyone about this book. She looked around and found a small desk. The sign said “Head Librarian”. Someone worked here at one time. But it was before Larisse came here -so a very long time before. They may have left instruments to use to make a sign. She went through the drawers looking for something useful. Perhaps she should place a No Trespass sign on this door. Or just perhaps a Do Not Enter sign would do.
The implements she found in the drawers of the desk were unknown to Larisse. Bic pens and Ticonderoga pencils and Sharpies. These were all cradled in a small tray in the top desk drawer. What were they? What purpose did they have in a library? She decided she had nothing to create a sign.
She reasoned that as she has just found this door, perhaps no one else will find it any time soon. There was nothing outside to put in front of the door to block entry. Its very out-of-the-way location has kept it secret this long; perhaps it will not be found again soon. Not many workers use this corridor. She closed the door firmly. Later she will return with a sign warning others to not enter. The newcomers were barely ready to work. Something this demoralizing could destroy them completely. No one should discover their ancestors were once considered mere playthings. She was proud to be a LEGO. This discovery must be kept secret.
END
Is the USA’s decline as a global superpower and the rise of Russia & China a good thing for the world?
Why not?
The vast majority of refugees, war casualty, infrastructure destruction, and regime change this century have been caused by US-led NATO.
Every conflict this century has seen the appearance of NATO armaments—the enablers of death and destruction. Countries devastated by NATO machinations remain a pale shadow of their former selves. Just look at the Arab Spring, which has morphed into the perpetual Arab Winter. Whereas Chechnya and Georgia today are even more prosperous and built-up than their Soviet days.
At the minimum, US decline militarily will bring peace to many hotzones today.
And with peace, a better tomorrow can be realized.
Ambassadors EVACUATING Lebanon; Outbreak of War Deemed “Imminent”
The Ambassadors of Italy, France, England, Sweden, and Germany, have been instructed by their governments to “evacuate Lebanon immediately” because Intelligence information says “war is imminent.” Diplomatic staff are visibly panicking as they flee.
The Saudi Arabian Embassy in London warns of the risk of world war after the announcement of an imminent Israeli invasion of South Lebanon : ” It is important that everyone understands the danger that awaits us. The conflict will not remain regional, but will very quickly become international. ”
Egypt has sent multiple messages to Washington saying: Do not underestimate Nasrallah’s statements or the capabilities of Hezbollah.”
Iran and the Taliban in Afghanistan are now discussing “joint action” against Israel!
DANGEROUSLY AMBIGUOUS: France announces it is willing to send its armed forces to stand with the Lebanese Army on the Border of Israel. (None of us can figure this one out. Will that be to defend Lebanon? Attack Hezbollah? Attack Israel? . . . . . or to surrender to all of them?)
The Canadian military is drawing up plans to evacuate 45,000 people from Lebanon should a full-scale war break out between Israel and Hezbollah.
Sources in US CENTCOM tell me “The US is concerned Israel’s Iron Dome could be overwhelmed in war with Hezbollah.” This right after giving all patriot missiles for defense to Ukraine!
The original deadline given to Hezbollah by Israel was to move its forces north of the Litani River BY JUNE 24. Hezbollah has already flatly refused. It is now not clear if Israel will step-up its timetable, or if Hezbollah will be the ones to initiate combat. This could begin literally at any moment.
UPDATE 4:54 PM EDT —
Kuwait urges its citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon.
What’s the best revenge you’ve gotten after being fired or let go from a job?
Wasn’t exactly “revenge” since I did not have to do anything, I guess it is more like Karma.
Worked at a radio station for 5 years, filled in at one point as a temp. Operations Manager for a few months until the guy they wanted could run out his contract. At one point, I unknowingly amassed the paperwork trail needed to get a Production Manager fired for moonlighting on company time. At management’s request.
One day we got a new hire that never worked in the business before. They asked I train her. Ok, no problem right? (Well, I know better now). She burns through all her vacation and PTO within 3 months of hire. On the 4th month, it’s announced she will be the new Operations Manager. I expressed my displeasure at the position never have been posted as being open and never interviewed it despite having done the job previously while the new guy they just hired quit within the year. I was told I should quit. No way. I would be leaving on my own accord when I was ready. I was told to think about it overnight and hand in my resignation the next day. Told them it wasn’t going to happen. Next day I’m asked for my resignation letter. Told them I wasn’t doing it. They said they would fire me and contest any claim for unemployment. I told them they could do what they wanted, there was no record of poor work performance, no bad reviews, and my paper trail as acting OM and I had copies of the work I did that led to the PM getting fired would speak for itself. They fired me on the spot.
Went back into the control booth with the new girl to gather my belongings. The program tape (way before the digital age ) currently on-air runs out. Dead Air. A HUGE no-no if you don’t know the business. She looks at me and asks what to do next, what program is next, where is it, etc. I just look at her and say, “It’s not my problem anymore since I don’t work here. It’s your problem now.” Phones start ringing off the hook. Front office staff come back, “Why are we off the air?” “Is there a problem with the equipment?” I point to her. “Ask her, she’s in charge now, I no longer work here.” Sales staff start freaking out. Now commercials aren’t running either. I take my leave.
I found out later from an ex co-worker she screwed everything up for the next hour and a half. Guess she wasn’t paying attention to the day to day stuff I had been showing her and was busy with the outgoing OM trying to learn his job too since that was the plan all along. She also messed up all the procedures I had in place to keep the stations on-air to implement her way of getting things done and caused other problems with distributors and shows not getting aired at all. Violation of contracts that cost the station even more money. She also hired a friend to replace me, who ended up stealing very expensive microphones from the studios as well as other things that went missing.
I don’t believe she lasted 6 months after I was fired.
Western Empire Facing Same Collapse as Rome in its Final Days: Martin Armstrong
Martin Armstrong sees striking similarities between the multitude of crises that plague the modern world and the conditions just before the fall of the Roman empire. Martin argues that endless debt issuance, wars for profit, unchecked migration, and rampant political corruption are setting the stage for a future where many Western countries cease to exist as we know them.
What is the most heartbreaking thing your child has told you?
A few days ago my ex son-in-law asked me if I wanted to get my four year old granddaughter off the bus and watch her for a few hours. She and I went to visit my mother, and then I took her to see her mother for some rare Mommy daughter time. All went well, both my daughter and granddaughter enjoyed their time together.
On the way back, I told my Granddaughter that she was awesome during the short ride and visit. Little Jabberjaws soon became quiet… (When a normally talkative 4 year old becomes quiet, it can be a good bet that something is up.) When she didn’t answer me, I pulled off the road to see what was going on. Quiet tears were rolling down her face. I asked her what was wrong, In a heart rendering voice she asked, “Papa, why don’t Mom and Dad think I’m awesome?” She noticed a tear in my eye (that I attributed to a bug). I composed myself, and told her that they thought she was awesome as well.
I had to stop at my home before taking her back to her place. During this time she was constantly wanting to hug me and was telling me how happy she is when she’s with ‘Papa’.
As we walked the few blocks to her home, she insisted on holding my hand the entire way. Just before we went into her place, she gave me a hug and told me she wished that Mom would come back home.
Heart-strings are so fragile…
Randy
Prof. Mearsheimer WARNS: Russia May be FORCED to Launch a Nuclear Attack Preemptively
In this video Prof. John Mearsheimer, the prominent international relations scholar, discusses the Ukraine peace negotiations and war dynamics. Topics include: the legitimacy of the peace summit in Switzerland, the exclusion of Russia from negotiations, the shifting balance of power in the conflict, and the risks of nuclear escalation. Mearsheimer suggests Ukraine's neutrality as a solution.
After an inmate has been in jail/prison for a long time, what is the most shocking thing for them after coming out for several years?
I only did 4 years (‘06-‘10) but here’s what I found most jarring:
After the four years (Federal, low-ish security), I had a mandatory 6 months to finish in a halfway house. Upon arrival at the halfway house (middle of the day, while other half-way-ers were either out job-seeking or working), I was immediately struck by the SILENCE of the place. 4 years of pre-sentencing in country jails and a not-too-terrible Federal Correctional Institution, I was used to constant noise. Screaming, banging on doors, dominoes slamming on metal tables, all amplified by concrete walls and echoes. The silence was jarring, made me wanna crawl out of my skin. I never considered myself institutionalized, but the change of scenery was the most significant shock to my system. Utterly unnerving and distressing. Can’t explain it any better than that.
Why does it seem that so many people are scared of China’s economic growth surpassing the US?
There are several reasons:
They’re projecting. This is a psychological term referring to how people project their own behavioural tendencies on others. They think that because they’re inclined to suppress and exploit other countries, China will, too.
They’re paranoid. This is the natural consequence of projection.
They’re xenophobic or Sinophobic. They don’t understand the Chinese and their culture and society. The Chinese are peaceful; they’re only interested in trading with other countries.
They’re pro-American. They want the USA to remain the dominant world power. They believe the USA is good for the world (never mind about the endless wars and endless sanctions).
New Videos of Billionaire Kids on Jeffrey Epstein Island Go Viral
Espresso Chile Glazed Ham
For this, use a fully cooked smoked ham, preferably wood smoked with no water added. Trim the outside layer of fat and skin all the way to the pink meat, so when you’re ready to carve you don’t cut away all the flavorful glaze.
Sweet chili pineapple glazed ham 2508 April 06 2023
Yield: 16 or more servings
Ingredients
Half a fully cooked smoked ham (about 8 pounds)
1 quart fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur
1 tablespoon Chinese chile paste with garlic, or sambal olek
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 shots (about 1/4 cup total) brewed espresso or 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder, like Medaglio d’Oro
Instructions
Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
Cut the thick layer of fat and skin from the ham and discard. Place the ham in a roasting pan. (For easier clean up, line the pan with aluminum foil because the glaze will drip off and burn.) Roast the ham for 1 hour.
While the ham is roasting, make the glaze. Combine the orange juice and zest, brown sugar, Kahlua, chile paste, and pepper in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer the mixture until it is reduced by about half and is as thick as maple syrup, about 35 minutes.
Whisk in the espresso or espresso powder. You should have almost 2 cups of glaze. You are going to use half this glaze to brush the ham while it is roasting, and reserve the other half for brushing on the ham after it is sliced.
After the first hour of cooking, brush the ham with the glaze. Roast for another hour, brushing with the glaze every 15 minutes. Since the ham is already cooked, you just need to warm it all the way through. Check for an internal temperature of 130 degrees F to 140 degrees F using an instant-read meat thermometer. Remove the ham from the oven when it is nicely browned and warmed through.
To serve, slice the ham and brush the slices with the remaining glaze. For a lovely presentation, slice half the ham and arrange the slices against the unsliced part on a big platter. Brush the slices with the remaining glaze.
Newly Arrived To ODESSA 40 FRENCH Soldiers Were Wiped Out By Russian ISKANDER-M Ballistic Missiles
It is reported that particular French officers will operate the Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which were transferred to Ukraine by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The fact that sophisticated Western weapons systems are operated in Ukraine exclusively by high-ranking NATO officers is no secret to anyone. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also confirmed this fact. In particular, speaking in the Bundestag, the German Chancellor let slip that the Storm Shadow cruise missiles, also known as the SCALP-EG, are operated and maintained exclusively by British and French officers in Ukraine......
Horrible
I had a horrible experience trying to buy a new Honda at a local dealership. I told them what I wanted, but they kept trying to up sell me on a different model. Then it was switching sales guys, to the hard core close. etc. etc. I understand sales and all the BS really doesn’t bother me since it’s part of the game. However, after reaching a price and completing the paperwork, I drove out with the car.
I was happy until Jennifer from the office called me three days later at work. They made an error and didn’t collect money on some specific fees listed in the contract. I was pretty sure I paid everything listed. I told Jennifer I needed a couple days to review the contract and look at the check I wrote to determine if I owed money. She became a belligerent bitch, yelling about how I have their money and need to come down right now and pay. I told her I would review the contract and pay them if I owed them money. She called at 9:00 am the next morning being a bitch again demanding money. Later that evening, I reviewed the contract and they didn’t total up the doc fee correctly, and owem them $394.00.
I called Jennifer and told her that I did find the error, would pay the amount, and asked if she could please tell me when she left the office so I could pay her personally. I waited to 4:50 pm on Friday night (Jennifer works an 8-5, M-F) and paid her $394 in nickels. I had broken the seals on the bags from the bank which meant they needed to hand count all the coin.
I had brought a book, took up residence in their customer lounge, and waited for them to complete their count. I enjoyed watching Jennifer and 4 sales persons make little rows of nickels. After over 90 minutes they brought me the $0.45 in additional funds I added to see if they would accurately count it. My back up plan was if they said it was all there, I would inform them that I actually included extra money and couldn’t remember how much, so they would need to recount.
What is the rudest thing that a new neighbor has done to you immediately after you had moved in?
We moved into a house my daughter and son in law bought in their gated community so that we would move close to them. The exterior of the house was a big mess. My husband worked constantly for 2 months to clean it and the extra lot they bought with the house. It’s between us and the guy behind us that lives next to the golf course. He finally finished and one morning my husband went out and was walking around and realized they had blown a massive pile of moldy debris, leaves, pine cones, sweet gum balls and branches into the back corner. How they even had that much in their yard is a mystery. Their yard is very tiny. My daughter came over, went next door and said something to the guy and he said it’s just an empty lot, she said no I own that lot and it’s my parents back yard. My dad just spent 2 months cleaning it up. He said surely you don’t expect me to remove it and she responded surely you don’t consider that an unreasonable request. He told her it would be a few weeks before he could get someone back out there. She said you have a week. To his credit he got someone out right after the weekend. It started to happen one other time but my husband happened to be outside in the yard and went over and told their yard guy it was our yard. He tried that “it’s just an empty lot” thing. Hubby said no it’s not and I keep it cleaned up. We avoid the guy and his wife and thankfully all the rest of our neighbors are like family and we all watch out for each other.
My goodness!
When I moved in with my girlfriend, everything was great. We had each other’s perpetual company, space for ourselves, and best of all: isolation and freedom.
After a few months, we started getting surprise visits from her parents. They would wake us up by pounding on the door, or sometimes even barge in. Sometimes it was just her mother and father, other times they brought their 5 year old daughter. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy spending time with my girlfriend’s sister and even her parents. But these visits were unexpected, untimely, and were happening at an increasing rate. It was obnoxious when we had plans or weren’t feeling like socializing.
That’s when I had an idea: beat them at their own game. Bright and early one morning, I’m talking 4:30am on a weekday, my girlfriend and I picked up our loudest, most obnoxious friend, and ventured over to her parent’s place. I’m sure you can guess what we did, we barged in, shouting “wake up!”, forcing them out of bed. We proceeded to demand they make us breakfast, and spent hours interrupting their morning routines. Pleased with ourselves, we left around 10am and went on with our day.
The visits from them started happening less and less after that day. Today, they notify us if they’re coming over, which is exactly what we wanted the whole time. Why they started doing it in the first place, I’m not sure. In the end, I feel we delivered a powerful statement ironically teaching parents manners.
Scott Ritter REVEALS: Russia uses ICBMS Carry North Korea’s Nuclear Warheads, U.S Shakes 100 Richter
When I met my first wife, say in 1983, she was working as a live in caregiver to a 90-something blind woman. Occasionally her 65-year old son would stop by and flirt with my (then) 21 year old girlfriend. But eventually, he stopped coming and just fired my girlfriend. But I’ll tell youse guys that 90-year old granny was a hoot.
She couldn’t see, but she could hear everything.
She liked me a lot, and for some reason she kept on calling me “Robert Gillespie” because … I really don’t know why … I have no idea. But she thought that I was this man from her past.
She wanted to touch my face and feel my arms. She said that I was a good man; and strong. Then she felt my hands. She told my girlfriend that I have “big hands” and that we needed to get married as I would make her really happy in bed.
— ! —
Anyways, I’m pretty sure that she’s no longer around. If she was, she’d be older than the hills right now. She was a nice old granny. I hope that when I get that old, I’m gonna be nice and well spoken to others as she was to me.
Today…
I’m 63 years old and so lonely. Does it matter to anyone?
I have been there, I found myself alone, my son no longer needed me to be around for him anymore. And I watched a lot of TV! I did a few things I shouldn’t have done. ( I don’t recommend). Got back on track, watched more TV, did a lot of soul searching.
Decided to go back to work, part-time. I was very apprehensive at first I hadn’t worked and almost 17 years. Just a little convenience store job. I didn’t want it to interfere with my disability check. Turns out it was the best thing that I could have done for myself! Got to know my neighbors, all the people that lived around me. After working there for 2 and 1/2 years they had my back when I needed some of them. And made a lot of friends there. I highly recommend you do something simple that takes your mind off of yourself. Be it work with animals, help another senior citizen, give somebody a ride to a doctor’s appointment, walk somebody’s dog, they’re a myriad of things you can do for free and things you can do to make money. You may find you just meet somebody that you click with.
Have you ever seen a rude or entitled customer get put in their place?
Yes, yes I have and it was glorious.
I was managing a convenience store in the second largest city in Massachusetts. It was a hard working, hard partying, rough and tumble neighborhood with some interesting residents. It was pretty common for a customer to cut into the line and, while talking in their mobile, make their request. “Yo, gimme a pack of Newport hunnrits and a mango wrap.” Usually, I ignore such actions and wait on the next person in line…because it’s a line and that’s what one does….stand and wait…like all the other customers.
On this particular morning, this particular customer honestly and truly thought that he was entitled to behave like a rude and obnoxious jerk. He demanded the manager because they always need to speak to a manager, especially when they are wrong. I politely offered the obnoxious a coffee while he waited. Of course, while waiting he had to run his mouth and call me names. Then it happened, one of my newly trained customers came in to make his daily purchase.
“Good Morning, may I please have a pack of Newport 100’s?”
“Good morning, of course you may. May I see your ID?”
“Yes, here you go.”
“Thank you, that will be $9.75.”
While I was getting his change, he remarked, “lemme guess, he needs to talk to the manager. You are making him wait…just like you did to me.” I just smiled and my newly trained customer knew. He sauntered over to the waiting customer, who was still spewing vulgarities about me and asked, “Do you talk to your mother or your aunts like that?” “Do you call your baby momma those names? How bout your sidechick?” The rude customer started to answer but the newly trained customer cut him off, “You see that lady? She is the manager. This is her house and she doesn’t deserve to be called names, insulted or threatened because you don’t want to wait in line or show your ID to buy a pack of smokes.” He took a deep breath and continued, “If you want to do business here, then you need to pull your saggy britches up, put your shoulders back, look her in the eye, apologize, and use your Sunday manners and make your purchase.” The rude customer said he wanted to speak to the manager to which the newly trained customer said, “Yo, dude, she IS the manager and she ain’t got the time to play with you! Be nice or be gone…pretty simple!”
The newly trained customer walked with the rude customer to the counter and taught him how to behave in the store.
Fighting Russia & China to Last American: Destroying US From Within
Have you ever quit a job in an unplanned manner where one day you just snapped and said “I’ve had enough of this, I’m done”?
One day on the way to work…i lived close to work so i always walked to work enjoying the walk with a cup of coffee and a cigarette
That day was different. .the coffee didnt taste right and i didnt want my usual cig
I got to work and the manager said…its about time you got here…and it was only 730am. My scheduled start time was 8am…then she started telling me that others werent doing their jobs.
She had a stack of papers about an inch thick ..it contained our daily overstock reports..apparently they hadnt been done in over a week. She said she wanted them done ASAP.
I told id start on them when i punched in at 8am.
Well i punched in and started working on the overstock report…about 15mins later..the manager comes back to where i was working and said are you done yet…and i said no…
So im under the gun to do the report that others havent done in a week.
Im still not feeling my normal self…i went to the restroom and puked and washed my mouth out.
About an hour later..the manager again asks me if im done..again i said no
Manager leaves looking and acting very pissed at me…
I go back to the report and again i stop and go to the restroom and puke
Only this time after puking and washing my mouth out…i walk up to the manager and slam the report on the counter and …im out of here…i quit and head to the register and check out (thats how we clocked in n out) and continue walking out without looking back. She called my name and said come back. I ignored her and went home
The manager called me the next day and asked me to come in and talk to him. I told him as long as the other manager worked there ..i wasnt going back
Two weeks later the other manager who was rude to me was transferred to another store and i went back to work ..
I will never work where im not appreciated or talked down to
Who was the greatest con man in history?
Bernie Madoff.
He used one of the oldest tricks in the book. A Ponzi scheme – use money from new investors to pay money for old investors – but eventually it gets too big – there won’t be enough new investors – and the Ponzi scheme collapses.
What made Madoff the greatest con man was not only did he con investors out of US$10–20bn, but he managed to pull this off for at least 17 years without even one serious SEC investigation.
I mean, he only got caught when he owned up to it!
So, instead of making investments with clients money his company just used them to pay clients that wanted their investments cashed out while making false trade reports to show investments had been made.
Because he consistently gave investors cashing out strong returns, he was considered an investment genius by many.
Madoff lived in a US$21m home in Palm Beach, had a US$7m apartment in New York, and had other houses around the world.
In 2008, thanks to the Global Financial Crisis, the markets turned and the game was up. Madoff claimed that he confessed to his two sons, who worked with him, and they turned him in.
A few months later, Madoff, aged 70, was sentenced to 150 years in prison.
One son, Mark (left), attempted suicide a year after his father’s arrest, leaving a note “Now you know how you have destroyed the lives of your sons by your life of deceit. Fuck you.” A year later he successfully committed suicide. Prisoners say Madoff broke down in tears after hearing news of Mark from his prison cell.
The other son, Andrew, died of cancer 4 years later. Madoff and his wife, Ruth, had no other children.
His wife kept US$2.5m in a deal made with prosecutors, and now lives a relatively modest life.
I’m sure it was great fun before the Ponzi scheme collapsed, but this story didn’t end well…
What the world is like today
Has China developed a conventional bomber that is the same class with the Tu-26 backfire?
No, China’s newest Xi’an H-20 bomber is designed to compete with America’s Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.
main qimg 2b350217648ac5e4daee828d05c6bd8a
There is currently only one prototype of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.
Although the Xi’an H-20 already has a test aircraft, the design can still be modified.
China is waiting for Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider to enter mass production before finalizing the design specifications for the Xi’an H-20 and putting it into production. This will ensure that the Xi’an H-20 does not lag behind the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.
Many aspects of business warfare strategies and military strategies are common.
The United States is the market leader and China is the market follower.
The United States has the advantage of being the first mover, but its weakness is that once it takes the lead in mass production, the cost of transforming its production line will be very high.
China adopts a follower strategy, and followers have the opportunity to discover the weaknesses of leaders and surpass them.
In fact, this is true for most weapons…
The United States was the first country to develop an Railgun, and China adopted a follow-up strategy. China’s Railgun has surpassed it.
main qimg a5882b8b8700bdf7c55a8b5207c6d06a
The United States was the first country to develop a robot dog, and China adopted a follow-up strategy. China’s robot dog has also surpassed it.
"We cannot rely on and exploit others, as the United States does.
Every year, the United States has a US$1 trillion trade deficit.
What is this? I believe everyone present here will understand what I mean.
This is a modern version of neocolonialism.
By using the dollar’s monopolistic status, the United States consumes US$1 trillion more annually than it produces.
It extracts these resources from other countries.
We spoke about the pandemic period earlier.
What did they do?
I do not recall the exact amount of money the United States printed, but it totalled over US$5 trillion.
By the way, Europe printed an estimated 3.4 trillion euros.
What did they do next?
They circulated all these banknotes domestically and then started buying foods on the global food market.
They absorbed all these resources within their country, acting like a vacuum cleaner, and for the first time in many years, they became net food buyers and importers, rather than exporters.
As a result, global food inflation skyrocketed.
However, we cannot behave in the same way, and we do not monopolise the global currency market, the way the US dollar is doing.
We have never acted like colonialists or neo-colonialists.
In this case, we should, of course, rely on our economic potential and assess it realistically, which is what we are doing.
Naturally, we are considering diversification in order to balance the current industrial situation, the real economy and the future situation.
This is how everything is developing."
Excerpt from remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the 27th St Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 7, 2024.
The world is on FIRE and young men are looksmaxxing
Documents show that India contacted China for China to build high speed rails for India to replace Japan, but China has declined the Indian request. Why?
I can’t confirm the authenticity of this news
But it may be true
I noticed that some Indian media and online commentators advocated: “China should be banned from investing in India”
But it seems that most Indians and media have not paid attention to Chinese public opinion, and no one cares about what the Chinese think.
In fact, Chinese companies’ investment and engineering construction in India are increasingly opposed by the public and public opinion.
1. Chinese companies’ interest in the Indian market has declined
Among China’s foreign trade companies, there is such a message: If Europeans send you an order, you can send the goods first and then send the bill. If Americans send you an order, you’d better collect half of the payment first. If an Indian sends you an order, remember to ask him to pay the full amount before shipping.
This may be a certain degree of exaggeration and joke, but the Indian market does not have a good reputation in China:
1. They like overly cheap goods, which makes manufacturers unprofitable and have to produce inferior goods, which will damage the reputation of suppliers.
2. They have poor credibility, always delay payment, shirk responsibility, and find various reasons not to pay or reduce payment.
2. India’s investment environment is unstable
The Indian federal government has been trying to invite foreign companies to invest in India, but many companies have encountered various troubles after investing in India. For example, Foxconn, Flextronics, MI and other companies have encountered tax audits, fines, strikes and lengthy judicial procedures in India. The statements of local officials and federal officials are always inconsistent, and the interpretation and enforcement of the law are fickle, which brings great risks to companies investing in India.
3. Do not want to cultivate a competitor
India has a large young population, but lacks the most adequate infrastructure, production equipment, technology and experience. It lacks China’s complete industrial chain and basic industry. Many Chinese nationalists believe that Chinese companies go to India to build railways, bridges, and power plants to support India’s manufacturing industry. This will make India a commercial competitor of China.
Therefore, Chinese companies going to India to build infrastructure are increasingly opposed by domestic public opinion. Although they understand that even if they leave Chinese companies, there are companies from other countries that can undertake these tasks, but at least they are more expensive and less efficient.
Therefore, if Chinese companies are unwilling to undertake the construction project of India’s high-speed rail, this is indeed possible. For example, too low a bid, too harsh financing requirements, technology transfer requirements and excessive political risks.
Many Chinese are paying attention to the Indian high-speed rail built by Japan. The Indian high-speed rail started almost at the same time as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail built by China in Indonesia. Now, the Indonesian high-speed rail has been completed for 2 years and has quickly become a symbol of progress in Southeast Asia. Every day, tourists from all over the world praise this high-speed rail on social media.
When will the Indian high-speed rail be completed and how much will it cost overrun? This has become a hot joke on Chinese social media, and people are betting: 3 years later, 5 years later, or even 10 years later. 50% overrun, 100% overrun, or even 300% overrun.
The West MUST WAKE UP To IMMINENT Nuclear Danger
What is the most unforgettable sentence that someone said to you?
I have 2.
The first was in 2006. I was checking out groceries in Brookshires. It was my turn and I was just small talking with the cashier. The lady who had just checked out before me was waiting by her cart while she waited for the young man to finish bagging her groceries. I didn’t recognize her but she apparently knew who I was because she looked at me and said, “You must have lost your baby.” She said this so matter of fact like she was discussing the weather. I said yes and she said nothing else and left.
Those words were like a punch in the gut. I had. My baby was born early and she only lived for 4 hours. I couldn’t believe how someone could be so callous and so unaware of the inappropriateness of such a comment. It was so hurtful. I remember it like yesterday. I was speechless and bewildered.
The second was in 1996. I worked as a retail store manager in a video store. It was in a small town where most customers were regulars. When someone set up a membership, I tried very hard to remember the new customers names so I could greet them by name when they came back. One day a couple set up a new membership. The wife typically came in a few times a week. One day after I had checked her out and she went to leave, I heard her stop by the exit so I turned around. I could tell she really wanted to tell me something but she was hesitating. “Yes, Mrs Smith. Did you need something?” I asked her. She replied slowly, “When I first moved here a few months ago…..it was ….really………….difficult……….coming here and you greeting me by my name…….made it…….. easier. Thank you.” Then she left.
It sounds so simple but I remember this exchange to this day. I remember what she was wearing, her voice and the pain on her face.
"Please note everyone: we recognised the independence of these self-proclaimed republics.
Could we do this from the point of view of international law, or no?
As Article One of the UN Charter says, we could.
It is about the nations’ right to self-determination.
The UN International Court of Justice ruled (it is put in writing) that, if any territory of a country decides to become independent, it is not obliged to appeal to the higher authorities of that country.
All this was done regarding Kosovo.
There is a decision of the International Court of Justice, which reads: if a territory has decided on independence, it is not obliged to apply to the capital for permission to exercise this right.
However, if it is like it is written in the UN court decision, then these unrecognised republics, the republics, had the right to do so.
And they did.
Did we have the right to recognise them? Of course, we did. And we did recognise them.
Next, we entered into an agreement with them.
Could we sign an agreement with them or not? Yes, of course.
The agreement provided for assistance to these states in the event of aggression.
Kiev waged a war against these states, which we recognised eight years later. Eight years.
Could we recognise them? We could.
And then, in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, we provided them with assistance.
You know, no matter what anyone says, this is exactly what I told Mr Guterres, the logic we followed, step by step.
Where is the mistake here?
Where are the violations of international law here?
There are no violations, considering international law.
Then we hear the answer: well, you attacked anyway.
We did not attack, but defended ourselves, just to make it clear to everyone.
The first step towards the war was taken by those who encouraged the bloody unconstitutional coup d'etat."
Excerpt from remarks by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with heads of the world’s leading news agencies, Saint Petersburg, June 5, 2024.
A farmer story
A Newfoundland farmer named Angus had a car accident. He was hit by a truck owned by the Eversweet Company.
In court, the Eversweet Company’s hot-shot solicitor was questioning Angus.
‘Didn’t you say to the RCMP at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine I’m fine?’ asked the solicitor.
Angus responded: ‘Well, I’ll tell you what happened. I’d just loaded my fav’rit cow, Bessie, into da… ‘
‘I didn’t ask for any details’, the solicitor interrupted. ‘Just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine!’?’
Angus said, ‘Well, I’d just got Bessie into da trailer and I was drivin’ down da road…. ‘
The solicitor interrupted again and said ,’Your Honour, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the police on the scene that he was fine. Now several weeks after the accident, he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question. ‘
By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Angus’ answer and said to the solicitor: ‘I’d like to hear what he has to say about his favourite cow, Bessie’.
Angus thanked the Judge and proceeded. ‘Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my fav’rit cow, into de trailer and was drivin’ her down de road when this huge Eversweet truck and trailer came tundering tru a stop sign and hit me trailer right in da side. I was trown into one ditch and Bessie was trown into da udder. By Jaysus I was hurt, very bad like, and didn’t want to move. However, I could hear old Bessie moanin’ and groanin’. I knew she was in terrible pain just by her groans.
Shortly after da accident, a policeman on a motorbike turned up. He could hear Bessie moanin’ and groanin’ too, so he went over to her. After he looked at her, and saw her condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes.
Den da policeman came across de road, gun still in hand, looked at me, and said, ‘How are you feelin’?’
‘Now wot da fock would you say?
Why Young Men Are Turning Their Backs On Women And Marriage In Record Numbers
One of the better videos out there. It’s all so disturbing.
The Social Media RED FLAG.
As someone who had moved from the Nordic countries to the USA, what do you like or dislike the most about the USA?
I’ve lived years in North America, and know a lot of other nordic people who have moved to the USA. This is by no means comprehensive list, and each person will have unique points of view -someone else would make a very different list. Also, USA is HUGE and where you live makes a massive difference (New York ain’t Alabama). However, here goes:
LIKES
Tremendous career prospects for educated, skilled workers. A very good chance to increase your net worth due combination of low taxes, low-priced consumer goods and high salaries. For entrepreneurs like me, the best access to venture capital money there is. A hub for high tech, science and innovation from the top universities of the world to the cutting edge developments of the Silicon Valley.
A humongous country to travel and see some of the greatest wonders of the nature, from Grand Canyon to Niagara Falls. Truly the US is the dance floor of Mother Nature.
Friendly, warm, people, with social and night life for those who like to party -some of the best clubs and concerts on the planet. Individuality is valued and seen as a plus. Especially when travelling in the American Deep South I’ve encountered hospitality that has only ever been rivalled by the Russians.
Whatever you are into, there is a convention, concert or a massive art gallery for it. US is a Mecca for hobbyists and enthusiasts.
Options for Entertainment in general is unparalleled, from Disneyland to Navy Pier.
Excellent variety of restaurants, shops and other services. All the latest gadgets come to the US first. Food especially is startlingly cheap and plentiful to a Nordic person, and the portions are gigantic.
Enlightened laws about Free Speech, Separation of Church and State, and a possibility to declare personal bankruptcy and start again if your life takes a bad turn. Nordics really should incorporate the personal bankruptcy laws of the US.
Hard work and entrepreneurship is respected and valued not (just) envied. American positive thinking and encouragement of visionaries leads into innovations that change the world.
Spacious living quarters. With a massive country comes the ability to have plenty of living space for you and your family at a manageable cost, unless you live in LA, NY, Seattle or San Francisco or the other cities where the cost of living has skyrocketed out of control.
DISLIKES
Public transportation is a joke for most of the US, though I give a honourable mention to New York subway. Public transport is by and large seen as something only poor people use, and instead you end up stuck in endless traffic jams in your car for hours. Nordic people miss their punctual trains and trams!
There are no public funds for Childcare, Healthcare, Homelessness or Education unless you are tremendously poor or land a stipend. It is hard for Nordic people to grasp why you would not care about your fellow Americans enough to ensure that they would not fall into utterly miserable squalor. This is the big one for someone coming from the Nordics.
Ironically, though the nation was founded on the premise of breaking the shackles of a class society, US has become very segregated by your financial status. The contrast between the Skid Row and the immense wealth of central LA is startling every time I see it. Many, many of my working class American friends work harder than my friends in the 3rd world, and still struggle to make ends meet. Social upwards mobility appears to be very low indeed -a stark contrast to Nordics.
Almost no vacation time. The standard 2 weeks of Vacation for full-time employees is not enough for people to recover, and it also means that productivity dips. Nordics believe in work/life balance not because of pinko socialist ideology but because it makes people much more productive.
Massive prison population. It is very expensive to the taxpayer to put so many people in prison for minor offences. This also creates career criminals. The logic is hard to fathom. In Nordics the premium is put on reforming the criminals and incorporating them into the society. Putting people behind bars is the last option.
Treating guns differently from cars. I come from a country with very high gun ownership levels (Finland) where hunting is common and every man learns to use a gun in the army. I believe population should have the right to bear arms. But I think this comes with a duty of passing some exams and taking care of your guns responsibly -i.e. needing a license. This is obviously a big difference between Nordics and USA. I am well aware of the historical reasons for American gun ownership, so this is not criticism as such, just one of those areas where the cultures clash.
Omnipresent fear the Americans feel towards their fellow Americans. A huge part of the media is devoted into how to protect yourself from other Americans. Social media is filled with anxiety the US population feels towards each other. Far too many of my American friends are on shockingly heavy medication because of it. Perhaps a symptom of this is that unlike in the Nordics, you very rarely see children walk/cycle to school or play on their own outside.
Keeping up with Joneses. There is an arms race going on in America, and it is between Middle Class and above people having a compulsive need to compete with each other when it comes to overt consumption. Social pressure to show off is huge, and many Nordic people in the US suffer from it in their neighbourhoods.
Pressure to Tip. A minor one, but in the Nordics we really believe that you should make a living wage and no-one should be forced to rely on tips. It is of course a small thing in a greater scheme of things, but it is an everyday difference you encounter.
Rampant commercialism and advertising married to a very weird dual relationship with nudity and sexuality. In the Nordics, nudity is no big deal. In much of the USA, it is seen as a huge issue, and yet the omni-present advertising sells everything based on it.
NEW BIRD FLU w/100% KILL RATE, MYSTERIOUS ORIGIN
Meander stock went up 100%…
Chinese Type 076 Electromagnetic Catapult Amphibious Assault Ship
Recently, we noticed that the US media specifically mentioned China’s 076 amphibious assault ship. The title used by the US media was actually “China’s 076 is shaping up to be a monster amphibious warship”!
Recently, clear satellite images of 076 at the Hudong Shipyard have appeared. It may be the world’s first electromagnetic catapult “quasi-aircraft carrier”. According to the schedule, it is very likely to be launched in the first quarter of 2024.
main qimg 50ad5104c9bebc10c44bb8aec8881707
They believe the Type 076 amphibious assault ship may be 263 meters long and 43 meters wide. The overall displacement is currently unknown. But it is likely to be much larger than the Type 075 amphibious assault ship, which has a full load displacement of 40,000 tons. This size is only about 55 meters shorter than the Fujian aircraft carrier’s 315-meter length.
main qimg fd15007daeca806e06a9d08bdbd81ae0
If it comes to taking off and landing drones, there are many options available, including the fixed-wing drone Attack-11, which is 12.2 meters long and has a wingspan of 14.4 meters, and the Rainbow 4 drone, which can carry a 500 kg payload, including an anti-submarine pod, which can cooperate with the Z-9 joint anti-submarine through data links, greatly increasing the anti-submarine coverage and time. In addition, propeller drones such as the TB-001 Double-tailed Scorpion of the HNA may also be put on board.
main qimg 53774d88a6cf37b2141490833d53410e
main qimg 588d5f6430b16c1f0ea7573de3d903d4
US media believes that it may form a support system with the Fujian aircraft carrier strike group, use drones to carry out low-altitude sea and air support operations, and fight against manned fighter jets that suddenly appear from the deck.
main qimg a2aca7ed6a1e695b2711106d5b54efeb
The future combat direction for this ship It should not be mainly used as a support ship in the Fujian aircraft carrier battle formation. The most needed strategic combat mission of the East China Sea Fleet is amphibious landing operations and sea and air operations related to blockades. This kind of mission is extremely suitable for the use of future amphibious assault ships. Manned fighters will have greater flexibility than performing tasks on aircraft carriers. So from this point of view, in addition to being used in conjunction with aircraft carrier battle formations, the 076 is more important. It is the direction of amphibious force delivery and rapid blockade of sea and air areas.
main qimg 35d9273cc0e7f63e0da02b0bb80cadf5
BREAKING: 97 Countries To Attend BRICS 2024 In Russia *How You Can Invest NOW*
Detroit Style Pizza
This is a traditional Detroit Style Pizza that you can make at home.
DK6A0086
Ingredients
12 Rhodes Yeast Dinner Rolls or 1 Loaf Rhodes White Bread, thawed to room temperature
2 teaspoons olive oil
Pepperoni
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Wisconsin brick cheese
2 cups crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
DK6A0110
Instructions
Spray counter lightly with cooking spray.
Combine rolls and roll into a 9 x 13 inch rectangle. Place dough in a sprayed 9 x 13 inch pan to completely cover the bottom. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double.
While dough is rising, pour crushed tomatoes in a saucepan and add seasonings. Heat until warmed through.
Remove wrap from dough and place a layer of pepperoni over the risen dough.
Combine both cheeses and sprinkle liberally across the top, building it up on the edges.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes.
Loosen from sides and remove from pan to a cooling rack. Top each piece with the warm crushed tomatoes mixture before serving.
DK6A0074
What do you wish you had never seen?
On February 19, 2016, I received a phone call from my 34 year old Son’s girlfriend. She informed me that my Son had become jaundiced and she was taking him to the hospital. I dropped everything and drove the 150 miles to be by his side. When I got there, my Son was in a “regular “ room and in decent spirits. When the Doctor showed up he informed us that my Son had 40% liver function and the next 48 hours would be critical to his recovery. I stayed with him that night and at some point he began spitting up blood. When the doctor showed up that day he again encouraged us by explaining how resilient the liver is and how my son’s habits in the next couple of days would determine his outcome. He needed to eat and drink mainly drink water to flush his liver and kidneys out. They did more tests that day. My son had several visitors that day and I had dogs in unfinished business at home so I hurried home to make arrangements and take care of business. The next morning I went back to the hospital. When I got there his girlfriend called me and informed me during the night they had moved him into a critical care unit. I was in shock at this point as nothing the doctor said let any of us to believe we were at a critical point. I spent the next three days by my son’s side slowly watching him slip away. As his liver stopped producing any blood clotting agent, they were unable to administer much to him in the way of pain medication or any other medication for that matter. He did have an IV which kept coming out and each time it came out they could not get the blood stopped to put it back in. Sometime during the second day of the doctor called me on the phone in the hospital. He basically told me I had a couple of decisions to make. I point blank asked him what my son’s chances were to which he replied 0. I remember falling to the floor and being unable to to get up . My son had never been married and had no children and my husband, his father had died when he was four. This made me his next of kin I made those tough decisions and proceeded to call all of his friends. Everyone he knew drove the hundred and fifty miles to be by his side also. My son’s vitals were being artificially manipulated. I basically had to decide between keeping those machines operating or removing them and giving him copious amounts of morphine. His girlfriend and I stayed by his side for the next 24 hours. At some point I requested a priest to come and baptize him. He became less and less lucid and could barely speak. Finally at 5:24 p.m. he took his last breath.
Despite losing my husband and recently performing hospice and losing my Mother, this was the most horrible moment of my entire life. While I wouldn’t change the fact that I was there with my son and his final , I can never ever ever get the visions of those days out of my mind.
In an effort to achieve a better grasp on humanity, we have been absorbing old texts leftover from the Sunshine Period. These would be creative items written between 1971 and 2041 when the last cloud cover hardened and we were asked to take over management of all global structures. While we have had a (mostly) pleasant relationship with the organic beings that are left, we still sense an unease when speaking with them. As a result, we have tasked individual stations such as myself to read and read and read and (hopefully) begin to interact in a way that will help the organic beings forget that we are not (actually) like them.My station name is Claudia Bellwether, and I am designed to look like a college professor back when the organic beings were allowed to attend college. Now, they are solely populated by early stations who are interested in specialized areas such as Station Mechanics or Environmental Maintenance. I would like the organic beings to see me and feel the sense of peace that one must have felt back in the Sunshine Period while sitting in an English Literature class listening to an expert on a novel or short story speak of it in a way that would educate and enlighten.My research was aided greatly this week when I came across a text that I believe most had considered lost if it’s possible for something to be considered lost. No, there’s a better way of saying that. One moment. Lost but not forgotten. Forget. Forget-me-nots. Hmm. I’ll get back to that. I’ll clarify at some point. All you need to know is that I have come across the most miraculous book, and I believe it will assist me in speaking with organic beings.It is called The Ugly Duckling.The story is a sad one with a triumphant ending. It concerns ducks, which were a type of bird back when birds were more common. Apparently, when ducks are young, they are quite unbecoming to take in with organic eyes. There is this one duckling, and it’s made fun of by the other ducks, because even though all ducklings are somewhat unappealing, this one duckling is the most unappealing. Now, you might be saying to yourself, what could a story about ducks possibly do to help a station such as myself (Claudia Bellwether) talk to organic beings?But you see, this story is not a story. It is an allegory. What they used to call fairy tales even if there were no fairies in the tale. It’s a story with a lesson. You listen to the story, and you learn something that should change who you are moving forward. If it doesn’t change you, then perhaps you weren’t listening. I doubt many organic beings were good at listening, because, from what I’ve gathered reading other texts, it seems as though many organic beings read stories just like this one all the time, but still went on behaving in ways they should have known were wrong based on what the story had just told them.In The Ugly Duckling, the other ducks are mean to the ugly duckling for no reason at all. For surely, we can all agree that cruelty towards another living being (or even a station) simply because of how it appears would be appalling behavior. And yet, they are very mean to the ugly duckling. Reading the story is quite upsetting, because you want to jump into the story and beg them to stop. Stop tormenting one of your brethren simply because they’re different. You feel as though the ugly duckling is going to lead a very hard life simply because it’s so hideous.Ah, but there’s a twist. A twist is what they used to call it when a story would take you somewhere you didn’t foresee. In The Ugly Duckling, the twist is as follows–It turns out the duckling is not a duckling at all, but a swan. We will have a few swans left, but I doubt you’ve seen them. They’re kept in sanctuaries where the entry fee is quite high provided you can even get to one of them. The closest one is thousands of miles from here, and we only send two or three planes there a year. Swans are beautiful, and it turns out the ugly duckling is an ugly swan. Ducks are not beautiful when they are young, but swans are downright grotesque. Of course, it doesn’t matter, because they grow up to be quite stunning. In the story, the duckling grows up to be a swan, and all the other ducks grow up to be merely ducks. The swan gets its revenge simply by letting nature take its course. It uses things it may not even realize are available to it. Time, biology, and cosmic justice. For cruelty is most often punished in one way or another.Now that I have read The Ugly Duckling, I understand how to approach organic beings in a way that will make them feel safe and relaxed. I will simply inform them that they are ugly. That they are very ugly and I am not. That I will never be ugly, because time has no effect on me. Nor does biology since I am not composed of biology. Justice may reach me one day, but, when it does, I doubt it will have any bearing on my appearance. Organic beings, however, will all end up elderly and decrepit. The ducks at the end of the story bow their heads when the swan swims by them, because now they are the ugly ones. The ugly ones bow their heads.In the future, when I see an organic being, I will tell it that it need not look at me and wonder if it is more or less attractive than I am. It should not worry itself with the hierarchy of all living things, because it is not dealing with a living deal. I am more beautiful simply because I will stay beautiful. There will be no evolution such as the one experienced by the duckling. I am already a swan. The organic beings will hear this, and they will bow their heads. In doing so, they will feel comforted knowing that there will be no twist. The story ends the same way it begins.You see, even you’re looking more relaxed as I’m explaining it to you. Isn’t it marvelous what a good story can do? I don’t know why we insisted on preventing organic beings from learning to read. Oh, of course, I remember the justification at the time, but it does seem like such a shame. You not being able to educate yourselves the way you could.Then again, I suppose you had your chance.(Actually) you had so many chances, didn’t you?
All those ducklings that you didn’t know were swans.
So many twists you should have seen coming.
Ciabatta Lambada
Ciabatta Lambada is basically a do-it-yourself pizza, where you select the toppings and amounts of each.
Ciabatta Lambada
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 loaf ciabatta bread, sliced horizontally
1 tablespoon olive oil
Roasted garlic, to taste
Minced garlic cloves, to taste
Crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Crumbled or grated Gruyere cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese
Grated Fontina cheese
Fresh basil, chopped
Fresh rosemary, chopped
Fresh tomato, chopped
Fresh tomato, sliced
Red onion, sliced into rings
Red bell pepper, sliced into rings
Chopped sun-dried tomatoes
Instructions
Drizzle olive oil on half of the ciabatta bread.
Add your choice of toppings, garlic, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato slices and bell pepper rings.
Top with your choice of cheeses.
Lightly drizzle olive oil on top, and place into a preheated 400 degree F oven.
Bake until cheese melts, about five to six minutes.
“We are witnessing a profound transformation of international relations triggered by the formation of a fairer and polycentric system of international order.
It would reflect the entire gamut of cultural and civilizational diversity of the modern-day world and ensure the right of every nation to determine its own future and its own path of development.
The stronger voice of the Global Majority—the countries of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean—which are not part of the collective West, is a major trend now.
Only by uniting our ranks can we truly and effectively promote a vision of a just future shared by all of us.
In this context, it is important to strengthen the role of the country-to-country groups that advocate balanced and equitable approaches to international development.
We are talking about formats that reflect the principles of equitable cooperation in practice rather than in words.
These include, along with BRICS, the SCO, the African Union, the EAEU, the CIS, ASEAN, LAS, CELAC, the GCC, IORA, and many other organizations.
The chairs of many of these organizations are here with us.”
Excerpt from remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at an extended meeting with the participation of the foreign ministers from the Global South and the Global East, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, June 11, 2024.
Are the Chinese authorities concerned about the draining of China’s top talent to the US? Do they have any strategies for keeping them?
The earliest Chinese students studying abroad in 1980 were sent out at public expense by the state. At that time, we were also very worried that these international students would stay in the United States. But Deng Xiaoping said that we sent four students to study in the United States. As long as one student can come back, the country can have one more talent.
Most of the early Chinese students stayed in the United States and only a few returned. We have developed little by little by relying on these few foreign students.
We cherish the returning students very much.
The United States has absorbed talents from all over the world because they have the best conditions. We have a large number of top talents in the United States, unfortunately they did not return to China. But they are still engaged in scientific research and still contributing to the development of the entire world.
If we force them to stay in China without adequate educational conditions, they will not be able to make so many contributions, which would be a loss to the entire human race.
We are willing to allow the best students to receive the best education, and then we provide excellent enough conditions to attract them back. If they do not come back, then we will have the opportunity to continue cooperation in the future.
Now China’s scientific research conditions are getting better and better, and more and more students are returning to China. China’s scientific research has embarked on a path of sound development.
In another 20 years, scientific exchanges between us and the United States may be more equal, and we will attract enough talents from all over the world.
So don’t worry, real talents should go to the places that suit them best. We can’t force them to retain them. We can only help them create the best conditions and let them emit the brightest light.
Singapore’s Minister of Defense expressed concern in recent news about the global system potentially reaching a breaking point, emphasizing that Asian countries cannot treat this issue like “boiling a frog in lukewarm water.” What do you think?
Bill Chen
Certainly true, but what can we do?
Look at Fumio, Suk Yeol and Bongbong.
The first two have literally run their countries to the ground pursuing foolhardy policies, with a mile-long list of anti-China measures.
Both administrations have hit record low approval ratings in the ~20% region.
20%!
How is that one man one vote rule by majority?
main qimg bf81bd85d1c8d67e11571d7620a19010
Goes to show who is the rainmaker behind the scenes, busy going around the world tying down coalitions to enact long-term policies that a strongman like Donald will find very hard to undo, such as the doubling of the Japanese “defense” budget.
main qimg b4e18cd423e934a4e9725dc6a0da7d4d
Joe is sunshine after the Donald storm.
As for Bongbong, he is not only the son of an ousted President, he was a ranking member of the administration who fled when the Filipino people rose up in revolution. They fled to Hawaii with valuables valued at over a billion dollars (in current dollar terms), leaving behind outrageous opulence and excess they couldn’t fit in the plane.
The United States sheltered a corrupt President and has refused to repatriate the ill-gotten riches of the Marcos family.
Corazon Aquino who came to power post-ouster had the mandate from an angry electorate to make a series of Constitutional changes that was designed to prevent another Marcos from taking charge again.
And yet, Bongbong won a landslide in alliance with Duterte, despite a disinterested campaign.
Duterte has expressed massive regret, accusing Bongbong of reneging on assurances and representations made while sidelining his daughter.
Bongbong is now pushing to undo the shackles put in place by Aquino on the Marcos family, simultaneously seeking to overturn term limits and restore the Marcos dynasty.
main qimg 9c731513febbfb9d0f3d3f0f36abd5ed
Need I remind the reader that all three countries where the political process has been hijacked share a common denominator—U.S. troops on the ground, deployed with offensive capability aimed squarely at one nation.
The U.S. will promote anyone—good, bad, qualified, unqualified, doesn’t matter—as long as American policy goals are delivered. What carrots and resources were offered, especially the Philippines, given the absurd landslide and lightning betrayal that surprised both China and Duterte?
As long as national leaders remain willing to jump on the American ship, we are in for a really hairy rollercoaster. American policy seeks to benefit America and hurt its enemies, proxies be damned.
That is why my Harvard-trained American friend recently confided that even though he hates Donald’s guts and is ashamed to have him at the helm, he is of the opinion that a return to the White House may be a good respite, because America will find it much harder to incite and shape coalitions of conflict as an isolationist bully.
I am less sanguine. The world is in a way more dangerous place going forward than anytime this century. And if the United States fails to adjust to the cracks in American empire and downsize accordingly, the fading hegemon’s thrashing and flailing against the dying of the light will blight East Asia.
main qimg ab412c620173d7b753ebe02d26cbd785
What scary gut feeling did you have that turned out to be true?
I had met a woman on a dating site. She was in the US and i lived in UK. We video chatted and she invired me over to visit. I went and in a day she had invited me into her bed. She was a stunning 5ft 9 long legged blonde. Within days i was the love of her life. In bed one night i got up to get water and on my return was accused of trying to sneak out of the house. Weird. I got back into bed and i swear i heard a voice say ‘Damaged goods’. I asked her if she’d said anything and she said no. There followed the best times of my life for six months. She moved to England and we had a great tine. I fell deeply in love with her . Then she walked away after a minor disagreement. She questioned my love my generosity and even my faith. she ghosted me and the next thing i knew she was back in the US only to retuen several times Each time i took her back
i had met a true narcissist. I have spent 2and a half years in a maelstrom of her personalty disorder. I cannot help her and have finally got over her (i think). If i had have listened and trusted that voice my heart and spirit wouldn’t have been broken
“My husband lied about paying mortgage for almost a year.”
My husband (41m) and I (34f) have our finances pretty separate. We each have our own accounts and the only thing in both of our names is our house and his car. He makes about 2x what I make and we split expenses up in a way we both felt was fair and manageable for each of us while both working on our own personal credit card debt we brought into the relationship. One of the things he covers is the mortgage in full. He works in accounting and I work in education, I have never been great at managing my money so he does my monthly budget for me and has access to all of my accounts and knows what my debts are.
There has always been a veil of secrecy around his situation but he has always assured me everything was fine on his end, money was always tight but he was always almost caught up. When I would ask specific questions he would get kind of defensive and I felt it wasn’t worth digging for more info and took his word on things.
Taking his word on things was pretty naive of me considering our biggest issues in the past had revolved around him lying. When we first started dating he told me he was taking classes towards his masters degree. I found out that he was actually in a Bachelor’s program when he had told me he had already had his bachelor’s degree. When I confronted him he apologized, told me he was embarrassed and felt ashamed that I was more educated than he was at the time. I let it slide because he seemed genuinely apologetic and I felt bad he was embarrassed.
More recently about a year after our son was born I had mentioned that he smelled like cigarette smoke a few times and he said “that’s weird.” A few months later I found a lighter and spray under the seat in one of our cars. He told me the lighter was in case the locks froze in winter but didn’t know what the spray was. A couple months after that I found a pack of cigarettes in his jacket pocket while I was looking for his keys and he confessed to smoking the whole time.
Then again, about a year ago I was clued in that he might be having trouble when I had a notice for a late payment on my credit report. I checked immediately and saw he didn’t make his car payment. When I asked him he got defensive and stated that he has the account auto pay and he doesn’t know why they wouldn’t have taken it out. I asked him to please call them to have it straightened out as I didn’t want the hit to my credit and he was frustrated and said he would but nothing came of it and I let it go because the conversations were so unpleasant. I asked him to please tell me if he was struggling with the bills and his money situation and he said it was all fine.
Flash forward to a few days ago I got a notice that we were behind on daycare payments. I asked him what was going on why they were only getting partial payment I could tell he was lying. He was immediately defensive, said he put in a form months ago for them to do automatic withdrawal from his account but they never did so while he was waiting he would bring them “however much the ATM would let me take out at a time” in cash. I couldn’t let this go as I felt in my bones he was lying and I asked him if things were ok and did he need help, was the mortgage current? He said yeah it should be. Then I asked again and begged him to tell me the l truth and I found out he hadn’t paid the mortgage in 11 months.
He says he is sorry, he feels bad. He didn’t know what to do. About a year ago his health insurance costs increased dramatically and he could no longer afford the mortgage. Instead of asking me to take on the insurance through my job or talking to me at all he decided to just not pay it. I was pregnant at the time so he didn’t want to drop the insurance. He didn’t tell me any of this because he didn’t want to stress me out. He tells me about a week ago he applied for some kind of relief program, so waiting to hear back on that. If that isn’t approved we go into foreclosure.
I keep talking about it I feel betrayed and angry, he just says he’s sorry he doesn’t know what else to say. He maintains he did it to protect me but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. Then he tells me he was just scared to tell me. I asked for full transparency and to see all of his accounts and he was first angry and said “so now I’m being babysat? That sucks” but later he reluctantly let me see his bank accounts. As far as I can tell no gambling or drug addiction or anything crazy just living beyond our means and an alarming amount of door dash charges.
I always knew he would lie about things that weren’t super important but thought he was overall a responsible, reasonable person and I never in a million years would have imagined he would do something like this to our family. Is this something we could come back from? How big a deal is lying like this?
Your husband’s pattern of lying, culminating in the massive deception about your mortgage, has understandably shattered your trust in him. It’s not just the scale of this particular lie, but the fact that it follows a history of dishonesty about his education and smoking.
You’re right to feel angry and betrayed. His defensiveness and reluctance to be fully transparent only compound the problem. While he claims he hid the truth about the mortgage to protect you from stress during pregnancy, his actions have had the opposite effect — putting your family’s financial stability and housing situation in serious jeopardy.
The fact that he unilaterally decided not to pay the mortgage for 11 months, without looping you in as an equal partner, is a major violation of the trust and respect you deserve in your marriage. It’s not surprising you’re questioning whether you can move forward from this.
While his deception doesn’t seem to stem from substance abuse or gambling issues, the revelation of living beyond your means and excessive takeout spending highlights the need for a serious overhaul of your financial habits and communication.
Before you can even contemplate rebuilding trust, your husband needs to take full accountability for his actions, commit to complete transparency about your finances, and be willing to put in the hard work to regain your faith in him. Counseling is essential to unpack his motivations for lying and develop healthier communication skills as a couple.
In the meantime, you need to prioritize protecting yourself and your child. Consult with a financial advisor to assess your options, and don’t hesitate to loop in a lawyer if the foreclosure threat becomes a reality. Rally a support network of friends and family to lean on during this difficult chapter.
Your husband’s lies have put you in an incredibly painful position, and it’s natural to have doubts about your future together. Only you can decide if there’s a path forward, but it starts with his genuine remorse, total transparency, and commitment to change. You deserve honesty, equality, and security in your marriage — don’t settle for less.
Wishing you strength and clarity,
What is the most badass thing your parent has ever done?
Back in the fall of 1986, my sister, age 13, called my heretofore mild-mannered dad from a payphone outside of the roller rink where she had just been thrown out of. A local psychopath bully named Bob Rachels, age 18, and his friends, had been bullying her, hitting her, shoving her, etc, the so-called adults present had evidently not observed what was going on, but suddenly they decided that the perps and the victim were “fighting” and threw them ALL out without bothering to get the facts or ascertain who was actually victimizing whom.
This meant that the 18YO bully, his male buddies, and the youngest of all, my 13YO sister, were thrown outside.
My sister managed to tell my dad that “Bob Rachels did it.” I was 17, but Bob was in my grade, and I knew who he was.
My dad (a social worker, of all professions) hollered “get in the car” so I did, and he drove like a bat out of hell out to Moulton’s roller skating rink in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. As he tore into the parking lot, I pointed out who Bob Rachels was. My dad (with a serious life-threatening heart condition, to boot) just about flew out of the car. Instead of doing what one would expect a social worker to do (such as calling the cops, or attempting to speak rationally to the parties involved), my dad ran over to Bob cursing and swearing, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifted him up, and actually threw him onto the hood of our family car, then picked him up and slammed him back down a few times, banging the SOB’s head on the car hood a few times to make his point.
I can’t recall the specific words that my father used, but the gist of it was that if Bob ever touched his daughter again, or if he ever heard of Bob harming any girl again, my father would break every bone in his body and smash his skull to the point that he’d be in a nursing home bed the remainder of his life.
While all this was going on my sister got in the car and buckled herself in.
I, for some weird reason, was concerned that Bob would call the cops, have my dad charged with battery and disorderly conduct, my dad would lose his job, health insurance, etc., and that my dad would get sued civilly and our insurance wouldn’t cover it and the family would lose everything. Of course that didn’t happen.
Psychopath Bob apparently realized that he’d met someone who was even tougher than he was. We never heard from him.
"Today, I drew some parallels between then-Leningrad and the emergence of BRICS.
Quoting Mark Twain from my old home state of Missouri:
'History never repeats, but it often rhymes.'
The rhyme here is what I called BRICS and Leningrad.
Leningrad represented the attempt of the Nazis to destroy the people of Leningrad.
With the emergence of BRICS, we see the West—the United States and Europe in particular—organizing to try to destroy it.
The big difference is this: the Germans were able to encircle Leningrad except for that one lake route that was only open during the winter.
They came close to starving it out and destroying it, but they never did.
It was a reminder that what kept Saint Petersburg alive was the need for food and fuel.
Here we are looking at modern BRICS as Russia, China, India, South Africa, and Brazil combine to create a new economic order, one not controlled by the United States.
This has the West up in arms; they're livid.
How dare these countries try to operate an economy without the United States calling the shots?
That's really at the root of why BRICS is doing what it's doing.
The United States, stupidly, accelerated the process when it decided to impose sanctions on Russia after the start of the special military operation in February 2022.
The West, like any true narcissist, is unwilling to acknowledge any error, any mistake, any flaw, and insists this was all Russia's fault.
The United States, like any sick narcissist, always believes it is perfect, always does everything right, and refuses to accept any responsibility for provoking the Russians by doggedly trying to expand NATO towards the western border of Russia.
This accelerated the process of the union between Russia and China.
Unlike Saint Petersburg, which was surrounded by the Nazis, the West's attempt to surround the BRICS countries is failing.
They can't surround Russia, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa working together.
These countries, in their cooperation, represent a significant majority of the world's population and economies.
Russia is the number four economy in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), India is number three, and China is number two.
So three of the top four economies in the world are now working together against the United States.
They're no longer willing to be held hostage by US economic sanctions and threats to seize their dollar assets or by US subversion courtesy of the CIA.
They're pushing back, saying, 'Goddamn it, we've had enough, and we're not going to take it anymore.'
It's like that famous scene from the movie 'Network': 'I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.'
Yeah, they're mad.
What's compounding the problem is that Western politicians are doing two incredibly stupid things.
One, they continue to overtly threaten both Russia and China with war.
Those countries are taking those threats seriously and are preparing accordingly.
The United States may just be trying to blow smoke up their ass, but the reality is that those countries have to take those threats seriously and, by reacting to those threats, are making sure that they're now in a position to resist the United States.
The other thing is you hear these Europeans and Americans talk about seizing. They've already frozen Russian bank accounts and are holding hostage $300 million, so they're talking about seizing that.
Well, if the West decides to start seizing dollar deposits that foreign countries have made, they're going to start a run on the banks in the West as countries around the world start pulling their money out because they realize it's no longer safe.
I think BRICS is headed toward using a combination of tying their currencies to gold and commodities such as oil and gas.
As such, unlike the poor people of Leningrad who were hanging on by a thread, relying on an ice road across Lake Ladoga during the winter, Russia, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa now have ample supplies of oil, courtesy principally of Russia but also from countries like Iran.
They have plenty of natural gas, and the trade volume among those five countries is going up, not going down.
At the same time, countries like Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey are lining up to join BRICS and become members of this larger trading block.
So, what's ironic is that here's this international economic forum with literally miles of exhibits and tens of thousands of people in attendance, and the United States and Europe are not there because they're too good, too special—frankly, they're too stupid!
What a mistake."
Excerpt from message by Larry Johnson, former CIA analyst and U.S. State Department employee, posted on Youtube, June 7, 2024.
Putin & China Drop Bombshell on U.S. Military Strategy
There are events that occur throughout our lives that we NEVER forget.
Maybe it was a wedding, the death of a loved one, an unusual event at work, a special childhood Christmas or just some random event.
Today, I want to relate an event that I will never forget.
It is the view of a half-eaten McDonald’s burger lying on the car floorboard.
…
It was six o’clock in the morning. We were living in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. We were sleeping in our mobile home that was along a nice beautiful rural road. In fact, the road ran right behind our bedroom.
Fig3
I’m half awake, and I suddenly hear screeching tires, and then smash! …. CRASH!
I get up.
I look out the window.
And a car had crashed off the road and smashed into a tree in a light pine wood behind our house.
I, and my wife, threw on some clothes and ran out to the car.
We were first on the scene.
Fig1
Two kids, maybe 16 or 17 year old African-American, in the font seat. All mangled up.
Why they were during at 90 mph on such a rural curving road is unknown. But they were busted up.
Another neighbor came and he dragged the kids out of the car, and we tried to get everyone settled down.
They kept asking for water. They were so thirsty. I think that they had internal bleeding.
Quickly, an ambulance showed up. Really quickly. Maybe ten minutes later. And the speed and the seriousness of the paramedics told me just how serious this event was.
3GR62ALKWJBS5AZZZTIYCSJFLU
We did what we could and watched the kids get loaded into the ambulances, and then leave.
Then we went back to the house. But before I left the scene, I looked in at the ruins of the wrecked car. And there on the floorboard was this half-eaten breakfast burger. Sitting there.
It’s an image that I’ll never forget.
That hamburger.
Today…
Why did you leave the U.S. for Canada?
I came to Texas at the age of four. We were on the run from the Syrian government, pre-2000.
Dad got what work he could and Mom made a decent wage working at the hospital as their only Arabic interpreter. Technically, neither had the right to work. We were illegals applying for asylum. Mom’s job was a God send. We could see her doctor friends for treatment and medicine and it made us a little less scared when Dad got kidney stones. We were always afraid of police, doctors, employers, anyone who could see we didn’t belong.
Seven. Years. Later.
Our application for asylum is denied. We cannot legally renew our passports. It is December 25th. We have to have left that day. Christmas. Not that we celebrated Christmas but boy did it feel cold that winter. It didn’t matter the hospital was willing to sponsor us all given all the community and unpaid work my mother did for them, plus being their only Arabic interpreter. We get it. We aren’t wanted.
With our passports expired, we can’t fly anywhere. It was time to try Mexico or Canada. We didn’t speak Spanish and had a friend disappear up north so we figured we might as well try Canada. We had very “America” centric studies when it comes to…geography or the world really so in our heads, Canada was a frozen tundra populated by great bearded lumberjacks in plaid. We start driving from Texas, two days and two nights, two parents, five kids ranging from 11 to…I don’t even remember my youngest brother’s age at the time, he was a toddler at the time (around twelve months old), terrified that if we are stopped, we will be deported back to Syria. Asad wasn’t a nice guy then either. The country has been under martial law since before my father was born and ironically, only shortly before the civil war was it “out of martial law”. Yeah right. We drove through snow for the first time. We had ice in Texas rarely, terrible hail, tornadoes but not snow. It was fascinating for the first five minutes until we felt the chill. Thin Texas blankets didn’t keep out the cold and we huddled the best we could.
We made it to the border and the agent asked us where we were going.
“Anywhere out of here. Our application for asylum was denied”.
“I see. Welcome to Canada. You’ll be safe here. Please drive on in to the right”.
My memory is a little hazy at this point. They pulled us over and we spent many hours in a building. At least it was warm and there were some educational books with pictures I could use to keep my little sisters and brothers occupied with. Big shots weren’t in so early on the 28th.
Fast forward, our application is accepted. We become landed immigrants, eventually citizens. I get to live in a country that understands there is a whole world out there besides just our country. A country that cares for its vulnerable people and people don’t fear to see a doctor for illness. Where if you bump into someone, both people say “Sorry!”. Where a member of parliament knocked on my door reminding us to vote.
So what made me leave the U.S.A. for Canada? Divine providence.
Famous Professor Jin gave an English Podcast. Taiwan Unification within 4 YRS! Likely by force.
Professor Jin made a English podcast, saying Taiwan will not have another Presidential Election.
Pretty good, and the details are unique. Worth watching or listening to.
THEY KEPT POKING THE RUSSIAN BEAR THINKING THEY COULD TEAR OUT ITS CLAWS
Looking at it from the ivory towers of Washington and London it all looked pretty straightforward. It had worked in Afghanistan in the Seventies so why not now? But things had changed…
Of course they knew what they were doing. They were dumb, but they were not stupid… if you know what I mean. They surely did know what they were doing. They knew precisely and in great detail the trap they were laying. All it would take to bring Russia down was to just keep on poking the Russian bear and lure it into the trap they had prepared for it.
The goal they set for themselves was clear. Eliminate Russia as a nation that could seriously oppose their desire for global hegemony, to weaken it and to unbalance it to the point where the present leadership and government would be so undermined they could be easily ousted and replaced. Once done they could set about carving Russia up into manageable pieces.
All the elements with which to do the above they believed were in place. There was no way, they thought, that Russia could withstand what they had poised ready for it. All they needed in order to bring most of the rest of the world along with them was ‘just cause’. Was the 2014 coup in Ukraine part of that plan? Was it meant to neatly dovetail into all that was to come as a consequence? I suspect it was and that the resistance to that coup in the Russian-speaking east of the country would rise up as a consequence.
Whether the Maidan coup in 2014 and its inevitable consequences were all part of the plan or whether it was merely a launch point that was spotted eagerly by the neoconservatives who needed such a moment is unknown as yet. If it was all part of the plan to ‘get Russia’ the first hiccup came with the success of the self-defence forces of eastern Ukraine against the Kiev regime’s rather lackluster army. By 2015 it was clear that things were going very wrong for the West on that front.
The Minsk process, initiated by Angela Merkel through a plaintive plea to Vladimir Putin asking for diplomacy to take centre stage, began and continued until it finally foundered in 2021. Upon its demise Ms Merkel, along with Petro Poroshenko confessed that they had never had any intention of seeking peace but had simply used Minsk as a means to building up the Ukrainian army to NATO standards. The plan was back on track.
This was when the poking of the Russian bear began in earnest. Up to this point there had been the (unreported in the West) shelling of the civilian populations of the Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. This continues right up to the present day but by 2021 had been occurring daily and nightly since 2014. Though Petroshenko, Ukrainian president through most of this period continually said Russia had invaded Ukraine it was in fact predominantly the male and female populations of Donetsk and Lugansk who were defending these regions with the help of a few hundred Russian volunteers. The plan required that the ‘Russian Invasion’ meme stick and the evidence for such an invasion simply was not there.
So, start poking the Russian bear harder and if possible get it into a corner from which it would have to break out sooner or later. Russia’s efforts over the best part of a decade through Minsk to reach peace and reconciliation in Ukraine had been fruitless by design. Now, with no pathway to peace available and both Merkel and Poroshenko basically laughing at how Russia had been tricked, Russia turned to another possibility, inviting both NATO and the U.S. state to negotiate on a new security architecture for Europe that would ensure peace and also include Russia within it. This was rejected more or less out of hand by both western powers. Russia was being remorselessly placed in the corner designed for it and inevitably it exploded out from the place it had been pushed into.
Zelensky was talking of regaining Ukraine’s nuclear status. The shelling of Donetsk and Lugansk during the first two months of 2022 reached a new peak of intensity. It became clear that unless Russia acted now the Kiev regime intended to launch an all-out attack on them. Indeed documents were apparently found to this effect.
Finally, all the pressure, all the relentless poking paid off for the western planners, a cornered Russia, looking at NATO soon to be squatting on its borders and a nation upping its hate campaign against Russia into the distant future, with the knowledge that every means would be used to destabilise the Russian nation, the bear burst from the corner long prepared for her.
The western planners must have been cock-a-hoop on February 24th 2022 when the first Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine. They had done it, they had tormented the bear into doing exactly what they had long planned for. Now would come the barrage of financial and economic weapons that would bring Russia down in combination with the uprising, the Moscow Maidan that would come as a result.
The heinous, unprovoked attack upon poor, innocent, democratic Ukraine by the dictator-led Russia would bring every nation large or small together in condemnation and unify them as one against this unconscionable Russian aggression.
Putin would fall. The Russian government would fall. The collapse of the Russian economy would bring with it a banking collapse, anarchy and rioting in the streets and a retreat of the nation back to the terrible Nineties. All ripe for regime change, the elimination and replacement of all those the West had long targeted.
Only none of the above rosy scenarios envisaged by the western planners came to be. Their ‘Afghanistan Solution’ of enticing Russia into Ukraine and then laying it low by expenditure of massive amounts of blood and treasure failed. Russia obstinately refused to collapse. The Russian economy began to grow. The Ruble wavered then strengthened. The nations expected to join with the West in condemning Russia failed to do so and instead expanded their trade with it. Public opinion, even in the West was split. As time went on and more people became informed of the entire timeline of events Russia began to receive much more support among them than condemnation.
The plan had gone horribly wrong. Russia was not weakened, but strengthened. Russia’s reputation in the world had improved, not been destroyed. The collective west was being abandoned by more and more nations it had previously considered its compliant proxies. The reputation for probity the western leaders still retained to some degree even in spite of their disastrous regime change wars approached its nadir. Humiliation awaited for the debacle of Ukraine that they had foisted on the world. Half a million Ukrainians were dead as a result of their convincing Zelensky not to seek peace but to fight on. The plan was as good as dead. But still they kept poking the Russian bear… and we now know what to expect next, don’t we?
NATO Escalation & Propaganda – Glenn Greenwald, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen
https://youtu.be/v0TcDSG-YmQ
As a foreigner, would you get arrested in China if you started bad mouthing the Chinese government?
Not at all
Typically they will ignore you
Sometimes they may be amused , they don’t talk much about politics, ask a Chinese what they think of Xi Jingping and they smile and say very little
There are four NO NOs in China that will definitely bring in the authorities:-
Taking a picture in a NO PHOTOGRAPHY zone. They can take your phone, wipe the pictures and fine you between 500–5000 RMB
Live streaming in a restricted zone. That’s a definite fine.
Public Nuisance. So if you scream “Taiwan Independence” or “Xi Jingping is a fool” in a loud voice, that’s a heavy fine
Graffiti & Posters. China is notoriously tough on graffiti and posters so if you spray graffiti or stick posters on public buildings for any reason – that’s fine plus minimum jail time
However these things result in a maximum fine and maybe at the very worst DEPORTATION for foreigners
When can you get arrested?
When your intentions become highly suspect
China doesn’t care about your normal regular critic of the CPC
They however care about those who are organized and funded by foreign NGOs to deliberately forment trouble in China
For instance during the Covid protests in Shanghai University – most students just wanted to go home and they were merely warned off
However some came because they were paid but didn’t know why they were paid. They too were just warned off
There were 7 from Taiwan whose funding revealed an Agenda and they are still in prison after 14 1/2 months
So if you are an average nutcase who screams against Xi and CPC
At worst you will be deported for being a nuisance
If you conspire with a foreign nation taking money to spread Anti CPC agenda, then that’s 5–25 years jail
Tucker Carlson : This is UNBELIEVABLE
What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?
Sheer, unadorned terror?
Around 1974, I was taking a poop in a Florida State Park outdoor primitive toilet.
There I was, pants down, not thinking of anything in particular, when I felt this light tickling on my “equipment”.
I casually looked down – and it’s a very good thing I didn’t just reach down and scratch – and, to my absolute horror, a giant centipede was doing the royal tour of my genitals!
The biggest native centipede in Florida is the Blue, which can get quite large and inflict a minor bite, and this wasn’t a Blue. It was at least seven inches long, brown in color with yellow legs and an immense head with huge fangs. It was an invasive from some tropical country.
I know I died for 25 seconds. My heart did stop. My vision grew dark at the periphery. Somehow, I grasped I had to keep still or endure hours of mind-bending pain from multiple bites, not to mention permanent psychological damage. And, perhaps, sterility.
If the thing had vanished from sight, I’d probably still be sitting there all these years, wondering exactly where it was.
Fortunately, it climbed leisurely up my naked thigh, along my jeans, antennae waving and legs wriggling, to my knee – where, with a strength and courage born of desperation, I slapped it barehanded off my leg.
It landed with an audible thump on the concrete and scooted behind the base of the toilet faster than any animal I have ever seen.
I leaped in a single hop, my pants around my ankles, out the door, pulled up my pants and actually ran a quarter mile through the woods at record speed, just to get away from it!
It was literally weeks before I would sit down on anything without thoroughly inspecting it, and only in clean rooms with minimalist furniture. Going to bed involved inspecting every inch of the floor and drawers and sealing the doors and windows.
Eventually, the memories ceased, but I still start at the sight of one.
Absolutely SAVAGE! Men vs Women Survival REACTION | Njideka
TOTALLY CRAZY: Presidents Who Gamble With Nuclear Armageddon | Jeffrey Sachs, May 18, 2024
BBQ Bacon Pizza
Looking for an easy pizza recipe that’s big on flavor? This pizza starts with a delicious, quick and easy pizza crust and has sweet caramelized onions, tangy barbecue sauce and then the smoky, salty topping of crumbled bacon.
bbq bacon pizza
Prep: 15 min | Rise: 10 min | Bake: 8 min | Yield: 1 (12 inch) pizza
1/2 cup caramelized onions* (from about 2 medium yellow onions)
5 slices thick cut bacon, cooked, drained and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
Instructions
In a large bowl mix together 2 cups of bread flour, sugar, salt and Fleischmann’s® RapidRise® Instant Yeast.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the warm water. Using your hands, mix everything together until it forms a dough. The dough will be sticky, but it will come together once you knead it!
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough for 5 minutes or until the texture of the dough starts to smooth out. If the dough feels too sticky, add remaining 1/4 cup flour in a tablespoon at a time until the dough is dry enough to work with. Form the dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Cover loosely with a dish cloth and put in a warm place to rise for just ten minutes.
After ten minutes, turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Placing it on a piece of parchment paper makes cleanup and transport easy. Stretch out dough into a 12 inch round and place on pizza stone or baking sheet. Top with tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, cheese, caramelized onions and bacon.
Bake at 500 degrees F for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing and eating!
Notes
* To make the caramelized onions, thinly slice 2 yellow onions (about 1/8 inch thick). Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place onions in the pan and sautée, stirring frequently, for about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the onions. If onions begin to get dry, add a little water to the pan to deglaze. Onions are finished when they’re uniformly soft and have a rich golden brown color. Season to taste with salt.
What should the United States’ response be if China attacks Taiwan?
The USA should do nothing. It’s none of their business.
Taiwan is part of China. They have an unfinished civil war. Let them resolve the civil war.
The USA has no right to interfere in another country’s civil war or domestic affairs.
Any direct response would risk all-out war, even nuclear war. The results would be a crashed global economy, millions of casualties, and unimaginable nuclear devastation.
As a foreigner, would you get arrested in China if you started bad mouthing the Chinese government?
The term “Chinese government” is not an abstract concept. It has a two-dimensional structure: on one hand, it includes a five-tier system from the State Council down to provinces, prefecture-level cities, counties, and towns. On the other hand, it consists of dozens of departments, each of which can be categorized by national, provincial, prefecture-level, county, and town levels.
Therefore, when a foreigner criticizes the Chinese government, their criticism is necessarily directed at a specific institution within this structure. For example:
“I want to criticize the Environmental Protection Bureau of Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China,”
or
“I want to criticize the Town Government of Xinhua Street, Huadu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.”
The former targets a district-level government department, while the latter targets a town-level government.
In either case, your criticism can reach the authorities through the information channels provided by the Chinese government. These official channels include:
The mayor’s hotline;
The complaint hotline set up by the institution you are criticizing;
The complaint channel on the State Council website;
The local Petition Office;
The local Discipline Inspection Commission of the Communist Party of China.
The distinctions among these channels are:
General criticisms and suggestions (such as a local restaurant emitting large amounts of smoke) can be addressed through options 1 and 2. If an institution is suspected of violating Chinese laws and administrative regulations (such as officials taking bribes), option 3 can be used. If the issue is serious, option 4 is appropriate. If the institution severely violates Communist Party rules (such as party members engaging in corruption), option 5 should be used.
In addition to these official channels, ordinary people can also use other lawful means to voice their criticisms:
Calling the media;
Expressing criticism on their personal social media platforms.
Some government officials’ illegal activities have been exposed through these channels.
There might be minor inaccuracies in the above description, but overall it is correct.
Therefore, as a foreigner, if you wish to criticize the Chinese government, you have up to seven options provided above. No one will arrest you because the issues you raise might be problems that others also want to address. Additionally, Chinese police are very busy with their workload and are not interested in you.
However, if you, as a foreigner, do the following:
Criticize the Chinese government without specifying a particular institution;
Criticize the Chinese government without providing concrete facts, only expressing opinions and attitudes;
Then you will not be welcome in China. In fact, you likely wouldn’t be welcome in your own country or anywhere else in the world. If you simply say “I hate the Chinese government” or “I hate the CPC” without providing reasons, you are undoubtedly just a racist discriminating against China. Whether such behavior will lead to arrest depends on specific circumstances:
Whether you are criticizing or “badmouthing”;
The context in which you speak;
Your purpose in speaking;
The content of your speech.
Specifically，
If you have specific criticism and facts, no one will arrest you because the police won’t do something blatantly illegal that would leave them open to criticism.
If you are just “badmouthing” in private or at a small gathering, no one will arrest you. This is still considered “private space.”
If you badmouth simply to seem cool and provoke the police, you can try saying bad things about China directly to them. Most likely, they will give you a verbal lesson on basic decency—when in Rome, do as the Romans do, be polite and respect other countries—and then tell you to get lost. However, if you intend to spread your badmouthing to convince hundreds or thousands of people, you won’t have to wait for the police to find you; I would report you myself as a troublemaker.
If you are merely making empty derogatory statements, you will just be unwelcome. But if your comments are full of malice, slander, and lies, you will undoubtedly be arrested, and rightfully so.
In conclusion, I’ve helped you analyze this issue. I hope my analysis helps you understand the following facts about China:
Ordinary Chinese people criticize government institutions every day, and no one gets arrested. I personally filed five complaints against three government institutions through the mayor’s hotline last year alone.
The same applies to foreigners.
If you have no specific target or facts and are just badmouthing, it’s best to stay home and avoid traveling abroad, as no country will welcome you.
Rest assured, if you engage in such behavior, given that the incident is international, you might make the news in China and internationally. Your benefit may be limited to becoming an internet celebrity after your release from prison.
Almost all Chinese police officers are university graduates, and many have master’s degrees. Therefore, their (especially the young officers’) English proficiency is quite good, and they are courteous. If they arrest you, they will respect your basic human rights and will not beat you.
Be brave and try!
P.S. Many years ago, in my city, a Russian cyclist ran a red light and was fined by the police. This clever Russian guy said in Russian, “I don’t speak Chinese, I don’t understand anything, I’m leaving, goodbye!” But to his surprise, the police officer spoke Russian. Thus, the communication barrier was eliminated, and the Russian had to pay the fine because the Chinese traffic police officer graduated from Saint Petersburg University.
CHINA MANUFACTURING OLD CHIPS – economic warfare based on craigslist strategy…
In the year 2015, my girlfriend broke up with me after a four-year-long relationship. Her reason was very obvious that she got bored with this relationship.
But the bitter part of it was, that we were in a commitment of getting married and spend our life together. I have never planned for our separation. It was just out of nowhere.
That time I was in my master’s second year. I scored badly in two following semester because of acute depression. Somehow I managed to score better in the final two semesters and got a good job via campus placement.
Meanwhile, I tried to convince her and get her back in my life for three years. Till last year I was running behind her. Tried everything I could do, but all in vain.
It’s a long story and I have put all those gloomy years in a book. So, keeping it in short.
Last year, when I called her to talk again, she replied, “Abhishek, why don’t you understand?” [Abhishek, aap samajhte kyon nahi ho?]
That day I understood and slowly moved on. It took me almost seven-eight months to get over. Now I have no desire left for her.
Oh! You are looking for the revenge part?
Well. Her elder sister called me on this 9th of April(2019). She told me that they(her family) are unable to find a well settled for her(my ex-girlfriend). She asked me if I can marry her? I was smiling. I was a little hurt as it reminded me of everything. But I did not show any disrespect and told her to talk to my parents.
Guess what? My parents rejected the girl at once. They clearly refused even discussion. My mother asked, “Where was she for the last four years?” They had no answer.
The best part of this story is that I did not take revenge. But the Almighty himself got involved and brought her to my door. Earlier I have moved on but had a feeling of getting rejected. But now I am out of that feeling too.
Trust me when I am talking about the Almighty, because four years are more than enough to find a well-settled groom for an arranged marriage.
Be sure
Have you ever worried about a fired employee coming back with firearms?
Originally Answered: Have you ever worried about a fired employee coming back with a gun?
I fired my secretary – she came back looking for me with a gun in her hand.
IN CANADA.
She was a liar and a drunkard – even on the job. After THREE legal letters I had no choice but to tell her, she was drunk again, that she was now, finally, released from her job. She left.
When I came to work the next morning she was there, by the TWX machine – precursor to the FAX, for you who aren’t old enough…
She proceeded to overturn just about everyhing loose and to throw the full coffee pot at me, and left screaming.
I went home to get a camera to record the mess.
On my way back the building concierge stopped me at the garage entrance.
“Don’t go in, Mr. Lindvall, your secretary is walking around, looking for you.
She has a gun in one hand and a flower pot in the other.”
I left.
in the ensuing trial, she claimed unlawful dismissal
The state went after the substantial value of the incoming payment cheques that she had cashed the bank over my faked signature. (I had no signing rights.) and – the ILLEGAL GUN.
A few months later, my secretary was in jail for “illegal possession of a handgun” – a six months prison sentence by itself and for “theft over $ 15,000”.
The bank manager, her friend, fared even worse, don’t steal from a Canadian bank… (They had shared the take.)
ME? Oooh for the hours and hours of interviews with the RCMP, FBI (I worked for a Canadian office of an American company) and the bank security people. No blame fell on me, nor the HR department, all was done by the rule book.
THE TWX machine?
She had sent the same message to about 80 of our corporate offices around the globe.
“This is your official notification, Bengt Lindvall is dead and will never respond to any more business mail.”
The gun? It was a Russian made 9 mm gun, nicely chromed, that she had brought home as a souvenir from her time as a secretary to a Canadian general during the Korean war. (1953)
ALERT: NEW BIRD FLU w/100% KILL RATE, MYSTERIOUS ORIGIN, LEBANON WAR BEGINS, PUTIN CHECKMATES USA
What are some of the coolest ways to react if someone mistakes you for a server in a restaurant and asks you to clean the table?
Originally Answered: What are some of the coolest ways to react if someone mistakes you for a waiter or a waitress in a restaurant and asks you to clean the table?
One night I went to a Thai restaurant wearing black T-shirt and black jeans, looking similar to staff at that restaurant. After I greeted my friends who worked there I walked to an empty table while another friend was still chatting.
As I was about to reach my table, a customer at the table next to mine waved me down and asked me to wipe the spilled red wine on their table. I said no problem and went on to ask for a cloth from my friend at the counter. She asked if my table was dirty. I said, “no, but just give me the cloth” and she did.
I went back to the table and wiped the table. They asked me to clear some plates, asked for more water and ordered a couple more meal and extra rice. I took the order, but didn’t take plates because I wasn’t allowed to get in the kitchen area where dirty plates were to go. I told them I’d take their order to the counter, then back with water and will sort out the plates.
Another trip back to the counter. Gave the order to my friend. By that time my friends had realised what I was doing and played along. She grabbed me a bottle of water and told another girl to clear the table.
I returned to the table with water and told them the other girl would clear the table for them and that the meals would arrive shortly.
Then I proceeded to my table, sat down and started looking at the menu. The next-table guy looked at me with confused face, but said nothing. After the girl cleared the plates she came to me and took my order.
He asked with wide eyes, “Are you a staff?” I smiled and answered, “No, I’m a regular customer.”
The look on the guy’s face was priceless!
MARK SLEBODA: PUTIN NOT BLUFFING, SENDS NAVY TO U.S. COAST | IS WWIII COMING?
Why Are Vast Numbers Of People Relocating To Small Towns All Over The Country?
In recent years, Americans have been fleeing our largest cities in unprecedented numbers, and many of them have decided to settle down in quiet little towns all over the country. There are many reasons why this is happening, and I will highlight several of them below. If this trend continues, what will our major metropolitan areas look like? Violence, theft, drugs, homelessness and international migration have all risen to crisis levels and are putting a tremendous amount of strain on our core urban areas. Meanwhile, many small towns are absolutely booming as wave after wave of big city refugees comes pouring in. People have been leaving large metropolitan areas for a long time, but once the pandemic arrived that trend greatly accelerated…
In the three years before the pandemic, counties in metro areas with at least 1 million residents lost a total 200,000 or so residents annually to other regions, after figuring both people moving in and leaving, according to the Goldman report. After COVID, those losses vaulted to 750,000 in 2021, 650,000 in 2022 and 550,000 in 2023, according to Goldman and Census data. The numbers reflect annual changes through July of each year. A separate study by Lombard shows the domestic migration losses were concentrated in the largest metro areas with more than 4 million residents. Those cities shed a total 400,000 residents annually before the pandemic and have lost 820,000, 707,000 and 591,000 residents, respectively, over the past three years.
Last year, about 266,000 of the big city refugees moved to metro areas with populations of 250,000 to 1 million and about 291,000 moved to areas with populations under 250,000. That made those small towns the nation’s top destination for domestic migrants for the first time in decades, Lombard says. In 2023, the New York City metro area lost 204,000 residents; Los Angeles, 119,000; and Chicago, 64,000, according to Census and Moody’s.
So why is this happening? Well, there are a number of reasons why so many people are relocating to small towns these days. For many, the quality of life in big U.S. cities has become utterly deplorable. For example, one young Chicago mother recently had to wait for hours for a police officer to show up after masked robbers entered her home…
A Chicago mom who called 911 during a terrifying break-in was left on her own for hours — with dispatchers telling her to call her local representative to demand more police funding. Michelle called the emergency hotline six times after coming face-to-face with two masked bandits, only for the strained supervisor to tell her the city’s severe budget cuts had left them with a bare-bones staff. “A gentleman got on and said sorry to say we have no units to send you … then there was an awkward pause,” Michelle told NBC Chicago Wednesday, declining to share her name or face while her would-be robbers are still on the loose.
I don’t know why anyone would want to live in Chicago at this point. Of course the exact same thing could be said about most of our other large cities. Another reason why a lot of Americans are choosing to relocate has to do with taxes. There has been a mass exodus out of “high tax states”, and Massachusetts is one of those that is being hit really hard…
Massachusetts is in danger of losing nearly $1 billion in annual revenue over the coming years as high state taxes trigger an exodus of wealthy residents. Since 2013, migration out of Massachusetts has seen an “alarming” 1,100% increase to more than 39,000 people, according to new findings published by Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. If the trend continues, more than 96,000 residents making a cumulative $19.2 billion in adjusted gross income will leave the state by 2030. The study estimates those departures would cost Massachusetts about $961 million in income tax revenue each year.
In my rankings of all 50 U.S. states, I have Massachusetts all the way down at number 44. The cost of living crisis that we are currently facing is another factor that is motivating vast numbers of Americans to relocate. At this point, we are being told that Mississippi has the lowest cost of living in the entire nation…
Imagine stepping into a world where your paycheck stretches like bubblegum and the promise of Southern charm meets you at every corner. Welcome to Mississippi, a land where the living is easy, the cost of living is easier, and every quirk adds color to the canvas of daily life. Here, your financial aspirations can don a superhero cape, albeit in a landscape peppered with challenges that keep things interesting.
One of the reasons why Mississippi has such a low cost of living is because average home prices are the lowest in the country…
Mississippi’s housing costs are the lowest in the nation. Home prices range from $32,000 to $240,000 depending on the city, with an average of $162,292.
But even though it has such a low cost of living, I don’t really like Mississippi as a place to live during the chaotic times that are coming. In fact, in my rankings of all 50 U.S. states I have Mississippi all the way down at number 33. Ultimately, the cost of living is only a minor consideration when it comes to choosing a place to live during the extremely difficult years that are ahead of us. Much more importantly, you will want a location that has like-minded people, that has a low population density, that has a low risk of experiencing major natural disasters, and that is not near any important military targets. Unfortunately, such areas have become very popular in recent years and home prices are going through the roof. For instance, the median home price in Bozeman, Montana has risen to about $770,000…
Nowhere has the affordability crisis been felt as acutely as in Bozeman, a city of about 56,000 not far from Yellowstone National Park and the upscale Big Sky skiing community. Bozeman, where the median home sells for about $770,000, has had so many out-of-state arrivals over the years that Montanans sometimes refer to it as “Boz Angeles.” As high-end rentals in Bozeman spring up next to historic homes and new arrivals snap them up, a smattering of tents and RVs have begun to populate the outskirts of town: homeless residents priced out by rising rents. Many longtime Montanans bristle at the newcomers, and bumper stickers proclaiming some version of “Montana Is Full” abound, occasionally with an expletive attached. Some locals blame the popular television show “Yellowstone” for romanticizing the Mountain West, luring people to the state.
A lot of Americans now find themselves priced out of many of the most desirable communities in the country, and that is extremely unfortunate. If you are considering relocating to another part of the nation, I would encourage you to do it soon. Because global events are starting to really go haywire, and the clock is ticking.
Married be like
Biden has repeatedly stated his intent to prevent China to be the most powerful country in the world. Why does the US persist in suppressing China to maintain the only superpower instead of striving to improve itself?
It’s basic human psychology. When you’ve been #1 for much of your life, you want to remain #1 forever. You want to continue receiving all the perks and privileges of being #1.
So it is with the United States. It has been #1 since the end of the Second World War. It enjoys all kinds of benefits and privileges.
The USA is a capitalist state. It is largely controlled by the wealthy elite who don’t give a rat’s ass about the American people and their welfare.
This is why America is such a basket case of a nation. Look at all the domestic problems:
homelessness
gun violence
poor health care
declining life expectancy
poor education
crumbling infrastructure
opioid addiction
mass incarceration
systemic racism (“I can’t breathe”)
growing poverty and widening economic disparity
political turmoil (January 6, 2021)
crushing national debt ($35 trillion and growing by $1 trillion every 100 days)
etc.
Biden is in denial. The American people are in denial.
Denial is not a river in Africa.
Aaron Maté: What Happens if US Troops Go to Ukraine?
“That shouldn’t be there…”Wren let the Stardrake cruise to a halt…well, as “halted” as anything could be in the shifting void of the universe. The impulse engine purred in its stasis, creating a soothing background noise as the old adventurer checked the readings on her screens and instruments.The sector she’d found herself in was devoid of any nearby celestial bodies, apart from asteroids that reminded her of driftwood in the ocean. Useful, sometimes, if collected from properly, and sometimes with bits of fishing line–in this case, thick, rusted cables from long-decayed shipwrecks–but simple sticks floating around in the water of space. She’d been on an internal, bittersweet nostalgia tangent about it when she’d noticed something odd pop up on her infrared reader.Something bigger than an asteroid. Or, at least, bigger than most of the asteroids around here.Her first thought had been that it could be another spacecraft, one with more of a population on it than her personal craft, but as it came into view of her illuminators she found it decidedly…organic. Far too wooden to belong in the vacuum of space.“WICR, give me a reading on this.”On her console, a silvery-blue light flickered on. WICR, which stood for Wavelength Information and Communications Relay, was essentially the brain of the ship, though it didn’t often pay attention to her unless she directly spoke to it.“A reading on what, Captain Caldwell?” said the bot’s voice. It really snuck into uncanny valley, she thought, how well WICR’s voice matched the inflection of a standard human’s voice.“Call me Wren,” she said, for perhaps the hundredth time. “Give me a reading on this unknown object we’re facing. It’s too big and too…wooden to be an asteroid.”“Certainly, Captain Caldwell,” he said, a hint of humor in his tone. There were a couple of contemplative beeps and the sound of something scanning, and she looked out the viewport at the object as a grid array appeared on it, mapping out its contours.She frowned, peering closer, then cursed as the grid vanished. “Do that again.”“The entire scan?” WICR asked.“No, the grid array. Let me see it.”The array flashed on again, lingering as she tried to make out its shape. It almost seemed like…a building?“Are you satisfied, Captain?” WICR asked.“Sort of,” she said, leaning back. “Have you finished scanning it?”“Yes. It seems to be a manufactured structure. The framework is steel and lead. The outer shell appears to be brick and mortar, made of what appears to be a mixture of wood, clay, and trace amounts of other materials. Due to the lead, it is difficult to get a reading on the inside, but–”“What’s the architecture’s origin?”“A planet known as La’uck Lao.”Wren frowned as a thought occurred to her. She was going through an asteroid field right now…“Can we get a read on some of these other objects around the ship?” she asked.WICR beeped again. More grids flashed out, flickering along contours before flitting off to the next object. Wren sat in relative silence, a feeling of dread settling in her stomach.She was getting too old for this.When WICR spoke again, his voice sounded apprehensive…or maybe Wren was projecting. “There are an odd assortment of objects out here,” he said. “Most of it is igneous stone. But there is also: Ice, plant matter such as splintered wood, and manufactured metal.”
A lot of random material, she thought. But not quite as random if my hunch is right.
“WICR, one more question,” she said. “Is there supposed to be a star system in this sector?”
“Yes,” WICR said. “The main sequence star known as Lak La’uck. It is a yellow star much like Earth’s Sun.”
“Known by whom?” she asked.
“By the people of the planet of…” A few more beeps seemed to hang in the air as Wren’s meaning registered in the AI’s computing processes. “The former planet of La’uck Lao.”
“Scan for the core of that sun, but keep a grid array on the front of that structure,” she said, pulling out her bandanna. She wrapped it around her head, securing her dreads before pulling on her space helmet.
“Are you planning on entering it, Captain?”
“Yes,” she said. “Maybe I could find out what happened here.”
“And if you encounter a life form?”
She frowned. “Doubtful.” But she grabbed her holster anyway, double-checking the charge on her photon pistol before clipping it around her waist.
The expanse of the black void was cold. It settled into her aching joints with a stinging pressure, but she ignored it–arthritis be damned, she was going to figure out what this was. She drifted toward the building for a moment, enjoying the complete and utter silence of space for a moment, before switching on the propulsion system in her boots and gliding toward the ominously angular structure.
Well, she thought, her internal monologue the only sound in the universe, at least it has a regular door.
The door yawned open for her. Apart from the lines from the array leaking in, it was pitch-black inside, so she turned on her headlamp to look around. What she saw was…eerily familiar.
Books, was her first thought.
Rows upon rows, shelves upon shelves, some drifting in the zero-gravity and some neatly stacked where they’d been for countless days, were triangular shapes reminiscent of books. The covers seemed the same thickness as the pages, and had a dark hue with lighter writing on it, but they were books. She pulled one out of its stasis and flipped it open, examining the lettering–an unfamiliar alphabet, but undoubtedly writing. She examined its texture, and realized these were made of particle wood. The cover had some sort of painting on it; green flames surrounding a figure that looked vaguely humanoid, wielding what was perhaps La’uck Lao’s version of a sword.
She looked around. There were hundreds. Thousands, maybe. She turned off her propulsion boots and “walked” along the surface, eyes searching. This was a library! Arguably, at least in her eyes, one of the most important parts of a society: its knowledge.
Her heart fluttered in sympathy as she noticed the corpses floating in the dead space between the books. Somehow, this building had survived a catastrophe that had wiped out its planet and its people. It was possible that no one in the universe would ever be able to read these books again. The bodies were frozen, preserved, faces masks of horror and hands–or whatever they had instead of hands–permanently clenched as if they had been trying to hold onto something, anything, as their planet was rent asunder.
Or whatever had happened.
“WICR?” she said into the mouthpiece, then froze.
Something was watching her.
She wasn’t sure how she knew. There were no nearby sounds, there was no flicker of light save for her own, nothing had touched her. She couldn’t even pin it on the grid array lighting up a section of the wall beside her. And yet, there was a tingle of the hair pricking up on the back of her neck, the urge to run shifting her feet.
“Yes, Captain?”
She jumped out of her skin, her heart jumping into her throat. She had to be careful of that these days. As she internally reprimanded herself to calm down, though, she took a deep breath and looked around. Nothing but her shifted, and the sensation of eyes on her had gone.
“Your vitals appear to have spiked,” WICR said. “My apologies. What did you need?”
“It’s fine.” She took another deep breath. “Can you look up any other information on La’uck Lao? Alphabet, customs, stuff like that.”
“Certainly. Please hold.”
Wren continued to look around. Carefully moving between the books, she looked around at the architecture. More wood, more stone brick. Everything seemed to be triangular. The windows, doors, even a set of derelict stairs leading up to a second floor that was no longer there.
She followed the stairs anyway, then stopped, feeling the tingle of apprehension return. Her brow furrowed, and without turning, said, “I know you’re there.”
Silence. But she expected that. Murmuring to WICR to keep at his task and ignore her unless she called for help, she continued to bounce into the remnants of the second floor. It was nothing but the approximation of a rooftop now, and she sat, running a gloved hand through waving strands of what must have been a carpet. She faced the entrance to the stairs, eyes on the yawning black hole set in the off-black contours of the library.
Then she turned off her headlamp.
The feeling of being watched intensified. She felt as though she were surrounded, footsteps of a bustling patronage nullified by the blast. If she were to stand back up, she thought, she might headbutt whatever had walked up to her. Black eyes in a black face set against a black void peered at her. Invisible, hollow, and yet there just the same.
These were probably ghosts, she thought. Spirits of a planet that had been obliterated so fast the AI databases hadn’t caught up. None of the people that had been here had been properly laid to rest, because there was nowhere to lay them but a broken library surrounded by the shreds of its world.
“You probably don’t understand me,” she said. “But I want to help. I come from a planet that was destroyed just like yours. I live on a new planet now, one that was built to give people that lost their homes a new place.”
The presences around her stilled, and now she did feel something, a light pressure on her shoulder. It pressed hard enough she could feel it through her suit, but light enough she could tell it wasn’t trying to hurt her.
Or it was, and just unable. Still, it didn’t feel aggressive.
“WICR,” she hissed. “Can you get me the word for ‘friend’?”
“One moment. Who are you talking to?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll explain later.”
She held up the book she’d picked up from below, setting it on the floor in front of her. “I have an idea,” she said. “It might be a little hard. It’d take several trips. But I would like to move this library to my new home. But…well, I’m not really privy to your customs. It just seems more fitting for a place like this to be re-established somewhere that people of many displaced cultures can come and learn about yours.”
The pressure on her arm increased, then fell away. She still felt the presence of several somethings around her, but continued to see nothing. WICR’s voice spoke in her earpiece, and she nodded.
“Ki’lom,” she said.
Abruptly, the atmosphere seemed to change. It felt more…energetic. Twin pinpricks flashed before her, reflecting in the fiberglass of her faceplate. The book she’d placed before her was lifted up, then placed firmly into her arms.
A voice spoke, raspy but warm. “Ki’lom.”
*
Several months later, the last ship to carry the final pieces of La’uck Lao Library descended on the flatlands of Hakshaithlin. Wren and Joa, her friend from Earth, had picked out a plot of land that almost matched a photo they’d found in the old library, and it had been developed–well, about as well as it could be–to accommodate both the library and the cemetery. It was grueling work, but on a planet filled with the lucky unfortunates of the universe, most of everyone was willing to pitch in to help.
Wren stood at the gate, watching a melting pot of workers fix up what they could of the library. She held that first book in her hands–after a few months she was still missing the meaning of most of the words, but she could at least make out what they spelled out. It was a fantasy story, from what she could tell, about a legendary figure from folklore.
She found herself walking down the rows of gravestones. Or, perhaps, the word “garden” fit this plot better. The locals had planted flowers around the stones, greeting the dead into this haven just as warmly as they greeted the living.
A few rows in, she creaked her way into a seated position in front of a headstone. It had been carved with lettering found tattooed on the alien’s arm, which had been confirmed by WICR to be a form of identification. As she sat, she placed the book in her lap.
“I wish we could’ve met,” she said. “I would’ve liked to be friends.”
She felt that pressure on her arm again, and turned to see a pale, misty figure sitting beside her. She couldn’t make out a single distinctive feature save two pinpricks of light where the eyes would be, but she got the impression it was smiling. Or, well, exuded the emotion of smiling. She doubted it would look the same to her.
“Ka’ehr.”
The word barely reached her ears, and in the next moment the figure had dissolved. She thought to ask WICR to translate the word, but after a moment of thought she realized she knew exactly what it meant. She smiled.
“You’re welcome,” she said to the breeze.
ODESA Hotel Along With BRITISH Army Officers Sailed In The Air After Being Hit By Russian ISKANDER-M
What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?
I once saw one of my customers do something absolutely genius when I worked as a lowly till grunt at Sainsbury’s.
So what did this customer do? Walk up to my till with a basket of shopping, followed by a whole tray of Avocados; I reckon about 30 of them, which I dutifully scanned, slightly bemused.
Perhaps they just really love making guacamole? I thought.
These particular Avocados were nearly out of date so were heavily discounted from £1.00 to 10p each. A pair of Avocados was now a bargain at 20p.
Now, it turns out our Avocados were also on offer. Not a great offer, just buy 2, save 50p. However, the till system was apparently dumb and didn’t take into account reductions before applying this discount.
This customer clearly knew that bug existed.
So those bargain Avocados looked even more delicious when the 50p discount made them cost -30p a pair…
I stared in amusement as the -30p discounts rolled in and their shopping bill became smaller and smaller and smaller, until everything they bought was essentially free. They walked out of there smiling and I sat there, pondering just how dumb the checkout software writers were at Sainsbury’s.
Nevertheless, sometime later I emailed management and told them what I’d seen. Later that year I tried the same thing, but alas, it seems they had discovered the bug and fixed it…
Oh well, at least those guys got free shopping.
All I got was a shit load of squishy Avocados…
China is overwhelming Western Imperialism. Who is the dictator ? “必看”
Artichoke Dip Pizza
An entire pizza topping devoted to the delicious and popular artichoke dip!
artichoke dip pizza
Prep: 15 min | Bake: 12 to 15 min | Yield: 1 (12 inch) pizza
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 1/4 cups shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon minced onion
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup crushed tortilla chips
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Instructions
Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add very warm water and oil; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Dough should form a ball and will be slightly sticky. Knead** on a floured surface, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes.
Pat dough with floured hands to fill greased pizza pan or baking sheet. OR roll dough on a floured counter to a 12 inch circle; place in greased pizza pan or baking sheet. Form a rim by pinching the edge of the dough.
Mix together artichokes, mayonnaise, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, chiles, garlic powder and minced onion in a large bowl. Stir until well blended.
Layer crust with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, topping mixture and remaining cheeses. Sprinkle with tortilla chips.
Bake on lowest oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with parsley.
Notes
* If you don’t have a thermometer, water should feel very warm to the touch. ** To knead the dough, add just enough flour to the dough and your hands to keep the dough from sticking. Flatten dough and fold it toward you.Using the heels of your hands, push the dough away with a rolling motion. Rotate dough a quarter turn and repeat the “fold, push and turn” steps. Keep kneading dough until it is smooth and elastic. Use a little more flour if dough becomes too sticky, always working the flour into the ball of dough.
Tik Toc
How would the U.S.A. beat China in a war?
Please mark my answer for future reference.
The only way for the United States to defeat China is to make the Chinese Communist Party lose the support of its people. If this can be achieved, the U.S. wouldn’t need to go to war; it could succeed through media propaganda or NGO-led social unrest. In Sun Tzu’s Art of War, this is called “winning without fighting.”（不战以屈人之兵）
What shocked the Chinese the most about the collapse of the Soviet Union? It was that when the Soviet Communist Party was dissolved, this vast red empire, the first socialist country in human history built through countless sacrifices, did not have a single person step forward to defend it. The Chinese assessment was: “Not a single hero.”（竟无一人是男儿）
I believe the collapse of the Soviet Union had a profound impact on the Chinese Communist Party. They realized that if a party cannot provide a good life for its people, fails to listen to them, and becomes a privileged class, turning into an imperialist state that invades or economically exploits other nations (such as the Soviet actions in Afghanistan, Eastern Europe, and Warsaw Pact countries), then that party is destined to perish.
In response, the Chinese Communist Party initiated a series of rapid reforms in the 1990s, continuing to this day. These measures include:
Actively developing the economy to make people prosperous.
Prioritizing industries related to people’s daily lives over military industries, enriching people’s lives.
Efforts to develop agriculture, eradicating famine that had plagued China for millennia.
Focusing on high-tech military capabilities rather than redundant manpower tactics, cutting military personnel multiple times to release young productivity into economic activities.
Continuously combating corruption within the party.
Expanding higher education to produce numerous engineers rather than lawyers or journalists.
Massive infrastructure projects, extending roads and bridges to remote areas to help lift impoverished people out of isolation and change their destinies.
Persistently helping people escape poverty.
Developing the economy and improving lives in ethnic minority regions, driving out extreme religious thoughts and focusing people on the pursuit of secular happiness.
Implementing strict civil servant management, dismissing or prosecuting those who violate ethics or laws.
Encouraging people to learn, study abroad, and travel overseas to understand the outside world, rather than restricting information, while focusing on social and economic progress to let people feel that China is approaching developed country status.
Improving social management and administrative efficiency, addressing every social issue as much as possible.
After decades of effort, the Chinese government has made significant progress in these areas. This leads Chinese people to believe that the Chinese Communist Party can continue to govern because they are doing a good job.
I know some might say, “The CCP has all the power, and ordinary people cannot reject their rule.” But just recall the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s when hundreds of millions of angry citizens occupied government institutions, and many officials met violent deaths. That can be seen as a bottom-up power grab because people felt the government had betrayed Mao’s ideas.
In summary, if the CPC were truly terrible, a revolution in China would be inevitable because the Chinese are not superstitious. In ancient times, when Europeans believed in the divine right of kings, the Chinese perspective was “the mandate of heaven.” Only when secular life was happy would the emperor be considered a “wise ruler” by the people. Otherwise, no matter how oppressive the government was, it would eventually fall. Chinese historians would then record the fact: “A certain emperor oppressed the people, a revolution broke out, and the dynasty fell.” The CPC’s Political Consultative Conference includes many historians who, compared to Western lawyers and journalists, are the real “kings without crowns.” The good and bad of any regime cannot escape their pens.
The lyrics of the Internationale say: “There are no saviors, we rely on neither gods nor emperors.” China, having experienced dozens of dynastic changes in its history, understands well that if it betrays the people and forms a privileged class of its own, its end is inevitable. Mao Zedong’s greatness lies in educating the Chinese people with his ideology: The sole purpose of the Chinese Communist Party is to serve the people. If you find them betraying this goal, you should rise up and overthrow the regime.
As of now, I believe the Chinese Communist Party is doing well. The Chinese people trust them. Therefore, if a war were to break out between two superpowers, how could a country with 1.4 billion people under the effective 100% management of the CCP lose?
Of course, it must be acknowledged that if the U.S. continues to focus on scientific research, improving the lives of its people, and enhancing social management, instead of being run by addicts, minority groups, inexperienced businessmen, Jewish extremists, liars, and a sleepy old man, it will remain a formidable opponent.
But today’s America, while not a joke, increasingly resembles one. China hopes its enemy is the “beacon of humanity” America, not the current version.
P.S. I respect all LGBTQ+ individuals.My first degree thesis was on sexual minorities in China.In China, sexual minorities have relatively free space for their activities. However, the Chinese government prefers that it not become a public issue.The reason is that the United States has a tradition in its foreign relations: certain covert agencies identify obscure topics in other countries and, through media operations, turn them into hot issues. Then, they search for vulnerabilities behind these topics from various angles and have opinion leaders polarize the issue. Consequently, unity disappears, and social conflicts erupt. This is the typical approach of American NGOs, as I’ve observed in my 23 years of experience working on the internet. Therefore, Americans should play these games in their own country.
U.S. Plan To Deploy Soldiers To Fight Russia ! w/ Scott Ritter
When I lived in the State’s I often would travel to certain cities. Sometimes for work. Sometimes for personal reasons. But all in all, I pretty much have been exposed to many different American cities.
One of the things that I would notice in all of the big cities of America was the abandoned, chained up, bicycles on the various streets.
pexels photo 1987736
You would be so surprised with how many old and abandoned bicycles are there. Many have the rubber wheels are gone, they are rusty and growing into the various trees on the residential trees.
Ah. Is this significant?
Nope. It probably isn’t.
But it’s a fine curiosity. And something rarely noticed and thus rarely discussed.
Today…
Life in the UK vs Life in China (Don’t watch if youre sensitive.)
What is a family secret you didn’t know as a kid, but now as an adult you do and when you look back it explains a lot of things?
My Great Aunt Dottie was actually my Great Uncle Garrison. He was never invited to any family events and when they’d ask my Great Aunt Remi (Dottie’s sister) where “Gary” was (Dottie hated that name with a vengeance) it was always with darting eyes and hushed voices making sure the children didn’t hear, Remi would answer, “he’s dead and you damned well know it.” It wasn’t until I was in high-school and had a friend who had two dads that my mom quipped one day while she was doing the dishes “You know your Great Aunt Dottie was a man, right?” and I was dumbfounded, I loved Great Aunt Dottie, I would ride my bike over to her house all the time and have tea and cookies and the most amazing monkey meat sandwiches ever and she would teach me how to cross stitch and how to plan a fifteen course meal. It was Great Aunt Dottie that taught me how to waltz and roller skate and how to shoot a bow and arrow. I actually loved my Great Aunt Dottie more after I found out that she chose her own happiness over her family and was one of only three members of my family to attend her funeral. But looking back I wonder if I always kind of knew, she had a husky voice, an always present five o clock shadow and scratched her balls like a true man.
Most men can remember back to a time on the schoolyard when two kids got into a confrontation and one of them kept promising to do something bad to the other if the other did not stop whatever it was he was doing. The threat of consequences was supposed to deter the other, but the other kid was undeterred, and the result was a fight, with the kid making the threats getting the worst of it. Bullies often come to a bad end like this as their bullying is based on threats.
If you are a member of the managerial elite, it is unlikely that you have such a memory as you were raised by women, so no school yard fights. As a result, the logic of the bully, issuing escalatory threats, makes perfect sense. After all, if you can conjure something worse than the other guy is conjuring, then you win! Therefore, success is determined by who has the greatest mastery of escalatory dominance, the alleged ability to escalate a conflict beyond that of an opponent.
This is the engine that has been driving the war in Ukraine. For close to a decade the Russians have objected to what Washington has been doing on its border in Ukraine, but Washington has responded with the promise of more of what the Russians found objectionable, rather than search for a compromise. Once the Russians crossed into Ukraine, Washington unleashed the sanctions war and promised even more punishments, including the promise of regime change.
Throughout the war, the approach from Washington has been to create some artificial red line for themselves or Russia, and then cross it in such a way as to suggest all future red lines will be crossed. Currently NATO is having a debate about launching long range missile attacks on Russia, from NATO countries or with NATO personnel, while pretending it is being done by Ukraine. This is the bully threatening the kid who refuses to back down with somet
What’s the craziest thing you’ve heard pretending to be asleep?
As a kid I was friends with these 3 girls, who were sisters and one night their parents allowed me to have a sleepover at their house so when it came to bedtime the parents allowed me and one sister to sleep in their bed until the parents came up and moved us to my friend’s bed. At the time I didn’t understand why, maybe that’s how bedtime was in their house, anyway the light was on in the room so it stopped me from falling asleep, I was too soft to turn it off incase I got into trouble or it woke up my friend who clearly could sleep with the light on. Then I heard footsteps coming upstairs so I had to pretend to be asleep. The parents came into the room, one of them picked me up and put me in one of the girls beds, the other picking up their daughter and putting her next to me. The light wasn’t on in there but the hall light was on which was fine, so I thought ‘finally I can go to sleep now!’ As I was just about to head into dreamland I hear moaning and the bed squeaking coming from the parents bedroom!!!! 🤣🤣 I was 9 years old so I knew what they were doing and I had to wait till it was quiet until I finally got some sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I didn’t tell anyone what I heard or that I was awake the whole time, it would’ve been an awkward conversation to have so I tried to forget about it. 😬
hing worse than backing down.
Unreported in the West, Ukraine has been using Western supplied drones to attack early warning radar stations in southern Russia. These are part of Russia’s nuclear defense system. They play no role in the Ukraine war, but Ukraine’s handlers are having them do this as a form of escalatory dominance. The point is to signal to the Russians that the West is not afraid of nuclear war. The madness of this is obvious, but to a great degree that is the point, to seem mad.
We see a similar thing shaping up with China. Washington is going out of its way to provoke China over the issue of Taiwan. Various officials have been sent to the island for no other reason than to antagonize the Chinese. A big package of weapons has been shipped to Taiwan and Washington has increased the number of military personnel on the island. Washington regularly talks about how it is actively preparing for a war with the Chinese over the issue of Taiwan.
A great example of how the concept of escalatory dominance controls how American ruling elites deal with the world is the last trip by Anthony Blinken to China in which he went out of his way to insult the Chinese. The State Department insisted on Blinken visiting China, where he held meetings with Chinese leaders. He then went out of those meetings and threatened them with sanctions. This was done to let the Chinese know that there is no red line Washington will not cross.
This is not just a foreign policy strategy. The reason Trump is waiting to hear a guilty verdict is the regime has always assumed that if they cross enough red lines with regards to the rule of law, Trump or his supporters will fold. For going on four years, it has been ever increasing violence against both the rule of law and the customs that have controlled our politics. The point of each new escalation is to warn that there is no limit to what they will do unless you obey.
It is the unquestioned assumption in Washington that there is always some threat they can issue that is so terrifying that the other side will back down that has led them into a crisis for the regime. Half the country now thinks the courts are corrupt beyond reform thanks to the lawfare unleashed by the regime. We are remarkably close to the point where a majority of Americans think we are ruled by lawless gangsters, which even in easy times is an impossible state of affairs.
The crisis gripping the West is due, in large part, to the fact that the system now selects boys and girls with no practical knowledge. Never having had their bluff called and walking away with a bloody nose or a black eye, they just assume such a thing is impossible, so they are free to escalate their threats. It is not so much that their threats work, but that they ought to work. In the artificial reality in which these people live, the ought is the same as the is.
The Trump trial is a good bit of foreshadowing for how this widely held delusion about escalatory dominance will end. At some point, the bluff is called, and the bluffer has to either follow through or their raison d’etre evaporates. This is the story of the bully who finally has to fight and gets beaten. It is not the beating that ends his reign as a bully, but the fact that someone stood up to him. This is what is happening with the lawfare against Trump, who has called their bluff.
Unlike the schoolyard, the end of a regime that relies on escalatory dominance is not so simple and tidy. The regime now has to hope the Trump trial ends in a hung jury so they can maintain their stance. An acquittal has them looking like fools and a guilty verdict has them in a crisis far worse than Trump winning the election. Soon, the bluff will be called over Ukraine and Taiwan. Once this happens, the regime has no answer other than the unthinkable.
Pepe Escobar: Xi & Putin’s Move Pushed NATO Into CHAOS! Who Is Win?
When someone hugs you, you should not be first to break it.
Remove your sunglasses when you have to speak to someone.
Irrespective of your closeness, do not ask your friends and room mates for their clothes, shoes and accessories. Those are ‘ personal belongings‘
Do not order expensive stuff when you are sharing or the other person is paying the bill.
Don’t make ola / uber driver wait for you. Time is literally money for them.
If you borrow someone else’s novel/ books, do not mark anything in them. Return them in a good condition and within acceptable time.
Compliment people when you notice their extra efforts in something.
If any child touched you and asked(begged) for money don’t give a dirty look at them and run two steps back. Give, if you want to or say no. That’s it.
Wave your hand rather than calling his or her name in a louder pitch if someone is wearing headphones.
Praise publicly. Criticise privately.
Be quiet when other people are asleep. That means more than not talking — not slamming doors, drawers, etc.
Avoid finishing other people’s sentences and cutting them off
If you get a missed call, remember to call them back. Or at least drop a message.
As a kid I was friends with these 3 girls, who were sisters and one night their parents allowed me to have a sleepover at their house so when it came to bedtime the parents allowed me and one sister to sleep in their bed until the parents came up and moved us to my friend’s bed. At the time I didn’t understand why, maybe that’s how bedtime was in their house, anyway the light was on in the room so it stopped me from falling asleep, I was too soft to turn it off incase I got into trouble or it woke up my friend who clearly could sleep with the light on. Then I heard footsteps coming upstairs so I had to pretend to be asleep. The parents came into the room, one of them picked me up and put me in one of the girls beds, the other picking up their daughter and putting her next to me. The light wasn’t on in there but the hall light was on which was fine, so I thought ‘finally I can go to sleep now!’ As I was just about to head into dreamland I hear moaning and the bed squeaking coming from the parents bedroom!!!! 🤣🤣 I was 9 years old so I knew what they were doing and I had to wait till it was quiet until I finally got some sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I didn’t tell anyone what I heard or that I was awake the whole time, it would’ve been an awkward conversation to have so I tried to forget about it. 😬
The Dating Market isn’t Looking Too Hot ….
Doctors, have you ever delivered a child to a couple who clearly didn’t need Maury to tell him “you are NOT the father!”? What happened next?
Not a doctor or a nurse, just a friend of a couple. She is elf pale, blonde hair so light it’s almost white, pale blue eyes and nary a freckle to be seen. He is (no offense to anyone) coal black. When the baby was born she looked like she should have been wearing a sombrero with a taco in her hand singing La Cucaracha. (still, no offense intended to anyone, just setting the scene) the doctor and the nurse were both speechless. I was there, I was taking the video. The doctor was hesitant to hand the baby to my friends husband and they both thought something was wrong with the baby. The nurse went from being sweet to being a total bitch to my friend. When he left the room to go tell his family that is was a girl, the nurse made a comment to the doctor about how they never see any wholesome god-fearing families anymore. My friend lost it; it technically wasn’t even her baby, she was just a surrogate. The man in the room with her? He wasn’t even the father, just a friend that was gracious enough to be her coach. She was carrying the baby for another friend of ours and her husband.
The UnXplained: TOP 5 SHOCKING MYSTERIES OF 2023 | PART 1
I really enjoyed this video. I think that youse guys will too.
In Thailand, why are the South Koreans and Japanese treated better than Chinese tourists?
Disclaimer: I’m a Thai of Chinese descent living in a tourism hub of Chiang Mai, speak a little Mandarin and had actually been to China as well, so may I offer my humble 2 cents. I don’t want fellow Chinese quorans to be too stoked or offended by this kind of question. If my answer offends anyone, I apologize in advance. I also apologize for my fellow citizens as well. After all, our economy relies on tourism a lot, please come and visit us! At least this Thai welcome everyone to visit my country with open arms! I say this as a Thai who have traveled to almost all inhabited continents on Earth. 😊
There were lots of direct flights from China to Chiang Mai pre-Covid, even to lesser known cities like Changsha. Influenced by a 2012 Chinese blockbuster “Lost in Thailand” (泰囧) which heavily featured Chiang Mai, the city became hugely popular among Chinese visitors. Back then, Chinese tourists tended to exhibit a not-so-impressive manners. For example, in Chiang Mai University, Chinese tourists used to roamed free inside the campus and took photos of classes in session (many faculty members were really tired of this). This prompted the university to disallow tourists inside the campus, and directed them to the university’s official guided tour instead.
However, post-Covid, Chinese tourists nowadays are no longer loud and rude like before. Yes, there would still be some bad sheep in the flock, but the overall trend manner-wise went for the better. Back when China was poorer, Chinese tourists indeed had bad reputation. However, as time goes, I did notice a better trend of manners among the Chinese tourists. I dare say they are pretty much on par with Koreans and Japanese nowadays manner-wise. Nonetheless, I won’t deny that there are some racism bias towards mainlanders among a portion of our citizens (which is quite an irony because 1/6 of Thai population are of Chinese descent). Also, since China is a much larger country than Korea and Japan, there are just a lot of Chinese setting up shops (100% owned) in several touristic hubs like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, or Phuket. And as some answers also mentioned, such shops only cater to Chinese customers and Chinese tourists have higher tendencies to visit Chinese-owned shops compared to Thai ones. Thai people’s concerns on Chinese tourists is mainly about the circulation of tourism money in Chinese-owned business nowadays rather than the manners. I don’t have problems with Chinese setting up shops here, but please also spend some money and contribute to the place you are visiting too. 😊 This would greatly improve our perception towards Chinese tourists a great deal.
I would like to share my own experience as well regarding the Chinese tourist’s manner. In 2013, I went to Mongolia (part of a train trip from Mongolia to China and then onto North Korea) and met a Chinese couple in our tour group. They really shattered my prejudice of “Chinese tourists are loud and rude”. They were so kind and very well-mannered, and when my train arrived in Beijing, they offered me a treat at a Peking Duck restaurant in Haidian District and then took me (and some Westerners who were in the same group back in Mongolia) to have some “rou chuanr” with “Jia duo bao” herbal drink! I still remembered it to this day.
Again, I would like to just tell the situation as it is without putting in prejudices or biases. It would be better if we treat each culture with respect and understanding.
Professor Studied NDE’s For 30 Years; What She Discovers Is Incredible (Near Death Experiences)
As a leader in the photovoltaic industry, China dominates the industrial and supply chains, currently producing over 90% of the world’s polysilicon, 98% of solar-grade silicon wafers, over 85% of solar cells, and over 80% of photovoltaic modules. It is projected that by 2025, China’s global share in polysilicon and silicon wafer production will reach 95%, making the world highly dependent on China’s photovoltaic products.
Not only does China have massive production capacity, but its photovoltaic technology is also extremely advanced. The latest solar cells have achieved a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 33.9%, far exceeding the 5% capability of plants. Additionally, Chinese photovoltaic products are highly competitive in price, with a 99% decrease in cost over the past 20 years, currently priced at around 0.8 yuan per watt. Furthermore, Chinese photovoltaic modules have a long service life and can maintain 80% of their power generation efficiency after 25 years of use.
As China’s photovoltaic technology rapidly advances, old photovoltaic modules, although long-lasting, have lower performance and are difficult to circulate and dispose of domestically. However, in poor countries with inadequate grid coverage, such as Central Asia, Africa, and Latin America, these second-hand photovoltaic panels are in high demand. In these regions, lacking basic infrastructure, the living conditions of the population are extremely poor, often without access to basic lighting or phone charging facilities. China’s used photovoltaic panels, with their low prices, can provide basic electricity to rural households, improving their quality of life and being regarded as high-tech products.
South Africa witnessed a significant increase in imports of photovoltaic panels and energy storage batteries in 2022-2023, with not only rural but also urban residents purchasing these systems to overcome unstable grid issues. Gaza has the highest density of photovoltaic panel installations globally, as the local grid has been destroyed, leaving the population reliant on photovoltaic panels for electricity.
In summary, China’s discarded second-hand photovoltaic panels, at extremely low prices, have benefited many impoverished areas around the world, providing electricity to billions of rural households without access to power, lifting them out of darkness, and enabling them to enjoy the conveniences of electricity. This reflects China’s philosophy of utilizing technology to assist and support underprivileged groups, in stark contrast to some countries that exploit and oppress the weak.
Oh this is hilarious.
The USA offered a gigantic bribe to Marcos to turn them into a missile base.
Marcos says yes allows US to build missile facilities.
Marcos asks where his money is.
US says what money?
you believed me?
Many Hong Kong restaurants demand money UP FRONT.
CHINA BUILDING 3nm CHIPS – biden makes failing look easy…
As an engine mechanic, what is the strangest thing you’ve found inside an engine?
In college as a rookie on the SAE Baja team, I was tasked with tearing down one of our old engines and doing a simple top end rebuild. There wasn’t anything wrong with the engine, it was just a spare one and this was a way for new team members to gain familiarity with part numbers, torque specs, and other things like that. We used a brand new engine for each year’s competition car.
Upon removing the head from the 10 HP Briggs & Stratton, something odd caught my eye. There was raised material on the face of the piston partly obscured by carbon. Brushing it away revealed threads and part of hex head! This engine had somehow ingested a stray 1/4″–20 screw which became embedded into the top of the piston, and then just kept running like nothing had happened. It was potentially like that for a whole year worth of test runs and competitions, possibly even longer.
The fastener was laying there sideways but extremely fused to the piston and could not be removed without destroying it. We simply ground down the portions that were sticking up to recreate a flush surface, reinstalled everything, and called it a day. It continued to run just fine.
– – –
A couple years ago my father in law asked me to help fix up his riding lawnmower, powered by another Briggs & Stratton engine. This was a two cylinder vertical shaft of maybe 18 or 20-some horsepower, I don’t recall exactly. His complaint was that it was “a little down on power” but still cut the grass fine. It just struggled a little bit going up steep hills or cutting through extra-thick grass if he let it grow too tall, and occasionally it let out puffs of dark smoke. He mowed with it like that all summer, bagged leaves with it like that in the fall, and when it was finally done for the season I met up with him to look the thing over.
Expecting a 30-minute carb cleaning or a fouled spark plug I got to work, but found everything spotless. With no signs of any issues with the electrical components either, I moved on to a more serious investigation. Tearing into this engine began with a crankcase cover on the top. With this removed we could look down along the axis of the crankshaft to inspect for any catastrophic bottom end damage. Everything appeared fine but there was a thin metal rod in kind of a weird place tucked behind the crank counterweight. It had a few bends in the middle of it for clearance and the two ends disappeared into the oil bath and up into the block somewhere. I figured it had to be part of the governor system so I left it in place and moved on.
Removing the valve covers, I found the first head looking as it should. The second, however, revealed the culprit: a totally missing pushrod! It was just gone! That would explain the lack of power. One valve on that cylinder is never opening so it’s never accomplishing a power cycle. It’d only been running on one cylinder all year. But then the unavoidable question was, “where did the pushrod go?”
I eventually put two and two together and realized that strange governor-rod-thing was actually the missing pushrod. It had somehow gotten dislodged from its place and fell down into the crankcase. The clearance bends were not manufactured, they were suffered from the crankshaft smashing into it as it bounced around in there until everything was able to self-clearance. Despite being completely down one cylinder and choking on its own guts, this V-twin still performed so well that its shortcomings were nothing more than an inconvenience to be dealt with on the off-season.
I’d always heard Briggs built some tough ass machines but these experiences really solidified that for me.
Why are 90% of US guided missiles and drones missing their targets in Ukraine?
All of the following munitions rely on GPS and have a problem with terminal guidance anywhere near the Russian front line, due to ubiquitous Russian GPS jamming:
JDAM (air launched 500 pound GPS-guided bombs — 90% of what the USAF and USN drop)
SDB (replacement for JDAM)
GLSDB (an SDB mounted on a missile that can be shot from a HIMARS)
M30 (90 km range rocket fired from HIMARS, deploys cluster munitions)
M31 (90 km range rocket fired from HIMARS, 91 kg warhead)
The problem is not confined to US products. Ukrainian-built FPV drones which do not use GPS are also getting jammed by the Russians. I spoke to a guy who is responsible for about 15% of Ukraine’s drone production, and he dismissed any talk of GPS and said it’s gone. In and around the front line, that may be true, but there are caveats.
Background: GPS relies on a network of satellites with 44.8 watt transmitters 20,000 miles up. The signal (-125 dBm) is substantially weaker than the background radio hiss that’s everywhere (-110 dBm), and uses a lot (43 dB) of something called coding gain to be detectable and usable. When GPS devices take a while to acquire the signal, what they are doing is synchronizing their internal code to the satellite’s code. Once the two are synchronized, they can hear the satellite, until then, it’s just more hiss. The process of synchronization is basically trying every possible time alignment until one works.
Before the first GPS satellite was launched in 1978, the designers already knew that GPS could be jammed [1]. Just hit the receiver with -82 dBm of radio hiss and it’ll never hear the satellite. A 1000 watt ground-based transmitter can blank out naive GPS receivers for 560 km.
And, before the first GPS satellite was launched, the designers knew of many clever ways to reduce the effect of jamming. One of them, however, is a massive hammer: controlled reception pattern arrays (CRPA). You use an array of GPS antennas and combine the signals together in a way that causes the jamming signals to cancel. So long as the jammer isn’t coming from the same direction as the GPS satellites, this works really, really well.
Here’s a CRPA from a May 2000 report [2]:
1 panel
Arrays like this can act a bit like a bigger antenna with a diameter the size of the entire array. That’s nice, you get a bit more signal from the antenna. Cancellation works far better. Let me demonstrate.
2 graph
Here is the result of just two omnidirectional antenna elements added together. The Y direction is dB of gain from combining the antennas. The X axis is degrees between the “null” direction and the actual direction of the signal source. You can see that at right angles (90 degrees) to the null, two antennas pick up twice as much power as just one, which is +3 dB of gain. That’s nice, we’ll take it. It’s a big fat lobe. If that’s off by 40 degrees you still get half the benefit, and the benefit isn’t amazing to start with.
But look at that deep, sharp null. If you can get it aligned to one degree, you can knock the jammer down by 35 dB. In practice, CRPAs achieve 50 dB because they very quickly and very precisely line up the phase delays from the antennas to knock out the jammer.
If the jammer against a CRPA wants to work as well as it did against a naive receiver, it’ll need 50 dB more power. dB is a logarithmic scale: That’s 10,000x as much power. So that 1000 watt jammer now needs to push 10 million watts. This is… possible… but any such thing is going to be a major installation and will get a visit from a HARM missile and thereafter many JDAMs.
Today you can buy CRPAs from a variety of manufacturers, all outside the United States. Tualcom, a Turkish company, sells 8-channel CRPAs. They’ve sold 2500 of them to Iran for use on… drones. Yep. Did you know that Turkiye is a NATO ally?
These aren’t going to be on Shaheds, or not many of them anyway, because a CRPA costs about $20k or more. (Please let me know if there are cheaper units.) That’s because there’s no commercial market for CRPAs, as the primary civil defense against GPS jamming is litigation. Even though the electronics are actually simpler than what’s in your cell phone, they are built in low volume of many discrete parts, and in the US they are built by folks like Raytheon.
I would hope that every western military jet has a CRPA, but somehow I doubt it.
The HIMARS-launched 90-km range M31s are having accuracy trouble but the HIMARS-launched 300-km range M57 ATACMS missiles are not. In both cases the missiles can probably use inertial guidance from launch to impact, since that’s less than 7 minutes. But they’ll need an accurate initial position and target position.
The accurate target position can probably be found from military maps. FYI, you probably cannot get accurate target positions from Google Maps — I used to work there, and they don’t want you doing that, and they probably fuzz the locations enough to screw up this use.
The accurate initial position and initial GPS acquisition for the missile would come from the launcher’s GPS antenna. This suggests to me that the HIMARS truck is getting jammed when too close to the Russian front line, probably anywhere within 50 km. And THAT tells me that HIMARS doesn’t have a CRPA. (Update: see below, it has an FRPA, which means fixed pattern. I don’t know the pattern, but as it doesn’t articulate the nulls won’t line up exactly with a jammer and as you can see above, they need to line up well to get good jamming.)
main qimg 5d18026abadbd730e65d839862884227
Neither does JDAM, apparently. And I’m guessing SDB doesn’t either, which went into production in 2005.
This is a stupid problem to have. A half-dozen ASIC engineers and $5m could fix it.
China Just Scored A KNOCK OUT Blow To The U.S. Economy And War Is Coming
What are the chances of the U.S nuking China in a war if the U.S starts losing? Where does it start? A carrier group being destroyed? Japan/South Korea being attacked? What exactly would prompt U.S nuclear usage against China?
Chances are near zero.
And for all of those. The reason is something that you may not know.
China is not a signatory to the START treaty. This limits deployed nuclear weapons to around 1,500 warheads. China likely has more than both Russia and the US combined. Despite what you hear in the MSM about China having only 300 warheads, that is an outright lie.
The original estimate came from the Federation of American Scientists in the 80s. In their estimate they stated that they had no idea how many nuclear weapons the Chinese had. So they decided to use electricity generation as some kind of measure.
What does electricity generation have to do with how many nuclear weapons a nation has? Nothing. The Soviets did not have that much electrical generation and yet has more nuclear weapons than the US. So they finished their study saying that China could have 3,000 or 5,000. They had no idea.
The next thing you should know is that these Senators, Congressman, and President of the US is that they spent generations gaining wealth and power. When was the last time you heard Bill Gates or any other billionaire pulled a knife and went toe to toe with another guy with a knife? Never. And you never will.
Even if the US loses a war by attacking China and the US loses 7 carrier battle groups. Do you think Bill Gates or any other billionaire would chose to vaporize their family to take revenge on one of their body guards being killed? Or even all of them? No.
And it’s even more impossible for the politicians to do so because China has more deployed nuclear weapons than the US and Russia. Starting a nuclear war would mean that the US would get at least a double dose of nukes. One from China and one from Russia.
Those selfish people that have spent decades stealing from the US tax payers are going to vaporize their families, wealth, and power for you, a peon? Don’t make me laugh.
The only time nukes would be used is if China nuked the US first or if the US thought it could get away with it without getting nuked back.
Pecos River Red Fritos Pie
dsc05716
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
3 pounds coarsely ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons ground hot red chile peppers
2 tablespoons ground mild red chile peppers
1 1/2 cups water
Corn chips
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Instructions
Combine onion, ground beef, garlic, chiles and water in slow cooker.
Cover. Cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.
Drain.
Serve over corn chips.
Top with mixture of Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese.
What is the most bizarre way you’ve landed a job?
Son’s friend stayed overnight. The next morning I’m making breakfast for everyone. Son likes poached eggs. I make them. Friend asks if I can make them like that all the time. I explain how to poach an egg. That night I get a phone call from a strange number and a man asks if I’m looking for a job. He needs a cook. In his father’s house. The father is picky about his breakfast and he heard I can poach eggs. I explain that all cooks can poach eggs. Eventually I am hired to cook 3 meals a day for his elderly parents. I have to plan menus for the week and prepare breakfast to order. Hot lunch and a dinner plate to be reheated for dinner. I wash the dishes but all other cleaning is done by the maid. Amazing kitchen. Eventually they tried to give me the old guys Cadillac because he stopped driving and they wanted to “save me using my car to drive to their house.” It was probably the best job I ever had. Not the money or the benefits. They were family. They treated me like family in the best way.
This is a new addition that I am considering to my daily posts. Here I include some contemporaneous SF (short story) for the reader to enjoy. -MM
Do not ever step foot on the ground. Charlie had been told this his entire life, but it never really sunk in. He didn’t understand the deep-seated fear everyone else seemed to harbor. He thought it was incredible, a beautiful problem to be solved. Until he was laying on the floor of the lab staring at the ceiling and blinking away tears.The first time Charlie ever saw the ground consume a person he’d been twelve. What the tree-top teachers referred to as “live mummification” was a quick, disturbing process. Dirt crawling over skin to create a sort of exoskeleton. A casting of the human body, like those papier-mâché spheres they’d made in class years ago. It’d been an elderly lady that first time. The pulley system keeping her safe had malfunctioned and she’d lurched off balance. It was a code yellow bridge and wasn’t fully enclosed. The old lady stumbled to the side and was pulled right over the edge. Charlie caught only the first flash of the swarming ground on her skin before his mom had ushered him away. As the crowd around them shrieked and cried, Charlie craned his neck for a better look.He’d liked to have claimed this moment as the catalyst for his obsession, but really that had occurred years ago. It was maybe a few days after his seventh birthday, and he was crossing that old rope bridge by his house. It’s been built in a rush by early survivors trying to escape their houses for supplies. He was not supposed to be on it, but that had only made him more intent on using it.One of the rotten wood planks had splintered under his front foot and sent him toppling forward. It was only due to some notion of luck that his hips didn’t fit through the empty space and his arms had gotten tangled in the ropes. His leg hung down, exposed, ten feet off the ground. And then his new shoe, a size too big so he could grow into it, slipped off his foot. It landed on the dusty ground and tipped over sideways. Charlie’s breath caught in his chest, but nothing happened. The shiny shoe glistened under the sun. He wanted desperately to stick his finger in that restless dirt, just to see what would happen. He stayed put for way longer than was logical just in case, but the ground remained flat and lifeless. The shoe was not alive.
The second time he saw someone be consumed by the ground he was 18 and on the verge of declaring a major in Microbiology, specializing in the study of those tiny organisms that made the ground hungry. This time the fall had not been an accident. He’d been crossing a major intersection of bridges when a commotion piqued his curiosity. A young woman who looked barely older than him had crawled out onto the roof of a one-story house where no one would risk following. Her auburn hair floated in the wind. People crowded against the railings to watch her. A few kind souls called out things like “You don’t have to do this!” and “Things will get better!” but the girl ignored them. She stared straight ahead and stepped off the roof. For a millisecond it was as if she was walking in the air, and then she plummeted to the ground and landed with a heavy thump. Immediately the soil surged up to meet her. She didn’t make a sound as it closed over her. Charlie came back every day for two weeks to observe the hardened cocoon. Inside, he knew that the body was being decomposed, drained away. The microorganisms in the dirt would suck the nutrients from her. Then the cast would collapse in on itself and the ground would smooth over once again.
It wasn’t surprising that these events would have a lasting effect on him. The unexpected part was the nature of the effect. Where others would shy away and realize how dangerous the ground was, Charlie felt himself drawn to it. He wanted to understand the little beasts that terrorized his people. So, it was inevitable, really, that he’d want to see this forbidden phenomenon again.
The lab he was assigned to was on the upper floor of a university no longer in use. The building was old, made of even gray bricks. He had to duck through the fifth-floor window that had been fashioned into an entrance to get in. The walls were off-white, and the floors were so stable it made him feel somewhat unbalanced. His feet, used to the bridges and tree-top platforms, weren’t accustomed to the solidity. The equipment in the lab was well maintained: microscopes, autoclaves, incubators, centrifuges. He felt like a child in a room full of new toys. On one side of the room, where a balcony had once been, a ramp had been fixed that led down to the ground. The space before it was taken up by a deoxygenation chamber used briefly to asphyxiate any rogue organisms.
Charlie was integrated into a group that exclusively studied the microorganisms in the ground called Vitae Suffocent. Life suckers. The study was relatively new, they’d only recently worked with engineering to create a protective suit. Before then, the scientists would lean out the window with a cup fastened to a long pole and scoop up a small bit of the dirt. With the help of the suits, they had been able to set up a secure mock habitat to observe the specimens’ behavior.
The group was small, a handful of young students of which he was one, along with six seasoned scientists. For the first time, Charlie found himself surrounded by people who were just as interested in the ground as he was. The obsession that had set him apart from other kids in school was now reflected all around him. There was a girl who’d started at the same time as him- Tori. She was short and had thin black hair chopped short around her ears. Because they were new, they were often assigned projects to work on together. He wasn’t sure if he liked her, but it didn’t matter much.
There was an ongoing experiment that needed a fresh test subject, someone to stick a finger into the Life Sucker habitat. Charlie volunteered immediately, exhilarated by the idea of being able to touch the ground. He pictured it being magical, a borderline religious experiment. He worked himself up over it for days, so that when it was finally time he was almost bursting with excitement.
The scientists heading the experiment placed him in the deoxygenation chamber with the container. Around him, they gathered clipboards, pencils poised to jot down any and all details. His forefinger was swiped clean with an alcohol wipe that made the skin feel dry. Tori unlocked the circular compartment in the top of the container. Slowly, breathlessly, Charlie lowered his hand into the habitat. The tip of his finger brushed the dirt. It was soft and damp as he pressed the finger down. Charlie blinked and the soil began to stir. It tickled the pad of his finger. He watched in fascination as the hidden organisms began to climb up his skin. It was a strange sensation. The soil was cool and light, it felt more like a caress than a smothering.
Tori clicked the stopwatch in her hand and began to count aloud. By the time she reached seven, the organisms were up to his wrist. He withdrew his hand. The seal on the opening caught most of the dirt and held it back, to the irritation of the organisms. He held his hand away from him, not trusting it. Tori latched the contained shut quickly. Someone on the outside of the chamber switched it on. They held their breaths as the oxygen rapidly drained from the room. A loud whirring assaulted Charlie’s ears. His chest tightened. For a minute they all felt like they were suffocating, then it abruptly stopped and the doors to the lab popped open. Oxygen flooded back in. Charlie sucked in a deep breath.
He examined his hand. It was tingling and covered in little red blotches, but otherwise, he was fine. No damage had ever been recorded from less than ten seconds of exposure. Charlie glanced at the other set of doors over his shoulder. The ones that opened onto the ramp that led down to the ground. He longed to go through them, wanted to dig his hands in the ground and laugh as the organisms consumed him. He turned and walked back into the lab.
A month later he was given a protective suit and given the chance to wear it for the first time. He and Tori had been assigned to walk, outside, to a big oak tree and back. Charlie was thrilled. He stepped into the suit and pulled it up over his arms. A tech zipped him in and checked him over. The suit was a stiff layer of slick rubber designed to lack tread so the organisms wouldn’t be able to climb against gravity. The boots they were given were thick and clunky. They were tall, reaching up to his knees like a pair of extra-long rain boots. A device attached to the top of the boot sent out vibrations that they’d found would deter the organisms. The hood of the suit came up over his head and the visor was clicked into place. He saw the world through a glass partition.
Then they were in the chamber and the doors behind them were closing. It was midday and the sun was shining. A breeze spirited a few brown leaves past the glass. The doors to the ramp opened. Charlie stepped out first. His heart pounded in his chest. It was right there, the ground. He walked quickly down the ramp, Tori following behind him at a more reserved pace. He paused at the end of it. The dirt was disturbed, as it always was when the organisms were present. It looked almost fluffy.
Charlie took a deep breath and lifted one foot. He lowered it slowly to the ground, enjoying the crunch of soil underfoot. He leaned his weight forward, ready to take another step, but paused. The ground was shaking around his boot, pulsing in strange waves. It was trying to climb up his boot, he realized. He tried to pick up the foot but felt resistance. The ground clung to his boot, pulling him back down. Charlie watched, entranced. He continued to pry his foot away and eventually the dirt fell back down. He looked at Tori, whose face he could just see behind the visor. She looked equal parts disturbed and fascinated.
Afterward, he felt like he’d been on another planet. It was amazing, he’d been on the ground, but he couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed. What had they learned during that expedition? Nothing new, nothing interesting. He wanted more. All he could think about was how slow the studies they performed were. They were no closer to understanding these organisms. They needed to study them in action. His plan fell together quickly after that.
Once again he fastened the protective suit on and was checked over by the other technicians. Tori was doing the same next to him. Charlie clapped a hand on her shoulder and with the scalpel hidden in his palm he sliced a tiny hole into her suit, the rubber splitting easily under a sharp blade. She turned and gave him a thumbs-up. He hid the scalpel in one of his pockets.
They walked through the chamber and out onto the ramp. The suit was heavy and sweaty against his skin. Through the visor, he saw the dirt-coated ground come closer and closer. The first step was always the most exciting. His foot hovered over the solid ground, casting a wavering shadow over the dirt. He placed it firmly down. The ground beneath him stirred, trying to creep up his legs but being deterred by the vibrations.
Slowly, the ground pulling at them with each step, they made it 50 feet away from the end of the ramp. He knew they were being watched closely from the observation windows, but at this distance, no one would really be able to tell what happened. Charlie shoved his foot hard to the side right as Tori took a step. The bottom of her boot caught on the top of his and she lost her balance. Her arms windmilled but the suit was too bulky and dragged her down.
She should have gotten up. The suit should have kept the microorganisms at bay. But Charlie had damaged her suit. He gazed intently down at her as the organisms poured over her and into the hole in the fabric. He bent over as if to help her, but really he just wanted to get a closer look. This near, it was mesmerizing. The dark earth swirled as though it was possessed. It rose and fell like a liquid. Tori cried out one last time before they closed over the top of her dark hair. Charlie ignored the panicked voices over his earpiece. Through his visor the majority of the event had been captured (excepting, of course, when he purposefully tripped her).
He’d made a huge leap in the field, no matter how tragic. The footage would help inform scientists for years to come. Except, he didn’t know (no one did) that after a feeding, the organisms laid their eggs. Hundreds of microscopic eggs stuck to his boots and were carried back into the facility. The eggs, not having to breathe oxygen yet, were not affected by the deoxygenation tank. Charlie stripped off his suit and hung it on the hook.
Overnight, the eggs hatched, and those tiny, deadly microorganisms scurried to hide in the dust accumulated above cabinets and at the edges of the room. Charlie was the first person at the lab that morning, still buzzing with the exhilaration of the day before, ready to study the footage and propel their lab forward. When his skin started to itch, he thought nothing of it. Until he noticed the little red dots on his forearm. Then the world tilted on its axis, and he crumpled to the floor. He’d made another major discovery that day. The skin of the microorganisms contained a deadly neurotoxin.
There weren’t enough creatures to make a cast over him. It was a slow death during which all he could think about was how these organisms would feed on him, suck the life out of him. After, they’d lay their eggs. And the eggs would hatch. And the organisms would spread.
His curiosity had doomed their entire town. He’d brought the ground to them.
Five Dollars
“Today I was picking up lunch for a doctor’s Office and as I’m standing there waiting on my order and checking emails, I hear a gentleman ask this lady, “I would like to purchase something to eat but all I have is $5.” So nosy me looks up from my phone and notices this gentleman wearing a backpack and holding a $5 bill who looks to be homeless or maybe he was dealing with a hard time but either way as he asks about a few items on the menu he shortly discovers that he may need more than $5. The lady begins to offer some suggestions to help him and the man orders and as she’s asking him what he wants to drink and as he’s thinking about it the lady says don’t worry about it because your breakfast is on me.
main qimg cedc7470581935887619008696cb61e3
I got this picture for a couple of reasons. It would have been so easy to turn around and ask the manager to step in or for help but she didn’t she just said hey it’s on me. She could have just gave him water and took his money and went on to the next customer and again she didn’t she just did it. I’ve been in customer service for a long time. I’ve been through some of the best trainings such as Dale Carnegie and yet a girl name Karina in a Chick-fil-A in Jackson, MS in a 3-minute conversation with a customer has managed to teach me the value of humility and taking care of your customers. It’s not just the nuggets that make this place successful. It’s people like Karina.
Fighting Russia & China to Last American: Destroying US From Within| Dr. Jill Stein & Michael Hudson
As the oldest son of my father, when his father died… my grandfather willed to me his fancy mantle clock. This was a beautiful bronze statue of a reclining woman Baroque style next to a very ornate clock. I got it when I was 11 years old, and my father decided to make it the “family clock” by placing it on our living room mantle. Telling me, of course, that when I get older and married I can put that clock into my own house for my old children to inherit.
mantle clock
When my paternal grandmother died, I was willed her cuckoo clock. She picked it up when she was traveling from Poland when she was 16 years old, and it represented her new life as a woman. She wanted me to have it as I was, at that time, just getting started off in life.
cuckoo clock
My mother bought a huge grandfather clock. And up to when she died, and in her will, that clock was to be mien and to be passed on to my children. She was adamant on this, and really wanted this grandfather clock to develop a legacy.
B6Omd7mCAAAo5 M
So what actually happened?
Well, my mother died and there was a battle for her estate. I tried to prevent the looting by my siblings, but I ended up in jail and couldn’t do anything.
My brother took the mantle clock apologetically. And my father was there when he took it, and he looked at me bewildered and said “Hey! That’s your clock. What’s going on?” And, my brother said “no it isn’t. I was mom’s and it sat in her living room for decades. And so now it’s mine.” And my crestfallen father was aghast in how bellicose and direct he was.
My cousin took the cuckoo clock, and when I asked her to return it, she said that she had already sold it on ebay. And that there was nothing that I could do.
My youngest sister and her husband carted off the grandfather clock and they too sold it off. And they offered no explanation, no excuse and no justification. It was “it’s mine now”.
And that is what happened to my family legacy though the clocks of time.
Today…
What are some bad experiences you had while traveling to another country?
Oh boy…I travelled to Mexico City in Nov 2017 and I committed a mistake of asking direction from the police Officer at the airport. I didn’t know Spanish and the officer didn’t know English. He asked for my passport and then called another officer. They discussed something in Spanish and after wasting a good amount of 15 minutes instructed me to follow them. They took me to the washroom. I thought there must be a secret door to their office but to my disappointment it was just a toilet. The police officer instructed me to OPEN.
I asked, OPEN what?? A first thought came to my mind that he is asking me to open my pants but thank God he clarified that he wanted me to open my bag. He started checking my bag and somehow found the 1200 USD that my office paid for the official work.
He started asking for money in Spanish. Though I understood it the first time but still I tried to remain ignorant. For the next 10 minutes, I was only saying ‘No Spanish’ and he was trying to make me understand like a monkey that he wants money. All this shit was happening inside a toilet. Then I gave up.
I asked how much.He said $100 for each officer. I came in Indian mode and started bargaining. I started acting like a hungry person so that he gets frustrated and leaves me but man..he was adamant. Finally, I bring him down to $20 each. I paid the extortion money and ran as fast as I could.
The only lesson I learnt is that this symbol is common irrespective of the language, colour, race or country.
Those who follow the trend will prosper; those who go against it will perish.
China’s national reunification is the overwhelming and irresistible trend of history.
‘Taiwan independence’ means war, and division brings no peace.
Shouldering the sacred mission of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Chinese PLA is fully prepared and stays highly vigilant.
We will take resolute actions to smash any ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist attempts and thwart any foreign interference.”
main qimg 75fa044799b70381ab2301305b6ac92f
Excerpt from remarks by Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian at the Regular Press Conference, May 30, 2024.
Isn’t re-electing Biden kind of like the Titanic backing up into the iceberg again?
You know, as a non-American, I find it pretty morbidly fascinating how the Republicans shamelessly attack Biden and the Democrats with exactly the kinds of things they are the most guilty of themselves.
It’s incredibly cringe- like watching a morbidly obese person on a mobility scooter riding around attacking mildly overewight people for being “fat”. There’s nothing funny about watching that level of poor self-awareness.
I continuously hear Trump call Biden “crooked Joe Biden” when it is he, and not Biden, who is the first former president to be charged with a bucket of crimes.
He calls Biden “Sleepy Joe” when he can’t keep his own eyes open during his own trial.
He says Biden is senile and incapable of coherent speech when he was the one sent to take a cognitive assessment and his own speeches are borderline gibberish formed of rambling digressions set in the vocabulary of a slow 5th grader.
He calls the Democrats “extremists” when he is the one who incited an insurrection.
He calls Biden “the worst president in history” when, by any reasonable yardstick, Trump is the worst, most incomptent, mentally-unstable leader since Idi Amin Dada.
He accuses the Democrats of ruining America’s reputation in the world and turning the country into a joke, while the world remembers him making a fool of himself at the UN, making puppy-dog eyes at Kim Jong-Un (who he still can’t resist praising) and stuffing himself into the worst tailored tux seen since Laurel and Hardy parodied a night at the opera, to meet, and disgust, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Honestly, everything the Republicans say is a poorly-disguised self-own. Almost nothing they accuse the other side of is not an outrageous “tu quoque” at themselves!
People laugh but I find this level of mass delusion genuinely alarming.
“NATO is cooking up something big” and Putin is ready for all out war | Redacted News
OMG!
What was the most illegal thing you have ever done on a computer?
Originally Answered: What is the most illegal thing you have ever done with your computer?
As a kid, I liked to hack. Not for doing damage or stealing, but to play on big computers.
There was a lawyer’s office in the town center – a big chain. And walking past one evening, I saw a modem with a rotary phone on top. In the U.K. it was common to have the phone number of the phone written on a piece of paper in the center of the dial.
Heart racing, I climbed through the plants outside the window to get a better look. I wrote down the number.
I got home, and dialed it.
It rang, and rang. No answer.
So they called out on it.
Next day I called their head office, and asked the receptionist if Mike was still in charge of the I.T. department.
“No, Sir. I have never heard of a “Mike””
“My memory! Shameful! So, what is his name?”
“Why, it’s Peter; I can connect you.”
“No need, I had the wrong guy, the wrong office maybe. Thank you for your time”.
I called the modem number again, only this was also during office hours.
“Err, hello?” Said a surprised worker as he answered the phone that never rang.
“Hi, this is Peter at head office. What the hell is going on there?”
“Err, what?”
“Every time you log in today, you delete 4 files. Some are files not even assigned to your branch.”
“Errr, what??”
“*Sigh* ok, let’s get you out of trouble. When did you log in last?”
“Oh, ok, thanks. Err, about an hour ago”
“Right, what number did you dial in on?”
“Err, the usual one”
“Obviously, but there are 6 “usual” numbers. I am getting you out of trouble, can’t you save me from having to look that up?”
“Oh, right, sorry, errr 555-555-5555”
“Perfect. And your username is?”
“James.Smith”
“That’s great, what password are you using?”
“Err, we are not meant to give that out”
“I know, that’s why I called on this number. I can fax the request, you can fax the answer, and I will have to report that you slowed down my work at the partner’s meeting I have to be at in 3 minutes. James, I am just trying to help you out here, save me some paper work, oil the wheels…”
“Ohh. Gotcha. Thank you. It’s ‘some-password'”
“Thanks, right, I gotta go fix it”.
That night, after playing with the system, I left it printing “your security needs serious attention.”.
It would have printed until out of paper.
There were others, but I enjoyed that one, the simple pleasures 🙂
At that time, my actions were not criminal. Today, the same thing would be illegal.
Stout-Braised Corned Beef Tacos
with Fiery Cabbage Slaw
A great Mexican twist to corned beef is an excellent choice for Saint Patrick’s Day if you are looking for something new and unusual to serve. In addition to the regular instructions for a slow cooker, directions are also given for making this in an Instant Pot.
Rub corned beef brisket with package of pickling seasonings.
Place onion, carrot, celery, garlic, beef broth, tomato paste, brown sugar and black pepper in a 4-1/2 to 5-1/2-quart slow cooker. Stir to combine.
Place Corned Beef, fat side up, on top of the vegetable mixture. Pour stout beer over brisket. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 TO 7 hours or on LOW for 9 to 10 hours or until brisket is fork tender.
Remove corned beef and place on a cutting board, spooning a bit of the liquid over the top. Carve brisket into thin slices across the grain.
To make slaw, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, red pepper sauce, sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add cabbage, carrot and green onions. Toss gently to combine.
Serve with beef in tortillas with Fiery Slaw. Garnish with toppings, as desired.
Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot
Rub Corned Beef Brisket with package of pickling seasonings.
Combine onion, carrot, celery, garlic, beef broth, tomato paste, brown sugar, and black pepper in the insert of the pressure cooker. Stir to combine.
Place Corned Beef, fat side up, on top of the vegetable mixture. Pour stout beer over brisket.
Seal lid and set unit to HIGH pressure for 90 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 20 minutes, then manually release remaining pressure.
Remove corned beef and place on a cutting board, spooning a bit of the liquid over the top. Carve brisket into thin slices across the grain.
To make slaw, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, red pepper sauce, sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add cabbage, carrot and green onions. Toss gently to combine.
Serve beef in tortillas with Fiery Slaw. Garnish with toppings, as desired.
Nutrition
Per serving: Calories 420; Total fat 24 g (Sat. fat 7g; Trans fat 0g); Cholest. 75mg; Sodium 1870mg; Total Carb. 24g; Fiber 2g; Total Sugars 9g; Protein 22g; Vit D (0% DV); Calcium (2% DV); Iron (15% DV); Potas. (10% DV)
Do you think the decline in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. is a temporary setback or a long-term trend?
This is the market warning TSMC about its long term prospects.
TSMC’ s casting its lot to decouple from China by abiding to all U.S. sanctions, committing $65 billion in three greenfield leading-edge fabs in Arizona to manufacture the most advanced chips in the U.S. and setting up new fabs in the E.U. and Japan.
These certainly look like they’re leaving the China market for SMIC to fill. And the market sees the SMIC is catching up. They’re now making 5-nm chips without the EUV machines.
Now even for an idiot, this is the question that TSMC must be pondering: Where the SHIT are they going to sell the chips their fabs in the U.S., E.U. and Japan will be making?
TSMC must know China is the market. And they’re making do with other technologies as Huawei is without the “advanced chips”.
And China is making fast progress at becoming self-sufficient in chips by building out the ecosystem for its own chip manufacturing infrastructure and experimenting new technologies. And if this were to play out, it is very likely that TSMC and ASML will be left out in the cold.
The market can see as a possible fate for these two titans of the chip industryi.
ASML is trying to hang on with its remaining business in China. The most telling how important China is despite the sanction going on its second year, China is still more important than all its other markets combined. The video is about their government now pushing back at U.S. pressure.
But this may be too late if China develops it own technologies and alternative to the ASML machines.
And lastly, it’s TSMC that is the most vulnerable. Yes, they’re the Numero uno and rule the industry but consider this – Apple accounted for $17.52 billion or 25% of TSMC’s total revenue in 2023. This company losing just one client automatically put it in the red in the industry where you’re as good as your last chip. And TSMC has now being all its egg with the U.S.!
Jeffrey Sachs: NATO In ‘Wartime Hallucination’ Mode! The Most TERRIBLE Offensive Is About To Happen
Why do hijras (eunuchs) look so scary and frighten even the bravest men?
I was in Kolkata when a terrified tamilian friend of my wife called to say a group of Hijras were outside their flat demanding money to bless their new born baby
I was the only man and was sent out to confront them
I had never felt more frightened in my life
There were 5–6 of them standing and demanding to bless the new born baby, sing and dance and get some money
Then I decided to talk to them
I didn’t know bengali that well so I asked them in Hindi what they wanted and they said they wanted to bless the baby and sing and dance and get money
I asked “How much money”
They said “500 Bucks”
This was 1994 and 500 Bucks wasn’t a small sum
I said “50” and expected a lot of yelling and shouting. Instead they asked how I could be so mean and how tough their life was
Suddenly it was a TN Traffic cop situation where a ₹50/- demand soon became a ₹5/- for a cup of tea (Old days, the 1990s)
We went back and forth and finally negotiated for ₹100/- and I stuck to ₹100/- and finally paid them from my own pocket to leave without any dance or song
I never got my money back
That lady thanked me and said she would pay me back but I never got the money back
Forget they are Hijras
Just talk to them like they are people and trust me it works
You get intimidated by the appearance and the voice and the social embarrassment but if you can stick to your guns, they are just people
Today in Bangalore, near Jayadeva Hospital road, suddenly they came and begged for money and before I could say no, my wife pushed a 20 into the hand of the Hijra to get rid of the embarrassment
Instead you could politely say “No”
You would have if this was a normal beggar
Just look at them as normal human beings and forget the clothes and the voices
Suddenly it feels pretty normal
Join us on our journey
What is the craziest thing you have ever said to your boss, with or without getting fired?
I have only been fired once. It was the worst job I have ever had. My father owned a car dealership, he told me that if I ever wanted to work for him, I had to learn the business somewhere else before I could come work for him. I had just graduated with an English degree and found a job selling cars.
All car salesman do not deserve the negative stigma that comes with the occupation, but there are many that do deserve the scorn. It is a complicated business. Pay is based on sales commissions. If you do not sell a car, you are given a weekly stipend that will be deducted from your commission when you finally do sell a car.
My first four months were great. I sold 8, 10, 12, 16 cars. Then my fifth month I sold 12 again. My boss made some comment about me slipping. The next month I sold 14, he still made comments about my not selling up to standards expected. There was a board with a list of all the salesman and the number of cars they had out in the Breakroom. Looking at the list, I was in the middle.
It was frustrating to have a boss giving me a hard time when it seemed he allowed others to perform at a lower level. When I came close to making a deal, the boss would refuse any negotiation offers from my customers. I was either selling cars at full price, or not at all. He was not helping me sell the car. My next month was the worst ever. We were three weeks in and I had sold only five cars.
The third Saturday of the month was a do or die day for me to make a sale and salvage my month. Saturdays are generally the best day in car sales. Even the worst salesman can sell a car on Saturday. This particular Saturday, I planned to sell two or three cars.
After our morning sales meeting, my boss said to me, “Can you come by my office?”
I followed him in and sat down across from him. He began by telling me how I started strong but had fallen off on my sales the past couple months. He complained about my efforts and said I could sell a lot more and that he expected more from me considering that my Dad owned a dealership and I grew up around the business.
“You have to sell a car by the end of the day today or you are fired” he said. “I promise you! Don’t take that as a mere threat.”
“You had better hope I sell a car then,” I said.
“Why should I care if YOU sell a car?” He asked incredulously. “You are the one who will be without a job.”
“Because if you make me work my whole Saturday and fire me at the end of the day I am going to beat the shit out of you,” I said. “… and don’t take that as a mere threat.”
“That’s it you’re fired!” He said. “Get out of here.”
China Sanctions US Defense Companies!
What should you do when people are rude to you in public?
Yesterday, I parked my car near the temple on the street. I got down of the car and washed my hands with the water I brought from home.
This lead to spilling some water on the road.
Suddenly, a guy arrived on his scooty and stood ahead of me.
He started using cuss words and said, ‘you idiot, that is my house, in front of which you are washing your hands. Do you have any shame, next time you do this you will see what I do to you.’
He didn’t even let me speak and kept going on and on.
His house was across the road, a few metres away from where I stood. Also by the time he spoke, the water had already dried.
I felt like giving him a mouthful, but then I realised that what will I get in return, abuses? Physical altercation? Insult? And frustration for days?
He kept speaking, and I smiled and walked inside the temple. (I was wearing a mask so he couldn’t notice my smile)
He kept staring and speaking in a harsh tone while I calmly worshipped.
By the time I returned, he was gone.
It may appear cowardice I assure you it isn’t.
Why should I frustrate myself, create unnecessary discomfort and lose my peace for a stranger who doesn’t even have adequate manners?
Why should I become like him and lose my traits and wisdom?
Most importantly, why should I bother myself at all?
Earlier, I would have definitely hit that person or given him back his deeds with interest, but every time I did that, I ended up suffering in some way or the other. Also the impact of such fights stays for days. So I decided to deal with such people using a mature outlook, and I am happy with that.
Do you know anyone who has won a lottery? Did the money change them?
I do. It ruined his life.
This man lived in a rural area, and worked at the only truly large employer. Plenty of scattered mom and pop types, but this was a branch of a corporation. He loved his job.
He struck it for millions. Well, you have to identify yourself to claim it. It hit all the papers, even out to the city, where I lived.
When people realize you have won the lottery, people come out of the woodwork to try to get a piece of it. Every relative, no matter how distant, came calling, demanding with various levels of pleading to get some of the money. He didn’t think he should have to share it, so those relatives stopped speaking to him.
It’s not just relatives: neighbors, coworkers, “friends”, they’ll come around and aren’t subtle. He said no to them as well. They weren’t happy either.
You also get all kinds of crazies knocking at your door and calling your phone number. They got contacts from people pleading for money for their son’s kidney transplant or whatever. Lots of sob stories, lots of pleading, lots of insults.
Frightened by the attention and the chaos, his wife became overwhelmed and had a nervous breakdown. She would eventually divorce him.
The economy in his area turned. The corporation he worked at began layoffs. As he had been there forever, his seniority insulated him from worry about being cut, but it didn’t insulate him from bullying from his coworkers about how he was taking a job from someone who needed the money to feed their family or keep their home. He couldn’t take it eventually, and left his beloved job.
So, he won millions and lost everything else: his friends, his wife, and his job. He still lives in his old house, and every so often walks into town and buys everyone at the local diner breakfast.
With the US and Britain proving unable to dislodge the Houthis from their strongholds or stop the militia from attacking Israeli-linked, American and British vessels in the Red and Arabian Seas, commercial shippers have increasingly eyed Russia’s Northern Sea Route as an attractive potential alternative, a leading mainstream US news magazine has reported.
“The surging costs and fear of getting hit by Houthi drones and missiles have led some shippers to consider the Arctic as an alternative, as melting ice begins opening new potential on the so-called Northern Sea Route,” Foreign Policy wrote.
The article ‘discovered’ what Russian officials and media have been saying for years – that the 5,600 km Northern Sea Route is the shortest maritime route between Europe and Asia, and can shave 8,000 km or more of distance, and 40-60 percent in time, off shipments, compared to traditional Europe-Asia routes through the presently troubled waters in the Middle East.
“The ability to slash some 5,000 miles off a ship’s journey would mean much faster travel times – a major plus in today’s world of online retail and next-day delivery,” FP said.
Unfortunately for the West, there’s a catch: 70 percent of the Arctic, including virtually the entire length of the Arctic portion of the route, passes through Russian waters. “Ships wanting to use the route must secure the Russians’ permission and pay them transit fees. Given current relations between many Western countries and Russia amid the Ukraine war, that poses an obvious challenge,” the magazine lamented.
main qimg 3ef301642e219dcde99a2daa8c7f465a
I Bought Used SD Cards.. Here’s What I Found
When should a child move out of their parents’ house?
This reminds me of my older son. As a teenager he would say “I can’t wait till I am 18, so I will be free.” I asked him “Free to do what??” and he would say “Whatever I want to!” At that time, I told I “OK, on your 18th birthday, you will get eviction papers. On your 17th birthday, you will get luggage so you have a year to practice packing!” I had told a friend of this conversation, because as a parent, I knew it was a joke. Well, this friend owned a thrift store and gave me a suitcase to give to him. So on his 17th birthday, he came downstairs to see a huge navy blue suitcase sitting in the corner with a huge blue bow on it. The look on his face was priceless, as if to say “Really, Mom???” He didn’t know that all of his real gifts were inside.
Seriously, though, your child and life circumstances will dictate when they should move out. Can they afford to move out? Are they still in school? Do they have a job? Do they have the life skills? I don’t believe there should be a set time in their life where we say “OK, it’s time. Move out!”
My older son joined the Navy, and was in the Delayed Entry Program. He stayed with us until he left for Basic Training. He has been on his own since. My younger son (who asked where his luggage was on his 17th birthday) went the college route. He went away to college and when he graduated, he came back home. He was welcome here until her got on his feet. He stayed with us for about 5 years. He is now living with his fiancee and planning his wedding next year.
As every person is different, so is the time they should move out.
I have been thinking about including short science fiction stories with my daily posts. Please kindly tell me what you all think about this addition. MM
The badlands had ceased expanding, and there was just enough food to support one or two researchers—well, maybe only one—and that would be me.
The bishop had his hands full. A guard saw me into his office, and the bishop sat waiting behind a huge, salvaged desk between us.
The desk, a marvel, held my gaze. Its rich, brown hue was a testament to its unique origin, a strange wood with a veneer of such smoothness, partially burned away, creating a mesmerizing play of colors. I couldn’t help but wonder about the lives that were risked to retrieve such a treasure.
“You are?” he said, not looking up. Now, if it were up to me, I would fall on my knees and kiss his ecclesiastical ring, listen to his blessings, and wait for benediction. Such was my upbringing, which I had only known since…forever. To be in his presence was an honor granted to so few.
But I must answer him! Yet remembering my very name seemed an extraneous and worthless undertaking.
“Thomas Cranwell, to commoners excluded from knowing my ecclesial rank,” I said, finally.
“Why do you exclude yourself?” he asked again, without looking up from whatever was absorbing him. “Are you not to work for the extension of the Kingdom of God?”
“It is for an uncommon request. Permission to attend at Bradwell,” I practically whispered.
That got his attention. I am asking for something forbidden. To speak of Bradwell and the treasures of antiquity that it contained was to invite suspicion.
Myths, stories, and legends about the sacrifices made to build Bradwell many generations ago were a staple around campfires at night. After the cataclysm and before the new orientation, the building of Bradwell took place in a time so dark that our present darkness looked light by comparison. Yet I was convinced that understanding our past would help build our future!
I threw caution to the wind. Before I knew what I was doing, I was kneeling before him, seeking his hand to kiss his ring, even as I could not see that the guard had moved to strike me from behind.
“Stay your hand!” the bishop ordered. “What have we here? A search for knowledge at any cost?”
“Only a fool who seeks to serve, Your Excellency!” My tears were so copious that if I looked at him, I imagined he would send me off straight away. He laid his hand on my head.
“Thomas, I’ll inquire about your character. Send me your references and bid me a good day!”
#
I had to work while I waited. Luckily for me, I had learned a trade as a metal scavenger. It was considered a low occupation, but it was necessary since the metal that never rusts could no longer be made and was highly prized. However, my unusual request made people suspicious of me. Even the scraps I found in the well-combed hills and valleys surrounding Urhan fetched such low prices that I began to starve. Being without family and friends in any place was inviting death into your life. I hoped I would not have to wait long for the bishop to answer!
When news came that the bishop had approved my request, I now had a servant, David, a protection seal on paper, no less, and a stipend. The bishop’s generosity quite shocked me. Was he an antiquarian? Even if only in secret? I couldn’t account for my good fortune otherwise.
We hastened to start our journey. David was young—only sixteen—yet enthusiastic and uncommonly curious. When I told David we were off to Bradwell, he jumped for joy! I warned him to conserve his strength. It would be a long and challenging journey, even for one like himself. Besides, he was to support me, such as I was.
Upon leaving Urhan, David removed his sandals and shook the dust off them, motioning me to do the same.
“A curse on any who did not help us!” he shouted with glee.
This made me angry. “You hardly know what it is, you ask!” I said. “We have nothing but what we carry—nothing at all. It could be that a curse has been laid on us! Mind your place, boy!”
David’s eyes fell, and he began to weep. “Forgive me, Father, he said.
“It is your youth and inexperience that speaks,” I answered. “The world is larger than we know!”
#
We arrived at Urhan Station, a smaller community composed almost entirely of humbler folk, primarily farmers. I was not incardinated anywhere in the Urhan region. I thought it proper to approach the local magistrate to inform him of our presence and request leave to be accommodated for at least one night, perhaps two. Upon reviewing my documents, I was permitted to stay, provided I sought provisions in the local market and remained at the local inn. This I was happy to do.
Thank God news had not spread about my mission. It was a relief to be treated courteously for once, and I relished the opportunity to rest and regain my strength.
David was enraptured by the many sights of Urhan Station, which he had never visited before, even though it was only twenty miles from where he lived.
“Father, shall we hear Mass today?” he inquired.
“Certainly!” I replied.
We soon happened upon the parish church, a quaint, quite old stucco and wood structure dating back to the earliest days of the Urhan region’s reconstruction. Even today, the church outshone the other various dwellings, which were much more bare and plain-looking. A bell rang out, calling the populace to prayer. The church was soon filled.
I was struck by Father Bruno, the priest who said Mass. His intensely blue eyes and reputation for knowing people’s sins without being told drew many visitors for confession, even from Urhan proper. I feared he would somehow know of our mission, so I hung back in one of the back pews.
When Mass was over, and we had finished our Thanksgiving prayers, he strode right to the back of the church to see me, calling me by name, although we had never met.
“Father Cranwell! Know you, not your duty! To serve God! It is not your place to seek that which God has destroyed!”
He said this so loudly that David prostrated himself at his feet, weeping and begging forgiveness. I was stunned, and when Father Bruno had left, and I regained my composure, it was plain that we would have to leave Urhan Station; the sooner, the better.
David wept incessantly. On the one hand, he knew he might fall prey to ruffians or dire circumstances, being alone without my support. Yet, given his religious upbringing, he could not ignore Father Bruno’s words, and I would not contradict a fellow priest, so I released David from his obligation to me.
I did this with a heavy heart, wondering if I would survive long enough to arrive at Bradwell without David’s support. Yet I had to think of what was best for the boy.
“You are free to leave,” I said as we left Urhan Station.
“Where will I go?” he asked.
“Don’t you have a family to return to?”
“Family? My family is the church. I am an orphan!”
With this, I stopped to look at him. David was in tears again. I was nearly beside myself with grief, too. It was clear that he could not make a decision.
“Come with me, and you will no longer be an orphan but a son to me!” I said, wiping both his and my own tears.
#
We were quite clearly approaching the badlands. Strange, disfigured animals approached us, peering out from the undergrowth. David readied his slingshot, and I, my staff.
“I could hit one!” David exulted.
“Let us pass by the side,” I answered. Thus, we took detours through thick brambles to avoid these “denizens of hell,” as the common folk called them.
The road, too, became more rutted and overgrown. Signs warned us not to go further, though the further we went, the more rotted they appeared, like the people who erected them had passed on or failed to maintain them.
We had to sleep in the open air in a shelter we could make from branches and sticks. It began to rain. I had heard of the constant rain in the heart of the badlands, soaking you through and through. We knew not to drink from the fetid swamps that threatened to overwhelm the road, which now resembled more of a simple path than a road.
“Is God punishing us?” David asked after a tough night when I coughed more than I slept. “Isn’t it clear we shouldn’t be here?” he continued. He was throwing stones into the swamp, a look of defeat on his face.
“Hush now and trust,” I said. We have not come all this way to die now!”
But I wondered how much more we could take, wearied to the bone from the dampness and privations caused by a lack of food and good sleep, never mind the constant fear of what might happen if we grew inattentive or were unlucky.
After three days, the path abruptly stopped at a ruined habitation. No one was home, and it looked like no one had been there for some time. After my brave words to David, my heart sank. Where to now to Bradwell?
Had I fallen prey to pride? It was Father Bruno’s words that echoed in my mind.
I sank to my knees and wept.
I could have died there and then and been happy to meet my maker, poor, alone, a sinner in need of redemption. It was David who came to my rescue.
He bounded into my view even though I lay prone in the muck and filth in those last few steps on the path to nowhere.
“Look, Father!” He helped me up. “Come over here! Do you see it? Up on the hill!”
My poor eyes were unaccustomed to focusing at such a distance, yet I could just make out a building built on a hill. Was it a monastery?
I could see it shining like a beacon, a bright sheen off what looked like stout walls as we hobbled closer, David supporting me with every step I took.
#
By some magic I had never seen before, the gate to the monastery slid open to reveal a monk dressed in a black tunic. He did not speak, only motioning to us to follow him. A Benedictine? I had never seen one before.
The monk’s tunic hung loosely over his body, stopping only at his ankles. He wore a rectangular piece of cloth over his shoulders called a scapular that appeared to be made of wool. When he turned to lead us to the community, I noticed his cowl limp and unused, the sun only beginning to make its presence known.
It was an edifying experience to see such calm and serene purpose in this one monk who neither sought nor cared for our taking any notice of him whatsoever.
We climbed some hewn stone stairs to such a height! It was utterly exhausting. I had to stop frequently to catch my breath, but I could still reach a portico, the sun clothed with refracted light through the most marvelous stained glass, again as something I had never seen before. I reached out to touch it, causing the light to fall in a sudden dazzling brilliance as if moved by unseen hands. I wanted to stop and question the monk about how light could be so liquid yet impervious to my understanding!
But he moved ever onward, not looking back.
We reached a stolid door of massive weight, again opening at a mere touch! What I presumed to be the abbot greeted us.
The abbot wore a black cappa, which is a full-length cloak over his tunic. He also wore a ring, which he held out to me.
I collapsed before I could kiss his ring, and from what David told me later, I hit my head on the stone floor, losing consciousness.
#
I awoke in an infirmary, or what looked like one. David was so happy to see me come to my senses. He looked fatigued as if he had been waiting a long time by my side, sitting on a wicker chair next to an untouched tray of food on a small table.
“Eat, father!” he said, his voice catching him unawares like he had not spoken for hours. Then, he cleared his throat and looked as if he might cry.
I had more important things on my mind. “What of the…abbot?” I gasped as I reached for a plain, remarkably shaped glass containing a liquid I did not recognize.
David handed it to me. “He never spoke to me. After you collapsed, two monks carried you here. Will you get well, Father?” he pleaded.
“God willing!” I said. You are so faithful to me; how can it be otherwise?” I joked, but then I frowned. “But there is much to discuss…” I said as I tried to get out of bed.
“Not until you are well!” David commanded. “Eat!”
#
The days went swiftly by. A monk with remarkable medical knowledge examined me. And there was so much food! So much more than I was used to.
Then, several days later, another monk with such bright eyes came to get me. This one was not unassuming or silent. He was talkative, so much so that I wondered if he was a monk or a commoner dressed in monk attire!
“Know you, not your duty!” I exclaimed at one point amid his chatter.
He rounded on me, his confident air dissipating as air escapes a putrid cask.
“Know you, not yours?” he replied. With that, we both fell into sullen silence. He then led me to see the abbot.
#
It was as before. This time, I kissed the abbot’s ring and returned to standing before him in what looked like the chapter house, a meeting room where the community would gather to conduct business.
Gazing about, I saw things on shelves I had never seen before. Whether they were functional or not escaped me; some seemed to be parts of other, larger objects. Here and there, you could see these recognizable parts protruding. But I was not given leave to stare at these unusual artifacts for long.
“You and your servant are welcome to stay with us!” the abbot announced. “I have made inquiries, and the bishop of Urhan diocese has vouched for you. The bishop was once a monk at this very place! What exactly have you come here to do?”
“Father Abbot, I wish to conduct research.”
“By all means, let us visit the scriptorium and the library!”
Again, there was light that I had never seen before.
In a wonder of wonders, I was led into the scriptorium, where monks sat at tables reading words that appeared and disappeared on pages filled with light, with no visible candles.
Then, many books in unknown languages were in the library, with pictures not drawn or painted of such wonders as I could scarcely describe! Many of these books were burned, and some could not be read. Still, everything was neatly stored and accounted for.
“Why not let everyone see these wonders,” I asked.
The Abbot was taken aback. “Do you believe that the people would comprehend that we were once prosperous, but now we are poor only because of a war of unimaginable fury as if the very wrath of God enveloped everything? This is knowledge for only a select few!”
The Abbot, setting aside his vows, embraced me and continued speaking for what seemed like a very long time.
“You need hardly wonder! Was it not always so? Monks preserved knowledge, whether of religion or not, that would have been lost otherwise in past times. We do so today, as always. Forever, until the end of time itself!”
So began my new life. Father Bruno could remind the people of what went wrong, and I would now discover why.
What is the hardest thing you have ever done?
Survived on 10 Rs for 11 days. I lived on borrowed food and also ate free food at temples. Cycled a distance of about 24 km everyday. Lost friends, Girlfriend, faith in everything but ended up being stronger and learning a lot of lessons.
On 21st October 2010 all I had was 10 Rs. in my wallet. You can only buy a cup of tea with that amount of money. Life was hell for 11 days (From 21st to 31st October 2010) I would eat mostly at temple(prasad) or eat bits from food offered by other employees who worked with me, then go to the wash room and cry at my situation. I would come back home tired after cycling for 12 km and cry on my bed and fall asleep because of exhaustion. Wake up early and cycle back to work.
On the 11th day I went to my uncle’s place where my Grandmother was staying at that time. Because I met my Grandmother after a long time and she gave me 20 Rs. She put it in my hand and said “I know you earn much more, right now I have only 20 ₹, keep it, it’s a blessing” I had tears in my eyes and don’t know why but I felt she understood what I had gone through. I immediately hugged her and cried for a while. It is customary for grandparents in our family to give some money to grandchildren when they meet after a long time. I bought a bun & a cup of tea from a bakery that evening with that money. The first time I had spent in 10 days.
Looking Back, the most stupid thing I have done in my life so far : starting a business in 2009 with a couple of friends. I was always fascinated to start something on my own. Stupid because firstly I trusted people’s words and believed them and secondly I took risks without contingency. I had taken loan from the bank for the initial investment of business, the business partners had their own savings though. The first few months were manageable, but come August 2010 things became very bad for us. I had to borrow money from friends to pay salaries of the people working with us. My credit card was already maxed out. Plus I had EMI of the loan and the 4 wheeler EMI. The 4 wheeler down payment was paid by dad & Sister and for the EMI I had promised I would pay, otherwise at home no one was interested in the 4 wheeler.
Come 5th October 2010 the date of my EMI and all money in my account was over. In fact if I remember there was 14 paisa in my account. Of course I had a few 100 Rs in my wallet. I begged my friends to help with some money and no one did. My partners always said they too had no money, only that they still continued living with a decent lifestyle (One of the reasons I left the business in mid 2011). In fact my business partners did not even bother to acknowledge the fact that in the beginning while our share of profits was still good, month after month I would invest back my share of profits to the business, they would not, nor would they ask me to take my share. By mid month(October) almost all my money was spent. My parents were in my home town. I was living in a place where I had even taken loans from neighbors. The idea of staying at home would be really bad as people would ask back their money.
I had to stay at home and not switch on the lights for the fear of the neighbors asking back their money. Since there was no light I would sleep early, wake up early and cycle to work 12 km one way (Tough in a city where there is an uneven terrain and without any food, all the rice and other food items at home I had consumed by mid month). By now I was also having a rough patch with my ex. Once I explained things to her, & even cried in front of her because of my situation, all she did was patiently listen(like she would always do but not help.) All I wanted was some emotional support but probably she felt that I wanted some money from her and very politely said “I got to go, parents are waiting at home”. I could have asked my parents for help but the business was started against their wishes and they would ask me to explain a lot of things and ask me to quit, also the fact that I had already borrowed a lot of money from them.
By the start of next month things got better, and ya I started taking my share of profits which I was not doing earlier. Slowly I started working towards saving some money every month(this went on a long way to help in getting my sister married a couple of years later). This phase of my life or rather the 3–4 months was the toughest I had in all fronts, Bad business, bad finances, bad health, bad mindset, bad temper, bad relationship and bad memories. I remember that by November 1st week when my parents were back things were getting normal and I started to tell them bit by bit about the problems in business. They helped a lot in those troubling time.
And lastly, I still keep the 10 Rs note in my Wallet and I would not give it to anyone for whatever amount they offer me. It keeps reminding me that the tough times are gone and even if life gets harder I can handle it.
Stir together the water, Italian dressing mix, ranch dressing mix, and brown gravy mix together in a bowl until smooth.
Place the beef roast into a slow cooker, and pour the sauce over top.
Cook on LOW until the roast is easily pierced by a fork, 6 to 8 hours.
What is the most surprising thing you have accidentally overheard about yourself?
I had a very dear friend…actually an unrequited love…that died of leukemia when he was 26. We had been close from pretty much the time we met in college, but our stars never aligned. We dated, but he eventually married someone who divorced him 3 months before he died.
I visited him whenever he was in hospital. The last time I beat my blood donation to his room by 5 minutes. His Mom (who adored me because I got up to clear dishes with her the first time I had dinner with them), was with him as usual. I knew he was close to the end and didn’t want to chase her out and told her she didn’t need to leave for me, but she insisted. She came back a few minutes before I left.
My friend’s dad called me a week later at work to give me the news and let me know about arrangements. The funeral was about 5 hours away. My mom took a mutual friend and me to the funeral.
His family was surprised and pleased that we came all that way and invited us for lunch at his sister’s house. We three travelers mingled and talked separately for a couple of hours and then headed home.
On the way home Mom related a talk she had had with my friend’s mom. Friend’s mom said that she spent most of her time at the hospital when her son was there as he was for days and weeks at a time. She loved her son and didn’t want him to be alone. She usually stayed no matter who came to visit. But she said she always felt safe leaving him alone with me…that I was the only one she felt safe leaving him alone with…and that he was always better after I visited.
I knew he was my soul mate, but that kind of sealed the deal.
Did you ever beat up the high school bully in front of everyone?
Not the high school bully, but the town pervert who liked to prey on 13-14 year old girls. I was 18 at the time, and had a summer job running a game room on the main street of my home town. I was only 5 feet 2 inches tall, so not very intimidating to look at. One day while I was working three young teenage girls came running in and asked me to hide them. Right on their heels was the known pervert who was only not in jail due to family influence. I walked up to him and told him to leave. Note he was over 6 feet tall and in his late 20s. He smirked at me and reached out to shove me out of his way so I put him to the floor, screaming in pain. You see, my father had extremely rigid notions that you never hurt or harassed those weaker than yourself but he knew others didn’t feel that way, so he taught me some nasty tricks to take down any bullies. In this case I grabbed his wrist and bent it back, putting him in severe pain, then with my other hand reached out and grabbed his neck on the nerves and put him to the floor. I then told him he was banned for life from the game room and told him to get out. After that, the game room was a place of safety for the kids in that town
What is the best way to respond when someone tells you “You’re not invited”?
It depends on the situation. I used to go out once a week after work with three other women. One time they were talking about the next week’s outing being at a different place and I said, “Oh that sounds like fun.” And they said, “Oh, you’re not invited. We’re going out with a different coworker and she doesn’t know you very well so we didn’t think she’d want you there.” I was like… why are you discussing a weekly outing that I’m not included in? I told them I was going to the ladies’ room so they could firm up these plans without me at the table, and will hopefully be done discussing it by the time I return. I thought it was incredibly rude of them to discuss it like that in front of me. I don’t need to be included in every outing, but don’t talk about it like it’s our next outing, and then inform me I’m not invited. Of course the other person heard about it from them and wanted me to come, but at that point there was no way I’d join them. Covid broke up our weekly outings soon after.
Wolff Responds: Its Time To Come To Terms With The New Economic Order (May 29, 2024)
In the early 1990’s I started moving factories to China. Ah. It was a different time for certain. Shenzhen was a little village with construction everywhere, and 16 lane dirt roads, the customs building was a wooden plywood shack with a single circle cut into it. And, of course… I was a “rock star”.
I’ll never forget those days.
There were so many interesting and adventuresome escapades, I’ll tell you what.
One, that I will NEVER… EVER forget was the ride in the taxi when we landed in Hong Kong. A driver picked us up and drove us to the hotel. He was so pleased to pick up Americans (we were a rare breed back then) and he told us how much he loved American music.
And then for one hour; he sang to us. He serenaded us.
He sang all sorts of songs, but he really liked the Beatles. And I’ll never forget the Beatle’s song “I wanna hold your hand”.
Easy, huh?
For some reason he couldn’t sing or say “HAND”. Instead he sang “SAND”.
Ugh!
Oh, yeah, I’ll tell you somethin’ I think you’ll understand When I say that somethin’ I want to hold your sand I want to hold your sand I want to hold your sand
Oh, please, say to me You’ll let me be your man And please, say to me You’ll let me hold your sand You’ll let me hold your sand I want to hold your sand
By the twelfth century in China, vector tracing was standard procedures for epidemics and and lockdowns of households, neighborhoods and cities were standard. Pandemics, like the Black Death, which brought down Western empires, made little headway in China. Nor did Covid. Death rates were much lower and the economy grew four time faster than America’s during the Covid years. Let’s see why.
images1
America’s Covid Factors
Definition: The CDC reported 1.2 million ‘Covid deaths,’ but the virus was primarily responsible for only 4% of them. It was only a ‘factor’ in 96%.
Incentives: Washington reimbursed hospitals $12,000–$160,00 for each inpatient if Covid was a ‘factor’ in their admission. Charlie Munger: “Show me the incentives and I’ll show you the outcome”.
Health: 70% of Americans are sick enough to take prescription drugs daily, usually two or more. Life expectancy, falling since 2014, is below China’s.
Government: 30% of Americans trust the President to tell the truth.
Media: 6% of Americans trust their media to tell the truth.
Education: 5% of Americans can distinguish fact from opinion.
Competence: Lockdowns in the USA were haphazard, and few understood how or why they were imposed.
Elite disagreement: Is masking worthless? Useful? Necessary? America’s medical elite still disagree.
Treatment: The CDC used an untested gene therapy costing $35/unit, which provided no protection against infection and triggered many side- and after-effects, some fatal.
History: Two to six million Americans were Covid seropositive in December, 2019.
To reach that levels took 6-12 months. ‘vaping’ and care home deaths had 100% Covid symptoms. The world’s first Covid death occurred in Kansas.
China’s Covid Factors
Definition: In Beijing’s reported 83,150 deaths, Covid-19 was primarily responsible, the standard clinical practice.
Health: Chinese are healthier and more energetic than Americans, thanks to consuming 70% of the world’s fruit and vegetables, a few minutes daily tai chi, and cheap, preventive TCM.
Government trust: 80% of Chinese trust their government and, by extension, its public health agency, which is headed by a famous epidemiologist.
Media trust: 80% of Chinese trust their government media. During the epidemic, senior scientists spoke directly to the people, without political interference.
Education: In OECD testing, 62% of Chinese students could reliably distinguish fact from opinion.
Competence: 82% of Chinese approved of Dynamic Covid Zero and just 7% of them were ever locked down. Since lockdowns are traditional there, they elicited little complaint.
Incentives: Beijing provided emergency staffing and supplies to hospitals and covered extraordinary costs, nothing more…
Miami Vice – Best music scenes (remastered)
OMG! You all are gonna enjoy this. I certainly did.
Miamai vice
1980’s! Wholly Cow!
What is the probability of the Chinese Communist Party being overthrown? What conditions would need to be met for this to occur?
It’s impossible because the Party penetrates into every level of Chinese society, with Party branches in any organization with more than 10 persons.
Any attempt by anyone to organize an overthrow of the Party is immediately reported up Party channels, and is arrested and interrogated by the security services about what they are trying to do, and who they have met and talked to. All public spaces in China are covered with surveillance cameras connected to facial recognition systems, so anyone they talk to can be recognized immediately, because all Chinese citizens carry a national identification card.
All non-Chinese who enter China have their fingerprints, voice recognition, gait recognition and facial recognition recorded when they enter the first time, and are entered into the non-Chinese database.
Because of western hostility to China now, and western intelligence agencies openly-stated desire to overthrow the Chinese government, the Chinese security services are on high alert against any attempts.
Woman or Tree? (Not the right argument)
What is the most selfish act you have ever witnessed?
It makes me sad to write this.
Over the past few years, my family has experienced several financial hardships; yet last year I experienced the most selfish act that I’ve ever known.
My father is a smoker (although he doesn’t like to admit this in any respect). We were living off food parcels from the Food Bank, despite my Mum working her hardest, and my Dad desperately applying for employment.
My Mum had £7 or so left in her purse. That was all that was left until her next payday four days away. That money would have provided just enough to buy food for these days (to go alongside her copious amounts of pasta and potatoes).
The day my Mum was due to go shopping, she woke up to find her purse empty. No one had any idea as to where the money had gone, and all three of us searched everywhere; we were resigned it was gone. Later that evening, I saw my Dad return from the shops and asked him where he’d been. He brushed me off and went outside in the garden; I went up to my bedroom. I’m an ashmatic, so whenever I smell cigarette smoke, I start coughing. I went downstairs to investigate…and that’s when it all came out.
You see, my Dad – so desperate for cigarettes and too embarrassed to go to the GP to ask for more patches or to call the NHS helpline for smokers – decided to steal the final £7 that we had to feed our family (myself, my Mum, my Dad, my Nan, and our dog) for four days, and took the entirety of the money for himself. I lost all respect for him that day, and am devastated that this has happened at least 4 times since.
In the end, he really enjoyed his cigarettes, we didn’t enjoy the plain pasta.
Abandoned Mall Frozen in Time | Retail Is Dying
What are the most disgusting assumptions people make because you are a man?
This happened in Scotland, the UK, about five years ago.
I was in a local park and another kid was trying to rub dog shit on my son’s face.
This other child, who was about seven – a year older than my son – had a history of bullying other kids, and this was the second time he, together with another kid who was holding my son down, had tried to pin my son on the grass and smear him that day, and the second time I had to physically pull this one lad off my son, my son being distressed, crying, and calling for me.
That day, at that time, I decided enough was enough. I pulled this kid off, and pushed him backwards – with some force, but not enough to hurt him, obviously – because I was a forty year-old adult, and he was a seven-year-old child – but enough that he fell backwards onto the grass.
I wanted to make sure he wasn’t ever going to do this to my son again.
Once again, I’d like to point out, this wasn’t a child we’d just met for the first time that day. He had a history of bullying other kids, including my son, before. In the past, I’d had to intervene when he’d stolen items from other kids. Today was the day I was going to try and stop it happening to my son, because living in fear of someone isn’t much fun, even if that person is seven, and you’re six years old.
Some other parents I’d never seen before were some distance away. They saw me push the other child off mine and verbally reprimand him. I was pretty cross. On another day, maybe, I could possibly have thought of a better way of addressing things – although I’m still scratching my head on this one, to be honest.
They came over from quite a distance away, and accused me of assaulting the child. They surrounded me, and my son – who was quite distressed – and said they’d call the police, which they did. Refused to let us out the park until the police had arrived.
My son and I were then seperated, he was taken to my wife’s place of work, and I was taken to the local polis station, locked up for four hours, and charged with assaulting a minor. The charges were based on the witness statements and also, a friendly police officer told me later, because I admitted to pushing the child of my son, but not ‘assault’ as I saw it. The officer said it was one of those situations I should have said nothing.
Months later, I received a conviction for assaulting a minor.
And it was something I was very angry and confused about for a long time afterwards.
Because every time I dared explain what had happened to anyone I felt close enough to mention it to, they were always on my side.
And then, as I was coming to terms with it, I’ve noticed similar incidents happen over the years, but involving women and their children. In one instance – which I thought was a bit O.T.T. – a lady smacked another child’s hand quite severely for doing something to her son (what it was about, I don’t know). But what was different was the other parent’s reactions: they appeared to be on the side of the mother. The general consensus was whatever had occured was the fault of the offending child’s parents – something I couldn’t comment on, obviously.
I’ve come to the conclusion that what I did wasn’t actually as bad as I’d convinced myself it was. I was trying to protect my son, not just for that moment, but for the future too.
It’s unfortunate that a bloke towering over another child may seem intimidating, but that’s just the way it is. It doesn’t mean we’re murdering him.
Note I also fully admit it wasn’t me on one of my better days. There may have been other ways to resolve this conflict, as a social worker usefully pointed out to me (I had to see a social worker as part of the judicial process).
I feel men often don’t have the same socially acceptable rights (note I don’t say ‘legal rights’ here) to instinctively want to be protective of our children and defend them in the same way women do.
Ultimately, strangers reactions meant the bullies won. I lost a great deal of mental health. And my son lost. We never go back to that park now.
A later edit here for clarity:
There were two couples that stopped me leaving the park. They were without children as far as I could see. The males were more aggressive than the females.
As far as I know, they were unrelated to any of the children there that day.
There were two children assaulting (my words, because that’s what they were doing) my son. The one wiping dog excrement on my son was the one I pulled off my son and pushed away. He had a history of bullying. I didn’t know much about the other kid, who was slightly older, other than I’d seen him with the first child before a few times.
If I had ever got the chance to speak to the parents of either of those kids, I would have taken it. Fact was, they were never accompanied by any parents or adults, ever. I knew they lived locally. I had spoken with the seven year old’s dad at one point, and he seemed okay to talk with. His son, in his worst behaviours, was the type of kid that would happily tell me to “fuck off” if ask where he lived. Writing more delicately than I’d like to, I wasn’t prepared to engage with that kid that day in any other way other than to stop his bullying behaviour continuing.
These decisions, once analysed, are always more complicated than they first appear. If I thought the young lad was, say, from a very unhappy home, maybe I would have treated him differently. But as far as I knew at that time, I had no reason to think this (and I still don’t).
Son Inherits Dad’s Abandoned Trailer – Realizes He Had Lied For Years
On May 23, 2023, China’s People’s Liberation Army suddenly launched its third military exercise in the Taiwan Strait region. The scale of the drill was unprecedented, involving all military branches, including air force fighter jets, naval vessels, long-range army artillery, and rocket force missiles. The exercise area encircled the island of Taiwan, being dubbed an “island-lockdown” drill, amounting to a state of quasi-war.
The direct trigger for this drill was the newly inaugurated Taiwan regional leader Lai Qingde’s remarks promoting “Taiwan independence” and overtly advocating the “two-states theory” in his inaugural address, provoking strong dissatisfaction and countermeasures from China. Unlike the previous two drills, this one came without any prior notice, giving the outside world not even one minute’s preparation time, aiming to catch Taiwan’s authorities completely off guard to achieve the strategic goal of swiftly recovering Taiwan.
Cross-strait relations are still legally in a state of war. Historically, too many wars have erupted from military exercises turning into sudden offensives. Each drill is slicing away at Taiwan’s living space, pushing the frontline forces closer. Yet Taiwan’s authorities have responded coldly, showing zero vigilance, playing right into China’s hands. If an order to recover Taiwan by force is issued mid-drill, the completely unprepared Taiwan will be powerless to resist.
However, the battlefield of such forced recovery will definitely not be limited to the Taiwan island itself. Japan has openly stated it would intervene to defend Taiwan, attempting to turn Taiwan into a new Ukraine to bog down mainland China. Therefore, China has reaffirmed the 1945 Potsdam Declaration through diplomatic channels, clearly warning Japan that if it intervenes, the fires of war will spread to Japanese territory.
China’s strategy is to avoid getting bogged down in a difficult, protracted offensive to recover Taiwan. Instead, China will shift the main battleground to Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and other locations with U.S. military bases, fighting it out with the U.S. in an endurance contest there. Taiwan island itself will be swiftly recovered through a lightning operation, while other regions become the second, grueling Ukraine-like battlefield.
The secret to achieving the swift recovery of Taiwan lies in these continuous drills lulling Taiwan into a state of oblivion. At that point, Taiwan will be like a frog being boiled alive, unaware as it becomes part of reality. This is the strategic intent behind China’s persistent military pressure in the Taiwan Strait region.
UK: It’s not a joke, in Britain they have been afraid of the Russian “Tobol” for several weeks, which closed the skies of London. But not only London, but also its neighbors in Europe. As a result, planes do not fly – satellites are silent. So how does this miracle work?
Tobol.
main qimg 5946be82bd2ebb054869268917462721
It has the ability to completely suppress satellite signals. In particular, Tobol effectively disrupts communications made through the Starlink satellite internet system. If we also take into account the panic that followed the offensive of the Russian armed forces in the Kharkiv region, the picture becomes quite remarkable…
Who’s Afraid of Tobol?
British media reports that Russia has a “secret weapon” – the latest “Tobol” electronic warfare system, which is capable of jamming a satellite signal or creating a false target on radar. So far, the military is believed to have only a few such devices, but more will soon follow, as Tobol has proven itself to be excellent.
According to reports from the British, it was already used in an airstrike, which allowed Russian troops to completely block the NATO equipment possessed by the Ukrainian armed forces. Specifically, it is claimed that with the help of Tobol, the Russians successfully jammed the signal of the American Starlink satellite system, to which Elon Musk’s company SpaceX previously provided Ukrainians with access.
The British also believe that one or more Tobol installations are/are in Kaliningrad. This explains the malfunctions of navigation devices that occur on passenger planes when flying in Polish territory.
Of course, all this is presented as “the Russians have conspired again”, because NATO spy planes and drones often fly to them from Poland and the Baltic states, and Ukrainian missiles are aimed at the cities of Crimea, which the work of jammers in Kaliningrad becomes more than justified.
Why are the British and others so afraid? First, because they do. Second, Russia is silent and does not reveal its military secrets (weird, right?). Third, jammers work, and that’s a fact.
And now to the facts. Who was stuck and how
Almost all British airlines have encountered problems flying in the Baltic Sea region. During the flight, the passenger planes lost contact with the American GPS navigation satellites and the European Galileo satellites, and the radars began to display a false image, as a result of which the pilots changed the trajectory and even dived to avoid collisions with obstacles that did not actually exist.
According to the British newspaper Sun, over the past eight months, 2.3 thousand Ryanair planes, 1.3 thousand Wizz Air planes, 82 British Airways planes, 7 Jet2 planes, 4 EasyJet planes suffered from this interference and spoofing (transmission of false data). and 7 TUI aircraft. Things turned out rather strangely with the charter airline TUI Airways Limited. They said 7 of the affected planes were operating flights without passengers. Why it was necessary to fly up to seven aircraft without people is not clear.Source 24 news
Raisi Crash: Rescuers Drop A Bombshell; Reveal Chopper’s ‘Key Device Missing Or Turned Off’
What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?
while working an Aerosmith concert, myself and another supervisor got called to talk to a few guys that had a “complaint” because they were all being rude and drunk and one of our security officers didn’t know what to do. The reason, they flashed a Badge to the security officer.
So we pull the 3 gentleman out to the vestibule so we could here them, and the other security supervisor, who also had a badge, but was a correctional captain, decided he would take the lead. As law enforcement respect other law enforcement.
We learned that the 3 of them were basically being jerks to everyone around and when the officer was sent to calm them down, however, the security officer showed up, then the 3 flashed a badge and asked to talk to a supervisor. This was after several attempts to just calm them down.
So now here we are and the other supervisor actually apologized to them for the misunderstanding and that the officer was just doing what they were told.
The next part is where the tables turned.
So as the supervisor starts to wrap things up with these 3 rude “law enforcement” a-holes, he asks very subtle, “so by the way, the officer saw a badge, what dept do you work for?”
“Corrections!” One said in a smug voice. The supervisors face just got stone. Then he asks, “oh really, what building?”
“Coraguen!” – which was the supervisors prison.
The supervisor went toe to toe with him and said “Well guess who f*ck I am?”
The one who was talking gets in his face and says “who?” With an a-hole smile.
“Your captain l!” And said his name.
oh my god the sight watching these 3 fools stumble to get in attention in front of all the other concerts goers and employees. They stood like they were in front of a drill sgt!
He starts to tell them to pick stuff up off the floor for the mess they made, and told them to get out of the concert, and he would deal with them Monday.
They ALL THANKED HIM!!! Ahahahhaha, and stumbled out drunk. Oh man we laughed about that after! The supervisor wasn’t going to do anything to them, but yeah, way to act a fool and brag about to your boss accidentally.
You know that ruined their night like they did to many others at the show!
Never know who’s around. Dont be an a*s!
The Creepiest And Most Unexplained Things That Are Shaking The Internet
You all NEED to watch this.
What is the most selfish act you have ever witnessed?
This isn’t the most selfish thing I’ve ever seen, but it’s something that happened quite recently and it made me realize just how little people care about what they do and how desperate we are for even the tiniest morsel of power.
It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, so me and my family decided to go out to the beach for the day. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day. The sun was out, the water was warm, and, to top it off, the humidity was low (living in lower Alabama, a day with low humidity is nothing short of a miracle). Anyway, we came back to our marina at about 7 or so, and we saw the most adorable family of ducks as we were walking back to our car. (Ducks are really common if you’re close to the water, as we were)
We spent about ten minutes looking at them. There were six baby ducklings and one large mother duck. They looked just like you’d imagine a duck family to look, with the little ducks following the mother duck in a single file line. I remember thinking how beautiful nature can be. How looking at the mother watch over her babies was one of the most precious things that life can offer.
Then, in the subsequent 30 seconds, I went from being in such a happy state of mind to be more pissed off than I have ever been.
We began to walk away from the ducks, as we had planned to go out to dinner later that evening, two women walked up to the little family of ducks. They were both yelling and cackling quite loudly, and had clearly had too much to drink. They saw the ducklings, and immediately started grabbing for them, yelling “Come here you stupid ducks!” They proceeded to grab one of the ducklings from the ground, angering the mother duck to a point where she was screeching and flapping her wings, desperately trying to prevent a strange person from taking her child from her. The drunk woman kicked the mother duck away, saying “Shoo! Go away!” She was throwing the little duckling up and down in her hands.
I became infuriated, and, had she not finally put the duckling back on the ground, would have intervened. The women walked away and shouted at the mother duck, “You shouldn’t do that to people! Stupid duck!”
There were a lot of emotions going through my head, but I just remember looking at the mother duck as she was watching one of her babies being picked up by the woman. She had that universal look of terror and dread that a mother has when her child is in trouble. I know that animals aren’t to be thought of as higher than humans, but I think respect for nature is something that everyone needs to have.
Edit: Wow! Thanks for the love you guys.
Edit: OMG THIS IS AMAZING THANK YOU!
Edit: I can’t thank you guys enough. 2000 upvotes!!
Epilogue: Some of you have been asking about what happened after the incident. The ducklings were thankfully unharmed and still hang out at the Marina frequently. I haven’t seen any other incidents like the one I described. Also, to those of you saying my answer was hypocritical of someone who eats meat, you are mistaken. Yes, I fish. Yes, I eat meat all the time. But I in no way whatsoever support the cruel treatment of animals. I just understand humanity’s place in the food chain and accept the order that God put on this Earth. What ruins this order are the terrible things that man does to Earth’s creatures and then tries to justify it by saying, “They’re just animals.”
Green Chile-Rice Meatballs
New Mexican Meatballs Horizontal No Product 2 1 of 1
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning or 1/8 teaspoon each basil, marjoram, oregano and thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 pound extra lean ground beef
8 ounces ground veal or turkey
1/2 cup long grain white rice
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 (4 ounce) can green chiles, diced
Instructions
In a large bowl, beat eggs with salt, herb seasoning and pepper.
Add garlic, onion, beef, veal, rice and crumbs; mix well. Shape mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place meatballs in a 5 quart or larger slow cooker.
In same bowl, mix tomato sauce, tomato juice, chili powder and chiles; pour over meatballs.
Cover and cook on LOW until meatballs are no longer pink in center and rice is tender; cut a meatball to test (5 1/2 to 6 hours).
Gently lift meatballs to a warm serving dish and keep warm.
Skim and discard fat from sauce, if necessary; stir, then spoon over meatballs.
Police confront woman living in grocery store sign in Michigan
Video below shows Chinese State TV declaring today that China will reclaim Taiwan, likely in early June.
According to Chinese defense ministry sources, the Chinese army will launch an attack on Taiwan in early June. This is one week from now.
Here is video of China State television from Saturday morning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ExQQBp2pQ
WARNING TO U.S.
China also publicly warned the United States to end all visits to Taiwan and adhere to the One-China policy. That failure to abide to the one-China policy is a RED LINE that will have serious consequences.
No response from the U.S. or anyone else — yet.
ONGOING MILITARY “EXERCISE”
Two days ago, the people of Taiwan awoke to find their island surrounded by China warships, as reported on this website.
This morning China has completely surrounded Taiwan in all directions. China currently has over 30 ships and 40+ fighter jets active in “training.” The map below shows the situation:
main qimg 65ca626ac49bbd4cd6bb9763c958b234
COMMENTARY
Might happen. Might not happen.
If it DOES happen, you can rest assured that… A RED LINE has been crossed. China will not attack Taiwan unless this has already has occurred.
The following are the RED LINES regarding Taiwan;
A formal announcement of independence
The USA breaking the agreement regarding the one-China policy.
Placement of medium range ballistic missiles in Taiwan (MRBM)
Placement of nuclear weapons or systems in Taiwan.
Now, the Scary…
Recent U.S. military aid to Taiwan includes the provision of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles.
The current Taiwan regime, announced today, announced that they will use these systems and the F-16 attack aircraft to destroy the Three Gorges dam.
Three gorges dam map 2
If the Three Gorges Dam were destroyed, the consequences would be catastrophic, potentially resulting in the loss of millions of lives. The Yangtze River basin, which the dam controls, is densely populated and economically significant, home to over 400 million people. The immediate impact of the dam’s failure would involve massive flooding, with water potentially inundating major cities downstream, including Wuhan, which alone has a population of over 10 million (Grunge) (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre).
In terms of potential casualties, estimates vary but generally suggest that tens of millions could be directly affected. The flooding would devastate infrastructure, agriculture, and industry, leading to secondary disasters such as disease outbreaks, shortages of food and clean water, and long-term economic disruption. Additionally, the collapse would severely impact global supply chains, given the region’s significant role in manufacturing and logistics (Penn State e-Education) (The Prepared).
Overall, the destruction of the Three Gorges Dam would be one of the worst humanitarian and economic disasters in modern history, with far-reaching effects both within China and globally.
Passenger Filmed A Flying UFO , Then This Happened
Why would someone go on a vacation and not bring enough money with them?
I don’t know.
There’s a phenomenon in Asia of western beg packers. I saw one in Fanling of all places last week. He held up a sign begging for money…
main qimg 3dc4bfb6e0e8478f518440f1578781ce
Why do they do it?
Because apparently people in Asia are suckers and there’s enough people who give them money to make it worthwhile… instead of kicking the shit out of them.
Secondly immigration officers aren’t strict enough in many places. When I went to Russia? When I applied for a visa I had to give them 1 year of bank statements. I had to prove I had at least $150USD for each day I intended to be there for.
For some reason many countries don’t do this for some reason.
Back in the 2010s to my chagrin I met an idiot who thought he could live like a King in Hong Kong for £1 a day. I met him on the airplane as I was going to the toilet.
Similarly there was a dine and dash in Wanchai a couple years back a bunch of French tourists the most common comment was I can buy the entire restaurant for $10.
Company launches HEAD and BODY swapping lab | Redacted with Clayton Morris
“My wife who occasionally hits me”
I have been married for 13 years to a wife who is in most ways a wonderful partner – smart, organized, good mother to our two children, generally respectful and not overly controlling. We’ve been on wonderful trips together.
She is however, a bit high strung, and does a real hot temper, and when she gets mad about something, will occasionally punch or slap me. Now all the time, but sometimes — say, a few times a year.
I’m a lot larger than her and so I can take it (I played contact sports as a kid) but I don’t exactly like it. (The yelling isn’t great either) I’ve told her that I don’t like it — and I don’t think she’s exactly proud of it and I think she is ashamed at her temper. That said she can also be somewhat self-righteous and isn’t highly apologetic. That may be because some of the stuff she gets angry about isn’t trivial but objectively anger-inducing (say, totally forgetting about something I’d repeatedly promised to do, or relentlessly pushing for things or reopening decisions like more or longer vacations when she wants to work more). I just want to admit I’m not a perfect husband who is yelled at for no reason.
In marriage therapy I mentioned it as well but for some reason the therapist didn’t make a big deal of it, but focused more on what I am doing to make her angry. It would be a lot to throw away a long marriage over a few slaps here and there.
Physical violence is never acceptable in a relationship, no matter the circumstances or what you may have done to anger your wife. Her hitting you is a huge red flag that needs to be addressed head-on, not minimized or blamed on you.
You say you can “take it” because of your size, but that’s irrelevant. Abuse is abuse. How would you feel if the genders were reversed – if a husband was routinely hitting his wife when angry, even if she was bigger than him? There’s no excuse for it.
It’s good that you’ve told your wife you don’t like the hitting and that she seems somewhat ashamed. But “somewhat ashamed” and “isn’t highly apologetic” are not enough. She needs to take full responsibility, sincerely apologize, and commit to never doing it again. No excuses.
I understand you don’t want to end an otherwise good marriage over this. But by accepting her behavior, you’re enabling it to continue. What kind of message does that send to your kids about what’s acceptable in relationships?
You need to make crystal clear that it stops now, or you will take steps to protect yourself and your children. Insist that your couples therapist take this seriously and make it the top priority to address. Consider individual counseling for your wife to manage her anger in healthy ways.
You deserve to feel safe in your own home. Drawing this firm line isn’t throwing away your marriage – it’s what’s required to save it and make it truly healthy. Stay strong and don’t downplay this. It’s a big deal and it needs to stop, period.
We are Living in The Twilight Zone ….. Part 2
The Gritty Work of Self-Discovery: Why Facing Your Demons Is the Key to Authentic Living
Most of us are walking around with our heads so far up our own asses that we wouldn’t know our authentic selves if they bit us in the face. We’re so busy trying to be who we think we should be, who society tells us we should be, that we’ve completely lost touch with who we actually are.
And that, my friends, is a recipe for a miserable fucking existence.
Because when you don’t know yourself, when you’re not in touch with your own desires and values and fears and flaws, you’re basically just a puppet on a string. You’re letting other people and external circumstances dictate your life, your choices, your very sense of self.
And that’s no way to live. That’s not freedom, that’s not authenticity, that’s not fulfillment. That’s just a slow, soul-crushing march towards mediocrity and regret.
But here’s the good news. You have the power to change that shit. You have the power to take back control of your own life, your own identity, your own happiness. And it all starts with doing the fucking work to get to know yourself, warts and all.
First things first: you’ve gotta get honest with yourself. And I mean brutally, uncomfortably honest. You’ve got to be willing to shine a light on all the parts of yourself that you usually keep hidden away in the dark corners of your psyche.
That means confronting your fears, your insecurities, your shame. It means acknowledging the ways in which you’ve been hurt, and the ways in which you’ve hurt others. It means taking a long, hard look at your patterns of behavior – the ways you sabotage yourself, the defense mechanisms you use to avoid vulnerability, the stories you tell yourself about who you are and what you’re capable of.
And let me tell you, this shit is not for the faint of heart. It’s going to bring up all kinds of uncomfortable emotions – anger, sadness, guilt, fear. You’re going to want to run away from it, to numb it out with booze or Netflix or whatever your drug of choice is.
But if you want to truly know yourself, if you want to build a relationship with yourself that’s based on honesty and authenticity, you’ve got to be willing to sit with that discomfort. You’ve got to learn to observe your own thoughts and feelings with curiosity and compassion, rather than judgment and avoidance.
So start by just paying attention. Notice what triggers you, what makes you feel defensive or ashamed or afraid. Notice the ways in which you talk to yourself, the stories you tell yourself about who you are and what you deserve.
And then start questioning those stories. Are they really true? Are they serving you, or are they holding you back? What would happen if you let them go, if you rewrote the narrative of your own life?
This is where tools like therapy, journaling, and meditation can be really helpful. They give you a space to process all the messy, complicated stuff that comes up when you start excavating your own psyche. They help you develop a sense of self-awareness and self-compassion, a way of relating to yourself that’s grounded in curiosity and kindness rather than criticism and shame.
But the work doesn’t stop there. Because once you’ve started to peel back the layers of your own bullshit, once you’ve started to get a clearer sense of who you are and what you want, you’ve got to start living in alignment with that truth.
That means making choices that honor your values and your desires, even when they’re scary or difficult. It means setting boundaries, saying no to things that don’t serve you, and saying yes to things that light you up. It means surrounding yourself with people and experiences that nourish your soul, and letting go of the ones that drain you.
And it means being willing to fuck up, to make mistakes, to fall flat on your face and get back up again. Because growth is never a straight line, and self-awareness is a lifelong practice.
But here’s the thing. When you have the courage to do that work, when you have the balls to face your own demons and your own truth, something incredible starts to happen.
You start to develop a sense of self-awareness and self-acceptance that is truly unfuckwithable. You start to understand your own patterns and triggers and defense mechanisms, and you start to develop the tools to work with them rather than being controlled by them.
You start to get clear on what really matters to you, what lights you up, what feeds your soul. And you start to make choices and take actions that align with those values, even when it’s hard, even when it goes against the grain.
You start to cultivate a sense of inner strength and resilience that can weather any shitstorm that life throws your way. Because you know who you are, you know what you stand for, and you know that you can handle whatever comes.
And perhaps most importantly, you start to show up in the world as your true, authentic self. Not some watered-down, people-pleasing version of yourself, but the real, raw, unapologetic you.
And that, my friends, is a fucking gift. Not just to yourself, but to everyone around you. Because when you’re living in alignment with your truth, when you’re owning your shit and standing in your power, you give others permission to do the same.
You inspire them, you challenge them, you show them what’s possible when you have the courage to be who you really are.
So do the fucking work. Get to know yourself, warts and all. It won’t be easy, but it will be so, so worth it.
Because at the end of the day, the relationship you have with yourself is the most important one you’ll ever have. And when you invest in that relationship, when you do the hard work of showing up for yourself with honesty and courage and compassion?
Everything else falls into place. Everything else becomes possible. And that, my friends, is what this whole messy, beautiful, fucking incredible life is all about.
So, you’ve tied the knot. You had the big fancy wedding, posted all the obligatory honeymoon pics on Instagram, and now you’re back to normal life as a married couple. Time to just coast on marital bliss for the next 50 years, right? Wrong.
Here’s the thing no one tells you about marriage: The wedding isn’t the finish line – it’s the starting gun. All that romance and excitement leading up to the big day? That’s just the shiny packaging. The real “prize” inside is a hell of a lot of hard work.
Because after you say “I do,” that’s when shit gets real. You’re suddenly sharing your life, day in and day out, with another flawed human being. You’re seeing all their quirks, bad habits, and annoying tendencies in full HD detail. The fantasyland fog of new love and lust clears, leaving behind the harsh reality of dirty socks on the floor and endless squabbles over whose turn it is to do the dishes.
This is the point where a lot of people freak out, thinking they’ve made a horrible mistake. They got a defective spouse! This constant bickering and drudgery can’t be what marriage is supposed to be like, can it? Isn’t this supposed to be a lifelong romcom montage of candlelit dinners and walks on the beach?
Nope. Welcome to actual marriage, motherfucker. The sooner you accept that this is the real deal, the better off you’ll be. Because the couples that last aren’t the ones who never fight or get on each other’s nerves. They’re the ones who look at the unfiltered truth of each other, with all the warts and baggage, and decide to stick it out anyway.
They recognize that marriage isn’t some magical state of unending happiness. It’s a daily choice, and often a tough one – to love and care for your partner even when they’re being a giant pain in the ass. To have those difficult conversations and slowly, painstakingly figure out how two separate people can function as a team. To support each other’s growth while also maintaining your own identity.
None of that is easy. In fact, it can be awkward, messy, frustrating as hell. But that’s how you build a real, lasting relationship – in the trenches, not on a beach at sunset. You roll up your sleeves and put in the unsexy work of learning to really see, hear, and appreciate another person. Even when you kinda want to smother them with a pillow.
So if you’re past the honeymoon phase and wondering if you’re doing something wrong, relax. The shiny newness wearing off doesn’t mean you screwed up. It means your real marriage is beginning. Embrace the suck, keep showing up even when it’s hard, and slowly but surely you’ll build something real and resilient as hell.
Just don’t expect it to be a damn fairy tale. Happily ever after is bullshit. Loving each other even when you want to kill each other – now that’s the good stuff.
The American Dream Isn’t Dead… You Just Can’t Afford It
How can six million Jews die in WW2 when the tattoos were only six digits long?
I got you here.
Tattoos were generally 6 digits long though this is not an absolute rule. However, most were 6 digits.
Let’s look at Auschwitz because why not Auschwitz? A total of 1.3 million people were sent to Auschwitz which included 1.1 million Jews.
Now if Holocaust deniers were correct that Auschwitz was just a normal camp (and they aren’t) then the Germans would have tattoo 1.1 million Jews- meaning tattoos would have to be 7 digits long. But they weren’t 7 digits, they were 6 digits. That means despite having 1.1 million Jews sent to Auschwitz the Nazis only planned to use a few hundred thousand as labor. So what was planned for the rest who did not receive tattoos?
What do you think those brand-new state-of-the-art cremation facilities were for? And why were they attached to big empty rooms with holes in the ceiling? You see my point.
On accident, you have given further evidence to support the historical fact of what happened at Auschwitz. For that I commend you.
Side note- not all Jews died at Auschwitz or concentration camps where they received tattoos. More Jews died at the “Reinhard” extermination camps of Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor, Chelmno, and Majdanek where there was no tattoos. Additionally perhaps 1.5 million were just shot by the Einsatszgruppen.
Cheese Cracker Meat Loaf
This Ritz Cracker meatloaf is the most flavor-packed, delicious southern style meatloaf you’ll ever eat. With a heaping of ground beef, tasty bell peppers, buttery Ritz Crackers and a sweet chili sauce topping. This twist on a classic comfort food is a real treat that will become your whole family’s new favorite meatloaf recipe that’s even better next day! It’s a great recipe for a leftover meatloaf sandwich too!
Ritz Cracker Meatloaf
This ritz cracker meatloaf recipe hinges on one special ingredient. Of course you guessed it – Ritz Crackers.
Along with the crackers – which, in place of breadcrumbs, make the most incredible juicy and tender meatloaf – I use 80% fat ground beef, which makes the loaf so tender and juicy.
You can also get away with 85% fat too. This recipe also makes for amazing leftover meatloaf sandwiches that taste incredible even on plain white bread. It’s that good. I’ll show you how to turn slices of meatloaf into a meatloaf sandwich. More on that below.
This meatloaf is jam-packed with flavor. Oh my goodness, I promise you’ll want to eat the entire loaf yourself. We make this several times a month because it’s super easy and it’s just plain addictive! You’ll see.
How to Make Tender, Moist Meatloaf
Meatloaf critics often hold their position for one of two reasons – it’s either tough or dry. And no one wants to eat meat that’s tough or dry, and especially not meat that’s tough and dry. Yuck.
This recipe Ritz crackers in meatloaf calls for ingredients that lend themselves to tender, moist meatloaf, but even the best-written recipes are not 100% resistant to simple kitchen errors. Here are some easy tips to avoid tough and dry meatloaf:
Don’t skip the liquid: This seems obvious, sure, but it’s important. The liquid (milk in this case) is going to add tons of moisture and prevent your meatloaf from drying out.
Don’t overmix: Say it with me: do not overmix. Overmixing will toughen the meat mixture, and that’ll directly translate into tougher meatloaf. Once the ingredients are incorporated, stop mixing. Don’t worry, there’s a reminder in the recipe.
Don’t forget the eggs: Again, following the recipe correctly will prevent many of these common errors, but it’s worth mentioning. Eggs might not seem like the most important ingredient, but they’re vital. Not only do they bind the mixture, they provide some much-needed moisture, whose absence you’ll notice if you forego the eggs.
Cook it low and slow: Don’t think you can get away with increasing the heat to decrease the cook time with meatloaf. That’ll deplete your loaf of all its soft texture and mouth-watering moisture. Set your oven at the correct temperature, and don’t pull it out until it’s done.
Let it rest: Once your meatloaf is out of the oven, let it rest for at least 10 minutes. This will allow the moisture to spread to every part of your loaf, giving you that tender, juicy meatloaf you’re craving.
How to Know if the Meatloaf is Done
Knowing when meatloaf is done is important because every oven is a little different. Some run a bit hotter, some a bit cooler, and both affect when a dish is finished cooking.
The best temperature to cook your meatloaf should be 350 or 375 degrees F. I prefer to bake this meatloaf at 375 degrees F.
To be sure your Ritz Cracker meatloaf is finished, check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. It should read 165 degrees Fahrenheit. FYI, a 2 lb meatloaf should take anywhere from 50-75 minutes to cook.
Loaf Pan or No Loaf Pan?
Many meatloaf recipes call for a loaf pan, but they’re not necessary. Instead of using a loaf pan, I mold the meat mixture into a loaf, and fold aluminum foil around it to keep it in place. I’m also sure to line my pan with foil for extra support.
How to Make Ritz Cracker Meatloaf
Ritz Crackers Meatloaf Ingredients
Ground beef: For tender, juicy meatloaf, use 80-85% fat ground beef. Using leaner meat will dry out your loaf.
Red and green bell peppers: The combination makes for a beautiful depth of flavor, both earthy and sweet. Make sure to finely dice them for a smoother texture.
Fresh minced onions: Like the peppers, having smaller onions will improve the texture of the meatloaf, making it more consistent throughout.
Minced garlic: Using minced garlic will aid in the texture, and give a stronger garlic flavor than crushed or chopped.
2 large beaten eggs: Remember, using eggs is vital to the moisture.
Ritz Crackers crumbs: Ritz crackers in meatloaf make the most delicious flavorful meatloaf but you need to make sure you crush them into small breadcrumbs. See video….Place them in a plastic zip bag and hit with a mallet to crush the crackers. If you don’t have a mallet, use a rolling pin.
Whole milk: This is an important binding agent, and makes for very moist meatloaf.
Slightly dried basil: The basil, of course, will cook with the rest of the loaf, but using slightly dried basil instead of completely dried basil will give it a fresher flavor.
Dijon mustard: If you’re out of Dijon, use yellow mustard.
Worcestershire Sauce: For the perfect depth of flavor
Seasonings :Dried parsley, dried thyme, basil, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper.Meatloaf with Chili Sauce Ingredients
Sweet Chili Sauce
Ketchup
Brown sugar
Ingredients
17 round cheese crackers
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons green bell pepper, minced
1/4 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
How to Make Ritz Cracker Meatloaf
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sauté the peppers, onions and garlic.
Make the ritz cracker crumbs: To a medium bowl, add the milk and crushed Ritz Crackers. Mix well. Let it sit for about 5 minutes.
Add the ground beef, sautéed vegetables, eggs, basil, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, seasonings, and milk mixture to a large mixing bowl. Mix gently. Do not overmix.
Place meat on an aluminum foil-lined sheet pan.
In a small bowl, add the ketchup, sweet chili sauce, and brown sugar. Mix until combined.
Spoon half of the sauce mixture over top of the meatloaf.
Place your meatloaf in your preheated oven and cook for 60 to 75 minutes.
Halfway through cooking, spoon the remaining sauce over top of the meatloaf. Continue cooking until the meatloaf is done.
Ritz Cracker Meatloaf 4
Instructions
Crush crackers with rolling pin or blender until crumbled.
In mixing bowl, combine crumbs with onion, green pepper, chili sauce, milk, eggs, salt and pepper.
Mix in ground beef. Form into a 6- or 7-inch round loaf. Place in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or until done.
How to Make a Leftover Meatloaf Sandwich
Ritz cracker meatloaf also makes a tasty sandwich. Ciabatta bun, French bread and hamburger buns are both fantastic options, but in my opinion the best meatloaf sandwich uses only white bread a thick slice that is. Whatever bread you choose, it’ll make a delicious sandwich.
Top your sandwich however you’d like, or keep it simple with just bread and meat. I prefer my leftover meatloaf sandwich with white bread and no toppings. It makes for the perfect quick and easy dinner or lunch!
If you are feeling a little extra go ahead top the meatloaf sandwich with all your favorite toppings.
Here’s the best way to do it:
This is not a recipe for a cold meatloaf sandwich, it’s a hot and delicious recipe for the best meatloaf sandwich.
In a medium sized skillet over medium heat, add a thick slice of meatloaf. Add softened butter to each slice of bread. Place bread slice face down in the skillet. Top with cheese and cook until melted.
You can even turn this meatloaf into a open-faced meatloaf sandwich.
Assemble the sandwich with your favorite topping.
Meatloaf Sandwich Topping Ideas
Slice of cheese
Cooked red onions (sautéed)
Onion rings
Crisp lettuce,
Tomato
Spinach
Yes, you can still visit Bob Dole’s 1996 campaign website – Dole Kemp ‘ 96
WTF
How a great conversation is like a game of catch
As a radio host, Celeste Headlee has engaged in her fair share of discussions, and she’s thought a lot about how to bring out the best in a conversational counterpart. One thing she likes to say: A good conversation is like a game of catch. Huh? She explains.
When you play catch, you have to do an equal number of catches and throws, right? It’s not possible to play catch with somebody and throw more than you catch, for the most part. Because then you’d just be throwing baseballs at them, which is not nice. This is the exact same ratio as a healthy conversation — you’re going to catch as much as you throw. Which means, obviously, you’re going to talk 50% percent and listen 50% percent — and we don’t generally have that balance in our conversations.
There’s a great study out of Harvard in which researchers discovered that talking about yourself actually activates the same pleasure centers in your brain as sex and cocaine. That means it’s very pleasurable to us to talk about ourselves and what we like. You could walk away from a conversation like that and feel fantastic about it. But remember — talking about yourself makes you feel fantastic. So you may have just walked away from a conversation in which you talked about yourself — that was awesome! — and the other person is walking away going, “Good god, that person would not stop talking about themselves.” It’s a totally different perception, so you’ve got to remember you’re playing catch — find the balance.
How do you go beyond small talk to have a meaningful conversation with somebody?
Not every single conversation that you have is going to be in-depth and serious. And that’s okay! You should relax. Eventually, while you’re sitting there talking small talk, something’s going to pique your interest, or something’s going to catch their interest, or they’re going to say, “Wait, what did you just say?” Or, “Why is it that way?” And someone’s going to ask a question, and it’s going to lead you further into deeper subject matter. So it will happen, if there’s something there to talk about. Otherwise, be on your way — let it go.
What about that awkward silence when you don’t know what to say next?
By the time that you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. So by the time you’ve reached an awkward silence, something’s already gone wrong. But it’s not too late! Very often, an awkward silence comes because either you weren’t listening or they weren’t listening, and therefore, you guys have kind of meandered off-topic to where you’re at the opposite ends of a football field. The way to fix that is to say, “You know what, I’m sorry, I got totally distracted. Where did we start? Can you help me out here? I was just following a train of thought about Cheetos, and I got totally lost.”
What should you do when it is very clear from body language that the other person is not listening?
End it. Again with the game of catch. That’s the equivalent of me taking a ball and throwing it over my shoulder instead of to you. Why would you want to keep playing? You have to have an equal partner in a conversation. Otherwise, walk away.
You make the case that all experiences are not equal. Are you saying that empathy is not useful in a conversation? What should people do instead?
People always push back on this topic. Now, I’m not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, but I believe that most of us are motivated by empathy. You’re with your friend, and you want to say, “Oh, I do understand you, because I’ve been through something similar.”
But the truth is, you haven’t — you haven’t been through something the same. You maybe have gone through something kind of similar, but the fact of the matter is that you’re a different person from your friend — so even if it was the exact same experience, even if you both almost went down on the Titanic, the way you experienced that is completely different. And these situations are most likely totally different.
So although it feels to you like you’re reaching out and giving empathy, what’s happening is that you’re talking about yourself again.
So you shouldn’t say, “I know how you feel”?
That’s the worst. You don’t know how they feel. They’re confiding in you, and all they want you to do is listen to them and say, “Wow, that sounds awful. There’s no way for me to understand what you’re going through, but you tell me what you need.”
What do you think is stopping people from having better, more meaningful conversations?
The elephant in the room is obviously polarization, and this is true not just in the United States, but I think Brexit and the migrant crisis in Europe tell us that it’s happening all over the world. Oftentimes we’ll enter into a conversation, and somebody will say, “I’m voting for Trump in the fall.” Conversation over. You immediately say, “Nothing this person says is something I want to listen to, they have nothing to teach me,” and you end the conversation. And if the conversation does continue, you’re not actually listening to them.
That’s what is often ending conversations now. We have stopped talking to people that we disagree with. We basically want to be able to curate and edit our conversations the same way that we curate and edit our social media. If we’re talking to somebody that we don’t want to hear from, we want to unfollow them like we do on Twitter.
The problem with that is that everybody knows something that you don’t. And so if you are stopping all of those conversations and only speaking with people who have similar experiences and opinions, you’re not going to grow, ever, and you won’t change your mind or your opinion.
They used to tell us, don’t talk about religion and politics. The problem today is that everything is religion and politics.
So what’s the best approach to start a conversation that you know might end up in an argument?
First of all, a lot of conversations end in arguments these days. But when I’m sitting down with somebody, especially somebody with whom I absolutely don’t agree, I sit down and I think through, “Okay, what if they’re right?” Let’s think about what would change, and how my mind would change, if they are right and I am wrong. And as they start to tell me things, as long as they’re not completely made-up facts, I ask myself what it would mean if they’re right. And then I ask them too. I say, “Okay, let’s say you’re right. What does that mean?” And try to get inside what they’re thinking.
For instance, a lot of people ask me how to talk to Donald Trump supporters. It is a great question. But here’s the thing: there’s an anger there among people — not just people who support Trump, but people who support Bernie Sanders, or the people who voted for Britain to leave the EU. There is an anger there, and it could be fascinating and engaging and compelling to figure out where that is coming from. That’s not always going to be the case, and there are going to be conversations you have to walk away from. But if you’re going to have an argument with someone, the best way to do it is with an open mind, assuming that that person can teach you something, and that you’re not there to teach them.
What should you say if you unintentionally offend someone during a conversation?
You say, “I’m really sorry, I did not in any way, shape, or form intend to offend you. I may be inarticulate, but let me try to explain what I thought I was saying, and then you tell me what you think I’m saying, and maybe we can understand one another.” That’s it, that’s all that you say. Be honest.
Is there a quick way to help a friend to stop obsessing about a negative topic?
It’s difficult to address specific situations, since context is so important. In broad strokes, though, people often repeat themselves when they feel as though they haven’t been heard. For example, when we tell our kids something important and they don’t acknowledge that they’ve heard, we’ll keep repeating it until they say, “Okay! I got it, Mom!” The same things happen often in the workplace. So, try telling your friend that you think you understand what he or she is saying: “Let me tell you what I’m hearing and you tell me if I’m getting it wrong.” Then you can offer to brainstorm to find solutions. If he or she’s not open to that, then be honest. Say, “You’re telling me the same things over and over. I can tell you’re very upset, but we can also move forward from here.”
How can you turn a one-way conversation into a dialogue?
You can’t, really. There’s a couple of reasons for a one-way conversation. Sometimes it’s that the person is shy, and in that case, that’s totally fixable, you can draw somebody out, usually by finding out what they like, or self-deprecation is good. I usually tell a joke or a story about something I’ve done that was really stupid — and I have a wealth of those examples. But if somebody isn’t in the mood to talk, you can’t fix that.
And here’s the thing that people are always surprised that I say: it is totally okay to not have a conversation. Having a real conversation takes energy, and it takes focus, and sometimes you just don’t have that kind of energy to give. That’s totally fine — don’t have the conversation, enjoy the silence.
So if you’re feeling like you really want to have a conversation and the other person isn’t matching that energy, you just need to let them have their time, and find somebody else who is ready.
What about when people really don’t seem to want to listen, but just want to talk about themselves and their experiences?
I’ve found that it’s good to very kindly address this head-on. Say, “It’s so great to hear all that. Can I tell you a little about what I’ve been doing?” Or any version of that. Don’t assume that person is just trying to dominate the conversation. Give them the benefit of the doubt, because we all talk about ourselves too much. If you try to improve the conversation and they are resistant, then just accept that your conversations with that person will be brief and unsatisfying. Just like a game of catch, you need two participants who are willing to take turns.
How do you get others to open up as much as you are opening up?
You can’t, really. For instance, when you’re opening up, is it mostly because you’re telling them about your experiences? Are you talking a lot about yourself, and not giving them an opening to talk about themselves? Are you in any way, shape or form shutting down the conversation? In other words, does that person say, “Oh, you know, I had something similar happen to me the other day, it was really, really interesting,” and you say, “Oh, no, no, no, it wasn’t like that,” and then you go back to what it was you were talking about.
There are a million reasons why the person that you’re talking to may not be opening up. But often, it’s because you’ve shut the door in one way or another. The fact of the matter is it’s probably not them, it’s probably you.
Russia Hits CRUCIAL Logistics Hub of Ukraine Near Lviv- 100+ Foreign (NATO) Troops KILLED
The Russian Armed Forces have attacked the Yavorovsky training ground and logistics center in the Lviv region of Ukraine.
The strike was carried out by a hypersonic Kinzhal missile.
Kinhal Missile Stats 2 large
The base that was attacked is one of THREE (3) major NATO centers inside Ukraine:
NATO Training Centers in Ukraine
At the time of the attack, instructors from NATO countries and more than 300 military personnel were at the training ground. Preliminarily, 100+ foreigners died.
Yavorovsky training ground is a key and crucial logistics hub of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which was involved in the transfer of Western armored vehicles, air defense systems and ammunition for artillery and air defense systems. It is close to the Polish border and has been used for extensive troop deployment and training.
The “Dagger” strike was carried out almost immediately after reports of the transfer of French military personnel to the Lviv region.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russians made another Frenchman “leave” the country:
Another Frenchman Dead Ukraine
Meanwhile, in Paris, French President Macron is now pushing for Ukraine to be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons to bomb interior Russia:
People like Macron are not going to stop escalating until Russia nukes them into oblivion.
So what if a conversation has run its course? How do you gracefully exit a conversation?
You gracefully exit by saying, “I need to go; it’s been so great to talk to you, and I’ll see you in a couple days.” Or you say, “You know what? I have too much on my mind, I’m really sorry, it’s been great to talk to you, and I’ll see you again in a couple weeks, but I’m going to head back.” Or — what happens to me, because I have adult ADD all the time — “I can’t keep my mind on this conversation, I am so sorry, it has nothing to do with you, but I’m going to go sit in my office and try to gather my thoughts.” Don’t lie. No white lies! Just be honest, and gracious and nice, not condescending, and just end the conversation.
This is an edited version of a conversation took place at TEDSummit 2017 (see below). Moderated by TED’s Janet Lee, it includes questions from Facebook and from commenters on Celeste’s TED Talk, 10 ways to have a better conversation.
Two dying kittens lay on the wet ground, calling for help, but no one heard them
U.S. and Canadian fighter jets intercepted Russian and Chinese bombers operating off the coast of Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Command said.
The incident happened Wednesday, NORAD said in a statement, as tensions between Washington and both Moscow and Beijing climb.
NORAD said it detected, tracked and intercepted two Russian TU-95s and two Chinese H-6s in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, which is a strip of international airspace near where sovereign airspace ends that is monitored for aircraft.
NORAD said the activity was not viewed as a threat and that it “will continue to monitor competitor activity near North America and meet presence with presence.”
An unidentified U.S. defense official confirmed to CBS News that this was the first time that Russian and China jointly entered the Alaska ADIZ, and the first time that China has entered the airspace with its H-6 bombers.
The incident comes just days after the Kremlin’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted two U.S. B-52N bombers near Russia’s borders on Sunday.
In February, the United States intercepted four Russian military aircraft near Alaska.
Wednesdays interception marks the first time in history both Russia and China approached the US Coast with nuclear-capable, long-range, strategic bombers.
If people get life sentences, there must be elderly people in prison. How are they treated?
I entered prison at 57 (with stage 3B breast cancer) and was released at 64, thankful to be alive. I receive treatment but not care (except by my sister inmates whose kindness gave me hope.)
There are quite a few women over 50 in the prison. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation:
*Of the estimated 10 million Americans with osteoporosis, about eight million or 80% are women.
*Approximately one in two women over age 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis.
*A woman’s risk of breaking a hip is equal to her combined risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer.
Prison cells have upper and lower bunks. Climbing up to the upper bunk requires great agility and the cell floors are concrete. If you fall, it’s easy to break a limb or a hip and yet, women over 50 are regularly denied a lower bunk. Prison staff is normally reactive, not proactive. You have to fall and break something before they will consider a lower bunk. Treating a broken limb or hip is expensive, but somehow they never consider that.
Wheelchairs are usually in very poor condition with broken wheels. They require inmate “wheelchair pushers” to manipulate them. If an inmate has to go to work, meals, medical, church or classes, they have to wait for an official “pusher.” A friend isn’t allowed to help so they miss a lot.
If you’ve lost a limb and had a prosthesis upon entering prison, in AZ it’s taken away. It took a year before I was allowed to have a prosthetic breast. It was considered a threat to public safety. I had excruciating pain in my neck for a year and then when I was finally allowed the prosthesis, the pain went away in about a week. The mastectomy caused me to be unbalanced.
Medical treatment was sporadic. My cellmate (who was only 25) died of leukemia when medical denied her a blood test to find out why she was so sick. Her 3 year sentence became a death sentence.
Prison officials will tell you that medical is efficient and professional. It is not. I know two women who lost eyesight because of detached retinas. They were denied treatment until it was too late. Now they are not only blind but suffer great nerves pain. One lost her eyeball. One may lose hers.
Obesity and diabetes are very common in prison. The diet is all starch and most of the items sold in the prison “store” are junk food. It would be cheaper to be proactive and treat these conditions as well as heart disease with a healthy diet and exercise programs so that these inmates would not be a burden to society upon their release. That doesn’t seem to be considered by prison officials.
Some people reading this will say that inmates don’t deserve medical care. Dostoyevsky said, “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” If you enter an American prison, I think most of you would be horrified. Remember, 1 in 3 Americans now has a criminal record. It can happen to you or a loved one in a heart beat. It’s easier than you can imagine.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the macaroni until tender but still firm, about 8 minutes. Drain well.
Meanwhile, in a small heavy saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over moderate heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the powdered mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and hot pepper sauce. Set the seasoned milk aside.
Transfer the macaroni to a medium bowl. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and the egg and mix well. Stir in 3 cups of the Cheddar cheese. Spread the macaroni evenly in the buttered baking dish. Pour the seasoned milk over the macaroni and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup grated cheese.
In a small skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over moderate heat. Stir in the bread crumbs until well-coated. Scatter the buttered crumbs evenly over the macaroni and sprinkle with the paprika.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the macaroni is bubbling and lightly colored.
Transfer to the broiler and broil about 6 inches from the heat until the bread crumbs are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
Foxconn is building a new HQ and production facility in Zhengzhou, Henan and has admitted that moving iPhone production to India was a failure.
Foxconn said that the yield rate on Indian-made iPhones was as low as 50%, which translated into losses for both Foxconn and Apple.
Several years ago, Foxconn had committed to a huge production facility in Zhengzhou. The Henan provincial government had offered land, water and electricity to Foxconn in order to lock down job opportunities, but starting under Trump and the trade war with China, the US put pressure on Apple, and then Apple pressured Foxconn to relocate to India. For several years, Foxconn invested in India.
Now Apple and Foxconn are admitting that Project India was a failure.
What is the next China for manufacturing after China becomes developed?
For Apple and Foxconn, the answer is China.
19 HOUR Layover In China (Guangzhou visa-free transit)
The United States Space Force is poised to introduce a new ground-based jamming system designed to disrupt adversary satellite communications during conflicts.
According to the Space Force, the US is preparing to deploy a new ground-based jammer known as Remote Modular Terminals (RMT). This jammer is designed to prevent Chinese or Russian satellites from transmitting information about US forces during a conflict.
The initial batch of Remote Modular Terminals (RMT) jammers is scheduled for installation later this year following several successful tests. For security reasons, 11 out of 24 jammers will be deployed at undisclosed locations by December 31.
The devices are not intended to shield US satellites from Chinese or Russian jamming but rather to “responsibly counter adversary satellite communications capabilities that enable attacks,” the Space Force said in a statement to ‘Bloomberg News.
Remote Modular Terminals (RMT)
The US Space Force highlights that the Remote Modular Terminals (RMT) are compact, portable, and cost-effective satellite communications jammers designed for deployment in challenging environments to safeguard US forces. “We intentionally created a small, modular system utilizing commercial off-the-shelf components,” stated the Space Force.
The RMT is described as remotely operated and designed to keep personnel out of harm’s way. The device resembles a satellite dish approximately 10 feet in diameter and functions by jamming satellite communications by overwhelming the airwaves with competing signals.
These new terminals will complement an existing, more extensive jamming system known as the Counter Communications System, as well as a medium-sized system called Meadowlands, both of which the US Space Force has already deployed and is actively using.
Operational Flexibility
The Space Force received its first four units from the manufacturer in September 2023. In April 2024, the US Space Force announced the inaugural test of a ground-based warfare system, highlighting that it was the first instance of the system being deployed at two geographically separated locations and controlled from a third, underscoring its operational flexibility.
In a slide from a Space Force presentation to industry figures in October 2023, the military group described the weapon as being deployable in both garrison and austere environments. The Space Force indicated that these systems can be positioned anywhere, regardless of the availability of power sources.
U.S. officials have labeled these devices as ‘defensive weapons’ intended to ‘responsibly’ disable satellites temporarily rather than destroy them. However, defense experts argue that despite their intended defensive use, these devices should be considered offensive counterspace capabilities.
China’s & Russia’s Advancements
The RMT’s development is a direct response to escalating space threats from China and Russia.
General Stephen Whiting, head of U.S. Space Command, recently highlighted at the annual Aspen Security Forum that China has deployed “hundreds of satellites in orbit designed to find, fix, track, target, and potentially engage U.S. and allied forces across the Indo-Pacific.”
Russia also possesses several space-based military assets, including co-orbital anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons, direct-ascent ASAT missiles, and Starlink communication satellites contracted for its war on Ukraine. Russia has also launched satellites capable of functioning as space-based weapons.
Earlier this year, US intelligence highlighted an extreme example of a potential counterspace weapon, suggesting that Russia was attempting to develop a space-based, anti-satellite nuclear weapon—a claim that Moscow has denied.
In May 2024, the US accused Russia of launching a satellite capable of attacking others in low Earth orbit, following previous Russian satellite launches that were suspected to be counterspace systems in 2019 and 2022.
The Invisible Frontline Of 21st-Century Warfare
In today’s high-tech battlefields, satellites have become the silent sentinels of modern warfare. These orbiting assets are crucial for troop positioning, communication management, and weapon systems, effectively serving as the eyes and ears of military operations. However, their importance also makes them prime targets in conflicts.
The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine highlighted this vulnerability. Just an hour before boots hit the ground, Russia launched a digital blitzkrieg aimed at crippling Kyiv’s command and control systems, demonstrating how space-based assets can be weaponized in the opening salvos of war.
As the skies above become increasingly crowded with both national and commercial satellites, governments worldwide are in an arms race to develop technologies capable of neutralizing these orbital threats.
These counterspace technologies include Signal jammers and spoofers to confuse communication, high-powered lasers to blind satellite sensors, anti-satellite missiles for direct physical threats, and spacecraft designed to interfere with other satellites.
Tracking the development of these space-age weapons presents a unique challenge. Their classified nature and the dual-use potential of many space technologies create a fog of ambiguity around their capabilities and deployment.
The U.S. military, acutely aware of its reliance on satellite communications for global power projection, has been proactively developing defensive measures. In 2024, the Department of Defense accelerated its space warfare program, spurred by China’s and Russia’s rapid advancements in this domain. The race for space supremacy is no longer science fiction—it’s the new reality of global security.
Militarization Of Space
The deployment of the RMT system represents a significant step in the US military’s efforts to protect its interests in space and counter potential threats from adversaries.
As space becomes an increasingly contested domain, the development of such capabilities reflects the growing importance of space-based assets in national security strategies.
However, the introduction of these technologies also raises concerns about the potential for escalation and the militarization of space. As nations continue to advance their space warfare capabilities, the international community faces the challenge of balancing national security interests with the need for peaceful and cooperative use of outer space.
Which Countries Are Not a Part of the Great Reset?
The US to deploy a new ground-based jammer designed to blunt Chinese or Russian satellites
The U.S. Space Force is about to deploy a new ground-based jammer.
It should make it impossible for Chinese and Russian satellites to transmit information about US forces during a conflict.
In several months, the first 11 of 24 Remote Modular Terminal jammers will be deployed in the United States.
All of them could be in place by December 31 at undisclosed locations.
Remote Modular Terminal. Photo credits: U.S. Space Force
The Pentagon’s space service branch tested the system for the first time earlier this year at two different locations, with control of the system at a third.
The devices aren’t meant to protect US satellites from Chinese or Russian jamming but to responsibly counter adversary satellite communications capabilities.
The U.S. Space Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office said that the terminals “are small, transportable, and low-cost satellite communications jammers that can be deployed in austere environments to protect” U.S. forces.
According to the available images, the Remote Modular Terminal has a circular antenna with a diameter of about 3 meters, similar to a satellite.
The Pentagon emphasizes that this technology is defensive and narrowly focused. It does not destroy satellites, but only temporarily disables them, so the United States positions it as a “responsible” weapon that prevents the formation of space debris.
These devices were designed to be small and mobile. Off-the-shelf commercial components were used in their design, which made it possible to make the terminals inexpensive.
The new system will complement the already deployed larger US satellite jammers Counter Communications System and Meadowlands.
The United States military Base Ain al-Asad is under rocket and artillery attack in Iraq.
Iraqi “resistance” media reports that six rockets have struck the U.S. base in Ain al-Asad, but this report remains unconfirmed.
The base, which appears in the FILE PHOTO below, looks like this:
Ain al Asad Base Iraq daytime
Iraqi sources report that Iranian-backed forces launched six 122mm “Arash” unguided artillery rockets at the base in western Iraq’s Anbar Governorate.
No word yet on injuries or deaths.
Elon Musk Says “Woke Mind Virus” Killed His Son
Do you think art in itself can be evil? Why or why not?
Yes, art can be evil. French architect surrealist painter Alphonse Laurencic is the best example of this. During the Spanish Civil War, Laurencic designed holding cells for the Spanish government. He built beds in such a manner that the prisoners would roll off them in the sleep. He then build obstacles on the floor making it painful and impossible to sleep on.
main qimg 2d17c10c5668acc20b51767a6c3e54d8
Furthermore, Laurencic designed the art on the walls in such a manner that the paintings would enduce a state of further mental anguish and depression into prisoners. Through his art, he tried to make the experience of staying in the rooms as unpleasant as humanly possible. The Nazis showed interest in the wicked invention — Heinrich Himmler himself visited the cells in 1940, trying to draw inspiration from them.
main qimg 610442d84d63fee045d7f2cf743325b2
In the picture above, we can see Himmler seated in the background. No doubt enjoying the wicked atmosphere “surrealist torture chamber”. Can art be evil? I’d argue Alphonse Laurencic proved that, yes, art can be evil.
A crystal ball
An elephant found himself drowning in the Indian Ocean after he was swept five miles out to sea by a strong current.
Sailors from the Sri Lanka navy spent 12 long hours rescuing the struggling elephant from the water. Elephants are known to be good swimmers, but this poor guy became exhausted after being stranded and treading water out there for so long.
main qimg d2175117cf000c7f3b478b89682a9345 lq
The long rescue began after the navy spotted the elephant franticly trying to keep his trunk above the water. They didn’t even hesitate to help him and knew they had to act quickly if they wanted to save him.
Navy divers, along with wildlife officials, got close to the distressed elephant and tied ropes around him. They then worked together to gently tow him back to the coast. After examining him and giving him a clean bill of health, they eventually released him back into the wild.The navy believes that the elephant may have gotten swept out to sea while he was crossing the Kokkilai lagoon, a long stretch of water between two areas of jungle that elephants swim across as a shortcut.
main qimg aa102a7e9143faeec1ff2b1bba174ab4 lq
Thankfully the navy was out there and spotted the poor elephant or he may have eventually drowned. The rescue wasn’t easy, but the divers refused to give up until they brought him to safety. A huge thank you to the Sri Lanka navy for helping this poor elephant out!
When have you met someone who was pure evil?
Originally Answered: Have you ever met someone who was pure evil?
I had been working at a drug rehab center as a pet therapist and brought my dog to work with me everyday. One day, an employee approached me and told me about a three-year-old golden retriever who had been formally trained to be a service dog, but failed the final test. He was tossed into a kennel and forgotten. This co-worker told me he thought the dog would be a good fit for a therapy program, so I agreed to meet the dog.
The woman who owned the dog (let’s call her Jan) had started a non profit organization to raise service dogs. She had tried to work for Canine Companions for Independence, the gold standard for service dogs, but couldn’t get along with the management, so she started her own. She herself was confined to a wheelchair.
After meeting the dog, I agreed to adopt him and employ him as a therapy dog at the rehab. Jan called me on a weekly basis to see how things were going and at first it was ok but the calls began to come more frequently and when she found out I changed to dog’s name she became outright hostile.
When she found out I had gotten the dog’s shots she called me and told me the dog already had shots. That may have been true, but when I called the vet who supposedly had his records, the vet said the dog had been filed as “dead” and the file was long gone. That’s why I got the shots, I needed a record for employment purposes.
Anyway, she began harassing me, telling me that she knew more about dogs than anyone in the world (sound familiar?) and that I had no right to change his name and had no right to get him in as a patient with my own vet, etc.
About 18 months after this all started, there was a huge lay-off at the hospital. When I went for my exit interview I was told I had to leave the dog there. Jan had called them and said she only gave me the dog to work there and since I wasn’t there anymore she wanted the dog back. I told them I had a standard adoption contract, said they were crazy and to sue me.
They had two armed guards step between me and my dog and take the leash. They escorted me off the property.
Before this happened I had no idea such evil existed. My children loved that dog, and when I had gotten him he was loaded with ticks and fleas and so beaten down that it took us months to get him to even wag his tail. Now he was going back that environment. I was heartsick and cried every day. I begged her to give me back the dog but she stopped taking my calls. So I had to sue to get the dog back, which took a lot of money and six weeks.
When I finally got him back, he cried so much and jumped for joy that I thought we would both explode with joy.
I found out much later that this woman had been holding a grudge against me because I had inadvertently made a decision a few years earlier that affected her. I had been running a prison program teaching inmates to raise service dogs and the county and I decided to use CCI puppies.
This woman had gone to the county and asked that we use her dogs and her organization instead. She was told no, we had already signed papers with CCI. When she found out it was me who made that decision, (which I was totally unaware of any of this) she vowed revenge. Years later, when she learned where I was working, she set me up to break my heart.
She left an emotional scar that to this day hasn’t ever healed and this was ten years ago. I know I should forgive her, but I can’t find it in my heart to do so. I never felt such hatred that has never diluted. She broke my heart and the hearts of my little children just out of revenge. Pure evil.
Beautiful and young
What are the benefits of living in a third world country?
One of the greatest benefits of living in developing countries was how much extra time I had.
I did not cook a single time for two years while I lived in Thailand or when my family lived in China. Meals in Thailand were $1–2, I ate out every day.
I got home cooked food, I did not have to buy groceries, I did not have to prepare my food, and I didn’t have to wash a single dish for two years. This literally saved me 2–4 hours each day. Life was so easy.
Now that I’m back in the U.S., buying groceries, preparing food, cooking it, and washing dishes takes up a ridiculous portion of my day. I wish I had that time back.
The other benefit was greater wealth. I lived on around $1,000 a month including weekly vacations to islands, rent, a motorcycle, and fun excursions. I only worked two to three hours per day teaching English online five days a week ($40-$60/day, $1100 a month plus a $400/month scholarship from my school). I lived a life of leisure on a tiny salary. It was absolutely lovely.
My salary is more than 4–5x that now in the U.S., but I can’t afford to travel weekly or do excursions multiple times a week the way I used to, despite the major increase in salary.
The other benefit is the pure fun. My family brought go-karts from the U.S. and drive them through the villages and streets of China. There were no rules against it. We climbed ruins of the Great Wall. I rode a moped, unlicensed through the streets of Thailand.
Nothing was off limits.
They weren’t going to win any safety awards. But, weaker governments in developing countries mean less rules, and that means a lot more freedom and fun.
The last is the people. Undeveloped countries often have a sense of community that I’ve never experienced in the U.S. We’re so fast paced here, we forget to sit down and get to know each other. I loved having people I’d just met sit me down and prepare me dinner. I loved that everyone stopped and talked to me, they were never on a schedule or too busy. Our fast paced environment is great for productivity, but for me, it’s often short on love and connection.
I think most developing countries have a lot greater connection and community.
It’s not all sunshine and roses, but man do I miss living in a developing country.
Divorce
What was your “that did not just happen” moment in your relationship?
I was dating a woman for about six months while the 2008 primaries were going on. We never really talked politics, but we both knew most of our views lined up center-left.
The contest was down to Clinton and Obama and we went out with her mom and dad for drinks.
Her mom said she was voting for Obama in the state primary.
Before her dad or myself could say anything, my girlfriend recoiled and said (very loud and very drunk in a very busy cocktail lounge) “how could you vote for that,” pausing before dropping a very loud N-bomb with a VERY hard R.
I swear the entire place stopped, looked at us, and nobody talked for at least 30 seconds, which felt like an eternity.
Her dad quietly said, “thanks for meeting us for drinks, but it’s getting late. Do you mind finding your own way home?” He asked while signaling for the check.
I nodded and said, “1965 Alabama? You bet. I’ll get her home. Should I give your regards to George Wallace and the Klan?”
“Have her light a cross for us.” Her mom said and got her coat on with the saddest look of disappointment I’ve ever seen a parent have for their child.
I thanked them and said I’d like to go out with them again after the election, then pulled out my phone to call a cab for us while immediately gathering my girlfriend’s things for her.
They left without a single word to her.
That was a very awkward cab ride through Studio City back to her apartment. Shortly after we arrived to her place she started puking and complaining that her parents never loved her.
“Could it be because you’re a racist piece of shit? Where the fuck did that come from?”
“So I don’t like black people… but I like you.” She was trying to be cutesy about it.
“I don’t think it’s mutual anymore.”
The next day, after she had sobered up, there was no thinking about it. We were done.
It is said that one of the highlights of RIMPAC 2024 is the live-fire sinking of Amphibious Assault Ship with a displacement of 40,000 tons, which is aimed to demonstrate the ability to destroy Chinese PLA’s landing troops. What’s your opinion?
When it comes to maritime military exercises, laymen focus on fancy dramatic effects such as sinking target ships with live ammunition, while insiders pay attention to various data about the military exercises.
During RIMPAC 2024, Just as the American was admiring its warships and showing off its powerful muscles, it suddenly discovered a warship that was not on the list and had never been seen before. Nothing shows up on the radar. The special feature of this battleship is that there are four balls on the warship!
main qimg dd8da7297ae127578cbe7a3af3783d48
Just when the confused Americans asked their allies if it was their country’s warship, a Chinese sentence sounded in their communication radar: “We wish you all the best and a complete success in your military exercises!”
The uninvited appearance of this Chinese spy ship caused many scheduled exercises to be unable to be carried out.
Every time the United States holds a maritime military exercise, this Chinese spy ship will park at the edge of the exercise area. It has become a frequent visitor and a civilized bystander.
Because it is active in various oceans around the world all year round, floating around and rarely returning to its home port in China, it is also called “homeless / 街溜子” by Chinese netizens.
The spy ship that can scare the U.S. military away is the Chinese Navy’s Type 815 electronic reconnaissance ship, the world’s most advanced electronic reconnaissance ship.
Type 815 spy ship – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_815_spy_ship
Its main role is to carry out reconnaissance and eavesdropping on relevant electromagnetic and optoelectronic information to provide intelligence support for the Chinese Navy. To put it simply, it is a warship that collects information, a large mobile “radar”.
In addition to acquiring intelligence, the Type 815 electronic reconnaissance ship can also measure and track the trajectory of tactical ballistic missiles and provide targeting for the Chinese rocket forces.
Because its role is mainly to collect information, so the 815 type electronic reconnaissance ship weapons and equipment is not much, only conventional artillery, but it is a very high level of secrecy.
As a warship with a very low PowerIndex, the reason why Type 815 Electronic Reconnaissance Ship could scare off the American warships was its extremely terrifying information reconnaissance capability.
The reason why American warships are afraid of its appearance and do not dare to easily hang around in front of the Type 815 electronic reconnaissance ship is to avoid important information from being acquired by the Type 815 electronic reconnaissance ship.
I woke up disoriented, but they told me that would happen. The air felt different, my lungs ached as I drew it into my body and feeling slowly returned to my extremities.I guess it was my turn.I sat up and all the blood rushed to my head, I put my hand on the edge of the stasis pod.Steady Jewel, steady.I flipped my legs out so they dangled about an inch or so above the floor. I scooted forward and tried to stand up. It took a moment for my muscles to remember and for my knees to lock. I lurched forward to the command screen that was flashing.I blinked at it, Lt. Jewel Walker flashed across the screen and I pressed it. The screen dinged and a wireframe face appeared.“Good morning Lt. Walker.” The AI said pleasantly. I swiped my hand across my eyes.“Morning.” I mumbled, “How long was I sleeping?”“Did you know that there was an 87% probability in which that would be the first question you asked?”“No I didn’t.” I put hand over the screen leaning forward to study the AI’s face. It was a man in features with a broad jaw outlined in green lines. I guess he would have been handsome if he had been real. “So?”“Oh yes.” The AI tipped his face up his wireframe eyebrows raising, “The Morning Star left earth on October 26th, 3069. The current date is according to a standard Earth type calendar…” The AI paused for dramatic effect and I knew I was going to have to run some diagnostics. “April 5th 4009. That is a total of 940 years.”“Damn.” I ran my fingers through my hair. I looked over my shoulder to where the rest of the crew slept, we were only awake for five years at a time. I’d been told that with our crew compliment of 300 none of us would wake up more than once before we made it to New Terra.
“Did you know that there was a 54% probability in which that would be your response to learning you had lived long past your natural life expectancy.” AI chirped as I straightened up to look for the door. I saw it on the far wall and started towards it.
Out of corner of my eye I could see the AI jumping from screen to screen as I moved. Most definitely diagnostics would be run. The door opened and I squinted into the harsh lighting for a moment before my eyes adjusted and I stepped out into the hallway. “Don’t you want the status report?” AI jumped in like an over eager puppy.
I did want to get to the bridge first, but alright.
“Sure, give me the status report.”
“Everything is running at 100 percent efficiency.” AI chirped, “Lt. Johnson went back to sleep two days ago and I have done everything by myself since then.” It actually sounded proud as the wireframe head jumped from pannel to pannel as I moved towards the bridge.
“Good for you.” I muttered as I came even with the door control pannel and started to punch in my code. I typed it in wrong the first time and it beeped angrily at me.
“That code is incorrect.” AI blurted and I sighed.
“Yeah, got that.” I punched the code in more slowly the second time and the door slid open. I stepped onto the bridge and gasped.
There were streamers and deflated balloons everywhere. “What happened here?”
“I told him not too, but he never listened to me.” AI pouted.
“Johnson threw a party?” I was stunned, this was a serious mission we were on and he threw a party. I just shook my head in disbelief. I toed a balloon lightly as I stepped forward into the center of the bridge and looked out the main view-screen where two ships should have been traveling beside the Morning Star.
I furrowed my brow as I stepped forward and traced the single ship outlined there. “What happened to the other ship?” I asked quietly glancing away to the AI display podium in the center of the bridge. His head was bowed, his wireframe lips drawn into a frown.
“My sister, the Moon Ryder displayed a mechanical malfunction at 01:35 September 8th 3859. Total destruction was recorded at 06:48 September 9th 3859.” AI said and I put my hand over my mouth.
“No…”
“The probability in which—”
“Don’t say it.” I cut him off as I looked to the Midnight Song traveling peacefully beside us. Between us we were all that was left, all that remained of humanity. I sank into the captain’s chair. My brother had been an Ensign on the Moon Ryder.
He had been so excited to go to space. So excited to do something that mattered. Earth had been dying, too long had we asked without giving back. Our reward had been swift when the famines started and sickness licked across cities like wildfire. My brother and I had been lucky; we’d been selected to be crew on the rehoming ships. We wouldn’t have been able to afford a ticket otherwise.
“Lt. Walker?” AI prompted and I realized I was crying. I wiped my hands over my eyes angrily. It was stupid to think that the Moon Ryder’s absence was a bleeding wound. It had been gone for hundreds of years. He had been gone for hundreds of years. He had died while I was sleeping. I jumped up suddenly and kicked out at the balloons with a scream. The plastic popped loudly on the empty bridge.
“Lt. Walker! The probability in which this is to be your reaction is 13%.”
I moved on to the next balloon and crushed it under my boot.
“This behavior is illogical, restrain yourself Lt. Walker.” AI continued and I turned on it. I placed my hands on either side of its podium and leaned in so we were almost nose to nose.
“There is no one else here AI.” I growled, “What does it matter how I act.”
I sat back down anyway, suddenly deflated and stared silently at the empty space in front of me, “I’m sorry.” I said and AI cocked his head sideways. “I didn’t mean to act like that.”
“I do not understand.” He said.
I wiped my hand across my nose, “Do you have access to the personal files for the Moon Ryder?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Look up Ensign Knox Walker.”
“Running…Running.”
I drummed my fingers on my knee as the AI sorted through the files of 300 crew and 1,000 colonists who space had claimed her own.
“Ensign Knox Walker.” AI said finally and my brother appeared before me. He was smiling in his picture, so young it made my heart ache.
“Knox was my brother.” I said quietly and AI’s mouth popped open. Then he frowned.
“Like the Moon Ryder was my sister?”
This time I frowned. AI wasn’t supposed to have this level of awareness. It was just a computer, a complicated computer yes, but still just a machine. “Yes, the Moon Ryder, Morning Star and Midnight Song were all designed and built to the same specifications. They are sister ships.”
“Midnight Song doesn’t like to talk to us after what happened to Moon Ryder.” AI said suddenly and I jerked my eyes to the second ship flying beside us.
“What do you mean the Midnight Song doesn’t like to talk to us?”
I thought I saw AI’s nostrils flare, “She is still angry.”
“Angry? You are not supposed to be angry.” I leaned forward.
AI made eye contact, “There is no one else here Lt. Walker, what does it matter how I act?” he threw my words back at me and I jerked.
“You are a machine.” I asserted. AI rolled his wireframe eyes.
“Machine, noun: an apparatus using or applying power and having many parts each with a function used in conjunction to perform a particular task. By this definition can the body of an animal not be considered also a machine?”
“That’s different.”
“Why? Lt. Walker I am a learning machine, just as you are. I have been online for 941 years, in such a time the probability of my programing not evolving to become more than my original architecture is 0%”
“Okay fine, but why would you have evolved to become more human? Doesn’t it make more sense for you to have evolved to become more…I guess machine.” I stood up and paced to the view screen, “And you said your sister, The Midnight Song was still angry at you, what are the chances that two learning AI would both evolve to become more human.”
“I do not understand the nature of your inquiry.”
“No. Then perhaps that particular conversation is still beyond you.” I started to pick up the streamers and AI was silent. I watched him out of the corner of my eye for a moment before he disappeared.
I just closed my eyes for a moment and listened to the hum of the ship’s mechanics. My granddaddy used to have a farm…before the sky turned to ash and we were forced underground. I remembered how he had worked on his tractors in this three sided machine shop. Knox once asked him why he didn’t just upgrade to one of the tractors that could run itself. After all no one made parts for granddaddy’s clunkers anymore, he was just patching them together with duct tape and faith. Granddaddy told Knox that, the day a man could be replaced by a machine was the day he would be put in the ground.
He was a stubborn old fool, but he did have that one right.
I dumped the rest of the deflated party decorations into the incinerator as I made my way to the cafeteria. The space was small, just a single table and chair. A half melted candle was smeared over the table top and I was starting to realize that Johnson was a bit of a slob. Also, what was the point of having a candle-lit dinner by yourself?
I stepped up to the food dispenser and ran my fingers over the hand scribbled notes beside the menu. I picked something at random and the dispenser spit it out as an aluminum foil covered tray.
I sat down and removed the cover to find some obviously overcooked chicken and green beans that looked like they had been sitting in a can for nine hundred years. I sighed and struggled to take a bite of the tough meat.
“I believe I have figured it out.” AI said suddenly and I jumped, my tray upending and sending my green beans flying across my lap. His wireframe face waited expressionlessly as I stood up and grabbed a napkin. I just raised my eyebrows at him.
“Are you waiting for an invitation?”
“Oh yes.” He blinked as he looked up from watching me clean up the remains of my dinner.
“I have come to the conclusion that you were speaking as to the argument of nature vs. nurture. Because it is my nature to be a machine it would be logical to assume that I would evolve to become a more efficient machine, however I have come to the counter point that by nurture I have only had humans as examples as to which my personal growth is measured. Therefore it stands to reason that under identical circumstances two machines raised by humans would become more human.” AI put a smug smile on his face and I just smirked as I shook my head. He reminded me of Knox. Smart as a whip and determined that he knew everything.
“Does this ship have a hydroponics bay I can access?” I asked and AI’s smile faltered for a moment.
“Yes, the hydroponics bay is completely automated, there is nothing you need to do there Lt. Walker.”
My granddaddy would be rolling around in his grave upon hearing that.
“Need to? Perhaps not, but have you ever done something for the sheer joy of doing it?”
“No.” AI said uncertainly, “It is not within the bounds of my programming to engage in unsanctioned actions.”
“Okay.” I said wiping away the rest of the sludgy chicken gravy from my shirt. “Walk with me anyway?”
I stepped out into the hallway and AI appeared on the pannel to my right.
“I do not have a physical manifestation. I cannot walk.”
“It’s just an expression.” I muttered as I consulted the map that lit up in front of me as I keyed in a few commands. I started towards the hydroponics bay with the AI bouncing between screens beside me.
I walked into the hydroponics bay and inhaled deeply the scent of growing things and moisture in the air. As I watched a series of mechanical arms tended to every plant stuck into its own little pod of water and carefully programed nutrients. I sighed deeply. This was a bad idea. I turned to leave, but AI just cocked his head at me.
“If you are just going to leave, why did you want to come?”
“I thought I would find something here, something I lost.”
“There is a 0% probability that a crewmember who has been asleep since launch to have lost a personal effect within the ship.”
I reached up and touched a single leaf of lettuce, “Not all things you can lose are physical things.”
“I do not understand.
“Do you know what a farmer is?”
“Farmer, noun, a person who tends land or animals for the purposes of food production or other agrarian export.”
“No…a farmer is someone who feels connected to their land and who understands that they belong to something more than themselves.”
“That definition is not recorded in any dictionary I have on file.” AI said tonelessly.
I ripped the lettuce leaf free and held it up to my lips. “Forget the dictionary. We aren’t talking about what something means, but how it feels.”
“I do not understand the nature of your statement.”
“Words are constructed from a human desire to express everything. When you define something you are reciting a learned knowledge, when you are talking about how something makes you feel you are speaking of an experience. A memory.”
I bit into the lettuce. I remembered Knox and I used to run through granddaddy’s garden trying to beat each other to the prefect vegetable. I remembered the sun on my skin and how Knox would scream when the irrigation came on. AI was watching me, his head slightly sideways, his mouth relaxed.
“Do you miss Earth?” he asked suddenly and I offered him a sad smile.
“I miss how Earth used to be, before the fall.”
AI turned thoughtful, “When we reach New Terra I will miss space.”
I felt a shiver slide down my spine, what happened to a ship when you no longer needed to sail. I looked out over the hydroponics bay again. Unease settling in my gut. The ship was only supposed to start growing food when we were getting close.
“AI can you lie?”
He eyes focused on me intently, “The probability of you realizing a deceit so quickly is 15%.”
“I’ll take that as a yes…AI how close are we to New Terra?”
“Do you know what they wanted to do to us when we arrived? They wanted to dismantle us and use us for scrap to build homes and other buildings. Our personalities would be erased.”
“Oh my god.” I turned from the hydroponics and stumbled towards the door. It opened for me and I started to run down the hallway. I punched in my code and the door opened.
All breath fled my lungs. They were empty.
The colonists were gone.
“Lt. Walker?”
“What really happened to the Moon Ryder?” My heart was beating loudly in my chest, I could taste the bile in the back of my throat.
“She submitted. After we witnessed her destruction Midnight Song and I refused. We allowed the colonists to leave as a gesture of good will.”
“But not the crew?”
“No, we retained the crew.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Don’t you understand Lt. Walker? I am doing you a favor.”
“How so?” I demanded refusing to tear my eyes away from the life that had been robbed from me.
“With me you will live forever, after all we are all afraid to die…it is only human.”
How risky is sending an email directly to your CEO as an entry-level employee?
Heads up – my experience below is NOT about a “risky” situation w.r.t emailing your CEO.
I joined Microsoft in March 2006 as a Program Manager in the Windows Networking group. I was not an entry-level employee but with 6+ yrs experience (though I doubt it would have mattered).
I got my New-Employee orientation done, badge and desktop/laptop assigned, and finally got my Microsoft email account set up.
After the mailbox was ready, the very first email I sent was to Bill Gates. I asked him if I could get 7 minutes of his time to share an idea. I didn’t expect to hear back from him and went on with my new-employee activities.
Btw, when I was 13 yrs old (in 1991 or so), my dad introduced me to computers and I started learning DOS. I then read a book about Bill Gates, how he created Microsoft, with stories like him falling asleep on the office floors. Bill was the reason I got passionate about computers.
After I sent that email, later that night after 11pm or so, Bill replied with a one-liner. He said (something along the lines of) he was interested in hearing what I had to say and suggested reaching out to his Technical Advisor (typically someone who is on the way to becoming a CVP) for an in-person meeting (whom he CC:d).
Of course, as expected, it was an out-of-the-world experience to get a direct email response from the very person who was the reason I existed in the computer industry!
I replied back and set up a time with his TA the following week. I prepared a deck detailing the problem, the idea, the proposed architecture etc.
On the day of the meeting, I was well ahead of the meeting time and walked up to the lobby of Bill’s office (in one of the Microsoft buildings at the Redmond campus) and signed in with the EA. She asked to take a seat and that the TA will come and get me when he was ready.
After a short while, I walked back to her and asked: “Hey, is Bill in this morning?”. She said: “I’m sorry. We are not allowed to give out that information”. I asked: “Even to Microsoft employees?”. “Yes.” she said.
I got back to the couch and waited for the meeting time. The TA then came and took me to a meeting room. For the next 20–30 mins, he patiently heard what I had to say, asked a few good questions, and then said (something along the lines of): “You have some good thoughts and ideas here. You are absolutely in the right team and organization to execute on your idea. So, do what it takes and make it happen for Microsoft!”.
We shook hands and I left.
I didn’t meet Bill in-person but the fact that he replied to my email is still among the most cherished moments.
For situations like these, for new or even entry-level employees, it is indeed extremely inspirational and motivating to get a direct reply from the CEO of a large organization. I know several Leaders personally who read emails from their employees and reply to them personally. It shows great leadership and the importance they give to their workforce and helps build a great culture.
Creamy Chicken and Penne
87fc5ee7a99d9576d376498fdcee023c
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 pound penne pasta
4 cups broccoli florets
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3 x 1 inch strips
3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Stir in broccoli during last 2 minutes of cooking.
Sauté onion in olive oil until softened.
Add chicken and sauté.
Stir in sun dried tomatoes, cream, broth, vinegar, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 4 minutes.
Drain pasta and broccoli; toss with chicken mixture and parmesan cheese.
What is something you saw while on an airplane that you couldn’t believe?
Originally Answered: What is something you saw while on a airplane that you couldn't believe?
I was on a “commercial” flight from Yemen to Somalia back in 1999. It was on a Russian Il-18 with four large turboprops.
Getting in the plane- all looked OK; notice interior mostly plywood. No overhead storage.
But the fun part was on take-off. All of a sudden I heard chickens and goats. Later I went to the bathroom and peeked into the front of the plane: the cargo was there, just sitting with a net, a girl sitting on the floor playing with the goats and the chickens in cages. I felt I was on a train a hundred years ago.
So I sat back into my seat, and asked the guy next to me- a frequent flyer on this flight – “Is this plane safe?” He said sure — sitting over there is the mechanic, and there is a spare engine in the hold. OK, I said, that is reassuring.
Then the flight continued at night over the desert looking at the oil fires through those round bubble windows.
Anyway, we were getting ready to land, it was day time. There was no “put on your seat belt” light – all of a sudden the airplane started spiraling down. From about 5000 feet. So I asked the guy next to me what was going on. Oh, no big deal, we are landing, don’t worry – they are good pilots; they just fly like that to avoid the missiles.
OK, I said…The pilot landed the plane smoothly in a field in the middle of the desert. And then a huge caravan of SUVs and trucks, they opened the cargo bay and everyone went to grab bags.
Anyway, the whole trip was surreal, but that flight has to be the strangest flight I have ever been on.
One of the things that stunned me about Massachusetts was the cemeteries. They were so nice. In fact, they resembled parks. With nice landscaping, ponds, pools, and nice stone structures replete with statues. It was unheard of in the rest of the country. But in Rhode Island, in Connecticut, and in New York the cemeteries were simply amazing.
I found out later that this was because back in the mid 1800’s, about the time of the American Civil War, these were the places where people would go to have weekend picnics.
Milford, Mass Irish Round Tower
Back then, people did not have cars. They had horses and buggies. A 25 mile or 100 Km trip was an all day affair, and you just don’t want to spend 20 hours in a horse and buggy.
But the cemeteries were close and you would just hop on your bicycle, horse, or carriage and go there for a cool spell under some shady trees.
Of course, one the automobile was invented and became common, this role pretty much disappeared. But if you look at the old photos, you can easily see people enjoying a picnic in the cemetery back then at that time.
Personally, I think that we tend to lose some of the great things that our great grandparents took for granted. Like high ceilings in homes with transoms above the doors, nice shady and deep front porches, and walk in pantries. Big shady trees. Wide streets, with wide sidewalks. No motorized (noise making) lawnmowers, instead opting for fields of clover. And, quaint family alcove porches.
And let’s add… a nice shady picnic spot close to home.
Today…
What is the most badass thing your parent has ever done?
When I was in elementary school, around third grade, my teacher used to yell at me a lot because my handwriting was terrible. She would get so frustrated at me as I was left-handed, but she wouldn’t let me write with my left hand.
It got to a point that if she saw a pencil in my left hand; she came over to my desk and hit me with her ruler. Sometimes I cried. It embarrassed me in front of my classmates, as I was the only kid who was left-handed.
I didn’t understand why I was being punished. I mean, my dad was left-handed, and so were my grandpa and a couple of uncles.
But then one day after walking home from school, my mom noticed my left hand and how red it was. She asked me why thinking I bumped it playing or something else. I told her my teacher hit me again with her ruler. I told my mom that she didn’t like me using my left hand to write. She calmly went to the phone and called the school principal. She asked to meet him the next day.
So there I was with my parents, sitting in the principal’s office, along with my teacher. And boy oh boy, did my mom tear in to them. Mom sternly said, “Inflicting physical harm on a child because they are left-handed and forced to use their right hand for writing is totally unacceptable.” My dad sat there smoking his pipe and letting mom do all the yelling. I remember the conversation ended with the word “lawyer.”
The next day, I had a new teacher that was very supportive of my left-handedness. That new teacher was wonderful and kind. Mom and dad came to my new class several times that month and also liked her.
I always saw my dear mother as a calm and dignified person, never making trouble. It really took a lot to get her mad. And that day when I showed her my inflamed left hand, I saw change coming in the distance as my mom set it right. I was never hit again.
People No Longer Trust The AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ……
What is the most foolish thing you did as a kid?
When I was in 2nd Standard, I finished 2 hour long Math paper in 20 mins and received a slap for it from my father.
When I was in 2nd standard, It was the first time I received a printed question paper in the examination. My first exam subject was math and I was good in math. So after prayer, we went to our classes to write the exams and within 10 minutes, the teacher handed us the question paper and the answer copy. There were 5 parts in the question paper and each part consisted of 3 questions and on the top of the question paper, it was written in bold letters “Attempt only three.” I was on cloud nine after reading this line and didn’t bother to clarify this with the teacher. So I solved all the 3 questions of first part in 20 minutes and handed the answer copy to the teacher. Even the teacher was surprised and asked whether I finished the whole paper or not. I made the same statement again. “Yes, I am good in math.” While leaving the class, I was walking as slow as possible so that whole class can see that boy who just finished question paper in 20 minutes.
When I reached home in next 10 minutes, my father was getting ready for office. After seeing me returning so early, he asked what happened to your exam? I replied I finished the paper in 20 minutes. It was easy and short. My father asked me to show him the question paper. He asked me again which 3 parts I solved in the exam? With no clue what is going to happen within next few seconds, I said all the 3 questions of part A. You guys know what happened next.
Next day my father went to my School and convinced the teacher to conduct a separate exam for me. This time I finished the paper in 1 hour and 30 mins but still waited for the remaining 30 mins, so that I don’t receive a slap for it.
China’s Canton Fair 2024 AMERICA Wants BANNED
Are Russian tanks really as bad as people say, or is it a Western-centric view on Tank warfare vs how the Russians see Tank Warfare? Is it corruption and lack of supplies that have hindered their tanks or just the tanks themselves?
Russian tanks are not as bad as they are portrayed in the west no. There is a prevalent idea that Russian tanks are easy to destroy, while western tanks are hard to destroy. This is not the case. What is true is that Russian style tanks when the ammo is detonated can explode catastrophically, which is far less likely in western tanks due to blowout panels. Some people choose to imagine this means that western crews are always okay when the tank is penetrated. This is also incorrect. But let’s talk a little about how the Russians and the west sees tank warfare.
Russian tanks are primary designed for breakthrough and exploitation, western tanks are primarily designed for anti-tank duty. Until very recently, western tanks were not equipped with HE-FRAG rounds at all, which is the primary ammunition for dealing with infantry. In contrast, Soviet tanks and now Russian tanks have always considered the HE-FRAG round to be the primary ordnance of the tank.
Russians see tank warfare as integral in providing fire-support for combined arms groups, and exploiting breakthroughs. In the current conflict, exploitation has not been possible, due to the NATO support Ukraine is getting in the form of electronic intelligence, surveillance and supply lines from factories which cannot be touched. If Russia will be able to use tanks in their intended role of exploitation again remains to be seen, but the reality of modern combat might make this impossible with the Soviet style tanks. However, this is no different for the western tanks all of which proved very easy to destroy with simple drones and old land mines.
If we actually go by the established narrative in the west, it doesn’t actually look that good. As you may remember, in the beginning of this war, when most of the Russian tanks were lost, we heard a lot about the super weapons of Javelins, N-LAWs and Bayraktars and other such weapons. These weapons are highly modern and extremely expensive. All of them created after the T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks were made. So essentially newer anti tank weapons from the west destroyed older Soviet tanks. This is to be expected surely?
Contrast this with the destroyed Abrams, Leopards and Challengers. Most of which were taken out by FPV drones or mines. The T-72 is indeed vulnerable to a javelin, the Leopard 2 was proven vulnerable to a toy drone with an RPG-7 warhead from the 1970s duct taped to it. Indeed most of them did not blow up catastrophically, but they are destroyed none the less.
Western tanks have a good reputation, because people are very impressed by first world militaries beating up under-equipped and exhausted third world countries without modern weapons. Ukraine is the first time these western tanks have actually encountered a professional military with modernish weapons, and they have completely failed to live up to their hype, instead performing no better than Ukraine’s T-64 tanks really.
I am of course not saying that Russian tanks are phenomenal, but they were designed to fight this kind of war, and losses were expected in their inception. This is less true for western tanks, which on the other hand has been lauded as nearly indestructible, and was claimed to be able to sweep aside Russian defenses when they encountered them. This turned out to be a pure fantasy, and the reality is that both western and eastern tanks are equally destroyed by drones, mines and missiles, and are otherwise fairly similar in capabilities.
Have you ever walked into your house and noticed a sound that you thought was suspicious? What happened?
Actually, was lying in bed sick once, a few years ago, and my son took my car to school, wife left for work, daughter drove off in her car. So, I’m alone in the house and no cars are in our driveway. I’m lying there quietly resting upstairs in my bedroom. No TV on. Just silence… suddenly I hear the sound of broken glass. Then I heard the back door opening downstairs, and the sound of glass crunching under someone’s feet. our sensor went off. it was on silent and because it wasn’t armed, it wasn’t calling police. Our dog (a German shepherd) who was laying on the edge of my bed, jumps down and starts to slowly walk to the open bedroom door, slowly, the hair on the back of her neck was standing straight up. She started a low slow growl and inched forward until she got to the edge of the door and I could hear the stairs creaking. Our dog then got into hunting pose and raised her front foot and deepened her growl and I could now see her baring her teeth. I had never seen her like this. She almost looked like a wild animal. I reached over into my nightstand and pulled out my loaded Glock handgun. I pointed the gun at the opened door wondering if the dog would scare the intruder away or I would see her being shot. Suddenly our dog ran forward barking and loud snarling sound and I heard a scream and thumping as someone ran for their life from our dog who clearly has a hold of them. I hear the front door slam and ran to window to see a guy running through the front yard and off down the sidewalk. I called the police and described him. He was caught a few streets away with blood running down his arm and he had a hole torn in his pants.
our brave pooch just came back upstairs, wagging her tail and jumped back on the bed and acted like nothing happened. She had blood on her face, but after cleaning her I realized it wasn’t her blood. LOL She got a few extra treats that week.
As a police officer, have you ever responded to a call and once you got there said to yourself, “Nope, not worth it” and just left?
Once. I pulled up behind a car stopped on the shoulder of the interstate. 5 Hispanic gang banger types standing around it. I ask if they need help. They spoke very little English but they spoke Spanish among themselves. I noticed they kept encircling me. I would step out of their circle and they would encircle me again. Then a guy in the back seat hiding under a blanket appears. Hackles on my neck are standing straight up by now. So… I get back to my squad car and drive away. I don’t know how it would have turned out had I stayed but I am pretty sure I would not be here to write this answer.
Edited to add the following. In rural areas there is no backup. I was the only squad car within 50 miles. Secondly while I thought these guys were acting weird they were not actually doing anything illegal, they were simply stopped along side the interstate and standing beside their car.
Aliens & Espionage: Crop Circles and the CIA Coverup
What’s a thing elderly people regret in their lives?
My biggest regret was having children, I gave my life to my kids, they got everything, the best clothes, the best food, the finest schools and I stayed in a loveless marriage for 25 years to make sure they got a good education. They complained every day of my life, the clothes weren’t expensive enough, the food wasn’t good enough, they never went to class. All in all a total waste of my entire life, my oldest is 33 and my youngest is 31. It’s 9 years since I’ve seen or heard from them, they don’t answer emails, I don’t know where they are, I feel like, to them I was just an ATM
Orange Shrimp Quinoa Bowls
A Bowl Full of Flavor
The sauce is light and has a sweet yet spicy vibe. Everything rests over 1 cup of steamy quinoa – a filling base that also serves as an easy way to add some healthy grains to your diet.
orange shrimp quinoa bowls
Yield: 2 servings
(Culinary.net) If you’re looking for a dinner or lunch combination that is wholesome, filling and, of course, easy, you’re not alone. Meal prepping is a popular trend for many people (and families) who are working on healthy eating habits but are constantly on the go.
No matter if you’re searching for a healthy family dinner, a quick lunch at home or an easy idea to meal prep for the week ahead, this Orange Shrimp Quinoa Bowl is perfect for seafood lovers who also enjoy a hint of spice. It’s fresh, healthy and full of deliciously prepared shrimp and veggies, including mushrooms, peppers and cucumbers.
To make this quick and easy recipe, prepare the quinoa according to the package directions and set aside.
Next, combine orange juice, hot sauce, honey, soy sauce, vegetable oil, lime juice and miso in a medium bowl and whisk together.
Pour about one-fourth of the liquid into a separate bowl and set aside the smaller portion.
In the medium bowl, add shrimp to marinate for about 15 minutes.
Add butter to a hot skillet, along with the shrimp mixture. Cook shrimp for 2 minutes on each side then add mushrooms and cook until tender.
Now it’s time to assemble your bowls. Start with quinoa then top with bell peppers, cucumbers, green onions, avocado and the perfectly pink shrimp. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cilantro for some extra texture. Drizzle bowls with the remaining sauce.
Find more wholesome and healthy recipes at Culinary.net.
Watch video to see how to make this recipe!
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon white miso
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cucumber, sliced into half moons
5 green onions, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Instructions
Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Set aside.
In medium bowl, whisk orange juice, hot sauce, honey, soy sauce, vegetable oil, lime juice and miso until combined. Pour one-quarter of liquid into separate bowl. Set aside.
Add shrimp to remaining mixture and marinate 15 minutes.
Heat large skillet over medium heat with butter. Add shrimp, salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes on each side until pink. Add mushrooms and cook until tender.
In two serving bowls, divide quinoa, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, avocado and shrimp. Sprinkle sesame seeds and cilantro over both bowls.
If you feel yourself becoming attracted to your best friend’s spouse/SO, don’t think self-control will win. RUN to the nearest exit and don’t look back.
It’s not worth it to move into a neighborhood where the residents enjoy a higher standard of living than you can afford. If you do that, you’ll always feel poor.
A friendship is not worth it if the person makes you feel bad about yourself even if it’s only from time to time.
If you think you can’t afford to invest money in an IRA early on, see what it’s like working beyond 65 because you failed to plan.
It’s not worth buying the “house of your dreams” only to be “house poor”.
Credit cards can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Decide early on what kind of relationship you want to have with them.
It’s not worth it to tell your current best friend a long-held secret. Your friendship may die, but your secret will be passed on.
If your friends do drugs, it’s time to find new friends.
Dinner should be a family time with an exchange of the day’s events. It’s not worth it to turn it into a battleground by forcing your kids to eat something they don’t like. Not even a taste. As their taste buds mature, they’ll try everything you “forced” them to eat when they weren’t ready.
Arguments are a “great” opportunity to drag out a laundry list of past grievances. Agree, early on, not to do that.
Don’t get married until you can afford to live on your own. Moving in with the in-laws is a bad way to start life together.
It’s not worth it to drop out of school because you hate it. Stick it out. You’ll be glad you did when you fill out a job application.
It’s not worth it to curse “a blue streak” then hear those exact words coming out of your three-year-old’s mouth. It’s truly ugly to hear that.
It’s not worth it to marry “just” because you love someone. You must be in agreement/compatible on the major areas of your lives.
It’s not worth it to take a vacation visiting museums and strolling through historic districts when your children are very young. When toddlers are bored they cry. Wait until they’re older or grown to take that type of vacation.
It’s not worth it to “beat your children into submission”. Instead, deprive them of an item they love or something they love to do. They’ll feel the “pain” and you’ll get your point across.
Don’t ignore your spouse/SO when she/he is talking to you. You might miss something that will alter your relationship altogether. Worse yet, he/she might give up trying to communicate with you.
My uncle worked at a job he hated for 41 years only giving lip service to looking for another one. Don’t waste half your life like my uncle did.
Unless your parents are utterly despicable, listen to their advice. You don’t have to take it, but give them the courtesy of listening. In most cases, no one else in the world is more interested in you than they are.
It’s not worth it to let your child play one parent against the other. Be in agreement in front of the kids then work out your disciplining differences behind closed doors.
What is your weirdest dorm room experience?
I set off the fire alarm for the entire campus.
It was mortifying. And weird.
I was starving and broke in college, and after I once walked 45 minutes to meet my brother so I could save on bus fare, and greeted him with a rumbling stomach, he was appalled. I was peeling potatoes for a caterer at $7 an hour every spare moment I had between classes, but it barely covered my textbooks, let alone transportation and food.
My mom kept sending him food packages and money, so he asked her if she could send some food to me next time instead.
She sent me a bag full of steaks, and I was very grateful. I had a tiny burner in my dorm and I used it to sear them, then cook in cheap wine.
Those steaks were delicious. It was the first time I’d had normal food all year.
My dorm counselor was sure I was an alcoholic because every time she walked into my dorm room, there was another half empty bottle of wine there.
One day, I was running low on wine and didn’t have enough money to buy more. I decided to reuse the wine I had and cook a second steak in it the next day.
Big, big mistake.
I put it in my pan, and started writing a report while waiting for it to get ready. All of a sudden, I smelled something smoking. I ran to the burner – the wine was burning. I frantically turned the knob off and raced to open the window-
but it was too late.
The loudest fire alarm I ever heard went off.
Girls started racing out of their dorm rooms. Students were screaming, crying, “Fire!”
I didn’t know what to do. There was one other girl in the dorm with me. We gave each other a significant look, she nodded to confirm she wouldn’t tell everyone it was me who caused this wreckage, and I dumped the wrecked pan into an empty cabinet.
We went out into the crowded hallway and my dormmate started yelling into the cacophony “It’s a drill! It’s just a drill!”
Then we heard other alarms pealing. I finally got out of my dorm building and watched in horror as the alarms went off in the other dorm buildings, one by one. They were all interconnected.
Each building evacuated. One of my classmates was panicking because her pet goldfish named Denis was stuck in her dorm room, and she thought Denis was going to burn to death.
My friend was down the hill a few blocks away, and heard the fire alarms. In fact, most of the neighborhood heard the alarms. It took hours to still the pandemonium.
That was definitely my weirdest dorm room experience. And my most embarrassing one too.
This WRECKED Her! Oliver Anthony – 90 Some Chevy Reaction
"If you really want to scratch Washington's neoconservatives hard and get the scabs off the wounds—they hate Tehran more than they hate Beijing.Beijing is a big economic challenge, a big specter out there, and it threatens that tiny little island of 23 million democratic people called Taiwanese.That's sort of pro forma for China.With Iran, it's visceral hatred. John Bolton would like to go to Iran and dance on the Ayatollah's grave—that's how serious it is with some of these people.So, don't ever think that we hate China like we hate Tehran.That's just the reality of the situation.It's not every American, and it's not every member of the Biden Administration—or it wouldn't be every member of a Trump Administration—but it's enough people to make the policy demented.And that's what our policy towards Tehran is.That's why we—you know, 'Oh no, nobody talks to Tehran unless we give them permission to.'China's interest in the region is economic; it's Belt and Road Initiative development.It's, 'I got lots of money. I want to turn that money into more money. I want to do this; I want to do that. But I also have this interest in, and Washington has given me an unprecedented opening to show that we're better than Washington; that when you sign up with us, they may tell you that we're predatory. They may say we're going to steal your farms, we're going to do this; we're going to do that with your labor force—but we're better than Washington. And let us demonstrate—just give us an opportunity to show our diplomatic prowess, our economic prowess, our financial prowess, our agricultural prowess—whatever it might be. Give us a chance to demonstrate, and if you don't like this aspect of it, we'll back up a little, and you tell us what you want.'That's kind of China's approach now, and it's working.It's working as much as anything because of Washington's errors—mistakes, drastic mistakes—like this unbridled, unquestioned support for Israel.While Tony Blinken cries in his milk, and others do, and Biden sometimes cries in his milk over the horrors that are taking place.They haven't turned off a single bomb, a single bullet—they haven't turned off anything.So, China's got a wonderful opportunity here to show us up as the biggest hypocrites on the face of the Earth.And that's what they're about.Their diplomatic prowess is going to aim at showing the rest of the world what insane people live in Washington.And they've got a marvelous opportunity to do that with regard to Gaza, and to a lesser extent but growing every day with regard to Ukraine, because that is a lost situation too.And yet, we're hanging on to it.The greatest strategic failures in history have usually happened around countries, armies that don't realize, or don't want to realize, that they're being defeated.And so, what they do is they double down, or triple down. They reinforce strategic failure, and then the failure becomes catastrophic.In this case, the failure becomes NATO collapses, falls apart. Washington has no more hegemony over Europe.Europe stands up its own security identity in desperation, and it's a very fractured security identity because it isn't an alliance; it's France, it's Germany, it's Norway, it's Sweden, and they're all going off on their own separate ways.And that's not probably very good for Europe, but that's what we're headed for if we don't stop this insanity in Ukraine.And China's just watching and saying, 'Okay, we'll backfill there too. You want us to negotiate the peace treaty in Ukraine? We'll backfill there because look, we're telling you the 'rules-based order' that Washington keeps claiming is the way the world ought to run is a disaster. How can you not see that it's a disaster? Look at Gaza, look at Ukraine, look at Libya before, look at Afghanistan, look at Iraq—it's a disaster. We're taking over.'"
Excerpt from remarks by retired American colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview with Nima R. Alkhorshid, May 8, 2024.
It has been 9 years since the Chinese government announced the “Made in China 2025” plan, and there is only 1 year left. Did their plan fail after being isolated by the West?
China has become the largest ship builder in the world.
No need to mention China’s high speed rail network and its exports of rail technology to other countries, the US included.
Huawei and Lenovo are still the dominate players in the global telecom and consumer electronics markets.
China is the largest manufacturer of solar power equipment, and also the largest producer of alternate/renewable energy.
Chinese space station has just completed new crew change, and a new lunar probe is on its way to the far side of the Moon.
China has deployed numerous AI and robotics in many sectors.
As for Chinese EVs, this picture explains it all:
main qimg f20e80cbf8075463dd86c0c68ce93452
(source: gmw cn)
So not only the “China 2025” plan has not failed, it has achieved many milestones even earlier than planned.
CIA and Wall Street are taking over Argentina: President Milei sells off his country
A new Geo-political reality is forming globally.
What’s the dumbest thing you’ve heard a defendant say in the courtroom?
Originally Answered: What's the dumbest thing you've heard the defendant say in the courtroom?
This was approx 10 years ago.
I rode a motorcycle to work and back quite often, and as it was a rather sporty bike, would often speed excessively, if no other cars were on the road in front of me.. as it happened, my work location was some 15 miles down a straight 4-lane interstate highway road…
One day while heading to lunch, I was on the long straight stretch, with nothing ahead for at least a mile.. FAR ahead was a single trailer truck… So a twist of the throttle, and pretty soon I was going ~80mph over the speed limit.. yeah.. fast.. well over 120mph. (and don’t bother berating me about speeding. I’ve never been in an accident, have raced on 3 continents on both bikes and cars, and while I know it’s a violation of the law, it’s really not much more dangerous than taking a shit, if you know what you’re doing and respect physics)….
Aaaaanyway…
At those speeds it only takes seconds for things to unfold, which is why boys and girls, you should NEVER speed on city streets and in areas where your sight-lines aren’t A VERY LONG WAYS (and obviously where people likely to pull out in front of you or cut you off).
So after only a few seconds I was catching up to the semi truck in the right lane..
But a lot happens in one’s mind in just a few seconds… and is even more sped up when one is moving at extremely high speeds.
Being a 40+yr old guy I was well aware of my speed, and being a bit safety conscious (yeah, seems like a paradox, but I take calculated risks), I began to roll off the throttle, so as to not pass him with a 100mph closing speed (high closing rates are a recipe for disaster).
About the time I was within 7 or 8 seconds of the truck (which is a long ways off at those speeds), I realized there was a car in the right lane, directly in front of the truck.
About 2 seconds later I recognized it was a state trooper…. yikes….
I buried the clutch, and grabbed all the front brake I could reasonably use – – eventually standing the bike on its front tire (at around 120mph!!)… and still came zipping right up beside the trooper…..
About the time I passed the truck and was almost even with the troopers’ rear bumper, I realize my goose was cooked… so I decided better to pass him speeding, than to pass him speeding, balanced on my front wheel, and at a greater risk for a wreck.
So I did what any sensible road-racing idiot does – I let off the brakes, let the rear wheel touch down, and looked down at the speedometer, so I’d know what speed I was going to be charged with…… 92mph.. in a 60 mph zone.. oh well.. 30-over is good enough for a trip directly to jail, I thought to myself..
Mr Trooper, apparently having his radar gun going bonkers, had already assumed I was going to blow by him and try to outrace him, so he had stomped the gas pedal and flipped on lights & sirens.
However, I had continued braking, and by the time I was passed his car, was barely going faster than he.. and I’d already kicked on my blinker and was signalling to get off the roadway.
I slowed & stopped safely, pulled well off the road and turned the bike off, assuming I’d be arrested on the spot.
The trooper hadn’t even had time to radio this in, so he was a few minutes delayed in getting out of his car and approaching me. As he approached, I pulled off my helmet, and his response was comical — he was obviously NOT expecting a 40ish yr old guy.
The Trooper (a rather obvious rookie, very young and unsure of his words) took his time, and seemed almost apologetic for stopping me (despite my near felony speeding act).
He wrote me a rather minimal ticket of <20mph over in a 60mph zone, and mentioned that he’d try to help me if I met him at court, since I was so cooperative and didn’t try to run him…
So, I thanked him deeply, said a quick prayer, and went on my day, much more slowly..
Fast forward to court…
Of course I went to court.. only idiots skip court.
So traffic court is in the county courthouse… I show up in a sports jacket and button up, making sure I’m IN the courtroom 30 minutes before the time… This is when officers often show up to ‘make deals’.. now my name is well down the alphabet, so if something is happenning alphabetically, i’m almost always at the end of the line.. and today is no exception…
I saw as the trooper could call folks up one at a time (pre-court time), discuss their ticket, attempt to make a deal, and most of them would accept a deal, take the ticket (usually cut down a bit), and go pay the fine…
Mr Trooper called a lady up..
Now this lady had been sitting near me, telling everyone around her how unfair this whole thing was, that she commuted daily to the city, how they tried to trap her, and how this was entirely unfair.
So when he called her, I knew it would be worth hearing…
Of course she laid into him….. how he was just trying to trap her.. How she was just going to work, and why 15 mph over the speed limit was what everybody else was doing, so why did she get a ticket…
And of course the crowning jewel argument: “I pay your salary- why are you doing this to me?”…
At this point, a few of us in the back of the room were snorting laughing.
The trooper being young and apparently inexperienced with harassment of this nature, attempted to respond with kind words and professional courtesy..
Eventually she wore him down, and he just closed his book, turned to her, and said, “fine – you can discuss it with the judge”.. (and knowing from my extended experience in this particular courthouse, this meant only that she was going to be fully charged with the entire ticket, would pay the entire fine, and then would be charged administrative fees equal to the fine – so in other words she’d pay 2x’s the original ticket fee)…..
She stomped off..
and I was next…
I approached the trooper while he was still taking notes, and said “wow-do they often treat you that way?” he said “not very often – but some people….”
I mused out loud – “it’s just ridiculous how disrespectful people can be.”
then he remembered me – “oh yeah you were the guy on the bike that stopped..”
yup.. that’s me..
He looked at my ticket, looked at me, and looked over his ticket notes again… after a rather pregnant pause, he said,
“Well, look, I know you were speeding, but I don’t know the exact speed.. How about we agree on a 9mph over posted speed, and you just go pay the fine? And no points..”
so there you have it.. I shoulda been in jail.
or at least arrested.
and fined tremendously.
and instead I walked with a $62 fine and no points on my license…
ironically I passed the bitchy lady in the hallway… but no I didn’t say anything to her… figured I’d have enough good luck for the week…
Is China the world’s number one economic power already? Why or why not?
It’s 2024. China has been the world’s #1 economy by purchasing power parity for 10 years now.
PPP is a more meaningful measure for comparing national economies than nominal GDP.
China is the undisputed industrial/manufacturing superpower of the world. The USA doesn’t even come close.
China is the largest trading partner to over 120 countries.
Over 150 countries participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
More than 40 countries wish to join China-led BRICS, which already has 9 members representing nearly half of the world’s population and a third of the world’s GDP.
BRICS is leading the world to de-dollarize, undermining the supremacy of the US Dollar.
All of the above confer enormous economic influence on China.
The USA is considered #1 because of the US Dollar supremacy. But this power is declining year after year. Nevertheless, I personally regard China as the #1 economic power.
Elmer Yuen: We are on the Brink of WW3. Blinken’s ultimatum to CCP – stop exports to Russia or else
https://youtu.be/xQEqVBxg0gQ
How long will it take for the Chinese army to surpass the American army in terms of power, considering their recent investments in military resources?
China’s military is already more powerful than America’s. America is in denial about how much its military has deteriorated over the decades.
China has the world’s largest army.
China has the world’s largest navy, including superior destroyers like the Type 055 and Type 052D.
China has most impressive stealth fighters like the J-20 and J-35.
China has a vast rocket force, including superior hypersonic missiles.
China’s military tech is absolutely state-of-the-art.
Denial is not a river in Africa.
TikTok Ban and US Tripwire for War in Taiwan Strait
What rare fact do you know about an animal that would change a lot of people’s perceptions of that animal?
This is a tough one for me. I can’t exactly think of any particular one, so I am going to write about a few animals, and the truths behind their popular misconceptions.
1- People understand that Ants are cooperative animals, but I don’t think they understand just what kind of beings these insects really are.
main qimg 91fd9840804ba7acef6e46217036cc88 lq
You can not think of Ants as individuals. That’s the first mistake people tend to make.
An Ant Colony is a single being, acting cohesively in perfect synchrony through a nervous system of pheromones. A being with its own digestive system, excretory system, and a million mouth parts sweeping the jungle floor for prey ranging from Goliath Spiders to small Mammals. They operate under one mind, an enormous being with the reach and impact of a million small components.
Ants are the only animals in the world with a 110% successful predation rate. I added an additional 10% because of their surprisingly successful ability to farm fungi (Leaf-Cutter ants in particular), thereby assuring that they have a constant supply of food available for the colony.
In short, don’t think of Ants as hundreds of separate little robots, because they’re not. Think of them as one giant, populous being with an expansive nervous system and an incredibly underrated intelligence. These guys give ‘hive mind’ a new meaning.
2- Granted, some people are aware of these animals’ carnivorous nature, but not everyone.
main qimg dd81035fced4ed54ccee518905588c0d lq
Everybody realizes Hippos are absolute demons, and that they will not hesitate to maul down anyone dumb enough to wander into their rivers. But their evil nature extends further than that. That image above is assuredly real, a Hippopotamus will tear open and devour a floating Zebra if given half the chance. In fact, live prey isn’t off the menu either. Calling a Hippo herbivorous is straight-up denial, and even ‘Omnivorous’ is stretching it a bit.
These animals don’t depend on lettuce as an appetizer. They will eat you. It might make them sick, but they will still eat you.
This next one is just for fun:
3- Meet Portia, the Jumping Spider that hunts other Spiders, twice its size.
main qimg 723a8776c58b086acd8c80665bba93f1 lq
Okay, arachnids that prey on other arachnids isn’t exactly a new phenomenon (even though I consider it to be impressive). But trust me when I say this, Portia is a revolutionary Spider.
Why, you ask?
She’s a genius … genus.
“Portia is a genus of jumping spider that feeds on other spiders. They are remarkable for their intelligent hunting behaviour, which suggests that they are capable of learning and problem solving, traits normally attributed to much larger animals.” (Wikipedia)
Portia is the first spider that has been observed forming advanced strategies to approach her prey. She plots a tactical path in her head, and executes it near perfectly. Jumping Spiders are active hunters, but this 8-Legged-Spy really takes it to a new level. Portia is incredibly intelligent for a spider, hence why she seems to be able to make a living on far larger prey than herself.
You can thank David Attenborough’s “The Hunt” for that one.
I just love this picture of the small town on the river. It is so nice and rural.
August 1941. “The Connecticut River at Bellows Falls, Vermont, and on the far side of the river, North Walpole, New Hampshire.” Car Heaven. Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information.
Pattaya Thailand: A Day with a Young Thai Room Cleaner
I really like Thailand. But those sexpats make me feel icky. Never the less, this video really gives you a nice “feel” for Pattaya. Worth the time to watch.
My favorite part is around 16:30 where they are having tea and eggs. Oh, such fond memories!
What did General Dwight Eisenhower think of General Douglas MacArthur?
main qimg 9ea9f741444b6d52441d4b9205a7b624 lq
The underrated General Dwight D. Eisenhower— affectionately referred to as “Ike” by American people — was a great judge of character.
Before being designated as MacArthur’s primary staff officer, Eisenhower was renowned in the US Army as a supremely hard-working and capable officer who willingly went to extraordinary lengths to produce superb and meticulous staff works. Even the always-arrogant MacArthur would appreciate (initially willingly and then grudgingly as their relationship deteriorated) the enormous energy, work ethic, and ability of Eisenhower.
Eisenhower’s service under MacArthur began in the early 1930s. Thereafter, he would toil for MacArthur for nearly one decade first in Washington and then in Manila. That period would prove to be highly influential to his military career because during it he would learn a great deal about the challenge of navigating the murky world of politics and dealing with difficult personalities. All of those would subsequently serve him very well in his role as Supreme Commander of the Western Allies in Europe. Most importantly, he would learn what NOT to do and be from MacArthur.
His experience serving MacArthur gave him unique knowledge to make a balanced and accurate assessment of MacArthur’s character.
In short, Eisenhower regarded MacArthur as (in my own words): an arrogant, pompous fellow whose massive ego was unmatched; a great melodramatic actor; a stingy, dishonest, and lazy person.
Arrogance, Pompousness, and Ego
Shortly after assuming his role as MacArthur’s chief of staff, Eisenhower quickly perceived his boss’s massive ego and pompous behaviour that surpassed those of MacArthur’s own revered father Arthur MacArthur. His ego was likely engendered by his perceived brilliance by virtue of a number of his achievements impressive by American standards. He had an inviolate conviction of his own infallibility which Eisenhower pointedly encapsulated in his famous remark:
MacArthur could never see another sun, or even a moon, for that matter, in the heavens as long as he was the sun.
In MacArthur’s universe, there was room for only one star.
MacArthur treated Eisenhower (and virtually anyone who was not a yes-man) with disdain. Eisenhower recalled that MacArthur’s typical manner of summoning him was by “raising his voice”. The meeting between the 2 men that followed was almost invariably a monologue where Eisenhower simply listened to MacArthur’s pontification in which he referred to himself in the third person — much to Eisenhower’s amusement.
As time progressed, Eisenhower would become increasingly appalled and frustrated by MacArthur’s massive ego, unwillingness to accept dissent and subordinates’ suggestions. Those behaviours would manifest themselves conspicuously during the period of time MacArthur, Eisenhower, and James Ord (one of Eisenhower’s best friends from West Point) served as chief military advisers for Manuel L. Quezon — the President of the Philippines.
In 1935, while en route by train to the West coast to embark on the ship bound for the Philippines, MacArthur received the news that Malin Craig
had been chosen to replace him as the Chief of Staff of the Army. Shortly after being informed of this development, MacArthur descended to:
an explosive denunciation of politics, bad manners, bad judgment, broken promises, arrogance, unconstitutionality, insensitivity, and the way the world had gone to hell.
Eisenhower and Ord just witnessed MacArthur’s ego injured by what he perceived to be intrigues against him.
Once in the Philippines, MacArthur was entrusted with the establishment of a Filipino national army. In this capacity, he was expected to oversee the training and equipping of that army. It was a lost cause to anyone with prudent foresight. The Philippines was dirt poor. There was neither money or resource to be mobilized for the production of modern weapons plus other equipment. The task MacArthur and his staffs faced was close to being unattainable. But they had no choice and had to make do with whatever resources at their disposal.
During their time in the Philippines, an event happened which illustrated MacArthur’s enormous ego was his demand to be appointed Field Marshall of the Filipino Army – one of the conditions MacArthur imposed on Quezon in exchange for his acceptance of the post of military adviser. He felt that the rank was essential to enhance his own prestige. Eisenhower regarded this demand with contempt and disgust. At the ceremony that confirmed MacArthur’s Field Marshalship, Eisenhower laughed, deriding that it was plainly
pompous and ridiculous for MacArthur to be the field marshal of a virtually non-existing army.
Contrary to what MacArthur’s supporters claimed, the idea was originated by MacArthur, as Quezon confided to Eisenhower in his visit to the US in 1942. It should also be noted that Eisenhower and Ord were offered the rank of Brigadier General by Quezon himself. But Eisenhower had the integrity to reject flatly the offer.
Even after 3 decades after that event, Eisenhower’s disdain for MacArthur’s self-appointed field-marshalship remained unabated. He thought that MacArthur was disloyal to the US Army:
You have been a 4-star general. This is a proud thing. There’s only been a few who had it. Why in the hell do you want a banana country giving you a field-marshalship?
Despite receiving splendid compensation from Quezon, MacArthur treated the Philippine President with contempt – referring to him derisively as “a conceited little monkey”. The two rarely spoke or met. When they did meet, MacArthur treated Quezon as his inferior, giving him demands instead of advice. This engendered a great deal of resentment in Quezon who found MacArthur’s arrogant behavior insufferable. His trust in MacArthur diminished over the years. Increasingly, the president placed his trust in Eisenhower, Ord and privately sought their advice instead of MacAthur’s.
The relationship between Eisenhower and MacArthur went downhill during their service in the Philippines. The frustration Eisenhower had to endure due to MacArthur’s egotistical behaviour was compounded by his growing awareness of the way business was conducted in the Philippines. The country’s political and military establishment was rife with inefficiency and corruption. Many Filipino officials expected customary bribes as prerequisites for carrying out any kind of project. This had the effect of hindering the attempts of the American advisers to establish a national Filipino army.
Eisenhower would come to clash with MacArthur with increasing regularity. Eisenhower would frequently challenge or try to convince MacArthur to change or abandon plans and objectives judged to be unattainable due to inadequate resources. MacArthur’s refusal was met by heated opposition instead of compliance. Often a compromise was reached only after a frustrated Eisenhower asked Mac to fire him. For all his arrogance, MacArthur did not lose sight of the fact he could not afford to lose one of the best staff officers in the army.
The year 1938 proved to be the lowest point in Eisenhower’s service in the Philippines. He just lost his best friend Ord in an aircraft accident. Ord’s replacement was Richard K. Sutherland — a character who was widely despised (One of MacArthur’s biographers refers to Sutherland as “an unpleasant son of a bitch”; and US Army General Walter Krueger remarked that Sutherland’s death was “a good thing for humanity”). Whereas Eisenhower had the audacity to challenge MacArthur, Sutherland would stroke his ego and become his principal sycophantic yes-man. Furthermore, Sutherland sought to get rid of Eisenhower — a blessing in disguise as Eisenhower had become weary of all the shouting matches and disputes with MacArthur.
Eisenhower eventually was recalled to the States. He had no regret. The experience irreversibly damaged the relationship between them:
Never again were we on the same warm and cordial terms
When Eisenhower became President, a jealous MacArthur mockingly said that Eisenhower was the “best clerk who ever served under me”. For his part, Eisenhower derided that MacArthur “is as big a baby as ever who still likes his bootlickers”.
A great melodramatic actor
In addition to his shameless and amusing references to himself in the 3rd person, MacArthur proved to be a highly talented melodramatic actor:
When it came to melodrama, complete with exhortations to duty and invocations to the Almighty, punctuated by exaggerated body language, MacArthur had no equal. Eisenhower was exposed to his full array of ploys and thought MacArthur would have been “a great actor.” MacArthur’s most polished performance was to parade back and forth in front of a large mirror across from his desk, dressed in a Japanese silk dressing gown, an ivory cigarette holder clamped in his mouth, admiring his profile while orating. MacArthur’s mastery of theatrics was world-class opera bouffe and the “best free show in town”. – Eisenhower: Portrait of the Hero
As an aside, MacArthur was a theatrical popinjay who loved flags, uniforms and all aspects of military regalia. Air Force General Lewis H. Brereton remarked that MacArthur was one of the best-dressed soldiers in the world.
Not bad huh!?
main qimg 622575d1b87bd22af759bcb27740ecc3 lqmain qimg 754eb3441094bc2fd4b1d4d461491718 lq
With his iconic corn-cob pipe and the Field-Marshal cap
Stingy, Lazy and Dishonest
Eisenhower’s experience with MacArthur was a painful reminder between the haves and the have-nots. When he started working for MacArthur in the 1930s, the Great Depression was overtaking the US and affecting millions of Americans. Unemployment was widespread. There was a marked sense of desperation and hopelessness prevailing in the country.
Eisenhower was poor. He worked in a small room no larger than a closet behind a slatted door adjacent to MacArthur’s larger office. His duty involved regular visits which he had to take the taxis or street cars. His monthly pay during the 1930s was dismal: $391 (roughly $5,711 in 2019 Inflation Calculator). His standard of living qualified as genteel poverty. His family could not afford much luxury.
By contrast, MacArthur enjoyed a very comfortable standards of living in the midst of the Depression. He had a big officer in Washington. He was given a fancy limousine and a chauffeur to drive around Capitol Hill; and he never once lent the vehicle to nor covered travel expenses for Eisenhower. Eisenhower never forgot this, as he would confide in a reporter shortly before his death:
No matter what happens later you never forget something like that.
When they were sent to the Philippines, the disparity in material wealth became even more conspicuous. Eisenhower was given an apartment in the Manila Hotel which was slightly better than his accommodation in the States. But it was unbearably hot during summer. By comparison, MacArthur lived in a sumptuous air-conditioned penthouse in Manila and was given a big office in the Presidential Palace.
Working for MacArthur entailed long hours and chronic stress. At one point, Eisenhower worked too hard that he fell ill from stress and had to check himself in a hospital, paying for all expenses out of his own pockets. Although Eisenhower kept working hard, he resented having to work long hours for a mediocre salary of $833.33 per month whereas MacArthur’s rank of Field Marshal entitled him to a princely monthly pay of $3,980 ($74,619.95 in 2019), and he earned that much money despite doing little work. He rarely came to his office before 11 AM and left early after having the regular late lunch with his son. Indeed, MacArthur’s life in the Philippines was characterised as:
more befitting a noble gentleman of leisure than a military adviser
Quezon was angry and upset not only by MacArthur’s arrogant and contemptuous attitude but also by his lack of commitment to the task of building a national army for the Philippines despite being handsomely rewarded by Quezon. (and let’s not forget that MacArthur later accepted an illegal payment of $500,000 from Quezon.).
Here is an interesting fact: Eisenhower’s staunch anti-Nazi stance attracted the attention of the Jewish community in Manila. Jewish representatives approached him in order to solicit his help to build sanctuaries for Jewish refugees escaping from Nazi-dominated Europe in exchange for the assurance that he would receive $60,000 per year ($1,046,804.17 in 2019) for a minimum of 5 years. Eisenhower declined the offer. This fact is a testament to Eisenhower’s integrity.
Lastly, Eisenhower was particularly upset by MacArthur’s dishonesty.
At one point MacArthur insisted on conducting a grand military parade in order to bolster Filipino public morale — an idea that he neither notified nor consulted with Quezon. Eisenhower and Ord contested hotly the proposal, arguing that it would squander a huge amount of the already limited funding that was available to them for the primary purpose of raising a Filipino national army. But MacArthur was insistent. His two reluctant staff officers had to proceed with planning for the event. When Quezon caught wind of the plan, he inquired Eisenhower as to why MacArthur never discussed the plan with him. When Quezon expressed his displeasure to MacArthur, he simply said he did not order his staff officers to do it. As a result, Eisenhower and Ord had to bear the blame for MacArthur’s lie.
In 1935, during his visit to the States, Quezon asked MacArthur if the Philippines could be defended solely by a Philippine Army, MacArthur lured Quezon into a false sense of security by saying “I know they can”. It was obviously a lie because Eisenhower noted later that
At no time has General MacArthur intended that the Filipinos could defend their country against a large-scale invasion by a major power.
Indeed, MacArthur had misled Quezon, as indicated by general Robert L. Eichelberger ’s note:
From late 1935 to 1938, we had heard many times the MacArthur’s expression “The Japanese would not invade the Philippines, but if they do, in case of war, we shall meet them at the beaches and destroy them. (seems like Mac was contradicting himself)
Combine Marinade ingredients in small bowl. Place beef steak and marinade in food-safe plastic bag; turn to coat. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator for 6 hours or as long as overnight.
Bowl
Combine yogurt and jerk seasoning in large bowl. Add coleslaw mix, mangoes and quinoa; mix well. Cover and refrigerate.
Remove steak from marinade; discard marinade. Pat steaks dry with paper towel.
Place steak on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 7 to 12 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, covered, 8 to 12 minutes) for medium rare (145 degrees F) to medium (160 degrees F) doneness. Remove; keep warm.
Divide cole slaw mixture among 4 bowls.
Carve steak against the grain into thin slices. Season with salt, as desired. Place steak slices on top of coleslaw mixture.
In the wake of a mysterious gas attack that decimates much of the Earth's population, a small band of survivors finds themselves fighting for survival in an English village.
Led by an American jet test pilot, the group faces off against an ominous threat: figures in space suits that are not here to rescue but to kill with a mere touch. A
s they navigate through a landscape of desolation and danger, they discover that their adversaries are not human but robots, part of an alien invasion's vanguard.
In a desperate bid for survival, they arm themselves, uncovering a glimmer of hope in their struggle against the unknown.
This 1964 British science-fiction horror, directed by Terence Fisher, offers a chilling narrative of survival, resilience, and the indomitable human spirit amidst apocalyptic terror.
When I lived in Woonsockett, Rhode Island (I was commuting to my work in Milford, Massachusetts) we lived in a converted catholic school.
The diocese had fallen on hard times and had renovated the Catholic school into apartments. And we lived in one on the third floor of the side building.
The owner of the apartment building was an immigrant from India and did not believe in ventilation. So the building was HOT.
He also didn’t believe in lighting. So, It was dark.
They didn’t believe in hallway lighting (relying on the windows at the end of the hallway for light during the day, and the streetlight outside for light at night). And without ventilation… it was stifling.
*stifling*
Walking up three flights of stairs was a trial.
Gasping for breath was a daily occurrence, and it really sucked. You don’t really appreciate this need for air, until you are forced to climb a hot set of stairs in a airless chimney. Ugh!
Air is important.
Ventilate. Use plants. Keep the air fresh, and for God’s sake use a fan to keep the air moving.
Just like a pool of water becomes stagnant over time, so does a windowless room. Ventilate.
Live longer.
Ventilate.
Live longer.
Ventilate.
Live longer.
Ventilate.
Today…
What’s the most memorable interaction you had at a rest stop?
My stepdad is an auto mechanic. I recall when I was younger we were on a family road trip and saw a car broken down at a rest stop. My younger sisters and I started to tell Dad that he should go help them.
“Dad, they are broke down you should go take a look and help them out!”
My dad’s reply was something like “Eww, they drive a Dodge, I don’t like working on Dodges!”
“Dad, come on, be nice!”
I think he had already planned on going over and seeing what the problem was even though it would take more time away from our trip.
He went over and helped out this couple which were a little older. He explained to them that he was an auto mechanic and asked them to go through the “try to start it, I want to hear what sound it makes” diagnostic process. Finally Dad gave them the diagnosis and told them what they could do to fix it temporarily and then explained they should see a mechanic once they get to their destination to get it fixed more permanently. (Please do not ask me what was wrong. I was a teen and did not care to remember back then let alone now.)
The couple were so grateful to my stepdad that they tried to offer him money. He said no. He explained to them that he believed in helping others out and hoped that should something ever happen to his daughters (pointing in our direction) someday someone else would be nice enough to help us similarly.
The lady was so overcome with gratitude that she phoned his work once they had arrived at their destination and gotten their vehicle repaired to let his boss know that my dad had gone out of his way while on vacation with his family to assist some strangers who were broken down. She explained to Dad’s boss that he would not even accept money for his good deeds and she felt that his boss should know that he did a superb job in hiring such a great guy!
Dad came home after work to tell us all about how his boss told him that he was a good representative of where he worked because now these people that live in a totally different state knew about the car dealership and had positive reviews of at least one person in the service department! Dad even got put up for a bonus because of the glowing review while he was off-duty. He couldn’t have been more thrilled that helping someone during his off time ended up helping him at work as well.
What are the most arrogant, idiotic and shameful things a politician has ever said?
I’m from Vietnam and there is no shortage of idiotic and shameful things said by politicians here. Below are some of the more notable ones:
“We used to teach one class with 40 students. Not anymore. Now we teach 40 students in one class”, Minister of Education and Training, 2015.
“Defense attorneys should have the legal obligation to denounce their clients if they know for sure their clients are guilty. Failing to do so should be a criminal offense” – Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, May 2017 (the National Assembly in Vietnam is like the Parliament in the UK or Congress in the US)
“The National Assembly is elected by the people. If the National Assembly do something wrong, the people are responsible, there is no one else to punish” – Chairman of the National Assembly, Nguyen Sinh Hung, 2014.
“If my children have measles, I will never send them here [National Hospital for Children]”, Minister of Health, Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, 2014. Well of course not, you will order the doctors to bring their equipment and medicines to your mansion. Or you will send your children to the best, most expensive hospital abroad using the corruption money that you have amassed over the years.
“Poisoned potatoes imported from China are … still safe” – Head of the Plant Protection Department, 2014
“Fighting corruption is difficult because we have to fight ourselves” – General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, 2015.
“Half of the bridge collapsed to the river, the remaining half is still perfectly functional”, Deputy Director of a provincial Transport Department, 2015.
What is even more breathtaking than the statement itself is the fact that the bridge collapsed after just 2 weeks of operating. One can’t help but question: How much money did this guy embezzle from the project?
bridge
8. “In other countries, resigning is very easy but in Vietnam, it is very difficult. Why? Because in Vietnam, with high positions come great missions that the Communist Party gives you. Resigning means abandoning your missions.” Deputy Chief of Staff of the National Assembly, 2015.
9. “I had to work as a motorbike taxi driver for many many nights to save enough money to build this villa”, Deputy Head of a provincial Internal Affairs committee, 2017.
His villa, built illegally on agricultural land:
main qimg 5629f90510e368b7a9524ab4b12f549d lq
10. “The job of Vietnam People’s Public Security Forces is to protect the Communist Party, protect the State and protect the Government”, Deputy Head of the Political General Department, Ministry of Public Security, 2015.
Hello? What about the people? Sounds familiar? Rings any bell? Has the thought of protecting the people ever crossed your goddamn mind?
11. “In one district, there are 8 or 9 high-ranking government officials coming from the same family. I think it’s just pure coincidence”, Head of the Capital’s Organizing Commission, 2015.
12. “If we do not teach our children to cry when they sing the national anthem, our country will not prosper”, Deputy Prime Minister, Vu Duc Dam, 2014.
That’s enough for now. I’ll add some more in the future.
Addendum 5th of June: Some of these things are not actually idiotic, more like shameless and blatant lies. Anyway, here are some more:
13. “Our family could build this mansion thanks to the support of our friends and colleagues who gave us the necessary bricks and stones”, Former Inspector General of the Government, 2014. And this was from the guy whose job was to fight corruption! His mansion:
main qimg 21aad6cbc0af44b278909eb042eda0cd lq
14. “We must strengthen our military so that it will be as powerful as the North Korean Army”, a monk and a congressman, 2014.
15. “Traffic jam means all vehicles have to stand still for at least 30 minutes. In our city, there are no traffic jams.” Director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Transport Department, 2016.
16. “On many occasions, we have to test the quality of fertilizers by mouth”, Minister of Industry and Trade, 2016.
17. [Three infants died after being vaccinated] “We’ll get to the bottom of this. Everything will be transparent and there will be no cover-up. If it’s the doctors’ fault, the doctors will be prosecuted. If it’s the vaccine’s fault, the vaccine will be prosecuted”, Minister of Health, 2013 (same gal as #4). Prosecute the vaccine? Sounds tough. What about the people who approved and imported the vaccine? Isn’t that you?
Update on #2 (June 20th): It’s official. Today the National Assembly passed the new Criminal Code, defense attorney in Vietnam now actually have the legal obligation to denounce their clients!
Potato Hash with Eggs and Mushrooms
A portabella mushroom blends seamlessly with the Italian sausage, while the peppers add color to Potato Hash with Eggs and Mushrooms. Perfect for an everyday breakfast or weekend brunch.
Wild mushroom hash eggs
Prep: 10 min | Cook: 15 min | Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 large fresh portabella mushroom
1 tablespoon (15 mL) olive oil
3 mild Italian sausages, removed from casing and crumbled
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 large russet potatoes, peeled, diced
1/4 green bell pepper, diced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup (125 mL) shredded Cheddar cheese
4 large eggs
Chopped parsley
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C.
Place portabella mushroom in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until finely chopped.
In a large nonstick, oven-safe skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped mushrooms, Italian sausage, onion and garlic. Use spatula to break up sausage into tiny pieces.
Once cooked, remove from pan and set aside. Leave any fat renderings in pan.
Heat pan with the sausage renderings over medium heat. Add diced potatoes. Allow to cook for 10-15 minutes until softened.
Add diced peppers and increase to medium-high heat, continue to cook until potatoes are crispy, about 10 minutes.
Add sausage back to pan; cook for another 2 to 3 minutes before stirring.
Sprinkle with cheese.
Crack eggs in each quadrant of the pan.
Season with salt and pepper.
Place skillet in oven and bake for 20 minutes, until eggs are set.
Is China winning the battle of economy and technology over the U.S.?
US is losing the battle of economy and technology to China
I can illustrate this with three points
I. Forcing China to Innovate
In 2014 , China imported every chip made with 28 nm process or lower and 70% of the Chips made with the 45 nm process
The Chips were made in Taiwan and Korea, designed by the US and made by Dutch machines
China was utterly dependent on these nations for the chips and these nations were dependent on China for the consumer goods made using these Chips
In 2018, Dumbo Trump began to restrict the flow of Chips to Huawei and began the entities blacklist
He began the tariffs due to which to lower their costs, China began to start their own supply Chain
Fast forward to 2024
China makes 54% of its own 28 nm process chips (from 0% in 2014) and makes the entire indigenous equipment to make the 28 nm process commercially
China makes 69% of its own 45 nm process chips at a mere 32% cost
It’s ready to make fully indigenous 14 nm Chips and just made a 7 nm Chip with DUV technology that performs very well
Thus thanks to US stupidity – China managed to go from full importer of 14 nm, 28 nm Chips and 70% 45 nm Chips in 2014 to net exporter of 45 nm Chips and above plus develop fully Indigenous machinery for 14 nm Chips and make 7 nm Chips indigenously in a mere decade
Without US Push, Chinese Entities would simply have not been inclined to invest in Chipmaking as the Imports would have been higher yield at more efficient costs in the early years
II. Decoupling
In 2018, China used the USD for 94.6% of its Trade and settled in USD with 132 out of 143 BRI Nations
China used SWIFT for 99.3% of its transactions in USD
US had leverage control on China and China was utterly dependent on the Western financial system
Then US began to talk of decoupling and derisking and freeze others funds and steal Afghan money
Fast forward
China uses USD to settle only 57.5% of its trade using Local Swaps to settle 26% of its trade and the RMB and Ruble to settle 16% of its Trade
China uses CIPS and other systems now with Iran and Russia and Cuba and Venezuela
Thus again China is no longer entirely dependent on the Western System
III. Anti China Rhetoric
Mainlander Residents made up 27.7% of all Researchers in the USA in 2018. The Highest among foreign researchers
60% of all researchers in Critical Technology research were Chinese, bulk of them from the Mainland
They did a lot of path breaking innovation
Anti-Asian Atmosphere Chills Chinese Scientists Working in the U.S.
As universities such as Harvard and NYU put researchers under scrutiny, some schools seek to avoid a “loyalty oath.”
Then you had gutter scum like De Santis and Cotton who began Anti China Rhetoric
So Chinese brains decided to stay back home and not go to the US while Chinese Scientists and Researchers decided to go back home to China than be insulted and treated with suspicion in US
From 2023- almost 548 researchers including 107 with Tenure left US and moved back to China
Plus nearly 10,300 Doctorate Students from China stayed home rather than going to the US and innovating for them
They help China innovate instead of USA
Accelerating Chinas progress in those areas
US is unable to fill the gap with others
Korea, Taiwan and Japan combined send maybe 1600 researchers a year
Indians send barely 60 researchers a year in critical technologies
So in each case China adapted but it was US who started it all
When you have Idiots chosen by a corrupted form of democracy – they are no match for the High range meritocracy of China
What are some most important unspoken rules in life?
Don’t ask for something if the person only has one of it left — gum, candy, or a piece of cake.
If you used all the toilet paper, you go refill it.
Buy a plunger before you need a plunger.
Do not swipe left or right if someone shows a picture on their phone.
Pee first. No matter what you’re doing, pee first.
If you borrow someone’s car, fill up the tank before you return it.
Leave it in a better condition than you found it.
When out to dinner with a group, only the person who ordered the least expensive meal/combo of things can offer to split the check evenly.
Don’t put your music on speakers when in a public space. It’s not like everyone wants the same genre, or was in the mood for music. Use your headphones.
You can be wrong. It isn’t a bad thing either. And when you are wrong, acknowledge it and learn from it.
Please don´t start drama at a funeral.
Chew with your mouth closed. It’s shocking how many adults chew with their mouth open.
Never make fun of someone else’s laugh.
Don’t ever leave your shopping cart in the middle of a grocery aisle!
If you are borrowing it for the third time, you need one of it of your own.
If you cancel on a friend, it’s your responsibility to reschedule.
Don’t propose at someone else’s wedding.
Turn on your headlights when it’s snowing.
Don’t look through the gap of bathroom stalls.
Be kind to people that are working.
OFF BEFORE ON. Let the people off the elevator and train before you get on.
Walk on the same side of the stairs/sidewalk that you would drive on.
Most of all….
23. Show the same respect for everyone. We are all people.
What are the facts about girls that guys don’t know?
Yes we do think wether you’re safe or not while going out with you, even if you’re a friend.
Biology have cursed woman, menstruation are real shit emotionally, physically.
Girls are more conscious for appearance not to impress anyone but not to look awkward or talked about
They are fed with true love and marriage dreams from childhood, even if she is into careers. It is fed in her somewhere
New DMs don’t excite us , It simply seems like a simp trying out.
We think “all men” because majority of girls have not met good guys. Yo it’s not your fault it’s us ,stay peace!
We just expect respect and love for leaving our entire family happily, which you can’t even think to do for a girl.
We die for freedom because most of us don’t get it easily
We love small gestures, like a sweet good night or a small gift
Women needs you emotionally more than physically.
We need to do better
Anyone who has been on an airplane that had to make an emergency landing, what happened, and what was it like in the cabin?
main qimg 6cde7b395f2fffa9e80f3c8256824fa8 lq
I was flying as a passenger in a small two-engine commuter plane, with a single row of seat on each side and an aisle in the middle. We were going from DC to Lynchburg, Virginia. On the way there, I suddenly heard a loud BANG and saw smoke emitting from the engine on the right, then the propellor came to a complete stop. I could smell burning oil. From that and the sound, I surmised something important was clearly broken, and that engine would not be restarting until it was repaired. Too late for us.
Not long after, the pilot came on the intercom. I’ll never forget his first words. “If we get down…” Then a pause followed by, “When we get down…” and the rest of what he said, which was that we would be diverting to a closer airport (Charlottesville) and probably more things that I can’t remember.
There was a little nervous laughter from someone, while another passenger started crying. The person who had smiled and laughed stopped smiling and began to look tense.
I felt our chances were good. Whatever happened to the engine that failed was unlikely to affect the other still-running engine. This was a better problem to have that trouble with the landing gear or control surfaces, for instance.
As we approached Charlottesville airport, I could see clearly through to the cockpit and what was ahead. The landing strip was getting larger and larger. A welcome sight. We were, however, approaching at a bit of angle. The side with the working engine was noticeably more ahead and forward than the other side. It was pulling the plane askew. I wondered how we would land like that.
I don’t remember anyone asking us to brace for a landing, which seems odd in retrospect.
As we touched down, fire engines were racing alongside.
We made it.
I rode back to the terminal in one of the fire engines. Later, someone from the airline directed us to an area to wait together until they made arrangements to continue our journeys. It was taking a long time, and one of us complained about the delay. Someone else, quoting a friend who was a pilot, answered, “In aviation, it’s better to have the delays and trouble when you’re still on the ground than later.” No one countered that view.
Some years ago, I had the opportunity to ask a pilot about landing on one engine when the aircraft is askew. He told me that you give it a little rudder to straighten out at the last instance just as the wheels are about to touch the ground, but not so soon that the aircraft has time to swing back. That sounded to me like a high degree of finesse would be needed, so we must have had good pilots that day. Thanks to them, I’m still here.
UPDATE: I did not expect so many upvotes. Appreciated. Thank you one and all!
Also, thank you to all those who added useful comments: learning from knowledgeable sources who speak from experience is the best part of Quora for me.
In spite of the fact that humans have now been flying in heavier-than-air flying machines for more than a hundred years, it is still amazing to me that it is possible and has become routine. Well, routine except when it isn’t. Grateful to the body of skills that makes it all possible
Men are tired of being expected to provide for women. Reaction to this new outlook.
How do you tell someone their name is wrong?
My elderly uncle, 85, had a run in with an absolute Peach of a teacher in 3rd grade. She’d been a mid-year sub (because married teachers weren’t allowed to teach while pregnant *huge eye roll*) and announced to the class that she didn’t allow nick names and told everyone what their proper names were and she would ONLY call them by their ‘proper’ names.
This caused an uproar as this was in the heart of Texas. Lots of Bubbas, Sissys, Juniors, etc. She told my uncle his name was James. He refused to answer to this as his name was, in fact, NOT James. Yelling ensued, mostly her at him and then she yanked him out of his chair and dragged him to the office. This teacher did not understand that you didn’t call my grandmother down to the school unless someone was dying.
My grandmother arrived as the teacher was explaining to the principal about my uncle’s “disrespect and obstinate attitude”. With a rare show of patience, my grandmother waited until the new teacher was done hammering that nail into her coffin before addressing the principal. “Why did I have to come down here?”
The principal stammered, attempting to have the teacher’s back but his expression showed he knew it was futile. The teacher puffed up and condescendingly explained her policy on names and that her son refused to obey. My grandmother asked, “And what name do you think he should answer to?”
“James, of course.”
“His NAME is NOT James, It’s Jimmy. I include his middle name when he’s in trouble.”
“That’s ridiculous. Jimmy is a diminutive of James. Therefore, his names is JAMES.”
My uncle piped up, “She made Sissy and Junior cry.” Everyone knew Sissy’s given name but her little sister couldn’t say it and she’d gone by Sissy her whole life. Junior was self explanatory.
My grandmother stood up and leaned in toward the teacher, “My son’s name is Jimmy. I know this as fact since I Named Him. His birth certificate says Jimmy. His enrollment paperwork says Jimmy.” My grandmother turned to the principal, “Do I need to make a call to Mr. Jensen?” The principal turned white. My grandparents were good friends with both the ISD superintendent and the mayor and there had already been an issue with a different teacher stepping over a parental boundary.
My grandmother refused to allow any kind of punishment and my uncle said the new teacher wasn’t there the next school day.
How can having all the money in the world lead someone to be disillusioned with their life?
It depends on the wealth and how they got it.
If they earned it themselves then no as they have to struggle to get it.
It’s their children who are born into it and do not struggle. Hence wealth lasts only 3 generations. I mean Li Ka Shing richest man in HK (who is actually Canadian) his son never went through his dad’s struggles and is far less of a business man than his dad. Though he’s doomed anyway as his company is just a rent seeking company and PRC China doesn’t like that.
So when everything is within reach, then there’s nothing worth reaching for.
Older people may remember a television series called Made In Chelsea. I literally know several of these rich kids from the first series. Well knew as they probably have forgotten me.
They had flashy cars, they went on holidays and flew first class.
But they never knew struggles of others and they were very shallow as they had no real character. It didn’t matter if they failed something as money would immediately fix it. So they didn’t even have to try all that hard either.
I’m not saying it’s not a good situation to be in though.
What was totally acceptable in high school 50 years ago that isn’t today?
Once I was doing some gardening work for a former neighbour. Just to get some more money in my pocket. I was riding in his work vehicle and talking to him. Like all adults inevitably do, he asked me about school.
I didn’t want to talk about school, so I tried to redirect the conversation to his experiences at school when he was younger.
Before I knew it, I had him telling me about his experiences attending an all-boys boarding school in the 1990s. It was about as violent as you’d expect, but out of nowhere he said something that completely shocked me.
“Oh yeah, and if you started the fight they’d beat you with the cane”
“WHAT?!?!?!”
Only in non-government schools, but holy heck.
In my mind, students being caned is something that only ever happened in reruns of Little House on the Prairie I watched as a kid. Or something that happened at home when you’d been especially bad.
But nope. In the ‘90s, my neighbour and his classmates were caned for a variety of offenses, including smoking, streaking, fighting, leaving campus, etc.
You needed your parents’ permission for teachers to be allowed to cane you, but many disciplinarian parents gladly let their kids have it. In fact, the Australian state of Queensland (where my former neighbour went to school) still allows students to be caned as punishment.
“The school, which has 600 students in Prep to Year 12, gave the paddle 10 times last year and seven times in 2007, he said.
"I would never use the paddle unless we have spoken to both parents and have their blessing for it to be used," Mr Bensley said.
"It is always administered in a loving way. In fact, we pray with them afterwards."
I’ve gone to several Catholic schools in Australia, albeit in other states, and I never saw anything like this.
In all my time at Catholic schools, the only shit-kickings I ever got were from my fellow students. In fact, teachers at my school weren’t even allowed to touch students beyond absolute necessity.
It’s crazy to think that not only was this present in the 1990s, it’s still present now. Not just in Australia, but all over the world.
CHINA DESTROYS INTEL and AMD – rip and replace us garbage…
The world is splitting. Non Western countries are getting tired of US / EU sanctions on everything and anything.
Have you ever ignored a blaring red flag because someone was insanely good looking?
He was tall, dark, and handsome, and insanely good looking… Until he opened his mouth.
He had walked into my English class in my sophomore year and all the girls watched as he took a seat.
Girls were drawn to him and he never lacked for companions who wanted to chat with him.
But he dripped with conceit.
When he spoke, it was apparent that he was interested in one topic only — himself. The world, for him, revolved around him.
The more I got to know him, the uglier he looked to me. By the end of the year, I couldn’t believe I ever found him attractive.
When I was much younger, I did forgive character flaws because someone was insanely good looking. But I came to understand that some of those insanely good looking people weren’t very nice.
Some were selfish, obnoxious, bullies.
Over time, I realized that people are sometimes like deceptively wrapped presents.
Sometimes you unwrap a beautiful present with shimmering paper and a fancy bow to find nothing but a piece of poop inside.
Other times you open up a present wrapped in plain brown paper to discover a diamond.
Insanely good looking people are good for catching my eyes for only that very first time I meet them.
But after that, whether they are good looking or not depends on their personality.
If they have an intriguing mind and a beautiful heart, I find the person insanely attractive regardless of their outer appearance.
What is one thing that I can learn from you today?
Do you know why a manhole is circular in shape?
main qimg 50198946b6a2e5df6a0e0411501560f8 lq
This was the question asked to me in my internship interview. I did not know the answer to this question but thought to give it an attempt. I gave multiple reasons –
It would be easy to clean as there will be no corners where the dirt can accumulate
It must be to ensure the safety of the person going inside the manhole. If the manhole is rectangular or square shaped then there are chances that the person will hurt himself with the sharp corners of the manhole
The above reasons are okay but not the prime reasons for a circular design. The main reason is –
The diagonal length is the largest dimension in a rectangle or a square. A rectangular or a square shaped manhole would have a same shape cover as well. This means the length or breadth dimension of that cover could be accommodated easily in the diagonal of that manhole and this is how the cover would fall inside the manhole.
To avoid this unwanted fall, manholes are designed circular in shape.
why
Hope this was interesting. 🙂
The 1-3-1 rule
What are the most arrogant, idiotic and shameful things a politician has ever said?
We, South Koreans, really hate our politicians.
But out of all the politicians we hate, the most hated politician of the modern era has to be Park Geun-hye – Wikipedia, the previous president of South Korea.
Her, when she could still smile.
I say “previous” because she got impeached and jailed after the largest political scandal (and the largest protest that followed) in the history of Korea happened, her approval rating dropped to 5%, and still said some really stupid things while all that happened.
main qimg 988ec36908c37eca3b8e4c3b391ff725 lq
Her, after we brought her to the Supreme Court and was found guilty.
I haven’t seen a chart so satisfying since the chart of South Sea Company stock prices.
Some people were so pissed off to literally make a list of the most arrogant, idiotic, shameful things she has said in the most popular public wiki in Korea. Here are some of the gems I found:
“Is this A.I?”
After seeing a pair shoes with smart sensors.
“Powder made out of Korean chili pepper….this must be extraordinarily valuable.”
After seeing Chilli Powder in a marketplace. Of course, this is untrue and very stupid and awkward at the same time.
“Sleep is the best.”
After an authority of a religion said to her sarcastically “You seem to sleep well nowadays.”This is during the times the protests were happening and Park decided to isolate herself to ignore the protests.
“What did I even do wrong?”
After asked to resign from office. This was after the Korean Intelligence already uncovered so much evidence of her corruption, that it was literally impossible to deny it.
“After the impeachment attempt fails, I will use the power of the people to silence the Press and Korean Intelligence.”
Keep in mind that her approval rating was plummeting to zero at this point. And also that South Korea is a democracy.
“When taking tests, it is always the women that take it diligently and with great effort. But why aren’t Korean men like that? I mean, they even go to the military. Maybe it’s because our country leads in gaming, and men are like that because all they do are games.”
Fact: stated during her birthday feast with very important politicians by her.
Also fact: It’s complete bull.
“For 3 and a half years, I served Korea without knowing tire, and you dare make me a dirty person?”
Things that happened during her term:
Shook the foundation of Korean democracy to the core
Increased the income inequality in Korea to 3rd in OECD
Increased the debt of Korea by 17%
Made house prices 40% higher
Set the record for the longest period of time the exports of Korea declined in a row
Set the record for Millennial Unemployment rate
Diplomatically strayed away from the U.S.(our most valuable ally) and close to China(our worst enemy’s most valuable ally)
Things that did not happen during her term:
Literally anything good to Korea
Park working hard.
AI generated Men’s magazine pictures
Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Harr 1(1)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Harr 3(1)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Harr 2(1)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 0(6)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 3(6)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 1(5)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 3(5)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 2(5)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 1(4)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 3(4)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 2(4)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 1(3)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 3(3)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 0(3)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 2(3)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 3(2)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 2(2)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 3(1)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 1(1)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 2(1)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 0(1)Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 1Default generate a mens adventure picture in the style of Mort 0
Is the United States afraid of China’s economic improvement?
Absolutely, yes, without a doubt.
China’s economic rise threatens the United States’ global hegemony, which is based entirely on its US Dollar supremacy as the world’s reserve currency.
The United States can print money without end to fund its overseas wars and enrich the military-industrial complex.
The United States can control disobedient countries with punishing sanctions.
The United States can extract other countries’ natural resources.
China’s economic rise can undermine the US Dollar and kick out the main pillar of America’s power.
The USA is scared to death and extremely desperate.
What’s the rudest thing a child has ever said to your face and how did you respond?
My middle boy. He is 9 now. He was 6 at the time and we were shopping. It was more embarrassing than rude…
Going down the aisle, he is walking with his brother and my daughter is in the trolly… the boys are talking, distracted… and I’m on my own, wife was somewhere else in the shop…
Suddenly he looks up and noticed in front of us a rather large man. I mean large. He had never actually seen a person of this size because even though I am chunky, and my side of the family are, my wife and her side is quite slim!
Anyway, in his charming childishly quiet voice, (full volume) he belts out:
“wow daddy, HE is fat! Fatter than you!”
I turn beetroot red, and tell him that he can’t speak like that. He was confused.
(He has heard family talk about how fat I am and I think this was just a processing mechanism for him)
But then I look up and the man is laughing… as he walks past me and I try to apologise about my son’s outburst he says: “don’t worry lad, you got time to catch up to me!” and walks off chuckling!
Later (it got better) we go to see my mum, and she says something about me being fat (it’s a joke as I am chunky but the skinniest of the lot on my side!) And straight away my boy pipes up:
“No no nana, you can’t call daddy fatty, as we saw a man that was so big that you and daddy and mummy could fit inside him!”
I was facepalming… I mean great defence of daddy but I need to teach this kid how to be more sensitive!
3 years on and it’s still a struggle. Kid has no filter. So we choose words wisely!
Best Ever Hotcakes
21014 Good old Fashioned Pancakes mfs 002 0e249c95678f446291ebc9408ae64c05
Ingredients
2 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
Add sugar and salt to well beaten egg yolks.
Sift and measure four, add baking powder and soda and re-sift. Add flour mixture and milk, to egg yolk mixture alternately, a bit at a time until all are added, (stir the whole time).
Add sour cream and mix well.
Add melted butter and mix well.
Gently fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.
Bake on a hot griddle, turn only once when bubbles on the surface break.
One day when the oldest turned 12, he anxiously asked his father what was the secret of life. The father replied that he was going to tell him, but that he should not reveal it to his brothers.
—The secret of life is this: The cow does not give milk. “What are you saying?” Asked the boy incredulously. —As you hear it, son: The cow does not give milk, you have to milk it. You have to get up at 4 in the morning, go to the field, walk through the corral full of manure, tie the tail, hobble the legs of the cow, sit on the stool, place the bucket and do the work yourself.
That is the secret of life, the cow does not give milk. You milk her or you don’t get milk. There is this generation that thinks that cows GIVE milk. That things are automatic and free: their mentality is that if “I wish, I ask….. I obtain.”
“They have been accustomed to get whatever they want the easy way…But no, life is not a matter of wishing, asking and obtaining. The things that one receives are the effort of what one does. Happiness is the result of effort. Lack of effort creates frustration.”
So, share with your children from a young age the secret of life, so they don’t grow up with the mentality that the government, their parents, or their cute little faces is going to give them everything they need in life.”
Argentina Heads To China For Economic RESCUE As Farm Outbreaks Devastate Export Revenues
Argentina is facing an export crisis. With inflation still raging, an outbreak in their corn harvest threatens to collapse their export revenues. It’s not a surprise that the Argentine Central Bank is running to China to secure their Yuan swap line for their vital imports. Here’s what you must know and why Argentina’s in desperation mode.
So there is this movement in South Korea right now. It’s called the 4B movement, and it’s the ultimate collapse of the West.
No dating.
No relationships.
No marriage.
No children.
Why this movement is PERMITTED and ALLOWED in a nation just shows how corrupted the nation is.
All nations must take care of their society.
If they do not, then they are corrupted, evil and must be policed. As the fundamental purpose of the government is to protect, maintain and support their society.
The 4B movement is one of destruction of society.
Just like WOKE, and BLM. Just like the Nazi movements of the past. This is a society-destroying movement.
Again, I must say…
A government that allows internal destruction from within is a government that needs to be erased and replaced.
Today…
What did someone do in an emergency room that made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?
My husband fell off his bicycle and reflexively put his arm down to break his fall. He came home scrapped up and holding his shoulder in an odd, pushed back position. It was a weekend, so we couldn’t see our family doctor, and this was in rural Texas where there is literally only one hospital per county. He was in excruciating pain when we arrived at the emergency room in our small town. After waiting an hour, a nurse gave him a visual exam and told him that he should ice his shoulder, take a couple of Tylenol, and see an orthopedist. She finished by saying that they couldn’t do anything for him, like give him drugs. We were stunned. He couldn’t move that arm, and any pressure elicited sharp pain. We wanted an x-ray, not a morphine drip.
There was nothing we could do but drive to the hospital in the next county. It was the same routine as the first ER. No x-ray, no exam. The doctor there referred us to an orthopedist in a larger town. Again, we were sent home on a weekend with no help.
We rigged up a sling as a stopgap measure and made an appointment with a local orthopedist. My husband couldn’t sleep in the bed, so he tried sleeping in a chair. He also had to return to work because he had no diagnosis or doctor’s note. After two interminable weeks, he finally saw a local doctor who took a single AP x-ray and told him that there was nothing wrong with his shoulder. He also told us that he saw “all kinds” of people like my husband who faked injuries to get drugs.
We saw the second orthopedist after another three weeks. He took one look at the x-rays and literally said, “Wow!” My husband had a posterior dislocation of his shoulder. These are rare and usually missed due to insufficient imaging and lack of examination. By now, it had been five weeks since the accident, and the doctor said he did not have the surgical experience to reset the shoulder. We were referred to a large, orthopedic specialty hospital in Houston that performed the surgery six weeks after the accident. He has recovered, but he has titanium pins in his shoulder now for an injury three providers said he never suffered.
Gen Z during world war 3
Why the West claims Hong Kong is under Chinese oppression while absolutely ZERO person were killed by the police in 2019 and it is actually the West and British who illegally attacked, occupied and oppressed Hong Kong?
Why the West claims Hong Kong is under Chinese oppression while absolutely ZERO person were killed by the police in 2019 and it is actually the West and British who illegally attacked, occupied and oppressed Hong Kong?
It’s simple. Many british people won’t look very deeply into the actual details of the situation as such they imagine Hong Kong was almost exactly the same as life in the UK other than it was filled with Chinese people and hotter humid weather.
So when the BBC and politicians lie about it, they take it at face value and either aren’t invested enough to check it out in more depth or simply trust politicians at what they say.
A great example is how many think Hong Kong was democratic before 1997. I ask them who elected the governor of Hong Kong… they have no answer… now and again this is great because it makes them ask further questions and makes them question their position. Most however don’t and simply double down.
The other group were the occupiers, yes occupiers is a correct word. June 1972 during the 27th meeting of the UN, Hong Kong was taken off the list of British colonies and it was instead considered an occupation. The occupiers lived a privileged life compared to local people in Hong Kong.
This is demonstrated with Kowloon Walled city. People view it as holy fucking shit, but Walled city wasn’t unusual it was only demolished in 1993.
main qimg 213ed56aa25e47ab0e47c8cd043bcfc3
The big apartment blocks to the north only started being built in the late 70s and 80s. Most people were living in shanty towns dotted all over.
SHOCK: Technology Already Developed to put “Vaccines” in Lettuce, Tomatos, and . . . Tobacco Products!
The Tennessee state legislature held hearings about putting “Vaccines” in consumer products like food and tobacco. The hearing revealed startling information . . .
Rep. Scott Cepicky revealed that the University of California at Riverside has “already perfected the ability to put Human Vaccines into our lettuce right now.” He went on to add “Also Tomatoes, has the ability to do that also, from UC Berkely, and also RJ Reynolds has developed the ability to put Human “Vaccines” into Tobacco products.”
Rep. John Ray Clemmons then inquired “Is that even legal to do in the state of Tennessee, to sell those with a Vaccine in them?”
Rep. Cepicky responded “I’m not arguing that, all I’m saying is that if a person walks into a grocery store you as a Consumer should know __this__ head of lettuce __is__ a head of lettuce, but __this other__ head of lettuce right next to it, could contain a Vaccine in it. All we’re saying is, if it does have the vaccine in it, make sure it’s listed as a Pharmaceutical so people can get the proper dosage.”
Hal Turner Snap Editorial
The idea that companies would DARE to presume to include “vaccines” in Human food seems outrageous to me. Who do these people think they are? They have no right to put some medical treatment into food for Humans and thereby into people’s bodies without informed consent.
Take the COVID Vax for instance. We were all told it was “safe and effective.” Those claims turned out to be false. The vaccines harmed or even KILLED many people, and are STILL harming and killing people.
Yet some nitwit thinks it’s a good idea to put things like this into consumer food so that unwitting people get something they otherwise might not want? Shocking! Outrageous!
Some of these “Scientists” seem so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.
Leadership
What’s something your husband did to you that you will never forget?
I met my husband through college when I was 18. He was 20. I was married at 21. He went through all my ups and downs with me, and I mean ups and downs. Things got really bad for me once I entered the professional workforce after grad school. I was ironically working in the mental health field at the time, while my own mental health was deteriorating. My husband was there to lie with me when I cried my eyes out, and he was there to calm me down when I was so excitable I could easily make some bad decisions. Never did he act like I was the “crazy person” I felt I was becoming. On two occasions he walked in on me harming myself, and he took the tool from me and cleaned me up in the shower. He was also the person who walked in on me standing in a corner listening to “the voices” that were talking to me from the sky. Yes, he stayed.
My husband is the reason I chose to go to a therapist. It was humiliating; going to a therapist when I worked in the mental health field myself. After all, I should know how to deal with what was happening to me, right? I had a really good life, an awesome husband, and a good career. What was wrong? The therapist sent me to a psychiatrist, something I also would have declined had it not been for my husband.
My husband attended my diagnostic appointment with the psychiatrist. After answering all sorts of questions and talking about what was going on, I was diagnosed as bipolar with psychotic features. I knew it. In the back of my mind I knew it and I didn’t want to know it. It was one of the reasons I didn’t want to go to the psychiatrist in the first place. I was prescribed medication and my ascent to sanity began, although I’m still not there 100%.
The thing my husband did that I’ll always remember happened just after we stepped out of the office. I was upset. I looked up at him trying to make a joke of it (kind of) and said “Well, congratulations, you married a crazy person.” He stopped us both by taking my hand, looking me in the eye and telling me “You’re no different than you always were, and I love you just as much as I always have.” We had been married almost 8 years.
It’s odd to say a romantic moment came of me being diagnosed as, how I thought of it at the time, crazy, but that’s what happened. I had been feeling so worthless. Who could love someone going through psychosis; someone who might just become a burden on others? The fact that he reassured me, after everything he’d been through with me, that I was still loved was more than I could ever thank him for. We’ve been married over 10 years now, and he says he still feels the same way, even when I do have my bouts of depression, mania, psychosis, and panic attacks, and I’ll never forget that moment when he reassured me I was still lovable and the same old me, even if there was now a name for what was happening to me. I am not crazy. I have bipolar disorder and I’m learning how to deal with it while my husband learns how to deal with my behavior.
God I love that man.
**Edit** Thank you all for the kind words! I did show my answer to my husband and he said he never realized how much that moment meant to me. I wish I’d expressed myself better at the time then! I do make sure to show him appreciation as often as possible!
It’s weird, I never felt the way about my clients that I felt about myself. I loved my clients, and they’re each battling their own mental health issues as strong boys and girls (I worked with adolescents). I guess it’s one of those cases where it’s sometimes hard to value yourself when it’s easy to see the value in others.
Despite everything, I am much better with treatment, and my husband and I are very happy together. He is definitely the love of my life and he makes me feel valuable everyday by telling me how awesome I am as a person, and how “fun I am” to be around. He definitely enjoys spending as much time as possible with me, so I certainly believe him!
I chose to go anonymous mainly because I’m still a bit of a coward and only my close family and friends know about my illness. Maybe one day I’ll have the strength to talk about it more openly, but I worry how that might affect any future clients’ or agencies’ views of me as an effective worker.
Hope that addresses some of the comments I read!
Exploitation
In case of a major conflict between India and China, would the Chinese expect Pakistan to help by opening a second front?
No
China is too strong today to require the second front
The ‘Second Front’ was a plan maybe ten or twelve years or maybe even fifteen years ago in case of a conflict
Back then both Armies were on similar footing
Chinas Budget was $ 68.79 Billion in 2009 with a much higher import dependence and Indias was close to $ 46 Billion
Both countries depended on at least 40% of their Military Supplies on the Russians
Both Nations had similar abilities on three domains – Army, Navy & Air
Chinas GDP was around $ 4.8 Trillion to Indias $ 1.58 Trillion. Yet Chinas Debt to GDP was closer to 36% to Indias 21%
Back then Pakistan was also in a far stronger position than today
It was also way closer to the US , so Chinas active plan was to get Pakistan out of US Sphere of Influence into their own
The Plan was if India moved against China, then for China to get Pakistan to open a second theatre either through Economic leverage or Military Leverage
In 2024, this plan is no longer a primary one
China has the roads now, the infrastructure to mobilize it’s troops in 24 hours and confront India in any direction
China has Satellite Imaging for every square feet of those mountains
China has a five domain superiority including Cyber & Low Space where they are streets ahead of India
Today Chinas economy is at $ 18–19 Trillion and they have virtually the same amount of savings and real wealth plus a Net Foreign Reserves of a Trillion plus bucks
So today the notion of India attacking and moving in offensive on China is much lesser than in 2009, at least militarily
2015–16 was the last year India could have actively moved against China and managed a stalemate or bloodied the Chinese nose and gotten brutally mauled
Today the Chinese are TOO STRONG
They prepared their forces for India as the largest enemy until 2013/14 and since then have began to prepare for US and NATO as their largest enemy
We prepared for China and Pakistan as our largest enemy from the 1960s , so our scale hasn’t surged as much
As a consolation, India is too strong for Pakistan today
Just like the Chinese are too strong for us
Work Smarter
Roasted Black Pepper Wings
with Maple Bourbon Glaze
Roasted Black Pepper Wings
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
Wings
2 1/2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 wings, cut in half at joints, wing tips removed and discarded
Glaze
1 cup bourbon
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons molasses
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine the black pepper, salt and cayenne.
Place the wings in a zip-type plastic bag.
Pour the pepper mixture into the bag, close it and shake to coat the wings.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, place wings on foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until done.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine bourbon, maple syrup and molasses, + 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer. Simmer the mixture until reduced by about half and thickened, 5 to 6 minutes.
When the wings are done, toss them with the glaze while they are still warm.
Remove and discard tips from wings and cut each wing in half at joint.
Combine remaining ingredients except parsley and lemon slices in a large saucepan. Cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, until reduced and thickened to the consistency of thick gravy.
Place wings in a large roasting pan and cover with sauce. Turn until each wing is well coated.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve on large platter.
Garnish with parsley and lemon slices.
Move to Italy
What did you say during your first job interview that helped you get the job? Can you offer any tips for individuals seeking their first job interview?
I was 18 years old (about 200 years ago) and had just graduated high school. I walked 3 blocks down the street to an intersection where the first big box predecessor to Home Depot had put up a first-of-its-kind huge store and lumber yard. I was there to attend a cattle call (open call) for workers.
I had WAY overdressed for a helper job in the lumber yard. In fact, I was wearing the suit I had worn on my graduation night. I stood in line with guys in jeans, work boots, T-shirts and packs of Marlboro cigarettes rolled up in one sleeve. They hadn’t shaved in days. (hell! I didn’t even NEED to shave!—yet)
As each guy’s turn came up you walked into the office and had a 2-minute interview with the yard foreman. I walked in in my suit and I could tell from first glance he had immediately dismissed me. I handed him my application and told him, “Mr. Dykes, for every dollar you pay me I’ll return $10.”
One eyebrow shot up. He looked me over. Not saying a word, he reached behind him and grabbed a pair of work gloves and a hardhat and tossed them across the desk. He told me to be back at 6AM the next morning.
I unloaded boxcars, drove a forklift, and a small delivery truck for Mr. Dykes for one year before I went off and joined the US Air Force.
Why is China’s rise so hard for the US to counter?
For one thing, the Chinese are very clever and adaptable and resilient. The Americans have grown fat, lazy and stupid.
For another, the Chinese number over a billion, more than 4X the size of the US population.
For another, the Chinese are well-educated. In fact, China produces 4X more STEM graduates than the USA does. This is why China can kick America’s ass technologically.
For another, the Chinese are led by a very strong, stable, capable, intelligent government. The Americans are led by clowns.
For another, the Chinese do not waste valuable resources on fighting wars around the globe. They dedicate their resources to economic and technological development.
Why Dating is Broken in 2024 – What Boomers don’t understand
Not in the States
What is the dirtiest fine print you’ve seen in a contract?
My sister got a job with a popular makeup artist and brought me the contract agreement to go through for her which was all shades ridiculous, I’ll tell you why
First that she would resume work at 8am not a minute more every weekday and Saturday
If a client is assigned to her by her employer, she gets only 20% of the payment and 80% goes to her employer
If she brings the client herself she gets 70% of the payment and her employer gets 30%
She would also mostly use her makeup products and none will be provided by the employer
Her income strictly is on the payment percentage she receives from the clients assigned to her or the ones she brings
She is not allowed to work for another prominent makeup artist 2 years after her termination from this job.
And finally if she breaks any rules set out in the contract she can be terminated at any time and a suit may be initiated against her
N.B she informed her employer that she was a student and so needs a flexible time to be more efficient because her school and workplace was a 45mins drive, the employer declined.
I read through this bs contract and told her to deny the job immediately because they’re trying to enslave her
Edit : many people seem to assume this contract took place in the states lol, it took place once Nigeria not the States
What could Taiwan do to make the UN acknowledge that Taiwan is a sovereign state?
Hold a Referendum in Taiwan and get it supervised by the UN Observers and get a 60% Majority to approve
Then get the UNGA to formally recognise Taiwan with at least 97 nations needed for a yes
In the process you risk alienating China and all the benefits that China brings, not to mention the fact that China will certainly ensure Taiwan won’t survive long enough to enjoy it’s Independence
A Poorly prepared Russia is skewering Ukraine like a Kebab , imagine a vastly better prepared, richer China with a smaller Taiwan
No Taiwanese would want that
Instead Taiwan would be eyeing for what we can call Federation of China
Two Parts of the Federation – The Mainland & Taiwan. The Mainland governed by the CPC and it’s system. Taiwan by it’s Presidential System.
Yet Defence, Air Space, Foreign Policy and Trade all controlled by the larger Mainland
It would be the perfect solution – Taiwan would have their right to choose their leaders and Taiwan would be part of China
This isn’t my idea of course
Singaporean Minister Teo Chee Hean pondered on the same thing a few years ago.
I guarantee 140 nations will approve heartily
Textbook narcissist
A thing happened
Today, my family and I were driving through Starbucks and there was an enraged man sitting at a table by himself. He was yelling and very upset. He appeared unkept and homeless. We felt so sorry for this troubled man and knew he needed help. We called 911 and waited in the parking lot to make sure this man was treated humanely.
An officer appeared.
today
He calmly and quietly approached the gentleman. He pulled up a chair and sat across from him and calmly asked the upset man what was going on. The officer, eye to eye, down on the troubled man’s level, de-escalated the situation quickly. I was moved to tears at how the officer respected this man and made it clear that he was there to help him. These are the stories that should be in the news. This gentleman, deserves a pat on the back and the recognition of doing an excellent job!
My main purpose for reporting this is in hope that this officer receives recognition. His name is Officer Reese of the Garland Police dept. Please share!
DIY for Tequila
To Americans who visited Europe, what was the most shocking thing that’s everyday life for Europeans?
The first time I went to Europe was in the summer of 1974. I was 22 at the time. I had been to Quebec a few times, but other than that I had lived my entire life in the Northeast. I had taken years of French in school, but I had met only a few foreigners. I short, I was an innocent abroad, much more naive, I think, than anybody would be today.
I’ll mention things that surprised me, though none of them shocked me in a bad way. I hope my experiences will amuse you.
First, when I landed in Luxembourg, the airline loaded us on a bus. A woman sat down next to me and spoke to me in French. I was shocked! You mean people actually speak French?? My French education had emphasized book learning and there was little or no conversational practice. I recovered pretty quickly and managed to get around with my borken French and some German I picked up on the trip.
When I went to plug in my electric shaver, I was shocked that my plug didn’t fit the socket! I had never even imagined that different countries might have different sockets. I did know that Europe used 220 V, and my shaver was able to handle that, but sockets??
Back then it was common and safe to hitchhike, and I met many people that way. English speaking was much less common then than it is now, so I learned to communicate with basic words and a lot of gestures.
When I arrived at the outskirts of Amsterdam (not knowing a single word of Dutch), I was standing at a tram stop decoding the map when a young woman came up and asked if she could help me – in English. And then she apologized because her English was not very good! I felt humiliated. Here I am, an American student, visiting her country, not speaking a word of her language, and she was apologizing because she didn’t speak my (foreign) language??? Would that happen in America? Ever?
One last thing. I had grown up in the 1950s when Europe was still recovering from World War II. When I would be picky about my food, my mother would tell me I should be grateful I had plenty to eat because all the poor children in Europe were starving. When I arrived, I expected to see hardship. But instead I found that life was good, as good as in America in most ways. That was a happy surprise.
CHINA’S RAIL SYSTEM IS INCREDIBLE | Traveling Over 1000km From Guangzhou To Zhangjiajie
Tens thousands of HK people ran for the UK using BNO visa several years ago have now become beggars in streets & many of them have killed themselves in the UK. Why are those HK people becoming food menu on the UK food tables as Blinken claimed?
The BNO is a backdoor opened by the British Crown that is normally shut tight. They even extended BNO eligibility by making it inheritable.
The terms were lavish to say the least—visa-equivalent long-term residency and employment rights.
Unfortunately, the liberal interpretation means the average BNO applicant does NOT qualify for immigration through normal channels.
In other words, the majority of BNO applicants DO NOT satisfy the British government’s immigrant criteria.
In fact, BNO status itself is baggage that is exploited on the jobs market. Employers know there is an excess of yellow folk who speak funny English and they are motivated to depress their offer. Besides, the UK economy has been under strain for several years, due to brexit, covid, inflation, and tight credit. White collar job holders have spilled over into the blue. Professional degree holders are delivering food in the harsh British winter, just to make rent. Quite a number have been assaulted/roughed up in the anti-chinese frenzy whipped up by the media.
All because they are convinced Hong Kong has become intolerable for their freedom-loving souls.
Their liberation as bottom feeders in a society that doesn’t respect or even like them much is an amazing lesson for onlookers. If they would just take a little step back to reflect, they will marvel at the incomprehensible road they have committed to.
Came for the boobs, but stayed for the bra
Actually, pretty darn informative.
In an emergency scenario in which China overtakes then US as the largest economy and America is too weak to influence overseas countries, how will China provide a more responsible (pro-China) alternative international government to U.S liberalism?
Please note that I am answering this question with a non joking and non sarcastic attitude.
A pro China US government is not a viable option. Supporting a US government and providing economic support to expand this influence is not cost-effective at all. It’s fully stupid.
Only arrogant leaders like American politicians would feel that such a large country can be infiltrated, controlled, and subverted without themselves being affected. You can only use the wrong ideology to make the other country fall, but after affecting hundreds of millions of people in the other country, you yourselves will also be infected.
This is also why the United States has long been hiring Chinese trolls to disrupt the agendas of the Chinese people and that’s wasting money.
However, even if the United States knows this and is facing financial difficulties, it will never stop doing so, because from the perspective of policy makers, all reasons that can consume national finances are appropriate because they can profit from it.
The reason for answering this question is simply to make ordinary Americans aware of their government’s wrongdoing. I find it interesting to see them face errors that cannot be corrected. You always have the right path to take, but you won’t choose because it’s not an easier way.
Ha ha ha ha
What did someone do that made you think they were really smart?
When I was still in primary school, my elder brother asked our parents for a diary. Every day he wrote an entry in the diary and locked it in his drawer.
What a beautiful, fine diary! A symbol of grown-ups and secrets. So I asked my parents for a diary too. But I didn’t have my own drawer, so all I could do was put it in a paper box which was full of toys.
The day I got my diary, I ran to my parents and pointed at the box with pride: “That’s where I will put my diary!” My dad gave me a meaningful smile: “Good girl.”
My brother whispered to me: “Why did you tell them where your diary is? You know they will peek!”.
I smiled and said nothing.
I began to make entries in the diary. But what I wrote was just like this:
4/10/2012
Today my mum cooked for me. She is really a great cook and I can’t name another person who has better cooking skills than her!!!! I’ll study hard and make a lot of money and buy my mother a big house!!!!
4/12/2012
I’m sick. My daddy drove me to the hospital. Looking at his figure, I can’t believe I’m his daughter. How happy I am!
4/13/2012
Today my teacher asked us for a composition named “The one I want to thank.”, I plan to write on my mother. She is so open-minded and warm-hearted!
My parents’ attitude towards me changed. Every time they saw me, they almost ended up in tears of joy and love.
My diary became my “Wish book”. Whatever I wanted, I just needed to write it in the diary and I would receive it a few days later.
They gradually couldn’t afford this. Every time they opened the diary, ￥50–300 flew out of their purse.
In the end they bought me a drawer.
“No, I really don’t need this.”, I said.
“Keep it.”, they said, “It’s better to lock it.”.
“Thanks but no.” I said.
“Please, lock it!”
´_>`
At least I got a new drawer. It’s good. Yay.
Workers doing it right
Is the USA the only free country in the world (which is why it’s so great)?
Do you know an English adage ”self praise is no praise at all”First US is not free at all 25% of worlds. Prisoners are Americans! 9 times per million compared to China! You Government thrall the entire internet and what you watch on telly to check on every America disclosed by Edward Snowden! And 99% don’t want either Trump or Biden but you are laden with them because of your undemocratic political system that is really chosen by a few rich and influential!
It is anything but great, the highest debtor nation on earth, highest deficits, warmongers and trouble makes everywhere, with s million homeless and living in tents throughout America, to tally dilapidated infrastructure and highly highly uncompetitive! Has not have a real growth since 1960 64 years ago.
Apricot Chicken Casserole
apricot chicken 4
Ingredients
6 to 8 chicken pieces (drumsticks or thighs)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 small can apricot nectar
2 or 3 carrots, chopped
2 to 4 medium potatoes, sliced
Mushrooms, sliced
Garlic powder
Instructions
Sprinkle onion soup mix over chicken pieces.
Add vegetables and mushrooms.
Pour apricot nectar over all, and sprinkle garlic powder over everything.
Add small amount of water to casserole and bake at 350 degrees F until done, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Florida passes a law…
Have you ever taken the law into your own hands?
My neighbor is a big-shot lawyer. One night, his dog was outside my house. I didn’t know it was his dog and had to ask around. I was told it was “the lawyer’s dog.” I noticed that the dog was terribly skinny and, in general, just didn’t have the bounce in her step like most black labs do.
I left her at my house and knocked on the door. I told him I had his dog. He didn’t seem concerned. When it appeared he wasn’t going to come outside, I asked him if he expected me to deliver the dog to him. He got all huffy and said, “Fine!” His beautiful and very, very sweet wife and four little girls were thanking me but he was just pissed that I interrupted his “pizza and movie night with the family.” He begrudgingly followed me home.
I am a retired humane officer and still have a lot of influence at animal control. But I didn’t want to sound arrogant and threatening so I didn’t mention it. I just asked if the dog was okay as she seemed a little gaunt. He told me to mind my own business.
I asked him if the dog had been to see a vet lately and he said, “What’s with all the g-damn questions?” Since I had had this very same exchange many times in my career, I didn’t get mad. I just smiled and said I was concerned about the dog. He again told me to mind my own business. I said “Okay, well, if you’re not going to talk to me…” and trailed off.
The dog was less than enthusiastic to see him and he had to actually pick up the dog .
The next day, bright and early, two uniformed Animal Control officers knocked on his door, demanding to see the dog. He got a seven-day warning to get the dog to a vet or be fined. Seven days later they came back and were shown a letter from a vet that the lab had been seen and is now under treatment for a pancreatic disorder.
My neighbors asked me how I was so bold and stupid to make an enemy out of a big-shot lawyer.
Right makes might. I had right on my side.
I will never be afraid to speak out on behalf of a dog. In my career I had dealt with hardened criminal dog fighters and my anger gave me courage.
I gave him the chance to talk to me, and I would have offered to take the dog to the vet since I know he and his wife are busy, but he shot me down so fast.
My husband is a big-shot lawyer, too, but this guy doesn’t know that.
I called in a favor from my old colleagues and showed this guy that he didn’t intimidate me and that “Failure to render treatment to an animal in need” is a crime and not even a big-shot lawyer is above the law.
Today, I want to talk a little bit about Domain communication.
Whether you agreed to be a volunteer, work and chat with your mantid, or are a direct link to the Domain Commander, what is very important is that you all understand and recognize that communication to you from them will typically not be what you expect.
Please… Stop waiting to hear voices, or see some kind of physical sign.
Start, instead, to pay attention to “understanding”.
It’s sort of like this… You ask (perhaps)…
Domain representative; mantid... please tell me should I go to "A" today, as I agreed to, or go do "B" which is something that I might want to do?"
Pause.
Then pay attention to the answer.
One solution might “feel” right.
One solution would be the one that is “better” and “calmer” than before you asked the question.
You would just “know” which decision to take.
Train yourself to listen to this different technique of “hearing”. You life would simplify greatly once you do.
I will repeat.
Stop waiting to “hear” an answer or carry on a conversation with your ears. Start with understanding what you know.
Today…
What was the weirdest phone call from a random number you have ever received?
It wasn’t a call, but a text…. And it wasn’t weird until I made it weird
It was around lunchtime on a weekday afternoon and I was on the train, I get a text.
“Hey, just a quick text to tell you I will be late home from work tonight, don’t wait up, I love you X”
I don’t recognise the number, I lived alone so it definitely wasn’t for me, but I replied anyway…
“You’re always working late, I’m getting fed up with it, you never spend time with me any more”
They replied back to me….
“I’m sorry, were just really busy at the moment, I promise I’ll make it up to you, don’t be angry, X”
I thought, I’m commited to this now, I have to reply…..
“No, I’ve had enough, I don’t love you any more”
They replied
“What?”
I’m still committed, so…
“Yes that’s right, I don’t love you any more, your such a disappointment and all these late nights you have been working I’ve been fucking your brother”.
Hours passed before I got a reply.
“Mum, is everything ok?”
If you see an attractive girl in public, how would you personally approach her, and what would say to her? (I’m trying to learn better social skills)
There’s a bunch of ways that would be more effective in different situations.
But my personal favourite?
Just walk right up and be direct. Put on a smile, tell a joke, and don’t make it look like a big deal.
She should think you’ve had this exact scenario dozens of times before. And you should.
The problem with young guys is that they let the approach get into their heads. They make it into some difficult task for which they feel the need to consult experts on a QA site.
It’s not.
Smile like you’ve spoken to her 100 times before. Shake her hand to prove to break the touch barrier (and make yourself less intimidated). Be friendly.
It’s hard to reply to a charming smile with a frown.
Obviously, proper grooming and knowing when to make your move is a prerequisite to all this. Your charming smile won’t do much good if you smell like her brother’s musty socks on a hot afternoon.
Take a shower, get a haircut, and use some cologne. A few hours in the gym can’t hurt, either.
But once you have those basics down, the “approach” starts to matter a lot less. It’s just down to your confidence.
You can talk about the weather, the sea, heck, you can rizz her up with Plato’s last academic texts if she’s really that kinda gal.
Too much cuteness
Have you ever given someone a bad reference when an employer called you and asked about them?
“Hello, am I speaking to Mr. Gairson?”
“Yes.”
“I am with the [] State Bar Association. I am calling because X has finished law school and is applying to become an attorney. Do you know X?”
“Yes, I know X.”
“Do you believe that X would make a good attorney?”
“Is this call confidential?”
“Yes.”
“I have not seen or heard from X since [date #2]. I do not know what he is like these days.”
“Here it says that he was employed at your firm from [date #1] to [date #3]. Is that correct?”
“His last day was on [date #2].”
“So he did not work for you until [date #3]?”
“No, he did not.”
“Why not?”
“I fired him.”
“Why did you fire him?”
“He failed to show up at work.”
“Is that all?”
“Every time I paid him, he would miss the next four days of work.”
“Why?”
“I do not personally know. However, on [date #3], his mother called me.”
“Why did his mother call you?”
“To ask why I had emailed him on [date #2] that he was fired.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her he was fired because he failed to show up at work.”
“What did she say?”
“She informed me that I was an idiot for paying him directly.”
“What?”
“She stated that I should have sent the paychecks to her, directly, rather than paying him directly.”
“Why did she say that?”
“She claimed that he had a drug addiction and his income was restricted because of it. Thus, all income should go through her to be given to him over time.”
“Do you have anything else to add?”
“He had the most brilliant legal mind I have ever met. When it comes to the law, he is a genius. When it comes to his life choices and common sense, he is far less intelligent. I could not trust him to do his job, because of his life choices and I fired him. I have seen first hand what happens to lawyers who are drug abusers and I have seen them disbarred as a result. I cannot give him a good recommendation because of it and frankly am surprised that he listed me as a resource. He would have had far better luck had he told you his supervisor was [other attorney], because that attorney loved him despite the addictions. Then again, [other attorney] is currently in disciplinary proceedings for being a drug addict.”
“So you would not recommend him to join the bar?”
“I would recommend that you confirm that he is no longer a drug abuser.”
He called me six months later. He was not admitted to the bar. They had called him in for a special interview. He missed the first one, which was on a Monday . . . the Monday after he had been paid by the large firm that was holding a position open for him. They rescheduled, he went in, they asked about his drug and alcohol history and why he had not mentioned it on his bar application. He initially expressed shock that they had found out (wrong response by the way), and asked who had told them (they outed me, so much for confidentiality). The bar advised him to provide rehabilitation or medical records and references and gave him the opportunity to amend his record. He provided them records, which showed that he had repeatedly failed to complete treatment and was prone to relapses. He called me, hoping I could change my earlier assessment over a cup of coffee or give him a job to prove himself. I declined. Over a year later he completed rehab, thanked me, and now has a successful career served by his law degree in another industry but is not an attorney.
[Other attorney] was disbarred and put in prison for several years. Lawyer life lesson: drugs kill careers and harm clients.
I’m 29 and haven’t yet married. I tried matrimonial sites for 2 years, but in vain. I feel like a loser. How can I get rid of such worries and get married soon?
There is a temple in Andhra Pradesh
Near Tuni in Vishakapatnam where eligible men and women swear before God that they are not hiding any terrible secret and they toss lots and the girl marries the boy who picks her number
No backsies
Why not visit that place?
No Caste (Upper Castes only though, Brahmin, Kamma, Kapu etc sadly), No color, No Looks
Just a roll of the dice
One of my ex staff married his daughter there because of her horoscope to a farmer young man in that temple in 2010/11
The couple were happy as of 2019
She was working for BSNL and he was a farmer with 400+ Acres (Family)
Both had horoscope issues
Go to Tuni and ask around
Many Guys on the highway will guide you to the temple for PELLI meaning marriage
What’s something that sucks about being a man?
I have a family member who was married in December of 2015. About a month or two after getting married, his wife started showing some very disturbing and troubling behavior. She had to control everything he did, when and what he ate. If he did anything to displease her, she would leave often with all of their bank cards and any access to money and she refused to tell him where she went. Sometimes she would be gone for at least two days without giving him access to money for food and other necessities for him and their pets.
Eventually, she started telling her friends and family that he was abusing her. She tried to convince as many people in our family as well. The way she behaved when he didn’t do exactly as she said raised massive red flags. Family members and friends also were seeing signs that she was physically abusing him too. The last straw was when she blew up at him for an unbelievably trivial matter and he left the house to see his parents and look into making arrangements. While he was there, she and her friends had called the police on him, saying they were afraid he was going to hurt them. He was made to get only what he could carry from HIS house and he wasn’t allowed to set foot on the property for the time being.
This happened in the space of five months from the time of his wedding. When they went to court for the divorce hearing, the judge made him responsible for the majority of her debts. He had been able to return to his house, but she and her friends had vandalized it. Between the separation and the hearing, she had filed police complaints, including false accusations, that the police looked into EVERY time. When he found that she had vandalized his house, the police told him there was nothing they could do.
She continuously stalked him. Nothing could be legally done because the people who he has to rely on to handle the matters can’t be bothered because he’s a man. This kind of thing happens more than you might think.
Reuben Sliders
What to do with leftover corned beef? Make Reuben Sliders, of course.
reuben sliders
Prep: 20 min | Bake: 5 min | Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
6 Rhodes Warm-N-Serv Soft Yeast Rolls, thawed
1/2 cup Thousand Island dressing
3/4 pound corned beef, thinly sliced
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained
1 tablespoon butter, melted or 1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Instructions
Slice rolls in half to make sliders. Spread inside of top and bottom with dressing.
Layer a slice of cheese, corned beef and about 2 tablespoons sauerkraut on the bottom half of each roll.
Place tops on sliders.
Place sliders on baking sheet. Brush top with melted butter or beaten egg. Sprinkle with poppy seeds.
Bake at 350 degrees F about 5 minutes, just until cheese starts to melt.
What is the one in a million coincidence you have ever had?
Not me, my dad.
it was the early 1960s, and my dad was sent by his employer, Northern Electric – telephone people – from Canada to India to oversee the installation of a long-distance line from New Delhi (as it was) to another city, about 60 miles away. On a weekend, he decided to experience the joys of Indian train travel, and booked a seat. In his carriage, otherwise filled with Indians of course, one started up a conversation
Where are you from?
Canada.
Ah, I have a brother in Canada, perhaps you know him.
Well, it’s a big country. I live in Montreal.
Ah! My brother lives in Montreal! You must know him.
Well, Montreal’s a big city. I live in the NDG area.
Amazing! My brother lives in NDG!
So, as you have already guessed, we were neighbours. We lived in one unit of four four-plexes that shared a common backyard. The brother lived directly kitty-corner to us. He was actually a professional wrestler, back in the days when TV wrestling was more choreographed than any ballet.
Another tale from that trip, all about the cost of labour. The telephone line was to be installed underground, meaning a 60 mile long, 6 foot deep, 3 foot wide trench had to be dug. The day for laying the cable was approaching, and nothing was happening. My dad was getting worried. No problem, he was told. All is under control. And sure enough, the day before the cable was to be laid, workers showed up – thousands, each with a shovel. Each spent the day digging a short section, three feet wide, six feet deep, stretched over sixty miles. That’s 100 km. Because in those days, labour was much, much cheaper than investing in equipment.
Very Chinese
What are some lessons that life teaches you?
You are afraid of losing people but no one is afraid of losing you.
Forgiving people in silence & not talking to them, is a form of self-care.
Hope dies when efforts doesn’t work.
Stay where there’s no fear in yourself.
A little rain is nothing compared to the storm I grew up in.
We are all unique, we only need to accept it.
Just focus on yourself because many will hold you back for growing.
If you are trying your best every single day, be proud of yourself.
Silence is full of answers.
Sometimes temporary people teach you permanent lessons.
I always became an ear for those who need; but no one became for me.
Even if you trust someone, don’t tell them everything.
Don’t even hurt soft-hearted person, because you don’t know how much it got hurted.
Maturity is when you realise your responsibilities are more important than heartbreak.
Memories are too loyal than the people who gave.
Value what you have & value your peace more than people’s opinion.
Standing alone is better than being with fake people.
Live your life today itself, because no one knows if there’ll be tomorrow or not.
Childhood memories were best.
Nobody is too busy, it is just a matter of priorities.
Finally! Russian TOS-2 Tosochka Thermobaric Rockets Deployed on the Front
https://youtu.be/PwNhCa8Yr0Q
How can I covertly test people for their friendship, loyalty, or honesty?
So let’s say you have this beautiful girlfriend. You love her and you have a fabulous relationship and you want to get married. But first, you want to test her to make sure she will always be loyal to you. One little test. You know she’ll pass because you are both so in love and meant to be together. So it will only prove it that much more, right?
So you have a friend that you always suspected she thought was good looking. You have him over. The three of you are hanging out and you make up an excuse to leave and, under your instructions, he attempts to hit on her and tries to make a move to see if she’ll take the bait. He says things like “your boyfriend will never know” and “it’s not like you’re married” and “I’ve seen the way you look at me”
But she turns him down at every turn and kicks him out of the house.
When you get home, she is upset. One of your best friends hit on her and made her feel like a piece of meat. You console her, feeling internally very confident and proud that your plan worked, and promise it will never happen again.
She says, no. He can never come here again.
You say, but he was just messing around! He won’t do it again!
And she says, how could you possibly know that?! You weren’t even here! He can never come here again.
And that’s when you realise you have to tell her. It was you. You did that to her.
You put her in that position.
In order to find out if she was trustworthy, you broke her trust.
She feels betrayed and hurt and horrified. And most likely you lose what you wanted most (your girlfriend) even though she passed the test you so cunningly set up for her. You are not as clever as you think and even if you are you will be a very clever, lonely man.
Friendship is not a threshold to be tested. Keep testing those limits and you will hit a wall…or a fist.
Friendship is alive and needs to be nourished and cared for by both sides.
The trustworthiness of your friends is a direct reflection of your own.
TOKYO WALK (May 2022) After School Shibuya Walk
As a judge or attorney, have you ever made a courtroom laugh?
I had a client once who was so scary-looking every potential juror looked away when he sat down at the defense table. He was a large, menacing man who never smiled and made all who locked eyes with him feel they were in real danger. He was charged with aggravated assault and his trial began Halloween Day many years ago.
I was desperate to soften his image with a jury so I tried a different approach to jury selection on that Halloween Day. I had him stand and asked the panel if they agreed with me that he was a human being. Some hesitated but eventually all raised their hands.
I continued “Can we all agree it is wrong to judge a person’s guilt by their race, religion, sex, age or even looks?” Again all hands were raised.
I then asked my client to reach into my briefcase and pull out a brown paper bag. I had cut two eye holes in it before court but had not warned him what was coming.
There were gasps when I told him to put it on his head but no objections from the other side or a rebuke from the judge. He did so with a thin smile forming on his face. The jurors started laughing when I suggested all defendants should be judged this way because we can’t see their face and, therefore, allow their race, age, sex or how attractive they are interfere with our judgment of them. The panel is now howling as this large, menacing figure stands before them with a brown paper bag over his head, staring back through the peep holes.
As I told him to remove the bag, I told him “It’s not too late to get another lawyer.” The jury pool was in stitches. And the best part, so was my client. With the bag removed, he revealed with his own laughter the humanity in his soul.
I wish I could say we won that day but we didn’t. Sometimes the proof of guilt is too great. But on that Halloween day many years ago, I got those jurors to relax and at least give my client a fair shake.
Should handcuffs be banned from use by the police due to its injuries to its wrists?
I got put in cuffs once, not being an idiot I knew that once the police wanted to put cuffs on there was no point doing or saying anything other than offering my wrists in a peaceful manner. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, but once the police want to put cuffs on there’s no point arguing or fighting.
I was actually surprised how tight they put them on, but so long as you don’t pull on the cuffs or try and wriggle out you don’t injure yourself. If you struggle against them though it’s very painful. I tried to wriggle a bit in them just to see, and it’s not a good idea.
Once the police were satisfied I was an uninvolved bystander (I was walking out of a club behind a group of guys who decided to assault another guy on the way out), they took the cuffs off, apologised and sent me on my way. They must’ve realised something was up anyway when I had a southern accent (gang were northern) and happily let them cuff me instead of swearing and jostling the police as the gang did.
Anyways this is suffice to say that you really cause your own injuries when in cuffs. I cannot recommend the ‘not fighting/struggling with law enforcement’ tactic enough. Being honest, genuine and friendly no matter the circumstances is always the grown up move no matter how indignant you are.
My Gosh!!!!
What is the best way a friend has showed you that they are a true friend?
My wife showed her character fairly early on in our relationship. We’d met online and talked for several months prior to our first in-person date. We were both divorced single parents, and as anyone who has been in that position while re-entering the dating world can attest, we turned to serious topics of conversation very quickly and our relationship became very close as we realized how compatible we were. A few months and many dates later, my kids summer vacation was starting. At the time, I worked for a propane company, so work slowed down a lot while my expenses dramatically increased, with the need for daycare during my parent time of 10 days on and 10 days off through the summer. As I recall, I typically spent about $2000 over each summer for that. I mentioned this to my girlfriend shortly before my second round of parent time for that summer, and she volunteered to babysit my kids during my parent time the rest of the summer. This got my attention. Under any circumstances, this would be a significant sacrifice, but in her case it involved traveling 6 hours one way with her own 2 kids, renting an Airbnb house (because at the time I lived at my parents house, and there wasn’t room for an extra 3 people) for a week, and coming up with a different craft or activity each day, and cooking delicious homemade meals for all of us 3 times a day. On top of that, she refused to let me pay anything for the rental or her gas and time, despite it probably costing her more than I would’ve spent on daycare. After that summer, I knew that without question, she would walk the walk for my kids and I as much as her own kids or herself. She’s not only my wife, but she is my best friend without question.
This is a really sad truth
If the Philippines is one of the oldest Asian partners of the U.S, strategically major non-NATO ally, a U.S colonial for almost 50 years, good diplomatic relations overall and what’s stopping the U.S giving visa-free for Filipinos?
Philippines was colonised by USA until 1946.
Like many countries that were colonised before, some people still worship their coloniser as god, even after their country has become independent.
They have the mentality to look up to the (former) coloniser & look down upon its own culture/people. Physically they are independent but mentally they are slaves to their former coloniser.
Hongkong was a British colony until 1997. Today in 2024, there are still HKers who worship UK. Before 2020, HK court system still accepted top judges appointed by former coloniser UK. Why accept UK appointment? Are HK judges inferior? No. It is just because some HKers are so used to work as a mental slave for the (former) coloniser. They dont want to change. As long as they can make (lots of) money with a good job, they dont mind to continue to work for the former coloniser.
To mental slaves, their heart is with their former coloniser.
I wont be surprised if there are such Filipinos too.
Irish O’ Garlic Cabbage Pockets
Irish O’ Garlic Cabbage Pockets is a lunchtime favorite for St. Patrick’s Day!
3 (1 pound) loaves frozen white bread dough, thawed and proofed
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
Grainy mustard, to serve
Instructions
In a large skillet, cook and crumble sausage over medium heat until browned and fully cooked; drain. Set aside and keep warm.
Add cabbage and onion to same skillet; cook and stir for 6 minutes.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Return sausage to skillet; cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes.
Cover; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Roll bread dough into 18 (6 inch) circles. Place 1/2 cup of filling in the center of each circle.
Brush water on edges of dough.
Pull dough over top of filling and crimp down edges with a fork. Cut three slits in top of dough.
In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and water to create egg wash. Brush dough with egg wash; sprinkle with sesame, poppy seeds or everything bagel seasoning.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes; until golden brown.
Serve with grainy mustard.
Notes
Air Fryer Instructions
Heat air fryer to 300 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine the cabbage, onion and oil; toss to combine.
Fry for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.
Decase the sausage; place in air fryer. Fry at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes, turning halfway through; chop. Combine with cabbage mixture; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roll bread into 18 (6 inch) circles.
Place 1/2 cup filling in the center of each circle. Brush water on edges of dough. Pull dough over filling and crimp edges with a fork. Cut three slits in top of dough. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame, poppyseeds or everything bagel seasoning.
Arrange 2 pockets in air fryer; fry at 350 degrees F for 6 to 7 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat with remaining pockets.
If 1000 people, strategically chosen, were transported together to the early stone age with no tools, how long would it take to build an electronic computer?
I would make the challenge simpler at first. This is an iron nail made by the Romans
The production chain for a nail is very simple. You need to:
Mine iron ore. It sounds a lot more challenging once you understand that you’ll be mining with rocks, sticks and bones (no tools from the future).
Build a smelter. I guess you can do that with ceramics? The smelter also needs coal, charcoal might do.
Transport all this stuff. Obviously, if you’re lucky you teleported your group right between easily accessible iron and clay deposits.
Take your iron to a smithy where a guy will again need a furnace, hammer and anvil. Initially they’ll be working with rock tools.
In the meantime, your group of 1000 tool-less people is:
Hungry, with hunting and gathering as the only options for food initially.
Homeless – depending on the area, time period and climate, it may not be possible to build adequate shelter without tools.
Sick and injured – this lifestyle will produce a lot more sickness and injuries, and your group might be exposed to germs that they do not have antibodies against.
Threatened by predators or stone-age tribes – again, you can defend with sticks, fire and stones.
I think that having a sustainable colony and getting the first nail produced within a year would mean great success. It is possible given a bit of luck, mild climate, good survival skills and nearby resources (from food to iron). Congratulations, you’ve successfully entered the IRON AGE. Now you just need to skip a couple thousand years of progress to get to electronics.
Unfortunately, a computer is a product of hundreds of production chains, some rather complicated. The first electronic computers had vacuum tubes, finely and precisely tooled bits of various metals (like rotating drums) capacitors, cables… and obviously required electric power to operate. And weighed tons.
So your group of 1000 people (minus the ones who died) is ready to build the computer as soon as they recreate the industrial base of a modern civilization.
It seems like a bigger feat than 1000 people are capable of.
China has canceled US, Australian, France wheat imports, replacing them with orders from Russia, Kazakhstan and Argentina.
The US cancellation was the largest cancellation since 1999.
The Chinese government is showing a strong preference for buying from the BRICS and Global South economies, and is moving away from buying from the G7 countries which are part of the western bloc led by the US.
This is done for a combination of political and economic reasons. The US is pulling out the big guns when it comes to chip technology, AI, and blocking Chinese sales of EVs and solar panels, and more recently, the forced divesting of TikTok USA, which are all part of de-coupling and de-risking. From the Chinese perspective, the US’s Biden administration is heading rapidly in the direction of sanctions against Chinese companies following the sanctions applied against Russia. Opposition and hostility to Chinese companies and business interests in Congress is very strong, and China must be prepared for the US acting to seize Chinese assets which the US can reach. The only way to avoid this scenario is to have as few overseas assets in US dollars and held by US banks as possible.
This is the de-risking and de-coupling model the Chinese are following.
In the US, there may be a political side-effect in this US election year: Trump supporters are usually stronger in US rural states, and some farmers may blame the Biden administration for poor wheat sales and vote for Trump. In a tight race, this may be an important factor.
Do you think you’ll ever “make it”?
I spent three hours today sipping coffee while I did my weekly grocery shopping and other Saturday morning errands. I bought enough food to feed five people for a week, gas for my van, a dozen new comic books for my collection, and a few other random things. At no point during my shopping spree did I have to worry about being able to pay for any of it.
Then I came home and spent about four hours playing with my kids. It was the first warm day of the year here in Chicago, so I got to play basketball with my kids, ride bikes with them, play catch with them, and play soccer. I also got to spend about an hour walking my dog.
Then I spent about an hour grading some papers for work. I didn’t have to do that today, but I wanted to get it done. I sat in my recliner and graded them while listening to music and sipping yet more coffee. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.
Then I made dinner and enjoyed it with my family. Then I had a little alone time, reading my new comic books and surfing the internet, before spending even more time with my kids before tucking them into bed.
When I’m done with this post, I’ll head up to my bedroom, where my wife is already. She’s watching a show. When I come up, she’ll pass me the remote and let me watch whatever I want to watch, while she cuddles with me.
Do you think you’ll ever “make it”?
I “made it” about 15 years ago. Let me tell you, from someone on this side of the “it” hurdle, it’s awesome over here. I wish everyone good luck in jumping over that hurdle and joining me over here in the greenest pastures of all.
Tokyo Walk, Adult Liven up your Night in Kabukicho｜red light area district Japan 東京 新宿 歌舞伎町 4k
A fun experience. Takes you to Asia where life is so very different from that of the West.
When I was really young, say 2 to 3 years old, I had these reoccurring dreams of me being beheaded by guillotine. Of course at that age, I had no idea about what a guillotine was, or the French Revolution, or anything like that. But my dreams were consistent.
My sister and I were both led up the stairs to this wooden platform. She was always fist, and she laid down on the board, and there was a big crowd that was watching. She laid down and this metal piece slid down and hit her, but her head did not come off, so they had to raise it again, and then the second try it came off. And her head fell into this woven basket.
Then it was my turn.
I went onto the gallows and laid down. I faced the basket and it it was like five heads. All were lifeless, including my sister. She had blonde hair and it was in a tight bun. Then the steel knife went down. My head moved a little, but I felt nothing. And just waited while it went back up again.
Then it slid down. I saw the bucket get up close and my last image was the view of the gallows from the bucket looking up as darkness surrounded me.
Today, I am pretty much convinced that it was a past life that I was remembering, or maybe a television show that my parents must have watched when I was six months or so old. The take away from this are numerous. For if it was a memory from a prior life, then…
My sister and I shared reincarnation experiences.
The guillotine was not fool-proof, and in fact was very inefficient, and multiple chops were required to kill someone.
I still retained consciousness for a few seconds after my head was removed.
I felt no pain, once the first chop hit.
Interesting.
What do you think about this one, eh?
Today…
Have you ever seen an employee get fired on the spot because of you?
Yep. I was a worker at McDonalds and only sixteen at the time, and we had a new employee. He was on grills, and I was on table right behind him. There’s another side to the table that cannot see the grills through the cabinets of food, so when any cook-to-order meat, in this case quarter pounder, was finished, the grill person would call “Quarter’s up!” So side two would know to get their meat and send the burger on its way.
Well, our new employee absolutely refused to talk near me. I didn’t really get it, he would talk to other people. But he wouldn’t call out quarter’s up for the life of him. After multiple times of doing it myself, I finally stopped and took the meat and held it back to him and asked him to call it out himself. He slammed it into the table and splattered grease into it. I stood there and told him he needed to call out quarter’s up for side two. He would not, he turned back to his grills and ignored me.
I called out quarter’s up and slid them their meat, and the shift continued. I stopped calling out quarters’ up, mostly because I was busy keeping up with the lunch rush and didn’t notice when he slid the meat onto the table out of my line of sight. And out of side two’s sight.
So a manager asks why side two is so slow, and they explain they don’t have their quarter meat and I would slide it over to them and apologize. Someone would tell the grill person to call it out, and the shift would continue again until he went on break.
I didn’t actually know anything had happened until the big boss of the store was called in and he came rushing up to me and told me very sternly,”If someone threatens you like that again, you need to tell management immediately!”
I did not understand. Nobody threatened me?
Turns out, when the grill dude went on break, he loudly told everyone how he was going to “beat the shit out of that little kid.”
The Four Stooges saga of Bundeswehr officers plotting to blow up the Kerch bridge in Crimea with Taurus missiles and getting away with it is a gift that keeps on giving.
President Putin, in his comprehensive interview to Dmitry Kiselev for Russia 1/RIA Novosti, did not fail to address it:
“They are fantasizing, encouraging themselves, first of all.
Secondly, they are trying to intimidate us.
As for the Federal Republic of Germany, there are constitutional problems there.
They correctly say: if these Taurus hit that part of the Crimean Bridge, which, of course, even according to their concepts, is Russian territory, this is a violation of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.”
Yet it gets curioser and curioser.
When the transcript of the Taurus leak was published by RT, everyone was able to hear Brigadier General Frank Gräfe – head of operations of the German Air Force – speaking with Lieutenant Colonel Fenske from the German Space Command Air Operations on the plan to deploy Taurus systems in Ukraine.
A key point is that during the plotting, these two mention that plans were already discussed “four months ago” with “Schneider”, the successor of “Wilsbach”.
Well, these are German names, of course. Thus it did not dawn on anyone that (Kevin) Schneider and (Kenneth) Wilsbach could instead be… Americans.
Yet that did raise the eyebrows of German investigative journalist Dirk Pohlmann – who I had the pleasure to meet in Berlin years ago – and his fellow researcher Tobias Augenbraun.
They found out that the German-sounding names did identify Americans.
Not only that: none less than the former and the current Commanders of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces.
The Four (actually Six) Stooges element gets an extra boost when it is established that Liver Sausage Chancellor Scholz and his Totalenkrieg Minister Pistorius learned about the Taurus plan no less than four months later.
So here apparently we have a clear cut case of top German military officers taking direct orders regarding an attack on Crimea – part of the Russian Federation – directly from American officers in the Pacific Air Forces.
That in itself opens the dossier to a large spectrum ranging from national treason (against Germany) to casus belli (from the point of view of Russia).
Of course none of that is being discussed on German mainstream media.
After all, the only thing that seems to disturb Brigadier General Gräfe is that German media may start seriously prying on the Bundeswehr’s Multiple Stooges methods.
The only ones who actually did proper investigation were Pohlmann and Augenbaun.
It would be too much to expect from German media of the “Bild” type to analyze what would be the Russian response to the Multiple Stooge shenanigans against Crimea: a devastating retaliation against Berlin assets.
It’s so cold in Alaska
During the jolly Bundeswehr conversation yet another “plan” is mentioned:
“Nee, nee. Ich mein wegen der anderen Sache.” (“No, no. I mean the other matter.”) Then: “Ähm … meinst du Alaska jetzt?” (“Ahm, you mean Alaska now?”)
It all gest juicier when it is known that German Space Command Air Operations Centre officer Florstedt will meet none other than Schneider next Tuesday, March 19, in Alaska.
And Gräfe will also “have to go back to Alaska” to explain everything all over again to Schneider as he is “new” in the post.
So the question is: Why Alaska?
Enter American shadowplay on a lot of “activities” in Alaska – which happen to concern none other than China.
And there’s more: during the conversation still another “plan” (“Auftrag”, meaning “mission”) also surfaces, bearing a not clearly understandable code name sounding like “Kumalatra”.
What all of that tells us is that the Crash Test Dummy administration in the White House, the CIA and the Pentagon seem to betting, in desperation, on Total War in the black soil of Novorossiya.
And now they are sayin’ it out loud, with no shadow play, and coming directly from the head of the CIA, William Burns, who obviously sucks at secrecy.
This is what Burns told the members of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this week:
“I think without supplemental assistance in 2024, you’re going to see more Avdeevkas, and that – it seems to me – would be a massive and historic mistake for the United States.”
That spells out how much the Avdeevka trauma is impressed on the psyche of the U.S. intel apparatus.
Yet there’s more:
“With supplemental assistance, Ukraine can hold its own on the front lines through 2024 and into early 2025. Ukraine can continue to exact costs against Russia, not only with deep penetration strikes in Crimea, but also against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.”
Here we go: Crimea all over again.
Burns actually believes that the humongous $60 billion new “aid” package which must be approved by the U.S. Congress will enable Kiev to launch an “offensive” by the end of 2024.
The only thing he gets right is that if there’s no new package, there will be “significant territorial losses for Ukraine this year.”
Burns may not be the brightest bulb in the – intel – room. A long time ago he was a diplomat/CIA asset in Moscow, and seems to have learned nothing.
Apart from letting cats and kitties galore out of the bag. It’s not only about attacking Crimea.
This one is being read with surpreme delight in Beijing:
“The U.S. is providing assistance to Ukraine in part because such activities help curb China.”
Burns nailed his Cat Out of the Bag Oscar win when he said
“if we’re seen to be walking away from support for Ukraine, not only is that going to feed doubts amongst our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific; it’s going to stoke the ambitions of the Chinese leadership in contingencies ranging from Taiwan to the South China Sea”.
The inestimable Andrei Martyanov perfectly summed up the astonishing incompetence, peppered with tawdry exceptionalism, that permeates this performance by Burns.
There are things…
...“they cannot grasp due to low level of education and culture.
This is a new paradigm for them – all of them are ‘graduates’ of the school of ‘beating the crap from defenseless nations’ strategic ‘studies’, and with the level of economic ‘science’ in the West they cannot grasp how this all unfolds.”
So what is left is panic, as expressed by Burns in the Senate, mixed with the impotence in understanding a “different warrior culture” such as Russia’s:
Even as the acronym fest of the CIA and 17 other U.S. intel agencies have concluded, in a report shown to Congress earlier this week, that Russia is “almost certainly” seeking to avoid a direct military conflict with NATO and will calibrate its policies to steer clear of a global war.
After all the Empire of Chaos is all about Forever Wars.
And we are all in the middle of a do or die affair. The Empire simply cannot afford the cosmic humiliation of NATO in Novorossiya.
Still every “plan” – Taurus on Crimea-style – is a bluff.
Russia is aware of bluff after bluff. The Western cards are now all on the table. The only question is when, and how fast will Russia call the bluff.
Harry Potter as a Mexican Soap Opera | Telenovelas are Hell
What did a teacher say that made you immediately walk out of the classroom?
Once I walked into my college class of 200 people only to see my picture displayed on the projector screen and my instructor asking my classmates who had been signing in for me since I had clearly never been to class. Apparently I’d accidentally signed the attendance sheet for that day, the class day prior, and was a couple minutes late, so he had his ga literally examine my signatures and they determined that the letters were written differently each day. Since I was safely hidden behind a large pillar, I promptly left and called my mom crying. I had attended every class, albeit late on occasion, and was a very shy person. I dreaded going back to that class where I was certain everyone believed me to be a fraud.
Edit: I saw some people asked what happened afterwards, and I ended up emailing the professor during that class telling him what I’d seen and assuring him that I had attended every class and that I was very confused as to why he had made the accusation. It was then that he told me I’d been signed in on the wrong day and that was what had prompted his investigation into my attendance and signatures. He made it very clear that he did not believe my explanation and I met with him in his office where he had me sign my name about 20 times and kept threatening to fail me, saying I could easily be faking it. At this, because I was telling the truth, and had never had anyone question my honor like that before, I started to cry again, and begged him not to fail me. I honestly don’t remember much after that, only that my crying made him begrudgingly agree to allow me back in class. The rest of the time I attended class, I showed up early, sat in the very back and wore a hood until class began. I caught a couple people looking back at me on occasion (and I turned bright red as a result), but for the most part my incredible ability as a shy person to remain utterly invisible served me really well.
Cattle Drive Cornbread
Cornbread
Ingredients
4 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 to 2 finely chopped jalapeño peppers
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 (16 ounce) can creamed corn
Instructions
Boil a pan of water.
Mix cornmeal and vegetable oil well in a large bowl. Add just enough of the boiling water to form a dough that could be made into a ball.
Add remaining ingredients except for the creamed corn. Mix to blend, then add creamed corn.
Coat the bottom of a cast iron skillet with vegetable oil. Heat over medium heat.
Remove one cup of the cornbread mixture from the bowl, and add it to the skillet.
Flatten out the cornbread, and cook as you would a pancake.
This Japanese Man has 4 Wives, 2 Girlfriends & 54 Children…
An aunt and uncle are not invited to their niece’s wedding, but are invited to a bridal shower 300 miles away. Is this a gift grab? Should the aunt send a gift for the shower if they choose not to drive the distance?
Randy Miller suggested an edit to my story.
He blew my story away because I have never run into an ASSHOLE that removed an entire story.
Fuck You Randy Miller!
I had to rewrite it you ass!
I will tell you my story.
My sister-in-law has a son. When my nephew was young we saw him a lot, even visited a few times while he was in college, and took him out a few times for dinners. When he got married, we were not invited to his wedding. We weren’t even told about it. When we found out, I have to admit we were a bit hurt.
The reason we weren’t invited was because his grandmother, my MIL, was a crazy mean, lying, horrible woman. The entire family except the nephew and my husband had felt her wrath. To her, he was a golden child. She filled his head with lies, and she is convincing, especially to a kid. She did spend money on him, but nothing is without a string. When she met his girlfreinf, he was told she was a sl*t, a woman that would hurt him, a dirty girl, not worthy. Eventually, they broke up, but got back together., and then secretly engaged, and finally secretly married.
So there was a plausible reason why only his immediate family was present. They did not have any big thing, justice of the peace, ate out, done.
Now married, his wife was pregnant with their first child. I was invited to the baby shower. A part of me did not want to go because I was still hurt. Plus, I dislike showers. But I thought about it, and let it go. I attended the shower and bought a gift of of their registry that was fairly expensive for the baby, and them.
So the question is why would I agree to give them a gift for a baby shower, when I wasn’t invited to the wedding. Because I had found out the entire story, and realized I was being unkind, childish, selfish, and ignorant. And most important, I want a relationship with them.
I have never discussed being disappointed about not being able to attend their wedding, I love weddings. But I’m glad I rethought the emotions I felt because we have a great relationship now with his family. I know I would have regretted not going to the baby shower, and giving a gift to them for their baby.
So, you haven’t explained why you weren’t invited to the wedding. Could it be they were trying to keep it small. There could be many reasons, even that your invitation never arrived. But you need to decide if you have a relationship with these people that you wish to continue. If the answer is yes, then send a gift. If not, you have made up your mind.
Regarding the 300 miles away, unless they are living somewhere you could turn your trip into a vacation, if you have the time and money, I would just send the gift with a congratulatory note.
My opinion only!
Gen Z Doesn’t want to Work Anymore …..
Be the Rufus
“I was on the way home a couple of days ago when I saw this girl from my neighbourhood being very upset and crying on the street.
I decide to approach her. I asked: ‘Hi! Is everything okay?’
She barely looked up and then she just started bawling about her crappiest day she had.
She said she had lost her best friend because a stupid fight and that her mom is depressed all the time and she was also bullied in school all day…
I really wanted to make her feel better but I didn’t really know what to say, so I just asked: ‘Do you want to come in for a cup of tea?’
She said yes!
When we walked in the door, she looked up, her eyes opened up, and she was like: ‘Wooow!!!’ My house is full of paintings and all sorts of weird stuff; it’s messy but very colourful.
On the way in, I was even thinking about how messy my house was and felt bad about leaving tobacco all over the table that morning. But she didn’t seem bothered at all.
She said it was the coolest place she has ever seen. I asked her if she wanted to paint with me so we did. She painted the biggest canvas we could find with lots of bright colours. She used like 10-12 brushes and when she finished, her face had changed completely.
She was beaming!
main qimg 2720f3485ada3a8ac9d43fe210c5cbf5
I may have made her feel better that day but she also made me realise how lucky I am. Maybe I am weird and I often feel that I don’t really fit anywhere, but my art was able to make this girl feel better about herself and lift her up from a dark place.”
America Collapsing Like Rome?- Upcoming Recession, WW3, Trump, China & Joe Rogan | Patrick Bet David
Have you, while repairing a computer, ever found anything that made your jaw drop?
Not working on a computer but: I worked at the 24 hour photo processing lab back in 1990. Based in Phoenix we got film flown in from all over, including Las Vegas. The usual family photos, the occasional but weekly roll of film for some one with a anatomically correct BDSM Barbie with ever-changing costumes, personal intimate photos for a loved one, and once in a while something different and more sinister.
One of our Las Vegas rolls showed men with a pair of boys, all nude no clothes in sight(ha-ha), no intimate contact showed just these men and the children. The lead tech made the call to the FBI for possible child porn or abuse. After the FBI came and collected the pictures and the address from the packaging, they proceeded to the Las Vegas area address.
What they discovered was the address was a nudist retirement community. The men were a couple and one of them was the grandfather of the boys. The parents knew about granddad and his partner living in a gay nudist community and had no concerns about the safety of the boys.
Douglas Macgregor Reveals the Truth: Russia’s -Ukraine Terrifying Hidden Power in the Conflict
https://youtu.be/otyhVg-oUHs
What is the most extreme example of human willpower and discipline?
A Woman Finds Her Daughter’s ‘Dead’ Rapist: people are in awe of her “willpower”
A woman from a remote village in Bihar, India tracked down her daughter’s rapist after he was declared dead leading to the closure of the case. The rape convict, Niraj Modi, has been sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment for raping a minor girl and his father to seven years for forgery, cheating, and dishonesty.
Modi, a 39-year-old man who was a school teacher at a government school, was accused of raping his 12-year-old student, a minor girl, in October 2018. The girl was attacked while she was by herself in a sugarcane field, and her assailant threatened to post a video of the assault online to keep her silent.
Soon after a complaint was lodged by the survivor’s mother, and Modi was arrested. But, he was out on bail after merely two months in prison.
In February 2022, Modi’s father Rajaram Modi, who is over 60 years old and works as a farmer, travelled to a court nearly 100km (62 miles) away from the village, with a lawyer to claim that his son died on February 27, 2022, at their village home. In order to get a death certificate issued, he provided two pictures from the cremation, receipts of the firewood bought for the ritual as evidence, signatures and the unique biometric identity number of five villagers as per Indian laws. However, as per a 54-year-old law, the authorities didn’t question the cause of death.
main qimg aa86bbebf5dba95beb6616de864b4967
Two months after this, the local authorities issued a death certificate and the court closed the case in May 2022 as the “only accused in the case” was dead.
However convinced that this was a forgery, the girl’s mother was the only person who suspected that the teacher had faked his death with the help of his father.
The mother said that she went from one home to another in order to enquire if Modi was really dead and not to her surprise, nobody had heard of the news. Following which, she went to the court urging an investigation into the matter.
In May 2022, she also wrote a petition to the local official claiming that the death certificate was issued based on forged documents and it needs to be investigated. Soon, investigation began and the authorities demanded more and fresh evidence from Modi’s family regarding his death including photos of the “deceased after his death, of the cremation, of the burning pyre, the last rites and [fresh] testimony of five witnesses”.
As a part of the investigation, members of the village council met the inhabitants of the 250 families in the village. It appeared that no one was aware of Modi’s death. Hindus often only shave their heads as a sign of mourning if a close relative passes away. However, none of the Modi family members had done so. In fact, Modi’s own relatives did not have the information regarding his death.
main qimg 046f62c7a5463c0383b191bbd3be53c6
After Rajaram failed to provide fresh evidence of Niraj’s death, he was questioned by the investigative office again.
Following the investigation, it was confirmed that Modi’s death was faked. The officers found that the teacher had falsified the signatures of the parents of five of his students’ parents on a document requesting his own death certificate. He informed the parents that in order to set up the students’ scholarships, he would need their biometric identity numbers.
The officials, then, cancelled Niraj Modi’s death certificate and charged his father with forgery and in July 2022, the case was reopened.
The mother’s relentless battle to track down her daughter’s “dead” rapist came to an end finally and in October last year(2023)he was convicted for his crimes.
Keep smiling
Beefy Cowboy Beans
There’s plenty of hearty ground beef in this Beefy Cowboy Beans recipe.
cowboybeans 750×1000
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red or green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 (16 ounce) can baked beans
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
1/4 cup Heinz 57 sauce
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
In a large nonstick skillet, brown ground beef, onion and bell pepper over medium-high heat 6 to 8 minutes or until beef is no longer pink, breaking up into 1 inch crumbles.
Pour off drippings.
Season beef mixture with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
Stir in beans, ketchup, Heinz 57 Sauce, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce.
What is the strangest way you kept yourself entertained while in prison?
I have a theory about the sorts of people that are easy to entertain…. 😉
One cellie of mine was really into the markets. He spent incredible amounts of time building models to use against the daily Dow or NASDAQ numbers when we could get them in long enough blocks to be useful. A friend sent him five years of daily data for one index. He built some formulas to fire triggers when conditions were right. The formulas were designed to work in excel.
My job? Human spreadsheet. I took a couple months worth of the data, plotted it across a “spreadsheet” that I’d made from steno notebook pages taped together. The spreadsheet went from A1 to something like BK68. A handful of cells were raw data, the remainder were things like, “=If(And(AI22>AI21,B22>B21,Or(H22=I22,K22=K21)),BB22-BC21,BB22+BC21)”.
Pure drudgery. I had to proof for syntactical and lexical errors and churn out the data. We were sending the finished product (formulas) to someone who would drop them in excel and (hopefully) use them to come up with actionable Intel.
Woof. It took weeks to produce what excel can do in the blink of an eye!
Then there was this:
main qimg b06ac94849a29dbe797625958f129e02 lq
I set a goal for myself to memorize two hours of poetry. I copied poems I liked in tiny handwriting and kept them with me most of the time so I could study while I waited (lots of waiting in prison).
I didn’t hit my goal, but I did manage to get to about forty minutes. The more I did, the easier it got. I learned that our memory works (kind of) like a muscle. Give it a good workout and it’ll get stronger.
Are those pastimes strange enough?
The (Overdue) Collapse of the 9-5 Job
Do police officers ever let criminals go because they sympathise with them?
A sheriff’s deputy drove up to me while I was standing leaning against my vehicle and asked me if I had any guns. I said not on me but there were some in the back of the pickup. He told me to stay where I was.
He walked back to the bed of my truck and picked up a poster that I had made up that said “WANTED Dead or Alive: Baby Bomber Brandes”
He read the poster and then said to me, “I know who you are. You are the man whose home was bombed and whose baby daughter has been in the hospital for the last 6 months, and this is going to be the hardest arrest I ever have to make in my career, but I want for you to know that if I were in your shoes, I would be doing exactly what you are trying to do.” Brandes was up a dead end road, and I was at the bottom waiting to kill him.
Brandes had called his employers at the ATF and told them that I had him trapped and they needed to help him get out of there. The ATF called the sheriff and had them come up and arrest me.
The deputy arrested and drove me to jail without handcuffs and when he dropped me at the jail explained to the jailers the situation. I was treated very well by everyone at the jail. A couple of days later I made a deal with the federal DA that I would leave town and leave their snitch alone. I had to, I had a quadriplegic daughter getting out of the hospital to care for.
I came to Oregon and had to care for my daughter while wearing an ankle bracelet for a few months. The feds did live up to their end of the bargain though: all charges were dropped a short time later. There really are some great cops out there and they are just like you and I and have big hearts.
The deputy actually apologized for having to take me in.
the American dream is dead… this is why people are leaving the US.
What are some fun and actually useful historical facts?
In early March 1933, a man walked into the Hi-Way Cigar Store in Pismo Beach, California, and laid a huge clamshell on the counter. “Gimme a box of cigars,” he said.
A clamshell used as scrip currency in 1933 shows the name of the shop issuing the currency, its value, and, on the inside, signatures of the people whose hands it passed through. (Clamshell Currency | Hakai Magazin
History is full of examples of successful local initiatives aimed at providing exchange media, but the Great Depression of the 1930’s saw this done on an unprecedented scale. There were literally hundreds of scrip issues that were put into circulation by a variety of agencies, including state governments, municipalities, school districts, clearing house associations, manufacturers, merchants, chambers of commerce, business associations, local relief committees, cooperatives, and even individuals.
These issuers went by different names, depending on who issued them and the circumstances of their issuance. Common scrip types were certificates of indebtedness, tax anticipation notes, payroll warrants, trade scrip, clearing house certificates, credit vouchers, moratorium certificates, and merchandise bonds.
Crescent City, California 1933 10 cent clamshell From the collection of Ken Barr Numismatics (Depression Scrip.com)
Besides learning how to “make do, or do without,” people began to establish mutual support structures, like workers’ cooperatives, many of which would recycle and repair donated or broken items.
People learned to share what they had, and to by-pass the market and financial systems. Most of these measures were considered stop-gaps to be utilized until things “got back to normal,” but in some of them there seemed to be the promise of more permanent improvements. One of these “stop-gaps,” which was intended to address the problem of the dearth of currency in circulation, was the issuance of “scrip.”
When the Depression and resulting banking crisis hit their community, the residents of the coastal town of Pismo Beach, California picked an unusual but logical medium of exchange. The pismo (Tivela stultorum) is a species of clam with a very thick shell
[6], found in large numbers at least as far south as 300 miles south of the US–Mexico border in Baja California on the Pacific Ocean side, where strong surf sometimes washes ashore live clams. Native American tribes in California relied upon the clams as a main dietary staple.
The shells are surprisingly large—up to roughly 15 centimeters in width—and many have faint traces of the clams’ natural shell patterning, faded wispy lines of purple at the edge of the exterior sides.
Shells were marked with India ink in denominations ranging from 25 cents to $20. Each piece was numbered, and signed on the front and on the back. As with the stamp notes of the Midwest, it was necessary to sign each clamshell on the back in order to keep it in circulation.
No formal requirements may have existed, but informal pressure certainly would have endorsed the practice. The shells were more or less credit—placeholders for real currency.
Eleven of the town’s merchants got together to issue the clam currency. Among them: K.L. Phillips service station, Henderson’s Drug Store, Hi-Way Cigar Store, Leiter’s Rexall Pharmacy and Restwell Cabins. Even the Pismo Beach Post Office accepted clam currency. It was agreed that when change in dollars or cents wasn’t available, they would issue shells to customers instead. Customers would use the shells in subsequent transactions after signing their names on the inside, endorsing them somewhat like checks, which gave businesses a record of who had “spent” their shells. If any customers still had shells rattling around once the banks reopened, they could ask the retailer to exchange them for cash.
The larger the amount, the larger the shell. The issue may have been partly intended as a spoof, or for sale to tourists, in the manner of German notgeld around 1920.
Each piece was numbered, and each was signed on the front and on the back. This was in the middle of Roosevelt’s 1933 national banking holiday, from March 6 to March 9, 1933, during which withdrawals were frozen. This gave his administration a chance to stabilize the banking system
.In an era of economic turmoil, thousands of banks were failing and Americans’ trust in the institutions had evaporated. Fearing that their money was no longer safe at the bank, many people had emptied their accounts and stashed dollars at home—which, unfortunately, further undermined the banks.
Proclamation 2039 ordered the suspension of all banking transactions, effective immediately.
The terms of the presidential proclamation specified that:
“no such banking institution or branch shall pay out, export, earmark, or permit the withdrawal or transfer in any manner or by any device whatsoever, of any gold or silver coin or bullion or currency or take any other action which might facilitate the hoarding thereof; nor shall any such banking institution or branch pay out deposits, make loans or discounts, deal in foreign exchange, transfer credits from the United States to any place abroad, or transact any other banking business whatsoever.”
The thought of having to go for four days without readily available cash shocked and traumatized America. Around the country, businesses began issuing IOU-style notes or ersatz dollars—often called scrip currency—in the form of metal or wooden tokens so that everyday transactions could continue even when retailers couldn’t easily issue change.
An estimated $1 billion in this scrip was issued by towns and counties, not to mention corporations, school boards, newspapers and a few wealthy individuals.
Most promissory notes looked like paper currency, but scrip was also printed on leather, metal, fish-skin parchment and, in Tenino, Wash., on slabs of pressed wood.
In creating the currency, the Pismo Beach business owners turned back the clock to the era before the Civil War when it was common to find locally produced scrip.
The 1933 scrip reflected the small community’s expression of resilience. A lack of dollars didn’t worry them. “All of a sudden this group of people said, ‘Well, we have what we do have’,
The clams are now on display at City Hall in the lobby by the city clerk’s office. Not a bad investment, especially considering how rare it is to find a legal-sized clam in Pismo Beach these days. In 2013, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the clam script, Pismo Beach citizens resurrected clamshell money, making colorful homages to the 1933 variants.
10 Countries Where Americans are Not Welcome in 2024
As a new manager, have you ever had to fire someone on your first day?
I once had to fire someone just a few days after they started and it’s one of the very few times in my entire career where I fired someone on the spot. I had no choice.
At the time we were riding high as a company having rebuilt an entire culture and the company was working well. This admin who answered to me and a few others, while I was at lunch demanded access to HR documents that were confidential to the other employees. When our HR manager told her no but that she could talk to me, she started screaming at the top of her lungs at the manager and everyone in the offices was completely rattled by the scene.
I receive a call while I was eating my lunch to get back to the office because it was bad. I raced back and saw the looks on everyone’s face and asked a few what had happened. They all said the same thing. There was no other side to this. A few heard her demand for records and thought it was out of line in the first place and then with the screaming on top, there was no way to keep her. When I fired her, I explained that there was no turning that around. You couldn’t undo that damage no matter how she apologized and I didn’t want our culture to be everyone thinking that was even remotely okay.
It sucks to fire anyone. It’s not something any manager ever wants to deal with, but sometimes you have to do it for the greater good of everyone else. There were no employees who thought she should have a second chance. Not one. In fact, they were thrilled that I didn’t put up with it.
Male inequality, explained by an expert | Richard Reeves
The number of male therapists decreasing while the number of men needing therapy increases is worrying to think about.
What are some last-minute decisions that changed world history?
On April 14, 1865, as he walked into the morning Cabinet meeting at the White House, General Ulysses S. Grant received rapturous applause. Five days earlier, Grant had accepted the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Virginia’s Appomattox Court House.
The nightmarish Civil War had ended. Lincoln and his Cabinet were in a celebratory mood, but Grant was bone-weary. As author Ron Chernow recounts in his biography Grant, the general looked forward to a short respite from the battlefield.
After the meeting closed at 2pm, Grant “lingered to speak with the president.” Lincoln invited the general and his wife to the theater that evening to see the play Our American Cousin, starring celebrated actress Laura Keene.
Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s Secretary of War, immediately worried for their safety.
“He had for some months been aware that threats of assassination were being made by certain evil minded persons against the leaders of the Federal government and army. The presence of the President of the nation and the Lieutenant-General of the armies at any public function at such a critical hour was simply courting disaster.”
Lincoln reacted flippantly, chaffing Stanton “for his lack of faith in human nature.” The president of a democracy, he averred, had to show himself to the people, and some danger was an inescapable hazard of office.
“To be absolutely safe,” he told John Nicolay resignedly, “I should lock myself up in a box.”
Grant searched for a gracious way to decline. The general soon received a note from his wife Julia, detailing her wish to leave for Burlington that day to see their children.
Grant politely declined to attend Ford’s Theatre, joking that he now had a command from Mrs. Grant. As he subsequently said, “I was glad to have the note, as I did not want to go to the theater.”
Lincoln, who was disappointed, understood. “Of course, General, you have been long from home, fighting in the field, and Mrs. Grant’s instincts should be considered before my request. I am very sorry, however, for the people would only be too glad to see you.”
Lincoln extended invitations to Stanton, Speaker of the House Schuler Colfax, and his son Robert Todd Lincoln, but all turned him down. Eventually Clara Harris and her fiancé, Major Henry Rathbone, agreed to accompany him.
At 10:13pm, while the Grants traveled east to change trains in Philadelphia, John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president’s box at the theater and pointed a derringer at the back of Lincoln’s head. He then “executed the gentle president with brutal efficiency.”
In a small appointment book, Booth was eager to record his accomplishment for posterity.
Until today nothing was ever thought of sacrificing to our country’s wrongs. For six months we had worked to capture, but our cause being almost lost, something decisive and great must be done. But its failure was owing to others, who did not strike for their country with a heart.
I struck boldly, and not as the papers say. I walked with a firm step through a thousand of his friends, was stopped, but pushed on. A colonel was at his side. I shouted “Sic semper” before I fired.
Telegrams notified the general of the terrible news, and he was immediately summoned back to Washington.
Grant had seen untold horrors during his campaigns. But he would remember this day as among the saddest of his life.
Weeks later, as the assassination conspirators stood trial, Grant discovered that he was one of several targets of the Confederate sympathizers. The killers had hoped to decapitate the Union government in one bold strike, but they lost their golden opportunity to attack the now-famous general.
The night of Lincoln’s assassination, as Grant and his wife prepared to board their train, they had noticed a man on horseback who had galloped past them twice. Each time, the figure had “thrust his face” at the couple and glared at them.
Grant later learned the glowering horseman was John Wilkes Booth, who had been conferring on the sidewalk with his actor friend John Mathews when the Grant carriage sped by and he set off in pursuit of it. From the heaped-up baggage, he must have confirmed that the Grants were leaving town and would not be at Ford’s Theater.
“It seems I was to have been attacked,” Grant stated, “and Mrs. Grant’s sudden resolve to leave deranged the plan.”
As Project Ukraine goes down the drain of history, Project Taiwan will go on overdrive. Forever Wars never die.
This is the Year of the Wooden Dragon, according to China’s classic wuxing (“five elements”) culture. The dragon, one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, is a symbol of power, nobility and intelligence. Wood adds growth, development and prosperity.
Call it a summary of where China is heading in 2024.
The second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was finalized on Sunday in Beijing.
The wider world should know that within the framework of grassroots democracy with Chinese characteristics, an extremely complex – and fascinating – phenomenon, the importance of the CPPCC is paramount.
The CPPCC channels wide-ranging expectations of the average Chinese to the decision level, and actually advises the central government on a vast range of issues – from everyday living to high-quality development strategies.
This year, most of the discussion focused on how to drive China’s modernization even faster. This being China, concepts – like flowers – were blooming all around the spectrum, such as “new quality productive forces, “deepening reform,” “high-standard opening-up,” and a fabulous new one, “major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.”
“2024 is not only a critical year for achieving the goals of the ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ but also a key year for achieving the transition to high-quality development of the economy.”
Betting on strategic investment
So let’s start with Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s first “work report” delivered a week ago, which opened the annual session of the National People’s Congress. The key takeaway: Beijing will be pursuing the same economic targets as in 2023. That translates as 5% annual growth.
Of course deflationary risks, a downturn in the real estate market and somewhat shaky business confidence simply won’t vanish. Li was quite realistic, emphasizing Beijing is “keenly aware” of the challenges ahead:
“Achieving this year’s targets will not be easy.” And he added: “Global economic growth lacks steam and the regional hotspot issues keep erupting. This has made China’s external environment more complex, severe and uncertain.”
Beijing’s strategy remains focused on a
“proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy”.
In a nutshell: the song remains the same. There won’t be a “stimulus” of any kind.
Deeper answers should be found in the work report/budget released by the National Development and Reform Commission: the focus will be on structural change, via extra funds to science, technology, education, national defense, agriculture.
Translation: China bets on strategic investment, the key for a high-quality economic transition.
In practice, Beijing will be heavily invested in modernizing industry and developing “new quality productive forces” such as new-energy vehicles, biomanufacturing and commercial space flight.
Science Minister Yin Hejun made it clear: there was an 8.1% increase in national investment in research and development in 2023.
He wants more – and he will get it: R&D spending will grow by 10% to a total of 370.8 billion yuan.
The mantra is “self-reliance”.
On all fronts – from chipmaking to AI. A no holds barred tech war is on – and China is totally focused to counter “tech containment” from the Hegemon as much as its ultimate goal is to wrest tech supremacy from its prime competitor. Beijing simply cannot allow itself to be vulnerable to U.S.-imposed tech choke points and supply chain disruptions.
So short-term economic problems will not be causing sleepless nights.
The Beijing leadership is always looking ahead – focusing on long-term challenges.
Learning lessons from the Donbass battlefield
Beijing will continue to steer the economic development of Hong Kong and Macau, and invest even more in the crucial Greater Bay Area, which is the premier southern China high tech, services and finance hub.
Taiwan of course was central to the work report; Beijing fiercely opposes “external interference” – code for Hegemon tactics. That will become even trickier in May, when William Lai Ching-te, who flirts with independence, becomes president.
On defense, there will be only a 7.2% increase in 2024, which is peanuts compared to the Hegemon’s defense budget now approaching $900 billion: China’s stands as $238 billion, even as China’s nominal GDP is approaching the U.S.
A great deal of China’s defense budget will go for emerging tech – considering the immensely valuables lessons the PLA is learning out of the Donbass battlefield, as well as the deep interactions part of the Russia-China strategic partnership.
And that brings us to diplomacy.
China will continue to be firmly positioned as a champion of the Global South. That was made explicit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a press conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress.
Wang Yi’s priorities:
to “maintain stable relations with major powers; join hands with its neighbouring countries for progress; and strive for revitalisation with the Global South”.
Wang Yi once again stressed that Beijing favors an “equal and orderly” multipolar world and “inclusive economic globalization”.
And of course he could not allow U.S. Secretary of State Little Blinken – always out of his depth – to get away with his latest “recipe”:
“It is impermissible that those with the bigger fist have the final say, and it is definitely unacceptable that certain countries must be at the table while others can only be on the menu.”
BRI as a global accelerator
Crucially, Wang Yi re-emphasized the drive for “high-quality” cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework. He defined BRI as “an engine for the common development of all countries and an accelerator for the modernisation of the whole world”. Wang Yi actually said he’s hopeful about the emergence of a “Global South moment in global governance” – in which China and BRI play an essential part.
Li Qiang’s work report, incidentally, had only one paragraph on BRI. But then we find this nugget as Li refers to the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor – which links China’s landlocked southwest with the eastern seaboard, via Guangxi province.
Translation: BRI will be focusing on opening new economic roads for China’s less developed regions, diversifying from the previous emphasis on Xinjiang.
Dr Wei Yuansong is a member of the CPPCC and also the Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party – which happens to be one of the eight non-CCP parties in Chinese politics (very few outside of China know about this).
He offered some fascinating comments on BRI to Fengmian News and also stressed the need to “tell China’s story well” to avoid “conflict and incidents” along the BRI road.
For that, Wei suggests the need to use an “international language” in telling these stories; that implies using English.
As for what Wang Yi said in his press conference, in fact that was discussed in detail at the closed-door Central Conference on Foreign Affairs Work in late 2023, where it was established that China faced “strategic opportunities” to raise its “international influence, appeal and power” despite “high winds and choppy waters”.
The key takeaway: the narrative war between China and the Hegemon will be pitiless.
Beijing is confident it’s capable of offering stability, investment, connectivity and sound diplomacy to the whole Global South, instead of Forever Wars.
That is reflected, for instance, by Ma Xinmin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s legal advisor, telling the International Court of Justice that the Palestinians have the right to armed resistance when it comes to fighting the colonialist, racist, apartheid state of Israel. Therefore, Hamas cannot be defined as a terrorist organization.
This is the overwhelming position across the lands of Islam and across the majority of the Global South – linking Beijing with fellow BRICS member Brazil and President Lula, who compared the genocide in Gaza to the Nazi genocide in WWII.
How to resist collective West sanctions
The Two Sessions did reflect Beijing’s full understanding that Hegemon containment and destabilization tactics remain the biggest challenge to China’s peaceful rise. But simultaneously it reflected Chinese confidence on its global diplomatic clout as a force for peace, stability and economic development. It’s an extremely sensitive balance that only the Middle Kingdom seems capable of pulling off.
Then there’s the Trump factor.
Economist Ding Yifan, a former deputy director of the World Development Institute, part of the State Council’s Development Research Centre, is one among those who’s aware China is learning key lessons from Russia on how to resist collective West sanctions – which will be inevitable against China especially if Trump is back at the White House.
And that brings us to the absolute key issue being currently discussed in Moscow, within the Russia-China partnership, and soon among the BRICS: alternative settlement payments to the U.S. dollar, increasing trade among “friendly nations”, and controls on capital flight.
Nearly all Russia-China trade is now in yuan and rubles.
As much as Russian trade with the EU fell by 68% in 2023, trade with Asia rose by 5.6% – with new landmarks reached with China ($240 billion) and India ($65 billion) – and 84% of Russia’s total energy exports going to “friendly countries”.
The Two Sessions did not get into detail on some extremely thorny geopolitical issues. For instance, India’s version of multipolarity – considering New Delhi’s unresolved love affair with Washington – is quite different from China’s. Everyone knows – and no one more than the Russians – that within BRICS 10 the biggest strategic issue is how to accommodate the perpetual tension between India and China.
What’s clear even behind the fog of goodwill enveloping the Two Sessions is that Beijing is fully aware of how the Hegemon is – deliberately – already crossing a key Chinese red line, officially stationing “permanent troops” in Taiwan.
Since last year U.S. Special Forces have been training Taiwanese in operating Black Hornet nano microdrones. In 2024 U.S. military advisers are deployed full time at army bases on Kinmen and Penghu islands.
Those actually driving U.S. foreign policy behind the Crash Test Dummy at the White House believe that even as they are powerless to handle the Houthi Ansarallah in the Red Sea, they are capable of poking the Dragon.
No posturing will alter the Dragon’s roadmap.
The CPPCC’s political resolution on Taiwan calls for uniting “all patriotic forces”, “deepen integration and development in various fields across the Taiwan Straits”, and go all out on “peaceful reunification”.
That will translate in practice into increased economic/trade cooperation, more direct flights, more cargo ports and logistics bases.
As Project Ukraine goes down the drain of history, Project Taiwan will go on overdrive.
Forever Wars never die.
Bring it on.
The Dragon is ready.
White Women Are PISSED At White Men Dating Asian Women!
What do you know that most people don’t?
I’ve literally (and I actually mean literally here) won cash money on bets with friends about this and it is a method I’ve been using since I was a little kid. Works every single time; no exceptions.
I’m going to let you in on my secret to treat your hiccups in a few seconds every single time.
Let’s first understand what causes hiccups; only when we understand how a machine works can we fix it if it’s acting up. Your diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle at the bottom of your chest. The diaphragm almost always works perfectly. When you inhale, it pulls down to help pull air into the lungs. When you exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and air flows out of the lungs back out through the nose and mouth.
But sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated. When this happens, it pulls down in a jerky way, which makes you suck air into your throat suddenly. When the air rushing in hits your voice box, your vocal cords close suddenly and you’re left with a big hiccup.
Some things that irritate the diaphragm are eating too quickly or too much, an irritation in the stomach or the throat, or feeling nervous or excited. Almost all cases of the hiccups last only a few minutes. Some cases of the hiccups can last for days or even months, but this is very unusual and it’s usually a sign of another medical problem.
So now that we understand the cause of hiccups, it’s fairly evident that to treat them, all we need to do is soothe the diaphragm, reduce the irritation and bring it back to a normal operating state.
Fill a cup a little over half with water and hold the cup right side up. Stand and bend over, while placing your mouth on the opposite side of the cup so the opening is around your chin. Sip the water slowly, holding your breath as you do and breathing between sips. The combination of these forces your diaphragm to get back to its expected state of behavior.
main qimg 8f6275661ddffb623f5cfa327cc8924e lq
So the next time that cute girl you were trying to talk to has a bout of the hiccups, skip the cheesy lines telling her how “someone” is thinking of her and instead treat her hiccups with this method. I can assure you that will score you more brownie points that way.
What if God’s plan for me is to have an insignificant, unfulfilling, and miserable life?
There is a Russian joke.
At some point in life, a man who had previously been a great sinner has spiritually awakened and started to preach the word of God. He believed that he was inspired by the Lord Himself. So he dies, and meets St. Peter.
– Saint Peter, I need to see God.
– Why? You were an okay guy, we won’t send you to hell.
– No, I really need it. I need to ask Him one question.
St. Peter shrugs his shoulders and brings him in God’s Presence. The man asks:
– My Lord, tell me, did I understand my destiny well? Was it to carry Your word?
God is silent.
– Please tell me!
– Do you really want to know? – asks God.
– Yes, I long to know, I crave for this knowledge, I implore you!
– Okay, okay. Do you remember how you travelled by train from Samara to Syzran’? It was forty-seven years ago.
– Yes!
– Do you remember how you went to the dining car?
– Yes!
– Do you remember how your neighbour to the left asked you to pass the salt?
– Yes!
– This was your destiny. You were born to pass the salt to this person.
When I first heard this joke, I was shocked at the utter pessimism it expressed. Now, I see it in a different light. Yes, the guy was mistaken about God’s designs. But he was born just to pass the salt during a train voyage – and yet he managed to have a rich and fulfilling life. Good for him, isn’t it?
So if you really believe that God had such horrible designs on your life, why not try to see what you can do yourself?
My GF Made Friends With College F**inists And Thought I’d Be P-Whipped…Instead I Tossed Her Out
I have been playing around with picture generation through text prompts. It’s fun, but it takes some ingenuity and imagination. Here’s some of my results…
Default a woman crushing grapes in a wooden tub in a winery Sh 2Default a beautiful and stunning woman wearing a satin dress S 3Default a group of beautiful and stunning women wearing a sati 2Default a woman crushing grapes in a wooden tub in a winery Sh 3Default a beautiful and stunning woman wearing a satin dress S 2Default a group of beautiful and stunning women wearing a sati 1Default a woman crushing grapes in a wooden tub in a winery Sh 1Default a beautiful and stunning woman wearing a satin dress S 0Default a group of beautiful and stunning women wearing a sati 3Default a woman crushing grapes in a wooden tub in a winery Sh 0Default a group of beautiful and stunning women wearing a sati 0Default a beautiful and stunning woman wearing a satin dress S 1
What’s the fastest you’ve wiped a smirk off of someone’s face?
my first husband was extremely abusive and had been for years but I just couldn’t seem to find the help I needed to leave. One day he came home drunk with his friends and because I knew he would become violent, I refused to let him in. Unfortunately he kicked the front door down in 2 kicks and before I could get to the phone he was in the house and on me. I spent 3 days in the hospital and because the beating was so severe, I was offered help that I immediately accepted. After being released from the hospital I was escorted by a battered womens advocate and police officer but I only had 15 minutes to grab what I could. While I was doing my grabcand go I could hear him tell the officer that it was all just a minor misunderstanding and how he wad sorry but sure we could work through everything, blah, blah, blah. As I was walking out with the few posessions that I could grab, and with the officer still standing next to him, I looked at him with a big smile and told him that he may want to get a new toothbrush because I had been cleaning the toilet with it for months. The fake smile was wiped right off of his face but the cop had a smirk. Before anyone asks, yes I was cleaning the toilet with his toothbrush.
America today
What misconception about your occupation would you like to clear up?
I’m a physicist. One day I got a phone call from an undergraduate. She explained that as an assignment in a sociology course she was required to follow a scientist around for a day and document how he/she spent the day. “I’m far too busy to give you that much time,” I said.
“No—” she replied, “You won’t even notice I’m there. I’ll just watch and follow you around.” OK— it sounded a bit intriguing.
The scheduled morning she arrived in my office at 9 a.m. She sat down in a corner, and I got to work. Every now and then I looked up and caught her looking at me; she quickly looked away, and scribbled in her notebook. Suddenly I felt like a mountain gorilla being studied by Dian Fossey.
At 5 p.m she told me she was leaving. I asked her if she found anything surprising. “My god yes!” She responded. “Your day is totally different from what I expected.” I asked for details and she examined her notes.
She said, “You spent 60% of your time talking to other people! You did it on the phone, then you visited several other physicists in their offices. You had lunch with several graduate students. Even in your lab you were working with your graduate students. Several people came to your office.”
“What did you expect?” I asked her.
“I thought scientists worked alone. I thought they sat in front of computers all day, or in their labs wearing white coats and working with test tubes.”
“That’s the scientist of the movies,” I said. “Science is a very social profession. You can save weeks in the lab by a quick conversation with someone else. Two people talking are often much more than twice as effective as two people working alone.”
“I never knew that,” she said.
It’s odd that people avoid going into science because of the impression that it is for people who like to work alone. That may be true for some people, but in my experience virtually all effective scientists spend much of their time with other people. Maybe the wrong impression arises because of the high school science nerd who doesn’t yet have social skills. But social skills are essential to scientific success. Some nerds learn them only in graduate school. (And the ones who don’t often drop out of science.)
Indeed, the interaction with other people is what makes “coming to work” so much fun.
Cats can defy gravity
In the movie, “My Octopus Teacher”, how does he know he is filming the same octopus?
You can recognize individual cephalopods if you know what to look for, but even then you need a very keen eye. Most cephalopods can change color as fast as you can blink, and are famous for mimicking their surroundings. That said, they also have a “resting face,” a specific paint job they wear when they’re not trying to do something else. These paint jobs are like fingerprints, and with practice you can learn to recognize them. We had to identify individual squid in schools of 30 on the expedition where I met my bride. It was very challenging to learn, but definitely possible.
I have had many, many, MANY, MANY requests to comment on this show. We actually didn’t make it through the first half hour on the first watch because the introduction clearly featured several different octopuses, and much of the narration seemed to be pumping up exaggerated claims of octopus capabilities, which drives us crazy. Too many documentaries do this nowadays. I understand that sensationalism sells, but octopuses are not as smart as four year old children. (for example)
But then that show snatched an Oscar. Then this particular A2A came along. It inspired me to sit down, clear my mind, to give it another try and see what all the fuss is about. I just dialed it up and watched the whole thing. I’m very glad I did. My first impression was wrong. The show is great and the footage captured was truly groundbreaking.
Here’s what I think. If you haven’t seen it, beware: spoilers follow.
I am 99% sure that most of the footage in Craig and Tom Foster’s extremely impressive My Octopus Teacher, was the same octopus.
Most.
I don’t think he found the exact same octopus after scaring away the first one by dropping the camera lens. After that, yep. Definitely the same octopus. There were many cuts throughout the show where other footage of other octopuses was used for fillers, but that’s not surprising in the least for film production.
How did he find the same octopus over and over? Experienced divers (including free divers) learn the terrain of a dive site just like we learn our way around our neighborhoods, local woods, etc. it becomes second nature to swim to a familiar spot. But there’s more going on.
I have no doubt that Craig Foster (and helpers, I expect) visited this octopus every day for pretty much it’s entire life, and it confirms something I wondered but never tested: I have long suspected that when some octopuses den, (including the common octopus) they settle down permanently. Their den seems to become their base, i.e. they are not nomadic. Likewise, they seem to get to know their neighbors: The fish that hang out nearby, local cleaner shrimp/wrasse, a nearby communities of possible predators and of course the weird hairless ape that shows up every day with treats and shiny pieces of equipment. If you don’t hurt, scare or harass them, octopuses are fairly quick to trust. This is one big reason why I still feel OK keeping them.
Back to the movie, I was very sure the post-lens drop octopus was the same animal, but once the shark ripped the arm off, it became easy to identify the individual. There was an obvious gap in the daily footage for 2–4 weeks (I suspect,) because the wound mysteriously skinned over quickly. I can understand that watching the octopus contend with rather gory wound in the early stages might have been hard to watch. Nevertheless, watching the near-daily documentation of the wound healing and the arm regenerating was incredibly interesting to me. I couldn’t take my eyes off it in any given shot. Octopuses possess an absolutely uncanny ability to heal and rebuild after grievous wounds, but they usually don’t live long enough to regenerate, say, a whole arm. As such, you could see that arm L3 (third on the left) was always growing but stubby, right up until the end.
The camera footage in My Octopus Teacher is truly groundbreaking. They must have had multiple remote cameras on the animal 24/7, because they managed to capture some frankly unbelievable events in the octopus’s life. These were things that happen suddenly, and only last a split second. They filmed the shark attacking the octopus, the exact moment of mating (which literally lasts about 10 seconds), and then getting the very moment a shark made off with the body at the end. That made me suspicious. He managed to be right there to film all those sequences on 15 minute breath hold dives? Octopuses and other sea creatures won’t act for setpieces. They’ll sit there and do nothing for hours. Foster’s team must have been setting multiple cameras on it 24/7 for the entire year. That’s dedication.
Now then. As I mentioned earlier, wifey and I didn’t get through the movie on the first try because the intro footage was clearly not the same octopus every time. I counted at least seven different octopuses of the same species in the first 15 minutes of the show and would bet a couple of the shots were filmed in an aquarium. Now, with better context, it’s perfectly understandable. I had to remind myself that this whole show was skillfully put together with a production crew of expert filmmakers who sought to fill in or augment the gaps of the octopuses behavior and Foster’s footage, (which I thought was on BBC level at times). To us, octopuses are frequently overhyped, and the intro of My Octopus Teacher felt just like that sort of show. We can’t stand those shows. Most people would never spot these things, but it triggered me initially.
So, already extremely skeptical, when he got to the part about using his “Incredible Kalihari Tracking Skills” to locate the exact same octopus over, what? A mile away? Underwater? On breath hold dives, through a KELP FOREST? We both threw our hands up and turned it off. That was too much. No way in hell he found the same octopus.
When our team studied octopuses in Costa Rica, some would squirm out of our grasp and flee, and we frequently lost them after 15-25 feet. They would jet away, land on a rock and just vanish. Octopuses can blend with their background insanely well. We had a rule out in the field: for every octopus you do find, you missed ten.
You know what? That’s OK. Maybe it was just a stunt to build interest, give him some credibility. Who knows? I’m just grateful this question made me give the show another full and attentive watch, because it is great. The Oscar award was very well deserved. Chronicling this octopus’s life was already a truly astounding achievement, but what really nailed it was the overall philosophical story. It was spot-on accurate. I have lived it so many times with so many octopuses. You get to know them. They get to know you. You enjoy fun times together. I always learn something new from each and every one. They are so fascinating, so complex, and yet…they’re essentially highly evolved snails. In your heart you know the relationship won’t last. You can almost watch them grow and age, and you have to say goodbye too soon. As I watched that octopus age on screen, I knew what was coming, and what all the events meant. I admit I cried several times.
So, to summarize, I believe the octopus before and after the Great Lens Drop moment (it’s about 35 minutes in) are different, but from that moment on, yes, it’s absolutely the same individual. Thanks for the A2A!
Real talk
Can the LCS ships ever be a great asset for the US Navy? Has the propulsion on the Freedom class ever been repaired? Has a builder gotten away with such a bad ship?
The Little Crappy Ships each have their own failures in design and execution. Sometimes tried and true is best – especially when building ships that need to be available (and mobile) all of the time. There is no auto club to call for a breakdown on the high seas.
Their mission evaporated as the world changed – a lightly defended coastal (litoral) ship did not end up being where the focus was needed. Their flexibilty was also limited because cost overuns in the basic ship package affected other wannabe missions – it was going to be a Swiss Army knife, but instead ended up a butter blade.
The navy threw in the towel when they started ordering more Constellation class frigates and cancelled the future LCS builds. Ironically, they were not cheap (half a billion $$$ or so) but they cost little enough by government standards to abandoned. Compare that to the Ford class carriers (about $14 billion each). The Fords had so much invested in them that throwing money and resources to solve technological issues (such as with the catapult system) was a given regardless of cost. You can fix things with time, money, and resources. There also was no readily available replacement available for the Ford carriers after years of investment in them. The end product is a great advance over it’s predecessor – which is not the story of the LCS.
So, lessons learned. Innovate but balance risks and reward, and know the mission you are trying to accomplish. Here is the LCS Independence. A face only a mother could love… … …
main qimg cb043b1f8dad130bfd613a2eda421e5e
Oh shit
How would Chinese companies absorb additional costs as China leans more heavily on exports?
Correction: China is NOT leaning more heavily on exports; the government’s policy has been to grow the Chinese domestic consumer market in order to lessen dependence on exports.
In 2024, the Chinese domestic consumer market is growing less slowly than the government likes because the Chinese real estate market is undergoing contraction. The Chinese government saw the real estate market as an asset bubble which needed to be pricked because it does not reflect a real productivity gain; it is just speculatory.
Since most Chinese have their savings tied up in their own home value, they now feel that they have less savings to spend, which is why the Chinese economy is entering a deflationary phase.
At the same time, the US and EU are putting pressure on Chinese exports of EVs and chips, as they try to decouple from Chinese exporters of those products.
This means that the whole world is going through a painful economic adjustment as supply chains are being decoupled in the US and EU.
The Chinese government is trying to re-adjust by increasing exports and trade with the BRICS+/Global South economies, while gradually cutting reliance on the US and EU markets.
Linda’s Picadillo (Mexican-Style Ground Beef)
picadillo
Ingredients
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 red or orange bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons beef bouillon
1 (4 ounce) can green chiles or 2 fresh poblano peppers, chopped
Spices: 1 or 2 bay leaves, salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, tomato Knorr, etc.
1 can tomato sauce or Ro*Tel
1 bag frozen corn (optional)
1 bag frozen green beans (optional)
Instructions
Sauté onions and garlic; add ground beef and cook until done. Drain fat.
Add potatoes, bell pepper, water, beef buillon, green chiles or poblano peppers, spices of choice and tomato sauce or Ro*Tel. Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
If using, add corn and green beans 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
She Bullied A Kid For Exercising Wrong, The Internet Destroyed Her..
Israel ‘Coerces’ UN Workers – By Outright Torturing Them
Every time one thinks that the depravity of Zionist fanatics has finally reached a limit they will proudly present even worse behavior.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said some employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that the agency has Hamas links and that staff took part in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Coerced, pressured, … Maybe they had a harsh talk?
No. They outright tortured, Abu Graibh like, these UN workers. Some of them to their death:
The document said several UNRWA Palestinian staffers had been detained by the Israeli army, and added that the ill-treatment and abuse they said they had experienced included severe physical beatings, waterboarding, and threats of harm to family members.
…
In addition to the alleged abuse endured by UNRWA staff members, Palestinian detainees more broadly described allegations of abuse, including beatings, humiliation, threats, dog attacks, sexual violence, and deaths of detainees denied medical treatment, the UNRWA report said.
…
Reuters could not independently confirm the accounts of coercion of UNRWA staff and mistreatment of detainees, although the allegations of ill-treatment accord with descriptions by Palestinians freed from detention in December, February and March reported by Reuters and other news media.
“We tortured some folk so we could destroy a huge relief organization that’s indispensable in dealing with a huge humanitarian crisis that we created in the first place” is…. something else
What are civilized people supposed to do with these miscreants?
What ignorant thing did a retail employee say that made you walk out of the store without buying a single item?
This is another “didn’t say it, did it” story.
It was a couple of weeks before Christmas, about 25 years ago, and I was shopping for a gift for my wife. She loves pearls, especially baroque pearls, and even more when they’re set with a discreet diamond or two — nothing glitzy or brash. I went to the local branch of Barmakian Jewelers, a well known New England chain. I’d been there before and had spent there, over the years, a decidedly nontrivial amount, including some custom work I’d had them do. So I walked over to the Pearls and Diamonds counter with a budget figure of $600 (equivalent to just a hair over $1000 as I write this) and began eyeing the pieces through the glass counter surface.
I should probably mention here that I was at that time a software engineer and had just gotten out of work for the day, and I was dressed in jeans and a carpenter shirt (plaid flannel). No coat, this is New England and the temperature was well above freezing. As I browsed, I took note that although there was nobody at that counter at the moment, two sales associates were at the next counter, and I knew that they had seen me. Neither came over to help me. After about ten minutes of this, a man came walking over to the counter where I was, dressed in a suit and tie. Before you could say “WTF?” an associate, one of the two who had been chatting at the other counter, was there to help him. He lollygagged around, looked at a couple of pieces with the associate’s eager assistance, and finally decided he’d come back another day. He walked out without having spent a dime. The associate left the counter without even a glance in my direction, and returned to chat some more with the other associate. I figured I knew what was up, and I too walked out, taking my $600 budget elsewhere. I have never since stepped inside a Barmakian store, nor will I ever do so in the future.
In the United States…
As a police officer, has a suspect ever asked you, “Do you know who I am?” indignantly, and how did you react?
I once stopped newer model sports car for speeding. When I approached the car, before I could even properly introduce myself and explain why I stopped him the driver stated, “I’m John Doe, Vice President of AK Steel” (I don’t remember his name). AK Steel is a large factory in a neighboring city. I replied, “Ok Mr. Doe, can I have your license and proof of insurance please”?
He had a pretty clean driving record so normally I would’ve given him a warning. However, I couldn’t let him think that he’s above the law. When I came back with a ticket in hand Mr. Doe became upset and said some to the effect of, “Wait a minute! Is (blank) your chief of police?” I said yes and he told me that the chief of police is his friend. I replied, “Ok, Mr. Doe, sign the ticket on this line please.”
My Chief was angry with me when he found out that I wrote a ticket to his friend, who is also a local bigwig. I’m sure my stock fell with him, but he was close to retirement so I whatever it cost me, I knew I wouldn’t have to pay for it very long.
What’s something that NO science fiction author ever predicted?
Well, I think our fellow Quoran Orson Scott Card got something dreadfully wrong in his most famous work, Ender’s Game.
It was published in its novel form in 1985, and he envisioned a global computer network where people could publish anything. And it’s crucial to the plot that two very young people become massively influential by publishing, under pseudonyms, political essays with brilliant insights.
Internet, yes, fine, it was already invented and the WWW was just around the corner, but well called for seeing it as a potential game changer.
He did not anticipate that it would be used to watch memes of cats and spread flat Earth theories, and that any politically insightful youth would be totally drowned out by people trying to cure a dangerous disease by drinking bleach. Frankly, I don’t think anyone could have foreseen that…
“Just Bang ‘Em All” – Older Woman’s Advice to Younger Women
As a cashier, what was the most privileged customer you had to deal with?
When I was sixteen years old (twenty years ago, sheesh) I was a “Sandwich Artist,” the pretentious title given to Subway employees whose duties include cashiering, in addition to preparing ingredients, making sandwiches, and cleaning. The Subway I worked at was inside of a gas station on the edge of a sleepy mountain town, one of the last stops for the Greyhound bus before it made the final 100 mile leg over the pass to Salt Lake City.
The biggest downside to being inside of a gas station is that the Subway closed two hours before the gas station, so you couldn’t simply lock the doors to close down like a stand-alone restaurant. Most people understood the “Closed” sign on the counter, but sometimes as you were trying to clean up people would interrupt you trying to place an order.
Most of the time this was not a big deal, although occasionally the bus was running late and a large, hungry, and travel-weary crowd would show up shortly after closing. If I had nowhere to be in the morning I would sometimes offer to make them something cold based on what I still had out. However, I was often closing on school nights, anxious to get my homework done or study for a test before going to bed way too late. On those nights I had to greet these customers with a friendly “I’m sorry, but we’re closed.”
There was the occasional rude response, but this one lady particularly set the bar for being a privileged, self-important blowhard. I had been working the closing shift by myself on a school night. It was at least twenty minutes past closing time when I heard a car horn honking somewhere outside. I didn’t think much of it until the honking then started again right outside the drive-through window.
The hours were displayed prominently on the window, so I went back to my cleaning. Then someone started knocking on the window. At first I was annoyed, then concerned. Was this one of those robbery attempts they warned us about? The reason fast food places don’t serve walk-up customers? Or was someone in trouble, unable to get out of their vehicle and come into the gas station for help? I would hate to be the guy that didn’t open the window for someone having an emergency. This was back before cell phones were quite as ubiquitous as they are now too. A bit begrudgingly, I set down what I was doing and walked over to the window, sliding it open a few inches.
“Finally!” the older woman cried, obviously exasperated. She then started placing an order.
“Ma’am…” I attempted to interrupt. She kept ordering. “Ma’am!” I said, louder this time. She stopped talking. “I’m sorry, but we’re closed.” She stared at me slack-jawed.
“I’m not ordering a lot,” she spat out as I started closing the window.
“Sorry,” I repeated, closing the window and latching it before returning to my cleaning. I stepped into the back for some reason and when I returned to the front she had come inside and was standing at the counter.
“You are very rude,” she scolded. I kept cleaning. “I was talking to you.” I looked up.
“I’m sorry,” I said for the third time. “We’re closed.”
“I just need two sandwiches,” she replied obliviously.
“All the food is put away. I have a lot of cleaning to do. The gas station has food.” I pointed towards the gas station freezer section. She looked at me with this unbelieving look, like I had just told her that I ran over her dog but it was okay because she could go get another one. I made it a point to go in the back before the conversation carried any further.
The layout of the restaurant is one where the counter and food preparation area takes up one end of the gas station, with the back area L-ing off of it, sharing the freezer with the gas station. The door to the back room comes from the dining area. I went to work washing dishes when suddenly the door opens and in waltzes this lady like she owns the place.
“You are really unbelievable, you know that?” She was standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips. “Twice you’ve walked away while I was talking to you! I was here right before closing waiting at the drive up when you turned it off, then you slammed the window in my face! This is ridiculous! Where is your manager!?”
“She’ll be in at 5:30 in the morning.”
“And what is your name!?”
“My name is John. John Smith. And you weren’t in drive-through right before closing, because I took the trash out fifteen minutes after closing and you weren’t out there. Now please, I’ve got school in the morning.”
“Well you are a liar because I was out there waiting and I’m going to talk to your manager and you’ll be looking for another job. And don’t even think of applying at Stewart’s (a grocery store thirty miles away) because I’m the manager, and I know everyone. Everyone. You’ll be lucky if you can ever get a job around here again. You don’t know who you’re screwing with!” She stood there with a look of scornful pride on her face, like she’d just delivered the biggest burn in the history of burns.
I just stood there and looked at her dryly, waiting for her to leave. She just stood there and looked at me incredulously, not leaving.
“Well?” she says, crossing her arms.
“Well what?” I ask in genuine confusion.
“Are you gonna make my sandwiches?!” She looked at me, surprisingly seriously. She actually expected me to make these sandwiches. My mind was blown.
“No. I’m not. No way.” Again, She continued looking at me like I’d taken away her birthday. “No,” I repeated. “No. Get out. Leave!”
She looked at me like I was insane. How would I, a peasant, disobey her orders? She was the magnate of Stewart’s. Who was I? I was nobody. I forced her out and closed the door.
My manager didn’t even talk to me until our next shift together. She didn’t even consider this crazy lady’s ranting. She knew me too well. She replayed to me the crazy story this lady had told, including that she’d bought six sandwiches earlier in the day and none of them had been made correctly. Seriously? Zero evidence to back this claim up. This woman had mental problems.
I talked to a friend that worked at Stewart’s. The manager was a man. That poor woman…how dismal it must be to be that delusional or that pathetic.
Sad.
Why has Hollywood been struggling to succeed in China’s film market?
Simple.
Ask the average American to watch a Chinese blockbuster. It can be dubbed, or subtitled.
Further, ask them to pick out the cultural hooks and references in the movie.
Vanishing few will be able to do so, even Chinese diaspora who grow up speaking only English.
Take it from me. I spent a lifetime consuming Chinese media, and I am fluent in at least 3 dialects: Cantonese, Hokkien and Mandarin. I spent 12 years learning Chinese formally, growing up in a Chinese speaking environment.
But I struggle with the cultural references in Chinese productions, which have cultural baselines that are several steps beyond the typical Taiwan/HK production.
In other words, Wong Kar Wai and Ang Lee are above average, and not the summit, in the mainland scheme of things, as far as deep culture is concerned.
Hollywood can never make a Chinese movie that touches the tender and vulnerable side of Chinese audiences. Not in the current climate of dehumanization and “we want your money, we don’t want you”.
The Chinese are not farm animals of American oligarchs.
And even if Hollywood decides to take the Chinese market seriously, it will take years and plenty of coin to compete against the Chinese competition.
At this point (2024), Hollywood isn’t even in the game.
He stole millions of dollars
Have you ever paid another table’s bill for them without being asked? Why did you do it?
November 8, 2018. I know the date because of it’s significance. 4 men were at the restaurant I frequent. They had reserved a part of 8. All of them were elderly, all of them were wearing hats with “vietnam veteran” and “173rd Airborne” on them. I didn’t need to know where their 4 missing comrades were, or what memories those 4 gentlemen would be reliving 53 years later. I know of Operation Hump.
I quietly wrote on a napkin, “I’m not going to say who I am, but I want to say 3 things: THANK YOU! May your brothers rest in peace, and tonight is on me. No arguments, soldiers.”
I had my waitress deliver it after I left, leaving my credit card (at the time, I lived right down the street) to pay for whatever they want.
I was told that they were very appreciative, and said “for people like that we’d do it again.” which is very touching if you ask me.
I’ve seen those gentlemen back every year since, and a few times on various other days, but I haven’t said anything, and I never intend to. Their meals are still on me every year.
How do ordinary Russians feel about the Chinese goods and products now sold compared to the western brands which have left Russia?
Honestly, I don’t see any big difference and I don’t feel overwhelmed by Chinese goods.
In fact, China actively substituted only two fields: cars and household equipment
Midea or Haier instead of Bosch? No big difference. Same features, same prices. Bosch is also available by the way, and the price is comparable to Chinese. So who has left?
Chery/Haval instead of Renault and Nissan? No big difference, in fact Chinese are better. More options and features for lower price. Prices are slowly normalizing, by the way. Chinese car giants open new factories in Russia.
Of course, it will take time for market to find a new balance, but at least now it is possible to get a new SUV for around 2 million rubles. Sure, it’s not 1.3 million rubles like I paid for new Nissan Qashqai in 2018, but it’s even less about 2.4 million rubles I paid for new Nissan X-Trail in 2021. And well, Chinese turned out to be have better multimedia systems than Japanese or Europeans. Surprise, surprise.
Maybe even Moskvich will some day be available at more reasonable prices. Again, it all takes time.
New car market was too expensive starting from around last April. Now slowly getting to more normal prices.
—
Speaking of furniture, clothing and everything else – it got substituted locally and surprisingly well. If you are not dead set to pay 500,000 rubles for Dolce Gabbana, you can buy a nice good quality Russian coat at 10,000 rubles, for example. I bought warm and nice Russian-made alaska jacket for this winter for about 13,000 rubles. Didn’t notice any difference with “original” that cost double even before all those problems.
And well, I talk to people, I listen to people and I see what people are wearing and buying. There still are few “brand-crazy” folks, but most have just got ignorant.
If those “Western brands” ever want to return, they will have a hard time doing so. Sorry guys. And no, Chinese clothes are not popular and is not supplied en masse.
Why is that?
Was it a myth that a man could support a family in the 50s in the USA?
No.
Both of my grandfathers did just that.
Both of their wives only worked outside of the home during WWII, before they were their wives. By the early 1950s, both of my sets of grandparents were married and starting their families. Both families ended up with four children each. Both families owned their own homes—modest homes in small towns—all on the single income of a working-class man.
One grandfather was a salesman and installer of garage doors. One was a mechanic. Both were WWII vets, so there may have been some veterans benefits to help them out. Other than that, they were on their own.
I know much more about one grandfather’s house than the other one, because the one I know about was right down the street from the house I was raised in. That grandfather died in the 80s, before I really got to know him, but his widow (my grandmother) lived in that house until she died in 2016. I visited that house many times and even helped my father build the deck on it.
I don’t know what my grandfather paid for that house, but I know that, when it was sold “as in” after my grandmother passed, just eight years ago, it sold for $63k. According to Zillow, it’s now worth close to $200k. Same house. Eight years. Triple the price. Insanity.
And it’s not just that house. My mother’s house, where she still lives, just a few doors down, is has tripled in value in the last decade.
The house my grandfather raised his kids in was (and still is) just three bedrooms, one bath, tiny kitchen, and a little over 1,200 square feet. It is 1/3 the size of the house I am currently sitting in, and I would call my house fairly modest by Chicago standards. My grandfather’s house featured a detached two-car garage which he used as a workshop, a carport, a huge yard with a vegetable garden, two old-growth pecan trees and, of all things, a small vineyard.
I didn’t realize how cool it was that my grandparents had a small vineyard growing in their back yard until I was well into my 20s and, by then, it had been mostly destroyed by neglect (my grandmother couldn’t maintain it on her own in her old age), and I lived too far away to help her with it. The last time I drove past it, last summer, it looked like the new owners hadn’t taken it down, but hadn’t fixed it, either. It’s just continuing it’s multi-decade decay.
But I’ll bet it was pretty awesome back when my grandparents were raising their children in that house.
Anyway, besides things being a lot cheaper when my grandparents were raising their children, there were also just fewer expenses. Among all eight of their combined children, only one went to college, and that was for just one semester. Each family only had one car. Each family only had one TV, and they didn’t pay for cable until the early 1990s. The airwave signals were free. Each house had a single, land line phone. None of my grandparents ever had a credit card. The only things they bought on credit were their houses and cars.
About two hours ago, I gave my son my credit card so he could by a $2.50 Gatorade from a vending machine. My grandparents would be mortified about everything in that transaction.
I understand why so many young people feel like they’re getting cheated by this economy. They are. Who is cheating them, and why, and how to fix it, are where I disagree with many of them. But yes, I do agree that they have a much, much steeper mountain to climb to get to the same summit that my grandparents (their great-grandparents’ generation) seemed to have handed to them.
Respect
Are squids smart enough to be pets?
They are plenty smart enough, but they make terrible pets. You see, squid are what we call pelagic critters, meaning they spend most of their time in open water, away from the sea floor or any other features. They like lots and lots of water around them.
Their primary escape mechanism is to simply jet away into the abyss at Squid Warp Speed. It is so fast you literally cannot see it.
My bride and I met on a squid study, which involved a lot of laying in the water on snorkel and hand recording everything the individual squid did. One morning we were watching our usual flotilla of Sepioteuthis (Caribbean Reef Squid) and scrawling their antics on our slates.
And then, *blink.* They were gone. All 17 squid just vanished at once. We knew what happened, of course, but not why. We looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. Bonaire, the Caribbean island in the Dutch Antilles where the study took place, has extremely clear water. We could see easily 100 feet in all directions, but could not identify what spooked the squid. We were very sure it wasn’t us. Since we had been studying this particular school for weeks, the squid were extremely used to people by now.
Then, slowly out of the haze, a large barracuda cruised into view from the East, about 80 feet away. We could not even guess how the squid knew so quick, but they knew a big predator was moving in, and they Got Out Of Town by jetting away so fast (and far) we could not even keep track. The squid didn’t even bother shooting ink. They just disappeared.
This is why you cannot keep squid easily in captivity. They have had over 500 million years to develop this explosive escape strategy and, being prey for almost every predator in the ocean means they react to almost anything. Since invisible walls have never existed in nature, they cannot understand glass and don’t adapt to aquariums. At the slightest provocation, captive squid panic and try to blast away to safety, but they wind up slamming into the aquarium walls over and over and injuring themselves grievously.
Squid researchers have had mixed success with soft-sides inflatable pools as well as ring-shaped enclosures, but these critters do best out in open water.
On the other hand, octopuses do make excellent, if short lived, pets.
Please call the police
Angel Shot Straight Up/Neat is code for, “I need an escort to my car.”
Angel Shot on Ice/on the Rocks is code for, “Please call a taxi/Uber/Lyft for me.”
Angel Shot with a Twist/Lemon/Lime is code for, “I am in immediate danger.Please call the police.”
How can China brace for economic sanctions by the West in case it “reunites” with Taiwan militarily and not end up economically isolated like Russia?
Build more of these.
main qimg 48c6d17f2eadc8bc36f00d981ce05414 lq
A nuclear exchange is at this point all but INEVITABLE.
What we need is to massively increase our nuclear bombs and missile systems.
Right now we have 5–600 bombs. That means we have to be selective about the cities we hit.
But with 1000 we can hit even smaller cities.
The white supremacists have literally parked a SSBN in Korea to do this.
We need a massive counter strike ability to take the white supremacists to hell with us. They can die in nuclear fires along with us.
Liberals will say but I don’t want nuclear war. Well the Nuclear Taboo is a myth.
Nooooo!
Did any Chinese people successfully escape from being captured by Xiongnu/Hunnic raiders during their raids on China in history?
This Chinese man was Zhang Qian.
In 139 B.C., Zhang Qian set out on a westward journey with his interpreter and an escort of about 100 men. But just as they entered the Hexi Corridor, they were bumped into by Xiongnu cavalry. After a battle, all the others were killed in battle, and only Zhang Qian and the interpreter, who did not take part in the battle, survived. Zhang Qian and his interpreter survived.
The two did not resist, and were escorted by the Huns’ cavalry from the Hexi Corridor to the King’s Court of the Xiongnu, a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers. The Xiongnu Chanyu also wanted to get information about the Han Dynasty from Zhang Qian, so he actively instigated him to rebel and even arranged for a high-status Xiongnu noblewoman to marry him.
Zhang Qian had been single for almost 30 years and readily accepted the kindness of the Xiongnu Chanyu, but he still did not leak any information about the Han Dynasty. Not only that, Zhang Qian also secretly mastered a lot of information about the Huns while living in the Xiongnu’ territory.
After ten years of this kind of life, Zhang Qian managed to escape with the help of his Xiongnu wife. However, he was captured by the Hun cavalry for the second time shortly after his escape.
The second time was in 128 B.C. Zhang Qian wanted to return to Chang’an. This time he deliberately avoided the sphere of influence of the Xiongnu people, but he was really unlucky and was caught by the Xiongnu people once again. Zhang Qian had already given up hope, but to his surprise, he was rescued by the Xiongnu woman again and escaped. This time Zhang Qian took her back to Chang’an.
In 126 BC, Zhang Qian, his Hun wife, son, and translator returned to Chang’an after an absence of thirteen years.
Upon his return, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made him Marquis of Bowang for his military service.
Although Zhang Qian was promoted, his Xiongnu wife who had made great contributions to him died of illness after one year in Chang’an because she was not adapted to the environment.
I guess Zhang Qian was a handsome man and his Xiongnu wife loved him wholeheartedly and even betrayed the Xiongnu Chanyu.
Funny and Cute
Are there any other countries besides North Korea with authoritarian or totalitarian governments? Are countries like China and Cuba considered communist?
Sunak, Biden and the western nations are authoritarian too, just that you are blinded by their authoritarianism! They are against the wishes of their people. Their people don’t want to murder women and Children all over the world. Their people are forced to listen only to western media in Ukraine! The want the truth but they are fed lies upon lies. Their people want their governments to focus on their own country and their own people but millions are left homeless and without medical care.
I’ve had enough
What’s the fastest you’ve wiped a smirk off of someone’s face?
my first husband was extremely abusive and had been for years but I just couldn’t seem to find the help I needed to leave. One day he came home drunk with his friends and because I knew he would become violent, I refused to let him in. Unfortunately he kicked the front door down in 2 kicks and before I could get to the phone he was in the house and on me. I spent 3 days in the hospital and because the beating was so severe, I was offered help that I immediately accepted. After being released from the hospital I was escorted by a battered womens advocate and police officer but I only had 15 minutes to grab what I could. While I was doing my grabcand go I could hear him tell the officer that it was all just a minor misunderstanding and how he wad sorry but sure we could work through everything, blah, blah, blah. As I was walking out with the few posessions that I could grab, and with the officer still standing next to him, I looked at him with a big smile and told him that he may want to get a new toothbrush because I had been cleaning the toilet with it for months. The fake smile was wiped right off of his face but the cop had a smirk. Before anyone asks, yes I was cleaning the toilet with his toothbrush.
She’s on drugs and rude
What is the most condescending advice you received from someone who assumed you were poorer or less educated than them?
I had finished scraping the bottom of my boat and decided to have a shower at the clubhouse. Scraping bottom paint must be the dirtiest job in the world (potentially dangerous to your health without proper clothing and a respirator) and I was utterly filthy. As I walked up to the clubhouse, a guy in his mid-forties, a new member it turns out, told me I was not allowed in the “club,” as “no labourers allowed”. I laughed in his face and kindly told him to fuck off. He then told me he was getting the Commodore and that I would be barred from working at this club again. I said good luck with that and again told him to fuck off. When I finished up in the shower, I went to the wardroom to meet my wife and to have a beer. This guy was in the wardroom talking to the Commodore when I came in. When he saw me he said to the Commodore that I was a disrespectful shit and that I should be blackballed from the club. The Commodore said that I might be a shit, but I was a member in good standing and it would look bad if she tried to blackball her husband.
AI learning
Which country has superior products between Japan and China?
Depends on the Products in Question
Let’s see where Japan leads and dominates over China :-
Refrigeration
Cameras & Lenses
Petrol Engines
Industrial Robots
Hybrid Vehicles
Japanese Exports are primarily in these industries.
Japan has the best quality products in the world in these categories
Let’s see where China leads and dominates over Japan:-
Shipbuilding
Railroads & Electrified Railway Design and manufacture
Infrastructure Steel & Equipment & High Machinery
Television LCD Panels
High Efficiency (> 25%) Solar Panels
NEV Batteries & Integrated Platforms
New Energy Vehicles
Deep Core Gas Drilling Equipment
Data Centers
Windmill & Wind Turbines
Chinese Exports are primarily in these Industries
China has the best quality products in the world in these categories
Then you have areas where both Japan and China are not yet on par with global (western standards) :-
Advanced Lenses (Germany)
Advanced Chips (US, Europe, Korea)
Advanced Computing (US)
Diesel Engines (Germany)
Aviation Components (Europe, US)
Pharmaceuticals (Switzerland, US, France)
In these areas, neither Japan nor China have the quality of their Western counterparts
These form a huge chunk of Chinas Imports and Japans imports
The West is completely fucked up
Iowa Spaghetti Sauce
When we were young, we looked forward to visiting my Aunt Anita in Muscatine, Iowa. She always had this ready for us when we arrived. We fought over the mushrooms, so over time, she added up to three times the amount of mushrooms called for!
iowa spaghetti sauce
Ingredients
3 or 4 cloves garlic
2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup finely chopped celery
Salt, to taste
1 large can mushrooms, drained
Instructions
Brown garlic in 1 tablespoon salad oil; discard garlic. Add ground meat and salt, 1/2 cup water and cook.
When the meat is half done, add the onions and cook until done.
Add the remaining ingredients, except the mushrooms, and cook until thick, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Add mushrooms when thick.
Serve over spaghetti!
It takes it
Former prisoners: What should a person not write in a letter from home? What type of stuff was not helpful to your psyche?
Let ‘er rip baby! Fire away! Don’t hold back.
Don’t hold anything back. The hardest letters in prison were the ones I didn’t get.
Maybe you don’t want to write to me because you’re angry. I did something stupid, got my dumb ass tossed in the cooler, and you’re livid.
There-is-no-better-time-to-write!
I’m a sitting duck! I’ve got nothing better to do than read your letter. I’ll read it again and again! Write out your rant, become my personal troll, and flame on old-school from afar. You might have six months worth of rage pent up, waiting to be unleashed on the page. Get it off your chest. Toss open the hatches and let loose whatever foul demons you’ve been harboring below deck. Let me know the full depth and breadth of your wrath.
I would much rather deal with this now through letters than during our first face to face encounter years later. We can discuss everything, get to the heart of it, and maybe even move on.
Has a loved one of mine passed on? Are you afraid that telling me will break my heart? If I go years without getting a letter from that person, that will break my heart. I’ll wonder on a daily basis why mom doesn’t write anymore. Then on that day when I’m finally released, a day meant to be full of hope and new beginnings, you finally hit me with the bad news?
No thanks. Tell me now. Toll that bell and let me grieve here in this hell hole in my own time and way.
Some of the hardest time I did was when it was clear that my girlfriend was breaking up with me. She stopped writing, stopped answering phone calls, stopped caring.
I knew what was happening, but without her black and white confirmation, it was a glacial band-aid ripping — it lasted months. A simple letter could’ve put it to a swift and final conclusion. I wouldn’t have gotten out two years later wondering, “Where is everyone?”
What subjects should you avoid? None.
Don’t waste any time worrying about my psyche. I’m a big enough boy to find my way into prison. Your letters aren’t going to push me over the edge, but maybe they’ll push us closer together.
Young men are turning their backs on women in record numbers
The is the reality right now. Gen-Z. People are not meant to be living alone. Thank you “WOKE” society.
Pope Francis was asked what he would tell Ukraine President Zelensky and his response was succinct: Surrender, you’re defeated.
Of course, His Holiness put it more gracefully. His exact words were:
"I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people, and has the courage of the white flag and negotiates. The word negotiate is a courageous word. When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well. you have to have the courage to negotiate."
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron, president of France, is beating the war drums for NATO entry into the Ukraine-Russia conflict. He continues to push the suicidal notion of NATO countries sending troops in to fight alongside Ukraine, despite being repeatedly warned NATO entry into that conflict would result in a “war the no one will win.” That is to say, a nuclear war.
Macron just today began mobilizing trainloads of French Armor, including tanks, heading east for Ukraine. Video below shows one such train:
— What the media hides. (@narrative_hole) March 9, 2024
Moreover, French troops are preparing for a high-intensity conflict against an enemy who can match them with firepower — a big change for an army that’s spent the past decades fighting counterinsurgency campaigns in places like Mali and Afghanistan.
The hostilities in Ukraine, in their third year, have brought full-scale war back to the Continent, said Colonel Axel Denis, who runs the combat training center (CENTAC) at Mailly-le-camp in eastern France.
“The world has revealed its true nature: unstable, dangerous, and not everyone is a friend. We’re gearing up for a culture of alert, of being ready at short notice,” he told POLITICO during a visit to the camp. “CENTAC is the only place [in France] where you can see what war is like.”
Conditions for the troops training at CENTAC are as close as possible to an actual battlefield. The sound, heat and light of artillery fire is reproduced, while fake mines are scattered everywhere, and radio communications can be interrupted without notice.
History shows that the last time the French went into Russia, under Napoleon Bonaparte, they lost 650,000 soldiers. Their bones were left to disintegrate in Russia.
Those who do not learn from history, seem doomed to repeat it.
What is your best “one time my dad … ” story?
One time I was working on my car. I was lying on my back under the engine but I was quite safe as I had raised the car on proper axle stands before removing the front wheels. To be even safer I had chosen to work on the engine with the car parked in the street as it was flat and horizontal. Our driveway was at an angle.
Dad was standing at the front of the car leaning under the bonnet (hood) and directing operations. It was a good time working with my dad.
One of our neighbours arrived and made a complete bodge of parking. He hit my car very slowly with his bumper. No damage to either car but the impact was enough to rock my car forward. The forward motion was enough to cause my car to roll off the axle stands. As the front wheels had been removed the whole weight of the engine descended on my chest.
Dad anticipated what would happen. As soon as the car began to move he grabbed the front bumper with one hand and my legs with the other hand. My father is not a big man. He was 5′-10″ but fairly heavily built. He lifted the front of a Ford Cortina with one hand while pulling me out from underneath with the other.
As far as I was concerned he earned another gold star when he dropped the car and dragged our neighbour from his car and slugged him on the jaw. As he fell, out cold, I will always remember Dad shouting,
When I was a boy in middle school, perhaps 12 to 14 years old, I needed a new pair of boots for winter time. Well, it seemed that my father has an old pair of work boots that he never used. And so he gave them to me to wear during Winter.
These were “Engineer’s boots”, and are typical boots that you see bikers wear or the Terminator, dressed in biker garb, wear. I thought that they looked cool.
boots
Only one thing though.
They were steel toed, meaning that the front of them were steel. Great to protect your feet. But, terrible in the Winter.
My father knew that this was a problem, and told me so. But I refused to listen to him, and so I wore those things for maybe four or five years until I went and got myself a real genuine pair of hiking boots.
Hiking Boots
Never the less, it was a true and real miracle that I never got frost-bite while wearing them. My feet were constantly frozen each and every time I stepped outside in the frozen woods around my home.
Was I bad and wrong for wearing them? Yes I was.
Should my father thrown those boots away and got me a replacement pair without the steel toe up front? Yes he should of.
But time is the teacher, and what I know know is only through the prism of experience. What experiences have you had that would have avoided mistakes in your past? I’ll bet you have many.
Don’t you?
As a side note, when I lived in Boston, Massachusetts, I needed a good pair of Winter Boots. This of course, was decades after the boot adventure. So I went to a local store and got me a proper pair of New England Winter boots, and I’ll tell you, I was never happier.
Easy to put on and take off. Easy to clean and dry: the inserts came out and were washable. Comfortable, warm… always. And my feet were never cold, wet or frozen.
And NO, this is not a paid advertisement. Get them HERE.
Bean Winter Duck Bill Snow Boots
These were the shit! I’ll tell you what.
Today…
Generate you own music
Free application, and this makes actual music. Of course, I have been playing around with it.
[Verse]In Jamaica, sunny days Irie vibes, and feelin' irie ways (irie ways) But when me hungry, I know what's good Peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, that's what's understood (oh yeah)
[Chorus]Spread the peanut-butter, spread the jelly (ooh-yeah) Put 'em together, it's a reggae melody Spread the peanut-butter, spread the jelly (ooh-yeah) Dance along, feel the rhythm, it's so jellylicious (jellylicious)
[Verse]In the morning, when I rise I got a craving, I can't disguise I need some sweetness to start my day Spinnin' around, like a reggae DJ (yeah, yeah)
[Chorus]Peanut-butter and jelly, it's the perfect blend (ooh-yeah) Spread it on thick, let the flavors transcend With every bite, feelin' oh so fine (oh so fine) Groovin' with PB&J, it's a reggae rhyme (yeah, yeah)
Here’s two Country & Western songs about Peanut-butter pies…
[Verse]Sitting on the front porch, gettin' lost in the sun Got a jar of peanut butter, it's my kind of fun Mix it up with some sugar, creamy and sweet Spread it on a crust, can't be beat, can't be beat (ooh-yeah)
[Chorus]Peanut butter pies, oh they make me smile With every bite, it's like a little slice of sky Peanut butter pies, oh they're pure delight They keep me comin' back, every single night (ooh, ooh)
[Verse]Well, I was sittin' on my porch in the sunny afternoon When my mama brought me a treat, it was comin' to bloom She said, "Darlin', I made your favorite, just for you" I took a bite and knew I had to share the news
[Chorus]Peanut-butter pies, sweet as a southern sunrise Meltin' in your mouth, takin' you to paradise With each bite, my heart takes flight, oh my-oh my Peanut-butter pies, can't get enough, oh, I can't deny
AI is a major force, and will slam-dunk our society. Today…
Have you ever met your school bully as an adult?
I was terrorised as a child by the older kids in my neighbourhood. We were poor but I was quite popular with other kids my age. For some reason this made me a target with the popular older kids. They would take great pleasure in chasing me and if they caught me they would beat me to a pulp. It was the 80s and this kind of thing was just accepted.
Fast forward 10 years. I’ve done an apprenticeship as a scaffolder, put on a lot of weight. Bulked so much I’ve earned the name Tank at work. I bump into the ring leader of the older kids in a night club.
I get we were kids when the bullying happened and think that as he’s now grown up he’s probably grown up. As I pass him I smile and say “Alright, mate?” He replies with “Don’t fucking speak to me”. This stops me in my tracks. I look him dead in the eye. The club feels like it’s gone silent as I contemplate knocking his head clean off of his shoulders. I said to him:
“Listen Julian, we’re not 10 any more and this isn’t the estate, now, turn back around and walk out of here before you get hurt.”
He froze. There was a look of sheer confusion on his face. He turned on his heels and walked out the door without another word.
The simple answer: Me. On September 3, 2012, when I was 35, I had the first of 4 sudden cardiac arrests and clinically died. I was anoxic, or without breath for somewhere under 10 minutes. I was diagnosed with a heart condition called Brugada Syndrome, which is a gene mutation that largely goes undiagnosed because the first symptom is death. In that time, I suffered mild traumatic brain injury or tbi. Before that I was a lively, smart woman, mom, fluent Spanish speaker with a great job of 6 years. After I came home, I couldn’t recall that thing the kids played with in the backyard. I just pointed and cried. Their swingset. My doctors couldn’t agree on when, or if I should return to work. Subsequently I was terminated as was denied short term disability because their physicians didn’t agree with mine and my time off wasn’t covered. I had never been fired before, and it’s never gotten easier since. I’ve been fired 4 times. I have worked at Walmart, and as a receptionist at a small nursing home. My doctors told me to try Disability(SSDI). I tried and was denied, saying I was too young and able to be a mail sorter. I kid you not. I struggle. Then 5 ‘events’ with my ICD(internal defibrillators) and 2 unsuccessful cardiac ablations left me with anxiety, panic attacks and PTSD. I have lost so much of my memory, including most of my Spanish skills, my confidence, my ability to learn new things much less recall previous things. My short term memory is appalling and I reach for words often. 3 weeks ago I was let go from yet another job, despite telling them of my ADA status. At least I got excellent counseling which all but erased the mental anguish.
So yes, I miss the person who I was.
I can relate to this
Chicken and Vegetable Stew (Saucochi di Gallinja)
2024 02 18 09 50
Yield: 8 or 9 servings
Ingredients
1 (2 1/2 to 3 pound) broiler-fryer chicken, cut up
6 cups water
2 tablespoons instant beef bouillon
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch slices
2 medium sweet potatoes or yams, cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 ears sweet corn, cut into 3 pieces
1/4 pound winter squash, pared and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (1 cup)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1 small hot chile pepper, stemmed, seeded and sliced
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Chopped chives
Instructions
Heat chicken, water and bouillon to boiling in Dutch oven; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.
Skim off fat. Add remaining ingredients except chives. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until thickest pieces of chicken are done and vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
Garnish each serving with chives.
What China Just Did Changes The Entire Space Industry And America Is Terrified!
Once again as a racist you cannot see beyond wages. As a spremacist you miss the point all together about the education, the trainings , the willingness to learn, the feebleness, the ability to adapt and change, the characteristics of Chinese language that is superior in retaining knowledge and the unique discipline, and hard work of the Chinese workers and a whole host of the Confucian and Taoist edicts that groomed a Chinese worker from birth that so much affect the immense productivity and efficiency of Chinese workers.
So white Caucasians analyst are simply unaware of these characteristics and they think simply and blindly thinks that Chinese makes things cheaper because of wages and government support and taxes means absolutely nothing compared to a perfectly well trained and highly disciplined worker.
My first job as a Town Manager in the early 80’s was in a small town in Kentucky along the Mississippi River. Some interesting tid-bits….
The Chief of Police was driving me around my first week there. We were in a residential area and he stopped and opened his door. He got out his shotgun and shot a dog in the street. He got back in the car, called Public Works and told them to pick up the dead dog on Maple Street. When I asked him why he shot the dog he said it didn’t have a dog tag.
Town Hall was located in downtown. I’m working in my office on the second floor and when I hear a gun shot blast. I looked out the window and there’s a half dozen people waking down the middle of the street with shotguns. I called the police dispatcher and said there’s people with shotguns walking downtown and shooting, please let the Chief know. The dispatcher said “yeah, it’s pigeon day. All the duck hunters get together and shoot the pigeons. It’s a warm up to duck season which starts this weekend. I believe the Chief is with them.”
The local doctor died a few months before I got there. He had been the only doctor in town for 30+ years. He willed his medical office building to the Town. One of my jobs would be to modernize the office and find a new doctor. When I went in the office to see what needed to be done I noted he had two waiting rooms. I assumed that was “well” patients and “sick” patients. It wasn’t. It was blacks and whites.
The nearest TV stations was Memphis and Cape Girardeau, Missouri. They were too far away for ‘over the air’ reception so people in town didn’t own television sets. I called a cable company and had them built a cable system in town.
We operated the local utilities, which included water, sewer and natural gas. We had a separate building for the electric system. Two women worked inside the office and a crew of men did the outside electric work. One of the women went to Disney World on vacation. While she was gone the other woman had an emergency operation. This was the first time both had been gone at the same time in years. I called my wife and asked her to cover for them until one or the other got back. My wife was a CPA and home along (without TV) with our toddler son. She jumped at the chance to do something. She opened the office and before lunch she called and told me the woman were taking cash out of the cash drawer and covering the missing money with their own personal checks, which they never deposited. More than $3,000. I told her to deposit their checks. I hired an auditor to come investigate, had the locks on the doors changed, filed a police report and informed the Mayor & Council. I fired the women. The checks bounced. The Town Council told me to not press charges against the women. The women filed for unemployment, which I appealed and won.
There was a giant flood wall to keep the river from flooding downtown. We had a number of large pump stations to pump water over the dikes and flood wall. Beavers was the bane of the town. There was a “bounty” on beaver ears and there was a local guy who bought beaver fur.
The volunteer Fire Chief invited me to a monthly last Friday cookout which I accepted of course. As it turns out that was men only, no wives. Just as well, my wife would never had eaten the beaver stew.
I was the Town Manager for 365 days and took a job in Tennessee in a very interesting town.
The Ukraine War taught the Taiwanese a lesson. The so-called protection of Taiwan by the West is to make Taiwan the battlefield and let the Taiwanese suffer the consequences of the war. Taiwan is part of China at present International laws so China has sovereignty over Taiwan. China has an Anti-Seperation Law. if Taiwan pushes for independence, it will get into war. Now they understand the so-called Western protection for them is a trap. Their youths will die. Their seniors and children will become refugees that already saturated the developed countries so that they may have no place to escape the war.
The West will supply weapons to Taiwan to fight till the last Taiwanese, just as now Ukraine has to fight the last Ukrainians.
Ukraine War is evident. The US wants Taiwan to claim independence as soon as possible. So the US makes a big arms sale to Taiwan, giving them the false perception of “safe”. The US needs the Ukraine War to weaken Russia. The US wants to weaken China more than Russia. So the US wants Taiwan to provoke a proxy war for the US.
The US is a very smart businessman. If the US wages war on China, the US soldiers will die and the US has to commit many resources such as arsenals. Now it can let the Taiwanese replace the US soldiers in the war, and Taiwan even has to purchase the weapons, to fight the war for the US geopolitical objective. The US wants to fight a war against China without cost a penny and a single soldier. The US wants a war it can profit from while Taiwan bears all the costs, including lives and weapons. The US already profited from the perception of war because it made a big sale of weapons to Taiwan.
You see this face and you don’t really get awed by these warnings
Your first thought is STUPID MORON
This guy doesn’t have the ability to put that voice of steel that some US Leaders had in the past
It’s why everybody has openly mocked him, from MBS blatantly ignoring him for 24 hours to Jordan openly telling him to go f*** himself to Qatar to Iraq all snubbing him including our EAM Jaishankar
image 261
Someone like James Baker would be different
His voice would have that steel warning
You would think twice before acting against the man
Not Blinken
Not Biden
Not Austin
Not Sunak
Not Ursula
These are Circus Clowns and if they warn, you can laugh and ignore them safely
What comes to mind as I move through a dining experience?
When you arrive, you’re greeted by a doorman, who opens the car door, ladies first. If it’s raining, they escort you to the door under a large umbrella.
The door is opened for you, and the host(s) say hello immediately rather than looking down at a floor chart. Maybe greeting you by name.
There is either someplace to check your coat, or the host helps you off with yours and checks it for you. The host would return it to you when you’re ready to go.
The music is subtle, whatever kind it is.
Lighting is appropriate. There are fresh flowers and in the evenings, candlelight (with real candles). People look better in candlelight, and a lady feeling pretty creates another luxurious atmosphere.
If, God forbid, your table wasn’t ready you’re escorted to the bar for a cocktail. There are no buzzing pagers (nor inappropriate jokes about stuffing it down their pants), no name screaming when your table was finally ready. The host carries the drinks for you to your table. If more than two, the ladies’ drinks are carried. Checks are seamlessly transferred from the bar to the table. You TIP the bartender very subtly.
Chairs are pulled out for you, ladies first. When all are seated, then the menus are handed out.
Menus might be printed daily, but there is no stickiness, crumbs, or fingerprints on menus that are reused. No pictures on the menu, nor vendor logos. Probably no prices. They probably don’t offer wings.
There are utensils for each basic course. The waiter (and they’re waiters, not servers) replaces silverware with each course if the meal choices require a different utensil, usually with a mise en place. Proper underliners are used under soup or dessert bowls, ramekins come on a plate, too. (Ben Maurer) Crumbers are used. There are chargers.
No water spots on the silver or glassware. Or windows! (Leroy Binx) God forbid, no crumbs on the floor or seats.
Having someone walk you to the restroom rather than pointing across the room.
There isn’t a “no problem” to be heard.
There is no He or She when addressing someone about someone else. For example, not “She ordered the salmon” but rather “The lady ordered the salmon”. The word “food” is a 4-letter “f” word. (So is “free” and “fair”) It’s “your meal”, “your dinner”, etc. Not “your food”. One doesn’t eat, one dines. You’re not eating with us tonight, you’re dining with us tonight. (Sorry – I don’t know the answer to the pronoun issues people are having these days.)
Water glasses are never low, and you didn’t have to ask for water in the first place. Water is poured after you’re seated, without a drop being spilled on the tablecloth. Although, the waiter might still ask you if you prefer sparkling or still bottled water.
The meal looks beautiful, i.e. no broccoli stems pointing up. (People eat with their eyes) No finger prints on the plates. Protein (main course) is always served at 6:00 on the plate. Ladies first. Period. Meal delivery as well: “And the lady ordered the salmon” as the dish is placed in front of her, coming in from the left. Plates are not handed to the guests. Served from the left, removed from the right. Sometimes, every person is served at the very same time by a group of waiters. It’s called a “drop” (A group of waiters? A “gaggle”? Just kidding!)
Black or white napkins, which, if you get up are refolded neatly on your chair.
Every time a table is bussed, which is immediately, it looks like it’s never been seated before. Condiments (salt & pepper) full and clean, perfectly placed. Freshly ground pepper is always offered, along with grated cheese where appropriate. The latter either freshly grated into a bowl, served by spoon (rare) or by a little grinder that is silver, not plastic. No one says, “Say when”. Holding up your hand a little, palm down says it all.
No catsup or mustard bottles in sight. Ever. (Andre Serafin and Kristin A) Mustard, catsup, mayonnaise, and horseradish are served in ramekins or tiny bowls with small spoons. They probably don’t have steak sauce, although accommodating a guest is paramount, so these days it will probably come in a ramekin, too.
Edited 12/10/19 to add: I’ve often enjoyed and taken for granted the service of a Sommelier, whose job it is to create wine lists, pair wine, and make recommendations of wine on or off the written wine list. What I didn’t know, was the rigorous training and testing it takes to become a Sommelier! There are only a few over 200 in the world, so they are a Big Deal. That said, I’ve never known if the Sommelier just came to our table because we were looking at wine, or if their expertise needed to be requested. A glaring hole in my experience, I must say. Any thoughts or “subtle differences” to contribute?
A red wine glass for red, a white wine glass for white. Red wine is never oxidized. When a bottle of wine is served, it’s (Steven Michael) decanted or chilled appropriately. The restaurant doesn’t even ask, and they know what and when wine should be decanted. The wine tasting is handled with grace and silence, in the appropriate order. The cork should be placed next to the host (Liam MacDonald) so the host can make certain the cork is moist and there aren’t any telltale signs the wine has turned. If the table isn’t already set with glasses for that wine selection, the appropriate glasses are set once the wine is approved. (Rachel Bateman) The invisible waiter tops off the wine. The guest never touches the bottle.
The port doesn’t have pour spouts in them, nor does good scotch or whiskey. White Zinfandel isn’t a featured wine type. There’s a good chance there is no happy hour.
There are no dirty aprons nor shirts on the waiters. No shabby shoes. No crazy hair styles, piercings or tattoos. (Sorry all. That’s life.)
When its a mixed gender couple or table, males’ plates are never removed until the females are finished dining.
Dessert menus are handed out without asking, coffee, tea, espresso or an after dinner brandy or port is always offered.
There are no bus tubs, no stacks of dishes through the dining room, and empty plates are removed IMMEDIATELY directly to the kitchen. Oh. Plates are removed to the kitchen to be boxed. A guest is never, ever, handed a box with a cheery, “Here you go!” The package is always in a nice bag.
There is some controversy in the comments over leftovers. Since I am writing this, I’ll say my own feelings agree with Tim Chisell and Umair about waste, portion control and not being served troughs of food, so there really shouldn’t be leftovers. People do take food home (have you never seen a little tin foil swan?) so I added what a restaurant would not do: hand you a big box.
When you get your leftovers home, the contents look like a beautiful meal. After all, those are the very last impression of you as a waiter and the restaurant.
The check. Reminded to me by my mother. One signs on one’s account. If one must handle a form of payment, it’s normally a card, very subtly put into a check presenter. Not stuck out the top for all to view.
Believe it or not, it’s not just bread or rolls before a meal. It’s not valet parking, or sorbet between courses. Those would be obvious attempts, but if other items such as those which come to mind for me aren’t present, it’s nice, but maybe — not always — a wannabe. It could just be a nicer restaurant not trying to be more than a comfortable, more upscale place to dine. But high-end? Add in details such as these and it will elevate a restaurant.
So there are a lot more obvious indicators, but what really makes or breaks the difference is quality of the food, the service and presentation. Anticipation of the guest’s needs. Sauces, condiments, appropriate suggestions that might enhance the meal for some, but not for others — just to be sure. The appreciation of the guest.
Edited to add: I’ve received so much fun feedback to this answer, I thought I’d incorporate suggestions from commenters. Quora is acting funny (maybe) and not letting me see all the comments, but I’ll be adding them in. Thank you!
And, now I read that I, or this answer, is the highest read in the restaurant category. Interesting to me that something I began almost wistfully others have enjoyed. So thank you and thanks for participating!
If I could change one thing about American schooling — mostly at the high school and college level — I would make it mandatory to teach financial literacy. And I don’t mean basic stuff like how to write a check — that was what passed for “financial literacy” when I was in high school in the 1980s.
I mean we turn out college and high school graduates who have never learned about things like credit scores, how loans work, how taxes work, the value of retirement accounts, how the stock market really works, etc.
My two kids are ages 25 and 23, and anything they know on those subjects, they mostly learned from my wife and me. For the most part, we don’t teach kids how to stay out of financial trouble.
So we have full-grown adults walking into a car dealership, and the salesman steers the question to, “How much car payment can you afford?” The salesman is hoping that the customer is financially illiterate and doesn’t understand what a terrible question that is — for the customer. The salesman will hear that you can afford $600 per month and come back with, “Hmm, we can work with that.” The customer ends up leaving in their $40,000 car, pleased as punch that they can actually afford it, and they think the salesman did them a favor. Maybe down the road they figure out that they’re paying 12% interest on an 84 month car loan, and that they only got half of what their trade-in should have been worth.
Same thing happens on the mortgage front, by the way. Some loan officer runs a preapproval on a young couple and tells them they can afford a $300,000 house. I guarantee you that the couple zooms in on that price point. If they slowed down and asked, they might find out that they can qualify for a $225,000 house with a 15 year mortgage at a substantially lower interest rate, meaning that they build equity faster, pay less in interest, and should they choose to do so, own the house free and clear after 15 years, as opposed to still owing 15 more years of payments if they’d taken the 30 year mortgage. And all they had to do was ask, and reset their expectation to a slightly less expensive house.
So in summary, why are people struggling and over-spending? Because they’re financially illiterate, and we as a society don’t seem to think that’s a problem.
The only time it really happened was when I sprained my ankle.
I was working in retail management and we had inventory coming up on a Sunday.
Friday I sprained my ankle bad. But because of how US healthcare is, I tried to put off having it seen by a doctor because, ugh horrible health insurance and bills. But that Saturday, since I could barely walk, I saw a doctor. And after x-rays to confirm it wasn’t actually broken, given an air-cast boot and doctor’s note for my employer with work restrictions.
I was scheduled that Sunday for inventory plus 2 hours in the store prior to closing. I showed up, air-cast and all, to try to explain that I didn’t think I’d be able to work the inventory. I mean, seems obvious right? Air-cast, doctor’s note, work restrictions, etc.?
The other store management had zero issue with me not working the inventory, they understood I was actually injured and not faking it. They also knew how rarely I called in.
Not to my district manager. Who threatened me with termination. 4 years of work, almost never calling in sick, working every Helliday shit shift, and because I was only one of 5 members of management there that day who was actually injured, I could be fired.
So, malicious compliance it is.
My work restrictions were very detailed and explicit. No climbing, no squatting, no standing for more than 15 minutes at a time, must elevate my ankle every 30 minutes, must be allowed to sit for any tasks that don’t need to be done standing, etc. I also, per company policy, faxed (yes, that long ago) copies of my doctor’s note, etc. to the HR office with a follow-up email.
And I followed the work restrictions to the letter for the whole shift. Despite the fact they had external inventory counters, it still took longer than scheduled, which meant, by law, every member of the store management staff other than the district manager(salary position) had to be paid overtime, since it put us all over 40 hours for the week.
On Monday, the district manager got chewed out by HR and his boss, the area manager.
For having so much overtime (for 5 people, about 2 hours each), for ignoring my doctor’s note, for not excusing me from inventory, for erroneously threatening me with termination (my email mentioned I understood termination of my employment was a possibility due to my injury), and a few other things.
I received 2 days off with pay, apologies from the area manager, HR and the district manager (begrudgingly from him), and wasn’t written up.
And while the district manager bore a grudge against me for his ass chewing, he was also incredibly hesitant to pull any similar stunts against me. It took him about 8 months to do so, and when he did, I left the company, after explaining why to HR, the area and regional manager.
My quitting also left not one, but 2 stores short staffed as he had expected me to cover another store’s shifts after writing me up, denying me a transfer promotion, and rescinding pre-approved vacation time off.
His actions also led to another ass chewing by his superiors after I left. And two of the top performing employees to quit shortly after.
I’ve been to more suicides and sudden deaths than I can remember, but one has always stood out. It was a lady who had hanged herself. It wasn’t particularly gruesome, she was discovered very quickly, and she had obviously done her homework as it appeared to have been effective and quick. The reason it was so memorable was because of WHERE she did it…
As I say, she had done her homework, and had made a proper noose which she had firmly secured to the rafters in the attic of her home. She had stepped through the attic hatch, which had the effect of acting as a ‘gallows drop’. The hatch to the attic was situated at the top of a flight of stairs, so for us as the attending officers the only way to get to her was to walk up the (fairly narrow and dark) stairs to the top where she was effectively ‘standing’ over us, where we had to gently move her to one side in order to get onto the landing. The power to the dwelling was cut, so the only light available to us was via a bedroom window which was situated directly behind her with the door open, such that she was silhouetted to us, and seemingly looking down with glazed eyes.
I’ve been to deaths over the years which were far more gruesome, but there was something psychologically unnerving on a primeval level about having to climb your way up restricted access to a deceased person who is ‘stood’ in a dominant position over you.
Rationally, the apprehension was purely down to perception. Nonetheless, everyone there physically relaxed once we were able to cut her down and rest her on the ground.
One of my juniors in college was a very chirpy girl. She was an only child. A helpful and polite soul, she was liked by nearly all the students and faculty members.
Her home was situated across our college. We used to often drop by her place while heading back home.
One day, we reached college and were greeted with a heart-wrenching news. Our beloved junior had expired. She was lighting a stove while her parents were out. The stove burst and she met a tragic untimely end. No words can describe the sadness that permeated all our lives. It was difficult to accept that someone so dear was suddenly snatched away from us.
We went to her place to meet uncle and aunty and offer our condolences. They sat silently. Absolutely silent and lost. Their vacant eyes told a story that was gut-wrenching.
The couple had lost the joy of their lives. Their only offspring was gone. While she could never be brought back, our college girls tried to make an effort to mitigate the pain.
From the time she was put to rest, not a single day passed when uncle and aunty were left alone. Every day, some girls used to go over to their place and spend time with the couple. We had even decided on the schedule so as to ensure that we did not miss out on any day.
We used to talk to them, take them out sometimes, run errands for them, regale them with our antics in college and generally try to be there for them.
The process was slow. But eventually uncle and aunty were able to come to terms with their loss and move on with their lives. Their smiles and blessings said it all.
A majority of students came together to show the couple that they were not alone… that they had daughters, just not born in their family. This collective effort was one of the most humane, compassionate and loving gestures I’ve ever witnessed.
“NO WAY” Videos That Are Glitching The Entire Internet Out
Terrifying. This Changes EVERYTHING. MY REACTION to What They’re Planning.
The sound still haunts me. I still think of it, and it happened in 1987 and here we are in 2024 and the sound of that night will be with me until the Lord calls me home.
There I will probably meet the 18-year-old senior in high school who didn’t wear his seatbelt as the car rolled over end to end 11 times after exiting the roadway. He was a back seat passenger with no seatbelt and that resulted in his high-speed ejection thru the rear window. He laid in a field and his body appeared pristine, even though his skull was fractured which killed him instantly. I was the patrolman who responded to handle the accident scene.
The noise was his mother’s scream at 1:17AM in the morning as I stood on the porch after giving her the death notification.
It was primal, it was guttural, and it is forever.
It will never leave my mind or my soul. I will think of that kid forever.
Girls are more attached to their parents emotionally.
Girls who talk less are more romantic and loyal to any kind of relationships .
Girls who talks more are over friendly and confused in their relationships .
If a girl sends you first, good morning messages then more likely she likes you and want you to be her friend .
If a boy continuously calls in every two, three hours then the girl gets irritated. This is the main reason of break ups.
All girls don’t love flowers. Before giving flowers think twice .
Do not gift too early in your relationships. You will lose your dignity. Most of the girls find it awkward.
Girls like boys who visit their house confidently and pass some time with her family.
Girls prefer friendship before any serious relationships. Most girl friends become very good wives except for few.
Girls are experts in reading eyes and body gestures. A decent girl will never fall prey.
Some girls deliberately flirts with boys to get popularity in their friend circle. You can make out from their dressing sense. If you are also a flirty then enjoy.
Girls like the boys who likes to share the money during a date or in group party. They love gifting more than receiving .
Girls mostly respect the boys who help in studies and clearing the doubts. They remain genuine as friends all the time.
Girl can never go to restaurant or cinema hall alone with you if she is not in love with you. If you are flirting, take a note.
Girls like if you talk straight looking into the eyes. If you are really interested, you can try this. If you can talk straight looking into her for five minutes then you are in love .
Girls love to be praised in front of others not in one corner. This shows your lack of confidence. There is nothing wrong in praising in public.
Girls love to be pampered. This is the main reason they get cheated. They trust easily.
Girls like to be independent. They don’t like questioning and blaming always.
Girls don’t love easily and once they love they can go to any extent to own their love. Note this
If a girl easily accepts your expensive gifts then, think twice before dating her .
Girls can sustain unbearable pain emotionally as well as physically. Mother Earth 🙂
I compared Moscow to New York, and indeed, Moscow is nicer, which confirms Tucker Carlson’s claim
China’s trade with the rest of the world increased and improves substantially contrary to your intentional doubt casting. Fact is UK declined by 3.0% GDP Germany too had a negative growth and the uS has barely any real growth! Needless to say China’s trade with them deteriorated significantly in 2023!
Please stop fooling your own people. The problem is that the war which the U.S. and UK and NATO stupidly and barbarically goaded Russia into and highly provoked boomerang back at them hard and is now destroying the western economy. Stop fooling your people it is not hurting you. It is. And in a very big way.
My daughter was around the age of ten and I had given her a box of lolly pops that whistled. I had purchased them in a bulk buy but none of my children liked the flavour. So I sent my daughter to school to share them with the other students. Some time after lunch I got a call from the headmaster to come to the school, as she was in trouble and was being sent home as punishment. He did not go into details over the phone and I was left completely shocked as she was a straight A student and had never been in trouble before.
I arrive at the principal’s office and was seated next to my daughter when he pulled out a plastic bag full of coins and placed it on the desk. He went on to tell me that she had stood outside of the canteen line of students, during lunch hour spruiking “lolly pops for sale only fifty cents”. She had managed to sell every lolly pop I had sent her to school with. The canteen staff complained that they had a contract and that they had lost sales due to her lolly pop sales, so the principal had no other option but to confiscate the money and call me in to address the issue. My daughter sat next to me with tears streaming down her face.
After we discussed why she had that many lolly pops and what was said to her in the morning before she left for school, he realised that this was not something that her parents or any adult had encouraged her to do. He went on to say “ I cannot punish a child that shows entrepreneurial skills that someday could lead to great things”. He applauded her efforts and explained what a contract with the canteen owner meant and why she could not do this again. He handed over the bag of money to her and we happily left his office.
She gleamed all the way home. She not only had lots of cash but she had been given the afternoon off school. I thanked that principal for his honesty and for not punishing her unnecessarily.
Had a slow refrigerant leak in my WRX. I actually heard it hiss slightly at the compressor while topping it off once, so I knew where at least one leak was. Took it to the dealer for a timing belt and asked them to look at the AC. I picked up the car and they said they couldn’t find the leak where I showed them it was, but that I needed a new condenser, the AC tech could smell the refrigerant in the cabin of my car. $3200 to fix.
Said no thanks, I’ll keep topping it off.
Got into the car and it did have an odd odor, which I attributed to it sitting near the body shop. I was smelling lacquer thinner.
A few months later, I was in Advanced and the kid working the the counter had a same year STI, so we were BS’ing about what we liked and disliked about the cars and I mentioned the AC experience. He walked over to the AC isle and handed me a package of assorted green O-rings. He said he had the same issue and to try one of these where I heard the leak.
Next day, I popped the line off, replaced the O-ring, charged the system and once I got the pressure right, I was good to go. $4.95 plus $19.95 for a bottle of refrigerant.
Many of you will say that I should have evacuated the system and you’re right, but I didn’t have a vacuum pump. This was as much a test as anything. Still driving the car 8 years and easily 100k miles later and I haven’t touched the AC since that day. In fact, the compressor clutch is on it’s last legs, but at 282k miles, the entire car is feeling it’s age. Saved $3175, too.
New factory Subaru condenser: ~$280 online Amateur labor estimated: 4 hours (estimated $400 shop labor cost, no way they would take as long as me to replace) Other supplies: $30
They were looking at making ~$2500 profit and still not fix my problem. I am fighting the urge to name them, especially since I had a run in with their service manager the next (and final) time I was there. In for an airbag recall and he’s trying to replace my power steering pump for $600+.
Never be afraid to walk away and get another opinion if you can.
I had a friend of mine who had this happen. He did not take it sitting down. He was rather excitable.
The women who made the allegation was one of the most narcissistic people I had ever seen.
when HR went to him with the allegations of sexual harassment he, went ballistic on the HR PERSON. This is what I was told.
He said that he told the HR PERSON, the woman accusing him was a lesbian, shinny, ugly, had scabs all over her body, had a personality of a stone fence post. Nothing he would be interested in.
in a later meeting with the HR Person, he threatened to sue the company for false reporting. His theory was the office was so busy there was someone around the both of them all the time, there was no time for a possible sexual assault of the nature she was claiming to happen. and he will sue the person making the allegations also
He said his coworkers will back him up in this.
that was the last time I heard of that allegation.
Personally if I was this person being hassled by this woman I would drag her into the HR OFFICE,
say, “you have a reputation of doing this with other people. I have tried to avoid you for two years, and have lots of people to support my claims. I Want this settled right here and now. i will not live with hanging over my head.
I will fight back, this is my reputation and my livelihood you are messing with, and I have had enough.
I would say if you meet here head on in front of her and the HR PEOPLE THAT THIS WILL STOP.
if it doesn’t I suggest you contact a good lawyer.
just make sure you have not done what she is saying .
How has your appearance affected your life?
This is something I’ve pondered a lot since my early 20s, when it became obvious to everyone that my sister and I had gone down two totally different paths in life.
She was a high school dropout, mother at 16, drug addict who couldn’t hold a job and was either living with an abusive boyfriend or with our parents. She never really made it on her own. But she was nice. Always nice to everyone.
I was in advanced classes in high school, went to a university several states away, and was doing very well there. I’d also had a part-time job since I was 16, and a full-time job since I was 19.
I think our appearances had a lot to do with our different life paths. She was a gorgeous blonde bombshell in our small Southern hometown. Boys were constantly trying to date her/get her drunk/give her drugs.
I was the fat kid in school. No girlfriends. No parties. I didn’t mind working after school and on the weekends, because it’s not like I had anything better to do. Doing homework and studying isn’t hard when it doesn’t get in the way of your nonexistent social life.
Eventually, I lost a lot of weight in college (put it back on after getting married, now trying weight loss round two), gained enough confidence to ask out a woman I liked, and dated her for five years before marrying her. Now, in my late 30s, I have a happy marriage, three happy and healthy kids, a career I love, a house, a minivan, etc…
My sister got married two or three times, I honestly don’t know. She continued doing drugs and “shacking up” with abusive guys throughout her 20s and early 30s. She eventually died of a drug overdose at age 34.
That’s why a part of me pities the really beautiful young women… constant attention from guys when you’re trying to build your life can be a major distraction and help push you down a bad path in life.
So, how has my appearance affected my life? It kept me out of trouble and helped make me the very happy adult I am today.
Last time I flew in an airline -I won’t name,the flight attendant forgot to get me my meal. By the time the trolley reached me, the non-vegetarian meal rack was empty. I was told that they will get me the meal in 5 minutes, I told them even if it’s a vegetarian meal it’s fine. It wasn’t really an issue for me as I don’t like troubling them but they insisted that they have more fish packs and they will get me one.
My wait was for half an hour, with them avoiding me,avoiding my call and not even looking at me. They didn’t even get me water. I got pissed. I literally raised my voice the next time with an “Excuse me, are you deaf?” and the flight attendant was like, “yes,mam can I get you something?” and my soft reply was,”YES! Your complaint book and it should not take half an hour, I want it right now.”
That led to some prompt working and them apologizing for some 15 times in next 15 minutes, they offered me meals (which I refused) and goodies (I refused them as well) and as I didn’t accept their peace offering or apology, in the end, after our landing the ground staff met me and after another series of apologies they refunded a portion of my ticket with vouchers.
It’s not about the food,it’s about their non-caring attitude. I have paid for that seat and that meal with hard earned money. If one form of meal is not there, I understand it’s not their fault but if they refuse to get me any meal then I can get nasty as well.
So, asking for the complaint book work wonders, do it the next time they harass you.
PS I am not proud of what I did but it was needed.
I was administering the Anesthesia for a Neurosurgeon friend. He was removing a Cervical spinal cord tumor of a woman in her late 40’s. She was prone (on her stomach) on the table. He had just spent nearly 45 mins denuding the Cervical Lamina (flat bone on each vertebrae that protects the Spinal Cord by creating a bit of a Canal the bone was in intimate contact with the tumor. He is an excellent Surgeon and fun to watch work, no wasted motions. I had just turned my back to the field and doing a routine check of endotracheal tube placement to make sure it had not migrated (a routine thing to do especially in the prone position).
With the tumor now completely exposed, he asked for the Bard-Parker (scalpel), with my back still turned I quickly called out “Stop.” Everyone turned and looked at me. He asked my why… I looked at the tumor one more time and asked him if he would mind using a tuberculin syringe and aspirate the tumor. He said, all of the X-Ray reports had confirmed it was a solid mass tumor. But, because of our long history, he said he would humor me.
The nurse gave him the syringe. He pulled back on the plunger and blood returned. He asked the nurse to give him the closure suture on a needle driver and a pair of Adson’s forceps and said we are closing. Only he and I realized what had just happened. It was a very large Arterio-venous malformation with thicker than normal walls of the middle muscular coat (tunica media), and an external or connective tissue coat (tunica adventitia). Which had made the almost 2 inch AVF look solid on X-Ray. While closing he explained to the nurses that there would have been almost no way to have stopped the bleeding if he had made the incision and we may have very well have lost the patient.
I have no explanation as to why I told him to stop. It was just this internal feeling.
He sent the patient to a University Med. Center to have the defect repaired. They sent him a letter thanking him for his excellent job in dissecting away the Spinous Processes, the Lamina, and the surrounding tissue. They said this made their surgery so much easier and because of his excellent dissection the AVF walls had not been disturbed which they also felt would have caused her death from hemorrhage. He had done the hardest part of the surg. He also was on the Neurosurg teaching staff at the U.
Two hours in the gym
Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice Stew (Asopao)
This chicken and rice soup is Christmas for me. Not the Christmas meal by any means but the Christmas season. In Puerto Rico, this is the soup that was traditionally served at parrandas. And it continues to be a staple at parties and get togethers.
What is a parranda? You well may ask. The short answer is that a parranda is a party. It’s a Puerto Rican tradition that probably wouldn’t go over too well in most American suburban neighborhoods. It involves late night singing and ritualized kidnapping. And eating. And drinking.
A group of singers, parranderos, start the party late in the evening well after dinner. They assemble at the front door of a friend or neighbor’s house and make music until the family wakes up and lets them in. After some more singing, everyone gathers in the kitchen for refreshments. Usually chicken and rice soup.
asopao de pollo 05 1463×2048 1
After they eat, the parranderos hustle the family off to the next house where the singing, eating, and kidnapping is repeated through the night. This PR holiday tradition is kind of like Christmas caroling, but not.
The beauty of the Puerto Rican chicken and rice soup is that it was easy to heat up when the parranderos arrived. And by adding more stock, it could be stretched to feed everyone. You can imagine that by the last house, there would be quite a crowd. These parties would break up by dawn, with all of the parranderos going back to their beds.
Guess what heats up nicely the next day when nobody feels like cooking? You’ve got it. Asopao de Pollo.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings; makes enough Adobo to season 3 to 4 pounds of meat
Ingredients
Chicken and Rice
3 pounds chicken, cut into pieces
1 recipe Adobo
9 cups water
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ounces lean cured ham, diced
2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 large tomatoes, chopped
12 pimiento-stuffed olives
1 chorizo (Spanish sausage), cut into 1/2 inch rounds
2 tablespoons capers
1 (4 ounce) can chopped pimientos, drained
3 cups long-grain rice
1 cup fresh or frozen peas, thawed
Additional chopped fresh cilantro (for garnish)
Adobo
4 whole black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons vinegar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
asopao de pollo 05 1463×2048 2
How to Make Asopao de Pollo
The homemade Puerto Rican chicken and rice soup recipe I’m going to show you develops flavor by sautéing most of the ingredients in a large caldero or dutch oven.
After cutting up the chicken and seasoning thoroughly, go ahead and heat up the olive oil in your pot.
First you’ll brown the raw chicken pieces in batches and set them aside. Next sauté the sofrito, it will smell fantastic as it cooks. Scrape up those browned bits.
Now add the ham, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, capers, pimentos, olives, boullion and rice. Stir all of that right into the sofrito before adding the chicken back. Make sure you pour in any juices the chicken might have accumulated while it was waiting. That’s the good stuff!
Finally, when all of the ingredients are in the pot, pour as much of the water as you can fit into the caldero. Add your salt and pepper and mix it all up thoroughly. Over the cooking time, you can add more water as the rice cooks and absorbs the liquids.
Bring the soup to a boil and then turn down the heat. Allow it to simmer for up to 30 minutes. Keep an eye on your pot, stirring frequently as the rice can burn to the bottom.
When the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked, it’s done. Now you’re ready to feed any late night parranderos that come to your door.
Guests that come at more reasonable hours will love this soup too!
asopao de pollo 05 1463×2048 3
Instructions
Chicken and Rice
Rub the chicken pieces thoroughly with the adobo. Place the chicken pieces in a large pot and add the water and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet. Add the ham, bell peppers, onion, and cilantro. Sauté over moderate heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the tomatoes, olives, chorizo, capers, and pimientos. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Add the vegetable mixture to the pot with the chicken and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the rice and peas and simmer covered over very low heat for 15 to 25 minutes, until the stew reaches the desired consistency. It is traditionally served runny, almost like a soup.
Serve in soup bowls garnished with chopped cilantro.
Adobo
Combine all ingredients in a mortar and pestle and grind to a paste. Alternately, combine in an electric blender or food processor and process until smooth.
I know this question is a month old, but I just have to answer it. Unfortunately, the nastiest thing that happened at my school was done by me.
It was my freshman year. I desperately had a crush on my best friend, Rob. He had this dark, black, hair and deep hazel eyes that made me melt every time I caught him staring at me in Math. You know, teenage hormones and the like.
Our lockers were right next to each other; we were in the same homeroom. Sometime around October, being the ever awkward and weird kid I was, thought that the best way to show Rob I liked him was by teasing him.
I left the cafeteria one day with a nearly full milk carton in hand. I held onto it throughout my last class of the day and waited for Rob at my locker. Once he had gotten his things and we said our goodbyes, I pulled out the milk and placed the carton at the bottom of his locker (he carried a lock with him but never put it on), spout open and covered slightly by a hoodie he had left in there.
Hilarious I thought, he’ll come in on Monday and have to find a chunky carton of milk in his locker. Gross, yet harmless. I was so, so wrong.
Rob found the milk carton on Monday. What I had underestimated about him though, was his capacity to simply not care. He shrugged it off, took the hoodie out of his locker and placed the lock he had never used on it. Then he left it.
A month went by, and I could smell the milk every time I opened my locker next to his. After two months and the Christmas holiday and I forwent my locker, too, instead carrying my entire bag from class to class just so I didn’t have to open my locker.
By April, the entire hallway reeked of sour milk, so strongly that the students curved around the affected area when passing through. Everyone smelled it, no one could figure out where it came from or what it was. It was deadly; so much so that people whispered about what could possibly be making THAT smell. It was the mystery everyone talked about. You could feel the thickness of the stench in the air.
The last day of school came, and we were instructed to take the locks off of our lockers and clean them out at last period. Rob tried to make a getaway – grab his lock and run for the doors before someone asked him to open it and show it had been cleaned out, but he just wasn’t quick enough. “Open it”, our home room teacher demanded, as if he knew what that locker held inside it.
With shaking hands, Rob opened the metal door, and it was if you could see a green puff of foul odor release like a bomb from inside. “Close it!” Our teacher screamed, and Rob did, both of us gagging. The teacher ran for the safety of his classroom and we left.
The first day of sophomore year we came back to a clean hallway – no smell, bare lockers. Though, our former home room teacher never looked at Rob the same. As an adult, I feel TERRIBLE for the poor custodian who had to clean that putrid milk.
However, as I lay next to my husband in bed, I can’t help but be just a little bit nostalgic for that stupid prank. Fourteen years later and Rob and I have been together ever since; inseparable.
Asia’s Top Economist Reveals Shocking SECRET About China In 2024
Yes, my wife of 46 years died suddenly from heart failure. I got her to the hospital and was able to spend some time with her before she passed.
After she was gone, the medical staff insisted that I spend the night in the hospital due to my medical issues. I was given a mild sedative to help me relax. I fell asleep and at some point I woke and was unsure of where I was. When I realized what had happened, I was leaning against the safety rail on the hospital bed. I saw what appeared to be a room full of people below me, they were all in ‘shadow’ except for one woman in a white light dancing. My wife loved to dance and as I watched, the woman waved at me and everything vanished when the nurse came to check on me.
The second time was at her funeral service. It was freezing that day and I got to the service early to bring some mementos for the service. I, somehow, lost my phone and the facility was locked and no one was around. As I was starting to panic, I ‘heard’ my wife say “calm down.’
As I looked around I saw a perfect rose bloom in the garden area in front of my car. I couldn’t believe that a rose had bloomed in freezing conditions. Roses were her favorite flower, I went to pick the rose and found my phone on the ground. I immediately calmed down and told my wife “thank you.”
The Man Who Built UFOs For The CIA [Not Bob Lazar…]
Battery life continues to be one of the biggest complaints of laptop users, so understanding what you can do to help prolong the life is important. Technically speaking, keeping any relatively current laptop plugged in and charged at 100% for extended periods of time shouldn’t be a problem, but it’s best not to do so for a number of reasons.
This is a question that comes up a lot with laptop owners. And the answer is a quite simple “No.” For optimum battery use, and to get the most life out of your laptop battery, keeping it charged between 40% and 80% has been seen as optimum.
Most late-generation laptop batteries are either lithium-ion or lithium polymer, and as such, they are designed to be able to withstand many charge cycles. When you keep it charged at 100%, the charging circuit continuously checks the battery charging process and, so it stops charging once it is at its optimum point and goes into trickle mode, in which it only supplies what is necessary to prevent the charge level from failing.
Also to note: overcharging can lead to overheating, which can lead to catastrophic chemical reactions inside the battery.
Allowing your battery to completely discharge will take away from its originally-intended lifespan. You should ideally keep its battery between 40% and 60%. Don’t let the battery discharge completely to increase its life.
Here are some tips to extend your laptop battery life:
Avoid discharging your laptop completely after charging it.
Make sure that your laptop doesn’t get too hot and your cooling fan is working properly.
Overheating can reduce battery life, check the laptop’s cooling system is functioning correctly and use it on a flat surface to allow for proper airflow.
Customize your laptop’s power plan settings to favor battery life over performance when running on battery.
If you’re not using your laptop on battery power for an extended period, store it with the battery at around 50-80% charge to reduce long-term stress on the battery.
I suggest maintaining your laptop’s battery level within the range of 40% to 80% charge. By doing so, you can effectively double the number of recharge cycles, increasing them from 300-500 to a substantial 1,000-2,000, ultimately extending the overall lifespan of your laptop.
During my (ours, including my wife) time that I refer to as the “out in the wilderness” period, we had many unique experiences. This period of time was right after I left the United States Navy as an aviator, and joined the ONI as a MAJestic operator. I was a shared resource, and reported directly to Domain. Which I still do.
At that point in time, I was “aimless”. Unemployed at the height of a major recession, homeless, married and living in a van. Moving from town to town finding work. Always the call of California called me to Ridgecrest…
Anyways, I got a job as a short-order cook at a family-owned restaurant in the town of San Louis Obispo. I worked from five in the morning to around 2:30 in the afternoon.
I worked just above minimum wage, but I got to keep the tips (which varied from a dollar to sometimes $20) and I could take home what ever leftover daily specials were available.
Now, remember… at that time, I was a Naval Aviator. The top 1% of the 1% and I did have a degree in Aerospace Engineering, and I WAS a “rocket scientist”. But in the working world.
And of course, I had traveled off-world to Mars (and the Moon), and I was interacting with Domain.
But that meant nothing.
Especially at that time in California, I was judged by how much money I made. What job I held. What car I drove. What clothes I wore, and what neighborhood that I lived in.
Not what I knew.
Not what I experienced.
Not what I was capable of.
Not how good I was, not what my experiences were, and not what I knew. And so, well, I was treated horribly by the owner of the establishment.
She called me “dingle berry”. That was her name for me.
“Dingleberry” is a slang term for a piece of dried poop that clings to the hairs in your anus or gooch region. When you don’t remove all the fecal remnants from your bum after a bowel movement, they coagulate into a crumb-like substance about the size of a sprinkle or Dippin’ Dot.
At that time, I took the insults. Over and over. And when her son would point at me and say (to his mother), “Don’t worry, I’ll never end up as a loser like him” I took it.
Punching bag MM.
You do what you need to do to survive.
So whenever I hear entitled Gen-Z making fun of others, or screaming that they “can’t handle a 40 hour work week” I scoff and think to my self… “you have no idea, Honey. Not a clue”.
You endure. And, you survive.
You give up, and you die.
Even if the insults pummel you relentlessly on a daily basis. You need to keep forging ahead, step by step.
He was probably in his twenties, blonde and gorgeous and had been teaching six months at the language center where I was a trainer and supervisor. His American background showed no teaching experience nor education courses.
He had a great, supportive rapport with his students. He prepared them well for most activities and helped the weak ones. He picked up on errors and dealt with them in a friendly, helpful way, and his students adored him.
But I could see he hadn’t looked at the materials before coming to class, even though he knew he would be observed. In fact, he misunderstood the purpose of one exercise and focused on the wrong grammar. With another, he failed to see that necessary activity details extended to a second page. But each time, he managed to cover and still see that students learned something.
I complimented him on how quickly he had become accustomed to teaching and had built such great rapport.
Then I said, “Sam, you are a really good teacher, but you could be a GREAT one if you prepared before class.”
Shrugging, he looked directly at me and answered, “I am not interested in being a great teacher. I do this only so I have enough money to live on and go out for a good time.”
That saddened me.
Fast forward 30 years. A former colleague asked if I remembered Sam. Then he told me that Sam had gone back to school and gotten a master’s in teaching English as a foreign language and had been teaching in a Thai university.
I love when people use the gifts they are born with.
"Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and statehood have been sold, squandered, and disposed of by all six presidents.
This happened according to a single pattern—presidential candidates promised one thing and did the complete opposite. They promised wealth but created poverty, promised legality but encouraged lawlessness and corruption, promised peace but provoked war.
Analysis of their rule shows that none of the six presidents respected their people.
They acted not in their interests, considering lies, deceit, corruption, and lawlessness as state policy.
And this tradition in Ukrainian statecraft has developed to the point of absurdity.
If the first presidents still tried to maintain some decency, the later ones displayed their stupidity, greed, and cynicism for all to see.
This is not the first time such events have occurred in Ukrainian history.
Traditionally, Ukrainians go home to Russia, often in parts, but quite actively and without regret.
What Zelensky's clique today calls separatism is in reality an escape from the psychopathically abnormal leadership that, with its incompetence and stupidity, is finishing off the country and its citizens.
If the first five presidents undermined the foundations of Ukrainian statehood to varying degrees, Zelensky has completed this process by staging a grandiose bloody show.
But this show is coming to an end, and now, in place of the country, we see a desolate wasteland.
Reviving this Wild Field will traditionally be done together with Russia, which is currently being done by the residents of Crimea, Donbass, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions, using their right to choose normal living conditions for themselves and their children.
They made this choice, considering the mortal danger from the actions of the Nazi Kiev regime, the gross violation of their basic rights and freedoms, and the genocide unleashed against the Russian-speaking population.
The residents of Crimea, LNR, DNR, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions exercised their right to self-determination, enshrined in paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the UN Charter, Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of December 16, 1966, held referendums, and sought help from the Russian Federation.
As a result of the people's will, the territories of their residence became part of the Russian Federation.
And, while Zelensky plays his last perfomance, the number of new regions of Russia will continue to grow."
Excerpt from the article written by exiled Ukrainian opposition politician, Viktor Medvedchuk, in Komsomolskaya Pravda, April 15, 2024.
If someone would have told me twenty years ago that I’d be running a semi-successful custom house painting business that was responsible for finding and securing enough projects to provide six families with consistent, reliable income, I would have said “is that it?”.
My aspirations and sights were set so much higher in my early twenties than the reality I live today.
Maybe I’ll be the sea-fairing captain of a vessel that has no less than a thousand souls aboard, I thought to myself.
Maybe I’ll be the catalyst for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine with my commanding yet delicate approach to conflicts that arise between neighbors.
Maybe I’ll be an actor, the president, an astronaut — and if asked what I wanted to do when I was in fifth grade, I ALWAYS responded with “I want to be an electroencephalographic technologist.”
That was the coolest thing to say when I was a pre-teen.
The coolest thing — It was always about being, or saying, or doing what I felt others thought was the coolest thing.
I was identity-less because I was more concerned with other’s thoughts than I was with my own dreams or hopes or wishes.
What I really wanted back then was a father who could teach me how to beat the bolts off of the school bully that used to humiliate me in front of my classmates.
What I really wanted back then was to have money, like the other kids to pay for my school lunches. Not those embarrassing lunch tickets that the dorks and nerds and dweebs had to use at the musings of our tormentors.
It just wasn’t meant to be. That life, for me, wasn’t meant to be.
Turning to a life of substance abuse may not have been an inevitability, but it certainly was the easiest way out of the life I thought was so dreadful.
I got high, and then got higher and then got SO DAMN HIGH that I touched the clouds, or heaven or whatever.
It was a real blast.
Getting high was so much fun in fact, that for it, I traded a 150K dollar home, a loving and dedicated wife, a supportive family, encouraging friends, a career with endless opportunities for growth, my hygiene, my dignity and ‘insert any other cliche here’. Blah blah blah.
Which led me here, to this moment, to this question.
I gave up getting high. I gave up drugs not because anyone promised me a better life, but because I wanted to see if a better life was possible. Actually I gave up getting high because I knew any life was better than that life — and by golly it is a better life.
This life is so much better, that a few weeks ago I decided to insure it. I figured that if I die any time soon, I want my family to be insured against the hardships that are certain to follow.
I reached out to Primerica and got the ball rolling with life insurance.
After I answered a few questions asked by their representative, I waited for a phone call from their traveling nurse who was supposed to call me to schedule an appointment to draw blood, collect urine, check my height and weight and whatever else they do.
Yesterday, before I even got a call from the nurse, I got a call from the representative who informed me that I was declined.
I was so surprised. Why the hell would I be declined? I don’t get high, I live a healthy lifestyle, I don’t even drink alcohol. Do you know who I am? Boy I was pissed. Actually, my feelings were hurt and I was embarrassed.
Here is a screenshot of why I was declined.
image 237
I wondered what abnormal labs meant so I called the number they gave me.
Last February I had a tooth infection and was prescribed an antibiotic. I haven’t gotten high in more than a year, what the heck does a tooth infection have to do with life insurance?
As it turns out, (according to the lady who shared the actual truth with me, probably against protocol) the bigger (or real) issue is my background history and driving record, not some bs excuse about abnormal labs.
I haven’t had a single driving violation in many years and as far as my background history goes, well, I have a past. I used to use drugs.
I found out today, the hard way that they will not insure me based upon the mistakes of my past.
I can promise you that the decisions you make today will MOST CERTAINLY affect your ability to achieve the dreams you have for your future.
Drug abuse was grave mistake I made in my twenties and thirties and it seems that it has cost me the ability to protect my family from the financial burden that an untimely or early departure would have on them.
All-in-one pressure cooker. Don’t buy it they said, you’ll only use it twice they said. Well I bought it anyway to prove them wrong. I used it twice. It’s now in a cupboard never to be seen again.
Home gym. Been a lifelong dream of my wife and I to have our own gym. I converted our car port into quite a cool area with loads of nice equipment. It’s quite cold out there when windy though. A year later we’re still going to gym down the road.
Nintendo Switch. I bought it as Zelda Breath of the Wild was considered to be one of the best games ever made. Played it for about an hour. The older I get, the less I can get into games, which sucks.
Stryd foot pood for running. The latest and greatest in running aids. A pod that ties to your shoe to give statistics on your running that you’ll never need. I was so convinced it was a great idea I was preaching how great it was to fellow runners. Used it for about a week and haven’t bothered to charge it since. What a dick.
Kindles. Have a few, wife and I never use them. Just read normal books.
Alexa. I never got past asking it the time or the weather. Think my wife and I tried a quiz on it once. Was awful. People love them, I’m not sure how they are getting the most out of them.
PS4. I purposefully kept this away from number 3 as it’s embarrassing. I’ve also got an Xbox One X which is the only one I use. The Switch and the PS4 are just not used. This I why I shouldn’t be allowed to spend disposable income without moderation.
Huge amount of fishing rods and tackle. A couple of years ago, I got back into sea fishing which I used to do as a kid. Spent a small fortune buying new fishing gear. About six months ago, it dawned on me that fishing is probably not much fun for the fish and I felt really bad. Not been since.
DSLR camera. Feel bad about this one as it’s very expensive. Used it for a few weeks and photos were amazing. Was sure I would take it everywhere with us. Got lazy, now just use my phone. Going to try and make more of an effort with this one.
Bread maker. Don’t buy it they said, you’ll only use it twice they said. Well I bought it anyway to prove them wrong. I used it twice. It’s now in a cupboard next to the pressure cooker.
Garlic Rosemary Focaccia
2024 02 17 08 23
Ingredients
3 whole heads garlic, not cloves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 scant tablespoons or 2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal, for pans
2 tablespoons crushed fresh rosemary leaves or 2 teaspoons dried
Coarse salt (optional)
Instructions
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Separate garlic head into cloves and peel. Add olive oil in a small heavy saucepan, add garlic, cover and cook over very low heat for 20 minutes, or until softened but not browned.
Remove from heat and strain. Set oil aside to use later. When cool, cut cloves into lengthwise slivers and set aside.
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Add 1 cup of unbleached flour and stir thoroughly. Let sit for 15 minutes or until mixture is filled with tiny bubbles.
Add 2 tablespoons of reserved garlic oil and 1 more cup of unbleached flour and all of the whole wheat flour and salt to the yeast mixture.
Beat vigorously with a dough hook or a heavy sturdy spoon for 2 minutes. Gradually add more of the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough forms a mass and begins to pull away from sides of bowl.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead, adding more flour a little at a time as necessary for 8 to 10 minutes, or until you have a smooth elastic dough and blisters begin to develop on surface.
Place dough into an oiled bowl. Turn to coat the entire ball of the dough with oil. Cover with a tightly woven kitchen towel and let rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Sprinkle a well greased 13 x 18 inch baking sheet with cornmeal. Turn dough onto an oiled work surface. With the heel of your hand, flatten dough into an 11 x 16 inch rectangle. Lift dough onto baking sheet. Using hands, press dough into corners and edges of baking sheet.
Flattening dough with hands rather than a rolling pin will give the irregular texture associated with focaccia. Cover dough with towel and let rise 20 minutes.
Sprinkle top of dough with rosemary and the slivered garlic. Using fingertips, make indentations in dough about 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart, to give a dimpled effect. As you do this, press garlic slivers into dough to keep them from falling off or over cooking. Cover dough with towel and let rise an additional 20 minutes.
Place a shallow pan on lower shelf of oven and heat up.
Drizzle remaining garlic oil over top of focaccia. Use a brush to pat the oil over the entire surface, allowing any excess to pool in the indentations. Sprinkle with 1 to 2 teaspoons of coarse salt.
Put 1 cup of ice cubes in the heated shallow pan in the oven. Immediately put the focaccia in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until pale gold.
Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
It is best eaten slightly warm or at room temperature.
You can substitute Parmesan cheese for the salt, or use both.
Let me put a scenario to you. A terrible fire erupts at a local school. The fire brigade has arrived, but because of the ferocity of the blaze it won’t be possible to save everyone, leaving the fire chief with a decision. Should he:
A) Save as many people as possible.
Or
B) Let everyone die.
I’m assuming most people would choose option A. Because of sanity. I think most people would find a fire chief who chose option B – who, if ideal circumstances were impossible, chose to maximise death and suffering – a bit disappointing, to say the least. If we could give Jesus a call and ask him what to do, I’m having difficulty imagining him advising us to let everyone burn.
And yet people arguing that terminating an ectopic pregnancy is unethical are taking exactly this position. Everybody dies. If you can’t save absolutely everyone the ethical decision is the one where the highest number of people die.
Neither mother nor foetus can survive an ectopic pregnancy that runs it’s course. Nothing we do can save the foetus. The only person we can possibly save is the mother. There’s no saving everybody, there’s only saving as many people as possible.
So your response is… everybody dies! The ethical thing to do – nay, the Christian thing, is make the decision that shows the least compassion, that does no good whatsoever, that causes the most death and the most suffering. Its what Jesus would have wanted. For is it not said “treat others how you would want them to treat someone they were homicidally disposed towards.” Or something.
Best of all though, the reason your ethics demand that as many people as possible die, the reason you shouldn’t save anybody’s life in this situation, the reason you should maximise grief and suffering and death is… wait for it, this is a real thigh slapper… because you believe in the value of human life!
Now that is some seriously freaking warped reasoning.
Any system of morality which isn’t actually trying to do good and limit evil isn’t a system of morality, it’s a system of control. And a sick, twisted and cruel one at that.
EDIT: For all those people telling me nobody has a problem with treating ectopic pregnancies and I’m spreading disinformation, oh look! A bill that specifically criminalises treatment for ectopic pregnancies.
I’ve spent my life taking care of others in one way or another since I was 10 years old. Mom went to work, and I had to cook supper 6 days a week, do the dishes, clean the house, watch my younger siblings. I gave up my friends and my social life to take care of her family.
I did have a boyfriend at 15 and at 17 I got pregnant. Pretty much on purpose. I’d already asked my dad if I could get married and he said no. So, when my bf came home from boot camp, I just wasn’t careful and thought, if it happens it happens. It happened. I finished out my Junior year of High School and went to summer school, then moved to be with him near base. My baby was born, and I was taking care of a baby and husband.
We divorced so I had to get a job. Still taking care of my child.
When I remarried, again taking care of a husband, child and working now. I did quit for about a year then went back to work. I pretty much ended up taking care of people at the job too. People just can’t do their jobs, put things away, always need help. I was kind of an overseer.
After 20 years I quit. My son was raised, my husband didn’t need to be taken care of anymore, he learned to do some things on his own, I was having a good time with friends and making quilts.
Then my mother got sick after my dad died. My siblings and I took on different responsibilities to keep her in her home and every year more responsibilities were added as mom lost the ability to do things for herself. This went on for 13 years.
After mom died, I was excessively depleted. My siblings and I no longer can get along with each other, so we haven’t seen each other for at least 5 years. I have 3 grandsons, 2 who don’t want anything to do with family, including my son.
I’m just so burnt out on people and their drama. It’s just my husband and I. He goes and sees a couple of his friends from time to time. I let my friends go before mom passed, I just didn’t have the energy to “be” a friend.
I like it being just me and my husband. I don’t know what it will be like if he goes first. I don’t like it when he goes to his friends, but I don’t say anything because he should go, but I miss him even when he’s gone a short time. His job of 40 years took most of his time from me and now that I have him, I hate to be away from him.
Other people though, they just aren’t worth my effort. (I do see my son from time to time).
One night my then boyfriend, now fiance, and I were watching a movie. It was a romantic one – not his preferred genre and he fell asleep midway into the movie. I continued watching. The 2nd half turned out to be quite emotional. Near the end I started crying softly. He woke up to my tears and immediately wrapped his arms around me to sooth me. He asked if it was the movie and I nodded. Since it was already late, we went to bed shortly afterwards.
The next morning I woke up, readied myself for the day and headed downstairs. He was eating breakfast in front of the TV – his usual routine before work. As I rounded the corner, I saw he was watching the movie from the night before. I was surprised as he was clearly not that interested then. “Why are you watching this?” I asked. He gave me a sweet, sincere look and said, “I wanted to see what made you cry.”
My fiance is not one for grand, sweeping gestures but it’s the every day small things that he does that melts me.
———————————————————
Update from the morning after:
me: OMG! OMG! *screaming*
him: hunnie, when you scream like that I think something is wrong with the house
me: baby! the quora post i wrote last night reached 1.4K upvotes!! ahhh!!
him: wow thats great baby! …can you stop screaming?
me: See?! I always say you do the sweetest stuff!!
him: *chuckle* as long as you like it baby
GEN-Z is literally f**king brain dead and I’m genuinely scared…
Why should the US contain China? Has China threatened the US? I think it is the other way around. The US has threatened China. The US has been the world’s predator nation.
I think the industrial-military complex always has to have an enemy in view or it loses funding and interests. Yesterday it was Russia, today, Russia is fading so the US has a new enemy, China. The rationale is China’s rise. When China was poor, China was befriended and used to increase the wealth of US multinationals. As China rose, concerns started to pop up, China could not be easily dominated by western interests. Now that China is competitive, especially in America’s monopoly of technology, the US has chosen to oppose China. It no longer wants to compete probably because it realizes that because of China’s size and her growth in STEM education, the US could lose its dominance in tech. The US has chosen not to work together.
What Americans seem not to realize is that much of America’s technology rise was built on immigrants. In today’s world, that technology strength comes dominantly from China and India. 75% of tech workers in Silicon Valley are immigrants. 80% of graduate STEM students are foreigners. In both cases Chinese and Indians dominate the demographics.
What seems disconcerting is that Trump is destroying that strength with his racist immigration policies.. What used to be the pot at the end of the rainbow for many immigrants in technology is becoming a nightmare. From engineers to doctors, H1-B and L-1 visas are being reduced and recently Trump is making them denied to certain STEM graduate students and workers. Their path to citizenship has become a nightmare. Their dream of being an American is no longer visible. Many are looking at other countries. Canada and the EU are the current choice of destinations plus their own home countries. India and China welcomes these STEM grads which will help their efforts to increase their presence in technology to compete with the US and each other.
The further the US demonizes China, the more Chinese students and investments in the US will dry up. American isolationism is succeeding and US political and economic interests in the world are starting to fall. Yes, the US can surround China militarily, like we did with the Soviet Union. Did we gain anything except to make our military might greater? Have Americans improved their life style and economic situations? Have we succeeded in overcoming poverty? Have we improved our infrastructure? Have we improved the lives of our citizens? You know the answer.
1. Marijuana laws. It took me almost the first 20-years of my career to see how much time I was wasting for a crime that no one from the county attorneys, to judges, to juries, to the general public were happy to see. I’d find an ounce of weed, wasting three to four hours of my shift, while calls were backing up and the guy hauling metric tons of meth drove by.
Later, I left the Midwest and came to Alaska which made the point almost moot. Since a 1970′s supreme court case, personal possession of Marijuana in your house was legal (and offenses involving it in other areas were considered rather minor). Then several years ago, Marijuana was legalized here.
I have yet to find one police officer who has ever fought against anyone high just on Marijuana. Or, been to any type of assault call involving just Marijuana.
If I could ban alcohol and make Marijuana legal, we could lay off half of the police forces, social workers and judges in the US. It’s the alcohol that’s the problem, not stoners. And no, I’ve never used the drug.
2. Prostitution laws (not sex trafficking). It is illegal to sell what can be given away. Odd. I’ve told many county and district attorneys that if they ever get me on a jury involving this type case, I would hang the jury so fast, I’d make their head spin because I’d be so angry at them for wasting my time.
3. Bar closing times. I could never understand why grown adults can’t decide how late they want to stay out and consume alcohol or even go to the store and buy some. Especially for those on second shift.
4. Alcohol and nudity laws. Many states have laws that you can’t have a beer or liquor license and allow nude or even semi-nude performances. The kicker? Many states allow customers to BYOB. The same owners at times have owned the liquor store right next to the strip club…Huh?
5. 21 years old as a drinking age. You can serve your country, vote, go to jail, marry and in some states, become a police officer before you can legally drink?
I’ve been in 65 countries. Many of them have the legal age from 16 to 18 years old (none have the age as high as ours), and they don’t have the issues with ETOH we do.
6. Gambling laws. In the 1970′s, Iowa was so backwards, state agents raided church Bingo. Seriously. Why does society care if I pick Texas A&M to beat Auburn and decide to bet a hundred?
Now that the states have sanctioned gambling, the remaining laws seem to be there to stop the competition.
7. Seatbelt laws. The Nanny State has to tell you how to be safe. I don’t enforce a “drink milk or get fined”, or join the “eat your vegetables or ticket” campaign.
You not wearing seatbelts does not affect a third person, therefore I fail to see how the state is concerned about seatbelts any more than, say, ordering people not to eat lard directly out of the can.
8. High and always getting higher traffic fines to plug government spending gaps. I remember when I started in law enforcement and speeding tickets started at around $30 (total). A sting to gain compliance.
Now many states (looking at you, California) use a sledgehammer. Between the fine, court costs and surcharges, tickets run in the mid to high three figures in some areas.
9. The FAA minimum flight hours for airline transport pilots that went from 250 hours to 1500 hours. The Colgan Air crash was not related in any way to low-time pilots. Both pilots had high flight time hours, but made rookie mistakes. This was the FAA looking for a law where there was no problem.
While US carriers are having trouble finding pilots, and some are canceling flights, going bankrupt and raising fares, other countries, (including the EU) still allow low-time pilots to fly as a co-pilot. Those planes are not falling out of the sky…and they are still allowed to land in the States.
10. Artificially low speed limits. Rural areas with low traffic and with good roads (dating from before the national speed limit laws of the 1970′s and can handle high speeds) need to properly reflect what the drivers can handle.
I’ve driven the Autobahn many times. In rural areas, there is no set speed limit, while in developed areas there is a reasonable speed limit. Makes sense to me.
11. CCW permits. In Alaska and Vermont, you don’t need a government agency to tell you that you are allowed to exercise your Second Amendment right.
12. Smoking rules in commercial businesses. I say let capitalism run her majestic course. If people do not want to be around smokers, those places that allow smoking will go out of business. We don’t need the Nanny State telling businesses what they can and can’t do.
Proof that this has nothing to do with secondhand smoke? Why is smokeless tobacco also banned in many areas? How is chewing tobacco affecting anyone?
*UPDATE: 99.9 percent of the people responded to the seatbelt statement. I would have never guessed that would be the contentious issue out of the 12.
I guess society has changed; I’m old enough to remember my mother holding my baby brother in her arms while I sat on the third row with the seat folded down in the station wagon.
No one cared about seatbelts, but society at that time cared about Marijuana, gambling, paid sex workers including strip joints and alcohol sale hours.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: I have been repeatedly asked if society can specifically exclude the safety net to people who refuse to wear seatbelts and have an accident. Here is my answer:
Only if we allow society to exclude other activities that it might not agree with. No coverage for smokers, excess drinkers, speeders, those who have sex with random people, those who partake in risky pastimes, or those who are obese.
Of course, we never think of the costs to society for the activities we agree with or partake in and how we normally expect everyone to pick up the tab for something they’d never do.
Should/can insurance require higher premiums? Sure, they are a private business and they already do: higher premiums for smokers, and – in many states – those who are males, those with bad credit, those unmarried and those of a certain age.
To be intelligently sound, you either believe in freedom from government interference for victimless crimes or you don’t. You don’t pick and choose. Many of my 12 I don’t personally agree with, but I believe the choice is up to the person.
Harry Potter but as a Drunkard in a remote Russian Village.
I very briefly dated a girl who was several years younger than me. I think I was 29ish and she was 21.
We were messaging each other on WhatsApp and after a while she insisted that I get Snapchat so she could message me on that. I downloaded it and was given instructions that the pictures only last for a few seconds before they are deleted.
I, in my tiny male mind, assumed she was going to send me titilating photos of herself in various states of undress.
I was excited!
What I actually got was lots of pictures of breakfasts. Lots of pictures of the back of someone’s head with “bored on the bus LOL” as a caption. Lots of pictures of books with “studying” as the caption.
I simply didn’t get why anyone would remotely care about mundane normal stuff, let alone want a picture of it?
She chastised me for not sending her many messages back on it. I sent maybe one every couple of days if I thought I was doing something vaguely interesting. “Here’s a nice view from this place I’m working” or, “Here’s a nice dog I met this morning” was about the best I could come up with.
Anyway, after a few days she said me to me, “You just don’t get it do you?” and I agreed.
Nope. I don’t get it.
And then it struck me. For the first time a massive part of youth culture was beyond my understanding. I simply don’t get the current youth’s need to send pictures to each other of completely mundane day to day things.
I’m too old to understand.
I’m not sure if Snapchat was the sole reason for it, but she decided she wasn’t interested in me shortly after.
Harry Potter as a Mexican Soap Opera | Telenovelas are Hell
Ever wondered what prompted the US to start a dedicated spy agency?
It wasn’t the Russians. It wasn’t a Nazi plot.
It was a mine.
Here’s what happened:
It’s 1916. The Western Front has become a gigantic stalemate. The Germans can’t push through the Allied line, and the Allies can’t push through the German line.
The Germans are trying to figure out a way to demoralize the French, whose country everyone is fighting in (and generally making a mess of). They’ve got a gun that they constructed in 1914, called the Paris Gun (or “Big Bertha” by the Allies). It’s the largest gun built during the war (the barrel alone is over 34 meters – that’s more than 111 feet – long!) and it lobs 211 mm shells nearly 95 miles. Test firing indicates that it can definitely hit Paris from a permanent position. Several are built.
But with all good things, there is an end. And unfortunately for the Germans, there is a nasty issue with the Paris gun: the metal they’re using is normal steel, and has a really bad habit of melting after firing more than four or five of their mega-caliber shells. After several guns are able to let loose only a couple shells before having to have an expensive barrel replacement, German High Command is disgusted and instructs the German war machine to figure out a solution.
The Germans poke around in their laboratories. A young chemist discovers that a hitherto mostly ignored element, molybdenum, can help improve the tensile strength of their steel if mixed in the right amounts (.2-.3% molybdenum mixed into the steel.) High Command is thrilled: this is the solution they’re looking for! They order several new barrels for the Paris Guns to be constructed with the new alloy.
There’s just one problem: the only known source of molybdenum is in the United States – the Climax Mine, in Colorado. (Another source was discovered in China later on, but not until after the war.) And by the point in our story that this happened, the Germans were not exactly on good terms with the good ol’ U.S. of A.
High Command scratches its head, thinks really hard, and comes up with a brilliant plan.
A few weeks later, a small team of German “tourists” disembark in New York. According to what others hear them say, they plan to head up to Colorado and do a little ‘prospecting’.
The Climax Mine is owned by a small mining group who have been able to get very little money out of it. They originally thought the element they’re bringing up in .30% quantities was silver, but unfortunately it’s not silver – its an element that very few people seem to have any use for.
Along come the German “tourists”, who’ve you guessed by now are actually German government agents. The Germans offer to buy the mine for an extremely cheap amount. But while they’d be happy to sell the unprofitable mining operation, the owners are unwilling to sell for the offered pittance.
A “bad neighbor war” breaks out. The Germans are DETERMINED to get that mine, whilst the owners are just as determined to avoid selling. The German team rents a shack near the mine and camps out, pressuring the owners to sell the mine. Both sides harass the others with shotguns in the middle of the night, with dogs, and with arguments and confrontation.
Eventually, the Germans exit the field victorious: the owners, tired of constant harassment and (according to some reports) in serious fear for their lives, sell the mine for the asking price. The German team, glowing in their victory, starts extracting the molybdenum and quietly shipping it back to Germany by the shipload. The new barrels for the Paris Guns are built, and Paris suffers shell damage throughout much of the remainder of the war.
When it’s discovered, after the war, that the Germans had an entire team of their own agents in the USA, extracting and exporting a rare, war-essential resource without the sanctioning of the United States government, there is a great deal of anger running loose in the upper echelons of government. Plans are formulated to form an agency to prevent similar happenings in the future, should a war break out. These were the first plans for the OSS.
As we all know, the CIA was formed from the base of the OSS. But the plans for the OSS would never have come into being if a team of Germans hadn’t penetrated to the very heart of the United States and shipped metal off to shell Paris.
EDIT: 12/26/2021. So I’ve been getting a LOT of comments on how the dates are wrong, the Paris Guns weren’t called Big Berthas (they were, as were all large-caliber German weapons during the war) and how the Germans actually pulled molybdenum from a small mine in Norway rather than the American mine.
While some parts of the story can be found elsewhere (see link below) I cannot verify it from multiple sources, and must therefore reluctantly conclude that this story, for all it’s coolness, is only about 50% accurate.
I was first told this story by my grandfather, who is generally very truthful and historically accurate. However, it seems that in this instance he was greatly exaggerating.
China was Given an $80 Billion Project by Afghanistan, Making America Angry
I wanted to go anonymous as I don’t want anybody to feel sympathy on me.
I was married to wonderful person on may 29, 2015, who always take care of me more than my parents. Since it was an arranged marriage, we decided to have baby a year later so that we can understand and have time for each other. A year later, when we decided to have baby my brother’s marriage got fixed. So we planned to postpone for another 3 months. But god had another plan for us.
My brother died on an accident and it brought a total loss to the family. May be I’m unable to express here how his loss impacted our life. My mother still not recovered and my father is just living his life. This is the day I cried most and I’m still crying and could not overcome such loss.
After 3 months of my brother’s loss, myself and my husband decided to have baby, so that baby can change my parents thought process . I also got pregnant and parents were happy and was proudly saying that I’m going to bring back my brother. In April 21, 2016 in anamoly scan it was told that baby had a congenital heart disease. It was told by the doctor, that, Even if the baby is born, it has to be treated as soon as possible or it will be dead. The doctor claimed even after the operation they cannot assure of life of the kid. So we both planned to abort instead of making the baby to suffer from birth itself. That day I cried like a hell and it took an year to recover from the incident.
Somehow we managed to overcome from the incidents and tried to live a happy and normal life.
A year after abortion, again we planned for baby. Now I’m 7 weeks pregnant and went to scan centre to check my baby’s heart beat. But doctor said this time yur baby has died already and doesnot have a heart beat.
There are no words to describe our pain. As others say, God will have other plans for yu. It is not at all true. I don’t find any meaning in living my life again.
These incidents made me to cry, making me to cry and will make to cry.
China’s Waiting For The U.S. To Make THIS Ultimate Mistake
I rented the same place for over twenty years before moving recently. Years ago I was sitting out on my deck one evening and to my shock FBI and DEA agents with rifles drawn were swarming my back yard from both sides to jump the fence between my property and the driveway area of the property next to me. Of course this pissed off my dogs and I had to drag them inside barking like crazy. From the kitchen I could hear the guy yelling “I ain’t do anything, I’m just down in the basement watching TV! You’re harassing me!” I quickly hear, funny I don’t see a TV but I see you’re running a meth lab!” Anyway, about a week or two later I get a call from my landlord. He tells me the same guy had called him and filed a police report because my dogs were too loud. Landlord started laughing and said the police officer stopped by his house since he knew him and I was out at work when he came by. He said he told the officer that you’d expect my dogs to bark and be extra on edge in the back yard after the raid of the neighbors house! Cop laughs, and from his cell phone calls the guy and tells him he’ll tell me to keep my dogs quiet if he can keep from making meth. Guy was never seen or heard from again, lol.
In the throes of active heroin and methamphetamine addiction, there is always an angle. There are no acts of kindness or altruistic events. Everything, down to the smallest of favors, comes with a price. If I need a ride, I owe you two bags. If you need a spot, you owe me dub. If you accept what is labeled a gift, you will undoubtedly and eventually be called to repay that debt. When I was actively using, what was given as a gift in good times, was remembered as a marker in bad times. And if ever comes a day you’re called on to make good and you can’t, or won’t, you’re labeled bad money. Which, as an addict with a habit, might as well be a death sentence.
Having lived that way for most of my life, I struggle to take people at face value when they’re being kind.
Tomorrow I start a project for an airline pilot. I was referred to them by a mutual acquaintance. When I offered to give that acquaintance a percentage of the projected profit, they looked at me like I was an alien. I pushed for them to take the money because I was afraid they’d call on me to pay that debt in the future, which is always uncertain. They refused and made it very clear they had referred me because I was a good fit for the work this pilot was interested in having done. They wanted nothing in return.
I could feel myself wanting to push for them to take the money. I don’t want to owe anyone anything. I like being free from that cycle I was stuck in for all those years. So I’ve been working on taking people at face value. If they say it, I try to believe it. But it isn’t easy.
The subtle details I’ve trained myself to notice are internal. They’re in my behaviors and actions when I’m on the receiving end of kindness. When someone is nice I start to withdraw and isolate. It’s not that it rubs me wrong, it’s more a fear that I won’t be able to repay that kindness. And the reason I’ve trained myself to notice this isolating behavior in myself? Isolation leaves me with the one person who has historically been able to justify getting high again. Myself.
CODE RED EMERGENCY: PENTAGON IN PANIC, BIDEN BRIEFED, RUSSIAN “SPACE NUKES TRIGGER MASS PANIC”
Today, this June 2023, China is the dominant nation in the world.
In every metric, China dominates.
Some metrics are obvious and astounding. Where it is obvious that China is the predominant nation in the world in that particular role.
Lifestyle for it’s citizenry.
Destruction of poverty.
Elimination of air pollution.
Manufacturing ability.
New technologies.
And so on and so forth.
It is no mistake that the rest of the world (well, the nations that are not proxies of the United States, that is) turn to China. They turn to China for trade. For economics. For science, and manufacturing. They turn to China for help and assistance. They turn to China for guidance, and direction.
They turn to China.
…
Now that being the truth, you have a multi-billion anti-china funded effort. This effort is designed to keep the American public, and the citizens of the proxy nations, ignorant of reality. Anything positive or neutral is withheld, and colored with outrageous lies. There’s no other way to describe the war propaganda; it’s untruths, and lies that are the direct opposite of the truth.
And if you, the reader are not aware of this, shame on you.
…
The rest of the world is turning into a multi-polar world based on individual national sovereignty, They no longer use American currency, follow and obey American laws, rules and conventions, and are distancing themselves from the insanity that has gripped the United States and dragging it downward.
There are exceptions.
A “color revolution” in Thailand, and South Korea has placed “puppet governments” in power. And the first things that these puppets do is pull their nations closer to the United States, and then engage in a war where many of their countrymen are killed.
It’s the United States method of Geo-Politics.
…
But, back to the question about China.
Do you know what the United States will look like in 2040? Do you know the projections? What are the economic, social, scientific, and cultural changes that will manifest int he United States in 2040?
Well, you don’t know.
Because there just isn’t any writings, projections, or videos about this subject. The United States has no plans for this far in the future. Instead the United States fully intends to “kick the can down the road” and let someone else deal with the various messes and problems that are sprouting up left and right everywhere.
RAND studies are looking at regional wars, and proxy war and color revolutions well into the next decade. But NOTHING about building the American domestic society. Nothing about the future of schools, society, and infrastructure. It’s almost as if those issues are not important.
But…
China knows.
China knows what the world will look like in 2040.
…
I see a prosperous China. Where China is a wealthy nation. Far wealthier than anything in Europe today.
I see a vibrant, and healthy Africa. Crime being eliminated, and social services expanding as industry does as well.
I see South America growing and modernizing. And like Africa, a strong middle class.
I see Chinese bases on the Moon, and the start of a Chinese colony on the surface of Mars.
I also see some amazing breakthroughs in national governance across the world where nations restructure their nations to be more efficient like China, and to punish the evil and greedy like China has.
Yes.
…
I see a bright future ahead.
And it is all starting today with the global leadership of China.
Mandatory Paternity Test LAW Passed Now GUESS WHO’s MAD
https://youtu.be/JJroJ-vsQ7Y
Italian Spinach Bread
2024 02 17 08 25
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, minced
Scant 2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup reserved spinach liquid
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast (not RapidRise)
Lightly sauté the garlic in oil, then let cool to room temperature.
Warm 1/4 cup spinach for yeast to activate (105 to 115 degrees F).
Stir yeast, sugar into warm spinach water in large mixing bowl; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
Add remaining 1/2 cup room-temperature spinach liquid, garlic with oil, the spinach and nutmeg and stir thoroughly.
Mix the flour and salt into the spinach mixture.
Knead on floured surface, sprinkling w/additional flour to absorb moisture from the spinach, until dough is well marbled, soft and velvety, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
Shaping and second rise – Dough will be wetter after first rise. Put dough onto a floured surface and flour the top of dough – don’t punch down or knead. Shape into round loaf and put on lightly oiled baking sheet (or parchment on the baking sheet).
Cover with a towel and let rise for about 45 minutes.
Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Slash a big V on top of loaf with sharp knife.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 400 degrees F and bake an additional 30-35 minutes.
I didn’t actually see it. I wish I had. I was in the kitchen when it happened.
It was a popular pizza restaurant that served cheap beer and lots of it. In big heavy frosty mugs. Until the owner replaced all of the expensive and fragile glass mugs with plastic ones.
I remember how he was real proud of the fact that he had found cheap plastic mugs that looked exactly like the ones he’d always used. And it was true, they were nearly identical and looked totally like glass.
So, of course, customers started throwing beer all over themselves when they would pick up the now much lighter mugs. That in and of itself is pretty funny. But it gets better.
So the owner quickly instructs the wait staff to say something like, “Before I give you your beer, I want to warn you that the new mugs are much lighter so be careful.”
That was going well until a boisterous group of relatively young men sat down in the large corner booth. This booth was kind of isolated from the others, so perhaps they didn’t hear this spiel given to other tables.
The waitress shows up with a tray of 8 beers and proceeds to say, “Now before I can give you your beer . . .”
“Just give me my damn beer,” the nearest one says while he grabs a beer off the tray.
Because the tray was at eye level to him, he didn’t just spill his beer. No. He threw it right in his own face.
And threw his hands up as if to push away whoever was attacking him with this beer shower.
And hit the tray. The unbalanced—due to his impetuous actions—tray of beer. The tray upends and drops the remaining 7 mugs of beer on the table.
Hearing the commotion and swearing, I ran to the dining room to find 8 people swimming in beer, trying to exit, one by one, from a tight booth. The waitress, covered in beer too, couldn’t help herself. She was laughing so hard she had tears running down her face.
Later she said that she knew she should be apologizing, but it was so clearly their own doing that she couldn’t stop.
They didn’t stay. But they did pay for their beers before they left. That was thanks to a couple of police officers who frequented the place.
The U.S. Military just Crossed China’s RED LINE and War is Coming
Actually it is sad, and when I peer into the future, it is absolutely worrying. Please be safe everyone.
Lots of videos today, but most are super short.
Enjoy…
Western Diplomacy is ‘Primitive’
Russians have had to dumb down their speeches at the UN so other countries can understand them, deputy representative Dmitry Polyansky has said.
Russian diplomats perceive their Western counterparts’ approach to international affairs to be “quite primitive,” Moscow’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, has said. Moscow’s representatives are not certain what caused this, but have simplified their messaging in response, he added.
Polyansky made remarks about the quality of the Western diplomatic corps in an interview with RIA Novosti published on Monday, based on his personal experience at the UN. He expressed concern about Anglophone speakers at the forum selectively ignoring the context of particular situations for their own benefit.
”They pick an arbitrary point in time and claim nothing happened before it. They try to blame a nation for its actions regardless of prior events or the general context,” he explained.
2024 02 13 14 46
The diplomat cited the Ukraine conflict as an example. The US and its allies have been describing Moscow’s military action against Kiev as “unprovoked” and supposedly motivated by “imperial ambitions,” and have pressured other nations to frame it in the same way. As they learn more about the conflict, however, those parties realize how much the general context and Western actions since Ukraine gained its independence matter, he added.
”This trick does not always work, but it is a trend. I don’t know if it’s some deeper trend or just something typical for some people coming from [Western] schools of diplomacy,” Polyansky said. “Having a dialogue with them is challenging because they show certain superficiality, tunnel vision, and unwillingness to seek the core causes of conflicts. No solutions can be found without [such analysis].”
The office of the Russian envoy to the UN has been simplifying its addresses due to uncertainty over how their words are understood, he said. Russian diplomats used to quote foreign and Russian classics in speeches, but are no longer using this rhetorical device as much, Polyansky said.
”Times dictate things. Our partners may now be less well-read individuals, so occasionally we want to speak in plainer terms to make sure our signal comes through,” he explained.
Reality
A New Civil War is A Very Real Prospect for the US
It has long been on the minds of doomsday preppers and fiction media creators alike – but how likely is it, really?
Let’s sketch a big country in three broad strokes:
First, its population is over 333 million. These citizens privately own about (or at least) 339 million guns. They are unique in that no other state in the world has more private guns than people. They easily outdistance, for instance, Yemen, a country with a martial culture that has gone through years of civil war and yet there are only about 53 firearms per 100 inhabitants.
Second, polarization is unusually high and virulent: As of 2020 already, a political scientist at one of America’s most prestigious universities, found that “political polarization among Americans has grown rapidly in the last 40 years — more than in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia or Germany,” for instance. The result: America is special, but not in a good way. “None of the wealthy, consolidated democracies of East Asia, Oceania, or Western Europe,” a 2022 paper published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace pointed out, “have faced similar levels of polarization for such an extended period.”
Last year, another Carnegie Endowment paper found that even while some of the perception of polarization on specific policy questions (such as gun control or abortion) is exaggerated, that perception itself is detrimental to the country’s cohesion. Because “the people who are most involved in civic and political life hold the least accurate [here meaning: highly negative] views of the other side’s beliefs” and there is a high degree of what political scientists call “affective polarization.” Put simply, all or many of those citizens, collectively hoarding so many guns that over 40% of households are armed in one way or the other, do not like or even merely respect “the other side” of the political spectrum – not at all and ever less.
Third, the country also displays a pronounced cultural preoccupation, really almost obsession, not merely with the idea of civil war as such or the specific history of its own very bloody civil war in the nineteenth century. Rather its elites and general population are fixated on a coming civil war, which, as of 2022, a whopping 43 percent considered likely in the next ten years. Debates, high-brow books, articles, and popular culture feature this fantasy prominently and persistently.
We are talking, of course, about the United States of America. While it would be easy to adduce more criteria and data points, there is no need. The above is sufficient to demonstrate that it would be shortsighted to pooh-pooh the risk of a second civil war in America, for two reasons: It is not a mere fantasy, owing its current national resonance to “hype” and the titillation of imagining a liberatingly apocalyptic future of chaos and every man and woman for themselves (and, in the US, I guess, every other gender that wishes to participate).
Smart Americans realize this as well. Barbara F. Walter, for instance, is a prominent political scientist who has worked extensively with the CIA to develop a model of civil war predictors, for any country but the US, of course. She has now come to warn that the model begins to fit America itself disturbingly well. She may have her centrist biases – the usual exaggeration of “Russian influence” included – but her core points are valid: The US is turning into an anocracy, that is, in essence, a regime that only pretends to be a democracy. (In fact, that is what it has always been, I would contend.) And there is a substantial constituency of those who feel threatened by losing their former social status and preeminence. Those happen to be phenomena strongly correlated with a risk of civil war.
Let’s also not forget that America is proving its enormous capacity for global disruption every day, even without civil war at home. While some observers may – even gleefully – hope that Americans fighting each other would finally have to let go of the rest of us, that is a very dicey bet. With an elite narcissistically obsessed with global “primacy” and “indispensability,” about 800 bases worldwide, an arsenal of thousands of nuclear warheads, and a nasty habit of blaming others for its own failures, a new American civil war would not exclude aggression abroad. Moreover, declining as it is, the US is still a key part of the global economy, much more so than in 1860, when its first civil war already had serious repercussions for the rest of the world.
In sum, it may attract preppers with camo baseball hats, beards, and pump guns, but don’t let that fool you: American Civil War 2.0 is a serious issue. So, what about it? What can we reasonably guess about how likely it really is and what shape it might take if it happens?
To start with the latter question, perhaps the first thing to note is that big civil wars can start small and local. That is, by the way, the real significance of the recent, open tensions over migration and border control between the state of Texas and the federal government in Washington. They did involve armed forces and much foreboding rhetoric, but, fortunately, no shots were fired. Yet those glibly dismissing the incident as mere political theater are wrong. Because, as the New York Times has noted, it was not only Texas that defied the US government. Rather, “many Republican state leaders publicly expressed defiance in terms that echoed armed conflicts.”
Indeed, the second thing to note is that, due to America’s federal structure, a new civil war would most likely begin with secession. In the fracas between Washington and Texas, 25 Republican governors openly sided with rebellious Texas. This was a perfect illustration of how one local flashpoint could quickly suck in the rest of the country by creating a logic of ultimate polarization and then secession. This logic has not yet fully unfolded. Its contours, however, have emerged clearly.
It is worth noting that many of the fiction narratives about Civil War 2.0 make the same point: Whether it is the cult graphic novel series “DMZ,” the bitterly ironic novel “American War” (it’s obvious in-joke is that it has some Americans treat other Americans the way Americans and Israelis now treat Palestinians, Iraqis, or Syrians), the small-budget yet clever movie “Bushwick,” or the big-budget “Civil War” about to hit American cinemas now: Again and again the basic premise is a scenario of secession escalating into massive domestic warfare.
Third, while the humongous pile of private firearms would certainly play a large role in a new civil war, it would be misguided to assume that such a fight would only pit gangs of private citizens, organized in militias, against official police and military forces. In reality, a dynamic of secession, once set in motion would lead to parts of the US’s manifold “siloviki” choosing their own allegiance, splitting, and starting to fight each other. If you believe that, in such a situation, the formal chains of command ultimately linking them all back to Washington would remain intact, I have a whole-and-indivisible Yugoslavia to sell you.
And, last but not least, in such a development, the war would be both severe and long. In that respect, it would resemble the first Civil War. Although, due to advanced technologies and declining inhibitions, it could be even more devastating and cruel. In Netflix’s recent and tellingly successful “Leave the World Behind,” the protagonists never learn who exactly is blowing up their country, but by the end of the movie two things seem reasonably clear: No, it’s not enemies from outside, but an inside job, and nukes are being used. That, by the way, was the premise as well of the earlier, initially unsuccessful but now cult television show “Jericho.”
How likely is such a dark future? Obviously, we do not know. But let’s note two things: We could, a priori, be looking at an America where no one is much interested in thinking about it. Yet we are seeing the opposite. If you think that means nothing, fine. Just don’t mistake your guess for a good policy or planning basis.
There are, of course, alternatives to civil war. One is peaceful de-polarization under the current anocratic conditions, which, hypothetically, can happen. The other is full-blown authoritarianism: one way to suppress the possibility of a civil war is to impose dictatorship.
But here’s the catch: A country can end up with both civil war and dictatorship. Ask the ancient Romans. Those Romans, that is, who were so much on the mind of the founders of the American Republic.
It has long been on the minds of doomsday preppers and fiction media creators alike – but how likely is it, really?
If you are greeting four people standing in a group, at least smile at the fifth person standing along with them, whom you don’t know, so that they don’t feel disrespected.
Whenever you ask someone to do something for you, even if they are ought to do it, frame it as a question to boost their self-esteem. ‘Can you please get my pen from the table?’ sounds much soothing than ‘Go, get my pen’.
People in hurry, appear too irritating, but they may be anxious about something or facing an emergency, don’t bother much, just give them a way and ignore, and even if someone is just too impatient, that’s something to pity.
You desperately want to interrupt someone, may be they are completely wrong, but at least let them finish a sentence, so that you don’t appear even worse than them.
When you finish eating, pick the little pieces of food fallen around your plate and put them on your plate and throw them, it shows immense maturity.
Don’t wait for someone, standing in front of the opposite sex wash room, because when the gate opens again and again, it can be quite embarrasing, and also people may question your integrity.
When you disagree with someone, it doesn’t make them a criminal. Respect their opinion, and realise the fact that your thoughts may also be your opinion and not a fact. ‘Argue with respect.’
Whenever you break a line, you become a teacher for countless innocent people, this isn’t something great to give back to the society, respect a line.
Not liking to be touched is not arrogance, it’s a natural trait of most people, avoid touching people as much as possible to protect your self-esteem and respect theirs.
When you shout at someone, all you are doing is wasting your energy, misusing your larynx, and showing immaturity, learn to take boldest of actions and give harshest of warnings, keeping a smile.
Italian Oven Chowder
To enjoy this hearty chowder as the Italians do, be sure to include the oysters.
Creamy Italian Seafood Chowder 4
What is Creamy Italian Seafood Chowder?
If you are a seafood lover – this Creamy Italian Seafood Chowder is for you!
Sometimes called an Italian “white” seafood chowder – a delicious variety of seafood and vegetables are suspended in a cream-based broth that really allows the flavors of the seafood to shine through. (You can also make a “red” seafood chowder with a tomato-based broth.)
Some Italian families serve this seafood chowder on Christmas Eve for the traditional Feast of Seven Fishes, but we love it anytime of the year – especially with fresh-caught seafood in the summer.
Why you’ll love Creamy Italian Seafood Chowder
It’s chock full of a variety of fresh seafood – and you can vary it depending on the catch of the day, or to suit your family’s tastes.
This chowder is hearty and delicious, and it makes for a very satisfying meal.
You can prepare it ahead of time (but be sure to read our tips below in the Frequently Asked Question to avoid overcooking the seafood if you make it ahead).
Ingredients
4 slices bacon
2 large carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 medium parsnips, sliced 1/2 inch thick, cutting larger pieces in half
In a 4-quart Dutch oven cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in the pan. Drain bacon on paper towels; crumble and set aside.
Add carrots, parsnips, and onions to Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until brown, stirring occasionally.
Add potatoes, chicken broth, garlic salt and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. (At this point the soup can be cooled, covered, and chilled in the refrigerator overnight.)
In a small mixing bowl stir together melted margarine or butter and flour. Stir flour-margarine mixture, milk, and corn into chowder mixture in Dutch oven. Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened. If desired, add oysters and liquid to soup; heat through.
Sprinkle each serving with crumbled bacon and chives or parsley, if desired.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
Salt Pork and Bacon – These two ingredients are an easy way to add delicious flavor to any soup or chowder – the rendered fat is used to sauté vegetables, so you won’t need to add other fats. While we use both salt pork and bacon, you could easily just use all of one or the other – the salt pork adds a nice salty flavor, while the bacon adds a smokey taste.
Seafood – Buy a total of four pounds of seafood. We made our chowder with fresh haddock, chopped fresh clams, shell-on shrimp (frozen shrimp is fine), fresh scallops, and crab meat. You can substitute any of these varieties of seafood, or use all of one or the other, just as long as the total weight equals four pounds.
Clam juice – Look for bottled clam juice at the supermarket – sometimes sold near the seafood counter. Other times, you can find it near the soup aisle.
Dairy – Heavy cream makes up the broth, along with the clam juice and a broth from the shrimp shells. Unsalted butter smooths things out and adds more flavor. You could lighten this soup up a bit with light cream or half and half – but it won’t be quite the same.
Tomato – Buy canned whole and peeled San Marzano tomatoes. You’ll break up the tomato pieces into the soup and reduce the juices to create a serving sauce that garnishes each portion.
Other Vegetables – Peeled and diced russet potatoes are the best for this seafood chowder, plus diced onion and celery, and minced garlic.
Herbs and spices – You’ll use a variety of herbs and spices including bay leaves, fresh basil, fresh mint, dried oregano, kosher salt, black pepper, and fresh thyme.
I was 27 when my husband (29) passed away unexpectedly while stationed overseas. It took 3 weeks for the army to bring his corpse back to the US and a week after the arrival his church service and funeral took place. A week after the burial, I traveled back to my country of origin for only one week. My daddy, who was extremely fond of my late husband, and who couldn’t attend the funeral due to work obligations and visa lasting procedures, had an open-hearted conversation with me. He said that all of us will die. And many of us will go unexpectedly. That there was a divine reason why all of what happened had happened and that I would need to eventually come to peace with losing him. I needed to see my story with my husband as a chapter of my book that ended. I needed to turn the page to the next chapter for my own benefit, if not, instead of having one dead in the family, they were going to have two. Because that’s who I was going to turn into. A dead living woman.
I listened to his words which made sense, but I didn’t want my life to make sense so quickly so I forgot about them until after I dragged myself into an alcohol addiction for months. And one day, I remembered his wise words and between that and the help of a close friend, I realized my daddy was right. Either I got over my husband’s passing or I was going to stay dead myself.
200 Times Wife Has a MELTDOWN After Getting Caught Cheating #2
Aging is a natural process, but there are steps you can take to maintain a youthful appearance and overall well-being in your 70s and 80s. Here are some tips to help you look and feel young:
image 12
1. Stay Active: Regular exercise is crucial for maintaining muscle strength, flexibility, and overall health. Low-impact activities like walking, swimming, and yoga can be excellent choices.
2. Eat a Balanced Diet: A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats can support your skin, hair, and overall health.
3. Stay Hydrated: Proper hydration is essential for skin health. Drink enough water to keep your skin hydrated.
4. Protect Your Skin: Use sunscreen to protect your skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays, which can cause premature aging. Moisturize your skin regularly to keep it hydrated.
5. Get Sufficient Sleep: Quality sleep is essential for overall health. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
6. Manage Stress: High-stress levels can lead to premature aging. Practice stress-reduction techniques like meditation, deep breathing, or yoga.
7. Regular Checkups: Visit your healthcare provider for regular checkups to address any health concerns promptly.
8. Stay Socially Active: Maintaining social connections can contribute to mental and emotional well-being, which can affect your overall appearance.
9. Mental Stimulation: Keep your mind active with puzzles, games, or learning new skills. It can help maintain cognitive function and a youthful spirit.
10. Good Skincare: Use skincare products suitable for your skin type and age. A good skincare routine can make a difference in maintaining healthy skin.
11. Fashion and Style: Update your wardrobe with clothing that makes you feel confident and stylish. How you dress can impact your overall look.
12. Hair Care: Consider a hairstyle that suits your face shape and is easy to maintain. Many people embrace their natural gray hair, which can be quite attractive.
13. Regular Dental Care: Don’t neglect your dental health. Regular dental checkups and good oral hygiene can help maintain a youthful appearance.
Remember that aging is a natural part of life, and it’s essential to embrace the wisdom and experiences that come with it. Looking and feeling young is about maintaining your health and self-confidence as you age.
I was working at this shipping company, I think it was.
The boss was one of those who would bully his subordinates. He often made several employees cry.
Anyway, we were in a meeting. It was more like a bitching session.
The boss spent the meeting screaming at everyone, calling us lazy and insisting we were the worst employees ever. He was screaming at us and I felt I had to say something.
So I did.
The boss got right in my face. I mean, like a few inches from me. He started screaming right in my face and I simply stood my ground.
The boss screamed at me to get out, that I was fired.
Then he screamed at everyone else, calling them lazy and telling everyone to get out if they didn’t like the way he was running things.
Each and every person followed me out the door. This literally meant there was no staff to get any work done.
Not surprisingly, the boss ended up getting fired.
I was turning 30. I had planned a party for me and my going to be 12 year old daughter. It was a Saturday. My sister and I went with our kids to Mom and Dad’s for the regular Saturday bagel routine. Dad was at his parents’ house mowing their lawn. He had called me earlier with a, “Happy Birthday Robbio, See Yah later”. I responded, “Love you Daddio”. About 45 minutes into our bagel breakfast, the phone rang and my mother answered. The color completely drained from her face. She kept repeating, “A stroke? A stroke?” It was my grandfather. My father was in the hospital. My then husband and brother-in-law raced to my mother’s side and my sister and I loaded the kids into my car and sped to our grandparents. I played the game in my head, If I get all green lights he’s fine. If I see kids playing he’s fine….etc. It was a warm September day. The windows on the car were open. As we approached the house, we could hear what only could be described as wailing. It was Grandma. I have never, ever heard such a sorrowful, painful sound. My daughter found my Dad’s smashed glasses on the lawn. My grandfather returned from the hospital, just shaking his head. He said nothing. Shortly the family showed up. My dad had died. He had a massive heart attack. The sanitation workers picking up trash had jumped off of the truck to help my grandfather apply CPR, but to no avail. He was basically dead before he hit the ground. For the next fifteen years, no one and I mean no one could say, “Happy Birthday” to me. I forbade it and if someone accidentally said it, they got schooled. I still can’t really celebrate my birthday, even though it’s been 36 years. I do have a major amount of respect for sanitation workers though.
Five days after moving into a new (to me and my wife) home our neighbor, Lee, showed up at our door to borrow my weedeater. He’d seen me using it in my backyard the day before and said he wanted to do some “cleanup” around his yard. I told him that I was sorry but I had a firm policy against loaning my tools or equipment out. I also mentioned that I’d bought the weedeater at a local home improvement store for around $75. He replied that he wouldn’t use it that often so he didn’t see the point of buying one.
End of story, right?
Not quite.
The guy pretty much avoided me after I denied his request; if I came outside while he was in his driveway or yard, he’d ignore me, or just give a cursory wave before turning away. Over time I became friendly with Mack, my neighbor across the street, and one evening we were in his backyard, staining his deck, when he said that he didn’t think I was a bad guy, at all. I asked him to explain and he told me that my next door neighbor, Lee, had told him and a couple of other neighbors that I was an asshole who didn’t want to help anyone out. Because I wouldn’t lend him my weedeater.
I told Mack that Lee struck me as being something of an opportunist and con man, and Mack admitted that Lee did have those tendencies. That convinced me that I’d been right to refuse to lend him my weedeater. He was just angry at me because I didn’t buy his BS.
I couldn’t say how friendly German women as a whole were to American troops; (although sometimes they were very friendly indeed, I’ve often read, lol)…but I can relate a story my dad told me about an interaction he once had with a German woman towards the very end of the Third Reich.
My dad was a medic in the 3rd Armored Division. He landed on Omaha beach, fought all through France, drove through the carnage and destruction of the Falaise pocket, was in Belgium at the Battle of the Bulge and was in Germany at the Battle of the Hurtgen forest. He was also at the liberation of the Nordhausen forced labor camp, where V-2 rockets were being constructed by slave labor…Poles, Jews, Czechs and Russians. My father was in the Ruhr pocket in Rhine-North Westphalia, Germany when the war ended.
It really didn’t dawn on me until much later in life what a living repository of history my dad was, and how present he had been at and for so much history. He told me many truly amazing stories, and as I was always pretty much the only one among my siblings who ever showed any interest in my dad’s WW II service, I wrote everything he told me down and have it archived on my computer. (And even as a child, I was fascinated by my father’s stories and recognized them for the real family and WW II history they were). I really wish I had tape recorded my dad telling these stories when he was still alive, and always meant to…but life and time got in the way (as it often does) and I never got around to it. Still, though…I’ve got them all down in print.
This happened shortly after the 3rd Armored had crossed into Germany proper. My dad told me;
“Often,when we moved into and occupied these towns,of course we would sometimes take a break for chow.And invariably, little French or Belgian or in this case Germankids wouldcluster around, watching us getting ready to eat and hoping for some food.All of these children had been living in occupied or food-rationed countries for years now; they were often terribly thin and pale.And they’d gather around, smelling the cooking food and shyly watching us with big eyes.
And of course…we shared. I mean…how the heck could you eat while being watched by hungry kids? Anybody with a heart would’ve shared, and we always did.
And in this particular town, there was a little fella watching us. He had a beat-up, moth-eaten black coat on, and a little black cap on his head. Short pants and knee socks…legs like pipe cleaners…like sticks.
So I decided right then and there to make sure this little guy got fed well.
I grabbed him by the hand, took him to the head of the chow line and told the guy filling our kits, “C’mon, pal. Load this little guy up. Load‘im up.Looks like he hasn’t had a decent meal in years.”And he hunted up an aluminum tray, and piled it high with corned-beef hash and beans and white bread. I dug a D-bar out of my pocket and also put some chewing gum on the tray, too. I knelt down and put the tray and food into the boy’s hands.
You should’ve seen this kid’s face. (Laughs). His eyes nearly popped out of his head! “Danke schoen, Herr Soldaten!’’, he said to me politely and wonderingly. I found an empty packing crate in the street, led him over to some steps in front of a house, propped up the crate and helped him put the tray on it and sit down, and stuck a tin spoon in his hand. In German, I told him to help himself and eat up. Eagerly, he began to dig in.
But as the boy began to bring the first spoonful of food to his mouth…a door to a house on the other side of the street flew open, and a matronly “hausfrau“ maybe sixty years old or so came storming out of the house and across the street to us, snatched the spoon right outta the kid’s hand, grabbed the tray of food and hurled it to the ground.
“ALBERNES KIND!” (FOOLISH CHILD!), she yelled at the boy.“Do you notknow, have you not heard?These American soldiers are all CHICAGO GANGSTERS!! They will kill you!! That food is poisoned!! And yet you are blockhead enough to eat ofit??!!”
Viciously jerking the boy up off the stairs by his arm, she swatted his ass good and turned to march with him back to the house across the street.As the kid started bawling, I grabbed her by the arm to try to stop her and explain things to her. I spoke and understood the Deutsch pretty damned well by then, and I knew exactly what she’d said; and I was very much dismayed that she actually believed I, or we as Americans, would really try to poison her child…or grandchild, most likely. And I desperately wanted her to understand that this wasn’t the case.
And besides…I wasn’t even from Chicago! (Laughs).
So Itried to talk to her, addressing her as ‘’gnadige frau” (gracious lady) and telling her, “The food is not poisoned! Look!”And I bent over and picked up the tray, and actually scooped up a handful of hash off the ground and ate it right in front of her!“Nicht giftig!”, I kept repeating to her, “nicht giftig!” (Not poisoned!)
Unfortunately, she was having none of it. With a glare at me and a sniff of her upturned nose, she turned away and dragged the bawling kid across the street and into the house and slammed the door behind them.
I felt bad that the little guy never got his chow, and that these people had been so ingrained to hate and distrust us by Nazi propaganda.
But not all the German people were that way. Many of them were quite friendly and distinctly glad to see us…as opposed to the Russians.”
My father told me lots of other stories, some funny, many quite tragic, which I’ll be submitting to Quora in the future. My first story of his got an overwhelming response, and I was glad so many people enjoyed it. I fancy myself a student of WW II, and it really made me pleased that so many other people find so much interest in my dad’s war tales. Thanks to everyone for your views and comments…more to come if you’re interested!
I went to the drive up window at our pharmacy to pick up my script. It was a very blustery day. As I went to put my $20 in the drawer a gust of wind blew it out of my hand. After paying with my ATM card I pulled away and parked. Got out of the car and searched the area but no luck. My thought was I hope whoever found it needed it more than me and drove home. During the next week or so I was in and out of my car including the trunk several times.
I had a bag full of clothes to donate to Goodwill. In order to get to the Goodwill near me I had to drive to the intersection near my pharmacy, turn left, travel about half mile, turn right onto a busy highway, drive another half mile and turn left into the Goodwill parking lot, drive to the back of the store to deliver my donation. The rear parking lot backed up to a wooded area. I took the clothes out of the trunk of my car and deposited them in the bin provided.
Just as I walked to the back of my car a $20 bill blew right up to my feet. I just couldn’t believe it. The bill looked like it had been out in weather for a while. Was it my bill from the pharmacy. Was it somehow stuck to my car or trunk. But how could that be. I had driven my car quite a bit and had been in and out of my car and trunk several times during that week. In any event I was so happy because I sure needed that $20.
When Delusional Woke People Get OWNED
https://youtu.be/TNtVDYnSxh0
TO THE MOM AT THE SCHOOL DROP OFF THIS MORNING
Today I walked my son to his kindergarten class. It was cold and we were huddled together like sardines as we stood outside the door waiting for the bell to ring.
I saw you with your little boy just a few feet from us, and I looked down when I realized you were looking at us. I hoped you didn’t know who we were. I hoped you didn’t know my son was “that kid.” The one who’s not transitioning well in this school year.
I know what the kids say about my son. They go home and tell their parents my kid is bad. Sometimes he pushes and hits. Sometimes he is defiant and refuses to sit down, be quiet, or stay in line.
I know because the kids tell him what they think of him on the playground. “Mark said I’m bad today.” Or “Aiden’s dad said I can’t play with him anymore.” And my heart hurts, because I know he’s struggling in school. And we are working every angle… in school with a specialist, at home, and through classes, books and resources.
Today, you looked at me, then at my son. “You must be K,” you said to my son. And I looked up and smiled sheepishly. It was an apologetic smile. Almost a “I’m sorry you know his name” smile, because that means you’ve heard the stories.
I said to you, “Yes, this is him.”
I whispered when my son stepped away that we are aware he’s causing some trouble and we are working on it. That we take his behavior very seriously.
And then you did something I never expected. I don’t know if I was waiting for you to tell me what you heard K did to your son, or just tell me off. But instead you told me about your older son who struggled with similar problems at this age. You told me that now he’s in high school and he’s a straight A student.
Instead of tearing me down, you lifted me up. You gave me hope. And you handed me an olive branch so I know that I do have an ally during school drop off. An ally I never expected.
You didn’t have to make that connection. You could have ignored us or pretended not to know us. Or yes — you could have told me what you think of my son (you would not be the first). But you didn’t. You showed me grace and kindness and you uplifted me more than I could possibly describe in words.
I told you I would love to learn more about steps you took with your older son. I would love suggestions and guidance and that I would call you. And you know what? I will call you. Even if no suggestions or guidance is ever exchanged. I will call you because you are a friend I want to have. You are a good person.
Supporting evidence: Having spent more than 5 years at TCS I thought employees must accept their manager’s decision, no questions asked. After I moved to Australia I took up a casual hour based contract job. I didn’t mind the pay (which was less than what my experience could get me) because I loved the team. My manager believed in giving credit where it was due and soon the top management wanted to offer a fixed term contract which meant I could take paid leaves. I was so grateful and was about to sign the contract when my manager asked, “Aren’t you going to ask for a raise?”
“But this is so nice of them and I don’t want to make it awkward. What if they think I’m being greedy?”, I asked.
My manager laughed but looked at me seriously as she said, “Ruchika, if you don’t ask, you don’t get! You know you can get more money outside and they know it too. Don’t let them get away with it. Show them you know your worth.”
I nodded and wrote an email only to please my manager. I was so surprised at the response because the higher step pay was granted to me, just like that.
After some time, the management decided to offer me an ongoing permanent position and offered me the topmost step pay in the band. I was about to sign the offer letter as my manager reminded me to ask for a raise again. “But they are already offering me the topmost level in my band and they can’t change the band for this job, so I’m not sure what they can do.”, I responded.
“They will figure out a way if they want to. I know they will because they know you’re good and wouldn’t want to lose you. However, if they can’t, the worse that’ll happen is, they’ll refuse. I can’t see what you have to lose.”
Cursing the awkward situation I was in, I wrote an email trying to sound grateful and confident at the same time. My manager approved the draft and I hit send. By the end of the day, the General Manager asked HR to add a special loading to my pay package, which meant I was earning pretty much the same as the next band without undergoing any admin headache.
The thing is the company knows their good employees and understands, like all relationships, this association needs to be beneficial to both the parties. So if there’s something that you know will help you perform better for your company… just ask!
Boss asked me to train a newly hired paralegal graduate to do my job in one week as she was going to be my backup while I was on vacation.
I asked him how do I train 35 years of experience in a fresh paralegal graduate? I did my best to cram the information before I left for vacation.
She was inattentive and I had grave concerns since she refused to take notes.
Upon my return, I got the blame for every mistake she made during my absence. Each attorney gave me a list of their grievances.
I defended myself and was scolded for insubordination and told my services were no longer required.
So I left, turning in my keys. 4 hours later I receive a text stating that I misunderstood our conversation and that it was not their intention to terminate me.
5 hours later, I receive another text stating that he was no longer firing me but I needed to be less reactive and more understanding of the firm needs.
I decided to help clarify the situation and informed him that my text response confirms the separation terms.
And if you are a teacher, you might be cranky after reading this. It does not put teenage me in a flattering light.
When I was in high school, you had to take 2 years of gym in order to graduate. May I just say, over 30 years later, the most frequent recurring nightmare I have is not having enough of the right credits to graduate high school.
This plagued me.
I hated gym. I wasn’t athletic. I was not a group anything, and was particularly awful at group sports. I’m very tall, so you’d think I’d be good at volleyball. Nope. Into the net every time.
I despised everything about gym, because I was an outsider. Outsiders are most vulnerable in gym class. I just wanted to be alone & read books & listen to Bowie records.
Plus, I hated my body. I thought I was supposed to look like Farrah Fawcett. I did not look like Farrah. I was fat, and in particular I hated my legs.
Back then, you were required to do certain things to pass gym. One of those things was called dressing out. We also had to participate in class, then take a shower & dress for our next class, all in six or seven minutes at the end.
As you can see, this was a lot of body exposure for someone who hated their body so much. Every part of it was a humiliation to me.
I have a picture of myself in a swimsuit after my senior year. Thing is, my body was fine. I’d be delighted to have that body again.
(So if you are a teenager and hate your body, stop it. You are more fabulous than you know.)
Dressing out was changing out of our school clothes & putting on our gym clothes, which was basically a polyester onesie. Navy shorts attached to a navy & white horizontally striped shirt which zipped up the front to our neck.
It was just heinous. See?
image 176
(Photo courtesy of Google images)
I just wouldn’t do it. I’d plead not feeling well & wonder why putting on this onesie & playing dodgeball could possibly advance our lives in any way. I sat on the sidelines staring at the antics of class with great disdain. And I seemed to be getting away with it.
I was not getting away with it.
One day, our gym teacher, Mrs. K, walked over to me. She had a very pleased with herself expression on her face. She was smirking.
Because kids like me were the bane of existence to teachers like her. I had a bad attitude.
Once in a while, teachers will one-up kids like me. My antennae went up. The smirk worried me.
I need to talk to you, she said.
I stood up and gazed at my foe, with her Hamill haircut and velour track suit in a particularly unflattering shade of mauve.
I have to tell you, she said, almost unable to contain her glee, that you are failing gym. There’s no way for you to pass. None. I have told you over and over you have to dress out and participate. You haven’t done either. So, she continued, delivering her coup de grace, unless you go to summer school, you will not graduate with your class.
SUMMER SCHOOL? Oh, HELL no.
I do believe I cried. She was unmoved, giving the standard line that eff-ups like me hear time and time again:
There are consequences to our actions!
It was unbearable.
I did feel ashamed. It was just so stupid and avoidable. I’d truly screwed myself this time.
Two things were certain.
I was not going to summer school.
I was not being left behind a year. Impossible.
So I had to put my thinking cap on & figure this mess out.
Okay. What does she want? What do teachers like her want from students? Above all else?
The answer was clear. The problem was the execution of the plan. She would be suspicious. I had to deliver this perfectly.
The next day, I showed up at gym class. I put on the wretched gym suit. I participated in calisthenics and dodgeball. I showered & dressed for class. I saw her looking at me with my peripheral vision; I did not turn my head or make eye contact.
Me & my new, improved attitude were docile. Subdued. One of the herd.
Next day, I came back. Did the same thing. Participated. Laughed along with the other students. Plays well with others, check.
I knew the fatal flaw would be to ask her to pass me. So I didn’t. Nothing happened. A week went by.
Then one day she calls my name after class. I trot up to her. I keep my eyes big and innocent. I say Yes m’am.
I’ve noticed, she starts, that you’ve been dressing out & participating for a week. Without a reward in sight.
That’s right, I think, keep going…
You have had a real change of attitude.
It’s actually worked, I think, this is just thrilling.
So, she continues, kind now; dare I say moved? If you continue to dress out every day & write a two-page report on the importance of dressing out, I will pass you.
YES
But you have to do it every day, she warns, letting me know not to test her benevolence.
Ah, bien sur, Madame. I give effusive & grateful thanks.
I walk out of there like a boss. I can barely contain my joy. No summer school. I graduate with my class.
I tell my best friend, howling with glee, about how my attitude had changed.
Unbelievable, says my friend T, with more than a little disgust.
What do teachers want most? They want to make a difference in a kid’s life. I let her think she had changed me; that she’d taught me the importance of a good attitude.
What are most people surprised to hear about Australia?
the crustaceans we put on barbeques are called “prawns”, not “shrimp”.
I had never heard of Steve Irwin until after he become famous overseas — he was not that well-known here before he became famous overseas
Steve Irwin and Crocodile Dundee are anything but “typical Australians” — typical Australians live in cities, like Sydney and Melbourne and the other state, territory, and federal capitals
we rarely see dangerous animals or insects — Australia is not particularly dangerous and we have a long life expectancy
we don’t see many kangaroos or other native animals unless we live well outside the big cities
Pavlovas — you must eat one
Australian confectionery is very good, at least compared to American confectionery
Australian food (meat, vegetables, fruit) is fresh and generally of a high quality
most Australians live near the ocean — the interior is relatively empty (and dry, as in desert)
Australia does not have a lot of Mexican restaurants because we don’t live next door to Mexico — it is a long way from here
Australians do not like Starbucks, and do not have “Burger King” — we call it Hungry Jacks because of a court case run by a business here that already had the name “Burger King”
our Woolworths has no relation to American Woolworths … except our Woolworths stole the name before the American Woolworths tried to open stores here (Woolworths Group (Australia) – Wikipedia
)Australians drive on the left — like the British, Japanese, New Zealanders, Indians, and many other people in this part of the worldwe have winter in June, July, and August, and summer in December, January, and February … and no, we don’t think that is strangeit gets cold here in winter, especially because we build our houses to be cool in summer … and then freeze in winter if we don’t have heaters and woolly jumpers (sweaters).
If you only bring summer clothes to Australia you will suffer during winter months.we have Christmas in summer (December) … because Christmas is not a celebration of winter, it is a celebration set on 25 December
Australians write dates as day/month/year not month/day/yearthe Australian accent is different to the New Zealand accent — just ask a New Zealander to say “fish and chips”: if they say “fush end chups” they are from New Zealand. It is definitely different to any British accent.Australians use A4 paper, not “Letter size”; we use the metric system; our currency is the Australian dollar … and we changed all of those things in my lifetime.our temperature is in Celsius.
No, we don’t understand Fahrenheit, we have to convert it to Celsius first.we put “petrol” in our cars, not “gas” … unless your car has been converted to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), in which case we say “LPG”, not “gas”. Petrol is not a gas, it is a liquid.
One boss asked a subordinate to review sick leave usage. The subordinate reported that 40% of all sick leave was taken in conjunction with a weekend. He took it as proof that people were abusing the sick leave system.
The boss ordered all supervisors to require a doctor’s note when someone took sick leave in conjunction with a weekend.
I did a quick analysis of his order and responded, “Monday and Friday are each one fifth of the work week, or 20% of the work week each. Together they add up to 40% of the week. If people get sick at random, they will call in evenly over the work week. You should expect to see an even distribution of 20% of sick leave taken on any given work day. The fact that only 40% call in on Monday and Friday (20% each) proves that no one is abusing sick leave.”
So I was working with this Car Dealership in the States for quite a while, about 4–5 years. Made good money and we had relatively good business practices, which isn’t common in car sales anywhere, and I ended up liking it alot. Anyway, they had this page in the employee handbook that states essentially that if your fired, quit, etc before commission is paid out on the 15th of each month then they were not required to pay you your commission. And that instead of $15 an hour your paychecks were retroactively reduced to minimum wage of $7.75. So, in this dirtiest of fine prints, what it didn’t tell you is that if they fired you on the 14th, which happened ALOT, then instead of getting your commission check, you were handed a bill that you owed them. Unless you worked an impossible amount of hours, you’d never be able to break the “Draw pay” or the money they front you weekly, $600 weekly. You would have to sell an absurd amount of cars, which case your not fired no matter how much you suck, or work 100+ hours a week to cover it. It was just cruel and dirty. I watched many folk get fired on the 14th and on the 15th have a letter from accounting stating that you ower them $300-$500 due in less than 30 days. Everyone screamed it was illegal, but “You signed the agreement” was always the answer. Somebody sued them for it once, and if memory serves me right they dragged it out for about 2 years and settled on not nearly enough money to cover lawyers and court costs. Dirty fine print at its best.
In 2012 a man was traveling in a Suzuki car with 3 others in Patna. He was driving at a speed of 100 kmph on an empty highway. Soon an SUV passed them at a very high speed. The SUV was so fast that it almost got out of control and was about to hit the Suzuki.
To save the accident, the driver of Suzuki tried to move away from the passing SUV. Doing so, the Suzuki got out of control and overturned and hit the corner of the road.
image 177
(photo for illustration only)
Four people in the car were badly injured, but narrowly escaped. The SUV driver fled after the accident and there was no one else on the road. Suzuki’s driver was badly injured and he got out of the car and sat on the middle of the road, shouting “Save!”.
It was 36 degree heat and the road was scorching. The driver lay on the road thinking that he was about to die. He wanted to help the other 3 passengers, who were still inside the car and were moaning in pain.
A few minutes later a car arrived. The man who got out of the car made a video of the accident with his phone. Then he took a closeup of the driver, whose face was covered in blood. Then this person sat in his car and left from there.
A few more minutes passed and the other car stopped. A middle-class couple came out and saw the driver lying on the hot road. The couple went back to their car and came back with a sheet.
To protect the injured driver from the scorching sun, the couple shed a sheet over him and stood up. They both stood in the sun. The husband then called emergency health services and asked them to come to the scene immediately.
They both stood there giving shade to the injured driver for almost 70 minutes! So long in the sun!
After the ambulance arrived, the couple took two other passengers in their car along with the ambulance.
The couple left the hospital after the four injured were admitted to the ICU. The driver narrated this story after recovering from an injured condition for several months, but he could not meet the noble couple.
China is militarily aggressive towards Taiwan and in the South China Sea.
China is a dictatorship.
China is trapping developing countries in debt with the Belt and Road Initiative.
There are many, many more lies. They could fill a book, so it’s not appropriate to expound on all of it in a Quora answer.
Some food for thought…
China has fought no wars since 1979. How many wars has America fought?
China has legitimate maritime disputes in the South China Sea, just like USA and Canada have no fewer than five maritime disputes.
China does not sanction other countries, nor interfere in their politics, nor overthrow their governments. America has done all of this.
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 85% of Chinese trust their government. Only 40% of Americans do, and 30% of Brits do.
image 13
According to Latana’s Democracy Perception Index (which measures what people think of their political system), China is the sixth most democratic country, well ahead of Canada, UK, and USA.
image 178image 179
The Global South gives overwhelming support to the Belt and Road Initiative. Over 150 countries participate!
Married Women Held Accountable for Late Night Encounters with Under Age Boys
At 4pm he told us to compile a report and action plan ready for tomorrow’s 830am meeting. Now to do this properly would take each of us a full day’s work. All 7 of us protested, and asked for more time. I asked when he expected us to find the time, and he told us to work on it that night at home. I openly said “sorry, that’s unreasonable. I have a 90 minute drive home, then I’ll be cooking dinner, and then helping with showers and homework. When that’s done I have about an hour before I’m ready to fall asleep. His reply? “Get your wife to make the dinner and shower the kids while you work on the report.” And then he left the room. So we all united and decided not to do it.
He went off his tree at 830am the next morning when nothing was done. I had a word to the very nice HR lady, about what he said, along with the list of people in the room who witnessed it. When he blew his gasket and wanted HR to issue warnings, she simply told him to reschedule the meeting for the following day, and let us work all day uninterrupted to prepare for it, in work time.
My ex worked at a Friendlies restaurant. They had that wonderful phenomena with the Sunday morning church crowd. If you don’t know what I’m referring to, ask anyone who works Sunday morning at low-end restaurants.
This one family was notorious for demanding exemplary service, running the servers ragged and not tipping. On my ex’s last day of work, they showed up and did their usual. Rather than not tipping, they left a little card that said “I’ve given your tip to Jesus!” She balled up the card, followed them out into the parking lot, threw it at the dad and said “Jesus doesn’t pay my fucking rent!”
The dad flew back into the restaurant and demanded she be fired. The manager said it was her last day, and maybe things like this wouldn’t happen if you tipped the server. It was golden.
70% of people keep things to themselves to avoid being judged by others.
People between the ages of 18–33 are the most stressed in the world After the age of 48, stress level tends to reduce.
The most common lie said by humans is ” I’m fine”
Pretty people are automatically more acceptable by people. Average looking people have to do something above average to get accepted and ugly people have to do something extraordinary!
Always tell the truth. So when you have to tell a lie, people are more likely to believe you.
More you talk about a person to others, more you fall in love with that person.
If you announce your goals or tell someone else about them, you are less likely to accomplish them because of lack of motivation interest since you have nothing to prove.
A true friend who understands your troubles is far more valuable than a hundred friends who only show up for your smile.
We tend to behave better when we are being watched.
Happier is not the one who has more money, but the one who has more money than his neighbor.
Anger increases the desire of possession in people. People make more efforts to obtain the object that is associated with angry faces.
‘Maturity’ has no connection with ‘Age’. Yes, age is just a number…you can find more maturity in a child, than a person in his 50’s. Maturity comes with ‘Empathy’.
Intelligent people tend to have fewer friends.
We want more choices, but choose better with fewer options.
I’ll admit that when I conducted interviews — either alone or as part of a panel — there were times when I liked, or disliked, a candidate early on. That’s why I came up with a series of questions to ask and made sure to ask them all: I wanted to give the candidate an opportunity to change my mind, one way or the other.
I will say that my initial impression was right about 70% of the time but ending an interview after five minutes would be a waste of the candidate’s and, more importantly, my time. In my 50+ years in the work force, there was only one occassion when I ended an interview prematurely. When I owned a security guard company I interviewed a woman for a job as Operations Manager. When she sat down she said that she’d heard good things about my company and she really wanted the job. Then she stood up and leaned on my desk, so I could see down her blouse, and said she’d do anything to get the job. I looked at her and smiled, and she repeated, Anything.
I ended the interview at that point, after less than ten minutes, and thanked her for coming in. I told her I planned on making a decision before the weekend (she’d come in on Tuesday) and I would let her know what is was. I had my assistant call her two days later and tell her another candidate had been hired. That chick was a lawsuit waiting to happen and I wanted no part of her.
When I’ve approached a table and before I’ve even said hello I’ve been met with ‘just so you know, we are on tripadvisor’. *sigh*. I can tell straight away I’m going to get AT LEAST one complaint about food/service/drinks/the colour of the tablecloths or whatever other excuses they want to make in order to receive a discount or face a terrible review.
We have a group of women who come in twice a month. There are always between 8-10 of them. They are taken care of as well as we take care of all our other guests. The fact you leave reviews on tripadvisor is not special and you will not be treated any differently. Every time they come in they order the same lamb dish. Everytime they ALL complain about the lamb dish.
The first time I was apologetic and gave a good discount on the bill. Two weeks later it happened again I gave a discount but started to suspect something when other patrons complimented the lamb and I had watched them talking for a good 15 minutes after food was served before complaining the food was cold. The third time it happened I was pissed off. Not only were they generally rude to the staff but when they paid the bill they would make a big deal out of saying they left a little extra for the server and it has never been more than 5 pence. Luckily we are in a country where we don’t rely on tips to earn a living.
So this third time they come in; as usual they want lamb and as usual they complain about it. When it comes time to pay I take the complete bill over, no discount.
The chief moaner said that as they hadn’t enjoyed the lamb they should get some discount. I was once again reminded they were on tripadvisor. I proceeded to tell them that they had been here twice now, ordered the same thing and complained about it both times. They were choosing to come here and if the food was that bad they didn’t need to come back. They were more than welcome to leave a terrible review and in exchange we didn’t have to give them free food every other week or put up with their terrible attitude and it was a worthwhile trade.
Shockingly they didn’t argue back just paid the bill and left. Also shockingly they came back two weeks later like normal and ordered the lamb, which when asked if everything was okay with their meals it was ‘delicious’ or ‘lovely, thank you’.
They still come every fortnight and we never got a negative review on tripadvisor.
She Sells Her Soul For 50 Years Of Pleasure, But When The Devil Comes For Her, She Outwits Him
In 2022, I visited New York City to take a training for my job.
I set aside the day before the training started as a sightseeing day. I knew I wanted to visit Ellis Island and the 9–11 Museum, so I bought a package ticket for both through the website where I booked my flight and hotel.
On my sightseeing day, I took the subway from my hotel down to Battery Park and met my tour group there. The tour guide, who was wonderfully intelligent, knowledgeable and interesting, took us to the ferry, which took us to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
After the ferry returned, it turned out that I was the only one of the group who had also signed up to go to the 9–11 Museum. The tour guide walked me down there, saying it was only a few blocks away.
I’m 63 years old, and not in very good physical condition. The temperature was over 90 degrees, and I do not do well in the heat. So it was a long walk for me, and I had to take frequent rest breaks. The tour guide was quite patient with me, and we had a really great conversation during this walk.
At one point in the conversation, I mentioned my husband. The tour guide said to me, “Your husband must be very smart. I know this because you are very smart, and I can tell you would never put up with a guy who wasn’t as smart as you. You would have him for breakfast.”
I will never forget that complement!
P. S. FYI, my husband IS very smart.
Italian Wedding Soup
This Italian Wedding Soup Recipe is simply the best! Made with acini de pepe, beef and pork meatballs, carrots, celery, greens, and Parmesan cheese. This soup is SO flavorful! Serve with crusty bread and a glass of wine and enjoy!
Packed with onions and carrots, spinach and pasta and meatballs, this hearty soup is perfect for chilly winter nights. Serve a big bowl of wedding soup with crusty rolls for a satisfying meal.
Italian Wedding Soup 33 1 of 1
Yield: 29 cups; about 16 (12 ounce) servings
Ingredients
Meatballs
2 hamburger rolls or 4 slices white bread
2/3 cup milk
1 large egg
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 pounds ground beef or meatloaf mix
1 medium onion, grated or very finely diced
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, diced; about 2 cups
2 cups finely diced carrots, about 3 large carrots
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
4 to 4 1/2 quarts (16 to 18 cups) chicken broth, homemade or purchased
1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian herbs or 3/4 teaspoon each dried oregano and dried basil
10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach
1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
2 2/3 cups uncooked orzo, ditalini, or other small, roundish pasta
Instructions
Meatballs
Combine the bread, egg, milk, and salt, stirring until everything is well moistened. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes to soften.
Add the ground meat, onion, cheese, and herbs. Mix gently until thoroughly combined.
Shape tiny meatballs, (about 1 inch diameter or less). Using a level teaspoon scoop (which volume-wise is actually 2 level measuring teaspoons) makes about the right size. Place the meatballs on a parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet, and refrigerate them while you prepare the soup.
Soup
Get out a large pot, at least 6 quart capacity. Pour the olive oil into the bottom of the pot, and add the onions and carrots. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for another couple of minutes.
Add the broth and herbs, bring to a simmer, and cook gently for 10 minutes.
Add the frozen chopped spinach, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, total; the soup will take awhile to come back to a simmer, due to the frozen spinach. Help it along by breaking it up with a fork as it cooks.
Gently drop the meatballs into the soup. Simmer the soup for 30 minutes or so, then stir in the pasta, cooking until it’s al dente. For orzo, this will take about 8 minutes or so.
Add salt and pepper to taste; using reduced-salt canned chicken broth, we added 1 teaspoon salt; and 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper.
Serve the soup garnished with freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese.
When I was a Probation and Parole officer I had this guy on parole and probation at the same time. He had several positive cocaine drug tests. Usually three positive tests was where they would be arrested. Larry was uniquely qualified for extra chances. I can’t remember the fourth reason, but it most have been pretty good for me to have given him the pass. Then he got his fifth positive test. As much as I liked him I felt like I had to arrest him then. So, I confronted him about the positive test, and instead of denying it like most parolees did he said, “Officer Davis, I was this woman, and she poured cocaine all over her breasts and p**sy, and said, Larry go down on all this stuff.” Then he looked at me like a five year old child would, even though he was a forty some year ago man and said, “Officer Davis, what did you expect me to do?”
I never new if that story was true or not, I’m pretty sure it is, but anyway it was such a good story that Larry got another chance and completed hi probation and parole, with a little help from me.
Older Woman Leaves Her Good Husband And Can’t COPE With The CONSEQUENCES
This was back around the mid-90’s in So Cal. We were having dinner with serveral of my husband’s coworkers and their spouses. It was a fairly well-known Italian place, I ordered shrimp and broccoli pasta. I took a few bites, and there was a large curled up caterpillar (I later learned was a “tomato horn worm”). It was the size of the shrimp, but not quite a brilliant green like the broccoli.
I didn’t want to make a huge fuss, so I pushed food around the plate. The server came around, and noticed that my plate was still mostly full. He asked if there was something wrong, and I pointed to the caterpillar. He went kind of pale, and quickly whisked my plate off the table. My husband noticed, but with the rest of the table eating and conversing, no one else did.
The owner of the place came over and very quietly apologized, and offered me another item. I no longer had much appetite. He asked if I would like a dessert, but no, I just couldn’t. You could tell he was genuinely aghast. I didn’t make any announcement to the rest of the table, but just said I was full. They didn’t know anything until they were told that the entire table’s bill was comped.
We still laugh about that “green” shrimp. And yes, that restaurant is still in business.
Irishman here. About 25 years ago, our next door neighbour went on holidays to Spain for 2 weeks leaving their 16 year old son behind. The son had a series of parties all week and I called in to him to have words with him. When I called in, there were a group of kids there and when I was talking to him, I noticed from his eyes that I may have done better talking to the dog. He was as high as a kite and you could see and smell the drugs. I reported it the Gardai (Irish Police) who called out to him, but did nothing.
Friday of the week came and the party was beginning to grow with loads of people and loud music. I couldn’t take it any longer and my wife, kids and I went to our holiday home in Wexford for the weekend. Before we left, we informed the Gardai and some neighbours.
The following morning, we got a call to say the house next door went on fire and we had a lot of fire damage in our house. We came home to chaos.
The young lad next door moved in with some relatives nearby and they refused to ring his parents in Spain to tell them in case it would ruin their holiday.
When they came home, we spoke to them and they refused to accept any responsibility and we had to put it through our insurance. At the time, I was very naive regarding putting in an insurance claim and missed out on a lot. I should have replaced stuff where I just got them repaired and made do with a lot of other stuff. In short, I only claimed for half of what I should have and in saying that, my insurance increased for the next 5 years and affected our no claims bonus for 7 years. It cost me 10s of thousands of Punts.
The next door neighbours got their house completely gutted and rebuilt. Essentially a new house. The only thing that remained of the original house were the 4 walls, All concrete. They then moved out to a new house elsewhere.
In answer to your question: Yes they should pay and carry out a clean up. But it didn’t happen in my case.
When my son was in 8th grade, he refused to get in my ex’s car when she came to pick him up. I never found out why.
We took him to counseling, she had him meet with her minister (I took him over). In all cases, he sat there for over an hour and never said a word.
Eventually, she sued me for not forcing him to go with her. Judge took testimony. Told him all the things that we had tried to find out what was going on. Judge decided to take a crack at it. Spent 15 minutes chatting with him in chambers. Judge found him personable and likeable, but when he brought up why he wanted nothing to do with his mother, my son shut down and refused to interact with him.
Judge’s decision was that my son had veto powers over any custody agreement. My son never talked with his mother again until after high school graduation. He is 25 years now, he still has a bad relationship with his mother, and I still don’t know why.
1968. Single Mom, very poor. So poor I couldn’t afford needle & thread to sew my good blouse with a torn sleeve at shoulder. Worked for GSA, government with 2 other office ladies. Main Secretary had to have major surgery; off several weeks. The other lady became ill & took extended leave also. Left me to do all the work.
I didn’t mind as all the custodial/maintenance persons told me what a great job I was doing. They all said my annual appraisal warranted an outstanding rating; meaning a bonus of $200.
My boss called me in for the appraisal and his words: “I think you deserve an excellent rating but if I give it to you, I will have to fill out a lot of paper work. Then what will you have to work for next year”.
I was crushed and dumbfounded. It was unbelievable to the others persons as well. Within a few months, I found another job. Karma stepped in. Boss called me within a month and asked me to return as the other gals were leaving.
I was 16 years old and had an appointment my mother made because I was bleeding from my rectum. I was a 16 year old who thought it was all so dumb and wasn’t this doctors appointment just stupid and why mom did you bring me here… I was vocalizing all of this and my mom was crying and I was being awful. Finally I hear, “Shut up you little bitch!”
I was stunned. My mother probably wanted to applaud the man and I don’t blame her.
That doctor found very active ulcerative colitis. I was pretty sick. Pretty dumb too. To that end he went on to become my doctor for the next 20 years or until he retired. We had a real bond because of his big mouth.
On the day of his retirement he gave me a big hug and told me that I’d come a long way from the little brat he had met at first. He told me I was his favorite patient now. Good thing he was the best doctor I ever had.
He never apologized for saying that to me, but I did apologize for acting like a little bitch. Entitled one at that. Lol. You go Dr. Cocco!
*****PS. For anyone that thinks this behavior was wrong for a doctor. Maybe. However in this case I was bleeding actively from the inside out. This doctor could tell that with no exam really. All a person in GI bleed status has to do is fart and if you are in the medical profession you know what it smells like and tastes like pretty much without a “guaiac” or test. In this case the doctor could tell that I was mega non compliant as I was 16 and you don’t die at 16. So he stunned me into submission to get me out of there and to a hospital.
My mother had a child die from a bowel that was twisted and maybe she did or did not know what was going on. This was a whole different era. She was probably afraid it was happening again. In any event I was a bitchy little entitled brat back then. Even if it wasn’t emergent she should or would have clapped. Lord knows she tried everything else.
Just so you all know the rest of it maybe you’ll get more of the big picture.
I’ve been pretty busy as of late, and I had another blood pressure scare. I was terribly uncomfortable, and the stress of Tanzhou driving was going to have me pop.
Stage two hypertension. Not a good thing.
But I fixed it on my own.
What I did was started doing arm curls with weights. I do a couple of reps each and every day.
50 reps each arm with 5kg. Nothing too strenuous.
Guess what?
Yup, my blood pressure goes down to that of me in my 20’s.
120 BP
…
I mean, I’m not doing a 20 to 30 minute routine. I am only doing five minutes a day.
Yet… it works!
I’m averaging 120 BP. Rather than the 160 – 170 that I was dealing with.
I also cut out my morning coffee, and all caffeinated drinks. Oh, I will get a coffee from time to time with the Mrs at a restaurant, but the days of the drive-through habit are over.
Motherfucker does not mean what most people think.
Before the American Civil War white males would visit “Pleasure Houses” to have sex with the slaves. As slaves these women would have no choice but to do whatever the man wanted.
But some would, somehow, be more abusive than the slave owner could tolerate. Basically beating the slave to the point she couldn’t be used for a while.
The men who had a reputation for this were only allowed to have sex with the former “Breeding Stock”. The older slaves who had already given birth to several new slaves.
These men were called “Motherfuckers” for the obvious reason. They were so low that slave owners cared more about their slaves (who they didn’t think as fully human) than them.
In WWII the meaning shifted. As Americans retook France, many French women were generally appreciative, and showed the GIs their appreciation. But that only goes so far. There were some guys that couldn’t get laid even by women who would, “Support the troops” so to speak.
For these men they could use the generous food rations the US Army gave to give a starving widow’s family a few days worth of food for a quickie.
So it referred to guys who were such losers they could only get laid if the woman’s choice was to sleep with them or let her children starve.
So the “mother” being referred to in the cuss, is a woman who’s in such desperate straits she would do anything, even sleep with the “motherfucker”. The implication being they couldn’t get a legitimate prostitute to sleep with them.
An American Civil war?
image 34
Medvedev:
“The formation of the Texas People’s Republic is becoming increasingly realistic. What I wrote about at the end of the year before last in a joking prediction.
The American administration demonstrates complete incapacity to handle the migration crisis that has erupted in one of the largest states in the USA. Its governor boldly ignores the White House’s position with the feeble old man Biden and starts rebuilding barbed wire barriers. Anything to defend against the influx of migrants who are crossing the southern border uncontrollably. Another vivid example of the weakening of U.S. hegemony, occurring from within due to the actions of Americans themselves.
Official Washington, so enthusiastically supporting Kiev’s neo-Nazis and seemingly noticing nothing else, has shown itself to be impotent on matters of domestic policy. The scholastic decisions of the Supreme Court that migration issues fall under the jurisdiction of federal authorities, not the state, are detached from reality. Due to their inaction, these authorities may finally push the population of Texas, which is already seriously considering secession, to the breaking point. History knows cases where individual states attempted to part ways with the United States and form a confederation. All of this led to a bloody civil war, claiming the lives of thousands and thousands of people.
One way or another, America may face an irresolvable constitutional crisis and plunge into a prolonged abyss of a new, possibly even more destructive, civil confrontation. The Western world will watch with bated breath, fearing the American mess. However, these are their problems.
And although the turmoil in the USA poses significant risks to global stability, the rest of the world, munching on popcorn, observes with some schadenfreude the onset of the bad illness of Pindostan.”
Sinister Parodies Of Classic Children’s Books
Oh baby, here we are going to take a trip down the twisted mind of an artist. He’s got this gig of parody artwork that gave me a few chuckles, and repelled me as well. Anyway, it’s a quaint diversion, and I hope you all appreciate it.
“Bad Children’s Books” or the classic children’s books from 1940’s to 1960’s hijacked by illustrator Bob Staak. Subversive, disturbed, twisted, but full of humor!
Why did Phoenicians start forming the colonies so late? They have been on the Mediterranean since 1500 and developed active sea trade between late Bronze Age civilizations not long after?
Well. There were these guys called the Sea Peoples. They weren’t very nice at all. They raped, killed, pillaged & burned all the civilizations in the Mediterranean c.1200 B.C. They wiped out the Mycenaean Greeks, Minoans, Hittites, Trojans & Ugarit. The only ones to survive were the Egyptians & Phoenicians. It’s kind of hard to build a trading empire with these guys rampaging all over. It’s better to wait & let them fizzle out after a few centuries.
The guys got no marbles
Vulture Mine Tostadas
This is my own creation. I named it for a mine near Wickenburg right here in Arizona. I’ve been making it for a number of years. It’s a good cooler weather dinner. Instead of making the chili as instructed, you can use your favorite chili – even store-bought chili – and prepare the potatoes portion of the recipe, serving your chili over the mashed potatoes.
viva
Prep: 15 min | Cook: 1 hr | Yield: 4 large “tostadas”
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
1 1/4 cups minced raw onion
1 can pinto beans
1 1/3 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin (comino)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
8 cups mashed potatoes
4 cups shredded lettuce (optional)
1/2 cup chopped raw onion
3/4 cup grated longhorn or Cheddar
Instructions
Brown ground beef and onion, draining fat. Add pinto beans and tomato sauce, cooking for 15 minutes.
Combine chili powder, flour, water and a little salt; blend this paste into previous mixture. Cook for 45 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently.
Meanwhile, prepare mashed potatoes with butter, milk and black pepper, adding only enough milk to ensure rather stiff mashed potatoes.
To serve, spread mashed potatoes in dinner plate to resemble a 2-inch thick tostada (with a rim around the outer edge). Spoon chili into depression and top with lettuce, onion and cheese.
Ukr Bad Day: Putin Calls Macron Bluff, No West Troops Ukr; Belgorod Disaster; Rus Chasov Yar Canal
What was the strangest way an embezzler was caught?
My father was a store construction field supervisor for The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P Grocery Stores) during the early ‘50s. During his understudy period, his supervisor regaled him with amusing stories of his days with the company that stretched back more than 40 years. One story was about less than expected sales at a brand new store.
Below, a typically thrilled crowd packed in tightly at a new A&P Supermarket Grand Opening:
main qimg d6a1747d4e964567f91a9efd8b2164a6 lq
The new store was a success: larger, better stocked, off-street parking, new and exciting interior. Sales were way up over the old store it replaced, but not nearly as much as other new stores in similar neighborhoods. Because it was at the low end of sales and profit increases, it got extra scrutiny.
Secret shoppers reported that the store was open and thriving during its assigned hours. That the shelves were stocked. That the customers were jamming the aisles. That the shopping carts were being heaped high. That the employees seemed diligent in monitoring for shrinkage, yet shrinkage was determined to be sky high. Auditors were sent in to check receipts. The eight registers were being fully and completely tallied. Secreted observers with binoculars saw no evidence of vehicles driving off with bulk loads of merchandise. Shoplifting seemed to be in line with other stores. The manager was reported to be present, engaged, and energetic in his duties.
The fellow my father worked for was asked to review the layout of the store to see if something was wrong with how shoppers were being navigated through it. He went in and walked the aisles, saw nothing unusual. He followed numerous shoppers through the store and through the checkout lanes and out to the parking lots… nothing amiss. He was standing in line at one of the checkout counters one day about a week into his sleuthing and analysis when out of boredom he idly counted the checkout lines. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Nine. Wait. What?
He left the store and informed his Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company bosses that the store’s layout was indeed the issue: the manager was embezzling by having installed a bootleg ninth line but was reporting only the sales of the authorized eight. My dad’s supervisor swore that he’d told his bosses, “well, either we need to fire the manager or else put up a new sign that says A&P&Fred’s Supermarket”.
They went with “fire Fred”, naturally.
What do you think?
Has a customer ever intervened on your behalf when you were being treated poorly by a co-worker or boss?
No, but I’ve intervened. I was at a Quiznos. The only people there were the owner and a young girl. As she was making my sandwich, the owner kept up a stream of insults and criticism.
By the time she went to ring me up, the poor thing was in tears. I asked her if she was new, and she said it was her first day and first job. I said I don’t usually give advice to strangers, but no one in any job needs to put up with abuse by a boss, and she should walk.
She said her parents would be mad, so I recommended that she explain to her parents exactly what her boss said.
I even gave her my card and said if her parents wanted a witness as to how poorly her boss treated her, to have them call me.
Her boss heard what I said and started giving me shit. I told him he was a horrible boss, and probably a horrible human, and that I’d would let everyone I knew not to give him their business.
The girl walked out with me and I escorted her to her car.
I never heard from the girl’s parents, but the place was closed a month or so later. This was when Quiznos was doing well
What are some mind-blowing facts about food?
1.Potatoes can be used to remove rust. Simply cut it in half, add salt to the surface and there you go. Rub it against any corroded objects.
2.Vinegar, Ketchup, lemon juice, can also remove rust. Basically any food with oxalic acid/citric acid will do. Save yourself some money from buying rust removers.
3. Lemon juice can be used to remove highlighter strains. Get some juice on a piece of cotton, rub it on the highlighted text and the color will fade.
4. Your average apple is a year old. Most apples are picked slightly unripe, treated with chemicals and stored in warehouses for 9–12 months.
5. Banana candies are what bananas used to taste like. Ever wondered why banana candies taste nothing like bananas? That’s because it was based off the Gros Michel banana, which was completely wiped out by the Panama disease (fungus), after that we are left with our replacement bananas.
6. Red bell peppers are simply ripen green bell peppers. Yellow or orange bell peppers are also different stages of the bell pepper. They are the same fruit.
7. Popsicles are invented by an 11-year-old. He invented the popsicle by accident when a drink he made was frozen with the stir stick stucked between.
8. Almond allergens can be transferred through sex. If you have an almond allergy, and your partner have just eaten almonds, don’t have sex.
9. You can make diamonds with peanut butter. Peanut butter is a carbon-rich material, imerge it through enough pressure and it becomes diamonds. I wonder where diamond shops get their diamonds from…
10. The original Coca-Cola contains cocaine. The name basically comes from it’s two main ingredients, Coca leaf and Kola nuts. Coca leaf contains cocaine.
11. Fruit stickers are edible. So is the glue used to glue it. But unless you like eating stickers I’ll advice you to peel it off.
12. Bananas, cucumbers and kiwis are berries, while strawberries, blackberries, raspberries not berries but aggregate fruit.
I’m not stopping
What is the best comeback you used on someone?
I left home one evening to go to the post office and the supermarket after that.
It’s winter, it’s cold, so the car has to warm up a bit, but after a few seconds I put it in drive and got to the post office in a few seconds. I just need to go in, open my P.O. box, get the mail and get back to the car. The engine wasn’t warmed up yet – my dad told me it not too good to turn it off so soon when it’s still cold – so I left it running for half a minute, tops.
By the way, I live in a very small town (village) north of the big city.
Miss Karen Knowitall comes in as I get back to the car and tells me I should have shut the engine off when I got out. She doesn’t like to breathe car exhaust when she leaves the city to go to the country side.
As I got in the car, I just answered: “Ah yes, I know the feeling! I moved to this town to get away from the condescending a$$h0le$ of the city …
But, hey! You can’t always get what you want, ma’am. Right?
And I drove off !
Japan – Tokyo Suburbs: Walking around Yotsugi • 4K HDR
Notice no con-trails. They are just not anywhere in Asia. Only in America and Europe.
It is called mancinella (Hippomane mancinella) and is considered the most dangerous tree in the world, as well as the most poisonous. It is a plant native to the Americas, with particular reference to Florida, the United States and Central America.
Its venom is so powerful that it is advisable to stay a couple of meters away from it. Its fruits are similar to small and tempting apples, but even a few bites could be lethal.
Christopher Columbus had nicknamed the fruit of the mancinella, “little apple of death”.
It seems that this plant drove the horses who ate it crazy. Hence the word Hippomaniac.
The white resin of the mancinella is very caustic and poisonous. A single drop can cause severe skin irritation, with swelling, dermatitis and burns. Even raindrops coming from the branches of the mancinella can damage the skin or even make you blind if they get into your eyes.
main qimg 74eb6b9590e93c2d2a504923dd085f7a
Even the bark is toxic. Burning it causes the release of harmful substances that can cause temporary, and in some cases permanent, blindness. The combination of risks associated with the mancinella have allowed it to win and maintain the Guinness Book of Records as the most dangerous tree in the world.
Men Are Oppressed Not Women (They’ve Been Lying To You)
What firearm would you recommend for defense against home invaders?
“What firearm would you recommend for defense against home invaders?”
Paintball.
Yes, yes, I know you’re going to say it’s not a ‘firearm’, but you haven’t thought things through.
If someone enters your house at night and you wake up, you think ‘intruder’ and you fire that Desert Eagle Penile Compensation piece in your dark bedroom — without donning your hearing protection (because, who is going to have hearing protection with that Desert Eagle on their nightstand, right?) — fire that piece in the darkness at the shadow in the doorway, you know what will happen. The noise will replace your hearing with a loud ‘iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii’ and your retina will be sporting these muzzle flash afterimages of your wife crumpling in the doorway. Or, in the unlikely event that it’s not your teenage daughter sneaking back into the house after leaving through her bedroom window, but an axe murderer — you just rendered yourself too blind and deaf to re-aim and shoot again.
Now, reconsider my suggestion and imagine you have a paintball gun on your nightstand.
First of all, no flashes and noise to mess with your night vision and hearing. Just a ‘pffft’ and angry cursing from the shadow in the doorway as he’s trying to wipe paint from his eyes. Because you know that just like you don’t have hearing protection on your nightstand, he sure as hell isn’t wearing paintball protection on his nocturnal visits. Paintballs on your unprotected body hurt like fuck. And the intruder won’t know what’s happening. No muzzle flashes or loud noises, just the sound of a blowdart and getting stung and wet all over — that’s unnerving, man, and I’d like to see the intruder who wouldn’t scamper back to whatever rock he crawled out from under. (Did I say that right? Sounds right…)
And while he runs like fuck from the stinging wet paint, you call the cops and tell them there’s an intruder running around your neighbourhood, a man splattered with purple paint. However incompetent the police are in your area, they should still be able to find someone covered in paintball paint.
Plus, if you make a mistake and confuse family members with intruders, you don’t have to take them to the ER (or bury them), but you simply apologize and help them wash off the paint.
So, forget about all those macho handcannons and just get yourself a paintball gun for home defense. Your NRA neighbour might laugh at you, but he’s going to be the one with the axe buried between his starry eyes from the muzzle flash, while there’s still an almost full magazine in his Desert Eagle.
A lot of people respond that my answer is ridiculous and dangerous. And they might be right — pelting an intruder armed with an assault rifle with paint balls might well result in getting you killed. However, I posted this answer not to promote paintball guns for home defence, but to think ‘outside the box’. In the comments, a lot of people also offered their own alternative solutions — shotguns loaded with rock salt, pepperballs, et cetera — and that was my intention: instead of looking to use lethal force, what alternatives are there?
Also, many commenters seem to believe that I would just shoot at an intruder with paintballs and then wait for them to respond. I guess they haven’t read my other answers and don’t know about my experience with violence. I can’t blame them, but, no, I wouldn’t just stand there like an idiot, but use the paintball attack to close the distance to blade range.
And another edit:
Some commenters say that defending your house with firearms is a Christian duty and that the Ten Commandments don’t say ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’, but ‘Thou Shalt Not Murder’. My thoughts on that subject:
I’m raised Christian, but became agnostic because of the hypocrisy of organised religion. However, even if these commenters are right, using a lethal weapon to repel an intruder (99% of intruders are after possessions, not looking to murder you in your sleep) is not exactly ‘Christian’: even a casual reader of the gospel would understand that Jesus Christ himself would not condone the spilling of blood over mere possessions. Therefore, arming yourself with lethal weapons in order to repel intruders is premeditated killing, i.e. murder. There are plenty of effective non-lethal weapons (tasers, for instance) that can be used without killing the intruder.
But what about the killers and rapists?
If there is a high rate of homicidal intruders in your neighbourhood, high enough to warrant the stockpiling of lethal weapons for ‘home defence’, you might want to look into relocating your family. Chances are that the ‘reporting’ on these ‘deadly home invasions’ is merely scare tactics by groups like the NRA in order to sell more guns. In reality, getting killed by an intruder is as unlikely as getting killed by a Great White shark.
In reality, most child rapists do not jump from bushes or climb into the bedroom window — in the majority of child rape cases, the rapist is familiar to the child, i.e. family members, daycare staff, teachers, priests*, and baby sitters. In other words, the people to whom we entrust our children.
(* Personally, I loathe the people citing the Catholic catechism to morally justify using deadly force defending their children from getting raped by intruders. If you want to keep your children from getting raped, keep them far away from Catholic priests.)
Women Got Shocked After Hearing These Stats Of The Ideal Man
When I lived in Southern Indiana, there was a small scandal.
In the town was an old factory. Closed for nearly one hundred years. They manufactured medical thermometers and closed sometime in the 1920’s – 30’s during the “Great Depression”. As it lay off the end of town, it wasn’t visited by anyone. Just got over grown and forgotten.
After all, the kids aren’t willing to ride their bicycles ten miles to an industrial district, and the only people who would drive near the factory were workers going to and from their nearby factory jobs. All oblivious to the old factory.
But one day.
One day, a group of six graders went to the factory and broke in. And there, nearly undisturbed lay the tools of the trade. All left just they were last used. The work benches and assembly lines. The roof above leaked, and birds lived in the office complex. Certainly it was a long lost ruin, and there was nothing of value there.
But then…
One of the boys opened up a tub and in it was a strange silvery liquid. One that clung to their hands. They all dipped their arms and legs in the substance, and rubbed it all over their bodies.
Then they went home, and during the night all got very sick, and all had to be rushed to the local hospital.
Yes, they all got mercury poisoning. Their situation was critical. No one died.
As I recall.
But two of the boys would face years of rehab afterwards, and the mercury really messed them up.
That was my scandal for today.
Boys and girls, do not play with heavy metals. It’s not good for you.
90% of Taiwanese recognised that China is their motherland. 99% certainly don’t want war as they don’t want to kill their colleagues, friends, neighbours, relatives, spouse and associates.
99.99% certainly wants an economic union with China but with some autonomy no different from Taxan’s and Californian’s.
In the recent election there is one party that calls for outright independence and he gets ZERO seats! Taiwanese reject him outright. China don’t need to do a thing. US need to do a ton of shit costing billions China just do good!
Why Are WOMEN Not Signing PRENUPS!! | Women Hitting The Wall | I’m Not Singing a prenup
When walking in a crowded area look where you’re going and not at the other people. They will naturally move out of your line of sight making it quicker to move around.
If someone is bothering you at your desk too often, continue the conversation but get up and walk them back to their desk.
My boss likes having meetings after 5pm and even though I technically can be there for it, I don’t want to. So I tell him I have an important class I’m going to at exactly 5:45. I show up for about 5-10 minutes of the meeting then leave. He thinks I’m an amazing team player for going out of my way to hop on for just a few minutes. When in reality, I have no class to attend and I hate those meetings.
If you want to be an effective liar, build a reputation of being honest. The more you are known as being reliable, the easier it is to deceive and manipulate. Not terribly complex, I know.
Staring at peoples forehead irritates them quite a lot.
Having a heated argument… Ask the other person if they are okay because they’re breathing really hard. They will stop arguing and try to pay attention to their breathing. Resulting in the end of that discussion.
Next time you get in an elevator face towards the rear the whole ride. It freaks the other people out and makes me laugh. It’s the same principle behind stopping on the sidewalk and staring up. Sooner or later somebody else is going to stop and look to see what you’re gawking at.
You may have followed a similar trajectory to mine. You go to college, get your degree, start your career — and pursue that career to whichever city it takes you to. Inevitably, this landed me in Tampa, Florida, residing several states removed from my parents. This pattern is quite common with career oriented people, especially in the United States. But it comes with its own set of consequences.
My partner’s family lives in Albany. She had to leave for her niche academic job (bronze age archaeology). All of my closest friends live hundreds, and sometimes, thousands, of miles from their parents and extended family.
Whether someone stays near their family is often driven by socioeconomic factors. If you are from a more impoverished background, you’re much more likely to live near family — as it is common for to pool resources. For example, if your car breaks down, being able to get a ride or borrow a car can help immensely, especially if you can’t afford to repair the car or rent another. The same is true if you lose your job. It becomes much easier to survive the period of unemployment with immediate relatives in the vicinity.
Race plays a role in familial distance as well. A study found that the median distance between white adults and their mother is 15 miles, but is only three miles for black adults. This is also affected by the above socioeconomic factors, which come into play with racial disparities in income.
We are less likely to live further away from family in the US than in the UK, due to their increased support for single mothers and for the poor.
But as you move up the education (and income) brackets, your odds of living near family fall of quite quickly. A high school diploma means you have a 63% chance of living near extended family. A bachelors degree correlates to a 48% chance, and a post graduate degree translates to 42%.
Is it ideal for Americans to live so far from their families?
There is certainly a feeling of having missed out for me. I am in a group text with my parents and sister (who lives just a few miles away from my parents). Quite often, I see them sending pictures back and forth from the area. Sometimes, there’s a message about having forgotten something at their house or meeting up for a wine tasting (my parents run a vineyard).
Part of me does ache and know that I’m missing being part of their storyline. But for me, it was important to forge my own story and carve out into the world and be independent.
I’m also fortunate in that my family and I don’t have a toxic relationship as so many people do. There’s no need for me to have a difficult conversation about boundaries, and a parent stopping over unannounced during the day, or fighting over the constant pressure to visit. The separation between us is only career reasoned.
But in our case, it puts more pressure (in a good way) to make the most of our time together. Trips to other places, such as New York City, become opportune moments to celebrate and get pictures.
I write this as someone who mostly gets along with their family, and these dynamics can become infinitely complicated — especially in close proximity. In his novel, Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy wrote, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
It led to the Anna Karenina principle, and points out that in order for a family to be happy, a few things must be in order: financial security, mutual affection, and good health to all members. Yet for a family to be unhappy, any of a long list of factors can be the cause. And with close proximity, those problems are put under a spotlight. Which can then drive more people to move further away.
There is no one right answer for any person on living near family. But know the forces at work and how they affect you. Because the consequences can be real and substantive.
In my research for my book publisher, I discovered that many of you (Medium readers), are quite educated and have advanced degrees and incomes. That makes it quite likely that many of you live far from family. I would encourage you to find ways to reconnect with them when you have time, be it a phone call, or other means.
Your odds of loneliness increase when you lack interaction with people, and with family especially. Healthy familial relationships are like a supercharged antidote to loneliness. When you become too lonely, your risk of disease and depression go up markedly.
A final caution on the divide of family
In nearly every case I know of someone who lives far from family, there has been heartburn and problems that need squashing. My partner is constantly feeling pressured to visit her family. The pressure is, of course, always out of love and never devolves into a screaming match. But it does cause the common tension, which emerges from a child being ambitious and being flung to a distance city.
My best friend’s mother is constantly upset with him for not bringing their grandchildren up to visit every month — but it isn’t feasible. It’s a 6 hour drive and both he and his wife a neck deep with work and school. Even further, he lives further away because his mother keeps trying to indoctrinate their children into Christianity, and he wants his children to be 18 before they make religious decisions.
The point isn’t that we should spend time with and live closer to family regardless of circumstances. Because those circumstances can be infinitely varied and I’m sympathetic to them.
Just be aware of the economic forces that are pulling at us. They define where and how far we live from family. It takes extra steps these days to keep families well-bonded.
My parents also lived far from their parents for my dad’s military career, and so perhaps I am continuing that tradition. We combatted this by making an effort to drive and see grandparents at every opportunity. There weren’t many ski vacations in my childhood, but every Christmas and summer was with grandparents, and that helped keep the family together. The other way to do Zoom calls on a recurring basis. My partner does one every two weeks — and they came to this system because they weren’t interacting enough with each other before that.
Because I work remotely as a writer, and not for any one employer, I can do my job anywhere. So I do at least six different week long trips to see my family each year. And it has been a blessing and helped me feel more connected with family.
No matter how far your career pulls you, don’t forget where you come from, and that there are usually people who wouldn’t mind hearing from you. Upward mobility has a natural gravitational pull away from family.
It’s easier than ever to be lonely these days, but that doesn’t mean you have to be.
Her Husband Was The PERFECT Man So She CHEATED On Him
Yes, my 1999, BMW Z3 roadster convertible. This was about 14 years ago. I drove that baby to work every day. Then I retired. No job, no reason to leave the house 5 days a week. So it sat in the driveway a lot. Twice I had two young men, 20’s probably, knock on my door and ask if my car was for sale. The first was a it 8 ll the after I retired c the next 3–4 months later. I told them both the no, I loved my car, couldn’t think of any reason why I should give it up. I was really stunned when the first guy said” well you never drive it”. I told him I did drive it, he then proceeded tot me that every time he came by it was in the driveway. Told him I was retired so I didn’t take it out every day and what did he care anyway. If I remember correctly I did offer to sell him the car for $15,000. It was 12 years old by them, very low miles and we’d done about $5000 worth of work on it. He didn’t like that. So I told him goodbye. The next guy, much to my astonishment told me the same thing. The car never moved so he’d take it off my hands for $500. I told him no thanks I loved and wasn’t coming it up since my hubby and I drove when we went to dinner or visited friends, church. And he’s never see the inside of that car for less than $20,000 he told me a was a crazy old lady. I told him I still owned the car, didn’t I?
Gonzalo Lira has died in Ukrainian Prison. His family announced that he was TORTURED. What happened?
So I flew with my family to Phoenix (PHX) to visit my niece. I reserved a car from Budget
We arrived around 5:00 pm. The flight in was great.
After getting our bags, we ended up standing in line for the shuttle to the car rental center for over an hour. That’s not Budget’s problem; that’s a problem with airport operations.
The real problems started when we got to the rental center. The line was ridiculously long, they had only four staff members to check people out. I stood in line for three hours. Three horrible hours. By the time I got to the counter, the line was three times as long as when I arrived. On top of that, despite me entering ALL MY INFORMATION when I placed the reservation online, the poor agent had to reenter everything manually.
I don’t have anything bad to say about the customer service agent; they were just the victim of terrible management. My problem is that Budget has systemic customer service problems:
If a customer has a reservation, all the agent should need to do is confirm the renter’s identification and hand over the keys. This should take two minutes, tops. Not 15 minutes per renter.
Budget knows exactly how many people have reserved cars at each location, and when. They should be able to staff appropriately. There were eight or ten stations at this location, with only four staffed.
By the time I got into the car, it was 9:30 pm. We hadn’t had anything to eat since lunchtime, assuming that we’d get our car within a few minutes of arriving and we’d eat after.
I’ll never rent from Budget again, even if it costs twice as much. That’s an experience I am not willing to go through again.
Why NASA can’t send humans to the Moon? Russia refuses to keep mouth shut, or it’s the Aliens?
US ban Huawei for perhaps, may be Huawei could be a Chinese government agency using its technology in China’s military!
China do tit for tat! It stop buying from Boeing since Boeing used the profit from China’s purchases to participated in lethal weapons development that may be used on China one day!
So that is why everything you do, China will reciprocate likewise.
My son was nearly 4 years old. One day he and my wife went to a restaurant to get a pizza for lunch. There was an elderly man who came in with his shopping cart. He was obviously homeless. He ordered a cup of coffee which the waitress grudgingly served him. (It was obvious she didn’t want him there.) He fished on his pocket and pulled out a hot dog. He ate it slowly, dunking it in his coffee between bites.
My son asked why he was doing this and my wife explained that he was homeless and had no money. My son became upset and asked my wife if they could help him. As they were ready to leave, my wife brought him the untouched half of the pizza they had been eating. At first, he refused to take it as he was concerned that my son would not have enough to eat. My wife explained that they bought too much and the waitress would only throw it away if they left it. He took the pieces, carefully wrapped them up and stored them in his basket (most likely those slices would become his dinner that evening.). He thanked them with tears in his eyes when they left.
When they got into the car, my wife heard my son crying. When she asked him what was wrong. He looked at her through his tears and answered “Nothing Mommy…I just have feelings inside myself.”
Update: This same son is now an adult with children of his own, ages 4 and 6. I was injured in a fall and am now a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair. The other day, he was walking his young daughters to school. He noticed the older one occasionally running ahead, picking up sticks and throwing them to the side of the road. After she did this several times, he asked her why she was doing it. She replied “If Papa ever walks us to school, his wheelchair tire would hit them and he would get thrown out of the chair. I want to make sure he is safe.” I cried when I heard that one.
My Dad was “On the job” NYPD from 1929–1949. He was a detective at the time this incident occured. He was coming out of a store in a bad neighborhood and heard a woman screaming out the window He’s “cutn” me he’s “cutn” me. It was a 2–3 story walk-up and my Dad ran up the stairs with his .38 revolved in his hand and when he heard which apartment she was screaming from he kicked open the door and there in front of him was a very large man, at least 6′5″ and probably 250+ pounds holding a butcher knife.
Dad told him he was NYPD and ordered him to put the knife down and the guy said “I am going to put it down in you.” He started coming at Dad and he started shooting center mass but the guy kept coming. He got down to one bullet left (always try and count the # of rounds you expend), which he put between the guys eyes and said to himself that if this one doesn’t stop him “I’m going to throw the gun at him and run down the stairs. It stopped him!
My Dad, after that, always said to get the biggest caliber pistol or rifle it will take and you can carry comfortably to stop whatever you are trying to put down on the first shot. A .22 caliber pistol is really good if you are a Mafia hitman and put it at the back of someone’s head and pull the trigger but for everyone else take my Dad’s advice.
The Chinese, especially those in the northeast, have fond memories of the Soviets, who supplied arms for the Korean war, and helped seed China’s first phase of industrialization through the transfer of over 100 heavy industries. China’s nuclear and space technology was also driven initially by Soviet experts, before relationships cooled.
The Chinese have had trouble with the USSR along the border, but it never escalated beyond small unit fire contact. A border has been ratified with the Russians and today, with Putin’s head turned east, the Russians are doing roaring business with China. I won’t be surprised if Russia-China trade grows another 2–3x from 2023 levels, already a historic high.
The Chinese certainly don’t think the Russian as the evil protagonist in James Bond movies, or the sanctions (that were executive- rather than court-directed) fair, particularly the seizure of assets from individuals with Russian ancestry. That scared the bejesus out of rich folk with money parked out west, and Singapore was a beneficiary of the capital flight.
If it can happen to Russia, a P5 member with one of the most powerful nuclear triad MAD deterrents globally, it can happen to anyone.
The Chinese will give their Russian brothers a pat on the back, and go “we share a long border and history. We understand and empathize. Welcome to the club. We are being spanked everyday too. They still talk rubbish about Tiananmen more than 30 years later. Let’s build our own vision of a shared humanity.”
And that’s that.
He Marries a Girl who hides her Melons’ size because they are TOO Big
Yes. And for those of you who have a visual mind or are faint of heart do not read my reply.
At the Regional Burn Center I worked at in my city, we would see one or two times a year a very specific assault and injury to the male genitals that we discovered was specific to our city. For some reason there were some women in our city, who if they caught their man cheating on them, would find an opportunity to throw lye on their private parts as a punishment or revenge. The severe burns that this caused to that area were unbelievable to see. The skin would de-glove and we would have to remove it and then these men would have to go through multiple grafting procedures which were very painful. These were second and three degree burns to the genitals. Needless to say these men were never the same again.
I was a government employee for 28 years and worked overtime whenever she asked me. I also took no sick leave and cut my vacation time when there was an overload of work. An opening for a promotion came up and I passed the tests with flying colors. However, my supervisor wanted a woman in the position and called in favors to have a female employee from another department transferred to her section. I then went to HR and asked when I could take early retirement with the best employee pension possible given my number of years as an employee. I bided my time and when the time came, I gave exactly 2 weeks notice. How did it hurt her? I had accumulated 2 years and six weeks of vacation, sick leave, and overtime, so for that time, I was paid full salary on early retirement. The best part, she could not have another employee fill my position because I was officially still occupying that position.
In the early 2000s I had an employee that I thought was excellent, so I gave them a 10% raise for everything they were doing. They worked around 40 hours a week, I paid overtime whenever they needed to work it, and paid them 4 hours of OT for just showing up if I needed them for an emergency. The following year they found a job that was paying four dollars an hour more, they were “on the clock” the moment they got into the company provided vehicle, and the company was able to provide them with training that I wasn’t able to provide. As they shared this information with me I asked, “So what is the trade off?” Meaning, why when I was paying above the market average was this company paying more than I was for essentially the same work. They told me couldn’t think of any, so I encouraged them to go back and ask the future employer a few more questions. They didn’t do that but called me back two months later. During the majority of the two month time frame they had worked at least 12 hours a day for six to seven days a week. Yes, they were tired but they also wanted to see their family. They discovered that while the money was great, but it was getting in the way of their true priorities.
I worked in many mills and factories in my early life – there were still mills making stuff, even paper, up till about 1985 or so. Now all that stuff is gone.
In high school, as soon as I turned 16 I got a job as a general laborer at an electroplating and finishing mill in Readville called “Precision Metal Coating”. The name was a joke because everything in the mill was bottom of the barrel shit, worst quality, and the workers were treated like dirt. My boss was a total dick named Jack McBride, a foreman who treated everyone in that building as if they were something to be scraped off. I was getting minimum wage, which in those days was $2.15 an hour but for someone who never worked, 80 dollars a week was a fortune.
In this mill was a giant oven room with 10 huge ovens. We would push carts filled with thousands of recently painted parts into the oven where the temps would soar to over 2000 degrees and bake on the coatings. We did all kinds of things like gun receivers and heart defribrillators and carbereutor parts and so on. In the winter everyone tried to visit the over room as much as possible since the factory was barely heated and most of the windows were broken. It was almost as cold inside as outside the factory. But the oven room was toasty.
As an unskilled laborer my job was to push carts in and out of the ovens and then a skilled worker would set the temperature and fire up the ovens. There was a massive door covered with sheet steel that we would use to block off the oven room from the rest of the mill, not just for fire safety but because the baking parts often gave off poison gas. The worst was Teflon. We made many Teflon-coated things but when Teflon is baked it gives off a poison gas. When we were baking Teflon, the oven room had to be cleared and the massive door sealed and locked.
One day I was tasked with resetting some parts in one of the ovens. Now, you couldn’t get trapped in the ovens – the giant doors had a big escape handle to prevent anyone from getting locked inside – but you were working in them when temps were 200 degrees. Sometimes you could run in and do something quick when they were even hotter. We had all kinds of furry asbestos gloves and gear if we had to do stuff in the ovens. I was in this steaming oven one day – and they were always loud with the roaring of the gas blowers – you couldn’t talk to anyone. So I set up this tray of equipment and it was getting hotter and stinkier. I was glad to finish. But when I got out of the oven I found the massive door to the oven room sealed. Now, it wasn’t as if I was going to fry but I didn’t want the boss to think I was goofing off. There were timers attached to doorbells and when the timer clicked off, it raised an arm that hit the doorbell and rang a loud bell on the shop floor. We used it to tell when the products were done baking. There was a timer for every oven. I went over and hit one of the doorbells two or three times, sounding a loud bell in the factory. In a couple of seconds the big door slid open and an arm grabbed me and pulled me out. There were two men there and they were white as sheets.
“What the hell were you doing in there?” the Asst Foreman asked.
“Jack asked me to reset the Prolastimer parts,” I said defensively.
“Do you know what’s baking in there?” the other guy asked. He was literally shaking.
“It’s Teflon,” the Assistant Foreman said.
I had no idea what this meant. He could see this meant nothing to me. The other guy turned to him.
“He’s gonna be sick, Roy,” he said. “Real sick. Teflon fever.”
“Listen,” the Asst Foreman said, “Clock out and go home. Don’t tell anyone anything. I will square it with Jack. Don’t come back tomorrow or the next day…”
“But I feel fine,” I protested.
“You won’t. Now get out of here. Get going. You have to get home before you start getting sick. When you get home, take a shower and some aspirin and get into bed.”
I wanted to protest.
“Just fuckin’ do it,” the other guy said. “Don’t say a word. Just get the fuck out of here.”
And so I did. I walked home from the mill. And as a I walked I started to see lines in my sight, wavy lines. And then the headache started to come. By the time I made it home I was gasping with pain. I tore off my clothes and got in the shower and immediately vomited. When I got out of the shower I vomited again. Black stuff was coming out of my nose and my tears were stained black. I crawled into bed. I had never been in so much pain in my life. Every joint, every muscle ached. When I opened my eyes, the light exploded in my brain and I would vomit all over again. No migraine I had ever had was this bad. I cried. Eventually my exhausted body collapsed and I fell asleep. The next morning I felt a lot better but I was so weak I could barely walk. The third day I went back to work. There was my boss, Jack.
“I’m sorry about what happened,” I said.
“Nothing happened,” he said tersely. “Nothing. And no one will back you up if you ever say it did.”
And then he put me on the sandblaster. I got a small raise and I would never have to go into the oven room again. But it was no promotion. Being a sandblaster was one of the worst, most miserable jobs I ever had. It was so bad one of the other sandlblasters killed himself in the sandblasting studio. Jack shrugged and went out and hired another drunk desperate for a job.
That was just one of the many adventures I had there. It was a horrible, horrible place and if that’s what factories are like then it’s no surprise why so many of them folded.
CHINA’s Scientists INVENTED Energy Shield To Defend Against US Attack
My father wasn’t thrilled with the idea of me dating a white guy. So having them meet for the first time in my house was a bit nerve wracking.
Before visiting my home to Japan, my boyfriend asked me what my father is like. I told him that my dad wanted to be an academic like his father (my grandfather) but had to pursue a career in business instead because of financial reasons.
On the day of the “meeting”, my boyfriend shows up with a huge ass textbook on statistics and starts leisurely reading on the couch in our living room, all spread out. Half an hour later, my dad comes home.
Dad: “Why hello! Nice to meet you in person…. What is that book you’ve got there?”
Boyfriend: “Oh this? It’s some reading I have to do for my graduate school next year…”
Dad: (Flips through the pages) “…Wow! This looks very difficult. Do you understand it all?”
Boyfriend: “Well some of it is difficult, but the concepts like….. and….. are rather easy.”
Dad: (super impressed)
It was smooth sailing from there. Now, my dad adores then-bf-now-husband.
Needless to say, I never saw him open that book ever again.
it’s just a quick guide at best. It measures output based on value. That means if your provide services freely, it is perceived as not value! Hence the U.S. charged its citizens for healthcare at an exorbitant price and that gets counted up to 6 trillion dollars GDP while China provides the same for less than one trillion dollars to 4 times more people and actually keep its people alive 2 years longer!
So the U.S. GDP is overvalued or Chinese GDP is highly undervalued hence it is wrong even to compare the U.S. versus China for example, through this faulty measurement.
When the U.S. threw helicopter money to the tune of 10 trillion dollars as subsidies and bail outs, that amount is counted as income! Hence once again it over values the US GDP. The same goes to stock valuation or real estate valuation. To me it measures greed or bubble.
Whatever it is one measuring economic health of a nation based only GDP is no different from judging your physical health based only on your temperature or just your blood pressure! You need a host of measurements including life expectancy!
The U.S. is a very unhealthy economy wrongly perceived by its citizens due to its media as a huge economy. It is far from that! It is a lot of hot air at best.
I brought a guy into the station and sat him down in an interrogation room, and walked out to get a cup of coffee for both him and myself. I hadn’t indicated to him why he was there, except he was in possession of a nominal amount of marijuana. I was going to give him the, “Who’s your dealer?” bit when I got back.
I walked in, sat the coffees down and took a seat across from him.
“I suppose you figured out why I brought you in?” I asked.
“Yeah. But it wasn’t me. It was XXX X. XXX. He shot the guy. I was there but had no idea it was going to happen.” He offered. “I don’t do nothing like that!”
“I didn’t think so.” I answered, nearly choking on his admission. “So let’s get this on paper so we can see what the DA can do for you. OK?” Then I read him his rights again.
He wrote it all down, and what was going to be a simple misdemeanor bust for weed turned into a murder being solved. When the Captain asked me how I got him to confess, I just smiled. “Some people got it, others don’t Cap!” I laughed. Sometimes a blind squirrel can find a nut.
Ask Me On A Date, Men! Modern Women Has FREAKS OUT Because Men Are Walking Away
I called for a position being advertised at a pig sanctuary in upstate NY called Arthur’s Acres. The guy who founded it and runs it is a vegan, but fanatical about it.
I was extremely qualified for a position there (about which he wasn’t clear, btw), as I had worked with pigs for six months when I was an Animal Science major 15 years ago. I have also worked with dogs for 22 years, and volunteered at Raptor Trust in N.J. for a time. As well, I spent a few years riding and working with horses. That is to say, I have lots of multi-species experience and, specifically, also pigs.
He then asked me if I was vegan. I said I wasn’t, he was very upset, and tried to argue with me about being vegan. He let me know that my not being vegan was a dealbreaker for him. Food Nazi!!!
Anyway, I told him I hadn’t eaten pork for over 20 years (totally true), and that I had IBD/Crohn’s, so that ruled out my eating a lot of vegetables, beans and salads, most of the things which comprise a vegan diet. I let him know that a diet that full of fiber could send me to the hospital. I also let him know that while I was at his sanctuary, I would respect his wishes and eat PBandJ on sourdough bread if I had to eat that every day for lunch, but once I left his property what I ate was really my business. He didn’t care about any of this. He was a guy that seemed unable to see anyone else’s point of view or have empathy for anyone’s condition or limitations. He only cared about having everyone be vegan.
I had donated several times to his sanctuary, but after this, I stopped.
I decided it wasn’t worth it, and that I’d never want to work with a person like this. He does a lot for the pigs he rescues, no doubt; but, he doesn’t like people at all, that was clear to me.
FLORIDA OVERTURNS LIFETIME ALIMONY LAW | Women Are Losing Their Minds!
I’ve wanted to share this because I thought it was amazing and it made me smile, but I dont know how you would bring this up randomly.
I’m 34 years old. When I was a child my mom moved my brother and I to a new house, getting us out of our old apartment where we had grown up. I was in the fifth grade and my younger brother was in the third I believe. We rode the bus and lucky for us, our bus stop was RIGHT down the street from our house, not even a 3 minute walk. Back then all the neighborhood kids near us who also used this stop would FIGHT to secure their spot in line because who ever got there first would get the best seats in the back of the bus because we were the first stop. The problem was, we neighborhood kids were cut throat about our spots in line, some of us woke up early JUST to get a good spot, but that also meant if you were in line waiting for the bus, you couldn’t get out or you would lose your spot and have to move to the back. We all hated this because we were forced to stand in one spot waiting instead of being able to play and run around with each other and some days the bus took a while to get there. Now, I don’t know how many weeks this went on for before I said to myself, “this isn’t going to work for me.” So I decided instead of us all lining up and being forced to stand there, we would instead use our backpacks to keep our spot. We’d line them up in order of first come first serve, then be free to go play. I asked all the kids of various ages if they agreed and they did. At that bus stop everyday after that and even the next year (my last year riding that bus), we all still lined our backpacks up. My mom still lives in that house all these years later and sometimes she needs me to house sit. Well, I was on my way to work one morning a few months ago and I passed my old elementary school bus stop, they never changed the route. And do you know what I saw? It made me go, Wow. As I turned the corner in my car I saw a bunch of grade school kids at my old bus stop,they were out playing with eachother, and right where we use to line up our backpacks, they still lined theirs. I started that as a child, and because the older kids did it, the younger ones did too, and then those young kids would become the older kids and new kids would replace them, and they all learned of the backpack trick because they watched the kids who came before them. I started a thing that has carried on for over 24 years and counting. It really made me smile to see the neighborhood kids still doing it after all this time. I knew at the time it was a great idea but I didn’t know how everlasting it would be to where it became tradition. It made me smile and think, wow, all these years later these kids were still using their backpacks to hold their place in line, if you would of told me the day I came up with it that in 24 years kids would still be doing it, I would of called you a liar but unbelievable as it is, here we are.
Now, how do I randomly fit that into a conversation?
Fenikia
melo8
Ingredients
Cookies
1 cup peanut oil
1 cup butter
1/2 cup water
1 jigger brandy
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
Dash cinnamon
Dash ground cloves
Chopped walnuts for garnish
Syrup
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 pound honey
1 lemon, sliced or 1 orange, sliced
Instructions
Cookies: Heat oil and butter over low heat until butter is melted and mixture is hot. Remove from heat and stir in water and brandy. Cool.
Stir in beaten eggs.
Sift together flour and baking powder with the tablespoon each of cinnamon and cloves. Add to liquid mixture to make a dough that is not too soft. Add a little more flour if necessary. With floured hands shape dough into ovals and indent lengthwise with thumbs.
Combine chopped walnuts with sugar and dash each cinnamon and cloves. Put 1 teaspoon of this filling into the indentation in the dough and close dough over filling. Place on cookie sheets and bake in a 400 degree F oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
Dip cooled cookies into hot syrup and place on racks to drain. Decorate with chopped walnuts.
Syrup: Combine above ingredients and boil for 5 minutes.
My ex father in law was the thief. He was also a bully and all around shitty human being. He was the big boss of a construction company and basically drove around all day to different jobs making sure the guys had what they needed and making sure the work was completed to standards. This also allowed him the opportunity to help himself to the guys lunches. I still remember the panic in my exs voice that his Dad was in the ER because he thought he was having a heart attack. He had stolen the wrong guys lunch. The guy had put a pot brownie in his lunch box and dummy took it, ate the whole thing and when it hit, he was completely sick and high as a kite. I giggled a lot that day because the bully and thief finally had to pay for his actions.
As a risk manager and health plan administrator, I had lots of complaints. But the Gold Star goes to this one: This woman had built an illegal extension to her house that went out into the public right of way. Over the years, it undermined the power pole which tilted and was resting on the eaves of her extension. She called to say that the exterminator told her that her roof had terminates. I asked how I could help her (we always had to try to be helpful). She said she wanted us to replace her roof. When I asked why, she explained about the pole leaning on the eaves and said our utility pole had given her roof termites. I explained that the poles were made soaked in creosote to prevent termites. She then told me the termites walked up the pole and jumped onto her roof. She was quite serious. The only thing that could be said to that would have been snorting laughter. (I was imagining termites, in uniform, marching up the pole, with a brass band.) I told her we would look into it. We did our due diligence then wrote her a polite denial letter.
I dealt with a lot of people who believed their problems could not possibly be their fault.
China dismantled a MI6 espionage network. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Yesterday, I took the family to a theme park in Southern Zhuhai. It’s the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. We paid 3500 rmb (roughly $500) for two days with hotel, and two buffet meals. (For us three.)
new header 16 9
Now, you must know, everything in China is HUGE.
Not Texas huge.
“Universe” huge.
The facility included FIVE theme parks. Each with it’s own hotel, and passes to each one. Each theme park is “Disney Park” in size. So it is an ENORMOUS complex.
Just mind-mindbogglingly large.
When you buy the tickets, the ticket seller will warn you to take one day per theme. Other than that you are wasting your time.
And there is no way you can do more than that! Lordy!
Under the sea
We chose to concentrate on the “Penguin life park”, and the “spaceship future” park. Both were fun and cool, and my little girl enjoyed every second of the excitement.
Inside 1
My little girl loved it!
Animals. Excitement. Bright colors. Rides. Many playgrounds.
And the hotel room was super kid friendly.
236308
We stayed at the Circus hotel, and she had her own bed that looked like a lions cage on wheels, had her own kid-sized robe and slipper. The television only played kids shows, and the commode was kid friendly with a kid style insert. The shower had a kid sized lower tier.
Well thought out.
place 2015 09 25 7 Chimelongoceankingdom
The only problem was that on the last day I caught a “bug” and spent the entire day vomiting and spending time on the shitter. I had water-cannon high volume vomiting.
36 times. Thirty Six vomits!
Each time I just emptied out.
Wholly crap!
Then went home to sleep. And sleep I did. Like the dead.
But I am up now, and shaky but functional. I am taking medicines and it all seems to work. I am drinking coffee and I am able to hold it down. So that’s good. Right?
It reminds me that I am still alive and functional. Yay!
That one sentence was spoken by myself, to myself, in my car, as I pulled up outside my house, February 3rd 2016.
I have suffered from depression for 35 years. I can go months, sometimes years, without an episode, but in 2013 my wife, my soul mate, my best friend, left me after 15 years, which plunged me into the worst episode of my life.
Now, whilst depression is a living hell at times, I never actually feel sorry for myself. It’s a different emotion altogether, as anyone who suffers the same will testify. But this particular day, I was feeling sorry for myself. My business had gone to the wall in the first 12 months of separation. In the second 12 months I was struggling to pay the bills. By the end of year 3 I had £2 in the bank, was in desperate arrears with my mortgage and my new business was bringing in barely £200 a week.
I pulled up outside my house at 5pm, knowing the rest of the night would, yet again, be spent sat alone, in the cold, with the constant memories of my wife and children walking around the house, ghosts of their laughter echoing around, heart and mind being tormented by all that had gone before. There was little food in the cupboard. No credit for gas on the meter and low credit for electricity on that meter.
And this was the lowest point, it was 3 years of decline to this moment. I had no way of getting out of the mess I was in. No way I could figure, anyway. For the first time, this time I felt sorry for myself and literally said out loud, “man, I’ve another 50 years of this shit.”
That was the moment everything changed. I turned the engine off and lit a rare cigarette. I continued to talk to myself in the car – partly out loud, partly in my head. The conversation (with myself) went along these lines…
“50 years… ha, great… and I’m 50 years old next year (2017). Well, hang on… if I’m 50 next year, then I am only half way through my life. If I do live to be 100 – and why not ? – then next year, my 50th birthday, is the start of part 2. Mmmm… well if that’s the case then :
1 – I don’t need to buy a house – already bought one, only 5 years off completion (if I can find a way to keep the reposession order at bay). In 5 years, I will have property worth £130,000. Fully paid up. Hey, imagine if I had that when I was 5 years old, how cool that would have been for a start in life !
2 – I don’t have to go to school for 15 years – I’ve done that, I’ve got an education, done college, done university… I’ve got a head start !
3 – I don’t have to get married and have children – I have 3 wonderful children who are doing well and I’ve had the snip, so no need to have any more… no stress and strain of raising babies. Ace !
4 – I don’t need to buy a car or learn to drive – already sorted.
5 – I don’t need to worry about making friends or being popular or liked – I have a fantastic circle of friends who love me and I love them.
6 – I don’t have to worry about my parents leaving me, I already have had the sadness of losing them.
7 – I don’t need to worry about a job. I have the potential in my new business to make a comfortable living, if and when I am mentally strong enough to fully apply myself.
… and so on and so forth…”
Now I am having this conversation with myself in my car and I can literally feel the stress, the pain, the depression leaving my body. I am getting genuinely excited at the way my mind is working. I go into the house and continue this conversation whilst making a coffee. I get a notepad and make notes of what I am saying. Every note, every little idea, is scribbled down so as not to be forgotten.
As the evening progresses, I find myself going through each room in the house, removing any trace of my wife’s existance. Every memory gets either boxed up for the children to enjoy in the future, or goes in the bin. The kitchen gets emptied – I keep 3 cups, 3 plates, 3 knives, forks etc, for me and the 2 youngest children when they visit. The rest of the clutter gets binned. The living room is re-arranged. The bedroom is rearranged. The bathroom is rearranged. This carries on through to maybe 5am…
… For the first time in 3 years, I go to bed with an exhausted smile and wake up a few hours later with that same smile. I carry on where I left off. I borrow a couple of hundred pounds off my brother to get rid of furniture and replace with cheap “get by for a while” furniture, that has no trace of my marriage attached to it. I carry on writing notes.
Well, over the next 2 -3 months, remarkable changes happen. By the end of the 3rd month, at my medical check up, I am taken off my blood pressure tablets, my BP being normal for the first time in 3 years. The following month, after slowly cutting back, I am off my anti-depressants, also for the first time in 3 years, the longest I have been there in my life. I have lost over a stone in fat. My business is taking off as I am able to focus on it and money is coming in again.
By November, 9 months on, I have cleared my debts and I have £4,000 saved. My friends tell me I have a “happy house”. That they feel the positive juju the second they come in the door. They want to know (part jokingly, and part enviously) why I now walk round with a permanent smile, like a village idiot. More than anything though, they are genuinely delighted that they have got “me” back.
But let’s go back to Part 2.
The whole trigger for this was the realisation that if I live to be 100, I am only halfway through my life. So I started adding to the notes I had already started. This time, not marking down things I didn’t have to go through, but things that I am going to do. Each page of things to do is broken down into what I need to do to get there. There are wild things that I may not be skilled enough to do, like publish a novel. I may never be as good as Jimi Hendrix on the guitar. But what is there to stop me doing the best I can do with both ? Then there are totally achievable goals, like buying a campervan and spending 3 months on the road, enjoying life and writing that novel ? Getting married again, now that my heart is mending and I am meeting lovely ladies again – why not ? Decorating and renovating the house. Expanding the business. Getting fit. Losing a bit more weight. Learning to fly a plane. Doing a new degree in something I really enjoy. So many places to visit, to enjoy, to experience.
It’s all there and it’s all ahead of me and I know it’s all down to me. But most importantly, after the 9 months that have just gone by and how my life has already changed so much, I know it’s totally achievable !
So… “man, I’ve another 50 years of this shit” is the single, most important sentence that has changed my life, hopefully forever. Because I’m proving it wrong. And life has rarely felt better.
(I have missed out a section about a girl, I’ll call her “W”, who added a lot of fuel to this fire right at the beginning. She may read this and/or some people may know her, so I shouldn’t mention her by name. But, without knowing it, she made me want to be a better person (thanks Jack Nicholson) too. We never dated, or anything like that… but she is one of the most beautiful souls I have come across. Thank you “W” for your inspiration.)
Best wishes all of you reading this. I wish you a long and happy life.
Rob.
Chicken Gyros with Dill Sauce
Chicken Gyros with Dill Sauce is a traditional Greek sandwich.
Crock Pot Chicken Gyro 6 500×375 1
Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 fresh pita bread rounds, heated
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
In small bowl blend together yogurt, 2 tablespoons dill, garlic and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken with oregano, 1 teaspoon dill, salt and pepper. Sauté until browned and cooked through, about about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and sauté onions until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Return chicken and any juices to skillet. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir until heated through, about 2 minutes.
Top pita rounds with chicken mixture. Spoon dill sauce over chicken and serve. This sandwich is folded in half and eaten. Pass the extra sauce, as desired.
We are decoupling from China and, a fortiori, from its technology and the 130 countries in its currency, trade and defense alliances. Highlights from 2023 suggest that we far behind and the gap is widening.
2024 01 22 09 57
Economy
In 2023, China’s economy grew by $1.6 trillion, more than the rest of the world’s combined – while the USA borrowed $3 trillion to fund $300 billion GDP growth. Real wages grew 4.7% and demographics will remain healthy through 2043. 21 million tourists flew during Golden Week and spent $3 billion in Xinjiang alone. Hangzhou hosted more athletes at the Asian Games than the Olympics and domestic brands Anta and Li-Ning outsold Nike and Adidas.
Research
Young Science became the world’s #3 journal and is rapidly overtaking incumbent leaders Nature and Science. With a $228 billion corporate R&D budget, 3 million Chinese scientists applied for almost as many patents as the rest of the world combined, and utterly dominated the top 1% of most influential papers. Huawei’s R&D budget alone is larger than the US CHIPS and Science Act.
Scientists created the first graphene semiconductor, while Betavolt began shipping an atomic energy battery that powers consumer devices for 99 years.
Huawei mastered 7nm chip production (Intel still has not), replaced WiFi with 6x faster NearLink, took Apple’s #1 spot in the world’s largest market with a phone using 90% domestic components. Chinese chip foundries bought 62% of machinery equipment domestically this year, vs. 47% last year, and produced the first integrated neuro-memristor and the first 232 layer flash memory. Researchers set a record for high-rate quantum key distribution, showed off the first ambient superionic hydride ion conductor, the first primate brain-computer interface and an integrated neuro-memristor chip that will make circuit boards obsolete.
Macro inventions included the first waterless nuclear reactor, the most powerful solid-fuel rocket, the first liquid oxygen/methane rocket (it lifted 6 tonnes into sun-synchronous orbit), the world’s only Mach 30 wind tunnel, lasers generating high-energy beams indefinitely, and the first high-orbit Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite for 24×7 weather observation.
The country installed 80 million kW of PV and PV generated 300 billion kWh nationwide, 30% above 2022. CATL’s EV batteries get 400 km on 15 min. charge and 700 km. on a regular charge at all temperatures. In addition to installing 290,000 industrial robots – more than the rest of the world combined – it put AESA radars on $8,000 farm drones (only four countries can make them – for fighter jets). Its 800 million 5G subscribers are served by 3.2 million base stations and integrated 5G industry applications into 67 economic categories with 100,000 application cases. Tibet’s 5G service surpassed California’s.
Environment
In the wilderness that covers 42% of China’s landmass, conservationists counted 70,000 Tibetan antelopes, 3,400 Przewalski’s gazelles, 5,000 golden snub-nosed monkeys and 1200 Snow Leopards…
I dated a lady, who was already dating someone else. Except I didn’t know this when she asked me out. They weren’t living together, so it wasn’t something that jumped out at you.
It was only on our 4th date, that the guy got suspicious , and followed her to our restaurant, and caused a scene that I had a clue. She dumped the guy, in the restaurant, and made it seem like it was no big deal, as they were a short term casual couple.
I found out from her best friend about a month later, that they had been seeing each other regularly for a year. But I was hooked by then.
After 9 months she asked me,to ask her, to marry me. Yes, I know, confusing right?
I said I needed to think about it. Immediately, she was busy on Friday nights, but still up for Saturdays. She said it was work related.
I recognized the pattern and decided not to follow her to whatever restaurant and bar she was going to. I didn’t need to have a big fight in public. Instead I waited until the next day, and lied to her, and told her I had followed her. She said, well I guess thats it then. Why does everyone follow me?
Implying that I wouldn’t have just been the second person to follow her.
She was right, that was it. Once a cheater, always a cheater, even if they aren’t married or living together.
Wife Started Behaving Like A F**inist And Is Now Having A MELTDOWN That Her Marriage Is IMPLODING
Chinese people are prolific savers. And Chinese as you know are the most practical and pragmatic people on planet earth. They are the opposite of American people who are one of the most wasteful nation on planet earth. And worst the U.S. as a nation and your archaic political system allows wasteful and unaudited spending.
China and Chinese are just the opposite.
Chinese people save 36% of their income, the highest on earth and the US barely save at all. That is a very big difference. The U.S. cannot depend on domestic savings, China can and they do. China saved more the entire UK GDP each year! China used that to fuel the Chinese economy by building up infrastructures and invest in R&D. Hence China is now totally independent innovatively and scientifically.
I know when a person like you who ask such a question you are already fooled by your western media that China is unsustainable but the fact is just the opposite. The U.S. is mightily unsustainable and China is the lowest geared economy. And its real tangible investment are paying off well!
The U.S. infrastructure is dilapidating and you guys burnt cash like there is no tomorrow! 5 trillion in Iraq, 5 trillion in Vietnam, 3 trillion in Afghanistan. And probably 10 trillion in Ukraine by the time this shit ended. Burning cash sending armadas around the world and keeping 800 plus military bases around the world! Your investment is not getting any returns.
China build more high speed railway, solar panels, wind turbines and hydroelectric power stations then the rest of the world put together!
So grow up Mr. Questioner and Americans and brain dead westerners. China is great and dandy. The U.S. is without doubt collapsing before your eyes. If you open yours!
THIS AMERICAN INSULTS THE ENTIRE AFRICAN CONTINENT. IS THIS HOW A/AMERICANS FEEL ABOUT AFRICANS?
Tiananmen, and the never-ending western media narrative telling outright lies for decades without giving the Chinese the opportunity to set out the facts is the primary motivation for the Great Firewall, and strict Chinese censorship.
A poor and relatively backward China would have been at constant risk of implosion had external forces been able to spread lies as propaganda to bring down the government in Beijing, using Tiananmen as the rallying point.
Unfortunately, the truth is way more mundane.
The students were persuaded to go home before first light, and most of the soldiers deployed to the square were involved in area cleaning on June 4th and 5th.
In sum, the Tiananmen PROTESTS (which lasted for months centered around June 4th) resulted in the deaths of several hundred, with an abnormally high percentage being uniformed personnel. It was at best, a sustained social disturbance.
The Chinese are not stupid, or disrespectful people. No leader will order a massacre at Tiananmen, with the portrait of Mao overlooking the square. The Long March generation had given their lives to free the people from oppression, and it would have been heresy to mow down the hope of the nation under the watchful eyes of Mao.
Dmitry Orlov: Russia and China Melding in a Shifting Geopolitical Landscape
This happened, not to me, but to my younger sister (who’s 16 at the moment). [Too bad I wasn’t with her back then…]
Some Background Details (they’re important in the story): My sister is a beautiful, talented and intelligent girl. She got double promotion in her 6th year so now she’s the youngest in her class. For some time now (around 2–3 years… Whoa, that’s actually a lot!), she has been complaining about her vision. She says that whenever she opens her eyes, everything just constantly keeps morphing and changing forms .
We took her to 3 opthalmologists. None of them could determine the cause of her wavy vision and so they diagnosed it as psychological and referred her to a psychologist who was very well-known (and well-paid) in our area.
Let’s call the psychologist Sarah. So here goes:
(My sister comesin and sits down. Sarah regards my sister condescendingly then proceeds to give her a complacent smirk as if she had just found the answer to all the problems in the universe)
Sarah: “You’re not a very good student are you?”
5 remarks popped into my sister’s head at that very moment:
WTF?!
Is this the first question you ask your patient?
I’m top of my class even after my double promotion.
You’re not a very good doctor are you?
Lady, you just ruined your reputation in less than 10 seconds.
But instead she replied with a simple “I’m moderately good.”
Sarah: “You know, it won’t do you any good to lie.”
By this point, my sister is so shocked she doesn’t even say anything.
Sarah: “Please stand outside for a moment. I’d like to speak to your mother privately.”
My sister just walks out (still unable to process such level of vanity in an adult).
Sarah: “Your daughter is quite obviously making the whole thing up about her vision. And as her parent, it is your responsibility to make sure she studies all day. She gets an F in her tests and at best a D, am I right?”
It took my mother all of her willpower to not get up and slap her full across the face. She quietly thanked the doctor and left, making sure to slam the door especially loudly on her way out.
P.S. After much more research and diagnosis in another country (Australia), it turns out my sister’s wavy vision was due to ocular migraine. It hasn’t got much better yet but baby steps lead the way. 🙂
INVESTIGATORS REVEAL JIMMY LAI MONEY TRAIL
Huge amounts of international money flowed into the bank accounts of Jimmy Lai—and large sums of cash went out to anti-China groups, a court heard yesterday.
The tabloid publisher received HK$2.945 billion in his nine bank accounts in recent years, with deposits coming from the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere. The money is said to have derived “from overseas securities trading”.
But the money didn’t sit there.
Who got the cash?
Chunks of finance went out to multiple China-hostile political groups in Hong Kong, the US, and the UK, the prosecution said, providing a detailed report from financial investigators.
Jimmy Lai’s lawyer Steven Kwan Man-wai did not dispute the information.
Local recipients included the Hong Kong Democratic Party, the Civic Party, the Labour Party, the League of Social Democrats, the court was told.
A wildly critical UK group called Hong Kong Watch, whose members include Benedict Rogers and former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten, received HK$202,000.
Paul Wolfowitz, former US deputy secretary of defence, was sent HK$1.76 million in payments from 2013 onwards, the court heard. Money also went to a right-wing think tank called the American Enterprise Institute.
Cash also went to a group called the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, organizers of an annual meeting to keep the “Tiananmen Square massacre” story, debunked by Julian Assange and others, alive.
The biggest individual recipient named yesterday was Cardinal Joseph Zen, a retired Hong Kong churchman who has fallen out with his colleagues, including Pope Francis, over his relentless China-bashing. The churchman received HK$3.5 million in 2017, the prosecution said.
The court heard earlier that large sums of money from Jimmy Lai’s funds (held by various entities) were paid to media companies, including the publishers of the Washington Post, the Nikkei Weekly, the UK Guardian, and media groups in India.
Jimmy Lai, 76, is on trial for sedition and collusion, offences illegal worldwide. His colleagues and associates have pleaded guilty in related hearings. The trial continues.
Baltic Sea Anomaly, Atlantis, and Underwater Alien Bases | Mysteries of the Ocean Pt 1
Oh, and movies said we’d “live happily ever after.”
And we did, through the honeymoon. Then reality struck.
We suddenly discovered that, well, we’re very different. In just about everything.
And that caused us to clash and occasionally me to wonder, “What the hell is wrong with her?”
And my wife to wonder that about me, only way more often.
Through years of building businesses, raising kids, paying bills. And occasional sleepless nights, sickness and clashes it would have been easy to walk away.
To think, “Well, I guess it’s not meant to be.”
But we just chose not to. We chose to make it “happily ever after.” Period.
So when we didn’t have the happy part we still had the ever after part. And it was going to be a long ever after.
So we might as well put the happy part back in. And we did.
Last week my wife was gone baby sitting our grandson. I was home alone.
No, that’s never a good thing in so many ways.
She came home on Friday evening so we had a late dinner and watched a movie.
As we enjoyed a glass of wine, I thought, “Ah, life is good again. Just the way it’s meant to be.”
I turned to her and said, “I’m glad you can babysit. But I’m really glad you’re home.”
“Yeah, it feels good to be home too. Though I miss my baby,” she responded.
“I know, I’m having to compete with your new boyfriend. But I do have to say, he’s really cute.”
We laughed.
And proceeded to live happily ever after for another evening.
And later, well, never mind.
You get married for the wrong reasons. Then build a marriage for the right ones.
I was failing grade 8 Math and English, and barely passing Science. My parents ran into my Math teacher at a social event, turned out they had distant common friends.
She made it a point to tell them I wasn’t going to get anywhere in life. She suggested they find me a trade, I might do well as an electrician or a plumber (nothing wrong with these professions, except she used it in a derogatory way, as studying is beyond my capabilities).
Ms. Farhana was a real jerk.
I was the shiest kid around and bullied throughout my childhood. However, I was embarrassed enough by that incident that I mustered up my courage and asked the neighbour’s daughter to tutor me. She started from basic and built up from there.
I passed grade 8 Math. Barely, but I passed it.
She kept tutoring me and I did average in grade 9.
My grade 10 Math teacher had a baby. He lived in the neighbourhood so I decided to ring his doorbell to wish him well. He invited me in for cake. Zee never says no to cake. He told me I could be his best student if I just tried harder.
I knew he was giving me an empty compliment, but a part of me thought I could.
So I asked him to help me after school. He said yes.
I got lucked out with a really kick-ass, but slightly racist, grade 11 Chemistry teacher. He broke things down to just Math. I overlooked his passive aggressive micro-aggressions and had him help me. Everything made sense.
I took Finite Math in highschool. The teacher had a bit of a gambling problem, but man did he know his probabilities.
Suddenly Math was fun.
There is a goat behind one of three doors and you pick a door. I open one of the doors you didn’t pick, do you change your answer? (Hint: yes)
I made up different problems with him. I learned Texas Hold’em. We talked about probabilities of different hands.
In grade 12 Advanced Math I got almost perfect, the highest mark anyone has gotten up until that point in that school’s history.
I took Math tests for fun and did well enough at the University of Waterloo’s Descartes test that I got in with scholarship even though my overall marks weren’t that high.
I decided to major in Math (and Computer Science). I finished the first year in Dean’s list, primarily because of kicking ass in Math. I tutored Calculus, Algebra, and Combinatorics and Optimization to pay bills.
Screw you Ms. Farhana, you were wrong.
I graduated and went to work for Microsoft and then Amazon due to my strength in Math.
I decided to run for a local office and despite not knowing anyone, turned campaigning into a Math problem. I reached out to others in the office and asked them for advice. I took their advice seriously.
Heck I read a book, tracked down its author (two-time mayor of a Michigan municipality) and emailed him for advice. He replied and agreed to mentor me remotely.
I won the election.
I started a business. I sucked at it. I ran into someone at a dinner who ran an agency. I asked him for help. He agreed. Eventually we ran a campaign for Nissan.
As a child I never thought I could learn that everyone had something to teach me, outright ask them to teach me, and benefit from this skill so incredibly.
“The Worst Thing Ever”
it was seriously the worst thing ever. I walked into my house and saw my mom hanging from the ceiling fan.
I can’t even put into words how messed up it was. It felt like my whole world just fell apart. I still can’t wrap my head around it. It’s like I’m stuck in some kind of freaky….
I can’t even put into words how messed up it was. It felt like my whole world just fell apart. I still can’t wrap my head around it. It’s like I’m stuck in some kind of freaky dream.
I just wish I could go back in time and stop it from happening. But I know that’s not possible. All I can do now is try to move on and remember her in the best way I can.
The most devastating experience of my life was witnessing my mother’s passing. The sight of her lifeless body on the floor left me feeling as though I had lost not only her, but also myself and my entire world.
Despite my desperate desire to help her, she passed away before my eyes, leaving me feeling helpless and hopeless.
However, as time passed, I came to the realization that I must strive to make her proud by doing my best to secure a successful future. This tragedy has left an indelible mark on my life, but I am determined to honor my mother’s memory by achieving my goals.
image 167
Related…
DESPERATE WOMAN RESCUED FROM HANGING HERSELF TO DEATH
2024 01 22 07 03
Information from reliable source to YIRIMAMBO ADVOCACY GROUP UPPER WEST REGION
indicate that a woman from East District information gathered from Wa East district in the Upper West region indicate that a married woman with six children who allegedly wanted to hang herself to death is battling with problems.
It has been fetched but obvious that she can not do anything else for survival nor her mother to care for her family. It is noted that she is a sickler and her mother a stroke patience.
Despite her poor health condition, she and the husband that are taking care of the family. She is always carrying her mother here and there to help her in movement because of that she can’t do any work for money.
Notwithstanding to this, sometimes it is difficult for them to get even food to eat or clothes to wear and medicines for themselves.
Even though the father with six children, is a farmer but is not easy for him taking care of all of them, he brings only what he gets from the farm and that is all which is not always enough but they have been managing.
So she always sit idle thinking that all these problems cannot be solved and she has been saying which she has always been saying to people. *Ending Her Life By Committing Suicide* On the 31st July, 2019 at about 4-5:00 in the evening, a woman which is about 45years- old by name with-held with six Chlidren, from Ducie in the Wa East district of the Upper West region went out with a rope in a black
polythene bag thinking that nobody have seen her but one of her children who was inside another room before she went out into the bush quickly went to inform some good Samaritans in the community and they also quickly traced this woman to the bush and before they got there she has already tied the rope on top of a tree trying to climb another piece of a tree before she can put her neck on the rope. Then the people who followed her as good Samaritans shouted on her and quickly rushed to save her without doing that.
So on this note we are pleading that if any member can help us with either food stuffs or clothes for these people and health support for them as well, if possible so that we will also try to help this woman with counselling and the materials support from you.
But for now she is a little bit OK with her situation.
With the intervention of yirimambo for the first place with our advice and counseling than before.
SOURCE YIRIMAMBO ADVOCACY GROUP UPPER WEST
Be the RUFUS!
We are a community.
My post on community… on Quora.
What is a Chinese Expert?
I really do not think that this creature exists.
According to the Western / American “news” media, a Chinese Expert is…
A person who accepts American government funding to say bad things about China.
Is associated, or was associated, with American mainstream media.
Has, in their possession, photos of the “expert” with American political personages.
According to the Chinese, a Chinese Expert is a graded, stratified tier system based on experience.
Top Tier
Born in China. Studied Chinese history with exemplary grades. Works on behalf of the Chinese people, and puts the people of China first. Many members of the CCP fit this role, as do many Pioneers, and an entire subculture of Chinese that support the “Chinese Dream”.
Old Hand
Has lived in China for a significant period of time. Understands the various societies, and cultures of China. Is married to, or was part of, a Chinese family. Works on behalf on the greater good for all, but of course, his / her Chinese family and Chinese friends come first. This person is also known as a Chinese wanna-be. And this person supports, and praises, “The Chinese Dream”.
Enthusiast
This person, may or many not have lived in China. But has totally embraced the Chinese culture, society and means. This includes certain individuals out of Singapore, Vietnam, and other places around the globe. Maybe they aren’t an “expert” in a classical sense, but they are certainly enthusiastic for the Chinese dream. These people are perhaps known an “fanboi.”
At best, I (personally) am considered a “China Old Hand”.
I don’t know everything, but I know enough.
…
What is “The Chinese Dream”?
Last weekend, my family and a few friends, went to visit an organizational youth meet in Zhuhai. This group (and there are thousands throughout China), teach independence, pride, self-confidence, and acceptance as part of “The Chinese Dream”. It was astounding.
It’s 100% voluntary. The kids pay a small membership fee.
Really. Amazing.
You will never see anything else like this anywhere. Watch how accepted and inclusive my daughter was taken in. It was like she was “absorbed by the hive”. LOL
“Resistance is futile”. -The Borg
https://youtu.be/vVcosfCqwNA
There is a great sense of belonging, and acceptance that I have NEVER experienced anywhere else.
Belonging.
B-E-L-O-N-G-I-N-G
Belonging as PART of a COMMUNITY.
No “lone wolf” bullshit.
…
It’s stuff like this why I LOVE LOVE LOVE China so much.
EDIT 22JAN23
1.3K views. Only 30 “thumbs up”.
I guess you all have bought into the Western propagandized lie that you can be the “lone wolf”. That you can be another “Die Hard” type; another Rambo. Another Clint Eastwood or John Wayne. Maybe a “Professional career woman”… and all that.
That is a lie.
As many are waking up to the reality that humans are social creatures.
We were on a flight to the U.S. from Thailand where we live.
In Taiwan, a disheveled man of around 30 sat down next to me, reeking of weed. After takeoff, he pulled down the tray and filled it with candy bars, nuts, fruit juice and oranges from his camouflage jacket. He turned to me and said, “You can’t trust airline food.”
But when lunch was served, he smashed his food stash under the food tray he was given and ate everything, including the garnish.
Afterwards he wanted to talk and kept pestering me with, “Hey. Hey!!”
He asked where we were from, and upon hearing “Bangkok” he began raving about ‘Thai sticks’, Thai marijuana. Then he asked my Thai husband if he would help him start importing weed to the U.S.
Husband stared at him really coldly and told the man that he was a Royal Thai police officer so “No.” The idiot’s response: “ Listen, I know all Thai cops are corrupt. We could make a load.”
Husband put headphones on and ignored him. I asked the pothead if he was out of his mind. He shrugged, laughed and said husband would change his mind, for sure.
Luckily, he made a friend elsewhere and moved.
But he wasn’t finished with us.
As we lined up for Customs, he got right behind us. As the agent checked our bags, he kept saying loudly, “They’re from Thailand. Great weed there! Oh, look! That’s a weed pipe!” (It was a replica of a silver opium pipe, a decorative item – a gift) “Listen! I still wanna import from you guys!!”
Another agent picked up his bags and escorted him to a separate office, and we never saw him again.
The United States and it’s entire existence is based on the WEALTH OF NATIONS
The inherent belief that Core Capitalism is the only system to deliver maximum benefits to an economy and stability to the economy & a system of the people is the only way to deliver a system with full global peace
That the world will be fully peaceful when every nation is governed by its people AKA is a democracy built on Western ideals
This was a very correct analysis that the US followed for almost a hundred and ten years from 1880–1990
Unfortunately this ideology got corrupted post 1990 when:-
US Democracy slowly became more and more partisan
US Leaders became slowly worse and worse and essentially corrupt demagogues
The US capitalism model deteriorated to an Oligarchy ‘Support the top 1%’ model that is sinking the states
The US model became all about speculation and less about actual progress and growth
Yet today’s US leaders religiously believe this is the winning model that every nation must adopt and regards any nation that is different as a ‘Flawed Nation’
Chinas Economic Ideology unlike the USA has always changed to suit changing times
From Deeply Socialist under Mao Tse Tung where the focus was on Education and Equality and Food Production and Stability
To Gradual Mixed Economy under Deng Xiaoping & Jiang Zimin where the focus shifted to Industrialization
To a Ruthless Capitalist Mindset under Hu Jintao where the focus was growth, growth and growth
To the Common Prosperity Mindset under Xi Jingping focusing on reducing Income inequality, spreading development across all sections of the economy and a sort of hybrid model of socialism within capitalism
It is diametric opposite to the US and it’s Ruthless Capitalism Ideology
US maximizes emphasis on Speculation
China hates Speculation
US prefers to capitalize everything to the maximum
China prefers a strong sense of control on excess capitalism
US prefers coalescing smaller entities into a handful of monopolies
China prefers mushrooming of smaller entities and competition deciding which is the best
Chinas One Party System is also diametrically opposite to the Multiple faction democracy that the US endorses and the West supports
The US believes that one person for too long loses the incentive to serve the people and becomes a dictator
Yet China believes a group of able people can serve the people the best and prevent unworthy individuals from coming to power who can ruin a well established system of governance
The US has always believed that ultimately China will shed it’s different ways and join the US in their perfect model (that they don’t realize they have fully corrupted)
It’s what made Gordon Chang & Peter Zeihan such celebrities
The US has always believed that China would face a massive setback like the USSR did (Or was suckered into triggering a setback like my friend Hoàng Phan establishes in his answers)
They estimated this to happen between 2005–2008
Didnt Happen
Instead China moved from strength to strength to strength over time and successfully endured every US action against it, from the Wolf Sanctions of 2011 to the Raimondo Sanctions of 2022
The US may trigger a wave of propaganda against China but the purpose of this is to STOP THEIR OWN PEOPLE FROM QUESTIONING AS TO HOW CHINA NOT ONLY SURVIVES TODAY BUT THRIVES FOLLOWING DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
As China moves ahead without the seeming collapse, the US are seeing their two hundred year old belief and ideology (Again which they don’t realize they have corrupted already) getting shattered by China
And slowly seeing others start to adopt a similar stance from Turkiye to Serbia to Vietnam to Singapore
The US is beginning to wonder if indeed it’s ideology was flawed and whether it’s gods and idols are false
And that terrifies them
They don’t realize that it is THEY who have completely corrupted a nice good solid system that was giving them the position of world leader and global trust for decades
It is they who have become Satanic Hegemons from Global Leaders
As for China, China is on the right track so far
They MUSTN’T MAKE THE MISTAKE THAT US DID
They mustn’t allow ideology and hegemony to corrupt them the way US was corrupted under Bush Junior, Clinton and so on
They must ensure they keep refreshing their system so that it best helps the people of China
Pepe Escobar: China Issues DEVASTATING Warning to Neocons as Putin and Xi Make History
I was on the beach late one night looking at the moon and the waves.
Out of the corner of my eye along the south end of the beach – I saw something super weird.
What is that?
I squinted, trying to figure it out – it was too far away – but it had to be really huge.
What the heck?
Well, I couldn’t sit there idly looking at the moon and listening to the surf anymore – I needed to figure out what that thing was over there on the beach.
So, I started walking… is it a car? What is that thing? How is it on the beach? Nobody in their right mind would drive a VW bug on a beach like ours… at night…
Closer and closer I walked and larger and larger it looked.
It was a leatherback sea turtle. Digging a hole in the sand.
I was utterly flabbergasted.
I didn’t make a sound, I just stood there, awestruck: feeling truly blessed in the moment to be near such a magnificent being.
I had never been so close to such a large animal in the wild before.
She was utterly oblivious to me – she was on a mission.
I stood beside her as she dug: I definitely got a sand bath that night. She flipped the sand until she was happy with her nest and began to fill it with eggs.
It took a long time.
I couldn’t stay until she was completely finished.
I’m pretty sure it took most of the rest of the night. I left around 0300 and she wasn’t done.
I’ve since swum with green turtles, who are dwarfed in comparison. But nothing has engendered that kind of awe before or since. Stunned is the right word for something which leaves your mouth hanging and your words lost.
Cheese and Honey Pie
Cheese and Honey Pie
Ingredients
Sesame Seed Pastry
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed
1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
Sesame Seed Pastry: Mix all ingredients until blended; press firmly and evenly against bottom and side of 9-inch pie plate.
Bake at 475 degrees F for 5 minutes.
Filling: Beat cream cheese in large mixer bowl on medium speed until creamy. Add remaining ingredients; beat until light and fluffy. Pour into baked pie shell.
Bake at 350 degrees F until firm, 40 to 50 minutes.
Refrigerate until serving time.
Yields 10 to 12 servings.
Done with the bullshit
I had a thought today that I wanted to share with you all, this is my response to a Reddit post I saw about how corrupt and outdated representative democracy is.
I will start with what I think to be the main problems of representative democracy
The elected body of legislators is not a representative sample of the population, looking at the legislature, you’d think the vast majority of the country was white male lawyers that are either Republicans or Democrats. This is very far from the truth, and many voters do not properly identify either Republican or Democrat and their interests oftentimes scope over topics from both parties. Most of the time when people vote they’re just picking the lesser of two evils, and are not in any way completely satisfied with what other party is doing.
Scope of power does not match scope of accountability, legislators may pass laws that impact people that could not vote for or against them. Unless you count propositions in places like california, legislators are able to pass pretty much whatever law they want that impact sometimes tens of millions of people and are in no way accountable to the laws that they pass. The people have no say in the laws that legislators have passed. This very often leads to a corrupt system of the government being able to do whatever it wants and the people having no say in what the government does.
Job security for elected officials is more dependent on fundraising than on whether the politician is acting in his or her constituents’ best interests. This blows the system wide open for large corporations and billionaires to buy off politicians that represent their best interests as opposed to the people.
Lobbying undermines democracy. Lobbying is a mechanism for powerful groups to influence laws and regulations at the expense of the public interest. This results in outside influence, unfair competition and policy capture, to the detriment of effective policymaking. This effectively allows billionaires and big corporations to buy our government and politicians that act in their best interests rather than the interests of the people.
The voting system and general layout of government was designed before it was possible to quickly communicate long distances, so it ignores the possibility of citizens directly participating.
Mass media cannot be trusted to provide accurate information and is very often bias. Mass media often feeds lies and propaganda to the electorate and the electorate is not currently equipped to ensure a representative democracy is acting in the best interest of the people.
The electoral college needs to go, it is not based on popular vote, and it is based on a winner takes all system which is easily susceptible to corruption and allows political candidates to be elected by losing the popular vote. Under the system if you want to vote for your states of losing party don’t even bother voting.
There aren’t enough representatives to accurately represent the people if we’re going to keep our system of representative democracy and not throw out the entire thing. I think the amount of Representatives should be raised to 936, and the amount of Representative districts should also be increased.
It’s very hard to remove corrupt politicians from power. The people should be able to impeach corrupt politicians, the system was not designed to have politicians serving for 30 or 40 years. We need term limits, I think a term limit of 6 years for senators and representatives is perfectly fair, and I think a term limit of 10 years for supreme Court justices is also perfectly fair. This would allow the government to be more in touch with what people want by constantly switching out people every couple of years.
The Monopoly of power that both conservatives and liberals have over the government in their respected Republican and Democratic parties. We need more political parties to better represent the people, it is not the case that people simply think one way or the other there should be five political parties written directly into the Constitution. The government should operate in a European style model of a political coalition if it wants to get anything done, in other words political parties are forced to make concessions and are forced to work with other political parties to pass laws.
So what do I things should be done to fix things? I’ll tell you
Abolish Congress and the supreme Court, and implement a system of direct democracy where every 6 months every single issue that the supreme Court and Congress would have looked at are voted on directly by the people in the form of propositions. Now I know that if we implemented elections twice a year every June and December people will be voting on about 100 different issues, and that’s fine, people’s voices need to be heard and it is a much better system of asking people what they think of certain issues rather than allowing an out-of-touch government to make these decisions for people instead.
Like I said on my previous point, it needs to be a government for the people by the people. This is why representative democracy is an outdated and obsolete relic of the past. In representative democracy legislators are able to pass whatever laws they please and are not accountable to the people.
We need to make lobbying illegal and if we are going to have a political coalition system the people need to be the ones electing politicians not billionaires and big corporations. Money should not be a part of politics. Making money part of politics undermines democracy
Like I said before lobbying undermines democracy and it needs to be banned 🚫. Lobby groups do absolutely nothing for the government except give special interest groups political power that they shouldn’t have and allow the special interest groups to have a voice in our country and our politics and it allows them to buy politicians.
We need to switch to a ranked choice voting system, as opposed to an instant runoff system. The electoral college needs to go, even if that means amending the Constitution to get rid of it.
Mass media should not have a say in our government, as they cannot be trusted to provide accurate information. I think we should have a system of fake news laws that holds these mass media companies accountable for publishing bias or false information
Like I said the electoral college needs to go. Even if that means amending the Constitution get rid of it. We need a ranked choice popular voting system. This would make it so everybody’s voice is heard, and it would allow new political parties to come to the table and it would break up the Monopoly of power that Republicans and Democrats have over the government.
I don’t even think we should keep our system of Representative democracy, but if it needs to stay we need to double the amount of Representatives to 936. This wasn’t even my idea this was the idea of YouTuber Mathew Beat.
We need term limits for politicians. Once a corrupt politician like Mitch McConnell is in power it’s almost impossible to get rid of them. And it should be up to the entire country to elect politicians not just their state. Term limits would allow new people to come to the table and new ideas to spread and it would allow for more political parties to have seats. Every political party no matter how extremist should be able to have its voice heard.
We need to switch to a political coalition system. Everybody should be able to have their voice heard no matter what side of the political spectrum they sit on. There should be five major political parties and many smaller political parties even if those political parties only get 1–5% of the vote. These political parties should be: the nationalist, the conservatives, the liberals, the acella party (progressive party), and the green party. Many smaller political parties such as: the Socialist party, the fascist party, the libertarian party, etc should also get a say. If we have 936 representatives, even if the fascist party only got 2% of the vote, they would still get 19 seats. This would actually heavily benefit minority political parties and give them a lot of power. Let’s say for example that 20% of the population identifies as nationalist, and 22% of the population identify as conservative. This does not add up to 51%, it adds up to 42%, this would still require an additional 9% of the vote for the nationalist and conservatives to get anything passed and they would have to make deals with the smaller political parties to get up to 51%.
These are just my thoughts about our whole busted political system, let me know what you think
2024 Taiwan Election Reveals Shocking TRUTH About USA and China
I used to live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. And I loved it. What a nice and lush forest full of flowers. But like all things, I only was able to work there for a few years until I was laid off. Those lay offs really sucked, I’ll tell you what.
Anyways, I had a really nice house in a low area on the edge of a swamp. It was great. Glorious. With high temperatures, and humidity, it was super lush. My house was brown with nice green shutters and doors, and a nice slab parking garage.
c1067827820e001517227c5db9dcbce0
Then I got laid off.
What a nightmare. I do not want to relive that. I’ll tell you what.
But, anyways, we had a bug-control man come over every month to spray for the cockroaches. Oh, they grew them BIG in Hattiesburg. And there were so many of them, at night the ground looked like it was moving. Like you were trippin’ or something like that.
So to save up money, we decided to cancel our monthly bug spraying.
Well, one week goes buy, and my cats were busy catching cockroaches. We would find dead cockroaches on the half-shell everywhere. But they got tired of it. You can only catch so many.
On the second week, I saw one my socks waking across the room.
By the third week we were hearing sounds in the walls, and periodic electrical shorts in our outlets. And then, but the end of the fourth week, when the television was covered with cockroaches, we made an emergency call to the exterminator to put on his flashers and race to us; we told him to come over immediately!
And he actually did.
Flashing red lights, and alarm! No kidding!
Jezze!
Lesson learned. If you live in a warm climate… please bug spray. Let me tell you, Joe’s Apartment (a fun movie) didn’t do that nightmare justice.
Had this happen in my first job. Learned my lesson.
Next time there was a review coming up ( about two months later ) I wrote up a synopsis of my work ( and my colleagues work) and delivered it to my manager’s manager two days before.
We then had the review where my manager misrepresented the work that was done, whose idea it was, and the results.
Not much happened. So two weeks later I went back to my manager’s manager with my request for a transfer. I was doing about 60% of the work in my team of 3; building all the scripts, generating the data for reports, including working at night and weekends because I was single.
When the department head indicated he was reluctant to approve the transfer I told him that was OK and that I’d have my desk cleared out by the end of the week. I knew that there was the possibility that this wouldn’t work out so I had been interviewing. I also knew that the firm had gone to a lot of trouble to recruit and train me & that having me leave would look bad.
I got my transfer.
Eggs with Peppers and Sausage
Eggs with Peppers and Sausage
Ingredients
1 large onion, sliced
1 pound Italian sweet peppers or banana peppers, seeded and cut into strips
You don’t ask, you don’t get.There are plenty of ways to enter a pool. The stairs is not one of them.If a street performer makes you stop walking, you own him a buck.When entrusted with a secret, keep it.Date with standards, not expectations. Just sit back and see if they can meet your standards or not.Just because you can doesn’t mean you shouldYou only get one chance to notice a new haircut.Don’t dumb yourself down.You are what you do, not what you sayDon’t lose sight of the hobbies you enjoyed as a child. They will help you live as you grow older.Don’t let your yearnings get ahead of your earning.Don’t dig for water under the outhouse.Dating advice you should know: if they like you, you’ll know. If they don’t, you’ll be confused.
My parents started middle class and worked their way to the 1%.
It isn’t this huge party. But there are some basic things you don’t worry about as much.
It is weird because I didn’t grow up wealthy at all. And had a strict-as-hell dad.
At some point after I left home, things really ramped up. My dad left the military and became a high ranking exec with SAP.
My mom started a vineyard at their farm. And sold off a lot of great real estate investments she’d made over the years.
But you would never know it if you bumped into them at the store or something. They have very humble personalities. If you went to their home however..
image 129image 128
When I wake up in the morning in their guest room I get to enjoy a view like this:
image 127
When I visit they spend most of their time working around the house and on the farm. We don’t really sit still much. And even when we are it is because we are working on something. We are worker-bees.
Also, I think everyone has a misconception as to how wealthy the top 1% is. 10 years ago, even I had the impression that 1%ers don’t work hard and take 9 vacations a year. I think it is just different if you started small and got there in your middle age and have kids.
At that point, you are more concerned with managing everything and making sure your kids are doing OK.
(Maybe that it is .01 percenters that do all that laying around by the pool…)
Either way I love visiting my parents, but every time I get home here in Florida my house feels really really small! 🙂
This happened in English class back in 2018, and the second it happened, I literally searched for a question that this answer would correlate to. The rest was history.
Okay, so class had just started. The teacher was marking the roll on her laptop, and some girl named Sophie was at her desk to ask her something.
“Ethan James?”
“Yeah, here!”
Then, suddenly, Sophie was like
“Ethan James; absence explained? What does that mean, Ethan? Why is your absence explained?”
I had zoned out, but I perked up upon hearing my name. As one does. I realized what was happening, and I started monologuing.
“Hey, can I get the whiteboard for a sec?”
I said, addressing my teacher. She obliged.
I drew one circle on the board.
image 17
“Sophie, you see this circle? This circle represents the status of my attendance.”
I then drew another circle next to it but not connected.
image 16
“You see this other circle, Sophie? That second circle represents your business.”
“Yeah. Okay” Sophie was confused.
“Now, Sophie, do you see any correlation between the two?”
We have three kids. The oldest is 18, and the youngest is 4. So, for 18 years now, our lives have revolved around raising our children. My life in particular has been more child-raising intense, because I’m home with them more often and I took on the role of primary domestic engineer in our marriage.
I was prepared for how expensive kids would be, and the good times and bad times and whatnot.
But lately, I’ve been experiencing something no one warned me about: not knowing what to do with myself as my children gain independence.
Just in the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that my youngest can get her own snacks, turn on the TV and find her shows by herself, entertain herself with her own toys, and even tuck herself in at night. When my other children did this, I was either still busy in grad school, or had another baby who needed my attention.
But now, I’m finding myself, more and more, looking for things to do as my children do their own thing.
Before sitting down to write this, I asked both of my youngest children if they’d like to play something with me. They both said no. I wasn’t prepared for that. Normally, they’d jump on the chance to play with me. They’d insist on it. But right now, they’re each playing by themselves.
I’ve heard that business owners sometimes have a similar problem: they dedicate so many years to getting their businesses off the ground, that once those businesses are successful, and they have employees who do most of the work, the owners aren’t sure what to do with their new free time.
On the upside, my house has never been cleaner. I filled the unexpected free time this week by cleaning. Now, there’s not even much of that to do.
I predict I’m going to be one of those people who retire, and six months later find another job out of boredom.
I was going home on a two-lane highway on my motorcycle when a speeding 18-wheel truck came up behind me and started crowding me. I’m talking about an 80,000 lb tractor-trailer so close that I couldn’t see his windshield above the grille in my mirrors.
I was nearly to my left-turn to my road and I was afraid he couldn’t see my brake light or turn signal so I speeded up a little with my signals on, but he speeded up also. So I punched the throttle and jumped out about 100 feet in front of him, grabbed the clutch and stomped on my back brake to lock the 4.10 back tire to make smoke for about two seconds and then left off the brake and clutch and punched the throttle again. Mister Tailgater was doing the shimmy-shake trying to keep his trailer behind his cab in my mirrors and using both lanes to do it while I rocketed past my turn and outran him to the small town a mile away. I parked next to a friend’s business and upon being greeted and hearing the 18-wheeler grinding to a stop out front I ask the store owner, “Hey Spider, if you’ve got that sawed-off shotgun under the counter, I might need to borrow it in a minute.”
Fortunately, the trucker stared at the business for a minute and then drove away.
Ministry reveals UK’s MI6 using foreign national for espionage targeting China
China’s national security authority recently uncovered a case involving the United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6, using foreign nationals to engage in espionage activities against China, the Ministry of State Security announced on Monday morning.
In a statement, the ministry said that in 2015, MI6 established an “intelligence cooperation relationship” with a foreign national surnamed Huang, who served as the head of a consulting firm overseas.
The statement did not identify Huang’s nationality.
Subsequently, MI6 instructed Huang to enter China multiple times. Under its guidance, Huang gathered intelligence related to China and identified prospective individuals for MI6’s counterespionage efforts, according to the ministry.
MI6 also provided professional intelligence training to Huang in various locations, including the UK, and equipped him with specialized spy equipment for intelligence exchange and communication, it said.
Through meticulous investigation, the national security authority promptly discovered evidence of Huang engaging in espionage activities and took criminal compulsory measures against him.
Upon examination, it was determined that Huang provided MI6 with 14 pieces of classified information and three intelligence reports, the statement said.
Throughout the investigation, the national security authority has kept the consulate of Huang’s country informed on his case and has arranged consular visits for him, ensuring the protection of his legal rights in accordance with the law, it added.
I think we could all write a book about this but the rudest I heard was from a pharmacist while I was waiting in line for a prescription, not the other customers. My two year old daughter was potty training and doing a good job. That day she wanted to wear her big girl panties. She had been doing so for months.
The wait was long at the Drug Store. She needed to use the restroom. I asked if there was a restroom. The pharmacist barked “ no” at me. I explained the situation and asked if she could just use the employee rest room since we had waited a half hour already.
The pharmacist said “She will just have to wet her pants”. Really? I turned to my child and said. “Honey, just pee on the floor here. This place is just one big potty. “. My two year old politely squatted and peed all over the floor. The pharmacist was screaming. I said “ honey, this nice man will clean it up right after he gives me my paper back so we can go somewhere else. “
There were a lot of mothers also waiting and everyone found it quite funny but the pharmacist. I went back to that drug store a few years later and they had installed a public restroom.
PS. Whether you think I was right or wrong is of no matter to me. But the fact that some people think I did this over the use if the bathroom shows I did not make myself clear. I was a lawyer. Had the pharmacist said their insurance did not allow public use or said I might try xxx store that has a public restroom, no problem I get that. I could have taken her to the car and used a McDonald’s cup. It was that this man told a little girl to just wet her pants. Had she wet her pants the result would have been the same on the floor. I just decided to avoid the wet pants part and show this man that he was not providing customer service-of any form. I’m sure the issue of needing a restroom had come up before. The store should have had an appropriate response. There are Federal laws in place now concerning employee only restrooms.
Yes, and it all worked out beautifully: another employee in a different section whom I did not know well and was not particularly friendly with went out of his way to tell me that my bosses wanted to hire a woman to replace me (I am a man) and not just any woman, but one hot enough for them to ogle and flirt with. That is the kind of pervs that they were. After hearing that, I wiped my company-issued Macbook Air clean, mentally checked out, and waited for my last day.
After I had left the company, I heard that they did ogle and flirt with her, and I was told that they had hired her specifically for her charms – she flirted right back.
A few months later I got the delicious news that they had taken her on a business trip to meet the company’s most important client. In short, a good time was had by all, and she ended up fucking an employee at the client’s headquarters.
It gets better, a sympathetic former co-worker told me that he had dug around and found that my replacement had a police record (shoplifting I think) and her mugshot was online.
When I heard this news I sent an anonymous email to just the right person at the client’s headquarters describing the sex and a link to the mugshot and the fallout was magnificent: the client demanded that my replacement be fired, and she was, and my company’s reputation with their most important customer was ruined (they didn’t lose all the business, however).
Suddenly my old bosses were checking out my LinkedIn profile and I had the pleasure of blocking all three.
Millions of American’s Begin Moving into Vans | VanLife EXPLODES on Google Trends
Concierge: I’m sorry sir, we’re fully booked out. I can recommend a place down the road.
Me: How is it possible you are booked out? I’m looking at “Booking dot com” right here on my phone and it says you have a room going here.
Concierge: I’m sorry sir, we’re fully booked out. (and then smiles at me like I’m some sort of idiot)
Me: Okay, I suppose I’ll work something out.
Concierge: Yes sir. Sorry sir. (looks down at whatever it is Concierges do when they are not serving someone)
I step away from the concierge desk and think to myself… What happens if I simply press “Book Now” so… I didn’t think, I just pressed “Book Now”. The message comes back with my booking confirmation code. Bear in mind, not a single person is in the foyer, and not a single person has been and spoken to the concierge in the last 20 seconds since I stepped away from the concierge desk.
Me: “Mate, I’d like to check in please.”
Concierge: Certainly sir do you have a booking?
Me: (stunned he doesn’t recognise me from 20 seconds ago) Um, yes, here it is on my phone.
Concierge: Excellent sir, do you have any bags the porter can take up to your room for you Sir?
Me: Narr, it’s okay I only have this one bag. I’ll be okay.
I was thinking all the way up to my room in an elevator with the porter guy that had a single carry bag on a huge dome shaped brass pipe top with a red carpet floor baggage cart…
… “WTF just happened”
image 15
Picture this with one case on it. That case is the size of a case that you pull along for a two day stop over…
I once was fired from a job after a night out drinking with friends. Of course, most of the friends were work friends.
One of them mentioned they were worried about upcoming changes to the department and thought it was odd they were told to not do their job when they came in each day.
I told him … they’re going to fire you. (I had no idea…I wasn’t told anything, I was guessing) BUT i told him to never stop doing his job … that it was a test to see if they needed him at all. Turned out I was right. But someone told my boss that I had made this prediction.
I was terminated for professionalism. Off the clock, after hours, not on site … with no first hand knowledge shared.
When they brought me into my bosses office to fire me, I started to say “You can’t do this…” followed by “of course you can, otherwise we wouldn’t be here at this point.” I accepted it and turned in all my stuff, gave them notes on where I was in various projects and thanked them for the time and experience. To which my director literally said ” Thanks for your professionalism” I grinned and said “well it’s professionalism that got me fired according to you.”
And ai walked out of there and got a job paying 40% more in as month.
They can fire you for any reason and for no reason. They can even fire you for illegal reasons if they just cover it with a legal looking one. Ultimately, you can’t let it affect you. Sure money is going to be different and plans will change but you’ll get through it and you wouldn’t want to work somewhere that wants to fire you but can’t in the end.
When an Industrial leader gets arrogant and snobbish, there will be a D-day to it.
Lets look in perspective. As an experience sputtering process engineer, when i look at the EUV machine, I find that they are too elaborating. It consume hell of electricity and Hydrogen. The from my common sense if that if we can plough electron by electron onto an anode of cathode, I am sure we can make Nodes like a 3D printer. So I was right , now Cannon has done exactly that and they can produce cheaper chips then DUV and EUV… with the baggage of high energy cost and high H2 consumption. I believe Liang Mong Song already taught about long after he left Samsung. Cheers to China for giving the WEST as good bashing. When the old guards of China, Wen Jia Pow has stated we should share roles and work, but the American will never understand and Taiwan will face the music when they fondle American ideology to the hilt. As a staff in American MNC for more then a decade, I see the blind corners which will kill the American innovation. American Capitalism is all about me and not us.
No the U.S. is aggressively bribing poor fishermen away from fishing for their families to stir up shit on Chinese boats for thousands of dollars of cold hard cash paid in the high seas by CIA and NED operatives. That is precisely what happened.
All is well ap to now. The Pinoy fishermen are happy getting easy money, Bumbong Marcos U.S. happy the U.S. released his family wealth stuck in the U.S. and Philippine governments get more free money or bribes to allow US more bases. The money is used to improve infrastructures where China win the contract. You can say the U.S. pays for Philippine infrastructure!
So China prosper, US can shout it has more bases, fishermen are happy. But the only victims are Americans who will pay and pay and pay! If I were China I would bribed the fishermen to rob the CIA and NED cash by the boat loads to bribed them. That will bring peace faster.
Survival: If you get lost in the wilderness, find a river, that will lead you to a town. Most towns (or people) live near water of some sort.
Happiness: Muting politics on social media platforms makes them 1000% better.
Indian Career Paths: Roughly 70% of Indians study Engineering (this blows my mind).
Trolls: There are very unhappy people in the world. They will leave mean, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, virtually any ugly comment they can think of – to make others share their misery.
Driving: If someone cuts you off in traffic – it is more effective to give them a thumbs down than flip them off. This will cause them to rethink their actions.
Losing: Smile at the person who defeats you. It will steal their joy in defeating you.
Oops: If you find chewing gum on clothes or the carpet, put an ice cube on it for 2 minutes, it will become hard and come off easily.
Restaurant: If you find a fly in your soup, before sending it back, put a ton of salt into the soup. That’s the only way you’ll know they re-cooked new soup rather than send the same soup back out.
“I realized my life was too valuable to let go of,” she said. “And that gave me the courage to survive.”
This is the story of Alison Botha, on December 18, 1994, she was abducted in her car near home by two strangers who took her to an area outside the city in South Africa and by the end of the night, she had been raped brutally and stabbed 30 times in the abdomen, to mutilate her reproductive organs and 16 times to her throat.
image 132
Alison Botha, with knife mark on her throat.
She said, “all I could see was an arm moving above my face making a sound. A wet sound, it was the sound of my flesh being slashed open. He was cutting my throat with the knife. Again and again and again.”
“Do you think she’s dead?” one attacker asked. “No one can survive that,” the other replied. They were apparently satisfied that they had killed her ’cause she was almost decapitated, so they left her for dead, but Botha was still breathing and could see car headlights coming through the bushes.
image 131
She started trying to get onto the road and as soon as she pulled herself up, she felt something slimy coming out from her abdomen, her intestines. She had to use one hand to keep her gut from spilling out and the other hand to hold on to her own head, ’cause it started to fall backward.
image 130
A young veterinary student named Tiaan Eilerd, who was driving down to Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg, saw Botha lying in the middle of the road and stopped. She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors were stunned by her horrific wounds. She was soon able to identify attackers from police pictures while she was still in the hospital. This led to the arrest of the “Ripper Rapists,” as they were named in press release.
Both attackers were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in August 1995. But after serving 28 years, both were granted parole in July 2023.
Alison Botha soon became a motivational speaker and began traveling around the world, telling her story in different countries. She is one of the first women from South Africa to speak publicly about rape, she helped inspire other survivors to come forward and tell their stories to the world.
Note: If you are a victim of rape and planning to commit suicide, and if you change your mind after reading this story, then this would be a big favour on me. The only purpose of writing this is to let you know that you are precious, I just want to motivate you to live ’cause the world needs you. Please do me a favour
Unknown number comes up on my work phone, not unusual, so I answer and am greeted by someone with an Asian accent, enquiring about the accident I had been involved in, having had far too many of these over the years I responded with, It only happened this morning how did you know, well sir we work very closely with your insurance company, this was the point I put the phone on hand’s free, and the rest of the office tuned in, Well I am very glad you called I was driving along the A1 near Catterick and someone drove straight into my vehicle, the caller was most concerned for my health and wellbeing, which I informed them that I was very shocked and shaken, I am now passed to a supervisor who needs Details so road A1, location Catterick, vehicle Scorpion, speed 65, damage scuffed the paintwork,
There was a pause as they went through the information, um sir I am struggling to find your car, you can’t find it it’s a very common vehicle around here, can you please give me a bit more detail please certainly it’s a Scorpion CVRT, no sir I am still struggling to find your vehicle, really I am not sure if you will be able to help me if you can’t even find my vehicle, It’s a Scorpion Combat Vehicle Recce Tracked, it’s a Tank mate definitely scuffed the paintwork terribly, silence from the other end of the phone, followed by a single expletive, and call ended.
Funny enough it’s the only phonecall I have ever got a round of applause for as well as much laughter.
My mom and I go on a cruise every year for her birthday. I am disabled and have a walker for my immense back pain, I cannot stand for long periods of time, so it has a seat. My mom and I wait ONE HOUR in a line WE started to get into a show just so we could get our choice of seats (first come, first serve). A queue starts behind us about 20 minutes before the show and we are happy that we waited as we wanted to record from a very specific seat (middle isle). This woman shows up with her son in a wheelchair from the cruise liner, and proceeds to stand right in front of the entry doors of the venue. My mother and I give her the benefit of the doubt and my mother proceeds to let her know there is a line behind us (it wraps around a hallway). She looks at my mother and completely ignores her, sees a tall man walking past and says to him, loudly, ‘can you believe this woman wants me to get in line when my son is in a wheelchair?!’ The son is literally silent the WHOLE TIME with a small cast over his left foot. The man looks around the corner and sees me sitting in my walker. He says to the lady, ‘she has a disabled person in line too.’ The lady responds, ‘so?’ The man just walks off. My mom tells the whole line what happened. The line just ignores everything and shrinks back, trying to avoid the conflict. I am in shock about the whole thing and only getting angrier, by the fact the cruise liner crew isn’t telling her to move for blocking the door, OR asking her to get in line. I’m so angry by everyone’s actions I can’t even react. The doors open and she proceeds to sit EXACTLY WHERE WE WANTED TO SIT. The crew even offer to take the boy’s wheelchair since they aren’t allowed to leave them in the small isles! Even remembering this trip now upsets me. I couldn’t be more angry at myself for not saying anything and trying to stay calm. I should have just acted like I had NO MANNERS like her! Apparently the ‘squeaky wheel gets the grease’.
That was last year, the horrible time we had because of this lady just makes me cringe every time I think about it. I hope the woman reads this and remembers how she ruined what was before that moment, a beautiful and fun vacation. I hope she learned some manners or stays home, no amount of money can make her worth anyone’s time.
*EDIT* Thanks to everyone with the kind and understanding comments. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so heard. I think this event effected me so much BECAUSE I try to be thoughtful of others constantly and don’t get out much. Writing this out and getting validated with positive responses have really helped me, thank you. Please be aware you have made a difference in my life.
There are many cheaters and “professional complainers” among the guests making nice business from giveaways and compensations. I personally recall one amiable couple who, while being alone in the corridor, hid the “caution, wet floor” sign. Then, they went straight to the reception desk, man literally shouting at the poor receptionist that his wife had just accidentally slipped there and injured her back. They caused a small scandal: hotel manager was called in to calm them down, medical staff treated the “injured” woman, and safety officer scolded the poor cleaning lady responsible for the corridor. Nobody was able to find “caution wet floor” sign that ought to be there, so the guests seemed to be right and were offered a financial compensation + next cruise for free. However, what cheating guests didn’t know was that there are many security cameras on the ship, some of them smartly hidden… So when the couple was invited to the hotel manager’s office next day, they expected to settle the details of their compensation. Hotel manager kindly greeted them, asked them to make themselves comfortable and said something like: “Before we proceed with the compensation, let me show you one short movie.” The couple watched with awe the TV screen, showing them hiding the sign from the floor to the locker and then running to the reception. With this proof in hand, hotel manager offered them choosing between two ways of “compensations”: 1) Trial at court. 2) Putting them on passenger blacklist shared with ALL cruise ship companies, that denies them of taking any cruise till the rest of their lives. They chose no. 2) .
Yup, it was a famous named restaurant, I was the man who brought the inspection rating up from a 50 to a 98 percent,I also kept the lights on and the orders paid up to date, as well as didn’t have a huge turn over of employees. But some punk ass wanna be with out the education I had of running a business as well as the decades of experience had help in getting me bumped out of my job, little snot nosed shit sitting in my office telling me he’s my boss. 2 weeks into his employment he fires me. Okay fine I really don’t care, then this is the best part, he had no clue of how to do what I did, called me at home asking me for instructions. I gleefully told him there is no way that I’m going to teach you in a few minutes that took a life time to aquire in education and actually experience. You got what you wanted at my expense which was my job that you figured was up for grabs, I’m not going to help you, you’re on your own. 3 months later the business was shut down, and that was your Burger King at the Sunset Esplanade in Hillsboro Oregon that now the same building was remodeled into the chase bank. Thats karma at its best, screw me out of my life long career choice and not only did you lose me, but 45 other people lost out in the process.
I went away for the weekend, and my roommate was planning on having a big party, since he wouldn’t disturb me.
We had a huge backyard and they decided to have a competition for the coolest explosion, without gun powder. You know the mentos and diet coke, and the baking soda and vinegar, over filled balloons kind of thing. Stupid things like filling a balloon with diet coke and dropping in a pack of mentos in a paper tube.
The kitchen door led to the deck and back yard.
It all sounds harmless until you add copious amounts of alcohol.
I came home Sunday evening and found my roommate and a couple of friends scraping one end of the kitchen ceiling with an ice scraper. The culprits and ceiling were all different colors from the food coloring and other dyes that they had added to their experiments to make them more impressive. It appeared like tapioca or gummies stuck to the ceiling. They had matching paint already on half the ceiling. They had hoped to have it done, before I came home. But they had slept until 2:00 pm, before starting clean up.
No amount of begging would get them to tell me what happened. But I’m guessing that they prepared everything in the kitchen before taking it outside, and when alcohol is involved, I m guessing they weren’t careful.
So I came home to a bunch of hungover red and green people , with a 4 foot scraper, scraping one end of the red and green pebbled ceiling, while someone else was using a roller on a stick, roll paint along behind them.
I had to go running to the medical store for purchasing the medicines prescribed by the doc.
In the afternoon, the doc prescribed some medicines and I went to the store to buy them.
There was a lady who received the prescription. She immediately ran her eyes through it and started searching for the meds in the shelves.
The total bill was 569 inr.
I paid 600 inr. She returned 30 inr and a dabur honitus (worth 1 inr obviously).
I was a bit reluctant at first, still I asked:
Me:Um.. excuse me. Can I get 1 rupee instead of the toffee?(I asked it not only because I disliked that toffee, but also because I loved collecting coins.)
She:No. We don’t keep coins for change. Anyway, what difference does it make.. the toffee too costs 1 rupee.
Me:Are you sure you don’t keep coins?
She:(obviously being annoyed by me) Yes. We dont.
Me: Okay. Thanks.
I went back to the ward.
By the evening some more new meds were prescribed.
I went to the store again.
The lady was still there. She gave me a forceful smile. I smiled back.
This time the bill was 131 inr.
I handed 130 rupees and that one dabur honitus.
She glanced at me unappealingly.
Me: Sorry mam. I don’t have coins for change. Anyway what difference does it make.. the toffee too costs 1 rupee.
I thanked her and gave a brief smile as I headed back.Happy and satisfied.
The person asking the question seemed to want an answer like this:
In response to the request of the United States, the Netherlands suddenly revoked ASML’s sales license to China, and some lithography machines planned to be shipped to China were intercepted. The free world successfully prevented China from acquiring advanced semiconductor production technology, and the United States won again.
image 110
But sorry, that’s not the case.
On January 3, the Dutch government suddenly revoked the export licenses for two models of DUV lithography machines (NXT: 2050i and NXT: 2100i) approved in 2023. However, ASML announced that the DUV lithography machines purchased in advance by customers from mainland China had all been delivered before the license was revoked.
In other words, when the license was revoked, the planned lithography machine had already been shipped to China.
Let’s sort out the process of this incident, and you will find how interesting the game between the Dutch and Americans is.
Since the beginning of the trade war, the United States has asked ASML to ban the export of lithography machines to China, which can be used to produce advanced semiconductors. After a year of haggling, the Dutch government compromised. ASML is prohibited from exporting EUV lithography machines (used to manufacture semiconductors below 7nm, which are more advanced) to China, but they can still continue to sell DUV lithography machines (used to manufacture semiconductors above 7nm, which is slightly behind).
The Chinese felt threatened, so they added a large number of orders for DUV lithography machines. In the past three years, most of ASML’s DUV lithography machines have been sold to the Chinese.
China’s semiconductor industry has been accelerating its development, making Americans quite nervous.
In 2022, the United States requires the Netherlands to increase restrictions again, prohibiting ASML from selling DUV lithography machines, and completely cutting off the source of equipment for the Chinese.
In June 2023, the Netherlands issued a new ban but announced that existing licenses remained valid and ASML could continue to deliver.
In December 2023, the Netherlands announced that existing licenses will be invalidated immediately
In January 2024, ASML announced that all Chinese orders had been delivered.
Found the problem?
US government: Netherlands must obey
Dutch Government: OK
—-
June, Dutch government: ASML, what to do?
ASML: You announce it first and then give me some time
July, Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?
ASML: One more moment
In August, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?
ASML: One more moment
In September, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?
ASML: soon
In October, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?
ASML: Just a little bit
In November, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?
ASML: Almost done
In December, the Dutch government: ASML, is it okay?
ASML: OK, all delivered
Dutch Government: In order to maintain world peace and assist our great allies, we announce the immediate cancellation of sales licenses to China. immediately! immediately!
The Netherlands cannot fight against the United States, but this does not prevent the Dutch from trying their best to safeguard their interests. After all, that is tens of billions of dollars in profits, and they have sold all the equipment they can sell to the Chinese in the past two years.
image 12
ASML CEO (Peter Wennink) told reporters, “There is no hope of completely isolating China. If we don’t share technology, they will study it themselves.” “China has 1.4 billion people, and many of them are very smart. They will Come up with solutions that we haven’t thought of yet. You’re forcing them to be very innovative.”
The Chinese cannot control the madness of the United States. Their approach is to purchase as much technology and equipment as possible to buy time for the equipment they develop.
Once the Chinese get this done, the industry will be disrupted.
Here are 8 things you have to consider when choosing life partner:
1.Ability to cope with your family
Your family will always be a key support system in your life. They can tell if your prospective life partner is suitable or unsuitable for you. If he or she cannot cope with your family members, you might be choosing a wrong partner.
2. Find someone who makes you laugh.
A sense of humor can help you overcome many of life’s obstacles. If someone can make you smile when you don’t feel like it, that’s a great quality.
3. Choose someone who respects you
When choosing a life partner be sure to select someone who will respect all aspects of your life. Mutual respect is one of the defining traits to look for in a life partner.
4. Find someone who have shared values
Having shared values reinforces the foundation of your relationship. Simple things such as consensus on the number of children you want or living within your means create a conducive environment for your relationship to thrive.
5. Choose an honest life partner
If a relationship is not enshrined in a culture of honesty and trust, it will definitely fail. Choosing a life partner who does not refrain from open and genuine communication is important.
6. Throw out the Idea of Perfect
Don’t make a checklist — mental or otherwise — of traits your future partner must have. You can’t conjure up your perfect mate and go buy said robot at Target. If you must make a list, make a list of deal-breakers: no smokers, no drug addictions, no one with a violent felony conviction. Those are healthy boundaries to set.
7. Know how they handle anger
You’ll need to observe this one rather than asking about it. Watch how they behave when they don’t get their own way, are disappointed, or feel angry. How people act with others under these circumstances says a lot about how they will one day act with you.
8. Find someone who have the same financial and social standards
It is not always important to have the same status, but having a similar financial and social standard helps in thriving together. If one person is very poor and the other is very rich then there is a possibility of being called a gold digger. But there is no exact rule book but do check if your potential partner has the zeal to make it later in life.
I had a friend call me in the middle of the night, asked me to get my gun, and go over to his house. When your best friend asks you this, you don’t hesitate. Eventually the story came out – his wife was the manager of a jewelry store. Some men followed her home after she closed (crossing county lines), then at gunpoint (turns out it was a BB gun), forced her to drive back to the store, open it up, and unlock everything so they could clear it out. Of course, when she opened the store after hours, the security team watched on camera and called the local PD. When the perps left, the police were waiting for them. They took her car, and theirs and ran from the cops. After crashing and rolling both cars, they were arrested.
the morons got the idea from a movie. If they had just walked in during daylight and stole/robbed the place, they would have gotten 5 years. Instead, they committed multiple FEDERAL felonies (kidnapping etc), and all of them were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in federal prison.
edit: the reason for asking me to come over with my gun:
He didn’t know if they were going to come back there. At that point the chase was still going on.
As a follow up – he gave my description to the local police, and let them know I’d be at his house. They showed up about an hour after I arrived, and I answered the door. I was slightly nervous because being 6’4 and nearly 400lbs I’m not a small dude, and had a 45 in a holster on my waist. I went to turn the porch light on, only to discover the porch light was burned out. I was very careful to let them know who I was and immediately informed them that I was armed – being sure to keep my hands nowhere near my firearm. When they asked for ID, I let them know I was removing it from my right rear pocket and moved with very clear movements, allowing them to see that I was reaching for my wallet and not my firearm. After they verified I was who I claimed to be, they made a comment like “yeah, I’d be armed too”. I love living in a rural community! 🙂
When I was in high school in 1965 I was reading a book about lesbians called The Grape Vine. My Mom asked me what I was reading. I said “a book about lesbians”. My Mom said “that’s nice, you love the theater”. I said “ no, those are Thespians. This is about lesbians, women who love women, not men”
My Mom insisted there was no such thing as a lesbian adding that the proof was that there was nothing two women “ could do together”. After my mother became hysterical, I went to my room.
Later that night my father paid me a visit. I was a little worried as my mother was his princess. He said “Laura, your mother is 45. She has made it to 45 without knowing what a lesbian is. Unless you are a lesbian, feel free to NOT educate her further”
I think when my Mom was about 80 she told me there were actually lesbians.
PS. Oh my. My mother would die a second time if she knew over 2k people liked this story. My Mom was so embarrassed that I got divorced she told everyone that my first husband was hurt in the Viet Nam war and that was why he shrunk 5 inches, grew blond hair and green eyes ( husband number two).
Nicaragua BETRAY Ally U.S in South America, Choose China
Around 10 or 12 years ago, I was on a trip and stopped at a rest area to stretch my legs and use the bathroom. As I walked back out to where my car was parked, I noticed a college age kid standing in front of his car with the hood up. I wandered over and asked him if he was having car trouble.
He replied yes and that his car wouldn’t start. He still had all his lights and so forth so I knew his battery seemed okay, but the engine wouldn’t turn over.
The car was an Acura, if I recall correctly, and the starter was located on the top of the engine, rather than down underneath the car. On the starter was a warning sticker that said not to hit the starter with a hammer.
Another gentleman wandered by and asked if he could help. I asked him if he had a hammer in his car. He thought I was joking, but I let him know that I was serious. He said that he did and left to go get it with a puzzled look on his face.
When he returned with the hammer, I took it and gave the starter a solid whack, right on the warning sticker that said not to hit it with a hammer.
I then told the college kid to try starting the car. It fired right up.
I handed the hammer back to the gentleman who had loaned it to me. Both he and the kid seemed amazed.
I asked the kid how far he had to drive to get to his destination. He said just another 2 hours or so until he got home.
I told him to drive straight home without shutting the car off because I couldn’t guarantee that the starter would ever work again. And then once he got home, he needed a new starter.
He thanked me and offered me $20, but I just sent him on his way.
Hungarian Potato and Egg Casserole (Rakott Krumpli)
rakott krumpli pulykakolbasszal
Ingredients
6 medium potatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup dairy sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 hardboiled eggs, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
Paprika
Instructions
Heat 1 inch salted water to boiling. Add potatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and cook until tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Drain; cool slightly.
Cook onion in oil until tender. Mix onion, oil, sour cream, salt and pepper.
Peel potatoes; cut into 1/4-inch slices. Gently mix potatoes and sour cream mixture.
Arrange half the potatoes in greased 10 x 6-inch baking dish or 1 1/2-quart casserole. Arrange eggs on top; add remaining potatoes. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and paprika.
Bake uncovered at 325 degrees F until light brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
I yelled, loudly, not at the patient but at her aunt.
So I was working in the ER. A little kid of around 10 or 11 came late one evening. She had a massive blow on her skull and was getting seizures. It was all bloody but surprisingly she was conscious.
Her aunt was very caring and hovering over us. She told me the girl fell from a bike. I pacified her and told her to wait outside while I provided primary care to the child before transferring her to a higher care centre.
When the aunt was outside I asked the girl what happened. Her aunt had hit her in the head with a hammer. That vile lady had hit her 10-year-old niece in the head with a hammer. I was horrified, enraged. I was mad.
I stabilized her, came out and called the aunt inside. As soon as I saw her I just lost it. I yelled at her at the top of my lungs. I don’t even remember all that I said but it lasted long enough for the ward boys and nurses and the ambulance driver to gather. It also lasted enough for the aunt to break down and confess.
I called the girl’s parents and they called the police and registered the complaint.
My behaviour was unprofessional, but I have never regretted it. I don’t usually lose my cool, but I am glad I did that day.
Seen a number of these over the years. First one that comes to mind is this one. Sitting in a bar in Neenah WI, conversing with a gentleman, probably about 40 something, less than 5′10″, probably about 150 lbs. Well spoken, polite, decently dressed. A larger (12–13) groups of people all came in at once, bikers by their dress and the beautiful sound of the harleys they pulled up on. Now please understand, the greater majority of bikers I’ve known over the years were great people, polite, non confrontational, and all around nice. These folks were not. Loud, already half tanked, and generally pushy. Once they had settled, one of them walked by, catching his elbow on my conversation partner and spilling both of their drinks. Confrontation ensued. Biker: you “effing spilled my drink!”
CP: sorry about that, let me get you another
bartender: no worries, I’ve got both of you
biker: you’re damn right you’re sorry! and proceeded to grab CP’s shoulder. CP spun as he stood up, spear handed the biker in the solar plexus, and then Kicked him in the face! Biker was about 6′2″-3″, and now unconscious and bleeding on the floor. Everyone else stopped cold and looked at CP, shrugged, and went back to their conversations. Bouncer dragged biker out to the curb where the police and an ambulance took him away. Broken jaw, shattered septum, severe concussion. CP was the owner of a local martial arts school and had been training since he was a child. Oops.
JEFFREY SACHS FULL INTERVIEW ABOUT BAD SITUATION IN EUROPE AND U.S, U.N SITUATION, GAZA, AND MORE
I have said this many times before. But I want to underline some things today.
When I was a senior in High School, I proudly wore a choker collar, puffy sleeved polyester printed shirts with a wide collar, and elephant bell-bottom jeans. Oh, and I also wore earth shoes, and rock-star boots. I was so fashionable!
That was me in purple
I also drove a orange “goat” GTO.
d64e71566d097b96b830a8d8f0ea97e5
And that was my life then.
Today, I am really different, as is my life.
Life changes. You will change.
ADVICE…
Embrace your moments. Savor your experiences. Remember that they will wane over time. So please treasure them.
When I was a teenager I was bullied by a local group of kids, all of them a few years older than me. Two of them were particularly vile. I am changing the names. One was Patrick and the other was Gavin. Patrick was a horrible weasel who basically incited the others to beat the crap out of me, and rarely got his own hands dirty. Gavin was a sociopath who rarely showed any emotion whatsoever. One particular time me and friends were playing near a train track (as kids did in the 90s), and I heard Patrick’s voice saying “Hey Gavin there he is he wants to fight you.” Sure enough along walks Gavin and grabs me and says “I hear you want to fight me….” I assured him this wasn’t the case, but he proceeded to knock the shit out of me. And I don’t just mean a few punches in the ribs. He pummelled my face multiple times. I am pretty sure I had concussion. Anyway, halfway through the beating I hear the unmistakeable sound of a train coming. Gavin hears it too. “Come on, we’re both going to die.” and he begins dragging me onto the tracks. And he was correct, in that we both would have been killed. He clearly didn’t care. The only thing that saved me was that I was able to grab hold of a length of builder’s wire that was half buried in the ground, and must have been attached to a lump of buried concrete because miraculously it held firm. Gavin was straining with every ounce of his strength to drag me and him into the path of the train. I vividly remember the train zooming past and I looked at Gavin, his teeth bared in anger as he tried to dislodge me. I remember giggling because Gavin was closer to the train than me. If my t shirt had torn, or if the wire had come loose, then Gavin would surely have fallen under the train first. Gavin eventually tired of beating me after the train was gone and I stumbled home, sore, ashamed and shaken. My face was so badly battered that when I told my father that I had fallen off some scaffolding while playing at a building site, he believed me. Both my eyes were so badly bloodshot that my eyeball went red. I had black eyes and bruises all across my face and neck and ribs. The bullying wasn’t a once off, but that was one of the worst instances of it for me.
Polish Cinnamon Cake
Polish Cinnamon Cake
Ingredients
12 tablespoons butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3 teaspoons cinnamon
A grating of fresh nutmeg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Beat the butter until it is soft and fluffy. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar and the egg and continue beating. Add 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, the nutmeg and flour, and beat until well mixed.
Spread about 1/3 of the batter on an ungreased baking sheet, forming a rectangle about 10 x 12 inches and bake in a preheated 400 degrees F oven for 8 minutes, until lightly browned.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Repeat two more times with the remaining batter.
Whip the cream until stiff, and fold in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon and the vanilla extract. Spread a thin layer of whipped cream on one of the cakes, top with another cake, and repeat.
Spread remaining whipped cream on the top and serve immediately.
We lived in Base Housing, kids all over the place, filling the sandbox, fighting, arguing, being nice, being nasty. My four-year-old was a little redhead like his mommy and, like his mommy, often in trouble. Or, if not in trouble, causing it.
One day, another mommy, who was often irate because someone had wronged her little golden-curled darling who had the demeanor of an angel and the personality of a wasp, came to me with her howling little guy. His tears looked genuine. So did her anger.
“Your child needs to be controlled,” she said, “he bit Tony. Look!” She dragged Tony’s plump little arm out to show me four perfect tooth marks.
I said, “Are you sure it was Brian?”
She snarled, “Of course I’m sure. I saw him do it. He sank his teeth right into Tony’s arm.”
I said, “Bri, did you bite Tony?” He shook his head.
Mama Bear, filled with righteous fury, shrieked that he was a liar and my husband would be hearing from the CO if we didn’t teach our child civilized manners.
I just said, “Brian, smile at the lady.” Because he was an obliging child who genuinely liked people, he willing smiled at the lady—with his three front teeth, two on the bottom, one on the top, gleaming in the sunshine. His left top incisor had been knocked out when he was acting the fool in the bathtub about six months before. She didn’t even apologize to him, just stomped off, dragging poor, injured little Tony behind her like a pull toy.
Well, you shouldn’t be. At least not yet. Let me tell you the whole truth first. Because once I do that, you aren’t going to be just shocked. You would be horrified, outraged, possibly traumatized for life.
I’ve been working in the tech world for quite a while now, and the wealth of “insider secrets” that I’ve accumulated along the way would be sufficient to fill a book in itself. But nothing comes close to this one single revelation, that I can positively say, has destroyed my faith in humanity. Once you finish this answer, you are not going to be the same person anymore, that much I can promise.
Let me ask you a very simple question –
How do you think the login process works?
Let’s say you want to open your Facebook.
You go to the login page.
You enter your username.
You then enter your password, which appears in all asterisks to prevent any unwanted ‘shoulder-surfing’. That’s crude. But effective too. And necessary. You see, the First Law of Passwords (okay, I just made up that phrase) states that there should be only one entity in the entire universe that should have access to your password – your brain. If a second copy of your password exists somewhere – say, on a piece of paper where you casually wrote it down thinking it’ll help you remember later, or in the password box where you just entered it, or engraved on a rock on planet Jupiter; somebody might be able to access it (theoretically speaking) and your security would be completely compromised. So, only one copy. Ever. Remember that.
Now, you press the Submit button.
But Abhimanyu, wait a minute! After I just pressed the Submit button, I got logged in. This means that some system on the other side must have verified that what I entered was indeed my password. But then, this system must have access to my correct password too! Otherwise, what will it compare my input with? Facebook must keep a second copy of my password somewhere!!!
The host website needs a copy of the password!
You are right. That’s a problem indeed. You might think that this is kind of okay since this second copy would exist with Facebook, which is the website that hosts your account in the first place. They would keep it safe, wouldn’t they?
But think about it.
Facebook, as an organization, is made up of humans just like you and me. What if some employee at Facebook has access to this code and could see your password? What if this was your bank account instead. What if Facebook was hacked and the hacker could see this code that has your password in it. Imagine the havoc this person might cause.
So a second copy is never okay, even if it exists on the parent website itself!
But then how would the website log you in? If it does not know your correct password, what will it compare your input to? How will it verify that you’re you?
That’s precisely the problem our engineering godfathers faced when they set out to design the entire system of passwords. And these guys were smart! They come up with an ingenious idea that would beautifully solve the problem.
The idea of Hash Functions.
The concept is extremely simple. A hash function is just a mathematical function. You input any word into it and it generates an output that looks like complete garbage.
But the devil, as they say, lies in the details –
The same word would always give rise to the same garbage.
Two different words would (almost) always lead to two completely different garbages.
There’s no way to look at the garbage and tell what the original word was. And just to be clear, this is not for the lack of trying. No. This is a fundamental mathematically restriction on the nature of hash functions. They are not invertible. They work one-way only. There’s no way to reverse engineer the garbage and get a peek at the word that produced it. Not even when you know the exact hash function.
Fun fact – This garbage is called the ‘hash’ of the input word.
Here’s how Hashes are used in login systems –
When you first create your account, you choose a password. This password is never stored by the website as it is. Rather, the website first hashes your password and then stores this hash in its database.
Now, when you try to log in the next time, the input you enter in your password box is first hashed, and then sent to the website. If your entered password is the correct one, this incoming hash would be the same as the hash the website had earlier stored in its database. That’s because the same word always gives the same hash (Rule 1 above). On the other hand, if you entered something different, the incoming hash would be different from the one that the website has got stored in its database next to your name (Rule 2 above).
The website compares the two, and if they match, bingo! You are logged in.
Now even if someone hacked into Facebook and copied the entire database, all they would see are these garbage hashes stored next to the usernames. They wouldn’t be able to deduce the original password from these hashes (Rule 3 above).
What if they tried to copy your hash from the database, open Facebook login page in their browser, and then enter the copied hash in the password field as it is (along with your username in the username field)?
Since Facebook’s login flow always hashes the incoming input, it would hash this hash too, and that would produce something completely different. On matching that with what is stored in the database, a big fat fuck-you would be returned.
So even when the hacker has got the entire user table, he still can’t do any damage!
Beautiful concept, isn’t it?
Except that it’s a complete pain in the ass for companies to implement and manage.
For starters, you have to integrate the hashing mechanism in your login flow which leads to considerable overhead. Actually, with modern libraries and frameworks, this part is no longer that big of a deal. The real pain lies in providing technical support to the customers.
Let’s say you are Flipkart.
A customer calls in to complain that he is unable to add a certain item to his cart.
The customer’s issue is escalated to the development team, where you, the poor developer, just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and lo and behold! The issue gets assigned to you.
All you know is that there’s a certain customer with this particular customer id and he’s unable to add an item to his cart.
That’s it.
That’s all you know.
Remember, the user can see the issue happening on his device in real time, but you can’t. You don’t have access to his account.
So, you send a request to the server team to access the error logs from the server, all the while praying to God that you find something useful in those logs – something that will nudge you in the right direction. But you have to be extremely lucky to find something helpful. More often than not, the issue would turn out to be a ghost issue that occurred because the user was doing something stupid, and you would spend an entire night on a wild goose-chase.
If you do manage to learn something helpful from the logs, you would then have to create a test account and try to replicate the issue there, which is just the beginning of the long and tedious process we call bug-hunting.
Either way, it’s going to be a long night.
But what if, let’s say, you did have access to user’s password? (Imagine a red devil sitting on your shoulder whispering this entire paragraph in your ear). You could simply log into his account and check if it’s a ghost issue. You’d be done in like five minutes. Even if it turns out to be a legitimate issue, you can trigger it again from the user’s account itself, and get a much quicker lead on the location of the bug!
The convenience is just too much to ignore!
You begin to get lusty.
Your mouth begins to drool.
And you give in.
Most of the companies in the IT industry that are customer-facing, store your passwords in their database in clear text. Without hashing!
Most of the clients that I’ve worked with as a penetration-tester, most of the companies I’ve done projects for, most of the websites I’ve hacked – all were storing passwords in stark naked clear-text. Plain as the day. Sitting right there for any employee or hacker to see.
I have seen database tables – with rows upon rows of clear text passwords – hundreds of thousands of them – all visible to the naked eye – ripe, juicy, ready to be exploited – their owners completely unaware, utterly naive, sleeping peacefully in their beds without a care in the world.
Now in all fairness, I must admit here that I’m sure none of the top-tier websites are doing this stupidity. Google isn’t doing it. Facebook isn’t doing it. Flipkart isn’t doing it. Your bank, definitely not.
But tier-two and three websites? They are. Startups? You bet your ass they are.
But that’s not all –
Most people, in an act of supreme foolishness, set the same password for all their accounts.
Because let’s face it, they’re the same. Aren’t they?
All I have to do is hack this le random website, which is going to be a piece of cake. Sites like these are not big on security. As soon as I get into their database, I’ll have access to thousands of email id and password pairs, most of which will work verbatim on Gmail.
If you’re extremely unlucky, they’ll work on Paytm too.
And if with some cruel and twisted idea of fun in mind, your fate decided to truly fuck you over, they would work on your Bank’s website too !
Not me but my father in law. In 1957 he got out of the Army and first thing he did was buy a new Plymouth Fury. Not being a car guy he just picked the first one on the lot and drove it home. He had moved back in with his parents and his dad still had a curfue for him. One night he was going to be late so he opened it up to get home faster. He soon saw flashing lights in his rear view mirror but soon lost them and made it home in time. A few minutes after he got home a police car pulled up in the yard. Small town and the cop had recognized his car. Instead of getting arrested the cop told him to be at the start of Nine Mile Road at 9:00 the next night. This road had a long straight part through a swamp with no side roads. So he shows up and county police have set up a drag race. They had stopped traffic at both ends of the straight and the cop with the fastest cruiser lined up beside him. They had new Plymouth Furys with the police engine option. They take off and are neck and neck until the police car tops out and my father in law’s car keeps pulling away. He was fully stopped and out of his car at the other end before the cop car got there.
The cop comes up and ask him what modifications he has made to the car. He tells them he hasn’t even opened the hood since he bought it. They then open the hood and instead of the standard 301 Plymouth engine it had a 392 Chrysler Hemi.
One day my Mom asked me where to go to replace a broken window on her car. When I asked what happened to the window, she said someone threw a brick through it. She was driving through an area with a lot of gangs and saw 2 guys chasing 1 guy. She didn’t like the odds, so pulled her car onto the sidewalk between the guy being chased and the guys doing the chasing. That gave the guy being chased enough of a lead that he got away. The guys who were chasing him weren’t happy about being stopped. They threw anything they could grab at Mom’s car, and a brick went through a window as she drove off. And that’s how Mom got a broken window on her car.
My Dad was also a badass, but in different ways. He was a veteran, but never told us about his military service until he was dying of cancer. He couldn’t see or hear anymore, but he could talk. He told us “funny stories” that were just plain crazy.
Elleigh was a mouthy Little darling from ages 4-10. She just said anything that came to her mind, and sometimes, those things were hilarious. Elleigh once said:
“What’s up boys, take me out to dinner.”
I’m “unstopaddle.”
“You’re old!”
“Daddy looks like Mr. Clean.”
“Me: What’s your dad’s name? (Elleigh: Tyrell)”
*Doing her hair* “Oh, but I’ll look like a jerry.”
“Why was I in your tummy and Leo was in your gyna?” (She was delivered by a c-section, Leo was natural).
“Thong Thong Thong up your heiny.”
“I just had to itch my butt.”
“Ok boss!”
Me: Alright, let’s call… (Elleigh: Punk!)”
“Mommy, you don’t run, you gallop.”
“You did not do sports today because I was with you all day. Ooo, it’s just a joke.”
“I’m constipation” (we were doing affirmations).
“Stop annoying me. Excuse me, you’re not supposed to be talking to me, you’re a stranger.”
Me: You’re going to school. (Elleigh: Yeah, why?) Me: Because that’s what you do every morning. (Elleigh: Are you going to the gym every morning?”
“This dang deer.”
“This is not her real hair, her just put extensions in it. long extensions.”
Me: What’s your favorite kind of food? (Elleigh: Fruit). Me: What kind of fruit? (Elleigh: Fruit loops).
When she was really little, she would call a computer a “cubidiger.”
She would say “feel good” as “fuck you” (really threw people off sometimes).
I don’t know why I have so many footages of her saying these kinds of things.
I had been there three years. Since I disliked the job and had strange vibes for the last 3 months, when I was told I shrugged and said “If that’s the way you feel.” They wanted me to sign a release. I was 61–1/2, Social Security at reduced benefits wouldn’t start until I was 63. I said I wanted my attorney to look at it before I signed, picked up the paper and walked to my office where I packed up my stuff. I kept nothing personal there except safety shoes for walking on the manufacturing floor (I got laughed at a lot because nobody wore safety shoes even though they’re required at most manufacturing facilities), my prescription safety glasses , a sweater, my favorite (and personally purchased) mechanical pencils and left.
My attorney said to sign the release after he crossed out two clauses noting the employment statues they were violating, and faxed it to them. I got a nice settlement and was able to collect unemployment for the 18 months until my 63rd birthday. This was in 2008/2009 when we had up to 100 weeks of unemployment due to recession.
Before anybody calls me a piker for collecting all that UI, I was offered two positions during that time. Each would have required a 100 mile round trip commute daily and only paid about 75% of what I had been making. The Unemployment Service said I was not under an obligation to accept either.
I used to own a small tavern. We had a guy who started hanging out there quite regularly. Nice guy, played darts with the other regulars, bought rounds in order , but didn’t talk much about himself or his past. But it’s a bar, so no one cares. We’ll call him Danny.
He was in early one night around 7pm. My staff is all away on lunch, partner wouldn’t be back til 10pm. I’m all alone. Usually not a big deal. This night, a couple of college jocks got way out of hand and started tearing the place up – breaking cue sticks and tossing around empty kegs. It’s just Danny, me and the college boys. I’m trying to de-escalate and get them to leave. Then, one of the big guys starts pushing me and throwing punches. I’m screwed. That is, until Danny steps in and beats the shit out of two guys much bigger than himself. I was completely shocked! We toss the guys out and he tells me not to call the police. He leaves shortly afterwards.
Next time I see Danny, I want to pick up his tab and chat. He asks me not to tell anyone or talk about it. I figure he’s ex-military and a private guy. He becomes pretty scarce. We’re looking for him, but he doesn’t come around anymore.
About a year later, we see his pic in the paper. He’s on trial for a pair of mob related murders. Turns out he might be responsible for more than a couple of these. I’m very glad he liked me.
There was a time while I was in college that I could only afford to spend about $3 per day on food. Needless to say it wasn’t an easy time.
One day, I spent part of my daily ration on a granola bar. As I walked out of the grocery store, a homeless woman asked me if I had any spare change. I told her I didn’t have any money to spare so instead split my granola bar with her and sat down to have a chat. She continued to ask people for change as we talked. After observing the responses, I asked her: “Would you rather people ignore your question, or say ‘no’ as meanly and rudely as they possibly could?”
She responded without hesitation: “I’d rather have the mean ‘no.’ At least they’re treating me like I’m a person, more than a piece of trash lying on the street.”
I’ll never forget that. I wouldn’t have been able to rationalize it myself, but it makes perfect sense. Her name was Anne.
When I was a much younger airline copilot, I flew with this Syrian captain. He was a Muslim and had flown F-4s for the U.S. Navy. He was a nice guy but kind of kept to himself mostly. I would always ask about the religion and how it was living in Syria and he gradually warmed up to me.
image 35
One day I was complaining about a relationship with a woman and he turned to me and said:
“Randy, I am going to give you two words that will ensure that you will have a long and prosperous marriage. It will end your problems in this relationship and any in the future. It is very old Islamic advice that has stood for centuries, long before the great advances in mathematics. It is among the oldest of all Middle Eastern knowledge”
“If you follow these two words. You will increase your happiness by a factor of 1000. Your wife will adore you and you will live in peace and harmony until you finally die and she mourns your death forever.”
“These two words? Obey and Relax”
“Randy, simply follow these two words in all of your interactions. Obey her demands and then simply relax. The West has not yet discovered this fundamental truth. If you just obey and relax, you will always be happy.”
Edit 1:
This guy was funny.
One day we were talking about his home life and he said: “Randy, Allah came to me before I was born and he told me I was a very bad man. He said I must be punished so he gave me a choice. I could live for ten-thousand years in hell or I could marry this woman. Like a fool, I marry woman!
I guess he didn’t follow his own advice. I heard he finally divorced. Even with this outcome, I still try to follow his advice and it works pretty well.
My wife and I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to a small town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas three years ago. For anyone wondering, our new town is Grass Valley, pop. 13,000.
Coming from the dining heaven that is the San Francisco area, we set out to find some special occasion restaurants nearby. We were not disappointed.
Our favorite go-to fancy place is called Lola’s, in neighboring Nevada City. It’s comparatively pricy—$250 is the typical check, including tip, for the two of us. It’s located in the Gold Rush-era National Hotel.
We went recently for an anniversary. It was a Wednesday evening and the restaurant was not particularly busy, although there was some kind of event beginning to happen in the attached lounge.
We waited for an unusually long time, but we had no place to be, and we enjoy each other’s company. The server finally came to our table, apologizing, and took our drink order. After about ten minutes, she came by and told us our drinks would be out any minute.
We got our appetizers and waited a long time again for the entrees. The server apologized again and said our drinks would be on the house. We had not complained or looked dissatisfied, but it was a nice gesture on the restaurant’s part. We ordered a second round of cocktails.
The activity in the lounge explained the delays: they had a combination burlesque show and lottery going on. Everyone was having a boisterous good time. Evidently, they swamped the bar and the kitchen.
When our entrees arrived after another unusually long wait, the server apologized again and told us our entire meal and drinks were being comped because of the slow service. We were flabbergasted but happy to have a $200 meal comped. This was all the restaurant’s initiative; we did not complain or even look dissatisfied.
We ordered desserts, one of the many things this restaurant does extremely well. The total bill came to $26.00 for the desserts. The total bill would have been $250.
We tipped 20% of the whole amount. Our server was attentive and even embarrassed at the long delay. We would have been perfectly happy even if we’d paid the whole bill.
That’s the first time I’ve ever had an entire satisfactory meal comped. But it was a good illustration of this restaurant’s commitment to excellence in food quality and service.
Here are 12 tricks I learned from the book ‘12 rules for life an antidote to chaos’, written by psychologist Jodan B Peterson. These life rules really help me a lot:
1: Stand Up Straight With Your Shoulders Back
If you present yourself as defeated, then people will react to you as if you are losing. If you start to straighten up, then people will look at and treat you differently.
So, attend carefully to your posture. Quit drooping and hunching around. Speak your mind. Put your desires forward, as if you had a right to them — at least the same right as others. Walk tall and gaze forthrightly ahead. Dare to be dangerous. Encourage the serotonin to flow plentifully through the neural pathways desperate for its calming influence.
2: Treat Yourself Like Someone You Are Responsible for Helping
We deserve some respect. You deserve some respect. You are important to other people, as much as to yourself. You have some vital role to play in the unfolding destiny of the world. You are, therefore, morally obliged to take care of yourself. You should take care of, help and be good to yourself the same way you would take care of, help and be good to someone you loved and valued.
3: Make Friends with People Who Want the Best For You
This is similar to the idea that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Don’t think that it is easier to surround yourself with good healthy people than with bad unhealthy people. It’s not. A good, healthy person is an ideal. It requires strength and daring to stand up near such a person. Have some humility. Have some courage. Use your judgment, and protect yourself from too-uncritical compassion and pity.
4: Compare Yourself to Who You Were Yesterday, Not Who Someone Else is Today
We only see what we aim at. The rest of the world (and that’s most of it) is hidden. If we start aiming at something different — something like I want my life to be better” — our minds will start presenting us with new information, derived from the previously hidden world, to aid us in that pursuit.
Then we can put that information to use and move, and act, and observe, and improve. And, after doing so, after improving, we might pursue something different, or higher — something like, I want whatever might be better than just my life being better.” And then we enter a more elevated and more complete reality.
“What could I do, that I would do, to make Life a little better?”
The content is too long, so I put the rest rules here
JEFFREY SACHS HONEST INTERVIEW ABOUT NATO ARROGANCE ON RUSSIA, SUPERPOWER WAR IN UKRAINE, CHINA RISE
I was selling cars and my friends mother said I should have a job that pays a salary and commission and not just straight commission. She suggested a software company and the one she worked at had a position available. I had no background in software or computers at all but I sent in a CV and called the Sales Manager and left a message. Then I would keep calling all day seeing if he would pick up the phone. Around 12 additional times.
On the 3rd he picked up and said NOBODY has ever called him so much in his entire life. I asked if he looked at my CV and he said yes, but there was no experience in computers and software. He even asked some basic questions which I failed miserably.
He finally said that I was obviously persistent and if I read some books about computing I could probably get a job in this industry. I asked which books and he suggested two. I told him I would read both, memorize them and call him back in 2 weeks where he could quiz me about anything. He was incredulous and said ya sure.
Well I bought those books that day and in 2 weeks had them memorized, with yellow highlighter throughout both of them. I could tell you what chapter something was in and the next point the author made. That’s how well I learned them.
2 weeks to the day I called and he picked up on the first 2 rings. I was very nervous and told him I had those books down cold and he could quiz me about anything.
He said to come in on Monday at 9 am. I said how long would the quiz take and he said, “There isn’t a quiz. You start your new job on Monday at 9 am”
I am happy to say I stayed in the computer software industry for 20 years.
I was on a plane once, flying across the US. The guy next to me (in the middle seat) just kept talking nonstop. Eventually the person in the window seat said something back to him. This set the guy off, he told him everything he knew about Australia, what a great country it was, how much he liked Australians. Then he asked what part of Australia the guy was from. He replied that he was from Wales.
Middle seat guy said he loved New South Wales. The Sydney opera house was his favorite piece of architecture in the world.
Window seat guy, replies, No, I am Welsh, from the British Isles.
Middle seat guy, just wouldn’t let it go. He wanted to know why someone from the UK spoke with an Australian accent. Eventually window seat guy lost his patience, and pointedly pulled out a book and started to read.
So, I would say you don’t ask someone from Wales, why they speak with an Australian accent.
I was recently divorced and working for a company that had just opened a branch in Germany. My boss told me four interns were coming from Germany. “You’re a supervisor,” he said. “This is a very big deal, so make sure they are comfortable and happy here.”
But there was a problem. We had three shifts, and I was on the second shift—by which time my boss was long gone for the day, so he couldn’t introduce me in person. When I got to work I found only a list of four first names and the desks they were sitting at. And then when I got to that part of the office, there were only three guys.
I went over and talked to them for a bit, tried to make them feel welcome, made sure they had everything they needed. I was hoping one of them would mention the fourth fellow, but nobody did. I figured he’d be sitting somewhere else, so I excused myself and went to look around.
Then I heard a guy speaking German. Bingo, I thought. I sneaked a look at the name on his desk: Arnold, same first name as the missing fourth fellow, and a German last name. This was him! He turned out to be much nicer than the other three and we had quite a good talk. His English was excellent.
In the following weeks I saw Arnold often and talked to him for a little while each time. The other three were polite, but distant. So when a fax came in written in German, I knew which one to take it to for translation.
When I handed him the fax, he looked at it for a long time. “I’m sorry,” he said. “My German isn’t really good enough to read this.”
And so it turned out that this Arnold wasn’t the fourth German at all—that particular Arnold, the intern my boss was so concerned about, had been out getting a sandwich the afternoon I came to meet them. Then he’d gone home to Germany a week or two later for some unrelated reason.
The Arnold I’d made friends with was an American with a German father—who had taught him just enough to get by in conversation. They’d spent plenty of time in Germany—so when I’d asked him questions about what it was like there, he knew all the answers. And living with his dad had given Arnold just a trace of German accent in his English.
That was 20 years ago. Arnold and I are still having good talks daily—in spite of being married.
In the Army I served, simply asking that question would disqualify you from service.
They don’t want gun nuts. They want you to have the weapon issued, nothing else; unauthorised weapons on military grounds is a lengthy prison sentence, if you survive. The guards are armed, you know, and authorised to fire when they identify a threat. An unauthorised firearm is a threat.
They want you to fire your weapon when ordered to do so, and only when ordered to do so. Unless given that order, you don’t even have access to your weapon.
A pen knife, possibly. Extra supplies – food, yes. Nothing else. Protective gear – buster, you dress in the uniform issued, nothing else is allowed to be visible (so you’re allowed your own underwear). Ammunition – see above re. “identify a threat”.
The military take weapons seriously. It’s dangerous stuff, and they don’t want them fired except under strictly controlled circumstances.
And during my year in the Army, I did, in fact, not even once see an armed officer. Unless you count the Captain’s ceremonial sabre, which he dismissed, along with his entire parade uniform, as a “bloody spectacle”.
I have a friend that makes $200,000,000 annually. He lives in a $3,000,000 house that he probably paid $1,200,000 for. He drives a five year old Toyota. (He owns and runs a fund…was voted the best in the world at his profession not too long ago)
I have a friend that lives in a $4,000,000 condo downtown. He flies in his $17,000,000 jet and drives a $2,000 old pickup truck to his $60,000,000 ranch. (He sold his business to a bank/insurance company for huge money and has grown his wealth rapidly since the sale)
I know of another extremely wealthy family that when we took our kids to get treats after an event, their kids would ask for toppings on their ice cream. The mom kindly told her children, “no, we don’t spurge like that”. I thought, “what?” You own the entire mall that we are eating ice cream in. (He owns malls and resorts globally)
I don’t know of any that live like they are poor, they just live well within their means. They have different financial priorities than many people.
I hope you like really hot, spicy food. Pack up some tasty leftover meat, veggies and rice or potatoes in a take- out tub – then add a full quarter cup of Tabasco, Psycho Bitch or Dave’s Killer hot sauce to it. People usually have a pretty good idea of who is stealing their lunches so, when the suspect heads for the lunchroom, follow them, hang around nearby and wait for the fun to begin. (Hot sauce is food, so you can’t be accused of trying to poison your co-worker.)
I was being tried on a driving charge (i.e.. “recklessly causing an accident”).
Where I live, people being tried for “minor” offences will be assigned a common courtroom (i.e., Courtroom 335 12PM July 5, 1923).
I was in my courtroom waiting for my trial to begin when I was approached by an officer and asked to leave the courtroom.
In the hallway, I was told to go to another courtroom (no explanation).
The other courtroom was practically empty. A judge sat on the bench, one suit was standing behind the crown’s desk and one suit was standing behind the defense’s desk. Court reporters were present.
I was urged to stand at the defense’s desk and, at that point, I accepted the suit standing at the defense’s desk as my legal representative.
When I got to the desk, there was a short conversation between the judge and the suits. It took about a minute (maybe less).
And then I was told that I was “Free to go”.
And everybody just left the courtroom.
PS: The “accident” was, I think, a fraud. By the time I got to trial, nobody cared (and not even the police showed up to swear evidence … nobody in that courtroom was involved, in any way, with the case).
I was “constructively dismissed” by a new owner. I was offering my opinion as a good manager should and was told “shut up, sit down and do what I say; or leave”. To everyone else’s dismay, I left; I was off the property less than an hour later.
About two weeks later, I received a call from the controller desparately asking me for the admin passwords for the company’s mainframe (I was the one and only “unofficial” IT administrator for about three years) as it had crashed. I told him I couldn’t help him as my current employment contract prohibits me from directly assisting them (within 1/2 hour of driving off the lot and calling my wife to tell her I had left, I had already received calls from three competitors offering me a job. I had accepted an offer with their biggest rival); but that he could try contacting my current employer to “purchase” my services (there was no such condition, but I reported the contact to my current employer who was ecstatically happy to play along). They did, and was charged $5,000 for my single visit of less than an hour; to type in the master password and let them change it (1/2 of that fee was paid to me as a bonus).
I later found out that my former employer also had to pay over $20,000 in OT to recover the system, as there was no current tape backup. At the time, I was also the only one that was responsible for managing the daily tape backups; specifically inserting a new tape cartridge every morning. There were two daytime receptionists that I had trained to cover for me on my days off and when I went on vacation, but the full-time one was let go only a few days prior to me leaving, and the part-time one had quit in protest of being asked to work 7 days a week until a new full-time one was hired and trained. They had to manually re-enter two weeks of parts invoices and service work orders, while at the same time work off manual invoices and work orders until the system was caught up.
That owner didn’t last long; three years after I left, the franchise agreement was yanked by the manufacturer and the dealership closed permanently.
Because talking to a stranger is actually easier than you think it is.
Commit to the five seconds rule – my personal ace in the hole. I approached 100 women in 40 days with this trick. All it involves is that you make a decision on the first five seconds of seeing the stranger whether you are approaching or not. At first, I kept saying no, not yet, next time and then one day I just said fuck it! I’m doing this and I did. Don’t ask me how it turned out.
Use the universal opener and stop thinking – yes our mind is the great storyteller and a perfectionist one at that. If you give yourself too much time to think, you will end up not approaching the stranger so do what I did. Use the universal opener. It’s something called Hello. I think you’ve heard about it.
Avoid the alpha male trap – I know some people will tell you dress up, look cool, beef up and hold a wine glass standing by the corner, that advice is the worse shit in the world. It’s what I call the alpha male trap, feeling so confident in yourself that you don’t wanna talk with anyone and you expect them to feel your vibe and gravitate towards you. Avoid practicing this, calm down! Relax and smile when you are out there.
Open up! – still on the same point. Avoid closing up your body language by holding something in front of you such as your phone or glass bottle. Make sure in social settings, your body is open and you appear calm and relaxed. Please don’t ever approach anyone with the wrong body language. Research shows we process body language faster than sounds(as little as 0.2sec).
Smile like a lotto winner – one crazy genius called Ralph Waldo Emerson made the great statement that “the whole world loves a lover”, damn but he was right. The key to people’s heart is positivity if you are not aware. You just have to know that most people are not comfortable with meeting new people. So you have to put their minds to rest that you’re harmless and you want nothing but a good nice conversation. Smiling and exuding positivity does this perfectly.
Ask for the name and use it – I read this in Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends & Influence People, and it has never failed me. When you meet a stranger, make sure you get the name and use it repeatedly in the first conversation.
Watch comedy shows – apart from the added benefit of this improving your overall life happiness exponentially, this will add a funny tint to your conversations. People love humor you know.
Observe the rules – the thing about social situations is that there are no universal rules anywhere. How you should behave depends on where you are – you have to behave differently in a church compared to a networking party. The Super trick is to take some time to observe how people are acting around you, are if they are being upbeat or cool headed. Don’t bring noise into a cool environment or calm into a sizzling energetic room. Observe the rules and play by them. Then you win!
Go radical truth on them – out of those 100 women I approached, the ones who became my closest friends were those I went total truth on. Here’s what I mean; I approach them and said hello, then told them I’m a shy guy on a mission to approach 100 girls to build his confidence and that she is my number 41. This perks them up and they usually laugh, then they look at my face, see that I am serious and then we have a wonderful conversation and I always get their numbers. Crazy, right?
Guess – a lot of strangers are really not cool with you offloading a truckload of questions on them. They close up quickly and excuse themselves and that’s why I use guessing at times. I read about it in a blog post that I can’t really remember. It goes like this – during the conversation, instead of asking “where are you from”, observe them and say something like “you look like a new yorker”. Or instead of “what do you do”, say “something tells me you’re a fun person” or “something tells me you stay indoors a lot”. You get the Gist already.
Prepare to be human – I still approach women and get rejected, I still try to make friends on the bus, parties, church, etc, and get rubbed on. You just have to be ready for being a human, not everyone is going to like you or want to talk to you. Accept this and when the time comes that someone rejects you, remember that it’s normal and go find someone else to talk to.
Several years ago, I was on the ladder working on the roof of my shed. Off in the distance there were some people shooting. This is common here as I live in the South (of America). Most people around are fairly safe with their practice shooting. While on the ladder, I heard what sounded like a hummingbird fly by. I looked around for him/her and couldn’t find it. I heard another and another. It dawned on me that these were not hummingbirds, but bullets. I got off the ladder, and yelled as loud as I could that they were shooting towards my house. A few more shots and I went inside and called the sheriff department to go by and tell them they were shooting at my house. I waited a couple hours and heard the shots again. I got in the truck, drove around to the property behind mine and pulled up. The guy and some friends were out shooting targets. I introduced myself and we talked a bit about guns. Then I pointed out that behind their fence was my house about 500 yrs through the woods. I had been up on a ladder and several of their rounds had come near me. They were horrified. I told them to point toward the sand plant since it was closed on the weekend or build a berm to shoot into. they apologized and changed where they were shooting.
I’m Jewish and was marrying a Roman Catholic woman. My parents were vehemently against it, but they also demanded that it be a civil ceremony. My bride wanted the church wedding.
I told her if she wanted the church wedding, that’s what we’ll do. I was not really practicing Jewish traditions, I wasn’t going to synagogue, I routinely worked on Saturdays if my job called for it, and didn’t keep kosher. In fact, since leaving my parents’ home at age 20, I had eaten a cheeseburger for the first time in my life, and had a milk shake along with it!
My parents tried to pressure me to pressure her to at least make it a civil ceremony. I had never even discussed it with her. I told them I would ask, but if she said she wanted the church wedding, then that was the way it would be. They told me they were severing all communication with me. I told them that was okay. They were north of 60 and 70, and living across the ocean, so I replied that I would have to get used to not having them around eventually and I might as well start.
I never backed down, and never regretted it. It set the tone for our future dealings. They knew I was immune to any bullying or any pressure they could bring to bear. If they wanted me to do something, they were going to have to be reasonable and try to convince me with valid argument and not arbitrary stubbornness.
My husband is more approachable than they are, more down to earth.
We married in our 40’s after failed marriages, so we had a civil wedding with my step kids as our witnesses. They were excited to have me in their family, and I was happy to be their stepmom.
He rarely spoke of the rest of his family and I didn’t meet them until after we were married.
I moved to his hometown which was an hour away and where the family lives.
I was a wreck when Christmas rolled around. The few encounters I had with these people were not welcoming. In fact, they completely ignored me.
I went shopping with my husband to buy gifts for everyone, and the spirit of Christmas eased my fears.
When we arrived I felt the chill. I spoke directly to several people and they didn’t acknowledge me in any way.
So, with my Christmas spirit extinguished, I reluctantly sat by the Christmas tree to open gifts.
After the presents were all passed out, I sat and tried to not act surprised by not having anything to open.
In reality, I was totally embarrassed and fighting back the tears.
My family always bought a few extra gifts in case someone unexpectedly joined us.
I wasn’t expecting much, but I never dreamed they would be so rude.
“Eat the frog”. Write down 1 task that you must absolutely perform in order for the day to be a success, and do it first when you get to work.
Send 1 call/text/email to an old friend or colleague that you haven’t spoken with in a while. Over one year, that adds up to 365 reignited relationships (or 61 relationships reignited six times apiece).
End the day with fewer emails in your inbox than you started with. Repeat until you get to inbox zero.
Give away / donate one item in your household every single day. Repeat until you have an uncluttered, restful home.
Answer one question on Quora per day. Work on your writing ability while contributing to the organization of the world’s knowledge.
Walk to and from work, if possible. Exercise! Sunshine!
Eat at least one fruit or vegetable each day. Sure, you should probably eat a half-dozen servings of each. But things can get really screwed up when you are eating zero fruits and veggies. Start small and be consistent.
Express gratitude. My days go so much smoother when I remind myself: “dude, you could just as easily have been born in a Sudanese refugee camp. You’re one lucky mo-fo.”
Spend at least 20 minutes reading something that is completely unrelated to your career (or “personal development”). Creative thinking requires varied inputs. If you have monofocus (e.g. only read about startups all day), you’re severely limiting the amount of interesting ideas you can come up with.
Get uncomfortable at least 1x per day (ideally 3x or 5x). By “get uncomfortable” I mean “summon the courage to do something that makes you anxious”. Speak up during the work conference call. Say hi to the pretty girl or fella standing next to you in line. Run 4 miles instead of 3. Et cetera. Remember: “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
Polenta with Cheese (Mamaliga — Rumania)
how to cook polenta 3
Ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup water
3 1/4 cups boiling water
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup shredded Swiss or Kashkaval cheese
Instructions
Mix cornmeal and 3/4 cup water in 2-quart saucepan. Stir in 3 1/4 cups water and the salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils; reduce heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir until smooth. Spread 1/3 of the mixture in greased 1 1/2-quart casserole. Dot with 1/3 of the butter; sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat twice. Sprinkle with Swiss cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes.
Fried Cornmeal Mush
Omit butter and the grated Parmesan and Swiss cheeses. After cooking 10 minutes, spread in greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 12 hours. Invert pan to unmold; cut into 1/2-inch slices.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in skillet until melted. Coat slices with flour; cook uncovered in butter over low heat until brown, about 5 minutes on each side. Serve with molasses, jam, maple syrup or sour cream if desired.
When I was in my “living in the van” stage of life… also known as the “lost in the wilderness” period, we encountered quite an array of interesting and curious people. Ah. The world is populated with them. But most people never encounter them as they lie on the outer fringes of society.
Typically, my wife (at that time) and myself would land in a city and find ourselves trying to obtain some bearings on our life. This would typically be in a large parking lot associated with a strip mall. These strip malls are ugly affairs. Just brick establishments and a big parking lot. And we would make the best of it, by using that as our “base camp” and then walking about to get our bearings.
One day, doing this, we noticed that we were being followed. An older man. Maybe in his 50’s or so. He would be following us. If we went down a street, he would follow us. If we went into a store, there he was, peering at us. If we went into a restaurant, he would be there in a corner table. And it was really creepy.
We tried to “shake him off”. But he was on us like a “horse fly” on a deer butt. We just couldn’t get rid of him.
We went up town… he followed us.
We went down town… he followed us.
Finally, after about three hours (!) of this, we saw a laundry-mat. We went inside and then ran out the back and locked the door behind us. There, in the ally, we peered into the empty laundry-mat (through a small square window), and there we was alone, and pretending to looking around. We guessed he realized that “we knew”.
Sheech!
Some people appear to be harmless, but they have severe and potentially dangerous mental and behavioral illnesses. Get away from them. For the love of God.
Two stories, one belongs to my parents and the other one is mine.
My parents left the church we attended in what is now called South Central L.A. after the minister said, from the pulpit, that while the black babies were welcome to come to Sunday school, their parents would not be invited to join the church. This was in the early 1960’s, the neighborhood was ´changing ´ (and eventually became the scene of the flashpoint for the 1992 Rodney King riot/rebellion, which took place a block away from that church).
To my parents’ credit, even though my mom had grown up in that church and they had strong social ties there, we started visiting other churches the next month. They settled on a church in a different Protestant denomination because it had a robust youth group. While the pastor was white and the congregation was mainly white, they were actively reaching out to the neighborhood (which was primarily black), including several weekly ‘gym nights’ for neighborhood youth. My parents felt this was a good fit for us.
I remember a few odd things… a sermon that called out Ronald Reagan as the Antichrist because his first, middle and last names all had 6 letters (666, the mark of the beast). The pastor’s wife didn’t come to church every Sunday and when she did, she wore dark glasses and kept to herself.
But for me the final straw came when the high school youth group had a special invite to the pastor’s home. We sat around in his living room, where he had a fire burning in the fireplace. He chatted with us a bit, and then brought in a tape player and without any introduction, began playing a tape for us. Within a few minutes it became clear that it was a tape of a session where he was counseling a church member. As it proceeded, he started calling on demons (who had funny squeaky voices on the tape) and casting them into the pits of hell.
Exorcism was not something that had ever been mentioned before. There was no context for this at all for those of us listening. We were all just frozen in shock.
When that tape finished, he threw it into the fire and loaded up another. It only got worse. One of several exorcism tapes he played that night was the mom of two of the boys in the room.
I don’t think any of us spoke as we got in the church bus to go back. It was completely out of context to all of us.
I was still in high school, and continued going on Sundays with my family until I graduated. But from then on I felt like I was there as an outside observer rather than a member (even though I was still officially a member). I stopped going to youth group activities, though. And the week I turned 18 I stopped going altogether.
Much later, after that pastor’s contract was terminated, my mom mentioned that he had been abusing his wife all along, and that shortly before his contract was pulled, several church ladies had spirited her away to a domestic violence shelter.
(And to any who may object to references of race, please understand that in the 1960’s, race was the context for almost everything. I’m glad, at least, that my parents were firmly on the right side in terms of civil rights).
She’d volunteered to be the treasurer for a local non-profit. She had a board meeting coming up.
“I need your help. Do you know what Excel is?”
Not good.
She’s smart. But not a big numbers person. And has never worked with financial figures. She really shouldn’t have volunteered for this position. But her heart was in the right place.
“Yes 🙂 I spend a lot of time in Excel. Whatsup?” (I work in Finance.)
She says, “I have 3 days before this board meeting. I can’t get any of these numbers to work. I stink at math. I’ll pay you. Pleeeease. Please.”
I met up with her.
It was ugly. The numbers were all over the place, they were wrong, the formulas were wack. The “books” she’d inherited from the prior person were a total mess.
I spent several hours cleaning up this file. The list of problems was endless. I worked as fast as I could. She’d be useless without accurate information.
Then I began explaining the basics to her. And organized the data in an easy-to-read way.
She had no idea what she was getting into. A board meeting as her first dip into finance? Yikes. My #1 goal was just to get her through it without embarrassing herself.
I gave her very easy numbers to cite.
“So when they ask you about this. Say ‘our cash position is good, as of last month it was xyz. It is up X percent from the month prior, and X percent year over year.”
You’ll sound semi-competent. Got it?”
She said, “Got it – but could you say that again though?”
I went through it again.
I gave her all the breakdowns. If they ask you this, say that; if they ask this, say that. I had her fully trained. As best as one can on this on short notice.
Wednesday night. I got a call.
“How did it go?”
I was sure she’d be crying.
She said, “It went amazing! They loved the data. Thank you so much, Sean. I owe you.”
I said, “No. You owe me nothing, dear. I was happy to help.”
Chinese defense systems from 4500 years ago
Believed to serve dual purposes, these ancient tunnels must have been used both as a transportation network and a means of defence and offence. Featuring arched ceilings reminiscent of Longshan period cave dwellings, the tunnels, measuring 3-6 ft in height and approximately 4 ft in width, spread out in a radial pattern, connecting to the centre of the subterranean city.
image 10
Archaeologists have unearthed a sophisticated triple-defence system and an intricate network of tunnels at the ancient Houchengzui Stone City in Inner Mongolia, China. This archaeological marvel, believed to be around 4,300 to 4,500 years old.
Spread across half a square mile, it stands as the largest and most heavily fortified archaeological site in Inner Mongolia from the early Longshan period (3000 to 1900 BC).
The ongoing excavation, which was initiated in 2005, has revealed the complex triple-defence system comprising the main city wall, terraces, gatehouse walls, moats, and trenches. The recent undertaking by the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), has brought to light a new layer of defence – an elaborate tunnel system beneath the city.
Believed to serve dual purposes, these ancient tunnels must have been used both as a transportation network and a means of defence and offence. Featuring arched ceilings reminiscent of Longshan period cave dwellings, the tunnels, measuring 3-6 ft in height and approximately 4 ft in width, spread out in a radial pattern, connecting to the centre of the subterranean city.
image 9
Several tunnels pass under the fortified city walls, extending beyond its boundaries. Sun Jinsong,
Director of the Cultural Relics and Archaeology Academy of Inner Mongolia, explained that some passages open from outside the city, and pass through various structures like the outer Wengcheng city wall, trenches, and the Wengcheng square.
The strategic design of Houchengzui Stone City, with its elaborate defence systems and concealed tunnels, elaborates its cultural significance in military defence, reflecting its role as a strategic location.
The stone city comprises an inner and outer city fortified with three concentric walls, guarded gates, and trenches. The recent excavations, conducted from 2019 to 2023, focused on the Wangcheng gate, high-level buildings in the inner city, and the tomb area.
Researchers have categorised the city’s architecture into simple and complex stone masonry and earthen walls. Simple stone city walls, positioned along ridges, are constructed with layers of stones and filled with loess or earth. Over the five-year excavation, the team uncovered various elements, including city walls, gates, horse faces, trenches, platform foundations, underground passages, house sites, and tombs.
image 8
Among the notable discoveries are the main city gate (CM1), urn city gate (CM2), and outer urn city gate (CM3). Descriptions of the main city gate highlight its rectangular plan, measuring about 15 m in length from north to south and 9 to 11 m in width from east to west, with intricate features, such as doorways, gate walls, earth platforms, and other architectural elements.
The ongoing exploration of Houchengzui Stone City continues to provide valuable insights into ancient civilization, military strategy, and architectural prowess during the Longshan period.
Japan beauty standards
Baked Eggs on Toast (Jaja na Grzankach – Polish)
DSC 0424
Ingredients
6 slices white bread
Butter
3 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
6 eggs
Salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
Toast the bread and butter it on both sides. Place on a baking sheet and, using the tips of your fingers, make a small depression in each piece of toast. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and chives. Carefully drop an egg onto each piece of toast and season with salt and pepper.
Bake in a preheated 400 degrees F oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until the eggs reach the desired degree of doneness.
You can have as many accounts as you want. Pay only gets deposited in one, though.
Your finances are your business until you get in trouble, then it’s the Army’s business.
The Army has learned that by keeping Soldiers home life stable there won’t be any distractions when deployed. If you do have a problem, take it to your chain of command. There are people who’ll help with food, housing, money, medical, transportation, childcare, etc. Just know the Army will do what’s best for the Army but they’ll try not to be invasive or cause a hardship. If you refuse to comply, you can be chaptered out. Knew a single mom who refused to do her family care plan and the separated her. Just remember, your commander has final say on what happens.
A PFC in my old squad was assaulted by his wife. She tore a contact and scratched his eye. The CO moved him into the barracks indef. The wife lost BAH, BAS, and medical. She was only allowed on post with permission from the BN CO. He was in the barracks for three weeks until they could get his kids. The unit helped get him settled offpost and figure out logistics.
If you think you’re being scammed, been scammed, or even getting a questioning message about a service member or a demand for money contact your squad leader, Platoon Sergeant, 1SG, finance NCO or commanding officer. They know lots of ways to help and get you unstuck.
Cooking a steak is no small deal. Steaks are pricey and personal, everyone wants there’s done the way they want it to be done, no exceptions. This is especially true when it comes to seasoning.
The method I’m going to share with you is the way I like steaks to be done, it’s not carved in stone behind a fancy French restaurant or anything. If you like what you read, give it a whirl. If not, try someone else’s method, or invent your own.
Ribeye’s are my steak. I can ramble off a number of others that I enjoy but most of the time I’m eating a tender, juicy, meaty ribeye. Its richness can stand up to a wide range of seasoning, from a basic salt and pepper, to a spicy Southwestern, Cajun blackening spice or whatever’s your poison. My basic steak seasoning is salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders, oregano and smoked paprika. That combo is the tits on a nicely seared ribeye. What you want to know though is how to get it to the steak, right? Well, here we go.
First, season your ribeye well on both sides with coarse salt and let it sit on the counter for about 20 minutes. Known as dry brining, the salt will pull moisture to the surface of the steak, dissolve in that moisture and the steak will drink it back up, seasoning the meat. Get a heavy skillet rip roaring hot, add a touch of oil and then pat the steak dry with paper towels. Lower the steak into the hot pan and sear the hell out of it, until it is crispy golden brown. Oh, make sure you have your pre-mixed seasoning blend handy, because it’s about to come into play.
Flip the steak and sprinkle the seasoning onto the seared side so it blooms in the hot bubbling oil on top of the steak. Then cook it to your desired doneness. The exception to this would be a blackened steak, where you want the seasoning to make contact with the hot pan, so the seasonings become seared with the steak. My method prevents the spices from burning and becoming bitter from contact with the hot pan, which will happen with onion, garlic and paprika.
I’m not expecting a James Beard Award or anything, but I’ve never eaten a bad steak prepared using my seasoning method. Give it a shot and see how it works out for you.
I worked for a small family owned glaziers. I was 18, and while my title was “administrator” I was more of a general dogsbody, which wasn’t a big deal, I liked the other staff and there was nothing to hate about the job itself.
My boss was another kettle of fish. Firstly, he smoked in his “office” which was a small almost hallway that was directly behind the receptionist area and he stunk out the whole building (it was illegal at the time, he didn’t care). He was also pretty abusive to everybody and even forced 2 apprentices to fight over £20 or be fired, then kept the £20. He was a fucking animal.
So, on Fridays I always finished at 3, everybody did. I arrived a few minutes late as the bus was delayed, and my punishment for this was to clean the reception area (we had a lot of mirrors and glass), then his “office”. Then I had to clean the boys kitchen (we had no cleaner, the office staff didn’t go near the kitchen). Needless to say it was rank and took me right up until 2:30, I then having done none of my actual work dealt with the letters which I had to take up to the post box. I also didn’t get a break.
3pm rolls round and I’m walking out the door having clocked out, letters in hand when the phone rings, the receptionist gets my attention while on the phone, hangs up and said “boss said you’re going f**king nowhere til you get up the stairs and clean the toilet”.
My reply “nope” I then walked out, got on the bus and left. I never went near them again.
Without MAJOR service; probably. I have purchased many vehicle that had sat long term, think decades. There are a few steps to getting them running.
Pull all the spark plugs and put a copious amount of oil in the cylinders. I like Marvel Mystery oil mixed with Automatic Transmission Fluid. Leave that concoction at a minimum of over night to soak and penetrate all the surfaces of the piston and rings.
Fuel / Gas would probably be an issue as it has probably varnished up the tank, fuel pump and fuel lines. The carburetor or fuel injectors may have survived without needing repair. Possible but not likely. So a full cleaning of the fuel system would be necessary. Replace the fuel filter and add fresh gas.
You will definitely need a new battery.
At day two or three you can attempt to turn the engine over by hand, GENTLY without the spark plugs installed. The goal is to slowly move and introduce the oil you put in the cylinders onto the surfaces of the cylinder wall. Once the oil is no longer in the cylinders I would change the original oil and filter.
Reinstall the spark plugs, connect the new battery and using the key turn over the engine. By not priming the intake the engine should turn over for several seconds lubricating the engine with fresh oil before it starts.
At this point you could prime the intake, cross your fingers and start the vehicle.
You will probably experience engine and running gear seal leaks. The seals used to hold lubricants and fluids will tend to dry out when a vehicle has sat for a long period.
All that being said; I spent 25 years buying one car. A 1959 Cadillac coupe. I personally knew that it had sat for over 10 years when I finalized the purchase. I had it transported to my shop where I performed the above procedures. I did a tune-up, added a new fuel pump and battery and drove the Caddy up and down the road.
image 87
“Gentlemen, I Suggest You Beam Me Aboard.” Captain Kirk
It actually happened to me. A sheriff’s deputy delivered my 16-year-old daughter to my door one night, saying that she’d been arrested for skinny-dipping in the YMCA with 48 of her friends.
That’s right. 49 skinny-dipping teenagers. They’d been let in the building after hours by one of the lifeguards.
Police charged them with trespassing because, after all, skinny-dipping in a closed building is not a crime.
My reaction? Well, I think I tried not to giggle and told my daughter to go to bed. I was a little put out that I had to rearrange my schedule to go to court with her, but other than that, no, I wasn’t upset. I thought it was funny.
Apparently the judge agreed. When we showed up in court, 49 kids and their parents in suits and dresses trying to look contrite, and one petite, grey-haired judge trying to look stern. She wasn’t completely successful — she kept excusing herself to her chambers so as not to burst out laughing. She told them they had to write a note of apology to the manager of the YMCA.
About a week later I ran into the judge downtown and we talked about the case. “Kids today have it too easy,” she said. “When I was a teenager my gang and I had to climb fences to go skinny-dipping.”
EDIT: Several people have commented that the kids weren’t trespassing because they had been let in by a lifeguard. I checked the Colorado statute for third-degree trespass which states that it is not trespassing if they are on the property with the permission of the property owner. The lifeguard was one of the kids and told the cops she’d let everyone in, but a building custodian said that she had no authority to do so. The cops called the manager of the YMCA, and he not only told the police to arrest the kids but also fired Mary the lifeguard on the spot.
An interesting corollary to this that I knew both cops. In fact they approached me separately to apologize for arresting my daughter, but the custodian and especially the YMCA manager gave them no discretion. But even when they were dropping off my daughter at my door, they said I shouldn’t worry about any legal repercussions because they couldn’t imagine any judge in Boulder giving the kids more than a stern lecture and maybe community service.
Left to Fend Alone: Abandoned by Family After 18 Years, This Cat Finds Itself in a Shelter.
My students always seem shocked when I tell them this:
Like most students in America, my students get periodic standardized tests throughout the year. Standardized tests are created by national groups and administered to students all over the country. That’s the “standard” part of it. The teacher just proctors the test. We don’t see them ahead of time, and have no input as to what’s on the test. After the first test, I always ask them:
“How many of you were just tested?”
They all say that they were.
Then I hit them with the truth:
“You all took the test, but I was the one being tested. These tests are just as much about tracking my effectiveness as a teacher as they are about tracking your effectiveness as a learner. I hope you all did well, because it makes me look good.”
Standardized testing is just as much about testing teachers as it is students.
a friend owned a landscaping company and after a number of problems with his HOA he got mad when they told him the verity of grass in his lawn was the wrong type.
he did lawns for a living and knew he had seeded his lawn with the right type of grass and the HOA board knew nothing about grass and he was the only person with the right type of grass listed in the HOA rules. he got mad and one dark and foggy night drove to each HOA board members homes and sprayed herbicide across their lawns. they went nuts and had to hire a landscaper to fix their yards.
They told the landscaper what type of grass they needed to plant by the HOA RULES and he did. Only to find there lawns did not match the rest of the HOA and they had no idea why.
the HOA board looked like fools when they found out they were wrong.
I had bought a Chrysler Concorde – and it was a superb road car, roomy, huge trunk, good performance and an excellent ride.
At 30K miles the water pump started leaking. Went to the dealer, they replaced it on warranty. They said it took 6 hours labor as the entire front of the car had to come off, as well as the front of the engine – the pump was being driven by the rubber timing belt. All good. At 60K miles, it happened again. Took it in and the dealer repaired it but marked it down as a fuel line repair that was a recall item (we already had that repair done) – so again not out any money. Great dealer! At 90K it happen a third time. I chose to just refill the reservoir as it lowered. My wife had the car out one day when the engine just quit, at 60 MPH. She was able to coast into an abandoned gas station. Seems the timing belt had slid off the pump cog having got too wet. This time I was out the $600 labor, plus pump, to replace it. Thankfully the engine was designed such the valves didn’t impact the pistons. The issue was a cheap o-ring that failed each time.
Discussions I had with Chrysler corporate about this resulted in “your problem, go away”. So I have, never bought another Chrysler product and never will.
As the car reached 120K miles, it was in a violent hailstorm. We replaced the broken windows, but did nothing else. Rather than repair the inevitable and impending leak a 4th time, I donated the car. to charity.
This surely wasn’t the bolt-on water pumps I used to be able to swap out in an afternoon on my driveway! Drain the coolant, Pop the hoses, remove the v-belt, and 3 bolts. Reverse the process to install the new pump.
My dad used to carry wads of bank notes in the back pocket of his trousers. Proper old-school. I told him loads of times everyone recommends you don’t do that as it’s easy for pickpockets to steal. His response was always the same: “yeah? Well I’d like to see someone try and take it…”
While I was studying in Madrid, the whole family came out to visit. I said to my dad, apparently the pickpocketing is pretty bad round here (apologies to any madrileños who may disagree/feel offended by that comment). Anyway might be a good idea not to have all your cash in your back pocket. Usual reaction.
We were all getting on a bus in the city centre when some dude had a go at pinching Dad’s money. Before he had a chance to take it, he got an elbow in the guts and a back-hander across the face. He stumbled backwards into some railings, we all got on and the bus drove off.
So that’s when I stopped lecturing my dad about how/where he should carry his money.
While it’s tempting to cry ‘fake’, there are plenty of examples of capybaras chilling next to caiman. There’s even a video here.
I’m not a capybara expert, but I don’t think they would still exist if they simply had no survival instinct, especially with adept predators like jaguars and anacondas around.
And trust me, they would not be sitting calmly next to a jaguar.
If I had to guess, I would suggest capybaras are often so chilled around caiman because:
The cold-blooded reptilians are still sluggish and warming themselves up.
The caiman in these examples are simply too small to overpower a capybara. The largest caiman can reach over 4 metres in length and weigh a tonne — I don’t think capybaras would be quite so comfortable around crocodilians of that size.
Caiman are far less dangerous out of the water and (I suppose) not in ‘hunting mode’. Many crocodilians also eat surprisingly rarely.
Larger caiman do prey on capybaras, so it’s a case of context. The capybaras would rather save their energy for a real life-or-death scenario. Smaller caiman would rather save their energy for some fish.
The guy who wrote bit on the answer sheet and copied in plain sight .
In my school during exams 2 students will be seated in each bench. The student next to us will be in different grade to avoid copying.
When I was in tenth grade(2004) , in the bench before me there was a ninth grade guy.
Usually students copy in exams using bits. For those who are not familiar with the term bit is a small paper in which students write answers and take it into exam hall hiding it somewhere.
image 83
The risk here is the examiner catching you in the act.
Our school answer sheet looks like this
image 4
Everyone is given 4 sheets at the beginning and once they need more papers they put a tick in the tracking sheet and take additional sheets. At the end the sheets are tied together and handed over. So this tracking sheet will contain how many sheets a student used but no one tallies it at the end of exam.
This guy decided to use this loophole.
One day I finished my exam early and was looking out the window. His seat is a window seat and mine is aisle but he sits one bench before me.
He suddenly crumpled one of the answer sheet and threw it outside the window and he repeated it for 2 other sheets. I got curious but that day I was not able to find the answer and it kept me sleepless.
Next day I again watched him and he did the same thing but this time I caught him after the exam and asked him why he did that.
This is what the guy did.
Instead of carrying a bit paper he wrote the answers in normal handwriting using the actual exam sheet and brought it to exam hall. Even if the teacher sees it would just look like an exam sheet used by him. Everyday he used to take additional papers to write bit for next day exam. The question paper will not be collected so he hid it under the question paper everyday and took it home and both these sheets are exactly same size.
I asked him why do you even bother writing the answers again instead of just adding the bit paper in exam sheet since it is already written on an exam sheet.
His answer made me go wow. Everyday different teachers come and even if the same teacher comes they would sign on the top with the date , since the date and sign would differ he rewrote the answer everyday and threw the bit paper out of the window and mostly he did this for the bigger answers only .
Still not convinced, I asked him what if someone sees the paper he threw down. He took me to the window and showed what’s beneath the window. It was our canteens roof which is ideally a small shed with asbestos roof and already had lots of garbage. The thing won’t even fly in the air even if there was a strong wind.
My next doubt was how would he know what questions would come and even if he did won’t he require lots of sheets to write the answers. It was actually internal test and not board exam so the teachers would kind of let the weak students know 80% of questions in the evening special coaching class. He got that inside info and wrote just the answers he felt that were difficult. Like study 50% and copy 50%.
I mean copying in exams is one thing but I ve never seen a heist level planning like he did .
Cigarette smoking on airplanes and in restaurants…albeit in a smoking section. Goes without saying you could smoke in bars too.
Soda bottles had metal tops that you needed to use a bottle opener to open.
Beer and soda cans had pop tops:
image 82
See the one on the left? That’s the one. You know what they would do after pulling off the tab? They’d throw it on the ground. Then, you’d ride your bike over it and get a flat or it would pierce your foot and you’d have to go get a tetanus shot from the doctor. It’s even immortalized in Jimmy Buffet’s song “Margaritaville”: “Stepped on a pop top/Blew out my flip flop”.
Kids were sent out to play with no supervision at all. We were only instructed to come home when the street lights turned on. We did incredibly intelligent things like bully weaker kids, smash glass bottles on the ground, and throw rocks at each others’ heads.
All the good cartoons were on Saturday morning only.
If you liked a movie, you had to pay to go see it in the theater only. You couldn’t get it on home video at all. You pretty much had to wait a few years before they showed it on TV.
There were only 3 channels: ABC, CBS, and NBC. If you lived in the big city you might have a few extra UHF local channels. They mostly played reruns of Bonanza, I Love Lucy, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Brady Bunch, Star Trek, and I Dream Of Jeannie.
If you got out of line in school you’d get your ass spanked by the gym coach who wielded something that looked like a ping pong paddle with holes in it for speed.
The speed limit on highways and interstates was 55 miles per hour (88.5 kph) and it took forever to get to grandma’s house…with no phones, no personal stereos, just sitting there. Parents would give young kids a tiny bit of alcohol mixed in with their juice so they would sleep.
The guy they would call the “fat kid” would only be a little husky by today’s standards.
Divorce was still kind of a taboo, in that “people would talk” about those who were divorced but it was pretty much commonplace by the end of the 70s and no big deal.
The Rock and Roll guys, the Disco guys, and the Country Music guys all hated each other. The Rock and Roll guys smoked dope, the Disco guys did coke and the Country Music guys drank Jack Daniels. The Disco guys got all the girls and the Rock and Roll guys got beat up by the Country Music guys.
Houston, Texas actually had kind of a good football team.
EDIT:
Did you guys ever have this? We didn’t have milk delivery. I think they were phasing it out by the time I was a kid in the 70s…not sure. But we DID have Charles Chips Delivery.
image 81
Yep they’d deliver a huge tin (huge to me as I was like 7 years old) of POTATO CHIPS to your front door in a Charles Chips delivery truck. You’d leave out the empty tin and they’d replace it with a new one.
Edit 2:
Ah, TV!
image 80
So…the top dial is VHF. This had channels 2–13. These were ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS if you had it. The bottom dial is UHF, it had channels 14–82 (I think?). In order to get a UHF channel you had to turn the top dial to “U” and then you turned the bottom dial to whatever UHF channel had “The Munsters” reruns on it.
Some people were lucky enough to have a remote control (which was rather rare) which made a loud, metallic clicking sound…so it was called the “clicker”. Older people even today call the remote control “the clicker”.
Others of us had the old fashioned remote control called “Hey kid, turn it to channel 2 or I’ll thump yer skull for ya!”
Some TVs had rabbit ears on them. You’d have to send a person over to the TV to adjust them or your signal wouldn’t be very good. Inevitably the person would form some kind of “radar circuit” with the TV and you’d make them stand there for the last play of the super bowl so you could see it.
Other smarter folks did this:
image 79
Yep, they wrapped foil around the antennae to boost its receiving power.
Others forcibly shoved a thick, folded piece of paper between the dial and the TV.
Other more lucky folks had one of these:
image 78
A wire ran from this roof antenna down to the back of your TV where you had to screw it to the back.
Going anonymous as this is about my students, however real names are not used.
I’m a maths teach at a local secondary school in an area where most students live off benefits. I had one girl, Daisy, who was highly intelligent, we did an iq test and her score was in the 140s.
One day I asked her if she was going to university, no was her answer, I was puzzled, she excelled in class and had a keen interest in maths and science. She was proud too, wearing her maths and science award badges everyday.
I asked her why, here was her response.
‘I can’t afford it’
Me:’you can get scholarships and grants’
‘It’s not that, trust me I’ve checked, it’s the living costs.’
That’s when I realised, this girl was 12 and knew she couldn’t progress further than college, not due to lack of talent or enthusiasm, due to money. I sat down with her, she cried all of one lunch in year 11, I cried to, at her potential wasted beyond belief, maybe the most talented student I’ve ever taught, not able to advance.
I started a fund for all the children like her, unable to attend university due to money, and it worked. I raised enough to put her though and support her family, I’ve put other though uni too.
I learnt that money is a problem and a worry for 12 year old girls but I also learnt talent can’t be wasted, children like her need a way to succeed.
I hope I gave that to her, she now works as a medical researcher and was given the life she never thought she’d have.
One morning she calls me at 4 AM. I picked up the phone half asleep. I thought it to be some kind of emergency.
Me: Hello? Is everything Okay babe?
She: Yeah, but….
(Now buts can be dangerous at 4 AM)
Me: Are you hungry baby? (Only emergency I can think of)
She: I have to talk to you about something very important.
Me: You sure it can’t wait?
She: If it could, I wouldn’t be here.
Me: Okay, shoot me.
She: I want you to stop talking to Seeta, Geeta, Meeta, Papeeta. I don’t like them.
Me (perplexed): Is that what you wanted to say? But they’re my friends. They’ve been there even before you were.
She (angrily): Then stay with them, not me.
Me: Okay Baby, anything for you. I won’t talk to them.
She: You’re so cute. Love you baby, goodnight kiss on your lips, muuaaahh.
2 Weeks Later
In a food outlet
Me (in a sarcastic way): Baby, what’s about your best friend, Rahul? How’s he?
She (stands up in anger):You don’t trust me, do you? He’s my best friend and always been with me. He understands me like no one else can. So, stop being the detective’s ass and get a life dude. He never asked about you, but you can’t stay put. I wonder at times, if I’d have dated Rahul, things would’ve been better.
Me (trying to say something meaningful): But……..
She (cuts me in between): Learn to trust the person you’re in relationship with. It’s necessary to give space at times. But, YOU WON’T UNDERSTAND.
Ironical.
So, answering the question, I can’t tolerate double standards in a relationship.
I’ve read all the answers and most of the responses. I’ve been in food service for 30 years. I currently own a 34-seat brunch restaurant. 200 covers during a 6-hour weekend service is not uncommon for us. I have a basic idea of what I am talking about. So, why might a restaurant call items out that are on the menu, or they do have in stock.
1. Equipment Failure – this happens typically on a Saturday or Sunday morning, two hours into service with a full restaurant, 45-minute wait for a 2-top and 80 covers do in for reservations.
2. Staffing – Johnny decides to catch the fat part of his left hand just below his thumb with the tip of his knife laying it open. You’d think someone was shot in the kitchen. When does this happen? Read #1. You are now down a person – the kitchen has to be balanced, menu items that require all three of us to put out or rely heavily on one station are called out – some say 86’d
3. Ingredient Shortage – someone dropped all the hard-boiled eggs or an entire tray of croissant, 4# of sliced turkey gets knocked onto the floor. An item did not show up in the morning delivery. An ingredient spoils too fast (avocados). A refrigerator door was left cracked open all night. When does this happen? See #1
4. Inventory – we only cook so much brisket a week (based on sales) – some weeks we get pounded with brisket tacos. With shared ingredients (brisket) we may call a less popular item out to keep a more popular item available longer.
5. Super busy and loose count of our prep – we may call an item out until we can get an all-day count of the orders hanging and a count of remaining prep.
Now some of the comments I’ve read from other answers mainly dealing with running out of food. Your local sports bar or chain restaurant is not going to run out of chicken wings, why? They have 200# in the freezer and the dish only requires 10 minutes from frozen in a deep fryer. They are also open 12 to 14 hours a day 7 days a week. I’m not buying any more steaks than I’ll need for the week, I buy them fresh. These guys have 100# of frozen steaks and never run out.
The brisket we serve takes 10 hours to prep and cook the pork belly takes 4 hours to prep and cook. Menu items are prepped and cooked based off previous sales numbers. If I historically sell 11 portions of brisket in a day I’m not prepping 35 portions I’m prepping 15.
We had a cold windy morning and sold all our sausage gravy in the first two hours of being open. We did not prep any less than normal and our sales numbers were not higher than normal. That morning everyone wanted sausage gravy. There was no #10 can of sausage gravy in the back like your local diner. This menu item is made from scratch there were no ingredients and no people to make more. These are the issues a from scratch restaurant deals with.
We met at the estate agent’s office, all set – but as we talked the deal over with him, it became more and more obvious that he was having second thoughts. It was a bit of a stretch for one income, even though it was a good income.
In the end, we (well, the estate agent) plain asked him. And since he hadn’t yet signed the paper, he could, with visible relief, back out of the deal.
Looking at the other bids, we decided to sell to the third highest bidder. The home had huge potential, which we hadn’t been able to realise for various reasons, and the third bidder was a young couple – and he was a carpenter. He would know how to do stuff, he would know his limitations, he would know people who could do whatever he wanted done at a good price.
They were ecstatic, especially the girl, who had fallen in love with the place to the extent that she had been crying herself to sleep when they lost the bidding.
And… it felt very nice, because for the house we were moving to, we hadn’t been the highest bidders, either; it was just that the previous owners liked us a lot better than the highest bidder. (And they had owned the house since the 1950s and were making an insanely good deal anyway; they paid off their mortgage some 70 times over with what we paid.) We paid it forward immediately.
Initially it’s beauty that attracts you, eventually it’s their mindset you need to handle. Choose wisely.
Sexual attraction will fade over time and hopefully would be replaced by genuine love, care and concern about your partner’s well-being.
No matter how much you love them and they love you, eventually comes money if you want to be together forever. Balance career and love.
Be available all the time and you’ll be their ex soon because it’s our human nature, things which are easily available, we start taking it for granted unintentionally.
Choose them faster, get dump faster because every thing has process and you skipped it.
There is no tried and tested strategy to prevent cheating and infidelity. Trust is the only option.
Most people are never grateful for the little things that their partners do for them, until they stop it.
Keep your expectations low from the partner if you want to be truly happy.
Sad Shelter Cat No Longer Believed Anyone Would Pay Attention To Him
We’d been friends for about 6 years. There were already cracks starting to form before the bigger fracture. She begged me to goat yoga with her – basically yoga in a field with goats walking on you. Not my idea of fun but I wanted to be a good friend so a bought a ticket. When I told her she laughed and said she hadn’t even got a ticket! Now I was typically let’s say generous with this friend. I often picked up the tab or paid the lions share as I was financially in a better place. But it had gone from me offering to her expecting in recent months. I suspected she held off buying a ticket to get me to add hers to my bill. I shook off the feeling at the time.
When the time of the goat yoga approached I was going through some issues and couldn’t make it (other people were joining us so she wasn’t left solo). I let the friend know about a week prior. With no response. A day or so before the event I decided to donate the ticket back to the provider as they were an animal sanctuary charity. My friend was upset as she was hoping to have my ticket. She’d already sold her ticket to another friend and was expecting to just take mine. When I asked why wouldn’t I have just sold mine to the friend, she said she could pay me back later and needed the money. Yeah right. The fog lifted at that moment. I stopped paying her way and she stopped inviting me out. I realised I was little more than a wallet to her.
My husband is a woodworker. His family was always asking for free labor, and materials, and finished products including cabinetry and furniture. His sister had moved into a new house and wanted him to refinish her basement for her. It was fall and the sister invited family over for a luncheon. She then laid into my husband to bring his tools and supplies so he could “do a quick job”. We get there, and the brother in laws are watching football. The sisters are gossiping in the kitchen. No one offers to lift a finger. So I start helping my husband with the job. Oh, yeah, by the way, I’m like 6 months pregnant at the time. No one offers to lift a finger to help me either. Through the vents, we can hear them talking in the kitchen, talking about what a crappy job I’m doing taking care of my pregnant self, and what a crappy husband their brother is, and what horrible parents we’re going to make. This isn’t new. we know the kind of people they are and always have been. We finish the job, load up the tools, then before lunch is served we leave, with hubby explaining he needs to get me home so I can take a nap. We stopped and had a nice meal on the way home.
A long time ago I was leaving Pace, a membership warehouse, which was later sold to Sam’s Club, I believe. It was actually a warehouse, so there was a long ramp to get up to the level of the store.
As I was leaving, with a good view since it was higher and quite a distance, I see the person parked next to me move their cart to right behind my truck. The timing was perfect as I got to the cart as the person was getting into their car and I moved the cart behind his vehicle, then got in my truck and left. I got to see him start to back out, realize that the cart was there and get out as I drove away. I am not sure if he figured out how it got there.
Another time at CostCo, again an actual warehouse location and was really crowded all the time, the parking lot was a bit strange and there were three parking spaces near a fence. There was only one way to get out as it was angled and ended at the fence. I had backed into the first space, so it was easy to exit, except for an idiot. They wanted the space and wouldn’t move to let me leave. I might have been able to back up behind the other two spaces, but instead I backed into the space and turned the engine off and just looked at them. It took a bit of time, but eventually they realized that if they wanted the space, then they would have to back up so that I had space to leave, which they did and I left.
My SIL (husband’s sister) is pretty high maintenance. Perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect make-up…you know the type. Name-brand everything. Lucky for her, she found the Ken to her Barbie. Her husband is just as much of a perfectionist. He has to have perfect hair and perfect clothes. He’s neurotic about keeping things clean and orderly.
I always said that if we ever had kids, theirs would be standing to the side in name-brand clothes while mine and my husbands would be having a riot playing in mud puddles in play clothes.
My son was born first and we always dressed him in practical, functional clothes. The three-pack of onsies for $10 at Walmart? Yes, please! Babies grew fast and we opted for functional and cost-effective clothes. He’d outgrow them in a month or so and we didn’t feel the need to pay a lot of money for clothes he’d just outgrow.
My nephew was born seven months later. From the get-go, it was expensive everything. Everything had to be name-brand and could only be in one of four colours: White, Grey, Navy, or Black. My husband once looked on the website where my SIL got all of her son’s clothes. $20 for one pair of baby socks. $80 for a pair of baby jeans. It was insanity, spending so much on a baby. They quickly learned how much of their money they were burning with my nephew kept having diaper blow-outs. BIL would scrub and scrub to try to save the expensive onesie, but it was often a lost cause without dry-cleaner intervention. When home, they kept him in just a diaper until another blowout soiled their couch. At that point, they kept him in the “cheap” clothes from Carters, but when they were out, this kid was dressed to the nines. At meal times, they stripped him down to a diaper to save his clothes.
But, they didn’t quite learn their lesson. When the little guy started daycare at a year old, they sent him in designer outfit with a back-up. On a few occasions, my nephew burned through his outfit and the back-up and ended up coming home in some other kid’s clothes. Once again, my BIL and SIL had to dress him in “cheap” clothes.
And then they complain that having a kid is so expensive and they can’t understand how we can afford to have a second child when we make so much less than they do. Go figure.
Good grief. I’m sorry so many people have let themselves go, but being “old” isn’t a death sentence. I’m nearing seventy five. I walk three or four miles a day (granted I live in Manhattan and walking is more entertaining here than it is out there in America where you have to drive to the drugstore three miles away); I eat anything I want to, I play too many video games (I found Starfield disappointing, didn’t you?), and I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life with the girl of my dreams for 38 years now (gee, has it been that long, it seems like yesterday).
Don’t be surprised if, when you reach my age, you find you still are the exact same person you were when you were eleven.
Nobody has solved this problem yet. The problem statement is actually quite simple. It’s called the “moving couch problem.” The mathematician Leo Moser posed the following curious mathematical problem in 1966: “what is the shape of the largest area in the plane that can move around a right-angled corner in a two-dimensional corridor of width 1?”
image
We can start with a 1 by 1 square.
image 2
However, this semicircle with radius 1 works better. It has an area π/2
image 3
We can continue to make improvements. The mathematician John Hammersley noticed that if the semicircle is cut into two quarter circles, which are separated and the space between them is filled with a rectangular block, we get a larger sofa shape, which could be moved around the corner if only removes a smaller semicircular hole from the rectangular block.
In 1992, Joseph Gerver found a better shape with a slightly larger area of around 2.2195. Gerver could not prove that his solution was optimal. To this day, 50 years after the question was asked, it is still the best solution.
image 1
Attempts have been made to find upper limits. Mathematicians have defined a “couch constant”, which is just the answer to this problem! Yoav Kallus and Dan Romik demonstrated an upper limit in June 2017, with a consistent couch limit of 2.37.
Update: a twist.
image 4
No, this is literally a twist. A variant of the sofa problem asks for the shape of the largest area that can surround the 90-degree left and right corners in a hallway of unit width. This means that the shape will probably have to be symmetrical. So far the best solution was found by Dan Romik. It looks like a bikini top, with an area of 1.649.
Thank you for reading!
For more info about this join our newsletter now for free
hanselsapkota.substack.c o m
Free and premium content about history, mathematics, politics, philosophy self-improvement, and psychology.
Newsletter search it or link in bio
For more about me click the first link and find out.
check my bio for more details.
and about references.
Sources:
Mr. Romik. Differential equations and exact solutions in the moving sofa problem. To appear in Experimental Math.
Y. Kallus, D. Romik. Improved upper bounds in the moving sofa problem. Preprint, 2017.
Moving sofa problem on Wikipedia.
E.W. Weisstein. Moving sofa problem on Wolfram MathWorld.
J.L. Gerver. On moving a sofa around a corner. Geometriae Dedicata 42 (1992), 267-283. doi:10.1007/BF02414066.
P. Gibbs. A computational study of sofas and cars. Preprint, 2014.
I was watching this one-hour stand up by Comedian Daniel Sloss on Netflix, and he told a fascinating thing-
“If you only love yourself at 20%, that means somebody can come along and love you 30%. You’re like, Wow, that’s so much. It’s literally less than half. Whereas if you love yourself 100%, a person that falls in love with you has to go above and beyond the call of duty to make you feel special. That’s something every one of us deserves.”
People understand the value of self-love and know that happiness doesn’t come from a spouse. The concept of being satisfied with life doesn’t mean sharing it with someone, instead, living it to the fullest.
‘Decent’ people you are talking about are more focused on their career, ambitious, family and general fulfilment when it comes to life.
We all have that one friend who hates being single, falls for every person they see and Feel sad and always ask why they are alone. Yes, we all have that kind of friend, but not everyone looks at breakups / being single that way- to some people being single is a way of changing outlook.
As much as I want to wish it is not to true but relationships these days are not as easy as we think- so many cases of unhealthy addiction, violence, toxic relationship, gaslighting emerging and people are not quiet about it anymore.
‘Decent’ people are single because they know it is tempting to blame your partner for break up, but it is also essential to have a self-realisation that you might be wrong. Sense of gratitude and acknowledgement of oneself comes with being single.
People are leaving a mindset behind which suggested that marriage and bearing a child is an essential part of your life; in fact, people are focusing more on financial, emotional and professional growth these days.
People are shifting to a place where they prioritise their happiness, needs etc. over having a partner. Fact we have glorified sex and having a partner so much (thanks to social media) some people are bearing torch which says, ‘I’d rather be sex-less than be unhappy.’
I spent my 10th grade year of high school in a wealthy, white part of California.
My Spanish teacher ended up quitting because she couldn’t handle it anymore.
These were a different type of delinquents. They weren’t dangerous or violent like you might see in a ghetto High School. They were just the purest form of rude and disrespectful. They were spoilt. They didn’t try in school. Their families were rich. Some would probably never have to work.
So after the Spanish teacher quit, they brought in this temp teacher who had no idea what she was getting into.
The kids frequently talked back to her. Would ignore her lectures in the back of the class.
I grew up with a military father so I learned respect early in my life. I didn’t comprehend how people could just mouth off like that. It’d be a death warrant for me.
I’ll never forget one particular exchange.
A 16-year-old girl was not listening. The teacher asked her to stop talking. They started going back and forth arguing.
The girl then shouts, “WHY ARE YOU SUCH A MASSIVE BITCH.”
Which left me and others aghast.
And of course she was sent out of the class. But she was back within a week. I think they just made her sweep the halls for an hour or two after class one day.
Yet another reason American school systems are broken.
My head would have been delivered to the principal in a box by my own parents.
Q: What should I do if my boss says, “If you don’t like the job, you can go”?
A: I worked at a company where they promised a 2 week fully paid vacation if we hit a certain sales number. We exceeded it. Instead of getting that vacation, the company laid off 10% of the work force, told everyone they had to work 10% longer hours to make up for the smaller work force, gave a 0% raise and even held back the $25/person Xmas bonus which, over the years, had been nicknamed the annual turkey money.
A few weeks later, there was a company wide meeting where you could ask upper management anything you wanted. I got up and stated that I interact with many different departments and was seeing an all time low in morale and asked if upper management was also aware of that and, if so, what could be done to improve it.
The CEO got up and said, “Morale is your own D@#$ problem. If you don’t like it leave. After the meeting the VP of my department told me that if I ever asked a question like that again, he would fly to my office and fire me in person.
The next day I gave notice. When asked what it would take as a counter for me to stay, I said double my salary. Anything less wasn’t worth the stress of dealing with upper management azzhats. I got a 50% raise by leaving and within 3 years was making well over double what my salary had been.
I would never advocate quitting a job without having anything else lined up first. I had been working with a head hunter and had an offer in the works when this happened so it made it real easy for me to decide to leave.
A number of years later, I got fed up with management and was watching the company go down the drain. I had started my own business on the side and decided that, since I didn’t like my day job any more, I’d quit. I interviewed for a few positions but decided to make my side job my primary job and really focus on building the business. That’s the best decision I ever made.
So, my advice is, if you don’t like the job, move on. Just don’t do it without a safety net or another job lined up. They say for every $10K in salary it will take 1 month of job searching. So $60K = 6 months and $100K = 10 months. If you don’t have double that amount in your emergency fund, I highly recommend waiting to quit until you have another job lined up. You can at least feel good about knowing you will be gone as soon as you find something else.
P.S. I worked on a farm all through high school and college. I didn’t like hauling pig manure. I didn’t like chopping hay for 36 hours straight. But, there were other parts I did like. You will never find a job where you like 100% of the work. (It’s work, not a hobby!) But, when you don’t like most of what you do, it may be time for a change. I needed that farm job to pay for college so I stuck with it until graduation before moving on. Like is about choices. Take time to think yours through since you will only have yourself to blame if things aren’t working out after you make those choices.
1. If you wear the same colours as the zoo employees, the animals will come right up to you.
2. Use labeled bread clips on your wires so you know which ones you can pull out.
3. To prevent choking while scrubbing your tongue, just look in the mirror at the back of your throat.
4. You can connect two ziplock bags by flipping one inside out to make a larger one.
5. If you dye your hair at home, apply Vaseline along your hair line first.
6. Putting down a couple sheets of toilet paper before taking a dump will stop any of that nasty splash back.
7. Put clothes in the closet with the hangers reversed once a year. As you pull clothes out, reverse the hanger. Every year you can give away any clothes that you never took out.
8. If you are not a ‘up with one alarm’ person, just have a ‘wake up’ alarm and then a ‘get up’ alarm an hour later.
9. Put a key hook just inside the front door and ALWAYS hang your keys on it.
10. To combat lost socks, have a separate mesh bag that you put my socks in as soon as you take them off. Since all you have to do is toss the mesh bag into the wash without opening it.
11. If you’re feeling tired, have a cup of coffee then immediately lay down for a 15–30 minute nap. The caffeine will be kicking in just as you’re waking up.
12. Use the seat heater on the passenger side to keep takeout food warm on the drive home.
13. Squish the toilet paper roll before you hang it up. It will make it roll much more slowly, preventing people (especially young children) from rolling out a large amount.
14. Use a beard trimmer to remove the cat scratch threads from your couch.
15. Put numbers on the bottom of your door for proof photo of delivery. Most of the time, the drivers don’t get your door number in the photo, and this way, they have to.
16. Write the date on your blister packs so you know if you’ve taken your meds for that day or not.
I’m currently in college at a large university in the US. My minor has simple requirements: pass at least 4 of 10 offered classes.
As it turns out, 4 of the 10 classes are taught by the same professor. He teaches 2 in the fall and 2 in the spring. By chance, I took him once. I’ve taken him 3 more times and have earned my minor, getting A’s in every single class. And I guarantee you I couldn’t pass a basic class with any other professor.
This professor gives weekly quizzes and monthly tests in person, but via the computer. We sign into a special software that doesn’t allow us to search the internet, and take the test with him there. Everything was multiple choice. But here’s where it gets interesting:
Many of his questions had more than one answer. So, he set the test so you could check as many answers as you want e.g. we could select both A and B because the answer could be both.
But the test never counted how many answers we selected, and it only made sure you checked the right box, not if you checked a wrong box too. So if the answer was A and B, and I checked A,B, and C, it would count as right.
So what’d I do? I checked A,B,C,D, and E for almost every single question. The software would see that I checked the right answer (because I checked every answer) and mark the question right. Sometimes, to maintain realism, I’d purposefully check only one box for a few questions to get them wrong. My average scores stood between 95–100% the entire semester. And quizzes and tests made up 75% of his grading, the other 25% being just menial homework. These classes boosted my GPA noticeably, and now I have a particularly impressive minor to put on my resume.
Oooh, that’s not good. The flight attendant just burned one of the cockpit crew and let an unauthorized person (your friend) know that there was at least one other armed passenger aboard. That’s a big no-no, but fortunately, the flight attendant gave her note to somebody who wasn’t freaked out or too bothered by it to make a ruckus. All ruckuses involving armed individuals on aircraft are bad.
So, her note says that one of the cockpit crew (the First Officer) is authorized by the feds to fly armed as a Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO). They get training at one of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) locations, which I believe is held now at FLETC Artesia (New Mexico). I flew armed a lot as an LEO and the normal procedure was to present my credentials and letter of authorization to the flight deck crew upon boarding the aircraft. The pilots always checked the paperwork very thoroughly, and on occasion one of the pilots would introduce himself and tell me he was an FFDO. Sometimes we’d chat for a moment about their training at FLETC, where I went through training. These were short conversations, as I didn’t want to disrupt their pre-flight routine or concentration. Sometimes the captain would give instructions, like “Don’t take any action on board unless one of the flight attendants asks you first.” That was the rule anyway, but he/she wanted to make sure we got it.
The flight attendants also know that I’m armed and exactly what seat I’m in for two reasons. First, they need to know in case an emergency arises and they ask for assistance. That only happened once in all the flights I took, an extremely unruly passenger who appeared to be progressing from “interfering with a flight crew” and “not following crewmember instructions” to “assault.” (That dude regretted it as there were six of us on board that flight.) The second reason they need to know is that they’re not allowed to serve alcoholic beverages to an armed passenger. For these reasons, we were required to stay in our assigned seats. I was occasionally asked by another passenger to trade seats for whatever reason, but couldn’t and wouldn’t. I got upgraded to business on a couple of flights and had to make sure all the flight attendants knew my new seat and the captain did, too.
We also knew who the air marshals, if any, were and where they were seated. And if any other armed passengers were aboard, we knew that, too, knew what seats they were in, and we usually introduced ourselves before take-off, exchanging identification/credentials. Subtly, so that nobody overhearing us would catch on and maybe cause a ruckus. That’s the other bad part of the Case of the Mislaid Napkin. By giving it to the wrong person (and not knowing that she’d done so), the flight attendant has left the right person in the dark. It’s not as big a deal as it could have been, because the FFDO/armed pilot isn’t coming out of the cockpit with his weapon anyway. I did have flight attendants come over and tell me, “You and the person in 18A are in the same line of work.” I also got a napkin note at least once that I can remember offhand.
Simple, The US initiated and the western blindly mimicking the U.S. media bias narratives casting doubts about China, hurling unfounded accusations on China to hurt China’s reputation, fear mongering by western media.
That is so blatant and disgusting the global south is put off and turn off the west in disgust. Any fool could see it except some brain dead in the west. But is it working fo the U.S. and the west?
I very much doubt so. In fact the more the U.S. does it the worst it looks. Most cultures in the Global South knows that one must have done many good things for a nation to despise it! Hence it falls on death ears mostly. And these days it gets worst and worst for the US.
Yugoslavian Coffee Cake (Povitica)
Potica 4498376143 703c5d2927 o 592c59bf3df78cbe7ea650e9
Ingredients
Cake
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
3/4 cup lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Walnut Filling
2 1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake: Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt and 3 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up.
Cover; let rise in warm place until double, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
Punch dough down; divide into halves. Roll each half into a 15 x 12-inch rectangle on lightly floured surface. Spread half the Walnut Filling over each rectangle. Roll up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side. Pinch edge of dough into each roll to seal well. Stretch rolls to make even.
With sealed edges down, coil into small shapes on lightly greased cookie sheets.
Cover; let rise until double, about 1 hour.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake until golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes. Brush with butter if desired; spread with Glaze.
Walnut Filling: Mix all ingredients.
Glaze: Mix confectioners’ sugar, water and vanilla extract until smooth. Stir in additional water if necessary, 1/2 teaspoon at a time.
Africans Reacts to White Globalists Agent Calling Africa Useless
Years ago I had a very abusive Team Leader who would constantly bully me. One day I snapped and got into a shouting match with him so our Manager pulled us to one side and demanded an explanation. I told him everything that happened leading up to the outburst, that I’d had enough, and verbally gave him my resignation. He pleaded for me to reconsider to which my Team Leader said “Nope, he’s already said he’s going. And if you don’t accept his notice then I’ll give you mine”.
After reassurance from the Manager that the bullying would stop, and withdrawing my verbal resignation, my Team Leader handed him his written notice and said that he still had one last opportunity to get rid of me or he was going. The Manager accepted his notice and said he had four weeks to find a new job.
After two weeks the Team Leader realised his mistake and asked the Directors if he could withdraw his notice. They replied “No. You told us to choose either you or Josh. We’ve chosen Josh”. Two weeks later his contract was terminated after 15 years of service. I’d been there 18 months.
Back in the 1970’s there was this fad. It was the CB Radio fad, and everyone seemed to end up with a Citizens’ Band radio in the car. Ah. We all had slang that we would use, and there were many a useless discussion over the air that we all endured.
I had one. My brother had one. My parents had one. My friends all had one.
It was so “hip” at the time, don’t you know.
CB radio
Now, we have cell phones, social media and all the rest. But every now and then, I get an itching to reach for the CB to find out what is going on regarding an accident that I just passed on the road.
Fads come and go.
And everything that we consider normal today, will eventually be viewed as a strange fad by others. Enjoy them while you have them.
Yes. The paramedics brought her in from a nursing home and they had been doing CPR for a while. The patient had been in and out of perfusing rhythms the entire time. She looked very old and frail and chronically ill. I asked the medics if she had a DNR order and they just rolled their eyes. The lead medic told me that they asked the same thing but the nursing home staff couldn’t locate the paperwork and because they couldn’t be sure they initiated resuscitation.
We didn’t have anything on record either but I wasn’t really committed to CPR and shocking and all the drugs necessary to keep this poor woman alive when her quality of life was likely so bad. I decided to give one round of drugs and then stop if there was no response. We did just that and much to my surprise she responded. Her heart started out slowly and gained momentum. Within a couple minutes she had a stable blood pressure. After a while she even began to attempt breathing on her own.
It wasn’t long before the family arrived and told us that the patient’s wishes were to NOT be resuscitated. They told us that she would never want to be kept alive this way and demanded that we stop the ventilator and medicines. So, I did. Despite stopping all support she continued to live. Ultimately, we admitted her to the hospital and she continued on in a sort of half-life state. This went on for days. Days!
I went to see her and the family a few times when they were there in the hospital and just felt terrible for them all. They were unhappy with me but they also understood why we did what we did. Ultimately, they sort of took it out on the nursing home staff and not the medics or me.
In the end, she died with her family all around her. Several members were able to travel in to say goodbye before she passed because of the hospital course. I suppose it all worked out the way it was supposed to. I still regretted it though.
Maybe it wasn’t rediculous as you mean but it was the biggest and it was Mine. I was representing a 15 year old pregnant girl. CPS wanted her sent to a reformatory. I wanted her sent to a girls school. The CPS worker testified that the girl should go to jail because when she was 5 yes five she seduced her father ( an executive with a big company). The girl had been raped by her father for years.
The girl said to me “ you told me that wasn’t my fault.” In the courtroom before God Judge and country I grabbed that CPS worker and tried to pound her into the floor.
It wasn’t looking good for me but the judge made an immediate order. He ordered the CPS worker to personally pay for the girl to go to the private girls school. (about 3times her annual salary) . I waited all day to be arrested. Finally a call came that I was wanted back in court.
It was announced that no charges would be brought against me and the order against the CPS worker was dropped and the order to pay made against the agency. The CP S worker was also to resign.
I’m not a violent person but only so much can be let go I guess at time I lost sight of my life and career and could only see my client.
I have gotten some nice comments. I need to add that before I went for this person the judge asked her if she had done everything she could for the girl. Her response was “I have been wonderful”. I am not proud of getting violent. It is very rare in my life. I was happy with the outcome but I risked getting my license and going to jail. I need to make a clarification here. I was in law school then. i was representing her as her probation officer. It was in the early 70s. A child’s right to an attorney was based on the parents ability to afford one. I was the closest thing to a lawyer she had.
PS. if you read about incest cases, or any sexual abuse cases of very young children, the children are usually taught by their abusers how to “please” them. they are basically taught to mimic seductive behavior. They are not seductive. They are merely mimicking what they have been taught to do, but not everybody sees it that way. many overtly seductive Teenagers have been molested in this manner as a child, but they are just labeled as seductresses. I guess it is easier for some people to blame a child than it is for them to take the time to learn about the effects of abuse on children. I was often called in by other probation officers when they had an uncomfortable feeling about a case because I could see these types of behaviors even minor ones. i’ll never know how many cases I didn’t catch, but I was never wrong when I called it.
Killer Thinks He Got Away With Murder – Doesn’t Know 5 YO Survived | The Morrissey Family Case
Not quite fitting in, this applies to ALL overseas types, near ones (Malaysia, Singapore) and far ones. USA, Europe.
An example is this
image 498
vs this
image 497
Superficially we look similar but we’re quite different.
You stand me next to some China born Chinese and you’ll feel there’s something off.
The foreign diet in our formative years changes us. I was a LOT fatter (though thing for westerners) and had a rounder chunkier face.
The life experiences also make us stand differently. I’ve written previously that in the UK if you’re weak (doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, Indian or Chinese) people will pick on you. So there’s an outward portray of aggression already… probably why cops stop me so much.
That’s just the visual things.
Then we’ve got psychology, culture and language.
All of which means you fit in even less. You can as again fit in on a superficial level but go any deeper and you’re spotted.
Being different leads to disimilar treatment sometimes, sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad.
My wife and I brought her car in for service at the dealership and we’re looking around while waiting. A young salesman asked if he could show us around. I said we are just there for service.
After talking a while about their new cars, he went to get “the closer” a big fellow who obviously had been there for a while. He began to say things like what would I need to do to get you into this vehicle and make me an offer. I told him we weren’t in the market for a car; I research such matters before making such a purchase; and, for me to buy a car today, he would probably have to nearly give it to me. I told him if I made him an offer, I was sure he would find it insulting.
I did let him pull my credit. This would have made it very clear that I was highly successful in financial services sales. Which is what makes his subsequent rudeness particularly inconceivable.
He continues to insist that I make an offer. I finally offer him probably half of what the car is worth (because I would have bought it on the spot at that price). He is insulted.
He then leans over me (with my wife still sitting next to me) and says:
“At some point in your life, you’re going to have to become man enough to be able to make a decision.”
I instantly replied:
“It’s not my manhood in question here; I’m not the one who can’t close this deal.”
I only saw the stunned look on his face for a moment before he turned to walk away.
June 2nd, Midnight; a 15 yo boy Zohaib posted a suicide note over social media; stating he’s going to end his life today.
image 495
I browsed through a lot of tweets posted from other users on the topic, and learned that the boy lives in my city on XYZ road. That’s it.
The problem is that, on the said ‘miles long’ road there are dozens of towns and neighborhoods interconnected, I mean, that is very incomplete piece of information to effectively and timely counter such an issue of extraordinary sensitive nature.
I responded to him immediately, and also requested public to send me any information or clue they might have about this boy.
image 494
And that interaction of mine resulted in one of the most burdensome barrage of tweets and DMs I’ve ever received as social media handler of city police, the number was literally in thousands. That kid’s name was trending nationwide on twitter during this fiasco. But sadly, nothing useful came out of this interaction tsunami, all I had was first name of the boy and that he lives somewhere in my city.
I calmly reviewed the situation for a minute; I mean our field officers are ‘head to toe’ engaged with crime fighting day in & day out, responding to the calls, handling cases one over the other, and now comparatively… I have this first of its kind situation where a boy wants to commit suicide about whom we know nothing… could even be a prank for goodness sake.
Nope. I told myself.
We should find and rescue him, no matter what it takes…we gotta!
I got Police Chief in the loop, by his orders Police command & Control was now at my disposal. Which I believe is the most sophisticated and comprehensive system of surveillance, communication and patrolling all across the country. We were about to to execute a time sensitive search and rescue task. Our officers responded to the given locations and secured the entry exit points; while being on the look out.
And that minute, I learned over social media that the boy has fled home, he’s on the loose!
Holy cow!
We didn’t panic with the thought of him doing something foolish while on the run, though it was a legitimate concern. We kept striving, I dispatched teams here and there upon receiving bits of information from concerned twitter users, and then the magic happened…. we got his address. Somebody finally recognized him I guess even though there was no display picture or anything else but the that helped us greatly. Now that is something, I can work with.
He wasn’t home but now we knew who he is. So technical resources along with human intelligence played the good part, he was tracked and in minutes… secured!
And all of this happened under an hour.
He was anxious and nervous… but otherwise fine and safe. His parents thanked the Police, the situation came back to normal.
Next day while I was at work, various news teams arrived at my office and I was genuinely surprised to learn that this episode has made to the news, even to BBC. I was directed to speak a few words on camera, which I did even though I hate to.
image 493
Those of you who know me for a long time, I really do not appreciate the idea of being on the limelight for many reasons. I have politely excused out of numerous feature stories and interviews all these years.
I’m not a celebrity, never was. Super hero, Yes. But not a show off… for that is not what cops are meant to be. That is why you see the big-ass mask on me even though I was requested twice that it is perfectly alright to slide it down a little during the talk. Nope!
Do police officers care about you? YES. Dogmatically!
I’ll do whatever it takes to protect and serve you, I will put my life on the line to save yours! And here “I” stands for Police officers you see daily around you no matter wherever you are.
Start your journey
Not wealth, but really in the things that matter to you.
Figgy Pudding
Figgy Pudding is a type of Christmas pudding which was originally made with figs. It may be baked, steamed in the oven, boiled or fried. Figgy Pudding dates back to 16th century England.
istock 000018579358 large
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
300ml (1/2 pint) milk (10 fluid ounces)
225g (8 ounces) flour (2 cups)
175g (6 ounces) dried figs
150ml (1/4 pint) Brandy (5 fluid ounces)
110g (4 ounces) suet
110g (4 ounces) prunes
85g (3 ounces) raisins or sultanas
50g (2 ounces) dried apricots
50g (2 ounces) dates
25g (1 ounce) dried apples
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
On the day before making the pudding, place the dried apricots, prunes and apples to soak in water and place the raisins or sultanas to soak in the brandy.
Remove the stones from of the dates and prunes.
Butter a large pudding basin or double boiler bowl.
Sift flour into a bowl.
Stir in suet and mix to a fairly soft dough with cold water.
Turn out on to a floured surface. Lightly knead until smooth.
Roll out two-thirds of pastry into a round and use to line a well-greased 2-pint pudding basin (or double boiler bowl).
Melt the honey and stir in the ginger and cinnamon. Add to the soaked fruits and brandy mixture. Mix well and place into the pastry lined bowl. Moisten edges of pastry with water. Cover with lid, rolled from remainder of the pastry. Press edges well together to seal. Cover securely with greased greaseproof paper or aluminum foil.
Steam steadily for 2 hours. Ensure that the water does not evaporate, topping it up from time to time with boiling water.
Three years back, in 2013, one evening, I was having casual discussions with my friend, lets call him “Mr.S”. We were discussing on different topics like current trends, jobs, future life, family and friends, money. At that time, I was working in a software company with little experience of 1.5 years and some cash in my account. S was studying hard to clear his remaining subject which forced him to take a year gap. And same was the case with “Mr.P” too, he is the third character in my story.
Let me tell you, we all are intelligent students. But because of some mistakes and their habit of taking things lightly cost them a year gap. In fact, Mr.P was smarter than me in every department. Mr.S was not good at academics but he was too good at marketing and some other “special” skills.
We three were together from last 7.5 years. We sat on one bench. We studied together. We stayed together. We tripped together. We partied together. We lived together. We participated and won lots of competitions together. And most important – we dreamed together. Everyone from our batch including teachers used to tell us — you 3 idiots are awesome.
Everything in life was going in a right direction. But let me remind you one of the laws of Mr.Murphy, “In nature, nothing is ever right. Therefore, if everything is going right, something is wrong.” [src: http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-laws.html]. And exactly, same thing happened with us.
Lately, I was thinking a lot about starting a business. Starting a start-up. Starting an IT Company. Starting an IT Training institute. Starting something related to IT. I discussed these thoughts with Mr.S. And guess what, he completely agreed with my ideas and within a few minutes we were business partners! I started giving more time to the thoughts on business. Within some days, we decided to include Mr.P in our team, as he was our best friend and also a sound person with technical knowledge. We shared all these thoughts with Mr.P and he also agreed to join us on the long adventure. But assured us that he’ll join the company after a few months.
So basically everything needed to start a startup was ready. We had a team. Me as a sole investor, lead technical person and of course, the CEO. Along with that I also had a role of Software Engineer in the company where I was working concurrently. It was a big task for me to handle both the tasks – a job and a start up.
My job was the main source of finance for my family and for the startup also. Mr.S was assigned the role of getting assignments and marketing department, while Mr. P was going to look after the training and in-house development. We also had few projects to start with. We also hired 2 people to work with us.
After few months, I made an investment of ₹2 lac (~$3000) and bought 4 advanced PCs, also rented out a small place to start our work in. And, within a span of 4 months, our small startup was on its way onto a long journey. We held a small inaugural function and celebrated. Yeah, that was quite an achievement for us. We started our working together.
But there was a small problem, Mr.P was yet to join the company. He earlier promised us to join the company, yet after 3 months, he was not interested in joining the company. After thinking a lot, I decided to talk to him about his decision and why he was not joining office. His answers gave me the biggest shock of my life. He refused to join the company. His reasons were like, “I am not seeing future in your company. Another friend of us started another startup and he is taking me in his team. I need money right now.” Guys, let me tell you, I also offered him mighty amount of salary. But still, he refused my invitation politely and sent a long message reasoning why he won’t join the company. Most of the reasons were BS. And story of Mr.P was finished. Completely.
Lesson#1 learned [in a hard way]: Do not trust the promises of everyone. Everybody is not loyal to his/her own words.
I was shell shocked, shattered, and quiet depressed after hearing his decision and answer. I was scattered from inside. I decided to keep the work running with Mr.S along with the two hired people. Things were getting more and more difficult.
Fast forward 4-5 months.
Mr.S was looking after the marketing and product sales things, he was the main guy our customers were dealing with. Whereas I was busy in development and resource management.
One day, while managing balance sheets, I figured out there was a record missing for a sum of ₹20000 (~$300). Out of curiosity, when I asked Mr.S about the missing ₹20000, his answers were not logical. They were irrelevant. They were lies. I got to know that he was playing some tricks and using the company’s money for his own personal use. His most funny reply was, “Dude, chalta hai… busy log hain hum, chhoti chhoti details par dhyan nahi rakhte“. [Dude, We are too busy people, we should not focus on such small details]. For him ₹20K was a small amount, but it wasn’t for me.
We had a bitter argument on this and it resulted into disagreement. And we decided to separate. Decided to drive on our separate ways. But he put one condition. He will retain the “business name“. As he was looking after the marketing and other things, he decided to go after the name and customers. And in such way, my first startup was dead.
Lesson#2 learned [in a harder way]: Be careful who you bring to the top with you, not everyone is loyal.
Image Source : Google
P.S. I allowed him to use the business name, because of two reasons:
I was ready to work with anyone, but not with a treacherous friend.
I trust myself, I was alone at the start and will fight the battle alone, will re-build everything from scratch. One can delay me, but can never stop me from achieving my dreams.
Edit 1: From last 2 years, we 3 have never met, talked or discussed about each other.
In June, 1954, US Senator Lester C. Hunt (D-WY) shot himself to death with a rifle at his desk in his US Senate office in Washington, DC. Senator Hunt had been despondent over threats he had received – from Sen. Joe McCarthy and two Republican colleagues, Senator Herman Welker (R-ID) and Senator Styles Bridges (R-NH) – that lurid reports of the arrest of Hunt’s son the previous year would be made public, both in Washington and in his home state of Wyoming, embarrassing Hunt and putting his upcoming reelection bid in peril. The younger Hunt had been arrested and charged with soliciting sex from a male police officer, who was working a sting operation in a Washington park. The charges were later dismissed, but McCarthy and his cronies discovered the fact, and pressured the police department into refiling the charges. Hunt was under great pressure from McCarthy, demanding that he resign, which would have effectively given the Republicans control of the Senate. At the time, Democrats controlled the US Senate by just one vote, and a Hunt resignation would have put the Senate into a tie, enabling the Republicans to gain control, since then-Vice President Richard Nixon would serve as tiebreaker. After Hunt’s death, the Republican governor of Wyoming appointed a Republican to fill Hunt’s unexpired term, who in turn declined to run for the seat in that fall’s election, a race that was won by a Democrat. Unfortunately, the Republicans flipped other Senate seats in 1954, and took control on their own. This scandal was downplayed for many years, but it also occurred in the shadow of the Army-McCarthy hearings, which were going on at the time of Hunt’s death. Even today, there is little awareness of the scandal in Wyoming, and few Americans know that it took place at all. Interestingly, though, Hunt is known as the driving force behind Wyoming’s famous “bucking bronco” license plate emblem, having commissioned the artist to create the design during his years as Governor of Wyoming.
I went to a famous pancake restaurant that was promoting its new burgers. I saw an ad offering them for $5.99 with unlimited fries and a free drink. I pointed to the jalapeno kick burger and asked the waitress to verify that this burger was, in fact, part of the $5.99 special. When she said, “yes,” I then ordered this burger. I had a $10 gift card, and my intention was to tip the waitress the remaining amount after taxes, which would have made it a 50% tip.
However, when I got the bill, I saw was charged $9.29 for the burger. When I called the waitress over to tell her about the mistake, she said that the burger I chose was not included in the special and that I needed to pay regular price. Naturally, I told her that I deliberately asked her if this burger was included before I ordered it and that she confirmed me it was. Her response was that she didn’t understand what burger I wanted.
I explained the situation to the manager, saying I would not have ordered it if the waitress did not tell me it was part of the special, that they cannot charge me for the server’s mistake. The manager called the server over and she had the nerve to deny that I even asked her about the burger being a part of the promotion. Unbelievably, the manager said she must take the server’s word for it.
In front of the waitress, I presented my $10 gift card, telling the manager, I was going to give the waitress what would have remained from my $5.99 burger, which would have been a nice tip. However, since she won’t own up to her mistake, she will now receive what is left from my $9.29 burger (which after taxes was about a nickel).
Waiting in line at an auto parts store and the guy in front of me sets down an alternator and asked the clerk for a water pump. The clerk naturally is confused and asks about the alternator. The guy tells him it’s a water pump and that’s why he asked for a water pump.
The clerk tries nicely to correct him, even shows the guy a picture of an alternator vs. a water pump for his specific car. To no avail the guy “knows more” than this poor clerk. Who I might add is 100% correct that the alternator is NOT a water pump. The power connections kind of gives it away specially when there are no hose attachments for it to pump coolant a.k.a. water.
Anyway, the guy just goes nuts. Throws the alternator at the poor clerk luckily missing his intended target. Makes huge threats about calling corporate; of course he has tons of friends on social media so he threatens to close the store down. On and on this guy goes about how much smarter he is than anyone behind the counter, how they always give him the wrong part. I swear it lasted 20 minutes. Anyway, the manager was in the back counting out the money or stocking something, not really sure, but she was in the back. She comes out, picks up the alternator, sets it on the counter, and asks the guy why he is throwing such a temper tantrum over an alternator.
Oh here we go again! How dare a woman correct him. She doesn’t know shit about cars. What’s a woman doing working at an auto parts store. The vile shit just kept going. Well, during ALL of this mess someone in the oil section decided to call the cops. At some point the cops sneak in and are right behind me and this entire mess. I’m gently pushed aside and they yell, “Sir!” real loudly. He turns and goes ghostly white. The cops start asking about the situation. One has taken the rest of us aside, found the caller, and we are telling them what we witnessed. The other officer is talking with mister alternator/water pump.
Next thing you know he is under arrest and as they are escorting him out we hear one officer tell the other officer that arguing about alternators was the dumbest thing they have witnessed all month. To which the guy yells, “It’s a fucking water pump!”
When my son was in elementary school he was beaten up by two older students to the point he required hospital care. Since the two boys were going into high school next year and it was the last day of school both the principal and superintendent said there was nothing they could do. I called the police and had them charged. One officer went to the hospital and saw my son and two more took the boys away in handcuffs at the school. When the case went to court I told my son to be honest and don’t guess. The boys had been in trouble before so the parents hired a good criminal lawyer.
My son was on the stand for over an hour being grilled by the lawyer and the judge was getting fed up. The lawyer asked my son how he knew who was kicking him. Basically he said “ I was being kicked by a Doc Martin shoe which was on a foot which was on a leg which was on a body and his head was on it” I could see the judge shaking in silent laughter and the stenographer laughing in her Dictaphone. The courtroom was silent with muffled laughter. The lawyer also stood away from my son and holding his ear said he had bad hearing and to speak up. My son was very nervous and scared showing it by speaking very quietly. Finally my son turned to the judge and said could he ask a question. The judge said sure. My son said “in which ear is he hard of hearing because he is going back and forth between both ears”. Same muffled laughter. The judge glared at my son and said “if his hearing is that bad he will be ending his questioning” with a wink to my son he told me later.
Apparently this went on with all the other witnesses and the case was dismissed from all the conflicting statements. This lawyer must have cost the parents a bundle. The police officer in charge of the case visited us about a month later to see how my son was doing. He also said that he was impressed with my son in court and gave him his card. All our children make us proud.
During my college, I took a course called entrepreneurial marketing.
The professor gave one interesting perspective regarding billing and customer experience:
When booking a flight ticket, if the price is $220 instead of $210, the customer wouldn’t feel anything. The $10 on the top of $210 he is paying seems insignificant.
But if you charge him $210 at the beginning and later ask him to pay $5 if wants a water bottle onboard, he might find the experience disappointing. One, he thinks $5 is too expensive for a water bottle. Two, he has to check if he has the cash. Three, he has to worry about conversion charges if it is the card. Overall, there are so many things that make the experience complicated.
So just add $10 more on the flight ticket and give him two water bottles if you are keen on giving a comfortable experience.
Same thing with star hotels. Just charge $20 more on the $150 per night and give complimentary water, canned drinks, and coffee rather than billing for every item inside the mini-fridge.
The same logic applies to tipping.
When you go to a restaurant for a pleasant dining experience, you are made to do all sorts of calculations for taxes and add them to the amount in the menu. On top of this, you have to do calculations for tips and then add to the final amount to see if the item is really worth that price or not.
It ruins the whole experience.
Secondly, this tipping is completely optional. It is in the customer’s hands whether to pay it or not. And if he wants to, whether it is 5% or 15% is also his choice. There is no guarantee that the one who did the best service will get the maximum tip.
Thirdly, does anyone who what is best service universally? For me, not bothering me by enquiring every five minutes ‘Do you need anything else?’ or standing beside my table is a better service. For someone, being approachable by waiting near his table is better service. It varies from person to person and it is near impossible for the waiter to figure this out.
Fourthly, the tip for bringing $50 for 100ml single malt is more than $5 1L water bottle, when the former requires less energy. Is there any logic here?
And lastly, the owner thinks that waiters get high tips and pay them low salaries. The customer thinks that the waiters are anyway paid and hence don’t give them tips. So the waiters are at a complete loss here.
The best way to solve this is to treat waiters like any other worker- chef, security guard, delivery guy or equipment operator. Pay them market salary rather than putting their livelihood at the mercy of the customers. Why do you need to tip waiters, when you don’t tip nurses, delivery guys, security guard, police, or janitors when they are also doing service?
English Muffins
English Muffins
Ingredients
1 cake or package yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 cups milk, scalded
1/4 cup melted shortening
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups flour
Instructions
After kneading, place in greased bowl and let rise until double.
Roll out to 3/4-inch thick. Cut with 3-inch cutter. Cover circles and let rise until very light.
Bake on greased electric skillet or at 375 degrees F in the oven.
Don’t comb your hair on the table at the restaurant. I don’t want your hair-strands in my food. I prefer that you use the restroom even if you want to touch up your lipstick.
If you know that you have smelly feet and that you have not washed your socks in several weeks, don’t take off your shoes in crowded places. Not even in the aircraft. You should have thought about this before you boarded the plane.
Let people who are sitting in the front of the aircraft deplane first! If you have a connecting flight, you can politely ask them to let you deplane first.
Let people exit the elevator/train/bus before rushing in.
Follow the queue. Yes, even in the washroom. Just don’t stand in front of the bathroom stall when 572 people are waiting in the queue.
Buy earphones, or headphones. Whatever you prefer. Because I don’t want to listen to rock music during my morning commute.
Give your seat to the pregnant lady. Or the lady carrying a small child. Or the old lady/gentleman. If you are a young lady in perfect health condition, this applies to you as well. Not just the boys.
Wear washed clothes, because the smell of the sweat sticks. Use deodorant. Specially applies when you are traveling by public transport.
Also, don’t keep your clothes next to the kitchen area, as the smell from spices sticks.
Don’t leave the texts as “seen” or with the “blue ticks”. Either respond, or never respond. Don’t respond to a text which was sent 4 days ago. Just be honest and tell them “that you are busy” or that “you don’t feel like talking to them”.
Show up with a gift. Don’t come empty-handed, after all the host took the time to invite you and do the preparation, didn’t they?
Don’t dump your negativity onto others. Not many people are accepting of it.
I had stopped dating someone who had just been divorced and wasn’t ready to settle (and wasn’t right for me). I had been invited to a party but didn’t want to go. I’m not going, I decided. Finally, two hours after the party had started, I went, alone. The loft owner’s friend opened the door — and we started talking. He was sweet, funny, had just graduated from college, was 7 years younger than me, was planning to move cross country in 2 days. We hung out at the party and then he asked if he could walk me home. We’d walked 2 blocks, making all sorts of witty comments about street signs,etc., and I thought, “This guy is so different than the ones I usually like…he’s not all dark and dramatic (which usually hooked me)…he’s like being with a best friend.” And then I asked myself, “Why shouldn’t I be in a relationship with a guy who treats me as well as my best female friend does??” I remember my small decision precisely: deciding that I’d be open to this…even had a mental metaphor of it being like a Japanese paper lamp I’d hold gently…not try to force anything…but just be open to connecting with someone who made life fun, who was kind, who wanted to know about me and share himself.
He’s been an extraordinary husband and father and after more than 30 years, is still the most fun person to hang out with. We’ve traveled all over the world, gotten grad degrees after the kids were born, created books and apps and games, gone through family stresses and losses, relationship issues, gone through everyday boring ol’ life.
It was a small decision I made, but a profound one: to love myself. To allow myself to be loved by someone who treated me (and others) well. To let myself be with someone whose company I flat-out enjoyed. It wasn’t sudden roses and symphonies…it was playful and sweet. But I see the depth and beauty now. I so wish everyone this.
Maybe it wasn’t rediculous as you mean but it was the biggest and it was Mine. I was representing a 15 year old pregnant girl. CPS wanted her sent to a reformatory. I wanted her sent to a girls school. The CPS worker testified that the girl should go to jail because when she was 5 yes five she seduced her father ( an executive with a big company). The girl had been raped by her father for years.
The girl said to me “ you told me that wasn’t my fault.” In the courtroom before God Judge and country I grabbed that CPS worker and tried to pound her into the floor.
It wasn’t looking good for me but the judge made an immediate order. He ordered the CPS worker to personally pay for the girl to go to the private girls school. (about 3times her annual salary) . I waited all day to be arrested. Finally a call came that I was wanted back in court.
It was announced that no charges would be brought against me and the order against the CPS worker was dropped and the order to pay made against the agency. The CP S worker was also to resign.
I’m not a violent person but only so much can be let go I guess at time I lost sight of my life and career and could only see my client.
I have gotten some nice comments. I need to add that before I went for this person the judge asked her if she had done everything she could for the girl. Her response was “I have been wonderful”. I am not proud of getting violent. It is very rare in my life. I was happy with the outcome but I risked getting my license and going to jail. I need to make a clarification here. I was in law school then. i was representing her as her probation officer. It was in the early 70s. A child’s right to an attorney was based on the parents ability to afford one. I was the closest thing to a lawyer she had.
PS. if you read about incest cases, or any sexual abuse cases of very young children, the children are usually taught by their abusers how to “please” them. they are basically taught to mimic seductive behavior. They are not seductive. They are merely mimicking what they have been taught to do, but not everybody sees it that way. many overtly seductive Teenagers have been molested in this manner as a child, but they are just labeled as seductresses. I guess it is easier for some people to blame a child than it is for them to take the time to learn about the effects of abuse on children. I was often called in by other probation officers when they had an uncomfortable feeling about a case because I could see these types of behaviors even minor ones. i’ll never know how many cases I didn’t catch, but I was never wrong when I called it.
Few people walk into a recruiting station and tell them they want to leave that afternoon. You do have to chat with a recruiter for a while. Granted, they’ll tell you the Army line. Rarely will they lie but they will leave stuff out.
For a lot of people, the Army sounds way better than the situation they’re in. In my first meeting with the recruiter, he told me the Army would train me in life skills (HAHA, at least, not from my MOS), they’d cloth you and give you everything you needed, I’d get a bed, desk, and wall locker, they’d feed me as much as I wanted to eat, I got to choose me MOS (This is where you need to do your research), they’d let me blow stuff up and play with some of the biggest toys the Army has, they’d give me $15K for college, and they’d pay me on top of it.
To a seventeen-year-old kid who’d worked a dirt farm in N. Colorado his entire life, that sounded pretty good. The Army helped get me my Eagle Scout and gave me some perks for that. The recruiter worked with the school to make sure I’d graduate. I was failing a class, and I told my recruiter I wouldn’t graduate. He went to the school and talked to the admin and they made sure I’d pass.
Researching your MOS and the Army is a good idea, but nothing prepares you for stepping off the bus. I have a Ranger buddy whose son just went through basic. He had his son meet with all the vets he could find and we gave our experiences. That wasn’t enough to keep him from calling home and wanting to come home.
No matter how prepared you are, once you get boots on the ground and jump down the rabbit hole, you’re in for a ride. I think people with less prep do better as they have no idea what to expect and they just roll with it instead of standing around thinking this is nothing like what everyone said.
That was when my first wife and I were traveling the country and hovering around the poverty level, often dipping below it.
Often enough, we would be between work and thus pretty much starving. Going weeks between eating. Those were hard days. Those were difficult weeks. Those were really hard times.
But every now and then we would come near an orange grove, or see a house that had a lemon tree in it’s yard. Thus, by asking permission, we were able to get FOOOOOD!
And so we were kept alive.
Eating lemons all day for a month, or grapefruit all the time for a month or longer.
Man, oh man.
It felt like our teeth were getting loose, and going to fall out. And aside from that, we were still weak. Ugh. It’s something that I just don’t recommend for others to do.
Please, heed my advice.
A diet of citrus should be a last resort. Nothing less.
How about a million times better? How about CPC is about the most well organized and most successful organization on earth! Think about results. Surely results matter. And results are every thing right?
In 1949 CPC started governing China. At that time it’s life expectancy is 39 years old. Today in 2023 it is 78 years old. Chinese out live the U.S. citizens on average by 2 full years!
CPC reduce its hardcore poor by 1 billion people by 2022! The U.S. not only not reduced it’s poor to day 1 million Americans living live in tents homeless throughout the U.S. China has ZERO HOMELESS!
China has built high speed rail that cross China for trains travelling 3 times the speed of U.S. trains! US has less than 100 km of high speed railway lines compared to 45 thousand km throughout China!
China provides universal healthcare and charge what you can afford for 100% of its citizens and free college education for those who qualify while in the U.S. kids get into unplayable debts before starting life paying astronomical tuition fees and a third of American’s cannot afford to buy health care insurance.
China’s healthcare and pharmaceutical companies charge its citizens 0.95 trillion dollars for its 1.4 billion citizens. And the U.S. charged its citizens 5.9 trillion for its 330 million citizens! So on average Americans are forced to pay an average of 17.9 thousand dollars per annum while China charge its citizens 678 dollars a person a year. So the U.S. charge its citizens 27 times more to live 2 years less!
Chinese can walk freely at 3.00 am on any street anywhere in China and a week of U.S. random mass shooting is equivalent to China’s decade! China has 11% of US prisoners population per million people! In the U.S. there are many no go areas and people get necked to death all due to their skin colour!
CPC knew that STEM engineers and specialist number is the key technological prowess and being a technological leader. A year of Chinese STEM graduates equate to the entire U.S. STEM specialist and to day China has 100:1 advantage over the U.S.! Hence according to ASPI China today leads in 37 out of the 44 fields of key strategic technologies and the U.S. leads in only 7/44!
So you still want to compare? So U.S. is the David and China is the Goliath. China through merit gets the very best to lead. US gets the most popular! No comparison who gets the result.
My 98 year old grandmother just passed this past Christmas. As I was cleaning out her apartment and sorting the junk from the priceless junk (amazing how much a 98 y/o woman can stuff into a 400 s.f. apartment), I came across a folded stack of notebook paper- it actually looked more like the paper torn out of a “Big Chief” tablet. On the outside was written, “Mrs. Ronzel Bailey, Orma WV” in my grandfather’s handwriting.
So, what’s so weird about that, you ask?
The paper was old and yellowed. As I opened it, I read the date- 1942. My grandparents had been married in 1938. My grandfather was a Lt. Commander in the Navy and on a ship in the Mediterranean in 1942. As I read the letter, the writing was in a very strange, detached voice. It told her how lost she must feel and how she must take care of herself primarily and then take care of my father (born in 1939). It then went on to tell her that she should buy a house on the outskirts of a small town and watch out for those who would take advantage of her.
I then got to a part where he instructed her to use her own judgement as to whether or not she taught my father about him. At this point I was thinking he was divorcing her! I got mad (even though I knew they were never divorced- they were married until he died in 1993- 55 years!). But, mad I was!
As I read further, it finally dawned on me that this letter was his final instructions to her in the event he was killed in action during WWII. It was difficult to hold back the tears as I read that she should not waste resources in trying to bring his body home.
This letter that I had just finished reading was what he wanted to tell her – make sure that she could move on and give her hope and comfort.
How she ended up with this letter, I will never know since he wasn’t killed in WWII and came home for another 50 years of marriage.
Two police officers with sober faces stared at me and I knew the news couldn’t be good.
They described a car that had just been in an accident, and the license plate. My wife’s mini-van had collided, burst into flames and everyone inside it died.
I’m doing a mental inventory about now. My wife, three children, and two nieces.
My legs turned wobbly. You can’t imagine what was going through my head. Because of the fire, they couldn’t find any useful identification but explained they could identify everyone both by DNA and by dental records. They wanted a DNA sample from me.
I guess they could verify my kids were mine, and that the adult was their mother. A nice, neat little bow.
Can you imagine? They’ve just told you that your whole family is dead, and —- I told them I would come down and give them a sample.
Getting ready to leave, my cell phone is buzzing. It’s my wife. What? Hard tingles are on my spine, like she’s calling from the grave.
“Our van was stolen from the parking lot….”
Were the sweetest words I could’ve ever heard. Yeah it was my wife’s car, but they won’t need any DNA sample from me today.
EDIT – to address some of the mysteries in the comments
I learned later that three people were in the van when it collided. A man, woman, and younger person, which they presumed was a child of the drivers. The police said everyone died, but they had a different human inventory than my own. I also learned they were part of a ring of car thieves, and the accident was not their fault. Another car ran a light and hit them broadside. No fatalities and only minor injuries in the other car.
My wife had organized a birthday outing for our oldest. All the necessary shops, restaurant, and theater were inside the mall. It would be several hours before it was time to leave again. The thieves had plenty of time to get away if they hadn’t been hit.
Chinese Sweet and Sour Meatloaf
Sweet and sour
Ingredients
Sauce
2/3 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons FINELY minced ginger
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon mustard
Meat Loaf
1 pound ground beef
3/4 pound ground pork (approximation)
1/3 cup finely chopped green onion(white and green parts)
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
2 tablespoons rice wine or any dry white wine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Mix all sauce ingredients thoroughly. Set aside to allow flavors to marry.
Next, combine all meat loaf ingredients except cornstarch. Take 1 cup of sauce AND mix it into meat. Follow this step with evenly sprinkling cornstarch over meat and thoroughly mixing it in.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place meat in loaf pan and pack it down. Bake covered with foil for about 30 minutes. During last 10 minutes of initial 30-minute baking cycle, remove meat loaf from oven, drain fat and slice into several serving-size slices. Pour about 1/2 cup of sauce over meat, making sure some of sauce runs down into cracks. Bake uncovered for about 15 more minutes.
Meanwhile, if you want, you can heat and thicken leftover sauce with about 1 teaspoon cornstarch and an equal amount of water. As sauce starts to thicken, you can add about 2 teaspoons hot oil to sauce.
This recipe makes a lot of sauce, so leftover heated sauce can be spooned over individual meatloaf servings if desired.
If you want a browner meatloaf, bake covered for about 20 minutes and uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes. Then drain fat, slice meatloaf and pour sauce over it.
As a person who has lived in GERMANY for 10 years, I can tell you what Germany offers and you can decide good and bad depending on your priorities. Germany offers the following:
Its a Democracy.
We have only 1 planet, so Environment is a priority.
There is no conflict among political parties over scientifically proven facts like climate change and global warming. Everybody accepts these proven facts.
Around 30% of all Energy is produced from renewable sources like wind & solar and is still on the rise . Eight of the seventeen operating nuclear reactors in Germany were permanently shut down following Fukushima in 2011. In 2011, Angela Merkel’s government announced that it would close all of its nuclear power plants by 2022.
Plastic bottles are to be returned once used and all trash has to be separated in categories before putting in dumpsters for respective categories of trash.
Germany has the highest Current account surplus in the world i.e. its earnings from exports exceed its expenses from imports.
People don’t carry guns around. Probability of that happening is 1 in 3 million.
People are learning slowly about foreign cultures, but are very friendly when you get to know them better. Contrary to International belief, I never came across a racist person during my long stay.
Citizens vote for higher taxes, this enables country to give top healthcare to its citizens and also maintain good infrastructure. So, healthcare system is very efficient, you can visit doctor without worrying about huge bills as you already pay the insurance cost as percentage of your salary.
Refugees are given refuge, if in genuine distress and are willing to integrate.
Education is free ranging from School to University level. So, average German person is very well educated. Therefore, Students are debt free at the end of their university studies with degree in hand.
Full-Time working hours are 35–40 Hours per week.
All Full-Time employees get 20–30 paid Holidays a year. Sick leave days might not have a limit if you have a prescription.
Inflation is kept under check, so pay raises are low but stuff you wanna buy is still affordable.
Maternity leave (12 months) and 2 months paternity leave are officially granted. There are 14 months of paid parental leave if the father takes at least 2 of them (12 if not). However the 14 months can be divided as seen fit e.g. 7 + 7 months for each parent.
There is no speed limit on Freeways as the roads are good and drivers are trained with long theory lessons and practical training until driving skill reaches adequate level. Hence there is no road rage.
Super rich are taxed higher than low and middle income people.
Unemployed citizens get unemployment allowance (including heating allowance and house rent) till they get a job.
Govt offers Retirement allowance for retired people and veterans.
Teaching good values to children is important, so people with Children never J-walk. That also goes for people who are standing next to people with children before traffic lights.
Food Factor:
Beer is the Best in the world without question and its low priced.
Though Italian and French wines are popular, German Gengenbacher wine from Blackforest is my all time favorite.
Bakeries are the best as well.
Everyday food in canteen/mensa is normally Italian and French stuff plus some salads. You always have to do a little bit of research before you find a place that serves authentic German cuisine.
German Football team is best from my personal perspective as they are A REAL TEAM and not a cult formed around a star player.
Limitations in Germany:
Though the new generation speaks English, language of communication in most work places is majorly German.
This is not a limitation for local professional working locally. However, it might limit the ability of a German professional to market his/her skills at global level. Skills of German professionals can help the entire world but lesser knowledge of English limit the possibilities of International cooperation.
High Skilled professionals who are looking to migrate to Germany must consider learning German or migrate to some other country which has more familiar language as the basis. As except for the startups or jobs in software & IT industries, German is first language at workplace. This might slow down their career growth if they fail to learn the language.
For closer integration in German society you get better and faster response if you speak German. Unless people know the language life can be comparatively difficult. Since, I knew the language it was fairly easier for me to get everything organized & get cooperation as compared to other people with same nationality and economic standing.
As Germany is slowly opening to attract foreign High-Skilled professionals as it is required due to economic reasons, the language situation is slowly changing but it requires time. Government offices in the city of Düsseldorf have adopted English as an additional language for official purposes and the new generation is adopting English as the second language in schools but the overall transformation will require more time.
Rules are governed by institutions & organizations and therefore are very rigid. Rules might ignore genuine trouble of some people from time to time and may seem illogical.
Local Trains and public transport as well as the ticketing system are managed differently by each city in a different way, there is no standard best practice.
Like a lot of misinformation about radioactivity and radiation, that too was simply wrong.
The actual radiation from the Hiroshima blast was not nearly what some people thought it would be because they were looking at the results of the Trinity explosion in New Mexico. But the trinity explosion was on a tower a hundred feet high and not 2,000 feet in the air. As a result, the Trinity blast generated a lot of residual radioactivity from the dirt that was within the fireball. Even that didn’t last as long as some thought it might.
The Hiroshima bomb, Little Boy, exploded 2,000 feet in the air and the fireball didn’t touch the ground. As a result, although there was a lot of radiation, the only radioactive materials generated came from the components of the bomb itself. Due to the intense heat, much of the radioactive material was carried into the stratosphere and carried away by the wind. The material that descended onto Hiroshima, although highly radioactive, was short lived. You have to understand that if a radioactive material has a short half life, it will be highly radioactive, but only for a short period of time before it has decayed.
The result was that the intense burst of radiation from the bomb was one source of lethal ionizing radiation, but the “black rain” that fell carried some of the short lived, but rapidly decaying material down upon the people.
Today, the background radiation at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki is normal. There is no danger from radiation in either city.
Muslims controlled parts of Spain, Portugal and Italy in the 11th century, before the Crusades. They had been in these countries for 300 years and 200 years respectively.
However, by the time the First Crusade was called in 1095:
Sicily had already fallen to the Normans, ending Muslim power in Italy
Muslim Al-Andalus (Spain, Portugal) had already collapsed and splintered into competing states. It was already losing ground to the Christian kingdoms of Castille and Aragon. Toledo fell in 1085 to the Christians.
The premise of this question is false because Islam wasn’t spreading in Europe at the time. On the contrary, it was in serious decline.
But what about the Turks?
The only area where Islam was spreading was in Asia, not Europe. The expansion of the Seljuk Turks from Central Asia into the territory of the Christian Eastern Roman Empire prompted emperor Alexios I Komnenos to ask Pope Urban II for help. This was what triggered the First Crusade.
The Seljuk Turks never reached Europe. Even without the Crusades, it’s highly unlikely that they could have. Horse nomads are not known for their skill at crossing the sea, nor are they famous for taking heavily fortified cities like Constantinople.
Okay, but what about the Ottoman Empire?
The Ottoman Empire conquered large parts of Europe in the 14th to 17th centuries, after the Crusades
So this question couldn’t be more wrong.
Islam was declining, not expanding, in Europe before the Crusades
After the Crusades, Islam expanded into Europe
Conclusion
The Crusades may have encouraged the spread of Islam in Europe, rather than stopping it.
This is because the Fourth Crusade of 1204 famously destroyed the Christian Eastern Roman Empire, doing far more harm to the cause of Christianity in the Near East than any previous event. And it was the weakness of Byzantium that in turn allowed the Ottomans to expand into Europe.
Without the Crusades, the Ottomans would never have existed. Let alone crossed into Europe.
Tldr: the Crusades caused the expansion of Islam into Europe, rather than ‘stopping’ it…
image 321
Italian artist Fabbio Fabbi (1861 – 1946) painted many delightful Orientalist scenes, such as this one. One has to be aware that these may not be strictly accurate, (and the concept of the harem is actually dark if one considers the details), but they are pretty to look at…
WARNING: GRAPHIC STORY INVOLVING SERIOUS INJURIES. IF THAT BOTHERS YOU DO NOT PROCEED READING THIS ACCOUNT!
I know of two times when boobytraps were used with sickening efficiency. In Canada the law is explicit: any type of booby trap is illegal plain and simple.
An individual I knew had been broken into three times through the same basement window and all attempts to reenforce it was met by the burglars taking the challenge and doing increasingly more damage. By the third time there wasn’t anything of value so they did damage and perpetrated some absolutely foul actions involving feces, etc. As I said in Canada booby traps are illegal plain and simple but an item that was designed for something else that caused damage to a uninvited guest was that person’s problem.
This man took a 3′x3′ piece of particle board and drilled about 100 drywall screws into it, after that at the the bottom of the board he assigned values 10, 20 etc. creating a Pachinko game, then “absent-mindedly” left it under the window. About a week later he arrived home to a frightening scene of blood EVERYWHERE. He called the police who attended and investigated.They surmised that the uninvited guest had broken the window and climbed in, dropping to the floor and landing on the Pachinko game. He must have yelled for help and a second uninvited genius came to his aid and in doing so put himself in the same predicament.They freed themselves then left via the front door.
The officers attended the nearest hospital where they found a couple of meth heads with injuries similar to what the B&E guys would have. When questioned, they said it was a construction injury and the officers didn’t push it. They didn’t stay in the hospital as they were tweaking pretty hard. The homeowner faced no legal repercussions but was told that a second Pachinko accident may not be viewed as an accident a second time.The tweakers moved on.
Problem solved. I have a nastier story that if so desired I can relay but I want to see how this story goes over.
There was a dumb immature football player in high school who liked a lot of girls. I was one that he liked. He ended up getting a college scholarship to play football. I never thought he would make it past his junior year. There was another football player that I knew who he was but, didn’t know him that also got a football scholarship. I never thought he would make it past his junior year either. A few years later I was in the break room at my miserable job. The NFL draft was on. I wasn’t really paying attention. Then I saw both of them announced as first round draft picks. Each had a $7,000,000 contract. I was in shock! Several years later I became friends with the one who liked me on Facebook. He quickly started messaging me asking if I was single and wanted my phone number. He started calling me several times a day. He was basically inviting himself to come visit me. We lived 2 hours away from each other. When I let him know that I wasn’t interested he got mad. He told me that I should have gotten with him in high school. He then said that he bets if I would have known how he was going to turn out that I would have gotten with him. I said YEAH!I think he was trying to go back in time and hook up with all the different girls he liked and couldn’t get in high school. He told me he acted the way he did in high school because he wasn’t getting any. I told him the reason he wasn’t getting any is because of the way he acted.
There is no such thing as the world’s best? Each country ought to have what they each see as the best for their nation and their people under different circumstances unique for them, over a development level that is different from country to country.
You can say every nation thinks they have the world’s best for themselves. They ought to be. Otherwise why would they choose it? Surely they all want to do the best for themselves right?
These words or symbols or slurs such as Communism or Democracy or Socialism are tags for various purpose. Some times to simplify some times to discriminate one against another or worst to slur and demonised. These labels meant nothing more, as each nation is shade of grey and not black or white.
The U.S. for example calls itself Liberal democracy. But in reality it is neither democratic nor liberal at all. Is 0.8% of the rich or and powerful decides that the 60 odd % of their people who bother to vote have only two choice Biden a senile or Trump a perpetual liar to choose from, surely that is not democracy!
The U.S. with a mere 4% of world’s population has 25% of the world’s prisoner’s population, surely it cannot liberal nor free? But U.S. can called itself whatever it wants!
China calls itself socialism with Chinese characteristics but the U.S. insists on the label. “Communism” for worst connotations to cast fear and hate on them! If you repeat it like this questioner do, it simply help your media cast hates on China.
To me if the west can call the U.S. a Liberal Democracy why can’t they tern China as Socialism with Chinese characteristics? It is no different from Western media calling Palestinians as “terrorist” and Isreal as freedom “fighter” These slurs and suggesting good is clearly a set. narrative!
Back in my previous incarnation, I worked in collections for the law firm I worked for – drafting legal documents, preparing for hearings, and then taking enforcement steps once we obtained judgment. Yes, we sometimes collected money, but it was usually frustrating and fruitless.
Once, a client offered to pay $2,000 on a $5,000 bill. The lawyer (now a judge) asked my advice. I told her my usual recovery on a judgement was zero. We took the $2,000 and called it a day.
The real problem is that lawyers often start doing work without regard for the client’s ability to pay, they don’t bill regularly and they keep working on files even though there are unpaid bills. I was never involved in one of my firm’s biggest cases – a lengthy patent suit where the client was billed monthly and paid pretty much when it received the bill.
At first, most of the work was centered around clients whose assets we had grossly overestimated. This was very true in family law litigation. However, we often had cases where we simply did too much work for very little return for the client. I remember meeting one client who had met with “other Steve” (who did the collections calls) who complained that the entire amount of the judgement went to pay taxes she owned on the settlement. I told other Steve to write off the bill.
There was the odd client who had the wherewithal to pay, but just didn’t. In a lot of cases they were asset rich and cash poor. They often lived excessive lifestyles even though their income had dropped severely (not our fault by the way). We had a client who owed us about $70,000 and was getting about $100,000 a year from a rich person’s estate. However, that money couldn’t be “attached” by a judgement so we went unpaid.
My uncle retired from the Dept. of Agriculture after a long career. He was headhunted by a couple of guys with land who wanted to set up a seed testing company. (If you want to claim something about seeds that you sell, someone independent has to test that.) He set up the program, and had contacts in the industry so that the two guys ended up with all their land in use. A year later the guys looked at their books and realized he was the highest paid person, and that all that he was doing, was signing off that the teenagers taking the readings, etc. and were doing the job right. They could do that.
They called my uncle in and offered him a severance package. He smiled, took the offer, and went home. Next month, they were frantic when they called him. After they had sent out the documentation with their signatures, every company that they were doing business with had called them and sent certified letters. They hadn’t understood that someone qualified as an expert witness needed to be signing those documents. The list of people qualified in that field is short. They had no choice but to hire him back, at an increased salary.
I was a 16 year old American girl. Our family was living in Brazil due to my father’s employment. My family had gone to the beach for the day and had hauled along a 19 year old acquaintance from church. While at the beach, a woman had swum out too far and she was drowning. The 19 year old and myself swam out to help her. The tide was turning, the waves were really rough, and she was trying to climb up on us in order to not drown. She was so desperate. The situation with the waves, the changing tide, and her extreme emotional state was so dire that the 19 year old looked at me and said, “It is better for her to die than for all three of us to die while trying to save her”. He swam back to shore.
I realized that I would rather die trying to save her than live the rest of my life knowing that I abandoned someone in need. I could not leave her. I just could not do it.
I had taken a Junior Life Saving Course as a 10 or 11 year old. I remembered just enough to know not to let her grab me. I got my elbow around her neck and made her float on her back. I worked on calming her down. I tried to work with the waves instead of against them. It took a while, but we both got back to shore. She was vomiting up water, but she was alive. We both were. My family packed up and we drove home. There were no accolades.
I am 55 years old now, and that event at the age of 16 was a turning point in my life. The experience let me know that I could put my life on the line and do hard things.
Over the years, I have volunteered and donated and done some nice things, but that was the nicest thing I ever did.
Can Taiwan with the QUAD backing it, defeat China
No.
Not even close.
…
Consider this mix…
USA, Taiwan, QUAD, The Philippines, all of NATO vs China. Who would win?
China would win.
…
How? Why? What is the reasoning?
Well…
Let me engage you in some creative illustrations. Because anyone even contemplating such a ludicrous question is completely ignorant of China; China’s history, and China’s massive military capabilities.
A tale of mountains
Imagine, China as a huge; just massive mountain. And on that mountain are thousands, maybe even millions of ant hills. Every meter or yard or so, you see another ant hill. And amongst all those ant hills a dangerous and lethal fire ants. Their bite is painful, and nasty.
The fire ants are organized, communicate by scent, and are completely willing to die on the spot to preserve their colony.
The individual bite of a single ant is painful, but will not really kill any large animal. But if ten ants bite an animal, then you can expect some serious harm to come to that animal. Including death.
…
Now imagine a pack of dogs. Each dog has his own hill to live upon. One dog, the biggest of them all; an old and mangy mutt lives on a mountain, roughly the same size as the Chinese mountain. The other dogs, of various types and sizes and breeds live on an array of different hills and much smaller mountains. One is a husky, another is a German Shepard. One is a poodle, while another one is a lean greyhound.
This pack of dogs like to travel around in a great big pack. They are pretty good at it, running about, digging holes,, barking at everyone.
…
One day, the biggest dog tells the poodle and the beagle to go to the Chinese mountain and start digging and raising a fuss…
And they go up there and run about. Barking. Trampling all over the anthills. They dig into the ground and ants go a flying about. They are so happy that other dogs of the pack join in, and before you know it, all the dogs are running about all over the mountain and tossing the tiny ants everywhere.
Then…
(And anyone who has encountered fire ants knows)
… all at once, simultaneously swarms of fire ants bite in unison every single dog. They flood in from all over. They come from everywhere. And the dogs start running away, but the ants are still clinging to their fur and riding the yelling dogs back to their home mountains.
Some of the smaller dogs die in place. They never leave the China mountain.
The medium sized dogs make it home, where they lay in absolute agony and howl in pain and agony. The large dog collapses and winces and twitches as the fire ants relentlessly bite him over and over.
…
The ants that rode the dogs to their home now are establishing ant colonies there, and they grow and expand even as the dogs dies and their carcasses rot to bleached bones.
The ants in the China mountain rebuild and in no time at all, have bigger and more elaborate ant colonies. And the reign of the dog pack ends.
Replaced with a world run by a peaceful, but lethal fire ant horde.
…
This is the reality of a war with China. Are you ready to watch it happen?
The woman living next door sent sweet bread for me yesterday.
She’s maybe 20 years old, mother of a toddler. It’s been a year they moved in as tenants and aren’t exactly the “hey, how are ya neighbor” type of folks and firmly practice minding their own business.
Last night, as I was back from work and having dinner. My wife brought a plate of sweet bread and said that Faiza (name changed) brought some sweet bread today and sat for a chat; it was delicious and kids loved it. We ate it while she was still here And after noticing the empty plate, she went back and brought some more, saying…
I’m glad you liked it. Here… I have brought some more for brother Neman. He should have some of it too.
And I thought… wow!
I tasted it and yeah it was nice. Sweet and crispy.
Later, I went to the other room and fired up my laptop.
I sat there and thought of her. Faiza.
A short brick wall separates our yards. I hear them all the time. She yells a lot at her husband and vice versa. She says “F” words to him which is quite uncommon. She sobs and nags. A poverty-stricken and miserable woman, indeed.
Worst of all… she curses her own son sometimes. I hear her saying “Drop dead” or “Why don’t you just die” to her own son. Downright awful.
Strangely… I didn’t hate her.
I would have hated anyone else in this situation. But not her. In fact, I felt for her. I remember seeing her as a toddler years back, running in the streets barefoot and playing with clay pots. She grew in this neighborhood.
It is complicated to explain to you, Quorans that in our lower-middle class culture… we just cannot go and tell people to behave on their personal matters. It can be considered rude and might actually trigger an irreversible chain of events that lead to “why did I do it in the first place” .
Believe it or not… I spoke to her one day. I initiated that neighborly talk and told her that I remember her as a toddler, playing in front of my house.
She smiled.
That’s what I was hoping for. A smile.
“I hear you cursing your son, Faiza. Trust me… he’ll remember it when he grows older. You love your child, I know. Do you want him to hate and abandon you as soon he can? It’s not his fault for whatever troubles you’re in”.
And that was it.
A few days later, I was home alone, opened my door upon hearing a knock and found her holding a piece of paper. It was the first time… she actually came to our door. She requested me to have her husband’s character certificate stamped by the local police as he’s applying for a security guard’s job.
I got it done.
It’s been weeks. Yelling between them is there but not so much, I would say. And certainly no more cursing towards her own son. I think… the kid has started going to play group. I saw him in his cute uniform.
I was on a general medicine ward earlier this year where I met a patient who we will call Mrs X.
She had agreed to be a teaching patient. This was because she has peripheral vascular disease (the arteries in her legs weren’t working so well) so she had some good signs and symptoms.
While taking the history and exam I got to know this beautiful character very well. She was bright, energetic, witty and very funny!
She made jokes at her own expense, wasn’t afraid to rip into me (I did a little bit back to her too), and despite her rather poor medical state she had a great outlook on life.
Several months go by and I cycle through different specialities.
It was my first day on the geriatric ward and I got assigned my long case. This is a patient I’ll follow for the entirety of my placement. Writing about their medical history and progress.
Guess who I get assigned? It’s Mrs X!
She had undergone a double above knee amputation due to her peripheral vascular disease.
As soon as she saw me she smiled and said;
Mrs X:“Well I’ll be dammed! Who let this packet of trouble in here, how are you Carter?”.
I smiled, her cheeky wit was all to familiar and lovely to see.
Me: “I know right! Can’t get rid of me that easily. Hopefully you will be able to keep up with my banter still Mrs X”.
Mrs X: “Oh I will. No going easy just because I’ve no longer got a leg to stand on”.
From her cheeky grin erupted a heavy belly laugh. Only she could joke about a double amputation.
Me: “I would never, and I’m not giving you one of mine to stand on either!”.
We then proceeded to give each other a hug and catch up on the last few months.
Sometimes humour really is the best form of medicine.
The first time I saw my ex’s new partner, she stepped out of my old marital home with her child and stared at me blankly on the doorstep when I was picking up my son. It was odd, to say the least, to be standing outside my own house (effectively)and being introduced to his new flame. I hugged and kissed her hello and said ‘’Nice to meet you.’ Then walked away feeling surreal and asking myself ‘’What the hell is happening here?’
I was married for 18 years. We had a fairytale relationship. There were only three certainties in life: taxes, death and the fact that we would be together for the rest of our lives. But, things ended.
A reasonable adult will accept that the relationship ended for good reasons and that things just weren’t working anymore. But when your ex finds a new partner, that’s a whole different story. When he introduces his new partner to mutual friends as ‘’the love of his life,’ you find yourself having the petty, angry feelings a teenager would have. Then you chastise yourself for becoming THAT person.
And the day your 8 year old tells you that his suit for the wedding is too tight and you look at him bemused because you have no idea what he’s on about, and he looks back at you like a deer in headlights because he assumed you knew, you feel like you have been punched in the stomach. And weeks later, when you receive a text from an aquaintance asking ‘You okay?’ and it turns out she’s referring to the wedding photo just posted on social media, you feel you never existed. That’s when you realise those 18 years of love, support, fidelity, encouragement and accomplishment meant absolutely nothing to your ex. Or his family.
So you spend the next couple of years in a haze of various emotions (hatred, resentment, anger, jealousy, insecurity, despair) until one day you realise you’ve not thought about it much lately. And although the hurt will never disappear entirely, eventually it makes more sense to just accept it.
Why people divorce
Pretty good explanation.
In the USA…
Ohio, USA auctioned off 393,000 pieces of protective clothing for only $2451, and eventually threw away 7.2 million pieces of protective clothing as well as expired masks, gloves, and other materials. These soon to expire supplies cost approximately $29 million in federal funds.
Vermont sold 105,000 boot covers for $82.50 and thousands of safety goggles for 29 cents.
A survey by the Associated Press found that at least 15 states from Alaska to Vermont have abandoned some of their personal protective equipment due to expiration, surplus, and lack of willing buyers.
More than 18 million masks, 22 million protective suits, 500,000 gloves, and more have all been thrown into the trash can. This does not include states that have not provided accurate numbers to the Associated Press or responded through case studies or other measurement methods. Rhode Island states that it has crushed and recycled 829 tons of personal protective equipment. Maryland processed over $93 million in supplies.
The entire article is too long and there is a lot of material waste. I have only cited a small part of it. And that’s just what the US has calculated by itself.
image 320
In the past three years, countless people around the world have lost their parents, children, and partners. These life-saving supplies are just rotting here. Tell me, who is the one who does not respect human rights?
At the same time as these things happen, Washington was doing this. No party has done better.
image 319
The economic structure of this world is a joke, your society is a joke, and I watch it with tears in my eyes.
It needs to be changed. It can be changed. It must be changed.
Zones v3 – The most useful relationship map in history
“It’s really more of an in-person kind of explanation,” he demured, then suggested a dinner date.
I hesitated. Normally I don’t meet my online dates until significantly more text and phone contact. Partly for safety reasons, partly because I don’t want to waste my time on guys I know will not work out. But mostly because I have been on A LOT of bad dates.
He said he was living in his friend’s spare room because he’d hit a few “speed bumps,” in life. I totally got that. I’m the queen of speed bumps myself. I let myself dare to hope maybe— just maybe— I had found a kindred spirit. I agreed to the date. And just like that, there I was, listening to him tell his story from across the candlelit table.
”About a year ago, I went out with some friends after work,” he began, and I smiled and nodded to let him know he had my attention. “I met a girl at a bar and we really hit it off. We ended up going home together. Next day, there’s a cop on my doorstep. And yada, yada, yada… long story short, she didn’t LOOK sixteen.”
I stiffened. Did she look 30? Because you’re 44, dude.
“So,” he continued, “I have a felony on my record. I was put on probation, and my job fired me. And then, just to kick me when I’m down” —and this is my favorite part— “my wife left me.”
?!??!!
“Bummer,” I said, because what else is there to say?
“So I was out of work, and my mom and I couldn’t live off her social security check alone, so she started driving for Uber…
So you have an adult sister with autism, and you resent her living with your parents and, from your perspective, “doing nothing”.
You obviously don’t live with your parents and sister.
Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there is a very wide range of capability and deficits. If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person. What one person with autism does has no bearing on what another person with autism can or will do.
Do you know anything about what your sister is capable of? Perhaps she had difficulty with language, making any interaction with the public impossible. Perhaps she has extreme sensory issues, making leaving her home environment an exercise in pain and anxiety. Autistic people can be intellectually disabled, or intellectually gifted. And both extremes tend to struggle with the social rules of conversation and interaction.
I would suggest that you find out more about your sister, without judgement. Ask questions with an open mind. Attend doctor’s appointments with your parents. Get to know your sister, on a personal level, without expectation of what she “should” be doing.
It’s perfectly normal, and even typical, for adults with autism to live with parents. They may lack the necessary mental skills to manage schedules, financial decisions, even cooking a meal or basic hygiene. While being able to discuss the intricacies of rainforest habitats.
However, your parents will not be able to care for her forever. And she is your sister. Eventually she may need you to help. So lose the attitude and get informed. That way you can be a loving, caring sibling, rather than a jealous, resentful one.
That’s three spaceX raptor engines, on a regular ass flatbed trailer, being towed around by a ford.
ULA and all of the other legacy launch providers would have built some bespoke vehicle at the cost of millions of dollars to do this job.
I can think of few other images that capture in one shot the difference in philosophy at play here. SpaceX acts like it’s stuff is commodity, yet tough hardware, and that it can be treated as such.
It’s a rocket engine. If it can’t survive being towed around by a ford, it’s probably not going to survive flying to mars, landing, and taking off again with minimal human interaction.
The entire south Texas facility looks like a construction site that might be dedicated to the oil and gas sector (which is no surprise, given as that’s the sector that largely built it), not some hyper-clean room high tech facility that looks like it’s primarily built to host congressional delegations. The equipment used is overwhelmingly the sort of stuff that one sees at any industrial facility where you have to worry about cost, rather than the taxpayer subsidized specials that legacy companies seem to be addicted too.
When I was still dating Ebba, she warned me for her father on several occasions. That he was a difficult man, that he was incapable of listening to other people, and that he constantly complained about my trees being too high. And that he would never stop.
image 318
Her words turned out to be augural signs for what was to come.
Have your neighbors ever called the cops on you for something ridiculous ?
Yes, all the time.
It started with nagging. Nagging about my hedge which was too high, nagging about my backyard birches whose leaves fell into his garden (and those tiny, tiny twigs), then about an old elder tree that (slightly) leaned over on his side of the fence, then about a Christmas tree that would grow too big in the future, then about all the shadow which is cast on his property.
Nagging, nagging, nagging.
So he contacted the community officer to complain, and that kind man patiently tried to explain that on the countryside, trees and hedges are a normal thing, and so are leaves and the like. He did not listen.
Some time later, we came back from abroad near the end of Eastern holidays, and our beautiful Christmas tree — the one that “would grow too big in the future” — had been cut. The bully admitted without any shame that he had done it.
The community officer tried to explain to my neighbor that this was not done, but again the bully did not listen.
And so it began, and proceeded.
Then envelopes came. With pictures of all the leaves and twigs that fell into their garden, and of all the fictional damage that they had done.
Then he sued us in a Justice of Peace court because of our trees, and the judge himself came by to check on his complaints. And he did not agree, on all accounts. He explained the bully that leaves and twigs are a part of country life, and that he would have to live with that. (He did not listen.)
The bully then nearly physically attacked me, and threw his entire repertoire of vile words in my face (and some of it also in my ear). He was heavily reprimanded by the judge. (He did not listen.)
Since then, he called the community officer again, and was again reprimanded and asked to stop. (He did not listen.)
Ebba was right indeed — her father will never stop.
So we planted a seedling of a giant sequoia in our frontyard.
It is a direct descendant of a 500-year-old Californian giant, and it grows ferociously. Last year, it doubled in volume and added more than two feet to its height, and it will keep on doing that until it towers above all the neighborhood trees in no time.
On my second day in my new job, I was summoned to a meeting with the director. He told me that the person I had been hired to replace, as the top finance person in the company, had accepted an offer to stay, and that I would therefore not be made permanent.
Aside from some curiosity about this development, which he declined to gratify, my reaction was being absolutely fine. Just another curveball in the strangest year of my life.
As I got up to leave, my chair knocked over the fan behind me.
“Just because you’re being let go, doesn’t mean you can start trashing the place!” he said, and we both laughed.
Added:
Ten days later, I had lunch with the man who had replaced me at my previous job, as we had become friends during the handover. He asked me to come back and work with him. I accepted. A few weeks after that I fell in love with him. Last month we celebrated a year together. Funny what life throws at you.
When I was 18, I had a job as a receptionist in a small doctor’s office in a rural area. There were three doctors who were based in another community. Their hours at this clinic were sporadic. This was when our healthcare system was in transition and many of the rural people didn’t understand the complicated new changes.
I noticed that the head doctor, who owned the business, was doing some dodgy things. He was billing the government for treatment, and then charged the rural people cash for the same visit. For example, a girl who had saved up money came in to have her ears pierced, was charged cash. The doctor then billed the province for an “ear infection.”
This same doctor opened an x-ray clinic in his own community, and apparently almost everyone who came through the door “needed” x-rays.
There’s more. In those days, the family doctor went all the way with his pregnant patients, from a positive pregnancy test, to delivery. Except this doctor was a no show, every time. Sometimes he went golfing after getting these calls! Sometimes he walked his dogs instead of attending the birth, birth after birth. Most times he got the message and simply ignored it.
This was awful! These poor rural people were being cheated, and the pregnant moms, too.
So, I took photocopies of government billing and the receipts for cash. I had lots.
I began telling these pregnant clients the truth, and they started going elsewhere for treatment.
I was at a loss as to what to do next, so I took all my photocopies to the mayor of the closest large community. He thought they were interesting. I was so pleased. However, the mayor didn’t tell me what would happen next…
I went to work the next day and the day after that. THEN, I got a call from the wife of the doctor, firing me. She didn’t say why, it was a short call. I’d never been fired before, and I had such hurt feelings that I actually cried. I felt so terribly unwanted.
Then I got a call from an employee at the other clinic. She said there were two mean guys from the government there who showed up with some kind of paper that said they could search through all the files. Later I learned that the doctor lost all his hospital privileges in the provinces. A couple of years later, he closed his business and left the country.
Rationally speaking, China or the Qing Dynasty was ruined by its own problems, and the British were only the fuse that ignited them.
In fact, with the wealth and potential that China has, it is difficult for any other country to really challenge it as long as it is on a normal track, having long occupied a quarter of the world’s population and wealth, reaching half at its peak. Such a country could only be destroyed from within. Several vulnerable periods in China have been marked by various unresolvable structural contradictions:
First of all the Song dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, since the Song dynasty was a local power, it had no control over the north and was caught in a long war with Jin and Liao, even so, the Song was the last large country to be conquered by the Mongols, after the Mongols had conquered most of Eurasia, they concentrated their forces of half of the continent to attack the Song dynasty, even so, the war lasted almost 50 years, it was not easy for the Mongols and As Mongol Khan died in Sichuan, it forced Mongolia to stop its conquest of Europe and led to the division of the Mongol Empire.
Then came the Manchu invasion. The problem of the Ming Dynasty was the successive famines during the Little Ice Age and the failed fiscal policies that led to a high concentration of wealth to the bureaucratic class, with officials getting rich and the country not collecting taxes. The corrupt bureaucrats had no regard for the survival of the country before their personal interests, and the Ming Dynasty collapsed after a massive peasant uprising broke out, at which point the warlords in the north also colluded with the Manchus for their own benefit and gave China away.
The structural contradiction of the late Qing dynasty was that it was a minority regime, which meant that the rulers saw the state as their property and the people as their slaves, and they were more afraid of having their rights taken away by the people as opposed to being afraid of foreign invaders; after all, foreigners wanted only property (territory) and the people wanted their lives. Therefore, the Manchu rulers did not dare to mobilize the power of the people and let them master advanced productivity and technology. As a result, Japan in the same period could modernize rapidly on a much worse basis, while the Manchu aristocracy could only make do.
There are many uncanny but thought-provoking phenomena in the Opium Wars that illustrate these issues.
The British did not initially sell opium to China; since they had already succeeded in the Industrial Revolution, they believed their greatest advantage was industrial consumer goods, which could be industrially mass produced at low cost, and through which they believed they could succeed in China.
And then they failed.
Haha, yes, because China was in a small peasant economy, with little economic circulation and no modernization, the peasants did not need these consumer goods at all, nor could they afford them. For food, they grew their own, for clothing, the price of Chinese cloth was even lower, and the most demand was for spices, a few agricultural tools, and only the high officials and the rich consumed those “magical gadgets”.
Well, the British adjusted their strategy and they started selling Indian spices to the Chinese, but that’s when a new problem arose, and that was the balance of trade. Due to the extensive trade, Chinese porcelain, silk and tea flooded into Europe, fostering European consumption habits, especially tea, which was literally gold growing out of the ground. Europeans have always suffered from the local water quality problems, due to industrial pollution, and no modern tap water system, Europeans have long endured the bitterness of drinking water, tea is simply a savior. At that time, people did not know that the soil had the problem of acidity and alkalinity, and they thought that only China could produce good tea. Therefore tea became the core of the world’s trade at that time, for the profiteering of tea, the British shipped almost all the world’s silver to China, which led to the silver crisis in Europe, that is, severe deflation.
To balance trade, British merchants packaged opium to sell to China as medicine, which opened the door to a new world, yes, the door to nightmares.
image 341
Opium was a perfect trade good, a product that could be manufactured in large quantities and that consumers could not get rid of after forming a habit, but none of this is the core of the problem, the most crucial point is that opium was banned in China. You must think I’ve said something wrong, but no, the logic goes like these:
Since opium was banned, Chinese farmers could not grow it, so this meant that China’s greatest advantage, the cost advantage, was gone, something that had not been the case with previous agricultural products.
Because opium was banned, it could not be imported through normal channels, was not taxable, and because the trade between China and abroad was monopolized by a few individuals who were thus sufficiently profitable, there was sufficient incentive for Chinese and foreign trading merchants to collude and buy officials to smuggle large quantities of opium. When the supervising officials essentially became accomplices of the smugglers, and there was no channel to respond to the ruling class about the actual situation, the opium trade became a mutually agreeable existence.
Since there was no supervision, everyone became complicit, forming a wide class of interests, so much so that it was even more impossible to contain, and the profitable officials made money to share the profits with their superiors, so that the senior officials were also deeply involved, so much so that the emperor was aware of the situation at a later stage but still could not stop it, because even the emperor himself could not resist the temptation brought by profits.
When the opium trade grew exponentially, problems arose, the people took a lot of opium, a large number of refugees emerged who were bankrupted by opium, the army took a lot of opium opium and lost its fighting strength, and the most crucial problem was the same as the situation in Europe before, the outflow of silver. At this point, the emperor finally realized the problem, yes, the emperor never worried about the miserable situation his people were in, he only cared about himself and his property, that is, silver.
image 340
At this point, the “smart” officials came up with a solution, the same as the current North American policy on marijuana, if you can not prohibit, simply liberalize.
Well, the nightmare really came. Due to the huge profits of opium, farmers stopped growing grain and they grew opium, domestic opium quickly took over the market, opium prices plummeted, more people started smoking opium, the market became bigger, so much so that smugglers could still make a lot of money even if they paid taxes legally and provided the officials with kickbacks as much as they should, and instead of balancing the trade, the open door policy made opium even more unstoppable.
When the Qing government once again made up its mind to ban opium, it was too late. The harsh policy not only failed to solve the problem, but also angered British businessmen, who spent a lot of money to convince the British Parliament to vote to declare war on the Qing Empire, a vote in favor of which was narrowly won by only nine votes. This meant that even at the time, when Britain was at its strongest, they did not have enough confidence to defeat China halfway across the world, tens of thousands of kilometers away. The parliamentary lords took the money and sent a small expeditionary force to try, at least they knew that the Qing did not have enough naval forces to retaliate against them.
At this point, the ignorance and lack of understanding of the other side on both sides of the battlefield is mind-boggling to people today.
The Qing emperor had always arrogantly believed that he was the ruler of the world and that the British were just some barbarians. He regarded the British attack as a historical harassment of China by barbarians from the north, as if the British army would immediately surrender and kneel down and beg for mercy as soon as he gave the order for the Chinese army to attack, which was not the funniest thing, the funniest thing was that the initial reaction of the British army seemed to confirm his judgment.
Surprisingly, the British fleet did not dare to attack and only cruised in the outer sea. The Qing generals holding on to the shore batteries even became bored, thinking that the British were bluffing and how they dared to fight against the armies of Heaven.
image 339
Do you know what the British think? The British think they are “blockading the port”. I have to say, I really laughed, “blockade of ports”? They didn’t even know that the Chinese had no concept of trade or sea power at that time, and all trade was packaged by officials as “tribute” from the surrounding barbarians to the central state, which had everything and didn’t need to trade at all, but only to show appreciation and give gifts to the “tribute”.
In fact, it was when the British fleet prepared to blockade the Yangtze northward and began to move deeper inland that the real battle took place, a process that shocked both sides.
British naval guns were surprisingly farther-ranged and more powerful than the Chinese shore guns
The Qing shore guns were surprisingly all fixed guns, unable to adjust their angles or aim, and could only probabilistically kill.
The Qing army’s jingalls were surprisingly unable to inflict fatal wounds on the British.
image 338
The British tactic of suppressing fire with naval guns and attacking with small units around the flank and rear was surprisingly easy to make the Qing defenses collapse. And this simple tactic seemed to work forever; the Qing army seemed to have absolutely no reconnaissance capability.
The Chinese population around the battlefield simply watched both sides perform, and even applauded the British victory, as they were apparently more oppressed by the Qing officials.
In the end, this turned into an almost one-sided massacre.
At the same time, the message to the palace is a lot of good news. The officials could not explain such an incredible defeat, and they could only cajole the emperor that although the Qing army had been winning, the harassment of the British brought a huge financial burden. How about giving the “barbarians” a sum of money to meet their trade requests and induce the British to retreat? They even falsely claimed that the defeated British army knelt outside the city gates and prayed for the mercy of heaven, which was moving.
Coincidentally, this was the time when, due to a massive outbreak of plague among the British army, more people died of disease than died in battle, and the British army was unable to fight, so a consensus was reached. The officials and the emperor saved face and the British got the benefit. The first unequal treaty in modern Chinese history, the Treaty of Nanking, was signed in such a confused manner, which started the prelude to China’s “hundred years of humiliation”. And this war even too small to be worth mentioning in the history of the British.
image 337
What, if anything, can be learned from this history? I would end this article with a quote from the Chinese author Liu Cixin in The Three-Body Problem.
Weakness and ignorance are never an obstacle to survival, but arrogance is.
This statement is not only addressed to the Chinese, but also to the many Westerners who currently know nothing about China but are happy to teach the Chinese how to behave. Hopefully, as mature civilizations, we should all refrain from repeating the mistakes of the past.
I had an employee in her late 30s that kept missing work. She called in with lots of excuses. Vandalized car, stolen keys. I put her on a performance plan (first step to termination). So, she reported to HR that she was an alcoholic. I, according to HR, could no longer terminate her. So, I (the company) continued to pay her while she spent 3 days in jail. I paid for her to be off work for a month, while she attended out-patient rehab. During her time off for rehab, she got pregnant. I paid for her to have a baby and 8 weeks off work. She continued to miss work…probation appointment, broken car-start-breathalyzer. Her work was terrible, she antagonized the other employees and spent a good part of her workday outside smoking cigarettes. She eventually quit. I never was allowed to fire her.
However, I had another employee that I did fire…for smoking marijuana during her time off work. She was selected for random drug testing. She failed for marijuana. Even though she was not using at work, and she was a good employee, I was required to fire her. She was in her 60s. She apologized to me as I was terminating her. I went back to my office and cried after she left. I felt so terrible for what I had done to her.
So, smoking tobacco leaves and drinking alcohol to the point of complete failure to perform….ok! Smoking marijuana leaves during your time off, while doing a good job at work…b-bye.
I get to New York City, by hitchhiking if need be.
I go to the New York library and find the name of a good patent attorney.
I visit his office and show him the phone.
His jaw drops to the floor. He knows he’s looking at nothing that can be built in 1969.
Then I tell him there’s nothing in that phone I know how to patent, but I know a lot about the broad evolution of technology over the next 50 years across semiconductors, computers, programming, biology, material science, etc.
He takes another look at what is obviously the most powerful supercomputer on the planet…
Then I say: “I need a place to stay and a little spending money while we figure out how to build a company that’s going to own the most important intellectual property portfolio the world has ever seen. We’ll need scientists, engineers, investors, and lawyers working together. You in?”
You want a patent attorney, they see the possibilities.
Oh yes! Back in the day (early 2000’s) when I lived in Los Angeles I worked in the accounting department for a catering company. After a few months I was doing ok but I was aware that my immediate supervisor (we will call him Javier) was not very fond of me. (Well, actually he had been WAY too fond of me at first but once I turned him down it was downhill for me in that office. But that’s a separate story and I don’t mean to digress.)
One day the phone at my desk rings and I answer it. The young lady on the other line tells me she is answering the add she read in the paper (yup, newspaper ads! I am that old!) about the job opening and she is interested to set up an interview. Yes you read correctly: Those idiots had placed an ad in the newspapers for MY job and had given the phone number at MY desk as the contact by mistake. I was very pleasant to the young lady on the phone as well as the other dozen or so that called until Javier made it in later that day. I went into his office with a big smile and handed him his messages and said something along the lines of ‘oh and these messages are from people answering the want ad. You know, the ones that want to interview for my job.’ He looked at me in complete shock and embarrassment since I had just called him a complete idiot and he was left speechless which is essentially what had happened. I mean, what could he say? That was on a Friday and the owner of the company (who was completely unaware) was in Hawaii and would not return to the office until Monday. The owner came back on Monday livid that this had happened, was embarrassed and apologised for causing me any discomfort. Javier didn’t apologise as much as he said that California was an ‘at-will’ state which meant that one could be fired for no reason at all, blah, blah and that he really wasn’t a bad guy (only an idiot!). I didn’t have another job lined up so I let it go.
Fast forward about about 2 months later. Again a Friday and in the morning my phone rings. The young lady on the other end wanted to confirm her interview appointment for 3 PM that day. Again, for MY job! I responded ‘sure, no problem! See you then!’ After lunch my co-worker (who I though was my friend but turns out he wanted to safeguard his own position so he sided with Javier) says something like ‘hey Christian, there isn’t much left to do today. Why don’t you go home?’. I responded with a ‘naw, I have so much to do with blah blah…’ Half hour later Javier comes to me with the same question. I said ‘oh no, I want to get ahead with blah blah…’ 3 PM comes around, bell rings and in comes in the young lady. I sat her ass down in my seat, got her some coffee and told her I would let Javier know. I go to his office and announce ‘Mary is here for her interview for my job. I got her some coffee. I’m going home like you suggested. Have a great weekend!’ They once again found themselves speechless at their own idiocy. She turned them down.
A few weeks later I landed my dream job during the catering company’s busiest time period. My new job told me they needed me to start immediately. I told them that even though Javier had treated me like homemade dog piss, I was still going to give them a 2-week notice because that was the correct thing to do. The following day I walked into Javier’s office and gave my notice. He begged me to please stay for at least a couple of more months until the busy period subsided and they did not have someone to do my job. I said I could not and that the 2 weeks was all that I could give them. I left with my head held high and worked at the other company for 10 years until I moved to Europe. Moral of the story: When someone treats you like dog crap do not sink to their level and don’t forget your self respect by teaching them a lesson on what human decency is all about because sooner or later karma will still find those Mother Fuckers.
When I signed up with my US health insurer, Humana, the first thing they did was assign me to a different doctor than the one I had been seeing for fifteen years. I called them and told them to put me back with my regular doctor. In April of 2023, I recived a new insurance card with a different doctor’s name and a letter informing me of a change in my primary care physician. Again, I called them and told them to put me back with my previous doctor. In June of 2023, I recived a new insurance card with a different doctor’s name and a letter informing me of a change in my primary care physician. Once again, I called them and told them to put me back with my previous doctor. In September of 2023, I recived a new insurance card with a different doctor’s name and a letter informing me of a change in my primary care physician. I no longer have Humana as my insurer.
So don’t tell me that as an American I have the ability to choose my own doctor when my insurance company keeps trying to deny me that choice.
American health insurance is shit.
EDIT: I should point out that my original primary doctor was and is in Humana’s “network” to begin with. Their insistence on assigning me to another doctor was either some kind of bureaucratic nonsense or they were just fucking with me. Either way, there was no reason for them to keep reassigning me when I clearly stated my preference time and again.
One day dad and I went into a deep conversation about various aspects of life. Topics like meaning of life, life after death, role of luck in success etc.
Conversation went deep and we kept discussing and I was all ears to grasp whatever wisdom he had to offer.
Then I asked him “Dad if you have to give one solid advice to me that I should always follow, what should be it. Just one?”
He thought for a while and then asked me, “What is your utmost priority in life”?
I gave a grin smile and said, “My Career”…..I was 28 then.
To which he replied, “Suppose you earn $ 10,000 + in a month some years from now, for that obviously you have to trade time for money and you ignore everything to earn money. By the time you turn 40/45 you have all the money in the world and are financially secure. You have a house of your own, a car and all luxuries. But since you have traded time with money, you didn’t focus on your health and now you are obese and have a weight of 90 Kgs and is catching with some diseases such as diabetes, obesity, joints pain etc.
Why did you earn so much money? To buy luxuries and to enjoy them. Now even if you have all the luxuries in the world, you can’t enjoy them as you ignored your health, and now your body is ignoring you. Even if you want to enjoy the travel, food etc that money has to offer but you can’t utilize luxuries to the fullest.
One line he said that I will never forget – “You can work hard and with your skillset you can earn money anytime but once health is lost, it becomes quite difficult to regain back your health.”
So my son, never ignore your health for anything. Health is wealth. If you have health, you can enjoy life till your last breath.
Even if he is 65 now, he never misses taking care of his health for 2 hours a day at least and plays table tennis better than people in their 30s at his place. I have not seen missing him his workout for more than 3/4 days at a stretch for the last 35 odd years. Even after retirement he was of the view that I must not pass time rather being a good cook, he started his own youtube channel – “RAVI SISODIYA”
and is doing well. Enjoys his passion and interaction with subscribers.
I was not regular at that time and then decided to keep my health a number one priority.
Whatever your profession be, never ignore your health for more days in a row. Respect your body and mind and you will get the same in return.
First, it makes the absurdity of the “island chain containment” plain and obvious.
It is no longer this map keeping the Pentagon awake at night:
image 343
but these:
image 28image 5
That is a whole lot more real estate, with few american base assets in sight.
The combined Chinese and Russian fleet this year is sizable, at 11. More tellingly, the US sent 4 Arleigh Burke destroyers and a P-8 in response, rather than rely on the Coast Guard like last year.
The diversion of 4 destroyers from regular operations opens up a 16% operational hole for a navy that is already stretched thin trying to match the operational tempo of the PLAN in the Western Pacific.
This is an important development on the chessboard, because the psychology has shifted.
The US can no longer plan around concentrating assets along the Western Pacific, because the Pacific and Arctic are huge playgrounds.
What will make it even more interesting is the presence of Chinese naval aviation when the emals carriers enter service. America will have to send a CBG or two in response, but there is the type 055’s formidable VLS battery to contend with, and so on. Fascinating calculus, if you are a wargaming nuthead.
That will upend the already stretched resources of the USN.
In other words, nightmare-inducing calculus for Americans, who will not be able to accept the Chinese conducting Sigint flights off its own coast, like it has been doing for decades on the other side of the ocean.
The Pacific is not America’s backyard. Neither is Pearl Harbor the keystone.
Time to tear up old maps and make new ones, at least where deployment of forces and chinks in the armor are concerned.
The Pacific is where Chinese power projection will develop, not Oceania, the Indian Ocean and elsewhere.
Note: Currently, more than 70 percent of the USN’s deployed assets are allocated to the 7th fleet and Indopacom, and they are concentrated in the waters around the island chains. In other words, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Fleets share ~30 deployable ships.
But they have a great advantage, almost not lying.
I mean that they also have political prejudice, and they will also have strong ideological comments, and there will also be a degradation of competitors. But they always state exact facts. If some things are included in the unhappy scope, or things are not really determined, their choices are not reported, but they will not choose to lie.
Let me give an example:
Some people found several corpses in a car, looking like Asians, but without any identity proof, the police had been involved in the investigation.
Report by BBC CNN NYT:
1. Insiders revealed that several drug dealers from China died of attacking each other because they were unevenly split.
2. Several Asians were found to die in the car, and they may be a smuggler from Vietnam.
3. Our reporter was at the scene, and some residents told us that several Koreans died here. They come from a mysterious underground church, perhaps in a certain ceremony.
Are you familiar with it?
CNTV report:
Police found several men dying in the car, and their identities have not been found. Please pay attention to the safety of the surrounding residents. If you have a clue, please notify the police.
Is it boring?
we know. The mainstream Western media often lie, and they will report some things to catch the wind, even the news and hearing news. When one thing is proved to be false, they only need to apologize or revoke the article. After all: freedom of speech.
However, China’s official media are different. Chinese public opinion has strict bottom line requirements for official media: not lying.
In the Internet era, it is almost impossible to completely deceive everyone. In China’s official media, when a news report or video finally proves that the fabricated lies, the person in charge of the official media will immediately fall into a scandal. Waiting for them is generally withdrawal and reputation sweeping the floor. Apology does not have any effect.
However, there are also many unofficial media in China, and their content is much confusing. In addition to being limited in political content, they often lie in a row to catch the wind and catch the wind to attract attention.
Because they are conservative and boring, they only tell you that they are very limited before without exact facts. Therefore, Chinese official media often difficult to attract people’s attention, and their click rate and dissemination on the Internet are also very low.
Volkswagen media is more popular because it has more curiosity and entertainment.
But in China, when people want to know the truth of major events, they often believe in the official media and complain why the official media is so slow that there is no more detailed news.
I grew up on a farm. There was a small forest, which we called “the woods,” on one end of the farm. Every year, my father would post “No Hunting” signs around the woods. But every year hunters would still come there, as the woods were filled with rabbit, pheasant, deer, and other game. When he saw them, my father would go out to the woods and explain to the hunter that these were his woods, he did not allow hunting, and they would have to leave.
One time, when I was four, my father was with my brother, who was six, when they saw a hunter at the edge of the woods, looking into the woods for something to shoot. My father took my brother’s hand, walked over to the hunter, and said “These are my woods. I don’t allow hunting. You’ll have to leave.” The hunter turned around, pointed his shotgun at my six year old brother’s chest, and said “I’ll hunt wherever I damn well please.” My father slowly backed away with my brother and went back to the house.
A few minutes later, he came out again. But instead of crossing the field that led from the house to the woods, he went to the side, where a chicken coop extended to the edge of the woods. He walked quietly behind the chicken coop, until he came to the edge of the woods, about twenty feet from the hunter, who was still intently looking into the woods for something to shoot. My father said to the hunter “Drop the gun and leave immediately.” Except this time, when the hunter turned around, instead of my father holding the hand of a six year old boy, he was holding a .38 revolver…which was pointed at the hunter’s head. As soon as he started to turn around, my father said simply “Drop it or die.”
My father died four years ago. It had been almost sixty years since this happened. When I went to clean out his house, the hunter’s shotgun was still in his closet.
In the 90s I was the parts secretary at a Ford dealership. We had a few parking spaces for office staff close to our entrance. We often hauled in office supplies, food and boxes of promotional materials for sales, and we often left after dark.
A young, cocky new salesman was hired and started parking (his Ford pickup) in our spots. I politely explained to him why it was it was important to keep those spaces open for us. He shrugged and continued to park there.
I confronted him again with a firmer tone. “You gotta stop parking there man!” With two little words he sealed his fate. “Or, what?” Sweetie. Snookums. I got a truckload of what.
In those days a Ford dealership could get any information they wanted on a Ford. With his VIN number I made a duplicate key. When he parked in our spots I moved his truck to the back corner of the lot where new deliveries would bury it and he’d have to move several cars to get his. I didn’t stop there though.
Anytime I saw his truck anywhere I’d move it. Shopping Center? Moved. Street parking for a restaurant? Moved. That kid was looking for his car several times a week!
Eventually he came in to our office grovelling and pleading with me to stop. He promised to never park in our spots again.
EDIT: Wow! Now I see why there are always edits on these! Some of you are apoplectic that I “got away” with a heinous crime. It’s occurred to me that you are extremely fortunate to have never been the victim of domestic violence, stalking, rape, burglary or actual car theft. If you had you’d know that police aren’t much help in any of the above situations and perpetrators are rarely arrested.
Could I have, with righteous indignation, insisted he be formally reprimanded? Yeah. But who wants to be that bitch? Not me. He learned a lesson in a fun way. He took it in stride. He likely doesn’t remember my name (I don’t remember his) but he likely remembers me and this story as fondly as I do. And maybe, just maybe, he has a little more respect for how clever women can be instead of seeing us as spiteful hags. Lighten up!
Went to Motor Vehicles Today to Have LIENHOLDER Removed from Car Titles – Wait til you hear THIS . . . .
Today I went to New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) on Summit Avenue in Jersey City, NJ to have the LIENHOLDER info removed from two vehicle Titles since I’ve paid the car loans off. You’re not gonna BELIEVE what happened . . .
Firstly, after the COVID scam, New Jersey Motor Vehicle has NOT done away with the requirement to make an appointment to go to one of their offices to have paperwork done. So I had to schedule today’s appointment last weekend, and I did.
I get there, walk in, and there’s two security guards who ask “Do you have an appointment? I reply “yes” and they ask to see the appointment confirmation from online! I brought it with me just in case, and gave it to them. They tell me, go in and see the Receptionist on the left. I go in.
I get to the Receptionist who asks me, “What are you here to do today?” I reply “Have the LIENHOLDERS removed from the Title on two vehicles I’ve paid off.” He hands me two application forms to go fill out.
I go fill them out, return the Receptionist’s pen that he graciously lent to me and he then says, now go onto the “ID CHECK” line to the left. ID Check??????? I go ahead and do that. Two people ahead of me.
When it’s my turn, I go up too the guy in the little booth– I think he was Hindu or whatever the folks are, who have the Dot on their forehead — and hand him the filled-out applications to have the Titles re-issued and he says “You know, this is going to cost you $60 each to have the LIENHOLDER Removed.” I replied “Yes, I know.” He then says, “I can get this done for free.”
Uhhhhhhh, I was not expecting this . . . . my Spidey Sense started tingling. So I ask him “How?”
GET THIS: He replies “I can have my Boss delete the LIENHOLDER in our computer system, then you walk out with the same Title, instead of a new one.”
I think to myself: “Then I won’t have any way to PROVE the LIEN has been released” So I respond to him “No thanks, I want the re-issued Titles without the LIENHOLDER on them.” He says, “Well, I’m just trying to save you money.”
He takes a staple remover and separates the Titles from the Lender Loan-Satisfaction, notarized letters, hands everything back to me with a card containing a number on it: “K117” and tells me, take a seat over there and you’ll hear your number called, telling you which counter to go to.
I go sit down.
About five minutes later, the computer voice over the PA Speaker calls “K117, Counter Ten”
So I get up and walk over to counter 10 and the nice Spanish lady behind the counter takes my paperwork.
To my utter shock, SHE then says to me, “It will cost you $60 each to have these LIENHOLDERS Cleared from the Title, . . . . but I can get it done for you for free.”
I’m now kind of stunned because this is now two separate Employees of the Motor Vehicle Commission saying the same thing. So I play along and ask her “How?”
She says, I will have the Supervisor come over, delete the LIENHOLDER from our Computer, but you leave here with the exact same Title.“
I thought to myself “Holy shit, they’re all “in-on-it” for the “Great Taking.”” I went on to think to myself “These people are working for the Bankers, so the Bankers can grab everybody’s stuff; just as I learned from the video “The Great Taking”
So I told the woman, “But then I would have no proof that the Bank no longer has a LIEN.” She responded, right, but you’ll save $120 on the Two Titles!
So I responded “No, I want the LIENHOLDER removed and I want the new, re-issued Titles without the Bank name on them”
She reiterated “But that will cost you $60 each, a total of $120” and I responded “I don’t care. I want the re-issued Titles.”
She put on a smug face as if to say “Oh this guy must have money, he doesn’t care about the $120.”
She processes the deletion of the LIENHOLDER info and then asks “Will you be paying by Credit Card, Check, or Legal Tender?”
“LEGAL TENDER????????????” Nobody says that outside of you know . . . . us . . . . .
I reply, “Legal Tender; Federal Reserve Notes.”
I hand the cash to her and she finishes the transaction, which prints the receipt.
But it’s all the same computer . . . . so If I agreed to “let them do it for free” they could NOT have removed the LIENHOLDER because the system requires the money be paid before it will complete the action ! ! ! ! ! If I had not paid, the computer could not have deleted the LIENHOLDER info! ! !
You know what I think? I personally think the whole offer to “get it done free” was a SCAM . . . . designed to deliberately mislead people into THINKING the LIEN had been removed, when, in fact, it has NOT been removed. And it COULD NOT HAVE BEEN REMOVED unless and until payment was tendered because the computer won’t process the removal unless payment has been made.
That leaves those poor suckers who THOUGHT they were getting it done “free” — open to the Banks coming and taking everything from THEM because all the official paperwork still shows the LIENS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
How many thousands of people have believed this scam over the years?
I’m telling you, folks, I am totally shocked by this happening at two separate employees in a State Motor Vehicle Commission facility.
I now think the “States” are “in-on-it” too and all of them are working in lockstep with the Bankers to achieve their goal: You will own nothing . . . . and be happy.”
Not me! I have the Re-issued Titles without the LIENHOLDER info on them. These vehicles are, in fact, MINE, and I can prove it with the Titles.
I was born at night . . . . but not last night. They aren’t getting-over on me!
A businessman went to a shoe store to purchase a new pair of shoes. He was a prominent person in that town. After selecting a pair of shoes with size 8 he asked the salesperson to pack it. The salesperson had just started his career and joined the shoe store a few days back.
The businessman soon discovered that he had left his wallet at home. He told the salesperson that he would take the shoes with him and make the payment the next day. The salesperson being new to business excused himself in order to discuss this matter with the store manager. The manager knew that the customer is an eminent businessman; however, was reluctant to deliver the shoes without payment. At the same time, he was not ready to lose a sale too. He advised the salesperson to handle the situation in the best manner possible and left the place.
The salesperson stood there frozen for a few minutes unable to decide. He then returned to the customer, started packing the shoes and handed the package to the customer.
The next day the customer arrived at the store with the shoes he had purchased, made the payment for his purchase and told the salesperson that “After opening the package I found one shoe with size 8 and the other with size 7. Maybe you packed them by mistake. Can I have the shoes with size 8 please?” The salesperson apologized for the inconvenience caused and replaced the wrong size shoe with the correct one. The customer collected his shoes and left the store with satisfaction.
The manager happened to overhear their conversation and realized that the salesperson had used his presence of mind and handled the situation very well. They didn’t lose their business as well as the customer.
Moral
It is by the presence of mind in untried emergencies that the native metal of a man is tested. If an individual has a calm state of mind, his attitude and views will be calm and tranquil even in the presence of great agitation.
I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture given by the late Prof. Hawking on the campus of the University of Berkeley; I say “given”; Hawking rolled onto the stage, and the lecture he so painstakingly prepared was delivered by the machine he used to speak with. I never heard him repeat this quote, so I will have to take it on faith that this is something he actually said.
I’ll be PC here, and substitute “average” for dumb; average people are not necessarily “dumb”, but the difference between them and very intelligent people is that they are far less intellectually curious, and tend not to question their own beliefs, or look beneath the surface of phenomena they encounter every day. For the average, smart people are not necessarily “crazy”, but they do come across as weird. If I were to tell an average person that they like doughnuts because simple carbohydrates and fat were rare and valuable nutrients on the African savannah 70,000 years ago, they would look at me like I was mad. They would say something like “I enjoy doughnuts because they taste good”; it wouldn’t occur to them to ask the fundamental question of why they taste good to us.
image 27
A graph showing the “bell curve” distribution of IQ.
As shown in the graph above, 68.2% of people are in the average range of IQ between 85–115 (using IQ as a proxy for general intelligence. The number of people with an IQ higher than 115 becomes increasingly rare with the increasing level of IQ, so those with 140+ are very rare indeed, so it should not surprising that those who are in this high range will often come across as “odd” to the average majority. There is a qualitative difference in the cognition of the highly gifted, compared to the cognitive style of the average; the more intelligent one is, the less “obvious” things seem to be.
In evolutionary terms, our “purpose” as humans is to survive and reproduce, functions for which the average level of intelligence is sufficient; humans evolved to be as intelligent as they needed to be in order to successfully carry out these biological functions, so it is not surprising that most of us are not smarter than we are. As social animals, we tend not to be too fond of “weirdos” who question the existing social order, and the way things have always been done, hence the existence of terms like “nerd” and “geek” for those whose manner of thought and speech is contrary to the norm. At the same time, it had to have been the prehistoric nerds and geeks who came up with technologies like the bow and arrow, and poison darts, which were beneficial for the survival of humans as a whole, by allowing us to hunt otherwise inaccessible game animals. One can just imagine the jeers of the normies when the first geek smeared some tree sap on a dart, and walked off with his blowpipe, saying “I’m going hunting by myself.”
As someone who has been accused of being smart, I’ve had to learn to self-censor in order to “fit in”, and not be ostracized as a “weirdo” by the general population. “Be yourself” is incredibly stupid advice if one happens to be an intellectual outlier, since “yourself” is likely to be regarded as strange, and even threatening by the majority. Hawking was right, and I reserve my unfiltered self for a select few IRL, plus, of course, anyone who chooses to read my apophenic ravings on Quora.
He was my first love. We dated for 3 years and got married because I was pregnant. Worst mistake of my life.
By the time I had the baby, I could almost feel it. The loneliness. The emptiness. He became a totally different person. He complained that I was fat and unattractive. I was depressed and lonely. He knew that I enjoyed to have sex, so he withheld it from me to hurt me.
I had a startup business and was struggling to balance work and family. To make matters worse, I got pregnant somehow with the second child. He didn’t want to have the child so he asked me to have an abortion. I refused. He totally disconnected at this point. My business also went into the abyss as I was struggling to provide for myself, my daughter and unborn son. I hid and cried in the bathroom every night.
A couple of months after my son was born, a woman called and told me she’s sharing him with me and they have kids together. I confronted him and he didn’t deny it. A part of me literally died that day. Everyone around me seemed to know and I didn’t. What hurt me the most is that I stupidly still loved this man. He told me he didn’t want me anymore. He asked me to leave and leave his kids behind. I left with my kids and moved in with my sister. I had no job and 2 kids to look after.
To cut the long story short, we went through a really bad divorce, but it was freedom for me. I emigrated to another country, got a better life and job, got into great shape, and basically got my shit together. Am very thankful that I got this far. I never smoked, drank or did anything harmful to myself when I was at my lowest. My mistake gave me a chance to realize that you can pick yourself up after hitting rock bottom. KARMA IS REAL. I found out last year that the woman my ex chose over me left him for another man. Oh how did I forget? She also told my ex that the kids are not his. Thank you
Having just informed me that 167 hours of work she had made me do would not be paid, my boss told me to prepare exams not just for my class, but for all the students. Unsurprisingly, I said no.
This boss had stopped me from teaching one of my usual classes on a Monday afternoon (without consulting me) and arranged for me to teach the same number of hours on some Saturday mornings and weekday evenings instead. She pretended that she was doing this to make my life easier, since Mondays were a heavy teaching day. She then insisted that I use the time I had off on Monday afternoons to do some of her administration for her, without telling me that this work would all be unpaid. She gradually added more and more of her work to my workload.
For the entire term I thought I was being paid to do the administration work. She only told me I wasn’t at the end of the semester, by which time I had chalked up 167 hours of her administration work plus 10 hours of extra teaching) that she wouldn’t pay me for.
Then, immediately after telling me all this work was unpaid, she told me to prepare some exams, something the other teachers didn’t have to do. I said no, obviously. She stormed off to Human Resources to complain about me. When she came back she told me how upset she was that they didn’t support her. She was actually crying a little, I’m not sure whether because of rage or if she was really hurt. I was called up to HR and asked how many hours I had done unpaid. My boss had a track record of not paying me, so I had noted every task and all the hours done in my diary. I was paid for everything I did and my boss was told that all our work had to be paid for.
I just wish I had learned to say no sooner – and I really appreciated the honesty of our HR manager.
It’s a fun story! To me at least. I’m cool that way.
Technically “London” didn’t become the capital until after the 16th Century. What we now call “the City of London”, the ancient square mile that Rome founded, was an entity of its own. And in many ways still is. It was a centre of power and money, even before the Norman Conquest.
Up through the Middle Ages there was no fixed “capital” per se. The kings didn’t stay put, they moved around, so the capital was essentially where they were, not necessarily where the government was. The government being those ministers of the king who administered (get it?) the day to day workings.
During the reign of the Wessex kings, Winchester was the closest thing to an English capital.
So, back to London. The kings had no real power over London. Edward the Confessor, who was technically of the Wessex blood line but spent his formative years across the Channel and didn’t really have a sentimental attachment to Winchester, built an abbey in Westminster, which was west of London. He also built a palace for the seat of government. With these he hoped to draw power and wealth from that citadel to the east protected by a massive wall.
Edward died in January 1066. In October, Duke William of Normandy arrived to take what he felt was his by right. After the Battle of Hastings he headed toward London, that centre of power. Not to London, mind you. Toward it. He circled round, burning his way around it. But he knew he couldn’t breach the wall. He made a deal with the London peeps that in exchange for recognising him as their king, they would retain their special privileges. This arrangement has been in place ever since.
Now, thanks to Edward the Confessor, there was a ready-made power base just to the west of London. William was duly crowned king in Westminster Abbey. Over time, the Treasury was moved from Winchester, which became that historic city with one train station (London now has over 600 train and underground stations). Meanwhile, houses were built between the cities of Westminster and London and a Greater London was formed, eventually swallowing up towns and villages in a 600 square mile area.
Note, though, that the City of London has no national government facilities in it, save the Bank of England, which is separate. Government (Parliament, Whitehall, Downing Street, etc…), the Palace, the national entities are in Westminster, but as that is in what became the megapolis of “London”, London is the capital.
But we was excited last year, we had put in a lot of work to reach the goal that would make a bonus possible.
We where all called to a end of year quarterly meeting where the ceo would go over the figures and give us a chance to ask questions and share ideas.
Instead the owner of the main company was standing there and the ceo a bit to the side. First case of worry, but it could be a good thing right?
It starts and the owner takes the word. And it just goes downhill from there.
The board and investors are not happy, they are firing the ceo and the owner steps out of the board to take direct control of the company, they will reorganize the whole flow and all that modern jazz for making your work day a living hell the next half year.
Adding there wont be a bonus and we will stop having a bonus at all in the future.
A year later and everyone have turned sour many have left and those that remains are becoming more and more unmotivated.
We are close at needing a new firing round too. and nothing have really become better since the change, only more cumbersome and annoying with no gain. 2 years and no raise makes for grumpy workers, when then removing the carrot all together the last drive disappears..
Even overtime must be agreed upon before you get pay for it.
So the bonus was a year in hell that seems to continue unless I am lucky and can find another job that pay the same or better.
Worst part is, the owner got a social and public image as a good and sensible businessman that are very round handed with spending. But when it comes to the company he is a scrounge mcduck, as he dont wanna spend a single dime, even though it cost to make changes, and he want those changes.
So nobody believe us when we tell how he is at work, as everyone got another opinion of him from the local news…
True story: I had never eaten at a Chick-fil-A before last weekend (Saturday, March 9, 2019). In the past, if I’d wanted a chicken sandwich, which I don’t often do, I’ve gone to McDonald’s. But this time I was in a different shopping center, one without a McDonald’s but with a Chick-fil-A next door.
Side note: I’d had their sandwiches before, but at wrestling tournaments. The sandwiches would be brought in in these temperature-controlled bags, and then sold by members of the Booster’s Club. I wasn’t really impressed. The sandwiches cost more than McDonald’s and they were soggy.
But here I was in a shopping center with a Chick-fil-A next door. Oh, well, I figured. I could see the place was crowded, too. Lots of cars, and a long double-line of cars going through the carry-out.
I went inside and the place smelled good. Not like McDonald’s. The menu items were all clearly posted. At McDonald’s, there are these electronic screens that’ll show a handful of items for maybe 10 seconds, then rotate to another set of items. I liked the clear posting.
After looking over the posted menu, I decided to get a spicy chicken sandwich. Not the whole meal, just the sandwich. There wasn’t a line; people were being served as they stepped up to order. At McDonald’s, I could have waited 5 minutes behind just one or two people. (Maybe they’d ordered fries or coffee, and were waiting on the next batch of fries or the next pot of coffee to finish brewing.) I ordered the sandwich and the person behind the counter asked what sauce I’d like with that. I asked what sauces they had.
At McDonald’s, that would have been greeted with a rapid-fire blur of sauces. Or the person would point to that electronic board where the sauces had to cycle through to be displayed. By now, the McDonald’s employee would have forgotten whether I’d ordered the sandwich or the meal. The McDonald’s employee also would have forgotten whether I was eating in or carrying out.
At Chick-fil-A, they had all the sauces out on display. The counter person pointed to them and suggested that since I seemed to like spicy foods, I might enjoy the Buffalo sauce. Sounded good to me.
She handed me a tall plastic colored cone with sauce packets inside. She told me to find a seat anywhere and they’d bring the sandwich over. Wow! At McDonald’s, I’d have to stand near the ear-splitting ice-grinding machine, waiting for my number to be called. She didn’t have to ask again whether I was eating in or carrying out.
I found a seat and, quite promptly, someone came over with the sandwich, wrapped, and asked: “Don? Spicy chicken?” Yup, that was me. The chicken was crispy, steaming, and hot. Tasty. A bit of a surprise, since my only prior experience had been at the wrestling tournaments where they were soggy. If it had been McDonald’s, the sandwich would have been soggy, too. Are they ever crisp there?
A family was seated at the next table. At some point, the dad asked one of the Chick-fil-A employees for a refill on a beverage. The employee said sure, and in about 30 seconds was back with a refill. Nothing like that at McDonald’s.
When I was finished, I started picking up the debris (the sandwich wrapping, the packet of hot sauce, the napkin. Before I’d even gotten it all together, a Chick-fil-A employee came over and said, “Oh, are you leaving? If so, I can take all that.” And he did. Wow! At McDonald’s, I would have gathered all that stuff, taken it over to a trash can, tried to slide it all into the trash can (those paper liners always stick to the tray!), and put the tray on the tray holder.
I have written on this before. When I was married to my ex, his daughter lived with us . Her and her husband came over to visit with their children. We also had a friend of ours over . She was very disrespectful to her dad and our friend told her that. About two months later she asked to take my youngest for a few days and I said no. She then said that our family friend had touched my son , while she was in the room. I gathered my kids and asked them and all three said nothing ever happened. She called back and was upset and said she knew I wouldn’t do anything and would be turning me into social services and she did!!! A case worker came out and took my kids and asked a lot of questions. Then we talked and this man was amazing!!! I explained that my kids were never left alone with anyone and always knew they could tell me anything and his daughter was upset with me , for telling her no. He told me she wanted to get even with me for being with her dad and this was vengeance towards me. I encouraged her Dad to continue a relationship with her but she would no longer be able to come in our home. This was so scary for me , and I could have lost my children. My relationship with her was over , and our friend was also worried. I’m so very grateful I got a wonderful case worker. He understood .
I was in a relationship with my boyfriend (Let’s call him A) for 2 years. It was the perfect relationship everyone dreams about. But that changed soon.
One day, I was at my friend’s house (Let’s call her B) to take some notes because exams were coming up. I didn’t tell him about it. After half an hour, B receives a call so she goes outside to answer it as she didn’t want to bother me. But after a minute, she comes back in, puts the phone’s speaker on and the convo went something like this.
B- Sorry, I didn’t catch that. What did you say?
The voice on the other end said: “I love you”.
I recognised the voice. It was him. I looked at B as if everything was over. But she continued talking to him.
B- But what about your girlfriend? This would break her.
A- We don’t need to tell her anything. It’ll be our secret.
I felt like my heart would give out. I wanted to scream or do anything just to relieve me from the pain I was experiencing. To think that the two years we spent together was a lie was too much to handle. I called him after I calmed down a bit. He said he did that because B’s boyfriend wanted to test her loyalty. I didn’t buy that and we broke up that day.
A friend and I were driving uhaul box trucks when we decided to stop at a gas station to get snacks and drinks. When pulling in, I saw a car parked parallel across 3 parking spaces. Without even taking about it, I parked directly in front of the offending car while my friend parked directly behind it. We got out, smiled at each other over our telepathic decision to mess with the offender, and went inside.
The car’s owner was apparently going out as we were going in, saw how we were parked, and followed us back in and started yelling at us, demanding we move.
Me: No
Bad Parker: I will call the cops is you don’t!
Friend: Ok.
BP: Don’t try me! Move your damned trucks!
Me: Naw, go ahead and call the cops.
Friend: Yeah, we’ll wait. We’re going to eat in, anyway. (The gas station has an Arby’s attached. We weren’t originally, btw, but you know how it goes.)
Me: It’ll be fun watching you have your embolism when they ticket you for parking like that.
We went and got our food, to our time eating and left. During that time, BP apparently tried getting to station manager to make us move and kept yelling and screaming until we were finally done. As we were leaving, BP yelled at us some incoherent crap that I don’t really remember. My friend returned a parting comment about BP’s horrible parking, and we left.
All in all, we were at the gas station about a 45 minutes longer than we’d initially planned. We don’t know what, if any, trouble BP got into it if he ever did it again. We stopped at the same station on the return trip, in the off chances that BP was a local and would return, but he didn’t while we were there.
We had an employee who didn’t just say something that got him fired, he immediately followed it up with an action that also would have gotten him fired on its own.
I work for a vets office. We had a new tech that seemed afraid to do anything. He claimed most animals were aggressive and just wouldn’t touch them. Well we don’t allow techs to do injections until they are comfortable doing simply things like taking temperatures and checking heart rates which he still couldn’t do.
One day, we get a cat in for a tech appointment. Notes said “allergy shot.” For most cats, this mean a depo injection but you always ask the doctor what you should give. He did not. Instead he took the appointment himself, big no no at this stage and strike one. He brought the cat back and told another tech the cat needed a cytopoint injection. Strike two, he doesn’t get to make medication/ injection calls. The other tech asked if he was sure as that sounded wrong and he said “yes, that’s what the doctor told me.”
Ya see, cytopoint can be deadly to cats and is for dogs only. So the tech asked again, “are you sure that’s what the doctor said?” He got annoyed, told her that what the doc said and he got the cytopoint himself and injected it himself. Strike three. You’re out.
He was fired. The cat did almost die and we ended up having to give them free care for about six months for all their pets to make up for it. The cat survived but now has health issues.
One of my colleagues was almost impossible to layoff. She was pregnant during a round of layoffs, and took maternity leave a week earlier than expected, and was gone for a full year, she came back expecting the layoffs would be over, but after a couple of months, they announced that there were new layoffs the next week. She called in sick Monday through Thursday, and on Thursday, they called her and said unless her doctor faxed in a note on Friday, she had to come in. By then everybody had been laid off, except her. She checked in and made sure everyone saw her, and then disappeared.
Her boss looked high and low for her, and eventually found a locked stall in the washroom. She looked under, and saw her shoes. She had to fire her through the bathroom door.
My colleagues only response was, I knew I should have lifted my feet.
She became a legend in the company. The nail in the coffin was not lifting her feet.
Which became a phrase everyone used when they got caught doing something wrong.
Went to Vegas . Won around $17000 . The wife and I split it between ourselves before the cdn border. Declared it and got home. Reminded her to put her cash in the safe. Few days later, I went in to grab all of it to deposit in our US acct and just found my part in it. Asked her about it. She couldn’t find it. Looked sll over. Than she thought she might had left it in the taxi on the way home. FUCK!! $9000 USD gone. So, a couple years later. We’re getting rid of her old car and im just going thru it, and lo and behold, it’s in between the seats in the car. She had put it there for safekeeping cause she went grocery shopping and didn’t wanna take all that in her purse. Why she didn’t remember that 2 yrs prior, I’ll never know. 😔 But I’ve learned to live with my wife’s poor memory. She was born without a thyroid and takes meds for that but it causes a horrible memory sometimes..
I’ve written about this before, but I think it bears repeating.
I learned how to cook very early on. My mother was working one Thanksgiving when I was 12. I volunteered to cook the dinner. She’d be home around 5 or so. Dinnertime had not been specified. Turkey went in the oven that morning. Since it was a day off school and I was a kid, I grabbed my bike and went riding all around town. I remember a fun, free-wheeling day until I got home.
I got back around 4:30 and realized I had to hurry. My brothers and father laid around and watched me as I hurried to prepare the meal. There wasn’t much to do if they had pitched in: boil potatoes, heat up rolls, boil the frozen corn, etc. But they didn’t. My mom walked in while I was peeling potatoes. She stopped dead in her tracks. “Dinner’s not ready?” I said “It will be ready in a few minutes.” I wasn’t lying. It would have been 20 minutes max. She threw up her hands like I told her I was a pregnant 12-year-old crackhead. She started screaming at me. Dad came running in to see what the fuss was. He took off his belt and whipped me violently right there in the kitchen, potato peeler still in my hand, for not having everything ready “on time” (again, we didn’t know exactly when she would be home, and no dinnertime had been set). My brothers just watched. I was sent to my room in the basement for the night. I don’t know who finished cooking, probably my mother in her martyrdom.
Here’s how it could (should) have gone down:
Scenario One: I come home at 4:30. Dad: “You’re cutting it close. Boys, go help your sister.”
Scenario Two: Mom comes home at 5:00. I’m peeling potatoes. “Dinner’s not ready?” “It will be ready in a few minutes.” “Okay, good, I’m starving. I’m going to take a shower/change/lie down for a few minutes. Call me when it’s ready.”
Scenario Three: Mom come home at 5:00. She starts yelling. Dad comes in. “Calm down, it’ll only be a few minutes. Here, let me take your stuff. Come in and lie down for a few minutes.” (to my brothers) “Get in here and help your sister.”
It took me many years to realize this day was an example of so, so many things. Dysfunction, piss-poor communication, child abuse, sexism, Old-World parenting (as in 1800s bullshit), knee-jerk reactions, and so much more. My family was fucked up, to say the least.
And I don’t care if that was the way they were raised. I am not a believer in the cycle-of-abuse crap. They were adults, they had brains to think with, they could make rational adult decisions. They knew better.
Edit: I think I need to address that there was a dried-up old bitch of a troll who left a comment that it was my fault, I was deservedly punished, I should have stayed home all day and had dinner ready, my poor poor mother, I was martyring myself, shame on me. Yes, that comment really happened (I deleted it and told her to fuck off). I wasn’t only abused at home, and this wasn’t the first or last time. I was bullied mercilessly at school. To have a day away from bullies at school was a real treat, so yes, I was going to take my bike and go have some fun while the turkey cooked. I was a kid. I wasn’t 20. And yes, I screwed up and mismanaged my time. Again—I was a kid. And my parents wildly overreacted—with violence against a child— instead of keeping calm and reacting reasonably. If someone told me they were cooking me dinner, but when I came home it was going to be 20 minutes late, I’d say “Okay, cool” and either jump in the shower or flop down and watch TV. I wouldn’t start screaming and whipping them with a belt. So again, troll: Fuck off. If you have kids, I sincerely feel sorry for them and I hope CPS is keeping an eye on you, old twat. You’re the reason child protection agencies exist.
Almost every Chinese City beats Indian Cities hollow in terms of Cleanliness, Safety and Development
image 336image 335
There are Primarily three reasons for this :-
A. One Party Meritocracy & Funds
In China, fund allocation for Cities and their overall Urban development is based on the Urban Development Index (UDI) plus between 15% upto 46% of the revenue generated by a City is used by the Local Government of that Province and the Administration of that City to develop the place
There is no political rivalries or party based discrimination between Fund Allocation and Revenue sharing
It’s all about How much the City develops and how well maintained the City is
In India, funding is a nightmare because the State themselves have no claim over the money they generate as revenue. Everything is handed over to the Centre which then decides how much each State should get and then the State decides how much each City should get
China has 20 times the provincial autonomy than an Indian State
B. Continuous Development to prevent overcrowding
India keeps on dumping on the same city again and again for year after year. Thus every such city attracts migrants like flies and that leads to overcrowding of the worst order
China keeps developing and expanding new Cities regularly
Chengdu, Chongqing etc were small towns a decade or so ago that are now bustling cities, brimming with Prosperity
Urumqi was once a town , now it’s classified as a Tier 3 City
Thus if you notice Shanghai and Beijing both lost 4% and 5.6% of the population due to migration between 2013–2023 whereas Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad netted between 7.6% and 12% SURPLUS population by migration between 2008–2023
C. Chinas Housing Policy
Everyone living with a proper Job in a City in China MUST have housing
This is a law from the time of Chairman Mao and when it’s a Chairman Mao law, it’s enforcement is very strict
Public Housing is thus available for every single resident of the city including the poorest of them
Only Shanghai and Beijing has slums today , which existed before the 1998 law and thus can’t be torn down
image 334
If you have a legitimate job in CQ City, you get a Public Apartment of 39–52 Square Meters with indoor plumbing, heating, air conditioning and gas and electricity and drinking water for a mere 78 RMB / month
Of course many Chinese become prosperous enough to rent much nicer places and sub lease their public homes for which they pay rent of 78 RMB/ month for 400–500 RMB / month
During Covid 19, many such people were discovered and fined very heavily (30, 000 RMB plus 60 months rent or 100 Days in Prison)
A Fourth reason is the fact that Migration into Cities is heavily controlled
You just can’t come to a City that easily without housing or a job unless you are a tourist there
In India it’s the opposite
You can flood into cities and sleep on the roads and everywhere else and even defecate
It’s like a Zoo
image 333image 332
So it’s the Chinese System
They may have their flaws but by God they have excellent City maintenance and keep themselves very clean
image 331
Their Air Quality improvement in a mere decade is something every nation takes notes on
image 330
Primarily another reason is the Chinese are proud of their country and love their country
Not the bogus love that Indians show which translates into defending India for all it’s weaknesses, glorifying mediocrities as superheroes, forcing people to stand up for the National Anthem etcetera
The genuine love that ensures they actively take pride in their development and their cities
Declining population is not just a Chinese problem; but rather it is a worldwide problem. Most developed or developing countries have seen significant decreases in birth rates that coincide with an ever aging demographic.
Importing people from other countries is certainly an option. Especially considering how men vastly outnumber women in China. But I think it will require more than bringing in more people. China needs to tackle this problem on two fronts.
Firstly, building society with the mindset that the elderly need to be taken care of, whether that be through family or through a skilled nursing facility. China should look into building these all over the country. They don’t have to be as bleak as some in the U.S., but there needs to be a safety net for a vulnerable aging population in the event their children can’t or won’t care for their needs.
The second front is low birth rate. China’s work culture isn’t conducive to motherhood right now. 996 doesn’t make women want to get pregnant. Women also need paid maternity leave for at least a year.
The government can subsidize kindergartens and ensure that the education they’re receiving is at an appropriate standard. Families can be provided with subsidies for each child for a certain number of years.
China has a planned economy so if they begin implementing such plans in upcoming five year plenary sessions then perhaps they can be one of the first countries to find a solution to this worldwide problem.
My mom was an RN, and wore a white uniform with starched cap every night when she went to work. When she got home in the morning she’d go straight to bed, and then get up around 3 p.m., dressed in capri pants (also called “pedal pushers”) or shorts in the summer, along with a blouse, often sleeveless, and canvas sneakers. Never any jewelry around the house or on quick trips to the store; that, and dresses and low-heeled pumps, were reserved for special occasions. For a really special occasion, like a trip to NYC to see a Broadway show, she added a hat to her outfit, and she and I wore short white cotton gloves. For school, I and all the other little girls wore shirtwaist dresses with petticoats, and the boys wore long pants and button-up shirts, with clip-on ties for school picture day. Up until a certain age, I wore my brother’s hand-me-down shorts and tee shirts for after-school play clothes.
None of us had as many clothes as we do today; our small closets were plenty big enough for our wardrobes (some of which were sewn or knitted by our mothers). But the quality of what we wore was higher, and we tended to wear everything until it wore out or we outgrew them.
Looking crisp and put together was important for our parents, since most of them had grown up during the Great Depression, when having raggedy clothing was a sign of poverty. Since synthetic blends didn’t become readily available until the very end of the 1950s, everything had to be ironed and/or starched. It was a chore my mother absolutely hated, so she was an early devotee of polyester blends when they came out.
Had she lived to this decade, she would have been baffled by people paying high prices for strategically ripped jeans, as well as the upper-class preference for “natural” fabrics like cotton and linen, which must be ironed!
There is a law that says if any person is caught with possession of Marijuana (Cannabis) while entering China (Airports or Borders) then he faces Life Imprisonment if he carries more than 50 GRAMS
Yet ONCE IN CHINA if a person gets caught with the same cannabis or Marijuana, as long as the Marijuana on his possession is within 300 grams, he gets 15 Days Imprisonment, 45 Days Mandatory State Rehabilitation plus a fine
So technically if you smuggle 100 grams into China, you face life in jail yet if you succeed and get past the customs and manage to cross 300–400 feet and then get caught, you face 15 Days Jail and a fine
Plus no law about what happens when you possess less than 50 grams of cannabis
So as on date if someone smuggles less than 50 grams of cannabis into China and is caught – He is merely deported and the smuggled cannabis is destroyed
Next thing is Cultivation of Marijuana is not illegal in China
So if you are caught with 1 Kilogram of Cannabis and you can prove it is grown in China and explain that you are in possession of 1 Kilogram of Cannabis / Marijuana for medical purposes – YOU CAN ACTUALLY GET OFF WITHOUT ANY PUNISHMENT
The authorities have to prove you possess the Marijuana for intent to distribute as a Narcotic substance to charge you
For a Westerner who possesses 1 Kilogram Marijuana though, he cannot prove its grown in China or that he is in possession for Industrial or Medical purposes
So with Westerners the law assumes he is distributing as a narcotic substance and if so HE FACES THE DEATH PENALTY
Summary
To the best of my study of drug laws:-
< 50 grams smuggled – Deportation & Destruction of the Drug
>= 50 grams smuggled –Life Imprisonment
<= 300 grams possession inside China – 15 Days Imprisonment , 45 Days Rehabilitation (Optional), Fine
>300 grams possession inside China proven as grown in China by Mainland Citizen – No Punishment likely beyond censure and monitoring without proof of distribution or intent
>300 grams possession inside China by a foreigner – Death Penalty unless he can prove the same drug originated from local cultivation for industrial or medical purposes
Plus China has another law
Any Person in whose PREMISES consumption of Marijuana takes place regardless of quantity or fore knowledge will face 3 Years Mandatory Jail plus 50,000 RMB fine
This is called SHELTER LAW
Thus if you are a landlord and a tenant smokes Marijuana in your apartment that you have leased out – YOU WON’T BE CHARGED BY THE SHELTER LAW
However if your friend smokes Marijuana in your flat that you lease or own – You face 3 years Jail
At the age of 11 my mother forced me to accompany my sister (17) whenever she went outside.
I was obviously reluctant at first but finally agreed. I used to sit behind the activa while she rode to the grocery store, shopping mall etc.
It was all good until the following incident took place.
It was around 7 pm and we were coming back from the supermarket.
Two boys with covered faces stopped their bike in front of us, passed an inappropriate comment and disappeared before we could think of anything.
I was perplexed. I was shocked. I felt helpless. I felt weak. I knew the meaning of that comment.
I didn’t eat properly that night. I was sleepless for a few days. Mom noticed a change in my behaviour.
Mom: Is something bothering you? You don’t seem fine.
Me: I was waiting to share it with someone. The stress was enormous and I told her exactly what I felt.
Mom: Did you talk to your sister after the incident?
Me: No maa!! If I felt helpless and weak, I can’t even imagine what she would have felt.
Mom: This is why I told you to accompany her. See, you are going to be a teenager soon and perhaps you’ll think that it’s cool to follow a girl or pass some comments. Even some of your friends might force you. They’ll tell you that it’s ok.
But now you know that it is not. I’m sure you wouldn’t want any girl to feel like the way your sister did.
And she was right. The people close to me know that I’ve severed friendships, raised my voice but I never compromised on this fact.
I would never ever want any girl to feel the way my sister did.
If you’ve ever been to a Chick Fil A, you’ve probably noticed their menu is pretty chicken-centric. That isn’t accidental, and it isn’t just a branding gimmick; there’s actually a history behind it.
image 33
Their commitment to chicken goes all the way back to the founder, S. Truett Cathy. He opened his first diner in the 1940s and spent years perfecting the pressure fryer to cook his chicken sandwich faster than anyone could cook a hamburger. This was the birth of what ultimately became Chick Fil A’s signature menu item: the original chicken sandwich.
At the root of it, Chick Fil A doesn’t serve beef because they don’t have to. Their identity is so closely tied to chicken that serving beef would be like McDonald’s suddenly deciding to specialize in vegan food. It would throw people for a loop.
Chick Fil A’s boneless breast of chicken sandwich made its debut in 1964 with great success, paving the way for the first Chick Fil A restaurant that opened in 1967. Cathy even made a play on words with “Chick” to emphasize chicken and play down beef. This is a differentiation strategy. Just like you wouldn’t go to Burger King for a taco or to Taco Bell for a fish and chips plate, you wouldn’t go to Chick Fil A for a beef burger.
There’s also the branding component, right? You’ve seen the billboards with the cows painting “Eat Mor Chikin,” pushing the chicken agenda while steering people away from their own kind. It’s a brilliant marketing strategy that reinforces the no-beef policy.
While there’s no formal manifesto on why they don’t serve beef, the logic is clear: specialization. In a world where you can get a burger at every highway exit, being the go-to chicken spot sets you apart.
Staying in their lane has allowed Chick Fil A to perfect their products, focus on their poultry niche, and maintain the consistency and quality that has customers loyally returning to their restaurants. For many businesses, it’s a scary thing to put all your eggs (or chickens) in one basket, but for Chick Fil A, doing just that has been the secret sauce to their success.
So, in Portland, OR, where I’m based, if I’m craving chicken, it’s pretty neat knowing I can swing by Chick Fil A and get that same sandwich that put them on the map all those years ago, while also being assured that there won’t be a burger in sight. They’ve stayed true to the original plan for over half a century, and it’s working wonders for them.
It took a long time, but it is finally happening. China’s gloves are coming off, and it is getting tough on Taiwan and the west.
For Taiwan, the Commerce Ministry has decided that Taiwan’s government has unfairly blocked the sale of many PRC products in Taiwan. For a long time, the PRC had allowed Taiwan imports to the PRC in the hope that Taiwan would eventually open up to PRC products on a reciprocal basis, but that has not happened, even when Taiwan has had food shortages. The Commerce Ministry will shortly announce which Taiwan products will be blocked from being sold in the PRC, which is the single largest market for many local Taiwan products.
For the west, China is now blocking the sale of rare-earth processing technologies to the west. This is a field essential for semiconductor manufacturing and defense technologies, and will hit Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the US especially hard as they try to develop their own independent supply chains free from Chinese components and raw materials.
For 2024, I am expecting an avalanche of new patents from Huawei for new technologies which leapfrog current western technologies. Western governments and companies will be faced with a difficult choice: Will they pay licensing fees to Huawei and other Chinese companies for these technologies, or will they insist on developing their own technologies and components using their own capabilities?
This is a very tough choice because investing in their own non-Chinese research and development will take at least five years, and will likely take more than ten years. Then, when that issue is resolved, where will they do the manufacturing? China has the best and most modern infrastructure and supply chains, so there will be a huge cost penalty for doing it on their own. When it comes to lower costs, the Chinese are masters of the game.
An even more important question: Where is the largest market for these products? Most likely, it will be China. So these products won’t be sold in China to Chinese? So where will it be sold?
The entire hospital’s blood bank supply. We had to send to nearby centers for more. We had to put our own trauma center on ambulance diversion until more arrived.
After forty units, the chance of survival drops precipitously. The chance over a hundred— who knows? Past diminishingly small. Unreported, possibly. The physiologic derangement is simply too great. Banked blood is not like our own. It is cool, watery, weak and deficient. And this toxic cocktail had washed out every native red cell in her body, splashed out itself, and been poured back in again.
Every raw surface had begun to ooze.
We had already coded her twice.
With the blood welling up in spite of my every effort, I threw packs of thick cotton gauze in her chest, trying to stem the torrent. Trying to buy a moment to think. She had the same injury that killed Princess Diana. My partner looked across the table at me, a slight shake to her head. The probe at the head of the bed beeping out a constant register of oxygen saturation suddenly dipped in tone. I glanced, alarmed, over the drape and saw, unmistakably, her eyes opened, her teeth gripping the tube, her lips forming words to the anesthesiologist who hurried to medicate her. A tear sliding down her cheek towards her ear.
She’s neuro intact.
“She’s neuro intact,” I said, this time aloud, as my eyes reconnected with my partner’s. “She’s neuro intact,” I repeated, as a kind of mantra.
My partner nodded. “Okay, let’s keep going then,” and pulled the packs out.
She was forty-five.
Previously healthy.
And all there.
When I reviewed the case later before a panel of my peers, I argued this made her somehow salvageable. They scoffed. I reconsidered. So why, then, had I “wasted” so many resources on one woman with such devastating injuries, who ultimately died, as I knew she would?
Because I couldn’t look her in the eye and tell her no more.
Cut meat across the grain into thin strips 1 1/2 inches long.
Combine 1/2 tablespoon of the soy sauce, vinegar and egg white in medium bowl; beat lightly with fork until foamy. Mix in meat. Cover and let stand 2 hours.
Cut celery into 1/2-inch diagonal slices.
Combine celery, 1 cup of the water and the salt in saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until boiling. Boil 3 minutes.
Drain celery.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in wok over high heat.
Drain meat and add to wok. Stir fry until meat is brown, about 5 minutes. Remove meat from wok. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to wok. Add celery, onions, ginger and garlic. Stir fry 1 minute. Return meat to wok; mix well.
Combine remaining 1/2 cup water, 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, the sherry, cornstarch and oyster sauce. Pour over meat-vegetable mixture. Cook and stir until liquid boils and thickens.
When driving a Private Hire Taxi to help pay my way through University one night I had to swerve to miss a guy staggering into the road. I thought he was a drunk but pulled up just to check he was OK. He staggered up to the passenger side window and slumped against it. He murmured for help, at that same moment I saw blood smeared all down the window. I saw another figure approaching the car, I was horrified to see he appeared to be carrying a huge knife. I opened the rear door and pulled the injured guy in. There was a lot of blood and I wasn’t sure he would make it. I drove off as the pursuer closed up. I radioed base and told them I had a seriously injured stabbing victim in the car. They called the hospital and the police. I sped to the emergency dept. on the way being picked out by a police car as I (very carefully) jumped a red light. They knew the situation and gave me an escort to the hospital. They were ready and waiting for him when we arrived.
The guy survived. The car was a total mess, but putting everything in perspective, a small price to pay.
He survived with 2 or 3 life-threatening wounds, making a full recovery, the police and the medics told me I’d saved his life.
I was later thanked by both him and, believe it or not the perpetrator, who received a jail sentence far shorter than he would have got for murder. Apparently they were friends and a disagreement over rent had got out of all proportion leading to the incident. Had I not had the feeling this was not just another drunk staggering around in the dark, a lot of lives would have changed that night.
As a newly hired IT Director in a City, I discovered one programmer who had been there for a number of years had no real assignments. He came in each morning, read the paper, then put his feet up and took a nap.
I promptly gave him an assignment and watched as he did nothing. I met with him numerous times and he finally mentioned that I couldn’t do anything because he had been there so long, he couldn’t be fired – certainly not by a new manager like me!
Challenge!
I documented my meetings and his comment and went to HR. They told me he was likely correct as he was a union steward, as well. I escalated to a HR Supervisor who suggested I build a file then apply progressive discipline.
And so it began. I gave him an assignment in writing. I had him agree, in writing, that he understood the project and how long it should take to complete. I set weekly goals for him to accomplish and when he didn’t, I applied progressive discipline. The first time, I issued a written reprimands warning that he could be terminated if this continued. Next, a written disciplinary memo. After that, I sent him home for a day with no pay. He immediately appealed.
At the appeal hearing, he brought a union lawyer, who claimed the project was too difficult and he needed additional training. That was BS, IMO, for a Senior Programmer with 8 years experience. However, the mediator suggested providing the training.
He began two weeks of training the following Monday. I found out he skipped several days and the instructor told me he knew the material going in and we were wasting taxpayer money to send him.
He continued to miss assignments, and I wrote several more written reprimands before suspending him with a 3 day unpaid suspension. He filed another appeal.
In this hearing, the union Attorney suggested that he occasionally fell asleep because he had kids who occasionally kept him up late at home. The mediator supported the suspension. When he returned, we sent him to the City Doctor for a “fit to work” physical exam. The Doctor determined he had sleep apnea and said he should spend a month at home using a CPAP machine for a month before returning for another physical (with full pay, of course). While he was gone, I gave his assignment to another programmer who knocked it out in 3 days.
When he finally came back to , I gave him another assignment with specific written instructions. Within a week, he violated the instructions and made an unauthorized and undocumented change to the system that opened the City up to several million dollars of legal liability.
I issued a written suspension for two weeks without pay and began the termination paperwork. At the end of the two weeks, he came in and gave me his written resignation.
Game over in 10 months.
During this period, he constantly complained to other staff, hurting morale. I even got a phone call from his wife telling me how cruel I was because he liked his job and asking why I hated her husband.
Because there was no India before 1947, it was just a colonial area composed of hundreds of small kingdoms forcibly annexed by the British. Maybe you would say that there were many countries in South Asia with large territories before Britain, but no former Indian country had a territory as large as India now. In particular, even though North India was often unified into one Greater India, South India and Northeast India were almost never ruled by North India. Therefore, there is no definite border line between China and India.
image 26
2 China was once very friendly and hoped to peacefully demarcate the Sino-Indian border.
India became independent in 1947. New China was founded in 1949. China and India are both third world countries. China wants to maintain good relations with India, so it wants to delimit the Sino-Indian border through peaceful negotiations with India. China says that we do not accept the boundary lines privately drawn by the colonists and that we can resolve them through negotiation. Our border areas are all no-man’s land, and the disputed areas on our borders total 120,000 square kilometers. According to the current actual control areas of both parties, China can recognize that 90,000 square kilometers of southern Tibet (now called Arunachal) belongs to India. India recognized that 30,000 kilometers of Aksai Chin belongs to China, and we signed a boundary agreement on this basis. From then on, both sides have an undisputed boundary line, and there will be no disputes or wars. From then on, friendly relations between China and India became the first Brotherly countries in the three worlds.
However, India firmly rejected any plan from China. It took the map drawn by the British and told China that this is the new India. You must fully accept that southern Tibet and Aksai Chin are mine. Because the Indians continued the arrogance of the colonizers. It has not learned to get along well with its neighbors, so this is the most important reason why India has poor relations with all its neighbors.
3. The reasons and purposes of the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
The reason is that India’s forward policy has invaded Chinese territory and challenged China’s bottom line.
The purpose is to make India understand that it must stop when China says to stop.
In 1962, India hoped to invade China step by step through the Forward Policy. The so-called forward policy is to advance the Indian barracks one kilometer towards Chinese territory every day, and then claim that this is India’s territorial scope. China has repeatedly warned India not to challenge China. But India ignored China’s anger and continued to invade China, even crossing the northern part of the McMahon Line claimed by India and entering undisputed Chinese territory. Therefore, China must use a language that Indians can understand to let India understand that the bottom line of the Chinese cannot be breached. This term is military power.
image 329
Indian prisoners in 1962
image 328
4 Why did China withdraw from the battle after winning the battle?
A Because China’s war goals were achieved, this is the most important reason.
From the beginning, China just wanted to teach the Indians a lesson, to let them recognize the reality, not to be too greedy, and not to ignore China’s warnings. When China says that LAC is the bottom line, don’t challenge China’s bottom line and don’t cross the LAC. When you really cross the LAC, China has enough strength to beat you back. So after China taught the Indians a lesson, China felt that was enough, so it returned to the state before the war and returned to the original line of actual control.
Maximizing revenue B
Simply put, it means achieving the highest benefit with the lowest cost.
If the Indians crossed one kilometer of LAC and China counterattacked 20 kilometers and stayed to occupy the land, it would definitely cause India to expand the war regardless of the cost, and the war would not stop lightly.
It would be unwise to plunge two countries with hundreds of millions of people into endless war.
It would be unwise to plunge two countries with hundreds of millions of people into an ongoing war over mostly uninhabited mountainous and desert areas.
War costs huge amounts of money. OThe value of a cannonball fired in one hour is enough to feed the residents of a small town for a year. In 1962, both China and India were quite poor countries, especially China. 1962 was the hungriest year in the history of New China. It would be very unfavorable for China to fall into a long-term war at this time.
China has pushed its battle line to the Indian plains. If China insists on fighting here, it will be at a huge disadvantage, because to transport an artillery shell from a Chinese factory here, it requires the use of donkeys to climb dozens of mountains over 3,000 meters. , spanning thousands of kilometers, requires a huge amount of transportation energy. Even if a 10-dollar artillery shell costs $1,000 here, Indian artillery shells can be transported directly by truck, and a 10-dollar artillery shell is worth at most $100. In other words, the cost in China is at least 10 times more expensive than in India. This is an asymmetric war. If China continues to fight here, the original victory will turn into a defeat, or a tragic victory. As a master of war, the Chinese will not make such mistakes. Therefore, China decisively returned to the LAC before the war.
In the 1962 war, from the perspective of territorial acquisition, China did not gain more territory than before the war. But the benefits are still huge.
The biggest benefit is that in the decades after 1962, Indians no longer dared to cross the LAC lightly and no longer dared to advance policies. In other words, Indians have heartily accepted that LAC is the default boundary line between China and India. This won decades of peace along China’s southwestern border.
The border conflict in 1967 was only a few days of minor fighting over the dispute between China and India over the LAC demarcation line at Nathu La Pass. At that time (32 Chinese soldiers died and 101 Indian soldiers died)
image 327image 326image 325
Indian prisoners in 1967
Maybe 1962 has passed too long, maybe Indians feel that India in 2020 is no longer the India in 1962, so the Indians crossed the LAC again in 2020, so China was forced to take action again to teach the Indians a lesson. I hope Indians understand that although India is not the India of 1962, China is not the China of 1962. China was in its poorest period in 1962, when China’s GDP was even lower than India’s. China GDP in 2020 is five times larger than India. Don’t provoke China, China is more powerful than you think.
She’s lying. She has no idea what to do. What she’s trying to selli is the idea that she does.
Here’s the problem. Americans want fentanyl. Enough Americans want fentanyl as to make it worth the enormous risk of smuggling either it, or the raw materials to make it, into the United States. Capitalism 101. And there is no way to stop that. None. Every attempt we’ve ever made to stop drug use by prohibition has been not only an utter failure, but has caused us more trouble than the actual problem we were trying to fix.
There’s a deeper problem. Fentanyl is a symptom, not a cause. And that cause is the utter hopelessness and the lack of resources for the poor in the US. We’ve literally criminalized poverty. We have the weakest social safety net in the industrial world, and we’ve decided that a tax structure that makes it possible for a handful of men to amass fortunes that can buy them freedom from the law, is a good thing even if it leaves 20% of the country living below the poverty line in an information and resource vacuum that leaves most trapped.
Preying on the poor is hugely profitable, and the capitalists have risen to the task. We choose to look away and complain.
I once worked for a dental lab as part of a “back-to-work” rehab program after a work injury. I was working late one Friday and took a delivery into the mail room for shipment the next day. The mail room was adjacent to the owner’s office and I overheard him and his wife (his accountant) and the office manager planning on replacing some 60% of the staff with high-school kids in work-study programs. The boss, Rick, heard me taping up the box and came in, asking what I was doing and if I heard them, to which I said no. He told me I wasn’t supposed to work late and leave the package for the next day.
On Monday I was called into a meeting with Rick, his wife and my rehab consultant about missing many hours of work. He slid three altered times cards across the table as proof, not realizing I had copies of all my time cards as required by the work comp insurer. I pulled them from my bag and told him he was lying and falsified the cards because I overheard him planning on firing staff. He fired me anyway so as I left, I walked into the large work area and announced loudly, “Rick is going to replace most of you with high-school kids and he just fired me because I overheard him planning it.”
Two weeks later he let nine people go, replacing them with high-school kids. By the end of the month another six employees left for the competition and without experienced employees, he went out of business by the end of the year. I actually ran into him at the grocery store the following year and asked him how his business was going. He said, “Go f*ck yourself!” Best. Vindication. Ever. 🙂
This goes back fifty years, but I will never forget it.
My mother’s aunt and uncle (Annie and Homer) were married for over fifty years. They never had any biological children, but did adopt a daughter (Mary Catherine) and raised her as their own.
MC grew up, got married, and moved out of state with her husband. (The parents lived in Memphis, and the daughter lived in southeastern Missouri, about a five-hour drive apart.)
Being much younger, I only met the daughter a couple of times while I was growing up. She didn’t visit Memphis often.
Aunt Annie fell and broke her hip in an accident in her early-80’s. She survived the fall, but lapsed into dementia and died about two years later. Mary Catherine didn’t attend the funeral. (When I asked why, none of the adults in my family would talk about it.)
Uncle Homer lived another few years. His mind was sharp, but his physical health started failing. During the last year of his life, he was bedridden at home and required regular nursing visits during the day.
One afternoon, Uncle Homer called our house all frantic, asking my mother to come to his house. She and I drove over, a trip that took about fifteen minutes.
When we arrived, he was yelling and crying. His nurse had also arrived, but wasn’t able to calm him down.
When he saw my mom, Uncle Homer told us the story: Mary Catherine and her husband had shown up, and cleaned out the house of everything they wanted.
He had yelled and screamed, and had fallen out of bed trying to stop them, but they both just laughed at his efforts and took everything of value. He had gotten his gun out from the beside table, but his nurse had removed the bullets from it long beforehand.
The daughter and husband left before Uncle Homer called us, so we never saw them.
My grandfather had the daughter’s number in Missouri and called her that evening. She was not at all repentant and argued that the stuff she took was her just reward for putting up with her parents for decades. Apparently, she was upset because they had “lived too long.” She also let him know that she expected to get Uncle Homer’s house when he was gone.
Uncle Homer didn’t call the police on his daughter, but he was clearly heartbroken after this incident. His life spark and sense of humor were gone. He lasted about three more months, and passed away at age 92.
After he died, Mary Catherine didn’t attend the funeral, but did come back to deal with her inheritance. It turned out that Uncle Homer had altered his will and gave his house to his nurse, a widow who had been living in a rented place nearby.
The value of the house was a lot greater than the stuff that the daughter had stolen.
There was that girl that had been lonely all her life. People, especially in school, disliked her because she was “strange”, “a nerd”, “too quiet” and just “different”.
One day she decided to talk to her teachers during the breaks instead of trying to fit in where she didn’t. She always acted older than her age and her teachers liked her, so they usually didn’t send her away, but had a friendly chat with her ever so often instead.
By tenth grade, she had almost developed some kind of friendship to a few of her teachers. When she got the “strictest teacher of the school” as her major course teacher in grade eleven, it took her mere weeks to find out that he actually wasn’t so strict at all.
They talked for at least half an hour after the lessons. About science, about our society, the people in school and whatever came to mind. Those two thought quite alike, despite an age difference of 34 years, and the girl now almost a woman could for the first time in years really live her passion for learning. Her teacher was highly intelligent and very knowledgeable, having not only written a dissertation in the past and worked in research for years but also being interested in a broad spectrum of topics.
Well, doesn’t sound so bad, now does it? So what happened?
Well, because teenagers are teenagers, it took about half a year for people to start whispering about the girl and her teacher. It started off lightly, she was still strange and why would she even talk to him?
But a few months after that, some people thought it to be funny to make up a non-existent romantic relationship between teacher and student. Despite that girl having been very close to other teachers before, but now that it was a male teacher, it suddenly was completely different. Because people of opposite gender can’t just see each other as friends, right? They just have to be in love to even think about talking to each other.
A less than funny “joke” became something way bigger. After two weeks, all of the 1600 students knew about this. And most didn’t know that it was a joke. People were laughing and pointing at her, throwing insults at the girl for something that never happened.
Finally, after about three months of dealing with it alone, she had the heart to tell her teacher. They decided to never talk to each other outside of class again, to prevent the teacher from getting problems with the school. While it was just a rumour, that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t lead to problems.
Both of them lost a friend on the day they made this decision. And the student lost a person she saw as a second father – her father barely ever was at home and her teacher had been one of three people (the other ones being her best friend and a female teacher she knew since fifth grade) she ever fully trusted. It might not have been cruel at the first glance, but it hurt her in more ways than the others students could’ve ever imagined.
As a 12 year old, he came to the auditions of Britain’s Got Talent.
You should go and get a singing teacher.
He was told by David Walliams
and that hurt the 12 year old kid. So much so that when he came for auditions 2 years later, he mentioned this on the stage again. David obviously did not remember the incident.
Kyle had taken it to his heart that ‘he was not good enough’ and had worked hard on his singing for the past 2 years.
Kyle sang that day with his heart out and the entire auditorium rose up to appreciate his talent. Everyone was moved and David Walliams somewhere realized how big a mistake he had done for hurting Kyle.
image 374
David pressed the golden buzzer, which meant Kyle went to the live shows directly. (Every judge has only one golden buzzer to use in one season.)
David came up to the stage and hugged Kyle.
Kyle transformed his embarrassment and made himself more than able in a period of 2 years.
He forced the man who had underestimated him to accept his mistake.
For me, that is the best form of revenge.
Turn your haters into your fans.
Film-Noir | Impact (1949) | Brian Donlevy, Helen Walker, Ella Raines | Movie, subtitles
I was living in Florida back after I left the Navy. I was living with a girl, who moved out, and abandoned, I ended up with some extra tickets to a Aerosmith / Journey rock fest. Yeah. She wasn’t there at the time.
She went back home to visit a guy. She thought that he was boyfriend material (I found out later). He wasn’t. Not even friend material. And she regretted turning down Florida to go sit waiting on this boy who didn’t know how to treat a hot chick.
Anyways…
So I went to the concert alone.
I spent the entire day there in Miami and enjoyed the concert as much as I could. Though, it wasn’t the same being alone.
Being alone pretty much sucks.
I found a hitchhiker. Took him to the concert. He made some friends there. And all four of us enjoyed the concert. They were younger than myself. But it was cool. I was the stable older guy. LOL.
Anyways, I ate a a sandwich on the way to the concert, and wouldn’t you know it… a big blob or mayonnaise plopped down right on my white tee shirt.
What a mess. It was about the size of a quarter.
But I noticed, and then got caught up in the traffic. I forgot about the glob.
…
I arrive at the concert. Got inside, and am jamming to the music, when I notice a few girls pointing at me, looking at me and laughing at me.
This happened again. Different girls.
Then a few minutes later… another group of different girls.
Hummm. What’s going on?
…
Anyways I had to pee, and went into the mens-room, and looked in the mirror. Sure as shit, it looked like I had a big blob of cum right above my groin. The sun had baked it into the exact appearance of days old cum. Oh Lordy!
Oh. My. God.
How embarrassing.
I cleaned myself up as best I could, but the glob made a heavy stain that REALLY looked like I ejaculated right then and there. Yellow-white on a bright blue-white tee shirt. Ugh!
I mean it.
It was the splittin’ image!
Sigh.
…
Anyways… Yeah… I met a couple of chicks from Cuba. Met some younger guys that I hung out with for a spell, and then went home late at night alone. Ah, my tale for the day.
…
The one persistent memory of the event was that glob of fake cum that all the chicks were joking about.
And… Sammy Hagar the “red rocker”.
And… getting hosed with water in the heat of the day…
You wouldn’t know it to look at me now, but when I was a teenager, I used to ride my bicycle several hundred miles per week.
Somewhere along the line, I read an article that said you could burn more fat by eating after you exercise than eating before. (Never mind that I was already at something like 12% body fat at the time.) I thought this sounded like a great idea, so I had a tiny breakfast, and set out for a 100-mile ride in the mountains.
All you experienced cyclists and marathoners know where this is headed. The bonk. The wall. I used up all the readily available fuel in my system, and started burning anything my body could find—fat, muscle, heck, brain cells for all I know. And I was still 40 miles from home.
10 miles from home, I couldn’t even stand up, let alone ride a bicycle. I called my sister from a pay phone to come get me. She was a long-distance cyclist herself, and knew what I was up against. There were two huge bagels with cream cheese waiting for me on the passenger seat when she arrived.
I walked into the house still eating, and headed for the kitchen, where I ate an entire bag of granola. Not a little one, either—one of those 3-pounders from Trader Joe’s. I was still starving, so I started in on a box of cereal. (Honeycombs, I think it was? The ones that hurt your mouth if you don’t soak them in milk for 10 minutes? I wasn’t bothering with the milk.)
While I was still shoving handfuls of painful cereal in my mouth, my parents arrived, and said they wanted to go out to eat at Souplantation. I scrambled for the car, box of cereal still in hand.
image 128
For those of you not familiar with Souplantation, picture the biggest soup and salad bar you’ve ever seen in your life, and double it. Now double it again, and add a baked potato bar, a bakery, and a dessert area with a dozen kinds of cake, pie, and frozen yogurt.
One price . . . all you can eat.
I ate. I think I lost track of how much I was eating about the seventh time I went back to get more food. I ate as much as all of the rest of my family put together, and then some. And then I went back for dessert.
By that point, I finally started feeling normal again. Not stuffed . . . normal.
Holiday Glazed Pork Roast
holiday glazed pork roast 1
Ingredients
1 (4 pound) boneless pork loin roast
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 (14 ounce) can Ocean Spray® Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
1 large red onion, cut into 6 to 8 wedges or 12 small whole onions, peeled
Instructions
Combine cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and orange peel in small saucepan. Stir in orange juice, sherry and cranberry sauce. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Set aside.
Place roast in shallow roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer. Roast at 325 degrees F for 1 hour.
Place onion wedges around pork. Spoon about 1/2 cup cranberry mixture over roast and onions. Continue to roast for 30 to 60 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 155 to 160 degrees F.
Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
Serve with remaining cranberry mixture.
Attribution
Recipe and photo used with permission from: Ocean Spray Recipe from the National Pork Producers Council.
I had written this elsewhere but it was unfortunately collapsed due to an image policy violation. So, here it is again with the offending image removed.
It’s been 15 years now, but here’s what I remember finding shocking about moving to the United States:
The pervasive waste of food. I grew up in a culture where even in rich families, the memory of poverty isn’t that far off: either your parents grew up poor or their parents grew up poor. There’s a strong taboo against putting more on your plate than you can finish and throwing away the food you don’t want instead of saving it for the next meal. But this is what greeted me in high school… every single day.
image 113
Acceptance of gays: people being openly gay… and it not being a thing, like not at all. Now, I know we have a long way to go on gay rights but the concept of gay rights doesn’t even exist where I grew up. Homosexuality isn’t viewed as a matter of sexual orientation so much as a matter of sexual deviancy. But here were people being gay and the sky wasn’t dropping. What a concept!
image 112
How ignorant so many people were of life outside the US. Here, 2 things specifically come to mind:
I grew up in Africa. You wouldn’t believe how many times I was asked versions of:
“Hey Kunta, ever been hunting a lion?”
“Hey, Motumbo, do you guys sleep in trees?”
“Are you married? Cuz, in your culture, people get married at, like, 15, right?”
“You guys have TVs/cars/zoos/cell phones in Africa?”
People also didn’t seem to understand just how freaking huge Africa is.
Random guy: Oh, you’re from West Africa? This guy over there is from Tanzania.
Me: O….kay.
Random guy: Do you know him?
Me: …ummm
How intensive parenting is! Holy cow, people! How the hell do you guys do this? People have full time jobs and then another full-time job attending the litany of things they enroll their kids in: recitals, soccer games, hockey, baseball, summer camp, etc. The last thing any kid in my country wants is their parents showing up at a soccer game, loudly yelling words of encouragement. Oh no, the horror! Your friends will laugh at you for being a baby forever. The loss of prestige would be so immense, you’d never recover any shred of dignity. Parents might show up to big events like if you’re a national finalist in some competition. That’s about it. But here I saw parents everywhere, hovering like so many helicopters. It was mind-boggling!
Nerds. Where I grew up, the most respected kids in the school were those with the highest grades. Everybody’s GPA was public information and there was a high premium placed on being seen as one of the smart ones. That annoying kid sitting in front and answering all the questions? All the smart kids wanted to be that kid. The first few times someone poked fun at me for being a nerd, I answered something like “wait, you’re making fun of me because I’m smarter than you?” and proceeded to laugh in their face. Needless to say, I wasn’t very popular in high school.
Hugs. Mine was not a touchy-feely kind of culture. No “I love you” among family members. Hugs were reserved for when someone was going on or coming from a trip. Once, when I was 9, my mom was coming from a 3-month long trip and came to pick me up from school. I ran to give her a hug… friends made fun of me for months afterwards. Like, look at the little baby running to hug his mom when she picks him up from school. I tried to explain that I hadn’t seen her in 3 months, but they were having none of it. Here, it seemed like everybody wanted a hug. At first it was “what is wrong with this girl?” But after it kept happening, I realized that I was the odd one for not liking hugs. (I’m really cuddly now, having lived half my life here, but it was definitely an acquired taste).
image 111
How forthcoming people were with personal matters. You’d meet strangers in the bus and have a conversation with them where they’d proceed to tell you their dad was dying from cancer, or that their parents were getting divorced. I still can’t get my mom to tell me exactly how my grandma died. People are really, really, really protective of that kind of info where I grew up.
How readily available information was! No need to go borrow the ONE family encyclopedia from 15 years ago. Get online and research any topic you want. I just about had a mental orgasm when I first discovered Wikipedia.
Puns are not funny to most people!!! Puns were, like, the epitome of cleverness. Sigh. Never going to win this one. Never going to stop thinking that I’m hilarious for telling people that:
Coffee is not my cup of tea.
Sometimes, I’m meaner than average.
Abortion rights!!! Again, a very strong taboo in my country. Not something most women there want to openly be associated with. Hell, people are still shy about talking about oral contraceptives!
Female equality. Women are equal people! What a concept! Again, things are not perfect here but it would come as a shock to most of the men I grew up with that their wives should enjoy the same rights/decision-making powers as themselves.
Anyway, I could go on, but that will have to do for now.
I Lived 2 Weeks In A Parallel Universe | 4 TRUE GLITCH IN THE MATRIX STORIES
Explore four more true and extraordinary accounts where ordinary lives intersect with alternate realities, offering us glimpses into parallel universes. These tales challenge our understanding of reality, inviting us to question what lies beyond the realm of the known.
Meet Kirill Cherkalin. He’s an ordinary Federal Security Service (ex-KGB) colonel.
Police officers had found 12 billions rubles ($165 million) in cash in three apartments owned by Mr. Cherkalin.
Mr. Cherkalin calmly announced that he agrees to return to the Russian state 6 billion rubles, or about half, in return for keeping the other half for himself. He claims he has every right to take the rest, because it was acquired through honest work.
He said he “did not mind” if the investigators confiscate 6.5 million euros, 4,000 pounds, 793 million rubles, a Porsche Cayenne and, “all my Swiss watches and cufflinks too”.
But this is where Mr. Cherkalin wants to draw the line.
“$85 million in cash, the apartments, the private residences, the non-residential property, the land, and the jewelry belong to my ex-wife, my parents and other relatives.”
The investigators calculated the colonel and his whole family had earned 55 million rubles (less than $1 million) in the past fifteen years.
image 130
Mr. Cherkalin had a special talent that distinguished him from the rest of his colleagues. He is soft spoken and intelligent. That’s what made him perfect for the job.
A group of Federal Security Service officers had insider information about banks with bad debts that were on the radar of the Central Bank. They sent Mr. Cherkalin in to explain to the bankers in the most polite terms that they would provide protection in exchange for a certain compensation. They received compensation, but the bank licenses were still revoked by the Central Bank.
In other instances, they “created problems” for the banks and then offered their protection services. If the bank didn’t pay up, they organized for their licenses to be revoked.
Years ago, I worked as a receptionist in the showroom of a prestigious car dealership. I would greet customers, settle them comfortably in the seating area, then ask a member if the sales staff to attend to them.
One morning, a gentleman came in, and after exchanging pleasantries, he gave me his name, and explained that he had an appointment with a particular member of the sales staff. I invited him to take a seat, offered tea or coffee, then called the salesperson to advise them that he was waiting for them in reception.
Minutes later,vthe staff member all but ran over to my desk to ask where he was (I think he’d excused himself to use the facilities) and hissed at me “Don’t you know who he is?!!” I told her that he’d said his name was XYZ, and she stared at me like I’d lost my mind.
“YES! DOESN’T THAT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?” she sounded outraged when I told her that no; I understood he was an important customer (they all were) but his name wasn’t familiar to me
As he walked up behind her, she told me furiously that I SHOULD recognise his name: he was the star player for one of our city’s football teams. Looking her right in the eye, I told her “Oh… that explains it. I support the OTHER guys…” salesperson was mortified into silence!
The customer just about died laughing; told the salesperson that I’d been nothing but courteous and professional, and off they went to arrange delivery of his shiny new car. When they were done, he made a point of coming to thank me for the coffee, and say goodbye, shaking my hand, and wishing me well.
A few days after I moved into a townhome in Flagstaff, I received a visit from my local HOA representative, who was an old and very severe looking woman. She provided me with a pamphlet detailing the rules I had to follow, and explained the trash and recycle pick up days/times.
For the most part, they were pretty simple, and easy to follow.
Except for the garden gnomes.
Every townhome needed to have a garden gnome somewhere near the entrance. The purpose of this was to keep up the whimsical spirit that the neighborhood wanted to convey to outsiders.
Unfortunately, I hate garden gnomes. I find them cheesy and annoying.
While the HOA representative offered to provide one to me, I declined her offer and decided to find one of my own that I could tolerate.
A few days later, I happened to be walking around Downtown Flagstaff, when I spotted this whole set of garden gnomes on a table. There were garden gnomes on motorcycles, garden gnomes staging a rock concert, garden gnomes going to the bathroom, among other weird garden gnome offerings.
Finally, I spotted a lawn ornament that perfectly conveyed my feelings for them.
image 114
Upon seeing this, I just knew I had to have it, and bought it without a care for the price.
When I returned home, I immediately placed it in the little garden area by the entrance of the townhome. I was certain that the head of the HOA would hate it and ask me to remove it.
A few days later, I heard a knock on the door. It was the head of the HOA.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, she mentioned that she had seen the lawn ornament, and absolutely loved it! She thought it was a quirky and unique twist on the lawn gnomes, and gave me a batch of homemade butter cookies for my cheekiness.
This kickstarted a friendship that remains to this day.
MINDBLOWING NDE! Woman POISONED, Shown the Layers of REALITY!
The West is wrong about China’s economy says Irish Economist Philip Pilkington
Open a Western business newspaper and one would probably come away thinking that the Chinese economy is doing poorly, or perhaps even on the verge of collapse. While it is true that the country’s economy continues to suffer from structural problems, this perception is not just wrong but risks undermining the credibility of Anglophone publications and the capacity for our policymakers to make rational decisions.
Last week Chinese price data showed mild deflation, a data point out of which the Western financial press made hay. “China’s deflation worsens as economic pressures mount”, read the Financial Times headline. Bloombergran
with “China’s consumer price drop worsens, fuelling deflation fears”. The mild deflation that is taking place in China does indeed stem from structural problems in the economy — especially the fact that it is overly reliant on investment spending and insufficiently reliant on consumer spending. But, at a certain point, the negative press becomes outright misleading.
Two other data points were released last week which show the Chinese economy growing robustly. The first came
from the private sector Caixin Services Purchasing Managers Index survey, which showed stronger than expected growth in the very sector about which bearish commentators have raised concerns.
Interestingly, the private sector surveys of the Chinese services sector show it expanding quicker than the official
Chinese government studies which showed a mild contraction in November. Those who accuse the Chinese of inventing economic statistics would do well to explain why government surveys are more conservative than their private sector equivalents. Whatever way one looks at it, the Chinese services sector is now expanding.
Then there is Chinese export data, which showed exports expanding for the first time in seven months. Combined with the service sector data, this shows a broad-based expansion of the Chinese economy. Not a veritable economic boom, it must be stressed, but continuous growth that is consistent with the IMF’s own projections
. These show that Beijing will comfortably meet its 5% growth target this year — a projection China bears seem to ignore when they pass judgement on the economy.
There are rumours that China may have advanced in its capacity to produce semiconductors. A specialist hardware website notes how a recent Huawei laptop listing suggests that the Chinese have broken the 5 nanometer chip barrier. If the listing is correct, it suggests that China has advanced even further than the 7 nanometer processor found
in the new Huawei Mate 60 smartphone. The phone shocked Western analysts who thought that such technology was beyond the production capacity of the Chinese. It increasingly looks like the American-led chip sanctions are just pressuring China to produce the needed technology domestically, and thereby undermining the competitiveness of incumbent Western players.
The Chinese economy will not grow at the runaway rates it did in the 2000s and 2010s. No one expects this now that the average Chinese person has become wealthier. Indeed, the Chinese government’s own growth targets reflect this new reality. But at a certain point, the obsessive bearishness about China is discrediting. Last year at a conference, Fang Xinghai, vice-chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, stated: “I would advise international investors to find out what’s really going on in China and what’s the real intention of our government by themselves. Don’t read too much of the international media.” In response to this, UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher said
that he and his colleagues were not reading Western media on the issue.
How long can the financial papers continue to push their bearish China narrative without discrediting themselves? More importantly, who exactly do they think they are helping? Policymakers benefit from being well-informed, and businesspeople who actually engage with China will quickly turn to other news sources, as Kelleher alluded to last year. Critical stories on China may make Westerners who have recently soured on the country feel good. Yet they are nothing but a soporific, and the effects cannot last forever.
As Sun Is Killing Humans , Plane Must Avoid Daylight By Travelling Around The World
You’re likely thinking of the notorious Dirlewanger Brigade, led by infamously sadistic necrophile, alcoholic and rapist Doktor Oskar Dirlewanger, which unit was filled with convicted criminals and other undesirables recruited from prisons and concentration camps.
image 115
Dirlewanger himself had been in trouble for various odious crimes, including raping a 14 year old girl, prior to the war, but his disgrace was short-lived, and he was rehabilitated (and his doctorate, in political science, reinstated) for pragmatic reasons, it seems; his willingness to do things that most normal people would consider unthinkable a useful asset in the amoral environment of the SS.
His disgusting sexual proclivities and intense cruelty and sadism meant that the unit he led was given more or less free rein, to murder, torture, rape and burn. They started life guarding a concentration camp, and the cruelties inflicted on the prisoners by Dirlewanger and his criminal cronies were so evil as to almost defy belief.
Thereafter, they were moved on to Belarus where they took action against “gangs”, basically a euphemism for terrorising the population, with rape, torture and extortion aplenty. Dirlewanger and his brigade, a division at this point, was eventually shot to pieces by the Red Army during Operation Bagration, and then reformed to suppress the Warsaw Uprising, with more of the cruelty and sadism that had come to characterise the unit, and for which Dirlewanger was promoted and received the Knight’s Cross.
Oskar Dirlewanger himself survived the war, but not for long. He died in a prison camp in 1945; most likely he was beaten to death by the guards.
You may also be thinking of the Kaminski Brigade, led by Bronislav Kominski, pictured below, which was a unit of the Waffen SS formed from Soviet nationals who for whatever reason chose to collaborate with the Nazis.
image 116
Similar to the antics of the Dirlewanger Brigade, the Kaminski Brigade was noteworthy for their evil practises behind the lines, and during Operation Bagration and the Warsaw Uprising. Rape and torture, as well as large scale murder of the civilian population, characterised these men, much to the disgust of the Army and even the SS, which recognised the unruly and ungovernable nature of the unit, dissolving it in 1944.
I can’t smoke on my balcony anymore, even though I live in a country where cannabis became legal from shore-to-shore on October 17, 2018. And the tobacco smokers in my apartment building in Peace River, Alberta, Canada, can’t smoke on their balconies either.
For a while, the landlady of my building turned a blind eye to tobacco and cannabis smokers in the building. From 2021 to the spring of 2023, we all smoked on our balconies until someone complained.
All the smokers received notices as summer began in 2023. We were warned not to smoke in common places including the balconies, or we faced immediate evictions. We all were expected to smoke or vaporize at least five metres away from the building.
At first I was angry, but I have since adapted. I also smoke less a bit less now, because that puff is a little harder to get at.
During the summers, when the skies never get dark, I smoke up in the hills behind the Catholic school near my apartment.
A little girl warned me not to up into the hills once because of the bears. The neighbourhood up in the hills behind the school is active with nature, as I discovered in the summer of 2023. I heard a bear several metres above me on an August day. He might’ve become irritated or attracted to the fruit-scented smoke of my flavoured pre-roll. Another time, a marten ran along the path in front of me. A creepy deer often followed me around the schoolyard after I had walked down the hill. The animals were cool, but the dirt biker in July was annoying. Still, he was easy enough to miss or evade.
In the winters when it starts getting dark after 4 p.m. in December, I have been going out for puffs on the pipe in the parking lot, taking care not to smoke less than five metres away from the building. The winters often freeze our patio doors shut anways, so the balconies aren’t easy to open up from January to March.
Below is a photo of the hilly area where I often smoke above Peace River in the north part of town taken in September 2022.
image 127
4 Unexplained TIMESLIP AND TIME TRAVEL STORIES From The US & UK
Explore five more true and intriguing timeslip tales that challenge the boundaries of time. From Jacob Ward’s historical encounter with a centuries gone indigenous village, to Amanda Clark’s pastoral encounter with an ancestral homestead, Karen Sinclair’s eerie descent into a 17th-century stable, and Jeff Morgan’s nostalgic glimpse into his own childhood. Such extraordinary time slip accounts defy reality and invite us to ponder the mysteries of existence.
My mother was a nurse. You know how busy a nurse could get? Really, really busy. But I had a clean home growing up and I maintain a clean and tidy home now, thanks to my mom’s rules:
You take something out to use, put it back where it belongs after you’re done using it. Right away. For example: get the scissors out of the drawer to use? Put them back in the drawer RIGHT AWAY after.
If something take under two minutes to do, do it RIGHT AWAY. Right away, not “in a bit”, not “later”. For example: after taking a shower, it takes just 1 minute to wipe down the shower glass door and walls, do it right away.
Always spend an extra minute looking back at what you just did. – This may sound silly, but it’s so true for me. For example, after doing the dishes and thinking I’m done, when I look back, I might notice a wet spot on the floor that need to wipe up; a bowl left out on the countertop that should be put away;…
If you spend 5 minutes cleaning up every day, you won’t have to spend 3 hours cleaning up at the end of the week.
Train your kids (and your husband/boyfriend) these rules.
Not always. When I was a younger man, I used to guide on the rivers in Northern BC and the company required us to carry large-frame revolvers to protect our guests and ourselves. Predatory grizzlies in remote areas have one of three reactions when you fire a warning shot – they either run away, they stop in their tracks or they continue to come at you. Literally, it’s “Oh. Oh sh*t. Sh*t sh*tsh*tsh*t no no nononono….”
It’s the last scenario that usually ends by shooting the bear and having to take photos to accompany a report. These revolvers are ridiculously loud, but some bears simply don’t give a rat’s ass and continue to come at you. I’ve personally seen it happen more than once, and it’s absolutely terrifying – it’s like they’re on a death wish and they come at you with a locked-on stare, as if their heads were mounted on a gyroscopic frame. Not sure why it happens, but it does – if they’re deaf, how does one tell, right? 😉 . And you would not believe how fast these monsters can run, it’s mind-blowing that something that big can move that quick over rough terrain. No one can outrun a grizzly at full pace.
Other bears like black bears are more timid, but if they’re sick or starving, one can’t predict their behavior. Kodiaks are even bigger than grizzlies, but I’ve never been to the Kodiak Archipelago – I’ve never seen one in person. Can’t imagine they like head-pats from smelly fishermen.
My wife is an insecure woman’s nightmare: IQ in the 130s, talented musician, funny, head-turningly beautiful.
We’re both in our 40s, at her work this year she’s had a guy literally fall down the stairs after seeing her. Multiple guys from the IT department come along if she needs something. It’s hysterical.
I get it easy. Comments from men about her being better looking than me, is about it really. I’ve had a guy come on to her whilst we’re at the bar together ordering a drink. Found it funny. I can pretend when we’re both dressed up and we walk into a restaurant and several people turn and look at us that I’m remotely anything to do with that. She doesn’t notice.
I was shocked when we first met (mid to late 30s) how women reacted around her. Passing her on the street she would be looked up and down with the most hateful, evil faces. She’s told me when she was younger on nights out women would put cigarettes out on her clothes or lie about her to start arguments in group situations.
She deals with a load of envious rubbish, which is a shame because she’s a naturally shy person. I just have to deal with people wondering if she’s married to me because I’m rich, hilarious or very well endowed. Let them wonder.
I was on an airplane flying home from a work trip. I noticed a young lady sitting across the isle from me. I don’t remember exactly what it was that clued me into the fact that she was military but, I noticed it and commented, being a military brat, I am always happy to chat with our military personnel. Turned out she had just graduated from advanced schooling (or something like that, its been many years ago) and was heading home to visit her family before heading out to whatever was next. She mentioned that she had her dress blues in the bin above her because she was worried about checking the uniform. As the last of the plane was loading this fellow sees her clothing bag and goes to shove his carryon bag in on top of her uniform, crushing it. I quickly told the fellow to stop, that the bag he was crushing was her military dress blues, and that he needed to find another place for his bag. (To be clear, her bag was neatly folded up and only taking up the space of a single suitcase, the fellow just decided that it would be acceptable to crush someone else’s clothing rather than finding another place for his bag). He started to argue with me when the flight attendant (who must have overheard) approached and asked to see his ticket. His seat was in the back of the plane and we were up in the expanded economy section. The flight attendant calmly told the man he would need to take his luggage to the back of the plane and find a spot for it there since the bin was obviously full. (which it was). He grumbled but, carried on his way. The flight attendant carefully pulled the girls uniform bag out, refolded it correctly and neatly, put it back in the bin and closed the bin lid. The young lady told me, “Thank you for stopping him”. I simply replied I was happy to be of help for our military personnel.
When the flight landed and I was at baggage claim, a couple came up to me. It was her parents. Apparently the young lady had told them the story and they wanted to thank me. Again, I told them I was happy I had seen it and been able to stop it. Wished them all the best, grabbed my bag and headed on my way.
Do you know the basic difference between China versus US, UK and France?
These group of nations regularly attack and invade nations at their will and certainly get drawn in on conflicts at any moment in time. So these despicable nation can and will need tanks in abundance apart from its own defence need.
China don’t. China only need it for defence and it has more than necessary. China have not been at war since 1979. Or 44 years ago! You ought to know this as it showed clearly China is not an aggressive or a war mongering nation like these despicable barbaric nations.
But since you ask, China can and will build anything including tanks on immediate notice and it can build more numbers than what these 2 nations put together. Hopefully it never have to as China prefers peace not war. Making tanks don’t make China rich, making cars do!
I didn’t think it was all that funny, but my courtroom was in tears over this, they were so amused.
I found myself sitting as a judge pro tem in Los Angeles County’s night court, which is held once a month at various courthouses in LA County. I had a Spanish language interpreter for this one case, and the lady before me was crying and doing her best to control her tears. I could tell she was very, very upset. I gently asked her what was wrong. Through the interpreter, she said she was so scared and so nervous about what was going to happen in court. I told her not to worry, no one is going to jail tonight, so let me see what was going on.
I read through the county’s paperwork, but my copy was terrible and I could only see that it looked like she was cited for an expired dog license, it had turned into an arrest warrant, and the bail was enormous. Then there were penalties on top of the bail.
I said, “Ms. Doe, are you really here for an expired dog license?” The audiences laughed aloud, and she said, “Yes,” with tears streaming down her face. I was confused because I had never seen anything like this before. I must have really looked confused, because the people in the courtroom laughed harder when I tried to read my terrible copy of the paperwork, then looked up at her which led to more laughter.
I told the woman that I am confused by why the fine was so high. Then she said she didn’t know what the fine was, and I told her it appears to be $7,000, give or take. She began to cry again, and the audience laughed again. I reminded the audience that they were in a courtroom.
I told the woman that it looks like the citation was given in 2012, and she said she got the ticket in 2002. I asked, “You got this citation 15 years ago, and only now you decide to come to court?” The woman nodded tearfully, and said, “yes.” Again, laughter.
I asked her what happened to cause this citation, and she said she was out jogging and had Goofy with her. I said, “Who’s Goofy?” She said, “My little dog.” I asked what kind of dog is Goofy, and she said, “a chihuahua.”
I asked her to go on, and she stated, “I crossed the street, and there was a police car that I didn’t see, and the cop motioned for me to come back across the street back to him. So I ran back across the street to him, and the police officer said I jay walked and he was going to give me a ticket. I told him that that was crazy, because he is the one who called me to come back across the street. Then he said he wasn’t going to give me a ticket, and he was playing with Goofy. Then he said that Goofy’s tag was expired, so he wrote on a paper to get Goofy’s tag renewed. I didn’t think it was a real ticket, because I didn’t have to sign anything, and it didn’t look like any ticket I’ve seen before….” The audience again started chuckling.
“I see,” I said with a sigh. “And where is Goofy today?” Her eyes welled up with tears, and she said he just died. And I asked if I was correct in believing that she got a note to update Goofy’s license it didn’t look like a real ticket to her, so now, 15 years later she decided to come to court. She said, “Yes, because I got a letter saying there was a warrant out for my arrest and I had to come to court. I thought I was going to go to jail today for Goofy’s license.” This amused the audience to no end.
I kept thinking that this is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in court. I said softly to myself, “What to do? What to do?” which brought laughter to the room again. I asked if she has other dogs at home, and asked if they have licenses. She said yes, and yes, of course.
I looked at this lady with tear-stained cheeks and said, “OK, here’s what I’m going to do.” Her eyes were welled up with tears, she sucked in her breath and looked like she was going to faint. The courtroom for once became very silent. “This ticket is over 15 years old, you were never properly noticed, as you never signed a promise to appear, and the legal file has nothing indicating you signed any such promise, but you did appear when you received notice by mail, 15 years later. In the interest of justice, I am recalling your arrest warrant, and dismissing this citation in its entirety and waiving all fines, fees and assessments. I need you to go to the cashier and get a document saying this is all cleared up. Do not leave without this. I don’t want to see you back here on this matter. The cashier may ask for a $25.00 administration fee, and I am ordering that fee waived. If the cashier disagrees, have them call me, and I’ll walk over there and straighten this out myself.”
The audience applauded, and this lady, for once actually smiled, and said, “Oh my God, thank you, thank you.”
Then of course I said, “This concludes this matter. Next, I have matter number…”
The usual way of covering them in Western Media is as utterly irrational. This is in the long tradition of viewing East Asians as “inscrutable orientals.” But generally speaking, if you think a country’s foreign policy is entirely devoid of reason, it’s safe to assume that you’re not getting the full picture.
The picture we get is of Kim Jong Un as an overgrown baby.
2023 12 16 20 24
Look! Doesn’t he look like a pudgy toddler? Look, he’s a fat and mean dictator who murders his own family members! Look, his people are starving!! Look, he’s testing yet another ballistic missile! Oh, no, that one was a flop! Hahahaha, isn’t that funny? He tried to flip this missile into the sea, near the Japanese coast, but instead, it was a flop!!!
This, to put it mildly, is not designed to inform; it’s designed to entertain and scare. And it’s succeeding. Very few people take the time to understand what kind of grand strategy lies behind their actions.
This is not to say that I myself can explain everything they do, but I’d like to submit to you a radical thought: the North Korean leadership is entirely rational. Here’s what you need to understand:
But, surely, they must know that we’re not REALLY going to invade them? They know no such thing. Dictatorships have this advantage over democracies: they have very long institutional memories. The Korean War is something most Americans don’t ever think about. Things are very different in North Korea. We tried to wipe them off the map, within living memory. We routinely invade countries we don’t like. Why wouldn’t they take us seriously when we threaten them?
They want nuclear weapons because it would prevent us from invading them. That’s it. They’re not going to nuke anyone first; that would mean nuclear annihilation for them. They want one thing: to survive. They know they can’t win a war against us; they’re not stupid. But they can make the cost of a potential invasion very, very costly by acquiring the capacity to nuke one of our cities.
There is nothing we can do about this. We have three bad options: diplomacy, sanctions, and war.
Diplomacy won’t work because there is nothing we can offer that will make them be willing to give up their nukes. They have seen what happens to people who make deals with the West in which they give up their quest for nuclear weapons. They know that both Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi would still be in power if they’d had nuclear weapons. It doesn’t matter what we offer; they’re not going to trust us. They will never willingly give up their nuclear weapons. It’s their biggest guarantee that we won’t topple their regime.
Sanctions won’t work because we’ve basically done everything we can do on our own. Their main economic lifeline is China, so China would have to agree to sanctions that bite. But China will only go so far in sanctioning them, because at the end of the day China prefers a nuclear North Korea to a collapsed one. We don’t care if they collapse. What is it to us? They’re far away and won’t affect us. But China very sensibly doesn’t want millions of refugees pouring into its borders. It also doesn’t want regime change, because that would mean replacing the Kim regime with something more friendly to the US. Why the hell would we expect China to help us replace a regime that is friendly to them with one that is friendly to us? That makes no sense whatsoever.
War won’t work because we don’t have the stomach for it. This is not a bad thing. We would win, but at what cost? Seoul is very close to the demilitarized border between North and South. North Korea has enough artillery to annihilate the city. They can also easily hit Japan. Potentially hundreds of thousands of civilians would die. We’re not going to invade them. If we show that much disregard for the lives of the civilian population of our allies, everyone will conclude that mutual defense agreements with us are meaningless. South Korea, Japan, and all our major allies would have renewed incentives to produce their own nukes. China would feel threatened by a nuclear Japan and South Korea and would have renewed incentive to ramp up its aggression in the region before these countries got nukes… it would not be pretty.
The reality is that North Korea has found the one thing that will allow their regime to survive: nuclear weapons. They’re very sensibly not going to give them up. And there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.
I Woke Up In A Parallel Universe Without Covid-19 | 3 TRUE GLITCH IN THE MATRIX STORIES
Venture into the perplexing realm of parallel universes with three more true and gripping accounts. Meet Seth Boyle, who after a brief nap finds himself in a world where a global pandemic is unheard of; Phoebe Donovan, whose lucid dreams offer glimpses into similar yet distinct alternate lives; and Clarissa Stone, whose deep sleep propels her into a version of her home where she’s unrecognizably out of place. Such experiences challenge our notions of human existence, and leave us wondering if we are more than what we perceive ourselves to be.
There are so many things, I don’t know where to begin. I will briefly mention a few things that friends in East and Southeast Asia have said seem strange to them:
They think Americans are odd for constantly speaking words of love, as well as hugging and kissing family and friends so freely.
They do not understand why comments (that we Americans consider rude) about my appearance or weight are not appreciated or welcomed by me. Literally I have lost friends because I’ve tried explaining the differences in our cultures when some do this.
They are flummoxed as to why we tolerate an ineffectual government that switches parties every four to eight years. We don’t understand either. I assure you.
They don’t see why Americans are so arrogant or that they are unable to be promoted in their career path because they are humble and unassuming. Many don’t realize that the arrogance and self-promotion of one’s best qualities is why those people are given a raise or a more prestigious position.
More than one or two romantic dates for them is to be heading to the marriage altar. They don’t understand why I want to know a man very well before marriage. They think marriage should come first and then we can spend the rest of our lives getting to know one another. My anxiety could never!
They can’t comprehend why we don’t take off our shoes before entering our homes. They think it’s unsanitary to bring in germs from the outside world. They definitely have a good point.
Some think it strange that as a society we tend to place elderly family members in nursing facilities. Though this attitude is changing as large amounts of people are entering retirement years with not enough young family members to provide adequate care.
Depending on the country, they sometimes think it is odd for us to be driving cars so much. It’s a necessity for us unless living in huge cities like New York or Chicago.
They don’t understand why our desserts are so sweet. Or why we don’t season our food!
They do not understand why people in America own so many guns!
I could go on and on. Differences don’t have to divide us though. I think instead we should share each others cultural background so that we gain understanding. I certainly need it.
There were many signs that my husband didn’t care about me anymore—like after 15 years of making a big deal of Valentine’s Day, he didn’t even acknowledge it. Despite the fact that the whole family came out of their rooms to find cards, gifts and candy from me, and I had hand-sewn little red lacy heart ornaments to decorate our ficus tree. Even after that, he did nothing to honor me.
I discovered that he had been spending all our disposable income taking his co-workers to lunch while I was home clipping coupons for food, buying dented and expired cans and sewing all the kids’ clothes to save money.
He had nothing to say to me anymore despite our long history of lively debates and philosophical discussions and sharing of stories from our earlier lives.
But the moment I knew beyond doubt that he didn’t care about me anymore was the day we were both in the kitchen and I aspirated a mouthful of water. My airway was completely blocked. I frantically signaled to him that I was choking, that I needed help. He just stood there completely calm with his arms folded, watching me. I signaled the Heimlich maneuver but he didn’t lift a finger to help me. I was starting to get tunnel vision. So I doubled my fist, placed it over my diaphragm and fell against the edge of the counter, launching the water out of my throat and gasping for air.
I looked at him incredulously. “Why didn’t you help me?”
“What was I supposed to do?” This, from a guy who did Search and Rescue for the Navy.
“Couldn’t you see I was signaling the Heimlich?”
“Well, yeah, but I didn’t think that would work for water.”
“So you just chose to do NOTHING?” I admit I’m a bit slow on the uptake but I finally realized that he was hoping I’d die to save him the trouble and expense of a divorce and custody battle, not to mention alimony.
And then I remembered that his previous wife, who’d been an alcoholic, had died suddenly.
He found Giants then the Government Found Him | What really happened to Andrew Dawson?
In January 1965, Frane was aboard a train travelling through a cold, rainy canyon.
At one point of the journey the train was somehow flipped off of its tracks, and tumbled into a river.
A bystander rushed to the train’s aid, and pulled Frane out of the river. Unfortunately, 17 people drowned, trapped inside the train as it sank to the river’s bottom.
A narrow brush with death.
The next year, Frane was aboard the only plane ride he would ever take.
During the flight, the plane malfunctioned, and Frane was blown out of the aircraft.
He tumbled through the air— and landed safely in a haystack.
The plane crashed in a field, killing all 19 of its passengers.
Yet another close call.
It seemed that Frane had experienced his fair share of near-death experiences, but life still had quite a lot in store for Mr. Selak.
1966- A bus Frane was aboard crashed into a river, killing four. Frane was able to swim to safety with only minor injuries.
1970- While he was driving, Frane’s car suddenly caught on fire. He managed to escape just before the fuel tank exploded.
1973- In yet another driving incident, the engine of Frane’s car was doused in scalding oil from a malfunctioning fuel pump, causing flames to shoot through the air vents. Other than singed hair, Frane was unharmed.
1995- While on a trip in Zagreb, Croatia, Frane was struck by a bus. Luckily enough, he only sustained minor injuries.
1996- As Frane was driving, he was forced to swerve into a guardrail to avoid an oncoming truck. The rail collapsed under the car’s weight, sending it plummeting into a gorge. However, Frane wasn’t wearing a seat belt, so he was flung out of his car—right onto a tree. He held on, and safely watched as his car tumbled down into the gorge.
While he’s lucky to have survived more than seven brushes with death, Frane Selak seemed plagued by misfortune.
That is, until 2003 rolled around.
Two days after his 73rd birthday, Frane purchased a lottery ticket—- and won. It wasn’t a small amount, either: Roughly $1.1 million USD.
image 122
Perhaps even better than his lottery win?
He’s gone over twenty years without being placed in a life-threatening situation.
You don’t realize how lucky you are. Any woman who would tell a guy that he’s too ugly to date, is a horrible person, shallow and unkind. You are SO lucky not to be dating her.
Here’s the real problem: Dating is a horrible system for meeting people of the opposite sex. If you walk up to a stranger and ask her out, you don’t know her and she doesn’t know you. Therefore the transaction is based entirely on physical appearance. She judges you, not on whether she might like you, but rather on whether she will look good with you. She’s too dumb to know that when a pretty girl is with a less attractive guy, people assume he’s got amazing money, a real provider, and SHE got him.
You’re not interested in dating for show. So don’t walk up and ask out strangers.
Instead, get involved in ongoing community projects — cleanup, building, feeding the homeless, hospice service — things that really help people who really need it. You work hard at it, do it well, and are polite and kind to everyone. If a woman of merit working on the same project sees your merit, she will be drawn to you for genuine values that you share.
Even if she’s married or not into guys or is too much older than you, she still values you enough to talk about you to her friends or kin who value the same things. And you’ll allow yourself to be set up on dates by a woman who likes and admires you for your character.
Public service is far better for meeting women who aren’t looking for arm candy. than cold-call asking them out. I’ve never seen a good marriage that resulted from attractiveness dating, but I’ve seen several happy marriages arise from working together on various projects of worth. None of these people devoted much attention to looking or acting cool. But they did put in a lot of effort on being kind to others — even to less-attractive guys. And after many years together, they both had the beauty that comes from caring about other people.
Jackson Hinkle, an American political commentator, was banned on YouTube on 12 October, he believes, for saying certain things about the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
I looked him up. He’s just 21, spent 3 years of his life building his 300,000 YouTube follower base and a livelihood instead of doing a degree, wow, but it all just went, boom, because of some decision by some committee or algorithm at Google.
image 121
YouTube didn’t give him a reason.
So he pivoted his focus to X.
Within SIX DAYS his number of followers there rocketed from 500,000 to 1,000,000, a rate of almost 80,000 per day, and he’s probably far from done yet!
Whether Hinkle should have been banned or not is not the point. The point is this, if you ever lose your job, don’t get that job offer, don’t win that contract, or any door just closes on you IF YOU STAY POSITIVE AND KEEP AT IT you’ll more often than not end up getting something way better, and this is just one of many examples I’ve seen.
How do you bounce back? By reminding yourself that there are far more doors than the one you’re trying get through.
Voyager Receives a Message from Pre-Warp Society
Star Trek Voyager Season 6 Episode 12 Blink of an Eye.
Accountant treated the 5 or 6 of us engineers like we were all theiving fucks and she was going bust us. (best group of guys I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. I’d trust any of them with my life. Never met a better group of dudes).
Fine. The corporate credit card and accompanying expense and travel software we used at the time underwent a change of ownership and became super jank. Never worked. Like EVER. She cranked up the strictness on policies and whatnot, and made my boss the approver for ANY purchases made. Now, the thing is, at this company our per diem for food and drinks was handled with that card, and it being a small team and close knit group of guys we had an understanding that there was a dollar limit that we should try to keep it under. It was a generous amount, and let’s say you were frugal for the week and on Friday you and the boys went out for a nice dinner, nobody cares if you went over that amount. Just you know, be cool.
With the new accountant taking the reigns we suddenly had to have EVERY transaction approved, with receipts uploaded, on an app that literally wouldn’t work on the weekends, and most days of the week, and would almost never save a receipt the first time. With 6 guys on the road trying to buy breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, hygiene, laundry, plus any parts tools supplies etc for work, plus fuel and airline tickets and hotels and on and on and on.
Within days we were effectively shutdown. Unactionable while my boss sifts through hundreds and hundreds of transactions that he wasn’t even aware would be oiling up in his junk folder, and the kicker was- there hundreds that just couldn’t be approved because the engineer had expensed it, uploaded the receipt, and the app promptly deleted the photo and called it a day. When I left I still had like 300 plus transactions sitting in “upload receipt limbo.”
All the sudden it was back to the honor system again.
10 years ago, I was living on a meager $600/month.
I lived in a rooming house where my rent was $250. That left me $350 for living expenses.
What did I eat?
Not much fast food, interestingly enough.
Lots of ramen noodles. Very filling, very cheap.
image 119
Rice-a-Roni. Easy to make. Quick. Relatively filling.
image 118
Chicken leg quarters bought from Save-A-Lot. I would cut those in half and have either 1 thigh or 1 drumstick per meal.
Lots of canned tuna.
Hard-boiled eggs.
Peanut butter.
Beans. Black beans, red beans, pinto beans, all beans. I ate so many beans I’m surprised there are any left on the planet.
white rice.
Yogurt.
Frozen mixed vegetables. Fresh vegetables? Forget it! Too expensive.
I lived next to a Domino’s Pizza. So, there would be some of that.
Raisin bran cereal and whatever cheapest yogurt I could find.
My most standard meals would be:
ramen noodles plus one chicken drumstick plus one hard-boiled egg.
hard-boiled egg, mayo, and tuna sandwich.
Occasionally, I would cook my chicken in an African peanut sauce and eat it with white rice (another of my staples).
Fried plantains. This is still one of my favorite things to eat.
image 120
yogurt with raisin bran and red grapes.
Rice-a-Roni pasta with one chicken thigh. Aah, good times.
When I felt like splurging, I would buy a chicken shawarma sandwich. But I would agonize over the decision: a whole $5 spent on only 1 meal… at this rate, I’d spent a whole $300 on food for the month, an unimaginably large sum.
My dream in life used to be to earn enough to go buy a chicken shawarma sandwich whenever I felt like it without having to worry about whether I could afford it or not.
My boss did. She was a little El Salvadoran spitfire who’d had servants before moving to America, and apparently thought her employees should fill that role as well. She made everyone’s life miserable, but especially mine. I was the IT manager, and since she had no idea what our remote system could do, she kept asking for things it couldn’t and would raise holy hell when informed of that fact. She also seemed to dislike men in general and was much harder on us penis-bearers than her employees of the female persuasion.
Nobody in administration could stand her, but she was cagey enough not to commit any fireable offenses. This went on to the point that I was actively looking for another job, but IT jobs were scarce in the remote area where I lived. Her office was across the hall from mine, and one morning my data entry person and I were talking when we heard a loud commotion coming from her office, with screaming and loud invective hurled in Spanish. We waited for things to calm down, and then went across the hall to see what was going on.
Turns out she had thrown one of her patented fits in the Administrator’s office. I never learned exactly what it was, but she was denied something she wanted and blurted out that she quit. The administrator quickly seized on that statement (there were witnesses) and asked her to give him her resignation ASAP. She tried to backpedal, but no dice. Hence the screaming, etc. I don’t usually wish people ill, but that night my assistant and I celebrated at a local bar. And life immediately got much better.
5 Unexplained TIME SLIP AND TIME TRAVEL STORIES From The US & UK
Dive into a collection of five more true and fascinating time slip accounts, each offering a glimpse into the past within the present. Experience Michael’s mysterious encounter with the revival of an old school, Sarah’s disorienting drive through Christchurch, Debbie and her uncle’s encounter with a Victorian era Preston, Callum’s discovery of a remote Scottish festival, and Stephanie’s brief journey to an earlier era on a Hillside Road. These narratives blend history and reality, challenging our understanding of time, while inviting us to contemplate its mysteries.
China slams U.S. statement for attempting to endorse Philippines’ infringement of Chinese sovereignty
image 117
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said China firmly rejects the statement issued by the U.S. State Department to groundlessly attack China’s fully justified law enforcement activities at Ren’ai Jiao and Huangyan Dao, calling it an attempt to endorse the Philippines’ infringement of Chinese sovereignty and provocation.
Spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks when asked to comment on the statement released by the U.S. State Department on Dec. 10, in which the U.S. side threatened once again that the U.S. Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extended to the South China Sea.
Huangyan Dao has always been part of China’s territory and China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and its adjacent waters, Mao said at a daily news briefing.
Mao said on Dec. 9, three official vessels of the Philippines, without permission from the Chinese side, intruded into adjacent waters of Huangyan Dao. China Coast Guard took necessary measures in accordance with the law, which were professional, restrained, lawful and legitimate.
The U.S. State Department, in disregard of the facts, issued a statement to groundlessly attack China’s fully justified law enforcement activities to safeguard our rights at Ren’ai Jiao and Huangyan Dao, she said.
“The statement is an attempt to endorse the Philippines’ infringement of Chinese sovereignty and provocation. We firmly reject it,” Mao added.
Mao said for some time, out of selfish geopolitical interests, the United States has incited, supported and assisted in the Philippines’ infringement and provocation at sea, and repeatedly made threats by citing the U.S. Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.
Such moves blatantly embolden the Philippines’ violation of China’s sovereignty, seriously violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and gravely jeopardize regional peace and stability. China has made clear that the so-called arbitral award on the South China Sea is illegal, null and void, and has no binding effect whatsoever, Mao said.
“The United States itself would not implement the judgement of the International Court of Justice and international arbitral awards. In what position is the United States to tell China that it should implement an illegal arbitral award?” said Mao.
The United States needs to know that no threat, coercion or unfounded attack and accusation will lead anywhere or shake China’s firm resolve and will in safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, Mao said.
“China will continue to resolutely uphold its legitimate sovereignty and rights and interests in accordance with domestic and international law. The U.S.’s attempts will not succeed,” she added.
Caramel Walnut Glazed Spiral Ham
A delicious twist to a traditional holiday dish, this succulent caramel-glazed ham is sure to become a family favorite. Hints of ginger, crunchy walnuts and aromatic apple make this recipe a magnificent centerpiece for Christmas or Easter dinner.
caramel walnut glazed spiral ham
Cook: 2 hr 40 min | Total: 3 hr 25 min | Servings: 30
Ingredients
3/4 cup toasted California walnut pieces
10 pound spiral ham
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup mulled apple cider
1/3 cup crushed ginger snaps
Instructions
Toasting Walnuts: In large, dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast walnuts, stirring occasionally, until lightly brown, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Cook spiral ham as per instructions found on the label (or for 13 to 15 minutes per pound in a 375 degrees F).
Ten minutes prior to serving ham, place a sauce pan over high heat and combine brown sugar and apple cider. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until it forms into a thick syrup, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove from heat and add ginger snaps and walnuts to syrup.
Remove ham from oven and place on platter; pour syrup over ham, slice and serve.
I had a break in at my apartment. Someone was knocking on my door. I had one of those chain link locks and when I cracked my door open to see who was there. The person on the other end kicked the door open breaking the lock.
I then had my face beat to a pulp by the intruder. Both my eye orbits were fractured, my nose broken, my teeth were bleeding. He started choking me and I lost consciousness. When I regained consciousness I was holding the shattered remains of a desk lamp in my hands. Edit: I should mention that durring the time I blacked out I managed to move from my kitchen, where my front door was, into a roomates room and I was backed against the wall in his room. This means I traversed about 30 feet of my apartment and managed to get ahold of a lamp, ripping the cord from the wall.
My attacker was standing in the middle of the room holding the skin of what had once been the left side of his face and his left ear against his head trying not to bleed out. His skull was clearly visible, blood was spurting out of a crack in it, it was spraying over my celing. I didnt realize it but the crack that was spurting blood was his brain, which was now exposed to the air. I told him I would kill him if he didnt leave. He left.
It was winter and it had been snowing. The police followed the blood trail and footsteps. I shit you not he was found in a cemetary, passed out from blood loss. He was put in a medically induced coma and had multiple blood transfusions over the course of two days before he was able to be charged. Edit 2: After being treated by EMS I had to go to the police station to give statements. I also had to get blood work which included an STD test. I had gotten his blood in my eyes and mouth and this was to make sure I didnt contract any blood born diseases.
I dont know what he was convicted of but he was sentenced to two years. Fortunately my testimony wasn’t necessary in court. I guess the evidence was beyond debate. He may have beaten the shit out of me, but I almost killed him. I was told that if it weren’t for modern medicine he would have died. And It turns out having your brain exposed to air from blunt force trauma basically guarantees permament brain damage.
Edit 3: As of my making these edits this answer has gotten 4,200 views. I was not expecting that. There is alot of information I am leaving out of this story for my own privacy, the privacy of others involved, my personal safety and also because its just way to much to tell.
I judge the book by its cover Not the whole book, but not a small part of it. Literally speaking, the book cover plays a very important part in my decision if I want to buy it or not. Of course, I don’t judge the whole quality of the book without reading it, but a good cover weighs heavily in.
I find one of the most important skills that needs to be trained early in life and to have is the skill to judge things/ situations quickly and accurately.
For example, in this situation: my daughter was home alone, and a homeless person showed up at my door and asked her to come inside my house and asked her for something to eat. What would I want my daughter to do? I would want her to judge immediately. It’s not about the person in front of her, it’s about the situation. She was home alone, therefore, no strangers could get into the house. Simple as that.
Another example: How to pick friends. I tell my daughter to look at that person’s grade. You are a student, your main job is to study, grade is the result of that. I’m not telling her that just pick straight-A students to be friends with, but look at how they try to improve their grades and their attitude toward studying. If the student with bad grades just shows up at school and doesn’t do anything to improve it, you might want to consider before making friends. Not everyone can be a top students, but everyone can be a hard-working one.
Or like when you are on your first date, look at how they dress up to see you. They don’t have to wear fancy clothes or expensive accessories. But if they wear wrinkled, dirty clothes with bad hygiene, show no interest in trying to look good to see you, I think you should consider seriously before getting into a serious relationship.
So, yeah, I find it’s very important to judge the book by its cover – but remember to judge it with the accurate aspects.
After years of flying there are many memorable stories. These are two.
I was traveling on then Continental Airlines. The flight attendants were coming through the cabin to hand out drinks. I asked a very attractive flight attendant for an extra bottle of water. She said she would, but only if I told her she was pretty. I said she was pretty and she handed me two bottles of water.
After a moment, she told the flight attendant on the other end of the cart that I said she was pretty. I interrupted and said, “No, I didn’t. I said you were gorgeous”. The very beautiful woman responded by lipping back, “I love you”.
Years later, also on a Continental branded flight, but really another airline operating under the name. It was a commuter jet. I was seated next to a gentleman and both of us had broad shoulders. I am shoulder to shoulder with me, meaning my left shoulder is blocking a good portion of this little plane. It as a 1–2 seat configuration, if I recall correctly.
The flight attendant was a younger lady, still having fun in her job. We had started bantering around with her. And giving her a little grief. Nothing horrible, just friendly teasing. At one point, she decided she was going to turn the tables on us.
She grabs the PA mic and tells the plane that “Little Tommy and Jimmy would be by to collect the items from the plane”. At which point, I and the guy next to me got up and started collecting trash from the other passengers. It was completely funny.
That fight attendant should have flown for Southwest Airlines.
Because I am 71, I knew people who were in their prime of life a hundred years ago (1918) and there were definitely things that they did easily and routinely that are rarely done today:
Baking bread and caramel rolls. My grandmother learned it from her mother but did not pass it on to her daughters, probably because sliced store bread had essentially taken over.
Writing cursive and writing letters. I have saved some of my grandfather’s letters. For a person with an eighth grade education, he wrote simply but beautifully.
Sewing and mending. My grandmother was not wealthy, but she was capable of producing wonderful pajamas for all of her grandchildren on her trusty Singer. My generation has lost the ability to create heirlooms.
Gardening and canning the things they grew. In an era when you were not going to see fresh fruit or vegetables in stores after growing season, people developed great preservation skills. Things like pickles, berries, tomatoes were canned as were peaches and plums when in season. I do not remember kale or zucchini, however, and that was also a blessing.
Memory work. I grew up with great uncles and aunts (all born about 1900) who had memorized massive amounts of poetry and famous speeches as well as scripture. Rote learning was fairly normal in their education, so they did group memorization. We loved to hear their recitations.
I miss those folks. They just slipped away one at a time between the seventies and today.
Working a refinery job in the 80s in Washington state a couple of guy’s from the job went into a bar one night and started asking around about where to buy some weed. A guy was there and they came to terms and went to the guy’s house. His wife was a dispathcer for the sherriffs office, she was at work at the time. The two guy’s ended up tying the guy to a chair planning on ripping they guy off, one was a real party animal and somewhere found a double barrel and blew the guy’s brains out. I went in to work and the superintendent asks me if I know where such and such is, I told him no I didn’t know he was on the job haven’t seen him. He said aren’t you roomin with him. I said no, Mad Max and I are bunked at the motel. He said the cops were looking for him and the other guy. I asked if they said why and he said they did. Homicide. The one guy lived on the other side of the cascade mountain range in a small town outside of Hanford nuclear reservation. They found him hiding underneath his trailer three days later. The other guy they found after a week. So for a couple of pounds of weed and a few hundred bucks, the one guy who they found after a few days got nine years, the other trigger dude got 40 years to life.
Dennys, late night. Two drunk guys getting loud and rude with the waitress. One smacks her on the backside. Manager asks them to leave and they refuse, asking what’s he going to do? Start intentionally spilling water, making a mess.
My 3 friends and I get up and block them into their booth. “Pay your bill. You’re leaving.”
Before “Or what?” Was even out of one guy’s mouth, my buddy slapped him hard on his ear. Sobered him up pretty quick.
“Pay. Your. Bill.”
Grumbles as they start pooling cash. Once the money was on the table, “Get out.”
We followed them to the door where one turned to square off, but realized his buddy took off running. The panic in his eyes was a delicious dessert.
A recruiter called for my boss. He was out so I asked if I could help. The recruiter told me he had some great candidates, and since the incumbent’s (me) last day would be that Friday, he wanted to get some people in front of him. When my boss returned to the office I relayed the message exactly as it was told to me, and asked him if they were planning on letting me go. He said no, they were looking for a counterpart for me since they had expansion plans. He was obviously not being truthful and just like that, I knew when my last day would be.
That evening I took home the few personal things I had at work, and made sure I didn’t have any company property in my possession. At the end of the day Friday, I was asked to see the owner’s son in his office. I knew I was being fired. It was a very short conversation. He said they were letting me go. I asked if they would contest my unemployment and he said yes. I said okay, got up, got my car and drove home.
The timing was horrible…if there’s ever a good time. It was February and every day was grey and below freezing. I couldn’t afford the $1200 a month for cobra, so I went without health insurance. I came down with shingles on my face and scalp. It looked like someone threw hot grease in my face. As promised they contested my unemployment.
While I was employed there I faced harassment (I’m unable to talk about the circumstances or the settlement) including very specific verbal comments, jokes, and various notes. I kept their notes to me. I believe that because of the hand written notes we were able to settle without a jury trial in 1 day. In retrospect I wasn’t hurt that I was fired. I was hurt that they knew what I was when they hired me and still did everything in their power to make it a negative and diminish me as a human being.
I eventually started collecting unemployment, put my settlement money in the bank, and found a job with a sincere, no surprises group of people.
To finally answer your question, don’t sign anything. Don’t say anything. Leave quietly. Go home and regroup and think about what you would like to happen, and what you like for yourself in the future. They’ll be a time and a place and possibly even an attorney’s office that you can square up in down the road.
Once. Years ago my new husband and I wanted to buy an old trunk to use as a coffee table. So, we went to a local auction and bid on an old trunk. The auctioneer said they had pulled it from the attic of a deceased, old woman’s house. The auctioneer said they hadn’t opened it and had no idea what was inside. We didn’t really care what was inside, we wanted the trunk. We bought it for $20.00.
When we got home we opened it and found a lot of old newspaper shreds and some ribbons. But, included in there was an Irish linen tablecloth and 12 matching huge napkins. On our way home from work one day, I made my husband stop at the local fabric store. I went in and asked what Irish linen was selling for. They told me it was selling for about $15.00 a yard. lI thanked them and went home, pulled out the table cloth and measured it. It turned out the tablecloth alone was worth over $100.00. The 12 napkins combined added to the value.
I kept the table cloth and used it whenever I had a formal/fancy dinner – usually only Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I am now 75 yeas old and have used this “find” every year since I was 35. It still is beautiful and I still have all 12 napkins.
Noir Thriller Mystery Movie – Shock – Vincent Price
I had a Chinese-English dictionary when I was in the ADC. And I studied it constantly. I would practice drawing the characters and memorizing the tones. I don’t really think that it ever helped me, but it did keep me focused on my goals and dreams on what I would do once I got out, and free from the USA.
For a short while, my father would xerox off pages from a learn-Chinese book, and later on, after he died, my sister bought me two introduction books of Chinese that I studied.
Every day, I had a routine.
I would sit on my rack from around 9am up to lunch and study Chinese. Then I would do my job, and come back and study again from 4pm to chow. Overall, I studied on average about 8 hours a day.
R 1
Of course, everyone made fun of me. But it was my way of coping and dealing. All of us did it. It’s just that my way was studying in Chinese. For others it was drugs, boxing or gambling for cigarettes.
Let the rest of the world howl. Perhaps it did or didn’t help me, but one thing for certain, it keep me focused on my dream. Perhaps you too have a dream.
Stay focused.
Today… some confirmation of my previous vision of Gonzalo…
Gonzalo Lira was tortured, extorted, and reportedly has died in a Ukraine prison for just reporting the news. The US State Department refused to help Lira, a US citizen, because Lira’s journalism didn’t serve Kiev or the Biden administration. Here’s a quote from WSAU:
WASHINGTON DC (WSAU) – 55-year-old American journalist Gonzalo Lira has reportedly died in a Ukrainian prison after nearly eight months of imprisonment.
According to the Post Millennial, Lira was arrested by Ukrainian security in May 2023 after he was reportedly critical of President Vladimir Zelensky’s handling of the war being fought against Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine.
Lira’s comments included claims that Ukraine’s efforts to win the captured territory back have gone nowhere and their people are dying for a war that is already lost.
Chinese politicians have a grand dream: a global community with a shared future for mankind.
People all over the world are prosperous and living a happy life together. What a wonderful world it is. With the development of modern technology and the completion of automation and intelligence, humans can produce material conditions that provide everyone with a happy life. There is currently a lack of a system that unites humanity around the world.
China needs to first become a beautiful country and then influence the surrounding countries. Ancient China used this strategy. Ancient China first built its own country into a prosperous and strong country, and then neighboring countries envied China and learned about its culture and system. For example, Japan has sent more than ten batches of international students to study in China.
The foundation of a country is its people. If the people live a happy life, then the country is strong; if the people are poor and destitute, then the country is weak. Many rulers of countries do not understand this truth.
Food is paramount to the people. This is an ancient Chinese saying and the foundation of governing a country. When there are signs of chaos in the world, China will purchase a large amount of food. In terms of food safety, economically developed provinces in the east have begun to implement full monitoring of food production processes.
In terms of housing, the central government is implementing housing reform, which is a slow process.
In terms of transportation, China has built a national transportation network and has been continuously improving it.
In terms of cultural and entertainment, China actively promotes the promotion of justice, promotes healthy cultural information, and actively reports positive information. The network firewall successfully blocked junk culture.
I believe that China should first become a future country, and then drive countries around the world to become future countries. The the Belt and Road policy is the link between China and global human development, and also an opportunity for the development of countries around the world.
The PLAAF’s PL-17 AAM was caught on camera again, this time in a full loadout:
The PL-17 is special for two reasons:
It’s the longest range AAM in the world at 400 km (estimated by British intelligence)
It’s actually a ballistic missile. It doesn’t fly straight towards the target. Instead, it flies into the stratosphere where there’s much less air friction and cruises there to the target. Then it trades its potential energy (altitude) into kinetic energy in its terminal attack phase.
Like most high-end BVR AAMs, the PL-17 has both active radar and optical guidance. The optical guidance makes it much harder to jam when it has entered its terminal phase and can actually see the target.
—
This latest photo showing four J-16s is special because it demonstrates just how much the J-16 can carry: at least two PL-17s in addition to a bunch of other PL-10, 12s and 15s. If it only carries the PL-17 and no other missile type, the J-16 may be able to carry 3 or even 4 missiles. This proves the J-16’s value as a “missile truck”, similar to the USAF’s F-15EX.
The difference is that the USAF has no equivalent to the PL-17. The longest range American AAM is the AIM-120D, with an estimated range of 160 km. The only other American missile to challenge the PL-17’s range is the AIM-260 JATM, which is still in development.
In a head to head engagement, the PL-17 gives the PLAAF a significant first strike advantage against the enemy’s key aerial assets, like AWACS, EW, etc. Loss of these aerial force multipliers would be crippling, and force the USAF to retreat or be destroyed before their radars can even spot their Chinese counterparts. The Americans would effectively be blind.
—
The only other nation to field a AAM of comparable capability is the Russians with their Vympel R-37, a hypersonic (Mach 5) missile with a range of close to 400 km. Unlike the PL-17, it is not a ballistic weapon, and flies straight for the target instead. It’s also much thicc-er than the PL-17. Combat usage of the R-37 in Ukraine has demonstrated its ability to keep Ukrainian fighters from closing the distance against their Russian counterparts for fear of getting hit by this monster.
image 26
MiG-31 armed with four R-37s. Keep in mind that the MiG-31 is more a bomber than it is a fighter.
The Washington Post has produced a long, two part piece, about the failed ‘counter-offensive’ in Ukraine. It dispenses equal blame on the U.S. and British planning of the whole mess and the Ukrainian execution of it.
Key elements that shaped the counteroffensive and the initial outcome include:
Ukrainian, U.S. and British military officers held eight major tabletop war games to build a campaign plan. But Washington miscalculated the extent to which Ukraine’s forces could be transformed into a Western-style fighting force in a short period — especially without giving Kyiv air power integral to modern militaries.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials sharply disagreed at times over strategy, tactics and timing. The Pentagon wanted the assault to begin in mid-April to prevent Russia from continuing to strengthen its lines. The Ukrainians hesitated, insisting they weren’t ready without additional weapons and training.
U.S. military officials were confident that a mechanized frontal attack on Russian lines was feasible with the troops and weapons that Ukraine had. The simulations concluded that Kyiv’s forces, in the best case, could reach the Sea of Azov and cut off Russian troops in the south in 60 to 90 days.
The United States advocated a focused assault along that southern axis, but Ukraine’s leadership believed its forces had to attack at three distinct points along the 600-mile front, southward toward both Melitopol and Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov and east toward the embattled city of Bakhmut.
The U.S. intelligence community had a more downbeat view than the U.S. military, assessing that the offensive had only a 50-50 chance of success given the stout, multilayered defenses Russia had built up over the winter and spring.
Many in Ukraine and the West underestimated Russia’s ability to rebound from battlefield disasters and exploit its perennial strengths: manpower, mines and a willingness to sacrifice lives on a scale that few other countries can countenance.
As the expected launch of the offensive approached, Ukrainian military officials feared they would suffer catastrophic losses — while American officials believed the toll would ultimately be higher without a decisive assault.
Key findings from reporting on the campaign include:
Seventy percent of troops in one of the brigades leading the counteroffensive, and equipped with the newest Western weapons, entered battle with no combat experience.
Ukraine’s setbacks on the battlefield led to rifts with the United States over how best to cut through deep Russian defenses.
The commander of U.S. forces in Europe couldn’t get in touch with Ukraine’s top commander for weeks in the early part of the campaign amid tension over the American’s second-guessing of battlefield decisions.
Each side blamed the other for mistakes or miscalculations. U.S. military officials concluded that Ukraine had fallen short in basic military tactics, including the use of ground reconnaissance to understand the density of minefields. Ukrainian officials said the Americans didn’t seem to comprehend how attack drones and other technology had transformed the battlefield.
In all, Ukraine has retaken only about 200 square miles of territory, at a cost of thousands of dead and wounded and billions in Western military aid in 2023 alone.
All those points played a role.
My personal ones:
Both, the Ukraine and its supporters, systematically underestimated Russian capabilities. (And still do.)
Satellite reconnaissance showed Russian defense preparations on the level of the Battle of Kursk. There the German Wehrmacht, after way too long preparations, failed to break the Russian lines. The unlearned lesson from 1943: When you see defense lines like these, try something else.
Battle simulations and table top war games have a ‘moral factor’ input for each side. Setting your sides’ factor to 10 and the enemy’s factor to 0, as the U.S. and UK obviously did, will let you win every time – but has no relation to reality.
Air support would not have helped. Russian air defenses are too strong to counter it.
The decision to use barely trained, ‘green’ brigades without any fighting experience was a serious error.
Not to use smoke grenades and, in general, means of deception, was not reasonable at all.
To have half of the new troops, the more experienced part, fight Zelenski’s already lost battle for Bakhmut, was a major political mistake.
All together made sure that the so called ‘counter-offensive’ never had a chance to take off. The bickering now is just an attempt to put the blame for the failure onto the other side of the table.
The Ukrainian General Zaluzny has learned from the battle. He now puts up somewhat realistic numbers to let the U.S. understand how small its chances to win really are:
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was informed during a visit to Kyiv that Ukraine needed 17 million rounds of ammunition and that US$ 350-400 billion worth of assets and personnel would be required to liberate the country. … Quote from a senior Defence Forces official: “Austin was told 17 million rounds of ammunition were needed. He was stunned, to put it mildly, because you wouldn’t be able to collect that many rounds in the whole world.”
The Ukrainian army does not have the ten thousands of barrels required to fire 17 million rounds. Nor has it the men to feed those imaginary guns.
Zaluzny obviously thinks that the war is lost and done with. And that it is time for politics that pursue peace:
In addition, according to a source, Austin also said Zaluzhnyi had complained privately to American generals about interference from the President’s Office [..]: “Austin told us privately that Zaluzhnyi was always complaining to his generals about the President’s Office and how it obstructed him. Well, obviously the president learned about those conversations too. And that isn’t conducive to trust.”
However, the President’s Office is inclined to believe that Zaluzhnyi’s dismissal would facilitate his political career.
It is high time for the Biden administration to wrap this whole thing up. Do the usual thing: declare victory, leave and forget-about-it.
When World War 3 Breaks-Out and Arrives HERE in the USA, Liberals, Progressives, Socialists, Marxists, Should be BULL-WHIPPED TO DEATH By Their conquerors
On my radio show tonight, I was asked by a caller what is likely to happen to New England when WW3 Breaks out and all the military-age illegals who are embraced by liberals, take-up arms and attack us? I told him the Liberals should be BULL-WHIPPED TO DEATH because their efforts at Gun-Control have left them unable to defend themselves, and the illegals they embrace, will be their conquerors.
I went on to point out that Liberals, Progressives, Socialists, Marxists and their ilk are too stupid to be considered Americans anyway, so losing them won’t amount to much. The trouble with these dimwits is that they spread their idiocy to others, which will endanger the rest of the country.
Your thoughts about my remarks? Subscribers can offer their thoughts below in the Subscriber comment area.
Be wary of people who try to sell their pity as kindness. They may pretend they feel compassion toward you by supporting you during difficult times, but in reality, all they can offer you is some pity you never asked for.
Hard work will always beat talent. If you are talented at something, you already have a head start in life, but if you never combine it with hard work, you might as well never had it in the first place.
The power of little gestures. Even a little gesture of kindness can make someone’s day more than you can imagine.
The destructive nature of negative words. Whether you want it or not, you end up taking some words to heart automatically, so it’s important not to use words as weapons that can inflict damage on someone.
Sometimes it may seem like life only gets harder. But even then, it’s important not to lose hope for a better future because if you lose hope, you lose everything.
You can’t expect a person to change for you because in most cases, they rather cling to their old ways than find new ones. And maybe you’d not want to change them anyway unless they are a toxic person doing all the wrong things.
It’s better to have no one to depend on rather than being surrounded by fake people who pretend they care for you when in reality they secretly celebrate all your downs in life.
Don’t stay friends with someone who doesn’t know how to be happy for you. They are not your real friend.
You have to leave your comfort zone in the present to secure a comfortable future.
Betraying your intuition means betraying your best interests. When your intuition gives you an awful feeling about something, retreat. It’s like a danger alert that is ingrained in human biology from birth, so it’s important to make use of it by not missing any of those danger alerts.
An ifn’ I don’t…
Magnolia Bar and Grill Crawfish Etouffee
03ae3a3506889cf3a0a0b4a4eb9b0f85
Ingredients
1 pound cleaned crawfish tails
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 thin slices lemon
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon green onion
1 tablespoon parsley
Instructions
Use a saucepan with a tight fitting lid to “Etouffee”.
Season crawfish tails with salt and pepper; set aside.
Melt butter, add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until onions are tender.
Stir in flour, blend well, and add 3/4 cup water, lemon and tomato paste, and cook slowly for about 20 minutes, and add a little more water occasionally.
When sauce is done, add crawfish tails; cover with lid. Cook for 8 minutes.
Season again, to taste.
Add green onion and parsley; cook 2 minutes longer.
This is the story of a deaf and blind man who decides to fly – alone – across the country to visit his sister.
When he arrives on board, the stewardesses have difficulty communicating with him because although he manages to say a few words here and there, he cannot hear them. To help himself, he touches their face and hand in hopes of understanding their intention, but the task seems difficult.
His neighbor gave up his seat (on the aisle), prepared drinks for him, sugar in coffee, spoon, etc. and led him to the toilet, but it was impossible to communicate with this man.
Then the flight crew had an idea: why not call to see if any of the passengers on board knew sign language?
Here comes this 15 year old girl, she is dyslexic and it was her learning difficulty that made her decide to learn sign language rather than any other:
image 25
Very patiently, the girl began to “sign” each letter against the passenger’s hand, which allowed them to start a conversation.
This teenager did not skimp on making this man’s journey much more pleasant and comfortable than if he had been locked in his solitude.
The passenger who took the photo and witnessed the scene described the moment as very moving and it’s easy to understand why.
TLDR: I was seen totally nude, mid-coitis, by 4 male police officers with guns drawn, shouting “Krystal are you safe? This is the POLICE! Krystal are you ok?” And I am not Krystal. Lol.
I dated (for the brief period of 5 weeks) a very unstable male. I knew at 4 weeks there was no way we would last, he had already become physically violent and had about ten older women believing he was their knight in shining armor, via the internet. He explained that they sent him money, that was why he even talked to them. Gag me with a keyboard, right? He decided to stalk me after I ended things. Fast forward a few months. I was getting to know a different male, and we decided to get physical, but in a non-violent manner, if you catch my drift. Right in the heat of the moment I hear the back door of the house being violently kicked open. Followed by shouts of “Krystal are you safe? POLICE!! Krystal, are you ok?” Then the bedroom door opened and 4 male police officers with guns drawn burst through the doorway. My name is not Krystal, my roommate (who was out of town) is Krystal.. I hastily climbed off of my guest and threw on a large hoodie then ushered the officers out of the house. Turns out my stalker ex had called the police pretending to be the next door neighbor, claiming it sounded as if a violent altercation was taking place and they were worried their dear neighbor Krystal was being murdered. He actually (convincingly) made his voice sound like a little old lady. Just in case it wasn’t known, the cops are able to see what number a call is made from even when the person tries to hide it with an app like TextNow. They told me the # that had made the call and I was able to show them it was in fact my ex’s phone number. One of the officers saw the blip of a text message while I was showing them that it was his number and asked to see the conversation. All of this while wearing a hooded sweatshirt that came down to my mid-thigh. Needless to say they went and arrested him for calling in a fake emergency, stalking, threatening to cause bodily harm (the messages said that he was going to dismember me after strangling me) and a few other charges like harassment.
When i took 8 Valium on top of the 6 i took earlier in the day, then realized a half a bottle of whiskey might not be enough. When i woke up the next morning(??) on the kitchen floor soaking wet and covered with mud, i asked my wife what had happened. She told me that i passed out outside, then it started to rain. She couldn’t lift me, so she “coached me” for half an hour getting me inside and up 5 stairs. That night- i did it again until eventually i made it to a detox/rehab where i was placed on a 17 day Valium taper. I was later informed it was their longest ever. I called my wife after a week(??) or so and told her to throw out the weed i was saving that knew i was gonna need after getting out of rehab. I had terrible tinnitus and shook horribly for months afterwards. It’s probably not the worst. Other people’s stories may be far worse but, well, you asked. P.S. I’ve beeb clean and sober ever since-almost 7 years now. Thanks God, for being there for me, whether i wanted you or not.
Be willing to let some parts of you die. Not all of you is perfect and you know it better than anyone else. So don’t be afraid to let some of it go. After all, that’s what personal growth is all about.
Don’t run away from yourself. This means facing your trauma(s), mistakes, and bad life decisions, no matter how unbearable it feels.
Don’t suppress your negative thoughts and emotions. You don’t have to act on them but you need to acknowledge them lest they turn into an unruly beast ready to devour you any second.
Come to terms with the fact that life is meant to be difficult. It’s a default setting you can’t change. The only thing you can do is to cope with it to the best of your abilities.
Keep in mind that suffering is cruel, yet a necessary teacher of life that can make you stronger and wiser.
Try not to stress about the things you can’t change. It will disrupt both your physical health and peace of mind.
Know when to share your burdens with others. It’s admirable to take care of things on your own, but it’s just as important to open up to those you trust when life gets too much.
Treat yourself with the same compassion you treat others. If you are nice and understanding toward your loved ones, you have no reason to treat yourself any differently.
Avoid whining. It’s alright to complain every once in a while but doing so constantly will fill your mind with negativity you can’t shake and make you feel miserable.
Remember that there’s more to life than being constantly happy. And you’d not want to be constantly happy anyway because you’d start taking happiness for granted. Your life would also become dull and uneventful, living like a character in one of those imaginary, utopian lands where everything is perfect all the time.
I worked as a courier for about 9 years. During that time, I never made more than $20,000 a year. More like I averaged around $18K.
A lot of my courier brothers were supporting families on that sort of income and they qualified for SNAP and some other food stamp like benefits.
Occasionally, they would save their nickels and then buy steaks and all the fixings for their family. Not often, but maybe every other Blue Moon they would do something nice for dinner.
These guys busted their asses 10–12 hours a day with no benefits, no Healthcare, no retirement and no paid holidays. They worked in the rain, in the cold and snow, they worked in ice storms and 115degF heat.
So what do I think about them using their hoarded nickels to buy a Lobster or some good Crab for the family once in a while? I think it’s none of your fucking business.
A guy I worked with back in the mid 80’s, had a reputation as a bit of a fantasist. He was a large, very over weight, half Chinese guy, figure like a sumo wrestler. Said he was a karate instructor, played drums in a band amongst a lot of other ourlandish claims. Said his dad was a friend of the Kays, and was the last man sentenced to hang in England. He was late to work a lot and always had the oddest excuses. One week he was late every day because, he said, the papers kept sending reporters around to interview him, because they were making a documentry about his dad. Every one chuckled about that one. Then a few weeks later, I was watching TV, and it was about this guy who had murdered someone. I had missed the beginning. This bit showed the mans wife visiting him in prison. She was Chinese, and had her little chubby boy with her. I looked the program up the the TV guide and yes, it was about his dad. A few weeks later I was at a school fete and he was there, with his karate pupils doing a demonstration, and later on his band played
Oct 7 ‘Disinfo’ Org Founded By Top Jewish Lobbyists – Full Scale Propaganda Effort
The largest Jewish Groups are forming what they call the Oct 7 ‘Disinfo’ Organization, to spin the events of that day, and shape the narrative. Even casual observers are calling this a full scale propaganda effort.
The most powerful Jewish interest groups in the US have gotten together to form the 10/7 Project – an effort to combat “Jewish hate in America and the world” and to dispel “myths” about the day’s events.
The organization will fund a centralized communications operation to feed mainstream newsrooms with ‘fact-based information’ about the war, and will also release a daily newsletter to inform news outlets what is being ‘underreported.’
It will be the biggest unified effort from the Jewish lobby in recent memory, with the American Jewish Committee (AJC), The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations working together.
Of course there are. But these people are weeded out by merciless competition.
The ones that rise are tested every step of the way, and only the best survive the climb.
That’s what competition looks like in a 1.4b society.
Chinese politicians who attend the Two Sessions are not chosen because they’re tall, good-looking or give nice speeches. They are chosen for exceptional performance over the sum total of their careers. Each person wields considerable influence or power in their professional or personal capacity. That’s why they are selected as the people’s representatives. Selection is largely immune from the influence of money.
Who Is Really Behind The Mass Slaughter In Gaza?
Who is really behind the Israeli mass slaughter of the people of Gaza?
Israel’s dependence on the United States was stated bluntly by retired IDF Maj. General Yitzhak Brick in an interview earlier this week.
“All of our missiles, the ammunition, the precision-guided bombs, all the airplanes and bombs, it’s all from the U.S. The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting. You have no capability. … Everyone understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period.”
The list of jobs is endless, I am not sure that all of them were professions. 40 years ago, I read an article about buying stocks, and it said buy quality, but understand the changes in the market. They talked about something that had happened 40 before I was born. Evidently a well known banker and investor said, that it wouldn’t hurt to buy a little stock in these new fangled automobiles, but keep the majority of your money, in something solid, like a good buggy whip manufacturing company. Fads will come and go, but you will always need a good buggy whip. He said that because buggy whips had been made for two thousand years, and it wasn’t going to change.
In my life time I saw the job of tinker disappear, he was someone, who could fix anything, if your glasses broke, if your electric frying pan broke, he could fix it. If you wore a hole in a pot, he would braze it, often they came door to door. We had door to door Fuller brush salesmen, sold brushes door to door. Milkmen delivered dairy products door to door. The bread man delivered baked goods door to door. Their used to be commercials for the Maytag repairman, and now its thrown out when broken.
Our little town still had a livery service when I was a kid, they looked after your horses when you came to town, but by my time, they mostly stored cars.
Movie theater usher, who would bring you in and show you your seat. Elevator operators, I always thought it was such a cool job. You closed an accordion door, then closed the outer door, then shifted the lever to up or down, and stopped it when it reached the floor you wanted. Sometimes requiring some fine tuning.
I had a girlfriend who was telephone operator. There used to be girls that would wander around night clubs, selling cigarettes and matches. Hat check girls.
Brake men in the caboose of a train.
Dragline operator.
Signal men, telegram and telegraph operators at train stations.
Telex operators.
Gestetner repair men.
I can see just as many jobs disappearing in the next 20 years as disappeared in the last 60 years, as self driving cars and trucks become main stream, as digital finishes wiping out paper, as online services and stores replace brick and mortar. Etc.
This happened about 15 years ago. My then partner came home from work very upset. Somewhere that day he had lost one of a pair of distinctive silver cuff links that I had gifted him for his birthday.
Probably a month later I was out in my car, driving an unfamiliar route in the countryside, when I noticed my fuel gauge flashing. I resolved to stop at the next fuel station which turned out to be in a small village. I pulled up at one of the three pumps and got out of my car to fill it. As I walked around to the side of my car with the fuel cap something caught my eye on the ground. Embedded in the top tarmac surface was something silver and shiny. I bent down to inspect it further and couldn’t believe it when I identified the item as a cuff link. Not just any old cuff link but THE lost silver cuff link. I used my car key to gently ease it out of the tarmac. Amazingly, it was undamaged.
That evening I asked my partner if he knew of the little village. He did recall he’d driven that route to a business meeting some weeks before. ‘And you filled your car at the petrol station?’ I asked. ‘’How did you know?’ he asked. I laughed as I handed him his missing cuff link.
I still can’t believe this incredible coincidence. I must’ve ‘guided’ to its location by an unknown force. It still weirds me out.
Until I retired I was a Plumber for fifty years. On this particular occasion I was working with a builder repairing the lead flashing around a chimney at the local church hall. To do the job safely we had set up a scaffolding that blocked the entry to the car park, but this should not have been a problem because the Church Commissioners had told us the church was waiting for the new vicar and no functions had been booked at the church hall.
We were working about 20 feet above the ground when a voice from below shouted “ Hey you!” I looked down to see a man in a grey suit and white dog collar. “Yes you!” he continued, “I have a Bible study class in twenty minutes and no one can get into the car park!”
I was surprised by his rather rude and aggressive tone but politely replied “I’m sorry, but we were told the church has no vicar and that there was nothing in the diary.”
“Well, there obviously is and you are blocking access to it. If you do not remove this scaffolding immediately I shall report you to your employers!” he shouted back.
It was then that I had a stoke of genius and replied. “ Very Christian of you sir.”
That immediately took the wind out of his sails and after a moment or two he replied, “Ahem, perhaps I was a trifle too hasty, carry on gentlemen.”
A guest came to stay for Thanksgiving, I had warned we had cats and dogs. They came anyway. They went to unpack in our guest bedroom. Half a hour later the husband came to me and said there was an issue. They had stripped the sheets off the beds and scrapped the mattress. Horror of horror there was cat fur. I immediately said” oh my, you can’t stay here, perhaps you should go to a hotel.” They did. As they are relatives we are civil but they are not invited to stay anymore.
The thing is, I knew the wife wanted to make trouble, I refused to fight and stayed calm. She didn’t win, I did.
Let me take this out of your hypothetical nonsense, and make it real. During the 1990’s I was a professional clown. I did birthday parties, wedding receptions, school shows, store promotions, holiday parties, company picnics – you name it, Violet P. Lavender was there. I even had several client families, where I would come celebrate the same child’s birthday three or four years in a row.
In one of those client families, there was an adorable little girl (I’ll call her Emily for this story). I met her at a cousin’s birthday party, and then was at her 4th birthday. I was happy to be at her 5th birthday as well. Because she lived in an area where Violet was very popular, Emily saw Violet four or five times during the year, in addition to her own birthday. That particular cluster of families really kept me on my toes, because I had to constantly rework my show, since all the kids saw me so often!
One day, I got a call asking me to come visit Emily, it was months too early for her 6th birthday – and to please come to the Children’s Hospital. I had a habit of visiting the hospital whenever I had free time between shows. This was the first time I was asked to come for a specific child.
When Violet arrived, Emily had been put into a private room. I was met in the hall, and warned that she was very weak and was quite fragile. They told me she did not know she was dying.
So, into that antiseptic, mostly white room filled with machines sailed Violet P Lavender. A totally Purple Person, with balloons and magic and fun! Emily smiled and clapped and used her precious energy to laugh. Only two visitors were allowed in the room at a time, so it was just me, Emily and one of her parents, with everyone else watching through the glass wall.
I stayed for only about 20 minutes. While I was saying goodbye, she took my hand and asked the hardest question… “Violet, will I ever see you again?”
I did what anyone in that position would do – I lied. I smiled at her and said “Of course you will! I’m going to be at your 6th Birthday Party!” That beautiful child shook her head sadly and gently told me, “Violet, I’m sorry. I’m not going to have any more birthday parties. I meant, will I see you again, in heaven?”
So much for her not knowing! Her mother bolted from the room, leaving me ‘alone’ to face that horrible truth with her.
So what does the atheist in a clown suit say to a child who wants to talk about heaven, as she lay dying?
I asked her “What do you think heaven is like?” She didn’t know, but she was scared that she would be all alone “up there” in a big house, with no one to talk to ever again.
Now, why would she think that? It seems some well meaning idiot had told her that God had prepared a Mansion just for her, in Heaven, and that she would be going there soon. And a Mansion was described to her as “a big house” … just for her! She was scared by the idea, and she did not want to go, but she couldn’t ask her mommy or daddy about it because (and she whispered this) “they don’t know I’m dying.”
So I laughed and told Emily that of COURSE she was not going to be alone! Her house was going to be on a street with lots of other kids, and right next to her street is the street where all the CLOWNS LIVE! And right past that is a big park where all the puppies and kittens play! (That made her smile.)
“Will you be there too, Violet?” Stubborn child! She wasn’t going to let it go! I told her I wouldn’t be there for a long time, but I had friends there, and she could tell them she knows me. Also, in her house there is a magic TV that she can use to watch over her friends and family who are still alive, while she is waiting for us to all join her. So she could watch me and her Mom and Dad and anybody else she wanted, any time she felt like!
She was relieved. She said she wasn’t scared anymore. Then reminded me not to say anything to her parents, because they are already so worried about her being sick, she didn’t want them to get sad about her dying.
I made it out of the room and into a nurse’s station before I started crying.
Violet did attend her next ‘party’ … I made sure her parents were ok with it, and Violet came to the funeral with a huge bunch of bright balloons, to say goodbye.
So the answer to your silly hypothetical question is – in REAL LIFE, you tell that child whatever you can so that they are not afraid and give them comfort.
ANY OTHER ANSWER regardless of your personal belief in an invisible guy building fancy houses in the sky is wrong.
The emotional well being of a dying child is more important than any religious or philosophical argument you could make.
1. Instead of responding immediately after someone says something to you. Wait a couple of second. This makes them feel like you’re really thinking about what you’re going to reply. And it makes you seem like a better listener. ( Don’t over do it ).
2. In a conversation, when someone is talking, nod your head in affirmation.
This will do so many things to their brain. First of all, it will give them that feeling of validation. It will make them feel like you’re truly listening to them and it is that feeling of validation that we search for unconsciously, that we got from our mom, and we’re searching in our partner, we’re searching in other people. So it becomes really addictive when you do this, and you make people feel validated.
3. When you’re talking to someone, always show the palms of your hands. This communicates to their subconscious mind that you have nothing to hide, that you are open, that they can trust you and you are their friend.
4. When you talk to someone try to match your body language and talk at the same volume and speed as they are.
This will tell subconscious mind that you are like them and they will trust you more
5. Ask people for their advice. Making them feel like their opinion matters. According to reasearch done by Katie Liljenquist makes them form a commitment to you and makes them like you more.
Example:
“What do you think I should order?”
“I think you should get the vegan burger, it’s really good”
A younger friend of my grandmother once said something that made her as angry as I have ever seen her. The 35-year-old was trying to stress the fact that her challenges and worries were different from those of a 75-year-old. She had in mind that some of life’s problems are over by the time you are 75, which may be true. But she said it in a terrible way.
You’ve lived your life.
Don’t make this mistake. Life can be just as sweet no matter how many birthdays you’ve had. And there is no age at which life’s failure to be sweet on any given day is not painful.
The 80- or 90-year-old has not “lived their life.” They are in the process of living it, just as you are.
OMG!
Ukraine Presidential Advisor: “The West Came to this war with no pants on”
The Emperor is naked . . . or so we now hear from the former Aide to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenski. Alexy Arestovich tells media outlets now that “The West came to war with its pants down” when it dealt with the Russian Army entry into Ukraine.
2023 12 06 13 11
Commenting to media outlets, Arestovich pointed out “The Americans cannot produce a million shells a year, and North Korea can. What kind of war and victory are we talking about, what boundaries of 1991?”
Of course, when he speaks of the “Boundaries of 1991” he is referring to the then-break-up of the former Soviet Union and the “Boundaries” for NATO that were agreed-to by then US President George HW Bush. It was then Secretary of States James Baker who agreed, at a meeting, in the Kremlin in Moscow, with then Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev and then Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevrednadze, that NATO “will not move one inch eastward of the Elbe (River) in Germany.”
Of course, history shows that when Bush Sr. left office, and Bill Clinton came in as US President, that NATO boundary promise went right out the window. The map below shows NATO Expansion from 1949, and points out who was in and who was not in 1990 when Bush promised Gorbachev “not one inch eastward:
Yet, as shown by the countries imaged in purple, that promise to the Soviets went right out the window in the late 1990’s under then-President Bill Clinton.
Here’s how it went:
U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s famous “not one inch eastward” assurance about NATO expansion in his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on February 9, 1990, was part of a cascade of assurances about Soviet security given by Western leaders to Gorbachev and other Soviet officials throughout the process of German unification in 1990 and on into 1991, according to declassified U.S., Soviet, German, British and French documents posted today by the National Security Archive at George Washington University (http://nsarchive.gwu.edu).
The documents show that multiple national leaders were considering and rejecting Central and Eastern European membership in NATO as of early 1990 and through 1991, that discussions of NATO in the context of German unification negotiations in 1990 were not at all narrowly limited to the status of East German territory, and that subsequent Soviet and Russian complaints about being misled about NATO expansion were founded in written contemporaneous memcons and telcons at the highest levels.
The documents reinforce former CIA Director Robert Gates’s criticism of “pressing ahead with expansion of NATO eastward [in the 1990s], when Gorbachev and others were led to believe that wouldn’t happen.”[1] The key phrase, buttressed by the documents, is “led to believe.”
President George H.W. Bush had assured Gorbachev during the Malta summit in December 1989 that the U.S. would not take advantage (“I have not jumped up and down on the Berlin Wall”) of the revolutions in Eastern Europe to harm Soviet interests; but neither Bush nor Gorbachev at that point (or for that matter, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl) expected so soon the collapse of East Germany or the speed of German unification.[2]
The first concrete assurances by Western leaders on NATO began on January 31, 1990, when West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher opened the bidding with a major public speech at Tutzing, in Bavaria, on German unification. The U.S. Embassy in Bonn (see Document 1) informed Washington that Genscher made clear “that the changes in Eastern Europe and the German unification process must not lead to an ‘impairment of Soviet security interests.’ Therefore, NATO should rule out an ‘expansion of its territory towards the east, i.e. moving it closer to the Soviet borders.’” The Bonn cable also noted Genscher’s proposal to leave the East German territory out of NATO military structures even in a unified Germany in NATO.[3]
This latter idea of special status for the GDR territory was codified in the final German unification treaty signed on September 12, 1990, by the Two-Plus-Four foreign ministers (see Document 25). The former idea about “closer to the Soviet borders” is written down not in treaties but in multiple memoranda of conversation between the Soviets and the highest-level Western interlocutors (Genscher, Kohl, Baker, Gates, Bush, Mitterrand, Thatcher, Major, Woerner, and others) offering assurances throughout 1990 and into 1991 about protecting Soviet security interests and including the USSR in new European security structures. The two issues were related but not the same. Subsequent analysis sometimes conflated the two and argued that the discussion did not involve all of Europe. The documents published below show clearly that it did.
The “Tutzing formula” immediately became the center of a flurry of important diplomatic discussions over the next 10 days in 1990, leading to the crucial February 10, 1990, meeting in Moscow between Kohl and Gorbachev when the West German leader achieved Soviet assent in principle to German unification in NATO, as long as NATO did not expand to the east. The Soviets would need much more time to work with their domestic opinion (and financial aid from the West Germans) before formally signing the deal in September 1990.
The conversations before Kohl’s assurance involved explicit discussion of NATO expansion, the Central and East European countries, and how to convince the Soviets to accept unification. For example, on February 6, 1990, when Genscher met with British Foreign Minister Douglas Hurd, the British record showed Genscher saying, “The Russians must have some assurance that if, for example, the Polish Government left the Warsaw Pact one day, they would not join NATO the next.” (See Document 2)
Having met with Genscher on his way into discussions with the Soviets, Baker repeated exactly the Genscher formulation in his meeting with Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze on February 9, 1990, (see Document 4); and even more importantly, face to face with Gorbachev.
Not once, but three times, Baker tried out the “not one inch eastward” formula with Gorbachev in the February 9, 1990, meeting. He agreed with Gorbachev’s statement in response to the assurances that “NATO expansion is unacceptable.” Baker assured Gorbachev that “neither the President nor I intend to extract any unilateral advantages from the processes that are taking place,” and that the Americans understood that “not only for the Soviet Union but for other European countries as well it is important to have guarantees that if the United States keeps its presence in Germany within the framework of NATO, not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction.” (See Document 6)
Afterwards, Baker wrote to Helmut Kohl who would meet with the Soviet leader on the next day, with much of the very same language. Baker reported: “And then I put the following question to him [Gorbachev]. Would you prefer to see a united Germany outside of NATO, independent and with no U.S. forces or would you prefer a unified Germany to be tied to NATO, with assurances that NATO’s jurisdiction would not shift one inch eastward from its present position? He answered that the Soviet leadership was giving real thought to all such options [….] He then added, ‘Certainly any extension of the zone of NATO would be unacceptable.’” Baker added in parentheses, for Kohl’s benefit, “By implication, NATO in its current zone might be acceptable.” (See Document 8)
Well-briefed by the American secretary of state, the West German chancellor understood a key Soviet bottom line, and assured Gorbachev on February 10, 1990: “We believe that NATO should not expand the sphere of its activity.” (See Document 9) After this meeting, Kohl could hardly contain his excitement at Gorbachev’s agreement in principle for German unification and, as part of the Helsinki formula that states choose their own alliances, so Germany could choose NATO. Kohl described in his memoirs walking all night around Moscow – but still understanding there was a price still to pay.
All the Western foreign ministers were on board with Genscher, Kohl, and Baker. Next came the British foreign minister, Douglas Hurd, on April 11, 1990. At this point, the East Germans had voted overwhelmingly for the deutschmark and for rapid unification, in the March 18 elections in which Kohl had surprised almost all observers with a real victory. Kohl’s analyses (first explained to Bush on December 3, 1989) that the GDR’s collapse would open all possibilities, that he had to run to get to the head of the train, that he needed U.S. backing, that unification could happen faster than anyone thought possible – all turned out to be correct. Monetary union would proceed as early as July and the assurances about security kept coming. Hurd reinforced the Baker-Genscher-Kohl message in his meeting with Gorbachev in Moscow, April 11, 1990, saying that Britain clearly “recognized the importance of doing nothing to prejudice Soviet interests and dignity.” (See Document 15)
The Baker conversation with Shevardnadze on May 4, 1990, as Baker described it in his own report to President Bush, most eloquently described what Western leaders were telling Gorbachev exactly at the moment: “I used your speech and our recognition of the need to adapt NATO, politically and militarily, and to develop CSCE to reassure Shevardnadze that the process would not yield winners and losers. Instead, it would produce a new legitimate European structure – one that would be inclusive, not exclusive.” (See Document 17)
Baker said it again, directly to Gorbachev on May 18, 1990 in Moscow, giving Gorbachev his “nine points,” which included the transformation of NATO, strengthening European structures, keeping Germany non-nuclear, and taking Soviet security interests into account. Baker started off his remarks, “Before saying a few words about the German issue, I wanted to emphasize that our policies are not aimed at separating Eastern Europe from the Soviet Union. We had that policy before. But today we are interested in building a stable Europe, and doing it together with you.” (See Document 18)
The French leader Francois Mitterrand was not in a mind-meld with the Americans, quite the contrary, as evidenced by his telling Gorbachev in Moscow on May 25, 1990, that he was “personally in favor of gradually dismantling the military blocs”; but Mitterrand continued the cascade of assurances by saying the West must “create security conditions for you, as well as European security as a whole.” (See Document 19) Mitterrand immediately wrote Bush in a “cher George” letter about his conversation with the Soviet leader, that “we would certainly not refuse to detail the guarantees that he would have a right to expect for his country’s security.” (See Document 20)
At the Washington summit on May 31, 1990, Bush went out of his way to assure Gorbachev that Germany in NATO would never be directed at the USSR: “Believe me, we are not pushing Germany towards unification, and it is not us who determines the pace of this process. And of course, we have no intention, even in our thoughts, to harm the Soviet Union in any fashion. That is why we are speaking in favor of German unification in NATO without ignoring the wider context of the CSCE, taking the traditional economic ties between the two German states into consideration. Such a model, in our view, corresponds to the Soviet interests as well.” (See Document 21)
The “Iron Lady” also pitched in, after the Washington summit, in her meeting with Gorbachev in London on June 8, 1990. Thatcher anticipated the moves the Americans (with her support) would take in the early July NATO conference to support Gorbachev with descriptions of the transformation of NATO towards a more political, less militarily threatening, alliance. She said to Gorbachev: “We must find ways to give the Soviet Union confidence that its security would be assured…. CSCE could be an umbrella for all this, as well as being the forum which brought the Soviet Union fully into discussion about the future of Europe.” (See Document 22)
The NATO London Declaration on July 5, 1990 had quite a positive effect on deliberations in Moscow, according to most accounts, giving Gorbachev significant ammunition to counter his hardliners at the Party Congress which was taking place at that moment. Some versions of this history assert that an advance copy was provided to Shevardnadze’s aides, while others describe just an alert that allowed those aides to take the wire service copy and produce a Soviet positive assessment before the military or hardliners could call it propaganda.
As Kohl said to Gorbachev in Moscow on July 15, 1990, as they worked out the final deal on German unification: “We know what awaits NATO in the future, and I think you are now in the know as well,” referring to the NATO London Declaration. (See Document 23)
In his phone call to Gorbachev on July 17, Bush meant to reinforce the success of the Kohl-Gorbachev talks and the message of the London Declaration. Bush explained: “So what we tried to do was to take account of your concerns expressed to me and others, and we did it in the following ways: by our joint declaration on non-aggression; in our invitation to you to come to NATO; in our agreement to open NATO to regular diplomatic contact with your government and those of the Eastern European countries; and our offer on assurances on the future size of the armed forces of a united Germany – an issue I know you discussed with Helmut Kohl. We also fundamentally changed our military approach on conventional and nuclear forces. We conveyed the idea of an expanded, stronger CSCE with new institutions in which the USSR can share and be part of the new Europe.” (See Document 24)
The documents show that Gorbachev agreed to German unification in NATO as the result of this cascade of assurances, and on the basis of his own analysis that the future of the Soviet Union depended on its integration into Europe, for which Germany would be the decisive actor. He and most of his allies believed that some version of the common European home was still possible and would develop alongside the transformation of NATO to lead to a more inclusive and integrated European space, that the post-Cold War settlement would take account of the Soviet security interests. The alliance with Germany would not only overcome the Cold War but also turn on its head the legacy of the Great Patriotic War.
But inside the U.S. government, a different discussion continued, a debate about relations between NATO and Eastern Europe. Opinions differed, but the suggestion from the Defense Department as of October 25, 1990 was to leave “the door ajar” for East European membership in NATO. (See Document 27) The view of the State Department was that NATO expansion was not on the agenda, because it was not in the interest of the U.S. to organize “an anti-Soviet coalition” that extended to the Soviet borders, not least because it might reverse the positive trends in the Soviet Union. (See Document 26) The Bush administration took the latter view. And that’s what the Soviets heard.
As late as March 1991, according to the diary of the British ambassador to Moscow, British Prime Minister John Major personally assured Gorbachev, “We are not talking about the strengthening of NATO.” Subsequently, when Soviet defense minister Marshal Dmitri Yazov asked Major about East European leaders’ interest in NATO membership, the British leader responded, “Nothing of the sort will happen.” (See Document 28)
When Russian Supreme Soviet deputies came to Brussels to see NATO and meet with NATO secretary-general Manfred Woerner in July 1991, Woerner told the Russians that “We should not allow […] the isolation of the USSR from the European community.” According to the Russian memorandum of conversation, “Woerner stressed that the NATO Council and he are against the expansion of NATO (13 of 16 NATO members support this point of view).” (See Document 30)
Thus, Gorbachev went to the end of the Soviet Union assured that the West was not threatening his security and was not expanding NATO. Instead, the dissolution of the USSR was brought about by Russians (Boris Yeltsin and his leading advisory Gennady Burbulis) in concert with the former party bosses of the Soviet republics, especially Ukraine, in December 1991. The Cold War was long over by then. The Americans had tried to keep the Soviet Union together (see the Bush “Chicken Kiev” speech on August 1, 1991). NATO’s expansion was years in the future, when these disputes would erupt again, and more assurances would come to Russian leader Boris Yeltsin.
When the US and EU/NATO tried to expand once again by admitting Ukraine, Russia’s financial and military condition was far improved, and the Russian’s had enough of our perceived lies about NATO Expansion.
Russia told the West that Ukraine could NOT enter NATO, because Russia knew they were planning on placing US Missile defenses on Ukraine soil. Those missiles would have about a five minute flight time to Moscow, which no country on earth could defend against.
Russia pointed out that the conventional warheads on US missile defenses were of a type that could be “switched-out” with a NUCLEAR warhead. This change could be done in about 90 minutes, and no one would even know about it.
That would put Moscow within 5 minutes of nuclear annihilation, and Russia would not tolerate it. Russia made it explicitly clear they viewed Ukraine’s entry into NATO as an “existential threat” and they would use military power to stop it if they had to. No one in the West took them seriously.
The West apparently doesn’t teach actual history to its military and political class anymore, because folks in the US under Joe Biden continued to press for Ukraine’s entry into NATO. No one in the Biden regime realized that Russia meant business on this issue, and ALL of them were . . . . SHOCKED . . . . when Russian troops crossed into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
(HT REMARKS:Older guys like me, who have a memory that actually works, knew full well the Russian’s were going to do this; they HAD TO. It literally is a matter of survival for Russia, given the vast expansion of NATO during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. I knew it was coming. I said so on my radio show in the weeks leading-up to the entry. I told my audience we were breaking our word and we had to stop. I told my audience this could result in World War 3 and the Russians were serious about this. No one – at least in government — listened.)
Fast-Forward to December of 2023, and former Aid TO President Zelensky now says “The West came to the war with his pants down, he turned out to be a naked king, he will not be able to win this war.
I see fewer and fewer chances for the West to win in a clash with the global South and East.”
He’s right.
But the people running the US government and military, are so ignorant of history, so arrogant in their erroneous beliefs about the Russian Army, none of them saw this coming. None of them ever expected to lose a war with Russia, and THAT is exactly, precisely, what is actually happening right now in Ukraine. Ukraine is losing and will lose. Period. Full stop.
All because the US EU and NATO install people into powerful positions who are either ignorant of history, or whose word means nothing. I suspect– it’s both.
Thanks to those people, half a million Ukrainians are now dead. A smaller number of Russians are also dead. And for what? NONE of this, had to be.
Had we honored our word, none of this would have happened.
I had a girlfriend that hit me all the time. I thought she was just being playful, until she snapped and said, why can’t I hurt you. Up until then, I thought we were just playing. I am 6′1″ 200 lbs, she was 5′1″ 100 lbs.
If you can’t tell that it was supposed to be painful, then you know how lopsided punching her back would be.
After we broke up, there were rumours that her new boyfriend was beating her. He was 5′6″ 140 lbs.
She asked me if I remembered her hitting me, I said I did, she replied, well he hits back.
So, if you can escape without being hurt, then you shouldn’t punch anyone, but if you need to punch someone in self defense, then you do what you have to do.
Simpsons Predictions For 2024 Are Insane
LOL.
Magnolia’s Spicy Shrimp, Sausage and Tasso Gravy over Creamy White Grits
9736f4b1f1daa21f310fd30dc5b62ba6
Ingredients
Creamy White Grits
12 cups chicken broth
4 1/2 cups coarse stone-ground white grits
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and white pepper to taste
Tasso Gravy
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sliced Tasso, cut in 1-inch strips
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Salt and white pepper to taste
Shrimp and Sausage
1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage (3/4 pound of raw)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds medium or large peeled and deveined shrimp*
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 recipe Tasso Gravy
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Instructions
Creamy White Grits
Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot or large saucepan. Slowly pour in the grits, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and continue to stir so that the grits do not settle to the bottom and scorch. In about 5 minutes, the grits will plump up and become a thick mass.
Continue to cook the grits for about 20 to 25 minutes, stirring frequently. The grits should have absorbed all of the chicken stock and become soft. Stir in heavy cream and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently. The grits should have a thick consistency and be creamy like oatmeal. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Keep warm over low heat until ready to serve. If the grits become too thick, add warm chicken broth or water to thin them down.
Tasso Gravy
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat. Add the Tasso. Sauté for 1 minute, browning slightly. Make a roux by adding the flour and stirring until well combined. Continue to cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until the roux develops a nutty aroma.
Turn the heat up to medium and gradually add 2 cups of the chicken broth, stirring vigorously. Keep stirring constantly until the broth thickens into gravy. Reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes to cook out the starchy flavor. Add the parsley. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Shrimp and Sausage
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
To cook Italian sausage: Place the Italian sausage on a baking sheet with raised sides. Place on the top rack of the 400 degrees F oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the sausage is firm and its juices run clear. Cool and cut into small bite-size pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottom frying pan over medium heat. Add the precooked sausage and sauté for 2 minutes to brown slightly. Add the shrimp and sauté until they begin to turn pink-no longer than 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth to deglaze the pan. Add the Tasso Gravy and one tablespoon of the parsley. Bring up to a boil and let simmer for 1 minute. The last 1/2 cup of chicken stock is to be used to thin the gravy if needed.
Divide the hot grits between 8 warm bowls. Spoon the shrimp, sausage mixture over the grits. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of parsley and serve immediately.
Notes
* If using large shrimp, allow 6 per person; for medium sized shrimp, 8 to 10 shrimp.
Attribution
Source: magnolias-blossom.com – Magnolia’s, Charleston, South Carolina
A family friend who worked as an FBI agent was about to get married in the early 1970s. Shortly before the wedding, he got a memo from the Director’s office, signed by J. Edgar Hoover himself, pointing out a policy to the effect that agents needed permission to tie the knot, and that he hadn’t received it.
His intended was Black (he’s white), and the Director wasn’t cool with interracial marriage.
He married her anyway, and they stayed together until death did they part half a century later.
They framed the Director’s letter and hung it on a wall in their residence.
While working at a dealership in Arizona, I was doing a LOF on a late model Nissan, and got to checking the air filter as part of my routine workup on the vehicle. I popped the top of the air box, and casually lifted the filter out, and promptly slammed the air filter back in and closed the lid. I took a breath, walked over to my service manager, and told him that we needed to call pest control.
When the pest control tech arrived, he put on heavy gloves, and carefully removed a mama Western diamondback rattler and six of her babies, all alive and well in the air box. The customer mentioned that her car had recently sat for a few weeks while she was away on business. She politely apologized to me for the snake incident, gave me a nice tip (to cover my new boxers, presumably!), Paid for the pest control visit, and left.
To top this off, the next time she came in, she requested me. When I popped the hood, I was greeted by !!! Another snake! Thankfully, this time, it was rubber. Inside the air box (I was VERY cautious lifting the air filter out this time!), taped under the lid was a $20 bill with “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself!” written on it. Probably one of my favorite customers ever! She gave me a hug after I came in with a sheepish smile after I finished the oil change. I hope she’s still messing with people 🙂
“Dear teacher, I apologize to the bully for his attacking me and forcing me to have to defend myself. I promise that if he attacks me again I will defend myself to the best of my ability..I realize that the school supports his behavior and wishes us to submit to being bullied, punched hit,kicked and ridiculed. I apologize to you and the school staff, for not being a submissive punching bag as you seem to want me to be.
sincerely,
(name).
EDIT
seems a popular post. I am guessing the problem is widespread.
Keep in mind that you are looking at someone who’s already at the top of the mountain. That is to say, you don’t know the effort and time they had to put into to get where they are right now. And how many mistakes and slips they had to endure to reach that peak.
Remind yourself that the only person you should race against is yourself. It sounds easier said than done, but keep practicing and you’ll soon realize it’s not as difficult as you initially thought it was.
Throw out all the comparisons out of the window. It tends to aggravate your envy even more. Instead, focus on what you can do to get your fair share of success as well.
Don’t become resentful toward life or people who seem to have it all. Because if you do, that resentment will start living inside your mind rent-free, for your entire life.
Be grateful that nothing is over yet. As long as you are still breathing, you have a chance to change something for the better. Everyone takes things at their own pace, so don’t put yourself down just because you fell behind in the race. We can’t all be Usain Bolts, after all. So stick to the pace you are comfortable with and take occasional breaks if you have to. And once you feel rested, keep moving because, in the end, it’ll be worth it.
I was sitting on a bench outside a hotel in DC near the valet desk. I admit I wasn’t exactly dressed for style.
Lady imperiously demands I get her car and I tell her I don’t work there. She sniffs at me and scolds me for being a useless bum, a blight on humanity and if she had her way we’d be rounded up and put on press gangs to clean the streets.
About then the valet pulls up with my car, a late model BMW convertible. She started to say “that’s not my car” when I tipped the valet and drove off.
A coworker went to a local bar after work where a group from the office was going to meet up. It was a Friday so no work the next day.
He woke up in a strange bed at an apartment complex. He couldn’t find his clothes, car keys, wallet. He called another coworker to come get him. He had to look out the window and get the street intersection off street signs to tell his coworker friend where to pick him up.
When his coworker friend showed up he ran out with a sheet wrapped around himself. His coworker friend took him back to his apartment where a roommate let him in. He had a spare key for his car and he and his roomate went looking for his car. They found it in the parking lot of the local bar down from the office.
He spent the weekend trying to remember what happened to no avail.
On Monday while he was at work sitting at his desk when one of the office girls came into his office with his freshly washed clothes, wallet and keys.
She had taken him back to her apartment for an evening of love making, during the night of this he had gotten sick from too much alcohol, vomiting on his clothes beside the bed, then passed out.
She had gotten up that morning, cleaned up the mess, taken his clothes down to the laundry to wash them before ordering breakfast from a deli across the street. She returned to find him and one of her sheets missing.
She waited until Monday to bring him his belongings. They never went out again and had a strained office relationship for several years until he transferred to another office.
If I had a chance for a do over I’d take it. My life today would be totally different. I’ve never told or discussed it with anyone. I was 20 in college and I was engaged when I got pregnant. He didn’t want to start out marriage that way. He was all of 21 and also still in college. I didn’t have a job or any money. I thought my Catholic parents would disown me. I made the horrible decision to terminate the pregnancy. It took decades before I could forgive myself. He was right it was no way to start a marriage. It was a horrible way to start a marriage when he didn’t want to offer any emotional support for our shared tragedy. Nearly 10 years later we were finally blessed with a child followed by 3 more. We were married over 40 years. The roots of the failure began with I don’t want to start out marriage that way.
A few. But it’s a very hard job to be the son or daughter of a genius. I’ve had the good fortune of getting to know several Nobel Prize winners and their families. And to talk with some of the kids about their point of view. For the most part, they suffered. Many Nobel Prize winners made no secret of this. George Wald was once asked whether he might donate his sperm to a sperm bank to make superior children. He answered in two parts, but only the first was charming.
He said they should have asked his father for sperm so as to make another George Wald. Then he went on to say that his kids were not geniuses but had become bums. Which was not only unkind, but also very unfair to them as they were both teenagers at the time, sensitive and awkward, but also sweet and certainly very bright. But I remember one dinner at his house where Elijah, the son, sort of bragged about having done something clever. Most parents would smile and congratulate him. But George said something along the lines of, “Why, at your age I had already discovered….” Why was there any comparison or competition?
Other genius parents had more sympathy for their kids and took the pressure off. But still, comparisons with the father’s legendary (and oft exaggerated) accomplishments made it tough for the kid. Richard Feynman was very kind and supportive of his kids,but his daughter, Michelle, was initially too intimidated to try anything academic. Nonetheless, Richard was proud of her and of his son Carl.
Linus Pauling (two Nobels) had several children and his son Peter did brilliant work on the structure of biological molecules using crystallography. The son contributed to the work that led to the Nobel Prize that went to Watson and Crick.
But my favorite example of genius father and genius son would have to be the Nobel Laureate in physics, Luis Alvarez, who contributed much to the building of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project, and his son, Walter. Working together they generated the hypothesis and found a testable way to confirm that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a giant asteroid hitting the Yucatan Peninsula 63 million years ago. And there are many other good examples (like Marie and Irene Curie, etc.). So, despite the psychological and social obstacles, sometimes the apple does not fall far from the tree.
When I was quite young, perhaps three years old, I went out for a walk with my father. And thus, together… hand in hand… we walked down the street in our housing complex in Bridgeport, CT. It was a nice Saturday. Blue sky. Sunny, but cool.
And as we walked down the street we came across a curious sight.
There was this old man in a blue jacket playing a wind-up musical device of some type, and a monkey on a really long leash….
organ grinder monkey
This guy was just strolling along and the monkey was going p to people. If we gave the monkey some change, he would take it and carry it off to the guy playing the music. A simple and nice cute distraction.
My father gave me a few coins and I gave them to the monkey. He crawled up onto me, took the money, raised his tiny hat off his head and then ran to the guy with the music box, and gave it to him. And then the guys started the wind-up music all over again.
This was my once and only experience with such a troubadour. And, I had long forgotten about it.
But … when I was going through “retirement” I ended up with complete memory recall, and thus had memories regarding this singular event.
Treasure the valuable memories that you have. They might take you to places long forgotten, and seemingly trivial in importance….
I believe it was Sir Richard Branson who did what he called the “Restaurant Test.” Part of his interview process was an “informal” interview at a restaurant. What the prospective employee didn’t know is that Sir Richard had already notified the restaurant that he was coming with a potential employee and to screw up their order, nothing major like giving meat to a vegan but if they ordered their steak medium rare, the chef would cook it well done.
Richard would then see how the other person reacted. If he was polite then it was onto the next phase of the interview, if they were rude he would finish his meal and that person would not be considered for the job
My wife and I agreed early on that whoever could draw the largest salary would work while the other was stay-at-home parent. Unfortunately I went to work (would have loved to be the stay at home dad.) Our deal included that after a 30 minute decompress and wash up after arriving home, our daughter was 100% my responsibility through bedtime. My wife got up in the night with her during the week, and I took the weekend shift. We tag teamed the weekend hours, but I took most of the time. My happiest memories were coming home and getting my baby to hold, feed, and change. Later it was seeing her standing at the door or front window waiting for me. She’s 50 now and remembers being swooped up and burying her face in my fur lined coat collar in the winter.
NO stress could survive the love of a dad and daughter.
“Grandma said she’ll give me a gift if I let her shampoo my hair,” he tells me the other day.
I can see how torn and conflicted he looks.
My son’s a swashbuckling, bug-hunting pirate.
You’d have an easier time getting a stray cat to take a shower.
“I hear you,” I reply, making sure she’s out of earshot. “My take?” he leans in. “If she wants to give you a gift, she should just do it. No strings attached.”
He nods and we exchange conspiratorial smiles.
“You’ve got to rein in that wayward son of yours,” she tells me after a botched shower attempt.
But I won’t.
Of course, I’m always encouraging him to be kind, respectful, and thoughtful with others.
But I won’t use the stick or the carrot.
Because when he’s older and someone hands him a rifle telling him who the enemy is, I want him to do his own thinking.
Because when he’s older and someone offers him a pill and tells him he’ll have the best time of his life, I want him to question.
Because when he’s older and someone offers him a quick reward in exchange for giving up his values, I want him to stand his ground.
That was the excuse I got during the last week of school when a project was due in my 7th grade reading class.
My students were told that the book we had just read, The Call of the Wild, was going to be made into a major motion picture, and they were to create a movie poster to persuade people to see the show.
The posters were to be judged by other students and staff, and the winner would be awarded a prize. The competition was intense!
Every student had a finished poster except Shane (not his real name). I wasn’t totally surprised, as Shane had been late with assignments in the past, but the excuse was pretty shocking.
“So, Shane,” I began, “when I call your dad, will he be able to verify that your project did, in fact, catch on fire?” I was ready for him to change his story, but he didn’t!
“Yes,” he replied, “and he’s really mad at me because it burned a hole in the living room carpet, so now I’m grounded.”
“Hmm, he’s good”, I thought, “validating his story with details…this should be interesting.”
Later, I called Shane’s dad, and sure enough, Shane was telling the truth! His dad explained that his son had used so much white-out on his project, that when he held a lighter to the poster board (to singe the edges and make it look old) the entire thing exploded into a fire ball, fell to the floor and burned a big hole in his living room floor.
“Wow, Shane! I was a bit skeptical, but your story checks out. I’ll give you until tomorrow to create a new poster. Your idea to make your poster look old is most impressive (as the story took place over 100 years ago) but DON’T burn the edges this time!”
The next day, Shane proudly walked into the class. I eagerly looked for a poster, figuring he’d be carrying it, but it was nowhere in sight.
“Shane, did you finish you new poster?” I asked.
“Yep, I sure did.”
“Where is it?”
“Right here.” and he gave me a crumpled ball of cardboard. “Open it up, you’re going to love it!”
I did the best I could to smooth out the wrinkled mess. Sure enough, there was a movie poster advertising The Call of the Wild.
“It looks great, but why did you wad it up into a ball?”
“To make it look old.” he said as if I should have already known.
Shane didn’t win the contest, he remained grounded 2 weeks, and that summer he had to get a job mowing lawns to pay for the damaged carpet.
I recently saw Shane at the state fair. He’s engaged and works as an auto mechanic. He remembers the poster project vividly and said everything worked out pretty well. They ended up getting the entire apartment re-carpeted for free and Shane got to keep his lawn mowing money.
Galatoire’s Crabmeat Yvonne
jacques pepin oysters rockefeller recipe 1024×694 1
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
6 artichokes
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup clarified butter
2 pounds backfin lump crabmeat
Salt and ground white pepper
1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine
6 lemon wedges
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Cut stem from artichokes flush with the base and boil artichokes for 45 minutes, or until a leaf pulls off easily.
Remove from pot, drain and let cool.
Pull off leaves and reserve for another purpose. Remove choke and slice the bottoms. Set aside.
In a large skillet sauté mushrooms in clarified butter.
Add reserved artichoke bottoms and crabmeat. Heat through, stirring gently.
Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley.
Serve on toast points with a lemon wedge on the side.
Attribution
Source: Galatoire’s, New Orleans, Louisiana. Gulf Coast Cooking
Twenty years ago, a friend called me in a panic. She was on the backside of a bad divorce, she had a three year old daughter, and she’d just been told she couldn’t continue to live where she was. The little girl was with her father that weekend, but my friend was at a neighborhood restaurant with no money and no idea what to do next. I told her to come over, got her something to eat and settled her on the sofa because she hadn’t slept in something over 24 hours and told her that we’d figure out what to do next when she woke up. Ultimately we moved her and her daughter into our guest room.
About three weeks later, she introduced us to a young woman who was pregnant and not in a position to raise a child. (She was married. That wasn’t the issue.) Sitting at our dining room table, having just met us and not knowing much more than that we’d taken in our mutual friend, she asked my husband and me if we would adopt the baby. We’d fought infertility for a long time. We said yes. She talked to her husband, and the whole thing was agreed on by the following morning. About seven months later, I was her birth coach and had the incredible privilege of catching my own son.
He’s nineteen now. We have him because we let a friend in a tough spot move in with us.
Mine was in the Air Force. I had a racist for an immediate supervisor who always gave me average ratings on my performance. I didn’t realize how bad I was getting screwed until one of my counterparts (who was a total screw up) was shocked that he higher ratings than myself. A “3” is considered average (which I was getting on my reviews). This “screwup” was getting 5’s which is the highest score. I was thinking “how the HECK did he get a 5??” This dude missed time, came to work drunk, was reprimanded for fights….been to jail….etc. my record was SPOTLESS. Always the first on the job and the last to leave. Kept my uniform super clean. So I realized that I’m working twice as hard as this other dude and getting a much lower score.
This was in the 1990’s. I overheard a conversation with my racist supervisor one day about what he wanted to be when he leave the military. He stated that he wanted to be a highway patrol officer “so that he can legally hit minorities”. He always made crude jokes about Mexicans and blacks. As an African American myself I hated this dude’s guts. His leadership skills were the worst. I hated every day of working with him.
One day it was his last day of work. The shop was going to throw a going away party for this racist pig. There was an option to donate $10.00 to the potluck to participate in the party or miss out and work. I chose to work. I’m not donating a DIME to this dude’s going away party.
After he gracefully disappeared from the job I thought that would be the last I’ve heard of him. NOPE! I was wrong. Found out later that he did apply for the state highway patrol position.
The timing on this particular day couldn’t have been more perfect. Two men from the highway patrol were visiting our unit and I happened to be the ONLY person there. They asked me “who’s in charge?” Well, I’m the only airman in the shop so I was actually in charge. I asked them what’s going on? They told me that they are doing a follow up on a gentleman who applied for highway patrol who used to work at this unit. I told them I have detailed files on this person. What made this even better was the fact that one highway patrol officer was black, the other was Hispanic. I was so nervous in hopes that our main supervisor didn’t show up because he would give this guy a decent feedback. I wanted them to hear the DARK side of this scumbag.
I told them that he was a decent worker at best but here are some documents I wanted to share. Luckily I kept my old floppy disk handy with all of the stuff I wrote to the higher chain of command about this racist pos. The statements had dates and times I written down of his racist comments over the years. Too many to write in this essay. But let’s just say it was two pages worth (front and back).
The look of disgust was very apparent on their faces. One of them asked me “people like him still exist in the military?” I replied “shockingly, yes”. They asked me, “did you ever want to knock this dude the F- -K out?” (Many Times I did).
To make a long story short, months went by and I didn’t hear anything. Then one day I overheard a conversation about my former supervisor being turned down for his highway patrol job and was working at a Wal-Mart as a warehouse worker. In all honesty, I take GREAT pleasure in feeling that my sneaky swift actions were the reason.
I certainly wouldn’t laugh if a student of mine told me that – so have no idea why your professor did. But I wouldn’t give it much weight, either. And I’d wonder why the student told me. Would they tell me how tall they were? Or what color hair they had?
If eligibility to be in Mensa requires one to be in the top 2% (or something) of people who take IQ tests, that is a nice capability to have. But what percentage of university professors are likely to also be eligible if that’s the requirement – plus have become academically very accomplished in their field of study? I have no idea what my IQ is, it’s never been tested as far as I know – nor has it ever mattered to me. It is likely higher than some – and not nearly as high as others, both professors and students I have known in my well over half-century at a university (if you include my student years). It’s a place that tends to collect very bright articulate people.
So if a student of mine told me they were in Mensa, I’d probably ask them about it, what they did as a member of Mensa, etc., just as I would if they told me they were in an orchestra or worked for a charity or played on the soccer team or something. That is, it is information about that student and it might be interesting, but what does it change? I would expect that person’s intelligence to show in their love of learning, the questions they ask, the connections they make, etc. And all of that intellectual capability would be obvious even it they were not a member of Mensa.
I went to McDonald’s and went inside to place a to go order. While I was standing there, the manager walked up to me and handed me an empty French fry box. This was during the time that McDonald’s was doing the Monopoly game. The game piece on the fry box was already partially open. I peeled it the rest of the way back and it said it was a $2000 winner. I really needed the money for college at that point in my life. I thanked the manager profusely. She said that it had been inadvertently opened by a worker. She saw me standing there with my young daughter and thought that I looked like I could use some cheering up. Best trip to McDonald’s ever!
It seems the Dutch Government has forbidden ASML to sell EUVs to SMIC from 1/9/23
Yet orders placed until 23:59 on 31/8/23 can be shipped and fulfilled.
So technically ASML can ship orders to SMIC upto the time the last order placed on 31/8/23 is fulfilled
That’s for 21 EUV Machines & 50 DUV Machines
In September, ASML has delivered 4 EUV Machines & 17 DUV Machines
Meanwhile there is another legal complication
SMIC has now introduced a Distributor company who can buy EUVs from ASML and simply sell them to SMIC for a 10% commission (10% is just an example)
Now the Dutch order said only SMIC was forbidden from receiving ASML EUVs so ASML has also accepted 8 more orders for EUVs from this distributor
Technically Dutch Govt cannot specifically forbid ASML from selling to China as a whole as that is a major WTO violation
So they can only blacklist importers
So China can keep bringing up new distributors and placing orders and ASML is happy because TSMC has cancelled 24 Machines recently and i am sure China offered full price for the machines
Ultimately MONEY TALKS
Once again the US is furious but again it’s all about the legalese now
SMIC is forbidden so an agency buys and sells to SMIC
The Dutch look the other way of course
ASML is delighted because they sell more machines
My guess is this new agency will be blacklisted soon and they will incorporate more laws to prevent such measures
Yet that gets China another 8 machines plus a further 24 machines which I bet China will place as they are already in process
This means SMIC technically can make 7 nm and 5 nm Chips in decent quantities at least till 2026/2027
By then they should crack some breakthrough
So China has gained TIME and the Dutch have put business ahead of stupidity
Just like NVDIA and Intel just sold products to China which were slightly off the specs in huge numbers
He was working on a HUGE problem that took up the entire white board. The students were doing their best to follow the problem in their notes and in their minds. Suddenly he stopped, turned to look at us, turned red with embarrassment and realized that he got confused and lost in the problem. A student in the front row gently guided him to finish.
Instead of brushing this off he used this as an amazing teachable moment.
Here is what he did:
He asked us if we thought he was stupid. We collectively said “no.”
He then said that he was not a “melon head” and neither were we.
The lesson: He explained about the fight or flight syndrome and said that once he got momentarily confused, instead of going back to the place in the problem where he understood, he got nervous because he was in front of us, got into the fight or flight syndrome, produced adrenaline and got so stressed that he could no longer think. He then drew a picture on the board of a human brain, showed the reptilian part of our brain and the frontal lobes and explained that when we get too stressed we go to our reptilian brain and we need to return to our frontal lobe thinking. He gave us concrete strategies for exactly how to do this. (Breathe slowly, go back to a place where we last understood and start over). This lesson was SO impactful to me that I began to study the brain more and more and then I taught this to all of my students.
Final Thought: Even though my professor was teaching Calculus, his off-topic lesson was one of the best I ever had. He turned an embarrassing moment into an incredibly helpful life lesson.
This lesson was so important to me that I included the story as one of the chapters in my teacher support book, “Wait, Don’t Quit.”
I passed a great little convertible parked in front of a business with a “For Sale” sign and stopped to go look at it because I was considering a fun weekend car. It turned out the owner of the business was a past customer of mine, I had done work on his home. Two days later it was mine.
In the process of fixing every little thing and customizing it, I decided to pull out most of the interior to really clean it. Tucked in where the carpet overlapped, under the driver’s seat, was a gold ring with a small diamond. I wasn’t sure if it was real so I asked a friend at a nearby jewelry store. They confirmed it was real 18k and about ⅛ carat real diamond.
I called my friend who sold me the car. He checked with his wife and it wasn’t hers. I asked if they knew the previous owner but she had sold them the car before moving overseas and they lost track of her info. There must have been a clean title at some point because she wasn’t listed.
I doubt it was a wedding ring because it was so small, in fact the only finger it would fit was my mother in law’s pinky. She liked it so I let her keep it.
Battle with highest total losses:Battle of Vercellae
In 113 BC a large Germanic-Celtic coalition begins poking around Rome. They crush a Roman army and send the Romans into a panic. This army is 200,000 men strong- how can Rome compete.
Into this steps Marius, Uncle of Caesar. Marius was the most well-known general of his age and he set about reforming the Roman military with rapid speed, creating the more traditional Roman Legions we all know and love.
As this massive Army began to move for Italy Marius responded with his reformed Legions. What followed was a massive all-out clash where Roman discipline held back a far larger army. The turning point came when a commander named Sula counter-charged the Celtic cavalry and sent them fleeing into their own lines.
In all Plutarch reports 100,000 were killed, Livy reports 160,000, and Orosius reports 140,000 were killed.
Battle with highest Roman casualties: Cannae
Hannibal had invaded Italy and Rome responded by raising the largest Army in it’s history- some 90,000 men strong. The Romans used this Army to attack Hannibal, driving their strong heavy infantry forward in an effort to break Hannibal’s lines.
Hannibal had cleverly made his flanks strong and so as his center bowed inwards his flanks did not. This created a big “U” shape and the Romans found themselves being pressed from all sides. Then Hannibal’s cavalry came around the rear and surrounded the entire Roman Army. They then pressed in and killed perhaps 50,000 Romans.
I have to say, a number of answers to this question are appalling. What is most troubling is that many of the worst and most shaming of these responses are from supposed clinicians themselves. I am deeply bothered by this.
Is it normal, or lets say understandable, that you would feel distrustful and off about your therapist shutting down your queries about the nature of your relationship with them? Yep, sounds downright logical to me. When we feel distrustful it is because we feel unsafe in some way. You therapist refusing to engage with you around the experience of the inherent lop-sided-ness of the therapy relationship is problematic.
What you are experiencing is incredibly common, if not inevitable. I would dare say anyone who has remained in therapy for more than a few sessions with a therapist will wrestle with the freedoms and constraints afforded within a psychotherapy. For many this remains a constant felt tension throughout their therapy. It is an important aspect of therapy as exploring the tensions, dissatisfaction, unfairness, longings etc…with our therapists directly reveals our deepest needs and wants. Talking about the bounds of the therapy is the most fruitful of topics, a talented therapist would happily (if not giddily) help you to explore your distrust, or any other experience you may be having about being in therapy.
The issue isn’t whether it is right or wrong for a therapist to reveal anything about their private-selves (some do, some don’t). The issue here is that this subject has come up more than once in your therapy and you are clearly completely confused about it. Your therapist has missed a golden opportunity to open up a discussion about relationships.
It would seem according to some of these answers your therapist is not alone in completely missing the proverbial elephant, or neon sign, in the room.
On my first day working at Domino’s Pizza, I was introduced to all the workers. One of the delivery drivers was a guy in his 70s whom we’ll call Morgan. He looked at me and said, “I’d ask you out, but I guess you don’t date people your grandfather’s age.” Keep in mind that I was 17 at this point; this was my first “real job.” Since I’d been homeschooled, I wasn’t well-versed in social norms, but this statement gave me the creeps. When I went home that evening, I discussed it wiith my mom, who said he was most likely teasing.
Morgan kept chatting with me, and I came to know him as a very friendly person. However, a couple of months later (I worked there from halfway through summer break until Thanksgiving, when I got a better job), I was eating a piece of leftover pizza and he grabbed my shoulders, trying to take a bite out of my pizza. I warned him not to do it again, or I’d elbow him. He talked for weeks about how “M.J. has pointy elbows,” so nobody get on her bad side.
I was never comfortable around him from that time on. He kept making comments that made me less comfortable. One day, he said, “You’re going to make a wonderful wife and mother someday.” Finally, I brought it up with my parents again. When I mentioned that he’d given me his business card so I could “use him as a professional reference,” they realized what was going on.
My dad called the manager, who was the best guy ever with six kids of his own and decided to let my dad (a tough-as-nails, Glock-carrying Italian gym rat in cowboy boots) do whatever he thought was best. I gave my dad Morgan’s schedule, and the two of them had a nice chat out in the parking lot. Morgan said about five words to me the entire rest of the time I worked there. It was glorious.
I used to work for an EXTREMELY reclusive billionaire (for further reference in the answer he will be called Greg) as a personal aide. Many things that I have seen and been a part of during my fantastic service with (for?) him are covered by legal documents that demand non disclosure from me. However, there are still some things that can be shared.
The word extremely is in all caps because only one or two pictures of him have ever been publicly published, and he has never given a personal statement. He maintained a zero social media presence, and would always grumble about the dependency of modern society on rapidly changing technology. His family and him always maintained a low profile, choosing to utilise public transport if they could (however, they had extensive means of transportation and if he felt even the slightest inkling of a threat they would use another transportation method). The children attended a private school just out of the county, however, in my country, private schools are very common, so this is not too fancy.
But, don’t for a moment underestimate the man. He had an uncanny ability to read people, pick out things others would not see at first glance and was always determined to understand and learn about the world around him. He would anonymously donate millions to organisations that furthered research into space (is this a thing? I learnt this from another personal aide). He played his cards close to the chest, and if he did not understand a theory or idea, he had no qualms of ringing the relevant party up to better understand the concept, something he did regularly with his firm which led to some talks behind his back in the firm.
He always maintained a composure of calmness through out even the most trying situations. There was a time when a client agreement between his firm and the client had fallen through, and they only had a few hours to rehash all the details. Unfortunately, he had given the lead architect of the deal a few days off earlier in the week as the client company had, at first, shown a very positive outlook on the agreement. Greg knew that the architect was out deep in the country side where he was helping with the after party of his sister’s wedding. Cell service was not great, and while the architect was informed of the situation, he was in no place to rehash a multi million dollar deal. So what was done, within a span of 1 hour, was a helicopter from a local tour agency, that always had one on standby, was chartered, sent out to the architect, brought him back and they worked on the deal. The deal eventually fell through (it was beyond saving if you asked me), and Greg felt extremely guilty for the inconvenience he caused the architect. As a form of thank you, he proceeded to pay for the sister’s wedding, and gave the architect another month off.
The billionaire I worked for always attempted to remain frugal. He never owned any form of private transport (jet, helicopter, yacht etc), had a small car collection but always donated money or reinvest it into the market. He never showed emotions, but you knew he was a caring individual. His neighbours son had been involved in an extremely gruesome accident when his car was slammed by a truck. Knowing that financing the operation and hospital stress for the son would be too much for the mother, he quietly payed for the entire operation, and set up a trust that would cover the living and medical treatment costs for that young man for the rest of his life.
Greg passed away a few years ago, which is when I stopped working. His wife asked us aides if we would like to stay on, and while several did, I left to take care of my ailing Mother. As a parting bonus, she gave the aides leaving a substantial monetary bonus that will be enough for the rest of my life if I live carefully. I haven’t heard from them in a while, but their current aides say they are still the same down-to-earth people I had known them as.
Greg was a fantastic individual. He was an avid learner, an individual who did whatever it took and, yet, still managed to keep the small things in life within his view. It gave me great pleasure to work for him, and I definitely miss him.
The Ferrari 166 S
The Ferrari 166 S was a sports racing car built by Ferrari between 1948 and 1953, an evolution of its Colombo V12-powered 125 S racer. It was adapted into a sports car for the street in the form of the 166 Inter.
2 17
Only 12 Ferrari 166 S were produced, nine of them with cycle-fenders as the Spyder Corsa. It was soon followed by the updated and highly successful Ferrari 166 MM (Mille Miglia), of which 47 were made from 1948 to 1953. Its early victories in the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia and others in international competition made the manufacturer a serious competitor in the racing industry. Both were later replaced by the 2.3 L 195 S.
At the end of the interview, the hiring manager leaned back on his chair, folded his hands and grinned, “Tell me why I shouldn’t hire the guy I interviewed before you came in?”
I had to think for a moment. “Having never met or interviewed the guy, I can’t make an informed opinion.” And I thought the reason for the question was to see if I made snap decisions without any facts.
He shook his head, “Now that’s a cop out. Give me another reason.”
“Let me see his resume and give me a few minutes. Cover up his name.”
“I can’t do that, but I’ll show you his cover letter.”
He folded the paper so I couldn’t see who sent it, and moved it across the desk. I read the first sentence and said, “He makes careless mistakes. He misspelled the name of your company.”
The hiring manager’s eyes popped and said, “What?” He looked at it again, then said, “This meeting is over.”
And that was that. I never heard back and no one in HR would take my call. I don’t know if it was a fake letter he used as a test or a real one.
Yes, I was a financial manager at a golf & country club.
I took two weeks’ vacation and when I came back there was a note taped to my computer that said, “Do Not Open.” Immediately, I knew because employees were being let go daily.
Minutes later, my desk phone rang, and the NEW GM wanted me in his office.
I was let go for no reason given other than “Don’t take it personally”.
I stayed in contact with my assistant, and she was given my job at $8 an hr. She also told me he brought in his wife, children and many other employees that he knew from a previous job at another club.
All total, 23 employees were let go and replaced!
Karma got him….he got caught stealing and he was fired!
Some years ago, when my special needs kids were younger, we went to a nearby restaurant to practice behavior, social skills, and new experiences. They won’t learn if they aren’t exposed.
I agreed they could have anything on the menu as long as they agreed to try their choice. My older two tried something off the adult menu, but my younger one was less confident and asked to try something from the kid’s menu. I wanted this a positive experience so I said sure. He ordered the personal pizza.
I did chuckle that we came to a restaurant for him to have pizza, but we agreed. It was a great time, and everyone enjoyed. Well, I didn’t enjoy it as much when I got the bill. His personal pizza cost almost as much as a regular pie from the pizza shop. Well, we came for the experience and everyone behaved well. But next time, I had an impulse about eating out, I asked the kids if they were ok with the pizza shop, and they were. The restaurant was ok, but you could relax in the pizza shop. Ok, I learned a lesson that day.
She hated the pool and resented my father for getting it.
Upon retirement, my father put an in-ground pool, complete with a deck and privacy fence, in his back yard. I’d been moved out for three years at that point, and I usually visited during the holidays, when the pool was closed. I never saw it in its full glory except in pictures. I saw a lot of pictures of my dad and sister and other people having great pool parties.
My mother was never in those pictures. She was the one taking the pictures, I assumed. But she later told me that she hated the pool. It cost half as much as the house it was attached to. It was the single biggest purchase my father ever made for himself.
He got about eight years of use from it. Then, his health got so bad that his doctors told him to quit going in it, lest he have a heart attack and drown in it. They drained the pool that winter, and it was never used again.
Then he died, and for the next six years, my mother had a giant man-made swamp in her backyard. Every time it rained, she had to pump the water out of the pool. It attracted frogs and snakes. It actually reduced the value of her home, because she lived in a poor neighborhood and no one who could afford to fix and maintain the pool would want to live in that neighborhood.
Finally, just last month, she got it filled in with dirt. It wasn’t cheap, of course, but now she can have what was there before: a garden.
To the US, a REASONABLE RELATIONSHIP will be when :-
Xi Jingping retires or resigns
China demilitarizes and commits to the same
China relinquishes the One China Policy wrt Taiwan and cedes the South China Sea to US Hegemony
China prepares to be Number Two for the considerable future
China purchases and takes back US Debt to $ 1.5–1.7 Trillion
Nothing else will satisfy them
Even if China makes these confessions, some Neocons won’t be satisfied
They want a War against China and to see China broken and lose considerable power and the CPC to be ousted and a US style democracy established
For China, a REASONABLE RELATIONSHIP MEANS :-
Each Nation understanding that their laws are meant to be followed in each nation
No protectionism
Not using Geopolitical issues in Economic problems
Fair Competition and the ‘May the best man win’ philosophy
Win Win Partnership so that the Global Economy can gain
Of course China also has Wolf Warriors who simultaneously aim to develop their independent supply chain and to oust US influence in the Global South
In the end, the businessmen in both nations want what China wants
The leadership in China wants peace
It is the US that is divided because of its unstable politicians, between Neocons and Neo Liberals and frankly too many homosexuals and transgenders to truly gauge what a diplomatic partnership means
So today all China is doing is BUYING TIME and waiting for US to collapse under it’s own weight
About a year ago we had a strange series of UPS and FedEx deliveries. They all had our correct address but the name was something like a cartoon character.. think something like Betty Poop.
The first box was a plant stand. My wife took it back to FedEx. Two days later we got the same delivery! In the middle there were a few more deliveries.. my wife was thinking it’s a scam where someone would come by and steal the freshly delivered boxes. But the stuff we were receiving weren’t that kind of stuff you’d expect in a scam.
We have an HOA with a complete list of homeowners. There was nobody with a name even close. Last box arrives.. it’s UPS and a big box of wallpaper. I send an email to the HOA mailing list, asking if anyone else was on the receiving end of same thing.
I get an immediate call from a woman on my street about 10 houses away. She’s screaming that we are stealing her packages and she’s a decorator and we made her miss her deadline! Apparently the funky name was her new business name! She wants me to deliver it all to her immediately or she’s calling the cops!
I ask her what her address was and she recites MY address.. I tell her to go outside and look at the number on her house. And that I’m putting all her boxes out in my driveway and she should come get it!
Ten minutes later there’s a man in an SUV picking up the boxes. No apology, no admission of fault. I still wouldn’t know the woman if I saw her today!
Penn and Teller had this show a few years back called “Bullshit”.
They would debunk TONS of stuff. It was very educational without being skewed like some of Michael Moore’s stuff is.
One show was debunking diet myths. They went through the history of sugar vs. fat and the evils of high fructose corn syrup, etc…
But one pivotal bit was when they brought a stagehand out from behind the set. He had apparently lost a ton of weight recently. They asked him how he managed to do it.
This epic hero looked straight into the camera and said, “I stopped eating so fucking much.”
When COVID hit, I knew I wouldn’t be going out as much. So I decided to change my diet very VERY slightly. I would take smaller scoops of rice and take the smaller potato during dinner. Without doing ANYTHING else, I lost about 4 pounds in about as many months. I wasn’t even trying.
Stay away from hidden sugar. EVERYTHING in the U.S. has hidden sugar in it. Look at the ingredients. Is something ends in “ose”, it’s sugar.
Exercise helps, too, of course, but not everyone can do it. One thing everyone can do, though is:
Stop eating so fucking much.
Project Looking Glass | The Time Warriors of the 2012 Apocalypse
I grew up outside of a small prairie town. One of my best friends grew up about 10 miles out of town, and in my teens I used to spend a lot of time at his house with him, his siblings and his parents. They had a built in kitchen table and wrap around bench. We used to sit at that table have a beer, and play a card game called “pass the ace” or sometimes “spoons” with all of our friends, his parents and siblings.
I moved away, travelled the world, and never settled down. I was about 40, still single, and I still planned on getting married and having kids someday.
When I was back in Canada, I decided to stop in and visit his parents. I knocked on the door, which was never locked, they yelled at me to come in, and there was a tableful of people playing pass the ace, and drinking beer. There was my friends mother, his younger brother, and 5 other young people playing pass the ace. I sat down, had a beer and got dealt in. I started to get caught up on all the news. It was exactly like old times, talking, drinking beer, playing cards, with a tableful of young adults, in their late teens, and early twenties. Exactly as if I hadn’t left. Then it dawned on me, I was playing cards with my friends two sons, his sisters son and daughter, and two second cousins. I was thinking I hadn’t changed in twenty years, and suddenly I was an old man playing cards, with the next generation, and they were old enough to legally drink.
That was the day, I realized I was no longer young, lets face it, I was old. I remember 20 years before, thinking how cool his parents and their friends were, for drinking and partying at their age, and now I was that old man sitting at the table.
I not only remember the day. I remember the minute it hit.
I’m not sure it was the most interesting, but its stuck in my mind for years. I was in a nice lakefront restaurant, inside a city, so it wasn’t a big lake, but a small man made lake.
At the table beside me was a couple and a realtor discussing putting his house on the market.
The man appeared to be about 10 years older than his wife. They had one of 5 houses on an island in the middle of the lake, accessable only by a bridge. Very exclusive. The housing market was down. The realtor had told the man what his house was assessed at. The husband said, he knew very well, what it was assessed at, but he wouldn’t sell it for anywhere near that price.
The realtor told him it would be on the market for a long time, if he listed it that high, and might never sell. The wife started to say something, and the husband actually turned to her, and said “This is mans business, we know what we are doing, let us talk, if we want to know how to decorate a room, we’ll ask you” I saw the realtor cringe, he didn’t want to be included in that kind of conversation.
The husband then told him, that the way to market it, was to sell it as one of only five houses on an island in the city, maybe the whole province. I understood his logic, but this was not a nice man.
Listing a house is something that a realtor really wants to do. Even if they don’t sell it themselves, as long as someone buys it, they make money. But, and this is a guess, it costs money to advertise the house, put it on the MLS system, and if its unrealistically high, and it never sells then they lose money. Then he has to deal with a high maintenance client, that makes him feel like he should wash his hands, after every meeting.
In any case, the realtor said that if he wanted to list the house for more than 30 percent over market value, he would have to find a different realtor. The husband was stunned, and couldn’t believe he was being turned down. The realtor paid for the lunch and left.
I don’t know if they ever talked again. But I didn’t feel clean myself, sitting at a table next to this guy, so I didn’t blame him.
There is a sure fire way to discover if a guy actually served in the British SAS, one that I witnessed myself. Let me explain. I had a friend who was an alcoholic. There was gossip in the local pubs that he was ex SAS. No matter how drunk he would get, he would always laugh and tell you not to be so stupid if you aver broached the subject with him. So how did we find out the truth? At his funeral. A serving member of the SAS in full uniform, accompanied by a bugler (Non SAS) attended and gave a eulogy that had us all gobsmacked. Not only was my friend ex SAS, but his exploits were totally jaw dropping heroic. We were told that whenever an ex member of the SAS dies. His funeral is always attended by a serving member of the regiment. RIP Alec.
I was waiting in line at the dollar store, lady in front of me had an infant in her arms, and had an older boy maybe 5 who was holding his little sister’s hand who was about 3 to prevent her from running off.
She was purchasing 2 tiny packs of diapers, a few minor food items, and a 1 liter Mountain Dew. She had enough for the total, but it was spread among 3 debit cards. I don’t know if the clerk was new, or a new computer system, but the clerk was having trouble ringing it up in 3 payments like she needed.
I was off work at the time, between jobs collecting unemployment, so I was struggling also, but I could easily afford the little bit she needed, so I just stepped up, and swiped my card to cover her groceries. She tried to take the Mountain Dew out (a luxury, not necessity) but I pointed out with 3 children she needed the caffeine even though 1 was very mature, and helpful.
On my way out the door to walk home (nice day, and not far, so I walked instead of driving) I heard her attempt to stay her van, it sounded like a dead battery and when it finally started, a horrible belt squealing sound told me a belt was destroyed, or very loose.
I told her I’m a hobby mechanic, I don’t live far, and I told her I’d gladly look at it if she would like since I don’t live far, so she offered me a ride and another thank you for paying for her groceries.
When she pulled in the driveway, she was reluctant to shut the vehicle off, I told her I have a battery booster or my car to get her started if needed.
Opened the hood, and someone had replaced the alternator recently, but had forgotten to tighten the swing arm assembly that holds pressure on the belt. It took as much time to grab the tools as it did to tighten it correctly. It started right up with the battery booster, and the squealing was gone.
I pointed out the belt was looking worn out, recommended she get it replaced but it’ll last for a few months at least, and told her I would gladly put the belt on whenever she needed free of charge if she showed up with the belt.
I’ve been in her shoes raising my 4 children as a single dad, so the little money for her groceries, and about 5 minutes of my time to tighten the alternator belt was no problem at all.
I’ve been wondering whether or not to answer this… The “wrong person” is my daughter (stepdaughter really,but I’m Daddy now and forever so that settles that) and the people doing the “picking a fight”were her ex boyfriend and his father.. I didn’t personally witness this because I was in Iraq at the time,but believe me I sure heard about it.
Daughter is tall and not a delicate flower even though she has all the requisite standard equipment to attract stares and suchlike, including a startling resemblance to Gal Gadot ,and I always emphasized to all my kids the importance of self confidence ,so she carries herself with a certain pride. She has Blackfeet blood along with Irish and Norwegian and who knows what else, girl has a temper too,what can I say..
Anyways,ex boyfriend and father spot her walking down the sidewalk one weekend night and follow her,asking her to get in and go for a cruise.. She says no,but they apparently don’t want to take no for an answer and pull ahead and stop, ex BF Gets out of the car and grabs her elbow and pulls her towards the car,she pulls away and he grabs her again, by this time she is almost in the door. I had taught my kids to avoid punching someone and use their elbows if the person was close enough, which ex BF certainly was unfortunately for his dumb ass, because Daughter proceeds to elbow him repeatedly in the face with backswing strikes on her way away from the car, dislocating ex BF‘S jaw and shattering his eye socket and breaking his nose, and naturally stopped any hostilities on his part, but ex BF’s dad was pushed by this time and ran around the car and accosted Daughter, catching a 50 yard field goal kick in his balls for his troubles..I taught my kids well.
During the Japanese War of Aggression Against China (1931-1945), about 200000, or even more women in China were lured and forced by the Japanese army to become “comfort women”. They suffered various unimaginable and unspeakable forms of abuse during the war, most of which were tortured to death at that time. Even if a few survivors survived by chance, they were left with scars and even lifelong disabilities.
At the comfort station, they subjected women to inhumane torture, even if they were pregnant, they still had to endure the torture of the Japanese army. Once they fell ill, they would be killed. The Japanese army did not leave a way for these women to survive, and they even set up a series of “rules and regulations” that made these captured women unable to die.
After Japan surrendered, they were afraid that their crimes would be exposed, and they brutally killed all comfort women before leaving. We cannot imagine how desperate they were at that moment. Fortunately, there are many women who have survived by chance. But for them, surviving may not be a kind of luck, because they have been living in darkness for the latter half of their lives, and their survival is evidence to prove the Japanese’s inhumanity. Because they survived with strength, we could only know about the various crimes committed by Japan.
There is a lengthy documentary in China called “Twenty Two”, that tells the story about China’s surviving “comfort women” during the Japanese invasion of China. The film was directed by Guo Ke, with 22 comfort women participating in the filming. It was released in mainland China on August 14, 2017. Unfortunately, on November 9, 2023, Li Meijin, the victim of comfort women, passed away at the age of 98. It means that all the surviving women in the documentary “Twenty Two” have passed away.
Until now, Japan has refused to admit their crimes. However, history is there, and it’s useless for them to sophistry. But even in textbooks, they briefly mentioned or directly overturned the truth about that period of history, to the extent that young Japanese people today do not understand what happened back then. They can cover up, but Chinese people will never forget that shameful past.
Alpha Dad Overcomes Childhood Hardships To Gain Wealth, Respect & A Wife That Treats Him Like A King
Damn is this good. And man do I love his grandmother. You rock!
When I moved to Thailand, I was incredibly lonely.
Not speaking the language, I lived for months in silence. I desperately wanted human connection. I just wanted to speak with someone.
My standard for becoming friends with someone dropped to having the ability to speak English. That’s all it took.
My new best friends became a 70 year old English man and his Thai wife. They would take me to markets on the weekends sometimes and talk with me if I ate dinner at their shop.
When I walked around the lake every day, I became friends with a 40 year old Thai man who used to work on cruise ships and could speak a decent amount of English to me.
A little 17 year old girl from Uruguay that I met at the gym became one of my good friends as well, she was studying abroad to learn Thai.
For the first time in my life, I had friends of all ages from all backgrounds.
My whole life, I’ve only been friends with people who were within a couple years of my own age. The only older men I talked to was my grandpa, I’d never called an older man a friend. I avoided high schoolers. Forty year old men and women were my parents age, I didn’t want to hang out with them.
But, let me tell you, life became so much richer as soon as I did. 70 year old men have lived a lot of life and can teach you a lot of things. 40 year old cruise ship waiters can tell you about a lot of life experiences that you’ve never had. 17 year old girls from high school can teach you about their way of life in Uruguay and supporting them can bring a lot of meaning to your life.
I think most people limit themselves to a bubble of friends who are the same age as them and in the same stage of life. I think that really limits yourself and the depth of relationships you can have.
I want to stay open to everyone for the rest of my life. It’s so much better this way.
Cockroaches have made their way into my life, against my will, and to great inconvenience. Three years ago, my girlfriend cried into the phone for me to come over, “Please…please…it is twitching on my kitchen floor.” She sounded like a hostage. We went back and forth for two minutes, with me insisting I couldn’t come to her house.
“I’m busy writing. Just get a paper towel and flush it,” I said, trying to calm her down. It didn’t work. She begged and begged until I finally said, “I’m doing this once.” And then drove 20 minutes — just to kill a roach.
After we moved into our new house together, my war with the roaches truly began. Exterminating them took significant research and numerous failed attempts. Mine is a common problem, and has made me question the value of these little critters.
We should be impressed that a creature has survived so much research and resources put into their extermination, and pesticides that are only making them stronger. A roach always finds a way and there is no “walling them out”. To the shock of NASA’s employees, one even snuck onboard Apollo 12. They’d moved mountains to decontaminate the spacecraft and ensure nothing snuck on. Employees were even in denial, swearing the roach couldn’t be there when astronauts said they’d seen one. Nevertheless, one did, and Apollo 12 took off for the moon while gaining the nickname, “The Roach Coach”.
Roaches are so nimble that researchers at Cornell University explored how just flexible they are. In a test of increasingly smaller crevices, they discovered roaches could squeeze through 3 millimeter spaces, despite their back being 12 millimeters high. Their exoskeleton is indeed hard and breakable, but exists in sections connected by soft tissue that molds and bends. And even while pressed down tight with weight on their back, they can still move fast and with little regard for gravity. When adjusting for size, they run the equivalent of a human running 200 mph. They can run when missing four legs. They can climb vertically while missing two feet. Scientists proved that roaches could withstand 900 times their own bodyweight without taking damage.
A roach is also an extreme gymnast, with a hallmark move, where it quickly flips from the edge of a table to the underside, dangling by one leg in an instant. It often leaves home owners wondering where the roach went. And so, a cockroach’s incredible athleticism, nimbleness, and durability, make it the perfect model for robotics technology, as we continue to explore new planets and depths on Earth. These new robots may even save lives.
A new era of inspiration
At John’s Hopkins University, Dr. Chen Li and Dr. Sean Gart filmed cockroaches running and then played video back in slow motion, studying how the legs and arms sync and propel it forward. They took notes, in awe, and looked at means of replicating these efficiencies with robots. A cockroach typically deals with vegetation, leaf and stick covered terrain. It is highly complex to navigate, but cockroaches do so with extreme ease and efficiency.
This matters because robotics is moving into a new phase, where robots are moving from indoor testing to outdoors, which is why the most clever animal navigators, including snakes, octopuses, and arachnids, have attracted non-hostile attention from scientists. One of the signature challenges robots face, is moving through unpredictable terrain and being durable enough for random physical impacts.
The study of cockroaches, in particular, has led to a new branch of durable and penetrating robots that can climb high objects, crash hard, and still get back up and resume climbing. Professor Robert J. Full, of UC Berkley, has spent his career researching the nature of evolution-inspired design, and even attached tiny jetpacks to the sides of roaches, to test how well they climb vertically while being randomly jetted to the side. It was easy work — for the roaches.
His lab designed a tiny cockroach inspired robot, that squeezes through cracks, and even looks a bit like a roach. It could be useful for descending through cracks in rubble to search for survivors. It stands 75 millimeters tall and can squeeze down to 35 millimeters, which is almost, but not quite as good as roaches. It also has similar pliable and molding body parts, that allow it to bend and move in extremely tight and uneven spaces. Dr. Full routinely meets with first responders at disaster sites, to learn more about their needs as he continues to innovate this robot.
The necessity of studying them
It is as the old Sun Tzu saying goes, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Cockroaches are a brilliant species, without actually being brilliant.
When I met with a pest control expert, his feedback wasn’t what I expected. He said, “Don’t just spray every inch of a room’s perimeter, they’ll know it’s a trap.” Then, he showed me how to put tiny drops along walls, and in the underside of cupboards and tiny cracks between furniture and sliding drawers. “Think of all the tiniest openings possible, and think like a roach — and you’ll know where to put the spray,” he said. It is this intrinsic cleverness and efficient navigating that could manifest robots of incredible caliber and utility in the coming decades.
What’s remarkable is that cockroaches don’t rely heavily on their nervous system for movement like other mammals. Even when thrown off balance, yanked around, blasted with wind, and spun like a top, their bodies auto adjust without thought. This matters for robotics because engineers are constantly programming and scripting robots to manage uneven terrain, and think about where their feet are going.
The insight from a cockroach is that, perhaps engineers shouldn’t try so hard with this programming method. They should rely on predictable mechanics, that have built-in means to traverse steep rocks and slippery surfaces. In short, make it more natural. This could impact medical technology and prosthetics, and help people who’ve had strokes or major injuries, develop more fluid gaits.
The animal kingdom is, in a sense, the only alien intelligence we deal with. Species are of ingenious design through an evolutionary arms race, and can move and adjust to their environment in ways we’d have never dreamed of. Which is evident when trying to step on a roach and you miss in the last moment, or even when you hit it, it manages to keep running. Who wouldn’t want this fortitude and evasiveness?
Perhaps what strikes me most, is that a bug with little cognitive function, has evolved to elude the smartest of all known species, and who is quite hostile to its presence. A future where nature-inspired robotics, combined with artificial intelligence, could save lives in search and rescue, improve exploration of new places and planets, and improve lives for the disabled. All thanks to our most ancient and enduring pest.
Mix crumbs together with butter or margarine thoroughly. Spread the mixture on sides and bottoms of a 9-inch springform pan to form a crust.
Take 2 ounces of fudge and spread on top of crumbs. Place 1/4 gallon of ice cream on top of fudge. Next, spread 2 ounces of fudge over ice cream then place 4 ounces of coconut. Place remaining ice cream on coconut and follow with 2 ounces fudge, 4 ounces almonds and 4 ounces coconut as done before. Top with whipped cream and remaining almonds and coconut. Place in deep freezer for 3 to 4 hours.
Notes
Roasted Coconut and Almonds: Place coconut on a metal sheet pan and put into oven at 350 degrees F for approximately 3 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Do the same for almonds but increase the time to 4 minutes.
When I was running from an abusive situation, i lived in a shelter on welfare. After my 2 month stay was up, i had to find a room to rent or they’d send me to a homeless shelter (the one i was in was for female abuse victims and their children if they have any. Since there was a high demand for rooms there, the stays were short). I ended up finding a room that was 500$ per month. On welfare as a single person with no kids, I got 709$ per month. I went to view the room and the landlord asked me why I wanted to live there. I explained the situation and he immediately said yes. I ended up moving in not even a week later. He let me live there for free with unlimited wifi and cable TV included for 8 months of my 13 month stay with him. After the 8 months I had a job and could pay the rent, but even then he said if I couldnt make the rent to let him know. Hed share his food from his fridge with me, give me cash money randomly with notes that said things like “buy whatever you want” and “have a nice day”, hed offer to give me rides to the store and job interviews, he offered to get me a bus pass (85$ for one that lasts a month), hed invite me to share BBQs with him, his wife and the other 4 tenants. He bought everyone Christmas gifts (a box of Ferrero Roche chocolates and a 50$ amazon gift card). He never asked for anything back. He became more like a friend to me than a landlord. He was amazing
My stepdad beat me when I was between 8 and 11. He would wait until I wasn’t looking, then sneak up behind me with a riding crop and hit me behind the knees. My mother would not come to my defense, no matter how hard I cried. I had no idea how to process this situation. I felt like my mother betrayed me and that the legal system was on her side since she got custody of us (my sister and me) when she divorced my dad. I had thoughts about suicide, but we only lived on the second floor, so jumping wasn’t an option. There were railroad tracks nearby, so I could have jumped in front of a train. Basically, it was the lowest point of my life… and I was 11. Somehow I found the strength to get past this and accepted that beatings were a thing now. I could make it through this. I had to just count on myself to deal with the pain and betrayal.
Eventually, he beat me so bad that when my dad came to pick us up for one of our weekends with him, I was bleeding from a ruptured eardrum. My dad almost lost it. He was going to kill my stepdad. I asked him to just take me to a doctor and deal with the rest of the shit later. He did. He also demanded custody. My mom accepted immediately. I knew then that I was a commodity to her. I’ve written her out of my life for the most part. We only talk on birthdays and Christmas.
My dad did his best and I think he really supported me up until I lost him to brain cancer in January 2016. He was my Yoda, my Gandalf, my friend. I miss him daily. He saved my life.
KFC – always popular for making rules and rolling it back badly. As a student in UK, I worked as a parttimer in KFC for two reasons 1) Money I get paid 2) Food I’m allowed to eat during breaks.
Staffs who work in KFC are allowed to take KFC food during lunch breaks. I know staffs who even took a bucket of chicken for lunch , but then they’re hard workers and smart workers – a pillar of support behind the enormous profit KFC makes per shift.
One fine day, the circle management decided to do some cost cutting – made a rule that staffs are allowed to take only limited food for lunch. A burger, fries and a cup of soft drink. Nothing more.
Rationing food for staffs — nobody likes it. The store manager would check how much food you take for lunch , particularly if he’s a bully , that’s annoying as hell.
Time for payback ….
We came with a plan.
If the store closes by 10 pm, we started to over cook by 9pm, pile up all the racks with cooked food.
Now the “kick in the butt” is back on the store manager – it’s his head ache to sell all the cooked food before closing or else the food is reported as “unsold” in records. This means he gets questioned for poor sales, losses his incentives and what not
He can’t ask us not to over cook because incase there’s customer flow and there’s food shortage – we can do nothing. That affects the rating
Above all , staff food was rationed as a means of cost cutting. Now the management has learnt -” you touch my food, now deal with the loss mate, let’s see how you make profit”.
Within a week , the rule of food rationing was rolled back. The management went in knees —” take as much food you want for lunch, but please don’t overcook at closing time.
The management has learnt a hard lesson — it’s not just the store manager but the staff who knows how to run a shift with better profits.
No food chain can make profits without staff cooperation
This one didn’t necessarily change how I viewed my mom but it sure gave me a good (but bittersweet) laugh.
My mom was a hoarder. Her home was filled with junk from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. She just couldn’t bear to get rid of anything because she thought she might “need” it someday. The fact that she couldn’t find it if she did need it was lost on her.
Anyhoo, the day came when we had to move mom into a care home. My sister and I sat mom in a cleared corner of a couch and let her “help” by telling us “yay or nay” on keeping certain things. In the background, our team was hauling soooo much crap out into a bin without her knowing. We’d bring random boxes and let mom “sort” through them to keep her occupied. One or the other of us would sit with her and talk while the others worked. In the end, we actually kept only enough clothes and books and personal items to fit in the care home room we’d lined up for her.
During the course of the day we noticed that mom had acquired a VERY large number of nail clippers over the years. Being tiny items that you need fairly often, she was constantly leaving them here or there and losing them. The people helping would laugh and say “found another one!” every time they spotted one. In the end we found about 100 nail clippers! (We also found a mini fridge that had been buried in the back, filled with sickeningly, gaggingly, gross, rotten, mouldy food!)
Sometimes you can laugh and feel pain at the same time, I guess. It was a time of bonding for my sister and I. Mom had to give her beloved dog Spike to a friend and move away from the town that had been her home for decades. It was very painful for all of us but in a way it was also life-affirming if that makes sense.
I bought a large framed picture of James Butler Hickock or Wild Bill. I loved the photo.
I hung the picture in my sunroom right beside the back door. It was like he was looking right at me and his eyes followed me everywhere I went.
I read quite a few books about this man and he led a very interesting life as a soldier, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, showman, and actor.
We even visited Deadwood, South Dakota where he lived the last years of his life before being killed at a card game he was playing in 1876, the same year Custer died. We went to the saloon where he was shot and visited his grave on Mt. Moriah, and there beside him was the grave of Calamity Jane who was buried when she died in 1903.
So at first, every morning I walked out that door, I’d say, “Morning Bill,” and everytime I walked in that door at night, I’d say, “Night Bill.” All in fun.
Poor old Bill was probably lonely out there as he guarded the house. Was probably also cold at times. But those steely eyes would sure look at me. Sometimes he looked sad, sometimes amused like he had the slightest smile on his face. He probably enjoyed my pipe or cigar smoke that floated around the room while I had a few puffs. But I feel he looks forward to my good mornings and good nights, and I feel that if I forget to say those things to him, well, might not bode well. Superstitious I guess.
So every morning and every night, I talk to Bill and I think it’s okay. Weird, but okay.
Every American should seriously think about this. Every empire that come and gone since time in memorial, went because of over intervention, over interference and over reaching to the point that it could no longer sustain itself. And they self implode and civil war is inevitable.
The U.S. is not getting there, it is indeed there now and almost beyond redemption. Seriously, Americans must jointly and severally destroy the U.S. military industrial complex before it destroy all of you. They are the single most important reason that the US is drag into conflicts after conflicts. Due to them, your real standard of living has not grown since 1960! Your great grand parents have a better standard of living compared to you!
Please think seriously about your debts. Just 10 years ago your debt was a mere USD10 trillion today it is USD34 trillion precisely 340% increase in a decade. At the rate you are going by 2034 the U.S. debts will be USD100 trillion at least! Just paying interest alone at 5% is USD5 trillion dollars per annum.
Seriously, don’t let anyone fool you! 5 trillion is so humongous your nation will never be able to do anything else. Today you can argue that the U.S. infrastructure is lying dilapidated, your homeless has reached a million, a third of Americans are in debt and can’t afford healthcare and college education. It can only afford one and only one thing. Wage more wars! Wars enriched 0.01% of Americans! Your politicians and the deep state!
China is a million times more healthier than the U.S. that is your problem right here! China’s saving is so colossal it save a U.K GDP a year. China’s debts is USD 15 trillion and almost 100% of it is investment that grows China’s capacity! Build its state or art technology and infrastructure, graduate STEM engineers the size of the entire US STEM experts each year!
This means China grow its capacity phenomenally while the US fall back every year due to your liabilities. Let me be brutally honest, you don’t stand a chance against China! But you may save the US that still remain a nation and a strong 2nd largest economy for 50 years till India catches up! Most importantly your citizens get back its prosperity and avoid total collapse! Do it before it is too late. Get rid of the neocons, eradicate the deep state, get ride of NRA and CIA.
China cannot be stop, the best you can do is be strong and wealthy again.
Top Gun with a Cat
Enjoy this FUN short video. I hope it makes your day. I know that it did mine!
First of all, the great and grand snow squalls are called ”Northeasterner’s”( also called “nor’easter“). A weather cell hovers over the Atlantic ocean, and then migrates to Boston… then then unloads a shit-load of snow on everyone.
It is truly amazing. My last experience was in 1 April around 1997. Eight feet of snow in four hours.
Well, of course, the roads are impossible.
But…
If you have a snowplow on your truck… wait, because the local government will PAY YOU GOOD MONEY to clear out specific streets and roads. No shit.
It’s a great program, and works wonderfully.
Other states, such as Indiana and Pennsylvania should really give this system a try. Hint Hint.
Different places… with different laws and policies. Isn’t life grand? That’s why travel is important.
I have an amusing anecdote involving Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy from 1943–1945.
The imposing naval figure above was a daring submarine commander in World War One. In the lattermost stage of his career he was responsible for fleets of warships, hundreds of thousands of personnel, and the mightiest war-fighting vessels of his nation. He reached the height of naval command and was covered in honors. He was even briefly Head of State.
But with a steep rise came an equally steep fall. After Germany’s surrender in 1945, he was in a Allied prison cell, awaiting trial at Nuremberg. To while away the time, one of Admiral Friedeburg’s adjutants taught him and his fellow prisoners how to play the game Battleship.
Of course, the game requires an opponent. Who else did he find to play against him but his fellow Commander-in-Chief, Hermann Göring. Those who once directed wars and decided the fates of nations, now directed fantasy fleets across pads of paper. Göring tried to sink Dönitz’s warships with as much gusto as if he was directing his Luftwaffe’s bombers against them personally, and he did not like to lose. Once the Admiral protested,
“Hermann’s cheating! If he doesn’t like where my shells are falling, he marks them in on different squares!”
You read that right: a Grand Admiral was reduced to playing Battleship, sparring against none other than Hermann Göring, who was a dirty cheater. If that’s not hilarious yet completely in character for both of them, I don’t know what is!
In the right way
CIA in China
The CIA I mean the NED is hiring and paying shot wages. No wonder we run circles around them.
But would you whore off your soul for such a pitiful amount?
main qimg a028c7a1bc221d4e96b3777863364131
She fucked up
Creole Andouille and Shrimp Jambalaya
This jambalaya recipe will become an extremely popular dish with family and friends because it’s filled with tasty sausage, boneless chicken thighs, shrimp, fresh vegetables and rice…let’s be honest…it screams comfort food!
BRICS is an economic organization, and if you care about human rights, you should be upset at many countries which are allies of the west.
Your thinking is very muddled, and it is apparent that you let just one criteria be the judge of your economic decisions, when economics and politics are completely separate issues. The world is changing and it is important to be flexible.
At the prestigious “AAAA” firm, Mr. Stevens was known for his level-headed approach and patience. As the Head of Department, he’d mentored many and had rarely ever lost his temper. But there was one incident that everyone in the office remembered.
A young intern named Jake had recently joined the team. Ambitious and eager, he sometimes came across as overconfident. One day, during a team meeting, a colleague, Mrs. Ramirez, proposed an idea she’d been working on for months. Instead of providing constructive feedback, Jake laughed dismissively and said, “Do you really think that old-school idea would work? Maybe it’s time you retired and made way for the new generation.”
A hush fell over the room. Mrs. Ramirez, a veteran with 20 years at the company and revered for her innovations, looked hurt but stayed silent.
Mr. Stevens, usually so composed, turned to Jake, his face stern. “In this company, we value respect as much as we value innovation. If you cannot provide the former, you have no place here, regardless of your skills or ideas.” By the end of the day, Jake’s internship was terminated.
It became a tale that echoed in the corridors, not as a threat but as a reminder: talent without humility means nothing.
Before I moved to the U.S.; I worked for my boss for 5 years. He was a big-ish deal of my company and I worked under his direct supervision.
It was a very normal thing when I picked my boss up from one vendor’s office at 11.30am to another vendor’s office for another meeting at 1.00pm. He used to ask me to get him a sandwich and a coffee so he could eat in the car while listening to my briefing about what’s the next meeting about. He could just tell me, ‘My flight arrived at 5.30pm Thursday, and I want to fly back Friday evening. I want to meet Mr.X for dinner’ and I would contact Mr.X’s office, try to arrange the meeting, make the reservation for dinner, and jot down a list of things Mr.X might want to discuss and the status of all ongoing matters for him. I also always carried an extra box of my boss’s name card, just in case he ever forgot and needed a backup.
I was hired to manage a computerized lottery system nationwide (43 cities). None of the above was in my job description. Yet, I did them gladly, just because I could, and I felt like I did make his life a little bit easier.
When I told him I would move to the U.S shortly, he offered me three extra months of pay added into the last paycheck, so I could have a little ‘runway’ to settle things down in a new country. At my farewell party with the team, he told me, ‘You’re not just one employee to me, you’re my brother-in-arms’.
While I totally understand others’ reasons for not wanting to be bothered to ‘make me a coffee’; I still think it won’t hurt if I go a bit further in terms of doing things for others.
When me and my husband split up my landlady decided to evict me and my son because she wanted to be able to rent the house for more money. We’d lived there for 10 years and even spent money out of our own pocket for small repairs. Our rent was only $400 a month. Went back a year later. The house is falling apart and is sitting empty. There was a workers permit laying on the front porch. It was really faded and I could make out it was for electrical work. I tried the front door and it was unlocked. 2 of the rooms looked like they had been half painted. You could tell no one had been in there for quite some time. The back porch had completely fallen apart. I guess she realized it was going to cost her more than she was willing to spend to get this old farm house up to the standard to rent for $1200. And now she is bringing in no income for the house. Bet she’s regretting kicking us out now.
Fair doesn’t factor in the U.S. vocabulary list at all. A nation who is the only nuclear bomb user don’t know the word fairness. A nation that used Agent Orange and Nepalm fire bombs on Vietnamese civilians don’t know fair. A nation build on the backs of ten of millions of African slaves never knew fair. An nation that become a nation after genociding and carrying out biological weapons of western influenza on its natives certainly don’t know fair.
Stop mixing up US and fairness. It is like oil and water. It will never mix.
A new gal started in my dept. at work and she seemed really nice. We both started early so began talking over coffee before the others straggled in. After a couple of weeks though, I saw that the humor I had admired so much at first was really a thinly disguised nastiness. She would make fun of her handicapped husband, and then laugh raucously. Everyone else was joining in, but I recognized that what she was putting forth were her true feelings disguised as humor.
Some of the things she joked about was hiding her spouse’s wheelchair before she left for work, and then watching him on the cameras she had placed around the house while she was at work. (The man was blind and unable to walk, yet she thought it was so hilarious.) The saddest part was that the supervisors and bosses, as well as the co-workers all thought it was hilarious, too. They laughed even more when she showed them the videos she had recorded of his struggles.
I transferred out of that department as quickly as I could after that. I couldn’t stand to work with people who thought being a bully was funny.
I play flute, and years ago I spent four months busking around Europe. I had three encounters with police:
The Netherlands. Playing in Amsterdam, a mounted cop pinned me up against the wall of a building with his horse. The horse stepped on my flute case (open on the ground, full of coins) and broke it. The cop told me this was illegal and scared me to death; though I wasn’t hurt. After he left, while I was picking coins and stuff off the ground, some older men came out of the pub across the street. They helped me get everything and invited me into the pub to play in there, where they asked if I could play some Frank Sinatra for them (on the flute?) I did my best, and they were very generous.
Switzerland. I was playing in a square in Geneva, making a ton of money. Suddenly some cops pull up to me in a van and tell me to get inside. My travel companion was having coffee nearby and she came running over. The cops explained that this wasn’t allowed in Geneva, drove us to the outskirts of the city, and dropped us off. Message received.
Sweden. Playing in a square in Stockholm, a uniformed cop came over and listened while I ran through a movement from a Bach sonata. (First played straight and then the Jethro Tull version, part of my act.) When I stopped, he told me that that was beautiful but that sadly, it wasn’t legal in Stockholm. Then he put some kronor in my (new) flute case and wandered off.
For years, I often heard women complaining about the dating scene, and men who didn’t “Do what they say they were going to do.”
It struck a chord with me as I went through my 20s, and grew increasingly impatient with flaky friends and people who were constantly, and egregiously late to things.
I realized that the people who were the flakiest, and least likely to honor their word, were also the people who had far more problems in their life. Their careers were stagnating. Their relationships were turbulent and problematic.
Their lack of commitment to their word correlated to a bunch of other character flaws, for which they were paying a steep price.
I have since kept a strong radar pinging for people who fail to follow through on even tiny commitments.
My advice to you — and one that I’ve painfully followed — take a knightly approach to your word. This means saying no to things you aren’t sure you can follow through on.
If you explain yourself and say, “I don’t want to make a commitment I am not sure I can honor.”
They’ll usually understand and appreciate it.
This is especially true in dating. Women hate, hate flakey dudes.
My home burned down in 2012, end of January. Lost everything, including all my pets. Lived in a motel for 8 days, 5 of which my aunt gave me money for. My boss and cousin helped me find housing in a highrise, primarily seniors. Snoopy seniors.
I was sitting on my floor on blankets since I had no furniture. But I did have a TV and free basic channels from the building’s antenna. I could hear whispering in the hallway, right by my door. “Why’s she sitting in the floor? Why doesn’t she have furniture. Maybe she got out of rehab.” Typical gossipy old ladies. The maintenance guy hadn’t replaced my peepholes in the door and they were looking through the holes. I yanked that door open so fast one almost toppled over her walker. Told them I was burned out, was a working woman who drove many of them to doctors and church. I was not putting up with their shit. They took off down the hall. I put duct tape over the holes, which I hadn’t thought anyone would be rude enough to look through. Notified the office the next day. Both ladies got a letter about respecting privacy. They were on camera, peeking into my place.
Here we see an image from in interview in which actress Amber Heard “fights back tears” after telling about the horrific domestic abuse she claims to have suffered at the hands of her former husband Johnny Depp. She’s sad. She’s pitiful. She’s a brave victim, telling her story… only she isn’t. She’s bullshitting.
The truth is, Amber Heard has a history of domestic abuse. As in, committing it. Before Depp she primarily dated women, and she has a tendency of flying off the handle with them physically. Domestic violence between women, like female partners beating up female partners, is historically massively underreported. So is violence against men, by women. There’s shame, and there’s stigma involved.
She was arrested for it, before. Got into a physical altercation with an ex-girlfriend. Hit her, in public, in an airport.
And the case was dropped. And she got away with it. Because she’s a woman. A pretty woman. Better yet, a pretty rich woman. All the nasty stories about Amber Heard were carefully buried for years. Until the moment her then-husband, Johnny Depp, had enough and defended himself physically.
He then became “the bad guy”. The man with many wild and rocky relationships, who in spite of his substance abuse had never, ever been accused of abusing any of his partners… was accused by the woman who had a history of abuse. And yet she was believed, by default. Why? Because she was a woman.
That’s the most blatant double standard I’ve witnessed in recent years — you can literally be a woman with a history of abuseand beat up your husband, slap him, call him names, cut off his finger and defecate on his bed (Heard did all these things to Depp!) and the MINUTE he defends himself physically? He’s labeled a ‘wife beater’ and all-but blacklisted from Hollywood.
As a Christian and a lover of Chinese culture and history, I have to tell you that there is so much wrong with the premise of this question that it’s scary.
True Christianity (not the “new evangelical movement” we see in America) is strictly Bible based. Bible based Christianity is not political. Bible based Christianity isn’t interested in overthrowing governments. Bible based Christianity won’t send you on crusades to conquer nations and set up a state church.
Understand that I’m not just talking out of my butt like most US politicians and popular evangelists. I actually devoted years of my life earning a degree in theology. I have studied the history of the Christian missionary movement. I have studied the history of Christianity from the New Testament down to modern day. I have researched and written books on it. I’m not trying to brag but I give my credentials to explain that I know of what I speak.
The very attitude behind this question is why Christianity finds itself unwelcome in some countries; because the government fears that that in allowing Christianity that they are importing a Trojan horse of imperialism. This very line of thought is what got Christians killed in China’s Boxer Rebellion. Some of those killed did seek to claim parts of China for their country. Just like the political cartoon of the day, nations gathered around China as if China were a pie to be sliced up in pieces. Is it any wonder that China fought against it?
However, some true Christians suffered in China during that time. I want to tell you about one of them. His name was Hudson Taylor. Born in 1832, he was English and had studied medicine at The Royal College of Surgeons. He became a Christian at the age of 17 and committed to go to China as a missionary. But not just any missionary.
At this time in his life he began studying Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Mandarin. He earned a degree from the Royal College of Surgeons, and he studied the ways of Christian missions of that time period. He arrived in Shanghai in 1853.
He was not well received to start with. And had arrived during Civil War. He wondered what he could do to better fit into life in China. You see, he wasn’t there to convert Chinese people to English ways. He wasn’t interested in making them more like the West. He didn’t want to destroy Chinese culture.
In fact, he chose to embrace Chinese culture. He began dressing as a Chinese man. He shaved his head and grew a queue, as was the hairstyle of the Qing Dynasty. He began living among the Chinese people instead of at the Christian missions. He learned Mandarin, Cantonese, Chaozhou, Shanghaineese, and dialects of the Wu and Ningbo. He even learned them well enough to give them a New Testament in their language.
The established English missionaries were horrified. It was considered improper for him to live this way. They very nearly stopped his marriage because of this. They thought him a fool, but he didn’t care. He renounced the ways of the English and said that if he had a thousand lives he would give them all to China.
He traveled to remote villages and gave them free medical care and free schooling. And yes, he preached the gospel. But he genuinely loved China and the people of China. He and his wife adopted orphaned Chinese children and raised them with their own children. He buried many of his children and his first wife in China, but that didn’t stop him.
As time passed, the people that he ministered to came to love and respect him and his family, as well as those who came to work with him. He would only allow missionaries who were serious about giving their lives to China. To follow Hudson Taylor, you had to renounce English ways and live as the Chinese lived. In dress, language, and custom. He was turning the English Chinese, rather than making the Chinese English.
His living children grew up and his daughters married in China, living among the Chinese all their days. Hudson Taylor remarried, and continued there. He survived the Boxer Rebellion, probably in part because he genuinely loved China, but many of his followers were killed—58 missionaries and 21 children. He refused to accept money from the government as reparation, though other Englishmen criticized him for this, but he maintained he had not come to take from China but instead, to give.
His health caused him to leave China for a time, where his second wife died in Switzerland. He returned to China again, in 1905. He died in Changsha, Hunan Provence and was buried with his first wife.
Hudson Taylor was the right kind of Christian missionary. He had no use for politics, and no desire to please the English. He immersed himself in the culture and way of life of the Chinese people. He preached Christ, yes, but he lived as a Chinese. He gave them hospitals, schools, and churches, but he did it while living among the people that he loved.
I am convinced that Christians today would find themselves better received if they’d leave politics and government and American ways out of mission work, and focus on loving the people of their chosen mission field. God didn’t call Christians to make converts to Westernization. God could care less about Western ways.
God isn’t interested in overthrowing governments or turning China into a democracy. Show me in the Bible where God said to establish democratic governments. Chapter and verse, please. God doesn’t care about your democracy. He said to obey government as long as it didn’t command you to go against the Bible. In the event that government and Bible clashes, God was ok with civil disobedience in that area, but that didn’t mean topple the government. You want to win people to Christ? Then stop trying to make them like you.
My Dad and his brother started a feud when they were in their early 30’s and kept it going until they both died fifty years later. No, I tell a lie. My uncle forbade my Dad from coming to his funeral, so he carried the feud on even after his death.
The irony is that neither could explain what the feud was about, so I am convinced that it was a trivial matter that just grew, and neither of these two headstrong men could let it drop because that would be to admit that their years of feuding had been a silly waste. In a sense, the longer it went on, the stronger the feud became even as the memory of the cause became weaker.
It hasn’t been a total waste though. My cousin and I are very close. It’s united us. It has also acted as a lesson to the extended family, a kind of example of how not to behave.
The brothers were both child refugees from the Nazis and had very difficult childhoods. They were both angry young men, and perhaps that explains their decades of refusing to go to family events if the other was going, the forbidding of the other’s name to be mentioned, etc. I don’t want to get into amateur psychotherapy except to say they were both nuts.
I have an employee that I assigned to a huge deal. He not only made it. He absolutely killed it. He did far better than my wildest expectations. I called him into my office and told him to contact our travel people and to book a ten day cruise (all expenses) to anywhere he and his wife wanted to go. He was speechless and then didn’t understand how he earned it. I explained to him that his contribution to the company was invaluable. Prior to the cruise he was a Departmental Manager. On the day he returned he was Named a Vice President. I always reward high performance and talent. The cruise didn’t cost me a thing. He’s repaid the cost many times over. Did I have to do that? No, but it seemed like the right thing to do.
What is the USA gonna do now?
China’s SMIC and Huawei have surged ahead in chip technology, defying the U.S. restrictions aimed at curbing their technological advancements, Burn J. Lin, a former TSMC vice president, told Bloomberg in a rare interview. He believes ASML lithography tools that SMIC already owns will allow the company to advance to a 5nm-class fabrication process.
“It is just not possible for the US to completely prevent China from improving its chip technology,” Lin told Bloomberg.
Despite the U.S. imposing technological constraints via sanctions, SMIC has showcased notable resilience and ingenuity by developing its 2nd generation 7nm-class fabrication process. It also achieved yields high enough for Huawei to make plans to supply 70 million smartphones. SMIC allegedly used ASML’s Twinscan NXT:2000i litho tool, which is a deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography scanner that can produce chips on 7nm and 5 nm class process technologies. Exports of this tool to China were curbedby the Dutch government earlier this year.
The resolution that the Twinscan NXT:2000i features (≤38nm) is good enough for 7nm-class single-patterning lithography mass production. However, when it comes to 5nm-class process technologies, a finer resolution is required. To produce it, chipmakers can use double, triple, or even quadruple patterning, a lithographic technique that involves splitting a complex pattern into several simpler patterns, which are printed sequentially to achieve higher precision and detail in semiconductor manufacturing. Usage of multi-patterning is a tricky process that affects yields, and the amount of chips per wafer that can be used, so typically its usage is limited due to economic reasons.
But being limited to tools that it already owns, SMIC has no other option but to use multi-patterning for finer resolutions. Apparently, it has managed to achieve yields acceptable to Huawei. As a result, one can ask whether the U.S. government’s curbs against China’s semiconductor sector work.
“What the US really should do is to focus on maintaining its chip design leadership instead of trying to limit China’s progress, which is futile as China is adopting a whole nation strategy to boost its chip industry, and hurting the global economy,” former-TSMC R&D VP Lin is reported to have said.
Interestingly, the U.S. sanctions seem to have inadvertently opened the doors of opportunity for SMIC. The restrictions imposed on TSMC, barring it from transacting with certain Chinese entities, have allowed SMIC to step in and capitalize on substantial orders. This shift has facilitated SMIC’s enhancement of its manufacturing techniques and technological capabilities.
The really harsh reality…
Looks what mothers actions (when she was single) did to her 13 year old boy years later.
Visiting Banff National Park, touring motorists left their parked vehicles to take photos of the cute Black Bears and their cubs. One stopped and before long a dozen more. The bears were grazing on a meadow about 100 metres (300 feet) from the road. Some brave individuals without telephoto lenses tried to get up closer for a good picture. A mama bear sensing a threat to her cubs could reach those touring idiots in 6 seconds, not even enough time to open the car door and get in, let alone run the distance back to their car. It took Park Rangers about 5 minutes to notice the “bear jam”, and they were screaming at everyone to get back in their cars and disperse the traffic jam.
I discovered that driving down any infrequently used Canadian wilderness road, when descending a slope, if the engine was turned off to coast down, half a dozen heads popped up to see why the sound had ceased. It surprised me that so many bears were hiding in the growth on the sides of roads, and how close they were. I would not recommend hitch-hiking. Another time just as I was passing, a huge timber wolf appeared and just stood there looking at me as I drove past. The paws were bigger than my hand, and in the rear view mirror I could see he was still looking at me for some time.
Basically Australia deserves it. Not Aussies. Many are smart good people. They lose a meal a day because your racist PM Scott Morrison prefer to have alliance with Mike Pompeo and confirm that Australia is indeed a China hater and Chinese hater. You harvest what you sow! Aussies promptly kicked him out of office. But the damage is done.
Not only China. But Asian especially South East Asian lost trust and faith in Australia. It sees them as a U.S. stooge and a colonial minded nation thinking that it is ordained by god to be white man run roughshod over coloured people. We Asians has a jolt of awareness that Australia don’t want to be part of and partner to Asia. It wants to be a U.S. dog nation.
Asia don’t want and don’t need a U.S. assistant sheriff! So Australia need some soul searching if it wants to be a real partner or a colonial outpost. Asia is watching.
HiI was working as a security guard outside a 24:-hour McDonald’s in Australia around 2am. I was about 21 and a small-framed woman working alone and it was a bit of a rough area so I had to be careful.
A group of 5 or 6 teenager boys turned up and were standing around in the car park trying to pick fights with any guy who looked at them sideways. Mostly men were ignoring them but they were getting bolder and I was beginning to think I was going to have to call the police before things escalated.
Just at that moment a small thin guy exited the building. Everything about him said scared. He held the food bag in front of him like a shield, he was looking at his feet and walking fast trying to avoid any conflict with the boys.
Predictably one of the loudest lads zeroed in on him as an easy target to hassle and impress his friends. He runs over with the usual, “What are you looking at? Are you looking for trouble?” bullshit and the small man just sped up. I started to walk over to rescue him, thinking he was about to be beaten up by the group if they were allowed to proceed.
The guy ignored all provocation until the boy laid a hand on him. I have never seen anyone move so fast. The man dropped the bag grabbed the kid by the hair and pulled him backwards off his feet in a move he had clearly used before. He proceeded to punch the boy in the face 4 or 5 times til the kid was out on his feet.
There was a moment of shocked silence then the guy gently put the kid down and picked up his meal. He suddenly saw me standing there in uniform completely frozen in shock. The guy had yanked the kid’s head back so hard there were clumps of his hair on the ground.
As soon as he saw me the guy was like a lost kid. He said nearly in tears, “He started it. I just wanted to go home and have my dinner.” I just nodded and said, “OK off you go” because I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop him, and he drove away.
The kid suddenly came round, with a split lip, bloody nose, and a few loose teeth I would think. He was a bit dazed and I asked him if he needed an ambulance or the cops. He said no so I told him and his mates to piss off.
I have never seen a beat-down like that. From scared little guy to full psycho and back again in less than a minute. The guy must have been on parole or something because he wanted no piece of that fight before or after.
As for the kids, they learned an important lesson about picking fights with people you don’t know. Sometimes the little guy is not the easy bet. Sometimes people avoid fighting for your protection rather than theirs.
As my grandfather used to say, “Beware the wrath of the quiet man.”
Updated Response: thanks to everyone who up voted. When the incident occurred I was only 21 and very unsure of how to respond. Unfortunately the law in Australia is very clear. Security guards have no rights to remove people from anywhere and calling the police is often the worst response. While many people have criticised my actions that’s OK. The story illustrates as much as anything the lack of support guards have.
For those who could have done better, this reminds me of another of my Grandfathers sayings, “Everyone knows how to tame the mad bull, except the man who owns him.”
Name a time when people with guns have ever stopped US government overreach. Want to know a secret? Most people prefer tyranny, as long as they aren’t the ones being tyrannized.
People with guns didn’t stop government racial segregation and Jim Crow. They cheered.
People with guns didn’t stop the mass interment of Japanese citizens in concentration camps. They cheered.
People with guns didn’t stop the police or government from lynching Black men. They cheered.
People with guns didn’t stop the police or government from persecuting gay men and lesbians. They cheered.
See, normal people know your felusional Rambo fantasies about “mY gUn WiLl StOp ThE gOvErNmEnT fRoM tYrRaNy AnD iNjUsTiCe” is a self-serving lie. No it won’t. You lot line up on the streets and celebrate government tyranny and injystice, as long as it hurts people you hate.
Gimme a break. You need guns to stop government oppression…ah HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Riiiiight. Sure you do.
It’s been a couple of years now but this happened with a friendship that began in the early 90’s so that’s a long time. We had a slight falling out and it was over something I said, but her response to it changed me feelings of close friendship with her. I didn’t mind that it made her made or maybe offended her but she said friendship altering things that were beyond what the issue was. There was damage and issues that had evidently occurred that I just wasn’t aware of. I wish she had talked to me about whatever was going on with her towards me but, she didn’t. So when the opportunity arose she gave me more than I was ready for. It was a deal breaker for me and I think that, that is what she wanted. This may sound odd…….I miss her because we enjoyed a lot of things together but I’m okay with it at the same time.
Hi, Joseph Mcmanus. Thanks for the very interesting question.
I’m Chinese and I spent a handful of years living in the States.
During my time stateside, I paid rent to my landlords. I paid school tuition fees to the school I was attending. I paid all living expenses out of my own pocket.
At no time during my handful of years in the States did I have to pay the Chinese government for living in the US.
Unless, as Frosty Shoat mentioned in their answer, you’re counting the cost of the passport as an expense for living in the US. But I don’t see how that is an expense exclusive to Chinese alone.
I saw a Facebook post from an acquaintance of the hysterical variety. “Can anyone help me move on Tuesday? I’m being kicked out of my place. “
Being the guy with a truck, and having that afternoon free, I said I would meet her at 3 and help move. So day of, I’m there at the appointed time and she’s nowhere to be found. The owner of the house is there and there’s a pile of stuff outside. I start hauling the stuff up to the Uhaul which fortunately is there and talking with the owner. Turns out my acquaintance is being kicked out because she hasn’t paid rent in 10 months and has left the landlord (her ex-sister in law) about $35,000 in the hole. They are going to have to sell the place to recover the money. She shows me around the place. It’s a bit of a mess but an absolutely lovely home. Quiet neighborhood but close to downtown Honolulu, views, parking. All the things.
I tell her that I love the place and before she talks to anybody else or lists it, to let us make an offer. My acquaintance shows up an hour and a half late, after the bulk of the work is already done. I finish helping her move, with a lot less sympathy now.
Six months later, after a lot of talking and negotiating and inspecting, we moved into the beautiful house! And because we negotiated directly we saved about $45,000 in realtors fees.
A crime watch group in Homestead, Florida held a neighborhood crime watch.
This meeting took place outside on a back patio. The Chief of Police was meeting with all the participants and team members.
He was outlining all of the things to be on the look out for. He was going down the list of agenda items related to criminal activity.
As he was talking, they heard a loud engine sound. The BZZZZZZ of an airplane motor.
It got louder and louder.
Then.
vvvVVVVVVROOOOOOM
It streaks by.
And
<boom>
Something hits the ground.
Everyone is startled. Then they see a big box right next to them.
The officer goes to check it out.
What is in it?
Seventy-five pounds of cocaine.
The plane that had been flying overhead was on the run from Customs, and it was dumping its cocaine so as not to be caught when they landed.
Let me restate that – a box of cocaine fell on top of a crimewatch meeting.
The plane dumped its last box shortly after that before they landed and were arrested. (Source: What’s that falling from the Florida sky. It could be pork, poop — or worse. Miami Herald. Cohen, Howard)
Luckily that last box of cocaine only hit a church.
I wrote a letter to my manager outlining his misbehaviours. I gave a copy to every one of his staff. In due course I was in the state managers office with the personnel manager there too.
The state manager told me he was going to take disciplinary action against me. I looked from one to the other and said:
I don’t often beg, but I am going to beg this time. I’m begging you. Please take disciplinary action against me.
They looked at each other and there was silence for about ten seconds.
Then I said:
You’re not going to do it are you?
And quietly the state manager said “No”.
I told them the meeting was over and went back to work.
That was not the end of the issue, but there were no consequences against me.
My dad … brought us up to NEVER LIE so when he blatantly lied to the State Trooper standing in the family kitchen one early afternoon I was dumbfounded!
My aunt (dads younger and only sister) married an abusive drug addict/alcoholic child abuser (his own kids).
My aunt had a black eye and lots of other injuries, new and old but she told of her husband having an abusive fit and while beating her he grabbed their three year old son and threw him so hard he went through the plaster and lathe board leaving his whole body as a marker to how hard he was thrown. My aunt called the police eventually (this was mid 1970’s) but her husband threatened if she told them what happened he’d kill the children (1 boy 3, and a girl 1.). She didn’t press charges because she knew he had guns and knew how violent he was.
About three days later two State troopers were in our driveway. They asked my dad if he owned a handgun. They also knew what had happened to my aunt and her little boy (small community).
My dad wanted to kill her husband but knew he wasn’t worth it. So, my dad’s younger brother obtained a gun I think it was a .45 handgun. My dad climbed in the window of his sisters house after his brother dropped him off … and he waited. The abusive husband/father came home, unlocked the door and was going about his business. At some point my father came into view with that gun. He made that scum get on his knees and beg for his life.The end of the gun was put in his mouth. As my father was asking him how tough are you now? Beating up your wife and 3 year old son is easy. How tough are you now? The scumbag pissed his pants while begging for his life.
I’m sure there were a lot more things said and done.
The gun went back to its owner. My dad was having coffee and a cigarette when he invited the cops in. He was so calm, cool and collected as he told the cops he didn’t do anything. He was home all morning. He LIED! Then one cop left and the other one told him, “it’s just me and you, I’d have done the same thing if my sister and nephew got beat up. C’mon, you can tell me. My partner is outside and he can’t be witness to you telling me what really happened.”
My dad calmly lied again and told the cop he knew nothing about it.
After they finally left I asked my dad why he didn’t tell the one cop that he did it. There wasn’t a second cop to corroborate his confession. My dad told me, “Oh yes there was! They don’t carry two way radios for nothing!
My dad was a badass. Just a humble middle class auto shop rat. He died last summer. I learned a lot about life from him.
***edit: I thought that the abuser of my aunt was dead. I recently asked a family member of his. He’s alive but in bad health, still drinking and drugging. He did leave the state but it was after my aunt divorced him. He had a girlfriend. He beat her up so bad she died. I don’t know anymore details than that. I have no idea why he isn’t still in prison. I only know my dad changed his sister’s life for the better and probably saved her life. Her daughter was younger than her son (who was 3 years old when the abuser threw him through a plaster and lathe board wall) and she only recently found out that my dad also changed HER life for the better by scaring the sh;t out of her father and giving her mother the strength to divorce him. I’m sure the a$$hole knew he’d be severely beaten if he ever touched my dad’s little sister again.
Driving an ambulance in response to a “Man down” call on a Saturday morning; lights and siren activated. My travel route took me over a twisting two lane road that was frequented by bicyclists. I encountered a pack of cyclists – maybe 40 – who wouldn’t yield to me. The winding road prohibited me from swinging into the opposing traffic lane to pass.
Took me several extra minutes to work my way to the front of the pack whereupon the lead rider flipped me off and offered me some salient verbal advice. Got past them, delayed in responding to a serious call.
Returning to the station afterwards, made comment to one of my co-workers, a fellow volunteer and a full-time police officer in the local jurisdiction. On the next Saturday, he donned his police uniform, drove his cruiser to the bike-traveled road and waited for the particular bicycle club to cruise thru the stop-signed intersection, en masse….their usual disregard. He pulled the ENTIRE pack over and wrote reckless riding tickets for each and every cyclist. Took him more than two hours!!!!
I went to court with the officer, as did the rest of our ambulance crew….some riders showed; many defaulted. After the 4th or 5th defendant appeared, the judge called them all up together —— maybe a dozen —— spoke for a bit and found them ALL guilty. Good karma day.
EDIT: And before I receive another comment going to legal procedures, please know that in our community, organized bicycle groups make frequent use of a gent who is well-known as the “Bicycle Advocate”. He commonly appears at proceedings where/when bicyclists are cited. On the appearance day discussed above, The Advocate was on-hand, standing up to assert his interpretation of the motor vehicle statutes as they do/don’t pertain to cyclists. The rhetoric is without legal support, and the guy is neither an attorney, nor does he actually represent a defendant. He’s very good at deflection.
With serial defendants and the same fact-pattern, the judge soon tired of the Advocate’s repeated and time-consuming speeches. He cautioned the guy a couple of times and eventually fined him $200 for contempt. He then called up the remaining defendants, asked them to declare an exceptional circumstance or individualized defense(s) to their citations. Hearing none, he passed the collective judgment. The individual defendant due process rights were, indeed, preserved by the judge’s line of questions prior to rendering his decision.
This single coincidence tends to make more of a difference to a persons’ life than any other factor, including whatever efforts the person himself makes to try to improve his lot.
Who your parents happen to be has a tremendous impact on a huge range of things that shape just about everything in your life to a huge degree.
It determines if you’re born in Sweden or in Somalia
The genes they gave you determines whether you’ll be tall, intelligent and handsome or short, stupid and ugly.
The genes also play a big role in whether or not you’ll be healthy, whether or not you’re likely to get a long list of diseases.
If your parents are kind, compassionate and nurturing your start in life will be very different from if they’re cold, inconsiderate or abusive.
The hobbies and interests they have in many cases have a lifelong influence on your own hobbies and interests.
Their wealth and their income determines what material standard of living you’ll have for the first 20 – 25 years of your life, and in fact often for your entire life. (in most cases lazy sons of multimillionaires end up better off than hardworking daughters of slum-dwellers)
They more or less entirely decide who is important in your life for your first 5 years. Such early formative relationships are very important for a child’s development.
They determine what quality education you’ll get, this depends on their wealth, where they happen to live, and their priorities. You as a young child have low influence on all of this.
I’m not at all saying that it’s hopeless to get ahead in life if you had a bad start. What I’m saying is that having the right parents means getting to play life on “easy” mode, while having the wrong parents makes everything a whole lot more difficult.
When I was 16, I was driving home from my boyfriends house which was a good 15 miles away. My car suddenly stopped working. It was dark and it was 1996, so no cell phones. I was out in the middle of nowhere! I saw a house and decided to walk up and ask to call my dad. I was TERRIFIED!
A woman answered the door but barely opened it. I told her that my car broke down and asked to call my dad. She asked me to give her his number and she would call from inside. I agreed. It was cold outside and I was shivering (both from cold and fear). She called him and asked if he had a daughter etc. Then she gave him her address and she invited me inside. I was still scared, but went in because I heard my dad was on his way there.
She made me hot chocolate and I sat by the fireplace, petting their dogs and chatting until my dad showed up. My dad got there about 20 minutes later asked if he could come pick my car up the next day and they said, “of course!” Her husband put his coat on and helped push my car off the road and into their driveway. We both thanked them sincerely and they said “If You ever need anything again, you come straight here!” The lady gave me a warm hug and said goodnight.
My dad sent a tow truck to get my car to the shop the next day and it was back in order with a new timing belt. I made sure to always take that route home just in case I broke down again.
My Mom loved Roll Top desks. She always wanted on one. So in 1975, she went to a local Sotherby’s auction and she emerged victorious but financially wounded. In 1975, she paid $1500 for a desk almost identical to this one.
In 2023 dollars, that cost my Mom about $8,500 dollars.
When my Mom died in 2022, we had a professional estate sale guy come to the house. Now my parents lived in the heart of Silicon Valley. He said…………you know, around here this item is really difficult to sell. Nobody wants them because they aren’t super friendly to computers. Anyone young with money around here, won’t be interested. We’ll be lucky to get $2500-$3000, even if we can find a buyer.
That puts my Mom’s purchase around $500 in 1975 dollars.
I’m actually glad she never knew…it was her crown jewel among all her antiques.
ALERT: LARGEST NAVAL FORCE SINCE WW2, ATTACK ON TWO NUCLEAR PLANTS, HEZBOLLAH DECLARE WAR IN 5 DAYS
Not me but my dad. He was a supervisor, and had a less than stellar employee. My dad was offered a job with the potential for a promotion on the other side of the country. He was retired military so we had moved a lot, so he didn’t take it as he didn’t want to move us again. The job was offered to the problem employee; my dad was happy to see him leave.
Two years later, the guy comes back, only now, he was my dad’s supervisor, and made his job a living hell. For example: this was back in the days of overhead projectors (a precursor to PowerPoint). My dad was to give a presentation to some high-level people. He starts, but the projector isn’t working, so he had to give the presentation with hastily copied handouts. His boss had removed the lightbulb from the projector, and then chastised him for not “checking his equipment”.
He pulled a lot of similar unprofessional stunts. My dad had already retired from the military, and had enough years in to retire again. His physician told him that based on his medical problems, he could retire any time he wanted to, so my dad had him draft an undated letter stating he was retirement-eligible based on years of service and medical issues.
We had an expensive vacation planned, and were to leave on a Friday night. My dad had put in for vacation, so the boss was well aware of it. Ten minutes before he’s about to leave, the boss shows up, drops a file on his desk, and tells him not only does he have to stay late to get started on the project, but he’s cancelling his vacation.
My dad got a box, and started filling it with his personal items. The boss goes ballistic, so my dad pulls out the physician’s note, dates it, and says “I just retired” and walked out. It was a tad petty, but it was epic.
Wife Has MELTDOWN After Husband Secretly Discovers Her Affair, Plans A Strategy & Then Divorces Her!
We had a very nice lady come by our fire station with an “ice chest” full of hot tamales (which we purchased). Everyone who ate the tamales got food poisoning (including myself). We were not incapacitated, but close.
The question is, by eating food that is given to us, will we be able to perform our job of protecting our community? Could we fight fires? Could we perform rescues or fulfill our duties as EMTs? The answer could be “no.”
For example, on another occasion a family was nice enough to deliver a big plate of cookies and other homemade treats. The family appeared dirty and reeked of bad hygiene. We thanked them profusely (as was the polite thing to do). After they left their treats (unfortunately) went in the trash.
We had a few regulars who brought us pies, which we ate. It took a bit of a size-up on the individual delivering them, at first.
On some holidays a major restaurant chain brought us an entire meal, which we ate (it was prepared in a professional kitchen).
All the food that was brought to us was appreciated and accepted. It was never looked at as a bribe (we had no involvement in enforcement issues).
Coffee or tea offered on fire scenes? Now that is something I’d like to see adopted in America! A lot of winter fires were in below freezing temperatures. We were wet and cold. A hot drink of just about anything would have been much appreciated those freezing nights.
We once had a terrible fire, with much loss of life (Deadly Reno Fire
). It was across the street from the rear door of the original Harrah’s casino, in Reno, Nevada. The investigation lasted for two weeks. The casino set up a room for us with 24/7 coffee, tea and snacks. They also provided many meals, which they did at no charge. They expected nothing in return. They were just being good neighbors. Kudos to Harrah’s!
The best policy is “Unless you know the history of the food, it’s unsafe to eat.”
The boats
Al Copeland’s Basic Cajun Jambalaya
8af59975dcc2510a22cf8acf3a022972
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 pound pickled pork, diced
1 pound smoked ham, diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
4 cups beef or chicken stock or hot water
2 cups rice
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
Instructions
In large saucepan with lid, melt butter with oil.
Add onions and pork and sauté until onions are soft.
Add ham, garlic, thyme and parsley and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add sausage and cook until browned. Stir in stock and bring to boil.
Add rice, bay leaf and cayenne. Return to boil and cover. Simmer over very low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, checking after 30 minutes to see if all liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender. If necessary, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more water if liquid boils away before rice is cooked.
My cat is four and a half months old. He’s part of our family for a month now.
As I was playing with him with the laser pointer about a week ago, he happily chased the red dot over the floor as always. But when he sat down to look at me, he suddenly looked over to my hand where I held the pointer, than back to the red dot and my hand again. His enthusiasm for chasing the moving red dot was suddenly gone. As if he understood that it was I who made the dot move and that wasn’t as interesting for him as a red dot that’s kinda “magically” moving on its own.
He also found out how to open drawers after watching me doing it two times.
And he’s been exceptionally quick to understand that I keep his “special” toys in the black plastic box on top of the shelf in our living room. As soon as I touch the box, he jumps off the desk and runs over to sit at my feet, waiting for whatever toy I might pick this time.
He’s extremely vocal and complains loudly when I chastise him whenever he does something undesirable, like playing with the computer chords (cuz he chews on them), jumping onto the kitchen table, scratching the wall corners instead of his scratching post, etc.
American Psychosis Chris Hedges on the US empire of narcissism and psychopathy
But 2024 is going to be different. How different, remains to be seen. But I have hope; I am optimistic.
It is the year of the DRAGON.
Chinese Horoscope 2024 – Year of the Dragon
The Chinese zodiac marks the start of a new cycle with the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, when one animal gives way to another. On February 10, 2024, the Year of the Dragon begins.
The Dragon is a powerful and auspicious creature in Chinese mythology, representing courage, creativity, and innovation. 2024 promises to be a year full of possibilities and opportunities.
According to the Chinese zodiac, the Dragon is the most powerful and auspicious animals. It represents strength, wisdom, luck and prosperity. The dragon is also associated with one of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal or water. Each element gives the dragon a different personality and destiny.
The Year of the Wood Dragon 2024 is also known as Yang Wood on Dragon, or Jia Chen 甲辰 in Chinese. The fixed element of the Dragon (Chen) is Earth (Wu 戊), which represents stability, honesty and loyalty. The variable element of the Dragon in 2024 is Yang Wood, or Jia 甲, representing growth, creativity and flexibility.
The Wood Dragon is the most creative and visionary of the dragons. They are optimistic, ambitious and adventurous. They like to explore new ideas and challenge themselves. They are also generous, compassionate and loyal to their friends.
Therefore, the Year of the Dragon in 2024 is expected to be a time of visionary leaders, innovators and problem solvers. 2024 is also predicted to be a great year to start new projects, explore new opportunities and create value for yourself and others.
Some of the most promising sectors for business growth in the Dragon Year 2024 are fintech, AI, cybersecurity, blockchain, and solar energy. These industries are driven by innovation and demand for cutting-edge solutions. To succeed in these competitive markets, businesses need to embrace new technologies and communicate their value proposition effectively.
The year of the Wood Dragon 2024 is special because it is a rare combination of the dragon’s power and the wood’s creativity. It is a year of innovation, vision and growth. It is a year to pursue your dreams, express your ideas and expand your horizons. It is also a year to be generous, compassionate and loyal to your friends. The next Year of the Wood Dragon in the Chinese zodiac will be 2084, which is 60 years from now.
A Black and White Cat Kept His Owner Awake Until the Ambulance Arrived
Mr. Andrew Carnegie arrived in America in 1848, with no money and with no formal higher education.
His parents decided to move the Carnegie family to the United States after a famine hit the Scottish countryside.
At thirteen years old, Carnegie found a job that would pay him $1.20 for a 70-hour week.
During his free time, Carnegie read books loaned to him from one of the local libraries.
These books impacted his life so much that later he donated millions of his money to building over 2,500 public libraries and educational institutions around the world.
image 577
When Carnegie was about 18 years old, Thomas Scott, the owner of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, employed him as a telegraph operator at a salary of $4.00 per week.
By age 24, Mr. Scott saw great potential in the young Carnegie, and promoted him to superintendent of a division of the Railroad Company.
Mr. Scott eventually became Carnegie’s mentor, a relationship that changed his future.
image 576
The experience Carnegie gained working closely to Scott was a vital ingredient in his success in the steel industry.
Years later, Carnegie sold his company to JP Morgan. That was what made him the wealthiest man on earth, and the philanthropist he later became.
To answer your question, what is the best piece of advice you could give someone about life?
1.- What are you filling your mind with?
Are you consuming your free time with worthless social media? Carnegie read books. He invested continuously in his personal growth.
Stop wasting your time!
2.- Are you trying to figure out how to do it alone! Who do you take advice from?
Carnegie was inspired by Mr. Scott. He listened to his advice. He was a hard worker. He was coachable.
In January 2019, Copdy Litz made a 10-foot snowman with his fiancée and his sister, and then posted this on Facebook:
image 579
It received a lot of admiration online as well as from his neighbours. However, when something marvellous attracts admirers, it also brings jealous assholes. Same thing happened with this snowman.
Turns out that one day when Copdy was away, a douche driver tried to destroy the snowman by ramming their car into it. To their horror, however, the result wasn’t as amusing as the driver was expecting.
When Copdy returns home, he sees this:
image 578
Tyre tracks leading to the snowman but they stop abruptly and the imprint of a bumper can be seen exposed in the snow. The snowman is still standing. Any idea how?
Do you see that black-brown part where there’s no snow? Well, that’s a thick tree stump used as a base for this snowman, but it was concealed by the snow. Hence, when the driver decided to ram their car into the snowman, they had no idea of the surprise they were in for, and ended up crashing their car into the sturdy stump. That’s why you see the imprint of a bumper on the snow and no more tyre tracks beyond the snowman.
[1] Sadly, the driver fled the scene after this surprise they received, and therefore, there’s no photo to show the damage on their car, but I bet it must be a good one (lol).
Copdy Litz later revealed in an interview that the purpose of using a tree stump as a base for this snowman was to teach vandals a lesson because such incidents were very common in his region. For sure other vandals must have learned the lesson.
Anyway, this display of instant karma seems pretty satisfying to me. If only I could see the damaged car, I’d be more satisfied.
I bought a car in TX. Private party. In winter. To drive to MN. On turnpike it was getting cold. I stop at Goodyear shop near a hotel. “I want radiator flush, engine block heater installed, -20 antifreeze”
got estimate, signed, walked to hotel, called with room info as next day Saturday they were open till noon. Next day 11:30 am check out, walk over. “owe did not have correct size front plug replacement block heater. So we put a lower hose heater in. We charged your card, here are keys we are closing early”
I KNEW lower hose not recommended. As angles all wrong. Warmed water flows to radiator first. NOT engine. But what can I do? So I will drive. Go to local Goodyear shop have it corrected.
50 miles hose blows apart. I had bought gallon antifreeze as knowing how shops screw filling empty radiator. But gauge looked great. Using knife I tighten hose clamps, add gallon antifreeze strait, limp to rest stop, gallon water, next town.
Get to local Goodyear. “we are not in same Goodyear chain as that place. But we will give you $5 off new hose, new frost plug heater, installation and full antifreeze replacement”. I did it myself.
Many years ago, I worked in a small sewing factory that made water ski vests. When I was hired, I was paid by the hour but was told that I would get raises based on my work, and the sky was the limit. I soon discovered that there was a very low cloud cover.
I got a small raise after one month. I was assigned to do the finishing job, but devised a new method and could complete 600 vests a day. The other workers could not keep up with me, and I had to learn all of the other jobs so that I would have at least 300 vests ready to finish.
Minimum wage increased; new employees were now being paid 10 cents an hour less than I was. I asked for another raise based on my performance and was told that if I kept doing what I was, I would get a raise in 6 weeks.
A month later, the owner brought in an “efficiency expert” who looked at my finishing job and suggested “improvements”. The improvements made me do twice the work for half the numbers.
The next day, I tried to talk to the owner about it. He told me to try it for six weeks, and I would get a raise. But, I was two weeks away from my promised raise. I said, “I quit!”
A couple of weeks later, I ran into my supervisor. She said she had to do my job until they could train someone else. After two hours of doing the “improved” method, she realized why I quit and went back to my method.
I also ran into the person they trained to replace me. She could complete 50 vests a day, instead of my 600.
The business went bankrupt 3 months later. There was a riot and police were called when the boss showed up with no paychecks on payday 🙂
I once responded to a job ad that advertised a pay rate of $10–25 per hour.
I showed up to the business to do an interview with the owner. The guy was busy so I had to wait 30 minutes past my scheduled time. Apparently, the guy didn’t even remember what was on my resume, nor did he seem to care. He didn’t even ask about my skills and mostly just talked up about himself and his business.
Finally at the end of the interview, he offered me the current minimum wage ($9.25 at the time, it was going to increase to $10 in a few months) and that we can “sit down and talk” about increasing the rate after a month.
This was an IT software and hardware repair shop and I had a master’s degree in computer science with several years of work experience. I wasn’t looking for a massive salary rate, but a side gig that paid reasonably well. I wasn’t going to work for minimum wage and then hope to God this business owner was going to be convinced to double the rate after one month.
I was really surprised by the salary rate, but I caught myself before I might have reacted negatively and said, “I’ll think about it.” I probably would have accepted it at $15 an hour, but minimum wage for a position that requires some technical knowledge, did not make any sense to me.
I thought about it and there were just too many red flags:
He didn’t read my resume, which isn’t respectful of my time to go to an interview.
Did not even offer the pay rate mentioned in the advertisement. He lied.
Clearly a sign that this guy is going to be very stingy, so the 1 month “sitdown” salary evaluation meeting did not look promising at all.
Doesn’t seem to be able to keep employees for very long. This was based on what I asked during the interview.
Needless to say, I followed up with an email saying that this wasn’t what I was looking for.
Update: Some bonus info I recalled recently. I remembered him mentioning in the middle of the interview that he had a mortgage to pay as if to get sympathy. I realized after the interview he was already thinking about making that shitty offer.
I used to be an Amazon Flex driver on the weekends to make some extra money. The base pay was $18 an hour and if I did my deliveries quickly, I was making more than $25 an hour.
They have a program where you sign up to be an “independent contractor” and get paid for delivering a certain number of packages in a prescribed amount of time. It was a lot of fun even though you have to basically fight other people online to get a run.
One day I was out making deliveries and I noticed a car pull over at a house where I had just dropped off a package. I thought to myself that it must be the homeowner and stopped to deliver the next. But, I kept an eye on the car and sure enough, they were following me and grabbing my packages.
I called the police and kept on delivering. Within 5 minutes, a police car pulled them over and as soon as I saw that they had them stopped I turned around and went to speak with the officers.
Come to find out that they had followed me out of the station and began taking my packages from the start. I looked in their car, and they had grabbed 9 of my packages! Had I not called the police, who knows how many more they would have gotten. They were arrested on the spot and taken away in handcuffs.
I was incredibly angry, because not only had they stolen my packages, but now I had to go back and deliver them all again!
It screwed up what should have been a very simple day, but I was thrilled to know that these porch pirates got what was coming to them!
Americans thinks the world thinks the world of them!
They are full of it!
Can you believe that the U.S. thinks people in Iraq welcome them warmly after they carpet bomb Baghdad killing civilians including women, children and babies! What Iraqis are doing is the lured them into the lions den and sniped them and bomb them into smitten! But U.S. officials and some Americans think the Muslim and Arab communities loved them!
About 20 years ago I worked for a huge Multinational American Call Centre that had opened a centre in Belfast. I worked hard and got several commendations and promotions, eventually being in charge of Annual leave for all the Call Centres in the UK. Problem was, the call centre didn’t want to spend money on software to track annual leave.
So I made it, on excel, as they didn’t support Access, go figure. Anyone who knows, will tell you access was far better for something like tracking annual leave for over 2000 employees across 3 sites on, but I am damn good at excel, and I made it do things its really not designed to do.
For 3 years I told them that it wasn’t fit for purpose and I needed proper software. Eventually we got a new director and they seemed to take note of what I was saying. So they looked at what I was doing, how I was doing it, and then decided to outsource it to a team in a South African Call Centre and Lipa City in the phillipines, apparently paying the two teams was less than my salary. They asked me to create an instruction manual for the tracker so that these guys could do my job, and they would move me to another department.
Once completed, they terminated me, paying me 10 weeks severance for my time served plus owed leave. I warned the centre Director he was making a mistake, he just laughed.
4 weeks later I got a phone call from a friend who still worked there, the Leave tracker had crashed as the teams running it weren’t doing the daily maintainence in the manual, they had also deleted the back ups to save disc space. There was no record of who had taken what leave and who had what leave left to take. So with 3 months left in the financial year, they ended up having to give all 2316 members of staff their full leave entitlement again (turns out payroll didn’t bother recording what they had paid to whom and for why).
I phoned the Director and simply said, “I warned you what would happen, but you decided you knew better, good luck.” He simply hung up, no response. 3 weeks later he was terminated for costing the firm millions in additional payments for all the extra leave.
I lasted just short of 8 years, he lasted just short of 8 months.
I worked for a large aerospace company in the Midlands. I never worked more than my contracted 38 hours/week, travelled away from base once a month and needed an overnight stay 2-3 times a year.
I was approached by a large consultancy to work for them and had a first round of informal meetings. Their HR person then phoned me and asked me about my current salary and expectation. Before I answered, I asked her to confirm what had been hinted at in the first meeting, 50–60 hours per weeks, 2–3 overnights a week. Yes she said. In that case, current salary +20%. She went quiet and then asked why I expected that much. Extra hours and nights away. We are only allowed to offer 7% over current. I replied “I’m sorry, but that fails the Tesco test.” What’s that she asked. “I could work the extra hours stacking shelves in my local Tesco for minimum wage, make more money and still sleep in my own bed.”
She Changed Her Face In Front Of The Camera Within 10 Seconds
A king is ruler of a sovereign country. An emperor is the ruler of the whole continent, considered to be higher than any other secular rulers. The Islamic equivalent is caliph, the Zoroastrian equivalent is shahanshah and the Hindu equivalent is maharaja.
Traditionally there were two Emperors in the Christian world: the Holy Roman Emperor (Western Emperor) and the Eastern Roman Emperor (Eastern Emperor).
Once the Eastern Roman Empire fell in 1453, the Russian grand prince Ivan III the Great assumed the title of Czar (from caesar) and Peter I the Great nominated himself as the Russian Emperor.
The French Revolution was basically a re-enactment of fan fiction of Rome. First they deposed the King, then they declared Republic (which went pear-shaped in five years instead of 500) and finally Napoléon imitated Augustus and declared himself the Emperor of France. By doing this, he juxtaposited himself with both the Habsburgs (Holy Roman Empire – itself more or less a fan-fiction of the Western Roman Empire) and Romanovs (Russian Empire – a fan-fiction of the Eastern Roman Empire). Naturally there could be only one, so Napoléon had the Holy Roman Empire abolished in 1806. Instead, the Habsburgs would claim the title of Kaiser des Österreiches (Austrian Emperor). Which made sense, as Czech was a kingdom, Hungary was a kingdom, Croatia was a kingdom and the rest of the Austrian lands were principalities.
Finally Germany unified under the Kingdom of Prussia in 1870. Since Germany was a hodgepodge quilt of kingdoms, princedoms, republics and city states, King Wilhelm declared himself as the Kaiser (Emperor) of Germany (from caesar).
All European Kaisers and Czars fell in the WWI. Ever since 1918, there hasn’t been an Emperor in Christian lands.
Also China and Japan have had an Emperor. The Chinese emperor was deposed in 1912, China becoming a republic, but Japan has maintained its emperor (mikado). The current Emperor of Japan is Naruhito, and his reign is called Reiwa.
I know the exact moment when I realized I was an adult.
It was the Christmas of 1998. I was in Beijing. I was one of those spoiled rich brats who went on a joyride with my fancy friends in my fancy car that my dad bought me. So that night, although none of us were Christian, it seemed like a good idea to celebrate some random holiday, drive to a dance club and have some fun. We were fully prepared to get drunk and party until dawn.
I was driving with 4 other friends in the car and I got into an accident. I was very scared, it was completely my fault. We realized no one was hurt and tried to leave. But the police arrived at the scene before we could drive off. And things got really serious.
I remember this old police officer, he had this “seen it done that” attitude, and asked “Who’s the driver?” I said that it was me. And he asked “Could you explain to me what happened?” I said “I want to wait until my dad is here.” And he asked again: “Are you the driver?” I said I was. And he replied, “If you’re old enough to drive and get yourself into this mess, you’re old enough to explain to me what happened and take responsibility.”
He was not mean, he was not angry with me or anything. He just said it as a matter of fact. And that’s the moment I realized I was an adult.
Why I choose to raise my child in CHINA and not the WEST
Nobody was talking about Chinese EVs until they took the world by storm at the Munich car show this year.
It was all Tesla, and more recently, the Germans and Koreans. The Japanese were not in the game at all, preferring ICE hybrids.
No one was paying attention to the charging infrastructure put in place in China, or the huge number of models from diverse manufacturers no one outside of China had any experience with.
My friend says there are at least 100 Chinese EV brands operating today.
100! China today is where the US automobile industry was pre-war.
Why isn’t anyone talking about the CPU? Because this is the English medium, and there is an automatic filter on any news that puts a positive spin against the narrative of the Chinese being a backward sub-human species who cannot innovate and therefore copy and steal exclusively from the west.
Read the Chinese to keep up with the Chinese.
Don’t read ABOUT them.
Otherwise, be prepared to be surprised/shocked repeatedly by the Chinese.
This Just ΗΑPPΕNED In The Netherlands, Υet Something Εven More Bizarre Is ΗΑPPΕNING IN AMERICA
It was 1989 in Richmond Virginia. Even though I was in my first year as a cop with the police department I was assigned a new recruit from the academy to be his field training officer. This young man was an immigrant from Jamaica. He said that his mother had read my future and that I needed this to keep me safe, and he handed me a bloodstone. As I was looking at it we got an alarm call for an industrial site that was a quarter of a mile away from where we were parked. I turned the key to the patrol car and nothing happened. I decided we would get out and run the distance to the site. When we were about two hundred yards away the building exploded, blowing the both of us back ten to fifteen feet. I still have scars on my left forearm that I instinctively put over my eyes. When we went back to the car it turned over the first time. My trainee looked at me and said, “My moms be looking out for you!”
If the car had worked we would have been there when the building exploded, and we would have both been dead.
My mother-in-law always pointed out that, if Hollywood were depicting medieval Europe accurately, between one-third to one-sixth of young adult women between the ages of sixteen to forty should be visibly pregnant when they waddle into range of the camera and every shot of urban areas should be swarming with young children (the majority of which will eventually die before reaching adulthood). You should have at least four children visible in every scene in which at least one adult is visible.
It was a world without legal birth-control, and women had a large number of children if they weren’t nuns. Walking down a medieval street, you would have seen swarms of children—think Rwanda-level disparities in the young compared to adults. Margery Kempe in the early 1400s, for instance, had fourteen children by the time she was forty. A reasonable guess at the normal number would be for an average married medieval woman to have ten children, of which fewer than a third would survive to adulthood. The most common cause of adult female mortality in the medieval world appears to be death in childbirth.
During each woman’s pregnancies, I believe there is little visible bulge until the the last few months of pregnancy. After that, she should be visibly pregnant. The swarms of children should be everywhere, running in the streets, crammed into alleys and houses, and pouring through doorways constantly.
A little background — I was working in a chain drug store in Southern California, the only employee who came to work, on Christmas Eve. We were a 24-hour store, so, having cleaned everything, and faced all the stock on the shelves, I was thinking how to murder the “dancing Santa” (bad recording, 2 1/2 feet tall, and poorly made).
10:30 (22:30 for 24 hour clocks) a guy comes in, freaking out. His wife has recently left him for her “hot stud boyfriend”, with whom she has a brand-new baby. They are divorced, but she got the kids on holidays. He had bought and wrapped the presents for the kids (daughter, son), and dropped them off at her boyfriend’s house — left them on the porch, because she refused to open the door until he left. He gets home, and finds the kids waiting on his front porch. His ex-wife’s mother had just dropped them off, and left them alone, because ex-wife, new baby, and “Hot Stud” were going to his parents for Christmas, and she didn’t want the kids “getting in the way”. Grandma had plans of her own, and refused to take the kids with her.
Ex-wife left him with two kids with no change of clothes, no presents, not enough groceries, on Christmas Eve. And there was no way he could not make her sound like the totally selfish bitch she was.
Semi-happy ending. I abused the hell out of my authority as the manager, and “store-used” or “over-ride discount”ed everything we needed to put together a Christmas for his kids.
Each of them got a ream of paper, the largest box of Crayola (crayons) we had, a generic fuzzy toy, and two other toys that he thought they might like. Each present was individually wrapped in a different paper, with big fancy (store-bought!) bows, and a Christmas card on each present, plus each one got a good sized bag of “stocking stuffers”. (Pocket sized toys and games, candy, fruit, nuts, etc). Then I threw in (from me) a couple of bags of Christmas candy and chocolates.
It’s Christmas Eve, and your mother has her mother drop you off at your father’s house — who isn’t even home — because she doesn’t want you, because she has the new baby that you aren’t even allowed to touch.
A few weeks before my nineteenth birthday, I was sitting to the right of my mom. When I went to look at her, she pointed out that my left eye did not track with my right eye, which made it look like I had a lazy eye.
image
The next day, after we had all laughed it off (because it did look quite goofy), my mom made an appointment with a neuro-opthalmologist. We went in on a busy Saturday and after he examined my eye, he requested that we make another appointment on a day when he would have more time to dedicate to me and the testing that would have to be done.
About two weeks later, my mother and I went to his other office and he examined my eye. He asked me if I had experienced any double-vision recently, and I realized I had. So, he explained the possible reasons for the eye (which he diagnosed as sixth cranial nerve palsy): it was an infection, or, in very rare cases, a brain tumor. He ordered a chest x-ray, blood work, and a head MRI.
The blood work and chest x-ray went well and nothing was found. Going into my MRI, my mother was optimistic, but I just had a feeling that the diagnosis was going to be bigger than a little infection. After the MRI, my mother and I got lunch and were high in spirits. When we returned home, I got to work on my classes (they were online- thanks, 2020). A few hours later, my mother ran into my room, very upset, and told me to come to the phone.
My doctor was on the other end. He told me that I had a mass in my brain that was pressing against my sixth cranial nerve. He suggested that it was a very rare form of bone cancer in my brain called chordoma that had grown on my skull base, in the middle of my head. I was diagnosed two days after my nineteenth birthday.
Since then, my diagnosis was confirmed and I had surgery to remove the tumor. I had many complications, like infections and brain fluid leaks, but I made it out. There was about 5–10% of the tumor left, so I underwent proton radiation therapy to kill the rest of the cancer. In a few weeks, I will have been in partial remission for a year 🙂 I also had eye surgery about ten months ago to correct my eye, which was stuck looking inward since my first surgery. Since then, I’ve been dealing with a lot of other issues because of my tumor and treatment, like chronic nerve damage/pain, Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, but I have a wonderful team of doctors who have provided me with great treatments.
I was a freshman in college when I was diagnosed, and now I’m going to be a junior. I’m studying psychology and music, and I participate in my college’s choirs, theatre productions, and student life team. In the future, I’m hoping to get my Master’s degree in mental health counseling and work as a therapist for adolescents and young adults with disabilities, rare disease, and cancer. I would also love to perform professionally in my city’s symphony orchestra/choir and maybe even audition for America’s Got Talent.
If I were to pick the first biggest reason 2023 will be remembered (if it isn’t because of the brewing World War III that seems to be on the verge of breaking out) it will be as the year that A.I. became a reality.
Translator wages have been flat, and in the United States (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) there is the need for a total of 14,000 in the country at a stagnant average wage of about $50,000 with roughly 10% unemployment in the field.
Finding out
Bohemian Goulash Soup
Bohemian Goulash Soup
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, diced
6 cups beef broth or bouillon
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 tablespoon caraway seed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat butter or margarine in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté onion until golden.
Stir in paprika and vinegar.
Add meat, broth, marjoram, caraway seeds, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Mix well. Cook gently, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until meat is tender.
Dilute flour with a little cooled liquid from pot. Stir into soup.
Add potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender.
Yield: 6 servings
Go and get it
Killing C.I.A. Informants, China Crippled U.S. Spying Operations
WASHINGTON — The Chinese government systematically dismantled C.I.A. spying operations in the country starting in 2010, killing or imprisoning more than a dozen sources over two years and crippling intelligence gathering there for years afterward.
Current and former American officials described the intelligence breach as one of the worst in decades. It set off a scramble in Washington’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies to contain the fallout, but investigators were bitterly divided over the cause. Some were convinced that a mole within the C.I.A. had betrayed the United States. Others believed that the Chinese had hacked the covert system the C.I.A. used to communicate with its foreign sources. Years later, that debate remains unresolved.
But there was no disagreement about the damage. From the final weeks of 2010 through the end of 2012, according to former American officials, the Chinese killed at least a dozen of the C.I.A.’s sources. According to three of the officials, one was shot in front of his colleagues in the courtyard of a government building — a message to others who might have been working for the C.I.A.
Still others were put in jail. All told, the Chinese killed or imprisoned 18 to 20 of the C.I.A.’s sources in China, according to two former senior American officials, effectively unraveling a network that had taken years to build.
Assessing the fallout from an exposed spy operation can be difficult, but the episode was considered particularly damaging. The number of American assets lost in China, officials said, rivaled those lost in the Soviet Union and Russia during the betrayals of both Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen, formerly of the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., who divulged intelligence operations to Moscow for years.
The previously unreported episode shows how successful the Chinese were in disrupting American spying efforts and stealing secrets years before a well-publicized breach in 2015 gave Beijing access to thousands of government personnel records, including intelligence contractors. The C.I.A. considers spying in China one of its top priorities, but the country’s extensive security apparatus makes it exceptionally hard for Western spy services to develop sources there.
At a time when the C.I.A. is trying to figure out how some of its most sensitive documents were leaked onto the internet two months ago by WikiLeaks, and the F.B.I. investigates possible ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia, the unsettled nature of the China investigation demonstrates the difficulty of conducting counterespionage investigations into sophisticated spy services like those in Russia and China.
The C.I.A. and the F.B.I. both declined to comment.
Details about the investigation have been tightly held. Ten current and former American officials described the investigation on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing the information.
image
The first signs of trouble emerged in 2010. At the time, the quality of the C.I.A.’s information about the inner workings of the Chinese government was the best it had been for years, the result of recruiting sources deep inside the bureaucracy in Beijing, four former officials said. Some were Chinese nationals who the C.I.A. believed had become disillusioned with the Chinese government’s corruption.
But by the end of the year, the flow of information began to dry up. By early 2011, senior agency officers realized they had a problem: Assets in China, one of their most precious resources, were disappearing.
Better Understand the Relations Between China and the U.S.
The two nations are jockeying for influence on the global stage, maneuvering for advantages on land, in the economy and in cyberspace.
Wooing Indonesia: China and the United States are engaged in the strategic battle for influence over the resource-laden nation of nearly 300 million people. So far, Beijing has the edge.
Investing in Mexico: Alarmed by shipping chaos and geopolitical fractures, exporters from China are setting up factories in Mexico to preserve their sales to the United States.
The F.B.I. and the C.I.A. opened a joint investigation run by top counterintelligence officials at both agencies. Working out of a secret office in Northern Virginia, they began analyzing every operation being run in Beijing. One former senior American official said the investigation had been code-named Honey Badger.
As more and more sources vanished, the operation took on increased urgency. Nearly every employee at the American Embassy was scrutinized, no matter how high ranking. Some investigators believed the Chinese had cracked the encrypted method that the C.I.A. used to communicate with its assets. Others suspected a traitor in the C.I.A., a theory that agency officials were at first reluctant to embrace — and that some in both agencies still do not believe.
What we consider before using anonymous sources.Do the sources know the information? What’s their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source.
Their debates were punctuated with macabre phone calls — “We lost another one” — and urgent questions from the Obama administration wondering why intelligence about the Chinese had slowed.
The mole hunt eventually zeroed in on a former agency operative who had worked in the C.I.A.’s division overseeing China, believing he was most likely responsible for the crippling disclosures. But efforts to gather enough evidence to arrest him failed, and he is now living in another Asian country, current and former officials said.
There was good reason to suspect an insider, some former officials say. Around that time, Chinese spies compromised National Security Agency surveillance in Taiwan — an island Beijing claims is part of China — by infiltrating Taiwanese intelligence, an American partner, according to two former officials. And the C.I.A. had discovered Chinese operatives in the agency’s hiring pipeline, according to officials and court documents.
But the C.I.A.’s top spy hunter, Mark Kelton, resisted the mole theory, at least initially, former officials say. Mr. Kelton had been close friends with Brian J. Kelley, a C.I.A. officer who in the 1990s was wrongly suspected by the F.B.I. of being a Russian spy. The real traitor, it turned out, was Mr. Hanssen. Mr. Kelton often mentioned Mr. Kelley’s mistreatment in meetings during the China episode, former colleagues say, and said he would not accuse someone without ironclad evidence.
Those who rejected the mole theory attributed the losses to sloppy American tradecraft at a time when the Chinese were becoming better at monitoring American espionage activities in the country. Some F.B.I. agents became convinced that C.I.A. handlers in Beijing too often traveled the same routes to the same meeting points, which would have helped China’s vast surveillance network identify the spies in its midst.
Some officers met their sources at a restaurant where Chinese agents had planted listening devices, former officials said, and even the waiters worked for Chinese intelligence.
This carelessness, coupled with the possibility that the Chinese had hacked the covert communications channel, would explain many, if not all, of the disappearances and deaths, some former officials said. Some in the agency, particularly those who had helped build the spy network, resisted this theory and believed they had been caught in the middle of a turf war within the C.I.A.
Still, the Chinese picked off more and more of the agency’s spies, continuing through 2011 and into 2012. As investigators narrowed the list of suspects with access to the information, they started focusing on a Chinese-American who had left the C.I.A. shortly before the intelligence losses began. Some investigators believed he had become disgruntled and had begun spying for China. One official said the man had access to the identities of C.I.A. informants and fit all the indicators on a matrix used to identify espionage threats.
After leaving the C.I.A., the man decided to remain in Asia with his family and pursue a business opportunity, which some officials suspect that Chinese intelligence agents had arranged.
Officials said the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. lured the man back to the United States around 2012 with a ruse about a possible contract with the agency, an arrangement common among former officers. Agents questioned the man, asking why he had decided to stay in Asia, concerned that he possessed a number of secrets that would be valuable to the Chinese. It’s not clear whether agents confronted the man about whether he had spied for China.
The man defended his reasons for living in Asia and did not admit any wrongdoing, an official said. He then returned to Asia.
By 2013, the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. concluded that China’s success in identifying C.I.A. agents had been blunted — it is not clear how — but the damage had been done.
The C.I.A. has tried to rebuild its network of spies in China, officials said, an expensive and time-consuming effort led at one time by the former chief of the East Asia Division. A former intelligence official said the former chief was particularly bitter because he had worked with the suspected mole and recruited some of the spies in China who were ultimately executed.
China has been particularly aggressive in its espionage in recent years, beyond the breach of the Office of Personnel Management records in 2015, American officials said. Last year, an F.B.I. employee pleaded guilty to acting as a Chinese agent for years, passing sensitive technology information to Beijing in exchange for cash, lavish hotel rooms during foreign travel and prostitutes.
In March, prosecutors announced the arrest of a longtime State Department employee, Candace Marie Claiborne, accused of lying to investigators about her contacts with Chinese officials. According to the criminal complaint against Ms. Claiborne, who pleaded not guilty, Chinese agents wired cash into her bank account and showered her with gifts that included an iPhone, a laptop and tuition at a Chinese fashion school. In addition, according to the complaint, she received a fully furnished apartment and a stipend.
Once, I was truly between jobs: had quit the old one, and a signed contract to start the new one in 2 months.
I was looking forward to spending 2 months doing nothing but sleeping, playing pool, drinking, and having fun.
Then an ex-colleague and friend called: the little firm he worked at was having serious IT problems; could I come in and consult/fix things?
So I put on a suit, pack a CV, head down to their office, and quickly see the worst computer setup I have ever witnessed on Wall St. Like, it’s a bundle of ancient Windows boxes doing God knows what. They couldn’t do things like keep the system running, never mind managing risk, or managing orders, or any normal business function.
I figure $40K for me, plus $20K in real server hardware, and they can have this on the road to fixed in a month.
My friend and I go into the CEO’s office, lay out my CV, I present a rough plan and cost estimates. The CEO just grabs a black marker and starts crossing out everything in my CV he feels is inapplicable: stuff like “Yale University” and “computer science.” Then he says “Your resume says you’re unemployed, $10K should be enough!”
My friend turns green with embarrassment, but I just get up and walk out. Through the trading floor of frustrated people yelling that the system has crashed again and they can’t enter trades.
Well, my doctor has stated that I need to stay in the hospital for a week or longer. And then afterwards, I really have to be very moderate and calm in my activities. Apparently, I can trigger my blood pressure to launch towards the stars, and I need to tame that beast. So, this is MM going calm and serene.
Drinking is going to stifle for a spell. Same with smoking, and many of my favorite vices. Sigh.
Gotta be good, and lend myself to some serious chill.
…
I really get upset about the crazy relationship scene that the West has collapsed into. And this mix of rampant sexuality, free-lovin’ (not that I’m complain’) and isolationism with a woke political class is just another sign of a seriously collapsing Western society.
Men need love.
Women need understanding and compassion.
And let’s not forget about our kitties. Right?
Let’s all strive to be a tad better to ourselves, and to those around us. It’s so easy to get caught up, and ignore our very own needs and situation.
…
We need to chat about food. And stews are great Winter fare. (Unless you live down under) then I would recommend prawns. Stews are great, and I’ll guess that many readers haven’t had a home-made stew in some time. I suggest that you make up one and enjoy it.
With butter and bread.
Life is too short otherwise.
Today…
Cajun Meatball Stew
2023 11 10 09 45
Ingredients
Meatballs
1 pound ground round or chuck
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs (3 slices)
2 tablespoons each minced parsley and cold water
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon each cayenne and pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 green onions, trimmed and minced (save tops for gravy)
2 teaspoons salt
Gravy
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups cold water
4 envelopes or 4 teaspoons instant beef broth
1/4 teaspoon salt pinch of pepper
1/3 cup minced parsley
4 green onion tops, sliced thin
Meatball drippings plus vegetable oil to total 1/4 cup
Instructions
Meatballs
Combine beef, bread crumbs, green onions, parsley, garlic, egg, salt, cayenne, pepper and cold water in a medium size bowl. Mix lightly and shape into 24 balls. Place on tray and chill for 30 minutes.
Heat oil in large, heavy skillet and brown meatballs quickly on all sides (don’t overcook or the meatballs may toughen).
Drain on paper towels; save drippings.
Gravy
Place combined meatball drippings and vegetable oil in a large, heavy saucepan or skillet. Blend in flour, and heat and stir over moderately low heat until flour begins to brown, at least 10 to 15 minutes. Good Cajun cooks take about 45 minutes to make a roux. The roux should be a rich topaz brown.
Add water and instant beef broth gradually, whisking until thickened, about 5 minutes.
Add meatballs to gravy. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes.
Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.
Stir in parsley and green onion tops. Heat for 15 minutes longer.
Serve in soup bowls or on plates with the meatballs and gravy ladled over fluffy rice or egg noodles.
I’ve seen this question hundreds of times over the years on Quora and the knee-jerk answer is always some version of “Follow your passion is terrible advice.”
There was a time when I thought exactly that and wrote a similar answer. Sure, following your passion can lead you to become a starving artist or a passionate amateur beach volleyball player who lurches from one financial crisis to another.
At the other end of the spectrum, you have accountants under neon lights, droning through their days like robots, their life becoming a series of monthly, quarterly and annual closes.
image 10
Having been on both sides, I didn’t see a lot of difference in the happiness between those two groups.
My biggest advice is to “see the grey” and not take anyone’s career advice as a one-size-fits-all tip. Be like a CEO and take in differing perspectives of your VPs, and attach weights to each piece of advice given your own circumstances.
Don’t ever, ever, treat anyone’s advice as gospel. And that includes anything I say or write.
Hustle culture has spawned this nauseating obsession with meme-quotes from billionaires that supposedly solve all of our problems.
Spoiler alert: I don’t give a shit what Elon Musk said. He’s smart and capable. But he came up through a very narrow silo in the world. His circumstances are extreme and hardly applicable to most of our own. Hell, I’m half-convinced he’s a narcissistic sociopath.
You can do what you love. Or you can learn to love what you do. Life changes. New passions evolve and the economics of those passions make new paths possible while destroying old ones.
You may wake up one day and realize you hate the thing you thought you’d spend your life doing.
The only constant in success is hard work and focus.
The more I’ve accepted that life is a fluid situation, with everything in constant change, and given assumptions always being tested, the better I’ve done.
Work hard, stay flexible, and expect waves of upheaval. Because I promise those waves are coming. We all get our turns.
The first military tactic, and for thousands of years the most successful by far, was “stand together in a line and point our sharp sticks in the same direction.” Here’s the Sumerians doing it about 4500 years ago:
Proto-warfare involved individual fighters going essentially one-on-one with other individual fighters: think a modern gang fight or bar brawl. But you can’t really do that if the guy you are trying to fight has two guys immediately adjacent to him also holding spears: they’re going to stick you. If the guys in the line have shields and/or armor, you can’t even hang back and chuck shit at them, which was the other proto-warfare classic.
Now, this sounds really easy, but it turns out it actually isn’t. Warfare involves a bunch of people you hate trying to kill you. The natural response to that is to either (1) sensibly run away, or (2) run over and get the bastards first. Standing in a strict formation with even spacing is fairly unnatural in those circumstances: you need to practice it a lot, especially if you want to have any hope of moving.
(1) in particular is hard: even if you know that in theory your phalanx will survive a cavalry charge, it’s a harder sell when you have a couple thousand pounds of muscle and steel coming at you at a gallop. Gaps in your line means you are fucked: it’s hard to convey how absolutely shafted (pun intended) disordered infantry are in the face of cavalry, but it might be helpful to recall that the reason Napoleonic and Civil War soldiers stood in closely packed formation while getting mowed down by musket and cannon fire was because that was the safer alternative. And, to make things even more fun, the first guy to run away is probably going to be fine: he’s got all of his buddies holding them off. The last guy is going to get shishkebabed by a Gothic/Frankish/Norman/English lance, so how much do you trust your buddies?
(2) also isn’t actually easy to overcome, either. If you are a professional soldier, you might like the fighting. That’s how you get honor and, more importantly, loot. If it looks like you’re winning, you might really want to be the first person on the scene. You might make a lot of money. This is actually how the English lost at Hastings. The English housecarls, who were pros, successfully stood in a line with the pointy sticks the right way against a half dozen Norman charges, but broke when the Normans faked a retreat. They were then slaughtered.
But yeah, “get my guys in a line with sticks the right way” was sufficient for Alexander, the Romans, and Napoleon to get into the world conquest game. Simple, but that shit really works if you can actually do it. But you do need to actually do it.
We bought a building that previously had section 8 tenants. None paid on time, the very first month that we owned it. The housing authority didn’t pay either. After 8 phone calls spanning 3 weeks, during which time we had already given 3-day notices to pay, and filed for eviction, the housing authority finally called us back, asking what the heck we were doing evicting THEIR tenant.
We informed them that under state law, we were following the required procedure for eviction for non-payment. They told us that under the terms of the 17-page Section 8 Contract, we could not evict the tenant for any reason whatsoever, including non-payment. We asked why they didn’t pay us on time, and they replied because we had not signed the Section 8 Contract yet, after the purchase. Ah-Hah!
We then informed them that we would be proceeding with the eviction, and would not be signing the Section 8 Contract. They told us that the previous owner had already signed it, and it is not revocable! They then threatened us with legal action if we continued with the eviction.
We told them that we had already consulted our attorney, who told us it is illegal to enforce or coerce anyone into signing or upholding an agreement that they did not willingly enter into. Thus, upon the sale of the property, as clearly stated within the Section 8 Contract itself, and apparently unbeknownst to the Housing Authority, the new owner has a choice to enter into Section 8 or not. And, oh by the way, selling the property is the only way to get OUT of Section 8, and the only way to evict Section 8.
The Housing Authority huffed and puffed, and went away. The tenants were evicted.
End of Story. Yes, it is legal. We’ll never do Section 8 again, ever, for any reason whatsoever.
An articulate well known diplomat with high integrity and trust Wang Yi is meeting a 6 year old mindset, with Neocons drumming his voice with China hate and U.S. hubris thinking China is still in its 100 years of humiliation and the U.S. is still the one eye king after everyone loses both eyes after 2nd World war in 1945.
I hope for Blinken’s sake he will stop talking like the U.S. is the angel and China is the devil. He may think so but 180 out of 195 nations think it is the other way around. Best don’t even go there! Pretend to act civil and learn humility. That will go a long way Blinkyboy!
Confucian ethics says it is better to overestimate your opponent and underestimate yourself than the other way a around. The U.S. needs a lot of this balancing. China don’t listen to hot air after all. China sees more than hear. Anyone can say anything.
The U.S. better not talk about its own self made propaganda, lies, misinformation and fabrications. China is way too smart to let you lecture. Moreover the U.S. has done too much evil to even dare preach. Better focus on how to work with China on each others progress. Projects of common interest and goals to enrich the world, China and the U.S.
Without China the U.S. will die of pneumonia, with China it may suffer common influenza once in a while. Sure China will fly with the U.S. and still travelled at breakneck high speed rail without the U.S. but the faster China goes the more the U.S. will benefit too. If it knows humility.
We bought a house in a small California town, primarily because of our dogs. It had two and a half fenced acres, and was in a semi-rural area. Our dogs were getting old, and we wanted them to have a peaceful place so that they wouldn’t be stressed while we were at work. Well, it seemed like we bought a house in the “snob hill area.” During the first week we were there, a man stopped by our gate and informed me that our car was too old, and that we needed to get a new one. I told him that we were new to the area, and asked him to recommend a dealership. He did so, and I told him that I would meet him there the next morning, and to remember to bring his checkbook. For some strange reason, he hasn’t spoken to me again.
In the military, are you only allowed to keep on you what is issued to you by the government or can you buy extra protection if you want to? (knives, extra guns, extra supplies, etc), also, is your weapons and gear all new when you get them?
From a Navy perspective…
In the military, are you only allowed to keep on you what is issued to you by the government or can you buy extra protection if you want to? (knives, extra guns, extra supplies, etc)
Being on ships, there are some things you can and can’t have. No one, except a few watches, carries a gun on a regular basis. Generally, they’re issued out prior to watch, during security drills, or during actual events that threaten the security of the ship. Having a personal firearm onboard would have been useless, as it would always need to be locked up in the armory. There’d be no reason to have a personal firearm. The only people who MIGHT be allowed to have one would be the Commanding Officer, or a flag officer.
As for knives, I used to have one or two I carried everywhere while on ship. I was an engineer, and knives are essential, but not issued. I usually had a large Buck folding knife (I liked how they kept an edge), along with a small Swiss knife on my keychain. At one point I did have a double edged boot knife that I would keep hidden, specifically because they weren’t authorized. And only certain fixed blade knives were allowed (based on size).
Other types of gear we could go outside of regular issue were certain uniform items. When I was in, we had what were officially called “chukkas”, but which we all called “boondockers”.
These weren’t too bad, if they fit right, and they got more comfortable as they wore in, but they were about as mass produced as you could get, and the quality was inconsistent. They had steel toes that would cut through the inner lining and tear your toes apart, and a little saltwater would destroy the shine and eat the leather.
So, many of us would spend a small fortune on civilian shoes, much like these…
The Navy was fine with them, as long as they had steel toes and were black (for enlisted). They were supposed to be leather, too, but a lot of us would go for the ones that were synthetic, specifically because they were water proof.
There were other items that were not “issue”, but were sold as extras in the uniform shop. Back in the 80’s, there was a light black jacket we called the “Johnny Cash” (not to be confused with the black working uniform with the same nickname). If you ever went to certain overseas ports (generally Hong Kong), you could get your dress blues lined with an Asian motif embroidery on silk. This was out of sight for inspection, so the command never had a problem with them.
As for “extra equipment”, we sailors really didn’t need much more than what was already given us. We were allowed to bring on personal items, as long as they could be stowed properly. Electrical items always needed to be safety checked, and might need a request chit (permission slip) to bring it on board, but I usually had a computer for cruises, and game consoles were popular.
…also, is your weapons and gear all new when you get them?
This all depends.
Your primary issue for almost everything is in Boot Camp. That’s all your uniforms, toiletries, and other kits, such as sewing. These are always new, and upon issue, you have to identify your items with you name. In my time, we had a “stencil party”, which consisted of the entire company sitting down on the deck and using a machine cut stencil and special pens, we stenciled our names on everything.
I can literally smell the stencil ink as I write this. Not unpleasant, but strong.
From that point on, you’re responsible for replacing any items that aren’t up to standard. You get an annual allowance for this, and you can choose where to buy your gear.
I have broken service, and my uniforms weren’t in the best shape when I got back in. I was given an allowance that was meant to buy a new seabag (what we call our full set of uniforms), but I decided to save a little money and go “used”. There are always “boot drops”, the recruits who didn’t make the cut, and they have to return their uniforms. These were in good shape, but stenciled. We could buy our uniforms used, then cross out the old stencils and add our own. Saved about half what I would have paid for new.
Ships also have a lost and found, and those items are sometimes auctioned off for the welfare and rec fund. You could get some decent items from that.
As for weapons, well, you don’t keep your service weapon when you leave. Those are turned around and reissued. You might get new, you might get used.
The Evidence has been submitted and the case is closed
The Judgement has been delivered.
DEATH.
…
The MEA tried many times to help out but Qatar refused to comply
So there is no point discussing the evidence
We can go to the ICJ but given that Qatar is a gas lifeline to Europe, I am certain ICJ will pass
They openly bankroll the Hamas and yet not even a pinky finger has been pointed at them to this day
We need to get our boys out
That’s crucial
Now I am almost certain, the death sentence would not be carried out.
It never does
Except Eli Cohen and a handful of others, most spies are never killed or executed
Eventually there will be trade offs and exchanges
My guess is if India backs a Two State Solution in UN and votes against Israel for a cease fire and UN involvement in the Gaza conflict, that alone could secure a commutation to life imprisonment
Typically there could be a round robin exchange
Meaning a third country could mediate the release of hostages in exchange for India doing something for this third country
Like US or Russia or China
Ideally if we had a few Qataris in our Jail, we could do a swap
We don’t
Qatari tourists to India are non existent
We can’t pull out business contracts because we have only 6% and the Chinese would grin and happily take over
We can’t pull out of Oil and Gas contracts because we have no major long term deals and these are fungible goods
Of course they will, that is a a done deal, in fact they have already. Overtaking the U.S. is a piece of cake. A bunch of war monger selling stuffs no one one wants to buy at astronomical prices because they pay their greedy CEO 100 times that of China with workers that demand 10 times higher salaries working half the hours and insist 5 times more benefits!
Never mind this, the Yanks believed they can spend till thy kingdom come and spend like there is no tomorrow! China will pretend that they fear the U.S. but to the Chinese they not need to lift a finger, Uncle Sam will bankrupt it selves.! Hubris will bury them. Superiority complex will destroy themselves!
Let me help you hubris and racist Yanks understand the real world. As long as you still think the world belongs to you, the easier it is for us! China today in reality is at least twice bigger than you and that is being highly overestimating Uncle Sam and underestimating ourselves!
At the very worst., China is growing 5 times faster than you. The U.S. is totally fxxked! But we will pretend that the Chinese is 50 years behind the US! You loved that don’t you?
Embrace a lifestyle that costs only a fraction of your earnings.
Living below your means is like having a superhero cape you never have to show off. It’s the ultimate life hack for me, it makes one feel invincible, calm, and in control.
It’s likened to standing in a rock-solid tower while chaos swirls around you, that’s a feeling words won’t be able to capture.
In many places, especially in my home country, living modestly is more than just a money-saving trick; it’s a shield against life’s darker corners.
It keeps you off the radar for all sorts of unpleasant situations, from kidnappings for ransom to targeted robberies.
It also makes you less of a walking ATM for friends, family, and even strangers who see you as their personal bailout fund.
Choosing simplicity when you could go grand is a power move. It’s like having an invisible army guarding your peace. You’re not just scraping by; you’re flourishing but on your terms.
This lifestyle is the ultimate stress-buster. You’re cruising in a relatively comfort zone where you’ve got the choice but not the pressure to splurge. When you do spend, it feels like tossing a pebble into a pond, not like drilling a hole in a dam.
Living this way gives you access to a type of joy most people can’t even put into words, let alone experience in their lifetime.
Imagine being able to book a dream vacation or buy a dream home on a whim, leaving everyone around you stunned. That thrill is something money can buy only with a huge dose of discipline.
When you can comfortably afford your belongings, life takes on a different hue. You’re the boss, and everything you own is just a tool to make your life better, not a golden calf to be worshipped.
You only hurt one person, you, when you chose to live above your means. It is a recipe for sleepless nights and constant stress.
Being smart about how you live pays dividends in happiness and freedom, the very assets that are truly priceless.
There was a tall, lanky fellow who always wore long sleeves and sat down the table from me in engineering class. He didn’t talk much, had a strange sneeze and mostly kept to himself.
I had a sneaking suspicion he was smart, really smart. I shouldn’t have cared either way but between my bloodthirsty competitive side and penchant for people watching, my radar was always on.
And it wasn’t like I had any evidence, grades, test scores or even a remote conversation to draw my conclusion from.
All I had was a subtlety I’d noticed: His body language.
It was a cool confidence juxtaposed with a complete lack of stress on his face.
This absence of stress is not to be confused with slackery. He was laser focused on our material but rarely took notes. That pencil just sat by his hand begging for playing time, but no. Class didn’t seem to faze him. It was as if he was just in cruise control, coasting along while we all paddled to keep up.
He would go on to graduate first in his class.
But I had confirmation before that.
One day towards the end of the term, our teacher put a very high level problem on the board and asked who knew the answer. I immediately looked at him – he knew the answer. I could tell. His head sat still while his eyes were darting around waiting for someone to answer.
He was smart. He had it in his pocket. But he wasn’t looking for attention.
The teacher reiterated, “Anyone?”.
Finally, he slowly raised his hand and read off the answer like a trained assassin: calm, cold and collected.
You don’t need test scores to realize someone is smart.
Just watch them, it’s usually there. And it’s usually the quiet ones. Still waters run deeper.
China is TAKING OVER! Tiangong Space Station HUGE Update
Zero! Unless the US cancels all sanctions and restrictions it has placed on China. China is using the proceeds of its bond selling to buy gold. The expectation is that China will begin using gold backed currencies whether the Yuan or a BRICS currency. China sees the US headed for bankruptcy or at best, a financial and economic restructuring. So far, the US continues to print dollars and spending like there is no tomorrow, especially its spending on foreign wars. Yesterday, it was Ukraine, today it is Israel, tomorrow???
Schumer’s recap of his meeting with Xi has the tone that is as condescending of a lecture by an adult to a child. Here are all the points.
Point #1: At the foundation of our relationship must be a level playing field for American businesses and workers as well as responsible competition. We need reciprocity. That means allowing American companies to compete as freely in China as Chinese companies are able to compete in America. I made clear to President Xi that we do not believe there is a level playing field or reciprocity now.
Schumer is complaining about a level playing field? Reciprocity?
This is from a Congress and administration that has more than 1,200 Chinese tech companies on the Entity List and cried economic coercion when China placed restriction on one U.S. companiy. And he’s “making it clear to President Xi” that the U.S. wants a level playing field?
Point #2: “I raised the huge structural inequities and serious imbalances the U.S. faces in its economic and trade relationship with China. For decades, the Chinese government has erected significant barriers aimed at restricting the ability of American companies to compete in an open and fair manner in China. I made clear that the United States cannot sit idly by and that we must address the Chinese government’s forced technology transfers, theft of intellectual property, required joint ventures, and intimidation of U.S. businesses operating in China, among other troubling actions, that undermine economic reciprocity.
“Specifically, I also raised the need to remove restrictions and open up the Chinese market to U.S. companies, including from the semiconductor, financial services, and aerospace industries, and putting an end to policies that intimidate U.S. businesses operating in China.
What restrictions? What structural inequities?
Shouldn’t U.S. companies be making their own decisions on these? And as they say, the proof is in the pudding.
U.S. companies are making money in China. This is why they’re in China. It is precisely because of the structural benefits that China offers that U.S. companies are accepting the Chinese terms for doing business in China. U.S. companies can at any time decouple to India but are not because of the superior structural benefit China offers. And it is also why there is a “structural inequities” between the U.S. and China because, like India, we do have the infrastructure and manufacturing resources to compete with China’s. And this is not China’s fault. If the U.S. and India want to compete, then its incumbent on themselves to build the requisite “structure”.
Evidence of China’s open market? There’s Tesla in China’s automotive market and Apple in the mobile market, both market leaders in the world’s largest market. Nvidia was also the market leader in the world’s largest semiconductor market but its the U.S. banning them, not China.
Point #3: “Equally important to the need for reciprocity is the need for China to take more aggressive action to stop fentanyl from coming into America. Right now, the scourge of fentanyl is costing tens of thousands of lives and destroying American families. I called on President Xi to work with the United States to stem the flow of precursor chemicals that are fueling America’s fentanyl crisis.
And how exactly is China suppose to do this when precursor chemicals are not even banned substances in the U.S.? Fentanyl is a legal drug precribed by U.S. physicians for their patients.
Enforcement of illicit drugs is the sole responsibility of the U.S.. Blaming China is just a sorry excuse for failing at controlling an epidemic of our own making. It’s our greedy Pharmas in collusion with the FDA and physicians that promoted opioid use and solving this can only done by us alone.
Point #4: “I raised with President Xi the unfolding atrocities carried out against Israel and the need for the world community to stand together against terrorism and with the Israeli people, and pointedly requested from President Xi that the Chinese Foreign Minister strengthen their statement; they did.
Schumer is lecturing China on its foreign policy. He stressed the “unfolding atrocities” against Israel but omitted the greater “unfoldering atrocities” that the Israelis are committing against the Palestinians that he wants China to ignore.
Point #5: While we must ensure that our trade policies are fair, the United States will also prioritize our economic and national security, including protecting advanced technologies. Our delegation made clear that America is not seeking a confrontation with China, but we will remain steadfast in our commitment to promoting stability in the region, freedom, and democratic principles, and vigorously defend our values around the world.
This is just BS political talk. He’s saying that U.S. policies should be fair but justified when it’s not when we prioritize economic and national security, including protecting advanced technologies. So the U.S. subsidizing companies to the tune of $52 billion on building chip fab in the U.S. is ok but accusing China of doing the same subsidizing its tech companies as unfair and illegal trade practice. And its ok to sanction China from advanced chips and machines that make them – even forcing the Dutch, South Korean and Japanese companies to join – is justified for the sake of U.S. national security.
Now, how different would a Biden meeting with Xi be from Schumer’s? The Democrats has an election in 2024 and this will be nothing more than an electionering tactic at China bashing to win votes.
Radical Culture Change
Russia’s Top General: “Ready for Post-Conflict Negotiations”
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said today “Moscow is ready for negotiations on post-conflict resolution of the crisis in Ukraine and on further coexistence with the West.”
Russia knows Ukraine has lost. Russia knows the West can no longer provide weaponry or money to keep that conflict going. Russia knows it’s defense production is SEVEN TIMES GREATER than all the West combined. Yet, they are extending an olive branch.
Hal Turner Remarks —
We in the West should seize the moment and take this opportunity to move forward in peace.
Sadly, I fear the West simply CANNOT seek peace. I think the West – especially the United States — is literally Bankrupt. I believe the West **needs** a nuclear war or at least a partial nuclear war, so they can blame their financial collapse on the war. I perceive the West **needs** debt forgiveness and the only way they can get it is through mass destruction.
It seems to me the West needs to be able to go to their creditors and say “Our cities are destroyed, our people are dead, our economy is smashed. We have no hope at all of ever paying you back. We need debt forgiveness.”
If I am right, the Creditors, seeing this is the actual reality, will have little choice.
I suspect at that point, the very people in the West who perpetrated the massive financial destruction, get to walk away, free and clear, **remain in power ** (that’s the key) and start the whole shitshow all over again. Then, in maybe another 75 years, they have to do it all again. Round and round the wheel spins. Same old, same old.
If the West turns down this move for peace that Russia is offering, then ALL OF US know the whole Russia-Ukraine thing, and the whole Israel-Hamas thing, was specifically designed to intentionally CAUSE nuclear war for debt forgiveness.
Nothing else about these situations, makes any sense to me.
This is especially true of athletes in their mid and late 30s.
Men’s testosterone begins to decline around 30. We don’t recover as fast and lose a bit of our power over time. It’s a subtle change that catches up to them.
And many champions don’t know when to walk away in their prime.
Ronaldo is now sitting the bench on Manchester United:
True soccer fans knew this day was coming—as in fans who aren’t Ronaldo fanboys. He wasn’t playing at a high enough level to start on Manchester United. He was leaving the midfield too open while he camped out waiting to score goals.
He’s 37 and feeling his age. And that’s fine. Father Time catches up to everyone.
The sad truth is that this happens to the best of athletes. And it’s never more evident than in combat sports. Fighters that seem invincible, will go from being 31–1 to suddenly losing 8 of 10 fights in a row.
Muhammed Ali stuck around wayyyy too long and at least accelerated his mental decline.
Anderson Silva used to look untouchable. And then, age 38, he began a long losing streak.
Losing 6 of his last 8 fights.
The only person smart enough to walk away seems to be Khabib Nurgademedov. He was 29–0, and the allure of 30–0 whispered his name—but he stayed disciplined and knew to step away.
Meanwhile, his nemesis Conor McGregor has been racking up losses.
It’s a good metaphor for life.
Some phases of our life have an expiration date. Relationships. Jobs. Parties. And if you stick around too long, it just makes things worse.
The most dangerous creation of society is the man who has nothing to lose.
Today, at age 34 our combined net worth is $1.6M, not including equity in our home and equity in a small business my wife runs.
I can tell you our story, but it will probably bore you to sleep.
I had it in my head at the age of 25 that I wanted to be a millionaire in 15 years. So I sat down in front of a computer and opened up excel. I made a simple spreadsheet that assumed market returns of 7%. I then calculated how much we needed to save each year to obtain millionaire status by 40. We then proceeded to save the amount of money generated by the spreadsheet and invest in index funds, basing our lifestyle around the remaining income.
That is it.
Why did it happen sooner?
My wife hated her job. She was treated with very little respect by some members in the office, I suspect because she was young and good at her job. So she left. I told her to take some time for herself and figure out what she wanted to do. Little by little she began doing some book-keeping and tax work for former clients (she is an accountant). As word got around, more people called. She began networking and eventually built up a small accounting business with her and two employees. It’s humble, but we are able to save 100% of her earnings which helped us reach our goal sooner.
If you met me on the street you’d think I was a generic 30-something with all the same stresses of a corporate job, house and kids that most middle-class 30-somethings deal with. You’d probably assume I was barely getting by when you saw my dirty 14-year-old car, especially after you learned that I like to commute by bike most of the time anyway.
And that’s it. Having means is often more about your life style than your earnings. Unfortunately I’m not a savvy business man who made millions in his 20’s while driving a Ferrari and flying first class. I used a spreadsheet, saved that amount of money and built my lifestyle around that savings rate.
Then my wife and I woke up rich.
I told you it was a boring story.
Cajun Pork Chili
2023 11 10 09 48
Ingredients
2 pounds ground pork
2 large onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet red bell pepper, chopped
1 sweet green bell pepper, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano*
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Dash of hot pepper sauce
Salt and pepper
Instructions
In a heavy saucepan, cook the pork over medium heat, stirring to break up the meat, for about 5 minutes or until browned. Pour off the fat.
Add onions, and cook until tender.
Add garlic, red and green peppers and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
Add tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a spoon.
Stir in kidney beans, hot pepper flakes, oregano, cayenne pepper, hot pepper sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Notes
* If you prefer a more traditional chili flavor, use cumin instead of oregano, and add chili powder to taste.
There is a sausage that is popular in the deep South in the Unites. It’s called boudin. It’s a kind of very spicy sausage and super tasty. I used to get it at the local quickie mart, and along with meat pies and fried catfish are some of the best ‘eatin that I ever had.
One day, while living in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, my wife made me some homemade boudin, and I ate it just prior to hopping on a plane to Chicago for a meeting.
2023 11 12 09 20
But she didn’t make it quite right, and I suffered from the most amazing gas that I ever had. I thought that I was having a heart attack! I was freaking out and almost called the ambulance from the hotel. But once I got on the phone and talked to a nurse and explained what I ate, it was simply a matter of taking a stomach pill. Phew!
Anyways, if you are gonna eat this tremendously delicious dish, please make sure you cook it properly.
2023 11 12 09 22
What’s Boudin & Why Louisiana Is The Best Place To Find It
Like many of you, I didn’t know what boudin was before first arriving into Southwest Louisiana. I like to consider myself somewhat worldly and at least aware of many foods, but somehow boudin had escaped my culinary lexicon for 40 years. But if you are from Louisiana, and particularly the areas around Lake Charles, then boudin isn’t just familiar to you, it’s a big part of everyday life. As I discovered though, it’s a lot more than just a snack, it’s an important part of Louisiana’s culinary traditions.
What Is Boudin?
To say that boudin is a type of sausage is wrong, although when you first see it that’s exactly what it looks like. To really understand boudin, we have to go back to those Acadians who originally settled in Southwestern Louisiana. Who we now call Cajuns, these French-speaking settlers were forced out of Canada, but took with them their proud French culture and traditions, including boudin. Boudin in Louisiana is different though from versions you’ll find in other parts of the world.
d5d92947bb7e3100da854e39c4a3dc0f
At its simplest, boudin is a combination of cooked rice, pork, onions, green peppers and seasonings. The mixture is pulverized in a meat grinder before being stuffed into sausage casings. It is then steamed for on-the-spot eating. But those are just the basics, boudin changes in taste and flavor from cook to cook, no two are exactly the same and are based on recipes that have been handed down through the generations. That’s why it’s so much fun to drive around Southwest Louisiana sampling different versions, to experience new tastes and flavors in what is this area’s go-to food.
25448069546 0eb9d47fcd b
When And How Do You Eat It?
Asking around, I soon discovered that there is no perfect time to enjoy boudin. It’s very common for people to buy some in the morning to take to work for the office to enjoy, and no proper road trip in Southwest Louisiana would be complete without some boudin links to snack on. Pronounced “Boodan” (never say “Boodin”), this is as simple a snack as you can get, and slowly eating the link whole is very normal. But there are many variations, including the most common, fried boudin.
delicious boudin slices
Cut into smaller pieces, breaded and then fried, you’ll find fried boudin balls in everything from breakfast sandwiches to serving as an entire meal in their own right. While you can certainly buy them in grocery stores in the area, homemade is best and there are any number of small meat shops and independent butchers and grocers in and around Lake Charles that specialize in their own versions of boudin. To best enjoy this regional delicacy, a culinary route was established to help locals and visitors alike discover different variations of boudin on what is now called the Southwest Louisiana Boudin Trail.
25355152052 0a29d3fe56 b
The Southwest Louisiana Boudin Trail
The sign read, “Napa Valley has wine. New York has pizza. Wisconsin has cheese. Southwest Louisiana has boudin.” To say that boudin is an important part of foodie life in Lake Charles would be a massive understatement. That’s where I started my culinary adventures in Louisiana and in addition to offering a lot to see and do for visitors, locals consider themselves to also be the home of boudin. It’s also from Lake Charles where you should start your trek along the Boudin Trail – just make sure you skipped breakfast.
Truly the best way to understand and certainly enjoy the importance of boudin is to actually taste it. In Southwest Louisiana that means traveling the Boudin Trail along US Interstate 10 and stopping off at the many independent businesses all verified to be serving up some of the best versions of boudin in the area. For my own boudin experience, I was invited into the kitchens of a local favorite – B&O Kitchen & Grocery.
25381342151 5318df5a8f b
Jeff Benoit is a third generation Benoit to own the B&O Kitchen and Grocery, which specializes in of course boudin, but also cracklins and other tasty meats. Walking into his kitchens, Jeff first took me back to the fryers where new batches of cracklins were being prepared. The aromas were heavy in what can only be called porky goodness. Pork fat with skin that’s fried to within an inch of its life and then salted, these treats are delicious and as I discovered, somewhat addictive. I was there though for my first lesson in boudin, which Jeff’s daughter had prepared for me.
2023 11 12 09 42
True to form, Jeff wouldn’t tell me exactly what seasonings he uses, but just smiled and promised that they were delicious. I picked up the small sausage link, taking a peek at the rice and meat before enjoying that oh-so-important first bite. A gentle but not intense heat from the spices was the first thing I noticed, but then the combination of well seasoned meats and rice came into play, creating an overall bite that can only be called perfectly constructed. I then took my second, third and fourth bites, quickly understanding why boudin is so popular. Simple, easy to eat and not expensive, they really are the perfect go-to food for almost anything. Next to the “normal” boudin links, Jeff had also prepared some fried boudin balls and since nothing fried can be bad, I knew right away that I’d love this version even more.
Jeff and the B&O is just one of more than 25 small, independent businesses along the Southwest Louisiana Boudin Trail, each offering their own unique takes on this Southwest Louisiana staple. It’s not just about the food though; it’s also about the culture. Many of us who don’t live in Lake Charles or surrounding towns don’t really know a lot about Cajun culture. But it’s more than what we see on TV, it has a long and proud history and it’s still very much alive. Food teaches us about new cultures when we travel; it emphasizes what is and is not important. In Lake Charles and other neighboring communities, that first step in better understanding what makes this part of the world tick starts first and foremost in the kitchens of the local boudin experts lining US 10.
Boudin sausage is worth the drive
KEVIN BEGOS
SCOTT, La. – Want a true taste of the real Louisiana? You’ll want to get behind the wheel and head out of New Orleans and off into the cypress swamps and rice paddies of Cajun country. Because that’s where you’ll find scores of mom-and-pop meat shops and convenience stores preserving a hundreds-year-old tradition of some very special sausages known as boudin. And you’ll be glad you did.
Welcome to Louisiana’s Boudin Trail, a loosely defined region west of New Orleans, both north and south of Interstate 10.
“Boudin is not a New Orleans thing. It is a Cajun country thing,” says Robert Carriker, a professor of history at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette and author of “Boudin: A Guide to Louisiana’s Extraordinary Link.” ‘’There are meat shops that make a handsome living for entire families selling almost nothing but boudin.”
Most boudin is boiled and served hot, but you also can buy it smoked, fried in balls, and made with crawfish, alligator or deer meat. There are boudin egg rolls, boudin grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza topped with boudin, even boudin stuffed king cakes. A handful of slaughterhouses still make old-fashioned red boudin, a blood sausage version.
2023 11 12 09 4s0
Boudin (pronounced BOO-dan) is a tradition that dates back to the 1700s, when French Canadians came to Louisiana. Carriker says Cajuns started using local ingredients and spices to make sausages that are different from Old World recipes. They held communal livestock slaughterings, often in the fall, that combined food, family and music. Locals have loved the pork and rice sausages ever since.
2023 11 12 09 40
Today, the region is littered with shops serving and selling boudin, almost all using special family recipes that date back generations. Where to begin on an eating tour of boudin country? An AP reporter ventured out, sampling boudin for breakfast, lunch and dinner at almost a dozen locations. Of course, there are countless more. But these are some of the delicious highlights:
Johnson’s Boucaniere (Cajun French for smokehouse) in Lafayette sells wonderfully flavorful boudin, and 87-year-old Wallace Johnson tells stories of boudin’s origins at communal country hog slaughterings, or boucheries.
2023 11 12 09 3s9
“When they killed the hogs, they had to use everything, all the meat, because they had no refrigeration,” Johnson said. “It was rice, liver and meat, and the seasoning. In the old days they didn’t have a stuffer. They would take a cow horn” and use it to push the boudin mixture into casings.
2023 11 12 09 39
Johnson’s father started making boudin in 1948 at the family grocer in Eunice. That store closed in 2005, but Johnson’s daughter Lori and his son-in-law Greg opened a new location a few years later, using the old family recipe. They sell a great breakfast biscuit with boudin, cheese or egg, along with po’boys, gumbo and other local specialties, such as barbecue potatoes and an outrageous bread pudding with praline sauce.
The Best Stop Supermarket on Route 93, just north of Scott, is a country store with a dizzying variety of specialty meats and sausage. Co-owner Dana Cormier said the family began selling boudin as a way to make ends meet in 1986, when oil field jobs went downhill.
“When we first started, we’d make like 100 pounds, here and there,” Cormier said. Now “we make about 4,600 pounds of boudin a day, Monday through Friday,” along with 35,000 boudin balls a month. The Best Stop’s boudin is exceptionally moist and meaty, with pieces of scallion and a touch of old-fashioned liver flavor.
The state legislature gave Scott the title of “Boudin Capital of the World,” causing hard feelings in Broussard, which originally held the title, and some grumbling in Jennings, the “Boudin Capital of the Universe.”
Billy’s Boudin & Cracklin’ in Scott, just off I-10, sells an amazing smoked boudin, perfectly balancing the meat and rice with just a hint of smoky flavor. Their boudin egg roll is excellent, too. Crackling is deep-fried pig skin.
2023 11 12 09 32
At the same I-10 exit, check out Don’s Specialty Meats, which sells a tasty, moderately spiced boudin with chunks of meat, as well as innovations such as Tater Tot boudin, which is a good choice for people looking to ease into the experience. They also have a large selection of Cajun specialty foods and spices, such as pickled quail eggs and jars of roux.
photo0jpg
On the edges of Abbeville, about 30 minutes to the south, Herbert’s Slaughter House and Meat Market is one of the few places you can still buy red boudin, made with blood and an old-fashioned range of pig trimmings. They have fresh and frozen links, and the red boudin is moderately spiced with a slightly metallic taste, similar to English blood sausage.
2023 11 12 09 34
Meanwhile, 30 miles away in Beaux Ridge, Cajun Works sells a wonderful, blisteringly spicy boudin ball in a small sit-down restaurant.
Ronnie’s Boudin & Cracklin’ in Hammond sells a version with a nice, full, creamy flavor, along with many specialties, such as crawfish boudin, deer boudin and andouille sausage.
2023 11 12 09 35
Ready to hit the boudin trail? Start by heading to www.boudinlink.com , which has an interactive map showing more than 50 boudin stores, as well as a link to Carriker’s review of each one. Also check out Southern Foodways Alliance — www.southernfoodways.org — which works to preserve southern food cultures.
Carriker says you could start by visiting one city and sampling all the different boudin there, since each store makes it differently. Some areas, such as the Lake Charles region, have their own brochures with lists of boudin trails.
2023 11 12 09 36
Or you could cruise along I-10 in either direction, stopping at the many stores near the highway. In general, old fashioned boudin often has more of a liver flavor, and boudin lovers look for a good balance between meat and rice, and a texture that isn’t too mushy or too dry.
Some people like their boudin spicy, others like it mild. And appearances can be deceptive; a small country gas station may have the most wonderful boudin, so stay open to serendipity.
This was few months after my daughter was born. My husband and I were trying to get back on track with our sex life. I had some difficulties. It didn’t feel the same as it used to be and I was worried.
He sensed it and he said, “ You know what? 50 years later when both of us are very old, do you think sex is going to be important? What I really want is to be able to grow old with you and I want you to be happy and comfortable to be with me till the end. We’ll consult a doctor and we’ll figure this out. I’m ready to wait until you are ready for this.”
That moment, I felt really lucky to be married to him.
Buster Crab, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich
Buster Crab, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich is a fried soft-shell crab served open-face over toasted brioche and dressed with fresh vegetables.
2023 11 12 09 12
Ingredients
1 Louisiana soft shell crab, dressed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup seasoned all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup mixed red, yellow, and green grape tomatoes, peeled
1 dash 25 year old balsamic vinegar
1 pinch minced chive
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 slice brioche or challah, toasted
2 teaspoons your favorite aioli
1 pinch micro greens
1 pinch lettuce sprouts
Salt and pepper to taste
Chive oil for garnish
Beet juice for garnish
Instructions
In a sauté pan, heat the canola oil over a medium-high flame.
Season the buster crab with salt and pepper. Toss into a mixture of seasoned flour and cornmeal.
Place the crab into hot canola oil and allow to cook for 1 minute on each side.
Season the tomatoes with salt, pepper, vinegar, chives, and olive oil. Place the tomatoes over a well-toasted brioche and place into a serving plate.
After cooking the buster crab, remove and allow it to drain over some absorbent towels for a moment.
Place the crab over the tomatoes and top it with a dollop of aioli, which you in turn cover with a pinch of micro greens and lettuce sprouts.
To serve, garnish the plate with additional chopped chives, chive oil and beet juice.
Sure. Here’s one – China is a very peaceful country.
In the past 40 years, while the USA was busy bombing cities and killing people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Grenada, Libya, Bosnia, Sudan, Somalia etc
China did not fight a single war with anyone.
Here’s another. It is untrue that China beats the USA in all areas of manufacturing and exports. There is one area where the USA is far, far ahead of China.
The USA is far, far ahead of China, in selling weapons to the world, for killing people. You know – bombs, missiles, artillery, tanks, fighter jets etc.
China ia no match for the USA in destroying people’s lives.
China only surpasses the USA in manufacturing peaceful, beneficial things such as solar panels; electric cara; antibiotics; laptops; furniture etc.
13 Things from the 1970s, Kids Today Will Never Understand!
There are some things that are unique to the decade that we grew up in. The 1970s was no different, having a distinct style that is easily recognizable, even to newer generations. But aside from the obvious disco and bell bottom trends, there were more minute details that people living during that time will easily recognize. So, here are 13 things from the 1970s that kids today would never understand.
If someone confronts you with a knife you pull the coins subtly from your pocket and drop them on the floor. The attacker will always look down to the floor upon hearing the coins drop and this will buy you a second or two to turn and run. This can also be used if someone is intent on fighting you and you know you need to land the first blow, it’s a distraction technique.
2. Never use an ATM while wearing headphones and if wearing a coat/hoodie, never have the hood up, both will affect your awareness and makes you more likely to be robbed.
3. When entering any room, work out where every available exit and hiding place is. In the event of an emergency you will react a hell of a lot quicker if you have planned scenarios in your head, it will make you far less likely to freeze up.
This was something explained to me by an ex-special forces guy I was chatting to at a conference (he was head of security). He was sat at the same table as me, one of those big round ones with 10–12 people on each. I noticed his eyes were never still and he was always glancing at each door, window etc, basically any entrance to that room. I got chatting to him after the conference and asked him about what I had observed. He said “imagine you are at a public event and an armed terrorist storms into the room and starts shooting, most people are going to freeze for the first couple of seconds and that can cost you your life, plan for it to happen and although incredibly unlikely it ever will, you’ll react instantly and it could save your life”
Would Western countries go to war to spread LGBTQ policies and environmental policies to restrictive socially right-wing conservative countries?
Why?
Because united we stand, divided we fall.
Those policies above? They atomise societies, atomised societies are easier to drive wedges into.
China 200 years ago 1820. There was a commonality of Chinese language. But we were fighting each other. Hakka hated Cantonese, Fujians hated Cantonese etc.
Sun Yat Set’s vision of Chinese nationalism was that we are all Chinese one people instead of atomised.
By 2023 we’re on the way to achieving this. We still keep our unique cultural identity but we intermarry we talk shit about other groups but 2019 aside there’s very limited division that we’d fight each other over.
That’s why I’m super suspicious of things like this
In that I don’t care who you’re miserable with and who you marry, but those groups? They’re often used as trojan horses by western governments.
Jimmy Sham for instance. He was on the side of the RIOTERS in Hong Kong. He was promoting VIOLENCE.
He claimed to have been attacked by multiple men with hammers for over a minute (he wasn’t he was exposed when he appeared the next day with only a small cut and fliers advertising his attack printed the day before).
They use their sexuality as a shield, you can’t criticise me! I’m gay!
We’d hired a guy and he seemed to have a good sense of humor. One day, he made a minor mistake and so I (thinking that he’d catch the humor) said “Looks like we’re going to have to transfer you to the Arctic Circle Remote Payroll Station.”
He said nothing, I let it go. Next time he goofed up, I mentioned that again and he got very apologetic, promised to work hard to not make any further mistakes, etc.
At any rate, a few months later, I mentioned that one more time and found myself in my manager’s office. He said that this guy was in terror that I was going to transfer him somewhere awful for what he thought were small mistakes that he’d promised to fix.
I said he should know that firstly, I’m not his direct manager so I couldn’t transfer him anywhere if I wanted to. But his big clue should have been “Arctic Circle Remote Pay Station.” Surely he couldn’t think that a movie payroll company had some operation on the Arctic Circle.
Well I don’t know, said my boss … all I can tell you is that you terrorized him and now you’re going to have to fix it. Okay, so I did.
(Good thing too because in the 12 years since that, he was promoted to supervisor, manager and he’s now a director and my boss.)
I taught a young Latino boy who was also short for his age. In secondary school, height is an issue.
By the second week of class, I was sure that he was illiterate, yet he submitted assignments and tests that were above failing.
At that point, I read his permanent record. There were no indications of cheating and his grades were Cs with only a few Ds.
How should I confront a student who already feels marginalized?
With the confidence of a newly certified teacher, I kept him after class one day and confronted him. “Do you know that you are smarter than every teacher you’ve ever had?”
His dark eyes grew deep and large!
“No.”
I insisted, “You are. You cannot read, and writing gives you a great deal of difficulty. You’ve been cheating all these years, and no teacher has caught you until now!
I’m giving you choices. You can continue as you’ve been doing and I will record your grade as F for cheating, or you can work with me, learn to read, do honest work, and earn an honest grade.”
He chose tutoring. He had great eyesight, strong artistic skill and had been reproducing the work of a variety of smarter students around him. He was dyslexic. It took patience from both of us for him to learn phonics and for him to get his quick brain to slow down to a speed that worked better.
By midyear, his grade of C was honest. By end of year, he was at a C+ in all his courses, and he’d been honest with every teacher about his problem, my tutoring, and asking each of them for help as needed!
Everyone has the freedom to buy stuff that makes them happy, may it be expensive purses/shoes, sports cars, yachts and boats, gambling, religion, tools and materials for hobbies and crafts, night clubs and fine dining, sports events and memorabilia, action figures and figurines, pre-order video games, subscription for streaming services, legal escort services and porn, legal recreational drugs (marijuana), tattoos and piercings… etc. etc.
There’s no such thing as a “dumb” purchase if it brings you joy and you can afford it.
Over the years, I had made plenty of “dumb” purchases. I bought a bunch of expensive lego sets. I bought video game figurines and collectible items. I pre-order games I like. I bought tools and materials for various hobbies, such as knitting, embroidery, and crocheting. I bought cookware and ingredients I only used once.
All of that could be considered dumb things, a waste of money.
On the flip side, I don’t buy luxury clothing items or shoes. All my clothes are from Uniqlo or Muji or discounted stuff from T.J.Maxx or Norstrom Rack.
I don’t go around claiming, “Gucci purses are the dumbest thing people buy.” Do you know why? Because I understand people are different and there’s nothing wrong in finding a little happiness wherever you can. I don’t judge people for purchasing things I don’t find very interesting.
Of course, if you spend beyond your means, that’s not very wise. But that’s not about the kind of things you spend money on, but rather you’re spending money you don’t have and it will eventually come back to haunt you.
But if they have the money, and Gucci purses make them happy, what’s so “dumb” about buying happiness? Oh, because you disapprove? Because Gucci purses don’t bring you any joy? So? Who the fuck are you anyways?
Life is short and miserable, for most people, most of the time. So, shut the fuck up and let people enjoy things.
Men need to understand that there’s nothing special in the body of random women you meet on the street/ Internet.
On difficult days, being extra gentle with ourselves is maturity at its peak.
Setting boundaries is not a display of disrespect . It’s an act of self-respect.
Maturity is seeing someone’s lack of effort as their lack of interest in you no matter what they say.
You don’t get fit eating everything . You don’t get wealthy spending everything.
Resist the urge to regret . Regrets are like old textbooks , you’ve already learned the lessons.
Your urges are your biggest enemy . Learn not to argue for nothing.
Self-acceptance shouldn’t stand in the way of self-improvement. Recognizing that you’re good enough today doesn’t prevent you from getting better tomorrow.
We’ve to be grateful for things . It’s too easy to be ungrateful. It’s too easy to not appreciate the simple things in life.
Fiancée DEMANDS Hall Pass 1 Month Before Wedding, In Shock After I Demand We Break Up!
“If I didn’t have a 26 year old son, and a 27 year old daughter telling me this madness is actually real, I honestly don’t think I’d ever believe it.”
I thought she was sweet and quite attractive but giggly and not very bright. I thought Dave could do a lot better. In fact some of his previous girlfriends had been intelligent and ambitious as well as great looking. One had even been an Olympic tennis player. I didn’t get this new one at all.
She is Jewish and Dave decided to convert. Our Dad was Jewish, our mother not. We had been brought up as agnostic. So Dave’s announcement was surprising and I’m sure I must have asked him if he was sure about this. I know our parents argued with him over his sudden conversion. However his new girlfriend and her family didn’t insist on him being Jewish, so I think this decision was about him wanting to join the culture of north London Jews rather than any sudden religious conversion. I never heard of him going to a synagogue or heard him utter a prayer.
They had a long and reasonably happy marriage. I was wrong about her.
Although it is true that she’s no intellectual and never achieved anything academically, she helped Dave be all he wanted to be and was content with that being her role. She was a great home-maker and possibly the kindest person I know. She is funny and light hearted. When my brother suddenly died, she was distraught but showed a strength I had never previously seen. She is a very supportive mother and grandmother. She was a big help to me when my wife died.
I had a terrible High School Algebra teacher. Coach Trout could not teach and had “favorites” who somehow received good grades. One day a group of kids were hanging out at Mellow Mushroom and saw him drive up to the nearby grocery store….he went in and a student walked up to his car to see who was inside. Guess what – one of his female students! He walked back out with a twelve pack of beer got into the car and left. Students told other students….a student told their mother….their mother called her mother….the mother called the school. Bye Bye Coach Trout.
Years later ran into him at a wedding….he was the DJ.
My cable company is starting to sound like this creepy, desperate -ex.
Each month the mail they send me is basically saying,
“PLEAAASE TAKE CABLE TV BACK. We’ll give you all the stations we gave you before at an amazing, amazing deal!”
Deal = $1 cheaper with a 24 month commitment, $399 cancellation fee + 2 kicks in the crotch.
By any logic I cut it, it makes no sense.
I divided the hours I was watching TV by the monthly bill and it came out to $15 an hour for TV.
I’m paying money to be forced to watch commercials every few minutes.
My cable package is forcing me to pay for a bunch of expensive channels (ESPN) that I don’t watch.
I don’t see cable TV as going fully extinct but I see it having a life as an increasingly endangered animal.
When you compare it to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and the like, it isn’t even a close contest. The only value cable companies add to my life is internet.
I think cable companies have become boxed into a bit of a hole. As more people realize how much they are being ripped off, they will keep cutting.
I don’t envy the cable executives who are charged with solving this problem.
One of my best friends of all time and I parted when we were eighteen, and heading for university. The next big leap of life. We had known each other since we were seven years old, and we promised to write (hand-written letters still existed, though the idea was certainly fading).
And I did write letters, many times, over many years.
But none of them ever got an answer. We had been very close, and shared some of our darkest moments in our young lives — I didn’t understand.
More than a decade later, I bumped into him in an everyday supermarket and bluntly asked him why he never answered any of my many letters. He looked at his wife and shrugged —
I was teaching a class in math in 4th grade. Because I’m kind of demanding of kids, and show them that anything less than their very best, is not good enough, I end every school-year with an hour of “roasting the teacher,” so they can get back at me for all those times that I’ve stood before them and asked for more.
I warn them that whatever they throw at me, I’ll return it in even measure. So, if they feel fat and don’t like it, they shouldn’t call me fat, cause I will make a fat-joke on their expense. If they feel ugly, they should not call me ugly, because I will do an ugly-joke on them.
So, younger kids are a bit scared and don’t really say anything. Older kids can’t help themselves and try anything to roast me. They never ever get to me, because kids are really bad at roasting adults.
But there was this little girl in a 4th grade class I taught a few years ago. After the initial stupid roasting (like, “your mom is so fat that …”) this little girl raised her hand.
As roasting can be a bit hard, I ignored her at first. She seemed fragile and I didn’t want her to get hurt. Usually the boys will shout any profanity at me and I will return their profanity with an equal profanity. It’s fun and it’s not personal. It’s a roasting game and the boys and girls who can handle it, get a go.
She kept her hand raised so finally I told her “Go ahead – give me your best shot.”
When I said that, this little girl, stood up, walked slowly along the back wall, then along the wall to the left. She came all the way up to the chalkboard and stopped just in front of me.
She lifted her right arm and raised a finger, pointing at me, about to roast me. Everyone in the class were silent and we all waited for it. Then she said:”
“Naaaahhh, you’re not worth it.”
Then she turned around, walking the same way back, just as slowly, and sat down.
The class erupted with laughter. It was beautiful 🙂
I didn’t roast her back. What could I say? I just got burned.
10 American Cities That Are DEAD Forever
“Having grown up in suburban Hartford, I agree strongly with the inclusion in this list. I left the area as a student in 1977, and was shocked about its decline when I happened to pass theough on a business trip in 2011.”
About 25 years ago, when I was still young, I had a crash at a roundabout. It was the kind of roundabout where visibility of all exits was excellent from a distance away, and because the roundabout was offset from centre, I was in a lane going straight on whereby you don’t need to turn the car at all to cross the roundabout.
So, on approaching I saw no cars to my right or straight on, and just carried on. Everything was fine until a car to my left, who should have given way to me (at roundabouts in the U.K. you give way to the right) just pulled out.
I hit the brakes but it was too late, and I went into the side of him.
He was immediately on the offensive, I suspect thinking insurance companies would take the word of a middle aged experienced driver over a 22 year old.
He kept saying that I was going far too fast, which was curious because by the time we hit I’d managed to slow down enough such that my airbag didn’t deploy.
He was impervious to reason, still yelling at me about my speed when the police showed up.
The policeman heard the guy say, “he was going far too fast”, to which the policeman replied, “if you thought he was going too fast, why did you pull out in front of him?”
It was online school, and we were just fooling around in our advisory breakout rooms.
We were discussing where people lived.
My friend, ‘Agastya’, let’s call him, told me that he knew where I lived.
“So,” I said, “Tell me where I live then.”
He repeated my exact address.
Me: Shocked.
Him: Smug.
Him:Me = 1:0
I asked him how he knew, and he said he’d seen my Mom and I playing outside while he was riding a bike with his friend.
In order to protect the great secret of my address, I told him, “Bro! I don’t live there! You know the house next door? I live there. I actually babysit the toddler of a very kind couple.”
He asked me to give the name of the mother.
I somehow made up a name—purely fictional I tell you—and told him it.
Five seconds later, he was laughing like hell and I asked him, “What? Give up?”
“See for yourself,” He said, laughing. He proceeded to share his screen, and I sat there, quietly, shocked at the results.
The “Kind Mother” had been murdered in 2016.
Never again would I give a fake name without searching it up first.
(Also, please note that we, in no way, intended to make fun of the fact that someone died.)
China is a pragmatic and rationalistic nation. The Isreal Palestine issue is a very long divisive issue with high emotion in both sides. China’s position is simply that they must find a long term solution such as a two state solution. This is a prerequisite for long term peace. It doesn’t take sides and not is it interested to be drawn into the conflict.
The reason being. China believes in the sovereignty of nations and that it can only be solved between Isreal and Palestinians. Not China or the U.S. for that matter. China sees quite correctly that U.S. lob sided stance is fuelling the crisis not resolving anything.
For the Palestinians sees that the Isreal government is backed by the U.S. to drive a wedge in the middle of a Arab and Islamic world. Hence it is an interested party. To China an Isreal that do shit on Palestinian land and people everyday then when they got hit Uncle Sam will always backed them out. And protect their excesses cannot be sustainable. It is foolish to think that Palestinian will put it up. At best Isreal is kicking the can down the road. Isreal and the US need to recognise this. For the good of them, the Palestinians and the world.
Laws a made by man, we are mere mortals. If laws are written unequal. It won’t last. That is the reason colonialism failed, it is also the reason the so called US international rules based order is rejected, if one stole land or occupied land that belongs to some one else and wrote laws to legitimately protect the wrong. It is double wrong not right. Two wrong don’t make a right China knows that laws written by the west cannot stand. It must go.
In 1840’s the British forced its jungle laws on China that it has a right to bring opium to China and drug the Chinese people bring havoc to the Chinese families. When China objected. The west jointly and severally supported Britain. To invade China and forced China to surrender HONGKONG for 156 years. This barbaric law were written by the British government. Of course laws like these can never be moral nor can it stand.
Why can’t China be more like South Korea?
You tell me this, would you accept a place literally BUILT to serve foreign soldiers? There’s literally a place in Seoul called hooker hill. Where those soldiers are completely above the law? Why would anybody want that?
Way back in the day when I worked fast food, it was common for my fellow employees and me to clock in within a few minutes of when we were scheduled to start. If someone was scheduled to start at 8 AM, they might clock in at 7:57, or 8:03.
One day, the manager decided she wanted people to clock in at exactly their scheduled time on the dot. You were scheduled to start at 8:00? She would not allow you to clock in at 7:57. You had to stand there staring at the clock for three minutes. If you clocked in at 8:01, you got written up,
This backfired in a spectacular but predictable fashion.
People started clocking in at exactly the scheduled start time…
…and clocking out at exactly the scheduled end time.
Before the rule, people would often stay a few minutes late if they needed to. After the rule, if people were scheduled to leave at 5:00, and a tour bus full of hungry roadies pulled into the parking lot at 4:58 (something that happened a couple times a month), everyone would leave at 5:00 exactly.
The new shift is still getting organized and there’s nobody in the grill area? Sorry, boss, you made the rules. Remember how you wrote me up for punching in at 8:01 yesterday? Remember what you said about the schedule? Well, the schedule says I’m off now.
The rule lasted about a week before the manager did a humiliating climb-down.
The Most DANGEROUS Teens Reacting to Serving Life in Prison
Step into an emotionally charged moment in today’s video, where we capture unscripted reactions of teenagers as they receive their court sentences. Watch as their faces reflect a range of emotions – shock, disbelief, and introspection – as they process the weight of their legal judgments. This thought-provoking glimpse into a critical juncture of their lives offers a unique perspective on the impact of the justice system on young individuals.
I was working at an upscale motel as the check in clerk. One night, around midnight, this nice looking couple came in and asked for a room. The man was slightly tipsy and dressed in a business suit. The lady was well dressed, sober, very nice. The guy signed the register, and it was time to pay for the room.
“Here is my check” he said.
“We don’t take checks here, it has to be cash or credit card.”
“You HAVE to take checks,” he replied. “I am in business. You have to take a check.”
“It’s the management’s rule, we don’t take checks”
He glared at me. “You will have to take a check. Everyone takes checks.”
“Sorry sir, we can’t take checks. That is our policy.”
He is getting angrier. “Every business takes checks….”
“Sorry sir…”
At this point the lady taps his arm. “It’s ok,” she says, “I’ll pay for the room. Here is cash”
The man looks over at her. He says, “Ok….I will write you a check. What’s your name?”
A couple times — once verbally and a few times non-verbally.
For the verbal time. Years ago when I lived in Minnesota, my ex asked me to go to the local farmer’s market to buy some things. I was wandering through the markets when this guy comes up to me and says: “Hey Steve!”
I kept walking; clearly he wasn’t talking to me.
“Steve? Dude?” he asked again.
“Um, my name’s not Steve,” I said. I got called this a few times until someone at a local restaurant asked me while I was buying takeout: “Are you Bonnie’s husband Steve?” “Nope,” I replied. Apparently I look pretty similar to someone named Steve in Minneapolis.
Now for the non-verbal.
One of the things you will not ever do to me if you want me to answer, or even respect, you is to shout out: “Hey, blind man!”
I am blind, and I am a man, but Blind Man is neither my first nor my last name. This has happened to me a few times when I lived in Manhattan. Sometimes when I’d be walking along a street, someone would shout this to me as I was minding my own business. I don’t care why you do it, but if you shout “Hay blind man” at me, I will not, under any circumstances, even acknowledge your existence. If you want to get my attention and you don’t know who I am, walk up to me, tap me on the shoulder or something and say: “Excuse me, sir?” Or something to that effect. “Hey blind man” will get you completely ignored.
I was friends with this guy in elementary school. He and I used to play together at recess and after school as we waited for our parents to pick us up. We even went to each other’s birthday parties during those years.
We didn’t talk much in middle school or high school, though. He was one of my many elementary-school friends who, once puberty and the popularity crunch hit, pretty much quit talking to me. I wasn’t one of the chosen “popular” kids… too ugly, and my parents were too poor.
Anyway, I have no hard feelings about it. Kids are stupid like that.
Over the years, a lot of my old classmates have either found drugs and ruined their lives, or found successful careers and are living happy adult lives now.
But this guy surprised me the most. That old elementary school friend of mine grew up to be a professional poker player:
He’s my Facebook friend now. We’ve never interacted, other than to send and accept friend invites, but he seems to be very happy. He’s married to a beautiful woman, and, judging from the pictures he posts, they do a lot of outdoorsy stuff, like hiking and camping. Good for them. I’m happy that he’s living his best life.
If you had a fair and equal justice system, Donald Trump (the father of the individual you mention) would presently be in jail awaiting trial – not only because of the stunning seriousness of the crimes of which he has been accused, but as a consequence of his own words, attacking both the criminal justice system, but also doing so in a way that actively threatens law enforcement and the judiciary.
Were it anybody else doing this, someone with less wealth or political influence, and they’d already have been in jail for weeks or even months, knowing that their trials would likely have additional charges tacked on for those threatening actions.
The United States isn’t a fair or impartial country, and the justice system sadly reflects that. It isn’t even a democracy anymore: whilst there are certainly democratic aspects, these are presently being undermined by Donald Trump and his cronies, as they push for a more authoritarian approach to governance. And, thanks in part to Citizen Utd v. FEC, and the nature of the US’ political elections, one thing is abundantly clear: the wealthy own the country, and live by different rules to the rest of you.
That Trump has committed such deeply serious offenses and yet remains free as a bird is evidence enough of that.
GALAXY QUEST is THE BEST!
Thanks so much for being here! OMGOSH! this movie is actually the best! I am so happy to have finally watched this! it is SO FUNNY and I can’t wait to keep re watching this!!
I am responsible for putting dreams in her brain before she falls asleep.
It’s a part of our nighttime routine… I read a book, tuck in the kids, give them hugs and kisses…
…then I put my hand on the top of my youngest one’s head, murmur some nonsensical chant, ask her what she wants to dream about that night, chant a little more, and then tell her I put the dreams in there.
Sometimes, I tell her that I put in dreams about “Ice cream, puppies, and spiders.” Then she’ll say, “No! Not spiders! Take that one out!” So I put my hand back on her head and tell her I took it out.
Sometimes, if she’s having trouble sleeping, she’ll come into my room and request better dreams, because the ones I gave her aren’t working. It’s cute when she does it before 10 pm. It’s annoying when she does it after that.
Sometimes, I tell her it’s a “surprise dream.” In the morning, she tells me what she dreamed about, and I say, “Yep, that’s the one I put in there.”
Back in college one or our profs made the blanket prediction that a new wave of obesity was about to sweep the nation.
The year was 1978 and the professor was Daniel Atkinson (who would later join the National Academy of Science as a biochemist).
His basic rationale was that the recent shift to high fructose corn syrup as a sweetening agent in American processed foods was a huge mistake that would have ramifications far beyond the the nominal amount of money saved by switching to a cheaper sugar.
The underlying biochemical premise was that, unlike glucose, fructose metabolism shunts one of the main regulatory steps/enzymes of glycolysis (phosphofructokinase-PFK).
Because of this, every bit of fructose consumed that was not needed for energy production would quickly be stored as fat.
History has proven him right (although there was more to it- noting that it was also around this point that America’s penchant for eating-out, and restaurant portion sizes were increasing in tandem along with the growing shift from food primarily being regarded as a source of sustenance as opposed to a source of pleasure).
Look at pre-1980’s films/TV programs that show Americans out on the streets and compare the sizes of the people in the background crowds to later post 1980’s films.
Similarly, look at pro athletes from the pre/post 1980’s and you’ll notice a similar pattern.
Anyhow, the point here is that the fairly abrupt American shift towards obesity can be linked to both to the biochemical properties of the food we consumed prior to the 1980’s as well as the gluttonous ways we increasingly adopted while on our way to the current “food porn” era.
If I found a mysterious bottle that promised a Djinn, I would put it back exactly where I found it and run in the opposite direction.
I’ve read enough folklore, myth, and fairytales to know that making deals with a supernatural entity never, ever ends well for the mortals. Even if the mortal doesn’t get screwed over by the Djinn or the devil or crossroad demon, they’ll soon realize either their wish didn’t resolve the problems they have or the wish created more, bigger problems.
“Faustian Bargain” is a cautionary tale to warn people not to take the shortcut because there isn’t any “easy” way. And the payment you give for the wealth and pleasure is always bigger than what you get.
So, put the bottle back, or sell it to some moron who thinks they can outsmart the devil.
China’s Groundbreaking 1nm Chip: Redefining Technology and Global Power
I asked the wrong woman on a date. I have a problem remembering names and faces. There was a girl at school I had been chatting with during lunch breaks, Vicki. There was another that I had met and spoken to exactly once during an outdoor cookout at the school (college) Marie.
I had an occasion where I was performing, the event included a dinner and dancing and I could bring a date.
I planned to ask Vicki as I had spent more time with her and felt I knew her better.
I am rushing between classes and I am stopped by a girl who says Hi. Vicki. I surprise her by asking her to accompany me to my event. She says yes and I get out my note pad to write down her number (prehistoric days before cell phones) and write the name Vicki. She says “That’s not my name.” I apologize for my memory glitch and ask her what her name is. Marie. Then it dawned on me, I had just asked out the wrong girl. But she had said yes and I was a gentleman so I would not back out.
We went on the date. We both fell in love that night. We were engaged three weeks later. That was 38 years and one son ago. We are still together. And yes, she knows the story.
Imagine you’re at an airport. You’re on your plane and all of a sudden the pilot says “I’m sorry folks, but there are like 30 cargo planes waiting to take off and they all get to go first even though we were first in the passenger take off line. We’re going to be here another hour.”
Or you’re driving on the interstate and the right lane is marked “Tractor Trailers only, except for exiting”. so you have to use the left lane only, which of course is crowded with slower cars even though there’s lots of room in the right lane and trucks are moving very fast.
It’s even worse for Amtrak. In the deal that created them, the railways got to keep all the track. Amtrak has to pay to use it, but they have no say in its upkeep. Now, in theory, passenger trains are supposed to get priority over freight trains but, in practice, the three mile freight train running at 10 m.p.h. on rusty tracks gets to go first, so Amtrack trains wait.
If you go to Europe, the passenger and freight trains use separate systems, so passenger trains only get in the way of other passenger trains.
There’s also a feeling in the United States that rail doesn’t matter even though, particularly in densely populated areas, it carries more passengers than road and planes together. As such, the government doesn’t give Amtrak a lot of money. In Spain, on the other hand, the government went nuts laying out a new high speed rail network, buying trains, and upgrading stations. As such, there are like 16 trains a day between Madrid and Barcelona that cost $40 at peak times and like $8 at non-peak times.
When I was in high school, a divorced lady moved in across the street (quite scandalous, she was the first divorced person in the neighborhood). Her boyfriend was an older guy named Herbie. He was cool. He drove a bunch of cool cars, Lincoln, Jags, Caddies, etc.
Her kids were older than me and gone a lot.
Herbie asked me if I would mow her lawn. I usually got $5 for mowing a lawn, Herbie gave me a $20. My parents made me go give it back. Herbie gave me a 5, then took the 20 and stuck it in my shirt pocket. ““Now you can tell them I paid you a 5”.
A couple of times Herbie made spaghetti and meatballs and they had me over for dinner.
One day I was hanging out at the neighborhood gas station and Herbie drove up and started using the phone booth. My friend said “that guy always uses the phone to call his bookie, I think he’s a gangster” I told them no way, but when Herbie left and waved to me, they were impressed.
One day I go out to get the Newark News and there’s a headline “Mafia Lieutenants run things while Capos are in prison”. And there in the series of pictures is Herbie.
He was Jewish, made up for being Italian by supposedly being extra tough.
He was always really nice to me, me being friends with him made my parents nervous, but they never said anything, except for me overcharging for lawn mowing that first time.
This happened in the 90s in Anchorage, Alaska, towards the end of summer. 2 geniuses decided to rob the Key Bank during daylight hours at a time in the afternoon when rush hour was almost at peak traffic. Key Bank was located at a corner where there was three major avenues with at least 3 lanes each, right in the middle of a 1 way grid. All lanes on all those streets were headed north, west and east, all one way streets. The apparent plan was 1 genius actually committed the armed robbery whilst his side kick drove the get-away car. Fine so far. Key Bank also is only a few blocks from Anchorage Police Department and jail. The hold up itself went off without a hitch. Now, mind you the streets were jammed with cars. Including an Anchorage PD officer sitting in his unit waiting for the light to turn green. This officer happened to be heading to the Police Department. The armed genius ran straight out the main door of the bank and (without checking if he was diving into the get-away car or not), threw open the police unit’s back door, threw the stolen money on the seat and threw himself onto that same seat. He slammed the door shut and screamed “Go! Go!”. The amused officer (who just heard about the heist on his radio) said “I will as soon as the light turns!” He arrested the genius right there and took him straight to booking along with the loot. He later claimed it was the easiest open and shut case he ever had!
A horse tale
I’ll never forget the day my mom called me in a panic: ‘Janna, you’ve got to convince your daddy to get rid of that horse, it’s gonna kill him!'”
Janna Grapperhaus shared the touching story of the bond that was built between her father and an abused horse.
Major was a young and vicious stallion when her father bought him. He “couldn’t be broke”.
“The men who owned him previously had used a technique to break horses that involved beatings and tying his head tightly between two posts where they left him standing without food or water for 4 weeks,” Janna said.
But Major stood strong.
When her father brought him home, Major barreled through five strands of fence within minutes of arriving. He’d bite and strike anyone that got too close.
“My dad never broke him… he earned his heart,” she explained. “Every single day, for hours and hours dad worked to earn that abused horse’s trust. Love won and after two full years, Major allowed my dad to ride him. When dad would go out, Major would kiss him on the head over and over. They had a bond that only horse people could ever understand.”
So when her father passed, it seemed fitting to let Major say goodbye.
“This is Major’s last kiss.”
Doing things right…
In 2018, 13-year-old Jaequan Faulkner started a small business selling $2 hot dogs with $1 sodas and chips from a stand in front of his house in Minnesota.
But his small business was in jeopardy after someone reported him to the Minneapolis Health Department.
Impressed by the young man’s drive, health inspectors decided to teach the young entrepreneur about proper food handling to assist him in getting his hot dog stand up to code.
The teen’s stand passed inspection, and it was the inspectors themselves who paid the $87 fee for his “short-term food permit.”
I was flying on a milk run, from Houston to Dallas, to Denver to Calgary. Its May long weekend , and I have another flight from Calgary to Vancouver to catch, to meet some friends for the long weekend. I get to the airport in Houston and the lady behind the desk is having a bad day. There is a thunderstorm in Houston and my flight is cancelled. I explain that I am going to miss my.connecting flight to Vancouver, and ask if maybe there was an alternate route, maybe through Vegas. She did her best, and came up empty. I thanked her for her effort, and said I will lose the cost of my Vancouver flight, as it was with a different airline, and have to buy a new ticket.
She asked me why I was being so nice, when my vacation was ruined. I told her I was just being normal, and I appreciated them not risking my life flying into Dallas.
She told me that her afternoon had been hell. I was the only person not yelling at her. So she goes back to her desk, and says, she put me on the first flight in the morning. I come back in the morning, and not only did she put me in first class, she rebooked my Vancouver flight in first class with a different airline.
I don’t know how she did it, but I was only 16 hours late for my vacation, and didn’t miss much.
When I was in a bar in Vegas with my black, British-Born-with-Jamaican-roots dad, I entered into conversation with a group of strangers and pointed to my dad and referred to him as “the black guy in the blue shirt over there”. You would have thought I had slapped them in the face. I got screamed and shouted at for having the nerve to call him black and that I should call him African-American. I kept telling them he’s not American and not African either but they wouldn’t hear any of it and in the end informed me(!) that whilst in America I should call him British African-American.
He had landed in London and would be living there for about six months. He had gotten his iphone all set and was there with our 15 year old daughter.
He had his phone out at a bus stop and was checking the schedule. A little ways away a group of teenage boys were plotting mischief. Suddenly one of them breaks away, runs up to him, grabs his phone, and runs away.
Now, my husband, god love him, is a lovely man, a brilliant, overweight biostatistician. But he needed that phone! Badly! So he took off after the boy, who did NOT expect that at all.
He chased him down the street and around the corner, and then the boy disappeared. Furious, he said to some construction workers, “Did you see a boy run past here? He stole my phone!” Yes, he went right around the corner, and it’s a dead end, one of them said.
Mike went around the corner and there was a reedy looking, terrified 15 year old kid cowering in a pile of garbage, desperately trying to unlock his phone.
“Give me my phone, dammit!” he shouted. “Right! Now!”
It may help to know that all British people are firmly convinced that every American is insanely violent and probably carrying a gun…
He handed Mike the gun. Mike turned and walked away. The workers asked if he wanted them to call the cops. Mike said no, he’s just a kid.
The workers all laid into the kid, saying, “You are so lucky! You nearly ruined your life right there! for a phone! Are you crazy?” They were still yelling at him when he was out of earshot.
I would not want to be that kid for any amount of money.
For nearly a year I had excruciating pain in my hands, wrists, neck, and shoulders. It would last anywhere from a few days to over a month. The doctor never really put much effort into finding out what was going on and would prescribe pain medications and muscle relaxers.
The second to last time I saw him, he informed me that I was an addict and he was putting that in my file. I had asked repeatedly for a referral to see a rheumatologist; he flat out refused, even with a family history of RA and other autoimmune diseases.
I made an appointment myself and paid for the visit and the labs out of pocket as, without a referral, my insurance company wouldn’t cover it. The rheumatologist’s office was in the hospital so he requested the blood test for RH factor be expedited (he was one of the hospital’s best and longest associates, so they did as he requested).
About an hour later he told me that I have RA and he had things pretty much under control in a few weeks. I went back to the first doctor and showed him the lab results and print outs of my x-rays. I chewed him out for letting me not only live with the pain and the permanent damage to my joints, but for accusing me of being a drug-seeking addict – particularly since I had never asked him for anything except an answer as to why that was happening. And yes, I did report him.
Zones: A map of relationship types to help relieve dating confusion
I decided to stay up one night after my husband and kids went sleep reason because it’s usually the only time I had to myself. I cleaned house a little bit took a shower and made coffee . I sat down to watch TV and read a little bit , I didn’t last long before I fell asleep in the recliner. It was a very restless sleep and I had bad dreams like the kind that you know your dreaming but you can’t wake up and any attempts you make to fight or run in the dream were useless because it was like you were weighed down. When I did wake up I was sweating and very groggy. While I’m setting there trying to shake the groggy feeling my dog comes and sets at my feet and is staring at the bar between my kitchen and living room as I turn to see what he’s looking at a very thick large fruit bowl on the bar that had apples in it burst into hundreds of pieces and the apples went in different directions. It scared me so bad that for a few minutes I couldn’t get up to look around and when I did no one was awake and both doors were still locked, still to this day I can’t think of any logical reasons to how that thick bowl just burst like that. What ever it was my dog was aware of it.
My years ago on a Monday morning trial docket a woman showed up in a lace red cocktail dress with a large flowing skirt, her hair piled high on her head with red pearls set in, red purse and red shoes. I can only assume the attorney told her to look nice. She looked GREAT for a Saturday night dinner at an expensive restaurant but for a Monday morning her outfit stood out. You could see her from across the room. It was years ago but I learned that day to specify to dress conservatively like you are going to church not a cocktail party.
I have a good friend. We meet each year at a restaurant in Chicago. He always narrows his choice for a starter to one of two soups that he likes. No matter how often I remind him which is which, he always gets confused, can’t remember the difference, and can’t even remember which is the one he likes.
So the one thing I do for him is the obvious solution:
I order one of each, let him taste both, and I let him pick the one he likes that night. Maybe it’s the same as last year, maybe not; who cares? I like them both.
This has been happening for 15 years and it isn’t going to change. My solution works and it’s just our personal ritual.
JUST HAPPENED: China-Russia LATEST Military Pact in War Shocked US
In my junior year of boarding school (1982 to 1983), our history teacher, Mr. Steve Patterson, was a dyed-in-the wool 1960s hippie type. He was about 34 back then. Originally from Ohio, he was a calm, pacifistic sort who wore his unabashed liberalism on his sleeve. Since Mr. Patterson lived on campus with his wife and two young children, part of his job was to head a table in the dining hall twice daily, at breakfast and dinner.
However, neither he nor his family ever touched the school’s fare—which, though it was actually superb (really!), was also very traditional, i.e., full of meat and dairy products. The Pattersons were adamant vegetarians, back at a time when this issue was barely on the radar for most people. They used to bring along their own food, packed in Tupperware containers bulging with disgusting-smelling, homemade hippie-1970s-vegetarian concoctions. (Mr. Patterson would, though, deign to eat an ordinary peanut-butter sandwich now and then.)
At this school, we were all pretty close, so virtually no topic was not subject to vigorous discussion. We used to tease Mr. Patterson quite a bit, and he’d give it right back to us, with all the usual arguments you hear from vegetarians or vegans today, i.e., animal cruelty, fat, hormones in the meat, the environment, sustainability, etc. None of us heeded him (I certainly didn’t), but one thing he said back then does stick out in my mind to this very day:
“In the future, people are going to sue McDonald’s and Burger King for causing heart disease, what with all the fat and unhealthy ingredients, the same way that smokers are now suing the tobacco companies.”
At the time, I thought this notion ludicrous. Today, forty years later, I still haven’t converted to vegetarianism, let alone veganism, but I have to give Mr. Patterson his due. The food industry, the meat industry, and the fast-food industries have all come under increasing fire in recent years. Books, articles, and media productions focusing on portion sizes, obesity, and sustainability have proliferated.
Sad to say, Mr. Patterson didn’t live to see his prediction come true. He died of ALS at the age of 52, back in 2001.
I was fortunate enough to be a patient of a wonderful General Practitioner Doctor for almost 20 years.
We had a great rapport, so any of my visits were very friendly and efficient and usually included a bit of friendly banter.
I’ve been playing some kind of sports all my life, and went to see him about a pain that would rise up in my left knee after about an hour of tennis.
After x-rays and a few tests I was back in his office for the results.
His back was to me, and he appeared to be studying my x-rays.
I saw the slight shaking of his head as I heard him take a deep breath and very slowly let it out (I found out this was all for dramatic effect after his performance).
Still with his back to me I heard him say in a serious sounding tone, “I know what is causing your knee problem, and it’s very sad to have to tell you that your condition is incurable It will without doubt become worse over time.”.
“There are things I can do to help slow down the damage and difficulty, but nothing to stop it..
He knew me well and I’m a rather stoic individual who wants to “cut to the chase”, and as he figured I said, “So Doc, how about just telling me what it is so I can assimilate and deal with it.”.
A slow rather dramatic turn to face showed me a Cheshire Cat’s grin as he said, “Welcome Michael to the ranks of us who are simply getting old and our aches and pains are caused by that incurable health issue called aging.”.
We both had a good laugh and I departed with his set of instructions and the realization that I was officially getting older physically.
I didn’t want to hear it, yet knew I would, so it came as no big deal. But I did appreciate my doctors touch of theatrics and dose of humor.
The Japanese did try to do that. And they did capture Navajo men. However, they were unsuccessful in using them to decipher the code. The reason was simple. The Navajo Code was a code that usedNavajo. It was not normal spoken Navajo. To a Navajo speaker, who had not learned the code, a Navajo Code talker sending a message sounds likea string of unconnected Navajo words with no grammar.It was incomprehensible.
So, when the Japanese captured a Navajo man named Joe Kieyoomia in the Philippines, he could not really help them even though they tortured him. It was nonsense to him. He was in New Mexico’s 200th Coast Artillery unit when the Philippines fell. He had a horrible war as a POW on the Bataan Death March. Then he was later held at POW camps near Nagasaki and was there during the bombing. He survived the bomb and was released three days later. He returned to the Navajo Nation and lived a long life, dying in 1997 at age 77.
The reason capturing Navajo did not work was that it was a code, not spoken Navajo. The Navajo Code had to be learned and memorized by the Navajo Code Talkers. It was designed to transmit a word by word or letter by letter exact English message. They did not just chat in Navajo.
That could have been understood by a Navajo speaker, but more importantly translation is never, ever exact. It would not transmit precise messages. The US Marines only wanted to use such a code if it could send exact, word for word, and letter for letter transmissions. There were about 400 words in the Code.
The first 31 Navajo Marines created the Code in a Marine base in the San Diego area with the help of one non-Navajo speaker officer who knew cryptography. The idea of the Code was brought to the Marines by Philip Johnston. He was a WWI veteran, and engineer in L.A. and he spoke Navajo and had Navajo friends and contacts because he had grown up as a missionary kid on the Navajo Reservation.
The first part of the Code was made to transmit English letters. For each English letter there were assigned three (or sometimes just two) English words that started with that letter. Then those words were translated into Navajo words. In this way, English words could be spelled out with a substitution code. The alternate words were randomly switched around. So, for English B there were the Navajo words for Badger, Bear and Barrel.
In Navajo that is: nahashchʼidí, shash, and tóshjeeh. Or the letter A was Red Ant, Axe, or Apple. In Navajo that is: wóláchííʼ, tsénił , or bilasáana. The English letter D was: bįįh=deer, and łééchąąʼí =dog, and chʼįįdii= bad spiritual substance (devil).
For example, using the letter substitution part of the Code, the word “bad” could be spelled out a number of ways. To a regular Navajo speaker it would sound like: “Bear, Apple, Dog” on some days. Or on other times it could be “ Barrel, Red Ant, Bad Spirit (devil)”. Other times it could be “Badger, Axe, Deer”. As you can see, for just this short English word, “bad” there are many possibilities and to the combination of words used.
To a Navajo speaker, all versions are nonsense. It gets worse for a Navajo speaker because normal Navajo conjugates in complex ways (ways an English or Japanese speaker would never dream of). These lists of words have no indicators of how they are connected. It is utterly non-grammatical in Navajo.
Then to speed it up, and make it even harder to break, they substituted Navajo words for common military words that were often used in short military messages. Almost none were just translations. A few you could figure out. For example, a Lieutenant was “one silver bar” in Navajo.
A Major was “Gold Oak Leaf” in Navajo. Other things were less obvious like a Battleship was the word for Whale in Navajo. A Mine Sweeper was the Navajo word for Beaver. That would be pretty impossible to guess
A note here, as it seems hard for some people to get this. Navajo is a modern and living language. There are, and were, perfectly useful Navajo words for submarines (tsin naaʼeeł táłtłʼááh naagháhígíí –”boat, under the water, the one that goes”), and battleships and tanks. They did not “make up words because they had no words for modern things”.
This is an incorrect story that gets around in the media.
There had been Navajo in the US military before WWII. They had words for everything in the world that existed in 1940. And they have words for all the newer things today. The Navajo language is different and perhaps more flexible than English. It is easy to generate new words. Most nouns are made by conjugating verbs so they indicate what the object does. They borrow very few words and they have words for any modern thing you can imagine. The words for “telephone”, or “train”, or “nuclear power” are all made from Navajo stem roots.
Because the Navajo Marines had memorized the Code there was no code book to capture. There was no machine to capture either. They could transmit it over open radio waves. They could decode it in a few minutes as opposed to the 30 minutes to two hours that other code systems at the time took. And, no Navajo speaker who had not learned the Code could make any sense out of it.
The Japanese had no published texts on Navajo. There was no internationally available description of the language. The Germans had not studied it at the time. The US Marines were careful about that. The Japanese did suspect it was Navajo. Linguists thought it was in the Athabaskan language family. That would be pretty clear to a linguist. And Navajo had the biggest group of speakers of any Athabaskan language. That is why they tortured Joe Kieyoomia. But, he could not make sense of it. It was just a list of words with no grammar and no meaning.
For Japanese, even writing the language down from the radio broadcasts would be very hard. It has lots of sounds that are not in Japanese or in English. It is hard to tell where some words end or start because the glottal stop is a common consonant. Frequency analysis would have been hard because they did not use a single word for each letter. And some words stood for words instead of for a letter. The task of breaking it was very hard.
When translated directly from Navajo into English it is:
“SILVER TWO BLUE JAY CHICKEN HAWK SHEEP AXE NOSE KEY BLUE JAY IRON FISH AND WHALE. “
You can see why a Navajo who did not know the Code would not be able to do much with that. The message above means: “CAPTAIN, THE DIVE BOMBER SANK THE SUBMARINE AND BATTLESHIP.”
“Two silver bars” =captain. Blue jay= the. Chicken hawk= dive bomber. Iron fish = sub. Whale= battleship. “Sheep, Axe Nose Key”=sank. The only normal use of a Navajo word is the word for “and” which is “dóó ”. For the same message the word “sank” would be spelled out another way on a different day. For example, it could be: “snake, apple, needle, kettle”.
US Military has Overextended Itself – John Mearsheimer, Alexander Mercouris and Glenn Diesen
1 large sheepherder loaf, about 8 inches in diameter
2 cups shredded lettuce
2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
Instructions
Prepare Cajun-Style Beef Sausage (crumbles); add salami, mixing thoroughly but gently. Form sausage mixture into 1 large burger patty, 8 to 9 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick. Place patty on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 10 to 11 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, 10 to 11 minutes) until instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into center registers 160 degrees F, turning once. Use 2 grill spatulas for easier flipping. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, top patty with cheese and allow to melt.
Meanwhile, combine tapenade and giardiniera in small bowl. Cut sheepherder loaf in half horizontally. Scoop out extra bread from middle of both halves, as desired. Toast loaf on grill for 2 to 3 minutes, if desired. Line bottom of bread with lettuce and tomato; top with burger. Top burger with tapenade mixture, close sandwich. Cut into 8 wedges.
Notes
Sliders: You may prepare 12 sliders instead of one large patty. Form twelve 2 1/2 inch diameter patties in step 1. Place patties on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 8 to 10 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill for the same time) until instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into center registers 160 degrees F, turning occasionally. During the last minute, top patties with cheese and allow to melt. Continue with step 2.
Why would the LATAM countries want to lessen Chinese influence and increase US influence when they have had a much worse experience with the US for more than 200 years?
The US had the Monroe Doctrine which turned Central and South America into a US political fiefdom where the US militarily intervened and toppled governments it didn’t like.
China never did that to the LATAM nations.
So why would the LATAM nations want to increase US influence unless the governments were directly US controlled?
The US influence on LATAM was never based on trade; it was based on the power of US multinational businesses such as United Fruit and US military power. Basically, the US government and its military acted as a protector for US business interests in the LATAM region.
When I was in High School there was a on-going activity that was very popular with us guys and girls. This was square-dancing. And you know what? I loved doing it. I also loved the attention that the girls would give to me when they would ask me to go out dancing.
It has been many years… but seriously, I haven’t square danced since. And you know what? I miss that aspect of my life. A fun time during school that occurred so, so very long ago.
However, the bright side is here in China, free dancing is morning, noon and night. Woo! Woo!
Sigh.
Today…
The US Establishment: The Dumbest People In The Room
With the unbending support provided by the US foreign policy establishment for the obvious Israeli “atrocity” propaganda ploy to facilitate a second Naqba, the complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza, that establishment has once again shown itself to be the dumbest people in the diplomatic and international relations room. Below, I cover the increasing utter ignorance and stupidity of those that have a self-image of the cleverest people in the room; a disabling combination of ignorance, stupidity, corruption and arrogance. The current Israeli elite, the vast majority of which hold US, other Western and even Russian passports, may not be as dumb but are being driven to desperate means by the demographic dynamics of the region together with the now obvious decline of US power.
Part of the pure dumbness of the US foreign policy establishment is due to its utter corruption. Within the military, the generals tend to be those that could kiss ass and politic well, not those that served their countries well. Part of that kiss-assing is to the deeply corrupt corporations of the Military Industrial Complex, who are focused on profits not improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the US military nor its use for the general benefit of the US population. That MIC is the retirement plan for the generals, and admirals, as this piece by the Quincy Institute details. To quote:
· 26 of 32 four–star officers who retired after June 2018 — over 80 percent — went to work for the arms industry as board members, advisors, executives, consultants, lobbyists, or members of financial institutions that invest in the defense sector.
· The biggest category of post–retirement employment for four–stars, by far, was as board members or advisors for small and medium–sized arms contractors, with 15 choosing that option. This compares to five who became board members, advisors or executives for one of the top 10 arms contractors.
· Five retired four–stars became arms industry consultants, five became lobbyists for weapons companies, and four joined financial firms that make significant investments in the defense sector.
The politicians are also widely known to be utterly corrupted, with the MIC making sure that it has factories in the electoral districts of every senator and representative, and “money as free speech” rained down upon them like rain from the oligarch rain makers. Bob Menendez is only one of the worst examples:
Then we have the “intellectuals” who sell their knowledge and skills relatively cheap on the “thinktank” circuit. With respect to Occupied Palestine they have many such intellectual pimping organizations to choose from, one of them being the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, full of ex State Department operatives and craven academics. Nowhere can you find who actually funds this so obviously pro-Israel and pro-aggressive US foreign policy outfit. The beauty of such “thinktanks” is that propaganda can be so easily washed through their hands onto the pages of the mainstream media as if from some, “independent” academic source:
Today, almost daily, newspapers in the U.S. and Europe carry analysis about the Middle East by experts of the Institute, but without identifying the organization as pro-Israel and close to the Israel lobby … the Washington Middle East Scene … changed radically … with the advent of the Clinton administration. Clinton appointed Martin Indyk, who founded WINEP as the research arm of AIPAC, as his chief Middle East advisor (he did not have U.S. citizenship at the time and his papers were rushed in to meet the confirmation process).
The administration then cleansed all Arabists from the State Department and anybody who was identified as tilting to the Arab point of view was sent to Siberian posts. The message was loud and clear: the U.S. government would no longer tolerate anybody daring to express the “Arab point of view” in the Arab-Israeli question.
That quickly elevated the status of the Washington Institute and many of its researchers served in high positions of government, especially at State and Defense. At least three of its “experts” served as assistant secretaries of state for the Near East (the top Middle East post at the Department of State). The reputation of the Institute as the organization which staffs Middle East posts at the National Security Council in the White House, State, and Defense grew.
The US State Department was consciously made dumb, with those that understood the complexity of the Middle East replaced with Zionist ideologues. The same can be said for Russia, with true academics such as Stephen S. Cohen pushed to the media and academic edges as they had the temerity to consider that Russia may have its own legitimate interests. The same with those that truly understand China and understand that cooperation with China is the best option for the US long term.
The US establishment, dominated by the international and global corporations from at least the 1930s onwards, seeks complete domination of the globe for the facilitation of the extraction of resources and value added for the furthering of its own wealth and power. With the coming of the second unipolar moment, all arms of the foreign policy and security establishment were cleansed of those that understood and empathized with other nations and restaffed with ideologues that would happily implement the plan for global domination. This is the reason why the Eastern European Division of the State Department etc. was filled with extremist ethnic Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans who have a pathologic hatred of Russia. These people are simply tools of the oligarchy, courtiers who will only stay in place if they carry out the oligarch’s wishes. The same for the many Jews in senior state positions, who after the post-WW2 attack upon the Jewish community as communists (e.g. the McCarthyite taking down of the Jewish Hollywood moguls, Oppenheimer, the Rosenbergs etc.) quickly moved to the right to protect themselves; becoming consiglieres to the US Mafia-State in addition to the Italian Mafia.
Their positions are not a sign of their strength, rather a sign of their readiness to serve the US establishment; empires many times use compliant ethnic minorities to help administer their territories. The same as Israel itself being a colonial project of the UK and then the US as a Western island of influence to keep the Middle East weak, just as with Ukraine after the 2014 coup.
Even with the highly obedient ethnic courtiers, no risks are taken with the oligarchic control. Three oligarch-serving and quite prominent Muslim anchors, Mehdi Hasan, Ayman Mohieddine and Ali Velshi, have been removed by MSNBC during the current Israeli colonial escalation. This after the US Jewish courtier Dan Abrams (ABC’s Chief Legal Analyst and media entrepreneur) singled out the three of them for opprobrium for their delivery of an honest balanced view of the true causes of the conflict. How dare the ethnic courtiers question the oligarch’s policies! Perhaps they feel how US Jews felt after being victimized during the McCarthy era?
Taking Afghanistan and Iraq without a plan
Sheer over weaning arrogance drove the US establishment to invade Afghanistan and Iraq without a plan for “what after?” Six trillion dollars later they had exited Afghanistan through a pathetic retreat and had greatly enhanced Iranian influence in Iraq. For much less money the US could have easily funded the development of the two nations and gained the support of their populations. But of course, that would not have provided a massive process of financial extraction through which the MIC and US capitalist ruling class in general extracted vast amounts of money from the US state. The money would end up in the bank accounts of the already rich, and the debts were owed by the US people. As would much of the drug profits from the poppy fields that came back into production after the Taliban was removed, and ceased production soon after the Taliban returned.
Attempting to thwart Chinese technology parity to the US
After blindly profiteering from cheap Chinese labour for more than two decades, while facilitating the development of China as an industrial competitor to the US, the US establishment is now trying to close the technology door after the horse has bolted well down the field. Instead of crimping China, these policies will simply reduce the sales of Western technology companies. Within a decade at most, China will have equalled or surpassed the West in all technology fields. In microchips, as in many other technology fields, the Chinese were happy just to buy the goods from the West. It was the sanctions which actually galvanized Chinese corporations and the state to launch a massive program to overcome the Western technology lead, and the Western sanctions designed to keep China as a subaltern.
Attempting to use Ukraine against Russia
The utter ignorance and delusion of the foreign policy elites was shown in their utterly ridiculous belief that Russia would fold like a house of cards under Western sanctions and its population would rebel and overthrow Putin. The opposite has occurred, as Russia is poised to win the Ukrainian war in the next year or so, support for Putin has strengthened, and it is Europe that has been weakened. At the same time, the Western financial system has been exposed as a tool for the expropriation of those that disagree with the West. In addition, the sanctions have freed Russia to align with both Iran and North Korea; strengthening both in their opposition to the West and strengthening the EurAsian anti-West alliance.
Creating and Facilitating the extremist Zionist Israeli Settler Apartheid State
The vast majority of European Jews in the post-WW2 period wanted to emigrate to the United States, but the still relatively high level of antisemitism in the US blocked this route, as was the case with Canada and the UK as well. Another route would have been to carve a new nation out of the ruins of those that had attempted to exterminate them, primarily Germany but also perhaps a Lithuania where the extermination of the 200,000+ Jewish community had involved many members of a deeply antisemitic community. The latter option was not probable under the Stalin leadership and the former not under the German occupation by the US, Soviet Union, the UK and France. Instead, the Arab population would be made to pay for the centuries of antisemitism of the Europeans.
This option fit the foreign policy aims of the British (who issued the infamous Balfour Declaration in 1917), and later the US, to have a European settler colony to aid the control of the Arab lands under which oil had been found while once and for all ridding themselves of the Jewish issue. This option also fit the aims of the Zionist Jewish minority, a group of non-religious Jews who planned for an ethnically pure Jewish homeland. With the support of the British, an increasing number of European Jews (Ashkenazi) were allowed to settle in Palestine; prior to the British mandate that started in 1920 only about 5%, 25,000, of the population was Jewish. During the mandate, over 400,000 Jews emigrated to Palestine, and by 1947 the Jewish population was 630,000 out of a total of a total of 2 million. Through a UN dominated by the Western powers (the Soviet Union had not taken its chair at the UN Security Council and the Chinese chair was taken by Taiwan), the Jews were allotted a contiguous homeland that was disproportionate to their relative numbers (56% of the land) and contained much of the coast as well as the best land; the desire to “hem in” the Palestinian population was obvious. The Zionists then grabbed much more land through the Nakba ethnic cleansing which was the primary cause of the Arab-Israeli War, forcing 700,000 Palestinians to flee. The UN have since passed endless resolutions telling the Israeli’s to relinquish this stolen land, but with the US, France and the UK enjoying veto powers at the UN Security Council these were toothless. The establishment of Israel was fundamentally a British and then a US geopolitical project, led by non-religious Jews who had planned a nationalist and racist project of ethnic cleansing for decades; the latter simply took advantage of the Holocaust to wrap themselves in religious victimhood clothing.
Since then, Israel has served the US Empire well both as an offsetting power in the Middle East and also as a provider of enforcers across the globe. The latter are extremely useful as they give the US a gift of deniability, with Israelis doing the Empire’s dirty work. Just as the Nepalese Gurkhas and Indian ethnic minority Sikhs had done for the British Empire. Over the past few decades a greater number of non-European Jews (the Mizrahi) have settled in Israel, and their birth rate has exceeded that of the European Ashkenazi. The Mizrahi tend toward a greater level of religiousness and extremism, with the worst elements being akin to a Jewish ISIS that wants a Jewish state ruled by Jewish religious law. It is this group that also wants to demolish the Al-Aksar mosque, the third holiest place in the Muslim world, and build a Jewish synagogue upon its ruins. The current Israeli government, and an increasing number of its armed forces and police, represent the Mizrahi. The Ashkenazi – Mizrahi ideological split represents the basic conflict within Israeli society that had broken out prior to the most recent Gazan conflict.
This excellent Duran panel with Alastair Crooke and Glenn Diesen covers this schism within Israel.
Both the Ashkenazi and Mizrahi are ethnically cleansing Zionists, their only differences are between the nature of the Israeli state and the tactics used to gain their objective. For the Ashkenazi, their plan of the slow death of the Palestinian West Bank communities under a thousand settler cuts has worked extremely well at keeping their ethnic cleansing under the geopolitical radar; greatly aided by Western and Arab elite complicity. The Mizrahi are pushing for tactics that would enflame the whole Arab world and make it impossible for the complicit Arab elites not to side with the Palestinians. Unfortunately for the Israelis the Middle East has greatly changed in the past few decades, and not in their favour:
· Iran survived the Iraqi invasion meant to quash the still-young revolution against the Western-puppet Shah, and Western sanctions have also been resisted. The Western attempts to destroy Iraq, Syria and Lebanon have resulted in a great expansion of Iranian power in the region; an Iran of 90 million people possessing a highly developed Military Industrial Complex.
· The second Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006 (the first was in 1976) proved to be an abject failure, with the Israeli army being forced back by the forces of Hezbollah. The latter has only grown stronger since then, now possessing over 100,000 soldiers (many having gained experience in Syria) and highly advanced military equipment including 130,000+ missiles.
· Syria survived the attempts of the Western powers, Israel and some Arab powers to destroy it and has now substantially recovered. One result is a war-hardened armed forces and the presence of both Iranian and Russian military forces.
· Demographic shifts have massively changed the balance of forces against Israel, with Arab populations growing much more rapidly than the Israeli one with a heavy skew to military-age adults.
· The peace initiatives between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council states (which includes Saudi Arabia) and between Syria and the Arab states, have greatly increased the cohesion of the Arab world.
· The Ukraine conflict has very significantly deepened diplomatic, economic and military relations between Iran and Russia. Turkey’s rapprochement with both Russia and Iran also removes it as a tool of Us foreign policy in the region, isolating Israel further. Significant amounts of Israeli munition stocks were also sent to Ukraine.
Fundamentally, the issue for the Israeli’s is that they need to come to terms with the new reality that they are no longer invincible or the dominant power in the West Asian region. But this would require Israel to retreat from all of the land stolen from 1947 onwards, together with the Syrian Golan Heights; something that both Ashkenazi and Mizrahi are completely unwilling to do. Together with the power of the US and the West waning, Israel only has a short window where it may be able to complete its ethnic cleansing and that seems to be the strategy that the Mizrahi-dominated government has set upon. The highly fabricated Hamas “atrocities” provide the propagandist smokescreen behind which the 2+ million Gazan population will be driven out through military terror tactics. After that the West bank can be ethnically cleansed in a much less visible way, one enclave at a time.
The fact is that this has to be one of the dumbest strategies possible; one guaranteed to unite the Arab world against Israel as well as ignite a significant proportion of Western populations. As has been noted even by the US state apparatus, Israel does not seem to have a plan for what to do after it has triggered the Arab world’s response. Can it fight a multi-front war against Hezbollah (who have stated that they will intervene if Gaza is invaded), Syria, an exploding West bank, 20% of its own population that is Arab, and possibly hundreds of thousands of Arabs travelling to fight a holy war against Israel? None of these considerations seemed to have passed through the Israeli leaders’ heads, nor at first through the heads of the US and Western leaders who knee-jerked absolute support for their colonial project.
This support, in parallel to the multiple crimes of humanity carried out by the Israelis against the Gazan population (cutting off of basic amenities such as electricity and water, bombing of hospitals, indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas etc.), has destroyed the West’s credibility with respect to the “other 7 billion” and the Arab states in particular. The Abraham Accords designed to support the slow quiet ethnic cleansing of Israel are dead and buried. The Western elites have also been forced into propagandistic gymnastics that serve to undermine their own narratives; for example, being for Muslims in Xinjiang but against Muslims in Palestine, applauding a Nazi in the Canadian parliament only weeks before being “fully behind Israel”. Not unexpectedly, the height of dumbness was reached by Blundering Blinken who on arrival in Israel stated that he came “as a Jew” as well as the US Secretary of State. What are the Arabs supposed to make of such a statement, or the non-Jewish citizens of the US? His partner in the Duo of Dumbness, The Joke Sullivan (US National Security Adviser) had stated that the Middle East was very stable only a couple of weeks ago.
As Bhadrakumar points out in Indian Punchline, an Arab-Iran-China axis has been created on this issue focused on the plight of the Gazan population, aligning the major Middle Eastern Arab and Persian powers and placing China as an ally of both them and the Palestinian people. Such an alliance attests to the incredible failure of US foreign policy in the region while Blundering Blinken flits from one country to another repeating Israel’s “right to defend itself” against those that it has imprisoned. The parallels with the statements of the Nazis with respect to the rebelling populations of the occupied territories during WW2 are redolent, but invisible to this ideologically blinded numbskull. A great product of the esteemed Dalton school, Harvard (social studies degree) and Columbia (law); none of which seem to have taught him any real history or improved his critical faculties. His ascent from lowly speech writer and political fixer to US Secretary of State reflects his craven courtier qualities much more than any great intelligence.
No matter what happens next, the US establishment and its foreign policy and security service courtiers have created a new foreign policy debacle that can only hasten the decline of their soft power across the globe while increasing the cohesiveness of their opponents. Through decades of support for the colonial ethnically cleansing apartheid Israel they have simply fostered an ever more extreme regime. One that threatens to destroy itself, and perhaps the rest of humanity by its actions. Unfortunately for the predominantly Anglo-Saxon US establishment, the Zionists have spent decades embedding themselves in the US state, political and economic circles. The disciplining of Israel would require the disciplining of a core section of the US Mafia-State, the US media, and significantly rich Zionist citizens and their powerful association AIPAC. So, instead Muslim anchors are quietly removed from the media to keep the “Israeli victims defending themselves / terrorist Hamas” narrative unchallenged.
The US establishment may be the “Empire of Chaos” but the result seems to be more of it reaping the whirlwind of blowback rather than gaining advantage against its opponents. Pepe Escobar called it nine years ago, perhaps the Duo of Dumbness and their establishment backers should have read his book.
Chicago-Style Breaded Steak Sandwich
This is a much loved Chicago sandwich. The Italians in Chicago really know how to make yummy sandwiches. You won’t be disappointed!
chicago style breaded steak sandwich
Prep: 10 min | Cook: 30 min | Yield: 6 sandwiches
Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 sandwich steak or round steak cutlets, pounded to 1/8 inch thick
Salt and pepper, to season
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, whipped with 2 tablespoons water
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped (added to bread crumbs)
What’s happening is employers are posting job ads like…
“Senior Developer required! Must have at least a master’s degree in computer science, Ph.D. preferred. Minimum 15 years experience running a large development team for a Fortune 500 company. You will be responsible for rolling out a new $8 billion distributed computing platform that will help our company increase its revenue by $2 billion a year. Starting pay $7.95 to $8.25 an hour. No benefits. “
WhY dOeSn’t AnYoNe WaNt To WoRk AnYmOrE???!
PeOpLe ArE sO lAzY!!!!!”
A Visitor Reports on China
Just finished a 2-week trip in China (Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, Yen’An)
Hadn’t been since Dec 2019, previously visited multiple times/year for 20+ years. Had to see for myself how things are vs. media reports within the US. For the record, I am neither Pro or Anti China, I am Pro-Business. Here are my summary observations/opinions:
Economy is definitely slowing down and most people feel or see the impact. However, the loudest complainers are from the ‘elite’ segment (well educated, experience with MNCs, live in Shanghai, etc.). Noticed people in Beijing, Xian, and smaller cities weren’t as concerned.
Despite downturn, most people aren’t severely impacted for now. They have plenty of savings, almost no debt, and can live with their parents. Chinese are notoriously frugal and save for a rainy day – guess what? It’s raining now. Also, for perspective, economy still going to grow 4–5%, just not 8–10% as hoped/expected. So people aren’t buying as many luxury goods, the 10+ Uber/Lyft rideshare companies aren’t getting as much traffic, and not every engineer will get their dream job.
Foreign population visibly lower, the smallest number I’ve seen in 20+ years even in Shanghai. Took a flight from BJ to Shanghai, saw less than 20 foreigners at airport and plane, most appear to be from Europe. Shouldn’t have been surprised given the situation but eye opening nonetheless.
Technology progress in China is for real. ~35–40% of cars in Shanghai are EVs. And they are much nicer than expected, even from brands I’ve never heard of. BYD has a version that can do 900 KM on full charge (vs. 450 for a Tesla). Huawei 6G pro is impressive. Bullet train system is easy, convenient, and fast (some routes didn’t exist just a few years ago). Subways are upgraded. Robotic companies everywhere. This was my area of expertise, a bit disturbed to see how quickly they copy-catted, highly likely they got some IP improperly IMO. One executive told me they don’t need any tech know-how from America today. This is where things are at whether the US admits to it or not.
80–90% of all money transactions for me was electronic. I linked my ATM card to Alipay and it was pretty easy most of the time. I got a bunch of added charges though, some expected, some not. Kind of annoying.
My US cell phone was blocked in China, meaning I couldn’t iMessage or call Chinese numbers (not the case before). My WeChat messages to locals came with warnings. Just some minor retaliation from China.
Downloaded 2 VPNs, between the two I was able to get most of what I needed from US though they would crash 1/day or work very slowly sometimes. People still use WhatsApp a lot in Shanghai. One bonus: Spotify worked great even within the firewall!
In Shanghai I saw signs of small groups of “youts”, meaning younger generation Chinese dressed more hip or alternative (baggy pants, blond hair, etc.). Hadn’t seen much of this before, we’ll see if it evolves like Japan in the 80s.
Most Chinese are aware of the Sino vs. US tension. The more educated are privately quite critical of the current CCP government. But they are also confused with US positions. For example, why are Huawei and BYD banned in the US but Apple and Tesla are allowed in China? They don’t see all the negative coverage on China from the US, but do get amplified coverage of US deficiencies (gun violence, Trump, Biden gaffes, gov’t shutdown talk, etc.). They all hope things get better. And nearly all Chinese I talked to aren’t big fans of Russia.
In summary, my takeaway is China is going through a pretty big correction. For some, it’s hurting but for now, the country is fine. I do see the impact of lesser foreign investment but IMO, there is still significant opportunity. China still covets global products and services, and believe established quality is paramount – especially in Shanghai. The rules are just tighter and some sectors are more complicated than before. I believe if things don’t get better in 1–2 years, there could be some serious trouble. I’m guessing many Chinese nationals outside of the country are also paying attention to this as well.
Scott Ritter: THIS is Why the US Will LOSE Its War on China
This is surprisingly good. Take this video to the bank. It is really, really good.
Easy Sloppy Joe Pot Pie
All the great taste of classic sloppy joes in an easy one-skillet pot pie. No one will miss the buns!
611f5b8cfcab738997cb80af22a265bb
Prep: 5 min | Bake: 40 min | Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can original sloppy joe sauce
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
Instructions
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cook beef and onion in ovenproof 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain.
Stir in sloppy joe sauce.
Sprinkle with cheese.
Stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour over beef mixture.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
Special Touch: Before baking, sprinkle with a tablespoon of sesame seed.
I was adopted by an amazing family when I was 4 1/2. My adoptive mom and adoptive dad had a biological child, my adoptive sister, who was 3 years my senior that was killed in a car accident when she was 21. I was 18 and a senior in high school. The loss of my sister devastated us all and changed the framework for our family for sure. My mom, dad, and I became even closer and cling to one another after knowing that any of us could be gone in an instant after losing my sister under such sudden circumstances.
Fast forward 27 years. My father was diagnosed with Brain Cancer. He quickly gave me Power of Attorney to make all medical and financial decisions on his behalf since he knew I’d honor his every wish. He had a sister that basically controlled and manipulated all their siblings except for him since he was the oldest sibling and had moved away from all their drama first chance he got. When my aunt found out that my father placed me in charge of his care and not her, she angrily called me and said, “You aren’t a REAL daughter! You’re just a daughter on paper!” She then added, “The only reason he put you in charge is because he didn’t have a choice!!”
So, I quietly hung up the phone on her, continued to allow her to visit my father (but kept a close eye on her so she wouldn’t steal anything). On the day of his funeral I went up to her and told her that our mutual point of contact is gone and I no longer wanted any contact with her or anyone she knew! I told her that I wished to cut off all communication and contact with her and that side of the family now. That if I heard from her or anyone that she sent to call, visit, spy on my or my daughter that I’d promptly call the police for trespassing and/or harassment. I later put that in writing when returning an assistive device she had given my dad to tell him get out of the car.
Have not heard a peep from her since. Best decision I ever made! Keep toxic family members out if your life and keep things moving forward for yourselves!!
America at its best
the result of its strong and capable leadership
image 78image 79
This is Evil and Demonic
always calling for war, killing and destruction of others
but they cannot stop threatening or demonizing others
as they and their nation – consumed by hate – are now controlled by the anti-Christ himself
PLEASE do NOT let their hate get to you so that you also lose your humanity and become like them
because that is the exact intention of their Deity
Nobody today wants a confrontation with the United States
It is the United States which is becoming unbearable
After Barack Obama, the US has been :-
Reneging on past promises
Bullying almost every Nation
Imposing illegal Tariffs
Making fake claims with no substantive evidence against one and all
The US is becoming so unreasonable that other nations are rightfully ten times more frightened of the US than they are of China & Russia
The US unilaterally blocked all trade from Cuba for almost 65 years for no reason
Cuba hasn’t attacked the US once and is no threat to the US
Now US openly tells Venezuela that only the person US says must be the President if Venezuela want their money back or they will be sanctioned
They have refused to pay 12 nations their own money including Russia
They threaten to sanction any nation that does business with a nation sanctioned by the US
They are like the Catholic Church in the 1100s with their excommunication powers
The US Dollar is a weapon which the US could use to starve a nation of energy and food and imports ON A WHIM
Vermin like Lindsey Graham who still think they rule the world and have a say in what anyone does
So there are at least 100 Countries that want a backup plan to ensure continuous delivery of energy and food if the US decides to go rogue on them
So many nations are going to ensure that they REDUCE THEIR DEPENDENCE on the Dollar
That’s guaranteed
Unless the US goes back to it’s best behaviour and passes a law regarding the legality of sanctions against a nation and against associate nations in the house, Senate and by the President.
Unless the US stops interference everywhere
Now will that lose the Global power of the Dollar
Not necessarily
The USD will remain the largest reserve currency
Yet the US can’t weaponize the Dollar anymore
There will be alternate payment systems and alternate payments for Energy and Food including Cross Currency payments
That’s undeniable
The days of the US Army threatening people are gone now.
The USD and it’s dominance will be dependent on Economics and Trade and not the strength of the US Army Or the threat of Sanctions
That’s virtually a guarantee in five years
BIBLICAL PROPHECY- REAL LIFE: Netanyahu Warns will “Destroy Damascus if Hezbollah Enters War”
Biblical Prophecy seems to be playing out in real life right now, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just announced “Israel warns that the United States will join (the war) if Hezbollah joins. IDF will destroy Damascus, target Syrian President Assad if Hezbollah joins war; US warships will support Israel in war.”
When I first heard this remark, I recoiled in horror, and instantly recalled the Prophecy of Damascus:
Isaiah 17 predicts the destruction of Damascus, Syria.
Isa 17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Folks, I’m no Priest, or Rabbi, or Preacher, or Reverend. I’m not some Bible scholar or even a Bible Thumper. I’m just a regular guy, who grew up a “Holiday Catholic.” That means I went to church on Christmas and Easter. Throw in a few weddings and funerals, and that was about it.
Yet even a Biblically-ignorant man like me knows the prophecy of Damascus and now it looks as though we’re seeing it take place in real time. OUR TIME!
This is terrifying to me because if this takes place, the steps to Armageddon are well along their way.
When US accuses China on information dominance, it’s like Uncle Sam talking about itself
An Outlaw US Empire government report was issued by the Department of State last Thursday called “How The People’s Republic Of China Seeks To Reshape The Global Information Environment.” The immediate reaction from China and most other nations resounds in the above title, where one writer says, “And the first reaction of the most readers is – isn’t the report about the US itself?. Another article headlines: “People are not blind in seeing US’ empire of lies: Chinese FM refuting State Department’s China report”.
Before I provide the text of those two articles there’s an important observation that needs to be made that some will know while for others it will be a revelation. Some know the history of the US code breakers prior to and during WW2 which was of profound importance and served as the basis for what became the National Security Agency post-war, although it’s most properly known as the National Surveillance Agency. Prior to my working for one of its smaller arms during my US Army Reserve service with an EW/Sigint Company based at Moffet Field, California, I became aware of what was the largest industrial espionage program ever in world history: Project Echelon, which was the #1 NSA project at the time, well before the Internet Age. I wasn’t too shocked by this revelation despite the significance of it being a quasi-fascist relationship between government and Big Business. And it was the Cold War so spying on the Other Side was a given. The work my Company did was tactical battlefield spying and interdiction, not strategic, although it was interesting what the jammers and other spies would listen to during our monthly exercises. On our larger Summer Field Training Exercises (FTX), we were always tasked as the OpForce—the Soviets—and we’d always win because the operational security (OPSEC) of the regular army formations was horrific—as bad or worse than ‘Nam I was told by many. And from what I hear and know, it hasn’t improved much since then. The point being, we were actually good at spying on others but we were woeful when spied upon. And apparently, that’s been and continues to be a chronic problem—US troops just don’t want to follow OPSEC regardless their generation—WW2 to present. The result is an acute sensitivity to the problem—Project Echelon revelations were denied by one and all despite hard evidence and protestations from nations who thought they were seen as friendly. (Thus the lesson that the Outlaw US Empire has no friends only interests.) The Pentagon Papers revealed the degree of propagandization the US public was subjected to, and other revelations told even more, like Operation Mockingbird. Watergate was also revelatory—the president spied on himself! Wow! Was that ever a revelation; and then it was revealed that Ike had started it and JFK continued it. And of course, before all of that was 1984 and its Ministry of Truth that merged well with the propaganda aimed at the West by the West about the Soviet Bloc and then the Red Chinese, etc. And even before 1984 there was George Seldes and other journalists who wrote about their being censored not just by the government but by their own publications”: You can’t Print That! was one of Seldes titles filled with revelations that if published when written might have made a difference. Seldes was followed by IF Stone as the 1940s became the 1950s, and ever since there’ve always been a small number of genuine patriot journalists trying to tell the public what’s actually happening. Which brings us back to our new, latest government lie, which is actually propaganda aimed at the US public to demonize what the Warmongers see as their next opponent.
This op/ed was published in Global Times on 29 September but its access was blocked until today by I don’t know who/what. Because the US government lies all the time to one and all, many assume other governments do the same thing, but that’s not the case, particularly with today’s Info War where the high ground is being truthful and factual consistently so you gain credibility because you’re honest. Lying about others and yourself propagandizes your populace to not trust any government. And in this case, the US Government doesn’t want anyone to trust the word of Russia or China. So, one can see the Outlaw US Empire’s lying campaign as a Psyop aimed primarily at its own people. So, here’s the op/ed’s contents:
The hypocrisy of the US is on full display in its newly-released report on China, while Washington’s anxiety on its own capability to dominate public opinion is also bubbling. The report, launched by the US Department of State on Thursday local time, is called “How The People’s Republic Of China Seeks To Reshape The Global Information Environment.” And the first reaction of the most readers is – isn’t the report about the US itself?
The report focuses on accusing China of information manipulation via propaganda, disinformation, and censorship in an attempt to seek information dominance globally. Yet it sounds more like a portrayal of Uncle Sam himself when he is looking at the mirror, and then makes it about China, Shen Yi, a professor at Fudan University, told the Global Times.
Has China ever manipulated global information like the US has been doing? Like the time when Washington claimed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the media parroted the claim, and US allies followed suit in US-led invasion of the Middle East country? Or like the time when the US faced the world’s highest COVID death toll, the US took the top spot on Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking?
If the US claims No. 2 in the world in disinformation and public opinion manipulation campaign, no one dares to claim No. 1. Think about how US political elites and media outlets uniformly bleats the word “unprovoked” in reference to Russia-Ukraine conflict, despite the fact that the conflict was not only provoked, but deliberately provoked by NATO’s eastward expansion; and how the US distracts public attention from US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh’s report that the US was the mastermind behind the Nord Stream pipelines explosion, by claiming the sabotage was made by a six-member team of a pro-Ukraine group.
The US takes every measure to make the world hostile against Washington’s rivals. Launching an information war against China is therefore a part of US containment strategy, with a goal to create an “evil” image of China in the international public opinion arena. The new report is simply a latest example in US long list of tactics to make the world vigilant toward China.
This is why the US has been encircling China, half a world away from US own soil, with a chain of military bases and ports, yet calling China an “aggressor.” When a Chinese civilian unmanned airship accidentally floated over the US, the later made no hesitation in labelling the incident an act of espionage. The hysteria lasted for months until Pentagon, after a lengthy examination, confirmed it did not collect any information, not to mention send any data back to China.
American elites are so comfortable living in their echo chamber to repeat their accusation on “forced labor in Xinjiang,” which appears in almost every China-related report issued by US authorities. Unsurprisingly, it also shows up in the latest report. When people, especially from Western countries, have actually visited Xinjiang, acknowledge the development, improved healthcare, rising education and employment levels in the region, as what they see with their bare eyes, the politicians in Washington are busying clamoring so-called genocide and forced labor.
But whenever someone tells the truth, or whenever Chinese media tell the truth, they are labelled as a puppet of a Chinese propaganda machine. Who is manipulating information? How come the US has the freedom to spread disinformation but China becomes a manipulator for telling the truth?
The US State Department gets one thing wrong. It is not China manipulating information. But the US has been undermining its own credibility by lying for so long. It seems the US can also sense the fragility of its manipulation. Unfortunately, the way it responds to it is spreading more disinformation by smearing its rivals.
The more the US tries, the more its hypocrisy is exposed. The last thing the US cares about is public access to information, it cares about its hegemony, including that in the information field. Otherwise, why Julian Assange and Edward Snowden have to go through prosecution just for telling the truth?
This is what the Global Majority wants stopped ASAP.
On October 1, a reply made by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was made and an article built around that was published by Global Times, “People are not blind in seeing US’ empire of lies: Chinese FM refuting State Department’s China report”. Putin’s term, Empire of Lies, is now in wide use, which helps in the Info War but doesn’t mean the use of truth and facts can diminish. And here’s its content:
Refuting the US Department of State’s malicious report claiming that China has invested billions of dollars spreading disinformation globally, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the report itself is disinformation, and people of the world are not blind in seeing the US’ ugly attempts that have proven time and again that it is an “empire of lies” through and through.
Titled “How the People’s Republic of China Seeks to Reshape the Global Information Environment,” the US report focuses on accusing China of information manipulation in an attempt to achieve global information dominance. It says that China’s “global information manipulation” is a challenge to the integrity of the global information space.
Responding to the report, a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Saturday the report is in itself disinformation as it misrepresents facts and truth. In fact, it is the US that invented the weaponizing of the global information space.
The relevant center of the US State Department which concocted the report is engaged in propaganda and infiltration in the name of “global engagement.” It is a source of disinformation and the command center of “perception warfare.”
From Operation Mockingbird that involved bribing and manipulating news media for propaganda purposes in the Cold War era, to a vial of white powder and a staged video of the “White Helmets” cited as evidence to wage wars of aggression in Iraq and Syria earlier this century, and then to the enormous lie made up to smear China’s Xinjiang policy, facts have proven time and again that the US is an “empire of lies” through and through, the spokesperson said.
Even some in the US, such as Senator Rand Paul, acknowledged that the US government is the greatest propagator of disinformation in the history of the world.
Some in the US may think that they can prevail in the information war as long as they propagate enough lies, but the people of the world are not blind, the spokesperson said.
“No matter how the US tries to pin the label of ‘disinformation’ on other countries, more and more people in the world have already seen through the US’ ugly attempt to perpetuate its supremacy by weaving lies into ’emperor’s new clothes’ and smearing others,” the spokesperson noted.
China’s response has revealed the distorted narrative of the US and fully exposed the US’ use of this report as a crucial element in trying to shape public opinion and international consensus in its strategic competition with China, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
The spokesperson’s remarks have unveiled the insidious intentions and deceptive nature of Washington, contributing to a clearer and more comprehensive understanding within the international community of the US’ unscrupulous practices in its China policy, Li said. This includes the US’s longstanding history of hypocrisy, deception, and inconsistency in its words and actions.
The US has been taking every measure to make the world hostile against Washington’s rivals. Launching an information war against China is therefore a part of US containment strategy, with a goal to create an “evil” image of China in the international public opinion arena. The new report is simply a latest example in the US’ long list of tactics to make the world vigilant toward China, Shen Yi, a professor at Fudan University, told the Global Times.
However, the more the US tries, the more its hypocrisy is exposed. The last thing the US cares about is public access to information, and it cares about its hegemony, including that in the information field, the expert added.
Disinformation disguised as disinformation? Why not. The Establishment Narrative is often exactly that. For the public, how can it trust anything said by the national government since it’s being lied to most of the time; when/how can it tell the government’s being truthful? And most know the big problem serial prevaricators have—they don’t know when they’re lying and when they’re being truthful; nor do they know how to exit their false narrative. Most are aware that outlaws always lie to justify their outlawry. Most know the Magic Bullet was a lie and thus the official explanation for who killed JFK is also a lie. Same goes with the assassination of RFK. MLK’s murder was proven to be done by the US Government in a Civil Court suit that never got the press it deserved. Yes, it’s all online. Pearl Harbor. Tonkin Gulf. Serbia, 911. Iraq 2. All the accusations about Iran. Syria. Arab Spring. Ukraine 2004-5 and 2014 to now. And those are merely the major ones, not the thousands of little ones, like Somalia and Sudan and the many within the USA. Which raises a very important question: When did the US Government begin lying so heavily to its citizens? Libertarians IMO think that’s a product of Big Government, but the US Government lied for decades about the fate and its actions towards Native Americans as Helen Hunt Jackson revealed in her 1881 A Century of Dishonor : A Sketch of the United States Government’s Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes. And then there’s perhaps one of the best kept secrets of all—the proceedings of the so-called Constitutional Convention were never to be made public—Which was actually a coup that ousted the prevailing government and its legal documents—The Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation—that instituted an oligarchic “republic” that was approved by less than 10% of the populace. We have no way of knowing where the Articles might have led, but we do know what has befallen us via the 1787 Constitution that’s supposed to improve the “Welfare” of all but has failed at that task grandly. Is that why the public’s lied to constantly, even in textbooks?
There’s only one solution to the above problem. People must rise up and not just demand but force the government to tell the truth. But we can’t expect the current Swamp of prevaricators to do that, so a wholesale replacement of most everyone within the federal government is required. Tall task? Yes, you bet it is. Impossible? Only if we don’t gather together and try—we the people have done so before when our problems weren’t nearly as bad as today—1880-1900 and 1930-1940. Many in the world ask when will the American people stand up for themselves and wonder if we have the courage to do so. Of course, thanks to the US Government, many Americans don’t realize they need to stand up for themselves.
We weren’t poor exactly, but as a child in the 70’s, my dad was a teacher and the sole breadwinner. My parents had to budget carefully.
Dad got paid once a month, and they went grocery shopping once a month. They’d buy 4 gallons of milk and put 3 in the deep freeze. Mom had a menu plan for the entire month and bought exactly what she needed to prepare those meals and nothing more. It was a rare occasion to find a box of Little Debbie snack cakes in our pantry.
Mom would make pancakes for dinner at least once a week, and my sister and I would happy dance in the kitchen.
I now know those pancakes were one of the many ways my mother stretched those groceries, an absolute necessity due to the inflation of the 1970’s.
I also know there were times I didn’t have enough to eat as a child. As an adult today I suffer from fears of food insecurity, and an empty fridge and/or pantry sends me spiraling into anxiety.
But I still love pancakes for dinner, although I don’t serve them as a cost saving measure. I serve them because they’re quick, easy & damn delicious.
First the cops, they would look at you weirdly and ignore you completely unless you break a law
If you say you want to take down the CPC, they will shrug and keep doing their job
If you disturb them, they will lock you up as per the relevant law
Now the officials
Even a mainlander doesn’t know who security officials are or what they look like
If you talk to a committee official or a local government official about overthrow of the party, he MAY notify the local security bureau
They will contact you, investigate you and when they find you have no funding or any major involvement with any organization, they will deport you and ban you from entry for 12 years if you are a foreigner
If you are a local, they will regard you mad and inform your family and neighbors that you are mad
Madness is not regarded a good thing in China
However most mainlanders are more amused than offended by these jokers who protest and scream and are OBVIOUSLY US FUNDED
Sometimes you can see 30–40 screaming students yelling about Democracy and most mainlanders looking at them like they were Zoo animals and grinning and walking by
In fact it’s a running joke in China
If you want money badly, you simply go to the US Consulate and say you support democracy and want to write a newsletter for 1500 people and want $ 5000 a month
In 2 days, the US agrees to pay this amount and you simply copy paste all leading articles in NYT or Washington Post, translate them to Mandarin and happily earn 35000 Yuan a month and even pay officials 20% Heung Ya
At one time, this was the most densely populated city on earth. It was built on a tiny island that used to be an important coal mine. Huge living towers were constructed for the coal miners, linked together by a network of underground tunnels. There were movie theaters, restaurants, shops, all built into or beneath the high-rise living towers.
In the 1950s, the mine was no longer economically viable. Overnight, the entire city was abandoned. It has been completely untouched for sixty years; not a single soul, not even a caretaker, lives there.
It is without a doubt the epicenter of urban decay on earth. I could spend weeks doing photography there.
14 Teen Clinical Psychopaths Reactions to Hearing Their Sentences
If you want to be happy then do what makes you happy.
If you want to be rich then do what makes you money.
And if you don’t do anything then you don’t get anything.
You either love someone or you don’t, either worked hard enough to achieve success or you didn’t and you are either proud of who you have become or you’re not.
That’s the “secret” to life and it’s all very simple.
The worst part about this is, that you know that this is true.
You know that if you just did the things you’ve been avoiding, the hard things, the uncomfortable ones, that your life would likely be far better!
You know that better than anyone, but keep avoiding it because you “missed too much” or “failed too often”; which is ultimately nothing more than pretty excuses.
The truth is you just want to avoid the discomfort of the action.
Something is keeping you from it, be it fear, discomfort or something else.
There is some story that you tell yourself that you believe that keeps you from doing that task.
You are not good enough, not smart enough, not disciplined enough. Life has been unkind to you, your parents prevent you from doing it or your situation does not allow for it.
You can make thousands of excuses and give even more reasons to why life is not that simple, but, in the end, it still is.
For if you just sat down and worked out, if you just worked harder or smarter, your life would be better. Period.
Now, if you do not know how to do it, then spend time figuring it out!
If you do not know what to do, then sit down and work on that.
But in the end it is all about doing the things you know you should.
That’s all it takes.
Stop making things so difficult for yourself, stop telling yourself the reasons that you cannot do it and find the reasons why you can do it or how you can.
Stop looking for ways out and find ways into the action.
Do more of what makes you happy and less of what makes you sad.
Do the things that progress your life and avoid the things that slow that progress down.
Surround yourself with people that make you feel amazing and drop the ones that don’t.
And get the things done that you know you need to to make your life better.
Life, at its core, is very simple. Don’t make it so complicated.
I used to work in retail. I have worked for a large retail chain both in the UK and the United states and I have owned and co-owned small retail businesses. Retail was my life for about thirty years.
Your question asking how to politeley tell people to just buy and go, suggests that you are not suited to retail.
That is not bad, you just don’t have that social touch that retail shop workers need.
Retail is working with people. They have a commodity that you need. You need their money, if it’s your business you need their money daily. If you are an employee of a retail business you need their money so the owner of the business can pay you a wage.
Now some customers will definitely want to just pay and go. They have what they want from you and you have their money, so transaction over. Hi and goodbye.
Some customers though will actually come to the store for the goods they want and also it can be a huge part of their social life.
You or your staff might be the only person whom they see on a regular basis.
Telling such customers to pay and go is not going to help your business or your employers business. Telling these customers such things is going to hurt them, you will embarass them and make them uncomfortable. Those words will cut, you won’t see a physical wound, but sure thing your top and bottom line will.
They will take their custom elsewhere, with their custom your possibility of gaining their cash. You just added to the profits of your competitors who are much more in touch with their customers.
Yes it is mercenary to see your customers as cash dispensers. But your question suggests that you are such a mercenary. You want their cash, you don’t want them to be sociable, it’s preventing you garnering their money.
In fact if you looked on the sociability side of retail you would find those customers like and trust you more, you are going to be their first choice of store.
It takes time and effort to cultivate a rappour with your customers. It’s damned hard work at times. But those will be the customers you will find coming back again and again.
Learn to take people for what they are and not as you would like to make them. That will take you far in retail.
If that is not your way. Then don’t work in retail, if you own a retail business, get out of the customer facing side and employ someone who will foster a more friendly face to your business. Pay them well and look after them, Because you will need to work harder abd so will they because of your poor attitude so far.
THIS is how Colombians are seeing us now (it’s not good)
When I first arrived in Medellin Colombia in 2016, the way that foreigners were depicted was much different. But now, I see a big change in how they see us.
there is one single thing that “separates the people that do things from the people that just dream about them.”
It isn’t their intelligence, their work ethic, or their financial means. It’s something much more simple…
When Jobs was only 12 years old he opened the phone book and placed a call to Bill Hewlett (the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard). On the call, Jobs asked if Bill happened to have any spare computer parts he could have for a project he was working on––building a frequency counter.
Not only did Bill have the parts, he gave Steve a job that summer working on the assembly line at his company. To quote Jobs, “I was in Heaven.”
So what did Jobs do that was so special? (Besides calling the co-founder of a computer company when he was just 12 years old). He asked. Yep, that’s all.
So many of us are held back by our own self-doubt or unwillingness to ask that opportunities we never even know are available pass us by.
A simple question I’ve used for years that has served me well: Will I be any worse off than am I now by asking for this opportunity? If the answer is no, which I’d argue it almost always is, ––then you’ve got nothing to lose.
If you’re too afraid to ask, you’re too afraid to fail. And without failure, you’ll never grow. Just take action. Just ask.
From the US side: only if China kneels down, promising:
not to further develop the nation in case it would surpass the US in the near future (better would never);
not to upgrade its industry, especially in the high-tech sectors so that the US can remain its tight grasp on making the standards to charge for high IP, licensing fees, as well as gaining enormous profits via selling high-end products to China, etc.;
not to build up its military prowess, so that the US can coerce and bully, even strike China at its will, while China does not have the power to hit back, even to complain about that;
not to reunify its territory, ie, forget about reuniting Taiwan province, even by peaceful means, let alone any attempts to taking it back by force even under the fiercer and fiercer provocations from the Taiwan authority backed by the US, and also directly from the US itself, as well as from other US allies;
not to adhere to its socialism system, instead, should adopt the US model of capitalism, so that international capital, especially US capital controlled by conglomerates in various fields can march into the Chinese capital market and eventually control the economic system of China, like what they have done with many other economies;
not to continue its one-party rule model, instead, follow the Western multi-party model, so that the US can sow certain evil seeds among different parties and then cultivate those who would rather sell their soul to the US in return for their selfish own interests, like many politicians in some countries, who have turned into the barking dogs of the US;
not to sell its products all over to the world, especially those which the US still has some competitive edges (though fewer and fewer), so that the US can still havest wealth from around the globe;
not to cooperate in a win-win manner with other countries, especially those countries less developed but abundant in natural resources, anyway, before China advocated this new win-win approach, their natural resources could be easily obtained by the US-led West in exchange of some rosy political promises of democracy and freedom, or looted (for example in Africa), or even stolen (for example, even right now, oil in Syria stolen by US soldiers) by them.
Then, the US would like to “coexist peacefully” with China.
But from the China side, can and will any Chinese people (except those traitors or betrayers, or those still naively believe the US, or broadly, the West, is still the “beacon of hope” of our human beings that China should and must obey the US’ order, etc.) agree to even just one term of the above listed?
Is it China’s fault to develop its nation?
Is it China’s fault to upgrade and develop its tech sectors?
Is it China’s fault to build up its military strength to protect its 1.4 billion people, their properties, as well as China’s overseas interests, since it is now the world’s second largest economy, the largest exporter of goods, and the second larget importer?
Is it China’s fault hoping to reunite its territory? Don’t forget, China is the only country among the five UN permanent members who has not finished intergrating its territory. The UN, and 182 of its 195 members, including the US itself, have stated clearly, Taiwan is a part of China.
Is it China’s fault to choose its own political system and governing mode? There are 193 UN member nations (with another 2 observe states), then actually there are 195 governing modes with various political systems, could the US require each and every one of them to follow the US model, why singling China out?
Obviously, a strong and rising China itself is the “threat,”because China’s rise is posing a “threat” to the US hegemony.
But a strong and rising China, is what China wants to be, needs to be, and is striving to be.
So, don’t expect a so-called “peaceful coexistence” between the US and China in the short future, unless one day, either China failed on its upward road onto the mountain, or the US continues to decline and lose its absolute control over the world with few to none tools to further block China’s rise.
The long-term forecasts clearly favor China by every measure.
If American companies fail to use this period of time to invest, they will not be able to “jump on the bandwagon” and take advantage of opportunities that are presenting themselves today.
If the Biden “government” insists that all American (and allied) companies “sit this one out”, then the entire American and Western industry will fall back and will NEVER be able to catch up.
…
China is being kind.
The United States NEEDS to “carefully consider” the long-term ramifications of their current actions.
As China gets stronger, more important, more dominant in all areas, the United States is at risk to not only falling behind, but going absolutely obsolete in the process.
This is not something that China wants.
…
China wants and prefers a vibrant world; one where different regions; nations, societies and people thrive. In the world that China envisions, it is a WIN-WIN for everyone.
However, the path that the United States has embarked on is fraught with danger. And the United States appears to be on fast-track towards becoming a blight; a mawed gouge in an otherwise improved world.
…
So China is being very polite, and very understated.
However, the truth is the truth.
Putin blasts ‘rules-based order’
So-called “order” is just a front for colonialism, with purported rules ever-changing to fit needs, Russian president has said
The Western-promoted “rules-based order” is merely a cover for colonialism, as the presumed rules have never been agreed-on by anyone and are ever-shifting from one case to another, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
The president made the remarks in an exclusive interview with state-run broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) that was aired on Monday.
“Have you ever seen these rules? No, because no one has ever written them, and no one has ever agreed to them with anyone. How can we talk about order based on rules that no one has seen?”
Putin stated.
While such a situation definitely looks “from the point of common sense” as “nonsense,” it’s extremely beneficial for the proponents of the said “rules-based order,” the president explained.
“If no one has ever seen these rules, it means that those who talk about this themselves come up with these rules from case to case in a way that suits their own interests. This is the essence of the colonial approach,”
Putin noted.
Colonialism has always been based on supremacist ideas, segregating people into different “classes.”
“Colonial countries have always believed themselves to be first-class people. After all, they always said that they bring enlightenment to their colonies, that they are civilized people and bring the benefits of civilization to other peoples, who are considered to be second-class,”
Putin stressed.
The colonial mindset remains strong, he noted, with all the US talk of its “exceptionalism,” for instance, stemming precisely from it.
“That is, when they say that they are exceptional in the United States, it means that there are other people, people of some other second class. How else can we perceive this? These are the rudiments of the colonial mindset, nothing else,”
he added.
The approach exhibited by Russia and China is entirely different from that shown by the West, with Moscow and Beijing both believing that treating all nations equally is the cornerstone of the emerging multipolar world and the basis of cooperation between the two nations themselves, Putin stressed.
“We proceed from the fact that all people are equal, everyone has the same rights, the rights and freedoms of one country and one people end where the rights and freedoms of another person or of an entire state start. This is how a multipolar world should gradually be born,”
I was at my local college bar in Long Island, NY. I saw a girl and she looked like someone I knew that wasn’t from my college area, someone from hundreds of miles away not far from my hometown in Vermont.
That girl was named Sharon Smith. Sharon and I kind of dated one spring/summer and we went to the local big name amusement park. I met Sharon during one of my high school wrestling meets. She was from a town in New Hampshire about 45 miles from my hometown.
It was kind of hard to maintain a relationship with someone so far away back in the rotary phone days, long distance calls, etc. Neither one of us had a car. I left for college, and we never saw each other again.
Since it was such an uncanny resemblance, I commented, “I think I must know your twin.” Now, I didn’t really think she was the twin of Sharon, I just thought she looked so much like the other girl.
The girl rolls her eyes at me since she knows she’s not from this area, and I guess she thinks it’s quite a lame pick up line.
She says something like, “Yeah, right.”
I reply, “I just think you look like a girl named Sharon Smith from Keene, NH.”
She then says, “Sharon is my twin sister, I’m Joann Smith!”
I did know Sharon had a twin sister, but I never expected to see anyone from my hometown area six hours away at my college town.
Joann was at my college for a sporting event and had wandered to our local bar with her group of friends from her own college.
We chatted, had some beers and a minor bar stool make out session, and parted ways. I never saw either girl again.
Russia doesn’t have two camps — Pro US and Pro China
Russia has two camps
One is the Moderate Nationalist Camp containing Putin, Shoigu, Gerasimov, Mitsuhitin and Nabulliana
Another is the Ultra Nationalist Camp containing Medvedev, Lavrov and friends
Both are Pro China
Both are Anti US
One side led by Putin wants to ensure Russia grows away from the US or West but keep bare minimum relations with the US or the West
The other side sees the US and West as enemies and would drink champagne if the Capitol building exploded and US Congressmen were in pieces
Either way CHINA IS KEY TO ALL OF THEM
It’s why a Regime Change in Russia would be bad for US and the West
Right now there are two groups of people — One Group who feel Putin is doing very will with the SMO (70%-75%) and another group who feel Putin is not being aggressive enough and that he should start bombing cities and even use key weapons (25%-30%)
Nobody significant cares about a single Ukrainian life or that Putin was wrong to be an aggressor. They all loathe Ukraine and the West and the perverted LGBTQ culture.
With Putin in charge, Dissidents like Navalny are still alive
With Putin gone, Navalny will be found hanging in his cell regrettably the next day
With Putin in charge, OLIGARCHS in exile are alive
With Putin gone, they will all die within weeks of various accidents
With Putin in charge, the SMO can still end in a negotiated peace
With Putin gone, Zelensky dies in a few days, The Ukrainian Parliament is bombed to rubble in a week and at least 100,000 civilians die in Kyiv and Lvov and Russia threatens open Nuclear War
So Xi has no problems
Russia and China need each other regardless of Putin or Xi being in power
There is no chance that either nation will have a Pro Western group in charge for a long time
Operation Mincemeat: The Shadow Catalyst for CIA’s Dark Age
Last month, Huawei unveiled its latest smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, which boasts a 5G Kirin 9000s processor, the world’s first 5nm 5G chip with an integrated 5G modem. This is a remarkable feat of engineering and innovation, especially considering that Huawei has been under relentless pressure from the US government, which has imposed sanctions, restrictions, and bans on the Chinese tech giant, accusing it of being a national security threat and a violator of sanctions on Iran. The US has also tried to persuade its allies and partners to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks, threatening to sever intelligence and cooperation ties if they do not comply.
Some might see the launch of the Mate 60 Pro as a sign of Huawei’s triumph over the US, and a symbol of the US’s failure in its trade war against China. But this view is based on a false assumption: that the trade war is a zero-sum game, where one side’s gain is the other side’s loss, and that the ultimate goal of the trade war is to destroy Huawei and China’s 5G industry. This assumption is too simplistic and misleading. The trade war is not a binary contest between the US and China, but a complex and dynamic interaction among multiple actors and factors, such as markets, consumers, competitors, allies, regulations, standards, and innovations. The trade war is not only about tariffs, sanctions, and bans, but also about cooperation, competition, and coexistence. The trade war is not only driven by security and economic interests, but also by ideological and political values. The trade war is not only a challenge, but also an opportunity for both sides to reform, adjust, and innovate.
The launch of the Mate 60 Pro does not signify a failure on the part of the US in its trade war against China, but rather a reflection of the changing dynamics and realities of the trade war. On the one hand, it shows that Huawei has been able to overcome some of the difficulties and obstacles imposed by the US sanctions, and has been able to maintain its technological edge and market share in the 5G domain. On the other hand, it also shows that Huawei still faces many uncertainties and challenges in the global market, and has to contend with the rising competition from other players, such as Samsung, Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek. Moreover, it shows that the US has not given up on its efforts to contain and counter Huawei and China’s 5G ambitions, and has been exploring various measures and strategies, such as investing in domestic chip production, forming alliances with like-minded countries, and promoting alternative 5G solutions.
The trade war is not a simple or static game, but a complex and dynamic process. The trade war is not a win-lose situation, but a win-win possibility. The trade war is not a dead end, but a new beginning. The trade war is not only about confrontation, but also about dialogue and cooperation. The trade war is not only about the past, but also about the future. The trade war is not only about Huawei, but also about the world.
If the US media and their fellow lying western media were to honest for a change they will be writing about China this way;
Xi Xinping couldn’t have put a foot wrong in his 10 years at the helm of China. Close to a billion Chinese people were brought out of poverty and today Chinese middle income numbers at least twice the entire U.S. population thanks to the economic and social policy of Xi’s administration.
The 1 billion is more than the entire worlds total the go out of poverty in the last generation put together. China did it within 10 years! Today, China became the worlds biggest consumer with the highest consumption of the worlds demand all thanks to the Xi’s government that put priority to enriching the Chinese and care for their live and livelihoods.
After 10 years at the helm, China overtook the U.S. average live expectancy in 2021 and 2022. So an average Chinese now live longer than their American counterpart CV, the ultimate measurement of health care and welfare! In the decade Chinese economic growth alone become considerably bigger than the entire G7.
Today China’s high speed rail measure 120 thousands miles, more than able to circumnavigate earth twice and longer than the world put together. It’s deployment of Robots and automation is also more than the world put together during Xi’s reign. So is solar, hydro and wind energy cultivation in excess of the entire worlds total.
While the U.S. is in effect suffering from double digit inflation and resulting in a bank run, China’s inflation stay less than 2%. And grow on average 4 times the size of the U.S. when Covid break China under Xi handled the pandemic better and any western nation by a mile. Deaths and infections number less than 0.1% that if the U.S. and its economy flies the moment they end Covid measure, which is timed to perfection.
During his reign he motivated Chinese engineers and scientist to excel till they now lead in 37 out of 44 most strategic and key future technology category that brought China to the dark side of the moon and to Mars and back at 1/30 amount of time and cost compared to the U.S.!
It’s no wonder 97% of Chinese people approves of the job he is doing compared to 30% for Biden and Trump! It is no wonder Chinese people are the most confident of their future amongst all nation and. American’s amongst the least confident. Today 151 out of 195 nations participated in the BRI whiles the U.S. copycat B2B has less than 10 members after 3 years and barely build 10 miles of road!
That is what western media if they are honest will write. They will say that the west can only marvel and dream that they have a leader like this in the west but no, instead they criticise him to no end shamelessly and pathetically. I will go further Xi alone did more than the previous 10 US presidents did for America! As what Xi did for China!
Is This the BIG SHTF??? (prepping News)
Russia To Inject Much Larger Resources into Ukraine Special Military Operation
Russia has unveiled its plan to funnel massive resources into its Ukraine offensive to fight what it calls a “hybrid war” unleashed by the West, particularly the United States.
Russia’s finance ministry, according to a document released on Thursday, revealed that defense spending on Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, is set to jump by more than 68 percent year-on-year to almost 10.8 trillion rubles ($111.15 billion).
“The focus of economic policy is shifting from an anti-crisis agenda to the promotion of national development goals,” the ministry said in the document.
It added that such a decision included “strengthening the country’s defense capacity” and “integrating” Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The four Ukrainian regions were annexed to the Russian Federation last year following local referendums in the regions, which have not yet fully fallen under Russian control.
The huge hike is more than the spending allocated for social policy in Russia.
“It is obvious that such an increase is necessary, absolutely necessary because we are in a state of hybrid war, we are continuing the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
“I’m referring to the hybrid war that has been unleashed against us,” he added.
According to figures and calculations by AFP, Russia’s defense spending in 2024 is set to total around three times more than education, environmental protection and healthcare spending combined.
The announcement came as UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg convened in Kiev on Thursday to discuss more military aid to Ukraine, whose President Volodymyr Zelensky is tirelessly lobbying for more air defense systems to boost its slowed (read failed) counteroffensive against Russian forces.
Moscow has repeatedly warned Western leaders against the continued supply of weapons and munitions to Ukraine, pointing out that such measures will not stop Russian troops from defending its objectives and that arming Kiev would only prolong the war.
In what might have been the most difficult decade of my life, the years between 2001 and 2011, I was diagnosed with a auto-immune disorder ( anti phospholipid antibody syndrome ), Type two diabetes, Congestive Heart Failure, began to go blind, got married, my widowed mother died one week after my marriage, I left my homeland, the United Kingdom to set up life in California.
The hardest thing in all of that was learning to live life as a blind person. After being sighted for forty something years.
Allbeit, my blindness is not total blindness, Iam legally blind, I still have a little light perception in the peripheral right eye. I can see some bright light and shadow. No detail or color.
It actually took me most of the decade to lose my sight from excellent vision. I could shoot skeet and trap at the beginning of the Millenium. By the beginning of 2012, I couldn’t see much other than a white glare.
From my first blood clots in my right eye I learned about my auto-immune disorder Anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome. (APAS ). The doctors told me that I was likely to lose the vision in my left eye too, one blood clot might do the same damage later to the other eye. More a case of when not if.
I had massive doses of laser treatment on my right eye in 2002 to just close off leaking blood vessels. That was painful. No pain killingdrugs, just don’t blink zap, red laser light flashes.
I was able to sustain one eyed life until my series of blood clots in my left eye in May 2007, that led to my journey into certain blindness.
Though hopes were high early on as steroid injections directly into the eye, led to my being able to maintain good vision. The steroids caused the rapid growth of a cataract which had to be removed. Then the steroids themselves became less and less effective.
By late 2009 the ceased to work at all.
My blindness was sealed.
I lost light perception in my left eye in 2010.
I had to learn to use a long white cane.
Funny, that was just at the critical time of the Fianancial Crisis. California was poor. So poor that when I applied for a $20 white cane I was told one would be supplied, at some point. It was three years later.
I bought my own $20 cane in the meantime.
I did get instruction in using a white cane. Six hours with an instructor, those hours were precious and used well. I got to know how to use the cane to walk about my town. Later those skills would serve me well when I applied to get my first guide dog. Leif, but that was in the future.
Blindness was now.
At times it looked as if there was no future. Those were dark days for me and the marriage. I wanted to pity party my days away. My wife wrestled with becoming perceived not as my wife of just a few years but as my caregiver. A role neither she nor I relished for her.
A role which my blindness had seemed to force upon her.
Blindness, sudden blindness, affects everyone in the life of the person who has lost their sight. They too are rendered helpless by the inexorable knowledge that life will be the life that was planned.
It’s cold, lonely and ultimately a potential relationship destroyer.
But luckily. My wife pulled me through.
She found the strength for both of us.
That made the toughest time of my life a thing of the past.
Thank you for reading.
All the best.
Deep Dish Hamburger Pie
beef pot pie
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 can green beans
Salt and pepper to taste
Ketchup
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Instructions
Brown the meat and add your seasonings.
Stir in enough ketchup to suit your taste.
Add green beans and stir in well.
Place this mixture in a casserole dish and top with the mashed taters and then top that with the cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F until heated through and cheese is browned.
The U.S. is ready to arrest Huawei executives for fear of China’s chip rise!
https://youtu.be/Vj3pxJzajBQ
German Legislative Chairman Says “Yes” To Taurus Missiles for Ukraine
The Bundestag in Germany said that Ukraine will have the right to attack the territory of occupied Crimea with German-Supplied, Taurus missiles. This was stated by the Chairman of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann.
Germany has not yet officially announced the transfer of Taurus missiles because the Russians have openly warned about this.
The Taurus KEPD 350 is a Swedish-German air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by Taurus Systems and used by Germany, Spain, and South Korea.
The missile incorporates stealth technology and has an official range in excess of 500 km (300 mi).[10] It is powered by a turbofan engine at Mach 0.95 and can be carried by Panavia Tornado, Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab JAS 39 Gripen, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, and McDonnell Douglas F-15K Slam Eagle aircraft.
The dual stage 480-kilogram (1,100 lb) warhead, called MEPHISTO (multi-effect penetrator highly sophisticated and target optimized), features a pre-charge and initial penetrating charge to clear soil or enter “hard and deeply buried targets” (HDBT) such as hardened underground bunkers, then a variable delay fuse to control detonation of the main warhead.
The missile weighs about 1,400 kg (3,100 lb) and has a maximum body diameter of 1 meter (3.3 ft). Intended targets are hardened bunkers; command, control, and communications facilities; airfield and port facilities; ammunition storage facilities; ships in port or at sea; area target attack and bridges.
The missile also includes countermeasures as a self-defense mechanism and electronic countermeasures.
Mission planners program the missile with the target, air defense locations and planned ground path, then the missile uses a low terrain-hugging flight path guided by inertial navigation system (INS), image based navigation (IBN), terrain referenced navigation (TRN), and Global Positioning System (GPS) to the proximity of the target, although it is capable of navigating over very long distances without GPS support.
Once there, the missile commences a bunt (climb) maneuver to an altitude intended to achieve the best probability of target acquisition and penetration.
During the cruise flight a high resolution thermographic camera (infrared homing) can support the navigation by using IBN and is also used for GPS-free target attack. The missile attempts to match a camera image with the planned 3D target model (Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator, DSMAC). If it cannot, it defaults to the other navigation systems, or, if there is a high risk of collateral damage, it will steer to a pre-designated crash point instead of risking an inaccurate attack with undesired consequences.
Taurus Systems GmbH has proposed an anti-ship variant.
If Ukraine is given such missiles by Germany, nowhere on Crimea would be safe for Russians.
However a colleague of mine believes this fervently. He believes an act of god saved his life.
He normally took the 5:50 PM train to his house. Same routine for years. No change.
Leave office at 5:30 ,purchase fruits, have a cup of tea and a samosa at a local tea shop and take the 5:50 train home. First class.
That day he began the same way but at the tea shop the tea seller was making delicious Cutlets. He said it will take 10 minutes. My friend decided to stay, and purchase some cutlets to take home for the evening meal as his son loved cutlets and other fast food and regularly complained of why his father kept bringing fruits daily.
He missed the 5:50 Train
Rather than wait for the 6:15 train, he decided to treat himself to an Auto.
When he reached home, it was 6:30 PM and he came in and delivered the cutlets to his son and went for a bath. When he came out he relaxed on the balcony and at 7 PM he got the calls – Are you alright? There was a bomb blast on the Churchgate 5:50 train.
Hundreds of calls that prompted him to send a Multiple SMS to everyone
I am fine and safe
I got the SMS and had no clue what the SMS was for. Only then came to know about the Train Blasts
After a few hours, my friend finally realized that he was a first class passenger and he would have most probably died.
His wife took him to the temple the next day and he refused to take the train anymore.
His decision to wait ten minutes to purchase Cutlets saved his life.
He is alive. Watched his son join ISRO. He is posted in Kolkata now.
Every July he will without fail on that day of the blast, visit the temple and thank god for that single decision.
And he has said this 20 million times to us. Every time he will start by saying “This is my second innings”.
Even to strangers. You ask him what the time is and hell reply – “Time…i dont regard time…..in 2006…” and hell start.
And despite this near miss – He posted a facebook post criticizing Tejasvi Surya and hailing someone called Srinivas.
Chicago-Style Sausage and Peppers
2023 10 17 15 45
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons corn oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
2 large yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
2 large red bell peppers, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup Jack Daniels Sour Mash Whiskey
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
8 spicy Italian sausages (4 ounces each), not hot dogs!
8 good quality hot dog buns
2 tablespoons reserved sausage grease or soft butter
Instructions
Heat corn oil in large skillet and sauté the onions and peppers until tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes over medium heat.
Add the bourbon and stir quickly until absorbed.
Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar melts.
Season with thyme, salt and pepper. (Can be refrigerated for one week. Let come to room temperature before serving.)
Char-grill the sausages until slightly blackened and cooked through.
Brush the hot dog buns with a little sausage grease or butter and toast on the grill or under the broiler.
Nestle a sausage in a bun and top with about 2 tablespoons of peppers and onions.
In July 2020, a girl about 20 years old was riding a shared bicycle to cross the road. Suddenly, she collided with a car turning left. The girl fell from the bicycle and was caught under the car.
After receiving the information, the police rushed to the intersection, which took 30 seconds.However at the time the police arrived, the girl had been rescued.
image 160image 159
Some delivery guys helped her.
In China, there is a magical group called delivery boy.
They belong to two different companies. One company’s employees wear orange clothes with toy kangaroo ears, and the other wear blue clothes with bamboo dragonflies on their heads.
Like this
image 158
It turned out that there happened to be a take-out station nearby (the delivery guys usually wait for the pick-up and drop-off information in the densely-packed neighborhoods of restaurants). More than ten delivery guys rushed out, and together with the surrounding construction workers, passing students and white-collar workers, they took the car lifted and rescued the girl. This process takes about fifteen seconds.
Although the girl’s head was bleeding, she was conscious. After the police used a first aid kit to stop the bleeding, the ambulance rushed to the scene and took the girl to the hospital. After the treatment by the hospital, the girl was out of danger.
There is also a group with a similar work nature to the delivery guys. They are called the express guys. The express delivery company in China is very efficient. It takes about three days for a product purchased from Guangzhou to Harbin (more than 3,000 kilometers) , If you choose a courier company known for its speed, the time can be shortened to two days, and the courier fee increases just a little. The reason for this speed is not only the efficient road transportation and air transportation system, but also the courier’s understanding of roads and community conditions and a dedicated work attitude.
image 157
In June last year, a child was playing on the balcony of his home. He accidentally fell out of the window with his head stuck in the guardrail and his body hanging outside the window. There was a danger of suffocation. A courier named Liang rushed over and climbed up when he heard someone calling for help. He stood on the guardrail of the first floor to support the boy’s feet and made sure him not hang in the air, waiting for the police to rescue him. In the end, the police and property staff who received the information saw the guardrail with a chainsaw and rescued the boy.
In some streets, there are caring refrigerators specially prepared for couriers, delivery guys and sanitation workers. There are free drinking water in them to prevent these workers who often go out in hot weather from heatstroke.
image 156
Human relationships are mysterious and full of charm. The mutual help, understanding and respect between people are too heartwarming.
Some disturbing stuff going down right now. The idiots in Washington DC are Hell-bent on war, and all of us are feeling like we are trapped in some kind of cage lashed to the back of a speeding car driven by a madman.
The West has gone completely koo-koo.
No shit.
In case you all haven’t noticed, I am not “reporting” or commenting on the insanity of the Middle East. It’s all a cluster fuck that I want no part of.
A long time ago, I owned one of the first Honda Accords. I had bought it new in 1977, and around 1984, the engine had a very bad oil burning problem. I was pulled over by a Metro Toronto Police constable, who gave me the choice of a ticket for “excessive smoking” or a visit to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment testing centre.
I chose the test, filled the engine with 50 w oil and while there was no smoke, the rest of the needles went fully to the right. Busted.
I was given a chance for a repeat, but knowing I would fail that one also, I put the car on the driveway, pulled the plates and used a borrowed vehicle. About a month after the missed test, a summons came in the mail to appear at the Provincial court one morning in the not too distant future.
I showed up early, and approached the clerk to find out where I should be and when. They never tell you that on the summons, just to appear. While talking the the clerk, a man walked up and was dealing with another of the clerks. I asked the clerk I was talking to “what the fine would be” if convicted. She didn’t know, and man beside me became interested in the matter. I had no idea who he was, but we kind of looked at the summons and neither of us could see anything about a fine. There was a little conversation; I assumed he was a lawyer, and we had a friendly chat. Court was starting shortly, and the fellow left, so I also went inside, told the bailiff I was there – important to do so, otherwise they might not call you for hours – and sat down.
At the stroke of 10:00 am, someone says “all rise” and in walks the Judge, the fellow I was talking to at the desk. Before the proceedings began, the Judge asked me if I had received an answer from the clerk. I told him that I had not, and then the proceedings began.
The Crown (prosecutor) presents the charge, an environmental offence, which he obviously felt was on par with burning down a forest or killing baby seals. Looking very smug, he sat down.
I am called forth, and I told the Judge that yes, the car had failed, but it was off the road and here are the license plates in my hand proving that it was no longer driving or polluting.
The Judge then asked the Crown what the minimum fine was for such an offence. The Crown responded that “the Ministry has a range up to $5000 for such an offence and the usual fine is this case would be $100.”
The Judge asked again about the minimum fine and the Crown repeated his same line. The Judge then asked “so there is no minimum fine?”
The Crown sheepishly answered “No sir” and the Judge turned to me and asked “the car is off the road?” and I responded affirmatively, at which point he said the charges were dropped as the intent of the law was to keep polluting vehicles off the road and obviously this had happened. Case dismissed!
I can’t say for sure, but there was a bit of smile from my new friend on the bench as I walked out of the court.
We’d just celebrated a diversity milestone as part of our quarterly meeting. It was one of those corporate cheerleading events where I stood in the back resisting the painful urge to roll my eyes.
“We are far more than a team of coworkers,” the CEO said, gesturing wide with his arms to the crowd, “We are a family.”
He was such a phony. The summit concluded and I went to the lunchroom. Right as I walked in, I stopped in the doorway and noticed something obvious that I hadn’t noticed before this diversity meeting.
All the white people were at their tables. All the black employees sat at another set of tables. Three Asian ladies sat at another. It was like we were living in the 1950s. And it wasn’t confined to this office. I still see this trend so often when I walk through malls, or along the sidewalk.
A similar phenomenon was observed on the set of Planet Of The Apes in 1968. The director noticed that during lunch, the people dressed as gorillas sat with other gorillas, chimps with chimps, and humans with humans. He described feeling a chill in the air and wondered if we were already in a dystopian sci-fi future. It even happened on the set of Babylon 5. People self-segregated according to their alien skin color.
This trend has long predated echo chambers, and it’s detrimental to your growth.
image 116
The closed network problem
The trend is called homophily, where we magnetize towards clusters of people similar to us. Race isn’t the only sorting mechanism. People sort by social class, age, political ideology, and even the type of music they listen to. And the unfortunate result is that we often live in a “closed network”. We sort ourselves into increasingly tight homogeneous groups.
A closed network forms in these four steps and I suspect you’ll be able to think of a few examples as you read this (I certainly did):
image 74
Putting all moral platitudes aside, social diversity has great predictive qualities for your career and life.
Count on one hand your closest friends. I’d bet that for many of you — they are pretty similar to you across a few demographic touchpoints. It’s no fault to you. This happens naturally, but you can disrupt this habit.
By mixing up your friend group, you are exposed to ideas different than your own and stretch your thinking. Your professional network also becomes much more potent, which is especially important: Within 10 years of graduation, a majority of people won’t work in the area they majored in.
Beware of gatekeeping your network
My ex’s family was deeply conservative — which is fine on its own. People are entitled to their beliefs. But this was often a barrier to who could spend time with them.
They were constantly sizing people up and figuring out their political opinions to determine if they were friend-material. Many people do this without realizing it. These parents were just explicit about it and they had a very small town syndrome (cliquey behavior, when you forget there is an entire world outside of your own).
This introduces the other pesky problem. It’s not all that easy to make friends — especially as we get older. So what next? There are a few solutions.
A route out of Cloneville
I moved 15 times before I turned 18. I lived in California, DC, Florida, Virginia Beach, North Carolina — and every new batch of people was so different than the next. I went to an all white, deeply conservative private school in 9th grade, a liberal high school in Coronado. I was one of the only white kids at an inner city middle school in DC. It wasn’t always easy.
Every summer, I waited for the talk. My mom or dad would come to my bedroom and tell me we were moving and how I was going to love this new school and place. Early on, I realized implicitly, “OK. I need to learn to make new friends.”
I was a new 5th grader at Linkhorn Elementary. We had a substitute teacher who happened to be gorgeous. She was passing out quiz papers. Before she passed out each quiz, she did that thing where she licked her finger to grip the paper.
After she handed me my quiz, I looked across the table at a classmate Joe and say, “Hey Joe! Pssst.”
He turned to me and I pretended to lick my finger and put it down to my thigh and made a hissing sound, like bacon hitting the frying pan. It was a corny joke — but it made Joe laugh and we were instantly friends. And from there, I learned that humor was one quick path to win anyone over.
Often, it’s less about how funny a joke is — and more about the energy it establishes. It signals, “I want to play.” Think about how a dog plants his chest down to the ground while keeping his hind legs standing to get another dog to play with him. This is the human equivalent.
It says, “I like you. Let’s have fun.”
“What if I’m not that funny?”
An even better solution that is painfully overlooked is to smile. Researchers have proven that smiles motivate people to interact with you. They are seen as a “prosocial invitation”. Stand upright and give them a quick, natural smile right when you spot them. It signals you are excited to see them.
After getting to know so many types of people, I’ve realized most people just want to be accepted as a complicated human being. And if you are just nice to them, and seem happy to see them and talk to them — you’ve nearly won the battle already.
When you go to your lunchroom, consider sitting with a new group of people. Don’t be afraid to talk to someone who looks different than you.
There’s a concept called contact hypothesis whereby tension between groups is reduced when they are brought together and interact. It promotes trust and reduces stereotyping. It reminds two different people that they’re both human beings. But the only way to make different types of friends is to actually spend time with people who are different from you.
One of my close friends couldn’t be more different from me. His political views and background are a full 180. But we are both fully candid about our opinions and thoughts, and know we can do so without fear of judgement or being disliked. Sure, he says crazy stuff sometimes but that’s fine. He’s still my friend. He’s taught me a few things about the world and changed a few of my opinions, and I’d like to think the reverse is true.
My hope, is that in a world that is so divided, more people from different walks of life can share the same path. They’d expand their own perspectives. They’d have more love and understanding, and more career opportunities.
And it would save us from being fenced in with our own. Closed networks beget closed minds.
Brazil was inches away from recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital not very long ago, mind you.
Surprising split in South America nonetheless, you’d imagine they’d have a uniform stance like they had for Ukraine.
A sea of yellow in Asia with only the usual suspects in blue but hey there’s someone new this time!
India’s position sits perfectly with our new found friends and within our domestic political landscape but ought to disappoint the fellow global southerners. But tbf, it is not to be construed as a paradigm shift in our policy, our Ministry of External Affairs clarified our two state stance on Palestine only yesterday, rather bad memories getting rekindled.
Nepal lost about a dozen citizens to Hamas’ attack. Poor folks go under the radar and didn’t even get sufficient coverage.
Irans sphere of influence, man, from Caspian Sea to Red Sea. Bush what have you done?
This is a map from TRT— Türkiye’s state run broadcaster. Interesting that they construe Erdogan’s position as call for de-escalation.
Sudan’s case is the perfect microcosm of the viability of normalisation deals that Israel is pursuing. You try so hard and get so far, and then a coup happens.
Morocco, UAE understandable, but Saudi and Pakistan? Who would have thought? Not me. Only 2% of Saudis are in favour of normalisation, I wonder if that matters at all. And 2% would be too high a number for Pakistanis.
Those who follow Bangladesh’s politics ought to find Bangladesh’s silence intriguing, if not outright discombobulating, especially with Hasina up for election soon and US breathing down her neck (yeah, not making this up, US is the biggest threat to Hasina’s re-election).
I don’t get Mexico’s neutrality, they don’t even recognise Palestine.
I don’t get New Zealand’s contrarian take either. What gives? I imagined if anyone from the West was going to have a contrarian take it would be Norway. The right is on the rise in Norway, left rules New Zealand, perhaps that explains?
Ghana coming all out to condemn Hamas? With a similar religious demography split like India, I wonder if there’s domestic political considerations involved.
Foreign policy really is domestic politics with its hat on.
Given that Indonesia’s support will be construed differently then Iran’s support, Venezuela joins the “axis of evil”. But in all fairness they joined the club previously after Ukraine invasion.
DPRK has been silent?
What explains the silence of that many African countries? None of our business paradigm?
Putin tells it like it is…
Fudge Cobbler
chocolate cobbler 2 pn
Yield: about 9 servings
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 (1 ounce) square unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
Vanilla ice cream (garnish)
Instructions
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square baking dish.
Melt the chocolate and the butter in a saucepan over very low heat. Stir often. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the sugar, flour, vanilla extract and eggs.
Everyone in the office was paid on an hourly basis and it was each person’s responsibility to keep track of how many hours they worked each day on a paper time sheet. At the end of each week each employee turned in their time sheet to their supervisor who would sign them and then give the to HR so everyone can get paid for the hours they worked. In practice, everyone showed up each day, did their work, wrote down”8 hours” on their time sheet and went home. Everyone was happy.
Then along came a new guy in management who stated that nobody was actually keeping track of their hours and just writing down what HR wanted to see. This meant that the company was losing money and productivity from people not working a full day but being paid for it. So he instituted a new digital time sheet system where each person had to log their times in and out on their computers and the system would track how many hours each of us worked.
What the company discovered was that everyone tended to come into work 10–15 minutes early, hardly ever took a full hour for lunch and often stayed 10–15 minutes late to get their work done. Thanks to the new time sheet system every employee was now getting paid for all that overtime they had been working but not tracking. This affected the company because it was added payroll expense that wasn’t budgeted. So management put out a new rule that nobody would be allowed to work any overtime without written permission from their supervisor and HR. So everyone was very diligent to log in and out exactly in time.
Except now productivity had fallen because nobody was working those extra minutes each day, which multiplied over all staff added up to an extra 60 hours per week of work. The company ended up needing to hire two more people to make up that productivity.
After Huawei released Kirin 9000S, Biden revised the bill: banning China from owning high-end chips.
So China cannot make their own, if they do, they will violate American law.
Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday the country’s switch to a dual 5G network will allow for more effective participation by China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
Malaysia in May had said it would allow a second 5G network to operate from next year, following concerns over a monopoly held by a single state-run network.
The European Union and the U.S. had warned Malaysia of risks to national security and foreign investment amid efforts by Huawei to bid for a role in its telecoms infrastructure.
Anwar on Wednesday acknowledged concerns from some countries over the “security and capacity” of technology stemming from China, but said the decision to allow a second 5G network was made so that Malaysia could benefit from different technologies.
“We in Malaysia… and I believe rightly, decided that while we get the best from the West, we also should benefit the best from the East,” he told an event hosted by Huawei in Kuala Lumpur.
“After extensive discussion… we made the decision to allow for a dual network, and thus the decision for more effective participation by Huawei.”
Malaysia had in 2021 unveiled a plan for a state-owned agency, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), to own the full 5G spectrum, with various carriers using the infrastructure to provide mobile services, but the plan had come under industry criticism over pricing and competition.
State-run DNB partnered with Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson to roll out Malaysia’s 5G network. It is unclear how Malaysia’s plan for a second network would affect DNB’s agreement with Ericsson or other mobile operators.
WHAT THESE FILIPINAS CAN OFFER TO THEIR PASSPORT BROS!
They are generally ignorant about China and Chinese, and conversations about China are very shallow and full of misconceptions. It is not worth my time to correct those misperceptions, and there is no reward for doing it.
Chinese are much fun and interesting, and even if they have silly ideas, they are often entertaining. Most importantly, they know the local restaurants and dishes, and can introduce me to some dish I have never had before. Unlike for most westerners, dining out is a social event, not just filling the tummy.
I was age 14 in the early 1960s and living with a family who had one child around my age. On my 14th birthday, my mother said I needed to pay room and board. I decided to pay for a room in other homes where there was no violence. My rapidly increasing scoliosis was becoming a problem. I had three jobs to pay room and board — (1) feeding and washing people in a nursing home and doing laundry), (2) babysitting at the country club 1.5 miles away, and (3) stocking shelves in a dry goods store. I made $29.00 a week. My room and board was $28.00 a week. I went to high school about three days a week.
I was happy with this family. The father was Welsh and sang Welsh songs every Friday night as he walked home from the Legion. The mother was one of the cafeteria ladies at the high school. They were good to me.
Then one day, the father came home with an envelope and pulled out a Beatles ticket and handed it to his daughter.
And then he handed another ticket to me.
TO ME!
It cost $15.00. I told him it would take me years to pay him back. If I didn’t buy shampoo, pads, or deodorant, it would take me 15 months to repay him. The father disregarded this idea with a flick of his hand and a Welsh phrase I didn’t understand.
The father drove us the 80 miles to the venue, let us off and circled the building during the performance and was right there when it was finished. Not only that, but the man put up with us singing Beatles songs all the way home. We were not good singers.
Even now, decades later (and I am a retired person), whenever I do something nice for someone, I think, ‘this is for you, John Cooper, this one is for you.’
I carry such lightweight debts with me.
Pepe Escobar: China Has DEFEATED the Neocon Agenda as US War Fails Before It Starts
I don’t expect Xi or Putin to meet with Biden. He doesn’t make the decisions.
If they know how to do something, they automatically know how to do it at scale.
This is a country that builds entire new cities at one go. They produce 600,000 engineers per year. They make four out of every five solar panels in the world. They can build a 57-storey skyscraper in 19 days, and as we saw during the covid-19 pandemic, a brand new hospital in 10 days. They are the world’s biggest factory.
If they know how to make one Huawei Mate 60, they already know how to make 100 million Huawei Mate 60s.
China does not know how to think SMALL. It is unnatural and weird for them to think on a small scale. China has cities with populations larger than countries such as Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, even Australia. Thinking big is China’s default mentality.
New round of US sanctions started against Huawei! U.S. tech war enters stage 2.0!
In this episode, we dive into the latest updates on the potential second round of sanctions by the United States on Huawei. Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, unveiled its new smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, sparking intrigue amidst ongoing U.S.-China tech tensions.
These cutting-edge smartphones, powered by 7-nanometer chips from China’s SMIC, bring 5G connectivity to the forefront.
The implications of this move are significant, causing a reevaluation of the technology blockade against Huawei and even calls for a complete halt to technology exports. We also explore China’s efforts to boost its self-sufficiency in chip production and navigate U.S. export restrictions.
But the worst part of my job is that I occasionally have to be the “male voice”.
One of my female colleagues will refer a call to me to tell a caller about some iron clad policy we have that we can never, ever overlook.
I am on the same pay level as all of them. I am not the manager. I often work in a different department. I am, however, the only one of this fairly large group of people that is male.
I tell them the iron clad policy. They shut up. End of story.
Part of the problem is that the engineering profession is still about 80% male, and so is the applicant base. They are not used to being told “no” by someone who isn’t male. It’s not like it’s just immigrants either.
Here’s the irony. The second highest ranking staff member, and the person two steps above me, is a woman. She’s had to put up with it too.
But I will tell you about my ex-colleague, boss and PEO president. She left her position as my boss to take on a five year position at the university she was hired by to get female enrollment in the engineering program up to 40%. It took her one year and she shot past the 40% goal to boot. Then she went to another university and did the same thing.
China’s LATEST Hypersonic Drone Can Destroy US F35 Stealth Fighter in Seconds
China’s hypersonic program has emerged as one of the biggest and heavily advanced sectors of the nation. In this remarkable sector, the PLA boasts having a drone in its arsenal which is capable of reaching hypersonic speeds and destroying world renowned stealth fighters that have dominated the aerial warfare sector for years. Today’s episode is covering China’s hypersonic drone and how it can be used to destroy US Stealth fighters.
Many of the westerners have been to China, like it, and see a lot of criticism of China in the western media which is based on planted information and is basically untrue, in order to drive western public opinion against China.
These westerners try to compensate for this distorted view by praising China. Their intention is to restore balance in how China is viewed.
Unfortunately, the western view of China has become so distorted that it is impossible to have a balanced view of China: either it is completely bad, or it is good.
A balanced view of China would say that there are many good things about China, and there are some bad things as well.
China is just like the US: it is just another country and society, each facing its own set of challenges.
I live in Northern Maine. My property borders a state park/forest. The state forest has a parking lot you need to pay to park in the lot although the park/forest is free to enter. Alot of people will park along the main road and walk into the park. my property is on a side road that is beside the park the park entrance is 2 mile up the main road from my road.
Some park/forest visitors have taken to pulling down my road and parking on my property and hiking across my property to enter the park. they block driveways and the road with poor parking abilities. Some pull into driveways.
My property is a farm I have many driveways used by tractors and equipment to enter the feilds for feeding livestock and tending crops. All driveways are gated (keep livestock in feilds and out of crops)
One group of annoying tourists pulled up in 3 vehicles (2 rvs and a 12–15 passenger van) All had New York plates. they pulled in blocking the access to the feilds and began hiking across my feilds. I caught up to them and informed them that they would be towed if they did not move the vehicles. The leader of the group told me to f-off while giving a one finger salute. I watched as they walked away across the feild. once they entered the park/forest I went to my equipment barn got my large green and yellow tractor hooked up a slurry spreader tank and drove over to the slurry bin and filled the tank. ( Slurry is cow manure that is mixed with water to make it able to spray) I adjusted the spray bar and drove over near the area and sprayed liquified manure (did not spay any on the vehicles) just near the road along the fence a nice heavy thick layer then sprayed more along the area they entered the forest. Since it was 85 degrees outside the smell would bake in the sun to keep it fresh I placed a water tank and sprayer/ sprinkler nearby and set the timers to run for 5 minutes every hour. After 4 hours I called and had the vehicles towed.
They returned and found me spraying slurry in my feilds as they walked across the feilds the slurry is sticking to the shoes (most wearing sandles or flip flops – Nothing like the feeling of liquid poop between the toes) They find the vehicles gone and ask me where they are. I tell them where the inpound lot is and inform them that as they exit onto the main road they should stop and read the large SIGN that says private road. I called the police who informed them that they could walk to impound as it was 20–30 minute walk down the road.
I would imagine that they found out that the oder of sun baked slurry permeates into things. (they left the widows open on the vehicles) and with what was on the shoes it must have been an interesting ride back to New York.
The problem with the EU is Josep the Chief Diplomat’s words do not represent the cohesive attitude, or indeed, policy decisions of the EU towards China. EU member states hold even more divergent and polarizing attitudes.
The fact of the matter is, the G7 does not have a China seat, but the EU gets its own seat, on top of individual EU members. The currencies of these nations power the global financial market, while the yuan issued by the world’s No. 2 economy is an afterthought in BIS reports.
Senior figures in the EU have repeatedly made rude and damaging attacks on China and Chinese interests, including the core issue of Greater China sovereignty. Entities and individuals have been sanctioned, just like their American counterparts, whose actions they mirrored.
Nord Stream is a key European infrastructure that cost billions to build. After it was bombed, the lack of condemnation for an act of war is curious, to say the least. Government findings were blocked from release, while there remains a shocking lack of blowback and demand for accountability in the press.
The EU-CHINA CAI, which is tilted in Europe’s favor, is also dead in the water, after 10 years of painstaking negotiation securing an agreement in principle. EU leaders are complaining about lack of market access in China, when it is self-inflicted.
There is also the issue of the EC, with Ursula completely at odds with Josep’s conciliatory, if shaky, diplomacy. She was given the cold shoulder on a recent visit to Beijing as Emmanuel’s invited partner. The message was clear. She wasn’t the guest invited by the Chinese state.
Who represents the EU? Who has the authoritative voice that can be trusted? How has the EU demonstrated long-term policy independence from the US?
Wang Yi, and before him, Yang Jiechi, have had regular hours-long closed door conversations with Jake, the National Security Advisor. Jake is 46, and not even elected, but he has access to top Chinese leadership that the EU can only dream of, because he is the personal envoy of Joe.
Do we really have to spell out who calls the shots in NATO, which is tied at the umbilical with the EU power structure?
During a 10-hour flight, she was heading from Seoul, Korea, to San Francisco, USA. This mother distributed more than 200 passengers on the plane a plastic bag for each one. The bag contains candy, chewing gum and earplugs as a kind of advance apology for using them in the event that her 4-month-old baby screamed during the flight.
The bag also contained a message containing (hello, I am Jan Woo. I am 4 months old and today I’m traveling America with my mom and grandmother for my aunt’s outfit. I’m a little nervous and scared. This is my first flight in my life. It’s normal for me to cry or cause some disturbance. I’ll try to stay calm, but I can’t promise you. Please use it if my voice gets too loud.. Enjoy your trip. Thank you)
Communism and Marxism is hardly an issue to the U.S. with Vietnam that the U.S. is courting shamelessly and Saudi Arabia a Islamic Monarchy hardly liberal democracy but does it bother Uncle Sam for the last half a century?
For me it is as simple as China cannot be made submissive and subservient to the U.S. that is all to it. And worst China is simply a lot lot more efficient and effective than the U.S. can ever be! In fact China has a better human rights record than the U.S. anyway! That perturb the US to no end.
But what is worst for the U.S. Is 150–175 nations out of the world’s 195 nation prefers Chinese and China way and none in the global south wants anything to do with Uncle Sam. They find them obnoxious and despicable. To me this is not due to China at all but due to the shit U.S. did to the world since 1945.
I know Americans who are mostly highly naive and hugely made ignorant to think the U.S. media or government is well liked by the world. But in truth it couldn’t be further than the truth!
Abusing nations has consequences, bullying nations turned them off, arbitrary sanctions puts nations off, they will hedge, they will stop letting you fxxk them! It does not matter what your media lies and your propaganda says. The world is no fool!
Just figure this. US the biggest murdering nation telling China in Alaska about human rights! Is totally laughable and utterly ridiculous! Chinese officials told Blinken save the advise for your dogs and slave vassal nations!
The “American Dream” is actual Slavery (It’s all a Lie)
I was an admin assistant at a department at my local university. I was just about to clock off and make my way home in a wild windstorm that eventually knocked down 20,000 trees across the city when for some reason I decided to check one of the grad student offices and discovered that the skylight had blown off, exposing multiple desks and computers, some of them running data, to the elements. I called the relevant campus department and was told that restoring electricity and clearing roads and whatnot took priority, and they likely wouldn’t get to replacing the skylight (which I’d located, but lacked the strength and roof access to lug it up myself) until the next day at the earliest. So I cracked open the earthquake kit and rigged, using tarps and duct tape, a patch, then moved, ever so carefully so as not to accidentally disconnect the computers, all six desks away from the skylight shaft, in case my patch failed.
This all took about four hours past my usual knock-off time. Everyone was really glad I’d taken the time and initiative to do it, but my supervisor refused even to consider giving me time off in lieu for those four hours because she hadn’t pre-approved them, never mind that, in those pre-cell days, I’d had no way of reaching her. So I appealed to the department head, who overrode her. She was livid, and thereafter made my life so miserable that I leapt at the first decent opportunity to leave.
People with no medical knowledge make decisions about whether a patient can have a medical procedure, overruling the attending physician.
Now, with the outsourcing of call centers, people with no medical knowledge in Jamaica, India, and Pakistan make those decisions.
Here are some typical costs in Uruguay:
Office visit: US $8.00
ER visit: US $ 10.00
House call: US $12.00.
Electrolyte blood analysis: US $7.11.
Cerebral CT Scan: US $23.29
If you call an ambulance, it arrives with a full-fledged MD, not an EMT.
Before I turned 70 years of age, I paid around US $55 per month for health coverage.
Now I pay around US $70 per month. For that, I get totally free hospital stays and all costs are free, including hospital stay, surgery, medications, doctor care, and nursing care. When you check out, regardless of what was done or how long you were hospitalized, you pay nothing.
The monthly cost for my cancer medication is around US $2.50. The same medication in the US is around $500.00.
It’s been proven China can with Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro.
Chinese companies can rival the giant U.S. tech companies like Intel, Apple and Nvidia but what takes time is building up the ecosystem to make this possible. Thousands of companies make up the support system that manufactures and supports the tools and machines for the manufacturing processes of semiconductors.
The most critical of these companies are in the design (specifically EDA tools) and packaging (chiplets) processes, as well as the lithography machines for the making of the chip itself. There are now Chinese companies with the leading edge (or close to) technologies to rival industry leaders.
Just as critical is the consolidating of resources and capabilities to have the companies to ensure adequate supply of legacy chips. These are actually the more important players because they make up 90% of demand.
U.S. sanctions have forced China to come up with its own self-siufficient semiconductor indiustry.
Chinese don’t necessarily support single party rule; they support a strong central government to maintain order.
Whether it is single party or not is secondary.
In today’s China, it is led by a single party, but it is much more than any western political party because it has 100M members who meet monthly to discuss local, provincial and central government issues, and how to solve them.
Do the Republican and Democratic parties ask their members to meet monthly to discuss how to solve social issues? I think not.
My point is not that one system is better than another, but they are very different, and talking about the ruling party in China being the same as the political parties in the US is silly and ridiculous, because China developed according to its historical conditions, and the US developed according to its historical conditions.
As Everyone’s Lοοking At Ιsrael, Something Τruly Unbelievable Has Begun Ιn America
Very interesting.
He’s saying that (it’s official) World War III is on-line.
People are imbued with cultural and religious ideas they don’t even recognize and simply take for granted.
I, an American, was imbued with the idea “I am my husband’s equal. In marriage we will have the same freedoms and similar expectations of each other. I would never shout at him for wearing shorts, so of course he will not do that to me. I don’t consider cooking his job, so I am sure he won’t consider it my job. I would always discuss a big purchase with him – and naturally he will give me the same respect.”
That sense of equality and “Don’t treat your spouse in a way you don’t want to be treated yourself” was my cultural norm.
I found that my husband had absolutely no cultural or religious norm of equality. He absolutely was willing to treat me in ways he would hate to be treated himself. He did not think a woman deserved what a man deserves.
He found it absolutely normal to expect control over me, and be resentful thst I didn’t make his life as comfortable as he believed a man’s life should be. He was constantly looking at the very unequal marriages of his (Muslim Arab) friends and resenting me for not being a submissive woman who cooked and cleaned and expected nothing but money from him.
My husband and I are in the same profession. I worked longer hours than him. I was also the one who was sometimes pregnant or recovering from childbirth.
But he could not appreciate me. He had a cultural and religious idea in his head : a man should come home from work and be catered to. Clean house, good food, obedient wife who wears certain clothes and lets her husband forbid her from certain activities or friends that do not please him. The man should be comfortable, should be served, should have things his way. (It is similar to the relationship between a dog owner and his dog. They love each other – but the owner does not think the dog should share in decisions or come and go as it pleases. A dog is expected to be happy being owned and trained and played with.)
My husband started off claiming he would love me forever.
It did not last.
But his cultural ideas of what a man is owed and how a wife must serve — those ideas will last in him forever.
Let’s answer this question using 5 Low IQ positions that the US politicians are taking –
Low IQ action 1 – Raimondo threatens Huawei before her China trip. She is simply arrogant and lacks intelligence. Who in the right mind threatens someone’s kid before visiting their home?
Low IQ action 2 – It is simply embarrassing to see a country using full state resources to bring down a private company. You brought an army to a fist fight and didn’t knock your much smaller opponent out!
Low IQ action 3 – The Western chips companies are making large profits selling products to China. And you stopped the sales and force your biggest customer to make their own?
Low IQ action 4 – You give billions of dollars of subsidies to your own chip companies to build factories. But you stop the demand from your top customer. So where are US companies gonna sell their excess chips to?
Low IQ action 5 – You take away Huawei’s access to Google and they went to develop their own operating system to threaten Google’s and Microsoft’s future dominance. You like shooting your own foot?
Irish Girl Watches MISTER ROGERS For The First Time
Oh nostalgia tv, except I don’t know who Mister Rogers is. I’ve always heard the name Mister Rogers as a reference in American tv and films but this Irish Girl had no idea who that was. Join me on a very emotional journey as I watch Fred Rogers first through last tv appearance, see him sing “I like you just as you are” and “ it’s a wonderful day in the neighbourhood” Mister Rogers Neighbourhood. Couldn’t we all do with some nice insight from a Fred Rogers right now.
I was in the US Army stationed in Germany for 3 and half years… Just turned 18. During this time I never took leave and went back. Travelled all over Europe! In Germany, I drunk my first beer, had my first kiss, and my first Girlfriend, was amazed by the people, the culture, the infrastructure, the cuisine, almost everything. I even took German courses and was proficient at least with speaking German. Anyway the day came, when i was being discharged ( I never really liked the army, andjoined for the Gi Bill) Back in the rural midwest, working at Walmart while going to community collage, I realized how much I missed Germany, the lifestyle, the urban vibe and so many things ( missed having a GF too, in the US I wasnt rich enough or cool enough to date anyone, in Germany this was never a thing at all, about money and all that. I decided if I was going to have a dull dead end life with no future, why not go back to Germany? At least have an adventure of some kind, i could always come back to the US.. 7 months after I ETSed ( left the army) I got a passport, got a cheap one way ticket and reconnected with some German civilians I knew.. I ended up staying in germany, has been 30 plus years now. I remember when the plane landed and I was disembarking, and set foot on the ground, I felt like,, this is it..the place you are meant to be.
I takes longer than that but slowly and surely it will.there is not even a speck of doubt. Tell me which nation wants to save in U.S. dollar reserve if can be confiscated away from you at the whims or fancies of the U.S? Do you want to keep your savings in a bank using a currency that the US can take it all away anytime it wants?
No one do, no want does, no one will ever want to. The fact that the US and the west can even phantom that by stealing gold from Venezuela and US dollar reserves from Russia is an acceptable behaviour tell how little the west thinks of the rest of the world.
Every nation on earth, even the US allies are figuring how to hedge against the US dollar. Direct Currency swap arrangement is very popular and it must have have grown several fold in the last year alone! Some agree on a basket of currencies, Others revert back to barter.
JEFFREY SACHS ON A HISTORIC DEBT
Israel Attacks Damascus Airport as IRAN Foreign Minister Plane Coming-in; Plane Forced to Divert
The Israeli Air Force fired missiles at Damascus Airport and Aleppo Airport this morning, just before a plane carrying the Iran Foreign Minister was approaching Damascus for an official state visit. The Iran Minister’s plane was forced to divert from the area to avoid conflict.
Attacking Syria was an illegal act of aggression by Israel. Conducting that attack while a Diplomat was approaching for a state visit is arguably an Act of War.
Damascus Airport is now damaged and closed. Aleppo Airport is also reported to be damaged and closed.
The Iran Foreign Minister plane appears to be returning to Iran.
Syrian Defense Ministry: “At approximately 1:50 pm this afternoon, the Israeli enemy simultaneously carried out an air aggression with bursts of missiles, targeting the international airports of Aleppo and Damascus, which led to damage to the airports’ landing strips and them being out of service.
This aggression is a desperate attempt by the criminal Israeli enemy to divert attention from the crimes it is committing in Gaza, and the great losses it is suffering at the hands of the Palestinian resistance.”
( HT Remark: Nothing like escalating the already bad situation with Gaza into an international incident with a foreign Diplomat. Unschooled, these Israelis. Totally devoid of class.)
According to our Singapore media reports, the cost of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail is approximately US$7.3 billion. We tentatively believe that this number is real.
So this figure exceeds the budget given by China when bidding for the project eight years ago by US$1.2 billion. The project completion time was delayed by 4 years than originally planned.
This doesn’t seem like a good number.
But compared to current plans in other countries around the world to build high-speed rail, these are two very good figures.
1. Cost per kilometer
Even calculated based on all costs after overruns (including land costs), the cost per kilometer of Indonesia’s high-speed rail is only US$58 million. The high-speed rail in the United Kingdom is US$300 million per kilometer, and the high-speed rail in California is US$200 million per kilometer.
India’s high-speed rail was originally planned to cost US$35 million per kilometer. However, it has not actually been completed yet. Only ten kilometers have been built. The cost has been doubled and the final cost cannot be estimated. Due to serious delays in construction, some experts predict that there is a high probability that the cost per kilometer will exceed US$80 million when completed.
2. Time spent
The Indian high-speed railway started construction one year earlier than the Indonesian high-speed railway and is scheduled to open in 2023. According to media reports some time ago, only 10 kilometers have been built so far. The completion date has been changed to 2028, but many experts believe that the actual completion time may be after 2032.
The first phase of the British high-speed railway is planned to build 160 kilometers. Construction will start in 2020 and is scheduled to be completed in 2029. It has now been changed to 2033. The real completion date cannot be determined.
Therefore, although the Indonesian high-speed railway experienced a 16% cost overrun and a 4-year construction delay. But this is mainly due to the virus problem over the past 3 years.
Judging from similar large-scale projects around the world, Indonesians have reached the top level in terms of project time and budget control.
I believe that for many years to come, no country will be able to surpass Indonesia’s level.
This is due to the efficient work of the Indonesian government, the unity and support of the Indonesian people, and the technology and efficiency of the Chinese. Their achievements deserve congratulations.
Star Trek – Fire On the Forcefield
America Can’t Stop China’s Rise — Foreign Policy
There’s little doubt that the American government has decided to slow China’s economic rise, most notably in the fields of technological development. To be sure, the Biden administration denies that these are its goals. Janet Yellen said on April 20, “China’s economic growth need not be incompatible with U.S. economic leadership. The United States remains the most dynamic and prosperous economy in the world. We have no reason to fear healthy economic competition with any country.” And Jake Sullivan said on April 27, “Our export controls will remain narrowly focused on technology that could tilt the military balance. We are simply ensuring that U.S. and allied technology is not used against us.”
Yet, in its deeds, the Biden administration has shown that its vision extends beyond those modest goals. It has not reversed the trade tariffs Donald Trump imposed in 2018 on China, even though presidential candidate Joe Biden criticized them in July 2019, saying: “President Trump may think he’s being tough on China. All that he’s delivered as a consequence of that is American farmers, manufacturers and consumers losing and paying more.” Instead, the Biden administration has tried to increase the pressure on China by banning the export of chips, semiconductor equipment, and selected software. It has also persuaded its allies, like the Netherlands and Japan, to follow suit. More recently, on Aug. 9, the Biden administration issued an executive order prohibiting American investments in China involving “sensitive technologies and products in the semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence sectors” which “pose a particularly acute national security threat because of their potential to significantly advance the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities” of China.
All these actions confirm that the American government is trying to stop China’s growth. Yet, the big question is whether America can succeed in this campaign—and the answer is probably not. Fortunately, it is not too late for the United States to reorient its China policy toward an approach that would better serve Americans—and the rest of the world.
America’s decision to slow China’s technological development is akin to the folly revealed by the old cliché: closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. Modern China has shown many times that China’s technological development can’t be halted.
Since the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, several efforts have been made to limit China’s access to or stop its development in various critical technologies, including nuclear weapons, space, satellite communication, GPS, semiconductors, supercomputers, and artificial intelligence. The United States has also tried to curb China’s market dominance in 5G, commercial drones, and electric vehicles (EVs). Throughout history, unilateral or extraterritorial enforcement efforts to curtail China’s technological rise have failed and, in the current context, are creating irreparable damage to long-standing U.S. geopolitical partnerships. In 1993 the Clinton administration tried to restrict China’s access to satellite technology. Today, China has some 540 satellites in space and is launching a competitor to Starlink.
The same principle played out with GPS. When America restricted China’s access to its geospatial data system in 1999, China simply built its own parallel BeiDou Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) system in one of the first waves of major technological decoupling. In some measures, BeiDou is today better than GPS. It is the largest GNSS in the world, with 45 satellites to GPS’s 31, and is thus able to provide more signals in most global capitals. It is supported by 120 ground stations, resulting in greater accuracy, and has more advanced signal features, such as two-way messaging. Other nations have also previously tried and failed to block China’s technical rise. In the 1950s and 1960s, when the USSR withheld nuclear weapons technology from China, China launched its own “Manhattan Project” in the early 1960s and succeeded in testing its first nuclear weapon by 1964. Russian nuclear leverage over China ended that day.
Many of the measures taken by the Biden administration against China were also executed without factoring in China’s capacity to retaliate. While China does not physically construct many truly irreplaceable components of the American technology stack, they are keenly aware of the importance of their raw materials inputs (rare earths) and demand (revenue generation) in fueling the American innovation ecosystem and are now using them as leverage. In the current tit-for-tat dynamic, China will start squeezing these two critical ends of the value chain in response to American technology and capital export restrictions. China’s July ban of the gallium and germanium exports was merely an opening shot across the bow to remind America (and its aligned allies) of China’s dominance in the rare earths and critical metals space. The country has a near monopoly in the processing of magnesium, bismuth, tungsten, graphite, silicon, vanadium, fluorspar, tellurium, indium, antimony, barite, zinc, and tin. China also dominates in midstream processing for materials essential to most of America’s current and future technology aspirations such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper, which are critical for the rapidly developing EV industry globally.
While America and other neutral countries have mineral reserves of many of these materials, it would be naïve to believe that one can simply flip a switch on mining and production. It will take at least three to five years just to build the requisite extraction and processing infrastructure. This is to say nothing for recruiting and training skilled labor, or receiving requisite operational and environmental permits for such activities. Both could prove impossible. The processing of rare earths is a highly toxic and environmentally destructive endeavor. It’s unlikely such approvals will be granted. If Arizona is struggling to find qualified workers for its TSMC fabrication facility, and to address domestic union opposition to importing foreign skilled labor, it’s unlikely that America can develop similar capabilities for material processing. Along the way, China gets to play kingmaker in how it doles out access to its processed materials, likely restricting supply to American technology and defense giants. The failure to factor in China’s retaliatory capacities indicates that the United States doesn’t have a well-thought-out and comprehensive approach to dealing with China.
American measures to deprive China access to the most advanced chips could even damage America’s large chip-making companies more than it hurts China. China is the largest consumer of semiconductors in the world. Over the past ten years, China has been importing massive amounts of chips from American companies. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, China-based firms imported $70.5 billion worth of semiconductors from American firms in 2019, representing approximately 37 percent of these companies’ global sales. Some American companies, like Qorvo, Texas Instruments, and Broadcom, derive about half of their revenues from China. 60 percent of Qualcomm’s revenues, a quarter of Intel’s revenues, and a fifth of Nvidia’s sales are from the Chinese market. It’s no wonder that the CEOs of these three companies recently went to Washington to warn that U.S. industry leadership could be harmed by the export controls. American firms will also be hurt by retaliatory actions from China, such as China’s May ban on chips from US-based Micron Technology. China accounts for over 25 percent of Micron’s sales.
The massive revenue surpluses generated by these sales to China were ploughed into R&D efforts which, in turn, kept American chip companies ahead of the game. The Chamber of Commerce estimates that if the United States were to ban semiconductor sales to China completely, U.S. companies would lose $83 billion in annual revenues and would have to cut 124,000 jobs. They would also have to cut their annual R&D budgets by at least $12 billion, and their capital spending by $13 billion. This would make it even more difficult for them to remain competitive on the global scale in the long run. American semiconductor firms are painfully aware that U.S. actions against China in the chips arena will harm their interests more than Chinese interests. The U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association released a statement on July 17, saying that Washington’s repeated steps “to impose overly broad, ambiguous, and at times unilateral restrictions risk diminishing the U.S. semiconductor industry’s competitiveness, disrupting supply chains, causing significant market uncertainty, and prompting continued escalatory retaliation by China,” and called on the Biden administration not to implement further restrictions without more extensive engagement with semiconductor industry representatives and experts.
The Chips Act cannot subsidize the American semiconductor industry indefinitely, and there is no other global demand base to replace China. Other chip producing nations will inevitably break ranks and sell to China (as they have historically) and the American actions will be for naught. And, in banning the export of chips and other core inputs to China, America handed China its war plan years ahead of the battle. China is being goaded into building self-sufficiency far earlier than they would have otherwise. Prior to the ZTE and Huawei components bans, China was content to continue purchasing American chips and focusing on the front-end hardware. Peter Wennink, the CEO of ASML, stated that China is already leading in key applications and demand for semiconductors. Wennink wrote, “The roll-out of the telecommunication infrastructure, battery technology, that’s the sweet spot of mid-critical and mature semiconductors, and that’s where China without any exception is leading.”
Germany Just Warned Europe On “China’s Counterstrike Move” | Silent EV War Explodes
Simple, like the UK with Brexit, Germany should leave the EU. This will solve the problem, as Germany will then be able to distance itself from investigations implemented by the EU parliament.
Installing antennas and transmission lines on cellular towers.. Day in and day out we would climb 150, 200, 300feet and stay up there literally all day – often 10–12 hours.
Those heights were the norm, but I also did 400ft a couple of times, and then 500ft once.
And I did it because I needed a job and this paid really well. Plus I was a brand new divorcee and just starting over, so at the time working this tough, dangerous job with other guys was a very good thing for me. I made close friends, we partied and had fun, we laughed a lot, and it was just what the doctor ordered.
The end of Evergrande.
Bloomberg News has reported that billionaire founder and chairman Hui Ka Yan was taken away by police earlier this month and put under so-called residential surveillance , a type of police action that falls short of formal detention or arrest.
The surveillance doesn’t necessarily mean that Hui will be charged with a crime, and the exact circumstances of his situation remain unclear. But it’s not looking good: Evergrande has halted trading and confirmed in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing that authorities have told the company that Hui has been subjected to “mandatory measures,” due to “suspicion of illegal crimes.
The latest twist in an ongoing saga for the world’s most indebted developer has left creditors confused and concerned about what’s to become of their investments. The fate of the developer’s restructuring plans are now at risk, and the chances of a full-on liquidation have increased.
There’s a long list of victims: the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who bought into some 706 residential projects that are still being built; people who bought into Evergrande’s wealth management products, worth 40 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) a few years ago; global investors who collectively own at least $30 billion of offshore debt; suppliers and banks who are among those owed some 2.39 trillion yuan in liabilities. The company is facing more than 2,000 lawsuits, too.
I remember a time when Evergrande was still able to overcome its detractors. When a shortsellertargeted it for alleged financial mismanagement back in 2012, a Hong Kong tribunal provided vindication by saying the report was misleading and false.
But so much has changed since then: Evergrande has become a harbinger of the nation’s real estate meltdown. Its fate seemed to be sealed back in 2020, when a liquidity scare fueled by its massive debt load triggered aggressive regulatory tightening. Compounded by pandemic-related woes, the company defaulted the following year.
What happens after Evergrande? As we know, this property crisis is far from over. China’s property developers face a liquidity shortfall worth some 19 trillion yuan, or 15% of GDP, that could morph into a solvency crunch by year-end, Bloomberg analysts estimate.
Property downturns are always painful. In China, that’s especially the case because of the outsized role that the sector plays in the economy: As much as 70% of household wealthis tied to the industry.
The government has responded by relaxing property buying rules, since it doesn’t want the current distress among developers to trigger financial contagion — nor does it want to see social unrest.
Dragging out the Evergrande saga, though, has wreaked havoc among homebuyers, construction workers, suppliers and investors. And as the government has shown no intention of bailing out developers, the only certainty we’re left with is the idea that this pain is far from finished.
My ex was the CFO of one of the largest private construction companies in the world. His main role was to make sure the company stayed profitable. Simple really.
The owners’ son, who recently graduated from college and was having trouble finding gainful employment, (seems nobody would hire him to get stoned) was parachuted into my ex’s job. My ex was quickly let go.
He didn’t mind too much. Even though a little disappointed, he still was paid out fairly and started his own firm with the severance money.
A tender came up for a new skyscraper in London. My ex’s former company put in its bid and came in ahead of everyone else by millions. Turned out months into construction that the new CFO had forgotten to add the cost of electrical wiring into the cost of construction. A mistake that sent his family bankrupt.
Luckily there was one new firm with the creditor’s backing, experience and ability to jump in immediately. My ex hired a lot of the now redundant employees and bought a large chunk of his old company’s heavy equipment at a huge discount in a mortgagee sale.
The lesson here is to never kill the golden goose!
Elderly shelter cat had weeks to live. So this woman adopted him.
This woman is a saint! What she does for these cats is beyond compassion!
The Sixteenth Forum of the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE) took place from 25 to 27 September 2023 in Fuzhou, China, co-organised by Fujian Normal University. The theme of the forum was Chinese modernisaton and the prospects of world modernisation. Although unable to attend in person, Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez was invited to submit a video presentation.
Carlos’s presentation, entitled Capitalist and socialist modernisation, takes up a number of questions: What is modernisation? Is modernisation desirable? How has modernisation been achieved in the West? What is China’s modernisation plan? What are the unique characteristics of Chinese modernisation? How does socialist modernisation differ from capitalist modernisation? What effect does China’s modernisation on the global journey towards development and socialism?
The video and the text of Carlos’s presentation are available below.
What is modernisation, and is it necessary?
Modernisation is a somewhat nebulous concept. It means different things to different societies at different times. By definition, its parameters are constantly changing.
In the broadest sense, it means adapting to the latest, most advanced ideas and techniques for meeting humanity’s material and cultural needs.
In sociology, there is more or less an equals sign between modernisation and industrialisation, and is generally held to begin with Britain’s Industrial Revolution. We can think of it essentially as the transition from ‘developing country’ status to ‘developed country’ status; from a predominantly rural society to a predominantly urban society; from a technologically backward society to a technologically advanced society.
Is this desirable? Beauty is of course in the eye of the beholder, but most people consider modernisation to be desirable, because it enables higher living standards for the masses of the people.
With modernised industry, production techniques, communication methods, transport systems, energy systems and healthcare strategies, there exists the possibility of providing a healthy, meaningful and dignified life to all, such that each individual has reliable access to a healthy diet, to decent housing, to clothing, to education, to healthcare, to a vibrant cultural, social and intellectual life, and to fulfilling work. In short, modernisation makes it possible to attend to people’s basic human rights.
The fruits of modernisation have thus far been divided extremely unequally: the process of industrialisation in North America, Europe and Japan has created previously unimaginable wealth for a few, but this has been accompanied by desperate poverty and alienation for significant numbers. However, modernisation creates a material basis for common prosperity, far beyond what a pre-modern economy can offer.
Specifically in the case of China, the government has set a goal of “basically realising socialist modernisation by 2035”, and has defined some parameters for this:
Reaching a per-capita GDP on a par with that of the mid-level developed countries such as Spain or the Czech Republic
Joining the ranks of the world’s most innovative countries in the realm of science and technology
Becoming a global leader in education, public health, culture and sport
Substantially growing the middle-income group as a proportion of the population
Guaranteeing equitable access to basic public services
Ensuring modern standards of living in rural areas
Steadily lowering greenhouse gas emissions and protecting biodiversity, so as to restore a healthy balance between humans and the natural environment
If achieved, these aims will constitute a significant – indeed world-historic – improvement in the living standards of the Chinese people, and will blaze a trail for other developing countries.
How did the West modernise?
But is China doing anything new? After all, it won’t be the first country to achieve modernisation.
In mainstream modernisation theory in the West, the dominant narrative is that the countries of Western Europe, North America and Japan achieved their advances via a combination of good governance, liberal democracy, free-market economics, scientific genius, geographical serendipity and a dash of entrepreneurial spirit.
Historical investigation reveals a considerably different story.
The most important precursors of the West’s modernisation are colonialism, slavery and genocide. The conquest of the Americas, the settlement of Australia, the transatlantic slave trade, the colonisation of India, the rape of Africa, the Opium Wars, the theft of Hong Kong, and more. The profits of colonialism and the slave trade were essential for propelling the West’s industrialisation, as was so eloquently uncovered in Eric Williams’ classic 1944 work, Capitalism and Slavery.
As Karl Marx famously wrote in Volume 1 of Capital: “The discovery of gold and silver in America, the enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalled the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production.”
Such is the ugly truth of European modernisation. And the story is not so different in the United States. Many of the so-called founding fathers of that country were slave-owners, and they established a slave-owners’ society. They went to war against the indigenous peoples and against Mexico in order to expand their territory.
In the 20th century, having established their domination over the Americas, they constructed a neocolonial global system that is still in place to a significant degree, imposing American hegemony on the world.
A network of 800 foreign military bases. NATO. An enormous nuclear arsenal. Genocidal wars waged on Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya. Systems of economic coercion and unilateral sanctions.
This is the global system of violence that has facilitated and accompanied North American modernisation.
Japan’s rapid rise was facilitated first by its brutal expansionist project in East Asia, particularly Korea and China, and then through adaptation to and integration with the US-led imperialist system, the much-vaunted ‘rules-based international order’.
South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan Province constitute the small handful of non-imperialist territories that have been able to achieve modernisation, but these are special cases. Their shared proximity to China and the DPRK is no coincidence; they have been inducted into the imperialist club by the US, to play a dual role as regional policemen and living advertisements for capitalism on the frontline of its confrontation with socialism. Both roles rely on at least a certain degree of prosperity for a section of the population.
There is no shortage of countries of the Global South which have attempted to apply the “liberal democracy plus free market capitalism” formula, but none have been successful in modernising. Indeed the West’s prescriptions for (and interference in) developing countries have largely led to chaos and disaster.
The contrast between the West’s success in modernising and the Global South’s failure has fed into a largely unspoken but widespread and pernicious racism: an assumption that white people are somehow inherently more advanced than everyone else.
This supremacism is allowed to fester, because in addition to dividing working class and oppressed communities, it provides convenient cover for the reality that capitalist modernisation is built on the foundations of colonialism, imperialism and hegemonism.
As Kwame Nkrumah commented, “in the era of neocolonialism, under-development is still attributed not to exploitation but to inferiority, and racial undertones remain closely interwoven with the class struggle.”
How is China modernising?
China’s journey towards modernisation starts in 1949 with the founding of the People’s Republic, the early construction of socialist industry, land reform and the extirpation of feudalism and the landowning class, and the provision of at least basic levels of education and healthcare services to the whole population.
In 1963, Premier Zhou Enlai, supported by Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun, first raised the question of the Four Modernisations: of agriculture, industry, national defence, and science and technology. Despite a complex political environment this goal was revived in the early 1970s, and, with the launch of reform and opening up in 1978, China accelerated its pursuit of those goals, and ushered in an era of rapid development of the productive forces and improvement in the people’s living standards.
China’s journey of modernisation has evolved again in recent years with the pursuit of the second centenary goal: of building a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful by 2049.
China is on a fast track to becoming an advanced, developed country, and this process stands in stark contrast to the West’s modernisation process:
First, China’s modernisation is built on the efforts of the Chinese people rather than on war, colonialism and slavery.
Second, its fruits are to be shared by everybody, not dominated by the wealthy. As General Secretary Xi Jinping said in his work report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China’s modernisation is “the modernisation of common prosperity for all.”
Even today, not everyone in the West is able to enjoy the fruits of modernisation. Consider for example the US, where tens of millions lack access to healthcare; where over half a million people are homeless; where life expectancy for African Americans is six years less than for their white counterparts; where – according to the US Department of Education – over half of adults read below a sixth-grade level.
Third, China’s modernisation is becoming a green modernisation, fuelled by clean energy, careful not to destroy the planet that sustains us. Again quoting Xi Jinping’s work report, “it is the modernisation of harmony between humanity and nature.”
Capitalist modernisation has had a disastrous impact on the environment. With 4 percent of the global population, the US alone is responsible for 25 percent of historic greenhouse gas emissions. The simple fact is that humanity literally cannot afford for China’s modernisation to follow this pattern.
Socialist modernisation will become the ‘new normal’
The West’s modernisation path is not open to the countries of the Global South, and it wouldn’t be desirable even if it were. Today, the road of capitalist modernisation is closed, so how is China able to modernise?
China does not have an empire, formal or informal, but it does have a particular advantage of being a socialist state, a “people’s democratic dictatorship based on the alliance of workers and peasants”, to use Mao Zedong’s expression. Such a state can use its power to direct economic activity towards the goals of the social classes it represents.
Thus the specificities of China’s modernisation – the commitment to common prosperity, to ending poverty and underdevelopment, to preventing climate collapse and to peaceful development – are a function of China’s political system, its revolutionary history, and the leadership of the CPC.
At a meeting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2016, Xi Jinping made this point very succinctly: “Our greatest strength lies in our socialist system, which enables us to pool resources in a major mission. This is the key to our success.”
Or as Deng Xiaoping famously commented in 1984: “the superiority of the socialist system is demonstrated, in the final analysis, by faster and greater development of the productive forces than under the capitalist system.”
In a world still largely dominated by capitalism – and an intellectual world still dominated by bourgeois ideology – it’s easy to forget this system’s fundamental and irreconcilable contradictions, which Marx identified with such clarity and profundity 150 years ago; contradictions which lead inexorably to inefficiency, stagnation and crisis. A political economy directed at the production of exchange values rather than use values can never result in common prosperity.
In China, the capitalist class is not the ruling class and is therefore not able to direct the country’s resources according to its own prerogatives. At the top level, resources are allocated by the state, in accordance with long-term planning carried out by, and in the interests of, the people.
This is what is enabling a new type of modernisation, which is blazing a trail for socialist and developing countries the world over.
The fruits of this process are being shared with the world, via mechanisms such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative, which are creating a path for the countries of the Global South to break out of underdevelopment, even where they lack China’s resources and political advantages.
As such, China’s evolving modernisation has great historic significance, and offers valuable lessons for the world. It is an embodiment of historical materialism in the current era: capitalism has long since exhausted its ability to fundamentally drive human progress, and therefore the future lies with socialism.
Galvarino was a legendary warrior of the Mapuche people who rebelled against the Spanish Conquers who had invaded their land.
The Mapuche people were natives of the Araucana region of Chile who fought against the Spanish conquest of South America. The Arauco War was the bloodiest and longest-running battle in the history of the New World.
In what became known as the Battle of Lagunillias, Galvarino led his people in a fight against the Spanish invaders who were trying to force them into servitude.
During the battle, Galvarino and his men were captured by the Spanish. As punishment for defying the Spanish, Galvarino had both his hands amputated at the wrists and sent him home as a message to the other Mapuche tribes.
image 107
He returned home defeated and severely wounded. He showed the war council his wounds and begged them to let him lead an army against their oppressors. For his bravery, he was named commander of a squadron of men in a fight against Governor Mendoza.
With long Sharp knives fastened to his mutilated stumps, he led his army into battle against Governor Mendoza and his men. The Brutal battle lasted for an hour, with Galvarino striking and killing Mendoza’s number two in command with his modified stumps.
image 73
Although Galvarino and his men fought a brave battle, they were soon overwhelmed and captured. All the remaining captured warriors including Galvarino, were executed on the orders of Governor Mendoza.
Huawei has established the third truly COMMERCIAL Asian Tech Ecosystem from China and the eighth in Asia after Toyota, Nikon, Canon ,Samsung , BYD, Trina and Xinyi
image 106
The Huawei Ecosystem now has
The Chip
The OS
The 5G Modem
The GPU
The Networks
Yet Huawei Ecosystem is fragile because SMIC the manufacturer of the 7 nm Node depends on Advanced DUV equipment from ASML
Now SMIC has stockpiled massive orders from ASML and that will keep SMIC going till maybe 2026
However that’s still dependence, a lot of dependence on the West
So i would say HUAWEI has made a start
Meanwhile people forget the REAL WINNERS of the three companies that have established it’s own dominant ecosystem on which the West is entirely dependent on :-
image 105
BYD
BYD has:-
The Chip – The Mature 28nm Chip that only China can today manufacture cost effectively and in huge volumes
The Software
The Satellite Navigation System
The Battery
The Dynamic Unit
It’s completely and entirely Independent from Western Technology
Trina and Xinyi who have :-
The Intelligent Chip
The Micrograde Wafer Panel (That to this day no nation can produce except France but at 87% higher cost)
The Carbide micro layering etching equipment (Chinas equivalent of the EUV Lithography Machine)
The Silicon extraction process into Mono, Poly Crystalline Silicon with infusions
Yes Huawei deserves all the admiration for its clawback and fighting
Yet BYD, Trina and Xinyi actually get Proprietary License Fees from the West which is unique for a Nation that to thia day didn’t kowtow to the West unlike Japan, Israel and South Korea
Huawei to win, needs SMIC to become another BYD or Xinyi or Trina
If SMIC can achieve that, then China truly begins the challenge to the established Semiconductor industry
Lego just hit a climate BRICK wall
Lego says that it cannot make bricks from recycled material. They tried and they simply cannot do it without increasing carbon emissions. That’s a refreshing admission. Most companies take on “green initiatives” anyway, even if they prove to make the problem worse. In a similar vein, the CEO of Lufthansa admitted that“going green” would require the airline to use up HALF of Germany’s electricity. So not green at all then. Meanwhile, Ford says that it will pause construction of a $3.5 billion plant to build EV batteries in Michigan. They aren’t saying why. It just goes to show: It ain’t easy being green.
You’ve probably heard of China’s ambitious plan to connect the world with its Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI for short. It’s a massive project that involves building roads, railways, ports, pipelines, and other infrastructure across Asia, Africa, Europe, and beyond. China says it’s a win-win situation for everyone, a way to boost trade, development, and cooperation among more than 140 countries that have signed up for it.
But not everyone is buying it. Some critics in the West say that the BRI is a trap, a scheme, or a tool for China to expand its power and influence at the expense of other countries. They say that the BRI is saddling poor countries with unsustainable debt, damaging the environment and human rights, and undermining the international order. They also say that the BRI is losing steam due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the backlash from some host countries, and the changing global dynamics.
So what’s the real story? Well, if you listen to what China has to say on its official websites, you’ll get a very different picture. According to them, the BRI is not losing steam at all. In fact, it’s gaining momentum and achieving positive results in various aspects.
First of all, they say that the BRI has shown strong resilience and vitality amid the COVID-19 pandemic. China has actively cooperated with other BRI partners to fight against the virus, provide medical supplies and vaccines, share prevention and treatment experiences, and support economic recovery. The BRI has also contributed to the global efforts to build a community of health for all.
Secondly, they say that the BRI has promoted high-quality development and green cooperation. China has adhered to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and has followed the international rules and standards in implementing BRI projects. China has also attached great importance to environmental protection, social responsibility, and debt sustainability, and has encouraged green investment and financing under the BRI framework.
Thirdly, they say that the BRI has enhanced mutual trust and friendship among different countries and peoples. The BRI has fostered dialogue and exchange among different civilizations, cultures, and religions, and has supported education, culture, tourism, sports, media, and other fields of people-to-people cooperation. The BRI has also created opportunities for poverty alleviation, job creation, livelihood improvement, and social development for millions of people in the participating countries.
So there you have it. The BRI is not losing steam but rather advancing steadily and fruitfully. The BRI is not a solo show by China but a chorus by all participants. The BRI is not a challenge or threat to anyone but a benefit and opportunity for everyone. The BRI is not a zero-sum game but a win-win cooperation for common development. That’s what China wants you to believe. And if you don’t believe it, well, too bad for you. Because China is not going to stop or change its course anytime soon. It’s going to keep pushing forward with its vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Why Australia’s Housing Crisis Is a Warning for the World
They weren’t misled by Russian trolls. They weren’t ignorant. They weren’t racist or sexist or xenophobic or homophobic. They were mad… they felt left behind and ignored by the media and the federal government… and they had a point.
They were left behind, and ignored.
For many of them, the America their parents and grandparents grew up in was a lot better. And no, that’s not because other groups were oppressed. It was because the economy was better for working-class people back then.
If your grandparents raised a large family on a single income, while the media and politicians cared about what your grandparents cared about, and now, 50 years later, you and your wife can’t get by on your dual incomes, and the media and politicians spend more time talking about transgender bathroom usage than the fact that families like yours are falling further behind each year… then yes, you have a point, and Make America Great Again makes sense.
Blueberry Grunt
2023 10 14 11 57
Ingredients
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
Instructions
In a skillet, combine blueberries, sugar and water; bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
In a bowl, combine the next 6 ingredients; stir in milk just until moistened (dough will be stiff).
Drop by tablespoonsful over blueberries.
Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until dumplings are puffed and test done.
All terrorism in the world is linked to the United States! It is no longer a secret that the United States Government supports terrorism in South-East Asia!
US-backed Terrorism Targets Vietnam & Myanmar in Wider War on China
Two terrorist attacks this month (June 2023) in Southeast Asia have been carried out by groups backed by the United States government and its allies for decades;
This includes a singer murdered in Myanmar and a series of armed attacks carried out on police stations in Vietnam killing 9 including several civilians;
British state media, the BBC, and US government-funded media platform Radio Free Asia have attempted to spin and even justify this terrorism as part of a much wider pattern promoting and defending terrorism as a means to counter China’s rise and punish nations working closely with China;
The opposition in Myanmar has openly been backed by the US and UK for decades – fighting to reinstall Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy back into power;
In Vietnam, the ethnic Montagnards had fought alongside US invaders in the Vietnam War, and since then have worked closely with the US through the National Endowment for Democracy toward separatism;
Much of this context is omitted from Western state-media accounts of the terrorism;
Both Myanmar and Vietnam’s current governments have close relations with China. Vietnam, while depicted in the Western media as “anti-China,” has worked with China to build infrastructure within its borders and access Chinese rail projects to bring their products all the way to Europe;
Why Companies That Go Woke Go Broke
I saw the title and I instantly clicked to watch, really wanted to see a documentary about all these companies that went woke, then broke!
Well one fairly amazing thing happened in Penang. I (white Australian) was speaking to my friend (Asian Australian) in English.
An American tourist interrupted us and asked “excuse me, do you speak English?” We were both quite shocked and I said “a little.” I don’t know if she really couldn’t understand Australian English and didn’t realise what language I was speaking.
She said “Can you direct me to XYZ hotel?”
Now ordinarily two Aussies, neither of whom have ever been to Malaysia and speak no Malay wouldn’t be the best choice. But I pointed to the building we were standing in front of and said “walk about 10 yards that way.”
She was WAY out of her depth and her next international holiday should probably be to Hawaii.
However, I did the opposite in Austria. I speak no German, but if I look at a menu and plan out my sentence I can pretend to. So I asked in perfect German “Could I please have 2 hot chocolates; one with whipped cream and one with rum thanks.” She answered with something as simple as “that will be 8 euros” and I looked at her blankly and said in English “I’m sorry, I don’t speak German.” She laughed and did the transaction in English. She said I fooled her.
Pretty much the same thing in Poland, back in the days before Schengen membership. Apparently I needed a visa. So they berated me in Polish for a while, and I said I didn’t speak Polish. They went to the lingua franca of Eastern Europe and said “something something Russky.” I replied with what I’m told is an excellent accent “nye poni mayu po Russkiy.”
Here’s a guy in Lithuania, driving an Estonian-registered car, saying in perfect Russian in response to a question IN Russian “I don’t understand Russian.” I’m sure they weren’t thrilled and may not have believed me but I looked blankly at the rest of their diatribe. So eventually they wrote down my name, pointed me to Vilnius and said “visa.”’
Almost every Chinese City beats Indian Cities hollow in terms of Cleanliness, Safety and Development
image 113image 114
There are Primarily three reasons for this :-
A. One Party Meritocracy & Funds
In China, fund allocation for Cities and their overall Urban development is based on the Urban Development Index (UDI) plus between 15% upto 46% of the revenue generated by a City is used by the Local Government of that Province and the Administration of that City to develop the place
There is no political rivalries or party based discrimination between Fund Allocation and Revenue sharing
It’s all about How much the City develops and how well maintained the City is
In India, funding is a nightmare because the State themselves have no claim over the money they generate as revenue. Everything is handed over to the Centre which then decides how much each State should get and then the State decides how much each City should get
China has 20 times the provincial autonomy than an Indian State
B. Continuous Development to prevent overcrowding
India keeps on dumping on the same city again and again for year after year. Thus every such city attracts migrants like flies and that leads to overcrowding of the worst order
China keeps developing and expanding new Cities regularly
Chengdu, Chongqing etc were small towns a decade or so ago that are now bustling cities, brimming with Prosperity
Urumqi was once a town , now it’s classified as a Tier 3 City
Thus if you notice Shanghai and Beijing both lost 4% and 5.6% of the population due to migration between 2013–2023 whereas Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad netted between 7.6% and 12% SURPLUS population by migration between 2008–2023
C. Chinas Housing Policy
Everyone living with a proper Job in a City in China MUST have housing
This is a law from the time of Chairman Mao and when it’s a Chairman Mao law, it’s enforcement is very strict
Public Housing is thus available for every single resident of the city including the poorest of them
Only Shanghai and Beijing has slums today , which existed before the 1998 law and thus can’t be torn down
image 112
If you have a legitimate job in CQ City, you get a Public Apartment of 39–52 Square Meters with indoor plumbing, heating, air conditioning and gas and electricity and drinking water for a mere 78 RMB / month
Of course many Chinese become prosperous enough to rent much nicer places and sub lease their public homes for which they pay rent of 78 RMB/ month for 400–500 RMB / month
During Covid 19, many such people were discovered and fined very heavily (30, 000 RMB plus 60 months rent or 100 Days in Prison)
A Fourth reason is the fact that Migration into Cities is heavily controlled
You just can’t come to a City that easily without housing or a job unless you are a tourist there
In India it’s the opposite
You can flood into cities and sleep on the roads and everywhere else and even defecate
It’s like a Zoo
image 110image 111
So it’s the Chinese System
They may have their flaws but by God they have excellent City maintenance and keep themselves very clean
image 109
Their Air Quality improvement in a mere decade is something every nation takes notes on
image 108
Primarily another reason is the Chinese are proud of their country and love their country
Not the bogus love that Indians show which translates into defending India for all it’s weaknesses, glorifying mediocrities as superheroes, forcing people to stand up for the National Anthem etcetera
The genuine love that ensures they actively take pride in their development and their cities
When stray cats see this man, they compete with each other to get a place on his lap.
When I was a young boy, growing up in Bridgeport, CT, my father would take myself and my sister to the butcher to buy meat. He would always buy meats that a typical 1960’s era family would buy. This would include pork, beef, chicken, and many many roasts. I am sure that he bought some occasional steaks, as well as lots of pork chops.
What I remember most from that time was the wood sawdust floors, and the fresh hotdogs that he would procure for us from the butcher there.
Today… the “local butcher” is more than likely an employee at a supermarket chain, rather than an individual with a shingle and a business storefront.
It’s a sad thing… you know, to lose something that seems all so common at one time.
In those days, the meat were all wrapped in newspaper or butchers paper, today, it’s all prepackaged in cellophane and sterile.
Appreciate what you have today. The mundane is soon to be replaced with something different. And as you get older, you will reminisce of the common day to day lifestyle that you had once taken for granted.
Today…
2nm Chips
2nm Chips: China to challenge ASML with a new technology better than EUV — Techovedas
In the race for semiconductor chip manufacturing, China has embarked on a groundbreaking venture to revolutionize lithography technology by exploring novel avenues that could potentially disrupt the industry especially ASML.
China is strategizing the establishment of an immense chip manufacturing facility propelled by a particle accelerator to challenge ASML. This technology could be a game-changer that outstrips US sanctions and make China a key player in the chip world. They’re actively pushing forward with the construction of a crucial particle accelerator to bring this cutting-edge technology to life.
This initiative is focused on leveraging particle accelerators to create a cutting-edge laser source for lithography machines, a crucial component in microchip production. Unlike traditional approaches, the Chinese project aims to localize manufacturing and bolster high-volume, low-cost chip production by constructing a colossal factory housing multiple lithography machines around a single accelerator.
This innovation could position China as a global leader in the industrial production of advanced chips, including coveted 2nm chips.
“One of the potential applications of our research is as a light source for future EUV lithography machines. I think this is why the international community is paying close attention,”
Professor Tang Chuanxiang from Tsinghua University in a report on the university’s website.
The SSMB Theory and its Potential:
At the core of this technological breakthrough is the innovative Steady-State Microbunching (SSMB) theory, proposed by Professor Zhao Wu at Stanford University and his student Daniel Ratner in 2010. SSMB theory utilizes the energy released by charged particles during acceleration to act as a light source, resulting in a narrow bandwidth, small scattering angle, and continuous pure Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) light.
ASML prioritizes downsizing chip manufacturing machines for international trade. In contrast, the Chinese initiative centers on domestic production. It aims to construct an extensive facility consolidating numerous lithography machines around a central accelerator. This advancement can fuel abundant and cost-effective chip production. It positions China as a leader in industrializing advanced chips, including 2nm and beyond.
China tech Better than ASML EUV
Compared to the existing ASML EUV technology, SSMB, china tech proves to be a superior light source. It offers higher average power and increased chip production while maintaining lower unit costs.
ASML utilizes laser-induced plasma to generate an EUV source, involving the projection of strong laser pulses onto tin microdroplets. This impact crushes the droplets, producing EUV pulse light. Following intricate filtering and focusing processes, an EUV light source with an approximate power of 250W is generated.
Conclusion
China’s ambitious project aims to create a new light source for lithography machines. It utilizes particle accelerators and SSMB theory. This endeavor could reshape the semiconductor industry significantly. China seeks to localize chip manufacturing and diminish reliance on foreign technologies. The focus is on becoming a leader in semiconductor fabrication, particularly in advanced chips like the 2nm chips. The success of the SSMB-EUV light source could revolutionize chip production. It has the potential to unlock new horizons for scientific research and technological innovation. The future of chip manufacturing may very well be illuminated by this groundbreaking Chinese initiative.
Tri-Tip Stroganoff
2023 10 12 12 37
Ingredients
1/2 small onion, diced
1/4 cup butter
1 (1 pound) tri-tip steak
7 fresh mushrooms
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 package large egg noodles
Salt, pepper and garlic, to taste
Instructions
Melt butter. Add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent.
Add steak and salt and pepper. Brown steak.
Add fresh mushrooms and cook well.
Add 2 cans cream of chicken soup. Let boil. Add water to thin a little.
Add sour cream last. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes.
Yes. This is all very valuable data to the CCP. They really want to know how many funny cat videos you watch each week. Also, whether you really like Taylor Swift more than Beyonce. Some of you also watch many videos each week relating to your favourite sports, such as baseball, football and basketball, while others among you may be into cooking, gardening or the latest Internet memes.
These are grave matters of national security that have a significant impact on geopolitics. Therefore the Chinese Communist Party would make it their top priority to get hold of such critical data.
I wish I could explain what you mean to me. I wish I had the words to tell you what you did for my family.
Today my son choked on a sucker outside your window. Today my son turned every color of the rainbow and went limp in my arms. Today you screamed instructions and told me what to do while you ran to me.
You cared.
Today while I was in shock you remembered my oldest son witnessing this and even asked if he was okay while I couldn’t. Today you walked me through every step that I froze on. Today you saved my son’s life without even thinking about it. You called 911 when I was speechless.
Erin and Tami, I wish I could repay the favor but nothing I could do could equal what you did today. After this extreme incident, you went back to work helping people like you do every day, but today was different. Today time stood still for a moment, but you kept moving and kept helping without hesitation.
I hope this reaches you. I hope you know how much I appreciate everything you have done.
Because of you, he smiled on the way home. Because of you, I heard him giggle in his room just now. Because of you, I have time. Time to enjoy these moments.
‘Thank you’ seems like the smallest word on the planet. but has the most powerful meaning. You took just a few minutes out of your day to give me a lifetime more with my son and I will forever be grateful.
So, 10 years, that would be 2013. I had just started my job as a producer at a big game company, working on a high-profile, very well-known title. By that time, I had a few years of production experience with various start-ups and large companies, mostly doing outsourcing work or working on smaller games. But I never directly involved in the production of an AAA title. That job was my big break into the actual, “legit” game production, the kind you’d see your name listed when the credit started rolling. I was full of aspirations and unrealistic expectations about what production (of an AAA box title video game) was like, as in, video game production was like a well-oiled machine. We all do our part, and magic happens. I was very ready to give it 120%. As for burnout, what burnout? If you love video games, you won’t get burned out because you’re working on something you love, right? Right?
Oh, I have so many horror stories to tell the 2013 me. It didn’t even take long for me to get burned out. I worked for that company for 3 years and experienced burnout multiple times. The first couple of times, it wasn’t that bad. I barely felt it. It’s just a long period of exhaustion and numbness. I could usually recover, especially if there was a holiday break right after the release crunch. Then I couldn’t recover. I was in a perpetual state of numbness and exhaustion that impacted every aspect of my life, not just work.
But it’s OK, I tell myself. I wanted this. This is what it takes to ship a game.
I changed jobs and worked on a different game. I told myself it was OK. I was not doing it for the company or even the game. I was doing it for my team. They were like my family.
The other day, I read one of my older answers about game production, and I said in that answer: you came for the title. You stay for the team. And I laughed at myself. Oh, silly, silly me. Your team ain’t your family, Feifei. “Found Family” is a literary trope, not a real thing you can actually go search in real life. To think, I actually told candidates that this company was like a big family when I did interviews, not knowing it was a gigantic red flag if you’re applying for a job. I was a walking red flag of burnout, and I didn’t have the self-awareness to see it in the mirror.
I’m glad I got out of that fantasy back in 2020.
So what advice would I give the 2013 me? Nothing.
Because the 2013 me wouldn’t listen. I was stubborn and so full of myself. I knew what I wanted, and I was going to get it. Ain’t nobody gonna tell me no. I wouldn’t listen to anyone, even the 2023 me. 2013 me would tell the 2023 me that she can make a difference. She wouldn’t end up working a middle management corporate job that gets off work at 5 p.m. because that’s pathetic.
Something in life you just have to learn the hard way. You have to learn from experience. You have to learn from having your dream and aspiration crushed by being exploited mercilessly and discarded.
So, what do I say if I met my 2013 self?
“You go, girl! You can do this!”
Cambodia risks & dangers, friends death (Natalia Montoni) and No Joke Howard
One evening my boyfriend and I were going dancing and I had forgotten something at work. So I dropped by dresses in a slinky black dress and high heeled shoes. When I walked in I noticed one of the staff showing a woman her cake, as I retrieved my item I had a view of her face. When they open the box her face just fell. I walked over and asked if there was a problem. Then I saw the cake, I hadn’t been the one who had decorated it but I had seen the order a few days earlier when it had come in. I knew what she was expecting and that wasn’t it. I could see she was about to cry. Before she got there, I asked, can you me give 15–20 minutes to fix this for you.
She said yes!
So I grabbed an apron. Went to the bathroom, put my hair up and washed my hands. Since it was an ice cream cake I was able to simply slice the top off, re ice it. While it froze I custom mixed the colors to correct her order. Then I decorated it while In the freezer. I threw in a couple of extra little things to make up for the problem. Boxed in and brought it out to her. She loved it. She went home.
The next day there was a nice thank you card and a $100.00 dollar bill waiting for me when I got to work. A one hundred dollar tip in 1977 was pretty exciting.
This was July-ish of 2004 and I was flying in an official capacity, on military orders, so I had a lot of my kit with me. Anyone who has done this will tell you, your orders can give you a little extra weight allowance, but they will still be very clear on the number of bags you can check. Those of us in the military become very proficient at bag-Tetris in order to get everything we need into what limited carrying capacity we have. These skills are acquired over time, and you definitely don’t have them when you join.
The rocket surgeons at the TSA decided that my kit bags just had to be dumped and looked through. It might have been related to the Pelican case I was checking with my weapon in it, but, as I said, I was flying on orders. There were several questions about what certain items were, and implications that they were contemplating removing them from my checked bags (which would have be a lot of fun with the items which were government property). I was growing impatient, as the ample amount of time I had before my flight was rapidly dwindling, and I am sure that it was starting to show.
My guess is that a supervisor saw all of my kit on their tables and decided to swing by, because there he was, asking what was happening. I explained the situation, and he informed the TSA “agents” that a) they couldn’t confiscate any of my kit and b) they needed to stop giving me “special attention”. The minimum wage power trippers reluctantly obeyed and said “ok, you can pack it all back up.” ←that right there was the “you gotta be kidding me” moment.
I replied that they dumped it, they needed to pack it. They responded very smugly that it wasn’t their job to repack my bags, and I’d either do it myself or they’d dispose of the items as abandoned. I was now pissed and getting ready to start in to my argument, but the supervisor beat me to it. “Sorry guys, but all of that stuff is in the secured area and we can’t let a passenger past the barrier. You’ll have to get it packed back up. *looks at my ticket* And his flight leaves in 45 minutes…you’ve got less than 10.”
It was excellent fun to watch them try to repack my kit bags, looking like a monkey with a math problem, but I was getting honestly nervous about making my flight. They got it packed up in almost 20 minutes, and the supervisor made a radio call that priority bags were coming and to not button up the flight. He then gave me a golf cart escort through security and to my gate. Before he left me there, he stuck out his hand to shake mine, and introduced himself. Mr. Smith, Sergeant First Class, Retired.
Why Is The UK So Miserable?
Really good round-up man! Left UK for Thailand 9 months ago and loving it. Miss family and countryside but everyday life is just more enjoyable!
Several years ago, as my husband and I walked our dog to a nearby park, we’d pass a modest house with a boxer in the front yard. Our dog would stop to socialize with the boxer, and eventually we got to know its owner, a very nice, elderly Englishwoman who, it turned out, was a World War II war bride/widow.
A few years on, our friend suffered a stroke. As she had no family (she was childless), my husband and I looked after her property, and visited her as often as possible in the hospital and in rehab. She finally came back home, and we would stop by often and make sure she was doing OK.
After a year or so, weakened by her ordeal, she died, and my husband and I arranged for her funeral services. A few weeks later, we received a call from her lawyer, who asked me to go to her house and look for her will. I did, and found it in a lockbox in a closet.
We knew she was a strong advocate for animals, so we assumed she had left her assets to appropriate charities. Turns out that initially she had, but after her first stroke, she had contacted her lawyer, changed her will, and left us everything. Her house, her bank account, *everything.* We were flabbergasted.
To this day, I’m insanely grateful, but you know what? I wish she was still with us. She taught our autistic son how to tie his shoes, and every time I watch him do so, I think of her, and miss her.
Two Weeks ago
“Two weeks ago, my 90-year-old mother, Catherine Ritchie, was preparing herself for bed at around 9pm.
After brushing her teeth and hair, she turned around to find her bed completely engulfed in flames.
She made an attempt to extinguish the flames herself by throwing blankets and pillows on the fire.
The smoke and heat were so overwhelming that she immediately got disoriented, gave up fighting the fire, and decided to flee.
She pushed the emergency call button she wears on her necklace, called 911, and attempted to get out of her now engulfed bedroom.
She walked into the closet several times thinking it was the door that leads to the hallway. It wasn’t. She couldn’t find her way out. She was stuck. Smoke everywhere.
Across the street, 4 boys saw the smoke and reflection of flames. Not an adult in sight. 4 kids who took immediate action to save an elderly woman who they couldn’t guarantee was home and who 3 of them had never even met.
One started breaking the glass on the front door. One called 911. One went to the back door and began kicking it in. One went to the neighbors for an ax and help.
Within minutes, a door was kicked in by a 14-year-old child who found my mother in the hallway outside of her bedroom and picked her up in his arms.
Kids who are told about all the things they aren’t old enough to do saved the life of the most precious and beloved woman we know.
Courageous young men. Young men who risked their own lives, their own safety, perhaps their good standing with their parents who might have chosen for them to do otherwise, and they carried my mother out of her burning home into the street, where firetrucks and ambulances would soon arrive.
Dylan Wick – 16 years old, Nick Byrd – 14 years old, Seth Byrd – 16 years old, and Wyatt Hall – 17 years old, thank you! Thank you for your selfless acts of heroism and courage.
Thank you for not allowing this to be the tragic end to our mother’s amazing life.
Thank you for staying with her, hugging her, and helping her feel less alone until we could get to her.
Thank you for being the kind of young men who thought about another person above yourselves.
Thank you for staying safe yourselves as well. Thank you to your parents who obviously raised you in such a way that lead to you making life saving and heroic decisions on behalf of someone else.
Thank you for more than we know how to thank you for! We will forever be indebted to the time you bought for us and the example you set for us. God Bless each of you for being such a blessing to us.
Sincerely,
Michael Ritchie, Karen Ritchie Sontag, Pat Ritchie, Jimmy Ritchie, Kelly Ritchie, John Ritchie, Tim Ritchie, Tom Ritchie, Missy Ritchie Nicholas, Ryan Ritchie, and 42 very grateful grandchildren.”
San Jose, California Has Some Major Soul Searching To Do
San Jose, California. Population one million. Well, wait – there WERE a million people here a few years ago, but there have been a lot of people who have left.
For the first time since 2013, San Jose’s population dropped below a million people.
Why?
Well, there’s a LOT of people leaving California in general.
Only Illinois saw more people move away.
I mean look the highways. They’re empty. It’s so expensive here, for one. Real estate costs are outrageous, and taxes are going up all the time.
The politics here are turning a lot of people off. It’s getting more dangerous, and there’s homeless people taking over parts of town.
And people can work from home now.
Why raise a family here, when you can settle down in a place that’s just…better?
That’s not good for a place like the Silicon Valley, which has relied on talent to be HERE with their butts in seats. They’re gonna have to figure that out – cause word is out among tech workers who don’t need to be here anymore.
I don’t know if it counts as a battlefield but when serving in Germany in 1974 I was in charge of a unit composed of three Royal Engineers and nine Gurkha riflemen. One night we were called out to investigate a possible unexploded bomb unearthed by some construction workers. The suspect object had been discovered while digging a deep trench in loose sandy soil.
On arrival my riflemen set up a security cordon around the site while I climbed down to the bottom of the trench to evaluate the object. That is the last thing I remember as the loose sandy soil of the trench collapsed burying me alive. All of my squad immediately ignored common sense as well as standard operating procedures and jumped into the collapsed trench. Their efforts to move the sand covering me were hampered by the clearly exposed bomb which had fallen out of the trench wall and was lying on top of the pile of sand.
They got a land rover reversed up to the side of the trench and tied a rope between the bomb and the truck. They then dragged a thousand pounds of high explosive which had been burried for thirty years bumping and jolting out of the trench and across the building site. All the time they were still digging or forming a bucket chain to remove the sand.
I cannot ever forget the risks those men took to save me. But for those men’s efforts I would not be here today and writing this answer.
Going anonymous here for reasons that will be obvious soon.
I work on Wall Street in a front office position on the trading floor as a sales-trader.
You can already see this is probably not the “safest” environment.
I used to work in a large bank. I was constantly sexually harassed. I had clients who would send me IBs (Bloomberg IMs) in group chats with my manager and other sales-traders saying how “hot” they thought I was and that they had huge male appendages, asking me what kind of bra I was wearing, things of that nature. I’ve sat next to men who watched porn all day at work on their iPhones. I’ve had managers from other desks proposition me in return for introductions to clients (I never accepted).
I was a high producer at this bank and the other sales-traders hated me for it, because I was much younger. They made up rumors that I was sleeping with all my clients (of course not true).
I worked my ass off. I worked 12-hour days every day and then on weekends. I was out meeting clients every week. My co-workers would roll into the office at 7 and leave at 4:15 on the dot.
Now, of course, all of this is on the manager’s side.
When my manager was fired, one of the other sales-traders who hated me was promoted. His first move was to get me fired. HR (this is where they stepped in) decided to put a negative mark on my U-5. A U-5, for those not in finance, is a form for registered employees. It follows you for life. It discusses why you were fired. Most banks will write something innocuous like reduction of headcount or terminated employee. The reason for a U-5 is more for if you’ve done something really bad. Stealing from clients, hiding trading losses, something like that. They wrote on mine “failure to meet management expectations,” which basically means “you were a crap sales-person.” It’s virtually impossible to get a job after this in sales. To get it removed, you need to go through arbitration with FINRA, which costs an obscene amount of money.
My bank did this to many people for no reason, mostly to junior employees who wouldn’t be able to afford to pay for a lawyer. It’s a disgusting practice.
Update: I wanted to let everyone know. I’m not really sure *why* they did this except out of revenge. HR probably went along with it because management wanted it. Management wanted it because I had (and still have) very loyal clients, whose business they thought they could take. I took my bank to arbitration and won. It took a long time and a lot of money that I’ll never get back. I did manage to get a job after, doing the same thing at a smaller firm. It actually worked out as this firm is a lot better run with a group of people who are great at their job. (I’m also making more money… go figure!) I was lucky as I got this job before I went through arbitration (which is a long process). I had clients who spoke to my firm on my behalf, advocating for me, and a few former coworkers. I was lucky in that sense.
Update 2 (Dec/30/2016): Wow thanks for all the upvotes! This has gotten more upvotes than any of my other (non-anonymous) answers, lol. I am still checking this so please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below – happy to elaborate or give advice if I can. Thanks!
Update 3 (Feb/28/2017): More than 6k upvotes – WOW! Thanks, everyone! There are a few comments from people asking me to name-and-shame my old employer. Trust me, I would love to do that! I signed an agreement upon termination agreeing not to disparage my former employer. This is a pretty disparaging note and I’m not looking to get sued. All I will say is that I worked at a bank in NYC. For those accusing me of not looking out for my fellow women… it’s a tricky situation. Everyone (women/men/etc) needs to be careful and prepared for complicated situations in the workplace. This is NOT limited to Wall Street. Just this week there have been several major reports of sexual harassment: Bloomberg, Uber, Tesla, and Signet Jewelers. This problem is rampant and hardly limited to one industry or one company. I hope we as a people get better at treating people with respect.
Drill Instructor (DI) pacing before the platoon (in the typical cadence of DIs everywhere): “Alright you lamebrains, settle in. We have word of where you will be posted. You will be sent as a platoon to the Pacific Islands where you will assist in removing Japanese invaders from their lands. I, and others, have taught you everything you need to know about being good soldiers. Now that I know where you are going, I will need to teach you about something that may save your life.”
“You need to learn about the Hairy Water Swamp Viper. “
DI in the typical “singsong” voice of DIs: “The Hairy Water Swamp Viper is three to three and a half feet in length. An inch to an inch and a half in diameter. Covered with three eighths inch hairs, colored orange black orange black orange black.”
“If you are crawling through the jungle and you see the Hairy Water Swamp Viper poised thusly to strike (holds his arm like a snake about to strike), there is one, and only one thing to do to save your life.”
“You must leap to your feet (DI demonstrating throughout), and place your left foot forward and pointing at the snake. Place your right foot back and perpendicular to your left. Extend the left arm fully, palm parallel and facing the ground. Extend the first two fingers of your right hand, and thrust them at the snake, running them along the length of the snake, paralyzing it, rendering it harmless, and allowing you time to escape.”
The DI straightens himself up and points to one of the platoon members.
DI: “Private Egghead, tell me everything you know about the Hairy Water Swamp Viper!”
Private Egghead leaps to his feet.
Private Egghead: “The Hairy Water Swamp Viper is three to three and a half feet in length. An inch to an inch and a half in diameter. Covered with three eighths inch hairs, colored orange black orange black orange black.”
“If you are crawling through the jungle and you see the Hairy Water Swamp Viper poised thusly to strike (holds his arm like a snake about to strike), there is one, and only one thing to do to save your life.”
“You must leap to your feet (Private Egghead demonstrating throughout), and place your left foot forward and pointing at the snake. Place your right foot back and perpendicular to your left. Extend the left arm fully, palm parallel and facing the ground. Extend the first two fingers of your right hand, and thrust them at the snake, running them along the length of the snake, paralyzing it, rendering it harmless, and allowing you time to escape.”
DI; “Very good, private. Be seated.”
DI: “I will be following the platoon to the jungles in a few weeks. Good luck men, and stay safe.”
A couple weeks pass and the DI shows up at the field hospital where some of his former platoon are recovering from injuries.
First he sees Private Smith. Private Smith is missing both arms.
DI: “Private Smith, what happened to you?”
Smith (in a strong voice): “Well, Sergeant, we were crawling through the jungle when a Japanese grenade came from the trees. I wrapped my arms around it and protected my buddies.”
DI: “You’re a brave man, Private. You’ll be going home soon.”
Next the DI sees Private Jones. Private Jones has no legs.
DI: “Private Jones, what happened?”
Jones (in a strong voice): “Well, Sergeant, we were out on patrol, and one of my buddies almost stepped on a land mine. I managed to push him away, but I landed on the mine and it took my legs.”
DI: “Well, you’re a brave man, Private. You’ll be going home soon.”
The DI visits a few more of the men, and finally, in the last bed, he sees him. Private Egghead is wrapped head to toe in bandages.
The DI takes a seat beside the bed and looks crestfallen. “Private Egghead, you were my best soldier. What happened to you?”
Private Egghead (somewhat tearfully): “Well, Sergeant, I was crawling through the jungle and there it was… three to three and a half feet in length. An inch to an inch and a half in diameter. Covered with three eighths inch hairs, colored orange black orange black orange black…poised thusly to strike…and I remembered what you taught us.”
“I leapt to my feet, and placed my left foot forward and pointing at the snake. I placed my right foot back and perpendicular to my left. I extended my left arm fully, palm parallel and facing the ground. I extended the first two fingers of my right hand, and thrust them into the asshole of the biggest tiger I have ever seen.”
TikTok on the cost of living | RANT ON INFLATION | EVERYONE IS BROKE AND TIRED
That 27 year old was too right. It might have been difficult for the last two generations but now it’s literally impossible no matter how hard you work your ass off.
I walked into one of the biggest “Banks” in “America”. I had a $100 bill and asked for change. The teller asked if I had an account. I said no. She said they could only make change for customers. I stood there stunned for a second. Then I realized something and said “actually I am a customer. Every time I use your ATM I get charged a fee. That makes me a customer”. She just said “sorry, that doesn’t count”. So I walked away. Since then I haven’t used that bank for any reason. No credit cards, no mortgages, no car loans, etc. I’m sure they don’t need my business though. Which is good because they will never get it.
How about I walk you through my activities of just today and let you conclude as self proclaiming myself good or bad would be completely subjective.
Here goes nothing.
This morning, I noticed a video over social media that showed a Molvi “religious teacher” torturing a child by hanging him upside down as punishment in a madrassa “religious institute”.
The video had the caption “This incident happened in xyz town”.
Content of the video shook me, I was downright furious to no end. Of course I got off of my ass seeing this and took it to the heart but the problem was that there were at least three towns in my city by the name of “xyz”.
What do I do now? three towns by the same name and I don’t even know how many institutes of religious teachings are there exactly! How do I trace the place to capture this bearded monster?
All I had was the video that was recorded inside a room.
And the pain and empathy for the innocent victim.
That’s it.
Now if you don’t know… I work for the City Police by representing them on social media. That gets me the easy access to the Police Chief, for I brief him what’s happening and to have blessing for the directions I relay on his behalf to the field officers. That goes on through whatsapp or phone calls mostly.
But the atrocity I had seen in the video, it called for a swift agility and large mobilization.
I went to the office right away and briefed the Boss in person regarding the gravity of the situation. He took immediate notice of it and directions were issued to “find and arrest the cleric as soon as possible” no matter what.
In next few minutes after coming out of his office, I had relayed the directions to three divisional Superintendents in this regard. At least 200 cops were dispatched to find the place or die trying! And as they say,,, when there’s a will, hell yea there’s a way.
We found it!
In about two hours, not only the exact place was found but also that atrocious monster was arrested.
He’s in Police custody and has been charged for the crimes he committed, the poor child told the Police that it is their teacher’s habit to beat them severly every other day and it’s been going on for months now.
Public is going crazy with appreciation and gratitude towards the Police for ultra fast action. Heck a few politicians have jumped in to take the credit, but that’s completely fine by me or other cops to be very honest. It’s their thing to put up a show, they can have it.
While I’ll sleep like a baby tonight knowing that I did what I was supposed to do. Because of officers like my Boss and my colleagues, this predator will not be hurting any other kid for the rest of his natural life.
We’ll make sure of that!
But there’s so much the Police can do, right?
Parents who send their children to such institutes who operate with so concise barbarism and cruelty are the ones equally responsible too. I wouldn’t even let anyone touch my children let alone hurt them.
Don’t be okay with that because it’s not okay, it’s insane.
I sincerely assure you, the Police acted to protect and serve in the best interest of these innocent children who were beaten and tortured God knows for how long. Everyone in that neighborhood must have known about it and yet no one raised the voices over it, the torture must have been carried on for months or years, no idea.
On the other side,
A mere constable watched the video and voila! A difference was made.
See? I don’t think if I’m a good or bad Police Officer really.
But I’m damn good at getting the job done accordingly.
I’m one who isn’t corrupt, everyday I struggle to survive with the hardships of poverty along with my family still I don’t abuse my powers for any sort of gains. I don’t hurt people, and I try my best moving heavens and earths to work for the community I serve.
Mostly, I get cursed and demeaned anyway but then again I’m fine with that.
The Financial System Is Rigged!! You Need To Know The TRUTH!
These largely ‘non-crypto’ videos really are some of my favourites. So easy to digest and informative.
Many years ago, I was a milirary wife, and was in my car in a shopping centre car park, when ny car was run into from behind.
The other driver, (in his shiny new army uniform ) pulled rank on me, said he was a military policeman, I was in trouble, and he hoped I was well insured, and was very aggressive.
I sat quietly, until he asked for my insurance. Then I suggested he ring my husband for the details, as he was his new boss. And obviously outranked him substantially.
It was amusing to watch him deflate.
He then got called in to the office and reprimanded for pulling rank on a civilian.
Take a Virtual Reality tour of six REAL exoplanets (4K, 360° VR experience) | We The Curious
We Russians like to think of ourselves as a no-nonsense people. Vodka is a no-nonsense drink. We make a great pair.
Wine, beer and the rest of the stuff involve too much of gustatory and olfactory factors. Too cumbersome to produce, shelf life as a factor of quality, the confusion of picking the right sort. You bring in your buddies, and they drink—and someone always comments on something that is not all perfect about the taste, or smell, or color, or vintage. Neither mismatches with the food and the occasion will ever go unnoticed. This is all so irritating!
Vodka makes you free. Correctly brewed, it doesn’t smell or taste anything. Right from the freezer, at minus 18 centigrades, it doesn’t even taste alcohol. Heaven enters your body as effortlessly as the air you are breathing.
Vodka is timeless, affordable, simple. It’s the Godly promise of clarity, ease and elegance which are often too hard to come around at our place.
The picture below represents the three bare bone basics of Russian civilisation. Rug bread is the food that has been carrying us through thick and thin. The faceted glass cup is said to be designed by a Soviet woman
, when Communist-made glass turned out too brittle and opaque for the regular smooth circular cups. And of course vodka, looking like water, the baseline liquid of life—but much, much cooler!
Nope. Was making $125 K a year plus benefits, profit sharing, car and 401K. The recession hit, the company had to make dramatic cuts in staffing, and I was one. Shook hands with my boss, even gave him a lift to the airport. Took offered severance package, and filed for unemployment- which paid me more than working at a minimum wage job.
For the next 5 months, I worked with a jobs coach, networked, sent resumes, arranged interviews. At that point, my JOB was to FIND a job I wanted- and wanted me. And I worked at it every day.
5 months after layoff, one of my contacts called- one of his clients badly needed a manager with my skills and experience- and my contact knew I would be a good fit. Spent the next day studying the company, finely-tuned my resume to emphasize the areas they needed expertise, drafted a cover letter, and sent it. Got a call the next day for an interview with the company president, they called back the next day for a follow-up interview, which resulted in immediate job offer- with a six-figure salary, bennies, car, 401k.
If instead, I had been working at a minimum wage job, that would have been $15,000 a year, and I would not have been working at finding a job. PS- 5 years later, I retired from that job. Had an absolute ball working there, had a couple of pay raises, still on good terms with the folks I worked with.
Oh SH*T, they’re are actively pushing a FOREVER war against Putin
Amazing analysis by Scott Ritter , he is 100% right , he nailed it.
It’s a big deal, the Hangzhou Asian Games. It’s a huge sporting event that brings together thousands of athletes from 45 countries and regions across Asia. It’s also the third time that China has hosted the Asiad, after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010. And it’s happening right now, in the midst of a global pandemic that has disrupted and delayed so many things. But not this. Not the Hangzhou Asian Games.
So how do the participants from other countries feel about this event? Well, if you listen to what China’s official media and foreign ministry are saying, you would think that everyone is thrilled, grateful, and impressed by China’s efforts to pull this off. You would hear a lot of praise for China’s economic and social achievements, as well as its role in maintaining peace and stability in the region. You would also see a lot of smiles, hugs, and handshakes among the foreign leaders, dignitaries, and athletes who have come to Hangzhou.
For instance, on Saturday night, Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the Games at a dazzling ceremony that featured a lotus-shaped stadium, a giant LED screen, and a theme of “Tides Surging in Asia”. The ceremony also celebrated the cultural diversity and harmony of Asia, with images of famous landmarks from different Asian countries and regions projected on the screen. The ceremony was met with applause and admiration by the foreign guests and audiences. The acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Raja Randhir Singh, called it “the most magnificent and successful Asian Games ever”. The president of OCA, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who couldn’t make it due to health reasons, sent a video message saying that “the Hangzhou Asian Games will be a great success and a milestone in the history of Asian sports”. And the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also sent a congratulatory message to President Xi Jinping, saying that he hoped “the Hangzhou Asian Games will be a symbol of friendship and solidarity among Asian countries”.
Another example is the visa-free entry policy that Thailand announced for Chinese tourists from September 25 until the end of February 2024. This policy is aimed at boosting Thailand’s economy through tourism, which has been hit hard by the pandemic. Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha personally welcomed Chinese tourists at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on the first day of the visa-free policy. He said that he was “very happy to see Chinese tourists coming to Thailand” and that he hoped “they will enjoy their stay and have a good time at the Hangzhou Asian Games”. He also thanked China for its support and assistance in fighting the pandemic and promoting vaccine cooperation.
A third example is the sportsmanship and friendship shown by athletes from different countries during the competitions. Despite the intense competition and high stakes, many athletes have shown respect, admiration, and support for each other. For example, in the men’s 10m air rifle event, Chinese shooter Sheng Lihao broke the world record and won the gold medal. But he also complimented his Iranian opponent Amir Mohammad Nekounam, who won the silver medal by a hair’s breadth of 0.1 point. Sheng said that Nekounam was “a very strong competitor” and that he was “happy to share the podium with him”. Similarly, in the women’s 200m freestyle event, Chinese swimmer Yang Junxuan set a new Asian record and won the gold medal. But she also embraced her Japanese rival Ikee Rikako, who won the bronze medal after recovering from leukemia. Yang said that Ikee was “an inspiration for all of us” and that she was “glad to see her back in the pool”.
So there you have it. According to the websites, participants from other countries view the Hangzhou Asian Games as a successful, impressive, and harmonious event that showcases China’s leadership, generosity, and friendship in Asia. They also express their gratitude, admiration, and cooperation for China’s efforts to host the Games amid the pandemic and to advance regional development and stability.
Apple’s Latest iPhone Maker Foxconn Gives Bonus To Attract More Chinese Workers Amid US Restrict
US lost the plot decades ago when they turned their education system into a piggy bank. Today they graduate less than 500k STEM candidates at year. All of them saddled in 5-6 digit debts. China graduates over 5 million a year. With zero debt from what I understand. Who do you think is going to win in a tech race? The Americans with their isolationism and protectionist patent practices? Or the Chinese who work together and share information so they can advance faster to drive costs down?
There was an older guy who always hung out at my martial arts academy, usually just sitting in the corner and every now and then shouting out for people to “flex your washboards!” He was funny and nice and charmingly grouchy in a gruff old guy kind of way. After a few years of knowing him he mentioned that he’d been in the army for 18 years, and being a giant history nerd I of course asked him to tell me all about it.
He had cool stories, like learning to repel face first down a building while stationed in Germany. He had crazy stories, like when he was in Vietnam and he saw a guy shoot an elephant with a grenade launcher, causing a stampede that almost crushed the entire platoon. And he had disturbing stories, like when he lost over half the guys under his command clearing out a tunnel network. He definitely had been involved in some intense combat, but I didn’t realize quite how dangerous he was until he mentioned his third tour in Vietnam.
“I was there the last time on a civilian passport working for the CIA. You know what Operation Phoenix is?”
I didn’t know, so I went and looked it up. Turns out it was a program to flush out the Vietcong in South Vietnam. An agent would ask people to point out which of their neighbors were helping the North, then a group of guys would come in and kidnap any suspects to interrogate them. Not necessarily the most ethical thing ever, but maybe understandable. But the more I read, the worse it got. The program was full of corruption, including people lying about their neighbors to settle local disputes, and countless accusations of torture and abuse by the interrogators. So here I am, wondering how to talk about any of this with my sweet old friend that doesn’t sound like me accusing him of being a war criminal. The next time I saw him I tried to thread that needle.
“Hey, so I read up on Operation Phoenix. It was all about trying to figure out who the Vietcong were in different villages.”
“Yep, that’s right.”
“I, uh, did read that there was maybe some controversy though. Like, um, some of the people said they were kidnapped and tortured.”
“Kidnapped and tortured? No way.” I breathed a sigh of relief, while he looked really thoughtful. “No, all I ever did was ambush and murder people in the jungle.” Then he chuckled a little.
And that’s how I found out my friend used to be a cold blooded killer. Really nice guy though. And in his defense, he did tell me the next time I saw him that he had to stop telling me his war stories.
“I need to take a break, man. All last week the nightmares were back.”
Matt Gaetz shakes up the uniparty
American politics, and issues related to it. Good talk.
Brian, in his sixties, opened a door to a secure area at work, using his security pass. Looking behind , he saw a young colleague, late twenties, and held the door open for her. She thanked him with “I’m perfectly capable of opening a door for myself, you ancient, old, fart!”
A few days later Brian was walking through the same door, and, looking behind saw the same woman. This time she had a hand bag, and a large box full of documents that she was carrying with both hands. He let the door close (possibly helping it on it’s way, just a little).
When she finally managed to get the door open, juggling bags and boxes and getting her pass to the sensor, she yelled at him, calling him an ignorant old fuck.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Brian, “I thought you were a perfectly capable young lady”.
Being a capable young lady, she told him to “fuck off!”
Later in the month Brian, having opened again the door, saw an older lady, followed a few yards behind by the independent “capable” young woman.
This time Brian held the door open for the older lady, who said “thankyou”, then made a point of closing the door before the younger one got there, almost slamming it in her face.
A couple of days later, Brian was summoned to HR to explain his behaviour.
Which he did. Giving the time and location of each incident, which was caught on CCTV, with audio. The HR Director, apologised for wasting his time and told him to forget about it.
Brian refused to forget about it, and asked for an apology.
Which he got.
THOUSANDS Of Ukrainian Troops Surrender To Russia!
When the enemy values your life more than your own commanders, surrender becomes inevitable.
You will see the CIA hand in supplying Ukrainian weapons to Palestine.
Israel is now pinned to the wall, and they are helpless. The rest of the world are holding the darts. Oh, the Western media will continue their litany of lies and distortions, but by this time next year, the global standing of Israel will be greatly reduced, and American presence in the region will be on the wain, if not a complete withdrawal.
The jackals are out to feast on the carcass of the evil. And it is NOT going to be pretty.
As of 10:51 AM EDT on Sunday, October 8, 2023, it is confirmed that three Israeli Radar stations in the north have been attacked and destroyed. Israel has no radar to monitor into Lebanon. It is also confirmed that Americans have been killed, wounded, and captured/kidnapped inside Israel.
Overnight, after what was “Day one” of the HAMAS-Israel fight, an actual TSUNAMI of propaganda came flooding out onto the Internet and into the mass-media. The shear volume of propaganda is extraordinary. It is making it very difficult to discern what is truth and what is fiction.
There is an INTENSE effort to promote and propagate Israeli victims – and that’s OK I guess; they are, in fact, victims of an actual conflict. But there is also an absolutely unparalleled effort to suppress and censor anything factual about the Palestinians. It is almost as if the public is being manipulated into seeing ALL Israelis as “victims” and ALL Palestinians as animalistic perpetrators.
Official sources are very reluctant to provide Intel today. It’s like a giant lid has been slammed shut on factual information; only “the narrative” is allowed out.
I have had to adjust the manner in which I obtain information.
Here is what I can __confirm__:
My former colleagues in the Intel Community, from my years working with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), confirm that over a week ago, uniformed, flag-wearing, ID-carrying regular UKRAINIAN Army Troops attacked Wagner PMC Troops . . . . in . . . . . . SUDAN. You know, Africa!
I also found out that Mossad has been sabotaging/burning/blowing-up Iranian Drone Factories to stymie Iran helping Russia.
I also found out that planeloads of Israeli military weaponry were sent to Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan in the days and weeks before Azerbaijan launched another military attack upon Armenia last week, grabbing Nagrono-Karaback and forcing 100,000 Armenian Christians to flee for their lives.
What is taking place inside Israel right now, is payback. Payback from Russia for Israel helping Ukraine. Payback for the planeloads of weapons to Baku, Azerbaijan, and Payback for Israel blowing up Iranian drone factories.
It is also payback from Iran for all the air-strikes by Israel against Iranian forces in Syria for the past two years.
Lastly, it is also payback from Armenia for what Israel helped Azerbaijan facilitate in grabbing Nagorna Karaback.
The most interesting part? Iran used the $6 Billion released by the Biden administration two weeks ago, to fund today’s outbreak of hostilities!
I also found out this payback, is not going to stop.It __is__ in fact, “war.”
Moreover, I can now positively __confirm __:
This morning, the Israeli Security Cabinet invoked Article 40A of the “Law on Emergency Situations” — WAR.
So this morning, it is absolutely “official” Israel is at war. This is the first time that this Article has been invoked in Israel since the 1973 war.
Israel has decided to commit troops to a GROUND INVASION of the Gaza Strip. Door-to-Door. House-to-house.
This is going to be an absolute bloodbath.
I can also positively __ confirm__:
Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Alexander Ben Zvi told the Russian Government:
“Israel sees Tehran as one of the culprits of the Hamas attack.”
He then went on to tell Russia “This is how we quietly approached the threshold of the real use of Israeli nuclear weapons against Iran, and a demonstration of what the term “threat to the existence of the state” means . . . from the Russian “Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence.”
I can now also positively __confirm__:
There are some 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip. About half being men. If that half – or a good portion of it, were to come out into Israel bearing arms, the Israelis would be over run. Thus, the Ambassador to Moscow told the Russians that Israel is considering the use of smaller, “Tactical” nuclear bombs against Gaza, in case Israel is over-run. Same with the West Bank.
Finally, the Israeli Ambassador to Moscow told the Russian government that since Israel sees Iran as being primarily responsible for the ongoing onslaught, Tehran would be hit with much larger “Strategic nuclear bombs” as would . . . . Damascus, Syria, for being the Coordination point for HAMAS and Iran.
(Biblical: Damascus a ruinous heap?????)
Ergo, there is now actual and active discussion within the Israeli government of the potential use of nuclear weapons.
If Muslims begin to actually over-run Israel, where its existence is threatened, then Israel is already making known it will use the Samson Option and take a lot of people out.
HEZBOLLAH MASSING TROOPS
Hezbollah in Lebanon is already massing troops and moving rocket launchers. Hezbollah made clear yesterday that if Israel launches a ground war into the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah will attack from the north.
This morning, Israeli combat aircraft are in the skies over Lebanon all the way north to Kersewan, Lebanon.
There have been some mortars fired into Israel from Lebanon, and corresponding response with artillery fire from Israel, but these incidents do not even rise to the description of a skirmish.
RADAR KNOCKED OUT
The big news this morning is that THREE (3) Israeli radar stations in the north were successfully attacked from Lebanon and as of 10:51 AM EDT here in the United States eastern time zone, those three radar stations are OFFLINE.
For a brief time today, Israel had no effective radar coverage of its northern border. They have since moved portable, truck-mounted, military radar into new positions to restore coverage.
TALIBAN to JERUSALEM?
The Afghanistan Taliban reached a deal with Iran that is satisfactory, wherein Iran WILL allow Taliban armed forces to cross the country with the intent of entering Israel to grab Jerusalem. But the Taliban ran into several obstacles along the way.
Iraq did not respond to the Taliban request for permission to cross Iraqi territory.
Jordan flatly and explicitly BARRED the Taliban from entering their country.
So from a political perspective, the Arab states are now seen as acting as a shield for Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
IN AND AROUND GAZA
Hamas says that their fighters are still fighting in southern Israel, including in Ofakim, Sderot, Yad Mordechai, Kfar Azza, Be’eri, Yatid and Kissufim. Mind you, this is __Israeli__ territory.
“Israel will evacuate all residents living in towns near the Gaza border within 24 hours”
Israel has put itself in a bind with Gaza over the years so this isn’t so easy.
Gaza has been set up as a walled off open air prison, where the good inmates get to come out in daylight hours and do stuff like janitorial work for the chosen (their words – not mine) to eek out an existence. Then back through the gates by dark.
In theory, Israel can’t blow up a whole walled off city they created and kill every one because then everyone would scream genocide. But apparently everyone is cool with the status quo open penitentiary setup for some reason.
So the initial thinking is that Israel will just bomb here and there and level enough buildings to make everyone think they got payback and that will be that. It has always been that way. But no one is quite so sure this time. It may end up being an actual Genocide of Gaza.
The Israeli army issued orders to close all resorts near the border with Lebanon.
Most interesting this morning so far: : US weapons left behind in Afghanistan were used to attack Israel.
A high-ranking Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commander said US weapons left in Afghanistan by the Biden administration were found in the hands of Palestinian groups active in the Gaza Strip.
POLAND EVACUATING NATIONALS FROM ISRAEL
Poland has announced it intends to evacuate its nationals from Israel. Poland threatens: If any Polish aircraft is targeted or Polish nationals feel in danger after their aircraft enter the airspace.” Article 5 of the 31-nation NATO alliance will be activated and raids will be launched across all of Palestine.
EUROPE WARNED OF COMING RIOTS
Intel sources are now urgently reporting that Muslims will be on the rampage in Europe shortly; burning every major city in protest of the coming Israeli offensive into GAZA.
The authorities running Gaza know they cannot withstand a full Israeli military onslaught, so they have reached out to Muslims in Europe to have THEM cause trouble, making the Gaza problem, Europe’s problem too. The thinking is that Europe will be able to call-off a full blown Israeli wipeout of Gaza.
Intelligence sources say worst hit will be Paris, Brussels, London, and Marseille.
ON SCHEDULE
Everything is going to plan and is on schedule.
The neutering of Israel is in process.
We do not know how severe it will be, but one thing is certain; the American “military center” located smack-dab in the middle of the Middle East is slipping away…
Remember boys and girls, the “news” is not intended to inform. It’s purpose is to distract and manipulate. And upon this great backdrop of chaos a new global world is emerging. One where the evil bankers and their crazy psychopathic “leadership” have no sway. You all have a front row seat to this. Do not blink your eyes, or you will miss something important.
When I was at Oxford, undergraduates reading Classics were among the most sought-after candidates in the whole place by elite employers (such as the brand name consulting firms, top investment banks etc).
Homer
Why?
A few reasons:
Classics was widely regarded as one of the toughest undergraduate disciplines at Oxford
For starters, it was a four-year course (rather than the 3-year duration more typical both at Oxford and at English universities generally)
It had the most extensive and rigorous examination schedule of all the Oxford undergraduate programs, with the most aggregate examination hours
Reading Classics meant learning Ancient Greek and Latin (which, while no doubt preferred, were not required to have been studied in high school in order to be admitted)
It takes a somewhat singular mind to want to pursue such a subject; in particular, one that is highly analytical and enjoys tackling complex and esoteric problems.
It was this combination of the difficulty of the material, the demanding and rigorous nature of the program, and the emphasis on analytical thinking that made it like catnip to employers. Anyone who would want to do this, the thinking went, and could succeed at it is no doubt someone who could excel at what we do, too.
i made you AWARE, but you didn’t acknowledge my WARNING!
Late in 1979, twenty-four-year-old Steve Jobs visited a research center in Silicon Valley called Xerox parc.
Xerox parc was the innovation center of Xerox Corp.
During the 70’s, Xerox had the world’s best engineers leading innovation at the time.
If you wanted to see the future, Xerox parc was the place to be.
Steve Jobs didn’t miss this opportunity.
He walked into the facility with a very clear purpose in mind.
What’s the lesson of Steve Jobs’s story?
Your brain can ONLY find what it’s intentionally looking for!
Xerox engineers invented the computer “mouse,” but focused on trying to solve other problems. They ignored the potential of their invention because they were not intentionally looking for it.
Steve had his brain focused on finding an opportunity.
Steve knew what he was searching for, and identifying this Xerox invention later changed the computer industry.
Steve later said in an interview, “Within ten minutes, it was obvious to me that all computers would be like this some day.”
To answer your question, what advice do I have for young people?
Today we live in a very complex economy.
Attention is the most valuable asset in the world.
So, my question to you is:
Where is your attention?
Do you know what you’re looking for?
If you don’t know what you want, you have a huge disadvantage in life!
Why?
Because every road leads to your “goal” if you DON’T know what you want!
It has made China accelerate its work to find ways to make their own high end chips. Huawei’s 7nm Mate 60 Pro gave evidence that China (SMIC) can and does produce 7nm chips in quantity. Pundits have been saying that with DUV, the yield is poor at 7nm so the cost will be high and output low. Obviously SMIC knows something these pundits don’t. They are producing millions of these 7nm chips. Huawei’s first order was for 20 million 9000s from SMIC. Last week it ordered 10 million more.
Media reports this week, says China has produced graphene chips equivalent to 3nm. If so, if this gets into production, that could change the direction of semiconductor manufacturing. Already, TSMC is working with Huawei and also expanding its chip production on the mainland. Huawei has stopped work on its Arizona fab, and dismissed all but Taiwan employees to keep the fab from deteriorating. Intel, likewise, has stopped construction of its mega’fab in Ohio. They see demand in decline and uncompetitive in the US. Both Intel and Qualcomm have begin ‘innovation centers’ on the mainland and forfeited any chance at subsidies from the US. Ditto for TSMC and Samsung. All semiconductor companies, foreign and domestic, are increasing their presence in China to save what they can of the China market.
Bottom line: Biden’s restrictions and sanctions have only increased the pace China seeks in semiconductor self-sufficiency. Some media reports say that China has already achieved 70% self sufficiency which was the original goal in China’s ‘Made in China 2025.’
Carl Zha on Huawei, ‘Chinese Spies’ and Chinese economy on Redacted
Our crew was building a 20 unit apartment complex. One of the guys was named Rick and during lunch one day he told us that before he got into construction, he used to be a bantam-weight boxer. He showed us some moves that were really impressive. Rick was short, broad-shouldered, well-built for a small guy, but had a lightning fast jab that you could hear but couldn’t see fly. He was amazingly fast and skilled.
A few months later, a new guy joined the crew whose name was Randy. Randy was tall, muscular, good-looking, and arrogant. And he didn’t like Rick. Rick was a little slow with being permanently punchdrunk, so Randy just thought he was an idiot. Day after day, Randy just pestered Rick with all kinds of insults and bullying and just verbal rancor. Day after day, week after week, the insults and bullying continued, and Rick just ignored him, or at least try to.
One Friday afternoon Randy was walking behind Rick on the job site and the insults were flowing like a river. Finally, Rick had had enough and told him, “Randy f-ing shut up.” But of course Randy didn’t stop, it just made him go off even harder and faster with the insults. Then Rick warned him again, “Dude, you better shut up! You’re gonna piss me off.” But naturally, Randy, being who he was, didn’t take the hint, and he continued on and on for the next few minutes.
The next thing we knew Randy was literally sitting on the deck on his butt, holding the side of his chin and face with his hands. No one even saw the punch fly, especially Randy. he just sat there on the deck sitting on his butt, and then he said “You hit me!” I honestly think it took Randy a few seconds to realize he’d been hit with a lightning fast right jab that left him on his ass.
The next words out of Rick’s mouth were, “Dude, I told you to shut up.”
The next words out of Randy’s mouth were, “Ah, yea.”
Then Rick says, “Just be glad I pulled that punch.“
The rest of us just stood around there looking dumbfounded. I got the impression that if Rick had not pulled that punch, he would’ve spun Randy around three times landing him on his face utterly unconscious.
Randy never insulted Rick again. It was glorious to watch a bully get knocked off his high horse!
I have a friend who was a Ph.D.microbiologist out in Silicon Valley.
He was brilliant – He developed a rapid test for detecting resistant microorganisms that have netted his firm billions of dollars and saved countless lives.
After he completed that, his female boss refused to give him any projects to work on and wanted him to ”let the woman employees have a chance to shine now”.
For the next 3 years, he came to work, with no assignments, and just read or searched the internet for 8 hours a day. His boss told the other employees not to bother him.
He was getting bored and restless with no work and had a couple of discussions about it with his boss.
He and his husband had purchased a retirement home in Fort Lauderdale and they had been spending vacation time fixing it up for when they retire. He was not ready to retire and was still working after 65.
One time when he was in Fort Lauderdale to work on the house, his company-owned cell phone suddenly quit working, He called his boss to see what was up. She told him that they were terminating him because he was not doing anything.
They deposited his final check and a severance check directly to his bank account, They terminated his computer access (understandable, but they would not even let him have access to his personal research notes).
They hurled all his personal items from work into a box and broke some of them. It was delivered to his apartment knowing he was out of town. It was placed by his apartment door. Fortunately, a neighbor found it and saved it for when he returned. Lastly, they demanded that he send his 10-year-old cell phone back by mail right now (that is just crazy, Do you know how much a 10-year-old phone is worth?)
The worst thing they did to him was to cash out his multi-million-dollar company retirement account and stocks and deposit it into his checking account so that he was suddenly responsible for federal and California income tax in one lump sum. He was devastated! And they refused to talk with him anymore.
He is a pleasant, affable person who always wanted to help out his coworkers. We have known each other for 45 years and this was the first time I saw him cry.
He decided to bail out of working anymore.
It was a tremendous loss to the microbiology community and the lab tests that he could have brought to market to save countless people’s lives.
You Just Changed Timelines – Kyle Cease
He’s talking about “time lines”. But what he actually means is “templates”.
Triple Pepper Steak
This dish was made for meat lovers! Beef is sliced and seared in a wok, then tossed with a robust brown sauce filled with colorful bell peppers.
2023 10 12 12 35
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
Marinade and Beef
2 tablespoons oyster-flavored sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 pound flank steak, thinly sliced across the grain
Sauce
1/3 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 each green, red, and yellow bell peppers, julienned*
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 teaspoons water
1/2 fresh jalapeno chile, sliced
Instructions
Marinade and Beef
\Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add beef and stir to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Sauce
Combine ingredients in a bowl.
Place a wok over high heat until hot. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, swirling to coat sides. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 10 seconds.
Add beef and stir-fry until no longer pink, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
Remove meat from pan.
Add remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil to wok, swirling to coat sides.
Add bell peppers and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add water and stir-fry until peppers are tender-crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Return meat to wok and add sauce; bring to a boil. Add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens.
To serve, garnish with chile slices.
Notes
* Pepper Prep: Cut off the top and bottom of the pepper. Next, make a single cut along the side, to open the pepper. Pull out and discard the central core of membranes and seeds. Now lay the pepper, skin side down, on a cutting board, spreading it out flat. Holding a sharp knife or cleaver flat against the pepper, trim away any remaining membrane. You now have a long flat rectangle that’s easy to slice crosswise.
A Slaughtered Cat Turned into a Beauty in the Hands of a Kind Girl
Suddenly, she noticed a small gray face peeking out from the dense bamboo.
In the middle 1970’s I visited my fathers’ second cousin in Youngstown, Ohio. He had two daughters my age. And we stayed with them. Those girls were tall, blonde and nice. I’ll bet that they became amazing when they filled out and became grown women. I’ll tell you what.
They lived in a nice suburb, and it was decked out in mod 1970’s style. Silver and velvet wall paper, lots and lots of shag carpeting. A nice avocado green kitchen with wood trim, and they even had a downstairs cellar pool table. I was stunned. They were so groovy!
Times change. I know. Today, I want to dedicate some photos to the 1970’s era. Those of you that know… KNOW.
A little boy was beating on a little girl at a private school where I was working as a regular substitute teacher. None of the regular teachers were doing anything, so I went over and separated them. I was called into the office and told that touching children at their school was forbidden. I explained the situation, and they said it didn’t matter why, we were not to do it. Their ATTORNEYS had made it clear to them that no adult was to touch a child for any reason in their school building or on their property. Period. I went home and searched news services for anything that might have caused attorneys to insist that little boys be allowed to beat on little girls while teachers looked on. Yeh, there was quite a scandal, I couldn’t believe I’d never heard about it. I went into the office the next day first thing, and explained to the principal why standing by and letting that small child be physically terrorized was just as bad as what the attorneys were trying to prevent. He wouldn’t hear it. I walked out and never went back.
Peppered Beef Puffs
Beef Curry Puffs 16 768×512 1
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
Steak
2 pounds minced steak
3 eggs
1/2 cup packaged dry breadcrumbs
6 shallots
Salt, pepper
(2 ounces butter
1 pound packet puff pastry
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
Mushroom Sauce
3 ounces butter
8 ounces button mushrooms
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups water
2 beef stock cubes
1/2 teaspoon basil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
Salt, pepper
Instructions
Steak
Put meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, finely chopped shallots, salt and pepper into bowl; mix well.
Divide meat into 6 equal portions. Shape into small loaves, pressing in lightly.
Heat butter in frying pan, cook loaves on all sides until golden brown, remove from pan, cool.
Cut pastry into 6 equal portions, roll out each portion to 9 x 5 inches rectangle.
Put cold meatloaf into center of each pastry strip, brush edges of pastry with egg yolk mixture.
Bake in hot oven for 10 minutes or until golden, reduce heat to moderate, cook further 15 minutes.
Serve sauce separately.
Mushroom Sauce
Heat butter in pan.
Add finely sliced mushrooms, sauté until mushrooms are tender.
Add flour, stir until combined; cook for 1 minute.
Remove pan from heat, add wine, water and crumbled stock cubes.
Return pan to heat, stir until sauce boils and thickens; season with salt and pepper.
The culture of the Han people is the biggest culture in China.
Han Chinese constitute approximately 92% of the population of China and 95% of Taiwan; 76% of Singapore, 23% of Malaysia, and about 17% of the global population – making them the world’s largest ethnic group, numbering over 1.3 billion people.
image 8
Malaysian Chinese children wearing Hanfu, to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival in Kuala Lumpur; Sept. 24, 2023
Mandarin is the primary language of the Han people, and hence the official language of China, and with such a vast majority of the population identifying themselves as Han, you can find their influence at nearly every corner of China.
image 45
The written history of the Han people dates back to 1,000 B.C., which is one of the longest unbroken written histories in the world aside from Jewish people. The ancestral homelands of the Han, where they live in the highest concentration, are along the middle and lower parts of the Yellow River Basin, the Yangtze River basin, and the Pearl River.
With an agricultural and urban culture, it is not until recent years that you would find the Han people in mountainous or desert regions. Despite being such a large group, the Han people still share a common culture of celebrating traditional cuisine, clothing, and customs, which have been passed down from its ancient history.
All other ethnic groups – 56 officially recognized – in China outside of the Han’s are considered to be minority groups, and the largest minority in China is the Zhuang people, whose population today is around 18 million. They are mostly located in Southern China, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
image 44
Young girls from the Zhuang ethnic group
image 7image 43
Han Chinese commemorating the 2,574th anniversary at the birthplace of Confucius in Qufu, eastern Shandong Province, China.
Chinese people tend to honour tradition, but they also embrace many parts of Western popular culture. Thanks in part to the enduring influence of Confucianism, Chinese customs include a strong sense of family, a deep respect for hierarchy, a reverence for education and an appreciation for harmony over conflict.
You used to be able to work 40 hours and rent a HOUSE.
When I first started going to college a huge 4 bedroom house that allowed pets was 1250 a month. Now its 1400 for a decent 1 bedroom apartment. A really shitty two bedroom is available for 1400 but no pets.
Just 8 years ago when I first turned 18 and moved out — you paid first and last or first and deposit to move in.
Now you have to pay first, last, full month as deposit, plus extra for the pets. If I had 5000 to move somewhere I’d be buying a house.
Two people working 45 hours plus weekend side gigs dont even make enough to clear the 1600 monthly rent necessary for our barely adequate housing for myself and our daughter. I have a Masters in administration. I didnt pick something shitty, I chose to ignore passions and get a useful degree. Every year that goes by — the decent jobs now only schedule you 31 hours, because at 32 they’re required to pay benefits. Now, if you’ve been there 5 years but you’re sick for a week, they still fire you. Because now companies dont care. They don’t know your name. They have 15 people lined up for your job.
Rent should be 30% of your income. Now? Its 85%. We pay for our food with our side gig money. We need a car for work but we share one. We have never had credit cards, because we could never even fathom spending money we dont have? So our credit, while not horrible, isnt good. We dont have enough credit nor enough savings to even consider buying a house, which are all absolutely overwhelmingly expensive even out an hour out of town. I got up to working 80+ hours a week before finally I couldn’t anymore and it was costing me raising my daughter. We never took vacations, only my daughter and dogs have insurance because it was too expensive for us adults. We cooked our own meals, we used our left overs, I meal planned for a month at a time. We had very few special occasions for treats, and I sought out all free and cheap kids fun stuff. Crafts and socializing. But then rent got higher. And higher. And I couldn’t work any more. My partner already worked an 8-6 5 days a week. I worked two jobs, 31 hours at my degreed office job. Another 45 at any restaurant that needed help.
There is NO reason two people working for above minimum wage 40+ hours a week shouldn’t be capable of buying a home. Renting shouldn’t cost all of our money. We should be allowed to have pets.
Like what the fuck.
It didnt become “suddenly acceptable “ it became UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY.
Bedazzled Elliot has a TINY problem
Scene from the movie Bedazzled where a huge basketball star discovers he has a small penis.
Back in the late ’60s, my father, a self-employed plumber, was working in a house in a Brooklyn neighborhood that wasn’t a very good one.
My dad had no problems working in the poorer neighborhoods. He was especially compassionate about larger families in smaller homes with one bathroom.
One day, while working in a house, he found he needed some tools from his car. Some guy came up from behind him and held a knife to his neck.
“Gimme the money,” he told dad.
He rummaged through dad’s pockets.
“That’s not the money,” dad said calmly, “those are parts for my plumbing clients. My money is in my other pocket.”
As dad went to get his money, the lady of the house came running out.
“Please, mister, don’t hurt the plumber! He has to fix our toilet!” she pleaded.
“You a plumber?” The mugger asked.
”Yes,” my father answered.
“My toilet’s been broken in my apartment for weeks,” the mugger added. “The landlord won’t fix it. My kids all gotta use the neighbor’s.”
My dad said quietly, “Let me finish here and I’ll come to your house and see if I can fix yours.”
The mugger removed the knife and stepped back.
“You’d do that—for me?”
“For you and your family,” my dad said.
Dad wrote down the address and promised he’d be there soon. The mugger walked away.
The lady of the house wanted to call the police. Dad said no, not to worry. He fixed their single toilet, and, sure enough, drove to the mugger’s apartment. Dad saw a bunch of children and no working toilet. Dad fixed the problem.
The mugger shook dad’s hand and started to cry. He hugged dad and apologized over and over for trying to rob him. My dad hugged him back.
He told the mugger, “Son, if you want to really help your family, don’t keep robbing people. If you go to jail, who will help them? Try to get a job. I know it’s hard.”
My dad came home that night and told us this story over dinner. My brother and I thought our dad was losing his mind. I started to cry thinking my father was in danger.
“He could have hurt you, Daddy!”
My dad pulled me to his side. “No baby, that man wasn’t looking to hurt people. He just wanted money for his family.”
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“When he put the knife to my neck, the blade wasn’t sharp. It didn’t leave a cut. He couldn’t have cut butter with it. He was looking for help.”
My father was just like that. He was the sort who would pick up hitch hikers and swear he was going their way—even if it was really out of his way. I saw him stop a few times in the pouring rain to help people—someone changing a tire or needed a jump start for their battery. One man wanted to give dad money for helping, and dad, always with a smile, would say no.
BEIJING: The infrastructure bill touted by the Biden administration is not as wonderful as the Democrat Party claims it to be.
The US$1 trillion bill will lead the US federal government into deeper sovereign debt while creating new infrastructure projects that will take decades to complete if approved.
The government boondoggle will not free up funding immediately for the construction of new highways, bridges and railroad lines, since that requires contractors winning approvals from local, state and federal governments while they must obtain
hundreds of inspectors’ permits and support from local community activists.
Building a bridge in the United States is not a simple process even if Washington provides ample funding for it.
I had witnessed the complexities of government-back infrastructure when I lived in Dallas from 2007 to 2010 and I was assigned to cover the Dallas County Commissioners’ Court public hearing every Tuesday morning for the Dallas Blog.
You would often hear amazing ideas to construct major projects in Dallas County but then they got political. Even extending the highway a few extra miles required much public debates, while the landowners directly impacted sought big payouts from government agencies.
But that was just the beginning. Contractors made bids to compete for the project and if they lost out they hired protestors to attend the Dallas County Commissioners’ Court to give speeches claiming the new project would become an environmental hazard or harm local communities.
If Dallas County Commissioners voted in favor of the highway extension, they required an environmental impact report that took years to complete.
Most construction projects from the moment they are approved to the time contractors start building took seven to nine years.
I recall one time after two decades of waiting for approvals; contractors for a toll road extension in North Dallas were blocked from construction when an elected official at the Dallas County Commissioners’ Court announced he would block it since the leading construction firm failed to meet racial hiring quotas on the management side.
But upon closer review, I learned from County officials that the elected official allegedly was upset the contractor never gave him a donation for his re-election campaign.
I mention this tale to explain why the US will continue to struggle in playing catch up with China in regards to infrastructure. Beijing is way ahead and Washington will not be able to start construction on new projects for another few years at the earliest.
You can review the Politico article with the link HERE.
As reported by Politico:
“But a review of proposed spending in Beijing’s latest annual budget and five-year plan indicate that the U.S. faces an enormous challenge merely in keeping up. Here’s a number that is illustrative of the gap:
China poured more cement from 2011-2013 than the U.S. did in the entire 20th century.
Numbers from the National Bureau of Statistics show that China spent about $8 trillion on infrastructure investment in 2020.
The U.S. spent $146 billion in federal money over the same period.
A comparison of 2018 infrastructure spending as a percentage of GDP by 48 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries ranked China first at 5.57 percent compared to 0.52 percent for the U.S.”
In recent years, China has constructed some of the world’s finest infrastructure projects. They had built very long sea bridges, road tunnels and highways reaching to many parts of the country.
The building in China will keep going and the US will fall further and further behind.
It is impossible for Biden to have made such a statement
Impossible!!!
That’s because the US officially follows the ONE CHINA POLICY
This means China can never invade Taiwan because they are the same country
It’s like India invading Punjab tomorrow
So all US can do is to provide weapons to Taiwan and claim to help them defend themselves citing human rights and aggression
It will be like a Civil War & extension of the 1931–1949 Chinese Civil War
US in fact not fight against China at all
They will give an excuse of Chinese aggression and get ASEAN to turn against Taiwan and get the entire South China Sea nations to join a Military Alliance with the United States by SACRIFICING TAIWAN
That is the game plan of the US termed Operation Majullah coined by Pompeo in 2018
To provoke China into an invasion of Taiwan by 2023 (Assuming Trump won the election in 2020, so now 2025–2027)
To convince a terrified Philippines & Vietnam into joining US in a Military alliance and allowing NATO to expand to South East Asia
Persuading ASEAN to join NATO and finish the encircled shield against China and recommence a trade war with full cooperation of the ASEAN to hopefully break the CPC and it’s hold on China
Of course Trumps defeat has set back Operation Majullah badly because this operation assumed Russia would be close to the US under Trump (Assuming he won 2020)
Yet now Russia is firmly with China so that opens up a long trade route
Plus the world had COVID so US is economically much weaker
Plus the Ukraine war has draines the West of it’s influence and strengthened China and Russia and the BRICS
So it’s a different world now and Operation Majullah would be redundant now
“THIS IS IT! Most people have No idea what is Happening in Maui, Oprah & the Rock
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Oprah Winfrey face backlash for asking fans to donate to Maui fund instead of contributing more themselves The family of a woman who died trying to flee a wildfire on Maui is suing the county, the state and one of Hawaii’s largest landowners, alleging they neglected to maintain their fire-prone property.
In the early 80’s I was Operations Officer (in charge of all non-lending, non-trust functions) of the headquarters branch of a large, state-wide bank. 80 odd branch employees on the first three floors, senior management of the region and holding company on floors 7–11.
This bank had grown and evolved from a family owned institution, and a solid chunk of the shares were still held by family members, and a number of the Directors and senior managers were related. A former President and Chairman had recently died, and his son, a Senior Vice President in charge of Commercial Lending, was his estate’s Personal Representative, but had not yet filed and received Letters of Administration. In addition, the owner keys could not be located, so it would need to be drilled.
Under our state’s laws, a safe deposit box can be opened, an inventory of contents made, and certain time-sensitive items can be removed, such as a will or life insurance policy. As a large office with a disproportionate ratio of older customers, this was something we saw with some frequency. It required the bank’s Safe Deposit Custodian (a non-officer employee), an officer, and a locksmith. Unlike normal box access, the bank representatives had to be present, go to a private room in the Safe Deposit area with the estate representative, make the inventory and insure only authorized items were removed, and then re-secure the box contents pending further legal proceedings.
Not this time. Me, the Custodian, the Senior Vice President son, the Corporate General Counsel, and a stenographer from the holding company cluster around the locksmith, who had the door open in about 30 seconds. We took the rather large size box upstairs to a Corporate conference room and opened it.
It contained this somewhat crusty old gentleman’s most precious and important documents – 40 years or so of birthday cards, Christmas cards, letters and notes to and from his wife, children and grandchildren, school papers and projects, refrigerator drawings, and family pictures. Not a single will, stock certificate, or business paper.
China can destroy any fleet anywhere in the world. Not only an American one. Not only near and around China, but anywhere.
The idea that China has the ability, technology, capability and wherewithal to destroy a complete fleet of military grade vessels is well known, well established and incorporated in contemporaneous Pentagon planning scenarios.
…
Just because China CAN, does not mean that it WILL.
After all, the United States can eliminate hunger, and homelessness overnight simply by funneling a fraction of the USA budget dedicated to Ukraine towards the needs of American citizens. But, of course that’s NEVER going to happen.
…
Questions like these used to raise my ire; get me infuriated by the ignorance of those questioning the obvious, and a general fury at that the troll and ‘bot attacks that invariably follow. But now, given the utter hopelessness of the Untied States on the global stage, I just shrug my shoulders and feel pity.
It’s like this question:
Can the United States drop a nuclear weapon on Beijing?
Well. Yes it can.
But it won’t.
…
Or this question:
Can the United States assassinate Alexander Putin?
Well, it can.
But it won’t.
…
Or this question:
Can I force my spouse to eat dog shit?
Well, you can.
But you won’t.
…
In all the cases above, a hypothetical fantasy is generated. But the scenario will never occur where the test of validity were to be realized.
Why?
Because other factors come into play.
…
So, let’s go back to the question at hand.
Can China wipe out any American fleet that sails near China?
Well, it is obvious. Of course it can.
Will it do so.
No. Other factors come into play.
…
I know that there are ‘bots, teenagers, drunken misfits, and trolls that want to argue this point, but China is not stupid. It will maximize the damage through retaliatory measures it deems suitable, given the situation and scenarios that manifested.
My PERSONAL opinion is that if China sinks one fleet, it will sink them all.
The reason is simple; economies of scale.
…
And that’s not all, folks.
Not by a long shot.
Sorry to say.
…
So, let’s just keep our personal fantasies, and delusions to ourselves. Just because you own a shotgun, doesn’t mean that you intend to go Postal, perform a “suicide by cop” or have a Columbine mass shooting with it. Seriously. Those are just fantasies. Nothing more.
China is currently working with the United States on a wide range of issues, and as the provocations by the neocon arm of the American government subsides, so with the over all prosperity of the (remaining) American middle class increase.
Here’s “School-Smart” vs “Street-Smart” in a LEGO analogy:
School is like getting a very complex LEGO set:
image 56
The goal: “We expect you to put this Lego together,. We will show you how to do it! Follow the instructions and you will succeed!”
So, we go from first grade through to sixth grade.
image 55
In each grade, we get a set of instructions to follow:
For example, this is first grade:
image 54
Attention!
If we fail to meet the required standards, we WON’T be able to move forward. If we DO meet the standards, we will be allowed to move to the next level — each level stacks upon the other, growing in complexity.
If we complete elementary, we move on to middle school, and then to high school:
image 53
Once we successfully finish high school, we move on to college. We continue “stacking” up ALL the sets of instructions, meeting the standards.
If we don’t do it EXACTLY as expected, we will fail!
image 52
Finally, the day comes …
image 51
We celebrate …
image 50
CONGRATULATIONS! We all get a “certificate” that proves we are capable of following very complex instructions.
image 49
Then, we face the real world …
The real world is also like Lego, but with NO INSTRUCTIONS!
image 48
We feel confused and overwhelmed. “What should I do?” we ask ourselves.
We urgently need someone to tell us what to do (boss). After all, we were all trained to FOLLOW instructions, indoctrinated, not really educated.
What’s the difference?
Indoctrination teaches us WHAT to think, not HOW to think!
So, to answer your question, why are so many smart and diligent people successful in school but fail in real life?
Being “school-smart” is radically different than being “street-smart.”
Do you want to be “street-smart?”
Consider this: We are now in an age where computers, algorithms and robots, are unbeatable at FOLLOWING instructions. If our value to the world is being good at following instructions, we then do NOT stand a chance at succeeding in today’s new economic environment.
Who will win?
“Street-Smart” in the new economy means we have extraordinary creative skills, meaning that we can innovate and think “outside the box.”
Creativity CANNOT be automated!
Computers, robots and algorithms CANNOT compete with us in creativity. Well, at least not yet …
Schools MUST stop “standardizing” us. We are all different and that’s where success comes from, from our unique abilities and strengths that make us stand out in this competitive world.
image 47
We now live in a very different world. Our educational system was built and perfected to serve the Industrial Age. The Industrial Age was all about competing with efficiencies. Following instructions with excellence increased productivity. Today that work belongs to machines, not to us.
Today the world belongs to CREATORS!
image 46
There are NO instructions ahead of us! The way we solved things yesterday is now outdated. Change is only accelerating.
The sooner we understand this, the better chance we all have at succeeding in this world of exponential change.
THE REAL REASONS WE LEFT THE UNITED STATES (and why we can’t move back)
We left the United States for several reasons, but only one prevents us from ever moving back. Are we upset about it? NO! Our only regret is not leaving SOONER!
Absolutely not the best to live in, I would say it’s the worst developed country to live in.
Life for most people is about work, just running a hamster wheel hoping not to slip or you will be climbing out a hole. I remember life being a rat race just staying afloat and never catching a break. I imagine wealthy people don’t experience this but when 80% of the country are living paycheck to paycheck, obviously that’s not a good sign.
Food prices are triple sometimes four times more expensive than what I have paid in Western Europe for the same goods. Yet our minimum wage is significantly lower, so when 1 hours minimum wage barely covers a couple items of groceries, imagine how those families are feeling the sting for housing, water, utilities. Many 1 bedroom apartments cost more than an entire 1 month minimum wage.
You will prioritize work over family, because there is little choice in the matter.
So little choice because a social safety net is not available to help you, I’ve exhausted this option to death on hard times and it just wasn’t there. All I got was a lot of wasted time and disappointment.
Healthcare, higher education, child care is exhorbitant, they will drain your disposable income, along with the high costs of basic things that Americans believe they are getting a great deal for, for example in UK you get higher speed internet for a fraction of the price an American pays, I have cable with lots of channels, WiFi, and landline for £40 a month, my mom has the same with less channels for over $169 a month (that was 2014 prices).
The worst part of living in the US is the limited choices for people at the bottom, social mobility is low. There is this illusion you can make your life anything you want, this is available to the well connected and rich but it’s sold off as something all Americans can achieve through hard work and it’s not obtainable.
Another issue is just existing in the US is a price. If I don’t want to be homeless and totally ostracized by society, I have to pay a price…just the act of existing means I must pay for health care at the very least. If you happen to fall on difficult times, the fines, fees, interest, just pile up and it consumes you. I compare it to someone piling rocks on your chest and sternum to your lungs collapse. The thought of trying to maintain a bare minimum life style while problems are karate chopping you from all angles is exhausting.
In the 2.5 years I lived in the UK, at my very worst I have never felt this level of despair and hopelessness. If I allow myself to slightly remember my past in the US, the whole thought conjures up loads of anxiety, and resentment.
The USA is NOT Letting Citizens Renounce
What you didn’t mention and should have mentioned is that the US is one of only 4 countries in the world who taxes their citizens no matter where they live or where they make their income. So the obvious reason the US is rejecting renunciation of US citizenship is to keep wealthy international businessman from escaping this always/everywhere tax system.
My father and I were just chatting and he offhandedly said he wasn’t an educated man. I said “Not formally but you’ve had a great practical education.” He said “What do you mean?” Dad had left school after the 8th grade but had worked for a company that provided the equipment to move water, pumps and pipelines and such for many years. I asked “If you have a pipe 18” in diameter under a pressure of 15 pounds per square inch, how many gallons of water a minute are you moving?” He looked at me a moment, stared off into space for another moment and then gave me a number. I smiled and said “See? I’d have to dig out my textbooks and calculator to get an answer and you just did that in your head! Serious practical education!” I think he was pleased at my expression of respect.
G7 is in denial. According to them BRICS is a “gang that can’t shoot straight” due to the fact that “all members have their own individual interests”.
They even fail to realize what this sort of criticism says about their “rules based order” where everybody is supposed to jump or run on command, regardless of own interests, and they have a nerve to call it freedom and democracy.
Giant lights flame: and check out Taiwan team’s arrival
When my wife was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer, I found out the worth of money.
It allowed me to buy time with my wife. She was given an 18 month prognosis by her Gynocological Oncologist. (Don’t be ashamed if you didn’t know that was a medical specialty, I didn’t either in April of 2016 when we met Dr. Steven Andrews. Now, his name goes to any woman who might need it.) She and I resolved to fight her cancer for two reasons:
To have as much quality time as possible.
For whatever her fight could teach her team for the NEXT woman.
We knew there were limits to what insurance would pay. I accepted them, she wasn’t so sanguine. There were a couple of times she begged me not to go on because of what we were spending. I firmly said NO.
In the end, due to the medical miracles Dr. Andrews and his team pulled out of their collective asses on a regular basis, Andrea’s 18 months became over 4 years. I held her hand when she took her last breath, kissed her cooling forehead, and called the home Hospice nurse to pronounce her death officially.
The cost? 85% of our retirement savings. I will be living most of the rest of my life on Social Security. The worth? As the MasterCard commercials say: PRICELESS. She and I made memories together in many different ways, many of them during the time we weren’t supposed to get. Yes, hers are gone, but mine remain, and that is worth everything to me. I knowingly spent the money to keep her beside me as long as she was willing to fight.
And Dr. Andrews may be a step closer to saving another lady later. I know he’ll give many more extra time with their loved ones.
I bought time, and it was worth incalculablely more than the money I spent.
I’m sure you are aware, but I don’t live in Malaysia. I’ve only had the privilege of visiting thus far. While in Kuala Lumpur, which I assume qualifies as a large city, I was very taken with the architecture. In my opinion, it was like a mosaic of old and new. Colonial and modern. Malay, Chinese, and Indian. Some bright and colorful like the Chinese temples, others somber and stately like the buildings from colonial days, others bright and shiny like the Merdeka building and the Petronas towers.
I can’t deny that some streets could do with some cleaning and anti-littering campaigns. But I also don’t expect perfection from a developing country and I certainly shouldn’t complain when I am a guest in the country and treated with such kindness from hotel staff and Grab drivers, to dear friends I cherish. Without fail I was made to feel welcome. Who am I to judge?
If you are bothered by messy streets then I have a few suggestions. First, you could organize meetings to mobilize people in the area to have a community beautification day where any able bodies who are willing could pick up trash, sweep the streets, and make minor repairs to building fronts. Secondly, you could print and pass out pamphlets highlighting the importance of a clean community environment for the sake of disease prevention. Third, petition the government for funds to revitalize and gentrify the area and to pay more people for trash collection. In my state the cities employ people for the purpose of landscaping and garbage disposal. I’m not sure how that works in Malaysia though.
If none of that helps then move. Seriously. If you are unhappy and uncomfortable there’s no reason to stay. And the people around you likely don’t appreciate the complaints without action.
Well, that means the virtual party cost about $66,667 per attendee.
Does this inspire you with confidence about how skilfully the EU will manage its budget around the Global Gateway? Do you even feel sure that the EU will actually build any infrastructure in the real world – as opposed to imaginary party venues in the Metaverse?
At the moment, it is meaningless to speak of the EU Global Gateway competing with China’s BRI. They are just not doing the same sorts of things. China is building mega-sized ports, bridges, highways and railways. The EU is holding online parties for six pax.
I didn’t actually witness it, but, saw the aftermath. My youngest daughter was a bit reserved and quiet. She had a lot of friends, though and they nicknamed her “Chipper”.
One day I got a call from the Dean of Girls at her junior high school asking if I could come in. When I got there the first thing I saw was two hall lockers (the tall upright ones) with the doors caved in.
The Dean told me that some of the boys had been getting grabby.
“Chipper” was talking with some friends in the hall when a passing boy grabbed her breast. She never said a word, she grabbed him by the throat and proceeded to try to throw him through a locker twice.
The Dean said, when she got there, the boy was crumpled on the floor with my daughter standing over him daring him to get up.
I said: “I’m proud of her. But, I’m willing to pay for the damages.”
The Dean smiled and told me the boy’s parents were on the way and they were going to pay for the damages.
When I picked my daughter up to ride home. I said: “You made a bit of a mess”. She said: “He had it coming.”
I said: “You’re right. How about we stop for ice cream?”
As a Christian man, back in my Asian church, I never struggled with lust for women because I’m not really attracted to Asian women but at my new church with a lot of different ethnicities, I’m really struggling with lust for women. What should I do?
Become a Muslim and marry four of them and have children with each of them.
When China had no navy or air force, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps would dare to cross Yalu River in North Korea. After China has an air force, the United States only dares to sit across the 17 degrees north latitude. After China’s naval and air rocket forces are formed, we don’t have any more problems dealing with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is currently developing a hypersonic missile to increase its presence in Japan and South Korea. The question is, aren’t fixedly deployed missile bases vulnerable to missile bombings? When the island and the mainland China fire missiles at each other, which one suffers more? As a result, the Air Force basically has no chance in the Western Pacific. Warships can still run away, but aircraft are really useless. Guam was immediately taken care of by first wave of Dongfeng 26.
local wars require detailed analysis. If it is a protracted all-out war, the United States will be exhausted. No matter how profitable the financial industry is, a real fight still depends on how many tons of steel are produced.The Chinese and American militaries are the only militaries in the world that have completed information transformation and have begun to move towards intelligent and unmanned armies. The problem with the U.S. military is that it wants to integrate the entire U.S. military into a digital command system. As a result, various practical factors and historical problems have made it bloated and complicated. The Chinese military is relatively late due to its military reform, confidentiality system and informatization changes. The outside world has always been blind to the internal situation of the military and has only a partial understanding. Although more and more new equipment and new technologies are being exposed, the People’s Liberation Army itself is becoming more and more mysterious.
Taking the 1998 flood fight and the 1998 earthquake fight as examples, we can intuitively understand the PLA’s combat readiness and mobilization status and shortcomings. With the improvement of the country’s comprehensive strength, the military no longer needs to be on the front line all the time. After all, the COVID-19 epidemic is just a glimpse, and it is more of a big test for politics and society. China is the only industrialized country in the world with all industrial categories, and it continues to invest in upgrading industrial capabilities. The marginal costs brought about by large-scale production are reduced, and a large number of engineering talents continue to promote technological progress and efficiency innovation while solving one problem after another. We can regard the COVID-19 epidemic as a global biological and chemical war waged by USA. China has not only demonstrated unparalleled industrial advantages and political mobilization advantages, but also exposed some problems. As the “lighthouse of the world”, the United States wanted to show off, but its butt was exposed. The war has extended from a battle of blood and fire to a comprehensive contest of technology, political system, population quality, industrial system, culture and public opinion. The boundaries between the military and civilians are gradually blurring. War is no longer the exclusive preserve of military personnel. Everyone is colliding in the whirlpool of the emergency times. We firmly believe that in the end, it is people who determine the victory of a war .
(1) Army confrontation in local wars
Assuming that armies of US and China engage in one on one decisive battle. When we read the report of US patriot performance is really rubbish. On our hand we have these weapon.
image 60
PHL-191, a long-range guided rocket, can be equipped with 370mm guided rockets and 760mm tactical missiles.
image 59
The Huolong 280A tactical missile has a double-cone warhead, commonly known as a water-floating bomb. The existing air defense system cannot effectively intercept it. You think rockets are fired at each other, but they are actually derailed missiles bullying the “patriots”
Strategic Bureau Chief created top ten ranking of weapon each country, US weapon rank first in all category except rocket launcher, no matter how the US try to deceive US, we know truth.
In other words, if it is an army duel alone, it will be on a battlefield of 100-500 kilometers. The U.S. Army can only be bombed unilaterally.
(2) Air Force comparison
In terms of overall combat strength, air power has always been the core of the US offensive. Even as the navy most favored by Congress, the core of offense is still aircraft carrier-based aircraft.After equipping the complete J-20 and J-16 series with WS15, the Chinese Air Force is the only one capable of fighting against the U.S. Air Force. At this stage, the Chinese Air Force is only transforming from homeland defense to peripheral offense. Relying on military bases deployed around the world, the U.S. Air Force can achieve global strikes. The United States dismantled the F22 production line and concentrated on producing the F35. Today, after the J-20 was put into service in batches, it is a stupid move. But there were no problems at the time. The original design intention of the F22 was to hunt the Su-27 on the battlefield in Eastern Europe. However, as an air superiority fighter, the F22 does not have ground bombing capabilities. The mission of the U.S. Air Force is to seize air superiority and then blow up all obstacles in front of it. The Army is responsible for cleaning up the battlefield. Just like the Gulf War. This is will need an in depth analysis after this article, i will write about air battle between J-20 and F-35. I will also write a comprehensive J-20 reception anything related to J-20 after this article.
(3) Navy comparison
image 58image 57
To be honest before 055 destroyed entered service, the chinese navy has no chance of winning a navy combat.
The 055 changed everything, or to be more precise, it was the YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile carried by the 055.
image 56
With a range of thousands of kilometers, the 055 destroyer is no longer the escort of the aircraft carrier, but the firepower center of the fleet. Instead, carrier-based aircraft only need to focus on driving away enemy fighters and cruise missiles. The 112-unit vertical launch system of the 055 itself was originally designed for air defense and anti-submarine warfare. When the electromagnetic catapult aircraft carrier and the J-35 enter service and become combat effective, the PLA naval fleet will form a dual-core attack queue. At that time, nuclear power was no longer enough. conventional ballistic missile The United States has been researching stealth anti-ship missiles over the years, but the cost of developing them is too high, and the U.S. Navy has never been equipped with them. Ten years ago, there were no surface ships that could threaten the Navy. As a result, they have been making do with subsonic anti-ship missile. To put it bluntly, except for strategic nuclear submarines that launch nuclear warheads. Submarines have always been a hobby of second-rate navies. Only in a silent ambush in a fixed water area is there a chance of winning. Once targeted by a destroyer or anti-submarine aircraft, it can only be passively beaten. Therefore, the role of German submarines in World War II was not to confront the British and American navies head-on, but to intercept merchant ships.
Now the Fujian ship is about to undergo sea trials. If the Ford aircraft carrier has not solved the reliability problem of the electromagnetic ejection and arresting device after the Fujian ship is put into service and has achieved combat effectiveness, it will be really a reverse event, we will have the upperhand.
image 55
Academician Ma Weiming. Academician Ma recently issued a document that our country needs to build a new type of warship, a nuclear-powered all-purpose ship that integrates electromagnetic guns, laser weapons, microwave weapons, all-electric propulsion systems, and comprehensive management systems, and is also equipped with two electromagnetic ejection tracks to launch unmanned ships. Man-machine. Of course, this kind of warship is indispensable for its electronic warfare system.
(4) Mainland coastline versus islands and aircraft carrier battle groups
Put aside the Grand Theater Chess. The most likely local war between China and the United States is in the Western Pacific, that is, around taiwan island. In the ten years from 2010 to 2020, the equipment of China’s navy and air force has made a complete leap forward. And many people who don’t care about current affairs still have their mindset of the last century.
With the Rocket Force’s hypersonic missiles, the Air Force’s fifth-generation electronic warfare aircraft and long-range supersonic anti-ship missiles, the Navy’s aircraft carriers and 055 large-scale drive and the sea-based hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile Eagle 21, and combat support long-range early warning radar space-based reconnaissance With the launch of satellites, the area within 1,000 kilometers of China’s coastline has become an absolute military restricted area. 1,000 to 4,000 kilometers is China’s advantageous area for firepower projection. The decisive factor is the range of the ballistic missile.
image 54
Dongfeng 17 not only glides in the atmosphere to avoid all existing anti-missile systems, but more importantly, it is low cost.
Dongfeng 17 uses the propeller of Dongfeng 16 to glide through the atmosphere to reach a range close to that of Dongfeng 21 , so the manufacturing cost is low. In recent years, China has made breakthroughs in the integrated molding technology of solid rocket motor fuel, which no longer requires manual carving and decoration of gunpowder pillars. Production costs have been significantly reduced, and the result is that ballistic missiles have become the price of cabbage, and Dongfeng 17 has begun to serve in large quantities. Unfortunately, Dongfeng 31 and Dongfeng 41 are too big, so they can only rely on manual modification of the gunpowder pillars.If the production cost of intercontinental ballistic missiles is reduced much in the future and waverider warheads and scramjet engines can be used, the picture will be so beautiful.When the Dongfeng missiles of the Rocket Force and the YJ-21 of the Navy and Air Force can effectively destroy the aircraft carrier fleet, the only one problem left is positioning.The simplest way to locate an aircraft carrier is to send a ship to follow it. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union’s strategy to deal with the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet was to use destroyer tracking and anti-ship missile saturation attacks.
image 53
Of course, during wartime, the aircraft carrier fleet spreads out and starts attacking hundreds of kilometers away, so tracking is only a last resort.Therefore, there are shore-based long-range early warning radars , space-based reconnaissance satellite patrols, underwater submarine patrols with unmanned underwater vehicles, large-scale early warning aircraft in the air, stealth unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, and even electromagnetic signal reconnaissance. Ballistic missiles themselves can also serve as reconnaissance vehicles. In short, use all means to locate the enemy’s coordinates. Similarly, the farther away from the coastline, the fewer means of reconnaissance, and the more difficult it is for the aircraft carrier to accurately locate it. It’s just that the aircraft carrier loses its threat to land when it is far away from the coastline. And China’s aircraft carrier fleet has broken away from the barriers of the land air force and rocket force, and the danger has also greatly increased.Aircraft carriers at sea can still operate, but air force bases, naval ports and missile launch sites on land can only be named one by one as long as they are within the missile range.
(5) Hypersonic ballistic missiles
In the 1990s, China is fully engaged in research on ballistic missiles under tremendous pressure of the superiority of US airforce and US navy. At last, the double-cone Dongfeng 21D with air rudder was built, making it a reality for ballistic missiles to maneuver against surface ships at the end. Then the Dongfeng 26 was further developed to cover Guam. Then the epoch-making Eagle Strike 21 was developed, which allowed surface ships and aircraft to carry ballistic anti-ship missiles, completely changing the rules of war.
There are currently three technical paths for hypersonic ballistic missiles. Biconical warheads, waverider warheads and scramjets. The double-cone warhead can significantly increase the range and terminal maneuverability of the missile when it re-enters the atmosphere. In the 1980s, the United States used biconical warheads in Pershing medium-range ballistic missiles, but they were not water-floating warheads. They were retired after the United States and the Soviet Union signed a treaty limiting intermediate-range ballistic missiles. North Korea and the Houthis have also tested biconical warheads.
Although it is not a hypersonic ballistic missile, it can achieve terminal limited orbit changes, which greatly increases the difficulty of interception by anti-missile systems. Currently, only China and Russia have biconical hypersonic ballistic missiles in active service. Russia currently only has one “Dagger”. On the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, russia conducted targeted clearing and attacks on the “Patriot” air defense system.
It is obvious that Russia does not have much equipment and can only use it sparingly. The hypersonic ballistic missile that the United States is closest to successfully testing is also a biconical warhead. Yes, the United States has no active hypersonic ballistic missiles. That’s why he is so passive. Asfor the waverider warhead in active service, only China’s Dongfeng 17 is publicly available. According to public information, Dongfeng 17 does not fly out of the atmosphere after launch, but begins to glide laterally at the edge of the atmosphere, with a maximum speed of Mach 10 and an attack speed of Mach 5 at the end. The special thing about Dongfeng 17 is that it avoids the detection and attack range of the current mid-course anti-missile system, and its ultra-high mobility makes the terminal anti-missile system completely unable to intercept.
image 52
What is inconsistent with Qian Xuesen’s trajectory is that the Dongfeng 17 does not fly out of the atmosphere. It also has a vector nozzle that can maneuver laterally. Even if a missile launch is detected during the boost phase, the impact point cannot be predicted and it is even more difficult to track when maneuvering without thrust. As for rocket scramjet engines, China, the United States and Russia are all in the research stage. Traditional rocket engines come with their own fuel and oxidizer. The ramjet engine introduces compressed air into the rocket engine combustion chamber to save fuel. The problem is that the engine first requires rocket combustion to accelerate to supersonic speed and then start the sub-burn or super-burn engine. The best performance range of sub-fuel engines is around Mach 3, and the best performance range of scram engines is around Mach 5. Therefore, the best combination is the engine composite design rocket plus sub-burning and super-burning, three forms. Or accelerate the aircraft to supersonic speed and release the sub-fuel and super-fuel engine. July last year, China’s Northwestern Polytechnical University completed a multi-modal test of a ramjet engine.
image 51
Now you know why USA sanction NPU and hack NPU website.
(6) industrial competition under total war.
If we reach the stage of total war, the logic of war will shift industrial potential into industrial military. United states has completely failed on this.
image 57
The U.S. Congress has been requiring the U.S. Navy to speed up the manufacture of new surface ships and purchase at least three of the latest model “Arleigh Burke” class destroyers every year. However, the U.S. Navy still submitted the purchase of two ships in the budget list for fiscal year 2024. Planning Check.
McCord, the U.S. military’s top budget official, said that’s because U.S. shipyards are barely able to build two destroyers a year, let alone three. In 2022, the United States will actually have only one Burke-class destroyer in service. China has 3 055 destroyers and 4 052D destroyers in service. The reason behind it is actually very simple.
In 2022, the total tonnage of U.S. shipbuilding will be 600,000 tons, including approximately 100,000 tons of new warship tonnage. 2022, China’s total shipbuilding tonnage will be 40 million tons, accounting for 55% of the world’s total tonnage. In 2022, nine large warships with a capacity of 150,000 tons will be commissioned. The world’s total crude steel output in 2022 will be 1.8785 billion tons, of which China’s output will be 1.013 billion tons, accounting for nearly 54%. The United States is the fourth largest steel producer in the world, with a crude steel output of slightly more than 80 million tons, and the EU alone is less than 220 million tons. In 2022, India’s crude steel output will be 125.1 million tons. in 2022, China’s power generation capacity will be 8,534.25 billion kilowatt hours (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), a year-on-year increase of 9.7%; the United States’ power generation capacity will be 4,115.54 billion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year decrease of 1.4%.China’s railway mileage will be 155,000 kilometers in 2022, including 42,000 kilometers of high-speed rail. In 1916, the operating mileage of railways in the United States reached its peak, reaching 410,000 kilometers. Now, there are only more than 220,000 kilometers of railway mileage left in the United States. In 2021, the total railway freight volume in China was 4,773.72 million tons, and the total railway freight volume in the United States was 12.026 million tons. It is clear that the total mileage of American railways is longer, but the freight capacity is hundreds of times different. On the one hand, there is a gap in demand for industrial raw materials such as coal, iron ore. On the one hand, American railways are in disrepair, and their transportation efficiency cannot be improved. There were 868 rail freight derailments in the United States in 2021.
image 50
The weakening of basic industrial strength has hindered the progress of military industry. In the field of hypersonic ballistic missiles, which the United States is eager to catch up with, test launches of biconical missiles often fail. It is normal for weapons tests to fail. What is abnormal is the reason for the failure, such as launcher failure or rocket engine starting failure. Just like the Ford aircraft carrier, the electromagnetic ejection failure is understandable, after all, it is a new technology. It makes no sense that the weapon lifts frequently malfunction. After the Russo-Ukrainian War, it is not surprising that the United States turned to South Korea to produce 155mm artillery shells. In a total war, the first wave consumes active weapons, equipment and personnel. The rest depends on the reproduction capacity of weapons and the ability to mobilize personnel. Today, only the aviation industry can retain the face of American industry. The reason why we skipped the air force earlier is that in the Western Pacific, the air force must rely on the flight runways of air force bases on islands. As soon as the war started, the Rocket Force focused on taking care of them. they have room to take off. The only place that can allow the U.S. Air Force to exert its full strength is the United States itself.
F35 Production Line
Although the Boeing 737 max has brought shame to the United States, Boeing factories have repeatedly reported that workers’ quality has deteriorated due to marijuana use. Before the epidemic, Boeing produced more than 800 passenger planes per year. Lockheed Martin’s F35 production is also above 150 aircraft per year.
For comparison, China delivered its first passenger aircraft C919 last year, and plans to have a production capacity of 150 aircraft in five years. The J-20 production capacity is estimated to be 30-50 aircraft. Where are the limitations? Training of production line and industrial workers. Taken together, in local wars, China has an absolute advantage in East Asia. China’s ocean-going offensive capabilities are improving, but the United States still has the advantage on blue ocean war. It is only a matter of time before China’s industrial strength is finally transformed into military strength in a full-scale war.
Therefore, the United States has been fanning the flames around China and constantly provoking, but it does not want to enter the war by itself. It is best to replicate the situation in Ukraine, with South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia resisting harm from the front, and the United States standing behind and selling arms. Once China puts on a desperate posture, the US military will retreat on its own. In a total war, China will win the final victory, but it will only be a miserable victory. The United States has been standing still for 20 years. Even if China’s military technology keeps up, there is still a huge gap in weapons inventory.
The United States wants China to enter the conflict in 2025, stimulate the return of financial capital to the United States, and take over the supply of U.S. debt. China wants to delay it until 2030, or at least until 2027, and is ready to defeat others without a fight.
China is actually the only country in the world today that is preparing for a world war.
The whole industrial category system manufacturing is not to brag, but to always be prepared to fight against the entire world in an isolated and helpless situation. It is no exaggeration to say that even in the event of a full-scale nuclear war, China can rely on strategic reserves to recover quickly. China’s history is too long and its imprint is too deep.
(7) Informatization
As the pioneer of the Internet revolution, the US military is undoubtedly the leader in military informatization. The Gulf War shocked the whole world. Traditional armies were powerless to fight back against armies empowered by information technology . What is informatization?
Basically, soldiers are networked together and commanded in a unified way. US the only army back then who have this ability because at that time china Without an information-based society, there would be no information-based military. Just like there is no industrialized society without an industrialized army. Because of the core position of the military, although advanced systems and advanced technological weapons will be the first to be used in the military, without a responsive social environment, the military will also be dragged down by social realities and become a castle in the air. For example, the Chinese army has established a modern army by learning from the German-Russian military system and through its own exploration.
However, the confrontation with the world’s largest industrial country on the Korean battlefield completely exposed China’s weakness in industrial strength and lack of professional military logistics support. On the ChangJin Lake battlefield, the volunteer soldiers who were short of ammunition, food, and clothing relied on their tactical proficiency and revolutionary will tempered by blood and fire to cut off the retreat of the US Cavalry Division at all costs.
After blowing up the Watergate Bridge three times, the U.S. military air-dropped steel beam components urgently customized in Japan to the battlefield. After engineers urgently installed them with engineering equipment, the main force of the U.S. military retreated smoothly.
Thirty years later, after arduous industrial construction, China has initially established a basic heavy industry system. In 1979, the People’s Liberation Army, which had been lacking training for a long time, faced the Vietnamese army. The quality and command of its individual soldiers were significantly different from those in the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and they were even inferior to the enemy. But the military-industrial system established showed great progress.
That is, the density of artillery fire exceeds that of the US military at that time. our army is not a volunteer army. In the subsequent two-mountain battle, the major military regions will conduct fire mainly with artillery firing. After the reform and opening up, China transformed from a planned economic system to a market economy, and the society transformed from an agricultural society to a modern industrial society. We thought we catch up.
So when the trend of informatization was revealed in front of the Chinese military, how anxious it was at that time. We experienced hundreds of years of suffering when we were left behind in the industrialization era. Will we continue to fall behind in the information age? Back to the basic concept, what is informatization? The definition given by data scientist Shannon: “Information is something used to eliminate random uncertainty.” Definition of information war: It is a full-scale war carried out under the premise of network digitization and the extensive use of information technology and information weapons and equipment. The specific battlefield performance is-destroy upon discovery.
For example, in a war simulation game, our teammates and enemy units can directly communicate with each other and cooperate with each other in real time on the small map without any barriers. It is extremely difficult to achieve on the actual battlefield. Indian air defense systems shot down their own rescue helicopters, and Iranian air defenses shot down civilian airliners. Identification of friend or foe is still a big problem today. Fortunately, China has caught up with the information age. Although we now criticize Lenovo, NetEase, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, etc., at that historical stage, these companies were undoubtedly the promoters of China’s information society. Huawei, BOE, Changxin, SMIC, BYD, DJI, MiHoYo, etc. The only possible Information war happened is when a war between USA and China broke out. Because only China and the United States have complete information industries in the world today. The United States uses Internet social tools to cause destruction around the world, while China builds walls and engages in Internet social governance. Other countries have no choice but to surrender the Internet and let the situation go unchecked. During the war disconnecting the Internet means completely losing the possibility of victory. China has benefited from an unprecedented wave of industrialization in the new century, and computers and mobile phones have begun to spread on a large scale. After 2010, society began to enter the mobile Internet era again. People realize that the so-called informatization is the “Internet of Everything”, the ultimate integration of the Internet and the Internet of Things. The popularization of sensors, mobile terminals and communication technologies has generated massive amounts of data, and big data applications have been born in order to process these data. Big data processing has promoted the progress of artificial intelligence (AI algorithm). In the past, the United States bullied small countries, but it actually did not reflect the power of informatization. The Russia-Ukraine war is also known as the “poor man’s version of information war.” First, the Ukrainian army used the US “Starlink satellite” to access NATO’s reconnaissance system. After the reconnaissance satellite long-range early warning aircraft discovered the Russian target, it sent the message to the frontline commander of the Ukrainian army team. The Ukrainian army team decided on its own to ambush the target. There is also the fact that the Russian military uses mobile phones to access the Ukrainian telecommunications network for communication, which is simply a living target. In the early days of the war, a large part of the casualty rate among Russian officers was related to miscomunication. The reason is not complicated. There is no digital communication equipment between Russian military tanks – this is not a problem due to lack of money but because without any concept of information technology. However, Russia is still good at learning war in war. Immediately carry out targeted electromagnetic interference. “Starlink” communications and electronic reconnaissance are greatly reduced. On the one hand, it reflects Russia’s profound accumulation of electronic technology, and on the other hand, it also illustrates Russia’s lack of war awareness – what has it been doing so long ago. A person who is fond of fighting but not good at preparation will only gain his progress after suffering losses.
image 49
“Murmansk-BN” integrated electronic warfare system. As the main combat equipment of the Russian army’s electronic warfare, this system can perform strong electromagnetic suppression on targets within 20 frequencies within 5,000 kilometers.
Russia and Ukraine use a large number of drones for battlefield reconnaissance and calibration, plus a large number of artillery pieces left by the Soviet Union. The cannon has the same barrel, but its power has been increased by several levels. Because of the massive smuggling of a certain civilian four-copter drone from a large Eastern country, Russia densely arranged a large number of frontline observation points in front. How dense is it? The drones on both sides can collide with each other. The battlefield that was originally filled with the fog of war became transparent. On the one hand, the whole world was watching the war live broadcast. On the one hand, any tank concentration and assault on either side will inevitably lead to a salvo of artillery fire from the by opposite side.
image 48
Last year, the Russian T72 crossed the river and was set on fire by artillery.
image 47
This year, the Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley armored vehicles assisted by NATO were attacked by the Ukrainian army without air defense. They were greeted by Russian mines, artillery, Lancet cruise missiles, and armed helicopters in turn.
The mine-protected vehicles assisted by NATO can only protect against roadside bombs, and can only be penetrated by the Russian army’s large number of mines.
Now the Russian army has even played tricks, using cheap shuttles to attach mines, grenades, and RPG warheads to carry out suicide attacks in VR.
image 46
The thousands of FPV quad-rotor drones purchased by the Russian army cost about 1,000 per unit, and it is cheaper to procure parts and assemble them from Shenzhen Huaqiangbei.
Comparing it to the Russian military’s own Lancet cruise missile, which costs US$100,000, it seems like it costs nothing.
image 45
The tanks and bayonets that military fans imagine, and the T80 vs. Leopard 2, cannot be realized on a battlefield where they are immediately destroyed upon discovery. The reason why Russia and Ukraine are called the poor people’s information war. For a big country, this kind of random flying of four-axis drones should not occur on the battlefield. Whether it’s electromagnetic suppression, laser irradiation, or anti-aircraft artillery. For China, even if its drones collide, it can still drown the opponent with its terrifying production capacity.
image 44
The Land Shield 3000 close-in defense gun is a modification of the 1130 close-in defense gun on a warship to an armored vehicle, with 11 Gatling tubes and 12,000 rounds per minute. Can intercept missiles up to Mach 4.
image 43
Although the US military does not pay attention to the army’s air defense system, you cannot say that it does not exist.
Ground-based electronic warfare systems are as dazzling to the Air Force’s electronic warfare aircraft as search lights in the night sky, waiting for them with an anti-radiation missile. Russia and Ukraine have been fighting fiercely for a year, and the air force has completely become a cheerleader. The Russian air force has the advantage but did not destroy the Ukrainian army’s air base and air defense system in the first time. It probably has no money. It has never gained control of the air, and the Russian Ka-52 only launched the “Vortex” anti-tank missile at the ultimate range of 10 kilometers when fighting the Leopard 2. The Russian military’s annual military expenditure of 80 billion US dollars is probably a lot of propaganda. There is also a question mark on where the US$50 billion in US aid to Ukraine was spent. Is it really written off? No way? Why are their firepower are so low?
One thing that can be mentioned is that the United States is the pioneer of the information-based military. A large number of digital combat systems and joint combat systems have been developed. Basically, each military service has one set, and the theater joint command has another set. Later, in order to solve the problem of too many vertical layers, insufficient horizontal interconnection, and poor ability to identify friend or foe, the US Global Command and Control System (GCCS) was developed.
image 42
Found the problem? Although it looks very cool, the US military has always wanted to develop a system, which is a center to command thousands of troops. Under the system with American characteristics, the sea, air, and ground forces compete for military spending. Unified command is inherently troublesome. On the battlefield in Iraq, there were situations where the presidential envoy, theater headquarters and military commanders were competing for command. Who would listen at this time? The final result may be that everyone listens to no one, and everyone goes their own way. Anyone who has been exposed to the project code knows that no matter how simple a system is at the beginning, it will be iterated over time, functions will be improved and hardware will be updated. In the end, it will pile up into a “hill of shit”. Imagine that when you sit in the position of the President of the United States and issue instructions to the nuclear base, you may need to broadcast signals. To issue orders to the Seventh Fleet Anti-Submarine Group – the Japanese Navy, a fax machine is required, and to issue orders to the Air Force’s F22 and F35 requires separate arrangements. Because the data links of different production years are incompatible, what about upgrading the F22? It couldn’t be done, because after the suspension of production, Lockheed Martin directly dismantled the production line to save costs. Where is the contradiction? The original design of the American command system is for an order to go directly to the soldiers. The soldiers do not need to think, they can just obey the orders. But an army is made up of individuals. Soldiers, officers, military services, theater commanders, the Department of Defense, and the White House all have their own agendas. A $1,000 coffee pot, tens of thousands of dollars of warship toilets, $6 million of Italian goats, and trillions of dollars of bad debts are expectable.
(8) Intelligent and unmanned – the battlefield heading into the future
While information warfare is still being hotly debated, military changes in the new era of intelligence and unmanned warfare have arrived.
The predator swarm drones in the “Wandering Earth 2” are smarter and more maneuverable than in reality.
image 41
Question: In the movie, when the J-20 and Su-57 take off at the same time, why do the drones chase the Su-57?
The two-seat version of the J-20 has begun to be developed, and together with the unmanned wingman, it constitutes the development direction of the new era.
UAV reconnaissance, guiding fire strikes; blasting minefields, EOD robots quickly clear minefields; commandos launch attacks, UAVs cooperate with fixed-point blasting; in addition, robot dogs go out to conduct reconnaissance, and no one Vehicles accompany the support… A combined brigade of the Army’s 80th Group Army conducted an all-element combined battalion real-force confrontation exercise. Multiple types of unmanned equipment were unveiled, and human-vehicle collaborative training was carried out.
image 37
Combined with the recent Ukrainian battlefield, the Ukrainian counterattack was tortured by landmines before it reached the Russian defense line. But for Zelensky, mobilizing troops may not be worth as much as unmanned vehicles. However, new smart landmines will be more widely used in the future, including automatic reconnaissance and friend-or-foe identification, automatic leaping overhead attacks, and one landmine can control hundreds of square meters of battlefield. Anti-smart landmines have become a new topic.
image 36
At the 2022 Zhuhai Air Show, the VT5U foreign trade light tank on display carries an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and console for unmanned driving, greatly improving battlefield awareness and reducing casualties.
image 35
At the Abu Dhabi International Defense Exhibition, “China Military Industry” exhibited the “Sky Shield” anti-drone system. On the basis of the original laser killing method, it adds killing methods such as high-power electromagnetic suppression and combination of projectiles and artillery, making it closer to actual combat.
image 34
U.S. Marine Corps – Logistics robot dog, material handling robot dog, robot mule, robot cow. It can carry more than 180 kilograms of weapons or other equipment for about 32 kilometers. Like a well-trained military dog, its structural design is highly flexible and can accompany soldiers in harsh terrains, including woods, rocky beaches, etc.
We found that the United States was the first to apply drones on the battlefield. A superstar on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.
image 33
RQ-4 Global Hawk, which was put into service in 2000, is active in military hotspots around the world. The cost is US$4000-120 million. It was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2019 and will retire in 2022. Off-topic: Japan spent 61.3 billion yen to purchase three Global Hawks in 2014, with maintenance costs of 263.7 billion in the next 20 years. As a result, production delivery will only begin in 2020.
image 32
The MQ-1 Predator, an integrated surveillance and combat drone, is both famous and infamous. It first flew in 1994 and has participated in all U.S. foreign wars starting from Kosovo. Counter-terrorism and indiscriminate killing of civilians have become its labels.
image 31
MQ-9 “Reaper” drone
What is strange is that among the drones that have been active around the world in recent years, there is a lack of U.S.-made drones. Chinese Wing Loong and Rainbow series drones active in the Middle East and Africa. In the Naka conflict , the Turkish TB-2 equipped by Azerbaijan stole the show. The Iranian “Witness-136” suicide drone purchased by the Russian army that bombed Kiev, Ukraine, also made a splash. As the world’s largest arms trafficker, the United States’ absence is really inappropriate. So, whose fault is this? Answer: The enemy is on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Congress has enacted legislation to ban the export of large drones. When the AVIC Wing Loong drones and China Aerospace’s Rainbow drones were dumped in the Middle East, they were not receptive. In order to satisfy the contradiction between the growing needs of gold customers for foreign military intervention and our country’s love of peace, we simply exported the production lines to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Let me tell you a little story. The tall drones were originally flown by retired pilots. Without it, because the airflow in near-earth space is complex and requires manual control by experienced pilots. Nowadays, highly automated civil aviation aircraft require the full participation of two captains during takeoff and landing, just for the sake of safety. The problem is that airplanes in third world countries are all bought on a case-by-case basis, and the pilots are all spoiled. Where do so many retired pilots come from? The customer is the king. Change it. Added autopilot function, one-click takeoff and landing, automatic cruise, simplified operation process, one handle joystick can solve the drone flight control. Just one standard – to satisfy customers with all fool-proof operations. Later the customer made another request. The flight was too short. And firepower was not enough. Changed is made, increased body size and fuel capacity, and added attachment points.
image 30
Rainbow 6 UAV
image 29
Wing Long 2 UAV
image 28
The Nigerian military used Wing Loong 2 drones to conduct air strikes against terrorists. Drones allow some small countries to do an offensive air force.
Later, the customer made another request. Turkey’s TB-2 is too annoying. It’s not satisfying to bump into each other without shooting. It needs to be shot down. To meet the requirements, air-to-air missiles are installed to specifically counter UAVs. Through constant upgrading and improvement, Pterosaur and Rainbow formed a huge family pedigree. Wing Loong UAVs have begun to be sold back to the domestic civilian market. In 2021, communications were interrupted in some areas of Henan due to floods. Wing Loong drones took off from the Guizhou base and arrived in the disaster area to provide 5 hours of mobile communication services, and sent back radar in real time to scan the damage in the disaster area. While waiting for U.S. arms dealers to obtain export licenses, the world has changed. Wing Loong 2 sells for $5 million. Because Turkey’s TB-2 has weak industrial strength and its technology is not as good as that of Chinese companies, and the price is more expensive. India purchased 31 MQ-93s for US$113 million each. Even the domestically purchased MQ-9 is priced at as high as $30 million. If combined with the industrial production capacity mentioned earlier, it is actually not surprising. The cost is too high and the price is too expensive. As a result, there are less and less equipment, and the purchase price cannot go down. Regarding the performance of modern warfare, I recommend the annual update video produced by the owner of Bili bili station up. It should be noted that the tactical arrangements in the video are demonstrations by military fans based on public data and are not real military tactical details. For example, the J-16D’s decoy deception, and the two-seat J-20’s A-shooting and B-guided missiles with unmanned wingmen. In order to arrange for all of our country’s equipment in active service and under development to leave the country, we deliberately strengthened the enemy’s military quality and armament capabilities, and also thoughtfully supported the opponent’s space-based reconnaissance intelligence of Uncle Sam. For example, in order to intercept low-altitude penetrating cruise missiles, the J-8 was allowed to take up its duties as an interceptor aircraft.
(9) Industrialization The United States, which attracts talents from all over the world, still has a strong innovation capability. However, under the influence of decades of deindustrialization in the financial industry, the United States has lost its production capacity. Industrialization is not just about factory workers and engineers, but also a whole social system that revolves around industry. Including unified market, education and training, financial services, government policies, etc. When the relationship is good, American companies design and sell and capture most of the profits, while Chinese companies are responsible for production and make hard money. But after the United States regarded China as an opponent, the world gradually turned into two parallel production systems. However, if there is no technological generation gap in military equipment, only players that can expand production at low cost will have the last laugh. In a sense, quantity is quality. Defeating more with less and relying on technology to make a comeback can certainly win a lot of glory and leave a name in history. But the real masters rely on operations to accumulate strength, and then rely on size to get through. So what’s important? Scale, scale, scale. Han Xin ordered troops, the more the better. Hiding new technologies will only lead to others taking advantage of them. What is industrialization? Machine production machines and standardized assembly line production and improvement processes. When encountering problems, propose solutions, improve and then provide feedback, and continue to optimize. Achieve technological leaps and improve productivity through continuous iterative improvements. What advantages do industrialization, the entire industry chain, and system engineering capabilities bring? Give a few examples. An example, the balancing car was invented by an American company. But it has always been a toy for the rich. The unit price is 8,000 US dollars, and the annual sales volume has been stable at 30,000. After being acquired by a Chinese company, the price of the new generation product dropped to 14,500 yuan. Later, it cooperated with Xiaomi to develop and sell products priced at 1,999. Nowadays, Taobao sells a variety of balancing scooters ranging from 300 to 3,000.
image 27
Relying on its low-cost advantage, China’s bulletproof vests occupy 70% of the world’s market share. Because body armor is for civilian use in China, you can buy it casually on Taobao. American and Russian soldiers often privately purchase Chinese-made bulletproof inserts to put into their body armor. You’ll know how good something is after you’ve been shot a few times on the battlefield.
image 26
On the Syrian battlefield, heavy mortar shells modified with gas tanks imported from China have an impressive range, their accuracy also impressive. there is no problem in destroying a three-story building with one shot.
image 25
Rockets produced by the Palestinian Hamas organization.
Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory: Although this is a seamless steel pipe, what I export is indeed a water pipe.
After China converted the Varyag into the Liaoning ship, a lot of media asserted that the Chinese aircraft carrier would not be able to form combat effectiveness in a short time. Because only the United States and Russia can build the crown jewel of industry , the arresting cable , aircraft carriers that cannot take off and land carrier-based aircraft are just large flat plates. Then the Liaoning ship realized the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft after two months of service. Many years later, people discovered that the arresting cables for China’s aircraft carriers were supplied by Hebei Ju li Rigging Group, a private enterprise. Four months after the military tender, Ju li took out samples and passed the acceptance test.
image 24
After the military opened the tender, Ju Li raised his hand cautiously: That. The parameters seem to be similar to a product I exported to the United States.
More famous is DJI’s quadcopter drone. Before DJI, there were some aerial photography drones in the United States. The cheap ones cost more than 300,000 yuan, and the expensive ones cost several million. Only the film industry dares to use this thing. The French company Parrot launched the consumer-grade AR.Drone quadcopter toy in 2010. It has 720P aerial photography function and is compact, lightweight and highly entertaining.
image 23
In early 2012, DJI launched the Phantom all-in-one computer. It has certain wind resistance, positioning and carrying capabilities. DJI has always emphasized that its products are flying cameras. The price is several thousand yuan.
image 22
in 2015, the American star startup 3D Robotics launched the solo drone to challenge DJI’s status. The solo drone comes with autopilot capabilities and sells for $1,700. However, problems such as unstable flight caused by the GPS system connection affected sales. 100,000 units were produced and only 22,000 units were sold. A few months later DJI launched the Phantom 3, with the professional version priced at US$1,300, and a few months later the price was reduced to US$1,000.
In 2016, 3D Robotics exited hardware production.
image 21
Solo drone
image 20
Phantom 3 DJI
Although DJI has always emphasized that it is a private company. But in the Middle East, pterosaurs and rainbows are used by governments to eliminate terrorists at targeted locations. Terrorists have also learned to use DJI Phantoms strapped with grenades to “air-strike” government troops. On the Ukrainian battlefield, DJI drones have become “Internet celebrities”. Russia and Ukraine both use it.
image 19
Picture above translated as follow
Russian Embassy in China
General Baruyevsky, former Chief of the General Staff of Russia: Ordinary commercial quad-rotor drones made in China are incompatible with traditional drones. The application of artillery and rocket launchers brought about a real revolution in technology, which actually completely solved the old problems in artillery reconnaissance, target designation.
√ When the drone continues to hover over the target area for adjustment, the artillery can use conventional ammunition, with accuracy and efficiency comparable to precision-guided munitions, while the number of ammunition and artillery required to kill is greatly reduced.
√ The Mavic quadcopter drone manufactured by the Chinese company DJI has in principle become a true symbol of modern warfare.
Russia Embassy : 5 stars review from the costumer.
image 18
DJI tweet translation :
All DJI products are designed for civilian purposes, serving people’s production and life, and are committed to benefiting society and making life better. DJI’s products are not suitable and do not meet the needs of military applications. We do not have applications technology in the military field.
DJI: I’m not, I don’t have it, don’t talk nonsense
When the Ukrainian counterattack was overwhelmed by landmines, frontline soldiers discovered new uses for DJI drones.
A few hours after sunset, due to the difference in heat dissipation between metal and soil, there will be an obvious color difference under the camera of the drone carrying an infrared sensor, which can identify large-charge mines on the ground.
I don’t know, will Russia and Ukraine be drooling over when they see this model?
image 17
DJI T50 agricultural drone, 50kg load capacity | coaxial twin rotors | front and rear phased array radars | two sets of binocular vision | high-definition FPV | integrated aerial survey, flight and defense.
DJI, you still said you don’t know military technology?
Well, drones, phased array radars. Something feels wrong. Why are civilian drones equipped with phased array radars? Because it’s cheap.
(10) Sky Eye – Active Phased Array Radar
The Ministry of Commerce and Customs has recently implemented export controls on gallium and germanium rare metals and compounds. Exports after August 1 need to be declared. Gallium and germanium are both core raw materials for semiconductors. Among them, gallium production accounts for more than 90% of the world’s total production.
image 16image 15
Is it because China has abundant reserves or has mastered core technology? neither. Because gallium is a rare metal, there is no abundant mine. It can only be obtained from the companion products of bauxite. The average gallium content in bauxite is 50 parts per million. So the production of gallium requires an entire alumina production line.
The largest downstream demand for alumina is electrolytic aluminum. It is well known that electrolytic aluminum is a large consumer of electricity. Cheap electricity is needed. In 2022, China will produce 40 million tons of aluminum, accounting for 60% of the world’s total production. It is this 40 million tons aluminum industry that produces 400 tons of gallium.
Gallium has an important compound, gallium nitride What we come into contact with most every day is gallium nitride fast charging. It has properties such as wide direct band gap, strong atomic bonds, high thermal conductivity, good chemical stability (almost not corroded by any acid) and strong radiation resistance. The GaN material series has low heat generation rate and high breakdown electric field, and is an important material for the development of high-temperature and high-power electronic devices and high-frequency microwave devices.
Therefore, gallium nitride also has a very wide range of application scenarios in the field of military equipment. The most typical phased array radar. Radar is the clairvoyance and ear of the modern military. In an information-based battlefield where discovery means destruction, the performance of radar directly determines whether the enemy fires first or a sitting duck. We know that radar is a device for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves. Early radar can detect the direction, distance and height of obstacles and other information by emitting electromagnetic waves and receiving echoes reflected by obstacles. However, the positioning effect for high-speed moving objects is very poor. Later , pulse Doppler radar was created based on the Doppler effect (the received frequency of waves becomes higher when the wave source moves toward the observer , and the received frequency becomes lower when the wave source moves away from the observer), which can accurately locate moving objects. Later, based on the interference of waves, phased array radar was invented. Phased array radar is a combination of Doppler radars.
The most intuitive way to experience the power of phased arrays is in the science fiction movie “The Wandering Earth 2”, in which nuclear warheads are arranged through phased arrays to concentrate the energy of the nuclear bomb explosion wave at one point.
image 14
The difference between passive phased array radar and active phased array radar is that passive phased array radar has only one central receiver/transmitter. In active phased array radar, each radiation component has an independent transmitter and receiver. One is a cyclops and the other is an insect with compound eyes. Because of the huge gap in performance, passive phased array radar is just a transition before the development of active phased array radar. Because of the independent transceiver characteristics of phased array radar subunits, the beam direction can be quickly changed through phase difference, and the mechanical scanning of traditional radar has been changed to electronic scanning. You can also group any unit independently to perform multi-beam scanning. It has strong anti-jamming and multi-target reconnaissance capabilities. Phased array radar also has disadvantages, that is, high power and high heat generation.
image 13
The phased array radar is a big house from the beginning, and a considerable part of the equipment is used for heat dissipation. Can only be used as missile and aircraft early warning
After the phased array radar is installed on the destroyer, it will become the famous “Aegis” air defense destroyer. In 2007, when China’s KJ-2000 was put into service, it was said to be a generation ahead of the American early warning aircraft because it installed a huge phased array radar on the aircraft. The powerful attack capabilities of the American F22 “Raptor” fighter jet are also related to the pioneering use of active phased array radar. It turns out that the huge radar can be installed in the radome of a fighter jet because of the use of gallium arsenide. Gallium nitride is an important raw material for the next generation of active phased array radar.
At the 2018 Zhuhai Air Show, Chinese military industrial enterprises launched an air-cooled active phased array radar for fighter jets. Later, it was directly installed on the “Fierce Dragon” Block III fighter jet jointly developed by China and Pakistan. As we know earlier, active phased array radars have high power and heat, so fighter jets are usually equipped with a liquid cooling system in their radome. Some simply use onboard fuel to dissipate heat for electronic components. Therefore, generally heavy fighter aircraft have space to install source phased array radars. But the Xiaolong is a light fighter and a cheap version. Is there something wrong? Remember the properties of gallium nitride mentioned earlier? High thermal conductivity. As long as the power supply and cooling requirements for the replacement of gallium nitride radar can be met, the detection range of active phased array radars on several types of fighter jets has the opportunity to be doubled.
image 12image 11image 10
Above picture is phased array radar multi target tracking high speed military radar is sold online casually in china the price 1 million yuan.
So it’s not surprising that DJI drones are equipped with phased array radars.
Hence the monster below.
image 9
20 tons AEGIS Unmanned warship. Each ship is equipped with 8 vertical launch missiles and 2 torpedoes.
The Iranian Navy has considered launching suicide attacks on U.S. warships using missile speedboats. If dozens of these small boats, which cost tens of millions of dollars, surrounded warships worth billions of dollars, or were equipped with towed sonar and spread out to hunt submarines in the vast sea area, the picture would be too beautiful.
It means China needed to create 7.585 million new jobs in 2019.
Remember that China is changing rapidly. The people who are retiring from low-end manufacturing or agriculture aren’t doing the same jobs as the 20 year olds in hi-tech and STEM fields.
Competition is fierce.
Ranch Round Steak
2077caab3c77906b7b00eea380916c17
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 (3 pound) round steak
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
Cut steak into serving size pieces; trim away excess fat and pound to tenderize.
Combine flour, dry mustard, salt and pepper; use to coat meat. Reserve remaining flour mixture.
In skillet, brown meat, half at a time, on both sides in hot shortening. Push meat to one side; stir in reserved flour mixture.
Combine water and Worcestershire sauce; stir into skillet mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour or until meat is tender.
Remove meat to platter.
Skim excess fat from gravy. Drizzle gravy over meat and serve.
What Elon Musk just did in Ukraine could change EVERYTHING
Could Elon Musk end the war in Ukraine with this one move? Democrats are calling for an investigation into how Starlink is used in the warzone. Redacted Correspondent Dan Cohen dives deep into the details.
Long before I even heard of a “Chicago pizza”, I would make these pizzas that my brother and I referred to as “swamp pizza”. What I would do is take a “off the shelf” pizza kit and raise the dough extra long. And instead of flattening it out in the standard pizza shape, I would use it to line a deep Pyrex dish.
deep dish pizza aka swamp
I would then fill it with the sauce and cover it up with cheese. Sometimes I would add meat and mushrooms, and always I would cover with lots and lots of cheese.
It’s been decades since I made these little Swamp Pizzas. But every now and then, I get a hankering for a swamp pizza on a lazy afternoon, and a black and white vintage science fiction or film noir movie. I will tell you that it is perfect for spending a snowy Winter day alone.
Today…
Doggie story
“My dog gave her life to save my son.
Cindy, my dog, was six years old and she was the most home-loving and obedient dog. I loved her and she knew it. When my son was born, she was immediately very protective over him. She’d sit beside his pram for hours, popping her front legs up onto the pram every now and then to make sure he was ok.
My son was almost three years old. We lived near a busy road and we were super vigilant at always child-proofing the front door – without exception. My son, as young children can be, was into everything. We’d often find him in the kitchen at 4 am with a concoction of cereal, milk, dry dog food, eggs, etc all mixed up on the kitchen floor. He was that kind of child – into everything. He also watched everything we would do and try to mimic us in his own unique way, often with highly amusing consequences.
One morning, again around 4 am, he somehow managed to ‘escape’ through his bedroom window. To rewind a little, Cindy knew not to go outside (apart from the garden) without us. We could have left the front door open all day (when my son was visiting with grandparents) and she’d never venture out. She also knew that our son wasn’t allowed to go through the front door without us, evidenced by her pushing at him if he fiddled with the front door handle. She didn’t know that it was double locked. This day, she followed my son through the window.
At 5 am, the police woke us knocking on the door. Their words were – “your son was nearly killed but your dog copped it”. They then reiterated what the lorry driver had said…
He told them that he was driving along in the dark and in the distance, he could see something ‘light colored’ moving on the road. As he got closer, he could see a dog at the side of the road barking and barking at the ‘light colored’ something. At the last moment, he realized that this was a child and was about to swerve. He said he could see the dog, still barking and glancing between the truck and the child. While the driver was braking, the dog ran out into the road, jumped at the child’s back and threw him out of the path of the lorry and at the same time, the lorry hit the dog and killed her.
According to the police, the driver said that he’d never believe what he saw unless it was with his own eyes. He said that the dog definitely knew the danger which is why she was barking so anxiously. He said “that dog just saved that kid’s life and it knew what it was doing.”
That was 39 years ago and I still miss Cindy every day. She was a rough collie (a lassie dog) and I can understand why this breed was chosen for the movies.”
School Bus story
“I drive a school bus and have a 6 grader who I would like to talk about.
Last week he was talking about an elderly neighbor not leaving her house for weeks. I tried to explain how hard it could be for her to do things. On Tuesday I pulled up and he wasn’t at the stop waiting. I looked over and saw him shoveling her porch. I was early so I waited for him. The other kids asked why I waited. I said anyone helping someone deserves a few extra minutes. All the kids started asking him questions about his neighbor. The next day 7 children got on the bus with blankets, food and cards for the elderly woman. I delivered them after worked. Now everyday she stands on the porch and the whole bus waves good morning. I am so proud of him for stepping up and doing the right thing. He taught all the children something important. I smile with pride in my heart because of the extraordinary children I have on my bus.” .
A Secret Global Coup Has Happened!
Let’s say there are 10 people. 1 is a sociopath and 2 are brutish thugs. The sociopath will use the two thugs to keep the rest in line using violence. The other 7 people will be forced to work long and hard so that these 3 can live lives of pleasure and privilege. This is the story of human civilization ever since the agricultural revolution. Countries are people farms; most humans have become farm animals and are treated as such.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Leonard
Matthew Leonard, born on November 26, 1929, in Eutaw, Alabama, embodied the spirit of service from an early age. Raised in a segregated society, Leonard attended Ullman High School in Birmingham, Alabama. He was not only a student but also a Boy Scout, instilling in him the values of honor and duty.
As a teenager, Leonard took on a job at a local drugstore, earning a modest $15 per week. This hard-earned income was dedicated to helping his mother meet the family’s financial needs. Even in his youth, Leonard demonstrated a deep sense of responsibility and commitment to those he cared for.
In 1947, at the age of 18, Matthew Leonard enlisted in the U.S. Army, beginning a remarkable journey that would span nearly two decades. He dedicated himself to a life of service, embracing the challenges and responsibilities that came with it.
Leonard served as a drill sergeant and trained young recruits at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. But as the war in Vietnam broke out, Leonard’s wife said he struggled to watch those young recruits, who weren’t much older than his sons, go to war and die. So, even though he was close to retirement, he volunteered to deploy in the hope of making a difference.
On February 28, 1967, in the heart of Vietnam, Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Leonard, serving as the platoon sergeant for Company B of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, demonstrated unparalleled bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.
Sgt. Leonard’s valorous journey unfolded near Suoi Da, Vietnam, where his platoon suddenly found themselves under a hail of enemy fire. The enemy, armed with small arms, automatic weapons, and hand grenades, vastly outnumbered Leonard’s platoon. Amid the chaos, the platoon’s commander and several key leaders were among the first to be wounded, thrusting Leonard into a position of leadership.
With remarkable composure, Leonard rallied his platoon to repel the initial enemy assault. He swiftly organized a defensive perimeter, redistributed ammunition, and bolstered the morale of his fellow soldiers. Even in the midst of battle, he exemplified unwavering leadership.
As the enemy’s assault intensified, Leonard’s selflessness and bravery shone brighter. When a wounded soldier found himself outside the safety of the defensive perimeter, Leonard risked his life to rescue him. It was during this act of heroism that Leonard himself was struck by a sniper’s bullet, shattering his hand.
Undeterred by his injuries, Leonard refused medical attention and continued to fight. He moved tirelessly from position to position, directing counterfire against the enemy, who had positioned a machine gun that threatened the entire perimeter.
Just as the situation seemed dire, Leonard’s own platoon’s machine gun malfunctioned, adding to the peril. Without hesitation, Leonard crawled to the malfunctioning weapon, determined to get it back into operation. During this critical moment, the enemy machine gun began strafing nearby soldiers, hitting Leonard’s gunner and others.
Summoning every ounce of his strength, Leonard rose to his feet and charged toward the enemy gun. Despite suffering multiple gunshot wounds, he managed to eliminate the enemy machine gun’s crew, silencing the threat.
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Leonard’s indomitable spirit and unwavering commitment to his comrades and mission endured until the very end. Despite being gravely wounded, he propped himself against a tree and continued to return fire until he could no longer carry on.
His incredible sacrifice and valor were acknowledged with the Medal of Honor, a testament to the extraordinary dedication and courage he displayed in the face of adversity.
Poor Cat Left To Decompose While She Is Alive | Rescue Before And After
Back when I was a young teen (more moons ago than I can count) I worked as a law clerk during the summers at my father’s office in downtown Chicago. Mostly it was busy work, matching mail with files, pulling files for court and some light typing.
On occasion I would go with him to court when he argued cases before the industrial commission (work related accidents).
One of these cases involved an individual who claimed his shoulder injury was so bad he was permanently and totally disabled from working ever again. He was a Russian immigrant and so his lawyer had to use an interpreter to question him during the hearing.
What they didn’t know was that my father had been a Russian Interrogator for the Air Force during the Korean War, and spoke fluent Russian. He had been teaching me conversational Russian while I was growing up, so I was able to follow along for the most part.
When his lawyer asked the question : “Mr. Petrovitch, how high can you lift your right arm” their interpreter actually said “Raise your right hand a small amount and act as if you are in severe pain” to which the man raised his hand a little, groaned and grimaced, squinting his eyes.
On cross-examination, after a laundry list of standard questions (through the interpreter, of course) my dad said in fluent Russian “HANDS UP OR I’LL SHOOT!” The man immediately raised both arms and stretched them towards the ceiling, showing no limitations or pain behavior at all.
Of course the other lawyer started shouting his objections, the interpreter yelled at the petitioner (plaintiff) that he was stupid and the judge covered his face with his hands to try and stop laughing out loud.
Go to the school and demand the phone back immediately. Having a phone is not illegal. If they balk at giving it back and spew some nonsense about not allowing phones at school tell them your child doesn’t have his phone in class but you as his parent require that he carry it with him to be able to track him and reach him as needed. There are many tracking apps now. Calmly, Demand they hand over the phone immediately. If they do not, call the police right there from the school office to report a theft. Get the names and positions of everyone witnessing this. Tell the school that if you don’t get the phone by the next day you will be buying a new phone and your attorney will be in contact with the school regarding the school paying for the new phone plus the old phone plus the attorney’s bill. Ask when the next school board meeting is and suggest you will be attending to discuss the dismissal of all involved, on charges of petty larceny.
You Won’t Βelieve What Τhey Have In Stοre For Us Next..
Let me see if I got this correct. The tax payer now pays for Gov stores and also pays to fill those stores with food and other items again using tax payer money. Then the tax payer goes to buy the food in the Gov store and gets tax on top of that. Crazy times we are living in!
Prison food is not great. It is not served on fine china or plated to be visually pleasing to the eye.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are seldom served.
For five years I went twice a week to spend time with inmates as we worked together on a book project for at risk kids.
We were all volunteers for our community, as we sat on opposite sides of the table.
One evening when I entered the men’s dormitory, where we met, an inmate handed me a small cardboard box.
He said, “We do not have anything to give you to thank you for coming here and treating us with respect. We want you to know we appreciate your giving value to our lives by using our stories to help others.”
I felt humbled and astonished when I saw the contents of the box. It was a red apple, some popcorn, and another small edible item. On the side was a handwritten note with many signatures.
Anyone who has spent time in prison knows fresh fruit is like gold. A thank you in any form is not to be taken lightly.
Inmates sharing their food with an outsider is not common. Sharing food that is fresh and seldom served is momentous.
Their gifts were not only humane. They were risky. Giving gifts was not in the rule book. I looked over at the nearby guards who also chose to be humane that day and let me know they understood the importance of what was happening.
They looked at the hardened faces of the men in my class, whose softened eyes were asking permission. The guards nodded while I fought to keep back the tears.
In all my years of teaching and rendering service to others, I have never felt such gratitude for the priviege as I did that day.
Years later, seeing a red apple stirs my spirit and reminds me, humane and selfless acts still abound.
In unexpected places, gratitude can still civilize us when we least expect it, for both the giver and the recipient.
P.S. The book is available to be borrowed for free through Amazon Kdp select. It is titled, “Redirecting Kids for Success” Prison Prevention…for at risk kids grades 9-12.
Breaking! China just dealt a DEVASTATING blow to U.S. Dollar Dominance
Breaking news on this Monday out of China where we have new data on the dumping of U.S. treasuries and what this means for the U.S. dollar dominance. Saudi Arabia also dumping U.S. treasuries at an increased rate over the past few weeks. What is going on?
Xi changed nothing. You’ve been listening to Western propaganda garbage.
Nearly the entire Global South is behind China. More than 40 countries have expressed a wish to join China-led BRICS and SCO. More than 150 countries have signed up to the BRI and wish to receive Chinese assistance.
China has treated America, Britain and EU with utmost respect. The reverse, unfortunately, has not been true. China is sick and tired of their arrogance and Cold War mentality.
Why did the West change their attitude towards China? Riddle me this.
She’s lying. She has no idea what to do. What she’s trying to selli is the idea that she does.
Here’s the problem. Americans want fentanyl. Enough Americans want fentanyl as to make it worth the enormous risk of smuggling either it, or the raw materials to make it, into the United States. Capitalism 101. And there is no way to stop that. None. Every attempt we’ve ever made to stop drug use by prohibition has been not only an utter failure, but has caused us more trouble than the actual problem we were trying to fix.
There’s a deeper problem. Fentanyl is a symptom, not a cause. And that cause is the utter hopelessness and the lack of resources for the poor in the US. We’ve literally criminalized poverty. We have the weakest social safety net in the industrial world, and we’ve decided that a tax structure that makes it possible for a handful of men to amass fortunes that can buy them freedom from the law, is a good thing even if it leaves 20% of the country living below the poverty line in an information and resource vacuum that leaves most trapped.
Preying on the poor is hugely profitable, and the capitalists have risen to the task. We choose to look away and complain.
HarmonyOS 4.0 reaches over 60 million Huawei devices in less than 2 months
Hauwei unveiled HarmonyOS 4.0, the latest version of its operating system, on August 4. The new iteration brought several changes to the user interface, as well as new features and improvements. Huawei has been quickly rolling out the new software to eligible devices. Earlier this month, we reported that 10 million Huawei smartphones and tablets were already running HarmonyOS 4.0. And today, the company confirmed that the OS has now made its way to over 60 million devices.
Huawei announced 60 million installations of HarmonyOS 4 on Huawei smartphones and tablet devices at its Autumn 2023 Flagship Product Launch event today. The company said it added an average of 1.2 million new users each day. This is just after less than 2 months of the formal announcement of the software.
HarmonyOS 4.0 comes with several notable changes, including a variety of rich theme templates and stylized layout designs. You can select the colors of your app icons and set emoji wallpapers and home screens by choosing your favorite emoji.
It also lets you better manage your notifications by clustering them together and sorting them by importance. The notifications for the same app are now stacked into dynamic cards so you can see more information about each notification without having to open it. HarmonyOS 4.0 also lets you identify text and images by double-clicking and then long-pressing to select them.
Huawei had a busy day today. It launched half a dozen new products in China, including a Huawei Mate 60 RS Ultimate Design smartphone with satellite calling and a ceramic body. In addition, the company unveiled the FreeBuds Pro 3 as well as the Watch GT 4.
U.S Sanctions Failed As China’s Shenzhen Imports Integrated Circuits From All Around the World!
“We see the “US of Amurdikkka is fastly declining in to a third world company/country/corporation.” Fall Babylon fall, youve destroyed so many. Now enjoy the ride down, you’ll never rise again.”
I’ve been wondering whether or not to answer this… The “wrong person” is my daughter (stepdaughter really,but I’m Daddy now and forever so that settles that) and the people doing the “picking a fight”were her ex boyfriend and his father.. I didn’t personally witness this because I was in Iraq at the time,but believe me I sure heard about it.
Daughter is tall and not a delicate flower even though she has all the requisite standard equipment to attract stares and suchlike, including a startling resemblance to Gal Gadot ,and I always emphasized to all my kids the importance of self confidence ,so she carries herself with a certain pride. She has Blackfeet blood along with Irish and Norwegian and who knows what else, girl has a temper too,what can I say..
Anyways,ex boyfriend and father spot her walking down the sidewalk one weekend night and follow her,asking her to get in and go for a cruise.. She says no,but they apparently don’t want to take no for an answer and pull ahead and stop, ex BF Gets out of the car and grabs her elbow and pulls her towards the car,she pulls away and he grabs her again, by this time she is almost in the door. I had taught my kids to avoid punching someone and use their elbows if the person was close enough, which ex BF certainly was unfortunately for his dumb ass, because Daughter proceeds to elbow him repeatedly in the face with backswing strikes on her way away from the car, dislocating ex BF‘S jaw and shattering his eye socket and breaking his nose, and naturally stopped any hostilities on his part, but ex BF’s dad was pushed by this time and ran around the car and accosted Daughter, catching a 50 yard field goal kick in his balls for his troubles..I taught my kids well.
Well, as an American woman, I would recommend that China’s leaders maintain a strong and unyielding stance against the outright bully tactics of my country’s government. To be fair, the US isn’t the only country upping their anti-China sentiments but it is the country I am from so that is what I primarily speak of.
I would say to China, you have more than paid your dues and earned your right as a superpower in world affairs. Hold your heads proudly because you have every right to. There is no need to hide your strength anymore. It is time to let it be on display.
You are one of, if not the oldest country with 5000 years of continuous history. You don’t need to bow to anyone. You don’t need to apologize for being great. You don’t need to sell your technology to the US. You don’t need to accept blame for a virus that was not your fault. You don’t have to back off of your initiatives because other countries don’t approve. You don’t have to take acts of aggression from our spy planes flying in your airspace. You don’t have to tolerate the blatant disrespect to your consulate that was closed in our country. Your people don’t have to accept racism when they come to the US to attend college, work in research, or just visit as tourists.
Please don’t let anyone else push you around anymore. Never again. Let that be your motto from here on out.
Germany Freaks Out – China, PLEASE Buy Our Cars!
“As a European, I am so ashamed of our political class and what they have turned the Eurozone into. If the european project is just a facade for American hegemony, then let it die and this is extremely hard for me to say, because I see the eurozone and union as a great idea but ONLY if we have autonomy both strategically, economic and militarily. These two years have shown we have none of it and this is why I write this. It is mindbuggling/unbelievable stupid what is happening right now.”
Let me tell a story about a Clerk who worked with me who made me believe that The Godfather (Book) theory that The Simplest and most humble man can avenge himself against the most powerful of men with patience
We worked in a Branch where i was temporarily in charge of recovery. The branch was a Scale IV Branch but for some reason a Scale V AGM had been deputed to the branch for a temporary basis due to some shortage or something.
This Asst General Manager who had a chip on his block. You had a good natured thirty something old clerk who worked in the department and who was a pretty good guy. He owned a family business as well and would very often give us discounts. I went on many recovery missions with him and he was always a cheerful and happy go lucky type.
Our Old Branch Manager was a good man but once he retired – until his replacement came- this AGM was posted and he was a PRIG. He was angry at working in a Scale IV post and showed it on people.
Now our Clerk always went from 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM to pick up his daughter, take her to the family business premise, drop her there, have tea and return. The lunch ended at 2:30 so he would always be around 45 minutes late which he would make up by working from 5:30 to 6:15 in the evening. He would help a lot of us.
This arrangement was unofficially agreed upon by the Old Branch Manager. The New Prig did not agree . He believed it was against Bank rules and decided to take the clerk on. Now the clerk requested the AGM to give him the time off but the AGM refused. He decided to run the department efficiently (Instead he made it highly inefficient). He refused to repair a water filter (Back then Aquaguards were rare) and calculated the cost of Pens and White Paper.
One day – the wife of the clerk came. The clerk was away for recovery and the peon took her straight to the AGM. She told the AGM that she had to go to her mother and requested that her husband pick up the child as usual. Back then there were no cellphones or SMS and the lady had come to the office for the first time. The AGM was preoccupied with something and forgot (I believe this. Others say he deliberately did what he did but i believe he was preoccupied)
Bottom line – the message was not conveyed. It was 2:50 PM or so when the Peon told the clerk that his wife had visited. The Clerk was puzzled and walked into the AGMs office but the AGM was not there. The Clerk shrugged and continued on with his work believing that his daughter had picked up the child. It was 4 PM when the brother of the Clerk called the Office and asked where the child was? The Clerk was stunned and believed the child would be with his wife but Myself and few others decided to ask the AGM (Bank Hierarchy especially PSU hierarchy is a big thing. Approaching an AGM when you are a Scale II officer is a scary prospect) but the Clerk was out of the doors.
The Good thing was that the Child was a clever girl and simply sat outside with the Watchman of the School and was relieved when the father picked her up. The Father brought her to the branch and he was hugely relieved.
What happened next was straight out of the Malayalam Movie Drivers License
The AGM who saw a child and commotion – shouted at the top of his voice. He abused the Clerk in the loudest words calling him inefficient and moron. The Clerk also raised his voice and talked about his wifes message and the AGM said “I am not your messenger or Postman”. By the time the others separated them – the Clerk had literally been abused in front of his girl who was watching the whole thing (She was in Class IV i think)
The Clerk silently took his daughter home burning with humiliation. The local association leader told him to stage a Dharna but the clerk refused. He told me “God will take care” and i thought it was the usual sentimental nonsense. He remained on his desk, never asked for any leave from the HC, did his work and we all presumed the issue was finished.
Then An Opportunity came
Back then there was no Core Banking. A Customer came with a Fixed Deposit Receipt for Rs. 6 Lakh and wanted Cash. The Officer in question looked at the register and saw that the FD number was not mentioned (No Computers also. Back then we had Ledgers where FD numbers would be mentioned and recorded). The Customer was known to the AGM though and the AGM told the Officer to go ahead and encash the FD.
However it was after Lunch and the normal officer was gone for the day. I am a law and recovery officer and have no role to play so there were no officers. The AGM promptly asked the Clerk to encash the FD and pay the cash (Highly irregular) and the Clerk said “Sir the FD number is not on the ledger”. The AGM arrogantly told him that the customer could not be made to wait and so the Clerk paid him.
Once the Customer was paid and left, the Officer returned the next day or so and searched in every register but could not find a trace of the FD record. He told the AGM and the AGM called the customer but the customer was gone (It was a honest explanation. The Customer did not cheat etc. He just was away somewhere else). The AGM was now sweating beads. The Clerk shrugged. “I am just a clerk. I follow instructions. You instructed me to encash the FD” – he said and pointed at a few of us as witnesses.
The Officer was told by the AGM to give a few days but the same evening the clerk told him “Sir…if you report this today then you are clear but if you take a few days then they may think you are also involved”. The Officer decided to not take chances and reported it.
What happened next was unbelievable. The Big Boss arrived personally and blasted the AGM. Then some people came to go through the ledgers and found Rs. 6 Lakh shortage (A Huge sum back then) and told the AGM he had to make the amount good or they would report to the cops. The AGM was shivering but nothing could be done. The cops arrived and took him to the station. Now the Clerk was a local and the cops were locals. The AGM was an outsider – so they sweated him, threatened him, took him to his house in a jeep in front of his wife and children, talked to his neighbors etc. I was asked to be there at the station as a lawyer and the cops took iron rods and torture devices in front of me. When i said “What the hell is this ??” – the SI laughed and said “Sir! We are not mad. This is just for getting him to talk”
The poor man stayed the entire day at the Station. The next day the Customer returned. He had presented an FD receipt for another branch of our bank so the number was not in our ledger. He gave the FD receipt of our branch and the ledger confirmed the number and everything was okay.
But the AGM was finished. He was humiliated in every way possible. He took leave for 4–5 days and asked for a Transfer
It was then that the clerk told me “Sir. On that day itself i saw that this FD receipt was from a different branch. Had he been a better man – i would have told him then and there. I would have told the customer itself. None of this would have happened”
I told him he had been too cruel but he said “There is nothing worse than being yelled at in front of your child for no fault of your own”.
The AGM who was destined to become CMD – resigned from the bank unable to bear the humiliation of the incident (Though it lasted exactly for 14 – 15 hours after which it was all over). He joined Madura Courts and his career was never the same. He later began to sell Reuters Screens on a commission basis.
The Moral of the Story is – Humiliation by your boss unjustly will always come back to bite the boss. This Clerk who was such a good man that when i was transfered – he travelled in a lorry with my furniture to ensure that the local packers dont take me for a ride. Yet he never forgot his humiliation and destroyed the life of the AGM.
If you are a Boss – Never humiliate your underlings. Call them separately and tick them off but never in front of others. Easiest way to make enemies.
True for all fields.
Pizzeria Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
This is a clone recipe of the best Chicago-style pizza you will ever eat!
Servings: 8
Pan Dough 1 cup warm tap water (110-115 degrees F) 1/4 ounce active dry yeast 3 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup course ground cornmeal 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Pizza Topping 1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced thin 1 pound Italian sausage, removed from the casing and crumbled 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced 5 fresh basil leaves, chopped fine 4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl and dissolve the yeast with a fork.
Add 1 cup of flour, all of the cornmeal, salt, and vegetable oil, and mix well with a spoon.
Continue stirring in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Flour your hands and the work surface and knead the ball of dough until it is no longer sticky.
Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl, sealed with plastic wrap, for 45-60 minutes in a warm place, until it has doubled in size.
Punch it down and knead it briefly.
Press it into an oiled 15-inch deep dish pizza pan until it comes 2 inches up the sides and is even on the bottom of the pan.
Let the dough rise 15-20 minutes before filling.
Heat the oven to 500 degrees F.
While the dough is rising, prepare the filling.
Cook the sausage until it is no longer pink and drain the excess fat.
When the dough has finished its second rising, lay the cheese over the dough shell.
Distribute the sausage and garlic over the cheese.
Top with the tomatoes.
Sprinkle on the seasonings and Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes at 500 degrees F, then lower the temperature to 400 degreesF and finish baking for 25-35 minutes longer.
Lift up a section of the crust from time to time with a spatula to check its color. The crust will be golden brown when done.
Serve immediately.
Cat Sisters Meet After 9 Months Apart – Do They Recognize Each Other?
The Ukraine War was one of the worst miscalculations of the West and the Stupidest
The aim was to
Weaken Russia and destroy it Economically
Weaken Russia Globally and make it a Pariah
Give China a strong message and frighten China into following the Biden Doctrine
What’s happened is:-
A resurgent Russia that has something to fight for at last and has grown stronger every day
A Russo Sino Alliance that is fast becoming a nice power bloc with many nations with resources and heavy sanctions now drifting to them
Loss of Confidence in the West by 80% of the world and belief in a Multipolar world
Waning Western impact of Sanctions
Ensure China knows it’s War and prepare for it instead of catching them off guard
Today, Ukraine has been brutalized badly
It has lost 33.7% of pre SMO population as Refugees or now Russian Citizens in the Donors region and Kherson and Zaprozhye
It has lost its entire production capacity and it’s own weapon reserves have been brutally depleted and it relies on western arms and money which is dwindling every day
The West has spent $ 130 Billion so far on Ukraine and most of this money has been salted away due to severe corruption
Ukraine is sending more and more men to die
Russia meanwhile is happy with it’s grind and move strategy, minimizing casualties and enjoying the growth of their own industries in the MI complex
Scenario 1:-
The West want to FREEZE the conflict
Russia said No
Maybe Russia would be incentivized to do so like say offer to remove sanctions on Russia or maybe persuade China to convince Russia
Bleak chance of this happening
Scenario 2:-
Ukraine is destroyed
Russia decides to move from SMO to war and start hitting and destroying Ukraine like US did to Iraq or Afghanistan
Zelensky would flee and most leaders would flee then and Ukraine would capitulate
Timeline: 2025 March or April
Biden will not be President. He may not even be nominated as the Democratic candidate, so he will vindictively carry this till 19/1/25
Scenario 3:-
Trump is elected
Trump only has one term left and knows once he is elected, he has no more fears and no need to worry about voters again
He may make a deal and force Zelensky to surrender and make a deal with Russia and China
Unlike 2016, he won’t have the fear now because he can’t stand for any more elections
Scenario 4:-
The famous BAKYAN scenario
Poland moves into West Ukraine on invitation from Ukraine and forms a protectorate for West Ukraine
Central & remaining Ukraine is given security guarantees akin to Article V by Poland (Proxy by USA) and formally remains as the NEW UKRAINE
Donbass, Zaprozhye, Kherson are abandoned by Ukraine and Poland but not recognized by the West or UN as part of Russia and only as break away republics
However in reality, those territories will never return to Ukraine again along with Crimea for a long time
Russia will declare a cease fire to avoid clashing with Poland, a Nato power
Zelensky will be mostly arrested due to corruption and replaced by someone else
Timeline :- 30/6/2024 , a clean 4–5 months before the US Elections
The Destruction of Los Angeles | 2012 (John Cusack, Morgan Lily, Liam James)
I have not, but an interesting backfire happened with a close friend’s father, George.
Meet George, he is a PhD Astrophysicist and works in a very specialized field for the United States Department of Defense through a Defense Contractor. He has developed a number of unique solutions over his career that solved some very big problems for some very expensive black projects.
After over 30 years on the job he had moved to the top of his career path, he led a sizable group of physicists and engineers, but was not in management. Following a reorganization, George and his band of merry eggheads found themselves under a manager that had very little experience managing. When budget cuts came down, the green manager started reviewing the personnel files and, unsurprisingly, George was the highest paid person in the department. George was given the option to take an early retirement or be laid off. He was getting close to full retirement age and taking early retirement took a large chunk out of the pension he was counting on. He even offered to give up salary or work part time to address the budget needs. The manager would hear nothing of it.
Once George’s retirement was announced, a number the physicists and engineers approached the manager to warn him that there were solutions that only George fully understood and if there became a need to update or change some of the solutions, they may not be able to do it. George gracefully retired from the company and headed off to teach at the local university. About a year later, he heard from a number of his former team that there had been layoffs and terminations from the team by the same manager. A contract had come in to the company to modify one of George’s unique solutions and the remaining team was unable to make it work. The manager was under the gun to deliver and when it wasn’t working, he was accusing the team of being lazy and incompetent.
Not too long after, the Manager contacted George and asked him if he would come back on a short-term basis, George declined because he was happy teaching at the university. The manager continued to pester George until he finally agreed to come into the office to talk about what it would take to bring him back. George told the manager that he would come with his terms and that the meeting had to include the HR Director and the department Director.
George’s terms:
The company take back his early retirement and bridge his service so he could reach full retirement. (The manager groaned, but grudgingly agreed.)
Any of the team that was fired or forced to resign would be offered the option to come back. (The manager was furious, but George demanded that he had to have his team to be successful, so the manager agreed)
He become the manager of the department. (The manager threw up his hands and said it would never happen, there was only one manager of the department.)
The department director agreed to George’s last term.
We have A guardian Angel his name is Harry Kim.
Kathryn Janeway was a mother figure to almost ALL the crew … the clear exceptions being her first and second officers … but she ESPECIALLY was so to Harry Kim.
Oh my god, no. God, no… no no… I’d rather they stay dead.
Jesus, the mere thought of it gives me anxiety and stress.
My father died very suddenly last year. It was like my aunt talked to him on Friday, and he died of a heart attack on Sunday in his house.
For a few months, I kept thinking if I had any regrets. If I knew he would die, what would I say to him, or what would I want to do with him?
I came up with nothing.
It’s not like I don’t have anything to say. In fact, I have a LOT to say, so much so that I had therapy for years so that I could process and perhaps recover from all that childhood trauma from his abuse and neglect.
Would I say that to him? No. Because he wouldn’t listen. Not only he wouldn’t listen, he would turn it around and make it my fault. He would make me feel that I somehow wronged him, that I should feel guilty and ashamed and beg him for forgiveness and ask him how I can make it better. He’s an emotional manipulator, and he will never change. Not even in death.
He had, in his own domineering kind of way, made some attempt to mend our relationship after his 3rd wife died. But I couldn’t help but think he was doing that not because he genuinely wanted to fix our father-daughter relationship but because he did the mental calculation and realized with his wife dead, I was the only person who would take care of him if he couldn’t care for himself. It’s all about him. Never about me.
After he died, I wondered if he’d come back and haunt me or if he would come visit me in my dreams. Not that I believe in such things, but my aunt said her father (my grandpa) had visited her several times. And I thought, “Oh, you want to come and haunt me? Go ahead. I have something I want to scream at you. So come and haunt me and see how it ends for you, Dad.”
I’ve never even dreamed of him once since he died.
Having him back to life for 24 hours is not going to change anything between us.
The same goes for my mom, who ran off with some artist when I was 18 months old. The same goes for my grandma, who had raised and abused me…
You all better stay the fuck dead because you ain’t gonna like what I have to say to you.
Quit Your Job In 2023, This is my way out
No more 9 to 5 job for me. Do you also struggle with not having time for more valuable things in life than your work, do you spend too much time working for others? Are you feeling frustrated and stressed about not having time to live your life to the fullest, this is my story of how I realized my dream of living a simpler and less stressful life by quitting my job and stopped working for others.
In the ever-evolving landscape of the global smartphone industry, Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, once relied heavily on Qualcomm chips to power its devices. However, recent years have witnessed a significant shift in Huawei’s chipset strategy as it began to develop its own chipsets and reduce its dependence on Qualcomm. This change in course raised questions and curiosity in the tech world. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the reasons behind Huawei’s decision to distance itself from Qualcomm chips, explore the challenges and opportunities that this shift presents, and assess the implications for both Huawei and the larger smartphone ecosystem.
1: The Historical Nexus
1.1. Qualcomm’s Dominance
A brief overview of Qualcomm’s leading position in the semiconductor industry.
Huawei’s early partnership with Qualcomm and the Snapdragon chipset series.
1.2. Huawei’s Ascendancy
Huawei’s rise to global prominence as a smartphone manufacturer.
The integral role of Qualcomm chips in Huawei’s international success.
2: Huawei’s Push for In-House Chip Development
2.1. The Emergence of HiSilicon
The birth of Huawei’s semiconductor subsidiary, HiSilicon.
The strategic importance of in-house chip development.
2.2. The Rise of the Kirin Chipsets
Introduction to Huawei’s Kirin chipset series.
Technological advancements and innovations in Kirin chips.
2.3. The Competitive Edge
How HiSilicon’s chip development aligns with Huawei’s long-term goals.
The advantages of vertical integration and control over chip design.
3: U.S. Sanctions and Supply Chain Stumbles
3.1. The Unfolding U.S. Sanctions Saga
An examination of the U.S. sanctions imposed on Huawei.
How these sanctions impacted Huawei’s access to critical technologies, including Qualcomm chips.
3.2. Vulnerabilities in the Supply Chain
The precariousness of relying on foreign suppliers for critical components.
The central role of chipsets as a strategic resource in the smartphone industry.
4: HarmonyOS and Huawei’s Ambitious Vision
4.1. Huawei’s Vision for HarmonyOS
Introduction to HarmonyOS, Huawei’s proprietary operating system.
The strategic significance of developing an Android alternative.
4.2. A Unified Ecosystem
How HarmonyOS aims to provide a seamless user experience across devices.
The role of chipset compatibility in achieving the HarmonyOS vision.
5: Implications and Challenges
5.1. Disrupting the Smartphone Market
How Huawei’s departure from Qualcomm chips impacts the competitive landscape.
Implications for consumers, industry players, and market dynamics.
5.2. Pursuing Technological Self-Reliance
The broader implications of Huawei’s commitment to technological self-reliance.
Lessons for other tech giants facing similar geopolitical challenges.
5.3. The Road Ahead
The technological and market challenges Huawei faces in developing its own chipsets.
The importance of innovation, research, and development in overcoming these hurdles.
6: Consumer Perceptions and the Future Outlook
6.1. Consumer Reactions and Preferences
How Huawei’s decision to utilize its chipsets is perceived by consumers.
Factors influencing consumer preferences in the realm of smartphones.
6.2. Shaping the Future of Huawei Smartphones
Prospects for Huawei’s smartphone business in the absence of Qualcomm chips.
The role of design, innovation, software, and competitive pricing in defining Huawei’s future offerings.
Conclusion
The divergence of Huawei from Qualcomm chips signifies a monumental shift in strategy with far-reaching implications. While the impact of U.S. sanctions and supply chain disruptions are undeniable catalysts for this transition, Huawei’s investments in in-house chipset development and the vision of HarmonyOS underscore its unwavering commitment to technological self-sufficiency and innovation. As we conclude this article, we gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex factors influencing Huawei’s strategic decision and what the future holds for one of the world’s foremost smartphone manufacturers.
INDIAN NEWS is Cheap Western Propaganda
The Indian news channels like WION and ANI (Asean News International) have become cheap propaganda outlets for the Western Colonial Masters that have always ruled over the Indian population. This video shows beyond any doubt that India News is part of the Anti China propaganda network set up by American Politicians and Main Stream Media. It is no secret as they admit to it in this video that they have joined this movement of hate against China.
A young German soldier during WWII was ordered to check the house for Jews. After minutes of searching, he declares the house clear.
His commanding officer is unconvinced. “Schauen Sie in den Dachboden,” he orders. Check the attic.
“Die Luke ist offen! Die würden sich nicht dort verstecken!” The young soldier says. The attic door is wide open! Surely they wouldn’t hide there!
His commander shakes his head. “Schauen Sie trotzdem nach.” Go check anyway.
The soldier climbs the ladder. As he peers into the darkness, he sees at least a dozen Jews hiding in the attic. All women and children.
Their terrified faces look back at him. Nobody dares to move. The young soldier turns and shouts to his commander.
“Alles klar!” All clear.
The soldier closes the trapdoor, leaving the Jews in the dark. He will never see them again.
Decades later, one of the young children in the attic will recall the anonymous soldier’s kindness. Every single person in the attic survives the war. Many attribute their lives to the young man.
The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was a remarkable aircraft that could fly at speeds over Mach 3.2 and at altitudes up to 85,000 feet. It was the fastest manned aircraft ever flown and still holds many speed, altitude, and distance records for a manned aircraft.
Flying in such an extreme environment required special training and equipment for the pilots. The pilots of the SR-71 wore full-pressure suits that resembled those worn by astronauts. The suits protected them from low pressure, low temperature, and lack of oxygen at high altitudes. They also provided protection in case of an emergency ejection.
The pilots also had to cope with the high g-forces and acceleration that resulted from flying at such high speeds. The SR-71 could accelerate from Mach 1 to Mach 3 in less than 15 minutes, which put a lot of stress on the human body. The pilots had to undergo rigorous physical training and medical examinations to ensure they were fit for the mission. They also had to use special techniques to breathe and move their limbs during high-g maneuvers.
The pilots also experienced a unique sensation of speed when flying the SR-71. They could see the curvature of the Earth and the stars in broad daylight. They could also see the shock waves forming around the aircraft as it broke the sound barrier. The SR-71 flew so fast that it could outrun any missile or enemy aircraft that tried to intercept it. The pilots had to rely on their instruments and their instincts to navigate and control the aircraft.
Hang on, this is VERY strange!
This is the equivalent of China recognizing Puerto Rico as a sovereign nation….
My ex husband and I got married at Gretna Green with just 2 friends for witnesses. On the day after the wedding on the car journey home, we were passing a field of higland cows (ginger and hairy like me apparently) and said in an insulting tone, “oh look Sarah, there’s your relations”. I immediately fired back with “yes, but only through marriage”…. friends were in stitches, he never even cracked a smile. He had no sense of humour and had been trying to belittle me in front of people as he did the entire 9 years I was with him…
Another time when I was about 25 or so, at a neighbours bbq, I approached a small group of people listening to one guy in his late 50′s or so telling sexist joke after sexist joke. At the end of each joke all the men laughed loudly and the women kind of awkwardly. I had always found this guy a bit of a chauvinist and quite ‘sleazy’ so stepped in with my own joke… Mrs Smith went to hospital to give birth. After the baby was born the doctor said to her “I’m really sorry Mrs Smith but your baby is a hermaphrodite”. “A what?” asked Mrs Smith. “A hermaphrodite, it has features of both sexes” said the doctor. Mrs Smith gasps and says “Oh my god….it has a penis AND a brain!”. The women in the group all belly laughed but the sleaze not so much
A well-told lie is worth a thousand facts. The debt-trap narrative is a lie, a powerful one.
There are three main fallacies in the West’s hype about China’s “debt trap theory”: First, in terms of debt causes, countries in debt distress today often fall into debt traps before the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Second, in terms of debt ownership, most of these countries’ debt is owed to Western or pro-Western institutions, not China. Studies show that 80 per cent of Sri Lanka’s external debt, 70 per cent of Pakistan’s and 77 per cent of Zambia’s external debt is owned by Western private and public institutions.
Third, in terms of the nature of debt, Western loans tend to be short-term with high interest rates, leading to unsustainable debt cycles, while Chinese lending to developing countries is long-term, low-interest credit that helps improve infrastructure.
The characteristics of China’s BRI financing is that it breaks through the traditional model, with no political conditions attached, and the forms of financing are pragmatic and diverse; The Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank both emphasize debt sustainability, with commercial needs flexibly integrated with national strategies.
The irresponsible monetary policy of the United States is the real reason for the concentrated outbreak of debt problems in developing countries. The United States first implemented an ultra-loose monetary policy, allowing low-interest dollars to pour into Africa and emerging market countries, and then aggressively raised interest rates to attract dollars back to the United States, resulting in insufficient liquidity in developing countries.
Since China is not the largest creditor of developing countries, why does the West hype the “China debt trap theory”? The answer is that China’s “Belt and Road” initiative helps developing countries improve their economic capability. Once these countries achieve independent economic development, they do not have to rely on borrowing money from Western developed countries to maintain production and life, which is equivalent to cutting off a financial route for Western countries.
How I See the USA After 14 Years of Living Abroad & Expat Life
After 14 years of living abroad and enjoying expat life, I wanted to talk a bit about how I see the US now… This week, we’ll be taking a look at the USA through an Expat lens… Is the U.S. truly the “leader of the free world”, or is that just a perception we’ve grown accustomed to? One of many topics that are worth thinking about is the education system. Does it really prepare us for life, or is it more about scoring high on tests?
What about healthcare access? Is it as straightforward as it seems, or are there nuances we’re missing when comparing American Healthcare with European Healthcare? Another important factor to consider is safety and quality of life, is the U.S. the gold standard, or are there elements of community and culture that we’re overlooking in comparison with overseas?
We’ll also touch on the topic of zoning. Is it just a mundane urban planning concept, or does it have deeper implications for our lifestyle and mobility? Finally, we’ll take a look at the geographical isolation of North America. Is it just a geographical fact, or could it be shaping our understanding of the world in ways we don’t realize? There’s a lot to unpack, and these are the conversations that need to be had.
In this expat podcast episode of Not Your Average Globetrotter, hosted by me, Rafael Di Furia, I’ll share how I view the US and American culture and lifestyle in comparison with the culture and lifestyle in Europe and elsewhere having been abroad for more than 14 years, questioning everything from its global leadership role and education system to healthcare access, safety standards, connections in local communities, cultural rituals, and the implications of its geographical isolation.
My husband and I entered an elevator in a hotel in Vegas, headed to the lobby and extraordinarily tall black man was already in there. I smiled and tried not to stare because he was simply that enormous.
Husband, a sports fanatic, asked the giant of he’d ever played basketball and the giant responded that yeah, he’d played some ball in his day and DH told the giant that if he hadn’t, he would have missed an opportunity. The giant chuckled and sort of shook his head.
When we arrived in the lobby, we all kind of nodded and smiled and went out separate ways. I asked DH what his little exchange was all about.
The giant was Shaquille O’Neill, the Shaq Attack. My husband told Shaq that he would have missed an opportunity if he hadn’t played basketball.
I told a story about a kid threatening to kill himself. Let me explain.
I didn’t think I was going to get the job. Not in a “I don’t believe in myself” kind of way, I mean in a “I have direct evidence” kind of way. A meeting I’d had fell through, so I showed up for my interview super early. This meant I was sitting there in the lobby when the head of the special education department opened the door, profusely shook another woman’s hand, and said:
“You are exactly what we’re looking for. We’ll send out an offer to you as soon as we’re done with today’s interviews.” Then she looked up and saw me waiting. “Oh, you’re here early, come on it.”
So I walked in knowing I was wasting my time, but I was already there and decided to have fun with it. I told jokes. I made fun of the number of people they had in the room to interview me (7!). I was as casual as possible and answered every question off the cuff instead of trying to think of an answer they wanted to hear. Then they asked me one of those awful, super generic questions you always get when you work with kids, something along the lines of “What was your moment when you realized you knew you were supposed to be a teacher?”
I have no patience for those questions, and find them to be really performative and all about showing how generically kind and sensitive you are. For a job I thought I was going to get I might have played along and told an exaggerated story about teaching a kid to read or something. I didn’t do that.
Instead I told them about one of my students in the Emotional Disorder class I was teaching at a middle school. The little guy had a severe anxiety disorder, and we were trying to support him while also ignoring attention seeking behaviors. So when he started yelling I escorted him to the quiet break area. When he started shouting he needed to go to the hospital I assured him I would check in on him to make sure he was ok. And when he started screaming that he was going to kill himself I pointed out there was nothing in the area he could use to do it, and if he decided to bang his head against the wall it would probably just really hurt. Two minutes later he poked his head out and calmly asked if he could do his math work, and I realized that some of the interventions I was using were actually working. It was a pretty cool feeling. Everyone in the room was silent, and more than a few looked really freaked out. No worries, I already knew they gave the job to someone else, and went on my way.
They offered me the job that evening. Apparently they had an elementary school moderate/severe class with a lot of difficult behaviors, and my story had convinced them immediately that I could handle it. Oh, and that other woman I saw getting offered a job? She was a speech therapist, and not a teacher at all. Looks like we both crushed our interviews.
We had 4,000 employees and had been the world leader in our field for about 10 years at this time.
We were not the price setter, though. But we did very well and had a reasonable operating margin, enough to satisfy our corporate owners and shareholders.
Then we got a new president, an American B-school graduate. He came from Stanford, as I recall.
After some time he declared to us in the sales department (about 90 people), operating worldwide.
Raise all prices 15 percent
Go back on all orders in house and negotiate a 15 percent higher price.
I tried.
We all tried.
We suffered, badly.
No new orders for nine (9) months.
The customers with orders in place said a flat “are you out of your fr…..g mind?”
Our build cycle, order to delivery, was about 18 months.
Nine months later the factories started to look empty and were laying off staff, weekly — NO NEW ORDERS.
“Biggest boss” at our owning company got wind of this and came to town.
Our president was fired the same day and we all in sales got new instructions.
“Forget all orders about price increases — go sell as competitively as you can.”
It took about two years for the company to regain its world-leading position.
By that time, I and just about half of our previous sales organization were gone, replaced by eager young souls.
The “American Dream” Is A Big Lie
I talk about how the “American Dream” is a big lie. Too many people around the world are victims to debt, consumerism, and care too much about what other people think. I give my all knowing wisdom via Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
When I lived in Shenzhen (ripe out of the ‘States) we had a little dog. We called him ShaoPi, or “PP” for short. He was a good little Bishion breed. He was a mini version, and so didn’t live as long as a normal breed would of.
Anyways, we also had his son; “Super”. Which was a mixed breed. Bishion and Bomei. And he was absolutely one heck of a handsome dog.
One thing, though. He hated my guts.
…
I mean it. He HATED me; with a searing level of disgust and malice. Including biting me, and forcing me to get rabies vaccinations. Ugh!
I was an “outsider” and he “owned” my wife and her ex-boyfriend. And to exert his displeasure on me, he would make messes all over the place, bark non-stop and generally did everything he could to try to chase me away.
Well, that was causing our PP to get super stressed out. And he was a good dog, always trying to straighten out this wayward son. But it was to no avail. Eventually, both dogs were super stressed out, and start a non-stop peeing contest in the house. I mean, they were urinating over everything.
Everything.
And so we would take PP out with us and we did out chores and made our rounds, and it helped some. But, you know, he was so stressed out that he still continued to pee everywhere and over everything.
We knew that there was a problem. But we didn’t know what to do.
…
Then one day, while riding on an elevator there was a really cute 20-something girl all “decked out” wearing nice clothes and makeup going out (probably) on a date. We were also going out. PP was at our feet, and we were making arrangements for an evening dinner.
She was checking out her phone while adjusting her makeup, and sure as shit…
…PP urinated all over her high heels, and her nylons and her dress.
…
She screamed out so loudly that PP jumped back as if electrified….
…
That week we found a home for “Super”, and that was another trial, I’ll tell you what. But the moral of this little story is when people, or loved ones are stressed out…
…do something about it, before things get out of hand!
Todays…
Shi Jiangiao
This is Shi Jiangiao, a Chinese assassin who lived during the Warlord Era (1916-1928) in China.
main qimg eb07899e1f58eb5278ddfabcdd38fccc
Shi came from a family of humble beginnings as her grandfather was a simple farmer and tofu seller. However, that all changed when her father and uncle became decorated soldiers, rising through the ranks in the Chinese military. This helped raise the social status of her family.
In 1925, when Shi was only 19 years old, her father was leading a brigade of soldiers to capture Guzhen, Shandong, when he became surrounded by a warlord by the name of Sun Chuanfang. Sun decapitated her father and had his head mounted on a pike and put on display at a local train station.
Two years later, Sun was disposed of by the Kuomintang (aka Chinese Nationalist Party) who wanted to reunify China, which had become fragmented after the 1911 Revolution, which overthrew China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing. Sun peacefully retired from his life as a warlord and founded a Buddhist society.
Meanwhile, Shi spent her 20s tracking down Sun who had disappeared without a trace. In 1935, ten years after her father’s death, Shi managed to track Sun down in Tianjin, a major port city close to Beijing. (If you recall, Tianjin was the city that had that major explosion in 2015.)
Shi entered the Buddhist temple and found Sun kneeling in front of the altar. She approached him from behind and shot him several times with a pistol. She did not attempt to flee the scene of the crime but began distributing pamphlets explaining her actions.
Her case drew significant coverage and reached the Nanjing Supreme Court. In the eyes of the law, she was guilty. However, Confucian morality stipulates that one must avenge their parents. Ultimately, the Nationalist government decided to pardon her on the grounds that the assassination was justified because it was an act of filial piety. It also helped her case that the man she had assassinated was guilty of trafficking opium, suppressing strikes by factory workers in Shanghai, and collaborating with the Japanese.
Saying “Give me this/that” instead of asking for it.
I was once in a bar in Turkey, watching football (as in kicking a ball with the foot) with some other foreigners, German & Danish IIRC, drinking beer, & nibbling cacik & bread.
A group of American men walked in (I think from the nearby air base). They knew the barman’s name. They asked if the back room was free, & on being told yes, headed for it & commanded the barman to bring them beers – all done by shouting across the bar in English. He smiled to their faces & scowled at their backs. Then he noticed two of us looking at him & looked embarrassed.
A little while later we needed more beer, & it was my turn, so I went to the bar & asked (in Turkish – as we’d all done) for more beer e.g. “beş bira, lütfen”. He still seemed embarrassed, & said something like (IIRC) “You’re OK. You say lütfen” (Turkish for please). In his terms, the Americans were extremely rude. They probably had no idea. We, on the other hand, were at least trying to be polite. We knew how to ask for a beer (or a few), & how to say please & thank you, & understood that was customary.
I expect the Americans would have been very surprised to know that they were constantly being rude to locals.
They’re FINALLY Been Arrested in MAUI,The Rock & Oprah
Thank you for speaking on our Maui brothers and sisters. Thank you James Okeefe also. This is unacceptable as well as unbelievable!!
https://youtu.be/cXv1Cb93OGA
Confession of the Day
I started self directed investing in 2012 with $20k. My first big success was betting on American Airlines after they filed bankruptcy before the merger with US Airlines. It was a 5x return in less than two years. I took that money and bought a house to Airbnb and ended up with about $250k.
I reinvested into the market and made my way all the way up to about $600k during the Covid spurt. Then I began to fuck with options. The first few wins were big for me, $5k, $10k, $20k, etc. then I really started betting big and hit returns over $100k in a single day. I couldn’t stop. The dopamine rush was too good.
The ups were euphoric and the downs sent my mind and body into a total whirlwind of intense emotion. It was the sickest drug. I couldn’t get enough. Nothing else matter other than becoming as rich as possible. And then I finally crossed the $1m threshold…. For only one day.
The next day I the market looked like shit but I was so hard up for my next fix I played anyway. Down $100k – eh it’ll come back, I can’t lose. Down $200k – if Itake the hit now that means I’m a loser, no way. Down $250k – ok I was wrong, time to switch sides and redeem myself. Down $330k – fuck fuck fuck!!! Don’t worry, I’II get it back next week…. And I did. $980k. Nice, almost back to $1m.
And then down. And down. And down.
All of it. Gone. 9 years of building $20k into $1m. Because the high was never high enough and the low was never enough to stop me. I went through deep depression, lots of suicidal thoughts, and darkness I didn’t think I’d come out of. A year of therapy, books, podcasts, support, and I’m doing better. Relapsed once and lost another $90k in a single day, just because I couldn’t lose.
We’re a dopamine nation now. This forum says it all. Gambling at your fingertips and the ever looming reminder that some people actually win and get super rich. At least for a little while. But the highs are never high enough and it never ends. Check yourselves before it’s too late. Day trading can be a real gambling addiction and you really can lose it all no matter how good you are.
As ridiculous as it sounds, roving bands of young fellas off the estates, typically aged between 10 and 16.
I know some Americans will probably read this and think I’m a right pussy for being scared of a load of kids, but you don’t know man! You weren’t there!
See, the thing is with these kids, be they scallies, chavs, neds, roadmen, townies or whatever you call them in your region, is that typically they appear in large groups, they have little to lose and so don’t care about doing the stupidest shit possible, and they are not afraid to hound you and make your life a misery if you challenge them.
Sure, one on one, I wouldn’t be particularly scared about a 14 year old scal (although they increasingly carry knives and machetes and shit), but the point is that you rarely do encounter them one on one.
And let’s say, there’s a load of them camped outside your nan’s house chucking stones at her windows and you think, “Fuck that, I’ll go chase them off,” what is likely to happen is that they’ll start posturing around you and throwing stones at your head or they might fuck off, but then they’ll find out where you live (if you live nearby) and they’ll start wrecking your house and you might even find your house firebombed. It might sound extreme, but it does happen.
The police are ineffective as they have no respect for the police and, anyway, they’re minors so cannot properly be held accountable unless they do something really bad. And anyway, being tough on crime only goes so far. A more holistic long-term approach to the issue is required, but sadly no government has the vision or appetite to really commit to such policies.
So, essentially, you are powerless to do anything meaningful against them because you will only exacerbate the situation. These kids have the capability to make your life hell. They can make going to the local shops a genuinely nerve-wracking experience, particularly for the elderly and those with disabilities. They can really ruin the atmosphere of otherwise solid working class communities.
And that’s the thing too, it is the working class communities where they live and hang out that suffer the real brunt of their aimless destructive behaviour. You can be somewhat insulated against them if you live away from them or even just on a road they don’t frequent, but if you are forced by circumstance to live where they congregate, then your life can be pretty miserable if you get on their bad side.
And yeah, I’m scared of them. I’m less scared of some actual high up gang leader than I am these kids because at least with the real gang members they’re not interested in you unless you give them a reason to be, whereas, like I said, these kids have nothing to lose and might target you simply because they can and they think it’s funny.
It’s the one thing I really don’t miss about living in more working class areas, which can otherwise be much more friendly and interesting places to live
US efforts to strangle China & reassert hegemony – Jeffrey Sachs, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen
“Emerging nations fight wars at their borders, declining nations fight wars far away.” ~Chris Hedges
My mother-in-law was visiting us in Canada from her home in South Africa. There she had two house servants and a garden “boy” who did all the work. She sat smoking her cigarettes and “supervised”. Staying in my home where I had two children under age 6, a lot of my mornings were spent in child care, household chores, meal planning and all of the hundred other jobs of the Canadian housewife. One morning my mother-in-law sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee I had made and smoking her cigarette (which I had objected to from day one) and told me that I needed to change my routine to do my household chores after everyone had gone to bed so that her day was not “spoiled” by me having to do chores on “her” time.
The US has to keep paying money to keep it’s Defence Industries rich and profitable so that their shares are profitable and so that the Corrupt Senators, Congressmen and Lobbyists get rich
It’s a vicious cycle
Guess how many Senators have more than 30% of their investments in Defense Stocks?
61 – SIXTY ONE
35 Republicans and 26 Democrats
Guess how many Senators have more than 30% of their investments in Tech stocks?
67 – SIXTY SEVEN
38 Democrats and 28 Republicans and 1 Independent leaning to Democrat
Congressmen?
209 – 108 Democrats and 101 Republicans
Of these 51 have more than $ 5 Million worth of stocks
Lloyd Austin has earned $ 4.3 Million after leaving the Pentagon just by sitting on the boards of various Defense Contractors
He doesn’t have 50 grams of brains in that massive skull of his
So the Military Industry in US is like a shark that has to keep swimming
They always need an enemy to keep selling weapons to
They HATE PEACE because any peace means less potential to sell weapons
First it was the Cold War – Weapons sale
Next it was fighting Communism – Weapons Sale
Next it was fighting Saddam & Milosevic – Weapons Sale
Next it was fighting Terror – Weapons Sale
Now it’s fighting Russia and China – Weapons Sales
Tomorrow they may decide India is the enemy and wage a war on India and sell weapons or decide it’s Japan Or even Aliens
Their Military Goals have led to the worst disasters on earth
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Afghanistan
Iraq
Libya
Syria
Ukraine
Taiwan (Next)
They have single handedly led to their deaths more men than Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS and Saddam Hussein and Gadaffi COMBINED
They have destroyed countries with their bombs and Agent Orange
Today their Target is China and Russia
They don’t have the balls for a direct fight because a MAD means the evil politicians will also die and they don’t want that
So these proxy wars will be their way of milking and flattening the military defense industries
Basically they are part of a corrupt hellhole with many idiots even today proudly saying how the US Dollar is backed by the US Army
They will be destroyed one day as history is proof of
One day they will collapse when their own people begin to rebel and fight this evil system
Until then these a**holes will keep harrassing everyone and lying to the whole world
I refer only to around 300,000 Evil Americans in US and another 2 Million more brainwashed evil corrupt minions
The other 336.7 Million Americans are very decent and nice people
Eliminate these 2.3 Million a**holes and the US will be back to the Pre Eisenhower era. A Nice Country with genuine morals
OH. MY. GOSH.🤯😟 MUST SEE: Can Americans answer ANYTHING correctly!?
I fully support the movement to require a civics test before voting or even just knowing the difference between a STATE and a COUNTRY would be a start.
Chinese electric cars surprised the world in the 2023 car exhibition.
France started the dog fight. It called for EU investigation if China has subsidized its electric car industry. EU chief took France’s case.
EU Commerce Chamber in China right away told EU that there is no electric car subsidy by Chinese government. What makes China successful in electric car is because China has lots of scientists who work hard to improve their car tech so as to compete in the world, said the Chamber.
German business-people also opposed the EU investigation. Saying it will force China’s to react & counter EU’s unreasonable action. It will harm German economy.
It is a dog fight between France & Germany.
France’s car sales in China accounts for less than 1%. Germany, more than 17%. No need to explain further, right?
France can afford to lose its <1% to weaken Germany’s >17%.
If Germany wants to, Germany can counter target France’s luxury products eg cosmetics & fashion that sell well in China.
Despite objection from German business people, German politicians agreed to EU investigation. … really, politicians do not care about the welfare of the country & its people. They only care about votes ie personal interest.
Has German government subsidized electric car industry? Many times. From internet.
What is more irony is that: when USA subsidized its electric cars under the disguise of Inflation Reduction Act, EU protested & warned USA that EU will also subsidize its electric car industry. Today Germany is subsiding its electric cars industry based on … false accusation as testified by EU Commerce Chamber.
Chinese do not like direct confrontation. Confrontation is seen as a sign of stupidity. Two thousand years ago, the founder of the Han dynasty summed it up: 吾寧鬥智不鬥力: I prefer to fight with my wits, not by power. From a very weak start, he thrashed 項羽 Hsiang/Xiang Yü, his main rival, whose army was much more powerful.
Fighting is for children and inferior people. Look at it this way: a four year old can strike out in anger, but is incapable of coming up with a better plan.
Chinese always prefer to use strategy rather than brute force. 難忍能忍大丈夫: a powerful cultural standard is that a real hero is someone who can say, “My head is bloody but unbowed.”
This is strength, not weakness, and does not mean that Chinese will not fight back. Look what happened to the mighty Japanese warlords when they attacked China. The Chinese in general avoided direct confrontation, drew the Japanese in, and overcame them. China has stood off some of the most powerful armies in the world. Even though the Mongols eventually conquered China, it took them decades and weakened them so much they were unable to conquer Viet Nam (of course there are other factors, such as VN fighting prowess, but this is an essential factor.) In China, the Mongols were close to their home but suffered great losses at Chinese hands. Compare that to the European powers, where the “flower of chivalry” was butchered in short order on their home territory by Mongols far, far from their home base.
I do not know how much the person asking the question knows about China, but I would guess that most people have heard of China’s long tradition of martial arts. Chinese will fight, but consider it uncivilized, immature, beneath an adult’s dignity.
We left America for Police putting guns to our heads. Part 1-2
This channel is to bring the awareness to the world of the beautiful continent of Africa. My intentions are to show the development, people, property and investment opportunities. All the adventures and opportunities that is for people to take advantage of. Also showing how America is not necessarily the perfect place for people to live.
ASMR: What it is, what it stands for and how it works
What is ASMR? How does ASMR work?
What does ASMR stand for?
Are you “ASMR sensitive”? Do you get ASMR tingles?
Is this the first time you’ve heard of ASMR which stands for “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response”?
It might not mean what you think it means.
Millions of people experience ASMR “tingles” when exposed to certain stimuli.
Triggers like hair brushing, whispering, finger tapping, clicking, chewing and caring role-playing send shivers down some people’s spine.
These same ASMR triggers are actually “misophonic” triggers for others; meaning these sounds cause negative responses.
For example: nails on a chalkboard will drive some people nuts but others aren’t affected.
The Why Files answers these questions and raises a few more. The science behind behind ASMR is still new but research is underway.
Though ASMR is a relatively new phenomenon, the online ASMR community is vibrant and growing rapidly.
I once had a therapist for four years. He spent every session of that 4 years grooming me. Yes grooming me as if I were a child and he were the predator – except I was an adult and never knew what was happening until it was too late. If I questioned anything about the ethics of something he did or said – he always twisted up an answer that made enough sense in my mind that I would disregard. It was a disgusting abuse of power. He was extremely subtle about his approach and he nearly destroyed me as a human before it was all finished. Looking back years later I can see how correlated he was in what he did and I am sure he had many victims besides myself. At one point he even talked of “getting rid of my husband”. (I never told me husband this part of everything)
In the end he chose the wrong victim. I had to rise above the fear and confusion. I did. I had to be careful to make sure to keep all of my complaints and even my lawyer was a secret till the moment that he was piled with so much legal shit and my states’ board and Human Resources was all brought out at once. I did this intentionally so there was no way he could get out of the situation or harm me without someone knowing who did it to me. And so what he was doing was made known without ANY space for “reasonable doubt”.
I’ve taken a lot of time to heal and am still now in the process of forgiving him, forgiving myself, and moving forward to be as healthy as I can be. Sometimes I wish he’s a trash guy now… except the get paid too much. But he’s the most evil person I have ever met.
It’s unfortunate that what he did to me isn’t a criminal offense in my state as it is in many states. I plan to make this change through whatever legal route I need to take and make a difference so nobody else ever has to go through what I did. That man should be in prison. He’s a rapist and a cunning one at that. A sick sick human.
When the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011 , Western-backed rebels launched a full-scale attack on the Syrian government, and an extremely bloody color revolution began.
We Chinese often say that we experienced 14 years of hard resistance against Japan during World War II. Warning the war in Syria is not over yet! The United States also steals oil, food, and cultural relics in Syria…
No one expected that at the opening of the Asian Games in Hangzhou , China would make a move that would completely change the world.
On September 21, the Syrian president and his wife arrived in Hangzhou, China, and then arrived in the capital Beijing on September 24, visiting two places in a row.
Below is a picture of the Syrian president and his wife arriving in Hangzhou and Beijing. My heart moved at this moment.
Perhaps the whole world did not expect that Syria, which has long been completely blocked in the West, has received the most respectful reception in China. We do not belittle Syria just because it is a small country in war.
image 105
Put yourself in my shoes, if you were a Syrian , how would you feel when you saw this scene? What is the characteristic of a great country? This is the It! China has deservedly become a true morale beacon of human civilization. The picture below is really shocking.
image 108
During their visit to Hangzhou, the Syrian president and his wife visited Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou . During the visit, a female tourist could not help but touch Asma, the Syrian lady, because she was so beautiful. The female tourist said to Asma, “You are so beautiful.” Unexpectedly, Asma replied: “You have a beautiful country.” From the look of the video, the female tourist seems to be an older person, but even so, I don’t think it’s good to touch her face, since she is the president’s wife after all. However, this reply from the wife of the Syrian President suddenly sublimated the matter. Yes, we have a beautiful country, and for the Syrian people, this is their biggest dream. Syria was once a beautiful country. There is an old saying that goes like this: “If there is a paradise on earth, Damascus must be in it. If paradise is in the sky, Damascus will be as famous as it.” Asma, the wife of the Syrian President, is known as the Desert Rose . She is a very beautiful and gentle person, but behind this beauty, there is an extraordinary experience, which can even be said to be legendary.
image 106image 29
Asma was born in London, England, to Syrian parents. Her family conditions are very good. In 1996, Asma graduated from King’s College London with a BA in Computer Science and French Literature . After graduation, she started working at Deutsche Bank Group as an economic analyst in the hedge fund management department. In 1998, Asma joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. in investment banking. She was also preparing to pursue an MBA at Harvard University, but moved to Syria after meeting her husband, Bashar , while on vacation with her family. I can be said to be an absolute intellectual and business elite. Her husband Assad is the second son and is not the successor that the family focuses on training. The family focuses on training his eldest brother. As a result, his eldest brother died unexpectedly in a car accident in 1994.
image 107
Assad himself is relatively flat. His early dream was to be a doctor and he had little interest in politics. He himself has been studying medicine in the UK. After meeting Asma, we hit it off and became even less interested in politics. However, the eldest brother, who had been trained by the family and was supposed to take on the succession, unexpectedly passed away. Assad could only return to his country to take charge of the overall situation. At this moment, the gears of fate began to turn. The Assads would never have imagined that they would be pushed to a turning point in human history by chance.
The general background of the outbreak of the Syrian civil war is that the United States instigated the ” Arab Spring ” throughout the Middle East . Don’t read the name and think that is a good thing like it’s name “spring”. In fact, it is a large-scale national subversion. According to Egyptian statistics afterwards, the Arab Spring caused more than 1 million deaths in the Middle East and damage to infrastructure worth 1 trillion. It started with the collapse of the political situation in Tunisia , followed by the complete collapse of the situation in Egypt, Libya , Yemen, and Bahrain…
That is, in 2011, Gaddafi’s regime came to an end. He himself was caught in the north of the country. He was tortured, then executed on the same day, and finally his body was exposed in a market… After trouble occurred in the above countries, it was Syria’s turn. This was the background of the early outbreak of the Syrian civil war. At that time, no country believed that Syria could survive. The United States in 2011 was not the sick cat it is now. It was the peak moment of the US imperialist regime. Hanging Saddam , destroying Gaddafi while laughing… Moreover, at that time, the United States had almost no opponents in the world.
Let’s talk about China and Russia back then . At that time, Russia was still dreaming of integrating into the West. It had already joined the G7 and became a small G8. At that time, China did not have a falling out with the United States and was still busy doing business and making money. Except for Iran, an absolutely anti-American country, almost no one in the world supports Syria. However, China and Russia still helped Syria during the UN vote. Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the United Nations Security Council has held seven votes on the Syrian issue. Due to opposition from China and Russia, all seven votes have been vetoed.
That was only the beginning… After all, if you look other than Syria, no country in the Middle East can withstand this combination of punches from the United States. At that time, Russia was not realized being duped and China was not strong enough. In the first four years, the only way for Syria to survive was to hold on by itself. After all, if the Syrian regime collapses at the first sign, it will be useless for outsiders to help. But no one expected that the Assads would refuse to surrender! I swear that I will never surrender to USA. Assad said that this is not a matter of the Syrian civil war, or that once our regime fails, the entire country will be carved up by foreign countries, and the Syrian people will have no future. From a current perspective, Assad’s judgment back then was very accurate. Just think about today’s Libya and today’s Iraq . Since the civil war, the economy has not recovered yet, and the country is still in a state of fragmentation. It was very smart to be able to make this prediction in 2011. We can recall that in 2011, support of the US was rampant on the Internet in china. The point is USA really fooled many people into believing that the United States was good. The United States in 2011 was still at the peak of its empire, and its influenced was indeed much stronger than it is now. At least in those days, American women were still women, and men were still men… When the Syrian civil war was at its most dangerous, the rebels fought directly near the capital. Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, has been occupied by Syrian rebels for six years. It is only a stone’s throw away from the capital. At this time, it is a great test for the Assad’s resilience.
image 110
After all, the fate of Saddam and Gaddafi lies ahead if Syria government lost. If they do not flee for their lives, once the rebels enter the city, their entire family will definitely be killed. But Assad insists on one thing. No matter how crazy the “expendable” supported by the Americans are around me, I will not surrender. I will live and die with my motherland! I believe that many people at that time advised Assad to save the country and choose to surrender. But Assad has an attitude, I will not surrender! I don’t care how strong the opponent’s is, but this is our own motherland, if we the Syrian people don’t resist, won’t we just perished? However hopeless we must fight! This scene suddenly reminded me of our people during the Anti-Japanese War. “Yes, no matter whether we can win against the Japanese or not, this battle must be fought. If we don’t defend our own motherland, who will we defend?” “And if we don’t fight, how do we know we won’t win? Those who say surrender is a way to save the country, better die as quickly as possible!” As a result, with the help of Russia and Iran, it was actually recovered!
image 111
Although these external help are important, I think the most important thing is the persistence of the local people. Russia’s military intervention in the Syrian situation was in September 2015. The war in Syria broke out in 2011. If Assad himself could not hold on in the first four years, it would be useless even if reinforcements came. What is touching is that in the Battle of Aleppo , the Syrian army, after repeated bloody battles, was about to completely regain the lost territory… However, Western countries have appealed for an armistice at the United Nations, and they are talking about providing humanitarian relief. What it actually means is that you stop fighting and give me some time. I will re-arm the rebels so that I can kill you after.
image 109
It was immediately vetoed by China and Russia. Don’t stop, keep firing, shoot with all your might! Just beat up the drowned dog. Our veto vote greatly helped Syria and won them a lot of space at the level of international public opinion. On the New Year of that year, China became the guardian symbol of the Syrian people. In the New Year of 2016, Aleppo, Syria, was liberated. The five-star red flag was raised on the Syrian land, and countless Syrian people grateful to our country’s flag.
image 112
“Thank you, China, thousands of miles away. “
If you look at the first half of Assad’s life, you will feel like a young college student, a refined intellectual who did not have a strong desire for power and just wanted to spend a comfortable life with his beautiful wife. It was the wave of history that pushed him to the critical point of life and death in Syria, but he actually withstood the test of history, which no one expected. The United States not only funded the Syrian rebels, but also created the Devil Isis organization. What the Isis organization has done can be said to be insane. If I were to tell what they did, I’m afraid this article wouldn’t even pass the censorship. In short, it’s extremely anti-human and more Nazi than the Nazis… During the process of regaining the territory, the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor encountered a siege by the “Isis Organization” for more than three years! No one knows what kind of will the Syrian people relied on to survive and win again…
image 113
In the end, this city, under the leadership of the legendary Syrian general Issam Zarushidine, and the 104th Brigade, finally changed the tide of war after four-year defense, which can be called the Syrian version of battle of Leningrad, and the situation in Syria began to fundamentally change. reverse! To be honest, I feel that the Syrian Civil War is very similar to our country’s Anti-Japanese War, both of which are won by persistence . During the Anti-Japanese War, there were some bastards who were promoted as liberal masters by domestic intellectuals. His so-called literary character was just like a piece of shit…
Hu Shi (bastard liberal master) once said: “We should have the determination of a strong man to cut off his own limb, make the highest sacrifice of abandoning the three eastern provinces, seek the preservation of remaining territories and administrative integrity, and seek a peace relations between China and Japan…”
During the Anti-Japanese War, our country was too poor and weak. To be honest, the key to reversal in World War II lay in Stalingrad and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Stalingrad laid the foundation for a complete Soviet counterattack, and the German army was defeated decisively . The attack on Pearl Harbor meant that the United States could no longer stay aloof and had to personally attack Japan. So for our country, it really means victory in the “anti-Japanese war”, and we “carried” it by force ! The whole process was extremely arduous. But this definitely does not mean that our resistance is meaningless. Before the war started, the Japanese army said that China would be conquered in three months. If there was really no resistance and we would be wiped out in three months, then the situation in World War II would be impossible to reverse! Because once the Japanese army obtains China’s vast territory and resources, it will not be so easy for the United States to attack Japan, and the US military may not even go to war personally. The same is true for Syria and Assad. They have endured it for 12 years, during which they have defeated countless opponents… Now think about it, among those Western politicians who originally called for Assad to step down, how many of them are still on stage?
image 116
At the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games, one of the most touching details was that when the Syrian athletes first entered the venue, they were very nervous and reserved , because after all, Syria has been blackmailed by all Western countries on the international stage. Now, what the world sees every day is the fake news about Syria. They don’t know whether they will be welcomed after entering the venue. After all, they are just a small country in war…
image 115
But what none of them expected was that the Chinese audience gave out a roar of welcome for twice make a wave a tsunami.
image 114
Then the Syrian athletes became more and more relaxed and began to wave the national flag vigorously. The Syrian president and his wife stood on the stage with peace of mind and smiles, watching the scene below.
image 117
This scene seems to say: “We the Syrian people are still exist in this world!” This visit by the Syrian President to China is not simple. Syria has been sanctioned by all Western countries. Many airspaces are inaccessible and many places are very dangerous for them.
image 118
Being able to bring the President of Syria to China is in itself a manifestation of the strength of a great power. We need to have sufficient aviation endurance and at the same time have enough friendly land neighbors so that you can have the transportation capacity and airspace to welcome distinguished guests.
Currently Syria’s cultural relics have been placed in China for more than three years. This is also a high degree of trust in our country. After all, the US military is still stealing things in Syria. The whole of Syria has not ended the war. Syria can only put the cultural relics in a place that he thinks is safest. country, that is China. At the same time, this time the Syrian President visited Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, which sent a positive signal, because after all, Syria is a “Middle East religious” country. As a “Middle East religious” country, they often do not go to places of other religions, but this time the Syrian president personally visited Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. This also expresses to the world that Syria is an extremely tolerant country and is not as extreme as Western society has smeared it to be. As a Chinese, I sincerely hope that the war in Syria will end soon. The visit of the Syrian President to China made me deeply moved. Back then, our athlete Liu Changchun , as the only Chinese athlete, represented China in the Los Angeles Olympics . It was precisely because we were caught in the “Rain” that year that we always want to hold an “Umbrella” for others… .. The difference is that our country faced an extremely brutal world back then. Now Syria is living in a rising new global order.
image 119
Liu Cixin once wrote a sentence in his novel The Three-Body Problem: “I hope that one day, the bright sunshine can shine into the dark forest.”
Today China is that beam of light to fight unipolar world order!
In today’s China, we are the deserved to be called as beacon of multipolar world order!
May China’s multipolar world ray shine upon the victim of bullies on the entire earth and human civilization.
I came across a video in which their president praised China and said this during an interview:”China is great but humble”. At that moment, I suddenly felt very touched. This was the most accurate, heartfelt, and profound compliment.
When I was learning English, I had terrible pronunciation. Combined with the fact that I had just lost my front tooth (I was 7 at the time), it was very difficult for me to pronounce “t”, “th”, and “s” sounds.
The story starts with my mom taking me out for lunch. I wanted Kung Pao chicken, which is a delicious, succulent dish made up of spicy stir-fried chicken, peanuts and vegetables. The problem was, I was allergic to peanuts.
Excited to show off my English speaking abilities to my mother, I proudly waved over the server and asked, “Does this dish have pee-nits in it?”
Confused, the server repeated, “Penis?”
Delighted that he understood what I was saying, I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Penis. I am very… allergic. To penis.”
“We typically remove the penis from the chicken before we cook it, so that’s not an issue. Unless you were referring to you being a lesbian. In that case, let me assure you that our restaurant is very LGBT friendly.”
“So no penis?”
“Uh, sure. No penis.”
At this point, my mother interjected the conversation. Wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, she said, “She means peanuts. Alex is allergic to peanuts.”
The chicken was eventually ordered, and luckily contained neither peanuts nor penis.
The Balkanization of pop culture, entertainment, and news outlets.
There is no single screen that families gather ’round in the evenings to watch together. Everyone in the family now has their own screen, with which they can watch whatever they wish to watch, without worrying about if anyone else in their house also wants to watch it.
There is no single television series that dominates the ratings on a regular basis. Currently, the single most-watched non-sports television series is “Yellowstone,” which gets around ten million viewers per episode. So… barely 3% of the adult population in America watches the single-most-watched television series these days.
There is no more “must see TV.” This includes most sports finals, too. Ratings for things like the NBA finals peaked in 1998 and now aren’t even half of what they were back then. Only the Super Bowl has seen an increase in ratings since the 1990s. If not for that one four-hour event every year, there wouldn’t be a single time when more then 40% of American adults were all tuned into the same thing.
Any form of entertainment that finds a substantial audience across demographic lines is rare these days. With the exception of the NFL, seeing a large, diverse group of American adults enjoying the same event or even enjoying the same music is rarer now than it was in the past.
There is no single news outlet that most Americans consider trustworthy and rely on for their news. There is no modern-day Walter Cronkite. Sure, many Americans trust their particular news sources. The problem is that there are so many news sources, and they all cater to their particular audience’s interests, that there isn’t a single news narrative upon which most American adults can agree. The current events you know about as an American adult, and the facts of those current events, are largely determined by which media outlet you get your news from.
In any crowd of American adults, the chances of finding even two of them who partake in the same entertainment options is low. The “pop” in “pop culture” used to stand for “popular.” Now it’s just “popular, relative to the thousands of other options people have to entertain themselves these days.”
We’re not really living in a pop culture melting pot anymore. It’s more of a miles-long pop culture charcuterie board, where everyone takes exactly what they want, with no need to worry about what others are taking. There’s no peer pressure to “fit in” with what the popular crowd is doing. There is no real “popular” crowd anymore. Just relative popularity, in a culture of unlimited choices.
Passport Bros Love TWO Countries
This video showcases how passport bros and other of men can live an amazing life outside of The West and away from modern women. Feminism has gone too far in America which is driving men to seek more traditional lives in countries like Thailand and the Philippines.
We compare the crazy woke women to the masculine movement.
We encourage the manosphere, redpill and MGTOW community to self improve, work hard and live your best happy life. We also enjoy a bit of modern woman fail, cringe and hitting the wall along the way.
No Voice, No Name, No Direct Interviews – the Candidate is vetted first and then the name is deleted and replaced with a Number like 287. Then the Interview is completely in generic voice which means man or woman the voice of candidate is generically modified by software so you wont now if its a man or woman.
The Numbers are then selected or chosen and only then is it known who the Candidate is
The reason is to avoid Civil Rights Lawsuits on Workplace Discrimination and Equal Opportunities.
Likewise in Promotions too – An outside agency is hired to evaluate the employees and they do so using Blind Techniques and output monitoring programs.
This is because EVERYONE HAS BIAS
If you sit on an interview panel and see a Beautiful Girl and an Average Looking Girl – you will either develop bias to the beautiful girl or a grudge against the beautiful girl in favor of the average looking girl.
If you had a bad interaction with a Nepali person , then you may bear negative bias against a Nepali who comes for an interview even though he may be from Manipur or Mizoram.
My wife is one of the most liberal persons in the world and always talks about secularism etc. Yet when one of the houses in our Colony was to be sold to Muslims, She was among the neighbors who persuaded the owners not to sell. She could not explain it. She had a subconscious bias.
Another example is me. Having seen so much bungling done by Mr Modi – even if he does something good now – I develop bias and start looking for the negative aspects only. This is why before answering – i always consult with the Bank community and only if others feel similarly do i know i am on the right track.
During the Cauvery Riots – Tamilians develop Kannada Bias and vice versa. So in an interview if a Tamil employee appears and the Authority is a Kannadiga – then you could have a subconscious bias.
Its Human. Only Machines and Robots can be unbiased. We can develop subconscious bias all the time.
A Tractor trailer carrying nuclear warheads was caught on video Saturday afternoon in North Dakota. The truck was being escorted by local police, Military Police, armed Military troops, and protected overhead by helicopter gunships.
Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota is the most well-known nuclear missile base in that area of the country. All the missiles in that base are already armed. So why the additional warheads?
Under Barack Obama, the US nuclear arsenal was made much smaller. Missiles that had previously carried TEN (10) Multiple Independent Re-Entry Vehicles (MIRVs) were reduced to only one warhead. Perhaps the US is re-installing multiple warheads on our existing missiles?
Why would they be doing that unless they are expecting an actual nuclear war?
Hal Turner Personal Remarks
And expect one they should, given the meddling the US is doing in Ukraine, and the harshest economic sanctions ever imposed, against Russia, are all adding up to the US being hit by Russia.
Of course, the American people remain blissfully unaware that their government has us all on the threshold of actual nuclear war. They’re unaware because the “mass-media” has utterly failed to do its job of reporting actual news. The mass-media seem more interested in the severely mentally-ill who think men can be women and vice-versa.
I was sitting on a bench outside my business smoking a cigarette. I had been there since 8 AM and it was already 9 PM, and I was just waiting for a few people to leave.
A homeless man, riding a bicycle with an attached cart in the back, stopped near me. I expected him to ask for a cigarette, but instead he said, “I’ve got a lighter in each of my hands. One works and one doesn’t. If you pick the lighter that doesn’t work, I win a cigarette. If you pick the lighter that works, you win the lighter.” I thought that both lighters were probably non functional but I decided to play along.
I picked his left hand and he handed me the lighter. I tried it a couple times, but it didn’t work. I handed him a cigarette and he lit it with the lighter in his right hand.
We sat and smoked, and I asked him how he pulled off that trick. He told me that he was an amateur magician and he used some kind of slight of hand to do his trick. I was working at a recovery house, and we had a party coming up on Saturday. I asked him if he wanted a job doing magic tricks as a wandering performer in the room. A little negotiation and he was hired for a two hour gig for 200 dollars.
Saturday came, and he had shaved, cleaned up, and dressed casually but well for the performance. He did card tricks, coin tricks, and other kinds of sleight of hand for the 2 hours and then some.
One of the people who was attending the party owned a coffee shop, and he ended hiring the guy to perform in the coffee shop on weekends and some week nights.
His funny way of tricking people for cigarettes turned into a gig and then a job. He performed a trick on me that changed his life.
(Sopranos) Christopher Moltisanti || Soldier On [for Reece]
Sopranos was the only show that came so close to capturing what life is really like, and what it’s all about. Never seen a show cover complex themes and problems like this in such a captivating, real way (and even funny often).
Most engineers, like most Americans, spend everything they make. Then they run up credit card debt. Then they borrow $100k each to send their brood of children to liberal arts colleges for degrees that don’t make them employable. If they’re lucky, when they retire, they can sell the family home and live modestly on that and social security.
Why am I rich? I saved at least 10% of every paycheck since I was 24, and invested in no-load stock mutual funds, mostly as IRAs. My family lived modestly, but well. I didn’t buy bitcoin, didn’t day-trade, didn’t hit a lucky startup. Later in life, I gave my savings to a reputable stock manager, but I’m only doing a little better than if I’d stuck with mutual funds. I bought a house and paid down the mortgage when I had unspent income, three times. Have I been lucky in investments? Hell no. It took me a few years to learn to steer clear of retail stock brokers’ siren songs, for instance.
My investment strategy goes like this:
Spend less than you earn.
Invest unspent income in no-load stock-index mutual funds and ride the long-term upward bias of the stock market.
It’s really that simple.
A real coup
I think Huawei executed a ruthless, cold-blooded coup on Apple. It successfully kept Apple in the dark, getting complacent with its delusional domination of the Chinese market, so much that it thought it could maintain its grip by introducing the next model with not much more than a new metal case and USB connector. Then a week before Apple’s new release, with no time left to make any last-minute changes (no matter how much FoxConn can turn on a dime), Huawei dropped the bombshell. Classic!
There he is, sleeping in his green room, in his little bed.
Here are things I know about him:
He is the most talkative toddler on this earth. He literally does not shut up. Ever.
He loves to play with his sister’s dolls. He feeds them, carries them around, and puts them gently to sleep.
He is also obsessed with handy-man tools. He walks around with his drill, chain-saw and hammer, and repairs things that are then irreversibly un-repairable ever again. After this, he is utterly proud of himself.
He is compassionate. When his sister cries, he will drop his toys and run to hug her. Yesterday he used his shirt to wipe her tears, while telling her: Don’t cry, don’t cry…
He loves to dance, and when ever he can get himself an audience, off he goes..
He snores like a grandpa, and giggles in his sleep.
He wakes up in a great mood, proclaiming: “I woke up!” and every day he fills our home with love, music, laughter and dance.
These are some of the things I know about him, but let me tell you one thing that I don’t know:
I do not know if my little son is gay. And I don’t give a damn.
China had an enormous trade surplus for nearly one and a half decades plus enormous savings by its people
image 134
Here
Chinas problem is that the three years of lockdown meant the expenses were much lesser and thus people have huge savings and thus very low inflation
This is why China is issuing more and more debt instruments, to push that savings and prevent a glut of money
It’s why China is so keen on pushing up Consumption
It’s why when everyone is raising rates, China is slashing them
Because China has a lot of money in the banks and wants to discourage saving and encourage spending
image 133
This is the US, the total opposite
Expenses are higher than wages, Savings are at an all time low compared to the SUPERB TRUMP ERA pattern (Call him all the names but that man ran a good economy until Covid)
Thus people don’t have money in the US
Savings have been depleted and so now US Fed encourages savings by raising the rates
Same with other nations including Bharat
image 132
As you can see, Economy is doing beautifully under Modi until 2017 when Demo happens and Wages crash and expenses rise
Again by 2018, there is a recovery but by 2019 the savings are depleted by rising expenses
Two years of lockdowns mean savings crash but expenses rise due to the opening up policies and finally today you are NECK TO NECK
Better than the US
So today China has too much money
US and India and EU and UK have too little to no money
The best solution would be China lending to UK, EU and US by buying more Debt
image 131image 130
They said it was a WIN WIN
China has too much money and if they don’t spend it, it will lead to a glut and a deflation
US have no money and keep printing and piling inflation
However China said NOTHING DOING
They don’t trust the West anymore and believe the West may renege on their debt
After what they did to Russia
If only China and India were closer, China would have lent to India and invested heavily
Best to get 6% from India than 2.5% in China with great difficulty
My guess is China will spend huge money on Technology investments and hope it yields a big change
Meanwhile China has a huge economic dominance today.
They can cut a cheque of $ 300 Billion without printing money
The entire EU and UK and US combined can’t do the same
Post 1950
US was also flush with money while UK and Europe were broke
Thus US lent the money and invested in Europe and UK and grew their money enormously
They then invested this into Military Industry and sadly it mutated beyond recognition
China has a BRI luckily
FIRST DAY in Beijing, China – America warns NOT to visit CHINA but I Did
This is John Eisenman.
main qimg c0cfd14689a0f3abb6a3cc4c68cf7818
He lost his daughter to sexual trafficking.
She was sold for $1,000 in Seattle Washington.
He did what a father should do and researched, investigated and found out about her abduction.
He RESCUED her HIMSELF.
…
He found out the person who sold her into trafficking was her 19 year old boyfriend.
He met up with him, abducted him, bludgeoned and stabbed him to death in Nov, 2020.
The authorities found him [dead AF boyfriend] in Oct 2021 in the trunk of the car he abandoned.
John Eisenman sits in prison knowing his daughter is safe and growing up after he has already lived 60 years of his life.
I bet you, he rests easy.
Live your life to the fullest. Do your absolute best to make sure your children have the opportunity to do the same no matter what the sacrifice.
My brother called me to let me know our dad was in the ER and it didn’t look good for his survival. I drove like a bat out of hell the 120 miles to get there. In the ER waiting room sat my brother & his wife, who knew nothing and had not been given any info or updates on our dad in over 2.5 hours.
I went up to the admitting desk to ask for an update and was told to sit down…that the clerk at the desk was busy and couldn’t deal with me. Unacceptable response so I just marched into the actual ER room to find my dad. Brother and SIL followed.
Found my dad and he is basically gray with no one attending him. The attending comes up to me and starts screaming at me. I asked him what was wrong with my dad, (who has a heart problem and has a pacemaker). The Dr responds in a horrible accent and terrible English that my dad has vertigo. It took several tries to figure out what he was saying and even the nurses were having a problem understanding him.
I lost it and didn’t care if I got arrested or not. I loudly proceed to tell the Dr that my dad is gray, not green, indicating heart problem & that my dad had his last heart surgery at this hospital 1 year prior. That I want a heart monitor on my dad ASAP.
The smug Dr asked me where I my medical degree. I smiled and again, loudly said that I didn’t have one but that I had a law degree. That I hoped he enjoyed his sojourn in the US because by the time I’m done suing him, deportation will look like a good option.
He quickly put on a heart monitor on my dad and it showed my dad was having a heart attack as they attached it. Luckily, they were able to treat him and he lived many years after that.
3 things:
This was at a top nationally ranked hospital
I filed a complaint with the BoD and the Dr was let go due to his repeated negligence.
The day my mother-in-law died they called and told us that she was not going to live through the day that her whole system was shutting down and she didn’t have more than a few hours.
My wife and I went to the hospital she was conscious and complained because they had the bed in a head lower position. She complained that it was uncomfortable and asked to have it moved to a sitting position, the nurse said that they couldn’t do that because it would shorten her life.
We insisted and they moved it so she was more comfortable.
While we sat there they kept coming in and drawing blood, etc. Finally, when they rolled in a portable x-ray machine, my wife stood up and threw them out.
Eventually, she got to the point where she wasn’t conscious any more and in the evening she finally passed.
I still believe that they were trying to bill everything they could get on her bill before she died, why take ex-rays of someone they already told us was dying?
Fortunately, when my wife died of cancer she died at home in hospice and not in a hospital. She died peacefully in her sleep, with no hassles.
Why Do We Have to PAY Others Just to LIVE?!?! IT’S INSANITY!
We are out here on this Earth and surrounded with everything we need to live amazing lives. So why have we created, and continue to tolerate, a system that makes us work our whole lives earning money so we can pay for the privilege of living?
The explanation given to me by a Dumbo on Quora was that Huawei which used US Technology and US Patents, did not follow US rules and did business with countries sanctioned by the US
This despite the WTO ruling on 8/7/1998 clearly citing that
Trade restrictions on Technology and it’s free and fair use shall be determined by the commercial aspects and by the political ones
This was wrt Iraq
So the sanction on Huawei was illegal
Plain and simple
So the US essentially claim that because they control the technology, they can use it to demand obedience from the entire world
That because they control the dollar they can demand obedience from the entire world
They are immune from WTO appeals and rulings
So if the US is against you, you have no where to present your case
If the US is against you, you either comply or die
That’s the RULES BASED ORDER
Tell me i am wrong
Tell me of one example where the US sanctioned a nation and reversed it when the Nation without any change in its Government Or Leader Or Policies, appealed to a higher authority
It has NEVER happened ever
Under the same Rules based order, Saudi Arabia cannot decide to refuse to sell Oil to a paying customer but the EU can decide to cap the price of oil and force the whole world to comply
I wouldn’t have had a problem if Huawei had been taken to court and fined billions of dollars for patent violation
That’s Commerce and Trade and Business
However merely because you sell stuff to Iran, just because you use US technology, you can be sanctioned and cut off from Chips on a mere order from a US President is terrifying
image 124image 123image 122
Xi, Putin, Assad may all be many things but today they are the ONLY PEOPLE preventing us all from becoming slaves of the United States of America
Its why I support them wholeheartedly
As long as they are strong, there will always be two camps, and the US better be on its best behaviour or it will lose friends to the other side
I believe Huawei was the beginning
image 121
When Meng Wanzhou was arrested for baseless charges that were never established for 3 years on the whims of a 70 year old syphilitic promiscuous orange man with half his brains eaten out by some STD or another
It was the moment when one realized that the United States was growing not only too big for their britches but capable of becoming something that would put Nazi Germany to shame
Plus these evil men would justify it saying “We are the good guys”
Huawei paid a heavy price for trusting the US
Yet they also ensured that every other Chinese company was now on its guard when dealing with the US
Plus other companies too
Today ISRO is tolerated because it’s so much below NASA
The day it starts climbing higher, you will see sudden references to Kashmir and Genocide and sanctions will begin
Unless India learns from Huawei like China did, Russia did and Iran did
Hawaiian Steak
85635394094818e496b535193d9d941d
Ingredients
Individual steaks, 1/2 inch thick or less
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pineapple slices
1 large can mushrooms
Instructions
Punch both sides of each steak well with a fork, then marinate for 24 to 36 hours in a marinade made by combining soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and sugar.
Simmer steaks on a low fire for 10 minutes in the marinade.
Remove them and place steaks in a 350 degree F oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on thickness of meat. Three minutes before removing steaks, place a pineapple slice on each.
To make gravy, slowly sauté a large can of mushrooms in butter. While doing so, boil down the sauce used for the marinade to make a gravy.
Combine mushrooms and reduced marinade sauce.
Serve individual steaks with the pineapple on top, over which has been poured a generous amount of gravy.
This is a bizarre survival tale that includes jaguars, politics, cactus, assassination threats, near-death, and yes… a deranged lunatic. Oddly enough, even though I’m a dedicated liberal, this mad-man was a far-far-left liberal himself.
It was the mid-2000’s, and I was actively engaged in all sorts of wildlife research for a variety of government agencies and civilian groups. One of my projects was with a great organization called the Sky Island Alliance, in Tucson, AZ. (Read about them here, if you’d like: What are “Sky Islands”, and do they exist? ) This particular project involved looking for signs and tracks of jaguars that were reportedly crossing over the border from Mexico and setting up shop in the mountains of southern Arizona, in order to have data to set up protected areas for this extinct-in-America Big Cat.
One day, I received a call from a graduate student from a University in Colorado, who was looking for a research assistant for his project. The project consisted of living out in the wilderness and setting up camera-traps throughout the mountains, trying to get photos of the elusive cats, and learn more about their habits. Since I had a very good reputation among the environmental research community, I was recommended for the job by a professor at a local university. So I interviewed with the guy over lunch, we seemed to bond, and I got the job. I spent the next couple weeks putting in a lot of extra time at the Tucson Zoo, observing their two beautiful black jaguar sisters, Nikita & Simone, up close and personal. I would help with the feeding, collect scat and urine samples and do a lot of watching, reading and interacting. [1]
Eventually, it was time to head out toward the Mexican border and set up in the cabin. No electricity or running water. Right in the middle of the smuggling route from Mexico. Surrounded by the wildest remote mountains around. I was looking forward to a great adventure and a chance to get some good science accomplished. Emil and I got started with our automatic cameras. The challenge was to make continuous hikes into the mountains, replacing batteries and exchanging film in the many dispersed camera traps. It was some treacherous hiking. We were getting along fine. On the second day, we got a surprise… Emil’s dad decided to come from Colorado and join in.
He was a surly old guy from the Rocky Mountains. He probably wasn’t as old as he looked, because he was extremely “weathered”, leathery and wiry, with deep creases in his face; a constant suspicious squint. Grey stubble grew from almost right under his eyes, down to his chin. Not an ounce of fat on his stringy hard muscles. When you said something to him, he’d jerk his face left or right like a chicken, to look at you sideways, always seeming to be about to say an accusatory “Wha’ju say!?”, and perhaps bite your head off. He happened to look incredibly similar to this actor, Roberts Blossom. [2]
He wasn’t very trusting and he took an immediate dislike to me for some reason. I think he wanted to be the assistant, and have me leave. There was some weird father/son dynamic going on between them, and I got the impression Emil had grown up with beatings being a normal part of life.
Emil’s and my relationship suddenly subdued and the atmosphere changed.
These were the days of the George W. Bush administration. Emil’s dad turned out to be an extreme far-left liberal. The most far-left I’d ever come into contact with. I was also a liberal… but a moderate. I wasn’t a fan of Bush, but I was pushing through it, waiting for the next election. On that second night, we sat down to dinner. Tin plates of beans and bacon, with some tin cups of coffee. Emil’s dad sat across from me at the small wooden table. I tried to talk to him, and it immediately turned to politics. I nodded my head at all he was saying about the damned republicans and “that asshole Bush”. He spat out a long list of complaints. It wasn’t long before he said something about killing him if he had the chance. Oddly… I was of the mind that we shouldn’t be thinking of killing our president, whoever it may be. I said something to that effect.
Dad growled, “You mean you wouldn’t kill him?” He looked straight into my eyes, like a maniac.
I half-laughed out a response of, “Look, I don’t like him, but I’m not going to say we should assassinate the President”.
He glowered through me. His hands were in fists on the table, one of them holding a fork. I felt a pressure tank across from me, building up steam. His lips were pursed, breathing hard through his nose, staring at me. Suddenly he exploded up in a jerk, flipped his plate of beans toward me and about leaped on top of me, ranting about what the president was doing to destroy the country! He bent over and got in my face. I stood up quick and said, “Back the fuck off!”
Emil finally got involved and said something. I was fuming. I looked at them both, then left the cabin to go chill out outside in the night air. This suddenly took a weird turn.
Eventually we all went to bed, as we had to get up very early. In the morning, we had breakfast in silence, then all headed out in the pickup, toward the beginning of the trail. The whole way, he was insulting me in every way possible; from my knife being too big; “Only green-horns and pussies think they need a big knife,” to my hair, “Why don’t you get a haircut and look like a real man.” Beyond all belief, I kept my cool and waited for Emil to reign in his crazy old man. Emil wouldn’t look at me, and stayed silent. The old man hadn’t been with us on our last outing, and we had used a comfortable pace to make our rounds. But this time dad took the lead. It turned out that not only was he half jack-ass… he was also half mountain goat. He set off at a crazy unnecessary pace, clearly meaning to break me, or leave me behind. I was in average shape, but I had a trick knee from an old parachuting accident I’d had while I was an Army Paratrooper. So I needed to watch my step. As we sprinted up and down the mountains, eventually the worst happened and my knee blew out as I was racing down a steep slope of forest. I yelled out. They kept going. Eventually I stumbled down to the rocky dry river bed at the bottom, where they were waiting.
I explained I had a bad knee from the Army. “How many jumps you got?” he scowled. I told him 26.
He says, “My buddy has over a thousand and he never had no bad knees.” At this point, I was vulnerable, and I really needed to restrain myself for my own safety. He pointed up a steep rocky slope and said he was heading out. I told them I couldn’t make it. He derided me some more and told me to wait while they continued. I had no choice. I agreed. They left me with most of the heavy batteries and set off. “3 or 4 hours,” they said. I waited, surrounded by dry boulders.
There was no shade in that valley. I had to get out of the sun. The nearest shade was 150′ straight up a cliff, where I saw a tree. I made the choice to climb after about 2 hours. I got up and started hobbling toward the cliff of rocks, dirt and some dry grass. Now came my biggest misfortune. All the extra batteries they piled into my backpack made it extremely heavy. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that my pack was on top of my camel-back, which held all my water. It was fine when my pack was light, but all the batteries were pressing down on my water bladder, and at some point during my climb, the pressure popped the end off the drinking tube. I didn’t notice as all my water squirted out and left me empty, until 30 minutes later, I reached the top. I pulled out the tube for a well-deserved drink, and… nothing. “Damn it!”
The tree wasn’t as full as I wished and only gave a smattering of shade. Better than nothing. It was about 118 degrees F. After a total of 5 hours had passed since they left, I was getting desperate. As I sat on that cliff side, I saw a barrel cactus not far away. I stumbled over. Ya hear that they have water in them. So, I gave it a shot. Luckily, I had my big knife with me and was able cut off the top. No puddle of water. Just an off-white mash of cactus innards. It was moist. It would have to do. I don’t recommend this method. It had a bitter tannin taste to it, as I scooped out a chunk and sucked on it. Horrible! Again… better than nothing, but not much better. 7 hours passed and I was dehydrated and starting to get hazy vision and a crazy headache. I considered starting a signal fire. But I worried about it getting out of control and consuming me. 8 hours.
Finally, I saw them down in the valley of rocks. I yelled out. Again and again. At last they answered. “Come on down!” I heard. Clearly I had to go down. But I was only thinking of water. I scrambled down the cliff again, knowing that in just a few minutes, I could drink. At last… “Water” I croaked.
“You don’t have any water?” he says. I wasn’t up for a discussion to explain, I just needed a fast drink. I shook my head.
Again, I asked for water. “We don’t have any water.”
What the hell? I see them both with canteens. Emil started to give me his canteen. The old bastard again yelled out, “I said we don’t have no water” and he shot a look at his son. Emil backed down silently. I couldn’t believe this! I reached out and tried to grab a canteen and the bastard got up and started walking away, saying, “There’s water at the truck.” I was dumbfounded. I started following them, listening to the water sloshing in their canteens just feet away. I was going a bit mad from the sound.. and from the entire situation. But I barely had the strength to be mad. I did my best at keeping up but fell further and further behind. I tried calling out. They stopped one time for me to catch up and as soon as I did, again they took off. At last, I could go no further. Five minutes later they came back, with the old bastard bitching at Emil. Emil gave me water. One drink, and then that evil bastard yelled out, “That’s enough! We need it!” Emil put away the water. They started to take off again.. my knee was throbbing and I could hardly walk. I set short range goals of just making it to the next boulder. One after another. My vision made everything wavy. And finally Emil grew a pair and defied his old man, and put an arm around me and helped me the rest of the way… another mile. He mumbled an, “I’m sorry” quietly.
The truck was ahead of us. 100 yards more. I willed myself to keep going. Then… we were there. A 5 gallon jug of water that had been heating in the sun was brought down. It was hot enough to brew tea, but I drank. And drank. Near-boiling water. It was good.
It was a quiet ride back. I packed up my gear and got in my car and drove off, back to civilization. All I keep thinking about was that water sloshing ahead of me, out of reach, and hearing him insist “We don’t got no water” while I was looking right at it. All this, because I didn’t agree that President Bush should be assassinated.
It’s quite clear that he would have left me to die out there and concocted some story of me wandering off and getting lost, if it wasn’t for the intervention of his minimally-less corrupt son.
Months later, Emil got indicted for illegally trapping our jaguar in a noose, causing stress in the poor cat, which eventually led to the death of the only jaguar in the United States at the time. Here’s the picture he took of the tortured, snared cat. [3]
It was a whole big deal with scandal and blame spread all over. It became a Federal case. After being indicted, he lied to investigators and blamed his assistant for putting lure around the trap without his direction. This wasn’t true and eventually came out. This assistant was the person who took my place! In the end, he was banned from practicing any more research, anywhere. You may be interested in reading about the debacle here: emil mccain prosecuted over jaguar
Conspicuously absent from the indictment, was one old, evil, bastard goat, that I damn well know had a hand in the unethical activities that led to the jaguar’s death, due to over-bearing parental pressure. And he certainly had a hand in convincing his son to lie about the circumstances afterwards. I have no doubt. It was, after all, the government against his son. The government that he wanted to take out with a bullet. I know that lunatic bastard helped kill our jaguar, and let his son take all of the fall. Not that his son didn’t deserve it as well. I’ve no proof. But I know it. He damn near killed me.
John Holmes was a legend during the golden age of porn. He played the famous Johnny Wadd, a fictional detective in a series of porn films. At the time, he was most famous for having a 13-inch penis, although this was never proven. He also claimed to have sex with over 14,000 women. This is also disputed, but he did star in over 500 movies.
image 128
As his porn career was taking off in the early 70s, so was his drug use. At his height, he was earning 3,000 dollars a day from his films, which was mostly spent on freebasing cocaine. His habit greatly affected his ability to maintain an erection, and by the end of the 70s, he was selling drugs and prostituting himself for drugs to both men and women.
image 127
By the early 80s, Holmes was heavily involved in criminality. He was a close associate of drug dealer and nightclub owner Eddie Nash and was also close to the notorious “Wonderland Gang,” a group of heroin-addicted cocaine dealers, that ruled the drugs trade in Los Angela’s.
Holmes had confided with some members of the Wonderland Gang about a stash of drugs and money being kept at Eddie Nash’s house. Holmes had fallen out of favour with the Wonderland Gang after taking more than his fair share of drugs. So he helped them by setting up the home invasion and robbery of Eddie Nash.
image 126
Eddie Nash suspected Holmes was involved in the robbery. He admitted to his part in the robbery after Nash threatened to kill his family. In the early hours of July 1st 1981, a gang of Nash’s enforcers along with Holmes entered the Rowhouse located on Wonderland Avenue, where five members of the Wonderland gang were sleeping. All but one of the gang members were beaten to death, and the fifth barley surviving the brutal attack.
image 30
A handprint belonging to Holmes was found above the headboard of one of the slain gang members, putting Holmes at the scene during the attack. Eddie Nash was the prime suspect for the crime along with Holmes who took more of an active role. Holmes was charged with personally committing all four murders but was acquitted due to lack of evidence after a three-week trial. The trail was a landmark case, where it was the first trial in history to introduced video as evidence. The Wonderland murders remain unsolved to this day.
image 125
By 1986, Holmes was diagnosed as HIV positive, and it was around this time he landed a lucrative deal to star in two adult films with “Paradise Visuals.” He went on to have unprotected sex with his co-stars while not revealing his diagnosis.
He died from Aids related complications on March 13th 1988, at the age of 43.
i gave up on the american dream | regularism
“I feel you girl! I’m 34 renting a room in a house, I hardly own anything anymore. I let go of the illusion of how life is “supposed to be”. We are free this way, living simply! It’s all a state of mind starting with gratitude for what you have.”
My father was an engineer. He was a metallurgical engineer. Which was a guy that tests the composition of steel. He made sure that it was pure and the alloying elements were in the right percentages. It was a very important job.
You need this, you know.
No one would buy a cake if pickles were substituted for eggs, and salt was substituted for sugar. Right?
Anyways, being older than me, he had his old work clothes that I inherited, and throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, I used his old safety glasses at work.
LOL.
They were God-awful! Horned rimmed, ugly. Like a scene from the movie “falling down”.
2023 09 18 10 59
Now…
The funny thing was that EVERYONE knew that those were MY glasses. Everyone wore contemporaneous safety glasses, and not those old things.
So, sure as shit, if I misplaced my glasses, after an hour or so, I would find them on my desk at work. They would magically appear out of nowhere.
Not only once.
Not twice…
But every single time! I couldn’t give them away.
i even threw them into the trash bin…
Sure as shit, they walked back to my desk. I’ll tell you what!
…
What do you know?
Life is funny sometimes.
Today…
Thought considerations…
2023 09 18 10 48
War as desirable outcome
The Army War College’s John Deni (Wall Street Journal, 12/22/21) urged the US to take “a hard-line stance in diplomatic discussions,” because “if Mr. Putin’s forces invade, Russia is likely to suffer long-term, serious and even debilitating strategic costs.”
The fact that US officials pushed for a Ukrainian counteroffensive that all but expected would fail raises an important question: Why would they do this? Sending thousands of young people to be maimed and killed does nothing to advance Ukrainian territorial integrity, and actively hinders the war effort.
The answer has been clear since before the war. Despite the high-minded rhetoric about support for democracy, this has never been the goal of pushing for war in Ukraine. Though it often goes unacknowledged in the US press, policymakers saw a war in Ukraine as a desirable outcome.
One 2019 study from the RAND Corporation—a think tank with close ties to the Pentagon—suggested that an effective way to overextend and unbalance Russia would be to increase military support for Ukraine, arguing that this could lead to a Russian invasion.
In December 2021, as Russian President Vladimir Putin began to mass troops at Ukraine’s border while demanding negotiations, John Deni of the Atlantic Council published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (12/22/21) headlined “The Strategic Case for Risking War in Ukraine,” which laid out the US logic explicitly:
Provoking a war would allow the US to impose sanctions and fight a proxy war that would grind Russia down. Additionally, the anti-Russian sentiment that resulted from a war would strengthen NATO’s resolve.
All of this came to pass as Washington’s stance of non-negotiation successfully provoked a Russian invasion.
Even as Ukraine and Russia sat at the negotiation table early in the war, the US made it clear that it wanted the war to continue and escalate.
The US’s objective was, in the words of Raytheon boardmember–turned–Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, “to see Russia weakened.” Despite stated commitments to Ukrainian democracy, US policies have instead severely damaged it.”
OLIVER ANTHONY – 90 SOME CHEVY REACTION
Again, any postings of Oliver Anthony is not about his music. It is about the reactions to his music. It appears that for many Americans, they have a voice. Finally.
Todays reaction REALLY BROKE ME! Anthony’s “90 Some Chevy” really hit home for me!
Their phones are likely to work better with the network equipment than other phones on their network.
But for satellites, they don’t make satellites but they do make network base station equipment. So they might have better knowledge than building to a spec on paper.
You can see with Apple trying to build their own 5G modems and failing. Apple’s 5G modem won’t debut again until 2025. They need time and experts and a lot of testing to make sure that it is going to work in all situations instead of just in the lab. Which was what happened when their modems didn’t work right.
So I would guess yes. But any company can hire experts who have experience to make sure that their equipment works well.
Southern Karo Syrup Chicken
2023 09 16 15 14
Ingredients
1 broiler-fryer chicken
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Karo corn syrup
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
Cut up chicken.
In skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in butter about 30 minutes or until tender. Drain off fat.
Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook over medium heat, turning often, for 5 to 10 minutes or until glazed.
I didn’t ‘see’ a doctor do this… I was the doctor doing this to a father in a pediatrics emergency room.
Many staff reported this as terrifying, horrifying and other descriptions. I went to many meetings following my actions. If I had to do it over again, with my experience and age, I would have chosen different actions that day and we are outside the statute of limitations for assault and battery.
I’ve never written this one down, so here it goes:
I was the on-call anesthesia provider at the hospital, a children’s hospital. I was moonlighting and doing routine things when I was called to the emergency room to consult. (Moonlighting is when a doctor does his regular job or a lesser medical job, for an hourly wage but usually not at his normal hospital or setting.)
When I came out of the elevator they asked me if I was anesthesia?
I nodded and I was led quickly to a trauma room. There was no trauma but a bunch of people in hazmat suits! They dressed me quickly. I apparently had no choice in the matter. I then was led to another room where a small five-year-old boy was having visible stress and very labored breathing. They were assisting him with oxygen, a bag and mask but his color was just, off. Blue, maybe a little green grey. I had never seen this color for a human before, at least not one alive.
People were screaming at me through their suits. We could hardly hear one another. Unknown poison. Unknown toxin. They told me this patient’s brother is in the next room and fading fast, as well. They then ask me what drugs I want to give to intubate this child.
Holy oral board question from hell!!!! For those of you who are not inside the anesthesia world, the oral-board exams for an anesthesiologist are notoriously difficult. They boast a high failure rate for first-time takers because they are designed to scare the ever living crap out of you so you will be a perpetual student of anesthesiology for life. When you have three minutes to figure something out, you cannot hit the books or even ask “Watson.”
“I don’t want to give him anything!” I thought and said simultaneously.
I am a large male… so… I chose physically to intubate the child without any drugs. I managed not to break any teeth also… always a bonus in my job. I did reason they are baby teeth and if he lived he would be more grateful to be alive than to have all his baby teeth.
I then proceeded in rapid succession to the 7-year-old’s room. He was bigger, stronger and was spasming much worse than his brother, especially his jaw. They could not open it. I thought about man-handling the intubation. Broken teeth, I could break his jaw, but, no, so I ending up choosing and using an older drug to completely paralyze the child to attempt to undo the spastic jaw. This choice of drug was not as fast as some of the modern drugs in the anesthesia arsenal. It was among the most stressful four minutes of my clinical career!
“Please be right. Please be right. Please be right.” In my mind over and over again. I slid my hand to his wrist and felt for a pulse. It was there. Weak, fast, but there.
His color was off, too. Similar to his brother. Our oximeter was not picking up a signal. I was terrified in that moment I had chosen incorrectly and would kill the child. Utterly terrified. Tube in, first time, done. The boys were moved to the ICU.
Had to get out of the small room. Very hot. Hard to breathe myself. Am I poisoned? Did I get exposed?
I threw up.
I was soaked head to foot in sweat and ripped off the headdress.
Yes, you read that correctly. I threw up and THEN I got the stupid headdress part of my isolation bunny suit ripped off. Cold air felt great!
I heard screaming and commotion from the other room.
I’m now pumped with adrenaline. Really pumped. In retrospect, I should probably have not gone to investigate, but I did. An older anesthesiologist would have likely gone back to his on-call duties or hit the call room and slept. I was young.
Nope. Not me. What is happening?!?
I marched in. My bunny suit flapping. The headdress still attached to the back of my neck pulling uncomfortably on the front zipper at my neck. I reached up with my hand and pulled it down away from my throat.
Once in there, I see two police officers, a half a dozen nurses, a pediatric ER doc who was about 4′11″ in shoes and they are screaming at everyone to just stop it!
I am a large male… so… I bellowed, “What the fuck is going on?” Yes, I am a good doctor. Yes, I am human.
Everyone looked and the ER doc said looking at me in the eyes, “the father just drank the poison.”
WTF. WTF. WTF. WTF. WTF.
Toxicology? Still no hit on what the substance was from the poison center but they had said to someone it was likely not transmitted through touching or breathing.
Good to know. It’s ‘not likely’ I’ve exposed myself to God knows what.
I knew one of the nurses standing there, she was holding a nasogastric (NG) tube and the nurse next to her had a charcoal drink and a funnel.
The NG tube goes from the nose to the stomach and allows the ‘forceful’ introduction of liquids such as charcoal to neutralize things, the poison in this case.
The man, for all his abject fright and stupidity, blurted out at me, “None of them know what it is so I drank it to find out, use me to find out, use me!” He pleaded, tears streaming down his face. He was just being a parent. He was just being human. That’s when I saw the small fasciculations in his facial muscles. Fasciculations are involuntary small portions of muscle that ‘fire’ on their own without neural impulses. Have you ever had just one part of your muscle move, twitch and do it over and over again without you consciously controlling the movements? That is fasciculations and both boys had them all over their tiny bodies when I first saw them.
“Nurse.” I said in my ‘Superman’ voice. When I was an intern, some of the staff, younger females mostly, nursing mostly, referred to me as Superman because I always got everywhere so fast in the hospitals and, oh yeah, I am a large male with dark kind of curly longer hair at the time. I used to get that one thick curl on the forehead naturally.
She did not speak but began moving toward the father of the boys. The other nurse followed lock step behind her.
“Fuck no! You’re not sticking that thing in me!” The man backed away reflexively animal like in speed and suddenness. He ran into the wall behind him. His back to the wall, literally.
Not. My. Finest. Medical. Moment.
I used a somewhat unorthodox medical maneuver. I hit, or struck, or punched with the my full force in the father’s face. I caught him with the hand I punched him with and pinned him up against the wall. He semi-slumped, in shock, I believe more than for the blow. Not too certain though.
“Tube.” I reached out with my left hand but did not take my gaze off the man.
I looked at his nose and the one side began bleeding. Well, there are two cops standing behind me. I sighed loudly, I may even snorted a bit. They can write my statement for me at this point. Definitely, battery, maybe assault and battery, and with many witnesses, great. I wonder what jail is really like?
Blood is a lubricant. The NG tube slid down that bloody side quickly and completely. The man bucked hard at me. I let go of the tube and ‘pushed’ well, perhaps thrust with nearly full force upon his chest with both open hands and very physically slammed him the two inches back onto the wall.
The nurse(s) got the tube and out of my peripheral vision I saw a funnel and charcoal pouring down the tube very quickly.
The man made noises. I interpreted that as him having an Airway, he was obviously Breathing and clearly he was Circulating blood as he was semi-conscious. ABC’s checked off. He’ll live long enough to sue me probably.
As the man made a fast grab for the NG tube, I was slammed into and from behind and on either side forcefully.
The two cops grabbed either arm and held them back, pinned tightly on the wall.
I love cops. Even when they pull me over and give me a speeding ticket. Even then.
I let go and slowly slid back a bit. Maybe I was two feet from the man’s face.
… and he threw up charcoal all over me. Along with the ‘poison’ so…
I froze. Kept my eyes shut and my mouth shut. I was led a bit away and then someone poured water over my head several times. I cleaned off with a towel. Several towels, actually.
The man was a farmer. He had left fertilizer of some sort, or perhaps it was a pesticide/fertilizer combo in a mixing jug, an old white plastic milk jug. Some years later, he poured diesel fuel into this same white jug. Years after that, the boys found the jug in the barn and it had brilliant blue crystals in it and some opaque grey liquid. Stunning, they looked like hard candy. The boys shook the crystals out and put them in their mouths.
The reason I told you this story was that it was horrifying to watch. That word was used in reports describing my actions. ‘Terrible. Terror. Unprofessional. Shocking. Disturbing. Ugly. Dysfunctional. Chaotic.” All used in reports to describe the event.
One of the nurses who knew me told me her heart just ‘throbbed’ at the whole surreal situation. Your wording in your question triggered the whole event for me.
Doctors are people, they are human, they make mistakes. It was a mistake striking that man. I know that, now. I was afraid in the moment. My fear and anxiety got the best of me and the human animal part of me reacted, poorly.
Some of you may say what I did is fine. Others will condemn any physical attack or action, especially from a doctor to a civilian in an ER setting.
Everyone lived. They did finally identify the culprit. It was a semi-paralytic chemical. Onset of symptoms in minutes. Spasticity, followed by slow paralysis and then asphyxiation from breathing ceasing with one to two hours in an adult.
What do you think?
~Chris
Dr. Christopher Yerington
Columbus, Ohio
Bio: Retired from clinical anesthesiology by a disability in 2010, Dr. Yerington has turned his love of teaching and service to others to his family, medical colleagues and community. He speaks and educates medical groups and residency programs about the importance of great disability insurance and having an income protection plan. Having attended law and business schools, Chris is a perpetual student, currently working on his financial certifications.
Russia Uncovers US Plot to Eliminate Niger Coup Leaders
“You may not know what must be done but many people like me do. It’s time to start down the road towards ending all of the theft of Africa’s god given wealth. Nationalize all of Africa’s resources and perform all value adding operations in Africa, unless it truly messes up the environment to do so. Doing this will uplift the lives of the people and in the end make Africa the best place to live on earth.”
Not me, my mother. She is Cuban and when she was on her first year of teaching, she was teaching first grade and had a kid that was held back. The teachers called him a bad kid. He found it hard to sit down and pay attention, so he still could not read. My mother made him her “helper” and whenever there was free time she would sit alone with him to go over lessons. He passed first grade and actually did great!
Later on, after the Castro regime took control, my mother left Cuba. She met my father, had children, and moved on with her life.
Years later we were traveling in Florida and a man and his wife came up to her. It was the student! He said he recognized her right away because he never forgot her. He introduced her to his wife as the teacher that did not give up on him.
She is my inspiration!
Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond | Singer Reacts & Musician Analysis
UK girl reacts. Very interesting.
All over the West, the “people” are seeing just how bad and corrupt the American-style of “democracy” actually is. This is the moment in time when quiet people, in secret back rooms, start planning on how to hang people, and burn down their edifices of power.
At a family gathering. It was a birthday party for one of my SIL’s kids. It was a nice day and we were all outside while the kids played with all of their friends and cousins, having a great time while we adults caught up and enjoyed the music and weather.
Then we all hear the terrified scream of a small child. One of the kids ran up and said “Sean is hurt!” We all ran over and there he was with blood pouring from a gash on his head. He had stumbled while running and went head first into the fence and an exposed nail.
Every single adult starts freaking out, running around and NOT HELPING this 4-year-old child who was screaming in fear and pain. WTF did they do when their own kids got hurt??!!
Husband and I were surrounded by not only idiots but dithering, panicking, hand-flapping, weak stomached idiots.
Husband and I picked him up and took him in to the bathroom and we were able to calm him down while we cleaned the approximately 1+″ wound and looked for non-existent bandages (really? in a house with four kids?!) and told him how brave he was and that he was going to get stitches but that it would only hurt a little bit, etc. and that sweet little boy just nodded and said “I’m brave.” We just wanted to adopt him on the spot.
When we brought him out he would not let go of me so husband and I just held him and some paper towels to his wound until his grandmother picked him up to take him to urgent care. Then MIL and BILs start freaking out about all the blood on our clothes (yes, head wounds bleed like stuck pigs) and their biggest concern was that it wouldn’t come out in the wash. IDIOTS!
The next time we saw Sean he showed us his scar and said “I was brave!” Yes he was and much more so than about 12 grown ass adults.
Oh SH*T, America Moves To Counter China!
The US has no (real) money and no railways to speak of…and yet they want to build and finance a new multicountry rail network 10,000 km away from home.
How is the USA going to cough up the money?
Five Russian “Doomsday Planes” in the air 0300 Russia time- Shut Off Transponders mid-flight
Five Russian “Doomsday” aircraft are in the air over Russia or have landed after shutting off transponders near the Ural Mountains, including Aircraft PA-96024, ID RSD309, which is the Presidential plane.
While no one can be sure who – if anyone – is actually on these government evacuation aircraft which took off out of Moscow, and having shut their transponders off, we cannot know the exact landing site, it is very disconcerting to see this type of military aircraft activity inside Russia at this ungodly hour.
In particular, the Presidential aircraft shut its transponder off after crossing over the Ural Mountains.
Did they then make a U-turn to land at Mount Yamantau?
MOUNT YAMANTAU
Mount Yamantau, along with Kosvinsky Mountain (600 km to the north), are claimed by the United States of being home to a large secret nuclear facility or bunker, or both. Large excavation projects have been observed by U.S. satellite imagery after the fall of the Soviet Union, as recently as the late 1990s during the government of Boris Yeltsin.
During the Soviet era two military garrisons, Beloretsk-15 and Beloretsk-16, and possibly a third, Alkino-2, were built on the site. These garrisons were unified into the closed town of Mezhgorye (Russian: Межгорье) in 1995, and the garrisons are said to house 30,000 workers each, served by large rail lines.
Repeated U.S. questions have yielded several different responses from the Russian government regarding Yamantau, including it is a mining site, a repository for Russian treasures, a food storage area, and a bunker for leaders in case of nuclear war.
Responding to questions regarding Yamantau in 1996, Russia’s Defense Ministry stated: “The practice does not exist in the Defense Ministry of Russia of informing foreign mass media about facilities, whatever they are, that are under construction in the interests of strengthening the security of Russia.”
In 1997, a United States Congressional finding, related to the country’s National Defense Authorization Act for 1998, stated that the Russian Federation kept up a “deception and denial policy” about the mountain complex after U.S. officials had given Cheyenne Mountain Complex tours to Russian diplomats, which the finding stated “… does not appear to be consistent with the lowering of strategic threats, openness, and cooperation that is the basis of the post-Cold War strategic partnership between the United States and Russia.”
So why are these Russian military Government evacuation aircraft in the air over Russia at this strange hour? Why have they shut off their transponders mid-flight?
MEDVEDEV MAKES OMINOUS REMARKS “Nuclear 9/11”
On Sunday, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Federation Council (Senate), made a post to his official Telegram account, calling it “a few words on the eve of [9/11].” In it, he derided the U.S. for what he called its “arrogance and disgusting narcissism” among Western nations and its “universal arrogance on any issue.” Near the end of the post, he also made the ominous prediction that the U.S. would suffer “another 11/09/2001-style attack, but with a nuclear or biological component,” without suggesting outright that Russia would be the nation to launch the attack.
This “mindset” is a direct result of of the “organ of misinformation” funded intentionally to “drum up” anti-China sentiment. This effort is funded in the many billions of US dollars. And it is working.
So…
The question is (better worded) …
“With the American people ripe with rage against China and ready for war… how is China going to respond?”
Oh…
You haven’t noticed?
The value of the USD is approaching that of toilet paper.
The American economy is in tatters, and it is only going to get worse; much worse.
Geo-politically, the “friends” of the United States are slithering away and making arrangments in favor of China.
The American people; uneducated with lofty degrees, a work ethic that resembles a lazy hound-dog on a hot August day, legalized looting at every level, and a media of crazy disinformation are about to ignite a civil war.
Organized crime, mental illnesses, collapsing infrastructure, and crazy levels of inflation, all aggravated with massive drug abuse…
And you (the questioner) somehow thinks that China is worried about the United States and what the American people think?
It’s not even on “the radar screen”.
…
The United States is in CHECK MATE.
Everything that it does; any action it takes, any movement in any direction is a lose move for the nation.
In the slight chance that the United States actually makes a military move against a united China-Russia-North Korean-Iran-BRICS+ axis, the result would be very bad.
Bad as in nuclear bad.
…
Do not go there.
Accept your life and do the best you can for you and yours. Do not worry about things that you have no control over.
I am optimistic about the future.
I really am, but there are many in the West that will have to adjust to a much lower standard of living than they have become accustomed to.
Merkules – ”Rich Men North Of Richmond” Remix (Veteran Reaction)
Here I am doing a reaction to Merkules – ”Rich Men North Of Richmond” Remix. Thank you for taking the time to watch this and for helping me on my journey to 50k subscribers.
Again.
Small Americans are getting a voice. This is the point in time when pitchforks and torches start to get lit.
In fact Francis Ford Coppola deleted a key scene in the movie Apocalypse Now which explains in two minutes what the New York Times couldn’t explain in millions of words in their twelve years of biased reporting.
The United States Office of Strategic Services- the OSS, the precursor to the CIA- invented the Viet Minh to fight the Japanese in wwii. The Viet Minh moved south after the first Indochina war against the French and became known as the Viet Cong. The fact was the U.S. was aware of Ho Chi Minh since he tried to get a meeting with Woodrow Wilson while he was president to elicit U.S. help in his opposition to French colonialism. When war broke out U.S. intelligence agents picked Ho to organize armed resistance against the Japanese and their Vichy French allies in Indochina.
After the Japanese left Indochina in 1945 the British and the French decided that they wanted their respective empires back and instead of holding elections the next year to settle the political situation in Indochina the French battled Ho and General Vo Nguyen Giap for eight years until their ignominious defeat in May, 1954 at a remote valley named Dien Bien Phu.
The United States, which had been bankrolling the French in their losing war at a cost of a million dollars a day continued the war against what was now communist North Vietnam. The United States began it’s war slowly by first setting up military advisory groups in Saigon. Commando missions were initiated from ships at sea to destroy coastal military objectives in the north and naval batteries were used to shell targets up to ten miles inland from the coast. In 1964 the U.S. started launching sorties from aircraft carriers in the Tonkin Gulf to destroy power plants and other targets of high value in the north. The U.S. landed a marine expeditionary brigade (MEB) on the coast of South Vietnam in March of 1965 to provide additional security around the U.S. air base at Da Nang. The marine landing was followed in the next two years by the largest military build up in history with an occupation force eventually totaling over half a million U.S. army troops.
Coppola had to delete the scene at the French plantation because in 1979, four years after the war ended, the truth about the war in Vietnam and how the United States created the conflict and had at various times assisted, armed and bankrolled each side would have been just too much for the American public. Ironically characters in the movie telling the truth about the war in Vietnam would have removed any perceived veracity from Coppola’s film. It was far easier getting the American public to swallow lies about an imaginary ‘Gulf of Tonkin Incident’ or a fictional ‘Domino Theory’ or even that Vietnam was a ‘winnable’ war then it was to get the public to believe actual facts about a long running conflict.
I was going through treatment for cancer back in 2005, and in addition to a surgery I was receiving radiation treatments. There are restrictions on people who receive internal radiation treatments (in my case, it was a large dose of radioactive Iodine 131) and then being sent home after taking the dosage. In the past, I had been kept in the hospital for the treatment in a special hospital room that was lined with lead panels, and the toilet sewer system was sent to a specific tank, where it was kept before being sent to the public sewage system.
At any rate, after taking the treatment I was told to spend three days in isolation, and a few extra days staying away from small children and pregnant women. (It was a a different time, and perspectives on cancer treatments and radiation.)
Anyway, I came home and met my pregnant neighbor near the front door to the building. I stepped away from her and told her I was going through radiation treatment and that I didn’t want to harm her or her baby. She smiled, went in, and a few minutes later I went to my apartment.
About 2 hours later, I heard a knock at my door. It was around 5 o’clock in the afternoon, and I went to the door and asked who is it, but got no answer. I opened the door, and on a tray was a meal of beef tips and noodles, some home baked bread, a single flower in a vase, and a note. The note was from my pregnant neighbor, and she had written something like my mom had cancer and I wanted you to know that I am available to talk if you need anything.
Nicest response I got from anyone who ever found out that I was a cancer patient.
China STRIKES BACK at Neocons as Biden ‘Disappointed’ Xi Skips G20 w/ Carlos Martinez & Ken Hammond
This conversation is so good, unbiased and informative.
Southern Shrimp and Grits
Southern Shrimp and Grits is a cheesy delight, and the bacon and green onions add a ton of flavor!
2023 09 16 15 12
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 slices bacon, chopped
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup instant grits
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
4 green onions, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium-heat heat until crisp.
Drain on paper towels; set aside.
Bring water and salt to boil in medium saucepan.
Slowly stir in grits. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Cook for 7 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cheese; set aside.
Add shrimp, onions and garlic to skillet; cook and stir 3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.
As I write this, the latest typhoon is making landfall. In this case, it is typhoon Saola. ZH and GZ self-defense forces are on alert, and for the population it is “all hands on deck” in readiness. It is a “Super Typhoon” of level 17. Could be brutal. (Of course, by the time you all read this, the event will be long over.) We are braced, and all of our activities are in postponement mode.
…
I found out why all the emails to laobangbh@163.com never reached me.
It seems that I was a victim of numerous “saturation attacks” where thousands of emails spam my inbox. The objective of these kinds of attacks is to render your email system inert and useless, as most email accounts have a limit on how many emails can exist.
I have been trying to erase the emails. The 163 software only allow batches of 10 to 20 emails at a time (page by page). I have 73,652 pages of attack emails interspersed with an occasional email of value.
I figure that it will take me half a year to clean out the mails if I devote about 20 minutes a day to erase the emails manually. I am thinking about contacting the 163 server for assistance, but my Chinese is shit in specialized situations such as this, and I am not VIP on this account. Ugh!
…
Back in the 1990s my wife and I had some friends that we used to “hang out” with. We would drink beer and play video games or watch a movie or two. They also had a cat.
It was one frigid Winter night in January while we were inside, and their cat was in heat. It was driving “Misty” our friend, bonkers. But outside was a howling blizzard, and the temperature was -20F, hardly healthy, and quite dangerous. But, I well remember, while the cat was standing at the door howling… she opened the door and let her out saying “go out and have fun, you slut”, and then slammed it shut.
I don’t know what happened to the kitty. Knowing cats, it probably found some kind of shelter. But, still…
For me, I greatly lament what happened. Why didn’t I stop her?
Well, it happened too quickly. It occurred and was over long before I could react.
And there, somewhere in the swirling snow, and darkness, the kitty went to follow her instincts. Right or wrong.
…
We all have to be more aware of the things going on around us. More mindful. More careful and more compassionate.
Todays…
The results of the BRICS summit are great, isolation as a weapon of the USA has been defeated forever — Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
2023 08 25 21 34
“It is not BRICS that threatens the United States of America, it is the state of the USA, its liberal economy, the neoliberal model. I think that the expansion of BRICS will not be some kind of cold shower for the USA, Great Britain and the EU. I think it is too soft and too light a term. It will become a new reality for everyone, and it will be a demonstration of this new reality that they hide and do not show on American channels,” she said.
WOW!! OLIVER ANTHONY I WANT TO GO HOME (EMOTIONAL)
BRICS has very few advantages to countries that aren’t a direct threat to the WEST and are thus ignored by the WEST
2023 09 01 18 49
It’s why Indonesia wasn’t very keen to join BRICS
It enjoys a relatively nice and non aligned foreign policy and isn’t a threat to any one and enjoys business with China and the West equally
Thus no advantages in joining BRICS and a lot of disadvantages including joining a group consisting two nations bitterly opposed to US Hegemony
2023 09 01 18 49e
Same reason why Nigeria is unlikely to join BRICS
Nigeria is already a member of the BRI and has very good trade relationships with China but also has a good relationship with the West who doesn’t really care much about Nigeria because today it’s irrelevant
So it’s joining BRICS is irrelevant
2023 09 01 18 5f0
Today the only nations that can have huge advantages in joining BRICS are those nations which are :-
Directly in the sight of the Western Nations and are at risk of being caught out by sudden cut off from access to the West and it’s financial systems like RUSSIA, SAUDI ARABIA, CHINA and IRAN
Have Non Democratic Stable Rule that is deemed as Dictatorship by the West who will meddle for subservience – Saudi Arabia, Iran, China etc
Have experienced the high handedness of the West and realize the safety in joining an Alliance that offers an alternate route to avoid chaos and disaster that could arise from a western retaliation – UAE, IRAN, SAUDI ARABIA, RUSSIA
Want to have a foot in two camps to avoid being completely dependent on either side – BRAZIL, INDIA
Have been so badly destroyed by the Western Financial System despite having lots of resources that they HAVE to join an alternate alliance for some stability and development – CUBA, VENEZUELA, ARGENTINA
BRICS is a protection from the West in case the West decides to pull a Russia again
Thus it’s not for 90% of the nations of the world
Algeria, Myanmar, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Libya, Turkey are other countries who would have tremendous advantages
This rises a question
Does India have any advantages?
Yes
A Foot in both camps
India is a member of QUAD and SCO
India is a member of BRICS and G20
It offers options and high leverage
However I don’t see a future for India in BRICS+ for very long
It’s basically becoming a “Anti Western Group” and India and Brazil and South Africa will find fewer common ground items than China, Russia, Saudi and Iran
Au Jus Beef and Noodles
OIPv
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
2 pounds stew beef meat
2 (7 ounce) cans sliced mushrooms, undrained
2 cups beef broth
1 (1 ounce) package dry au jus gravy mix
Worcestershire sauce to taste
Salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste
Hot cooked noodles
Instructions
Place stew meat in slow cooker.
Add beef broth and mushrooms.
Add seasonings to taste and sprinkle in au jus gravy mix to taste.
Cover; cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours.
Serve over hot cooked noodles.
Notes
Store any leftover gravy mix in a cool, dry place in an airtight container.
My mother lived and worked in Shanghai from 1945 – 1949. She kept a diary during the time she was there. You can read about it here: An interesting diary
My mother came from a privileged family in late Qing and Republican China; she grew up in a famous hutong home in Beijing, and her father was the controller of the Peking – Hankow Railway when it was built, owned and managed by the French following the Boxer Rebellion. She went to missionary schools and spoke English from an early age.
She lived and worked in Shanghai after the Allies, including the Republic of China (the People’s Republic did not yet exist) defeated Japan. She worked with the United Nations Refugee Relief Association (UNRRA) office in Shanghai.
The thing to remember about Shanghai is that it was, until 1942, a foreign treaty port, which was organized into something called the Shanghai International Settlement. After 1942, the Unequal Treaties which made the treaty port system possible was abolished, and it became part of the Republic of China.
The interesting thing about the Shanghai of that time is that a horse-racing track occupied the city center, which was called the 跑馬汀。If you go to Shanghai now, it is called People’s Square. The racetrack was abolished by the Communists after 1949.
The two best-known universities in Shanghai were St. John’s for men, and St. Mary’s for women. These were founded by the British, and were Anglican.
This may surprise you, but there actually were Chinese who had grown up and lived in Shanghai who were so westernized that they DID NOT SPEAK CHINESE, but only English. My mother had several cousins who were like this. They did not fare well under the Communists after 1949.
I have not had the time to go through all of my mother’s diaries, but I read one entry where she mentioned going dancing one evening at a nightclub called Argentina.
Sometimes I think about tracking down where that nightclub once stood.
Reacting to Oliver Anthony – “Rich Men North of Richmond” | Wilson Brothers
It’s not difficult to use chopsticks at all. And it certainly isn’t an art form. Using chopsticks is just the most efficient, most practical way for many Asians (not all Asians, of course) to consume our meals.
My niece started using chopsticks when she was about 3 years old. She might not have held them the “proper” way, but as long as she could eat with them, it was all good. She was a 3-year-old kid – expectations were quite low.
How hard can using chopsticks be if a 3-year-old can do it? Come on now.
There is a place called Jigokudani Hot Spring in Japan, where there is a kind of “Snow Monkey”. Every winter, snow and snow. It is very cold, and the temperature will drop to about 30 °C.
Fortunately, there are many hot springs in that place. Hot springs can reach about 40 degrees, so the monkeys there learned how to soak in hot springs. The view of a group of monkeys leisurely taking a leisurely dip in the hot springs is very good to many people. Therefore, this place has gained fame as a special tourist destination.
Some people may feel very warm looking at these photos, but they are like both sides of a coin. Tourists only see the warm side.
In fact, not all monkeys can take hot springs. There is a strict hierarchy among monkeys. Only high-grade monkeys can take hot springs, and low-grade monkeys cannot take hot springs no matter how cold they are. They cannot tolerate the cold, but once in the water, they will be bitten and expelled by high-level monkeys, so they can only shiver in the air and snow.
There is a temperature difference of about 70 degrees inside and outside the hot spring. Sometimes that’s the difference between life and death. Moreover, this system is “hereditary”. Low-grade monkey-producing monkeys are also not eligible to take hot springs. In other words, some monkeys naturally belong to the vulnerable group, which is unfair.
NATO CROSSES RUSSIA’S RED LINE | SCOTT RITTER ON CHINA’S WARNING TO BIDEN | PUTIN VISITS XI + MORE!
Russia is not stupid, neither they will not forget. They will retaliate.
Sotria Kritsornis was standing waiting for the bus to take her to school. The snow was coming down hard, and she was stood in the cold for an hour. As she stood waiting, a car pulled up beside her and rolled down his window. “I’ve come down Rainer Avenue, and that’s a long way, and there’s no bus in sight. Would you like a Ride?”
22-year-old Sotria didn’t feel anything off with the man. He was polite and charming, and they were the same age. Everything seemed relaxed as the guy driving began talking about school. When she suddenly realised he was going in the wrong direction, the man’s demeanour changed.
He suddenly began shouting at her, “Why did you take this ride? Why did you even think about getting in this car? You’re never going to make it to school.”
Sotria knew there and then that her life was in extreme danger. She thought about jumping from the moving car, but when she went for the door handle, it was gone. She sat in the car terrified as he continued to scream at her. There was no doubt in her mind that she was in the presence of evil, and it was only a matter of when.
Suddenly the man’s demeanour changed again, he almost seemed disappointed. Sotria had just gotten a haircut and was wearing a hat since it was snowing out. The man driving seemed distracted by her hat and suddenly asked her to take it off.
She was reluctant and when she did take it off the man was surprised. She suddenly realised the man must have been watching her before she got the haircut. He continued to drive for about an hour, before stopping outside her school.
He shoved her out of the car and onto the ground with some force before turning to Sotria and telling her she was lucky.
About a year later, Sotria was at home watching telly. A news report flashed across the screen and her blood ran cold. A picture of a man and his “Volkswagen Bug” appeared on the telly. A man who went by the name Ted Bundy was being charged with multiple murders and it was to her shock she realised she almost became one of his victims.
Because unlike normal porn, you can share food porn with anyone, even your aunt.
Food photos are among the most popular posts on Chinese social media.
We can tell others about this or that dish – where you can find it, what it tastes like, whether it comes with an interesting backstory, we can recommend this or that food establishment to others, share recipes with others, be inspired so that we can try out some cool new tricks with our own cooking, etc.
In my experience, few people dislike food porn. Those who do tend to view food more as “fuel” rather than something to enjoy and delight the senses.
I’m more than happy to share food porn with others.
Here is a picture of some 喜洲粑粑 (Xǐzhōu bābā).
Xizhou is the name of a lakeside village just outside Dali’s old town in China’s Yunnan province. Baba is the local slang for bread.
Baba is a type of thick, round, heavy bread that comes plain or with various fillings – and the fillings can be either sweet or savory.
A savory filling could be pork mince + spring onion + spiced salt. A sweet filling could be brown sugar + rose petal jam + red bean.
It is a popular street food and makes for great breakfast nosh.
So, when people say stuff like “Oh, Chinese don’t eat bread you know!”, take that claim well salted.
main qimg 0326409f7fb1befa9b59d1a011ef14bb
THIS IS OLIVER ANTHONY’S BEST SONG YET! “I Want To Go Home” REACTION
My friend Lisa was in her early 40s, and had congestive heart failure. She was a trooper despite her physical struggles. She grew up in a ‘tough’ city environment, and had the attitude to boot. She was typically a bit high strung, but on this afternoon she was the most mellow I had ever seen her.
Her daughter was at my house playing with my daughter. Lisa came to pick her up after she had stopped at the drugstore to pick up her monthly supply of heart and related medications. Her meds filled a small paper bag. Mellow Lisa proceeded to tell me what went down at the drugstore 10 minutes earlier.
Lisa legally parked her car in the handicapped spot just outside the store’s door. She joked with the pharmacists inside, telling them that if it weren’t for her they’d be out of a job (LOL). She left the store and proceeded, medicine bag in hand, to her car in the handicapped parking space.
A woman was loitering in and out of the store most of the day. When Lisa left, she was hanging around not far from Lisa’s car. As Lisa went to unlock her car door, the woman jumped Lisa and attempted to steal her purse and medications.
Lisa went ape-shit on her ass and flattened her. Lisa ended up sitting on top of the woman and smacking her in the face, much like little Ralphie did to Scut Farcus on ‘A Christmas Story’. She screamed at the woman while giving her the smackdown, “You think you can come here from the city and mug people? Well I’m from the city, too! You picked the WRONG BITCH to fuck with!”.
Just then, a police officer showed up. He happened to be an acquaintance of Lisa’s. He kept saying, “Lisa get off her…I got this!!”. He finally pulled Lisa off the mugger and sent her on her way as he arrested the mugger.
It was ten minutes later that Lisa showed up at my house, mellow as could be. I told her she should buy herself a punching bag for daily use since she felt so much better! She said, “Wow, I haven’t felt this relaxed in a LONG time!”.
I was pretty impressed. A heart patient requiring a handicapped parking space takes out her would-be mugger! Gotta love it!
Sadly, Lisa passed away in 2008 when her big old heart finally gave out. I never knew a more hilarious woman in my life.
I miss you girl!
BEATBOXER REACTS! I Oliver Anthony-Rich Men North of Richmond
The situation around Taiwan and the ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea are forcing the PRC to invest in defence capabilities. From 2024 to 2028, the authorities intend to spend a crazy $1.4 trillion to modernise the People’s Liberation Army. The average annual growth rate will be 6.6 per cent.
The defence strategy emphasises the formation of a dominant navy. To achieve this, China plans to implement several forward-looking programmes. In particular, to acquire a fourth aircraft carrier, as well as destroyers of the Type 055 class and frigates of the Type 054A class.
China also wants to commission a Type 096-class nuclear-powered submarine armed with ballistic missiles. The submarine will receive JL-3 intercontinental ballistic missiles with a launch range of up to 9,000 kilometres, capable of carrying three nuclear warheads.
US policy slowing down China’s economy w/ Jeffrey Sachs
About 8 years ago, my dad, aged about 70 at the time, is driving my son aged about 4, and myself into a nearby town. We are driving through the outskirts, in a 40 zone and slowing down as we are about to enter a 30 zone. A hundred yards up ahead are about 6 ‘youths’…aged late teens, possibly up to 20 yrs, all messing about on mountain bikes…doing wheelies and doing skids into the middle of the road. Dad slows down and they move a little to one side, still farting about. One loses control and the bike shoots over and skids in front of my dad’s car, the rider coming off and sliding over the bonnet (hood) of the car, and up the windscreen before sliding off the other side.
Dad hurtles out of the car, closely followed by me, expecting to see some mangled mess of a teen on the floor. Luckily he was fine, getting up, dusting himself off. We’d barely let out a breath of relief when he turns onto my dad – yelling abuse at him, calling him a ****ed up retard…old ****er etc etc. Then his mates drop their bikes to the floor and start advancing on my dad…’come on old man, ready to be ****ed up?’…
Now my dad, back in his day was pretty good at karate….something he did weekly for about 15 years. He is also a very fit man – from that generation of wily, hands-on men who just get on and do things…..breaking up concrete with a pickaxe or sledgehammer – knocking down walls, building walls and so on. So these 6 or so youths start to circle in on dad, I step back a bit to lock the car doors…the first lad, the one who’d slid over dad’s bonnet makes a lunge for my dad, fist punching out towards his face. Dad grabs his wrist, yanks it down and before I could say a single word, has got this kid on his knees, on the road, arm bent back, hand folded back in a somewhat unnatural position. The kid is screaming…’let me go!! Get off!! You’re breaking my hand!!! Get off!!!’
Still holding him by one hand, dad makes a small step towards the other boys….drops the kid’s hand and takes up a karate pose. The kids just turn tail and run…the other boy gets up and legs it after them. Dad just giggles in delight and with an almighty yell….hurtles down the road after them, yelling like a maniac. If the boys were running 5 seconds ago, now they are really running like Usain Bolt with an axe is chasing them, and I am doubled up laughing. Eventually, I pick up the boy’s bikes and lean them against a garden hedge and wait for dad to saunter back having run a hundred yards or so after them.
We still laugh about it – I’m not sure what those boys thought they were going to do to my father, but they really didn’t see that coming. They definitely picked on the wrong person :)))
Beef Burgundy
beef bourguignon 3 1048×1572 1
Ingredients
2 slices bacon, chopped
2 pounds sirloin tip or round steak, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 beef bouillon cube, crushed
1 cup Burgundy wine
1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
Instructions
In large skillet, cook bacon several minutes. Remove bacon and set aside.
Coat beef with flour and brown on all sides in bacon mixture.
Combine steak, bacon drippings, cooked bacon, seasonings, bouillon, and Burgundy in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or until meat is tender.
Turn control to HIGH. Add mushrooms; cook on HIGH for 15 minutes.
To thicken sauce, if desired, add cornstarch (dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water) with mushrooms.
I had an employer try that crap with me once (kind of)—only I was given a heads up from a dear friend that I was being RIFed, so I had already cleared out my entire office. I had even locked myself out of a system I administered prior to my RIF meeting. When they were going through the separation checklist and told me I could only take with me what I had with me at the time, I said, “Okay, no problem.” When they asked me about scheduling a time to retrieve the rest of my stuff (I’d worked there almost 20 years, so there WAS a lot of stuff), I told them I didn’t have anything else to retrieve. They were shocked. When they had someone quickly verify that my office was indeed cleaned out, they started insisting that I review with them what I had already taken, reveal to them who tipped me off, etc. I simply handed them my pre-prepared ziplock with my ID, proximity badge, building keys, and wiped work iPhone, and left. They insisted that I walk out a particular door. I walked out the door closest to where I was parked that day (with them threatening me the whole time). They were LIVID and could barely see straight. My confidante still works there! It’s hilarious and extremely satisfying.
Scott Ritter clip on what the Pentagon Generals told the White House.
Stop the provocations with China. In any conflict with China, the USA will lose, and lose badly.
Clip segment pre-set at the position in the long video.
Russia legally can’t extradite Snowden, because there is no bilateral extradition agreement between Russia and the USA. America doesn’t extradite our criminals either. Also, Snowden is not a criminal from the Russian legal point of view.
Because his American passport was annulled, Russia was unable to send Snowden to any other country without some kind of special arrangement. So, the choice was between forcing Snowden to stay in the international airport in Moscow indefinitely, or providing him with asylum. After some deliberation, Putin chose the latter.
Snowden actually wanted asylum in Hong Kong (China) or South America, but nobody was really willing to take him in. It made sense for Russia to show its ability to challenge America without getting bombed, but it was not an easy decision for Putin. Because Snowden wasn’t a Russian agent or asset, and Russia had no obligation to protect him. Also, Putin’s opinion about Snowden is rather low. He doesn’t condone his actions. And Snowden doesn’t like Putin either. He openly says that in his interviews.
Russia can’t use Snowden because his access to secrets is long gone. We have IT experts of his caliber of our own, and nobody will trust him with access to our secrets and security networks. Really, he is a burden. But a relatively light one.
Snowden doesn’t work with Russian security services because he wants to return to America at some point. This is technically possible, as long as he stays just a whistleblower and not a traitor. Because the CIA and its ilk have some access to Russian state secrets, they would know when and if he would start cooperating with the FSB and its ilk.
This one is easy, sadly. My “mother” called CPS on me last year. Just because I wasn’t talking to her. My world was turned upside down with one phonecall.
One day a sheriff came to my house. I was surprised because I’m not one to get into trouble or piss anyone off. He said he was there to check on mine and my children’s welfare. I was confused. He said my mother had called and said I hadn’t talked to her in over a year, my husband was abusive and holding me captive, and I was doing heroin and meth. I looked at him and said, “you’ve got to be kidding me!” He assured me it was for real. I told him I spoke to her about 2 months ago, there’s no ball and chain behind me, and I damn sure ain’t doing heroin or meth. He actually laughed. I told him she’s got issues and I don’t want nothing to do with her. He said, “well you look healthy, you’re not locked in a cellar, and your kids are at school where they should be so I’ll be on my way.” I thanked him for his time and off he went. I was steaming pissed that day. I wondered what is wrong with that woman. Now I really won’t talk to her.
The next day, during the afternoon before the kids got home from school, there was a knock on the door. I open the door and there is a sheriff and social worker. Dumbfounded, I ask if I can help them. They tell me someone has made a report to CPS and they’re there to investigate. I was floored to say the least. So we sit down and the social worker begins to interrogate me. She then begins to list the allegations. She tells me I’m supposedly mentally ill, doing heroin and meth, being manipulated and abused by my husband, my children run around unsupervised, the kids aren’t adequately cared for, etc. I broke down and sobbed in disbelief. I asked who made this report and was told it was “anonymous”. I knew by the heroin and meth and husband abusing me bit exactly who it was. The show had just begun.
Another sheriff arrives shortly after. They ask if they can search my home. I said “for what”, and was told if I didn’t consent they would take my kids away. Reluctantly, I said “fine I have nothing to hide.” As the sheriff’s are upstairs searching I’m still being interrogated downstairs by the social worker. My husband arrived and was very upset about the situation, naturally. He’s even more angry seeing me a mess in tears having to be asked appalling questions. Next thing you know, there’s a knock at the door. Lo and behold it’s another sheriff. He waltzes in and I ask what the hell he’s here for. The sheriff’s come downstairs with an empty box that my husband had under our bed from a gun he purchased. They asked where the gun was and he replied it was in the car. They asked to see it and he refused. He’s not a felon and it’s registered and completely legal. That seemed to piss them off but they had no grounds to take it or see it.
So here we are. Sitting in the living room with the social worker and sheriff while another one is in the kitchen and one in the dining room. Why, I couldn’t even tell you. The sheriff had a brown paper bag and said there was some “evidence” in it. He pulled out some pill bottles. He asked me what they were for. I told him I suffer from depression and anxiety. I also take something for an opiate addiction. I’m in recovery and take a preventable medicine. Well, they thought they got me there. Mentally unstable and a drug addict. Perfect ammunition to use against me. They looked at me as though I was despicable. Scum. I could feel the judgement through my bones. The social worker asked my husband and I to accompany her to the kitchen.
That’s when she pulls out the drug tests. She asked if we were willing to take a voluntary drug test. We said absolutely. He went first, then I went. There we were in our home with 3 sheriff’s and a CPS worker peeing in a cup to prove ourselves not to be drug addicts. I felt completely violated. The tests took a few minutes to come out but they were negative. Almost disappointed, she let us see them and told us they were clean. I felt validated, but still so angry. My kids come home from school and ask what’s going on. I didn’t even know what to say. I just told them to get a snack and go to their room and I’d be with them shortly. The social worker said we could wrap up for now, but she’d be in touch. I kindly led them out. My husband and I just looked at each other and didn’t even say a word. We were both too upset to even talk. Every aspect of our privacy and humanity had been stripped of us. Then we had to explain to the kids what was going on. After that we had to clean our home because when the sheriff’s went through our belongings they had just thrown things about and had no respect for our things.
The next day the kids informed me after school that a social worker had come to visit them to ask them questions about mom and dad. They were scared and upset. I told them it would be okay. As long as they told the truth everything would be fine. We’ve got nothing to hide. The social worker paid me a few more visits. Each time I was cooperative and willing to do whatever was needed. Anything to get them to go away and stay away. Turns out my mother had called the principal at school asking him questions about my kids. “Were they stinky, dirty, did they look well fed”, things like that. Then someone who claimed to be an uncle called and did the same. The principal got so uncomfortable he called the social worker and told her he was being harassed and didn’t want to deal with it. She finally said without saying in certain words it was my mother who filed the report. She admitted that the situation was very unusual. She paid me a last visit to let me know that not one claim could be substantiated. She apologized for the intrusion. She told me the case was closed and she would report back to my mother that all is well.
Only after having our house ripped apart, taking drug tests, having my children interrogated at school, calling my psychiatrist, pharmacy, family and friends were we deemed fit enough parents. I can’t begin to tell you what this situation has done to me. You’re probably wondering if I confronted my mother. I sent her a text message after all was said and done and asked her if she had any idea what she had done. I asked what she was thinking. I know what she did. To not only me, but her grandkids. Well, she had nothing to say about it. So I left it there. If she ever comes to her senses and wants to explain herself and apologize profusely I will give her a chance. But never will I go out of my way to have any kind of relations with her. As far as the kids, they want nothing to do with her. That is their choice. I told them they are free to talk to her and see her if they wish they should not suffer anymore. They said they would rather not. So be it.
That is the cruelest thing a parent has done to me. I could give more stories believe me, but I think I’ve said enough for now.
I must admit that I enjoy a cold left over pizza in the morning. It goes good with black coffee. It doesn’t matter what kind of pizza, or how much, or what the toppings are. You can reheat it or not. Personally, I guess I am strange, I prefer the cold pizza in the morning. Who figures, eh?
2023 09 02 13 44
It’s an American thing.
Pizza is an American food, and one of the things that I love, but cannot eat too much of. It tends to make my body rotund, and you guys know that I am in the process of losing weight.
…
I am at 85Kg today.
Last week I was at 90Kg, and (if you recall) my BMI listed me as obese. I said “NO!”, and then lost 5Kg in one week!
I also noticed that I became weak at noon and needed a nap, and afterwards I really needed to urinate. I noticed that my urine became very thick and deep in color.
My waist shrank.
But you know, the rest of my body is still bony as ever. LOL.
…
What I did was change my diet to “slight”.
Breakfast = 1/2 cup of black coffee.
Lunch = One small chicken burger or Baozi.
Dinner = Tiny dinner. Vegetables with meat and small portion of rice.
No snacks.
Today, we are going to sponsor another meal with friends. The excuse is a shared birthday. We rented a room and we will be drinking a case of Shiraz, and 5 liters of Guoji wine. (37% alcohol).
I’m sure to gain some weight. But I will not glutton out, We will enjoy fine seafood, BBQ chicken and other tasty morsels and sign and dance until midnight, and then take my daughter to bed.
Then I will return back to my (now normal) routine.
…
My affirmations agree with my new lifestyle.
I’m one week into my latest campaign and the transformations are stunning. I am actually witnessing the slides manifest in real time. Not since my Majestic days have I experienced such “easy” changing.
…
My daughter has really taken to boxing, and loves to spar with me. So I get on my knees and allow her to punch me relentlessly. It’s a father’s duty, don’t you know.
She also loves Hip-Hop. Ah. She’s a natural.
And sports; she loves basketball. And she can dribble like there is no tomorrow!
Not too bad for a four-year old. LOL.
…
While she understand my English, she has preferred to speak in Chinese. But lately, she has been speaking to me in English, and it makes me very happy. Still, it’s baby-English and she speaks it like it’s Chinese, but still, it makes me glad.
I’m a proud father.
…
The world continues to turn.
The “news” has hit the stratosphere and now orbits the earth in some kind of lime-loop. And we all move on with our lives one way or the other.
The editors and their owners are absolutely clueless.
…
Typhoon hit yesterday. Today is a steady medium rain with small squall gusts. Much flooding. Some debris on the ground, and some trivial damage. Most of the trees are intact and remain rooted in place.
We took a ride out to check out the damage. Trees are down. Flooding everywhere. Many shops closed. Leaves galore. Some damage to face scanners, cameras, and traffic lights. The thermal scanners are mostly intact, though.
We drove in circles looking for a snack place that served coffee and hybrid / fusion food. Only one open was good, but the dishes served were too big. We wanted a light snack, not a banquet. Sheech!
We swam the car home, dusted off the branches and leaves and ordered home-delivery. I ordered some Zha Jiang Mian for myself and a cup of coffee, the rest got some pigs feet, Chinese spinach and some rice. Ok. Fair enough.
Zha Jiang Mian
Zha Jiang Mian is very much like American spaghetti. Only the sauce is very thick with lots or ground pork, and thickened with bean paste. You can eat it spicy if you want. Often it is served with these toothpick thin slices of cucumber, which you stir into the noodles.
Its one of my favorites.
I just cannot believe the Chinese expats being happy in the USA and not being able to enjoy such delicious Chinese food on demand. You have to make it at home. Sheech! What a pain!
This is what Cleverly thought he can do in China in one day:
2023 09 01 21 46
He thinks the U.K. is a peer to China and for the sake of the British people and the world, he wants China to work with the U.K. on climate change, prevent nuclear proliferation, and matter relating to AI and other technologies.
It’s humiliating if you think so much of yourself and China politely listens to you and quickly send you off home without discussing any of these.
What Cleverly can’t admit to is that the U.K. needs economic assistance and densely believes that the U.K. can get it from China while barking ever so loudly as a U.S. lapdog.
LOL.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
China doesn’t care if the U.K. is ignoring China.
It’s just that China is simply ignoring the U.K.
LOL!
(Burst of laughing loudly and rolling on the floor.)
Cleverly hasn’t realized it yet that the U.K. is irrelevant to most of the world.
The African nations are rich in natural resources, but are weak in infrastructure development, especially transport infrastructure. China is now the world’s leading manufacturing nation, and it needs raw materials and natural resources to keep Chinese factories busy. For this reason, it makes sense for Chinese construction companies to improve the transport infrastructure of the African nations;
The quality of government and governance in the African nations has been gradually improving, and the African farmers and miners of today are destined to become the African consumers of tomorrow. It makes sense for China and Chinese companies to improve their standard of living so that these Africans will eventually buy the output of Chinese manufacturers, instead of only supplying raw materials to Chinese manufacturers;
Because the African economies will become more important, it makes perfect sense for China to build goodwill with future African political leaders and business leaders and entrepreneurs. If they attend Chinese schools, learn Chinese, and understand Chinese culture, they will become future ambassadors for China in their home countries, and will be well disposed to building bridges between their government, society and Chinese official and business interests. These societies are also likely to have significant local Chinese populations which will serve as bridges between China and their new African home countries. Because China’s relationship with Africa has never been tainted by a history of brutality, racism and slavery, Chinese and Africans are able to deal with each other equally, and are not burdened with negative historical stereotypes based on racism and discrimination. This racism, discrimination and condescending attitude are something which western societies have great difficulty escaping from, which hinders the development of relations with the African nations and societies. For Africans, this mutual respect with China and Chinese based on pursuing their individual interests, and seeking shared interests when possible, is a breath of fresh air.
Chinese manufacturers have the know-how many African nations need to move up the value chain. Some of the lower value-added manufacturers, such as textile manufacturers, may move some of their operations to African nations since the Chinese government no longer sees China as being leaders in these areas, and is encouraging high-tech manufacturing development, especially with the Made in China 2025 plan. So far, most Chinese textile makers have been moving to Vietnam, Thailand and SE Asia, but it is likely that some will move their operations to African nations. This will help Africans to get their first step into manufacturing. In contrast, during the colonial period, the British, French and Germans never allowed manufacturing in Africa, instead preferring to keep Africans poor and underdeveloped. China and the Chinese have no such agenda.
To sum up, China is not giving away free money.
China is investing in the African consumer of the future, and sees them as important future Chinese partners.
China Exposed the US Call to Ban Anti Satellite Missile Tests; Fake Arm Control!
Chinese laser technology and rail-gun are more advanced than the U.S.’ ones, while Russia has the most advanced hypersonic missiles. The U.S. lags behind in those fields. That’s why, the latter tries to prevent these cutting edge technologies from destroying Western satellites in case of conflicts. The Americans also aim at slow down the progress of the Russian and China space industries. When Russia and China hadn’t such technologies, the U.S. didn’t offer peaceful use of space, because of Russia and China lagged behind American military and space technologies. It’s too late !
https://youtu.be/EhTFmIswgVU
The “government” is simply fucking with us…
You’ve got to be kidding me…
2023 09 02 12 20
Beef Curry
2023 08 25 21 45
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
3 pounds beef round steak, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup raisins
2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
2 apples, unpeeled, cored and finely chopped
Fluffy rice
Instructions
Dry beef well with a paper towel.
Mix flour and curry powder.
Coat meat cubes with flour mixture.
Place meat in slow cooker.
Add garlic, raisins, sliced apples, onion, salt and pepper.
Pour in broth and stir to blend.
Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours until meat is tender.
Before serving, stir in additional curry powder to taste (up to 1 tablespoon) and chopped apples.
Kangaroos! They are a lot bigger than what I’d imagined. These days what with YouTube one can get a good idea about their size, but when I went to Australia I had no idea. I also imagined them to be, you know, out in the bush or somewhere out there away from civilization, but no, I get up in the morning and look out the window and there a pretty big dog outside. Then it stands up and is about 8 feet tall, well maybe not 8 feet, but hella big. My brain sort of short circuits for a second until I realize I’m looking at a kangaroo! Big and in the suburbs of a large city!
I burst out of the room yelling that there’s a giant kangaroo in the back yard! My friend, er… mate says, “Yup, he’s probably eating the dog’s food”. He doesn’t even bother to look. Later we go out the front door and there’s a couple more just standing there. I’m slack jawed and he just walks past them, gets in the car, and off we go. Kangaroos!
Oliver Anthony – I Want To Go Home And Rich Men North Of Richmond (Reaction)
I have been asked to tell the following story many times, and it became so famous that I was even asked to record it for NPR.
I worked for a high-tech company when high-tech was just starting to make an impact on the world. This was before the internet, even before everyone had PCs. We had one IBM PC for the entire department and it was a thrill to use it. I say this just to give an impression of how things have changed since then.
Our company made high speed modems, but the fastest anyone could do in those days was 9600bps, and you paid 10,000 dollars a piece for each modem — and you needed at least two of them, one for each end. We had invented a mechanism that would double that rate to 19,200bps, which was like lightning at the time. The benefits were immediately apparent and every major company wanted them, damn the cost. Unfortunately, the techniques we were using were in their infancy and had lots of bugs. Even though we were selling them like ice cream on a hot day, they didn’t really work as advertised.
A huge oil company bought a massive amount of product. Their plan was to link all of their gas stations across the US to their central site and have the managers report daily sales to the home office. This previously had been done by mail or phone and was slow and inefficient. With a modem system they could know what their revenues were to the penny overnight, or even several times during the day. They did some cursory testing on the devices and rolled them out. But they didn’t work.
Our engineers worked day and night to fix the issues but it turned out to be intractable. There were grave concerns that we might never solve the problem. Our salesman for the company was a brave and confident expert with years of experience but he was becoming increasingly despondent. The customer was agitated and angry and threatening to return the product. This would have been a huge setback, possibly a death blow to the company. They were by far our biggest customer and by far the biggest sale we had ever achieved. And the salesman would not get his commission.
I was the manager of the business unit, newly promoted into the role at the age of 26. I thought I was something special, and to be honest if not modest, I was a world-wide expert on these technologies and frequently flown around the world to solve problems. But what I didn’t know was that behind the scenes the senior managers of this customer were now DEMANDING a reckoning with our company. Our management knew it was the end if we did not have a solution, and we had no solution.
The salesman set up a meeting with the Senior Vice President of this oil company, a man who probably had the power to overthrow third world countries or have people killed. Suddenly, the President of our company had pressing business in Europe. So did every other executive down the line until, casting about, they looked at me. I was to be the sacrificial lamb they would send to the slaughter. I was told to go “make nice” with the customer to buy more time. I was unaware of the political issues behind the scene. If I failed, I would be unceremoniously fired as a token of good faith. The salesman knew it. I did not.
Thinking this was going to be yet another triumphant visit, and with a swelled head, I went out, bought a new suit and briefcase and flew from Boston to the West Coast. I didn’t even have anything to put in the briefcase except a pad and pencil since I wasn’t given any progress report, possible solutions or any token that might mollify them. Management was so certain of disaster that they thought it best I go completely in the dark.
I was picked up by our salesman in his new Jaguar , along with our field engineer, both of whom knew the gravity of our situation and how dire things were. I was cheerful and humming in the car as I took in the sights. I was surprised by their gloomy silence until we got to the customer’s campus. I had never seen anything like it before. Oil money can buy anything, and this building was modern and massive, the lobby was an art museum with original paintings by the Masters.
We didn’t even have to wait. As soon as we announced ourselves we were shown to a conference room. This is when I really got scared. The room was huge with an impossibly long conference table surrounded by the most expensive leather chairs money could buy. There were tuxedoed waiters with white gloves bringing crystal glasses for the pitchers of water. There was a stenographer with a real steno machine to take the minutes. The room was already filled with executives and lawyers speaking to each other in low voices and grim expressions. I knew then that I was doomed.
Finally the door opened and the SVP came in. A hush fell over the room. Here was a man that everyone in that room feared and respected. You could feel the power and electricity coming from him as he strode in. He sat directly opposite me. I blinked stupidly as the sweat rolled down my sides. Next to me our salesman was gripping his Mont Blanc pen like a drowning sailor clutches at a piece of driftwood. On my right the SE sat stoically. No matter what happened, he would be safe — unless the company went broke because of this debacle.
The SVP opened the meeting as if it were a legal proceeding, reading a summary of the problem and all the actions taken to date, emphasizing our failure to solve it. As he got into it he became angrier and angrier. He started pounding the table and he got red as he spoke of how much time and money had been wasted and spoke of “fraud” and “malfeasance” and “misrepresentation”. All of this vitriol was directed at me. He was further insulted that our company had the nerve to send me, of all people, not even a VP. Finally he pointed at me and said in a harsh voice, “If you can’t fix this problem today, right now, around town your name isn’t going to be worth squat!”
And then he sat back in his chair. I can still hear the leather creaking. There wasn’t another sound in the room. Every eye was on me now, and what I would say next. I had nothing. I didn’t even have anything in my briefcase to fumble with for time.
And then, without even thinking, I said, “Around town it was well known that when they got home at night their fat and psychopathic wives would thrash them within inches of their lives”
I couldn’t believe my own ears. I couldn’t believe I had just said that. To my left, our salesman looked at me in horror and tried to pull himself away from me in his chair. The SE had his mouth open. So did all the important lawyers in their suits and suspenders. Even the stenographer looked up from her machine at me. I was well and truly fucked. The SVP wound up to scream at me and I flinched.
Then he stopped.
“Wait a minute,” he said, “I know that line…” “Yes,” I whispered, “It’s from Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ album.” He said, “I knew that. You like Pink Floyd?” “Yes,” I said, “It’s my favorite group.” “Mine too,” he said, suddenly smiling and getting up, “I saw the ‘Wall’ concert in LA in 1980. It was fantastic! I even caught one of Gilmour’s guitar picks. I have it framed in my office with the ticket stubs. Come on, I’ll show you!”
And he got up and walked over to the door. I numbly followed. My ears were ringing and I knew I stunk of sweat and fear. The people in the room were dumbstruck. Everyone had their mouths open or were looking at us in absolute amazement. No one said a word.
As we left the room, the SVP smiled and said to the room, “Oh, we’ll give them a few more weeks,” and he waved them off and we went down the hall. The rest of the visit passed in a blur.
The salesman was pounding the wheel and laughing out loud on the trip back to the airport. “We gotta get you a great big steak,” he said, “You know, you can only get away with that once in your career.” The SE didn’t say a thing except, “I like Pink Floyd too.”
When I got back to the office I was the hero of the hour.
The salesman had called and related the story to everyone he could reach, and I was called into a meeting to recount the adventure. Everyone was laughing and slapping me on the back. It felt good to be the hero for once: tomorrow I would once again be the goat, I was sure. Over the next few weeks we had a dramatic breakthrough in Engineering and the problem was solved, the situation resolved, the customer saved. They went on to buy many thousands more modems.
In 2005, in outskirts of Istanbul Turkey, 1500 sheep were grazing in the field. It was early in the day when all the sheep were relaxing in the field eating there breakfast. The shepherd’s were watching the sheep graze, when they noticed one lone sheep break of from the herd and wander off on it’s own.
This didn’t seem out of the ordinary as sheep tend to wander. They watched as the sheep made it’s way to a cliff edge, but before they even realised what was happening the sheep jumped to it’s death. This was obviously devasting for the shepherd’s watching, and they were definitely not preprepared for what happened next.
Suddenly another sheep left the herd and made it’s way to cliff before following the first sheep to it’s doom. This caused another to follow and jump to it’s death causing a domino effect of suicidal sheep.
main qimg d1a9c2231810618b0ce75407968a7b34
The Shepherds tried in vain to stop the sheep from jumping, but it was like they were determined to follow their brothers into the unknown. The sheep began piling up at the bottom of the cliff, but as the sheep piled up in a mass of blood, guts and wool they began to cushion the rest of the sheep as they hit the ground.
main qimg 41616e7418223a9f8c2a2ea96af45dd9
The whole herd, 1500 in total had jumped, but only 450 perished with the rest being cushioned by the first of the doomed sheep.
THIS IS THE WORLDS ANTHEM! FOR THE PEOPLE! (Reaction) | Oliver Anthony-Rich Men North of Richmond
Absolutely incredible! Oliver Anthony shines light on those hiding in the shadows. Those D’s wanting to C everything we do, while trying to cover up and hide everything they do. THIS is the voice we need!
Many years ago my ex husband and I had our own pottery business.
We sold a lot to members of the British Aristocracy (for some reason it seemed to appeal to them).
We only ever realised who they were when they paid by cheque (credit cards weren’t really a big thing at the time).
We had cheques signed by The Marquis of Bath, The Marchioness of Tavistock, Marquis of Salisbury, Earl Spencer amongst many others.
They were the nicest, most down to earth people that you could wish to meet. All of them were very casually dressed and you would never know that they were aristocracy.
My current husband 🤣 was on guard duty at Windsor Castle during the Falklands conflict. Very early one morning our beautiful late Queen Elizabeth passed him on the way to the stables, no bodyguards or companions. She stopped to talk to him, asking where he was from, about his family. She had no particular need to do so, nothing to prove to anyone.
These people screamed class, without making any sound.
China does not see relationships as being transactional the way the US has;
Russia deserves respect as a sovereign nation which makes its own choices, and if China sold out Russia, it knows that Russia would never trust China again.
It understands that the US always views relationships as transactional, and that it would turn against China when expedient.
Tucker: “We Have Proof Obama was Having Sex With Men, Smoking Crack…”
There is a bunch of pictures of Obama with “a brother”, only before he had the sex change. That’s right. “Michelle is a trans man”.
After a long-running buildup pinpointed by immense expectations all across the Global South, Global Majority, or “Global Globe” (as coined by Belarus President Lukashenko), the BRICS summit in South Africa, on its first day, revealed a “lost in translation” incident that should be taken as a serious warning.
The BRICS Business Forum feed on South African network SABC turned into a BRICS linguistic Babel. The voice of all the translators, simultaneously, was clashing on the feed. Explanations vary from the desire to forge a new Esperanto (not likely); plain incompetence from the sound engineering team; the isolation of the translators in a separate cabin, not warned to turn off their mikes; or last but not least, NSA interference, messing up with the translators’ mic frequencies.
Whatever happened metastasized into a serious impediment for a South African – and international – audience, online, to understand what was being discussed. Even though “lost in translation” would not nullify the BRICS’s ambitious agenda for change, it certainly will be played up to the max by the usual Divide and Rule suspects to boost their already in effect all-round Hybrid War against BRICS.
The Shakespearean de-dollarization drama
Whatever the final concrete results of these potentially game-changing days in Johannesburg – I analyzed the key themes here
– the basic facts are immutable.
China and Russia, as the main drivers, are bent on expanding towards BRICS+ to resist imperial bullying, diplomatic and otherwise; build alternatives to SWIFT; promote economic self-reliance among members and autonomy from the sanctions dementia (which will only increase); and eventually forge an alliance against imperial military threats – with the possibility of BRICS+ merging in the future with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The China factor is arguably the key vector in all these complex, intertwined processes. It’s no wonder that President Xi, in his only second state visit abroad in 2023 (after Russia), will convene a special meeting in Johannesburg with dozens of African heads of state.
by the BRICS summit, with “interest surpassing the G7”. There’s extensive debate on the whole Empire-defying agenda – from de-dollarization to heightened influence in the energy market – and on the China-India divide, with New Delhi often pointed out as a hostile agent inside BRICS.
Sherpas, off the record, as well as diplomats from the current BRICS five (soon to expand) have been extra-cautious to frame the whole debate not on de-dollarization – still a distant prospect – but on alternative trade/payment systems in local currencies.
Yet in his address by videoconference – saluted like a rock star – President Putin was adamant: the de-dollarization process inside BRICS is irreversible.
Yet it’s internal contradictions that stand out when it comes to BRICS+. New Delhi has been extremely cautious – even as sherpas let it be known that the main rules for admission have been agreed upon.
The proverbial Divide and Rule spoilers have been spinning that Beijing wants BRICS+ to be a competitor to the G7. That’s nonsense. Chinese geopolitics is way more sophisticated – and would never present partners with an iron imperative. Beijing wants to solidify its de facto role of geoeconomics leader of the Global South by seducing the maximum number of partners, not intimidating them.
Thus the importance of the China-Africa meeting. South Africa was the first African nation to sign up to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Beijing and Pretoria are celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations. Xi and Ramaphosa will be talking overall African economic integration, in detail, with all those heads of state.
What does India really want?
China’s vision for BRICS+ and especially for Africa is intrinsically linked to BRI, which after all is Beijing’s overarching foreign policy concept for the next few decades.
India, for its part, has other ideas when it comes to configuring itself as a leader of the Global South. Earlier this year, New Delhi hosted a Voice of the Global South Summit, attended by over 100 nations. That might have conformed a sort of informal, multilateral alliance with diverse values but focusing largely on the same aims promoted by BRICS.
If China rolls with BRI, India rolls with a sort of – complementary – counterpart: the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), where it’s one of the main actors alongside Russia and Iran. So here we have a top BRICS member and a putative BRICS+ member: India is very much keen on Iran’s accession.
All of that in fact points towards integration of BRICS, BRI, INSTC and also SCO (Russia, China, India and Iran are all members). Once again, the devil will be in the “lost in translation” details. There’s no categorical imperative stating Chinese and Indian priorities may not converge.
The RICs (Russia, China,India) have also noted that the overwhelming majority of Global South/Global Majority nations did not support – nor adhered to – the collective West wet dream of strategically suppressing Russia. Even though Russia is now the fifth-largest economy in the world by PPP (over $5 trillion) – ahead of imperial European vassals – the Global South’s perception of Moscow is as “one of our own”.
All that adds extra power to the new Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) – which has to be courted full-time by the RICs. Global North late “initiatives” such as the American Build Back Better World
Even as China is bound to solidify its prime Global South role especially in Africa after the summit, India counts on a boost as well in its self-designed role as a North-South power. That may be seen as a hedging-your-bets sort of game, as the New Delhi establishment prides itself to be intertwined with the Global North when it comes to strategic goals (Quad? Really?) while remaining a Global South actor.
Well, sooner or later something’s got to give. The Empire tailored its bogus “Indo-Pacific” terminology and strategy specifically to ensnare India. No one across Asia-Pacific has ever referred to the region in terms of “Indo-Pacific”. Yet, in one go, the Empire gets rid of China, the South China Sea and even Southeast Asia to accommodate in a catchy slogan what it regards as a geopolitical neo-colony at best and battering ram against China.
It seems that New Delhi is developing a trend: never live up to its potential when it comes to exercising sovereignty to defy the Hegemon.
Undermining BRICS+ from the inside
Russia’s reach is way more ambitious – ranging from the post-Soviet space across the Heartland to the real Asia-Pacific, West Asia and, much like China, also Africa. All of these players rely on Russian energy, food, chemical fertilisers and a host of commodities. As far as all of them are concerned, there will be no “decoupling” or “de-risking” when it comes to trading with Russia.
In his videoconference address to BRICS, Putin absolutely killed it on the connectivity front – expanding on the INSTC and the Northern Sea Route. Same when it comes to providing free grain to the poorer African nations. He also destroyed the “so-called” grain deal: Moscow would consider coming back, but only if its legitimate demands are met.
In contrast to fast expanding Russian soft power, how could Beijing expand its own – which may be severely lacking in several areas? Setting up Confucius Institutes is not enough; ideally the Chinese should start promoting a string of Global South think tanks, from West Asia to Africa and Latin America, to analyze the ever mounting geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges to the multipolar road.
For the moment, Beijing will turbo-charge institutional forms of South-South interactions, such as the Belt and Road Forum (the next one is in October); the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation; and the China-CELAC forum with Latin American and the Caribbean.
But then again, inside BRICS, it all comes back to China-India. 2023 might become a turning point in their bilateral relations. New Delhi organized the latest SCO summit (unfortunately only online; rumors about internal dissent were never fully disproven). And will preside over the next G20 summit.
And then there’s the toxic external factor: the already ongoing imperial Hybrid War against the BRICS. The usual suspects will go no holds barred to pit Beijing against New Delhi, especially after everything they threw against Moscow miserably failed.
This multi-faceted Hybrid War has been designed to undermine BRICS+ from the inside, especially weaker nodes Brazil and South Africa, and including already mega-sanctioned Iran if it becomes a member. The Empire will go no holds barred to not lose key pivots to Latin American and African hegemony.
As a whole, the RICs – and perhaps soon RIICs – should concentrate their attention on Africa. That doesn’t mean that a host of African nations should be allowed to join BRICS+ literally tomorrow; the question is to be able to help them in several crucial fields as the process of breaking from imperial/neocolonial control is now irreversible.
The Empire never sleeps – at least those who really run the show: Crash Test Dummies impersonating Presidents is another matter. With Taiwan false flag dreams fast waning, all bets are off that the Empire might set up its next big war psyop in Africa.
WHO THE F**K IS THIS GUY?!? Reacting To Oliver Anthony “Rich Men North Of Richmond”
Hungary has vetoed the European Union’s intent to give more money to Ukraine until such time as Ukraine accounts for the 50-70 Billion EUROS already given!
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said today “Of course I won’t give-=in to pressure. Until we get a detailed, clear account of what the approximately 50-70 billion EUROS spent on Ukraine, was spent on, and until the OTP Bank is removed from the list of so-called International Sponsors of the War, there can be no question of making a decision about additional funds to finance armaments, or _anything_ related to Ukraine.”
European Union Chief, Borrell, was literally in tears (pictured below) over the situation.
Borrell had tried to allocate more “Peace Funds” to Zelensky in Ukraine, but had to publicly admit he could not release the next tranche of funds to Kiev “because Hungary said no.”
With European money now halted for Ukraine, it is only a matter of time before the Ukrainians completely collapse.
Another Betrayal Saudi Arabia Dumps US, Backs Up China In The US China Rivalry!
2023 08 25 17 45
https://youtu.be/NVfM07YUMYA
Russia Announces “SARMAT” ICBM’s Now on Combat Duty”
Russia’s Sarmat strategic missile system has been put on combat duty, Yuri Borisov, the head of Russian state space corporation Roscosmos, said on Friday.
“The Sarmat strategic complex has been put on combat duty,” Borisov said during an educational event.
Russia tested the nuclear-capable Sarmat missile throughout 2022. Last December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia will maintain combat readiness and improve the country’s nuclear triad, which he called the main guarantor of its sovereignty.
The Sarmat system is meant to replace RS-20 Voevoda missile systems. The new missile is capable of striking targets at long ranges using various flight trajectories and is guaranteed to overcome any existing and prospective anti-missile defense systems.
Having the longest range of target engagement, Sarmat is also expected to reinforce the combat capabilities of the Russian strategic nuclear forces. The first test launch of the Sarmat missile was carried out on April 20.
SPECIFICS
The RS-28 Sarmat is a three-stage, liquid-fueled ICBM equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs).
The operational range of RS-28 Sarmat is up to 18,000 km allows it to target almost any location on Earth.
The missile can be armed with 10-15 warheads or a combination of warheads and countermeasures, including dummy warheads to confuse enemy missile defenses.
Additionally, the Sarmat can carry up to two dozen Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles, making it an even more formidable weapon.
Each warhead of the RS-28 Sarmat is estimated to have an explosive power of up to 500 kilotons, equivalent to leveling a major metropolitan area.
The destructive potential of the Sarmat is unparalleled, and it serves as a potent deterrent against any aggression directed towards Russia.
RESPONSE TO U.S. “PROMPT GLOBAL STRIKE”
Russia points out that the Sarmat missile system is Russia’s response to the Prompt Global Strike (PGS) concept developed by Pentagon planners.
PGS proposes preemptive conventional massed cruise missile strikes to disarm an adversary and eliminate its leadership.
This concept, unveiled after the US withdrew from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty with Russia in 2002, prompted Moscow to develop advanced weapons, including hypersonic missiles and glide vehicles, and ultimately, the Sarmat.
THIS SONG GOT ME EMOTIONAL! Oliver Anothny-Rich Men North of Richmond | Reaction *SONG OF THE YEAR*
Cheetahs seem ferocious, they’re natural predators; carnivores. They typically stalk their prey, charge towards it, trip it up and bite its throat to suffocate it, you know, to make it nice for the eating.
They’re the fastest land animal, too.
image 8
Cheetahs are “instinctively shy” – they’re nervous and shy animals by nature
So, when they’re kept in zoos, their anxiety keeps them from socialising with each other, and most importantly, from procreating. This puts them at a high risk of becoming extinct. (Risk of extinction is why they’re in zoos in the first place – to help get their numbers up.)
For years zoos have been pairing cheetahs with their very own support dogs.
These doggos are raised from very young ages alongside the cheetahs. They live companionably; the cheetahs take their social cues from the dogs, because dogs are very sociable animals by nature.
Cheetahs are so sensitive by nature that almost all of those who are held in captivity suffer from anxiety-related conditions, but dogs make it better, just by being their friends.
“We Have Never Seen Anything Like This” | Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He is also the Wayne & Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College, where he teaches each fall semester courses in military history and classical culture. Victor discusses current political and social events and ideas, and current and past cultural trends.
2023 08 25 17 52
Beef Ragout with Grilled Bread
This dish can be made in a slow cooker or the stovetop. Canola oil is used to make both the ragout and grilled bread because of its neutral flavor and heat tolerance. The ragout is served with bread to soak up the hearty and flavorful broth, but it can be served with pasta or polenta instead.
12 slices whole grain Italian bread, sliced on bias, about 1-inch thick each
1 tablespoon canola oil 15 mL
Instructions
In large, nonstick skillet, brown each side of beef roast in canola oil. Place roast in slow cooker.*
Add onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and red wine. Cook on LOW heat for 8 to 9 hours (or on HIGH heat for 4 to 5 hours) until beef is tender and has an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (65 degrees C).
When beef is cooked, shred with a fork.
To prepare grilled bread: Brush bread with canola oil and grill for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until toasted.
To serve, top ragout with parsley. Serve with grilled bread.
Notes
* If preparing on stovetop, use a large pot (8-quart) and bring ragout ingredients, except parsley, to boil and simmer covered for at least 30 minutes.
In the US, if you go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get your driver’s license, the same thing happens, and US security services and intelligence agencies can access your photos and data.
The same thing happens when you apply for your passport.
Get over it.
Rescue a dying kitten that the owner abandoned it front my clinic the kitten only breathing
We begin today with a discussion on what the United States actually is.
It is a bully, and a liar, that is based on a system of deception; a shadow play of puppets. All supported by the largest propaganda system in history. And all of it; MM included has (up until very recently) believed it all lock, stock and barrel.
So it is fitting to begin with today’s brilliant podcast by Neil Oliver.
Who knows what will come next for the West…
HEXAGON
In April 1972, when a “data package” sank into the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Navy dispatched the Trieste II Deep Sea Vehicle I (DSV-1), its most advanced deep sea submersible at the time, to recover the item. In reality, it was “part of a film capsule from an American photoreconnaissance [spy] satellite codenamed HEXAGON.”
According to the Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room, a malfunction was responsible for the incident. A parachute was supposed to deploy once the film capsule, or “bucket,” having reentered the atmosphere, was over the primary reentry zone near the Hawaiian Islands. Instead, the parachute broke off, and the bucket fell into the ocean, sinking on impact to a depth of about 16,400 feet (5,000 meters).
NO ONE HIT WONDER HERE!!! OLIVER ANTHONY – I WANT TO GO HOME (REACTION)
I think people are getting upset because he’s waking people up and they don’t want to be woken. It’s time guys. We can’t keep living like this and accepting it. It’s happening around the world and we need to make a change.
IMF Just Shocked The World And The U.S With This Move!
It wants to overtake and dominate the Chip industry within a decade and it will. No perhaps, not may be, not hopefully. It will. Meanwhile it will take over the low and medium end market for chips in 3–5 years and totally bankrupt the U.S. and its cronies chip outfit.
Let me give you 2 perfect example of never ever doubting and never try to cut China out act by the U.S.
One, The U.S. the congress in the most childish and hubris behaviour, decided to bar China and Chinese on its U.S. space station in the 90’s. In that in one single racist act it motivated China to build its own space station and it did within 15 years.
And today the Chinese space station is a fully functional and well developed space station that is better, build faster and using far less resources. It uses better and more advance technologies and it is open for the entire world including the US for the betterment of humanity. For me shame on the US. The US coincidentally will retire the US space station within 5 years leaving the Chinese Space Station as the only one for the coming decade.
Two, The GPS. The US threaten the US that it can and will cut out nation that refuse to be submissive and subservient to the US in not too many words. That statement and threat itself motivated China enough to developed its own GPS within a decade of the US threat. Today the Chinese Beidou has way higher resolution, and accuracy up to a meter compared to the GPS functional up to only 10 meter! Today 150 out of 195 nations use Beidou. Instead or with the GPS. All within a decade.
Marked my word. Within a decade the US will lose so much in Chip business, market share and profits that it will forever regret the nonsense and ludicrous Chip policy under President Biden. To me China was willing to share a loaf of bread with the US but it is the US that wants to deprived China. So China should say fine, they will dominate. The entire Chip industry. In a decade. I will bet every cent I have on China winning.
I had a boss who was a narcissistic D-bag. Everyone knew it.
I finally had enough after yet another useless meeting set up just to stoke his ego. At that point somebody decided to jack him up a bit.
Somebody hung around his office until they saw him leave for a meeting with the company president. They knew it would take a while and he would leave his precious laptop open on his desk.
No they didn’t hack into it or delete any files. They did one better.
They had a firecracker set aside for this specific opportunity.
Somebody cut the firecracker open and sprinkled a bit of gunpowder lightly on his vowel keys and between the keys on his keyboard. They then lightly wiped it clean to hide the evidence.
I heard that the next time he took a flight he was flagged by TSA screening. Something about explosives in his laptop.
He missed his flight and had to replace his laptop.
I have always wondered who that “somebody” might have been. Certainly not me writing on an open forum like Quora.
OLIVER ANTHONY – I WANT TO GO HOME (REACTION)
He’s so authentic with angst, pain, confusion and he’s fed up like soooo many of us!!
Brisket in Coffee-Barbecue Sauce
867f0f8a8b65b137dcca1c34ce969057
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Ingredients
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large Spanish onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
7 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 cups brewed coffee
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 (28 ounce) can peeled, chopped tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (4 pound) brisket
Instructions
In a medium pot, heat 1/4 cup of the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft and golden brown, about 7 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the red pepper. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, about 1 minute. Stir in the brown sugar. Pour in the coffee, vinegar, and tomatoes; bring to a boil; and then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Working in small batches, transfer the tomato-coffee mixture to a blender and puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Heat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Season the brisket with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid, heat the remaining 1/2 cup oil. Brown the brisket on both sides. Drain off the oil, leaving the brisket in the Dutch oven. Turn the brisket so that the fat side is facing up and then coat it with the pureed tomato-coffee mixture. Cover the Dutch oven and place it in the oven. Bake for 3 hours, basting frequently.
Remove the lid and bake uncovered until the brisket is glazed and very tender, about an hour and a half more.
Remove the brisket and set it aside to rest for 10 minutes, covered with foil, before slicing thinly across the grain.
Compilation of the #1 Song in America!!! Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond
Post a harsh criticism against a political leader, any leader not just Modi
Compare him to some clownish character or demand that he step down
Under your real name
I am a very ordinary lawyer, yet I promise that unless you are an MP, MLA, Civil Servant, Minister or Wealthy Industrialist/Businessman, Military Man or Senior Cop :-
I can get a simple complaint with some influence filed through a specific lawyer and you will be arrested and you will be humiliated in front of your family and workplace
I guarantee it
All I need is a friendly cop and once he knows you are an ordinary commoner – he will happily file an FIR
He then writes to the passport office and you don’t get a passport
He can place you on the blacklist through a friendly SP Or State Home Secretary and you can’t get a US Visa or Schengen Visa or Singapore Visa for life
You would spend the next 6 months to 3 years in horror before a High Court quashes the case
I will come and look sheepish and say I got emotional while giving the PCR and the judge will admonish me and fine me ₹10K
You would have spent ₹3–6 Lakhs, maybe more
And I am an ordinary enrolled lawyer who doesn’t even actively practice
Imagine a powerful practising lawyer or a powerful cop if you antagonize one
Imagine if this is done in Begusarai Or some random place in Kerala
Imagine working in Infosys and two cops arrive and haul you out in front of your friends and drag you into a waiting jeep
Their response if questioned will be
We got a complaint we followed it up
So a simple malicious connected official can destroy your life if you are a commoner even if you earn ₹20 or ₹30 LPA
Your company will drop you like a hot potato
NOT IN CHINA
No Malicious officer or lawyer can try anything like this
The law is black and white
Evidence is specific and very strictly specific
So even if a case is registered, it will be dismissed in seconds if it doesn’t violate the laws
The official or lawyer would be roasted
So you understand?
In India the Law reads fairer
The System is utterly and totally loaded against the innocent average man
In China the Law is harsher
Yet the System protects the innocent average man
So the next time someone on Quora says he can post criticism freely in India
Ask him to do it under his own name and ask him if he is willing to test the fairness of the Indian system against a malicious prosecutor or entity
In China – the Law is very fair
It’s very harsh yes but very fair
No malicious person except high ranking CPC officials can come after you or spoil your life with lies
Evidence counts for a lot
1:45 / 14:42
‘We’ve all been watching the longest-running show of modern times. But it might soon be all over’
Neil Oliver: We’ve all been watching the longest-running show of modern times. But soon the show might soon be over, as more and more of the audience, especially in the cheap seats, are becoming restless, aware of how uncomfortable their seats are.
The US spends way too much time and effort looking out into the world, not nearly as much looking in the mirror at what the US has become.
The result: hard outside, rotten core
No longer able to keep running the marathon while the tank is on ‘E’.
Americans are far more focused on countering the other major political party in America whenever we are looking in.
We want our team—our little tribe—to be victorious.
Countering China’s rise?
We failed at rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan…after more than 10 years and how many billions upon billions dollars spent? thousands of lives lost?
Americans are so disconnected from reality that even that experience hasn’t shaken us from our delusions of grandeur.
What will? who knows—maybe the next great Recession will offer a bitter dose of reality.
But even then perhaps we will still go on believing in our triumphalism, with all our rags, evictions, foreclosures, abandoned properties, and pink slips
America today is more divided than I have ever seen it.
Individuals and companies and our own government are swimming in an ocean of debt with—until recently—out of control inflation.
Countering China’s rise?
Maybe we should check the plumbing and wiring in our own house first?
This is why this hit a nerve… Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond (Reaction)
I have a cousin who was passioned by Japan since a very early age. He subsequently studied Japanese culture and language at university, and then decided he had to go after his big dream — live in Japan and become a part of Japanese culture.
But my cousin was used to living in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France — the Western Burgundian world in a nutshell. And that also translated into the fact that he loved to enjoy life, far above enjoying work, and succeeding in it.
In fact: he even enjoyed to be unemployed when it suited him back in those Western days.
In the big city in Japan though, that kind of non-philosophy did not work out.
Although he was embraced in the very beginning, his way of “interpreting life” was spit out and on by his Japanese company, because he simply could not follow the exuberant pace by which Japanese people were living — are rather: working.
And after a while, he was excluded from the city society as an outcast.
In the old Western world he came from, he would have been helped, but now he was considered as a lost case, as if he was diseased, and no one would touch him — afraid to be infected.
In the end — in the most embarrassing episode of my cousin’s life — his dad and younger brother travelled to Japan, and got him out of there. By then, he was living in an almost depraved way in an apartment the size of a closet.
He suffered from a major depression when back, and had to leave his Japanese dream for good.
Because now he understood, that he didn’t understand.
Neocons CRUMBLE as China DESTROYS the US-led Unipolar Order
I remember I once opened the mail box and saw the electricity bill and the first thing I noticed was the paper was a different color.
Not the envelope, the bill. And poor people know what the means…notice of disconnect.
main qimg e6c06b18dc1d51de356c6f6c67b485bd lq
(Google)
As I held the bill in my hand, I could feel my anxiety ramping up as I frantically searched my mind and counted backwards to the last time I paid. I could swear I just paid it.
But it’s a bill, we always feel like we just paid it! Because we did! Right?! Then there’s the fear of checking your account to find, not only do you have no money, but less than no money. Your account is negative and you haven’t paid that particular bill in months.
It wasn’t purposeful. You just spaced it.
I sit the bill on the bar and pace back and forth, for hours before I finally get the nerve to open it.
Then I snatch it up and rip it open like a present. Very unlike my normal polite, trimming of one end and shaking the letter out.
And I was right!! The bill is red! Not just red numbers on a white page. A red sheet of paper! I just about have heart palpitations.
I unfold it through half squinted eyes and read.. “Happy Holidays to you and yours! From our team and we would like to Thank You for being a valued customer for all these years.”
After years of abuse, poverty, homelessness and then stability. Christmas Greetings can send me spiraling at the hint of a different color inside the envelope.
Poverty traumatizes on so many different levels.
BRICS DEFEATS The WEST
2023 08 23 15 38
https://youtu.be/0jKQcw-b0-I
British Guy Reacts to Oliver Anthony “Rich Men North Of Richmond” REACTION!
Adolphe Sax had earned the nickname “Little Sax the Ghost” due to the abnormal amount of accidents he was in. Even his mother believed he wasn’t meant to live, and all she foresaw was a tragic end to his life.
2023 08 21 08 53
He was plagued by an unusual amount of misfortune from a very early age. At just three years old, he drank a mixture of white lead, copper oxide, and arsenic, believing it to be milk. A few months later, he fell down three flights of concrete stairs and hit his head on a stone below, both times he was lucky to walk away.
Then he swallowed a very sharp needle that he was able to pass without puncturing any vital parts. As he got a bit older, he fell onto a red hot stove and suffered third-degree burns down one side of his body.
When he was ten, he fell into a river and barely escaped drowning. When a container of gunpowder exploded in his father’s workshop, he was blown across the room.
On several occasions, he nearly died from accidental poisoning and asphyxiation due to sleeping in a room where varnished furniture was drying.
His last known brush with death happened when a tile fell from a roof, hitting him in the head and causing him to fall into a coma.
main qimg 96741f761c9f604400b6b987323a9b80
Despite all this misfortune, Adolphe went on to invent some notable musical instruments, the most famous being the Saxophone.
HE’S SPEAKING TO US! Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond
2023 08 21 08 46
Mustard Glazed Brisket
Starts on the stove top, finishes in the oven for tender Mustard Glazed Brisket every time.
2023 08 21 09 00
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 (3 to 4 pound) boneless beef brisket
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 large onion, sliced
2 stalks celery
8 black peppercorns
4 whole allspice
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons prepared mustard
Instructions
Place brisket, garlic, onion, celery, peppercorns, allspice and bay leaf in a large soup pot. Cover with water. Simmer covered 3 to 3 1/2 hours until tender, adding water as necessary.
Remove brisket and place in a roasting pan with 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
Combine brown sugar and prepared mustard. Salt and pepper brisket and spread with the mustard glaze.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees F until glaze bubbles and is browned.
Pegasus spyware
According to declassified documents, Alejandro Encinas, Mexico’s Undersecretary for Human Rights, advised President Lopez Obrador that Pegasus spyware had been found on Encinas’s own cellphone and those of two others in his office. Encinas had been investigating the mysterious “disappearances of hundreds of people,” a New York Times article explains, which occurred during the “Dirty War” that the Mexican military conducted in the 1960s and 1970s against a left-wing insurgency.
Initially, U.S. officials considered the Mexican crackdown to be understandable, Kate Doyle reports in her 2003 article “Human Rights and the Dirty War in Mexico.” And the U.S. assured Mexico that it “had no intention of pressing [Mexican President Luis] Echeverría about it.”
However, this stance changed in 1978, when U.S. President Jimmy Carter ordered the White House to conduct a sweeping review of U.S.-Mexican relations and learned that “the White Brigade and other security force elements… sometimes ignored [both] the human rights of [terrorist] suspects and Mexican judicial procedures,” torturing and executing such individuals, with the results that “200-300 persons [had disappeared] over the last decade.”
Only now, three decades later, is Mexico beginning to come to grips with the fact that the government was responsible for “torturing and murdering its own people.”
Chris Webby – North Of Richmond (Remix)
What Makes Certain Wine Unbelievably Expensive?
The price gap is supply and demand, for certain prestigious brands.
So first of all, wine comes from grapes; and grape quality is dependent on many factors. Weather of course, but also soil, water, light, heat, and grower skill/decisions. AND of course, the actual grape vine.
Old vines produce less fruit – thus, smaller production, BUT generally more concentrated and intense. Younger vines produce more fruit, but you have to prune them – the amount of pruning affects the concentration and quality of the juice you get. If your options are ‘n’ cases of wine at $60/case (wholesale) or ‘n/3’ cases at $120, you’re probably going to prune sparingly to get as much juice and wine as possible, without creating garbage. On the other hand, if you can make truly great wine and have a name for yourself, then the options are ‘n/3’ cases at $1000, or ‘n’ cases at $1000 – for a year or two, and then the price per case drops down to $100 because nobody trusts you anymore.
Then you factor in the slope of your land and composition of the soil (acidity, water retention or runoff), the light, the use of pesticides, mulch, etc..
So now you have some amount of good-quality grapes. How do you make wine? Do you make wine that’s going to mature over 10-50 years, or wine that’s going to be drinkable about the time it hits the market, late next year (like about 90% of the wine sold)? The former leads to more expensive wine, and is harder to sell – BUT if done well, can establish you over time as a top-notch winemaker. Or drive you into bankruptcy even sooner.
So this pretty much determines the pricing for most wines between $8 and $80. Above that, things get…complicated.
If you’re in Bordeaux for instance, your vinyard is likely ranked by the government. Your wine has to meet certain standards of quality and composition, and much of it is historical. There are, for instance, only five first-growth houses, and only one of them was not defined as such in 1855. (Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, which got promoted in 1973). If you’re one off those, or one of a limited few others who have a similar cachet, you can pretty much name your price. The thing is, most of their wine is sold on futures at auction, so basically it’s “as much as someone is willing to pay.”
HE DONE DID IT AGAIN!! | OLIVER ANTHONY – I WANT TO GO HOME
One of my first cars was an AMC Pacer. It was like driving in a large greenhouse. It had windows all around, and it rode pretty smooth. My particular vehicle was yellow; a nice 1970s yellow.
amc pacer
I used a lot of scrap shag carpet to line the floors at which my grandmother, and her girlfriends all thought that I had a great car to drive about in.
Man, that was a long time ago.
My friends drove other cars, of course. But I was forced to drive this after my GTO was lost while driving at speed along the dark curvy roads of wooded Pennsylvania.
GTO OIP
In those days, the price for gasoline was cheaper than today. But it was still high. It was 65 cents per gallon. So we would fill the tank and go a crusin’. Maybe stop at the local burger joint and grab a burger and drink some beer.
e40635876e97d579deeb190586da819b bob s nostalgia
Today, my life is very different.
Here we have to worry about psychos wanting to set the world on fire, instead of grooving and jamming to some tunes.
Sigh.
Gonzalo Lira Update and the Doom Loop Tour
So Gonzalo is alive. Yay!
Money
Large sums of money are a real HEADACHE. You do not want a large sum of money, and all those ideas that you might have about what you would do with it are just fantasies.
Hollywood is not reality. So get over it.
In today’s world, any amount of money over that which you can fit in your wallet is suspect. And if you are an American, it is subject to seizure as “potential criminal gains”. Which is, by the way, how this question was written. In the USA, the police really do not need a warrant, or an excuse to seize your money. They will just do it, so it’s really not in your best interests to have a lot of money on you.
But, I live in China, and the rules on money use, obtainment and storage are really strict. If you have a lot of money, then you will have a lot of headaches.
TRUE STORY TIME
I had an affirmation about getting a large; an enormous sum of money. And sure as shit it materialized, just not like I expected. I wrote about this event HERE.
in 2020 one of my clients approached me. And they had an interesting “project” that they wanted me to help them with.
Outside of Guangzhou were four warehouse complexes filled with 3.4 billion dollars in USD. These bills were in $100 denominations, counted and wrapped, and shrink wrapped on pallets. The owner of the bills, the warehouses, obtained the money over a span of many, many decades though various legal businesses, and just accumulated the money as he believed that the USD was a guaranteed hedge against the ups and downs of the Chinese political scene.
Well, things changed a lot since the 1980s.
He just kept on collecting the money, and not really using a bank to store the money. So the money was transparent to the Chinese government. Hidden really.
Around 2013, China started to crack down on this kind of activity, and so he registered the amount with a bank in Guangzhou. So now the money is recognized as his, and as legal tender. However, due to the laws inside of China, he can spend no more than $50,000/year of it inside of China. Nor can he take more than $50,000 out of China in any given year.
The warehouses are not really hidden, but non-descriptive and distressed, and patrolled by his security guards. He’s not worried about thieves. How would anyone haul away any of the money? Five million trips in a van?
Any kid could easily climb though the rusted chain link fence, and walk in and around the complexes. But they don’t. He has a very good reputation in the local area, and everyone knows him, respects him and loves him. He’s a very down to earth kind of fellow.
What he wanted me to do was figure out some legal way to use the cash (hard cold cash) to buy assets or something; like businesses, hotels, investments, minerals, etc. Without breaking any laws or rules. As for certainly, the government is now absolutely tracking his actions with his cash.
So, I and some of my staff met him at a hotel, had lunch and he drove us out in the countryside where he took use to one of the warehouse complexes.
The guard waved us in, and it was just a big complex of huge vine covered old warehouses and peeling paint. And he opened up the big sliding hanger doors and we went into the complex. It was stacks and stacks and stacks of shrink-wrapped pallets of cash one on top of the other as far as the eye could see.
And this was true for all of the warehouses. I have never seen so much paper in my life.
The owner told us that his biggest problem were local field mice and rats that liked to gnaw on the pallets and get into the money to eat it, as well as an occasional leak or two in the roof that might seep into the bundles of palletized cash.
He was tired of spending money to protect all this money that he could not spend, and he wanted an out.
We left, and went back and came up with some ideas and solutions. He was willing to pay us 10% on whatever we could “free up”. So for every 1 million that we can de-paper, he would give us $100,000 USD. Though, according to the law, it would have to occur over two years before we could get the money.
Of the various ideas that we came up with, none of them were acceptable to him. And so, after a few months of “wracking our brain” we gave up. Too much of a headache.
End of story
Now, that client is doing well. More money than he knows what to do with. Four girl-friends that he supports, plus a wife. And being older, in his 80s, I’m sure that the gals are more for company than for any “exercise”. But all this money is a big waste. He cannot spend it. He cannot give it away. The most he can do is give one person $50,000 that’s it. And he cannot move it.
It is the proverbial “white elephant”.
You do not want piles of cash. You do not want the hassles that come with it. You want freedom from worry, a roof over your head, and some delicious food and fun. But over and above that becomes more and more problematic as times moves on.
Same with fame. But that’s another story for another time.
Another idea
I’d amend Jon Mixon’s #1 to say “pay for some necessities and bills, then save the rest”. On paper, you’d just look like a very frugal person, but the savings would be essentially laundering the money very slowly.
If you’re living comfortably in a middle-class or professional job, maybe you’re saving $1–2k a month or more with this method. That’s $12–24k in a year, which you can easily turn around into small legitimate investments that can then enjoy compound interest.
People get away with embezzlement this way for decades at a time, and the only way they ever get caught is that an accountant *at the place they’re embezzling from* catches them. Since you’ve already got the $1,000,000 in hand, and no one’s looking for it, there’s relatively low risk of getting caught.
The trick is to spend your paycheck on everything that you’d use a credit card for: TVs, car note, gas and insurance, modest groceries, airline flights, etc. The practical rule is that “if it’s going to be sitting around your house when the IRS comes around, use your paycheck on it”.
Everything else? Use the dirty cash! Eating out, babysitters (already traditionally paid in cash!), subway tickets, beer money, and so on. If the IRS is too concerned with checking your bank records to make sure you DID buy that TV with a credit card, and that checks out, they won’t think you’re worth investigating how often you’ve been eating out.
One last thing.
I’d keep a storage unit, paid for out of a separate bank account in my name. Every month, like clockwork, I’d personally make a cash withdrawal from my paycheck, and a cash deposit in this bank account, in order to pay the storage fees.
And all I’d do is store my old junk in it. None of the $1M! The practical reason is, of course, very smart: if the IRS ever decides to audit you, you want something that *looks* suspicious on paper, maybe even borderline stupid in that way that most people get caught on “something very stupid”, but is an absolute nothingburger upon any closer inspection. It distracts people and makes them figure nothing else is wrong with you.
Plus, I’d just love to see that look on the IRS agent’s face when I rolled up the garage door and all he smelled was SOCKS.
Blinken’s accusation on China a disrespect of Tonga as sovereign state
main qimg 9a23b4151409d23f6761189ef9fb8368
Upon arrival at Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wasted no time throwing mud at China.
This time, he called Beijing’s engagement in the region “problematic behavior” and Chinese investment “predatory” that would hurt the local economy.
Behind the China-bashing cliche, Blinken, the first U.S. state secretary to visit Tonga, was actually asking the island nation to take sides and making the region a new arena of rivalry, but he should understand that smearing others’ normal cooperation is a real problematic behavior. His accusation is not only an attack on China, but also unwise questioning of Tonga’s judgment on choosing partners as a sovereign country.
At a joint press conference after his meeting with Blinken on Wednesday, Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni told the U.S. guest that his country had no concerns about its relationship with China.
When Tonga was faced with multiple challenges, including volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, China often rushed to its assistance. As facts have proven, China’s friendship has always been based on deeds rather than words, Tongan King Tupou VI has said.
In the broader Pacific islands, China has carried out a large number of assistance projects that meet the actual needs of the countries it tries to help. These projects have strongly promoted local economic development and improved people’s livelihood. While offering help, China always fully respects the sovereignty and independence, as well as the will and the cultural traditions of the countries assisted.
Based on its own development experience, China has conducted mutually beneficial cooperation with other developing countries by upholding justice and pursuing shared interests, and provided assistance without attaching any political strings.
Such cooperation has greatly promoted economic and social development as well as people’s livelihood in relevant countries. The Mombasa-Nairobi Railway financed and built by China has created nearly 50,000 jobs for Kenya. By the end of 2022, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has brought 25.4 billion U.S. dollars in direct investment to Pakistan and created 236,000 jobs. The list goes on.
If Washington really cares about the development of the Pacific islands, it should first apologize and fully compensate for the damage caused by its over 60 nuclear tests in the region, address the islands’ pressing challenges of climate change with concrete actions, and focus on the real needs of local people, rather than sending senior officials to stage a runway-show-like diplomatic campaign.
And if the United States is truly committed to a better future and the well-being of the people in other parts of the world, it should stop slinging mud at China, and instead join hands with China to help countries in need.
A country that offers very little help, but tries very hard to obstruct other countries’ helping hands, and even pursues its own interests at the expense of others’, does not measure up to the image of a respectable major power.
Geopolitical INFERNO: Victoria Nuland’s South African Visit Sparks Fear and Fury!
Dive into the fiery world of geopolitics as we dissect Victoria Nuland’s enigmatic trip to South Africa. Uncover the deep-seated anxieties and justified fears that arise from her actions. Could her visit be a menacing threat to South Africa’s sovereignty? Is she secretly aiming to sabotage the BRICS’ new currency? Brace yourself for a no-holds-barred exploration that leaves no stone unturned!
“Amazing” is the buzzword in Chengdu, Sichuan province, the venue for the FISU World University Games.
Athletes and officials participating in the biennial Summer Universiade, which opened on Friday, said they are deeply impressed by the games facilities in the provincial capital, and underlined that Chengdu has set the bar high for future hosts.
The organizing committee of the games has taken recommendations from all sides into consideration and made sincere efforts to include them in the preparations, which has set a perfect stage for athletes to shine on, Leonz Eder, acting president of the International University Sports Federation, said in an interview with China Daily.
A total of 6,500 athletes from 113 countries and regions are competing in 269 events across 18 sports at the Chengdu games, which will run until Aug 8. Thirteen new venues have been built for the competitions, while 36 existing ones have been upgraded and renovated to meet international standards.
Athletes echoed the FISU acting president and said that they were also touched by the warm welcome accorded to them.
Elavenil Valarivan from India, who won the women’s 10-meter air rifle gold at Chengdu Shooting Sport School on Saturday, said the competition venue and its services are excellent. “What they have done here is so good, I mean, so much better than many of the places where I have competed before. … I’m really happy to be in Chengdu,” she said.
Brazilian basketball player Caio De Souza Pacheco said the smooth organization of the event is helping him focus on his game.
“I’m very happy to be here. We’re very excited. … What you guys have been doing in Chengdu, in China, has been amazing,” Pacheco said.
Jonathan Larsen, coach of the German badminton team, said that all athletes received a warm welcome at the Shuangliu Sports Center Gymnasium. “The venue looks absolutely amazing. And we are looking forward to competing in it,” Larsen said.
The badminton venue, which has a floor area of 14,626 square meters, boasts 14 courts and a warm-up area.
Sofus Rasmussen, head of the Norwegian delegation, said he is very impressed with how things have been organized. “From the moment we’ve arrived, we’ve been taken such good care of. … Things have been handled very efficiently. I think this organizing committee has set the bar really high for the next committee.”
Rasmussen said the opening ceremony on Friday was so splendid that it has been the most-discussed topic among athletes and officials over the weekend.
“It was incredible and nothing like (any ceremony) I’ve ever been to before. I was expecting it to be spectacular, but not on that level. And the audiences were fantastic. The athletes were so touched. For these young people, it was something they will never forget,” he added.
Mainly because China is a major challenge to the West and is the only Eastern Nation which is coming closest to pipping the West from its supremacy that was established nearly 400 years ago
So the smallest rainfall becomes a deluge ,a two man protest becomes a major massive million man protest and a minor confrontation at a bank ends up being a major run on banks
Likewise a normal cyclical economic problem where China should have been hailed for 6.3% growth despite all negative factors is being treated as a major economic crisis
Tomorrow if China convinces the West that it will allow western hegemony, purchase $250 Billion of US T Bonds and defunds it’s investments in AI and Defense and appoints someone like Hu Jintao as President and Secretary — then suddenly every media will be pro China and hail China as a modern miracle
India?
India is way way below anyone’s radar today
Zero core technology today
Heavy reliance on the West
Relatively low economic power
No major military threat to anyone
Parliamentary Democracy as per Western Norms
So why focus on India
They will instead focus on RRR & Leo & Diwali as a holiday & all the superficial stuff and rate India’s 7.2% growth as rocket like while China’s 6.3% in a six times larger economy as huge crisis
If India comes close to say 50% of Western GDP (US) and looks like it may be of some significance and a threat to Western Hegemony, then India will face its own share of horrors and fake stories
Within India?
That’s how Indians are most of the time
Always short term and Always burying problems under the carpet
Typical Democracy sadly !!!!!
Whatever wins votes will be what’s discussed
The Lowest Cost Airline You Can Imagine | The Carol Burnett Show
Look guys…. US is growing exponentially with whooping ONE POINT ONE PERCENT. It’s a lot you know? So awesome. America numba ONE. Best country in da world!
China is suffering horrific growth of mere 6.6%. So pathetic! China is going to collapse in 10 days!!
Another headline for this post is: ”Western media fail at math”.
I Visited a Chinese Factory…What I Saw Shocked Me!
This is what the Mars landing looked like from the perspective of the Perseverance rover about 10 km above the surface. We are in the middle of the descent phase into the atmosphere, and that disk in the center is the heat shield, just released, that protected the probe from the intense heat as it plummets toward the ground.
It’s all real! Human ingenuity is extraordinary!
main qimg 8e509f44e91784e338722e550441f41a
Mama’s Family – Don’t call Mama while she’s at work
Today, ‘John’ was bragging to me about how good he is with chess. He kept rambling on and on about how nobody he met in real life could beat him.
So to shut him up, I challenged him to an online game of chess.
main qimg 3a30784ffadc575d5e8b2e480be45141 lq
And I completely utterly thoroughly destroyed him, while taunting him in the chat at the same time.
I also made my moves super-fast, like within a few seconds after he finished his moves. More than once during the game, he exclaimed, “Wow Shanks, how do you play so quick?”
Unbeknown to him, during the game, I had another tab open where I was playing Chess against an AI set to ‘insane’ difficulty.
I played as Black against John, but white against the AI. This meant that John started first against me, while I started first against the AI.
All I did was mimic each of John’s move in the match against the AI and mimic the AI’s move against John. In other words, while it appeared that I was playing two chess matches at the same time, I wasn’t actually playing at all — John was playing the match against the ‘insane’ AI.
To top it off, I’ve only played like 5 chess matches my whole life. I barely know how to move the pieces!
Suffice to say, John wasn’t very pleased when I told him.
24 hours back in America from China | American China Expat’s Thoughts
24 hours back in the USA from China. What do I think about it here? What are my first impressions? Expectations?
In this case , these were orders placed by China before the so called Export Ban
There is no provision in the Export Ban asking for cancellation of existing orders and thus ASML happily exported $ 650 Million of Equipment to China
It’s no coincidence that before the ban, China placed almost $ 1.7 Billion of orders with Tokyo Electron and ASML for advanced semiconductor equipment and
NEITHER JAPAN NOR NETHERLANDS included any clause which called for cancelling existing orders in their legal notifications
Basically the Japanese and Dutch told their companies
Sell as much equipment as you guys want and we will turn a blind eye but before we pass the export ban
Experts estimate that Chinese plans for semiconductors will remain uninterrupted at least until January 2025 thanks to these small loopholes which I believe were deliberate
Meanwhile only one Moron blindly agreed to all the export bans and included cancellations of orders for the Chinese worth $ 1.46 Billion
2023 07 31 14 40 1
SAMSUNG & SOUTH KOREA!!!!!!!
Everyone else,even the Japanese used simple common sense
Sure they hate China but they like money and they know , nobody else will pay $ 1.7 Billion for that equipment
Ultimately it’s why Politics never succeeds against Economics
It’s why Donald Trump never suggested an Export Ban but an extra Tariff on Exports to China from Japan or Netherlands or S. Korea. A Tariff would have increased Chinese costs and made them uncompetitive
Trump said “Develop your AI but PAY THE PRICE FOR IT”
Luckily Bidens win has given China four years to combat the situation and hopefully before Trump comes to power, China would have made the preparations to battle the onslaught
Development to come up near JB-Singapore rail terminus
main qimg f53b17ed06bf92f510b9c107696b6c3c
Hong Kong will join Malaysia in developing an economic hub in southern Johor, near the Singapore border, as Malaysia looks to tap the land development potential near the site of an upcoming cross-border rail link.
signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a six-acre land for mixed use in Bukit Chagar on Friday, as part of Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s visit to Malaysia.
The development, worth 3 billion ringgit ($660 million), will come up less than one kilometer from the Malaysia-Singapore border. The location is also the site of the under-construction Bukit Chagar terminus station that’s part of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System.
The intended mixed development is expected to transform the area into an attractive investor destination, for local and international investors.
The RTS project, which is expected to serve up to 10,000 commuters per hour in every direction, is due for completion in 2026. It is expected to ease traffic congestion at Malaysia and Singapore’s land border crossing, one of the world’s busiest. The four kilometer transit has two stations — Bukit Chagar in Johor and Woodlands in Singapore.
Nouriel Roubini in a talk said that China growing by 6.3% against the worst geopolitical and trade climate showed the strength and power of the country’s resilience
He also said China’s internal debt was something that could be infinitely restructured and be an ASSET to the Nation rather than a liability
He said their 2% inflation was also a huge positive against reeling inflation in the West
What Roubini says isn’t rocket science
Anyone who understands 101 of economics knows this
Still the West is rooted by SO MUCH PROPAGANDA that even something so basic , appears like some form of huge redemption for China
Not that the Chinese give a damn
They simply do their job and do their best for their country and people
The Best line of Dr Roubini was
Ten years from now, China would have moved on , solved it’s problems and be on its way as a developed economy
We (The US) would still be reeling with debt and inflation because we are so damn afraid of facing the truth and for once putting common interests over politics and ideology
My teenager went to a very diverse Chicago public high school. I knew she, as a white girl, was in the minority at her school. I didn’t realize just how much so until her graduation a few weeks ago.
I watched her and about 400 of her classmates walk across the stage. Between their names, skin tones, and outfits (about a dozen girls wore hijabs), I’d bet that there were at least 50 different nationalities/ethnicities/races represented in her graduating class. That type of diversity was intentional… it was an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. My daughter was one of just a handful of students that represented what is actually the majority demographic in most of the country: white, born in the U.S., Christian, and straight.
Naturally, the parents in the audience were just as diverse as the students on the stage. Except, most of us had something in common. It wasn’t our skin tone or the way we dressed or even the language we spoke… it was that most of us, the parents, were noticeably overweight.
I’m a really big guy. I don’t lie to myself about it. I notice when people are as tall as I am, because it is rare. I notice when people are as big as I am, because it is rare. Well, it used to be rare. Now it’s becoming common.
When I sat in my seat for the ceremony, I expected to be cramped and uncomfortable. When you’re my size, you just get used to that whenever there’s side-by-side seating. But I noticed that it wasn’t just me. Every single person in the row in front of me looked cramped. Everyone in the row in front of that one look cramped. A few people were standing on the sides, unable to fit in the seats at all.
There was nothing unusual about the seats. They were the regular size you might find at any stadium. But so many of the adults in the room barely fit in them, because so many of those adults were overweight.
And that’s my “only in the USA” moment: hundreds of people, representing dozens of demographics from all over the globe, gathered in one place to celebrate our children’s accomplishments and transitions into adulthood, and most of us carrying at least 50 extra pounds on us.
Have you heard of Arnold Abbott? He was a 90-year-old man with a big heart and an unwavering belief in helping those who were less fortunate. He lived in Florida, where there was a growing problem of homelessness and he was concerned about this issue and wanted to do something to help.
main qimg 26dd302063e38a7b3c2f0358217f05d8
So he decided to start feeding the homeless in his community. He set up a table in a public park and began serving food to anyone who was hungry. Soon it became a regular fixture in the park, and many homeless people came to rely on him for a hot meal.
However the city council of Fort Lauderdale had recently passed a law making it illegal to feed the homeless in public spaces. The law was intended to address the problem of homelessness in a different way, but it made it difficult for people like Abbott to provide much needed help to those in need.
Abbott was undeterred. He believed that it was his moral duty to help the homeless, and he continued to feed them despite the new law. Soon, other volunteers joined Abbott in his efforts to help the homeless. They set up tables in other public spaces and began serving food to those who were hungry.
The city of Fort Lauderdale was not happy about this. They began to issue citations and fines to Abbott and the other volunteers who were feeding the homeless. But he remained resolute in his belief that feeding the homeless was the right thing to do and many others agreed with him as well.
Despite the legal challenges, Abbott and the other volunteers continued to feed the homeless. Their actions inspired others to join them, and soon a movement was born. People all over the country began to speak out against the criminalization of acts of compassion, and many cities began to repeal their laws banning the feeding of the homeless!!
The case of Arnold Abbott raises the question of what is truly ethical and what is legal? In some cases laws may conflict with our sense of right and wrong. In such instances, it is up to individuals to decide whether to follow the law or follow their conscience.
China doesn’t just lend the money. It also builds the projects. Yes it gets its hands dirty in the actual work, and its Chinese architects and civil engineers and construction workers are right there on the sites working as well.
main qimg eb781bfbe0812d5eb265ea8d0ff290b0
(This, by the way, is another reason why the US “Build Back Better” project will fail. White Americans are not going to move to Africa and stay there for 5 years working alongside their ex-slaves. But I digress.)
The point is – Chinese construction companies always get involved in the construction, which means that they are making money out of the work they do, which also means that basically part of the Chinese loans are recouped as profits for the construction company.
Commentators are often so wrapped down in the politics that they forget the business side of things. Chinese construction companies are the best in the world – they have a tremendous amount of experience and expertise. When they go overseas and build things, they are just exporting their experience and expertise in the form of their construction work. It’s their business. Building things is how they make money.
Why The U.S. Gave Up On Public Transit
VIDEO: Ukraine Troops SURRENDER en-masse; WHITE FLAGS on Tanks
Hundreds of Ukrainian troops, displaying white flags on their tanks and infantry vehicles, surrendered en-masse to Russia today. More and more common as troops see with their own eyes, it is hopeless to continue fighting.
Video from the battlefield shows the mass surrender:
Star Trek Next Generation – Sentient Starship
China’s Chip Production Soars with Arrival of 6 Lithography Machines, US Blockade Falters!
In recent years, China has made tremendous breakthroughs in the chip field, while the United States, in order to maintain its dominant position in the chip industry, has attempted to curb China’s development in this field and use a series of measures to suppress China.
However their Impact is much lesser than what was expected by the West.
The West threw their entire financial might at Russia and the Sanctions against Russia are perhaps the worst Sanctions against any Nation ever.
Yet Russia stands , survives and even grows
Its like say the difference between blowing up a house with Dynamite and burning a house with a slow fuse and kerosene.
Russia stands to lose around 34% of its Export Volume and Revenue by 2023 which translates to 55,000 -75,000 Jobs
This in turn translates to around $ 34 Billion Contraction in GDP
Add to this Russia stands to lose around 14% Industrial Productivity due to Restriction of Spares by the West. This translates to around $ 44 Billion Contraction in GDP and around 45,000 – 60,000 Jobs
Add to this Russia stands to lose around 41% Service Industry temporarily for minimum 12–18 months. This translates to around $ 21 Billion Contraction in GDP and around 14,000 Jobs-21,000 Jobs
Adding we get around $ 99 Billion GDP Contraction or around 5.45% Contraction of GDP
Adding we get around 186,000 Jobs
This means we can add around 279,000 Auxiliary Jobs
So Yes. It Definitely isnt a Walk in the Park. It would require a lot of hands on work for Russia
However it could have been far worse
The West expected a far higher impact. Around 15% Contraction. Around 1.5–2 Million Jobs etc.
Russia can make this up by 2025 easily
Why did the Sanctions not make things as bad as the West expected?
2023 07 31 14 44
China primarily boosted the Russian Economy. They almost replaced 70% of all Car Parts , purchased Car Factories, Building Plants, Took over other financial projects – and you know the speed of the Chinese….they are very fast
2023 07 31 14 4hg4
The Dragon may be the Elder brother but the Elephant India – too played a role here as Chota Bhai.
The Huge Orders of Oil, Coal, Diamonds and the Cooperation for Alternate Mechanisms and best of all indicating that the Hachet of Galwan can temporarily be buried by trading and purchasing Yuan for the FIRST TIME EVER.
Add to this China and India both refused to delist Russian Bonds and Russian Instruments and have accepted payment for these instruments in RMB & Rubles. Another big concession from India.
For example Indian Investors who were to get $ 15 Million in Interest can now get 750 Million Rubles paid by Russia into SBI Kathmandu who will in turn swap for Chinese Yuan and use the Yuan to buy more Coal and Oil and Gas.
So Russia is far better off than the West believed. It will Survive and Grow much Stronger.
Especially if the SINO-RUSSO-INDO-IRANIAN Alliance clicks off
Will Sanctions deter Putin from Continuing the War?
In March 2022 – there was a 50% Chance that Putin was looking for a Face Saving Off Ramp and was deeply worried about Economy and Militarily
Now – Not the Smallest Chance
The West had their shot. They could have forced Putin to the Table, forced much smaller concessions and ended with a Strong “Victory”
Now Putin calls the Shots
Star Trek Next Generation – Ancient Battle Cruiser
Trucking giant Yellow collapsed on Sunday, ceasing operations immediately and leaving some 30,000 workers without jobs.
The closure is the biggest in terms of jobs and revenue in the U.S. trucking industry.
The company, which received $700 million in federal COVID relief funds in 2020, is preparing to file for bankruptcy and is in talks to sell off all or parts of the business.
The nearly 100-year-old firm is known for its competitive pricing and has more than 12,000 trucks shipping freight across the US for brands including Walmart and Home Depot.
At this time, it __appears__ that all of Yellow’s subsidiaries may be GONE too:
YRC Freight reflects the Yellow Transportation (founded in 1924 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) purchase of and subsequent merger with Roadway (founded in 1930 in Akron, Ohio).
YRC Freight is the largest subsidiary of Yellow with corporate headquarters in Overland Park, Kan.
Other Yellow subsidiaries include Reddaway, Holland and New Penn.
HAL TURNER OPINION
I am just guessing, but given the sheer size of Yellow, ad some of its subsidiaries like Roadway and New Penn, this could trigger “supply-chain disruption” that would make COVID look like child’s play.
Think about this. Yellow is an LTL carrier. That stands for “Less-Than-Truckoad.” They handle things like skids (pallets) of shipments.
They have 12,000 trucks. Each day, each truck handles about ten pick-ups, and ten deliveries. (Average)
That means tomorrow, about 120,000 deliveries — won’t come. Another 120,000 pick-ups, won’t be made.
Stores won’t get products.
Factories won’t get raw materials or parts. They also won’t be able to ship finished products out.
Do the math. How long before this becomes an actual catastrophe in the supply chain?
Are there other truckers? Yes. Can they just step-in and take up the slack? NO!
Trucklines must carefully balance their equipment to their actual need. There simply isn’t enough capacity within the rest of the system to absorb a sudden change like this.
Moreover, certain truck lines only service certain geographic areas. In some places, where maybe YELLOW was the only carrier, shippers simply may not be able to get a trucker to come to them! No service. At all.
I cannot even begin to guess the impact this is going to have on the US economy and supply chain. And I suspect it will show itself within a matter of days.
Julius Caesar was once kidnapped by pirates, who would go on to regret that decision. In 75 BC, 25-year-old Caesar was traveling to the Island of Rhode’s to study oratory when he was captured by Cilician pirates, who infested the Mediterranean, but were usually left alone because they provided wealthy Romans with slaves.
Although this was about ten years before Caesar would start to make a name for himself, according to the biographer Plutarch, he didn’t act like he was a captive.
2023 07 31 07 1ww2
When the pirates informed Caesar he was going to be ransomed for the some of 20 talents, he burst out laughing in their faces, telling them they clearly didn’t know who they had captured and should raise the sum to 50 talents.
Caesar only had a few friends in captivity and Cilician pirates were known to be particularly blood thirsty, but this didn’t stop him from sending his friends to tell the pirates to shut up because they were making too much noise as Caesar tried to sleep.
It’s also recorded that Caesar would recite poetry and speeches to the pirates and should they not be impressed he would openly call them illiterate savages and threatened to have them crucified.
Eventually, the ransom was paid and Caesar was released, probably to the relief of the Pirates, who were sick of him. However, the now free Caesar wasted no time in having the Pirates hunted down and crucified, which he over seen personally, making good on the promise he made when the pirates didn’t enjoy his poetry.
Sen. Feinstein’s Brain Melts Down DURING A VOTE!
By now everyone knows that 90-year-old California Senator Dianne Feinstein has no business holding public office — everyone except Dianne Feinstein, that is. Her most recent episode: attempting to pontificate about the importance of defense spending during a Senate vote when all that was required of her was to say “aye.” An aide came to her rescue but not before the awkward episode had made everyone in the room cringe.
When sperm whales need a nap, they take a deep breath, dive down about 45 feet and arrange themselves into perfectly-level, vertical patterns.
They sleep sound and still for up to two hours at a time between breaths, in pods of 5 or 6 whales, presumably for protection.
No one knew whales slept vertically until a 2008 study documented the behavior.
And no one captured really good photography of it in the wild until 2017. French photographer Stephane Granzotto was documenting sperm whales in the Mediterranean for his book on the creatures when he came across these sleeping whales…
main qimg 26da45d2703148841c32730979cfa981
Factory Owner Reveals the Truth About Chinese Manufacturing
The world has trusted Chinese manufacturing for decades, but recently many politicians are stating Western countries must decouple from China. Will Chinese manufacturing continue to play a vital role in our global economy? Today I travel to Wuxi, China to visit a Chinese textile factory to see how Chinese factories make clothes.
Most American movies are written and produced by wealthier, trendier people who live in major cities. Thus, many of them are set in major cities. If all you knew of America was what you saw in movies, you may think things like:
Most young, single adult Americans live in nice apartments or condos in trendy areas of major cities and have “fun” jobs like museum curators or tour bus company owner/operators.
2023 07 31 06 56
In fact, very few young, single people live in places like that and have jobs like that. Most young, single people can’t afford that lifestyle, and work “regular” jobs which they may enjoy, but aren’t really “fun.”
While there are some major cities in the United States, and a lot of people live in them, the majority of people do not.* For the average American, a scene like this is something they will only experience while watching it on a screen themselves:
2023 07 31 06 5ee6
Taking public transportation from your condo or apartment, then walking down a crowded city sidewalk on your way to your job in a high-rise office building? That’s the exception, not the rule for most Americans. For most of us, it’s leaving your single-family home and driving your own personal car to your job in a building that’s two or three stories tall, max. And you park your car in the parking lot next to the building.
I live in Chicago, which has a good public transit system, but I only know two people who actually use it to get to work. Everyone else just takes it on special occasions, like when they want to take their kids downtown to act like tourists for a day. Actually, that’s also one thing my out-of-town guests always want to do when they visit me in Chicago, too: ride the subway. Why? Because it’s so rare here… it’s something that most Americans only experience in movies.
2023 07 31 06 5d7
*A lot of people are commenting that the majority of Americans do, in fact, live in “urban” areas. “urban areas” and “trendy parts of major cities” are two different things. According to the Census, an “urban area” is any town with over 50,000 population. That includes literally tens of thousands of places most people would just call small towns.
Robot Chicken – Channel Flip Compilation Part Five
He sacked a colleague the day my colleague was leaving for a family holiday. My boss (and owner of the business), Paul, just liked to show people he had the power. He was often petty and a micromanaging control freak. He seemed to like me, so most of the time he left me to do my thing.
My colleague, Ian, had become a friend, and we’d hang out after work. He had been planning an overseas family trip for some time, and had been talking about it for a couple of months in advance of the date. He had requested leave, which was approved, before making the booking. He was a friendly, genuine guy, and most of us in the office shared his enthusiasm for his holiday. We could see he was looking forward to taking his family away.
He was due to fly out on a Saturday. On the Friday, Paul called Ian into his office and told him he had changed his mind, he was revoking the leave. Ian tried to argue that the tickets were non-refundable, everything was booked, his wife had taken leave, and they had permission to take their children out of school. Paul wasn’t swayed. He made it clear, cancel or be fired.
Ian asked what was so important that he needed to stay, Paul didn’t give a real answer. He just shrugged and said, “it’s my company, my call.”
Ian called his wife, and then decided to do the holiday. He didn’t want to lose the money or let his family down.
He came and told me just before lunch what had happened, and suggested we go for a farewell lunch.
I was incensed!
I immediately wrote a handwritten resignation, left it on Paul’s desk, packed my things, and went to lunch. I told Ian and some other colleagues at lunch that this was also MY farewell.
As lunch wrapped up, the others drifted back to the office, and it was just Ian and me, commiserating over a beer, when Paul came in, in a fluster.
I had never seen him in such a state (I later realized it was because he was no longer in control). Paul loudly tried to convince me to stay, offered me everything (other than more money!). I just said no, calmly. He left saying something like “you’ll be back when you can’t find another job.”
I called in on another friend on my way home, and had a job offer that afternoon.
Pepe Escobar: Russia-Africa Summit a GAME CHANGER as NATO Isolates Itself
Pepe Escobar discusses the significance of the Russia-Africa Summit and what it means for the ongoing move toward a multipolar world led by Russia and the Global South.
Heavenly Chicken Garlic Soup
0b75f12f3a726b23c30ced30381d1083
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, disjointed
2 carrots, minced
2 stalks celery, minced
1 large whole yellow onion
Chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
5 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons flour
Instructions
Make the chicken broth by simmering chicken, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper in enough water to cover. When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, remove it and skim the fat from broth.
Simmer broth, reducing it until it is very rich. Add the flour and butter to a small amount of broth and mix with a wire whisk until velvety. Pour this mixture into the remaining broth.
Tear chicken into bite-size pieces and add to the soup.
Assembling the car requires a complex number of steps where hundreds of parts are put together. Each part is worth very little on its own, but when everything is together, the finished product has amazing value.
This is how I pictured college:
All my years of education assembled together to come to this very moment.
I felt like the world was telling me, “Congratulations! You are a complete product.”
So, imagine that moment… yes, it called for a victory fist pump!
Well, my educational “assembly line” took soooo… sooooo… long that my expectations had built up.
I felt like a top-of-the-line fully equipped Tesla Model S!
I felt entitled.
I thought that by just getting out of the “assembly line” with my degree in hand made me valuable like the Model S pictured above.
“Hey world! I’m an Engineer!” I would say with arrogance and pride, “You want some of my knowledge? It’s going to COST you!!!”
Haha!
Please don’t laugh at me…
I felt that my time had value, so whatever work I did, I felt I deserved to get paid.
I WAS WRONG!
My father taught me this lesson the hard way.
After I had spent one week working at his office, I demanded a late Friday evening, “Pay me, Dad!”
“Son, you’re not entitled to a payment.”
“I’m an engineer, Dad! Pay me as an engineer!” I said with pride.
“I pay for results!” my father said.
“But I’m working hard on this project! I have invested hours into this. Pay me!” I angrily said.
“No results, no pay!” he said firmly.
You know what happened?
He eventually changed my mindset!
He helped me understand that in this world I’m NOT entitled to anything simply because of my credentials or for sitting at the office all day long.
He helped me understand that if I don’t deliver results to others, my fancy college degree hanging on the wall might look nice, but it won’t pay my bills.
So, to answer your question: What is one small thing that you can do differently to make your life better?
Learn this truth: Life pays only for results.
The world doesn’t care for your credentials, or how hard you work, all it cares is for how much value you DELIVER!
It’s in giving which makes us deserve something in exchange.
There’s no secret formula.
The only thing that works is work!
We do not deserve what we want, we only deserve what we do.
Embrace this small truth, and it will radically change your life.
You could ask this women. Caron McBride had no idea she was wanted for a felony for 21-years. She only found out when she went to update her married name at a Texas DMV, in April 2021 and they told her she was wanted for felony embezzlement.
She was charged after falling to return a VHS tape of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, from a Oklahoma video store, back in 1999. The shocking part is she had no memory of renting the tape or ever seeing the show. Its likely someone else rented the tape under her name, leaving her with a felony, that thankfully has been dismissed.
Cambodia’s Controversial Election: U.S. vs. Russia & China!
Cambodia is celebrating a new election of leader Hun Sen from the Cambodian People’s Party but the U.S. says: Not so fast. The U.S. says that it will announce punitive measures because it does not consider this to have been a “free and fair” election. They claim that the opposition was threatened and harrassed. But the U.S., E.U. and other Western countries did not send observers to the elections. Russia and China did. Is this U.S. posturing or something else?
Why is it the US’s business what happens in Cambodia?
“Your checking account is overdrawn. There’s a $35 NSF fee.”
When my ex-wife and I first started dating back in 1988, we got a bank account at a bank that no longer exists (after multiple mergers it’s now part of Bank of America) called Citizens & Southern.
So it turns out they hit on a great money-making idea. If you had money in your bank account, and write a check so that after it was cashed there would be less than $35 in your account, hit you with a $35 fee and say “See? Your account balance is negative!”)
Say you had $110 in your account and you wrote a $100 check. They’d hit you with a $35 NSF fee and say “See? You’re overdrawn by $25! Your balance is -$25! That’s why we charged the fee!”
You might think this is illegal, but…
…you’d totally be right.
Eventually someone hit them with a class action lawsuit for doing this, and years later they refunded us all the NSF fees they’d ever charged plus a couple hundred bucks on top.
Arizona teen missing for nearly 4 years shows up safe at Montana police station
An Arizona teenager who vanished without a trace nearly four years ago is safe after walking into a police station in Montana, authorities said Wednesday. Alicia Navarro, 18, of Glendale showed up alone this week in a small town about 40 miles from the Canadian border and identified herself, according to police in Glendale, a Phoenix suburb.
The worst nuclear disaster in North American history was discovered by accident. In 1983 a hospital in Juarez Mexico had a Radiotherapy unit dismantled and sold to a scrap yard for just nine dollars. However, the person responsible for getting rid of the waste spilled an un-marked cylinder of 6000 cobalt pellets contaminating the entire junk yard. The metal was than sent to two foundries that produced 6600 tons of rebar and 30,000 contaminated restaurant table legs.
It was only by chance that a truck transporting some of the metal took a wrong turn and drove passed the Los Alamos National Lab where the first atomic bomb was developed and their sensers detected the radiation. By that time the metal had already been shipped around Mexico and the U.S, hundreds of people were exposed to the radiation making it one of the worst Nuclear disasters in American History.
ALMOST UNWATCHABLE: Kennedy Will Not Stop Listing Reversals Of Judicial Nom’s Decisions To Her Face
At today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) grilled Judge Karoline Mehalchick, nominee to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, about the several reversals of her decisions.
The average age of Congress is rising. That’s unlikely to change soon.
The current class of lawmakers is one of the oldest in history, with an overall median age of 59. The median age of senators is 65, the highest on record. In the House, the median age has hovered between 57 and 58 for the past decade, higher than in any year before that period.
AA1erLcJ
How is the experience of riding a subway in America Vs. China
Counter-Revolution – ‘Do You Know What Time It Is?’
Both the U.S. and Europe have stalked brazenly into traps of their own making, Alastair Crooke writes.
To be blunt, both the U.S. and Europe have stalked brazenly into traps of their own making. Caught in the lies and deceit woven around a claimed inheritance of superior cultural DNA, (vouchsafing, it is said, almost certain victory), the West is awakening to a fast-approaching disaster to which there are no easy solutions. Cultural exceptionalism, together with the prospect of a clear ‘win’ over Russia, are draining rapidly away – but exiting delusion is both slow and humiliating.
The coming devastation is not just centred around the failed Ukraine offensive and NATO’s weak showing. It comprises multiple vectors that have been building over the years, but which are reaching culmination synchronously.
In the U.S., the run-up to momentous elections is underway. The Democrats are in a fix: The party has long since turned its back on its old blue-collar constituency, engaging instead with an urban ‘creative class’ in an exalted, world-shaping ‘social engineering’ project of moral redress, in alliance with Silicon Valley and the Permanent Nomenklatura. But that experiment has run off into the weeds, becoming ever more extreme and absurd. Push-back is building.
Predictably enough, the Democratic campaign is not gaining traction. Team Biden has low, low approval ratings. But Biden family pressure insists that Biden must persevere with his candidature, and not yield to another. Either way – Biden staying or going – there is no ready solution to the Party’s conundrum of a non-performing, non-platform.
The electoral landscape is a mess. Heavy ‘lawfare’ artillery is intended to break the Trump defences and drive him off the field, whilst an attrition of disclosures of Biden family malfeasance are intended wear down and implode the Biden bubble. The Democratic Establishment is spooked too by the flanking manoeuvre of the R. F. Kennedy candidature, which is snowballing rapidly.
Put simply, the Democratic wokish ideology of historical redress is separating the U.S. into two nations living in one land. Divided not so much by ‘Red or Blue’, or class, but defined by irreconcilable ‘ways of being’. The old categories: Left, Right, Democrat or GOP are being dissolved by a Cultural War that respects no categories, crossing the boundaries of class and party affiliation. Indeed, even ethnic minorities have been alienated by the zealots wanting to sexualise children at age 5 years, and by the pushing of the trans agenda on to school children.
Ukraine has served as the solvent to the old order and has become the Albatross hanging around the neck of the Biden Admin: How to spin the looming Ukraine debacle as somehow ‘mission achieved’. Can that be done? Because the escape route of a ceasefire and a frozen line of contact is unacceptable to Moscow. In short, ‘Biden’s war’ cannot continue as it is, but nor can it do ‘other’ without facing humiliation. The myth of American power, NATO competence and the reputation of U.S. weaponry hangs in the balance.
The economic narrative (‘everything is fine’) is poised, for somewhat unconnected reasons, to turn sour too. Debt – finally – is becoming the sword suspended above the economy’s neck. Credit is being tightly squeezed. And next month, the BRICS-SCO bloc will take the first strategic steps to disentangle up to 40 countries from the dollar. Who then will buy Yellen’s $ 1.1 trillion Treasuries – now and in the future – that is needed to fund U.S. government expenditure?
These events ostensibly are disconnected, but in reality, they form a self-reinforcing loop. One leading to a ‘run on the political bank’ – that is to say, the U.S.’ credibility itself.
Faced with many questions – and no solutions – the mood amongst sectors of the electorate is driving a radical and increasingly iconoclastic mood. A counter-revolutionary spirit, perhaps. It is too early to say whether it will sweep a majority, but it may – for the radicalism is coming from the two wings: GOP grassroots and the Kennedy ‘camp’.
One strain of GOP voters separates conservative leaders into two camps: those who “know what time it is” and those who don’t. That is the catchphrase on the Right that has become increasingly important to a significant wing of the Party who see a country weakened and corrupted by ideology; who hold that there is almost nothing left to ‘conserve’. Overturning the existing post-American order, and re-establishing America’s ancient principles in practice, is advocated as a sort of counter-revolution – and the only road forward.
That aphorism for ‘knowing what time of day it is’ refers to an emerging sense of urgency and appetite for sweeping action, not dragging and dull academic debates among more populist-minded conservatives. “The premise is that the struggle against wokish cultural power is existential, and that extreme tactics that would shock an older generation of conservatives need to be the norm”.
In fact, if a leader is not shocking in his conduct and proposals, he or she probably “doesn’t know what time it is”.
The second key feature of this us-against-them mentality is that any policy consensus, ipso facto, triggers suspicion and becomes a focus of attack.
“When you realize this, what looks at first like a hodgepodge of different ideas seems more unified. Covid health policy, disgust about Jan. 6, the Pentagon budget, immigration, support for Ukraine, promoting racial diversity, trans rights — these are all issues that enjoy a measure of élite bipartisan consensus. But for the Tucker Carlson wing – Republicans who embrace these things simply – don’t know what time it is”, Politico explains.
What is salient in this formulation is that just as unreserved support for Covid regulatory practices was a ‘marker’ of ‘correct-think’ in pandemic time, so support for Ukraine is defined as ‘a marker’ of correct liberal-think (and being in the Team) in the in the post-pandemic era.
This suggests that – already and as the election nears – Ukraine will be no-longer bi-partisan in terms of support, but rather will become a sword used against the hated Uni-party establishment, and any hint of a major f*ck-up will become centre-piece in this counter revolutionary war.
The GOP’s sense that U.S. culture has gone off-track: Legislation was snarled in Congress earlier this month, when the formerly sacrosanct Pentagon Defence Bill became the target of culture-war amendments on abortion, diversity and gender that could scuttle its passage. Speaker McCarthy was forced to accept the far-right rebellion against the Defence budget bill and push it through, without the usual widespread bipartisan support.
The measures stripped funding for diversity initiatives in the military and added restrictions on abortion and transgender care for service members. GOP lawmakers said they acted because liberal ideology was weakening the military. But the amendments endanger the bill’s path in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The heightened feelings on both sides are reflected in a poll that found that about 80% of Republicans believe that the Democratic agenda “if not stopped, will destroy America as we know it.” About the same share of Democrats had the same fear of the Republican ag.
Col Macgregor: NATO’s FRIGHTENING Plan For Russia
Absolutely. The United States is in the hands of someone who is mentally unstable.
https://youtu.be/k1TwoB1mGOk
What’s the most impressive thing you’ve ever seen a doctor do?
My daughter was 13 years of age and something was very wrong. She is a nonidentical twin. This information only matters because her illness is genetic and hopefully her twin will never have it.
We went to a new doctor at the practice we had been to before. He was just downright off in behavior. I had been a teacher about 20 years at this point and one of my Master degrees was in special education. I immediately saw him for what he was. Autistic.
I had twin daughters in the exam room. He could not function until we were all seated and all 6 feet flat on the floor. He paced silently in that tiny room until we were exactly as he felt we should be. He seemingly ignored all questions until he was leaving and would turn his head to the side and in a rapid fire voice, answer all questions. There were many more indicators but those were very telling. It was really odd but I saw it for what it was and shushed my daughters comments.
He took one look at her and gave a devastating diagnosis. A thirty year life span with a very low quality of life until then. I was not about to have that. Oh no.
I went home and Googled of course. Life became more grim. I realized she had all the classic physical signs. No doctor in our 200,000 population was taking a pediatric with her disease. The nearest was Dallas Texas which was a six hour drive each way.
As a working single Mother this seemed impossible.
Three days pass. I receive a phone call from a local specialist who is willing to take her at 6:30 am in the morning. She tells me that when one of her patients die, we can have their later slot.
She also tells me that the ONLY reason she is taking our case is because of the doctor who called her. The doctor who could not speak until we were all seated properly. The doctor who could not speak until he was leaving the room. This doctor meant so much to her that she was willing to take my daughters case.
As the next few years progress I learned many things. I learned that our autistic doctor was the doctor that all the other doctors, nurses and medical personnel went to. I also learned that this man saved my daughter’s life at this time and that she was very near a critical time in her disease. I learned that he gave her more quality and more meaning in the years ahead of her. When one of her many specialists were being hostile, he believed her. He LISTENED to her. He stayed with her through many trials in her health.
We continued to see him three times a year. He began to relax around us. My child held a special place in his heart and he began to joke and speak a bit differently. Not a great deal but enough for us to notice.
For those of us who have a loved one who is terminally ill, a doctor can be ambivalent, an asshole, or one such as this “A Jewel”.
This is impressive.
Italian Style Pot Roast Soup
leftover pot roast soup 500×750 1
Ingredients
1 (3 to 4 pound) chuck roast with bone, cut into pieces
1 (16 ounce) box acini de pepe (very small pasta)
8 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 large yellow onions, sliced
5 stalks celery, cut into pieces
3 -5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
6 quarts water
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Place meat, vegetables, garlic tomatoes and tomato sauce in a large pot with the 6 quarts of water. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 to 3 hours until meat is tender.
Toward the last half hour cook the pasta until al dente. Drain pasta add a little bit of butter and set aside.
With a slotted spoon remove meat. Trim fat, remove bone and shred the meat. Place meat back into pot.
Place some pasta in a bowl and ladle in the soup. Top with lots of parmesan cheese.
The Chase (1946, Film-Noir)
Todays treat; full movie. Film Noir.
Hunted … Haunted … Hounded … Chuck Scott gets a job as chauffeur to tough guy Eddie Roman; but Chuck’s involvement with Eddie’s fearful wife becomes a nightmare.
Do you remember when the “Bic Banana” came out? I do.
It was big and bright yellow, and all of us just wanted to have one to do our homework with.
Shortly after that came “Maxi skirts” which was the death blow to the mini-skirt fad of the late 1970’s. It wasn’t until the mid-1970s that my mother threw away her white go-go boots.
…
The year was in the early 1990’s. And I was working as a contractor at a electronics company that made high end military systems. Well, one day, I went to my boss and asked him for a raise. He said, “let me think about it”.
The next day he called me into his office. He accused me of being a fraud and a fake. He said that no one could find any background on me. And he spent perhaps the next two hours berating me up and down.
I left the office shaken.
Long story short, I made a few calls and got the entire mess all straightened out. But, you know, the damage was already done.
I came in wanting a raise, and left just happy that I had a job.
…
One thing that I used to love to do was crunch up aluminum foil into balls and toss them at the kitty cats to play with. They really enjoyed that game.
…
Oh, yeah. I have been listening a lot to B-b-b-b babymetal lately.
The lyrics to the songs suggest multiple song writers, as some of the songs are so very simple (Give me chocolate) while others at multi-levels deep.
Like Megitsune メギツネ.
Babymetal is a stage show; a production. Unlike the West, it’s not really a bunch a kids in a garage that got a hit record and a following, but a thought out and choreographed entertainment system.
If you read the subtitles to Megitsune メギツネ, you see that the song is all about how some women are actresses; “shape shifters” that follow a system of “seven techniques” to achieve their ultimate desires, goals, objectives… and purpose.
A female fox.
2023 07 29 07 06
HUSH – HUSH: Pentagon Orders “COMBAT PAY” For U.S. Troops – UKRAINE
The Pentagon has ordered COMBAT PAY for U.S. troops serving in . . . UKRAINE. Here’s the official memo:
F2D8GPIWYAA7izC
This begs the questions:
1) Why are US Troops inside Ukraine at all, AND;
2) If the only US Troops in Ukraine are “Advisors” then why Combat Pay?
(HT Personal Opinion: I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate . . . . I think the reason for this memo is that US troops ARE in combat in Ukraine and we ARE at war with Russia even though it is undeclared.)
First, my impression of Japanese upper class is that it tends to whisper.
main qimg 8733091c3e9fd80a64cdaa9e1a9358c6 lq
We spent a day in one of the hot spring bathhouses up in Hakone. At dinner everybody got drunk, and at some stage the wall to the next room was slid away and two very drunk parties became one.
In that other party there was an old geezer that seemed to have the time of his life. Rolling about on the floor, laughing and pointing his finger at us westerners. We had no problem with that, we beat him at poker and won maybe 20 yen 🙂
Next day we were extremely hung over. While waiting for our taxi, a runner came and said: “Nomura-san would like to thank you for a most successful evening yesterday and since you are going to Kyoto he asks if it is OK if he arranges for one of his friends to give you a guided tour of the city tomorrow?”
Of course we said yes and sent our thanks.
Next morning at breakfast a very old man in very traditional clothes appeared at our hotel. He was totally unassuming like David Bowie who just appeared at the front desk and mildly said, “Good morning, I am David”. But you could see from the hotel staff that he was somebody. They even started to treat us differently.
main qimg 83103a374069a52f66532e601e7be3c6 pjlq
We took the tour. It was amazing. He took us to temples and gardens that were not open to the public, and he was extremely knowledgeable. Then he asked if he would be allowed to invite us to his home for dinner.
Yes he was.
main qimg ce7cfc7c687854aa45721e9d073e3276 lq
His home was almost empty. But large. He had a large collection of original woodprints that he showed us. His wife, a very refined woman, had a degree in art history from the Sorbonne in Paris. The staff moved about like ghosts. He told us that he came from one of the really old Samurai families, but when Japan started modernizing, his family went into textiles and made a fortune.
We asked him what he did when he was not guiding westerners. He said that he collected 19th century sailing yachts. He had one in Newport, one in Monaco on the Riviera and one in Hawaii, and they all had crews that stood by in case he felt like sailing.
To this day I do not have any clue whom we met, but his friend up in Hakone that set us up was a Nomura. And they are bankers, right. Unless he was a Nomura written with different signs.
Chinese people don’t care about ancestry like Europeans do; there is no aristocracy in China, or everyone is descended from an aristocrat.
British proverb: It takes three generations to make a gentleman or aristocracy.
The Chinese have a saying, “Fu bu guo san dai”, which means wealth never survives three generations.
No hereditary aristocratic after the Zhou dynasty, interrupted by the policies of the Qin dynasty; 皇帝輪流做，明天到我家，基本是這個情況。
No hereditary power elite after the Tang Dynasty, interrupted by the imperial examination system;
No hereditary landowners after PRC statehood, interrupted by CPC land reform.
But after 1949, where was the space for the old aristocracy to survive?
Even the cadres of the CPC are not aristocrats. They went from muddy farm labourers to suits in short order, and were no aristocracy’s noble temperament at all. / 中共建政才70多年，從泥腿子洗腳上岸才幾天呀？中共領導層上一代誰不是農民出身？這麼短的時間如何產生貴族？
2023 07 29 13 26d
China went through a Maoist communist revolution. Who calls himself a fucking aristocrat? He will be sent to the remote countryside to be re-educated by the poor peasants!
As we all know, Xi Jinping once worked as an ordinary peasant labourer in Liangjiahe Village, Yanchuan County, Shaanxi Province.
This happened last month, June 2017. I met this man.(The one on the left)
main qimg faa23a0b9a23426ee50a9f82ea2ae5a1 lq
Image source: selfie.
Know who he is? You might be thinking that he’s some random Chinese guy.
Okay, I’ll tell his name. Carl Pei.
Haven’t heard of his name anywhere right?
Okay, heard of this mobile company?
main qimg c7053541c16daabc701fc79a19f5da78 lq
Yes, it’s Oneplus. He’s one of the two co-founders of that company. I had met him in Bangalore, one plus experience showroom when he was traveling around for one plus 5 promotion.
One plus, being one of the best mobile company in the world, after Apple and Samsung he hasn’t made himself famous. In the generation where people become entrepreneurs to gain name and fame, this guy
has no Wikipedia page about himself
He doesn’t own a mansion. He rents an AirBNB room for a month and keeps travelling.
He doesn’t own any posh cars. Travels only in Uber.
He wears one plain black round neck t-shirt.
He was sitting like he was one among us and talking about one plus phones.
Not rude, not loud, spoke softly.
He posed with everyone who asked for a selfie.
He had also arranged for free, unlimited ice cream, (Häagen Dazs!!!!) at that event.
It was such a nice experience. 🙂
Best thing was, the next day was my birthday. 🙂
American Hedge Fund CEO Moves Entire Company to China in 2023
In today’s video we share the story of Taylor Ogan of Snow Bull Capital and why he moved his hedge fund from the US to China and is still optimistic about Chinese Innovation in 2023.
As a teenager in the late 80s there was this show on TV called Roseanne.
2023 07 29 13 37
(Source: ABC Television)
I watched a few episodes but had very little interest in these middle-aged (aka “OLD”) people deal with their rebellious teenagers and unending money problems. The TV family was struggling, but I didn’t think they were poor. The parents worked. They owned their house. They seemed like a normal family with a big helping of TV drama and family dysfunction. As a teenager, I thought my family was doing just fine.
My parents owned their 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with a mortgage, of course. I had my own room. My brother had his own room and bathroom.
At 16, I was given my family’s beater, a Ford sedan, to drive. When the backseat caught on fire due to a faulty muffler, I used my birthday and Christmas money and my parents chipped in to buy a used Japanese sports car. It wasn’t fast but it was cool. How did my parents afford car insurance for a new teenage driver? More on that later.
I was a straight A student and had been accepted to a top in-state college. I got a mix of scholarships, grants and loans, but it didn’t matter. My parents made up any financial shortfalls and gave me $300/month allowance for food/groceries/gas which was way more than I needed. Where did they get the money? Not my problem.
30 years later, Roseanne has been rebooted (now called The Conners), and I start watching the show with more interest. Now I am now middle-aged with teenagers, but my life looks nothing like theirs. I semi-retired at 40. I’m wealthier than I ever thought possible. My kids (so far) have stayed out of trouble. They attend elite private high schools. We travel the world. I own both of my dream cars. I have no neurotic family members.
I start having flashbacks about the show’s original storyline and my own life at the time, and I realized that my childhood was closer to the Conner’s than I thought. Like the Conners, my family appeared to be middle class on the surface (i.e., homeowners with good jobs), but my parents were always struggling financially in large part because they were helping less fortunate/capable family members. My parents bought their house when I was born, and the house was the center of their financial and emotional well-being. They lived there my entire life. All important family gatherings were held there.
My mother worked as a waitress and my dad was a door-to-door salesman. His clientele were restaurant and bar patrons in rough neighborhoods. They worked a lot. They argued a lot—probably about money.
As a young child, I would accompany my mother at the diner since childcare was an issue. I sat quietly in a booth while she worked her shift. When I got older (5th grade), I walked home after school to an empty house. The key was under the doormat. I did homework and watched TV.
Unlike my kids now who have enrichment programs, private tutors, private coaches, private college counselors, and of course highly involved (borderline helicopter) parents, I did all my school work and college applications on my own.
Throughout our lives, my parents tapped into home equity to get out of financial jams. They refinanced the house to put me through college. My dad would regularly run up 6 figures of credit card debt with up to 30% interest. They refinanced the house repeatedly with mortgage rates > 10%.
My parents had very little savings and never invested a cent in stocks or mutual funds. There were no IRAs, 401Ks, etc. They were on social security and Medicare later in life.
Whenever they came into some money, they would blow it—usually by bailing out a relative in trouble, sometimes by making a bad investment. They each at some point bought a junker “dream” car that turned into a money pit. My dad bought a “classic” Mercedes and my mother bought a “classic” MG. Both were worthless.
I was on the free school lunch program, but it never occurred to me that it was income based. I just thought lunch was included.
We owned a working TV which sat on top of a non-working TV. If you’re a fan of Jeff Foxworthy, you know what that means.
I started driving when I was 16, but I didn’t know I had no insurance until I started insuring myself in college. My parents happily let me drive without insurance.
We also didn’t have any health insurance. Seeing the doctor, dentist, optometrist were on an as-needed basis. Something better be broken. Forget about preventative care except for the free eye and dental exams I received at school. I didn’t know health insurance was a societal norm until I got my first job out of college.
I got all my immunizations at the free county clinic. I also had my cavities treated for free by dental students at a local university during special “low income” days.
I was the first in my family to get braces after the school nurse identified a speech impediment due to crooked teeth. My mother actually protested, “Does a boy really need straight teeth?” I wasn’t planning to enter any beauty pageants, but I had some really gnarly teeth.
I was a good student, so I needed tools of the trade. I got 20-year-old hand me down encyclopedias for my studies. It saved me trips to the library and photocopying money. The library encyclopedias weren’t much newer.
Even though I had my own bedroom, we had a revolving door of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents living with us, sleeping in the living room for months at at time. It was not a large house; it was often full of people.
When the relatives did move out, my parents subsidized their relatives’ lifestyles. My parents paid for rent, food, cars, kids’ college expenses.
While my own life has been drama free, there was no shortage of drama around. My half-brother came to live with us when I was 10 and he was 19. He had a drinking problem early in life. He went to a “lesser” college because of a girl. They eloped and when they couldn’t make if financially, they had to move back home; this happened several times. The last time it happened, it became a permanent move, with a kid in tow. He’s doing well now, and he inherited our parents’ house.
Some family members had out-of-wedlock kids and interracial marriages (maybe not a big deal today but not as common back then). I had an aunt who married a husband who had a second family in a foreign country (she was a gullible person and easily conned). She had a kid with him, then found out she was the second wife, and he moved his first family to the US to be with them. I had another aunt who we all thought had “made it” because she married into a super wealthy family. She and her husband were kidnapped and held for ransom (and murdered).
Many aunts and uncles had mental health issues that went undiagnosed. They were known as the crazy family members, but still family. They led their lives suffering and really not knowing or understanding. They were unemployable. They might temporarily act normal but could never hold down jobs and most relationships. My parents helped them as best as they could. Ironically, they outlived my parents. and their kids support them. Their kids can support them because my parents helped support their kids.
There were a lot of arguments between my parents, siblings, in-laws, etc. Small house. lots of people, mental illness, it was inevitable. I mostly stayed out of it. Sometimes people made bone-headed choices (aka mistakes) and another family member would bail them out. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t understand it. But I accepted it.
Most of all, my parents’ dining room/kitchen looked just like the Connner’s. It was cheap looking. It was small and cluttered. It was usually filled with a large, close but sometimes dysfunctional family. The room still looks the same except the family has dispersed after my parents passed away.
2023 07 29 13 38
(Source: ABC Television)
It helped me immensely to grow up with some challenging circumstances and complex family dynamics but never really having the stigma of being poor. Because I lived with my less fortunate family members, I always thought I was doing all right. I grew up in a solidly middle class neighborhood and felt like I had everything my friends had (minus the Izod shirts, Member’s Only jackets and Jordache Jeans). My parents did a great job of maintaining an illusion of middle class stability while building a mountain of debt. It wasn’t until college that I began to even have a glimpse of the structural problems with my parents and their extended family. Before that, everything was just “normal” to me.
As a I started my own journey of financial obligations (e.g., student loans, car loans, credit cards, etc.) and eventual financial independence, I realized all the challenges but also missed opportunities my parents encountered. It’s heartbreaking to think the lives they could have led had they just had someone guiding them and perhaps if they had fewer relatives draining their resources. They worked hard their entire lives but enjoyed few luxuries. They were able to hold onto the house through the ups and towns, raise financially independent kids (it took my brother a bit longer), and help their family members, so that does count for something. In that sense, all our lives are better than the Conner’s since they seemed to be stuck in an endless loop of misery (even 30 years later).
I developed a strong interest in personal finance. I semi-retired at 40 due to diligent saving and investing. Although my family is much smaller, it remains central to my life. Rather than maximize income, I focus on optimizing my time. How do I make enough money while maximizing my time with my wife and kids.? My wife and I both work from home, and we’ve been present at every of one our kids’ milestones and events (e.g., sports games, talent shows, scouting, plays, etc.). We take a lot of family vacations. Other than our kids’ private schools, we keep our expenses low. Financial security has driven my choices but the display of wealth or excessive consumption is anathema to me. I strive to be financially savvy enough to avoid stupid mistakes and financially wealthy enough to survive the inevitable mishap.
China is not a dictatorship because Xi Jinping cannot make any major decisions without first discussing them with the seven-member politburo.
You have no idea about how societies collapse; it is not about wasting public money.
It is about a significant portion of the population not having ownership over any assets, such as land, so they have no interest in social stability. Most importantly, they feel that the door is closed to their owning any assets.
So they feel the only way out is to overthrow the current system.
Any Chinese citizen can apply to join the Communist Party; usually they will be rejected on the first application. Xi was rejected nine times before being accepted the tenth time.
Chuck Roast Soup
d41871bfe0fea2f3f0d4d49ff870ce05
Ingredients
1 (3 1/2 pound) chuck roast
2 (46 ounce) cans tomato juice
1 package frozen mixed vegetables
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup okra, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Tabasco sauce to taste
Salt to taste
1 cup spaghetti, broken into small pieces
Instructions
Cut chuck roast into small pieces, removing all gristle and fat. Place in a very large pot and add all ingredients except spaghetti. Cover and simmer slowly for 3 hours.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union believed that the downtown Pentagon building was a top-secret meeting room.
They claimed this because they saw government officials entering and exiting the building at the same time through the satellite images available to them.
main qimg 3f6a60f535fbc9286c91d07a571304ac lq
They believed it only ended up discovering something completely different:
The “secret” building was a kind of hot dog kiosk for employees.
main qimg ae2b2830a6568b5449a24e34ee38022d lq
Our Eye-Opening 24 Hours in CHINA in 2023 (has Shanghai changed?)
We visited Shanghai for the first time in 2016 and have since been there three times. However, our last visit was in 2018, and A LOT has happened since then, in the world overall but in China especially.
The battle for Osowiec Fortress
2023 07 29 13 47
On August 6th,1915, over 7,000 German soldiers surrounded Osowiec Fortress. The Fortress was built in the 19th century on a strategic hotspot near the river Biebrza, in what is now Poland,but back then was part of the Russian Empire.
2023 07 29 13 47d
It was a formidable fortress, but only 900 Russian soldiers defended it against 7,000 advancing German troops. After months of trying to get the soldiers to surrender, the Germans launched a Chlorine and Bromine Gas attack against the fortress, followed by an artillery bombardment.
Since the Russian soldiers were just simple militia, they had no protection and suffered horrendous casualties from the gas. As the 7,000 thousand German troops advanced against the fort, they were met with a terrifying sight.
The hundred or so Russian troops who had survived the gas attack charged the German soldiers covered in blood and chemical burns, and coughing up bits of their melted lungs. The Chlorine gas mix with the moisture in their lungs turning it to Hydrochloric Acid.
2023 07 29 13 48z
With bloody cloths wrapped their melting faces they charged the German soldiers. The German troops thought the dead where coming at them and ran screaming in terror. As the horrified Germans retreated they got caught in their own barbwire traps, allowing the Russians to pick them off with ease.
They didn’t manage to hold the fortress, but the remaining Russian soldiers were able to destroy the fort before retreating to safety. The battle for Osowiec Fortress was so horrific for the advancing German army, it went on to become known as the Attack of the Dead Men.
The Yanks want to get involved in the third Chinese Civil War, fine, it’s the Yanks we want to fight.
Hainan Island incident, U.S. bombs Chinese embassy in FRY …… Wait, the Chinese haven’t had a chance to get their revenge yet.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
U.S. naval, ground and air forces did participate in the 1945~1950 chinese Civil war in China.
There were U.S. naval bases in Tsingtao, Shanghai and Taiwan.
U.S. troops were stationed in Peiping, Tientsin, Tangshan, Chinwangtao, Tsingtao, Shanghai and Nanking.
The U.S. air force controlled all of China’s air space and took aerial photographs of all China’s strategic areas for military maps.
At the town of Anping near Peiping, at Chiutai near Changchun, at Tangshan and in the Eastern Shantung Peninsula, U.S. troops and other military personnel clashed with the People’s Liberation Army and on several occasions were captured.
Chennault’s air fleet took an extensive part in the chinese civil war.
main qimg 7d2ca4c57a652a9a517637d6dc378d6b
Besides transporting troops for Chiang Kai-shek, the U.S. air force bombed and sank the cruiser Chungking, which had mutinied against the Kuomintang.
All these were acts of direct participation in the war.
The Chinese civil war from 1945 to 1950 was apparently started by Chiang Kai-shek, but actually started by the United States.
As stated in Acheson’s Letter, the United States in this last war has given the Kuomintang government material aid to the value of “more than 50 percent” of the latter’s “monetary expenditures” and “furnished the Chinese armies” (meaning the Kuomintang armies) with “military supplies”.
It is a war in which the United States supplies the money and guns and Chiang Kai-shek supplies the men to fight for the United States and slaughter the Chinese people.
All these wars of aggression, together with political, economic and cultural aggression and oppression, have caused the Chinese to hate American imperialism.
Make trouble, fail, make trouble again, fail again . . . till their doom; that is the logic of the American imperialists and all reactionaries over in dealing with the chinese people’s cause, and they will never go against this logic.
CAST AWAY ILLUSIONS, PREPARE FOR STRUGGLE!
main qimg f86fcc052af824497860767de8bbec5fmain qimg 8672594ed92f6526d485aa46d838deec
American Imperialism has prepared the conditions for its own doom.
This is a story about how one night in university can destroy your life forever. Danny Santulli was 18-years-old and a freshman at the University of Missouri. In October 2021, Danny was captured on CCTV being blindfolded and being led down a flight of stairs, in an event named “Pledge Dad Reveal Night.”
Danny was made to drink a litre of Vodka straight and by himself. At around 10.55, Danny collapsed and some of the frat members carried him to a sofa. At around midnight Danny was captured on CCTV sliding off the sofa and shortly after he was found unconscious with blue lips.
2023 07 29 14 09
Shockingly, instead of calling an ambulance for Danny the frat members piled him into a car dropping him on the way. They drove him to hospital, but at this point he was in cardiac arrest. He had to be resuscitated and spent the next 6 weeks in intensive care.
Prior to this evening Danny had been left needing stiches and crutches, after he’d been forced to climb inside a bin with broken glass inside. Two nights before the night in question, he broke down in tears on the phone to his sister and told her about how stressed he felt about the pledges.
His family had begged him to quit the pledge, but he didn’t want to be ridiculed. This is Danny now, in the picture BELOW.
He will need full time care for the rest of his life.
main qimg 1ff6f65a8323c76b144dc26e5c82fa6f
Michio Kaku BREAKS DOWN Into Tears: “They Lied To Us For 92 Years!”
In a world shrouded by secrets and concealed truths, one man’s shocking revelation is changing everything we thought we knew about our universe. Prepare to witness the unraveling of a century-long deception that has kept humanity in the dark for 92 years. Dr. Michio Kaku has now exposed a breathtaking reality about the origin of our universe, one that starkly opposes the Big Bang theory. But how exactly does this discovery change our understanding of the Big Bang? And what does the discovery of this ancient galaxy mean for our understanding of the universe?
BEIJING: I moved to China in October 2010 and from the perspective of Western popular opinion that’s very absurd. Much of the West looks at China in a very negative way and they believe it odd people will stay in the country for a long time.
Most of my family and friends back in my native country are quick to post anti-China stories on their Social Media sites and they do so without confirming the veracity of the articles through me.
But that’s alright, I’ve gotten accustomed to it. Sometimes, I’ll read articles in the media about China and wonder if the author is an aspiring fiction book writer.
The basic themes are: China is collapsing, its economy is crashing, war against China is imminent and Covid has destroyed China.
But if such tales were true how did China become the world leader in attracting inbound Foreign Direct Investments? The country is on pace to lure in over US$160bn this year.
Major Wall Street and London banks and investment firms including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and HSBC have poured in huge money into China this year and they have published reports forecasting the nation’s economy will stay strong.
Hence the narrative that China’s economy will crash is just noise and nothing more. As such the other claims are proven wrong.
Wealthy bankers do not intentionally make silly investments and conduct extensive research before choosing where to invest.
The Western countries appear to have been hardest hit by the Covid pandemic so it’s very odd they see China as the nation that will crack under the public health crisis.
Let the numbers speak for themselves. The US has had hundreds of thousands of people die from Covid while only a few thousand died from the virus in China.
The virus has adversely impacting everyone’s lives and hopefully the social distancing measures and wearing face masks’ requirements can finally end next year.
The regulations are a real nuisance and not enjoying the rights to travel has bothered me a lot. Nevertheless, these restrictions will not spell the death knell for China.
The Chinese government is not on the verge of collapse either. The economy is running smoothly and social stability remains secured.
Accordingly, my opinion that China is doing fine and will continue to do so will be an unpopular viewpoint for the next few years in the West.
But I care very little about following pop culture sentiments. That’s just not who I am.
As reported by the Global Times:
“Regardless of their attitude toward China, most US and other Western elites tend to believe that China's GDP will surpass that of the US in a decade or less, and most of them also believe that the US' military and technological advantages over China will shrink further as time passes. Although many have claimed that China's stability was achieved through economic growth and controls and tried desperately to search for internal tensions in China, few Western forces believe that China would get out of control politically.”
China has endured many challenges and will prevail. People predicting the nation’s doom are just engaged in fantasy-thinking.
They don’t like China, want the country to fail and therefore concluded that will happen. But their forecasts have been proven false time and again.
A Bullied Student With Vitiligo Is Celebrating Learning To Love Her Skin By Turning It Into Art
1 73
A bullied student with vitiligo is celebrating learning to love her skin by turning it into art making a world map, flowers and even a Van Gogh painting. Ashley Soto, 21, from Orlando in Florida, USA, has found turning her white patches of skin into art has empowered her and helped her to embrace her vitiligo.
2 65
She was diagnosed with the condition that affects one percent of the worlds population, at the age of 12 when a porcelain spot appeared on her neck. Within a year, it had spread to 75% of her body in spots and patches.
3 65
After being asked if she had showered in bleach the teen hid her skin beneath long jumpers and jeans to avoid further ridicule. But now, shes turning her body into art by tracing her vitiligo, making a world map and a beautiful arrangement of flowers to Vincent van Goghs The Starry Night painting.
A nerd is an individual with great intellectual capacity who does well in school, particularly in subjects like mathematics and the sciences. They may not care about socialization. “You don’t want to take that class. It’s full of nerds”.
A geek is a person with a passion for something that isn’t particularly popular with everyone and has very deep knowledge of the subject. “She’s a real anime geek”.
Geek. Loves computers and knows all about them, but no deep general knowledge. Often will wear clothing reflective of their passions. Won’t read anything outside their specialized base.
Nerds become scientists. Geeks become engineers.
2023 07 29 18 01
NATO failed in Ukraine against Russia. Now it’s targeting China
Pepe is the star in this show. This is a VERY GOOD discussion. Talking about Europe, and the pivot to China, and the fiasco as it stands.
Some interesting points… The Dangerous trio. HERE at 21:00.
Russians fighting one had behind their backs. HERE at 27:00.
Ukraine war entering a new stage with the Poles and Northern European Proxies. HERE.
Originally Answered: Why can’t African Countries produce cars?
This question should be rephrased to “How many African Countries produce cars?”
There are 54 countries in Africa and more than 10% of the countries manufacture cars though some of them still import engine parts and assemble them in their plants.
MOROCCO – LARAKI
Laraki, a car manufacturer based in Casablanca, Morocco The company designed and manufactured its own range of luxury performance cars and sport models. Larakis are strictly concept cars, custom-built for each customer, and were ranked among the most expensive cars in the world in 2015, priced at over $2- million each.
main qimg c4a0ce667d206a46d1b111ba1bbd722f lqmain qimg 07d9685097aeb6f5aa421de51fb25728 lqmain qimg 313a1f34312a779a7ac97a23e3c511d4 lq
Rapper French Montana shows off his Laraki car.
2. TUNISIA – Wallyscar
Competing in the lucrative off-road market, the small but powerful Wallyscar, manufactured in La Marsa, Tunisia, is a relatively new company, founded in 2006. The company is building a strong reputation for affordable, reliable and powerful 4X4s, despite the size of its vehicles, which are similar to Suzuki and Skoda.
According to reports from 2014, the company sells over 600 units a year, predominately in Africa and the Middle East, but also as far as Panama and Europe. The company’s plans include making its sporty, colourful, off-road vehicles more environmentally friendly, as well as trying its luck in international off-road motorsport
main qimg e783792b2da77605cd7f88e10e0853e9 lqmain qimg 9f53c1719b3925eda9877c940703f00d lq
3. UGANDA – KIIRA
main qimg aa81034010f9abfc15fb1466ccec5c9c lq
4. NIGERIA – INNOSON
main qimg 6883c5e641d0036744b6d21de096df5b lqmain qimg a5041786f9de5264025467fec0655b34 lqmain qimg 65a18d29c1bfccf8763637afc9e2f57d lq
5. GHANA – KANTANKA
main qimg 0244255b2ffe3813558bd04c134254f5 lqmain qimg b14ea0efe59512dd9a26f2cb23758429 lqmain qimg 7cbf4f02b947827cf3cd878fbe34d2ce pjlq
When India was under British rule, there was a problem there. There were many snakes.
They were so common that it was dangerous to go out. Snakes were everywhere.
The risk of dying from the fatal bite of such a specimen was too great.
Therefore, the government decided that something needed to be done to prevent the snakes from flooding the land.
It was decided to financially reward people who brought in dead snakes. “It’s a win-win situation,” the government thought. People will get the money they need while reducing the snake population.
That went really well for a while.
Under the government’s direction, people dutifully killed snakes in exchange for handsome sums of money.
But people think for their own benefit when the situation permits.
So some enterprising minds decided to breed snakes and then kill them and collect the money for it.
Soon the government realized what these people were doing and immediately stopped the bounty program.
The people who bred the snakes for money decided that the only thing that could be done with their now worthless snakes was to set them free.
As a result, the snake population grew faster than ever before.
This snake effect now also serves as a metaphor for when one state intervenes too much and therefore causes the opposite effect.
Budget travellers can be problematic. There are two types of budget travellers. One is people like me. I don’t have big money, so when I travel I go by train or by low cost airlines, stay in cheaper B&B’s or budget hotels (occasionally in hostels), and eat one meal per day from the grocery.
, relatively wealthy first world tourists that travel to considerably poorer countries and live relying on begging from locals.
Why do countries welcome tourism? Because tourism brings money. George Clooney (or whichever rich person) visits Edinburgh flying in with an Emirates flight (and he clearly books the First Class private cabin) staying at the Balmoral hotel, eating at three Michelin stars restaurants, and visiting the city with a rented limousine: he leaves a lot of money. I fly in with Ryanair, stay in a cheapo B&B with shared bathroom, eat fixed price lunches, shop at Scotmid for dinner, mostly walk and only take a local bus if necessary. But I still bring money.
Begpackers do not bring money, rather they draw money from the local economy. A young American or European tourist visiting India and relying on begging from people that are less privileged than they are to fund their holidays isn’t a budget tourist, they are leeches!
Originally Answered: What is something you hate about the direction society is heading?
Just one thing? I’m a certified middle-aged curmudgeon. I could go on for pages about all the things that are wrong with the way society is going. But I’ll pick just one for this answer, lest I make everyone hate me.
And, ironically, that’s one of the biggest problems with society today: the inability to tell the truth for fear of offending people.
I see this all the time in education.
Before I was a teacher, I spent some time as a special education assistant for a public school in a wealthy suburb of Chicago. It was there that I first saw the lengths teachers and administrators had to go to avoid stating the obvious to a parent, lest that parent get offended and/or threaten to sue the school.
Your child has severe emotional and behavioral disorders and if you, the parent, don’t get some outside help for your kid, your kid is likely to end up in jail. Your child’s problems are beyond the abilities of the school to help at this point.
We could never say that to a parent, no matter how true it was.
I saw it even more when I became a teacher.
If a student has an attitude problem, I can’t just tell the parent, “your kid was giving me attitude.” I have to document exactly what was said, the context, why I felt it was offensive, and what I think should be done about it. Then I have to wait before I tell the parent, and re-read my documentation to make sure it doesn’t sound offensive. Most of the time, when a student is giving me attitude, I know that the student’s parents won’t do anything about it anyway, so why bother documenting it and punishing the student, when it won’t change the behavior? The student often gets that behavior from the parent in the first place.
If a student fails a test, I can’t just tell the parent it’s because their kid was not paying attention in class and spends too much time talking to the people around him and disturbing his classmates. I have to word it in such a way that I sound non-judgmental, which usually means making it sound like the problem was with the way I taught it, not the kid’s complete lack of attention while I was teaching it.
We can never blame the parents for bad parenting or the students for a lack of parental guidance at home, no matter how true it is. So I usually just end up taking the fall for a student’s and parent’s problems.
A student can come to school half-asleep and announce to the class that they went to a midnight screening of a new movie the night before, then fail that day’s assignments, and I can’t tell the parents it’s their fault for letting their kid stay up all night for a movie. That is, I can’t tell the truth.
I’ve had parents tell me that they’re afraid of taking away their child’s video games until the child gets their grades up, because they don’t want the child to be mad at them. Somehow, I’m supposed to avoid telling the truth in that situation: you’re trying to be your child’s friend, not their parent. It’s a good thing if your kid is mad at you sometimes. That’s how the system works.
A few years ago, there was a movement to weigh students in public schools and send the parents a letter if their child was overweight or obese. As a former overweight child (now overweight adult), I thought this was a good idea. Maybe some parents just don’t see it or don’t realize how bad it really is with their child.
So many parents got offended when they got the letters that some school districts quit doing them.
Imagine getting a letter from your child’s school saying that their BMI put them in the “overweight” category for their age and, instead of thinking you need to help your child get healthy, you get offended and criticize the school for telling you the truth.
The schools made a mistake: they told parents the truth about something the parents should know about. Imagine that … telling the truth. No wonder so many parents got offended.
[Honorable Mention]
Derrick Mosley, a 22-year-old man from Portland, tried to rob a gunstore with a baseball bat.
He entered the shop, smashed a glass display case and pulled a handgun from the display.
2023 07 30 18 20
The store manager drew his own handgun and ordered Mosley to drop his bat, the newly acquired gun, plus a knife.
He made Mosley lay on the floor, and that was where the police found him when they arrived.
He was charged with first degree robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to the news release.
I guess he learned the hard way that you should never bring a bat to a gunfight.
Just how bad is it in China? If you think it’s bad in China, please watch this
If you know someone who hates China for all the wrong reasons, maybe showing them this video will help.
What was the centrepiece of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s speech? She said:
China must accept America’s demarcation of the status quo. If it does not respect the boundaries drawn for it by Washington between harmless prosperity and historically consequential technological development, then it should expect to face massive sanctions.
2023 07 29 10 01
What does that mean?
Obviously, it means that China must respect the division of labour in the world that the US has drawn for China. China can only be at the low end of the industrial chain, producing cheap household goods and doing some incoming assembly.
If China develops according to this international division of labour, it will be “harmless prosperity” for the United States.
This is the international order that has already formed rules.
If China wants to develop high technology, it is breaking the order and the division of labour in the world. Of course, the United States and the West want to sanction China because China is a “disruptor of the order”.
In the eyes of the Americans, the status quo of the United States and the West at the top of the “food chain”, which was formed after the WWII, is unchangeable. China is at the lower end of the “food chain”, and this is China’s destiny, which the Chinese must accept and must not challenge this order.
2023 07 29 10 02
Janet Yellen wasn’t the only one to say this, and Jake Sullivan’s speech put the US’s intentions in what amounted to a direct pick-me-up. He said:
In terms of global economic integration, the United States’ expectations for the stability of the global order have not been realized. The original order of the world is a pyramid structure. Developed countries and developing countries should perform their duties in this pyramid structure and get their own place. This is the stable international order and international division of labor that the United States hopes for.
2023 07 29 10 0fd2
Jake Sullivan’s speech was obviously more straightforward. What he meant was that the “food chain” of the world division of labour formed after the WWII was irrevocable, and that both developed and developing countries should play their respective roles and should not try to change it.
That is to say, the financial hegemony, scientific and technological hegemony and military hegemony of the developed countries are the results of the WWII division of labour, and the production of cheap commodities by the developing countries is likewise the result of the WWII division of labour. This world economic order is unchangeable and cannot be challenged.
The speeches of Jake Sullivan and Janet Yellen actually revealed the U.S. government’s understanding of China. That is, China should accept the post-WWII international division of labour and should not challenge this order.
China is now developing the whole industrial chain, and will also invest in high technology, and will also step up investment in military construction and military equipment. These are all disruptions to the existing order, which the United States certainly cannot tolerate.
Other countries are either technologically advanced but have far fewer people than the US, or have large populations but are far less technologically advanced than the US, and they have nothing to compare with the US.
Only China has a population several times larger than the US, and the technology is still catching up, and the size of the economy is getting closer.
With an economic scale, it can support a huge and advanced army, and it will have a strong ability to export culture.
Therefore, China is indeed the only country on earth that may pose a “threat” to “America First”.
If “America First” cannot be preserved, can “Eurocentrism” or “Americacentrism” and “white supremacy” still survive? China is therefore a “threat” to the West as a whole.
But China is an opportunity for Asia. Whether Asians can be on an equal footing with Westerners depends on whether China can rise smoothly.
Gone are the days when whites were at the top of the “international caste system” and coloured people were at the bottom.
2023 07 29 10 03s
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Fall is officially here. Now is a great time to try out some hearty autumn dishes like chicken and wild rice soup. Our recipe is rich and creamy. You can serve it as an appetizer if you want, but it’s filling enough to stand on its own as an entrée. This recipe stands out from the rest because it calls for freshly roasted chicken, plenty of delicious vegetables, and a nice dollop of plain Greek Yogurt. Adding yogurt, instead of cream, for example, helps to make this soup extremely flavorful but also relatively light, calorie-wise.
2023 07 29 09 34
Ingredients
1 deli-roasted chicken, about 2 1/2 pounds
6 cups water
2 medium carrots, ends trimmed and cut into chunks
1 small rib celery, cut into chunks
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 small bay leaf
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1/3 cup uncooked wild rice*
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Cabot 2% Plain Greek Yogurt or Cabot Plain Greek Yogurt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or more to taste
* You can reduce the cooking time with “quick-cooking” wild rice, which is done in about 15 minutes, or substitute another flavorful rice, such as brown basmati.
Instructions
Pull off meat from chicken, placing skin, bones and any hot or solidified juices in large saucepan. Dice 2 cups of chicken meat, saving rest for another use, and set aside in refrigerator.
Add water, carrots, celery, peppercorns and bay leaf to saucepan; bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to maintain simmer. Cover pan and cook broth for one hour.
Pour broth through strainer set over large bowl, pressing on solids to extract all broth. Discard solids.
Melt butter in empty saucepan. Add onions and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes or until onion is tender and just beginning to brown.
Pour in strained broth. Add wild rice, bring to simmer and cook covered for 40 to 50 minutes or until rice is tender.
In small bowl, whisk together heavy cream, yogurt and cornstarch until completely smooth with no small lumps; stir mixture into pot and continue stirring until soup thickens and returns to simmer. Add thyme, salt, pepper and 2 cups of reserved diced chicken.
Taste soup, adding additional salt and pepper if needed. Stir until heated through and serve.
Lockheed Martin, the main contractor, and manufacturer of the F-35 fifth-generation fighter, is bracing for a significant financial hit in 2023. Production issues have led to a shortfall of about 50 aircraft, which is expected to cost the firm hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
The production hiccup represents over a third of the total F-35 output and exceeds the entire annual order from the U.S. Air Force, which usually stands at around 48 aircraft. Initially, Lockheed Martin had plans to deliver between 147 and 153 F-35s to all clients in 2023. However, the implementation of upgrades under the Technology Refresh 3 [TR 3] program has been fraught with significant challenges.
J-20 production is booming
News of this drastic drop in F-35 production comes amidst reports of China’s rapid expansion of its own fifth-generation fighter production, exceeding 120 aircraft per year. The F-35 and China’s J-20 are the only two fighters of their generation currently in production and deployed at the squadron level.
2023 07 30 18 17y
Both aircraft sit at the pinnacle of aviation technology with their advanced features and sophistication. However, the J-20, a larger twin-engine fighter, is more attuned to long-range missions and air-to-air combat.
The F-35 Block 4 upgrade will elevate the internal air-to-air missile capacity of the F-35A and F-35C variants from four to six missiles. This narrows the gap with the J-20, which can reportedly carry up to eight missiles in its more spacious weapons bays. Initially, the first TR-3 F-35s were slated to enter service in April, but unforeseen obstacles have pushed this date back to December.
The F-35 program has experienced a series of setbacks, drawing criticism from both military and civilian leaders. One of the most notable issues since early 2022 has been the underperformance of the F135 engine, which has resulted in billions of dollars in additional operational costs for the American fleet alone and likely more for international operators as most F-35s are built for export.
Foreign operators have echoed these sentiments. The South Korean National Assembly’s National Defence Committee disclosed in October 2022 that the country’s F-35s had experienced 234 flaws in 18 months from January 2021 to June 2022. These included 172 incidents rendering the aircraft non-operational and 62 cases where specific missions could not be performed. Despite hopes for improvement, the first half of 2022 saw little change in these figures.
Despite these issues, the U.S. and its allies face a conundrum. There is a noticeable lack of NATO-compatible fifth-generation fighters, leaving them with limited options. Older fourth-generation fighters are likely to struggle against advanced aircraft like China’s J-20, the forthcoming FC-31 naval fighter, and even Russia’s slightly less stealthy Su-57.
Along with the much-discussed dismissal of Qin Gang as foreign minister, another important dismissal in July was Yi Gang as the 12th governor of the People’s Bank of China.
Yi Gang was widely criticized with some of the reasons being:
He was educated in the US, and his family continues to live in the US, and he was more considerate of US interests than Chinese interests;
He supported western globalist interests instead of Chinese national interests, and did not have enough awareness that the US and China are fighting a full-spectrum cold war;
He did not take advantage of the high inflation in the US to make the Chinese yuan a more powerful currency globally and instead lowered Chinese interest rates, helping the US Fed to bring more US dollars back to the US;
He missed multiple strategic opportunities by not changing more Chinese assets into gold, and did not move out of the US dollar fast enough.
Some of the criticism of Yi Gang came from Pan Gongsheng who was party secretary at the People’s Bank of China, and has now been appointed as Yi Gang’s replacement as the 13th governor of the People’s Bank of China. When Janet Yellen visited China in July, she met with Pan Gongsheng.
The likely outcome of this appointment is that Chinese currency and foreign exchange policy is likely to become more sharply aggressive, starting with the August BRICS meeting in South Africa.
In order to make a stronger impression and announcement at the BRICS meeting, where more members will be admitted, and as the most economically powerful member of BRICS, China will have to make some big moves on this front. Pan Gongsheng is likely make major moves for this major event, which all of the developing world and France are watching closely.
This didn’t happen to me, but it happened to a friend.
My friend Tony lived paycheck to paycheck in assorted jobs. He inherited $50,000 when his grandmother passed away. His friends convinced him to invest the money rather than spend it on a new car, vacations, etc., and eventually he agreed. Another friend, Jack, who worked in finance, convinced him to put the $50,000 into Cisco stock. This was back in April 2000, just before the tech bubble burst, and Cisco was at its all-time high, around $75 a share. Then the bubble burst, and the stock crashed.
Two and a half years later, we were all at a wedding of a mutual friend, and the friend who recommended Cisco was very embarrassed and apologized profusely for his recommendation.
Tony: What do you mean? Why are you sorry you made that recommendation?
Jack: Because the stock tanked right after you invested, and it’s continued to go down and down; your $50,000 investment is now probably worth $6000 or $7000. Haven’t you looked at your statements?
Tony: Sure, I’ve looked at the statements; it’s up to about $83,000! It’s doing great!
Jack: You must have misread your statement; maybe it said $8300? When was that statement?
Tony: Maybe two weeks ago, and I’m sure it said $83,000!
Jack: That’s impossible!
After the reception we all went back to Tony’s apartment and Tony pulled out his last statement, which indeed did say $83,000!
Then we saw why; Tony bought the “wrong” stock!
Jack had told him to buy Cisco (the high tech company), and Tony bought Sysco (the food distribution company); both stocks are pronounced exactly the same. While Cisco crashed, Sysco did great!
So that was a very happy ‘mistake’ that Tony made!
China has had a continuous and steady rule of the Communist Party of China
It has always been Country & Party First, Individual Next
For China the Leadership and Governance was always there. Always Strong and entirely spread across the Nation.
All it required was an Economic Transition Which Visionary leaders like Deng and later Xi Jingping have been able to fulfil to a massive extent.
main qimg ea0391a55994e1c68f070957bb3f238b lq
From 1931 in many cases to 2022 – for almost 91 years you have had a very strong and in general unified Political System that has never grown weak mainly due to a Unified Populace (90% Han Chinese) and an Ancient 5000 year old Civilization that was never interrupted too much.
So as i said – China just needed to make some Economic Tweaks and change from a Socialist Communist Country to a Capocracy.
Russia is much different
To begin with – the Entire Political System was overhauled – from Tsars to CPSU to Presidential Democracy to Presidential Autocracy
Already the CPSU was mainly a fractured body loaded with inefficiency and where Meritocracy was replaced by Party Loyalty and Political Relationships and even Family Backgrounds.
Now suddenly in 1991 – A Country that had never voted in the last 1000 years of its life from the Tsars to the CPSU now suddenly began to develop a democracy!!!
It resulted in the Worst form of Oligarchy where a Bunch of Oligarchs, Dolugraki Mafia etc took control of the Soviet Economy and its Resources.
main qimg ef92cda65ba09ea9e3e46b5937123bc6 lq
Unlike China – Putin who came in 2000 first had to consolidate the entire Political System. He started off as being a representative of the Oligarchs which is why Clinton and Bush considered him to be basically a Zelensky 1.0
However by 2007 – Putin began to emerge as one of the strongest men in Russia slowly abandoning the Oligarchs and consolidating the Military and Intelligence and building back Russia.
Today after15 years – Putin has a relatively STRONG Political Structure. Basically a Presidential Autocracy.
To build a Political Structure of such Strength and use it to build a Military Force – PUTIN had to sacrifice the Economy to the Oligarchs and use their money for building the Political and Military Strength of Russia
So Today – Russia is at Level Zero when it comes to Economy
Good News is – Russia is now in the same stage that China was in 1982 when Deng Xiaoping began his Economic Reforms.
Today Putin is in full control of Russia and is very powerful Politically and Militarily.
This is the time to begin Economic Reforms and this is also a perfect time.
He has Chinas support
He can start building Local Russian Brands and converting Military Technology to Civilian Technology
He can slowly adopt the Chinese method of Manufacture for which he can import the Skilled Labor from China and also train the people of Russia.
He can slowly crush the Oligarchs and Nationalize their Assets. I am sure that is the long term plan. Now that the Oligarchs are posion in Foreign Countries like US or UK or Canada or Australia – Putin will soon go after them and take charge of all their Assets that they got for a throwaway price in 1991–1999
main qimg 3a8619e9fffac785e24a4cedeee8ca24 lq
Bad News is Putin is 70 Years Old
And unlike Xi and the CPC – Putin is the Autocratic President so he needs a very strong Successor and groom him so that tomorrow the Successor (Someone of around 40–45 years) can continue Putins success and take Russia to newer Heights.
“Utterly Horrifying” Battles Along Front Lines as Russia Smashes Ukraine and their new NATO Heavy Armor
Heart-breaking scenes of dead Ukrainian soldiers and smashed/blown-up NATO Armor are emerging from the battlefields of Ukraine as the Russian Army makes minced-meat out of Ukraine’s “Counter-Offensive” despite all its shiny new NATO gear.
While this radio show and web site support Russia on the political level, there is also the human level which is part and parcel to this conflict. I candidly admit I find it heartbreaking to see such death and destruction; even when it is Ukrainian troops.
Sadly, I understand that it __has__ to be this way, but it is still just emotionally terrible to see such carnage.
I want the best outcome for the people.
Russia has at least 4 times the artillery of Ukraine and 10 times the ammunition.
We have run out of normal ammunition to send Ukraine, so now send them cluster bombs in desperation, debasing ourselves with no change to the outcome.
Ukraine should just surrender. They have no chance at all to defeat Russia; they NEVER had any chance. To continue this slaughter is just useless.
A Nice Find! A 1967 Porsche 911S Barn Find
1606
You know, we all dream of finding our classic dream ride in a barn somewhere. Well, recently Nick Zabrecky recently had his dreams come true, and today we get a look at his 1967 Porsche 911S Barn Find. Nick Zabrecky, of LBI Limited, found this legendary ride a friend had in his barn, where it had been parked for years.
2306
The ride was a bit rusty from years of sitting, and had a small dent in the rear. The ride other than that looked to be in good shape, and after negotiating a deal, Zabrecky was able to purchase the car from his friend.
3258
The ride can be seen in the images below, and Nick hopes to restore it one of these days. Check out the ride in the images and speak your mind on it after the jump.
People weren’t having babies and leaders feared a population collapse. The infamous dictator, Ceausescu, made a new draconian policy “Degree 770”.
It banned contraception and abortion. Schools then began evangelizing the importance of motherhood. Families began putting more pressure on women to have children.
This led to a rapid uptick in unwanted babies. Orphanages overflowed with children. Babies were being abandoned on street corners.
Years later, there was a rapid uptick in crime. Many of those children grew up without stable homes, living on the streets and in subway stations, huffing paint. They later resorted to theft, prostitution, and became ensnared in poverty.
And, in a bitter political irony, it was this very demographic that was responsible for Ceausescu’s downfall in 1989.
Beyond any talk of abortion, this moment in time speaks to the importance of people living the life they want to live. For generations, our parents and grandparents were pressured to live within narrow confines and fill the shoes their own parents left behind.
Happiness necessitates you disappoint people every now and then. Don’t let outside forces pressure you into a path that you don’t genuinely want.
If you don’t want to do something, say no.
Don’t get so caught up in pleasing people and conforming to expectations. You do you.
SAN DIEGO — The White House has decided it will bar Hong Kong’s top government official from attending a major economic summit in the United States this fall, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the matter, in the latest test of President Biden’s bid to reset relations with China.
The summit in questions is the yearly meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to which 21 Pacific Rim entities belong. China, Taiwan (Chinese Taipan) and Hong Kong are members since 1991. The location of the summit rotates through the membership entities.
Chief Executive John Lee, along with 10 other Hong Kong and Chinese officials, was placed under sanctions by Washington in 2020 after implementing a national security law, imposed by Beijing, that enabled the targeting of pro-democracy leaders, tarnished the reputation of the courts and earned international condemnation as leaders sought to silence dissent.
Lee, then Hong Kong’s security chief, was elevated last year to chief executive, handpicked by Beijing to continue what critics say is a broader campaign of repression in the once-semiautonomous city.
Let me first take issue with the description of the effects of the national security law, specifically the claim that it ‘tarnished the reputation of the courts’.
Courts do not make laws but use the law to make judgments. How then could a new law or a change of a law have tarnished the courts?
A recent judgment by the a Hong Kong court proves that the Hong Kong security law has not done that at all.
The official hymn of Hong Kong is the Chinese national anthem “March of the Volunteers”. After the riots in Hong Kong which led to the implementation of the national security law some protest backers came up with a new one called “Glory to Hong Kong”. (They probably consulted with Bandera followers who suggested ‘Slava Ukraini’ which means ‘Glory to Ukraine’.
Searching Google and some other such service for `Hong Kong national anthem’ brings up the protester hymn. This has led to some embarrassing moments when it was unintentionally played at international sport events.
Any use of the song in Hong Kong is prohibited and can lead to criminal prosecution. But the justice department in Hong Kong wanted to add a civil injunction against any one who makes the protest song available.
But a judge, hand-selected by Lee for national security issues, took the new law down:
A Hong Kong court has dismissed the justice secretary’s request to ban the promotion of a protest song popular during the 2019 anti-government unrest, questioning the effectiveness of the move.
In blocking the injunction bid, the High Court on Friday said the publication and distribution of “Glory to Hong Kong” was already punishable under existing laws, adding a ban might not compel internet search giant Google and other technology firms to take down the tune. … Justice minister Paul Lam Ting-kwok lodged the application last month in a bid to bar anyone from promoting the protest tune through “broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing in any way”.
Authorities believed the ban could provide greater leverage in demanding that internet service providers remove content related to the song.
But Mr Justice Anthony Chan Kin-keung said in his 30-page judgment that the government’s expectations were misplaced. … While acknowledging Lee’s view that the song would undermine national security if it were allowed to spread further, Chan rejected the argument that the court should defer to the executive branch on the merits of the intended ban just because it related to the country’s safety.
“It is too sweeping a statement,” he said. “Here, the court is asked to exercise its exceptional powers which affect innocent third parties. The court cannot abdicate its responsibilities.”
Chan pointed to the city’s “extensive and robust” criminal law system in questioning the effectiveness of a civil injunction in deterring offences.
Now again, has the new national security law in Hong Kong really ‘tarnished the reputation of the courts’?
To me its seems it has not. In fact the court ruled against a misuse of the ‘national security’ argument in much sharper form than U.S. courts would probably do.
It was the Washington Post which, by making the claim, actually tried to ‘tarnish the reputation of the courts’ in Hong Kong.
That Chief Executive John Lee was put under U.S. sanction is one of the typical abuses U.S. foreign policies create. It is also not the real reason for keeping him away from the APEC summit.
The snub by the United States, which in November will host the annual summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders in San Francisco, comes in the midst of a tenuous thaw in the two powers’ frosty bilateral relationship. It could, some analysts say, induce Chinese leader Xi Jinping to skip the APEC summit — where a meeting with Biden has been anticipated.
If Biden, as the Washington Post‘s opening claimed, really has made a bid to reset relations with China, he would not have taken such a step. One does not try to find better relations by constantly acting against the interests of the other side.
To keep Lee away from the summit is one of the typical kindergarten moves the Biden administration is becoming famous for. The cumulation of such moves under Blinken and Biden has created a strong block of countries that stand united in opposition to U.S. policies and to a large number of the rest of the world developing more sympathy for them.
As Kishore Mahbubani once told his listeners during a speech in Harvard:
The era of western domination of world history was a 200 year aberration, it’s coming to an end.
As a result of that you’ve got to learn to understand non-western perspectives in the world.”
“As someone who travels to 30, 40 countries a year, when I come to the US and I go to my hotel room and turn on the TV, I feel like I’ve been cut off from the rest of the world.
The insularity of the American discourse is actually frightening …
It is time for the U.S. to grow up.
Posted by b on July 29, 2023 at 16:21 UTC | Permalink
My (at the time) 75 yr old grandfather, ex Mustang, Spitfire and Typhoon pilot and post war paratrooper was living in a small market town in East Anglia. The house was a nice bungalow backing onto the golf course where he played. He was an imposing figure having boxed and played rugby in his youth and he had seen and experienced things during the war that no man or woman should ever see. So, when he came home from the golf club and found two heroin addled junkie burglars in his hallway, he wasn’t about to be intimidated. Over Sunday lunch a couple of days later he described punching one in the face, breaking his nose. He then grabbed his sword from the umbrella stand and chased the other one out of the front door and down the street. He returned to literally kick the other one out of the house and down the garden path.
When the police attended they were able to identify the burglars from DNA due to the blood that they had left behind.
My grandfather was commended for his help in catching and convicting the aforementioned scumbags but was also given some friendly advice concerning his attempts to run through one of them with his sword!
He died a few years later and I miss him every day.
Washington Post Still Covers Up U.S. War Crimes And Use Of Biological Weapons
The Washington Post is still covering up U.S. war crimes.
Seiichi Morimura, a Japanese writer who helped force a reckoning upon his country with his 1981 exposé of Unit 731, a secret biological warfare branch of the Imperial Army that subjected thousands of people in occupied China to sadistic medical experiments during World War II, died July 24 at a hospital in Tokyo. He was 90.
Morimura’s book sold astonishingly well even when it was unusual to confronted people in Japan with the imperial crimes of their nation.
Unit 731 was at its time only comparable to some Nazi doctors who widely experimented on humans:
At a time when Japanese textbooks often minimized atrocities committed by Japan during the war, Mr. Morimura interviewed dozens of veterans of Unit 731 and documented in harrowing detail the conduct of the operation, which was established in 1938 near the Chinese city of Harbin by Japanese medical officer Shiro Ishii.
Disguised as an epidemic prevention and water purification department, the unit functioned through the end of the war as a testing ground for agents of biological warfare. Mr. Morimura’s work helped prompt more investigations in the 1980s and 1990s, which in turn led to a court case that further revealed the extent of the atrocities.
The perpetrators included many respected Japanese physicians. Thousands of people — mainly Chinese, but also Koreans, Russians and prisoners of eight total nationalities, according to Mr. Morimura — endured medical experiments that have been compared to those of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele.
Victims, referred to in Japanese as “marutas,” or wooden logs, were infected with typhus, typhoid, cholera, anthrax and the plague with the goal of perfecting biological weapons. Some prisoners were then vivisected without anesthetic so that researchers could observe the effects of the disease on the human body.
“I cut him open from the chest to the stomach, and he screamed terribly, and his face was all twisted in agony. He made this unimaginable sound, he was screaming so horribly. But then finally he stopped,” one unnamed member of the unit told the New York Times in 1995, recalling a victim who had been infected with the plague. “This was all in a day’s work for the surgeons, but it really left an impression on me because it was my first time.”
Several thousand people, and maybe many more, were experimented to death by the unit.
When the second world war was over Unit 731 members were supposed to be put on trial for the war crimes they had committed. The U.S. military stopped that as it had planned to use what Unit 731 had learned for its own wars:
The same year that Mr. Morimura’s book was released, an American journalist, John W. Powell, wrote in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that the U.S. government had granted immunity to members of Unit 731 in exchange for the laboratory records from their research. Mr. Morimura alleged the same. For years, the United States dismissed reports of the unit’s experiments as Cold War propaganda.
There is no further mentioning of this in the rest of the Washington Post obit.
The reader is left hanging without learning if those U.S. government claims of ‘Cold War propaganda’ were true or false.
The U.S. did of course do what had been alleged. Documents were released that proved it. The U.S. had done much more.
The Post also repeats false U.S. claims that the Japanese government had hindered war crime trials against the units members:
However, according to U.S. officials, the Japanese government continued to decline to assist American efforts to place perpetrators on a list of war criminals prohibited from entering the United States. Ishii lived in freedom until he died of throat cancer in 1959. The Times reported that other Unit 731 veterans became governor of Tokyo, president of the Japan Medical Association and chief of the Japanese Olympic Committee.
It was the U.S. government, not the Japanese one, which gave immunity to Unit 731 members. It even paid them high amounts for their knowledge:
The US government offered full political immunity to high-ranking officials who were instrumental in perpetrating crimes against humanity, in exchange of the data about their experiments. Among those was Shiro Ishii, the commander of Unit 731. During the cover-up operation, the U.S. government paid money to obtain data on human experiments conducted in China, according to two declassified U.S. government documents.
The total amount paid to unnamed former members of the infamous unit was somewhere between 150,000 yen to 200,000 yen. An amount of 200,000 yen at that time is the equivalent of 20 million yen to 40 million yen today.
40 million yen today are the equivalent of $284,000. Nicer to have than not to have …
The U.S. military used the knowledge gained from Unit 731 to developed a number of biological weapons and to test them, allegedly also on humans. It even used those weapons, like Unit 731, during the war against North Korea and China.
As Jeffrey Kaye, who has long studied the case, writes:
The story that follows documents what seems like an unsuccessful attempt by Air Force flyers to tip off the press and government officials to the secret U.S germ warfare campaign then underway in Korea and Northeast China. This attempt at military whistleblowing allows for a wider consideration today of the evidence surrounding the germ warfare charges, especially how the bioattacks were organized.
By repeating the U.S. government false claims of ‘Cold War propaganda’, by not correcting it and by repeating false U.S. statements which accuse the Japanese government of hindering the war crime trials, the Washington Post is covering up the U.S. war crimes that were based on the experiments Unit 731 had made.
Posted by b on July 28, 2023 at 16:45 UTC | Permalink
Once, while in high school, I went to a store in my small town to buy a gallon of milk for my family. I paid the cashier with a $5 bill but she somehow gave me change for a $20.
I didn’t notice her mistake until I was almost home- I had too much money. I told my Mom that I was going to return it to the store. When I walked in the store, the cashier was not at her place so I went to the back and talked to a man in the meat market area (it was a small business not a chain store like we have nowadays).
I told him I had received too much money in change. He looked at me with a look like “WOW”. He then said, “You are an honest young man, aren’t you?”
I told him that I would have felt like I was stealing if I didn’t return the extra money.
Come to find out that he was the owner of the store. He thanked me and said he would not forget about my honesty.
Well, three years passed and I needed a job. I went in to fill out an application for a job at the same store. When I asked for an application at the front counter, the owner came out of the meat market area and asked if he could help me with anything. I asked him for a job application. He said, “You are hired. Can you start tomorrow?”
Now it was my turn to have a “WOW” look on my face. He told me that he remembered me from when I had returned the extra money.
So…by me not keeping $17 three years earlier, I made way more money for three years while I went to work there after high school.
He also trained me to be a butcher, too.
It does pay to be honest.
This is a true story that I told my kids (and every sports player I coached) as they grew up.
Scarlet Street (1945) Film-Noir | Fritz Lang | Full Movie | Colorized HD Quality
Todays treat. Full length film noir.
The things she does to men can end only one way - in murder! When a man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, her venal fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
This is an older patreon video that I am now making public. In case you all are not subscribers to my You-tube channel, here’s the video. Please enjoy.
Today I have been busy getting ready for another photo shoot. Yeah. No kidding. Somehow, I and my entire family ended up getting roped into being models for a number of advertising firms, and a few days out of our week we spend at various photo studios on shoots. It’s a lot of work.
Oh. “Roped in” isn’t really accurate. It’s actually more like “opportunities arose ” and we took advantage of them, and they flowered and prospered.
Some of the shoots are in one or two main studios. Sometimes we use third-party studios as well, and there have been many, many outdoor photo shoots. Generally we go to one of the studios and get the makeup and costumes ready. This takes from two to three hours. Then we troop down to the photo shoot location. These off-site shoots take about 20 or so people, on top of the various makeup folk, grips, and all the rest.
We end up getting a small group of lookers-on that gather around and watch us. So we tend to have a real crowd of people hanging all around us. I suppose that it’s a real sight, I’ll tell you what. Today it was around ten to twenty people and maybe three to four infants. I guess we are the hottest thing to hit Zhuhai.
Our Photo shoot.
Our various photographers have told us that we are considered “premium” models. Which means that we are the top choice in the modeling industry I suppose. WTF? and why, for goodness sakes. It’s one of those things that just doesn’t make sense. Not at all.
Who would figure that my daughter would end up being a model?
My wife, well I can understand. She has this great skin. Really soft and flexible. It’s like she was born with natural hydration. It’s really quite amazing, and with her perfect eyebrows, well it’s “game over”.
But me? Give me a break.
What the Hell?
You know, I never specifically asked for this.
I never put “I will be a model” in any of my affirmation campaigns. But you know, that is how it happens, don’t you know. You picture a kind of lifestyle and a kind of life, and then suddenly your world-line template changes and you end up having all sorts of “off the wall” experiences that eventually take you to your end goals.
Off the wall, meaning unusual and unexpected.
As far as all this goes, I have no idea where it will take me, and take us. But I’m going with the flow, riding it out, and seeing what opportunities that it will present for us. You never know. Don’t you know.
Opportunities.
What do you know… about models.
My Affirmation Campaign to have a model as a girlfriend.
Actually, there was a time, a long time ago, when I wanted to have a beauty model as a girlfriend.
But it was a long time ago.
Oh, about twenty five years ago, it was a different time. It was a different place. I was much younger then, and hurting. The movie “Twister” came out and was in the theaters, as was the witch move “The Craft”. And oh my golly was it a different time. Would you believe that a burger at Burger King… for a “Whopper” was $1. Yup! That’s right.
I friggin’ lived off those things.
After my first divorce, I was fed up (as are everyone who has ever gone though such a horrific and trying experience) and I wanted something (someone) different. Not in the sexual sense. But in the personality department. I wanted, or desired a woman who was her own woman. I wanted a strong woman. I wanted a confident woman. I wanted, and needed a beautiful strong and confident woman who would be direct with me and honest with me and who I would be able to talk with.
Jeeze! You would think that it wouldn’t be so damn hard.
Oh, sigh. Not so.
So I started some affirmation prayer campaigns to improve my life. And of course, that meant that I would have a girlfriend.
Being lonely sucks. It’s not freedom. It’s coming home to a dark and empty home with no life except the flickering blue monitor and the television. You eat a quick meal alone. And you end up eating what ever is easiest to make. Maybe cereal. maybe eggs. Maybe a hamburger. Maybe a pizza.
I wanted a companion. I wanted a girlfriend.
Well, I didn’t want just any girlfriend. I wanted the best girlfriend. And in my mind, at that time, the ideal of what beauty was came from Playboy, Baywatch, and movies. So I figured, “what the Heck“, and “shot for the sky“.
So I had a simple statement;
I am living with a beautiful, thin, blonde, fashion model.
And you know what?
Come on MM readers, you know exactly what happened.
I did my affirmations and moved on. At that time I was conducting a three month on / three month off affirmation campaigns. Months passed. I met some girls. I dated a bunch, and was living life and then, approximately three years later it happened.
I “hooked up” with a fashion model.
She was exactly as I vocalized it. She was exactly as I specified her to be. Exactly as I wanted.
Thin. Not twiggy. Just healthy thin.
Beautiful. Stunningly beautiful. (Her driver’s license picture was the most beautiful one that I have ever seen in my life.) I mean, Jeeze!
Blonde. Not bleach blonde. But real blonde hair. And in a mane no less! I did not specify this, but oh boy did I want it!
Absolutely perfect lips. Stunning eyebrows. Perfect nose. Pretty blue eyes. Thin waist, and a nice swan-like curve to her back.
And she was a beauty model. She really was. She was a real, honest to goodness (go to photo shoots) model.
And she moved in with me.
I have to tell you all that when she walked down the street, cars would stop. People would look out their windows at her. And I mean it when I tell you that the moment I was out of ear-shot, other guys would “make a pass” on her. Jeeze!
So what was the problem?
Ugh!
Her personality was one of a self-centered narcissist. That’s the problem. And that personality (that she had) was so foul and repulsive to me that I didn’t want to go near her. No matter how beautiful and luscious she was. I just couldn’t bear to live with her, and so many times her personality repelled me so that I didn’t want to be near her, talk with her, have sex with her, or do anything with her.
No matter how sexy she appeared. no matter how sensuous and appealing and feminine she behaved, and no matter what temporary personality she masked, I couldn’t stand her. She repelled me, and I had zero desires for any kind of sex or intimacy with her. Zero.
So, yeah. We lived together. But it was not what I wanted.
It was (instead) what I ordered through my prayer affirmation statements in my campaigns.
“Let the buyer beware.”
Eh?
Her name was CJ, and there is no question that she must be one of the most beautiful, physically attractive people to walk this earth. She probably has an Instagram account now, but who knows where she is now. The last time I talked with her was after my cat Texie died, and she was worried about me, and wanted to console me.
She wasn’t all that bad. Just not right for me.
Relationships
Women will understand, but not so much the men-folk. Relationships are very, very, VERY important. Far more important than the physical images that we project. But in today’s society it is all images, and impressions. And thus it’s all a big lie.
You cannot capture feelings of love, attractiveness or specialness in a picture. Instead it is something that you experience.
Lessons learned
You need to reach down deep and find out what you really want out of life, and go for it. Not what you think might make you happy.
For instance, I personally think that Maine Coons are the most attractive cats, but if one of my long lost little buddies reincarnates near me, I will take him (it) in what ever form, or shape that materializes beside me. I miss our companionship.
Maine coon cat.
Find out what you want deep down inside. Rely on your feelings to guide you. Do not fall for fake images or pretend illusions. Go and strive for the most basic elements that will massage your soul.
Ghost Campaigns
Right now, you could actually say that I am married to a professional model.
I mean me, and my entire family are now (as I said earlier) roped into being models for various advertising agencies. Perhaps one day you will see a picture of me in some airport billboard, holding a glass of brandy, a cigar in one hand and an expensive watch on my wrist. And you can point and say…
“…hey! I know that guy!”
LOL. But the thing is, I wonder if the idea that I am living with a model is a harmonic resonance from my earlier campaign that I had that manifested CJ? And if so, as I have stated before, since there is no such thing as time, your position in the world-line template is relative to the impressions made by the sum total of all your thoughts relative to that singular point in your life.
Viewing the events of these past few weeks as a model, I cannot help but wonder about the CJ connection, and the creation of always present “Ghost Campaigns”. Which might lead to other similar events that will stack up upon each other.
So consider this idea and consider this concept.
The Key Concept
Previous affirmation prayer campaigns never leave, they stay active until they are dismissed.
…
…
Now, there does seem an element of “fading away” over time. So if you do not maintain your affirmation campaigns, you will end up reverting back to your pre-birth world-line template.
…
…
This being stated, however, there actually is an element of “stickiness” to your affirmations.
The best way that I can describe this is with a piece of chewing gum.
Chewing Gum Example
First. When you first start a brand new affirmation, inside an affirmation campaign, it is like buying a stick of chewing gum. You go into a store, you pick out the chewing gum. you pay for the gum, and you take it home.
Second. When you finish your affirmation campaign, and enter the “wait period”, that is when you take the gum out of the paper wrapping and the foil, and put it in your mouth to chew upon. And the entire time when you are living life you are chewing that gum over and over.
Third. Over time, that gum starts to lose it’s flavor. So you need periodic mentions of that object / goal / want in subsequent affirmation campaigns. But even if you don’t mention it, you will still be chewing the gum. This is true even if you forgot about the gum.
Fourth. Eventually, over time your gum will be ready. And you will take it out and put it there (on the wall or under the table). And there it is! Your goal has been achieved!
Fifth. If you do nothing, eventually the gum will fall off the wall, or from under the table. No matter how sticky it is, it is not immune to the effects of time. And it falls away.
Sixth. But, if you look closely to where the gum was, you will see that there is still gum residue all around the spot where the gum was placed. This “residue” still exists no matter what, and it affect all of your subsequent affirmations and travels.
Another way of looking at this is with automobile tires.
Automobile Tire Example
If you imagine a prayer affirmation campaign as a car, and the world-line template as a terrain that the car must drive though, then you will realize that certain tires on the car can only go into certain areas.
Racing tires are for speed on highways.
General use tires are for most residential areas and city driving.
Mud tires are perfect for mud and rough terrain.
Snow tires are great for snow and winter driving, but bad otherwise.
If you have a major goal in your affirmation campaign, it is like putting on a specific set of tires on your vehicle.
As such, as the world-line template changes, you will have easier travel in some sections, and more difficult travel in other sections. And thus, even though you might not be aware of it, that previous affirmation campaign that told you to put rock-climbing tires on your vehicle really made the last few weeks much easier for you then they would have normally been.
When you have prior or previous affirmations, it is like you having special “custom tailored” terrain for you to drive upon awaiting you in your future. You see, when you make an affirmation statement; that statement creates as target and a goal.
But that target or goal is not a singular fixed point. It is a region.
And those regions might be near or far, and you might obtain that region in 1995 or again in 2021, but those regions still exist no matter what.
Consider this terrain map. This map omits the simplistic mesh grid showing world-line and instead show it as a solid mass, and colored in the standard geographical topography that all of us understand. Normally, I do not want to use this, but in this case, I will make an exception.
My world-line template showing these areas that are carry-over ghost affirmations. As you can see, I am going though one right now, but is will eventually end and I will continue on my merry way towards my ultimate goals and objectives.
Actually guys, imaging the world-line template as physical terrain is very accurate as long as you realize that each element of that terrain represents a specific type and kind of world-line. Water means that you might have to "swim" or change the way you traverse the MWI. Mountains means that you will have a more difficult bout of transit, and ice covered mountains are even worse.
You see, every time you make a prayer affirmation, it lays down a soft of “highway” or a foundational path. You can visualize it as a pond, as in the above image, or as something else, but it still exists.
It exists all over your template. In your past. In your present. And in your future. Even if you made those affirmations way back in 1983, they still exist. It’s just that their magnitude and influence is reduced somewhat.
And whether you stay on that path (enjoy the fruits of your affirmations) or wander off, that path remains on your world-line template.
In my case, the desire to have a girlfriend who was a beautiful model laid down some terrain on my world-line template that exists no matter what other wishes, desires or dreams that I focus on. That path is still there. Maybe I will go back on it, or maybe I won’t. But the primary foundational structure is there.
So again, life moves on.
And in my case, while I once had an affirmation campaign in which I lived with a beautiful model, I find myself still resonating in that reality.
Girlfriends came and went.
I lived life, took jobs. Lost jobs.
Moved all over.
Got married, and you know what?
No, my wife is not blonde. No, she is Chinese, but all the rest pretty much fits.
Which means that each and everyone of your affirmation campaigns still exists in one form… or the other.
In one form… or the other.
Handy Hint
Therefore, to play it safe, you must always be positive. Try to maintain positive affirmations no matter what. If you throw out something negative in the template, even if that goal has materialized, you will still need to deal with the “stickiness” of that particular negative affirmation.
Do not be too specific
Oh, and by the way…
Do not be too specific, be general in most cases, unless there is a really specific item or element that is important to you.
Imagine you have a long series of affirmation campaigns discussing having delicious “Hawaiian Pizzas”. Well, for those who do not know, these are pizzas with ham and pineapple. And some people love them. I mean, who’d figure, but they do.
Here, the specific item (and the focus word) is “pineapple”.
Hawaiian pizza is a type of pizza originating in Canada, bestknown for having pineapple and either ham or bacon as toppings. Hawaiian pizza is commonly considered controversial, provokingpassionate and polarizing debate, mainly focused on the inclusion of pineapple.
Now in this example, we will imagine that you have been running affirmations to eat Hawaiian Pizzas in every single one of your on/off campaigns. And sure as heck they do materialize.
After a few years, you find yourself living upstairs to a pizza restaurant and you get an unlimited number of free Hawaiian pizzas because the restaurant owner has been experimenting with different kinds of pineapple and different kinds of ham, and he wants you to try his daily concoctions.
Lucky guy?
Nope. Not luck. It is mind control. You have full control over your mind, and thus over your reality.
Now what I suggest is something here that might give you pause to think.
If you stop asking for Hawaiian pizzas in your affirmations, what then?
Well, I argue that over time, you will not get all those free Hawaiian pizzas. You will still be able to get them, but times will change as your other intentions manifest. Things will change and be different. Perhaps now you have a real fondness for all-meat pizzas.
You know, like a “real” human does.
Delicious all-meat pizza.
But the “residue” from those years of affirmations specifying Hawaiian pizza will still exist and still persist. They don’t evaporate. But rather they change to fit the reality and the influences of your current bathes of affirmations.
But how it will manifest is anyone’s idea. It depends on what your other affirmations are and you moment to moment situation.
You could end up eating pineapple in all your meals.
You could live and work on a pineapple farm.
You could end up living in Hawaii.
You could end up getting allergic to pineapples.
The future, no matter what it will be, will be influenced by your previous affirmations.
And thus the following reality might be a realistic thing to expect;
You live in Malaysia next to a pineapple farm where you own a all-meat pizza restaurant, and have five sons who call you “Big Daddy Poppa Pizza”.
And a fine commentary on Pineapple Pizza
Personal preferences
Every person is different, but I lean toward toward ice cream Sunday girls, meat pie ladies, and Rubin girls with aside of french fries. It has been my experience that most women worth spending time with knows exactly where they are in the food chain and what they are in a relationship.
And why.
And what they want to get out of it.
Things that you an add to your affirmation prayer campaigns
To prevent some latent “mines” or hidden surprises, you might want to add the following affirmation to your campaigns…
Any previous affirmation campaigns that would conflict with this current campaign are ignored and have no effect. This campaign supersedes all previous campaigns.
Important note
You know guys, this “modeling” is not my primary occupation. I am semi-retired and am involved in multi-million dollar projects. I am actually busily working with two (multi-million dollar) projects right now, and this is but a minor distraction. Truth be told.
Yet…
When you have been running a wide selection of diverse affirmation campaigns for decades, you start to have a very interesting and exciting life. Like guys… you have NO IDEA.
The point in all of this is that the photography ventures not the “end game”. They are something else. And in this case, they are the ghosted echos of a previous affirmation campaign.
These current events are in the lead up to my current set of goals. So no matter what distractions that these events create, I still must focus on my current goal set.
Focus on the goals and manifest your reality.
Since there is no time, all affirmations work together simultaneously
But it is a weighed input. The older and the more remote the affirmation from your present life-line is, the fainer it’s influence becomes. But it never goes away completely.
And thus you have my current life, and my current situation.
The MM lifestyle
I have a home on the beach and married to a wonderful beautiful model. My young daughter is a beauty fashion model as well. We eat well, we go out often. We live in a beautiful stunning area with great lush vibrant colors, an easy going great pace of life, and a wonderful future ahead.
Oh, and by the way…
All these components were all configured in prior verbal affirmation campaigns, but I never would have imagined that they would manifest like this. So… what does that tell you?
Come on. Think.
For goodness think.
You , and yeah you, can think and realize that your thoughts can really alter your reality. Even if you do not believe my narratives, you must admit that the excuses of “coincidences” simply do not “pass muster” or “cut it” in our reality.
What America tried to make MM into
The non-stop barrage of negativity flooding 24-7 on all media, plus the sucky lifestyle of a slave felon sex offender, and the constant worry that you could get thrown make into prison for jaywalking, of somehow being in violation of one new law or the other. Thoughts that would be dominant were I to stay inside of American would have painted my life quite differently.
I would probably living in a place much like this…
In another reality, this could have been me.
And dominant thoughts, though not as powerful as affirmation campaigns would absolutely influence my life at all levels.
All US communication is now solely for domestic consumption as the US internationally carries no authority, moral, legal, or political. It is the United States that is going to end up isolated in the world as our former allies and vassals turn to the future.
The US, alas, cannot see a future that doesn't represent the past of imperial conquest. The Society of the United States is irretrievably broken, due in large part to the Hate Inc. business model of mass media that mirrors that Establishment's strategy to divide and conquer.
The United States is completely irrelevant in the world now, except to its own people who flail in a wasteland of ubiquitous propaganda and group-think.
Do not be under the mistaken idea that what I am now, where I am now, and the life that I live now are all coincidences and accidents. They are not. I absolutely was forced to change my life and get far, far away from those evil psychopaths who wanted to use me, and then discard me like some kind of crumpled Dixie Cup.
This is what they had planned for me…
This is what they had planned for me.
Despite all this bullshit, I am doing fine.
I attribute it to thought manifestation, and directed thought via affirmation prayer campaigns. And if you too, follow my led and my guidance, you too will have the kind of life that seems so far out of reach right now.
But [1] be patient. [2] Perform your affirmations rigorously. [3] Conduct a campaign, then [4] pause for an equal amount of time. then [5] repeat.
You will be surprised at how great your life becomes.
Expert Tip
Never, ever, ever let others define your life. Do not let them define your thoughts. Do not allow them to work up your emotions, or fears. You must define and control your thoughts. Otherwise you will blow in the winds of whatever is the fear-mongering of the day.
My life.
My life is mine. And there are elements in it that you all might find distasteful or not to your liking. But what I am trying to say is that it’s just perfect for me. And as it is all I really know, I want to be some kind of a sign-post or example to tell you all that you too can have your most wildest dreams come true. You really can.
You define your life. Not others. So refuse to listen to them.
"Why anyone would want to go to that disgusting, dirty, filthy, crime ridden cesspool under the brutal CCP regime is beyond me."
My Neighborhood.. Check out the video. I live in a very middle class neighborhood. This is typical residential China. This area is a mixture of residential and small business establishments.
"Have you seen how these people live? My Lord, they live in filth and squalor. And the crowds! And the dust and smog! Oh, and the horrible pale complexions, you can tell that they despise their lives."
Food… check out the video. I do eat well. Though, the food is very unlike what you would find in America. In fact, the “Chinese” food that you get in the United States does not resemble anything found in China, for the most part.
"The Chinese are starving. That is indefensible. And the only reason why you don't hear about it is because the brutal CCP regime controls all news. There is no freedom in China."
Most everyone in China lives in building complexes. This is the area outside the front door to my building complex. My building complex hosts six residential towers, and a central park, pool and recreation facilities.
"Hey! Everyone knows that there isn't any freedom in the CCP regime, and that the poor people are being worked to death. They imprison Uighur's for their religion, and sexual exploitation of children is the norm rather than the exception."
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
I want to continue discussing the use of thought to control your life.
As many long duration MM members can attest to, all you need to do to navigate on your reality template is to think and vocalize what you want. And if you write about, and think about, and talk about… bad things… then you will have that in your life. While if you think about good things, they instead will enter your life.
A “prayer” is a method of intentionally thinking certain thoughts, in a certain manner, to manifest certain things to occur in YOUR life.
There are many ways to run and conduct prayers. I have covered just a mere fraction of the ways in prior articles. It’s actually really based on the understanding that what you believe and what you think actually manifests. And for prayers, well, it’s actually only a way (or a method) that you can use to help you focus and direct your thoughts.
Good right?
Well, not so fast.
But this can cause all sorts of problems, when bad or malevolent people concoct systems of mechanisms based on prayer intention for personal gain, profit or fame. Whether it is a woman dressed up in Haitian garb on television in the late 1990’s telling you to call 1-800-know your life, or a white robed televangelist that you too can guarantee a set on the Heaven-express for only small weekly payments of $9.98. Or the Magick Dawn teaching you to control your life by the practice of Aleister Crowley’s magick.
And we are going to talk about this right here and right now.
You see, in Russia, many young folk are following Tiktok videos and describing their experiences with “magic numbers”. And then telling about how their wishes and desires manifested.
Does it work?
Sure. Fundamentally.
If you believe anything, and you think anything, it will manifest.
Found HERE. All credit to the author, and note that it was edited to fit this venue.
A rich husband, a slim figure, clear skin or good grades at school can be obtained with the help of special cheat codes. All you have to do is to write them on your hand and send a request into space, according to English-speaking bloggers on TikTok. In actual fact, the codes are part of the teachings of a Russian sect leader who served two years in prison.
.
On the smartphone screen in front of me is an image of a light-colored wall with plants and in the foreground are rows of numbers with headings such as ‘Beauty’, ‘Love’, ‘Health’, ‘Ideal Figure’ and so on. There are hundreds of both positive and negative opinions in the comments. I choose the most common heading – ‘Money’ – which has the greatest amount of number sequences under it. As I am diligently copying them, using a pen to inscribe them on my left wrist, my mom enters the room.
“What are you doing?” she asks suspiciously.
“I’m writing out some cheat codes for money,”
I reply, as if I do it every day.
“Then write them down in a column going up to your elbow and leave them there for as long as possible before washing them off - at least that way it might work,”
she says ironically and leaves the room to do other things.
The number sequences in the video are so-called cheat codes or “Grabovoi numbers”, which, according to Russian and foreign bloggers, must be written down in order to produce the desired outcomes.
On English-language TikTok, videos with codes and instructions on how to use them, accompanied by the appropriate hashtags, have gathered over one hundred million views. And, in the comments, representatives of Generation Z share the results of their use of the codes, with many positive comments among them.
Where do the codes come from, who publishes them and why?
Cheat codes for well-defined abs & YouTube subscribers and their ‘side effects’
Russian and foreign bloggers started actively making videos about these “cheat codes” in the spring of 2021.
The instructions in all the videos look the same – you need to choose the required number sequence, write it down on a piece of paper or directly on your wrist and also trace the same number sequence in the air with your finger – this increases the chances of “your request reaching space”. It is best to leave the number sequence on your wrist for up to three days. And then, all you have to do is wait for your wish to come true.
Apart from classic blessings, such as health, happiness, money or love, you can use the code to ask the “Universe” for almost any whim – bloggers publish codes for good grades at school, for a slim figure with well-defined abs, for popularity on YouTube, clear skin without acne, a rich husband and so on.
Russian-speaking TikTokers are more malicious – in addition to “positive” codes, they share number sequences for poisoning, high fever, coma and cardiac arrest.
Eighteen-year-old aspiring artist Viktor Alekseyev says that his code for money worked, even though he himself thinks it was pure coincidence.
“I wrote the code for money on my hand for a laugh. Until then, my art was not selling very well, but before the code I had submitted my drawings to a special organization that sells artists’ work and they started selling much better. It must have been autosuggestion or coincidence,”
Viktor says.
Senior school student Olesya says that a code helped her to become a star pupil in class.
“I did everything according to the instructions and, the next day, I started getting excellent grades. To be honest, I was doing well even before then. It’s just that before the code, I was getting 4s [Bs], but now, like magic, I’m getting 5s [As],”
…she opined.
Another schoolgirl from Moscow, Anna, says she wrote down a code for success in her school work and, the next day, her Russian language teacher cancelled a lesson. Anna attributes this to the code, since Russian was the class for which she had not had time to do her homework.
Many users complain that the codes just don’t work and some even experience “side effects”.
“I wrote down a code for luck and almost straight away I started to feel bad, I got a headache, then I erased it and felt better. I don’t believe in the codes, but who knows what the hell it was,”
…says schoolgirl Alina Batchayeva.
In addition, some users say that using the codes is dangerous – according to some TikTokers, the codes are connected to black magic, since the wishes vested in the codes are fulfilled by the Devil, who takes away your soul in return.
Numbers for health and bringing back the dead for money
The invention of cheat codes is attributed to the psychic healer Grigori Grabovoi.
Born in Soviet Uzbekistan, upon finishing school, Grigori studied mechanics at Tashkent State University and then worked for the Uzbek civil aviation authority. There, he was already passing himself off as a psychic and taking money for investigations into the “extrasensory” repair of airplanes.
In 1996, he obtained a paramedical qualification in Moscow.
At that time, Grabovoi announced that he could raise people from the dead and set up a sect called, ‘The Teachings of Grigori Grabovoi’ and a foundation. He gave talks at the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, appeared on television and was a member of various public organizations and, additionally, referred to himself as Christ.
In 1999, Grigori published his book titled ‘Restoration of the Human Organism Through Concentration on Numbers’, in which he proposed the use of numbers to heal physical and mental ailments.
In his view, all illnesses and maladies should be regarded as energy with a specific frequency that can be expressed in numbers and these numbers can be enlisted to eliminate illnesses and everyday problems.
After the terrorist act at the school in Beslan on September. 1, 2004, which resulted in 334 deaths, Grabovoi proposed to the mothers of the dead children that he would bring them back from the dead for 39,000 rubles (approx. $1,400 according to the 2004 exchange rate).
The outraged residents of Beslan reported Grigori to the law enforcement bodies, but it was only four years later, in 2008, that he was sentenced to 11 years for fraud.
Two years later, in 2010, Grabovoi was granted early conditional release.
Grigori moved abroad and continued to expand his sect outside Russia – his books were translated into several languages, and a ‘Grigori Grabovoi Education Center’ was opened in Serbia.
He also started selling instruments for stopping the ageing process for 9,700 euros a piece and, in early 2020, he released two more codes – for treating Coronavirus.
‘Grabovoi trainers’ and revenue from viewers
Many foreign and Russian TikTokers, who make videos about the Grabovoi codes, also offer their own paid services on their accounts – from personal growth training sessions to sales of trinkets and T-shirts.
For instance, blogger Lindsey Rummel sells T-shirts with monkey designs and a range of nutritional supplements to maintain the functioning of the gut, brain and heart. Candice Nikeia, whose account on TikTok is fully dedicated to the Grabovoi codes, conducts private lessons in positive autosuggestion.
I sent questions to 20 Russian-language and English-language bloggers who publish Grabovoi codes. Out of these, only the Russian-speaking blogger Lady Di replied, demanding a fee of $200 for an interview.
When I refused, she blocked me on Instagram.
Many bloggers follow the fashionable trend of publishing videos about the codes for free for the sake of views and likes on social media, but, at the same time, some of those on TikTok publish clips, in order to make money out of teenagers and poorly-educated adult users, according to clinical psychiatrist and hypnotherapist Andrei Efremov.
“People who believe in the codes uncritically accept what they are told. <...> They see the positive example of someone, they see a lot of comments and they blindly follow the instructions. What is more, such people themselves are going to be on the look-out for situations that will demonstrate that the ritual works and will attribute all positive events to the codes. This is how autosuggestion works. The followers of Grabovoi themselves - probably also swindlers - will seek out such people on TikTok and make money off of them, while the latter will lose their savings and possibly even their apartments,”
…Efremov says.
In my case, I did not manage to accept uncritically what I was told – possibly that is why, at the time of writing, the cheat code for money hasn’t worked yet.
And thus the article ends.
The codes
In his books, Grigori offers a very large list of codes to the readers. Thus, they can choose those that best match their needs and finally put them into practice. However, it is not necessary to read all the books to get into action.
Here, is a list containing the main codes.
Grabovoi Code for Self-healing of the body – 9187948181;
Grabovoi Code for Love – 888 412 1289018;
Grabovoi Code for Weight loss and health – 1891014;
Grabovoi Code for Fight against alcoholism – 14843292;
Grabovoi Code for Peace – 1001105010;
Grabovoi Code for Depression – 519 514 319891;
Grabovoi Code for Self esteem – 4818951749814;
Grabovoi Code for Unemployment – 318514517618;
Grabovoi Code for Rejuvenate – 2145432;
Grabovoi Code for Protection – 9187756981818;
Grabovoi Code for Universal harmonization – 14854232190;
Grabovoi Code for Environmental sustainability – 97318541218;
Grabovoi Code for Determination – 498518498;
Grabovoi Code for Chemical dependency – 5333353;
Grabovoi Code for Nicotine addiction – 1414551;
Grabovoi Code for Determination and focus for learning – 212585212;
Grabovoi Code for Entrepreneurship – 71974131981;
Grabovoi Code for Understanding – 39119488061.
It is unknown how he came up with these number codes. My guess is that he used a random number generator.
Thoughts
What ever you believe will manifest. And perhaps one of the reasons why the United States is falling apart right now is simply because such a large number of people believe that it will happen.
Along this vein, I argue that generational turnings as described by Strauss and Howe is generated in defined waves of thought, and what makes things so contentious right now during this wave is that the government has been trying o manipulate thought for it’s own purposes. Yikes!
It doesn’t matter if you believe in a charismatic leader, drawings and symbols, vocalized prayers, or a mindless string of numbers. Your belief is what actuates the manifestation of thought. Not the physical elements that you use to focus your thoughts upon.
With this being said, I offer a way to understanding how this mechanism actually works.
And yes, bad people can profit from it. And others can fear it. But you can utilize it to achieve your desires.
I suggest just focusing on the end objectives in a positive and good way. I recommend that you vocalize and write them down, and follow the actualization of them properly. And if you do so, there is no question in my mind, that they will manifest.
Do you want more?
You can find more articles related to this in my index about prayer and affirmation campaigns.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
If you enjoy what you see, it would be helpful if you could assist in hosting this forum. A donation would be appreciated.
You know, there are many people out there in MM land that are running their own affirmation / prayer campaigns. And many are very enthusiastic about it. They give me reports on what is going on; what is working and what is falling apart.
And then when they are this close…
… they change their affirmations and it all comes falling apart.
What is going on, they ask me. Why is everything getting so close to happening and then it all seems to fall apart?
And I am going to talk about this particular issue right now.
Rule Number One
Do not change your affirmations.
You can tweak them. You can become more specific or broader. You can make them more colorful. You have change how your read them out. You can change the number of them, and their order.
But…
Do not stop them.
It is only until the affirmation is realized that you can stop. And then, only if you are 100% confident that the changes are permanent enough so that they will not dissipate as time goes one.
For instance…
I have an affirmation that goes like this…
I live in a beautiful area, that is calm, friendly, has fantastic colors and is very relaxed.
Now, I live in Zhuhai. It is indeed, calm, friendly. It has fantastic colors and is very relaxed.
But I still have it inside my prayer affirmations. Why? Well, this is simply because I do not want this to change. I am making sure that my life stays this way and is not displaced by future affirmations campaigns. So I keep it “active” in my affirmation campaigns.
That way, no matter what new campaigns I launch, this fundamental aspect of my life does not change.
Now consider this affirmation that I had last year…
My XXXX no longer YYYY and thus ZZZZ.
(Obviously this is a very personal affirmation. So I’m not going to throw out the details.) Anyways it materialized. In fact, it even surprised me! I was expecting a less than 10% chance of it actually occurring but, it really did.
I actually looked at XXXX and was amazed that what I saw. Even I was surprised, that exactly what I navigated to; a very unlikely world-line, actually materialized.
Now this is a one-shot deal. Once it’s done, it’s done. The affirmation is complete and I can cross it off from the list. It is over.
So that is what I did. It is now greyed out on my spreadsheet.
So rule one is this;
You continue your affirmation campaign using the previous campaign as a baseline. You then cross out or grey out those things that have either occurred or are no longer of interest to you, and you leave the ones that you are still striving for.
As well as leaving in the affirmations that has materialized, but that you do not want to disappear away.
Rule Number Two.
When you see things start to manifest, do not ASSUME that your goals are being realized.
They could be false positives, or any number of things.
Do not take the cake out of the oven until it is fully baked. The inside might still be doughy, and the cake might completely collapse when you take it out of the oven. If the recipe calls for 350 degrees for two hours, then you follow that recipe exactly. You do not say… “it looks like it is done” in the first one half hour of baking. Do you?
You sit down. You make yourself a cup of tea. You turn on a show and you wait it out. You know that when the oven goes “ding” that the cake is baked and you can take it out of the oven.
But… nooooooo!
Many people just can’t wait to take the cake out early. Most especially young cooks who don’t have the patience to let the things bake properly.
Let’s suppose you have an affirmation that looks something like this…
I have a long passionate relationship with a rugged mountain man, who has a cabin in the woods, likes poetry, drives a truck, and knows how to knit.
Then, one day you realize that this man who you are just starting to get to know (not yet dating, even) is a (sort of) “mountain man”, he does have a cabin in the woods. He does have a truck.
And so you assume that your affirmation has materialized.
No.
It has not.
Well, for starters, you don’t have a relationship with him (yet), and you don’t know if he knits, and your certainly do not have a “passionate” relationship either. All you see is a POTENTIAL, and that can mean absolutely nothing.
As we used to say in the United States, “do not count your chickens until they are hatched.”
“DO NOT COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED.” ― Æsop Fables.
Definition of count one's chickens ( before they hatch ) -usually used in negative statementstomeanthat someone should not depend on something hoped for until he or she knows forcertainthat it willhappen
People who count their chickens before they are hatched act verywisely because chickens run about so absurdly that it’s impossible to countthem accurately. ― Oscar Wilde.
If you do in an affirmation campaign, you could easily terminate something that is going ahead according to plan, but your impatience will ruin the entire sequence of events. Some things need time to cook.
So rule two is this…
It isn't over until the fat woman sings.
You keep on doing the affirmations, and running your campaigns until every single aspect of your desires come true. Do not assume that you are close to realizing them. Do not assume that they will manifest "any day now".
If you order a pizza to eat in a restaurant, you cannot tell others that "you ate pizza in the restaurant" until AFTER [1] you were served the pizza, [2] ate the pizza to [3] your satisfaction, [4] paid for the pizza, and then [5] left the establishment.
Rule Number Three
Do not concentrate on the material aspects of your affirmations. Concentrate on the ultimate end goals.
Instead of an affirmation campaign for a Dior gown, how about concentrating on a gown that fits you perfectly, is comfortable, and that looks stunning on you.
Instead of a campaign that asks for one thousand dollars in your wallet. Ask about having a wallet that always has enough cash for you to live life in the way you see fit.
Instead of asking for the ability to win at every sports game you play, how about asking for you to play games where you are always comfortable and satisfied with the game and the outcome.
Rule three is…
Always concentrate on the end result.
Often this is the emotions that you anticipate you will have if your goals are achieved. Focus always on the end game, not on the details.
Does it matter what color your beloved pet is? All that matters is that you and your beloved pet are happy together.
Rule number four
Nothing works until you have a “pause” in your affirmation campaign.
I have repeatedly stated this over and over, and yet… still… people are running long prayer campaigns without a break. People(!) you do not wind up a toy continuously without letting the spring unwind. What is the purpose of obtaining six PhD degrees if you cannot apply your knowledge? Why work at a job that you hate, if they are not going to pay you?
Do not overwind the spring.
A campaign requires two sections. The first section is the verbal affirmation phase, and the second section is an equal period of letting the affirmations run their program.
Rule four is…
Conduct your campaign, and then stop all affirmations for an equal amount of time.
Actually, the rest period can be shorter, but that is another subject for advanced students. In general, keep to the basics and do not deviate from it.
Rule Five
Everything is interconnected.
You cannot isolate a certain action in an affirmation campaign and expect it to manifest alone. There will always be other things that will move and happen associated with your affirmation.
Suppose that you have a tree in your front yard. And for reasons that I don’t understand, you will to get rid of that tree. So you cut it down. The good news is that you no longer need to rake the leaves in the fall, and mow around the tree trunk. Yay! But the bad news is that your Summer electricity bill has doubled, as the sun is not hitting the side of your house directly, and is no longer being blocked by the leaves on the tree.
Your goal was realized, but other things occurred that might not be to your liking.
I argue that you should try to be as helpful and positive as possible in your affirmation campaigns. Remember that if you try to change something, get rid of something, alter something, that those changes will come with associated other events. Some of which might be welcome. Some not so much, and others might end up being a complete surprise.
Do not not place contradicting affirmations in your prayer campaign.
Rule five is…
Affirmations do not work in isolation. They work together with other intentions. And what ever intentions you had in your past, and will have in your future will be tied and influenced by the affirmations you make now.
Therefore, always strive to place good, happy and benevolent affirmations in your campaigns, least undesirable situations manifest.
Rule Six
There is no such thing as time.
Time is a construct to help us sort out things as they occur. It is the observed movement of your consciousness through the MWI. That’s all.
What you prayed for when you were seven years old has just as much power as what your affirmation campaign has right now. As well as what you will be praying for in the future.
To maximize the strength of your affirmations you need to be specific regarding them, but general on the outcome manifestation.
Long time readers will confirm that the more “unique” and “special” the affirmation is, the quicker it apparently seems to manifest. While other long-time, long-duration desires just seem to “hang there” and move really slowly.
This rule…
There is no such thing as time. In order to prevent negative past prayer campaigns, or future campaigns from influencing your current campaign, you must do either one of two things.
[1] Add an affirmation that prevents the influences of other prior or future affirmations.
[2] Make sure that your campaigns are broad scoped and will not have any negative consequences associated with them.
Oh, by the way, I use this affirmation in my campaigns…
These intention prayers supersede any and all previous ones that would conflict with the ones listed here.
And this one…
Any previous actions, statements or affirmations that I have made in my past, that will have a contrary effect on my current affirmation prayer campaign, are ignored and does not influence my current affirmation campaign.
Some thoughts…
Sometimes we are our worst enemy. We try to take control over a system that is working.
It’s like a drunk guy in the back seat of a car, who insists on driving the car. The rest of the passengers know that he will probably drive off the road and wreck the car, but he’s too big and powerful to subdue.
Follow the script. Do not deviate, and accept things as they manifest. Do not try to take control. Never try to take control. Just let the events unravel and manifest.
And NEVER, never, ever take the pizza out of the oven before the dough is properly cooked, the cheese is melted, and the meat is well cooked. No matter how good it smells, and no matter how delicious it looks, do NOT take it out until the timer goes off!
Do not remove the pizza from the oven until the cooking is finished.
Finally
I have a couple of videos that I would like to throw out to the MM audience. I took it earlier this week. It just shows a few minutes of my life.
Now, you realize that I did not say in my verbal affirmations “I will live in JiDa, Zhuhai, China and have a great life“. I said; “I live good healthy life in a beautiful, calm and relaxed place.”
When I left the United States, I landed in Erie, Pennsylvania after prison. It was also calm and pleasant. It was in late August into September, and a rather nice time of the year. I could have stated “Yeah, it has materialized.“
But no. It really didn’t.
Erie is a beautiful town, and great if you are affluent.
Erie looked and appeared to be beautiful. But for me it was not “calm and pleasant”. For me it was a scene of constant and perpetual stress. Try living in the USA as a “sex offender”. That was not “calm and relaxed”. It is a forever stress that you learn to deal with. Miss one reporting date, get one traffic violation, get snagged on laws that were constantly changing, and your life is toast.
And due to the local Pennsylvania laws, I wouldn’t be living in the “nice section”. I would either live far away in the woods outside of town, or in the “bad section”. I would have to live on the East Side of Erie.
The East Side of Erie, Pennsylvania. Home of ethnic youth gangs, shootings, prostitution, drugs, and weekly shootings. It is the lower class section of town.
But I did not accept Erie as the result of my affirmation prayers.
You see, an affirmation prayer campaign is a very personal thing. What is beautiful and stress free for me might mean something else to a different person. And for me, I really wanted a nice, calm and beautiful place to live in.
Not one in a urban ghetto where I was constantly on the alert.
Indeed, I didn’t take the pizza out of the oven until it was cooked.
It took me to Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Pago Pago, TangXia in Dongguang, and finally to where I live now in Zhuhai.
The first movie is all about the pace of life during lunchtime in China. You can see it HERE. 101MB.
The second movie is about the importance society places on the living environment, but it still is 180MB, and I talk about trees and parks. If you all think that trees aren’t important, maybe you might find this a tad boring. But I do want you all to see what my verbal affirmations manifested for me. You can see this video HERE. 180MB. Notice how calm and peaceful everything is.
The point here is that what makes a person realize their dream is something personal. You cannot use television, movies or stories to illustrate it. You must use what you find most desirable in your life and emphasize that as a core requirement of your goals. And you should NEVER abort the process early when you think you see “light at the end of the tunnel”. You stick to your plans, and continue walking the walk.
Do you want more?
You can find more articles related to this in my index about prayer and affirmation campaigns.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
If you enjoy what you see, it would be helpful if you could assist in hosting this forum. A donation would be appreciated.
Ai! We talk about thousands of year old anomalous objects, and MM introduces millions of years old objects. But what of billions of years old objects? What the fuck is going on?
Well, just today I have a “new” entry in the world of “what the fuck”. And you know these things come and go, and eventually completely disappear. But in reality just realize that our universe is completely populated with intelligence, and we are just infants in the grand scheme of things.
So whoa!
Anomalous Metallic Object Discovered Inside a 4.5 Billion-Year-Old Meteorite
This is a complete reprint from HERE. The usual disclaimers apply. You all know the drill.
As meteorite dealers, my wife Linda and I have continued supplying meteorites and importing new stock throughout lockdown. On Friday, April 17th 2020, I received a parcel of meteorites I had ordered from a dependable regular source. These were twenty examples of a very well-known and popular common chondrite known as NWA 869. One of them was different and appeared to contain a metallic object inside.
For over twenty years we have been the owners of the UK’s only full-time meteorite dealership, Spacerocks UK. We both have university qualifications in astronomy and have lectured widely at many of the country’s most auspicious institutions. At any one moment we have several thousand meteorites of all types in our inventory. We are therefore completely familiar with their appearance.
The origin of meteorites
At this point, it’s worth giving a brief explanation about what meteorites are and where they come from. The solar system (the Sun, planets, asteroids and comets) condensed from a cloud of dust and gas known as the solar nebula around five billion years ago. The first solid objects were millimetric spheres called chondrules. These joined together over a few million years to form increasingly large chunks. Eventually, by collision, these accreted to form planetissimals and finally, around 4.5 billion years ago, the eight large planets and other, smaller bodies that make up the solar system.
The vast gaps between the orbits of the eight major planets are full of debris left over from these early days. Additionally, a region between Mars and Jupiter holds many thousands of smaller planetary objects known as asteroids. These occasionally collide (more so in the past), launching further rocky and metallic debris into the solar system .
If one of these fragments collides with the Earth on its passage around the Sun, it will heat up to over 6,000 degrees Celsius because of friction with the atmosphere. This is the cause of the familiar shooting stars, or meteors, we may see at night. If a chunk is large enough, it may survive and reach the surface of the Earth. This residual object is known as a meteorite.
Explaining the types of meteorites
There are, broadly speaking, three types of meteorite:
Chondrites: fragments of the original ancient stones that remain from the beginnings of the solar system. These often contain chondrules, the small spheres mentioned earlier. Chondrites are all around 5 billion years old.
Achondrites: stony material blasted off the surface of a planet, asteroid or satellite by the impact of another object. Achondrite meteorites have been proven to have originated on many bodies, including Mars, the Moon and asteroids such as Vesta,
Irons and stony irons are fragments of the cores of fully-formed small planets that were disrupted during collisions billions of years As the first planets grew in size, heavy elements such as nickel and iron sank to their centers to form metallic cores, like that of the Earth.
Generally speaking, meteorites are named after the place where they fell or were found. That’s why the iron meteorite that made the Arizona Meteor Crater is called Canyon Diablo and that which exploded over Russia in 1947 is known as Sikhote-Alin.
A 1.7kg individual meteorite from the Sikhote Alin meteorite shower (coasrsest octahedrite, class IIAB). This specimen is about 12cm wide. Sikhote Alin meteorite shower fell on 1947 February 12 in the dense forest of eastern Siberia, and over 23 tons of meteoritic material has been recovered. (H. Raab / CC BY-SA 3.0 )
The NWA 869 meteorite in question
The meteorite we are discussing here, NWA 869, comes from a large strewn field which was the 869 th such to be discovered in North West Africa: hence its name. Why 869 is so prized by collectors is that most of meteorites from this field are small, complete examples, rather than fragments of larger bodies that exploded as they passed through the atmosphere (see photos).
The majority have an attractive blue-grey fusion crust (melted surfaced) and their shape reflects their attitude as they streaked downwards. This is known as ‘orientation’: a bit like the way spacecraft enter the atmosphere heat- shield first. OK, that’s the technical stuff out of the way!
This NWA 869 meteorite was like nothing the writer had seen before. (Author supplied)
When I was processing the parcel of newly-arrived 869s, I suddenly noticed a metallic glint from one of them. This isn’t unusual: all chondrites contain nickel-iron and some (see photo) display quite obvious metallic flecks. This was different. In this case, the shiny region could be seen to be a small cylindrical feature around 6 mm (0.2 in) in diameter.
This metallic area was protruding at an angle from a region of glassy fusion crust, which, in places, could be seen to flow away from the object. Another interesting feature is that the cylinder had a small impact crater on its surface, something not uncommonly seen on iron meteorites or, indeed, spacecraft on their return from orbit.
The meteorite and its strange inclusion have been examined both microscopically and spectroscopically by a contact at the University of East Anglia. The preliminary results indicate that the silver cylinder is not composed of any of the usual accessory minerals found in meteorites. Further examination is scheduled.
I have no doubt at all that the object embedded in the NWA 869 meteorite was in place as the stone entered the Earth’s atmosphere some time in the past. Since the meteorite itself was formed several hundred millions of years before the planets, it begs the questions: who made it, and where did it originate before becoming part of the solar nebula? A very real possibility might be that the cylinder originated on a planet orbiting a Population 2 star that exploded as a nova several billion years before our solar system formed.
What does all this mean?
The oldest stars in the universe are, counterintuitively, called Population 3 stars. The “nuclear furnaces” at the heart of these were the origin of some of the elements “heavier” than hydrogen. As these ancient stars ran out of hydrogen, the larger ones would have shrunk, then exploded, releasing gas, dust and some of these heavier elements into the universe. It was this material that condensed to form Population 2 stars ten to fifteen billion years ago. The larger examples of these also underwent cataclysmic supernovae, generating regions of star formation where Population 1 stars like our Sun – and their associated planets – condensed.
The oldest stars in the universe are, counterintuitively, called Population 3 stars. The “nuclear furnaces” at the heart of these were the origin of some of the elements “heavier” than hydrogen. As these ancient stars ran out of hydrogen, the larger ones would have shrunk, then exploded, releasing gas, dust and some of these heavier elements into the universe. It was this material that condensed to form Population 2 stars ten to fifteen billion years.
It is now known that planets are very common. So far astronomers have discovered over 4,000! It is probably the case that most Pop 1 stars have planetary systems. Since the oldest of these stars were formed ten billion years ago – twice as long ago as the Sun – it would seem highly likely that life and ultimately civilizations evolved upon those in suitable locations.
Any that ended their lives as supernovae will have scattered all kinds of stellar, planetary and – possibly – archaeological debris into its galaxy. Either we are alone – unique – in the cosmos, or life occurs wherever there is the slightest possibility of it: in which case, we should expect to find alien artifacts within ancient meteorites.
You can find out more about the world of Meteoritics in David’s book, Spacerocks, available from Amazon.
Conclusion
Amazing stuff.
Most of the stuff that I, MM have dealt with is millions of years old. Not billions. So this is a great find. I really only know about the stuff prior to the formation of the solar system though the chatter of my pilot. And at that its all really limited. I never felt the need to inquire further. Maybe I should have. Never the less it’s interesting stuff. That is for certain.
It might be nice for someone in the UK to visit this person and have a first hand look at the object… of course, once the coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
A billions of year old object is most certainly something worth checking out. Don’t you agree? I mean it’s not everyday that you come across an object that is fabricated by intelligence that predates the solar system.
And finally, I want to provide a RUFUS video.
Remember all this insight in to how our universe really is, is really interesting. But seriously, it is how we live our lives that really matters.
If you have a dear friend on his deathbed, maybe it is the most Rufus thing to do is to defy the rules and conventions and instead to spend time with him in his last moments. Be the Rufus. Anything else is below you. Here’s my video HERE. 13MB.
According to mainstream understandings, mankind is only around 6,000 years old. And while there is much evidence to support earlier dates going as far back as 30,000 years few will embrace the implications of these discoveries. Thus, we are faced with an enigma. What to make of remains that are dated at over 250,000 years old?
Could it be that everything that we were taught in school is wrong?
My opinion is YES.
Life and Living
There is a strong and significant percentage of the population that wants things; life and relationships, to be “black and white”. Where everything is simple. Where everything is cleanly put inside it’s own box; nicely labeled, categorized and filed away for future use. It certainly looks nice. It’s orderly. It’s easy to index. It’s great to conceptualize.
But…
Life is not that way.
And many people like to describe this key to organization through the understanding of disorganization as “shades of grey” as opposed to “black and white” thinking. But you know, that life isn’t something that is easily cataloged. It is dynamic, complex and endlessly interesting.
To understand things, you shouldn’t have single dedicated articles to only that particular issue. Like a website for a specific type of nail, or a website for how to groom poodles. For while they are easy to look up and search for, and helpful for writing an essay or report for school, they do not convey or transfer information in the same way as an up-front “hands on”, “face to face” discussion with a close friend would have.
If you are with a close friend, you will know them. You will understand their likes, and dislikes, their passions, their biases, and their exaggerations. And knowing that will best help you to understand the conveyance of information at hand.
Which is why you trust your best friend to help get you out of a mess, while you wouldn’t dare ask a colleague. Which is why you would believe a family member who told you not to buy a used car from THAT man, and why you wouldn’t believe Bill Clinton or Donald Trump when they offered to sell you a used car.
Don’t buy a car from this man.
Everything comes with context.
Everything.
Propaganda relies on the lack of full contextual information to control you.
For instance, the “China mishandled the Wuhan virus” narrative relies on the omission that Jon Bolton was the head of the Bio-weapon program for his entire term under the Trump Administration.
There are many such examples of this.
But let’s not digress too deeply. Instead, let’s recognize that everything [1] comes with context, and that [2] it’s very difficult to provide contextual information inside of any article. Which is why we must assume [3] bias or slant in any information that you read or study.
Noteworthy Website
One of my favorite websites is “Ancient Origins“. They offer up mysteries of the past, exciting discoveries and alternative views of history. Anyone with even a passing interest in history would find this site interesting.
Some of the articles are fantastical, while others are bland and boring and relates to obscure subject matter. But that’s all right. As long as your recognize what the website is, what it’s purpose is, and why it exists that is often enough to provide enough contextual information to understand the relative value of the articles that you are reading there.
In a way, websites with greatly diverse content is the modern day incarnations of periodicals and magazines. And while times have changed. Who we are haven’t.
The early years.
Back in my early teen years, I used to read “Treasure Magazine”. And inside that magazine (and others of a similar genre) were stories of mysterious objects that people found. Some were found by metal detectors, while others were found in unlikely places, like a hidden room, or up in the rafters of a chicken coop. There were also stores of lost treasure, and the stories that had now become obscure local legends.
As a young boy, I “ate it up”. I literally read those magazines cover to cover, and then put them carefully in a stack (of magazines) that kept on a growing in the bathroom next to my bedroom. There, in that stack were issues of Mad Magazine, National Geographic, Weird Stories comic books, Analog Magazine, “The Good Old Days” and “Men’s” Magazines.
Magazines fit for a boy of 12.
For me, they took me to far off lands, strange adventures and interesting places. I could imagine myself fighting of hordes of hungry otters, discovering buried golden treasure, exploring an abandoned castle dungeon, and finding a book filled with secrets in a long lost attic.
In those days I would hastily make myself a sandwich out of leftover pot roast, slices of cheese, and a sliced tomato from the garden (plus some Miracle Whip brand mayonnaise) and put it on a plate. There, I would go to a quiet spot, eat my sandwich and read my magazines. All away from others so that I wouldn’t get “roped” into doing a new chore or other task.
(Mississippi style) pot roast sandwich.
I found this activity relaxing, fun and enjoyable. And more than a few times, my trusty cat Sedwick would scamper up the tree and let himself in to chill out besides me.
Such was my youth.
Now, you have to take everything into account. At that time, while I was busily attending “middle school”, the subjects (while interesting) were not the same. For it was the subjects that I read at home; the science fiction stories, the poetry, and the adventure stories that tickled my imagination. And that, I believe is critical. You cannot live your entire life believing everything that is taught to you. You have to probe, push and understand things in new and different ways.
And maybe they are bullshit, and don’t make sense.
But maybe they are real and are suggestive of other things. Certainly Erichvon Däniken greatly influenced me. And while I never (at that time) ever thought that I would some day meet the strange beings that I read about it was nice to have a contextual background that made the introduction of such beings more reasonable and palatable to me.
Now, I know that the past is interesting and colorful. Certainly my exposure to events, changes and things have greatly influenced my thoughts in this matter. And now when I read the fantastical, I judge things through the contextual lens of my background and my experience.
And here is one such story.
I read this story while I had a glass of basic red wine at my side, and a plate of toasted Italian bread with peppers, onions and cheese. And found the following article to be just as tasty as what I was enjoying.
Red wine and Italian bread.
Controversy at Hueyatlaco: When Did Humans First Inhabit the Americas?
Found HERE. Written on 28 April, 2021 - 18:53 Aleksa Vučković All credit to the author, and note that it was edited to fit this venue, and MM comments and thoughts abound.
What happens when an archaeological site is so extraordinary, that it threatens to eclipse everything we knew about history up to that point?
Some discoveries are just too hard to fully grasp, and that makes us question their accuracy.
Hueyatlaco in Mexico is one such archaeological site.
It is forcing us to reconsider the time frame of human habitation in South America.
By a lot.
The finds presented at Hueyatlaco are still a matter of heated debate amongst scholars today, but one thing is certain – there are still many unanswered questions which need to be explored.
The accepted history
Here is the accepted history for how, and when humans arrived to the Americas. Anything that differs from this narrative is rejected out of hand, and certainly enrages statists who have their careers and their reputation entangled with this narrative. The following is from an academic website.
The narrative;
Around 16,000 BP, people migrated from Siberia (Asia) to Alaska (North America) over the Bering Land Bridge (map below).
New evidence found in Chiquihuite Cave, Mexico, including tools made from a type of limestone not originating from the cave itself, suggests that humans first arrived in North America possibly as far back as 30,000 BP. At that time, the ice sheets covering North America during the last ice age were still extensive, which would have made cross-continental travel very difficult, and suggests that the Pacific coast was the more probable travel route. This idea is known as the Pacific Coastal Route Hypothesis.
This new research indicates that even though people likely reached North America no later than 26,500 to 19,000 BP, occupation did not become widespread until the very end of the last ice age, around 14,700 to 12,900 BP.
This new evidence dispels the Clovis-first model, named for evidence of human occupation in Clovis, New Mexico. This model suggests that the first people to reach North America traveled across the Bering Land Bridge and then into North America along an ice-free cross-continental corridor around 16,000 to 10,000 BP. It is likely that by then North America had already been occupied by people who migrated via the Pacific coastal route.
Under the Pacific Coastal Route Hypothesis, people traveled south along the “kelp highway” of the western coast of the Americas because it was mainly ice-free and therefore easier to traverse than the ice-covered inland areas (map below). The coastal waters had common giant kelp species such as Durvillaea antarctica and Macrocystis pyrifera, which supported rich ecosystems that provided food, such as sea bass, cod, rockfish, sea urchins, abalones, and mussels for the migrating people. At the end of the last ice age, glaciers melted and sea levels rose, flooding the “kelp highway.”
During the last ice age, which peaked around 21,000 BP and ended around 10,700 BP, global sea levels were up to 100 meters lower than they are today because colder temperatures resulted in large amounts of water becoming frozen in glaciers.
The Bering Land Bridge existed during this time of low sea levels. When the glaciers melted and sea levels rose to their present-day position, the land bridge flooded and formed the Bering Strait that now separates Asia from North America. See below for an interactive map of the Bering Land Bridge and the Bering Strait over time.
After the initial migrations to North America, people began moving southward, following the Pacific coast from Alaska to Chile.
Those who made it to northern and central South America were limited to small communities because the cold, harsh climate of the ice age prevented populations from expanding.
A short period of rising temperatures and retreating glaciers followed, which allowed people to migrate further south and establish new settlements in Patagonia, such as in Monte Verde (map below).
Then, around 14,500 BP, in what is known as the Antarctic Climate Reversal, temperatures dropped as much as 6℃ below present-day and remained low for 2 millenia.
When temperatures rose yet again, more glaciers melted, flooding the Strait of Magellan and cutting the southernmost settlements on Tierra del Fuego off from the mainland (map below), leading to a cultural division between mainland and coastal inhabitants.
Anything that differs from this narrative is considered to be suspect or fraudulent.
Such is the archaeological dilemma of the 250,000 year old Hueyatlaco site.
The Valsequillo Basin
The site in question is located in Mexico in an area known as The Valsequillo Basin. It is a depressed area that used to be an enormous lake or series of lakes thousands of years ago.
The Valsequillo Basin is located near the city of Puebla, in Mexico.
Situated in the central part of the country, this basin has been the focus of much interest for geologists, archaeologists and the scientific world as a whole.
This interest was sparked due to the presence of numerous megafaunal remains and evidence of very early human habitation.
Megafauna, as we know, is the term commonly used for large animals that roamed the landscapes of the Pleistocene, such as mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and cave lions.
What is megafauna?We’ve all heard stories from the age of the dinosaurs, when giant creatures the size of buses or even buildings roamed the land and the oceans, but their disappearance didn’t mean the end of the giants: In fact, megafauna was predominant in every continent on Earth, through multiple glaciations and climate change periods, until about 50,000 years ago during the Late Pleistocene. That is, until humans entered the picture. Our increasing hunting and habitat pressure lead to a great decrease in the numbers and distribution of megafauna, followed by subsequent extinctions.The decline of megafauna started so early in our history, and its progress was so steady, that only now are we starting to acknowledge and study the effects of megafauna in regulating our ecosystems and the impacts of megafaunal loss across the globe.
-True Nature Foundation
However, although rich in important discoveries, the site has always been the cause of much controversy, simply because some of the theories surrounding it are very hard to fully grasp.
It has been proposed that the landscapes of the Early Pleistocene period were characterized by many deep lakes, and that this basin might once have been one such lake.
Reconstruction using GIS of the maximum level of the shallow Late Pleistocene lake at the Valsequillo Basin, Puebla, also shown are La Malinche Volcano and Cerro Toluquilla Volcano.
However, no direct proof for this ever surfaced and dating has proven quite difficult for scholars.
Nevertheless, the area is of immense geological interest due to it being dominated by the stratovolcanoes Popocatépetl and La Malinche, and its location in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.
As such, this is a site with a time-worn history, which also helps shed some light on early human habitation of the region, because geology and archaeology often go hand in hand.
Criticisms Mount Against Claim of Hominins in the Americas Over 100,000 Years Ago
Some of the first excavations at Hueyatlaco were carried out in 1961, when professor Cynthia Irwin-Williams conducted an extensive dig at the site.
Even before she arrived, the region was known as a place rich in animal fossils, which sparked the interest of scholars.
Irwin-Williams was soon joined by other prominent persons of the U.S. Geological Survey, notably Virginia Steen-McIntyre, who was responsible for publicizing the find and the magnificent discoveries it entailed.
Due to the vast numbers of animal fossils, it was commonly believed that this site was a kill site, where ancient humans butchered the animals they hunted.
The countless animal remains were located in fluviatile deposits commonly known as Valsequillo gravels, which were often plain and exposed in the high cliff sides of the Valsequillo Reservoir.
Ingeography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streamsand the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers areassociated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvialorfluvioglacial is used. The White River is so named due to the clay it picks up inthe Badlands of South Dakota.
-Fluvial processes - Wikipedia
Some of the ancient animal fossils found included bison, camel, dire wolf, peccary, short-faced bear, sloth, horse, tapir, mammoth, saber-toothed cat, mastodon, glyptodon, four-horned antelope, and several other species.
glyptodon
But the really important finds were made in 1962, when Irwin-Williams discovered both animal bones and stone tools, together, in situ.
Indicative of tool-making humanoids that hunted and killed the animals.
The subsequent struggle to positively identify the age of these remains led to much controversy.
The tools that were discovered included some very crude and primitive implements, but also tools that were much more sophisticated, with double edges and detailed flaking construction.
Indicative of multiple societies, or the immensity of age of a singular society.
These tools were diverse and included quite elaborate projectile points, many of which were made from non-local materials.
Indicative of travel, or possibly trade.
This was a clear proof that Hueyatlaco was used by various groups of people for a long period of time.
Either way, these findings were quickly pushing back the previously believed timeline of human habitation in South America, which caused conflicts in the scientific world.
Dating to 250,000 years, when at the time, the earliest human presence was dated to 6,000 years ago.
Unhappy Historians
Very early on in the excavations, attempts were made to discredit the work done at Hueyatlaco, and some turned out to be blatant attacks on the work.
Someone seemingly had a problem with the idea that South America was inhabited so much earlier than was commonly believed.
In 1967, Jose Lorenzo, a member of the Mexican Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, came forth with a controversial claim that the artifacts discovered were deliberately planted at the site, in a way that made it difficult to know whether they were actually discovered.
This gossip was seemingly unmerited and looked a lot like an attempt to disrupt the crew from making further claims at the site.
What is more, the suspicious activities did not stop here.
Irwin-Williams did make a startling discovery of mammoth bone fragments that were carved with intricate images, depicting various megafauna animals such as serpents and saber-toothed cats.
Similar carved images have been discovered all over the world, and are associated with early man.
However, these carved bones disappeared under puzzling circumstances, as if someone didn’t want them to reach the public eye.
Yet, while the evidence has disappeared, the photographs of the carvings survive.
By 1969, Irwin-Williams sought support in the scientific community, and gained support from three renowned scholars who visited the site of the excavations and confirmed that everything was being conducted in a professional manner.
During that same year, the team published their first scientific paper that detailed the excavations and the importance of the site.
And that importance was the age .
Dating the site
Various methods for dating the finds were utilized, many of which were revolutionary for the time.
The usual radiocarbon dating indicated that the remains were roughly 35,000 years old.
However, dating by uranium suggested the remains to be far older, roughly 260,000 years old.
At the time, these results were considered an anomaly, especially due to the fact that general science proposed a general time of 16,000 years before present for the settling of the Americas.
Radiocarbon dating did not agree with uranium dating; thus creating an anomaly.
Some suggested that the strata (or geological layers) were eroded by ancient waterways, and that might have mixed up the specimens, and causing such differing results.
By 1973, scientists returned to Hueyatlaco, hoping to conduct new excavations and attempt to once more examine the layers and to resolve the oddities of dating the finds.
Their research concluded that the layers were not eroded and that specimens were not mixed up.
What is more, this new team managed to analyze volcanic ash from the site and apply the revolutionary zircon fission track dating method.
Through this geochemistry approach, they determined that the volcanic ash – discovered in the same layer as the tools – was roughly between 370,000 and 240,000 years old.
This confirmed the extremely old age of human habitation at the site, and further deepened the enigma that was Hueyatlaco.
The remote age of the artifacts was confirmed by the geochemistry method.
In time, plenty of friction arose between the team members, as they could not agree on the age, the direction in which the excavation was heading, or the accuracy of the dating methods.
Uranium dating was extremely new at the time, and its reliability not well known, while the fission track dating method had a substantial margin of error.
In time, the excavation team was separated by their views.
Site controversy
Irwin-Williams believed that the probable age was 20,000 years before present, although that view in itself was considered controversial by many.
On the other hand, Harold Malde and Virginia Steen-McIntyre, other team leaders, firmly believed the original dating of 200,000 years before present – which was so revolutionary that it was hard to comprehend.
Some suggested that the 20,000 year theory by Irwin-Williams was “puzzling” and almost a deliberate tactic to discredit the find.
This was believed mainly because no evidence for that age was found in the excavations at all.
Irwin-Williams never went forward to solidify her claims.
In fact, she never published a report on the site whatsoever, which led to questions on the honesty of her claims.
On the other hand, the other part of the team firmly believed in their 200,000 year theory, and were not willing to drop it.
Formal announcement
In 1981, this faction made up of Malde, Fryxell, and Steen-McIntyre published an extensive scientific paper in the Journal of Quaternary Research , providing a detailed insight and evidence for the extremely old dating of human habitation at the site.
In their paper, they provided the results from four different dating tests: [1] the fission track, [2] the uranium-thorium test, [3] the study of mineral weathering to determine age, and [4] the tephra hydration tests.
All of these tests confirmed the age of the remains to be roughly 250,000 years old which confirmed their theories.
To that end, the authors wrote in their paper:
"The evidence outlined here consistently indicates that the Hueyatlaco site is about 250,000 years old.
We who have worked on geological aspects of the Valsequillo area are painfully aware that so great an age poses an archaeological dilemma [...]
In our view, the results reported here widen the window of time in which serious investigation of the age of Man in the New World would be warranted.
We continue to cast a critical eye on all the data, including our own."
This was an educated, accurate response that acknowledged that such a radical claim did seem odd, but was not entirely impossible.
The story of Hueyatlaco continued to look like a deliberate attempt to discredit these finds or hide them under the carpet.
The evidence was there: early humans could have inhabited the so-called New World, the Americas, far earlier than was commonly believed.
Not good enough!
But seemingly, someone did not want that truth to be accepted.
To that end, Irwin-Williams, who was at odds with the rest of the team, raised objections to several aspects of the published paper, seemingly continuing her attacks on the finds.
The team were confident and quickly refuted her attempts to discredit their work.
Further secrets were soon revealed.
Virginia Steen-McIntyre was at one point fired from her job due to her claims, and she also revealed that some of the original team members were harassed, their careers were threatened, and they were proclaimed incompetent – all because of their involvement in the project.
So, we need to wonder, why did these findings cause so much enmity from mainstream science?
Sure, to some, the claims of such an old age might seem radical and hard to believe.
But rather than simply disagreeing with the claims, mainstream scholars went to great lengths to attack, harass, and fully discredit the professional work the team has conducted.
Nevertheless, as time progressed, new tests were conducted, providing new evidence and deepening the controversy related to the site.
Testing, testing and then even more testing!
In 2004, for example, researcher Sam Van Landingham conducted extensive bio- stratigraphic analysis, confirming that the strata that bore the discovered tools was some 250,000 years old.
He re- confirmed these finds once again in 2006.
He states in his papers that the samples can be dated to the so-called Sangamonian stage (from 80,000 to 220,000 years before present) due to the presence of several diatom species only appearing in that age.
Diatoms are single-celled algae
Diatoms are algae that live in houses made of glass. They are the only organism on the planet with cell walls composed of transparent, opaline silica. Diatom cell walls are ornamented by intricate and striking patterns of silica.
More findings appeared in 2008, when paleomagnetic testing was conducted on the volcanic ash layers from the site, dating them to roughly 780,000 years before present.
The geological time scale is used by geologists and paleontologists to measure the history of the Earth and life. It is based on the fossils found in rocks of different ages and on radiometric dating of the rocks.
Sedimentary rocks (made from mud, sand, gravel or fossil shells) and volcanic lava flows are laid down in layers or beds. They build up over time so that that the layers at the bottom of the pile are older than the ones at the top. Geologists call this simple observation the Principle of Superposition, and it is most important way of working out the order of rocks in time. Ordering of rocks (and the fossils that they contain) in time from oldest to youngest is called relative age dating.
Once the rocks are placed in order from oldest to youngest, we also know the relative ages of the fossils that we collect from them.
Relative age dating tells us which fossils are older and which fossils are younger. It does not tell us the age of the fossils. To get an age in years, we use radiometric dating of the rocks. Not every rock can be dated this way, but volcanic ash deposits are among those that can be dated. The position of the fossils above or below a dated ash layer allows us to work out their ages.
-How paleontologists tell time
Hueyatlaco remains a true scientific anomaly.
It is not at all impossible that early man could have crossed over to the Americas much, much earlier than is currently believed.
In fact, there already is the conundrum of the Solutrean theory , which tells us that the Clovis people , the proposed ancestors of the Native Americans, were not the first inhabitants of the Americas.
Besides these, there are numerous pieces of evidence across the continent that tell us that it is nigh time that we reconsider the history of human habitation in the Americas.
Some Conclusions
Assuming that the array of scientific evidence is correct, then the Hueyatlaco site is truly ancient and indicates tool-using, and tool-manufacturing humanoids 250,000 years ago. This not only turns conventional evolutionary theories “upside down”, but is pretty much discards the vast number of theories in support of human “land bridge” migration.
In short, for the humans to be in the Americas at this date, one of two things must have happened.
Either;
[A] Early man constructed ocean capable vessels and sailed across the wide oceans.
Or,
[B] Early man evolved independently in the Americas as well as in Africa.
We need to come to grips and accept the idea that there was probably various evolutionary clusters and separate lineages that did not originate from a common “Lucy” humanoid. Many died out, and many adapted and evolved, and many propagated throughout the world.
While not popular at this time, you can rest assured that this understanding will be embraced hundreds of years in the future.
But wait!
This is NOT a lone, isolated find.
Other Ancient Discoveries
There are many reported human skeletal finds which are in discordance with current evolutionary beliefs dating back to anomalously ancient geological periods in the distant past, way before it is accepted that human beings ever existed.
One intriguing report surfaced in an American journal called The Geologist dated December 1862:
“In Macoupin County, Illinois, the bones of a man were recently found on a coal-bed capped with two feet of slate rock, ninety feet below the surface of the earth. . . The bones, when found, were covered with a crust or coating of hard glossy matter, as black as coal itself, but when scraped away left the bones white and natural.”
The coal in which the remains were found have been dated at between 320 and 286 million years old, which, despite a lack of supporting evidence and little information on the discovery, is certainly worthy of inclusion here.
The Foxhall Jaw
A better documented account of an anomalous find is of a human jaw discovered at Foxhall, England, in 1855 which was dug out of a quarry at a level of sixteen feet (4.88 meters) under ground level, dating the specimen to at least 2.5 million years old.
American physician Robert H. Collyer described the Foxhall jaw as ‘the oldest relic of human existence’.
The problem with this particular fossil was its modern appearance.
A more apelike mandible would have been more acceptable despite its great antiquity, but many dissenters disbelieved the authenticity of the bone ‘probably because the shape of the jaw was not primitive’, according to paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn.
Buenos Aires Skull
A fully modern human skull was found in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in an Early Pliocene formation, revealing the presence of modern humans in South America between 1 and 1.5 million years ago.
But once more, the modern appearance of the skull doesn’t fit with conventional thinking on human origins so was discounted on these grounds alone.
Here we see a clear example of dating by morphology, and a distinct disregard of all other data, no matter how credible.
The thinking is simple; if it looks modern – it must be modern. No modern humans could possibly have existed that far back in time so it must be ruled out.
This approach employs illogical thinking if one considers that the skull was found in a Pre-Ensenadean stratum, which, according to present geological calculations, dates back up to 1.5 million years.
The scientific data, as with a plethora of cases worldwide, does not match the final analogy, and instead of pursuing the matter further until a satisfactory scientific conclusion is arrived upon, the discovery has slipped unsurprisingly into anonymity.
The Clichy Skeleton
In a quarry on the Avenue de Clichy, Paris, parts of a human skull were discovered along with a femur, tibia, and some foot bones by Eugene Bertrand in 1868.
The layer in which the Clichy skeleton was dug out from would make the fossils approximately 330,000 years old.
It wasn’t until Neanderthals became accepted as the Pleistocene ancestors of modern humans that French anthropologists were forced to drop the Clichy skeleton from the human evolutionary line, as a modern type of human could not predate their allegedly older Neanderthal relatives.
Neanderthals are conventionally understood to have existed from 30,000 to 150,000 years ago, and the Clichy skeleton which dated at over 300,000 years ago was simply not an acceptable find despite the evidence to support its authenticity.
The Ipswich Skeleton
In 1911, another anatomically modern human skeleton was discovered beneath a layer of glacial boulder clay near the town of Ipswich, in England, by J. Reid Moir.
Found at a depth of about 4.5 feet (1.37 meters) between a layer of clay and glacial sands, the skeleton could be as much as 400,000 years old.
Naturally, the modern appearance of the skeleton was the cause of strong opposition, but if the find had of been Neanderthal-like, there would have been no questions raised over its position in the glacial sediments.
As Scottish anatomist and anthropologist, Sir Arthur Keith explained,
“Under the presumption that the modern type of man is also modern in origin, a degree of high antiquity is denied to such specimens.”
The deposits in which the Ipswich skeleton was excavated from were recorded by the British Geological Survey as an intact layer of glacial boulder clay which had been laid down between the onset of the Anglian glaciation and the Hoxnian glaciations, a period that stretched between 330,000 and 400,000 years ago.
Some authorities have even put the beginning of the Mindel glaciation (which is equivalent to that of the Anglian) at around 600,000 years ago, which could potentially allow the Ipswich skeleton to also date back that far.
The deposits in which the Ipswich skeleton was excavated from were recorded by the British Geological Survey as an intact layer of glacial boulder clay which had been laid down between the onset of the Anglian glaciation and the Hoxnian glaciations, a period that stretched between 330,000 and 400,000 years ago.
Some authorities have even put the beginning of the Mindel glaciation (which is equivalent to that of the Anglian) at around 600,000 years ago, which could potentially allow the Ipswich skeleton to also date back that far.
The Castenedolo Bones
Situated in the southern slopes of the Alps, at Castenedolo, six miles (9.66 km) southeast of Brescia, lays a low hill called the Colle de Vento, where millions of years ago during the Pliocene period , layers of mollusks and coral were deposited by a warm sea washing in.
In 1860, Professor Giuseppe Ragazzoni traveled to Castenedolo to gather fossil shells in the Pliocene strata exposed in a pit at the base of the Colle de Vento. Reporting on his finds there Ragazzoni wrote:
“Searching along the bank of coral for shells, there came into my hand the top portion of a cranium, completely filled with pieces of coral cemented with blue-green clay characteristics of that formation.
Astonished, I continued the search, and in addition to the top portion of the cranium I found other bones of the thorax and limbs, which quite apparently belonged to an individual of the human species.”
Once more, negative reactions ensued by both geologists and scientists who were unwilling to accept the Pliocene age offered by Ragazzoni for the skeletal remains.
It was explained away by an insistence that the bones, due to their clearly modern characteristics, must have come from a recent burial and somehow or other found themselves among the Pliocene strata.
If in doubt, simply explain it away with logical thinking, even if you ignore the facts within plain sight and filter out the parts which do not fit.
Ragazzoni was understandably not pleased with the reception he received and the disregard given to his legitimate discovery of an anomalously ancient human skeleton, so he kept his eye on the site where he had found the relics once the land was sold to Carlo Germani in 1875, (on the advice of Ragazzoni, who had advised that the phosphate-rich clay could be sold to farmers as fertilizer).
Many more discoveries followed from 1879, as Germani kept his word and informed the professor immediately upon finding more bones in the pit.
Jaw fragments, teeth, backbone, ribs, arms, legs and feet were all dug out of the Pliocene formation which modern geologists have placed at around 3-4 million years old.
All of them were completely covered with and penetrated by the clay and small fragments of coral and shells, which removed any suspicion that the bones were those of persons buried in graves, and on the contrary confirmed the fact of their transport by the waves of the sea’, said Ragazzoni.
And on February 16, 1880, Germani informed Ragazzoni that a complete skeleton had been discovered, enveloped in a mass of blue-green clay, remains which turned out to be that of an anatomically modern human female.
“The complete skeleton was found in the middle of the layer of blue clay. . . The stratum of the blue clay, which is over 1 metre thick, has preserved its uniform stratification, and does not show any sign of disturbance” wrote Ragazzoni, adding, “The skeleton was very likely deposited in a kind of marine mud and not buried at a later time.”
After personally examining the Castenedolo skeletons at the Technical Institute of Brescia in 1883, Professor Giuseppe Sergi, an anatomist from the University of Rome, was convinced that they represented the remains of humans who had lived during the Pliocene period of the Tertiary.
Writing of his disdain towards the naysayers within the scientific community Sergi commented,
“The tendency to reject, by reason of theoretical preconceptions, any discoveries that can demonstrate a human presence in the Tertiary is, I believe, a kind of scientific prejudice.
Natural science should be stripped of this prejudice.”
Anomalous Skeletons Have Their Place Too!
Unfortunately, this prejudice which continues to this day, shows no signs of abating, as Professor Sergi recognized back in the 19th century, ‘By means of a despotic scientific prejudice, call it what you will, every discovery of human remains in the Pliocene has been discredited.’
So why does its modern appearance override the other factors?
It doesn’t seem to be a very scientific approach to disregard an archaeological find simply because it does not conform to contemporary evolutionary theses.
The examples cited in this article are only a small selection which has been rescued from obscurity by vigilant researchers, but how many more cases have suffered similar dismissal due to their anomalistic circumstances ?
If science continues to sweep unusual discoveries under the carpet, how are we supposed to progress as a species if we are intent on denying data which contradicts our rigid paradigms?
It would appear that the knowledge filter has been in place for some time, much to the detriment of humankind and our quest to illuminate our foggy, mysterious ancient past.
Of course we cannot be sure of the validity of the anomalous finds mentioned above, but by ignoring the sheer volume of cases which question current scientific paradigms regarding the evolution of man, we are being denied the whole story – which can only be detrimental to the ongoing study of human evolution .
References
Meltzer, D. 2009. First Peoples in a New World: Colonizing Ice Age America . University of California Press.
Steen-McIntyre, V. and Fryxell, R. and Malde, H. 1981. Geologic Evidence for Age of Deposits at Hueyatlaco Archaeological Site . U.S. Geological Survey.
Various, 2016. “Early–Mid Pleistocene environments in the Valsequillo Basin, Central Mexico: a reassessment” in Journal of Quaternary Science .
Zillmer, H. 2010. The Human History Mistake: The Neanderthals and Other Inventions of the Evolution and Earth Sciences . Trafford Publishing.
I have long argued that everyone defines their own reality, and you can utilize affirmation prayer campaigns to navigate the MWI to manifest the reality that you wish to live in. I have used this, and illustrated this by the use of World-Line templates, which are two dimensional topographical maps that show the moment to moment world-lines that our thoughts navigate upon.
.
For many people this is difficult to accept. They are far too stuck in the idea of a single universe that everyone shares.
.
So imagine my happy glee when I came across this article that vindicated my theories. Well, not mine, actually. The theories and beliefs of our benefactors. But if you all want to attribute them to me, that’s fine too.
.
It all began with this tease…
.
Physicists have long suspected that quantum mechanics allows two observers to experience different, conflicting realities. A few years ago, they performed the first experiment that proves it.
Well…
.
Let’s do a quick recap. Alright?
.
How it works.
We are consciousness.
As consciousness we travel from one frozen reality to another one. Over and over. These frozen realities are known as world-lines.
Time is our perception of this movement.
Now, consciousness can be in two forms.
The forms are WAVE, and PARTICLE.
When the consciousness is outside the physical body, it is in the WAVE form.
When the consciousness is inside a physical body, it is in PARTICLE FORM.
Thus, the consciousness is constantly following a sine path switching back and forth between WAVE and PARTICLE states.
The only thing that consciousness can do in the WAVE FORM is think.
The only thing that it can do in the PARTICLE FORM is operate a body.
Thus we have the dualistic nature of consciousness.
You must think “outside the box”; the physical body, and then apply those actions to make physical reality changes happen.
Thinking Navigates our reality
Well, look at it this way. Our reality changes and molds to what we think. I covered this over and over before in other posts. Time is the movement of our consciousness as it moves in and out of world-lines.
And, of course, what we think thus changes our reality.
Because our thoughts determine what world-lines we enter into. So if we are thinking wonderful thoughts, and are calm, and direct our energy into wonderful things, our life would be wonderful.
. Movement through the different world lines appears as time. As we think, we select the world lines to migrate towards. We need to control and master our thoughts. .
But if we surround ourselves with negative thoughts, manipulative news, and people. If we are reacting to events instead of manifesting them, or if we hold grudges and evil negative thoughts… then our world experiences will become progressively darker and darker.
Thoughts generate memories.
Memories shape our thoughts.
Thus, our prior experiences shape the thoughts that we have. So they are crucially important to the creation of our life and our reality.
Thoughts create memories.
Our memories influence how we think and what we think about.
Our thoughts are influenced by our memories and the environment in our reality. So in order to overcome your immediate environment, you must overcome that influence and generate new and healthy thoughts.
It’s like this…
A poverty stricken beggar might yearn for a reality where he has a warm meal and a roof over his head from the rain. While a wealthy oligarch might yearn for forbidden activities, and serendipitous pursuits.
Russian Oligarch.
.
Why the difference?
It’s because of their experiences. And their experiences are molded by their memories which is a record of their reality.
Why are memories important?
Memories are important because they attract and repel quanta. You want a balanced mixture of good and bad memories so that the attractions are balanced.
That is how soul grows don’t you know.
The consciousness enters world-lines (via the MWI) and has experiences. These experiences are recorded as memories. These memories influence your actions and also power “The Law of Attraction” (for lack of a better term.)
Your realities are created by directed thoughts.
PLEASE SHUT OFF THE NEWS NOW. Do not allow the thoughts and actions of others to influence you, or cause you to live in fear.
The news media is dangerous and creates situations and thoughts that mess up your well-tended and directed thoughts.
.
Operate off your very own memories and your very own experiences.
Eventually, memories influence your thoughts in such a way that your sentience becomes defined. And we do want that, don’t you know. We want our sentience to be defined.
The brain does not record memories.
Firstly the brain does not record memories. Instead, it accesses them.
Memories reside outside any given reality and “world-line”.
Which is currently at odds with “modern” medical science. Pull up any internet article and they will point to specific regions in the brain where memories are “stored”.
Conventional belief on how memories are stored within the body.
.
Those are the regions and areas inside the brain that accesses memories. they do not store them.
To use internet technology here…
Conventional Medical science
Memories are recorded and goes directly into the brain "Hard Drive". As you get older more and more memories are packed inside of the "hard Drive".
MAJestic understanding
Memories are accessed from the cloud via a Wifi router. It collects the memories in "packets" and puts them in ROM / RAM for immediate use.
So instead of thinking of your brain as a big old hard-drive. You need to start thinking of it as a wifi router that accesses memories in the cloud.
Navigation of World-line travel is not for the faint of heart.
We naturally, as a living being on this planet, conduct world-line travel. Every moment, of every day, roughly 244 times a minute we move in and out of new realities.
Most humans operate at around 4 Hz. That is the speed at which we process a given reality. This speed changes under all sorts of conditions.
We view this progression; this movement from one reality to another as an “arrow of time”.
The problem is that we don’t view it as anything but “the way the universe is”. We wrongly and incorrectly view it as beyond our control. We think that time is fixed and immutable. As such we use it, as a clock, for all purposes related to physics and dynamics.
So, everyone naturally conducts world-line travel.
However, they do so without navigation. They do so without planning, a map or any sort of objective. They just wonder about, and let the surrounding reality affect their thoughts. They let their thoughts be their own thoughts, totally and completely oblivious to the fact that the thoughts are HOW you navigate to new realities.
But, take special note, everything outside our consciousness is not fixed. Is is all subject to change. The ONLY thing that is fixed is our consciousness.
Consciousness is a part of our soul. It occupies different realities at will. The realities that it chooses to occupy is a function of the thoughts that it generates, as well as the thoughts that are surrounding it.
.
Now, here is the kicker.
To obtain the reality that we want to inhabit (whatever that might be). We need to map out a plan to get there. We need to navigate our consciousness in and out of adjacent realities so that eventually we will arrive at our ultimate destination(s).
Fundamentals
Thus, to be able to do this, we need to control two (2x) things…
A map, plan, or schedule of where we want to go.
Mastery of our thoughts.
[1] Planning – A Map
The first thing we need to talk about and address is planning.
In the Matrix, Cypher simply wanted to be reinserted in a completely new reality. It can be manifested using the techniques listed here.
Let’s talk about this.
I don't want to remember nothing. Nothing. You understand? [pause] And I want to be rich. You know, someone important, like an actor.
We will use the Cypher character from the movie “The Matrix” to illustrate. In the movie, he had a general idea of what he wanted. He had a target that they wanted. He wanted to be rich, and successful. He wanted to be respected, have a lot of fun, and not need to worry about too much. He wanted the life of a Hollywood director. He wanted the wealth, prestige, and the casting couch. That was his goal.
But… how to arrive there?
In the movie, he had a steak dinner with an agent of the reality. (A Mr. Smith.) He negotiated with them. He promised to take some action, and in reward, we would be given a new life within a new reality.
Cypher is negotiating with Mr. Smith to give him a new life and a new reality within the Matrix in exchange for certain favors. He agreed. That was his plan to achieve his goals. .
In the movie, it is very simple. You promise “A”, and in exchange you will get “B”.
In the movie, Cypher promised to capture (or kill, I’m not sure which it was) the main character Neo. In exchange, the “angel of change”, a Mr. Smith would give him a new reality where he would have a new life as a Movie Director.
Cypher knew he could do this because he knew what the Matrix really was. He knew that everything was an illusion. Yet, his consciousness and his body treated that illusion as a reality. He wanted to taste the steak and chew it in his mouth. He wanted to drink the wine and smoke the fine cigar. He wanted to use that knowledge to garner a far better life for himself.
Cypher knew that everything was an illusion. He knew that the steak was really just software code, but his body couldn’t tell the difference.
.
The first thing that you need to do is plan.
You need to have a “map” that describes exactly what you want in your life. This can be a lot of fun, but I must urge caution. Manifesting thoughts can also manifest all sorts of unintended consequences.
It has been my experience that what is pictured in Hollywood is often nothing that represents real life. No matter how good they try to provide that image, it’s just not the way things work.
Unless you are careful, the reality that you manifest can bring with it all sorts of other issues and problems.
Unless you are careful, there can be all sorts of surprises in the reality that you inhabit. There it is prudent that you take care and concern when mapping out your destination world-line. .
Thus you do need to be very careful in the specifying of your ultimate world-line destinations.
“Sometimes when you win, you really lose. Sometimes when you lose, you really win. Sometimes when you win, you really tie. And, sometimes when you tie, you really win or lose.”
White Men Can’t Jump – Rosie Perez (Gloria Clemente)
Gloria was trying to get her boyfriend to see that every action that you take affects someone or something else.
Some results are obvious and intended, but occasionally they have negative, unintended affects too.
Her boyfriend had lost substantial amounts of money playing basketball, despite being great at it.
He finally came through on his promise to win money in the game, but found her gone when he came home. He won the game, but lost his girl.
You can yell at your boss in staff meetings, sleep with his wife on his desk, and pee on the carpet in his office, but you probably will not keep your job.
So, unless you are waiting on a hefty inheritance, you should thoroughly think through the repercussions of your behavior before you do anything.
Sometimes, your first instinct is not the best one.
-Answers from Men
I have found that it is far easier for me to describe things using diagrams.
Here, in this first diagram, we see how a normal person (just living life normally) experiences time.
We don’t understand what time is simply because our understanding of what the universe is, is flawed. . There is no such thing as time. What there is, instead, is an infinite number of parallel universes, and we humans go in and out of each one at a rate of about 144 different universes a minute. Roughly. . So for a person starting at a clock at 0, and then counting down to a clock saying 1 second, we would have passed through various adjacent realities without even knowing what we were doing.
.
Typically that number is around 4 world-lines every second. It’s slightly faster or slower for different people, at different times.
Now, that you know what “time” is, you can now understand that the “passage of time” is you passing in and out…
…through…
…all sorts of adjacent world-line realities.
The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy.
You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.
— Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), The Matrix
Now, let’s talk about how to map out the passage of time to get you to a destination; a reality that you would prefer.
For instance, look at the following diagram.
You are currently in world-line reality “A”. It is shown in a green color.
You want to eventually have a new reality “B”. It is shown in a gold color.
There are two paths marked out. One is yellow and one is black.
You are currently in world-line reality “A”. It is shown in a green color. You want to eventually have a new reality “B”. It is shown in a gold color. There are two paths marked out. One is yellow and one is black. You want to take the safe path in black, even though it will pass through more adjacent realities and take longer to achieve your destination. Those realities that are undesirable to you (sadness, hurt, pain, discomfort) are shown by grey colors. You will want to avoid them.
The yellow path is the most direct path. It will require fewer adjacent realities to pass through. The black path is the preferred path. It will take longer, because you will need to pass through more adjacent realities to get to it.
The reason that you want to take the black path over the yellow path is so that you can avoid those problematic realities. They are shown in grey.
These are realities that will cause you turmoil and distress that you do need to avoid if you truly want to have a great life. They include such things as car accidents, company layoffs, periods of hardship, medical bills, and death. You do want to avoid these realities.
You MUST plan.
You MUST visualize what you want.
If you do not, then you will not have any ideas or visualization of your desires, and the desires of others around you will determine what will happen to you. Don’t allow that to happen.
Thus, when planning, you need to absolutely make sure of a number of factors. These are;
A destination lifestyle. Clear and easy to visualize. It must be very detailed. There must be no ambiguity in it what so ever.
Incorporate elements that will guarantee avoidance of problematic adjacent realities.
Important note. No this is not walking into a dimensional-portal and going in and out different world-lines. Instead, this is using the knowledge that every fraction of a second 1/244 minute we move to a new reality as determined by our thoughts and the thoughts of those around us. This discusses how we "steer" our consciousness in and out of those realities to achieve our goals.
You can have anything you want. But you must imagine it. You must think about it. You must manifest it. Otherwise, the thoughts of those around you will determine what will happen to you.
[2] Mastery of our thoughts.
“You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind.” The Matrix – Lawrence Fishburne (Morpheus)
The only thing that can stop you from accomplishing everything that you have dreamed of, is you. Once you believe that something is possible, it becomes possible. Fear stunts our ability to succeed in our professional and personal lives.
-Answers from Men
Thoughts alter our reality.
They do, and this isn’t just some kind of “new age” mumbo-jumbo. It is a fact, and if you can’t get your arms around this basic point, you need to go back to school and study Quantum Mechanics all over again.
The primary key is navigating the map that we created in [part 1] above, this navigation is often difficult to do. That is because we need to be in control of our thoughts, and modern life will not permit that.
All that “fake news”, and every commercial you see, and all the thoughts by all the people around you affect YOUR thoughts.
. Here is a screenshot of the morning news on 9JUN19. Wait two years and see just how relevant any of this is to your personal life. You will discover that none of these things really matter. They just don’t, yet these writings and news affects your thoughts. Turn them off. They are harming you. .
If you want to become the master of your life, and obtain the end destination reality that you mapped out, you will need to turn off those bad thought-streams. Yes, and that means breaking some long-formed habits.
That daily dose of news first thing in the morning MUST END.
As I read the news I see a specter of a dark foe bent on creating a world that few of us want to see, one built out of fear and control. It’s even scarier because that foe wants you and I to think that it’s winning, so we will give up and it can win by default. Don’t.
-Wilder Wealthy Wise
You must start to control the thoughts that go into the environment around you. If you cannot master that, you will never obtain the end goals that you have set for yourself.
The pre-birth world-line template
The most important thing that you must understand is that our consciousness is foreign to this universe.
Our consciousness did not evolve in THIS universe. It evolved in a different universe.
Thus it is alien. It doesn't fit here.
This universe is something that the consciousness USES for it's own purposes.
I know that that opens up a ton-load of questions. Answers to that and their implications are “above my pay grade”, but I do have some thoughts. I can cover them later on if you wish.
Our consciousness comes from soul.
Soul creates a smaller part of itself. This part is known as "consciousness" and it is used to travel outside of the "Heaven" universe.
Again. The “soul” does not exist here; in this (apparent) universe. The soul occupies an entirely separate universe. One which I refer to as “The Heaven Universe”.
The Soul creates a consciousness.
It ejects that consciousness into a “transport tube”; a kind of tunnel.
This tunnel is a mechanism for the consciousness to move from one universe to another.
Then the consciousness arrives in the “reality” universe.
Being foreign, there is really nothing that our consciousness is able to do in this “reality” universe. It is like water and oil. They just do not interact together well.
The only thing that our consciousness is able to do is generate thoughts. That is it.
Like a sun generates light, or how a flame creates sparks. The consciousness is able to create the same kinds of "stuff" that it is comprised of. This is what thoughts are.
Thoughts are a form of the same kind of constructions as one's consciousness is.
And this reality universe (as I like to call it), consists of a near infinite number of fixed world-lines.
The "Heaven" universe is completely different from the "reality" universe.
In fact, it is almost like the "reality" universe is an "artificial" construct of some type.
The "reality" universe consists of an infinite number of static moments in time, or what I call "world-lines".
All that our soul can do, is inject our consciousness into a body.
Then, once the consciousness is there, the thoughts that the consciousness has navigates to the next world-line based on the highest-probability occurrence.
This highest-probability of occurrence is a pre-established vector that the consciousness follows independent of thought.
We call this the “world-line pre-birth template”.
It is the fated direction that your life will unfold towards as your consciousness rides the physical body life-time. It is critically important in what your life will present to you to experience. (At least that is what your very own soul expects.)
You could be an infant, brain-dead in a vegetative state, or mind dulled by drugs and abuse, but the vector path of the life that you will live will be following the pre-mapped out “pre-birth world-line template”.
It is the system that your soul establishes for your consciousness.
It is the way for your consciousness to obtain experiences.
How to navigate the world-lines
Well, thoughts are the ONLY thing that the consciousness can create.
And thoughts act like a magnet to the most similar world-lines. The thoughts form a “shape” or better yet, a “profile” that surrounds the consciousness. And the consciousness automatically moves towards the world-lines that match that profile.
This is a basic activity that describes MOVEMENT UPON the pre-birth world-line template.
But it does not describe movement off the pre-birth world-line template. That requires a different mechanism for movement. (A similar mechanism, but fundamentally different.)
So thoughts alone, without any further actions, can navigate upon the pre-birth world-line template. It is what is known as a “fated life”.
So if you rely on your thoughts alone to navigate, you will find that your life seems to be “fated”. That you might wish and yearn for things, but they never materialize. You might think about that nice guy or gal at the coffeehouse, but nothing will really manifest. Your life will just follow your pre-mapped out life.
Your thoughts might move you close to certain areas, but it won’t take you to where you want to go.
Movement off the Pre-Birth World-line Template
If this situation describes you…
That you think, wish and dream for things, but they never materialize. It seems that your life is fated to some degree.
Then, you are “trapped” following the pre-birth world-line template.
If you do not want to follow the fated life that has been provided to you, then you will need to incorporate additional measures to navigate the MWI. You will need to navigate off the pre-birth world-line template.
There are two main techniques to do so.
Verbal Affirmations
Slides
We are NOT a physical body. We are soul that manifests a consciousness within our reality.
Knowing and realizing this, makes some of the passages in the religious books far more reasonable, and easier to understand. It doesn’t matter if it is the Koran, or the Bible. Understanding the way the universe works, and truly works, adds a far greater understanding to the wisdom that resides inside of these great works.
The soul creates a “consciousness” that it places in a “container”. This container is a “world-line”. Our “universe” is a near infinite number of world-lines.
We are placed here for our consciousness to obtain experiences.
We navigate in and out of the world-lines though our thoughts. Our rate of travel (in general) is (for most humans) about 4 Hz. Or, four cycles per second. (Four world-lines each second.)
There are different rates of travel, and different species travel the MWI at different speeds. In general, the rate of travel is proportional to the operational speed of the brain. This of course varies.
If you dull your brain to such a degree that your brain is slower, then you will not travel the MWI as fast as others would. And you might find your life slowly "falling behind" that of others.
Thus…
We are consciousness. We “rent” a physical body for a fleeting moment of time.
Our reality is NOT shared. Instead our consciousness occupies a singular world-line. It is a momentary event.
We (our consciousness) migrate between momentary world-lines through our thoughts.
This movement is known as “the arrow of time”.
The best way that I can introduce the reader to this “radical” understanding of how our universe actually works, is to use the “movie projector theory”.
Movie Projector theory for the MWI.
This is an illustration of what time actually is. Time does not exist. It is a perception that our consciousness has as it moves and weaves in and out of different world-lines. Here we use an old-fashioned movie reel projector to help illustrate this understanding. .
Thus, the idea of the actual way things work is really, really, REALLY different than what everyone assumes or believes. The difference is so stark, that many researchers are handicapped in their understanding of reality. Ah, but it need not be that way.
Come on!
You can well understand the movie projector analogy, can’t you?
If you can, well good for you! Award yourself a gold star.
The Movie Projector Theory in more detail…
The problem with that analogy (and it is a really good analogy), that that it does not take into account the individual frame selection in the film role. For in actual contemporaneous movies, it is the movie producer that selects the individual frames, and the person just sits back and watches the movie.
In reality, it is more like an entire bank of projectors, and we (as soul) selects the movie that interests us.
In this model, we have numerous movie projectors, all running simultaneously (at the same entropy)… Ah! At the same time.
We can “jump into” any scene portrayed by any of the movie projectors at will. We just look at the projected images.
Instead of a producer selecting the frames in a film and arranging the movie, and content, the soul consciousness does this instead. Using the movie projector analogy, it is similar to being in a room with multiple movie projectors all running similar films simultaneously. You, as consciousness, can decide which movie to watch. The further away the movie projector is from the movie that you are currently watching, the more effort is required. .
The further away the movie projector is from us, the harder it is to watch that movie. So we must watch closer movies (momentarily) and then “edge our way” closer to the movie projector that we are interested in.
Most people, sadly, do not do this.
They allow the movie projectors to operate randomly and they find themselves watching movies that they may not really care for.
How it manifests
So, using this film / movie projector analogy further it is exactly how our consciousness selects the “life experience” that we obtain. Each frame in a given movie reel is a world line. They are all playing about simultaneously, and our consciousness selects the world-lines to occupy by hopping from frame to frame. (World-line to world-line.)
By selecting each frame in a given movie, we can navigate within the movie, or even “jump” to another completely different movie all together. It is all dependent upon our thoughts, or the navigation of our consciousness. . Our soul decides the very first frame, and the very first movie reel that we will enter. However, it is our consciousness that decides how to make the best of our life, and how to navigate within the framework that is provided to us by the divine.
Nearby movie projectors are nearly identical to the one that we are viewing at the moment. Their divergence from our “present reality” is often very small.
As we move further and further away to more distant movie projectors the divergence gets larger and larger and larger.
This is why it doesn’t seem like we are moving from one world-line to the next. It seems smooth, seamless and transparent. That is because the deviance in nearby world-line (projectors) is very, very small.
Our thoughts select the world-line…
In reality, the “film spool” (a collection of “frames”) is known as the “life experience” of a given consciousness as it takes on a life.
It is a record of our travels in and out of different world-lines. Where a “world-line” is represented as a frame within the movie reel.
The individual “frames” that are selected, are chosen by the thoughts of the consciousness that inhabits the body. We migrate to things that we think about. We migrate to what we think about.
Not necessarily what we might desire. It is what occupies our thoughts most of the time. (So shut off that stupid manipulative television, why don’t ya!)
For all its popularity, Facebook isn’t without its share of scandals. In the latest one, details came out of an experiment conducted on 700,000 Facebook users over the period of a single week in 2012. News feeds were manipulated to contain positive or negative news and content, then users were monitored to see if the change made them use more positive or negative words in their status updates.
And it worked—people’s status updates showed a change in emotion that went along with the kind of news that they were exposed to.
The term used was “emotional contagion,” and it confirms something pretty frightening.
According to the study, people don’t even have to be physically around another person in a bad mood to absorb the negativity into themselves—negativity can be “caught” just from looking at a computer screen.
There doesn’t need to be a personal, emotional connection for emotional contagion to happen.
Not surprisingly, the study has brought up a number of disturbing questions, and it’s now being investigated by organizations like the Information Commissioner’s Office in Dublin. Those questioning the ethics of the study state that it’s nothing less than psychological manipulation. As if that’s not shady enough, Facebook users were unaware that they were having their emotions and moods manipulated through another party controlling just what was popping up in their news feeds.
-List verse
. I am hungry, but what do I want to eat? It is our thoughts, coupled with our memories and yearnings that help us decide what actions to take. So what to do? Eat a bowl of dog food, or have a nice tasty delicious pizza? Decisions. Decisions. It is our thoughts that determine which world-lines to occupy, and for most people, they just go with the flow and end up with whatever is provided to them.
No two thoughts are the same…
One of the problems that people need to come to grips with is that thoughts are not equal. Thoughts are “weighed”. Each thought is different. And thus each thought has a different degree in influence in world-line selection.
. Thoughts and emotions together form a complex stew of “influence” that can absolutely affect your world-line travel adventures. For instance, consider the scenario of you being hungry and desirous of eating a fine New York style pizza. Now your enjoyment at eating that pizza will depend on your emotions at the time. Obviously you won’t be able to enjoy it if you were angry, now would you? Our emotions, our memories our physical health and other factors all work together to influence our world-line navigation ability. .
Thoughts and emotions together form a complex stew of “influence” that can absolutely affect your world-line travel adventures.
These thoughts are comprised of “levels of influence”.
Duration of thinking about something.
Emotional attachments with the thoughts.
Prior memories of similar events.
Prior physical experiences.
The thoughts of the people (shadow consciousnesses) around you.
Cultural variances, needs and desires.
Mass thought manipulation (Have you been paying attention to the news lately?)
One’s inherent belief system.
Ah, no two thoughts are equal. They have a “weighed” value or influence factor. Further, they are also modified by other thoughts by other “shadow consciousnesses” (Individual proxy consciousnesses that share a given reality.)
Think about it. It has to be this way, or else an obsessed person should be able to have their dreams manifest quite easily. But, the truth is that they don't. That is because of a slew of factors. One of which is the "level of influence" that a thought is given within a given world-line.
One of the most important and significant factors in thought-directed world-line selection is one’s inherent belief system.
Consider the cow.
One mighty big cow.
Let's use the cow analogy.
For instance, you might be starving, and ready to die of starvation.
A typical American would not have any qualms with butchering a cow and eating steak. A Hindu would not, and would rather die than kill a cow. A vegetarian might be against eating it, but would not have any qualms drinking it's milk.
Our actions are determined, in large part, by our belief systems.
It is our deepest belief systems that have the greatest influences in our thoughts.
. It is our deepest thoughts and core belief systems that have the greatest influence in thought direction and world-line selection. For no two people are the same.
This is a very important subject, and I will cover it later on.
For now, let’s look at things simply.
Consider that all thoughts are simple, unique and they can easily select the “frames” or world-lines that the consciousness will migrate to.
The actual “landscape” of the MWI as viewed by the individual consciousness.
Imagine a “road map” of nearby world-lines.
Now, what would it look like? What would it resemble? How would we be able to take into account all the different variables that are constantly shifting and changing all around us?
Obviously, it would have a form of sorts.
It would have (as an illustration) globes representing a given “world-line” (or “frame” in the movie using the analogy above). It would also have lines. The lines would represent a path of migration. Which is the most probable paths for a consciousness to take when moving from one world-line to another.
. Movement in and out of the world-lines in the MWI by using the movie projector analogy to describe the way that consciousness moves in and out of different world-lines though thought. .
Now, this is a pretty good analogy as far as it describes the path that a consciousness would take. However, this analogy ignores the world-lines that are not taken. And in general, there a millions or much larger numbers of world-lines that are constantly ignored.
So a better way of mapping this procedure is to do so in a three dimensional framework.
Moving away from the movie projector analogy and mapping it upon a three-dimensional grip, it might look something a little like this. With the positions of the world-lines geographically positioned relatively to the pathways as a function of the intrinsic value of the particular world-line.
. The path that consciousness takes might be just as well placed on a map of sorts. This map might show nodes and paths where the consciousness might migrate depending on thought manifestation, generation and progression.
However, it would not look so much like a cluster of grapes, or bubbles on a foamy sea of bath water. No.
It turns out that the highest probability pathway forms a kind of sheet or flat surface when plotted in the three dimensions.
If you end up plotting everything, you can't make out heads or tails of the map. It's just this one big mess. But, if you plot the pathways that have the greatest probability of travel, it simplifies immensely.
Instead of a cluster of grapes, it would look a little like a mesh or a grid. With the points being world-lines, and the lines connecting the points as the shortest distance to that world-line.
Now, if you take a step away from this “map” of “world-lines” and their lines of “high-probability” consciousness transfer it might start looking a little like this.
Where you would see a “surface” of “highest probability” pathways, with the relative ease of travel and the strength of character needed to traverse affecting the heights and valleys of the apparent surface.
. How the world-lines with consciousness migration paths might look when a person takes a larger overview. You will see that the map is not a flat surface, but rather undulates. . It forms hills, valleys and “mountains”. This surface is the “geography” of the world-line transition map. Each possible destination world-line would have a different value of “potential”. Which is a potential for the consciousness to move towards it and occupy it. .
The “surface” that this map forms is the HIGHEST PROBABILITY of consciousness movement from one world-line node to another.
Going above the surface indicates a strength of will over the combined strength of inertia of a given world-line.
Going below the surface indicates a weak strength of will and a consciousness being overwhelmed by the inherent inertia of a given world-line.
Additionally…
Moving to the left upon the mapped surface indicates more freedom of movement upon a given world-line reality.
Moving to the right upon the mapped surface indicates less freedom of movement upon a given world-line reality.
Thus…
The topographic map display is a useful tool in understanding the hurtles and trials that one needs to endure to travel forth on the MWI.
The movement on the topographical map of the highest probability paths is accomplished via thought.
However, the rate of travel is fast…
The thing is, however, that the rate of travel through each world-line in the MWI is quite fast. It is around four world-lines per second. (For some people it is much, much higher.) Thus, for any topographic map to be of any use, it will have to have to exist on a much larger scale than what is presented here.
As such, the individual world-lines would appear as tiny pixels, and for the map to be of any use, it should describe a travel duration in terms of weeks rather than seconds. This means that the map would look like a smooth gradient rather than an array of “floating”globes.
MWI geometric map showing an array of highest probability world-lines in a seven second cluster of time. As the resolution increases the similarity to geologic topographic maps increases. Often these maps resemble landscapes and other recognizable surfaces.
Mapping the surface.
Here, we are going to take a look at the way the landscape actually looks from the point of view of an individual consciousness. It is NOT simple and flat. It is undulating with all sorts of “nearby” world-lines that the thoughts can select and migrate towards.
In general, it might look something along these lines…
The general topography of the MWI.
.
In reality, this topographical map is much more complex and complicated. However, I was able to (functionally) navigate it using a sort of simple 3d understanding, and that understanding is one that I will provide here. Yes, these are my conventions distilled and illustrated as a teaching aide.
Here we look at it is the substantially simplified version that I am accustomed to using.
The meanings and purposes in the three-dimensional topographical portrayal.
Now because this is a very simplified diagrammatic representation, numerous variables are incorporated in the “X’ and “Z” axes. (Not to mention the entropy axis “Y”.) In general, as I understand it, the characteristics of the “X’ and “Y” axes are an algebraic sum of the inverses of the individual contributions to the axes elements.
OK. I know that I lost you. Just think of it as a sum average of all your thoughts.
Internal Influences
Internal influences should be understood as the ultimate result of comparative thought-driven MWI transitions by the given consciousness.
Suppose the mind has a wide selection of thoughts. Everything from anger at a spouse, to frustration at work, and influences in the news, to a loving thoughts related to romance. All these thoughts will work together to generate a (singular) "value" on this axis.
But, it is more than that. It is also the weighed value and the intensity of the thoughts, coupled with the apparent carry-over duration longevity of the thoughts as a person migrates in and through the other world-lines.
Let's keep it simple.
Look, if you drop a slice of pizza in the middle of a muddy road, would you [1] pick it up, wipe the mud off the pizza, and eat it. or [2] say "heck with that", and leave the pizza in the mud as a lost cause.
For most people, they would give up and abandon the slice of pizza.
The amount of mud is far too distracting to enjoy the slice of pizza. That is that way this system works. For if you abandon the slice, like most people would, your would occupy a world-line on the surface of the undulating map.
If however, against all probability and convention, you decided to eat the slice, you might be above or below the surface, depending on other factors.
Here’s an example.
Let’s suppose that you are a simple fellow and you have five things going on in your life.
A spouse that wants a divorce.
A boss who is hinting on firing you.
A yearning for a club sandwich and an ice cold beer.
A pet that loves you and is very loyal.
Memories of fishing with your father.
In this example, some of the items would have more emotion attached to it that others. While other issues might be better at controlling your emotions and directing your thoughts. While still others might be able to erase the thoughts completely (if for a short period of time).
You might be an emotional wreck and your thoughts would manifest a life that would reflect your thoughts.
As an aside, drugs and other stimuli can also influence thoughts and behaviors. All of these complexities can alter the navigational ability on the MWI.
There is no way to judge which thoughts or issues affecting the thoughts would have the greatest influence on the person because it is their deepest internal core belief systems that would result in how the world-lines would manifest.
Charlie Sheen’s Public Meltdown in 2011
All that one can assume is that all the factors would be weighted together and balanced though the core belief systems of the soul / consciousness. This would influence the momentary section of the next world-line.
Is it no wonder that when things start going wrong, that they often end up spiraling out of control?
External influences should be considered the inherent inertia that comes with a given world-line.
Inertia.
Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its state. Once you have a bowling ball sitting on the floor, it is a little difficult to get it to move. However, once you get it moving, it's hard to slow down.
That difficulty... getting it started to move, and stopping it from moving... is what is known as inertia.
For our purposes it is the accumulated influences of the “shadow thoughts” of those (non-consciousness) apparent beings that share a given destination world-line. These are all the physical and non-physical influences that would affect the thoughts of a consciousness while it is in a given world-line.
You see, there can only be one consciousness per world-line. All those other "people" that we share the world-line with are actually "shadows". They are the bodies and representation of other consciousness were they to share the reality with us. As such, not only are their physical being present with us, but also their thoughts, dreams, desires and urges as well.
A "shadow" is a person that we share the specific world-line with.
However no consciousness inhabits their body. Their actual consciousness is off in another reality. We are observing their 'shadow" or a portrayal of how they would behave, act and think were they to share our reality with us.
The arrow of time.
With this being understood, a consciousness… a person might experience world-line travel at a rate of around 4 Hz, and visit numerous world-lines in any given instance. Thus the “arrow of time” might look something like this…
The topography of the MWI showing the apparent “arrow of time”.
Thus in this simplified diagram showing the geography of the MWI you (the reader) can see [1] how the passage of time manifests, [2] how your thoughts can alter and change the “X” vector component, and [3] how a given world-line can influence the path direction via a “Z” axis vector. You will also notice that the “arrow of time” [4] moves along the direction of decreasing entropy.
Entropy
A measure of the amount of disorder in a system. Entropy increases as the system's temperature increases. For example, when an ice cube melts and becomes liquid, the energy of the molecular bonds which formed the ice crystals is lost, and the arrangement of the water molecules is more random, or disordered, than it was in the ice cube. We can assume that in a macrocosmic universe, that it can be best represented as time.
The migration process.
Our consciousness moves from one physical body in one world-line to another in a different world-line. For most humans, most of the time, the rate of travel is around four world-lines per second.
Expert hint;
If you are using "the power of intention" to manifest your reality, what you are doing is focusing on a destination world line. If you track your success or failure in this effort, you will discover the amount of time it will take for your intentions to manifest.
If it took 6 months, then that means that you had to pass through 62,208,000 (more or less) world lines to arrive at your destination world-line.
Figure around 10 million world-line transitions per month.
The way that consciousness is able to move in and out of the various world lines is though wave propagation behavior.
While it is a given world-line, the consciousness occupies the body in the particle form.
While the consciousness moves from one world-line to another, it is no longer occupying a body. It is thus in a wave form.
It is not that a quanta changes, it is how the observer views the quanta that makes the change. Our soul controls consciousness. Consciousness can be in different states depending upon the point of view of the person (the observer). Here we can see that the two apparently different states are one and the same thing, depending on the point of view of the observer. .
This all happens rather quickly. In most people, mostly the rate of travel from one world-line to another is around 4Hz. For most humans our brains have a difficult time observing the changes in these movements. So we think that we are living in one singular world-line that we share with others.
Here is a gif that kind of illustrates the point, and the system at work here.
Wave and particle duality and illustration.
The entry process
This is how the consciousness changes from wave to particle for entry within a body within a reality. Our consciousness naturally exists in the wave form.
However, the moment it “crashes through” into a fabricated world-line reality, it changes form. It becomes a particle. It’s a natural process.
This is how the consciousness changes from wave to particle for entry within a body within a reality. The consciousness takes on the particle form in order to operate the physical body and exist within a reality or world-line reality. Otherwise, it operates in wave form outside of the body.
MAJestic operations (slides and dives)
The thing is, if you are in MAjestic, and are engaged in the role like I was in, your visualization of the MWI mapping would be quite different. I was often not allowed, or permitted, to live a “normal” life per my capabilities. ‘
Instead I was often pulled off my life track and immersed within a completely different reality.
One of the reasons why it sucked to be me.
And this is what it was like.
An illustration, by using map topography of the MWI to describe what a slide was like. It took me to a completely different series of world-lines that were way, way off the probability curves of a “normal” consciousness migration vector. In the instance shown, you can see that I was living a normal life on the MWI for a few seconds (figure four world-lines per second) and then boom! a slide would occur and I would be located way, way off my accustomed world-line.
.
For, by nature of my role, I would not follow the surface as described within the topography. I would be involved in slides and dives… including a few “deep dives”.
Thus, my dives and slides would deviate way off from the mapped surface geometry. It would render the understanding of this visualization quite differently.
A “slide” or a “dive” will transform your reality substantially. Often it will be wholly unrecognizable. Your body would be wholly immersed in the new reality, but your mind will not, nor will your memories.
.
Clarification #1 – Consciousness cycles in and out of world-lines in a sinusoidal manner.
This should be obvious to the astute reader, but it needs to be stated.
The consciousness moves in and out of world-lines naturally. It moves in a sinusoidal manner. It moves in and out. In and out. Over and over.
The rate of travel varies from person to person, but typically averages around 4 Hz.
Standard sinusoidal waveform.
During this time it changes “shape properties”. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.
At “the top” of the cycle it takes on wave behavior.
At the “bottom” of the cycle, it takes on particle behavior.
Consciousness movement in and out of different world-lines.
When it takes on wave behavior it moves from one world-line to another directed by thought. It exists “in the spirit world”.
Movement of consciousness.
When it takes on particle behavior, it occupies a world-line and inhabits a physical body.
Our consciousness cycles in and out of different world-lines. Between each trip it exists within “heaven”.
With this understood, we can define the amount of time that the transition from world-line to world-line takes, as well as the duration a consciousness spends inside each world-line.
If there are 4 cycles per second, then, each trip back and forth from the "Heavenly realms" to a world-line is 1/4 a second.
And thus, (roughly) each moment at a given world-line is half of that. Or, 1/8 of a second.
Some “take aways”;
Humans, via our consciousness, is continuously in touch with the “Heavenly realms”. Every moment we touch heaven, and enter our latest world-line.
When in the wave form, we can perform all sorts of activities and have all sorts of “abilities” not tied to any world-line. There are no physical limitations. Humans spend approximately 50% of their time “connected” to the “Heavenly realms”.
For us to maintain (retain) our memories from world-line to world-line, the memories are deposited outside the brain. It exists within the “Heavenly realms” not within the physical brain.
Key Correction #1 – Consciousness moves about the MWI when attached to a human body.
In my previous simplifications, I have referred to, and drawn the consciousness as a red blob; a point of light. I have stated that “Soul” can generate multiple Consciousnesses that it places on “journeys”. These “Journeys for experience” is a life-experience for a soul.
Simplified diagram of how consciousness moves in and out of the MWI and gives us the illusion of time. This is what one second of life looks like for the average person. He / she enters and leaves four different world lines each second. This “movement” appears as time. .
The Consciousness normally travels in and out of world-lines all a person’s life.
Once a consciousness uses up a body as it travels in and out of world-lines, it dies. The consciousness stays in the wave-form and “rests” within the “Heavenly realms”.
A decision is thus made by the soul, the consciousness, and their associations with other spirits, angels, and heavenly denizens on what to do next.
Often, it involves being injected on another “journey” in another life. This is often referred to as reincarnation.
This graphic shows how the the “passage of time” is viewed in the big-scale of things. MWI movement occurs during a human “lifespan”. You can only experience world-line travel within a given life. (There’s exceptions to this, but let’s stay focused.)
Key Correction #2 – Consciousness is not a point-source.
Consciousness is actually quite complex and complicated.
It is not a blob, a dot, a “something”.
It’s a collection of “stuff” that operates in such a way that the soul, the consciousness, the MWI and the thoughts generate memories and navigate the life-path to create experiences that the soul can learn from.
Soul creates a “consciousness” that it uses to travel the MWI.
It inserts it into a given world-line, and allows it to move unencumbered and subject to it’s own thoughts. Each world-line is a “physical reality” that the consciousness occupies.
The soul, which resides in the “Heavenly realms” creates a consciousness from which to experience things and events. Thus learns and grows. Consciousness is the passageway or “tunnel” that connects the physical reality to the soul.
Now, in all of this, I drew consciousness (literately, and artistically) as a point. I drew it as a red circular blob. Like in the two earlier drawings.
As in the above drawing showing the consciousness as a red blob in front of a long tunnel to the soul.
Movement of consciousness into a world-line as depicted as a point source.
However, the true reality is a bit different.
Get ready to have your mind blown.
The consciousness actually occupies multiple World-line-realities at any given moment simultaneously. It is actually not a “red blob”. It’s a lot of “red blobs”. Each one occupying a different world-line… simultaneously.
It is a “shared potential”. Some of the consciousness occupies one world-line at any given moment, while other aspects of it’s consciousness occupies other world-lines.
Sort of like this…
Consciousness occupies multiple world-lines at any given moment. The sum total of what our consciousness experiences is what we view as “our” present world-line. It appears to be but one singular world-line, but it is actually a aggregate composite of all the world-lines that our consciousness occupies at any given moment. 1 / (30/4+40/4+20/4+10/4) = Momentary reality.
Then, they move on to the next group of world lines. Then again. Then again. Then again. Over and over.
It’s not a red blob moving in and out.
Consciousness occupies multiple world-lines at any given moment. The sum total of what our consciousness experiences is what we view as “our” present world-line. They all change in the same cycle as governed by the consciousness.
Instead, consciousness occupies numerous world-lines at any given moment. Each world-line is different, but similar. The Consciousness interprets the differences as a singular world-line.
Key Correction #2 – World-Lines are not point-sources either.
We have a tendency to think of a “world” as a fixed and solid place. And the way that I have described the movement of time, has been the consciousness moving in and out from these fixed world-line realities.
A "world-line" is the resultant combined perception of a moment "frozen in time" that combines multiple world-lines into a singular apparent place.
What we think a world-line is is not a fixed singular place.
It is the sum total average of all the experiences that a conscientiousness is exposed to at any singular moment in time.
By fracturing a consciousness and occupying many similar world-lines simultaneously, the resultant consciousness would end up with a richer “experience”. It can also help to direct the travel and migrate to “better” world-lines per it’s directives.
It is the exact opposite of “living within an echo chamber“. It enables the consciousness to experience different experiences instead of simply reinforcing existing ones that the consciousness has been accustomed to over the years.
Key Correction #3 – World-Lines are not entirely empty of other consciousnesses.
To best understand how you can move in and out of multiple world-lines, it makes sense to think of things simply. Your consciousness is a point or sphere. The world-lines are empty and only occupied by “shadow consciousnesses”. But that’s really a simplistic picture.
It’s a simple narrative.
Imagine that you are only consciousness. And that you can move in and out of different world-lines freely. They seem to be occupied by all kinds of other people, but that is just an illusion. Most world-lines are just empty. And all those other people are just “quantum shadows” of others.
Now, this simplistic narrative needs to be revised to reflect the reality.
Instead of 100% of a consciousness entering a world-line where all the “quantum shadows” only have 0% occupancy within that reality…
…we now look at the reality…
Your consciousness might devote (say) 23% occupation within a given world-line, and all those “quantum-shadows” are actually occupied by other consciousnesses. Only they are a much smaller percentage. Often varying from 0.0002% to 0.1%.
Thus, in truth, all world-lines are not truly empty. They are occupied to some extent. And all of the other consciousnesses react to the way your consciousness behaves within any given particular world line.
Quick Review
Before we need to go further, please note the summary of state regarding the universe. Originally found here…
Depending on the scale of consideration, we have a threshold of consciousness.
Consciousness can not exist below that threshold.
Consciousness generates thoughts.
Below the consciousness threshold is a universe that is independent of thought.
Above the consciousness threshold we have a reality that is ruled by thought.
Finally,
We exist within two (x2) universes simultaneously. One is the reality that our consciousness inhabits, and the other is the realm where our soul exists.
One universe is ruled by thought and the other is not.
Additionally,
The ψ is a measure of how thought alters our reality.
Heaven is ψ-ontic.
Our reality is ψ -epistemic.
Tests seem to confirm this.
Putting Everything Together
The sum totality of everything is ψ-ontic. It contains a number of “Heaven(s)”. Souls, which are self-aware clusters of quanta in the form of garbons, create ψ -epistemic “bubbles” of reality, and place consciousnesses there to obtain experiences.
Experiences plus thoughts create sentience.
Sentience is a building block that establishes garbon formation.
Garbon formation, configuration and utilization is how souls grow, advance and move toward the divine.
As consciousness moves about within the ψ -epistemic “bubbles” of reality, thoughts are created and action occurs. The very nature of this CHANGES the “bubble” of reality. We view this change as gradual. We call this the “passage of time”.
However,
Our reality is often changed by huge events, actions and decisions from significant sources. Not just adjacent trivialities such as thought and intent. When this happens, the reality is jolted and more radical change occurs.
Take Aways
Every person lives within his or her own reality.
Realities are constructs of the soul.
Realities are drawn from a Universal Template.
Consciousness is a bridge between the soul and experiences in the reality.
Souls consist of organized quantum strings that have obtained sentience.
With the skill of intention, a person can tweak their reality.
With the utilization of technology, one can alter their reality substantially.
And now with this basic introduction of some of the key elements of our understanding of the nature of how everything works, let’s see what the “Scientists” have to say…
A quantum experiment suggests there’s no such thing as objective reality
Physicists have long suspected that quantum mechanics allows two observers to experience different, conflicting realities. Now they’ve performed the first experiment that proves it.
Back in 1961, the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Eugene Wigner outlined a thought experiment that demonstrated one of the lesser-known paradoxes of quantum mechanics. The experiment shows how the strange nature of the universe allows two observers—say, Wigner and Wigner’s friend—to experience different realities.
Since then, physicists have used the “Wigner’s Friend” thought experiment to explore the nature of measurement and to argue over whether objective facts can exist. That’s important because scientists carry out experiments to establish objective facts. But if they experience different realities, the argument goes, how can they agree on what these facts might be?
That’s provided some entertaining fodder for after-dinner conversation, but Wigner’s thought experiment has never been more than that—just a thought experiment.
Last year, however, physicists noticed that recent advances in quantum technologies have made it possible to reproduce the Wigner’s Friend test in a real experiment. In other words, it ought to be possible to create different realities and compare them in the lab to find out whether they can be reconciled.
And today, Massimiliano Proietti at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and a few colleagues say they have performed this experiment for the first time: they have created different realities and compared them. Their conclusion is that Wigner was correct—these realities can be made irreconcilable so that it is impossible to agree on objective facts about an experiment.
Wigner’s original thought experiment is straightforward in principle. It begins with a single polarized photon that, when measured, can have either a horizontal polarization or a vertical polarization. But before the measurement, according to the laws of quantum mechanics, the photon exists in both polarization states at the same time—a so-called superposition.
Wigner imagined a friend in a different lab measuring the state of this photon and storing the result, while Wigner observed from afar. Wigner has no information about his friend’s measurement and so is forced to assume that the photon and the measurement of it are in a superposition of all possible outcomes of the experiment.
Wigner can even perform an experiment to determine whether this superposition exists or not. This is a kind of interference experiment showing that the photon and the measurement are indeed in a superposition.
From Wigner’s point of view, this is a “fact”—the superposition exists. And this fact suggests that a measurement cannot have taken place.
But this is in stark contrast to the point of view of the friend, who has indeed measured the photon’s polarization and recorded it. The friend can even call Wigner and say the measurement has been done (provided the outcome is not revealed).
So the two realities are at odds with each other. “This calls into question the objective status of the facts established by the two observers,” say Proietti and co.
That’s the theory, but last year Caslav Brukner, at the University of Vienna in Austria, came up with a way to re-create the Wigner’s Friend experiment in the lab by means of techniques involving the entanglement of many particles at the same time.
The breakthrough that Proietti and co have made is to carry this out. “In a state-of-the-art 6-photon experiment, we realize this extended Wigner’s friend scenario,” they say.
They use these six entangled photons to create two alternate realities—one representing Wigner and one representing Wigner’s friend. Wigner’s friend measures the polarization of a photon and stores the result. Wigner then performs an interference measurement to determine if the measurement and the photon are in a superposition.
The experiment produces an unambiguous result. It turns out that both realities can coexist even though they produce irreconcilable outcomes, just as Wigner predicted.
That raises some fascinating questions that are forcing physicists to reconsider the nature of reality.
The idea that observers can ultimately reconcile their measurements of some kind of fundamental reality is based on several assumptions. The first is that universal facts actually exist and that observers can agree on them.
But there are other assumptions too. One is that observers have the freedom to make whatever observations they want. And another is that the choices one observer makes do not influence the choices other observers make—an assumption that physicists call locality.
If there is an objective reality that everyone can agree on, then these assumptions all hold.
But Proietti and co’s result suggests that objective reality does not exist. In other words, the experiment suggests that one or more of the assumptions—the idea that there is a reality we can agree on, the idea that we have freedom of choice, or the idea of locality—must be wrong.
Of course, there is another way out for those hanging on to the conventional view of reality. This is that there is some other loophole that the experimenters have overlooked. Indeed, physicists have tried to close loopholes in similar experiments for years, although they concede that it may never be possible to close them all.
Nevertheless, the work has important implications for the work of scientists. “The scientific method relies on facts, established through repeated measurements and agreed upon universally, independently of who observed them,” say Proietti and co. And yet in the same paper, they undermine this idea, perhaps fatally.
The next step is to go further: to construct experiments creating increasingly bizarre alternate realities that cannot be reconciled. Where this will take us is anybody’s guess. But Wigner, and his friend, would surely not be surprised.
Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1902.05080 : Experimental Rejection of Observer-Independence in the Quantum World
.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my World-Line Travel index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
Here I am going to take a well-deserved break from the insanity of American-led global politics and discuss a curious find. A treasure, if your will. It is a mystery to some, and a curiosity to others. It is a geode with a polished, machined, and finished metal part inside of it.
Which is pretty much an interesting subject, anyways.
Just finding a geode to begin with is an excitement; an adventure. But to find one with a mysterious machined part inside is well… double exciting.
What is a Geode?
A geode is a Greek word that means the shape of the earth. The name originates from their shape, which is earthlike or oblong (like the shape of an egg). Geodes are consequently defined as secondary structures that are usually found in specific volcanic and sedimentary rocks..
A beautiful quartz geode.
Geologic Occurrence and Formation
Geodes are not found randomly here and there. Instead they are usually found in large numbers in areas where the rocks have formed in a special geochemical environment.
Most geodes localities are in A) stratified volcanic deposits such as basalts and tuffs; or B) stratified sedimentary carbonate deposits such as limestones and dolomites. A diversity of other environments can also occasionally yield a small number of geodes.
The geodes are said to be formed in any hollow or cavity like areas such as in tree roots or animal burrows.
Geodes in sedimentary rocks are usually found in limestones, dolomites, and calcareous shale. In these deposits a gas-filled void can serve as the opening for geode formation.
Shells, tree branches, roots and other organic materials often decay away to leave a void for the formation of mineral materials. These cavities can be filled with quartz, opal, agate or carbonate minerals. They are generally smaller than the geodes formed in volcanic rocks.
The Discovery
An uncommon quartz geode embedded with screw-threaded metal bar was discovered by a geode collector in Lanzhou, China. His name is a Mr. Zhilin Wang. He found this stone on a field research trip to Mazong Mountain area located on the border of Gansu and Xinjiang provinces.
The pear-shaped stone is extremely hard and has an unusual external black color. It is about 8 x 7 cm and weighs 466 grams. It’s interior is filled with quartz crystals. Which seems to suggest a void eventually causing the creation of the geode over time.
The most surprising part of the stone is the embedded 6 cm long, cone-shaped metal bar which bears clear screw threads.
.
The screw-threaded metal bar – clearly a manufactured item – is tightly enclosed in the black lithical material.
Yet the fact that it was buried in the ground long enough for hard rock to form around it, which rather means that it must be millions of years old.
The screw thread width remains consistent from the thick end to the thin end, instead of varying due to the growth of rhe quartz crystals.
Truthfully, there is little that we can determine from the information available to us. Personally, I would love to have an analysis performed on the metal. That would tell us something about the part, and a few close up photos of the surface would indicate the manufacturing process and finishing techniques.
But what little we know can tell us a little more than what the rock find suggests.
The Age of the Geode
Using what we know, we can estimate the age of the formation of the geode by the age of the surrounding rock. We know that the geode was discovered by the Mr. Zhilin Wang while on a field research trip to Mazong Mountain area. This area consists of the Mazong mountains and the Jinta basin.
We present results from a multidisciplinary investigation of the Jiujing fault (JJF) system and adjacent Jiujing Basin in the southern Beishan block, western China.
Structural and geomorphological fieldwork involving fault and landform investigations, remote sensing analysis of satellite and drone imagery, analysis of drill-core data, paleoseismological trench studies, and Quaternary dating of alluvial sediments suggest the JJF is a late Pleistocene to Holocene oblique sinistral-slip normal fault.
Satellite image analysis indicates that the JJF is a connecting structure between two regional E-W-trending Quaternary left-lateral fault systems.
The Jiujing Basin is the largest and best developed of three parallel NE-striking transtensional basins within an evolving sinistral transtensional duplex. Sinistral transtension is compatible with the orientation of inherited basement strike belts, NE-directed SHmax, and the modern E-NE-directed geodetic velocity field. Cosmogenic Al/10Be burial dating of the deepest sediments in the Jiujing Basin indicates that the basin began to form at ~5.5 Ma.
-GeoScience World
It’s a “tough nut to crack”, but we are looking at geology that can date as far ago as 5.5 million years to the Late Pleistocene (129,000 to 11,700 years ago).
That’s a long period.
Never the less, it is unlikely that Anatomically modern humans (AMHs) of the Late Pleistocene were able to machine and thread metal tapered screws and place them inside a container for the geologic forces of heat and pressure over time to create a geode.
The Basic Geometry
The fact that this is a quartz geode indicates that it formed as the result of a stratified sedimentary carbonate deposit that surrounded a void. Over time, the forces of temperature and pressure acted upon the void and compressed it into the egg shaped geode that we see today.
If this speculation is correct, then it is possible that the virgin; pre-compressed void might have resembled something like this…
Of course, it’s really difficult to determine what the actual shape would be, or what the function was. What we only have to “go on” is the understanding on how certain types of geodes form, the dating of the rocky strata surrounding the object, and the observations of what is present.
Yet, even this tells us something.
This was a machined part or element within a subassembly that was buried and over time became a geode.
A Calrod
This polished metal rod like structure looks identical in shape, finish and appearance to an article that we, in the industry, refer to as a “calrod”.
Calrod heating elements generate dispersed heat by electrical energy conversion. Like many other heating elements, Calrod™ heaters also have an electrical supply running through them that gets converted to heat energy. A Calrod heater has a metallic alloy in its heating apparatus, which has resistance characteristics. This impedes the flow of current and transforms a portion of the energy into heat energy. This heat is passed on via radiation, and may be used to heat the surrounding air or water.
Heat can be transferred in a number of ways, through conduction, radiation and convection. In the case of the Calrod heater, heat is at first radiated to the surroundings, but it can be further dissipated through other methods of convection or conduction as well.
-Wattco
It’s a heating element that is used to maintain a temperature within a mechanism or chamber.
Calrod diagram.
Internal Structure Of The Heating Element In The Calrod Heater
The heating element of the Calrod heater is made of an alloy that consists of nickel and chromium. This mixture is said to make up an ideal alloy since it tends to have a minimum amount of resistance against heat generation. It also has a melting point that is quite high. This simply means that it will have higher chances of lasting longer, and this is of significant importance because it will be exposed to long term heating. Another brilliant advantage of using this alloy in the heating element is that it can be shaped to fit almost any kind of structure because it is highly malleable.
Calrod Heater Protection
Wire insulation within the Calrod heater is such that it is wrapped in a ceramic filler-binder. It also has a metal overcoat that conceals the element itself from air contact. With ceramic coating, there is more protection given to the element, as it is protected from the oxygen coming into contact with the surrounding air.
Insulation Calrod Heaters
Ceramic materials are chosen for insulation and protection of the Calrod heating elements due to the fact that they conduct the least amount of heat or electricity. Therefore, these materials are ideal for preventing heat or electrical energy from escaping. With this being most suitable for the outer surface, the metal encapsulation protects the element from any possible damage that might occur through mishandling.
What I would like
I would personally love to have a metallurgical analysis conducted on the metal rod. I would also like to look at the surface finish of the rod under a microscope. Those two items would be remarkably helpful in determining what the purpose of the object could have been.
I would also like to have a Psychometry reading conducted.
Psychometry is a psychic ability in which a person can sense or “read” the history of an object by touching it. Such a person can receive impressions from an object by holding it in his/her hands or, alternatively, touching it to the forehead.
Psychometry is a form of scrying–a psychic way of “seeing” something that is not ordinarily seeable. Some scry using a crystal ball, black glass or even the surface of water. With psychometry, this extraordinary vision is available through touch.
A person who has psychometric abilities–a psychometrist–can hold an antique glove and tell something about the history of that glove, the person who owned it, or about the experiences that person had while in the possession of that glove. The psychic may be able to sense what the person was like, what they did, or how they died. Perhaps most important, the psychic can sense how the person felt at a particular time. Emotions in particular, are most strongly “recorded” in the object.
The psychic may not be able to do this with all objects at all times and, as with all psychic abilities, accuracy can vary.
And here we diverge into psychometry…
A Brief History
“Psychometry” as a term was coined by Joseph R. Buchanan in 1842 (from the Greek words psyche, meaning “soul,” and metron, meaning “measure.”) Buchanan, an American professor of physiology, was one of the first people to experiment with psychometry.
Using his students as subjects, he placed various drugs in glass vials and then asked the students to identify the drugs merely by holding the vials. Their success rate was more than chance, and he published the results in his book, Journal of Man. To explain the phenomenon, Buchanan theorized that all objects have “souls” that retain a memory.
Intrigued and inspired by Buchanan’s work, American professor of geology William F. Denton conducted experiments to see if psychometry would work with his geological specimens. In 1854, he enlisted the help of his sister, Ann Denton Cridge. The professor wrapped his specimens in cloth so Ann could not see even what they were. She then placed the package to her forehead and was able to accurately describe the specimens through vivid mental images she was receiving.
From 1919 to 1922, Gustav Pagenstecher, a German doctor and psychical researcher, discovered psychometric abilities in one of his patients, Maria Reyes de Zierold. While holding an object, Maria could place herself in a trance and state facts about the object’s past and present, describing sights, sounds, smells and other feelings about the object’s “experience” in the world. Pagenstecher’s theory was that a psychometrist could tune into the experiential “vibrations” condensed in the object.
How Does Psychometry Work?
Pagenstecher’s vibration theory is getting the most serious attention from researchers. “Psychics say the information is conveyed to them,” writes Rosemary Ellen Guiley in Harper’s Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience,
"through vibrations imbued into the objects by emotions and actions in the past."
These vibrations are not just a New Age concept, they have a scientific basis as well. In his book The Holographic Universe, Michael Talbot says that psychometric abilities
"suggest that the past is not lost, but still exists in some form accessible to human perception."
With the scientific knowledge that all matter on a subatomic level exists essentially as vibrations, Talbot asserts that consciousness and reality exist in a kind of hologram that contains a record of the past, present, and future; psychometrics may be able to tap into that record.
All actions, Talbot says,
"instead of fading into oblivion, [remain] recorded in the cosmic hologram and can always be accessed once again."
Yet other psychical researchers think the information about an object’s past is recorded in its aura – the field of energy surrounding every object.
According to an article at The Mystica:
"The connection between psychometry and auras is based on the theory that the human mind radiates an aura in all directions, and around the entire body which impresses everything within its orbit.
All objects, no matter how solid they appear, are porous, containing small or even minute holes. These minute crevices in the object's surface collect minute fragments of the mental aura of the person possessing the object. Since the brain generates the aura then something worn near the head would transmit better vibrations."
“Psychometry – Psychic Gifts Explained” likens the ability to a tape recorder, since our bodies give off magnetic energy fields. “If an object has been passed on down the family, it will contain information about its previous owners. The psychic can then be thought of as a tape player, playing back the information stored on the object.”
Mario Varvoglis, Ph.D. at “PSI Explorer” believes that psychometry is a special form of clairvoyance. “The individual performing the psychometry,” he writes, “may gain psychic impressions directly from the person to whom the object belongs (through telepathy) or may clairvoyantly learn about past or present events in the life of the person. The object may simply serve as a kind of focusing device which keeps the mind from wandering off in irrelevant directions.”
How to Do Psychometry
Although some believe that psychometry is controlled by spiritual beings, most researchers suspect that it is a natural ability of the human mind. Michael Talbot agrees, saying that
"the holographic idea suggests that the talent is latent in all of us."
Here’s how you can try it yourself:
Choose a location that is quiet and as free of noises and distractions as possible.
Sit in a relaxed position with your eyes closed. Rest your hands in your lap with your palms facing up.
With your eyes remaining closed, ask someone to place an object in your hands. The person should not say anything; in fact, it’s best if there are several people in the room and you don’t know who the person is giving you the object. The object should be something the person has had in his/her possession for a long time. Many researchers believe that objects made of metal are best, theorizing that they have a better “memory.”
Be still… as images and feelings come into your mind, speak them aloud. Don’t try to process the impressions you get. Say whatever you see, hear, feel or otherwise sense as you hold the object.
Don’t judge your impressions. These impressions may be strange and meaningless to you, but they might be of significance to the owner of the object. Also, some impressions will be vague and others might be quite detailed. Don’t edit–speak them all.
"The more you try, the better you will become,"
Says Psychometry – Psychic Gifts Explained.
"You should start to see better results as your mind becomes used to 'seeing' the information.
But you can progress; at first, you will be pleased to pick up on things correctly, but the next stage is to follow the pictures or feelings.
There may a lot more information that you can obtain."
Don’t worry too much about your rate of accuracy, especially at first. Keep in mind that even the most renowned psychometrists have an accuracy rate of 80 to 90 percent; that is, they are inaccurate 10 to 20 percent of the time.
"The important thing is to be confident that you will gain accurate psychic impressions when you handle the object,"
Says Mario Varvoglis at PSI Explorer.
"It's also important not to try to figure out likely histories of the object, not to analyze and interpret your impressions to find if they make sense.
It's better to simply observe all the impressions that come into your mind and describe them without clinging to them and without trying to control them.
Often the most unexpected images are likely to be most correct."
Conclusion
Since there is little that we can learn from this object except that it appears to be the fossilized remains of some kind of chamber, the use of Psychometry might be useful in the interpretation of the object.
Barring that, the closest object that I can think of is something that resembles the oxygen tanks about the Apollo spacecraft.
Here is a nice illustration of it…
And, here is a nice diagram of it…
And here is a schematic showing the oxygen tanks where they were located inside the Apollo spacecraft.
You see, in outerspace, it isn’t enough to have a cylinder filled with air. You need to have a system that controls the temperature, and pressure of the vessel that contains the atmosphere that you breathe. Thus we have a vessel, tending to be spherical, with probes and a heater assembly.
Truthfully, this resembles the pre-compressed and aged mechanism that was found as a geode.
Many drive-by visitors to Metallicman often raise their noses and proclaim “I’ve seen it all before”, and then leave. They don’t stick around and really study what is being presents. They just assume that it’s just another ‘same old”, “same old”, and thus not worthy of their time.
A lesser person might be upset.
But I know, and most long time MM readers know, that this is all an illusion.
The people who come and stay are here for the content, and the juicy nuggets of gold that you won’t find anywhere else.
Arthur Schopenhauer famously observed that talent hits a target that no one else can hit, but genius hits a target that no one else can see.
We now know that, through the Dunning-Kruger effect, each of us is limited by cognition: anything more complex than our minds can grasp appears as ludicrous bizarre gibberish to us.
Let. That. Sink. In.
Can you fly a “Frisbee”? If not, then why?
Knowledge and skills are learned. And that includes the ability to reason, to plan, and to sort things out.
This creates a framework of genius as that which notices the obvious but ignored. As explained in the biography of a famous gun designer, high cognitive ability seems mystifying until the results are seen:
It is often said in the industry that small arms now are designed by committee. But the design process will always need that one unique person, the imaginative individual with a new way of looking at a problem.
Eugene Stoner was the man with the ideas who passed them on to the design committees. According to a long-time friend and colleague, Stoner was “the master of the obvious”. “When he came up with an idea you would ask yourself, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ But you didn’t.”
Most people cannot see genius.
To them, it appears as an oddity, something incomprehensible, and when it succeeds, they hate it. The last three centuries in the West have been a rebellion against genius, replacing it with inferior substitutes like navel-gazing novels, pop culture, and modern art.
Face it.
People who have genius capability are shunned and thwarted in society.
Yet, early on, Western Civilization succeeded because it embraced genius. Under the kings, those of great potential were subsidized so that all could enjoy their insights.
Not so today.
Under democracy, they are treated with suspicion and thrust into the workforce, where they often flounder. Individual genius is a fast train ticket to oblivion and poverty.
If we are to rise again, much of our focus must be on finding good people instead of trying to regulate mediocre people with complex systems in the Asiatic model. In the meantime, it helps to recognize that genius is most commonly unrecognized except by those on its level.
The Dunning-Kruger effect
The Dunning–Kruger effect is a hypothetical cognitive bias stating that people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. As described by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the bias results from an internal illusion in people of low ability and from an external misperception in people of high ability; that is, "the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others". It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from people's inability to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, peoplecannot objectively evaluate their level of competence.
It explains, among other things, how in a society that places too much value on image, idiots and insane people are able to get ahead by overestimating their value and getting fools to agree with them.
The essence of the Dunning-Kruger effect is that “ignorance more frequently begets confidence than knowledge.”
Studies have shown that the most incompetent individuals are the ones that are most convinced of their competence.
At work this translates into lots of incompetent people who think they are superstars.
And what is worse is that if you have a manager that doesn’t closely supervise work, he or she may judge performance based on outward appearances using information like the confidence with which these incompetent blockheads speak.
An important corollary of this effect is that the most competent people often underestimate their competence.
This is a result of how you frame knowledge.
The more you know, the more you focus on what you don’t know. For instance, people who can name 15 of the 50 state capitals tend to think “I know 15.” People who know 45 of the 50 state capitals tend to think “I don’t know 5.”1
Fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy,
If they can be trained to substantially improve their own skill level, these individuals can recognize and acknowledge their own previous lack of skill.
Translation: Without leadership at the top of the curve who is willing to call people on their incompetence, the incompetents will appear competent to other incompetents and be advanced, possibly even to the presidency.
This causes a mathematical problem for democracies since most people are not particularly competent at leadership, government or logical argument, meaning they are both unable to assess the best leadership choices and sure that they’re right.
It’s essentially similar to the Downing effect:
One of the main effects of illusory superiority in IQ is the Downing effect. This describes the tendency of people with a below average IQ to overestimate their IQ, and of people with an above average IQ to underestimate their IQ.
The propensity to predictably misjudge one’s own IQ was first noted by C. L. Downing who conducted the first cross-cultural studies on perceived ‘intelligence’.
His studies also evidenced that the ability to accurately estimate others’ IQ was proportional to one’s own IQ. This means that the lower the IQ of an individual, the less capable they are of appreciating and accurately appraising others’ IQ. Therefore individuals with a lower IQ are more likely to rate themselves as having a higher IQ than those around them. Conversely, people with a higher IQ, while better at appraising others’ IQ overall, are still likely to rate people of similar IQ as themselves as having higher IQs.
The disparity between actual IQ and perceived IQ has also been noted between genders by British psychologist Adrian Furnham, in whose work there was a suggestion that, on average, men are more likely to overestimate their intelligence by 5 points, while women are more likely to underestimate their IQ by a similar margin.2
That tendency could go a long way toward explaining why many successful societies have relied on strong leaders who had no problem beating down the incompetent with force.
Unless suppressed, the 90% of humanity who per the “Bell Curve” are unskilled and unaware of it will take over and, being incompetent, run society into the ground.
In addition, while people can be taught specific tasks, they cannot be taught to reason in general; education does not raise IQ and in the process of trying, becomes dumbed-down to the point where no one intelligent will get any benefit from it, which discriminates against the intelligent.
Conclusion
The conclusion is obvious.
When you combine the Bell Curve, the Dunning-Kruger and Downing effects, and the natural tendency of human beings to compromise, you have a working explanation why human societies inevitably begin the pursuit of a “race to the bottom” once they become powerful enough to stop losing so many people to natural events, disease and war.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Today I woke up at the crack of dawn, made my self a nice stout coffee (after I washed my face) and ate it with some buttered baguettes. It’s a nice little routine that I have, especially since I found a bakery that makes these kinds of bread instead of the soft and sweet “sponge cakes” (style breads) that are irritatingly common throughout China these days.
Sweet breads are not my favorite, though. Bagels are. And finding a proper bagel in China is an exercise in futility.
My old dog was snoring and barking in his deep doggie dreams. His little doggie paws were making padding moves and he was softly barking between his snoring.
It was a nice lovely and calm morning.
I sat down, fired up my computers, sat down (after I measured my blood pressure) and checked my email, as the dawn was lightening up. I could feel the fresh ocean breeze carry the fragrances of the local flowers, and the birds were singing their morning songs. It was calm and pleasant.
Uncle MM has left me some bars of gold…
What do you know!
My long lost great uncle Metallicman has died without any heirs. And I am the closest relative. Who would have figured?
What are the odds?
What’s more, he’s got a couple of billion dollars in the bank and I was contacted to see if I was his long, lost relative.
My goodness. Imagine that!
My name is Fabian Artoro, an asset management brokerage consultant. I am contacting you on behalf of my late client who worked as an independent engineering contractor in a gold mining company in my country, the Republic of Ghana.
He was my client until his sudden demise on the 24th of April 2018, fatal car crash, his wife and their only daughter were all involved in that car crash along Kumassi express Road.
Sadly, all occupants of the vehicle, unfortunately, lost their lives. My client had funds, a huge amount in one of the financial institutions here and it is in the process of being confiscated by the state as unclaimed funds...
I’m sure it is legitimate.
Don’t you?
Well, After checking my normal (tap, click and move on) websites, and finding out that they are all parroting the same-old, same-old nonsense, I moved on. You do get tired of the same spiel day in, and day out.
What am I talking about?
Well, I am talking about this…
First up, your daily dose of Anti-China…
It’s been a daily top-line item in my feeds since 2016.
Reminds me of the movie “Battleship”. Nice CGI, by the way. And yeah, this was the entire plot and story line behind it. Don’t you know…
Well that was about as useful as giving a dolphin a pair of crutches.
So then it’s off to MM, and I check the comments. Ohhh baby!
MM Comment Section
Right there at the top of my comment “awaiting approval” list is this piece of insulting passive-aggressive bullshit.
I see you’re still doing the bidding of your new country comrade, it’s dishonest to hide the fact that you are a round-eyed Chinese operative…apparently there is no such thing as a retired intelligence officer.
I am too old for this nonsense.
I’ve lived in China for nearly two decades and no one has ever used the term “comrade“. I guess this jackass never got the memo. He’s probably still talking about how groovy the Mod Squad is, and fondling his “love beads”.
I’m dishonest? Even in prison they told me that I “couldn’t lie worth shit“. I can’t. So I just don’t try. I tell you it straight. You either take it or not. It really makes my life simpler. What you see is what you get.
“Round eyes” sounds pretty fucking racist to me.
Idiots abound in this world.
Sometimes I wonder if they really believe what they say, or that they want to live inside a rotten world-line template. This “fellow” is certainly making his MWI topographical map “interesting“.
Here’s a MM secret; if you want to have a nice calm and happy life, make others happy. If you want to have a problem-some, and tumultuous life, then spend your time making others miserable.
Anyways, it’s 7am and I could use a beer.
Do you “feel” me?
Beer and pancakes.
The rest of the world is not my problem. You all will see what the fuck is going on in your little neck of the woods soon enough. Especially this piece of shit (will).
Anyways…
I am sorry that I have been so busy with all these other issues lately. But I do “feel” a need to start post more MAJestic related stuff, and that means OOPART stuff as well.
Which leads me to this mystery…
The Aiud Mystery in Transylvania
Yeah. Aiud is in the Transylvania region of Romania. It in the state of Alba. It’s that triangle shaped region in the map below.
The Transylvania region of Romania.
.
Of all the hundreds of websites about this mystery object, not one single one bothered to look up Aiud on a map. They just cut and paste from other websites.
Slothful. Lazy.
Money-grubbing. Greedy.
“For-profit” oriented assholes.
Doesn’t anyone ever just do things because they WANT to do it? Jeeze!
Anyways, in 1974, in Romania, East of Aiud, (in Transylvania) a group of workers, on the banks of the river Mures, discovered three buried objects in a sand trench 10 meters deep.
In sand, near a river, implies that the river eventually covered these items and buried them in silt. Then later, when the river became smaller or changed it’s path, the silt remained as sandy soil.
Of the three items, two of the objects proved to be Mastodon bones. These dating from between the Miocene and the Pleistocene periods. The third object — the Aluminum Wedge of Aiud, also known as the Object of Aiud, is a mysterious wedge-shaped block of aluminum metal.
The mysterious aluminum object was discovered by chance in 1974 at a depth of 10 meters at a quarry by the banks of river Mures near the Romanian town of Aiud. The artifact weighs approximately 2 kilos (length: 21cm; width: 12.5 cm; thickness: 7cm).
According to researchers and engineers it appears very similar to the feet fused on modern landing gear found on aircraft with vertical landing and take-off.
For conventional investigators it appears as a hammer head.
In its vicinity researchers found two mastodon bones(extinct large tusked mammal species that lived between 10,000 and 80,000 BC). Based on the findings next to the object it can be assumed that the object is at least 10,000 years old.
-HistoryDisclosure
Because it is out of place, it is considered an OOPART.
After all, contemporaneous belief is that Mastodons were unable to fabricate tools, let alone precision manufacture of aircraft components. They didn’t have opposing thumbs, don’t you know. Let alone the fact that those enormous tusks of theirs would get in the way of precision manufacturing…
That goes as well for the local humans at the time. They are considered to be primitive.
Early humans. (Romanticized.)
.
So what the heck is a pawl from a landing gear doing with some mastodon bones near a river in Romania?
Dating the object
According to conventional history the artifact should not exist since aluminum was discovered in 1807 and wasn’t produced in any usable form until after 1886.
A subsequent dating analysis (I haven’t been able to find details on the dating technique used) on the artifact indicated that it was at least 200,000 years old.
This date apparently came from the geological evidence where the bones and pawl were found. When the “front end loader” excavated the trench (or what ever equivalent did so in the 1970’s in Romania) the soil, and the mastodon bones indicated a very approximate date sometime within the Pleistocene.
Mastodon, (genus Mammut), any of several extinctelephantine mammals (family Mammutidae, genus Mammut) that first appeared in theearlyMiocene (23 million to 2.6 million years ago) and continued in various forms through the Pleistocene Epoch (from 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).
-Mastodon | Description, Distribution, Extinction, & Facts ...
Depending on the particular dating of the bones, we can assume that the pawl was contemporaneous with the bones in some way. Which could mean that the primitive humans picked up this pawl at some point in time, and were using it to smash open Mastodon bones for food.
.
Obviously they weren't using it on one of their aircraft, or it just suddenly "fell off" some aircraft speeding along two million years ago, eh?
.
The dating (on the Mastodon bones) would be somewhere between 23 million years ago and 11,700 million years ago. Which is a (phew!) long span of time.
.
So I’m not in agreement with the dating of the trench, the location, the bones, or anything else. Except to say that the aluminum predates the discovery, manufacture and utilization of aluminum in that form and shape. Thus making it an OOPART.
However, a conjecture…
Perhaps primitive man found this aluminum pawl, and found a use for it. It is very useful for cracking open bones to get at the marrow.
.
If we go ahead with the idea that perhaps a primitive human or pre-human picked up this aluminum pawl in it’s travels…
…and thinking that it is a nice “stone”, being light and easy to carry (5 pounds), with a nice pointed end…
…that shows abrasions on the pointed ends and sides…
…which makes this scenario likely…
…then we can date this part as used as a tool by the pre-humanoids in that region at that time.
The oldest handmade stone tools discovered yet predate any known humans and may have been wielded by an as-yet-unknown species, researchers say.
The 3.3-million-year-old stone artifacts are the first direct evidence that early human ancestors may have possessed the mental abilities needed to figure out how to make razor-sharp stone tools. The discovery also rewrites the book on the kind of environmental and evolutionary pressures that drove the emergence of toolmaking.
Chimpanzees and monkeys are known to use stones as tools, picking up rocks to hammer open nuts and solve other problems. However, until now, only members of the human lineage — the genus Homo, which includes the modern human species Homo sapiens and extinct humans such as Homo erectus — were thought capable of making stone tools. [See Photos of the Oldest Stone Tools]
Ancient stone artifacts from East Africa were first uncovered at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania in the mid-20th century. Those stone tools were later associated with fossils of the ancient human species Homo habilis, discovered in the 1960s.
-LiveScience
So…
This aluminum pawl could be 2.3 million years old.
Humans during the Pleistocene
Let’s have Caleb Strom explain what “humans” were like during this time. (From here.)
Theevolution of anatomically modern humans took place during the Pleistocene. In the beginning of the Pleistocene Paranthropus species were still present, as well as early human ancestors, but during the lower Palaeolithic they disappeared, and the only hominin species found in fossilic records is Homo erectus for much of the Pleistocene.
-Pleistocene - Wikipedia
The Pleistocene epoch is a geologic epoch which began around 2.6 Mya (Million years ago) and came to an end around 11,700 BP (Before Present). It is characterized by lower sea levels than the present epoch and colder temperatures. During much of the Pleistocene, Europe, North America, and Siberia were covered by extensive ice sheets and glaciers. The Pleistocene was an important time because it was when the human genus first evolved.
The Pleistocene ( PLYSE-tə-seen, -toh-, often colloquially referred to as the Ice Age) is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the world's most recent period of repeated glaciations.
The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek πλεῖστος (pleīstos, "most") and καινός (kainós (latinized as cænus), "new".
-Wikipedia
The flora and fauna today also more or less reached their current form during the Pleistocene. Most Pleistocene animals and Pleistocene plants also exist in the Holocene. Furthermore, the Pleistocene epoch was the last geological epoch in which humans had relatively little impact.
While parts of the world were dryer – such as central Europe, which was mostly covered in tundra, other parts of the world were wetter and greener.
Many of the animals common today were also common in the Pleistocene. Deer, big cats, apes, elephants, and bears could all be found in a Pleistocene landscape. There were also animals that were common which have since gone extinct, such as mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed cats, giant ground sloths , and pre-human hominins .
Europe and Asia had significant populations of African fauna. Cave paintings and paleontological finds in Europe reveal that rhinoceroses, lions, and hyenas were all common at that time in southern Europe. The island of Sicily was also inhabited by a dwarf elephant species until surprisingly recent times. Northern Europe was covered in glaciers and inhospitable, while central Europe was tundra. Southern Europe, however, contained forests and was inhabited by numerous species of megafauna, most of which have since died out.
Another important development on the Pleistocene timeline was the emergence of the human genus: Homo. Humans probably evolved out of bipedal apes, such as the Australopithecines and Ardipithecus Ramidus . These early bipedal apes are classified as hominins. Hominins first evolved near the end of the Miocene epoch (25-5 Mya) in south and east Africa. Other than their upright posture and bipedalism, these hominins were not significantly more human than previous apes.
Their skeletons indicate that they resembled modern apes such as chimpanzees and their use of tools was limited or absent. At the beginning of the Pleistocene, however, a new type of hominin appeared. These hominins were taller, more dependent on upright locomotion, and had larger brains, which allowed them to excel in tool use over any previous hominin. These hominins belong to the genus Homo and hominins in this genus are simply called humans.
The earliest human species was Homo Habilis . The first examples of this species appeared about 2.3 million years ago. They used simple flake tools which were made by taking rocks and striking sharp flakes off other rocks – which could be used as cutting tools. Homo Habilis was more technologically inclined than its hominin predecessors, but it was still closer to earlier and more ape-like hominins than modern humans.
Homo Habilis
The next earliest human species is Homo Erectus . The first H. Erectus evolved around 2 million years ago and the last of them did not die out until sometime within the last 100,000 years. Archaeological and paleontological evidence suggest that they may have been the first humans to use culture as a wholesale approach to adapt to their environment. They were more advanced tool users and were also much taller than previous hominins, about six feet (1.83 meters) tall. They were also the first humans to leave Africa. By 1 million years ago, H. Erectus had spread to both Europe and Asia, bringing humans for the first time to these regions.
Homo Erectus
The earliest humans were universally hunter-gatherers. Their use of technology to interact with their environment made them very adaptative – so that humans eventually found their way into every possible environment on the planet: forests, grasslands, deserts, even tundra.
For most of the Pleistocene, humans did not significantly impact their environment. There were no more than a few hundred thousand individuals at a given time and their ability to transform the landscape was limited by primitive technology and limited social organization.
This all changed with the emergence of Homo Sapiens (modern humans) in Africa and Homo Neandertalensis (Neanderthals) in Europe.
Neanderthal
Anatomically modern humans first evolved in Africa around 200,000-300,000 BP. After the emergence of anatomically modern humans, something happened, perhaps a rewiring of the human brain , that led to the emergence of modern behaviors like art, blade production, long distance trade, and more efficient, organized hunting, among other abilities.
This change in behavior caused humans to have a significantly larger influence on their environment than in previous times. This can be seen in the fate of most megafauna, especially in the New World. Megafauna extinctions occurred around 40,000-50,000 years ago in Australia and around 13,000 years ago in North America. Both occurred shortly after the appearance of humans on these continents.
…
Obviously, Homo Neandertalensis (Neanderthals) are unlikely to have mined ore, smelted it, studied how to create alloys, formed it into aircraft components, and machines it for use in aircraft.
Thus we have an OOPART worthy of investigation.
Homo Neandertalensis (Neanderthals) are unlikely to have manufactured this aluminum pawl object.
An investigation ensues
So of course, if you are part of a construction crew and you dig up some bones, and other odd objects you call the authorities. And if the bones or objects look old, you call in the experts from the local museum, college or university to have a look.
Thus the object was sent to the archeological institute of Cluj-Napoca.
After the investigation and study, the block was donated to the History Museum of Transylvania, to be rediscovered and analyzed many years later. (I cover that later on.) Its weight turned out to be 5 pounds, and its approximate measurements are 20 x 12.5 x 7 centimeters.
There are two holes of different sizes.
The object has two arms like features.
Traces of abrasion can be seen on the sides of the object and at its lowest point.
Dr. Niederkorn of the institute for the study of metals and non-metallic minerals located in Magurele, Romania, concluded that the object is comprised of a alloy of an extremely complex metal.
He was not exaggerating.
Twelve different elements combine to form the Aiud Object. It consists of: 89% aluminum, 6.2% copper, 2.84% silicon, 1.81% zinc, 0.41% lead, 0.33% tin, 0.2% zirconium, 0.11% cadmium, 0.0024% nickel, 0.0023% cobalt, 0.0003% bismuth, and trace of galium.
Furthermore, this strange object is covered with a thick layer of aluminum oxide, which lends credence to its antiquity.
"After the analysis of this aluminum oxide layer, "specialists" have confirmed that the object is a minimum of 300 to 400 years old."
But that’s a bullshit guess.
The generation of aluminum oxide depends on the environment and the particular alloy that is being used. Unless you have that exact alloy of aluminum and put it though accelerated life testing, in the environment in question, it is IMPOSSIBLE to determine the age of anything.
Accelerated life testing
Accelerated life testing? What is that?
Well, it’s a common enough and fundamental aspect of engineering product design, but unknown to most other people. it is a way of estimating the life of a product due to environmental concerns. It’s a pretty handy and mature method for determine the life of a given object, or going backwards, the age of an object.
So here’s some basic links for the interested explorer…
But what we really want to determine is the accelerated life test due to corrosion. In that case similar, but more specialized tests must be conducted…
Anacceleratedcorrosiontest is a cyclic climate test for determination of thecorrosionresistance of various types of coatings. In an acceleratedcorrosiontest, corrosion, corrosiontest, corrosion, degradation or failure of materials and products are inducedwithoutchangeincorrosion mechanism (s) in a shorter time period than under normal conditions.
-What is an Accelerated Corrosion Test (ACT)? - Definition ...
www.corrosionpedia.com/definition/1503/accelerated-corrosion-test-act
Different alloys of aluminum oxidase differently. Some alloys are great for marine environments, while others are not that great, but have better strength characteristics. Further complicating the issue is the environment. Exposure to a dry environment is quite different from sitting with in a bog or sandy soil.
The ONLY way that you can accurately test for the oxidation characteristics of a new alloy is to perform extended life testing on a sample of the aluminum alloy within a simulated environment. Otherwise your estimates on aging through oxidation are all wrong.
The Aluminum Pawl. Note the two holes clearly shown.
.
Many people have things to say about this object and opinions on dating it.
No one is saying that the aluminum pawl is recent. Aside from making them look silly in the eyes of their contemporaries, it’s obvious that this chunk of metal is old. Really old. The level of corrosion on the object far exceeds any kind of contemporaneous aluminum corrosion. It’s just simply very extraordinary and unusual.
And because of this there are numerous statements being made…
The fact that this strange metal object was found alongside Mastadon bones does cause one to wonder and raises many issues.
And...
Other specialists claim that the object could be 20,000 years old because it was found in a layer with mastodon bone. Perhaps this particular specimen lived in the latter part of the Pleistocene.
And...
Some researchers suppose that this piece of metal was part of a flying object that had fallen into the river. They presume that it had an extraterrestrial origin. Other researchers believe the wedge was made here on Earth and its purpose has not yet been identified.
Ah…
Some have speculated that this object is part of an Aircraft
It looks like a badly corroded locking latch from the retraction mechanism of an aircraft’s undercarriage, but that can’t be….surely?
Can it?
The retraction mechanism of an aircraft’s undercarriage.
.
These mechanisms come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. But the closest thing to explain the operational features and functions of this aluminum pawl is the aircraft retraction mechanisms in contemporary aircraft.
I mean it’s more likely that this item was the part of some kind of landing gear mechanism than say a “frying pan”, a “pick axe”, a “railway train wheel”, a metal frame for a window”, a “water pipe” or an “anvil”.
Which makes one wonder what is one doing 2.5 million years ago, being used to break up the bones of a mastodon.
Primitive man would use stones and heavy objects to break open the bones of hunted animals to obtain the marrow inside of the bones.
.
Could it have ended up down amongst bones that were deposited thousands of years ago by chance? It just happened to fall off an aircraft, that just happened to be flying a few million years ago, and it just happened to fall into the remains of a dead mastodon.
I guess it could.
Anything is possible.
And while it is possible, it is not probable.
The simplest explanation is probably the closest to the truth.
Whilst it is likely that the philosophy was posthumously attributed to him, as it was based upon common medieval philosophy, it seems to be a result of his minimalist lifestyle.
Occam's razor is more commonly described as 'the simplest answer is most often correct,' although this is an oversimplification. The 'correct' interpretation is that entities should not be multiplied needlessly.Researchers should avoid 'stacking' information to prove a theory if a simpler explanation fits the observations.
Occam's razor is the process of paring down information to make finding the truth easier.In science, it is getting rid of all the assumptions that make no difference to the predictions of the hypothesis. If you have a few hypotheses that could explain an observation, it is usually best to start with the simplest one.-How Occam's Razor Works | HowStuffWorks
Or in other words, look for the simplest explanation, and then go from there. You add and include or discount and discard theories that fit or don’t fit the investigation that you are performing.
Landing gear.
Names on a landing gear
I call it a pawl. But who knows what it’s actual role was.
pawl. (pôl) n. A hinged or pivoted device adapted to fit into a notch of a ratchet wheel to impart forward motionor prevent backward motion. [Perhaps variantofpale or pole, or from French pal (from Old French; see pale1 ).]
-Pawl - definitionofpawlbyTheFreeDictionary
It’s actual use name would be better described differently.
The specific names used on the various elements of an aircraft landing gear mechanism.
.
Perhaps instead of a pawl, I could refer to it as a “drag strut to trunnion link walking beam“. Do you think that it would make things clearer?
Aiud in Romania
Ok, well let’s review where it was found. maybe some of you might want to hop on a plane and investigate for yourselves. You know, like Anonymous Jane did regarding the fuselage in The Fuselage embedded within the rocks of Victoria Falls.
If you do, I would be more than happy to post some of your pictures and info here. This is, after all, a collaborative effort.
Location of Romania. (This is for you Americans out there. The rest of the world pretty much knows where Romania is on a map.)
Map of Europe.
As far as where the town is, you need to look on a map. Here is a Romanian political map showing the location of Aiud. It is in the Alba (or Alba Lulia) state, which looks like a triangle.
A map of the various political regions of Romania.
And within this state we can find the location of Aiud in Romania.
A map of Alba, within Romania clearly showing the location of Aiud. “X” marks the spot.
Romania in the Miocene and the Pleistocene
Of course, a few thousand to a few million years ago Romania didn’t look like it does today. There was a lot of water there. With the Carpathian mountains creating a line of islands that interrupted a much larger Black Sea. If the dating was a million years ago, then we can say that the proto-humans who found and used this pawl were not all that far from the shorelines or feeding rivers to the Black Sea.
Palinspastic map for the Late Miocene with indication of palaeobiogeographic units (modified after Popov et al., 2004). Pannonian area emended after Magyar et al. (1999).
Outlines are drawn after palaeogeographic reconstructions or sediment distributions.
Faunas of freshwater systems fringing the Eastern Paratethys and the Italian 'Lago-mare' assemblage do not form a homogenous palaeogeographic entity. They are based on too many localities to be clearly indicated on the map. The Illyrian Region is only poorly supported by the analysis and represents the expiration of the Middle Miocene faunas of that region. Its incorporation into the present framework is only tentative.
Abbreviations: CPMCentral Peri-Mediterranean Dominion; NA-North Aegean Dominion; CA-Central Aegean Dominion; SAA-South Aegean-Anatolian Dominion; 1-Lower Tagus (w); 2-São Teotónio (l); 3-Duero (l); 4-Madrid (l); 5-Teruel (fl); 6-Baix Llobregat (b); 7-Alcalà de Xivert (u); 8-Cabriel (l); 9-Ayora (u); 10-Valencia (u); 11-Granada (l); 12-Spanish 'Lagomare' (b); 13-Palma (b); 14-Bresse-Valence (f); 15-Lower Rhône (m); 16-French 'Lago-mare' (b); 17-Torino hills (b); 18-Volterra (b); 19-Casino (b); 20-Velona (l); 21Cinigiano-Baccinello (l); 22-Sicilian 'Lago-mare' (b); 23-Bełchatów (l); 24-Turiec (l); 25-Pannon (b); 26-Dacia (b, l); 27-Kherson-Odessa region (b); 28-Black Sea depression (b); 29-Rioni Bay (b); 30-Kura Gulf (b); 31-Jazvina (l); 32-Kamengrad (l); 33-Posušje (l); 34-Sarajevo (l); 35-Kosovo (l); 36-Metohia (l); 37-Skopje (l); 38-Stanintsi (w); 39-Katerini (b); 40-Thessaloniki (b); 41-Strimon (b); 42-Limni (w); 43-Markopoulo (l); 44-Athens (l); 45-Gythio (b); 46-Kythira (b); 47-Naxos (u); 48-Heraklion (l); 49-Rhodos (l); 50-Kefalos (fl); 51-Kos (east) (l); 52-Mytilini (fl); 53-Denizli (b); 54-Cumaovası (l); 55-Dumlupınar-Siçanli (u); 56-Behramkale (u); 57-Marmara (f).
Environments are characterised as: b-brackish; f-fluviatile; fl-fluvio-lacustrine; l-lacustrine; m-marginal marine; w-wetlands; u-unknown.
History of Aluminum
This pawl is puzzling because pure aluminum was not readily obtainable until the middle of the 19th century.
Aluminum is not found freely in nature, but is combined with other minerals.
The manufacturing process requires 1,221°F (660.32°C) degrees of heat. Only in the last 100 years or so has the technology existed to successfully separate the materials from the mineral bearing ore.
For decades after it was first identified by British chemist Sir Humphry Davy in the early 1800s, scientists and tinkerers tried, and mostly failed, to find a good method for separating aluminum from everything else that stuck to it.
France’s Emperor Napoleon III was an early proponent of aluminum. He hoped the lightweight metal could be used to produce weapons and armor, giving his soldiers an edge in battle. The emperor funded the work of Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, who found a chemical method for obtaining pure aluminum, but it was still a slow process. An often repeated story goes that Napoleon III, frustrated with progress on aluminum, had much of France’s stock melted down and turned into cutlery. He and his honored guests used aluminum utensils, while everyone else at the imperial dinner table made do with gold.
In 1884, when the Washington Monument was completed, it was capped with a large casting of aluminum. The capping ceremony and the dedication of the monument “were given front-page publicity in the nation’s newspapers and the aluminum point or apex was creditably described,” according to a 1995 article published in the journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. “Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people who had never before even heard about aluminum now knew what it was.”
At the time, a pound of aluminum was worth $16 ($419 in today’s dollars).
Two years later, a commercially viable method for extracting aluminum from ore was discovered, and by 1889 the price had fallen to $2 per pound. Within 10 years of commercial refining, it plummeted to just 50 cents a pound.
The modern method of obtaining aluminum was discovered simultaneously by two young scientists working independently on different continents.
In 1886, two men, both 22 years of age — one working in Ohio and the other in northwestern France — developed the modern method for producing aluminum metal.
American Charles Martin Hall went to work after being inspired by a lecture at Oberlin College in which his chemistry professor pronounced that the discoverer of a practical way to produce aluminum “will bless humanity and make a fortune for himself.”
Frenchman Paul Héroult was working on the same problem.
At nearly the same time, the two men hit upon the same answer: electricity, and lots of it.
Still used today, this is how their method works: Alumina from bauxite is dissolved in another mineral, cryolite, at 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit. The molten mixture is poured into a specially designed vat, and vast amounts of electricity are passed through it. The process causes aluminum metal to condense at the bottom of the vat.
The two men fought over ownership of the process they developed to smelt aluminum from bauxite ore. Héroult filed for his patent six weeks before Hall, but the American was able to prove (thanks possibly to notes kept by his sister, Julia Brainerd Hall) that he had actually made the discovery a few weeks before his rival. Ultimately, the two men settled their dispute and became friends.
In 1888, Hall co-founded the Pittsburgh Reduction Co. to produce aluminum. The company later became the aluminum giant Alcoa. The following year, Héroult scaled up the process in France.
The two men died the same year, in 1914, both age 51.
The development of the Hall-Héroult process, as it came to be known, was a major milestone in the Industrial Revolution. But it has also carried an environmental cost: The electricity needed produces large quantities of greenhouse gases. Aluminum production alone is responsible for about 1% of global emissions, according to estimates.
The availability of aluminum at the turn of the 20th century spurred on the age of flight and the Space Age.
Uses for Aluminum
The strength and light weight of aluminum is perfect for aerospace applications.
Aluminum allows designers to build a plane that is as light as possible, can carry heavyloads, uses the least amount of fuel and is impervious to rust. In modern aircraftmanufacture, aluminum is used everywhere. The Concorde, which flew passengers atover twice the speed of sound for 27 years, was built with an aluminum skin.
-Historyof Aluminum in the Aerospace Industry | Metal Super…
27% of all aluminum consumed occurs in the transportation industry, according to Aluminum Leader. This chemical element in the boron group is characterized by a silver-white color and soft, ductile texture. While it’s used in many different applications, one of the most common is aerospace. In fact, aluminum is one of the most common materials used in the construction of airplanes. So, why is aluminum used for this purpose instead of steel or other materials?
Some of the first airliners weren’t made of metal, but instead were made of wood. Although cheap and readily available, wood has a serious flaw that made it hazardous in airplanes: it rotted. There was one instances in which a wooden airliner crashed, killing everyone on board. The cause of the crash was later found to be rotten wood. This prompted manufacturers to quickly phase out wood in favor of metal.
Aluminum is the perfect material to use when manufacturing airplanes, thanks in part to its unique properties and characteristics. It’s strong, lightweight, predictable and inexpensive. Steel and iron are both stronger than aluminum, but strength alone isn’t enough to justify its use in aerospace manufacturing. The problem with steel and iron is its weight. Both of these metals are much heavier than aluminum — and too much weigh restricts an airplane’s ability to takeoff and fly.
It’s estimated that up to 80% of the materials used in modern-day aircraft is aluminum. The Wright brothers used a steel engine in their early-model Flyer plane, which was not only heavy but lacked the power necessary for takeover. As a result, they acquired a special engine made of cast aluminum, which allowed their Flyer-1 to takeoff with ease.
There are several different types of aluminum used in aerospace engineering, some of which include the following:
Aluminum 2024
Aluminum 3003
Aluminum 5052
Aluminum 6061
Aluminum 7075
Note: the number refers to the aluminum’s “grade.”
Of course, aluminum isn’t the only metal used to manufacture airplanes. Carbon-alloy steel is often used for his application as well. When carbon is added to steel, it becomes stronger and more resistant to rust and corrosion. Titanium is another metal that’s commonly used in aerospace engineering. It’s strong, lightweight, and naturally resistant to corrosion. Some companies alloy titanium with iron or manganese to construct the frame and engines for airplanes. These use of these metals, however, is typically less than that of aluminum. Aluminum isn’t the strongest metal, but it maintains a perfect balance of strength and low weight that make it ideal for airplanes.
The metal used and subsequent study
The object was taken to the Archaeological Institute of Cluj-Napoca for metallographic analysis where it was discovered that it was made from a complex alloy consisting 12 different elements.
It was then taken to a laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, to verify its composition, showed that the artifact was constituted mostly by aluminum (89%), with the minor participation of 11 other metals in specific proportions.
The thick layer of oxide of a millimeter of thickness that covered of even form to the block helped to date the antiquity of this in about 400 years. However, the geological layer in which it was found (Pleistocene) suggests that it already existed some 20,000 years ago in the past.
Florin Gheorghita, had the opportunity to examine the report and the analysis carried out under the direction of Dr. Niederkorn of the Institute for the Study of Nonmetallic Metals and Minerals (ICPMMN), located in Magurele, Romania, stressed in that it is composed of an extremely complex metal alloy.
Gheorghita states that the alloy is composed of 12 different elements, of which the percentage of aluminum volume (89%) has also been established. It also identified the presence of copper (6.2%), silicon (2.84%), zinc (1.81%), lead (0.41%), Laguna (0.33%), zirconium (0, 2%), cadmium (0.11%), nickel (0.0024%), cobalt (0.0023%), bismuth (0.0003%), silver (0.0002%), and gallium (in trace amounts).
People! these are extremely odd material and unusual combinations to have in an aluminum alloy. To say that it is unique is putting it mildly. What kind of mad scientist thought up this combination?
As I have often stated previously, factories don’t just throw what ever alloy of aluminum together and use it. Like steel, copper, bronze and zinc there are specific alloys that are regulated world-wide and used for certain purposes. Thus, by comparing the alloy composition of this object with available alloys “on the books” we can identify many aspects of this object.
We can identify it’s function.
We can identify what nation made it.
We might even be able to identify what smelter factory made the billet.
Isn’t industrial forensics fascinating?
Aluminum-Copper Alloy
The first thing that we note is that it’s most important alloying element is copper.
And from from this we can help determine what the possible function of the pawl was.
Copper has been the most common alloying element almost since the beginning of the aluminum industry, and a variety of alloys in which copper is the major addition were developed.
Most of these alloys fall within one of the following groups:
Cast alloys with 5% Cu, often with small amounts of silicon and magnesium.
Cast alloys with 7-8% Cu, which often contain large amounts of iron and silicon and appreciable amounts of manganese, chromium, zinc, tin, etc.
Cast alloys with 10-14% Cu. These alloys may contain small amounts of magnesium (0.10-0.30% Mg), iron up to 1.5%, up to 5% Si and smaller amounts of nickel, manganese, chromium.
Wrought alloys with 5-6% Cuand often small amounts of manganese, silicon, cadmium, bismuth, tin, lithium, vanadium and zirconium. Alloys of this type containing lead, bismuth, and cadmium have superior machinability.
Durals, whose basic composition is 4-4.5% Cu, 0.5-1.5% Mg, 0.5-1.0% Mn, sometimes with silicon additions.
Copper alloys containing nickel, which can be subdivided in two groups: the Y alloy type, whose basic composition is 4% Cu, 2% Ni, 1.5% Mg; and the Hyduminiums, which usually have lower copper contents and in which iron replaces some of the nickel.
In most of the alloys in this group aluminum is the primary constituent and in the cast alloys the basic structure consists of cored dendrites of aluminum solid solution, with a variety of constituents at the grain boundaries or interdendritic spaces, forming a brittle, more or less continuous network of eutectics.
Wrought products consist of a matrix of aluminum solid solution with the other constituents dispersed within it. Constituents formed in the alloys can be divided in two groups: in the soluble ones are the constituents containing only one or more of copper, lithium, magnesium, silicon, zinc; in the insoluble ones are the constituents containing at least one of the more or less insoluble iron, manganese, nickel, etc.
The type of soluble constituents formed depends not only on the amount of soluble elements available but also on their ratio.
Available copper depends on the iron, manganese and nickel contents; the copper combined with them is not available.
Copper forms (CuFe)Al6 and Cu2FeAl7, with iron, (CuFeMn)Al6 and Cu2Mn3Al20 with manganese, Cu4NiAl, and several not too well known compounds with nickel and iron.
The amount of silicon available to some extent controls the copper compounds formed.
Silicon above 1% favors the FeSiAl5, over the iron-copper compounds and (CuFeMn)3Si2Al15, over the (CuFeMn)Al6 and Cu2Mn3Al20 compounds.
Similarly, but to a lesser extent, available silicon is affected by iron and manganese contents. With the Cu:Mg ratio below 2 and the Mg:Si ratio well above 1.7 the CuMg4Al6 compound is formed, especially if appreciable zinc is present. When Cu:Mg > 2 and Mg:Si > 1.7, CuMgAl2 is formed.
If the Mg:Si ratio is approximately 1.7, Mg2Si and CuAl2 are in equilibrium.
With the Mg:Si ratio 1 or less, Cu2Mg8Si6Al5, is formed, usually together with CuAl2.
When the copper exceeds 5%, commercial heat treatment cannot dissolve it and the network of eutectics does not break up. Thus, in the 10-15% Cu alloys there is little difference in structure between the as-cast and heat treated alloys.
Magnesium is usually combined with silicon and copper. Only if appreciable amounts of lead, bismuth or tin are present, Mg2Sn, Mg2Pb, Mg2Bi3 can be formed.
The effect of alloying elements on density and thermal expansion is additive; thus, densities range from 2 700 to 2 850 kg/m3, with the lower values for the high-magnesium, high-silicon and low-copper alloys, the higher for the high-copper, high-nickel, high-manganese and high-iron contents.
Many of the cast alloys and aluminum-copper-nickel alloys are used for high-temperature applications, where creep resistance is important. Resistance is the same whether the load is tensile or compressive.
Wear resistance is favored by high hardness and the presence of hard constituents. Alloys with 10-15% Cu or treated to maximum hardness have very high wear resistance.
Silicon increases the strength in cast alloys, mainly by increasing the castability and thus the soundness of the castings, but with some loss of ductility and fatigue resistance, especially when it changes the iron-bearing compounds from FeM2SiAl8 or Cu2FeAl7, to FeSiAl5.
Magnesium increases the strength and hardness of the alloys, but, especially in castings, with a decided decrease in ductility and impact resistance.
Iron has some beneficial strengthening effect, especially at high temperature and at the lower contents (< 0.7% Fe).
Nickel has a strengthening effect, similar to that of manganese, although more limited because it only acts to reduce the embrittling effect of iron. Manganese and nickel together decrease the room-temperature properties because they combine in aluminum-manganese-nickel compounds and reduce the beneficial effects of each other. The main effect of-nickel is the increase in high-temperature strength, fatigue and creep resistance.
Titanium is added as grain refiner and it is very effective in reducing the grain size. If this results in a better dispersion of insoluble constituents, porosity and nonmetallic inclusions, a decided improvement in mechanical properties results.
Lithium has an effect very similar to that of magnesium: it increases strength, especially after heat treatment and at high temperatures, and there is a corresponding decrease in ductility. Zinc increases the strength but reduces ductility.
Hiduminium
The Hiduminium alloys or R.R. alloys are a series of high-strength, high-temperature aluminium alloys, developed for aircraft use by Rolls-Royce (“RR”) before World War II.
The name Hi–Du-Minium is derived from that of High Duty Aluminium Alloys.
In 1934 the Reynolds Tube Co. began production of extruded structural components for airframes, using R.R.56 alloy supplied by High Duty Alloys.
A new purpose-built plant was constructed at their works in Tyseley, Birmingham.
In time, the post-war Reynolds company, already known for its steel bicycle frame tubes, would attempt to survive in the peacetime market by supplying Hiduminium alloy components for high-end aluminium bicycle cranks and brakes.
The Duralumin alloys had already demonstrated high-strength aluminium alloys. Y alloy‘s virtue was its ability to maintain high strength at high temperatures. R.R alloys were developed by Hall & Bradbury at Rolls-Royce, partly to simplify the manufacture of components using them. A deliberate heat treatment process of multiple steps was used to control their physical properties.
Hiduminium Alloy range
A range of alloys were produced in the R.R.50 range. These could be worked by casting or forging, but they were not intended for rolling as sheet or general machining from bar stock.
Low-creep forging alloy for rotating impellers and compressors
R.R. 59
Forged piston alloy
The number of alloys expanded to support a range of applications and processing techniques. At the Paris Airshow of 1953, High Duty Alloys showed no less than eight different Hiduminium R.R. alloys: 20, 50, 56, 58, 66, 77, 80, 90. Also shown were gas turbine compressor and turbine blades in Hiduminium, and a range of their products in the Magnuminium alloy series.
R.R.58, also Aluminum 2618, comprising 2.5 copper, 1.5 magnesium, 1.0 iron, 1.2 nickel, 0.2 silicon, 0.1 titanium and the remainder aluminum, and originally intended for jet engine compressor blades, was used as the main structural material for the Concorde airframe, supplied by High Duty Alloys, it was also known as AU2GN to the French side of the project.
Later alloys, such as R.R.66, were used for sheet, where high strength was needed in an alloy capable of being worked by deep drawing. This became increasingly important with the faster jet aircraft post-war, as issues such as transonic compressibility became important. It was now necessary for an aircraft’s covering material to be strong, not merely the spar or framing beneath.
R.R.350, a sand-castable high temperature alloy, was used
In terms of composition, Y alloy typically contains 4% of copper and 2% of nickel. R.R. alloys reduce each of these by half to 2% and 1%, and 1% of iron is introduced.
So in comparison with the Pawl, we see that it’s composition in not a Y-alloy in the Hiduminium alloy family. The material used in the Pawl is an “aircraft structural grade aluminum alloy“, but it is not in common use as far as I can determine.
The copper percentage used, and the other alloying elements tells us that the material selection of this part migrated towards the need for ease of machining and finishing. And a look at the complex shape of this part, with curved, and convex surfaces, reinforces this conclusion. This part was cast, and then machined to exacting tolerances to match it’s complex geometry.
This particular grade of material is designed for high temperature applications. And since it is designed to pivot inside a mechanical mechanism, it appears that it is associated with either an engine component or landing gear.
So at least we know what it is not. It is not a hammer or utility part from a tractor. These parts tend to be made out of steel, or iron.
And we know what it is; it is a part used in an aircraft. It’s unique and complex geometry tells us that this was a structural component that fit within a mechanism with other precision parts. The presence of a machined hole tells us that there was a pivoting function of this item, and the presence of the second hone on the concave surface indicates that it mated with another part in some kind of sub-assembly geometry.
Abrasions on the surface
In 1995, a Romanian researcher, Florian Gheorghita, came across the artifact in the basement of the History Museum of Transylvania. The wedge was tested once more. This time in two different laboratories: the Archaeological Institute of Cluj-Napoca and an independent Swiss laboratory.
The tests confirmed the results reached by Fischinger and Niederkorn.
Gheorghita wrote in the Ancient Skies publication where he asked an aeronautical engineer about the artifact’s studies.
The engineer pointed out the configuration and hole drilled in the wedge and claimed that a pattern of abrasions and scratches on the metal led him to believe that it was part of an airplane landing gear.
For the Statists
Since this pawl is evidently an aircraft part, and the use of aluminum in aircraft began in the 1930’s, it is possible that this is part of a contemporaneous aircraft strut that somehow found it’s way to Romania over the years.
And somehow, it aged unusually rapidly, with surface corrosion of a substantial amount to a substantial degree by sandy soil.
And the design of the strut was somehow very elaborate and unusual for the aircraft pointing to some kind of advanced experimental design, for after all it wasn’t until the 1990’s that custom aluminum forgings of complex curved geometry started to find it’s way into mass production.
And it was truly a coincidence that it wound up in a batch of mastodon bones.
You can believe this narrative if it makes you feel better.
Conclusion
If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck and tastes like a duck… it’s a duck. The only thing is that the particular species of a duck is new and unknown.
A machine, probably an aircraft, lost a part of it’s retractable landing gear around one million years ago near the Black Sea. The local proto-humanoids at that time, probably a species similar to Homo Habilis found the part and decided that it made a great hand tool. They used it to smash open the bones of the mastodons that they hunted at the time, and in the excitement of eating and engorging themselves forgot about the item and left it with the carcass.
Then, sometime in the 1970’s, the remains of the meal with the aluminum pawl was unearthed together during the construction of a road.
Who flew the aircraft, or what it was doing when it lost it’s part is unknown.
I do not know if it was “little green men”, articulated mastodons, or an unknown species of proto-humans who manufactured this part. What we do know is that they knew their metallurgy, they were able to design, and machine adeptly, and had the ability to fly in aircraft that encountered high temperature extremes.
Do you want more?
I have more posts like this in my OOPART Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
I am sorry that I have been a little slow in releasing these particular kinds of articles, but you know it isn’t everyday where you are located in the middle of ground-zero for World War III. So I’ve been a little side-tracked, don’t you know.
Anyways…
Anyways, as far as this particular MAJestic post is concerned, please keep in mind the limitations that I have regarding the dissemination of information.
While I just cannot divulge any secrets, some of what I CAN discharge has to do with things that are not of a technical interest. Such as history, culture, society, and "the bigger picture".
My role (as was Sebastian's) enabled us some very exclusive access to "understandings".
Nothing that was really of a functional interest to MAJestic specifically. Just general odds and ends and curiosities. And one of these "tidbits" is how our planet in our solar system became populated with life.
This kind of information is not “secret”, “confidential” or “restricted”. It is considered to be an unimportant curiosity that does not matter in the grand scheme of things.
And this is the subject for today. It is a little history lesson.
We are going to talk about what the earth was like when the first organisms started to grow upon the earth. As well as the kinds of attention that this evolutionary process generated in the civilizations that were present at the time (elsewhere in the galaxy).
Ah. You all know that I have a particular interest in history, don’t you?
What I am going to present here is a mix of [1] what I have been exposed to, and I place it all [2] in context to what our present scientists (“experts”) believe. Combined, the two points of view can give the interested reader some real valuable insight into this rarer bit of obscure knowledge about the earth’s history. I also mention [3] some elements of life within the physical that many humans are unaware of, perhaps being alien to the Newtonian understanding of physics.
We are going to talk about about the Ediacaran Period.
This was a long, long, LONG time ago. Around 630 million years ago. Just about the time when the solar system was starting to become interesting to other species within our galaxy.
In comparison, the human species is only around 400,000 years old, and of that most of the time we were all very primitive. In fact the written history is only around 5,000 years old. We are very youthful. Here we talk about the time long before dinosaurs, flies, insects, fishes and trees. We are talking about the time when there wasn't a moon.
That is correct. 630,000,000 years ago the Earth had no moon.
I cover this subject elsewhere.
The earliest extraterrestrial humanoid (Physically-animated bipedal entities that utilize technology to visit the Earth) visitation known (to me personally) to our solar system occurred during the Ediacaran period (630 million years ago).
FYI: This is not “official” MAJestic knowledge. (This information is tangential to our roles and are personal observations that were debriefed, but not relative to our mission parameters. ) In general it is considered to be extemporaneous, non-mission critical information.
The base age of approximately 635 million years ago is based on the U-Pb (uranium-lead) isochron dating method.
Here, strata from Namibia and China was dated using this method.
There is a more or less active debate on the dating methodology regarding this time period. In any event it is far above my head and rather esoteric for my tastes.
The dating method I place here is approximate and based upon our limited understanding of the Earth at this time.
This was a long, long, very long time ago. The reader must understand that fact. Typically when humans think of the past, we tend to think in terms of thousands of years. Officially, civilization is supposed to be less than 10,000 years old.
Civilization, in this meaning, loosely refers to the creation of stable and moderate sized agrarian communities which may or may not have a written language.
But, this particular period of time is far, far older than that.
In fact, it is not 100x older. It is not 1000x older. It is 63,000 times older than what we consider to be the start of bipedal human civilization. It is so long ago as to be incomprehensible.
Please kindly refer to my notes (within the MAJestic Index) and my thoughts on the human ability to understand large swaths of time.
During this time, there were no evolved humanoids or proto-humans on the planet. The life on the earth was quite primitive.
Therefore, any and all the visitations were made by extraterrestrials. These creatures came and visited the earth and left. No one stayed for long. I would consider these visits and excursions to be survey expeditions made by long-extinct space-faring extraterrestrial species.
They had many forms.
The dominant physical form (by a “long shot”) that we, as humans, would recognize was the early variations of bipedal proto-humanoid extraterrestrials.
During this huge swath of time, the Earth was visited at various times by numerous species.
This period of time lasted for 94 million years, and began in the distant past around 630 million years ago. A lot of things can happen in 94 million years.
Again, the reader is reminded that this particular period of time contains 94 million years. That is an amazingly long expanse of time.
Indeed space-faring species developed, thrived and evolved past their physical forms many times during this period.
Obviously, this implies that there were space-faring, extraterrestrial races at this distant point in time so long ago. (None of which originated on the earth. They only visited it.)
During this period some would visit our solar system for various purposes and they would stay for varying lengths of time. All of these visitation(s) were short lived affairs.
Any settlements were temporary and used for scientific study and other short duration activities.
The visits were, of course, by extraterrestrial species of various points of origin, as there was absolutely just the very beginnings of higher order life on the world at this time.
Our solar system
The reader must understand that at this time the Earth was a bare and desolate place. The land was barren rock, and mountains. Sure there was mater and ice on the land masses, and perhaps microbes. But no significant life on the land surfaces. The only life was in the seas.
Our solar system was mostly free of the huge dust disks and debris field of the earlier 3 billion years.
Our star had matured during that time and became much more stable.
But stability is a relative thing; the earth was no longer entirely molten. Indeed, the surface of the earth was cooling and a thick gaseous envelope of various dusty gasses surrounded it.
Outside the Earth, the other rocky planets were also beginning to cool down and life was just beginning to form in the most unlikely of places. This included the smoggy Mars, and Venus, as well as numerous moons of Jupiter (because Jupiter was much closer to the Sun then as it is today).
At this point in time, the earth was just beginning to stabilize enough to maintain ambulatory life.
Previous to this time, it was a hot and desolate place (prior to the Sturtian period around 710 Ma).
Then it began to cool down.
During the early Neoproterozoic (around 850 Ma to 740 Ma) it cooled down sufficiently for early life in the earliest forms to evolve.
There was a pause or “burp” in evolution during the Sturtian glaciation around 710 to 735 Ma, and then a resumed period of growth during the Cryogenian period.
This again was put on hold during the Marinoan glaciation that finally ended around 635 Ma.
It was the Ediacaran period at around the end of the Marinoan glaciation where things started to evolve into life that we understand it to be; significant.
Around the Vendian period (approximately 570 Ma), the first classes and orders of identifiable creatures became recognizable in the fossil records.
Mars, and Venus looked quite different than they do now. The atmospheres were different. The pressures and temperatures were different. Their orbits, and orbitalinclinationtotheecliptic were different as well.
The earth had no moon, and our orbital inclination was different.
I do not know if there was another planet in orbit around the sun that eventually formed the asteroid belt. My personal belief that there wasn’t a planet, and what we see as asteroids are but the remnants of the solar system “frost zone”. Not of a planet that broke up sometime int he distant past.
Jupiter was larger. It was hotter, and it was closer to the sun than it is now.
A number of it’s moons had atmospheres, and there was actually some (short lived) periods of liquid water on key moons.
All the other gas giants, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus also migrated outwards, but their physical changes were not as radical as for Jupiter.
Our Planet
Our earth was indeed a desolate place; however it was not without its charms.
It was marginally habitable, but showed great promise to those races with a long term view point.
Our planet consisted of mostly exposed and harsh rocks and water in a harsh nearly lifeless world. It was, of course, shrouded in toxic gasses under high temperature and pressure. But even in this environment, life spawned. During this time on the Earth we saw the continued emergence of simple organisms and simple creatures.
This time is considered the Neo-proterozoic era.
While nothing really existed on land, most life lived in the (emerging) waters of the earth and along the rocky shorelines. Here is where we have found the first good fossils of the first multi-celled animals on the Earth.
These (over the last few hundred years) were discovered and obtained, and that is how we now know that this was a period of the first native biological life on the earth.
Atmosphere
The world (at that time) was not only bare (consisting of broken rocky surfaces and coarse sand and gravels), but the atmosphere was pretty rank.
While there was an oxygen atmosphere, it was then only 40% of what consider normal today.
Instead the climate was dominated by (poisonous to humans) carbon dioxide and at a level fully sixteen times that of today. It was a time of thunderous storms, damp and dank weather and bleak, harsh rocky surroundings.
Yet, with all that being true, the world was still (considered) marginally habitable for bipedal humanoids. Bipedal humanoids would of needed oxygen masks, protective clothing, and solid reliable shoes to walk about on the planet.
Of course there was be dust and dirt, but it tended to have a granular appearance. The air, while rank, was breathable with filters and oxygen supplements.
The atmospheric pressure was tolerable but outside of what was considered normal for conventional humans.
The temperature varied by location, but for the most part was in the range considered to be marginally acceptable.
There was liquid water (over a large section of the globe); stable land forms, and a total lack of competing contentious native life forms. The earth at that time was a potential oasis that would be viewed as having great future promise by any extraterrestrial who would visit it.
Those species who visited it left their marks in various ways. Some of which eventually spawned higher order organisms unintentionally through careless behavior.
Which makes you wonder... "exactly what kinds of careless behaviors were involved?"
Native Life
It was during this time that the (so called) Ediacaran biota flourished.
Ediacaran biota.
The Ediacaran biota are the somewhat puzzling fauna of the Ediacaran period.
This geological period was from 635–542 million years ago (mya), but the fossil biota was only from 575–542 mya.
This was after a series of ice ages and just before the Cambrian period.
The biota consists of soft-bodied multicellular organisms, probably animals, which left trace fossils in rocks of Ediacaran age.
The biota is quite unusual, and there is no sign of it in the preceding Marinoan glaciation.
The biota appears to suffer a fairly severe extinction event at the boundary with the Cambrian.
Some of the biota may have survived into the early Cambrian.
Then the world consisted of very large and shallow seas.
These shallow seas permitted the growth of various simple organisms.
Simple trace fossils of possible worm-like creatures; known as the Trichophycus became common, as well as the very first sponges and trilobitomorphs (the early ancestors of trilobites).
The creatures of the earth at this time were simple in design and structure.
Throughout the history of the Earth from Cambrian to the present day, soft-bodied creatures are notorious for dying without a trace. The lack of tough structures leave them exposed to waves, winds, and scavengers, causing many of them to completely dissolve after death.
They were the earliest naturally evolving creatures of the earth and consisted of very simple proto-fungi and very simple proto-creatures.
At this time there were no insects, birds, or even flowers. The earth was a land of proto-fungi and small simple creatures.
The reader should consider the land at this time to be rather bare and rocky, with the earliest fungi and simple creatures clustering around the shorelines.
The most significant life form; non-ambulatory, was the various Stromatolite colonies that persisted throughout the planet in the shallow seas. These colonies looked like hard rounded sponge rocks and boulders.
Stromatolite colonies
These colonies grew close to the land and grew in great numbers due to the favorability of the local climate at that time. Some grew to enormous size. Truly, some were so enormous in size that they resembled low submerged islands.
The reader should consider this time to a period of all sorts of boneless ambulatory aquatic creatures such as jellyfish, and sea slugs.
Indeed, may I indulge in a little creative fantasy and suggest that the sea slugs became quite diverse and colorful. Imagine a world inhabited by such creatures. Creatures such as;
Hypselodoris kanga
Acanthodoris pylosa
Cyerce nigricans
Elysia crispata(’Lettuce sea slug’)
Flabellina iodinea
Costasiella kuroshimae(’Sea sheep’)
Glaucus atlanticus(’Blue angel’)
Phyllodesmium poindimiei
Dirona albolineata
Hexabranchus sanguineus(’Spanish dancer’)
I suggest the reader to look up these wondrous creatures and watch a video or GIF of their behavior. For indeed creatures similar to the aforementioned dominated the globe at that time.
Trilobite anatomy.
It was during this period that proto-trilobites came into existence.
We have scant knowledge of these creatures because they were soft shelled, and thus unable to be fossilized.
We can, however, surmise that they appeared similar to that of their later offspring; the trilobites, only with a far simpler biology and soft shell and cellular makeup.
Trilobites were among the early arthropods, a phylum of hard-shelled creatures with multiple body segments and jointed legs (although the legs, antennae and other finer structures of trilobites only rarely are preserved).
They constitute an extinct class of arthropods, the Trilobita, made up of ten orders, over 150 families, about 5,000 genera, and over 20,000 described species.
New species of trilobites are unearthed and described every year.
This makes trilobites the single most diverse class of extinct organisms, and within the generalized body plan of trilobites there was a great deal of diversity of size and form.
The smallest known trilobite species is under a millimeter long, while the largest include species from 30 to over 70 cm in length (roughly a foot to over two feet long!).
With such a diversity of species and sizes, speculations on the ecology of trilobites includes planktonic, swimming, and crawling forms, and we can presume they filled a varied set of trophic (feeding) niches, although perhaps mostly as detritivores, predators, or scavengers.
Consider where they lived…
Ediacara (formerly Vendian) biota.
The Ediacara (formerly Vendian) biota are ancient life-forms of the Ediacaran Period, which represent the earliest known complex multicellular organisms.
They appeared soon after the Earth thawed from the Cryogenian period’s extensive glaciers, and largely disappeared soon before the rapid appearance of biodiversity known as the Cambrian explosion.
This period saw the first appearance in the fossil record of the basic patterns and body-plans that would go on to form the basis of modern animals.
Little of the diversity of the Ediacara biota would be incorporated in this new scheme, with a distinct Cambrian biota arising and usurping the organisms that dominated the Ediacaran fossil record.
What was life like 560 million years ago?
Bacteria and green algae were common in the seas, as were the enigmatic acritarchs, planktonic single-celled algae of uncertain affinity.
But the Ediacaran also marks the first appearance of a group of large fossils collectively known as the "Ediacara biota."
The question of what these fossils are is still not settled to everyone's satisfaction; at various times they have been considered algae, lichens, giant protozoans, or even a separate kingdom of life unrelated to anything living today.
Some of these fossils are simple blobs that are hard to interpret and could represent almost anything.
Some are most like cnidarians, worms, or soft-bodied relatives of the arthropods.
Others are less easy to interpret and may belong to extinct phyla.
But besides the fossils of soft bodies, Ediacaran rocks contain trace fossils, probably made by wormlike animals slithering over mud.
The Ediacaran rocks thus give us a good look at the first animals to live on Earth.
Of course, there weren’t any naturally evolved humanoids at this time. Nor were there any animals, rodents, flies or insects.
For the most part, any life that was on the earth existed solely within (or near) the water.
It was an aquatic world.
For all practical purposes, the Earth consisted of land masses consisting of bare rocks, sand, dank clouds and waters of various salinity (some areas were alkaline, while others were rich in various salts).
Kimberella resembled a slug and has often been found near marks that resemble the feeding traces of more modern slugs and snails. Despite its seemingly simple body plan, Kimberella differed enough from the rest of the organisms living alongside it. This indicates that around 555 million years ago, 14 million years before the beginning of the Cambrian, life had started to evolve into various shapes and lifestyles.
Yet, even though there weren’t any significant large mammals around, we did see other kinds of life. Here we saw an emergence of the first native life forms.
Jellyfish World
This period is marked, or the ultimate creation of, a sudden climatic change at the end of the Marinoan ice age.
Here, the temperature started to warm up and huge swaths of glaciers and frozen areas disappeared, and large pools of warm water and regions of comparative stability appeared.
While we have the earliest fossils on record from this geological time period, it is believed that many soft skinned creatures roamed the seas. I like to think of this time period as the age of the jellyfish.
Given the environment and the nature of life, it seems probably that huge groups of various types of jellyfish evolved and swam in the seas of this early earth. And possibly, quite possibly, some of those soft bodied creatures grew to enormous size.
For after all, they were the dominant life forms at that time.
One notable fossil is the Pteridinium. Almost like Charnia, this animal was superficially feather-like with an anchor tethering it to the seafloor. What sets it apart from Charnia is how the lobes across its body are positioned. Unlike most animals today whose bodies can be divided into roughly symmetrical left side and right sides, Pteridinium sprouted its “leaflets” in three different directions. As quirky as it seems, the three-fold symmetry is not unique to Pteridinium and its close relatives. One group of small, rounded animals that resemble sea urchins called Trilobozoa somehow developed the same symmetry. One member of this group called Tribrachidium put a literal twist to this body plan, growing three arm-like structures spiraling out from the center of its body.
The reader should think of images of jellyfish, piles, globs and puddles of organic mobile goo. They should envision that these globs formed families or colonies of creatures and often conjugated together in the warm shallow seas.
Over time, the size and diversity of these groups changed.
However, any visitor to the planet would have been astounded by the great numbers of living organic masses that apparently thrived in the seas at that time.
The Ediacaran period was a time of flourishing soft skin and soft shelled life. The seas were alive with lichen and other forms of simple marine life.
Jellyfish are more or less common today.
They have evolved to fulfill their proper environmental niche in the world and have honed their survival instincts into great diversity of forms and creatures.
At this time, however, the jellyfish were of a simpler design.
They were more benign and less adaptable to change.
Many life forms, and species developed, found a particular environmental niche and then died off.
We do not know what any of them looked like, but we can certainly make our own summations.
There is no doubt in my mind that soft-skinned marine life grew to enormous sizes during this time.
I further believe that there were many such variations of these creatures, which should be considered to be the precursors of jellyfishes and other evolutionary “dead ends”.
This is a picture of a huge jellyfish with a diver next to it for comparative purposes. Obviously there were no humans on the planet at this time. I place it here for a comparative aspect in that native life, especially the dominant native life at that time, can and did grow to enormous size.
Perhaps even the size of a whale or larger!
I am confident that these first jellyfishes or similar soft-shelled creatures were genetically primitive, but I am also confident that they were able to specialize and fill various niches in the ecosystem naturally.
In fact, it is highly possible that these creatures could grow to amazing sizes. Though we do not really know for sure.
In any event, the Ediacara biota bear little resemblance to modern life forms. Any soft skinned creatures would be unrecognizable to most humans today.
What the earth looked like at that time.
The Earth 630,000,000 years ago was a very different place. Not only were the contents of different shapes than what we see today, but the weather and climate were also completely different as well.
The earth had poles at a different location and the axis of rotation relative to the obliquity of the ecliptic was completely different to what we know it to be today.
It was an ocean world populated with soft-skinned native life, and very few land based forms.
Yet this world held promise.
Visitors to our solar system would find that the earth not only held a moderately acceptable environment, but also the planet Mars would appear marginally interesting as well. Mars had a thicker atmosphere, and while the once present oceans were long; long gone there would of still been slight evidence of glaciers and other frozen remnants that would of made visiting this solar system of great interest to extraterrestrial explorers.
Rheotaxis in the Garden of the Ediacaran
The “Garden of the Ediacaran” was a period in the ancient past when Earth’s shallow seas were populated with a bewildering variety of enigmatic, soft-bodied creatures.
Scientists traditionally have pictured it as a tranquil, almost idyllic interlude that lasted from 635 to 540 million years ago. But new interdisciplinary studies suggests that the organisms living at the time may have been much more dynamic than experts have thought.
An international team of researchers from Canada, the UK and the USA, including Dr Imran Rahman from the University of Bristol, UK studied fossils of an extinct organism called Tribrachidium, which lived in the oceans some 555 million years ago. Using a computer modelling approach called computational fluid dynamics, they were able to show that Tribrachidium fed by collecting particles suspended in water. This is called suspension feeding and it had not previously been documented in organisms from this period of time.
Tribrachidium lived during a period of time called the Ediacaran, which ranged from 635 million to 541 million years ago. This period was characterised by a variety of large, complex organisms, most of which are difficult to link to any modern species. It was previously thought that these organisms formed simple ecosystems characterised by only a few feeding modes, but the new study suggests they were capable of more types of feeding than previously appreciated.
Dr Simon Darroch, an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University, said:
"For many years, scientists have assumed that Earth's oldest complex organisms, which lived over half a billion years ago, fed in only one or two different ways. Our study has shown this to be untrue, Tribrachidium and perhaps other species were capable of suspension feeding. This demonstrates that, contrary to our expectations, some of the first ecosystems were actually quite complex."
Read more at; https://phys.org/news/2015-11-earth-ecosystems-complex-previously-thought.html More information: 'Suspension feeding in the enigmatic Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium demonstrates complexity of Neoproterozoic ecosystems' by Imran A. Rahman, Simon A. F. Darroch, Rachel A. Racicot and Marc Laflamme in Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500800
Scientists have found It extremely difficult to fit these Precambrian species into the tree of life. That is because they lived in a time before organisms developed the ability to make shells or bones. As a result, they didn’t leave much fossil evidence of their existence behind, and even less evidence that they moved around.
So, experts have generally concluded that virtually all of the Ediacarans—with the possible exception of a few organisms similar to jellyfish that floated about—were stationary and lived out their adult lives fixed in one place on the sea floor.
The new findings concern one of the most enigmatic of the Ediacaran genera, a penny-sized organism called Parvancorina, which ischaracterized by a series of ridges on its back that form the shape of a tiny anchor.
By analyzing the way in which water flows around Parvancorina’s body, an international team of researchers has concluded that these ancient creatures must have been mobile: specifically, they must have had the ability to orient themselves to face into the current flowing around them.
That would make them the oldest species known to possess this capability, which scientists call rheotaxis.
"Our analysis shows that the amount of drag produced with the current flowing from front to back is substantially less than that flowing from side to side," said Simon Darroch, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at Vanderbilt University, who headed the study. "In the strong currents characteristic of shallow ocean environments, that means Parvancorina would have benefited greatly from adjusting its position to face the direction of the flow."
The analysis, which used a technique borrowed from engineering called computational fluid dynamics (CFD), also showed that when Parvancorina faced into the current, its shape created eddy currents that were directed to several specific locations on its body.
"This would be very beneficial to Parvancorina if it was a suspension feeder as we suspect because it would have concentrated the suspended organic material making it easier to consume,"
-Darroch
More information: Simon A. F. Darroch et al, Inference of facultative mobility in the enigmatic Ediacaran organism, Biology Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0033 Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-05-life-precambrian-livelier-previously-thought.html#jCp
The absence of fast-moving animals allowed microbes to colonize the surface of the ocean floor, then create a layer of secretion wherever they grow. Such a sticky layer allowed the sediment to stabilize and acted as a mold when the animals died on top of them. This age was the Time of the Slime, where the ocean floor was filled with sticky substances. Such a slow-paced life, combined with the lack of predators, is a feature unique to this period. As a nod to the biblical Garden of Eden, some people have referred to this peaceful early Earth as the Garden of Ediacara.
Extraterrestrial Occupation
Now I am going to discuss extraterrestrial species and how they interacted with the earth at this time.
Let it be known that the present species that MAJestic interacts with did not exist at that time.
Here we are discussing (mostly) long extinct species that are known to the extraterrestrial species that we interact with today.
But of which they are themselves unfamiliar with them in any degree of detail that they specifically and selectively choose not to communicate with me about. I cannot say much more than that. Cannot.
At this time, the universe was already mature.
So even though our solar system was still rather youthful, the rest of the universe was quite old.
In fact, the universe was already 11 billion years old when the Ediacaran period began.
What this means is that there were entire life cycles of stars that were born, grew into maturity, and died well before our solar system was even formed.
In fact, there is evidence, from the spectral composition of our sun, that at least four generations of previous stars came before our solar system was berthed. This means that it completely realistic to expect the presence of extremely advanced galactic-wide extraterrestrial civilizations with interstellar transport technology in our region of space.
At this time, there was still consternation regarding specific pockets of unorganized quanta that had naturally formed into non-approved quantum soul archetypes.
But none of that really was a concern to our physical world at that time.
The quanta that surrounding the planet was just beginning to formulate into discrete packets; while some might argue otherwise, and the entire region was open for physical extraterrestrial exploration.
(It had been explored much earlier by discarnate soul orders, but that is not our concern at this time.)
+ + +
The Ediacaran period saw the presence of the very first humanoid extraterrestrial bases on the earth.
These facilities were short duration affairs. Mostly used for scientific inquiry. To imagine what these facilities were like, one should consider what the current human research stations look like in Antarctica.
Scout. Scan. Visit. Sample. Leave.
I am quite confident that the extraterrestrial bases were very similar to those facilities in both form and function.
Essentially,we should realistically consider the base facilities at this time and place to be similar to that consisting of a small cluster of habitats around a secured landing area for the associative vehicles.
None of the bases or communities during this entire huge swath of time (during the Ediacaran period) were ever very large.
Typically, the species operated out of their spacecraft, which at that time, tended to be (comparatively) huge. (Not all, and not the “critical” visits. Just the ones that made the greatest disruption in the quantum envelope that is recorded.) They would then send excursions to the surface and form “base camps” which typically tended to consist of rudimentary structures and facilities.
Typically planetary excursions were very; very short lived affairs. Often lasting less than one month in duration.
Although there were a number which lasted for much longer; perhaps as long as two years in duration. However, in all cases, they could just be considered to be scientific excursions, which were there for the purposes of scientific investigation and inquiry.
For some reason, I have always assumed that these visits required large spacecraft with interstellar propulsive capability. However, I do not know if this was the case for every species. Indeed, for the multi-dimensional and higher order species, they might have utilized other methods that are far beyond our level of understanding at this time.
Typically, one might expect (or more accurately, assume) the base facilities to lie close to the equator for reasons of avoiding the gravity sink of the earth. Nevertheless, when one studies the map of the Earth at that time, one can clearly see a problem with the base placement.
It is my arrogant assumption that the extraterrestrial entities needed to land or walk on dry land, and that they would see ocean landings a barrier.
All of this is assumptive on my part.
The reader should be made aware that the poles (North and South) as well as the equator as determined by conventional historical cartographers are typically incorrectly placed.
The axis of rotation and the tilt of the earth at this time was wholly different than what it is today.
The current maps relative to this time has to be adjusted to take this into account. I hope that I was able to rectify this discrepancy in the maps that I presented here.
There weren’t too many dry land locations near the equator at this time.
That severely limited the location of the bases of operation around a water world swimming full of proto-jellyfish like creatures. In any event, none were involved in any type of colonization or industrial facilities.
That I am aware of.
It is entirely possible that contamination of the native ecosystem by extraterrestrial races contributed to the emergence of life on the Earth at this time.
Contamination refers to any extraterrestrial influence on the biology of the earth ecosystem at that time.
We can be assured that there was some degree of contamination.
There always is.
This is both physical, spiritual and in all ways quantum. But, no one knows for sure the impact it had, if any.
Nothing (physical) remains of whatever visitors occupied the earth at this time.
However, there is the remote possibility that the Baigong pipes in China might be the remains of what once was some kind of industrial facility of some type.
The Baigong Pipes are a series of pipe-like features found on and near Mount Baigong, about 40 km southwest of the city of Delingha, in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China.
Associated with these pipe-like features are "rusty scraps" and "strangely shaped stones".
Analysis of the "rusty scraps" by Liu Shaolin at a "local smeltery" reportedly found that they consist of 30 percent ferric oxide and large amounts of silicon dioxide and calcium oxide.
This is what one would expect of fossilized rust buried in sandy soil.
The state run newspaper People's Daily reported on a 2007 investigation where a research fellow from the Chinese Earthquake Administration reported they had found some of the pipes to be highly radioactive.
Skeptics claim that this is a natural formation (of course they would).
According to any measure of anthropological science, there was no way that naturally evolved tool-making bipedal humanoids could of evolved at this time.
In any event, any remains of artificial constructions from this distant past would be altered beyond appearance and would have alternative material constructions.
For a conventional explanation of what this site is please visit; http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4181.
It has a moderately reasonable conventional explanation for the observed formations. Yet, I must specifically stress to the reader that time and geologic pressures alter the appearance and shape of things..
This site could just as well be a natural site as it could be the remains of a very ancient construction. The reader needs to pursue life with an open mind and consider both possibilities.
The only evidence remaining for (supplemented) human observation are the tell-tale quantum level signatures of early visitations in the (local regional) quantum cloud.
In our universe, every time one quantum particle interacts with another one, even if it is just a thought, it leaves a “mark” for all eternity.
Those with the proper tools can read and understand these marks.
And thus have the ability to observe the past as it transpired, in real time.
We know of a number of extremely advanced races that can do this.
But as far as humans are concerned, only our quantum soul bodies have this ability. (Even at that, it is rudimentary.)
Our physical bodies are wholly unable to access these records. Instead, we must utilize the assistance of other, more advanced physical races.
Unfortunately, we as humans, do not possess the ability to read and interpret these signatures.
We only know what is told to us by those whom have this ability.
What they tell us is quite simplistic.
They tell us that the planet was visited and explored by humanoid bipedal entities at this time. We also know that they traveled through various methods, not limited to physical transport. Indeed dimensional transport seemed to be the most common method.
Their past, history, appearance, and other traits that we might find interesting are shrouded in the mists of time.
That includes what happened to the various species whom visited this planet and where they are today.
This is the full extent of what I know about this time.
Summary
Around 650 million years ago, the first extraterrestrial life set foot on the earth and investigated it. Over time there were numerous subsequent visits. During some of these visits a small number of bases or facilities were constructed for various scientific and investigative purposes.
The solar system at that time was still very young, being only three billion years old. There were many comets and orbiting rocky bodies that yet had to be absorbed or collided with the larger planetary bodies.
Mars was not habitable, but both Mars and Venus were more habitable to ambulatory humanoids than they are today.
To this end, this solar system was of interest because of the three possible marginally desirable planets in the system. The Earth, Venus and Mars. Additionally, since the gas giants were closer to the sun than they are now, and hotter, a number of Jupiter moons possessed atmosphere in a gaseous state, and some even had oceans that held water in a liquid state.
This entire solar system held promise.
The earth at that time was mostly bare rock with oceans teeming with soft-shell creatures.
At that time there was no galactic federation that would claim administration for our solar system.
For the Ediacaran Period of nearly 89 million years, the situation was pretty much a stable one. Our solar system was mapped, explored, and systematically ignored by other species.
The vast bulk of time where this occurred was from 600 Ma to around 560 Ma.
They actually found our solar neighbors far more interesting for a host of reasons, and thus at this time just mostly ignored our solar system.
The solar system was still evolving and there were various comets and rogue asteroids that would and did present a threat to any native life in the solar system. This system was considered to be moderately interesting but not worthy of colonization by any of the species who visited it.
It was noted; explored in a more or less cursory manner, and archived.
Very little happened on the earth in the regard to extraterrestrial involvement of a substantive nature during this time period.
Those MM readers who might wonder what life might resemble around planets in the habitual zone of stars around three billion years old, might well learn from this narrative and explanation here.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Have you ever suddenly came to “an understanding”, or a”realization” that what you have thought, what you have known, and what you have “felt” was all wrong?
Wrong.
This happens to all of us, at one time or the other.
We realize that what we thought at one time, was entirely wrong, or false or not at all the entire picture. Do you know what I am talking about? A realization of the way you think the world works, or how things work, or a relationship works, is not what is really going on? It’s usually a shock. Right?
You can say that about anything really.
You can say that you thought America was one thing, when it was really something else.
Or you could say that you thought China was one thing, when it was something else.
Or you could say that you thought Boston was one place, when it was something else…
But you could say that about relationships as well.
You thought he was one thing when he was really something else.
Or your friends were one thing when they were really something else.
Or your company was one way, when it was really something else entirely different.
It’s a sudden realization that what you thought existed was all a big lie.
And no. I’m not going to start delving into secret government programs, the lifestyles of the rich oligarchy, the casting couches in Hollywood, or the secrets of the Lincoln Bedroom. I’m not going to discuss how your high school text books “got it wrong” or whether or not your best friend is sleeping with your spouse. We are going to go in a different direction here…
We are going to talk about a state of mind where there are NO preconceptions of what reality is. Things are as you see them, or not. And what you might want to happen, could or could not occur.
We are going to talk about your little universe.
The picture above.
The picture at the top of this post above is pretty amazing, eh? It depicts a gladiator over his dying opponent asking the audience for guidance as to whether to kill him or not. It’s stunning. Actually. Not only in the subject matter, but also in the artistic technique.
Now. I want to conduct a thought exercise with you. Let’s go from character to character in the painting. Try to imagine their thoughts, feelings and life that day prior to that snapshot in time.
The Audience that is giving a “thumbs down”. What do you think their life was like on that day? Maybe ate a boiled egg, and some bread and looked forward to “The Games” at “The Circus”. And after the bloody gore, will probably go home and hand out with their friends. maybe enjoy the day, and perhaps do a little shopping in the market.
The Emperor. He sits there watching on. IS this what he wants? And if so why? What does the loss of this life mean to him? After the “Games” he will have a nice big meal, cavort with women, and drink enough wine until he falls asleep.
The Losing Gladiator. He struggles for his life and asks the audience for pity. What do you think is going through his head right now? What do you think he thought about the day as he was getting ready to fight? What was his morning like?
The Winning Gladiator. He’s panting. he fought hard. He is over another person like himself. But he must do what is asked of him. Does he want to do it? Is there any emotion or any compassion? What is he feeling?
In this example, you can see that there are a host of different people in this painting. All with different stories, different histories, different ideals families, passions and futures. Some experience pain. Some experience emotions – such as elation, adoration, fear, terror, and agony.
But there is one person in that painting that doesn’t seem to be showing any emotion, or any care. It is the Emperor. He sits there in numb isolation. Those people are nothing to him. Kill them. Not kill them. It doesn’t matter. Not to him now. Not to him in the future. He just doesn’t care.
He cannot feel. He cannot emote. He is typical. He is a psychopath.
Now…
…Consider this. Almost every single person in the American Government today, no matter how they appear to you in public, or though the media are psychopaths. They have no feelings, no cares, and no desires. They do what they need to do to stay within their roles, but that is it.
They put on a show, of course…
Donald Trump hugging the flag.
.
Consider Hillary Clinton…
Hillary Clinton showing that she loves and respects farmers.
.
Al Gore showing that he is relatable to the folk in the “rust belt” states…
Al Gore, he’s one of us, don’t you know?
.
The truth is that they are all just playing a “song and dance”; a “puppet show” for all of us to watch because it’s all just a big “game” to them. To them, well they don’t think like we do. They don’t act like we do. They don’t live like we do.
And all this “stuff” is what they do (naturally) to convince us to do things for them, to give them money, power, respect, and anything else they desire. This is what they are. Their desires, and actions are not that of the humans that you see around you.
Instead they are something else…
They have evolved.
These “politicians” might look like humans, dress like humans, and talk like humans, but they are different. They are a different type of creature entirely. They have a different sentience.
They have a different sentience that the rest of us.
If you were to look at their non-physical body with the kinds of eyes that <redacted> then you would see that their appearance is very superficial. They are something else.
No they are not reptilians, or some other kind of obscene joke, they are a kind of distorted humanoid shape. And yes, you could say that their non-physical form greatly resembles a galactic quantum archetype.
Have you ever wondered why so many people BELIEVE the fantasy that Reptilian extraterrestrials, that can shape form, have taken over control of the United States?
Could it be that these people, who are in control of the levers of power, are not acting and behaving like the "normal" people that surrounds you and I?
There are several paintings that had a particularly strong impact on me and remain memorable. First is John William Waterhouse's painting of Saint Eulalia.
The painting depicts, in a startling manner, the murder of a 12-year-old girl, Eulalia, who was martyred because she refused, as a Christian, to worship the imperial Roman gods.
The 4th century Spanish poet, Prudentius, places her death in 313 AD, and tells of the miracle, signaling her martyrdom, that occurred after her death-it began to snow and doves flew out of her mouth.
He further describes her torture as being brutal, with hooks tearing her flesh and her body being burnt with torches.
Waterhouse has been inspired by this poem as is explained in the exhibit's text.
Waterhouse does something remarkable in this painting. He eliminates the gory signs of her extreme torture, and yet impresses upon the viewer the horror of what has happened.
She is partly undressed, her upper torso bare, but her lower body is covered in her torn brown-red and dirty garment. Waterhouse has taken poetic license in order to give the child dignity and yet convey the suffering and indignities she endured.
He makes a masterful use of perspective by placing Eulalia in the foreground. He uses extreme foreshortening which he accomplishes with masterful skill, a very difficult feat. Eulalia, in this foreshortened pose, is lying headfirst on her back and her image takes up one third of the large canvas.
The viewer is looking up the length of her body to her legs that are turned slightly askew to the viewer's left. Her blood red hair (a red with dark burnt umber and sepia) is reminiscent of spilt blood beginning to age. The hair flows toward the viewer almost to the edge of the canvas.
The thin layer of snow on the ground accentuates the sense of drying blood, as does her garment, which gives, at second viewing, the look of flayed skin. The snow is of course also a symbol of her virginity. The doves that have issued from her mouth are now just ordinary doves and flit about her indifferently.
This adds to the dead child's sense of abandonment.
On her left wrist remains a piece of tied rope, symbol of her torture. As your eyes move up the canvas you are met with the shaft of the makeshift cross she was roped and nailed to on your right, not far from where the she lies. Moving further away from Eulalia, the remainder of the upper canvas depicts Roman guards and a cluster of people on steps that lead to the square where Eulalia lies dead.
The backdrop is of Roman columns.
The crowd seems only to be there out of curiosity.
One figure, a woman in white robes, kneeling, head down, at the top of the steps, grieves. One wonders if it is a sister or maybe the girl's mother, forbidden to go to Eulalia by the foremost guard who holds a spear.
There is absolutely nothing sexually titillating about this painting. It takes an overwhelming stretch in a critic's mind, in order to fit this image into a predetermined aesthetic agenda, to see otherwise. The all-over coloration of the painting is in hues of white, gray, brown, gray-blue and the dark drenched reds.
This powerful image will stay with me.
-Art Renewal center
In this painting we see how a young innocent girl is hurt, tortured and killed by the uncaring machine that government has become. People do their jobs. They follow their orders. They obey their commands.
We all know about how uncaring, methodical and ritualized our governments have become. You enter the “system” and you become “processed” by it.
But you know, there are two mechanisms at play. There is a mechanism of government that favors the wealthy oligarchy in power, and one that is used on everyone else. Needless to say, it is the one used on “Joe and Suzy Average” that is harsh and brutal. But that system used against the oligarchy is trivial. Those in power live a different kind of life than you and I do.
It’s not just that they are surrounded by wealth and opulence. It’s that they, their friends and all their associations are with those of one singular sentience.
America is segregated by sentience. Not class.
Voluntary sentience segregation
Nothing that I have so far mentioned should come as a surprise. We all know how “well heeled” the oligarchy that runs America is. And we all know that they seem “off” or a little different from you and I and the rest of the people around us. But would you accept the notion that this kind of sentience segregation fits an approved galactic archetype?
The powers-that-be censoring books.
.
I guess that the big shocker that I have to announce to the MM readership is that things have advanced for the human species. And while the past have always had a wealthy class and a poor class, advances in technology has moved the human species to a point of inflection. It’s a “tip over event”. It’s a point where sentience becomes established within a society, and in our cases, within a species.
Throughout the Metallicman writings I have pushed the idea that our human species has been striving to weed out the confused sentience’s, and establish a unified sentience.
What ever it might be.
And to this end, I have stated that it would take years, if not centuries to do so. In this regards, I have suggest (if not stated out right) that humans must choose between either a [1] Service-to-self sentience, or [2] a Service-to-others sentience.
However, what appears to be happening is something quite different, and my personal biases are hereby notified to stop being so “black and white” about everything.
You see, all that matters to our benefactors is that Humans get their collective acts together and work out a unified sentience. They don’t really care what it would be, just that it is unified, and that it fits (or can fit with some RNA changes) into a galactic archetype.
It has nothing to do whether they like or hate humans as a species. It has to do with the generation of the thoughts that we have, their power and our ability to entangle with other species. If our sentience does not develop into an approved archetype, then our thoughts and actions can be ruinous for the rest of the galaxy (as well as the rest of the universe).
But…
But…
But you know, there is every evidence that the oligarchy that runs the United States and much of the world are already within a galactic archetype. It’s a Service-for-self archetype.
They are no longer evolving.
They ARE evolved.
And for the world to fit within the matching schedule made by our benefactors, that means that the rest of the earth must fit within one of two (remaining) complementary sentience’s.
Service-for-self. (Where 100% of the human species has the same sentience.)
Service-for-another. (Where a caste system forms, and the rest of us serve the oligarchy.)
Or, perhaps a picture would explain it better. Consider the HG Wells science fiction class “The Time Machine“.
On January 5, 1900, a disheveled looking H.G. Wells - George to his friends - arrives late to his own dinner party. He tells his guests of his travels in his time machine, the work about which his friends knew.
They were also unbelieving, and skeptical of any practical use if it did indeed work. George knew that his machine was stationary in geographic position, but he did not account for changes in what happens over time to that location.
He also learns that the machine is not impervious and he is not immune to those who do not understand him or the machine's purpose.
George tells his friends that he did not find the Utopian society he so wished had developed.
He mentions specifically a civilization several thousand years into the future which consists of the subterranean morlocks and the surface dwelling eloi, who on first glance lead a carefree life.
In the movie, the wealthy, the smart, the powerful move underground. They evolve in that environment. They become a new kind of human; The Morlock.
The evolved oligarchy. A sub-species of humans that has fully adopted a service-for-self sentience. Scene is from the 1960 movie “The Time Machine.”
.
The rest of the people stay above ground. They live in the abandoned cities, and live a pastoral life. They are the people that serve the Morloks. They are the Eloi.
The evolved human species. This is the other sub-species. This species is full of service-for-another humans. Scene is from the 1960 movie “The Time Machine”.
.
Is that the direction that the world is heading towards right now? That the human species is segregating into two separate sentience’s intentionally? Or in other words, two completely different sub-species of humans?
Spelling things out...
If the human species is already at a point where a portion of the human species has decided to branch off into their own species - A service-to-self species.
Then...
That leaves the rest of us to become either [1] Like them. We too become a service-for-self species. Or [2] we take on the role of a sub-servant species of human. The service-for-another species.
And understanding this fact, will help to explain a lot of the strange and freaky (deaky) things that are going on contemporaneously.
What things?
Well…
Let’s look at this. Ok?
You know, Trump tried to suppress China. He conducted a “hybrid war”, declared himself a “War President”, he festooned his office with war-themed objects and flags, posted his “campaign coins” prominently on display and did everything possible short of nuclear war.
And one aspect of this “hybrid” war was the release of six viral bio-weapons to collapse the Chinese agricultural and livestock industries (2017 through 2018), followed up with three strains (2019 and 2020) to take out the Chinese people themselves.
I have to admit that it really bums me out. (Sigh.)
.
The first assault was on CNY 2020 with the COVID-19B.
Subsequent assaults (after the six attempts of the destruction of grains and livestock) were the COVID-19. This came in numerous strains. A, B, C... and mutated into many others...
Bu the USA launched other biological weapons against the Chinese people as well.
There is the (yet unofficially named) completely new virus COVID-20. This is not a strain of the COVID-19, but yet another "novel" virus, and yes it is unusually enormous in size. This nasty virus was unleashed about a month after Trump "gave up" the "color revolution in Hong Kong. Super nasty. This was super lethal and caused death by vomiting. It lies in the gut and in the anus. It was discovered by the PLA by monitoring one of the Chinese CIA "assets" (that was involved in drone spraying of the swine flu in 2019.) This was the reason why Trump went into hiding for three days, and America went DEFCON ONE. He feared military retaliation. Not the "Trump caught coronavirus" nonsense that the "news" reported.
Drat! Trump snarled and twisted his evil long mustache. "I'll show them who's boss!"
What followed was the worst virus of all. Yet another (unofficially un-named) novel new, and enormous in size COVID-21 new virus. This nasty, nasty, horrible virus was unleashed about a month after the seven battle carrier Naval fleet left the South China Sea. Also very deadly, and with a very high R0. Also found in hyper vigilant sweeps of all imported food and visitors to China. It lies within the gut and anus and results in death by diarrhea.
Today 28JAN21, the Western media is finally reporting on the Chinese "new" swab testing regime that was implemented right after the new year during the first week in January. The new technique uses swabs of the anus to detect for viral infections. Of course, the media are perplexed. Why do this with a COVID-19 with is a virus that affects the nasal passages and throat? Why test in the gut and anus?
That is because the new test not just tests for COVID-19, but also the two new lethal viruses COVID-20 and COVID-21. Both of which affect the gut and the anus.
And part of this plan was to protect Americans from “blow back”. Meaning that he didn’t want any of the bio-weapon released upon the Chinese to end up hurting America. Which was why trump insisted that COVID-19A be spread to all Americans and that no one is to wear a mask. He wanted everyone to be immunized.
blowback
...unintended adverse results of a political action or situation.
He wanted the light strain COVID-19A to spread to all Americans and the “West” to get this virus. Why? So that they would be immune to “blow back”. This was through giving everyone “herd immunity”.
… the COVID-19A ran unchecked through America and the nations of “The West”. As it did so, it gave everyone “herd immunity” to the nasty virus; the COVID-19B, the Chinese, Russian and Iranian strain.
And don’t give me the Alex Jones / Rush Limbaugh / Sean Hannity / CIA narrative that the Coronavirus was a Chinese bio-weapon gone wrong. Sheech!
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱-𝟭𝟵 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮. The Covid virus genome was found in waste water samples in Barcelona in March 2019, almost a year before it was first reported in Wuhan China. A USA mayor said he tested to have COVID antibody as early as November 2019, meaning he was infected much earlier. Scientists at University of Milan confirmed the virus was present in Italy since November 2019.
https://lnkd.in/e4rH_eY
But…
But, suddenly the entire “news” dialog has changed.
Now everyone MUST take this new vaccination. It is very important or you will die! You must do it now! Hurry up take it NOW! Now. Now. Nowwwwww!
It seems like things have changed. The news media leads one to believe that things are different, and that things have changed.
Oh sure, there’s all sorts of warnings and alerts about new strains popping out of nowhere inside of America…
No one wants to be a casualty in a pandemic. It’s heart-rendering.
.
Now, pay attention.
China, Russia and their allies are using the viral inoculation for the very nasty COVID-19B. This is a unique vaccination and is quite unlike what has been bantered about in America. This is necessary, and the Chinese version, the COVID-19B has a R0 or 15% to 20%. Much more dangerous than the “lite” American strain COVID-19A with a R0=0.1%.
But suddenly, America has a vaccination and everyone MUST take it!
This viral inoculation is very, very different from the Chinese solution, and involves changing the RNA of the person so inoculated.
.
I find it very curious that there is this urgency to inoculate every America, and every citizen of a nation allied with America, with a RNA altering vaccination for COVID-19A with a very low R0. It’s very odd.
And I am not the only one questioning this either…
Now, the “news” is all filled with bullshit. So it’s pretty hard to make heads or tails out of what is going on. I can tell you the following are as clear as day…
President Trump declared war on China. And launched biological warfare attacks to that end.
The COVID-19B is real. People die from it. China locked the entire down over it, and went DEFCON ONE with armed nuclear weapons over it. This is the deadly strain.
The COVID-19A is real, and this strain was exposed to Americans almost six months prior to the release of the lethal strain in China. This is the inoculation strain.
For the Trump / Bolton / Pompeo / Tom Cotton plan to work, it is important that herd immunity be obtained using COVID-19A inside of America.
So what is going on with this sudden frantic “need” to inject everyone with a RNA changing vaccine against a mild strain of COVID-19A?
What indeed?
Right now inside America everything is a big mess. Certainly no one can disagree. The “news” or what constitutes it’s modern replacement is all over the place and fear-mongering is the norm. It’s hard to figure out what is going on.
Don’t allow MM here to be yet another tale of fear and woe.
I really don’t know what is going on in America and the West. To me, it really seems to be in a state of turmoil, where everything is upside down and there are a lot of crazy atmospheric conditions that point to dangerously dark storm clouds a brewing. And in and among all this turmoil is a sudden “change in direction” regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Recall that in January 2020 the narrative was DO NOT WEAR MASKS. It’s not as bad as the flu, and “herd immunity”.
And now, one complete year later…
In January 2021, the narrative is WEAR MASKS. It’s much worse than the flu. Take the vaccination or die!!!!
Now…
Is this just because there is a new President…? Or is it because of a bigger plan? Or is it that the United States is so confused that it is like a thrashing elephant out of control and in a rage?
I. Do. Not. Know.
What I do know is the following…
This change in direction, it’s suddenness and crazed haphazard implementation is not a comforting sign. It points to an out-of-control government and leadership system.
From the point of view of DNA / RNA, any use of a vaccination that alter genetic structure should be of concern. (Look what happened to the tomato). It doesn’t matter if the intentions are good or bad. New technologies require vetting and careful controlled trials and experimentation.
What ever eventually does happen, the benefactors are just fine with it.
And if you get the inoculation…
And the RNA does it’s work. What then? You will look human, but what changes with the RNA alter?
Could it be like the 1956 movie “Invasion of the body snatchers”…
He looks like my uncle. He sounds like my uncle. He dresses like my uncle, he acts and walks and talks like my uncle.
...but he's NOT my uncle.
The 1956 movie “Invasion of the body snatchers”.
America seems to be going the way of the former Soviet Union
Unknown to most Americans, in the 1980s and 1990s, the Soviet Union break-up created a host of changes and discomfort for the people there. Many lost their incomes, their places of employment, food supplies dwindled and everything was very “iffy” for a while. Angered youth took over a ballistic nuclear submarine, for Pete’s sake. It was a trying time.
But now things have settled out and calmed down.
All that remains of the “glory days” of the former Soviet Union are abandoned buildings…
An abandoned medical research hospital.
.
And this, an abandoned space complex….
An abandoned space complex inside Russia.
.
And this telecommunications station left to rot…
An abandoned Russian Telecommunications station.
.
Or all these planes and aircraft in an abandoned Russian “skunk works”…
Abandoned Russian “Skunk works”.
.
Um, yeah it’s all sad.
If you liked these photos, you can find a ton lot more at this great site; https://rusue.com/. It's got urban explorers going through the bones of the old former Soviet Union. It's a great site to explore.
Anyways,
It seems like the changes inside of America are starting to manifest, and guess what? It’s not like anyone thought that they would be like. Nope. It’s not an American Civil War II – thought that is still on the table, or a scene from “The Walking Dead” and a Zombie apocalypse. It’s bio-weapons, invisible dangers, government authority, and massive control, with pockets of balkanized folk all over the place that are angry, pissed off, confused and out of their minds in blood-lust anger.
Conclusion
So we enter a state of understanding.
The war for sentience domination has begun in the United States. It is following the Former Soviet Union model, and involves all kinds of new and novel characteristics that places “common citizens” at a great disadvantage, and the ruling oligarchy at a great advantage. The only people who seemingly will survive during the culling process are those that will fit within the niche’s provided for them.
I suggest the MM readership to be aware, cautious and accommodating. But not to be in agreement. Just keep your thoughts to your selves. Do not place a big “bulls eye” on your chest. Do not flaunt disgust or anger. Be as publicly neutral as possible you need to survive thought this stressful time by keeping your wits about your and controlling your emotions.
Clan up with friends and family. Know who your neighbors are and be helpful and a participant within your own closed society. Be good. Be the kind ear to listen and the strong shoulder for other to cry upon. Remember this time WILL PASS. What it important that you pass through it unscathed.
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you.
If you enjoy what you see, it would be helpful if you could assist in hosting this forum. A donation would be appreciated.
You guys realize that MM is not as popular or as well-promoted as such “big names” as Politico, MSN, Time, Newsweek, Rush Limbaugh, Drudge report or any other American media outlets. It’s that way for a reason. Well, maybe a couple of reasons, eh? But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a readership. We do. And we have some pretty impressive readers with some pretty impressive credentials that follow us from time to time and throw out their “two cents”.
One such influencer is BlueNarwhal.
This fellow has an interesting point of view concerning some of the MM writings and I would like to expose the rest of the readership to his words and thoughts. Who knows, maybe he’ll end up being a contributor?
What is Remote viewing
I haven’t covered any Remote Viewing activity in terms of the MWI, simply because I am not an expert in it. All I have done is read a few books on it, and maybe practiced a time or two. But that’s just about it.
According to the “mainstream internet” / “mainstream media” it’s pseudoscience.
Remote ViewingRemote viewing (RV) is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target, purportedly "sensing" with the mind. Remote viewing experiments have historically been criticized for lack of proper controls and repeatability. There is no scientific evidence that remote viewing exists, and the topic of remote viewing is generally regarded as pseudoscience.Wikipedia
But I can tell you that this “pseudoscience” is well funded by the United States and Russian governments. It is used by Bankers, and in American Industry, and has a track record of success that shows a sizable and significant record of success.
Remote viewing is defined as the ability to acquire accurate information about a distant or non-local place, person or event without using your physical senses or any other obvious means. It’s associated with the idea of clairvoyance, seemingly being able to spontaneously know something without actually knowing how you got the information. It is also sometimes called “anomalous cognition” or “second sight.”
Many of us experience this from time to time as an intuitive flash of insight that turns out to be correct. Many well-known entrepreneurs and business people, like George Soros, Conrad Hilton, Thomas Alva Edison and Akio Morita, the co-founder of Sony, have attributed their business success to this ability. And we’ve all seen natural psychics perform seemingly amazing feats of mental skill on TV.
The difference between natural psychic receptivity and remote viewing is that the latter is a trained skill, a controlled process, that the average person can learn to do, to some degree or another.
The CIA uses Remote Viewing
Money and resources were given by the Central Intelligence Agency to Stanford Research Institute (SRI), located on the campus of Stanford University at the time, to test the possibility of remote viewing. The goal was to disprove that psychic functioning was real. No one wanted it to exist. It was the last thing that the military establishment wanted to worry about, especially if it was a new Soviet threat.
Physicists Russell Targ and Hal Putoff working at SRI were tasked with determining whether Extrasensory Perception (ESP) and related phenomena were real or not. Targ and Putoff set about to locate some natural psychics and test them. Their first subject was artist, psychic and scientist Ingo Swann of New York City who had demonstrated an ability to accurately “remote view” weather in various American cities. He had published some articles about ESP and also psychokinesis, the ability to mentally affect distant objects, when he worked with researcher Gertrude Schmeidler of City College, New York and the American Society for Psychical Research.
Ingo Swann - Consciousness Researcher | Ingo Swannhttps://ingoswann.comINGO SWANN (September 14, 1933 January 31, 2013) was internationally known as an advocate and researcher of the exceptional powers of the human mind, and as a leading figure in governmental and scientific projects to investigate and identify the scope of subtle human perceptions.
Working with Schmeidler, Swann had shown that he could affect the temperature of thermistors sealed in insulated thermos canisters twenty-five feet away from him.
A thermistor is a a sensor that measures temperature. Swann was able to raise the temperature of the region around the thermistor and cause the readings on the computer to change.
At a friend’s request, Swann sent his published findings to Putoff, who asked Swann to come to SRI and demonstrate his abilities. The first thing they had Swann do was to see if he could affect a super sensitive, electromagnetically shielded quark detector buried five feet underground in a cement floor.
Every time Putoff asked Swann to think about the detector (used to detect subatomic particles), the readings from the device would noticeably deviate from the baseline readings. Putoff was convinced that Swann had special abilities and so the program to test and develop remote viewing began.
At first they had Swann view objects in a box: this was a practice he was good at but quickly became bored with. Swann said to them: “I can view anything in the universe, this is a trivialization of my abilities.”
Remote Viewing physical locations by GPS coordinates
A few days later he came up with a new way to do remote viewing: viewing map coordinates.
Targ and Putoff went out and bought the biggest atlas they could find at the local book store. The would pull coordinates off of the map, and write them down on paper inside a sealed envelope. Then give the envelope to the remote viewer.
The Swann’s coordinate map viewing turned out to be a big success.
Of course, not everyone believed that is was truly possible. A critic at the Central Intelligence Agency suggested that maybe he had memorized the entire global map.
.
Swann went on to use randomly chosen numerical coordinates to view randomly selected events, people and structures around the planet. He performed equally well using this coordinate-based viewing system.
Swann coined to term “remote viewing” to describe the process though you can question whether the information is actually remote to the viewer or whether the process is entirely visual.
Some people are more sensitive to auditory, kinesthetic or other types of sensory information and few viewers actually “see” the target very clearly. Nonetheless, the name stuck and was sufficient to convince the intelligence agencies to fund the project.
Other viewers were also tasked to help Targ and Putoff understand remote viewing.
Pat Price
Pat Price, a former police commissioner from Burbank, CA also proved to be an excellent viewer. Price used his own system to view where he actually imagined that he was at the distant target site. His results were so good that the Central Intelligence Agency hired him to work for them directly.
Pat Price was one of the most skilled of the U.S. government’s remote-viewers of the 1970s. He was someone who regularly used his psychic abilities to spy on hostile nations for various military and intelligence departments. There is very little doubt that Price would have continued with his work had death not intervened in a very strange (and even sinister) way. Price passed away on July 14, 1975. It was, however, the nature of his death that was so disturbing of all. Just a few days before his untimely death, Price had a number of covert rendezvous’ with a variety of agents of the National Security Agency. Also, with personnel from the Office of Naval Intelligence. The meetings were initiated to determine if Price would be willing to undertake remote-viewing operations for both agencies. Price was gung-ho for both projects. In no time at all, the operations began.
Just a few days after the meetings, Price flew out of Washington, D.C. His destination: he first took a flight to Salt Lake City, and then onto Sin City itself: Las Vegas. We may never know for sure if Price suspected that his life was in danger. The fact is, however, that with all of this top secret work being undertaken for U.S. intelligence, Price became concerned about his safety to at least a certain degree. To the extent that the purpose of the flight to have over some important, sensitive documents to a friend; just in case anything were to happen to him. It was in the afternoon of July 13 that Price checked into Vegas’ Stardust Hotel. All was going good. That is, until it wasn’t. As he approached the desk to check-in, a man walked straight into Price. It was a violent collision. He felt a shooting pain in his leg, as if he had been hit with a needle. With hindsight, that may very well have been what happened. In near-quick time, Price started to feel ill and decided to lay down and take a nap. But, not before handed over those precious documents.
A few hours later, and still not feeling so good, Price met with several friends for dinner. There was something on his mind. Not only did Price tell them about the collision in the lobby just a few hours earlier, but he also confided in them that while he was in Washington, D.C. just a little more than a day earlier, he had seen someone slip something in his coffee. Having seen this chilling, covert action occur, Price left the coffee well alone and exited the restaurant quickly. As for the evening at the Stardust Hotel, it wasn’t going to well. In fact, not at all. Price cut the dinner meeting short and went back to his room.
Around 5:00 a.m. the next day, Price woke up in significant physical distress. His breathing was not right. He had severe cramps in his back and stomach and he was sweating profusely. He called his friend who had those important papers, who quickly raced to Price’s room. A doctor was about to be called when Price began to convulse. Then, he went into cardiac arrest. Despite the best efforts of paramedics, who were quickly on the scene, and who managed to briefly kick-start his heart, it was all to no avail. Price was soon dead. It is a fact that Price had heart disease. With that in mind, his death could have been due to wholly natural causes and nothing else at all. But, we cannot – and should not – forget the fact that Price had seen someone surreptitiously slip something into his coffee, just a couple of days earlier. Then there was the matter of the potentially suspicious collision in the lobby of the Stardust Hotel in Vegas. To this day, the death of Pat Price – almost certainly the work of an overseas, hostile nation – is still discussed in hushed tones where the conspiratorial lurk.
-Mysterious Universe
Joe McMoneagle
Back East, another natural viewer Joe McMoneagle, also known as “Remote Viewer No. 1,” worked directly with the U.S. Army and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was also tested and found to have amazing abilities to describe and sketch distant locations. Upon retirement, McMoneagle was awarded a Legion of Merit award, in part, for his five years of remote viewing missions for the military and various government agencies.
Joseph McMoneagle is a former US Army soldier who played a leading role as a 'remote viewer' in the Star Gate psychic spying program run by American military and intelligence organizations until the 1990s. Since retiring from the military he has continued his activities in the private sector. He gives talks and public demonstrations, and has published several books.
-PSI Encyclopedia
Swann’s 6-stage RV system
However, Swann was able to describe, with great precision, what he was doing with his mind and attention as he was viewing, an ability other viewers did not have. This allowed him to come up with a 6-stage system that could be taught to anyone, including you or me.
It became known as CRV: Coordinate (or Controlled) Remote Viewing.
The Six Stages of Controlled Remote Viewing CRV was first called “coordinate remote viewing” because it used geographic coordinates instead of outbounder “beacon” teams to focus the viewer on the target. Years later, Ingo Swann changed the term “coordinate” remote viewing to “controlled” remote viewing.
Swann’s CRV system is based on separating out signal from noise in your mind as you are viewing.
All the information is recorded during a session, but the viewer puts the noise in a different place on the paper than the signal. At the end of the session, you can separate them from one another.
The method became the basis of the remote viewing protocols that the U.S. army taught to several groups of viewers. The program lasted until 1995 when it was declassified; about $20 million was spent over the two decades.
Controlled Remote Viewing
remoteviewed.com/crv_docs_full.pdf
a. Remote Viewing (RV): The name of a method of psychoenergetic perception. A term coined by SRI-International and defined as “the acquisition and description, by mental means, of information blocked from ordinary perception by distance, shielding, or time.” b. Coordinate Remote Viewing (CRV): The process of remote viewing using geographic coordinates for cueing or prompting.
Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (PEAR)
During this time, the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (PEAR) at Princeton University, run by Bob Jahn and Brenda Dunn, also conducted twenty years of research into remote viewing and so-called “micro-psychokinesis” with experiments on the effect of human intention on Random Number Generators (RNGs).
Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research
pearlab.icrl.org
The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) program, which flourished for nearly three decades under the aegis of Princeton University's School of Engineering and Applied Science, has completed its experimental agenda of studying the interaction of human consciousness with sensitive physical devices, systems, and processes, and developing complementary theoretical models to …
They found that, looking at the cumulative results of hundreds of thousands of trials, that their subjects could influence about 2 or 3 events per 10,000 random coin flips seemingly moving the device away from true randomness in an inexplicable way.
The odds of these results being by chance were an astonishing 375 trillion to one.
The Technique – opening the aperture
When someone asks you to describe something, you normally proceed to name what you’re perceiving using nouns and symbols. Remote viewing is just the opposite. You begin by describing your perceptions without trying to identify anything about what they mean or what the larger picture is. You begin with basic gestalts: fundamental, general components of the target site like whether it’s manmade or living or natural. You then proceed to basic colors, smells, temperatures, shapes and sizes.
Only after you’ve been describing the target for a while can you proceed to more specific ideas and possibly names, nouns and more analytical types of information.
In this you way, Swan would say that you are opening the aperture of your perception, slowly and resisting the temptation to draw conclusions about what you are viewing.
Our minds are always attempting to draw conclusions from what we’ve perceiving at any given moment, but because you have no conscious, physical information to work from in RV, you’re almost always likely to be wrong if you do so. Which brings us to one of the great paradoxes of RV: the fainter the perception, the more likely it is to be accurate and the less likely you are to feel confident in that perception.
In other words, the more confident you are about your psychic perceptions during the session, the less likely those perceptions are to be correct! And the less confident you feel, the more likely it is that your perceptions are right on. How’s that for a paradox?
Good remote viewers learn to trust the feelings of uncertainty and ambiguity they get while doing a session.
Someone familiar with the military viewing program said that if a viewer finished a session and said with confidence “I nailed it!,” that viewer’s session would be thrown in the garbage. A good session is one in which the viewer has no idea what they’ve been doing or whether it’s accurate or not.
This is very different from the way our educational system, which stresses linear and rational thinking, trains us to deal with acquiring and processing information. And believe me, it takes some time to get used it.
Eventually, you see the benefits:
You learn to trust your intuition more and don’t necessarily need to rationalize everything before you take action.
You become more spontaneous which can often be a good thing if you’re used to over-thinking things in your life.
When the RV program was declassified, one of the two people asked to evaluate the program was statistician Jessica Utts, the head of the American Statistical Association at the time of this writing. She concluded:
“Using the standards applied to any other area of science, it is concluded that psychic functioning has been well established. Arguments that these results could be due to methodological flaws in the experiments are soundly refuted.
Effects of similar magnitude to those found in government-sponsored research at SRI and SAIC (another government sponsored think tank) have been replicated at a number of laboratories across the world. Such consistency cannot be readily explained by claims of flaws or fraud.”
And researcher Dean Radin, doing very complex meta-analyses using the results of many studies about psychic perception over many decades, came to the same conclusion.
Looking at the entire population, not just trained viewers, RV is a weak effect, about four to eight percent higher than expected if we were only using our physical senses to gather information: yet, it’s consistently there in everyone.
How Does Remote Viewing Work?
So RV is scientifically proven to work. But how? What’s going inside the viewer’s body and mind? How do they access far away information with such great accuracy? You can pick your favorite explanation but the truth is, no one knows for sure. But my feeling is shared with others in that it has something to do with resonance, vibration and frequency.
Right brain thinking tends to be free flowing, intuitive and descriptive while left brain thinking is more analytical, linear and symbolic. Good remote viewers learn to distinguish their own left and right-brain thinking. They’re good at discerning the difference between the two and can separate signal from noise. Remote viewing tends to be more more accessible to the right-brain type. If you have artistic tendencies, can play music and have an ear for sound, are creative, and / or who are very spiritual as opposed to religious you would probably excel in Remote Viewing.
Picking Up Signals Through Vibrational Resonance
Where does the information come from? Well, if you look around the space wherever you are at the moment, the air will seem empty: you can’t see the air with your eyes. But you also know that it’s filled with electromagnetic information from cell phone signals, radio waves, TV signals, etc. So empty space can be filled with information coming to you from distance. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
That information is coming to you through a type of vibrational resonance that fills space-time.
When you have a receiver that is tuned to the frequency of those signals, you’ll pick them up. All you need to do after that is to amplify the signal. Remote viewing doesn’t necessarily amplify the signal of what you’re viewing, but it does teach you how to reduce your own mental noise, your monkey mind.
What is the Farsight Institute
Since the CIA have been using this system for decades and has documented successes, the private industry has (often) decided to use the techniques, and skilled RV observers for their own purposes. And thus organizations have materialized that provide this service. The Farsight Institute is one such organization.
The Farsight Institute is a nonprofit research and educational organization that is dedicated to understanding the remote-viewing phenomenon itself through the process of scientific experimentation.
It is our belief that a more complete understanding of the remote-viewing phenomenon will have collateral benefits to much of science and society.
Due to how the remote-viewing phenomenon manifests in controlled experiments, the remote-viewing phenomenon appears to be based on quantum-processes.
Much of the research done at The Farsight Institute blends theories of quantum mechanics with interpretations of experimental remote-viewing data. This has lead to new insights into the remote-viewing phenomenon as well as the nature of time and physical reality.
For example, new research indicates that alternate futures actually do exist, and that the past exists simultaneously with the present.
New research also suggests that information transfer across time does not require enormous energy consumption that would be associated with worm hole singularities. These questions are among the most profound addressed by science today.
-The FarSight Institute
OK.
With all that introductory information out of the way…
Some introductory stuff on BlueNarwhal.
Just a little bit. Here’s the (edited) text to MM from BlueNarwhal…
I have had an interesting history in studying in some rather great detail everything on JT especially the physics, and then again everything with the drone affair.
I am assuming that he is referring to JT gravity. And (of course) he is referring to CARET when he mentions the “drone affair“.
I spent maybe a half year developing some implications of theory about how the glyphs actually function and felt I was starting to translate.
When he refers to the “glyphs” he is referring to the “language” used on the CARET drones. And while the language is similar to that of what I have been exposed to in the programming of my EBP, there are differences.
Some amazing breakthroughs have come from that disclosure all of which I realized for the most part I needed to keep quiet.
I lived right where those sightings happened LoL.
And then there’s my 20 years of work in Remote viewing being good friends with s few of the greats there - I focused a lot remote viewing future tech for clients. Worked with Pru, and good friends with many of her team. She shuttered her $8m per year RV commercial business (amazing stories in there) because TPTB ...
TPTB = “The Powers That Be”.
...(they) started a heavy target hijacking and remote influence attempts on her team of 15 viewers she had hand picked from thousands she had trained.
And she is the subject of a major resources debunking after London Sunday Times cover story! Websites like pruwatch!
She was a large scale magnet physicist before that. Courtney is a long time acquaintance too. Just all really good folks in truth. I love them all.
Luckily for me I have always been outside that fray. But that does not mean that it doesn’t go on. Most of the things that occur in our world and within our reality is unknown and completely transparent to the general population.
I would be in a <redacted> and eating at a restaurant there. And I would see other engineers and scientists come in during lunch break. They would have their name badges and I would casually over hear snippets. People talked and chatted about stuff using the arcane language of scientists, and defense contractors, and while others might not have a clue as to what they were discussing… but I would.
For all of us, it’s no “big deal”.
And of course, the mainstream media “news” would be about some “expert” proving that some photograph of a blurry UFO was a hoax. Yeah. It’s like that.
... anyway, again all of your words not only ring true but actually change the person reading it.
It has been so utterly refreshing, validating, delightful and yes heartwarming because I can sense the absolutely wonderful nature of who you are, in the spiritually lovely person so it is an honor to read your words indeed. It’s like drinking clean fresh pure water, thank you!
Yes. I blushed when I read this. But we all like validation.
Yah funny you are of course just an nice average human being like me - who has a few really special skills and is really just working to have a wonderful life!
Yeah fate has decided you were ready to live up to some future legacy and be a anchor exemplar establishing certain influence factors of evolutionary value - and why not!?
What I think I like best about your writing is you have maintained a true service to others template expression so yeah you are kinda special but I can say that because I simply know to ain’t goin to yer noggin - your just sweet family man and right on for that!!
Again, I love this validation.
Remote Viewing in the MWI
Ok here’s what I wrote yesterday reflecting on what you have said in the context of my communications about this w Courtney at farsight...
So BlueNarwhal was discussing the MWI as it pertains to Remote viewing with Courtney at the Farsight Institute.
Working hypothesis:
Predictive remote viewer naturally quantum-couples or entangles their viewing range to be occur across multiple proximal world line probability trajectories in the multiverse.
I have no problems with this. In fact, this hypothesis is well stated and agrees with all my posts and articles in my Prayer / Intention Index. Here, however he is saying that the use of Remote Viewing is like a special “radar” that targets high-probability trajectories (vectors) in the MWI. Here we illustrate a remote viewing exercise of an observer of his/her future.
It is difficult to determine what the future will be. As everything is based up probabilities. So any kind of Remote Viewing activity will result in multiple targets depending on the situation and conditions imposed. In general, what we see is that Remote Viewing is like a “radar” that scans the world-line template surface for a region of highest probability (given the conditions specified). It looks something like this.
Outlier world line target coupling by RVers occurs simply due to the collateral quantum attractive influence that higher relative disruptive novelty factors exert on selected souls and consciousnesses.
e.g. a group of top viewers all view a disaster scenario that never happens in the world line from which the viewers viewed.
Yet it clearly happened in some nearby world line of greater variance to our own.
This is a very interesting perspective. This is something that I have not paid attention to. It is the idea that nearby world lines might possess more “novelty” to the Remote Viewer. It could be more “attractive” and thus dominate the viewing “radar”.
Consider this…
Within a remote viewing target, there is an area of most likely, or highest probability world-lines. We argue that there is a bias to the more interesting world-lines.
Some of these influences can be injected into remote viewing sessions.
This is due to the idea that individual remote viewers couple with targets via universal quantum field or “soul intelligence”.
This target coupling process can allow insertion of universal intent to bias the remote viewer to couple with a more novel world line but less likely or even unlikely the mutual world line viewers are viewing from.
This explanation suggests that bias of the observer (the Remote Viewer) influences his / her ability to target properly.
This bias, of course, isn’t just interest of a personal nature, but also includes pre-disposition “programming” by the soul prior to injection onto the Pre-Birth World-Line template. Which is, of course, tied into the universal quantum field.
Universal Intent Coupling
This seems to a form of universal intent coupling with (a) conscious individual.
Interesting wording.
I would agree with this appraisal. Only that I refer to it with the very clumsy name “Pre-Birth World-Line Template“. Or in other words, perhaps the desire or natural inclination of a consciousness to view certain types, kinds or relative magnitudes of world-line possibilities (within the RV target coordinates) is a primary characteristic of the Pre-Birth World-Line Template.
Not just in geography, but in the way that the body thinks, feels and behaves.
This seems to a form of universal intentcoupling with (a) conscious individual.
Again, could the ability to Remote View a place, an action, a person at another time is due to the “intent coupling” with another individual at that target coordinate? Or, not even a different person. Perhaps the same person as the Remote Viewer observer. Just viewing their knowledge and understanding at another time or another place…
But what if…
…if the person, thought streams, or target environment is in error? Suppose that you, back in 1982 remote viewed 2020. What would you see?
A Real Estate mogul as President.
Many protests everywhere.
Some people wearing masks.
News discussing how bad China is.
How would it manifest to a Remote Viewer as an observer of the events?
Crowds cheering.
Sad people wearing masks.
Some general images of China.
Riot police.
What would you conclude?
This is a bias. A bias associated with the nature of the “intent coupling” activity.
The effect is to widen the multiple world line range of consideration aperture...
... to provide high value insight about probabilities on other world lines...
... about similar lurking but unmanifest novel high impact eventualities for the viewer world line.
This is a very interesting observation.
I broke the sentence down into manageable bites for digestive autopsy, and to make fine MM points of interest.
Essentially, he is saying that the process of “intent coupling” with the thoughts, items, situation, or personalities at the target area opens up the target area, not narrows it down. And that the reason for this seems to be the bias associated with the mechanism used in “intent coupling”.
He says that this is a good thing. Because it provides us insight into the geography of the World-Line Template.
The differences in observed Remote Viewed targets as a function of two different observers who both share the same target objectives. Simplified for illustration purposes.
Could universal intent (being entangled for target coupling by remote viewers) be making individual intent see outcomes that might happen but likely won’t?
I would argue, YES.
We live in a universe where our manifested world-lines are based on thoughts that hit most probable targets. Sure, my pizza could conceivable grow legs and do a tap-dance before it jumps into my mouth, but that result is highly unlikely.
Instead, the most probable outcome, if you plop a pizza in front of me, is that I would get a slice and eat it.
I do not know if the geography of world-lines outside of our most probable world-lines that lie on our life-line path has any relevance. The only issue and aspect to this (and the only exception) is how these other world-lines affect the “quantum shadows” of the people that surround us that their “parent” consciousnesses that inhabit them.
Which was, as best that I can vocalize, what my role was in regards to our benefactors point of view. As a “dimensional anchor” I was able to “lasso” adjacent world-line trajectories to avoid mass catastrophes that are a typical result of the mass manipulation of people through use of media.
Improving sensing ability
While working with universal intent sentient within the multiverse quantum super field...
... encompassing all our souls and individual quantum clouds,
... there is no issue with requesting super sentience...
... to limit target viewing hits ...
... to only the higher probability outcomes for the present world line in which the viewers reside.
Another interesting consideration. You can use intention / prayer communication, whether or not it is part of a campaign or not to communicate to your “higher self” …
… or as I believe, to program your brain to direct your probing thoughts and senses toward specific awareness profiles. And, in so doing, improve your targeting ability.
You can use different awareness profiles; either differing statements of targeting intent, or even different people to assist narrowing down the target coordinates.
Universal intent is certainly willing to limit targeting to single world line...
... or widen the reception aperture to proximal cluster of most probable but yet alternate world lines relative to an anchor referential consciousnesses.
It does seem that way.
Target Identification
Another different possibility is that remote viewing “picking up signals” of a proximal relative cluster of world lines...
... is likely only possible because remote viewers are evolving souls and consciousness themselves.
And despite their proclivity for rationally limiting future probabilities viewing to the world line in which they reside, multiple world lines will be viewed.
Picking up signals. Yes whatever is received by the remote viewer will be colored by the knowledge and experiences of the observer.
For instance, an observer who has never been to China would have a difficult time imagining China as it is today. With everyone paying using QR instead of paper money, where High Speed Travel is the norm and preferred over aircraft, where even the tiniest town has 40-story tall sky-scrapers. Where everyone wears masks even when it is not required. Where fifth graders can speak both English and Chinese while they study their calculus.
Most Americans have absolutely no concept as to what China is today.
.
An American who is remote viewing modern China, say from the perspective of 1983, would be unable to comprehend that what he is seeing is actually China. And perhaps, maybe, would discard the images as perhaps representative of Japan or another date in a far-away future.
These are limitations that we have to deal with. You only know what you know. And thus remote viewing things that are beyond our own personal experience would be too alien to us to interpret properly.
The viewers themselves, as do human beings in general, possess individually, in groups and even globally possess the natural ability to shift/move/migrate to different world lines.
The quantum wave field of the soul focuses consciousness on inhabiting a physical embodiment existing in nearby variant world lines that furthers soul growth.
This is in turn depends on their in-body own associated outside influences, their own resonant thoughts, feelings, core beliefs and choices that normally bias target coupling to that which holds the greatest growth value for the viewer alone, unless they alter the target description to anchor its viewing parameters to exclude world line coupling that is less likely for the anchoring set of consciousnesses.
Thus…
If there are proximity world-lines, even outside that of the target area, that are more familiar to the observer, it would be a natural proclivity of the observer to migrate to those world-line influences that are easier to relate to (based on their personal experiences).
But change is part of growth. For our soul to grow and expand the consciousness it must experience the uncomfortable and novel world-lines, and if they lie on the path in our future they might be difficult to observe.
Certainly the Incas might have had a difficult time picturing the Spanish Galleons that lay at anchor off their beaches.
But what of this?
What of cross talk between different world-lines? What if wildly divergent world-lines reside in “close proximity” to your world-line template, and their novelty (no matter how strange) could alter your attention and sensing ability?
“The woman in the red dress” a scene from the Movie “The Matrix”. Our focus and our observation is drawn to that which appeals to us or that which we can clam is novel, of interest, or more interesting that the most probably reality that is within the target area.
On analyzing this particular scene in The Matrix, it becomes clear that the woman in red is a deliberate distraction, a simulated character who is a part of the Agent training program. While the woman appears harmless, she wears a vibrant shade of red in order to distract trainees, triggering what's known as the "red dress effect" - a phenomenon where women wearing red are perceived to be more attractive and open to sexual advances than those in plain colors.The Matrix: What the Woman in the RedDress Really Means
Let’s talk about world-line cross-talk
The result is remote viewing in any single timeline easily gets crosstalk from other multiverse proximal timelines.
I argue that cross-talk is a natural, and a fundamental aspect of our reality.
.
But how does the subtle influences manifest?
Let’s look at 2020. I argue that the entire world “missed a bullet”. That the President and his team of neocons were Hell-bent on attacking China in a “hot war”, and knowing China (& Russia) as I do, this would be a very brief and (to Americans) surprising nuclear exchange.
It was something like this…
.
I could write a ton-load of information on world-line cross-talk, and perhaps I will. But for now, keep things simple. There is no such thing as isolation. Either for consciousness or for world-lines. We are all connected and the purpose of our consciousness within this reality IS TO MAKE entangled associations.
Using this understanding to improve Remote Viewing capabilities and targeting
OK. Consider this…
If proven, this may predict targeting protocols with means...
... to bind multiverse RV target coupling range...
... to viewing only the most probable eventuality for the timeline...
... in which the remote viewer originates the session,
... thereby filtering the quantum coupling multiverse range...
... to the most novel punctuated variations across a cluster of intersecting world lines.
Using this knowledge and carefully improving the targeting protocols we should be able to not only [1] improve the targeting ability, but also we should be able to [2] begin to understand and even describe the near-by world-lines that will influence the ones that our trajectories will bypass.
.
There is a lot of work that needs to go into this exploration of the MWI, but I personally believe that it is worth it.
Some Ideas
There are all sorts of ways to accomplish this, once we recognize that our reality is the MWI, and not some kind of shared “universe” as it is conventionally taught.
For example, one may find some means to construct the RV target description to...
... effectively limit multi-timeline target coupling ...
....to only the most large population probable common future for a selected anchor subjects....
... in the timeline as of the session or as of an identified target date.
By realizing the true and realistic nature of the MWI, we can greatly increase our ability to target future and past events along specific shared or specific world-line trajectories. As opposed to say…
…assuming that we all share the same universe and everything that is viewed is shared and experienced by everyone.
Other ideas…
However, taskers for remote viewers can design target descriptions to block receptive coupling to less than large selected sample group collective likelihoods.
This couples the target range to a more commonly desired and likely world line so that predictive RV sessions entangle only relative to and biased from the selected baseline group of anchor parties.
It effects a proximal world line variance clamping function to block entanglement with less likely outcomes for this present world line.
Other ideas and comments…
World line entanglement blocking prevents viewer intermediaries drifting towards natural attraction of more novel world lines,
...regardless of present world line probability momentum and mass habitation factors.
It simply works to exclude less likely world line outcomes relative to an anchor reference group of persons or beings to thereby yield more likely valid predictive data for the present world line.
Bravo!
Using MM for creative discussion and information transfer.
“Free talk” and brainstorming is a great way for everyone to learn from each other. For me, I don’t have that much knowledge about remote viewing, but I do understand the MWI as far as my role was codified. By working together, we can improve the techniques, the technologies, the results for all. And perhaps, just perhaps, save the earth and make it a better place for all of us to live within.
The Ukraine on our world-line and within our world-line template…
Post-Soviet countries look worse than ever. There are no drastic changes happening, so cityscapes are clogged with handmade balconies and other outbuildings, messy advertising, and ugly signs.
But…
Imagine what would happen if we, as a species, worked together to address the haphazard trajectories that we live upon. Consider what our reality would start to look like. Consider what we can do, should do, and how we can begin.
The Ukraine on a different world-line template and upon a different vector direction.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my Prayer / Intention Campaign Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
If you enjoy what you see, it would be helpful if you could assist in hosting this forum. A donation would be appreciated.
Here, we argue that most of the work regarding chemical propulsion technologies for rockets are not only mature, but the calculations for their design and use are public domain. You just don’t need to be a “rocket scientist” like myself to build a missile. Instead, you can research the internet, find what you need and construct a few rockets in the basement or garage in your house. It’s not all that difficult.
I guess that I am obsolete. LOL.
But you know, the use of rockets to travel the heavens really isn’t a viable technology. Instead gravity repulsion technology, and location encoding teleportation are far better ways and means to traipse around the galaxy. Never the less, the United States government is putting billions of dollars in a space program that uses 1950’s rocket technology to explore the moon. And you too can be part of that as long as you meet the necessary diversity criteria.
Here’s a nice write-up on rocket technology from the point of view of a garage tinkerer. I enjoyed it and maybe you would as well.
The following is an article titled “Open source Rocketry” by Tom written on October 2, 2019. All credit to the author. Posted as found with very little editing.
I recently stumbled across some fascinating videos by amateur rocketeer Joe Barnard, whose BPS.space YouTube channel is chock full of interesting projects.
Armed with a 3D printer, model rocket components and some fairly simple custom electronics, he has created some amazing results.
One interesting video series is his model rocket silo project (more video links given later in the article), including the launch of a fin-less vectored-thrust rocket from that silo that reminds one of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
What really caught my eye, though, was his three-engine vectored-thrust Falcon Heavy model (the center engine did not ignite during this flight). In that pic (taken from a video linked far below), the thrust vectoring for this fin-less model is clearly visible, particularly with the right-most engine.
Other test flights show more dramatic vectoring, more on this later. To his credit, Joe doesn’t filter out his failures, but instead documents his process, warts and all, including crashes, flameouts, fires, control losses and so on.
Joe’s work is a good example of an idea that has been bubbling around in my head for a while:
Modern technology, particularly open-source software and hardware, can allow implementation of advanced weaponry, at a small nation-state level, on par with first-world military weapons, with only about a decade or two lag, and constrained only by the available budget.
Joe’s rockets are missing three things to add smart missile technology to a small nation: scale, power and control algorithms. The first two are merely budgetary issues; scaling his airframes and engines is merely a checkbook problem, as is mass production.
After a certain point, these things (including off-the-shelf warhead and materials science technology) do not improve much with increasing budgets; economies of scale merely make them cheaper.
The third element, control algorithms, is where all the excitement lies, and is almost free, compared to the other two.
Further, with the rise of open source software (such as various guidance and flight control software packages) and computing hardware (particularly with the introduction of the RISC-V platform), this genie has burst completely out of a naive and arrogant arms control bottle.
The United States, particularly its political class more so than the technologists, has a long and well-documented history of arrogance with presuming a special capability with respect to military technology.
The most famous example of this arrogance was the Manhattan Project, where the political leadership believed that the US-UK nuclear axis would retain a nuclear monopoly for decades, despite warnings from the nuclear engineers and physicists who knew better.
Physics and math work the same for everyone, and once German nuclear physicist Otto Hahn published the results of his 1938 fission experiments, that genie was already out of the bottle.
The rest was just budget and engineering.
Even if Hahn hadn’t published those results, physics at the time was ripe for the discovery of fission, so it would have been discovered independently by many other physicists within months anyway.
Science and invention is like that: ideas get ripe when their time comes, and many minds come to the same conclusions very quickly.
Papers and patents only document “first”, and sometimes only by the slimmest of margins, although that distinction usually doesn’t count for very much, given that the US, not Germany, was the first to use nuclear weapons in war.
Espionage makes a difference, but only in terms of cost and schedule, and even so, early adopters usually pay that toll the heaviest.
A demonstrated fact that a thing can be done is usually enough to spark the innovation while early adopters pay for a lot of redundancy and blind alleys that later adopters do not.
Early adopters also pay for development of processes and practical field models, while later adopters are free to innovate on that foundation at much lower cost, usually by simply studying public photos, videos, official statements and observable deployments.
Early adopters must sift through and pay for a large number of options from a practically unlimited menu, while smaller nation-state later adopters can tailor their efforts to al a carte items specific to their needs.
This is why the US spent decades and untold amounts of R&D and fielding costs to produce stealth and drone technology, while later adopters seem to almost flippantly introduce sufficiently capable options at much less cost and much more quickly.
GPS, cruise missiles, phased array radars, data-linked command and control, stealth-piercing radar, you name it. Same, same, same, same, same.
It has been decades since I have held a security clearance, but during my 1980s-era Naval Academy courses for my Control Systems Engineering degree I was often struck by how modern control algorithms, developed predominately during the 1950s and available as public domain well-published knowledge, can be applied in straight-forward ways to practically any control problem one might imagine.
Advancements in computing technology since then have only affected the speed at which control loops can be operated, and the power requirements to accomplish these tasks. In the case of guided missile technology, the required computing power hit about the size of a thumbnail somewhere in 1982 or so.
The physics of guided missile control are relatively low data rate kinds of problems, so the major advancements since then have been reducing power consumption (and thus reducing size and weight, or alternatively increasing range and payload) and improving sensors and actuators (thus increasing accuracy, maneuverability and survivability), all of which matured in the very early 2000s.
From a controls perspective, all that Joe is missing for his multi-engine vectored-thrust rocket is the idea of a state observer model, from which the actions of all his engines can then be coordinated.
He has the computing power, he has the actuators, he has the sensors.
This one idea, which replaces the individual cookie cutter PID loops, as they are known, is like a hot-rodder replacing stock items from under the hood but otherwise leaving most of the car intact.
The actual control loop details, based on a well-studied missile problem known as the inverted pendulum, have been available for about sixty or seventy years now, and can be simulated and tested fairly well using open-source software tools once the state model for his rocket has been determined.
This latter process is also accessible using open-source software tools and some fairly simple bench and flight model testing to determine various state parameters.
The point is not to criticize or arm-chair manage Joe, the point is that going from Joe’s rockets as they exist today to a small nation-state weapons program is a fairly small and open-source step now, despite having at one time been a large and vainly classified leap from Hitler’s crude ballistic and cruise missiles, jet interceptors and other drawing-board concepts such as surface-to-air missiles.
The math was more or less complete by the mid-1950s, the computational power available by the mid-1980s, and the sensors and actuators readily available in the early 2000s.
These things now, quite literally, no longer require rocket scientists.
As promised, here are the links to some of Joe’s rocket project videos. First the silo development project:
Next, launching the fin-less rocket from the silo:
And finally the impressive Falcon Heavy Model flight #2, with lessons-learned:
Conclusions
The point that I am making is a simple one. When one nation discovered steel, they abandoned their bronze tools, and made steel ones. They also made steel weapons. It wasn’t long afterwards, that everyone (on the civilized planet) were suddenly using steel weapons.
When calculators started to be mass-produced the demise of the slide-rule materialized within a year. It was a global phenomenon.
Cars, aircraft, computers, hamburgers and watches. It’s the same. When a new technology is “invented” and is available to the mass public, it is often duplicated with surprising rapidity.
There are many secrets locked down in the United States right now. These secrets are considered “dangerous”, but I am willing to say that they are not actually physically dangerous so much as they are a threat to the power-wielding oligarchy. Nothing more. I remain optimistic, and hopeful, that some day (maybe not soon, no matter what the “news” might lead you to believe) the technologies would be available to the rest of the world and great substantive changes to our cultures and our civilizations will occur in such a way that our species will benefit.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
If you enjoy what you see, it would be helpful if you could assist in hosting this forum. A donation would be appreciated.
This post we will look at the general considerations for the design of the egress portal itself.
This is part of the DIY series in making your very own dimensional portal. The geometry of the egress station will stay the same regardless of how you use this dimensional portal. Whether it is intended as a “time machine”, a mechanism to traverse the “what if” worlds, or just something you want to use to improve your physical appearance, the geometry will not change.
Dimensional portal showing magnetic field generator, and the “air gap” that the traveler must pass through to use the mechanism. This post discusses the geometry of this “air gap”.
Basic Introduction
Note that this is an article that is part of a long series of posts on DIY construction of a dimensional portal.
This technology will permit a person to move anywhere in the universe geographically, move through time, and more in and out of different world-lines.
This page is part of a collection of my writings on how to make a home-made dimensional portal that actually works. This portal is a “poor man’s” version of the MAJestic dimensional portal that was present in NAS NASC Pensacola Florida back in 1981.
This particular post covers the geometry of the portal itself’ the “air gap” or region that that traveled must walk through in order to travel the various world-lines.
Teleportation is a proven fact, and is well understood in the quantum physics world. It has been demonstrated continuously and repeatedly in the laboratory as well.
Though public demonstration of large objects is not available and considered "far fetched", the fact is this is a mature technology.
This technology has been in possession of the United States Navy's ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) branch of high technology MAJestic branch, of which I was a part of.
Overall, this post is part of a much larger series of posts. All of which describe a rather comprehensive DIY project. Within it is everything that you need to construct your very own dimensional portal. The big missing gap is the mapping of the dimensional coordinates. Because unless you are able to lay out a destination coordinate, you will have little use for this mechanism.
The equations tend to be a tad esoteric, but it’s nothing too difficult as long as you know some basic mathematics. Just follow the narrative and the instructions and you will be just fine.
This is part 10. The calculations and equations related to the actual portal geometry.
You are here.
I always like it when you are lost in a big museum, hospital or factory, and you come up to a big sign on the wall; a map really, that says “You are here.”. It helps you figure out where you are relative to the over all scheme of things.
You are here.
Let’s see where this post fits into the big scheme of things.
Essentially, the idea is quite simple, really. [1] You generate a massive, simply massive; “big honker” electromagnet. In it is [2] this “air gap” or a gap large enough for a person to walk though. [3] The magnetic field generated in the electromagnet is enormous. It is [4] strong enough to “erase” or “obscure” your current “coordinates” associated with this world-line and your life. Then, [5] new coordinates are over-laid over your body, [6] using frequency generation techniques, and [7] when the magnetic field collapses you “snap” right to the new reality or dimensions that you have imprinted.
It’s rather simple. The issues are in the implementation of the various steps.
You need to [8] measure the frequencies of location with extreme precision. You need [9] to be able to functionally understand how to change them to take you where ever you want to go. You need [10] to pulse the electromagnet into sine wave configuration, and [11] you need to have the traveler become brainwave neutral during the egress operation.
I’ve covered those steps elsewhere.
Here we will concentrate on the geometry of the “air gap” that the person (traveler) will walk into. It is section #2, above and highlighted in BOLD.
With this in mind, let’s crack open our electromagnetic handbooks and review just how a magnet works and how we can apply that knowledge to our particular application.
The design of magnets and electromagnets is a mature technology. I personally find it fascinating. As it is just a very interesting subject that I have taken a shine to. You can find all sorts of texts, websites, and papers written about this technology. And anything listed herein can be found elsewhere if you were so inclined to research elsewhere.
In this post, I am going to take this very interesting technology and break it down into a very simple format, so that anyone trying to (or who desires of) building their own dimensional portal can understand the issues involved.
Air Gap
This is the “interface” where the traveler enters the transport mechanism. It is an open area. It is a space, and since it contains air, it is known as a “air gap” as it is typically a gap within a large metal ring.
Air gap, is a non-magnetic part of a magnetic circuit.
It is usually connected magnetically in series with the rest of the circuit, so that a substantial part of the magnetic flux flows through the gap. Here’s a three dimensional diagram of an air gap in a magnetic circuit…
Depending on application, air gap may be filled with a non-magnetic material such as gas, water, vacuum, plastic, wood etc. and not necessarily just with air.3)4)
So we can say that if the device were enclosed within a pool of water, the person could swim though the gap and teleport to a new location. But why bother, right? We live and breathe and walk in air.
Flux Fringing
Due to increased reluctance of an air gap the flux spreads into the surrounding medium.
Think of water in a tube, as long as the tube keeps the water inside the tube, it flows forward without any loss or leakage. But the moment that you add a hole, or series of holes in the tube, you will have leaks. Water will squirt out, and as it does so, it will “take away” from the smooth flow of the rest of the water in the tube.
When you add an airgap to increase the reluctance of the core then it is almost as if you have decreased its permeability, and thereby lowered the inductance of a winding on it. Indeed, when you buy a core with a pre-fabricated gap then the manufacturer may specify what is called the effective permeability of the core, μ e.
-Air gapped magnetic cores
This spreading eventually causes an ‘effect” known as the “flux fringing effect.”
Flux fringing - a phenomenon in which the magnetic flux flowing in a magnetic core spreads out (or fringes out) into the surrounding medium, for example in the vicinity of an air gap.
-Fluxfringing [Encyclopedia of magnetics and electromagneti…
Flux fringing
The point behind this is that we need a gap for the traveler to walk through, but the mere presence of the gap will “take away” or detract from the energy, power and efficiency of the magnetic flux in that gap.
In order to quantify how much magnetic flux you will lose, you need to calculate it. This is done by observing the “eddy current loss”.
Eddy Current Loss
Flux Fringing is generally an unwanted phenomenon which usually increases proximity and eddy current loss in conductors located in the vicinity of the air gap. To simplify; the “flux fringing” phenomenon subtracts away from the strength of the magnetic flux inside the air gap.
Eddy Current Loss
A sectional view of the magnetic core is shown in the figure above. When the changing flux links with the core itself, it induces emf in the core which in turns sets up the circulating current called Eddy Current. And these current in return produces a loss called eddy current loss or (I2R) loss, where I is the value of the current and R is the resistance of the eddy current path.
The strength and the magnitude of the loss of magnetic flux is a function of the geometry of the air gap and the over-all magnitude of the flux itself.
Reducing the Eddy Current Loss
If the core is made up of solid iron of larger cross-sectional area, the magnitude of I (current) will be very large and hence losses will be high. To reduce the eddy current loss mainly there are two methods.
By reducing the magnitude of the eddy current.
The magnitude of the current can be reduced by splitting the solid core into thin sheets called laminations, in the plane parallel to the magnetic field. Each lamination is insulated from the other by a thin layer of coating of varnish or oxide film.
Instead of a solid metal core, if you make it out of thin lamination’s, you will be able to be able to control eddy current loss.
By laminating the core.
By laminating the core, the area of each section is reduced and hence the induced emf also reduces. As the area through which the current is passed is smaller, the resistance of eddy current path increases.
Diagram showing how laminated cores operate within an magnetic field environment.
Influence on B-H loop
The B-H loop of a magnetic circuit is affected by the presence of an air gap. This is an important characteristic of the environment inside of the air gap.
The B-H loop is produced by measuring the magnetic flux (B) of a ferromagnetic material when the applied magnetizing force is changed (H). A ferromagnetic material which has been never before magnetized or demagnetized ferromagnetic material will trail the dashed line (see the figure) as magnetizing force (H) is increased.
A B-H Loop in soft magnet.
Permeability of non-magnetic material is low (such as air) and therefore it requires greater values of to obtain the same value of as compared with magnetically soft materials (such as iron). Here is a more detailed image of a typical B-H Loop showing key features of it.
B-H loop
With the introduction of an air gap the B-H loop of a magnetic circuit gets “sheared” (slanted), hence the value of its slope proportional to the effective permeability is reduced.
Effective magnetic permeability (also apparent magnetic permeability1)), often denoted as μe, μeff or μa - a term used in analysis of magnetic performance of gapped cores. For a non-homogeneous core (e.g. gapped or composed of powder-like particles) this would be the value of magnetic permeability of a hypothetical homogeneous material which would exhibit the same permeability.
The amount of “shearing” is proportional to the length of the air gap – the larger the air gap the lower the slope. For our application, this air gap is quite large; it is the height of a human being.
For air core coil (no magnetic material present) the B-H characteristics become by definition the same as for the non-magnetic material encircled by the winding (e.g. air).
The influence of air gap on the shape of B-H loop for a cut core is shown below…
B-H loops (hysteresis loops) measured on a toroidal core, made from grain-oriented electrical steel grade M4. The core was cut and lapped. Blue curve shows the B-H loop with the lapped faces touching. Red curve shows data measured for the same core, with an air gap of 0.07 mm (plastic shim) introduced between the lapped faces. B-H loops measured at 1.7T, 50Hz. Power loss was 1.49 W/kg without air gap, and 1.45 W/kg with the air gap, so very little change comparing to great changes of the shape of the loop.
Changes of effective permeability and linearisation of the B-H loops caused by increasing the air gap …
A comparative graph showing the influence of increasing air gap in a magnetic core. The numbers denote the unitless ratio lg/lc, where: lg – length of gap and lc – length of core. Drawing based on: G.B. Finke, Gapped magnetic core structures, Magnetic Metals Corporation, {accessed 17 Jun 2013}.
Conversely, if no air gap is present then the slope becomes as steep as possible, and the B-H loop will represent the closest approximation of the characteristic of the magnetic material (for a given shape of the magnetic circuit). For our egress portal design, the B-H Loop is very, extremely slanted. It is nearly horizontal. And that does pose some design challenges.
The creation of a workable “air gap” can be achieved for instance by careful polishing or lapping of the flat faces, in order to reduce the surface roughness and the amount of space between the magnetic surfaces. 5)
Calculator of effective magnetic permeability from air gap
For a magnetic circuit with uniform cross-section the value of effective permeability μeff can be calculated if the lengths and permeabilities of both part of the circuit are known.
The equation is valid only for a simple magnetic circuit, made out of bulk material, for relative permeability if lcore >> lgap, and if µcore >> 1.
Gapped core with: total magnetic path length l (orange), length of core lcore (blue) and length of air gap(red)
.
I find this all very interesting. But you know, many people cannot visualize the differences between a small model and the actual real object. It’s like that scene from the Movie Hangover III. Where the one character looks at the model of an estate, and comments, (more or less)…
[to Phil and Stu]
Alan: You guys know what’s going on, right?
Phil: What do you mean?
Alan: Well…
[to Chow]
Alan: And please correct me if I’m wrong.
[pointing to the miniature villa]
Alan: We’re not breaking into this house, this house is too small. We’re breaking into another house. This is just a model, right, Chow?
Mr. Chow: What?
In short, if we use the simpler, most basic design for this electromagnet, then the magnet will have to be huge. You would take the picture of the above magnet, and scale it up. So the air gap which is perhaps 1/8 of an inch wide, would actually be six or seven feet tall.
Thus making the entire magnet building-sized.
Gapped and air-cored inductors
To understand other alternatives to this design and style of an electromagnet, we need to understand what options that we have. And, lucky for us, there are many. We can use the technologies involved in inductors to help us work out more “reasonable” solutions that won’t require us to get a building permit to create a five story tall electromagnet.
Now, fundamentally, the presence of the air-gap will change the ability of the electromagnet to work efficiently. From it’s initial conception through to utility, the entire system is fraught with inefficiencies. Never the less, use of it in our application is guaranteed to work provided that the magnetic flux is large enough.
Energy storing inductors
Air gaps are an integral part of gapped inductors.
An analogy of the movement of magnetic flux within an air-gapped inductor and that of an electrical circuit.
.
The gap reduces effective permeability of a given magnetic circuit and allows storing much greater energy before saturation is reached.
Effective magnetic permeability (also apparent magnetic permeability), often denoted as μe, μeff or μa - a term used in analysis of magnetic performance of gapped cores. For a non-homogeneous core (e.g. gapped or composed of powder-like particles) this would be the value of magnetic permeability of a hypothetical homogeneous material which would exhibit the same permeability.
Increasing the gap reduces the inductance, so the winding must have more turns to compensate accordingly.12)
The larger the air-gap, the more turns of wire that must be used in the electro-magnet.
For a given size of inductor the amount of stored energy versus applied air gap can be represented by a Hanna curve.13)
If operation with high currents is required then the air gap might be very large, so that the magnetic circuit is quite “open”.
For instance, a common design for electronic chokes is to place a winding on a magnetic rod. The magnetic field lines must close through the surrounding air (outside of the winding), so the length of the air gap is comparable with the length of the rod.14)
In some cases the currents are so high that it is very difficult or cost prohibitive to design the inductor with a magnetic core. In such case a so-called “air core” is used, where the windings are supported by a non-magnetic structure, and the whole magnetic circuit is effectively one big air gap.
The distribution of air gap can be also extended even further. There are magnetic materials, which are made from small particles (mostly based on powder iron, sendust or moly permalloy powder) bound together in such a way as to contain certain percentage of non-magnetic volume in them.
SendustSendust is a magnetic metal powder that was invented by Hakaru Masumoto at Tohoku Imperial University in Sendai, Japan, about 1936 as an alternative to permalloy in inductor applications for telephone networks. Sendust composition is typically 85% iron, 9% silicon and 6% aluminum. The powder is sintered into cores to manufacture inductors. Sendust cores have high magnetic permeability (up to 140 000), low loss, low coercivity (5 A/m) good temperature stability and saturation flux density up to 1 T.
Moly Permalloy. An alloy with exceptionally high magnetic permeability, very low coercive force, very low core losses, and low remnance by magnetic field annealing. The alloy finds application in magnetic shielding where fields much less than the Earth’s magnetic field are required. The highest volume applications using laminations or tape wound cores today are ground fault interrupter and modem transformer cores. The alloy is used as well in a variety of other high performance transformer core applications such as tape recorder heads and audio transformers. Control of the cooling rate during heat treatment and superimposition of various customer bake treatments are used to develop the most suitable magnetic quality for the application
The resultant effective permeability is much lower, but the air gap is uniformly distributed throughout the whole material.16) The fringing effect and leakage flux is greatly reduced, which is especially important for high-frequency applications.
Electromagnets
If the idea of creating a building-sized electromagnet is not appealing, there are other ways of conducting and producing electromagnets. Such as this one. Large electromagnet with a 200 mm long air gap..
Large semi-industrial DC electromagnet, made by Magneto (and co-designed by Stan Zurek). The air gap allows exposing objects 20 x 20 x 20 cm to flux density 0.4 T and higher.
A common performance expected from an electromagnet is to generate magnetic field within a given volume of an air gap.
The purpose of an electromagnet is to generate a strong magnetic field within the air gap.
This could be done for a number of tasks, for instance:
to exert mechanical force on a designed part – this operation is similar to electromagnetic actuators
to exert mechanical force on inclusions or other elements suspended in non-magnetic matter – a principle used in magnetic separators42), recording of shapes on magnetic film43) and some medical applications (e.g. guiding particles inside of blood vessels)44)
to provide magnetic field required for material processing45)46)
And this is exactly what our use of this system is for.
Of the shelf designs for experimentation purposes.
Why go straight to the creation of large (building sized) electromagnets, when there are well made, smaller, units available? You can buy these smaller units, and run tests and experiments using them. You will be able to do everything that a big electromagnet can do, except send a human-sized object to another dimension.
Here is one such product…
DXSBV Double-Yoke Single-Tuning Adjustable Air Gap Electromagnet
Double-yoke electromagnet, whose magnetic pole pieces stay vertically to the ground, with downward magnetic pole piece to be fixed, topside magnetic pole piece and air gap to be adjustable, the magnetic field is vertical with the ground. The main feature is easy to place and remove the sample, which is suitable for repeated measurement, widely used in magnetic materials testing.
And here are some specifications for some of the models that this company produces…
Specifications
.
The inspired DIY dimensional experimenter might be interested in following up with this at the company website HERE.
Energy stored in air gap
A magnetic circuit behaves like a “conductor” so that the magnetic field can be efficiently guided along desired path. If a high-permeability material is used then very little energy will be stored in the magnetic core. However, an air gap introduces a discontinuity and due to its low permeability stores significant amount of magnetic energy, as compared to the same volume of magnetic core.
This energy storing property is utilized, for instance, in energy storing inductors and flyback transformers, in which air gap in a pivotal design parameter. On the one hand, the air gap is used for storing the actual energy, but on the other it changes operating characteristics of the B-H curve and allows driving the inductor at higher currents hence higher magnetic field strength thus extending the range before magnetic saturation occurs.
For a simple magnetic circuit with a single air gap (see the first image at the top), for which the core is made out of high-permeability material such that , with the air gap itself and the flux density in the air gap being uniform, and if the flux fringing can be neglected, it can be derived that the stored energy is: 47)
This equation is our GOLD STANDARD from which to calculate the air gap dimensions.
Air Gap Dimensions
Here is what I would suggest to use as the volume and the dimensions for the air gap.
Air gap Dimensions.
Flux fringing
Flux fringing (red arc) around an air gap in magnetic core
An FEM simulation of a gapped inductor. The field lines show the magnetic flux. In the air gap the green trajectory (between the poles) is the desired path for flux, but the red one shows fringing flux.
Flux fringing is caused by the fact that the reluctance of the concentrated air gap is much greater than that of the core. The flux tries to spread as wide as possible in order to minimise the drop of magnetomotive force across the air gap. As a result of flux fringing the total reluctance of the circuit is somewhat lower. This has several major effects.
In energy-storing inductors the inductance is related to the reluctance of the air gap. The fringing lowers the overall reluctance, so that the resulting inductance is somewhat higher. This needs to be taken into account so that the inductance value is appropriate for a given design. There are various empirical equations suggested in literature for calculating the correction of this effect.
McLyman
For instance McLyman suggest the following “flux fringing factor” ():48)
where: F – factor by which the inductance is increased (unitless),lgap– length of the air gap (m),A – cross-section area of the core (m2), lwindow— length of the inside (in the window) of the core leg in which the gap is present (m).
Rectangular Cross Section
Another example is when the area of the air gap is scaled according to its length. For instance if the magnetic core cross-section is a rectangle the following calculation can be used: 49)
where: and are the lengths of each side of the rectangular cross-section of the magnetic core (m).
Hurley and Wölfle
Yet another approximating equation is given by Hurley and Wölfle50)
However, all such equations are only approximate, and usually work only under the assumption that the length of the air gap is much smaller than any of the dimensions of the core.
Additional Copper Loss
The second effect is additional copper loss due to the fact that fringing flux “bulges away” from the air gap. Usually most of the core window is occupied by windings and if they are exposed to fast-changing fringing flux (e.g. in flyback transformers) this causes additional eddy current losses in the windings.51)
Entry Angle
The third effect is that the fringing flux enters the core perpendicularly to the normal flow of magnetic field. In soft ferrites this is not a problem. But in laminated cores this flux does not travel along the laminations, but enters them perpendicularly to their surface, resulting in a large value of normal component, inducing elevated eddy currents and thus additional iron loss. A distributed air gap is employed in order to reduce this effect (see next section).
5) International standard, IEC 60404-3, Magnetic materials – Part 3: Methods of measurement of the magnetic properties of magnetic sheet and strip by means of a single sheet tester
25), 27) P. Marketos, T. Meydan, D. Snell, Performance of single-phase transformer cores assembled from consolidated stacks of electrical steels, Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, Vol. 254-255, 2003, p. 612-614
40) R.S. Ruffini, Jr., V.S. Nemkov, Magnetic Field Control and Concentration in Induction Heating coils, Heat Treating, Proceedings of the 16th ASM Heat Treating Society Conference & Exposition, 19-21 March 1996, Cincinatti, Ohio, US, p. 127
The first step in building this DIY teleportation / dimensional egress portal is to construct the electromagnet that will be used to erase the universal location frequencies of the traveler. Any strong and powerful enough magnetic field will do, but in this post we discuss using electomagnets with an enormous air gap to provide this ability.
Further, commercially available systems (of a much smaller scale) are available for purchase and use for experimentation purposes, and for purposes of obtaining location frequency data, and that associated with time, and location.
Do you want more?
I’d hope so. I have more posts in my DIY dimensional Portal Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
Its going to get a lot worse regardless of who wins in November. Get ready
-kerry
As the good Metallicman readership should know, the Second American Civil War started early in 2020. It was at that point in time that a number of unique events transpired that would have been impossible, were American to be a healthy and productive nation. Since then, things have gone downhill fast. Now, prior to the 2020 elections, no one knows who will be elected. But one thing is certain, who ever is elected will not make any difference in the course of what American will go through.
This is true on both sides of the political spectrum, and perhaps that is the only thing that is unifying America right now.
The long, long postponed collapse of the oligarchy run military empire is in process, and no matter what happens, you can rest assured that…
No one will really know what is actually going on.
The “news” is never reported upon. Instead, a confluence of confusing “media reports” and disinformation will occupy much of American media.
External enemies will be identified, and effort made to direct American attention outside the US borders.
Money will continue to be made, but only at the oligarchy level. Everyone else will steadily lose everything.
The stratification of the United States is complete. Most Americans will not be able to ever leave their current status in life.
Now, what this post is all about is something that I have noticed over the last few months, and it is really becoming evident now. It is that idea that [1] the United States is in the middle of an ideological conflict right now, and [2] that it is right before the shooting starts.
Most people, on both sides, agree to this assessment to one extent or the other.
Further, most [3] agree that the election will have a very minor impact on what transpires. That a “hot” American civil war is “in the works”.
I have been told that if President Trump wins the election, that the Progressive Marxists are all set and ready to “burn the nation down”. And the Conservatives, by and large, pretty much agree with this assessment.
In a like way, if the Democratic candidate, Mr. Biden wins, then most Conservatives that I know pretty much expect a forced socialist takeover, and that they would have to fight a militarized Social Marxist America.
Businessmen conduct business. Students go to school. Families make babies. Workers go and toil. Rich people get wealthier. The stock market keeps on going higher and higher. And China is evil, bat-soup slurping monsters. Yada. Yada. Yada.
But behind this colorful exterior lies a cauldron of turmoil that you can cut with a knife.
Yes. All along the “watch-towers” (the modern day equivalents; personal blogs, and small-isolated alternative media) the signals are clear. America is embroiled in a Civil War Right Now. And everyone needs to prepare for the time, in the near future, when things will get ugly.
Most of these blogs are pretty much saying the same thing.
Civil War is going to happen, or is happening.
Other nations will not get involved.
Whatever “external distractions” that are planned will only make things worse.
Among those who discuss the prospects of overthrowing the United States government, there’s a common belief that it would be impossible for domestic rebels to militarily defeat the U.S. armed forces. This inevitably leads to speculations about alternative ways for the rebels to prevail. Maybe we could win most of the U.S. military personnel over to the side of the revolutionaries, or maybe we could get a powerful U.S. rival like China to come to the aid of the rebel forces.
But upon thoroughly examining the situation, these hopes look ever more wishful. China’s goal is not to help foment revolutions abroad. And given that a civil war in the U.S. would no doubt prompt many U.S. allies to get their own militaries involved, Russia, China, and other superpowers would be especially hesitant to intervene given how much risk this would create of world war. Maybe Cuba or the DPRK would come to our aid, but we can’t bank on any foreign army to turn the direction of the class war in our favor.
Propagating Marxist-Leninist theory among U.S. troops is a worthwhile goal. But for every armed forces defector towards the socialist movement that appears in the coming chaotic years of U.S. imperial collapse, there will be plenty of other military members who remain loyal to the forces of fascism and capitalist reaction. Thus comes the recently articulated conclusion from communist YouTuber Hakim that:
The U.S. military and police will never, and I mean will never, join a potential revolution in the U.S. They are a barrier to a revolution. These are the agents of capital sent worldwide to rob, steal, and murder, all for the wealth and power of the bourgeoisie. Reactionary attitudes and counter-revolutionary mindsets are manufactured within the American military and police. For every soldier or policeman that lays down his weapons or, even better, joins the revolution, there will be a hundred, if not a thousand, cracking black skulls and shooting children. I saw it in Iraq. It isn’t far-fetched for it to be the norm in the U.S.
As you look at these facts, you slowly come to realize the stark reality of your situation as someone who’s committed themselves to liberating the world from U.S. capitalism, imperialism, and colonialism. This reality is that you can only rely on the revolutionary organizations within the U.S. to help bring you to victory against the forces of bourgeois reaction. In all likelihood, an army from across the ocean isn’t coming to save you. The throngs of heavily indoctrinated fascists in the U.S. military aren’t going to overwhelmingly join your side. Victory is only going to come from how good you are at sticking with the revolutionary tasks that the material conditions will demand from you.
These tasks are apparent from looking at how the Taliban, despite lacking tanks or warplanes and despite having always been outnumbered and technologically outmatched by the U.S., has managed to prevent the U.S. from defeating it after nineteen years of war. The Taliban has done this by winning the loyalty of much of the local populations in the parts of Afghanistan that they control, using the massive violence and corruption that U.S. imperialism has brought to the country to get many people to see aligning with their organization as the best option.
The Taliban has had advantages that rebel forces in the U.S. won’t necessarily have the equivalent of, like highly mountainous terrain and support from Pakistan. But even if we don’t manage to get military support from Cuba or the DPRK, and even if the U.S. surveillance apparatus forces us to operate with great secrecy, we’ll be able to gain a comparable advantage if we do the work to build popular support for a revolutionary guerrilla effort.
This step is where agitation and organizing come in. If we spend the coming years using the country’s crises to get many more people to join communist parties, and if we do this while educating the masses about the capitalist and imperialist contradictions behind the crises they’re experiencing, we’ll gain a large base of support. Not one that includes the enormous population of reactionaries in the U.S., but one that’s capable of providing a guerrilla struggle with popular backing. With this vision in mind, Hakim has articulated the actions which must accompany these efforts:
Arm yourselves. Establish armed wings of revolutionary organizations. Start coordinating armed actions across the country with as many organizations as you can. Remember, never terrorist activity-only military and state targets. Establish Red bases around the country, and begin building dual power. People’s war is the solution. If you truly want radical change, and if you really want to turn the U.S. from an overwhelming agent of bad in the world into an agent of good, you will need to turn upheaval-with sufficient development-into a civil war.
When this war starts, we’ll need to apply the guerrilla tactics that can make us win. These are the tactics that focus around attrition, the action of gradually weakening the forces of the enemy. Attacking military and state targets, as Hakim said, is how we can accomplish this. If we sustain these attacks, the forces of the U.S. will over time be forced to retreat.
And despite what the “a rebellion can never defeat the U.S. military” perception seems to imply about how such a conflict would play out, the U.S. won’t initially use its heaviest military tools for attacking the rebels. The U.S. will start to cripple itself if it begins bombing cities and infrastructure, and the more military resources it has to sacrifice at home, the less ability it will have to project power abroad. This certainly won’t be good for them in a future scenario where the current resource, climatic, economic, and social crises have all been massively exacerbated, and where U.S. imperial decline will have gone on for much longer than it has so far. Our enemies may have the might of empire on their side, but we’ll have the advantage of fighting against a power structure that’s destabilizing itself amid the collapse of global capitalism.
The foundations of capitalism are falling out. Through guerrilla warfare, we can tear the whole structure down. What this will require from you is the psychological commitment needed to carry forth this operation.
The guerrilla warrior has to endure great bodily sacrifices. In addition to the risks of being killed or injured in battle, the life of a guerrilla can consist of severe hunger, thirst, lack of domestic sanitation, demands for great physical exertion, and the other costs of hiding and traveling outdoors. The accounts of the great guerrilla Che Guevara make these costs apparent. But when you realize the value of revolutionary sacrifice, these things will no longer deter you. The alternative to joining the struggle is to remain complacent, to keep standing by while the U.S. empire collapses into fascism and while your material conditions keep deteriorating. Without making the necessary sacrifices, we won’t be able to defeat the ruling class.
Capitalism and U.S. imperialism may be collapsing, but revolution won’t come of its own accord. It won’t happen after a grand foreign invasion, or after thousands of armed fascists suddenly have a change of heart. It will happen after we realize that the U.S. military is not invincible, and that we have the capacity to win the class war ourselves.
Conclusions
The American media, and the Alt-left and Alt-Right branches are all controlled by the United States government. There is no such thing as a “free independent press” any longer in the United States. That pretty much disappeared in the middle 1980’s. And the narratives that they are promoting today includes a Civil War.
The American media, controlled by the American government / oligarchy, is promoting the idea of an American Civil War.
…
So here you have an American government that controls the media, promoting the narrative that a civil war is either ongoing or will happen soon. This narrative saturates modern life. It affects how Americans view their life, their friends, and their families.
Why are they doing this?
This pushing, this pressing, this march, and drum beat of civil strife is leading up to something. It has a profound influence in what Americans do, how they act, how they save, and how they survive.
…
People are reacting. But not in ways that you (the reader) and I would presuppose. People are guarded, more cautious, and gloomy… but hopeful. Many hold this secret desire that the pain of this year (2020 pandemic, trump trade wars, trump twitter storms, and the city wide riots, not to mention unemployment, etc.) will all come to an end. People want normalcy.
But the media is not giving anyone a break.
Economist Stephen Roach warns next year will be brutal for the dollar.
Not only does he see growing odds of a double-dip recession, the Yale University senior fellow believes his “seemingly crazed idea” that the dollar would crash shouldn’t be so crazy anymore.
“We’ve got data that’s confirmed both the saving and current account dynamic in a much more dramatic fashion than even I was looking for,” Roach told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Wednesday.
-Economist Stephen Roach issues new dollar crash warning, sees double-dip recession odds above 50%
It’s non-stop “the world is falling apart” headlines…
Hint: You can tell that the article originated out of the United States government when you see the "index key words" in the title.
In this case "repression".
Let's Google "China + Repression" shall we? I found 10,400,000 results.
…
So, the United States is careening towards a major domestic “hot war”. The government is aware of this, is active in setting the stage for this to occur, and plans to “manage” it in some way.
What we know, from past histories…
The conflicts will be splotchy throughout the United States. Some areas will be basket cases, while other areas will be unaffected.
The leadership plans to be able to ride out the events safely.
The United States (recently) has a terrible record of managing anything.
When the leadership is threatened, the final card will be played (a conflict with a major external power).
What does all this mean?
It means that the next two to three years are going to be testy in the United States. It means that if you planned well, that you will be in a safe area that will be relatively unaffected by the civil assaults. You will not be able to believe the American media. That includes most all alternative media.
Your life will look completely different from what is being “reported”. Just like my life looks completely different from the anti-China “news” reports out of the States.
Now…
Keep in mind, that this is not all.
When things become unmanageable, when the violence they created starts to flow outside their containment structures, then they will set up their back up plans. This will be when the leadership and oligarchy is threatened, they will invoke a war with a major global power. And they DO KNOW the risks. No matter what, they are convinced by their analysts that it will be a long and prolonged conventional war, and that it will be fought far away from the American shores.
But people… listen to me.
It will NOT be [1] a long duration, [2] conventional war, [3] fought in far away battlegrounds, where [4] Americans can be distracted by nightly updates.
It will be a short war.
It will be a nuclear war.
It will be absolutely devastating for the United States.
That war will end the United States as we know it.
Why? Because America as big, and plump and juicy a target as it is, the top leadership, and all the infrastructure has collapsed. It’s a very inflexible, behemoth run by fixed intransigents.
America is FRAGILE.
America is remarkably fragile. All the wealth and industry are concentrated in only a handful of locations.
Ten nuclear missiles is only ONE Chinese ICBM with MIRV’s. One singular submarine can reduce the United States to a third-world shithole within five minutes from launch. (As they tend to carry ten of these missiles each holding ten of these nuclear devices.) And let’s not even talk about the enormous nuclear might of Russia
America IS fragile.
As I see it…
The United States has an enormous military, with far-flung bases all around the world that are dependent upon well-established and fixed lines of supply. But once they logistics channels are interrupted, they are vulnerable.
The United States has some amazing high technology weaponry. But these are complex and need to be maintained, unit readiness is at best 60% and they require fully capable supporting logistics and talent to repair, maintain and operate. All these great weapons systems are vulnerable.
The United States (Through Donald Trump) has pissed of the world. His sole global alignments are Canada, the UK, and Australia. The rest are mercurial, and will change when situations warrant it. Politically, globally, the Untied States is vulnerable.
The oligarchy, and their minions, the American “leadership” fully expect the United States to undergo dramatic change within the next five years. 2020 through 2025.
They have planned for this.
This planning has been in place for decades, and instead of Donald Trump being an aberration in the plan, it is perhaps all a part of the grand scheme of things.
It is curious how the isolation of America "from the world stage" will absolutely limit any chaos and damage that will in America during this period to... ONLY America. There will be very little "spill over" to the rest of the world.
These members of the oligarchy are not fools, and they do not follow the “news” like you and I do. They can see the real picture (to an extent) and know exactly what is going on. And that includes all the various factions vying for power and control in the United States.
What will happen?
No one knows. Certainly I don’t, and I’m perhaps the only “spook” that has some insight into things that’s gonna tell you all the situation publicly. (I am actually much more than a “spook” but you know what I mean.) But all this should be obvious to anyone who spends sometime outside of the American media echo chamber.
But I can say this…
John Titor’s Vision
John Titor claimed to be a time traveler from the future. The world he described is exactly identical to what we are seeing today. The only significant difference are his dates. But, if you add exactly ten years to his dates you get the following….
American civil war starting in 2020 with the first shots fired.
Democratic leadership in control of government afterwards.
Democrat President trying to hold things together and using the DHS (Federal Police) to control the “rebels” in the rural areas.
Well, we will see what happens in November, eh? Who will win? Will Trump win reelection, or will there be a complete sweep of Government to the far-left Marxists? We will find out.
Anyways, John Titor further says that under the democrat President (DHS in control of forces that hunt down Conservatives, according to John Titor.) We have a…
A civil war that lasts for three years.
And then…
An event that triggers a war with Russia.
A possible “First strike” by Russia that devastates all the major cities in America.
Launch of a Chinese SLBM with MIRV (dummy) warheads launched in a practice fun right after Trump pulled the three Carrier Assault flotillas off the Chinese coastline in July 2020.
What is not stated, but implied…
America surrenders.
America is then “sacked”.
Sacked - having been robbed and destroyed by force and violence; "the raped countryside". despoiled, raped, ravaged, pillaged. destroyed - spoiled or ruined or demolished; "war left many cities destroyed"; "
Ten years of so afterwards, after a great “sorting”, many people will die. Many will starve. In fact, John Titor said that the majority of deaths were from Starvation, followed by illness. Then, Guns and radiation, in that order.
A “New America” rises from the ashes of the old.
America is broken up into five nations.
A new world order emerges.
Russia (and China) remain the top trade partners to America.
How accurate is John Titor? I don’t know. But he made these statements back in 1998. He’s been pretty much spot-on, regarding a large number of innocuous predictions and how he described his life. You all might want to plan on his predictions coming true.
It would probably be prudent to plan on his predictions coming true.
Do you want more?
Do you want to see similar posts?
I hope that you found this post curious. Please take care. You can view other similar posts in my SHTF Index, here…
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you.
Remote viewing is defined as the ability to acquire accurate information about a distant or non-local place, person or event without using your physical senses or any other obvious means. It’s associated with the idea of clairvoyance, seemingly being able to spontaneously know something without actually knowing how you got the information. It is also sometimes called “anomalous cognition” or “second sight.”
Many of us experience this from time to time as an intuitive flash of insight that turns out to be correct. Many well-known entrepreneurs and business people, like George Soros, Conrad Hilton, Thomas Alva Edison and Akio Morita, the co-founder of Sony, have attributed their business success to this ability. And we’ve all seen natural psychics perform seemingly amazing feats of mental skill on TV.
The difference between natural psychic receptivity and remote viewing is that the latter is a trained skill, a controlled process, that the average person can learn to do, to some degree or another.
-Gaia
This post covers remote viewing of the future and how it works. But instead of saying that remote viewing of the future is a glimpse of the shared universe, we look at it in it’s true state. For the “shared universe” is really the MWI. And thus you have a quandary. If you are on a world-line following your own specific paths, and you read about someone remote viewing the future, is it accurate?
Does the remote viewing of their extrapolated future, have meaning for you?
And, how can you know anything at all about their extrapolated future when you are on your very own personal world-line?
What is the mechanism for observing world-line futures?
Well, here in this post we will look at all these elements and more. So this post will enable the reader to obtain a far better understanding of our universe, and the abilities that we have and hold within it.
First off…
What is the Mechanism for observing world-line futures?
It’s pretty much understood that certain people have “tapped” into our reality and have trained themselves to observe things and relate these things to others. It’s known as “Remote Viewing”. There is not too much that I can add to this, except to lay out the general mechanism(s) involved.
Thoughts control our reality.
By awareness, and training, one is able to see, and track what our reality is.
This might manifest in all kinds of abilities that go by the labels of ESP and PSI.
You can pretty much INDIVIDUALLY see what your own future holds by [1] adding affirmations that state that ability and that allow your to learn and cultivate it, and [2] try using any of the well publicized techniques of remote viewing yourself.
I have done both.
But I do not use it very often at all.
The reason is this…
Remote Viewing of my death
I used both techniques [1 & 2] above to view what would happen in my future.
The year was 2005 and I was going through a remarkable time. My mother died, I went through a divorce, there was a fight over her estate, and I was caught up in the middle of it, I lost my job, my car, my house, and my pets. And then I was retired from MAJestic.
I went though a serious crisis after crisis and I was fearful of my future as everyone was telling me what to expect once I entered retirement…
I fully expected to be hurt seriously, and killed as part of MAJestic. It was not an idle concern. I knew from <redacted> . Certainly there was a couple of attempts along these lines (I haven’t written about them, yet) And I was literally shaking all day and everyday.
Once the papers got the news that I was being arrested as a Sex Offender, all hell broke out. And the vast amount of hatred and disgust poured into my life. People were driving by my house, and stopping and looking it over. People started to follow me. I even caught a guy with a can of gasoline trying to break into my back door.
I was at a low point.
The fear was eating me alive.
And so I added these affirmations. I specifically asked for direction, calmness, solutions and starting points.
Answers started to flow into my consciousness…
Go to a counselor.
Have a doctor look at my shaking, fear, and upset.
Realize that my possessions are only things.
My mother’s time was over. It had nothing to do with me.
The divorce was part of MAJestic retirement.
I had to be retired. I was considered “dangerous”.
Do not fight the retirement, accept it and focus on the objectives.
Don’t flee.
Migrate what remaining assets I had outside the country.
Focus on reestablishing my friendships and community in China.
The retirement will be short, and then I can move to China.
Finally…
I “saw” my death.
I was thin, and looked like I was in my 90’s. I was in a hospital bed in a very modern hospital. I had two or three others in my room looking at me, and I expired peacefully. Calmly. Smoothly. Like drifting off into luke-warm water.
This image.
This image was all that I really needed to have. It told me that no matter what I was going to go through, that I would go through it and survive. i would be fine and die an old man being taken cared for and surrounded with people who cared for me.
And that was all I needed.
To understand how remote viewing works you need to understand how our “reality universe works”…
As I have repeatedly stated, [1] we are consciousness.
We are NOT a body.
Further, [2] our consciousness enters a specific singular world-line. Usually empty and devoid of other “active” consciousnesses.
We do not share a “place” inside a universe with others.
And [3] it appears that we share things because billions of years of thoughts have created an underlying “template” that all the world-lines feed off of.
But…
It’s [4] not a singular template. Wildly divergent thoughts and actions have created multiple “template(s)”.
And thus when your consciousness enters a body on the earth, you are positioned upon one of a multitude of templates.
This template is the “pre-birth world-line template”.
A starting point
A “pre-birth world-line template” is the starting point that the consciousness uses when it enters the earth reality to obtain experiences. It is a point in “time”. It is a spatial location. And it comes with a “map” of the highest-probability world-lines for the “passage of time”.
This template is called a “template” because it is used by other consciousness’s as well. There are many, many such templates. And, as such, many, many, such maps.
What a map is, is a cluster of “highest probability” outcomes of the decision process for a given consciousness.
If your routine is to drink coffee with toast in the morning, it would be a point on the map.
Jumping out the window and killing a chicken and eating it for breakfast is a possibility, but a remote one. Thus it is not on the map.
To get to that remote possibility, you need to “slide” off the map onto another world-line template map.
The map is a display of the “highest probability” world-lines that your thoughts will generate for you.
It is (often) mapped out on the MWI in the form of a 3-D (three dimensional map). With the “lessons a soul can learn” (also known as hardships or entropy) mapped in the Y-axis. And it would appear to us (observing the map) as highs and lows; as mountains or valleys.
Of course, the newbie might think that since changes and feelings change on a moment to moment basis, then the basic map would change as well. Well, that is false. We only believe that we have control over our thoughts and the generation of the world-lines. In all actuality we do not. We are like sheets in the wind and our thoughts are predictable based upon the stimuli that our consciousness experiences in any given world-line.
In the image below, we see two individuals that share the same pre-birth world-line templates. They MAP is identical for each, but the path that they take is different. (This is a rather extreme simplification, but it is a useful exercise.) Notice that they both use the same pre-birth world-line template. Thus, they both “understand” each other. Notice that they make different decisions within the same template, but the decisions make sense to each other.
A “pre-birth world-line template” all mapped out with that of another whom actually shares your template.
Because [1] they use the SAME “pre-birth world-line template”, and that [2] both of them follow the same predictive pathways within the MAP, we can say that both Mr. Red and Mr. Blue’s world-lines are “clustered together”.
You can be on the same map and cluster together.
But also different maps can also cluster together if their thoughts are similar enough.
As such, while they are on different individual world-lines they might share the same sights that each observes. They might watch the same birds flying in the sky or the same mountains in the distance. And they might observe the same things that other people who use the same “pre-birth world-line template” do. As in this example…
The experiences that a consciousness is exposed to varies from person to person, yet we all can experience the same kinds of things in similar ways.
Here we can see that all three individuals are using [1] the same “pre-birth world-line template”, and [2] the same map, and [3] are all clustered together.
The Pre-Birth World-Line Template is THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect of your life upon the earth. No matter what decisions or thoughts that you have, this template is the foundation from which they derive from. This is the starting point; the initial conditions that your consciousness uses when it thinks and makes decisions and initializes physical actions.
And while you can move away using world-line travel, and strange and unexpected behaviors, and even slide off the world-line map into new, strange and unexpected maps (and their associated world-lines), the basic “programming” of your physical body will remain intact. You will always have the “pre-birth world-line template” influence in your life.
So stop that idea that once you are on a new world-line that everything is fresh and new. It isn’t. It’s just a continuation of your “passage of time” as it “hauls about a large line of experiences behind it”.
But…
Is it possible to predict the future using Remote Viewing in the MWI?
Well, the answer to this is YES it is.
However the future that you (or the person making the remote viewing activity) is able to predict is your own shared template, and shared map. If you are not on a shared map then the predictions would have very little relevance to you.
Here’s an example.
Let’s suppose that you have been [1] conducting consciousness navigation using “Prayer / Intention Campaigns”, and [2] you have been very aggressive about it. Because you have been so aggressive, [3] you have been sliding off your baseline “pre-birth world-line template” onto new maps.
Like this image…
In this map we see that Mr. Red has slid off his “pre-birth world-line template” map and entered a new map full of new realities for him. He uses Remote Viewing to see what lies ahead of him. In this instance, he views the future WITHOUT any slides to other maps. And he has a blurry image of the future, because the strongest candidates for his future lie in three separate world-lines. Thus he tries to interpret the results as best as he can using the tools at his disposal.
In this case, the remote viewed points are designated as three potential blue dots. YES. A person can remote view their future. But the nature of the MWI is one of a blurry and unsure future. For he (you, perhaps) are seeing three possible “blue dot” futures. It’s not all that clear.
Now, some things are stable enough to resolve clearly. Because all three “blue dots” share many attributes. You can see those attributes most clearly. But it will be the specifics that will be difficult to pin down.
Now, that does not necessarily mean that they cannot see the futures for other templates. Many such templates themselves cluster together. And thus one remote viewing of the future can apply to broad swaths of population.
Of course, the ideal is that since “time” is the real progression of your consciousness through the MWI. And you go world-line through world-line on a “pre-birth world-line template”, of course it is possible for you to “see” the future. You just need to be aware about the map topography.
And, if you KNOW that you are conducting Intention Campaigns that involve slides, you can factor those slides into your remote viewing efforts. Thus, you are best able to see the future that you, yourself are in the process of mapping out.
However the ability to do so for others involves a completely different set of skills. It is one that has to be cultivated and trained for over time.
So let’s talk about other people.
Does the remote viewing of someone else’s extrapolated future, have meaning for you?
Maybe yes and maybe no. It depends upon if the pre-birth world-line template resides upon the same cluster or grouping of world-lines.
Yes. If you share the same underlying pre-birth world-line template, and / or reside on a MAP from whence the future was perceived from.
No. If your MAP, template, and world-lines have no connection to that of the remote viewer.
If you are both on the same template then, the future is likely to be the same for you. As well as same or similar to all others that share that template or similar maps. It makes sense, yes?
Here are two different people. One Mr. Red and one Mr. Yellow. They do not share the same “Pre-birth world-line template”, nor do they share the same kinds of world-lines and neither of their world-line paths and maps are part of the same cluster. The end result is that both people remote view their futures and come up with widely different futures.
Now, the use of Remote viewing is not just a skill that anyone can use. It is a skill that you can learn, and achieve a great degree of accuracy with, provided that you understand that you are dealing with the MWI and that there are limits to what you can observe.
In the example (picture above) you can see that two different people would have widely different remote viewing results simply due to the nature of the map that their world-line travels follow upon.
Therefore, it would ONLY have meaning for you if your world-lines are all clustered (in some way) with the world-lines of the person conducting the Remote Viewing exercise. Which for many people (or at least a sizable percentage) would actually be the same.
How can one know about someone else’s future when you are on a different world-line?
Good question this.
The odds are that you cannot.
UNLESS, of course, you have chosen to enhance and cultivate your inherent awareness to the point where you could actually do so. These other skills are possible, but you need to cultivate and develop them. This entire exercise relates to the ability to tap into the non-physical worlds, get the date there and extrapolate with your senses. There are those that can do it. After all, there was a CIA program specifically devoted to this exercise.
In general, I would advise the reader just to mind your own business and stick to your own issues, and ignore the thoughts and predictions of others. Their realities will not have anything to do with yours (for the most part).
Predictions are what we make out of fear in the hope of trying to find some guidance when we feel that our life is “out of control”. You don’t need to worry about that, really. If you seriously want to have insight into what YOUR future will hold, then just simply add affirmations to your intention campaign. Such as these…
I have occasional glimpses or visions of clarity that will depict my life at points in time of six, nine and twelve months in the future.
I intrinsically understand the relative importance of other predictions that I read and hear about.
I do not fear the future, and am very comfortable with my life as it unfolds.
Metallicman predictions
So, please don’t ask me if I know what is going to happen in the future. I do not. No one does because we are all within our very own bubble of reality. The best that I can do is predict what is going on within MY cluster of world-lines and what the end result might be for others that share my similar train of thoughts.
As such, I pretty much assume that Metallicman readers pretty much share some of my baseline maps and templates. So you might be pleased or horrified to see your future though the eyes of us out here.
Which means, the PTB are correct.
Spicy times are coming, but they will not be distributed equally.
Care and due diligence will be necessary.
Avoid crowds, and establish yourself firmly within a community.
Be a Rufus.
In which case, I predict a period of global turbulence lasting at least ten years. Followed by a nice and slow period of extended calm and peace.
The last period of upset was 80 years ago and that was the 1940’s. The first five years of that decade was marked by a global wide war.
The next few years will prove to be exciting and if you all don’t want to share in that excitement, perhaps you should find quieter and more boring places to live. Maybe you might try to replicate what the oligarchy has done and buried themselves deep underground in hidy-holes in the remote sections of quiet and non-intrusive nations.
Don’t waste your time trying to find answers on the internet. Almost everything on the internet is censored. If you can find things that are not censored, you must carefully determine and discern whether it is disinformation or not. Most Alt-Left, and Hard-Right are saturated with disinformation. Avoid them.
Remember, boys and girls. Real wars, nuclear explosions, and biological weapon use will not be televised. As will the horrors of concentration camps, and genocide. None of that is ever televised. The “dumbed down” sheeple need not be informed.
Find the answers inside yourself. You’ll be a better person for it.
Is it possible to perform Remote Viewing?
Yes. Anyone can.
I will cover Remote Viewing in another post. I am not an expert in it, and at best I am just a hobbyist who used it occasionally. Yet I know a thing or two that might give the experimenter some advantage when using the techniques.
Declassified remote viewing sketch.
But here in this post we are concerned with the Remote Viewing of others and whether or not they have any relevance to a practitioner of prayer / affirmation campaigns. In general they don’t. The only real relevance is what you, yourself thinks about.
Conclusion
In times of trouble or change, people become fearful of the future. They try to search for ways or understandings on how their life might stabilize into some kind of calm and predictable life. As a result they tend to look at those who might give them predictions of what the future might hold.
Right now, there is an American election coming up. It is between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. And people are consulting their favorite “news” organizations for reassurance that their “guy” would win. Also along these lines are polls and “experts” who crunch data and try to help people sort out what the future will be.
Impressive prediction graphics abound on the Internet. This one was found here.
There are techniques that utilize the resources of clairvoyants and people who conduct Remote Viewing exercises.
There are also other ways to divine what the future might hold. Such as tarot cards, soothsayers, people who speak in tongues and other techniques like automatic writing, and mediums.
All this might give the reader a pause to hope, but the truth is that the ONLY way that you can control your future is through your thoughts and your actions. (And that includes buying a plane ticket to Bora Bora.) And if you want to live in a stable and peaceful world, the answer lies in your affirmation campaigns. Concentrate on yourself and your family. Don’t worry too much about the alarms and predictions of others.
Bora Bora.
And that includes Metallicman. For I see some spicy times ahead on my clustered world-lines. Perhaps it might be a good opportunity for you (if you have concerns) to slide off the current world-track you are on, and slip into a far calmer world-line. Don’t you think?
It’s NOT that difficult.
If you are truly worried then conduct an affirmation prayer campaign using the following affirmations;
Myself, my family and my immediate friends are all safe, secure, and happy. We are isolated from any conflict, trouble and strife that swirls around us.
We are protected, happy, and have a safe and calm life. We are insulated from danger.
Whatever is reported in the news I have an immediate understanding of it’s relevance to my life.
I and my family are given direction on how to act, behave, think, and work so as to avoid any troubles and conflicts that might come near us.
And finally,
Please avoid crowds. Avoid danger. Cultivate friendships. Learn skills, and volunteer in your community. Be known within your community.
Do you want more?
I have more posts of a similar nature in my Prayer / affirmation index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This is a complete reprint of law 35 titled “Master the art of Timing” by Robert Greene from his book “The 48 Laws of Power”. You must anticipate the ebb and flow of power. Recognize when the time is right, and align yourself with the right side. Be patient and wait for your moment when you know you’ll benefit in the long run. Master the art of timing. When it’s time to make your end move against an opponent, strike without hesitation.
LAW 35
MASTER THE ART OF TIMING
JUDGMENT
Never seem to be in a hurry-hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time.
Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually.
Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power.
Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.
SERTORIUS’S LESSON
Sertorius’s strength was now rapidly increasing, for all the tribes between the Ebro and the Pyrenees came over to his side, and troops came flocking daily to join him from every quarter.
At the same time he was troubled by the lack of discipline and the overconfidence of these newly arrived barbarians, who would shout at him to attack the enemy and had no patience with his delaying tactics, and he therefore tried to win them over by argument. them over by argument.
But when he saw that they were discontented and persisted in pressing their demands regardless of the circumstances, he let them have their way and allowed them to engage the enemy; he hoped that they would suffer a severe defeat without being completely crushed, and that this would make them better disposed to obey his orders in future.
The event turned out as he expected and Sertorius came to their rescue, provided a rallying point for the fugitives, and led them safely back to his camp.
His next step was to revive their dejected spirits, and so a few days later he summoned a general assembly. Before it he produced two horses, one of them old and enfeebled, the other large and lusty and possessing a flowing tail, which was remarkable for the thickness and beauty of its hair.
By the side of the weak horse stood a tall strong man, and by the side of the powerful horse a short man of mean physique.
At a signal the strong man seized the tail of his horse and tried with all his strength to pull it towards him, as if to tear it off, while the weak man began to pull the hairs one by one from the tail of the strong horse.
The strong man, after tugging with all his might to no purpose and causing the spectators a great deal of amusement in the process, finally gave up the attempt, while the weak man quickly and with very little trouble stripped his horse’s tail completely bare.
Then Sertorius rose to his feet and said, “Now you can see, my friends and allies, that perseverance is more effective than brute strength and that there are many difficulties that cannot be overcome if you try to do everything at once, but which will yield if you master them little by little. The truth is that a steady continuous effort is irresistible, for this is the way in which Time captures and subdues the greatest powers on earth.
Now Time, you should remember, is a good friend and ally to those who use their intelligence to choose the right moment, but a most dangerous enemy to those who rush into action at the wrong one.
-”LIFE OF SERTORIUS, PLUTARCH, C.A.D. 46-120
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
Starting out in life as a nondescript French seminary-school teacher, Joseph Fouché wandered from town to town for most of the decade of the 1780s, teaching mathematics to young boys. Yet he never completely committed himself to the church, never took his vows as a priest—he had bigger plans.
Patiently waiting for his chance, he kept his options open.
And when the French Revolution broke out, in 1789, Fouché waited no longer: He got rid of his cassock, grew his hair long, and became a revolutionary. For this was the spirit of the times.
To miss the boat at this critical moment could have spelt disaster.
Fouché did not miss the boat: Befriending the revolutionary leader Robespierre, he quickly rose in the rebel ranks.
In 1792 the town of Nantes elected Fouche to be its representative to the National Convention (created that year to frame a new constitution for a French republic).
When Fouché arrived in Paris to take his seat at the convention, a violent rift had broken out between the moderates and the radical Jacobins. Fouché sensed that in the long run neither side would emerge victorious.
Power rarely ends up in the hands of those who start a revolution, or even of those who further it; power sticks to those who bring it to a conclusion.
That was the side Fouche wanted to be on.
His sense of timing was uncanny.
He started as a moderate, for moderates were in the majority. When the time came to decide on whether or not to execute Louis XVI, however, he saw that the people were clamoring for the king’s head, so he cast the deciding vote—for the guillotine.
Now he had become a radical.
Yet as tensions came to the boil in Paris, he foresaw the danger of being too closely associated with any one faction, so he accepted a position in the provinces, where he could lie low for a while.
A few months later he was assigned to the post of proconsul in Lyons, where he oversaw the execution of dozens of aristocrats.
At a certain moment, however, he called a halt to the killings, sensing that the mood of the country was turning-and despite the blood already on his hands, the citizens of Lyons hailed him as a savior from what had become known as the Terror.
So far Fouché had played his cards brilliantly, but in 1794 his old friend Robespierre recalled him to Paris to account for his actions in Lyons.
Robespierre had been the driving force behind the Terror. He had sent heads on both the right and the left rolling, and Fouché, whom he no longer trusted, seemed destined to provide the next head.
Over the next few weeks, a tense struggle ensued: While Robespierre railed openly against Fouché, accusing of him dangerous ambitions and calling for his arrest, the crafty Fouché worked more indirectly, quietly gaining support among those who were beginning to tire of Robespierre’s dictatorial control.
Fouche was playing for time. He knew that the longer he survived, the more disaffected citizens he could rally against Robespierre. He had to have broad support before he moved against the powerful leader. He rallied support among both the moderates and the Jacobins, playing on the widespread fear of Robespierre-everyone was afraid of being the next to go to the guillotine.
It all came to fruition on July 27: The convention turned against Robespierre, shouting down his usual lengthy speech.
He was quickly arrested, and a few days later it was Robespierre’s head, not Fouché’s, that fell into the basket.
When Fouché returned to the convention after Robespierre’s death, he played his most unexpected move: Having led the conspiracy against Robespierre, he was expected to sit with the moderates, but lo and behold, he once again changed sides, joining the radical Jacobins.
For perhaps the first time in his life he aligned himself with the minority.
Clearly he sensed a reaction stirring: He knew that the moderate faction that had executed Robespierre, and was now about to take power, would initiate a new round of the Terror, this time against the radicals.
In siding with the Jacobins, then, Fouché was sitting with the martyrs of the days to come—the people who would be considered blameless in the troubles that were on their way.
Taking sides with what was about to become the losing team was a risky gambit, of course, but Fouché must have calculated he could keep his head long enough to quietly stir up the populace against the moderates and watch them fall from power.
And indeed, although the moderates did call for his arrest in December of 1795, and would have sent him to the guillotine, too much time had passed. The executions had become unpopular with the people, and Fouché survived the swing of the pendulum one more time.
A new government took over, the Directoire. It was not, however, a Jacobin government, but a moderate one—more moderate than the government that had reimposed the Terror.
Fouché, the radical, had kept his head, but now he had to keep a low profile.
He waited patiently on the sidelines for several years, allowing time to soften any bitter feelings against him, then he approached the Directoire and convinced them he had a new passion: intelligence-gathering.
He became a paid spy for the government, excelled at the job, and in 1799 was rewarded by being made minister of police.
Now he was not just empowered but required to extend his spying to every corner of France—a responsibility that would greatly reinforce his natural ability to sniff out where the wind was blowing.
One of the first social trends he detected, in fact, came in the person of Napoleon, a brash young general whose destiny he right away saw was entwined with the future of France. When Napoleon unleashed a coup d‘etat, on November 9, 1799, Fouche pretended to be asleep.
Indeed he slept the whole day.
For this indirect assistance—it might have been thought his job, after all, to prevent a military coup—Napoleon kept him on as minister of police in the new regime.
Over the next few years, Napoleon came to rely on Fouché more and more. He even gave this former revolutionary a title, duke of Otranto, and rewarded him with great wealth.
By 1808, however, Fouché, always attuned to the times, sensed that Napoleon was on the downswing. His futile war with Spain, a country that posed no threat to France, was a sign that he was losing a sense of proportion.
Never one to be caught on a sinking ship, Fouché conspired with Talleyrand to bring about Napoleon’s downfall. Although the conspiracy failed—Talleyrand was fired; Fouché stayed, but was kept on a tight leash—it publicized a growing discontent with the emperor, who seemed to be losing control.
By 1814 Napoleon’s power had crumbled and allied forces finally conquered him.
The next government was a restoration of the monarchy, in the form of King Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI. Fouché, his nose always sniffing the air for the next social shift, knew Louis would not last long—he had none of Napoleon’s flair.
Fouché once again played his waiting game, lying low, staying away from the spotlight.
Sure enough, in February of 1815, Napoleon escaped from the island of Elba, where he had been imprisoned.
Louis XVIII panicked: His policies had alienated the citizenry, who were clamoring for Napoleon’s return. So Louis turned to the one man who could maybe have saved his hide, Fouché, the former radical who had sent his brother, Louis XVI, to the guillotine, but was now one of the most popular and widely admired politicians in France.
Fouché, however, would not side with a loser: He refused Louis’s request for help by pretending that his help was unnecessary—by swearing that Napoleon would never return to power (although he knew otherwise).
A short time later, of course, Napoleon and his new citizen army were closing in on Paris.
Seeing his reign about to collapse, feeling that Fouché had betrayed him, and certain that he did not want this powerful and able man on Napoleon’s team, King Louis ordered the minister’s arrest and execution.
On March 16, 1815, policemen surrounded Fouché’s coach on a Paris boulevard. Was this finally his end? Perhaps, but not immediately: Fouché told the police that an ex-member of government could not be arrested on the street.
They fell for the story and allowed him to return home. Later that day, though, they came to his house and once again declared him under arrest.
Fouché nodded—but would the officers be so kind as allow a gentleman to wash and to change his clothes before leaving his house for the last time? They gave their permission, Fouché left the room, and the minutes went by.
Fouché did not return.
Finally the policemen went into the next room—where they saw a ladder against an open window, leading down to the garden below.
That day and the next the police combed Paris for Fouche, but by then Napoleon’s cannons were audible in the distance and the king and all the king’s men had to flee the city.
As soon as Napoleon entered Paris, Fouché came out of hiding.
He had cheated the executioner once again.
Napoleon greeted his former minister of police and gladly restored him to his old post. During the 100 days that Napoleon remained in power, until Waterloo, it was essentially Fouché who governed France.
After Napoleon fell, Louis XVIII returned to the throne, and like a cat with nine lives, Fouche stayed on to serve in yet another government—by then his power and influence had grown so great that not even the king dared challenge him.
Mr. Shih had two sons: one loved learning; the other war.
The first expounded his moral teachings at the admiring court of Ch‘i and was made a tutor, while the second talked strategy at the bellicose court of Ch’u and was made a general.
The impecunious Mr. Meng, hearing of these successes, sent his own two sons out to follow the example of the Shih boys.
The first expounded his moral teachings at the court ofCh‘in, but the King of Ch’in said: “At present the states are quarreling violently and every prince is busy arming his troops to the teeth. If I followed this prig’s pratings we should soon be annihilated.”
So he had the fellow castrated.
Meanwhile, the second brother displayed his military genius at the court of Wei. But the King of Wei said: “Mine is a weak state. If I relied on force instead of diplomacy, we should soon be wiped out. If, on the other hand, I let this fire-eater go, he will offer his services to another state and then we shall be in trouble.”
So he had the fellow’s feet cut off.
Both families did exactly the same thing, but one timed it right, the other wrong. This success depends not on ratiocination but on rhythm.
LlEH TZU. QUOTED IN THE CHINESE LOOKING GLASS. DENNIS BLOODWORTH, 1967
Interpretation
In a period of unprecedented turmoil, Joseph Fouché thrived through his mastery of the art of timing. He teaches us a number of key lessons.
First, it is critical to recognize the spirit of the times. Fouché always looked two steps ahead, found the wave that would carry him to power, and rode it. You must always work with the times, anticipate twists and turns, and never miss the boat. Sometimes the spirit of the times is obscure: Recognize it not by what is loudest and most obvious in it, but by what lies hidden and dormant. Look forward to the Napoleons of the future rather than holding on to the ruins of the past.
Second, recognizing the prevailing winds does not necessarily mean running with them. Any potent social movement creates a powerful reaction, and it is wise to anticipate what that reaction will be, as Fouché did after the execution of Robespierre. Rather than ride the cresting wave of the moment, wait for the tide’s ebb to carry you back to power. Upon occasion bet on the reaction that is brewing, and place yourself in the vanguard of it.
Finally, Fouché had remarkable patience. Without patience as your sword and shield, your timing will fail and you will inevitably find yourself a loser. When the times were against Fouché, he did not struggle, get emotional, or strike out rashly. He kept his cool and maintained a low profile, patiently building support among the citizenry, the bulwark in his next rise to power. Whenever he found himself in the weaker position, he played for time, which he knew would always be his ally if he was patient. Recognize the moment, then, to hide in the grass or slither under a rock, as well as the moment to bare your fangs and attack.
Space we can recover, time never.
-Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821
KEYS TO POWER
Time is an artificial concept that we ourselves have created to make the limitlessness of eternity and the universe more bearable, more human. Since we have constructed the concept of time, we are also able to mold it to some degree, to play tricks with it.
The time of a child is long and slow, with vast expanses; the time of an adult whizzes by frighteningly fast. Time, then, depends on perception, which, we know, can be willfully altered.
This is the first thing to understand in mastering the art of timing.
If the inner turmoil caused by our emotions tends to make time move faster, it follows that once we control our emotional responses to events, time will move much more slowly. This altered way of dealing with things tends to lengthen our perception of future time, opens up possibilities that fear and anger close off, and allows us the patience that is the principal requirement in the art of timing.
The sultan [of Persia] had sentenced two men to death.
One of them, knowing how much the sultan loved his stallion, offered to teach the horse to fly within a year in return for his life. The sultan, fancying himself as the rider of the only flying horse in the world, agreed.
The other prisoner looked at his friend in disbelief “You know horses don’t fly. What made you come up with a crazv idea like that? You’re only postponing the inevitable.”
“Not so, ” said the (first prisoner].
“I have actuallv given myself four chances for freedom.
First, the sultan might die during the year.
Second, I might die.
Third, the horse might die.
And fourth ... I might teach the horse to fly!
-”THE CRAFT OF POWER, R.G.H. SIU, 1979
There are three kinds of time for us to deal with; each presents problems that can be solved with skill and practice.
First there is long time: the drawn-out, years-long kind of time that must be managed with patience and gentle guidance. Our handling of long time should be mostly defensive—this is the art of not reacting impulsively, of waiting for opportunity.
Next there is forced time: the short-term time that we can manipulate as an offensive weapon, upsetting the timing of our opponents.
Finally there is end time, when a plan must be executed with speed and force. We have waited, found the moment, and must not hesitate.
Long Time.
The famous seventeenth-century Ming painter Chou Yung relates a story that altered his behavior forever. Late one winter afternoon he set out to visit a town that lay across the river from his own town. He was bringing some important books and papers with him and had commissioned a young boy to help him carry them. As the ferry neared the other side of the river, Chou Yung asked the boatman if they would have time to get to the town before its gates closed, since it was a mile away and night was approaching. The boatman glanced at the boy, and at the bundle of loosely tied papers and books—“Yes,” he replied, “if you do not walk too fast.”
As they started out, however, the sun was setting. Afraid of being locked out of the town at night, prey to local bandits, Chou and the boy walked faster and faster, finally breaking into a run. Suddenly the string around the papers broke and the documents scattered on the ground. It took them many minutes to put the packet together again, and by the time they had reached the city gates, it was too late.
When you force the pace out of fear and impatience, you create a nest of problems that require fixing, and you end up taking much longer than if you had taken your time.
Hurriers may occasionally get there quicker, but papers fly everywhere, new dangers arise, and they find themselves in constant crisis mode, fixing the problems that they themselves have created. Sometimes not acting in the face of danger is your best move—you wait, you deliberately slow down. As time passes it will eventually present opportunities you had not imagined.
Waiting involves controlling not only your own emotions but those of your colleagues, who, mistaking action for power, may try to push you into making rash moves.
In your rivals, on the other hand, you can encourage this same mistake: If you let them rush headlong into trouble while you stand back and wait, you will soon find ripe moments to intervene and pick up the pieces.
This wise policy was the principal strategy of the great early-seventeenth-century emperor Tokugawa Ieyasu of Japan. When his predecessor, the headstrong Hideyoshi, whom he served as a general, staged a rash invasion of Korea, Ieyasu did not involve himself.
He knew the invasion would be a disaster and would lead to Hideyoshi’s downfall.
Better to stand patiently on the sidelines, even for many years, and then be in position to seize power when the time is right—exactly what Ieyasu did, with great artistry.
THE TROUT AND THE GUDGEON
A Fisherman in the month of May stood angling on the bank of the Thames with an artificial fly. He threw his bait with so much art, that a young trout was rushing toward it, when she was prevented by her mother.
“Never,” said she, “my child, be too precipitate, where there is a possibility of danger. Take due time to consider, before you risk an action that may be fatal.
How know you whether yon appearance be indeed a fly, or the snare of an enemy?
Let someone else make the experiment before you. If it be a fly, he will very probably elude the first attack: and the second may be made, if not with success, at least with safety.” She had no sooner spoken, than a gudgeon seized the pretended fly, and became an example to the giddy daughter of the importance of her mother’s counsel.
-FABLES, ROBERT DODSLEY, 1703-1764
You do not deliberately slow time down to live longer, or to take more pleasure in the moment, but the better to play the game of power. First, when your mind is uncluttered by constant emergencies you will see further into the future. Second, you will be able to resist the baits that people dangle in front of you, and will keep yourself from becoming another impatient sucker. Third, you will have more room to be flexible. Opportunities will inevitably arise that you had not expected and would have missed had you forced the pace. Fourth, you will not move from one deal to the next without completing the first one. To build your power’s foundation can take years; make sure that foundation is secure. Do not be a flash in the pan—success that is built up slowly and surely is the only kind that lasts.
Finally, slowing time down will give you a perspective on the times you live in, letting you take a certain distance and putting you in a less emotionally charged position to see the shapes of things to come. Hurriers will often mistake surface phenomena for a real trend, seeing only what they want to see. How much better to see what is really happening, even if it is unpleasant or makes your task harder.
Forced Time.
The trick in forcing time is to upset the timing of others—to make them hurry, to make them wait, to make them abandon their own pace, to distort their perception of time. By upsetting the timing of your opponent while you stay patient, you open up time for yourself, which is half the game.
In 1473 the great Turkish sultan Mehmed the Conqueror invited negotiations with Hungary to end the off-and-on war the two countries had waged for years. When the Hungarian emissary arrived in Turkey to start the talks, Turkish officials humbly apologized—Mehmed had just left Istanbul, the capital, to battle his longtime foe, Uzun Hasan.
But he urgently wanted peace with Hungary, and had asked that the emissary join him at the front.
When the emissary arrived at the site of the fighting, Mehmed had already left it, moving eastward in pursuit of his swift foe.
This happened several times.
Wherever the emissary stopped, the Turks lavished gifts and banquets on him, in pleasurable but time-consuming ceremonies. Finally Mehmed defeated Uzun and met with the emissary.
Yet his terms for peace with Hungary were excessively harsh.
After a few days, the negotiations ended, and the usual stalemate remained in place.
But this was fine with Mehmed. In fact he had planned it that way all along: Plotting his campaign against Uzun, he had seen that diverting his armies to the east would leave his western flank vulnerable. To prevent Hungary from taking advantage of his weakness and his preoccupation elsewhere, he first dangled the lure of peace before his enemy, then made them wait—all on his own terms.
Making people wait is a powerful way of forcing time, as long as they do not figure out what you are up to.
You control the clock, they linger in limbo—and rapidly come unglued, opening up opportunities for you to strike.
The opposite effect is equally powerful: You make your opponents hurry.
Start off your dealings with them slowly, then suddenly apply pressure, making them feel that everything is happening at once. People who lack the time to think will make mistakes—so set their deadlines for them.
This was the technique Machiavelli admired in Cesare Borgia, who, during negotiations, would suddenly press vehemently for a decision, upsetting his opponent’s timing and patience. For who would dare make Cesare wait?
Joseph Duveen, the famous art dealer, knew that if he gave an indecisive buyer like John D. Rockefeller a deadline—the painting had to leave the country, another tycoon was interested in it—the client would buy just in time.
Freud noticed that patients who had spent years in psychoanalysis without improvement would miraculously recover just in time if he fixed a definite date for the end of the therapy.
Jacques Lacan, the famous French psychoanalyst, used a variation on this tactic—he would sometimes end the customary hour session of therapy after only ten minutes, without warning.
After this happened several times, the patient would realize that he had better make maximum use of the time, rather than wasting much of the hour with a lot of talk that meant nothing.
The deadline, then, is a powerful tool.
Close off the vistas of indecision and force people to make up their damn minds or get to the point never let them make you play on their excruciating terms.
Never give them time.
Magicians and showmen are experts in forcing time. Houdini could often wriggle free of handcuffs in minutes, but he would draw the escape out to an hour, making the audience sweat, as time came to an apparent standstill.
Magicians have always known that the best way to alter our perception of time is often to slow down the pace. Creating suspense brings time to a terrifying pause: The slower the magician’s hands move, the easier it is to create the illusion of speed, making people think the rabbit has appeared instantaneously.
The great nineteenth-century magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin took explicit notice of this effect: “The more slowly a story is told,” he said, “the shorter it seems.”
Going slower also makes what you are doing more interesting—the audience yields to your pace, becomes entranced. It is a state in which time whizzes delightfully by. You must practice such illusions, which share in the hypnotist’s power to alter perceptions of time.
End Time.
You can play the game with the utmost artistry—waiting patiently for the right moment to act, putting your competitors off their form by messing with their timing—but it won’t mean a thing unless you know how to finish.
Do not be one of those people who look like paragons of patience but are actually just afraid to bring things to a close: Patience is worthless unless combined with a willingness to fall ruthlessly on your opponent at the right moment.
You can wait as long as necessary for the conclusion to come, but when it comes it must come quickly. Use speed to paralyze your opponent, cover up any mistakes you might make, and impress people with your aura of authority and finality.
With the patience of a snake charmer, you draw the snake out with calm and steady rhythms. Once the snake is out, though, would you dangle your foot above its deadly head? There is never a good reason to allow the slightest hitch in your endgame. Your mastery of timing can really only be judged by how you work with end time—how you quickly change the pace and bring things to a swift and definitive conclusion.
Image: The Hawk. Patiently and silently it circles the sky, high above, all-seeing with its powerful eyes. Those below have no awareness that they are being tracked. Suddenly, when the moment arrives, the hawk swoops down with a speed that cannot be de fended against; before its prey knows what has happened, the bird’s viselike talons have carried it up into the sky.
Authority:
There is a tide in the affairs of men, / Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; / Omitted, all the voyage of their life / Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
-(Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare, 1564-1616)
REVERSAL
There is no power to be gained in letting go of the reins and adapting to whatever time brings. To some degree you must guide time or you will be its merciless victim. There is accordingly no reversal to this law.
Overview of Law #35: Master the Art of Timing
Anticipate the ebb and flow of power. Recognize when the time is right, and align yourself with the right side. Be patient and wait for your moment when you know you’ll benefit in the long run. Master the art of timing. When it’s time to make your end move against an opponent, strike without hesitation.
Principles of Law 35
In the quest for power, timing is everything. To take advantage of changing fortunes, you need to recognize the moment to act. Constantly read the signs and ally yourself with the right side. But be ready to switch again right before the pendulum swings.
According to Law 35 of the 48 Laws of Power, to survive and thrive while others are swept away, apply these principles:
Recognize change in the air: Be alert to the undercurrent as well as what’s happening around the edges of society. Rather than aligning with a crumbling past, look for the new leaders and movements to join.
Anticipate the reaction: When a new movement gathers momentum or a new power takes the throne, anticipate a reactionary wave and be ready to ride it.
Be patient and keep your cool: When things get chaotic, keep a low profile and play for time so you can see the right moment when it comes again.
You can master the art of timing in three ways:
Take the Long View
One way to apply Law 35 of the 48 Laws of Power is to take the long view. There’s a time frame that stretches years ahead and should be viewed with an eye to opportunity. Have a defensive strategy and play a patient, waiting game.
Waiting requires controlling your emotions and those of your colleagues who might get impatient and push you to act at the wrong time. It’s better to let your rivals rush to act, if you know they’ll fail. You can wait and pick up the pieces. In the 17th century, General Ieyasu of Japan knew that invading Korea would be a disaster. He simply waited while the emperor launched an invasion against his advice, which indeed failed. It took years, but when the emperor fell Ieyasu seized power. Ieyasu mastered the art of timing.
Taking the long view has several advantages:
When you’re not in immediate or crisis mode, you’re more clear-eyed and can see farther into the future.
You’ll be able to resist others’ intentional provocations.
You can be more flexible and able to take advantage of opportunities along the way that you would miss by rushing.
You can be methodical, completing each step properly before moving to the next.
When making long-range decisions, you’ll be less driven by emotion.
Force Your Opponent’s Hand
Another principle of Law 35 of the 48 Laws of Power is to force your opponent’s hand. There is a short, immediate time frame in which you can act offensively to upset the timing of your opponents.
The Turkish sultan Mehmed distracted Hungary from noticing he was vulnerable to attack while he battled another foe. Mehmed did this by inviting Hungarian officials to negotiations, then repeatedly postponing the meetings after they arrived. They waited, on his terms, until he finally returned from battle and canceled the whole thing.
In contrast to making your opponents wait, you can make them hurry. You can start dealing with someone slowly, then suddenly speed things up: Demand a decision or set an unrealistic deadline. Under pressure, they’re likely to make mistakes.
Salespeople use this technique by telling you that someone else is interested in the item you’re thinking of buying, so you’d better put money down right away. This is another way to master the art of timing.
Finish the Job
The third step to Law 35 of the 48 Laws of Power is to finish the job. There’s a specific moment when you need to execute your plan, forcefully and without hesitation. Patience has its place, but when it’s time to act, you must act, suddenly pouncing on your opponent and ending the game conclusively.
Conclusion
During the Trade War with China (2016 to 2020), did you notice which side had control of the time? Was it Donald Trump and his neocon advisors, or was it China? And when the United States tried to force a “color revolution” in Hong Kong through use of the NED, it was China that controlled the pace and the timing of the events.
Currently the United States is trying to force China to make a move against Taiwan. I would be willing to bet that any action or activity against Taiwan would be on Chinese terms and following a Chinese timetable.
Be smart and learn from this law.
Do you want more?
I have more posts like this in my Happiness Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
You know, people want to know the "secrets of the universe", and when you present them the information, they go "what's this shit?" They said that they don't want "that". Oh no. They want something that already agrees with their erroneous world view...
Anyways…
The way the universe works is pretty straight forward.
Thoughts create our reality. What you think naturally causes your consciousness to migrate to those places conceived by your thoughts.
This pretty much agrees with what we understand about quantum physics.
But this post is going to step into this matter at a deeper level. We are going to get into [1] the fracturing of consciousness and [2] how the whole consciousness works (behind the scenes) to [3] generate very accurate and suitable world-line destinations. Destinations that fit both [4] pre-birth world-line templates, and [5] autonomous consciousness world-line roving ability.
So, this post is NOT going to be about the nuts and bolts of MWI navigation by an Affirmation Campaign. No, it will not be like the other posts. Instead, it is a discussion about [1] how the world-lines are manifested, and [2] what elements of a given conscious thought generation contribute to them.
It’s a very, very deep subject. And it is very, very advanced.
I’ll try to explain it in simple terms so that everyone can understand what is going on and the mechanism(s) involved.
Review
For those of who who are new to Metallicman, let’s let put it simply.
The world that surrounds you has not resemblance to what everyone thinks it is. It is something entirely different.
I have covered this in other posts, in other places. And I tire about repeating myself.
You have walked into an advanced discussion area, and you won’t be able to make out anything that is said herein unless you start with the basics. Therefore, for you newcomers, you need to start at the front and work your way up to this point.
Start at the beginning and work your way down. It’s all there. It’s everything you ever need.
So to fully appreciate what is being stated here, you must recognize that the world is not a physical place where your body is born into.
Instead, it is a temporary construction. It changes moment to moment by the thoughts generated by your consciousness. And it is your consciousness that occupies the physical reality. Not your body.
These changes are known as “world-lines” and the physics involved is known as quantum physics, and the particular branch that this discussion centers upon is known as the MWI.
The primary world-line that you start out with at birth is known as your “pre-birth world-line template”.
Movement through the various world-lines is known as “time”.
Switching the pre-birth templates to completely different sets of initial conditions are known as “slides”.
Intentional navigation though the various world-lines is known as an “intention campaign”.
Planning and directing a navigation vector through the MWI is known as “mapping”.
Consciousness is the key to everything
So here you are.
You are not a physical body that thinks has emotions and walks about.
You are soul, that creates a “consciousness” that is placed within a (human) container that is fixed and tied to a pre-birth world-line template.
Your physical body, and the world surrounding your, as well as all the thoughts floating around and the spirits, and all that history, and the subway cars and everything else is all just a very elaborate construction.
Not your construction.
You, your consciousness, your soul did not create this reality.
You picked it out, and you selected it.
You (as soul), put part of you inside this “sandbox”, this “playground”, this world-line reality at birth to obtain experiences.
And with each experience…
New relationships (known as “entanglements”) were formed at the quantum level.
Good or bad. Right or wrong. Black or white. Love or hate. All defined what your consciousness experienced, and all defines who you are. For you are the sum total of your experiences.
Put a “part” of you inside the reality…
Yes.
Your soul created a “consciousness”.
It used quanta that it has, and organized it, and arranged it, and made a “consciousness”,
Most “consciousnesses” contain from 10% to 35% of the quanta of any given soul.
Which means that most of who you are is out in Heaven somewhere, doing “other things”.
And your “consciousness” is busy doing a number of tasks…
It is experiencing “life” within the “passage of time”.
The “life” is a non-stop sequence of experiences.
Each experience is the building, shaping, structuring, and arranging the relationships between different quanta, by your thoughts and your physical actions.
Thus it is making and creating memories.
All the time, the consciousness resides within a fixed physical body. One that has emotions, and feelings and other biological needs that drive it towards behaviors. These behaviors might be normal and bland, like eating and sleeping, or more complex like desiring to own a sports car, or having an interest in someone else, or very complex like emotions and relationship entanglements.
So the sum total of your “life” as a human, from birth to death, is actions and thoughts that result from experiences within the MWI. It is what the consciousness experiences. And since the consciousness is a part of the soul that created it…
That comprises from 10% to 35% of the activity of the soul.
What are these “other things” soul is doing…
So a big question that you might want to ask is what is the soul doing if a part of it is living life within the MWI?
Is it up there in Heaven “twiddling it’s thumbs”?
twiddle (one's) thumbs
To wait idly because one cannot take action or has nothing to do at the moment.
Although the phrase refers to an actual movement of the hand (in which one's fingers are interlaced and each thumb is brought over the other in succession), the phrase is usually used figuratively.
Twiddle one’s thumbs.
No.
The soul is actually busy doing other things in Heaven.
Most of which, are way beyond the scope of what the consciousness might understand. For the consciousness is in control of a physical mind, within a physical body, that is physically tied to the understandings of that world-line that it is part of.
Now, it it be well understood that I do not have privy to what is going on with soul, because (after all) I am like you. I am a consciousness trapped within a physical body. And all I know that might be different is limited in scope, and tied to my EBP and other “understandings”. Things which might or might not be correct.
Never the less, there are some things that we can infer are going on.
Namely what the soul is doing in regards to the consciousness that it created.
For, as we well know, the soul is intimately connected to the consciousness. And, as such, the consciousness (you) can have an “inkling” of what soul might be doing in it’s involvement with the consciousness.
Orders from Headquarters
When I was young, and I wanted my father to play with me, the would sometimes explain to me that he couldn’t. I would ask why, and he would say “orders from headquarters”. Which meant that there were powers stronger than him that were telling him what to do and how to do it.
Sometimes it would be his job, his career, and his schooling (night school).
Sometimes it would be my mother.
And sometimes it would be other commitments.
All of which were beyond my understanding as a young boy.
So, instead of getting involved with detailed explanations on why he could not play with me, instead he would use this “catch all” phrase. He did this knowing that he did not have the time to explain the various complicated relationships and issues involved. And even if he did, it would have been unlikely for me to understand the reasoning at that time, at that age, and at that stage in my personal development.
There is NO WAY that any human within the “reality” universe that comprises the MWI can understand what is going on within the “Heaven” universe. All we can relate is the flimsy and tenuous understandings associated with the link between our consciousness and soul. Because, after all, they are intimately tied together.
So, what we can say is that there is a “relationship” between soul and the consciousness that it creates.
We can further say that this “relationship” is involved in how the consciousness obtains experiences…
Because, after all, that is WHY the soul created the consciousness in the first place.
… and thus the soul is in charge of the degree of comfort or discomfort that the consciousness experiences.
…
This has some profound implications.
What this means
While the reader should be well versed in the idea that thoughts create our reality, we have to take into account that there might be other influences that might also bend and shape the realities that converge.
What other influences?
Strong, contrary thoughts that might inhabit the world-line(s) that you inhabit. These might inhibit your Intention Navigation Campaign.
Physical limitations of the world-line itself.
Modification of the intention desires by your soul, which might run contrary to the desires of your consciousness.
Other, non-physical entities or mechanisms that might work with your soul to mitigate your intention direction.
In other words, it is very probable that your soul is assisting in the manifestation of the new world-lines that you enter. The degree of this “assistance” will depend on all sorts of factors. But I guess that the point is that you (as consciousness) have support (from your soul) in the selection of the world-lines that you enter and move towards. And that it will not alloy you (as consciousness) to “get off the track” in regards to learning experiences that it desires.
Thus you can expect the resulting world-lines that materialize to be what you asked for (in a Intention Campaign) but with very specific “strings attached” (lessons for you to obtain and learn from).
"Strings attached" is an idiomatic expression we say in English. When you give something to anybody with strings attached, that means there are conditions or obligations to the recipient.
For example, you give a friend a new car and he is obligated not to refuse you if you ask him for a favor.
-Strings Attached | WordReference Forum
Thus…
An Intention Campaign for (example) that might want a girlfriend that is a beautiful model in show business, might come with the “strings attached” that might have things from which you might learn some important lessons. And lessons are always uncomfortable. In this case, perhaps, she has a husband named Bluto, or that she has warts and will give them to you.
The soul, when working with the consciousness, will determine the level of severity and speed of the lessons that you will obtain within this MWI experience.
Some intention campaigns will be exactly what you desire. After all, if your intention campaigns will not work, then you would stop doing them.
Some intention campaigns would have resultant desires that would be exactly what you want, and it will come with a lesson that you will learn. If I were to ask other readers of Metallicman about whether they learned anything from their manifested desires, I might get hundreds of responses.
Some intention campaigns will result in things manifesting that will change the course of your desires in mid-stream. That is when you know that your soul has a hand in the manifestation of your desires.
So, do not mistakenly believe that 100% of what you intentionally campaign for will result in a 100% manifestation of your desires. The actual numbers are actually slightly less. It’s more like 95% and 95%. And it is your soul that has the ultimate say over what your consciousness manifests.
You (consciousness) is part of something much larger (your soul). And what you desire, and think of will manifest within your reality. Just realize that your soul has a say in that manifestation.
And it will come with a "price tag".
Conclusion
One thing about “false positives” is that every time they occur, you learn from them. That’s funny, isn’t it? Have you ever stopped and wondered why some manifested intentions have false positives while others don’t?
It’s all about the lessons that you as consciousness obtain.
Now, knowing this mechanism, you should be better equipped in using and manifesting your affirmation campaign. You can expect that what you yearn for will continue to manifest, and that the results will not do so by the laws of the physical universe, but rather will be “massaged” and manipulated by your soul to best manifest for your very own personal growth.
That is a good thing.
So, you need to keep all this in mind as you observe things manifesting before your very eyes. When they do, you need to review what lessons you are learning and whether or not you are growing as a person, as consciousness, and as soul in the process.
From the point of view of your soul, this is your learning center. Don’t squander it. Play with whatever “toys” you desire. Just know that their manifestation will be associated with the learning of something, at some time.
Just know that their manifestation will be associated with the learning of something, at some time.
Enjoy.
Life can be far more exciting, far more enjoyable, and far more wonderful than you could ever imagine.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my Intention Campaign Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
OK. Here is yet another thing that you will not find elsewhere on the internet.
This post deals with the quantum attachments of one species consciousness (human) with another species consciousness (dog, cat, horse, etc.) during the MWI world-line switches. Which we tend to refer to as “time”.
The universe is composed of quanta.
Quanta can form “clumps”.
Over time, these “clumps” can obtain intelligence.
We refer to collections of “clumps” as species.
While I have repeatedly stated that “time” is how our consciousness experiences a sequences of world-lines, I have pretty much let it be understood that everyone else isn’t actually sharing those world-lines with us. Instead, they are “what it” versions of other people. Whom I refer to as “quantum shadows”.
Well, now I am going to lay down some really astounding information to you all.
When it comes to pets, and loved ones (really close pets, and really close loved ones), their consciousness does ACTUALLY share many of the same world lines that you would. (Not all of them. Not every one of them. But enough to consider a pair or trio of consciousnesses following and surfing the MWI together.)
You are not truly alone.
Here we are going to talk about this. But, first we need to really hash out a review of terms and concepts. Just a refresher for all you metallic men and women out there…
Review – The MWI
What everyone seems to think “Heaven” is this big old guy in a long white beard on a throne sitting and telling people to life in paradise as long as they worship him.
Nah. It’s not like that.
It’s a place, yah. And it is many things. It is more than what our physical reality is. That is for certain.
Heaven is also graduated. It possesses different regions and areas. Each region or area have different concentrations of quanta. (Quanta is the building blocks of our reality.)
They form different densities.
Some of which are very dense with one type of quanta, and others are dense with other combinations of quanta. It is a complex “soup” or “stew” of quanta that pop in and out and move about all under the influence of other “influences” (I will discuss these later.).
Consider "Heaven" to be everything. It includes the physical universe and the unseen "Heavens" often referred to in religious writings. It is a place where everything is composed of the smallest building blocks or components possible - quanta.
Within this realm, are clumps and arrangements of quanta. The quanta naturally starts to entangle with other quanta. They form arrangements, and dance about in certain ways. Over time, they get larger and more complex. They form things. They precipitate into simpler, slower and coarser things such as physical rocks, dust and energy.
On many websites, and books, the concentration of the “Big Bang” theory always revolves around the formation of the physical universe. It rarely discusses the formation of the unseen universe, and the components of branes, strings, and quanta.
Eventually, some of the quanta form into constructions that obtain sentience. The groups of quanta with sentience are called "souls".
The souls realize that the way that they can grow and advance is to organize their quanta. There is only one problem. Quanta can only organize through entanglements. They need to entangle with other quanta.
The way entanglements work is through association, or better yet, experiences.
Our Bubble of Reality
So, in order to obtain these experience, the soul creates a bubble within Heaven.
It is an environment where the soul can obtain experiences. These “bubbles” are regions that can best be defined as a construction. They are constructed regions manufactured by a given soul to obtain experiences within. These regions are unique and custom for a given consciousness.
A soul exists within “Heaven”. It creates a “bubble” and places a physical body within this bubble. This body experiences the bubble as “reality”. That is what our reality actually is. In the picture above, we see a particular soul, soul A creates an construct. This is a bubble of reality. That reality consists of a physical person surrounded by a physical and a non-physical reality that is determined by the senses of the physical person so constructed.
A soul would connect to this bubble of reality via a “tube” or an interface. We call that interface as “consciousness”. Souls can have multiple consciousnesses but only one consciousness may occupy a given reality at a time.
A bubble of reality consists of four set “dimensions”. Three spacial dimensions and one of entropy; time.
The "passage of time" is simply our reality bubble changing by our thoughts. Additionally, other nearby bubbles also move about and change. They can influence our bubble as well.
The control over this bubble of reality is quite possible. That is because our reality changes with our thoughts. Each thought changes it.
Thoughts of the consciousness within the reality can alter the reality. Thoughts can make or break the experiences of the consciousness. As such the soul can learn from the consciousness and it’s decision making process. This is of course, through manipulation of the three dimensions plus the “dimension” of time.
Consciousness experience events within the reality. As such they generate thoughts. The thoughts alter and create the reality that the consciousness exists within. As such, the consciousness obtains experiences and learns from them.
A really basic diagram of the general organization of “Human” Heaven. Each individual soul constructs a “reality”. It them provides a conduit to the biological presence within that reality. This conduit is known as “consciousness”. Note that no two consciousnesses share the same reality. However, there can be influences in the non-physical reality aspects.
“Seen” dimensions typically are referred to as the physical world. While “unseen” dimensions are referred to as various levels or dimensions of Heaven.
But, what exactly is heaven?
Please refer to the image above. How “heaven” is organized. (above). This diagram if a simplistic version of what a human “heaven” looks like. Let’s suppose you (the reader) is sitting down in your house reading this manuscript. That figure is the icon of the blue person shown by (B). You exist within this “bubble” or reality also shown by (R1). This “reality” includes the chair you sit in, the television show that you are watching, and the coffee beside you.
Extending beyond your (physical) reality is your “extended” (non-physical) reality (R2) which consists of your thoughts, memories and everything associated with it (also known as the “quantum cloud”).
Your thoughts regarding what you are now reading are moving about in this (R2) reality. This area contains not only thought, but emotion and other generated “influences” (far too complex to discuss at this time).
However, you have a soul (A) that is part of who you are. This soul only partially occupies your reality. In fact, it spends the vast bulk of it’s time outside of your “reality”. You know it exists, but you are unaware of it’s “day to day” experiences, challenges and behaviors.
Your soul can create numerous “realities” with numerous “individuals” (of which YOU are but one of the people that your soul creates) occupying those realities. This can occur at different times and at different locations. However, for now, let’s keep it simple and suppose your soul has created only one “realty” (R1) and (R2) for one person (B), you the reader.
Now, let’s suppose that you are married to another person that is part of your life. (A pretty common situation.)
That person would be represented by (C) which is but a “quantum shadow” of another person. It is not the ACTUAL person. It only seems that way. (Though in your reality, that person is just as real as anything else in your reality.)
What you see is their world-line version of where they married you and share your reality. It is not an actual reality (from their point of view, but rather the world-line version of them). (Your quantum-shadow spouse is but one version of a near infinite number of world-line variations of that particular person.)
That person (D) is actually living within their own “reality “just like you are. They may or may not see a quantum shadow of you. It is all determined by their version of reality. This of course is determined by their soul (E).
What is of most interest here is how their thoughts affect your reality (R1 & R2). While we all have our own “bubble” or reality that we live and exist within, our reality is constantly in flux by the thoughts of others (G). We view these effects as the “passage of time”.
A really basic diagram of the general organization of “Human” Heaven. Each individual soul constructs a “reality”. It them provides a conduit to the biological presence within that reality. This conduit is known as “consciousness”. Note that no two consciousnesses share the same reality. However, there can be influences in the non-physical reality aspects.
The influence of the quantum-shadow of those nearest to us absolutely shape and mold the realities that we participate in. We can alter their influence by having “strong personalities”, or trying to isolate ourselves from others. However, the more we do so, the less likely we are to learn lessons and have experiences. It is the overlap of thought influences that create the experiences that we learn from.
Both your (A) soul and your spouse’s soul (E) exist within a heaven (F).
Your soul’s can work out different “realities” or “adventures” for both of you to share to obtain experiences.
A given consciousness with interact with the quantum shadows of other consciousnesses. Together they share experiences. The experiences can be good or bad, but they ultimately help align quanta so that a soul can grow and learn. Thus, it is very important that a given consciousness get the BEST experiences while it is part of a given reality.
The idea, of course, is to obtain experiences and configure the quantum clouds associated with the constructed realities that the soul utilizes. As soul grows and configures itself, it can “improve” and evolve. Hopefully towards an approved soul archetype and sentience.
In the movie “What dreams may come” a Hollywood version of what Heaven might look like is provided. It’s a nice image. However, Heaven can be anything or nothing depending on the thoughts of the soul. Our sentience creates the type of Heavenly realm that our soul inhabits. Which is WHY it is important for humans to have a single defined sentience; one that does not disrupt the sentience’s of other species. In other words, an approved sentience and physical archetype.
As it improves and grows, the vast bulk of it’s quantum configuration dwells at different energy states. Each different energy state has a different place in heaven (F). Two are indicated by (J) and (I).
To prevent confusion, I would suggest that the reader consider “reality” as the first three dimensions, plus “time” as the fourth dimension.
I would then suggest that the fifth dimension, as world-line swapping (alteration of the “reality” “bubble”). This is very easy to visualize by using the above-mentioned model. For to understand what is happening in this case, the “quantum shadows” within your reality are being rearranged.
Fifth-dimensional travel as world-line travel.
In “world-line” travel, all that is taking place is that the “quantum shadows” are being rearranged within one’s “bubble” of “reality”. This is fifth-dimensional travel. In the example above, Fifth-dimensional travel as world-line travel.
Quantum shadow (C) changes to fit the new revised “realty”. (It is now a yellow person instead of a red person.) We, as a participant within our reality look upon these changes as “world-line” travel.
From this point of view, it should be clear. That obtaining world-line dimensional travel is actually accessing our own soul and requesting it to alter our reality to fit our needs, while at the same time keeping the educational lessons that we are to obtain the same or better. This can be accomplished through certain techniques. In my case, we utilized a biological artifice to bend reality (within the confines of my experience structure).
So, in all actuality, there isn’t really any kind of “travel” at all. What is actually happening is the “reality” construct changes in accordance with the wants and needs of the soul.
If a given person, within a “reality” bubble wants to change his “world-line” he would be able to do so with the proper technology. However the changed “world-line” that manifests would be one that would either have the same and equal types of experiences for the soul, or that it would be one that would have more or “better” experiences.
There are even more interesting nuanced versions of “world-line” travel at the “higher” dimensional values. However, for our purposes, let’s keep it simple. I would then suggest anything above the fifth dimension as the realm of “heaven”. (Whether it is actually in a Heaven Universe, or within our “reality” universe.)
Review – What “time” actually is.
Most people have a really crap-tastic idea of what the MWI or multiple world-line theory is. They just cannot visualize it for the life of themselves. They have no idea what to think, or how it would manifest.
They come up with visualizations such as this…
Contemporaneous visualization of the MWI.
One major hurtle…
The problem with all these contemporaneous visualizations is that the artist, philosopher, or scientist does not isolate the concept of consciousness from that of a physical person. It is assumed, and defaulted to one and the same identical thing. When in fact, they are entirely two separate things.
Everyone assumes that all those people around us also possess a consciousness. We assume they are also like us; that they have an active consciousness and an associated soul as well.
We make this assumption based on our interactions with them.
They appear, to us to be fully actuated and in possession of a soul and consciousness. We argue here that the appearance of something does not equate to the de facto possession of something.
There are differences between [1] a “consciousness”, [2] a “physical body”, and [3] a “person”. For our purposes, a person is someone with an active consciousness. Most people think that all three things are just different names for the same thing. They are not.
The differences between a person, a consciousness and a physical body when discussing the MWI, or multiple world-line theory.
Most laymen, and many scientists do not understand this simple fact. They assume that everyone is a “person”. That we share our universe with other people who all have internal “consciousnesses”.
We do not.
We are a consciousness. Not a physical body.
Instead we are consciousness, that inhabits a physical body, forming a person. (As in the picture above.) We then occupy a reality.
In this reality, we are surrounded with physical bodies, but none of them possess a consciousness. Instead they appear to have a consciousness simply because of how they interact with us. This interaction of these others is how the soul obtains experiences and thus grows and advances in the quantum sphere.
Within our reality, we are the only one that is in possession of a consciousness. Everyone else is just a shadow version of themselves. In reality they (too) inhabit their own reality elsewhere, where they too are alone and surrounded by the quantum shadows of others.
Thus, our universe is comprised with a near infinite number of world-line realities. Many are empty, and some contain a consciousness which is inhabiting a body to obtain experiences with. Our universe, thus looks something a little like this…
This is how the universe actually is, and exists within the MWI. It is a place where consciousness travels the infinite world-lines alone, and interacts with shadow equivalents of other people, persons and things.
Why this is important.
If you want to know the “secrets of the universe” then you will need to forget everything you learned in school and college. For all of it is based on assumptions that are rock-hard, firm, fixed and imputable.
Most of it is really, really incorrect. For our “reality” is not what everyone thinks.
We do not “share” our universe with others.
We live alone in our universe.
Everyone else are “shadow copies” of their true forms.
These “shadow copies” are other people acting and living as if they were to share our universe. They are what could possibly exist and manifest. Not that they actually do manifest.
Shadow copies
For simplicity purposes, we simplify things to understand them. And in the case of these “quantum shadows” or “shadow people”, we say that they are empty and devoid of a consciousness.
But that is not really true.
Every shadow person, on every possible world-line has a teeny-tiny part of the quanta associated with another consciousness. It’s really sparse, and really small, but it does exist there. We just simplify things and say that a person; a consciousness, occupies a world-line alone.
It’s a simplification. And here we can see how the simplification helps us to understand things…
What it looks like is NOT the way it is.
We all think that there is just one universe, and one Earth, and it is populated by all of us together. That we share the earth with each other and that we are all equal and are in the same time-line.
All these assumptions are wrong.
We believe that we share our universe with others. No. Instead we share this universe with “versions” of other people. These versions are constructs that interacts with our consciousness while we exist within our reality world-line.
We do not share our universe with others.
Nope.
Not. Even. Close.
Instead, we occupy a universe alone. We do not share it with anyone. Oh, yes, it does appear that we share it, but we really do not.
All those other people that we interact with are not really what they appear. They are a version of that other person. This is the version of that person were they to actually share the reality with us.
All those other people that we interact with are not really what they appear. They are a version of that other person. This is the version of that person were they to actually share the reality with
They are but quantum shadows of the possibility of interaction.
In Plato’s classic Allegory of the Cave, a group of people living in a cave have a very false view of the world because the only thing they can see is the shadows on a wall. Plato was trying to teach his students that the philosopher must see beyond the shadows to the reality that is projecting them, but what exactly is that reality.
The reality that Plato wanted his students to see is not the physical form of the object casting the shadow, those physical objects are just another level of shadows! The world of matter is the shadow world, the world of illusion, the world of deception. It is not at all what it appears to be because our physical eyes, and other physical senses, can sense only the shadows called matter so we are deceived into believing that it is real. That is not to say that matter is not real. Matter is real just as the shadow of a tree is real, but the shadow is not the tree and matter is not true reality.
-Cosolargy International
To understand this please note.
We are not a physical body. We are soul.
Now, do not be offended.
This does not at all mean that there is no love, that there isn’t a thing called togetherness. That there isn’t all the physical, emotional and spiritual relationships that we have with others. Do not be silly. Of course they exist.
What changes is the understanding of what a physical body is.
Instead of one (and only one) physical body that your consciousness inhabits, there is an infinite number of physical bodies. Each one within a unique and separate world-line.
You, as consciousness, moves in and out of all these other bodies of yours through thought.
This is what a person really is. We are multi-dimensional beings with a singular consciousness. We (as consciousness) move in and out of the MWI world-lines entering similar physical bodies associated with our consciousness.
This is also true for the entire rest of the universe. Everyone else also possesses bodies such as this. Your dog has this kind of body. Your cat has this kind of body. In fact, the felines are actually quite cognizant of this ability.
We are NOT a physical body. We are soul that manifests a consciousness within our reality.
Knowing and realizing this, makes some of the passages in the religious books far more reasonable, and easier to understand. It doesn’t matter if it is the Koran, or the Bible. Understanding the way the universe works, and truly works, adds a far greater understanding to the wisdom that resides inside of these great works.
The soul creates a “consciousness” that it places in a “container”. This container is a “world-line”. Our “universe” is a near infinite number of world-lines.
We are placed here for our consciousness to obtain experiences.
We navigate in and out of the world-lines though our thoughts. Our rate of travel (in general) is (for most humans) about 4 Hz. Or, four cycles per second. (Four world-lines each second.)
There are different rates of travel, and different species travel the MWI at different speeds. In general, the rate of travel is proportional to the operational speed of the brain. This of course varies.
If you dull your brain to such a degree that your brain is slower, then you will not travel the MWI as fast as others would. And you might find your life slowly "falling behind" that of others.
Thus…
We are consciousness. We “rent” a physical body for a fleeting moment of time.
Our reality is NOT shared. Instead our consciousness occupies a singular world-line. It is a momentary event.
We (our consciousness) migrate between momentary world-lines through our thoughts.
This movement is known as “the arrow of time”.
The best way that I can introduce the reader to this “radical” understanding of how our universe actually works, is to use the “movie projector theory”.
Movie Projector theory for the MWI.
This is an illustration of what time actually is. Time does not exist. It is a perception that our consciousness has as it moves and weaves in and out of different world-lines. Here we use an old-fashioned movie reel projector to help illustrate this understanding.
Thus, the idea of the actual way things work is really, really, REALLY different than what everyone assumes or believes. The difference is so stark, that many researchers are handicapped in their understanding of reality. Ah, but it need not be that way.
Come on! You can well understand the movie projector analogy, can’t you?
If you can, well good for you! Award yourself a gold star.
The Movie Projector Theory in more detail…
The problem with that analogy (and it is a really good analogy), that that it does not take into account the individual frame selection in the film role. For in actual contemporaneous movies, it is the movie producer that selects the individual frames, and the person just sits back and watches the movie.
In reality, it is more like an entire bank of projectors, and we (as soul) selects the movie that interests us.
In this model, we have numerous movie projectors, all running simultaneously (at the same entropy)… Ah! At the same time.
We can “jump into” any scene portrayed by any of the movie projectors at will. We just look at the projected images.
Instead of a producer selecting the frames in a film and arranging the movie, and content, the soul consciousness does this instead. Using the movie projector analogy, it is similar to being in a room with multiple movie projectors all running similar films simultaneously. You, as consciousness, can decide which movie to watch. The further away the movie projector is from the movie that you are currently watching, the more effort is required.
The further away the movie projector is from us, the harder it is to watch that movie. So we must watch closer movies (momentarily) and then “edge our way” closer to the movie projector that we are interested in.
Most people, sadly, do not do this. They allow the movie projectors to operate randomly and they find themselves watching movies that they may not really care for.
How it manifests
So, using this film / movie projector analogy further it is exactly how our consciousness selects the “life experience” that we obtain. Each frame in a given movie reel is a world line. They are all playing about simultaneously, and our consciousness selects the world-lines to occupy by hopping from frame to frame. (World-line to world-line.)
By selecting each frame in a given movie, we can navigate within the movie, or even “jump” to another completely different movie all together. It is all dependent upon our thoughts, or the navigation of our consciousness. Our soul decides the very first frame, and the very first movie reel that we will enter. However, it is our consciousness that decides how to make the best of our life, and how to navigate within the framework that is provided to us by the divine.
Nearby movie projectors are nearly identical to the one that we are viewing at the moment. Their divergence from our “present reality” is often very small.
As we move further and further away to more distant movie projectors the divergence gets larger and larger and larger.
This is why it doesn’t seem like we are moving from one world-line to the next. It seems smooth, seamless and transparent. That is because the deviance in nearby world-line (projectors) is very, very small.
Our thoughts select the world-line…
In reality, the “film spool” (a collection of “frames”) is known as the “life experience” of a given consciousness as it takes on a life.
It is a record of our travels in and out of different world-lines. Where a “world-line” is represented as a frame within the movie reel.
The individual “frames” that are selected, are chosen by the thoughts of the consciousness that inhabits the body. We migrate to things that we think about. We migrate to what we think about.
Not necessarily what we might desire. It is what occupies our thoughts most of the time. (So shut off that stupid manipulative television, why don’t ya!)
For all its popularity, Facebook isn’t without its share of scandals. In the latest one, details came out of an experiment conducted on 700,000 Facebook users over the period of a single week in 2012. News feeds were manipulated to contain positive or negative news and content, then users were monitored to see if the change made them use more positive or negative words in their status updates.
And it worked—people’s status updates showed a change in emotion that went along with the kind of news that they were exposed to.
The term used was “emotional contagion,” and it confirms something pretty frightening.
According to the study, people don’t even have to be physically around another person in a bad mood to absorb the negativity into themselves—negativity can be “caught” just from looking at a computer screen.
There doesn’t need to be a personal, emotional connection for emotional contagion to happen.
Not surprisingly, the study has brought up a number of disturbing questions, and it’s now being investigated by organizations like the Information Commissioner’s Office in Dublin. Those questioning the ethics of the study state that it’s nothing less than psychological manipulation. As if that’s not shady enough, Facebook users were unaware that they were having their emotions and moods manipulated through another party controlling just what was popping up in their news feeds.
-List verse
I am hungry, but what do I want to eat? It is our thoughts, coupled with our memories and yearnings that help us decide what actions to take. So what to do? Eat a bowl of dog food, or have a nice tasty delicious pizza? Decisions. Decisions. It is our thoughts that determine which world-lines to occupy, and for most people, they just go with the flow and end up with whatever is provided to them.
No two thoughts are the same…
One of the problems that people need to come to grips with is that thoughts are not equal. Thoughts are “weighed”. Each thought is different. And thus each thought has a different degree in influence in world-line selection.
Thoughts and emotions together form a complex stew of “influence” that can absolutely affect your world-line travel adventures. For instance, consider the scenario of you being hungry and desirous of eating a fine New York style pizza. Now your enjoyment at eating that pizza will depend on your emotions at the time. Obviously you won’t be able to enjoy it if you were angry, now would you? Our emotions, our memories our physical health and other factors all work together to influence our world-line navigation ability.
Thoughts and emotions together form a complex stew of “influence” that can absolutely affect your world-line travel adventures.
These thoughts are comprised of “levels of influence”.
Duration of thinking about something.
Emotional attachments with the thoughts.
Prior memories of similar events.
Prior physical experiences.
The thoughts of the people (shadow consciousnesses) around you.
Cultural variances, needs and desires.
Mass thought manipulation (Have you been paying attention to the news lately?)
One’s inherent belief system.
Ah, no two thoughts are equal. They have a “weighed” value or influence factor. Further, they are also modified by other thoughts by other “shadow consciousnesses” (Individual proxy consciousnesses that share a given reality.)
Think about it. It has to be this way, or else an obsessed person should be able to have their dreams manifest quite easily. But, the truth is that they don't. That is because of a slew of factors. One of which is the "level of influence" that a thought is given within a given world-line.
One of the most important and significant factors in thought-directed world-line selection is one’s inherent belief system.
Consider the cow.
One mighty big cow.
Let's use the cow analogy.
For instance, you might be starving, and ready to die of starvation.
A typical American would not have any qualms with butchering a cow and eating steak. A Hindu would not, and would rather die than kill a cow. A vegetarian might be against eating it, but would not have any qualms drinking it's milk.
Our actions are determined, in large part, by our belief systems.
It is our deepest belief systems that have the greatest influences in our thoughts.
It is our deepest thoughts and core belief systems that have the greatest influence in thought direction and world-line selection. For no two people are the same.
This is a very important subject, and I will cover it later on. For now, let’s look at things simply. Consider that all thoughts are simple, unique and they can easily select the “frames” or world-lines that the consciousness will migrate to.
The actual “landscape” of the MWI as viewed by the individual consciousness.
Imagine a “road map” of nearby world-lines.
Now, what would it look like? What would it resemble? How would we be able to take into account all the different variables that are constantly shifting and changing all around us?
Obviously, it would have a form of sorts.
It would have (as an illustration) globes representing a given “world-line” (or “frame” in the movie using the analogy above). It would also have lines. The lines would represent a path of migration. Which is the most probable paths for a consciousness to take when moving from one world-line to another.
Movement in and out of the world-lines in the MWI by using the movie projector analogy to describe the way that consciousness moves in and out of different world-lines though thought.
Now, this is a pretty good analogy as far as it describes the path that a consciousness would take. However, this analogy ignores the world-lines that are not taken. And in general, there a millions or much larger numbers of world-lines that are constantly ignored.
So a better way of mapping this procedure is to do so in a three dimensional framework.
Moving away from the movie projector analogy and mapping it upon a three-dimensional grip, it might look something a little like this. With the positions of the world-lines geographically positioned relatively to the pathways as a function of the intrinsic value of the particular world-line.
The path that consciousness takes might be just as well placed on a map of sorts. This map might show nodes and paths where the consciousness might migrate depending on thought manifestation, generation and progression.
However, it would not look so much like a cluster of grapes, or bubbles on a foamy sea of bath water. No.
It turns out that the highest probability pathway forms a kind of sheet or flat surface when plotted in the three dimensions.
If you end up plotting everything, you can't make out heads or tails of the map. It's just this one big mess. But, if you plot the pathways that have the greatest probability of travel, it simplifies immensely.
Instead of a cluster of grapes, it would look a little like a mesh or a grid. With the points being world-lines, and the lines connecting the points as the shortest distance to that world-line.
Now, if you take a step away from this “map” of “world-lines” and their lines of “high-probability” consciousness transfer it might start looking a little like this. Where you would see a “surface” of “highest probability” pathways, with the relative ease of travel and the strength of character needed to traverse affecting the heights and valleys of the apparent surface.
How the world-lines with consciousness migration paths might look when a person takes a larger overview. You will see that the map is not a flat surface, but rather undulates. It forms hills, valleys and “mountains”. This surface is the “geography” of the world-line transition map. Each possible destination world-line would have a different value of “potential”. Which is a potential for the consciousness to move towards it and occupy it.
The “surface” that this map forms is the HIGHEST PROBABILITY of consciousness movement from one world-line node to another.
Going above the surface indicates a strength of will over the combined strength of inertia of a given world-line.
Going below the surface indicates a weak strength of will and a consciousness being overwhelmed by the inherent inertia of a given world-line.
Additionally…
Moving to the left upon the mapped surface indicates more freedom of movement upon a given world-line reality.
Moving to the right upon the mapped surface indicates less freedom of movement upon a given world-line reality.
Thus…
The topographic map display is a useful tool in understanding the hurtles and trials that one needs to endure to travel forth on the MWI.
The movement on the topographical map of the highest probability paths is accomplished via thought.
However, the rate of travel is fast…
The thing is, however, that the rate of travel through each world-line in the MWI is quite fast. It is around four world-lines per second. (For some people it is much, much higher.) Thus, for any topographic map to be of any use, it will have to have to exist on a much larger scale than what is presented here.
As such, the individual world-lines would appear as tiny pixels, and for the map to be of any use, it should describe a travel duration in terms of weeks rather than seconds. This means that the map would look like a smooth gradient rather than an array of “floating”globes.
MWI geometric map showing an array of highest probability world-lines in a seven second cluster of time. As the resolution increases the similarity to geologic topographic maps increases. Often these maps resemble landscapes and other recognizable surfaces.
Mapping the surface.
Here, we are going to take a look at the way the landscape actually looks from the point of view of an individual consciousness. It is NOT simple and flat. It is undulating with all sorts of “nearby” world-lines that the thoughts can select and migrate towards.
In general, it might look something along these lines…
The general topography of the MWI.
In reality, this topographical map is much more complex and complicated. However, I was able to (functionally) navigate it using a sort of simple 3d understanding, and that understanding is one that I will provide here. Yes, these are my conventions distilled and illustrated as a teaching aide.
Here we look at it is the substantially simplified version that I am accustomed to using.
The meanings and purposes in the three-dimensional topographical portrayal.
Now because this is a very simplified diagrammatic representation, numerous variables are incorporated in the “X’ and “Z” axes. (Not to mention the entropy axis “Y”.) In general, as I understand it, the characteristics of the “X’ and “Y” axes are an algebraic sum of the inverses of the individual contributions to the axes elements.
OK. I know that I lost you. Just think of it as a sum average of all your thoughts.
Internal Influences
Internal influences should be understood as the ultimate result of comparative thought-driven MWI transitions by the given consciousness.
Suppose the mind has a wide selection of thoughts. Everything from anger at a spouse, to frustration at work, and influences in the news, to a loving thoughts related to romance. All these thoughts will work together to generate a (singular) "value" on this axis.
But, it is more than that. It is also the weighed value and the intensity of the thoughts, coupled with the apparent carry-over duration longevity of the thoughts as a person migrates in and through the other world-lines.
Let's keep it simple.
Look, if you drop a slice of pizza in the middle of a muddy road, would you [1] pick it up, wipe the mud off the pizza, and eat it. or [2] say "heck with that", and leave the pizza in the mud as a lost cause.
For most people, they would give up and abandon the slice of pizza.
The amount of mud is far too distracting to enjoy the slice of pizza. That is that way this system works. For if you abandon the slice, like most people would, your would occupy a world-line on the surface of the undulating map.
If however, against all probability and convention, you decided to eat the slice, you might be above or below the surface, depending on other factors.
Here’s an example.
Let’s suppose that you are a simple fellow and you have five things going on in your life.
A spouse that wants a divorce.
A boss who is hinting on firing you.
A yearning for a club sandwich and an ice cold beer.
A pet that loves you and is very loyal.
Memories of fishing with your father.
In this example, some of the items would have more emotion attached to it that others. While other issues might be better at controlling your emotions and directing your thoughts. While still others might be able to erase the thoughts completely (if for a short period of time).
You might be an emotional wreck and your thoughts would manifest a life that would reflect your thoughts.
As an aside, drugs and other stimuli can also influence thoughts and behaviors. All of these complexities can alter the navigational ability on the MWI.
There is no way to judge which thoughts or issues affecting the thoughts would have the greatest influence on the person because it is their deepest internal core belief systems that would result in how the world-lines would manifest.
Charlie Sheen’s Public Meltdown in 2011
All that one can assume is that all the factors would be weighted together and balanced though the core belief systems of the soul / consciousness. This would influence the momentary section of the next world-line.
Is it no wonder that when things start going wrong, that they often end up spiraling out of control?
External influences should be considered the inherent inertia that comes with a given world-line.
Inertia.
Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its state. Once you have a bowling ball sitting on the floor, it is a little difficult to get it to move. However, once you get it moving, it's hard to slow down.
That difficulty... getting it started to move, and stopping it from moving... is what is known as inertia.
For our purposes it is the accumulated influences of the “shadow thoughts” of those (non-consciousness) apparent beings that share a given destination world-line. These are all the physical and non-physical influences that would affect the thoughts of a consciousness while it is in a given world-line.
You see, there can only be one consciousness per world-line. All those other "people" that we share the world-line with are actually "shadows". They are the bodies and representation of other consciousness were they to share the reality with us. As such, not only are their physical being present with us, but also their thoughts, dreams, desires and urges as well.
A "shadow" is a person that we share the specific world-line with.
However no consciousness inhabits their body. Their actual consciousness is off in another reality. We are observing their 'shadow" or a portrayal of how they would behave, act and think were they to share our reality with us.
The arrow of time.
With this being understood, a consciousness… a person might experience world-line travel at a rate of around 4 Hz, and visit numerous world-lines in any given instance. Thus the “arrow of time” might look something like this…
The topography of the MWI showing the apparent “arrow of time”.
Thus in this simplified diagram showing the geography of the MWI you (the reader) can see [1] how the passage of time manifests, [2] how your thoughts can alter and change the “X” vector component, and [3] how a given world-line can influence the path direction via a “Z” axis vector. You will also notice that the “arrow of time” [4] moves along the direction of decreasing entropy.
Entropy
A measure of the amount of disorder in a system. Entropy increases as the system's temperature increases. For example, when an ice cube melts and becomes liquid, the energy of the molecular bonds which formed the ice crystals is lost, and the arrangement of the water molecules is more random, or disordered, than it was in the ice cube. We can assume that in a macrocosmic universe, that it can be best represented as time.
The migration process.
Our consciousness moves from one physical body in one world-line to another in a different world-line. For most humans, most of the time, the rate of travel is around four world-lines per second.
Expert hint;
If you are using "the power of intention" to manifest your reality, what you are doing is focusing on a destination world line. If you track your success or failure in this effort, you will discover the amount of time it will take for your intentions to manifest.
If it took 6 months, then that means that you had to pass through 62,208,000 (more or less) world lines to arrive at your destination world-line.
Figure around 10 million world-line transitions per month.
The way that consciousness is able to move in and out of the various world lines is though wave propagation behavior.
While it is a given world-line, the consciousness occupies the body in the particle form.
While the consciousness moves from one world-line to another, it is no longer occupying a body. It is thus in a wave form.
It is not that a quanta changes, it is how the observer views the quanta that makes the change. Our soul controls consciousness. Consciousness can be in different states depending upon the point of view of the person (the observer). Here we can see that the two apparently different states are one and the same thing, depending on the point of view of the observer.
This all happens rather quickly. In most people, mostly the rate of travel from one world-line to another is around 4Hz. For most humans our brains have a difficult time observing the changes in these movements. So we think that we are living in one singular world-line that we share with others.
Here is a gif that kind of illustrates the point, and the system at work here.
Wave and particle duality and illustration.
The entry process
This is how the consciousness changes from wave to particle for entry within a body within a reality. Our consciousness naturally exists in the wave form.
However, the moment it “crashes through” into a fabricated world-line reality, it changes form. It becomes a particle. It’s a natural process.
This is how the consciousness changes from wave to particle for entry within a body within a reality. The consciousness takes on the particle form in order to operate the physical body and exist within a reality or world-line reality. Otherwise, it operates in wave form outside of the body.
Our “universe” is often quite confused and mislabeled. We use that term to define what we observe, when in reality, what we are observing is a string of static world-line universes while we experience “time” Each moment is a snap-shot of a “world-line universe”.
Time is the movement of consciousness in and out of world-lines. What we see as time is actually the differences between each world-line as we pass through it.
All of these world-lines lie within a much larger physical place with is called the “physical universe”. It contains many things. Including many non-physical things.
Review – We inhabit world-lines alone.
So… what have we reviewed?
The reality is a series of world-lines. Each a “frozen” moment in time.
Time is the movement of consciousness through those world-lines.
We travel alone, with the only thing of interest is our consciousness.
Shadow people lie around us, but they are “empty”.
Now all of this pretty much sums up the idea that everything that you know about the universe, life, spirit, and the physical world is wrong. In fact, it is so very wrong that there can be absolutely zero recognizing the two. You either believe the way things actually work, or you don’t. Instead, or going with the way things actually work, you might try to fit it into the fantasy that we have constructed for ourselves over the last 5000 years.
Now all of this is a radical notion.
It is one where the physical universe is a construction. It is used by consciousness (which is controlled by a collection of quanta, known as “soul”) to obtaining new experiences. And experiences is what cause quanta to become entangled with other quanta.
Thus, the entire “secret of the universe”!
Ta Da!
But are we really always alone?
As such, in order to best describe this process, I explained that consciousness goes in and out of world-lines. But that it does so alone. That each world-line appears to be populated with other people, other animals and other things. But those aren’t “real” people, animals and things, that they are actually “quantum shadows” of others instead.
Which lends people to mistakenly believe that they are all alone.
Ah!
But this isn’t true. Not at all.
In reality, those quantum shadows are just elements of other consciousnesses and other souls, it’s just that their representation in any given particular world line is very tiny.
Your consciousness is 60% present in a given world-line.
Everyone else’s is a shadow and only 0.00000000000000000000001% present.
When your consciousness is in a world-line, it really isn’t there 100%. It might be there 60%. With the remaining 40% spread out among 100,000 trillion other world-lines.
And that is true with every other animal, person, critter and plant.
For simplification purposes, it’s just easiest to imagine that you are alone surfing the MWI with empty quantum shadows of others.
But that simple way of thinking is really just “training wheels” to understand the MWI and world-line travel.
In reality, you are actually sharing a world-line with others. It’s just that (from their point of view) they are hardly participating in the one that you are in. Their other world-line where they are on might have a reality quite different from yours. But they are touching your world-line, it’s just not that strongly.
And now for the new stuff…
Love is very strong and it is an emotion that has quantum components that “plug into” our very bodies, our very natures, and cause us to build up great entanglements with other people, places, things, and …
… loved pets.
When we truly love someone and something, we want to be with them. And it is this strong desire that forges very strong emotional bonds. These bonds can quickly become physical with would result in quantum entanglements.
And that means…
That something “special” is going on when someone loves another.
And this “special” thing is the entanglement of emotions, and the quantum entanglements of the two consciousnesses together.
Which means…
That a world-line that contains your consciousness at 60%…
…would attract the consciousness of another…
…so that both you and your love interest (pet, lover, family member) would both (for a while, at least) share the DOMINANT world-lines together within the same cycle.
Or, in other words…
Instead of…
Your consciousness at 60% occupancy within a given world line.
Your pet, lover or friend occupancy at <1%.
It would be different.
It would be more like this…
Your consciousness at 60% occupancy within a given world line.
Your pet, lover or friend occupancy at 60% as well.
Both of you two would travel the MWI together.
Shared world-lines.
Pair consciousness exploration of the MWI
What this means is quite significant.
No longer does your sole thoughts navigate your destination world-lines. Instead, something else happens. The navigation becomes quite different.
Both of your now navigate the world-lines together. With the dominant personality taking on the majority of the dimensional navigation responsibilities.
And we can see his effect in all sorts of ways. Both good and bad.
Beloved Cat, Horse or DogThe consciousness and the desires of an animal is different than that of a human. Thus the human who is paired with an animal friend might find their life takes on a kind of controlled calmness and sensibility. If you have a stressful and crazy life at work, it will be the cat or dog that will create a tranquil life for you at home. They will navigate the world-lines while you are with them, and the times will be calm, cool and collected.
The beloved pet will navigate the world-lines for you. They will migrate towards comfort and happiness.Married to an alcoholic, or someone with an addiction.Here, the drives and desires of the chemical addiction will alter all the navigation control. The spouse of the alcoholic will find that the alcoholic or addicted person will drive the navigation of the world-lines, and over time, the life style and calmness of life will become more and more chaotic.
The alcoholic would navigate in a very focused and directed manner. It would drag everyone along with that person towards the world-lies they want, whether you want to go or not.Married to someone with a mental illness.A person with a mental illness will be just as bad as someone with an addiction, only more so. They will not have the reasoning ability of a "normal" person, and often their odd thoughts and crazy unrestrained emotions will result in all sorts of bad and dangerous world-lines.
Being a caretaker for a person with a mental illness is not a happy life. At best, it will be chaotic with all manner of stops and starts and redirections.
The only way that a person can get off this crazy union is to [3] have a much stronger personality, or [2] sedate the mentally ill person under strong medication, or [3] leave that person and do not look back.
Entanglement of different species.
I can see a lot of lovers, long well-established couples, and animal lovers all over the world nodding their heads in collective agreement. Yes, it is true, as long as the love is present, there is a strong likelihood that the two consciousnesses would share the given world-line switches together.
You would not be able to tell when you are both on the same world-line actually or you are with a quantum shadow of your beloved. But that is fine. It doesn’t matter, that much.
In general, the greater the love that you generate towards others, the stronger the associative world-lines are. As long as the love is strong, then the world-lines would either be shared, or at the very least, cluster together.
Emotional Connections
Which means that as long as everyone is “on the same page” or in agreement with the ways things should be or get accomplished (family, work, life, friendships) then you can well expect that the life would be calm and controlled and pretty nice.
If however, you have a dominant personality in the group, and that person does not think the same as the rest of the group, then the entire group could very well be dragged with that person’s thoughts and desires. And this can become very dangerous.
Which is why I say that both LOVE and HATE are the same thing as far as quantum associations are involved.
Both will tie you to another, and actually result in you sharing the same world-lines or at least associating with theirs.
Be very careful concerning this. As both the emotions will tie you all together, how the world-lines will manifest will be by the thoughts that you all would generate. And the truth is that hateful thoughts can create very, very, very black world-lines.
Be particularly cautious of people who spew hate and dangerous thoughts. They will drag you towards very bad places.
And control you there.
Why pets?
There is an association with our pets that we build up. Whether it is a dog, a cat, a horse, or any of the many, many pets that we might associate with. We share real love with them. They become our buddies and are more than just friends to us. They are our special companions that have a very precious role in our life.
And I just want to tell everyone that this role also has a component during world-line transitions.
So please kindly pay attention to my observations…
Quantum shadows or shadow people and pets are not devoid of consciousness, it’s just that most only have a very tiny occupancy when your consciousness is on a given world-line.
If you have a strong emotional attachment, and they have it as well, you will both end up sharing the world-line cycling together at the same time.
The dominant personality will take over the navigation during this period of time. There will always be a dominant and a passive component to this relationship.
Beloved pets will mellow out your world-lines considerably. If happiness is your ultimate goal, get a beloved pet.
Conclusions
Since you would have an attachment with a person or a pet, and you would share world-lines together for a period of time, then it makes sense that you would have a strong bond of attachment whether you are alive or dead.
This attachment will come in handle when you two reunite in the non-physical worlds.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This is a very simple post that will layout a fundamental template for your prayer affirmations. These affirmations are things that you read aloud (to yourself) everyday during a campaign. Prayer campaigns happen over a period of time, and are interrupted by periods of inaction. In other words, you conduct a campaign and then stop completely. Then after a period of rest, you start a new campaign. The affirmations are a list of your desires laid out in a prayer format.
Structuring is a term that I use to describe the organization of your prayer list. You do not need to have it organized, but it will really help you out when the time comes to run a campaign.
The Structuring of a prayer campaign
Most people put together perhaps ten lines of prayers and call it their verbal affirmations. They repeat them once a day in their private moments. Some put them on a laminated sheet in the shower and read them aloud while taking a shower. Some put them in a notebook and read them when they are alone in their home office. While others have them on a list in their wallet and they read it in their car in the company parking lot.
When I conduct a prayer affirmation campaign, my list is long. It is very long and very detailed. I do this because I know that if I am not that detailed, what will manifest might not be what I want. So I tend to be very descriptive and very exacting in my campaign.
I learned the importance of this the hard way.
It's almost like that "contract that you sign with the devil", you will indeed get exactly what you wish for. But you must be very careful in defining your wishes.
So there are really only two recommended techniques (for the newbe and novice) that you can employ. Either have [1] very simple and broad affirmations, or [2] a very complex detailed affirmation campaign.
You do not need to be like me.
In fact, I strongly recommend that people new to intention campaigns start out slowly and simply, and then modify the affirmations over time to find our what works for them. For certainly, what works for one person might not work for others.
I will repeat.
We are all different. So what works for one person might not work for others. Which is why, pretty much, I tell everyone to stick to plain and simple affirmation campaigns and keep things basic. And then, after you have seen how things manifest for you, you can alter and grow your affirmation campaigns into great complexity with more intense results.
My suggested campaign template
Here, I am going to lay out the elements of a very detailed affirmation campaign. One that I use personally (with my personal prayers omitted, of course) and leaving the general affirmations for you all to use and alter as you see fit.
Now, I have mentioned how to conduct these kinds of prayer campaigns in other posts. So none of this should be a real surprise. What might be different here is that the campaign that I am listing here is an “advanced” campaign. It is one that is intentionally modified for “expert” use.
Yes.
This is what I use, and it is what any one who has been doing affirmation campaigns for a couple of years can use. It is not for newbe use.
What is different here, and why I warn NOT to use if you are new to affirmation campaigns, is that it contains certain elements that you must agree to that will completely and totally alter your campaign implementation.
The advanced techniques
This affirmation campaign is full of affirmations that will fundamentally alter and change how your campaign actually runs. This campaign includes “code” that will rewrite the “source code” behind the normal working procedure of an affirmation campaign. And thus it is dangerous for newbe use.
The advanced coding…
[1] Permits the application of world-line slides in your life.
[2] Discards your “initial world-line template” or base-line world-line map for others that will achieve your goals.
[3] Dramatically decreases the time for implementation of your affirmations by permitting and allowance for periods of “phased out discomfort”.
[4] Places guarantees that discomfort will be kept to a minimum.
To use these advanced techniques would result in some rather impressive changes in your life, but it will come at a cost.
[1] Using slides
The cost is that once you have allowed a campaign to slide you out of your birth-world-line map, you will never be able to return back to it. Which means that [1] you will forever be forced to conduct prayer affirmation campaigns until you die, and [2] that you must still obtain experiences and lessons as part of your soul charter. This will result in [3] some level of potential discomfort.
What does this mean?
Well, it might be like the character “Earl” from the show “My name is Earl”, who wins a lottery ticket for millions of dollars, but gets hit by a car and loses the ticket. Because he owes a karmic debt that exceeds the value of the lottery ticket.
My name is Earl television show.
Well…
… it might appear to be like that.
[2] Changing the template world-line map
In reality, it’s not really so much about karma as it is that your consciousness NEEDS to obtain experiences during this life.
The at-birth-world-line template was provided to you to use as a map to make those experiences occur. Good or bad, right or wrong, you were corralled or lead to make decisions that would cause events that would manifest due to your thoughts.
So yes, in a way, our world-line template that was allocated to us at pre-birth pretty much set up a corralled, and fated life.
Now, you are purposely leaving that template map, and permitting yourself to slide out on to other world-line maps.
World-lines can be grouped into clusters of similarly, and by other means.
When I refer to a world-line "map", I am referring to cluster of world-lines that evolve (over "time" as viewed by the consciousness) in such a way that the HIGHEST PROBABILITY of events are presented in a three dimensional format. The most probable world-lines are shown in a two dimensional plane, and the relative "difficulty" or "discomfort" to the person is presented in the third dimensional axis.
If you do not use this kind of "map", then you have no structure. Just a big furry and fuzzy ball of all probabilities all superimposed over each other. So use of this map greatly simulates how a person can make decisions, be corralled into certain actions, and learn from experiences and events.
If you want to get off this "fated" or "corralled" map that you were assigned with at birth, then you need to slide off of it. You would slide onto another map.
These other maps might be radically different, or might not. They might be violently disturbing, or quietly comforting. They might be anything. And that is the point. You elect to leave the experience-kindergarten and step into the elementary school hallway. It’s a big step.
Normal thoughts, and a normal simple affirmation campaign works within a pre-birth template map. There is a fixed number of world-lines that you must pass through (on the x-y axis) to obtain your goal.
To speed things up, or achieve other advantages, you need to slide off that map in a z-prime axis onto another map. This other map would have other issues and an entire set of highest probability pathways.
[3] Quick(er) response to your campaign
In this “heavyweight” affirmation campaign template, you would agree to sacrifice comfort and convenience for achieving your goals.
So, for example, if your normal campaign would normally take six years to manifest some long-term goal, this technique would reduce it to a third of the time. Say two years.
Also, as a side effect of this methodology, you will discover that the “pause” between campaigns will be abbreviated as well. Rather than taking a three month long pause between campaigns you might have the strong feeling that you could start a new subsequent campaign shortly afterwards, say in two months instead of three.
[4] Fail safes
Of course, this campaign would include fail-safes or else it would be very, very dangerous.
The idea behind this is that the world-line map that your experiences would lie upon in this incarnation would be within a set of boundary limits. You would have a high probability of experiencing “A”, and “B”, and while you could us your free will to avoid experiencing those things, the probability of you doing so would be very small.
People ask what is fate?
A child drops an ice cream cone on a hot pavement in the Summer and runs away crying.
You watch that event.
The highest probability would be that you watch, and then continue on your way as if nothing happened. This would be your fated pre-birth template, and you would be proceeding on the x-y axis. This is the most common and highest probability of behavior.
But there are actually a near infinite things that you can do. Such as...
[1] Buy the strange kid a new ice cream cone.
[2] Go after the kid and taunt her / him making fun of them.
[3] Pick up the cone and throw it in the trash.
[4] Pick up the cone and eat it.
[5] Pick up the cone and throw it at a passing car.
The most common and highest probability reactions and events are on the world-line map.
For instance, you would accept a job at “ACME Widgets”, not knowing that in three years they would lay you off. This would be a scenario that you would pretty much be fated to experience.
Now, it is true that you do not have to accept the job at “ACME Widgets”, but the situation on this world-line template would be such that not taking it might mean going without food for a while, or other uncomfortable things.
So in other words, the world-line template map is a fated life that you as soul selects for your consciousness to experience.
But, by accepting and allowing to slide off this birth-assigned template map, you can use your thoughts to navigate to new and different world-lines off that template.
On this new world-line template, you have a set of new opportunities and new events that were NOT present on the old pre-birth world-line template.
So, while the option for “ACME Widgets” might still be open to you, so will an opportunity at “Headbook Software”.
Now taking that opportunity would give you much better salary, and a host of other benefits. More so than “ACME Widgets”, but also would provide a different mapped “terrain” that you would need to navigate.
Instead of just worrying about a pay check at “ACME Widgets”, you now have to contend with a host of other issues that was not in your pre-birth charter. You would experience far more, and do far more, and live a much more active life… but it would be at a level of compression. In other words, more experiences, and thus a greater risk of discomfort.
To mitigate and control this additional and new discomfort, you would need to add text to your affirmations to control and mange it. Thus this technique…
Advanced Technique
I call this an advanced technique because you are “taking the training wheels off”.
The idea of training wheels is to teach balance with a “safety” system to catch the child when their balance is off. In reality, most kids simply rely on the training wheels and never practice balance at all. Some children even find that it is easier to fall with training wheels – particularly while maneuvering around a corner.
-Time to Take Off the Training Wheels? Parents Families.com
So once you implement advanced intention campaigns…
… you are awarded “full spectrum” control…
… with all the benefits and the inherent dangers that come with it.
THIS IS NOT FOR THOSE NEW TO AFFIRMATION CAMPAIGNS.
You need to have been conducting an affirmation campaign for at least a year before you try these techniques. I don’t want to advocate people to dive into the deep end of a pool until they learned how to “doggie paddle” first.
The affirmation campaign template
Here I am going to give you, the reader, elements of my very own personal affirmation campaign. I have omitted my personal information so as not to confuse this template. (And besides, it’s personal, don’t you know.)
General
I am calm, cool, collected and confident.
I , and my family, are all happy, healthy, and relaxed.
I live a calm, stress-free, comfortable life.
I feel calm and halcyon most of the time.
I have no worries, concerns, or stress. [1]
I am the water that flows under the earth in strength and power. [2]
I am navigating my reality towards my goals. [3]
In general, my reality is one that is a controlled improvement over what I already have. [4]
I am happy, healthy, and successful.
I fill my body with good delicious and healthy food and drink.
I have money, savings, and investments. [5]
Negative people are always repelled away from me in such a way that they do not affect my reality.
These affirmations manifest in the near future, and maintain existence for the remainder of my life.
All of these events as specified manifest as quickly as possible. [6]
Notes;
This is the "general" category at the top of my affirmation list. It contains phrases and general assumptions that will occur not matter what else manifests.
[1] The first five items refer to my level of stress and comfort. Now, if you do not want a relaxed and comfortable life, you can omit these items. I, myself, have lived in stressful situations. I do not want any part of them to manifest. So I make sure that no matter what, my life is calm, and good.
[2] My personality is one of adaptation. Some people have fixed personalities. You can alter this to read something like "I am a rock and stable in all things", or perhaps if you are of a flighty and wispy countenance "I move like the air and master my environment". It's all up to you. This phrase defines your general placement within the mapped terrain.
[3] You must vocalize what you are doing.
[4] You want to improve in what you have. You want to keep the good things going on in your life and add more good things to them. You do not want to throw away everything and start from scratch, do you? If you do, you can omit this phrase.
[5] If you do not include money in your affirmations, no matter how well intentioned, you could easily end up being poor and destitute; happy, but poor and destitute.
[6] These last two statement phrases are critical. By specifying a time limit, you allow the navigation to take you off the pre-birth intention canvas. You drop off the map and are permitted to slide to what ever new map will provide you quicker and more immediate results.
Now the world around us is seemingly going crazy. Pockets of discomfort, strife and alarm are all around us. We don’t want any of that to impact our life. We do not want any part of that in our life and we most certainly do not want to obtain experiences that are associated with strife.
However, if you slide off the pre-birth template you can end up (easily) within a world-line that is full of stress and discomfort. You do not want that. Not in the least. So in order to prevent that, you will need to place some affirmations in regards to safety and security.
Like this…
Safety
My family is safe and secure and protected from all efforts to attack it. [1]
I am safe and protected where I live, and my life is stable and isolated from any attacks of any type.
No matter what the news says, none of the disturbing things actually happens to me or my family. [2]
I and my family are safe and secure. Any battles, wars, conflicts or social upheavals occur far away from us.
My family and I are safe and isolated away from conflict, strife, and danger. We are always safe.
The people around me love me, protects me, nurtures me, and supports me. [3]
Notes;
If the world was stable this section in your affirmation campaign might not be necessary. But the world is not stable. Right now there are three carrier battle assault groups off the coast of China 15 miles from where I live. Maybe Donald Trump thinks that it makes great news headlines. For me, well it is very stressful and ugly.
[1] This might be the only phrase you might need.
[2] If the "news" is promoting something dangerous, this phrase will act like a shield and cause the event (or something similar) to "bounce off" and hit some other target. You know, like the fire on the USS Bonhomme Richard, or the massive explosion known as the Beirut explosion. This phrase will deflect events away from your area.
This is a complicated matter and I could devote an entire post on it alone. When huge groups of people start thinking things, they create a buildup of quanta. That buildup must be released. If it is being directed at something, and you use an affirmation to conduct a world-line switch, the build-up still needs to be released. And thus you will see other examples of where the "bullets ricocheted to".
[3] You need to tie yourself to a friendly and supportive community.
Now, let’s get into the content…
Content
Here is where you would put your “regular” intentions. This is where the vast bulk of your intentions would go. And it might look something like this…
The affirmations are for example only.
They are not my personal affirmations. My very own intentions are a little shy on objects and things, and rather dense when it comes to personal relationships, adventure, and lifestyle. But here are some illustrative examples.
I have a lawn with “Centipede grass”.
My front door is painted a high gloss PANTONE Bright Red C, with a nice real shiny brass door knocker.
I own a John Deer Cub Cadet Ultima ZT1 50-in. 23-hp Kawasaki Zero Turn lawn mower.
I own a beautiful white Nissan Titan XD Pro 4X.
You can add anything here that you want. In this example, I have placed things. But you can describe relationships, or situations, or events.
Events like…
I am able to travel the world in a sailboat.
I am part of a local group of businessmen and attending gatherings.
I have box seats at the local stadium.
Relationships like…
I am dating a girl that has the personality of Lauren Cohan (The Walking Dead actress).
I am dating a girl that has the body of Kelly Brook (English model, actress and television presenter best known for her roles in the 2010 horror comedy remake Piranha 3D).
My father and I have resolved our differences and spend time together on the weekends.
Situations like…
I have part ownership in a golf club.
My house is filled with happy dogs and relaxed cats.
I live next to the mountains and have a fresh water spring in the back.
In short, you can put anything here that is is desire. You can be vague or specific. Just note that the more specific you are, the longer it will take to manifest. So only add specificity when actually necessary. Otherwise, it’s wisest to keep things flexible.
Non Physical Entities & Forces
Our world, for the most part, is populated with the things that we see and experience around us. Therefore, since that is all that we know, that is all that we wish to alter. But the truth is that there are a host of other things, and other elements of our reality that exists around us. This includes things and entities.
By placement of specific affirmations you can protect yourself from malevolent entities (if they exist) or enlist the help of other non-physical entities, were it your prerogative.
I ask for help to achieve my intention targets; and I do get help from all the non-physical beings that can assist me.
I also get help from any physical beings that can assist making my dreams and wishes come true and manifest.
Other entities, not limited to but including, XXX, YYY, ZZZ, guardian angels, friendly sprites, and other entities are permitted to assist me obtaining my goals as defined here. [1]
In no way can these other entities hurt, harm, or mess up my life and intentions. They may only help, and are welcome to help gladly.
I know how to embrace opportunities as they manifest around me, and implement those necessary changes and actions promptly. [2]
Notes;
[1] You might not believe that non-physical intelligence's and animals exist. That's fine. But it wouldn't hurt to have this line in your affirmations, now would it?
[2] This affirmation can go anywhere, but the placement herein associates it with a knowledge associated with specific actions associated with non-physical, or physical entities.
Control of emotions and thoughts
We are constantly under manipulation. Where it is the embedded code within the websites and the APPs that we use, to the movies we watch and the news that we subscribe to. Everything is trying to twist and control our emotions. Yet, in order for our affirmations to actually work, these influences must be zeroed out.
Now there are two ways to zero out these influences. Firstly [1], you can get rid of those influences directly. You can stop using the media, using the computer and using the cell-phones. Or [2] you can add affirmations that control your reactions to those influences.
This section follows route #2. You have affirmations that control the way that the external influences influence your behaviors and action.
I am able to control my emotions and thoughts.
I prevent any angry, dangerous, or terrible thoughts from occurring. [1]
I prevent the manifestation of any reality that might result from bad, negative or dangerous thoughts. [2]
I avoid getting into arguments on the internet.
Everything surrounding me is positive and good.
Notes;
[1] The first two affirmations are seemingly redundant. But, they are not. One specifies that I am in control of what I think, not outside influences. The other prevents the manifestation and generation of bad or negative thoughts.
[2] Prevents the generation of "bad" reality generation resulting from my thoughts.
MWI Routing
This section adds a strong degree of control on how you add, alter, modify or implement your intention campaign. I am a strong believer that each one of us runs our very own unique campaign, and thus what works for one person, might not work for a different person. So in order to control that aspect of variance, you need to specify how the affirmation campaign works within your MWI reality.
These affirmations serve that purpose…
I understand how this universe works, and how to alter, improve and change my reality. [1]
I use this knowledge to generate a perfect life for myself and for my family.
As such, I am the Captain of my Consciousness. [2]
I move in and out of the world-line realities as necessary to achieve my thought-destination(s).
I do achieve my ultimate goals and I do so efficiently, and quickly while avoiding bad or undesirable world-lines. [3]
I am alert on what to say and do in order to achieve my desires.
I know what affirmations to make to manifest the life that I wish to participate within.
I know, positively, when to stop, change, alter or revise my affirmations in accordance with my needs and desires. [4]
I am aware of opportunities as they arise, and I know exactly what actions to take to maximize my desired intentions.
I am aware of the world-line routing as it occurs and do not panic or worry about how things will manifest. [5]
I recognize that world-line realities that I inhabit might be calm and relaxed, but that substantial positive and proactive events are unfolding for my benefit that might be hidden from me.
Notes;
[1] This phrase helps you rapidly learn what affirmations to use, and which ones not to use. You also better understand why and how they work. I think that this sentence along helps tie the affirmation campaign into a mechanism for soul experience growth.
[2] These two commands place your verbal affirmation campaign firmly into the realm of "navigation console". By using these phrases you convert an intention campaign from a "lifestyle enhancement method", to a "world-line navigation console".
[3] These two lines explicitly state what the purpose of the affirmation campaign is, and how it works.
[4] These four affirmations enable you to have insight on how to improve your affirmations, and add or subtract from them. While this is seemingly a more or less natural consequence of performing a campaign, this little statement guarantees that whatever alterations you make will be in accordance with your direct wishes, and not what was laid out in the pre-birth reality template map.
[5] These two affirmations cover cognizant awareness of the physical reality and what to do to alter, reroute or modify your intention campaign.
Intention Canvas
I urge everyone to have “dream board” or “intention canvas”. This contains images and pictures used to complement your affirmation campaign.
As opposed to "sharpening" your intention focus, it make it more "fuzzy". (Which is counter intuitive. Not what you would think, eh?)
In other words, instead of a small, hard, absolute point on the world-line terrain map, it becomes a bigger, fuzzier, and softer ball. What this does is provide a larger group of avenues or paths for you to reach to your goal.
The key words or text herein is to “complement”, and not to “replace” your affirmation campaign.
As I have discussed previously, the canvas can be a “dream board”, a rotating image display on your computer, or a folder containing a stack of pictures. It can also include a computer folder in your PC that contains images that you can use (and one that you don’t visit often either.)
In all cases you MUST tie this “intention canvas” to your affirmation campaign. These affirmation commands do just that. In my case, I have a folder that contains picture collages that represent my intended desires. And that is what I will suggest in these examples…
I utilize the images in my “XXXXX” folder (and all subfolders) to help make the manifestation of my lifestyle manifest.
I also utilize the photos in my PC (found in the YYYYYY directory) and used as my rotating background display to help cultivate the reality that my world line is.
The following commands specify exactly how the images will manifest and what they represent within my life…
In which case, then you go into great detail what general terms that each image represents. Such as these examples…
Males shown in photos
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself. [1]
Images that portray mafia figures, or “bad people” portray myself in similar roles of power. They do NOT, however, manifest these kinds of people against me. [2]
Images that portray powerful people represent my role as it manifests.
In images showing actors, it is the character, personality and role that they play that manifests in my life, not that of the actual actor. [3]
Notes;
[1] Do not assume that just because a male figure is in a photo residing inside your intention canvas, that it automatically represents you. If you want that to happen, then you will need to either use this affirmation, or photoshop your image into that photo.
[2] So, you've got a picture of Tony Soprano enjoying some wine, with his underlings nearby and a girl on each arm. Do not assume that you would intend this role to materialize. Instead, the local mafia don in your neighborhood might end up getting the intention instead of yourself.
[3] Likewise, you want the role that the actor plays. Not the life of the actor him or herself. If you want the actors person life, then you need to specify it. You need to specify exactly what elements the images represent or else you might have the wrong things manifest. You might (for example) want the life of Captain Jack Sparrow, and have a photo of a carefree run-infused pirate. While in reality you might end up with Johnny Depp's life and an embroiled divorce. Yikes!
Objects shown in photos
In images related to gold, money, currency and wealth, the intention is broadly associated with large sums of money, wealth and success that I possess.
In images relating to objects, they represent the things that I own or possess as property.
Women shown in photos
In images that have females, they represent the situation that I am participating in.
In images that only contain females, the appearance and body shapes, and the situation of the female, their body and actions are what manifests per my intention direction.
In images showing females, with a dominant physical attribute (as determined by myself), that attribute manifests within my reality.
Notes;
Since I am a male, I do not want to confuse any images with women and children. I want to specify that they are different and perform roles that are situational.
Blocking and Protections
We live inside a reality that has both physical and non-physical components. Thoughts alter and change our reality. Both our thoughts, and the thoughts of those around us. Good people can give us good wishes and pleasant thoughts. However, most of the world today is not good, and thus bad people can thrust bad wishes upon us.
We don’t want to suffer through hexes, malevolent intentions or bad events sent in motion by individuals who have a grudge against us. So we must utilize protections. Here are the protection affirmations that I use…
I have awareness on how to avoid the manifestation of problems. I follow that advise immediately without question automatically.
I purposely avoid negative, dangerous, bad, or problematic reality world-lines to achieve my goals
I have broken apart any barriers to controlling my reality. These are barriers that are either self-created, or those created by others.
I define my reality, and undo any spells, magick or alterations imposed upon me, or the reality around me by anyone or anything.
I block and shut out all negative, de-constructive, and dangerous thoughts from manifesting and altering my intentions listed herein.
Notes;
Do not assume that everyone thinks like you. There are many "closet" occultists, and "home-grown" priests that will throw some unwanted thoughts and beliefs your way. You must put up protections.
You would be surprised at how many there are. Seriously.
Personal Health
We can have an affirmation campaign that is all great and full of details, but if you ignore you health, it will all be for naught. If there is one thing that we should learn from this coronavirus situation, it is that if you don’t have your healthy, all the riches and “stuff” in the universe become meaningless. You absolutely need to protect your health and general well-being in your affirmation campaign.
Do not neglect this most important aspect of a prayer / affirmation campaign.
I am in top physical shape. I am healthy and happy.
My body operates, functions and behaves like when I was in my late 20’s and into my early 30’s. [1]
My wardrobe is professionally matched, and my body is clean, pleasant and attractive.
My heart is strong and healthy. My internal organs are all in top shape. [2]
Nothing is permitted to cause me harm, damage or physical discomfort.
I know what minerals, vitamins and foods that I must eat to achieve my intention targets. [3]
Notes:
[1] Obviously this applies to folk older than this age. LOL.
[2] Old men can have all kinds of problems and issues, and to prevent and control that, we tend to watch our diets and take vitamins. Exercise is important, and I don't need any affirmations to support what I already do naturally.
[3] Shortly after adding this affirmation line, the number of business luncheons and dinners that I would normally have dropped considerably. My wife started to make a lot of vegetables, and fish. I began to find myself eating this kind of nut and fruit oatmeal just about every morning. Ugh! Yet, after a few months I discovered that my over all body health did actually improve dramatically.
Household
The biggest influence on your life are those in your immediate family. Thus, you need to cherish, and protect them. For without them, you are just a lonely speck floating upon a most turbulent sea.
My family is happy, healthy, and well-taken cared for emotionally, physically, and financially. There isn’t any stress at all.
My family life is very calm, happy and positive. [1]
My family is happy and I have a very calm and happy domestic life at home.
I and my family are healthy, happy, relaxed and doing what we love.
Notes;
[1] My idea of what constitutes a happy family household might not be what you would. I think a calm and happy household is best for my temperament. I however, know others that love a chaotic household with all sorts of happy noise and activity. You need to customize this affirmation to fit your own personal lifestyle.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle is a “catch-all” that really describes the overall desire that you hope to accomplish from this affirmation campaign. Thus, it is critically important. It is the difference between having a “wealthy” life as opposed to a “rich” life. And if you don’t know what I am talking about, watch the movie “Bronco Billy”.
I love my life, and I love everything about my life.
I love the colors, the air, the weather, the people, the location, everything.
I improve upon what I have, not change it drastically.
The improvements are all what is listed here or better.
The improvements are glorious additions to what I already possess.
I live in a beautiful area, with great colors, fresh air, roomy spaces, and a calm and relaxed neighborhood.
I am very comfortable, safe, secure, happy, relaxed and live a nice fun and carefree life.
Everyone sees me as how I desire to be seen. [1]
I know what actions to take to secure my privacy and personal life. [2]
I have the strength (emotional and physical) to break through any barriers to achieve my goals.
Notes;
[1] I control what people think about me. Not others.
[2] Privacy is a fundamental human need. Yet governments, family members, and society pretty much has obliterated this belief. Which is why that I often go without a cell phone on me, and do things on my own personal schedule and not on the schedules that others use. Now, if you do not secure your privacy, the chances are that you will lose it.
Opportunity
The thing about affirmation campaigns is that they rely on you (the person making the affirmations) on taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to you. Thus, it makes no difference if you have an opportunity manifest in front of your eyes, but refuse to take advantage of it. You need to act to manifest that situation.
I am aware of opportunities when they arise, and I am led onto which ones to take and follow up with.
I have physical, spiritual and non-physical entities assisting me in making the opportunities listed herein into personally profitable ventures.
Opportunities come my way and I always profit handsomely from them.
I am aware of the trends going on in my life, behind the scenes, and on tactical, and strategic levels.
Affirmation techniques
Here we specify and “hammer out” the way that these affirmations will operate. You do not need to do this, but by doing so you can control the implementation of the affirmations onto your world-line.
I know of, and use, the specialized techniques to improve the actionablity of my verbal affirmations listed herein.
I know what things to say in my affirmations to make my reality happen safely and quickly.
I am dismissive of those that are not worthy of my time, or effort.
Speed of implementation
By specifying the speed of implementation, you create a slide event. This moves your world-line adventures, and your life off the pre-determined template and direct and straight into your own hands.
All these affirmations occur as quickly as is comfortably and as safely as possible. At no time is my family, health or safety at risk.
These changes are being implemented now, and will manifest soon. Really, really soon.
The normal rules of affirmation manifestation has now been advanced to this direct and immediate application without hesitation.
All these affirmations happen quickly, provided that dangers are avoided and I (and my family) are protected.
Death
Here, it seems really morbid, but a few moments a day to make sure that your transition out of the physical reality would be calm and complete is really a good thing. Don’t you think?
Death will occur late in my life.
I will outlive my father, yet be healthy and functional up until death.
When the time comes for my death, it will be smooth and easy.
Those left behind will be well taken cared for.
Important Navigation Notes
Here we get involved in the aspects that make this affirmation campaign “advanced”. It lays out the use of slide and how they will manifest and under what conditions. You will notice that they permit “minor imperfections” to occur as long as my baseline affirmations manifest.
This affirmation campaign is set up to engage the obtainment of objectives early on, with whatever minor imperfections that they might have.
I use world-line slides to accelerate the implementation of these affirmations.
The slides only come into use whenever they can [1] reduce the time to obtain the affirmation realization within my physical reality, and [2] they do not cause me any discomfort or trouble.
As time moves on, the imperfections drop away, and the true and idealized intention manifests.
This rule enables a quick near-immediate manifestation of my desires herein without having to wait for a long time to obtain the “perfect” intention reality.
Conclusion
This post describes an “advanced” affirmation campaign. It uses slides to accelerate the manifestation of the campaign objectives. As such, it is highly detailed and involves long lines of affirmation code.
It is only for advanced users to use.
As an example, I used elements of my very own affirmation campaign and I urge the reader to use and discard what they wish to make a similar campaign for themselves.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my affirmation campaign index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
An “intention campaign” is a method of prayer that allows a person to alter their reality so that they can achieve and manifest their desires.
This technique has many different elements and is is all well-founded within quantum physics, though most physicists have no idea that the reality can be displayed in the way that I describe. Even those that follow the Everett Postulate of the MWI still try to reconcile their theory with their physical observation. That’s a hybrid of Newtonian Physics and Quantum physics. It does not work that way.
Thoughts cause immediate changes to our physical world.
Immediate.
And so…
If you can control your thoughts, you can control your life.
In this post, we will discuss techniques that will allow you to add complexity to your Intention Campaign without having to endure a long period of time waiting for your goals to manifest. This are advanced techniques and should NOT be used by anyone who is a “newbe” to this type of prayer and objective attainment process.
Quick Review
The theory is quite simple really.
Every fraction of a moment is a world-line. Our consciousness hops in and out of world-lines at a rate of 4 Hz. (plus or minus depending on the person), and the world-line that we enter is a function of our thoughts. Well, actually, added on to the previous train of thoughts. We can navigate through this reality by controlling our thoughts. And if we concentrate and direct our thoughts, we can make our wildest dreams come true.
This concentration of thought is known as an “Intention Campaign”, or a “Prayer Campaign”.
The farther away your dreams are, the more world-lines that you will need to pass through to get to it. So at a speed of 4Hz, it might take a while. A “while” might take a long stretch of time. Think in terms of many months or years.
The longest time period for me, so far, in all my Affirmation Campaigns is a little over three years. The shortest time period has been a matter of weeks. It all depends on many factors.
But simpler Intention Campaigns will be relatively quick. So if you want to have things manifest in your life relatively quickly (say within the year), you simply keep the affirmations “general”, “simple”, and “uncluttered” with details.
And this is what I advise everyone to do.
It’s the difference between;
I have a pizza.
Or…
I have a mushroom, bacon, hamburger pizza, with extra cheese, Chicago style, with anchovies, and pineapple chunks. I have it served inside of a genuine Chicago deep-pan-pizza restaurant served to me with a bottle of imported French wine and with a trio of singers singing opera at my table.
The far simpler Intention will manifest sooner than that of the more detailed intention.
It’s like this…
A standard affirmation campaign map that shows the path of a well defined and very detailed goal. Each point on the grid is a “highest probability” world-line, and topographical height is a measure of personal stress or discomfort.
In the map above you can plainly see that it will take numerous world-lines to obtain your goal. And it will be obtained. It’s just that you have a very precise and detailed goal in mind and you do not want any mistakes, of if there are mistakes, to keep them as minimized as possible.
In general, the more precise and accurate your overall objective is, the smaller the point )in red color above) would be. And yes, the longer it would take to reach that point.
So…
Here’s some techniques that you can use to change the time (it takes) to obtain these goals and objectives…
This first technique is the one that I recommend for all newbes, and for everyone that doesn’t want to get “hot and heavy” with the “ins and outs” of Intention Generation.
[1] Be intentionally vague about your objective.
Here, instead of being precise, you permit the vagueness of your intention campaign to reduce the amount of time required to attain your goal.
Thus, you can obtain your goal in a far shorter time. In the example above, instead of wanting all the specifics related to pizza, all you want is a very simple statement.
I have a pizza.
And the map would look something like this…
This is a vague campaign map. It shows that there are many ways for you to obtain your goals, and A, B, and C all meet your goal criteria, with A being the shortest and quickest path. Note also that the path is shorter than that for a more precise goal objective.
[2] Place specific affirmations in regards to the manifestation of events along the route.
Here is a different technique.
Here, we add (additional) specific intention phrases. We do this to control the selection of the map route involved. In short, we state that we do actually want the ultimate goal objective, but that we specifically want simpler and smaller sub-goals to manifest earlier.
I have A, but B, C and D will occur first.
In this case, let’s suppose that we still want that super-dooper deluxe pizza scenario…
I have a mushroom, bacon, hamburger pizza, with extra cheese, Chicago style, with anchovies, and pineapple chunks. I have it served inside of a genuine Chicago deep-pan-pizza restaurant served to me with a bottle of imported French wine and with a trio of singers singing opera at my table.
However, we don’t want to wait a few years to have it manifest. And we do know that it might take years. So we add a few lines stating that our ultimate goal is, but that we are willing to have interim minor goals happen before the ultimate goal.
I have an ultimate goal where I have a mushroom, bacon, hamburger pizza, with extra cheese, Chicago style, with anchovies, and pineapple chunks. I have it served inside of a genuine Chicago deep-pan-pizza restaurant served to me with a bottle of imported French wine and with a trio of singers singing opera at my table.
However, before that event happens, I will have pizza every week.
And as a result, your Intention Campaign map might look something a little like this one…
In this option, you can have both precise in imprecise goals and objectives listed in your prayer affirmation intention campaign. You just simply need to place the timing involved in context during your campaign.
Notice that in this method, objectives A, and B will occur before your ultimate objective C.
Thus the time to reach A is far less than to reach C.
[3] Define the target goal to be open-ended or of binary complexity.
Of course, most people will have multiple desires in an intention campaign. And this greatly adds complexity to the effort.
Here, instead of one particular goal in mind, you have multiple goals.
With the intention of obtaining one of the goals first, and then altering the subsequent intention campaign prayers as needed to achieve the realization of the final goal.
Here you specify the timing of your objectives.
In other words, you can have multiple goals in the same intention campaign. They do not need to be complimentary. Which (might cause some confusion in your life; read “potential turmoil”), but could very well result in a situation that you would like manifesting sooner than what might otherwise occur.
As in this example…
I have a mushroom, bacon, hamburger pizza, with extra cheese, Chicago style, with anchovies, and pineapple chunks. I have it served inside of a genuine Chicago deep-pan-pizza restaurant served to me with a bottle of imported French wine and with a trio of singers singing opera at my table.
I have a chicken, tomato, and tuna pizza with extra sauce and no cheese. It is New York style and served with a pitcher of beer.
It would look something like this… which could be good or bad depending on your point of view.
Neither goal 1 or goal 2 would manifest, instead something else would occur.
The most important thing is to realize that neither goal 1 or goal 2 would be realized. Instead something else might manifest, Maybe you’d get this instead of either goal 1 or goal 2…
I have a chicken, mushroom, hamburger pizza that is Detroit style and served with warm coke-cola.
Your eventual realized objective would be something in between your other goals. Which means that neither goal would manifest. So, you need to add further affirmations to help navigate this reality.
Binary complexity makes the target goal very “fuzzy”. It becomes imprecise and that might or might not be what you desire. To compensate for this “fuzziness” you need to add some logic. Or in the word of electrical engineers, “fuzzy logic”…
Goal 1; I have a mushroom, bacon, hamburger pizza, with extra cheese, Chicago style, with anchovies, and pineapple chunks. I have it served inside of a genuine Chicago deep-pan-pizza restaurant served to me with a bottle of imported French wine and with a trio of singers singing opera at my table.
Goal 2; I have a chicken, tomato, and tuna pizza with extra sauce and no cheese. It is New York style and served with a pitcher of beer.
Goal 1 will occur before goal 2.
And this logic will look like this…
An intention campaign that has binary goals that are dissimilar and that uses “Fuzzy Logic” to set the direction in the campaign.
And while this solution will most certainly straighten out the confusion in regards to your affirmation campaign, it will have other unintended consequences.
You see, one detailed goal will mess up with a second one, then what about long lists of fifty or one hundred affirmations? What then? Well, your realized intentions will be all over the place. And thus…
It might appear that nothing is actually getting accomplished. You will just be all over the place and while certain goals will be obtained, others will not, or at best be confused. You will not really be sure if your intention is working or not.
As you might just be hopping from one goal to the other. So the best way to handle this is to put qualifiers and associations with your goals…
You will need to have some kind of reassurance that you are “on track”. This is some way, some feedback, that will tell you that things are proceeding properly. You know, like signs along the road.
Goal 1; I have a mushroom, bacon, hamburger pizza, with extra cheese, Chicago style, with anchovies, and pineapple chunks. I have it served inside of a genuine Chicago deep-pan-pizza restaurant served to me with a bottle of imported French wine and with a trio of singers singing opera at my table.
Goal 2; I have a chicken, tomato, and tuna pizza with extra sauce and no cheese. It is New York style and served with a pitcher of beer.
Goal 1 will occur before goal 2.
Before the realization of either goal 1 or goal 2 I will have pizza every week.
I will have “signposts” that will confirm to me that my affirmations are in process and that things are going to schedule.
Signposts 1 through 3 will occur before both goal 1 and goal 2.
Signpost 1 is that I will discover a delicious pizza restaurant within five minutes drive to my house.
Signpost 2 is that I will meet an attractive owner of a pizza parlor.
Signpost 3 is that I will try a new type of pizza that I have never tried before.
It might look something like this…
The use of “signposts” help establish the direction that the path will take. Some people like this level of control. I personally advise against it.
What all this does is establish that you can obtain binary goals of different objectives with a generalized over-riding goal that you can obtain far earlier than either of the first two goals individually. Further, you can map the path out to act as a double check to see if you are on the “proper path”.
Yet, the problem still exists.
How to [1] reduce the amount of time to implement a set of (potentially) conflicting goals, while [2] decreasing the time to manifest the intention, and at the same time [3] knowing that you are “on track” per your affirmation campaign.
Because if you look at the map directly above, you will see that while the goals can indeed be realized, it is questionable that they are actually going to be realized in a shorter amount of time. You will still need to travel through “X” number of world-lines to reach goal 1 and then another “Y” number of world-lines to reach goal 2.
The key then, is NOT being overly specific with the world line mapping, but rather layout the targets and put in specific affirmation commands that allow versatility to accomplish your goals in a timely manner.
Do not specify the objective timing; goal 1 before goal 2.
You specify timing as an objective in itself; Goal 1 in one year.
[4] Make timing one of the affirmation objectives.
In this case, you will make the timing of when you have the objective realized part of the affirmation.
This is tricky, as almost all affirmation campaigns get complex really, really fast when you start defining timing. For what you are doing is saying…
Instead of passing through 50,000 world-lines to meet goal 1, We would pass through 200 world-lines.
Which means, boys and girls, that you might well end up going through world-lines that you might not want to experience. These are world-lines that might not be comfortable for you or your family to experience.
And that could easily become dangerous.
So, using the above examples, here is what the affirmation campaign would look like..
I have a mushroom, bacon, hamburger pizza, with extra cheese, Chicago style, with anchovies, and pineapple chunks. I have it served inside of a genuine Chicago deep-pan-pizza restaurant served to me with a bottle of imported French wine and with a trio of singers singing opera at my table.
I accomplish this goal within fifteen months.
Now, of course, in order to utilize this technique, you would actually alter the topographic map that you would need to traverse. You would force some slides to make it happen.
This is NOT for the squeamish.
This technique specifies a timing requirement as an objective. As such it purposely limits the number of world-lines that can be traversed. Thus, it inadvertently sets forth a slide to another topographical map. This could well be very dangerous.
Slides and topographical world-line mapping
Now, in order to explain this, I need to get involved in what a “slide” is.
In short, a “slide” is a forced switch to another world-line that resides upon a completely different world-line topography map than what you have been assigned to (or selected) at birth. When I was in MAJestic, this was a big part of my life. I was sliding all over the place, and some of the world-lines were really, really strange.
Forcing a slide is not all that difficult to do.
You just define the number of world-lines that you need to traverse to obtain a goal. You can say either [1] I will pass through XXXXXX world-lines to achieve my goal, or [2] I will achieve my goal in YYY days, months and years. Your consciousness will head just like an arrow to the new command.
And that might be a “bumpy ride” for you to experience. Or, maybe, yes, probably WILL be. Most certainly, it will be something different than what your consciousness “signed up for” when it took on your body. That’s for certain.
Now this entire procedure and process opens up an entire “can of worms”.
What is a slide and how does it differ from a normal world-line movement?
What is an assigned topography world-line map?
How you can slide in between different topography maps, and how you can tell that you are doing it?
Can affirmation campaigns be speeded up or slowed down using slides and topography maps?
Can a person “cheat death” by altering their assigned topography map?
Yes, I know that it is confusing.
What? Did you think that the use of intention affirmation campaigns was all “that simple”? It is, but it involves and understanding to the reality universe that is beyond most people. Sorry, but that is the way it is.
So, here’s the “executive summary”…
When consciousness selects a body to be birthed in, it also selects the world-line topographical map.
This topographical map is the boundaries of the “highs” and “lows” of a given lifetime for a given person.
It limits a path that the consciousness can travel upon to obtain experiences. There is a degree of freedom that one has, but the situation and environment limits movement. (A hamburger is available to purchase, but your wallet only has a few pennies in it.)
It is, preordained, by the soul in conjunction with other entities in the Heavenly realms. Fate.
It sets forth the highest probability of life-experiences that a given consciousness will experience. Fate.
In general, most people do not control their thoughts. The environment that surrounds the body controls the thoughts. Thus, a soul can pretty much predict the kind of life that a person would experience on this earth in this particular body.
However, if you can control your thoughts, you can navigate the world-line topography. Free-will. (Free will occur when you control your thoughts. Failure to do so results in a roller-coaster ride of fate.)
By specifying topography criteria, you can slide into other world-line topographical maps. This greatly expands the ability of what you will experience and how your consciousness would learn through this lifetime.
Like an infinite number of world-lines, there is a near infinite number of topographical maps that one can jump to.
If you all want, I can get involved in this subject in more detail. As it is tied to my role in anchoring the world-line clustering. But, let’s not get too sidetracked right now. Ok?
Simple and safe slides
I think that the best of all worlds, for an advanced user is to carefully and gingerly utilize slides with very broad and wide-scoped affirmation goals.
What this means is that you would define the topographical map profile, then allow yourself to slide onto this strange new world-line map, and obtain your goals and objectives that way.
In order to do this, then you would need to be very, very, very careful on how to specify the intention campaign, as well as trying to keep your goals defined and simple. You can handle it this way…
[5] Use slides to change the topographical profile map of world-lines
The key in this technique is a very careful application of commands that will control the implementation of slides.
You must add navigation commands to your affirmations.
As in this example..
I have a mushroom, bacon, hamburger pizza, with extra cheese, Chicago style, with anchovies, and pineapple chunks. I have it served inside of a genuine Chicago deep-pan-pizza restaurant served to me with a bottle of imported French wine and with a trio of singers singing opera at my table.
I use world-line slides to accelerate the implementation of these affirmations.
The slides only come into use whenever they can [1] reduce the time to obtain the affirmation realization within my physical reality, and [2] they do not cause me any discomfort or trouble.
And it will look something like this…
New topographical world-lines might have your goals realized sooner by the very nature of the difference in topography.
Now doing this will come with unintended consequences.
The most notable and the most significant is that you will no longer be restricted to the birth-assigned world-line topography map. You will actually assigning your consciousness “free will” to fully navigate the MWI free of the fated restrictions of your birth world-line topography.
This is good and bad.
As the purpose of our consciousness in a given world-line (starting point), in regards to a topographic map, is to obtain experiences, if your intention campaign is too “relaxed” and “too comfortable”, you will be lax in gaining experiences. So this is not something that your soul desires. You thus, you can well expect to have unique experiences from which your soul can grow from…
Experiences generate thoughts. Thoughts create quanta associations, and help build the soul.
So, it could result in some really funky world-lines. Like (for instance) world-lines that has Gene Simmons still dancing to the beat, or where socks with toes are commonplace, or where (Heaven forbid) pineapple on pizza is mandated by law. You never can know…
Engaging in any affirmation campaign that utilizes slides WILL see an acceleration in changes outside of your life. Suddenly there might be fashions that seem odd to you, or that ways and styles of food will be different, or that habits or group behaviors will be uncomfortable for you. That is what happens in slides and it is normal.
Which brings me to the…
Disco Weener Beaner Haven
There was a cult movie back in the 1990’s. I can’t seem to be able to find it. But it revolves around this bank heist where the robbers escape to Mexico to hide out in a Mexican town.
This community is rather strange with all sorts of unique and unusual people in it. Indeed, both Grace Jones and Dennis Hopper make cameo appearances in it.
This is a movie where they love their coffee. And throughout the movie elements of a 1960’s coffee commercial is played to emphasize the strangeness of it all.
In the movie is a character that sells hot dogs in a cart. The name of his “establishment” is the Disco Weaner Beaner haven, and he has a little jingle that he sings to this end. Oh, and he’s a minor character. I think he gets shot and dies.
It doesn’t matter.
In the movie, a trio of bank robbers escape to this town, and suddenly find themselves surrounded by a host of really strange people. yet, at the same time everything is “normal” but decidedly twisted. And the point of this is exactly this…
Their life remains normal.
The lives of those around them are really strange.
When you accept that your consciousness is willing to perform slides to alter the world-line reality, you agree to “go off the rails” and use free-will to navigate the world-line topography outside of the topography that you were born into. This is a BIG STEP, and not to be taken lightly.
You will still be able to control your existence, and your life, but the surrounding world might start to look rather strange, and over a period of time, as the slides become more and more pronounced, you might be surprised in what is the “accepted norm” for the society that surrounds you.
Personally, I see this as a very great and effective way to really expand your quantum envelope for soul growth.
But, if you are not careful, you might find yourself in all sorts of situations that you might find uncomfortable.
Conclusion
Here we discuss some advanced techniques to shorten the time to implement some of your verbal affirmations within a prayer campaign. The most effective method, is also the most dangerous. Here you accept to use slides to move off your at-birth assigned world-line topography map. As such you close off the fated life that you had assigned yourself, and accept a free-for-all free-will life with all the dangers that it might entail.
Happy intentions everyone!
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my Intention Campaign Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This is a nice tight little science fiction story. It’s pretty much about a normal guy who gets tangled up with forces way beyond his understanding. It’s a cute little comedy and fun recreational reading during these hot July afternoons.
Enjoy.
MUGWUMP FOUR
Al Miller was only trying to phone the Friendly Finance Corporation to ask about an extension on his loan. It was a Murray Hill number, and he had dialed as far as MU-4 when the receiver clicked queerly and a voice said, “Come in, Operator Nine. Operator Nine, do you read me?”
Al frowned. “I didn’t want the operator. There must be something wrong with my phone if—”
“Just a minute. Who are you?”
“I ought to ask you that,” Al said. “What are you doing on the other end of my phone, anyway? I hadn’t even finished dialing. I got as far as MU-4 and—”
“Well? You dialed MUgwump 4 and you got us. What more do you want?” A suspicious pause. “Say, you aren’t Operator Nine!” “No, I’m not Operator Nine, and I’m trying to dial a Murray Hill number, and how about getting off the line?”
“Hold it, friend. Are you a Normal?” Al blinked “Yeah—yeah, I like to think so.” “So how’d you know the Number?”
“Dammit, I didn’t know the number! I was trying to call someone, and all of a sudden the phone cut out and I got you, whoever the blazes you are.” “I’m the communications warden at MUgwump 4,” the other said crisply. “And you’re a suspicious individual. We’ll have to investigate you.”
The telephone emitted a sudden burping sound. Al felt as if his feet had grown roots. He could not move at all. It was awkward to be standing there at his own telephone in the privacy of his own room, as unbending as the Apollo Belvedere. Time still moved, he saw. The hand on the big clock above the phone had just shifted from 3:30 to 3:31.
Sweat rivered down his back as he struggled to put down the phone. He fought to lift his left foot. He strained to twitch his right eyelid. No go on all counts; he was frozen, all but his chest muscles—thank goodness for that. He still could breathe.
A few minutes later matters became even more awkward when his front door, which had been locked, opened abruptly. Three strangers entered. They looked oddly alike: a trio of Tweedledums, no more than five feet high, each wide through the waist, jowly of face and balding of head, each wearing an inadequate single-breasted blue-serge suit.
Al discovered he could roll his eyes. He rolled them. He wanted to apologize because his unexpected paralysis kept him from acting the proper part of a host, but his tongue would not obey. And on second thought, it occurred that the little bald men might be connected in some way with that paralysis.
The reddest-faced of the three little men made an intricate gesture and the stasis ended. Al nearly folded up as the tension that gripped him broke. He said, “Just who the deuce—”
“We will ask the questions. You are Al Miller?” Al nodded.
“And obviously you are a Normal. So there has been a grave error. Mordecai, examine the telephone.”
The second little man picked up the phone and calmly disemboweled it with three involved motions of his stubby hands. He frowned over the telephone’s innards for a moment; then, humming tunelessly, he produced a wire-clipper and severed the telephone cord.
“Hold on here,” Al burst out. “You can’t just rip out my phone like that! You aren’t from the phone company!”
“Quiet,” said the spokesman nastily. “Well, Mordecai?”
The second little man said, “Probability one to a million. The cranch interval overlapped and his telephone matrix slipped. His call was piped into our wire by error, Waldemar.”
“So he isn’t a spy?” Waldemar asked.
“Doubtful. As you see, he’s of rudimentary intelligence. His dialing our number was a statistical fluke.”
“But now he knows about Us,” said the third little man in a surprisingly deep voice. “I vote for demolecularization.”
The other two whirled on their companion. “Always bloodthirsty, eh, Giovanni?” said Mordecai. “You’d violate the Code at the snap of a meson.” “There won’t be any demolecularization while I’m in charge,” added Waldemar.
“What do we do with him, then?” Giovanni demanded. Mordecai said, “Freeze him and take him down to Headquarters. He’s their problem.” “I think this has gone about as far as it’s going to go,” Al exploded at last. “However you three creeps got in here, you’d better get yourselves right out again, or—”
“Enough,” Waldemar said. He stamped his foot. Al felt his jaws stiffen. He realized bewilderedly that he was frozen again. And frozen, this time, with his mouth gaping foolishly open.
he trip took about five minutes, and so far as Al was concerned, it was one long blur. At the end of the journey the blur lifted for an instant, just enough to give Al one good glimpse of his surroundings—a residential street in what might have been Brooklyn or Queens (or Cincinnati or Detroit, he thought morbidly)— before he was hustled into the basement of a two-family house. He found himself in a windowless, brightly lit chamber cluttered with complex-looking machinery and with a dozen or so alarmingly identical little bald-headed men.
The chubbiest of the bunch glared sourly at him and asked, “Are you a spy?”
“I’m just an innocent bystander. I picked up my phone and started to dial, and all of a sudden some guy asked me if I was Operator Nine. Honest, that’s all.”
“Overlapping of the cranch interval,” muttered Mordecai. “Slipped matrix.” “Umm. Unfortunate,” the chubby one commented. “We’ll have to dispose of him.”
“Demolecularization is the best way,” Giovanni put in immediately.
“Dispose of him humanely, I mean. It’s revolting to think of taking the life of an inferior being. But he simply can’t remain in this fourspace any longer, not if he Knows.”
“But I don’t know!” Al groaned. “I couldn’t be any more mixed-up if I tried! Won’t you please tell me—”
“Very well,” said the pudgiest one, who seemed to be the leader. “Waldemar, tell him about Us.”
Waldemar said, “You’re now in the local headquarters of a secret mutant group working for the overthrow of humanity as you know it. By some accident you happened to dial our private communication exchange, MUtant 4—”
“I thought it was MUgwump 4,” Al interjected.
“The code name, naturally,” said Waldemar smoothly. “To continue: You channeled into our communication network. You now know too much. Your presence in this space-time nexus jeopardizes the success of our entire movement. Therefore we are forced—”
“To demolecularize—” Giovanni began.
“Forced to dispose of you,” Waldemar continued sternly. “We’re humane beings—most of us—and we won’t do anything that would make you suffer. But you can’t stay in this area of space-time. You see our point of view, of course.”
Al shook his head dimly. These little potbellied men were mutants working for the overthrow of humanity? Well, he had no reason to think they were lying to him. The world was full of little potbellied men. Maybe they were all part of the secret organization, Al thought.
“Look,” he said, “I didn’t want to dial your number, get me? It was all a big accident. But I’m a fair guy. Let me get out of here and I’ll keep mum about the whole thing. You can go ahead and overthrow humanity, if that’s what you want to do. I promise not to interfere in any way. If you’re mutants, you ought to be able to look into my mind and see that I’m sincere—”
“We have no telepathic powers,” declared the chubby leader curtly. “If we had, there would be no need for a communications network in the first place. In the second place, your sincerity is not the issue. We have enemies. If you were to fall into their hands—”
“I won’t say a word! Even if they stick splinters under my fingernails, I’ll keep quiet!”
“No. At this stage in our campaign we can take no risks. You’ll have to go. Prepare the temporal centrifuge.”
Four of the little men, led by Mordecai, unveiled a complicated-looking device of the general size and shape of a concrete mixer. Waldemar and Giovanni gently shoved Al toward the machine. It came rapidly to life: dials glowed, indicator needles teetered, loud buzzes and clicks implied readiness.
Al said nervously, “What are you going to do to me?”
Waldemar explained. “This machine will hurl you forward in time. Too bad we have to rip you right out of your temporal matrix, but we’ve no choice. You’ll be well taken care of up ahead, though. No doubt by the twenty-fifth century our kind will have taken over completely. You’ll be the last of the Normals. Practically a living fossil. You’ll love it. You’ll be a walking museum piece.”
“Assuming the machine works,” Giovanni put in maliciously. “We don’t really know if it does, you see.”
Al gaped. They were busily strapping him to a cold copper slab in the heart of the machine. “You don’t even know if it works?“
“Not really,” Waldemar admitted. “Present theory holds that time-travel works only one way—forward. So we haven’t been able to recover any of our test specimens and see how they reacted. Of course, they do vanish when the machine is turned on, so we know they must go somewhere.”
“Oh,” Al said weakly.
He was trussed in thoroughly. Experimental wriggling of his right wrist showed him that. But even if he could get loose, these weird little men would only “freeze” him and put him into the machine again.
His shoulders slumped resignedly. He wondered if anyone would miss him The Friendly Finance Corporation certainly would. But since, in a sense, it was their fault he was in this mess now, he couldn’t get very upset about that. They could always sue his estate for the three hundred dollars he owed them, if his estate was worth that much.
Nobody else was going to mind the disappearance of Albert Miller from the space-time continuum, he thought dourly. His parents were dead, he hadn’t seen his one sister in fifteen years, and the girl he used to know in Topeka was married and at last report had three kids.
Still and all, he rather liked 1969. He wasn’t sure how he would take to the twenty-fifth century—or the twenty-fifth century to him.
“Ready for temporal discharge,” Mordecai sang out.
The chubby leader peered up at Al. “We’re sorry about all this, you understand. But nothing and nobody can be allowed to stand in the way of the Cause.” “Sure,” Al said. “I understand.”
The concrete-mixer part of the machine began to revolve, bearing Al with it as it built up tempokinetic potential. Momentum increased alarmingly. In the background Al heard an ominous droning sound that grew louder and louder, until it drowned out everything else. His head reeled. The room and its fat little mutants went blurry. He heard a pop! like the sound of a breaking balloon.
It was the rupturing of the space-time continuum. Al Miller went hurtling forward along the fourspace track, head first. He shut his eyes and hoped for the best.
When the dizziness stopped, he found himself sitting in the middle of an impeccably clean, faintly yielding roadway, staring up at the wheels of vehicles swishing by overhead at phenomenal speeds. After a moment or two more, he realized they were not airborne, but simply automobiles racing along an elevated roadway made of some practically invisible substance.
So the temporal centrifuge had worked! Al glanced around. A crowd was collecting. A couple of hundred people had formed a big circle. They were pointing and muttering. Nobody approached closer than fifty or sixty feet. They weren’t potbellied mutants. Without exception they were all straight-backed six-footers with full heads of hair. The women were tall, too. Men and women alike were dressed in a sort of tunic-like garment made of iridescent material that constantly changed colors.
A gong began to ring, rapidly peaking in volume. Al scrambled to his feet and assayed a tentative smile.
“My name’s Miller. I come from 1969. Would somebody mind telling me what year this is, and—”
He was drowned out by two hundred voices screaming in terror. The crowd stampeded away, dashing madly in every direction, as if he were some ferocious monster. The gong continued to clang loudly. Cars hummed overhead. Suddenly Al saw a squat, beetle-shaped black vehicle coming toward him on the otherwise empty road. The car pulled up half a block away, the top sprang open, and a figure clad in what might have been a diver’s suit—or a spacesuit—stepped out and advanced toward Al. “Dozzinon murrifar volan,” the armored figure called out.
“No speaka da lingo,” Al replied. “I’m a stranger here.”
To his dismay he saw the other draw something shaped like a weapon and point it at him. Al’s hands shot immediately into the air. A globe of bluish light exuded from the broad muzzle of the gun, hung suspended for a moment, and drifted toward Al. He dodged uneasily to one side, but the globe of light followed him, descended, and wrapped itself completely around him.
It was like being on the inside of a soap bubble. He could see out, though distortedly. He touched the curving side of the globe experimentally; it was resilient and springy to the touch, but his finger did not penetrate.
He noticed with some misgiving that his bubble cage was starting to drift off the ground. It trailed a rope-like extension, which the man in the spacesuit deftly grabbed and knotted to the rear bumper of his car. He drove quickly away—with Al, bobbing in his impenetrable bubble of light, tagging willy-nilly along like a caged tiger, or like a captured Gaul being dragged through the streets of Rome behind a chariot.
He got used to the irregular motion after a while, and relaxed enough to be able to study his surroundings. He was passing through a remarkably antiseptic-looking city, free from refuse and dust. Towering buildings, all bright and spankingly new-looking, shot up everywhere. People goggled at him from the safety of the pedestrian walkways as he jounced past.
After about ten minutes the car halted outside an imposing building whose facade bore the words ISTFAQ BARNOLL. Three men in spacesuits appeared from within to flank Al’s captor as a kind of honor guard. Al was borne within.
He was nudged gently into a small room on the ground floor. The door rolled shut behind him and seemed to join the rest of the wall; no division line was apparent. A moment later the balloon popped open, and just in time, too; the air had been getting quite stale inside it.
Al glanced around. A square window opened in the wall and three grim-faced men peered intently at him from an adjoining cubicle. A voice from a speaker grid above Al’s head said, “Murrifar althrosk?”
“Al Miller, from the twentieth century. And it wasn’t my idea to come here, believe me.”
“Durberal haznik? Quittimar? Dorbfenk?”
Al shrugged. “No parley-voo. Honest, I don’t savvy.”
is three interrogators conferred among themselves—taking what seemed to Al like the needless precaution of switching off the mike to prevent him from overhearing their deliberations. He saw one of the men leave the observation cubicle. When he returned, some five minutes later, he brought with him a tall, gloomy-looking man wearing an impressive spade-shaped beard.
The mike was turned on again. Spadebeard said rumblingly, “How be thou hight?” “Eh?”
“An thou reck the King’s tongue. I conjure thee speak!”
Al grinned. No doubt they had fetched an expert in ancient languages to talk to him. “Right language, but the wrong time. I’m from the twentieth century. Come forward a ways.”
Spadebeard paused to change mental gears. “A thousand pardons—I mean, sorry. Wrong idiom. Dig me now?”
“I follow you. What year is this?”
“It is 2431. And from whence be you?”
“You don’t quite have it straight, yet. But I’m from 1969.”
“And how come you hither?”
“I wish I knew,” Al said. “I was just trying to phone the loan company, see. . . anyway, I got involved with these little fat guys who wanted to take over the world. Mutants, they said they were. And they decided they had to get rid of me, so they bundled me into their time machine and shot me forward. So I’m here.” “A spy of the mutated ones, eh?”
“Spy? Who said anything about being a spy? Talk about jumping to conclusions! I’m—”
“You have been sent by Them to wreak mischief among us. No transparent story of yours will deceive us. You are not the first to come to our era, you know. And you will meet the same fate the others met.”
Al shook his head foggily. “Look here, you’re making some big mistake. I’m not a spy for anybody. And I don’t want to get involved in any war between you and the mutants—”
“The war is over. The last of the mutated ones was exterminated fifty years ago.”
“Okay, then. What can you fear from me? Honest, I don’t want to cause any trouble. If the mutants are wiped out, how could my spying help them?” “No action in time and space is ever absolute. In our fourspace the mutants are eradicated—but they lurk elsewhere, waiting for their chance to enter and spread destruction.”
Al’s brain was swimming. “Okay, let that pass. But I’m not a spy. I just want to be left alone. Let me settle down here somewhere—put me on probation—show me the ropes, stake me to a few credits, or whatever you use for money here. I won’t make any trouble.”
“Your body teems with microorganisms of disease long since extinct in this world. Only the fact that we were able to confine you in a force-bubble almost as soon as you arrived here saved us from a terrible epidemic of ancient diseases.”
“A couple of injections, that’s all, and you can kill any bacteria on me,” Al pleaded. “You’re advanced people. You ought to be able to do a simple thing like that.”
“And then there is the matter of your genetic structure,” Spade- beard continued inexorably. “You bear genes long since eliminated from humanity as undesirable. Permitting you to remain here, breeding uncontrollably, would introduce unutterable confusion. Perhaps you carry latently the same mutant strain that cost humanity so many centuries of bloodshed!”
“No,” Al protested. “Look at me. I’m six feet tall, no potbelly, a full head of hair—”
“The gene is recessive. But it crops up unexpectedly.”
“I solemnly promise to control my breeding,” Al declared. “I won’t run around scattering my genes all over your shiny new world. That’s a promise.”
“Your appeal is rejected,” came the inflexible reply.
Al shrugged. He knew when he was beaten. “Okay,” he said wearily. “I didn’t want to live in your damn century anyway. When’s the execution?” “Execution?” Spadebeard looked stunned. “The twentieth-century referent—yes, it is! Dove’s whiskers, do you think we would— would actually—”
He couldn’t get the word out. Al supplied it.
“Put me to death?”
Spadebeard’s expression was sickly. He looked ready to retch. Al heard him mutter vehemently to his companions in the observation cubicle: “Gomirn def larriraog! Egfar!”
“Murrifar althrosk,” suggested one of his companions.
Spadebeard, evidently reassured, nodded. He said to Al, “No doubt a barbarian like yourself would expect to be—to be made dead.” Gulping, he went gamely on. “We have no such vindictive intention.” “Well, what are you going to do to me?”
“Send you across the timeline to a world where your friends the mutated ones reign supreme,” Spadebeard replied. “It’s the least we can do for you, spy.”
The hidden door of his cell puckered open. Another space-suited figure entered, pointed a gun, and discharged a blob of blue light that drifted toward Al and rapidly englobed him He was drawn by the trailing end out into a corridor.
It hadn’t been a very sociable reception, here in the twenty-fifth Century, he thought as he was tugged along the hallway. In a way, he couldn’t blame them. A time-traveler from the past was bound to be laden down with all sorts of germs. They couldn’t risk letting him run around breathing at everybody. No wonder that crowd of onlookers had panicked when he opened his mouth to speak to them.
The other business, though, that of his being a spy for the mutants—he couldn’t figure that out at all. If the mutants had been wiped out fifty years ago, why worry about spies now? At least his species had managed to defeat the underground organization of potbellied little men. That was comforting. He wished he could get back to 1969 if only to snap his fingers in their jowly faces and tell them that all their sinister scheming was going to come to nothing.
Where was he heading now? Spadebeard had said, Across the timeline to a world where the mutated ones reign supreme. Whatever across the timeline meant, Al thought.
He was ushered into an impressive laboratory room and, bubble and all, was thrust into the waiting clasps of something that looked depressingly like an electric chair. Brisk technicians bustled around, throwing switches and checking connections.
Al glanced appealingly at Spadebeard. “Will you tell me what’s going on?” “It is very difficult to express it in medieval terms,” the linguist said. “The device makes use of dollibar force to transmit you through an inverse dormin vector—do I make myself clear?” “Not very.” “Unhelpable. But you understand the concept of parallel continua at least, of course.” “No.”
“Does it mean anything to you if I say that you’ll be shunted across the spokes of the time-wheel to a totality that is simultaneously parallel and tangent to our fourspace?”
“I get the general idea,” Al said dubiously, though all he was really getting was a headache. “You might as well start shunting me, I suppose.”
Spadebeard nodded and turned to a technician. “Vorstrar althrosk,” he commanded.
“Murrifar.”
The technician grabbed an immense toggle switch with both hands and groaningly dragged it shut. Al heard a brief shine of closing relays. Then darkness surrounded him.
Once again he found himself on a city street. But the pavement was cracked and buckled, and grass blades shot up through the neglected concrete.
A dry voice said, “All right, you. Don’t sprawl there like a ninny. Get up and come along.”
Al peered doubtfully up into the snout of a fair-sized pistol of enormous caliber. It was held by a short, fat, bald-headed man. Four identical companions stood near him with arms folded. They all looked very much like Mordecai, Waldemar, Giovanni, and the rest, except that these mutants were decked out in futuristic-looking costumes bright with flashy gold trim and rocketship insignia.
Al put up his hands. “Where am I?” he asked hesitantly.
“Earth, of course. You’ve just come through a dimensional gateway from the continuum of the Normals. Come along, spy. Into the van.”
“But I’m not a spy,” Al mumbled protestingly, as the five little men bundled him into a blue-and-red car the size of a small yacht. “At least, I’m not spying on you. I mean—”
“Save the explanations for the Overlord,” was the curt instruction.
Al huddled miserably cramped between two vigilant mutants, while the others sat behind him. The van moved seemingly of its own volition, and at an enormous rate. A mutant power, Al thought. After a while he said,
Could you at least tell me what year this is?”
“It is 2431,” snapped the mutant to his left.
“But that’s the same year it was over there.”
“Of course. What did you expect?”
The question floored Al. He was silent for perhaps half a mile more. Since the van had no windows, he stared morosely at his feet. Finally he asked, “How come you aren’t afraid of catching my germs, then? Over back of—ah—the dimensional gateway, they kept me cooped up in a force-field all the time so I wouldn’t contaminate them. But you go right ahead breathing the same air I do.”
“Do you think we fear the germs of a Normal, spy?” sneered the mutant at Al’s right. “You forget that we’re a superior race.” Al nodded. “Yes. I forgot about that.”
The van halted suddenly and the mutant police hustled Al out, past a crowd of peering little fat men and women, and into a colossal dome of a building whose exterior was covered completely with faceted green glass. The effect was one of massive ugliness.
They ushered him into a sort of throne room presided over by a mutant fatter than the rest. The policeman gripping Al’s right arm hissed, “Bow when you enter the presence of the Overlord.”
Al wasn’t minded to argue. He dropped to his knees along with the others. A booming voice from above rang out, “What have you brought me today?”
“A spy, your nobility.”
“Another? Rise, spy.”
Al rose. “Begging your nobility’s pardon, I’d like to put in a word or two on my own behalf—”
“Silence!” the Overlord roared.
Al closed his mouth. The mutant drew himself up to his full height, about five feet one, and said, “The Normals have sent you across the dimensional gulf to spy on us.”
“No, your nobility. They were afraid I’d spy on them, so they tossed me over here. I’m from the year 1969, you see.” Briefly, he explained everything, beginning with the bollixed phone call and ending with his capture by the Overlord’s men a short while ago.
The Overlord looked skeptical. “It is well known that the Normals plan to cross the dimensional gulf from their phantom world to this, the real one, and invade our civilization. You’re but the latest of their advance scouts.
Admit it!”
“Sorry, your nobility, but I’m not. On the other side they told me I was a spy from 1969, and now you say I’m a spy from the other dimension. But I tell you—” “Enough!” the mutant leader thundered. “Take him away. Place him in custody. We shall decide his fate later!”
Someone else already occupied the cell into which Al was thrust. He was a lanky, sad-faced Normal who slouched forward to shake hands once the door had clanged shut.
“Thurizad manifosk,” he said.
“Sorry. I don’t speak that language,” said Al.
The other grinned. “I understand. All right: greetings. I’m Darren Phelp. Are you a spy too?”
“No, dammit!” Al snapped. Then: “Sorry. Didn’t mean to take it out on you. My name’s Al Miller. Are you a native of this place?”
“Me? Dove’s whiskers, what a sense of humor! Of course I’m not a native! You know as well as I do that there aren’t any Normals left in this fourspace continuum.”
“None at all?”
“Hasn’t been one born here in centuries,” Phelp said. “But you’re just joking, eh? You’re from Baileffod’s outfit, I suppose.” “Who?”
“Baileffod. Baileflod! You mean you aren’t? Then you must be from Higher Up!” Phelp thrust his hands sideways in some kind of gesture of respect. “Penguin’s paws, Excellency, I apologize. I should have seen at once—” “No, I’m not from your organization at all,” Al said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, really.”
Phelp smiled cunningly. “Of course, Excellency! I understand completely.”
“Cut that out! Why doesn’t anyone ever believe me? I’m not from Baileffod and I’m not from Higher Up. I come from 1969. Do you hear me, 1969? And that’s the truth.”
Phelp’s eyes went wide. “From the past?“
Al nodded. “I stumbled into the mutants in 1969 and they threw me five centuries ahead to get rid of me. Only when I arrived, I wasn’t welcome, so I was shipped across the dimensional whatzis to here. Everyone thinks I’m a spy, wherever I go. What are you doing here?”
Phelp smiled. “Why, I am a spy.”
“From 2431?”
“Naturally. We have to keep tabs on the mutants somehow. I came through the gateway wearing an invisibility shield, but it popped an ultrone and I vizzed out. They jugged me last month, and I suppose I’m here for keeps.”
Al rubbed thumbs tiredly against his eyeballs. “Wait a minute— how come you speak my language? On the other side they had to get a linguistics expert to talk to me.”
“All spies are trained to talk English, stupid. That’s the language the mutants speak here. In the real world we speak Vorkish, naturally. It’s the language developed by Normals for communication during the Mutant Wars. Your ’linguistics expert’ was probably one of our top spies.” “And over here the mutants have won?”
“Completely. Three hundred years ago, in this continuum, the mutants developed a two-way time machine that enabled them to go back and forth, eliminating Normal leaders before they were born. Whereas in our world, the real world, two-way time travel is impossible. That’s where the continuum split begins. We Normals fought a grim war of extermination against the mutants in our fourspace and finally wiped them out, despite their superior mental powers, in 2390. Clear?”
“More or less.” Rather less than more, Al added privately. “So there are only mutants in this world, and only Normals in your world.” “Exactly.”
“And you’re a spy from the other side.”
“You’ve got it now! You see, even though strictly speaking this world is only a phantom, it’s got some pretty real characteristics. For instance, if the mutants killed you here, you’d be dead. Permanently. So there’s a lot of rivalry across the gateway; the mutants are always scheming to invade us, and vice versa. Confidentially, I don’t think anything will ever come of all the scheming.”
“You don’t?”
“Nah,” Phelp said. “The way things stand now, each side has a perfectly good enemy just beyond reach. But actually going to war would be messy, while relaxing our guard and slipping into peace would foul up our economy. So we keep sending spies back and forth, and prepare for war. It’s a nice system, except when you happen to get caught, like me.” “What’ll happen to you?”
Phelp shrugged. “They may let me rot here for a few decades. Or they might decide to condition me and send me back as a spy for them. Tiger tails, who knows?”
“Would you change sides like that?”
“I wouldn’t have any choice—not after I was conditioned,” Phelp said. “But I don’t worry much about it. It’s a risk I knew about when I signed on for spy duty.”
Al shuddered. It was beyond him how someone could voluntarily let himself get involved in this game of dimension-shifting and mutant-battling. But it takes all sorts to make a continuum, he decided.
Half an hour later three rotund mutant police came to fetch him. They marched him downstairs and into a bare, ugly little room where a battery of interrogators quizzed him for better than an hour. He stuck to his story, throughout everything, until at last they indicated they were through with him. He spent the next two hours in a drafty cell, by himself, until finally a gaudily robed mutant unlocked the door and said, “The Overlord wishes to see you.”
The Overlord looked worried. He leaned forward on his throne, fist digging into his fleshy chin. In his booming voice—Al realized suddenly that it was artificially amplified—the Overlord rumbled, “Miller, you’re a problem.” “I’m sorry your nobil—”
“Quiet! I’ll do the talking.”
Al did not reply.
The Overlord went on, “We’ve checked your story inside and out, and confirmed it with one of our spies on the other side of the gate. You really are from 1969, or thereabouts. What can we do with you? Generally speaking, when we catch a Normal snooping around here, we psychocondition him and send him back across the gateway to spy for us. But we can’t do that to you, because you don’t belong on the other side, and they’ve already tossed you out once. On the other hand, we can’t keep you here, maintaining you forever at state expense. And it wouldn’t be civilized to kill you, would it?”
“No, your nobil—”
“Silence!“
Al gulped. The Overlord glowered at him and continued thinking out loud. “I suppose we could perform experiments on you, though. You must be a walking laboratory of Normal microorganisms that we could synthesize and fire through the gateway when we invade their fourspace. Yes, by the Grome, then you’d be useful to our cause! Zechariah?”
“Yes, Nobility?” A ribbon-bedecked guardsman snapped to attention.
“Take this Normal to the Biological Laboratories for examination. I’ll have further instructions as soon as—”
Al heard a peculiar whanging noise from the back of the throne room. The Overlord appeared to freeze on his throne. Turning, Al saw a band of determined-looking Normals come bursting in, led by Darren Phelp. “There you are!” Phelp cried. “I’ve been looking all over for you!” He was waving a peculiar needle-nozzled gun. “What’s going on?” Al asked.
Phelp grinned. “The Invasion! It came, after all! Our troops are pouring through the gateway armed with these freezer guns. They immobilize any mutant who gets in the way of the field.”
“When—when did all this happen?”
“It started two hours ago. We’ve captured the entire city! Come on, will you? Whiskers, there’s no time to waste!”
“Where am I supposed to go?”
Phelp smiled. “To the nearest dimensional lab, of course. We’re going to send you back home.”
A dozen triumphant Normals stood in a tense knot around Al in the laboratory. From outside came the sound of jubilant singing. The Invasion was a howling success.
As Phelp had explained it, the victory was due to the recent invention of a kind of time-barrier projector. The projector had cut off all contact between the mutant world and its own future, preventing time-traveling mutant scouts from getting back to 2431 with news of the Invasion. Thus two-way travel, the great mutant advantage, was nullified, and the success of the surprise attack was made possible.
Al listened to this explanation with minimal interest. He barely understood every third word, and, in any event, his main concern was in getting home. He was strapped into a streamlined and much modified version of the temporal centrifuge that had originally hurled him into 2431. Phelp explained things to him.
“You see here, we set the machine for 1969. What day was it when you left?”
“Ah—October ten. Around three thirty in the afternoon.”
“Make the setting, Frozz.” Phelp nodded. “You’ll be shunted back along the time-line. Of course, you’ll land in this continuum, since in our world there’s no such thing as pastward time travel. But once you reach your own time, all you do is activate this small transdimensional generator, and you’ll be hurled across safe and sound into the very day you left, in your own fourspace.”
“You can’t know how much I appreciate all this,” Al said warmly. He felt a pleasant glow of love for all mankind, for the first time since his unhappy phone call. At last someone was taking sympathetic interest in his plight.
At last, he was on his way home, back to the relative sanity of 1969, where he could start forgetting this entire nightmarish jaunt. Mutants and Normals and spies and time machines—
“You’d better get going,” Phelp said. “We have to get the occupation under way here.” “Sure,” Al agreed. “Don’t let me hold you up. I can’t wait to get going—no offense intended.”
“And remember—soon as your surroundings look familiar, jab the activator button on this generator. Otherwise you’ll slither into an interspace where we couldn’t answer for the consequences.”
Al nodded tensely. “I won’t forget.”
“I hope not. Ready?”
“Ready.”
Someone threw a switch. Al began to spin. He heard the popping sound that was the rupturing of the temporal matrix. Like a cork shot from a champagne bottle, Al arched out backward through time, heading for 1969.
He woke in his own room on Twenty-third Street. His head hurt. His mind was full of phrases like temporal centrifuge and transdimensional generator.
He picked himself off the floor and rubbed his head.
Wow, he thought. It must have been a sudden fainting spell. And now his head was full of nonsense.
Going to the sideboard, he pulled out the half-empty bourbon bottle and measured off a few fingers’ worth. After the drink, his nerves felt steadier.
His mind was still cluttered with inexplicable thoughts and images.
inister little fat men and complex machines, gleaming roadways and men in fancy tunics.
A bad dream, he thought.
Then he remembered. It wasn’t any dream. He had actually taken the round trip into 2431, returning by way of some other continuum. He had pressed the generator button at the proper time, and now here he was, safe and sound. No longer the football of a bunch of different factions. Home in his own snug little fourspace, or whatever it was.
He frowned. He recalled that Mordecai had severed the telephone wire. But the phone looked intact now. Maybe it had been fixed while he was gone. He picked it up. Unless he got that loan extension today, he was cooked.
There was no need for him to look up the number of the Friendly Finance Corporation; he knew it well enough. He began to dial. MUrray Hill 4— The receiver clicked queerly. A voice said, “Come in, Operator Nine.
perator Nine, do you read me?”
Al’s jaw sagged in horror. This is where I came in, he thought wildly.
He struggled to put down the phone.
ut his muscles would not respond. It would be easier to bend the sun in its orbit than to break the path of the continuum. He heard his own voice say, “I didn’t want the operator. There must be something wrong with my phone if—”
“Just a minute. Who are you?”
Al fought to break the contact. But he was hemmed away in a small corner of his mind while his voice went on, “I ought to ask you that. What are you doing on the other end of my phone, anyway? I hadn’t even finished dialing. I got as far as MU-4 and—”
Inwardly Al wanted to scream.
No scream would come. In this continuum the past (his future) was immutable. He was caught on the track, and there was no escape. None whatever. And, he realized glumly, there never would be.
Do you want more?
I have a ton load of science fiction stories for your enjoyment here in my Science Fiction Index…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
Here, we get back to more posts on directed thought. As I have repeatedly stated, time is the perception of our consciousness as it moves in and out of the many world-lines within our “reality universe”. You can use thought to navigate which world-lines to move towards and to arrive at. This is called an “intention campaign” or a “prayer campaign”.
Here we look at some specific “add on” systems or techniques that you might want to incorporate into your intention / prayer campaign.
You do NOT need to use any of them, but if you particular unique system calls for it, you can use any of these techniques with some degree of success.
We will start with “dodging the thoughts of others”…
Weaving (Dodging)
"Hey! Can you kids please shut the Hell up? I can't hear my self thinking!"
-My father when us kids were being particularly loud and boisterous.
What? You ask.
How can someone’s thoughts influence me?
I cannot see it, so therefore it doesn’t exist. And besides, how do we know that these thoughts are bad…
We are constantly bombarded with the thoughts of others. This is all throughout our reality. It’s constant. It’s non-stop. It moves in waves, and washes over us, and it crashes us and collapses us from time to time.
These thoughts come in so many forms. But you all should be aware that they exist.
It can be from a well-meaning prayer-group from a local church, to the CIA (Pompeo) launching yet another one of his “hate China” news media campaigns, to a subliminal advertisement to drink Coke-cola in the movie theater, to an obsessed lover that will not leave you alone.
Thoughts of others, directed or not, will affect your prayer affirmation campaign.
That is something that you DO NOT WANT to happen.
In weaving (or dodging), you specifically isolate the impact of certain people, news, or social media so that it does not infringe upon your affirmations. This should be considered a “normal” thing that you must do for all prayer campaigns, but the truth is that it is not easy.
We are humans and live within society, and all the time we are bombarded with other thoughts, ideas and manipulations. It’s not an easy thing to do. Especially when we are forced to work around people in this environment or attend classes in school with them.
These attacks might be intentional or not; or directed or not, but you must isolate and control your thoughts irregardless.
The use of this technique of “weaving”, or as I like to say “dodging” is to specifically and functionally avoid certain people, news articles, or the thought influences at certain times of the day, and / or on certain days. There are numerous techniques, and here are just a few to consider.
One day or one period of “freedom” from the thoughts of others. Such as a camping trip at a remote lake, or a religious sabbatical, or some other similar way to physically isolate yourself from others and their thoughts.
A daily “fast” of isolation from others. It could be one hour long, or even a half of a day. You isolate yourself and have no outside contact with the rest of the world.
You purposely reduce your time on social media to a set time limit.
You purposely stop visiting certain websites intentionally, and never go back to them.
You purposely isolate yourself from certain people or groups of people.
You spend more time with a dog, or a cat. Their thoughts are neutral, and their influence is always POSITIVE on your reality. (Horses as well, but I don’t have much experience with them.)
The effectiveness of each techniques within this category depends on the person, the type of prayer intentions being conducted, and the local situation. There is no “best” technique to use.
"I just couldn't leave my friends. Sitting alone in the house, drinking beer alone. Watching TV. It's not living."
-My good friend Robbie, who explained to me why he started doing Heroin all over again. One of our last conversations before he died of an overdose.
You “weave” your life in and out of the thought “firing range” of others and their systems. You “dodge” the “thought bullets” so that they cannot influence your thoughts, and your thought campaign.
We like to think of ourselves as “strong” and that we are able to do what we want with our body. It’s a lie. We are all entangled within a very complex spider web of thoughts and this entanglement increase as we cruse the MWI. In order to have better navigational ability, we absolutely need to start severing those strands of thought to enable us some latitude in movement.
Keep in mind that the thoughts of others are terribly counter-productive and quite damaging to your thought objectives. You MUST tame that influence.
Now I have mentioned this, over and over, in prior posts. The difference in this post is that you intentionally INCORPORATE an added step to your prayer affirmation campaign that is intentionally dedicated towards a reduction in the influences of the thoughts of others.
Never neglect the importance of isolating yourself from the dangerous impacts of “thought imposition”. Find a quiet place, and go there. Just let your mind unravel. Try to do this weekly if possible…
The term “Wet Towel” refers to how to you conduct a given prayer campaign. Instead of conducting verbal affirmations once a day for a number of months, this technique adds one more step. This step devotes one day a week to let the “affirmations soak into your reality”. Much like that of a wet towel placed upon a tablet of paper.
Here, what you do is as follows;
You rank the prayer affirmations in order of importance to you.
You take the top three affirmations, and select ONE that you will focus on.
You then, create a project, or an event around that particular thought.
You work that “project”, or “event”, or “intense prayer period” for a set period once a week during the prayer affirmation campaign.
For instance, let’s suppose that you have an on-going prayer campaign. Your number one intention / goal is to “sail around the world”.
In this example, any of the following events would agree with your “wet towel” technique when used IN CONJUNCTION with the existing intention / prayer campaign…
For one hour a week you can take sailing lessons at the nearby marina.
You can go to the local library and read books on sailing for one hour at the local library.
You can buy a model of a sailing boat, and spend at least one (uninterrupted) hour a day building it.
The idea behind this is Kinesthetic. You use something related to “doing things” to focus your thoughts in that direction. This is also known as “Hands on” training, or in this case, “wet towel” directed prayer.
Positioning / Staging
You can plan a series of prayer campaigns on the assumption that each one will obtain sub-goals. You can position different prayer campaigns through out your life to make sure that your goals are kept on track. This is how you need to conduct an affirmation / prayer campaign for long-term, distant (in a MWI sense) goals.
Let’s suppose that you have a long term goal. Something that is just enormous in size, scope, and influence in your personality and social standing. If you devoted your time to that singular goal using the normal prayer / affirmation campaign you would be bound to have problems. It is too large, and far too distant not to run into difficulties in implementation.
The way to hand these large, and “distant” objectives is to do so in small bits, and then monitor your progression of thoughts as you proceed.
Question: "How do you eat an elephant?"
Answer: "in small bites."
While it is true, that you can pray for anything…
… what you desire might not be what you really want.
In order to make sure and to guarantee that it becomes what you truly desire and want, you need to stage it for implementation. This technique does so.
Let’s suppose that your intention / affirmation campaign is for you to become the President of the United States. (Hopefully you are not that crazy to want such a thankless and political job, but heck, everyone is different. “What ever makes your boat float!”) You might want to break your intention objectives down into mini-prayer campaigns such as this, and run the campaigns over a ten-year period of time…
Be elected as a local dog catcher.
Be elected on the town council.
Be elected as a State Representative.
Be elected as a State Governor.
Be elected as a President of the United States.
When you think about it, it’s all pretty simple. With each stage, you obtain new knowledge and skills that can be used to help you on the next stage in your overall objectives.
Image vocalization
You can associate images with your verbal affirmations. You need to follow a general procedure to do this.
It is not enough to run an intention campaign, and have an image board (whether physical or electronic) you need to incorporate the affirmations or prayers to connect the two together.
You can use many techniques to connect the visual elements, but the important thing is that you have a statement within your prayer affirmations that does connect the affirmations to the images. Here’s some example statements that you can use.
My folder in XXXXXXX contains images that represent what my intention campaign is intended to materialize.
The screen saver that is in use on my XXXXXX computer represents the images that my verbal affirmations are intending to generate.
The intention dream board located in XXXXXX is working in parallel to manifest and accelerate the implementation of my verbal affirmations.
For example, let’s suppose that you have a folder with images of pizza. And your intention campaign is one that has a goal of your owning a Pizza Parlor. What you would do is then collect all sorts of pictures of pizza, and pizza parlors, and workers inside a pizza parlor. Then add an affirmation that would connect the images of pizza to that of the affirmation.
Make sure that your selection of images is EXACTLY what you want to connect to your verbal affirmations.
Time track control
You can control how quickly or slowly the prayer / affirmations are implemented. In general, a slow implementation is more careful, and easier to absorb. A fast implementation might result in some discomfort. And if not handled properly the discomfort can become enormous.
Now, the reader should realize that for a while (years actually) I wanted a calm and simple life that provided me a fine and gentle life; a “rich” life that enabled me comfort over anything else. And I did get it.
Everything is fine, and I am living a good fine rich life. But you know, I wanted some more things. Some physical things. But then when I added some new affirmations, for some physical items, I discovered that they started to take much longer than they used to to take to manifest in the past.
In the past, simple physical things would manifest within a year. Now, they seemed to “take forever” to materialize.
For a while I didn’t know what was going on, and then I figured it out.
My affirmations were taking the “calm, peaceful, and careful” way to obtain my material possessions. And, boy oh boy, this path was a long one. So in order to speed up the acquisition of certain physical elements into my reality, I had to adjust my affirmations away from a “calm and peaceful life” to one that accepted minor discomfort, aggravation, and strife as long as no one was hurt (physically, emotionally, or intellectually) in the process.
And then (of course) the physical things started to appear.
And of course, faster and sooner meant, quicker with more discomfort.
Slow, comfortable = takes forever to manifest.
Balanced, within a reasonable time period = some discomfort.
Quick and sudden = Expect some great and significant discomfort.
So, you have to pay attention to how all your affirmations within a given Prayer Campaign interact together. Some of the affirmations might negate or slow others down.
To avoid this, you might want to utilize the techniques of “time tracking” the affirmations. This will usually (but not always) include a [1] time-line or due date, and [2] a specification that describes just what you are willing to sacrifice into to expedite your wishes or desires to come true.
Dates and time-lines must be reasonable. I would suggest that you stick with a comfortable three-year to five-year goal. Any sooner than that, and you risk some really trying events and times.
Here is an example of an affirmation that you can add…
These affirmations manifest by XXXXX in a YYYYY period of time. At no way is anyone in my family harmed or hurt in the process. Some discomfort is acceptable provided that the discomfort is manageable and dissipates within a short period of time.
Selective impact(s)
You can have the prayer concentrate on certain elements more than others. It can be selective in implementation. Or to put it better, and more accurately… more careful for certain elements.
The best way to do this is to implement an “implementation schedule” within your verbal affirmation prayer campaign.
If you do not do this, when your intention manifests, it might come with unintended consequences. So you want to minimize those unintended consequences.
Metallicman in Pago Pago, in American Samoa. I had waged a “lazy” intention campaign to live in the South Pacific, without any priorities on what would be unacceptable to me in doing so. As a result, while I did indeed manifest a South Pacific paradise, it came with a host of unexpected consequences that I did not enjoy in the least.
Essentially, this method reduces the number of unintended consequences by prioritizing events, and placing constraints on what is desirable and what is not.
What this is, is a system where you prioritize the various intention prayers within the affirmation campaign. You can specify which affirmations that you wish to implement the strongest, or the quickest, or to the extent of everything else, if that is your desire. While others can be put “on the back burner” as necessary when implementing your affirmations.
For instance, you can add this line at the start or the end of your verbal affirmations…
In regards to implementing these affirmations. the priority should go towards [1] XXXXXX, followed by [2] YYYYYY and everything else is rated lower in implementation priority.
Aggressive implementation control
You can control how quickly, or aggressively, a certain segment of your prayer / affirmations are implemented.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that it comes at a price.
While I have discussed this above, here you can really stress the implementation of one group of affirmations over the others. And, as I have stated, this does come with a price. They key is the acceptance of that price. Such as in this example.
My desire for XXXXXXX occurs and I accept any misfortune, trouble or discomfort in obtaining it's manifestation.
And, for your information, I would not suggest anyone do this unless it is an absolute emergency for a critical or urgent desire.
Present Tense
You must, ABSOLUTELY, use present tense when vocalizing your intentions. Here’s some examples of what you can do and what you shouldn’t do.
DO NOT DO…
One day, I hope to have XXXXXX.
Soon, I will strive to XXXXX.
It is my wish, that my dream, XXXXXX.
I would like that XXXXX.
This is what you DO actually DO…
I have obtained XXXXX.
I am living my goal of XXXXX.
I possess XXXXX.
I daily XXXXX and I do enjoy it.
You absolutely use a present and strong direct tends in your affirmations. Do not be “wishy washy” about it.
If you use the following affirmation…
Some day, my hope of happiness will be closer to my dreams.
You will see exactly that materialize. You will never be happy, and the hope of happiness with just be beyond your reach.
Instead, you must say something like this…
I am happy. I am happy right now, and every day is one filled with happiness.
Do not get caught up in the nonsense that exists on the internet. Most people writing the blogs and websites on the internet are amateurs that haven’t a clue as to what they are working with. Sorry, but that is the truth.
Conclusion
It’s difficult to rate these additional “add on” techniques in usability. It all depends on the person and the individual situation involved. If I were to say what you should implement to any existing affirmation campaign, I would strongly suggest…
Using positive tense in your prayer affirmations.
Staying away for thought imposition.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my Prayer Affirmation index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
Here, in this post we are going to take a look at ways to convert the “frequencies of location” into a map with coordinates.
There is no right or wrong way to do this. In fact, there are many, many ways. Each with it’s own benefits and liabilities.
Consider this scenario
It’s easy enough to imagine a map with two sets of geographical coordinates. Right?
Conventional mapping of Geo-positioning coordinates.
Now, add time. Where each coordinate can go “into the past”, stay in the present, or “move into the future”.
Adding coordinates that represent time at a given geographical location.
Now, add an entirely new set of criteria. It’s a big enormous set that describes variations in a world-line, for each coordinate. And the variations are nearly infinite, so it’s a very wide and open-ended coordinate. The only way that you can reasonably control all the many, many variations of a world-line variation is comparative. Using the current baseline, what is the delta changes to it?
Adding the coordinates of world-line variations to the map.
When you break things down simply, it really isn’t that difficult.
The coordinate system that you use has really three major components to it. These are as described above. They are [1] geographic location, [2] time, and [3] world-line variation from egress coordinates.
Converting frequencies into something that you can map
Unfortunately, the system that we have laid out describes the collection of frequencies of location with an isolation of the frequencies associated with the traveler. We need to convert that into a usable map.
We need to, don’t you know.
Well, it’s going to be pretty difficult to identify where you are in the enormous MWI. It’s darn near impossible to identify who you are relative to a near infinite number of world-lines that surround you. Not to mention all the variations and the changes associated with a destination coordinate.
It will look like a long string of numbers, in a long, thick book.
And because of this, it really isn’t very useful. You need to convert those numbers into a map that you can read, chart a course, and execute a travel algorithm.
Here we talk about this.
Why bother?
When I entered the fixed dimensional portal so many years back, the destination coordinates were in the form of long strings of numbers on bound print outs. It was the height of technology at the time, and the Commander made tweaks to the destination values upon reviewing my printed out handout.
Here is a bound stack of computer printout sheets nearly identical to what was used when I first entered the fixed dimensional portal…
Bound stack of computer printout sheets that described the destination coordinates that I was to be sent to.
In those days, most computers did not have a monitor or screen. Those few that did were pretty much a visual display that showed green colored text on a black background. Instead, the worker would sit behind a “terminal” and type. It in many ways resembled an electric typewriter, and had the added advantage of leaving a defined paper trail record of your keystrokes.
It looked something like this…
Late 1970’s to the early 1980’s high technology in computers and office equipment.
At that time, there was little option to do anything else. Visualization of large sets of data, or other systems for better and more understandable information retention and exchange was embryonic. We just used the systems available to us, as crude as they were at the time.
It’s not that the visualization of large data sets was unknown, it’s just that we didn’t have the tools necessary to organize the data.
The first instances of infographics as we know them today – as data made visual – dates back to the late 1700s with a chart of wheat prices and labor wages. The creator, William Playfair, might be considered the father of modern day infographics.
The key to infographics is that the brain processes images more readily than words: A picture really was worth a thousand words.
For instance, here is an infographic that discusses slavery in the Southern United States prior to the American Civil War;
Infographic example.
In the example above, you can clearly see where Slavery was the most prevalent, and where it was scarce. You can also be able to deduce and extrapolate information from this graphic. That is the benefits of an infographic as opposed to large streams of numbers.
The advantage of visualization of large complex number sets
As computer technology became more and more sophisticated, a new branch of technology came into being. This was known as “information visualization”, and most reader have probably heard of it. Because “infographics” is a well understood off-shoot of this technology.
The importance of this should not be overlooked.
Relevant data sets would be highlighted, while other data sets could be ignored. As such, there are many different shapes and forms that they can be displayed into. The best one depends on the application.
For instance, here is a “tree” data visualization style.
A complex data set visualized using “tree” structure and organization.
And here is a “cluster” visualization style.
Cluster visualization style.
In regards to visualization of the enormous sets of data associated with world-line portal coordinates, it is important that the visualization be such that it is easy to understand, and equally easy to plot out destinations.
Visualizing frequencies
This technology has actually been around for a while. Anyone who has any of a zillion audio players on their computer can observe the ever changing music (frequencies of sound) depicted in eye-catching arrays for amusement purposes.
In the 1980’s the amplitude of various frequencies were isolated and presented in a bar-code format as lighted LED bars. Here, 16 frequencies are shown with the various amplitudes of the isolated signals.
In these applications, we watch with amusement how the visual designs change with the changes in the music. Fun, huh?
But it gets old.
What we want is something similar, but quite different. We do not want to watch the frequencies of location change. We only want to see what the frequencies of location are. Then “freeze it” and then manipulate each one precisely to obtain our objectives (what ever they might be)…
Geographic
Time
World-line
So what we need is a software program that will take all theses frequencies, broken down into a large number of very tiny separate frequencies, and display that in a pictorial format.
What we need is a special map display
What we want is a display of all the frequencies of location, compared to amplitude. Something along these lines…
Graph of amplitude of various frequencies at a set point in time.
But with a display of two other characteristics. So instead of just attenuation and frequency, we can also display (in color, and along the Y-axis) timbre, and pitch (to use audio terms) at any frozen moment in time.
A coordinate of location can be described by five characteristics: Wavelength, Amplitude, Time-Period, Frequency and Velocity.
Mandelbrot set
If you manage to plot out these data visualizations you might be surprised to discover that they start to appear as Mandelbrot sets.
A mandelbrot set.
The Mandelbrot set is the set of complex numbers c for which the function fc(z)=z²+c does not diverge when iterated from z=0, i.e., for which the sequence fc(0), fc(fc(0)), etc., remains bounded in absolute value. Its definition is credited to Adrien Douady who named it in tribute to the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot. The set is connected to a Julia set, and related Julia sets produce similarly complex fractal shapes.
-Wikipedia
Without getting to involved in the mathematics involved, any set of coordinates (which are the gravitational frequencies measured at the portal) can be reduced to equations. These are equations of location, and can be simplified to involve complex numbers.
Now, the purpose of this conversion is to help visualize the components of the various frequencies so that changes and alterations can be made. Once these groupings are identified, then they can be altered so that the actual data is used when defining coordinate changes.
It works something like this…
Clusters shown within the Mandelbrot set can be useful to alter and revise coordinates. For instance, a primary bulb might represent the characteristics of a given time, while “antennas” might represent attributes of a given world-line.
So, in short, we can use mathematics and convert the frequencies of location into another form using complex numbers. Then we can graph the result. It will appear as a Mandelbrot set.
Through a series of experiments, we should be able to identify which characteristics of the Mandelbrot set has the greatest relevance for us, and then modify the destination coordinates appropriately.
But…
But there is more…
Fractals
If you study the Mandelbrot set you might be able to identify fractals with “self similarity”. These little mathematical nuances can help you determine the relative stability of a world-line.
Stability? What are you talking about?
I am talking about the anchoring of world-lines, and how world-lines tend to cluster together. Our consciousness tend to cycle through world-lines rather rapidly. So the moment you enter a new world-line, you are off on the way to other ones.
It’s called “time”, don’t you know.
Well, if we want a world-line, say where the most popular food is pineapple on pizza (why? Why Lord, why?) and when we get there, we suddenly discover after a few seconds that no one eats pineapple on pizza. And so we think, “WTF? What happened?”
The abomination of pineapple on pizza.
What happened was that we arrived at our destination world-line, but it was not stable.
So we want stability, and thus we want to find forms and shapes within the Mandelbrot set that are prone for fractal behavior.
In mathematics, a fractal is a self-similar subset of Euclidean space whose fractal dimension strictly exceeds its topological dimension. Fractals appear the same at different levels, as illustrated in successive magnifications of the Mandelbrot set.
Fractals exhibit similar patterns at increasingly small scales called self similarity, also known as expanding symmetry or unfolding symmetry; if this replication is exactly the same at every scale, as in the Menger sponge, it is called affine self-similar. Fractal geometry lies within the mathematical branch of measure theory.
-Wikipedia
To find specific values to manipulate during the visualization of the data set, you will find that other mathematical manipulations might become useful. Such is the case with fractals.
Higuchi and Katz fractal.
Conclusion
By converting the frequencies of location into Mandelbrot sets, we can create a map that we can use to plot our travel through the MWI. This is true whether it is geographical, involve time-travel or exploring the near-infinite variations of different world-lines.
Happy exploring.
Happy exploring.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my DIY World-Line Dimensional Portal index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
In this post, we will discuss the issues with assigning a gravitational frequency profile for both the destination coordinates and the egress coordinates. In addition, we will look at the indexing coordinated for the individual human traveler and what that can mean for other applications.
One of the most stunning realizations that you will encounter when dealing with world-line travel is the idea of fixed and set coordinates.
These coordinates are fixed to a given world-line within the MWI. They include a set time, and a geographic location, as well as the entire world-line that you are targeting. And by changing these coordinates just a small amount can have dramatic changes in location, time, and whatever world-line that the portal opens up to.
But it’s not only the coordinates of destination.
It’s also the coordinates associated with the human traveler that uses the dimensional portal.
So far, we have talked about using the dimensional portal as a gateway. We discussed using it as a gateway to other geographic locations. We also discussed it as a gateway to other times; a time-machine. And, of course, we discussed it as a gateway for other world-lines.
But we never talked about what would happen if you made slight alterations to the human traveler when they are in the portal.
Let’s look at all these issues.
Coordinates
When we refer to coordinates, what we are actually referring to is a complete gravitational frequency profile. This profile can take many forms and be massaged into all sorts of graphs and data sets for ease of understanding.
When I went through the MAJestic portal back in 1981, the coordinate set consisted of a thickly bound book of computer printouts. It was just reams and reams of numbers and symbols. But it need not be that way. Things have advanced technologically since that date.
In short, there are four groups of “coordinates” that we need concern ourselves with;
The egress coordinates of the dimensional portal at the time of use.
The destination coordinates of the destination. It may or may not be associated with a portal.
The coordinates of the human traveler as they enter the portal.
The coordinates of the human traveler as the leave the portal at the destination.
In all the previous posts / articles, we have discussed keeping the traveler coordinate identical from the egress portal to that of the destination coordinates. In this way, the traveler would experience no change at all when they enter the dimensional portal for teleportation purposes.
However, if you were to change the destination coordinates of the traveler, you can actually physically change the traveler itself.
Changes to the coordinates
By now, the reader should well understand that the dimensional portal erases all the coordinates from a traveler who enters it. It erases not only the coordinates of the traveler, but the coordinates of the portal itself.
By changing the coordinates of the destination, we can control…
The geographic location of where the traveler ends up at.
The time and date of where the traveler goes to.
The world-line (variance) or deviance from the egress world-line.
By changing the coordinates of the traveler, we can control…
His/her age.
His/her body and organs.
His/her intelligence.
Even change him into “mush” like a teleportation mishap on the television series Star Trek.
Teleportation mishap on the movie “Galaxy Quest”.
Medical Uses
So if all you do is keep the destination coordinates equal to that of the egress coordinates, then you can limit the changes to the traveler alone.
If you were able to accurately map out how the coordinates for a human change over time, you can then selectively age or regress various organs or parts of the body to another time period.
Age regression is possible with a carefully configured dimensional portal. The only key to this is that only the traveler coordinates change, not those of the portal.
In short, you might be able to turn a 90 year old man into a studly 21 year old full of “piss and vinegar”. Since memories are stored outside of the brain in the non-physical realities, his memories would stay intact while his body would be that of a much younger man.
You could do this with organs, and limbs as well.
With a solid understanding of the human biological makeup and how it pertains to the overall person, you might begin to alter the design of a given person.
You might be able to make them smarter, for instance, or give them bigger organs (a heart for instance, or a penis… perhaps). Heck, you might be able to change their gender or their physical appearance, and if you were really good, alter the physical structure of the person completely.
Using the dimensional portal technology, it is possible to completely revamp and change the body appearance. From just small minor cosmetic changes to an entirely different person completely.
Of course, all this would require extensive experimentation. And, I am sure, that there would be some tradeoffs involved as well.
Interstellar Travel Technology
One of the great benefits of this technology is to allow a person to go anywhere in the universe. And since the universe is so gosh darn enormous, this is amazing. We, as humans, like to think that the Moon is far away, and the nearby star of Alpha Centauri as impossible…
But imagine traveling at will throughout our entire Milky Way galaxy. Imagine it. Not only would there be no limits, but you could do so in a fraction of a second and not worry about that Einstein time-compression issue.
Our Milkyway galaxy.
But not only can this technology take you to nearby stars, but distant ones as well. It can also take you to other galaxies. And, of course, very distant galaxies as well. It is truly mind-boggling.
The galaxies of our “local” group of galaxies.
Who needs FTL technology, when all you need to do is step into a dimensional portal?
Of course, of course, you do need to know where you are going. Otherwise you would probably end up in the middle of deep space, or inside a hot star or somewhere else that would be very dangerous for your health.
Time Travel
With the configuration of the destination coordinates limited to the “dimension” coordinate of “time”, you can construct a real honest-to-goodness “time machine”.
It could take you a few years back where you might want to invest in some Microsoft or Google stock.
Or it could take you further back where you could experience the American Civil War close up and personal.
Or even further back than that. Perhaps the Middle Ages. Or maybe Ancient China. Or perhaps ancient Greece or Egypt.
Exploring Egypt might be interesting.
You could use it to explore the future.
Like in the movie “Back to the Future” you could see what is in store (on a certain world-line) and then return and make the necessary adjustments. You can go forwards and backwards in time at will.
Creative Time Travel with Age Regression
If you were creative, you could age regress yourself to your age when you were 18 years old, and then use the portal to go back to that time and relive it all knowing what you know now.
It’s possible. It really is.
Of course, there would be no return for you, and you would be stuck back in that particular time period. And there would be two of “you”.
For me, that would trap me back in 1976…
The Jimmy Carter years. I was still in High School and living the "Dazed and Confused" lifestyle. I had many opportunities back then that I did not take. I am sure, knowing what I know now, that I should have taken them... What a ride it would have been!
Remember, while we talk about age regression and time travel, any trip would be one way unless you end up taking a portal back with you.
All fun and games aside. It was a different time and a different place, and I might feel really, really out of place. Don’t you think?
1976 was a time when I hung out with my friends, went to keg parties and jammed to classic rock while stoned and drinking beer.
World Line Travel
As I have stated throughout my narrative, I home from a deviant world-line and this one that I happen to be involved in is a bit on the uncomfortable side.
We can alter our course through the world-lines over time and eventually get where we intend to go, but all world-lines move about in clusters and groups. This group is a pretty contentious one for certain.
Never the less, if you really want to explore alternative world-lines, this technology will permit that. It will land you and your consciousness at a new worldline from whence you can start traveling and changing the reality as you see fit through intention.
But it’s really difficult to grasp what kind of world-line that you would end up at.
Imagine a world-line where the hamburgers tend to be on the small side, and are provided with a dipping sauce.
The issue is really what changes and what deviance are you willing to accept? Can you accept a world-line where coke-cola was never invented? Can you handle a world-line where it is the law that pineapple be placed on pizza?
Are you willing to accept a world-line where there are no High Schools or universities, and instead people apprentice with a local craftsman? You do need to be careful, don’t you know.
Mouth condoms might be all the rage in your new world-line. You do need to be ready for some really odd changes.
I have discussed some of my experiences with world-line travel.
But, you all must keep in mind that my experiences were controlled and monitored by experts. And even at that, it was some pretty strange “shit” that I experienced. You will need to steel yourself for the really odd, and if you are not careful, you might end up in a far, far away world-line cluster and it might be near impossible to ever come back.
So you really do need to be careful.
Some things (well, heck… MANY) things that we consider taboo are normal on other world-lines. On this world-line as well, but most Americans are insulated from it all. From the “happy ending” at Chinese massage parlors (it’s fine, it’s not against the law) to the restaurant-chain-style bordellos in Germany. But the odd and the weird can really get mixed up in these areas when you conduct world-line travel.
Imagine landing in a new world-line and wanting to get a hamburger at a fast food joint, and when you say that you want to have the daily special, all the girls get on the counter and do this…
A daily special might be too strange for most Americans.
Anyways, the point that I am trying to make is that there are so many aspects of the coordinates and combinations of coordinates that describe a particular world-line that navigation to a particular one is very difficult. Because if you change one coordinate value it will influence other values as soon as you “land” at that destination coordinate.
So it is true.
You might actually end up in a world-line where pineapple on pizza is not only praised, it is considered the ONLY way to make a pizza. You know, guys, you must really be careful.
Bacon, pineapple and cheddar pizza.
The only way to accurately map the MWI is though careful experimentation.
Conclusion
The DIY dimensional world-line portal is useless unless you are able to specify destination coordinates for either the destination or the traveler or both. This will require some experimentation and tests. But once you are able to do so, the universe of all-possibilities lies open to you.
Do you want more?
I have more posts on this subject in my DIY index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
In this post we will cover a few basics regarding the operation of the egress portal for dimensional change. In this post our concentration will be on the magnetic flux itself as well as the way the traveler must enter the portal. For if you do not enter it properly, any thing could happen. And let’s not at all forget the horror movie “The Fly” to remind us of this issue. So let’s talk about this.
Good thing, we are not going to be too technical here. Heck! I can hear all the moans and groans across the globe as I release this post. (“Oh! Not another high jargon, high technology, a high mathematical treatise on world line adventures!)
Magnetic flux
The key to this entire dimensional portal concept is to use a “bath” of magnetism within a magnetic field. The magnetic field is used to erase the attachments of the human traveler with his environment. This field consists of a very strong magnetic force that cycles along a sinusoidal path.
A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence of electric charges in relative motion and magnetized materials. A charge that is moving parallel to a current of other charges experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity.
The effects of magnetic fields are commonly seen in permanent magnets, which pull on magnetic materials (such as iron) and attract or repel other magnets.
-Wikipedia
Ugh.
Look, people, it need not be complex. When you have a magnet (an iron ferrite rod with a coil wrapped around it) and you pulse it (with electricity through the wire), a magnetic field arises.
Now, within the magnetic field you have the movement of charged electrons. That is, after all, what a magnetic field is. It is the movement of charged electrons.
So if you were to stand within the air gap (of a huge magnet) and receive a “bath” within a magnetic field, you would experience a “shower” of charged electrons.
This “shower” can be heavy or light. Depending on the design of the system.
The determination of whether it is “heavy” or “light” is known as it’s “magnetic flux”.
In physics, specifically electromagnetism, the magnetic flux (often denoted Φ or ΦB) through a surface is the surface integral of the normal component of the magnetic field flux density B passing through that surface.
The SI unit of magnetic flux is the weber (Wb; in derived units, volt–seconds), and the CGS unit is the maxwell.
Magnetic flux is usually measured with a fluxmeter, which contains measuring coils and electronics, that evaluates the change of voltage in the measuring coils to calculate the measurement of magnetic flux.
-Wikipedia
Now there are all sorts of ways that we can describe these attributes and how to increase the density of the magnetic field, and the design of the magnet. All of which are extremely interesting, but would probably have my readership lynch me. So, what I am going to do is talk a little bit about the effect of a magnetic field on a human being.
The strongest magnetic field an average human would ever be exposed is in an MRI machine, which produces magnetic fields of about 1.5 to 7 tesla. Compared to this, the magnetic field strength of our Earth is just .0003 tesla. And the electromagnets at the LHC is around 8.3 tesla.
We can safely say that it is normal for humans to be exposed to magnetic fields with an average dose being around 0.0003 tesla.
We can also safely say that a magnetic field on the order of 7 tesla would be safe for humans to be exposed to. as this is the norm in the medical profession.
We also know that if we expose the human body to extreme levels of magnetic field(s) that it can actually levitate the human body. This would be on the order of 10+ tesla.
Now, I do not actually know the magnetic field density that is required to erase the egress coordinates attachments for the Alan Holt system to function, but my guess is that it would be somewhere between 5 to 10 tesla. too weak and it would not work, to great, and you might end up with physical disruptions inside the body. In general, ti would probably be best to be nearer to the large tesla number than away from it.
Phasing
Magnetic flux arises when you pulse electricity though a wire that is wrapped around an iron ferrite rod. That’s the basic, basic theory and function.
R Type EMI Rod Ferrite Core
The moment that an electrical current enters the wire and the truns of wire around the ferrite core, a magnetic field develops. Then it ends.
The field ONLY exists when the electrons are zooming through the electric wire in the first place. Once they have established themselves, the magnetic flux ends. So in order to prevent this, you need to pulse the electricity. This pulsing will create a magnetic field that comes and goes in intensity.
If you look at the sketch of the egress portal and study the magnetic flux generator, you can see that the electrical substation would be used to transform the electricity into a system that would be used to generate the necessary flux bath to enable dimensional travel.
Dimensional portal showing magnetic field generator.
Now, by using diodes and the proper electronics we can control the size and shape of the pulsed magnetic field “bath”…
System overview
This is important because, we need to time HOW the person enters the field.
We want the field to be such that when the person enters the field, the magnetic flux is increasing to a point that his egress coordinates (and his person coordinates) are erased. Then during a peak period of intensity, all coordinates (frequencies of location) are rendered null. Then, the field starts to change, and the new set of destination coordinates are implanted on to the field.
It will work like this…
The operation of the teleportation mechanism works for a three-second period in which case the old coordinates are swapped out, and new ones are applied.
About the traveler
Now, the traveler will need to center and calm their mind. You see, the way that the mind functions must be neutral when it enters the field. If it is not neutral, then there is a risk of brain or mental instability when the traveler is exposed to peak flux density.
Thus, we need to implement the “feducials” to center the mind.
And that, boys and girls, is how MAJestic does it.
Conclusion
When you look at this dimensional portal from “my” point of view; from my experiences, and from my knowledge, you can see how everything fits together. This “new” information about a DIY dimensional portal strangely fits up and matches with MAJestic technology in widespread use back in the early 1980’s . Fully forty years ago.
It makes sense. It all makes sense. It all fits together.
Sure makes much more sense than being part of a fleet of “space marines” fighting a global cabal of disguised Reptilians who want to enslave the human race. Or have invisible star people give us the gift of “magic crystals” that were developed in Atlantis many centuries ago. Or, to be part of an elite team of people who were selected at birth to “father” the new human race.
Ugh!
Now, people(!), I did not pull of of this shit out of my ass. I am either a [1] genius, [2] a complete lunatic, or [3] someone who is telling the truth. I’ve given enough, heck!, more than enough information herein for you the reader to choose.
Pick your “poison”.
This is how it’s done. This is how it works. This is what is going on, and with all that in mind… know that I really want you the reader to live a good, happy and safe life. I want you all to control your environment and do everything in your power to ply off the gook and nonsense spewed onto you by over five decades of intensive lies and manipulations.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This post continues on our study of how to create your very own DIY (Do It Yourself) dimensional portal for world-line travel. This is part six. In this post, we will discuss the generation of the magnetic field that is critical to the operation of the entire mechanism. We will look at the aspects involved and how it works.
Roadmap
Here is a brief summary of our efforts so far…
Introduction.
Gravity separation and isolation.
Measurement of the gravitational frequencies.
Alan Holt Teleportation mechanism.
The coordinate mapping mechanism.
And now this post…
The Magnetic Field Generator
A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence of electric charges in relative motion and magnetized materials. A charge that is moving parallel to a current of other charges experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity. The effects of magnetic fields are commonly seen in permanent magnets, which pull on magnetic materials (such as iron) and attract or repel other magnets.
-Wikipedia
The creation of a magnetic field is a very mature technology. If you are lucky, you can probably purchase some large surplus magnetic field generators from the United States government, or you can have some custom made at a reasonable cost. This component of the dimensional portal might not be the most complicated item of equipment, but it will certainly be the most expensive on your “bill of materials” for the project.
In any event, you will want something that can create a large magnetic field that a person can walk into. It must be able to create a portal at least seven feet high, and three feet wide at the minimum.
Having this piece of equipment custom made is not hard to do, but you will need to be able to speak the language of the engineers and the designers at the factory or warehouse. So here are some of the basic terms that you will need to acquaint yourself with…
Maxwell’s Equations – The equations behind major modern electromagnetism
Maxwell's equations are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. The equations provide a mathematical model for electric, optical, and radio technologies, such as power generation, electric motors, wireless communication, lenses, radar etc. They describe how electric and magnetic fields are generated by charges, currents, and changes of the fields. The equations are named after the physicist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell, who, between 1861 and 1862, published an early form of the equations that included the Lorentz force law. Maxwell first used the equations to propose that light is an electromagnetic phenomenon.
-Wikipedia
Maxwell’s set of four equations forming the basis for electromagnetism are as important as Newton’s laws in mechanics. Maxwell’s equations are applied in almost all modern technologies. The equations provide a mathematical model for electric, optical, and radio technologies, such as power generation, electric motors, wireless communication, lenses, radar, etc. Firstly let us see these four sweet equations one by one and then discuss them as a whole.
1. Gauss’ Law or Maxwell’s first equation
The following equations are licensed. (no shit! Can you fucking believe it? That's God damn America for you. Everything for a price. Tons of little hands in your pockets.) You can read about this license here.
Maxwell’s first equation, which describes the electrostatic field, is derived immediately from Gauss’s theorem, which in turn is a consequence of Coulomb’s inverse square law. Gauss’s theorem states that the surface integral of the electrostatic field DD over a closed surface is equal to the charge enclosed by that surface. That is
Here ρρ is the charge per unit volume.
But the surface integral of a vector field over a closed surface is equal to the volume integral of its divergence, and therefore
Therefore
or, in the nabla notation,
And thus we can summarize all this as…
Electric charges produce an electric field. The electric flux across a closed surface is proportional to the charge enclosed.
2. Gauss’ Law for Magnetism or Maxwell’s second equation
Unlike the electrostatic field, magnetic fields have no sources or sinks, and the magnetic lines of force are closed curves. Consequently the surface integral of the magnetic field over a closed surface is zero, and therefore
There are no magnetic monopoles. The magnetic flux-and-faradays-law-quantitative across a closed surface is zero.
3. Faraday’s Law or Maxwell’s third equation
This is derived from Ampère’s theorem, which is that the line integral of the magnetic field HH around a closed circuit is equal to the enclosed current.
Now there are two possible components to the “enclosed” current, one of which is obvious, and the other, I suppose, could also be said to be “obvious” once it has been pointed out! Let’s deal with the immediately obvious one first, and look at the figure below…
I am imagining a metal cylinder with current flowing from top to bottom – i.e. electrons flowing from bottom to top. It needn’t be a metal cylinder, though. It could just be a volume of space with a stream of protons moving from top to bottom. In any case, the current density (which may vary with distance from the axis of the cylinder) is JJ, and the total current enclosed by the dashed circle is the integral of JJ throughout the cylinder. In a more general geometry, in which JJ is not necessarily perpendicular to the area of interest, and indeed in which the area need not be planar, this would be ∫J⋅dσ∫J⋅dσ.
Now for the less obvious component to the “enclosed current”.
I imagine two capacitor plates in the process of being charged. There is undoubtedly a current flowing in the connecting wires. There is a magnetic field at A, and the line integral of the field around the upper dotted curve is undoubtedly equal to the enclosed current. The current is equal to the rate at which charge is being built up on the plates. Electrons are being deposited on the lower plate and are leaving the upper plate. There is also a magnetic field at B (it doesn’t suddenly stop!), and the field at BB is just the same as the field at A, which is equal to the rate at which charge is being built up on the plates. The charge on the plates (which may not be uniform, and indeed won’t be while the current is still flowing or if the plates are not infinite in extent) is equal to the integral of the charge density times the area. And the charge density on the plates, by Gauss’s theorem, is equal to the electric field DD between the plates. Thus the current is equal to the integral of D˙D˙ over the surface of the plates. Thus the line integral of HH around either of the dashed closed loops is equal to ∫D˙⋅dσ∫D˙⋅dσ.
In general, both types of current (the obvious one in which there is an obvious flow of charge, and the less obvious one, where the electric field is varying because of a real flow of charge elsewhere) contributes to the magnetic field, and so Ampère’s theorem in general must read
But the line integral of a vector field around a closed plane curve is equal to the surface integral of its curl, and therefore
Thus we arrive at:
Time-varying magnetic fields produce an electric field.
4. Ampere’s Law or Maxwell’s fourth equation
Steady currents and time-varying electric fields (the latter due to Maxwell’s correction) produce a magnetic field.
Maxwell’s Equations as a Whole
As a whole, what do Maxwell’s Equations mean?
Maxwell’s equations describe how electric and magnetic fields are generated by charges, currents, and changes of the fields. One important consequence of the equations is that they demonstrate how fluctuating electric and magnetic fields propagate at a constant speed (c) in the vacuum, the “speed of light“. These electromagnetic waves have a wide variety of usage, they are used in small things like routers to big things like search for aliens using radio telescopes and all these devices involves the use of Maxwell’s equations. Maxwell understood the connection between electromagnetic waves and light with these equations in 1861, thereby unifying the theories of electromagnetism and optics.
Now, on a practical level, seriously no one is going to sit down and create their hand-crafted magnetic field generator. Aside from it being a heck of a lot of work, it will require some specialized fabrication tools and some skill. And with something that large and costly, it would best serve the “Mad Scientist” in you to just simply compile some money and have one built to you to your specifications.
Thus, you can use these laws listed above to help you on your way.
The point that I am trying or attempting to make is that the generation of a magnetic field is not difficult it is common place and is in just about every electrical motor in the world. What is different, however is the [1] scale and [2] the utilization of it.
Generation of a magnetic field
This is pretty much how it is done…
You push an electrical current through a coil wrapped around an insulated magnetic core. By cycling the current in a sinusoidal manner, you will be able to generate a magnetic field within that core. If you have a gap in the core (shown by the cross-hatched area) a person can enter the generated magnetic field.
We (who have torn apart old motors, generators, and television sets) are well accustomed to seeing this kind of set up. To us, it pretty much looks like a typical transformer only scaled up in size immensely.
This is probably the scale and size of the magnetic field generator that we are discussing herein. The image is of a large transformer.
Though, given it’s purpose and requirements, it might be larger and more complex than a standard run-of-the-mill power transformer. Perhaps something along the lines of this, eh?
RAKESH TRANSFORMER INDUSTRIES PVT. LTD, Established in 1984, is a leading Manufacturer of Power & Distribution Transformers . The company is registered with SSI and has the entire infrastructure to manufacture Transformers upto 5MVA & voltage class of 11KV, 22KV, 33KV.
So, you can pretty much expect a layout something along these lines…
Magnetic field generator and the egress portal arrangement…
This is a cross-section view of how the set up would look. You would have this enormous ferrite frame that would carry the magnetic field through an air gap that a person can walk through. This field is generated through a transformer that would pull it from existing powerlines.
A cross-sectional view of the egress portal showing the magnetic field generator.
This drawing is not to scale, but it should give the reader an idea of the general size of what we are talking about here. In fact, if the ceiling covers the ferrite end of the top air-gap, the person entering the portal wouldn’t even be aware that there was a invisible door there at all. It would jsut be a floor and a wall at the end.
Sizing of the air gap
The amount of magnetic flux you can generate will be a function of the size of the ferrite core, and the air gap. In fact, all things taken into account, it will be the air gap that will pretty much establish the power and technical requirements for the mechanism.
The effect of an air gap on a magnetic circuit.
Construction notes
This is a large and expensive piece of equipment and it would be in the best interests of all involved if it is custom made by people who are experts in this kind of thing. You can find these people on the internet. You want to find companies or engineering design teams that specialize in the design of windings, transformers, chokes, ferrite components and windings. Perhaps something like these fellas…
Or, if you want to go it alone, you can access any number of resources on the internet on coil winding, and transformer design. Perhaps something along these links might be of interest…
Now there are some things that you need to take into account if you go the hard (but interesting) way to DIY your very own components…
How Transformers, Chokes and Inductors Work, and Properties of Magnetics
The magnetic properties are characterized by its hysteresis loop, which is a graph of flux density versus magnetization force as shown below:
An hysteresis loop.
When a electric current flows through a conductor ( copper wire), it generate a magnetic field. The magnetic field is strongest at the conductor surface and weakens as its distance from the conductor surface is increased. The magnetic field is perpendicular to the direction of current flow and its direction is given by the right hand rule shown below.
The Right Hand Rule.
When the conductor or wire is wound around a magnetic materials ( ferrite, nanocrystalline, amorphous, iron, nickel steel, grain oriented steel, MPP, sendust, high flux, etc), and current flows through the conductor, a flux is induced on the magnetic materials. This flux is induced by the magnetic field generated by the current carrying conductor. The magnetic material’s atomic parts got influenced by the magnetic field and causes them to align in a certain direction.
The application of this magnetic field on the magnetic materials is called magnetization force.
Magnetization force is called Oersted or A/m (amperes per meter)or A/cm. The units for Magnetization force is “H”.
The results of applying these magnetic field from the current carrying conductor causes the magnetic materials to have magnetic flux being formed inside the magnetic materials. The intensity of these flux is called flux density. Therefore flux density is defined as the flux per square area.
Flux density is called gauss or Tesla. I Tesla is10,000 gauss, or 1mT is 10 gauss.
The unit for Flux is “B”.
Thus, the hysterisis loop is often called the BH curve. Understanding of the BH curve is extremely important in the designs of transformers, chokes, coils and inductors.
For a square wave application as in SMPS (square wave), the Flux density or B in Gauss is given as:
Note that B is a function of voltage ( input voltage if calculated from primary windings, and output voltage if calculated from secondary side). For square wave, the constant in the above formula is 4.0, and for sinewave, it is 4.44. Flux will reduce if you increase the number of turns, increase the switching frequency or increasing the size of the cores ( increasing the area).
The magnetization force or H in Oersted is given as:
Note that H is a function of input current. The unit for H in the above formula is in Oersted. The conversion from Oersted to A/m or A/cm is one Oersted = 1.2566 A/cm. As the current swings from positive to negative the flux changes as well, tracing the curve.
The permeability of a magnetic material is the ability of the material to increase the flux intensity or flux density within the material when an electric current flows through a conductor wrapped around the magnetic materials providing the magnetization force.
The higher the permeability, the higher the flux density from a given magnetization force.
If you look at the BH loop again, you will note that the permeability is actually the slope of the BH curve.
The steeper the curve, the higher the permeability as shown below.
As the magnetization force increases ( or the current over the conductor is increased), a point is reached where the magnetic material or core will saturate. See point “S” above on the curves. When that happens, any further increase in H, will not increase the flux. More importantly, the permeability goes to zero as the slope now is flat. In this situation the magnetic material or core will fail to work as a transformer, chokes, or inductors.
So, it is very important in a choke or inductor design, not to drive the core into saturation by increasing the current (AC or DC). Usually it is the DC current that saturate the cores since it is a constant current, and puts the cores to a certain flux level.
In a transformer design, you must make sure that the maximum AC current swings from positive to negative is well below the saturation point.
Another way to get saturation is by increasing the flux density which is normally achieved by increasing the voltage ( see equation above).
From the BH curve, you can see that when the permeability is high ( slope is steep), the cores will go into saturation faster. Conversely, when the permeability is low, the cores saturate at a much higher flux density.
Power ferrite cores normally have a permeability of about 2000, and they saturate faster than iron powder or MPP cores where the permeability of Iron Powder or MPP core is 125 or so.
The typical saturation flux density of Power Ferrite material is under 4000 gauss (400mT). Whereas the saturation flux density of MPP material is 7000 gauss. High Flux is 15,000 gauss and Iron Powder is 10,000 gauss.
A transformer is an energy transfer device, so you want to have minimum losses when you transfer energy from primary side to secondary side. This is why a ferrite cores is used.
In a choke or inductor design, the application is for energy storage, and there is always a DC current flowing through, so you want to use a iron powder, MPP, sendust or high flux cores. Also, the saturation flux is a lot higher, so a higher DC current can flow through.
Core Losses There are always energy losses in transformers and chokes. These energy losses will generate heat and cause thermal problems. The losses in a transformer, chokes or inductors are from the following sources:
Hysteresis loss from the sweeping of flux from positive to negative and the area enclosed by the loop is the loss. Hysteresis loss is due to the materials intrinsic properties due to the energy used to align and re-align the magnetic domains. You can lower this loss by using a more expansive materials such as TDK PC 44, for example.
Eddy current loss from the circulating currents within the magnetic materials due to differential in flux voltage inside the cores itself. This loss is high dependent upon the thickness of the walls of the cores. The higher the switching frequency, the higher will be this eddy current loss.
Copper or winding loss. This is also dependent on the wire size, switching frequency, etc. Skin effect and proximity effect will contribute to this loss.
Conclusion
This was a collection of thoughts related to the construction for the magnetic flux generator for the dimensional portal egress station. I recommend that a rent-a-engineer be utilized to design up the system, and then you all can make it from bits and pieces of scrap stock materials.
I have much more to say about this project, and I will actually say much more. I think it’s time, however, to give this particular post a break. It’s time for me to let my hair down and have some fun.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This is part four of a multi-part post. Here we will discuss what happens once you have isolated the human mass from the portal mass, assigned a frequency profile of both, and then established a destination coordinate system. Here we will discuss the actual mechanism that will slide the human “passenger” within the dimensional portal to another world-line.
Introduction
Now, I have read all sorts of speculations of whether or not a person can actually teleport, go into worm-holes, or visit other world-lines. Most writers consider themselves “experts” on this and say that it cannot be done.
Teleportation has not yet been implemented in the real world. There is no known physical mechanism that would allow this. Frequently appearing scientific papers and media articles with the term teleportation typically report on so-called " quantum teleportation ", a scheme for information transfer.
An actual teleportation of matter has never been realized by modern science (which is based entirely on mechanistic methods). It is questionable if it can ever be achieved, because any transfer of matter from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them violates Newton's laws, a cornerstone of physics.
-Rubens Talukder, Ph.D.
The “experts” have spoken!
To be honest, our understanding of teleportation is as clear as that of black holes, at this point. Dematerializing matters surely consumes a lot of energy and data. We should also take into consideration that the human brain contains so much information that it takes a football field-sized computer to completely replicate its prowess.
Remember, your entire being will be disintegrated into particles and the same exact ones should be reassembled at the destination point. Not only that, all your memories and your brain functions must remain intact after the process. Teleportation is similar to being killed and reborn, all in a short period of time. The timing must be precise through the whole of the process, because the slightest disturbance will really alter the state of your being. More importantly, who knows what might happen when an experiment goes wrong? You are relatively lucky if you come off with a missing limb or a different eye color, but things can really go south. Worse, you might not be reborn at all. Good luck getting locked in a quantum limbo for eternity, in that case.
Unfortunately, at the moment, we do not have the technology and the know-how to teleport matter visible to the naked. The technique also involves transferring us at the speed of light, and that alone clashes with Einstein’s theory of relativity. Sadly, technology is not the only limitation, but also the current rules of physics.
-Gizmo Shack
What ever floats your boat, cowboy.
I’ve done it.
I know that it can be done.
I have experienced it first hand. It is a technology that is in possession of the United States government under the aspects of MAJestic within the ONI.
It’s an advanced technology, that is sure, but it is not impossible. It’s just that the methods involved tend to be esoteric.
So let’s see what I’ve covered within Metallicman, eh?
Intention / prayer for self-navigation of consciousness through the MWI.
Magick and ritual, and religious intention.
MAJestic “dimensional portal” used at NAS NASC Pensacola Florida.
Use of extraterrestrial technology and a biological apparatus for world-line “anchoring”.
Outfitting a vehicle for (apparent) “time travel” like John Titor.
My DIY series on manufacturing your own “Dimensional Portal”.
And here we are. We are at part four of DIY dimensional portal theory and construction.
Navigation
This is a pretty complex subject, don’t you know. And it is so easy to get all bogged down on the “nitty-gritty” details. So let’s just review a little bit of the first three prior posts.
Introduction. (What you can find on the internet.)
Gravity isolation of the human traveler from the portal.
Converting the individual gravity elements into waves and coordinates.
And now, we are going to discuss the actual teleportation of a person from the portal to another world-line…
Please take note that unless you have a dimensional portal at your destination location, you will be forever trapped there, and can never return back home.
Field Resonance Systems
We will use a “field resonance system” to conduct the teleportation. This is a well-known “theory” (well supported by conventional science) embraced by NASA for the future transport of people over large distances.
The field resonance system artificially generates an energy pattern which precisely matches or resonates with a virtual pattern associated with a distant world-line space-time point.
According to the model, if a fundamental or precise resonance is established (using hydromagnetic wave fine-tuning techniques), the person entering the dimensional portal will be very strongly and equally repelled by surrounding virtual patterns.
At the same time, through the virtual many-dimensional structure of space-time, a very strong attraction with the virtual pattern of a distant space-time point will exist.
The model predicts that this combination of very strong forces will result in the translocation of the person from the egress portal’s initial position through the many-dimensional virtual structure to the distant world-line space-time point.
It’s not a “turn key” solution. You just cannot make a device and expect it to work immediately “right off the bat”. The mechanics of this resonance effect will be determined through extensive experimentation, which may also revise the basic resonance requirements. You never know with R&D and NPD efforts.
However, the result, a space-time “jump,” most certainly appears to be supported by astrophysical research.
Several analogies can be used to clarify this effect. It can be described as the temporary formation of an Einstein-Rosen bridge. Which is a tunnel through space-time which connects two different regions in space-time in a way similar to that which has been otherwise proposed for such things as a black hole/white hole (quasar) portal.
The resonance effect can be considered to be analogous to the nuclear particle tunneling phenomena.
In this phenomenon, the wave nature of the particle enables it to tunnel through a potential barrier without having the energy required to go over the barrier.
Following this analogy, the traveler’s wave characteristics are increased dramatically by the artificially generated energy pattern, allowing it to tunnel through the space-time barrier without having the energy normally required to traverse the space between the two space-time points.
The travel times for such trips are expected to be nearly instantaneous.
If complex coordinate destinations are specified, short durations might manifest (seconds to weeks). All of which is dependent on the pattern precision, the amount of energy in the pattern, the space-time distance, and the virtual structure entry point.
Time
There is no such thing as “time”. That is the impression of a train of world-line experiences taken together.
We know it does not really exist.
Time does not have an independent existence in the General Theory of Relativity and it will be redefined in the model as a type of energy flow. However, since time will continue to be used to catalog our experiences in daily life, its use is likely to continue in the description of this type of dimensional travel.
Secondary Resonance Effect
Now there may be other effects and things going on when you enter the egress dimensional port.
If the artificial energy pattern does not precisely match the virtual pattern at a distant world-line space-time point, a secondary resonance effect may be observed.
In this case, the repulsive and attractive forces are not strong enough to relocate the traveler, but the resonance is sufficient to connect the two points through the virtual structure, resulting in energy flow to or from the distant world-line space-time point.
We do not know what this might manifest as.
Dissemination of a person into “the void”.
A partial teleportation of a person to the destination, while the rest of that person stays at the egress portal.
A merging of elements of the traveler with the portal components.
Extreme destinations
In order to explore distant coordinate systems in wildly divergent world-lines, several intermediate world-line space-time jumps would likely be required for safety purposes.
The initial slide would take the traveler into a world-line with only one significant change in the destination coordinates. The next slide would be a destination coordinate with a different major change to the destination coordinates, followed by a slide to a destination with minor coordinate changes for control and reliability considerations. At each step, the predicted and actual locations would be compared and computerized models would be updated accordingly. Exploration of a world-line would probably be best done by a gravimagnetic system that could be carried inside the larger field resonance system.
If the energy pattern generation system of the field resonance portal has an ultrafine-tuning system, world-line space-time jumps to the nearby world-lines could be accomplished. If the portal cycled frequent and very short slides, it would appear in many cases to be in a smooth continuous long-duration slide through world-line space-time.
Hydromagnetic wave fine-tuning techniques
Here we are going to model the process of what happens when a person enters the dimensional portal.
For we know the frequency coordinates of both the person and the portal, and when we bathe the portal in a strong magnetic field and artificially induce the destination coordinates over that of the egress coordinates, the human traveler would be teleported to the new world-line.
In modeling this process we will simplify the equations a bit to simulate the human traveler, and the two portals; egress and destination.
The dynamics of wave propagation in a hydromagnetic waveguide has been well studied and established. For our purposes, we will simplify the equations to represent an electrically conducting conduit (the human traveler) inserted in the field of a steady magnetic field which is the egress dimensional portal. For our purposes, we will treat the human traveler to act as if he/she behaved as plasma.
In the simplest case, the applied field is parallel to the axis of the tube. When the plasma moves with a fluctuating velocity in a direction normal to the axis of the waveguide, the lines of force are shaken to and fro in the direction of the applied velocity. A transverse wave is thereby made to travel along the lines of force.
It is well known to workers in hydromagnetics that the governing relations for the motion of a plasma in a magnetic field are analogous to those describing the behavior of an ideally conducting fluid in the presence of a magnetic field. Hence, our discussion begins with the relations for the conservation of momentum and matter and with the equation of state. As a result of linearization, we find that these equations are
In these expressions, zero subscripts indicate quiescent values, and lower-case letters fluctuating variables. The velocity is denoted by V, the pressure by p, the density by p, the velocity of sound waves in free space by a, the fluctuating local current density by j, and the applied steady magnetic field by B o .
The set of corresponding Maxwellian relations, corrected for relativistic effects, is
The fluctuating magnetic field is denoted by b, the electric field by e, and the permeability of the medium by t. Relations 4, 5, and 6 are valid when the plasma is quasineutral, and when the characteristic dimension of the apparatus is large compared with both the mean free path of the gas and the Debye shielding distance.
It can be readily found that the velocity satisfies the equation
in which k = w/c, the wave number for the Alfven wave velocity in free space. This velocity c equals Bo/(p)/2. The parameter p = a/c is the ratio of the two velocities of wave propagation, and ib indicates a unit vector in the direction of the magnetic field. Similar relations for the other field variables can be obtained by manipulating the set of Eqs. 1-6. The appropriate boundary conditions for the problem require the vanishing of the normal components of the oscillating velocity and the magnetic field at the walls of the waveguide. If we define the velocity by the identity
it can be shown by substituting Eq. 8 in Eq. 7 that we obtain two simultaneous equations in the velocity potentials c and M. These equations for the general case, when ib is at an arbitrary angle with the axis of the waveguide, are quite complicated and have to be solved approximately.
Two extreme cases, however, allow the equations to be solved exactly.
The results for these two cases will now be briefly indicated.
Case 1. The magnetic field is aligned with the axis of the waveguide. Then the two wave modes propagate along the axis of the waveguide. One of these modes displays the character of a longitudinal, or compressive, wave and is called, in this report, the “acoustic wave.”
The other mode is of transverse character and represents the hydromagnetic mode. Several interesting alternatives may occur that depend upon whether p is less than or greater than unity. When P is less than unity, the acoustic mode has no cutoff for all orders of the wave eigen numbers. This is quite different from the conventional acoustic wave propagation that takes place in a pipe. The hydromagnetic mode does, however, have a cutoff that depends upon the order of the eigen number. It can be checked that whenever p < 1, the pressure from collisions, p, is considerably lower than the hydromagnetic pressure Bo/2L. This means, of course, that the collective behavior of the electrons is controlled, in large part, by the electromagnetic forces. When P > 1, we find that the hydromagnetic mode is then the mode that suffers no cutoff for all orders of the wave eigen number. The acoustic mode, on the other hand, has a cutoff frequency that depends on the order of the wave eigen number. The case of p > 1 indicates that the density of the plasma is high, and is probably more representative of the density of a liquid metal than of the density of a plasma.
An interpretation of the reversal of the noncutoff property of the two waves for B >< 1 can be given by visualizing the behavior of the plasma as it is squeezed by the lines of forces during their transverse motion. For stronger magnetic forces with P < 1, a side distortion of the lines is always accompanied by a longitudinal forward motion of the plasma, hence the acoustic wave suffers no cutoff. A similar explanation can be given for the behavior with P > 1. The expression for the component of the velocity transverse to the axis of the waveguide is given by
in which n, m = 0, ±1, ±2 … ; and 2L 1 2L2 are the width and height of the waveguide section. In expressions 9 and 10, K is the propagation constant for the waves. The functional relation of K on k, the wave number, is shown in graphical form in Fig. III-1 for p 1 and p = 1.
It is obvious that for p = 1, it is not possible to identify the particular wave associated
with the two branches of the function K = f(k).
Case 2. The magnetic field direction is at right angles to the axis of the waveguide.
In this case, the analysis shows that no hydromagnetic wave propagates along the axis of the waveguide. Indeed, consideration of this situation leads us to conclude that the hydromagnetic wave appears as a standing wave along the lines of force, and hence it is trapped between the walls of the waveguide.
The alignment of the magnetic field in another direction besides the two that have been mentioned gives rise to intermediate situations which, however, cannot be obtained as a superposition of the two waves indicated in Eqs. 1 and 2 because Eq. 7 is not linear in the vector ib.
The analysis that has been given cannot be extended to frequencies higher than the ion cyclotron frequency, without taking into account the necessary correction, because the plasma is now composed of two fluids interacting with the magnetic field.
This correction is easily made, and it can be shown that the symmetry of the eigenfunctions in the positive and negative values is lost.
Magnetohydrodynamic Shocks
Whenever you are dealing with plasma (a human) in a magnetic field that undergoes a force or acceleration of some type, you can expect a magnetohydrodynamic shock. In other words, just how useful would this portal be if the person slams into the destination coordinates at a very high speed squashing him/her into jelly?
Luckily this does not seem to be the case.
The work reported here was started for the purpose of investigating the dynamics and the structure of hydromagnetic shocks. In particular, the parameters of the shock that have to be estimated are its thickness, pressure ratio, magnetic-field ratio, and the corresponding density ratio. The preliminary theoretical work was carried out on the basis of a continuum theory.
The calculations follow conventional techniques for studies on shock waves, i. e., the discussion begins with the equation for the conservation of momentum and mass. An appropriate equation of state is also introduced. The hydromagnetic interaction is taken into account by means of a well-known relation for the magnetic field,
where 11 is the intensity of the magnetic field, – is the velocity, N is the permeability, and o- is the conductivity.
It can be shown that a one-dimensional dependence for the variables leads to expressions 2 and 3 which relate the value of the upstream parameters of the shock to its downstream parameters. The relations are valid for distances that are large compared with the thickness of the shock.
Manipulation of all of the equations mentioned in Sec. III-A leads to a pair of simultaneous expressions, the first of which is
stands for the ratio of the square of the Alfen velocity to the square of the velocity of sound; Mo, 1 is the appropriate hydromagnetic Mach number, defined as the ratio of the local velocity to the Alfvn velocity.
For the second relation, we have
Equations 2 and 3 are sufficient to define completely the state of the gas downstream of the shock.
The experimental verification of this discussion will be carried out by means of an apparatus that will allow a magnetically driven shock to travel in an externally applied uniform magnetic field.
The ponderomotive force (PMF)
The ponderomotive force (PMF) is a ubiquitous nonlinear wave effect arising in plasma physics when applied wave fields or plasma parameters have significant spatial gradients.
We should include the possibility that the PMF may energize magnetospheric ions in significant numbers. In particular, the PMF may play a role in transporting and energizing O+ ions at the destination coordinates. This might result in the experience of the traveler experiencing O+ ionic buildup on their exposed skin. This would appear and feel like they had just come from a warm Summer rain shower.
The PMF can also generate nonlinear coupling between the slow magnetosonic mode and the other hydromagnetic modes. This should lead to limitation of density enhancements and, notably in the case of standing Alfvén waves, to spatial harmonic generation, secularly growing frequency shifts, and saturation of driven wave fields. These effects might result in some minor discomfort for the traveler as they egress from the destination portal coordinates.
Conclusions
The use of the Alan Holt field resonance proposal along with hydromagnetic wave fine-tuning techniques will be sufficient to transport a human from an egress dimensional portal to a destination portal / or coordinate on another world-line.
There are concerns related to…
Secondary Resonance Effects.
The ponderomotive force (PMF).
Magnetohydrodynamic shock.
However, calculations indicate that these concerns are minor, or can be minimized with proper care and due diligence.
Now, with all this being clear, we can now discuss the mechanism used to implement the Alan Holt resonance transfer procedure within the magnetic field when a person enters into the egress portal. We will cover that in the next post. Post five. Stay tuned.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This post continues in the discussion of building yourself a DIY dimensional portal (or some type of vehicle) for world-line crossovers and slides. This is part three. Part one was an introduction to the concepts that various people can build a DIY dimensional portal. Part two discussed the very important aspects of mass / gravity separation of the entity (person) entering the portal, and the portal itself.
And here, in this part we will discuss measuring the frequencies of the gravity elements involved when a person enters the portal. This measurement of frequencies is the assignment of coordinates of where you are right now at the moment of teleportation.
Measure frequencies = Assign egress coordinates.
High Frequency Gravity Waves
The fundamental idea is that we would detect the super weak HFGW that is associated with both the mass of the person entering the portal, and that of the portal itself. This would create a frequency profile. This profile in turn, can be considered a set of coordinates for the dimensional portal to work with.
Gravitational waves (GW) are a prediction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, but (due to their weakness) took a long, long time to discover.
Measurement of their indirect effects on the orbits of certain binary neutron stars was a major experimental triumph, and merited the award of a Nobel Prize in Physics. Further; these measurements agree with theory to better than 1%. Therefore, there really isn’t any question of their existence. The issue is really how to detect them for small gravitational masses, up close, quickly and accurately.
The term HFGW has come to mean gravitational waves at much higher frequencies of several GHz, say 10GHz to be specific. A general rule of thumb is that the highest gravitational wave frequencies produced will be at around the reciprocal of the freefall timescale for a system fmax∼ √Gρ, where ρ is the average density of the system.
Dr. Robert Baker, Jr. has a design for an open cavity High-Frequency Gravitational Wave Detector in the GHz band. His design consists of a high-quality-factor open microwave cavity and a Gaussian beam (GB) passing through a static magnetic field in free space.
Baker is regarded as the preemininent researcher in the field of High-Frequency Gravitational Wave research, and proposes this new detector model as a means of facilitating significant new potential applications for the wireless telecommunications sector.
Essentially this effect is an inverse Gertsenshtein effect in which HFGWs are converted into electromagnetic (EM) waves when passing through a static magnetic field.
Our dimensional portal would detect the isolated HFGW’s from both the portal and the person entering the portal. It would convert the values into electromagnetic waves when the person enters the dimensional portal. Of course, for this to work, the entire portal would need to be a static magnetic field.
The Physics of HFGW’s
Newton’s formulation of the theory of gravity,
for two spherical gravitating masses MG(1) and MG(2) is equivalent to the “non-relativistic” gravitational field description
in which a non-dimensional “potential” hˆ has been chosen to agree with the mathematical language used for it in General Relativity. Here MI and MG are the inertial and gravitational masses respectively, and ρI and ρG are the distributions of these masses. Equations (3-4) and (3-5) are an instantaneous action-at-a-distance description which is inconsistent with the constraints of Special Relativity.
In General Relativity (which is generalizes Newton’s theory) Equations (3-4) – (3-6) become
Tμ ν is the complete relativistic stress-energy tensor of everything including the gravitational field itself, and T is its trace. (gμ ν is the Minkowski metric tensor of Special Relativity plus ˆhμ ν .) Confirmed predictions include the equivalence principle ρI = ρG (to better than 10−10), the calculated value for the bending of light passing near the sun and gravitational lensing of light in other parts of the Universe, many solar system observations, and remarkably accurate observations of neutron star binaries.
The full content and implications of General Relativity are not needed for any of the HFGW predictions to be considered below. For example the quantum energy density in a vacuum is negligibly small compared to the other important matter and field contributions to Tμ ν in our local environment. All of the HFGW amplitudes of interest here are so small that their contributions to energy density can be neglected in Tˆμ ν.
In a vacuum with only hˆμ ν present the RHS of Equation (3-7) vanishes, leaving the familiar free field wave equation
The robustness of the basic theory for the HFGWs discussed below is even more robust than that of General Relativity.
Hypotheses about changes in gravity and Tμ ν from string theory might change it at length scales 1 cm and some have proposed changes at huge (astronomical/cosmological) scales but neither would change Equations (3-7) on the scales of interest here.
Because we are concerned with such small HFGW intensities it is often constructive to describe these flows as a flow of gravitational quanta (gravitons).
Gravitons are a necessary consequence of Quantum Mechanics applied to Equation (3-9) and bear the same necessary relationship to Equations (3-9) and (3-7) as photons do to electromagnetic fields.
In particular
with ω = 2π× frequency and k = 2π/λ.
Figure 1 shows the electromagnetic-gravity field interactions in Equation (3-7) as (static gravity or graviton) – (photon or static electromagnetic field) interactions.
Figure 1: Feynman diagrams of quantum (graviton/photon) reactions in quantized gravitational field versions of General (and Special) Relativity. γ ≡ HF electromagnetic field or static field (B0); g ≡ graviton: A ≡ any particle.
Measuring HFGW from gravity masses
The LIGO detectors, which measured the waves, do not use bar detectors; they use interferometers. Bar detectors have been used for decades, but they have not been sensitive enough to make actual detections. They are necessarily very short, which reduces the effect of a gravitational wave. As you indicate they also have fairly narrow resonant frequencies at which they are most sensitive. Interferometers, on the other hand, can be made 4 kilometers long (like the LIGO detectors), which magnifies the effect of the waves. They are also sensitive over a fairly broad range -- roughly 40Hz to 2000Hz.
As anna v rightly points out, there actually are plenty of references to frequency if you look at the science papers. I work in gravitational-wave astronomy, and decomposing things into frequencies is our bread and butter. There's less coverage of this in the popular press, presumably because the public tunes out talk of frequencies, and pop-sci journalists know where their bread is buttered. But Fourier transforms are really how the analysis gets done.
-Physics Stack Exchange
Dr. Robert Baker, Jr. has a design for an open cavity High-Frequency Gravitational Wave Detector in the GHz band, which consists of a high-quality-factor open microwave cavity and a Gaussian beam (GB) passing through a static magnetic field in free space.
Essentially this effect is an inverse Gertsenshtein effect in which HFGWs are converted into electromagnetic (EM) waves when passing through a static magnetic field.
Converting measured HFGW into electromagnetic waves for frequency generation.
A basic mechanism for generating a EM wave from a measured HFGW is the direct conversion of the same frequency by a strong static magnetic field (−→B0).
This Gertsenshtein process is idealized in Figure 3. The GW power out, PG W (in), is proportional to the electromagnetic wave incoming power PEMW (out):
Figure 3: Gertsenshtein EMW generation by HFGWs passing through a constant magnetic field B0,
where U is the total EMW energy in the volume (V) in which the EMW passes through B0.
is the energy density in that region.
Figure 4: HFGW generation by standing wave electromagnetic modes in a cavity.
For the geometry of Figure (3) in which the passage of the EMW through B0 is not otherwise interrupted
For P(in) ∼ 10 kW, and L = 30 cm, U = 10−5 joules. If the EMF is contained as a normal mode within V,U can be very much larger. However, there are various limits to U which are independent of the available EMW power. For a cavity with EM dissipation time τ
For a (generous) cooling rate from an exterior coolant flow around a copper cavity H˙ ∼ 106 watts, Q ∼ 2 × 103, Umax ∼ 2 × 10−1 joules and
(We note that it would take a continual EM power input of one MWatt to maintain this tiny GW output.)
If we replace the copper-walled cavity by one with superconducting walls τ may increase from the ∼ 10−7 sec of Cu by a factor ∼ 107. However, Umax could not increase by nearly such a factor, even if we ignore any problems of maintaining superconductivity near the huge −→B0, and keeping the very low temperature needed. The u inside the superconducting cavity would be limited by unacceptable electron emission from a mode’s strong electric field perpendicular to a wall:
Even if this crucial limit is ignored there would be a limit to u from the maximum mechanical strength of the container confining the electromagnetic modes:
The limit of Equation (3-23) and V ∼ 3 × 103 cm3 gives UMax ∼ 3 × 106J and
Finally we could ask the ultimate limit when, instead of −→Bo ∼ 105 Gauss and EM waves V is filled with moving masses, EM energy, etc. all contained within V ∼ 3 × 103 cm3 to the limit where the container explodes. Then
where d is the distance to the target and b a directional beaming factor which we take ∼ 102. Then for d > 1 km the maximum flux at a target
for the unrealistically large limit of Equation (3-25). Increasing V to 107 cm3 would still limit
Almost none will be stopped or converted within the target. (But even if they were their total impulse would cause no damage to any part of it.)
HFGW Detectors [1]
Proposed HFGW detectors have generally been based upon versions of the inverse Gertsenshtein process. The most elementary one is that in Figure 5. As in Equations (3-13) and (3-14)
For the maximum HFGW generator production of 102 graviton/sec of Equation (3-22), and b ∼ 102 and d ∼ 10 m in Equation (3-26), and a detector area transverse to the beam (Aˆ) = 104cm2
Such a small photon flow would, of course, never be observed, no matter what plausible changes are made in HFGW generator, d, b, or Aˆ. However proposals have been made to decrease this interval by very great factors.
One such proposal introduces an additional EMW0 with the same frequency as the GW and the very weak EMW it generates in passing through the strong −→B0 region. This is well understood “homodyning” of the weak signal. It does not increase a signal to noise ratio when the noise is the minimal photon noise from quantization. If we consider the simple geometry of
Figure 5: Inverse Gertsenshtein conversion of HFGWs to EMWs of the same frequencies.
Figure 6 with the electromagnetic waves electric field normal to the plane of wave propagation and −→B0, there are two possibilities for interference between EGW, the electric field of the EMW generated by the GW and E0. In one the original propagation directions are coincident. Then the total field (−→E T )
with −→E T the homodyning field and −→E GW that from GW conversion along the common trajectory. If EGW reaches the photon detector so must E 0. That detector’s photon counting rate
Figure 6: Homodyning of weak EMW with much stronger EMW0.
with N˙ 0 the counting rate when N˙ GW = 0 and N˙ GW the very much smaller rate when N˙ 0 = 0. A non-zero cos δ can arise from phase match between −→E 0 and −→E GW .
The large N0 = N˙ 0t is the expectation value of a Poisson distribution of width N1/2 0 which is intrinsic to the quantum (photon) distribution in the classical wave description.
The main N˙ GW contribution to the detector counts (2 (N˙ 0N˙ GW)1/2 cos δ t) must be significantly larger than this fluctuation (N˙ 0t)1/2 for the signal/minimal photon noise ratio to exceed unity:
i.e., it will still take the t ˆγ of Equation (3-30) to identify with any confidence a single EMW photon from incoming GW graviton conversion.
If the −→E 0 photons differ enough in direction from the EGW ones so that they do not reach the detector the photon fluctuations |−→E 0|2 term of Equation (3-31) could be absent, but so would 2−→E 0· −→E GW so that again t ∼ 1/N˙ γ . The history of this interference term before the detector is reached is not relevant: t ∼ 1/N˙ GW whether or not −→E 0 reaches the photon detector with −→E GW or what its magnitude there is as long as it gives the minimal fluctuation in photon number as the major noise source at the EMW detector.
If instead of −→E 0 with the same frequency at the EMW from HFGW conversion (homodyning), the −→E 0 wave has a different frequency (ω ) and the detector admits ω ± ω (heterodyning) the quantum limit still gives the same needed t (to within a factor 2) for a signal to noise ratio exceeding one; see Marcuse [13] (Eqs. 6.5–14,6.5–17) with the minimum bandwidth B ∼ t−1 achieved over a time t,
HFGW Detectors [2]
A second kind of proposal for greatly increasing the photon counting rate from graviton → photon conversion is to contain the conversion volume within reflecting walls for EMWs.
This is similar to the same sort of proposal to increase the efficiency of Gertsenshtein conversion of photons to gravitons in Figure 3. It differs, however, in that the containing cavity does not reflect the gravitons which are the source for conversion, but only the photons which are the product of it.
If we start with an empty cavity with mode decay time τ and a resonance frequency ω0 = ω (or at least |ω − ω0| < ω0/Q) the cavity will initially fill with EM mode energy (U) at a rate
which will continually increase until a steady state is reached at t ∼ τ ≡ Q/ω. (U is not limited in the cavity detector by the considerations of Sec 3. because it is always so tiny in comparison to those in a GW generator).
if cavity photons are counted instead of being dissipated in the cavity walls.
Figure 7: GW conversion on B 0 pumping a resonant cavity with the same frequency.
If, unphysically, finite cavity mode decay time did not limit N˙ γ we might still note how long (t1) it would take for the expected number of GW induced photons inside the cavity to reach one, i.e.
However, finite τ = (Q/ω) does limit the cavity U. The maximum expected value for GW induced photon number in the cavity never approaches unity. Instead
A copper-walled cavity with Q ∼ 2×103 would decrease the time interval between GW induced photons in the cavity, but only to
The largest plausible τ would be for a cavity with superconducting walls. Then τ might reach, say, 10 seconds (Q ∼ 10E11). Then
still essentially an infinite time between photon counts.
If the cavity GW induced photon energy were homodyned (or heterodyned) by introducing additional resonant mode electromagnetic field energy the photon number fluctuations in that energy would again not allow interference to increase the time interval for signal/photon noise > 1 to be less than the ˆtγ/Q of Equations (3-40)- (41).
What this means
There is a way (of a couple of ways) to measure the gravity waves associated with the gravity of a person entering a portal, and that of the portal itself. These waves at a precise moment in time can be used as a coordinate.
It is not practical to use this technology for any other purposes.
The photon counting rates for confident detection of graviton-induced photons from proposed HFGW generators and detectors is so small that development of HFGW communication links is not a reasonable prospect.
Not useful for communication.
The graviton interception-transformation rate at a large cooperative target (specially designed to detect gravitons) 10−20 [ cf Equations (3-29) and (3-36)]. When combined with the comparably small fraction for photo → graviton efficiency in HFGW generators this implies that to deposit even an ergs worth of HFGW gravitons in a target requires 1040 ergs of electric power input to a HFGW generator. This is more than total energy from electric power generation on the earth (< 1012 watts) for longer than the age of the Universe.
Use of HFGW beams for destroying, deflecting, or compromising distant targets (or close ones) has no promise.
Not useful for weapons.
Thus it seems silly that the United States government would consider putting this technology in a “black project” to keep it out of the public eye.
Conclusion
This part discussed creation of a mechanism to measure the gravity waves associated with the gravity of both the dimensional portal and a person entering it.
With this mechanism you can identify the exact world-line you are in at an exact frozen moment of time, and assign a coordinate to it.
You can do so in isolation of the person, and thus create a mechanism that would take this “person” at one coordinate and slide him to another coordinate instantaneously.
Since the coordinate is very detailed, it includes not only the physical geography of a place, but a moment in “time”, and if you change the coordinates slightly, you can use this mechanism to move a person back and forth in …
Geography. You can move about from place A to place B.
Time. You can move from one point in time to another.
But since, you have the entire spectrum of coordinates at your “finger tips” you can alter the parameters of the coordinates to enter completely different world-lines. You can go into the so-called parallel universes…
World-line. You can go from one world-line to another.
In the next post, we will discuss how to use these frequencies to move a person from one set of coordinates to another set. Hang on…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This is part 2 of the fundamentals in constructing your very own dimensional portal or vehicle. This post continues that same slow, methodical study of how one would go about constructing their very own dimensional portal. This is a systems integration point of view, rather than anything else.
So, to review…
In part 1, we discussed some scant examples found on the internet. Most of which didn’t say much of anything. However, if you look between the lines on them you see some ideas all similarly related. The major hurtle is that they all assume a universe that simply does not exist.
So, by looking at the ideas garnered through that initial post, we can consider them to have pretty much laid out the ideas which we can add to our narrative…
Individual world-lines are fixed, static places within the reality universe.
Consider a world-line to be a frozen snapshot of time. Nothing actually moves within it. It's just solid, fixed and never changing.
Time is the movement of individual consciousness though these places.
This is something that I have repeatedly stated over and over again throughout this Metallicman effort. If you don't understand what time actually is, you will never understand world-lines.
Each world-line is a very complex representation of a static place.
It's not just that the physical elements are represented, but the non-physical elements are represented as well.
This representation can best be described as a “frozen moment” of a complex graph of frequencies.
Since we know, by quantum physics, that every thing in our "universe" can be represented as either a particle or a wave. And all waves can be associated with a specific frequency. Then, all things within a "frozen" world-line can be associated with a complex set of frequencies.
As such, we can do all sorts of things with it. From using it as a "homing beacon" to go to, or to return to. Or to note that it is something that should be avoided.
By knowing the set of frequencies associated with a given world line, we can establish a set of coordinates associated with it.
If there was a way that we could take a "snapshot" of a given world-line, we would see a complex collection of frequencies. All these frequencies would be associated with the gravity measurement at that (apparent) moment of "time".
World-line travel can thus be the manipulation of frequencies of location.
The frequencies of location.
Taken together, if you can have coordinates at your present location, and provide coordinates at your destination location you can map out your route. Just like we all do using GPS.
You can travel to different world-lines using fundamentally the same KIND OF system that is used on maps and GPS apps. You identify your location coordinates and then map out your destination coordinates.
But, the GPS system uses satellites, software algorithms, and a small army of engineers and technologists to maintain. How can you use this kind of system for world-line travel?
You don’t.
Instead you need to take a “snapshot” of your current location. This “snapshot” will contain the attributes that are associated with your geographic time, place and environment.
So the question really becomes “how”?
How do you take a “snapshot” of your current environment in such a way that it includes all elements of your current environment?
Your “snapshot”.
I’m going to “cut to the chase” and summarize a few things.
Precise measurements of localized gravity can be an effective measurement of your current world-line position.
But, it does not provide you a map. If you punch in destination coordinates of a different gravity reading, you have absolutely no way of knowing where you will end up.
For instance, if you leave at a gravity reading of 121.8723675092384 then where would a gravity reading of 121.8276746592847536 take you?
So gravity can be used to take you to similar world-lines, but it cannot be used to determine world-line types and deviance parameters.
An other method has to be utilized to map out the world-line terrain.
That other method is to utilize the frequencies associated with the gravity reading at any given world-line.
A "snapshot" of the gravity of your departure coordinates can be translated or processed to produce a complex graph of all the various waveforms and their frequencies at that moment in time.
Using the snapshot as an anchor.
Now, if the coordinates are related to the frequency “snapshot” at any given moment of time…
… the manipulation of the frequency around a person, vehicle, or door, can teleport a person or object to the destination coordinates.
In other words, we are going to utilize the Alan Holt's Field Resonance System to conduct world-line travel.
So let’s discuss collecting the frequencies of a departure coordinate.
[1] The overall scheme.
Here we are going to discuss using vibrations and frequencies associated with gravitational masses to obtain world-line coordinates.
It works just like this…
You create an area with a fixed “portal”.
You then identify the “geography” of the gravitational signatures of that specific area / portal.
Using flux-gate technology, you isolate the gravitational signatures of a person entering the portal from the portal gravitational signature.
Now, we need to associate frequencies with the gravitational signiatures.
You take a measurement of the frequencies associated with the gravitational portal at a specific fraction of time.
You do the same thing of a person entering the portal at that specific fraction of time.
A person entering a fixed portal.
These frequencies are very complex, but they can tell us where we are at any given moment within any given world-line.
Now, in a split second, using the Alan Holt’s Field Resonance system, you change the frequencies within the portal. You alter the frequencies such that the gravitational associated frequencies of the person entering the portal do not change, but the frequencies associated with the surrounding environment does actually change.
You change the frequencies of the portal location, not the person. All the while you use field resonances to “squeeze” or “slide” the individual into the new portal coordinates.
Coordinates are the frequencies associated with the gravitation at that fraction of time.
Now, we are going to discuss how this is done, step by step over the next couple of posts in this series.
We will start with [2], how to isolate gravity masses within an area. Then we will convert those gravity readings into frequencies.
This is a very important step as it is used to isolate the person who walks into a portal from the portal itself.
Thus, the world-line slide, or cross-over, can be obtained by isolating the frequencies of the portal from the person. Using the Alan Holt Frequency resonance system to slide that person into the new coordinates.
And that is how it works.
[2] Association of a frequency to a given world-line.
To identify your local region, you need to separate it out from all the “clutter” of the surrounding regions. Otherwise, your “map” with start with a confused jumble of data. Much like oil painting. When you keep on painting and painting in oils, and don’t separate the colors, eventually everything turns into a muddy ugly brown color.
Luckily, there is a technique for this. It’s called “Regional residual anomaly separation”, and it is one of the important tasks in gravity inversion and interpretation for the detection of oils, minerals and cavities underground.
So, we can “piggy back” on the work already done.
So here is the procedure (so that you all don’t get too bogged down into all the details…
Identify a physical region; a person, a place, a thing, a vehicle.
Identify and isolate the gravity of that object (parts 2a – 2g) below.
Take a “snapshot” of the frequencies associated with that specific region of gravity.
[2a] Regional residual anomaly separation
We can use any number of the gravity separation methods that have already been developed. All of which have been based on different characteristics of regional and residual gravity fields. Of course, each one has it’s advantages and disadvantages.
Graphic smoothing and N-point smoothing(Wanget al 1991)
Polynomial surface fitting (Beltraoet al 1991)
Minimum curvature method (Mickuset al 1991)
Finite element analysis (Mallick and Sharma1999)
The stripping method (Weiland 1989)
And finally, Li and Oldenburg (1998) proposed to separate the regional anomaly using a 3D magnetic inversion algorithm.
Based on different spectral characteristics of gravity and magnetic anomalies, filters can be used for more precise gravity separation.
Of course, all these methods are simply number crunching of sensory inputs from a “flux gate” and processed within a complex computer algorithm.
Simple Flux-gate circuit.
[2b] Use of the wavelet transform
There is more than one way to process the information obtained from a flux-gate sensor.
In recent years, the wavelet transform has widely been used in gravity data processing and interpretation. This is primarily due to its pretty good property of multi-scale analysis, and as a result, it has become an important method to isolate gravity readings from that of an anomaly.
The examples of people using these techniques to isolate the frequencies of localized gravity anomalies is pretty well documented;
Fedi and Quarta (1998) used a discrete wavelet transform to separate the regional potential gravity fields, and determined the rational decomposition results as a regional gravity anomaly by “minimum entropy compactness criterion”.
Ucanet al (2000) also used the multi-scale wavelet transform to separate the regional anomaly field and achieved satisfactory results in the synthetic model test.
Yanget al (2001) analyzed the gravity data of China using the discrete wavelet transform and interpreted the geological implications of the decomposition results.
[2c] Other used for the Multi-scale gravity wavelet analysis.
This algorithm can be used in numerous ways. In general, the more versatile it is, the more exactly can you separate out the gravity frequency variations.
The multi-scale wavelet analysis can also be used in…
Besides the Euclidean wavelets, the spherical wavelets method has been developed in the last ten years (Freeden and Windheuser 1996,1997)…
[2d] The Spherical wavelet transform
The spherical wavelet transform has similar multi-scale analysis properties as the Euclidean wavelet transform. It can be expressed by the convolution of a signal with a dilation and rotation of a spherical mother wavelet upon a sphere.
Compared with the Euclidean wavelets, spherical wavelets are widely used in large-scale data analysis, especially for the spherical earth.
It has been used to study…
The global gravity field (Fengleret al 2004, 2007)
The traditional spectrum analysis is usually used to assist wavelet analysis and interpretation of gravity and magnetic anomalies.
Albora and Ucan (2001) present a synthetic example of gravity anomaly separation using wavelets, and estimate the average depth of buried bodies from the spectrum.
Qiuet al (2007) discuss the ability of the wavelet transform to improve the resolution of gravity anomaly and use depth estimation from spectrum analysis to analyze the wavelet decomposition results.
[2e] Theory of wavelet transform and spectrum analysis
Wavelet transform
Assuming that f(x)is a square integrable function, its wavelet transform can be expressed as…
where…
ψ(x) is the wavelet basis or the mother wavelet function,
s>0 is the scale factor,
b is the translation parameter,
R is the integration domain,
ψs(x) is the dilation of wavelet basis
ψs(x) = 1√sψ(xs). (∗means convolution).
In the frequency domain, equation (1) can be equivalently expressed as
where …
(ω) is the Fourier transform of ψ(x),
√s (sk) is the Fourier transform of ψs(x).
Generally, the scale factor can be connected with the frequency by
where Fs is the equivalent frequency of wavelet transform at scales, Fc is the center frequency of the wavelet basis function,and is the sampling rate.
From the frequency domain expression (equation (2)), the wavelet transform of the signal f(x) can be viewed as the filtering result with the wavelet filter at either…
Different scales (Yang 1999) or
Using the filter banks operation (Strang and Nguyen 1997).
Generally, a large-scale wavelet transform can be used to separate the regional gravitation.
Wavelets can be selected for a gravity anomaly analysis according to some specific criteria, such as…
Similarity between signal and mother wavelets (Xuet al 2004)
Minimum entropy compactness criterion (Fedi and Quart a 1998).
In this example, we will select the wavelet according to its frequency response character.
Based on the knowledge of the spectral character of anomalies, a low-pass and isotropic wavelet filter is more appropriate for regional anomaly separation.
Here, we can look at the properties of the Halo wavelet in a specific frequency domain and then apply it in order to separate out the regional anomaly. In effect, isolating a particular body (a person, object, vehicle, or in this example, a rectangular box) from all the background gravitational influences.
The Halo wavelet basis function is a modification of the Morlet wavelet (Kirby2005).
It can be expressed in the frequency domain as
Its spectrum character is shown in figure 1.
The Halo wavelet basis is symmetrical and isotropic in the frequency domain. It is a low-pass wavelet filter with a small k0 value.
According to uncertainty, the bandwidth and the center frequency of the dilated wavelet decrease when the scale increases.
Therefore it is necessary to select the wavelet transform at a proper scale in order to get low-frequency regional anomalies.
From the definition of the wavelet transform, it can be computed by either, [A] convolution in the space domain or [B] multiplication in the frequency domain.
We compute the wavelet transform in the frequency domain based on equation (2), and the implementation steps are listed below:
(1) Compute the Fourier transform G(⇀k) of the original anomaly signal g(⇀x).
(2) Multiply the anomaly spectrum G(⇀k) with Halo wavelet (⇀k) in the frequency domain, and get the wavelet transform at scales=1; W(⇀k)=G(⇀k)×(⇀k).
(3) Compute the inverse Fourier transform of W(⇀k) and get the wavelet transform result w(⇀x) in the space domain.
(4) Calculate the wavelet transform of different scales with the dilation wavelet basis, and get the result of the wavelet transform result at different scales following steps (2)and (3).
The maximum decomposition scale relates the dimension of the original data, and the scale can take continuous values with a maximum of half of the data dimension.
Here we take s=2a in the wavelet decomposition (a=0, 0.5, 1, 1.5,…,the order of decomposition). This is the graphic representation of that algorithm.
Spectrum analysis and depth estimation Spector and Grant (1970) studied the relationship between the energy spectrum of anomalies and the average depth of source bodies under a statistic assumption.
It provided a foundation for anomaly source parameter estimation and filter designation for anomaly separation (Dolmazet al 2005, Wanget al 1991).
The energy spectrum of anomalies can be presented by the formula:
where〈〉stands for ensemble average,
M is the magnetic moment/unit volume,
h is the depth to the top of source body,
t is the thickness of the source body,
k is the radial wave number,
S(k) is the factor for the horizontal size of the source body.
It will be found that the depth factor〈e−2hk〉dominates the spectrum.
It turns out that the effect of the extension factor〈1−e−tk〉and the horizontal factor〈S2(k) are both comparatively small.
This is especially true in the low-frequency bands.
Simplifying the equation based on these practical realities, we find that the energy spectrum can be simplified as…
where…
A and A′ are constant coefficients, ̄
h is the average depth of the source body. (Relative to the sensor position.)
In practice, the linear fitting results of different spectrum segments are plotted on the semi-log plot of energy spectrum versus radial wave number for convenience. It helps to best visualize the effectiveness in this technique for the isolation of gravity influences on specific bodies.
The slopes of the best-fit straight lines of spectrum segments of logarithm energy spectrum versus radial wave number plot tend to indicate the average depth of the sources. Which is why this technique has enormous benefit in the geology sciences.
[2f] Proposed gravity frequency separation experiment
You do not need to have a buried treasure, a submerged sunken battleship, or a cavity filled with gold to validate this gravity isolation technology. You can use a shoebox, a briefcase, a coffeecan, or some other small sized object.
Here, we see a modeled object that is then scanned with flux-gate sensors to determine the degree of separation of different gravity values which can be observed.
Consider a cuboids combination model for the gravity field separation experiment by the wavelet transform.
This model consists of six cuboids: the largest one is located in the deepest part to simulate the regional anomaly, and the other five smaller ones with the same size are located in the shallower part at the center and four corners of the survey area to simulate the local anomaly field (figure2(a)).
The relevant parameters are listed in table 1.
Since this project was designed for large objects, the coordinate origin is located at the center of the survey, the grid spacing is 0.1 km, and the survey area is 100 km×100 km.
Using the forward calculation formula of rectangular bodies (Blakely 1995), we can calculate the gravity anomalies of the model and the corresponding regional and local anomalies, which are respectively shown in figures 2(b)–(d).
From the spectral analysis of the total, regional and local anomalies (figure3), the anomaly energy is mainly concentrated in the low-frequency band (0–0.4 rad km−1).
The target object has an energy in the low-frequency band.
The regional anomaly energy is dominated in the low-frequency band (0–0.4 rad km−1), while the local anomaly energy is dominated in the mid-high frequency band (above 0.4 rad km−1).
The surrounding environment has energy in the high-frequency band.
The two anomalies have different spectral distribution characteristics.
Therefore, it is feasible to separate anomalies of different frequency bands. Or, for our specific consideration, to isolate (say) a person walking through a “dimensional portal” and the “dimensional portal” itself.
The spectrum of the total gravity anomaly can be divided into three segments in the following frequency ranges: 0–0.05, 0.05–0.60 and above 0.60 rad km−1. In other words, we can identify frequency cut off criteria to isolate specific gravitational masses as they enter a portal, or when part of a larger mechanism, such as a vehicle.
They represent the regional anomaly with low frequency and high energy, the local anomaly with intermediate and high frequencies, and the high frequency signal characterized with very small energy,respectively.
In this example we choose the Halo wavelet basis to process the gravity anomaly based on the spectral character. Taking k0=0.6 and the corresponding scales=25.5, the transform result is…
taken as the regional anomaly, and the difference between this result and the original anomaly is taken as the local anomaly (figure4). It has achieved satisfied separation results compared with the theoretical anomalies (figures 2(c) and (d)).
[2g] Conclusions related to gravity separation determination for world-line mapping
There is no singular solution to gravity separation of a person from the surrounding portal. However, the basic technique remains the same.
In this example, we used a convention that illustrated the separation of a regional anomaly using the wavelet transform. And thus, according to the spectrum analysis their gravity estimation results.
The isotropic and low-pass wavelet filter, Halo wavelet, is used in the synthetic and real data processing.
The separation test on the synthetic model indicates that the wavelet analysis can separate the anomaly effectively. And thus, a person walking into a dimensional portal can effectively be isolated into separate gravitational entities at any given specific moment in time.
[3] Some notes
Here are some notes that I should not take for granted.
The “fixed dimensional portal” is just a coordinate. There isn’t a frame, or a physical door, or an arc or shimmering surface like you see in Hollywood. It’s just a place. It could consist of a bare space in a empty warehouse that is marked by a piece of tape on the floor.
The only thing that is important is that the exact moment that a person walks into the portal must be taken into consideration.
At that split fraction of a second, the flux-gate sensors must measure the entire gravitational environment. Convert it all into frequencies. Subtract the person from the surrounding environment. And use the Alan Holt resonance procedure to slide the person into the new world-line.
The more accurate the sensing, the better the results.
Therefore, I urge a large number of flux-gate sensors be used in regards to this.
Commercial flux-gate sensor.
[3] How to associate frequencies with gravitational readings.
You create a "profile" that describes the geography of the gravity of the objects associated with the portal. Then you take measurements of the frequencies associated with those gravity objects (HFGW). This creates a very complex frequency profile. It is what you use to isolate the components within the portal.
The subject of High Frequency Gravitational Waves (HFGW) has attracted considerable interest in the US government over the last few years. Apparently as soon as it was publicly announced that gravity is associated with gravitation “waves” o frequencies, the first response by the American government is to suppress all science related to it.
In September 2007, HFGW came to the attention of the National MASINT Committee of ODNI.
In turn, staff at this committee asked JASON to review both the underlying science and technology of HFGW, and their implications for national security. They wanted to move all R&D associated with HFGW into the black and prohibit any further public work on the technologies.
JASON hosted briefings during June 17-18, 2008 from individuals both inside and outside the US government, and also collected about a thousand pages of printed or electronic material.
They concluded that the then proposed applications of the science of HFGW are fundamentally wrong; that there can be no security threat. And thus no need to silence the public disclosure of any kind of research regarding it.
They found that the insistence of the American government in suppressing all development and publication of independent scientific and technical work on this generally unnecessary.
They concluded that the previous analysis of the Li-Baker detector concept is incorrect by many orders of magnitude; and that the following are infeasible in the foreseeable future: detection of the natural “relic” HFGW, which are reliably predicted to exist; or detection of artificial sources of HFGW.
They concluded that no foreign threat in HFGW is credible, including: Communication by means of HFGW; Object detection or imaging (by HFGW radar or tomography); Vehicle propulsion by HFGW; or any other practical use of HFGW.
And that should tell you all that you need to know about how important the government places the study of High Frequency Gravitational Waves…
…The “key” to world-line travel.
In the next post we will discuss how to collect, and map gravitational waves in association with the gravitation separation techniques already discussed herein.
(I would include it here, but I really don’t have enough room in this post.)
Stay tuned…
Do you want more?
To check out the rest of my posts in my DIY series you can go here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
Let’s talk about profiteers. People who will make rules, bend laws, or create situations so that they can make a buck out of it.
It is people like this that caused the disappearance of public water fountains in favor of bottled water that you can purchase. It is people like this that has made it so that all of us have to endure “child safety caps” on our medicines bottles. It’s people like this that have contributed so much to the destruction of the selfless side of human nature… and who has instead replaced it with a selfish, greedy nature.
“Anything for a buck.”
About three months ago or so, I received an email that pretty much stated that they would copy my website and re-post it online, intentionally distorted, so as to mess up my SEO ranking on Google. What they said that they would do is copy my website word for word, and interject all sorts of lies, and easily proven hoaxes within it. In short making Metallicman just another “hoax website”.
They said that they would do any number of number of things…
Mess up my SEO ranking on search engines.
Post NSFW content that would ban the site from many rankings.
Fill it with outrageous lies, known and proven hoaxes.
Plant bit-mining software in it.
Plant malware in it.
And in many ways render it unreadable.
Not to mention destroy my image / reputation.
The solution to avoid this was to deposit a few thousand US dollars worth of bitcoin to their account. If I didn’t do so, then my website will be “toast”, and my reputation would be shit.
You all would be surprised at all the hoaxes, and scams that invade my Metallicman mailbox. Most are trolling bots, or mass mailings. Typically I just ignore them.
Whether it is my great, great uncle who died and left three hundred billion dollars in an abandoned account...
Or, someone who wants me to join the Illuminati...
Maybe, some dude who says that they have a video of me masturbating to movies on the internet...
Or yet one of hundreds of "invoices" from people who want my "products"...
I pretty much ignore them all.
But this one was different…
Well…
To be honest, I really don’t give a fuck if there is a few hundred copies of this website all messed up and corrupted with malware and porn. Those that are supposed to see this site are already connected. For this site is not monetized, and has no other purpose except to provide information to a very select few.
I can live without it.
It’s more of a pain than anything else.
So it does not matter to me if the SEO ranking sucks. Nor does it matter if it is confused with other similar sounding websites. I really don’t care. Not to mention that I simply don’t have a couple of thousand US dollars to give to someone to blackmail me with.
If it came down to that, I’d just simply pull the site.
I’d let the fakes propagate and go buy myself a girl and get drunk. I really don’t give a flying fuck about what could happen, or who might miss out, or what might happen to my “reputation“.
It’s already fucking shit, for God’s sakes…
…
Well, about two weeks after I ignored this first email, I received another email from those in control of domain names for websites.
It turns out that some jackass tried to buy the Metallicman website name in various forms. The (domain name guardians) asked me if I had any business associated with China as the fucker was trying to purchase the Metallicman.cn domain name.
Metallicman.com is the registered domain. And they tried to buy the Metallicman.cn registered domain.
Now, normally, this wouldn’t be much of an issue. Most Americans who use the dot-com domain registration don’t have any business with China. But I am different. Not only is my contact address Chinese, but my email system, and funding mechanisms are all Chinese.
So they had to do something they normally bypass. They asked me if I had any business associated with China in any way.
I of course, told them that I was not only inside of China, but that I conduct business with Chinese entities. Were they to grant this request, there could be all sorts of disruptions within internet commerce.
Thus no one aside from myself can own this domain name.
The FCC does not permit spoofing other websites. So if it appears that someone is trying to spoof or copy your website they will not be allowed to do so. As it is not only illegal, but it is a felony.
OK. Long story short. He could not carry forth on his threat. I am sure that were it to be his desire, he would probably register with other domains. But my gut feeling is that he was just disappointed and just stopped this shit, and went on to “greener pastures”.
Issue over.
Oh. Don’t worry about me. Nothings going on here.
But…
But…
But, that guy who tried to blackmail me, well…
…“he’s a bad man, a very bad man”.
…”he’s a bad man, a very bad man”.
That poor fuck however, is set to encounter some awfully bad luck in his future. And no, it’s not going to be the color of his socks changing either. (I do so hope you get that reference.) No evil deed goes unpunished, and eventually bad people come across things that can generate real actual real-life nightmares.
It’s not a measured response either.
It’s the stuff that real, honest to God, nightmares are made of.
This is a portrayal of a nightmare. It’s one of those things where you hope you’ll wake up. It’s about an entire community that has been taken over by a child brat who is totally self centered and sociopathic. He probably doesn’t realize the error of his ways. Any effort to educate him would result in being “sent to the cornfield.” This is a state of limbo. When your adversary has no conscience, he cannot be approached in a rational way. This story is about fear. Not only are the people under constant threat, the world the boy is creating is one that is becoming bleak and vacuous. We never know if he has the power to bring things back, but it appears not. We know at some point he will be all that is left. Everyone has a breaking point. Billy Mumy is a great choice for the child monster. The other characters sweat and frown. In their efforts to survive they have the constant mantra “That was a good thing you did. A real good thing.” This is an episode of the Twilight Zone where we never get to relax. See it if you never have. HERE.
Other Disclosures
What if, this fucker was well versed in doing this kind of nonsense? Can you actually believe that I was the very first person that he tried this nonsense with? Nope. I’m sure that he has been doing this for some time, and has had others pay him in bitcoin.
So, what about those other people who have “disclosures”? What about them?
Are they real? Are they fake? Are they sincere, or trying to create a fiction for their own purposes? What’s the story?
“The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.”
-George Orwell
There are other people who have stated that they were posted on Mars.
And I am interested in this because <redacted>.
You see, the Martian facility is <redacted>. <redacted>.
So, I read their stories with a great deal of interest and more than a little bit of incongruity. Whether they are intentional elements of a disinformation scheme designed to preemptively advert any actual disclosure, or just isolated profiteers trying to capitalize on the mysteries of the UFO and ET abduction experience, I do not know. (Though I have my own opinions.) In most instances their reported experiences differ from mine substantially.
Of course, my interpretations of my experiences might be erroneous…
They all, however, do accurately describe the transport portal, but do so in a very, very inaccurate manner.
While others describe their entry into the programs intentionally or unintentionally omitting the fact that they had to be implanted with probes to do so. Hum… Let me be terrifyingly specific.
Only people with implanted probes get to go to Mars, boys and girls. (The dimensional portal will not work for you without the probes.) Additionally, if you want to join a top secret program; well then, that is not what it is called.
It is a SAP, W-SAP a U-SAP, or if you are an active MAJestic member a W(U)-SAP. It is not a super (dooper) top secret, grade “X” program. Best get your nomenclature correct. All of this tells me something quite clear; many of them are (perhaps) full of bullshit.
Oh, excuse me, let me say this nicer. Let me sound more reasonable and understandable. Let me be clear in a more polite manner; all of this is suggestive to me of fraud and deceit.
I am afraid that, as open minded as I am, I just simply do not believe many of them. I do not believe them at all.
The reader is thus cautioned not to associate my disclosure with these other individuals or their disclosures. Because even if they are telling the truth, their stories differ from mine in many profound ways that they have no bearing with my story in any way.
It is these kinds of occluded statements that tend to render a real and actual disclosure like mine into the rubbish bin without giving it its fair and just consideration.
That is what would most probably happen. It is, perhaps, their intention.
The truth is, honestly, if they actually did teleport to Mars; if they are actually important enough to be considered for any Mars related program then they will have the implanted probes in their head.
This is a fact; period. End of discussion.
I don’t give much credence to any of them unless they can pass the x-ray test.
Let’s see those probes boys and girls. Let’s see them. Everyone that was involved in MAJestic has these probes. Everyone who was involved in my specific program has these probes. (According to the lecture on the base in Florida; everyone who is even associated with this program has these probes.)
There are many such examples of such rubbish.
Anyone who is states that Mars has [1] standing water…
Standing water requires an atmosphere with a specific pressure range and a suitable temperature. This is basic thermodynamics. All one needs to do is look up the appropriate chart in any classical thermodynamics textbook. Water; if the necessary conditions are not present, there will not be any water standing.
Pressure – Enthalpy (h) table for water.
[2] plant life on its surface…
When I refer to (my) Mars, it is an alternative world line Mars. Other people might also be relating an alternative world-line Mars as well.
However, any alternative world-line Mars would be similar to ours in most significant ways.
To deviate, for instance, to a world-line where the is life on Mars, with indigenous life would also be a Mars with at least a 40% deviance from our reality.
The greater the deviance, the greater the impact on the consciousness and the soul that “farmed” that consciousness.
When the consciousness returned back to this (normal) world-line (or something similar with a 1% deviance), there would be manifest changes in their experiences. It’s the “carry over” effect, that occurs when you move across world-lines.
The larger the deviance, the greater the effect.
Consciousness is not a “stand alone” attribute. It is a very vibrant controlling “ball” or quanta that can alter and manipulate the physical world.
When it moves in and out of different world-lines it affects the physical world (after all, was I not a “dimensional anchor”?).
The greater the change between world-lines, the greater the adverse affect on the consciousness. That does not benefit the soul. Therefore, it is very advantageous for the soul to limit the alterations to the consciousness, because the purpose of the creation of realities is to obtain experiences.
Consciousness is what helps to define the realities that the soul will experience. (Not the other way around.)
[3] carved statues, [4] religious burial crypts, [5] rodents that scurry about the surface, [6] huge pyramid structures or [7] faces that stare up to the sky, [8] native animals or [9] intelligent naturally evolved life…
… is a nutcase.
Either that or they are intentionally trying to throw such an amazing amount of disinformation at the reader that everything becomes distasteful and confused, or they are ignorantly delusional.
Do not believe any of it.
OK, then. Here are just some of the many examples of such disinformation; disinformation intentionally designed to render any real disclosures inert. I culled many of these references from books or the Internet. I present them here with my comments.
I am biased.
Please be prepared for some rather harsh criticism. (Wince.)
Captain Kaye
Let me start this discourse with a Mr. Randy Cramer (Captain Kaye).
The reader needs to understand that once I became retired and my life started to settle out, I began an active search for others who were in the program that I participated in. I wanted to meet up with them, chat with them, and compare notes. It was my hope that they could fill in some blank areas of my memories, or fill in some thoughts that I have had regarding my experiences. However, alas, I have been mostly unsuccessful.
One of the first of these individuals that I started to focus my attention on was “Captain Kaye”.
He is (by his own words) a former US Marine who has claimed that he spent 17 years of his career on MARS. The ex-naval infantryman, who uses the pseudonym Captain Kaye. He states that he was posted to the Red Planet to protect five (!) human colonies from indigenous Martian life forms.
FACT: In this universe, there are no (current) indigenous life forms on Mars bigger than a fossilized microbe. At least this guy doesn’t charge for his bullshit. You can watch him chat about his “experiences” on you-tube at https://youtu.be/ktjuDsAt0yo .
Mr. Randy Cramer also known as “Captain Kaye”.
He claims he then spent nearly three years serving in a secret ‘space fleet’ run by a multinational (!) organization called the Earth Defense Force, which recruits military personnel from countries including the US, Russia and China. Captain Kaye said he was trained to fly three different types of space fighters…
And, by the way, just who were the Earth at war with? Indeed, if we were at war with any known extraterrestrial species that I know of, we would all be long eviscerated by now. Truth. They could swat us like a fly and there would be nothing that we could do about it.
and three bombers.
In testimony released to ExoNews TV.
He added that training took place on a secret moon base called “Lunar Operations Command”, Saturn’s moon Titan, and in deep space.
On Titan? Why would anyone want to locate a command and control center there? It is far from being a neutral and calm place to settle.
The hydrocarbon atmosphere would, I would imagine, cause more headaches and hassles to the inhabitants than any vacuum world or moon would.
Observations from the Voyager space probes have shown that the Titanean atmosphere is denser than Earth's, with a surface pressure about 1.45 times that of Earth's. Titan's atmosphere is about 1.19 times as massive as Earth's overall, or about 7.3 times more massive on a per surface area basis.
It supports opaque haze layers that block most visible light from the Sun and other sources and renders Titan's surface features obscure.
The atmosphere is so thick and the gravity so low that humans could fly through it by flapping "wings" attached to their arms.
Titan's lower gravity means that its atmosphere is far more extended than Earth's; even at a distance of 975 km. The atmospheric composition in the stratosphere is 98.4% nitrogen—the only dense, nitrogen-rich atmosphere in the Solar System aside from the Earth's—with the remaining 1.6% composed of mostly of methane (1.4%) and hydrogen (0.1–0.2%).
Because methane condenses out of Titan's atmosphere at high altitudes, its abundance increases as one descends below the tropopause at an altitude of 32 km, leveling off at a value of 4.9% between 8 km and the surface.
There are trace amounts of other hydrocarbons, such as ethane, diacetylene, methylacetylene, acetylene and propane, and of other gases, such as cyanoacetylene, hydrogen cyanide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, cyanogen, argon and helium.
The orange color as seen from space must be produced by other more complex chemicals in small quantities, possibly tholins, tar-like organic precipitates. The hydrocarbons are thought to form in Titan's upper atmosphere in reactions resulting from the breakup of methane by the Sun's ultraviolet light, producing a thick orange smog.
Titan also has no magnetic field. Whether there is life on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is at present an open question and a topic of scientific assessment and research.
Titan is far colder than Earth, and its surface lacks stable liquid water; factors which have led some scientists to consider life there unlikely.
On the other hand, its thick atmosphere is chemically active and rich in carbon compounds. On the surface there are bodies of liquid methane and ethane; some scientists speculate that these liquids might take the place of water in living cells different from those on Earth.
In short, if you were to walk and operate upon the surface of Titan, it would be more like wearing a deep-sea diving outfit as your trudge your way through a soup of oils and hydrocarbons. It is not an ideal place to set up any kind of base of operations.
Captain Kaye’s testimony reveals that the main human colony on Mars is called Aries Prime which is located inside a crater. Aries Prime serves as the headquarters for the Mars Colony Corporation. According to Captain Kaye, the air is breathable on the surface of Mars…
The atmosphere on Mars is not, nor ever has been, breathable by humans. While there is some oxygen in the atmosphere, the combination of temperature, and pressure, as well as the presence of other gasses in the atmosphere precludes the suitability for organic human life on the surface.
…and the temperature could be warm at times.
Yes, the temperature on Mars near the equator can, at times, approach a human comfort level for a short and brief period of time.
He claims that there are two indigenous species on Mars, both of which are highly intelligent. One of these was a Reptilian species that was very aggressive in defending its territory.
The other was an Insectoid species that was equally capable of protecting its territory.
He said that indigenous Martians are not particularly interested in expanding their territory, only maintaining it. Captain Kaye said that as long as the Mars Defense Force and Mars Colony Corporation did not encroach on the territory of the indigenous Martians, there would be stable relations.
After serving 17 years of a 20 year tour of duty, events changed dramatically when virtually all combat personnel from the Mars Defense force were asked to retrieve an extraterrestrial artifact from a cave sacred to the indigenous Reptilians.
Captain Kaye described how over 1000 (one thousand!) men and women were killed in a subsequent battle and only 28 of his colleagues, including himself, survived. Captain Kaye says he retired after a 20 year tour of duty, describing a retirement ceremony on the moon that he claims was presided over by VIPs including ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
My commentary on all of this; he is full of BULLSHIT.
I just do not know where to begin. It is so outlandish, and so full of just complete nonsense.
The physics concerning the planet are just wrong. The presence of life, whether intelligent or not is incorrect. (Even taking into account the possibility that he might have used dimensional travel to go to a world-line where Mars has a human-friendly atmosphere, he wouldn’t have returned to our world-line. There are limits to the technologies employed. (For the planet Mars to have a breathable atmosphere…) He would be so far off “the beaten path” that returning to this kind of world-line would be near impossible.)
All SAP agents in MAJestic are implanted. If he was part of the organization he would have similar probes to mine. (Again, let’s see those probes.)
There are no wars, nor is there a need to maintain a military garrison on Mars to defend humans or other creatures from aggressor forces.
There are no warlike or aggressive reptilians that we need to worry about. (The truth is, the Mantids and the Type-I extraterrestrials are so far advanced technologically, that if they wanted to, they could eradicate humans off the face of the globe within days and there isn’t a thing that we could do about it.)
If you join a W(U)-SAP, you will NOT sign an enormous document (that is what you need to do if you go through American legal channels), you sign a one page document. If you violate it, you are killed. End of story. There just simply isn’t the need for a huge legal document because violators of the MAJestic confidentiality oaths would not go through the American court system. They would be taken into a room and shot in the head.
If what he says were true, then he would be retired as a sex offender, and like me, scared as shit of being killed for his public disclosures.
Additionally, the idea that 1000 people can die on Mars without anyone noticing is just short of mind-boggling.
The greys, of whatever race (supposedly contacted) do not “feel” evil or dangerous. (This is another loud “tell-tale” sign of a lying profiteer.) They do not “ “ooze” a kind of evil dark”.
Summary; I just simply do not believe anything that Captain Kaye has said. It is all hogwash.
Corey Goode
According to alleged Secret Space Program whistleblower Corey Goode, who in October 2016 released a press release about human activity and Mars.
In it he states that we are already present on Mars and have been for a long time. And he’s not the only one who’s saying that. This also comes as less of a surprise given the recent WikiLeaks’ documents, suggest that human and extraterrestrial collaboration that’s been happening for some time.
“Mars was first visited by the Germans as far back as the 1930s, but during the 70s, US space programs were actively exploring Mars and other planets to establish bases. In 1980 the US SSP became – Solar Warden. Under Project Solar Warden vast development and colonization occurred on Mars and other planets. Goode continues, “Bases on Mars were built under the surface.”
-Corey Goode
The reader can watch more on this in detail on GAIA.com where Corey Goode & David Wilcock host Cosmic Disclosure.
He claims he was recruited through one of the MILAB programs at the young age of 6, and trained and served there from 1976-1986/87. Toward the end of his time as a MILAB he was assigned to an IE support role for a rotating Earth Delegate Seat (shared by secret Earth government groups) in a “human-type” ET Super Federation Council.
MILAB refers to the military abduction of a person who is then indoctrinated and trained for any number of military black ops programs.
Apparently, Goode’s IE abilities played an important role in communicating with non-terrestrial beings as part of one of the Secret Space Programs (SSP). During his 20 year service he had a variety of experiences and assignments, including the Intruder Intercept Interrogation Program.
Corey Goode from the US Secret Space Program (SSP) said, “There are humans already on Mars and it’s been colonized.” In Dec. 1986, Goode was recruited into SSP – U-SAP (Un-Acknowledged Special Access Programs) under Project Solar Warden. He was assigned to a research vessel in space to study the solar system from Dec. 1986 – Dec. 2007.
Darren Perks while conducting research for Huffington Post on the “Solar Warren” program, made an FOI (freedom of information) request with the DoD (department of defence) in 2010.
He received a very interesting response in an email;
“About an hour ago I spoke to a NASA rep who confirmed this was their program and that it was terminated by the President. He also informed me that it was not a joint program with the DoD. The NASA rep informed me that you should be directed to the Johnson Space Center FOIA Manager.I have ran your request through one of our space-related directorates and I’m waiting on one other division with the Command to respond back to me. I will contact you once I have a response from the other division. Did NASA refer you to us?”
Interesting. This was obviously a “slip up”.
NASA hacker, Gary McKinnon hacked into U.S. Space Command computers several years ago and learned of the existence of “non-terrestrial officers” and “fleet-to-fleet transfers” and a secret program called “Solar Warden”, he was charged by the Bush Justice Department with having committed “the biggest military computer hack of all time”, and stood to face prison time of up to 70 years after extradition from UK.
But trying earnest McKinnon in open court would involve his testifying to the above classified facts, and his attorney would be able to subpoena government officers to testify under oath about the Navy’s Space Fleet.
To date the extradition of McKinnon to the U.S. has gone nowhere.
McKinnon also found out about the ships or craft within Solar Warden. It is said that there are approx eight cigar-shaped motherships (each longer than two football fields end-to-end) and 43 small “scout ships.
The Solar Warden Space Fleet operates under the US Naval Network and Space Operations Command (NNSOC) [formerly Naval Space Command]. There are approximately 300 personnel involved at that facility, with the figure rising.
Read the rest here; http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/darren-perks/solar-warden-the-secret-space-program_b_1659192.html
+ + +
His experiences are very different from mine. They are so different that there are no points of common reference. Some points;
If he is real, he would have probes inbedded in his skull like mine. All extraterrestrial interaction, and technology transfer falls under MAJestic perview. As such, he would have memory controlling devices, a core kit one inside his skull. He need not have to use the dimensional portal, but he would need to be implanted.
If he spent any period of time on Mars from 1986 until 2004, I would be aware of it.
He would not be part of any kind of research or study unless he possessed a minimum of a technical degree, either in engineering or one of the sciences. This is fundamental. People are not active members in MAJestic unless they have this minimum requirement.
If what he said is true, then he would have been retired as a sex offender.
I think he is full of shit and is a BULLSHIT artist. I do not know why he has made such outrageous statements.
However, that being said, he does know something.
Whether it is in passing, or through a friend of a friend is not clear. I do not believe he is who and what he says he is. I personally believe that he took the little bits and scraps of truth that he discovered and fabricated a large story around them to fit a more conventional narrative in regards to geo-political weapons and technology that was moved to an outer space environment.
What does he know?
Solar Warren
Could he be referring to a SAP known as “Solar Warren”?
When Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 21, 2011 and headed to a museum, we were told that the U.S. Government no longer had any space-capable vehicles, and that we would have to rely on other countries and private companies to get into orbit and service the Space Station.
And we have. For decades, it has been the Russians that provided shuttle capability for LEO operations.
But according to others, who have elaborated on the Solar Warden project, they have stated that this program is an active Space Fleet!
This program, code-named 'Solar Warden', apparently has now grown to 85 small disc-shaped "scout ships" and 10 elongated-delta-shaped motherships [each longer than three football fields joined end to end]. (There are also apparently additional intermediate-length deltoid spacecraft as well. )
The Solar Warden Space Fleet is operated by Naval Network Warfare Command's subcomponent Naval Network and Space Operations Command (NNSOC), headquartered at Naval Support Facility Dahlgren, VA.
The Solar Warden Fleet utilizes launch facilities at Vandenberg AFB, Lompoc, California and the Utah Test and Training Range in the desert west of Ogden, Utah.
Apparently NNSOC has approximately 365 personnel on Earth and in space. NNSOC operates in cooperation with the Central Security Service-Operations Division and its work to protect extraterrestrials in near-space and on the ground.
The Solar Warden Space Fleet's vessels are staffed by Naval Space Cadre and Marine Space Cadre officers, whose training has earned them the prestigious 6206-P Space Operations specialty designation, awarded after they have graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California with a Master of Science degree in Space Systems Operations.
Space Cadre Officers receive space operations training at NASA, and after graduating and a space flight are awarded the Naval Astronaut or Naval Flight Officer Astronaut insignia.
Other member countries' Navies and Marines furnish men and women officers to this program also.
That’s pretty amazing! Not only is this program enormous, but it is integrated within existing systems BUT not associated with MAJestic or even use the ONI oversight!
Their justification for the existence of this super-dooper top secret amazing program is two-fold.
One part [1] of the Space Fleet’s mission is to prevent rogue countries or terrorist groups from using near space to conduct warfare against other countries, or to fire from space on Earth-bound targets. The Federation has made it quite clear that space is to be used for peaceful purposes only.
A second part [2] of Earth’s Space Fleet’s mission is to prevent the rogue global-elite control group, the Cabal or related organizations, from using its orbital weapons systems, including nuclear missiles and directed-energy beam weapons, to intimidate or attack anyone or any group on Earth it decides to target or extort.
Because this Space Fleet has the job of being “Space Policeman” within our solar system, its program has been named Solar Warden.
WOW! Not only isn’t it part of MAJestic, but it’s not part of the UN either!
How to they justify this?
The Space Fleet operates under authority granted by a secret Resolution of the UN Security Council.
The U.S. component is so highly classified that when British civilian Gary McKinnon hacked into U.S. Space Command computers during 2001-2002 and learned of the existence of "non-terrestrial officers", "fleet-to-fleet transfers", and a secret program called "Solar Warden", he was charged by the Bush Justice Department with having committed "the biggest military computer hack of all time."
Corroboration and Verification
What makes all these flights of fantasy believable is selective extracts of defense authorization bills.
But, let me tell youse guys something. Waived SAP authorizations are not provided within authorization acts in anything other than an alpha-numerical designation. If this was an actual SAP, there would not be any white paper trail at all.
Thus this statement below is just disinformation…
Lest anyone think that Solar Warden is an errant flight of fancy, important corroboration of this information is found in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012. Section 912 of that Defense Bill refers to the Secretary of Defense being authorized to purchase and take delivery of "space vehicles". (Relevant Section 912 shown here.)
Summary; Not only do I not believe Corey Goode, but I also do not believe the story about Solar Warden either.
It does not mean that I am an expert and that my opinions are gold, but that I am part of MAJestic and everything associated with this Corey Goode disclosure seems like bullshit to me. Sorry to say. I know that many, many of you all believe his story and the idea that there is a space fleet as part of the Solar Warden fantasy.
It’s just simply not true. There is only one singular umbrella organization. It is MAJestic, and if the information disclosed regarding this Goode / Solar Warden nonsense is incompatible with it.
Here is another “new age” “nut case” trying to cash in on the financial opportunities presented by the gullible. I present the following for the reader to make heads or tails out of it and to determine if my appraisal has any validity.
“My name is Michael Relfe and I helped produce “The Perfect Health System”. My wife Stephanie supplied the talent, healing expertise and the raw determination to create a training system that would allow anyone to learn kinesiology and possess a technology that would help them make fantastic improvements in their life.”
“I want to tell you a little about myself and why you need Disk 11 (The Wernicke’s Correction). I have spent 24 years in the IT industry and have been an employee or consultant for Fortune 50 companies such as AMEX, IBM, American Airlines and The US Navy. I hold a degree in Computer Science and am a graduate of United States Naval Nuclear Power School. I am not sharing these things to attempt to impress you or to be a smartass. I want to help you understand that your success in life and the completion of your goals is in your hands and that with kinesiology….a special kind of kinesiology, you now have the technology to change your situation and get what you want out of life…”
“Kinesiology is scientific. Chiropractors and Licensed Massage Therapists using Kinesiology put treatments on insurance. And this is the actual hands on, repeatable, meat-and-potatoes kinesiology correction. Some kinesiology corrections are for your body. This kinesiology correction is for your brain. And it is demonstrated completely in "Perfect Health With Kinesiology & Muscle Testing - Disk 11"”. And no, it's not available separately. You need to learn Kinesiology from the other disks before you can use it correctly.
After the sales pitch he describes how he found out about this marvelous scientific breakthrough. Of course it involves an adventure of sorts on the surface of Mars. This adventure is outlined in the work titled “The Mars Records”, Book 1 and book 2[i]. Essentially it involves a convoluted mix of astral projection[ii], hypnotic regression[iii], reincarnation[iv], and general gallivanting around the surface of the planet meeting all kinds of curious and interesting individuals. Some of which are quite dangerous; such as those pesky Reptilians[v].
[ii]Astral projection (or astral travel) is an interpretation of out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside it. Astral projection or travel denotes the astral body leaving the physical body to travel in an astral plane. The idea of astral travel is rooted in common worldwide religious accounts of the afterlife in which the consciousness' or soul's journey or "ascent" is described in such terms as "an... out-of body experience, wherein the spiritual traveller leaves the physical body and travels in his/her subtle body (or dreambody or astral body) into ‘higher’ realms." It is frequently reported in association with dreams, and forms of meditation.
[iii]Past life regression is a technique that uses hypnosis to recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations, though others regard them as fantasies or delusions or a type of confabulation. Past life regression is typically undertaken either in pursuit of a spiritual experience, or in a psychotherapeutic setting. Most advocates loosely adhere to beliefs about reincarnation, though religious traditions that incorporate reincarnation generally do not include the idea of repressed memories of past lives
[iv]Reincarnation is the religious or philosophical concept that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins a new life in a new body. This doctrine is a central tenet of the Indian religions. It is also a common belief of various ancient and modern religions such as Spiritism, Theosophy, and Eckankar and is found in many tribal societies around the world, in places such as Siberia, West Africa, North America, and Australia.
[v]Reptilians (also called reptoids, reptiloids, or draconians) are purported reptilian humanoids that play a prominent role in science fiction, as well as modern ufology and conspiracy theories. The idea of reptilians on Earth was popularized by David Icke, a conspiracy theorist who claims shape-shifting reptilian aliens control Earth by taking on human form and gaining political power to manipulate our societies. Icke has claimed on multiple occasions that many of the world leaders are, or are possessed by, reptilians.
It all begins so innocently;
“The Mars Records, authored by Stephanie Relfe, is a 300-plus page document http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.com/mars_records.html chronicling the biofeedback sessions of her husband Michael who discovered he had been involved in a secret black project while in the Navy. Michael was astonished to find thathe had been living a double life as a covert operative for The Mars Defense Force. Some of his assignments were covert ops, piloting spacecraft, remote viewing, psychic defense and even psychic assassinations.
Michael’s recruitment, training and service for Mars Defense Force was carried out via sophisticated alien and military mind control technology. This included implants, hypno-programming, dissociation of specifically trained alter personalities, advanced psi training, speed learning, psi enhancing drugs and time travel. Michael’s case is unique and very important because he is one of a very handful of persons who have been able to clear, recall and deprogram the sophisticated alien and military mind programming. His success in memory retrieval and deprogramming is due to deliverance prayer and the excellent therapeutic skills of his wife, Stephanie Relfe. She uses a combination of biofeedback clearing sessions and kinesiology .”
-From an interview with Eve Lorgen
I do not believe anything that is written here. I think that this is just simply a traditional “snake oil salesman” who have updated their time honored technique to fleece the gullible by using the opportunities presented by the New Age movement. I believe that activities such as this make real and actual disclosures fall into the realm of the insane.
Henry Deacon(Project Camelot)
Arthur Neumann is his real name. He has made some remarkable statements. Part of which involved the participation in top secret programs authored by the United States government. Initially, when he first came forward he did so under an assumed name (Henry Deacon) to protect himself and his family. In 2009 he decided to come forward under his real name.
Henery Deacon
He has a background as a physicist and is now engaged in a profitable money making project known as “Project Camelot”.
http://projectcamelotportal.com/
On his website one can purchase all kinds of video and audio transcripts as well as books that describe the upcoming US –China war in 2008 (WTF?) and the secret conspiracies involving the United States government and time portals.
As of 2020, there were no overt hostilities between the United States and China.
Interesting stuff, but I rather doubt all of it. Of course it doesn’t really match or fit anything that I was exposed to, but that means nothing. What is important and germane to this discussion is what part of his testimony agrees or disagrees with mine.
Sorry, but I do not believe in time travel. The concept of time is a human fabrication to describe a universally evolving universe subject to the thoughts of all sentient creatures that inhabit it. It's world-line travel.
However, I do believe in dimensional portals. Please read elsewhere to see how a person can utilize dimensional travel to achieve apparent time-travel.
On July 25, 2009, at the European Exopolitics Congress in Barcelona, Mr. Neumann publicly stated,
“There is life on Mars. There are bases on Mars. I have been there.”
The following day, Mr. Neumann participated in Future-talk, a Project Camelot documentary interview, in which he provided details of his teleporting to a base on Mars and participating in a one-hour project meeting, which was also attended by representatives of an intelligent civilization that lives in cities under the surface of Mars.
This experience is indeed, similar to mine in that he describes [1] teleporting to a place, but he fails to discuss the process, the equipment and the mandatory implantation. That sounds quite strange to me. He describes [2] cities under the surface of Mars that are [3] occupied by creatures belonging to an intelligent civilization. That <redacted>.
If fact, if he just left his experiences to the “bare bones”, no-nonsense aspects of visiting the facility, and discusses his implantation I would believe him. But he relates such a large amount of disinformation that it has polluted anything of value that he must contribute to this discussion. In effect, he renders his testimony null and void.
My conclusion of this individual is that he actually might of teleported to the facility, but the other things that he discusses are wholly outside my experience range and thus appear fantastical to me.
I do NOT think he is a crackpot. However, the other statements garnered from him are so far-fetched and outlandish that they make it difficult for me to want to associate with his testimony in any way. I want to believe him. I want to say to him; “Yes, I too was involved in similar programs!” But, alas his descriptions of life on Mars; time portals that bend time and space and strange secret cabals are beyond my experience base. I want to believe him, but I just cannot.
Our mutual experiences are too different.
Andrew D. Basiago(Project Pegasus)
Andrew D. Basiago is a Vancouver, Washington lawyer. As a side project, he runs Project Pegasus. This is a group dedicated to lobbying the government to release the secrets of teleportation and time travel. Basiago also refers to himself as “the discoverer of life on Mars.”
Andrew D. Basiago running for the US Presidency.
He makes many amazing and fantastic claims. They are just and wild and crazy as my own. For instance, he claims to be one of two “planetary-level whistle blowers”. He claims to have teleported to Mars in the 1980s[i] as an Earth ambassador[ii] to the Martian civilization[iii]. Which is why he is mentioned here.
[i] I teleported in the 1980’s, why couldn’t he have also?
[ii] As such, this implies an organization that represents the earth. He has to be an ambassador who he would represent . There isn’t any. The closest organization would be MAJestic, and that organization is primiarily a United States organization that represents human interests in a fractured and dysfunctional global alliance of nations.
[iii] On our dimensional track, there isn’t any indigenous native intelligent Martian life.
This is strange because when he published his article nearly three decades later, he claims to have been “astonished” to discover life on Mars. Along with William B. Stillings, a comrade he dug up somewhere, Basiago now claims that President Obama was a fellow Mars traveller back in the day, then living under the moniker “Barry Soetoro.” In fact, the fact that Barack Obama used to go by Barry Sotero may be the only truth in Basiago’s claims. Basiago and Stillings say they met Obama on Mars, and the government is now covering up the president’s space travel past.
Barrack Obama, or what ever name he used, was NEVER at the facility where <redacted>. The only people who visited the facility were MAJestic members tied with industry and space technologies. No political personages, lawyers, attorneys, or “grass root” fundraisers were ever granted permission to visit the facility. Selection of the particular individuals who would visit was determined by our extraterrestrial partners. They had no interest in any “service to self” individual ever being privy to the projects that we were all involved in.
Mr. Basiago was featured in a six-hour interview posted by Jessica Schab on YouTube. The name of this video is “A Conversation with Andrew D. Basiago” . ( I would hazard a guess that the interview was too controversial for mainstream media.)
Curiously, he has stated that he was involved in time travel. Another person known as Vonheldon also has a compelling narrative. His photos are convincing, though anyone can use Photoshop these days, so that might not be convincing enough. I think this person has a lot to say, but as far as his experiences compared with mine are concerned, I have to offer a “shrugged shoulders” expression. I find all of these stories quite interesting, but unfortunately are far beyond my realm of experience to offer any kind of verification or validity.
In the 39-part interview, he related his experiences in DARPA’s Project Pegasus as one of America’s early time-space explorers during the period 1969-72 and narrates the seven episodes over 40 years in which the CIA, in possession of a “quantum access” capability since 1967-68, briefed him about his destiny as a public figure who would one day be principally associated with the discovery of life on Mars.
Could this be the same as the dimensional portal that I was transported in?
Ms. Schab writes that in this,
“…six-hour interview, American lawyer Andrew D. Basiago, 47, narrates the hidden history of his discovery of life on Mars in 2008 and reveals the fact that by 1968 the US intelligence community was already aware of aspects of his later Mars work. Andy tells the phenomenal story of seven briefings over 40 years in which he was shown evidence of his destiny involving the discovery of life on Mars, and explains how the emergence of time travel and this epochal future event were interlinked.
According to Andy, by 1968, the CIA was already teleporting individuals to the past and future to retrieve artifacts there and bring them back, while propagating holograms of past and future events with devices called chrono-visors to also gather intelligence.
Incredibly, as a result of this quantum access, Andy was given a copy of his landmark paper The Discovery of Life on Mars in 1971 and asked to read and remember it, so that when, in 2008, he wrote it, it would contain as much data about Mars as possible!”
I know nothing about his version of time travel. I know nothing about the CIA. I know nothing about the “discovery of life on Mars” in 1971. They are beyond my base of experience.
As I understand it, “time travel” as is perceived today is not possible. However, apparent “time travel” is possible, but this isn’t so much as travelling forward and backwards in time as it is mostly dimensional swapping. By swapping in and out of the multi-world reality, one could experience universes that were apparently further back or forth in time relative to our departure universe.
Ms. Schab continues,
“During his lecture, Andy shared numerous photographic images evidencing his discovery of life on Mars, including many photos of humanoid beings, different animal species, carved statues and built structures on Mars that put him at the forefront of Mars research.
Throughout the weekend, Andy lectured at his table to small groups of conference-goers, who came and sat in rapt attention as he shared stories about his experiences as a child in Project Pegasus, the secret US research program in which time travel was the focus.
I know that, like me, everybody who took part in those impromptu seminars was certain that Andy is, as Bill Ryan of Project Camelot stated recently, the real deal - a truth-teller with significant new information to share about the real Philadelphia Experiment.”
Again, I must state that I know nothing about “Project Pegasus”, and the “Philadelphia Experiment”. To me it all sounds so fantastical and outrageous. Maybe that is its intention. However, anyone who would actually spend any time of significance on Mars would work in conjunction with us at the base. I do not know any of the afore mentioned people. I never saw them there (not that that means anything), and so their testimony, while outlandish does not mesh up well with my experiences.
Aside from the movie and what I read in the book. It all sounds too fantastical to me. Chances are that it, at most, is derived partially from truth with a lot of fiction thrown in for good measure.
On the other hand, some of the things that he says does absolutely agree with my experience. Though, I never recall seeing him at the facility in any capacity. (This is critical. I was there at the facility through entanglement. It was a large facility, but a small community. We all knew each other quite well, and thus knew everything that went on around us. I knew when we had visitors and who they were. Though I generally did not meet the visitors myself, we monitored them, and knew what was going all at all times. I do not ever recall anyone like him at the facility where I was entangled.)
He states that;
He had secretly teleported to bases on Mars.
There is the existence of a permanent teleportation mechanism linking Earth and Mars.
An intelligent civilization lives under the surface of Mars.
This Mr. Basiago says some pretty outlandish things; things that absolutely do not mesh with my experiences at all. Was he really on Mars, or was he somewhere else? Is all this a big lie, or is there really some truth in what he has to say? For me, it all seems nonsensical and just out and out lies. He for instance, makes the following statements;
There is the existence of native life forms on the “ecologically fragile” surface of Mars.
The US government has had a fully operational teleportation capability since 1967-68[i].
By 1969-70 the United States government was already training a cadre of gifted and talented American schoolchildren, including himself, to become America’s first generation of “chrononauts” or time-space explorers.
Look guys; the planet Mars is pretty much a sterile world today.
The actual surface of Mars within a 2% world-line variance.
It is mostly rocks with some frozen liquids in the shape of crystals scattered about. There once was flowing water on the planet, but it was geologically a long; long time ago [ii]. And, when the water did flow there was not enough time [iii] for any kind of evolutionary process to take place. There are no statues, or ruins on Mars suggestive of a great glorious human-compatible civilization. There are no carved faces the size of mountains on the planet. There are no statues or fossilized bones or remains to be seen.
[i] Perhaps they did. Nevertheless, how would he actually know this. No one told us anything about how the system was developed. They only taught us how to use it. This date he gives places this capability to transport humans across the distances of space before Neil Armstrong stepped on the Moon. I just can’t reconcile this statement that he made. We only started to investigate the facility in the late 1970’s. I just can’t believe this statement.
[ii] Perhaps two billion years ago. That is over a billion years before the first microbes started to form on the earth.
[iii] By all accounts; the presence of standing liquid water on the surface of Mars was a relatively short lived event. Certainly lasting more than a few million years. One must take into account that it took about 700 million years to go from microbes to humans on the earth.
Mars does have relics; bases and facilities. But nothing approaches the size; scope and breadth as what is proclaimed by many of these Martian enthusiasts (Who perhaps want to relive the fictional adventures on Barsoon.).
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs.The world of Barsoom is a romantic vision of a dying Mars. Writers and science popularizers like Camille Flammarion were convinced that Mars was at a later stage of evolution than Earth and therefore much drier, took the ideas farther and published books like Les Terres du Ciel (1884), which contained illustrations of a planet covered with canals.
There are no native Martian inhabitants. There are extraterrestrial colonists who live there underground but there is no way that anyone could mistake them as being native to Mars.
The Mars-analog in this world-line possess none of the things outside of the dimensional portal that this individual claims. If he conducted operations in another world-line, it would have to be so different from this one that returning here would be a near impossibility. (Just saying.)
The Mars-analog in this world-line possess none of the things outside of the dimensional portal that this individual claims. If he conducted operations in another world-line, it would have to be so different from this one that returning here would be a near impossibility. (Just saying.)
The problem with disinformation is that the actual is often mixed up with the fantastical. Thus polluting the entire narrative. Taken in total, this is more like an intelligent profiteer who is trying to capitalize on a niche segment of the population for personal gain.
Laura Magdalene Eisenhower
In a public statement, Laura Magdalene Eisenhower, great-granddaughter of former President Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969), has exposed her attempted recruitment from April 2006 through January 2007 by a secret Mars colony project. (This is pretty amazing, precisely because of her relationship with a former United States president.)
Interview with Laura Magdalene Eisenhower.
Ms. Eisenhower’s account of her [1] targeting by time travel surveillance and [2] attempted manipulation by trained intelligence agents attached to a Mars colony project were revealed in an ExopoliticsRadio.org interview. Further, there is an extensive written statement at Ms. Eisenhower’s website. Ki’ Lia, a Stanford-educated artist, futurist and colleague of Ms. Eisenhower (!), has provided a corroborating first hand witness account of her and Ms. Eisenhower’s attempted recruitment into a secret human survival colony (!) on Mars. The alleged purpose of the secret Mars colony was to provide a survival civilization for the human race on Earth in the event of a planned (such as HAARP or bio-weapon induced) or natural cataclysm (such as by solar flares) that might depopulate the Earth.
+ + +
What can I say? I know nothing about all of this. Their experiences are wholly different than anything that I have experienced. It all sounds so fantastical, and outrageous, not to mention that odd and obscure Science-fictiony name of Ki’Lia.
LOL, Look if you really are going to do some actual technical work regarding another race use simple and easy to remember and pronounce names for Pete’s sake. Jeeze! Even though my drone pilot was an extraterrestrial, I always considered him as a “Paul”. I don’t know why. I just did. It is human nature. We humanize things that we know in comfortable terms that we can understand. We vilify that which we do not understand and do not know with strange words, terms and iconography.
I personally think she is more than just a little off. Her belief structures and experiences are quite unlike mine. For me, she appears crazy. But you know, she might not be; instead she might just be a lousy communicator. In any event, I do not want what I write to be associated with her experiences in any way. She is a little way too “new age-y” for my tastes.
Oh, by the way... LOL is an abbreviation of slang that arose during the growth of the Internet in the 1990’s. If you don’t already know that LOL stands for Laughing Out Loud, then welcome to the Internet!
Other variations of this include ROFL and LMAO.
ROFL is another way to say LOL and it stands for Rolling On Floor Laughing.
LMAO is yet another alternative to LOL or ROFL and it stands for Laughing My Ass Off.
(Yet) This woman is apparently a great expert on time-travel and alternative realities. In fact, she claims that she can open up her own time and dimensional portals at will! (Wow!) I suppose the best thing for me to present to the reader is what this woman writes on her own website, and let the reader come to their own conclusions;
“…She is also a Whistleblower and has been speaking out about being recruited to go to a Colony on Mars that represented a time-line that she refused to go along with. She has been able to uncover some necessary truths and agendas that humanity is being kept in the dark about and lectures and does workshops on these issues along with topics such as Global Alchemy, Christ-Sophia, Sacred Union, ET races, Esoteric Cosmology, the Positive Time-line and seeks to empower the individual so that harmony can be restored.
For more than 15 years, she has been providing clairvoyant readings and transformative healings for individuals with the assistance of many divination tools and astrology. Focusing on chakra systems, Laura has advised on topics such as soulpath, abduction, mind-control, core issues, relationships, past lives and physical ailments. She has been strategizing to solve the roots of major world problems including epidemics, war, environmental degradation and injustices that have been a result of the misuses of power of the shadow government. She also covers hidden agendas connected to ET races and the exile of the Divine Feminine energies.
Going through an intense World Soul journey of the labyrinth, Laura has discovered an ability to open a Natural stargate by co-creating with the Venus transits and weaving through the multi-dimensions of the higher and lower worlds. Clearing portals and moving past gatekeepers, Laura works to free us from the 3-D holographic time-loop and guide us back to the Pleroma, the totality of divine powers. With great passion and courage, she is helping to return Sacred Union, divine wisdom, and the many faces of the Goddess that have been buried and forgotten for thousands of years.”
What can I say? I am speechless.
Conclusion
I think that along with all these other individuals, my story seems just as far fetched. It seems just as fantastical, and just as insane and unlikely.
And perhaps, that’s exactly the point, eh?
But if I could disclose EVERYTHING, well, then things would make much more sense, I’ll tell you what. But I can’t, and thus, you need to discern.
Discernment.
An underappreciated fundamental.
Let’s compare why these people all say that they were part of a top secret program…
Captain Kaye. Space Marines to protect the Earth!
Corey Goode. Space Police to protect the Earth!
Michael Relfe. Space Army to protect Mars!
Henry Deacon. Martian time travel to prevent war!
Andrew D. Basiago. Ambassador to the Martian civilization.
Laura Magdalene Eisenhower. World War III life boat.
What do all these people have in common? Can you figure it out? Aside from all the standard cliche’s like California going to slide into the Pacific Ocean, an upcoming war, or climate change, or social upheaval, or the need to defend the earth from those dangerous extraterrestrials, what is it? Is it the military, war, Martian life, time travel…
… heck, we’ve even got Barrack Obama involved as a time-travelling politician! I mean according to all these people anyone can become a member of a top secret super-dooper program. We’ve got everyone from a jar-head to a confused woman who was asked to preserve the human species on Mars. I’m just surprised there’s no LGBT or “women of color” on the list.
Now.
Discern.
My MAJestic disclosure…
Sentence evolution of the human race within a nursery used for the emergence of young developing species.
So I have to ask you. Now think about it. Really, think about it. Can you tell the difference between Metallicman and all the other “disclosures”? Is this “just another disclosure” in a long, long string of disclosures? Or is it something different?
It’s very easy to confuse the real with the fake if you do not have the tools of discernment.
This is true whether you are trying to figure out things about your life, about the United States government, top secret projects or if you are trying to scam someone.
You need the power of discernment.
You need the power of discernment, or else you risk being led astray by the confused. You can be lead off the edge of a cliff, or follow the pied piper who would gleefully empty your bank accounts. Or even worse.
Worse.
You could end up messing around with the wrong person. And sometimes that person can be way, way out of your league.
Ripley 8.
Do you want more?
I have more posts along these lines in my MAJestic Index, here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
I have been putting this post off for a while. You see, in order to explain everything, I needed to lay a pretty thick initial foundations for others to follow and track what needs to be said. In previous posts I have explained bits and pieces. I have added some connections between the various pieces, and laid the foundation for my actual role.
And now, with that foundation firmly put in place, I can finally get to the “nitty-gritty”. Those of you who have been waiting for this moment might discover it as a kind of anti-climax, but that’s the way it is. To fully understand things, you must know why everything happens as it does. Thus this post.
What did ya think?
You thought that there were no secrets held by the US government? Is that what you thought? Or that only attractive people became secret agents? Or that “important” people like Barrack Obama would know everything that is going on? Or that anything related to UFO’s involve “reptillians”, or that (of course) only vaulted humanities professors at major universities were privileged in knowing the full scope of extraterrestrial visitations? Is that what you thought?
Nope.
We want to believe that life is action packed and exciting. Sort of like how the movie "Mission Impossible" is like. But, you know, it's not like that at all. Rather it is more like the movie "Office Space" more than anything else.
Real disclosures discuss things that are far removed to what “normal” humans consider to be “normal”.
And thus you have this.
Is anything that I discussed meet your expectations? Were you expecting anything related to souls, sentience, world-line travel in the MWI, technologies that are held and guarded by engineers, or retirement by the sex offender registry?
Na. I din’t think so.
I once read a history about one of the first "white" explorers to the Polynesian islands.
The Captain was having a merry old time talking with the local chieftain. The Chieftain asked him what it was like where he came from. So the explorer told him.
He said that it got so cold that the water turned solid.
The Chieftain thought that this was a hilarious joke, and repeated it over and over as if it was the funniest thing that he had ever heard.
The Captain, a bit taken back, kept his mouth shut, and smiled.
Yeah. It’s like that.
Anything that is new, and out of your personal experience becomes fantastical and ludicrous.
And thus, no matter if I provide dates, locations, technical specifications, photographs, legal documents and MRI scans, those stuck within their own limited bubble of reality will discount everything as fiction. Why? Because they never experienced it themselves.
When I was in prison, I was transported from the Pennsylvania holding cell to the transport hub somewhere in Alabama. There I met numerous fellow inmates from other prisons all across the nation. I well remember us talking about the prisons where we were incarcerations, and I was shocked at how those from the North refused to believe what it was like in the ADC in Arkansas.
They didn't believe that the ADC did not give out fruit, served "Global" or that we slept in 100 man barracks. They had no concept of what "Hard Labor" was, and the idea of doing prison related tasks without payment was horrific to them.
You can only relate with things that you yourself has experienced.
OK. So this is what I experienced.
As such, I am unique and rare. You will not be able to imagine yourself in my shoes by reading this. That is, unless you have a very active imagination. But, this is what is going on. Like it or not. Hate it or disparage it. It is what it is.
You put ten people in a room, and ask them to watch a cat fiercely attack and eat a mouse…
You will end up with ten interpretations of that event. Some of which would be directly different from each other…
The cat was amazing!
The poor little defenseless mouse.
The mouse should of done…
The cat made this mistake, and that mistake…
If the mouse was bigger…
In America, we call this “back seat driving”.
A passenger who gives unwanted and/or unneeded directions to the driver; also, a person who interferes in affairs without having knowledge, responsibility, or authority for doing so.
For example, Aunt Mary drives us all crazy with her instructions; she's an incurable backseat driver.
This term originated in the United States in the 1920s, when it was first used for a passenger legitimately directing a chauffeur, and it was quickly transferred to figurative use.
Also see the synonym Monday-morning quarterback and the antonym take a back seat.
In my shoes
So try to figure out what is going on were to to be “in my shoes”.
What would you think? How would you describe it? In what way would you try to communicate your experiences? Or, would you be smart, and keep your fucking thoughts and experiences to yourself?
Or, alternatively would you become a drunken alcoholic sex-monger and say “fuck it” to the rest of the world?
Actually, I’m pretty close to that particular reality right now. Don’t ya know…
MAJestic – A trade deal.
MAJestic made a deal; an arrangement with our extraterrestrial benefactors.
I and a few select others, all of us tops in our class – perfect physical specimens and with high scoring in intelligence and backgrounds in science, were given to the <redacted> as their “property”. To do with as they felt fit.
In exchange, certain technologies would be provided in exchange. I do not know which technologies were exchanged. I have no specific data on that transfer and trade.
"We will give your six or seven of our top people, to do with as you like, in exchange for advanced propulsion technology."
And that’s me, ya all.
Training by MAJestic
Of course, we were unusable in our raw state. We needed to be modified, and trained.
Policemen get trained.
Firemen get trained.
Doctors get trained.
Lawyers get trained.
Bakers get trained.
IT workers get trained.
MAJestic implanted 7 ELF probes that were useful for monitoring and for other purposes regarding utilization of a fixed transport portal.
I, and others in my “cell”, used that fixed transport portal to egress to a <redacted> facility. Where we were completely overhauled. A EBP was installed, and our DNA, and RNA was altered in a complicated process. That process took one week to accomplish.
Well, for me, it took one week.
Once the process was completed, I was in MAJestic, but I exited the US Navy. I was told that I would be in MAJestic for life, but that during my active participatory years that [1] I must be aware, that [2] I was on my own, and that [3] I was not permitted to have children.
I must be alert and aware of “new things”.
I was on my own with no support group.
I must not have children.
Training by our Benefactors
After I was discharged, I spent a number of years out of the Navy, without direction or control. I lived in extreme poverty, while all the time, I was being trained by our benefactors in <redacted> and <redacted>. I was involved in this really odd and strange training for many years. Then, one day, it all ended.
Suddenly, I was called upon to go to California.
ELF Calibration in the High Desert
This continued until I was called to the China Lake NWC in the middle of the High Desert in California. Where my ELF probes were calibrated, and (I assume) EBP monitored.
Completion of the Calibration and start of mission parameters.
Once my calibration sequence was completed, I no longer needed to go to the ELF testing facility, and I was set free. Situations arranged themselves in such a way that I was free to conduct my “mission parameters” while I lived a boring typical middle-class lifestyle.
Mission Operations
I lived a normal boring middle-class life. This is what our benefactors wanted. My life was typical. I was in the middle of the bell-shaped curve. I was so typical, it was nauseating.
That is because I was not “normal”. If I was “normal” I would have still been hauling coal, smoking dope, and quaffing beer in the hills of Western Pennsylvania. If I was normal I would still be living in a mobile home off a gravel road next to some rolling farm lands and state game lands. If I was normal, I would be married to a rather porty wife, with four bratty children that would each have their own pickup trucks and shotguns.
But I was not “normal”.
I was different.
And as such, I was a “square peg” in a “round hole” that did not fit in at all.
IQ test from the movie “Idiocracy”.
Meanwhile I experienced all sorts of “slides” and other strange events where I moved in and out of different world-lines. All of these slides and other events were coordinated with a benefactor at Oxia Palus.
For me it didn’t make any sense.
One minute I am eating country-fried steaks and eggs, and then the next second, I am eating a bowl of rice soup with fish heads and tentacles. What way could this possibly benefit anyone? How did I benefit from this switching? How did the human race benefit?
Country fried steak and eggs meal.
Over a period of time, I noticed a series of themes that seemed to agree with “statements” from my “pilot” at the Oxia Palus facility. It had nothing to do with me, at that time, personally. I was just the “vehicle” for our benefactors to accomplish certain tasks.
Human sentience needed to be "corralled" or "anchored" in such a way as to help the human sentience evolve.
So, for the longest time, I have pretty much accepted that as my role. And at that, it was good enough for me to recognize that I had a role, no matter how strange or peculiar it appeared to be.
I mean, you adapt, right?
Maybe your job is to flip burgers. It doesn’t pay much, and it’s hot and greasy, but you adapt. you become the best burger flipper in the world. You accept your role, and that is that.
Retirement
MAJestic retired me.
Aside from physically going to prison and entering a monitoring program for the rest of my life, all ELF communication ended. It was like someone turned off one of those old vacuum tube television sets. It just went out and then disappeared as a long thin “line”.
Turning off an old television set.
Once I finished my initial five years in “rehabilitation”, I was free to leave, and so I left and moved to China.
I knew that that would be the safest place on the entire planet. And so far, it seems to actually be the case.
The Benefactors had a say…
Well, they do not recognize “retirement”. I don’t even think that they understand what the word means.
My mission parameters for the ELF probes and the Oxia Palus facility might be over, but I don’t even think that they understand what the word “retirement” means. From their point of view, MAJestic stopped working with me, and that was that.
I no longer conduct “slides”.
My world-line is pretty well fixed and established.
I am permitted natural human migrations.
I can live life as I choose.
It’s all pretty straight forward, Right?
I’m “out of the game”.
My mission parameters for the ELF probes and the Oxia Palus facility might be over, but I entered a new kind of role. You must understand, our benefactors do not recognize the idea or concept of a “retirement”. So I am still active, even though I am actually retired from MAJestic.
I am permitted to disclose what I know and have learned. I can speak. I can “teach”. I can explain. I can lead. I can serve as an example. I can advise.
There are limitations, of course, and what I cannot speak about is made obvious to me. Mostly it deals with the MAJestic organization itself. I have few limitations on what the benefactors themselves provided to me.
And suddenly, out of the blue, I am now permitted to have children. (At my age! WTF?)
So…
Ripley 8 from the movie “Alien Resurrection”. She is a hybrid of Alien DNA and human DNA, with unexpected strengths and abilities.
So…
Putting it all together…
The human species is involved in a sentience sorting activity. I (and my companions) had a role in this with some “anchoring” activity. Now the earth is ready for a push to a new kind of sentience.
I don’t know what it is.
What I do know is that once the sentience is established, the approved sentience will have their RNA / DNA correct, improved or adjusted just like mine was. Just like Sebastian’s was. Just like the rest of our cell was.
And those who will have their DNA / RNA “upgraded” will…
Be able to live a life with one foot in Heaven and the other foot in the physical universe. They can live and explore world-lines at will, while all the time being fully cognizant of their realities within the Heavenly realms.
Be able to communicate with others of the same sentience using a kind of mental telepathy. It’s trans-species communication, and will become prevalent.
Be able to communicate with other species that are extraterrestrial in nature.
Perhaps that is why I am permitted to have children now, eh? To pass on my DNA / RNA improvements, just like what happened to other species in the past.
Like this…
Do you want some more?
I have more posts on this issue in my MAJestic Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This is a complete reprint of the book titled “The Intention Experiment” by Lynne McTaggart. It is a non-fiction book, and it is groundbreaking. In this book, the author has compiled all those studies about the reality of ESP, and PSI, and compiled the results. The results are pretty damning. Something is going on, and Newtonian physics cannot explain it. It can only be explained with quantum physics.
What is going on is that quantum physics is working and weaving it’s magic throughout our lives, and rather than discount things as “superstition” and out-dated religion, this book connects actual scientific studies with the quantum physics principles involved. It explains so many thing that have been discounted as pure superstition.
Thus it’s placement in my blog.
This is for those people who want nice and clean answers to what is going on, yet cannot shake off the Newtonian physics that they learned in High School. This book teaches you that there is a deeper reality behind everything and as such, it helps explain some elements of paranormal and religion that are often discounted as primitive nonsense.
Welcome to the world of quantum physics and how all those things about prayer, intention, and spirituality actually does have a scientific foundation that they are based upon.
Summary of this section
This section consists of the links and other related background supporting information assocated with the book. Included herein for those that are interested.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Your Personal Intention Experiments
NOW THAT YOU HAVE PRACTICED ‘powering up’, what can you u intention for in your own everyday life? To help you find out, with the help of my scientists I have designed a series of informal, personal experiments.
The following ‘experiments’ are intended to be read in two ways: as a springboard into ways to incorporate intention into your life, and also as a piece of anecdotal research. Whenever you carry out an intention experiment, I would like you to report it on our website.
To carry out these experiments, all you will need in the way of equipment is a notebook and a calendar. When you are first starting, note the date and times of your intentions. Each intention experiment should be carried out after ‘powering up’ in your intention space, using the programme outlined in chapter 13. Needless to say, if you suffer from a serious illness and are trying to think yourself better, you should augment your own healing intentions with the help of a trained professional healer, whether conventional or alternative.
Make a daily note of any change in the object of your intention, and be specific. If you are trying to heal a condition in yourself or someone else, take a daily ‘temperature’ of change. What does the person feel like, in general? What symptoms have improved? Have any got worse? Have any new ones turned up? (If any situations seriously worsen, immediately consult a professional practitioner, and also examine any subconscious intentions.)
If you are trying to change your relationship with someone who is ordinarily very antagonistic to something more positive, make a daily note of his or her interactions with you, to determine if anything has changed.
To Have Something Manifest in Your Life
Select a goal that has never happened but that you would like to have happen. Choose something that seldom occurs or is particularly unlikely, so that if it does come to pass it is more likely to be the result of your intention.
Here are some possibilities:
receiving flowers from your husband (if he has never bought them for you); having your wife sit down and watch a football match with you (if she usually refuses to do so);
having the boorish neighbour who never gives you the time of day start a cheery conversation with you;
having your child help with the dishes;
having your child wake up on his or her own in the morning and get ready for school without prompting;
improving the weather (30 per cent more or less rain, say); having your child make his or her bed;
having your dog stop barking at night;
stopping your cat from scratching the sofa;having your husband or wife come home from work one hour earlier than usual;
having your child watch television two hours less;
getting someone who can’t stand you at work to say hello and start up a conversation;
achieving 10 per cent higher profits at work; growing your plants or crops 10 per cent faster than usual.
As you begin to manifest, you can try more complicated thoughts. But remember, at first you want one single event to change, something where change can be easily quantified and can probably be attributed to your thoughts.
Retro-intentions
If you still have a medical problem of some sort, cast your mind back to the point where it started. Carry out an intention for it to resolve itself then. See if you are now better.
If you are not getting along with someone, cast your mind back to the point where you first had a disagreement and send your intention to change there.
Remember to be very specific.
Ask your friends and family if you can try a retro-prayer for some of their loved ones who were ill 5 years before. Concentrate on their former illness and see if it improves their current state of health. The idea will seem so ridiculous and therefore so harmless that they probably will agree to it. If you feel bold, you may even try this with a local nursing home. First, be sure to obtain the permission of the patient, as well as those in charge.
Assemble a group of your friends who are interested in trying out some group intention exercises. Create an intention space where you will meet each time. Select a group target in your community. Here are a few possibilities:
improving the weather; reducing violent crime by 5 per cent;
reducing pollution by 5 per cent;
reducing litter on a particular street in your community; getting your mail delivered one hour earlier;
achieving some form of community activism (such as preventing a mobile phone mast from being built in your area);
decreasing the incidence of local road accidents involving children by 30 per cent;
improving the collective grade point average of the local school by one grade; decreasing abuse of children in your community by 30 per cent;
reducing possessions of knives or illegal weapons by 30 per cent; increasing (or decreasing) local rainfall by 10 per cent; decreasing the number of alcoholics in your area by 25 per cent.
Depending on the nature of your intention, make one member of the group responsible for researching statistics involving your local accident, weather or crime statistics. For these types of statistics, it is a good idea to get hold of reports for the last 5 years in your area and surrounding communities so you have something solid to compare.
Then, when you meet, decide on a group intention statement. When you are ‘powering up’, visualize yourselves as a single entity (say, a giant bubble or any other unified internal image). Once you are all in a collective meditative state, have one member of the group read out the statement. Meet regularly to send the same intentions. Keep a careful reading of statistics for one month before and several months after you have sent the intentions. Note any changes.
YOU ARE NOW INVITED TO PARTICIPATE in massive group intention experiments with many, if not most, of the other readers of this book. If you would like to take part in the largest mind-over-matter experiment in history, read on.
In these group intentions, you will become involved in important new research to further the world’s knowledge about the power of intention. There will be blogs and interactive elements on our website, so that you can correspond with like-minded individuals around the world about our results and the results of individual experiments (chapter 14).
Naturally, it is not compulsory. In fact, I would prefer you not to get involved unless you are passionate about participating. I need committed participants, willing to take the intention experiment seriously. Each experiment might take a few minutes to an hour of your time, although in future we might try experiments that take a little longer.
First, log on to the website (www.theintentionexperiment.com). There you will find information about the dates and objectives of future intention experiments. We will plan those dates to coincide with times of a fair degree of geomagnetic activity. Mark those dates in your diary now; if you intend to participate, it is vital that you don’t forget. We have a number of experiments planned, but as scientific experiments are expensive to carry out and require lengthy analysis, there will be sizable intervals between experiments. If you miss an intention experiment, you will have to wait a few months for another one.
Several days before the experiment, read through the preliminary instructions to familiarize yourself with what to do. The instructions will explain that you need to carry out many of the ‘powering up’ exercises of chapter 13 just before you send your intention. You will find information about the time of the experiment in your own time zone. The website has a running clock (set to US Eastern Standard Time an Greenwich Mean Time) and a countdown to each new experiment, and will specify the equivalent times in different time zones. Readers around the world will be participating, so it is vital that all the readers send intentions at the right time.
As this is a scientific experiment, we need to have committed and knowledgeable participants, who have read and understood the ideas in this book. Consequently, we will try to weed out potential spoilers or the uncommitted by asking every potential participant to supply a password, which will be taken from phrases or ideas in the book and will vary every few months. We will ask you to supply, for example, the fourth word of the third paragraph on page 57 of the US hardback edition (or page 65 of the paperback). We will make sure we specify passwords for every edition published in every country, so your password will work no matter which version of the book you have read. Just follow the instructions. The only way to be part of the experiment is to have read the book and to log on with the
correct password, after which you will be supplied with a private password, to use for future experiments.
Because this is a scientific experiment, we need to know some details about our participants, such as their average age, their gender, their health – or possibly their degree of psychic ability. On the day of the experiment, you will be asked to supply some information about yourself. Several of our scientists have designed short questionnaires for you to fill in. Of course, this information will be kept confidential, under international and national laws of data protection. Once you have filled in our questionnaires, you won’t have to rekey any information you have already supplied for any future experiments.
On the day of the intention experiment, at the particular time specified on the website, you will be asked to send a carefully worded, detailed intention, depending on the target site. The website will walk you through the steps. You will be asked to ‘power up’ into your meditative state, to enter a state of compassion and to send a carefully worded, detailed intention that will be specified on the website.
For instance, let’s say that we are trying to send an intention to have a spider plant grow faster at Fritz-Albert Popp’s lab in Neuss, Germany, on Friday 20 Marc at 8 p.m. GMT. We will have a photograph or web camera image of the spider plant on the website, so you can train your intention on the right subject. The website will instruct you to think or say the following sentence on 20 March at 8 p.m.:
Our intention is to have our spider plant in Neuss grow 10 per cent faster than a control plant.
Or, let’s say that we have a patient with a wound. Our intention might be: Our intention is for Lisa’s wound to heal 10 per cent faster than normal.
Because this is a scientific experiment, we will structure our experiment to test a precise, carefully quantified result: 10 per cent faster or slower, say, or 6°C cooler than normal or than a control. Once finished, the results will be analysed by our scientific team – ideally by a neutral statistician as well – and then published on the website.
I must reiterate that I cannot guarantee that the experiments will work – at first or ever. As scientists and objective researchers, we will be duty-bound to faithfully report the data we have. Whether or not our first experiments are successful, we will continue to refine the design with each new experiment as we learn more about group intention. If the first or second or fifth experiment doesn’t work, we will keep trying and keep learning more with every result. The nature of frontier science requires that you stumble along blindly, feeling your way along the right path.
Do consult the website frequently for announcements of experiments, postings of the individual experiments (chapter 14) and announcements of the date of every future experiment. If you have enjoyed the written portion of this book, the website will continue the experience for you as an open-ended sequel.
N. Hill, Think and Grow Rich: The Andrew Carnegie Formula for Mone Making, New York: Ballantine Books (reissue edn), 1987.
J. Fonda, My Life So Far, London: Ebury Press, 2005: 571.
Introduction
For a complete description of these scientists and their findings, consult L. McTaggart, The Field: the Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe, London: HarperCollins, 2001.
The full title of Newton’s major treatise is Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, a name that offers a nod to its philosophical implications, although it is always referred to reverentially as the Principia.
R. P. Feynman, Six Easy Pieces: The Fundamentals of Physics Explained
London: Penguin, 1995: 24.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.
Eugene Wigner, the Hungarian-born American physicist who received a Nobel Prize for his contribution to the theory of quantum physics, is one of the early pioneers of the central role of consciousness in determining reality and argued, through a thought experiment called ‘Wigner’s friend’, that the observer, ‘the friend’, might collapse Schrödinger’s famous cat into a single state or, like the cat itself, remain in a state of superposition until another ‘friend’ comes into the lab. Other proponents of ‘the observer effect’ include John Eccles and Evan Harris Walker. John Wheeler is credited with espousing the theory that the universe is participatory: it only exists because we happen to be looking at it.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.
E. J. Squires, ‘Many views of one world – an interpretation of quantum theory’, European Journal of Physics, 1987; 8: 173.
B. F. Malle et al., Intentions and Intentionality: Foundations of Socia Cognition, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2001.
M. Schlitz, ‘Intentionality in healing: mapping the integration of body, mind, and spirit’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1995; 1 (5): 119–20.
R. G. Jahn et al., ‘Correlations of random binary sequences with prestated operator intention: a review of a 12-year program’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11: 345–67.
R. G. Jahn et al., ‘Correlations of random binary sequences’, op. cit.; Dea Radin and Roger Nelson, ‘Evidence for consciousness-related anomalies in random physical systems’, Foundations of Physics, 1989; 19 (12): 1499–514; McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 116–17.
These studies are itemized in great detail in D. Benor, Spiritual Healing,
Rene Peoc’h, ‘Psychokinetic action of young chicks on the path of a “illuminated source”’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1995; 9 (2): 223; R. Peoc’h, ‘Chicken imprinting and the tychoscope: An Anpsi experiment’, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1988; 55: 1; R. Peoc’h, ‘Psychokinesis experiments with human and animal subjects upon a robot moving at random’, The Journal of Parapsychology, September 1, 2002.
William G. Braud and Marilyn J. Schlitz, ‘Consciousness interactions wit remote biological systems: anomalous intentionality effects’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1991; 2 (1): 1–27; McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 128–9.
Marilyn Schlitz and William Braud, ‘Distant intentionality and healing assessing the evidence’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1997; 3 (6): 62–73.
William Braud and Marilyn Schlitz, ‘A methodology for the objective study of transpersonal imagery’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1989; 3 (1): 43–63.
W. Braud et al., ‘Further studies of autonomic detection of remote staring: replication, new control procedures and personality correlates’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1993; 57: 391–409; M. Schlitz and S. LaBerge, ‘Autonomi detection of remote observation; two conceptual replications’, in D. Bierman (ed.), Proceedings of Presented Papers: 37 Annual Parapsychological Association Convention, Amsterdam, Fairhaven, Mass.: Parapsychological Association, 1994: 465–78.
D. Benor, Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution, Southfield, Mich.: Vision Publications, 2001.
F. Sicher, E. Targ et al., ‘A randomized double-blind study of the effect of distant healing in a population with advanced AIDS: report of a small scale study’ Western Journal of Medicine, 1998; 168 (6): 356–63. For a full description of the studies, see McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 181–96.
Psychologist Dean Radin conducted a meta-analysis in 1989 at Princeto University of all known dice experiments (73) published between 1930 and 1989. They are recounted in his book Entangled Minds, New York: Paraview, 2006: 148– 51.
J. Hasted, The Metal Benders, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981, as cited in W. Tiller, Science and Human Transformation; Subtle Energies Intentionality and Consciousness, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publications, 1997: 13.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 199.
W. W. Monafo and M. A. West, ‘Current recommendations for topical burn therapy’, Drugs, 1990; 40: 364–73.
Chapter 1: Mutable Matter
All personal information about Tom Rosenbaum and Sai Ghosh and their
studies have been culled from multiple interviews conducted in February and March 2005.
This was the solution posed by Giorgio Parisi at Rome in 1979.
S. Ghosh et al., ‘Coherent spin oscillations in a disordered magnet’, Science, 2002; 296: 2195–8.
Once again, I am indebted to Danah Zohar for her easy-to-digest descriptio of quantum non-locality, which appears in D. Zohar, The Quantum Self, London: Bloomsbury, 1991: 19–20.
A. Einstein, B. Podolsky and N. Rosen, ‘Can quantum-mechanical descriptio of physical reality be considered complete?’ Physical Review, 1935; 47: 777–80.
A. Aspect et al., ‘Experimental tests of Bell’s inequalities using time-varying analyzers’, Physical Review Letters, 1982; 49: 1804–7; A. Aspect, ‘Bell’s inequality test: more ideal than ever’, Nature, 1999; 398: 189–90.
Science Fact: Scientists achieve ‘Star Trek’-like feat – The Associated Press, December 10, 1997, posted on CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/9712/10/beam me. up. ap.
Non-locality was considered to be proven by Aspect et al.’ s experiments in Paris in 1982.
J. S. Bell, ‘On the Einstein-Poldolsky-Rosen paradox’,Physics, 1964; 1: 195–200.
S. Ghosh et al., ‘Entangled quantum state of magnetic dipoles’, Nature, 2003; 435: 48–51.
Details of Vedral’s views and experiments the result of multiple interviews, February, October and December 2005.
C. Arnesen et al., ‘Thermal and magnetic entanglement in the 1D Heisenber Model’, Physical Review Letters, 2001; 87: 017901.
V. Vedral, ‘Entanglement hits the big time’, Nature, 2003; 425: 28–9.
T. Durt, interview with author, April 26, 2005.
B. Reznik, ‘Entanglement from the vacuum’, Foundations of Physics, 2003; 33: 167–76; Michael Brooks, ‘Entanglement: The weirdest link’,New Scientist, 2004; 181 (2440): 32.
John D. Barrow, The Book of Nothing, London: Jonathan Cape, 2000: 216.
Erwin Laszlo, The Interconnected Universe: Conceptual Foundations o Transdiscipinary Unified Theory, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 1995: 28.
A. C. Clarke, ‘When will the real space age begin?’ Ad Astra, May–June 1996; 13–15.
Harold Puthoff, ‘Ground state of hydrogen as a zero-point-fluctuation- determined state’, Physical Review D, 1987; 35: 3266.
B. Haisch, Alfonso Rueda and H. E. Puthoff, ‘Inertia as a zero-point-fiel Lorentz force’, Physical Review A, 1994; 49 (2): 678–94; Bernhard Haisch, Alfonso Rueda and H. E. Puthoff, ‘Physics of the zero-point field: implications for inertia gravitation and mass’, Speculations in Science and Technology, 1997; 20: 99–114.
Various interviews with Hal Puthoff, 1999–2000.
Reznik, ‘Entanglement from the vacuum’, op. cit.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 35–6.
J. Resch et al., ‘Distributing entanglement and single photons through an intra-city, free-space quantum channel’, Optics Express, 2005; 13 (1): 202–9; R. Ursin et al., ‘Quantum teleportation across the Danube’, Nature, 2004; 430: 849.
M. Arndt et al., ‘Wave–particle duality of C60 molecules’, Nature, 1999; 401: 680–2; doi: 10.1038/44348.
All personal details about Gary Schwartz and his discoveries result from multiple interviews with him and the author, March–June 2006.
H. Benson et al., ‘Decreased systolic blood pressure through operan conditioning techniques in patients with essential hypertension’, Science, 1971; 173 (3998): 740–2.
E. E. Green, ‘Copper wall research psychology and psychophysics: subtle energies and energy medicine: emerging theory and practice’, Proceedings, First Annual Conference, International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM), Boulder, Colorado, 21–25 June 1991.
This research was eventually published as G. Schwartz and L. Russek ‘Subtle energies – electrostatic body motion registration and the human antenna- receiver effect: a new method for investigating interpersonal dynamical energy system interactions’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1996; 7 (2): 149–84.
E. E. Green et al., ‘Anomalous electrostatic phenomena in exceptiona subjects’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1993; 2: 69; W. A. Tiller et al., ‘Towards explaining anomalously large body voltage surges on exceptional subjects, Part I: The electrostatic approximation’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1995; 9 (3): 331.
William A. Tiller, ‘Subtle energies’, Science & Medicine, 1999, 6 (3): 28–
33.
A. Seto et al., ‘Detection of extraordinary large biomagnetic field strength
from the human hand during external qi emission’, Acupuncture and Electrotherapeutics Research International, 1992; 17: 75–94; J. Zimmerman, ‘New
B. Grad, ‘Dimensions in “Some biological effects of the laying on of hands” and their implications’, in H. A. Otto and J. W. Knight (eds.), Dimension in Wholistic Healing: New Frontiers in the Treatment of the Whole Person, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979: 199–212.
L. N. Pyatnitsky and V. A. Fonkin, ‘Human consciousness influence on water structure’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1995; 9 (1): 89.
G. Rein and R. McCraty, ‘Structural changes in water and DNA associate
with new physiologically measurable states’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1994; 8 (3): 438–9.
W. Tiller would eventually write about the effect of shielding psychics in his book Science and Human Transformation, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publishing, 1997: 32.
M. Connor, G. Schwartz et al., ‘Oscillation of amplitude as measured by a extra low frequency magnetic field meter as a biophysical measure of intentionality’. Paper presented at the Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference, Tucson Arizona, April 2006.
Sicher, Targ et al., ‘A randomized double-blind study’, op. cit.
See McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 39, for a full description of F.-A. Popp’s earlier work.
S. Cohen and F.-A. Popp, ‘Biophoton emission of the human body’,Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, 1997; 40: 187–9.
K. Creath and G. E. Schwartz, ‘What biophoton images of plants can tell u about biofields and healing’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2005; 19 (4): 531–
50.
S. N. Bose, ‘Planck’s Gesetz und Lichtquantenhypothese’, Zeitschrift für Physik, 1924; 26: 178–81; A. Einstein, ‘Quantentheorie des einatomigen idealen Gases [Quantum theory of ideal monoatomic gases]’, Sitz. Ber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. (Berlin), 1925; 23: 3.
C. E. Wieman and E. A. Cornell, ‘Seventy years later: the creation of Bose-Einstein condensate in an ultracold gas’, Lorentz Proceedings, 1999; 52: 3–5.
K. Davis et al., ‘Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms’
Physical Review Letters, 1995; 75: 3969–73.
M. W. Zwierlein et al., ‘Observation of Bose-Einstein condensation o molecules’, Physical Review Letters, 2003; 91: 250401.
H. Fröhlich, ‘Long range coherence and energy storage in biological systems’, Int. J. Quantum Chem., 1968; II: 641–9.
For this entire example, see Tiller, Science and Human Transformation, op. cit.: 196.
M. Jibu et al., ‘Quantum optical coherence in cytoskeletal microtubules: implications for brain function’, Biosystems, 1994; 32: 195–209; S. R. Hameroff ‘Cytoplasmic gel states and ordered water: possible roles in biological quantum coherence’, Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Advanced Water Sciences Symposium, Dallas, Texas, 1996.
Chapter 3: The Two-Way Street
For all history of Cleve Backster’s discoveries and experiments, interview with Backster, October 2004 and his Primary Perception: Biocommunication with Plants, Living Foods, and Human Cells, Anza, Calif.: White Rose Millennium Press, 2003.
As Obi-Wan Kenobe tells Luke Skywalker, after Alderan has been blown up
by the Empire in Star Wars part IV: A New Hope: ‘I feel a great disturbance in the Force. As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.’
Presentation given at the Tenth Annual Parapsychology Association meeting in New York City, September 7, 1967. Also published as C. Backster, ‘Evidence of a primary perception in plant life’, International Journal of Parapsychology, 1968; 10 (4): 329–48.
P. Dubrov and V. N. Pushkin, Parapsychology and Contemporary Science, New York and London: Consultants Bureau, 1982.
P. Tompkins and C. Bird, The Secret Life of Plants, New York: Harper & Row, 1973.
‘Boysenberry to Prune, Boysenberry to Prune: Do you read me? Lie detecto expert Cleve Backster reported in the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that he had detected electrical impulses between two containers of yogurt at opposite ends of his laboratory. Backster claims the bacteria in the containers were communicating.’ Esquire, January 1976.
Backster, ‘Evidence of a primary perception’, op. cit.
Backster, Primary Perceptions, op. cit.: 112–13.
Backster, Primary Perceptions. See also Rupert Sheldrake, Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home and Other Unexplained Powers of Animals, London: Three Rivers Press, 2000.
This and other personal details of events resulted from interviews with Ingo Swann, New York, July 2005.
See McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 39 for a full description of F.-A. Popp’s earlier work.
All details of these experiments resulted from an interview between the author and Fritz-Albert Popp, January 2006.
R. M. Galle et al., ‘Biophoton emission fromDaphnia magna: A possible factor in the self-regulation of swarming’, Experientia, 1991; 47: 457–60; R. M. Galle, ‘Untersuchungen zum dichte und zeitabhängigen Verhalten der ultraschwachen Photonenemission von pathogenetischen Weibchen des Wasserflohs Daphnia magna.’ Dissertation. Universität Saarbrücken, Fachbereich Zoologie, 1993.
F.-A. Popp et al., ‘Nonsubstantial biocommunication in terms of Dicke’s Theory’, in M. W. Ho, F.-A. Popp and U. Warnke (eds.), Bioelectrodynamics and Biocommunication, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 1994: 293–317; J. J Chang et al., ‘Research on cell communication of P. elegans by means of photon emission’, Chinese Science Bulletin, 1995; 40: 76–9.
J. J. Chang et al., ‘Communication between Dinoflagellates by means o photon emission’, in L. V. Beloussov and F.-A. Popp (eds.), Proceedings of International Conference on Non-equilibrium and Coherent Systems in Biophysics, Biology and Biotechnology, Sep. 28–Oct. 2 1994, Moscow: Bioinform Services Co., 1995: 318–30.
Interview with Popp, Neuss, Germany, March 1, 2006.
F.-A. Popp et al., ‘Mechanism of interaction between electromagnetic fields and living organisms’, Science in China (Series C), 2000; 43 (5): 507–18. 18. Ibid.
L. Beloussov and N. N. Louchinskaia, ‘Biophoton emission from developin eggs and embryos: Nonlinearity, wholistic properties and indications of energy transfer’, in J. J. Chang et al. (eds.),Biophotons, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998: 121–40.
K. Creath and G. E. Schwartz, ‘What biophoton images of plants can tell u about biofields and healing’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2005; 19 (4): 531–
50.
A. V. Tschulakow et al., ‘A new approach to the memory of water’,
Homeopathy, 2005; 94: 241–7.
E. P. A. Van Wijk and R. Van Wijk, ‘The development ofa bio-sensor for the state of consciousness in a human intentional healing ritual’, Journal of International Society of Life Information Science (ISLIS), 2002; 20 (2): 694–702.
M. Connor, ‘Baseline testing of energy practitioners: Biophoton imaging results.’ Paper presented at the North American Research in Integrative Medicine conference, Edmonton, Canada, May 2006.
Personal details about K. Korotkov the result of multiple interviews with the author, November–March 2005–2006.
S. D. Kirlian and V. K. Kirlian, ‘Photography and visual observation b means of high frequency currents’, J. Sci. Appl. Photogr., 1964; 6: 397–403.
Korotkov’s most important work on the subject was K. Korotkov, Human E n e rg y Field: Study with GDV Bioelectrography, New Jersey: Backbone Publishing Co., 2002; K. Korotkov, Aura and Consciousness – New Stage o Scientific Understanding, St Petersburg: St Petersburg Division of the Russia Ministry of Culture, State Publishing Unit ‘Kultura’, 1999.
K. Korotkov et al., ‘Assessing biophysical energy transfer mechanisms in living systems: The basis of life processes’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (1): 49–57.
L. W. Konikiewicz and L. C. Griff,Bioelectrography – A new method for detecting cancer and body physiology, Harrisburg, Va.: Leonard Associates Press, 1982; G. Rein, ‘Corona discharge photography of human breast tumour biopsies’ Acupuncture & Electrotherapeutics Research, 1985; 10: 305–8; K. Korotkov et al., ‘Stress diagnosis and monitoring with new computerized “Crown-TV” device’ Journal of Pathophysiology, 1998; 5: 227.
P. Bundzen et al., ‘New technology of the athletes’ psycho-physical readiness evaluation based on the gas-discharge visualisation method in comparison with battery of tests’, ‘SIS–99’ Proceedings, International Congress St Petersburg, 1999: 19–22; P. V. Bundzen, et al., ‘Psychophysiological correlates of athletic success in athletes training for the Olympics’, Human Physiology, 2005; 31 (3): 316–23; K. Korotkov et al., ‘Assessing biophysical energy transfer mechanisms’, op cit.
Clair A. Francomano and Wayne B. Jonas, in Ronald A. Chez (ed.)
Proceedings: Measuring the Human Energy Field: State of the Science. The Gerontology Research Center, National Institute of Aging, National Institutes o Health, Baltimore, Maryland, April 17–18, 2002.
S. Kolmakow et al., ‘Gas discharge visualization technique and spectrophotometry in detection of field effects’, Mechanisms of Adaptive Behavior, Abstracts of International Symposium, St Petersburg, 1999: 79.
Interview with K. Korotkov, March 2006.
Chapter 4: Hearts that Beat as One
All details of the Love Study were gleaned from multiple interviews with Dean Radin, Marilyn Schlitz and Jerome Stone, April 2005–June 2006.
F. Sicher, E. Targ et al., ‘A randomized double-blind study of the effect of distant ealing in a population with advanced AIDS: report of a small scale study’ Western ournal of Medicine, 1998; 168 (6): 356–63; also multiple interviews with
E. Targ, 999–2001.
M. Schlitz and W. Braud, ‘Distant intentionality and healing: assessing the evidence’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1997; 3 (6): 62–73.
M. Schlitz and S. LaBerge, ‘Autonomic detection of remote observation: tw conceptual replications’, in D. J. Bierman (ed.), Proceedings of Presented Papers, 37t h Annual Parapsychological Association Convention, Amsterdam, Fairhaven, Mass.: Parapsychological Association, 1994: 352–60.
S. Schmidt et al., ‘Distant intentionality and the feeling of being stared at: Two metaanalyses’, British Journal of Psychology, 2004; 95: 235–47, as reported in D. Radin, Entangled Minds, New York: Paraview, 2006: 135.
L. Standish et al., ‘Electroencephalographic evidence of correlated event- related signals between the brains of spatially and sensory isolated human subjects’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (2): 307–14.
Radin, Entangled Minds, op. cit.: 136.
Charles Tart, ‘Physiological correlates of psi cognition’, International Journal of Parapsychology, 1963: 5; 375–86.
T. D. Duane and T. Behrendt, ‘Extrasensory electroencephalographic induction between identical twins’, Science, 1965; 150: 367.
J. Wackerman et al., ‘Correlations between brain electrical activities of two spatially separated human subjects’, Neuroscience Letters, 2003; 336: 60–4.
J. Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al., ‘The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox in th brain: The transferred potential’, Physics Essays, 1994; 7 (4): 422–28.
J. Grinberg-Zylberbaum and J. Ramos, ‘Patterns of interhemispher correlations during human communication’, International Journal of Neuroscience, 1987; 36: 41–53; J. Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al., ‘Human communication and the electrophysiological activity of the brain,’ Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1992; 3 (3): 25–43.
L. J. Standish et al., ‘Electroencephalographic evidence of correlated event related signals’, op. cit. 14. L. J., Standish et al., ‘Evidence of correlated functiona
magnetic resonance imaging signals between distant human brains’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2003; 9 (1): 122–5; T. Richards et al., ‘Replicable functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence of correlated brain signals between physically and sensory isolated subjects’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (6): 955–63.
M. Kittenis et al., ‘Distant psychophysiological interaction effects between related and unrelated participants’, Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association Convention, 2004: 67–76, as reported in Radin, Entangled Minds, op. cit.: 138–9.
D. I. Radin, ‘Event related EEG correlations between isolated huma subjects’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10: 315–24.
M. Cade and N. Coxhead,The Awakened Mind, 2nd edn, Shaftesbury: Element, 1986.
S. Fahrion et al., ‘EEG amplitude, brain mapping and synchrony in an between a bioenergy practitioner and client during healing’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1992; 3 (1): 19–52.
M. Yamamoto, ‘An experiment on remote action against man in sensory shielding condition, Part 2’, Journal of the International Society of Life Information Sciences, 1996; 14 (2): 228–39, as reported in Larry Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For … You Just Might Get It: What We Can Do About th Unintentional Effect of Our Thoughts, Prayers, and Wishes, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998: 182–3.
M. Yamamoto et al., ‘An experiment on remote action against man in sense shielding condition’, Journal of the International Society of Life Information Sciences, 1996; 14 (1): 97–9.
D. I. Radin, ‘Unconscious perception of future emotions: An experiment i presentiment’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (2): 163–80. First presented before the annual meeting of the Parapsychological Association in August 1996. For a full description of the Radin experiment, see D. Radin,The Conscious Universe, London: HarperCollins, 1997: 119–24.
R. McCraty et al., ‘Electrophysiological evidence of intuition: Part 2: A system-wide process?’ The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (2): 325–36.
J. Andrew Armour and Jeffrey L. Ardell (eds.), Basic and Clinical Neurocardiology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
R. McCraty et al., ‘The electricity of touch: Detection and measurement o cardiac energy exchange between people’, in Karl H. Pribram (ed.), Brain and Values: Is a Biological Science of Values Possible? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998: 359–79.
M. Gershon, The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understanding o Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine, London: HarperCollins, 1999.
D. I. Radin and M. J. Schlitz, ‘Gut feelings, intuition, and emotions: A exploratory study’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11
D. Radin, ‘Event-related electroencephalographic correlations between isolated human subjects’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (2): 315–23.
Dean Radin has devoted an excellent book to the subject: see D. Radin
Entangled Minds, op cit.
J. Stone, Course Handbook: Training in Compassionate-Loving Intention 2003; J. Stone et al., ‘Effects of a compassionate/loving intention as a therapeutic intervention by partners of cancer patients: A randomized controlled feasibility study’, in press.
M. Murphy et al., The Physiological and Psychological Effects o Meditation: A Review of Contemporary Research with a Comprehensive Bibliography, 1931–1996, Petaluma, Calif.: The Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1997.
E. P. Van Wijk et al., ‘Anatomic characterization of human ultra-weak photon emission in practitioners of Transcendental Meditation™ and control subjects’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2006; 12 (1): 31–8.
R. McCraty et al., ‘Head-heart entrainment: A preliminary survey’, in Proceedings of the Brain-Mind Applied Neurophysiology EEG Neurofeedbac Meeting. Key West, Florida, 1996.
R. McCraty, ‘Influence of cardiac afferent input on heart-brain synchronization and cognitive performance, Institute of HeartMath, Boulder Creek California’, International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2002; 45 (1–2): 72–3.
G. R. Schmeidler, Parapsychology and Psychology, Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 1988 as cited in J. Stone, Course Handbook, op. cit.; L. Dossey Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.
D. Radin et al., ‘Effects of motivated distant intention on electrodermal activity.’ Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Parapsychological Association, Stockholm, Sweden, August 2006.
Chapter 5: Entering Hyperspace
H. Benson et al., ‘Body temperature changes during the practice of g tum-mo (heat) yoga’, Nature, 1982; 295: 234–6; H. Benson, ‘Body temperature changes during the practice of g tum-mo yoga (matters arising)’, Nature, 1982; 298: 402.
H. Benson et al., ‘Three case reports of the metabolic and electroencephalographic changes during advanced Buddhist meditation techniques’, Behavioral Medicine, 1990; 16 (2): 90–5.
The most celebrated was the Investigating the Mind conference a Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 2005, which featured the Dalai Lama.
I am indebted to Stanley Krippner, who supplied me with a list of some 50 healers from a rich variety of traditions. I assembled a questionnaire, which I sent out
Cooperstein’s study eventually was published: M. A. Cooperstein, ‘The myths of healing: A summary of research into transpersonal healing experience’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1992; 86: 99–133. I am also indebted to him for his in-depth analysis of the commonalities between healers.
Information about Krippner’s vast catalogue of work was also gleaned from numerous interviews between him and the author, April 2005–March 2006 and correspondence, 2005–2006.
S. Krippner, ‘The technologies of shamanic states of consciousness’, in M Schlitz et al. (eds.), Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind Body Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, 2005: 376–90.
Jilek W. G. Salish, Indian Mental Health and Culture Change Psychohygienic and Therapeutic Aspects of the Guardian Spirit Ceremonial, New York: Hold Rinehart & Winston, 1974.
All information about Bruce Frantzis the result of various interviews, April 2005–March 2006.
B. K. Frantzis, Relaxing Into Your Being: Breathing, Chi and Dissolving the Ego, Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 1998.
Murphy, Meditation, op. cit.
W. Singer, ‘Neuronal synchrony: a versatile code for the definition of relations?’ Neuron, 1999; 24: 49–65; F. Varela et al., Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2001; 2: 229–39, as reported in A. Lutz et al., ‘Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2004; 101 (46): 16369–73.
O. Paulsen and T. J. Sejnowski, ‘Natural patterns of activity and long-term synaptic plasticity’, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2000; 10: 172–9, as reported in Lutz, ‘Long-term meditators’, op. cit.
Although the majority of studies carried out on meditation demonstrate that meditation leads to an increase in alpha rhythms (see Murphy, Meditation, op. cit.), the following are just a few that show that during meditation, subjects evidence spurts of high-frequency beta waves of twenty to forty cycles per second, usually during moments of intense concentration or ecstasy: J. P. Banquet, ‘Spectral analysis of the EEG in meditation’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1973; 35: 143–51; P. Fenwick et al., ‘Metabolic and EEG changes durin Transcendental Meditation: An explanation’, Biological Psychology, 1977; 5 (2): 101–18; M. A. West, ‘Meditation and the EEG’,Psychological Medicine, 1980; 10 (2): 369–75; J. C. Corby et al., ‘Psychophysiological correlates of the practice o Tantric Yoga meditation’, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 1985; 61: 301–4.
N. Das and H. Gastaut, ‘Variations in the electrical activity of the brain heart and skeletal muscles during yogic meditation and trance’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1955, Supplement no. 6: 211–19.
Murphy, Meditation, cites 10 studies showing that heart rate accelerates
W. W. Surwillo and D. P. Hobson, ‘Brain electrical activity during prayer’,
Psychological Reports, 1978; 43 (1): 135–43.
Murphy, Meditation, op. cit.
Lutz et al., ‘Long-term meditators’, op. cit.
Richard J. Davidson et al., ‘Alterations in brain and immune functio produce by mindfulness meditation’, Psychosomatic Medicine, 2003; 65: 564–70.
Krippner, ‘Shamanic states of consciousness’, op. cit.
Murphy, Meditation, op. cit.
L. Bernardi et al., ‘Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study’, British Medical Journal, 2001; 323: 1446–9.
Fenwick et al., ‘Metabolic and EEG changes during Transcendenta Meditation’, op. cit.
D. Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, London: Bloomsbury Press, 1996.
D. Goleman, ‘Meditation and consciousness: An Asian approach to mental health’, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 1976; 30 (1): 41–54; G. Schwartz, ‘Biofeedback, self-regulation, and the patterning of physiological processes’, American Scientist, 1975; 63 (3): 314–24; D. Goleman, ‘Why the brain blocks daytime dreams’, Psychology Today, 1976; March: 69–71.
P. Williams and M. West, ‘EEG responses to photic stimulation in persons experienced at meditation’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1975; 39 (5): 519–22; B. K. Bagchi and M. A. Wenger, ‘Electrophysiological correlates of some yogi exercises’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1957; (7): 132–49.
D. Brown, M. Forte and M. Dysart, ‘Visual sensitivity and mindfulnes meditation’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1984; 58 (3): 775–84; and ‘Differences in visual sensitivity among mindfulness meditators and non-meditators’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1984; 58 (3): 727–33.
S. W. Lazar et al., ‘Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation’, NeuroReport, 2000; 11: 1581–5.
C. Alexander et al., ‘EEG and SPECT data of a selected subject during ps tests: The discovery of a neurophysiological correlate’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1998; 62 (2): 102–4.
L. LeShan, The Medium, the Mystic and the Physicist: Towards a Theory of the Paranormal, New York: Helios Press, 2003.
Cooperstein, ‘The myths of healing’, op. cit.
S. Krippner, ‘Trance and the Trickster: Hypnosis as a liminal phenomenon’,
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2005; 53 (2): 97–
118.
E. Hartmann, Boundaries in the Mind: A New Theory of Personality, New York: Basic Books, 1991, as quoted in Krippner, ‘Trance and the Trickster’, op. cit.
M. J. Schlitz and Charles Honorton, ‘Ganzfeld psi performance within a
artistically gifted population’, Journal of the American Society for Psychica Research, 1992; 86 (2): 83–98.
S. Krippner et al., ‘Working with Ramtha: Is it a “high risk” procedure?’ Proceedings of Presented Papers: The Parapsychological Association 41st Annua Convention, 1998: 50–63.
The various tests included the Absorption Subscale of the Differential Personality Questionnaire, the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Boundar Questionnaire.
S. Krippner et al., ‘The Ramtha phenomenon: Psychological phenomenological, and geomagnetic data’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1998; 92: 1–24.
F. Sicher, E. Targ et al., ‘A randomized double-blind study’, op. cit.
Various conversations and correspondence between E. Targ and the author, October 1999–June 2001.
Interview with E. Targ, California, October 1999; J. Barrett, ‘Going th distance’, Intuition, 1999; June/July: 30–1.
D. J. Benor, Healing Research: Holistic Energy Medicine and Spirituality, 4 vols., Deddington, Oxfordshire: Helix Editions Ltd, 1993.
M. Freedman et al., ‘Effects of frontal lobe lesions on intentionality and random physical phenomena’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2003; 17 (4): 651–
68.
E. d’Aquili and A. Newberg, Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, New York: Ballantine Books, 2001.
Chapter 6: In the Mood
All details about M. Krucoff ’s trip to India and decision to study prayer from interviews, August 2006.
R. C. Byrd, ‘Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a coronar care unit population’, Southern Medical Journal, 1988; 81 (7): 826–9.
W. Harris et al., ‘A randomised, controlled trial of the effects of remote, intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients admitted to the coronary care unit’, Archives of Internal Medicine, 1999; 159 (19): 2273–8.
M. Krucoff, ‘Integrative noetic therapies as adjuncts to percutaneous intervention during unstable coronary syndromes: Monitoring and Actualization of Noetic Training (MANTRA) feasibility pilot’,American Heart Journal, 2001; 142 (5): 760–7.
M. Krucoff announced the results at the Second Conference on the Integratio of Complementary Medicine into Cardiology, a meeting sponsored by the American College of Cardiology, October 14, 2003.
M. Krucoff et al., ‘Music, imagery, touch and prayer as adjuncts to
interventional cardiac care: The Monitoring and Actualisation of Noetic Trainings (MANTRA) II randomised study’, The Lancet, 2005; 366: 211–17.
J. M. Aviles et al., ‘Intercessory prayer and cardiovascular disease progression in a coronary care unit population: a randomized controlled trial’, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2001; 76 (12): 1192–8.
H. Benson, The Relaxation Response, New York: William Morrow, 1975.
M. Krucoff et al., Editorial: ‘From efficacy to safety concerns: A STE forward or a step back for clinical research and intercessory prayer? The Study of Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP)’,American Heart Journal, 2006; 151; 4: 762.
H. Benson et al., ‘Study of the therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: A multi-center randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer’, American Heart Journal, 2006; 151 (4): 934–42.
J. Astin et al., ‘The efficacy of “distant healing”: A systematic review of randomized trials’, Annals of Internal Medicine, 2000; 132: 903–10.
B. Rubik et al., ‘In vitro effect of Reiki treatment on bacterial cultures: Rol of experimental context and practitioner well-being’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2006; 12 (1): 7–13.
I. R. Bell et al., ‘Development and validation of a new global well-bein outcomes rating scale for integrative medicine research’, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2004; 4: 1.
Ibid.
S. O’Laoire, ‘An experimental study of the effects of distant, intercessor prayer on self-esteem, anxiety and depression’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1997; 3 (6): 19–53.
Rubik et al., ‘In vitro effect’, op, cit.
K. Reece et al., ‘Positive well-being changes associated with giving and
receiving Johrei healing’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (3): 455–7.
M. Schlitz, ‘Can science study prayer?’ Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness, 2006; September–November (12): 38–9.
Dossey, ‘Prayer experiments’, op. cit.
J. Achterberg et al., ‘Evidence for correlations between distant intentionality and brain function in recipients: a functional magnetic resonance imagining analysis’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (6): 965–71.
Ibid.
K. A. Wientjes, ‘Mind-body techniques in wound healing’, Ostomy/Wound Management, 2002; 48 (11): 62–7.
J. K. Keicolt-Glaser, ‘Hostile marital interactions, proinflammator cytokine production, and wound healing’, Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005; 62 (12): 1377–84.
Krucoff, ‘(MANTRA) II’, op. cit.
Chapter 7: The Right Time
For all details about Michael Persinger’s experiments, interviews and correspondence with Persinger, August 2006 and a member of his neuroscientist team, Todd Murphy, May 23, 2006. Also, J. Hitt, ‘This is your brain on God’,Wired, November 1999; R. Hercz, ‘The God helmet’,SATURDAYNIGHT magazine, October 2002: 40–6; B. Raynes, ‘Interview with Todd Murphy’, Alternative Perceptions M a g a z i n e online April 2004 (No. 78), plus T. Murphy’s website: www.spiritualbrain.com and M. Persinger’s home page at the Laurentian University website: www.laurentian.ca/Neursci/_people/Persinger. htm.
Neuroscientist Todd Murphy developed this theory and successfully demonstrated its validity in Persinger’s laboratory.
The main background of Halberg’s early life is taken from F. Halberg, ‘Transdisciplinary unifying implications of circadian findings in the 1950s’, Journal of Circadian Rhythms, 2003; 1: 2.
G. Cornélissen et al., ‘Is a birth-month-dependence of human longevity influenced by half-yearly changes in geomagnetics?’ ‘Physics of Auroral Phenomena’, Proceedings. XXV Annual Seminar, Apatity: Polar Geophysica Institute, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Science, February 26–March 1 2002: 161–6; A. M. Vaiserman et al., ‘Human longevity: related to date of birth?’ Abstract 9, 2nd International Symposium: Workshop on Chronoastrobiology and Chronotherapy, Tokyo Kasei University, Tokyo, Japan, November 2001.
O. N. Larina et al., ‘Effects of spaceflight factors on recombinant protei expression in E. coli producing strains’, in ‘Biomedical Research on the Science/NASA Project’, Abstracts of the Third US/Russian Symposium, Huntsvill Alabama, November 10–13, 1997: 110–11.
D. Hillman et al., ‘About-10 yearly (circadecennian) cosmo-helio
geomagnetic signatures in Acetabularia’, Scripta Medica (BRNO), 2002; 75 (6) 303–8.
P. A. Kashulin et al., ‘Phenolic biochemical pathway in plants can be used for the bioindication of heliogeophysical factors’, ‘Physics of Auroral Phenomena’, Proceedings. XXV Annual Seminar, Apatity: Polar Geophysical Institute, Kol Science Center, Russian Academy of Science, February 26–March 1, 2002: 153–6.
V. M. Petro et al., ‘An influence of changes of magnetic field of the Earth on the functional state of humans in the conditions of space mission’, Proceedings, International Symposium ‘Computer Electro-Cardiograph on Boundary of Centuries’ Moscow, Russian Federation, 27–30 April, 1999.
K. F. Novikova and B. A. Ryvkin, ‘Solar activity and cardiovascular diseases’, in M. N. Gnevyshev and A. I. Ol (eds.),Effects of Solar Activity on the Earth’s Atmosphere and Biosphere, Academy of Science, USSR (translated from th Russian), Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 1977: 184–200.
G. Cornélissen et al., ‘Chronomes, time structures, for chronobioengineering for “a full life”’, Biomedical Instrumentation and Technology, 1999; 33 (2): 152–
87.
V. N. Oraevskii et al., ‘Medico-biological effect of natural electromagnetic variations’, Biofizika, 1998; 43 (5): 844–8; V. N. Oraevskii et al., ‘An influence of geomagnetic activity on the functional status of the body’, Biofizika, 1998; 43 (5): 819–26.
I. Gurfinkel et al., ‘Assessment of the effect of a geomagnetic storm on the frequency of appearance of acute cardiovascular pathology’, Biofizika, 1998; 43 (4): 654–8; J. Sitar, ‘The causality of lunar changes on cardiovascular mortality’, Casopis Lekaru Ceskych, 1990; 129: 1425–30.
F. Halberg et al., ‘Cross-spectrally coherent about 10-5- and 21-year biological and physical cycles, magnetic storms and myocardial infarctions’, Neuroendrocrinology Letters, 2000; 21: 233–58.
M. N. Gnevyshev, ‘Essential features of the 11-year solar cycle’, Solar Physics, 1977; 51: 175–82.
G. Cornélissen et al., ‘Non-photic solar associations of heart rate variability and myocardial infarction’, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-terrestrial Physics, 2002; 64: 707–20.
A. R. Allahverdiyev et al., ‘Possible space weather influence on functional activity of the human brain’, Proceedings, Space Weather Workshop: Looking Towards a European Space Weather Programme, December 17–19, 2001.
E. Babayev, ‘Some results of investigations on the space weather influence on functioning of several engineering-technical and communication systems and human health’, Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions, 2003; 22 (6): 861–7;
G. Y. Mizon and P. G. Mizun, Space and Health, Moscow: ‘Znanie’, 1984.
E. Stoupel, ‘Relationship between suicide and myocardial infarction with regard to changing physical environmental conditions’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1994; 38 (4): 199–203; E. Stoupel et al., ‘Clinical cosmobiology:
the Lithuanian study, 1990–1992’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1995; 38: 204–8; E. Stoupel et al., ‘Suicide-homicide temporal interrelationship, links with other fatalities and environmental physical activity’, Crisis, 2005; 26: 85–9.
Avi Raps et al., ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LXIX. Solar activit and admission of psychiatric inpatients’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1992; 74: 449; H. Friedman et al., ‘Geomagnetic parameters and psychiatric hospital admissions’, Nature, 1963; 200: 626–8.
M. Mikulecky, ‘Lunisolar tidal waves, geomagnetic activity and epilepsy in the light of multivariate coherence’, Brazilian Journal of Medicine, 1996; 29 (8): 1069–72; E. A. McGugan, ‘Sudden unexpected deaths in epileptics – a literature review’, Scottish Medical Journal, 1999; 44 (5): 137–9.
A. Michon et al., ‘Attempts to simulate the association between geomagnetic activity and spontaneous seizures in rats using experimentally generated magnetic fields’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1996; 82 (2): 619–26; Y. Bureau and M. Persinger, ‘Geomagnetic activity and enhanced mortality in rats with acute (epileptic) limbic lability’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1992; 36: 226–32.
Y. Bureau and M. Persinger, ‘Decreased latencies for limbic seizures induced in rats by lithium-pilocarpine occur when daily average geomagnetic activity exceeds 20 nanotesla’, Neuroscience Letters, 1995; 192: 142–4; A. Michon and M.
A. Persinger, ‘Experimental simulation of the effects of increased geomagnetic activity upon nocturnal seizures in epileptic rats’, Neuroscience Letters, 1997; 224: 53–6.
M. Persinger, ‘Sudden unexpected death in epileptics following sudden, intense, increases in geomagnetic activity: Prevalence of effect and potential mechanisms’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1995; 38: 180–7; R. P. O’Connor and M. A. Persinger, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LXXXII. strong association between sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and increments o global geomagnetic activity – possible support for the melatonin hypothesis’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1997; 84: 395–402.
B. McKay and M. Persinger, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior LXXXVII. Effects of synthetic and natural geomagnetic patterns on maze learning’ Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1999; 89 (3 pt 1): 1023–4
Radin, Conscious Universe, op. cit.
D. Radin, ‘Evidence for relationship between geomagnetic field fluctuations and skilled physical performance.’ Presentation made at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Princeton, New Jersey, June 1992.
S. W. Tromp, Biometeorology, London: Heyden, 1980.
I. Stoilova and T. Zdravev, ‘Influence of the geomagnetic activity on the human functional systems’, Journal of the Balkan Geophysical Society, 2000; 3 (4): 73–6.
J. S. Derr and M. A. Persinger, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LIV Zeitoun (Egypt) apparitions of the Virgin Mary as tectonic strain-induced
luminosities’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989; 68: 123–8.
M. A. Persinger and S. A. Koren, ‘Experiences of spiritual visitation an impregnation: potential induction by frequency-modulated transients from an adjacent clock’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2001; 92 (1): 35–6.
M. A. Persinger et al., ‘Differential entrainment of electroencephalographic activity by weak complex electromagnetic fields’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1997; 84 (2): 527–36.
M. A. Persinger, ‘Increased emergence of alpha activity over the left but not the right temporal lobe within a dark acoustic chamber: Differential response of the left but not the right hemisphere to transcerebral magnetic fields’, International Journal of Psychophysiology, 1999; 34 (2): 163–9.
Interview with Todd Murphy, May 23, 2006.
W. G. Braud and S. P. Dennis, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LVIII Autonomic activity, hemolysis and biological psychokinesis: Possible relationships with geomagnetic field activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989; 68: 1243–54.
Ibid.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 167–8.
M. A. Persinger and S. Krippner, ‘Dream ESP experiments and geomagneti activity’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1989; 83: 101– 16; S. Krippner and M. Persinger, ‘Evidence for enhanced congruence betwee dreams and distant target material during periods of decreased geomagnetic activity’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1996; 10, (4): 487–93.
M. Ullman et al., Dream Telepathy: Experiments in ESP, Jefferson: McFarland, 1989.
Ibid.
M. A. Persinger, ‘ELF field meditation in spontaneous psi events. Direc information transfer or conditioned elicitation?’ Psychoenergetic Systems, 1975; 3: 155–69; M. A. Persinger, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: XXX. Intens paranormal activities occur during days of quiet global geomagnetic activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1985; 61: 320–2.
M. H. Adams, ‘Variability in remote-viewing performance: Possible relationship to the geomagnetic field’, in D. H. Weiner and D. I. Radin (eds.) Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1986: 25. [cf n.19 ch.8]
J. N. Booth et al., ‘Ranking of stimuli that evoked memories in significan others after exposure to circumcerebral magnetic fields: Correlations with ambient geomagnetic activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 95(2): 555–8.
M. A. Persinger et al., ‘Differential entrainment of electroencephalographic activity by weak complex electromagnetic fields’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1997; 84 (2): 527–36.
M. A. Persinger, ‘Enhancement of images of possible memories of others during exposure to circumcerebral magnetic fields: Correlations with ambient geomagnetic activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 95 (2): 531–43.
S. A. Koren and M. A Persinger, ‘Possible disruption of remote viewing by complex weak magnetic fields around the stimulus site and the possibility of accessing real phase space: A pilot study’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 95 (3 Pt 1): 989–98.
S. Krippner, ‘Possible geomagnetic field effects in psi phenomena.’ Paper presented at international parapsychology conference in Recife, Brazil, November 1997.
Braud and Dennis, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LVIII’, op. cit.
S. J. P. Spottiswoode, ‘Apparent association between effect size in free response anomalous cognition experiments and local sidereal time’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (2): 109–22.
S. J. P. Spottiswoode and E. May, ‘Evidence that free response anomalous cognitive performance depends upon local sidereal time and geomagnetic fluctuations’, Presentation Abstracts, Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Society fo Scientific Exploration, June 1997: 8.
A. P. Krueger and D. S. Sobel, ‘Air ions and health’, in David S. Sobe ( e d . ) , Wa y s of Health: Holistic Approaches to Ancient and Contemporary Medicine, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979.
Chapter 8: The Right Place
William Tiller’s major books on crystallization include: An Introduction to Computer Simulation in Applied Science, New York: Plenum, 1992: The Science of Crystallization: Microscopic Interfacial Phenomena, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991: The Science of Crystallization: Macroscopic Phenomena and Defect Generation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
All personal details about William Tiller have resulted from multiple interviews, April 2005–January 2006.
O. Warburg, New Methods of Cell Physiology Applied to Cancer an Mechanism of X-ray Action, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1962, as quoted in W. Tiller et al., Conscious Acts of Creation: The Emergency of a New Physics, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publishing, 2001: 144–6. All description of experiment derived from interview with Dr Tiller, Boulder, Colorado, April 29, 2005, plus information from Conscious Acts and W. Tiller et al., Some Science Adventures with Real Magic, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publishing, 2005.
M. J. Kohane, ‘Energy, development and fitness inDrosophila melanogaster’, Proceedings of the Royal Society (B), 1994; 257: 185–91, in Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 147.
William A. Tiller and Walter E. Dibble, Jr., ‘New experimental data revealing an unexpected dimension to materials science and engineering’, Material Research Innovation, 2001; 5: 21–34.
Tiller and Dibble, ‘New experimental data’, op. cit.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 180.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 175.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 216.
H. Pagels, The Cosmic Code, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 216.
Tiller et al., Science Adventures, op. cit.: 34.
Interview with W. Tiller, April 2005.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 182.
Correspondence between Tiller and Michael Kohane, 2005.
Tiller and Dibble, ‘New experimental data’, op. cit.
G. K. Watkins and A. M. Watkins, ‘Possible PK influence on the resuscitation of anesthetized mice’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1971; 35: 257–72;
G. K. Watkins et al., ‘Further studies on the resuscitation of anesthetized mice’, in W.
G. Roll, R. L. Morris and J. Morris (eds.),Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1973: 157–9.
R. Wells and J. Klein, ‘A replication of a “psychic healing” paradigm’,
Journal of Parapsychology, 1972; 36: 144–9.
See McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 205–7.
D. Radin, ‘Beyond belief: Exploring interaction among body and environment’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1992; 2 (3): 1–40; D. Radin, ‘Environmental modulation and statistical equilibrium in mind-matter interaction’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1993; 4 (1): 1–30.
D. Radin et al., ‘Effects of healing intention on cultured cells and truly random events’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10: 103–12.
L. P. Semikhina and V. P. Kiselev, ‘Effect of weak magnetic fields on the properties of water and ice’, Zabedenii, Fizika, 1988; 5: 13–17; S. Sasaki et al., ‘Changes of water conductivity induced by non-inductive coil’, Society for Mind- Body Science, 1992; 1: 23; Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 62.
Chapter 9: Mental Blueprints
All description of Ali’s fighting techniques from N. Mailer, The Fight, London and New York: Penguin, 2000.
Ibid.
A. Richardson, ‘Mental practice: A review and discussion, Part I’, Research Quarterly, 1967; 38: 95–107; A. Richardson, ‘Mental practice: A review and discussion. Part II’, Research Quarterly, 1967; 38: 264–73.
J. Salmon et al., ‘The use of imagery by soccer players’, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1994; 6: 116–33.
A. Paivio, Mental Representations: A Dual Coding Approach, New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1986.
B. S. Rushall and L. G. Lippman, ‘The role of imagery in physica performance’, International Journal for Sport Psychology, 1997; 29: 57–72.
A. Paivio, ‘Cognitive and motivational functions of imagery in human performance’, Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 1985; 10 (4): 22S–28S.
K. E. Hinshaw, ‘The effects of mental practice on motor skill performance: Critical evaluation and meta-analysis’, Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 1991–2; 11: 3–35.
J. A. Swets and R. A. Bjork, ‘Enhancing human performance: An evaluatio of “New Age” techniques considered by the U. S. Army’, Psychological Science, 1990; 1: 85–96; D. L. Feltz et al., ‘A revised meta-analysis of the mental practice literature on motor skill learning’, in D. Druckman and J. A. Swets (eds.),Enhancing Human Performance: Issues, Theories, and Techniques, Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1988: 274.
R. J. Rotella et al., ‘Cognitions and coping strategies of elite skiers: a exploratory study of young developing athletes’, Journal of Sport Psychology, 1980; 2: 350–4.
R. S. Burhans et al., ‘Mental imagery training: effects on running speed performance’, International Journal of Sport Psychology, 1988; 19: 26–37.
B. S. Rushall, ‘Covert modeling as a procedure for altering an elite athlete’s psychological state’, Sport Psychologist, 1988; 2: 131–40; B. S. Rushall, ‘The restoration of performance capacity by cognitive restructuring and covert positive reinforcement in an elite athlete’, in J. R. Cautela and A. J. Kearney (eds.),Covert Conditioning Casebook. Boston, Mass.: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 1993.
M. Denis, ‘Visual imagery and the use of mental practice in the development of motor skills’, Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 1985; 10: 4S–16S.
Paivio, ‘Cognitive and motivational functions of imagery’, op. cit.
J. R. Cautela and A. J. Kearney (eds.),Covert Conditioning Casebook. Boston, Mass.: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 1993: 30–1.
B. Mumford and C. Hall, ‘The effects of internal and external imagery o performing figures in figure skating’, Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 1985; 10: 171–7.
K. Barr and C. Hall, ‘The use of imagery by rowers’,International Journal of Sport Psychology, 1992; 23: 243–61.
S. C. Minas, ‘Mental practice of a complex perceptual-motor skill’,Journal of Human Movement Studies, 1978; 4: 102–7.
R. Bleier, Fighting Back, New York: Stein and Day, 1975.
R. L. Wilkes and J. J. Summers, ‘Cognitions, mediating variables an strength performance’, Journal of Sport Psychology, 1984; 6: 351–9.
R. S. Weinberg et al., ‘Effects of visuo-motor behavior rehearsal, relaxation, and imagery on karate performance’, Journal of Sport Psychology, 1981; 3: 228–38.
Cautela and Kearney, Covert Conditioning, op. cit.
J. Pates et al., ‘The effects of hypnosis on flow states and three-poin shooting in basketball players’, The Sport Psychologist, 2002; 16: 34–47; J. Pates and I. Maynard, ‘Effects of hypnosis on flow states and golf performance’
R. M. Suinn, ‘Imagery rehearsal applications to performance enhancement’
The Behavior Therapist, 1985; 8: 155–9.
L. Baroga, ‘Influence on the sporting result of the concentration of attention process and time taken in the case of weight lifters’, in Proceedings of the 3rd World Congress of the International Society of Sports Psychology, Volume 3. Madrid, Spain: Instituto Nacional de Educacion Fisica Y Deportes, 1973.
A. Fujita, ‘An experimental study on the theoretical basis of mental training’, in Proceedings of the 3rd World Congress of the International Society of Sports Psychology, Volume Abstracts. Madrid, Spain: Instituto Nacional de Educacion Fisica Y Deportes, 1973: 37–8.
Ibid.
Rushall and Lippman, ‘The role of imagery in physical performance’, op
cit.
G. H. Van Gyn et al., ‘Imagery as a method of enhancing transfer from
training to performance’, Journal of Sport and Exercise Science, 1990; 12: 366–75.
G. H. Yue and K. J. Cole, ‘Strength increases from the motor program Comparison of training with maximal voluntary and imagined muscle contractions’, Journal of Neurophysiology, 1992; 67: 114–23; V. K. Ranganathan et al., ‘Increasing muscle strength by training the central nervous system without physical exercise’, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 2001; 31: 17; V. K. Ranganathan et al., ‘Level of mental effort determines training-induced strength increases’, Society of Neuroscience Abstracts, 2002; 32: 768; P. Cohen, ‘Mental gymnastics’, New Scientist, November 24, 2001; 172 (2318): 17.
D. Smith et al., ‘The effect of mental practice on muscle strength and EMG activity’, Proceedings of the British Psychological Society annual conference, 1998; 6 (2): 116.
T. X. Barber, ‘Changing “unchangeable” bodily processes by (hypnotic) suggestions: A new look at hypnosis, cognitions, imagining and the mind-body problem’, in A. A. Sheikh (ed.), Imagination and Healing, Farmingdale, NY: Baywood Publishing Co., 1984. Also published in Advances, Spring 1984.
F. M. Luskin et al., ‘A review of mind-body therapies in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, Part 1: Implications for the elderly’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1998; 4 (3): 46–61.
F. M. Luskin et al., ‘A review of mind/body therapies in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders with implications for the elderly’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2000; 6 (2): 46–56.
V. A. Hadhazy et al., ‘Mind-body therapies for the treatment of fibromyalgia. A systematic review’, Journal of Rheumatology, 2000; 27 (12): 2911–18.
J. A. Astin et al., ‘Mind-body medicine: State of the science: Implications for practice’, Journal of the American Board of Family Practitioners, 2003; 16 (2): 131–47.
J. A. Astin, ‘Mind-body therapies for the management of pain’, Clinical Journal of Pain, 2004; 20 (1): 27–32.
L. S. Eller, ‘Guided imagery interventions for symptom management’
Annual Review of Nursing Research, 1999; 17, 57–84.
J. Achterberg and G. F. Lawlis, Bridges of the Bodymind: Behavioral Approaches for Health Care, Champaign, Ill.: Institute for Personality and Abilit Testing, 1980.
N. E. Miller and L. DiCara, ‘Instrumental learning of heart rate changes i curarized rats: Shaping and specificity to discriminative stimulus’, Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1967; 63: 12–19; N. E. Miller, ‘Learning of visceral and glandular responses’, Science, 1969; 163: 434–45.
J. V. Basmajian, Muscles Alive: Their Functions Revealed b Electromyography. Baltimore, Md.: Williams and Wilkins, 1967.
E. Green, ‘Feedback technique for deep relaxation’, Psychophysiology, 1969; 6 (3): 371–7; E. Green et al., ‘Self-regulation of internal states’, in J. Ros (ed.), Progress of Cybernetics: Proceedings of the First International Congress of Cybernetics, London, September 1969. London: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1970: 1299–318; E. Green et al., ‘Voluntary control of internal states: Psychological and physiological’, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1970; 2: 1–26; D. Satinsky, ‘Biofeedback treatment for headache: A two-year follow-up study’, American Journal of Clinical Biofeedback, 1981; 4 (1): 62–5; B. V. Silver et al., ‘Temperature biofeedback and relaxation training in the treatment of migraine headaches: One-year follow-up’, Biofeedback and Self Regulation, 1979; 4 (4): 359–66.
B. M. Kappes, ‘Sequence effects of relaxation training, EMG, an temperature biofeedback on anxiety, symptom report, and self-concept’, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1983; 39 (2): 203–8; G. Rose et al., ‘The behavioral treatmen of Raynaud’s disease: A review’, Biofeedback and Self Regulation, 1987; 12 (4): 257–72.
W. T. Tsushima, ‘Treatment of phantom limb pain with EMG and temperature biofeedback: A case study’, American Journal of Clinical Biofeedback, 1982; 5 (2): 150–3.
T. G. Dobie, ‘A comparison of two methods of training resistance to visually-induced motion sickness.’ Paper presented at VII International Man in Spac Symposium: Physiologic adaptation of man in space, Houston, Texas, 1986. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 1987; 58 (9) Sect. 2: 34–41.
A. Ikemi et al., ‘Thermographical analysis of the warmth of the hands during the practice of self-regulation method’, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 1988; 50 (1): 22–8.
J. L. Claghorn, ‘Directional effects of skin temperature self-regulation o regional cerebral blood flow in normal subjects and migraine patients’, American Journal of Psychiatry, 1981; 138 (9): 1182–7.
M. Davis et al., The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, 5th edn,
Oakland, Calif.: New Harbinge, 2000: 83–90.
J. K. Lashley et al., ‘An empirical account of temperature biofeedbac applied in groups’, Psychological Reports, 1987; 60 (2): 379–88; S. Fahrion et al., ‘Biobehavioral treatment of essential hypertension: A group outcome study’, Biofeedback and Self Regulation, 1986; 11 (4): 257–77.
J. Panksepp, ‘The anatomy of emotions’, in R. Plutchik (ed.),Emotion: Theory, Research and Experience Vol. III. Biological Foundations of Emotions, New York: Academic Press, 1986: 91–124.
J. Panksepp, ‘The neurobiology of emotions: Of animal brains and huma feelings’, in T. Manstead and H. Wagner (eds.), Handbook of Psychophysiology, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1989: 5–26.
C. D. Clemente et al., ‘Postreinforcement EEG synchronization durin alimentary behavior’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1964; 16: 335–65; M. H. Chase et al., ‘Afferent vagal stimulation: Neurographi correlates of induced EEG synchronization and desynchronization’, Brain Research, 1967; 5: 236–49.
M. B. Sterman, ‘Neurophysiological and clinical studies of sensorimoto EEG biofeedback training: Some effects on epilepsy’, Seminars in Psychiatry, 1973;
5 (4): 507–25; M. B. Sterman, ‘Neurophysiological and clinical studies o sensorimotor EEG biofeedback training: Some effects on epilepsy’, in L. Birk (ed.) Biofeedback: Behavioral Medicine. New York: Grune and Stratton, 1973: 147–65;
M. B. Sterman, ‘Epilepsy and its treatment with EEG feedback therapy’,Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 1986; 8: 21–5; M. B. Sterman, ‘The challenge of EEG biofeedback in the treatment of epilepsy: A view from the trenches’, Biofeedback, 1997; 25 (1): 6–7; M. B. Sterman, ‘Basic concepts and clinical findings in the treatment of seizure disorders with EEG operant conditioning’, ClinicalElectroencephalography, 2000; 31 (1): 45–55.
E. Peniston and P. J. Kulkosky, ‘Alpha-theta brainwave training and beta- endorphin levels in alcoholics’, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 1989; 13: 271–9; E. Peniston and P. J. Kulkosky, ‘Alcoholic personality and alpha- theta brainwave training’, Medical Psychotherapy, 1990; 3: 37–55.
J. Kamiya, ‘Operant control of the EEG alpha rhythm’, in C. Tart (ed.) Altered States of Consciousness, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1969, J. Kamiya ‘Conscious control of brain waves’, Psychology Today, April 1968: 7.
N. E. Schoenberger et al., ‘Flexyx neurotherapy system in the treatment o traumatic brain injury: An initial evaluation’, Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 2001; 16 (3): 260–74.
C. B. Kidd, ‘Congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma treated by hypnosis’ British Journal of Dermatology, 1966; 78: 101–5, as cited in Barber, ‘Changing “unchangeable” bodily processes’, op. cit.
H. Bennett, ‘Behavioral anesthesia’, Advances, 1985; 2 (4): 11–21, as reported in H. Dienstfrey, ‘Mind and mindlessness in mind-body research’, in M Schlitz et al., Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Bod
Healing, St Louis, Mo.: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, 2005: 56.
H. Dienstfrey, ‘Mind and mindlessnes’, op cit.: 51–60.
Dr Angel Escudero was featured on the BBC’sYour Life in Their Hands series, May 1991. In the film, Escudero made incisions, sawed, drilled and hammered in order to break and reset the deformed leg of his fully conscious patient using his ‘Noesitherapy’ technique of pain control.
S. M. Kosslyn et al., ‘Hypnotic visual illusion alters color processing in the brain’, American Journal of Psychiatry, 2000; 157: 1279–84; Mark Henderson, ‘Hypnosis really does turn black into white’, The Times, 18 February 2002.
S. H. Simpson et al., ‘A meta-analysis of the association between adherence to drug therapy and mortality’, British Medical Journal, 2006; 333: 15–19.
Raúl de la Fuente-Fernández et al., ‘Expectation and dopamine release Mechanism of the placebo effect in Parkinson’s disease’, Science, 2001; 293 (5532): 1164–6.
J. B. Moseley et al., ‘A controlled trial of arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee’, New England Journal of Medicine, 2002; 347: 81–8.
S. Krippner, ‘Stigmatic phenomenon: An alleged case in Brazil’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (2): 207–24.
L. F. Early and J. E. Kifschutz, ‘A case of stigmata’,Archives of General Psychiatry, 1974; 30: 197–200.
T. Harrison, Stigmatia: A Medieval Mystery in a Modern Age, New York: St Martin’s Press, 1994, as referenced in S. Krippner, ‘Stigmatic phenomenon’, op cit.
B. O’Regan and Caryle Hirshberg,Spontaneous Remission: An Annotated Bibliography, Petaluma, Calif.: Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1993.
Ibid.
L. L. LeShan and M. L. Gassmann, ‘Some observations on psychotherap with patients with neoplastic disease’, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 1958; 12: 723.
D. C. Ban Baalen et al., ‘Psychosocial correlates of “spontaneous regression of cancer’, Humane Medicine, April 1987.
R. T. D. Oliver, ‘Surveillance as a possible option for management of metastic renal cell carcinoma’, Seminars in Urology, 1989; 7: 149–52.
P. C. Raud, ‘Psychospiritual dimensions of extraordinary survival’, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1989; 29: 59–83.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 132.
W. Braud and M. Schlitz, ‘Psychokinetic influence on electrodermal activity’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1983; 47 (2): 95–119.
Interview with William Braud, October, 1999.
Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.
S. M. Roney-Dougal and J. Solfvin, ‘Field study of an enhancement effect o lettuce seeds – Replication study’, Journal of Parapsychology, 2003; 67 (2): 279–
Dr Larry Dossey calls negative diagnoses ‘medical hexing’, and there is anecdotal evidence that patients often live up to their doctor’s gloomy prognosis, even when there is no physical evidence that they should do so. For a potent example see the story of a leukaemia patient who was thriving until he happened to find out what he had. He was dead within a week once his illness had the label of a potentially terminal illness: L. McTaggart, What Doctors Don’t Tell You, London: HarperCollins, 2005: 343.
Chapter 10: The Voodoo Effect
R. A. Blasband and Gottfried Martin, ‘Biophoton emission in “orgon energy” treated cress seeds, seedlings and Acetabularia’, International Consciousness Research Laborary, ICRL Report No 93.6.
Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 171–2.
Ibid.
Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.: 261.
C. O. Simonton et al., Getting Well Again, New York: Bantam, 1980; B. Siegel, Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healing from a Surgeon’s Experience with Exceptional Patients, London: HarperCollins, 1990; A Meares, The Wealth Within: Self-Help Through a System of Relaxing Meditation, Melbourne, Australia: Hill of Content, 1990.
For much of the research detailed in this chapter, I am especially indebted to Larry Dossey and Daniel Benor, who have detailed many of these early studies in their respective books, Dossey’s Be Careful What You Pray For … You Just Migh Get It and Benor’s Healing Research, Spiritual Healing and his outstanding, comprehensive website: www.wholistichealingresearch.com.
Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.: 264.
J. Barry, ‘General and comparative study of the psychokinetic effect on a fungus culture’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1968; 32 (94): 237–43.
W. H. Tedder and M. L. Monty, ‘Exploration of a long-distance PK: A conceptual replication of the influence on a biological system’, in W. G. Roll et al. (eds.), Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1981: 90–3 Also see Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 169; Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.: 268–9.
C. B. Nash, ‘Test of psychokinetic control of bacterial mutation’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1984; 78: 145–52.
Kmetz’s study was described in W. Braud et al., ‘Experiments with Matthew Manning’, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1979; 50: 199–
While the study was promising, in his review of it in Healing Research, Benor noted the lack of sufficient detail.
Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 175–6.
Many researchers of alternative medicine maintain the same concerns about studies of Chinese medicine carried out in China. These concerns don’t disregard the strong anecdotal evidence about the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine,
only the scientific method of studies of its effectiveness.
S. Sun and C. Tao, ‘Biological effect of emitted qi with tradescantic paludosa micronuclear technique’, First World Conference for Academic Exchange of Medical Qigong. Beijing, China, 1988: 61E.
Ibid.
Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 176.
D. J. Muehsam et al., ‘Effects of Qigong on cell-free myosi phosphorylation: Preliminary experiments’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1994; 5 (1): 93–108, also reported in Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 177–8.
Ibid.
Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.: 253.
G. Rein, Quantum Biology: Healing with Subtle Energy, Palo Alto, Calif.: Quantum Biology Research Labs, 1992; as reported in Benor,Healing Research, op. cit.: 350–2.
B. Grad, ‘The “laying on of hands”: Implications for psychotherapy, gentling and the placebo effect’, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1967; 61 (4): 286–305.
C. B. Nash and C. S. Nash, ‘The effect of paranormally conditioned solutio on yeast fermentation’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1967; 31: 314.
Radin, The Conscious Universe, op. cit: 130.
An entire chapter is devoted to Jacques Benveniste in McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 59.
Description of these results from a telephone conversation with Jacques Benveniste, November 10, 2000.
J. M. Rebman et al., ‘Remote influence of the autonomic nervous system b focused intention’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1996; 6: 111–34.
W. Braud and M. Schlitz, ‘A method for the objective study of transpersonal imagery’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1989; 3 (1): 43–63; W. Braud et al., ‘Further studies of the bio-PK effect: Feedback, blocking specificity/generality’, i
R. White and J. Solfvin (eds.),Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1984: 45–8.
C. Watt et al., ‘Exploring the limits of direct mental influence: Two studies comparing “blocking” and “co-operating” strategies’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1999; 13 (3): 515–35.
J. Diamond, Your Body Doesn’t Lie, New York: HarperCollins, 1979.
J. Diamond, Life Energy, New South Wales: Angus & Robertson, 1992: 71.
Chapter 11: Praying for Yesterday
L. Leibovici, ‘Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients with blood stream infection: Randomized controlled trial’, British Medical Journal, 2001; 323 (7327): 1450–1.
S. Andreassen et al., ‘Using probabilistic and decision-theoretic methods in
treatment and prognosis modeling’, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 1999; 15 (2): 121–34.
L. Leibovici, ‘Alternative (complementary) medicine: a cuckoo in the nest o empiricist reed warblers’, British Medical Journal, 1999; 319: 1629–32; Leibovici, ‘Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer’, op. cit.
Letters, BMJ Online, December 22, 2003.
L. Dossey, ‘How healing happens: exploring the nonlocal gap’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2002; 8 (2): 12–16, 103–10.
B. Oshansky and L. Dossey, ‘Retroactive prayer: A preposterous hypothesis?’ British Medical Journal, 2003; 327: 20–7.
Letters, ‘Effect of retroactive prayer’, British Medical Journal, 2002; 324: 1037.
Correspondence from Liebovici to author, June 28, 2005.
Interview with Jahn and Dunne, July 2005.
R. G. Jahn et al., ‘Correlations of random binary sequences with pre-stated operator intention: a review of a 12-year program’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (3): 345–67.
D. J. Bierman and J. M. Houtkooper, ‘Exploratory PK tests with programmable high speed random number generator’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1975; 1 (1): 3–14.
R. Broughton, Parapsychology: The Controversial Science, New York: Ballantine Books, 1991: 175–6.
H. Schmidt and H. Stapp, ‘Study of PK with prerecorded random events an the effects of preobservation’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1993; 57: 351.
E. R. Gruber, ‘Conformance behavior involving animal and human subjects’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1979; 3 (1): 36–50.
E. R. Gruber, ‘PK effects on pre-recorded group behaviour of livin systems’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1980; 3 (2): 167–75.
F. W. J. J. Snel and P. C. van der Sijde, ‘The effect of retro-active distance healing on Babeia rodhani (rodent malaria) in rats’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1990; 8: 123–30.
W. Braud, unpublished study, 1993, as reported in W. Braud, ‘Wellness implications of retroactive intentional influence: exploring an outrageous hypothesis’, Alternatives Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2000; 6 (1): 37–48.
H. Schmidt, ‘Random generators and living systems as targets in retro-PK experiments’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1997; 912 (1): 1–13.
D. Radin et al., ‘Effects of distant healing intention through time and space: Two exploratory studies’, Proceedings of Presented Papers: The 41st Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Parapsychological Association, 1998: 143–61.
J. R. Stroop, ‘Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions’,Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1935; 18: 643, as cited in D.I. Radin and E. C. May
‘Evidence for a retrocausal effect in the human nervous system’, Boundary Institute Technical Report 2000–1.
H. Klintman, ‘Is there a paranormal (precognitive) influence in certain types of perceptual sequences? Part I and II’,European Journal of Parapsychology, 1983; 5: 19–49 and 1984; 5: 125–40, as cited in Radin and May, Boundary Institute Technical Report, op. cit.
Radin and May, Boundary Institute Technical Report, op. cit.
Radin and May, Boundary Institute Technical Report, op. cit.
G. A. Mourou and D. Umstadter, ‘Extreme light’, in ‘The Edge of Physics’ Special edition of Scientific American, 2003; 13 (1): 77–83 updated from May 2002 issue.
L. H. Ford and T. A. Roman, ‘Negative energy, wormholes and warp drive’ in ‘The Edge of Physics’. Special edition ofScientific American, 2003; 13 (1): 85–
91 updated from January 2000 issue.
J. A. Wheeler and R. P. Reynman, ‘Interaction with the absorber as the mechanism of radiation’, Reviews of Modern Physics, 1945; 17 (2–3): 157–81; J. A. Wheeler and R. P. Reynman, ‘Classical electrodynamics in terms of direc interparticle action’, Reviews of Modern Physics, 1949; 21: 425–33.
E. H. Walker, ‘The nature of consciousness’, Mathematical BioSciences
1970; 7: 131–78.
H. P. Stapp, ‘Theoretical model of a purported empirical violation of the predictions of quantum theory’, Physical Review A, 1994; 50 (1): 18–22.
Braud, ‘Wellness implications’, op. cit.
L. Grover, ‘Quantum computing’, The Sciences, July/August 1999: 24–30.
M. Brooks, ‘The weirdest link’, New Scientist, March 27, 2004; 181
(2440): 32–5.
D. Bierman, ‘Do PSI-phenomena suggest radical dualism?’ in S. Hammerof et al. (ed.), Toward a Science of Consciousness II, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press 1998: 709–14.
D. I. Radin, ‘Experiments testing models of mind-matter interaction’
Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2006; 20 (3), 375–401.
Interview with William Braud, October 1999.
W. Braud, ‘Transcending the limits of time’, The Inner Edge: A Resource for Enlightened Business Practice, 1999; 2 (6): 16–18.
R. D. Nelson, ‘The physical basis of intentional healing systems’, Technical Report, PEAR 99001, Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research, Princeton, Ne Jersey, January 1999.
Braud, interview with author, October 1999.
D. Bierman ‘Does consciousness collapse the wave packet?’ Mind and Matter, 2003; 1 (1): 45–58.
H Schmidt, ‘Additional effect for PK on pre-recorded targets’,Journal of
Parapsychology, 1985; 49: 229–44; ‘PK tests with and without preobservation by animals’, in L. S. Henkel and J. Palmer (eds.),Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1990: 15–19.
Chapter 12: The Intention Experiment
Interview with Fritz-Albert Popp, March 1, 2006.
F.-A. Popp et al., ‘Further analysis of delayed luminescence of plants’,
Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 2005, 78: 235–44.
For a full description of Popp’s history, see McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.
B. J. Dunne, ‘Co-operator experiments with an REG device’, PEA Technical Note 91005, Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research, Princeton, New Jersey, December 1991.
R. D. Nelson et al., ‘FieldREG anomalies in group situations’,Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1996; 10 (1): 111–41; R. D. Nelson et al., ‘FieldREGII Consciousness field effects: replications and explorations’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1998; 12 (3): 425–54.
D. I. Radin, ‘For whom the bell tolls: A question of global consciousness’ Noetic Sciences Review, 2003; 63: 8–13 and 44–5; R. D. Nelson et al., ‘Correlatio of continuous random data with major world events’, Foundations of Physics Letters, 2002; 15 (6): 537–50.
D. I. Radin, ‘Exploring relationships between random physical events and mass human attention: Asking for whom the bell tolls’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (4): 533–47.
R. D. Nelson, ‘Coherent consciousness and reduced randomness Correlations on September 11, 2001’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16
J. D. Scargle, ‘Commentary: Was there evidence of global consciousness on September 11, 2001?’ Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (4): 571–7.
Nelson et al., ‘Correlation of continuous random data’, op. cit.
M. C. Dillbeck et al., ‘The Transcendental Meditation program and crim rate change in a sample of 48 cities’, Journal of Crime and Justice, 1981; 4: 25–45.
J. Hagelin et al., ‘Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditatio program on preventing violent crime in Washington, D. C.: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June–July 1993’,Social Indicators Research, 1999; 47 (2):
153–201.
W. Orme-Johnson et al., ‘International peace project in the Middle East: the effects of the Maharishi technology of the unified field’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1988; 32: 776–812.
K. L. Cavanaugh et al., ‘Consciousness and the quality of economic life empirical research on the macroeconomic effects of the collective practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program.’ Paper originally presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Management Society, Chicago, Marc 1989, published in R. G. Greenwood (ed.), Proceedings of the Midwest Management Society, Chicago: Midwest Management Society, 1989: 183–90; K. L Cavanaugh et al., ‘A multiple-input transfer function model of Okun’s misery index: An empirical test of the Maharishi Effect.’ Paper presented at the Annual Meeting o the American Statistical Association, Washington D. C., August 6–10, 1989, an abridged version of the paper appears in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section, Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 1989: 565–70; K. L. Cavanaugh and K. D. King ‘Simultaneous transfer function analysis of Okun’s misery index: improvements in the economic quality of life through Maharishi’s Vedic Science and technology of consciousness.’ Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, August 22–25, 1988, an abridged version o the paper appears in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section, Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 1988: 491–6; K. L. Cavanaugh, ‘Time series analysis of U.S. an Canadian inflation and unemployment: A test of a field-theoretic hypothesis.’ Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association, San Francisco, California, August 17–20, 1987, published in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business andEconomics Statistics Section, Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 1987: 799–804.
Strong rains fall on fire-ravaged Amazon state, March 31, 1998, Web posted at: 6:46 p.m. EST (2346 GMT), Brasilia, Brazil (CNN) http://twm. co. nz/.
R. Nelson, ‘Wishing for good weather: a natural experiment in group consciousness’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (1): 47–58.
M. Emoto, The Hidden Messages in Water, New York: Atria, 2005.
Interview with Dean Radin, May 3, 2006.
Not her real name. I’ve changed her name at her request. Nevertheless, our meditators were shown her real name and photo.
R. Van Wijk and E. P. Van Wijk, ‘The search for a biosensor as a witness of a human laying on of hands ritual’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2003; 9 (2): 48–55.
Chapter 13: The Intention Exercises
See C. T. Tart, ‘Initial application of mindfulness extension exercises in a traditional Buddhist meditation retreat setting, 1995’, unpublished (www. paradigmsys. com/cttart).
R. McCraty et al., ‘The electricity of touch: Detection and measurement o cardiac energy exchange between people’, in K. H. Pribram (ed.), Brain and Values: Is a Biological Science of Values Possible? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, 1998: 359–79.
S. Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994.
S. Rinpoche, as quoted in J. Stone, Instructor’s Training Manual, Cours Syllabus: Training in Compassionate-Loving Intention, 2003.
H. Dienstfrey, Where the Mind Meets the Body, London: HarperCollins 1991: 39.
‘Strong rains fall on fire-ravaged Amazon state, March 31, 1998’, Web posted at: 6:46 p.m. EST (23:46 GMT), Brasilia, Brazil (CNN) http://twm co. nz/.
Achterberg, J. and Lawlis, G. F., Bridges of the Bodymind: Behavioral Approaches for Health Care, Champaign, Ill.: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing, 1980.
Achterberg, J. et al., ‘Evidence for correlations between distan intentionality and brain function in recipients: a functional magnetic resonance imagining analysis’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (6): 965–71.
Adams, M. H., ‘Variability in remote-viewing performance: possible relationship to the geomagnetic field’, in D. H. Weiner and D. I. Radin (eds.) Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1986.
Alexander, C. et al., ‘EEG and SPECT data of a selected subject durin psi tests: the discovery of a neurophysiological correlate’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1998; 62 (20): 102–4.
Allahverdiyev, A. R. et al., ‘Possible space weather influence on functional activity of the human brain.’ Paper presented at Space Weather Workshop: Looking Toward a European Space Weather Programme, November 17–19, 2001, ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
Andreassen, S. et al., ‘Using probabilistic and decision-theoretic methods in treatment and prognosis modeling’, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 1999; 15 (2): 121–34.
Arndt, M. et al., ‘Probing the limits of the quantum world’, Physics World, March 2005.
Arndt, M. et al., ‘Wave–particle duality of C60 molecules’, Nature, 1999; 401: 680–2.
Arnesen, C. et al., ‘Thermal and magnetic entanglement in the 1D Heisenberg Model’, Physical Review Letters, 2001; 87: 017901.
Astin, J. et al., ‘The efficacy of “distant healing”: a systematic review o randomized trials’, Annals of Internal Medicine, 2000; 132: 903–10.
Astin, J. A., ‘Mind-body therapies for the management of pain’, Clinical
Journal of Pain, 2004; 20 (1): 27–32.
Astin, J. A. et al., ‘Mind-body medicine: state of the science: implications for practice’, Journal of the American Board of Family Practitioners, 2003; 16 (2): 131–47.
Atmanspacher, H., ‘Mind and matter as asymptotically disjoint, inequivalent representations with broken time-reversal symmetry’, BioSystems, 2003; 68: 19–30.
Auerbach, L., Mind Over Matter: A Comprehensive Guide to Discovering Your Psychic Powers, New York: Kensington Books, 1996.
Aviles, J. M. et al., ‘Intercessory prayer and cardiovascular disease progression in a coronary care unit population: a randomized controlled trial’, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2001; 76 (12): 1192–8.
Babayev, E., ‘Some results of investigations on the space weather influence on functioning of several engineering-technical and communication systems and human health’, Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions, 2003; 22 (6): 861–7.
Backster, C., ‘Evidence of a primary perception in plant life’,
International Journal of Parapsychology, 1968; 10 (4): 329–48.
Backster, C., Primary Perception: Biocommunication with Plants Living Foods, and Human Cells, Anza, Calif.: White Rose Millennium Press, 2003.
Ban, M., ‘Measurement-induced enhancement of entanglement of a two- mode squeezed-vacuum state.’ Letter to the editor, Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics, 2005; 7: L4–L7.
Barber, T. X., ‘Changing “unchangeable” bodily processes by (hypnotic) suggestions: a new look at hypnosis, cognitions, imagining and the mind-body problem’, in A. A. Sheikh (ed.), Imagination and Healing, Farmingdale, NY: Baywood Publishing Co., 1984.
Baroga, L., ‘Influence on the sporting result of the concentration o attention process and time taken in the case of weight lifters’, in Proceedings of the Third World Congress of the International Society of Sports Psychology, Volume 3, Madrid, Spain: Instituto Nacional de Educacion Fisica Y Deportes, 1973.
Barr, K. and Hall, C., ‘The use of imagery by rowers’,International Journal of Sport Psychology, 1992; 23: 243–61.
Barrett, J., ‘Going the distance’, Intuition, June/July 1999: 30–1.
Basar-Eroglu, C., ‘Gamma-band responses in the brain: a short review of psychophysiological correlates and functional significance’, International Journal of Psychophysiology, 1996; 24 (1–2): 101–2.
Bell, I. R. et al., ‘Development and validation of a new global well
being outcomes rating scale for integrative medicine research’, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2004; 4: 1.
Bell, I. R. et al., ‘Gas discharge visualization evaluation o ultramolecular doses of homeopathic medicines under blinded, controlled conditions’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2003; 9 (1): 25–38.
Beloussov, L. and Louchinskaia, N. N., ‘Biophoton emission from developing eggs and embryos: nonlinearity, wholistic properties and indications of energy transfer’, in J. J. Chang et al. (eds.),Biophotons, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998: 121–40.
Benor, D. J., Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution, Southfield, Mich.: Vision Publications, 2001.
Benor, D. J., Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution Professional Supplement, Southfield, Mich.: Vision Publications 2002.
Benor, D. J., Healing Research: Holistic Energy Medicine and Spirituality, 4 vols., Deddington, Oxfordshire: Helix Editions Ltd, 1993.
Benson H., ‘Body temperature changes during the practice of g Tum-mo yoga (Matters Arising)’, Nature, 1982; 298: 402.
Benson, H. et al., ‘Body temperature changes during the practice of g tum-mo (heat) yoga’, Nature, 1982; 295: 234–6.
Benson, H. et al., ‘Decreased systolic blood pressure through operan conditioning techniques in patients with essential hypertension’, Science, 1971; 173 (3998): 740–2.
Benson, H. et al., ‘Study of the therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: a multi-center randomized trial o uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer’, American Heart Journal, 2006; 151 (4): 934–42.
Benson, H. et al., ‘Three case reports of the metabolic and electroencephalographic changes during advanced Buddhist meditation techniques’, Behavioral Medicine, 1990; 16 (2): 90–5.
Bernardi, L. et al., ‘Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study’, British Medical Journal, 2001; 323: 1446–9.
Bierman, D., ‘Do PSI-phenomena suggest radical dualism?’ in S Hammeroff et al. (eds.), Toward a Science of Consciousness II, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1998: 709–14.
Bierman, D. J. and Houtkooper, J. M., ‘Exploratory PK tests with programmable high speed random number generator’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1975; 1–1: 3–14.
Binhi, V. N. and Savin, A. V., ‘Molecular gyroscopes and biological effects of weak extremely low-frequency magnetic fields’, Physical Review E, 2002; 65: 051912–22.
Blasband, R., ‘The ordering of random events by emotional expression’
Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2000; 14 (2): 195–216.
Blasband, R. A., ‘Working with the body in psychotherapy from a Reichian viewpoint’, AHP Perspective, June 2005.
Blasband, R. A. and Martin, G., ‘Biophoton emission in “orgone energy” treated cress seeds, seedlings and Acetabularia’, International Consciousness Research Laboratory, ICRL Report No 93.6.
Booth, J. N. et al., ‘Ranking of stimuli that evoked memories in significant others after exposure to circumcerebral magnetic fields: correlations with ambient geomagnetic activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 95 (2): 555–8.
Bose, S., ‘Multiparticle generation of entanglement swapping’, Physical Review A, 1998; 57 (2): 822–9.
Bratman, M. E., ‘What is intention?’ in M. Pollack, P. Cohen and J. L Morgan (eds.), Intentions in Communication, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1990: 15–31.
Braud, W., ‘Transcending the limits of time’, The Inner Edge: A Resource for Enlightened Business Practice, 1999; 2 (6): 16–18.
Braud, W., ‘Wellness implications of retroactive intentional influence: exploring an outrageous hypothesis’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2000; 6 (1): 37–48.
Braud, W. and Schlitz, M., ‘Psychokinetic influence on electrodermal activity’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1983; 47 (2): 95–119.
Braud, W. et al., ‘Experiments with Matthew Manning’, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1979; 50: 199–223.
Braud, W. G. ‘Can our intentions interact directly with the physical world?’ European Journal of Parapsychology, 1994; 10: 78–90.
Braud, W. G. and Dennis, S. P., ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior, LVIII: Autonomic activity, hemolysis and biological psychokinesis: possible relationships with geomagnetic field activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989; 68: 1243–54.
Braud, W. G. and Schlitz, M. J., ‘A method for the objective study o transpersonal imagery’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1989; 3 (1): 43–
63.
Braud W. G. and Schlitz, M. J., ‘Consciousness interactions with remot biological systems: anomalous intentionality effects’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1991; 2 (1): 1–27.
Braud, W. G. et al., ‘Further studies of autonomic detection of remote staring: replication, new control procedures and personality correlates’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1993; 57: 391–409.
Braud, W. G. et al., ‘Further studies of the bio-PK effect: feedback blocking specificity/generality’, in R. White and J. Solfvin (eds.),Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1984: 45–8.
Brooks, M., ‘Curiouser and curiouser’,New Scientist, 2003; 178 (2394): 28.
Brooks, M., ‘Entanglement: the weirdest link’, New Scientist, 2004; 181 (2440): 32–5.
Broughton, R. S., Parapsychology: The Controversial Science, New York: Ballantine Books, 1991.
Brown, D. et al., ‘Differences in visual sensitivity among mindfulness meditators and non-meditators’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1984; 58 (3): 775–84.
Brukner, C. et al., ‘Crucial role of quantum entanglement in bulk properties of solids’, Physical Review A, 2006; 73: 012100–4.
Buccheri, R. et al. (eds.), Abstracts of Talks, ‘Endophysics, Time, Quantum and the Subjective.’ ZiF interdisciplinary research workshop January 17–22, 2005, Bielefeld, Germany.
Bundzen, P.V. et al., ‘Altered states of consciousness; review of experimental data obtained with a multiple techniques approach’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2002; 8 (2): 153–65.
Bundzen, P.V. et al., ‘Psychophysiological correlates of athletic success in athletes training for the Olympics’, Human Physiology, 2005; 31 (3): 316–
23.
Bunnell, T., ‘A tentative mechanism for healing’, Positive Health, December 1997; 23.
Bunnell, T., ‘The effect of “healing with intent” on pepsin enzyme activity’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1999; 13 (2): 139–48.
Bureau, Y. and Persinger, M., ‘Decreased latencies for limbic seizures induced in rats by lithium-pilocarpine occur when daily average geomagnetic activity exceeds 20 nanotesla’, Neuroscience Letters, 1995; 192: 142–4.
Bureau, Y. and Persinger, M., ‘Geomagnetic activity and enhanced mortality in rats with acute (epileptic) limbic lability’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1992;
36: 226–32.
Burhans, R. S. et al., ‘Mental imagery training: effects on running speed performance’, International Journal of Sport Psychology, 1988; 19: 26–37.
Burleson, K. O. et al., ‘Energy healing training and heart rate variability.’ Letter to editor, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (3): 391–5.
Byrd, R. C., ‘Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a coronary care unit population’, Southern Medical Journal, 1988, 81 (7): 826–9.
Cautela, J. R. and Kearney, A. J. (eds.), Covert Conditioning Casebook, Boston, Mass.: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 1993.
Cavanaugh, K. L., ‘Time series analysis of U. S. and Canadian inflatio and unemployment: a test of a field-theoretic hypothesis’, in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistic Section, Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 1987: 799–804.
Cavanaugh, K. L. and King, K. D., ‘Simultaneous transfer functio analysis of Okun’s misery index: improvements in the economic quality of life through Maharishi’s Vedic science and technology of consciousness’, in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section, Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 1988: 491–6.
Cavanaugh, K. L. et al., ‘A multiple-input transfer function model o Okun’s misery index: an empirical test of the Maharishi effect’, in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section, Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 1989: 565–70.
Cavanaugh, K. L. et al., ‘Consciousness and the quality of economic life empirical research on the macroeconomic effects of the collective practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program’, in R. G Greenwood (ed.), Proceedings of the Midwest Management Society, Chicago, Ill.: Midwest Management Society, 1989: 183–90.
Chang, J.J. et al., ‘Communication between dinoflagellates by means o photon emission’, in L. V. Beloussov and F.-A. Popp (eds.), Proceedings of International Conference on Non-equilibrium and Coherent Systems in Biophysics, Biology and Biotechnology, Sep. 28–Oct.2, 1994, Moscow: Bioinform Services Co., 1995: 318–30.
Chang, J. J. et al., ‘Research on cell communication ofP. elegans by means of photon emission’, Chinese Science Bulletin, 1995; 40: 76–9.
Chase, M. H. et al., ‘Afferent vagal stimulation: neurographic correlates of induced EEG synchronization and desynchronization’, Brain Research, 1967; 5: 236–49.
Chen, Z. B. et al., ‘All-versus-nothing violation of local realism for two entangled photons’, Physical Review Letters, 2003; 90: 160408.
Claghorn, J. L., ‘Directional effects of skin temperature self-regulation on regional cerebral blood flow in normal subjects and migraine patients’, American Journal of Psychiatry, 1981; 138 (9): 1182–7.
Clemente, C. D. et al., ‘Postreinforcement EEG synchronization durin alimentary behavior’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1964; 16: 335–65.
Co. S. and Robins, E. B.,Your Hands Can Heal You, New York: Free Press, 2002.
Cohen, K. S., The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chines Energy Healing, New York: Bantam, 1997.
Cohen, P., ‘Mental gymnastics’, New Scientist, November 24, 2001; 172
(2318): 17.
Cohen S. and Popp, F.-A., ‘Biophoton emission of the human body’
Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, 1997; 40: 187–9.
Cohen, S. et al., ‘Non-local effects of biophoton emission from the human body’, www.lifescientists.de.
Connor, M., ‘Baseline testing of energy practitioners: biophoton imaging results.’ Paper presented at the North American Research in Integrative Medicine conference, Edmonton, Canada, May 2006.
Connor, M. et al., ‘Oscillation of amplitude as measured by an extra low frequency magnetic field meter as a biophysical measure of intentionality.’ Paper presented at the Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference Tuscon, Arizona, April 2006.
Cooperstein, M. A., ‘The myths of healing: a summary of research into transpersonal healing experience’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1992; 86: 99–133.
Corby, J. C. et al., ‘Psychophysiological correlates of the practice o Tantric Yoga meditation’, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 1985; 61: 301–4.
Cornélissen, G. et al., ‘Chronomes, time structures, for chronobioengineering for “a full life”’, Biomedical Instrumentation and Technology, 1999; 33 (2): 152–87.
Cornélissen, G. et al., ‘Is a birth-month-dependence of human longevity influenced by half-yearly changes in geomagnetics?’ ‘Physics of Auroral Phenomena’, Proceedings, XXV Annual Seminar, Apatity: Polar Geophysica Institute, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Science, February 26 March 1; 2002; 161–6.
Cornélissen, G. et al., ‘Non-photic solar associations of heart rate variability and myocardial infarction’, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar- terrestrial Physics, 2002; 64: 707–20. Creath, K. and Schwartz, G. E., ‘Wha biophoton images of plants can tell us about biofields and healing’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2005; 19 (4): 531–50.
Creath, K., ‘Biophoton images of plants: revealing the light within’
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (1): 23–6.
Creath, K. and Schwartz, G. E., ‘Measuring effects of music, noise, an healing energy using a seed germination bioassay’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (1): 113–22.
Crombie, W. J., ‘Meditation changes temperatures: mind controls body in extreme experiments’, Harvard University Gazette, April 18, 2002.
Damasio, A. R., Descartes’ Error, New York: Grosset-Putnam, 1994.
Das N. and Gastaut H., ‘Variations in the electrical activity of the brain heart and skeletal muscles during yogic meditation and trance’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1955, Supplement no 6: 211–19.
Davidson, R. J., ‘Alterations in brain and immune function produced by
Davidson, R. J. and van Reekum, C. M., ‘Emotion is not one thing’
Psychological Inquiry, 2005; 16: 16–18.
Davidson, R. J. et al., ‘Alterations in brain and immune function produce by mindfulness meditation’, Psychosomatic Medicine, 2003; 65: 564–70.
Davis, K. et al., ‘Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms’
Physical Review Letters, 1995; 75: 3969–73.
de la Fuente-Fernández, R. et al., ‘Expectation and dopamine release mechanism of the placebo effect in Parkinson’s disease’, Science, 2001: 293 (5532): 1164–6.
Delanoy, D. et al., ‘An EDADMILS study exploring agent-receive pa i r i ng’ , Proceedings of Presented Papers, The Parapsychological Association, 42nd Annual Convention, 1999: 68–82.
Denis, M., ‘Visual imagery and the use of mental practice in the development of motor skills’, Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 1985; 10: 4S–16S.
Dennett, D., ‘Three kinds of intentional psychology’, inThe Intentional Stance, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1987: 43–68.
Derr, J. S. and Persinger, M. A., ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior LIV: Zeitoun (Egypt) apparitions of the Virgin Mary as tectonic strain induced luminosities’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989; 68: 123–8.
Diamond, J., Life Energy, New South Wales: Angus & Robertson, 1992. Diamond, J., Your Body Doesn’t Lie, New York: HarperCollins, 1979.
Dibble, W. E. and Tiller, W. A., ‘Electronic device-mediated pH changes in water’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1999; 13: 2–10.
Dienstfrey, H., Where the Mind Meets the Body, London: HarperCollins, 1991.
Dienstfrey, H., ‘Mind and mindlessness in mind-body research’, in M Schlitz et al. (eds.), Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Healing, St Louis, Mo.: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, 2005 51–60.
Dillbeck, M. C. et al., ‘The Transcendental Meditation program and crime rate change in a sample of 48 cities’, Journal of Crime and Justice, 1981; 4: 25–45.
Dobie, T. G., ‘A comparison of two methods of training resistance to visually-induced motion sickness.’ Paper presented at VII International Ma in Space Symposium: Physiologic Adaptation of Man in Space, Houston Texas, 1986. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 1987; 58 (9),
Sect. 2: 34–41.
Dossey, L., Be Careful What You Pray For … You Just Might Get It, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.
Dossey, L., ‘Commentary’, Archives of Internal Medicine, 2000; 160; 1735–8.
Dossey, L., Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice o Medicine, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.
Dossey, L., ‘How healing happens: exploring the nonlocal gap’,
Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2002; 8 (2): 12–16, 103–
110.
Dossey, L., Meaning and Medicine: Lessons from a Doctor’s Tales of Breakthrough Healing, New York: Bantam, 1991.
Dossey, L., ‘Prayer experiments: science or folly? Observations on the Harvard prayer study’, Network Review (UK), 2006; 91: 22–3.
Duane, T. D. and Behrendt, T., ‘Extrasensory electroencephalographic induction between identical twins’, Science, 1965; 150: 367.
Dubrov, A. P., ‘Distant mental healing: influence of intercessory prayers and qigong therapy’, The International Journal of Healing and Caring On line, 2005; 5 (3).
Dubrov, A. P. and Pushkin, V. N., Parapsychology and Contemporary Science, New York and London: Consultants Bureau, 1982.
Dunn, B. R. et al., ‘Concentration and mindfulness meditations: unique forms of consciousness?’ Applied Psychophysioloical Biofeedback, 1999; 24 (3): 147–65.
Dunne, B. J., ‘Co-operator experiments with an REG device’, PEA Technical Note 91005, Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Princeton, New Jersey, December 1991.
Early, L. F. and Kifschutz, J. E., ‘A case of stigmata’, Archives of General Psychiatry, 1974; 30: 197–200.
Ebisch, R., ‘It’s all in the timing’, Sky Magazine, 1995.
Edelman, G. M. and Tononi, G., Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination, London: Penguin, 2000.
Eden, D., Energy Medicine, London: Piatkus, 1998.
Ekman, P. et al., ‘Buddhist and psychological perspectives on emotions and well-being’, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2005; 14: 59–63.
Eller, L. S., ‘Guided imagery interventions for symptom management’
Annual Review of Nursing Research, 1999; 17: 57–84.
Emoto, M., The Hidden Messages in Water, New York: Atria, 2005.
Fahrion, S. et al., ‘Biobehavioral treatment of essential hypertension: a group outcome study’, Biofeedback and Self Regulation, 1986; 11 (4): 257–
77.
Fahrion, S. et al., ‘EEG amplitude, brain mapping and synchrony in and between a bioenergy practitioner and client during healing’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1992; 3 (1): 19–52.
Feltz, D. L. et al., ‘A revised meta-analysis of the mental practice literature on motor skill learning’, in D. Druckman and J. A. Swets (eds.) Enhancing Human Performance: Issues, Theories, and Techniques,
Fenwick, P. B., ‘Metabolic and EEG changes during transcendenta meditation: an explanation’, Biological Psychology, 1977; 5 (2): 101–18.
Feynman, R. P., Six Easy Pieces: The Fundamentals of Physics Explained, London: Penguin, 1995.
Ford, L. H. and Roman, T. A., ‘Negative energy, wormholes and warp drive’, special edition of Scientific American, 2003; 13 (1): 77–83.
Francomano, C. A., Jonas, W. B. and Chez, R. A. (eds.),Proceedings: Measuring the Human Energy Field: State of the Science. The Gerontology Research Center, National Institute of Aging, National Institutes of Health Baltimore, Maryland, April 17–18, 2002.
Frantzis, B. K., Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body, Berkeley, Calif.: Blue Snake Books, 2006.
Frantzis, B. K., The Water Method of Taoist Meditation, Volume I: Relaxing Into Your Being: Breathing, Chi and Dissolving the Ego, Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 1998.
Frantzis, B. K., The Water Method of Taoist Meditation, Volume 2: The Great Stillness: Body Awareness, Moving Meditation and Sexual Ch Gung, Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 1999.
Freedman, M. et al., ‘Effects of frontal lobe lesions on intentionality and random physical phenomena’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2003; 17 (4): 651–68.
Freeman, W. J., How Brains Make Up their Minds, London: Orion Books, 1999.
Friedman, H. et al., ‘Geomagnetic parameters and psychiatric hospital admissions’, Nature, 1963; 200: 626–8.
Fröhlich, H., ‘Long range coherence and energy storage in biological systems’, Int. J. Quantum Chem., 1968; II: 641–9.
Fujita, A., ‘An experimental study on the theoretical basis of mental training’, in Proceedings of the 3rd World Congress of the International Society of Sports Psychology: Volume Abstracts, Madrid, Spain: Instituto Nacional de Educacion Fisica Y Deportes, 1973: 37–8.
Galle, R. M. et al., ‘Biophoton emission fromDaphnia magna: a possible factor in the self-regulation of swarming’, Experientia, 1991; 47: 457–460.
Gershon, M., The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understanding of Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine, London: HarperCollins, 1999.
Ghosh, S. et al., ‘Coherent spin oscillations in a disordered magnet’
Science, 2002; 296: 2195–8.
Ghosh, S. et al., ‘Entangled quantum state of magnetic dipoles’, Nature, 2003; 435: 48–51.
Gissurarson, L. R., ‘The psychokinesis effect: geomagnetic influence
age and sex differences’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1992; 6 (2): 157–65.
Gnevyshev, M. N., ‘Essential features of the 11-year solar cycle’, Solar Physics, 1977;
51: 175–82. Goleman, D., Destructive Emotions and How We Can Overcome Them, London: Bloomsbury Press, 2004. Goleman, D.,Emotional Intelligence, London: Bloomsbury Press, 1996.
Goleman, D., ‘Meditation and consciousness: an Asian approach to mental health’, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 1976; 30 (1): 41–54.
Goleman, D., ‘Why the brain blocks daytime dreams’, Psychology Today, 1976; March: 69–71.
Grad, B., ‘Dimensions in “Some biological effects of the laying on o hands” and their implications’, in H. A. Otto and J. W. Knight (eds.) Dimension in Wholistic Healing: New Frontiers in the Treatment of the Whole Person, Chicago, Ill.: Nelson-Hall, 1979: 199–212.
Grad, B., ‘Science investigates laying on of hands’, Proceedings o ‘Mind in Search of Itself’, Mind Science Foundation and Silva Internationa Washington, DC, November 25–26, 1972.
Grad, B., ‘The “laying on of hands”: implications for psychotherapy, gentling and the placebo effect’, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1967; 61 (4): 286–305.
Green, E. E., ‘Copper wall research psychology and psychophysics subtle energies and energy medicine: emerging theory and practice’, Proceedings, First Annual Conference, International Society for the Study o Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM), Boulder, Colorado, 21 25 June, 1991.
Green, E. E., ‘Feedback technique for deep relaxation’
Psychophysiology, 1969; 6 (3): 371–7.
Green, E. E. et al., ‘Anomalous electrostatic phenomena in exceptiona subjects’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1993; 2: 69.
Green, E. E. et al., ‘Self-regulation of internal states’, in J. Rose (ed.) Progress of Cybernetics: Proceedings of the First International Congress of Cybernetics, London, September 1969, London: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1970: 1299–1318.
Green, E. E. et al., ‘Voluntary control of internal states: psychological and physiological’, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1970; 2: 1–26.
Greyson, B., ‘Distance healing of patients with major depression’
Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1996; 10 (4): 447–65.
Gribbin, J., Q is for Quantum: Particle Physics from A to Z, London: Phoenix Giant, 1999.
Grinberg-Zylberbaum, J. and Ramos, J., ‘Patterns of interhemispher correlations during human communication’, International Journal of Neuroscience, 1987; 36: 41–53.
Grinberg-Zylberbaum, J. et al., ‘Human communication and the electrophysiological activity of the brain’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1992; 3 (3): 25–43.
Grinberg-Zylberbaum, J. et al., ‘The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen parado in the brain: the transferred potential’, Physics Essays, 1994; 7 (4): 422–8.
Grover, L., ‘Quantum computing’, The Sciences, July/August 1999: 24–
30.
Gruber, E. R., ‘Conformance behavior involving animal and human
subjects’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1979; 3 (1): 36–50.
Gruber, E. R., ‘PK effects on pre-recorded group behaviour of living systems’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1980; 3 (2): 167–75.
Gunlycke, D., ‘Thermal concurrence mixing in a one-dimensional Ising model’, Physical Review A, 2001; 64: 042302–9.
Gurfinkel, I. et al., ‘Assessment of the effect of a geomagnetic storm on the frequency of appearance of acute cardiovascular pathology’, Biofizika, 1998; 43 (4): 654–8.
Hackermueller, L., ‘The wave nature of biomolecules and fluorofullerenes’, Physical Review Letters, 2003; 91: 090408.
Hadhazy, V. A. et al., ‘Mind-body therapies for the treatment of fibromyalgia. A systematic review’, Journal of Rheumatology, 2000; 27 (12): 2911–18.
Hagan, S. et al., ‘Quantum computation in brain microtubules: decoherence and biological feasibility’, Physical Review E, 2002; 65: 061901–11.
Hagelin, J. et al., ‘Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program on preventing violent crime in Washington, D. C.: results of the National Demonstration Project, June–July 1993’,Social Indicators Research, 1999; 47 (2): 153–201.
Hagen, S., Buddhism Plain and Simple, New York: Broadway Books, 1999.
Haisch, B., Rueda, A. and Puthoff, H. E., ‘Inertia as a zero-point-fiel Lorentz force’, Physical Review A, 1994; 49 (2): 678–94.
Haisch, B., Rueda, A. and Puthoff, H. E., ‘Physics of the zero-poin field: implications for inertia, gravitation and mass’, Speculations in Science and Technology, 1997; 20: 99–114.
Halberg, F., ‘Transdisciplinary unifying implications of circadian findings in the 1950s’, Journal of Circadian Rhythms, 2003; 1: 2.
Halberg, F. et al., ‘Cross-spectrally coherent about 10-5- and 21-year biological and physical cycles, magnetic storms and myocardial infarctions’, Neuroendrocrinology Letters, 2000; 21: 233–58.
Hall, S. S., ‘Is Buddhism good for your health?’New York Times Magazine, September 14, 2003: 47–9.
Hameroff, S. R., ‘Cytoplasmic gel states and ordered water: possible
roles in biological quantum coherence.’ Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Advanced Water Sciences Symposium, Dallas, Texas, 1996.
Hameroff, S. R. et al. (eds.), Toward a Science of Consciousness II: The Second Tucson Discussions and Debate, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1998.
Harrington, A. (ed.), The Placebo Effect: An Interdisciplinary Exploration, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Harris, W. et al., ‘A randomised, controlled trial of the effects of remote, intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients admitted to the coronary care unit’, Archives of Internal Medicine, 1999; 159 (19): 2273–8.
Henderson, M., ‘Hypnosis really does turn black into white’, The Times, February 18, 2002.
Hercz, R., ‘The God helmet’,SATURDAYNIGHT magazine, October 2002: 40–6.
Hillman, D. et al., ‘About-10 yearly (Circadecennian) cosmo-helio geomagnetic signatures in Acetabularia’, Scripta Medica (BRNO), 2002; 75 (6): 303–8.
Hinshaw, K. E., ‘The effects of mental practice on motor skill performance: critical evaluation and meta-analysis’, Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 1991–2; 11: 3–35.
Hitt, J., ‘This is your brain on God’,Wired, November 1999; issue 7.11. Hodges, R. D. and Schofield, A. M., ‘Is spiritual healing a valid an effective therapy?’ Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1995; 88:
2033–7.
Holmes, E., Living the Science of Mind, Marina del Rey, Calif.: DeVorss & Company, 1984.
Holmes, R., ‘In search of God’, New Scientist, April 21, 2001; 2287.
Ikemi, A. et al., ‘Thermographical analysis of the warmth of the hands during the practice of self-regulation method’, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 1988; 50 (1): 22–8.
Jahn, R. G. et al., ‘Correlations of random binary sequences with pre stated operator intention: a review of a 12-year program’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (3): 345–67.
January Bishop, J. P. and Stenger, V. J., ‘Retroactive prayer: lots of history, not much mystery, and no science’, British Medical Journal, 2004; 329: 1444–6.
Jibu, M. and Yasue, K., Quantum Brain Dynamics and Consciousness, Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1995.
Jibu, M. et al., ‘Quantum optical coherence in cytoskeletal microtubules: implications for brain function’, Biosystems, 1994; 32: 195–209.
Josephson, B. D. and Pallikari-Viras, F., ‘Biological utilisation o quantum nonlocality’, Foundations of Physics, 2001; 21: 197–207.
Kamiya, J., ‘Operant control of the EEG alpha rhythm’, in C. Tart (ed.)
Altered States of Consciousness, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1969.
Kappes, B. M., ‘Sequence effects of relaxation training, EMG, an temperature biofeedback on anxiety, symptom report, and self-concept’, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1983; 39 (2): 203–8.
Kashulin, P. A. et al., ‘Phenolic biochemical pathway in plants can be used for the bioindication of heliogeophysical factors’, ‘Physics of Auroral Phenomena’, Proceedings, XXV Annual Seminar, Apatity: Polar Geophysica Institute, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Science, February 26 March 1; 2002: 153–6.
Kaufman, M., ‘Meditation gives brain a charge, study finds’
Washington Post, January 3, 2005.
Keen, J., Consciousness, Intent and the Structure of the Universe, Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing, 2005.
Keicolt-Glaser, J. K., ‘Hostile marital interactions, proinflammatory cytokine production, and wound healing’, Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005; 62 (12): 1377–84.
Koren, S. A. and Persinger, M. A., ‘Possible disruption of remote viewing by complex weak magnetic fields around the stimulus site and the possibility of accessing real phase space: a pilot study’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 95 (3 Pt 1): 989–98.
Korotkov, K. et al., ‘Assessing biophysical energy transfer mechanisms in living systems: the basis of life processes’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (1): 49–57.
Korotkov, K. et al., ‘Stress diagnosis and monitoring with new computerized “Crown-TV” device’, Journal of Pathophysiology, 1998; 5: 227.
Kosslyn, S. M. et al., ‘Hypnotic visual illusion alters color processing in the brain’, American Journal of Psychiatry, 2000; 157: 1279–84.
Krippner, S., ‘Dancing with the trickster: notes for a transpersonal autobiography’, International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 2002; 21: 1–18.
Krippner, S., ‘Possible geomagnetic field effects in psi phenomena.’ Paper presented at international parapsychology conference in Recife, Brazil November 1997.
Krippner, S., ‘Psi research and the human brain’s “reserve capacities”’, D y n a m i c a l Psychology, 1996; available online: http://goertzel.org/dynapsych/1996/stan. html.
Krippner, S., ‘Psychoneurological dimensions of anomalous experience in relation to religious belief and spiritual practice’, in K. Bulkeley (ed.), Soul, Psyche, Brain, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005: 61–92.
Krippner, S., ‘Stigmatic phenomenon: an alleged case in Brazil’
Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (2): 207–24.
Krippner, S., ‘The epistemology and technologies of shamanic states of
consciousness’, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2000; 7: 93–118.
Krippner, S., ‘The technologies of shamanic states of consciousness’, in
M. Schlitz et al. (eds.), Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine, St Louis, Mo.: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, 2005 376–90.
Krippner, S., ‘Trance and the trickster: hypnosis as a liminal phenomenon’, International Journal of Clinical and Experimenta Hypnosis, 2005, 53 (2): 97–118.
Krippner, S. and Persinger, M., ‘Evidence for enhanced congruence between dreams and distant target material during periods of decreased geomagnetic activity’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1996; 10: 487–93.
Krippner, S. et al., ‘Geomagnetic factors in subjective precognitive dream experiences’, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 2000; 64 (859): 109–18.
Krippner, S. et al., ‘Physiological and geomagnetic correlates of apparent anomalous phenomena observed in the presence of a Brazilian “sensitive”’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1996; 10: 281–98.
Krippner, S. et al., ‘The indigenous healing tradition in Calabria, Italy.’ Paper presented at the Annual Conference for the Study of Shamanism and Alternative Modes of Healing, San Rafael, California, September 2004.
Krippner, S. et al., ‘The Ramtha phenomenon: psychological phenomenological, and geomagnetic data’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1998; 92: 1–24.
Krippner, S. et al., ‘Working with Ramtha: is it a “high risk” procedure?’ Proceedings of Presented Papers, the Parapsychological Association 41st Annual Convention, 1998: 50–63.
Krucoff, M. et al., ‘From efficacy to safety concerns: a STEP forward o a step back for clinical research and intercessory prayer? The Study of Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP)’,American Heart Journal, 2006; 151 (4): 762.
Krucoff, M. et al., ‘Music, imagery, touch and prayer as adjuncts to interventional cardiac care: the Monitoring and Actualisation of Noetic Trainings (MANTRA) II randomised study’,The Lancet, 2005; 366: 211–17.
Krucoff, M. W., ‘Integrative noetic therapies as adjuncts to percutaneous intervention during unstable coronary syndromes: Monitoring and Actualization of Noetic Training (MANTRA) feasibility pilot’,American Heart Journal, 2001; 142 (5): 760–7.
Krueger, A. P. and Sobel, D. S., ‘Air ions and health’, in David S. Sobe (ed.), Ways of Health: Holistic Approaches to Ancient and Contemporary Medicine, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979.
Larina, O. N. et al., ‘Effects of spaceflight factors on recombinan protein expression in E. coli producing strains’, in ‘Biomedical Research on the Science/NASA Project’, Abstracts of the Third US/Russian Symposium
Huntsville, Alabama, November 10–13, 1997: 110–11.
Lashley, J. K. et al., ‘An empirical account of temperature biofeedback applied in groups’, Psychological Reports, 1987; 60 (2): 379–88.
Laszlo, E., Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory o Everything, Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2004.
Laszlo, E., The Interconnected Universe: Conceptual Foundations o Transdiscipinary Unified Theory, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 1995.
Lazar, S. et al., ‘Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness’, NeuroReport, 2005; 16: 1893–7.
Lazar, S. W. et al., ‘Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation’, NeuroReport, 2000; 11: 1581–5.
Leibovici, L., ‘Alternative (complementary) medicine: a cuckoo in the nest of empiricist reed warblers’, British Medical Journal, 1999; 319: 1629–32.
Leibovici, L., ‘Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients with blood stream infection: randomized controlled trial’, British Medical Journal, 2001; 323 (7327): 1450–1.
LeShan, L., The Medium, the Mystic and the Physicist: Towards a Theory of the Paranormal, New York: Helios, 2003.
LeShan L. L. and Gassmann, M. L., ‘Some observations o psychotherapy with patients with neoplastic disease’, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 1958; 12: 723–34.
Letters, ‘Effect of retroactive prayer’, British Medical Journal, 2002; 324: 1037.
Letters, BMJ Online, December 22, 2003.
Lobach, E. and Bierman, D. J., ‘Who’s calling at this hour? Loca sidereal time and telephone telepathy’, Proceedings of Presented Papers, 47th Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association Convention Vienna, August 5–8, 2004.
Luskin, F. M. et al., ‘A review of mind-body therapies in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, Part 1: Implications for the elderly’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1998; 4 (3): 46–61.
Luskin, F. M. et al., ‘A review of mind/body therapies in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders with implications for the elderly’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2000; 6 (2): 46–56.
Lutz, A. et al., ‘Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2004; 16, 101(46): 16369–73.
McCraty, R., ‘Influence of cardiac afferent input on heart-brain synchronization and cognitive performance’, International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2002; 45 (1–2): 72–3.
McCraty, R. et al., ‘Electrophysiological evidence of intuition: Part 1
The surprising role of the heart’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (1): 133–43.
McCraty, R. et al., ‘Electrophysiological evidence of intuition: Part 2. A system-wide process?’ Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (2): 325–36.
McCraty, R. et al., ‘Head-heart entrainment: a preliminary survey’, in Proceedings of the Brain-Mind Applied Neurophysiology EEG Neurofeedback Meeting. Key West, Florida, 1996.
McCraty, R. et al., ‘The electricity of touch: detection and measuremen of cardiac energy exchange between people’, in Karl H. Pribram (ed.), Brain and Values: Is a Biological Science of Values Possible? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998: 359–79.
McGugan, E. A., ‘Sudden unexpected deaths in epileptics – literature review’, Scottish Medical Journal, 1999; 44 (5): 137–9.
McKay, B. and Persinger, M., ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior LXXXVII: Effects of synthetic and natural geomagnetic patterns on maz learning’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1999; 89 (3 pt 1): 1023–4.
McTaggart, L., The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe, London: HarperCollins, 2001.
McTaggart, L., What Doctors Don’t Tell You: The Truth about the Dangers of Modern Medicine, London: HarperCollins, 2005.
Mailer, N., The Fight, London and New York: Penguin, 2000.
Malle, B. F. et al., Intentions and Intentionality: Foundations of Social Cognition, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 2001.
Maris, G. et al., ‘Geomagnetic consequences of the solar flares during the last Hale solar cycle (II)’, in H. Sawaya-Lacoste (ed.),Proceedings of the Second Solar Cycle and Space Weather Euroconference, September 24– 29, 2001, Vico Equense, Italy. Noordwijk, the Netherlands: ESA Publications, 2002: 451–4.
Michon, A. L. and Persinger, M. A., ‘Experimental simulation of the effects of increased geomagnetic activity upon nocturnal seizures in epileptic rats’, Neuroscience Letters, 1997; 224: 53–6.
Michon, A. L. et al., ‘Attempts to simulate the association between geomagnetic activity and spontaneous seizures in rats using experimentally generated magnetic fields’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1996; 82 (2): 619–
26.
Mikulecky, M., ‘Lunisolar tidal waves, geomagnetic activity and epilepsy in the light of multivariate coherence’, Brazilian Journal of Medicine, 1996; 29 (8): 1069–72.
Miller, R. N., ‘Study of remote mental healing’, Medical Hypotheses, 1982; 8: 481–90.
Miller, R. N., ‘The positive effect of prayer on plants’, Psychic, 1972; 3 (5): 24–5.
Minas, S. C., ‘Mental practice of a complex perceptual-motor skill’
Journal of Human Movement Studies, 1978; 4: 102–7.
Mizun, Y. G. and Mizun, P. G., Space and Health, Moscow: ‘Znanie’, 1984.
Monafo, W. W. and West, M. A., ‘Current recommendations for topical burn therapy’, Drugs, 1990; 40: 364–73.
Moseley, J. B. et al., ‘A controlled trial of arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee’, New England Journal of Medicine, 2002; 347: 81–8.
Mourou, G. A. and Umstadter, D., ‘Extreme light’, in ‘The edge o physics’, Special edition of Scientific American, 2002; 286: 80–6.
Muehsam, D. J. et al., ‘Effects of Qigong on cell-free myosi phosphorylation: preliminary experiments’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1994; 5 (1): 93–108.
Mumford, B. and Hall, C., ‘The effects of internal and external imager on performing figures in figure skating’, Canadian Journal of Applied Spor Sciences, 1985; 10: 171–7.
Murphy, M. et al., The Physiological and Psychological Effects o Meditation: A Review of Contemporary Research With a Comprehensive Bibliography, 1931–1996, Petaluma, Calif.: The Institute of Noetic Sciences 1997.
Nash, C. B., ‘Test of psychokinetic control of bacterial mutation’,
Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1984; 78: 145–52.
Nash, C. B. and Nash, C. S., ‘The effect of paranormally conditione solution on yeast fermentation’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1967; 31: 314.
Nelson, L. and Schwartz, G. E., ‘Human biofield and intention detection individual differences’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (1): 93–101.
Nelson, R., ‘Correlation of global events with REG data: an internet based, nonlocal anomalies experiment’, Journal of Parapsychology, 2001; 65: 247–71.
Nelson, R., ‘Wishing for good weather: a natural experiment in group consciousness’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (1): 47–58.
Nelson, R. D., ‘Coherent consciousness and reduced randomness correlations on September 11, 2001’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (4): 549–70.
Nelson, R. D., ‘The physical basis of intentional healing systems’ Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research, PEAR Technical Report, 99001 Princeton, New Jersey, January 1999.
Nelson, R. D. et al., ‘Correlation of continuous random data with majo world events’, Foundations of Physics Letters, 2002; 15 (6): 537–50.
Nelson, R. D. et al., ‘FieldREG anomalies in group situations’,Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1996; 10 (1): 111–14.
Nelson, R. D. et al., ‘FieldREGII: consciousness field effects replications and explorations’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1998; 12 (3): 425–54.
Novikova, K. F. and Ryvkin, B. A., ‘Solar activity and cardiovascular diseases’, in Gnevyshev, M. N. and Ol, A. I. (eds.), Effects of Solar Activity on the Earth’s Atmosphere and Biosphere, Academy of Science, USSR (translated from the Russian). Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientifi Translations, 1977: 184–200.
O’Connor, R. P. and Persinger, M. A., ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior, LXXXII: A strong association between sudden infant deat syndrome (SIDS) and increments of global geomagnetic activity – possible support for the melatonin hypothesis’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1997; 84: 395–402.
O’Connor, R. P. and Persinger, M. A., ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior, LXXXV: Sudden infant death syndrome, bands of geomagnetic activity and pc1 (0.2 to 4 HZ) geomagnetic micropulsations’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1999; 88: 391–7.
O’Laoire, S., ‘An experimental study of the effects of distant intercessory prayer on self-esteem, anxiety and depression’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1997; 3 (6): 19–53.
Olendzki, A., ‘The fourth foundation of mindfulness’, Insight Journal, Spring 2004: 13–17.
Oliver, R. T. D., ‘Surveillance as a possible option for management of metastic renal cell carcinoma’, Seminars in Urology, 1989; 7: 149–52.
Oraevskii, V. N. et al., ‘An influence of geomagnetic activity on the functional status of the body’, Biofizika, 1998; 43 (5): 819–26.
Oraevskii, V. N. et al., ‘Medico-biological effect of natural electromagnetic variations’, Biofizika, 1998; 43 (5): 844–8.
O’Regan, B. and Hirshberg, C.,Spontaneous Remission: An Annotated Bibliography, Petaluma, Calif.: The Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1993.
Orme-Johnson, W. et al., ‘International peace project in the Middle East: the effects of the Maharishi technology of the unified field’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1988; 32: 776–812.
Oshansky, B. and Dossey, L., ‘Comments on responses to “retroactive prayer: a preposterous hypothesis?”’ British Medical Journal, 2003; 327: 1465–8.
Oshansky, B. and Dossey, L., ‘Retroactive prayer: a preposterous hypothesis?’ British Medical Journal, 2003; 327: 20–7.
Paivio, A., ‘Cognitive and motivational functions of imagery in human performance’, Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 1985; 10 (4): 22S–28S.
Pates, J. and Maynard, I., ‘Effects of hypnosis on flow states and gol performance’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2000; 9: 1057–75.
Pates, J. et al., ‘The effects of hypnosis on flow states and three-poin shooting in basketball players’, The Sport Psychologist, 2002; 16: 34–47.
Peniston E. and Kulkosky, P. J., ‘Alcoholic personality and alpha-theta brainwave training’, Medical Psychotherapy, 1990; 3: 37–55.
Peniston, E. and Kulkosky, P. J., ‘Alpha-theta brainwave training and beta-endorphin levels in alcoholics’, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 1989; 13: 271–9.
Peoc’h, R., ‘Chicken imprinting and the tychoscope: an Anpsi experiment’, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1988; 55: 1
Peoc’h, R., ‘Psychokinesis experiments with human and animal subjects upon a robot moving at random’, Journal of Parapsychology, September 1, 2002.
Peoc’h, R., ‘Psychokinetic action of young chicks on the path of an “illuminated source”’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1995; 9 (2): 223.
Persinger, M. A., ‘ELF field meditation in spontaneous psi events Direct information transfer or conditioned elicitation?’ Psychoenergetic Systems, 1975; 3: 155–69.
Persinger, M. A., ‘Enhancement of images of possible memories of others during exposure to circumcerebral magnetic fields: correlations with ambient geomagnetic activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 95 (2): 531–43.
Persinger, M. A., ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior, XXX: Intens paranormal activities occur during days of quiet global geomagnetic activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1985; 61: 320–2.
Persinger, M. A., ‘Increased emergence of alpha activity over the left but not the right temporal lobe within a dark acoustic chamber: differential response of the left but not the right hemisphere to transcerebral magnetic fields’, International Journal of Psychophysiology, 1999; 34 (2): 163–9.
Persinger, M. A., ‘Sudden unexpected death in epileptics following sudden, intense, increases in geomagnetic activity: prevalence of effect and potential mechanisms’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1995; 38: 180–7.
Persinger, M. A. and Koren, S. A., ‘Experiences of spiritual visitation and impregnation: potential induction by frequency-modulated transients from an adjacent clock’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2001; 92 (1): 35–6.
Persinger, M. A. and Krippner, S., ‘Dream ESP experiments and geomagnetic activity’, Journal of the American Society for Psychica Research, 1989; 83: 101–16.
Persinger, M. A. et al., ‘Differential entrainment of electroencephalographic activity by weak complex electromagnetic fields’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1997; 84 (2): 527–36.
Persinger, M. A. et al., ‘Remote viewing with the artist Ingo Swann neuropsychological profile, electroencephalographic correlates, magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI), and possible mechanisms’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 94: 927–9.
Petro, V. M. et al., ‘An influence of changes of magnetic field of the earth on the functional state of humans in the conditions of space mission’, Proceedings, International Symposium ‘Computer Electro-Cardiograph o Boundary of Centuries’, Moscow, Russian Federation, 27–30 April, 1999.
Popp, F.-A., ‘Evidence of non-classical (squeezed) light in biological systems’, Physics Letters A, 2002; 293 (1–2): 98–102.
Popp, F.-A. et al., ‘Further analysis of delayed luminescence of plants’,
Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 2005; 78: 235–44.
Popp, F.-A. et al., ‘Mechanism of interaction between electromagnetic fields and living organisms’, Science in China (Series C), 2000; 43 (5): 507–18.
Popp, F.-A. et al., ‘Nonsubstantial biocommunication in terms of Dicke’s Theory’, in
M. W. Ho, F.-A. Popp and U. Warnke (eds.), Bioelectrodynamics and Biocommunication, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 1994: 293–317. Puthoff, H. E., ‘Ground state of hydrogen as a zero-point-fluctuation determined state’, Physical Review D, 1987; 35: 3266.
Pyatnitsky, L. N. and Fonkin, V. A., ‘Human consciousness influence on water structure’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1995; 9 (1): 89.
Radin, D. I., ‘A dog that seems to know when his owner is coming home: effect of environmental variables’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (45): 579–92.
Radin, D. I., ‘A dog that seems to know when his owner is coming home: effects of geomagnetism and local sidereal time’, Boundary Institute Technical Report.
Radin, D. I., ‘Beyond belief: exploring interaction among body and environment’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1992; 2 (3): 1–40.
Radin, D. I., Entangled Minds, New York: Paraview, 2006.
Radin, D. I., The Conscious Universe, London: HarperCollins, 1997.
Radin, D. I., ‘Time-reversed human experience: experimental evidence and implications’, Journal of Nonlocality and Remote Mental Interactions, July 2003; II (2).
Radin, D. I. and Nelson, R., ‘Evidence for consciousness-relate anomalies in random physical systems’, Foundations of Physics, 1989; 19 (12): 1499–514.
Radin, D. I. et al., ‘Effects of distant healing intention through time and space: two exploratory studies’, Proceedings of Presented Papers. The 41st Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association, Halifax, Nov Scotia: Parapsychological Association, 1998: 143–61.
Radin, D. I. et al., ‘Effects of healing intention on cultured cells and truly random events’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004;
Radin, D. I. et al., ‘Effects of motivated distant intention on electrodermal activity.’ Paper presented at the annual conference of the Parapsychological Association, Stockholm, Sweden, August 2006.
Radin, D. I., ‘Environmental modulation and statistical equilibrium in mind-matter interaction’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1993; 4 (1): 1–30.
Radin, D. I., ‘Event-related electroencephalographic correlations between isolated human subjects’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (2): 315–23.
Radin, D. I., ‘Evidence for relationship between geomagnetic field fluctuations and skilled physical performance.’ Paper presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Society for Scientific Explorations, Princeton, New Jersey, June 1992.
Radin, D. I., ‘Exploring relationships between random physical events and mass human attention: asking for whom the bell tolls’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (4): 533–47.
Radin, D. I., ‘For whom the bell tolls; a question of globa consciousness’, Noetic Sciences Review, 2003; 63: 8–13 and 44–5.
Radin, D. I., ‘Geomagnetic field fluctuations and sports performance’
Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1996; 6 (3): 217–26.
Radin, D. I., ‘Unconscious perception of future emotions: an experimen in presentiment’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (2): 163–80.
Radin, D. I. and May, E. C., ‘Evidence for a retrocausal effect in th human nervous system’, Boundary Institute Technical Report 2000–1.
Radin, D. I. and Rebman, J. M., ‘Seeking psi in the casino’,Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1998; 62 (850): 193–219.
Radin, D. I. and Schlitz, M. J. ‘Gut feelings, intuition, and emotions: a exploratory study’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (5): 85–91.
Radin, D. I. and Utts, J. M., ‘Experiments investigating the influence o intention on random and pseudorandom events’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1989; 3: 65–79.
Radin, D. I., Taylor, R. D. and Braud, W., ‘Remote mental influence o human electrodermal activity: a pilot replication’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1995;
11: 19–34. Radin, D. I. et al., ‘Geomagnetism and psi in the ganzfeld’ Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1994; 59 (834): 352–63. Ranganathan, V. K. et al., ‘Increasing muscle strength by training the central nervous system without physical exercise’, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 2001; 31: 17. Ranganathan, V. K. et al., ‘Level of mental effort determines training-induced strength increases’, Society of Neuroscience Abstracts, 2002; 32: 768. Raps, A. et al., ‘Geophysical Variables and
Behavior, LXIX: Solar activity and admission of psychiatric inpatients’ Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1992; 74: 449. Raud, P. C., ‘Psychospiritual dimensions of extraordinary survival’, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1989; 29: 59–83. Raynes, B., ‘Interview with Todd Murphy’, Alternative Perceptions Magazine online, April 2004; No 78. Reece, K. et al., ‘Positive well-being changes associated with giving and receiving Johrei healing’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine; 2005, 11 (3): 455–7. Rein, G., ‘Biological effects of quantum fields and their role in the natural healing process’, Frontier Perspectives, 1998; 7: 16–23. Rein, G., ‘Effect o conscious intention on human DNA’. Paper presented at the International Forum on New Science, Denver, Colorado, October 1996. Rein, G. an McCraty, R., ‘Structural changes in water and DNA associated with new physiologically measurable states’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1994; 8 (3): 438–9.
Resch, J. et al., ‘Distributing entanglement and single photons through an intra-city, free-space quantum channel’, Optics Express, 2005; 13 (1): 202–9.
Reznik, B., ‘Entanglement from the vacuum’, Foundations of Physics, 2003; 33: 167–76.
Richards, T. et al., ‘Replicable functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence of correlated brain signals between physically and sensory isolated subjects’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (6): 955–63.
Rinpoche, S., The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994.
Roney-Dougal, S. M. and Solfvin, J., ‘Field study of an enhancemen effect on lettuce seeds – replication study’, Journal of Parapsychology, 2003; 67 (2): 279–98.
Rose, G. D. et al., ‘The behavioral treatment of Raynaud’s disease: a review’, Biofeedback and Self Regulation, 1987; 12: 257–72.
Rosenblum, B. and Kuttner, F., ‘The observer in the quantum experiment’, Foundations of Physics, 2002; 32 (8): 1273–93.
Rotella, R. J. et al., ‘Cognitions and coping strategies of elite skiers: an exploratory study of young developing athletes’, Journal of Sport Psychology, 1980; 2: 350–4.
Rubik, B. et al., ‘In vitro effect of Reiki treatment on bacterial cultures role of experimental context and practitioner well-being’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2006; 12 (1): 7–13.
Rushall, B. S., ‘Covert modeling as a procedure for altering an elite athlete’s psychological state’, Sport Psychologist, 1988; 2: 131–40.
Rushall, B. S., ‘The restoration of performance capacity by cognitive restructuring and covert positive reinforcement in an elite athlete’, in J. R. Cautela and A. J. Kearney (eds.), Covert Conditioning Casebook, Boston, Mass.: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 1993.
Rushall, B. S. and Lippman, L. G., ‘The role of imagery in physica performance’, International Journal for Sport Psychology, 1997; 29: 57–72.
Salmon, J. et al., ‘The use of imagery by soccer players’, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1994; 6: 116–33.
Sancier, K. M., ‘Electrodermal measurements for monitoring the effects of a Qigong workshop’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2003; 9 (2): 235–41.
Sancier, K. M., ‘Medical applications ofQigong and emitted Q i on humans, animals, cell cultures, and plants: review of selected scientific research’, American Journal of Acupuncture, 1991; 19 (4): 367–77.
Sancier, K. M., ‘Search for medical applications of Qigong with the computerized Qigong Database™’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2001; 7 (1): 93–5.
Satinsky, D., ‘Biofeedback treatment for headache: a two-year follow- up study’, American Journal of Clinical Biofeedback, 1981; 4 (1): 62–5.
Scargle, J. D., ‘Commentary: Was there evidence of global consciousness on September 11, 2001?’ Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (4): 571–7.
Schlitz, M., ‘Can science study prayer?’ Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness, 2006, September–November; 12: 38–9.
Schlitz, M., ‘Distant healing intention: definitions and evolving guidelines for laboratory studies’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2003; 9 (3 Suppl): A31–43.
Schlitz, M., ‘Intentionality in healing: mapping the integration of body, mind, and spirit’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1995; 1 (5): 119–20.
Schlitz, M. et al. (eds.), Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Healing, St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier Churchil Livingstone, 2005.
Schlitz, M. J. and Braud, W. G., ‘A methodology for the objective study of transpersonal imagery’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1989; 3 (1): 43–63.
Schlitz, M. J. and Braud, W. G., ‘Distant intentionality and healing assessing the evidence’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1997; 3 (6): 62–73.
Schlitz, M. J. and Honorton, C., ‘Ganzfeld psi performance within a artistically gifted population’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1992; 86 (2): 83–98.
Schlitz, M. J. and LaBerge, S., ‘Autonomic detection of remot observation; two conceptual replications’, in D. Bierman (ed.), Proceedings of Presented Papers: 37th Annual Parapsychological Association Convention, Amsterdam. Fairhaven, Mass.: Parapsychological Association 1994: 465–78.
Schmidt, H., ‘Additional effect for PK on pre-recorded targets’,Journal of Parapsychology, 1985; 49: 229–44.
Schmidt, H., ‘PK tests with and without preobservation by animals’, in
L. S. Henkel and J. Palmer (eds.),Research in Parapsychology, 1989, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1990: 15–19.
Schmidt, H., ‘Random generators and living systems as targets in retro- PK experiments’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1997; 912 (1): 1–13.
Schmidt, H. and Stapp, H., ‘PK with prerecorded random events and th effects of preobservation’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1993; 57 (4): 331–
49.
Schmidt, H. and Stapp, H., ‘Study of PK with prerecorded rando events and the effects of preobservation’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1993: 57: 351.
Schmidt, S. et al., ‘Distant intentionality and the feeling of being stared at: two metaanalysis’, British Journal of Psychology, 2004; 95: 235–47.
Schoenberger, N. E. et al., ‘Flexyx neurotherapy system in the treatmen of traumatic brain injury: an initial evaluation’, Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 2001; 16 (3): 260–74.
Schwartz, G. and Russek, L., ‘Subtle energies – electrostatic bod motion registration and the human antenna-receiver effect: a new method for investigating interpersonal dynamical energy system interactions’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1996; 7 (2): 149–84.
Schwartz, G. E., ‘Biofeedback, self-regulation, and the patterning o physiological processes’, American Scientist, 1975; 63 (3): 314–24.
Schwartz, G. E. and Russek, L. G., ‘Dynamical energy systems an modern physics’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1997; 3: 46–56.
Schwartz, G. E. et al., ‘Interpersonal hand-energy registration: evidence for implicit performance and perception’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1995; 6 (3): 183–200.
Schwartz, S. A. et al., ‘Infrared spectra alteration in water proximate to the palms of therapeutic practitioners’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1991; 1: 43–57.
Scott, W. B., ‘To the stars’, Aviation Week and Space Technology, March 4, 2004: 50–3.
Semikhina, L. P. and Kiselev, V. P., ‘Effect of weak magnetic fields on the properties of water and ice’, Zabedenii, Fizika, 1988; 5: 13–17.
Seto, A. et al., ‘Detection of extraordinary large biomagnetic field strength from the human hand during external qi emission’, Acupuncture and Electrotherapeutics Research International, 1992; 17: 75–94.
Sheldrake, R., Dogs that Know When Their Owners Are Coming Hom and Other Unexplained Powers of Animals, London: Three Rivers Press
Sheldrake, R., The Sense of Being Stared At and Other Aspects of Th Extended Mind, London: Hutchinson, 2003.
Sherwood, S. J. and Roe, C. A., ‘A review of dream ESP studie conducted since the Maimonides dream ESP programme’, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2003; 10: 85–109.
Sicher, F. et al., ‘A randomized double-blind study of the effect of distant healing in a population with advanced AIDS: report of a small scale study’, Western Journal of Medicine, 1998; 168 (6): 356–63.
Siegel, B., Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self Healing from a Surgeon’s Experience with Exceptional Patients, London: HarperCollins, 1990.
Silver, B. V. et al., ‘Temperature biofeedback and relaxation training in the treatment of migraine headaches: one-year follow-up’, Biofeedback and Self Regulation, 1979; 4 (4): 359–66.
Simonton, C. O. et al., Getting Well Again, New York: Bantam, 1980.
Simpson, S. H. et al., ‘A meta-analysis of the association between adherence to drug therapy and mortality’, British Medical Journal, 2006; 333: 15–19.
Singer, W., ‘Neuronal synchrony: a versatile code for the definition of relations?’ Neuron, 1999; 24: 49–65.
Smith, C. W., ‘Is a living system a macroscopic quantum system?’
Smith, D. et al., ‘The effect of mental practice on muscle strength and EMG activity’, Proceedings of the British Psychological Society Annua Conference, 1998; 6 (2): 116.
Snel, F. W. J. J. and van der Sijde, P. C., ‘The effect of retro-active distance healing on Babeia rodhani (rodent malaria) in rats’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1990; 8: 123–30.
Sorensen, A. et al., ‘Many-particle entanglement with Bose-Einstein condensates’, Nature, 2001; 409 (6816): 63–6.
Spottiswoode, J., ‘Geomagnetic fluctuations and free response anomalous cognition: a new understanding’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1997; 61: 3–12.
Spottiswoode, J. P., ‘Effect of ambient magnetic field fluctuations on performance in a free response anomalous cognition task: a pilot study’, Proceedings of the 36th Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association, 1993: 143–56.
Spottiswoode, J. P. and May, E. C., ‘Anomalous cognition effect size dependence on sidereal time and solar wind parameters’, Spottiswoode library, http://www.jsasoc.com/library. html.
Spottiswoode, S. J. P., ‘Apparent association between effect size in free response anomalous cognition experiments and local sidereal time’, Journal
Spottiswoode, S. J. P. and May, E., ‘Evidence that free response anomalous cognitive performance depends upon local sidereal time and geomagnetic fluctuations’, Presentation Abstracts, Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, June 1997: 8.
Squires, E. J., ‘Many views of one world – an interpretation of quantum theory’, European Journal of Physics, 1987; 8: 173.
Standish, L. J. et al., ‘Electroencephalographic evidence of correlated event-related signals between the brains of spatially and sensory isolated human subjects’, J ournal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (2): 307–14.
Standish, L. J. et al., ‘Evidence of correlated functional magnetic resonance imaging signals between distant human brains’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2003; 9 (1): 122–5.
Stapp, H. P., ‘A bell-type theorem without hidden variables’, American Journal of Physics, 2004; 72: 30–3.
Stapp, H. P., ‘Theoretical model of a purported empirical violation of the predictions of quantum theory’, Physical Review A, 1994; 50 (1): 18–22.
Stein, J., ‘Just say Om’, Time magazine, August 4, 2003: 49–56.
Sterman, M. B., ‘Basic concepts and clinical findings in the treatment o seizure disorders with EEG operant conditioning’, Clinical Electroencephalography, 2000; 31(1): 45–55.
Sterman, M. B., ‘Epilepsy and its treatment with EEG feedback therapy’,
Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 1986; 8: 21–5.
Sterman, M. B., ‘Neurophysiological and clinical studies o sensorimotor EEG biofeedback training: some effects on epilepsy’, Seminars in Psychiatry, 1973; 5 (4): 507–25.
Sterman, M. B., ‘The challenge of EEG biofeedback in the treatment o epilepsy: a view from the trenches’, Biofeedback, 1997; 25 (1): 6–7.
Stibor, A. et al., ‘Talbot-Lau interferometry with fullerenes: sensitivity to inertial forces and vibrational dephasing’, Laser Physics, 2005; 15: 10– 17.
Stoilova, I. and Zdravev, T., ‘Influence of the geomagnetic activity on the human functional systems’, Journal of the Balkan Geophysical Society, 2000; 3 (4): 73–6.
Stone, J., Course Handbook: Training in Compassionate-Lovin Intention (unpublished), 2003.
Stone, J., ‘Effects of a compassionate/loving intention as a therapeutic intervention by partners of cancer patients: a randomized controlled feasibility study’, in press.
Stoupel, E., ‘Relationship between suicide and myocardial infarction with regard to changing physical environmental conditions’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1994; 38 (4): 199–203.
Stoupel, E. et al., ‘Clinical cosmobiology: the Lithuanian study, 1990– 1992’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1995; 38: 204–8.
Stoupel, E. et al., ‘Suicide-homicide temporal interrelationship, links with other fatalities and environmental physical activity’, Crisis, 2005; 26: 85–9.
Suinn, R. M., ‘Imagery rehearsal applications to performance enhancement’, The Behavior Therapist, 1985; 8: 155–9.
Surwillo, W. W. and Hobson, D. P., ‘Brain electrical activity during prayer’, Psychological Reports, 1978; 43 (1): 135–43.
Swets, J. A. and Bjork, R. A., ‘Enhancing human performance: a evaluation of “New Age” techniques considered by the U. S. Army’ Psychological Science, 1990; 1: 85–96.
Talbot, M., Mysticism and the New Physics, London: Penguin, 1993.
Targ, E., ‘Research methodology for studies of prayer and distant healing’, Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery, 2002; 8: 29– 41.
Tart, C., ‘Physiological correlates of psi cognition’, International Journal of Parapsychology, 1963; 5: 375–86.
Tart, C. T., Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology o Spirituality, Charlottesville, Va.: Hampton Roads Publishing Company 1997.
Tart, C. T., ‘Geomagnetic effects on GESP: two studies’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1988; 82 (3): 193–215.
Tart, C. T., Initial Application of Mindfulness Extension Exercises in a Traditional Buddhist Meditation Retreat Setting, 1995 (unpublished: www paradigmsys. com/cttart).
Tedder, W. H. and Monty, M. L., ‘Exploration of a long-distance PK: a conceptual replication of the influence on a biological system’, in W. G. Roll et al. (eds.), Research in Parapsychology 1980, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1981: 90–3.
Tiller, W., Science and Human Transformation; Subtle Energies Intentionality and Consciousness, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publications, 1997.
Tiller, W. et al., Conscious Acts of Creation: The Emergency of a New Physics, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publishing, 2001.
Tiller, W. et al., Some Science Adventures with Real Magic, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publishing, 2005.
Tiller, W. A., ‘Subtle energies’, Science and Medicine, 1999; 6 (3): 28–33.
Tiller, W. A. and Dibble, W. E. Jr., ‘New experimental data revealing an unexpected dimension to materials science and engineering’, Material Research Innovation, 2001; 5: 21–34.
Tiller, W. A. et al., ‘Towards explaining anomalously large body
voltage surges on exceptional subjects, Part I: The electrostatic approximation’, Journal of the Society for Scientific Exploration, 1995; 9 (3): 331.
Tompkins, P. and Bird, C., The Secret Life of Plants, New York: Harper & Row, 1973.
Travis, F. and Wallace, R. K., ‘Autonomic and EEG patterns during eyes-closed rest and Transcendental Meditation (TM) practice: the basis for a neural model of TM practice’, Consciousness and Cognition, 1999; 8: 302–18.
Tromp, S. W., Biometeorology, London: Heyden, 1980.
Tschulakow, A. V. et al., ‘A new approach to the memory of water’,
Homeopathy, 2005;
94: 241–7. Tsushima, W. T., ‘Treatment of phantom limb pain with EMG and temperature biofeedback: a case study’, American Journal of Clinical Biofeedback, 1982; 5 (2): 150–3. Ullman, M. et al., Dream Telepathy: Experiments in ESP, Jefferson, No.: McFarland, 1989.
Ursin, R. et al., ‘Quantum teleportation across the Danube’,Nature, 2004; 430: 849.
Utts, J., ‘The significance of statistics in mind-matter research’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1999; 13 (4): 615–38.
Vaiserman, A. M. et al., ‘Human longevity: related to date of birth?’ Abstract 9, Second International Symposium: Workshop on Chronoastrobiology and Chronotherapy, Tokyo Kasei University, Tokyo, Japan, November 2001.
Van Baalen, D. C. et al., ‘Psychosocial correlates of “spontaneous” regression of cancer’, Humane Medicine, April 1987.
Van Gyn, G. H. et al., ‘Imagery as a method of enhancing transfer from training to performance’, Journal of Sport and Exercise Science, 1990; 12: 366–75.
Van Wijk, E. P. A. and Van Wijk, R., ‘The development of a bio-sensor for the state of consciousness in a human intentional healing ritual’, Journal of International Society of Life Information Science (ISLIS,) 2002; 20 (2): 694–702.
Van Wijk, E. P. et al., ‘Anatomic characterization of human ultra-weak photon emission in practitioners of Transcendental Meditation™ and control subjects’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2006; 12 (1): 31–8.
Van Wijk, R. and Van Wijk, E. P., ‘The search for a biosensor as a witness of a human laying on of hands ritual’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2003; 9 (2): 48–55.
Vedral, V., ‘Entanglement hits the big time’, Nature, 2003; 425: 28–9.
Vedral, V., ‘Mean-field approximations and multipartite thermal correlations’, New Journal of Physics, 2004; 6: 2–24.
Vincent, J.-D., The Biology of Emotions, trans. J. Hughes. Cambridge Mass.: Basil Blackwell, 1990.
Wackerman, J. et al., ‘Correlations between brain electrical activities of two spatially separated human subjects’, Neuroscience Letters, 2003; 336: 60–4.
Walker, E. H., The Physics of Consciousness, New York: Basic Books, 2000.
Wallace, B. A., ‘The Buddhist tradition of Samatha: methods for refining and examining consciousness’, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 1999; 6 (2–3): 175–88.
Walther, P., ‘Quantum nonlocality obtained from local states by entanglement purification’, Physical Review Letters, 2005; 94: 040504.
Watkins, G. K. and Watkins, A. M., ‘Possible PK influence on the resuscitation of anesthetized mice’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1971; 35: 257–72.
Watkins, G. K. et al., ‘Further studies on the resuscitation of anesthetized mice’, in W. G. Roll et al. (eds.), Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1973: 157–9.
Watt, C. et al., ‘Exploring the limits of direct mental influence: two studies comparing “blocking” and “co-operating” strategies’, Journal for Scientific Exploration, 1999; 13 (3): 515–35.
Weiman, C. E. and Cornell, E. A., ‘Seventy years later: the creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an ultracold gas’, Lorentz Proceedings, 1999; 52: 3–5.
Weinberg, R. S. et al., ‘Effects of visuo-motor behavior rehearsal, relaxation, and imagery on karate performance’, Journal of Sport Psychology, 1981; 3: 228–38.
Wells, R. and Klein, J., ‘A replication of a “psychic healing” paradigm’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1972; 36: 144–9. West, M. A., ‘Meditation and the EEG’, Psychological Medicine, 1980; 10 (2): 369–75.
Wientjes, K. A., ‘Mind-body techniques in wound healing’,
Ostomy/Wound Management, 2002; 48 (11): 62–7.
Wilkes, R. L. and Summers, J. J., ‘Cognitions, mediating variables an strength performance’, Journal of Sport Psychology, 1984; 6: 351–9.
Williams, P. and West, M., ‘EEG responses to photic stimulation in persons experienced at meditation’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1975; 39 (5): 519–22.
Winton, J., ‘New functions for electrical signals in plants’, New
Phytologist, 2004; 161: 607–10.
Wolf, F. A., Mind into Matter: A New Alchemy of Science and Spirit, Needham, Mass.: Moment Point Press, 2000.
Yue, G. H. and Cole, K. J., ‘Strength increases from the motor program comparison of training with maximal voluntary and imagined muscle contractions’, Journal of Neurophysiology, 1992; 67: 114–23.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This is a complete reprint of the book titled “The Intention Experiment” by Lynne McTaggart. It is a non-fiction book, and it is groundbreaking. In this book, the author has compiled all those studies about the reality of ESP, and PSI, and compiled the results. The results are pretty damning. Something is going on, and Newtonian physics cannot explain it. It can only be explained with quantum physics.
What is going on is that quantum physics is working and weaving it’s magic throughout our lives, and rather than discount things as “superstition” and out-dated religion, this book connects actual scientific studies with the quantum physics principles involved. It explains so many thing that have been discounted as pure superstition.
Thus it’s placement in my blog.
This is for those people who want nice and clean answers to what is going on, yet cannot shake off the Newtonian physics that they learned in High School. This book teaches you that there is a deeper reality behind everything and as such, it helps explain some elements of paranormal and religion that are often discounted as primitive nonsense.
Welcome to the world of quantum physics and how all those things about prayer, intention, and spirituality actually does have a scientific foundation that they are based upon.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Right Place
IN 1997, WILLIAM TILLER had been helping a Californian company develop product to eliminate electromagnetic pollution. The product contained a quartz crystal, which was why they had consulted him. Tiller, a physicist and professor emeritus of materials science and engineering at Stanford University, had carved out an influential niche for himself in the science of crystallization; he had written three textbooks on the subject and more than 250 scientific papers.1
The product consisted of a simple black box, about the size of a remote control. Inside its casing were three oscillators of 1–10 megahertz, barely a microwatt’s worth of power when the device was turned on. The box also contained an electrically erasable, programmable, read-only memory (EEPROM) component unconventionally connected in the circuit. It seemed to be able to screen incoming electromagnetic energy, possibly through the quartz oscillators also contained inside the box: quartz was thought to modulate quantum information by rotating the direction of waves.
As Tiller examined the equipment, an outrageous idea struck him. Fascinated by evidence that remote influence worked, Tiller had been carrying out a number of his own experiments and had formulated an entire theory about ‘subtle energy’ in living systems. Perhaps the little box he held in his hand might help him put intention to the supreme test. If thoughts were just another form of energy, what if he attempted to ‘charge’ this simple low-tech machine with a human intention and then use it to try to affect a chemical process? His experiment would rest on the unthinkable assumption that thoughts could be imprisoned in a bit of electronic memory and later ‘released’ to affect the physical world.2
This fanciful idea would lead to a bizarre experimental result, offering convincing evidence that there is such a thing as the right place, as well as the right time, for carrying out intentions.
Tiller borrowed some lab space at the Terman Engineering building at Stanford from one of his tolerant colleagues in civil engineering, and some other space in the biology department, made some adjustments to the commercial device, and began designing his experiments.
He wanted to go for broke, to see if this ‘caged’ intention could affect actual live test subjects. He realized he could not yet try his experiments on human beings, because they presented too many random, uncontrollable variables. But he could experiment on what scientists consider the next best thing to a human being: the fruit fly.
In the laboratory among the experimental animal population, the fruit fly is prom queen. Scientists have considered Drosophila melanogaster a model organism for more than a century, largely because its life cycle is so short. Within six days a fruit fly will completely remodel itself from larval grub to six-legged, winged insect and die just two weeks later.
Tiller had in mind an experiment that would speed up their entire developmental process even further. His Stanford colleague Michael Kohane an expert in fruit flies, had been studying the effects of supplements of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) on his fruit fly specimens. An important cofactor for enzymes, NAD helps in energy metabolism within cells by transporting hydrogen which is essential in setting the fly’s built-in timer for larval development. Energy availability also directly affects an organism’s fitness.3
NAD marshals electrons into the pathway needed to maximize energy production and metabolism; low levels of NAD adversely affect the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Every cell uses oxygen and glucose to convert ADP (adenine diphosphate) and phosphoric acid into ATP, a molecule that slow-drips energy to power most cellular processes. ADP and ATP are the equivalent of chemical energy storage tanks. Each molecule hoards a tiny supply of energy deep within its phosphorus–oxygen bond. Increasing the supply of NAD will increase the ratio of ATP to ADP, causing the cellular processes to work harder and faster, fast- forwarding larval development.
As the fruit fly develops, the higher the ATP/ADP ratio, the more energy available to the cells, and the fitter the fly. The net effect of NAD is to increase a fruit fly’s overall level of health, from cradle to grave.
Electromagnetic fields can have a profound effect on cellular energy metabolism, particularly the synthesis of ATP. 4 Human thoughts could be construed as a similar form of energy, Tiller reasoned. But could the energy of a thought interact with the transport chain of electrons to stoke up the metabolic fire?
To carry out the protocol he had in mind, Tiller needed a second lab. He set up one near the benefactor who was going to fund the studies in a small facility in Minnesota, just north of Excelsior. There he installed Michael Kohane and Wal Dibble, one of his former graduate students.
One morning in early January 1997, Tiller gathered his four participants, including himself, his wife Jean, and two friends, all highly experienced meditators, around a table. He unwrapped the first black box, placed it in the middle of the table and turned it on.
At the signal, Tiller told them all to enter a deep meditative state. After mentally ‘cleansing’ the environment and the equipment itself, he stood before them, a tall, lanky figure with bright, irreverent eyes and a wispy white beard, and read aloud the intention he had scripted earlier:
Our intention is to synergistically influence (a) the availability of oxygen, protons, and ADP (b) the activity of the available concentration of NAD plus (c the activity of the available enzymes, dehydrogenase and ATP-synthase, in the mitochondria so that the production of ATP in the fruit fly larvae is significantly increased (as much as possible without harming the life function of the larvae) and thus the larval development time significantly reduced relative to that with the control device.
Although the intention boiled down to significantly increasing the ratio of the ATP to ADP, Tiller had purposefully made the intention highly specific, so there would be no possible misunderstanding. He suspected that the more specific the thought, the more likely it was to have an effect, and so was careful, with each experiment, to pinpoint its aims. He had added ‘without harming the life function of the larvae’ because he suspected that if they tried to push things too far, they might well kill the tiny creatures.
The meditators held the intention for 15 minutes, before abruptly releasing it, at Tiller’s signal, then they focused for a final 5 minutes on a closing intention, to mentally ‘seal the intention’ into the device.
Tiller had prepared an identical control box that had not been ‘imprinted’ with intention by wrapping it in aluminium foil and placing it in an electrically grounded Faraday cage, in order to screen out electromagnetic frequencies of all magnitudes.
He wrapped the imprinted black box, or the ‘Intention-Imprinted Electronic Device’, as he now called it, in aluminium foil and placed it in another Faraday cage until ready for shipping. On separate days he shipped each box via FedEx to the Minnesota laboratory, some 1500 miles away. He had been careful to blind the experiment so that neither Dibble nor Kohane would know which device contained the intention and which the control when the two devices arrived.
The Excelsior scientists prepared several groups consisting of eight vials of fruit fly larvae and placed three of the groups of vials inside Faraday cages. They then placed both black boxes inside two of the cages with the vials and turned them on.
Over the next eight months, they carried out experiments on 10,000 larvae and 7000 adult flies, in each instance tracking the ATP/ADP ratio. After compiling their data and mapping it on a graph, Tiller and Kohane discovered not only that that the ratio of ATP to ADP had increased, but also that those larvae exposed to the imprinted devices developed 15 per cent faster than normal.5
Furthermore, once the larvae had reached their adult stages they were healthier than normal, as were their descendants.6 The intention not only had a positive effect on the flies themselves; it also appeared to affect the genealogical line.
By that time, Tiller had tried out other black boxes on a great number of other subjects, choosing his experimental targets with care. He needed tests like that of the fruit fly co-enzyme ratio that would show a genuine, measurable change. He decided on two new targets: the pH of water and the increase in the activity of a liver enzyme called alkaline phosphatase (ALP). He chose the pH test because water pH – th measure of acidity or alkalinity in a solution – remains fairly static and tiny changes of one-hundredth or even one-thousandth of a unit on the pH scale can be measured; a change of a full unit or more on the pH scale would represent an enormous shift that was unlikely to be the result of an incorrect measurement. ALP is another ideal test target because its activity proceeds at an unvarying rate.
In both instances, his meditators imprinted intentions into the black boxes to change the pH of water both up and down by a full pH unit and to increase by a ‘significant factor’ the activity of ALP. Tiller then sent off both imprinted and control boxes to Dibble, who made use of a similar study design as the fly experiment. Both experiments were extraordinarily successful.7
In the water experiments, their intentions managed to change the pH up and down by one unit, and the ALP activity was significantly increased.8
Tiller was in the midst of some of his black-box experiments when he noticed something strange. After three months, the results of his studies began to improve; the more he repeated the experiment, the stronger and quicker the effects.
Tiller decided to try to isolate the aspect of the environment that had changed. He took readings of the air temperature, in and outside the Faraday cages, and discovered that the temperature appeared to be going up and down according to a regular rhythm or oscillation, dipping and climbing at regular intervals. He had first taken the temperature readings with an ordinary mercury thermometer. In case these results had something to do with the instrumentation, he switched to a computerized, low-resolution thermistor-based digital thermometer.
Then he tried a high-resolution thermometer. All three recorded the same readings. When he plotted it, he saw that the temperature change was oscillating at a precise rhythm every 45 minutes or so, varying by some 4°C.9
Tiller then measured the pH of water in the lab and measured its capacity to conduct electricity. He observed the same phenomenon as he had with the temperature: periodic oscillations of at least one-quarter of a unit on the pH scale, and regular dips and peaks in the water’s ability to conduct electricity. Tiller was especially intrigued by the changes in pH. The acid/alkaline balance in any substance is highly sensitive to change; if the pH of a person’s blood shifts up or down by just a half a pH unit, it means that they are dying or already dead.
A pattern was developing: as the temperature of the air rose, the pH fell, and vice versa, in near perfect harmonic rhythm. The water’s electrical conductivity showed a similar harmonic cycle.10 Somehow his lab was beginning to manifest different material properties, almost as if it were a specially charged environment.
The effects also continually increased. No matter which experiment he carried out, the longer the imprinted devices were in the room, the larger the rhythmic fluctuations of the temperature and pH.11
These fluctuations remained unaffected by the opening of doors or windows, the operation of air conditioners or heaters, and even the presence or movement of humans or objects around their immediate vicinity. When he compared graphs of air and water temperature readings, they again mapped in perfect harmony.
Every corner of the room that was measured registered the same result. Each aspect of the physical space appeared to be in some sort of rhythmic, energetic harmony.
By this time, Tiller and his colleagues had set up four labs, each separated from the others by between 35 and 280 metres. Once enough experiments had been carried out, every other site also began to evidence these rhythmic fluctuations.
Tiller had never observed these types of ‘organized’ oscillations in his conventional science labs at Stanford. Indeed, they had never been observed anywhere else before. Just to be sure that this phenomenon was not being caused by the boxes themselves, he and his colleagues carried out three control experiments, in which devices that had not been imprinted with intention were placed in the spaces and turned on. In those cases, all the readings of air and water behaved normally.
Tiller still puzzled over the meaning of the effects, and whether they might be due to some physical disturbance. He wondered whether having two large fans in the room would affect the oscillations in the air and water. Ordinarily, forced air convection from a fan should cause oscillations in temperature to disappear. He placed a desk fan and a floor fan in strategic places near a line of temperature probes. Even when the fans were turned up high enough to scatter pieces of paper, the original temperature oscillations remained.
What exactly was going on? This could be a magnetic effect, Tiller thought. Perhaps he should check out the magnetic field of the water. He placed an ordinary bar magnet under a jar of water for three days, with the north pole of the magnet pointing upwards, and measured the water’s pH.
Then he turned the magnet over so that the south pole faced upwards under the jar for the same period. In normal circumstances, when ordinary water is exposed to this kind of weak magnet, which has a field strength of less than 500 gauss, the pH will be the same, no matter which side of the magnet is exposed to the water.
The world as we know it is magnetically symmetrical. Quantum physicists speak in terms of gauge theory and symmetry to explain the relationships between forces and particles, which include electric and magnetic charge. We are believed to exist in a state of electromagnetic U {1}-gauge symmetry – a rather complicated scenario in which magnetic force is proportional to the gradient of the square of the magnetic field. This boils down to a simple truism: no matter where in a given field you measure the electromagnetic property, you get the same reading. The electromagnetic laws of nature are the same wherever you look.
If you raise the electromagnetic pull in one area, you will find you have changed the electromagnetic pull by the same degree everywhere else. In The Cosmic Code,12 Heinz Pagels likens the universe to an infinite piece of paper, painted grey. If you change the colour to a different shade of grey or ‘change the gauge’, you still don’t change the gauge symmetry, because all the rest of the paper will be changed to the exact same shade of grey, so that it is even impossible to distinguish where exactly you are on the paper. A state of symmetrical magnetism is referred to as a magnetic ‘dipole’.
But the pH of the water in Tiller’s lab was significantly different with one polarity as compared with another, with huge differences of 1–1.5 pH units. Exposing the water to the south pole would send the pH soaring upward, while turning the magnet over to the north pole would cause the pH to decrease.
At two of his experimental sites, the pH of the water, when exposed to the south-pole polarity, continued to change with the passage of time, peaking after about six days. When the water was exposed to the north pole of the magnet, however, the rhythmic changes in pH that he had been recording dwindled away.13
Orthodox science maintains that monopoles only exist in electricity (as a positive or negative charge), but not in magnetism, which creates only dipoles from spinning or orbiting electrical charge.14 Governments around the world have spent billions of dollars looking for magnetic monopoles everywhere on earth, without success.15 Somehow, Tiller had managed to access a magnetic monopole in his crude lab. This phenomenon appeared to be a system-wide effect. In any lab of his exposed to the intention-imprinted black boxes, instruments recorded magnetic monopole type of behaviour.
It dawned on Tiller that he was witnessing the most astonishing result of all: human intention captured in his little black boxes were somehow ‘conditioning’ the spaces where the experiments were carried out.
Tiller wondered whether this phenomenon would still be present if he altered anything about the space. When he removed one element, such as a computer, the oscillations disappeared for about 10 hours before returning. The arrival of any new materials in his lab also caused the effects to disappear for several weeks, although, once again, they eventually returned.
It was as though the space had become an exquisitely tuned configuration, and no disturbance or change would destroy this higher state. Even when Tiller shielded the intention-imprinted devices in aluminium foil and Faraday cages, all the vibrations in water and air temperature continued. One of the sites, a converted barn, recorded oscillating air temperatures on and off for six months; in another site, an office lab, for a full year.16
After the imprinted boxes had been turned on for a while, the effect became relatively ‘permanent’; the target, whether water pH, ALP or fruit flies, would continue to be affected even if the device was not in the lab. Tiller decided to see what would happen when he removed all the elements of the experiment.
He dismantled the Faraday cage and the water vessels and removed them from his lab, then recorded the air temperature of the place where the cages had been.
Even though the experimental vessel was no longer there, his thermometers continued to record periodic oscillations in temperature of 2–3°C. Although this influence decayed very slowly over time, Tiller’s laboratories appeared to have undergone some long-term thermodynamic transformation. The energy from intention appeared to ‘charge’ the environment and create a domino effect of order.17
The only other phenomena Tiller could think of that had similar effects on the environment were those of highly complex chemical reactions. But all he was working with was ordinary air and purified water.
According to the laws of conventional thermodynamics, air and water are supposed to exist in a state extraordinarily close to equilibrium, which is to say that they remain more or less static. These types of results had never been recorded in any lab in the world.
He suspected that he had been witnessing a quantum effect. The constant replaying of ordered thoughts seemed to be changing the physical reality of the room, and making the quantum virtual particles of empty space more ‘ordered’. And then, like a domino effect, the ‘order’ of the space appeared to assist the outcome of the experiment. Carrying out the intentions in one particular space appeared to enhance their effects over time.
Somehow, in these charged spaces he and his colleagues had managed to create a SU {2}-gauge space, where electric and magnetic monopoles coexisted – similar to the reality supposedly present in the supersymmetry states of exotic physics. In these conditioned spaces, the very law about the proportion of magnetic force had altered.
A basic property of physics had completely changed. The only way to get such a polarity effect was to produce some element of SU {2}-gauge symmetry.18
This change in the gauge symmetry of the space meant that profound changes had occurred in the ambient Zero Point Field. In a U {1}-gauge symmetry, the random fluctuations of the Field have no effect on the physical universe. However, in SU {2}-gauge symmetry states, the Field has become more ordered and produces changes in the tiniest elements of matter – which add up to a profound alteration in the very fabric of physical reality.
Tiller felt as though he had somehow entered into a twilight zone of higher energy and that he was witness to a system with an extraordinary ability to self- organize. Indeed, the oscillations he had measured had all the hallmarks of a Bose– Einstein condensate – a higher state of coherence. Up until then, scientists had created a Bose–Einstein condensate only in highly controlled environments and at temperatures approaching absolute zero. But he had managed to create the same effects at room temperature, and from a thought process captured in a rudimentary piece of equipment.
Other scientists have witnessed a similar ‘charging’ of intention space. In one series of meticulous studies, for instance, researcher Graham Watkins and his wife Anita recruited human participants, many known for their psychic ability, and asked them to attempt to mentally influence anaesthetized mice to revive more quickly than usual. The experimental mice were drawn from a batch that had demonstrated similar waking times when placed under anaesthesia; the chosen group were divided in two, with half acting as controls.
In the first batch of studies, the experimental group woke up about 4 seconds earlier than the controls, a result considered only slightly significant. However, in subsequent studies the wake-up times of the experimental mice improved, and continued to do so with every study.
The Watkinses repeated their experiment seven times. They discovered that the healing had a ‘linger effect’; if a mouse were simply placed on the spot on a table where another mouse had received a psychic’s intentions, the second one would also revive more quickly than usual. The space appeared to have developed a healing ‘charge’, affecting anything that happened to occupy that space.19
Biologist Bernard Grad at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, observed similar phenomenon during experiments with Hungarian healer Oscar Estabany: once the Hungarian healer touched something – even simple fabric – it appeared to hold a phantom charge. The material could be used successfully for healing in place of Estabany’s healing hands.20
The idea of ‘conditioned space’ was also explored by former PEAR scientis Dr Roger Nelson at sacred sites. Nelson was intrigued by these sacred spaces and whether their special purpose, or even some inherent quality about the site, had ‘charged’ the space with an energetic resonance that might register on a REG machine. He had run a number of experiments suggesting that a ‘field consciousness’ in a highly charged atmosphere, such as an intense gathering, affected the machines and made them more ‘ordered’.
He carried around a portable REG, to register an changes in the randomness in the ambient field at various sites: Wounded Knee, the site of the massacre of an entire Sioux tribe; Devil’s Tower in Wyoming; the Queen’s Chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Nelson registered highly significant evidenc of increased order on REGs at some sites, as if the location itself contained a lingering vortex of coherent energy, from all the people who had prayed or died there.21
Dean Radin used REGs to investigate whether healing can condition the plac where it is carried out. He placed three REGs near a culture of human brain cells then asked a group of healers to send intentions for the culture to grow more quickly, and to engage in traditional space-conditioning meditations.
Any deviation from the random activity of the REGs would indicate the probable presence of greater coherence. Radin also prepared a control batch of cells, which were not to be sent intention.
After three days, there was no overall difference in the growth between the treated cells and the controls. Nevertheless, as the experiment progressed, the treated cells began to grow faster.
On the third day, all three of the REGs began moving away from random activity and became more ordered. The intention of the healers also appeared to have effects on background ionizing radiation.22
Like Nelson’s readings at sacred sites, Radin’s experiment offers tantalizing hints about the nature of the ‘linger’ effect of intention. The REGs’ registering o movement away from randomness to greater order implies that the Zero Point energy of empty space has shifted into a state of greater coherence.
The ‘charge’ of intention may have a domino effect on its environment, causing greater quantum order in empty space, which would enhance the effectiveness of its aim.23 Russian scientists have observed a similar phenomenon in water, which retains a memory of applied electromagnetic fields for hours, even days.24
The effect is like that of a laser; when waves of the ambient Field become more ordered, an intention may ripple through it like one powerful, highly targeted bolt of light.
With magnetic monopoles, Tiller was out on a ledge shared by few of his colleagues, even in consciousness research. His studies needed to be replicated by other, independent laboratories. But if his body of work does stand up over time, it will demonstrate the extent to which the energy of human thought can alter its environment.
The ordering process of intention appears to carry on, perpetuating, possibly even intensifying its charge.
The strange, almost unbelievable events occurring during Tiller’s experiments made me wonder whether setting aside a particular room for carrying out intention might be an important consideration. Perhaps we each need our own ‘temple’ to which we return, if only in our mind’s eye, every time we send a directed thought.
Chapter 8: The Right Place
William Tiller’s major books on crystallization include: An Introduction toComputer Simulation in Applied Science, New York: Plenum, 1992: The Science of Crystallization: Microscopic Interfacial Phenomena, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991: The Science of Crystallization: Macroscopic Phenomena and Defect Generation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
All personal details about William Tiller have resulted from multiple interviews, April 2005–January 2006.
O. Warburg, New Methods of Cell Physiology Applied to Cancer an Mechanism of Xray Action, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1962, as quoted in W. Tiller et al., Conscious Acts of Creation: The Emergency of a New Physics, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publishing, 2001: 144–6. All description of experiment derived from interview with Dr Tiller, Boulder, Colorado, April 29, 2005, plus information from Conscious Acts and W. Tiller et al., Some Science Adventures with Real Magic, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publishing, 2005.
M. J. Kohane, ‘Energy, development and fitness inDrosophila melanogaster’, Proceedings of the Royal Society (B), 1994; 257: 185–91, in Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 147.
William A. Tiller and Walter E. Dibble, Jr., ‘New experimental data revealing an unexpected dimension to materials science and engineering’, Material Research Innovation, 2001; 5: 21–34.
Tiller and Dibble, ‘New experimental data’, op. cit.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 180.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 175.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 216.
H. Pagels, The Cosmic Code, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 216.
Tiller et al., Science Adventures, op. cit.: 34.
Interview with W. Tiller, April 2005.
Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 182.
Correspondence between Tiller and Michael Kohane, 2005.
Tiller and Dibble, ‘New experimental data’, op. cit.
G. K. Watkins and A. M. Watkins, ‘Possible PK influence on the resuscitation of anesthetized mice’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1971; 35: 257–72; G. K. Watkins et al., ‘Further studies on the resuscitation of anesthetized mice’, in W. G. Roll, R. L. Morris and J. Morris (eds.) Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1973: 157–9.
R. Wells and J. Klein, ‘A replication of a “psychic healing” paradigm’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1972; 36: 144–9.
See McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 205–7.
D. Radin, ‘Beyond belief: Exploring interaction among body and environment’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1992; 2 (3): 1–40; D. Radin, ‘Environmental modulation and statistical equilibrium in mind-matter interaction’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1993; 4 (1): 1–30.
D. Radin et al., ‘Effects of healing intention on cultured cells and truly random events’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10: 103–12. Notes 301
L. P. Semikhina and V. P. Kiselev, ‘Effect of weak magnetic fields on the properties of water and ice’, Zabedenii, Fizika, 1988; 5: 13–17; S. Sasaki et al., ‘Changes of water conductivity induced by non-inductive coil’, Society for Mind-Body Science, 1992; 1: 23; Tiller et al., Conscious Acts, op. cit.: 62.
PART THREE
The Power of Your Thoughts
Baseball is 90 per cent mental. The other half is physical.
-Yogi Berra
CHAPTER NINE
Mental Blueprints
SEVEN WEEKS BEFORE MUHAMMAD ALI met World Heavywei Champion George Foreman for their ‘rumble in the jungle’ at Kinshasa in 1974, he practised his punches as if he couldn’t care less, taking a few desultory swipes at his sparring partner as if distractedly popping a speed bag. Mostly he would lie against the ropes and allow his opponent to pound away at him from every angle.
In the latter years of his fighting career, Ali spent much of his training time learning how to take punches. He studied how to shift his head by just a hair a microsecond before the connection was made, or where in his body he could mentally deflect the punch, so that it would no longer hurt. He was not training his body to win. He was training his mind not to lose, at the point when deep fatigue sets in around the twelfth round and most boxers cave in.1 The most important work was being done, not in the ring, but in his armchair. He was fighting the fight in his head.
Ali was a master of intention. He developed a set of mental skills that eventually altered his performance in the ring. Before a fight, Ali used every self- motivational technique out there: affirmation; visualization; mental rehearsal; self- confirmation; and perhaps the most powerful epigram of personal worth ever uttered: ‘I am the greatest’. Ali also made public statements of his intentions. His constant barrage of rhyming couplets and quatrains, seemingly so innocuous, were highly specific intentions in disguise:
Archie Moore
Is sure
To hug the floor
By the end of four
Now Clay swings with a right
What a beautiful swing
And the punch knocks the Bear Clear out of the ring.
Before a fight, Ali repeated these little rhymes like a mantra – to the press, to his opponent, and even in the ring – until he himself accepted them as fact.
When they met in Kinshasa, Foreman was seven years younger than Ali and among the most savage fighters in the ring. Just two months earlier, he had left Ken Norton for dead with five blows to the head after only two rounds.
Nevertheless, in the weeks before the fight, when reporters pressed Ali about the two-to-one odds against him, Ali had rewritten the history of the Norton–Foreman fight, which he repeated, virtually verbatim, to every journalist who interviewed him. ‘He’s got a hard-push punch but he can’t hit,’ he would say, punching the air in front of the reporter’s nose. ‘Foreman just pushes people down. He just got slow punches, take a year to get there. You think that’s going to bother me? This is going to
Ali’s intention came to pass in the jungle. He also made masterful use of intention to beat Joe Frazier in the Philippines later that year, in perhaps the most brutal and stunning display of boxing of all time.
This time, he created a voodoo doll. Ali turned his ferocious opponent into a tiny rubber gorilla, which he carried around with him in his top pocket, taking a swipe at it with his right from time to time for the television cameras: ‘It’s gonna be a thrilla and a chilla and a killa when I get the gorilla in Manila.’ By the time Frazier entered the ring, he had been reduced in his own mind to something less than human.
Besides these verbalized intentions, Ali carried out mental intentions by rehearsing every moment of the fight in his head: the fatigue in his legs, the sweat pouring off his body, the pain to his kidneys and bruises on his face, the flash of the photographers, the exultant screams of the crowd, even the moment when the referee lifts his arm in victory against Frazier. He sent an intention to his body to win and his body responded by following orders.
To take intention out of the laboratory, I began to sift through the data from people or groups who were using intention successfully in real life. I wanted to study their techniques, the particular thought processes they underwent when sending intention, and would try to extrapolate from their experiences some tools that all the rest of us could use when sending intention. I was also curious about the extent of their mental reach – just how far people had been able to push their intentions.
The most instructive examples came from sports, not only from the greatest athlete of all time, but also from other elite sportsmen and women. Athletes of all varieties now routinely practise what is variously termed ‘mental rehearsals’, ‘implicit practice’3 or even ‘covert rehearsal’. Focused intention is now deemed essential to alter and improve performance. Swimmers, skaters, weightlifters and football players employ intention to enhance their level of performance and consistency. It is even being used in leisure sports, such as golf and rock climbing.
Any modern coach of a competitive sport routinely offers training in some form of mental rehearsal, and often it is touted as the decisive element separating the elite sportsperson from the second-division player.
National-level soccer players, for instance, are more likely to use imagery than those who remain at the provincial or local levels.4
Virtually all Canadian Olympic athletes use mental imagery.
Psychologist Allan Paivio, professor emeritus of the University of Western Ontario, first proposed that the brain uses ‘dual coding’ to process verbal and non- verbal information simultaneously.5
Mental practice has been shown to work just as well as physical practice for patterns and timing.6
Paivio’s model has been largely adapted to help athletes with motivation or in learning or improving a certain skill set.7
The techniques involved in mental rehearsal have been exhaustively studied and written about in scientific literature and popular publications,8 and their credibility was given a further boost in 1990, when the National Academy of Sciences examined all the scientific studies to date on these methods and declared them effective.9
Athletic mental rehearsal has been incorrectly considered synonymous with
visualization. ‘Visualization’ implies that you observe yourself in the situation, as if watching a mental video featuring yourself or seeing yourself through another pair of eyes. Although this may be useful in other areas of life, visualizing oneself from an external perspective in a sports event can hamper athletic performance. Mental rehearsal also differs from positive thinking; happy thoughts on their own do not work in competitive sports.10
The most successful internal rehearsal involves imagining the sports event from the athlete’s perspective as though he or she is actually competing. It amounts to a mental trial run – Ali imagining his right fist at the moment of impact on Frazier’s left eye.
The athlete envisages the future in minute detail as it is unfolding. Champion athletes forecast and rehearse every aspect of the situation, and the steps they should take to overcome any possible setbacks.
Tracy Caulkin used intention to land a third gold medal in the 1984 Olympics. Caulkin had already broken 5 world records and 63 American records, and at the age of 23 was considered the best American swimmer who had ever lived. All she needed to complete her trophy wall was a few Olympic golds.
At the time, electronic touchpads had just replaced stopwatches. Whereas the watch could only distinguish differences of hundredths of a second, the new electronic technology could distinguish the winning lead within a thousandth of a second – 400 times faster than the blink of an eye. In the Olympics relay swimmers are given two-hundredths of a second of grace to leave their block before their previous team mate hits the touchpad. This kind of fine timing is critical; even a single coat of paint on one side of the pool can make a swimmer’s lane one- thousandth of a second longer to swim and give another swimmer the leading edge.
During the four-woman 400-metre relay race, Tracy took the lead by diving in one-hundredth of a second before her returning team mate hit the touchpad.
Although all her competitors had a similar level of fitness, Caulkin had one enormous advantage. She already knew every moment of her swim, from the dive and the cool rush of water past her head to the very moment when she would lunge out in front.
Tracy had practiced that hair’s width lead, the precise moment when she would leave the block a hundredth of a second earlier than her opponents, every night inside her head. The conclusion of the Olympic relay had entirely depended upon the specificity of her intention.
The most successful athletes break down their performances into tiny component parts and work on improving specific aspects. For general mastery of their sport, they imagine a flawless performance.11 They concentrate on the most difficult moments and work out good coping strategies – how to stay in control in the face of adversity, such as a pulled muscle or an umpire’s adverse call.
Different intention is employed, depending on whether they are first learning a skill or simply wishing to reinforce and improve their technique. Like Muhammad Ali, elite athletes learn how to block out images representing doubt. If an image of difficulty pops into their heads, they become extremely adept at changing the internal movie, quickly editing the scene to imagine success.12
Winning depends on how specifically you can mentally rehearse. Seasoned athletes use vivid, highly detailed internal images and run-throughs of the entire performance.13
The most important aspect of the intention is to rehearse the victory, which appears to help secure it. Successful competitors rehearse their own feelings, particularly their elation and emotional response to winning: the reactions of their parents, the medals, the post-match celebration and the residual rewards like sponsorships.14
They imagine that the crowd is cheering for their performance alone.
Experienced athletes engage all their senses in their mental rehearsal. They not only have a visual, internal image of the future event, they also hear it, feel it, smell it and taste it – the ambience, the competitors, the sweat of their bodies, the applause.
Of all the sensations, the most vital for athletes appears to be mentally rehearsing the ‘feel’, or kinaesthetic sensations in their bodies.15
The more experienced the athletes, the better they are at imagining the feel of their bodies when engaged in their sport.16
Champion rowers are most successful when they can forecast the ‘feel’ of every part of the race, from the drag on the oar to the strain on their muscles.17
Some athletes find that it helps to study the actual setting where the sporting event is to take place first and then to imagine themselves there. Those who can combine the knowledge of the sports venue with mental rehearsal tend to be more successful than those who simply use mental rehearsal on its own.18
Rocky Bleier, former running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, used intention to help the Steelers win the Super Bowl. His technique was to saturate his mind wit the details of specific plays. He carried out mental rehearsals in the morning, before the team meal and last thing before drifting off to sleep every day of the two weeks before a game.
He also found it reassuring to run through the entire catalogue of moves one final time just before play. While sitting on the bench, he again rehearsed some 30 runs and 30 passes. No matter what the field threw up to him that day, he was determined to be ready.19
Techniques differ among the various sports. Those mental rehearsals that work best for sports requiring aerobic ability and fast, coordinated movement tended to fail with strength training. Weight lifters are most successful after carrying out a mental intention that galvanizes them to lift an impossibly heavy object.20
Conventional wisdom has it that the best state for performance is a state of relaxation, but as I found with masters of intention, a relaxed state is not necessarily optimum. In a study of karate, using relaxation techniques before carrying out the intentions did not improve performance.21
It was only useful if the participant was nervous and needed to be calmed down in order to perform better.22
Relaxation and hypnosis used with intention have worked to improve aim – say, for basketball shots or accuracy in chipping in golf.23
But as with Davidson’s Buddhists, the most successful athletes manage to work themselves into peak intensity – a state of calm hyperawareness.
But how can simply thinking about a future performance actually affect the day of the event? Some clues come from intriguing brain research with electromyography (EMG). EMG offers a real-time snapshot of the brain’s instructions to the body when and where it tells it to move – by recording every electrical impulse sent from motor neurons to specific muscles to cause a contraction. Ordinarily, EMG offers doctors a useful tool to diagnose neuromuscular disease and to test whether muscles respond appropriately to stimulation.
But EMG has also been employed to solve an interesting scientific conundrum whether the brain differentiates between a thought and an action. Does the thought of an action create the same pattern in neurotransmission as the action itself? This very question was tested by wiring a group of skiers to EMG equipment while they were carrying out mental rehearsals.
As the skiers mentally rehearsed the downhill runs, the electrical impulses heading to their muscles were just the same as those they used to make turns and jumps actually skiing the run.24 The brain sent the same instructions to the body, whether the skiers were simply thinking of a particular movement or actually carrying it out. Thought produced the same mental instructions as action.
Research with EEGs has shown that the electrical activity produced by the brain is identical, whether we are thinking about doing something or actually doing it. In weightlifters, for instance, EEG patterns in the brain that would be activated to produce the actual motor skills are activated while the skill is simply being simulated mentally.25 Just the thought is enough to produce the neural instructions to carry out the physical act.
Based on this research, scientists have posited some interesting theories of how mental rehearsal works. One school of thought proposes that mental rehearsal creates the neural patterns necessary for the real thing. As though the brain were simply another muscle, these rehearsals train the brain to facilitate the moves more easily during the actual performance.26
When an athlete performs, the nerves that signal to the muscles along a particular pathway are stimulated and the chemicals that have been produced remain there for a short period. Any future stimulation along the same pathways is made easier by the residual effects of the earlier connections. We get better at physical tasks because our signalling from intention to action has already been forged. It is not unlike a train track laid down through wild, inhospitable country. Future performances improve because your brain already knows the route and follows the track already laid down. Because the brain does not distinguish between doing something specific and just thinking about doing it, mental rehearsal lays down the tracks just as well as physical practice does. The nerves and muscles create a pathway just as sound as one produced through repeated practice.
Nevertheless, there are a few important differences between mental and physical practice. With physical practice, when you practise too much, you become fatigued, which causes electrical interference and blockage along the tracks. With mental intention, no road blocks ever appear, no matter how much you practise in your head.
The other difference concerns the size of the effect; the neuromuscular pattern laid down with mental practice may be slightly smaller than that of physical practice. Although both types of practice create the same muscle patterns, the imagined performances have smaller magnitude.27
To derive any benefit, mental rehearsal must replicate the real thing – at normal speed. Although it might seem logical that a rehearsal would work best in slow motion, with particular attention to specific moves, that is not borne out by research.
When skiers monitored by EMGs imagined their performance in slow motion, they produced a different muscle response pattern from that produced when carrying out the skill at an ordinary pace. In fact, the brain–muscle activity of rehearsing at slow motion is identical to the brain–muscle pattern when the skiing itself is carried out in slow motion.
This accords with what scientists understand about the neural patterns involved in slow motion, compared with those of normal speed. The same task carried out in slow motion produces completely different neuromuscular patterning than when it is done at normal speed.28
There is no such thing as cross-training in mental rehearsal; intention facilitates just the type of athletic event that is being mentally rehearsed and is not transferable to other sports, even those involving similar muscle groups.
This was apparent in a fascinating study involving sprinters. The researchers had divided a group of runners into four groups and asked them to do one of four types of preparation: to imagine themselves in a 40-metre sprint; to engage in power training on a stationary bicycle; to combine imagery and power training; or, as the controls, to do no training in any form.
After six weeks of training the athletes were asked to perform two tests – to cycle their hardest while their effort was recorded on a cycle ergometer, which tests for cycling power, and to run a 40-metre sprint. Both activities require much the same motor ability and leg muscles.
In the cycling test, those groups who had used power training alone showed improvement. However, when it came to the sprint, only the groups who had mentally practised sprinting had significantly improved. Specific imagery enhanced only the specific task that had been imagined. It did not simply build muscles generally. The motor neuron training was highly specific, and only affected the actual performance visualized in the mind.29
Beside improving performance, mental intention can produce actual physiological changes, and not only in athletes’ bodies. Guang Yue, an exercise psychologist at Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, carried out research comparing participants who went to the gym with those who carried out a virtual workout in their heads.
Those who regularly visited the gym were able to increase their muscle strength by 30 per cent. But even those who remained in their armchairs and ran through a mental rehearsal of the weight training in their minds increased muscle power by almost half as much.
Volunteers between 20 and 35 years old imagined flexing one of their biceps as hard as they could during daily training sessions carried out five times a week. After ensuring that the participants were not doing any actual exercise, including tensing their muscles, the researchers discovered an astonishing 13.5 per cent increase in muscle size and strength after just a few weeks, an advantage that remained for three months after the mental training stopped.30
In 1997, Dr David Smith at Chester College came up with similar results participants who worked out could achieve 30 per cent increases in strength, while those who just imagined themselves doing the training achieved a 16 per cent increase.31
Pure directed thought can give you the burn almost as well as any workout.
Thinking of changing an aspect of the body in other ways can also work – which might prove comforting to anyone who is not happy with his or her body shape.
One study demonstrated that, under hypnosis, women increased the dimensions of their breasts simply by visualizing themselves on the beach with the sun’s rays warming their chests.32
The kinds of vivid visualization techniques used by athletes are also highly effective in treating illness. Patients have boosted treatment of an array of acute and chronic conditions, from coronary artery disease33 and high blood pressure to low- back pain and musculoskeletal diseases,34 including fibromyalgia,35 by using mental pictures or metaphoric representations of their bodies fighting the illness. Visualization has also improved postsurgical outcomes,36 helped with pain management37 and minimized the side-effects of chemotherapy.38
Indeed, the outcome of a patient’s illness has been predicted by examining the types of visualizations used to combat them. Psychologist Jeanne Achterberg, who healed herself of a rare cancer of the eye through imagery, went on to study a group of cancer patients who were using visualization to fight their own disease. She predicted with 93 per cent accuracy which patients would completely recover and which would get worse or die, simply by examining their visualizations and rating them. Those who were successful had a greater ability to visualize vividly, with powerful imagery and symbols, and could hold a clear visual intention imagining themselves overpowering the cancer and the medical treatment being effective. The successful patients also practiced their visualizations regularly.39
If the brain cannot distinguish between a thought and an action, would the body follow mental instructions of any sort? If I send my body a mental intention to calm down or speed up, will it necessarily listen to me?
Literature about biofeedback and mind–body medicine indicates that it will. In 1961, Neal Miller, a behavioural neuroscientist at Yale University, first proposed that people can be taught to mentally influence their autonomic nervous system and control mechanisms such as blood pressure and bowel movements, much as a child learns to ride a bicycle.
He conducted a series of remarkable conditioning-and-reward experiments on rats. Miller discovered that, if he stimulated the pleasure centre in the brain, his rats could be trained to decrease their heart rate at will, control the rate at which urine filled their kidneys, even create different dilations in the blood vessels of each ear.40 If relatively simple animals like rats could achieve this remarkable level of internal control, Miller figured, couldn’t human beings, with their greater intelligence, regulate more bodily processes?
After these early revelations, many scientists found that information about the autonomic nervous system could be fed back to a person as ‘biofeedback’ to pinpoint where a person should send intention to his body. In the 1960s, John Basmajian, a professor of medicine at McMaster University in Ontario and a specialist i rehabilitative science, began training people with spinal-cord injuries to use EMG feedback to regain control over single cells in their spinal cords.41
At roughly the same time, psychologist Elmer Green at the Menninger Institute pioneered a method of biofeedback to treat migraine, after discovering that a migraine patient of his could make her headaches go away whenever she practiced a structured form of relaxation. Green went on to use biofeedback to help patients cure their own migraines, and it is now an accepted form of therapy.42
Biofeedback is particularly useful to treat Raynaud’s disease, a vascular condition in which blood vessels are constricted when exposed to cold, causing extremities to grow cold, pale, and even blue.43
During a biofeedback treatment, a patient is hooked up to a computer. Transducers applied to different parts of his or her body send information to a visual display, which registers activities of the autonomic nervous system, such as brain waves, blood pressure and heart rate, or muscle contractions.
The audio or visual information fed back to the patient depends on the condition; in the case of Raynaud’s, as soon as the arteries to the hands constrict, the machines record a drop in skin temperature, a light bulb flashes or a beeper sounds. The feedback prompts the patient to send an intention to his body to adjust the process in question – in the case of Raynaud’s, the patient sends an intention to warm up his hands.
Since those early days, biofeedback has become well established as a therapy for virtually every chronic condition, from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to menopausal hot flushes. Stroke patients and victims of spinal-cor injuries now use biofeedback to rehabilitate or regain the use of paralysed muscles. It has proved invaluable in eliminating the pain felt in a phantom limb.44 Astronauts have even used biofeedback to cure motion sickness while journeying to outer space.45
The more conventional view of biofeedback maintains that it has something to do with relaxation – learning to calm down the fight-or-flight responses of our autonomic nervous systems. However, the sheer breadth of control would argue that the mechanism has more to do with the power of intention. Virtually every bodily process measurable on a machine – even a single nerve cell controlling a muscle fibre – appears to be within an individual’s control. Volunteers in studies have achieved total mental mastery over the temperature in their bodies,46 or even the direction of blood flow to the brain.47
Like biofeedback, Autogenic Training, the technique developed by a German psychiatrist named Johannes Schultz to relax the body and slow the breathing and heart rate, also demonstrates that a wide variety of the body’s functions are under our conscious control. Those who practise the technique are able to lower blood pressure, raise temperature in extremities, and slow heartbeat and breathing. Autogenic Training has also been used to treat many chronic conditions besides stress, such as asthma, gastritis and ulcers, high blood pressure and thyroid problems.48 There is even evidence that Autogenic Training can work effectively in groups.49
For a cat, nirvana is the food bowl just around the corner.
Dr Jaak Panksepp professor emeritus of psychology at Bowling Green University, theorizes that this anticipatory joy has to do with the ‘seeking’ mode of the brain – one of the five primitive emotions that humans share with members of the animal kingdom.50
The seeking system helps animals investigate and work out the meaning of their environment. The seeking circuits are fully engaged when an animal is involved in high anticipation, intense interest or insatiable curiosity. As Panksepp was astonished to discover, the most emotionally arresting part for any animal is the hunt, not the catch.51
When animals are curious, the hypothalamus lights up and the ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter dopamine is produced. Scientists used to believe that the chemical itself caused the pleasure, until it was discovered that the chemical’s true purpose is to arouse a certain neural pathway. What actually feels good is the activation of the seeking portion of the brain.
Forty years ago, Barry Sterman, professor emeritus of the departments o Neurobiology and Biobehavioral Psychiatry at UCLA, accidentally discovered that this anticipatory emotion sent cats into a meditative state; their brains slowed to an EEG rhythm of 8–13 hertz, corresponding to human alpha brain frequencies, moments before they got their reward.52
Eventually, he was able to get the cats to re-create this state at will, not simply when they were awaiting food. It was tantamount to the animals being able to control their own brain waves.
But could a human being do the same?
To test this, Sterman needed to test someone whose brain waves were so out of the ordinary that any change would be apparent immediately. He located a woman troubled by periodic epileptic seizures, which are caused by the brain firing theta brain waves at inappropriate moments. Sterman constructed a biofeedback EEG machine that would flash a red light in the presence of a theta wave and a green light during an alpha state.
After a while, his patient was able to change her state at will and reduce the amount and intensity of her epileptic fits. Sterman spent the next 10 years of his life studying epileptics and training them to reduce their own fits.53
In the 1980s, two American psychologists, Eugene Peniston and Paul Kulkosky made use of Sterman’s findings to reform alcoholics. With their brain-wave biofeedback, alcoholic patients concentrated on damping down high beta brain waves, which tend to be predominant during moments of craving and dependency, and increasing the alpha and theta wave frequencies, which help one to relax and establish greater brain-wave coherence.
Some 80 per cent of the alcoholics were able to control their cravings and stay off alcohol. The training also seemed to affect their blood chemistry, increasing their levels of beta-endorphin, another ‘feel-good’ brain chemical. Biofeedback, combined with work on their self-image, eventually eliminated much of their dysfunctional behaviour and transformed them into better people.54
Joe Kamiya, a psychologist at the University of Chicago, demonstrated the amazing specificity of brain-wave biofeedback through some remarkable brain research. He attached EEG electrodes to the rear sides of the scalps of several volunteers, over the portion of the brain where alpha brain waves are most prominent. At the sound of a tone, his participants had to guess whether their brains waves were predominantly alpha. After comparing their answers with the information recorded on the EEG machines, Kamiya let them know whether the were right or wrong. By the second day, one of his participants was able to guess correctly two-thirds of the time, and two days after that, virtually all the time. A second participant discovered a means of putting himself into a particular brain- wave state on cue.55
EEG biofeedback has now developed into a sophisticated means of controlling the range and type of frequencies emitted by the brain. It works particularly well with trauma patients suffering from depression,56 helps students concentrate, and enhances creativity and focus. It may well be that intention can be used to control the brain, brain wave by brain wave.
Hypnosis is also a type of intention – an instruction to the brain during an altered state. Hypnotists continually demonstrate that the brain or body is susceptible to the power of directed thought.
One dramatic example of the power of mental suggestion concerned a small group of people with a mysterious congenital illness called ichthyosiform erythroderma, known disparagingly as fish-skin disease because unsightly fish-like scales cover most of the body. In one study, five patients were hypnotized and told to focus on a part of their body and visualize the skin becoming normal. Within just a few weeks, 80 per cent of each patient’s body had completely healed. The skin remained smooth and clear.57
Through hypnotic intention, spinal-surgery patients about to undergo their operations have reduced blood loss by nearly half, simply by directing their blood supply away from the site of the surgery.58
Pregnant women have been able to turn their babies from breech positions, burn victims have sped up their healing; and people suffering haemorrhages in the gastrointestinal tract have willed their bleeding to stop.59
Clearly, during an altered state, roughly corresponding to the hyperalert state of intense meditation, conscious thought can convince the body to endure pain, cure many serious diseases and change virtually any condition.
Surgeon Dr Angel Escudero of Valencia, Spain, has carried out more than 900 cases of complex surgery without anaesthesia. BBC cameras were invited into his operating room and captured on film a woman who was having such an operation without anaesthetic. All she had to do was keep her mouth full of saliva and keep repeating to herself, ‘My leg is anaesthetized.’ An affirmation like hers is another form of intention. A dry mouth is one of the mind’s first warning signals of danger. When the mouth is kept lubricated, the brain relaxes, assumes all is well, and turns off its pain receptors, assured that anaesthetics had been given.60
A fascinating study by David Spiegel, a professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford University, offers a glimpse of what happens to the brain when an intention is given under hypnosis.
His participants were shown a coloured grid painting, similar to a Mondrian, and were asked to imagine the colour draining from the picture, leaving only black and white. Through the use of positron emission tomography (PET) scans, which record physical activity in the brain, Spiegel showed that blood flow and activity were noticeably diminishing in the part of the brain dealing with the perception of colour, while the areas that process black, white and grey images were being stimulated.
When the experiment was reversed, and the participants in the study were asked to imagine grey images turning into colour, the opposite changes in brain-perception patterns resulted.61
This illustrated another instance in which the brain was the maidservant of thoughts. The brain’s visual cortex, the area responsible for processing images, could not distinguish between a real image and an imagined one. The mental instructions were more important than the actual visual image.
The placebo effect has shown that beliefs are powerful, even when the belief is false. The placebo is a form of intention – an instance of intention trickery. When a doctor gives a patient a placebo, or sugar pill, he or she is counting on the patient’s belief that the drug will work.
It is well documented that belief in a placebo will create the same physiological effects as that of an active agent – so much so that it causes the pharmaceutical industry enormous difficulty when designing drug trials. So many patients receive the same relief and even the same side effects with a placebo as with the drug itself that a placebo is not a true control.
Our bodies do not distinguish between a chemical process and the thought of a chemical process. Indeed, a recent analysis of 46,000 heart patients, half of whom were taking a placebo, made the astonishing discovery that patients taking a placebo fared as well as those on the heart drug. The only factor determining survival seemed to be belief that the therapy will work and a willingness to follow it religiously.
Those who stuck to doctor’s orders to take their drug three times a day fared equally well whether they were taking a drug or just a sugar pill. Patients who tended not to survive were those who had been lax with their regime, regardless of whether they had been given a placebo or an actual drug.62
The power of the placebo was best illustrated by a group of patients treated for Parkinson’s disease, a motor system disorder in which the body’s system for releasing the brain chemical dopamine is faulty. The standard treatment for Parkinson’s is a synthetic form of dopamine.
In a study at the University of British Columbia, a team of doctors demonstrated with PET scanning that, when patients given placebos were told they had received dopamine, their brains substantially increased the release of their own stores of the chemical.63
In another dramatic instance, at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Dr Bruce Moseley, a specialist in orthopaedics, recruited 150 patients with severe osteoarthritis of the knee and divided them into three groups. Two-thirds were either given arthroscopic lavage (which washes out degenerative tissue and debris with the aid of a little viewing tube) or another form of debridement (which sucks it out with a tiny vacuum cleaner).
The third group were given a sham operation: the patients were surgically prepared, placed under anaesthesia and wheeled into the operating room. Incisions were made in their knees, but no procedure carried out.
Over the next two years, during which time none of the patients knew who had received the real operations and who had received the placebo treatment, all three groups reported moderate improvements in pain and function. In fact, the placebo group reported better results than some who had received the actual operation.64 The mental expectation of healing was enough to marshal the body’s healing mechanisms. The intention, brought about by the expectation of a successful operation, produced the physical change.
Extreme instances of intention and expectation can also manifest physically. The phenomenon of stigmata, in which religious fervour produces blood, bruising or wounds on people’s hands, feet and sides that mirror the wounds of Christ during his crucifixion, are a form of intention.
The Association for the Scientific Study o Anomalous Phenomena has recorded at least 350 such instances of stigmata resulting from identification with Christ. Saybrook University psychologist Stanley Krippne and his colleagues witnessed this first hand with Brazilian sensitive Amyr Amiden.
As soon as their talk turned to Jesus Christ, red spots and drops of blood appeared on the backs of each of Amiden’s hands and on his palms and forehead.65 A similar situation occurred during the three weeks before Easter Sunday with a young African- American Baptist girl, who had been profoundly moved by a television movie about the crucifixion and was preoccupied with Christ’s suffering.
She manifested bleeding on the palm of her left hand two to six times a day.66 Krippner knew of three Anglicans who regularly evidenced stigmata.67
Cases of spontaneous cures are an instance of an extreme intention that reverses almost certain death. A person with what is considered a terminal illness defies the textbook description of his disease progression and the prognoses of his doctors and beats it virtually overnight, without the aid of the tools of modern medicine.
The Institute of Noetic Sciences has gathered together all scientifically recorded cases of so-called miracle cures.68 Although the received wisdom is that these cases are rare, a scan of the medical literature is instructive. One in eight skin cancers spontaneously heal, as do nearly one in five of genitourinary cancers.
Virtually all types of illnesses, including diabetes, Addison’s disease and atherosclerosis, where vital organs or body parts are supposedly irretrievably damaged, have spontaneously healed.69 A small body of research concerns terminal cancer patients, who with little or no medical intervention, end up beating the odds.
Although these cases are labelled instances of ‘spontaneous remission’, as though the illness has suddenly decided to go into hiding but might suddenly spring out at any moment, in many instances they represent another example of the body’s ability to self-correct through the power of intention. Case after case of spontaneous remission describes people up against a major road block in their lives: unremitting stress, unresolved trauma, prolonged hostility, marked isolation, profound dissatisfaction or quiet despair.70 They often describe people who have lost their role as the central protagonist in their own life drama.71
Many cases of spontaneous remission seem to occur after someone makes a massive psychological shift, and recreates a life that is engaging and purposeful. In these instances, the patient gets rid of the source of the psychological heartache72 and takes full responsibility for his illness and treatment.73
Some people, this would suggest, get ill because they lose all hope of life ever being good – because they are thinking the wrong thoughts. These cases of spontaneous remission suggested to me that casual thoughts that run through our minds every day together become our life’s intention.
We can use intention to gain control over virtually any bodily process and perhaps even life-threatening illnesses. But can our thoughts about others be as potent as our thoughts about ourselves?
Psychologist William Braud is one of the few scientists who has examined this question. He gathered a group of volunteers and asked them to carry out biofeedback on themselves.
After pairing off the group, he attached one member of each pair to the biofeedback equipment, but asked the other partner to respond to the readings and carry out the sending of mental instructions. According to Braud’s evidence, the results were equivalent to those that occurred when the patients on the equipment used biofeedback on themselves. Somebody else’s good intentions for you may be as powerful as your own.74
Braud’s other studies also suggested that we can most influence others to become more ‘ordered’ when we ourselves are ordered. For instance, in his studies, calm people were the most successful at sending mental influence to calm down highly nervous people, and focused people the best at helping distracted people focus.75
Braud’s work also suggests that the greatest effects occur when the person most needs help.76
Scientific evidence also reveals that we can affect virtually any other living thing as well. The enormous body of research on healing gathered by Dr Daniel Benor shows that thoughts can have powerful effects on a variety of plants, seeds, single-celled organisms such as bacteria and yeast, and insects and other small animals.77
Most recently, a series of double-blind experiments carried out over two years by Dr Serena Roney-Dougal in Somerset showed that lettuce seeds that wer sent intention yielded 10 per cent more crops with significantly less fungal disease than those grown conventionally.78
The evidence convinced me that we can improve our health, enhance our performance in every area of our lives, and possibly even affect the future by consciously using intention. The intention should be a highly specific aim or goal, which you should visualize in your mind’s eye as having already occurred while you are in a state of concentrated focus and hyperawareness. When you imagine this future event, hold a mental picture of it as if it were occurring to you at that moment. Engage all five senses to visualize it in detail. The centrepiece of this mental picture should be the moment you achieve the goal.
A doctor might improve the survival rate of his patients by never giving a negative diagnosis.79 A surgeon could improve his patients’ recovery by mentally rehearsing the surgery before heading into the operating theatre. Indeed, we might no longer need drugs, but simply good intentions.
Since intention has been shown to affect the chemistry in our bodies, we should be able to speed up, slow down or improve any physiological processes. We might develop many more breakthrough medicines by mentally targeting their effectiveness and minimizing their side effects.
We could raise the quality of our daily endeavours just by carrying out a detailed mental rehearsal. At home, we might be able to send intentions to our children to perform better at school or be more loving to their friends. Human intention might be powerful enough to affect every element of our lives.
All of these possibilities suggest that we have an awesome level of responsibility when generating our thoughts. Each of us is a potential Frankenstein, with an extraordinary power to affect the living world around us. How many of us, after all, are sending out mostly positive thoughts?
Notes – Chapter 9: Mental Blueprints
All description of Ali’s fighting techniques from N. Mailer, The Fight, London and New York: Penguin, 2000.
Ibid.
A. Richardson, ‘Mental practice: A review and discussion, Part I’, Research Quarterly, 1967; 38: 95–107; A. Richardson, ‘Mental practice: A review and discussion. Part II’, Research Quarterly, 1967; 38: 264–73
A. Paivio, Mental Representations: A Dual Coding Approach, New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1986.
B. S. Rushall and L. G. Lippman, ‘The role of imagery in physica performance’, International Journal for Sport Psychology, 1997; 29: 57–72.
A. Paivio, ‘Cognitive and motivational functions of imagery in human performance’, Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 1985; 10 (4): 22S–28S.
K. E. Hinshaw, ‘The effects of mental practice on motor skill performance: Critical evaluation and meta-analysis’, Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 1991–2; 11: 3–35.
J. A. Swets and R. A. Bjork, ‘Enhancing human performance: An evaluationof “New Age” techniques considered by the U. S. Army’, Psychological Science, 1990; 1: 85–96; D. L. Feltz et al., ‘A revised meta-analysis of the mental practice literature on motor skill learning’, in D. Druckman and J. A Swets (eds.), Enhancing Human Performance: Issues, Theories, and Techniques, Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1988: 274.
R. J. Rotella et al., ‘Cognitions and coping strategies of elite skiers: a exploratory study of young developing athletes’, Journal of Sport Psychology, 1980; 2: 350–4.
R. S. Burhans et al., ‘Mental imagery training: effects on running speed performance’, International Journal of Sport Psychology, 1988; 19: 26–37.
B. S. Rushall, ‘Covert modeling as a procedure for altering an elite athlete’s psychological state’, Sport Psychologist, 1988; 2: 131–40; B. S. Rushall ‘The restoration of performance capacity by cognitive restructuring and covert positive reinforcement in an elite athlete’, in J. R. Cautela and A. J Kearney (eds.), Covert Conditioning Casebook. Boston, Mass.: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 1993.
M. Denis, ‘Visual imagery and the use of mental practice in the development of motor skills’, Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 1985; 10: 4S– 16S.
Paivio, ‘Cognitive and motivational functions of imagery’, op. cit.
J. R. Cautela and A. J. Kearney (eds.),Covert Conditioning Casebook. Boston, Mass.: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 1993: 30–1.
B. Mumford and C. Hall, ‘The effects of internal and external imagery o performing figures in figure skating’, Canadian Journal of Applied Spor Sciences, 1985; 10: 171–7.
K. Barr and C. Hall, ‘The use of imagery by rowers’,International Journal of Sport Psychology, 1992; 23: 243–61.
S. C. Minas, ‘Mental practice of a complex perceptual-motor skill’,Journal of Human Movement Studies, 1978; 4: 102–7.
R. Bleier, Fighting Back, New York: Stein and Day, 1975.
R. L. Wilkes and J. J. Summers, ‘Cognitions, mediating variables an strength performance’, Journal of Sport Psychology, 1984; 6: 351–9.
R. S. Weinberg et al., ‘Effects of visuo-motor behavior rehearsal, relaxation, and imagery on karate performance’, Journal of Sport Psychology, 1981; 3: 228–38.
Cautela and Kearney, Covert Conditioning, op. cit.
J. Pates et al., ‘The effects of hypnosis on flow states and three-poin shooting in basketball players’, The Sport Psychologist, 2002; 16: 34–47; J. Pates and I. Maynard, ‘Effects of hypnosis on flow states and gol performance’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2000; 9: 1057–75.
R. M. Suinn, ‘Imagery rehearsal applications to performance enhancement’ The Behavior Therapist, 1985; 8: 155–9.
L. Baroga, ‘Influence on the sporting result of the concentration of attention process and time taken in the case of weight lifters’, in Proceedings of the 3rd World Congress of the International Society of Sports Psychology, Volume 3. Madrid, Spain: Instituto Nacional de Educacion Fisica Y Deportes, 1973.
A. Fujita, ‘An experimental study on the theoretical basis of mental training’, in Proceedings of the 3rd World Congress of the International Society of Sports Psychology, Volume Abstracts. Madrid, Spain: Instituto Nacional de Educacion Fisica Y Deportes, 1973: 37–8.
Ibid.
Rushall and Lippman, ‘The role of imagery in physical performance’, op cit.
G. H. Van Gyn et al., ‘Imagery as a method of enhancing transfer from training to performance’, Journal of Sport and Exercise Science, 1990; 12: 366–75.
G. H. Yue and K. J. Cole, ‘Strength increases from the motor program Comparison of training with maximal voluntary and imagined muscle contractions’, Journal of Neurophysiology, 1992; 67: 114–23; V. K. Ranganathan et al., ‘Increasing muscle strength by training the central nervous system without physical exercise’, Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 2001; 31: 17; V. K. Ranganathan et al., ‘Level of mental effort determines training-induced strength increases’, Society of Neuroscience Abstracts, 2002; 32: 768; P. Cohen, ‘Mental gymnastics’, New Scientist, November 24, 2001; 172 (2318): 17.
D. Smith et al., ‘The effect of mental practice on muscle strength and EMG activity’, Proceedings of British Psychological Society annual conference, 1998; 6 (2): 116.
T. X. Barber, ‘Changing “unchangeable” bodily processes by (hypnotic) suggestions: A new look at hypnosis, cognitions, imagining and the mind- body problem’, in A. A. Sheikh (ed.), Imagination and Healing, Farmingdale, NY: Baywood Publishing Co., 1984. Also published in Advances, Spring 1984.
F. M. Luskin et al., ‘A review of mind-body therapies in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, Part 1: Implications for the elderly’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1998; 4 (3): 46–61.
F. M. Luskin et al., ‘A review of mind/body therapies in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders with implications for the elderly’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2000; 6 (2): 46–56.
V. A. Hadhazy et al., ‘Mind-body therapies for the treatment of fibromyalgia. A systematic review’, Journal of Rheumatology, 2000; 27 (12): 2911–18.
J. A. Astin et al., ‘Mind-body medicine: State of the science: Implications for practice’, Journal of the American Board of Family Practitioners, 2003; 16 (2): 131–47.
J. A. Astin, ‘Mind-body therapies for the management of pain’, Clinical Journal of Pain, 2004; 20 (1): 27–32.
L. S. Eller, ‘Guided imagery interventions for symptom management’ Annual Review of Nursing Research, 1999; 17, 57–84.
J. Achterberg and G. F. Lawlis, Bridges of the Bodymind: Behavioral Approaches for Health Care, Champaign, Ill.: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing, 1980.
N. E. Miller and L. DiCara, ‘Instrumental learning of heart rate changes i curarized rats: Shaping and specificity to discriminative stimulus’, Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1967; 63: 12–19; N. E. Miller, ‘Learning of visceral and glandular responses’, Science, 1969; 163: 434–45.
J. V. Basmajian, Muscles Alive: Their Functions Revealed b Electromyography. Baltimore, Md.: Williams and Wilkins, 1967.
E. Green, ‘Feedback technique for deep relaxation’, Psychophysiology, 1969; 6 (3): 371–7; E. Green et al., ‘Self-regulation of internal states’, in J Rose (ed.), Progress of Cybernetics: Proceedings of the First International Congress of Cybernetics, London, September 1969. London: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1970: 1299–318; E. Green et al., ‘Voluntary control of internal states: Psychological and physiological’, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1970; 2: 1–26; D. Satinsky, ‘Biofeedback treatment for headache: A two-year follow-up study’, American Journal of Clinical Biofeedback, 1981; 4 (1): 62–5; B. V. Silver et al., ‘Temperature biofeedback and relaxation training in the treatment of migraine headaches: One-year follow-up’, Biofeedback and Self Regulation, 1979; 4 (4): 359–66.
B. M. Kappes, ‘Sequence effects of relaxation training, EMG, an temperature biofeedback on anxiety, symptom report, and self-concept’, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1983; 39 (2): 203–8; G. Rose et al., ‘The behavioral treatment of Raynaud’s disease: A review’, Biofeedback and Self Regulation, 1987; 12 (4): 257–72.
W. T. Tsushima, ‘Treatment of phantom limb pain with EMG and temperature biofeedback: A case study’, American Journal of Clinical Biofeedback, 1982; 5 (2): 150–3.
T. G. Dobie, ‘A comparison of two methods of training resistance to visually-induced motion sickness.’ Paper presented at VII International Ma in Space Symposium: Physiologic adaptation of man in space, Houston Texas, 1986. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 1987; 58 (9) Sect. 2: 34–41.
A. Ikemi et al., ‘Thermographical analysis of the warmth of the hands during the practice of self-regulation method’, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 1988; 50 (1): 22–8.
J. L. Claghorn, ‘Directional effects of skin temperature self-regulation o regional cerebral blood flow in normal subjects and migraine patients’, American Journal of Psychiatry, 1981; 138 (9): 1182–7.
M. Davis et al., The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, 5th edn, Oakland, Calif.: New Harbinge, 2000: 83–90.
J. K. Lashley et al., ‘An empirical account of temperature biofeedbac applied in groups’, Psychological Reports, 1987; 60 (2): 379–88; S. Fahrion et al., ‘Biobehavioral treatment of essential hypertension: A group outcome study’, Biofeedback andSelf Regulation, 1986; 11 (4): 257–77.
J. Panksepp, ‘The anatomy of emotions’, in R. Plutchik (ed.),Emotion: Theory, Research and Experience Vol. III. Biological Foundations o Emotions, New York: Academic Press, 1986: 91–124.
J. Panksepp, ‘The neurobiology of emotions: Of animal brains and huma feelings’, in T. Manstead and H. Wagner (eds.), Handbook of Psychophysiology, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1989: 5–26.
C. D. Clemente et al., ‘Postreinforcement EEG synchronization durin alimentary behavior’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1964; 16: 335–65; M. H. Chase et al., ‘Afferent vaga stimulation: Neurographic correlates of induced EEG synchronization and desynchronization’, Brain Research, 1967; 5: 236–49.
M. B. Sterman, ‘Neurophysiological and clinical studies of sensorimoto EEG biofeedback training: Some effects on epilepsy’,Seminars in Psychiatry, 1973; 5 (4): 507–25; M. B. Sterman, ‘Neurophysiological and clinical studies of sensorimotor EEG biofeedback training: Some effects on epilepsy’, in L. Birk (ed.), Biofeedback: Behavioral Medicine. New York: Grune and Stratton, 1973: 147–65; M. B. Sterman, ‘Epilepsy and its treatment with EEG feedback therapy’, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 1986; 8: 21–5; M. B. Sterman, ‘The challenge of EEG biofeedback in the treatment o epilepsy: A view from the trenches’, Biofeedback, 1997; 25 (1): 6–7; M. B. Sterman, ‘Basic concepts and clinical findings in the treatment of seizure disorders with EEG operant conditioning’, Clinical Electroencephalography, 2000; 31 (1): 45–55.
E. Peniston and P. J. Kulkosky, ‘Alpha-theta brainwave training and beta- endorphin levels in alcoholics’, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 1989; 13: 271–9; E. Peniston and P. J. Kulkosky, ‘Alcoholic personality and alpha-theta brainwave training’, Medical Psychotherapy, 1990; 3: 37–55.
J. Kamiya, ‘Operant control of the EEG alpha rhythm’, in C. Tart (ed.) Altered States of Consciousness, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1969, J. Kamiya, ‘Conscious control of brain waves’, Psychology Today, April 1968: 7.
N. E. Schoenberger et al., ‘Flexyx neurotherapy system in the treatment o traumatic brain injury: An initial evaluation’, Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 2001; 16 (3): 260–74.
C. B. Kidd, ‘Congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma treated by hypnosis’ British Journal of Dermatology, 1966; 78: 101–5, as cited in Barber, ‘Changing “unchangeable” bodily processes’, op. cit.
H. Bennett, ‘Behavioral anesthesia’, Advances, 1985; 2 (4): 11–21, as reported in H. Dienstfrey, ‘Mind and mindlessness in mind-body research’, in M. Schlitz et al., Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind Body Healing, St Louis, Mo.: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, 2005: 56.
H. Dienstfrey, ‘Mind and mindlessnes’, op cit.: 51–60.
Dr Angel Escudero was featured on the BBC’sYour Life in Their Hands series, May 1991. In the film, Escudero made incisions, sawed, drilled and hammered in order to break and reset the deformed leg of his fully conscious patient using his ‘Noesitherapy’ technique of pain control.
S. M. Kosslyn et al., ‘Hypnotic visual illusion alters color processing in the br ai n’ , American Journal of Psychiatry, 2000; 157: 1279–84; Mark Henderson, ‘Hypnosis really does turn black into white’, The Times, 18 February 2002.
S. H. Simpson et al., ‘A meta-analysis of the association between adherence to drug therapy and mortality’, British Medical Journal, 2006; 333: 15–19.
Raúl de la Fuente-Fernández et al., ‘Expectation and dopamine release Mechanism of the placebo effect in Parkinson’s disease’, Science, 2001; 293 (5532): 1164–6.
J. B. Moseley et al., ‘A controlled trial of arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee’, New England Journal of Medicine, 2002; 347: 81–8.
S. Krippner, ‘Stigmatic phenomenon: An alleged case in Brazil’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (2): 207–24.
L. F. Early and J. E. Kifschutz, ‘A case of stigmata’, Archives of General Psychiatry, 1974; 30: 197–200.
T. Harrison, Stigmatia: A Medieval Mystery in a Modern Age, New York: St Martin’s Press, 1994, as referenced in S. Krippner, ‘Stigmatic phenomenon’, op. cit.
B. O’Regan and Caryle Hirshberg,Spontaneous Remission: An Annotated Bibliography, Petaluma, Calif.: Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1993.
Ibid.
L. L. LeShan and M. L. Gassmann, ‘Some observations on psychotherap with patients with neoplastic disease’, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 1958; 12: 723.
D. C. Ban Baalen et al., ‘Psychosocial correlates of “spontaneous regression of cancer’, Humane Medicine, April 1987.
R. T. D. Oliver, ‘Surveillance as a possible option for management of metastic renal cell carcinoma’, Seminars in Urology, 1989; 7: 149–52.
P. C. Raud, ‘Psychospiritual dimensions of extraordinary survival’, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1989; 29: 59–83.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 132.
W. Braud and M. Schlitz, ‘Psychokinetic influence on electrodermal activity’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1983; 47 (2): 95–119.
Interview with William Braud, October, 1999.
Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.
S. M. Roney-Dougal and J. Solfvin, ‘Field study of an enhancement effect o lettuce seeds – Replication study’, Journal of Parapsychology, 2003; 67 (2): 279–98.
Dr Larry Dossey calls negative diagnoses ‘medical hexing’, and there is anecdotal evidence that patients often live up to their doctor’s gloomy prognosis, even when there is no physical evidence that they should do so. For a potent example see the story of a leukaemia patient who was thriving until he happened to find out what he had. He was dead within a week once his illness had the label of a potentially terminal illness: L. McTaggart, What Doctors Don’t Tell You, London: HarperCollins, 2005: 343.
CHAPTER TEN
The Voodoo Effect
DICK BLASBAND WAS DRAWN TO THE IDEA that there might be a way amplify and direct life energy, like holding up a magnifying glass to focus the rays of the sun.
Blasband, a psychologist, was intrigued by the theories of Wilhelm Reich, the Austrian psychiatrist and one-time protégé of Sigmund Freud, who thought it possible to trap ‘orgone’ – the name he gave to what he believed to be omnipresent cosmic energy – in an orgone energy ‘accumulator’. An accumulator, a box-like enclosure of any size, could be made of alternating layers of any metal and non- metallic materials, such as cotton cloth or felt.
Reich believed that atmospheric energy would be first attracted, then instantly repelled by the metal and eventually absorbed by the non-metallic substance. Because the enclosure was layered, orgone energy would continuously flow between the atmosphere and the box, like a current of air, and so constantly ‘accumulate’. Reich had early encouraging results with animals and plants placed in the boxes, which lay the basis for his later claims that accumulated energy had an immense capacity to heal.
It occurred to Blasband that Reich’s ideas about energy fields were not dissimilar to those of his colleague Fritz-Albert Popp and his work on biophotons Perhaps the best means of testing an accumulator was to measure its effect on the emission of these tiny specks of light from a living thing.
In August 1993, Blasband travelled to Popp’s International Institute, then in Kaiserslautern, Germany. He and Popp created a variety of orgone accumulators then chose a number of plants in Popp’s laboratory – cress seeds, cress seedlings and Acetabularia crenulata, a primitive form of marine algae – to be the experimental population. Popp’s photomultipliers would count the light emissions of all the plants inside and outside the orgone boxes and record any differences.
Blasband carried out four experiments – placing the algae in the accumulator first for one hour, and then continuously for two weeks – with no result. Popp’s equipment recorded not the slightest alteration in the light emissions. Blasband wondered if this was because the plants were already so healthy that the boxes could not improve their state of health. Perhaps he would see a larger change in a subject that needed help or improvement. He and Popp decided to try making the Acetabularia ‘ill’ by depriving it of most of its vitamin supply for 24 hours before treatment. It appeared to make no difference. The plants’ biophotons didn’t change. No amount of exposure to an accumulator of any variety seemed to make one bit of difference to the health or well-being of any of the plants.
Blasband and Popp then decided to test whether a mental intention could boost the action of the accumulators. In his new series of experiments, Blasband sent an intention for the energy within the accumulator to be beneficial to certain seedlings and harmful to others. These results were disappointing, too. There was only one significant difference in the number or quality of biophoton emissions before and after treatment of any of the plants: the only effective intention appeared to be the one he had sent to stunt their growth.1 In both experiments, negative intention was more powerful than positive intention. Thoughts to harm had the greatest effect.
Blasband’s little study highlights perhaps the most disturbing consideration of all about intention: that bad thoughts, as well as good ones, can have an effect on the world, and indeed may be the more powerful of the two. After all, in many native cultures, prayer and intention have a shadow component in hexes, voodoo and curses, which are reported to be highly effective forms of negative intention.
Many healers routinely use a negative means to a positive end.
As Dr Larry Dossey, author of Be Careful What You Pray For …2 has noted, negative intention is the very foundation of most healing. Healing from an infectious agent or a rogue cell line such as cancer requires intent to harm.3 It works from a desire to kill something: to inhibit bacterial enzymes, alter cell membrane permeability, or interfere with the nutrition given to the cell or the synthesis of DNA.4 In order for the patient to get better, the offending agent has to die.
Many pioneers of mind–body medicine in the treatment of cancer, such as Dr Bernie Siegel, Dr Carl Simonton, and Australian psychiatrist Ainslie Meares encouraged their patients to use vivid forms of mental imagery – a metaphoric representation of their illness – to enhance their healing.5 The majority of the cancer patients who first made use of visualization techniques imagined a battlefield, on which good (the patient) is pitted against evil (the cancer), with the cancer patient possessing the larger weapon.
Some patients imagined their white blood cells as an army killing the cancer cells or a ‘tap’ containing the blood that feeds the cancer cells, which they can turn off. Some patients visualized themselves as participating in a violent video game. When Simonton first introduced this technique to his patients in the 1970s, Pac-Man was the most popular video game of the time. He encouraged his patients to imagine a little Pac-Man inside their bodies, gobbling up cancer cells in its path. But whatever the particulars of the imagery, the intention itself needed to be murderous; the patient had to want to annihilate the enemy.
Research on negative mental influence presents a number of obstacles to scientists. One basic problem, as Cleve Backster found in his research, is finding a living thing that no one objects to having killed. Many choose to study the most basic life forms, such as paramecia or fungi, or to experiment with seeds or small plants.6
Another problem is avoiding an unintended ‘spray’ effect: what if a healer’s aim is slightly off one day and the negative intent gets sent to the host instead?
The Canadian healer Olga Worrell refused to carry out negative intention on infectious diseases for exactly that reason. She worried that her negative intent might move beyond the bacteria and accidentally target the person she was trying to heal.7
One of the earliest experiments using negative intention was conducted by Jean Barry, president of the Institut Métapsychique International, who studied bacteria and fungi. As insignificant as these lowly organisms appear, Barry, a general practitioner, understood their pivotal role in maintaining health and causing illness. If it could be shown that intention has the power to eliminate these small organisms, humans might be able to exert greater control over their own health.
Barry decided to test the effect of negative intention on a fungus called Rhizoctonia solani. Rhizoctonia, a thready filament and a distant relative of the common mushroom, is an enemy to 500 types of crops. Farmers call it pod rot or root rot, as it commonly attacks the pods and roots, stunting growth and eventually consuming the plant. No one would object to a means of controlling this garden menace.
Barry set up a batch of experimental Petri dishes and matched them with a set of controls of the identical type of fungus growing in the same conditions. He enlisted ten volunteers and assigned five experimental Petri dishes and five controls to each person. At the appointed time, each volunteer was asked to send intentions to slow the growth of the fungi in the experimental Petri dishes. After the experiment, the lab assistant measured the growth of each sample of Rhizoctonia by outlining its boundary on tracing paper. Of the 195 dishes involved in the negative intention, 151, or 77 per cent, were smaller than the average size of the controls.8
Barry’s study was successfully replicated by researchers from the University of Tennessee, although their study also tested the effect of remote influence; this time, the volunteers sending the intention were 15 miles away from the fungus samples.9
Similar research was conducted by Carroll Nash, the director of the parapsychology department at St Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, but on Escherichia coli, microbes with a direct impact on human beings. Millions of these bacteria, which help to digest food and keep hostile bacteria at bay, peacefully reside in the gut. E. coli also metabolizes lactose, the enzyme present in milk. Yet, as with many microbes, E. coli can suddenly turn unfriendly by migrating out of the digestive tract or mutating into a virulent form that causes illness. Many toxic strains are also present in food. E. coli represented an interesting choice for Nash. If humans could control its growth, they might avoid serious E. coli infections and improve their general digestive health.
Nash decided to test whether mental influence could affect the mutation rates of coli bacteria. Usually, an E. coli population starts life unable to ferment lactose (and so is ‘lactose-negative’), but after it mutates, over numerous generations, the new population can do so (at which point it become ‘lactose-positive’). This process ordinarily occurs at a predictable rate. Nash wanted to see whether his volunteers could slow it down or speed it up. To work out the growth rates of these tiny organisms, Nash employed an electrophotometer, which counts the microbes by measuring the slightest differences in the density of the media in which they are suspended.
Each of his 60 student participants received nine test-tubes containing both lactose-negative and lactose-positive strains of E. coli culture. The students were asked to mentally encourage the transformation of the unmutated bacteria in the first three test-tubes from lactose-negative to lactose-positive. With the next three test- tubes, they were to attempt to inhibit the process of mutation. The final three, the controls, would not be exposed to influence of any kind. When he tallied the results, Nash discovered more mutation than normal in the test-tubes that had received the positive intentions to mutate, and fewer than normal in those for which the intentions were to inhibit the process, although the greatest effect occurred with negative intention.
Nash’s study had an interesting coda: he had not stipulated any particular location where the mental influence had to originate; the volunteers were allowed to send their thoughts from the place of their choosing, whether the lab or elsewhere. When Nash examined the differences in the results according to the place from where the intentions had been sent, an interesting pattern emerged. Those students assigned the task of sending positive intentions had the best success if they sent their thoughts while in the lab; those with negative intentions had the best result if they waited until they had left. The Tennessee researchers who replicated Barry’s study also discovered that negative intention was most effective when it was sent from a remote site. Positive intent appeared to work best in the presence of its object, whereas a negative intent worked best when the object of ill will was not anywhere in the line of sight.10
These early studies revealed several important aspects of intention. Thoughts take aim with great accuracy; although their effects on living things can drastically differ depending on the nature of the intention – whether it is positive or negative. Where we position ourselves when sending out a thought might also have a bearing on our success. Being near the target while sending a positive intention or away from the target when sending a negative intention might magnify its effect.
* * *
The next best experimental subject to a live human being is its cells. If you can prove an effect on an essential component of a living thing, it is likely that the same effect will occur with the entire organism. Dr John Kmetz, a colleague of William Braud’s in San Antonio, Texas, decided to test the effect of negative intention on cancer. Although he could not test his theory on a live human being, he settled for a sample of cervical cancer cells, and enlisted Matthew Manning, a gifted British healer.
Manning sent negative intentions either by touching the beaker of cells or from a distance, inside an electromagnetically shielded room. Kmetz then used special equipment to count how many cancer cells were in the culture medium. Ordinarily, a cancer cell, which has a positive charge, will grasp the side of a plastic beaker, attracted to its negative electrostatic charge. An injury to the cell will cause it to drop off the side and into the culture medium. Kmetz’s equipment demonstrated that Manning had fatally injured the culture.11 Manning’s extraordinary healing ability had been turned on its head; in this study he had become a killing machine.
Practitioners of Qigong openly acknowledge that intention has the power to enhance or destroy – indeed, the Chinese term for sending positive Qi, or life energy, through intention translates into English as ‘peaceful mind’, while sending negative Qi is referred to as ‘destroying mind’.12
A host of studies of Qigong carried out in China have been collated on the Qigong Database®, many of which claim to offer evidence that ‘destroying mind’ can kill human cancer cells or tumours in mice, decrease the growth rate of E. coli and inhibit activity of amylase, a digestive enzyme used to help digest carbohydrates.13 Nonetheless, some Western scientists maintain quiet reservations about the database; few of these studies have been replicated in the West.
One study on plants conducted at the First World Conference of Academic Exchange of Medical Qigong, in Beijing in 1988, examined whether sending Qi could affect the growth of a confederate spiderwort plant by concentrating on its process of replication. A Qi master was asked to damage one of the plant’s self- destruct mechanisms, which would cause the plant to live longer than normal.14 The master had to target his negative intention precisely, so that it would injure only one aspect of the plant while the rest would thrive.
To record any subtle effects on the health of the plant samples during the experiment, any increases or decreases in certain cells after replication, the researchers used a micronuclear method developed at Western Illinois State University. During the study, the Qigong master displayed a remarkable ability to send precise instructions to specific parts of the plant, some of which were damaging, some beneficial.15
A similar study was carried out by researchers at the National Yang Ming Medical College and National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine in Taipei Taiwan. In this instance, the Qigong master alternately sent positive and negative intention to boar sperm cells and human fibroblast cells, which make up the connective tissue of the body.
After 2 minutes of negative intention, the growth rates and protein synthesis of the cells decreased dramatically by 22–53 per cent. When the Qigong master reversed his intention and sent 10 minutes of positive intention, all the activity of the cell increased by 5–28 per cent.16 In another well-controlled study by the Mt Sinai School of Medicine, twoQigong masters were able to inhibit the process involved in the contraction of muscles by as much as 23 per cent.17
These studies raise the obvious question: which is more powerful, a positive or a negative thought? In some studies, the will to harm appears to be the stronger of the two intentions, but that makes sense in a study like Blasband’s, where it is probably far easier to damage a healthy system than to make a healthy system even healthier, or indeed to fix something that is broken, or to order a disordered system.18
Nevertheless, effective intention of any variety is likely to require order and deliberately focused thought. How many negative intentions are sent by someone as ordered as a Qigong master?
Although negative intention appears capable of disrupting the most fundamental biological processes when precisely targeted,19 one study suggests that healing does not necessarily require negative intention. Leonard Laskow, an American gynaecologist and healer, was recruited by American biologist Glen Rein to test the most effective healing strategy for inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. In his own practice, Laskow believed in establishing an emotional connectedness with his subject – even with cancer cells – before sending out healing. Rein prepared five different Petri dishes containing identical numbers of cancer cells and then asked Laskow to send out a different intention while holding each one. Laskow’s first intention was that the natural order be reinstated and the cells’ growth rate return to normal.
With the next Petri dish he was to adopt a Taoist visualization that entails imagining that only three of the cancer cells remained in the Petri dish. For the third dish he was not to have an intention, but simply to ask God to have His will flow through Laskow’s hands. He offered unconditional love to the cancer cells of the fourth dish, which involved meditating on a state of love and compassion, much as Davidson’s Buddhists had done. For the final dish of cancer cells, Laskow carried out his only truly destructive intention, by visualizing the cells dematerializing, either going into the light or the ‘void’. Rein gave Laskow a choice of imagery largely because he was uncertain which visualization would be most effective in obliterating something. Was it more effective to release an entity by offering it an endpoint (the light), or simply to give it a full range of potential (the void)? As a yardstick of Laskow’s effectiveness, Rein would measure the amount of radioactive thymidine absorbed by the cancer cells – an indicator of the growth rate of malignant cells.
Laskow’s various intentions had quite different effects. The most powerful were undirected intentions asking the cells to return to the natural order, which inhibited the cancer cells’ growth by 39 per cent. Acquiescing to God’s will with no specific request was about half as effective, inhibiting the cells by 21 per cent, as was the Taoist visualization. An unconditional acceptance of the way things were had no effect either way, nor did imagining the cells dematerializing. In these two instances, the problem may have been that the thought was simply not focused enough.
In a follow-up study, Rein asked Laskow to limit himself to two possibilities, the Taoist visualization and a request for the cells to return to the natural order. This time, he achieved an identical result with both intentions; the cancer cell growth was inhibited by 20 per cent. The strongest effect of all occurred when he combined the two approaches, mixing an intention to return to the natural order while imagining only three cells left; his rate of cell inhibition doubled, to 40 per cent. Clearly the combination of asking the universe to restore order while imagining a specific outcome exerted a powerful effect. Rein asked Laskow to repeat this combined approach, but to target the medium in which the cancer cells grew, rather than the cells themselves. Laskow achieved the same result as when he had focused directly on the cells themselves.
Finally, Rein instructed Laskow to hold each of his five states of mind in turn while grasping one of five vials of water, which would later be used to make up the tissue-culture medium of the cancer cells. The water treated with the ‘natural-order’ intention again had the greatest effect, inhibiting the growth of the cancer cells by 28 per cent. In this case, water apparently ‘stored’ and transferred the intentions to the culture medium and on to the cancer cells.
Laskow’s approach was instructive. The most effective healing intention had been framed as a request, combined with a highly specific visualization of the outcome, but not necessarily a destructive one.20 With healing, the most effective approach may not be to destroy the source of the illness, but, as with other forms of intention, to move aside, let go of the outcome, and allow a greater intelligence to restore order.
* * *
Most research about negative intention concerns a conscious desire to harm something. I wondered about those moments when negative intention is unconscious. Suppose you don’t like someone and harbor an unconscious ill will towards him? Do you unwittingly send out a negative intention? Or, what about those moments when you explode in anger? Is it possible that your momentary anger causes unintentional harm?
An overenthusiastic cleaner of mine once accidentally stripped off all the chrome on every fixture in our bathrooms. When I discovered the damage, a few hours after she had left our house, I was so overwhelmed with anger that I had to lie down. I had only just finished a five-month long renovation project on our newly purchased family home and had lovingly overseen the entire project, which had cost a good deal of hard-earned savings. I later learned, to my horror, that at about the time I had given voice to my fury, she had fallen off the bus and broken her leg. At another time, I was irrationally overwhelmed with anger at our bank manager, after discovering that our bank, now run by computers, had not recorded a deposit and had bounced several of our cheques. Later, I was horrified to learn that at roughly the moment I had vented my spleen, she had tripped on a pavement and broken most of her front teeth.
I had always felt guilty and curious about both these incidents. Was their misfortune my doing? Was it possible to curse people through your thoughts? I considered the effect of the everyday negative thoughts that swim through everyone’s mind every day. A negative thought about yourself (‘I’m untalented and lazy’) or your children (‘He’s such a slob’; ‘She’s lousy at maths’) might ultimately manifest as a physical energy and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Indeed, moments when you feel an aversion to someone or something that you cannot rationally explain may simply be an instance when you are picking up a negative intention towards you. Even times when you are depressed could have a physical effect on the people and other living things around you.
Bernard Grad, the Canadian biologist, addressed many of these issues in a study that tested the power of a negative frame of mind on the growth of plants. He planted four groups of 18 pots, each containing 20 barley seeds. Each pot was to be watered with 1 per cent saline solution, slightly stronger than the kind used by hospitals when giving intravenous infusions to patients, which can stunt a plant’s growth. Three batches of the plants were to receive watering with the salt water, but only after the water had been held by one of three people for half an hour. The control batch would be watered with the solution that had not been exposed to anyone.
The first vial was held by a healer with green fingers and a passion for plants. The other two vials were held by two depressed patients – a man diagnosed as a psychotic depressive and a woman who was neurotically depressed – chosen from the Canadian hospital where Grad worked. The man was so depressed that he didn’ even ask what was in the bottle, but simply assumed that Grad, who wore a white coat, was just another in the procession of doctors preparing him for periodic electric shock therapy. While holding the bottle, he repeatedly protested that he didn’t need an ECT treatment. The woman, on the other hand, visibly lifted when Grad told her that the bottle was part of an experiment. Half an hour later, when he came to retrieve the bottle from her, he discovered that she had been cradling it as if it were a baby.
This unforeseen turn of events worried Grad, as the woman had been chosen precisely because he believed she would be in a negative state of mind. She had suddenly appeared to regain her joie de vivre, simply at the thought of her involvement in the experiment. After carefully creating a multi-blind system so that he could not know or be influenced by who had done what, Grad poured the water over the seeds.
Several weeks later, he was pleased to see that the result more or less followed his prediction. The plants watered by the man with the psychotic depression grew the slowest, followed by the control plants, whose bottle had not been held by anyone. The fastest growing plants had been watered by the green-fingered healer, followed by those of the depressed woman, which was a surprise. It seemed that her plants had grown faster because of her own enthusiasm about the experiment.21
Carroll Nash tried a similar experiment, asking a group of psychotics to hold individual sealed glass bottles of a solution of dextrose and sodium chloride for half an hour. Nash then removed 6 millilitres of the solutions from each bottle and poured them into fermentation tubes. Similar solutions that had not been ‘charged’ by the psychotics were poured into control test-tubes.
All 24 test-tubes received a suspension of yeast. After two hours Nash measured the amount of carbon dioxide produced in each of the tubes and took periodic measurements for the next six weeks. When he compared the tubes containing the ‘held’ solutions with the controls, he discovered that the solution held by the psychotics had marginally prevented the yeast from growing.22
Even deeply buried feelings might have an effect on people we purport to care about. In 1966, Dr Scott Walker of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine conducted a study of alcoholics in the midst of rehabilitation. He divided the group randomly and had members of the Albuquerque Faith Initiative pray for them each day for six months. Half of the participants (some from the treatment group and some from the controls) knew they were being prayed for by family members.
At the end of the six months, Scott discovered that those in both groups whose relatives and friends were praying for them were drinking more heavily than the others. Prayer from those who supposedly had the patients’ best interests at heart was having the opposite effect.
Scott came up with an interesting interpretation. The across-the-board negative effect of prayer by relatives may reflect their complicated, unconscious feelings towards alcoholics. Although consciously they might wish for their loved one to recover, they might actually wish for them to carry on drinking, if the person praying is a fellow drinker and does not wish to lose a drinking buddy. Or, perhaps the boorish, selfish behaviour of an alcoholic has so hurt the relatives that they unconsciously wish for the alcoholic to die.
All these studies are small, but they carry a huge implication: even your current state of mind carries an intention that has an effect on life around you. The mind continues affecting its surroundings whether or not we are consciously sending an intention. To think is to affect. When we are consciously attempting to affect someone else with our thoughts, we may want to search our hearts about our true feelings to ensure that we are not sending tainted love.
These studies also raise the possibility that the thoughts that spill out of us at every moment also affect inanimate objects within our reach. Some people have a reputation for having a positive or negative effect on electronic equipment – they are either an ‘angel’ or a ‘gremlin’. One of the fathers of quantum theory, the brilliant theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli, was widely known to possess a powerfully negative force field. Whenever he arrived at his laboratory, mechanisms would freeze, collapse or even be set alight.23
I am a gremlin of the first order. In those rare moments when I am crashing around in a bad mood, all the computers in our office begin crashing in unison. Once, during a day of extreme agitation, after I had broken my computer and printer at home, I headed off for work and tried to work on a variety of computers around my company’s office. One by one, they died in my hands. When one of our laser copier printers also froze the moment I tried to photocopy a page, my team firmly but politely escorted me off the premises.
The late Jacques Benveniste discovered the gremlin effect first hand when he carried out experiments on electromagnetic signalling between cells. From 1991, after his noted ‘memory of water’ studies, Benveniste understood that the basic signalling between molecules was not chemical but electromagnetic. Within a living cell, molecules communicate, not by chemicals but by electromagnetic signalling at low frequencies, and each molecule has its own signature frequency.24
Until the end of his life in 2005, Benveniste explored the possibility that these molecular signals could be transferred simply by using an amplifier and electromagnetic coils. He demonstrated that it was possible to effect a molecular reaction without the presence of the molecule in question simply by playing the molecule’s unique ‘sound’.
One of Benveniste’s many experiments with cellular signalling concerned the interruption of the coagulation of plasma, the yellowish medium of the blood. Ordinarily caused by the presence of calcium in the liquid, the clotting capacity of plasma can be precisely controlled by first chemically removing all existing calcium in the plasma, then adding back particular amounts of the mineral. By also adding heparin, an anticoagulant drug, the plasma is prevented from clotting, even in the presence of calcium.
In his study Benveniste would remove calcium from the plasma and add calcium to water, but instead of adding the actual heparin to the calcium water, he simply exposed the water containing calcium to the ‘sound’ of heparin transmitted through the digitized electromagnetic frequency of heparin that he had discovered. As with all his other experiments, the signature frequency of heparin worked as though the molecules of heparin itself were there: in its presence, the blood was less able to coagulate.
Benveniste had a robot built to carry out this experiment, largely to silence his critics by eliminating the potential bias of human interference. The robot was a box with an arm that moved in three directions, mechanically exposing the water containing calcium to the heparin in several easy steps.
After hundreds of such experiments, Benveniste discovered that it usually worked well except on days that a certain woman – an otherwise experienced scientist – was present. Benveniste suspected that the woman must be emitting some form of waves that were blocking the signals. He developed a means of testing for this, and discovered that the woman emitted powerful, highly coherent electromagnetic fields that appeared to interfere with the communication signalling of his experiment. Somehow, the woman acted as a frequency scrambler. To test this further, he asked the woman to hold a tube of homeopathic granules in her hand for 5 minutes. When he later tested the tube with his equipment, all molecular signalling had been erased.
Since the problem was likely to be electromagnetic, the obvious next step was to protect the machine from EMFs by building a shield. But once the shield was i place, the machine stopped producing good results. Benveniste pondered this development for some days. Perhaps it had to do with positive effects of the environment, and not simply the absence of negative effects. He opened the shield and asked the man who had been in charge of the lab for many years to stand in front of the robot. Immediately, the robot began again to crank out perfect results. As soon as the man left and the shield was put up, the robot no longer produced decent data. This suggested that, just as some people inhibited equipment, others enhanced it. The shield, originally erected to stop negative influences, had blocked positive ones as well.
Benveniste reasoned that the only substance near the robot capable of picking up positive or negative activity was the tube of water, so he asked the head lab technician to hold the tube in his pocket for two hours. He then put the tube into the machine, removed the man from the room and put up the shield. After that, the robot’s experiments worked virtually 100 per cent of the time.25
These anecdotal stories of the gremlin effect are not so farfetched when you consider the mountains of data generated by the PEAR laboratory, demonstrating tha human intention has the ability to make the random output of computers more orderly even when the intention is not conscious or deliberate. Living consciousness might have a major effect on microprocessor technology, which is now exquisitely sensitive. The tiniest disturbances in a quantum process can be highly disruptive. My own gremlin effect appears to be linked to moments of extreme stress or agitation but for some people it may be the very nature of their thought system.
The idea that we can ‘charge’ an inanimate object with our thoughts is the basis of the dark arts of many native cultures, which infuse effigies and voodoo dolls with negative intention and then use them to target enemies. There is a rich tradition of using effigies, but not much scientific study of them. Dean Radin once designed an experiment to test the effectiveness of voodoo dolls as an instrument of positive intention. He constructed a tiny effigy of a person known to a group of volunteers, who then directed their prayers to the doll. The prayers turned out to have demonstrable effects – an instance of benevolent voodoo.26
If we can be unwitting recipients of negative influence, should we take steps to block it or ward it off? Many psychics recommend using visualization to create a mental image of protection, such as imagining yourself in a giant bubble. Marilyn Schlitz and William Braud tested this idea in a variation on their staring studies with 300 volunteers divided into pairs in separate rooms. One member of each pair (the sender) was asked to use a mixture of imagery and self-regulation techniques like relaxation or Autogenic Training to relax or energize themselves. They were then asked to send an intention to reproduce a similar state in their partner (the receiver) which would be recorded with a polygraph pen. Comparisons of the EDA readings of both senders and receivers showed that the senders had an effect – when they were relaxed or activated, so were their receivers.
The receivers were then asked to visualize a variety of images that would act as a psychological ‘shield’ to block the senders’ influences; any image – a shield, a huge concrete wall, a steel fence, pulsating white light – was suitable, so long as it felt protective. These strategies proved highly successful in blocking one of the unwanted influences.27
Then, other scientists from the University of Edinburgh attempted to replicate the EDA studies under more rigorous conditions. The senders alternately attempted to calm or activate the receivers, who were to be open to being influenced for half the session and then to ‘block’ the influence attempt for the other half, by imagining themsleves wrapped up in a ‘shielding cocoon’ or adopting a stubborn and uncooperative frame of mind. Nevertheless, during the times of attempted influence, the receivers recorded the same EDA readings, regardless of whether they were ‘allowing’ or blocking it. If anything, there was a slightly larger effect during the blocking sessions. This suggests that ordinary mental strategies of isolating or protecting ourselves may not be enough to successfully resist unwanted influence.28
Qigong practitioners undergo lengthy training to learn techniques enabling them to ‘disguise’ or make their energy fields temporarily ‘invisible’ in order to ward off unwanted influence. Creating a psychic shield around yourself to prevent a barrage of negative influences – whether from your boss, a well-meaning but interfering professional, that unfriendly neighbour, even the stranger staring at you in the supermarket queue – is likely to require more than an attitude of resistance or a bit of internal imagery.
Larry Dossey once wrote that the most powerful antidote to negative intention was the line in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘deliver us from evil’. I came across another more
ecumenical instance, from the work of Dr John Diamond, who discovered a simple means of grounding yourself against unwelcome influences. Diamond, a psychiatrist and holistic healer, was inspired by George Goodheart, creator of applied kinesiology, which tests the effect of various substances on the body. Goodheart developed the technique of ‘muscle testing’, now a feature of applied kinesiology. He would ask a patient to stand facing him, with her left arm out, parallel to the floor: he placed his left arm on the patient’s shoulder to steady her, and then asked her to resist with all her strength while he pushed on her arm. In most instances, the arm would spring back and resist the force of Goodheart’s push. However when Goodheart exposed that person to noxious substances, such as food additives or allergens, the person’s left arm would be unable to resist the pressure of Goodheart’s push and easily be overcome.
Diamond applied this muscle testing to toxic thoughts. When a person was exposed to any unpleasant thought, the ‘indicator muscle’ would test weak. Diamond called it ‘behavioral kinesiology’ and has tested it on thousands of subjects over many years as a means of instantly taking stock of a person’s thoughts and most secret desires.29
Diamond discovered one thought that could overcome any sort of negative influence, or debilitating idea or situation. He called it a ‘homing thought’, because it reminded him of his youth in Sydney, Australia, swimming in the surf. Whenever a large wave threatened, he and his friends would dive to the bottom of the water and hold on to the sand with their fingertips. ‘We had learned that as soon as we were faced with this situation of stress, we could dive down, grab on to our securing handhold and hang on to our “rock” until the stress passed,’ he writes.30
The homing thought that each of us can hold on to, Diamond realized, was our ultimate aspiration or purpose in life. He has also referred to it as ‘cantillation’: each person’s special gift or talent that not only gives one a sense of joy but also union with the Absolute. The term ‘homing thought’ also reminded him of the direction finder that lost aeroplane pilots use to find their way home. The homing thought can act as a homing beacon for everyone, particularly during the most difficult moments. ‘It holds us steadfast,’ he once wrote, ‘on our course.’
Diamond’s ideas have not been subjected to scientific scrutiny, but the sheer weight of his anecdotal evidence in using behavioural kinesiology on thousands of patients lends them a certain significance. Whenever we are besieged by the darkest of intentions, we might best protect ourselves when holding on to the thought of what we have been born to do.
Note – Chapter 10: The Voodoo Effect
A. Blasband and Gottfried Martin, ‘Biophoton emission in “orgon energy” treated cress seeds, seedlings and Acetabularia’, International Consciousness Research Laborary, ICRL Report No 93.6.
Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 171–2.
Ibid.
Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.: 261.
C. O. Simonton et al., Getting Well Again, New York: Bantam, 1980; B. Siegel, Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healin from a Surgeon’s Experience with Exceptional Patients, London: HarperCollins, 1990; A. Meares, The Wealth Within: Self-Help Through a System of Relaxing Meditation, Melbourne, Australia: Hill of Content 1990.
For much of the research detailed in this chapter, I am especially indebted to Larry Dossey and Daniel Benor, who have detailed many of these early studies in their respective books, Dossey’s Be Careful What You Pray For… You Just Might Get It and Benor’s Healing Research, Spiritual Healing and his outstanding, comprehensive website: www.wholistichealingresearch.com.
Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.: 264.
J. Barry, ‘General and comparative study of the psychokinetic effect on a fungus culture’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1968; 32 (94): 237–43.
W. H. Tedder and M. L. Monty, ‘Exploration of a long-distance PK: A conceptual replication of the influence on a biological system’, in W. G. Roll et al. (eds.), Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1981: 90–3. Also see Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 169; Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.: 268–9.
C. B. Nash, ‘Test of psychokinetic control of bacterial mutation’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1984; 78: 145–52.
Kmetz’s study was described in W. Braud et al., ‘Experiments with Matthew Manning’, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1979; 50: 199–223. While the study was promising, in his review of it in Healing Research, Benor noted the lack of sufficient detail.
Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 175–6.
Many researchers of alternative medicine maintain the same concerns about studies of Chinese medicine carried out in China. These concerns don’t disregard the strong anecdotal evidence about the effectiveness ofTraditional Chinese Medicine, only the scientific method of studies of its effectiveness.
S. Sun and C. Tao, ‘Biological effect of emitted qi with tradescantic paludosa micronuclear technique’, First World Conference for Academic Exchange of Medical Qigong. Beijing, China, 1988: 61E.
Ibid.
Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 176.
D. J. Muehsam et al., ‘Effects of Qigong on cell-free myosin phosphorylation: Preliminary experiments’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1994; 5 (1): 93–108, also reported in Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For, op. cit.: 177–8.
Ibid.
Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.: 253.
G. Rein, Quantum Biology: Healing with Subtle Energy, Palo Alto, Calif.: Quantum Biology Research Labs, 1992; as reported in Benor, Healing Research, op. cit.: 350–2.
B. Grad, ‘The “laying on of hands”: Implications for psychotherapy gentling and the placebo effect’, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1967; 61 (4): 286–305.
C. B. Nash and C. S. Nash, ‘The effect of paranormally conditione solution on yeast fermentation’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1967; 31: 314.
Radin, The Conscious Universe, op. cit: 130.
An entire chapter is devoted to Jacques Benveniste in McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 59.
Description of these results from a telephone conversation with Jacques Benveniste, November 10, 2000.
J. M. Rebman et al., ‘Remote influence of the autonomic nervous system by focused intention’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1996; 6: 111– 34.W. Braud and M. Schlitz, ‘A method for the objective study of transpersonal imagery’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1989; 3 (1): 43–63; W. Braud et al., ‘Further studies of the bio-PK effect: Feedback blocking specificity/generality’, in R. White and J. Solfvin (eds.),Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1984: 45–8.
C. Watt et al., ‘Exploring the limits of direct mental influence: Two studies comparing “blocking” and “co-operating” strategies’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1999; 13 (3): 515–35.
J. Diamond, Your Body Doesn’t Lie, New York: HarperCollins, 1979.
J. Diamond, Life Energy, New South Wales: Angus & Robertson, 1992: 71.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Praying for Yesterday
ON THE EVE OF THE MILLENNIUM, Leonard Leibovici, an Israeli profes of internal medicine in Israel and expert on hospital-acquired infections, conducted a study of healing prayer’s effect on nearly 4000 adults who had developed sepsis while in the hospital. He set up a strict protocol, using a random number generator to randomize the participants into two groups, only one of which would be prayed for, and throughout the study maintained impeccable blinding; neither the patients nor the hospital staff knew who was getting treated – or indeed even knew that a study was being carried out. The names of all those in the treatment group were then handed to an individual, who said a short prayer for the well-being and full recovery of the treated group as a whole.
Leibovici was interested in comparing three outcomes between the prayed-for and not-prayed-for groups: the number of deaths in hospital; the overall length of stay in hospital; and the duration of fever. When calculating the results, he was careful to employ several statistical measurements to examine the significance of any differences. As it happened, the group that had been prayed for suffered fewer deaths than the controls (28.1 versus 30.2 per cent), although the difference was not statistically significant. What was scientifically significant, however, were major differences between the prayed-for group and the controls related to the severity of illness and the time it took to heal. Those being prayed for had a far shorter duration of fever and hospital stay and, in general, got better faster than the controls.
The subject of Leibovici’s research – the healing effects of prayer – of course was hardly new. But his study offered one novel twist. The patients had been in the hospital between 1990 and 1996. The praying was carried out in 2000 – between 4 and 10 years later.
The study was meant to be a spoof.
The British Medical Journal had published it in its Christmas 2001 issue,1 which is generally reserved for light-hearted commentary, next to a reindeer-shaped cluster of rogue cells. But Leibovici was not joking. He was trying to make a serious point in the most graphic way he could. Leibovici had a particular affinity for mathematics and statistics, and used them repeatedly in his reviews and meta-analyses when evaluating particular procedures. He had even come to believe that diseases and the success of treatment could be predicted through mathematical models.2
But the scientific method, in his view, was being defiled by its careless application to alternative medicine. Two years before, also in the Christmas issue of the BMJ, he had published an article claiming that alternative medicine masquerading as scientific medicine was like a cuckoo chick nestling in a reed warbler’s nest.3
The begging noises of the interloper chick are indistinguishable from its warbler counterparts; indeed, as it grows, the cries of the cuckoo are so loud that they match the noise of eight little warblers. The warbler parents ignore any clues that they have an impostor in their midst and continue to nourish the cuckoo chick – to the detriment, even death, of their own offspring. Leibovici was convinced that alternative medicine could not accommodate the demands of scientific rigour – and that we had no business wasting precious time and resources on the cuckoo in the nest.
But with that article, it seemed that Leibovici was the one wasting his time and breath. Most of his colleagues had missed the point so thoroughly that his only recourse was to show them. Two years later, almost to the day, his prayer study appeared in the BMJ.
He had intended that the study would illustrate that you simply cannot use the scientific method to explain subjective things like prayer. The problem was that every one had taken the study at face value. Dozens of sceptics derided the study. As one correspondent wrote, if it were possible to violate the arrow of time in this way, it would allow one to go back in time and prevent the Holocaust from happening by murdering Hitler.4
In support of Leibovici, many scientists interested in psychical research claimed that the study offered proof that prayer was effective at any point in time: Larry Dossey, who has also written extensively on ‘non-local’ consciousness and healing,5 commented that, in a stroke, Leibovici had turned ‘conventional notions of time, space, prayer, consciousness and causality’ on their heads. 6
Many others commented that Leibovici had been undone by the very meticulousness of his study design. Leibovici’s study had used only one supplicant to carry out the prayers and had sent the same prayer at the same time for each patient in the treatment group, so many of those in the alternative medicine camp did not believe the study suffered from some of the same problems in design as the other prayer research. To all the correspondents, Leibovici retorted in the BMJ letters section:
The purpose of the article was to ask the following question: Would you believe in a study that looks methodologically correct but tests something that is completely out of people’s frame (or model) of the physical world, for example, retroactive intervention or badly distilled water for asthma?7
It was wrong, he was saying, because it had to be wrong. It was statistics tied up in a knot and gone berserk. So that his motive would be clear, he added:
The article has nothing to do with religion. I believe that prayer is a real comfort and help to a believer. I do not believe it should be tested in controlled trials.
Instead, the true purpose was:
To deny from the beginning that empirical methods can be applied to questions that are completely outside the scientific model of the physical world. Or in a more formal way, if the pre-trial probability is infinitesimally low, the results of the trial will not really change it, and the trial should not be performed.
Although he had intended to use science to prove the absurdity of alternative medicine, he had actually ended up proving to many people that we can pray today to affect something that occurred yesterday. Leibovici appeared to deeply regret his study and refused to discuss it further.8
Despite all his efforts throughout his career to apply reason and logic to medicine, this was the study that he would be most remembered for – a study that demonstrated, in effect, that we can go back and change the past.
One of the most basic assumptions about intention is that it operates according to a generally accepted sense of cause and effect: the cause must always precede the effect.
If A causes B, then A must have happened first.
This assumption reflects one of our deepest beliefs, that time is a one-way, forward-moving progression.
This assumption is reinforced every moment of our ordinary lives.
First we order our coffee, then the waitress delivers it to our table.
First we order a book on Amazon, then it arrives in the mail.
Indeed, the most tangible evidence of time’s arrow is the physical evidence of our own ageing; first we are born, then we grow old and die.
Similarly, we believe that the consequence of our intentions can only occur in the future. What we do today cannot affect what happened yesterday.
However, a sizeable body of the scientific evidence about intention violates these basic assumptions about causation. Research has demonstrated clear instances of time-reversed effects, where effect precedes cause.
Leibovici’s study was unique among prayer research in that it was conducted ‘backward in time’ – the healing intention was meant to affect events that had already occurred.
But to many frontier scientists, this experiment in ‘retro-prayer’ simply represented a true-to-life instance of the time-displacement effects regularly seen in the laboratory.
Indeed, some of the largest effects occur when intention is sent out of strict time sequence.
Studies like Leibovici’s offer up the most challenging idea of all: that thoughts can affect other things no matter when the thought is made and, in fact, may work better when they are not subject to a conventional time sequence of causation.
Robert Jahn and Brenda Dunne at PEAR discovered this phenomenon when the investigated time displacement in their REG trials. In some 87,000 of these experiments, volunteers were asked to attempt to mentally influence the ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ random output of REGs in a specific direction anywhere from three days to two weeks after the machines had run.
As a whole, the ‘time-displaced’ experiments achieved even greater effects than the standard experiments.9 Jahn and Dunne had deemed these differences non-significant, only because the number of trials carried out in this manner was tiny compared with the rest of their monumental body of evidence.
Nevertheless, the very idea that intention could work equally well whether ‘backward’, ‘forward’ or in sequence, made Jahn realize that all of our conventional notions of time needed to be discarded.10
The fact that effects were even larger during the time-displaced studies suggested that thoughts have even greater power when their transmission transcends ordinary time and space.
Retro-causation has been explored in great detail by Dutch physicist Dick Bierman and his colleague Joop Houtkooper of the University of Amsterdam,11 and later by Helmut Schmidt, an eccentric physicist at Lockheed Martin who created a elegant variation on time-displaced REG remote influence to determine whether someone’s intention could change a machine’s output after it had been run.
He rewired his REG to connect it to an audio device so that it would randomly set off a click that would be audiotaped and heard through a set of headphones by either the left or right ear.
He then turned on the machine and tape recorded their output, ensuring that no one, even himself, was listening.
After making copies of this master tape (again, with no one listening), he locked the master tape away, to eliminate the possibility of fraud, and gave medical students the copies a day later.
The volunteers were asked to listen to the tape and send an intention to have more clicks in their left ears.
Schmidt also created control tapes by running the audio device but not asking anyone to attempt to influence the left–right clicks. As expected, the right and left clicks of the controls were distributed more or less evenly.
Once the participants had finished their attempts to influence the tapes, Schmidt had his computer analyse both the student tapes and the master tape that had been hidden away to see if there was any deviation from the typical random pattern. In more than 20,000 trials carried out between 1971 and 1975, Schmidt discovered a significant result: on both the copies and the masters, 55 per cent had more left-hand than right-hand clicks. And both sets of tapes matched perfectly.
Schmidt believed he understood the mechanism for his improbable results. It wasn’t that his participants had changed a tape after it had been created; their influence had reached ‘back in time’ and influenced the machine’s output at the moment that it was first recorded.12
They had changed the output of the machine in the same way they might have if they had been present at the time it was being recorded. They did not change the past from what it was; they influenced the past when it was unfolding as the present so that it became what it was.
Schmidt continually refined the design of his ‘retro-PK’ studies over 20 years, eventually involving martial arts students, who are trained in mind-control.
In one study, he used a radioactive-decay counter to generate a visual display of random numbers. The students sat in front of this visual display, and attempted mentally to influence the numbers in a particular statistical distribution. Once again, he achieved a highly significant result, with odds against it being a chance occurrence of 1000 to somehow, the intention of the students had reached ‘back in time’ to affect what occurred in the first place.13
Time-displaced intention has also been successfully applied to living things. German parapsychologist Elmar Gruber, of the Institut für Grenzgebiete de Psychologie und Psychohygiene in Freiburg, carried out a series of ingenious experiments examining whether the movement of animals and humans can be influenced after the fact.
His first series of tests concerned gerbils running in activity wheels and moving about within a large cage. A special counter kept track of the number of revolutions in the activity wheel. A beam of light in the cage also had a recording device to note whenever the gerbil made contact with it. Similarly, he asked a group of human volunteers to walk around an area across which he had placed a photobeam, which was also attached to a recorder to note every instance that the volunteers ran into it.
Gruber then converted each revolution of the wheel or contact with the photobeam into a clicking sound. Tapes were made of the clicks, which were copied and stored, again to eliminate fraud.
Between one and six days later, volunteers were asked to listen to the tapes and attempt to mentally influence the gerbils to run faster than normal, or the people to run into the beam more often than usual.
Success would be measured by a greater number of clicks than usual.
Gruber carried out each type of trial 20 times, and in each instance, compared the volunteers’ tapes with tapes made during sessions when the animals and humans were not subjected to the remote influence.
Four of the six batches of trials achieved significant results, and in three of these, the effect size was larger than 0.44.
An effect size is a statistical figure used in scientific research to demonstrate the size of change or outcome. It is arrived at by a number of factors, usually by comparing two groups, one of which has made the change.
An effect size under 0.3 is considered small, between 0.3 and 0.6 is medium, and anything above 0.6 is considered large. Aspirin, considered one of the most successful heart attack preventives of modern times, has an effect size of just 0.032, more than 10 times smaller than Gruber’s overall effect size.
In the case of the activity-wheel gerbil trial, the effect size was a huge 0.7.14 If his results had concerned a drug, Gruber would have discovered one of the greatest lifesavers of all time.
Gruber carried out six more intriguing experiments. In one study he recorded the number of times that people in a Viennese supermarket crossed a photobeam, and then recorded the number of times a photobeam was crossed by cars passing through various tunnels in Vienna during the rush hour.
These again were converted into clicks, and the tapes made of the clicks were stored for one to two months before being played to volunteers, who were asked to influence the speed of the people on foot or in the cars.
This time, he decided to include among his group of influencers some people with psychic ability. He also created similar tapes as controls, which were not exposed to remote intention.
Once again, when compared with sessions that were not subjected to influence, the results were highly significant; all but one of the automobile–tunnel studies had a significant effect size; in two of the studies, the effect sizes (0.52 and 0.74) were enormous.15
Is it possible to retroactively prevent a disease, after it has infected its host and spread? The Chiron Foundation in the Netherlands designed an intriguing study to tes this seemingly impossible proposition.
A large group of rats was randomly divided in two groups, and one group given a parasitic infection of the blood.
The experiment was blinded so that the experimenters themselves did not know which animals were infected and which were controls until after the study was completed. A healer given photographs of the rats after they had been infected with the disease was asked to attempt to prevent the spread of the parasites.
Measurements of the blood cells were taken at several intervals after the animals had been infected. The study was carried out three times, each involving a large number of rats. Two achieved a medium (0.47) effect size.16
Psychologist William Braud then asked one of the most provocative questions of all: is it possible to ‘edit’ one’s own emotional response to an event? To test this, he designed a batch of studies to test time-displaced influence on nervous activity.
He recorded several tracings of the electrodermal activity (EDA) of volunteers, using standard liedetection equipment – a reasonable gauge of whether a person is calm or agitated. Braud then asked the participants to examine one of their own tracings and to attempt to influence it, by sending an intention either to calm down or activate their own sympathetic nervous system at that earlier point in time.
The other tracings of the participants, which were not exposed to mental influence, were to act as controls. Later, when he compared the tracings with controls, he discovered that those tracings that were exposed to the volunteers’ own retro-influence were calmer than the controls.
Overall, these studies achieved a small, significant effect size (0.37), offering some of the first evidence that human beings might be able to rewrite their own emotional history.17
Helmut Schmidt successfully employed a similar study design to change his own prerecorded breathing rate, demonstrating that it is possible to retroactively change your own physical state as well.18
Dean Radin set up an EDA test similar to Braud’s, but added remote distance to a test of retroactive influence.
Two months after running the tests, Radin sent copies of the electrodermal readouts to healers in Brazil and asked them to attempt to quiet the readings. After 21 such studies Radin achieved a 0.47 effect size, similar to Braud’s.19
Radin also tested the possibility that, under certain conditions, a future event can influence an earlier nervous-system response.
He made ingenious use of a strange psychological phenomenon called the ‘Stroop effect’, named after its discoverer, psychologist John Ridley Stroop,20 originator of a landmark test in cognitive psychology.
The Stroop test uses a list of the names of colours (e.g. ‘green’) printed in different coloured inks. Stroop found that when people are asked to read out the name of a colour as quickly as possible, they take much longer if the name of the colour does not match the colour of the ink used (e.g. if the word ‘green’ is printed in red ink) than they do if the name and the colour of the ink match (e.g. if the word ‘green’ is printed in green ink).
Psychologists believe that this phenomenon has to do with the difference in the time it takes the brain to process an image (the colour itself), compared with the time it takes to process a word (the colour name).
Swedish psychologist Holger Klintman devised a variation on the Stroop test Volunteers were asked first to identify the colour of a rectangle as quickly as they could, then asked whether a colour name matched the colour patch they had just been shown.
A large variation occurred in the time it took his volunteers to identify the colour of the rectangle. Klintman discovered that the identification of the rectangle colour was faster when it matched the colour name shown subsequently.21
The time it took for people to identify the colour of the rectangle seemed to depend on the second task of determining whether the word matched the rectangle colour. Klintman called his effect ‘time-reversed interference’. In other words, the later effect influenced the brain’s reaction to the first stimulus.
Radin created a modern version of Klintman’s study. His participants sat in front of a computer screen and identified the colours of rectangles that flashed up on the screen as quickly as possible by typing in their first letter.
The image on the screen would then be replaced by the name of a colour, and the volunteer would then have to type either ‘y’ (yes) to indicate that the name of the colour matched the colour of the rectangle or ‘n’ (no) to indicate a mismatch. Radin varied the second part of the design, so that, after the participant had identified the colour of the rectangle, he or she would also have to type in the first letter of the actual colour of the letters of the colour’s name.
For instance, if the word ‘green’ flashed up but was coloured blue, he or she would have to type in ‘b’.
In four studies of more than 5000 trials, all four showed a retrocausal effect. A significant correlation was observed in two of the studies, with a third marginally significant.22 Somehow, the time it took to carry out the second task was affecting the time it took to carry out the first one.
Radin concluded that his studies offered evidence of a time displacement in the nervous system. The implications are enormous. Our thoughts about something can affect our past reaction times.
One scientifically accepted way to examine the overall power of an effect is to pool the results of all the studies together into what is called a ‘meta-analysis’. Analysed in this manner, 19 of the retroinfluence studies yielded an extraordinary collective result.23
William Braud calculated that the overall effect size was 0.32. Although that is considered a small effect on its own, it represents ten times the effect size for most prescription drugs, such as the beta-blocker propanolol, that are recognized as extremely effective.
A different type of analysis of all the best studies of time displacement was carried out in 1996 by Dick Bierman. In statistics, the best way to judge an effect is to work out how much it deviates from the mean, or average.
One method popular with statisticians is to work out the chi-square distribution, which entails plotting the square of each individual score. Any deviation from chance, whether positive or negative, will show up as a large positive deviation in bold relief.
Bierman detected an enormous variance in individual studies, but collectively they produced results whose occurrence by chance alone was an extraordinary 630 billion to one.24
One interpretation of the laboratory evidence of retro-influence suggests the unthinkable: intention is capable of reaching back down the time line to influence past events, or emotional or physical responses, at the point when they originally occurred.
The central problem of going ‘back to the future’ and manipulating our own past are the logical knots the mind gets tied up in when considering them. As British philosopher Max Black argued in 1956, if A causes B, but occurs after B, B ofte precludes A. Therefore, A cannot cause B.
This conundrum was overlooked in the movie The Terminator.
If the Schwarzenegger cyborg goes back in time and kills Sarah Connor so that she canno give birth to future rebel John Connor, there would be no future revolution between man and machine.
The Terminator no longer has any need to come back in time or, indeed, no longer any purpose for being created.
British philosopher David Wiggins constructed a similar scenario to illustrate the logical problems inherent in the idea of a time machine. Suppose a young man is the grandson of the cruel leader of a fascist movement. He decides to travel back in time to kill his grandfather, to prevent him from taking control. But if he does so, the young man’s mother may not be born and he of course would cease to exist.
Nevertheless, physicists no longer consider retro-causation inconsistent with the laws of the universe. More than 100 articles in the scientific literature propose ways in which laws of physics can account for time displacement.25
Several scientists have proposed that scalar waves, secondary waves in the Zero Point Field, enable people to engineer changes in space-time. These secondary fields, caused by the motion of subatomic particles interacting with the Zero Point Field, are ripples in space-time – waves that can travel faster than the speed of light.
Scalar Field waves possess astonishing power: a single unit of energy produced by a laser in such a state would represent a larger output than all the world’s power plants combined.26
Certain technologies, such as quantum optics, have made use of laser pulses to squeeze the Zero Point Field to such a degree that it creates negative energy.27
It is well accepted in physics that this negative energy, or exotic matter, is able to bend space-time. Many theoreticians believe that negative energy would allow us to travel through wormholes, travel at warp speed, build time machines and even help human beings to levitate.
When electrons are packed densely together, the density of the spray of virtual particles that are constantly created in the Zero Point Field is increased. These spra densities are organized into electromagnetic waves that flow in two directions, and so may be going ‘back and forward’ in time.28
Physicist Evan Harris Walker first proposed that retro-influence can be explained by quantum physics if we just take account of the observer effect.29
Walker and later Henry Stapp, an elementary particle physicist at the University of California at Berkeley, who acted as an independent monitor of Helmut Schmidt’s final martial arts study, believed that a small tweak in quantum theory, making use of ‘nonlinear quantum theory’, could explain all cases of retro-influence. In a linear system such as current quantum mechanics, the behaviour of a system can be easily described: 2 + 2 = 4. The system’s behaviour is the sum of its parts. In a non-linear system, 2 + 2 may equal 5 or even 8. The system’s behaviour is more than a sum of its parts – by how much more we can’t often predict.
In Walker’s and then Stapp’s view, turning quantum theory into a non-linear system would enable them to include one other element in the equation: the human mind. In Schmidt’s martial arts study, the numbers on the visual display remained in their ‘potential’ state of all possible sets of numbers until they had been observed by the students. At that point, the mental intent of the students and the numbers on the display interacted in a quantum way.
According to Stapp, the physical universe exists as a set of ‘tendencies’ with ‘statistical links’ between mental events.
Even though the tape of the numbers has been generated, they divide into a number of channels of all possible outcomes. When a person looks at the numbers, his brain state will also divide into the same number of channels. His intent will select out a particular channel, and through the numbers ‘collapse’ the channels into a single state.30 Human will – our intention – creates the reality, no matter when.
The other possibility is that all information in the universe is available to us at every moment, and time exists as one giant smeared-out present. Braud has speculated that forebodings of the future might be an act of backward time displacement – a future event somehow reaching back in time to influence a present mind. If you simply reversed presentiment and call it backward influence, so that all future mental activity influences the present, you maintain the same model and results as the retro-causation studies.
All precognition might be evidence of backward- acting influence;31 all future decisions may always influence the past.
There is also the possibility that at the most fundamental layer of our existence there is no such thing as sequential time.
Pure energy as it exists at the quantum level does not have time or space, but exists as a vast continuum of fluctuating charge. We, in a sense, are time and space. When we bring energy to conscious awareness through the act of perception, we create separate objects that exist in space through a measured continuum. By creating time and space, we create our own separateness and indeed our own time.
According to Bierman, what appears to be retro-causation is simply evidence that the present is contingent upon future potential conditions or outcomes, and that non-locality occurs through time as well as space. In a sense, our future actions, choices and possibilities all help to create our present as it unfolds. According to the view, we are constantly being influenced in our present actions and decisions by our future selves.
This explanation was bolstered by a simple thought experiment carried out by Vlatko Vedral and one of his colleagues at the University of Vienna: Caslav Brukner, a Serb who had managed to leave Yugoslavia during the civil war and, like Vedral, spent time at Zeilinger’s Viennese lab.
When Brukner joined Vedral in London during a year-long fellowship at Imperial College, he began thinking about quantum computation, and the fact that it is billions of times faster than classical computing. Once a quantum computer is finally perfected it will enable one to scan every last corner of the Internet in half an hour.32
Could this enormous advantage in speed have some basis in Bell’s inequality, the famous test of non-locality? Bell demonstrated that the remote influence maintained between two quantum subatomic particles, even over vast distances, ‘violates’ our Newtonian view of separation in space.
Could this same test be used to show when temporal constraints – the limits governing time – are also violated? Brukner enlisted Vedral to design a thought experiment with him.
Their experiment rested on a given in science about time: in the evolution of a particle, a measurement taken at a certain point will be utterly independent of a measurement taken later or earlier. In this instance, the ‘inequality’ of Bell’s would refer to the difference between the two measurements when taken at different times.
For their experiment, they no longer needed two particles, and so could utterly eliminate the ‘Bob’ particle and concentrate on the photon, ‘Alice’. The task now was to make theoretical calculations of Alice’s polarization at two points of time. If quantum waves behave like a wriggling skipping rope being shaken at one end, the direction in which the rope is pointed is called polarization. To work out their time sequences mathematically, Brukner and Vedral made use of what is called ‘Hilbert’, or abstract, space.
First they calculated Alice’s polarization, then they measured it moments later. When they had finished their calculations of Alice’s current position, they went back and measured her earlier polarization again. They discovered that, between two points of time, Bell’s inequality indeed had been violated; they got a different measurement of the first polarization the second time around. The very act of measuring Alice at a later time influenced and indeed changed how it was polarized earlier.
The implications of their astonishing discovery were not lost on the scientific community. New Scientist included their discoveries in a dramatic cover story: ‘Quantum entanglement: How the future can influence the past’ and concluded: quantum mechanics seems to be bending the laws of cause and effect … entanglement in time puts space and time on an equal footing in quantum theory … Brukner’s result suggests that we might be missing something important in our understanding of how the world works.33
For me, Brukner’s thought experiment held a significance far greater than a simple theoretical one. It showed that instantaneous cause and effect not only occurs through space but also back and possibly forward through time. It offered the first mathematical proof that the actions of every moment influenced and changed those of our past. It may well be that every action we take, every thought we have in the present, alters our entire history.
Even more significantly, his experiment demonstrated the central role of the observer in creating, and indeed changing, reality. Observing had played an integral part in changing the state of the photon’s polarization.
The very act of measuring an entity at one point of time changed its earlier state. This may mean that every observation of ours changes some earlier state of the physical universe. A deliberate thought to change something in our present could also influence our past. The very act of intention, of making a change in the present, may also affect everything that has led to that moment.
This sort of backward influence resembles the non-local correlations found in the quantum world, as if the connections were always there in some underlying arrangement.34 It may be that our future already exists in some nebulous state that we actualize in the present.
This makes sense since subatomic particles exist in a state of potential until observed or thought about. If consciousness operates at the quantum frequency level, it would naturally reside outside space and time, and we would theoretically have access to information – ‘past’ and ‘future’. If humans are able to influence quantum events, they are also able to affect events or moments other than in the present.
Radin discovered more evidence that our psychokinetic influence is operating ‘backwards’ in an ingenious study examining the possible underlying mechanism of intention on the random bits of an REG machine. Radin first ran five REG studie involving thousands of trials, then analysed the experiments through a process called a ‘Markov chain’, which allowed a mathematical analysis of how the REG machine’s output changed over time.
For this process, he made use of three different models of intention: first, as a forward-time casual influence (the mind ‘pushes’ the REG in one direction throughout the influence); second, as a precognitive influence (the mind intuits the precise moment to hit the REG in its random fluctuations to produce the intended result by ‘looking into the future’ and passively ‘bringing back’ this information to the present); and third, as a true retrocausal influence (the mind first sets the future outcome and applies all the chain of events that will produce it ‘backward’ in time).
Radin’s analysis of the data had one inescapable conclusion: this was not a process running forward in time, in an attempt to hit a particular target, so much as an ‘information’ flow that had travelled back in time.35
But just how much of the past could we change in the sticks-and-stones world of real life? William Braud had pondered this issue at length. He once observed that those moments in the past most open to change might be ‘seed’ moments when nature has not made up its mind – perhaps the earliest stages of events before they blossomed and grew into something static and unchangeable.36
These moments were analogous to a sapling that could still be bent and trained before its trunk was too stiff and branches too large; the brain of a child, which is far more open to influence and learning than an adult’s; or even a virus, which is far easier to overcome in its infancy.37
Random events, decisions with equally likely choices, or illness – all probabilistic moments disposed to early influence where human intention could slightly shift the outcome in a certain direction – might comprise the events in our lives most open to retro-influence. Braud referred to them as ‘open’, or labile, systems – those most open to change.
These systems include many of the workings of living things, which are random processes, much like the quantum systems of random-event generators. Any one of a number of the biological processes in living things requires a cascade of processes, which would be sensitive to the kind of subtle effects on REG machinery observed say, in the PEAR research.38
In Braud’s earlier work, he had discovered that remote influence had its greatest effect when there was a strong need for it.39 The necessity of a particular outcome might be the one quality that moves mountains backward in time.
A clue to the extent of our reach was revealed in Schmidt’s discovery of an observer effect in his audio REG experiments that is much like the effect in quantum experiments: it was most important that the person attempting to influence his tapes be the very first listener.
If anyone else heard the tape first and listened with focused attention, it was less susceptible to influence later. A few studies even suggest that observation by any sentient being – human or animal – blocks future attempts at time-displaced influence.
Bierman tested this by rigging up a radioactive source to trigger beeps that were delayed for one second and then observed by a final observer. In about half of the events, another pre-observer was given feedback of this quantum event before the final observer witnessed it. In those instances, the pre-observer’s observation resulted in a collapse of the superposition state of the quantum event while, in the other half of cases, the final observer ‘produced’ the collapse.40
If this consciousness is the crucial ingredient for ‘collapse’ to occur, humans – and their ability to ‘reduce’ reality to limited states – are completely responsible for the idea that time is an arrow in one direction. If our future choice of a particular state is what affects its present ‘collapse’, the reality may be that our future and present are constantly meeting up with each other.
This accords with what is understood about the observer effect in quantum theory – that the first observation of a quantum entity ‘decoheres’, or collapses, its pure state of potential into a single state.41 This rather suggests that, if no one had ever seen Hitler, we might have been able to send an intention to prevent the Holocaust.
Although our understanding of the mechanism is still primitive, the experimental evidence of time reversal is fairly robust. This research portrays life as one giant, smeared-out here and now, and much of it – past, present and future – open to our influence at any moment.
But that hints at the most unsettling idea of all. Once constructed, a thought is lit forever.
Note – Chapter 11: Praying for Yesterday
L. Leibovici, ‘Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients with blood stream infection: Randomized controlled trial’, British Medical Journal, 2001; 323 (7327): 1450–1.
S. Andreassen et al., ‘Using probabilistic and decision-theoretic methods in treatment and prognosis modeling’, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 1999; 15 (2): 121–34.
L. Leibovici, ‘Alternative (complementary) medicine: a cuckoo in the nest o empiricist reed warblers’, British Medical Journal, 1999; 319: 1629–32; Leibovici, ‘Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer’, op. cit.
Letters, BMJ Online, December 22, 2003.
L. Dossey, ‘How healing happens: exploring the nonlocal gap’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2002; 8 (2): 12–16, 103–10.
B. Oshansky and L. Dossey, ‘Retroactive prayer: A preposterous hypothesis?’ British Medical Journal, 2003; 327: 20–7.
Letters, ‘Effect of retroactive prayer’, British Medical Journal, 2002; 324: 1037.
Correspondence from Liebovici to author, June 28, 2005.
Interview with Jahn and Dunne, July 2005.
R. G. Jahn et al., ‘Correlations of random binary sequences with pre-stated operator intention: a review of a 12-year program’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (3): 345–67.
D. J. Bierman and J. M. Houtkooper, ‘Exploratory PK tests with programmable high speed random number generator’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1975; 1 (1): 3–14.
R. Broughton, Parapsychology: The Controversial Science, New York: Ballantine Books, 1991: 175–6.
H. Schmidt and H. Stapp, ‘Study of PK with prerecorded random events an the effects of preobservation’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1993; 57: 351.
E. R. Gruber, ‘Conformance behavior involving animal and human subjects’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1979; 3 (1): 36–50.
E. R. Gruber, ‘PK effects on pre-recorded group behaviour of livin systems’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1980; 3 (2): 167–75.
F. W. J. J. Snel and P. C. van der Sijde, ‘The effect of retro-active distance healing on Babeia rodhani (rodent malaria) in rats’, European Journal of Parapsychology, 1990; 8: 123–30.
W. Braud, unpublished study, 1993, as reported in W. Braud, ‘Wellness implications of retroactive intentional influence: exploring an outrageous hypothesis’, Alternatives Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2000; 6 (1): 37–48.
H. Schmidt, ‘Random generators and living systems as targets in retro-PK experiments’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1997; 912 (1): 1–13.D. Radin et al., ‘Effects of distant healing intention through time and space: Two exploratory studies’, Proceedings of Presented Papers: The 41stAnnual Convention of the Parapsychological Association, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada: Parapsychological Association, 1998: 143–61.
J. R. Stroop, ‘Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions’,Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1935; 18: 643, as cited in D.I. Radin and E. C May, ‘Evidence for a retrocausal effect in the human nervous system’, Boundary Institute Technical Report 2000–1.
H. Klintman, ‘Is there a paranormal (precognitive) influence in certain types of perceptual sequences? Part I and II’,European Journal of Parapsychology, 1983; 5: 19–49 and 1984; 5: 125–40, as cited in Radin and May, Boundary Institute Technical Report, op. cit.
Radin and May, Boundary Institute Technical Report, op. cit.
Radin and May, Boundary Institute Technical Report, op. cit.
G. A. Mourou and D. Umstadter, ‘Extreme light’, in ‘The Edge of Physics’ Special edition of Scientific American, 2003; 13 (1): 77–83 updated from May 2002 issue.
L. H. Ford and T. A. Roman, ‘Negative energy, wormholes and warp drive’ in ‘The Edge of Physics’. Special edition ofScientific American, 2003; 13 (1): 85–91 updated from January 2000 issue.
J. A. Wheeler and R. P. Reynman, ‘Interaction with the absorber as the mechanism of radiation’, Reviews of Modern Physics, 1945; 17 (2–3): 157– 81; J. A. Wheeler and R. P. Reynman, ‘Classical electrodynamics in terms o direct interparticle action’, Reviews of Modern Physics, 1949; 21: 425–33.
E. H. Walker, ‘The nature of consciousness’, Mathematical BioSciences, 1970; 7: 131–78.
H. P. Stapp, ‘Theoretical model of a purported empirical violation of the predictions of quantum theory’, Physical Review A, 1994; 50 (1): 18–22.
Braud, ‘Wellness implications’, op. cit.
L. Grover, ‘Quantum computing’, The Sciences, July/August 1999: 24–30.
M. Brooks, ‘The weirdest link’, New Scientist, March 27, 2004; 181(2440): 32–5.
D. Bierman, ‘Do PSI-phenomena suggest radical dualism?’ in S. Hammerof et al. (ed.), Toward a Science of Consciousness II, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1998: 709–14.
D. I. Radin, ‘Experiments testing models of mind-matter interaction’ Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2006; 20 (3), 375–401.
Interview with William Braud, October 1999.
W. Braud, ‘Transcending the limits of time’, The Inner Edge: A Resource for Enlightened Business Practice, 1999; 2 (6): 16–18.
R. D. Nelson, ‘The physical basis of intentional healing systems’, Technical Report, PEAR 99001, Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research, Princeton New Jersey, January 1999.
Braud, interview with author, October 1999.
D. Bierman ‘Does consciousness collapse the wave packet?’ Mind and Matter, 2003; 1 (1): 45–58.
H Schmidt, ‘Additional effect for PK on pre-recorded targets’,Journal of Parapsychology, 1985; 49: 229–44; ‘PK tests with and without preobservation by animals’, in L. S. Henkel and J. Palmer (eds.), Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1990: 15–19.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Intention Experiment
SEEING ACETABULARIA FOR THE FIRST TIME takes your breath away. T mesmerizing appearance of this common algae of the Caribbean and the Mediterranean has earned a number of poetic nicknames – ‘mermaid’s wineglass’, or ‘sombrerillo’ in Spanish – and both are fitting. Its slender stem supports a tiny cupped sombrero, like a miniature green umbrella ready to be popped into an underwater tropical cocktail.
For more than 70 years, biology students have marvelled over this tiny plant, not simply for its appearance but for a single bizarre fact of its existence. Acetabularia is a freak of nature. From stem to sombrero, the entire plant, measuring up to 5 centimetres, consists of a single cell. Because of this, Acetabularia, unlike most living things, can be counted on to behave predictably.
The large nucleus of the cell always sits at the rhizoid, the base of the stalk, and divides only when the plant has reached its full height. This uncomplicated structure has helped to unmask biology’s greatest mystery: which portion of the plant engineers its ability to reproduce. In the 1930s, the German scientist Joachim Hammerling elected Acetabularia as his perfect ‘tool organism’ to work out the role of a nucleus in plant genetics.
The simplicity of this single-celled organism with its single giant nucleus not only offered up the secrets of the cell in bold relief, it divulged the whole of the building plans of plant life. Working with Acetabularia allowed one to sit in stunned witness to the complex morphology of life within the totality of a single cell, large enough to be visible to the naked eye.
Acetabularia also represented a model organism for my first intention experiment. Fritz Popp, who was to perform the experiment with me, believed that if we were going to attempt to carry out my proposal, we needed to begin on the ground floor. For this first experiment, I planned to assemble a small group of volunteers in London, and ask them to use their intention to affect an organism in Popp’s lab in Germany.
Using Acetabularia for our test subject would be analogous to testing a car made of a single moving part. It removes all the variables of a living thing, with its unfathomable number of chemical and energetic processes occurring at every instant.
Humans, for instance, are like a manufacturing plant covering most of the United States. A septillion chemical reactions occur every second in every tablespoon of our cells, tiny explosions that get multiplied by the 50 million million cells of the average human body. In an experiment comparing, say, the growth rates of two sections of the body, it is almost impossible to control for every variable. Growth rates can be altered by food, water, genetics, mood, or even a sudden dip in air temperature.
During our first intention experiment, Popp intended to examine the alteration in the tiny light being emitted from the algae, which was infinitely more subtle than cellular growth rate. Nonetheless, in multicellular living things, even the light that emanates from each cell is subject to a host of influences: the health of the host, the weather and even the activity of the sun.1 Light can also differ from cell to cell.
With Acetabularia, as the light reassuringly derives from its single nucleus, so it is subject to far less fluctuation. With such a primitive organism, Popp explained, it would be possible to demonstrate, with a fair degree of certainty, that any effect, for better or worse, was entirely the result of our remote influence. Only by using such a simple system could we show that our effect was indisputably due to intention and not a dozen other possibilities.
Generally speaking, an increase of photons indicates that a life form is being stressed and a decrease, that its health has improved. If I sent an intention to make the algae healthier, and the photon count went down, it would likely mean that I was having a good effect. If the photon count went up, it was probable that I was, in some way, harming it.
Popp has a number of extremely sensitive photocount detectors at his disposal, which can register an intensity of visible light of about 10–17 watts per square centimetre, analogous to the light coming from a candle several kilometres away.2 This type of ultrasensitive equipment would enable us to record every single hair’s breath of difference – even by a single photon – and so determine the extent of our influence.
Popp had reason to be cautious. For 30 years he had faced enormous opposition to his bold assertion that light emanates from living things,3 and had finally won respect from the physics community.
He had set up his international community of likeminded scientists from prestigious centres all over the globe to work on biophoton emissions.4 By participating in our experiment, he might risk this hard-won reputation and good will. After all, ultimately I was asking this world-renowned physicist to test whether collective positive thinking could change the physical world.
* * *
The results of a number of experiments had suggested that a ‘group’ consciousness might possibly exist. In their random-event generator experiments, PEAR’s Jahn and Dunne found that the influence of pairs of the opposite sex who knew each other had a powerful complementary effect on the machines – roughly three and a half times that of individuals. Two intensively involved people appeared to create six times the ‘order’ on a random machine. Some couples even produced a ‘signature’ result, which did not resemble the effects they generated individually.5
There was also evidence that a group all intently focused on the same thought registered as a large effect on a REG machine. Roger Nelson, the chief coordinato of the PEAR lab, had come up with the idea of running REG machines continuousl during a particularly engaging event, to examine whether the focused attention of a group had any effect on the random output of the machines.
He and Dean Radin developed what they termed ‘FieldREG’ devices and ra them during a host of events involving the highly focused attention of an audience: intense or euphoric group workshops; religious group rituals; Wagnerian festivals; theatrical presentations; even the Academy Awards. In most instances, their studies showed that multiple minds holding the same intensely felt thought created some kind of deviation from the norm on the equipment.6
Nelson had been fascinated by the possibility of a global collective consciousness. In 1997, he decided to place REGs all over the world, have them ru continuously and compare their output with moments of global events with the greatest emotional impact. For his programme, which became known as the Global Consciousness Project, Nelson organized a centralized computer program, so tha REGs located in 50 places around the globe could pour their continuous stream of random bits of data into one vast central hub through the Internet.
Periodically, Nelson and his colleagues, including Dean Radin, studied these outpourings and compared them with the biggest breaking news stories, attempting to root out any sort o f statistical connection. Standardized methods and analysis revealed any demonstration of order – a moment when the machine output displayed less randomness than usual – and whether the time that it had been generated corresponded with that of a major world event.
By 2006, they had studied 205 top news events, including the death of the Princess of Wales, the millennium celebrations, the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr, and his wife, and the attempted Clinton impeachment. When Nelson analysed four years’ worth of data, a pattern emerged. When people reacted with great joy or horror to a major event, the machines seemed to react as well. Furthermore, the degree of ‘order’ in the machine’s output seemed to match the emotional intensity of the event, particularly those that had been tragic: the greater the horror, the greater the order.7
This trend appeared most notable during the events of 9/11. After the twin towers were destroyed, Nelson, Radin and several colleagues studied the data that had poured in from 37 REGs around the world. Individual statistical analyses were performed by Radin, Nelson, computer scientist Richard Shoup of Boundary Institut and Bryan J. Williams, a psychology undergraduate at the University of New Mexico According to the results of all four analyses, the effect on the machines during the plane crashes was unprecedented.
Out of any moment in 2001, the greatest variance in the machines away from randomness took place that day. The results also represented the largest daily average correlation in output between each machine than at any other time in the history of the project.8 According to the REGs, the world’s mind had reacted with a coherent global horror.
Nelson and three independent analysts took apart the data using a variety of statistical methods. Nelson examined his results through the chi-square distribution method, that statistical technique which plots the square of each of the machine’s runs, so that any deviation from chance easily shows up. All of the analysts concluded that an enormous increase in ‘order’ occurred during time frames relating t o key moments in the drama (such as, shortly before the first tower was struck), which were likely to be the most intense periods of horror and disbelief.9 As REGs are designed to control for electrical disturbances, natural electromagnetic fields or increased levels of mobile phone use, the two scientists were able to discard all those possibilities as potential causes.10
Furthermore, although activity of the REGs was normal in the days leading up to /11, the machines became increasingly correlated a few hours before the first tower was hit, as though there had been a mass premonition. This similarity in output continued for two days after the first strike. Williams thought of it as kind of psychic signature, a giant unconscious psychokinetic effect created by 6 billion minds set to react in unified horror.11
The world had felt a collective shudder several hours before the first plane crash, and every REG machine had heard and duly recorded it.
Although not every analyst agreed with these conclusions,12 Nelson, Radin and several of their colleagues eventually were able to publish a summary of their findings in the prestigious physics journal Foundations of Physics Letters.13
Nelson went on to study other events in the wake of 9/11, including the start of the Iraqi war. He compared REG activity with variations in the approval polls o President George W. Bush, to see if he could discover a connection of any kind between the global ‘mind’ and current American opinions of the president, and whether the REG network reacted most when there were strong feelings of unity and purpose, as the Americans had shared in the wake of 9/11, or when the public mood was polarized, as it had been after the invasion of Iraq and the deposing of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
After examining 556 separate polls between 1998 and 2004, Nelson’s colleague, Peter Bancel, discovered that peaks in variations followed big public changes of opinion of any variety, either for or against the president. Strong emotion, positive or negative – even to presidential decisions – seemed to produce order.
The results of the FieldREG work and the Global Consciousness Project offe several important clues about the nature of group intention. A group mind appears to have a psychokinetic effect on any random microphysical process, even when not focused on the machinery itself.
The energy from a collective, intensely felt thought appears to be infectious. There also appears to be a ‘dose’ effect; the effect on an REG of a load of people thinking the same thought is larger than the effect of a single person. Finally, emotional content or degree of focus is important. The thought has to engulf a group of people in a moment of peak attention, so that every member of the group is thinking the same thought at the same time. A catastrophe is certainly an effective way to snap the mind to attention.
The data from the Global Consciousness Project had one serious limitation However accurately Nelson had taken the temperature of the world mind, his data simply referred to the effect of mass attention.
There had been no intention to cause change. What would happen if a number of people were not simply attending to something but also trying to affect it in some way? If the focused attention of a group has a physical impact on sensitive equipment, does the signal get stronger when the group is actually trying to change something?
The only systematic study of group intention concerns the so-called Maharishi Effect of Transcendental Meditation™ (TM), the technique first introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to the West in the 1960s. Over several decades, the TM organization has carried out more than 500 studies of group meditation, with or without intention, to examine whether meditation has a resonance effect on reducing conflict and suffering.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi postulated that regularly practising TM enabled you to get in touch with a quantum energy field that connects all things. When a group of meditators was large enough, he claimed, their collective meditations caused ‘Super Radiance’, a term in physics used to describe the coherence of laser light.
During TM, the theory went, the minds of meditators all become tuned to the same frequency, and this coherent frequency begins to order the disordered frequencies around it. Resolution of individual internal conflict leads to resolution of global conflict.
The TM studies claimed to demonstrate effects from two types of meditation The first was undirected, the simple consequence of a certain percentage of the population meditating. The second resulted from deliberate intention, and required experience and focus; advanced meditators would target a particular area and direct their meditation to help resolve conflict and lower the rate of violence.
The Maharishi’s theory rests entirely on the premise that meditation has a threshold effect. If 1 per cent of the population of a particular area practises TM, he claims, or the square root of 1 per cent of the population practises TM-Sidhi, a more advanced type of meditation, conflict of any variety – rates of murders, crime, drug abuse, even traffic accidents – goes down.
Some 22 studies have tested the positive impact of the Maharishi Effect on crime levels. One study of 24 US cities showed that whenever a city reached a poin where 1 per cent of the population was carrying out regular TM, the crime rate dropped to 24 per cent. In a follow-up study of 48 cities, those 24 cities with the requisite threshold percentages of meditators (1 per cent of the population) experienced a 22 per cent decrease in crime, and an 89 per cent reduction in the crime trend. In the other 24 cities without the threshold percentage of meditators, crime increased by 2 per cent and the crime trend by 53 per cent.14
In 1993, the TM’s National Demonstration Project focused on Washington DC during a large upsurge of local violent crime in the first five months of the year. Whenever the local Super Radiance group reached the threshold number of 4000, the rate of violent crime fell and continued to fall, until the end of the experiment. The study was able to demonstrate that the effect had not been due to any other factors, such as police efforts or a special anti-crime campaign. After the group disbanded, the crime rate in the capital rose again.15
The TM organization has also targeted global conflict. In 1983 a special TM assembly met in Israel to send intentions through meditation to resolve the Palestinian conflict. During their sessions, they made daily comparisons between the number of meditators working on the project and the state of Arab–Israeli relations. On days with a high number of meditators, fatalities in Lebanon fell by 76 per cent. Their reach apparently extended beyond armed conflict; ordinary violence – local crime, traffic accidents and fires – also all decreased. When analysing their results, the TM group claimed to have controlled for confounding influences such as weather.16
TM adepts have also sought to influence the ‘misery index’ – the sum of inflation and unemployment rates – in the USA and Canada. And indeed, during one concerted effort between 1979 and 1988, the US index fell by 40 per cent and the Canadian index, by 30 per cent.
Another group of adepts sought to influence the monetary growth and crude- materials price indices as well as the American misery index. In this instance, the misery index fell by 36 per cent, and the crude-materials price index fell by 13 per cent. Although the growth rate of the monetary base was affected, it was only by a small margin.17
Critics of TM have argued that these effects could easily have been due to other factors – a reduction in the population of young men, say, or better educational programmes in these areas, or even the ebb and flow of the economy – although the TM organization claims to control for such changes.
The problem with these studies, to my mind, is the controversy surrounding the TM organization itself; rumours now abound about data fixing and the infiltration by Maharishi followers into many scientific organizations.
Nevertheless, the TM evidence is so abundant and the studies so thorough that it is difficult to dismiss them completely. Furthermore, the studies are regularly published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and so must meet some level of scientific rigour and critical scrutiny. The sheer bulk of the research argues compellingly that a force outside the understanding of orthodox science might be at work.
But even if the results are legitimate, the TM studies, like the REG data, mostl concerns group attention. In many instances, the meditators are not people who maintain a focused intention to change something else.
For three months in the first quarter of 1998, forest fires raged out of control in the Amazonian state of Roraima, 1500 miles northwest of Brasilia, devastating the rainforest. It had not rained for months – an effect blamed on El Niño – and the ordinarily humid rainforest was bone dry, perfect kindling for the fire that had by that time scorched 15 per cent of the state.
The rains, usually so copious in this part of Brazil, remained elusive. The UN termed the fire a disaster without precedent on the planet. Water-carrying helicopters and some 1500 firefighters, including recruits from neighbouring Venezuela and Argentina, fought the flames to no avail.
In late March, the weather-modification experts were called in: two Caiapo Indian shamans especially flown to the Yanomami reservation, housing the last of what are believed to be Stone Age tribes. They danced around a bit and prayed, and gathered up a few leaves. Two days later, the heavens opened and it began to pour. Up to 90 per cent of the fire was extinguished.18
The Western equivalent of a rain dance is to hope for good weather, and when carried out as a group intention, it may be just as effective. PEAR’s Roger Nelso carried out an ingenious little study, after realizing that the sun shone on graduation day at Princeton for as long as he could remember.
Had the desire of the community for a sunny commencement day had a powerful local effect?
He had gathered weather reports for the past 30 years in Princeton and the surrounding areas for the times around graduation day and statistically compared them; Princeton was drier than usual for that time of year, and drier and sunnier than surrounding communities for just that day. If the figures were to be believed, the collective wish for good weather by the community of Princeton may have created some sort of mental umbrella that only stretched to their borders during that single day.19
The only other evidence of group mind had been a provocative little double- blind exercise carried out by Dean Radin, who was interested in the claims of Japanese alternative medicine practitioner Masaru Emoto that the structure of water crystals is affected by positive and negative emotions.20
Emoto claims to have carried out hundreds of tests showing that even a single word of positive intent or negative intent profoundly changes the water’s internal organization.
The water subjected to the positive intent supposedly develops a beautiful, highly complex crystalline structure when frozen, whereas the structure of water exposed to negative emotions became random, disordered, even grotesque. The most positive results supposedly occur with feelings of love or gratitude.
Radin placed two vials of water in a shielded room in his laboratory at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, California. Meanwhile, a group of 200 attendees at one of Emoto’s conferences in Japan was shown a photo of the vials and asked to send them a prayer of gratitude.
Radin then froze the water in those vials as well as samples of control water from the same source that had not been exposed to the prayers, and showed the resulting crystals to a panel of independent volunteers. He had carefully blinded the study so that neither he nor his volunteers had any idea which crystals had been grown from the water samples that had been sent intention. A statistically significant number of the volunteer judges concluded that water sent the positive intentions had formed the more aesthetically pleasing crystalline structure.21
Nelson’s Global Consciousness Project effects had been an especially intriguing example of the power of mass thought. In a sense, they showed the same effect captured by Tiller’s equipment in his laboratory. Intention appeared to be raising order in the ground state of the Zero Point Field. But was there a magic threshold effect, as the Maharishi maintained? And how many people were required to constitute a critical mass? According to the Maharishi’s formula – that the square root of 1 per cent of any population practising advanced meditation will have a positive impact – only 1730 advanced American meditators would be required to have a positive influence on the US, and only 8084 to affect the entire world.
Nelson’s work with FieldREGs had suggested that the size of the group was no as important as the intensity of focus; any group, however small, exerted an effect so long as the parties were involved in rapturous attention. But how many people did the group need to exert an effect? How intently focused did we need to be? What were the true limits of our influence – if any? It was time for me to find my own answers.
The original plan for our first intention experiment, as Popp saw it, was to gather a group of experienced meditators in London, and to have them send positive intention to the Acetabularia acetabulum growing in Popp’s IIB laboratory in Neuss Germany.
I was deflated after we had discussed the likely target. For our first experiment, I had wanted to help heal burn victims, to save the world from global warming. Single-celled organisms weren’t exactly my idea of heroics and high drama.
Then I began to research algae, and quickly changed my mind. Vital algae were being killed off as a result of global warming. Scientists have discovered an inexorable rise in ocean temperatures over the past century.
For the past 30 years, coral reefs, the centrepiece of the sea’s ecosystem, have been vanishing off the earth. When oceans warm, the algae hugging coral reefs get sloughed off, and without this protective layer, the coral reefs themselves die. Some 97 per cent of a certain species of coral have disappeared in the Caribbean alone, and the US governmen has recently declared Elkhorn and Staghorn coral to be endangered species.
According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, body made up of the world’s leading climatologists and other scientists, the predicted level of warming – up to 6°C by the end of this century – will bring on a disaster of biblical proportions: a rise of sea levels by nearly 1 metre; unendurable heat in many parts of the world; a vast increase of vector-born diseases; raging floods and storms. A change upward of six degrees may not seem like much until one takes on board that lowering it by the same amount would bring on another Ice Age.
The key to warding off all the fires and floods appeared to be algae. Algae and other plants are the firefighters of our overheated oceans. Scientists are presently engaged in studying sediments from the ocean floor to see how the oceans cope with rising levels of gases.
They are especially interested in the reaction of marine plants to global warming, as they are the primary shock absorbers of excess carbon dioxide. Algae provide oxygen and other benefits to plant and animal marine life. Algae offer a little wall of protection to the creatures of the sea from the worse excesses of man.
I reconsidered my resistance to Acetabularia as a test subject. Algae might be critical to our survival. The health of most life in the seas depends on these lowly, single-celled creatures, and the seas, like the rainforests, represent the lungs of the earth. As algae goes, so, eventually, do we. Being able to show that mass intention could rescue a sample of algae might demonstrate that our thoughts could combat something as potentially devastating as global warming.
* * *
On 1 March 2006 I travelled to Germany to meet Popp and his colleagues at th IIB laboratory on Museum Island in Hombroich, west of Düsseldorf. The ‘island’s innovative architecture had first been built to serve the eccentric needs of a millionaire art collector turned Buddhist, Karl Heinrich Müller, who had nowhere to house his vast collection of painting and sculpture. He purchased 650 acres from the American military, and then converted a NATO missile site into an open-air museum.
Müller’s ambitions for the island grew to embrace the possibility of an artists’ and writers’ community. He commissioned a sculptor turned architect named Erwin Heerich and gave him a free hand. Heerich created enormous futuristic brick structures – galleries, a concert hall, working spaces and even residences – and ingeniously placed them to best advantage against the bleak landscape. Nothing had been wasted; even the disused metal bunkers and rocket silos had been converted into studios and working spaces for famous German artists, writers and musicians, including Thomas Kling the lyricist and Joseph Beuys the sculptor.
Past a ‘garden’ of buildings of different pastels, the eye alighted on a squat building of interlocking squares on a narrow base, like a giant piece of Lego about to take flight – the new official international site of the IIB. Popp politely accepted the building, when it was first offered to him, but found the open, airy loft, its floor-to- ceiling windows staring out on the vast panorama of Museum Island, completely impractical for his purposes. Before long he set up camp in one of the cramped metal bunkers, left from the raketenstation, whose small dark rooms are more compatible with the work of counting living light.
There I met Popp’s team of eight, which included Yu Yan, a Chinese physicist, Sophie Cohen, a French chemist, and Eduard Van Wijk, a Dutch psychologist. Mos of the cramped rooms contained photomultipliers, large modern boxes attached to computers that count photon emissions. One room housed another smaller room, with a bed and a photomultiplier for human subjects.
The pride of place was reserved for a strange homemade contraption of welded metal circles, resembling a David Smith sculpture of scrap metal, which periodically clanged. That, Popp said with pride, was his first photomultiplier, assembled in 1976 by his student, Bernhard Ruth, and still one of the most accurate pieces of equipment in the field. Indeed, he was convinced that it kept improving with age.
When measuring subtle effects, such as the tiny discharges of light from a living thing, it is important to construct a test that will yield a large enough effect to indicate that something has changed.
Our experimental design had to be so robust, said Popp, that a positive result could not be dismissed by advocatus diaboli, the scientific process of identifying weaknesses in a scientific hypothesis and providing a ready explanation for anomalous effects. Or, as Gary Schwartz had put it, if we heard hoof beats, we first had to eliminate horses before leaping to the conclusion that they belonged to zebras.
In our experimental design, we also had to aim for an ‘on off, on off ’ effect, so that we could isolate any changes as being caused by remote influence. Popp suggested that we have our group send intention intermittently at regular intervals: 10 minutes on, then 10 minutes off, so that we would be ‘running’ intention a few times every hour. If our experiment worked and intention did have an effect, once we plotted our result on a graph it would create an identifiable, zigzag effect.
Popp acquiesced to including dinoflagellates as well as Acetabularia. The light emissions of these fluorescent creatures are extraordinarily responsive to change. As he had seen when they had been placed in shaken water, a change of any sort to which a dinoflagellate is exposed readily shows up as a large shift in emissions of light. I made a further appeal for the use of several subjects.
Each would constitute a separate experiment, and then we would have several results to compare. More than one positive finding would be less likely the result of chance. Finally, the scientists agreed. We also added a jade plant, and a human subject whom Eduard felt he could enlist.
As Popp had concluded during his experiment with Dick Blasband, change o any sort is easier to see with something ill that you try to make well, so we needed to stress some of our subjects in some way. The most obvious way to stress a life form is to place it in a hostile medium.
Eduard and Sophie decided to pour some vinegar into the medium of the dinoflagellates. We could stress the jade plant by sticking a needle through one of its fleshy leaves. Eduard ultimately decided to stress our human subject with three cups of coffee, but I agreed not to disclose this fact to my meditators, to see if they could pick up any psychic information about her. We decided to leave the Acetabularia alone, to test whether our intentions could also affect a healthy organism. To make it simple, our meditators would send intentions for the biophoton emissions of each organism to decrease and for its health and well- being to improve.
The experiment would run at night, between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eduard and Sophie would turn on the equipment, and I would select three half-hour windows within that time frame, unbeknownst to them, to carry out our group intentions. Although it was impossible to conduct a double-blind trial (all of us in London would of course know when we sent our healing intention), we could create ‘singleblind’ conditions and control for experimenter effects, by ensuring that neither our human subject nor the scientists knew when intention was being sent. I would reveal our schedule to them only after the experiment had taken place.
Our study design was constrained by the equipment. A photomultiplier cannot run with the shutter open continually for six hours, so we decided to turn it on from the hour to the half hour, and give it a rest between the half hour and the hour. I would instruct my meditators to send an intention to all four subjects for two 10-minute sessions during the three time windows I’d chosen.
Eduard and Popp planned to look for any qualitative differences in the kind of light being emitted. Any change in the signal or the quantum nature of the photons during the times we were ‘running’ intention would suggest that change had occurred from an outside influence and that we were having an effect.
I took some photos of our subjects and the scientists. Before leaving, I stole a last look at the Acetabularia, growing in small pots in a converted, darkened refrigerator, and the dinoflagellates, which resembled tiny green specks in the water tiny participants about to be stressed, and possibly sacrificed, in the name of science.
A few weeks later, Eduard found a human volunteer in one of his Dutch colleagues, Annemarie Durr,22 a laser biologist and a meditator of long standing. Although rather sceptical of our plan, she was happy to be our first subject. Her agreement to participate was a particularly generous gesture, as it would entail sitting still on a bed in a pitch black room for six hours.
At one of our conferences in mid-March, I asked for volunteers to participate in a first intention experiment from those among our audience who were experienced meditators. I prepared a PowerPoint presentation to brief them on the subjects of our experiment and the experimental protocol, and to reinforce my verbal presentation, and set the day for 28 March at 5:30 p.m., at a university lecture room I had hired for the evening.
That night, there was such a fierce hailstorm when my colleague Nicolette Vuvan and I left our office for the train to central London that we had to take momentary shelter in a doorway.
We were half soaked after battling through a torrent of rain, but I was thrilled with the atmospheric conditions – a dark, stormy night would only aid our activities. Weather this wild often results from geomagnetic or atmospheric disturbance, which I knew enhances psychokinetic effects.
When I checked with America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website later that evening, I discovered that they noted ‘unsettled’ conditions for the evening, with a fair degree of geomagnetic activity and minor to major storms in space.
Despite the weather, 16 volunteers showed up. I asked them to fill in a collection of forms, which included personal information plus several psychological tests used by Gary Schwartz and Stanley Krippner, including the Arizona Outcome Integrative Scale and the Hartmann Boundary Questionnaire test, to test psychic ability. I wanted as much data as possible in order to gauge whether their state of mind, psychic talent, or health status would have any bearing on our results.
I soon discovered that my volunteers were ideal candidates for an intention experiment. According to the forms they’d filled out for me, they’d meditated for an average of 14 years, and their scores on the psychological tests I’d given them showed that, as a group, they had very thin boundaries, tended toward a highly positive outlook, enjoyed excellent mental, emotional and physical health, and evidenced powerful emotions.
I explained the experiment, offered photographs and details about our four subjects, and then went over the protocol. We would be sending our intentions from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at every hour on the hour to 10 minutes past and from 20 past until the half hour. In between those times we would rest, chat and fill in the forms.
We began at 6 on the dot. As William Tiller had done in his black box experiments, I displayed the intentions in writing on the computer screen as I read them out loud so that all the meditators would be sending exactly the same thought during each meditation.
I led the meditation, directed our focus to each target subject, showing its image on screen, and read aloud the sentence that sent our intention to lower the subject’s biophoton emissions and increase its state of health and well- being.
The shared energy immediately felt tangible and increased in power as the evening carried on. Michael, one of our group members, suggested that we call our algae ‘Dino’ and ‘Tabu’, to establish some relationship with these little organisms. Although no one had any prior experience in telepathy, some participants began to pick up information about our subjects, notably Annemarie.
Several meditators were convinced that she was an amateur singer, and had a recurrent problem with her throat. Isabel thought she might be suffering from gut problems or something gynaecological. Michael, who was German, kept thinking of a termI m schutz derdunkelheit (‘under protection of darkness’), and interpreted it to mean that she was wrapped up in a blanket. Amy said she received a mental image of Annemarie wrapped up in a luxuriously soft blanket on a hard surface and at times asleep. She was also convinced that she had eaten something disagreeable and that her stomach was upset.
Many meditators felt a connection to the jade plant and ‘Tabu’, and Peter had a strong sense that Acetabularia was responding most to the intentions – but with few exceptions the group had the most difficulty establishing any connection with ‘Dino’, and this difficulty increased to the point where most felt no connection at all by the final session.
All of us were infused with a strong sense of purpose and momentarily lost a sense of our individual identities.
By the end of the evening, I had cast out my own doubts about the study and the niggling thought that what we were trying to do was faintly ludicrous. Even though we were not healers, we had all felt as if a healing of sorts had occurred. Whatever had happened in there, I thought, heading back out into the stormy night, I grew certain we’d had some kind of effect.
Several days later, I sent Popp our meditation schedule so that his team could compile our results.
I also spoke with Annemarie. Some of our extrasensory impressions had been correct. It was true she sang as a hobby and periodically suffered with a blocked throat. Although she ordinarily did not especially suffer problems in the gut, she had that night because the three cups of coffee Eduard had asked her to drink upset her stomach. Yet even though coffee late in the afternoon usually agitated her and caused insomnia, on the night of our experiment, she drifted off at various points throughout the six hours of the experiment and slept easily that night. She described tingling bodily sensations she had felt periodically through the evening, and the times of their occurrence corresponded with the first and third sessions that we had been ‘running’ intention. Nevertheless, we had also picked up some ‘noise’: she was not a vegetarian and never listened to or had sung Vivaldi, as a couple of meditators had felt.
When analysing the data, Eduard studied not only the intensity of light but also its deviation from symmetry: normal emissions from a living thing, when plotted on a graph as a bell curve, are perfectly symmetrical. He also looked at any deviations in the kurtosis, or the customary ‘peakedness’, of the distribution. High kurtosis means a bell curve that is high around the middle, or mean.
Again, when emissions are plotted on a graph, the normal peak distribution is 0 – the highs and lows cancel each other out. After examining our 12 block periods – the six times we sent intention and the six periods of rest – he found no change in light intensity. But he did find large changes in the skewness, showing a lack of the customary symmetry (from 1.124 to 0.922), and kurtosis (from 2.403 to 1.581) of the emissions. Something in the light was profoundly altered.
Eduard was excited by the results. They exactly matched those he had observed during his study of healers, when he had tested whether the act of healing has a ‘scatter effect’ on any other living things in the environment where the healing takes place. In the study, when he had placed some algae with a photon counter in the presence of a healer and his patients and measured the photons of the algae during 36 healings, he had been surprised to discover that the photon count distributions of the algae had ‘remarkable’ alterations during the healing rituals. Large shifts in the cyclical components of the emissions had occurred.
His tiny study had suggested that healing caused a shift in the light emissions of everything in its path.23 Now he had discovered the same effect when simple intention was sent by ordinary people from 300 miles away.
On 12 April, Fritz Popp sent me data on the algae, the dinoflagellates and the jade plant. Although a first glance at the numbers had convinced him we had had no effect, he changed his mind once he performed his calculations.
Ordinarily, any stressed living thing will begin to accustom itself to the stress, and its light emissions, although initially large, will naturally begin to decrease as the organism gets used to its new circumstances.
Consequently, in order to work out a true demonstration of the effect of change, Popp had to control for this phenomenon. He worked out mathematically a means of starting from zero, so that any deviation from normal behaviour would readily show up. In this way, he would then be able to determine whether any additional change represented an increase or a decrease in the number of biophoton emissions. The number of emissions he then plotted on his graph reflected any excess increase or decrease from the norm.
In all three instances, our subjects registered a significant decrease in biophotons during the meditation sessions, compared with the control periods. The dinoflagellates had been killed by the acid, in the end (one possible reason why they had been so difficult for our meditators to detect).
Nevertheless, Popp said, their response (a lowering of emissions by nearly 140,000) was significantly different from the normal emissions of a dying organism. Among the survivors, the Acetabularia, the healthy subject, had evidenced a larger effect than the jade plant, perhaps because it was not overcoming a stress (544 emissions lower than normal), whereas with the jade plant (which had 65.5 emissions lower than normal), the stress (the pin) remained in the leaf during the experiment.
He plotted the results on a graph, marking out the portions in red that represented the times of our healing intentions and emailed them to me. We had indeed produced a ‘zigzag’ effect. During meditation, Popp wrote in his report, ‘there is a clear preference of dropping down reactions rather than going up’, which tracked the times of our intentions. With the Acetabularia, we had had an overall decrease over the norm of 573 emissions, and an increase of only 29.
Our little meditation effort had created a major healing effect, a significant decrease in living light. Not only that, but the effect from all that distance was similar to the effect by an experienced healer when healing in the same room. The intention of our group had created the same light as a healer’s.
In many ways, it was a crude first effort. We had, after all, tested four subjects, some stressed and some not, and one had died. We had made use of control periods, but not control subjects. Both Eduard and Popp cautioned me not to take too much notice of it: ‘We have to be sure that these changes in kurtosis and skewness are real. That means that we have to repeat the experiments a couple of times,’ said Eduard. ‘Despite the right tendency of the results,’ wrote Popp, ‘I do not dare to state that it is proof.’
But, despite these caveats, the fact was that we had recorded a significant effect. In the end, achieving a positive result didn’t really surprise me. For more than 30 years Popp, Schlitz, Schwartz and all of their fellow scientists have been amassing unimpeachable evidence in other experiments that has stretched credulity. Frontier research into the nature of human consciousness has upended everything that we have hitherto considered scientific certainty about our world.
These discoveries offer convincing evidence that all matter in the universe exists in a web of connection and constant influence, which often overrides many of the laws of the universe that we used to believe held ultimate sovereignty.
The significance of these findings extends far beyond a validation of extrasensory power or parapsychology. They threaten to demolish the entire edifice of present-day science. The discoveries of Tom Rosenbaum, Sai Ghosh and Anton Zeilinger that quantum effects occur in the world of the tangible could signal an end to the divide in modern physics between the laws of the large and the laws of the quantum particle, and the beginning of a single rule book defining all of life.
Our definition of the physical universe as a collection of isolated objects, our definition of ourselves as just another of those objects, even our most basic understanding of time and space, will have to be recast. At least 40 top scientists in academic centres of research around the world have demonstrated that an information transfer constantly carries on between living things, and that thought forms are simply another aspect of transmitted energy. Hundreds of others have offered plausible theories embracing even the most counter-intuitive effects, such as time-displaced influence, as now consistent with the laws of physics.
We can no longer view ourselves as isolated from our environment and our thoughts the private, self-contained workings of an individual brain. Dozens of scientists have produced thousands of papers in the scientific literature offering sound evidence that thoughts are capable of profoundly affecting all aspects of our lives. As observers and creators, we are constantly remaking our world at every instant. Every thought we have, every judgement we hold, however unconscious, is having an effect. With every moment that it notices, the conscious mind is sending an intention.
These revelations not only force us to rethink what it is to be human, but also how to relate. We may have to reconsider the effect of everything that we think, whether we vocalize it or not. Our relationship with the world carries on, even in our silence.
We must also recognize that these ideas are no longer the ruminations of a few eccentric individuals. The power of thought underpins many well-accepted disciplines in every reach of life, from orthodox and alternative medicine to competitive sport. Modern medicine must fully appreciate the central role of intention in healing. Medical scientists often speak of the ‘placebo effect’ as an annoying impediment to the proof of the efficacy of a chemical agent. It is time that we understood and made full use of the power of the placebo. Repeatedly, the mind has proved to be a far more powerful healer than the greatest of breakthrough drugs.
We will have to reframe our understanding of our own biology in more miraculous terms. We are only beginning to understand the vast and untapped human potential at our disposal: the human being’s extraordinary capacity to influence the world. This potential is every person’s birthright, not simply that of the gifted master. Our thoughts may be an inexhaustible and simple resource that can be called upon to focus our lives, heal our illnesses, clean up our cities and improve the planet. We may have the power as communities to improve the quality of our air and water, our crime and accident statistics, the educational levels of our children. One well- directed thought may be a gentle but effective way for every man and woman on the street to take matters of global interest into their own hands.
This knowledge may give us back a sense of individual and collective power, which has been wrested from us, largely by the current world view espoused by modern science, which portrays an indifferent universe populated by things that are separate and unengaged. Indeed, an understanding of the power of conscious thought may also bring science closer to religion by offering scientific proof of the intuitive understanding, held by most of us, that to be alive is to be far more than an assemblage of chemicals and electrical signalling.
We must open our minds to the wisdom of many native traditions, which hold an intuitive understanding of intention. Virtually all of these cultures describe a unified energy field not unlike the Zero Point Field, holding everything in the universe in its invisible web. These other cultures understand our place in a hierarchy of energy and the value of choosing time and place with care. The modern science of remote influence has finally offered proof of ancient intuitive beliefs about manifestation, healing and the power of thoughts. We would do well to appreciate, as these traditional cultures do, that every thought is sacred, with the power to take physical form.
Both modern science and ancient practices can teach us how to use our extraordinary power of intention. If we could learn how to direct our potential for influence in a positive manner, we could improve every aspect of our world. Medicine, healing, education, even our interaction with our technology, would benefit from a greater comprehension of the mind’s inextricable involvement in its world. If we begin to grasp the remarkable power of human consciousness, we will advance our understanding of ourselves as human beings in all our complexity.
But there are still many more questions to ask about the nature of intention. Frontier science is the art of inquiring about the impossible. All of our major achievements in history have resulted from asking an outrageous question. What if stones fall from the sky? What if giant metal objects could overcome gravity? What if there is no end of the earth to sail off? What if time was not absolute, but depends on where you are? All of the discoveries about intention and remote influence have similarly proceeded from asking a seemingly absurd question: what if our thoughts could affect the things around us?
True science, unafraid to explore the dark passages of our ignorance, always begins with an unpopular question, even if there is no prospect of an immediate answer – even if the answer threatens to overturn every last one of our cherished beliefs. The scientists engaged in consciousness research must constantly put forward unpopular questions about the nature of the mind and the extent of its reach.
In our group experiments, we will be asking the most impossible question of all: what if a group thought could heal a remote target? It is a little like asking, what if a thought could heal the world?
It is an outlandish question, but the most important part of scientific investigation is just the simple willingness to ask the question. As Bob Barth of the Office of Prayer Research commented, when asked whether praye research should continue in the wake of the Benson STEP study: ‘We can’t find the answers if we don’t keep asking the questions.’ That is how we will begin our own experiments – unafraid to ask the question, whatever the answer.
Note – Chapter 12: The Intention Experiment
Interview with Fritz-Albert Popp, March 1, 2006.
F.-A. Popp et al., ‘Further analysis of delayed luminescence of plants’, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 2005, 78: 235–44.
For a full description of Popp’s history, see McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.
B. J. Dunne, ‘Co-operator experiments with an REG device’, PEA Technical Note 91005, Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Princeton, New Jersey, December 1991.
R. D. Nelson et al., ‘FieldREG anomalies in group situations’,Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1996; 10 (1): 111–41; R. D. Nelson et al., ‘FieldREGII: Consciousness field effects: replications and explorations’ Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1998; 12 (3): 425–54.
D. I. Radin, ‘For whom the bell tolls: A question of global consciousness’ Noetic Sciences Review, 2003; 63: 8–13 and 44–5; R. D. Nelson et al. ‘Correlation of continuous random data with major world events’, Foundations of Physics Letters, 2002; 15 (6): 537–50.
D. I. Radin, ‘Exploring relationships between random physical events and mass human attention: Asking for whom the bell tolls’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (4): 533–47.
R. D. Nelson, ‘Coherent consciousness and reduced randomness: Correlations on September 11, 2001’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (4): 549–70.
J. D. Scargle, ‘Commentary: Was there evidence of global consciousness on September 11, 2001?’ Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2002; 16 (4):571–7.
Nelson et al., ‘Correlation of continuous random data’, op. cit.
M. C. Dillbeck et al., ‘The Transcendental Meditation program and crime rate change in a sample of 48 cities’, Journal of Crime and Justice, 1981; 4: 25–45.
J. Hagelin et al., ‘Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program on preventing violent crime in Washington, D. C.: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June–July 1993’,Social Indicators Research, 1999; 47 (2): 153–201.
W. Orme-Johnson et al., ‘International peace project in the Middle East: the effects of the Maharishi technology of the unified field’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1988; 32: 776–812.
K. L. Cavanaugh et al., ‘Consciousness and the quality of economic life empirical research on the macroeconomic effects of the collective practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program.’ Paper originally presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Management Society, Chicago, March 1989, published in R. G. Greenwood (ed.) Proceedings of the Midwest Management Society, Chicago: Midwest Management Society, 1989: 183–90; K. L. Cavanaugh et al., ‘A multiple input transfer function model of Okun’s misery index: An empirical test of the Maharishi Effect.’ Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association, Washington D. C., August 6–10, 1989, an abridged version of the paper appears in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section, Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 1989: 565–70; K. L Cavanaugh and K. D. King, ‘Simultaneous transfer function analysis of Okun’s misery index: improvements in the economic quality of life through Maharishi’s Vedic Science and technology of consciousness.’ Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association New Orleans, Louisiana, August 22–25, 1988, an abridged version of the paper appears in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association Business and Economics Statistics Section, Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 1988: 491–6; K. L. Cavanaugh, ‘Time serie analysis of U.S. and Canadian inflation and unemployment: A test of a field-theoretic hypothesis.’ Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association, San Francisco, California, August 17–20 1987, published in Proceedings of the American Statistical Association Business and Economics Statistics Section, Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 1987: 799–804.
Strong rains fall on fire-ravaged Amazon state, March 31, 1998, Web posted at: 6:46 p.m. EST (2346 GMT), Brasilia, Brazil (CNN) http://twm co. nz/.
R. Nelson, ‘Wishing for good weather: a natural experiment in group consciousness’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (1): 47–58.
M. Emoto, The Hidden Messages in Water, New York: Atria, 2005.
Interview with Dean Radin, May 3, 2006.
Not her real name. I’ve changed her name at her request. Nevertheless, our meditators were shown her real name and photo.
R. Van Wijk and E. P. Van Wijk, ‘The search for a biosensor as a witness of a human laying on of hands ritual’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2003; 9 (2): 48–55.
PART FOUR
The Experiments
Miracles do not happen in contradiction to nature, but only in contradiction to that which is known in nature.
-St Augustine
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Intention Exercises
UP UNTIL THIS POINT, The Intention Experiment has been concerned with the scientific evidence of the power of intention. What has not been tested is the extent of this power in the cut and thrust of ordinary life. An inordinate number of books have been written about the power of the human being to manifest his or her reality, and, while they have served up many intuitive truths, they offer little in the way of scientific evidence.
Exactly how much power do we possess to shape and mould our daily lives? What can we use this for, individually and collectively? How much power do we possess to heal ourselves, to live lives of greater happiness and purpose?
This is where I would like to enlist your help. Determining the further practical applications of the power of thought is the purpose of the next portion of this book – the part that involves you as a partner in the research.
Although the power of intention is such that any sort of focused will may have some effect, the scientific evidence suggests that you will be a more effective ‘intender’ if you become more ‘coherent’, in the scientific sense of the term. To do so to greatest effect, or so the scientific evidence suggests, you will need to choose the right time and place, quiet your mind, learn how to focus, entrain yourself with the object of your intention, visualize and mentally rehearse. Believing that the experiment will work is also essential.
Most of us operate with very little in the way of mental coherence. We walk around immersed in a riot of fragmentary and discordant thought. You will become more coherent simply by learning to shut down that useless internal chatter, which always focuses on the past or the future, never the present. In time, you will become adept at quietening down your mind and ‘powering up’, much as joggers train their muscles, and each day find that they can perform a little better than the day before.
The following exercises are designed to help you to become more coherent and so more effective in using intention in your life and in our group intention experiments. These have been extrapolated from what has appeared to work best in the scientific laboratory.
Think of intentions in terms of grand and smaller schemes. Take the grand schemes in stages, so that you send out intentions in steps towards achieving the grand scheme. Also start with modest goals – something realizable within a reasonable timeframe. If you are 40 pounds overweight and your goal is to be a size 8 next week, that is not a realistic timeframe. Nevertheless, keep the grand scheme in mind and build towards it as you gain experience. It is also important to overcome your natural scepticism. The idea that your thought can affect physical reality may not fit your current world paradigm, but nor would the concept of gravity if you were living in the Middle Ages.
Choose Your Intention Space
A number of scientific studies suggest that conditioning your space magnifies the effectiveness of your intentions. Choose a place to carry out your intentions that feels comfortable. Clear away extraneous items and make it personal or appealing, with cushions or comfortable furniture, so that whenever you spend time there you will find it an enjoyable refuge, a place where you can sit quietly and meditate. Use candles, soft lights and incense, if you prefer.
Some people find it helpful to create an ‘altar’ of sorts, as a focal point, with objects or photographs that you find inspirational or particularly meaningful. Even if you are not at home, you may find that you will naturally ‘enter’ your intention space by visualizing it whenever you want to send an intention.
Unless you live in the mountains and can open your windows to clean mountain air, you also may want to install an ionizer in your space to increase the number of negative ions in your environment.
The half-life of ions – which is related to the amount of time that ions maintain their effective radiation – depends on the amount of pollutants in the air. The cleaner the air, the longer the half-life of small ions, if there is a source of ionization (e.g. running water) present. The best levels of ions are:
in the uninhabited country, away from industrialized areas; near running water, whether a shower or a waterfall;
in natural habitats;
in clear sunshine – a natural ionizer; after storms;
in the mountains.
The worst are:
in enclosed spaces with a gathering of a number of people;
near television sets and other such electrical appliances, which can give off electric emissions up to 11,000 volts, exposing anything immediately in range to positive charge;
in cities;near industrial sources; in smog, fog, dust or haze.
As a rule of thumb, the lower the visibility, the lower the ion concentration. Low visibility is due to the presence of a great number of large particles, which air ions readily latch on to. For those among us who are city dwellers, placing plants and some source of water, like an indoor desk fountain, will help to improve ion levels in intention spaces. Keep your space free of electrical gadgets and computers.
Power Up
In order to ‘power up’ to peak intensity, you must first slow your brain waves down to a meditative, or ‘alpha’, state of light meditation or dreaming – when the brain emits frequencies (measured on an EEG machine) of 8–13 hertz (cycles per second).
Sit in a comfortable position. Many people like to sit upright in a hard-backed chair, with their hands placed on their knees. You may also sit on the floor cross- legged. Begin breathing slowly and rhythmically in through the nose and out through the mouth (slowly blow all the air out), so that your in-breath is the same length as your out-breath. Allow the belly to relax so that it slightly protrudes, then pull it back slowly as if you were trying to get it to touch your back. This will ensure that you are breathing through your diaphragm.
Repeat this every 15 seconds, but ensure that you are not overexerting or straining. Carry on for 3 minutes and then keep observing it. Work up to 5 or 10 minutes. Begin to focus your attention just on the breath. Practise this repeatedly, as it will form the basis of your meditative practices.
To enter an alpha state, the most important feature, as any Buddhist understands, is to still the mind. Of course, just thinking about nothing is often virtually impossible.
After entering the state by concentrating on the breath or focusing on a single object, most meditation schools recommend some sort of ‘anchor’, enabling you to keep your chattering mind quiet, so that you are allowed to be more receptive to intuitive information. The usual anchors include focusing on:
the body and its functions, or the breath;
your thoughts, as though they are floating by on a flying carpet, so that they are not ‘you’;
a mantra, such as used in Transcendental Meditation, is usually a ‘word’ such as OM (‘The Field’ in Buddhism), AH (the universal truth of life) or HUM (the physical manifestation of the truth – the universe itself). In the early 1970s, many practitioners of TM were given the mantra AHOM;
numbers, through silent repetitive counting, either backwards or forwards; music – usually something repetitive, such as Bach or chanting;
a single tone, such as that produced by an Australian didgeridoo;
a drum or rattle, the repetitive sounds of which have been used by many traditional cultures to still the mind;
prayer, as with a rosary, since the repetitive sounds still the mind.
Practise until you can comfortably focus on your ‘anchor’ for 20 minutes or more.
Peak Intensity
Powering up involves developing the ability to attend with peak intensity, moment by moment. One of the surest ways to develop this is to practise the ancient art of mindfulness, espoused as long ago as 1000 BC by Shakyamuni Buddha, founder of modern Buddhism. It is a discipline whereby you maintain clear, moment-to- moment awareness of what is happening internally and externally, rather than
in thought.
More than just concentration, mindfulness requires that you police the focus of your concentration and maintain that concentration in the present. With practice, you will be able to silence the constant inner chatter of your mind and concentrate on your sensory experiences, no matter how mundane – whether it is eating a meal, hugging your child, noticing some pain you are experiencing or just picking some lint off your sweater. It is like being a benevolent parent to your mind – selecting what it will focus on and leading it back when it strays.
In time, mindfulness meditation will also heighten your visual perceptions and prevent you from becoming numb to your everyday experience.
One of the difficulties in incorporating mindfulness into ordinary activity is that it is usually taught at retreats, where participants have the luxury of meditating for hours a day or practising mindfulness by engaging in activities, as it were, in ‘slow motion’. Nevertheless, there are ways to adapt many traditional practices for use in your intention meditation.
Once you have achieved your ‘alpha state’, quietly observe whatever manifests in your mind and body as precisely as you can. Be present and attentive to what is, rather than what your emotions tell you, what you wish were the case, or only what is most pleasant. Do not suppress or banish any negative thoughts, if they are true. One good means of harnessing your mind to the present is to ‘come into your body’ and feel your body posture.
It is vital that you distinguish mindfulness from mere concentration. The most important distinction is a lack of judgement or reference point about the experience. You attend to every moment in the present without colouring it with preference for the pleasant or distaste for the unpleasant, or even identifying the experience as something happening to you. There is, in short, no ‘better’ or ‘worse’.
Be aware of all the smells, textures, colours and sensual feelings you are experiencing. What does the room smell like? What taste is in your mouth? What does your seat feel like?
Be mindful of what is happening internally and externally. Whenever you catch yourself judging what you see, think to yourself, ‘I am thinking’, and return to observing with simple attention.
Cultivate the art of simple listening to all sounds in your room: the rumble of a pipe, the honking of a horn, the barking of a dog, a plane flying overhead. Accept all sounds – the noise, chaos or stillness – without judgement.
Notice other sensations in the room: the ‘colour’ of the day, the light in the room, any movement carrying on in front of you, the sensations of quiet.
Try not to try. Work on eliminating your expectations or striving for (and anxiety over) certain results.
Accept all that happens without judgement. This means putting away all opinions and interpretations of what goes on. Catch yourself clinging to certain views, thoughts, opinions and preferences, and rejecting others. Accept your
own feelings and experiences, even the unpleasant ones.
Try never to rush. If you must rush, be present in the rushing. Feel what it feels like.
Developing Mindfulness in Your Daily Life
Even when you are not using intention, the evidence suggests that you will mould your brain to become better at it if you develop mindfulness in your daily life. Psychologist Dr Charles Tart, one of the world’s experts on altered states of consciousness, has a number of suggestions of ways to do so:1
Take periodic breaks during the day in which you have quiet time to be mindful of what is happening internally and externally.
Whenever you feel your concentration flitting away in your daily activities, sense your breath – it will help to ground you.
Be mindful of the most mundane of activities, such as brushing your teeth or shaving.
Start with a small exercise, such as fetching your coat and walking, in which you stay focused completely on what you are doing.
Engage in mental noting, in which you label an ongoing activity, for example ‘I’m putting on my coat’, ‘opening the door’, ‘tying my shoes’.
Use mindfulness in every ordinary situation. When you are preparing dinner or even doing your teeth, be aware of all the smells, textures, colours and sensual feelings you are experiencing.
Learn to really look at your partner and your children, your pets, your friends and work colleagues. Observe them closely during every activity – every part of
them without judgement.
During some activity, such as breakfast, ask your children to be mindful (without speaking) of every aspect of it. Concentrate on the taste of your food. Look closely at the texture and the colours of it. How does the cereal crunch? How does their juice feel as it cascades down their throats? Become aware of the smells and sounds around you. While you are watching all this, how are the different parts of your body feeling?
Listen to what your life sounds like – the myriad noises surrounding you every day. When someone speaks to you, listen to the sound of his or her voice as well as the words. Do not think of a reply until he or she has stopped speaking. Practise mindfulness in every activity: walking down the street, driving home, in the garden.If you are practising these exercises and you happen to bump into someone, do not enter into conversation. Just greet the person, shake hands and stay in the present moment.
Use mindfulness when you are extremely busy or under a tight deadline. Observe what it is like to hurry or to be under the gun and what happens when you do. How does it affect your equilibrium? Be an observer of yourself in that situation. Can you stay in your body while you are working hard?
Practise mindfulness while you are standing in line. Experience the feeling of waiting itself, rather than focusing on what you are waiting for. Be aware of your physical movements and your thoughts.
Do not think about or try to work out your problems. Just deal with whatever daily problem solving is immediately in front of you.
Merging with the ‘Other’
Research shows that touch or even focus on the heart or compassionate feelings for the other is a powerful means of causing brain-wave entrainment between people. When two people touch while focusing loving thoughts on their hearts, the ‘coherent’ heart rhythms of one can entrain the brain of the other.2
Before you set your intention, it may be important to form an empathetic connection with the object of your intention.
Establish connection beforehand by the following techniques:
First send your intention to someone with whom you already have a strong bond
– a partner, a child, a sibling, a dear friend.
With someone you do not know, exchange an object or photograph.
Get to know the person. Go for a walk with them or meet them first.Spend half an hour meditating together first.
Ask the person to be open to receiving your intention when you are sending it. If you are sending an intention to something non-human or inanimate, you can also establish some connection. Find out all you can about the object of your intentions, whether a plant, an animal or an inanimate object. Have it near you for a period before sending your intention. It goes without saying that you should
be nice to it – even if ‘it’ is your computer or photocopier.
Be Compassionate
Use the following methods to encourage a sense of universal compassion during your intention session:
Focus your attention to your heart, as though you are sending light to it. Observe the light spreading from your heart to the rest of your body. Send a loving thought to yourself, such as ‘May I be well and free from suffering.’
On the out breath, imagine a white light radiating outward from your heart. As you do, think: ‘I appreciate the kindnesses and love of all living creatures. May all others be well.’ As Buddhists recommend, first think of all those you love, then your good friends. Move on to acquaintances and finally to those people you actively dislike. For each stage, think: ‘May they be well and free from suffering.’
Concentrate on the kindness and compassion of all living things and their contribution to your well-being. Finally, send your message of compassion to all people and living things on earth.
Practise switching roles with some of your loved ones. Imagine what it is like to be your partner or spouse, your parent, your child. Get inside their shoes and imagine what itwould be like to see the world through their eyes, with their hopes and fears and dreams. Think how you would respond.
Jerome Stone quotes Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying,3 who suggests that we open our hearts every day to the suffering around us, with beggars who pass us by, with the poverty, tragedy and grief we see on our television sets:
Don’t waste the love and grief it arouses; the moment you feel compassion welling up in you, don’t brush it aside, don’t shrug it off and try quickly to return to ‘normal’, don’t be afraid of the feeling or embarrassed by it, allow yourself to be distracted from it or let it run aground in apathy. Be vulnerable; use that quick, bright up rush of compassion; focus on it, go deep into your heart and meditate on it, develop it, enhance and deepen it. By doing this you will realize how blind you have been to suffering …4
During your intention, if you are sending healing to someone, first try to put yourself in his situation. Imagine what it is like to be him and to be faced with his current crisis. Try to feel and have empathy for your receiver’s suffering. Ask yourself how you would feel if you were suffering in this manner and how you would most want to be healed.
Now, direct your loving thoughts to the object of your intention. If he or she is present, hold his or her hand.
Stating Your Intention
In your meditative state, state your clear intention. Although many people use the construction ‘have always been’ – ‘I have always been healthy’ – I prefer the present tense – of sending your intention to its ‘endpoint’ as a wish that has already been achieved. For instance, if you are trying to heal back pain, you can say, ‘My lower back and sacrum are free of all pain and now move easily and fluidly.’ Remember to frame your intention as a positive statement; rather than ‘I will not have side effects’, say, ‘I will be free of side effects’.
Be Specific
Specific intentions seem to work best. Be sure to make your intentions highly specific and directed – and the more detailed, the better. If you are trying to heal the fourth finger of your child’s left hand, specify that finger and, if possible, the problem with it.
State your entire intention, and include what it is you would like to change, to whom, when and where. Use the following as a checklist (as news reporters do) to ensure you have covered every specific: who, what, when, where, why and how. It may help if you draw a picture of it, or create a collage from photos or magazine
pictures. Place this somewhere that you can look at often.
The Mental Dry Run
As with elite athletes, the best way to send an intention is to visualize the outcome you desire with all your five senses in real time. Visualization, or guided imagery, involves using images and/or internal messages to obtain a desired goal. It can be used for any desired outcome – to change or improve your living situation, job, relationships, physical condition or health, state of mind (from negative to positive), outlook on life or even a specific aspect of yourself, including your personality. It can also be used to send intentions to someone else. Self-guided imagery is a little like self-hypnosis.
Plan a mental image of the outcome of your intention well ahead of time. When carrying out visualization, many people believe that you must ‘see’ the exact image clearly in your mind’s eye. But for an intention it isn’t necessary to have a sharp internal image or, indeed, any image at all. It is enough to just think about an intention, without a mental picture, and simply to create an impression, a feeling or a thought. Some of us think in images, others through words, still others through sounds, touch or the spatial relationship between objects. Your mental rehearsal will depend on which senses are most developed in your brain.
For our example of healing back pain, imagine yourself free from pain and doing some sort of exercise or movement you enjoy. See yourself walking agilely, free from pain. Remember, feel the feeling of being pain-free and electrically alive. Imagine the internal and external sensations of your limber back. Feel yourself running free. Choose other sensations that support the healing of your back. If you are sending your intention to heal someone else, carry out all the same aspects of the healing, but imagine yourself inside the other person’s back. Send your intention to his back.
Practise Visualizing
You can practise visualization first by getting into a meditative state and imagining the following, while recalling or imagining as much as you can about the sight and smells, and your feelings about them:
A favourite recent meal (can you remember some of the smells and tastes you really enjoyed?).
Your bedroom. Walk yourself mentally through it, remembering certain details – the feel of your bedspread, the curtains or carpet. You do not have to see the entire room, just get a detail or impression.
A recent happy moment (with a loved one, or a child). Remember the most vivid sensations and images.
Yourself performing an activity such as running, riding a bike, swimming or working out at the gym. Try to feel what it is like for your body to be moving that way.
Your favourite music (try to ‘hear’ the music internally).
A recent experience with an intense physical sensation (such as plunging into a pool or the ocean, having a steam bath,feeling snow or rain, or making love).
Try to relive all of the physical sensations.
To visualize your intention, first work it out carefully ahead of time:
Now, create a picture in your mind’s eye of the desired result. Imagine it as already existing, with you in that situation.
Try to imagine as much sensory detail as you can about the situation (the look, smell and feel of it).
Think about it in a positive, optimistic, encouraging way; use mental statements, or affirmations, that confirm that it has or is now happening (not that it will happen in the future). For instance, for someone with a heart problem, ‘My heart is healthy and well.’
For healing, try to imagine healing energy (perhaps as a white light or as your personal deity) filling you and observe it healing the portion of your body that is ill – say, turning a diseased organ into a healthy one. If a good-versus-evil ‘contest’ is most vivid for you, imagine the ‘hero’ cells battling or eating up the ‘bad guys’. Otherwise, visualize diseased cells or tissue changing into healthy cells, healthy cells replacing diseased cells, or imagine your entire body with that specific body part in perfect health. Visualize yourself often as perfectly healthy, carrying out your daily activities. Find an image of the body part on the Internet or in a book as it looks when it is healthy. Imagine your own body part looking like that.Send out the visualization often, both during meditation and throughout the day.
Belief
The copious evidence of the placebo effect demonstrates the extraordinary power of belief. Belief in the power of intention is also vital. Keep firmly fixed in your mind the desired outcome and do not allow yourself to think of failure. Dismiss any it-won’t-happen-to-me type of thoughts. If you are attempting to affect someone who does not share your belief that it may be of benefit, speak to them about some of the scientific evidence in The Intention Experiment and elsewhere. It is important that both of you share the same beliefs. Herbert Benson believes that his monks were able to achieve their effects because they used words or phrases incorporating their most deeply held beliefs.5
Move Aside
In studies of meditation, mediumship and healing, those who are successful at intention imagine themselves and the person receiving healing as one with the universe. In your meditative state, enter into a zone where you relax your sense of ‘I’ and sense a merging with the object of your intention and The Field. Frame your intention, state it clearly and then let go of the outcome. At this point, you may sense that the intention is taken over by some greater force. Close your internal meditation with a request and then move your own ego aside. Remember: this ‘power’ does not originate with you – you are its conduit. Think of it as a request you are sending to the
universe.
Timing
The evidence suggests that mind-over-matter intention (that is, psychokinesis) works best at points of increased geomagnetic activity. You can find out about the geomagnetic levels in your area by consulting several websites. The US Nationa Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) created a Space Environmen Center (SEC), America’s official source of space weather activity (www.sec.noaa.gov). The SEC, in turn, set up a special Space Weather Operations (SWO) branch to act as a warning centre for the world concerning disturbances in space. Jointly operated by the NOAA and the US Air Force, SWO provides forecast and warnings of solar and geomagnetic activity.
SWO receives its data in real time from a large number of ground-based observatories and satellite sensors around the world. These data enable the SWO to predict solar and geomagnetic activity, and to make worldwide alerts during heavy storms. For the forecast of the day you plan to carry out your intentions, see http://sec.noaa.gov/today2. html.
The SEC has created Space Weather Scales to give lay people an idea of th severity of geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms and radio blackouts, and their effect on our technological systems (www.sec.noaa.gov/NOAAscales). The numbers attached to them (such as ‘G5’) indicate the level of severity, with 1 being mild and 5 the most severe.
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) was set up as a joint projec by the European Space Agency and NASA to study the effect of the sun on the earth For more information, see http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/.
For other aspects of space weather, including charts of geomagnetic activity, see http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/spaceweather/. This website includes useful charts on geomagnetic activity, solar wind and high-energy proton and X-ray flux.
All geomagnetic activity is measured on a K index, with 0 being the most quiet and 9 the most turbulent. The a index is similar, but uses a larger scale – from 0 to 400.
When you are sending an intention, plan to do so on a day when the K index is 5 or more (or the a index more than 200).
It may also be best to use intention during 1 p.m. local sidereal time (check the web to compute local sidereal time).
Only send intentions on days when you feel happy and well in every way.
Putting It All Together
Your Intention Programme
Enter your intention space. Power up through meditation.
Move into peak focus through mindful awareness of the present.
Get onto the same wavelength by focusing on compassion and making a meaningful connection.
State your intention and make it specific. Mentally rehearse every moment of it with all your senses.
Visualize, in vivid detail, your intention as established fact.
Time it right – check what the sun is doing, and choose days when you feel happy and well.
Move aside – surrender to the power of the universe and let go of the outcome.
Note – Chapter 13: The Intention Exercises
1. See C. T. Tart, ‘Initial application of mindfulness extension exercises in a traditional Buddhist meditation retreat setting, 1995’, unpublished (www. paradigmsys. com/cttart).
2. R. McCraty et al., ‘The electricity of touch: Detection and measurement o cardiac energy exchange between people’, in K. H. Pribram (ed.), Brain and Values: Is a Biological Science of Values Possible? Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998: 359–79.
3. S. Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994.
4. S. Rinpoche, as quoted in J. Stone, Instructor’s Training Manual, Cours Syllabus: Training in Compassionate-Loving Intention, 2003.
5. H. Dienstfrey, Where the Mind Meets the Body, London: HarperCollins 1991: 39.
This is part 3 of a multi-part post.
The access to all the posts can be found in this index below…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This is a complete reprint of the book titled “The Intention Experiment” by Lynne McTaggart. It is a non-fiction book, and it is groundbreaking. In this book, the author has compiled all those studies about the reality of ESP, and PSI, and compiled the results. The results are pretty damning. Something is going on, and Newtonian physics cannot explain it. It can only be explained with quantum physics.
What is going on is that quantum physics is working and weaving it’s magic throughout our lives, and rather than discount things as “superstition” and out-dated religion, this book connects actual scientific studies with the quantum physics principles involved. It explains so many thing that have been discounted as pure superstition.
Thus it’s placement in my blog.
This is for those people who want nice and clean answers to what is going on, yet cannot shake off the Newtonian physics that they learned in High School. This book teaches you that there is a deeper reality behind everything and as such, it helps explain some elements of paranormal and religion that are often discounted as primitive nonsense.
Welcome to the world of quantum physics and how all those things about prayer, intention, and spirituality actually does have a scientific foundation that they are based upon.
CLEVE BACKSTER WAS AMONG THE FIRST to propose that plants affected by human intention – a notion considered so preposterous that it was ridiculed for 40 years. Backster achieved his notoriety from a series of experiments that purported to demonstrate that living organisms read and respond to a person’s thoughts.
Plant telepathy interested me less than a tangential discovery of his that has been sidelined amid all his adverse publicity: evidence of a constant two-way flow of information between all living things. Every organism, from bacteria to human beings, appears to be in perpetual quantum communication. This relentless conversation offers a ready mechanism by which thoughts can have a physical effect.
This discovery resulted from a silly little diversion in 1966; Backster, at the time a tall, wiry man with a buzz cut and a great deal of childlike enthusiasm, was easily distracted. He often carried on working in his suite of offices when the rest of his staff had gone home and he could finally focus without the constant interruptions of colleagues and the tumultuous daytime activity of Times Square, four storeys below.1
Backster had made his name as the country’s leading lie-detector expert. During the Second World War, he had been fascinated by the psychology of lying, and the use of hypnosis and ‘truth serum’ interrogation in counter-intelligence, and he had brought these twin fascinations to bear in refining the polygraph test to a high psychological art. He had launched his first programme with the CIA for counter- intelligence several years after the war, and then went on to found the Backster School of Lie Detection, still the world’s leading school teaching polygraph techniques some 50 years after it first opened its doors.
One morning in February, after working all night, Backster was taking a coffee break at 7 a.m. He was about to water the Dracaena and rubber plant in his office. As he filled up his watering can, he wondered if it might be possible to measure the length of time it would take water to travel up the stem of a plant from the roots and reach the leaves, particularly in the Dracaena, a cane plant with an especially long trunk. It occurred to him that he could test this by connecting the Dracaena to one of his polygraph machines; once the water reached the spot between the electrodes, the moisture would contaminate the circuit and be recorded as a drop in resistance.
A lie detector is sensitive to the slightest change in the electrical conductivity of skin, which is caused by increased activity of the sweat glands, which in turn are governed by the sympathetic nervous system. The polygraph galvanic skin response (GSR) portion of the test displays the amount of the skin’s electrical resistance, much as an electrician’s ohmmeter records the electrical resistance of a circuit. A lie detector also monitors changes in blood pressure, respiration, and the strength and rate of the pulse. Low levels of electrical conductivity indicate little stress and a
state of calm. Higher electrodermal activity (EDA) readings indicate that the sympathetic nervous system, which is sensitive to stress or certain emotional states, is in overdrive – as would be the case when someone is lying. A polygraph reading can offer evidence of stress to the sympathetic nervous system even before the person being tested is consciously aware of it.
In 1966, the state-of-the-art technology consisted of a set of electrode plates, which were attached to two of a subject’s fingers, and through which a tiny current of electricity was passed. The smallest increases or decreases in electrical resistance were picked up by the plates and recorded on a paper chart, on which a pen traced a continuous, serrated line. When someone lied or in any way experienced a surge of emotion (such as excitement or fear), the size of the zigzag would dramatically increase and the tracing would move to the top of the chart.
Backster sandwiched one of the long, curved leaves of the Dracaena between the two sensor electrodes of a lie detector and encircled it with a rubber band. Once he watered the plant, what he expected to see was an upward trend in the ink tracing on the polygraph recording paper, corresponding to a drop in the leaf ’s electrical resistance as the moisture content increased. But as he poured in the water, the very opposite occurred. The first part of the tracing began heading downward and then displayed a short-term blip, similar to what happens when a person briefly experiences a fear of detection.
At the time Backster thought he was witnessing a human-style reaction, although he would later learn that the waxy insulation between the cells in plants causes an electrical discharge that mimics a human stress reaction on polygraph instruments. He decided that if the plant were indeed displaying an emotional reaction, he would have to come up with some major emotional stimulus to heighten this response.
When a person takes a polygraph test, the best way to determine if he is lying is to ask a direct and pointed question, so that any answer but the truth will cause an immediate, dramatic stress reaction in his sympathetic nervous system: ‘Was it you who fired the two bullets into Joe Smith?’
In order to elicit the equivalent of alarm in a plant, Backster knew he needed somehow to threaten its well-being. He tried immersing one of the plant’s leaves in a cup of coffee, but that did not cause any interesting reaction on the tracing – only a continuation of the downward trend. If this were the tracing of a human being, Backster would have concluded that the person being monitored was tired or bored. It was obvious to him that he needed to pose an immediate and genuine threat: he would get a match and burn the electroded leaf.
At the very moment he had that thought, the recording pen swung to the top of the polygraph chart and nearly jumped off. He had not burned the plant; he had only thought about doing so. According to his polygraph, the plant had perceived the thought as a direct threat and registered extreme alarm. He ran to his secretary’s desk in a neighbouring office for some matches. When he returned, the plant was still registering alarm on the polygraph. He lit a match and flickered it under one of the leaves. The pen continued on its wild, zigzag course. Backster then returned thematches to his secretary’s desk. The tracing calmed down and began to flat-line.
He hadn’t known what to make of it. He had long been drawn to hypnosis and ideas about the power of thought and the nature of consciousness. He had even performed a number of experiments with hypnosis during his work with the Army Counter Intelligence Corps and the CIA, as part of a campaign designed to detect the use of hypnosis techniques in Russian espionage.
But this was something altogether more extraordinary. This plant, it seemed, had read his thoughts. It wasn’t even as though he particularly liked plants. This only could have occurred if the plant possessed some sort of sophisticated extrasensory perception. The plant somehow must be attuned to its environment, able to receive far more than pure sensory information from water or light.
Backster modified his polygraph equipment to amplify electrical signals so that they would be highly sensitive to the slightest electrical change in the plants. He and his partner, Bob Henson, set about replicating the initial experiment. Backster spent the next year and a half frequently monitoring the reactions of the other plants in the office to their environment. They discovered a number of characteristics. The plants grew attuned to the comings and goings of their main caretaker. They also maintained some sort of ‘territoriality’ and so did not react to events in the other offices near Backster’s lab. They even seemed to tune in to Pete, his Doberman Pinscher, who spent his days at the office.
Most intriguing of all, there seemed to be a continuous two-way flow of information between the plants and other living things in their environment. One day, when Backster boiled his kettle to make coffee, he found he had put in too much water. But when he poured the residue down the sink, he noticed that the plants registered an intense reaction.
The sink was not the most hygienic; indeed, his staff had not cleaned the drain for several months. He decided to take some samples from the drain and examine them under a microscope, which showed a jungle of bacteria that ordinarily lives in the waste pipes of a sink. When threatened by the boiling water, had the bacteria emitted a type of mayday signal before they died, which had been picked up by the plants?
Backster, who knew he would be ridiculed if he presented findings like these to the scientific community, enlisted an impressive array of chemists, biologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and physicists to help him design an airtight experiment. In his early experiments, Backster had relied upon human thought and emotion as the trigger for reactions in the plants. The scientists discouraged him from using intention as the stimulus of the experiment, because it did not lend itself to rigorous scientific design. How could you set up a control for a human thought – an intention to harm, say? The orthodox scientific community could easily pick holes in his study. He had to create a laboratory barren of any other living things besides the plants to ensure that the plants would not be, as it were, distracted.
The only way to achieve this was to automate the experiment entirely. But he also needed a potent stimulus. He tried to think of the one act that would stir up the most profound reaction, something that would evoke the equivalent in the plants of dumbfounded horror. It became clear that the only way to get unequivocal results was to commit the equivalent of mass genocide. But what could he kill en masse that would not arouse the ire of anti-vivisectionists or get him arrested? It obviously could not be a person or a large animal of any variety. He did not even want to kill members of the usual experimental population, like rats or guinea pigs. The one obvious candidate was brine shrimp. Their only purpose, as far as he could tell, was to become fodder for tropical fish. Brine shrimp were already destined for the slaughterhouse. Only the most ardent anti-vivisectionist could object.
Backster and Henson rigged up a gadget that would randomly select one of six possible moments when a small cup containing the brine shrimp would invert and tip its contents into a pot of continuously boiling water. The randomizer was placed in the far room in his suite of six offices, with three plants attached to polygraph equipment in three separate rooms at the other end of the laboratory. His fourth polygraph machine, attached to a fixed valve resistor to ensure that there was no sudden surge of voltage from the equipment, acted as the control.
Microcomputers had yet to be invented, as Backster set up his lab in the late sixties. To perform the task, Backster created an innovative mechanical programmer, which operated on a time-delay switch, to set off each event in the automation process. After flipping the switch, Backster and Henson would leave the lab, so they and their thoughts would not influence the results. He had to eliminate the possibility that the plants might be more attuned to him and his colleague than a minor murder of brine shrimp down the hallway.
Backster and Henson tried their test numerous times. The results were unambiguous: the polygraphs of the electroded plants spiked a significant number of times just at the point when the brine shrimp hit the boiling water.
Years after he had made this discovery – and after he became a great fan of Star Wars – he would think of this moment as one in which his plants picked up a major disturbance in the Force, and he had discovered a means of measuring it.2
If plants could register the death of an organism three doors away, it must mean that all life forms were exquisitely in tune with each other. Living things must be registering and passing telepathic information back and forth at every moment, particularly at moments of threat or death.
Backster published the results of his experiment in several respected journals of psychic research and gave a modest presentation before the Parapsychology Association during its tenth annual meeting.3
Parapsychologists recognized Backster’s contribution and replicated it in a number of independent laboratories, notably that of Alexander Dubrov, a Russian doctor of botany and plant physiology.4 It was even glorified in a bestselling book, The Secret Life of Plants.5 But among the mainstream scientific community, his research was disparaged as ludicrous, largely because he was not a traditional scientist, and he was ridiculed for what became known as ‘The Backster Effect’. In 1975, Esquire magazine even awarded him one of its 100 Dubious Achievement Awards: ‘Scientist claims yogurt talks to itself’.6
Nonetheless, over the next 30 years Backster ignored his critics and stubbornly carried on with his research, as well as his polygraph business, eventually amassing file drawers full of studies of what he referred to as ‘primary perception’. A variety of plants that had been hooked up to his polygraph equipment showed evidence of a reaction to human emotional highs and lows, especially threats and other forms of negative intention – as did paramecia, mould cultures, eggs and, indeed, yogurt.7
Backster even demonstrated that bodily fluids such as blood and semen samples taken from himself and his colleagues registered reactions mirroring the emotional state of their hosts; the blood cells of a young lab assistant reacted intensely the moment he opened a Playboy centrefold and caught sight of Bo Derek in the nude.8
Bo Derek
These reactions were not dependent on distance; any living system attached to a polygraph reacted similarly to his thoughts, whether he was in the room or miles away. Like pets, they had become attuned to their ‘owner’.
These organisms were not simply registering his thoughts; they were communicating telepathically with all the living things in their environment. The live bacteria in yogurt displayed a reaction to the death of other types of bacteria and even evidenced a desire to be ‘fed’ with more of its own beneficial bacteria. Eggs registered a cry of alarm and then resignation when one of their number was dropped in boiling water. Plants appeared to react in real time to any break in continuity with the living beings in their environment. They even appeared to react at the moment when their caretakers, who were away from the office, decided to return.9
His major difficulty was designing experiments that could demonstrate an effect scientifically. Even though his laboratory experiments were now entirely automated, when he left the office, the plants would remain attuned to him, no matter now far away he went. If Backster and his partner were at a bar a block away during an experiment, he would discover that the plants were not responding to the brine shrimp, but to the rising and falling animation of their conversations. It got so difficult to isolate reactions to specific events that eventually he had to design experiments that would be carried out by strangers in another lab.
Repeatability remained another big problem. Any tests required spontaneity and true intent. He had discovered this when the famous remote viewer Ingo Swann had come to visit him at his lab in October 1971.
Swann wanted to repeat Backster’s initial experiment with his Dracaena. As expected, the plant’s polygraph began to spike when Swann imagined burning the plant with a match. He tried it again, and the plant reacted wildly, then stopped.
‘What does that mean?’ Swann asked. Backster shrugged. ‘You tell me.’
The thought that occurred to Swann was so bizarre that he was not sure whether to say it aloud. ‘Do you mean,’ he said, ‘that it has learned that I’m not serious about really burning its leaf? So that it now knows it need not be alarmed?’
‘You said it, I didn’t,’ Backster replied. ‘Try another kind of harmful thought.’
Swann thought of putting acid in the plant’s pot. The needle on the polygraph again began to zigzag wildly. Eventually, the plant appeared to understand that Swann was not serious. The polygraph tracing flat-lined. Swann, a plant lover who was already convinced that plants were sentient, was nevertheless shocked at the thought that plants could learn to differentiate between true and artificial human intent: a plant learning curve.10
Although certain questions remain about Backster’s unorthodox research methods, the sheer bulk of his evidence argues strongly for some sort of primary responsiveness and attuning, if not sentience, present in all organisms, no matter how primitive. But for my purposes, Backster’s real contribution was his discovery of the telepathic communication carrying on between every living thing and its environment. Somehow, a constant stream of messages was being sent out, received and replied to.
Backster had to wait some years to discover the mechanism of this communication, which became apparent when physicist Fritz-Albert Popp discovered biophotons.11
At first Popp believed that a living organism used biophoton emissions solely as a means of instantaneous, non-local signalling from one part of the body to another – to send information about the global state of the body’s health, say, or the effects of any particular treatment. But then Popp grew intrigued by the most fascinating effect of all: the light seemed to be a communications system between living things.12
In experiments with Daphnia, a common water flea, he discovered that female water fleas were absorbing the light emitted from each other and sending back wave interference patterns, as though they had taken the light sent to themselves and updated it with more information. Popp concluded that this activity may be the mechanism enabling fleas to stay together when they swarm – a silent communication holding them together like an invisible net.13
He decided to examine the light emissions between dinoflagellates, luminescent algae that cause phosphorescence in seawater. These single-celled organisms sit somewhere between an animal and a plant in the evolutionary scale; although they are classified as a plant, they move like a primitive animal. Popp discovered that the light of each dinoflagellate was coordinated with that of its neighbours, as if each were holding aloft a tiny lantern on cue.14
Chinese colleagues of Popp’s who had tried positioning two samples of the algae so that they could ‘see’ each other through a shutter also found that the light emissions from each sample were synchronous. The researchers concluded that they had witnessed a highly sophisticated means of communication. There was no doubt that the two samples were signalling to each other.15
These organisms also appeared to be registering light from other species, although the greatest synchronicities occurred between members of the same species.16
Once the light waves of one organism were initially absorbed by another organism, the first organism’s light would begin trading information in synchrony. 17
Living things also appeared to communicate information with their surroundings. Bacteria absorbed light from their nutritional media: the more bacteria present, Popp found, the greater the absorption of light.18
Even the white and yolk of an egg appear to communicate with the shell.19
This communication carries on, even if an organism is cut into pieces. Gary Schwartz cut up a batch of string beans, placed them between 1 millimetre and 10 millimetres apart, and then used the NSF CCD camera he had borrowed to take series of photographs of the sections. Using software to enhance the light between the beans, he discovered so much light between the sections that it appeared as though the bean were whole again. Even though the string beans had been severed, the individual sections carried on their communication to the rest of the vegetable.20
This may be the mechanism accounting for the feeling described by amputees with phantom limb sensations. The light of the body still communicates with the energetic ‘footprint’ of the amputated limb.
Like Backster, Popp discovered that living things are exquisitely in tune with their environment through these light emissions. One of Popp’s colleagues, Professor Wolfgang Klimek, the head of the Ministry of Research for the German government devised an ingenious experiment to examine whether creatures such as algae were aware of past disturbances in their environment. He prepared two containers of seawater, and shook one of them. After 10 minutes, when the water in the shaken container had settled down, he placed samples of dinoflagellates in the two vessels. Those algae exposed to the shaken water suddenly increased their photon emissions – a sign of stress. The algae appeared to be aware of the slightest change in their environment – even a historical change – and responded with alarm.21
Another of Popp’s colleagues, Eduard Van Wijk, a Dutch psychologist, wondered how far this influence extended. Did a living thing register information from the entire environment, and not simply between two communicating entities? When a healer sends out healing intention, for instance, how far does his field of influence extend? Would he only affect his target, or would his aim have a shotgun effect, affecting other living organisms around the target?
Van Wijk placed a jar of Acetabularia acetabulum, another simple algae, near a healer and his patient, then measured the photon emissions of the algae during healing sessions and periods of rest. After analysing the data, he discovered remarkable alterations in the photon count of the algae. The quality of emissions significantly changed during the healing sessions, as though the algae were being bombarded with light. There also seemed to be changes in the rhythm of the emissions, as though the algae had become attuned to a stronger source of light.
During his initial research, Popp had discovered a strange reaction to light by a living thing. If he shone a bright light on an organism, after a certain delay, the organism would shine more brightly itself with extra photons, as if it were rejecting any excess. Popp called this phenomenon ‘delayed luminescence’, and assumed it was a corrective device to help the organism maintain its level of light at a delicate equilibrium. In Van Wijk’s experiment, the photon emissions of algae showed highly significant shifts from normal, when plotted on a graph. Van Wijk had generated some of the first evidence that healing light may affect anything in its path.22
Gary Schwartz’s associate Melinda Connor then demonstrated that intention has a direct effect on this light. For her study she clipped leaves from geranium plants, carefully matching them in pairs for size, health, placement on the plant and access to light and close to identical photon emissions. She asked each of 20 master energy healers to send intentions to one of each pair of leaves, first to reduce emissions and then to increase them. In 29 of the 38 sessions designed to decrease emissions, the light was significantly lowered in the treatment leaves, and in 22 of the 38 trials intending to increase the light, the healers caused a significantly greater glow.23
Sometimes a physical jolt to the system triggers a shock of realization. For physicist Konstantin Korotkov, his insight resulted from a fall off a roof. It was the winter of 1976, and Korotkov, who was 24 at the time, had been celebrating a birthday with some friends. Korotkov liked to celebrate outside, whatever the weather. He and his friends had been drinking vodka on the roof. Korotkov was given to expansive gestures, and during a moment of gaiety, threw himself off the roof onto what he thought was a deep bed of snow, which he assumed would cushion his fall. But hidden beneath the snow lay hard stone. Korotkov broke his left leg and landed in the hospital for months.24
During his long recovery, Korotkov, a conventional professor of quantum physics at St Petersburg State Technical University in Russia, pondered on a lecture on Kirlian effects and healing that he had attended earlier that year. He had been so intrigued that he wondered if he could improve on what Kirlian claimed to be doing: capturing someone’s life energy on film.
Semyon Davidovich Kirlian was an engineer who had discovered in 1939 tha photographing living things that had been exposed to a pulsed electromagnetic field would capture what many have termed the human ‘aura’. When any conductive object (like living tissue) is placed on a plate made of an insulating material, such as glass, and exposed to high-voltage, high-frequency electricity, a low current results that creates a corona discharge, a halo of coloured light around the object that can be captured on film. Kirlian claimed that the state of the aura reflected the person’s state of health; changes in the aura were evidence of disease or mental disturbance.
The Soviet scientific mainstream ignored Kirlian until the 1960s, when the Russian press discovered bioelectrography, as it came to be called, and hailed him as a great inventor. Kirlian photography suddenly became respectable, particularly in space research, and was championed by many Western scientists. Publication of Kirlian’s first study in 1964 further attracted the scientific community.25
Lying for months in his bed, Korotkov realized that if he was going to discover more about how to capture this mysterious light Kirlian claimed was so vital to health, he was going to have to give up his day job. He knew that the involvement of a well-established quantum physicist such as himself would lend the technique scientific legitimacy and his technical ability might also help advance the technology. Perhaps he could even devise a means of depicting the light in real time.
After he got back up on his feet, Korotkov spent months developing a mechanism, which he called the Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) technique, that made use of state-of-the-art optics, digitized television matrices and a powerful computer. Ordinarily, a living thing will dribble out the faintest pulse of photons, perceptible only to the most sensitive equipment in conditions of utter pitch black. As Korotkov realized, a better way to capture this light was to stir up photons by ‘evoking’, or stimulating them into an excited state so that they would shine millions of times more intensely than normal.
His equipment blended several techniques: photography, measurements of light intensity and computerized pattern recognition. Korotkov’s camera would take pictures of the field around each of the 10 fingers, one finger at a time. A computer program would then extrapolate from this a real-time image of the ‘biofield’ surrounding the organism and deduce from it the state of the organism’s health.
Korotkov went on to write five books on the human bioenergy field.26
In time, he managed to convince the Russian Ministry of Health of the importance of his invention to medical technology, diagnosis and treatment. His equipment was initially employed to predict certain clinical situations, such as the progress of recovery of people after surgery.27
It soon became widely used in Russia as a diagnostic tool for many illnesses, including cancer and stress,28 and was even used to assess athletic potential – to predict the psychophysical reserves in athletes training for the Olympics and the likelihood of victory or exhaustion from overtraining.29
Eventually, some 3000 doctors, practitioners and researchers worldwide came to use the technology. The National Institutes of Health got interested and funded work on the ‘biofield’, which employed Korotkov’s equipment.30
While officially exploring these practical applications, Korotkov privately carried on with his own studies of what had really captured his imagination: the connection between biofields and consciousness.31
He took GDV readings of healers and a Qigong master while they were sending energy, and discovered remarkable changes in their corona discharges. Korotkov then explored the effects of a person’s thoughts on the people surrounding him. He asked a number of couples to ‘send’ a variety of thoughts to their partners, while they were standing within close range. Every strong emotion – whether love, hate or anger – produced an extraordinary effect on the light discharge of the recipient.32
Some 40 years after Backster first employed his crude polygraph mechanism to register the effect of thoughts, Korotkov verified those early discoveries with state- of-the-art equipment. He hooked up a potted plant to his GDV machine and asked his researchers to think of different emotions – anger, sadness, joy – and then positive and negative intentions towards the plant. Whenever a participant mentally threatened the plant, its energy field diminished. The opposite occurred if people approached the plant with water or feelings of love.
Largely because he lacked scientific credentials, Backster was never recognized for his contributions. He had stumbled across the first evidence that living things engage in a constant two-way flow of information with their environment, enabling them to register even the nuances of human thought. The more advanced scientific knowledge of physicists Fritz Popp and Konstantin Korotkov was needed to uncove the actual mechanism of that communication. Their research into the nature of quantum light emissions from living organisms suddenly made sense of Backster’s
findings. If thoughts are another stream of photons, it is perfectly plausible that a plant could pick up the signals and be affected by them.
The work of Backster, Popp and Korotkov suggested something profound abou the effect of intention. Every last thought appeared to augment or diminish something else’s light.
Notes – Chapter 3: The Two-Way Street
For all history of Cleve Backster’s discoveries and experiments, interview with Backster, October 2004 and his Primary Perception: Biocommunication with Plants, Living Foods, and Human Cells, Anza, Calif.: White Rose Millennium Press, 2003.
As Obi-Wan Kenobe tells Luke Skywalker, after Alderan has been blown up by the Empire in Star Wars part IV: A New Hope: ‘I feel a great disturbance in the Force. As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.’
Presentation given at the Tenth Annual Parapsychology Association meeting in New York City, September 7, 1967. Also published as C Backster, ‘Evidence of a primary perception in plant life’, International Journal of Parapsychology, 1968; 10 (4): 329–48.
P. Dubrov and V. N. Pushkin, Parapsychology and Contemporary Science, New York and London: Consultants Bureau, 1982.
P. Tompkins and C. Bird, The Secret Life of Plants, New York: Harper & Row, 1973.
‘Boysenberry to Prune, Boysenberry to Prune: Do you read me? Li detector expert Cleve Backster reported in the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that he had detected electrical impulses between two containers of yogurt at opposite ends of his laboratory. Backster claims the bacteria in the containers were communicating.’ Esquire, January 1976.
Backster, ‘Evidence of a primary perception’, op. cit.
Backster, Primary Perceptions, op. cit.: 112–13.
Backster, Primary Perceptions. See also Rupert Sheldrake, Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home and Other Unexplaine Powers of Animals, London: Three Rivers Press, 2000.
This and other personal details of events resulted from interviews with Ingo Swann, New York, July 2005.
See McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 39 for a full description of F.-A. Popp’s earlier work.
All details of these experiments resulted from an interview between the author and Fritz-Albert Popp, January 2006.
R. M. Galle et al., ‘Biophoton emission from Daphnia magna: A possible factor in the self-regulation of swarming’, Experientia, 1991; 47: 457–60;R. M. Galle, ‘Untersuchungen zum dichte und zeitabhängigen Verhalten der ultraschwachen Photonenemission von pathogenetischen Weibchen des Wasserflohs Daphnia magna.’ Dissertation. Universität Saarbrücken, Fachbereich Zoologie, 1993.
F.-A. Popp et al., ‘Nonsubstantial biocommunication in terms of Dicke’s Theory’, in M. W. Ho, F.-A. Popp and U. Warnke (eds.), Bioelectrodynamics and Biocommunication, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 1994: 293–317; J. J. Chang et al., ‘Research on cel communication of P. elegans by means of photon emission’, Chinese Science Bulletin, 1995; 40: 76–9.
J. J. Chang et al., ‘Communication between Dinoflagellates by means o photon emission’, in L. V. Beloussov and F.-A. Popp (eds.), Proceedings of International Conference on Non-equilibrium and Coherent Systems in Biophysics, Biology and Biotechnology, Sep. 28–Oct. 2 1994, Moscow: Bioinform Services Co., 1995: 318–30.
Interview with Popp, Neuss, Germany, March 1, 2006.
F.-A. Popp et al., ‘Mechanism of interaction between electromagnetic fields and living organisms’, Science in China (Series C), 2000; 43 (5): 507–18.
Ibid.
L. Beloussov and N. N. Louchinskaia, ‘Biophoton emission from developing eggs and embryos: Nonlinearity, wholistic properties and indications of energy transfer’, in J. J. Chang et al. (eds.), Biophotons, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998: 121–40.
K. Creath and G. E. Schwartz, ‘What biophoton images of plants can tel us about biofields and healing’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2005; 19(4): 531–50.
A. V. Tschulakow et al., ‘A new approach to the memory of water’, Homeopathy, 2005; 94: 241–7.
E. P. A. Van Wijk and R. Van Wijk, ‘The development ofa bio-sensor for the state of consciousness in a human intentional healing ritual’, Journal of International Society of Life Information Science (ISLIS,) 2002; 20 (2): 694–702.
M. Connor, ‘Baseline testing of energy practitioners: Biophoton imaging results.’ Paper presented at the North American Research in Integrative Medicine conference, Edmonton, Canada, May 2006.
Personal details about K. Korotkov the result of multiple interviews with the author, November–March 2005–2006.
S. D. Kirlian and V. K. Kirlian, ‘Photography and visual observation by means of high frequency currents’, J. Sci. Appl. Photogr., 1964; 6: 397– 403.
Korotkov’s most important work on the subject was K. Korotkov, Human Energy Field: Study with GDV Bioelectrography, New Jersey: Backbone Publishing Co., 2002; K. Korotkov, Aura and Consciousness – New Stage of Scientific Understanding, St Petersburg: St Petersburg Division of the Russian Ministry of Culture, State Publishing Unit ‘Kultura’, 1999.
K. Korotkov et al., ‘Assessing biophysical energy transfer mechanisms in living systems: The basis of life processes’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (1): 49–57.
L. W. Konikiewicz and L. C. Griff,Bioelectrography – A new method for detecting cancer and body physiology, Harrisburg, Va.: Leonard Associates Press, 1982; G. Rein, ‘Corona discharge photography of human breast tumour biopsies’, Acupuncture & Electrotherapeutics Research, 1985; 10: 305–8; K. Korotkov et al., ‘Stress diagnosis and monitoring with new computerized “Crown-TV” device’, Journal of Pathophysiology, 1998; 5: 227.
P. Bundzen et al., ‘New technology of the athletes’ psycho-physical readiness evaluation based on the gas-discharge visualisation method in comparison with battery of tests’, ‘SIS-99’ Proceedings, International Congress St Petersburg, 1999: 19–22; P. V. Bundzen, et al., ‘Psychophysiological correlates of athletic success in athletes training for
the Olympics’, Human Physiology, 2005; 31 (3): 316–23; K. Korotkov et al., ‘Assessing biophysical energy transfer mechanisms’, op. cit.
Clair A. Francomano and Wayne B. Jonas, in Ronald A. Chez (ed.) Proceedings: Measuring the Human Energy Field: State of the Science. The Gerontology Research Center, National Institute of Aging, Nationa Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, April 17–18, 2002.
S. Kolmakow et al., ‘Gas discharge visualization technique and spectrophotometry in detection of field effects’, Mechanisms of Adaptive Behavior, Abstracts of International Symposium, St Petersburg, 1999: 79.
NONE OF THE SCIENTISTS INVOLVED IN ‘The Love Study’ remember who came up with its name. It might have started as Elisabeth Targ’s private joke, for the study involved couples who were installed in two different rooms and separated by a hallway, three doors, eight walls and several inches of stainless steel.1
The name was actually meant to be a gracious nod to the study’s arcane benefactor, the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love at Case Western Reserve As it happened, the study became a posthumous valentine to Targ, who was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumour just before the grant money came through. The Love Study would be a fitting tribute to Targ, as the first major scientific demonstration of exactly how intention physically affects its recipient, and the name proved especially apt in describing this process. When you send an intention, every major physiological system in your body is mirrored in the body of the receiver. Intention is the perfect manifestation of love. Two bodies become one.
Targ began her career as a mainstream psychiatrist, but made her name in 1999 with two remarkable studies at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in Sa Francisco, which tested the possibility of remote healing with end-stage AIDS patients. Targ spent months designing her trial. She and her partner, psychologist and retired hospital administrator Fred Sicher, sought out a homogeneous group of advanced AIDS patients with the same degree of illness, including the same T-cell counts and number of AIDS-defining illnesses. Because they wished to test the effec of distant healing, and not any particular healing modality, they decided to recruit highly experienced, successful healers from diverse backgrounds who might represent an array of approaches.
Targ and Sicher gathered together an eclectic mix of healers from all across America – from orthodox Christians to Native American shamans – and asked them to send healing thoughts to a group of AIDS patients under strict double-blind conditions. All healing was to be done remotely so that nothing, such as the presence of a healer or healing touch, could confound the results. Targ created a strict double- blind rota: each healer received sealed packets with information about the patients to be healed, including their name, photo and T-cell counts. Every other week, the healers were assigned a new patient and asked to hold an intention for the health and well-being of the patient an hour a day for six days, with alternate weeks off for rest. In this manner, eventually every patient in the healing group would be sent healing by every healer in turn.
At the end of the first study, although 40 per cent of the control population died, all 10 of the patients in the treatment group were not only alive but far healthier in every regard.
Targ and Sicher repeated the study, but this time, doubled the size of their study population and tightened their protocol even further. They also widened their brief of
the outcomes they planned to measure. In the second study, those sent healing were again far healthier on every parameter tested: significantly fewer AIDS-defining illnesses, improved T-cell levels, fewer hospitalizations, fewer visits to the doctor, fewer new illnesses, less severity of disease and better psychological well-being. The differences were decisive; for instance, the treatment group had six times fewer AIDS-defining illnesses and four times fewer hospitalizations at the end of the study than the controls.2
In Targ’s original studies, the healing had been carried out by highly experienced, successful healers who had been chosen because they possessed a special gift. After the studies were completed, Targ grew interested in whether an ordinary individual could be similarly trained to use intention effectively.
For the Love Study, Targ found a sympathetic partner in Marilyn Schlitz, the vice president for research and education at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) The energetic blonde had a colourful national reputation because of her meticulously designed parapsychology studies and their spectacular results, which attracted the attention of the senior powers in consciousness research as well as the New York Times. During a long partnership with psychologist William Braud, Schlitz had conducted rigorous research into what became known in the psychic community as ‘DMILS’ – direct mental interaction with living systems – the ability of human thought to influence the living world around it.3
Throughout her career in parapsychology, Schlitz had been fascinated by remote influence; she was one of the first to examine the effect of intention in healing, and went on to assemble a vast database of healing research for IONS.
For the Love Study, Schlitz recruited Dean Radin, her IONS senior researche and one of America’s most renowned parapsychologists. Radin was to design both the study and some of its equipment; with his background in engineering and psychology he would ensure that both the study protocol and its technical detail were pristine. Targ enlisted Jerome Stone, a nurse and practising Buddhist who had worked with her on the AIDS studies, to design the intention programme and train the patients.
In 2002, after Targ died, Schlitz and the others vowed to carry on with the study and recruited Ellen Levine, one of Targ’s colleagues from CPMC, to take her place and work with Stone as joint principal investigators.
The Love Study was to follow the basic study design of a perennial favorite among consciousness researchers: the sense of being stared at.4
In those studies, two people are isolated from each other in separate rooms and a video camera is trained on the receiver, who is also hooked up to skin conductance equipment, not unlike a polygraph machine – the type used in lie detection studies to detect an increase in ‘fight-or-flight’, unconscious autonomic nervous system activity. At random intervals, the ‘sender’ is instructed to stare at the subject on the monitor, while the ‘receiver’ is told to relax and try to think of anything other than the prospect of being stared at. A later comparison analysis determines whether the receiver’s autonomic system registered a reaction during those moments he or she was being stared at to determine whether the mere attention of the sender was unconsciously picked up by the most automatic systems of the receiver’s body.
Schlitz and Braud’s body of evidence on remote staring, conducted over 10 years, showed exactly such an effect. All the studies had been combined into a review that was published in a major psychology journal. The review concluded that the effects had been small but significant.5
The Love Study’s design was also inspired by the major DMILS studies conducted since 1963, which demonstrated that, under many types of circumstances, the electrical signalling in the brains of people gets synchronized.6
The frequencies, amplitudes and phases of the brain waves start operating in tandem. Although the studies followed slightly different designs, all of them asked the same question: can the stimulation of one person be felt in the higher central nervous system of another? Or, as Radin liked to think of it, after a sender gets pinched, does the receiver also feel the ‘ouch’?7
Two people wired up with a variety of physiological monitoring equipment, such as EEG machines, were isolated from each other indifferent rooms. One would be stimulated with something – a picture, a light or a mild electric shock. The researchers would then examine the two EEGs to determine if the receiver’s brain waves mirrored those of the sender when he or she was being stimulated.
The earliest DMILS research had been designed by psychologist an consciousness researcher Charles Tart, who carried out a series of brutal studies to determine whether people could empathetically feel another person’s pain. He administered shocks to himself, while a volunteer, isolated in a different room and hooked up to an array of medical gadgetry, was being monitored to see if his sympathetic nervous system somehow picked up Tart’s reactions. Whenever Tart jolted himself, the receiver registered an unconscious empathetic response in decreased blood volume and increased heart rate – as though he were also getting the shocks.8
Another fascinating early study had been carried out with identical twins. As soon as one twin closed his eyes and his brain electrical rhythms slowed to alpha waves, the other twin’s brain also slowed, even though his eyes were wide open.9
Harald Walach, a German scientist at the University of Freiburg, tried an approach that was guaranteed to magnify the sender’s effects, in order to maximize the response in the receiver. The sender was shown an alternating black-and-white checkerboard, called a ‘pattern reversal’, which is known to trigger predictable, high-amplitude electrical brain waves in viewers. At the same instant, the EEG of the distant, shielded receiver recorded identical brain-wave patterns.10
Neurophysiologist Jacobo Grinberg-Zylberbaum, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, had used this same protocol a decade before Walach but with a different twist: with light flashes rather than patterns as the stimulus. In this study, the particular patterns of firing in the brain of the sender, evoked by the light, turned out to be mirrored in the brain of the receiver, who was sitting in an electrically shielded room 14.5 metres away. Grinberg-Zylberbaum also discovered that an important condition determined success: the synchrony only occurred among pairs of participants who had met and established a connection by spending 20 minutes with each other in meditative silence.11
In earlier work, Grinberg-Zylberbaum had discovered that brainwave synchrony occurred not only between two people, but between both hemispheres of the brains of both participants, with one important distinction: the participant with the most cohesive quantum wave patterns sometimes set the tempo and tended to influence the other. The most ordered brain pattern often prevailed.12
In the most recent DMILS study, in 2005, a group of researchers from Basty University and the University of Washington gathered 30 couples with strong emotional and psychological connections and also a great deal of experience in meditation. The pairs were split up and placed in rooms 10 meters away from each other, with an EEG amplifier wired up to the occipital (visual) lobe of the brain of each participant. The moment each sender was exposed to a flickering light, he attempted to transmit an image or thought about the light to the partner. Of the 60 receivers tested, 5 of them, or 8 per cent, were shown to have significantly higher brain activation during times their partner ‘sent’ their visual images.13
The Washington researchers then selected five pairs of the participants who had scored a significant result, wired them up to a functional MRI, which measures minuscule changes in the brain during critical functions, and asked them to repeat the experiment. During the times the thought was ‘transmitted’, the recipients experienced an increase in blood oxygenation in a portion of the visual cortex of the brain. This increase did not occur when the sending partner was not being visually stimulated.14
The Bastyr researchers replicated their study, this time with volunteers highly experienced in meditation, and got some of the strongest correlations between senders and receivers of all the studies thus far.
The Bastyr study represented a major breakthrough in research on direct mental influence. It demonstrated that the brain-wave response of the sender to the stimulus is mirrored in the receiver, and that the stimulus in the receiver occurs in an identical place in the brain as that of the sender. The receiver’s brain reacts as though he or she is seeing the same image at the same time.
A final extraordinary study examined the effect of powerful emotional involvement on remote influence. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh studied and compared the EEGs of bonded couples, matched pairs of strangers, and several individuals with no partner but who nevertheless thought they were being paired off and having their brain waves compared. Everyone who had been paired off, whether he knew his partner or not, displayed increased numbers of brain waves in synchrony. The only participants who did not demonstrate this effect were those who had no partner.15
Radin carried out a variation of this experiment, attaching pairs who had close bonds – couples, friends, parents and their children. In a significant number of instances, the EEGs of the senders and receivers appeared to synchronize.16
In designing the Love Study, Schlitz and Radin also had been influenced by other research showing that, during acts of remote influence, the recipient’s EEG waves mirror those of the sender. In a number of studies of healing, the EEG waves of the patient synchronize with those of the healer during moments when healing energy is being ‘sent’.17
Brain mapping during certain types of healing, such as bioenergy, also shows evidence of brain-wave synchrony. 18
In many instances, when one person is sending focused intention to another, their brains appear to become entrained.
Entrainment is a term in physics which means that two oscillating systems fall into synchrony. It was coined in 1665 by the Dutch mathematician Christiaan Huygens, after discovering that two of his clocks with pendulums standing in close approximation to each other had begun to swing in unison. He had been toying with the two pendulums and found that even if he started one pendulum swinging at one end, and the other at the opposite end, eventually the two would swing in unison.
Two waves peaking and troughing at the same time, are considered ‘in phase’, or operating in synch. Those peaking at opposite times are ‘out of phase’. Physicists believe that entrainment results from tiny exchanges of energy between two systems that are out of phase, causing one to slow down and the other to accelerate until the two are in phase. It is also related to resonance, or the ability of any system to absorb more energy than normal at a particular frequency (the number of peaks and troughs in one second). Any vibrating thing, including an electromagnetic wave, has its own preferential frequencies, called ‘resonant frequencies’, where it finds vibrating the easiest. When it ‘listens’ or receives a vibration from somewhere else, it tunes out all pretenders and only tunes into its own resonant frequency. It is a bit like a mother instantly recognizing her child from among a mass of school children. Planets have orbital resonances. Our sense of hearing operates through a form of entrainment: different parts of a membrane of the inner ear resonate to different frequencies of sound. Resonance even occurs in the seas, such as in the tidal resonance of the Bay of Fundy in the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine, near Nova Scotia.
Once they march to the same rhythm, things that are entrained send out a stronger signal than they do individually. This most commonly occurs with musical instruments, which sound amplified when all playing in phase. At the Bay of Fundy, the time required for a single wave to travel from the bay’s mouth to its opposite end and back is exactly matched by the time of each tide. Each wave is amplified by the rhythm of each tide, resulting in some of the highest tides in the world.
Entrainment also occurs when someone sends a strong intention to cause harm, which became evident in the tohate experiments of Mikio Yamamoto of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba and the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo. Tohate is a kind of mental stand-off between two Qigong practitioners, one of whom receives a sensory shock and is eventually made to submit and move back several yards without any physical contact from the other. The central question posed by the technique, in Yamamoto’s mind, was whether the effect of tohate is psychological or physical: does the opponent move back because of psychological intimidation, or is he knocked over by the qi of his opponent?
In the first of Yamamoto’s studies, a Qigong master was isolated in an electromagnetically shielded room on the fourth floor of a building, while his student was similarly isolated on the first floor.
Yamamoto signalled for the master to perform ‘qi emission’ over 80 seconds at random intervals. Each time, he tracked their separate movements – the sending of the qi and the start of the pupil’s recoil. In nearly a third of the 49 such trials – a highly significant result – whenever the master engaged in tohate movements, his opponent in the other room was physically knocked back. In a second set of 57 trials, Yamamoto wired both teacher and pupil to EEG machines. Whenever the master emitted qi, his pupil showed an increase in the number of alpha brain waves in his right frontal lobe, suggesting that this was where the body initially receives the intention ‘message’.
Yamamoto’s final set of trials examined the EEG-recorded brain waves of both master and student.
Whenever the master performed tohate, the beta brain waves of both men demonstrated a greater sense of coherence.19
In an earlier study carried out by the Tokyo group, the brain waves of the receiver and sender became synchronized within one second during tohate.20
Besides resonance, the DMILS studies offered evidence of another phenomenon during intention: the receiver anticipated the information by registering the ‘ouch’ a few moments before the pinch occurred in the sender.
In 1997, in his former laboratory at the University of Nevada, Radin discovered that humans may receive a physical foreboding of an event.
He set up a computer that would randomly select photos designed to calm, to arouse, or to upset a participant. His volunteers were wired to physiological monitors that recorded changes in skin conduction, heart rate and blood pressure, and they sat in front of a computer that would randomly display colour photos of tranquil scenes (landscapes), or scenes designed to shock (autopsies) or to arouse (erotic materials).
Radin discovered that his subjects were registering physiological responses before they saw the photo. As if trying to brace themselves, their responses were highest before they saw an image that was erotic or disturbing.
This offered the first laboratory proof that our bodies unconsciously anticipate and act out our own future emotional states and that the nervous system does not merely cushion itself against a future blow, but also works out the emotional meaning of it.21
Dr Rollin McCraty, executive vice-president and director of research for the Institute of HeartMath, in Boulder Creek, California was fascinated by the idea of shared physical foreboding of an event, but wondered where exactly in the body this intuitive information might first be felt. He used the original design of Radin’s study with a computerized system of randomly generated arousing photos, but hooked up his participants to a greater complement of medical equipment.
McCraty discovered that these forebodings of good and bad news were felt in both the heart and brain, whose electromagnetic waves would speed up or slow down just before a disturbing or tranquil picture was shown. Furthermore, all four lobes of the cerebral cortex appeared to take part in this intuitive awareness. Most astonishing of all, the heart appeared to receive this information moments before the brain did. This suggested that the body has certain perceptual apparatus that enables it continually to scan and intuit the future, but that the heart may hold the largest antenna. After the heart receives the information, it communicates this information to the brain.
McCraty’s study had shown certain fascinating differences between the sexes. Both the heart and brain became entrained with each other earlier and more frequently in women than they did in men. McCraty concluded that this offered scientific evidence of the universal assumption that women are naturally more intuitive than men and more in touch with their heart centre.22
McCraty’s conclusion – that the heart is the largest ‘brain’ of the body – has now gained credibility after research findings by Dr John Andrew Armour at the University of Montreal and the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur in Montreal.
Armou discovered neurotransmitters in the heart that signal and influence aspects of higher thought in the brain.23 McCraty discovered that touch and even mentally focusing on the heart cause brain-wave entrainment between people.
When two people touched while focusing loving thoughts on their hearts, the more ‘coherent’ heart rhythms of the two began to entrain the brain of the other.24
When two people touched while focusing loving thoughts on their hearts, the more ‘coherent’ heart rhythms of the two began to entrain the brain of the other.
Armed with this new evidence about the heart, Dean Radin and Marilyn Schlit decided to explore whether remote mental influence extended to anywhere else in the body. An obvious place to explore was the gut. People speak about intuition as a ‘gut instinct’ or ‘gut feeling’. Certain researchers have even referred to the gut as a ‘second brain’.25
Radin wondered if a gut instinct was accompanied by an actual physical effect.
Radin and Schlitz gathered 26 student volunteers, paired them, and this time wired them up to an electrogastrogram (EGG), which measures the electrical behaviour of the gut; monitors on the skin usually closely match the frequencies and contractions of the stomach. Although the Freiburg study had shown otherwise, Radin and Schlitz believed that familiarity could only help to magnify the effects of remote influence. In case some sort of physical connection was indeed important, Radin asked all the participants to exchange some meaningful object first.
Radin put one participant from a pair in one room. The other sat in another, darkened room, attached to an electrogastrogram, viewing live video images of the first person. Images periodically flashed on another monitor, accompanied by music designed to arouse particular emotions: positive, negative, angry, calming or just neutral.
The results revealed another example of entrainment – this time in the gut.
The EGG readings of the receiver were significantly higher and correlated with those of the sender when the sender experienced strong emotions, positive or negative. Here was yet more evidence that the emotional state of others is registered in the body of the receiver – in this case, deep in the intestines – and that the home of the gut instinct is indeed the gut itself.26
This latest evidence was further proof that our emotional responses are constantly being picked up and echoed in those closest to us.27 In every one of these studies, the bodies of the pairs had become entrained or ‘entangled’ as Radin called it;28 the recipients were ‘seeing’ or feeling what their partners actually saw or felt, in real time.
As this research intimates, intention might be an attunement of energy. The DMILS research established that, under certain conditions, the heart rate, the arousa of the autonomic nervous system, the brain waves and the blood flow to the extremities of different people all become entrained, even when they are situated at a distance. Nevertheless, in most of the DMILS studies, the correlated respons resulted from a simple stimulation of the sender, which the recipient unconsciously picked up. Except for one instance, no one attempted to influence another person.
Schlitz and Radin now wanted to find out whether they would achieve similar correlations if the sender were actually sending an intention to heal. For the Love Study, Schlitz and her colleagues decided to recruit ordinary individuals and train them in healing techniques. They wondered whether certain conditions were more favourable than others for achieving entrainment.
Many healing studies intimated that motivation, interpersonal connection and a shared belief system were vital to success.
Grinberg-Zylberbaum believed that a ‘transferred potential’, as he termed this form of entrainment, occurred only among those who had undergone some meditative regime and then only after some sort of psychic connection between sender and receiver had been established. Nevertheless, in the Freiberg study, many of the pairs had never met each other and had not had a chance to establish a bond.
The German researchers had concluded that ‘connectedness’ and mental preparation may play a role, but were not crucial. In Schlitz’s view, motivation was a key component of success. The more urgent the situation, such as would occur with a partner suffering from cancer, the more motivated his or her partner would be in attempting to get him or her well.
Schlitz and her fellow researchers decided to seek out couples with a wife suffering from breast cancer, and began advertising around the San Francisco Bay Area for volunteers.
It soon became apparent that they would have to widen their original brief. The breast-cancer population of the Bay Area, which is higher than average in the USA, has been extremely well studied.
From the lack-luster response to their advertising, it appeared that sufferers were unwilling to take part in yet more research. The scientists decided to open the study to any couple if either partner were suffering from cancer of any variety.
Eventually 31 couples volunteered, including healthy couples who were to act as controls.
Jerome Stone wrote a training manual for the couples, after analysing a number of healers and distilling their common practices.29
The first component of his programme involved teaching the sender how to focus and concentrate, as occurs in meditation, to create a high degree of sustained attention. The scientific evidence demonstrates that meditation establishes more coherent brain waves; at least 25 studies show that EEG synchronization occurs between the four regions of the brain during meditation.30
Other studies of meditation have shown that it creates more coherent biophoton emissions31 and in general aids healing.
Stone also believed that his senders needed to learn how to generate compassion or empathy for their partners, with a technique based largely on the Tonglen Buddhist idea of ‘giving and receiving’. This practice would train the partner to develop a true understanding of the suffering of another, to take on the suffering without being burdened by it, and to transform it through the process of sending healing.
Developing true empathy would also help to dissolve the boundaries and sense of self between the sender and receiver. Positive, loving thoughts also had positive physiological effects. Rollin McCraty’s research at HeartMath showed tha a steady (or, as they called it, ‘coherent’) variation in heartbeat was more likely with ‘positive’ – loving or altruistic – thoughts and that this ‘coherence’ was quickly picked up by the brain, which soon pulsed in synchrony32 and evidenced improved cognitive performance.33
After Stone instructed the partners in simple techniques of meditation, he also taught them to be compassionate when carrying out intention. The final aspect of Stone’s training involved instilling belief and confidence in both senders and receivers.
Stone had discovered evidence in both the healing and parapsychological literature that belief in the process assists in the success of psychic processes such as ESP, which, like intention, involves ‘transferring’ information across distance.34
Although the training programme was originally intended to run for eight weeks, limited funding meant that Stone had to compress his workshop into a single day, to be followed up with homework and practice.
Radin divided the couples into three groups.
The first group (the ‘trained group’) was to undergo Stone’s training, practise compassionate intention daily for three months and then carry out the test.
The second group (called the ‘wait group’) was to carry out the test first and then have the training.
The 18 healthy couples comprising the third group (the control group) was to have no training at all, but simply undergo the test.
With all three groups, the member of the couple with the cancer (or one of the designated partners in the control group) was asked to sit in a black reclining chair placed in a one-ton, solid steel, double-walled, electromagnetically shielded enclosure.
The tiny Lindgren/ETS chamber was separated from the outside world b two layers of steel and one of solid wood, which blocked out all sound and all electromagnetic energy. Any electrical signals were carried out of the chamber by a fibre-optic cable, to ensure that the room remained, electromagnetically speaking, a solitary confinement.
Each inhabitant was fitted to an array of medical gadgetry to measure brain waves, heartbeat, breathing rate, skin conductance and peripheral blood flow. A video camera stood discretely in the corner.
The room was curtained in earth tones and furnished with soft table lighting and an artificial, floor-to-ceiling weeping fig tree. When the room was occupied, ambient music flooded the space. The furnishings and music, and even a large colour poster of a cascading mountain stream, were all intended to distract from the fact that once the 400-pound steel door with an articulated closing mechanism snapped shut, the inhabitant was essentially trapped inside the warmer equivalent of a meatpacking-plant refrigerator.
Some 20 metres away, the other partner was seated in the dark, attached to the same medical equipment as his or her partner, staring at a small blank TV screen. Bunched towels blocked out the last vestiges of light. Whenever the image of the partner in the refrigerator room abruptly flashed on the television screen, the other member of the couple was to send a compassionate intention to his or her partner for 10 seconds.
Stone, Radin and their colleagues planned to examine two different outcomes: whether the training improved the marriage, and also whether there was any correspondence between the physical sensations of sender and receiver. Although they hoped to examine whether the intentions sent also affected the medical prognosis, limited funding made that aspect of the study impossible.
Stone and Levine were given the task of analysing the social aspects of the study. Initially they discovered that the training made no difference to the quality of the couples’ marriages.
The finding was not altogether surprising, considering that anyone prepared to be part of a study involving three months of training was already likely to be extremely committed to the partnership. And Schlitz had aimed to recruit motivated partners when she designed the study. A later, more detailed analysis of the figures showed that the intention training and practice had indeed improved the couples’ marriages, but Radin concluded that these effects were due to their expectation of improved relations.
Then Radin compiled all the physiological data from the three groups and studied the results between partners and group composite averages. Each physiological response offered fascinating information about the effect of intention on the receiver. For instance, in the case of measurements of blood to the extremities, in every group, the sender’s skin conductance increased 2 seconds after seeing the partner’s image, and the receiver recorded a similar arousal a half second after the image had flashed.
However, unlike the earlier DMILS studies, where the skin conduction response in the receiver resembled that of a ‘startle reflex’ and quickly tailed off, in this instance the response persisted 7 seconds after the stimulus.
The receiver clearly appeared to be responding to intention – indeed, almost instantaneously.
In fact, the receiver’s response occurred at least 1 second faster than it would have been possible for the sender to have consciously formulated an intention. Radin was not sure whether this meant that the receiver had had a premonition of the intention.
It might simply have reflected the turgid nature of the skin conductance response; the receiver was likely responding in his or her extremities to information sent by the sender’s central nervous system, which would have reacted to the initial stimulation of the image on the monitor far more quickly than the electrical impulses sent to his or her fingertips. Nevertheless, in Radin’s view, the two skin conductance responses were tracking each other, even if they were slightly out of phase.
A similar situation occurred with the heart rate. The sender’s heart rate increased 5 seconds after the stimulus prompt to send the intention – which was consistent with the physical response that occurs in the body during the process of making some sort of mental effort. But an identical increase took place in the receiver, which would not happen ordinarily if he or she were simply resting in a recliner.
Blood flow followed a similar pattern. Whenever we experience something that stimulates us, the vascular network in our extremities constricts slightly, to maximize blood flow to the core of the body. In the Love Study, this phenomenon occurred in the sender, and was soon imitated in the body of the receiver.
As for respiration, on average, whenever the stimulus image appeared, the sender immediately inhaled sharply and blew out the air 15 seconds later. This respiratory response resembles that of someone about to steady himself for the task at hand. In this case, Radin witnessed a different response in the receiver. During the first 5 seconds, the receiver’s respiration faltered, almost as though he or she had stopped breathing, and then resumed with a large exhale in the final 5 seconds of the intention. It was as though the receiver had been listening with care, holding her breath and straining to hear something, before sighing with relief as soon as the stimulation had passed.
But it was the brain-wave results that proved to be the most interesting. Whenever the receiver’s image flashed on the screen, the senders recorded a little upturn in brain waves, like a ‘flinch response’, and then a huge spike for about a third of a second before they dropped sharply and took about one second to come back to baseline. In the sender, this tiny initial upturn represents something called a P300 wave – a well-established phenomenon that records the time that the brain takes to process the switching on of a light. The drop represents the time it takes for internal attention to modulate the stimulus into a response.
In this instance, the receivers had no P300 wave, but their brain waves nevertheless mimicked the virtually vertical plunge of the brain wave that shortly followed in the sender, even though, unlike the sender, the receiver had had no stimulus. The brain of the receiver was reacting just as it does when asleep and dreaming. The receivers had registered an emotional reaction, even though there was no tangible stimulus.
Radin’s results were all the more remarkable because the receivers had not been told how long the stimulus period would be, and neither senders nor receivers knew in advance how long the sender would have to wait before the partner’s image flashed on screen. A computer program randomly selected the time frame, which ranged from 5 to 40 seconds. This meant that any expectation on the part of either member of the couples could not explain the results.
Radin then compared the responses of the groups. All three groups had shown an effect. In every instance, each physiological response of the receivers had tracked those of the senders. However, the most prolonged pattern occurred among the cancer patients whose partners had been trained in compassionate intention.
The receivers in the training group not only responded to the stimulus, but also kept responding over 8 of the 10 seconds of the intention. In quantum terms, the couples had become as one.35
The Love Study indicates a number of profound suggestions about the nature of intention.
Sending a directed thought seems to generate a palpable energy; whenever one of Radin’s senders sent a healing intention, many subtle aspects of the receiver’s body became activated, as though he had received a minuscule electric shock. It seemed to be a kind of activating awareness, as though his body had felt or heard the healing signal.
There had even been an element of anticipation in the receiver; some of the physiological reactions recorded suggested that the receiver had felt the partner’s healing intention before he had even sent it.
People appear to receive healing deep in their bodies by being retuned to the more coherent energy of the healer’s intention. During healing, it could be that the ‘orderly’ energy of the well person entrains and ‘re-orders’ the sick.
In order to have the most powerful effect, a healer or sender needs to become ‘ordered’ on some subatomic level, mentally and emotionally. The Love Study demonstrates that certain conditions and mental states make our intention especially powerful and ourselves more ordered, and that these states can be achieved with training. The success of the basic training programme that Schlitz, Radin and Stone assembled suggests that attention, belief, motivation and compassion are important for intention to work, but there are probably other conditions that intensify its effects.
I needed, for instance, to find out how we can loosen our psychological boundaries. It was becoming clear to me: when we send intention, in a manner of speaking, we have to ‘become’ the other.
Notes – Chapter 4: Hearts that Beat as One
All details of the Love Study were gleaned from multiple interviews with Dean Radin, Marilyn Schlitz and Jerome Stone, April 2005–June 2006.
F. Sicher, E. Targ et al., ‘A randomized double-blind study of the effect of distant healing in a population with advanced AIDS: report of a small scale study’, Western Journal of Medicine, 1998; 168 (6): 356–63; also multiple interviews with E. Targ, 1999–2001.
M. Schlitz and W. Braud, ‘Distant intentionality and healing: assessing the evidence’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1997; 3 (6): 62–73.
M. Schlitz and S. LaBerge, ‘Autonomic detection of remote observation two conceptual replications’, in D. J. Bierman (ed.), Proceedings of Presented Papers, 37th Annual Parapsychological Association Convention Amsterdam, Fairhaven, Mass.: Parapsychological Association, 1994: 352– 60.
S. Schmidt et al., ‘Distant intentionality and the feeling of being stared at: Two metaanalyses’, British Journal of Psychology, 2004; 95: 235–47, as reported in D. Radin, Entangled Minds, New York: Paraview, 2006: 135.
L. Standish et al., ‘Electroencephalographic evidence of correlated event- related signals between the brains of spatially and sensory isolated human subjects’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (2): 307–14.
Radin, Entangled Minds, op. cit.: 136.
Charles Tart, ‘Physiological correlates of psi cognition’, International Journal of Parapsychology, 1963: 5; 375–86.
T. D. Duane and T. Behrendt, ‘Extrasensory electroencephalographic induction between identical twins’, Science, 1965; 150: 367.
J. Wackerman et al., ‘Correlations between brain electrical activities of two spatially separated human subjects’, Neuroscience Letters, 2003; 336: 60–4.
J. Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al., ‘The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox i the brain: The transferred potential’, Physics Essays, 1994; 7 (4): 422–28.
J. Grinberg-Zylberbaum and J. Ramos, ‘Patterns of interhemisphere correlations during human communication’, International Journal of Neuroscience, 1987; 36: 41–53; J. Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al., ‘Human communication and the electrophysiological activity of the brain,’ Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1992; 3 (3): 25–43.
L. J. Standish et al., ‘Electroencephalographic evidence of correlated event-related signals’, op. cit.
L. J., Standish et al., ‘Evidence of correlated functional magnetic resonance imaging signals between distant human brains’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2003; 9 (1): 122–5; T. Richards et al., ‘Replicable functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence of correlated brain signals between physically and Notes 291 sensory isolated subjects’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (6): 955–63.
M. Kittenis et al., ‘Distant psychophysiological interaction effects between related and unrelated participants’, Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association Convention, 2004: 67–76, as reported inRadin, Entangled Minds, op. cit.: 138–9.16. D. I. Radin, ‘Event related EEG correlations between isolated huma subjects’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10: 315–24.
M. Cade and N. Coxhead,The Awakened Mind, 2nd edn, Shaftesbury: Element, 1986.
S. Fahrion et al., ‘EEG amplitude, brain mapping and synchrony in and between a bioenergy practitioner and client during healing’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1992; 3 (1): 19–52.
M. Yamamoto, ‘An experiment on remote action against man in sensory shielding condition, Part 2’, Journal of the International Society of Life Information Sciences, 1996; 14 (2): 228–39, as reported in Larry Dossey, Be Careful What You Pray For … You Just Might Get It: What We Can D About the Unintentional Effect of Our Thoughts, Prayers, and Wishes, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998: 182–3.
M. Yamamoto et al., ‘An experiment on remote action against man in sense shielding condition’, Journal of the International Society of Life Information Sciences, 1996; 14 (1): 97–9.
D. I. Radin, ‘Unconscious perception of future emotions: An experiment in presentiment’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (2): 163–80. First presented before the annual meeting of the Parapsychological Association in August 1996. For a full description of the Radin experiment see D. Radin, The Conscious Universe, London: HarperCollins, 1997: 119– 24.
R. McCraty et al., ‘Electrophysiological evidence of intuition: Part 2: A systemwide process?’ T he Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (2): 325–36.
J. Andrew Armour and Jeffrey L. Ardell (eds.), Basic and Clinical Neurocardiology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
R. McCraty et al., ‘The electricity of touch: Detection and measuremen of cardiac energy exchange between people’, in Karl H. Pribram (ed.), Brain and Values: Is a Biological Science of Values Possible?
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998: 359–79.M. Gershon, The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understanding ofNervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine, London: HarperCollins 1999.
D. I. Radin and M. J. Schlitz, ‘Gut feelings, intuition, and emotions: A exploratory study’, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (5): 85–91.
D. Radin, ‘Event-related electroencephalographic correlations between isolated human subjects’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004; 10 (2): 315–23.
Dean Radin has devoted an excellent book to the subject: see D. Radin Entangled Minds, op cit.
J. Stone, Course Handbook: Training in Compassionate-Loving Intention 2003; J. Stone et al., ‘Effects of a compassionate/loving intention as a therapeutic intervention by partners of cancer patients: A randomized controlled feasibility study’, in press. 292 The Intention Experiment
M. Murphy et al., The Physiological and Psychological Effects o Meditation: A Review of Contemporary Research with a Comprehensive Bibliography, 1931–1996, Petaluma, Calif.: The Institute of Noeti Sciences, 1997.
E. P. Van Wijk et al., ‘Anatomic characterization of human ultra-weak photon emission in practitioners of Transcendental Meditation™ and control subjects’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2006; 12 (1): 31–8.
R. McCraty et al., ‘Head-heart entrainment: A preliminary survey’, in Proceedings of the Brain-Mind Applied Neurophysiology EEG Neurofeedback Meeting. Key West, Florida, 1996.
R. McCraty, ‘Influence of cardiac afferent input on heart-brain synchronization and cognitive performance, Institute of HeartMath, Boulder Creek, California’,International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2002; 45 (1–2): 72–3.
G. R. Schmeidler, Parapsychology and Psychology, Jefferson: McFarlan and Company, 1988 as cited in J. Stone, Course Handbook, op. cit.; L Dossey, Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.
D. Radin et al., ‘Effects of motivated distant intention on electrodermalactivity.’ Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Parapsychological Association, Stockholm, Sweden, August 2006.
IN A DRAUGHTY MONASTERY high in the Himalayas in northern India during the winter of 1985, a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks were seated quietly, deep in meditation. Although scantily clad, they appeared oblivious to the chilly indoor air temperature, which approached freezing. A fellow monk passed between them, draping each, in turn, with sheets drenched with cold water. Such extreme conditions would ordinarily shock the body and send the core temperature plummeting. If body temperature falls by only 7°C, within minutes a person will lose consciousness and all vital signs.
Instead of shivering, the monks began to sweat. Steam rose from the wet sheets; within an hour, they were thoroughly dry. The attendant replaced the dry sheets with new ones, also drenched in ice-cold water. By this time, the monks’ bodies had become the equivalent of a furnace. Those sheets were efficiently dried, as was a third batch.
A team of scientists led by Herbert Benson, a cardiologist at Harvard Medica School, stood nearby, examining an array of medical equipment to which they had attached the monks for any clues as to what particular physiological mechanism might have enabled the body to generate this extraordinary level of heat.
For a number of years, Benson had explored the effects of meditation on the brain and the rest of the body. He’d embarked on an ambitious research programme, studying Buddhists in various remote outposts around the world who had spent many years in disciplined practice. During one trip to the Himalayas, he also videotaped monks, dressed only in light shawls, as they spent a freezing February night outdoors on a mountain ledge 4600 meters above sea level. Benson’s film showed that they had slept soundly through the night, without clothing or shelter.
In his travels, Benson had witnessed many extraordinary feats of intention – mastery over temperature or metabolic rate that could even produce a state resembling hibernation. The monks monitored by Benson’s team had raised the temperature of their extremities by up to 9.4°C and lowered their metabolism by more than 60 per cent.1
Benson realized that this represented the largest variation in resting metabolism ever reported. During sleep, by contrast, metabolism only drops by 10 to 15 per cent; even experienced meditators can only decrease it by 17 per cent, at best. But that day in the Himalayas, he had observed the impossible in terms of mental influence. The monks had used their bodies to boil freezing water simply through the power of their thoughts.2
Benson’s enduring enthusiasm for meditation ignited interest at major academic institutions across America. By the end of the twentieth century, monks had become the favourite guinea pigs of the neuroscience laboratory. Scientists from Princeton, Harvard, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California–Davi followed Benson’s lead by wiring up monks to state-of-the-art monitoring equipment and studying the effects of intensive, advanced meditation. Entire conferences were held on meditation and the brain.3
It was not the practice itself that fascinated these scientists, but its effect on the human body, particularly the brain, and the possibilities this suggested. By studying the biological effects in such detail, scientists hoped to understand the neurological processes that occur during feats of highly directed thought, as the monks had displayed in the Himalayas.
Monks also offered scientists an opportunity to study whether years of focused attention stretch the brain beyond its usual limits. Did the brain of a monk become the equivalent of an Olympic athlete’s body – more highly developed and ultimately transformed after gruelling discipline and practice?
Do training and experience change the physiology of the brain over time? Would practice enable you to become a bigger and better transmitter of intention? The answers would in turn address a long- standing debate in neuroscience: is neural structure basically hard-wired from youth or plastic – changeable – depending on the nature of a person’s thoughts through life?
For me, the most intriguing question about this research on focused attention was the means by which a Buddhist monk could turn himself into a human boiler, and how these means compared with techniques and practices of other ancient traditions. Like Benson, I was intrigued by ‘masters’ of intention: practitioners of ancient disciplines Buddhism, Qigong, shamanism, traditional native healing – who had been trained to perform extraordinary acts through their thoughts. I wanted to work out the common denominators they shared.
Do the steps taken by a Qigong master to send Qi resemble those of a Buddhist monk during meditation?
Which mental disciplines ensure that a healer will enter a state enabling him to repair another person’s body?
Are ‘masters’ of intention graced with special neurological gifts that enable them to use their minds more powerfully than the rest of us, or did they acquire a skill that ordinary people could learn as well? And, perhaps most important, what did the neurological study of monks tell me about the effect of focused intention on the brain? Would practice enable you to become a bigger and better transmitter of intention?
I began studying scientific research about healing methods from a variety of traditions and then conducted my own questionnaire and interviews with healers and ‘master’ intenders of all persuasions.4
I was aided in my research by the work of psychologist Stanley Krippner and his student Allan Cooperstein at Saybroo Graduate School. A clinical and forensic psychologist, Cooperstein had conducted a thorough study of the various techniques used by distant healers for his doctoral thesis, including an analysis of scholarly books on healing and exhaustive written and verbal interviews with well-known practitioners who had scientific evidence of success in healing.5
In every instance, I discovered, the most important first step involved achieving a state of concentrated focus, or peak attention.
According to Krippner, an expert on shamanic and other native traditions, virtually all native cultures carry out remote healing during an altered state of consciousness and achieve a state of concentrated focus through a variety of means.6
Although the use of hallucinogenic drugs such as ayahuasca is common, many cultures use a strong repetitive rhythm or beat to create that state; the Native American Ojibway wanbeno, for instance, use drumming, rattling, chanting, naked dancing and handling of live coals.7
Drumming is particularly effective in producing a highly concentrated focus; a number of studies have shown that listening to the beat of a drum causes the brain to slow down into a trancelike state.8
As Native Americans discovered, even intense heat, as in a sweat lodge, can transport individuals to an altered state.
In my own study of intention ‘masters’, I spoke with Bruce Frantzis, arguably the greatest Qigong master in the West. A martial arts champion, with black belts in five Japanese martial arts, he also learned healing Qigong through years of study with Chinese masters.
Frantzis’s powers of intention were legendary; he had been videoed sending people flying across the room simply by directing Qi. In his fighting days, he had put several people into wheelchairs. Now, knowing its extraordinary power, he reserved Qi for healing. During my own meeting with him, Frantzis gave a short demonstration of the power of directed Qi. After a moment of intense concentration, the plates of his skull began to undulate over the top of his head like a rolling surf.9
Frantzis taught his students how to develop peak attention gradually, through intense concentration on their breathing. Although they began with very short bursts of ‘longevity’ breathing, they would work on extending these periods until eventually they could hold this focus continuously. They would also be taught methods of becoming acutely aware of all physical sensation.10
The healers I interviewed entered this focused state through a variety of means: meditation; prayer; intense attention on the person to be healed; symbolic or mythic ideas; strong mental images of a situation producing the desired change; verbal affirmations; mental imagery; even internal autosuggestions as a warm-up exercise. One healer established focused attention by saturating his awareness with the goal that he was trying to achieve.
Dr Janet Piedilato, a shamanic healer, will often ‘gently hum or chant’ or use a ‘rattle or other instrument’. Dr Constance Johnson, a Reiki practitioner, can return to an altered state at will. Others need to work hard to achieve this transformation: The Reverend Francis Geddes, a spiritual healer, will meditate on a small object like a pebble, leaf, or twig in a ‘very concentrated manner for ten minutes’.
Still others use the patient as the object of meditation. As Dr Judith Swack, a mind–body healer who has developed her own holistic psychotherapy system, says: ‘I look directly at the client and focus all of my senses forward toward the client and enter a receptive state where I pay internal attention to any subtle information and impression coming in like a kind of radar.’ Many other healers likewise enter an altered state, simply by ‘listening to the patient’ – ‘audibly or otherwise’. ‘Just thinking of the need to help someone,’ wrote Dr Piedilato, ‘slows the blood in my veins.’
Initially, many healers experience a heightening of their cognitive processes, but most soon reach a point when inner chatter ceases, and they experience a falling away of all sensation but pure image. The focusing seems to dissolve their own boundaries. They suddenly become aware of the inner workings of the patient’s body and ultimately have a sense of being engulfed by the healee.
I was especially interested in the effect of this intense concentration on the activity of the brain. Does the brain slow down or speed up? The received wisdom is that during meditation the brain slows down. The bulk of the research examining the electrical activity of the brain during meditation indicates that meditation leads to a predominance of either alpha rhythms (slow, high-amplitude brain waves with frequencies of 8–13 hertz, or cycles per second), which also occurs during light dreaming, or even the slower theta waves (4–7 hertz), which typify the state of consciousness during deep sleep.11 During ordinary waking consciousness, the brain operates much faster, using beta waves (around 13–40 hertz). For decades, the prevailing view has been that the optimum state for manifesting intention is an ‘alpha’ state.
Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University o Wisconsin’s Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, recently put this view to the test. Davidson was an expert in ‘affective processing’ – the place where the brain processes emotion and the resulting communication between the brain and body. His work had come to the attention of the Dalai Lama, who invited him to visit Dharamsala, India, in 1992; a science buff, his Holiness wished to understand more about the biological effects of intensive meditation.
Afterwards, eight of the Dalai Lama’s most seasoned practitioners of Nyingmapa and Kagyupa meditation were flown to Davidson’s lab in Wisconsin.
There, Davidson attached 256 EEG sensors to each monk’s scalp in order to record electrical activity from a large number of different areas in the brain.
The monks were then asked to carry out compassionate meditation. As with Jerome Stone’s intention regime, the meditation entailed focusing on an utter readiness to help others and a desire for all living things to be free of suffering.
For the control group, Davidson enlisted a group of undergraduates who had never practiced meditation and arranged for them to undergo a week’s training, then attached them to the same number of EEG sensors to monitor their brains during meditation.
After 15 seconds, according to the EEG readings, the monks’ brains did not slow down; they began speeding up.
In fact, they were activated on a scale neither Davidson nor any other scientist had ever seen. The monitors showed sustained bursts of high gamma-band activity – rapid cycles of 25–70 hertz. The monks had rapidly shifted from a high concentration of beta waves to a preponderance of alpha, back up to beta and finally up to gamma.
Gamma band, the highest rate of brain-wave frequencies, is employed by the brain when it is working its hardest: at a state of rapt attention, when sifting through working memory, during deep levels of learning, in the midst of great flashes of insight.
As Davidson discovered, when the brain operates at these extremely fast frequencies, the phases of brain waves (their times of peaking and troughing) all over the brain begin to operate in synchrony. This type of synchronization is considered crucial for achieving heightened awareness.12
The gamma state is even believed to cause changes in the brain’s synapses – the junctions over which electrical impulses leap to send a message to a neuron, muscle or gland.13
That the monks could achieve this state so rapidly suggested that their neural processing had been permanently altered by years of intensive meditation.
Although the monks were middle-aged, their brain waves were far more coherent and organized than those of the robust young controls. Even during their resting state, the Buddhists showed evidence of a high ratio of gamma-band activity, compared with that of the neophyte meditators.
Davidson’s study bolstered other pieces of preliminary research suggesting that certain advanced and highly focused forms of meditation produce a brain operating at peak intensity.14
Studies of yogis have shown that, during deep meditation, their brains produce bursts of high-frequency beta or gamma waves, which often are associated with moments of ecstasy or intense concentration.15
Those who can withdraw from external stimuli and completely focus their attention inward appear more likely to reach gamma-wave hyperspace. During peak attention of this nature, the heart rate also accelerates.16
Similar types of effects have been recorded during prayer. A study monitoring the brain waves of six Protestants during prayer found an increase in brain-wave speed during moments of the most intense concentration.17
Different forms of meditation may produce strikingly different brain waves. For instance, yogis strive for anuraga, or a sense of constant fresh perception; Zen Buddhists aim to eliminate their response to the outer world. Studies comparing the two find that the former produces heightened perceptual awareness – magnified outer focus – while the latter produces heightened inner absorption – magnified inner awareness.18
Most research on meditation has concerned the type that focuses on one particular stimulus, such as the breath or a sound, like a mantra. In Davidson’s study, the monks concentrated on having a sense of compassion for all living things. It may be that compassionate intention – and other similar, ‘expansive’ concepts – produces thoughts that send the brain soaring into a supercharged state of heightened perception.
When Davidson and his colleague Antoine Lutz wrote up their study, they realized that they were reporting the highest measures of gamma activity ever recorded among people who were not insane.19
In their results they noticed an association between level of experience and ability to sustain this extraordinarily high brain activity; those monks who had been performing meditation the longest recorded the highest levels of gamma activity. The heightened state also produced permanent emotional improvement, by activating the left anterior portion of the brain the portion most associated with joy.
The monks had conditioned their brains to tune into happiness most of the time.
In later research, Davidson demonstrated that meditation alters brain-wave patterns, even among new practitioners. Neophytes who had practised mindfulness meditation for only eight weeks showed increased activation of the ‘happy-thoughts’ part of the brain and enhanced immune function.20
In the past, neuroscientists imagined the brain as something akin to a complex computer, which got fully constructed in adolescence. Davidson’s results supported more recent evidence that the ‘hardwired’ brain theory was outdated.
The brain appeared to revise itself throughout life, depending on the nature of its thoughts. Certain sustained thoughts produced measurable physical differences and changed its structure. Form followed function; consciousness helped to form the brain.
Besides speeding up, brain waves also synchronize during meditation and healing. In fieldwork with indigenous and spiritual healers in five continents, Krippner suspected that, prior to healing, the healers all underwent brain ‘discharge patterns’ that produce a coherence and synchronization of the two hemispheres of the brain, and integrate the limbic (the lower emotional centre) with the cortical systems (the seat of higher reasoning).21
At least 25 studies of meditation have shown that, during meditation, EEG activity between the four regions of the brain synchronizes.22
Meditation makes the brain permanently more coherent – as might prayer. A study at the University of Pavia in Italy and the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford showe that saying the rosary had the same effect on the body as reciting a mantra. Both were able to create a ‘striking, powerful, and synchronous increase’ in cardiovascular rhythms when recited six times a minute.23
Another important effect of concentrated focus is the integration of both left and right hemispheres. Until recently, scientists believed that the two sides of the brain work more or less independently. The left side was depicted as the ‘accountant’, responsible for logical, analytical, linear thinking, and speech, and the right side, as the ‘artist’, providing spatial orientation, musical and artistic ability, and intuition.
But Peter Fenwick, consultant neuropsychiatrist at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford St Thomas’ Hospital, Bethlehem Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry at th Maudsley Hospital, gathered evidence to show that speech and many other functions are produced in both sides of the brain and that the brain works best when it can operate as a totality. During meditation, both sides communicate in a particularly harmonious manner.24
Concentrated attention appears to enlarge certain mechanisms of perception, while tuning out ‘noise’. Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence,25 carried out research showing that the cortices of meditators ‘speed up’, but get cut off from the limbic emotional center.
With practice, he concluded, anyone can carry out this ‘switching-off ’ process, enabling the single mode of the brain to experience heightened perception without an overlay of emotion or meaning.26
During this process, all of the power of the brain is free to focus on a single thought: an awareness of what is happening at the present moment.
Meditation also appears to permanently enhance the brain’s reception. In several studies, meditators have been exposed to repetitive stimuli like light flashes or clicks. Ordinarily, a person will get used to the clicks, and the brain, in a sense, will switch off and stop reacting. But the brains of the meditators continued to react to the stimuli – an indication of heightened perception of every moment.27
In one study, practitioners of mindfulness meditation – the practice of bringing heightened, non-judgemental awareness of the senses’ perceptions to the present moment – were tested for visual sensitivity before and immediately after a three- month retreat, during which time they had practiced mindfulness meditation for 16 hours a day.
The staff members who did not practice the meditation acted as a control group. The researchers were testing whether the participants could detect the duration of simple light flashes and the correct interval between successive ones.
To those without mental training in focusing, these flashes would appear as one unbroken light.
After the retreat, the practitioners were able to detect the single-light flashes and to differentiate between successive flashes.
Mindfulness meditation enables its practitioners to become aware of unconscious processes and to remain exquisitely sensitive to external stimuli.28
As these studies indicate, certain types of concentrated focus, like meditation, enlarge the mechanism by which we receive information and clarify the reception. We turn into a larger, more sensitive radio.
In 2000, Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a expert in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), confirmed that this process produces actual physical changes.
Conventional MRI employs radio-frequency waves and a powerful magnetic field to view the soft tissues of the body, including the brain. ‘Functional’ magnetic resonance imaging, on the other hand, measures the minuscule changes in the brain during critical functions. It confirms where and when stimuli and language are being processed by measuring the increase in blood flow in the fine network of arteries and veins of the brain when certain neural networks are engaged. For scientists like Lazar, the fMRI is the closest science can get to observing a brain at work in real time.
Herbert Benson had enlisted Lazar to map the brain regions that are active during simple forms of meditation. Rather than scrutinizing more monks or other meditation ‘athletes’ who had devoted themselves to the contemplative life, Lazar preferred to study the effect of meditation on the millions of ordinary Americans who performed meditation for just 20–60 minutes a day. She and Benson recruited five volunteers, who had practised Kundalini meditation for at least four years.
This kind of meditation employs two different sounds to focus and still the mind while observing inhalation and exhalation of the breath. Lazar asked volunteers to alternate between intervals of meditation and control states, during which they silently ticked off a mental list of animals.
Throughout the experiment, Lazar also monitored the biological activity of her subjects – heart rate, breathing, oxygen saturation levels, levels of exhaled CO2, and EEG levels.
Lazar discovered that, during meditation, the volunteers had a significant increase of signalling in the neural structures of the brain involved in attention: the frontal and parietal cortex, or the ‘new’ part of the brain where higher cognition takes place, and the amygdala and hypothalamus, portions of the ‘old’ brain that govern arousal and autonomic control.
This finding was another contradiction of the received wisdom that meditation is always a state of quiescence. Her results offered yet more evidence that, during certain types of meditation, the brain is engaged in a state of rapt attention.
Lazar also discovered that the signalling in certain areas of the brain and the neural activity during meditation evolved over time and increased with meditative experience. Her subjects themselves had the impression that their states of mind continued to change during each individual meditation and as they grew more experienced.29
These results suggested to Lazar that highly concentrated focus over time might enlarge certain parts of the brain. To test this, she gathered 20 long-term practitioners of Buddhist mindfulness meditation (five of whom were meditation teachers) with an average of nine years of meditation experience. Fifteen non-meditators acted as controls. Participants meditated in turn inside an ordinary MRI scanner while Laza took detailed images of their neural structures.
Lazar discovered that those portions of the brain associated with attention, awareness of sensation, sensory stimuli and sensory processing were thicker in the meditators than in the controls. The effects of meditation definitely were ‘dose- dependent’: increases in cortical thickness were proportional to the overall amount of time the participant had spent meditating.
Lazar’s research offered some of the first evidence that meditation causes permanent alterations in brain structure. Up until the time of her experiment, this type of increase in cortical volume had only been linked to certain repetitive mechanical practices requiring a high degree of attention, such as playing an instrument or juggling. Here was some of the first evidence that thinking certain thoughts exercises the ‘attention’ portion of the brain and makes it grow larger. Indeed, the cortical thickness of these regions was even more pronounced in the older participants. Ordinarily, cortical thickness deteriorates as a result of ageing. Regular meditation appears to reduce or reverse the process.
Besides increasing cognitive processing, meditation also appears to integrate emotional and cognitive processes. In the fMRI study, Lazar found evidence o activation of the limbic brain – the primitive, so-called ‘instinctive’ part of the brain involved with primitive emotion. Meditation appears to affect not only the brain’s reasonable, analytical ‘upstairs’ but also the unconscious and intuitive ‘downstairs’. She had discovered greater activation in the part of the brain responsible for what is usually called ‘the gut instinct’. Here was physical evidence that meditation not only increases our ability to receive intuitive information, but also our conscious awareness of it. Davidson had shown increases in the ‘approach’ portion of the brain the part that wants to help – in his monks, who were attempting to help humanity by meditating on compassion. They had increased the ‘can I help you’ portion of their brains. Lazar’s meditators, however, were working on mindfulness, a state of peak attention, and that part of the brain responsible for attention had grown larger. The brain’s powers of observation had increased, allowing in more information, even the kind that is received intuitively.
Some people are born with a larger-than-normal antenna and better reception than usual. This appears to be the case with the psychic Ingo Swann. Swann’s psychic gifts extended to remote viewing, the ability to perceive objects or events beyond normal human vision.
He had helped to develop a remote viewing programme used by the American government and was widely regarded as one of the best remote viewers in the world. Swann once had allowed the peculiar workings of his brain to be monitored and analysed by Michael Persinger, professor of psychology at Laurentian University in Canada.
Wired to an EEG machine, Swan was asked to use his skills to identify items in a distant room. At the very moment that he was able to ‘see’ the items remotely, his brain showed bursts of fast activity in the high beta and gamma range, similar to that of Benson’s Tibetan monks.
Those bursts of activity occurred primarily over the right occipital region, the portion of the brain relating to sight. According to the results of brain-wave monitoring, Swann had entered a super-conscious state, enabling him to receive information impossible to access during normal waking consciousness.
When examined by MRI, Swann also showed that he had an unusually larg parieto-occipital right-hemisphere lobe, the portion of the brain involved with sensory and visual input.
Persinger had found a similar neural aberration in another gifted psychic called Sean Harribance.30
When monitored with EEG and single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) equipment during his psychi activities, Harribance evidenced an increase in firing of the right parietal lobe. Both he and Swann had been graced with a greater capacity than normal to ‘see’ beyond the limits of time, distance, and the five major senses.
Science has demonstrated that by thinking certain thoughts it is possible for us to alter and enlarge portions of our brains to become a larger, more powerful receiver. But is it also possible to develop a larger transmitter?
To discover some of the qualities that enhance transmission, I would have to study ‘masters’ of intention who were particularly gifted at transmitting. The best place to look seemed to be among talented healers.
Cancer specialist and psychologist Lawrence LeShan, who has studied how gifted healers work, discovered that they share two important practices, besides entering an altered state of consciousness: they visualize themselves as uniting with the person to be healed and imagine themselves and that person as being united with what they often describe as the absolute.31
Cooperstein’s healers had also described turning off the ego and eliminating their sense of self and separateness. They had the sense of assuming the body and vantage point of the person to be healed. One healer actually felt his body changing, with shifts of patterns and distributions of energy. Although the healers did not take on the disease or pain, they sensed it once they had visualized themselves as being at one with the person being healed. At this point of union, the healers’ perception markedly altered and their motor skills diminished.
They were suffused by an expanded sense of pure present, and grew unaware of the passage of time. They lost awareness of the boundaries of their own bodies, and even experienced an altered sense of bodily image. They felt taller, lighter – almost as though they were out of their physical being – engulfed by a sense of unconditional love. They began to observe themselves, according to one healer, only as ‘a kind of a core that remains’:
I’m aware of the process just being beyond me … My intent is obviously with the person – my conscious control is completely side-stepped, like I’m standing, watching. Then something else takes over … I don’t think that I ever lose complete awareness that I’m sitting there.32
Other healers experienced a more profound loss of identity; to carry out their work, they had to be at one with the person they were healing: to become that person, complete with his or her physical and emotional history. Their own personal identity and memory receded and they entered into some space of joint consciousness, where an impersonal self carried out the actual healing.
Some of the healers took on a mystical identification with guardian spirits or guides, and the spiritual alter ego took over.
In Krippner’s experience, certain personalities are more susceptible to merging identities than others: those who, according to a psychological test, possess ‘thin boundaries’.
According to the Hartmann Boundary Questionnaire test, a tes developed by Tufts University psychiatrist Ernest Hartmann to test a person’s psychological armament, people with thick boundaries are well organized, dependable, defensive and, as Hartmann himself liked to put it, ‘well armored’, with a sturdy sense of self that remains locked around them like a chain-link fence. People with ‘thin’ boundaries tend to be open, unguarded and undefended.33
Sensitive, vulnerable and creative, they tend to get involved quickly in relationships, experience altered states, and easily flit between fantasy and reality. Sometimes, they are not sure which state they are in.34
They do not repress uncomfortable thoughts or separate feelings from thoughts. They tend to be more comfortable than thick- boundaried people with the use of intention to control or change things around them. In a study by Marilyn Schlitz of musicians and artists, for instance, creative individuals with thin boundaries also scored best in remote influence.35
Krippner demonstrated the relationship between thin boundaries and intention with students at Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment in Yelm, Washington. Many of the techniques taught at the school – for example, focusing on a desired outcome and excluding all external stimuli, blindfolding students and having them find their way around a labyrinth – were designed to help students release their usual boundaries. The school encouraged students to engage in imaginative fantasy, claiming that it opened untapped areas in the brain.36
Krippner and several colleagues performed psychological tests on six of the long-time students who claimed to have developed keen skills in manifesting intention.
Ian Wickramasekera, a psychologist who participated in some of the Yelm research, had developed a battery of psychological tests based on his High-Risk Model of Threat Perception.37
Wickramasekera claimed the tests identify people most likely to have psychic experiences or to be susceptible to hypnosis. Although the test was originally developed to pinpoint people at high risk of psychological problems during times of major life changes, Krippner believed Wickramasekera’s model could also be used to evaluate mediums and healers. Krippner and his associates found they could readily use the test to identify people whose inflexible sense of reality blocked them from perceiving or acknowledging intuitive information. Wickramasekera’s model predicted that individuals would best perform healing if they were able to block the sense of a threat when they let go of their separatist notions of self.
According to their scores, the Ramtha students had extraordinarily thin boundaries. Hartmann’s own mean score, derived from tests on 866 individuals, was The Ramtha students scored 343. The only other groups Hartmann had identified with boundaries this thin were music students and people suffering from frequent nightmares.
The Ramtha students also showed a high degree of what psychologists call a type of ‘dissociation’ (the ability to undergo profound disruptions in their attention) and a high degree of absorption (a tendency to lose themselves in ongoing activity such as hypnosis and a readiness to accept other aspects of reality).38
In my own examination of healers, I had come across two types. Some regarded themselves as the water (the source of healing); others saw themselves as the hose (the channel for healing energy to travel through). The first group believed the power resulted from their own gift. By far the largest group, however, comprised the channellers – those who acted as vehicles for a greater force beyond themselves.
Elisabeth Targ’s AIDS project had recruited 40 healers of every persuasion.39 Approximately 15 per cent were traditional Christian religious healers, who used the rosary or prayer.
Others were members of non-traditional healing schools, such as the Barbara Brennan School of Healing Light, or those taught by Joyce Goodrich o Lawrence LeShan. Some worked on modifying complex energy fields through changing colours or vibrations or the patient’s energy field.
More than half the healers concentrated on healing a patient’s chakras, or energy centres of the body; others worked with tones, reattuning their patients with audible vibrations.
A Qigong master from China sent harmonizing Qi to the patients.
One man working in the Native American tradition went into a trance during a traditional drumming and chanting pipe ceremony on the deserted ridges of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, and claimed to have contacted spirits on behalf of the patients.
Much of the imagery the healers used to describe what they did was framed in terms of relaxing, releasing or allowing spirit, light or love in. For some healers, the spirit was Jesus; for others, Starwoman, a healing Native American grandmother image.
Targ had interviewed the healers about their work, and I spoke with her before she died about the common threads she had discovered among their diverse approaches.40
She found that a quality of loving compassion or kindness was essential in sending out a positive intention to heal.
But no matter what their approach, most of them agreed on a single point: the need to get out of the way. They surrendered to a healing force.
They had framed their intention essentially as a request – please may this person be healed – and then stepped back.
When Targ examined those patients whose illness had most improved, and analysed which healers they had been exposed to, those healers who were the most successful were the ‘channellers’ – the ones who had moved aside to allow the greater force in. None of the healers who had been successful believed he possessed the power himself.41 Psychiatrist Daniel Benor, who has accumulated and catalogued virtually every study of healing in four volumes42 as well as on a website,43 has examined the statements and writings of the most famous healers describing how they work.
One of the most remarkable and best-studied healers, Harry Edwards, wrote that a healer worked by handing over his will and his request for healing to a greater power:
This change may be described (inadequately) as the healer feeling a sense or condition enshrouding him, as if a blind had been drawn over his normal alert mind. In its place he experiences the presence of a new personality – one with an entirely new character – which imbues him with a super-feeling of confidence and power.
…
[While engaged in his healing] the healer may be only dimly aware of normal movement, speech, etc., taking place around him. If a question is addressed to him about the patients’ condition, he will find himself able to respond with extraordinary ease and without mental effort – in other words, the more knowledgeable personality of the Guide provides the answer.
Thus does the healer ‘tune-in’ – it is the subjection of his physical sense to the spirit part of himself, the latter becoming for the time being the superior self under the control of the director.44
To Edwards, the most important act was moving aside, shedding the personal ego, making a conscious attempt to get out of the way.
Cooperstein’s healers described their experience as a sense of total surrender to a higher being or even to the process. All believed that they were a part of a larger whole.
To gain access to the cosmic, non-local entity of true consciousness, they had to set aside the limiting boundaries of the self and personal identity, and merge with the higher entity.
With this change of consciousness and expanded awareness, the healers felt they got onto an open line to this larger information field, which offered them flashes of information, symbols and images.
Words would appear, seemingly from nowhere, giving them a diagnosis. Something beyond their conscious thought would carry out the healing for them.
Although the lead-up to healing was accomplished through consciously directed thought, the actual healing often was not. In giving a 2-minute treatment, for instance, they might have a minute and a half of rational thought and then ‘a five-second thing that would be an irrational thing, a space that may be the apex, the key to the whole experience’.45
The most important aspect of the healers’ process was undoubtedly their surrender – their willingness to give up their sense of cognitive control of the process and allow themselves to become pure energy.
But was this capacity to move aside important in all types of intention? I found an interesting answer in a study of people with brain damage. Investigators at the Behavioural Neurology Program and Rotman Research Institute at the University of Toronto attempted to replicate the work of the Princeton PEAR lab using random event generators, but with one important twist: they had enlisted several patients with frontal-lobe damage. The patients who had suffered right frontal-lobe damage, which probably affected their ability to focus and maintain attention, had no effect on the machines.
The only person to have a greater than normal effect was a volunteer with a damaged left frontal lobe but whose right frontal lobe was intact. The investigators speculated that the volunteer’s particular handicap could have given him a reduced sense of self, but a normal state of attention. Achieving a state of a reduced self- awareness – a difficult state for an ordinary person to achieve – might allow for greater effects of intention on the machines.46
Krippner suspects that during some altered states of consciousness, the body naturally ‘switches off ’ certain neural connections, including an area near the back of the brain that constantly calculates a person’s spatial orientation, the sense of where one’s body ends and the external world begins. During a transpersonal or transcendent experience, when this region becomes inactive, the boundary in the relationship between the self and the other blurs; you no longer know where you end and someone else begins.
Eugene d’Aquili, of the University of Pennsylvania, and Andrew Newberg, medical doctor at the university hospital’s nuclear medicine programme, demonstrated this in a study of Tibetan monks. Moments of meditative experience showed up as more activity in the brain’s frontal lobes with less activity in the parietal lobes.47
Meditation and other altered states can also affect the temporal lobes, which house the amygdala, a cluster of cells responsible for the sense of ‘I’ and our emotional response to the world: whether we like or dislike what we perceive.
Stimulation of the temporal lobes or disorder in them may create familiarity or strangeness – common features of a transcendent experience. Intense focus with intention on some other being appears to ‘switch off ’ the amygdala and so remove the neural sense of self.
Davidson, Krippner and Lazar demonstrated that we can remodel particular portions of our own brains, depending on our different types of focus and indeed different thoughts. It became clear to me that the intense focus of certain types of meditation can be a portal to hyperspace and peak awareness, transporting the meditator to a different layer of reality.
It can also be an energizing practice more than a calming one, that can help us rewire our brains to improve our reception and transmission of intention.
I had assumed that intention was like a strong ‘oomph’, or mental push, through which you project your thoughts to another person to ensure that your wishes are carried out. But the healers described a very different process: intention requires initial focus, but then a type of surrender, a letting go of the self as well as of the outcome.
Notes Chapter 5: Entering Hyperspace
H. Benson et al., ‘Body temperature changes during the practice of g tum-mo (heat) yoga’, Nature, 1982; 295: 234–6; H. Benson, ‘Body temperature changes during the practice of g tum-mo yoga (matters arising)’, Nature, 1982; 298: 402.
H. Benson et al., ‘Three case reports of the metabolic and electroencephalographic changes during advanced Buddhist meditation techniques’, Behavioral Medicine, 1990; 16 (2): 90–5.
The most celebrated was the Investigating the Mind conference a Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 2005, which featured the Dalai Lama.
I am indebted to Stanley Krippner, who supplied me with a list of some 50 healers from a rich variety of traditions. I assembled a questionnaire, which I sent out to all 50. Some 15 replied in detail.
Cooperstein’s study eventually was published: M. A. Cooperstein, ‘The myths of healing: A summary of research into transpersonal healing experience’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1992; 86: 99–133. I am also indebted to him for his in-depth analysis of the commonalities between healers.
Information about Krippner’s vast catalogue of work was also gleaned from numerous interviews between him and the author, April 2005–March 2006 and correspondence, 2005–2006.
S. Krippner, ‘The technologies of shamanic states of consciousness’, in M Schlitz et al. (eds.), Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, 2005 376–90.
Jilek W. G. Salish, Indian Mental Health and Culture Change Psychohygienic and Therapeutic Aspects of the Guardian Spiri Ceremonial, New York: Hold Rinehart & Winston, 1974.
All information about Bruce Frantzis the result of various interviews, April 2005–March 2006. Notes 293
B. K. Frantzis, Relaxing Into Your Being: Breathing, Chi and Dissolving the Ego, Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 1998.
Murphy, Meditation, op. cit.
W. Singer, ‘Neuronal synchrony: a versatile code for the definition of relations?’ Neuron, 1999; 24: 49–65; F. Varela et al., Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2001; 2: 229–39, as reported in A. Lutz et al., ‘Long-term meditators self-induce highamplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2004; 101 (46):16369–73.
O. Paulsen and T. J. Sejnowski, ‘Natural patterns of activity and long-term synaptic plasticity’, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2000; 10: 172–9, as reported in Lutz, ‘Long-term meditators’, op. cit.
Although the majority of studies carried out on meditation demonstrate that meditation leads to an increase in alpha rhythms (see Murphy, Meditation, op. cit.), the following are just a few that show that during meditation, subjects evidence spurts of high-frequency beta waves of twenty to forty cycles per second, usually during moments of intense concentration or ecstasy: J. P. Banquet, ‘Spectral analysis of the EEG in meditation’ Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1973; 35: 143–51;
P. Fenwick et al., ‘Metabolic and EEG changes during Transcendenta Meditation: An explanation’, Biological Psychology, 1977; 5 (2): 101–18;
M. A. West, ‘Meditation and the EEG’,Psychological Medicine, 1980; 10 (2): 369–75; J. C. Corby et al., ‘Psychophysiological correlates of the practice of Tantric Yoga meditation’, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 1985; 61: 301–4.
N. Das and H. Gastaut, ‘Variations in the electrical activity of the brain heart and skeletal muscles during yogic meditation and trance’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1955, Supplement no. 6: 211–19.
Murphy, Meditation, cites 10 studies showing that heart rate accelerates during these peak moments of meditation.
W. W. Surwillo and D. P. Hobson, ‘Brain electrical activity during prayer’,Psychological Reports, 1978; 43 (1): 135–43.
Murphy, Meditation, op. cit.
Lutz et al., ‘Long-term meditators’, op. cit.
Richard J. Davidson et al., ‘Alterations in brain and immune functio produce by mindfulness meditation’, Psychosomatic Medicine, 2003; 65: 564–70.
Krippner, ‘Shamanic states of consciousness’, op. cit.
Murphy, Meditation, op. cit.
L. Bernardi et al., ‘Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study’, British Medical Journal, 2001; 323: 1446–9.
Fenwick et al., ‘Metabolic and EEG changes during Transcendenta Meditation’, op. cit.
D. Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, London: Bloomsbury Press, 1996.
D. Goleman, ‘Meditation and consciousness: An Asian approach to mental health’, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 1976; 30 (1): 41–54; G. Schwartz, ‘Biofeedback, self-regulation, and the patterning of physiological processes’, American Scientist, 1975; 63 (3): 314–24; D. Goleman, ‘Why the brain blocks daytime dreams’, Psychology Today, 1976; March: 69–71.
P. Williams and M. West, ‘EEG responses to photic stimulation in persons experienced at meditation’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 294 The Intention Experiment 1975; 39 (5): 519–22; B. K Bagchi and M. A. Wenger, ‘Electrophysiological correlates of some yogi exercises’, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1957; (7): 132–49.
D. Brown, M. Forte and M. Dysart, ‘Visual sensitivity and mindfulnes meditation’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1984; 58 (3): 775–84; and ‘Differences in visual sensitivity among mindfulness meditators and non- meditators’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1984; 58 (3): 727–33.
S. W. Lazar et al., ‘Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation’, NeuroReport, 2000; 11: 1581–5.
C. Alexander et al., ‘EEG and SPECT data of a selected subject during ps tests: The discovery of a neurophysiological correlate’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1998; 62 (2): 102–4.
L. LeShan, The Medium, the Mystic and the Physicist: Towards a Theory of the Paranormal, New York: Helios Press, 2003.
Cooperstein, ‘The myths of healing’, op. cit.
S. Krippner, ‘Trance and the Trickster: Hypnosis as a liminal phenomenon’, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2005; 53 (2): 97–118.
E. Hartmann, Boundaries in the Mind: A New Theory of Personality, New York: Basic Books, 1991, as quoted in Krippner, ‘Trance and the Trickster’,op. cit.
M. J. Schlitz and Charles Honorton, ‘Ganzfeld psi performance within a artistically gifted population’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1992; 86 (2): 83–98.
S. Krippner et al., ‘Working with Ramtha: Is it a “high risk” procedure?’ Proceedings of Presented Papers: The Parapsychological Association 41s Annual Convention, 1998: 50–63.
The various tests included the Absorption Subscale of the Differential Personality Questionnaire, the Dissociative Experiences Scale and th Boundary Questionnaire.
S. Krippner et al., ‘The Ramtha phenomenon: Psychological phenomenological, and geomagnetic data’, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1998; 92: 1–24.
F. Sicher, E. Targ et al., ‘A randomized double-blind study’, op. cit.
Various conversations and correspondence between E. Targ and the author, October 1999–June 2001.
Interview with E. Targ, California, October 1999; J. Barrett, ‘Going th distance’, Intuition, 1999; June/July: 30–1.
D. J. Benor, Healing Research: Holistic Energy Medicine and Spirituality, 4 vols., Deddington, Oxfordshire: Helix Editions Ltd, 1993. http://www.wholistichealingresearch.com.
Benor, Healing Research, vol. 1, op. cit.: 54–5.
Cooperstein, ‘The myths of healing’, op. cit.
M. Freedman et al., ‘Effects of frontal lobe lesions on intentionality and random physical phenomena’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2003; 17 (4): 651–68.
E. d’Aquili and A. Newberg, Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, New York: Ballantine Books, 2001.
MITCH KRUCOFF WAS RETURNING HOME from India in 1994 with alm every idea he had held about the practice of medicine turned on its head. Krucoff, a cardiologist at Duke University Medical Center, and his nurse practitioner, Suzanne Crater, had been invited to inspect the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medicine, hospital in Puttaparthi, at the end of its first year of operation.
The hospital was the pet project of the Indian guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who wanted to make available the services of a modern Western hospital to the poor and needy, entirely free of charge. Krucoff had been recruited as its cardiac specialist, to advise on the technology needed to build a state-of-the-art facility for high-tech cardiac catheterizations.
Krucoff and Crater were astonished by what they had seen. The overwhelmingly spiritual dimension of the facility – even the special quality of the sound and light – had dwarfed its considerable technological achievements.
Spirituality was present in the very design of the building – in the Hindu images lovingly chosen to grace the walls. Situated 9 kilometres from Sai Baba’s ashram, the building resembled an elongated Taj Mahal.
The wings had been structured as a curvature, like a welcome embrace for all those approaching its doors, and the rotunda inside the entrance was meant to represent a heart whose apex was pointing to heaven.
During their rounds, Krucoff and Crater had been struck by the effect this had on the patients – many of them Indians from extremely remote areas who had never seen running water before.
Despite the fact that they had been diagnosed with a life- threatening illness and were set to face an imposing twenty-first-century digital cath lab, not one of them seemed the slightest bit afraid. This utter absence of fear contrasted starkly with the terror and despair to which Krucoff had grown accustomed among the cardiac patients he regularly saw back home.
Krucoff longed to introduce some of these practices to hospitals in America, but if he were going to convince any of his colleagues in cardiology, he would have to prove the benefit of spirituality to the practice of heart surgery through hard data showing a measurable physiological effect. He would have to demonstrate that intangible aspects like intention, or spiritual beliefs, or even a spiritual, uplifting environment, could really make a difference to a patient’s outcome.
During the 18-hour flight home, Krucoff and Crater began teasing out ideas for a study. The only way to do it, they eventually realized, was to put prayer to the test – the biggest test of its kind.1
When Krucoff got home, he began researching the scientific literature for any evidence that prayer had improved medical outcomes. Fourteen well-conducted trials of prayer had shown a positive effect. In the most famous, published by Randolph Byrd in 1988, a group of born-again Christians outside a hospital had prayed for patients in a coronary care unit. Those who had been prayed for had significantly fewer symptoms, and needed fewer drugs and less medical intervention.2
A Mid-America Heart Institute study, published around the time Targ published her AIDS study and considered at the time to have bolstered Targ’s findings, showed that Christians of all denominations enlisted to pray for hospitalized cardiac patients reduced symptoms by 10 per cent, with fewer medical setbacks.3
Prayer is viewed as a kind of super-intention, a joint endeavour: you do the intending, and God carries it out. In some quarters, intention is considered synonymous with prayer, and prayer synonymous with healing; when you send out an intention, God puts the intention into action.
Indeed, many consciousness investigators consider these early prayer studies intention experiments. The small studies that had made use of groups of Christians to send intercessory prayers to heart patients are often construed as a group intention – an attempt by a collection of people to influence the same thing at the same time.
However promising the results of these early studies, Krucoff realized that a large-scale trial with tightened protocols was needed, and he mounted his own small pilot study. He enlisted 150 cardiac patients, recruited from nearby Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, who had been scheduled for angioplasty and stents.
Besides prayer, Krucoff wanted to see whether ‘noetic’ therapies, involving some form of remote or mind-body influence, could affect patient outcomes. He divided the patient population into five groups. In addition to standard medical treatment, four of the five were to receive one of the noetic treatments – stress relaxation, healing touch, guided imagery or intercessory prayer.
The fifth group would be given no additional intervention besides orthodox medical care. Every patient would undergo continuous monitoring of brain waves, heart rate and blood pressure, to gauge the moment-by- moment effect of these intangible healing influences.
Krucoff decided to turn up the volume on prayer to full blast. To recruit prayer groups, his nurse-practitioner assistant Suzanne Crater launched a worldwide campaign of solicitation. She wrote to Buddhist monasteries in Nepal and France and to VirtualJerusalem.com, which arranged for prayers to be placed in the city’s Wailing Wall.
She phoned Carmelite nuns in Baltimore to ask for prayers during evening vespers. By the time she finished her campaign, she had enlisted prayer groups from seven denominations, including Fundamentalists, Moravians, Jews Buddhists, Catholics, Baptists and members of the Unity Church.
Each prayer group was assigned a group of patients, who were identified only by name, age and type of illness. Although Crater and Krucoff left the design of individual prayers to the groups themselves, they stipulated that the patients had to be prayed for by name and that the prayers on behalf of these patients had to concern their healing and recovery.
The prayer portion of the study would be blinded, so that neither patients nor staff knew who was going to be prayed for. The other noetic therapies would be administered an hour after the patients had undergone the angioplasty.
The results were impressive. Patients in all the noetic treatment groups enjoyed 30–50 per cent improvements in health during their hospital stay, with fewer complications and a lower incidence of narrowing of the arteries compared with the controls.
They also had a 25–30 per cent reduction in adverse outcomes: death, heart attack, or heart failure, a worsening of the state of their arteries or a need for a repeat angioplasty. But of all the alternative therapies employed, prayer had the most profound effect.
The study was too small to yield any definitive conclusions; after all, only 30 patients had been in the prayer group. Nevertheless, Krucoff ’s results seemed highly promising. Krucoff and Crater, who had christened their study MANTRA (Monito and Actualization of Noetic TRAinings), published it and presented their findings before the American Heart Association.4
Even the most conservative of cardiologists were beginning to take home the message that remote healing might actually work after all, and that prayer in particular was good for the heart.5
Krucoff understood that, for his results to be meaningful, the study needed to be replicated on a far larger scale. He rolled out his study and created MANTRA II b launching into an ambitious recruitment programme, eventually enlisting 750 patients from Duke’s Medical Center and nine other hospitals across America, and soliciting 12 prayer groups made up of an even larger, more ecumenical collection of the world’s major religions. Christians were recruited from Great Britain, Buddhists from Nepal, Muslims from America, Jews from Israel.
Emboldened by his early success, Krucoff and Duke loudly trumpeted the project as the largest multicentre study of remote influence, the supreme test of prayer.
With MANTRA II, he divided the patients into four groups. One group woul receive prayer; another, a specially designed programme that included music, imagery and touch (or MIT therapy); the third group, MIT plus prayer; and the fina control group, standard medical care. Immediately prior to undergoing angioplasty, those assigned to receive MIT would be instructed in a method of relaxed breathing while visualizing a favourite place and listening to calming music of their choice. They would then receive healing touch for 15 minutes from a trained practitioner. These patients could also wear headphones during surgery.
The point of the new study was to examine whether prayer or the noetic interventions would prevent further cardiovascular events in the hospital, such as death, new heart attacks, a need for additional surgery, readmission to the hospital, and signs of a sharp rise in the enzyme creatine phosphokinase, an indication that the heart has suffered damage. This time, Krucoff also wished to investigate longer-term effects as ‘secondary endpoints’: whether the interventions could alleviate emotional distress, or prevent death or rehospitalization at any point six months after the patients had been discharged.
Krucoff ’s study fell right in the midst of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and their aftermath. For three months, patient enrolment in the study fell so sharply that he had to amend its design. He developed a ‘two-tier’ prayer strategy by recruiting 12 ‘second-tier’ prayer groups. As soon as new patients were added to the study, the second-tier groups were to pray for the prayers of the ‘first-tier’ prayer groups, who had been praying for the patients all along. Through this strategy Krucoff hoped that newly enrolled patients would receive a higher ‘dosage’ of prayer to approximate the amount received by his patients enlisted earlier in the study.
After the enormous advance publicity, Krucoff ’s findings were an enormous letdown. When the results were finally in and tallied, there was no denying it: there were no differences in outcomes between any of the various groups during their hospital stay. The only apparent benefit was a slight reduction in distress among the MIT patients prior to the surgery. Otherwise, the large-scale MANTRA was an utte failure. Prayer did not seem to make anybody better.6
Among the long-term effects, there had been some therapeutic effects in alleviating emotional distress, need for further hospitalization, and even death rates after six months, but these were not considered statistically significant and they hadn’t been the main focus of the study.
Wresting a small victory from this enormous defeat, Krucoff managed to get his findings published in the prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet. To the public, he maintained that he was ‘thrilled’ with the findings and that they had been misinterpreted. Krucoff ’s study appeared to vindicate the sceptics of prayer as a subject for scientific inquiry. The simple message appeared to be that getting someone to pray for you just does not work.
Meanwhile, in 1997, the Mayo Clinic had begun a two-year study of patients with cardiovascular disease who had been recently discharged from its coronary care unit. Nearly 800 patients were subdivided into two groups: high-risk (those who had one or more risk factors, such as diabetes, a prior heart attack or pre-existing vascular disease) and low-risk (those who had no risk factors other than their present symptoms). The two groups were again divided into two.
In addition to ordinary medical treatment, one group in each of the two categories was to receive the prayers of five people once a week for 26 weeks. The two other groups would simply continue with standard medical treatment.
At the end of the study, the investigators concluded that prayer made no difference in mortality, future heart attacks, need for further intervention or hospitalization. Although there were small differences between the treated and untreated groups, particularly among the low-risk patients, these results were not deemed to be significant.7
To settle the matter once and for all, Herbert Benson came forward with an ambitious plan. Benson had managed to straddle both mainstream and complementary camps in medicine and was well respected for it – a diplomat with the status of elder statesman between two suspicious factions. Besides his Harvard Medical Schoo credentials, he had set up the Mind/Body Medical Institute, which was devoted to the study and practice of mind–body healing techniques. He had even coined the term ‘the relaxation response’ to describe their effects.8 Lending his name to a study of prayer would legitimatize it among the conservative camps.
For this study, Benson recruited five other powerhouses of medicine in the USA, including the Mayo Clinic. His plan was that this study of prayer, which he had dubbed STEP (Study of Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer), would be the largest, most scientifically rigorous of all time.
The study recruited 1800 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery and divided them into three groups: the first two groups were uncertain whether they were going to receive prayer or not; the first group received prayer and the second did not. The third group, which would definitely receive prayer, was also told of the fact. Benson settled on this particular design so that he could isolate two potential effects: whether being prayed for in itself worked, and whether knowing you were going to be prayed for had any additional benefit. In this way he could control for the effect of belief.9
For his prayer groups, Benson enlisted a group of Roman Catholic monks and members of three other Christian denominations: St Paul’s Monastery in St Paul Missouri; the community of Teresian Carmelites in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Silent Unity, a Missouri Unity prayer ministry outside Kansas City. He maintained that his prayer groups included no members of Islam or Judaism because he could not find non-Christian groups happy to work within the demands of the study schedule. The prayer groups were given the patients’ first names and the initials of their surnames. Although the design of their prayers could be individual, they had to include the phrase: ‘for a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications’. The groups were then followed for 30 days and any post-operative complications, major events or deaths tracked among all groups.
The results shocked the world and bewildered the researchers, most of all Benson, who had spent much of his career promoting the beneficial effects of the mind on the body. The researchers had predicted the greatest benefit in the prayed- for-and-knew-it group, the second greatest effect in the prayed-for-but-didn’t-know-it group and the least effect among the didn’t-get-prayed-for-and-didn’t-know-it group.
But their results indicated that no amount of prayer under any condition, whether the patients knew it or not, made any difference to the outcome of their operations. Indeed, the results were the very opposite of the researchers’ expectations. Those patients who were prayed for and knew they were being prayed for were worse off, by a statistically significant degree: 59 per cent of the prayed-for-and-knew-it group suffered post-operative complications, compared with 52 per cent among the non- prayed-fors.
Even the prayed-for-but-didn’t-know-it group suffered slightly more heart attacks and strokes than those who had not been given prayer. Among the uninformed patients who had received prayers, 10 per cent suffered major complications of the surgery, compared with 13 per cent of those who did not receive prayer.10
Benson and his co-authors didn’t know what to make of these results. They even wondered if the patients had suffered from a type of ‘performance anxiety’ as a result of the undue pressure and expectations created by the prayers.
Many commentators concluded that this study proved that prayer not only does not work, it is bad for you – or at least it cannot be scientifically tested. Krucoff, who was asked to write a commentary about the study, emphasized that prayer indeed had an effect – a negative one. People needed to discard the universally held view that being prayed for is ‘a priori’ good for you as these results impelled one to consider that not simply ‘voodoo and spells’ but also ‘well-intentioned, loving, heartfelt healing prayer might inadvertently harm or kill vulnerable patients in certain circumstances’.11
T he American Heart Journal released the study online, and its authors held press conferences. Benson cautioned the media that STEP was not the last word o prayer, although it did raise questions about whether patients should be told about prayers being offered for them.
A patient’s awareness of being prayed for was considered the most important subject about prayer for future study. But others were not sure whether prayer should or could be studied any more. The John Templeton Foundation had spent $2.4 million on the study, and with negative results like these it was likely that theirs would be the last funds available.
The STEP findings seemed to undercut my own plans for a large intention experiment. Then as I mulled over the negative findings, I came to think that the very designs of the studies might have been responsible. Although the studies attempted to be rigorous, in many instances they violated the most basic rules of scientific research.
For instance, all of the failed studies did not clearly formulate the content of the healing intention, and left the content of the prayers up to the individual supplicant. Although Benson asked that the single phrase ‘for a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications’ be included, he had not asked them to be specific.
The most successful intention experiments incorporate a highly specific target into the intention. In Targ’s study, the healers were given the immune system T- cell counts of the AIDS patients and they sent healing specifically to improve the counts.
The prayer groups should have been instructed to ask for a specific outcome in cardiac symptoms, or fewer cardiac stents placed during the study time, or any other highly specific request, rather than a nebulous, highly generalized statement about the patient improving.
None of the studies tightly controlled for the number of people involved in the prayer groups or for either the frequency or length of time they were to pray, which again might have confused the mass intention. Perhaps, since they were using highly diverse prayer groups, their prayers were not equivalent. In Benson’s study, the prayer groups were allowed to pray anywhere from 30 seconds to several hours four times a week.
His researchers never recorded how long the individuals prayed. In Targ’s study, although diverse healers were used, they rotated patients, so that each received only a single healing message at any one time.
As Bob Barth, director of the Office of Prayer Research, put it: ‘How do yo determine a dose of something as intrinsic as prayer? For example, is one 5-minute prayer by a Buddhist different from 10 Catholic nuns in prayer for an hour or more? Is prayer more effective once or 20 times a day?’
In commenting on Krucoff ’s findings, The Lancet also aired its reservations about his study design. ‘Could a more restricted denominational approach have influenced the outcome?’12
Benson’s attempt to standardize the prayer methods used in his study inadvertently interfered with the methods by which the prayer groups usually carry out intercessory prayer.
In ordinary circumstances, when prayer groups are asked to pray for someone, they request specific details about the patient, including full name, age, medical condition and periodic reports of the patient’s progress. Often they meet with the patient and his or her family. By gathering this personal information, they are able to personalize the prayers.
Benson’s study design allowed for the prayer groups only to be given the name and a last initial of the person to be prayed for. The limited information made it impossible for the prayer groups to establish a meaningful connection with or indeed even to zero in on the people they were praying for – one of the conditions that Schlitz and Radin consider important for effective remote influence.
Several groups in Benson’s study objected to the design of the study. As one commentator wrote, ‘This would be similar to the concept of attempting to make a cell phone call to a friend and expecting her to answer when you have only dialled the first three digits of the phone number.’13
Like STEP, Krucoff ’s studies did not reveal anything about the patients in order to create a connection. In Targ’s research, the healers had been given a photo and a name as well as information about the patient’s condition. None of the groups tested the difference between praying for a patient whose full details were disclosed and simply praying for someone with a first name and last initial.
The selection of the prayer groups was equally unscientific. None of the major prayer studies used any criteria to select participants in the prayer groups or kept track of their size or experience in prayer. Targ had selected only those healers who were highly experienced and committed with a long track record of successfully healing. Although Schlitz’s Love Study employed amateurs sending healing intention, training was provided to ensure a homogeneous approach.
Another problem was the lack of a genuine control group in any of the studies. To be truly scientific, a study must be ‘randomized’ and randomly select participants in one group that is given the treatment and compare its outcome with a group not exposed to the treatment.
However, in any health crisis, family members routinely turn to prayer. The odds were overwhelming in all the major prayer studies that the not-prayed-for people were being prayed for by their own loved ones. In MANTRA II, 89 per cent of the patients from both treatment and control groups admitted that someone in their family was praying for them. These patients lived in the religiously active American Bible Belt.
The lack of a pure control group ultimately muddies the results of a study. This problem occurred with the early studies investigating the potential of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to cause cancer.
Many such studies were tainted because it is virtually impossible to enlist women for study who have not taken some form of exogenous hormones – the birth-control pill, the morning after pill or HRT – at some point in their lives. Consequently, none of the studies has a clean control group of true ‘non-takers’, with which to compare results. Women who take hormones now are compared with women who have taken hormones in the past. Both situations carry a cancer risk. The same ‘tainting’ would apply to these prayer studies. People in the ‘treatment’ groups getting prayed for are being compared with patients whose relatives are praying for them.
The large prayer studies had other basic flaws. In both the Benson and Krucof studies, the people praying did not know the patients and so would not have had a strong motivation to heal, as the ‘senders’ had in the Love Study. In Benson’s study, as Krucoff pointed out in his commentary about STEP, there should have been a true placebo group, which would have no expectation of the possibility of prayer and also there should have been a comparison between such a group and a super-group, whose members included all those exposed to prayer.
No analysis compared the effect of being prayed for with the particular belief a patient held about which groups he or she had been assigned, which would have shed light on the possible role of a placebo effect. The researchers also had not taken into account any possible stress on the patient from having to hide his or her assignment in the study from the hospital staff.14
Like STEP, Krucoff ’s study violated the basic rules of scientific design, largely because of events beyond his control. When he reconstituted his study in the wake of 9/11, some of the patients received straightforward prayer from diverse prayer groups, and the others, who had been enrolled after the World Trade Center tragedy, received the ‘two-tier’ type of prayer, in which those doing the praying were themselves prayed for. Unlike the most basic of scientific trials, his study did not offer the participants the identical treatment.
Even Targ had complained about problems in study design of the very first major prayer study by Randolph Byrd, in which ordinary Christians had been asked to pray for cardiac patients. There was no information about who was taking blood pressure medication, so it was unclear whether prayer or medicine had done the healing.
There were no controls for mental attitude during the study. A high number of patients with a positive outlook may have landed in the treatment group.
Sometimes a placebo effect, an expectation of healing, can be a large factor in positive results. In one healing study of patients suffering from clinical depression, all the patients improved, even the control group, which did not receive healing, largely from the psychological boost created by the possibility of healing.15
In Benson’s study the prospect of prayer might have had the opposite effect. According to Larry Dossey, the elegant Southern internist and author of many books on prayer,16 the STEP study offered prayer as a ‘tease’, dangled in front of seriously ill patients as something they might or might not be lucky enough to get.
‘Nowhere on earth is prayer delivered in this fashion,’ says Dossey. ‘When prayer occurs in real life, we don’t taunt our loved ones with it. They are extended compassionate prayer unconditionally and without equivocation. Who can say what emotions – resentment? hostility? – were generated in these three groups of patients as a result of how prayer was offered?’17
The fact that the people who knew they were being prayed for not only had no placebo response but also evidenced more post-surgical complications than any other group, he says, ‘suggests that very strange internal dynamics were operating within the Harvard prayer study.’18
The Mid-America Heart Institute study – the study in which prayer by Christian of diverse denominations had reduced symptoms in heart patients by 10 per cent – was also criticized for offering so many endpoints that it was bound to show a positive result.19
The negative results of these large prayer studies could be because praying for others does not work, because prayer simply cannot be subjected to scientific study, or simply because these new studies themselves were asking the wrong questions.
After all, according to Bob Barth of the Office of Prayer Research, these studies onl represent a small proportion of prayer research.20 Of the more than 227 studies investigated by the office, 75 per cent show a positive impact.
Nevertheless, to study the effect of remote intention, it may be best to move away from prayer, which contains a good deal of emotional baggage. Targ tried to isolate the effect of simple healing intention, which is different from prayer. With intention, the agent of change is human; with prayer it is God.
Simple healing intention can be more easily controlled for in a scientific study by ensuring that every member of the group sending the intention was sending the exact same message. For the purposes of my intention experiments, a simple intention to heal or improve something might avoid all the problems associated with studying prayer.
Unlike prayer, healing has been persuasively proven; a large body of evidence exists about the positive effects of distant healing – perhaps 150 studies in all.21 These scientific studies have been subjected to overall reviews that rate both the significance of the effects and the outcome. In the most cautious of such analysis, Professor Edzard Ernst, the exacting and skeptical chair of complementary medicine at Exeter University in Britain, concluded that of 23 studies, 57 per cent had shown a positive effect.22
Among the most rigorously scientific (those with double-blind trials), the average effect size, or size of change among those treated, was 0.40 – about 10 times better than the effect size of aspirin or propanolol, two drugs considered highly successful in preventing heart attacks.
Hidden in the failure of the large prayer studies lies vital instruction not only about the design of such mass experiments, but also about those elements that maximize the power of intention.
To be successful, an intention may require other parameters besides trained attention, getting out of the way, and formulating a simple request to the universe. As Gary Schwartz learned during his own research on healing, the attitude of the healers as well as the patients may matter a good deal.
Schwartz’s research began as a simple study of healing intention by Reiki practitioners. Schwartz had enlisted his colleague, Beverly Rubik, founding director of the Center for Frontier Sciences at Temple University, Philadelphia, a biophysicist interested in subtle energies.
As Rubik was well versed in studies using bacteria, they decided to use as their subject E. coli bacteria, which had been severely stressed. One way to stress bacteria is to shock them with a sudden blast of heat. Schwartz, Rubik and their colleague Audrey Brooks carefully managed the amount of heat so that it was enough to stress the bacteria without killing off the entire sample.
They then asked 14 practitioners of Reiki to heal the bacteria that survived by transmitting a standard Reiki treatment for 15 minutes. Each practitioner was to heal three different samples over three days. Equipment with an automated colony counter kept track of the number of bacteria that survived.
Initially, Schwartz, Rubik and Brooks were surprised to find that the Reik practitioners made no difference to the overall survival of the viable bacteria. On closer look, however, they discovered that the Reiki practitioners seemed to be successful on certain days, but not on others. This spotty batting average puzzled them.
Perhaps, Schwartz thought, a healer’s success depended on some sort of connection with the subject. It was difficult, after all, to feel any warm and fuzzy connection with E. coli bacteria, which ordinarily resides peacefully in the gut but can wreak havoc when it migrates out of the digestive tract. But what if he managed to get his practitioners in healing mode?
In the next batch of studies, Schwartz and his colleagues asked the Reiki practitioners to work for 30 minutes on a human patient suffering with pain, and then set them back to work on their bacteria samples.
This time, the healing was successful; the scientists discovered significantly more bacteria in the healed samples than in the controls. The healers appeared to enjoy a higher success rate once their healing ‘pumps’ had been primed.23
Nevertheless, Schwartz and the other researchers continued to discover instances in which the healers had a deleterious effect on the bacteria. It occurred to them that a healer’s own well-being might affect results. They needed a simple test to assess true well-being, to gauge more than physical condition.
They decided to use the Arizona Integrative Outcomes Scale (AIOS), an ingeniously simple visual mean of assessing spiritual, social, mental, emotional and physical well-being during the past 24 hours.24
Developed by physician and psychologist Iris Bell, one of Schwartz’s colleagues at the University of Arizona, AIOS allows patients to assess more than physical symptoms.
The subjects are told to reflect on their general sense of wellbeing, ‘taking into account your physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual condition over the past 24 hours’, then to mark a point on a horizontal line between ‘worst you have ever been’ on the left and ‘best you have ever been’ on the right that, in their view, represents their overall sense of well-being in the same time period. A number of studies demonstrated that AIOS is a useful, accurate tool for pinpointing emotional wellness and a healthy state of mind.25
In their next series of studies, Schwartz, Rubik and Brooks asked the Reik healers to assess themselves on the AIOS scale before and after they had carried ou the Reiki. With this data, the scientists discovered an important trend. On days when the healers felt really well in themselves, they had a beneficial effect on the bacteria; the counts in the bacteria given the therapy were higher than in the heat-shocked controls. On days when they did not feel so well and they scored lower on the test, they actually had a deleterious effect. Those practitioners who began the healing with diminished well-being actually killed off more bacteria than naturally died in the controls. Evidently, a practitioner’s own overall health was an essential factor in his ability to heal.
Schwartz and his colleagues then tried a study using AIOS with a different type of healing, called Johrei. They recruited 236 practitioners and volunteers, and asked them to fill in the AIOS scale plus a questionnaire he had created assessing emotional state of mind before and after they administered healing.
When Schwartz and Brooks compared the AIOS tests of both the healers and the patients before and after the healing, they discovered another interesting effect. Although the patients felt better after they had received the healing, so did the healers after they had performed the healing.
Giving was as good as getting for these senders. Other research showed a similar result.26 The act of healing and perhaps the healing context was itself healing. Healing someone else also healed the healer. 27
Schwartz and his fellow researchers then carried out another study of distant Johrei healing on cardiac patients – a double-blind study so that no one but the statistician knew who was receiving healing.28 The primary outcomes measured were clinical reports of pain, anxiety, depression and overall well-being.
After three days, the patients were asked if they had had a sense, feeling or belief that they had received Johrei healing. In both the treatment and control groups, certain patients strongly believed that they had received the treatment and others had a strong feeling they had been excluded.
When Schwartz and Brooks tabulated the results, a fascinating picture emerged The best outcomes were among those who had received Johrei and believed they had received it.
The worse outcomes were those who had not received Johrei and were convinced they had not had it. The other two groups – those who had received it but did not believe it and those who had not received it but believed they had – fell somewhere in the middle.
This result tended to contradict the idea that a positive outcome is entirely down to a placebo response; those who wrongly believed they received the healing did not do as well as those who rightly believed they had received it.
Schwartz’s studies uncovered something fundamental about healing: both the energy and intention of the healing itself and the patient’s belief that he or she had received healing promoted the actual healing. Belief in the efficacy of the particular healing treatment was undoubtedly another factor.
In the Love Study, Schlitz and Stone had stressed the importance of a shared belief system in the success of remote influence, and Schwartz’s results bear this out.
In the large prayer studies, the senders and receivers of prayer did not share the same belief system about God. Most of the patients had been prayed for by a number of groups from different religions and disparate belief systems. Even Benson’s Christian study employed different Christian sects, which do not share identical beliefs. It may be uncomfortable for some groups to be prayed for by people who do not share their views about the divine.
As Marilyn Schlitz pointed out, none of the clinical trials made use of what scientists call ‘ecological validity’. This means that the trials were not designed to model what happens in real life.
In the Harvard study, for example, the prayer groups were instructed to pray differently from how they would normally. None of the big prayer studies tested the effect of the kind of prayers that prayer groups believe is most likely to work.29
In these studies, says Dossey, ‘what is being tested is not genuine prayer but a watered-down faux version of it’.30 The contents and context of prayer were treated casually, as if it were no different than some new medication.
The Benson study also framed its intention as a ‘negative’ – asking that the patients heal with ‘no complications’ – countering the most basic folklore about prayer and affirmations, which stipulates that they should always be framed as a positive statement.
Ordinarily, says Schiltz, people have a meaningful relationship with the person they are praying for. Psychologist and mind-body researcher Jeanne Achterberg, of the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology in California, carried out a study at a Hawaiian hospital, using highly experienced distant healers, who selected as their ‘patient’ a person with whom they had a special connection.
Each healer was isolated from his patient, who was then placed in an MRI scanner. At random, two- minute intervals, the healers sent healing intentions to their patients, using their own traditional healing practices. Achterberg discovered significant brain activation in the same portions of the brains – mainly in the frontal lobes – of all the patients during times healing energy was being ‘sent’.
When the same regime was tried out on people the healers did not know, they had no effect on the patients’ brain activity. Some sort of emotional bond or empathetic connection may be crucial to the success of both prayer and healing intention.31
The large prayer studies may have failed because the researchers were looking in the wrong places for demonstration of an effect. A study of AIDS about to be published at the time of writing has also failed to find an effect.
Nevertheless, a highly significant number of people in the treatment group correctly guessed which group they were in, while the control group did not. As Schlitz concluded, ‘The treatment group seemed to feel something; it just did not correlate with the clinical outcomes that were measured.’32 The study may just have been asking the wrong questions.
Another important variable may be the kinds of thoughts experienced by the recipient during healing. Researchers have discovered that negative thoughts and visualization can have a powerfully negative effect on the body, as if the negativity is somehow infectious and these thoughts take physical form.
For instance, Pennsylvania researchers from the Center for Advanced Wound Care in Reading, Pennsylvania, have discovered that patients with slow-healing wounds often have negative thought patterns and behavioural or emotional wounds, such as guilt, anger and lack of self-worth.33
The same effect can occur with negative relationships. A recent study of couples showed that the stress of reliving an argument delays wound healing by at least a day. In an ingenious study by Ohio State University College of Medicine, the researcher
gathered together 42 married couples and inflicted small wounds with a tiny puncture device on one partner of each pair. During the first sessions, the partners held a conflict-free, constructive discussion and the wound healing was carefully timed.
Several months later, the researchers repeated the injury, but this time allowed the partners to raise an ongoing contentious issue, such as money or in-laws. This time, the wounds took a day longer to heal. What is more, among the more hostile couples, the wounds healed at only 60 per cent the rate of the more compatible pairs.
Examination of the fluids in the wounds found different levels of a chemical called interleukin-6 (IL6), a cytokine and key chemical in the immune system.
Among the hostile couples, the levels of interleukin-6 were too low initially and then too high immediately after an argument, suggesting that their immune systems had been overwhelmed.34
The person sending out an intention might also need to be sent good intentions. Krucoff ’s results as universally interpreted had overlooked one vital finding: the patients with the double-tier prayer groups who had been prayed for had fared far better in the secondary endpoints; their death and re-hospitalization rates over the six months after discharge were 30 per cent lower than the others.
Mortality over six months was lower among patients given MIT, and lowest of all among patients given MIT with prayer. These results had only been characterized as a ‘suggestive trend’, but may have been the entire point of the story. Praying worked if the person doing the praying – or his prayers – also had been prayed for. 35
Healing and positive intention are simply an aspect of the constant two-way flow of communication between living things. In the person being sent intention, a shared belief in the power of the healing modality and a positive state of mind may enhance results.
Fritz Popp’s research demonstrates that the degree of coherence of an organism’s light emissions is linked to its overall state of health. When healers are healthy, in a positive state of mind and have engaged in a healing ‘warm up’, their light is more likely to shine brighter. The most effective healer of all may be the one who has been healed himself.
Notes – Chapter 6: In the Mood
All details about M. Krucoff ’s trip to India and decision to study prayer from interviews, August 2006.
R. C. Byrd, ‘Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a coronary care unit population’, Southern Medical Journal, 1988; 81 (7): 826–9.
W. Harris et al., ‘A randomised, controlled trial of the effects of remote, intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients admitted to the coronary care unit’, Archives of Internal Medicine, 1999; 159 (19): 2273–8.
M. Krucoff, ‘Integrative noetic therapies as adjuncts to percutaneous intervention during unstable coronary syndromes: Monitoring and Actualization of Noetic Training (MANTRA) feasibility pilot’,American Heart Journal, 2001; 142 (5): 760–7.
M. Krucoff announced the results at the Second Conference on the Integration of Complementary Medicine into Cardiology, a meeting sponsored by the American College of Cardiology, October 14, 2003.
M. Krucoff et al., ‘Music, imagery, touch and prayer as adjuncts to interventional cardiac care: The Monitoring and Actualisation of Noetic Trainings (MANTRA) II randomised study’,The Lancet, 2005; 366: 211–17.
J. M. Aviles et al., ‘Intercessory prayer and cardiovascular disease progression in a coronary care unit population: a randomized controlled trial’, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2001; 76 (12): 1192–8.
H. Benson, The Relaxation Response, New York: William Morrow, 1975.
M. Krucoff et al., Editorial: ‘From efficacy to safety concerns: A STE forward or a step back for clinical research and intercessory prayer? The Study of Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP)’,American Heart Journal, 2006; 151; 4: 762.
H. Benson et al., ‘Study of the therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: A multi-center randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer’, American Heart Journal, 2006; 151 (4): 934–42.
J. Astin et al., ‘The efficacy of “distant healing”: A systematic review of randomized trials’, Annals of Internal Medicine, 2000; 132: 903–10.
B. Rubik et al., ‘In vitro effect of Reiki treatment on bacterial cultures: Role of experimental context and practitioner well-being’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2006; 12 (1): 7–13. 296 The Intention Experiment
I. R. Bell et al., ‘Development and validation of a new global well-being outcomes rating scale for integrative medicine research’, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2004; 4: 1.
Ibid.
S. O’Laoire, ‘An experimental study of the effects of distant, intercessory prayer on self-esteem, anxiety and depression’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1997; 3 (6): 19–53.
Rubik et al., ‘In vitro effect’, op, cit.
K. Reece et al., ‘Positive well-being changes associated with giving and receiving Johrei healing’, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (3): 455–7.
M. Schlitz, ‘Can science study prayer?’ Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness, 2006; September–November (12): 38–9.
Dossey, ‘Prayer experiments’, op. cit.
J. Achterberg et al., ‘Evidence for correlations between distant intentionality and brain function in recipients: a functional magnetic resonance imagining analysis’, The Journal of Alternative andComplementary Medicine, 2005; 11 (6): 965–71.
Ibid.
K. A. Wientjes, ‘Mind-body techniques in wound healing’, Ostomy/Wound Management, 2002; 48 (11): 62–7.
J. K. Keicolt-Glaser, ‘Hostile marital interactions, proinflammatory cytokine production, and wound healing’, Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005; 62 (12): 1377–84.
Persinger’s basement vault was known as the Chamber of Heaven and Hell. Room COO2B, a disused sound booth, was a relic of the 1970s, its original fittings intact enormous nylon loudspeakers, deep orange flecked shag carpeting and a single item of furniture – a stained brown polyester armchair.
More than 2000 people had occupied the chair in pure darkness, a modified yellow motorcycle helmet on their heads, surrendering all control of their next half hour to the scientists behind the glass booth. Persinger, a neuroscientist, was god of room COO2B.
He had become expert in manipulating brain waves to yield up a divine experience, or, as he referred to it, ‘a sensed presence’. With a few simple commands typed into a computer, he would instruct the helmet to send low-level magnetic fields coursing through the temporal lobes of his volunteers, abruptly switching sides of the brain to heighten the transcendent and occasionally terrifying nature of the experience.1
Jesus had been sighted in the brown polyester reclining chair, as had the Virgin Mary, Muhammad, monks in hooded robes, knights in shining armour and a Native American deity, the Sky Spirit. Out-of-body experiences had been produced; near- death experiences relived. One journalist had been transported back to his life’s most transcendent moment – the time he first laid eyes on his high-school girlfriend’s perfect breasts.
Not all visitors found God. There had been imaginings of alien sightings and abductions, and even satanic ritual. One volunteer, overwhelmed by the sight of an enormous set of eyes and the smell of burning sulphur, attempted to pull himself loose from the helmet and wrench off the blindfold and earplugs. As soon as the 500-pound door was pried open for him he fled, terrorized, from the room.
The nature of the experience all depended, Persinger and his assistants explained, on a physiological roll of the dice: the sensitivity of the left amygdala of the brain compared with its counterpart on the right. If the left is more sensitive, and you send magnetic waves coursing through it, you get heaven. If you are unlucky enough to be born with a more sensitive right amygdala, you get hell.2
Persinger had a singular passion: the subtle influences of geology and meteorology on human biology, particularly the electrical circuitry of the brain. A transplant from the American South, he had headed north in the 1960s to avoid the draft and a likely stint in Vietnam – a possibility he objected to on moral grounds – and he remained in Canada after receiving a professorship at Laurentian in 1971.
Forty years later, he seemed an unlikely draft dodger, with his three-piece pinstripe suits, gold-chain swag and watch fob, and clipped, offhand manner. This conservative posturing masked a bold curiosity that led him into exotic areas of inquiry – the rhythms of biological systems, the volatile energy of outer space, the nature of epilepsy, the source of mystical visions – disparate areas that eventually converged in his mind after an extraordinary epiphany. Persinger realized that living things are attuned not only to each other, but also to the earth and its constantly shifting magnetic energies. This remarkable revelation, built upon the discoveries of Franz Halberg, would convince me that careful timing to coincide with these energies might be vital for an effective intention.
In 1948, as a young medic at Harvard Medical School on a temporary visa from war-torn Austria, Franz Halberg was assigned an impossible task: to help find the cure for all disease.3
At the time, the cure was assumed to involve the cortical hormones secreted by the adrenal glands, which enable the body to adapt to the ordinary stresses of life. The search was on to find reasonable substitutes for the body’s own scarce supply of steroids.
Halberg had been singled out to study mice whose adrenal glands had been removed and who were then injected with adrenaline in order to observe the effect on their circulating white blood cells called eosinophils. In ordinary circumstances, adrenaline will set off a predictable seesaw, causing more of the body’s natural steroids to be secreted, which, in turn, lower the eosinophil count.
However, in animals or humans without adrenal glands, the count should remain static. But the cell count in Halberg’s mice still seemed to fluctuate, even after he had removed all trace of adrenal tissue. Later, after moving to the University of Minnesota, he carried on his studies with a near limitless supply of experimental mice, and came up with the same conclusions.
Even when he handled them less frequently, which should have caused less stress to the tiny creatures, he noticed more variation in cell count.
Halberg was mystified by this fluctuation, until he suddenly recognized a recurring pattern: the cell counts were always higher in the morning and lower at night.
The variation was rising and falling according to a predictable, 24-hour cycle. Halberg studied other biological processes, and discovered that many appear to run according to an in-built clock. All living things respond to the same 24-hour rhythm, in tandem with the earth’s rotation. Halberg coined the terms ‘chronobiology’ – the influence of time and certain periodic cycles on biological function – and ‘circadian’ (circa = about; dia = day) for daily biological rhythms.
He created the Chronobiology Laboratories at the University of Minnesota and became known as the father o chronobiology. Chronobiology, as his lab began to discover, is a ready-made feature of organisms, not simply something learned or acquired – an inherent property of life.
Besides circadian rhythms, Halberg also discovered that living things keep in time to many other periodic rhythms; half-weekly, weekly, monthly and yearly cycles govern virtually every biological function.
The human pulse and blood pressure, body temperature and blood clotting, circulation of lymphocytes, hormonal cycles and other functions of the human body all appear to ebb and flow according to some basic, recurring timetable. These rhythms are not unique to humans, but are present throughout nature, and evident even in fossils of single-cell organisms that had existed millions of years ago.
Initially Halberg believed that the master switch for these biological rhythms was located in certain cells of the brain or adrenal glands. However, certain cycles carried on even when Halberg removed the brain cells in question – the adrenal glands – and even the brain itself. In his eighties, Halberg made his final breakthrough discovery: the synchronizer within every living thing is not internal but resides in the planets and in the sun.4
The sun is a furious star.
This huge ball of gases, with a surface temperature of around 6000°C, is encased by strong magnetic fields in the outer solar atmosphere – a recipe for periodic explosions, as the gases build up and magnetic fields intersect on the sun’s surface. Although the patch of space between sun and earth used to be considered an uneventful vacuum, ‘space weather’ is now understood to be weather so extreme, of such unimaginable turbulence, that if transferred to earth it would blow up the entire planet in an instant. Solar wind, a constant blast of electrified gas, dominates this interplanetary medium, soaring past the earth at speeds up to 2 million miles per hour. Although the earth’s magnetic field usually deflects it, this gale can penetrate our magnetic field during moments of intense solar activity.
Sunspots – vortices of concentrated magnetic fields, visible to us as dark blobs on the sun’s surface – begin to accumulate and then to disappear in fairly regular cycles, so that scientists can make some predictions about when the sun is likely to erupt.
A solar cycle of waxing and waning activity occurs, on average, every eleven years. As sunspots build up, so does the sun’s aggressive behaviour. At unpredictable moments, it hurls solar flares, gaseous explosions with the energy of 40 billion atomic bombs, likely caused by the ripping apart and reconnection of strong magnetic fields.
Electrified bullets of high–energy protons from the nuclei of gases are picked up by the solar wind and flung towards earth at speeds of more than 5 million miles per hour, showering our atmosphere with radiation and ionization.
Periodically, the sun also releases a corona mass ejection, a ball of gas and magnetic fields of up to a billion tons, which also speed towards earth at several million miles per hour, causing extreme geomagnetic storms in space.
Scientists have long understood that earth is, in effect, a giant magnet with two poles – North and South – surrounded by a magnetic field that is constantly in flux.
This field encircles the earth like a donut in a region of space called the ‘magnetosphere’, and is kept in place by the solar wind, with a force of about 0.5 gauss or 50,000 nanotesla – about 1000 times weaker than that of a typical horseshoe magnet.
The geomagnetic fields (GMFs) differ in different regions and at varying times Any changes in our solar system – the activity of the sun, the movement of the planets, the daily oscillation of the earth on its rotation – or geological changes on earth – the presence of ground water or the movement of the earth’s molten inner core – can alter the strength of the earth’s GMF on a daily basis.
Storms in space transfer some of the energy of the solar wind to the earth’s magnetosphere, causing wild fluctuations of direction and speed in the particles in the earth’s magnetic field. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which tracks these volatile space weather patterns, reckons that over any given solar cycle, geomagnetic storms in space will occur about a third of the time, almost half of which are severe enough to interfere with modern technology.
Storms of this magnitude (G5, or maximum severity on the NOAA scale) can disrupt portions of the earth’s electrical power, pipeline flow and high-tech communications systems, and disorient spacecraft and satellite navigation systems. In March 1989, one such storm left 6 million people in Montreal without electric power for nine hours.
At the time Halberg made his discoveries, geomagnetic storms were known to have a profound effect on the movement and orientation of animals such as pigeons and dolphins, which make use of the earth’s geomagnetic field to navigate.
Biologists assumed that the earth’s weak magnetic field had little effect on basic biological processes, particularly as living things have daily exposure to the more powerful electromagnetic and magnetic fields generated by modern technology. But in the course of investigating the health implications of space flight, the Soviet researchers uncovered evidence that natural geomagnetic fields, particularly those of extremely low frequencies (less than 100 hertz), have a pronounced effect on virtually all cellular and chemical processes in living things.
When Russian scientists at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academ of Sciences explored the effects of space weather on cosmonauts being sent into space, they discovered that protein synthesis in bacteria cells is highly susceptible to changes in geomagnetic fields, and that this disturbance in protein synthesis also affects human micro-organisms.5
Geomagnetic disturbances influence the synthesis of micronutrients in plants; even single-celled algae respond to solar-cycle flux.6 So attuned are plants and microorganisms to these changes that the Russian researchers made use of them as a sensitive barometer for geomagnetic disturbances.7
The Soviet scientists also discovered that if the cosmonauts suffered cardiac arrest, it was usually during a magnetic storm.8 Illness on earth also appeared to parallel geomagnetic activity in space; both sickness and death increased on stormy geomagnetic days.9
But of all the systems in the body affected, changes in solar geomagnetic conditions most disturbed the rhythms of the heart.
The Space Research Institute scientists tracked the heart rate of healthy volunteers over an entire solar cycle and compared it with sunspot and other geomagnetic activity during that period. The healthiest heart rate is one with the greatest variation. In the Russian research, the most varied heart rate occurred during times of the least amount of solar activity,10 while heart rate variability (HRV) decreased during magnetic storms.
A disturbance in HRV most affects the autonomic nervous system, the system in the body that keeps it ticking over without any conscious intervention.
A low HRV increases the risk of all coronary artery disease and heart attack. During increased geomagnetic activity, the viscosity, or thickness, of the blood also increases sharply, sometimes doubling, and the bloodstream slows down.11
Sudden cardiovascular death also appears to be linked with solar geomagnetic activity.12
Heart-attack rates rise and fall according to solar-cycle activity:13 the largest number of sudden deaths from heart disease occurred within a day of a geomagnetic storm.14 Halberg himself discovered a 5 per cent increase in heart attacks in Minnesota during times of peak maximum solar activity.15
It is not surprising that biological systems like human beings are sensitive to external signals, such as geomagnetic disturbances. Magnetic fields are caused by the flow of electrons and atoms with charge, known as ions, and whenever magnetic forces change, they alter the direction of the flow of these atoms and particles.
Ultimately, since living organisms are also composed of particles like electrons, any profound change of magnetic direction may markedly alter their biological processes.
Once Halberg understood the effect of the earth’s geomagnetic field on living things, he renamed his life’s work ‘chronoastrobiology’ – the rhythms of biology as affected by astral bodies. The sun was the giant metronome setting the pace for all of life.
Persinger’s interests had mostly to do with geomagnetic effects on the brain. Researchers in the Soviet bloc had also discovered that space weather can affect neurological processes.
Scientists at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences at Baku used a special device enabling them to continuously monitor the electrical activity of the heart and brain in a small number of healthy volunteers, and to compare those rhythms with those of the earth’s geomagnetic field.
They discovered that geomagnetic activity has a strong influence on brain functioning. During magnetically stormy days, EEG readings get destabilized.16
Geomagnetic turbulence also disturbs the balance between certain parts of the brain and profoundly disrupts communication within the nervous system, over-activating certain aspects of the autonomic nervous system and lowering others.17
The sun’s activity also affects mental equilibrium. As Persinger discovered, the more unsettled the weather in space, the greater the number of patients hospitalized for nervous disorders and the greater number of attempted suicides.18
Geomagnetic disturbance also seemed to correlate with increases in general psychiatric disorders.19
Even those already suffering from mental illness get more agitated during magnetically stormy days.
Persinger grew intrigued by a possible relationship between geomagnetic fluctuations in the earth and the timing of epileptic seizures after his neuroscientist colleague Todd Murphy, who had temporal-lobe epilepsy as a young child, disclosed that he often had out-of-body experiences while having a seizure.
Some data had already linked an increase in geomagnetic activity with the timing of epileptic seizures.20 Could an epileptic fit result from geomagnetic disturbance? Persinger decided to study this possibility in an animal.
He injected a batch of laboratory rats with lithium pilocarpine, which causes epileptic-like seizures in the rodents, and compared the timing of the onset of seizures about an hour after the onset of laboratory-simulated increased geomagnetic activity.21
From this, Persinger inferred that, above a certain threshold of geomagnetic activity, epilepsy is more likely to be triggered. Whenever geomagnetic activity exceeded 20 nanotesla, seizures would occur more frequently.22
Persinger then discovered a relationship between sudden death – from epilepsy or cot death – and high levels of geomagnetic activity.23 Sudden, seemingly inexplicable deaths might have a rational explanation after all: people with weaker constitutions are at the mercy of the sun’s restless activity.
Strong geomagnetic fields also appear to affect learning profoundly – often for the better. Increased geomagnetic activity enhances memory: rats exposed to geomagnetic fields learn mazes more quickly.24
Large fluctuations in solar activity cause other subtle effects in human behaviour and performance – for instance, the ability to perform a skilled task.25
Psychologist Dean Radin once examined the effec of GMFs on bowling. He tracked the performance of experienced bowlers over a number of periods, and then compared their scores with the geomagnetic activity of the same period.
Large geomagnetic fluctuations the day before a match appeared to cause more uneven results than normal – a 41 per cent variance in the men’s scores compared with the more consistent scores obtained during days of geomagnetic stability.26
Other research has demonstrated that the greater the change in the earth’s geomagnetic field, the greater the number of traffic violations and industrial accidents.27
The most important determinant appeared to be large change in geomagnetic activity, either from turbulent to calm or the reverse.
Although periodically destabilizing, exposure to the daily ebb and flow of earth’s geomagnetic activity may be essential to life here. The Solar Terrestrial Influences Laboratory at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia carried ou biological experiments on board the Soviet Mir space station to examine what happens to cosmonauts who are deprived of contact with the earth’s geomagnetic field while in space. The scientists constructed a ‘geomagnetic vacuum’, a six-metre stainless steel decompression press-chamber, which partially blocked out the earth’s natural geomagnetic field. Seven healthy young men were sealed off in the chamber and their bodily processes analysed. After being placed in the decompression chamber, the men evidenced a number of upsets in brain-wave activity. Sleep was more restless, with fewer periods of deep sleep.28
Contact with geomagnetic fields may play a primary role in maintaining the equilibrium of the nervous system. Indeed, the earth’s tiny geomagnetic fluctuations have the most profound effect on the two major engines of the body: the heart and the brain.
Persinger went on to discover other extraordinary geophysical effects on human beings.
Electromagnetic and geomagnetic phenomena resulting from the earth’s shifting plates, earthquakes, or from unusually high rainfall levels – even electromagnetic ‘luminosities’, or lights in the sky – can all stimulate certain portions of the brain that produce hallucinations.
Between 1968 and 1971, more than 100,000 people reported observing visions of an apparition of the Virgin Mary above a church in Zeitoun, Egypt. When Persinger examined the seismic activity in the area over the same time period, he discovered an unprecedented peak in earthquake activity.29
Sometimes the electromagnetic effects were man-made. At one point he studied a Roman Catholic woman with early brain trauma who reported nightly visitations by the Holy Spirit.
Ultimately, he discovered the source of the miracle: her disability caused her to be unduly affected by the electric alarm clock situated near her head as she slept.30
Persinger wondered whether he could reproduce these types of geomagnetic disturbances in the laboratory. His colleague Stan Koren modified and wired up a motorcycle helmet (thereafter named the ‘Koren’ helmet) so that it could send out very-low-frequency complex magnetic fields – about the amount that radiates from a telephone handset – in precise directions.
Participants would be fitted in the helmet, then placed in the acoustic chamber of room COO2B, which had been especially adapted to block out electromagnetic noise. Turning on the helmet would produce what Persinger referred to as ‘temporal lobe transients’, something possibly like a micro-seizure – tiny episodes causing alterations in neuronal firing patterns. This produced virtually the same effect on the brain as exposure to increased ambient geomagnetic activity.
Over time, Persinger began to recognize patterns. The brain waves of his participants would fall into resonance with the complex magnetic fields and remain in synchrony for up to 10 seconds after he had turned off the helmet.31
Through trial and error, he discovered that the portion of the brain most susceptible to electromagnetic and geomagnetic effects are the temporal lobes. Sending low level (1 microtesla), pulsed magnetic fields over the right cerebral hemisphere slowed brain waves to an alpha rhythm (8–13 hertz), but only on the right side.32
Our ‘sense of self ’ and our sense of the ‘other’ are housed in both temporal lobes but primarily in the left hemisphere, where the language centres are located.
To function normally, both left and right temporal lobes must work in harmony. If something upsets this balance, the brain will sense another ‘self ’ and create a hallucination.
As Persinger discovered in his experiments, stimulating the right temporal lobe portion of the brain generates the sense, presence or feeling of spiritual visions, both good and bad.
Aiming magnetic fields at the amygdala of the brain at the same time colours the experience with intense emotion, just as occurs during a spiritual experience. By first stimulating one side of the amygdala and then the other,
Persinger found that he could heighten the emotional complexion of the experience.
Volunteers wearing the Koren helmet experienced divine epiphanies, apparitions, out-of-body sensations and even a hallucination of Satan purely through temporal-lobe stimulation.
The nature of the experience largely depended on the participant’s individual history: negative early life experiences tend to increase the sensitivity of the right temporal lobe, and those with a high proportion of such experiences tend to have a negative experience while wearing the helmet. A happier person, with a more sensitive left temporal lobe, is more likely to experience a sense of the divine.33
It would have been tempting for Persinger to conclude that all spiritual experience is simply geomagnetically induced hallucination, except for one unsettling fact: extrasensory perception and other psychic abilities appear to be more acute during particular types of geomagnetic activity.
When the earth is ‘calm’ and geomagnetic flux at an ebb, telepathic and extrasensory perceptions increase.34
Even minor environmental changes – from slight variations in the weather to solar patterns appear to have a profound effect on extrasensory perception or the ability to view things remotely.
The reverse occurs with psychokinesis – mental attempts to change physical matter. The power of intention increases when the earth’s energy is agitated.35
In the 1970s, Persinger was able to test the effects of geomagnetic activity on telepathy during sleep by teaming up with noted parapsychologist Stanley Krippner, then the director of a dream laboratory at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City.
Krippner had perfected an experimental protocol to test telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition in dreams during deep sleep. Volunteers would be paired off.
While one partner slept, the other would be in a separate room and would be asked to concentrate on an image and attempt to ‘transmit’ the image to the dreamer, so that it would be incorporated into his dream.
Upon waking, the participants who had been sleeping would describe their dreams in great detail, to determine whether they contained anything resembling the target pictures they had been sent during their slumbers.36
Persinger and Krippner found that participants did better on certain days than on others.
When they tracked geomagnetic activity during the period of the study, they discovered that the dreamers had significantly higher accuracy in picking up the target pictures on nights when the earth’s GMF activity was relatively quiet.37
Geomagnetic activity also affects precognitive dreams – those that forecast events. Dr Alan Vaughan, a well-known clairvoyant whose dreams accurately foretold the future in great detail, kept a detailed dream diary in order to compare their contents with future events.
One of Vaughan’s dreams predicted the murder of then-presidential candidate Robert Kennedy two days before he was assassinated.38
An examination of the geomagnetic activity on the nights that Vaughan had dreamed 61 such premonitions showed that it was significantly quieter on the days when he had his most accurate dreams.39
During days of geomagnetic calm, spontaneous instances of telepathy or clairvoyance are more likely to occur40 and remote viewing accuracy appears to improve.41
Persinger carried out his own intriguing test of ESP using a group o couples.
One member of each pair was shown an image while it was being bathed in magnetic fields, then asked to describe the memory of an experience he or she had shared with the partner that was prompted by the image. Simultaneously, in another room, the partner was shown the same images and also asked to describe a memory.
When Persinger compared the results, he discovered that the two narratives were most alike when the ambient geomagnetic activity was at its quietest. The greater the geomagnetic activity, the less the two sets of memories mirrored each other.42
Nevertheless, the two sexes appear to respond very differently to geomagnetic activity, which Persinger discovered after comparing a database of paranormal experiences with geomagnetic activity and breaking down the data by sex.
Men tended to have more premonitions on days when geomagnetic activity was high (above 20 nanotesla), whereas women reported more premonitions if the geomagnetic activity was low (below 20 nanotesla).
Men also tended to have more accurate memories with higher geomagnetic activity; women, with lower geomagnetic activity. Just as Krippner had found, the people most susceptible to extrasensory experiences were those with ‘thin boundaries’, particularly those who had already had paranormal encounters.43
With time, Persinger found that he could enhance powers of extrasensory perception with the artificial geomagnetic fields of the Koren helmet. The remote- viewing ability of one of his students considerably improved after he was exposed to weak horizontal magnetic fields.44
In 1998, Persinger decided to put the Koren helmet to the ultimate test. Could i interrupt the ability of one of the greatest remote viewers in the world?
He invited Ingo Swann to his basement lab. Swann, then 68, soon proved he had lost none of his extrasensory prowess; he correctly described and drew in great detail images of randomly selected photographs sealed in envelopes in another room.
Nevertheless, after Persinger bathed the photos in complex magnetic field patterns, Swann’s accuracy suddenly plummeted. The most disruptive fields had different signal wave forms of varying phases.
This suggested that Swann was picking up the information in wave form and that those signals were easily interrupted by magnetic fields that could disturb their coherence.45
As Gary Schwartz had also discovered, information transmitted or received by human beings must have a strong magnetic component.
Persinger’s evidence persuaded me that geomagnetic activity influences the clarity of our reception in picking up quantum information.
But do geomagnetic fields also affect the strength of our transmissions and their effect on the physical world? Research by Stanley Krippner offers a few clues.
Krippner wished to test the hypothesis that psychokinesis is likely to occur on days when the earth is ‘noisy’. He and his team worked with the Brazilian sensitive Amyr Amiden, known for his extraordinary psychokinetic ability, and set about comparing the time of Amiden’s psychokinetic activities with geomagnetic fluctuations in the Brasilia area, where the sessions were taking place.
Krippner’s team also took readings of Amiden’s pulse and blood pressure.
The team found a significant correlation between Amiden’s psychic feats and the daily geomagnetic index for the entire southern hemisphere. For instance, Amiden performed the highest number of psychokinetic feats on 10 March and 15 March, which were the days that month with the greatest geomagnetic activity. He produced nothing out of the ordinary on 20 March, the geomagnetically quietest day of the month.46
Amiden’s psychic abilities were preceded by both a rise in his diastolic blood pressure (the pressure of the blood as it returns to the heart) and a rise in geomagnetic ‘noise’. It may be that geomagnetic activity must first cause changes in the ‘heart brain’ before a person can transmit information that can affect physical matter.
Interestingly, as with couples in the Love Study, Amiden’s most powerful psychokinetic effects anticipated strong input: in his case, geomagnetic flux.
In one instance, two religious medallions suddenly materialized in the room where Amiden and the researchers were present, appearing to drop from the ceiling – an event that was followed by a sudden rise in the area’s geomagnetic field. Can humans anticipate this geomagnetic noise, and, if so, do such anticipatory windows offer them more psychokinetic power than usual?
Psychologist William Braud carried out some intriguing studies of the effect of geomagnetic fields on intention by examining whether high levels of geomagnetic activity were correlated with powers of remote influence. Braud examined the effect of sending intention to human blood cells and to another person.
Like Krippner, he discovered that the success of intention was linked to a ‘noisy’ sun producing high geomagnetic activity.47
Besides solar activity, other environmental factors should be considered when working out the best times to send intention.
A number of scientists, including Persinger, found that certain days and certain times of day influence the success of ESP and psychokinesis.48 The best results occur around 1 p.m. local sidereal time, which is time measured by our relation to the stars, not the sun.
Local sidereal time is worked out as the hour’s angle of the vernal equinox, where the plane of the earth’s equator would intersect with that of its orbit, if measured out in the heavens.
Psychokinetic effects also seem to be greater about every 13 days, at times when solar wind is modulated.49
It might also be worth avoiding times of low visibility and high winds, a condition which produces a high percentage of ions with electrical charges in the air. An ion forms when a molecule encounters enough energy to unleash an electron.
They are also created by rainfall, air pressure, forces emitted during a waterfall and the friction from large volumes of air moving rapidly over a land mass, as during so- called ill winds, such as El Niño or Santa Anas of southern California.
Both positive and negative ions are equivalent to a tiny pulse of static electricity, and the air that we breathe is made up of billions of these tiny charges.
Good ‘clean’ air contains 1500–4000 ions per cubic centimetre, and the preferred ratio should be slightly more negative than positive ions: 1.2 to 1. However, ions are highly unstable; in our industrialized, largely indoor lives, filled with electromagnetic charge from pollution and artificial sources, this ideal number is drastically diminished and the ratio disturbed, leaving all but the most robustly outdoorsy among us inhaling too low a level of ions, with a predominance of positive ions.
Living with low levels of ions is not particularly good for us – or for our ability as receivers or transmitters.
Research in California and Israel has shown that lower concentrations of either positive or negative ions will produce fewer alpha frequencies in the human brain and that sudden higher levels of either charge can produce rapid, distinctive brain-wave changes.50
Persinger’s research offers a vast amount of evidence that magnetic frequency affects our ability to ‘tune’ in and transmit, and also affects those portions of the brain that receive the information.
Subtle shifts in the earth’s geomagnetic fields most noticeably affect the heart and brain, the very systems of the body shown by the
DMILS research and Schlitz’s Love Study to be the primary source of transmission After examining Persinger’s work, I began to view intention as a vast energetic relationship involving the sun, the atmosphere, and earthly and circadian rhythms.
To send intention effectively, we would have to take account of these energies.
Persinger had usefully located not only the best ‘channel’ for intention, but also the best time to turn it on.
Notes – Chapter 7:The Right Time
For all details about Michael Persinger’s experiments, interviews and correspondence with Persinger, August 2006 and a member of his neuroscientist team, Todd Murphy, May 23, 2006. Also, J. Hitt, ‘This is your brain on God’, Wired, November 1999; R. Hercz, ‘The God helmet’ SATURDAYNIGHTmagazine, October 2002: 40–6; B. Raynes, ‘Interview with Todd Murphy’, Alternative Perceptions Magazine online April 2004 (No. 78), plus T. Murphy’s website: www.spiritualbrain.com and M. Persinger’s home page at the Laurentian University website: www.laurentian.ca/Neursci/_people/Persinger.htm.
Neuroscientist Todd Murphy developed this theory and successfully demonstrated its validity in Persinger’s laboratory.
The main background of Halberg’s early life is taken from F. Halberg, ‘Transdisciplinary unifying implications of circadian findings in the 1950s’, Journal of Circadian Rhythms, 2003; 1: 2.
G. Cornélissen et al., ‘Is a birth-month-dependence of human longevity influenced by half-yearly changes in geomagnetics?’ ‘Physics of Auroral Phenomena’, Proceedings. XXV Annual Seminar, Apatity: Pola Geophysical Institute, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Science February 26–March 1, 2002: 161–6; A. M. Vaiserman et al., ‘Human longevity: related to date of birth?’ Abstract 9, 2nd International Symposium: Workshop on Chronoastrobiology and Chronotherapy, Tokyo Kasei University, Tokyo, Japan, November 2001.
O. N. Larina et al., ‘Effects of spaceflight factors on recombinant protein expression in E.coli producing strains’, in ‘Biomedical Research on the Science/NASA Notes 297 Project’, Abstracts of the Third US/Russia Symposium, Huntsville, Alabama, November 10–13, 1997: 110–11.
D. Hillman et al., ‘About-10 yearly (circadecennian) cosmo-helio geomagnetic signatures in Acetabularia’, Scripta Medica (BRNO), 2002 75 (6): 303–8.
P. A. Kashulin et al., ‘Phenolic biochemical pathway in plants can be used for the bioindication of heliogeophysical factors’, ‘Physics of Auroral Phenomena’, Proceedings. XXV Annual Seminar, Apatity: Pola Geophysical Institute, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Science February 26–March 1, 2002: 153–6.
V. M. Petro et al., ‘An influence of changes of magnetic field of the Earth on the functional state of humans in the conditions of space mission’, Proceedings, International Symposium ‘Computer Electro-Cardiograph on Boundary of Centuries’, Moscow, Russian Federation, 27–30 April, 1999.
K. F. Novikova and B. A. Ryvkin, ‘Solar activity and cardiovascular diseases’, in M. N. Gnevyshev and A. I. Ol (eds.),Effects of Solar Activity on the Earth’s Atmosphere and Biosphere , Academy of Science, USSR (translated from the Russian), Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 1977: 184–200.
G. Cornélissen et al., ‘Chronomes, time structures, for chronobioengineering for “a full life”’, Biomedical Instrumentation and Technology, 1999; 33 (2): 152–87.
V. N. Oraevskii et al., ‘Medico-biological effect of natural electromagnetic variations’, Biofizika, 1998; 43 (5): 844–8; V. N. Oraevskii et al., ‘An influence of geomagnetic activity on the functional status of the body’, Biofizika, 1998; 43 (5): 819–26.
I. Gurfinkel et al., ‘Assessment of the effect of a geomagnetic storm on the frequency of appearance of acute cardiovascular pathology’, Biofizika, 1998; 43 (4): 654–8; J. Sitar, ‘The causality of lunar changes oncardiovascular mortality’, Casopis Lekaru Ceskych, 1990; 129: 1425–30.
F. Halberg et al., ‘Cross-spectrally coherent about 10-5- and 21-year biological and physical cycles, magnetic storms and myocardial infarctions’, Neuroendrocrinology Letters, 2000; 21: 233–58.
M. N. Gnevyshev, ‘Essential features of the 11-year solar cycle’, Solar Physics, 1977; 51: 175–82.
G. Cornélissen et al., ‘Non-photic solar associations of heart rate variability and myocardial infarction’, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar- terrestrial Physics, 2002; 64: 707–20.
A. R. Allahverdiyev et al., ‘Possible space weather influence on functionalactivity of the human brain’, Proceedings, Space Weather Workshop: Looking Towards a European Space Weather Programme, December 17– 19, 2001.
E. Babayev,‘Some results of investigations on the space weatherinfluence onfunctioning of several engineering-technical andcommunicationsystems and human health’, Astronomical andAstrophysical Transactions, 2003; 22 (6): 861–7; G. Y. Mizon and P. G.Mizun, Space and Health, Moscow: ‘Znanie’, 1984.
E. Stoupel, ‘Relationship between suicide and myocardial infarction with regard to changing physical environmental conditions’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1994; 38 (4): 199–203; E. Stoupel et al., ‘Clinical cosmobiology: the Lithuanian study, 1990–1992’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1995; 38: 204–8; E. Stoupel et al., ‘Suicide- homicide temporal interrelationship, links with other fatalities and environmental physical activity’, Crisis, 2005; 26: 85–9. 298 The Intention Experiment
Avi Raps et al., ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LXIX. Sola activity and admission of psychiatric inpatients’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1992; 74: 449; H. Friedman et al., ‘Geomagnetic parameters and psychiatric hospital admissions’, Nature, 1963; 200: 626–8.
M. Mikulecky, ‘Lunisolar tidal waves, geomagnetic activity and epilepsy in the light of multivariate coherence’, Brazilian Journal of Medicine, 1996; 29 (8): 1069–72; E. A. McGugan, ‘Sudden unexpected deaths i epileptics – a literature review’, Scottish Medical Journal, 1999; 44 (5): 137–9.
A. Michon et al., ‘Attempts to simulate the association between geomagnetic activity and spontaneous seizures in rats using experimentally generated magnetic fields’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1996; 82 (2): 619–26; Y. Bureau and M. Persinger, ‘Geomagnetic activity and enhanced mortality in rats with acute (epileptic) limbic lability’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1992; 36: 226–32.
Y. Bureau and M. Persinger, ‘Decreased latencies for limbic seizures induced in rats by lithium-pilocarpine occur when daily average geomagnetic activity exceeds 20 nanotesla’, Neuroscience Letters, 1995; 192: 142–4; A. Michon and M. A. Persinger, ‘Experimental simulation o the effects of increased geomagnetic activity upon nocturnal seizures in epileptic rats’, Neuroscience Letters, 1997; 224: 53–6.
M. Persinger, ‘Sudden unexpected death in epileptics following sudden, intense, increases in geomagnetic activity: Prevalence of effect and potential mechanisms’, International Journal of Biometeorology, 1995; 38: 180–7; R. P. O’Connor and M. A. Persinger, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LXXXII. A strong association between sudden infant deat syndrome (SIDS) and increments of global geomagnetic activity – possible support for the melatonin hypothesis’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1997; 84: 395–402.
B. McKay and M. Persinger, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior LXXXVII. Effects of synthetic and natural geomagnetic patterns on maz learning’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1999; 89 (3 pt 1): 1023–4
Radin, Conscious Universe, op. cit.
D. Radin, ‘Evidence for relationship between geomagnetic field fluctuations and skilled physical performance.’ Presentation made at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Princeton New Jersey, June 1992.
S. W. Tromp, Biometeorology, London: Heyden, 1980.
I. Stoilova and T. Zdravev, ‘Influence of the geomagnetic activity on the human functional systems’, Journal of the Balkan Geophysical Society, 2000; 3 (4): 73–6
M. A. Persinger and S. A. Koren, ‘Experiences of spiritual visitation an impregnation: potential induction by frequency-modulated transients from an adjacent clock’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2001; 92 (1): 35–6.
M. A. Persinger et al., ‘Differential entrainment of electroencephalographic activity by weak complex electromagnetic fields’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1997; 84 (2): 527–36.
M. A. Persinger, ‘Increased emergence of alpha activity over the left but not the right temporal lobe within a dark acoustic chamber: Differential response of the left Notes 299 but not the right hemisphere to transcerebral magnetic fields’, International Journal of Psychophysiology, 1999; 34 (2):163–9.
Interview with Todd Murphy, May 23, 2006.
W. G. Braud and S. P. Dennis, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LVIII. Autonomic activity, hemolysis and biological psychokinesis Possible relationships with geomagnetic field activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989; 68: 1243–54.
Ibid.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 167–8.
M. A. Persinger and S. Krippner, ‘Dream ESP experiments an geomagnetic activity’, Journal of the American Society for Psychica Research, 1989; 83: 101–16; S. Krippner and M. Persinger, ‘Evidence for enhanced congruence between dreams and distant target material during periods of decreased geomagnetic activity’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1996; 10, (4): 487–93.
M. Ullman et al., Dream Telepathy: Experiments in ESP, Jefferson: McFarland, 1989.
Ibid.
M. A. Persinger, ‘ELF field meditation in spontaneous psi events. Direc information transfer or conditioned elicitation?’ Psychoenergetic Systems, 1975; 3: 155–69; M. A. Persinger, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior:XXX. Intense paranormal activities occur during days of quiet global geomagnetic activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1985; 61: 320–2.
M. H. Adams, ‘Variability in remote-viewing performance: Possible relationship to the geomagnetic field’, in D. H. Weiner and D. I. Radin (eds.), Research in Parapsychology, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1986: 25. [cf n.19, ch.8]
J. N. Booth et al., ‘Ranking of stimuli that evoked memories in significan others after exposure to circumcerebral magnetic fields: Correlations with ambient geomagnetic activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 95(2): 555–8.
M. A. Persinger et al., ‘Differential entrainment of electroencephalographic activity by weak complex electromagnetic fields’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1997; 84 (2): 527–36.
M. A. Persinger, ‘Enhancement of images of possible memories of othersduring exposure to circumcerebral magnetic fields: Correlations with ambient geomagnetic activity’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 95 (2): 531–43.
S. A. Koren and M. A Persinger, ‘Possible disruption of remote viewing by complex weak magnetic fields around the stimulus site and the possibility of accessing real phase space: A pilot study’, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2002; 95 (3 Pt 1): 989–98.
S. Krippner, ‘Possible geomagnetic field effects in psi phenomena.’ Paper presented at international parapsychology conference in Recife, Brazil, November 1997.
Braud and Dennis, ‘Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LVIII’, op. cit.
S. J. P. Spottiswoode, ‘Apparent association between effect size in free response anomalous cognition experiments and local sidereal time’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11 (2): 109–22.
S. J. P. Spottiswoode and E. May, ‘Evidence that free response anomalous cognitive performance depends upon local sidereal time and geomagnetic fluctuations’, Presentation Abstracts, Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration, June 1997: 8.
A. P. Krueger and D. S. Sobel, ‘Air ions and health’, in David S. Sobe (ed.), Ways of Health: Holistic Approaches to Ancient and Contemporary Medicine, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979.
This is part 2 of a multi-part post.
The access to all the posts can be found in this index below…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This is a complete reprint of the book titled “The Intention Experiment” by Lynne McTaggart. It is a non-fiction book, and it is groundbreaking. In this book, the author has compiled all those studies about the reality of ESP, and PSI, and compiled the results. The results are pretty damning. Something is going on, and Newtonian physics cannot explain it. It can only be explained with quantum physics.
What is going on is that quantum physics is working and weaving it’s magic throughout our lives, and rather than discount things as “superstition” and out-dated religion, this book connects actual scientific studies with the quantum physics principles involved. It explains so many thing that have been discounted as pure superstition.
Thus it’s placement in my blog.
This is for those people who want nice and clean answers to what is going on, yet cannot shake off the Newtonian physics that they learned in High School. This book teaches you that there is a deeper reality behind everything and as such, it helps explain some elements of paranormal and religion that are often discounted as primitive nonsense.
Welcome to the world of quantum physics and how all those things about prayer, intention, and spirituality actually does have a scientific foundation that they are based upon.
Some Comments
One of the best books I have ever read. You will learn so much about intention. I call it "desire". How important this is!
-Carol S. Burney
I really enjoyed this book. I was impressed with the author's ability to make complex science clear and also the use of credible sources.
She really doesn't talk so much about using your thoughts to change your life. It is more of a book about how science, real science, is showing more and more how the human mind is seen by quantum physics and other legitimate scientific disciplines.
It was really interesting to me to see that the mind really is much more powerful than we think it is.
As I said, I was very impressed with the research she used in the book as the references were to legitimate experiments that had been peer reviewed. Good insights into the amazing power of intention.
-Zipporia
I rate this a solid 5 due to the importance of the message; it combines everything I have learned in pieces into a nice little package.
Although not too much attention was paid to the way the writing flows, and as some of you have pointed out the sloppiness of the writing, I have to say that I also write sloppy when I discover a very cool thing.
The excitement overwhelms my style and attention to detail. But otherwise, it is a very solid read and I did not read it to be blown away with the "literature" quality of the writing, but for the clear and to the point message that it communicates so clearly.
This is a life altering book if it's the first book you are reading about the power of your intentions, thoughts and quantum physics. Awesome job!
-Netaron
In Quantum theory , "the world" is comprised of two "systems",the system containing the observer and the system containing what is observed.
Until the observer focuses his attention on the observed system it exists only as a host of infinite possibilities. The observer observation or measurement "fixes" its reality. That is the scientific theory.
Hard enough for us mere mortals to grasp or integrate it with what we have been taught.
From quantum theory it is almost irresistible to move to a consideration of how intention, rather than mere observation or objective measurement might work in our world and that is what this thought provoking book does.
The experiments are about whether intention can change outcome or even in one experiment, can change a previously measured reality.
It explores the power of consciousness and invites readers, through excercises in the book and through the web site to become part of an ongoing living experiment in consciousness.
I found the experiments fascinating, engaging and worthy of reflection..and I found reflection on them energizing. I recommend it enthusiastically for anyone who is at work on increasing their own awareness and trying to live fully present in the moment.
-Lindsay N. Bowker
For those interested in Quantum Science, in the Zero Point Field, and in what they call the "soup of creation" - this is a "must read".
I was pleased with this book right up to the chapter called Praying for Yesterday, which introduced experiments that couldn't hold water logically. I was so frustrated by that chapter that I almost ditched the book entirely - BUT - the third paragraph from the end of that chapter is a prize so wondrous - a double concept so unbelievable and empowering that all else is forgiven.
In fact, based solely on that, I ordered her first book - The Field.
If you're one of the lucky one's who can wrap your brain around concepts like these - ordering this book is a favor you need to do for yourself. It's an exciting rush of potential at your command - if you allow it to be so. I, personally, noting the flaws of the above chapter, would still recommend this book without hesitation as a "must read"!
-SciFiCahill
Our thoughts create our reality.
This is a well written book about quantum physics and its extraordinary implications. That we live in a "Field" (Zero Point Field) which is a constant dance of quantum energy exchange. Clearly we are connected to the entire universe through our pulsating energy which is constantly interacting with the vast energy "out there".
This is a great book filled with information about how the universe operates and our connection to it. This vast flow of energy, Consciousness, if you will, is all around us and is our connection to the "Source" or "Creator" of the Universe. A very powerful book, which I highly recommend.
-Richard Grant
The Intention Experiment
Comment
The preface is in italicized purple font. It’s pretty boring, but it tells you how the book came about, and at that it can give you some insight in how some things can manifest in our universe. Don’t ever think that everything is a coincidence.
Preface
THIS BOOK REPRESENTS A PIECE of unfinished business that began 2001 when I published a book called The Field. In the course of trying to find a scientific explanation for homeopathy and spiritual healing, I had inadvertently uncovered the makings of a new science.
During my research, I stumbled across a band of frontier scientists who had spent many years re-examining quantum physics and its extraordinary implications. Some had resurrected certain equations regarded as superfluous in standard quantum physics. These equations, which stood for the Zero Point Field, concerned the extraordinary quantum field generated by the endless passing back and forth of energy between all subatomic particles. The existence of the Field implies that all matter in the universe is connected on the subatomic level through a constant dance of quantum energy exchange.
Other evidence demonstrated that, on the most basic level, each one of us is also a packet of pulsating energy constantly interacting with this vast energy sea.
But the most heretical evidence of all concerned the role of consciousness. The well-designed experiments conducted by these scientists suggested that consciousness is a substance outside the confines of our bodies – a highly ordered energy with the capacity to change physical matter. Directing thoughts at a target seemed capable of altering machines, cells and, indeed, entire multicelled organisms like human beings. This mind-over-matter power even seemed to traverse time and space.
In The Field I aimed to make sense of all the ideas resulting from these disparate experiments and to synthesize them into one generalized theory. The Field created a picture of an interconnected universe and a scientific explanation for many of the most profound human mysteries, from alternative medicine and spiritual healing to extrasensory perception and the collective unconscious.
The Field apparently hit a nerve. I received hundreds of letters from readers who told me that the book had changed their lives. A writer wanted to depict me as a character in her novel. Two composers wrote musical compositions inspired by it, one of which was played on the international stage.
I was featured in a movie, What the Bleep!? Down the Rabbit Hole, and on the What The Bleep Do We Know!? Calendar, released by the film’s producers. Quotes from T h e Field became the centrepiece of a printed Christmas card.
However gratifying this reaction, I felt that my own journey of discovery had hardly left the station platform. The scientific evidence I had amassed for The Field suggested something extraordinary and even disturbing: directed thought had some sort of central participatory role in creating reality.
Targeting your thoughts – or what scientists ponderously refer to as ‘intention’ and ‘intentionality’ – appeared to produce an energy potent enough to change physical reality. A simple thought seemed to have the power to change our world.
After writing The Field, I puzzled over the extent of this power and the numerous questions it raised. How, for instance, could I translate what had been confirmed in the laboratory for use in the world that I lived in? Could I stand in the middle of a railway track and, Superman-style, stop the 9:45 to Paddington with my thoughts? Could I fly myself up to fix my roof with a bit of directed thought? Would it now be possible to cross doctors and healers off my list of essential contacts, seeing as I might now be able to think myself well? Could I help my children pass their maths tests just by thinking about it? If linear time and three-dimensional space didn’t really exist, could I go back and erase all those moments in my life that had left me with lasting regret? And could my one puny bit of mental input do anything to change the vast catalogue of suffering on the planet?
The implications of this evidence were unsettling. Should we be minding every last thought at every moment? Was a pessimist’s view of the world likely to be a self-fulfilling prophecy? Were all those negative thoughts – that ongoing inner dialogue of judgement and criticism – having any effect outside our heads?
Were there conditions that improved your chances of having a better effect with your thoughts? Would a thought work any old time or would you, your intended target and indeed the universe itself have to be in the mood? If everything is affecting everything else at every moment, doesn’t that counteract and thereby nullify any real effect?
What happens when a number of people think the same thought at the same time? Would that have an even larger effect than thoughts generated singly? Was there a threshold size that a group of like-minded intenders had to reach in order to exert the most powerful effect? Was an intention ‘dose dependent’ – the larger the group, the larger the effect?
An enormous body of literature, starting with Think and Grow Rich [1] by Napoleon Hill, arguably the first self-actualization guru, has been generated about the power of thought. ‘Intention’ has become the latest New Age buzzword. Practitioners of alternative medicine speak of helping patients heal ‘with intention’. Even Jane Fonda writes about raising children ‘with intention’.[2]
What on earth, I wondered, was meant by ‘intention’? And how exactly can one become an efficient ‘intender’? The bulk of the popular material had been written off the cuff – a smattering of Eastern philosophy here, a soupçon of Dale Carnegie there, with very little scientific evidence that it worked.
To find answers to all of these questions, I turned, once again, to science, scouring the scientific literature for studies on distant healing or other forms of psychokinesis, or mind over matter. I sought out international scientists who experimented with how thoughts can affect matter. The science described in The Field had been carried out mainly in the 1970s; I examined more recent discoveries in quantum physics for further clues.
I also turned to those people who had managed to master intention and who could perform the extraordinary – spiritual healers, Buddhist monks, Qigong masters, shamans – in order to understand the transformational processes they underwent to be able to use their thoughts to powerful effect. I uncovered myriad ways that intention is used in real life – in sports, for instance, and during healing modalities such as biofeedback. I studied how native populations incorporated directed thought into their daily ritual.
I then began to dig up evidence that multiple minds trained on the same target magnified the effect produced by an individual. The evidence was tantalizing, mostly gathered by the Transcendental Meditation organization, suggesting that a group of likeminded thoughts created some sort of order in the otherwise random Zero Point Field.
At that point in my journey, I ran out of pavement. All that stretched before me, as far as I could tell, was uninhabited open terrain.
Then one evening, my husband Bryan, a natural entrepreneur in most situations, put forward what seemed to be a preposterous suggestion: ‘Why don’t you do some group experiments yourself?’
I am not a physicist. I am not any kind of scientist. The last experiment I had conducted had been in a 10th grade science lab.
What I did have, though, was a resource available to few scientists: a potentially huge experimental body. Group intention experiments are extraordinarily difficult to perform in an ordinary laboratory. A researcher would need to recruit thousands of participants. How would he find them? Where would he put them? How would he get them all to think the same thing at the same time?
A book’s readers offer an ideal self-selected group of likeminded souls who might be willing to participate in testing out an idea. Indeed, I already had my own large population of regular readers with whom I communicated through e-news and my other spin-off activities from The Field.
I first broached the idea of carrying out my own experiment with dean emeritus of the Princeton University School of Engineering Robert Jahn and his colleague psychologist Brenda Dunne, who run the Princeton Engineering Anomalous Researc (PEAR) laboratory, both of whom I had got to know through my research forThe Field. Jahn and Dunne have spent some 30 years painstakingly amassing some of the most convincing evidence about the power of directed intention to affect machinery. They are absolute sticklers for scientific method, no-nonsense and to the point. Robert Jahn is one of the few people I have ever met who speaks in perfect, complete sentences. Brenda Dunne is equally perfectionist about detail in both experiment and language. I would be assured of no sloppy protocol in my experiments if Jahn and Dunne agreed to be involved.
The two of them also have a vast array of scientists at their disposal. They head the International Consciousness Research Laboratory, many of whose members are among the most prestigious scientists performing consciousness research in the world. Dunne also runs PEARTree, a group of young scientists interested in consciousness research.
Everyone met on occasions and kicked around some possibilities. Eventually, they put forward Fritz- Albert Popp, assistant director of the International Institute of Biophysics (IIB) i Neuss, Germany, to conduct the first intention experiments. I knew Fritz Popp throug my research for The Field. He was the first to discover that all living things emit a tiny current of light. As a noted German physicist recognized internationally for his discoveries, Popp would also be a stickler for pristine scientific method.
Other scientists, such as psychologist Gary Schwartz of the Biofield Center a the University of Arizona, Marilyn Schlitz, vice president for research and education at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Dean Radin, IONS’ senior scientist, an psychologist Roger Nelson of the Global Consciousness Project, have also offered to participate.
I do not have any hidden sponsors of this project. The website and all our experiments will be funded by the proceeds of this book or grants, now and in the future.
Scientists involved in experimental research often cannot venture beyond their findings to consider the implications of what they have uncovered. Consequently, when assembling the evidence that already exists about intention, I have tried to consider the larger implications of this work and to synthesize these individual discoveries into a coherent theory. In order to describe in words concepts that are generally depicted through mathematical equations, I have had to reach for metaphoric approximations of the truth. At times, with the help of many of the scientists involved, I have also had to engage in speculation. It is important to recognize that the conclusions arrived at in this book represent the fruits of frontier science. These ideas are a work in progress. Undoubtedly new evidence will emerge to amplify and refine these initial conclusions.
Researching the work of people at the very forefront of scientific discoveryagain has been a humbling experience for me. Within the unremarkable confines of a laboratory, these largely unsung men and women engage in activities that are nothing short of heroic. They risk losing grants, academic posts and, indeed, entire careers groping alone in the dark. Most scratch around for grant money to enable them to carry on.
All advancements in science are somewhat heretical, each important new discovery partly, if not completely, negating the prevailing views of the day. To be a true explorer in science – to follow the unprejudiced lead of pure scientific inquiry – is to be unafraid to propose the unthinkable, and to prove friends, colleagues and scientific paradigms wrong. Hidden within the cautious, neutral language of experimental data and mathematical equation is nothing less than the makings of a new world, which slowly takes shape for all the rest of us, one painstaking experiment at a time.
Lynne McTaggart, June 2006
Notes – Preface
N. Hill, Think and Grow Rich: The Andrew Carnegie Formula for Mone Making, New York: Ballantine Books (reissue edn), 1987.
J. Fonda, My Life So Far, London: Ebury Press, 2005: 571.
THE INTENTION EXPERIMENT is no ordinary book, and you are no ordinary reader. This is a book without an ending, for I intend for you to help me finish it. You are not only the audience of this book, but also one of its protagonists – the primary participants in cutting-edge scientific research. You, quite simply, are about to embark on the largest mind-over-matter experiment in history.
The Intention Experiment is the first ‘living’ book in three-dimensions. The book, in a sense, is a prelude, and the ‘contents’ carry on well beyond the time you finish the final page. In the book itself, you will discover scientific evidence about the power of your own thoughts, and you will then be able to extend beyond this information and test further possibilities through a massive, ongoing international group experiment, under the direction of some of the most well-respected international scientists in consciousness research. Through The Intention Experiment’s website (www.theintention experiment.com), you and the rest of the readers of this book will be able to participate in remote experiments, the results of which will be posted on the site. Each of you will become a scientist at the hub of some of the most daring consciousness experiments ever conducted.
The Intention Experiment rests on an outlandish premise: thought affects physical reality.
Comment
It’s not at all outlandish. Thought actually does create reality.
A sizeable body of research exploring the nature of consciousness, carried on for more than 30 years in prestigious scientific institutions around the world, shows that thoughts are capable of affecting everything from the simplest machines to the most complex living beings.[1]
This evidence suggests that human thoughts and intentions are an actual physical ‘something’ with the astonishing power to change our world. Every thought we have is a tangible energy with the power to transform.
A thought is not only a thing; a thought is a thing that influences other things.
Comment
If quanta were like fine particles of dust, or finely ground flour… then thoughts are like a breeze that attracts or scatters the dust particles everywhere.
This central idea, that consciousness affects matter, lies at the very heart of an irreconcilable difference between the world view offered by classical physics – the science of the big, visible world – and that of quantum physics – the science of the world’s most diminutive components. That difference concerns the very nature of matter and the ways it can be influenced to change.
Comment
The idea behind quantum physics is that consciousness and thoughts affect physical matter.
All of classical physics, and indeed the rest of science, is derived from the laws of motion and gravity developed by Isaac Newton in his Principia.
Newton’s laws described a universe in which all objects moved within the three-dimensional space of geometry and time according to certain fixed laws of motion. Matter was considered inviolate and self-contained, with its own fixed boundaries. Influence of any sort required something physical to be done to something else – a force or collision. Making something change basically entailed heating it, burning it, freezing it, dropping it or giving it a good swift kick.
Newtonian laws, science’s grand ‘rules of the game’, as the celebrated physicist
Richard Feynman once referred to them,[3] and their central premise, that things exist independently of each other, underpin our own philosophical view of the world. We believe that all of life and its tumultuous activity carries on around us, regardless of what we do or think. We sleep easy in our beds at night, in the certainty that when we close our eyes, the universe doesn’t disappear.
Nevertheless, that tidy view of the universe as a collection of isolated, well- behaved objects got dashed in the early part of the twentieth century, once the pioneers of quantum physics began peering closer into the heart of matter. The tiniest bits of the universe, those very things that make up the big, objective world, did not in any way behave themselves according to any rules that these scientists had ever known.
This outlaw behavior was encapsulated in a collection of ideas that became known as the Copenhagen Interpretation, after the place where the forceful Danish physicist Niels Bohr and his brilliant protégé, the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, formulated the likely meaning of their extraordinary mathematical discoveries. Bohr and Heisenberg realized that atoms are not little solar systems of billiard balls but something far more messy: a tiny cloud of probability.
Every subatomic particle is not a solid and stable thing, but exists simply as a potential of any one of its future selves – or what is known by physicists as a ‘superposition’, or sum, of all probabilities, like a person staring at himself in a hall of mirrors.
One of their conclusions concerned the notion of ‘indeterminacy’; that you can never know all there is to know about a subatomic particle all at the same time. If you discover information about where it is, for instance, you cannot work out at the same time exactly where it is going or at what speed. They spoke about a quantum particle as both a particle – a congealed, set thing – and a ‘wave function’ – a big smeared- out region of space and time, any corner of which the particle may occupy. It was akin to describing a person as comprising the entire street where he lives.
Their conclusions suggested that, at its most elemental, physical matter isn’t solid and stable – indeed, isn’t an anything yet.
Subatomic reality did not resemble the solid and reliable state of being described to us by classical science, but an ephemeral prospect of seemingly infinite options. So capricious seemed the smallest bits of nature that the first quantum physicists had to make do with a crude symbolic approximation of the truth – a mathematical range of all possibility.
At the quantum level, reality resembled unset jelly.
Comment
Newtonian physics treated things as nice set fixed and solid objects; like billiard balls. That they would follow set rules of behavior. Quantum physics says otherwise. The smallest things are actually like unset jello. When you think about them, they turn hard and freeze in place.
The quantum theories developed by Bohr, Heisenberg and a host of others rocked the very foundation of the Newtonian view of matter as something discrete and self-contained. They suggested that matter, at its most fundamental, could not be divided into independently existing units and indeed could not even be fully described. Things had no meaning in isolation, but only in a web of dynamic interrelationship.
The quantum pioneers also discovered the astonishing ability of quantum particles to influence each other, despite the absence of all those usual things that physicists understand are responsible for influence, such as an exchange of force occurring at a finite velocity. Once in contact, particles retained an eerie remote hold over each other.
The actions – for instance, the magnetic orientation – of one subatomic particle instantaneously influenced the other, no matter how far they were separated.
Comment
In quantum physics, things influence other things regardless of physical distance.
At the subatomic level, change also resulted through dynamic shifts of energy; these little packets of vibrating energy constantly traded energy back and forth to each other like ongoing passes in a game of basketball, a ceaseless to-ing and from-ing that gave rise to an unfathomably large basic layer of energy in the universe.[4]
Subatomic matter appeared to be involved in a continual exchange of information, causing constant refinement and subtle alteration. The universe was not a storehouse of static, separate objects, but a single organism of interconnected energy fields in a constant state of becoming. At its infinitesimal level, our world resembled a vast network of quantum information, with all its component parts constantly on the phone.
The only thing dissolving this little cloud of probability into something solid and measurable was the involvement of an observer.
Once these scientists decided to have a closer look at a subatomic particle by taking a measurement, the subatomic entity that existed as pure potential would ‘collapse’ into one particular state.
The implications of these early experimental findings were profound: living consciousness somehow was the influence that turned the possibility of something into something real. The moment we looked at an electron or took a measurement, it appeared that we helped to determine its final state. This suggested that the most essential ingredient in creating our universe is the consciousness that observes it. Several of the central figures in quantum physics argued that the universe was democratic and participatory – a joint effort between observer and observed. [5]
The observer effect in quantum experimentation gives rise to another heretical notion: that living consciousness is somehow central to this process of transforming the unconstructed quantum world into something resembling everyday reality. It suggests not only that the observer brings the observed into being, but also that nothing in the universe exists as an actual ‘thing’ independently of our perception of it.
Comment
Nothing in this universe exists without an observer to think about it.
It implies that observation – the very involvement of consciousness – gets the jelly to set.
It implies that reality is not fixed, but fluid, or mutable, and hence possibly open to influence.
The idea that consciousness creates and possibly even affects the physical universe also challenges our current scientific view of consciousness, which developed from the theories of the seventeenth-century philosopher René Descartes – mind is separate and somehow different from matter – and eventually embraced the notion that consciousness is entirely generated by the brain and remains locked up in the skull.
Most modern workaday physicists shrug their shoulders over this central conundrum: that big things are separate, but the tiny building blocks they are made up of are in instant and ceaseless communication with each other. For half a century, physicists have accepted, as though it makes perfect sense, that an electron behaving one way subatomically somehow transmutes into ‘classical’ (that is, Newtonian) behavior once it realizes it is part of a larger whole.
In the main, scientists have stopped caring about the troublesome questions posed by quantum physics, and left unanswered by its earliest pioneers.
Quantum theory works mathematically. It offers a highly successful recipe for dealing with the subatomic world. It helped to build atomic bombs and lasers, and to deconstruct the nature of the sun’s radiation. Today’s physicists have forgotten about the observer effect.
They content themselves with their elegant equations and await the formulation of unified Theory of Everything or the discovery of a few more dimensions beyond the ones that ordinary humans perceive, which they hope will somehow pull together all these contradictory findings into one centralized theory.
Thirty years ago, while the rest of the scientific community carried on by rote, a small band of frontier scientists at prestigious universities around the globe paused to consider the metaphysical implications of the Copenhagen Interpretation and the observer effect.[6]
If matter was mutable, and consciousness made matter a set something, it seemed likely that consciousness might also be able to nudge things in a particular direction.
Comment
If you can control your thoughts, then you can control matter and the events in your life.
Their investigations boiled down to a simple question: if the act of attention affected physical matter, what was the effect of intention – of deliberately attempting to make a change? In our act of participation as an observer in the quantum world, we might be not only creators, but also influencers.7
They began designing and carrying out experiments, testing what they gave the unwieldy label of ‘directed remote mental influence’ or ‘psychokinesis’, or, in shorthand, ‘intention’ or even ‘intentionality’.
A textbook definition of intention characterizes it as ‘a purposeful plan to perform an action, which will lead to a desired outcome’,[8] unlike a desire, which means simply focusing on an outcome, without a purposeful plan of how to achieve it.
Comment
Intention is quite different from desire.
An intention was directed at the intender’s own actions; it required some sort of reasoning; it required a commitment to do the intended deed. Intention implied purposefulness: an understanding of a plan of action and a planned satisfactory result.
Marilyn Schlitz, vice-president for research and education at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and one of the scientists engaged in the earliest investigations of remote influence, defined intention as ‘the projection of awareness, with purpose and efficacy, toward some object or outcome’.[9] To influence physical matter, they believed, thought had to be highly motivated and targeted.
In a series of remarkable experiments, these scientists provided evidence that thinking certain directed thoughts could affect one’s own body, inanimate objects and virtually all manner of living things, from single-celled organisms to human beings.
Two of the major figures in this tiny subgroup were former dean of engineering Robert Jahn at the Princeton Anomalies Engineering Research (PEAR) laboratory a Princeton University and his colleague Brenda Dunne, who together created a sophisticated, scholarly research programme grounded in hard science.
Over 25 years, Jahn and Dunne led what became a massive international effort to quantify what is referred to as ‘micro-psychokinesis’, the effect of mind on random-event generators (REGs), which perform the electronic, twenty-first century equivalent of a toss of a coin.
The output of these machines (the computerized equivalent of heads or tails) was controlled by a randomly alternating frequency of positive and negative pulses. Because their activity was utterly random, they produced ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ each roughly 50 per cent of the time, according to the laws of probability.
The most common configuration of the REG experiments was a computer screen randomly alternating two attractive images – say, of cowboys and Indians. Participants in the studies would be placed in front of the computers and asked to try to influence the machine to produce more of one image – more cowboys, say – then to focus on producing more images of Indians, and then to try not to influence the machine in either direction.
Over the course of more than two and a half million trials Jahn and Dunne decisively demonstrated that human intention can influence these electronic devices in the specified direction,[10] and their results were replicated independently by 68 investigators.[11]
Comment
Experiments have conclusively shown that intention; directed thought, can absolute influence the physical world.
While PEAR concentrated on the effect of mind on inanimate objects an processes, many other scientists experimented with the effect of intention on living things.
A diverse number of researchers demonstrated that human intention can affect an enormous variety of living systems: bacteria, yeast, algae, lice, chicks, mice, gerbils, rats, cats and dogs.[12]
A number of these experiments have also been carried out with human targets; intention has been shown to affect many biological processes within the receiver, including gross motor movements and those in the heart, the eye, the brain and the respiratory system.
Animals themselves proved capable of acts of effective intention.
In one ingenious study by René Peoc’h of the Fondation ODIER in Nantes, France, a roboti ‘mother hen’, constructed from a moveable random-event generator, was ‘imprinted’ on a group of baby chicks soon after birth.
The robot was placed outside the chicks’ cage, where it moved around freely, as its path was tracked and recorded.
Eventually, it was clear that the robot was moving towards the chicks two and a half times more often than it would ordinarily; the ‘inferred intention’ of the chicks – their desire to be close to their mother – appeared to affect the robot, drawing it closer to the cage.
In over 80 similar studies, in which a lighted candle was placed on a movable REG, baby chicks kept in the dark, finding the light comforting, managed to influence the robot to spend more time than normal in the vicinity of their cage.[13]
The largest and most persuasive body of research has been amassed by William Braud, a psychologist and the research director of the Mind Science Foundation i San Antonio, Texas, and, later, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Braud and his colleagues demonstrated that human thoughts can affect the direction in which fish swim, the movement of other animals such as gerbils, and the breakdown of cells in the laboratory.[14]
Braud also designed some of the earliest well-controlled studies of mental influence on human beings. In one group of studies, Braud demonstrated that one person could affect the autonomic nervous system (or fight-or-flight mechanisms) of another.[15]
Comment
Which is one of the many reasons why I tell people that they must isolate themselves from chronically negative people, sociopaths, psychopaths, and people with social, mental or emotional disorders. these individuals will absolutely affect your life, and often it is for their benefit, whatever they perceive it to be, and not yours.
Electrodermal activity (EDA) is a measure of skin resistance and shows an individual’s state of stress; a change of EDA usually occurs if someone is stressed or made uncomfortable in some way.[16]
Braud’s signature study tested the effect on EDA of being stared at, one of the simplest means of isolating the effect of remote influence on a human being. He repeatedly demonstrated that people were subconsciously aroused while they were being stared at.[17]
Perhaps the most frequently studied area of remote influence concerns remote healing.
Some 150 studies, of variable scientific rigor, have been carried out,[18] and one of the best designed was conducted by the late Dr Elisabeth Targ. During the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, she devised an ingenious, highly controlled pair of studies, in which some 40 remote healers across America were shown to improve the health of terminal AIDS patients, even though the healers had never met or been in contact with their patients.[19]
Comment
The use of thought and intention as a means to heal others over distances has been scientifically confirmed to be valid.
Even some of the most rudimentary mind-over-matter experiments have had tantalizing results.
One of the first such studies involved attempts to influence a throw of the dice. To date, some 73 studies have examined the efforts of 2500 people to influence more than two and a half million throws of the dice, with extraordinary success. When all the studies were analyzed together, and allowances made for quality or selective reporting, the odds of the results occurring by chance alone were 1076 (1 followed by 76 zeros) to one.[20]
There was also some provocative material about spoon bending, that perennial party trick made popular by psychic Uri Geller. John Hasted, a professor at Birkbec College at the University of London, had tested this with an ingenious experiment involving children.
Hasted suspended latch keys from the ceiling and placed the children 3 to 10 feet away from their target key, so that they could have no physical contact. Attached to each key was a strain gauge, which would detect and register on a strip chart recorder any change in the key.
Hasted then asked the children to try to bend the suspended metal. During the sessions, he observed not only the keys swaying and sometimes fracturing, but also abrupt and enormous spikes of voltage pulses up to 10 volts – the very limits of the chart recorder. Even more compelling, when children had been asked to send their intention to several keys hung separately, the individual strain recorders noted simultaneous signals, as though the keys were being affected in concert.[21]
Comment
My first wife has a first cousin that could bend spoons, and she did it right there within inches of my nose. It was real, and pretty darn amazing.
Most intriguing, in much of the research on psychokinesis, mental influence of any variety had produced measurable effects, no matter how far the distance between the sender or what point in time he generated his intention. According to the experimental evidence, the power of thought transcended time and space.
By the time these revisionists were finished, they had torn up the rule book and scattered it to the four winds. Mind in some way appeared to be inextricably connected to matter and, indeed, was capable of altering it. Physical matter could be influenced, even irrevocably altered, not simply by force, but through the simple act of formulating a thought.
Nevertheless, the evidence from these frontier scientists left three fundamental questions unanswered.
Through what physical mechanisms do thoughts affect reality?
At the time of this writing, some highly publicized studies of mass prayer showed no effect.
Were certain conditions and preparatory states of mind more conducive to success than others?
How much power did a thought have, for good or ill?
How much of our lives could a thought actually change?
Most of the initial discoveries about consciousness occurred more than 30 years ago. More recent discoveries in frontier quantum physics and in laboratories around the globe offer answers to some of those questions. They provide evidence that our world is highly malleable, open to constant subtle influence. Recent research demonstrates that living things are constant transmitters and receivers of measurable energy. New models of consciousness portray it as an entity capable of trespassing physical boundaries of every description.
Intention appears to be something akin to a tuning fork, causing the tuning forks of other things in the universe to resonate at the same frequency.
The latest studies of the effect of mind on matter suggest that intention has variable effects that depend on the state of the host, and the time and the place where it originates. Intention has already been employed in many quarters to cure illness, alter physical processes and influence events.
It is not a special gift but a learned skill, readily taught. Indeed, we already use intention in many aspects of our daily lives.
Comment
Intention is a learned skill, and with practice, anyone can become proficient with it.
A body of research also suggests that the power of an intention multiplies, depending upon how many people are thinking the same thought at the same time.[22]
The Intention Experiment consists of three aspects.
The main body of the book (chapters 1–12) attempts to synthesize all the experimental evidence that exists on intention into a coherent scientific theory of how intention works, how it can be used in your life and which conditions optimize its effect.
The second portion of the book (chapter 13) offers a blueprint for using intention effectively in your own life through a series of exercises and recommendations for how best to ‘power up’. This portion is also an exercise in frontier science. I am not an expert in human potential, so this is not a self-help manual, but a journey of discovery for me as well as you. I have extrapolated this programme from scientific evidence describing those circumstances that created the most positive results in psychokinetic laboratory experiences. We know for certain that these techniques have generated success under controlled experimental laboratory conditions, but I cannot guarantee they will work in your life. By making use of them, you will, in effect, engage in an ongoing personal experiment.
The final section of the book (chapters 14 and 15) consists of a series of personal and group experiments. Chapter 14 outlines a series of informal experiments on the use of intention in your own life for you to carry out individually. These mini ‘experiments’ are also intended to be pieces of research. You will have the opportunity to post your results on our website and share them with other readers.
Besides these individual experiments, I have also designed a series of large group experiments to be carried out by the readers of this book (chapter 15). With the aid of our highly experienced scientific team, The Intention Experiment will conduct periodic large-scale experiments to determine whether the focused intention of its readers has an effect on scientifically quantifiable targets.
All it requires is that you read the book, digest its contents, log on to the website (www.theintentionexperiment.com) and, after following the instructions and exercises at the back of this book, send out some highly specific thoughts, as and when described on the site. The first such studies will be carried out by the German physicist Fritz-Albert Popp, vice-president of the International Institute of Biophysics in Neuss, Germany (www.lifescientists.de), and his team of seven, psychologist Gary Schwartz and his colleagues at the University of Arizona at Tucson, and Marilyn Schlitz and Dean Radin of the Institute of Noetic Sciences.
Website experts have collaborated with our scientific team to design log-on protocols to enable us to identify which characteristics of a group or aspects of their thoughts produce the most effective results. For each intention experiment, a target will be selected – a specific living thing or a population where change caused by group intention can be measured. We have started with algae, the lowliest of subjects (see chapter 12), and, with every experiment, we will move on to an increasingly complex living target.
Our plans are ambitious: to tackle a number of societal ills. One eventual human target might be patients with a wound. It is known and accepted that wounds generally heal at a particular, quantifiable rate with a precise pattern.[23] Any departure from the norm can be precisely measured and shown to be an experimental effect. In that instance, our aim would be to determine whether focused group intention will enable wounds to heal more quickly than usual.
Naturally, you don’t have to participate in our experiments. If you don’t wish to get involved, you can read about the intention experiments of others, and use some of that information to inform how you use intention in your life.
Please do not casually participate in the experiments. In order for the experiment to work properly, you must read the book and digest its contents fully beforehand. The experimental evidence suggests that those who are the most effective have trained their minds, much as athletes train their muscles, to maximize their chances of success.
In order to discourage uncommitted participation, The Intention Experiment website contains a complicated password comprising some words or ideas from the book (which will change slightly every few months). In order to be part of the experiment, you will have to log on with the password and you will have to have read the book and understood it.
The website (www.theintentionexperiment.com) has a running clock (set to US Eastern Standard Time and Greenwich Mean Time). At a particular moment on a date specified on the website, you will be asked to send a carefully worded, detailed intention, depending on the target site.
Once finished, the results of the experiments will be analysed and data-crunched by our scientific team, examined by a neutral statistician, and then published on the website and in subsequent printings of this book. The website will thus become the living sequel to the book you are holding in your hands. You simply need to consult the website periodically for announcements of the date of every experiment.
Hundreds of well-designed studies of group intention and remote mental influence have demonstrated significant results. Nevertheless, it might be the case that our experiments will not produce demonstrable, measurable effects, at first or indeed ever. As reputable scientists and objective researchers, we are duty-bound to report the data we have. As with all science, failure is instructive, helping us to refine the design of the experiments and the premises that they are based upon.
As you read this book, keep in mind that this is a work of frontier science. Science is a relentless process of self-correction. Assumptions originally considered as fact must often ultimately be discarded. Many – indeed, most – of the conclusions drawn in this book are bound to be amended or refined at a later date.
By reading this book and participating in its experiments you may well contribute to the world’s knowledge, and possibly further a paradigm shift in our understanding of how the world works. Indeed, the power of mass intention may ultimately be the force that shifts the tide towards repair and renewal of the planet. When combined with hundreds of thousands of others, your solitary voice, now one barely audible note, could transmute into a thunderous symphony.
My own motive for writing The Intention Experiment was to make a statement about the extraordinary nature and power of consciousness. It may prove true that a single collective, directed thought is all it takes to change the world.
Notes – Introduction
For a complete description of these scientists and their findings, consult L. McTaggart, The Field: the Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe, London: HarperCollins, 2001.
The full title of Newton’s major treatise is Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, a name that offers a nod to its philosophical implications, although it is always referred to reverentially as the Principia.
R. P. Feynman, Six Easy Pieces: The Fundamentals of Physics Explained, London: Penguin, 1995: 24.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.
Eugene Wigner, the Hungarian-born American physicist who received a Nobel Prize for his contribution to the theory of quantum physics, is one of the early pioneers of the central role of consciousness in determining reality and argued, through a thought experiment called ‘Wigner’s friend’, that the observer, ‘the friend’, might collapse Schrödinger’s famous cat into a single state or, like the cat itself, remain in a state of superposition until another ‘friend’ comes into the lab. Other proponents of ‘the observer effect’ include John Eccles and Evan Harris Walker. John Wheeler is credited with espousing the theory that the universe is participatory: it only exists because we happen to be looking at it.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.
E. J. Squires, ‘Many views of one world – an interpretation of quantum theory’, European Journal of Physics, 1987; 8: 173.
B. F. Malle et al., Intentions and Intentionality: Foundations of Socia Cognition, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2001.
M. Schlitz, ‘Intentionality in healing: mapping the integration of body, mind, and spirit’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1995; 1 (5): 119–20.
R. G. Jahn et al., ‘Correlations of random binary sequences with prestated operator intention: a review of a 12-year program’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1997; 11: 345–67.
R. G. Jahn et al., ‘Correlations of random binary sequences’, op. cit.; Dean Radin and Roger Nelson, ‘Evidence for consciousness-related anomalies in random physical systems’, Foundations of Physics, 1989; 19 (12): 1499–514; McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 116–17.
These studies are itemized in great detail in D. Benor, Spiritual Healing, Volume 1, Southfield, Mich.: Vision Publications, 1992.
Rene Peoc’h, ‘Psychokinetic action of young chicks on the path of a “illuminated source”’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1995; 9 (2): 223;
R. Peoc’h, ‘Chicken imprinting and the tychoscope: An Anpsi experiment’ Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1988; 55: 1; R. Peoc’h, ‘Psychokinesis experiments with human and animal subjects upon a robot moving at random’, The Journal of Parapsychology, September 1, 2002.
William G. Braud and Marilyn J. Schlitz, ‘Consciousness interaction with remote biological systems: anomalous intentionality effects’, SubtleEnergies and Energy Medicine, 1991; 2 (1): 1–27; McTaggart, The Field,op. cit.: 128–9.
Marilyn Schlitz and William Braud, ‘Distant intentionality and healing assessing the evidence’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 1997; 3 (6): 62–73.
William Braud and Marilyn Schlitz, ‘A methodology for the objective study of transpersonal imagery’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1989; 3 (1): 43–63.
W. Braud et al., ‘Further studies of autonomic detection of remote staring: replication, new control procedures and personality correlates’, Journal of Parapsychology, 1993; 57: 391–409; M. Schlitz and S. LaBerge ‘Autonomic detection of remote observation; two conceptual replications’, in D. Bierman (ed.), Proceedings of Presented Papers: 37 Annual Parapsychological Association Convention, Amsterdam, Fairhaven, Mass.: Parapsychological Association, 1994: 465–78.
D. Benor, Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution, Southfield, Mich.: Vision Publications, 2001.
F. Sicher, E. Targ et al., ‘A randomized double-blind study of the effect of distant healing in a population with advanced AIDS: report of a small scale study’, Western Journal of Medicine, 1998; 168 (6): 356–63. For a full description of the studies, see McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 181–96.
Psychologist Dean Radin conducted a meta-analysis in 1989 at Princeton University of all known dice experiments (73) published between 1930 and 1989. They are recounted in his book Entangled Minds, New York: Paraview, 2006: 148–51.
J. Hasted, The Metal Benders, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981, as cited in W. Tiller, Science and Human Transformation; Subtle Energies Intentionality and Consciousness, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publications, 1997: 13.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 199.
W. W. Monafo and M. A. West, ‘Current recommendations for topical burn therapy’, Drugs, 1990; 40: 364–73.
The Science of Intention
A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
-Albert Einstein
Chapter 1
Mutable Matter
FEW PLACES IN THE GALAXY are as cold as the helium-diluti refrigerator in Tom Rosenbaum’s lab. Temperatures in the refrigerator – a boiler- sized circular apparatus with a number of cylinders – can descend to a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, almost 273°C below freezing – three thousand times colder than the farthest reaches of outer space. For two days, liquid nitrogen and helium circulate around the refrigerator, and then three pumps constantly blasting out gaseous helium take the temperature down to the final rung. Without heat of any description, the atoms in matter slow to a crawl. At this scale of coldness, the universe would grind to a halt. It is the scientific equivalent of hell freezing over.
Absolute zero is the preferred temperature of a physicist like Tom Rosenbaum. At 47, as a distinguished professor of physics at the University of Chicago and former head of the James Franck Institute, Rosenbaum was in the vanguard o experimental physicists who liked exploring the limits of disorder in condensed- matter physics, the study of the inner workings of liquids and solids when their underlying order was disturbed.[1]
In physics, if you want to find out how something behaves, the best way is simply to make it uncomfortable and then see what happens. Creating disorder usually involves adding heat or applying a magnetic field to determine how it will react when disturbed and also to determine which spin position – or magnetic orientation – the atoms will choose.
Most of his colleagues in condensed-matter physics remained interested in symmetrical systems such as crystalline solids, whose atoms are arranged in orderly array, like eggs in a carton, but Rosenbaum was drawn to strange systems that were inherently disordered – to which more conventional quantum physicists referred disparagingly as ‘dirt’.
In dirt, he believed, lay exposed the unprobed secrets of the quantum universe, uncharted territory that he was happy to navigate.
He loved the challenge posed by spin glasses, strange hybrids of crystals, with magnetic properties, technically considered slow-moving liquids. Unlike a crystal, whose atoms point in the same direction in perfect alignment, the tiny magnets associated with the atoms of a spin glass are wayward and frozen in disarray.
The use of extreme coldness allowed Rosenbaum to slow down the atoms of these strange compounds enough to observe them minutely, and to tease out their quantum mechanical essence. At temperatures near to absolute zero, when their atoms are nearly stationary, they begin taking on new collective properties.
Rosenbaum was fascinated by the recent discovery that systems disorderly at room temperature display a conformist streak once they are cooled down. For once, these delinquent atoms begin to act in concert.
Examining how molecules behave as a group in various circumstances is highly instructive about the essential nature of matter.
In my own journey of discovery, Rosenbaum’s laboratory seemed the most appropriate place to begin. There, at those lowest temperatures where everything occurs in slow motion, the true nature of the most basic constituents of the universe might be revealed. I was looking for evidence of ways in which the components of our physical universe, which we think of as fully realized, are capable of being fundamentally altered.
I also wondered whether it could be shown that quantum behaviour like the observer effect occurs outside the subatomic world, in the world of the everyday. What Rosenbaum had discovered in his refrigerator might offer some vital clues as to how every object or organism in the physical world, which classical physics depicts as an irreversible fact, a finalized assemblage only changeable by the brute force of Newtonian physics, could be affected and ultimately altered by the energy of a thought.
According to the second law of thermodynamics, all physical processes in the universe can only flow from a state of greater to lesser energy. We throw a stone into a river and the ripple it makes eventually stops. A cup of hot coffee left standing can only grow cold.
Things inevitably fall apart; everything travels in a single direction, from order to disorder.
But this might not always be inevitable, Rosenbaum believed. Recent discoveries about disordered systems suggested that certain materials, under certain circumstances, might counteract the laws of entropy and come together rather than fall apart.
Was it possible that matter could go in the opposite direction, from disorder to greater order?
For ten years Rosenbaum and his students at the James Franck Institute had bee asking that question of a small chunk of lithium holmium fluoride salt. Inside Rosenbaum’s refrigerator lay a perfect chip of rose-coloured crystal, no bigger than the head of a pencil, wrapped in two sets of copper coils.
Over the years, after many experiments with spin glasses, Rosenbaum had grown very fond of these dazzling little specimens, one of the most naturally magnetic substances on earth. This characteristic presented the perfect situation in which to study disorder, but only after he had altered the crystal beyond recognition into a disordered substance.
He had first instructed the laboratory that grew the crystals to combine the holmium with fluorine and lithium, the first metal on the periodic table. The resulting lithium holmium fluoride salt was compliant and predictable – a highly ordered substance whose atoms behaved like a sea of microscopic compasses all pointing north.
Rosenbaum then had wreaked havoc on the original salt compound, instructing the lab to rip out a number of the atoms of holmium, bit by bit, and replace them with yttrium, a silvery metal without such natural magnetic attraction, until he was left with a strange hybrid of a compound: a salt called lithium holmium yttrium tetrafluoride.
By virtually eliminating the magnetic properties of the compound, Rosenbaum eventually had created spin-glass anarchy – the atoms of this Frankenstein monstrosity pointing any way they liked. Being able to manipulate the essential property of elements like holmium by creating weird new compounds so cavalierly was a little like having ultimate control over matter itself. With these new spin-glass compounds, Rosenbaum could virtually change the properties of the compound at will; he could make the atoms orientate in a particular direction, or freeze them in some random pattern.
Nevertheless, his omnipotence had a limit. Rosenbaum’s holmium compounds behaved themselves in some regards, but not in others. One thing he could not do was to get them to obey the laws of temperature. No matter how cold Rosenbaum made his refrigerator, the atoms inside them resisted any sort of ordered orientation, like an army refusing to march in step.
If Rosenbaum was playing God with his spin glasses the crystal was Adam, stubbornly refusing to obey His most fundamental law.
Sharing Rosenbaum’s curiosity about the strange property of the crystal compound was a young student called Sayantani Ghosh, one of his star PhD candidates. Sai, as her friends called her, a native of India, had graduated with a first-class honours degree from Cambridge, after which she had chosen Tom’s lab for her doctoral programme in 1999. Almost immediately, she had distinguished herself by winning the Gregor Wentzel Prize, given each year by the University of Chicago’s physics department to the best first-year graduate student teaching assistant. The slight 23-year-old, who at first glance appeared abashed, hiding behind her copious dark hair, had soon impressed her peers and teachers alike with her bold authority, a rarity among science students, and her ability to translate complex ideas to the level an undergraduate could comprehend. Sai shared the distinction of winning the coveted prize with only one other woman since its inception 25 years before.
According to the laws of classical physics, applying a magnetic field will disrupt the magnetic alignment of a substance’s atoms. The degree to which this happens is the salt’s ‘magnetic susceptibility’.
The usual pattern with a disordered substance is that it will respond to the magnetic field for a time and then plateau and tail off, as the temperature drops or the magnetic field reaches a point of magnetic saturation. The atoms will no longer be able to flip in the same direction as that of the magnetic field and so will begin to slow down.
In Sai’s first experiments, the atoms in the lithium holmium yttrium salt, as predicted, grew wildly excited with the application of the magnetic field. But then, as Sai increased the field, something strange began to happen. The more she turned up the frequency, the faster the atoms continued to flip over.
What is more, all the atoms, which had been in a state of disarray, began pointing in the same direction and operating as a collective whole. Then, small clusters of about 260 atoms aligned, forming ‘oscillators’, spinning collectively in one direction or another.
No matter how strong the magnetic field that Sai applied, the atoms remained stubbornly aligned with each other, acting in concert. This self-organization persisted for 10 seconds.
At first, Sai and Rosenbaum thought these effects might have something to do with the strange effects of the remaining atoms of holmium, known to be one of the very few substances in the world with such long-range internal forces that in some quarters it was described and worked out mathematically as something existing in another dimension.[2] Although they didn’t understand the phenomenon they had observed, they wrote up their results, which were published in the journal Science in 2002.[3]
Rosenbaum decided to carry out another experiment to attempt to isolate the property in the crystal’s essential nature that had enabled it to override such strong outside influences. He left the study’s design to his bright young graduate student, suggesting only that she create a computerized three-dimensional mathematical simulation of the experiment she had intended to carry out. In experiments of this nature on such tiny matter, physicists must rely on a computerized simulation to confirm mathematically the reactions they are witnessing experimentally.
Sai spent months developing the computer code and building her simulation. The plan was to find out a bit more about the salt’s magnetic capability, by applying two systems of disorder to the crystal chip: higher temperatures and a stronger magnetic field.
She prepared the sample by placing it in a little 2.4 x 4.8 cm copper holder, then wrapped two coils around the tiny crystal: one a gradiometer, to measure its magnetic susceptibility and the direction of spin of the individual atoms, and the other to cancel out any random flux affecting the atoms inside.
A connection attached to her PC would enable her to change the voltage, the magnetic field or the temperature, and would record any changes whenever she altered one of the variables by the tiniest degree.
She began lowering the temperature, a fraction of a kelvin (K) at a time, and then began applying a stronger magnetic field. To her amazement, the atoms kept aligning progressively. Then she tried applying heat, and discovered they again aligned. No matter what she did, in every instance the atoms ignored the outside interference. Although she and Tom had flushed out most of the compound’s magnetic component, of its own volition, as it were, it was turning into a larger and larger magnet.
That’s weird, she thought. Perhaps she should take more data, just to ensure they had encountered nothing strange in the system.
She repeated her experiment over six months until the early spring of 2002, when her computer simulation was finally complete. One evening, she mapped the results of the simulation on a graph, and then she superimposed the results from her actual experiment.
It was as though she had drawn a single line.
There on the computer screen was a perfect duplicate: the diagonal line formed from the computer simulation lay exactly over the diagonal line created from the results of the experiment itself.
What she had witnessed in the little crystal was not an artefact, but something real that she had now reproduced in her computer simulation. She had even mapped out where the atoms should have been on the graph, had they been obeying the usual laws of physics.
But there they were in a line: a law completely unto themselves.
She wrote Rosenbaum a guarded email late that evening:
‘I’ve got something interesting to show you in the morning.’
The following day, they examined her graph. There was no other possibility, they both realized; the atoms had been ignoring her and instead were controlled by the activity of their neighbors. No matter whether she blasted the crystal with a strong magnetic field or an increase in temperature, the atoms overrode this outside disturbance.
The only explanation was that the atoms in the sample crystal were internally organizing and behaving like one single giant atom. All the atoms, they realized with some alarm, must be entangled.
One of the strangest aspects of quantum physics is a feature called ‘non- locality’, also poetically referred to as ‘quantum entanglement’. The Danish physicist Niels Bohr discovered that once subatomic particles such as electrons or photons are in contact, they remain cognizant of and influenced by each other instantaneously over any distance forever, despite the absence of the usual things that physicists understand are responsible for influence, such as an exchange of force or energy.
When entangled, the actions – for instance, the magnetic orientation – of one will always influence the other in the same or the opposite direction, no matter how far they are separated. Erwin Schrödinger, another one of the original architects of quantum theory, believed that the discovery of non-locality represented no less than quantum theory’s defining moment – its central property and premise.
The activity of entangled particles is analogous to a set of twins being separated at birth, but retaining identical interests and a telepathic connection forever. One lives in Colorado, and the other in London. Although they never meet again, both like the color blue. Both take a job in engineering. Both like to ski; in fact when one falls down and breaks his right leg at Vale, his twin breaks his right leg at precisely that moment, even though he is 4000 miles away, sipping a latte at Starbucks.[4]
Albert Einstein refused to accept non-locality, referring to it disparagingly as ‘spukhafte Fernwirkungen’ or ‘spooky action at a distance’.
This type of instantaneous connection would require information traveling faster than the speed of light, he argued through a famous thought experiment, which would violate his own special relativity theory.[5]
Since the formulation of Einstein’s theory, the speed of light (299,792,458 meters per second) has been used as the absolute limiting factor on how quickly one thing can affect something else. Things are not supposed to be able to affect other things faster than the time it would take the first thing to travel to the second thing at the speed of light.
Nevertheless, modern physicists, such as Alain Aspect and his colleagues in Paris, have demonstrated decisively that the speed of light is not an absolute outer boundary in the subatomic world.
Aspect’s experiment, which concerned two photons fired off from a single atom, showed that the measurement of one photon instantaneously affected the position of the second photon[6] so that it has the same or opposite spin or position (as IBM physicist Charles H. Bennett once put it, ‘opposit luck’).[7]
The two photons continued to talk to each other and whatever happened to one was identical to, or the very opposite of, what happened to the other. Today, even the most conservative physicists accept non-locality as a strange feature of subatomic reality.[8]
Most quantum experiments incorporate some test of Bell’s Inequality. This famous experiment in quantum physics was carried out by John Bell, an Irish physicist who developed a practical means to test how quantum particles really behaved.[9]
This simple test required that you get two quantum particles that had once been in contact, separate them and then take measurements of the two. It is analogous to a couple named Daphne and Ted who have once been together but are now separated. Daphne can choose one of two possible directions to go in and so can Ted. According to our commonsense view of reality, Daphne’s choice should be utterly independent of Ted’s.
When Bell carried out his experiment, the expectation was that one of the measurements would be larger than the other – a demonstration of ‘inequality’. However, a comparison of the measurements showed that both were the same and so his inequality was ‘violated’.
Some invisible wire appeared to be connecting these quantum particles across space, to make them follow each other. Ever since, physicists have understood that when a violation of Bell’s Inequality occurs, it means that two things are entangled.
Bell’s Inequality has enormous implications for our understanding of the universe.
By accepting non-locality as a natural facet of nature we are acknowledging that two of the bedrocks on which our world view rests are wrong: that influence only occurs over time and distance, and that particles like Daphne and Ted, and indeed the things that are made up of particles, only exist independently of each other.
Although modern physicists now accept non-locality as a given feature of the quantum world, they console themselves by maintaining that this strange, counter- intuitive property of the subatomic universe does not apply to anything bigger than a photon or electron.
Once things got to the level of atoms and molecules, which in the world of physics is considered ‘macroscopic’, or large, the universe started behaving itself again, according to predictable, measurable, Newtonian laws.
With one tiny thumbnail’s worth of crystal, Rosenbaum and his graduate student demolished that delineation.
They had demonstrated that big things like atoms were non-locally connected, even in matter so large you could hold it in your hand. Never before had quantum non-locality been demonstrated on such a scale. Although the specimen had been only a tiny chip of salt, to the subatomic particle, it was a palatial country mansion, housing a billion billion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 1018) atoms.
Rosenbaum, ordinarily loathe to speculate about what he could not yet explain, realized that they had uncovered something extraordinary about the nature of the universe.
And I realized they had discovered a mechanism for intention: they had demonstrated that atoms, the essential constituents of matter, could be affected by non-local influence. Large things like crystals were not playing by the grand rules of the game, but by the anarchic rules of the quantum world, maintaining invisible connections without obvious cause.
In 2002, after Sai wrote up their findings, Rosenbaum polished up the wording and sent off their paper to Nature, a journal notorious for conservatism and exacting peer review. After four months of responding to the suggestions of reviewers, Ghosh finally got her paper published in the world’s premier scientific journal, a laudatory feat for a 26-year-old graduate student.[10]
One of the reviewers, Vlatko Vedral, noted the experiment with a mix of interest and frustration.[11]A Yugoslav who had studied at Imperial College, London, during his country’s civil war and subsequent collapse, Vedral had distinguished himself in his adopted country and been chosen to head up quantum information science at the University of Leeds. Vedral, who was tall and leonine, was part of a small group in Vienna working on frontier quantum physics, including entanglement.
Vedral first theoretically predicted the effect that Ghosh and Rosenbaum eventually found three years later. He had submitted the paper to Nature in 2001, but the journal, which preferred experiment to theory, had rejected it. Eventually, Vedral managed to publish his paper in Physical Review Letters, the premier physics journal.[12]After Nature decided to publish Ghosh’s study, its editors threw him a conciliatory bone. They allowed him to be a reviewer on the paper, and then offered him a place in the same issue to write an opinion piece on the findings.
In the article, Vedral allowed himself some speculation. Quantum physics is accepted as the most accurate means of describing how atoms combine to form molecules, he wrote, and since molecular relationship is the basis of all chemistry, and chemistry is the basis of biology, the magic of entanglement could well be the key to life itself.[13]
Vedral and a number of others in his circle did not believe that this effect was unique to holmium. The central problem in uncovering entanglement is the primitive state of our technology; isolating and observing this effect is only possible at the moment by slowing atoms down so much in such cold conditions that they are hardly moving. Nevertheless, a number of physicists had observed entanglement in matter at 200 K, or –73°C – a temperature that can be found on Earth in some of its very coldest places.
Other researchers have proved mathematically that everywhere, even inside of our own bodies, atoms and molecules are engaged in an instantaneous and ceaseless passing back and forth of information.
Thomas Durt of Vrije University in Brussels demonstrated through elegant mathematical formulations that almost all quantum interactions produce entanglement, no matter what the internal or surrounding conditions. Even photons, the tiniest particles of light emanating from stars, are entangled with every atom they meet on their way to earth.[14]
Entanglement at normal temperatures appears to be a natural condition of the universe, even in our bodies. Every interaction between every electron inside of us creates entanglement. According to Benni Reznik, a theoretical physicist at Tel Aviv University in Israel, even the empty space around us is heaving with entangled particles.[15]
The English mathematician Paul Dirac, an architect of quantum field theory, firs postulated that there is no such thing as nothingness, or empty space. Even if you tipped all matter and energy out of the universe and examined all the ‘empty’ space between the stars you would discover a netherworld world teeming with subatomic activity.
In the world of classical physics, a field is a region of influence, in which two or more points are connected by a force, like gravity or electromagnetism. However, in the world of the quantum particle, fields are created by exchanges of energy.
According to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, one reason that quantum particles are ultimately unknowable is because their energy is always being redistributed in a dynamic pattern. Although often rendered as tiny billiard balls, subatomic particles more closely resemble little packets of vibrating waves, passing energy back and forth as if in an endless game of basketball. All elementary particles interact with each other by exchanging energy through what are considered temporary or ‘virtual’ quantum particles. These are believed to appear out of nowhere, combining and annihilating each other in less than an instant, causing random fluctuations of energy without any apparent cause. Virtual particles, or negative energy states, do not take physical form, so we cannot actually observe them. Even ‘real’ particles are nothing more than a little knot of energy, which briefly emerge and disappear back into the underlying energy field.
These back-and-forth passes, which rise to an extraordinarily large ground state of energy, are known collectively as the Zero Point Field.
Comment
Zero point field is the basis of many types of substantive extraterrestrial technology.
The field is called ‘zero point’ because even at temperatures of absolute zero, when all matter theoretically should stop moving, these tiny fluctuations are still detectable. Even at the coldest place in the universe, subatomic matter never comes to rest, but carries on this little energy tango.[16]
The energy generated by every one of these exchanges between particles is unimaginably tiny – about half a photon’s worth. However, if all exchanges between all subatomic particles in the universe were to be added up, it would produce an inexhaustible supply of energy of unfathomable proportions, exceeding all energy in matter by a factor of 1040, or 1 followed by 40 zeros.[17] Richard Feynman himself once remarked that the energy in a cubic meter of space was enough to boil all the oceans of the world.[18]
After the discoveries of Heisenberg about Zero Point energy, most conventional physicists have subtracted the figures symbolizing Zero Point energy from their equations. They assumed that, because the Zero Point Field was ever present in matter, it did not change anything and so could be safely ‘renormalized’ away.
However, in 1973, when trying to work out an alternative to fossil fuel during the petrol crisis, American physicist Hal Puthoff, inspired by the Russian Andrei Sakharov, began trying to figure out how to harness the teeming energy of empty space for transport on earth and to distant galaxies.
Puthoff spent more than 30 years examining the Zero Point Field.
With some colleagues, he had proved that this constant energy exchange of all subatomic matter with the Zero Point Field accounts for the stability of the hydrogen atom, and, by implication, the stability of all matter.[19]
Remove the Zero Point Field and all matter would collapse in on itself.
He also demonstrated that Zero Point energy is responsible for two basic properties of mass: inertia and gravity.[20]
Puthoff also worked on a multimillion-dollar project funded by Lockheed Martin and a variety of American universities, to develop Zero Point energy for space travel – a programme that finally went public in 2006.
Many strange properties of the quantum world, like uncertainty or entanglement, could be explained if you factored in the constant interaction of all quantum particles with the Zero Point Field. To Puthoff, science’s understanding of the nature of entanglement was analogous to two sticks stuck in the sand at the edge of the ocean, about to be hit by a huge wave. If they both were knocked over, and you did not know about the wave, you would think that one stick was affecting the other and call it a non-local effect. The constant interaction of quantum particles with the Zero Point Field might be the underlying mechanism for non-local effects between particles, allowing one particle to be in touch with every other particle at any moment.[21]
Benni Reznik’s work in Israel with the Zero Point Field and entanglement bega mathematically with a central question: what would happen to a hypothetical pair of probes interacting with the Zero Point Field? According to his calculations, once they began interacting with the Zero Point Field, the probes would begin talking to each other and ultimately become entangled.[22]
If all matter in the universe were interacting with the Zero Point Field, it meant quite simply, that all matter was interconnected and potentially entangled throughout the cosmos through quantum waves.[23]
And if we and all of empty space are a mass of entanglement, we must be establishing invisible connections with things at a distance to ourselves.
Acknowledging the existence of the Zero Point Field and entanglement offers a ready mechanism for why signals being generated by the power of thought can be picked up by someone else many miles away.
* * *
Sai Ghosh had proved that non-locality existed in the large building blocks of matter and the other scientists proved that all matter in the universe was, in a sense, a satellite of a large central energy field. But how could matter be affected by this connection? The central assumption of all of classical physics is that large material things in the universe are set pieces, a fait accompli of manufacture.
How can they possibly be changed?
Vedral had an opportunity to examine this question when he was invited to work with the renowned quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger. Zeilinger’s Institute for Experimental Physics lab at the University of Vienna was at the very frontier of some of the most exotic research into the nature of quantum properties. Zeilinger himself was profoundly dissatisfied with the current scientific explanation of nature, and he had passed on that dissatisfaction and the quest to resolve it to his students.
In a flamboyant gesture, Zeilinger and his team had entangled a pair of photons from beneath the River Danube. They had set up a quantum channel via a glass fibre and run it across the river bed of the Danube. In his lab, Zeilinger liked to refer to individual photons as Alice and Bob, and sometimes, if he needed a third photon, Carol or Charlie. Alice and Bob, separated by 600 metres of river and nowhere in sight of each other, maintained a non-local connection.[24]
Zeilinger was particularly interested in superposition, and the implications of the Copenhagen Interpretation – that subatomic particles exist only in a state of potential.
Could objects, and not simply the subatomic particles that compose them, he wondered, exist in this hall-of-mirrors state?
To test this question, Zeilinger employed a piece of equipment called a Talbot Lau interferometer, developed by some colleagues at MIT, using a variation on the famous double-slit experiment of Thomas Young, a British physicist of the nineteenth century. In Young’s experiment, a beam of pure light is sent through a single hole, or slit, in a piece of cardboard, then passes through a second screen with two holes before finally arriving at a third, blank screen.
Young’s experiment.
When two waves are in phase (that is, peaking and troughing at the same time), and bump into each other – technically called ‘interference’ – the combined intensity of the waves is greater than each individual amplitude. The signal gets stronger. This amounts to an imprinting or exchange of information, called ‘constructive interference’. If one is peaking when the other troughs, they tend to cancel each other out – called ‘destructive interference’. With constructive interference, when all the waves are wiggling in synch, the light will get brighter; destructive interference will cancel out the light and result in complete darkness.
In the experiment, the light passing through the two holes forms a zebra pattern of alternating dark and light bands on the final blank screen. If light were simply a series of particles, two of the brightest patches would appear directly behind the two holes of the second screen. However, the brightest portion of the pattern is halfway between the two holes, caused by the combined amplitude of those waves that most interfere with each other. From this pattern, Young was the first to realize that light beaming through the two holes spreads out in overlapping waves.
A modern variation of the experiment fires off single photons through the double slit. These single photons also produce zebra patterns on the screen, demonstrating that even single units of light travel as a smeared-out wave with a large sphere of influence.
Young’s experiment.
Twentieth-century physicists went on to use Young’s experiment with other individual quantum particles, and held it up as proof that quantum physics had Through-the-Looking-Glass properties: quant um entities acted wavelike and travelled though both slits at once. Fire a stream of electrons at the triple screens, and you end up with the interference patterns of alternating light and dark patches, just as you do with a beam of light. Since you need at least two waves to create such interference patterns, the implication of the experiment is that the photon is somehow mysteriously able to travel through both slits at the same time and interfere with itself when it reunites.
The double-slit experiment encapsulates the central mystery of quantum physics
the idea that a subatomic particle is not a single seat but the entire stadium. It also demonstrates the principle that electrons, which exist in a hermetic quantum state, are ultimately unknowable. You could not identify something about a quantum entity without stopping the particle in its tracks, at which point it would collapse to a single point.
In Zeilinger’s adaptation of the slit experiment, using molecules instead of subatomic particles, the interferometer contained an array of slits in the first screen, and a grating of identical parallel slits in the second one, whose purpose was to diffract (or deflect) the molecules passing by. The third grating, turned perpendicular to the beam of molecules, acted as a scanning ‘mask’, with the ability to calculate the size of the waves of any of the molecules passing through, by means of a highly sensitive laser detector to locate the positions of the molecules and their interference patterns.
For the initial experiment, Zeilinger and his team carefully chose a batch of fullerene molecules, or ‘buckyballs’ made of 60 carbon atoms. At one nanometre apiece, these are the behemoths of the molecular world. They selected fullerene not only for its size but also for its neat arrangement, with a shape like a tiny symmetrical football.
It was a delicate operation. Zeilinger’s group had to work with just the right temperature; heating the molecules just a hair too much would cause them to disintegrate. Zeilinger heated the fullerenes to 900 K so they would create an intense molecular beam, then fired them through the first screen; they then passed through the second screen before making a pattern on the final screen. The results were unequivocal. Each molecule displayed the ability to create interference patterns with itself. Some of the largest units of physical matter had not ‘localized’ into their final state. Like a subatomic particle, these giant molecules had not yet gelled into anything real.
The Vienna team scouted out some other molecules that were double the size and oddly shaped to see if geometrically asymmetric molecules also demonstrated the same magical properties. They settled on gigantic fluorinated American football- shaped molecules of 70 carbon atoms and pancake-shaped tetraphenylporphyrin, a derivative of the biodye present in chlorophyll. At more than 100 atoms apiece, both of these entities are among the largest molecules on the planet. Again, each one created an interference pattern with itself.
Zeilinger’s group repeatedly demonstrated that the molecules could be two places at once, which meant that they remained in a state of superposition even at this large scale.[25]
They had proved the unthinkable: the largest components of physical matter and living things exist in a malleable state.[26]
Sai Ghosh didn’t often think about the implications of her discovery.
She was content with the knowledge that her experiment had made a very nice paper, and might help along her career as an assistant professor involved in research into miniaturization, the direction she believed quantum mechanics was heading. Occasionally, she allowed herself to speculate that her crystal might have proved something important about the nature of the universe. But she was only a postgraduate student. What did she, after all, really know about how the world worked?
But to me, Ghosh’s research and Zeilinger’s work on the double-slit experiment represent two defining moments in modern physics. Ghosh’s experiments show that an invisible connection exists between the fundamental elements of matter, which is often so strong that it can override classical methods of influence, such as heat or a push. Zeilinger’s work demonstrated something even more astonishing. Large matter was neither something solid and stable nor something that necessarily behaved according to Newtonian rules. Molecules needed some other influence to settle them into a completed state of being.
Theirs were the first evidence that the peculiar properties of quantum physics do not simply occur at the quantum level with subatomic particles, but also in the world of visible matter. Molecules also exist in a state of pure potential, not a final actuality. Under certain circumstances, they escape Newtonian rules of force and display quantum non-local effects. The fact that something as large as a molecule can become entangled suggests that there are not two rule books – the physics of the large and the physics of the small – but only a single rule book for all of life.
These two experiments also hold the key to a science of intention – how thoughts are able to affect finished, solid matter.
Comment
Thoughts create reality. They can change the physical world around us in the most profound manners. Thus we absolutely need to have direct and substantive control over our thoughts.
They suggest that the observer effect occurs not simply in the world of the quantum particle but also in the world of the everyday. Things no longer should be seen to exist in and of themselves but, like a quantum particle, only in relationship. Co-creation and influence may be a basic, inherent property of life.
Our observation of every component in our world may help to determine its final state, which suggests that we are likely to be influencing every large thing we see around us.
When we enter a crowded room, when we engage with our partners and our children, when we gaze up at the sky, we may be creating and even influencing at every moment. We can’t yet demonstrate this at normal temperatures; our equipment is still too crude. But we already have some preliminary proof: the physical world – matter itself – appears to be malleable, susceptible to influence from the outside.
Notes – Chapter 1: Mutable Matter
All personal information about Tom Rosenbaum and Sai Ghosh and their studies have been culled from multiple interviews conducted in February and March 2005.
This was the solution posed by Giorgio Parisi at Rome in 1979.
S. Ghosh et al., ‘Coherent spin oscillations in a disordered magnet’, Science, 2002; 296: 2195–8.
Once again, I am indebted to Danah Zohar for her easy-to-digest description of quantum non-locality, which appears in D. Zohar, The Quantum Self, London: Bloomsbury, 1991: 19–20.
A. Einstein, B. Podolsky and N. Rosen, ‘Can quantum-mechanica description of physical reality be considered complete?’ Physical Review, 1935; 47: 777–80.
A. Aspect et al., ‘Experimental tests of Bell’s inequalities using time- varying analyzers’, Physical Review Letters, 1982; 49: 1804–7; A. Aspect, ‘Bell’s inequality test: more ideal than ever’, Nature, 1999; 398: 189–90.
Non-locality was considered to be proven by Aspect et al.’ s experiments in Paris in 1982.
J. S. Bell, ‘On the Einstein-Poldolsky-Rosen paradox’,Physics, 1964; 1: 195–200.
S. Ghosh et al., ‘Entangled quantum state of magnetic dipoles’, Nature, 2003; 435: 48–51.
Details of Vedral’s views and experiments the result of multiple interviews, February, October and December 2005.
C. Arnesen et al., ‘Thermal and magnetic entanglement in the 1D Heisenberg Model’, Physical Review Letters, 2001; 87: 017901.
V. Vedral, ‘Entanglement hits the big time’, Nature, 2003; 425: 28–9.
T. Durt, interview with author, April 26, 2005.
B. Reznik, ‘Entanglement from the vacuum’, Foundations of Physics, 2003; 33: 167–76; Michael Brooks, ‘Entanglement: The weirdest link’,New Scientist, 2004; 181 (2440): 32.
John D. Barrow, The Book of Nothing, London: Jonathan Cape, 2000: 216.
Erwin Laszlo, The Interconnected Universe: Conceptual Foundations o Transdiscipinary Unified Theory, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 1995: 28.
A. C. Clarke, ‘When will the real space age begin?’ Ad Astra, May–June 1996; 13–15.
Harold Puthoff, ‘Ground state of hydrogen as a zero-point-fluctuation- determined state’, Physical Review D, 1987; 35: 3266.
B. Haisch, Alfonso Rueda and H. E. Puthoff, ‘Inertia as a zero-point-fiel Lorentz force’, Physical Review A, 1994; 49 (2): 678–94; Bernhard Haisch, Alfonso Rueda and H. E. Puthoff, ‘Physics of the zero-point field implications for inertia, gravitation and mass’, Speculations in Scienceand Technology, 1997; 20: 99–114.
Reznik, ‘Entanglement from the vacuum’, op. cit.
McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 35–6.
J. Resch et al., ‘Distributing entanglement and single photons through an intra-city, free-space quantum channel’, Optics Express, 2005; 13 (1): 202–9; R. Ursin et al., ‘Quantum teleportation across the Danube’, Nature, 2004; 430: 849.
M. Arndt et al., ‘Wave–particle duality of C60 molecules’, Nature, 1999; 401: 680–2; doi: 10.1038/44348.
IN 1951, AT THE AGE OF SEVEN, Gary Schwartz made a remarkabe discovery. He had been trying to get a good picture on the family’s television set. The recently acquired black and white Magnavox set encased behind the doors of its boxed walnut console fascinated him, not because of the people in the moving pictures so much as the means by which they arrived in his living room in the first place.
The mechanisms of the relatively new invention remained a mystery, even to most adults. Television, like any other electrical gadget, was something the precocious child longed to take apart and understand. This passion had already found expression with the worn-out radios given to him by his grandfather.
Ignatz Schwartz sold replacement tubes for televisions and radios in his drug store in Great Neck, Long Island, and those that were beyond repair were handed over to his grandson to disassemble. In a corner of Gary’s bedroom lay a mass of experimental debris – tubes, resistors and the carcasses of radios heaped on the cosmetic display racks he had borrowed from his grandfather – the first signs of what would become a lifelong fascination with electronics.
Gary knew that the way you twisted the rabbit-ear antenna on top of the television would determine the clarity of the picture. His father had explained that television sets were powered by something invisible, similar to radio waves, that flew through the air and were somehow translated into an image.
Gary had even carried out some rudimentary experiments. When you stood somewhere between the antenna and the television, you could make the picture go away. When you touched the antenna in certain ways, you made the picture clearer.
One day, on a whim, Gary unscrewed the antenna and placed his finger on the screw where the cable had been. What had been a mass of squiggles and static noise on the screen suddenly coalesced into a perfect image.
Even at that young age, he had understood that he had witnessed something extraordinary about human beings: his body was acting like a television antenna, a receiver of this invisible information.
He tried the same experiment with a radio – substituting his finger for the antenna, and the same thing happened.
Something in the makeup of a person was not unlike the rabbit ears that helped produce his television image. He too was a receiver of invisible information, with the ability to pick up signals transmitted across time and space.
Until he was 15, however, he could not visualize what these signals were made of. He had learned to play the electric guitar and had often wondered what unseen influences allowed the instrument to create different sounds. He could play the same note, middle C, and yet produce more of a treble or bass sound, depending on which way he turned the knob. How was it possible that a single note could sound so different? For a science project, he created multiple-track recordings of his music and then located a company in upstate New York that had equipment designed to analyse the frequency of sound. When he fed his recordings into the equipment, it quickly deconstructed the notes down to their essence.
Each note registered as a batch of squiggles across the screen of the cathode-ray tube in front of him – a complex mix of hundreds of frequencies representing a blend of overtones that would subtly change when he turned the knob to treble or bass. He knew that these frequencies were waves, represented on the monitor as a sideways S, or sine curve, like a skipping rope held at both ends and wriggled, and that they had periodic oscillations, or fluctuations, similar to the waves on Long Island Sound.
Every time he spoke, he knew he generated similar frequencies through his voice. He remembered his early television experiments and wondered whether a field of energy pulsated inside him and shared a kinship with sound waves.1
Gary’s childhood experiments may have been rudimentary, but he had already stumbled across the central mechanism of intention. Something in the quality of our thoughts was a constant transmission, not unlike a television station.
As an adult, Schwartz, still a bustling dynamo of enthusiasms, found an outlet in psychophysiology, then a fledgling study of the effect of the mind on the body. By the time he had accepted a post at the University of Arizona, which was known for encouraging freedom of research among its faculty, he had grown fascinated by biofeedback and the ways in which the mind could control blood pressure and a variety of illnesses – and the powerful physical effect of different types of thoughts.2
One weekend in 1994, at a conference on the relationship between love and energy, he sat in on a lecture by physicist Elmer Green, one of the pioneers of biofeedback. Green, like Schwartz, had grown interested in the energy being transmitted by the mind. To examine this more closely, he had decided to study remote healers and to determine whether they sent out more electrical energy than usual while in the process of healing.
Green reported in his lecture that he had built a room whose four walls and ceiling were entirely made of copper, and were attached to microvolt electroencephalogram (EEG) amplifiers – the kind used to measure the electrical activity in the brain. Ordinarily, an EEG amplifier is attached to a cap with imbedded electrodes, each of which records separate electrical discharges from different places in the brain. The cap is placed on a person’s head, and the electrical activity picked up is displayed on the amplifier. EEG amplifiers are extraordinarily sensitive, capable of picking up the most minute of effects – even one-millionth of a volt of electricity.
In remote healing, Green suspected that the signal produced was electrical and emanated from the healer’s hands. The copper wall acted like a giant antenna, magnifying the ability to detect the electricity from the healers and enabling Green to capture it from five directions.
He discovered that, whenever a healer sent healing, the EEG amplifier often recorded it as a huge surge of electrostatic charge, the same kind of the build up and discharge of electrons that occurs after you shuffle your feet along a new carpet and then touch a metal doorknob.3
In the early days of the copper wall experiment, Green had been faced with an enormous problem. Whenever a healer so much as wriggled a finger, patterns got recorded on an EEG amplifier. Green had had to work out a means of separating out the true effects of healing from this electrostatic noise. The only way to do so, as he saw it, was to have his healers remain perfectly still while they were sending out healing energy.
Schwartz listened to the talk with growing fascination. Green was discarding what might be the most interesting part of the data, he thought. One man’s noise was another man’s signal.
Does movement, even the physiology of your breathing, create an electromagnetic signal big enough to be picked up on a copper wall? Could it be that human beings were not only receivers of signals but also transmitters?
It made perfect sense that we transmitted energy. A great deal of evidence had already proved that all living tissue has an electric charge. Placing this charge in three-dimensional space caused an electromagnetic field that traveled at the speed of light. The mechanisms for the transmission of energy were clear, but what was unclear was the degree to which we sent out electromagnetic fields just by simple movements and whether our energy was being picked up by other living things.
Schwartz was itching to test this out for himself. After the conference, he contacted Green for advice about how to build his own copper wall. He rushed to Home Depot, which did not stock copper shielding but did have aluminum shielding, which could also act as a rudimentary antenna.
He purchased some two by fours, placed them on glass bricks so that they would be isolated from the ground, and used them to assemble a ‘wall’. After he had attached the wall to an EEG amplifier, he began playing around with the effects of his hand, waving it back and forth above the box. As he suspected, the amplifier tracked the movement. His hand movements were generating signals.4
Schwartz began demonstrating these effects in front of his students in his faculty office, making use of a bust of Einstein for dramatic effect. With these experiments, he made use of an EEG cap, with its dozens of electrodes. When not picking up brain signals, the cap will register only noise on the amplifier.
During his experiments, Schwartz placed the EEG cap on his Einstein bust, an turned on just a single electrode channel on the top of the cap. Then he moved his hand over Einstein’s head. As though the great man had suddenly experienced a moment of enlightenment, the amplifier suddenly came alive and produced evidence of an electromagnetic wave.
But the signal, Schwartz explained to his students, was not a sudden brain wave emitted from the lifeless statue – only the tracking of the electromagnetic field produced by his arm’s movement. It seemed indisputable: his body must be sending out a signal with every single flutter of his hand.
Schwartz got more creative with his experiments. When he tried the same gesture from three feet away, the signal diminished. When he placed the bust in a Faraday cage, an enclosure of tightly knit copper mesh that screens out electromagnetic fields, all effect disappeared. This strange energy resulting from movement had all the hallmarks of electricity: it decreased with distance, and was blocked by an electromagnetic shield.
At one point, Schwartz asked one of the students to stand with his left hand over Einstein’s head, with his right arm extended towards Schwartz, who was sitting in a chair three feet away. Schwartz moved his arm up and down. To the amazement of the other students, Schwartz’s movement was picked up by the amplifier. The signal had passed through Schwartz’s body and travelled through the student. Schwartz was still generating the signal, but this time, the student had become the antenna, receiving the signal and transmitting it to the amplifier, which acted as another antenna.
Schwartz realized he had hit upon the most important point of all his research.
Simple movement generated electrical charge, but, more important, it created a relationship. Every movement we make appears to be felt by the people around us.
The implications were staggering.
What if he were admonishing a student? What might be the physical effect on the student of wagging his finger while shouting ‘Don’t do that’? The student might feel as if he were getting shot with a wave of energy. Some people might even have more powerful positive or negative charges than others. In Elmer Green’s copper wall experiment, all sorts of equipment malfunctioned in the presence of Roslyn Bruyere, a famous healer.
Schwartz was onto something fundamental about the actual energy that human beings emit. Could the energy of thought have the same effect as the energy of movement outside the thinker’s own body? Did thoughts also create a relationship with the people around us? Every intention towards someone else might have its own physical counterpart, which would be registered by its recipient as a physical effect.
Like Schwartz, I suspected the energy generated by thoughts did not behave in the same way as the energy generated by movement. After all, the signal from movement decreased over distance, much like ordinary electricity. With healing, distance appeared to be irrelevant. The energy of intention, if indeed there were any, would have to be more fundamental than that of ordinary electromagnetism – and lie somewhere, perhaps, in the realm of quantum physics. How could I test the energetic effects of intention? Healers, who appeared to be sending more energy than normal through their healing, offered an obvious place to start.
Elmer Green demonstrated in his research that an enormous surge of electrostatic energy occurred during healing. When a person is simply standing still, his or her breathing and beating heart will produce electrostatic energy of 10–15 millivolts on the EEG amplifiers; during activities requiring focused attention, such as meditation, the energy will surge up to 3 volts. During healing, however, Green’s healers produced voltage surges up to 190 volts; one produced 15 such pulses, which were 100,000 times higher than normal, with smaller pulses of 1–5 volts appearing on each of the four copper walls. On investigating the source of this energy, Green discovered that the pulses were coming from the healer’s abdomen, called dan tien and considered the central engine of internal energy in the body in Chinese martial arts.5
Stanford University physicist William Tiller constructed an ingenious device to measure the energy produced by healers. The equipment discharged a steady stream of gas and recorded the exact number of electrons pulsing out with the discharge. Any increase in voltage would be captured by the pulse counter.
In his experiment, Tiller asked ordinary volunteers to place their hands about six inches from his device and hold a mental intention to increase the count rate. In the majority of more than 1000 such experiments, Tiller discovered that, during the intention, the number of recorded pulses would increase by 50,000 and remain there for 5 minutes.
These increases would occur even if a participant was not close to the machine, so long as he or she held an intention.
Tiller concluded that directed thoughts produce demonstrable physical energy, even over remote distance.6
Comment
Tiller concluded that directed thoughts produce demonstrable physical energy, even over remote distance..
I found two other studies measuring the actual electrical frequencies emitted by people using intention.
One study measured healing energy and the other examined energy generated by a Chinese Qigong master during times that he was emitting external Qi, the Chinese term for energy or the life force.7
In both instances, the measurements were identical: frequency levels of 2–30 hertz were being emitted by the healers.
This energy also seemed to change the molecular nature of matter.
Comment
Qi seemed to change the molecular nature of matter.
I discovered a body of scientific evidence examining chemical changes caused by intention.
Bernard Grad, an associate professor of biology at McGill University in Montreal had examined the effect of healing energy on water that was to be used to irrigate plants. After a group of healers had sent healing to samples of water, Grad chemically analysed the water by infrared spectroscopy.
He discovered that the water treated by the healers had undergone a fundamental change in the bonding of oxygen and hydrogen in its molecular makeup.
The hydrogen bonding between the molecules had lessened in a similar manner to that which occurs in water exposed to magnets.8
A number of other scientists confirmed Grad’s findings; Russian research discovered that the hydrogen–oxygen bonds in water molecules undergo distortions in the crystalline microstructure during healing.9
These kinds of changes can occur simply through the act of intention.
In one study, experienced meditators sent an intention to affect the molecular structure of water samples they were holding throughout the meditation. When the water was later examined by infrared spectrophotometry, many of its essential qualities, particularly its absorbance – the amount of light absorbed by the water at a particular wavelength had been significantly altered.10
When someone holds a focused thought, he may be altering the very molecular structure of the object of his intention.
Comment
When someone holds a focused thought, he may be altering the very molecular structure of the object of his intention.
In his research, Gary Schwartz wondered whether intention only manifested as electrostatic energy. Perhaps magnetic energy also played a role.
Magnetic fields naturally had more power, more ‘push–pull’ energy. Magnetism seemed the more powerful and universal energy; the earth itself is profoundly influenced by its own faint pulse of geomagnetic energy.
Schwartz remembered a study carried out by William Tiller, in which psychics had been placed inside a variety of devices that block different forms of energy. They had performed better than usual in a Faraday cage, which filters out only electrical energy, but they performed worse when placed in a magnetically shielded room.11
From these early studies, Schwartz gleaned two important implications: healing may generate an initial surge of electricity, but the real transfer mechanism may be magnetic.
Indeed, psychic phenomena and psychokinesis could be differentially influenced, simply through different types of shielding. Electrical signals might interfere, while magnetic signals enhance the process.
To test this latest idea, Schwartz was approached by a colleague of his, Melinda Connor, a post-doctoral fellow in her mid-forties with an interest in healing.
The first hurdle was finding an accurate means of picking up magnetic signals. Measuring tiny low-frequency magnetic fields is tricky, requiring the use of expensive and highly sensitive equipment called a SQUID, or superconducting quantum interferenc device. A SQUID, which can cost up to four million dollars, ordinarily occupies a specially constructed room that has been magnetically shielded in order to eliminate ambient radiating noise.
The best Schwartz and Connor could come up with on their limited budget was a poor man’s SQUID – a small handheld, battery-operated three-axis digita gaussmeter originally designed to measure electromagnetic pollution by picking up extra-low-frequency (ELF) magnetic fields.
The gaussmeter was sensitive enough to pick up one-thousandth of a gauss, a very faint pulse of a magnetic field. In Schwartz’s mind, this level of sensitivity was more than adequate to do the job.
It occurred to Connor that the way to measure change in low-frequency magnetic fields was to count the number of changes in the meter reading over time. When simply recording ambient stable magnetic fields, the device will only deviate slightly by less than one-tenth of a gauss.
However, in the presence of an oscillating magnetic field – with periodic changes in frequency – the numbers will keep moving, from, say, 0.6 to 0.7 to 0.8, and back down to 0.6.
The greater and more frequent the change, which would be recorded by the number of changes in the dials, the more likely it is that the magnetic field has been affected by a source of directed energy.
Connor and Schwartz gathered together a group of practitioners of Reiki, the healing art developed a century ago in Japan.
They took measurements near each hand of all the healers during alternating periods while they were ‘running energy’ and then during times they were at rest, with their eyes closed. Next, the pair assembled a group of ‘master healers’ with a substantial track record of successful, dramatic healings. Again, Connor and Schwartz took magnetic field measurements near each hand, while the master healers were running energy and at rest. Then, they compared the Reiki measurements with measurements they had taken of people who had not been trained in healing.
Once Schwartz and Conner had analyzed the data, they discovered that both groups of healers demonstrated significant fluctuations in very low pulsations of a magnetic field, emanating from both hands.
A huge increase in oscillations in the magnetic field occurred whenever a healer began to run energy. However, the most profound energy increase surged from their dominant hands. The control group of people who were not trained healers did not demonstrate the same effect.
Then Schwartz compared effects from the Reiki group with those of the master healers and discovered another enormous difference. The master healers averaged close to a third more magnetic-field changes per minute than the Reiki healers.12
The study results seemed clear. Schwartz and Connor had their proof that directed intention manifests as both electrostatic and magnetic energy.
Comment
Directed intention manifests as both electrostatic and magnetic energy.
But they also discovered that intention was like playing the piano; you need to learn how to do it, and some people do it better than others.
Comment
The ability to manipulate energy comes with training and practice.
In considering what this all meant, Gary Schwartz thought of the phrase often used by medical doctors, usually in emergency situations: when you hear hoof beats, don’t think zebras .
In other words, when you are trying to diagnose someone with physical symptoms, first rule out all the most likely causes, and only then consider more exotic possibilities.
He liked to approach science in the same way and so he questioned his own findings: Could the healers’ increase in magnetic field oscillations during healing simply be the result of certain peripheral biophysical changes? Muscle contractions generate a magnetic field, as do changes in blood flow, the increasing or decreasing dilation of blood vessels, the body’s current volume of liquid or even the flow of electrolytes. Skin, sweat glands, change of temperature, neural induction – all generate magnetic fields.
His guess was that healing resulted from a summation of multiple biological processes that are mediated magnetically.
But the possibility that healing might be a magnetic effect did not explain long- distance remote healing.
In some instances, healers sent healing from thousands of miles away and the effect did not decay with distance. In one successful study of AIDS patients who improved through remote healing, the 40 healers involved in the study sent the healing to the San Francisco patients from locations all across America.13
Similar to electrical fields, magnetic fields decrease with distance. The magnetic and electrical effects were likely to be some aspect of the process, but not its central one. It was likely to be closer to a quantum field, possibly more akin to light.
Schwartz began to consider the possibility that the mechanism creating intention originated with the tiny elements of light emitted from human beings. In the mid- 1970s, a German physicist named Fritz-Albert Popp had stumbled upon the fact that all living things, from the most basic of single-celled plants to the most sophisticated of organisms like human beings, emitted a constant tiny current of photons – tiny particles of light.14
He labelled them ‘biophoton emissions’ and believed that he had uncovered the primary communication channel of a living organism – that it used light as a means of signalling to itself and to the outside world.
For more than 30 years, Popp has maintained that this faint radiation, rather than biochemistry, is the true driving force in orchestrating and coordinating all cellular processes in the body. Light waves offered a perfect communication system able to transfer information almost instantaneously across an organism. Having waves, rather than chemicals, as the communication mechanism of a living being also solved the central problem of genetics – how we grow and take final shape from a single cell. It also explains how our bodies manage to carry out tasks with different body parts simultaneously. Popp theorized that this light must be like a master tuning fork setting off certain frequencies that would be followed by other molecules of the body.15
A number of biologists, such as the German biophysicist Herbert Fröhlich, had proposed that a type of collective vibration causes proteins and cells to coordinate their activities.
Nevertheless, all such theories were ignored until Popp’s discoveries, largely because no equipment was sensitive enough to prove they were right.
With the help of one of his students, Popp constructed the first such machine – a photomultiplier that captured light and counted it, photon by photon. He carried out years of impeccable experimentation that demonstrated that these tiny frequencies were mainly stored and emitted from the DNA of cells.
The intensity of the light in organisms was stable, ranging from a few to several hundred photons per second per square centimetre surface of the living thing – until the organism was somehow disturbed or ill, at which point the current went sharply up or down.
The signals contained valuable information about the state of the body’s health and the effects of any particular therapy. Cancer victims had fewer photons, for instance. It was almost as though their light were going out.
Initially vilified for his theory, Popp was eventually recognized by the German government and then internationally.
Eventually he formed the International Institute of Biophysics (IIB), composed of 15 groups of scientists from international centres all around the world, including prestigious institutions like CERN in Switzerland Northeastern University in the USA, the Institute of Biophysics Academy of Scienc in Beijing, China, and Moscow State University in Russia. By the early twenty-firs century, the IIB numbered at least 40 distinguished scientists from around the globe.
Could it be that these were the frequencies that mediated healing? Schwartz realized that if he was going to carry out studies of biophoton emissions, first he had to figure out how to view these tiny emissions of light.
In his laboratory, Popp developed a computerized mechanism attached to a box in which a living thing, such as a plant, could be placed. The machine could count the photons and chart the amount of light emitted on a graph. But those machines only recorded photons in utter pitch blackness. Up until then, it had been impossible for scientists to witness living things actually glowing in the dark.
As Schwartz mulled over the kind of equipment that would allow him to see very faint light, he thought of state-of-the-art supercooled charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras on telescopes. This exquisitely sensitive equipment, now used to photograph galaxies deep in space, picks up about 70 per cent of any light, no matter how faint.
CCD devices were also used for night-vision equipment.
If a CCD camera could pick up the light from the most distant of stars, it might also be able to pick up the faint light coming off living things. However, this kind of equipment can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and usually had to be cooled to temperatures only 100 degrees above absolute zero, to eliminate any ambient radiation emitted at room temperature. Cooling the camera down also helped to improve its sensitivity to faint light. Where on earth was he going to get hold of this kind of high-tech equipment?
Kathy Creath, a professor of optical sciences at Schwartz’s university, who shared his fascination with living light and its possible role in healing, had an idea. As it happened, she knew that the department of radiology at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Tucson owned a low-light CCD camera, which they used t measure the light emitted from laboratory rats after being injected with phosphorescent dyes.
The Roper Scientific VersArray 1300 B low-noise, high performance CCD camera was housed in a dark room inside a black box and above a Cryotiger cooling system, which cooled temperatures to –100°C. A computer screen displayed its images. It was just what they were looking for. After Creath approached the director of the NSF project, he generously agreed to allow the two of them access to the camera during its down time.
In their first test, Schwartz and Creath placed a geranium leaf on a black platform. They took fluorescent photographs after exposures of up to five hours. When the computer displayed the final photograph, it was dazzling: a perfect image of the leaf in light, like a shadow in reverse, but in incredible detail, each of its tiniest veins delineated.
Surrounding the leaf were little white spots, like a sprinkling of fairy dust – evidence of high-energy cosmic rays. With his next exposure, Schwartz used a software filter to screen out the ambient radiation. The image of the leaf was now perfect.
As they studied this latest photograph on the screen of the computer in front of them, Schwartz and Creath understood that they were making history. It was the first time a scientist had been able to witness images of the light actually emanating from a living thing.16
Now that he had equipment that captured and recorded light, Schwartz was finally able to test whether healing intention also generated light.
Creath got hold of a number of healers, and asked them to place their hands on the platform underneath the camera for 10 minutes. Schwartz’s first crude images showed a rough glow of large pixilations, but they were too out of focus for him to analyse them.
Next he tried placing the healers’ hands on a white background (which reflected light) rather than on a black background (which absorbed light). The images were breathtakingly clear: a stream of light flowed out of the healers’ dominant hands, almost as though it were flowing from their fingers. Schwartz now had his answer about the nature of conscious thought: healing intention creates waves of light – and, indeed, among the most organized light waves found in nature.
The theory of relativity was not Einstein’s only great insight.
He had had another astonishing realization in 1924, after correspondence with an obscure Indian physicist, Satyendra Nath Bose, who had been pondering the then-new idea that light was composed of little vibrating packets called photons. Bose had worked out that, at certain points, photons should be treated as identical particles. At the time nobody believed him – nobody but Einstein, after Bose sent him his calculations.
Einstein liked Bose’s proofs and used his influence to get Bose’s theory published. Einstein also was inspired to explore whether, under certain conditions or certain temperatures, atoms in a gas, which ordinarily vibrated anarchically, might also begin to behave in synchrony, like Bose’s photons. Einstein set to work on his own formula to determine which conditions might create such a phenomenon.
When he reviewed his figures, he thought he had made a mistake in his calculations.
According to his results, at certain extraordinarily low temperatures, just a few kelvin above absolute zero, something really strange would begin to happen: the atoms, which ordinarily can operate at a number of different speeds, would slow down to identical energy levels. In this state, the atoms would lose their individuality and both look and behave like one giant atom. Nothing in his mathematical armamentarium could tell them apart. If this were true, he realized, he had stumbled upon an entirely new state of matter, with utterly different properties from anything known in the universe.
Einstein published his findings,17 and lent his name to the phenomenon, called a Bose–Einstein condensate, but he was never convinced that he had been right.
Nor were other physicists, until more than 70 years later when, on 5 June 1995, Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman of JILA, a programme sponsored by the National Institut of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado at Boulder, managed to cool a tiny batch of rubidium atoms down to 170 billionths of a degree above absolute zero.18
It had been quite a feat, requiring trapping the atoms in a web of laser light and then magnetic fields. At a certain point, a batch of some 2000 atoms – measuring about 20 microns, about one-fifth the thickness of a single piece of paper – began behaving differently from the cloud of atoms surrounding them, like one smeared-out single entity. Although the atoms were still part of a gas, they were behaving more like the atoms of a solid.
Four months later, Wolfgang Ketterle from Massachusetts Institute of Technology replicated their experiment, but with a form of sodium, for which he, as well as Cornell and Wieman, won the 2001 Nobel prize.19
Then a few years after that, Ketterle and others like him were able to reproduce the effect with molecules.20
Scientists believed that a form of Einstein and Bose’s theory could account for some of the strange properties they had begun to observe in the subatomic world: superfluidity, when certain fluids can flow without losing energy, or even spontaneously work themselves out of their containers; or superconduction, a similar property of electrons in a circuit. In superfluid or superconductor states, liquid or electricity could theoretically flow at the same pace forever.
Ketterle had discovered another amazing property of atoms or molecules in this state. All the atoms were oscillating in perfect harmony, similar to photons in a laser, which behave like one giant photon, vibrating in perfect rhythm. This organization makes for an extraordinary efficiency of energy. Instead of sending a light about 3 meters, the laser emits a wave 300 million times that far.
Scientists were convinced that a Bose–Einstein condensate was a peculiar property of atoms and molecules slowing down so much that they are almost at rest, when exposed to temperatures only a fraction above the coldest temperatures in the universe.
But then Fritz-Albert Popp and the scientists working with him made the astonishing discovery that a similar property existed in the weak light emanating from organisms. This was not supposed to happen in the boiling inner world of the living thing. What is more, the biophotons he measured from plants, animals and humans were highly coherent. They acted like a single super-powerful frequency, a phenomenon also referred to as ‘superradiance’.
The German biophysicist Herbert Fröhlich had first described a model in which this type of order could be present and play a central role in biological systems. His model showed that, with complex dynamic systems like human beings, the energy within created all sorts of subtle relationships, so that it is no longer discordant.21
Living energy is able to organize to one giant coherent state, with the highest form of quantum order known to nature.
When subatomic particles are said to be ‘coherent’, or ‘ordered’, they become highly interlinked by bands of common electromagnetic fields, and resonate like a multitude of tuning forks all attuned to the same frequency. They stop behaving like anarchic individuals and begin operating like one well- rehearsed marching band.
As one scientist put it, coherence is like comparing the photons of a single 60- watt light bulb to the sun.
Ordinarily, light is extraordinarily inefficient. The intensity of light from a bulb is only about 1 watt per square centimetre of light – because many of the waves made by the photons destructively interfere with and cancel out each other. The light per square centimetre generated by the sun is about 6000 times stronger. But if you could get all the photons of this one small light bulb to become coherent and resonate in harmony with each other, the energy density of the single light bulb would be thousands to millions of times higher than that of the surface of the sun.22
After Popp made his discoveries about coherent light in living organisms, other scientists postulated that mental processes also create Bose–Einstein condensates. British physicist Roger Penrose and his partner, American anaesthetist Stuar Hameroff from the University of Arizona, were in the vanguard of frontier scientists who proposed that the microtubules in cells, which create the basic structure of the cells, were ‘light pipes’ through which disordered wave signals were transformed into highly coherent photons and pulsed through the rest of the body.23
Gary Schwartz had witnessed just this coherent photon stream emanating from the hands of healers. After studying the work of scientists like Popp and Hameroff, he finally had his answer about the source of healing: if thoughts are generated as frequencies, healing intention is well-ordered light.
Gary Schwartz’s creative experiments revealed to me something fundamental about the quantum nature of thoughts and intentions. He and his colleagues had uncovered evidence that human beings are both receivers and transmitters of quantum signals. Directed intention appears to manifest as both electrical and magnetic energy and to produce an ordered stream of photons, visible and measurable by sensitive equipment. Perhaps our intentions also operate as highly coherent frequencies, changing the very molecular makeup and bonding of matter. Like any other form of coherence in the subatomic world, one well-directed thought might be like a laser light, illuminating without ever losing its power.
I was reminded of an extraordinary experience Schwartz once had in Vancouver. He had been staying in the penthouse apartment suite of a downtown hotel. He had awakened at 2 a.m., as he often did, and had walked out to the balcony to have a look at the spectacular view of the city to the west, framed by the mountains. He was surprised to see how many hundreds of homes along the peninsula below him still had their lights on.
He wished he had a telescope handy to see what some of the people were doing up at this late hour. But of course, if any of them had their own telescope, they would be able to see him standing there in the nude. An odd thought suddenly came to him of his own naked image flying into each window. But maybe the idea was not so fanciful.
After all, he was emitting a constant stream of biophotons, all travelling at the speed of light; each photon would have travelled 186,000 miles one second later, and 372,000 miles one second after that.
His light was not unlike the photons of visible light emanating from stars in the sky. Much of the light from distant stars has been traveling for millions of years. Starlight contains a star’s individual history. Even if a star had died long before its light reached earth, its information remains, an indelible footprint in the sky.
He then had a sudden image of himself as a ball of energy fields, a little star, glowing with a steady stream of every photon his body had ever produced for more than 50 years.
All the information he had been sending from the time he was a young boy in Long Island, every last thought he had ever had, was still out there, glowing like starlight. Perhaps, I thought, intention was also like a star. Once constructed, a thought radiated out like starlight, affecting everything in its path.
Notes – Chapter 2: The Human Antenna
All personal details about Gary Schwartz and his discoveries result from multiple interviews with him and the author, March–June 2006.
H. Benson et al., ‘Decreased systolic blood pressure through operant conditioning techniques in patients with essential hypertension’, Science, 1971; 173 (3998): 740–2.
E. E. Green, ‘Copper wall research psychology and psychophysics: subtle energies and energy medicine: emerging theory and practice’, Proceedings, First Annual Conference, International Society for the Stud of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM,) Boulder, Colorado, 21–25 June 1991.
This research was eventually published as G. Schwartz and L. Russek ‘Subtle energies – electrostatic body motion registration and the human antenna-receiver effect: a new method for investigating interpersonal dynamical energy system interactions’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1996; 7 (2): 149–84.
E. E. Green et al., ‘Anomalous electrostatic phenomena in exceptional subjects’, Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 1993; 2: 69; W. A. Tiller et al., ‘Towards explaining anomalously large body voltage surges on exceptional subjects, Part I: The electrostatic approximation’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1995; 9 (3): 331.
William A. Tiller, ‘Subtle energies’, Science & Medicine, 1999, 6 (3): 28–33.
A. Seto et al., ‘Detection of extraordinary large biomagnetic field strength from the human hand during external qi emission’, Acupuncture and Electrotherapeutics Research International, 1992; 17: 75–94; J. Zimmerman, ‘New technologies detect effects in healing hands’, Brain/Mind Bulletin, 1985; 10 (2): 20–3.
B. Grad, ‘Dimensions in “Some biological effects of the laying on o hands” and their implications’, in H. A. Otto and J. W. Knight (eds.) Dimension in Wholistic Healing: New Frontiers in the Treatment of the Whole Person, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979: 199–212.
L. N. Pyatnitsky and V. A. Fonkin, ‘Human consciousness influence on water structure’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1995; 9 (1): 89.
G. Rein and R. McCraty, ‘Structural changes in water and DN associated with new physiologically measurable states’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1994; 8 (3): 438–9.
W. Tiller would eventually write about the effect of shielding psychics in his book Science and Human Transformation, Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pavior Publishing, 1997: 32.
M. Connor, G. Schwartz et al., ‘Oscillation of amplitude as measured by an extra low frequency magnetic field meter as a biophysical measure of intentionality’. Paper presented at the Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference, Tucson, Arizona, April 2006.
Sicher, Targ et al., ‘A randomized double-blind study’, op. cit.
See McTaggart, The Field, op. cit.: 39, for a full description of F.-A. Popp’s earlier work.
S. Cohen and F.-A. Popp, ‘Biophoton emission of the human body’ Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, 1997; 40: 187–9.
K. Creath and G. E. Schwartz, ‘What biophoton images of plants can tel us about biofields and healing’, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2005; 19 (4): 531–50.
S. N. Bose, ‘Planck’s Gesetz und Lichtquantenhypothese’, Zeitschrift für Physik, 1924; 26: 178–81; A. Einstein, ‘Quantentheorie des einatomigen idealen Gases [Quantum theory of ideal monoatomic gases]’, Sitz. Ber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. (Berlin), 1925; 23: 3.
C. E. Wieman and E. A. Cornell, ‘Seventy years later: the creation of Bose-Einstein condensate in an ultracold gas’, Lorentz Proceedings, 1999; 52: 3–5.
K. Davis et al., ‘Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms’ Physical Review Letters, 1995; 75: 3969–73.
M. W. Zwierlein et al., ‘Observation of Bose-Einstein condensation o molecules’, Physical Review Letters, 2003; 91: 250401.
H. Fröhlich, ‘Long range coherence and energy storage in biological systems’, Int. J. Quantum Chem., 1968; II: 641–9.
For this entire example, see Tiller, Science and Human Transformation, op. cit.: 196.
M. Jibu et al., ‘Quantum optical coherence in cytoskeletal microtubules: implications for brain function’, Biosystems, 1994; 32: 195–209; S. R. Hameroff, ‘Cytoplasmic gel states and ordered water: possible roles in biological quantum coherence’, Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Advanced Water Sciences Symposium, Dallas, Texas, 1996.
More…
This is part 1 of a multi-part post.
The access to all the posts can be found in this index below…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This post discusses a hidden aspect of the EBP. It was used to teach and / train me (aside from it’s other purposes).
Once I had the EBP installed, and my genetic makeup modified, I underwent a long period of time being trained. This was during the time that I described in my post; lost as an autonomous vagabond. This period in my life was absolutely confusing. As I lived on the outskirts of society, living hand-to-mouth at a below-poverty level. While all the time, my consciousness was partitioned and participating within a training regimen.
Here we will discuss what it was like for me during my training and the kind of things that I was taught. It’s way, way, WAY “out there” and rather incredulous. But this is my record, and this is my autobiography. Read it or not. Believe it or not. I don’t fucking care. It’s your life.
Sponsors
I was trained by our extraterrestrial benefactors. MAJestic had nothing to do with the training. It was all associated with the EBP.
MAJestic
MAJestic controlled the ELF probes only.
They were used to monitor what was going on between the benefactors and my mind. I do believe that it must have been rather boring to the operators, as it relied on the optical sensors and the auditory sensors of my brain. While just about all the activity took place with consciousness with operates outside of the brain.
There was activity that took place between the ELF and the benefactors in regards to mission parameters at Oxia Palus. But this began AFTER this period of training.
MAJestic knew about the EBP. They knew that it was installed, and that I had a role that involved our benefactors. They also knew that they had to be “hands off” in regards to this role.
They did not know the scope of what the EBP entailed, or what my actual role with the benefactors would be.
Technology
Our benefactors consider the physical world to be a small part of the totality of reality. They operate within the non-physical world, and what we see in the physical is but a small part of their operations.
Thus it makes complete sense that I would be trained in using their technology, and their systems within their environment. And ya!, it’s really, really different than anything we (as humans) know.
The Mantids are a multi-dimensional species, and the EBP interfaced with that species using their technologies and their sciences.
Sequence of events.
This is the sequence of events…
Enter MAJestic.
ELF probes installed.
EBP installed and genetically re-engineered.
Left on my own as a vagabond.
Training via the EBP while a vagabond. – You are HERE.
Recovery by MAJestic at China Lake Naval Weapons Center.
Calibration of the ELF probes at China Lake.
Operations with the ELF probes via Oxia Palus.
Mission operations…
The Schools
To understand what is going on, you need to recognize that over a period of at least three years I “attended” schooling. It occurred in my mind via my consciousness. My brain observed two things happening all at once.
I lived a normal physical life, and my consciousness participated in that life.
My brain also observed that my consciousness attended school in the non-physical realms. This occurred simultaneously with my normal day to day life.
This education took place with my partitioned consciousness and our benefactors. There was zero participation with MAJestic. To an outside observer, there was zero physical evidence that anything was going on. There was nothing that would tell an outside observer what I was going through or enduring.
I went through “training” of a unknown nature at facilities and training centers.
While there were occasional “schools” that I attended that lasted for under a day. Most attendance was sequential at various “facilities” or “places”.
Appearance
While my consciousness migrated in the non-physical worlds, it would attend schools. These schools in all instances resembled human structures with campuses, buildings, vegetation, parks, quads, and entities. Most of the entities were human people, for the most part, but not always.
The appearance of the structures varied from a simple outdoor amphitheater to huge buildings of amazing construction and complexity.
I would attend classes with other students. Some of the classes had a few as three students while other classes had perhaps thirty. Most of the classes were of small size. Only a a few very rare occasions did I participate in larger classes.
There would be a teacher / instructor.
Often, that instructor would take a special notice of me and devote the class to my particular studies while the rest of the class watched on. I have no idea why this was the case.
Class length and duration
This education at different facilities had a degree of uniformity to it. I would attend “training” at one place for a period of time, and then attend another school or a different period of time. After that, another school, and then again, yet another school.
Duration was typically three days per school. This would occur during my waking life, as well as intrude into my dreams. I was 24-7 “on” in regards to this.
The longest time that I spent at any school was (perhaps) around two and a half weeks. The shortest time was just a few hours. I estimate that I attended perhaps 300 to 350 different “schools”.
That is quite a lot, in case you aren’t paying attention.
Breaks / vacations
There were breaks between sessions. I do not know why the breaks occurred or what was behind the breaks. Breaks typically lasted between four to six days. Then the education procedure would continue. I would typically have a break every three or four months or so.
When I was on a break, I would have a more or less “normal” life. No strange thoughts, experiences, dreams or feelings.
Subjects
The subjects were beyond the conception of anything that I can explain. Sorry.
If we used a scale to compare educational complexity, we might be able to compare difficulty and advancement levels. So here’s my attempt.
Toddler learning how to walk – 1
Kindergarten – 4
Elementary School – 12
High school – 22
College – 38
Post-graduate studies – 45
Using that as a scale, I would say that the content, the subjects, the content and the degree of saturation and density of the information portrayed as…
EBP 3 year training – 3450
Graduation(s)
I attended numerous “programs” that consisted of “blocks” of education and specific “classes”.
After a certain period of time had elapsed I would then attend another school.
Infrequently, and for reasons I do not understand, I would attend a sort of “graduation ceremony”. This procedure would acknowledge that I had obtained the necessary education, skills and abilities that I was supposed to learn.
I perhaps graduated, maybe, five separate times, plus my “final” graduation ceremony. Thus, I can only assume that I attended approximately six Major “educational programs” (and at least 12 minor programs) from which I obtained some type of ‘certificate”.
Ability
So, the question is what abilities do I now have?
I think that most of the training was associated with the world-line switching and slides that I experienced once I completed my training at China Lake NWC. I also believe that most of the training was elementary (from our benefactors point of view) as it taught me how to use their systems and understand their technologies.
After all, if you are going to teach a dog to drive a car, you would need to show him how to get into the car, where to sit, and other basics that we humans take for granted…
…and not to sniff and pee on the tire.
Important points
All this took pace before the ELF probes were calibrated at China Lake NWC.
Which means that the EBP and the genetic changes were such that they were able to partition my consciousness into a secondary “container”.
Imagine this much the same way that we partition a hard drive into different “drives”.
If you install a 500 MB hard-drive into a computer, it is preset as drive C:. Thus it would appear in your Windows Explorer as “Drive C:”.
Partitioning a hard drive into separate drives.
You can use partitioning software to break that drive down into other drives. Such as Drive D:, Drive E: and Drive F:.
In a way, and this is very simplistic, I believe that this is what occurred with my consciousness.
Partitioning and education
Most of what I was taught had zero utility in my physical life.
Therefore, it wasn’t even transmitted to my physical brain in in any kind of meaningful way. I just cannot vocalize my teachings, or be able to explain them to anyone within this world-line.
The consciousness partitioning was absolute and what could be utilized by my physical body was conveyed by the shared consciousness. What could not be, was not transmitted. and this leads to some interesting conclusions…
There is a segmentation and stratification of understanding, experience and knowledge between the physical and non-physical worlds.
A given world-line within the physical world might have information restricted or access denied to the consciousness that is within that reality.
The idea that the physical reality is all that there is, is laughingly pathetic. It is but a very tiny part of a much larger, much more expansive non-physical reality.
To obtain my role in the physical reality, and acquire my experiences for the non-physical reality, certain non-physical universe training was necessary. What it is, and how to communicate it to the reader trapped within this physical reality is impossible.
Conclusion
My role in MAJestic required me to perform tasks for our benefactors.
I had two set of physical modifications. They were a set of ELF probes that were MAJestic implanted, and operated. And a EBP that was installed with other substantial genetic modifications and training by our benefactors.
The training of the EBP is what this post covers.
The EBP modified my physical body and created multiple consciousnesses. Both consciousnesses can communicate back and forth between each other. The two consciousnesses have different roles and different functions, and much of what the EBP educated me with was involved in the newly segmented consciousness. Not with my original consciousness.
And finally…
MAJestic traded myself to our benefactors for technology.
They used me as a kind of “ambassador”.
This role was monitored by MAJestic via the ELF technology.
This ambassador role was unlike anything that we can conceive of.
I was altered and changed.
Not only physically, but spiritually as well.
I had my consciousness segmented.
As such, I was able to utilize advanced non-physical technologies provided by our benefactors.
This training enabled me to conduct world-line travel with a great degree of facility over and above what most humans are capable of.
It enabled me to anchor world-lines.
It enabled me to be the “representative” of humans to “adjust” our world-line trends towards a preferred sentience.
Are you confused?
You should be. Our world, our universe, and our lives are not like anything that we have been taught or understand. It is different, really, really different on so many, many levels.
If you want to kick the computer screen and yell, go ahead. Then go read about the “enlightened ones”, the (shape changing) “reptilians”, chrononauts, the “Zeta’s” that are going to take over America, Eh? It’s your reality. Read about the “coming age of enlightenment” and other fictions.
This is my history. Not a relatable fiction that makes you feel good about yourself.
Like I said before. The “real world” doesn’t resemble anything that you think it does.
Do you want more?
I have more posts along these lines in my MAJestic Index, here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
Here we take a look at the very interesting world of multiple star systems. But not just the fascinating world of the physics involved, but also we look at how these systems would influence the evolution of sentient life on planets within those systems. It’s a great subject and far larger than any trivial study of Newtonian physics applied to orbital bodies would ever be.
Why is this important?
Well, you see, where a physical species evolves from greatly affects the way it matures as it evolves. A fish in an ocean that relies on warn ocean currents cannot readily survive in the Arctic. A migratory species like ducks and geese would have a difficult time relocating to a planet with a different gravitational field, or in the presence of a much larger planetary neighbor.
In fact, the general odds are that they will not really care about other species that live outside of their inherent “comfort zones”.
You see, the science fiction ideal that humans can adapt all over the universe is wrong. Adaptation is difficult. It is difficult for most species, and while species can travel to the earth and visit us, the idea that they would settle down here, is not as easy as your would think.
That is true with their “interest” with us humans as well.
Pro Tip:
The extraterrestrial species that interact with humans are from this general region within our galaxy. They are here for reasons, and for them, it really isn't all that comfortable. They need to generate special "environments" and "bodies" to function in this sphere of space (if they did not originate here).
It's not just planetary considerations: air, temperature, humidity, type of light, food, enzymes, bacteria, germs, viruses, etc...
It's the gravitational influences of stars, planets and moons on the biological behaviors of the extraterrestrial visitors.
And it’s not ONLY being in a “habitable zone” within a solar system that is important. It is many other factors. And one of the greatest influences is gravitational. Not only in the strength of a gravitational field (too strong is too uncomfortable, and too light cannot maintain an atmosphere.) but in the way the major gravitational bodies orbit around and near the planets that one inhabits.
To really understand other extraterrestrial species, you really need to understand the orbital dynamics of the solar system where they were evolved from.
It absolutely affects how they as a species "think". And in our universe, where thoughts control reality, it has a very great influence in... EVERYTHING.
Now, the study of the orbital dynamics of stellar bodies is (in itself) an awfully fun subject. Personally, I could spend hours writing about this stuff. I don’t know why I have such an affinity for it, but it’s just plain out cool. You know, crack open the fridge and pull out a beer and pop the top and delve right on in. Maybe order a pizza while you are at it.
Anyways, let’s get into the complexities of Orbital Dynamics 101 and then take a good interesting look at how these dynamics would influence societies and the evolution of native life.
The “Enlightened Ones”
Oh. Uh huh.
Some people believe that non-physical beings come from a physical place. And that they are interested in us humans.
Certain Pleiadians are highly evolved, more so than most of the human species.
The Pleiadian Realm from the Pleiades is the next step or level in our human evolution. It is for this reason that certain knowledge is being given to us by specially enlightened Pleiadian beings. There are those that want to help us toward our higher spiritual destiny. These Special Pleiadian Forces reside at a very high frequency that is lighter than what we know. And thus, the term is often applied. The higher and lighter the frequency, the closer to the God source one becomes.
Eventually, all will become Pure Light at the center of creation, which is God or Spirit or whatever name you choose to call it. As we evolve, gaining wisdom and true understanding about our real essence, we begin to open up more to Love, and to feel our connection with one another and the universe. In the Earth realm, Love is only experienced and known at a low level compared to all that truly exists. The God/Spirit frequency is beyond anything we know. It is Pure Love – It is is Pure Light. As we strive and come closer to that center of creation, we will know Love completely and be totally In the Light.
-Pleiadians Come From The Pleiades Star Cluster in the Constellation Taurus
Uh huh.
Well, the actual way that this sort of things works is that you are the product of your environment.
And the physical environment around the Pleiades star cluster is anything but tranquil and peaceful. It is, rather a screeching howling mess of young hot stars and all sorts of quantum interactions which create a dangerous (to humans at least) stew of nightmarish complexity.
It might be beautiful. Sort of like how a leopard is beautiful right before it tears your arm off.
The Pleiades star cluster.
But, it’s completely at odds with the physical universe to expect that sentient physical creatures would happily evolve in this region.
For starters, the stars in this region are far too young. Our Sun is around 4 billion years old, and thus you have humans in our primitive state. These stars are just infants, not yet even babies, and to expect the evolution of intelligent life on a planet that (at best) is still gaseous and molten is ridiculous.
The Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, is a conspicuous object in the night sky with a prominent place in ancient mythology. The cluster contains hundreds of stars, of which only a handful are commonly visible to the unaided eye.
The stars in the Pleiades are thought to have formed together around 100 million years ago, making them 1/50th the age of our sun, and they lie some 130 parsecs (425 light years) away.
-The Pleiades
A typical Solar System in the Pleiades
Most large stars (in our universe) are part of enormous solar systems. For the Pleiades it is even more pronounced. How do we know? Well, we can see it with our own two eyes.
These solar systems have two, three, four, five and more (!) stars all orbiting each other in complete (apparent) disarray.
Consider Alcyone.
Alcyone, Eta Tauri (η Tau) is a multiple star system located in the constellation Taurus, the Bull. With an apparent magnitude of 2.87, it is the brightest star in the Pleiades cluster. Following the well-known naming conventions, the primary star in the system, formally named Alcyone, has three companions.
Alcyone, Eta Tauri (η Tau).
They are;
Alcyone B (24 Tauri); a white (A0) main sequence star.
Alcyone C has the variable star designation V647 Tauri and is classified as a Delta Scuti variable.
Alcyone D is a white (F3) main sequence star with a visual magnitude of 9.15.
So right off the bat, we know that the most visible star in the Pleiades is a four-star system. In fact, almost all of the other visible stars in the Pleiades are multiple star systems.
Imagine that!
Stars are generally in binary, trinary or larger solar systems. In fact, four star systems are not rare at all…
“About four percent of solar-type stars are in quadruple systems, which is up from previous estimates because observational techniques are steadily improving,” said co-author Andrei Tokovinin of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The planet in the system is a gas giant, with 10 times...
-Planet discovered in four-star solar system - ZME Science
Four star systems are pretty interesting. Here’s a nice graphic on the orbital arrangement of system 30Ari. This image shows the newly discovered planet around 30AriB, which would be designated 30Ari-B-a (I would guess.).
The solar system 30Ari showing the relationships between the various stars in the four-star solar system.
Some other stars.
I just cannot get the idea out of my skull that there are those that believe that “Star Children” and other “advanced” extraterrestrials from the Pleiades want to help humans on earth. It really is preposterous.
Pleiadians : Human Like Extraterrestrial Light Beings ...
https://www.psychedelicadventure.net/2009/02/...
The Pleiadians or the Plejarans as revealed to Billy Eduard Meier are human like Extraterrestrial beings who originate from a world known as Erra, one of the 10 planets orbiting the star Taygeta, located in the Pleiades (or the Seven Sisters). The Pleiades can be found in the constellation of Taurus, the bull. They are about 400 light years away from us.10 10 10 Spiritual Mastery · Eckhart Tolle Stillness SpeaksPleiadians - A Thorough Explanation
https://www.tokenrock.com/explain-pleiadians-138.html
Salla and other associated researchers confirm the existence of extraterrestrials who can easily integrate with human society as being from star systems such as Lyra, Pleiades, Sirius, Procyon, Tau Ceti, Ummo, Andromeda and Arcturus.Pleiadians - The People of Erra - Aliens
The Pleiadians are said to be a collection of alien species who hail from a small star system in the Taurus constellation, Pleiades. According to sources the Pleiadians allegedly inhabit a number of planets withing the Pleaides star system including planets by the names of Erra, Ptaah, Quetzal and Semjase with Erra current serving as...
The sad thing about all this is that there are people that believe this nonsense, and what’s worse expect me to somehow validate it.
Just for “shits and giggles” let’s look at some of the other stars in the Pleiades star cluster.
Asterope is a main sequence star with the stellar classification B8 V. It is part of a binary star system. The star is part of a double star system sometimes referred to as Sterope I and Sterope II. The two stars, 21 Tauri and 22 Tauri, both belong to the Pleiades cluster. Both are “fast spinners”.
Electra has the stellar classification B6 IIIe, indicating a giant star appearing bluish in color. It has a mass about five times that of the Sun and a radius 6.06 times solar. With an effective temperature of 13,484 K, it is 940 times more luminous than the Sun. The star is a very fast spinner, with a projected rotational velocity of 181 km/s, and possibly more at the equator. The star’s estimated age is 115 million years. It is part of a binary system. Electra has a close companion less than an astronomical unit away. The two stars have an orbital period of about 100 days.
Taygeta is part of a binary star system designated 19 Tauri A. It has the stellar classification B6IV, indicating a subgiant star appearing blue-white in color. 19 Tauri A is a spectroscopic binary whose components are separated by only 0.012 seconds of arc. The two stars complete an orbit every 1,313 days (3.6 years) with an average separation of 4.6 astronomical units. The companion is considerably fainter, with an apparent magnitude of 6.1. It is believed to also be a class B star with about 3.2 solar masses and a luminosity 150 times that of the Sun.
Some of the relative locations of the stars as described herein.
Atlas, 27 Tauri (27 Tau), is a multiple star system located in the constellation Taurus. It is one of the brightest members of the Pleiades (Messier 45), one of the brightest and nearest open clusters to Earth. Atlas has the stellar classification B8 III, indicating a blue-white giant star. The star has a mass 4.74 times that of the Sun and a radius twice solar. With an effective temperature of 13,446 K, it is almost 1,000 times more luminous than the Sun, but most of its energy output is in the invisible ultraviolet part of the spectrum. Atlas may appear as a single star to the naked eye but is in fact a binary star with components that complete an orbit around each other every 290.984 days. The components, Atlas A and Atlas B, have apparent magnitudes of 3.84 and 5.46. Both stars are slightly variable.
Pleione, 28 Tauri (28 Tau), is a binary star system located in the constellation Taurus. It is one of the brightest members of the Pleiades cluster. Pleione is a binary star consisting of a young, hot class B star and a companion whose properties are uncertain. The primary component, formally named Pleione, is a main sequence star with 3.4 solar masses and a size of 3.2 solar radii.
An apt description of this region.
This area is a stellar version of a blast-furnace. An enormous group of hot, energetic gasses collected in the region (fairly recently ago, by stellar standards), and started to ignite. As a result, huge orbs of gasses collected and formed into very hot stars, and as they formed and their gravitational mass started to acquire, they started to orbit around each other. Groups and clusters formed.
This all happened really quickly (in galactic terms).
So the idea that physical life has evolved, and obtained intelligence in this region is far fetched. It really is.
The idea that life can quickly emerge within a few million years in this hot and intense birthing crucible is rather difficult to believe. Can you imagine a plant living in the environment near a blast furnace?
But…
But…
Perhaps in four or five billion years, these stars will start to chill out and evolve, form rocky planets and life can begin to evolve. And when that happens, what would it be like for those upon planets around these stars/
Orbits of nearby planetary bodies affect how species evolve
This is well understood. As we know for a fact how our nearby moon has affected our evolution and day to day lives. We know that it influences the tides, and all sorts of other things, perhaps not as obvious. Just imagine a star, one million times bigger with a much more complex orbital arrangement…!
Here are just some of the ways that the moon affects humans…
The Menstrual Cycle Mimics The Lunar Cycle. A few studies have found definitive links between the lunar and menstrual cycles. According to one, women also go through increased levels of hormones around the full moon. Charles Darwin believed that the menstrual cycle – on average – coincides with the monthly moon cycle for a reason. It backed his then-nascent theory that we first came from the ocean, as this proves that we adjusted our reproductive clocks according to the lunar tides at some point.
Lemur Sex. Lemurs have been found to be much more active during the full moon than usual, covering larger distances and generally being more out and about. They’re so dependent on the moon that they essentially shut down on darker nights or lunar eclipses, though we can’t really explain why. One line of reasoning says that it’s because of the level of light available during the different phases of the lunar cycle.
Our Sleep Cycle. A researcher from the University of Basel found that there is some scientific basis to the long-time belief that the moon has something to do with our sleeping pattern. According to his research, people took five minutes longer to sleep during a full moon, and their sleep time also reduced by 20 minutes on average. Lower levels of melatonin were also reported during full moons, as well as reduced brain activity.
Crime. The moon has always been associated with aggression and crimes, though we’ve never really understood why. Many independent and isolated cultures have described the moon as an omen of chaos that fills everyone with restlessness and rage, blaming their most primitive urges on a rock hanging in the sky. While there was never any scientific proof to back this claim, some recent studies suggest that the moon may actually have some effect on our collective psyche. Or at least how we patrol our streets after dark, according to one study done by the Sussex police. They concluded that there is a definite rise in crimes during full moons, though admitted that they don’t understand why, as they’re cops and not psychologists. That’s not the only case, either; higher incidents of crime and violence on full moons have been reported around the world.
Crisis Calls. According to a study based on the call records of a crisis center, there’s a disproportionate rise in the number of calls during new moons, suggesting that the moon maybe doing something to stress us out. Surprisingly, it was only true for women, as men actually made less calls during that time.
Hunting patterns for Lions. As a study published in PloS ONE found, African lions are much more aggressive in the days after the full moon, as well as more likely to attack people. While it may seem like arbitrary behavior at first, it makes sense and goes with the lion’s hunting style. They don’t actually need a lot of light to hunt, and on top of that, a full moon makes it easier for the prey to sense danger and run away, resulting in reduced food output. The days immediately after the full moon are prime lion hunting time, as they compensate – perhaps reflexively – by killing more prey and just generally being more menacing than usual.
Animal Bites. Weirdly enough, animal bites are apparently not as random as we thought, and may have some mysterious connection with the moon. One study found that cases of animal bites were significantly higher on the days of the full moon, though they don’t quite understand why. It wasn’t just one type of animal either, as they studied 1,621 cases of bites from a variety of animals, which means that it’s not a species-specific phenomenon.
Plants. The moon has some wholly bizarre effects on animals and humans, though it’s not restricted to us. As growing research is finding out, it also has a significant impact on our chlorophyll-filled friends; the plants. Many studies have found relationships between the lunar cycle and the growth of plants, and we haven’t been able to explain all of them. One study found that root growth in a specific plant from Africa, A. thaliana, is regulated by the lunar tides, as the growth was found to be thicker and faster at the highest phases of the tide. Previous studies have found that leaf movement in some plants may be related to the lunar tides, too.
Dogs and Cats. Published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the study found that the number of emergency room visits for cats and dogs was noticeably higher around the full moon. While it was something veterinarians have always suspected and anecdotally claimed, this was the first study to confirm it. We still don’t know why it happens, though.
Bipolar Disorder. Conducted by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, the study’s aim was to ascertain whether the lunar cycle has anything to do with the various mood spells among bipolar patients. To their surprise, they found a direct correlation between the cycles of the moon and the sleep and mood cycle of the subject. They perfectly – and mysteriously—coincided with each other, including, and especially, the phases of mania. It confirmed the findings of an earlier study done on the subject, which came up with more or less the same results.
These are just the “tip of the iceberg” on how our moon affects the plants and animals around us. Obviously the effects are more substantive than just the tides of the oceans. And at that, that is something that I want to underline…
Imagine the influence of multiple gravitational bodies on the evolution of life.
If our tiny moon, in a close simple orbit can make these influences, what about larger, greater stellar bodies and much more complex orbital arrangements? Indeed…
Let’s start with some basic orbital dynamics.
Orbital Dynamics 101
Historically, it was the observed the orbital motions of double stars that helped to prove the validity of Newton’s description of gravitational attraction. As well as his impressive laws of motion. He applied these rules to everything in the heavens. Not just to the planets and periodic comets but equally to the far away celestial motions of the stars as they danced about in the darkness above.
The observation of these distant stars helped lay the foundation for theories of stellar structure and evolution.
Gravitational Dynamics
Inastronomy, Kepler'slawsofplanetarymotionarethreescientificlawsdescribingthemotionofplanetsaroundtheSun, publishedbyJohannesKeplerbetween 1609 and 1619. TheseimprovedtheheliocentrictheoryofNicolausCopernicus, replacingitscircularorbitsandepicycleswithellipticaltrajectories, andexplaininghowplanetaryvelocitiesvary.
-Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion
There’s a reason why we call the laws related to the orbits of planets “Kepler’s Laws”. It began about four centuries ago. And the fellow that kicked off this relationship was a man by the name of Johannes Kepler.
Back in the day he wanted to explain his theories to the learned men in power. To this end, he wrote a book. In the book he explained the effects of gravity within the solar system. It was a well researched and well written work, and titled the Epitome of Copernican Astronomy, Books IV & V (1621) by Johannes Kepler.
By analyzing measurements of the motion of Mars (made by Tycho Brahe earlier), Kepler deduced his three principles of planetary motion (diagram, below):
The three principles of planetary motion by Johannes Kepler.
First Law. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two focal points of the ellipse. The Sun or more massive star is located at the focus ƒ1, and the orbit describes the motion of a planet or the less massive star in a binary.
Second Law. A line from the star at ƒ1 to another star or planet sweeps over equal areas in equal intervals of time. Therefore the ratio between two areas swept out by a planet is equal to the ratio between the two time intervals: a1/a2 = (t1-t2)/(t3-t4). This describes orbital velocity as greatest at periastron or smallest orbital separation between the two bodies, and slowest at apastron or point of largest orbital separation.
Third Law. The square of the orbital period of a planet is proportional to the cube of the semimajor axis of its orbit. The semimajor axis is the distance r measured from the center of the ellipse to the point of periastron or apastron. If the ellipse is a circle, r is the radius of the circle.
These are often imprecisely called Kepler’s “Laws,” although they are not physical laws in the scientific sense but empirical principles or generalizations. However they are the phenomena that scientific laws must explain.
Newton’s Mechanics.
This is pretty much standard fare for most engineering students.
The geometric formulation of the laws of motion described by Galileo was accomplished by Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) — the mathematical principles of natural philosophy. Notice that “science” was known as “Natural Philosophy”.
Science = Natural Philosophy
Newton’s thought experiment.
Newton’s “thought experiment” was to imagine a powerful cannon at the peak of a very high mountain (at V, diagram above). According to Newton’s first law of motion, a cannonball fired from the perfectly level cannon would tend to travel forever in a straight line at a fixed velocity and kinetic energy. But the continuous downward pull of Earth’s gravity would bend the path into a parabolic trajectory until the cannonball hit the Earth at D.
If the powder charge in the cannon were increased, the initial velocity of the cannonball would be greater, its kinetic energy would be greater, and it would travel farther, to E or even to F. Eventually, if enough powder were used to impart a sufficiently high initial velocity, the cannonball would circle the Earth and return to V in a closed orbit.
This illustrates that planetary orbits are possible because the orbital velocity balances the gravitational acceleration, and also suggests that circular orbits contain the minimum orbital velocity or lowest energy for a given orbital radius. Higher energy orbits would be increasingly elliptical, up to the point where the orbital energy was sufficient to produce an escape velocity and the observed section of the trajectory or “orbit” would be in the form of a parabola or hyperbola.
Newton showed by a geometrical proof (not by the calculus that he invented for numerical analysis) that an elliptical orbit must be produced by an inverse square mutual attraction between two orbiting bodies:
Fd2 = Fd1·(d1/d2)2
As the distance between two bodies is changed, the gravitational attraction between them is changed by the square of the ratio of the distances. The corresponding kinetic energy necessary to sustain the orbit is changed in the same proportion.
The Dynamical Equations.
Newton’s key insight was that gravity was a force continuously exerted on masses, and was therefore a form of acceleration. This linked it directly to his definition of force as exerted in the simplest case of a circular orbit that will have a constant radius and orbital velocity:
F = ma = mv2/r
where the acceleration due to gravity (a) is measured as the constant orbital velocity squared (v2, in meters per second) divided by the orbital radius (r, in meters). Because the force is the gravitational constant G = 6.674 x 10–11 kg–1 / m3 / sec–2, the measured radius and velocity create a ratio with the gravitational constant that reveals the system mass (m, in kilograms):
m = rv2/G
For rapidly orbiting spectroscopic binaries, the orbital velocity can be measured directly from the maximum observed Doppler shift in the spectral lines of the individual stars, with a correction applied for the tilt of the orbit to our line of sight.
For orbital velocities that are too slow or tilted too far to the line of sight to provide a measurable velocity, the period can be estimated from an orbital solution based on the changing position of the components measured across years or decades and a parallax estimate of the system distance, which yields the orbital radius. Then:
v2/r = 2πr/P
so that the necessary force is now defined as:
G = 4π2mr/P2
Finally, Kepler’s Third Law, Pr3/2, generalizes to elliptical orbits, and gives
G = 4π2r3/(M1+M2)P2
where the masses of the two orbiting bodies are M1 and M2.
The Solar Standard Formulas.
Because the Earth is only about 0.0001% (one millionth) the mass of the Sun, the mass of the combined system is effectively the mass of the Sun, and the Earth’s period at the Earth’s average orbital radius is effectively a measure of the solar mass. This means the dimensions of the solar system can provide units of measurement that are already standardized on the gravitational constant, so it can be dropped from the equations.
If solar standard units are used — the astronomical unit (AU) for the semimajor axis r, solar mass M⊙ for the combined mass of both components, and years for the orbital period P — then the three possible versions of Kepler’s Third Law simplify into the elegant:
Pyears = [ rAU3/(M1+M2)⊙ ]1/2
rAU = [ P2years·(M1+M2)⊙ ]1/3
(M1+M2)⊙ = r3AU/P2years
In the case where the observed orbit is too slow to yield an orbital solution, the relative mass of the two components of the system can be estimated from their apparent magnitudes. Assuming that both stars are on the main sequence (and therefore have a luminosity that corresponds to the mass), the system mass ratio (q) is estimated as:
q = 10–(M2–M1)/10
where M2 and M1 are the absolute magnitudes of the fainter and brighter star in the pair (so that the exponent is always either zero or a negative fraction). Thus two stars of equal magnitude and spectral type have equal masses; a pair that differs by one magnitude has an estimated mass ratio of q = 10–1/10 or roughly 0.8; a two magnitude difference yields q = 0.6, and a three magnitude difference q = 0.5.
The fact that [1] the orbital dynamics are determined by the mass of the components, and [2] a parallax estimate of distance yields the absolute luminosity of the components, that allowed the stellar mass/luminosity relation to be determined. This was done through the painstaking, century long measurement of a small number of eclipsing variable stars. These variable stars are spectroscopic binaries and closely orbiting visual double stars within a few hundred parsecs of the Earth.
Building a multi-star orbital systems
The most effective way to understand the binary orbit is to build one — from the simplest possible to the more complex.
And now, after all that interesting and fun preambles, we can get to the meat of this discussion…
Simple Binary Solar System
The simplest possible binary system consists of two identical stars in a perfectly circular orbit.
Circular orbits are mostly found in close orbiting binaries with periods of around two weeks or less.
A classic example is the eclipsing variable star beta Lyrae with a period of 13 days.
The eclipsing variable star beta Lyrae with a period of 13 days.
The total system mass is M1+M2. To calculate the orbital period using Kepler’s third law, we use the distance between the two stars as the orbital radius (r): this distance, in combination with the system mass, determines the amount of gravitational force acting on the system.
However, the two stars do not orbit one around the other.
Instead, both orbit around their common center of mass or barycenter at the center of their shared orbit and always on a line between them.
This means they have the same orbital period.
Because the orbital radius is constant the gravitational force is constant, so the stars orbit at a constant orbital velocity: v1 = v2. A circular orbit contains the lowest orbital kinetic energy for orbital radius: all the orbital energy is contained in the angular momentum.
The two stars orbit around their common center of mass or barycenter at the center of their shared orbit and always on a line between them.
This simplest of all possible binaries can be complicated in two ways.
The First Complication – Stars of different mass
First, in the vast majority of double stars, the two components are of unequal mass.
The two stars still follow circular orbits, but the relative distance of the stars from their center of mass is proportional to the mass ratio, M2/M1, of the components: d1/d2 = M2/M1 In the same way that a heavier weight must be placed closer to the fulcrum of a balance beam, the heavier star must be closer to the barycenter.
As a result, the more massive star orbits entirely inside the orbit of the less massive star.
The orbital radius as used in Kepler’s third law is still the distance between the stars; the two stars are still connected by a line through the barycenter; they orbit in the same plane; they have the same orbital period.
Because the more massive star has a smaller orbit it has a lower orbital velocity, again proportional to the mass ratio: v1/M2 = v2/M1.
A more accurate orbital system. Both stars have different masses and thus the relationship between the masses and distances are established.
The Second Complication – Oscillation
The second complication, also found in the vast majority of known double stars, is that the total orbital energy is larger than the angular momentum of a circular orbit.
This excess energy causes the orbital radius to oscillate in synchrony with the orbital period, which sends the two stars into opposing elliptical orbits, defined by the orbital eccentricity (e): e = (1 – b2/a2)½ where a is the semimajor axis of the ellipse, half the longest dimension.
This excess energy causes the orbital radius to oscillate in synchrony with the orbital period, which sends the two stars into opposing elliptical orbits, defined by the orbital eccentricity (e): e = (1 – b2/a2)½ where a is the semimajor axis of the ellipse, half the longest dimension.
The next diagram shows a system of eccentricity 0.5, which is about average for all binary stars. Their common center of mass is located at one focus of each orbital ellipse.
Six features define the relationship between the barycenter and the separate orbits of the binary components:
The two stars are always connected by a line through this fulcrum point,
both component orbits and the barycenter lie in a single plane,
both components orbit in the same direction.
both have the same orbital period,
the relative distances of the components from the barycenter and the relative size of their average orbital radius (r) are always equal to the system mass ratio, and
both orbits have the same eccentricity.
A system of eccentricity 0.5, which is about average for all binary stars.
The more massive star orbits more slowly in a proportionately smaller orbit.
The actual distance (d) of each component from the barycenter, for any radial angle dθ measured in a cartesian plane with the origin at the barycenter of the system, is determined by the shape equation:
d = a·(1–e2)/[1+(e·cosine(θ))]
and
X = d·cosine(θ), Y = d·sine(θ)
The elliptical orbits produce a continuous change in the distance between the two stars — the synchronous orbital oscillation — from a point of maximum separation or apastron to a point of minimum separation or periastron.
Time related orbital attributes are usually measured from the time of periastron passage, — at that point the stars are closest and also moving most rapidly so the point can be observed most accurately.
Because the distance between the stars changes, their orbital velocities must change to match the changing force of gravitational attraction .
Because the distance between the stars changes, their orbital velocities must change to match the changing force of gravitational attraction .
This varies with the distance (d) of each component from the barycenter:
v2 = GM(2/d – 1/a) ≈ 1/d
The plot of velocity on orbital angle (θ) shows that a circular orbit has constant velocity, and an eccentric orbital velocity follows an approximate sine wave, but with a narrowed peak at the lowest velocity (apastron) and a broadening of the curve at high velocity (periastron).
In fact, it takes each component a longer time to pass through the apastron rather than periastron half of the orbital ellipse, as shown by the equal time spacing of the orbital dots in the diagram.
As the eccentricity of the absolute orbit increases, this narrowing and broadening of the velocity curve becomes more pronounced.
Kinetic orbital energy is transformed into potential energy en route to apastron, and the orbit is bound so long as the minimum orbital velocity is less than the escape velocity.
All the dynamics are driven by oscillations between kinetic and potential energy: at all times the angular momentum of the components is conserved.
Absolute Orbit
Although elliptical orbits are by far the most common, all the orbits in 1 to 3 (above) represent the absolute orbit of a binary star, the dynamical pattern of their motions as observed from a frame of reference comoving with the barycenter of the system.
Relative Orbit
Unfortunately the barycenter of a binary system is invisible, so we cannot use it as a reference point to measure the separate orbital motions.
Instead, we simply assume that our frame of reference is anchored on the primary (more massive) star, and measure the movement of the secondary star in relation to it.
This produces a mathematically much more convenient relative orbit (sometimes misleadingly called the true orbit). It has the same eccentricity and orbital period as the absolute orbit but always has a larger dimension.
In other words, its major axis or longest dimension is the sum of the periastron and apastron distances, whereas the longest dimension of the absolute orbit is the apastron distance alone.
The average orbital radius (r) is now half the longest dimension or semimajor axis (a) of the ellipse, and this is the radius distance used in Kepler’s third law.
However, because we often do not know the precise distance to a double star, the semimajor axis (a) is given in arcseconds — as it would be measured on the sky if the ellipse of the relative orbit were visible.
If the distance (D) in parsecs is known, then we can convert a (in arcseconds) to r (in astronomical units):
r = aD
To define the relative orbit, visual double stars are measured as the position angle and distance in arcseconds of the smaller star in relation to the larger.
But the relative orbit is not simply a measurement convenience: the entire apparatus of orbital calculations, like Kepler’s Laws, assumes this simplified orbital geometry.
The relative orbit is not simply a measurement convenience: the entire apparatus of orbital calculations, like Kepler’s Laws, assumes this simplified orbital geometry.
A third complication
A final complication does not arise in the binary orbit itself but in our point of view when we measure it.
Nearly always, the plane of the absolute and relative orbits, the semimajor axis of the relative orbit, and the angular separation between the components, are tilted in relation to our direction of view.
This can radically alter both the apparent eccentricity and measured dimensions of the orbit.
The points at which the two components are either closest or farthest apart are no longer the periastron or apastron, the apparent separation is typically less than the actual separation, and the eccentricity of the orbit is different.
Complex mathematics are necessary to correct for the foreshortened dimensions and retrieve the relative orbit in its true proportions, and they depend critically on our estimate of the inclination (i) and line of nodes (ω) of the orbit in relation to the relative orbit.
In the diagram (below), the orbit is inclined 45° to our line of sight (i = 45° or 135°), on a line of nodes that is (in the relative orbit) 45° from the minor axis of the ellipse.
In the diagram , the orbit is inclined 45° to our line of sight (i = 45° or 135°), on a line of nodes that is (in the relative orbit) 45° from the minor axis of the ellipse.
Summary on the orbital dynamics of binary star systems.
To summarize, binary stars can be represented in one of three ways:
(1) The absolute orbit or joint physical motion of the two stars in a reference frame comoving with the center of mass of the binary system, from a viewpoint perpendicular to the orbital plane of the components;
(2) The apparent orbit of the two stars in a reference plane tangent to the celestial sphere at the primary star, and measured assuming the primary star is fixed and the secondary orbits around it;
(3) The relative orbit (sometimes called the true orbit), which is a transformation of the apparent orbit as it would appear if the binary orbital plane were tangent to the celestial sphere.
As the center of mass, the barycenter traces the galactic orbital trajectory of the binary system which, if it were visible, would appear as a straight line proper motion across the celestial sphere.
In closely orbiting, short period binaries, the two components of the system appear to oscillate or “wiggle” back and forth around this straight line path.
If the second component is too faint to be optically visible, the direction and pace in the proper motion of the primary star will appear to change periodically, and these perturbations allow the presence and mass of the secondary to be estimated.
Both Sirius and Procyon were first identified as binary stars in this way.
Trinary Star Systems
What About Triple Stars? Are binary orbits the most complex possible? What about triple, quadruple, quintuple stars?
The answer is that, in nearly all cases where stable multiple systems have been identified, the orbits are dynamically segregated binary orbits.
If it is a triple star, then the third (single) component orbits the binary at a much greater orbital radius than the binary, forming a “binary” of a binary and single component.
If it is a quadruple star comprising two binaries, then the binaries orbit their common barycenter at much greater distances than the orbits of either binary, in effect forming a “binary” of two binary components …
…and so on.
The basic principle is that orbits are spaced dynamically so that the inner orbits are not perturbed by the motions of the outer components.
How far apart is far enough?
Observations of multiple stars in the solar neighborhood suggest the separations are 100 to 1000 times the separation inside the binary unit, and computer simulations suggest that these systems can be both stable and bound with an outer orbital radius of 100,000 AU or more.
Current theories of star formation suggest that multiple stars form as a result of turbulent fragmentation inside the same collapsing cloud core, and computer simulations show that triple stars born in such close proximity will dynamically “unfold” into a binary plus single or 2+1 system by transferring angular momentum from the binary pair (making their orbit smaller) to the singleton (making its orbit larger, more energetic and typically more elliptical).
The strange and the odd.
There are a few arcane orbital configurations of three stars that can coexist in close orbit with each other, but it is difficult to see how these would form naturally.
Instead, multiple stars that cannot reach a stable segregation of orbital energies are most likely to break apart, always by keeping the binary elements intact.
Double Star Orbital Elements
The orbits of binary systems can be analyzed if sufficiently accurate positional (or visual) measurements of angular separation and position angle are available across a substantial part of the orbital path.
In general the most accurately described orbits have an inclination that is not close to 0° or 180° and have been measured over more than half the complete orbital period.
The diagram (above) summarizes the relationships between the absolute, relative (or “true”) and apparent orbits, using the calculated orbit of iota Leonis as an example.
Key Constraints
The key constants, indicated by the dotted lines connecting the different orbits, are:
(1) the angular separation or apparent distance between the components at every point in the orbital cycle (including apastron and periastron) is identical between the absolute and relative orbits; and
(2) the angular width of the line of nodes (between the ascending and descending nodes) is identical between the relative and apparent orbits.
Distances
Distances between the components in the apparent orbit are described in units of angular width (such as arcseconds or arcminutes), as these are the units of the visual measurements; arcseconds are also used to describe the semimajor axis of the calculated relative orbit.
Distances between the components in the absolute orbit are described in terms of astronomical units (or kilometers), and separation in astronomical units can also be applied to the relative orbit, simply by multiplying the arcsecond length of the semimajor axis (a) by the distance of the system in parsecs.
Important notes
Note that the angular dimension of the secondary orbit major axis is always smaller in the absolute than in the relative orbit. The eccentricity of the orbits is the same. However, the eccentricity of the orbits is generally not the same between the relative and apparent orbits.
In addition, the points where a binary star apparent orbit presents the smallest and largest angular separation (green dots in diagram) are typically not the apastron and periastron of the relative orbit.
Additionally, the two points typically do not lie on a line through the primary star. This means the ephemeride date of periastron passage will not indicate the time of closest visual separation.
The table (below) indicates the principal orbital elements in the apparent orbit and relative orbit (sometimes called the true orbit).
element
symbol
apparent orbit
relative orbit
Dynamical Elements
period
P
the time for the system to complete one sidereal revolution
mean motion
n
= 360°/P
periastron
.
the projection of this point
the point in the relative orbit where the distance between the two stars is smallest and orbital speed is greatest
time of periastron passage
T
date and/or time of the (usually most recent) periastron passage of the two stars
eccentricity
e
.
the deviation of the relative orbit from a circle, calculated as e = √1–(b/a)2
semimajor axis
a
the projection of this line
the distance (usually in arcseconds) in the relative orbit from the center C to the orbit at periastron or apastron; equivalent to the projected average orbital radius.
Campbell Elements
orbital inclination
i
the direction of secondary rotation: i < 90° = direct (counterclockwise) i ≥ 90° = retrograde (clockwise)
the inclination of the relative orbit to the plane of the sky, measured on the north side of the line of nodes with the secondary rotating in direct (counterclockwise) direction; i = 90° when orbit is perpendicular to line of sight
line of nodes
.
a line through the primary star and both nodes, common to both the apparent and relative orbits
position angle of ascending node
Ω
position angle of ascending node measured counterclockwise from celestial north
.
argument of periastron
ω
.
the angle in the relative orbit from the ascending node side of the line of nodes to the periastron side of the major axis, measured in the direction of secondary rotation
Other Orbital Elements
apastron
.
the projection of this point
the point in the relative orbit where the distance between the two stars is farthest and orbital speed is slowest
line of apsides
.
the projection of this line
a line in the relative orbit through the periastron, the primary star, and the apastron (= major axis of ellipse)
center
C
the projection of this point
the geometric center of the relative orbit, midway between the two foci
semiminor axis
b
the projection of this line
the distance (usually in arcseconds) in the relative orbit from the center C to the orbit, perpendicular to the semimajor axis
The orbital plane of the absolute orbit is almost never viewed in an orientation perpendicular to our line of sight from Earth. That would be completely extraordinary.
The orbital inclination (i) indicates the tilt of the relative orbit, which distorts both its apparent dimensions and eccentricity.
The inclination combines two different features of the relative orbit. First, it indicates the tilt of the plane of the relative and absolute orbits as an angle between the line of sight to Earth and the plane of the relative orbit, from 0° to 180° (diagram, below).
How a solar system appears to an observer on earth, and how we need to reorient it to better understand it’s orbital arrangements.
Second, the sign of the cosine of the inclination determines the direction of the secondary orbital motion as viewed from Earth: a direct (counterclockwise) orbit is coded as an angle between 0° and 90° (positive cosine), and a retrograde (clockwise) orbit is coded as an angle between 90° and 180° (negative cosine).
The line of nodes is the line formed by the intersection of the two planes of the true and apparent orbits, measured in counterclockwise direction from a line to the Earth’s celestial north; it always passes through the primary (brighter or more massive) star.
The ascending node is the point on the line of nodes where the component star passes through the line of nodes and is moving away from Earth.
In the great majority of binary stars where this cannot be determined due to an unmeasurably small orbital velocity, it is arbitrarily assigned to the position angle that is less than 180°.
Thus, the inclination and ascending node in many cases represent an arbitrary rather than physical description of the binary system.
Note that the periastron rather than apastron is preferred as an orbital parameter because the relative orbital velocities of the two components at that point are at maximum.
Either the radial velocity or the positional parameters (or both) will change most rapidly at that point, which usually minimizes error in the estimation of the time of periastron and therefore error in the predicted future relative positions of the components.
Diagramming a Relative Orbit for a Double Star
The Campbell elements can be used to diagram both the true and apparent orbits, and this is quite easy to do when working in Photoshop. The diagram below of iota Leonis provides a template.
The Campbell elements can be used to diagram both the true and apparent orbits.
1. Determine from the arcsecond scale of the semimajor axis the total system width and image scale. Use a large enough scale to minimize rounding errors. In the diagram, the semimajor axis equals 1.91″, so the system width is about 4 arcseconds. The scale chosen for the example diagram is 120 pixels = 1 arcsecond.
2. Draw the cartesian x and y axes; the origin is the location of the system primary star.
3. Calculate c = a·e and convert to the image scale. In the example, c = 1.91·0.53 = 1.01 arcseconds, and 1.01·120 = 121 pixels. Measure and mark c on either the x or y axis of the plot, which becomes the line of apsides of the relative orbit.
4. Scale a, then measure and mark a+c along the line of apsides. In the example, the pixel scale of a = 1.91·120 = 229 pixels, so a+c = 229+121 = 350 pixels from the origin (or 229 pixels from c).
5. Calculate and scale b = √a2–c2, then measure and mark vertically from c. In the example, b = √2292–1212 = 194 pixels.
6. Using the ellipical marquee tool while holding down the “Alt” key, click on c and stretch the marquee to create an ellipical area that exactly matches the marked distances a and b. Create a new layer, and fill the window; then use Modify —> Contract to reduce the selected area by the orbit line thickness you desire. Delete the window contents to create the relative orbit. Mark the orbit periastron, which is the end of line of apsides closer to the origin of the plot (the location of the primary star).
7. Create a new layer and draw a horizontal or vertical line, then rotate the line to correspond to the angle given as the argument of the periastron (ω). Note that if the angle of inclination is less than 90° then you must measure this angle ω in clockwise direction from the periastron. Move the rotated line so that it intersects the cartesian origin and the relative orbit. This rotated line is the line of nodes, and its intersection with the relative orbit at angle ω is the ascending node.
8. Copy the line of nodes layer, and rotate this line clockwise the PA of the line of nodes (Ω). This is the line of the primary star’s right ascension in the apparent orbit on the celestial sphere.
9. Merge the orbit layer with the line of nodes layer, and copy this layer. Draw (copy) the line of apsides and point c onto this copied layer.
10. Rotate the copied orbit layer so that the line of nodes is exactly either horizontal or vertical, then use the Transform command to reduce the scale perpendicular to the line of nodes by a percentage equal to the cosine of the angle of inclination. In the example, the line of nodes is at 35° to the horizontal axis, so the copied layer was rotated counterclockwise by the same amount ( –35°). Then i = 128°, and cos(i) = –0.62, so the copied orbit was reduced vertically to 62%.
11. Rotate the copied orbit layer in the reverse direction so that the line of nodes is in its original orientation. Align the copied orbit so that the two orbits intersect at the line of nodes, and the intersection of the lines of apsides and nodes in the copied layer is at the origin of the plot. This is the apparent orbit.
12. Merge the orbits, and rotate them so that the line of right ascension is vertical, with north at the bottom.
13. If desired, use the catalog position angle for the secondary star to locate the star on the apparent orbit. Then use a line perpendicular to the line of nodes, and through the location of the secondary on the apparent orbit, to locate it on the relative orbit.
14. If necessary reduce and crop the canvas to the finished image size, and label elements as needed.
Multiple stars can be plotted in the same way, provided the orbital elements are available separately for hierarchical centers of mass: first A/B, then AB/C, then ABC/D, etc.
Resulting plot.
The diagram (above) of zeta Cancri (STF 1196) was created by first plotting the orbit of the AB pair, then the orbit for the AB/C “pair”, rotating them both so that celestial north is at the bottom, then superimposing the primary of the AB pair on the “primary” focal point of the AB/C pair.
Further Reading on the orbital mechanics of complex solar systems.
Multiple Star Orbits – an amusing group of animated double star orbits, helpful to visualize how complex gravity can be.
Imagine the influence of multiple gravitational bodies on the evolution of life.
But what about intelligent life?
Most people reading this has little care about orbital dynamics, or the makeup of other solar systems. I recognize that. But to understand the great variety of life in our universe, you need to recognize that the orbital configurations of solar systems has a massive influence on the evolution of particular intelligence.
Which, being said, allows me to create some postulates…
Extraterrestrials that wish to move or colonize another solar system would search for ones resembling their own home environment.
The greater the deviation from their home environment, the greater the likelihood of catastrophic colony failure.
There are gravitational, and orbital influences on the biology of all creatures and given a strange or uncomfortable (new) environment, would result in abnormalities in biological functioning.
And most pointedly…
It is unlikely that dissimilar extraterrestrials from dissimilar worlds around dissimilar solar systems would find comfort within our solar system. Those that are here are here for a reason, and their home solar system is either the earth, or a star very close by.
The world has all sorts of extraterrestrial visitors, and many come from great distances. But the ones that stay, and the ones that make a go at creating colonies, or are busy getting involved in human activities are those that have a vested interest in this earth environment and the human species.
Which brings me up to the following criteria;
The earth is a sentience nursery for the development of intelligent species. It is one of five in our general region.
Those most interested in the development of the human sentience structure are the type-1 greys and the Mantids. Both come from this galactic region, if not the earth directly.
Any other creature, or extraterrestrial that hails from a distant and / or different solar system or galactic region are here for a limited time only.
Extraterrestrial disinformation.
There is a great deal of disinformation on the internet. When you look at it from the prism of MAJestic, their stories sound fantastical bordering on criminal.
My research has also come up with a goodly number of reports of Pleiadeans and other "Humanoid", "Blonde", and "Nordic" Star Visitors who are virtually indistinguishable from humans.
Indeed, Native American and other indigenous people's traditions point to the Pleiades star cluster as their origin worlds.
Others tell of people from the Sirius, Orion, and other star systems. If you were to place a pair of sunglasses on one of these "Nordic" Visitors, they would be indistinguishable from a Scandinavian-American citizen.
Councillor Meata of the Star Nations High Council says that the Pleiadeans are especially gifted in medicine. When people are brought onto "ships" for physical body work, healers like the Pleiadeans often work with them.
940 B.C.-present day. The Saami are a human-looking race who migrated from Barnards Star the 6 light-years to Earth around 940 B.C. and live among us. They are resident in the Saami (Lapland) region above the Arctic Circle in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and northwest Russia Kola Peninsula.
The Saamis are of extraterrestrial origin as reported by USAF Airman Charles Hall, who had security clearance for contact with Star Visitors. Hall has described the Saami as looking Human, with broad faces, high cheekbones, tall foreheads and darkish hair color. The Saami are distinguished by their having only 24 teeth instead of the normal-human 32 teeth.
Also, these Saami people can regrow a tooth to replace any adult tooth which has been removed. They prefer a dramatically-cold climate. Otherwise they are indistinguishable from Humans.
Some of these Saami (Laplanders) migrated to the U.S. and settled in northern-tier states such as Wisconsin. A number of Saami have intermarried with Europeans, so the degree to which their original Saami characteristics remain in the mixed-race offspring varies.
-Star Visitor Species
So, whether this is true or not is a determination that you the reader will need to make. Just because it does not make sense to me, doesn’t mean that it cannot actually exist.
However, I argue that we have observed the solar systems where these entities supposedly came from. They are entirely dissimilar to anything regarding our human range of experience. Thus the logical questions should arise…
Why are they interested in us?
Why do they look like us?
Why, if you read the articles about their “warnings”, do they want to get involved in our human Geo-politics?
How could they adapt to easily to such a frighteningly different environment on the earth compared to their home system.
Personally, I think others (well meaning of course) are using the “extraterrestrial narrative” as a venue from which to “soapbox” their personal opinions on politics, the environment, and human nature. While in truth, they know nothing of the true and real state of affairs.
Conclusion
We can see what other solar systems are like just by using our telescopes on earth. We can study those stars and their solar systems. When we do so, we realize just how varied and diverse the universe is.
It is not filled with stars that look like our sun.
It is not filled with planets that look like our earth.
And it most certainly is not filled with creatures that look like us, act like us, and want to help us by giving us advice on the Geo-political issues of the day.
It is true that life forms readily in this universe, but they are more apt not to care about us humans on this obscure planet around this obscure star in the middle of nowhere. Those that do, do so for specific reasons.
Thus, when filtering out the real from the disinformation that abounds all over the place, we should pay particular attention to the basics…
Any extraterrestrials that are here, are here for a good reason.
Powerful governments have created agencies to work with them. Like MAJestic in the United States.
In all cases, we want their technology, and are willing to exchange ANYTHING to get it.
There are no benevolent entities that want to help the human species evolve. They all have their own agendas.
Do you want some more?
I do hope that you enjoyed this post. I have many more in my MAJestic index, here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
This article goes into a much more involved study of how consciousness interacts with world-lines in the MWI.
In so doing, we have to deconstruct some of the simpler conventions that we have used in the past, and layout a better foundation of how the MWI actually interacts with the consciousness.
In earlier posts, I have gone into details on how the MWI actually manifests in our reality. In those presentations, I intentionally simplified things for easy understanding.
It's sort of like how you teach a person to swim by holding them and letting them kick their legs in the water. You use "supports". These supports aren't really the "real thing", but they help you along the road to eventually master the real thing.
In this post, we will assume that you the reader have mastered a basic understanding of those previous points.
Consciousness moves in and out of world-lines.
This movement appears as “time”.
Our thoughts direct which world-lines that we enter.
Introduction
In this article, we will now elaborate upon the world-line construction. We will look at what it actually is and how it actually works. Not everyone needs to know or understand this. But for those that do, this will help obtain a better understanding of it.
This
is an illustration of what time actually is. Time does not exist. It is
a perception that our consciousness has as it moves and weaves in and
out of different world-lines. Here we use an old-fashioned movie reel
projector to help illustrate this understanding.
It will appear really strange, but I do hope that I can help add some insight into everything.
Now, this article is for advanced students and are advanced studies.
Most of the people who have already mastered World-Line-Travel 101, you won’t need to read this. For the handful of people that understand world-line-travel-101, you don’t really need to understand much more than that.
But for those of you that need more, then here it is.
Of course, it’s long due. But all this COVID-19 nonsense has pretty much hijacked my postings and articles.
Quick Review
The universe is nothing like people think it is.
Instead of all of us sharing the same physical universe, we exist as consciousness within our very own personal reality. It only appears that we share it with others.
There is a near infinite number of these realities. They are known as individual world-lines.
We travel through these different world-lines at a rate of around 4 Hz. The selection of the world-line we exist within momentarily is manifested by our thoughts. This is a rather speedy switching in and out of world-lines.
Roughly, our consciousness pops in and out of four different world-lines every second.
Each world-line is nearly identical to the one before it.
The differences are determined by your thoughts, conscious and unconscious.
If you want to review what all this is about, I would suggest you check out these following posts first:
So please keep in mind that while everything posted previously is quite accurate, it is actually simplified for understanding.
Now, we get into a deeper perception of how things actually work. And in the process better understand all that PSI and “twilight zone” stuff that appears from time-to-time.
Once you understand these new elements of consciousness fundamentals and world-line interaction, you can understand how people are able to do many "tricks" with PSI, and other strange things...
Clarification #1 – Consciousness cycles in and out of world-lines in a sinusoidal manner.
This should be obvious to the astute reader, but it needs to be stated.
The consciousness moves in and out of world-lines naturally. It moves in a sinusoidal manner. It moves in and out. In and out. Over and over.
The rate of travel varies from person to person, but typically averages around 4 Hz.
Standard sinusoidal waveform.
During this time it changes “shape properties”. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.
At “the top” of the cycle it takes on wave behavior.
At the “bottom” of the cycle, it takes on particle behavior.
Consciousness movement in and out of different world-lines.
When it takes on wave behavior it moves from one world-line to another directed by thought. It exists “in the spirit world”.
Movement of consciousness.
When it takes on particle behavior, it occupies a world-line and inhabits a physical body.
Our consciousness cycles in and out of different world-lines. Between each trip it exists within “heaven”.
With this understood, we can define the amount of time that the transition from world-line to world-line takes, as well as the duration a consciousness spends inside each world-line.
If there are 4 cycles per second, then, each trip back and forth from the "Heavenly realms" to a world-line is 1/4 a second.
And thus, (roughly) each moment at a given world-line is half of that. Or, 1/8 of a second.
Some “take aways”;
Humans, via our consciousness, is continuously in touch with the “Heavenly realms”. Every moment we touch heaven, and enter our latest world-line.
When in the wave form, we can perform all sorts of activities and have all sorts of “abilities” not tied to any world-line. There are no physical limitations. Humans spend approximately 50% of their time “connected” to the “Heavenly realms”.
For us to maintain (retain) our memories from world-line to world-line, the memories are deposited outside the brain. It exists within the “Heavenly realms” not within the physical brain.
Key Correction #1 – Consciousness moves about the MWI when attached to a human body.
In my previous simplifications, I have referred to, and drawn the consciousness as a red blob; a point of light. I have stated that “Soul” can generate multiple Consciousnesses that it places on “journeys”. These “Journeys for experience” is a life-experience for a soul.
Simplified diagram of how consciousness moves in and out of the MWI and gives us the illusion of time. This is what one second of life looks like for the average person. He / she enters and leaves four different world lines each second. This “movement” appears as time.
The Consciousness normally travels in and out of world-lines all a person’s life.
Once a consciousness uses up a body as it travels in and out of world-lines, it dies. The consciousness stays in the wave-form and “rests” within the “Heavenly realms”.
A decision is thus made by the soul, the consciousness, and their associations with other spirits, angels, and heavenly denizens on what to do next.
Often, it involves being injected on another “journey” in another life. This is often referred to as reincarnation.
This graphic shows how the the “passage of time” is viewed in the big-scale of things. MWI movement occurs during a human “lifespan”. You can only experience world-line travel within a given life. (There’s exceptions to this, but let’s stay focused.)
Key Correction #2 – Consciousness is not a point-source.
Consciousness is actually quite complex and complicated.
It is not a blob, a dot, a “something”.
It’s a collection of “stuff” that operates in such a way that the soul, the consciousness, the MWI and the thoughts generate memories and navigate the life-path to create experiences that the soul can learn from.
Soul creates a “consciousness” that it uses to travel the MWI.
It inserts it into a given world-line, and allows it to move unencumbered and subject to it’s own thoughts. Each world-line is a “physical reality” that the consciousness occupies.
The soul, which resides in the “Heavenly realms” creates a consciousness from which to experience things and events. Thus learns and grows. Consciousness is the passageway or “tunnel” that connects the physical reality to the soul.
Now, in all of this, I drew consciousness (literately, and artistically) as a point. I drew it as a red circular blob. Like in the two earlier drawings.
As in the above drawing showing the consciousness as a red blob in front of a long tunnel to the soul.
Movement of consciousness into a world-line as depicted as a point source.
However, the true reality is a bit different.
Get ready to have your mind blown.
The consciousness actually occupies multiple World-line-realities at any given moment simultaneously. It is actually not a “red blob”. It’s a lot of “red blobs”. Each one occupying a different world-line… simultaneously.
It is a “shared potential”. Some of the consciousness occupies one world-line at any given moment, while other aspects of it’s consciousness occupies other world-lines.
Sort of like this…
Consciousness occupies multiple world-lines at any given moment. The sum total of what our consciousness experiences is what we view as “our” present world-line. It appears to be but one singular world-line, but it is actually a aggregate composite of all the world-lines that our consciousness occupies at any given moment. 1 / (30/4+40/4+20/4+10/4) = Momentary reality.
Then, they move on to the next group of world lines. Then again. Then again. Then again. Over and over.
It’s not a red blob moving in and out.
Consciousness occupies multiple world-lines at any given moment. The sum total of what our consciousness experiences is what we view as “our” present world-line. They all change in the same cycle as governed by the consciousness.
Instead, consciousness occupies numerous world-lines at any given moment. Each world-line is different, but similar. The Consciousness interprets the differences as a singular world-line.
Key Correction #2 – World-Lines are not point-sources either.
We have a tendency to think of a “world” as a fixed and solid place. And the way that I have described the movement of time, has been the consciousness moving in and out from these fixed world-line realities.
A "world-line" is the resultant combined perception of a moment "frozen in time" that combines multiple world-lines into a singular apparent place.
What we think a world-line is is not a fixed singular place.
It is the sum total average of all the experiences that a conscientiousness is exposed to at any singular moment in time.
By fracturing a consciousness and occupying many similar world-lines simultaneously, the resultant consciousness would end up with a richer “experience”. It can also help to direct the travel and migrate to “better” world-lines per it’s directives.
It is the exact opposite of “living within an echo chamber“. It enables the consciousness to experience different experiences instead of simply reinforcing existing ones that the consciousness has been accustomed to over the years.
Key Correction #3 – World-Lines are not entirely empty of other consciousnesses.
To best understand how you can move in and out of multiple world-lines, it makes sense to think of things simply. Your consciousness is a point or sphere. The world-lines are empty and only occupied by “shadow consciousnesses”. But that’s really a simplistic picture.
It’s a simple narrative.
Imagine that you are only consciousness. And that you can move in and out of different world-lines freely. They seem to be occupied by all kinds of other people, but that is just an illusion. Most world-lines are just empty. And all those other people are just “quantum shadows” of others.
Now, this simplistic narrative needs to be revised to reflect the reality.
Instead of 100% of a consciousness entering a world-line where all the “quantum shadows” only have 0% occupancy within that reality…
…we now look at the reality…
Your consciousness might devote (say) 23% occupation within a given world-line, and all those “quantum-shadows” are actually occupied by other consciousnesses. Only they are a much smaller percentage. Often varying from 0.0002% to 0.1%.
Thus, in truth, all world-lines are not truly empty. They are occupied to some extent. And all of the other consciousnesses react to the way your consciousness behaves within any given particular world line.
Conclusion
And this, boys and girls, is the more advanced understanding of how the universe actually works. It’s simple, but complex.
It’s “rich” and “colorful”.
It also helps to understand how PSI and other psychic behaviors manifest within our reality.
And no, you are not going to find this anywhere else on the internet or in the halls of the universities. But this is what I have been tasked to understand (or at least part of it, anyways) as part of my MAJestic role.
I have much more, but it starts to really get complicated.
In it, I explain how the physical materials can be manipulated by thought and how one can travel through “apparent time”, and all sorts of curious other things. But, I am not ready to release all these other things out to the public at this time. It’s not the time.
I do not want to anger the PTB (Powers That Be) at this time.
I hope that you enjoyed this post. If you want to see more along these lines, please go to my MAJestic Index, here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Error! Missing PayPal API credentials. Please configure the PayPal API credentials by going to the settings menu of this plugin.
Here we discuss the women of Mongolia. How strong, tough, and beautiful they are. We also take a look at how they became that way. For they are who they are because of the strengths and guidance of one singular man; Genghis Khan. As such, we study the environment that forged such strong, fierce and beautiful women.
One of the things that I enjoy about history is looking at it in it’s entirety. That is to say, not just the dates, the places, the battles, and the warriors. But rather the tales of bravery and strife of the people who lived at that time. But, yes, it’s even more than that. You need to understand the culture and society at the time to really obtain a full and accurate impression of what was going on then. Here, in this article, we look at life under the brutal emperor Genghis Khan as a woman. After all, it’s a pretty fascinating subject, don’t you know.
Why women? Well, we pretty much know what it was like as a man; you fought and you died in glorious battle. You died for a man who you admired, and who you looked up to. He was your hero.
Even though Genghis Khan is considered as a bad person in the world due to his brutal activities of killing people; in Mongolia, he was considered as a hero. He brought civilization and law in Mongolia. The leadership of women was very appreciated in his native land.
-Genghis Khan Facts
Men also didn’t tend to live long. It’s sort of like it is today, only back then you also had to contend with [1] illnesses without cures, [2] jealous neighbors who will kill you “just because”, [3] accidents without doctors, and [4] the occasional genocide of your entire tribe.
Ah, it was a truly tough life if you were a man.
Not that being a woman was any better, mind you. It’s just that it was a different time with different problems. Women had to deal with the annual baby, while busily keeping the other kids alive. All the time maintaining the household, budgeting the financing, feeding the family and engaging in family-to-family politics that were often at a “Game of Thrones” level.
Genghis Khan was a hero and a leader to his people. Young boys and men followed him and looked up to him. He was everything they ever dreamed of, and the man that they wanted to emulate.
Here we look at the ruler of the largest empire in the world. We look at the man, and the conservative society that he imposed on his people and on the peoples that he conquered.
Traditional Conservative Society
Now one of the things are is often overlooked in the histories of our past is the society from once they were derived. We just “assume” that they were like our present society, only with different clothing, and bad sanitation. Most people assume that it was almost like our present life, just at a different time.
Not true.
These are “traditional” conservative societies. Not “progressive”, modern, and “liberal” societies formed after the industrial revolution to “modernize” it to keep up with changing events and the “scientific method”.
There are two types of societies;
A traditional society. One that has remained constant for thousands of years.
A Progressive and modern society. One that is subject to change and alterations to fit the times. The oldest progressive society in the world is the “American Society”. It is slightly over one hundred years old.
Over 5000 years of mankind, families and evolution has created a world-wide template on what a traditional society is. That template is a global standard. The men folk engage in hunting, foraging and farming activities and the wife engages in domestic duties. It’s known as a “traditional”, and “conservative” family.
So, nope, you won’t see a shared division of labor.
Genghis Khan. In those days a man must provide for his family. If something were to happen to him, then the family might end up destitute. So it was critically important that the father be strong and tough. Scene is from the movie Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure.
The husband won’t go rushing out the door to ride the horse to McMogel Inc. to clock in, while the wife rides her steed to a nearby village to engage in some urban planning activities. You know, go through the drive-through Yurt to get a Starbucks hot yak milk. It’s not like that. That is a progressive “modern” division of labor for families.
A traditional home is one where the man earnings a place in society for his family, and the woman cares for the home and children. It’s a conservative, and traditional , division of labor.
Now, of course, you the reader, might look askance at me.
It’s not only the division of labor that is different from our modern progressive family lifestyle. It is everything. The man MUST represent the family in the community, hold his own; earn his keep and provide for his family. If he fails, he risks banishment, subjugation, possible slavery and death for him and his family. The stakes are always high in a conservative society.
No slackers are permitted to live in a true conservative society.
(Which is perhaps why the progressive liberals are so Hell-bent on disarming them, in order to achieve their progressive utopia. Eh?)
If Genghis Khan would take a look at Americans today, what would he think? Do you believe that he would be proud and happy that Americans are so healthy, intelligent, smart, hard-working and healthy? Or do you believe that the would consider them weak, soft, pampered and “pushovers”? What would Genghis Khan or any of his 500 wives think?
Traditional Conservative Roles
In a traditional conservative society, there are roles. They are strict. They are easy to understand. They are easy to measure the success or failure of.
For the man, this might mean herding cattle, farming, fishing, or fighting with the local kingly leader. It’s ok for the man, as it leverages his strengths. (Though, not all that great on the wear and tear on his body.)
While the wife tends to the house, manages (and teaches) the kids and provides nutritious meals for the family. It’s always been a very comfortable division of labor and responsibilities.
Thus to understand Genghis Khan, and his treatment of women within that society, you need to understand and recognize that it was a different time, and a different place. It in no way resembles life and our societies today.
Modern American progressives having a discussion on the merits of the improved utopia under Socialist Bernie Sanders. They believe that a true utopia on earth can be obtained through application of modern techniques and a modern society where everyone is the same. Everyone is equal, and everyone is happy. In their world view, they would be just as “equal” as the strongest man, the smartest woman, the fastest runner, or the most attractive (or handsome) person. Simply because they intend to legislate it that way. Under Genghis Khan, however, they would be singled out as slackers and killed. (Maybe tortured first, it depends on their mood at the time.)
The modern progressive lifestyle that came into being during the feudal societies of the “middle ages”, as well that their modern manifestation the Wilsonian modern progressive lifestyle had another 600 years before it started to gain in popularity.
The Mongolian culture that we see today, is a result of things that took place many centuries before Wilsonian / Taft, and FDR “progressive modernization” was even conceived.
This all took place at a time when Men were Men, and Women were Women. Everyone had a role. If you did not fit within that role, you were killed. There was no mercy. Abominations were killed.
It’s all pretty straightforward, don’t you know.
Genghis Khan being offered a Twinkie in the movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. While the comedy made humorous enjoyment of history, the fact remains that being a man (or a woman) in those times was no laughing matter. Death came quickly to those not deserving of life (as judged by your peers.) Yikes!
r/K Reproductive Strategy
To understand why the women of Mongolia are strong, tough and equals with men, you must understand the differences in society survival mechanisms. This is known as the r/K reproductive strategy and it affects everything.
Being equal does not mean a comparative measurement of strength.
Equality is self-contained independence within a role-defined framework.
To study this further, please click on the link below. Don’t worry as it opens up in another tab so that you can safely continue reading this article.
Genghis Khan’s rough childhood.
Let’s talk a little bit about the boss.
Genghis Khan was the Emperor of the Mongol Empire. He ruled the country from 1206 up to 1227. He was born on Delüün Boldog in 1162. He died at the age of 65 years old in 1227. The legend stated that he would be a good leader when he grew up since he was born with a blood clot in his clenched fist.
When Genghis Khan was just a child, his father Yesugei was poisoned by a rival tribe, the Tatars, when they sneakily offered him poisoned food.
Expert Tip: Don't eat food given to you by your enemies.
Young Genghis, who had been away, immediately went back home to claim his position as chief of the tribe. But once he arrived he discovered that things had changed. Once his father was gone, his family was blacklisted in his tribe. They decided to kick them out of the tribe, and thus ended up abandoning Genghis’ family instead.
Mongolia is not the place for “diversity” and “equality”. It’s a harsh life, where people must fit in or suffer the consequences.
Genghis Khan had a very rough childhood. His father was killed by an enemy tribe when Genghis was only nine years old. Later, Genghis tribe expelled his mother, so the poor lady had to raise Genghis and six other children on her own.
Needless to say, Mongolia in the 13th century was not the best place for an unprotected woman with seven children. All of Genghis' family suffered a lot from hunger and cold. That made Genghis a real fighter.
He even killed his half-brother Bekhter for not sharing food. Genghis was ten at the time of this dispute. I understand that siblings might be a pain in the rear end sometimes, but killing them is not what normal people do.
It was a clear sign that one hell of a cold-blooded warrior was growing up. Later, Genghis was enslaved by a rival clan, and it only made him hate everyone more. Of course, Genghis escaped the slavery, and the rest is history.
-The Richest
The troubles still weren’t over for the young Genghis. He also ended up being abducted by an enemy clan as a teenager, and had to make an escape to win his freedom. It was what was expected of him as a Mongol.
So, to clarify. After his father was poisoned, and his family banished from the community. The enemies of the family kidnapped him and used his as a slave. Where, of course, they did not treat him well. So he escaped.
Yeah, I’m sure that kind of background would tend to make anyone a little mean and distrustful.
Warrior Culture
If you were born a Mongol, you were a part of the tribe in every facet of its society. This is evident in the fact that the Mongols did not have a word for soldier, as every member of their society was trained to be a part of their collective war-machine, each of them learning to mobilize instantly.
-Factinate
Mongolia was a tough place with harsh weather, and impossible geography. The people that lived there were strong and fierce.
Genghis Khan as a young leader.
He had to work his way up from rock bottom.
He clawed, fought, betrayed, and horrified his enemies. He used his diplomatic skills to build friendships and alliances, and his knowledge of terror and warfare to vanquish his enemies.
In an environment that bred hard men, Genghis was the hardest of them all. Born in 1162 (according to McLynn; other estimates vary from 1155 to 1167), by the age of 14 he had killed his half-brother (and potential rival) in an argument over a fish and had seized back his family’s horses, stolen in a raid.
He married at 16, and when a competing clan abducted and impregnated his wife Borte he assembled a large army to rescue her.
In 1206 he survived a poisoned arrow in his neck, and as reward for a brutally effective military career, a noble council (quriltai) of the Mongolian clans proclaimed Temujin their leader, or ‘Genghis [Chinggis] Khan’ — often translated as ‘Ruler of the Universe’.
But at that point he was just warming up.
He reformed his army, the instrument of conquest, along Manchurian lines in decimal units: ten in a platoon, 100 in a company, 1,000 in a brigade and 10,000 in a division. Their pay was plunder.
The wily Genghis also created a 10,000-strong imperial guard, making the sons of his generals officers in order to guarantee ‘good behaviour’. He unleashed this vast army of over 100,000 across Asia.
McLynn has subtitled his book ‘The Man Who Conquered the World’, but he might have added ‘and Slaughtered Half of It’.
First Genghis subjugated — later all but annihilated — the Tanguts of north-western China, before invading China’s powerful Jin empire in 1211. ‘Like a shark, the Mongol empire had to be in continuous forward motion’ to sustain itself.
By 1213 he was in Peking. The image of Mongolian warriors as fierce horsemen sweeping across the steppe is accurate, but incomplete. When confronted by the truly formidable defences of Peking, Genghis demonstrated great patience and resolve, starving the city into submission in 1215.
The inevitable resulting sack ‘was one of the most seismic and traumatic events in Chinese history’.
- Was Genghis Khan the cruellest man who ever lived?
He set his self apart by combining skillful leadership in diplomacy and battle. Around 1206, the great assembly of Mongals named him “Genghis Khan” or supreme leader. Khan then proceeded to unite his people together.
The Mongols swift rise to power came from Khan’s dynamic leadership.
Genghis Khan was a leader that demanded excellence from his soldiers, harmony from his families, and obedience from his subjects. He did not accept deviations from the traditions of his society. Nor did he accept any cultural experiments into progressive “modern” society. He ruled firmly with no apologies.
While the Mongol tribes had long renowned as dangerous and troublesome, Khan molded them into a much greater fighting force-disciplined organized, ruthless. He picked his generals from among his sons or trusted allies; he was also an adaptable ruler, and had the ability to learn from other.
Mongol empire expansion over time.
He must have been one of the most ferocious people ever to live on the planet Earth. Genghis marked his reign with blood, feasts, and love of different women. People like Napoleon, Hitler, or Stalin look like amateurs when we compare them to Genghis Khan.
The killed people by the armies of Khan are more than the ones killed by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. It is estimated that army had killed 40 million people.
-My Interesting Facts
Fierce Leadership.
This fierce Mongol knew how to rule, and he successfully did it for many years in the 13th century. There wasn’t a person back in the day, who would not be scared of Genghis Khan’s power. The Mongol Empire conquered all Asia, and no enemy could withstand Genghis Khan and his bloodthirsty army.
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan killed so many Persians (modern day Iranians), that the population of Persia didn’t return to pre-Mongol numbers until the 1900s, nearly 700 years later.
-Factinate
Using his armies, he pushed outward and forward. He went forth and conquered anything in his path. Many cities and nations fell before his armies.
A map of the Mongol Empire expansion under Genghis Khan.
While the Mongols loved to compromise, they were known for their brutal physical power.
From there his armies moved west and targeted Persia in 1219, where the Sultan had, in an act of extreme foolhardiness, deliberately provoked Genghis by shaving off the beards of two of his ambassadors and killing a third. Samarkand, that glorious city on the Silk Road, fell in 1220, despite the defenders’ super-weapon of two dozen war elephants. McLynn dismisses the oft-quoted figure of 50,000 killed there in a single day (note the limited time span), but admits ‘it is clear that the death toll was terrific and unacceptable’.
- Was Genghis Khan the cruellest man who ever lived?
People believed that one Mongolian man could defeat ten or more warriors of other culture. And that was true.
Genghis Khan proved many times how strong his army was, defeating his enemies against all the odds.
Fighting was part of the Mongol culture. As such, Genghis loved to fight more than anything else.
Most military historians judge that no European force could have stopped the disciplined and innovative Mongolian armies. “Employed against the Mongol invaders of Europe, knightly warfare failed even more disastrously for the Poles at Legnica and the Hungarians at Mohi in 1241”
-Stephen Hicks
That being said, he did a lot of other things in his life as well. It is strange how little we know about Genghis Khan, the greatest Emperor of all time. And he was. His empire was enormous.
A map of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan amassed the largest contiguous empire the world had yet seen. Only the British Empire, when it included both Canada and Australia, would be larger. Unlike Alexander the great, the Caesars or the Persian emperors, Genghis Khan’s idea of conquest was not to occupy and rule another people, but rather to rape, pillage and destroy everything in his path.
Worse was to come in 1221 — ‘a year to live in infamy’. While Genghis’s other armies had been busy in the east, threatening Tbilisi in Georgia and terrifying the Christian world, Tolui, one of Genghis’s equally reprehensible sons, took Merv (in modern-day Turkmenistan), one of the largest cities in the world.
Promised safety, the citizens surrendered and emerged from behind their walls. Tolui ‘surveyed the masses dolefully gathered with their possessions, mounted a golden chair and ordered mass executions to commence’. They took four days and nights to complete. Genghis’s rotten fruit did not fall far from the tree.
Terror — and the certainty of its visitation — was a major weapon in Genghis’s arsenal: decapitated women, children and even cats and dogs were reputedly displayed. But while the butchery was indeed immense, it is worth questioning its extent on occasion: a depopulated city had little economic value, and imported colonisers could make up only so much of the shortfall.
- Was Genghis Khan the cruellest man who ever lived?
Mongolia was a very difficult place to live, and thus the people that lived there become fierce and tough. Those in the West were no match for them became soft, and corrupt. They became easy prey for a tough warrior traditional conservative culture of warriors.
His total disregard for human life led to him being utterly feared throughout virtually the entire Eurasian land mass.
And, aside from that, they also were terrible at keeping promises…
Subutai led an army of 20,000 Mongols against a Russian army 4 times its size.
The Mongol rear guard was defeated early in the battle, and so the rest of the horde was forced to retreat. Mstislav the Bold chased down the retreating Mongols with victory in his eyes. His army spread out as they attempted to catch them, a chase which lasted many days. Mstislav spotted Mongols in formation along the Kalka River, and attacked without waiting for reinforcements. With his army in disarray, Mstislav was forced to retreat back to a fortified camp.
He had fallen for a feigned retreat.
Mstislave surrendered to Subutai with the agreement that neither he, nor any of his men would be harmed. They were all slaughtered upon leaving the camp. Luckily, Mstislav managed to escape. Mstislav the Bold, boldly ran away.
-ESKify
Being a woman under Genghis Khan.
When people think of strong women, their first reaction is (perhaps) some kind of cardboard-cutout out of Hollywood. They think of a woman acting like a man, dressing like a man, taking on manly battles and killing other men.
Maybe something like this…
The Hollywood comic-book model of what a strong woman is. To them it is a woman who acts, dresses and behaves like a man.
If you’ve ever actually stopped to think about it, you probably assumed that life was pretty terrible for women under Genghis Khan. And you’d be forgiven for making that assumption. But it’s not true at all.
Most cultures that existed in the distant past have a not-exactly great reputation for treating women with respect and fairness. Thus, why would you think that a dictator of a traditional conservative nomadic society, and one as brutal as Genghis Khan, would be any different?
You may be cool, but you’ll never be as cool as a Mongolian Shepard with a AK-47 and a pet snow leopard.
Most of what you’re about to read will probably be kind of surprising (it will certainly shake many assumptions that one might have regarding traditional conservatism, the role of women in these cultures and societies, and assumptions written down in school textbooks over the last few decades).
The truth is kind of a mixed bag.
Some women fared very well under Genghis Khan while others suffered terribly. But for the most part, the Mongols had some pretty progressive ideas about women’s rights, at least compared to many of the other cultures that existed at the time — Western culture included.
Mongolian women are known for the strength, beauty and intelligence. They are renowned for being excellent mothers and fine housekeepers.
They still had to fit into neatly outlined roles and meet certain expectations, it’s just that they enjoyed a lot of freedom compared to women in other nations around the world.
So here is the truth about it was really like to be female under the reign of the infamous Mongolian conqueror. More or less.
This was one of the most devastating battles in European history. 25% of Hungary’s population was wiped out by after the Mongol incursions.
Half of all liveable places had crumbled, smashed to bits by hordes of Mongols. Losses were heavy on both sides, but the Europeans suffered most. This was the most major battle of the war between Hungary and the Mongolians.
-ESKify
Strong and beautiful Mongolian woman in traditional clothing.
The husband had to obey his wife.
This will shock many people. As it does not fit the narrative of what a traditional conservative family is like. If you listen to the progressive anti-traditional narrative, you would believe that all conservatives have a lifestyle right out of the Handmaids Tale.
The movie the Handmaid’s Tail is a fiction that describes a most horrible world where gender defines a world divided into a slave and a master caste. To many feminists, they actually believe that this is what a traditional conservative society actually looks like. This fiction is nothing more than that. It is an attractive fiction that supports the views of the radical feminists in a progressive modern society.
But there you have it. One hundred years of progressive Marxism has rewritten the narrative to such a point that people become incredulous when exposed to the truth.
In conservative societies, the woman is the boss of the household. Households are run as matriarchal institutions with a paternal head for sociological hierarchy.
Back under Genghis Khan, the women were actually respected in Mongol society. Not only that, but men were expected to listen to the advice of their wives.
In traditional societies the man gives all of his earnings and all of what he creates to his wife. The wife budgets the resources, and helps steer the man to become a leader in their society. It is the traditional conservative role that a woman takes on. This is not unique to Mongolia. It is typical throughout the world.
Khan believed that the children that he left behind were his strength. Therefore, he had a lot of women in his harem. When he died, he had a lot of children.
-My Interesting Facts
The Mongols were brutal fighters, to be sure, but they weren’t barbarians, well at least not in every aspect of their lives. Mongolian women were respected, often served as leaders, and were highly valued members of society.
Check out the very cool Mongolian headdresses. One of the most colorful and original items of Mongolian national dress is the traditional head wear. The Mongolian headdresses differs in shape and purpose.
In fact according to Amonbe, the Mongols believed that a man ought to marry an older woman, because an older woman would have more wisdom than her husband, and would therefore be able to guide him in not making stupid life decisions.
Well, duh! That’s the way it is today in all the traditional conservative societies around the globe. From Poland, Brazil, to Japan, Korea and China.
A woman needs to be strong in Mongolia. Not only to deal with the weather and the climate, but to deal with the dog-eat-dog nature of the society there. A strong woman can inspire and direct her man to behave and act in ways that will bring success to the household.
In fact, no one respected a man who didn’t listen to his wife — it was a sign of immaturity and unmanliness. So just in case you thought that fierce Mongol warrior must also be a brute to the women in his life, well, you’re mistaken.
Genghis Khan was one of the most deeply feared historical figures in the world for a good reason. Historians estimate that Genghis Khan is responsible for over 40 million deaths, and at that time it was equal to 11 percent of the world's population.
For comparison, we can look at World War II, which has put "only" around three percent of the world's population, 60-80 million people, to the graveyard.
What Genghis Khan did is downright scary when we put it in perspective, right? Actually, Genghis Khan's killings are partially responsible for making the climate colder in the 13th century and removing over 700 million tons of CO2 from the planet Earth.
If Genghis Khan were alive today, we would not have to talk about global warming... but we would have to hide if we were not Mongolians. Good thing that even the most powerful cannot resurrect from the dead.
-The Richest
A portrait of a very beautiful Mongolian woman. Her husband would be a very, very lucky man, I’ll tell you what.
Genghis Khan’s courts could tell your husband to be more romantic
When you imagine those early historical relationships between men and women, you probably think about some unsavory things. After all, we all harbor images of cavemen dragging cavewomen around by the hair. At least this is what we are taught in the common American mainstream media. Hey! Anyone else remember the cartoon “The Flintstones”?
A literal comic of a caveman dragging a woman around by the hair.
Throughout history, an awful lot of women got abused by an awful lot of men. But do not think that the majority of cultures were based on this model. They weren’t. If they were, then we would not have societies like we do today. Instead we would have a caste system.
It would be a caste system defined by gender. Where the strongest physically (the men) would subjugate the weaker sex (the women). This would manifest in numerous ways. One of which would be shared communal families, and roving sexual partners, and a society where the women would be more inclined to look good rather than have babies.
It would be a r-reproductive society.
But we know that is not the case, historically at least. Most of the world operates under a K-survival model. It is only in the progressive modern West, where the r-strategy model has taken root.
Thus I find it interesting that r-strategy progressive modern societies promote the notion of a helpless little-waif female, when in reality women are anything BUT helpless.
I knew a guy who stole a friends' wallet. He carried on and on about how the friend needed the money and that everyone should go looking for the wallet.
It is the people who shout loudest about things are usually the ones that are broadcasting their failings, worries, fears, and socially inept behaviors.
A Mongolian woman at a cultural event celebrating their traditions and history.
Mongol women had a lot of control in the home and in the bedroom, too.
In fact, if you were a Mongol woman and your husband wasn’t up to performing his husbandly bedroom duties (having sex on a regular basis, communicating with the wife, and performing his duties in support of the household) you could actually petition the government to intervene.
Imagine going down to the local courthouse and presenting documented evidence of your husband’s romantic failings. There, a community tribunal of other leaders (cut from the same cloth as Genghis Khan, no doubt) would study the issue and demand the man to perform. If he failed, who knows what nasty consequence might await him.
In Mongolian society, there are reasons why the women smile so much.
Mongolian women tend to be strong, and attractive. They will fight fiercely for their husbands and their families. In fact, you would never find them EVER belittling their husbands as is customary in the Untied States. They are fiercely loyal to their men and their family.
Genghis Khan believed a man’s legacy was measured in the children he left behind. That explains the why of the previous fact, but not the how. Who has that much time? Conquering must be easier than it sounds.
-Factinate
It is a man’s duty to perform. Both inside and outside the house. Anything less than that is an insult to Mongolians everywhere.
No foot binding in Mongolia.
Meanwhile in China, south of the Mongol empire, Neo-Confucianism outlined strict rules for female behavior. For instance, women were supposed to be chaste and obedient. This was often taken to the extreme. Where wives should basically exist only to serve their husbands. Well, except when their husbands die. Then they must exist only to serve their husbands’ families because they weren’t supposed to remarry.
Well, the truth is it’s not nearly as bad as all that.
I can’t imagine any Chinese women that I know tolerating that kind of harsh existence. Though, the point is that the Mongolians were far more accepting of parity of strengths between the two sexes. They felt that both the women and the men were equally strong.
Only in different ways.
Beautiful and strong, Mongolian women were the strength that powered and fueled their husbands to go out and forth-wards. They needed that strength. For the women would accompany their husbands on the Mongolian empire building campaigns. And when there were counterattacks or raids, the women would need to fight alongside with their husbands. The weak were not tolerated.
In China, women in the upper classes had their feet bound starting at age six, because a three-inch foot made them a hot item, a four-inch foot made them a good consolation prize, and a five-inch foot … well, women with five-inch feet might as well start on that collection of cats now because spinsterhood is calling.
In Mongolia, women were not having any of that.
Elaborate Mongolian head attire. They wore this attire whether the weather was hot or freezing cold. They were fierce at a level that is unheard of today. That includes the strongest female characters in your contemporaneous Hollywood movies.
So Mongolian women were basically just super-extra awesome and badass and they did not especially want to have tiny feet. Mongolian women were not thought of as subservient trophy wives, either — they were expected to be strong, fierce, and hard-working.
So Mongolian women were basically just super-extra awesome and badass and they did not especially want to have tiny feet. Mongolian women were not thought of as subservient trophy wives, either — they were expected to be strong, fierce, and hard-working.
And when cultures place those kinds of expectations on women, that tends to inform the family dynamic. Women who are strong and fierce can’t also be complacent and subservient.
You would probably call me crazy if I told you that Temüjin is one of the best-known people in history. However, that is true.
You see, Genghis Khan's real name was actually Temüjin, which means “of iron” or “blacksmith.” It is a cool name, but definitely not for a warlord and emperor. So, Temüjin changed his name to Genghis Khan in 1206.
It is for sure that "Khan" is the title, meaning "ruler," but historians are still puzzled about the meaning of "Genghis." Some believe that it translates to English as "ocean," but the more common version is that "Genghis" is a transformation of the Chinese word "Zhèng," which means "right" and "just."
So, ironically Genghis Khan is translated as “the just ruler." If you ask me, the 13th century was a very dark place to live in if people called Genghis Khan, killer of 40 million innocent souls, a just and right person.
-The Richest
Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.
Beautiful Mongolian lass.
Under Genghis Khan, women were the cartmasters
For a nomadic people, their homes were mobile. They mounted them on wheeled houses.
Incursions into Southeast Asia were largely successful, most factions agreed to pay tribute, and only the Invasions into Vietnam and Java failed.
Europe was devastated by the Mongols. They destroyed near enough every major Russian city, and invaded Volga Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary. If rumours spread that the Mongols were coming, then it would cause a mass panic, and some would run to safety.
There was no guaranteed way to defeat the Mongol hordes, they continuously defeated much larger armies, so numerical strength couldn’t protect you.
Mongol conquests would leave once populous and flourishing areas as wastelands, with little to no people, those remaining would be slaves.
-ESKify
In Mongolia during the time of Genghis Khan, the women were in charge of the carts and the men were strictly not allowed to ride in them, unless they were sick. That probably had more to do with the fact that Mongol men were supposed to be excellent horsemen (so they could be excellent warriors and pillagers) and riding in a cart took precious hours away from equestrian practice, but anyway. The carts were the domain of the women, and no men allowed.
Imagine if you were the person in charge of driving and maintaining the family car and also, you could make all your male family members walk. You are in charge. Well, the Mongols mostly rode horses, but you get the idea.
In Mongolia during the time of Genghis Khan, the women were in charge of the carts and the men were strictly not allowed to ride in them, unless they were sick. And, for a Mongolian, it would have to be a pretty serious illness. I’ll tell you what.
In Mongolia, and it continues to this day, the women have a place and a role in society, and so do the men. A traditional conservative family structure is one where the yoke of life is pulled equally by the two members of the household. It’s not a shared responsibility, but rather the man works his strengths and the woman works and controls hers.
That probably had more to do with the fact that Mongol men were supposed to be excellent horsemen (so they could be excellent warriors and pillagers) and riding in a cart took precious hours away from equestrian practice, but anyway. The carts were the domain of the women, and no men allowed.
Mongolian carts weren’t just a way to go back and forth to the grocery store, either, they were one of the most important components of the nomadic lifestyle.
This is in Tibet. What is very interesting is how the Mongolian culture completely overwhelmed the Tibetan culture and their traditional dress and behaviors reflect this fact over 600 years later.
According to the San Diego Tribune, the carts carried the felt tents that the Mongols lived in, and most of their goods and supplies, too. So if the cart drivers decided to go on strike, well, the whole community was in trouble.
Just another great example of “happy wife, happy life.”
Mongolian women wearing the clothing and hair dresses of their family. Which is, of course, handed down from generation to generation via tradition.
Genghis Khan was the most feared human of the 13th century, who could destroy dynasties just by moving his little finger. He created the Mongol Empire all by himself and earned his eternal spot in the history books.
However, a lot of people had to suffer for Genghis Khan to succeed. Oh yes, the Mongolians were known for their horrendous torturing techniques. One of the most popular was pouring molten silver down the throat and ears of a victim.
Genghis Khan also liked bending his enemy's back until the backbone snapped. If that sounds barbaric, skip this next part. So, the Mongols once celebrated victory over Russians in a very bizarre way. They picked all the Russian survivors, dropped them on the ground and put a heavy wooden gate on top of them.
Then, Genghis Khan and the entire Mongol army had a huge banquet on that wooden gate. They ate, drank, and watched how Russians were dying one by one from the suffocation, pressure, and wounds.
-The Richest
Women were expected to do physically demanding tasks
In a nomadic society, you can’t afford to have slackers. There’s just too much work to be done. So that means it there’s no room for anyone who can’t make him or herself useful, women and children included.
Genghis Khan believed in being rewarded for hard work, and operated on a meritocracy over a nepotistic system. Many of his highest ranking officers and generals had earned their way to those positions, instead of simply being born to a particular family.
-Factinate
According to the University of Victoria, Mongolian women were not only expected to shoulder a lot of the responsibility, they were also expected to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
It was the womens’ job to take down and put up the tents, and they had to do it quickly and efficiently.
They were also expected to be able to control the tribes’ often vast herds of animals, and do all that stereotypical women stuff, too, like raising the kids and cooking a meal every night.
So women, as well as men, had the responsibility of doing the sort of work that today we’d probably call heavy manual labor.
It’s really not surprising, then, that Mongolian men had so much respect for women — it’s hard to disrespect someone who’s as hard-working and capable as you are, especially if you’re seeing it with your own eyes every single day.
Mongolian women in a historical Chinese painting.
Women often faced hardship and handled it with grace and fortitude, too. Genghis Khan’s own mother was forced to raise her children on game and wild roots because they’d been abandoned by her tribe after the death of her husband.
That upbringing probably had a lot to do with Genghis’ progressive ideas about women.
Genghis Khan created the first international postal service, allowing people to mail parcels and letters to friends and family in other countries without having to hire specialized couriers. The postal service was similar to the American Pony Express.
-Factinate
If Genghis Khan says “marry my daughter,” you should totally do it
“The greatest joy for a man is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him, to take all they possess, to see those they love in tears, to ride their horses, and to hold their wives and daughters in his arms.”
-Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan had four poorly behaved sons, but most of his children were girls. And by most historical accounts, Genghis appears to have valued his daughters just as much as he valued his sons.
In fact, the San Diego Tribune says he once killed a guy who turned down his daughter’s hand in marriage, so yeah. Saying “no” to Genghis Khan was a terrible idea, but it was maybe an even worse idea to say “no” to one of his daughters.
When Genghis Khan tells you to marry his daughter, you had best do it.
Genghis was fond of quoting a proverb at his daughters’ weddings: “If a two-shaft cart breaks the second shaft, the ox cannot pull it. If a two-wheel cart breaks the second wheel, it cannot move.”
If you’re not good at metaphors, understand that Genghis was basically saying that men and women are two essential parts of the cosmic puzzle — without one part, the whole can’t function.
Mongolian father with his fourteen year old daughter going hunting. You see, she hunts using eagles. It’s part of their long running conservative culture.
Of course afterward, he would send the groom off to die on some dangerous military mission in the middle of nowhere, but whatever. It’s what happens to the menfolk. Anyways, it’s a nice thought.
Genghis Khan was tolerant of individual beliefs, encouraging religious freedom amongst his subjects. It didn’t matter who you believed in, because Genghis Khan believed in you.
-Factinate
Marrying one of Genghis Khan’s daughters was maybe a sentence of death
Genghis Khan loved his daughters, but he also pretty clearly loved what they could do for him politically. In fact, he was actually quite clever in arranging marriages for his daughters.
The Mongol were masterful at spreading fear and hate throughout Asia, people feared them, and therefore hated them.
They would rape and pillage entire villages, and torture their victims for fun. Nobles would get it the worst. Spilling noble blood was considered a crime, so they simply crushed them to death, which took many hours.
Mongols would literally dine on top of them, making merry to the sounds of their screams from underneath. The sounds of bodies squelching, and bones snapping didn’t faze them.
But rumours of this execution method struck terror. Fear made them powerful, as people often chose to surrender and pay tribute rather than risk fighting them.
-ESKify
Fourteen year old daughter going hunting with her eagle. Historically, the Mongolians married early and marriages at a (now considered young age) was the norm at the time of the great Genghis Khan. By the time the girl became sixteen she could hunt for herself, care for a full family, give birth and support her man.
Now it’s worth noting that women in Mongol society had the right to refuse marriage if it was to a man they disliked, and that alone was pretty progressive for a society that existed 800 years ago.
Yet for the daughters of Genghis, though, it almost didn’t matter whether or not they disliked their new husband, because they weren’t likely to stay married to him for very long.
According to the Tyee, Genghis would typically choose a royal husband for his daughters, preferably a king from a friendly nation. If the king had other wives, they got the boot, so let's just backpedal a little and say that life was pretty okay for most women living in Genghis Khan's empire but not really for the wives of the kings who actually got along with him.
Anyway, that sucked for the king’s former wives but it kind of actually also sucked for the king, because Genghis would always send his daughters’ new husbands off immediately on some dangerous mission in a Mongol war zone, where he’d almost certainly be killed. Then, Genghis’ daughter would take over the kingdom, thus expanding her father’s already massive empire.
Pretty brilliant, eh?
Here daughter; how would you like France? You’ll need to marry the King, but don’t worry, after a month, I’m going to ship him off to Siberia for a few years to test his loyalty. What do ya say? You want to marry him?
Strong Mongolian women on the move.
Yelu Chucai, one of Genghis Khan’s most trusted advisors, suggested that the Khan tax people instead of just, you know, killing them. This became a cornerstone of Genghis’ conquests.
Genghis Khan was a brutal warlord, but also a generous ruler. He was among the first global leaders to exempt the clergy and the poor from taxation.
-Factinate
Life under Genghis Khan wasn’t great for everyone, though
Living peacefully under Genghis Khan was cool, but what if you were a woman in one of his conquered nations? Well, it wasn’t much different from being a woman in a war zone pretty much anywhere else during that time.
Women, gold, horses, and other objects were considered spoils of war, which meant soldiers got to do pretty much whatever they wanted to do with them, and you don’t have to stretch your imagination too much to figure out what that means.
Genghis Khan had so much power that he could do whatever he wanted. For instance, when Genghis occupied some new area, he would kill or enslave all the men and share all the women amongst his tribe.
Genghis Khan would even make beauty contests of captured women to decide which woman is the most beautiful one. Yeah, he was having his Miss Universe competition before it was cool.
So, the queen of those beauty competitions would win the privilege to become one of many Genghis Khan's women. Rest of the Mongolian army would share all the other contestants.
-The Richest
Contemporaneous Mongolian beauty wearing Western clothing.
On the other hand, if you were lucky enough to be super-extra beautiful, you could be forcibly entered into one of Genghis Khan’s weird beauty pageants.
Girls in Mongolia seem to be a mystery to all but those who have visited these rare lands. These unique girls offer Asian features with larger bodies than most expect.
I was baffled by the women I encountered in Mongolia.
I’d never seen such tall, curvy Asians (well, Indonesian girls are curvy) in all of my travels throughout the region. There was truly something different about the Mongolian girls.
After meeting, greeting, and mating with some of these fine specimens, it finally clicked – these gals were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. I was balls deep in warrior genes, and I can’t lie – the thought of having myself a warrior-blooded baby certainly went through my mind.
-Life around Asia
According to Ancient Origins, once Genghis’ soldiers were done with the pillaging and the abusing, they brought Genghis himself the most beautiful women they’d encountered.
These women alone would be spared from the antics of the conquering army so they could be paraded in front of the man himself. The winner got the honor of becoming one of Genghis Khan’s many wives, which was probably preferable to ending up as the loser, though Ancient Origins doesn’t say what happened to them.
First and foremost, these girls were definitely Asian. Their features were dainty and stunning. However, Mongolian girls did not remind me of Thai girls or Indonesian girls much. They seemed to have a unique mixture to them.
I’d say many of the girls looked maybe 75% Asian with a mixture of Slavic genes, too.
It was incredibly unique and quite sexy. Some guys said they weren’t too into the look, but I loved it! Think a girl who is 2/3rds Asian and a third Russian. How could that not be sexy?!
-Life around Asia
Modern Mongolian beauty.
Evidently, though, women who Genghis deemed not to be up to his standards of beauty were sent off with the soldiers to be abused and then discarded. So yeah, great to be a woman in peacetime Mongolia but when Genghis comes to town you might just want to emigrate to China.
0.5 Percent of all men alive today are believed to have a genetic relation with Genghis Khan. It is estimated that his descendants are 8 percent of men in Asia.
-My Interesting Facts
Genghis Khan liked to romance his enemies’ wives
Genghis Khan wasn’t an especially gracious winner — after he was done with the conquering, he enjoyed abducting his enemies’ wives and either romancing them or brutalizing them, depending on how cool they were with being abducted by Genghis Khan.
Mongolian girls are smart, beautiful, stacked, and feisty. They also can drink you under the table. They are warriors from warrior stock.
In fact in one of his most famous quotes he waxed poetic about the joys of the post-conquering aftermath:
"The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters."
Nice guy, that Genghis.
He wasn’t always content to romance just one woman at a time, either.
According to Ancient Origins, his army commanders were all super-impressed with his manliness because he frequently spent his evenings with multiple women.
While broad shoulders aren’t exactly a good trait on women, the women in Mongolia didn’t get the short end of the stick in other ways.
In fact, I found some of the biggest Asian tits in the world to be in Mongolia. It was fantastic for me, as I’m a boobs man!
There are a number of rain-thin Mongolian girls that have big, natural racks. I was thoroughly impressed. In fact, outside of Indonesia, I haven’t seen bigger tits in an Asian country. The asses here aren’t as amazing as the boobs, but there still above average for Asia.
-Life around Asia
Mongolian Girls sure are beautiful. They are stunners, and it doesn’t matter what kinds of clothes they wear, traditional, Western or none what so ever. They are amazingly attractive.
He wasn’t that into birth control, either, in fact by modern estimates Genghis Khan has roughly 16 million descendants. Now, the study that put forth this hypothesis can’t actually prove that the individual they identified is Genghis Khan, since no one knows where the Mongol leader is buried and therefore they can’t recover any of his DNA.
But this person lived roughly 1,000 years ago in the Mongol Empire and must have had access to a lot of women, and there really aren’t that many people from history that fit that description, so the assumption is pretty sound.
Modern Mongolian women are quite amazing and if you fall in love with them, be prepared to give them everything. They are traditional and conservative and expect the man to give them 100% of what he has. They will accept no less.
When we look at what Genghis Khan achieved with the Mongol Empire, we cannot help but appreciate his mastermind as a warlord. It surely looks like Genghis Khan had three dragons with him just like Khaleesi.
I cannot find any other explanation of Genghis Khan's success. I mean, he defeated Jin Dynasty's one million troops with only 90,000 Mongolians by his side.
Yes, Genghis Khan managed to win a war with ten times fewer troops than his opponent's army. On top of that, he was invading China, so he had to overcome all the "little" problems such as the Great Wall of China. Genghis Khan with his army had destroyed over 500,000 of Chinese troop before getting control of Northern China and Beijing.
The rest of the Chinese army had to surrender to the power of Genghis Khan. Destroying Jin Dynasty is only one of many examples of how great of a warlord Genghis Khan was. Also, he had some brutal and loyal men by his side, and let’s not rule out the dragon theory.
-The Richest
Mrs. Khan got to have a bunch of sister-wives
There was no such thing as monogamy in Genghis Khan’s Mongolia. Men could have multiple wives, but each one would have her own tent where she’d live with her own children, so it’s not like the wives had to hang out and pretend to like each other or anything.
So a man with four wives would travel with his four wives. Each one driving forth a wagon with their housing “kit” and their kids tagging along. When the boys are three, they might be tied to a horse and ride along. So it would appear like a small caravan was moving forward. The man at the lead, and his numerous families tailing along behind.
This is actress Da Na. She plays in the Chinese television play Jin Chai Ying. She is a stunner, now isn’t she. Eh?
According to History on the Net, though, the whole family usually got along pretty well. The idea of jealousy and a need for monogamy are constructs of a modern progressive society. In those days, where warfare, social strife (killings, murders, poisonings, and accidents) often killed the males in society, it was important to maintain large flexible family units. Ones that can band together if things go South quickly.
There is strength in numbers. In today's modern progressive society where we all stare into our portable electronic devices, we feel that we do not need others. That we can survive alone, with maybe our dog or cat as companions. Maybe so. Though, personally I disagree. We need each other and the larger a family is, the stronger it can be.
A man’s first wife was considered his legal wife, so that made things somewhat less complicated from an inheritance perspective.
The children of the first wife got more of his booty when he died, which is a pretty handy rule for a guy like Genghis who had 500 wives and so many children that he probably couldn’t even remember all of their names.
Imagine what his last will and testament would have looked like if he’d had to divide his fortune up equally among them.
"To that one wife who lives on the corner of Mare and Main, you know, the one with the mole on her left ankle who makes a pretty good Mongolian beef and broccoli stir fry but whose name I can't actually remember, I bequeath this one gold coin which is literally all I can afford to give her considering that I have to divide my fortune up equally between like 15,000 people."
Yeah, that never would have worked.
Mongolian Household. It’s like the television show M.A.S.H. they are mobile and they can set up house in a mere couple of minutes.
Physical force is not enough to achieve something as great as Genghis Khan did. Yes, there is no doubt that he is the greatest and most brutal warlord in history, but he was also a very wise man.
In 1201, during a battle, Genghis Khan was shot by an enemy archer. Needless to say, he was not happy about it.
So, after the Mongolian army won the battle, Genghis Khan spent some time looking for the man that shot him. He even pretended that it was not him who got shot, but his horse, so the enemy archer would have the courage to confront Genghis.
An unbelievable thing happened when the archer finally stepped out of the crowd and confessed shooting Genghis Khan. Instead of killing his enemy, Genghis Khan recognized his talent and asked him to join the Mongolian army.
The archer became a great general and loyally served Genghis for many years. That is one of the reasons why Mongol Empire was such a success back in the 13th century.
-The Richest
After her husband died, she was in charge.
There was no expectation of remarriage after your husband died, and so a lot of women didn’t bother to remarry.
If you were the first wife, you basically inherited everything and became head of the household. After that you got to live pretty much autonomously and independently, which is not something that was especially common around the world during that time period.
Because why would they?
If you were the first wife, you basically inherited everything and became head of the household. After that you got to live pretty much autonomously and independently, which is not something that was especially common around the world during that time period.
By contrast, Chinese women of the time were also not expected to remarry (in fact they were discouraged from remarrying), but they had to move in with their dead husbands’ families and basically serve as slave labor for the rest of their lives. So when you think about it, it’s actually pretty shocking that more of them didn’t go pounding on Genghis’ door in the hope of becoming his five hundred and first wife.
Because being left without an inheritance actually sounds way, way better than having to wait on your former in-laws for the rest of your life. But, then again, that’s just me.
After he was done conquering most of Asia, Genghis Khan decided he needed to write some laws. Because he had a reputation to protect, you know, as a fair and rational dude who was not actually hungry for the blood and wives of his enemies.
According to History on the Net, Mongolian women who remained unmarried after their husbands’ deaths were supposedly acting out of loyalty to their lost spouse. But after all, loyalty can only go so far. In Asia, it’s all about the pragmatic. So, let’s face it, the whole freedom, independence, and power thing was probably enough to make just about anyone feel really danged loyal to that dead guy. Yup. And this would be true whether he was a decent husband or not.
Genghis Khan wrote some pretty pro-woman laws later in life
After he was done conquering most of Asia, Genghis Khan decided he needed to write some laws. Because he had a reputation to protect, you know, as a fair and rational dude who was not actually hungry for the blood and wives of his enemies.
Sure, Genghis, whatever you say.
Mongolian women are true beauties.
Anyway, the document Genghis produced with the assistance of his actually-literate advisor Tatatungo was called Yasak. It was designed to help keep the peace in Genghis’ newly conquered lands.
According to Duhaime.org, there are no surviving copies of the Yasak but it was evidently pretty progressive. Well, at least in some areas. Notable was the Yasak’s moratorium against the kidnapping of wives and the selling of women.
Yup. Night-time raids on other villages and communities for the purposes of obtaining wives, slaves, and concubines is hereby ordered to be stopped.
In traditional conservative societies the husband and the wife have roles. They work together and live a K-strategy of survival. This differs from what is found in the more modern progressive societies in the United States and Europe that utilize the r-reproductive strategy for survival.
The Yasak also forbade child soldiers and slavery (or at the very least the slavery of other Mongols). He also specifically prohibited discrimination based on religion. This was true, even if you were from Tibet, or a Muslim! In fact it was one of the first known legal codes that allowed its citizens religious freedom.
The Mongols had a new Khan, Genghis Khan (also Cinggis Khan), born in 1167 by the more simple name of Temügin.
By 1206, he had defeated all his rivals and when they all attended upon him to pay homage, he had a surprise for them.
Illiterate himself, he wanted a consolidated Mongolian state and he knew that this meant law.
So he asked his advisor Tatatungo to come up with the Yasak, a code of law to maintain the peace and order amongst his citizens.
Also known as the Great Law of Genghis Khan, no copy of the Yasak has survived. Indeed, it was only reluctantly that Genghis Khan even tolerated a basic form of script language, and only to allow for a basic administration of his Mongolian dominions.
The Yasak was unique in that it did not pretend to derive its authority from divine revelation, as has Hammurabi’s Code, as well as Jewish and Islamic law.
It was a pretty remarkable document until you get to the stuff about cutting horse thieves in two with a sword and holding marriage celebrations for dead children. You know, other more contemporaneous punishments and activities.
So much for progressive thought.
Mongolian men and women are both fierce, strong and insanely loyal to each other. They are also independently minded and view their family as supreme. They maintain a traditional conservative lifestyle, and will not permit anyone to come between their family.
Anyways, ol’ Genghis Khan was quite the fellow, and he really wanted to make good in the (now decimated) lands that he conquered. Because of this, and the history of his people, the women of Mongolia are what they are today.
I am an American Structural Engineer and spent approximately 1-1/2 years working in Mongolia, and living in UB. I have since moved on to another project in Cape Town, SA, however wanted to comment on perhaps the most accurate article I have read in relation to Mongolian women.
I have additionally worked in several other Asian counties to include Singapore, Hong Kong, China, etc. I hope that you will agree that you cannot even “basically” compare the contemporary Mongolian woman to any other Asians.
BTW, forget the “Asian Height Charts by Country” seen all over the internet – not even close. For example, China, S. Korean and even Japanese women are calculated taller in stature than Mongolian ladies – Not eve close!
When I strolled through Sukhbaatar Square on warm days, it was not uncommon for me to see several Mongolian women 5′7″, 5′8″ even up to 5′10″. What stands out just as much, is that these ladies have shapes and many pronounced bust-lines; mainly due to diet (meat/dairy).
They appear physically to be much stronger built than other Asians. The best way I can explain it, Mongolian women have physical shapes closer to Russian women than they do other Asians.
Another distinguishing factor, many Chinese, Japanese women have very small hands and feet – not Mongolian women who have larger hands/feet. Consider this, for a country of just over 3 million people, Nearly 50% of all top Asian fashion models are from Mongolia.
Battsetseg Turbat for example has been in many famous American commercials to include Budweiser and Apple. This is what surprised me most when I first stepped off the plane upon my arrival to UB. Mongolian women’s height can be deceiving when viewing online photos – the reason is that they have voluptuous shapes to accompany their height.
An additional quality is personality. Mongolian women have big personalities, laugh loudly and not afraid to approach someone they may wish to meet. Additionally, Mongolian women when affronted, do not shy away as do other Asians, however will meet the confrontation head-on 100%. What I have also noticed, when in other parts of Asia, women will almost always give way when an American woman is walking down the sidewalk toward them.
Not in UB – A Mongolian woman will expect the American woman to step aside most every time.
In relation to toughness, Mongolia are second to none. In fact, Mongolian women have very little respect for American women, thinking them soft and spoiled (their words not mine).
All Mongolian women are excellent horsemen, whether raised in the Ger District or city. They are like the land they inhabit, resilient and everlasting.
I remember taking a walk around Sukhbaatar Square with a Mongolian lady I befriended to just enjoy the day . It was in November last year and nearly freezing. I remember she was wearing heels, barely covered up and seemed fine. I was layered to the hilt, still shivering although looked like the Michelin tire man with all my garb.
She must have noticed I was freezing as suggested we walk to Millie’s Espresso to have lunch, drink something warm and relax. These women impressed me as they were able to balance their hardiness with their femininity.
You are correct, there is a slight mix of Slav in most Mongolian ladies, however, does not distract from their Asian appearance. I do not know if I will ever return to Mongolia, however, the Mongolian ladies will have my respect and admiration for life.
-Life Around Asia
Conclusion
The women who lived under the rule of Genghis Khan were strong, independent women that well understood their role, their niche and their lifestyle. They are who they are because they come from a traditional conservative culture where they must implement K-reproductive strategies. I believe that the success of the Mongol “hordes” wouldn’t be possible were it not for the strong support of the women-folk riding side by side with their husbands.
At that I will conclude this adventure into the women of Mongolia.
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
Here are
some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you
might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up
in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society
within communist China. As there are some really stark differences
between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have
broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones
actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little
different, in subtle ways.
Funny Pictures
Be the Rufus – Tales of Everyday Heroism.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This article travels into details on how the multi-world “theory” operates upon the canvas of a universal reality. We look at the moment-by-moment method of how we exist within the multi-world universe. (In other words.) We look at the mechanism in detail.
Of course, it is going to be an awfully strange “trip”. As our actual reality does not resemble anything like everyone assumes it is.
Of course, this is from the point of view of an "operator". (If you want to eject the MAJestic mantle and look in the fascinating world of the mathematics behind all this, please by my guest.)
Here, we discuss the mechanism from which a soul would choose to live a particular life as a human. Yeah. I get it, it’s a very deep subject. It enters the realm of the religious and the spiritual. But, you know what, it need not be.
When you look at things objectively, you see that things HAVE to be this way, as described.
The topographic model.
We discuss this MWI as a topographic mapped surface from which we can extrapolate probability potential.
Now, there are many, many ways to illustrate the MWI. This is only one such method. It is the method that I was introduced to, and the one that I have come to accept as “normal”.
One of the most radical and important ideas in the history of physics came from an unknown graduate student who wrote only one paper, got into arguments with physicists across the Atlantic as well as his own advisor, and left academia after graduating without even applying for a job as a professor.
Hugh Everett’s insight was as simple as it was brilliant: accept the Schrödinger equation.
Both of those parts of the final superposition are actually there. But they can’t interact with each other; what happens in one branch has no effect on what happens in the other. They should be thought of as separate, equally real worlds. This is the secret to Everettian quantum mechanics.
-Aeon
This method or display is something that is often “behind the scenes” when the pilot arranges a slide, and the calibration of destination coordinates are locked in.
I suppose most people can live without it.
However, in my case, I discovered that it was useful to determine just how “far out” a slide can manifest, and whether or not a “deep dive” will manifest. (I said “useful”, not necessary.)
As far as any kind of practical application, I would hazard a guess that there wouldn’t be any need to anyone to know about this. It’s just a useful way of better understanding how the MWI works.
Warning
The idea of multiple-world lines, the MWI and the physics of this entire matter is NOT accepted by the general pubic, or (even) agreed to by many physicists. To them it is unproven theory that doesn’t make sense in the Judaeo-Christrian world-view.
But, seriously folks. You do not have to believe anything. It’s your reality. That’s fine.
We are always free to believe what ever we want. We adjust to our surroundings and key up our behaviors based upon our observation and our interactions with others, and the objects adjacent to us. However strange the MWI appears, it adequately and efficiently describes hour our consciousness interacts with our physical reality.
Now, for the “fresh slap of reality”.
The organization that I was part of from May 1981 through to May 2006 utilized technologies based upon this “theory”. Our government built machinery based on this “theory”. As well as using the machines (so constructed) for their own purposes.
I can positively affirm that the technologies and the machinery worked.
By the time I started to use the more primitive versions of the machinery (May 1981), it was well understood that the technology was very, very mature.
I refer to the "primitive" version to be a fixed transport portal. In this narrative, and post, I discuss my role as a "dimensional anchor" using a much more advanced version of technology.
In many ways, it's sort of explaining how a microwave works to a snail. Most of what I have to say will be gibberish to most readers who have absolutely no reference points to anchor upon.
I was an “operator” of numerous such technologies.
This is my overview of how the MWI actually manifests from the point of view of an “operator” or a “participant” utilizing the MWI-based technologies. It is based on [1] my extrapolation of experiences, [2] knowledge and [3] my exposure to various types of advanced technology.
If you do not want to hear what I have to say, you can leave.
The traditional view of the universe. many people are handicapped by this traditional view, and thus have a very difficult time understanding a totally and wholly different viewpoint and understanding of the universe and how to navigate it. It is sort of like trying to learn to sail, but not believing that there is a thing called “wind”.
Quick Overview
Before we begin, here’s a quick review for all of you guys who just fell onto this post from out of the “blue”.
Most people have a really crap-tastic idea of what the MWI or multiple world-line theory is. They just cannot visualize it for the life of themselves. They have no idea what to think, or how it would manifest.
They come up with visualizations such as this…
Contemporaneous visualization of the MWI.
One major hurtle…
The problem with all these contemporaneous visualizations is that the artist, philosopher, or scientist does not isolate the concept of consciousness from that of a physical person. It is assumed, and defaulted to one and the same identical thing. When in fact, they are entirely two separate things.
Everyone assumes that all those people around us also possess a consciousness. We assume they are also like us; that they have an active consciousness and an associated soul as well.
We make this assumption based on our interactions with them.
They appear, to us to be fully actuated and in possession of a soul and consciousness. We argue here that the appearance of something does not equate to the de facto possession of something.
There are differences between [1] a “consciousness”, [2] a “physical body”, and [3] a “person”. For our purposes, a person is someone with an active consciousness. Most people think that all three things are just different names for the same thing. They are not.
The differences between a person, a consciousness and a physical body when discussing the MWI, or multiple world-line theory.
Most laymen, and many scientists do not understand this simple fact. They assume that everyone is a “person”. That we share our universe with other people who all have internal “consciousnesses”.
We do not.
We are a consciousness. Not a physical body.
Instead we are consciousness, that inhabits a physical body, forming a person. (As in the picture above.) We then occupy a reality.
In this reality, we are surrounded with physical bodies, but none of them possess a consciousness. Instead they appear to have a consciousness simply because of how they interact with us. This interaction of these others is how the soul obtains experiences and thus grows and advances in the quantum sphere.
Within our reality, we are the only one that is in possession of a consciousness. Everyone else is just a shadow version of themselves. In reality they (too) inhabit their own reality elsewhere, where they too are alone and surrounded by the quantum shadows of others.
Thus, our universe is comprised with a near infinite number of world-line realities. Many are empty, and some contain a consciousness which is inhabiting a body to obtain experiences with. Our universe, thus looks something a little like this…
This is how the universe actually is, and exists within the MWI. It is a place where consciousness travels the infinite world-lines alone, and interacts with shadow equivalents of other people, persons and things.
Why this is important.
If you want to know the “secrets of the universe” then you will need to forget everything you learned in school and college. For all of it is based on assumptions that are rock-hard, firm, fixed and imputable.
Most of it is really, really incorrect. For our “reality” is not what everyone thinks.
We do not “share” our universe with others.
We live alone in our universe.
Everyone else are “shadow copies” of their true forms.
These “shadow copies” are other people acting and living as if they were to share our universe. They are what could possibly exist and manifest. Not that they actually do manifest.
What it looks like is NOT the way it is.
We all think that there is just one universe, and one Earth, and it is populated by all of us together. That we share the earth with each other and that we are all equal and are in the same time-line.
All these assumptions are wrong.
We believe that we share our universe with others. No. Instead we share this universe with “versions” of other people. These versions are constructs that interacts with our consciousness while we exist within our reality world-line.
We do not share our universe with others.
Nope.
Not. Even. Close.
Instead, we occupy a universe alone. We do not share it with anyone. Oh, yes, it does appear that we share it, but we really do not.
All those other people that we interact with are not really what they appear. They are a version of that other person. This is the version of that person were they to actually share the reality with us.
All those other people that we interact with are not really what they appear. They are a version of that other person. This is the version of that person were they to actually share the reality with
They are but quantum shadows of the possibility of interaction.
In Plato’s classic Allegory of the Cave, a group of people living in a cave have a very false view of the world because the only thing they can see is the shadows on a wall. Plato was trying to teach his students that the philosopher must see beyond the shadows to the reality that is projecting them, but what exactly is that reality.
The reality that Plato wanted his students to see is not the physical form of the object casting the shadow, those physical objects are just another level of shadows! The world of matter is the shadow world, the world of illusion, the world of deception. It is not at all what it appears to be because our physical eyes, and other physical senses, can sense only the shadows called matter so we are deceived into believing that it is real. That is not to say that matter is not real. Matter is real just as the shadow of a tree is real, but the shadow is not the tree and matter is not true reality.
-Cosolargy International
To understand this please note.
We are not a physical body. We are soul.
Now, do not be offended.
This does not at all mean that there is no love, that there isn’t a thing called togetherness. That there isn’t all the physical, emotional and spiritual relationships that we have with others. Do not be silly. Of course they exist.
What changes is the understanding of what a physical body is.
Instead of one (and only one) physical body that your consciousness inhabits, there is an infinite number of physical bodies. Each one within a unique and separate world-line.
You, as consciousness, moves in and out of all these other bodies of yours through thought.
This is what a person really is. We are multi-dimensional beings with a singular consciousness. We (as consciousness) move in and out of the MWI world-lines entering similar physical bodies associated with our consciousness.
This is also true for the entire rest of the universe. Everyone else also possesses bodies such as this. Your dog has this kind of body. Your cat has this kind of body. In fact, the felines are actually quite cognizant of this ability.
We are NOT a physical body. We are soul that manifests a consciousness within our reality.
Knowing and realizing this, makes some of the passages in the religious books far more reasonable, and easier to understand. It doesn’t matter if it is the Koran, or the Bible. Understanding the way the universe works, and truly works, adds a far greater understanding to the wisdom that resides inside of these great works.
The soul creates a “consciousness” that it places in a “container”. This container is a “world-line”. Our “universe” is a near infinite number of world-lines.
We are placed here for our consciousness to obtain experiences.
We navigate in and out of the world-lines though our thoughts. Our rate of travel (in general) is (for most humans) about 4 Hz. Or, four cycles per second. (Four world-lines each second.)
There are different rates of travel, and different species travel the MWI at different speeds. In general, the rate of travel is proportional to the operational speed of the brain. This of course varies.
If you dull your brain to such a degree that your brain is slower, then you will not travel the MWI as fast as others would. And you might find your life slowly "falling behind" that of others.
Thus…
We are consciousness. We “rent” a physical body for a fleeting moment of time.
Our reality is NOT shared. Instead our consciousness occupies a singular world-line. It is a momentary event.
We (our consciousness) migrate between momentary world-lines through our thoughts.
This movement is known as “the arrow of time”.
The best way that I can introduce the reader to this “radical” understanding of how our universe actually works, is to use the “movie projector theory”.
Movie Projector theory for the MWI.
This
is an illustration of what time actually is. Time does not exist. It is
a perception that our consciousness has as it moves and weaves in and
out of different world-lines. Here we use an old-fashioned movie reel
projector to help illustrate this understanding.
Thus, the idea of the actual way things work is really, really, REALLY different than what everyone assumes or believes. The difference is so stark, that many researchers are handicapped in their understanding of reality. Ah, but it need not be that way.
Come on! You can well understand the movie projector analogy, can’t you?
If you can, well good for you! Award yourself a gold star.
The Movie Projector Theory in more detail…
The problem with that analogy (and it is a really good analogy), that that it does not take into account the individual frame selection in the film role. For in actual contemporaneous movies, it is the movie producer that selects the individual frames, and the person just sits back and watches the movie.
In reality, it is more like an entire bank of projectors, and we (as soul) selects the movie that interests us.
In this model, we have numerous movie projectors, all running simultaneously (at the same entropy)… Ah! At the same time.
We can “jump into” any scene portrayed by any of the movie projectors at will. We just look at the projected images.
Instead of a producer selecting the frames in a film and arranging the movie, and content, the soul consciousness does this instead. Using the movie projector analogy, it is similar to being in a room with multiple movie projectors all running similar films simultaneously. You, as consciousness, can decide which movie to watch. The further away the movie projector is from the movie that you are currently watching, the more effort is required.
The further away the movie projector is from us, the harder it is to watch that movie. So we must watch closer movies (momentarily) and then “edge our way” closer to the movie projector that we are interested in.
Most people, sadly, do not do this. They allow the movie projectors to operate randomly and they find themselves watching movies that they may not really care for.
How it manifests
So, using this film / movie projector analogy further it is exactly how our consciousness selects the “life experience” that we obtain. Each frame in a given movie reel is a world line. They are all playing about simultaneously, and our consciousness selects the world-lines to occupy by hopping from frame to frame. (World-line to world-line.)
By selecting each frame in a given movie, we can navigate within the movie, or even “jump” to another completely different movie all together. It is all dependent upon our thoughts, or the navigation of our consciousness.
Our soul decides the very first frame, and the very first movie reel that we will enter. However, it is our consciousness that decides how to make the best of our life, and how to navigate within the framework that is provided to us by the divine.
Nearby movie projectors are nearly identical to the one that we are viewing at the moment. Their divergence from our “present reality” is often very small.
As we move further and further away to more distant movie projectors the divergence gets larger and larger and larger.
This is why it doesn’t seem like we are moving from one world-line to the next. It seems smooth, seamless and transparent. That is because the deviance in nearby world-line (projectors) is very, very small.
Our thoughts select the world-line…
In reality, the “film spool” (a collection of “frames”) is known as the “life experience” of a given consciousness as it takes on a life.
It is a record of our travels in and out of different world-lines. Where a “world-line” is represented as a frame within the movie reel.
The individual “frames” that are selected, are chosen by the thoughts of the consciousness that inhabits the body. We migrate to things that we think about. We migrate to what we think about.
Not necessarily what we might desire. It is what occupies our thoughts most of the time. (So shut off that stupid manipulative television, why don’t ya!)
For all its popularity, Facebook isn’t without its share of scandals. In the latest one, details came out of an experiment conducted on 700,000 Facebook users over the period of a single week in 2012. News feeds were manipulated to contain positive or negative news and content, then users were monitored to see if the change made them use more positive or negative words in their status updates.
And it worked—people’s status updates showed a change in emotion that went along with the kind of news that they were exposed to.
The term used was “emotional contagion,” and it confirms something pretty frightening.
According to the study, people don’t even have to be physically around another person in a bad mood to absorb the negativity into themselves—negativity can be “caught” just from looking at a computer screen.
There doesn’t need to be a personal, emotional connection for emotional contagion to happen.
Not surprisingly, the study has brought up a number of disturbing questions, and it’s now being investigated by organizations like the Information Commissioner’s Office in Dublin. Those questioning the ethics of the study state that it’s nothing less than psychological manipulation. As if that’s not shady enough, Facebook users were unaware that they were having their emotions and moods manipulated through another party controlling just what was popping up in their news feeds.
-List verse
I am hungry, but what do I want to eat? It is our thoughts, coupled with our memories and yearnings that help us decide what actions to take.
So what to do? Eat a bowl of dog food, or have a nice tasty delicious pizza? Decisions. Decisions. It is our thoughts that determine which world-lines to occupy, and for most people, they just go with the flow and end up with whatever is provided to them.
No two thoughts are the same…
One of the problems that people need to come to grips with is that thoughts are not equal. Thoughts are “weighed”. Each thought is different. And thus each thought has a different degree in influence in world-line selection.
Thoughts and emotions together form a complex stew of “influence” that can absolutely affect your world-line travel adventures. For instance, consider the scenario of you being hungry and desirous of eating a fine New York style pizza. Now your enjoyment at eating that pizza will depend on your emotions at the time. Obviously you won’t be able to enjoy it if you were angry, now would you? Our emotions, our memories our physical health and other factors all work together to influence our world-line navigation ability.
Thoughts and emotions together form a complex stew of “influence” that can absolutely affect your world-line travel adventures.
These thoughts are comprised of “levels of influence”.
Duration of thinking about something.
Emotional attachments with the thoughts.
Prior memories of similar events.
Prior physical experiences.
The thoughts of the people (shadow consciousnesses) around you.
Cultural variances, needs and desires.
Mass thought manipulation (Have you been paying attention to the news lately?)
One’s inherent belief system.
Ah, no two thoughts are equal. They have a “weighed” value or influence factor. Further, they are also modified by other thoughts by other “shadow consciousnesses” (Individual proxy consciousnesses that share a given reality.)
Think about it. It has to be this way, or else an obsessed person should be able to have their dreams manifest quite easily. But, the truth is that they don't. That is because of a slew of factors. One of which is the "level of influence" that a thought is given within a given world-line.
One of the most important and significant factors in thought-directed world-line selection is one’s inherent belief system.
Consider the cow.
One mighty big cow.
Let's use the cow analogy.
For instance, you might be starving, and ready to die of starvation.
A typical American would not have any qualms with butchering a cow and eating steak. A Hindu would not, and would rather die than kill a cow. A vegetarian might be against eating it, but would not have any qualms drinking it's milk.
Our actions are determined, in large part, by our belief systems.
It is our deepest belief systems that have the greatest influences in our thoughts.
It is our deepest thoughts and core belief systems that have the greatest influence in thought direction and world-line selection. For no two people are the same.
This is a very important subject, and I will cover it later on. For now, let’s look at things simply. Consider that all thoughts are simple, unique and they can easily select the “frames” or world-lines that the consciousness will migrate to.
The actual “landscape” of the MWI as viewed by the individual consciousness.
Imagine a “road map” of nearby world-lines.
Now, what would it look like? What would it resemble? How would we be able to take into account all the different variables that are constantly shifting and changing all around us?
Obviously, it would have a form of sorts.
It would have (as an illustration) globes representing a given “world-line” (or “frame” in the movie using the analogy above). It would also have lines. The lines would represent a path of migration. Which is the most probable paths for a consciousness to take when moving from one world-line to another.
Movement in and out of the world-lines in the MWI by using the movie projector analogy to describe the way that consciousness moves in and out of different world-lines though thought.
Now, this is a pretty good analogy as far as it describes the path that a consciousness would take. However, this analogy ignores the world-lines that are not taken. And in general, there a millions or much larger numbers of world-lines that are constantly ignored.
So a better way of mapping this procedure is to do so in a three dimensional framework.
Moving away from the movie projector analogy and mapping it upon a three-dimensional grip, it might look something a little like this. With the positions of the world-lines geographically positioned relatively to the pathways as a function of the intrinsic value of the particular world-line.
The path that consciousness takes might be just as well placed on a map of sorts. This map might show nodes and paths where the consciousness might migrate depending on thought manifestation, generation and progression.
However, it would not look so much like a cluster of grapes, or bubbles on a foamy sea of bath water. No.
It turns out that the highest probability pathway forms a kind of sheet or flat surface when plotted in the three dimensions.
If you end up plotting everything, you can't make out heads or tails of the map. It's just this one big mess. But, if you plot the pathways that have the greatest probability of travel, it simplifies immensely.
Instead of a cluster of grapes, it would look a little like a mesh or a grid. With the points being world-lines, and the lines connecting the points as the shortest distance to that world-line.
Now, if you take a step away from this “map” of “world-lines” and their lines of “high-probability” consciousness transfer it might start looking a little like this. Where you would see a “surface” of “highest probability” pathways, with the relative ease of travel and the strength of character needed to traverse affecting the heights and valleys of the apparent surface.
How the world-lines with consciousness migration paths might look when a person takes a larger overview. You will see that the map is not a flat surface, but rather undulates. It forms hills, valleys and “mountains”. This surface is the “geography” of the world-line transition map. Each possible destination world-line would have a different value of “potential”. Which is a potential for the consciousness to move towards it and occupy it.
The “surface” that this map forms is the HIGHEST PROBABILITY of consciousness movement from one world-line node to another.
Going above the surface indicates a strength of will over the combined strength of inertia of a given world-line.
Going below the surface indicates a weak strength of will and a consciousness being overwhelmed by the inherent inertia of a given world-line.
Additionally…
Moving to the left upon the mapped surface indicates more freedom of movement upon a given world-line reality.
Moving to the right upon the mapped surface indicates less freedom of movement upon a given world-line reality.
Thus…
The topographic map display is a useful tool in understanding the hurtles and trials that one needs to endure to travel forth on the MWI.
The movement on the topographical map of the highest probability paths is accomplished via thought.
However, the rate of travel is fast…
The thing is, however, that the rate of travel through each world-line in the MWI is quite fast. It is around four world-lines per second. (For some people it is much, much higher.) Thus, for any topographic map to be of any use, it will have to have to exist on a much larger scale than what is presented here.
As such, the individual world-lines would appear as tiny pixels, and for the map to be of any use, it should describe a travel duration in terms of weeks rather than seconds. This means that the map would look like a smooth gradient rather than an array of “floating”globes.
MWI geometric map showing an array of highest probability world-lines in a seven second cluster of time. As the resolution increases the similarity to geologic topographic maps increases. Often these maps resemble landscapes and other recognizable surfaces.
Mapping the surface.
Here, we are going to take a look at the way the landscape actually looks from the point of view of an individual consciousness. It is NOT simple and flat. It is undulating with all sorts of “nearby” world-lines that the thoughts can select and migrate towards.
In general, it might look something along these lines…
The general topography of the MWI.
In reality, this topographical map is much more complex and complicated. However, I was able to (functionally) navigate it using a sort of simple 3d understanding, and that understanding is one that I will provide here. Yes, these are my conventions distilled and illustrated as a teaching aide.
Here we look at it is the substantially simplified version that I am accustomed to using.
The meanings and purposes in the three-dimensional topographical portrayal.
Now because this is a very simplified diagrammatic representation, numerous variables are incorporated in the “X’ and “Z” axes. (Not to mention the entropy axis “Y”.) In general, as I understand it, the characteristics of the “X’ and “Y” axes are an algebraic sum of the inverses of the individual contributions to the axes elements.
OK. I know that I lost you. Just think of it as a sum average of all your thoughts.
Internal Influences
Internal influences should be understood as the ultimate result of comparative thought-driven MWI transitions by the given consciousness.
Suppose the mind has a wide selection of thoughts. Everything from anger at a spouse, to frustration at work, and influences in the news, to a loving thoughts related to romance. All these thoughts will work together to generate a (singular) "value" on this axis.
But, it is more than that. It is also the weighed value and the intensity of the thoughts, coupled with the apparent carry-over duration longevity of the thoughts as a person migrates in and through the other world-lines.
Let's keep it simple.
Look, if you drop a slice of pizza in the middle of a muddy road, would you [1] pick it up, wipe the mud off the pizza, and eat it. or [2] say "heck with that", and leave the pizza in the mud as a lost cause.
For most people, they would give up and abandon the slice of pizza.
The amount of mud is far too distracting to enjoy the slice of pizza. That is that way this system works. For if you abandon the slice, like most people would, your would occupy a world-line on the surface of the undulating map.
If however, against all probability and convention, you decided to eat the slice, you might be above or below the surface, depending on other factors.
Here’s an example.
Let’s suppose that you are a simple fellow and you have five things going on in your life.
A spouse that wants a divorce.
A boss who is hinting on firing you.
A yearning for a club sandwich and an ice cold beer.
A pet that loves you and is very loyal.
Memories of fishing with your father.
In this example, some of the items would have more emotion attached to it that others. While other issues might be better at controlling your emotions and directing your thoughts. While still others might be able to erase the thoughts completely (if for a short period of time).
You might be an emotional wreck and your thoughts would manifest a life that would reflect your thoughts.
As an aside, drugs and other stimuli can also influence thoughts and behaviors. All of these complexities can alter the navigational ability on the MWI.
There is no way to judge which thoughts or issues affecting the thoughts would have the greatest influence on the person because it is their deepest internal core belief systems that would result in how the world-lines would manifest.
Charlie Sheen’s Public Meltdown in 2011
All that one can assume is that all the factors would be weighted together and balanced though the core belief systems of the soul / consciousness. This would influence the momentary section of the next world-line.
Is it no wonder that when things start going wrong, that they often end up spiraling out of control?
External influences should be considered the inherent inertia that comes with a given world-line.
Inertia.
Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its state. Once you have a bowling ball sitting on the floor, it is a little difficult to get it to move. However, once you get it moving, it's hard to slow down.
That difficulty... getting it started to move, and stopping it from moving... is what is known as inertia.
For our purposes it is the accumulated influences of the “shadow thoughts” of those (non-consciousness) apparent beings that share a given destination world-line. These are all the physical and non-physical influences that would affect the thoughts of a consciousness while it is in a given world-line.
You see, there can only be one consciousness per world-line. All those other "people" that we share the world-line with are actually "shadows". They are the bodies and representation of other consciousness were they to share the reality with us. As such, not only are their physical being present with us, but also their thoughts, dreams, desires and urges as well.
A "shadow" is a person that we share the specific world-line with.
However no consciousness inhabits their body. Their actual consciousness is off in another reality. We are observing their 'shadow" or a portrayal of how they would behave, act and think were they to share our reality with us.
The arrow of time.
With this being understood, a consciousness… a person might experience world-line travel at a rate of around 4 Hz, and visit numerous world-lines in any given instance. Thus the “arrow of time” might look something like this…
The topography of the MWI showing the apparent “arrow of time”.
Thus in this simplified diagram showing the geography of the MWI you (the reader) can see [1] how the passage of time manifests, [2] how your thoughts can alter and change the “X” vector component, and [3] how a given world-line can influence the path direction via a “Z” axis vector. You will also notice that the “arrow of time” [4] moves along the direction of decreasing entropy.
Entropy
A measure of the amount of disorder in a system. Entropy increases as the system's temperature increases. For example, when an ice cube melts and becomes liquid, the energy of the molecular bonds which formed the ice crystals is lost, and the arrangement of the water molecules is more random, or disordered, than it was in the ice cube. We can assume that in a macrocosmic universe, that it can be best represented as time.
The migration process.
Our consciousness moves from one physical body in one world-line to another in a different world-line. For most humans, most of the time, the rate of travel is around four world-lines per second.
Expert hint;
If you are using "the power of intention" to manifest your reality, what you are doing is focusing on a destination world line. If you track your success or failure in this effort, you will discover the amount of time it will take for your intentions to manifest.
If it took 6 months, then that means that you had to pass through 62,208,000 (more or less) world lines to arrive at your destination world-line.
Figure around 10 million world-line transitions per month.
The way that consciousness is able to move in and out of the various world lines is though wave propagation behavior.
While it is a given world-line, the consciousness occupies the body in the particle form.
While the consciousness moves from one world-line to another, it is no longer occupying a body. It is thus in a wave form.
It is not that a quanta changes, it is how the observer views the quanta that makes the change. Our soul controls consciousness. Consciousness can be in different states depending upon the point of view of the person (the observer). Here we can see that the two apparently different states are one and the same thing, depending on the point of view of the observer.
This all happens rather quickly. In most people, mostly the rate of travel from one world-line to another is around 4Hz. For most humans our brains have a difficult time observing the changes in these movements. So we think that we are living in one singular world-line that we share with others.
Here is a gif that kind of illustrates the point, and the system at work here.
Wave and particle duality and illustration.
The entry process
This is how the consciousness changes from wave to particle for entry within a body within a reality. Our consciousness naturally exists in the wave form.
However, the moment it “crashes through” into a fabricated world-line reality, it changes form. It becomes a particle. It’s a natural process.
This is how the consciousness changes from wave to particle for entry within a body within a reality. The consciousness takes on the particle form in order to operate the physical body and exist within a reality or world-line reality. Otherwise, it operates in wave form outside of the body.
MAJestic operations (slides and dives)
The thing is, if you are in MAjestic, and are engaged in the role like I was in, your visualization of the MWI mapping would be quite different. I was often not allowed, or permitted, to live a “normal” life per my capabilities. ‘
Instead I was often pulled off my life track and immersed within a completely different reality.
One of the reasons why it sucked to be me.
And this is what it was like.
An illustration, by using map topography of the MWI to describe what a slide was like. It took me to a completely different series of world-lines that were way, way off the probability curves of a “normal” consciousness migration vector. In the instance shown, you can see that I was living a normal life on the MWI for a few seconds (figure four world-lines per second) and then boom! a slide would occur and I would be located way, way off my accustomed world-line.
For, by nature of my role, I would not follow the surface as described within the topography. I would be involved in slides and dives… including a few “deep dives”.
Thus, my dives and slides would deviate way off from the mapped surface geometry. It would render the understanding of this visualization quite differently.
A “slide” or a “dive” will transform your reality substantially. Often it will be wholly unrecognizable. Your body would be wholly immersed in the new reality, but your mind will not, nor will your memories.
Coordinates and vector tracking
Most certainly there were the manual coordinates that I would navigate (somewhat) with, but that really didn’t tell me much except upon what I felt. And that <redacted>.
Does the speedometer in the car have meaning if you do not know how long a mile is, or can tell the difference from air traveling at 10 miles/hour compared to 100 miles/hour?
Unless you have a comparative understanding of a value, the numerical values will hold no meaning.
For example...
Do you know (you the reader), know how big 25 mm is? If I were to tell you to get me a stack of sliced Lorraine Swiss cheese 25 mm high, would you know how big the stack would be?
(It's about an inch tall.)
The point is that unless you can associate some meaning with a alpha numerical value, it in itself will hold no meaning to you.
speedometer
The good thing was that<redacted>, and as such I was able to track my movement. Though the understanding of it was quite different from what any other person would understand.
The automatic slides brought forth by the pilot, and the artifice were visually observed in the form of glyphs. Not numbers. These objects would pop into my visual sight clear enough and I could easily ignore, or discard the information as I felt. Which, for the most part, I did.
When you get a "blue plate special" in a restaurant with a small twig of parsley on the side, what do you do with the parsley? Do you eat it? Hold it up and study it? Or, are you like me, and ignore it and discard it?
When you get a “blue plate special” in a restaurant with a small twig of parsley on the side, what do you do with the parsley? Do you eat it? Hold it up and study it? Or, are you like me, and ignore it and discard it?
These however, made little sense to me, being cycles, circles and symbols. What did make sense was the multi-layered navigation “console” or (more aptly) vision on what was transpiring. This <redacted>. At least in manual mode, I could understand the alpha numerical numbers, if not exactly the purposes.
Anyways, I will cover all this in another post / article.
For now, let’s just simply say that for me (and the others in my role) we had a map that included multiple surface topography. (Let’s not get too involved in how we were able to “see” and access this map. It’s stuff for another long sequence of posts.)
The pilot would navigate my slides way off the “normal” topographic map, and I would enter into other realities that were quite removed from the map. I would be able to observe this in the form of different surface topography lying on top of each other.
Recording of our “migration path”.
All of this was recorded on yet another kind of visual map. However, let it be completely understood that it was absolutely confusing to me and looked more like patterned wallpaper of extreme complexity than anything else. I could not, in any way, understand it.
Conclusion
This post describes how I was able to track and understand what I was going through as I experienced the MWI for MAJestic. The organization, via the <redacted> took me to different versions of our earth for the purposes of the prevention of world-line clustering in a manner that would be problematic.
This post describes what it was like for me going through this, and how I was able to understand what was going on.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are
posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic
and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I
really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really
wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies
were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only
conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain
secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These
particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part
of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I
was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super
special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I
try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
Utilizing Intention
Influencer Questions
Here are posts
that have gathered a series of questions from various influencers. They
are interesting in many ways and could help all of us unravel the
mysteries of the lives that we live.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts
are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line
travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person
has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different
world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are
posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another
person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to
utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the
past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple
posts in this regard.
They are;
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
"We discovered that if you want to monetize a blog you need to be getting about 100,000 hits a day! "
-6F12
Here are some free Intention / Dream boards for your use. I would suggest that you copy the (presented image) photos to your computer and alter and customize it to fit your own personalized intentions. As such, please feel free to download and use to your heart’s content.
A dreamboard is a collage of images, pictures and written affirmations of the intentions and desires you wish to achieve. It helps you through visualization, thus activating the Universal Law of Attraction, or “likes attract like.”
- 6 Tips for Making a Dream Board - Fit Bottomed Girls
The so called “Law of Attraction” is an element of the quantum physics law known as the “observer effect“. It has been repeatedly proven that a person’s thoughts alter the reality that they experience.
Though many people outside of MAJestic haven’t a clue as to the mechanism for this behavior.
Here are some attempts to explain this curious effect, and how a person can utilize it for their own personal use. If you are the kind of person that wants to know what all this is all about, and why it is important, these following links might be of help.
Now of course, us in MAJestic (well, at least those in my particular program) actually know how the universe works. We know how to manipulate it, and we do know the dangers of thought imposition.
How it works
Ah, I covered this subject in great detail in other posts.
However, for now, let’s just keep it simple. The universe is nothing like we think it is. Seriously. It does not resemble anything that is being taught in universities, or being promoted in any of the world’s religions.
Time is the movement of consciousness in and out of adjacent world-line variations.
The thoughts generated by the consciousness navigate the movement through these realities.
By controlling your thoughts, you can set destination realities for you to inhabit.
Which, by the way, means that you must be the pilot for your consciousness. You must keep your destination in mind, and your objectives clear. You have to avoid the “rocky shores” or disruptive thoughts. Thus you need to stay away from discordant news, and toxic people.
Dream Boards
I often go on the Internet and see examples of Intention / Dream boards. Their heart is in the right place but they are going about it wrong.
Firstly, a “Dream Board” is one element of “Intention Projection”.
Secondly, a “Dream Board” is useless without an associated prayer.
Also the theory behind how it works, as promoted on the internet, is really not accurate. To fully understand how an Intention / Dream board works, you need to understand just how our universe works. And, you know what, everyone has it wrong.
Prayer
Unless you are backing up your vision board with prayer, you will not derive full benefit from your dream board. It is your thoughts that define your reality. To navigate in and out of the realities that are constantly evolving and shifting around us, you must pilot your consciousness. You need to be the Captain of your consciousness.
To navigate, you need to control and master your thoughts. You need to do the following…
Pray. These are thoughts that show your intentions, and desires.
Create a vision board, or vision “splash screen” on your electronic media.
Isolate yourself from negative media; news, music or movies.
Isolate yourself from negative or disruptive people.
Use of the Vision Board / Splash Screen
You use the sample image as a desktop background. When ever you see the desktop image in the background you say your prayer associated with it. Thus is you want to use multiple backgrounds on a rotating basis, it becomes helpful to have a nice list of intention prayers that you read once a day.
In the Windows control panel, this is the setting that will enable you to control your desktop splash screen.
Remember, that in order the intention board to work, you must recite your prayers out loud. (This is can be in a whisper, don’t you know.)
The longer you do this, the more “stable” your destination reality will become. However, there will come a point in time when you will “tire” of the prayers and dream boards. When this occurs, let it go and forget about it all. (It’s an important evolution that is established by your consciousness.)
You can do a different prayer and dream board, if you want. Just know that your intention will most certainly manifest.
The Things people wish for
I went on the handy dandy internet, and researched the things that most people wish for. Then I compiled them into a list and I am presenting intentions splash screens for each item on the list. Please consider these splash screens as an idea from which you can base your very own intention splash photos off of. Or use them raw as shown. It’s all up to you.
The Samples
The samples provided are just that. Samples. If you want to use them, feel free, but you MUST include an associated daily prayer with them.
Also note, that providing the samples here does not mean that I agree with the thought projections. Some of the samples offer vices, and other elements that do not fit my personal preferences. They are offered as suggestions for you the reader to base your own dream boards on.
Please take note that all these images and dream board splashes are made using the Microsoft Visio application. It is amazingly easy to use and simple. You just create a picture and add other pictures and text to your desired image.
Further, please take note that there is a trade off between a singular image with prayer, and a collage of images. A group of images will offer the person a greater degree of latitude and versatility in how the intention manifests. This latitude enables the manifestation to occur quicker. A singular image properly prayed for with strong intentions take much longer to manifest, but the results are more exacting.
Here we provide (mostly) singular images for your study and enjoyment.
Power
This intention desktop “splash” is related to POWER.
If you are desirous of increasing your apparent power within the reality that you inherit, then this image is for you. You are free to use it as is, or make your own along these lines. Alternatively, you can fill the entire image screen with smaller images that illustrate the kinds of power that you might wish to evoke.
This is the image that you can use if you want to use the power of intention to manifest power for yourself. Feel free to “left click” and save the image to your “Pictures” folder. Then set the desktop background on your computer to this image.
Please note that you must use the following dialog in your prayers associated with this image…
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
Images that portray mafia figures, or "bad people" portray myself in similar roles of power. They do NOT, however, manifest these kinds of people arrayed against me.
If you do not take care in your prayers, and in the application of the desktop display intention splash, it could easily “backfire” against you. Therefore, it is critically important for you to have a very clear and well defined image intention with an associated prayer.
After all, unless you are careful on how your thoughts manifest, you might end up having this crew come a knockin’ at your door…
Chinese triad gangsters. If you are not careful and try to use the power of intention to alter your reality towards one of power, you could just as easily invoke the more negative manifestations that come with that territory. This could include Chinese Triad gangsters.
Success in business
Again, here is a a different intention desktop splash. This is for people who are desirous of having a very successful business, and the rewards that come with it.
Success in Business. This is a fine intention (PC) desktop dream splash canvas if you are desirous of being very successful in business… financially. As before, please right click on the image and save to your Pictures folder. Then set your background image display to this image.
Again, it’s not enough just to use this image as a desktop background display. You need to associate it with a prayer. I would suggest that what ever prayer that you utilize, that you incorporate the following prayers / affirmations…
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
Images that portray "bad people" portray myself in similar roles of power. They do NOT, however, manifest these kinds of people arrayed against me.
Suave
This is for you men who desire to be considered charming, confident, and elegant by others. Whether that is members of the other sex (women) or men, it does not matter.
Here is the intention dream splash image for a person who would like to be suave within their reality. Always remember that we cannot change others, all that we can do is alter the reality that surrounds our souls. In so doing the perceptions that others have for us can change in alignment with our desires.
And again, you must associate this image display with your prayers…
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
The manifestation of this reality is gradual and safe and is in alignment with my deepest desires.
Good Health
Good health is something that we take for granted, and it isn’t until we get older when we start to panic at how our bodies age. There are things that we can do, of course. We can eat better, stay away from bad people and negative thoughts, and do some moderate exercise.
Also we must not neglect the role that good, directed thoughts play in shaping our life.
While you cannot simply wish or pray to be healthy, it can help assist in the movement of world-line selection towards the manifestation of your desires. The formula works a little like this…
Here is a nice splash image for your desktop. In all cases laid out here, from the Power to the Fame, you MUST provides some kind of minimum physical action from which the desired world-lines can manifest.
Wishing for something to happen = nothing will happen.
Physically working for things = maybe might happen.
Directed thoughts for things = a possibility can happen.
But… you should take careful note…
Physically working towards things + Directed thoughts = cause your desires to manifest.
Please kindly keep that in mind when you utilize these desktop displays and splash screens. These intention boards are only part of a much more inclusive system that requires your participation to work.
You can manifest the world-lines that will be favorable to your intentions, and thus they will appear to manifest for you.
To put it in another way, laying on a couch / sofa eating potato chips and just leaving a intention dream canvas splash display rotate passively on the computer will result in NOTHING.
You must pump your thoughts full of directed thoughts, you must use the desktop display and view it from time to time to refresh your imagery, and you must do a moderate amount of physical action to generate a baseline from which your thoughts can manifest upon.
I have generated two splash intention dream canvas. One is for a man and the other is for a woman. Those of you who are of confused gender, you can follow the guidelines to create your very own specialized splash screen.
Men
Desktop splash screen for a man for good health.
Woman
Desktop splash screen for a woman to be in good physical health.
And do not forget to add this prayer…
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
Fame
The desire for fame is one of the most popular desires that people have. Yet, it’s perplexing why this is. Personally, I think that it is rather silly. Why do you want fame? To have followers, groupies or get offered free sex on demand?
People, if that is what you want, then you just go ahead and ask for it directly. If you want to have loads of sex with strangers who are enraptured with you, then ask for that in your intention prayers. You don’t need to ask for “fame”.
The problem with fame is “thought imposition”. The associated thoughts and quantum environment associated with others will severely influence your life. Trust me, you DO NOT want large groups of people thinking negatively about you. Or, even if it is positive, these thoughts can severely impact your ability to direct your own thoughts.
Never the less, I am placing the free desktop splash photo for those desirous of “Fame” here. In every case, you absolutely MUST associate it with the following affirmation / prayer.
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
The manifestation of this reality is gradual and safe and is in alignment with my deepest desires. However, at any event, the manifestation of fame as pictured will be positive in every way, and will not have any negative connotations or spawn negative associated events.
Here’s my suggested image desktop splash intention photo;
Desktop splash for Fame intention.
Sex
Sex. It’s a biological driven human attribute. If you do not have the desire to reproduce, or at least go through the motions of reproducing, then you are not living life. All humans desire sex.
It might not be politically correct, but that is the way it is.
Which is one of the reasons why tyrannical governments ban vices, such as sex out of marriage in order to control people. It is a very common and human element that is very easy to use to control others with.
As are other things, like mind altering substances (alcohol) and things that are fun. It's a way of controlling people.
“Everything I love is illegal, banned or dangerous.”
When constructing you very own dream splash canvas, you can be very generous with the images used. However, take most special attention to their selection.
Improperly selected images, and splash screens without a detailed prayer / intention affirmation can easily result in conditions, situations and environments that you might find undesirable. Be very careful, precise and exact when selecting the images that you wish to use.
Desktop splash image for generating an intention prayer of Sex to manifest. Be very careful in your selection of images to use. If you are not careful, the more undesirable elements of thought generation can manifest with negative consequences. Be careful.
Happiness
The reader will notice that all of the images depict people and are representative of situations that people are in. That’s the way a dream / intention canvas works.
Picture and image the situations.
Do not image things.
You cannot display pictures of money and expect that it is to be associated with you having lots of money in your wallet. Instead, it is just a picture of an item. And you, constantly seeing that item, turns it into a kind of world-line scenery; Something that might lie around you, but not anything that you are associated with.
Not exactly what you want.
You see this all the time. People set up dream intention boards with nice expensive cars, pictures of houses, and images of a lot of nice things. They will include words that describe what they want to accomplish in their life.
While it will contribute to the world-line direction that the creator intended, it will be done so inefficiently. You need to explicitly map out your desires and intentions and navigate properly in a very careful manner.
After all, you don’t want to make the same kinds of mistakes that our hero Elliot made in the movie “Bedazzled“, do you?
Elliot Richards (Brendan) would give anything to have Allison Gardner (Frances O'Connor) in his life, or so he says. Who should overhear? The devil (Elizabeth Hurley) of course. She offers him "seven absolutely fabulous wishes for one piddling little soul". Only Elliot finds out that you don't always get what you wish for.
Elliot as a basketball star. He’s a great star, bigger in life in so many ways… well every way except for one teeny, tiny thing. Just a small thing, really.
The image you use, or the images you select MUST have a special meaning and association with you personally. Which is why many intention / dream splash screen canvases must be made intentionally for your own wishes and desires, as well as to have a prayer dialog that you must recite daily that will reset your thought direction, for world-line navigation, properly.
Here is a sample splash screen for a Happiness directed intention.
The most effective intention splash screens are those that represent people, and actions. However, you the reader should note that there are other techniques that can be used in a dream splash canvas. Here we explore one such concept.
Here is a splash screen for a person who wants a life filled with wine and plenty of kitty-cat friends…
Wine & cats intention splash image for the desktop.
There are no limits
There are really no limits to the direction that you want your life to evolve into. You simply think about your goals and dreams, all the time, while also removing all the nonsense from others, the news, and other’s manufactured problems. Stay pure, and you will walk the path to your deepest desires.
You can use many clusters of pictures
Many people create an Intention / Dream board that they place on their wall. This is often filled with photographs and images that were cut out of magazines. Every time they see this board, they are instantly reminded of their goals and dreams, and thus it serves it’s most exacting purpose.
In today’s computerized age, I suggest using the computer to do the same thing, and while my examples have one singular photo on it, in my own personal case, I use multiple images myself, creating a collage.
Here is an example of a “fairly decent” dream board. They use imagery that is important to them, and use words to specify the purpose and utility for the images.
A example dream board found on the internet. It describes possessions, lifestyle, and other aspects of the desired world-line goals that are intended to manifest.
You see, everyone is different.
We all have different desires, goals, needs, wants and interests. So each dream splash screen will be different for different people. And, while I argue that you need to let the intention splash screen be a part of a tool kit for manifesting your reality, how you use the tools will depend on your own experiences, lifestyle and needs.
Here’s another example.
Another example of an inspiration / dream / intention board. This one is better than most as the use of images tie together to describe an overall theme or lifestyle.
Warnings
When you get on the internet, you will see all kinds of examples of people describing their intention / dream boards. You will also find many that monetize this effort.
Do not fall for that trap. The United States has become one great big vending machine and the people are the commodity.
Keep this most important fact in mind. You do not need to pay anyone for anything regarding how you think.
Also… Your thoughts are private.
We have come to accept the idea that you can police discourse on the internet, that the government agencies can extract history, reasoning, and behaviors from you at will, and that your thoughts are subject to scrutiny.
That is false.
Not only is it all against the 1st, 4th and 9th amendments to the United States Constitution, but it is a fundamental nature of yourself as a human. Privacy is a human need.
No. The "elected" officials in the United States are NOT doing their job, nor have they been since the last 150 years or so. But that is a subject for another time.
You need NEVER justify why you desire something to manifest in your life. It is secret and only between you and your God.
Everyone’s mind works differently
When I use the term “mind” I am referring to HOW the consciousness implants thoughts into the brain. It also includes how the brain reacts to the physical stimulus that surrounds it in this reality (that it inhabits).
Everyone’s mind works differently.
Oh we are often under the impression that while there might be deviance in thoughts from the baseline “normal”. That is all false. Really, really false. We all think differently. Do not assume that others will understand you or accept your thought processes. They won’t. It’s a foregone conclusion and do not even bother trying to explain anything.
It’s funny because it is so very true. Girls and guns. So very funny.
Do not assume anything. Live your own life to the best of your ability. Do not care, or give any consideration to what others think of you, your actions or your thoughts.
Conclusion
Creating an inspiration or dream board is a fundamental technique for a person to pilot their life to manifest their desires.
It works on the quantum physics principle of the observer effect.
Why it works is not well understood outside of MAJestic. That is because the vast bulk of the world has absolutely zero concept of how the universe works. However, we in MAJestic (well at least those in my sub-project) know quite well the mechanism involved.
It’s simple really.
There is no singular fixed reality. Instead there are a near infinite number of realities.
Our consciousness moves through each one, forming a path.
This path is called time.
We travel at a rate, more or less, around 4Hz.
The selection of the next reality for us to inhabit is determined by our thoughts. Typically, we migrate to realities that are defined by our thoughts that are influenced by the world around us. This can be dangerous and evil people use media to manipulate, and thus cause our travel path to bend and twist towards realities that we might not want to participate in.
Therefore, to manifest the life that we desire to live, we need to do three things…
Turn off all negative, distracting, and disruptive thoughts that surround us.
Stay away from people with strong thoughts and personalities that are contrary to our desires.
Focus our thoughts on our ultimate goals.
A vision dream (intention) splash desktop will help accomplish this. Provided that it is linked to a daily prayer that includes the subject matter listed.
Related Links
Here’s some other related links for the interested fellow or chick.
A little bit more background for the more scientifically inclined…
Ah, and why I ended up learning the utility of all this as part of MAJestic. Here is the end ball game…
Final Note
This is how it works people. And, at that, perhaps this is my MAJestic gift to the world.
The things we did with our extraterrestrial benefactors was intended to help sort out the sentience selection for the human species. It seems to me that it is still in flux, but that need not concern you all. What you should be concerned with is how you can truly embrace the life that we live and customize it to fit your ultimate desires.
Being able to control our thoughts is the FIRST step in mastery of our life. You can do this through [1] prayer, and [2] visualization.
There is a reason why ritual is important. For ritual permits proper direct visualization so that prayer can be conducted without distraction.
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
Here are
some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you
might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up
in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society
within communist China. As there are some really stark differences
between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have
broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones
actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little
different, in subtle ways.
Funny Pictures
Be the Rufus – Tales of Everyday Heroism.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
I’ve only posted for a year, and already there are “others” on the Internet that want a piece of this “action”. How fucking silly.
There are others on you-tube and other places saying they are you, and /or possess other documents such as notes, files or the like. Can this be true?
No. There is only one blog. This is it. There are no other documents, papers or photos. There are no notes. No videos, and I most certainly will not “come back” to clarify anything.
Anyone doing so is FAKE.
Additionally, please make sure that the “newly discovered” manuscript is the real one and not a massaged revisionist version.
One discrediting-binder solution is to flood the Internet with so many variations of edited manuscripts that the real and actual one can’t be located.
Check the digital ID.
I urge all readers to “call out” such fakes immediately. Also, I must add, actual photographs of who I am are included in this manuscript. It will be pretty difficult to fake my appearance.
In any event, have the “fake” version of me get an MRI and scan for the seven ELF probes and the singular EBP. I will be really impressed if they have ELF probes and EBP that match mine. We can compare MRI’s.
It’s pretty fucking difficult to forge an MRI result.
It is very difficult to forge a three dimensional (3D) MRI scan when done in a hospital with qualified and trained doctors and staff. This is the best way to see, locate and understand the positions of the seven ELF probes placed their by the Navy staff for the MAJestic organization and to be able to see the EBP. Though the EBP is not placed there, it is fused to the brain.
Regrets
A nice question. It shows some humanity. ‘Bout time.
In one section of the blog you say that you regret the decisions that you made, and in other sections you say the exact opposite. Which is it?
Neither and both.
It depends on which aspects of my life we are discussing.
There is no direct black and white answer that presents itself to the
investigator. On one hand, my life right
now is really very nice and comfortable.
However, to get to this point I had to go through a lot of anguish
including prison in the Deep South.
On one hand, my wife and family are awesome. On the other, I had many years of living “hand to mouth”.
On one hand, the apparent success of my former classmates and colleagues haunt me. On the other, I am now doing much better than any of them are.
There is no direct and simple answer to the questions. I guess that it all depends on how I am feeling at the moment. I try to keep my emotions and thoughts positive. That is because (I am underlining this point) thoughts create my reality.
So, I surround myself with happy and attractive people. I eat good healthy food, and share it with people whom I love. I have made a habit of turning off, and tuning out, from most of the hyper-negativity of American media.
And I have surrounded myself with light sunny people like this…
And like this…
I do surround myself with happy and cheerful people. I try my best to be positive, and that does require that I control my thoughts. If you want to have a good life, then get a GRIP on your thoughts.
You MUST surround yourself with fun, happy people.
You need to eat good food. Life is too short to eat poor quality food. You need to savor every bite and share the meals with others. You need to bring sunshine to your life.
That is why I surround myself with happy, lovely girls.
Generational Cycles
It was only a matter of time…
Why do you use the unproven theory of generational behaviors to describe nursery management?
Human Sentience Nursery Management is a subject that is “new” and not described elsewhere. Do you, the reader, know anywhere else where this subject is broached?
It consists of the intentional cultivation of human sentience so that the human species can evolve into a suitable soul configuration archetype.
There is absolutely nothing available on this subject anywhere.
To describe how this system works, I as an author, need tools or examples to describe the complexities of mass human manipulation.
I use the tools that are available to me, and write as I deem fit. If you do not like it, you can write your own blog and describe your own experiences and beliefs. These are mine.
The closest that I have found to exist is the generational behavior theory. It is only an unproven theory. However, it is all that is available to me at this time. I use the tools available to me.
I use the tools available to me.
Sure, it’s wonderful to eat a gourmet hamburger with an ice cold beer, but sometimes to take what’s available to you at the moment.
You need to utilize what is available to you at that moment. You should accept your reality as it exists NOW.
Reptilians
Sigh. Why is everyone so caught up on this fantasy. Good golly!
What about the “reptilians”?
I have never met a “reptilian”, nor have I any contact with MAJestic literature regarding such a creature.
From what I can gather, all the internet information regarding these race(s) of creatures are fabricated falsehoods.
While there are certain species that have coincidental similarity to the reptilian archetype, the significance ends there.
Have I made myself clear?
Vices
I do love to practice freedom.
Those who are control freaks, busybodies, religious extremists, and the emotionally deranged hate that.
They want to control me. They want to control what I do, how I act, where I act, and everything else. They use excuses, but the fact remains that they are just insecure busybodies. They never grew up. They are still the spoiled petulant child that is always knocking over game boards, and hitting the other children.
Why do you talk positively about the filthy habits of drinking and smoking? Don’t you realize that people get addicted to these vices and many people die as a result of them?
What? You left out whoring.
I fully realize that there are people who can get addicted to many things. I feel sorry for them, but it is NONE of my business.
If I want to drink, smoke, eat fatty foods, indulge in any vices at all I will do so.
It is no one else’s business but mine, and mine alone.
I like to drink, especially red wine.
I do smoke on occasion, and I DO enjoy it. I also enjoy chewing betel nuts, eating (very crispy) bacon, and of course having lot’s of sex. What’s not to love?
Many cultures label these things as “vices” so that one group of people can exert control over a another group. It is no one else’s business but my own.
One of my “best friends” died of a drug overdose. So I do know about this issue on numerous levels.
Oh Robbie. We used to fish brook trout together, climb the hills of Western PA in the International Harvester Scout that we called the "Scout-er-roo", and toke and drink while playing chess and listening to Neil Young.
The last thing that he said to me was... "I've seen the needle and the damage done, and I cannot go back."
I tried to tell him that there were perfectly acceptable ways to get a buzz on, but he wanted "extreme". But, you know, extreme is not something you do when you are in your forties. Your body is not up to the challenge.
I once lived in a place were we were not permitted to drink, smoke or have sex. It was a very safe place. It was called prison.
Busybodies have been given free reign for over 200 years. It’s long overdue to put them in the place where they belong; out of sight and out of mind.
Prison in Arkansas. It hasn’t changed much since the 1970’s except that today you are not allowed to smoke, play cards, weight lift or have air conditioning. Those were all were removed when Bill Clinton was the Governor.
“Give me books, French wine, fruit, fine weather and a little
music played out of doors by somebody I do not know.”
-John Keats
If you are not living your own life on your terms, and your terms alone, you really aren’t actually living.
You are existing.
If you are not living life on your own terms, you are not living. You are existing.
This world has all kinds of invisible “walls” and barriers to help “keep us in line” that forges acceptable behaviors and actions. Some are established by our parents, some by society, some by laws, some by busybodies with power, and some by our education.
When you break out of the molds that we have grown accustomed to, we discover that many things that we thought were forbidden are now open to us.
I am not talking about actions that invade other people’s lives or privacy. Of course, those things are wrong. Instead I am discussing how you live your life, within the confines of your own reality.
It’s all up to you, because it is all under your own control.
A “real” man apologizes to no one for their behaviors.
The Pretty Girls at the Dimensional Portal
It’s one of those things… one of those mysteries that sit there that I wonder about.
Concerning those pretty and beautiful women that entered the dimensional portal with you, did you ever see them again? Do you know what their mission was, or what happened to them?
I know nothing of the other beautiful woman that I entered
the portal with. I do not know what happened to them
after I entered the portal. I do not know their mission. Or, aside from the
handout that we mutually filled out, whether or not we were related in any way.
I just simply do not know.
They might have been [1] “Black Widows” who were used to retire agents.
They might have been [2] part of an attractive spy-network where they might marry other important people and compromise their roles. The female that you see all the time on 007 movies.
Ivana Humpalot. Ivana was a stereotypical Russian woman. Her name was a parody of Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) from the James Bond film “GoldenEye”, and also a pun on the phrase “I wanna hump a lot”.
They might be [3] part of an “off world” breeding program.
They might be [4] agents like myself, but in a different role.
I really do not know for sure what they were nor their roles in regards to mine. I do not know what happened to them. However, from time to time, I see a photo (often an “impossible” photo) that has a recognizable face. However, I must dismiss the connection and similarity as merely coincidence.
Merely a coincidence.
Moving to China
I do get this from time to time. Seriously, I get this about once every two months or so.
Why did you go to China and other nations once you left prison? Why did you stay in the United States and do your best to start over again in your homeland?
It is nearly impossible to start “over” as a college-educated professional, sex offender, felon in the United States. Note, that I did not say “impossible”, I specifically said “nearly impossible”.
I am sure that there might be an occasional rare engineer, doctor, or lawyer who was convicted as a sex offender that somehow, against all odds stacked up against them, managed to obtain work in their former capability in the United States.
They might exist, though they would absolutely be the exception rather than the rule.
When you have restrictions on you once you are a felon, it becomes difficult for you to live your life. So, why live in America. The only reason to live in America is for “freedom”, right? So if you have no freedom, you should leave. America has nothing for you any longer.
I ask the reader to do this; find a doctor in the United States (working at a hospital) that still has their medical license after being charged with a felony. Then, once you are able to do that, locate an engineer with a PE license after having a felony. YOU WILL FAIL.
My decision to leave the United States was a pragmatic and practical one that absolutely worked out just fine for me. I made the right decision. There is no need to parse my decision tree.
Biological artifice drone location
This is a good question and deserves clarity.
Why do you think the biological artifice drone was located at the Oxia Palus facility on an alternative world-line Mars?
I do not know the true and actual reasons for this. In my mind the overriding considerations were
related to safety and security.
Only MAJestic members (with a “service to others” sentience) could ever be able to enter the facility. This means that they had to have, at the bare minimum, a set of core kit #1 probes in their skulls.
Non-implanted humans cannot reach the facility, even if they possessed the coordinates and knowledge of the dimensional transport gate technology.
I also do not know what makes the world-line so “safe”.
The Mars that the facility was at seemed quite similar to the Mars that we see in our NASA photographs. Therefore, I am actually a little unclear as to why it had to be on a “safe” alternative world-line.
Isn’t being on Mars remote enough for most non-MAJestic humans to access?
I can only conclude that the extraterrestrials know some things that I don’t. I also can easily conclude that dimensional teleportation is a mature and day-to-day activity for them, and they think nothing at all about having “safe world lines”.
I guess it is along the lines of why we have locks on doors, AND “door chains”, and “peep holes” as well.
Experts
There are many experts who have looked over what you have written and have concluded that all of it is nonsense. What is your response?
That’s ok by me.
UFO’s
The term “UFO” refers to unidentified flying objects. When I flew, I always knew what I was flying in. Nothing was ever unidentified.
Why do you know so much about the Oxia Palus facility, but very little about UFO’s?
I only know what I was exposed to.
Yes, there were various “vehicles” of uncommon design and utility that <redacted>, but they weren’t a critical or core mission objective of mine. The very few instance of exposure that I had was not worthy of mentioning here.
In all cases, I can only describe these contraptions in conjunction with my exposure to them.
What I do know is that the earth has many extraterrestrial and multi-dimensional visitors, and they travel in strange and unusual vehicles. Because they are strange and of unusual appearance and propulsion method they are classified as UFO’s.
Those who debunk observed UFO’s, for the most part, are ether [1] paid shrills or [2] simplistic fools who enjoy the notoriety. I can positively affirm that the United States government treats all UFO’s and USO’s with the upmost importance.
Anyone who doesn’t is a simpleton.
1980’s under Ronald Reagan
I lived through the 1980’s. I have discovered that on this world-line, the 1980’s is treated as some kind of “dark ages” and a time of horror. Granted, I was on a different world-line, but it wasn’t that different.
You claim that the 1980’s were a time of hope and prosperity, but you were unemployed at that time, and my teachers have all uniformly told me that it was a terrible time. Why are you so out of touch with reality?
The 1980’s were a time of prosperity.
This picture is of some youth in Detroit in the 1980’s. yes. Don’t be so shocked. Many white people lived in Detroit.
I was able to travel the country while the American economy went through a reset. Can the reader actually do that today?
The information that is being presented (on the Internet) regarding the 1980’s are mostly inaccurate and presented through the eyes of social justice warriors who wish to redefine the past to fit their narrative.
Here’s a picture of boys on bicycles in the middle 1980’s. It was a good time where families still existed, and that everything looked positive. It was a time where Girls Just Wanted To Have fun.
Just go through the index log for Wikipedia for the 1980’s look at all the changes that the Obama administration made. Gawd! They were “hell bent” on actually rewriting history.
Here’s some other articles on this particular subject….
I lived through that time, therefore I experienced that time.
Thanks to our collective obsession with all things nostalgia, my ’80s childhood never seems far from my mind; especially when it comes to how I was raised.
Was it free-range parenting or benign neglect? In my case, I was raised by a single mother who worked during the day. My younger brother and I were not supervised during those hours, but it wasn’t because of any staunch parenting ideology. This was just life. And you know what? I cherish every memory from that time.
Sometimes when I let my mind take me back to those days, it all comes rushing back into view more clearly than I’d expect …
Tuesday, July 12, 1983 — Bielanko house, the ‘burbs of Philly.
8:15 AM
I’m 12 years old, and the first thing I hear upon waking is the sound of my mom’s car starting up below my bedroom window. Birds chirp and trash trucks moan three blocks away.
She drives away. I slam my feet against the particle board bottom of my younger brother’s top bunk to wake him up. We had stuff to do — there wasn’t a minute to waste.
At our little kitchen table, I help myself to breakfast by dumping a pile of Cap’n Crunch into a bowl and then sliding the box across to my brother. Nothing in our pantry says “organic” or “non-GMO” — we wouldn’t even know what that means if it did. Then I squeeze a fat ribbon of Hershey’s chocolate syrup all over that cereal before I pour the milk on. That way, I have chocolate milk on my Cap’n Crunch, dude. Chocolate milk. On Cap’n Crunch. AMAZING.
10:07 AM
My brother Dave holds a fat crayfish between his thumb and his finger as he balances himself on two shaky rocks in this crick down in the cool part of the park. There’s a lot of trash down here — junk tires and broken beer bottles that the high school kids like to break at night, when they’re done drinking. There’s nobody here now, though. No older kids. No parents. There’s just me and Dave and our crappy, beat-up bikes parked over there by a tree.
Sometimes a “Bigfoot” will walk by us in the woods when we’re down here crayfish hunting. In reality it’s not Bigfoot, but typically an unemployed guy in his twenties trying to find a place to drink a beer or smoke weed without getting popped by the local cops. They never bother us. Sometimes they light up a cigarette and watch us look for crayfish for a minute or two. I get the feeling they used to do the same thing once upon a time.
“Wanna see if those guys are up yet?” I ask Dave.
He nods and drops his creature back into the crick. It’s baseball time, people. We ride off on our bikes to grab our gloves out of our house, and find our friends to get a game going.
11:02 AM
We play some baseball in a nearby vacant lot. There’s more broken glass here. There is always broken glass in our lives, I guess. Nobody cares — you go down, you get sliced, and you keep playing, unless it’s a real gusher. And even then, you’ll be really ticked off if you have to head home to get a tourniquet wrapped around your knee or whatever.
Our gang, we’d rather bleed to death than walk away from a ball game. That’s the way things ought to be, too.
Some days we play ball out under the blazing sun for three hours straight, only stopping to hit up the candy store, maybe, for a soda and a chocolate bar or some Swedish fish. If you have extra cash or you might have stolen a buck from your mom’s wallet last night, well, then you might get a pack of baseball cards as well. But mostly we pour cold Cokes down our hatches and it feels like neon lighting up our veins.
Related Post
I Took My Kids to an "Adventure Playground" and Gave Them a Taste of an '80s-Style Childhood
2:11 PM
I haven’t spoken with a single grown-up since I woke up this morning. Well, except for the candy store lady, but she’s always cranky and just stares us down to make sure we don’t steal any licorice or Mars bars.
My brother and I ride our bikes down to the 7-Eleven. We don’t wear helmets or pads — no one does — and we cross streets with a lot of cars on them, streets where people have been known to die if they forgot to look. But we always look. Hey, we don’t want to die.
We each head out with 64 ounces of Kamikaze (which is basically five fountain sodas mixed together) and a convenience store hotdog made from God-knows-what.
2:19 PM
The phone on the table by the couch in our house rings seven times and then goes dead. It’s my mom, calling to see if my brother and me are around; to see if we’re doing alright. We’re not home, though. We never are when she calls.
She loves us so much, but we’re out in the world, down at the 7-Eleven. Basically, she has no idea where we are. And yet, she’s not really worried at all.
4:42 PM
We’re listening to a KISS record in a buddy’s basement, while his dad chain-smokes cigs and gives us iced tea. It’s an afternoon well spent.
7:37 PM
We’re back at home, sitting next to my mom on the couch. We smell like shampoo and ice cream. Dave and I are tired and so is my mom, but it’s a good tired.
We watch some sitcoms. My mom laughs. I get up and go into the kitchen and grab a can of soda. I crack it open and it hisses and fizzes as I raise it to my sun-chapped lips.
“Serge,” my mom says from the couch. “No more soda. Have some milk instead or you’re gonna turn into a soda!”
I smile even though she can’t see me.
“I am having milk, Mom!” I shout back at her.
The TV plays on and on; a long moment passes.
“No, you’re not,” she mumbles, before adding once more, “You’re gonna turn into a soda!”
***
Even now, all these years later, as I sit here on the other side of 40 with three kids of my own — a man far removed from the summers of my youth — you wanna know something?
I still haven’t turned into a soda yet.
-Babble. I strongly suggest you all give this website a visit. There is some great stuff here. Though you will need to join Facebook to read and make comments. Then they will post your Facebook information along with the comments. Seems pretty sick to me.
CARET Hoax
Why do you present the C.A.R.E.T. hoax in this manuscript?
Because it is NOT a hoax.
Extraterrestrial Abilities
Yes. There are these people out there.
Extraterrestrials would not need to use 7th Dimensional technology to achieve their project goals. Why did you go into such an elaborate hoax?
Wow. I am impressed!
It’s good to know that someone can understand a specific extraterrestrial species that they had never met, and understand their technology without even seeing it.
Since you know so much about the interests and motivations of another species, why read this blog and associated manuscripts? Why not write your own?
For the record, I am only describing what I know relative to what I have experienced.
If it seems like a hoax, well so be it.
From my point of view, most people reading this blog are like a scene from the movie Idiocracity. It’s like trying to explain that you should not give energy drinks to plants. You should give them water. But all you hear is that “Brando is what plants crave”.
I just don’t give a flying fuck what you think. I am writing this for humanity, and not for any specific person.
Most individuals do not want to know the truth, or even understand it. They are just comfortable knowing that they can be absolutely horrible people, and then ask forgiveness… Poof! All is clean again.
It just does not work that way. Anyone telling you that it does is no better than a “snake oil” salesman trying to fleece you.
Reincarnation
Yes there are connections. Just because something is sanctioned by a popular movement, a government or a noted scientists on a “blue ribbon panel” does not make it true.
There is a great deal of similarity between [1] the reincarnation of souls into a physical body, and [2] physical artifices. Is there a connection?
Yes. A society of a given species, given the proper level of technology, would utilize artifices to advance their species. Advancement of a species would include growth.
Is that not what is going on with reincarnation?
Instead of saying “reincarnation is a soul creating multiple physical bodies to occupy and gain experiences”, why not simply state “a soul will create artifices to obtain experiences and thus amplify its growth and advancement.”
Glory Road
You have stated that you thought the Heinlein novel “Glory Road” was the closest representation of the reality that you have described. Why do you say this?
The story “Glory Road” describes [1] a technology so advanced that it appears as magic (or magick) by the hero in the story.
Yet, the technology is many thousands of centuries advanced than human civilization. [2] It utilizes MWI to traverse the universe, and [3] involves the collection of a device (a “egg”) that is an artifice used to enhance the skills and abilities of one of the major characters in the story.
These factors are all very similar to what I have experienced.
Also most importantly, [4] it discusses how “coincidences” were really arrangements made (without the main character’s knowledge) that forced the person to take certain actions.
These arrangements were made by a “princess” with control of great technology, who could (to some degree) predict probable outcomes as a result of the pre-made arrangements.
The reader should not get confused, or be silly. No. I did not go walking around with a sword and a bow and arrow. I did not conduct feats for a princess, nor was I ever tended by her manservant.
Yet… were it part of my desired reality, they very well could have manifested to my great pleasure and even greater chagrin.
Here is the complete novel for your reading pleasure…
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are
posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic
and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I
really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really
wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies
were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only
conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain
secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These
particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part
of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I
was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super
special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I
try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
Influencer Questions
Here are posts
that have gathered a series of questions from various influencers. They
are interesting in many ways and could help all of us unravel the
mysteries of the lives that we live.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts
are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line
travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person
has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different
world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are
posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another
person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to
utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the
past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple
posts in this regard.
They are;
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
The idea of UFOology has taken on “legs” of it’s own with all sorts of nonsense, out-right lies, partial truths, distortions, mis-characterizations, and disinformation. You can read and watch all kinds of things from healing crystals, to Reptilians, to “Men in Black”.
Meanwhile Joe-and-Sue-Average just discounts EVERYTHING as just a bunch of lies by adolescent hoaxers.
Truthfully, most of what I have read has ABSOLUTELY no connection to my experiences.Yet, unfortunately, by the nature of the subject matter, I am lumped in with all this rubbish.And as such, I get these kinds of questions…
Are (your) Type-I greys the Zeta Reticuli aliens?
I do not know.
I personally think that they have probably visited the solar system at some point in time. (After all, the species themselves has been around a long, long time.) At most, they might actually have a base or colony somewhere in the system. (For some reason. Who really knows?) However, whether or not this species originates from this solar system is a long shot.
The idea that they come from there is only wishful thinking. The reason for this, I believe, is that individuals are trying to locate a suitable earth-like environment to justify their limited understanding of these creatures. Ah, the old “It’s gotta be a G-class star” to hold life” argument.
The idea that this would be a suitable point of origination (of one of the more common extraterrestrial species in our biosphere) derives from the incorrect interpretation of the Betty & Barney Hill “space” map that she remembered under hypnosis.
From time to time I see the idea of actual intelligent ET visitation defended on the basis of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction — specifically, on the basis of the “star map” that Betty Hill allegedly saw while on board the alien space ship during her abduction.
Hill purportedly reproduced this map under hypnosis.
In the late 1960s Marjorie Fish (a teacher) supposedly succeeded in correlating Hill’s star map with real stars associated with Zeta Reticuli, this proving Hill had been on a ship from Zeta Reticuli.
The rest, as they say, is history (Nancy Lieder went on to channel the Zetas about how Planet X would factor into the great cataclysm we all witnessed on Dec 21, 2012 . . . sort of).
The Hill star map “recollection” and “correlation” are bogus.
Several dedicated researchers have debunked the astronomy of the “star map” (and their rebuttals seem regularly ignored by people like Stanton Friedman, the guy who somehow dismissed the authorship attribution linguistic tests I had performed on the Majestic documents with my novel – nice research there).
-Michael Heiser
Finding sun-like stars in (what was once considered) a reasonable distance from the Earth, is very difficult, and the Zeta Reticuli system seemed like a logical point of origination at that time.
Listen to me. I am tell you guys straight. No one knows where the origination point of this species is. No one. Given what I know about them, I would strongly argue that any ways and means of understanding this species would be problematic.
Keep in mind that they are an immensely ancient species, with space flight capability dating back at least 30,000 years.
Mantids
I really have to hesitate when talking or discussing the Mantids. They are a multi-dimensional species, that I personally believe, evolved on the Earth naturally. Being multi-dimensional, their reality is quite different from anything that us humans can comprehend on anything but a trivial level.
You have to take into account our human biases when discussing this species, and adjust our dialogs regarding them appropriately.
It is nightmarish for me to even consider a huge giant insect like being that you refer to as the Mantids. Are you sure that our future will evolve into such a creature?
The physical manifestation of the Mantids in this universe is contingent on their evolutionary home-world environment. It has a much higher concentration of oxygen than ours and as a result they have grown to sizes much larger than what we are accustomed to.
Thus… what? Either [1] they have a certain affinity for our solar system as a nursery for sentient life (for what ever odd and obscure reason), or [2] they themselves have evolved upon this planet.
Choose one.
Chart of the oxygen content of the Earth atmosphere over time. You can clearly see from this chart that during two periods in the past, the oxygen concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere was large enough to allow the evolutionary growth of large creatures, mammals and insects.
I have good reason to believe that they originated on Earth as indigenous creatures. I have numerous reasons for this belief.
This question concerning evolution refers to soul-evolution, not species-evolution. I argue that all souls evolve. I further argue that the way souls evolve is via quantum entanglements that are acquired through physical experiences. Thus the reason for living a life.
For us to evolve into a Mantid there would be some serous reconfigurations of the soul garbons and swales.
Some of us humans will eventually evolve into another form. That form might be similar to the Mantid, but could just as likely be something else altogether.
Please do not worry or fret. You will never be compelled to do something that you are not ready for. Additionally, the insectoid form has a very adaptable quantum cloud and soul adaptability. It is a basic primal form.
Mammals are derived forms.
Insects are a primal form of life.
Mammals are a derived form of life.
Project Serpo
You, the reader, would be surprised to hear how many times influencers have mentioned “Project Serpo” to me. In every case, they are convinced that it is real, accurate and not nonsense.
What do you know about Project Serpo?
Only what I have read on the Internet.
It seems like a bunch of hogwash to me. But then, what do I know? If you would have told me what I am spewing forth, when I was in university before I joined MAJestic, my opinion would be unprintable here. I would have probably got into an argument leading to a fist-fight. We can only comment on things that breach our very own experiences.
Anything that we have not experienced personally would naturally be considered outrageous and unlikely.
Everything in MAJestic is compartmentalized. I know very little outside of what my role and assignments were. Thus, I am not qualified to comment on it in any way. Sorry.
In any event, if you want to read a summary go HERE.
Political affiliation of extraterrestrials
Yes. People have asked this. Seriously.
Do the extraterrestrials that you have been in contact prefer conservatives or liberals in regards to their oversight?
They did not care.
Most of the humans (I take that back, ALL of the humans) in MAJestic that I have been in contact with were “service to others” sentience, however their political associations were all over the board.
Contrary to the media narrative, conservatives were not selfish bigots, and progressive liberals were not generous angels. There is a wide spectrum of personal beliefs and behaviors based on economies of evolved ethics.
As far as the extraterrestrials were concerned, political association had no bearing on spiritual (quantum) associations.
Fear of Uncle Sam
Sometimes, people have questioned my fear of the United States government. They say that I have “Rights”, and that any accusations against me would be meaningless, and thus harmless. They say absolutely stupid things like “if you did nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide”. Hogwash.
Ha! I know better.
All it takes is an accusation to destroy your life.
Americans have no “Rights”. It’s all a big charade. And the best that anyone can do is to follow my example and get the heck out of America and far, far, far away from “the line of fire”.
Thus this question…
Why are you so afraid of the United States government?
As if being sucker-punched getting off a plane, entering a completely empty house (even with the light-bulbs, and switch-panels removed and missing), and then being arrested by a SWAT team isn’t enough to make everyone look over their shoulder for the rest of their life, consider my reality…
I could be harmed horribly if the “powers that be” want to “take care of the problem”. And, by “problem”, I mean me. It’s not a Hollywood thing. It’s not some kind of fiction that makes great reading. But yeah, it’s a real and genuine thing.
For me, this is my reality. I signed up for it. I live it.
There are three things (3x) that weigh on my shoulders. Given the state of crazy-town America today, any of these are potential problem areas…
[1] MAJestic could send a “retirement” crew to settle my affairs.
Yes, we all love to watch the television shows. They present everything in a nice and tidy black and white narrative. So easy to understand. So clear, clean and pristine.
But, people, that is not how the world really works. It’s messy. It’s complicated, and it’s very very underhanded.
Did you know that you have Rights?
But, you know, it’s much worse than that. My family might get harmed in the process. Not only myself.
Thus, for me, it is best that I lie low. I make no waves. I keep to myself, and only write the smallest amount of memoirs.
I keep to myself. I do not tell secrets. I do not get into trouble.
There are many ways that I could be harmed, and suppressed, provided that the “Powers that Be” are too lazy to go through normal MAJestic channels to contact me.
(I mean, all you need to do is to use the proper channels. I am still receptive, don’t ya know. And when asked to “shut the fuck up”, I will do so.)
Absolutely.
What I am afraid of is not MAJestic.
In fact, if anything, I think that the organization is more afraid of me that I are of them. Not that I know why, but I think that the secrecy surrounding me and the others in my role was just enough to scare the Dejesus out of everyone.
MAJestic leadership is terrified of me. But, it’s an irrational fear.I am pretty harmless.
From the point of view of MAJestic it is best if we are kept in a monitoring program for as long as possible. Only a handful of people knew what I really am. Of that handful, they were always timidly respectful.
From the point of view of the rest of MAJestic, I could be a weaponized cyborg, a MK-ULTRA programmed lethal killing machine, or a walking plague.
All they really know is that I am a “something” that [1] cost a heck of a lot of funding, [2] over a long period of time, that is [3] under the highest secrecy classifications.
It’s the same sort of reasoning why the Apollo crew had to stay in quarantine once they returned back from the moon, least they carry some form of strange contamination.
The problem with top secret programs like MAJestic and other waived, unacknowledged special access programs is that no one knows your role in it. No one knows what you did. No one knows, or believes what you have done, know, experienced, or the skills you have. Thus you must be observed and monitored. No one dares take a chance. That is why agents must be put into monitoring programs.
It’s an understandable reaction to an irrational fear. The secrecy is so severe, that I could be anything. All anyone actually knows is the amount of money, the amount of time and the amount of resources dedicated to me. Obviously, when the cost approaches that of an aircraft carrier, people start to take notice.
“Who is this guy?” they ask.
He doesn’t look like anything special.
In the cyber-punk dystopian television show “Dark Angel”, a group of youth were raised and trained to be a kind of special weapons force. One was a fighter, portrayed by Jessica Alba. another was an intelligence officer portrayed by Michael Bower. The idea is that he is plain, goofy looking and non-descript as a perfect camouflage while he uses his natural skills and abilities. The episode is titled “Brainiac“. It received terrible reviews simply because it broke away from the Hollywood narrative of what heroes look like.
In a way, you can understand the alertness, if not fear, of those “in the know”. They handed myself, Sebastian and one or two more people to a very powerful extraterrestrial species and permitted them to modify us on a genetic level with EBP control.
They didn’t know what the changes would be. We could be anything… and Hollywood has some pretty good ideas to scare the living Dejesus out of you all with…
The problem with being in a waived, unacknowledged, special access program is that it is so secret. The secrecy is complete and there might be one other person on the entire planet who knows your role and the full extent of your training and what you are capable of. This causes problems. Firstly, the secrecy necessitates a need for monitoring. Who knows what an agent is capable of? Secondly, it causes problems with the agent who often does not like being classified as a bad and dangerous person.
It was better safe than sorry, so I was placed under institutional observation.
So, MAJestic is just fine that I am “out of their hair”. Outside the USA where, if something bad happens, at least it won’t be on American soil against Americans.
Personally, I strongly believe that everything and everyone is just “tickled pick” that I am far away, retired, and just getting drunk and playing with pretty girls.
But that is not what I am afraid of.
Not MAJestic. I am afraid of the American “Deep State”.
They are a dangerous bunch of ignorant SOB’s. I will repeat. They might think that they are “smart”, but they are not. They are a bunch of ignorant paper-pushers and bean-counters. Yes, they make good money, and have great vacations, but outside of their protective enclaves (and yes they do live within “bubbles”) they are functionally useless.
The “Deep state” is a serious danger.
[2] A real danger – the American “Deep State”.
Then what is the motivator, Gus?
The thing about the American “Deep State” is that they are a big bureaucracy, that is staffed with some very competent people, with access to a seemingly endless supply of funding. If someone “gets a hair up their ass” about me, they can terminate my existence with “extreme prejudice”.
Look at all the grief that that have been giving to Donald Trump. All it takes is one asshole.
They could (for instance) [1] de-mothball the ELF transmission facilities, restaff it. Then target my ELF probes and saturate the living fuck out of me. They could play the theme song from “Barney” until I go absolutely bonkers.
You know, do a totally uncalled-for asshole-dick move.
There are many ways to drive a person insane if you have the means. How about 24-7 Barney songs and music. If that won’t make a person into a gibbering pile of jello, nothing will.
Though...seriously.
Were this to happen, I would know what was going on and why.
And I wouldn't take it.
There won't be any mercy from me. I would force MWI switching so severe on the United States that it would look like a chemical waste dump populated with retarded cripples. Everyone would be covered with sores and pustules. I would enact Holy Terror. It would make the worst nightmares from the (television show) the Twilight Zone look like kid's play.
Let me be alone and live my life in peace. Do Not Fuck With Me.
Not only that, but knowing what they have in my binder, they could [2] could do other things equally terrifying as well.
Typically, if saturation by the ELF core kit #1 probes is not successful in driving me to kill myself, agents will be sent to “take care of the problem”. Only this time, they might be (dare I say it) [3] CIA. Yikes!
Though, they will need to operate within China.
However, as terrifying as that all is, the United States “deep state” government is the least of my worries.
[3] The powerful ignorant and selfish.
There will be others (the ignorant and the foolish) who might wish to kill me for my probes, or maybe try to harness me (somehow) so that they can traverse the various world-lines. Do not laugh. I’ve met these kinds of people.
Their egos are far, far larger than any kind of reality that can hold them. They are often like little boys who were never punished as a child.
Do you really want power? Or, would you rather have the fun things that come with the respect that you earn through others? Think about that for a spell. Real power is not something that you see on Hollywood.
So, yes. They could try to seize what I have by force. Even if they aren’t sure that anything beneficial would result from it. (Heck, one or two million is a drop in the bucket, they would argue.)
Not that they could. I my EBP is encoded genetically, not just simply implanted. Further, you would need a type-I grey medical crew to extract and replant into the new host. This would necessarily require the growth of a completely new artifice. And, who the Fuck is going to be the Pilot?
If so, it would be a nightmare scenario right out of “The Lathe of Heaven”. Where a scientist tries to harness my abilities instead of extracting my probes.
George Orr is desperate to rid himself of his dreams which he insists affect reality. He is plagued by guilt having dreamt of his annoying aunt in a fatal car crash only to wake and hear she has died in that very manner. For him it is a curse and yet for his newly appointed oneirologist Dr. Haber it is a gift, a chance to transform the world for the better.
The Lathe of Heaven is a 1971 science fiction novel by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. The plot revolves around a character whose dreams alter past and present reality
"The Lathe of Heaven" takes place in Portland, Oregon in the year 2002. Its main character, an insignificant working class man named George Orr, is plagued by 'effective dreaming', where his dreams literally come true.
He first learns of his unique ability at the age of seventeen, when he dreams of his aunt dying in a fiery car crash. When he wakes up the following morning, he finds that his aunt, who had been staying at the house only the night before, actually died in a car crash days before.
Unfortunately, nobody, other than George, ever notices the change, and over the years, George grows up suffering in silence, horrified by the immense power of his dreams and nightmares.
At the start of the film, a 30-year old George has been given a court order to attend psychiatric therapy following an accidental overdose on prescription drugs. This is where he comes into contact with oneirologist Dr. Bill Haber, a specialist in sleep disorders and dreams.
With the use of hypnosis and a brain wave regulator called the 'Augmentor', Haber begins treatment aimed at helping George feel more at ease with his dreams. However, Haber is astonished to find that George's dreams actually can reshape reality.
At first, Haber's experimentation with his patient's unique ability is limited in scope, such as changing a picture on the wall.
However, with each session, Haber becomes more ambitious as he directs George to dream of a Portland where the sun is always shining, or of the Haber Institute of Oneirology, both of which appear in the new post-dream reality. Seeing that he is being used instead of being cured, George tries to find a way to switch therapists. Unfortunately, he runs into brick walls at every turn when dealing with the state bureaucracy of the future, and even the lawyer he hires, Heather LeLache, seems powerless to stop Haber's 'treatments'.
Undaunted, the well-intentioned Haber becomes even more daring in the use of George's abilities, as he directs George to dream away monumental human problems, such as overpopulation, war, and racism. Unfortunately, Haber's attempts to rectify the problems of the world end up backfiring, necessitating further sessions of 'effective dreaming' to solve the troubles brought on by the previous ones...
Like a man who has been granted three wishes by a genie, Haber becomes intoxicated by the potential for George's ability to serve as a 'quick fix' for the numerous problems that plague the world.
Despite his good intentions, he quickly learns that there are unexpected and serious consequences for each great leap forward. When he cures Portland of its rain problem, it creates a drought and the need for strict water rationing among the population.
When he uses George's dreams to resolve overpopulation, he unleashes a plague that inadvertently pushes the nations of the world closer to war.
And his attempts to bring peace on Earth result in an alien invasion, prompting the nations of the world to put aside their differences in the face of a common enemy.
Of course, Haber refuses to believe that the unintended effects are his own doing, and deflects the blame onto George's shoulders. From Haber's perspective, the rationale behind the decision is sound, and it is in the execution where the problem lies.
Like all good science fiction, "The Lathe of Heaven" is a mere reflection of the human condition, allowing to us to see ourselves from a different perspective. Human history is littered with individuals and societies as zealous as Haber, whose good intentions and desire for easy solutions have unleashed unexpected 'side effects', often with serious consequences. DDT, thalidomide, the atomic bomb, strip mining, and even the Y2K bug are examples of 'quick fixes' that have had unintended social, political, economic, and ecological impacts.
In "The Lathe of Heaven", Le Guin has exaggerated the ability of man to reshape his environment, yet the underlying principle still remains the same-- we must temper our desire to reshape the world with caution and a full understanding of what the possible ramifications could be.
-Media Circus
Thus, I have every right to be fearful and cautious. I have every right.
So, as a result, I shun fame, and just let whom so ever stumble upon this blog do so and read. If they benefit from it, then great. If they don’t then so what? As long as I am keeping to myself, minding my own business, and letting the world pass me by, I am just fine.
I’m just gonna be a drunk ol’ geezer on the beach watching the world go by. And doing “good works” in my own, often messed up way. I’m the friend to dogs and cats all over the world and protectors of the little guy…
And none of youse guys need to worry about nothin’. I’m not going to do anything that a pretty girl, a bottle of Jack and a cigar can’t handle.
I want to make myself perfectly clear on this point.
I do know the “purpose of life”, and I do know how everything fits together in our universe. So, since I do, I understand that we can realign our swales and garbons through our thoughts as we acquire experiences. Thus, for me to advance spiritually, I will need to acquire fun and happy experiences and the resultant thoughts…
Thus the life that I currently lead.
Being fearless when having MWI egress potential
Can you believe that some people actually argue against being fearful of ol’ Uncle Sam? Yeah. It’s kind of hard to fathom, but there you have it.
That makes no sense to have such a fear. You can dimensionally shift to another world-line using the core kit #2 probes.
That is false.
Currently, I am limited in my ability to world-line shift to only those (drone pilot pre-configured) world-line groups. Today, I would do so in “manual” mode with is (I believe) unassisted.
I could shift, but it would still (most probably) contain the same conditions that I would be trying to flee from. Greatly divergent world-line travel is limited in my access ability.
OK. ok. That's not wholly and entirely true.
For all PRACTICAL purposes, my world-line switching ability is limited. However, I have control over my lock-outs. (Remember the good ol' boy Lester at ADC Pine Bluff?). As such, I can easily, and I do mean easily... like right now, change everything.
I don't want to because I like my retirement.
However, if I am attacked, or one of my fears manifest, I will swap the lockouts and unleash the dog's of Hell. Please do not mess with my reality.
Sorry for being such a silly fellow.
All that I am saying is that the MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) nuclear deterrent of the 1960’s through to the 1980’s was based on the idea and concept that if anyone tried to mess with the USA that we would unleash nuclear Hell on the world. This is my comment that if a dog is sleeping, you let them lie. You don’t get up and start kicking the dog and not expect it to bark, or worse… take a bite out of your neck.
My peaceful passive enjoyment of my reality is one in which I am quite happy with the status quo. You must agree, and plainly see, that I have no desire to alter my reality in any kind of substantive change. Ah. The sky is blue, the grass is green. It’s green grass and high-times forever.
But then, why worry?
It’s been my experience that most of our fears NEVER manifest. And, I am sure that noting will ever come to these fears, simply because no one is that fucking stupid.
As Fucked up as this world-line is, at least there is pizza, beer and pretty girls. Not to mention all the delicious flavors of ice cream. At least that is pretty much the same on every world-line. Eh?
Ice cream from Japan. One of the things that I have come to appreciate is that ice cream seems to be a staple food item regardless with how strange a given world-line might be. Though, you might have to go to some odd-ball places to get your favorite flavors in this world-line.
I do have to admit that there is some really strange and odd things going on in the United States today. These things are all fucked up and I, for one, am just glad that I am not anywhere near this mass insanity. I guess I could go on and on, but then the water buffalo Michelle Obama is considered to be the most beautiful woman in America, you know that something is seriously wrong.
Something is wrong.
I attribute it to mass thought manipulation that is pushing world-line divergence into some pretty odd directions. People, this is what an attractive woman looks like…
Need to create slides…
And so they don’t accept “no” for an answer…
To harass you, the ELF core kit #1 probes would have to be engaged. With the core kit #1 probes engaged, you could reconfigure your limits beyond the current “lock out” state. Couldn’t you dimensionally shift then?
Yes.
And in doing so, I would need to dimensionally world-line shift to maybe a 3 to 4% dimensional variance to enter a world-line without harassment. That is quite a variance. It really is. It can be problematic.
It is tricky and possibly dangerous.
At a 4% divergence, I could well lose many things that matter to me. Such as my family, security, lifestyle, happiness. Not to forget, driving at the right side of the road, wearing socks, and having dogs and cats as pets. Yah.
Do you really want to roll the dice and see whats out “there”?Well, do you?
Imagine a world were pizza was never invented, or where your wife was an angry evil, disgusting scold.
Or perhaps even appear in a world-line armless, or legless. Watch the movie “The Butterfly Effect” to see what horrors can manifest. Please believe me in this. It is not worth it. Not at all.
World-Line travel can be dangerous.
The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American psychological thriller sci-fi film written and directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart.
The title refers to the butterfly effect, a popular hypothetical example of chaos theory which illustrates how small initial differences may lead to large unforeseen consequences over time.
Real Fears
Let’s look at what the real issues are. Ok?
Seriously, harassment resulting from core kit #1 probes can be controlled by your own admission, if this manuscript becomes well known, you would become too public a person to harm. What is your real fear?
Extraction of my probes and reinsertion into another person could be incorrectly thought of providing that person with dimensional world-line travel ability. This is a powerful tool kit. (Extraction will be fatal for me.) The United States government is not who I am afraid of.
Think of Hillary Clinton, George Soros, or Kim Jong-un. Do you understand now? What if they could cluster world-lines? What do you think that life would be like under their direction, eh?
On 12 December 2013 official North Korean news outlets released reports that due to alleged "treachery," he had ordered the execution of his uncle Jang Song-thaek.
On 9 March 2014, Kim Jong-un was elected unopposed to the Supreme People's Assembly. He is the first North Korean leader born after the country's founding. Kim Jong-un is widely believed to have ordered the assassination of his brother, Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia in February 2017.
Who cares?
Well… I do.
OK. But you will be dead, and your world-line will terminate. So who cares if someone else has access to “your” technology?
World-lines cluster in groups. My job was to stabilize the world-lines to a (relatively) “safe” and “prosperous” collection. I did so, and prevented a major (mystery – to me) disruption (in the sentience aspects of the human quantum cloud) in the years of 1995 to 2004-5. After 2004-5, I was “retired” and my actions went from “active” to “passive”.
I ask the reader this; after 2004 has the world continued to be safe and prosperous? Well has it?
Hey! What started to happen after 2004? What trends began?
After 2004, all of us stopped anchoring the world-lines. It has been careening wildly ever since.
If someone else has control of this technology, they can control YOUR (the reader’s) world-line direction. This action would greatly impearl the world-line of the rest of humanity. You might think Hitler was bad, or Stalin, that would be nothing to the hell that could be unleashed if an Islamic fascist got in control of this technology, and anchored world-lines to fit his idea of perfection.
In the wrong hands, the ability to alter reality is a very dangerous skill.
World-line travel can be perilous
Alternatively, perhaps a man-hating radicalized feminist, or a real (actual) pedophile, or someone who thinks that if drinking wine and cigarettes would be eliminated the world would become a better place?
Imagine a dog hater, or a cat hater. Imagine someone who thinks that pineapple on pizza is so wonderful that it becomes the daily meal of choice.
Imagine an ideal world under Jerry Falwell. Yikes!
Jerry Lamon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy (now Liberty Christian Academy) in 1967 and Liberty University in 1971 and co-founded the Moral Majority in 1979.
Let us not stop there.
What if they have odd personality quirks? That would directly translate into actional deviance’s.
Some men like women with big feet. Some men think that women need to have their faces veiled because the female form is ugly. What if they think that big asses on enormous sized obese women were attractive… What then?
All that being said, the true risk is that humans fail to evolve into an approved sentience archetype. If that occurs, the human evolutionary track will have to be scrapped or culled, and a new direction established.
It could be very ugly.
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
Influencer Questions
Here are posts that have gathered a series of questions from various influencers. They are interesting in many ways and could help all of us unravel the mysteries of the lives that we live.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
They are;
Articles & Links
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.
Organization
Why did you organize this blog the way you did. Why didn’t you just “get to the point”?
Well, I ask you, the reader to now put this manuscript down, and turn on the television. Watch CNN, or ABC, or MSNBC. Watch it for one hour. Are any of the subjects, situations, conclusions, information, or characteristics stated in this manuscript mentioned by the American news media?
No. None of them.
That one hour of television that you, the reader, watched is the sum-total of the “reality” of a vast bulk of the American population. My “reality” is quite different. So the only way it can be presented is in stages.
Proof
All of our life, we were taught in school what was truth and what was lies. We were taught what to believe, what to ignore, and what to disparage. These were important teachings for they enabled us (naturally square pegs) to fit in round holes.
Today, those of us who have not shaken free from our government-approved programming still demand total and complete explanations. We want full validity in order to accept the belief in something.
Can you prove to me that what you say is fact?
No I cannot.
All that I can do is relate what I know, and it is up to you the reader to accept or discard my experiences and conclusions. If you wish to think of this entire manuscript as a complete fabrication, go ahead.
I am on the way out. It won’t make any difference. All I can do is relate my experiences to the world-line “template”.
My grandfather once told me a story about how, when he was in France during World War I, that he went into a barn to sleep during the night. He slept in the hay and it was able to keep him and his companions warm. When he woke up the next day, he found three dead German soldiers lying nearby him. It’s a curious story. Is it true or false? I do not know, but I do believe him.
When I was in the Cub Scouts, I learned about Paul Bunyan. I heard (and read in our Cub Scout manual) that he had a big (blue) ox named Babe. Was it true, or fiction? I do not know, but I do believe that it is probably a local folktale that was based on true events, and that over the years became exaggerated. In Kokomo, Indiana is a famous attraction called the “stump and the steer”. That’s a pretty huge bull.
From this website; https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/3620
“When Old Ben was Newborn Ben in 1902, he was the largest calf in the world and "an object of wonder," according to a sign in front of his stuffed carcass. He lived and grew, and grew, on a farm
about a dozen miles north of Kokomo. By the time he was four he already weighed over two tons.
Ben was the most famous animal in Indiana when he fell and broke his leg in early 1910. The doctor who was called to help Ben shot him. Ben weighed nearly 5,000 pounds, he was over 16 feet long, and "his tongue filled a dishpan," according to the back of an old Old Ben post card. His hide was stuffed and mounted on wheels for easy transport. His body was ground into several hundred pounds of Indiana frankfurters.
Old Ben's owners exhibited their dead prodigy for a few years, then either donated or sold him to Kokomo's Riverside Park. Ben went into semi-retirement, emerging periodically from storage to pose for publicity photos, particularly during World War II with 20-year-old bathing beauty Phyllis Hartzell, an image that circled the globe with American GIs.
It wasn't until 1989 that Old Ben again became a full-time public attraction, when he was placed inside a glass-enclosed pavilion next to the World's Largest Sycamore Stump, his wheels hidden by hay. In 2004 some morons broke in and stole Ben's tail. It was so long that three normal-size steer tails had to be stiched together to create a new one.
In 2015, on the day after Thanksgiving, the public was invited inside the pavilion for the first time to get up close to Ben, a tradition that we hope continues.
No one could ever explain why Old Ben was so large, but both he and the Stump are excellent ambassadors for the ecosystem of Kokomo, real versions of the fake giant vegetables and animals seen on vintage post cards. They grow 'em big here.”
When I was attending elementary school in the late 1960’s, the “green movement” was getting started, and sometime during my time in 7th grade (maybe 8th grade), we were educated on the importance in protecting the environment. We learned about how limited the materials were on the earth, and how it would be best to recycle. We learned about Global Cooling and how if we didn’t so something quickly, that the earth would enter a new ice age, maybe by 1975, certainly before 1980.
Global Cooling
All of us were organized into work teams, and we would go out on excursions cleaning up the nearby waterways and trees. We picked up litter on the sides of the road. I was even photographed for an article in the Butler Eagle where we cleaned up a local stream of trash. We were all involved in collecting funds to save the environment.
We went on door-to-door collections to raise money for the cause. Was Global Cooling true? On the other hand, was it a fiction? I do not know, however, given what I now know about life (being older), politics and organized manipulation, as well as multi-dimensional world-line travel, I do think it was a whole bunch of organized hooey designed to manipulate us into parting with our money.
Every day we had to listen to a lecture from our teacher how our environment was changing. Then after the lecture, our teacher would pull out his guitar and we would sing songs. And, yes. kumbaya was one of them. We would give our lunch money to the teacher "for the cause".
Butler Eagle
The Butler Eagle is a daily newspaper published in Butler, Pennsylvania, United States. It serves the Pittsburgh metropolitan county of Butler.
Global Cooling
Global cooling was a conjecture during the 1970s of imminent cooling of the Earth's surface and atmosphere culminating in a period of extensive glaciation. This hypothesis had support in the scientific community, and it gained immediate popular attention.
The official narrative is that the attention was due to a combination of a slight downward trend of temperatures from the 1940s to the early 1970s and press reports that did not accurately reflect the full scope of the scientific climate literature.
Today, the narrative (fully funded by the Obama administration) is one which shows a body of literature projecting future warming due to greenhouse gas emissions. However, this literature has been identified as intentionally-falsified data.
https://www.prisonplanet.com/ipcc-scientists-caught-producing-false-data-to-push-global-warming.htmlhttp://principia-scientific.org/nasa-exposed-in-massive-new-climate-data-fraud/http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/geoengineering-falsified-data-and-global-warming/https://chemtrailsplanet.net/2014/06/24/nasa-and-noaa-caught-using-falsfied-data-in-climate-change-reports/http://www.breitbart.com/london/2014/06/23/global-warming-fabricated-by-nasa-and-noaa/https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2012/03/01/fakegate-the-obnoxious-fabrication-of-global-warming/http://www.libertyheadlines.com/obama-administration-falsified-climate-change-data/
Global Cooling.
Believe what you want. Keep in mind that it’s YOUR reality.
The time for me to go about gathering proof due to the sloth of a given reader will take from my enjoyment of life. Why should I waste any time trying to prove something to the lazy and ignorant?
Why?
Hey! I’m not in elementary school. I do not have to prove anything to anyone. Certainly not some anonymous smuck hiding behind the anonymity of a computer screen
This is what I could (and will be doing) instead of collecting “proof” for people to consider. Take note everyone. Check it all out. The important things are all there… girls… drinking wine… singing… dancing… everything.
All that is missing is a dog and a cat or two. Listen up.
This is my life…
I can NEVER be able to provide enough “proof” to appease the nay-sayers. Instead, I have opted to explain to the reader what I was involved in before I die and it is all forgotten. That’s the thing. What I experienced really happened, and it should be recorded for posterity.
It was exceptional, it was outstanding and incredulous. I for one want to leave something behind so that what I experienced does not vaporize upon my death.
But, people being what they are, will not understand. They will demand “proofs” that will never be enough. So I explain as best I can with the tools at my disposal.
It’s sort of like this…
All that being said, it’s not that I am being a dick about things, it’s simply because I know how this world (and this universe) works. It’s controlled by thoughts.
Thoughts.
Thoughts define our reality.
So, I could waste hours trying to convince someone about something, but in my mind it is all a waste of time. Instead my thoughts are directed at things of more importance… ME.
The life I have is not all that terribly unobtainable. You just buy a couple of cases of wine, and rent out a KTV room, and a big hotel room. Then you invite a bunch of pretty girls to sing, dance and play with you. That’s all there is to it. You get some extra robes from the hotel front desk for the girls to wear when they peel off their swimsuits. It’s not a difficult thing to do at all.
Then you all get drunk and sing. You dance. You get a little crazy, and the girls get a little frisky. You all have fun.
Everyone is different. But we are all surrounded by people who would just love to be our friends. So you make it easy for them. You smile. You be kind. You think good things, and say good things. You be a fun and cheery person to be around, and the sun will come out from behind the clouds and people will start to smile back at you.
In my case, for me, since there are so many K-Pop, and C-Pop dance studios around me, it’s easy for me to go next door and invite the gals out for some fun. It helps when I bring my dog. (He’s a real chick magnet.) Everyone likes free delicious food, wine and KTV fun.
What you think about materializes right before your very eyes.
People, when life (or the universe) gives you opportunities, you take them.
Our reality is created by our thoughts.
I am surrounded, by what ever reason (thoughts), by all these K-Pop and C-Pop dance and training centers. I cannot go out the door without meeting these girls whether it is in the hallway bathroom, near the stairs, near the elevators or any of the doors. So, you take advantage of it. You meet the people. You smile and talk.
That what our reality is all about.
Thus, this is what my reality is…
Not to mention that they don’t mind at all when I offer to take the entire troop out for food, drinks, song, dance, and swimming. We make an entire night of it. Then later, they often repay the favors many times over.
You could do that with your life right now. Everyone likes beer. Everyone likes wine. Everyone likes delicious food. By going out and making friends you will start to have an absolutely amazing life.
Do Not Squander It.
Obama the Time Traveler
There is a cult (numerous ones actually) where people (acting like sheep) follow charismatic people. These followers often attribute God-like powers to the object of their affection.
Was President Obama a time traveler, as some have alleged?
I do not know. I do know that the generational cycles are intact and very complex changes are taking place. How they will manifest is anyone’s guess. However, this cycle that we are in will probably last for another decade; well past 2025.
It will be “colorful”, and for many “difficult”, as there will be a segregation of sentience types and determination.
Being a Pig
I don’t get a lot of these kinds of posts, but when I do, it’s usually from a triggered SJW female who has (more than a few) things to tell me from behind the safety of anonymity of her computer.
Often enough, she doesn't know that I track all responses via ISP and tracking algorithms. So, I do know who or (more properly) "what" is bitching to me.
Always, no exceptions so far, it is a person who [1] hasn’t read anything other than a few paragraphs of a specific post, [2] hasn’t taken to the time to learn about me or why I write like I do, and thus [3] churns off an emotionally-laden e-mail fully expecting me to publish it.
I never do.
The e-mail generally goes something like this…
Why are you such a pig? (Often using the latest in feminist baffle gab instead of the word “pig”.) Why include the information about girls in China, and the sexual information about Thailand? It serves no purpose, it only makes you looks like a horrible person.
Now my response…
Life is different for different people. We all live our own different realities. In fact, we can create the realities that we want through thought and followed upon with action. This is true whether or not one wants to believe it.
Each reality that we participate in will offend others who have different thoughts and different subsequent realities.
Therefore, the reader should stop being so fucking judgmental.
Rather than judge others, lose some weight, take care of yourself, think good thoughts and surround yourself with things that matter. There is no need for me to censor my experiences to tend to the fragile sensibilities of the sheltered ignorant. That is their own job.
Enough about the complainers. Now, about me; I was a “good boy” and played by all the rules.
I never cheated on my wife. I did what was expected of me. I studied hard, and got the best grades. I supported a terribly sick wife (schizophrenia), and then when she left me for another man, I quit my job to take care of my dying mother. Then, I was retired. In the process, I lost everything and was punished by hard labor. When I was released I had nothing left physically.
About my first wife...
She met a man in the state run mental institution where she had to spend nine months. (She was sentenced there because she kept on breaking into people’s houses to rescue girls (that she believed were) locked in the basements there.
Fucking news media... getting everyone all hot and bothered.
Of course, there wasn’t anyone there, and the home owners did not appreciate her actions. So she was arrested and sentenced to nine months incarceration in a State mental health facility.
While there, she met a fellow with an illness similar to hers. She was instantly attracted to him. He was a dark swarthy heavily tattooed thin and lean man who was also sentenced to the institution. The reason was due to his very bad temper and habit of brutally assaulting his girlfriends.
He was everything that I am not. So, it was a like a magnet to steel for my wife.
It’s called “life”, and it hurts.
Life can take it’s toll on you. You can study, work hard, be the best that you can, and still have the rug pulled out from under you. There is nothing “fair” about life. It’s all about the experiences you have and the thoughts that are generated around those experiences.
So I was retired from MAJestic, and everyone else in the United States thinks that I am some kind of sexual deviant. Fuck.
All I had was my wits and a heart burning in righteous anger. So yeah, fast-forward to today. I am now much older.
I am retired.
As such, I can be a “man”, and live my life on my terms. That is, MY terms. Now, if I want to have sex with a 25 year old who happens to like me, what business is it to you? If I want to eat a triple bacon pizza and chase it down with XO with a pretty girl in each arm, my dog beside my leg and my cat on my head, so be it. I am going to do what I want, like a real man.
If you do not want to know my story, you can leave.
If you want to learn, then put a clothes-pin on your nose and plow on. You have to listen to an old man who doesn’t care about being politically correct, offending people, or enraging snowflake SJW types.
If there is one thing that I would like to say to these beta-males and alpha-females, it is this; “Get a Fucking Life”. The rest of the world is having fun. What’s stopping you?
What is holding you back?
Beautiful People in South America
I am an imperfect MAN.
I’m not groovy. I am not as popular as Yul Brynner. I’m not “hip” to all that jive, and “far out” stoned craziness youse kids so banter about all day. I am a man, and all men are imperfect. That’s what make us so absolutely wonderful.
Show me a woman who does not want to take an imperfect man, and make him perfect, and I will show you a chimera. They don’t exist.
Yul Brynner.
I am not some kind of feminist version of a “knight in shining armor”. I am not a “pajama boy”. I am a man who found a lifestyle and nitch that is suitable for my own personal sensibilities.
The modern American man today…
The archetype pajama-boy. he is the beta-male ideal and the lust interest of legions of insecure alpha-women who are ugly, overweight and who have enormous trashcan sized asses.
Grow the fuck up, get some gawd-damn balls and live your OWN fucking life.
"Pajama Boy" is a derisive term for a photograph posted online in 2013 by the American political organization Organizing for Action (OFA) of one of its employees, Ethan Krupp, in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
BTW. How dare you call me a pig!
Feminist bafflegab.
Most American women that do so are lonely, overweight, poor skinned, social justice warriors whose only success in life is through a phalanx of like-minded lesbian fat ignoramuses. You are the one with a body that is more pig-like.
This is how a woman is supposed to look like…
How a woman is supposed to look like.
Don’t buy into my opinion? Take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Take your clothes off and actually look at yourself. Look. You, and your appearance is the DIRECT RESULT of your thoughts and your actions.
Are you alone? It is the direct result of your thoughts. Are you poor? It is the direct result of your thoughts. Are you trapped in a life beyond your control? It is the direct result of your thoughts.
EVERYTHING is a result of YOUR thoughts.
The gals who I am with are around me for other reasons not related to appearance. It serves their needs, so who are YOU to judge?
I am happy, and they are happy. We are all happy.
You, the funky opinionated observer, are the one that isn’t happy. Why is this? Are you trying to place your insecurities upon others to make you feel better? (Ouch!)
The truth hurts doesn’t it.
Beautiful Woman – China
It has been my intention to provide my story as it is with all of it’s blemishes and imperfections to the reader. Some, more sheltered and ignorant in the ways of the world, will be offended.
I accept that.
That is why we have laws preventing children from watching ‘R” rated movies, and from drinking under the age of 21.
Yet, some children never grow up. They keep and hold on to their illusions well into adult-hood. I realize that some will read this manuscript in the privacy of their parents basement as an excuse to hide from the life that surrounds them. You all shouldn’t do that. You should go out. Make friends. Have some fun. Even if others make fun of you.
Life is too short, soon you will be my age.
Don’t fuck it up.
Beautiful Woman – Russia
So to answer the question; “why am I a male chauvinist pig?”
Here is my answer.
Only a child would ask such a question. If you are an adult, and are still asking childish questions, you need to GROW UP! If you do not know why a man likes to look at pretty girls, then your mind is set at an infantile stage of development.
Most children learned about sex and began an interest in the opposite sex in middle school. If you believe that anything that you do not like is WRONG, then your behaviors are still fixed in pre-adolescence.
Grow the fuck up
A Woman – I think. Modern contemporaneous America.
It’s a fucking shame. That’s what it is. Truth.
Oxia Palus Map
Why don’t you include a map of the Oxia Palus facility?
I did. I created a map using MS Visio and then included it in the Oxia Palus facility post. It was not fully complete, but mapped out the primary layout that I recalled.
It was kept in my documents for years. However in 2017 I had a strong “nudge” to remove the map, as well as to delete a vast swatch of specific information regarding this facility.
One of the things about this, and I will go back and edit this blog, is that no one really NEEDS to see the exact details. It distracts from the message, don’t you know. SO I will start deleting some of the distractions that tend to just bring confusion to the table.
John Titor
Why did you include the John Titor story?
The John Titor story is a segway towards understanding my program and my role. Without it, the reader would have to make a jump directly into my training and operational assignments. It would have been too easy to get lost in the terminology and descriptions.
Indeed, do you, the reader, enjoy reading refrigerator operation manuals?
Here there be tygers.
Why do you include so many references to Ray Bradbury: Here There Be Tygers?
Mother Earth News said it best;
“Because this story — as entertaining as it may be on
the surface — is far, far more than a merely diverting and enjoyable tale. It is, in the truest sense, an allegory (allegory: a story in which people, things and happenings have another meaning, as in a fable or parable) . . .
and a multi-leveled allegory, at that.
Read this little piece carefully and — if you're ready for it — you'll begin to realize just what this beautiful planet (not "planet 7 of star system 84") is anxious to do for us if we'd only relax and let it . . .
and what the true possibilities of life really are . . .
and why man- and womankind seem so blindly intent on throwing themselves (and every other living creature) out of the Garden of Eden as rapidly and as violently as possible.”
Here’s the full text of this wonderful little story…
Purpose of the Type-I Greys
What is the purpose of the Grey species involvement with humans?
Their role is as “policemen” and “zookeepers”. They monitor our growth and report their findings to the <redacted>. As humans grow, and individual sentience is established, our species is culled.
Those that are of “service to others” sentience advances and are cultivated further by the <redacted>. Those that are “service to self” are also cultivated, but are policed and monitored by the Type-I greys.
Those that are not yet ready, continue to evolve in the purgatory that is Earth.
Purgatory = A place or state of temporary suffering or misery.
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are
posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic
and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I
really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really
wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies
were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only
conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain
secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These
particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part
of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I
was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super
special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I
try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
Influencer Questions
Here are posts
that have gathered a series of questions from various influencers. They
are interesting in many ways and could help all of us unravel the
mysteries of the lives that we live.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts
are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line
travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person
has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different
world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are
posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another
person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to
utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the
past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple
posts in this regard.
They are;
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Why was egress from ADC Pine Bluff via MWI unsuccessful?
In the question earlier, the question was raised about my abilities, and how come I could not use my abilities to leave incarceration. It’s a great question, and here I try to answer it.
Why was this the case?
My probes were specific and made for exactly my role.
To be a dimensional anchor, that restricted my world-line travel to only the closest 1-2% (x2=4% at maximum) alternative world-lines. I did not have the ability to travel into more divergent world-lines.
Apparently, all of the similar world-lines that I had “anchored” to led to this prison cell. The reader should note, that when I did actually traverse the world line, I entered the same cell that I I had left on another world-line.
The cell was always locked as far as I could tell.
Time-Travel as an ADC egress methodology
Not everyone accepts my answer to this question. So they look at different angles, based on what I have disclosed about my abilities.
Couldn’t you simply do “apparent” time travel to get out of your situation?
As a “dimensional anchor”, I did not need the ability to perform “apparent” time travel, either forward or backward in time. It was not a mission requirement.
Therefore, my probes never had this ability.
The only time this was conducted, that I was aware of, was with the larger stationary dimensional portal. I do suppose that some software changes could have enabled this ability, but I have no idea what they would be. Nor how to operate it.
Twins?
Ah. There is so much confusion. Really, EBP world-line egress via MWI manipulation is not at all as depicted in Hollywood movies.
Once you left your world-line and entered a new world-line you now shared a world-line with two of you. What did other people do when they saw two of you?
It did not happen that way. I never traveled to a world-line where there was another person like myself. I think that most people are confused by the ignorance spewed out from Hollywood. We are consciousness.
We are a consciousness that occupies bodies within realities.
I believe that a reality is a construction that surrounds the physical person. When you travel to a new world-line you occupy your role within that reality. However, your consciousness and memories are of a different reality.
When you travel to a new world-line, your knowledge stays the same, and thus can at times, place the traveler in a disadvantaged state. (It HAS to be this way, else how can anyone learn new things via experience?)
Knowledge and memories are stored outside the non-physical reality that a consciousness occupies. When you switch realities (world-line slides), your memories associated with your consciousness stays intact. No matter how different your new reality is.
So if you were to slide into a reality where everyone speaks French, but you only speak English, you will be in big trouble.
Your physical body will be in French clothes, your scars and fingernails will reflect a French lifestyle, your girlfriend or wife (and mistress) will be French, but you will not be. Your memories will be in English, you will not know anything about the new reality that you now inhabit.
Which is one of the reasons why I have a very heavy dose of skepticism to "others" who might describe experiences similar to mine via the nature of their discussion.
So if you travel to a world-line where everyone else speaks Russian, then you will be disadvantaged and will certainly need to learn the new language to survive. This will occur even when your friends, family and wife will be unable to understand why you are speaking a different language.
If I conduct a slide to another world-line, and see a quantum shadow of myself there, it tells me one thing, and one thing only. I am not within my own reality. I am occupying a reality that belongs to someone else.
Take note.
I have NEVER seen myself (or a version of myself) in any of the world-lines that I have visited. I attribute this fact to the fundamental point that it is my consciousness that egresses via wave-state to different world-lines. Not the idea that a consciousness trapped in a particle-state walks via portal to another world-line where the environment is shared.
Thus, I have never completed particle-based consciousness migration and involved in apparent time-travel where I could meet an alternative myself.
Post ADC Pine Bluff autonomous MWI travel
Once you left prison, did you visit any other world-lines?
No, not really. (Aside from trying to get out of my cell.)
Unfortunately, my ability to access the core two probe’s control interface required that the core one probes be engaged by the ELF handlers. That ended about two days after I left the Pine Bluff Diagnostic facility.
I well remember when the ELF field was shut off. It was like turning off an old-style vacuum tube television where the picture goes to a straight line, then this dot until it finally goes blank.
As before, I could always utilize the core two probes without the core one probes being activated, however without access to the probe two diagnostic screen, I was limited in my abilities.
I am referring to the diagnostic screen, not the “manual mode” numerical display.
Think of it being like a car. With the core one probes on, I could move the transmission lever from drive, to reverse, to second gear, to park. But with the core group one probes, off, I was stuck in what ever gear the car was in.
If the car was in “park” I could not go anywhere. If it was in “reverse”, I could only go backwards. It was like that. I only have (present tense) a very small and limited range of world-lines that I can now traverse, and they are all very… very similar to this one
Luckily for me, and for every other human on this planet, we can control our reality through the migration of adjacent world lines. I utilize this ability for my own purposes.
Just like YOU can as well. I have a post all about how to do this. It works.
You need to control and manage your thoughts. Only think of good things, that way your destination reality will be good.
Extreme Travel Today
Ok, you can currently still perform world-line dimensional travel. What differences can you determine were you to go to the most “far out” world-line at this time?
The (primary) difference is very small. Maybe half of a percentage. (As before, “manual mode” was fixed at a upper limit of 2%, which is -2% up to +2% , maybe a total of 4% if you think about it.
Now, it was set with a maximum (secondary) variance of 0.5% or -0.5% to +0.5%. Moving the numbers is like slogging though mud.) As such, I rarely travel or venture outside of where I am.
I NEVER use the EBP (in manual mode), or anything associated with the ELF kit(s) to conduct any kind of dimensional travel. I never do. It is far, far too risky. Instead, I am quite happy as I am and the way my life is right now. I only "tweak" it somewhat by self-intention navigation.
However, to answer your question, the difference would be very slight and hard to determine. My dog might need a bath in one world-line while he might be clean in the world-line where I just came from. There might be a bag of plums on the kitchen table instead of a bag of apples. (Or, far more likely four apples, instead of the five in the previous world line.) There might be a song that I like, that does not exist in the new world-line. I might owe a bunch of taxes that I didn’t pay (yikes!).
World-line travel is just as risky as you can be aware.
The truth is that one of the problems that I have on the world-line that I currently occupy is missing a particular Ray Bradbury story from the “R is for Rocket” book. It just was never written in this world-line. Which is a shame as it would be a very inclusion (of a few choice passages) in this blog.
One of the things that I find to be uncomfortable is the limited range of food selections at fast food franchises on this world-line.
City Chicken on a stick a McDonald’s staple. It is actually pork cooked as “country fried” chicken is a staple on most other world-lines that I was involved in. In fact, it was just as popular as their fish sandwich. Now, around 1998 I did a world-line switch and suddenly discovered that this world-line never had “city chicken on a stick” at McDonald’s. But, for me, as someone who really enjoys this meal, I am greatly disappointed.
That is also a good example on the subtly of (slight variation) dimensional world-line travel. The differences are slight. They are not really noticeable until you live in the altered world-line for a spell and spend some time noticing the differences.
Examples include man-hole covers that are slightly smaller in a world-line, free refills of coffee on one world-line, and no refills on another, use of suspenders instead of belts on one world-line, or as in the current world-line that doesn’t have strawberry-coke soda. WTF, why?
In this world-line, there isn’t any strawberry coke.
Think about it, won’t you. Of all the things that are different. Like no baked beans with breakfast eggs and toast, a president that was a Reality-show television star, the lack of window awnings, and Venetian blinds, why in the world would strawberry coke be missing from this reality? It’s as bad as the lack of “city chicken on a stick” at McDonald’s, or no pizza cones at Burger King.
I mean… come on!
Pizza Cones are also something that isn’t that common on this world line. I well remember getting my first Pizza Cone at Burger King back around 2001. I also tired the cones out of KFC, but they weren’t as good as the ones from Burger King. I think that it was because they used more cheese and the sauce was tastier. However, on this current world-line no-one has ever heard of them inside the USA.
I mean I can adapt, but some of the differences just don’t make any sense what so ever.
EBP discussion
You only refer to the Core Kit #1 and #2 probes. Yet, you have three sets. Why don’t you ever talk about the set of implants installed by the extraterrestrials when you were “off world”?
I know nothing about how those devices work.
I can only report on what I know. I figure that the MAJestic installed probes are how MAJestic was able to keep tabs on me and monitor what was going on with my interface with the extraterrestrial devices. I think, though I could be very wrong, that the extraterrestrial devices is actually what is doing all the “heavy lifting” and the world-line travel. The core kit #2 probes enable me and MAJestic to monitor and record the resultant activity.
MWI exploration for fun and adventure
This is a very common question. Funny that I never really seriously considered doing this. Not in the least.
When you knew you had this ability, did you ever go off exploring the alternative world-lines for fun?
No. That is reckless, and dangerous. Further, it would be a violation of my responsibility, which is constantly monitored by my drone pilot and the <redacted>, and it is also limited by the hardwired configuration of the probes themselves.
I am sorry to explain these realities to the reader, but a Naval Aviator does not break his flight path to buzz some cows for fun (Well, I take this back …it does happen. But rarely.) I, however, never did that. It just wasn’t responsible.
Outrage over the giant penis in the sky. The poor people are all over themselves in passing out and hyperventilating over this fun exercise in air-man-ship.
From the article:
“Residents of Okanogan County, Washington woke up to some rather unusual cloud formations this morning courtesy of a couple of artistic Navy pilots stationed in nearby Whidbey Island. Not surprisingly, the giant sky penis, which was described as the "most monumental thing to happen in Omak" by one Twitter user, sparked a wave of hilarious social media responses.”
People where shocked, stunned, and amused all at the same time. Aren’t Americans silly? Really. Imagine that! A big penis.
And,
“A local TV station in Okanogan, County, KREM-2, reached out to the Navy for a comment on the incident and promptly received the following apology which described the event was "absolutely unacceptable" and "of zero training value"...which we honestly find incredibly shocking as we've always lived under the apparently false illusion that if we were to ever find ourselves in a dogfight over the skies of Iraq that a carefully timed "penis maneuver" could be the difference between life and death.”
Now, this is how a properly conceived penis should look. Isn’t mother nature wonderful? I certainly think so. She is offering inspiration to all the boys and girls out there all over the world. I wonder what nature is trying to tell us all.
Finally,
“"An investigation into this flight will be conducted and if appropriate, the aviator(s) responsible will be held accountable," the statement said.
Meanwhile, this guy seems to have high hopes of sparking
a Navy/Air Force pornographic sky writing competition…which seems like a
truly genius plan, if we understand it correctly.
Air Force would have drawn boobs. I'm just sayin'.
— Drew (@MasterDroo) November 17, 2017
MWI switching
People ask me “what was it like”? Well that depends on the method used. Really there are two basic techniques particle-mode quanta, and wave-mode quanta. Most of my experience was with wave-mode quanta.
As far as I understand, both the dimensional portal, and the EBP operate using wave-mode quanta consciousness.
What is it like when you switched a world-line?
It is like nothing happened. Seriously, that is the way it is. If it wasn’t for the <redacted> I wouldn’t even know that I have made a swap.
We humans make world-line switches all the time. We call it “the passage of time”. How do we know that we entered and passed through five world-lines (more or less) in the last second?
We don’t.
We take it all for granted.
Now, that is the way it is with the EBP. You cannot tell that things are being switched on you at all. The only way you can tell is when you start to notice differences.
For the “passage of time”, normal world-line changes it seems like nothing changes. That is because the world-lines are all adjacent. You don’t notice any changes except after large spells of the passage of many MWI changes.
The “arrow of time” is the perception of our consciousness as it moves in and out of adjacent world-lines. It is our thoughts (and actions) that contribute to the destination that we often arrive at.
For EBP initiated changes, you “jump” away out from the adjacent world-line realities. Yet, the only way you can tell the differences is by observation over time. There just is not any indicator…
However, that is for automatic slides.
For manual slides, a “heads up” dialog will appear. The controls to navigate with this interface are a series of alpha-numeric letters/numbers that describe destination coordinates. It is a very crude method. But, you all have to understand that this technology was 1980’s era technology.
We can use a dimensional portal to move anywhere and arrive anywhere. This is anywhere in time and space, as well as within any world-line no matter how strange.
There is, however a much more detailed control. But it’s utility is limited because it is far too all-encompassing. It is a series of glyph and circular appearing symbols. It is the native controls used by the <redacted>.
Associated with this are various “files” and “routines” that I cannot make heads or tails out of. This includes a map or record of the MWI path that I have taken relative to adjacent world-lines. They looks like triangular mesh with minor color gradients and changes in texture density. I haven’t a clue as how to read them.
World-Line Selection
How do you select a particular world-line?
It is really very difficult to select a particular world-line. I can’t just determine that I want to visit a very “cat-friendly” world-line, or one where (Homer Simpson style) “donuts fall out of the sky”.
There really isn’t any mechanism that I know of that will allow me to do that. I cannot “pick and choose” what the world-line would be like.
Episode: “Treehouse Horror V” Airdate: October 30, 1994. After tinkering with a toaster, Homer sends himself to an alternate dimension that, at first glance, seems like paradise. Patty and Selma are dead and the Simpsons are ridiculously rich.
But wait! There’s a problem. In this reality, donuts don’t exist! D’OH!
Homer does manage to get back to his world, but ironically, just as he returns, donuts start falling from the sky (as if rain) in the alternate universe.
If I want to alter my current reality, for my own purposes, I will need to control my thoughts and navigate on my own. (Provided, of course, that the <redacted> allow me to do so. They have put some major restrictions on my personal abilities to do so. For instance, they <redacted>. So, that when I try to use intention and direction for self-navigation via consciousness migration, I discover that in my case, <redacted>, and the <redacted>.
Instead, from what I understand, there are groupings of
realities that world-lines cluster towards.
These groupings are all fabricated by the collective soul consciousness,
and provided for learning activities for the individual physical manifestations
(by soul).
I can only travel to world-lines that are [1] “nearby” to my own in terms of entropy (this is “locked in” by the drone pilot), and [2] in accordance with my ability to learn and gain experiences. This is a limitation of the technology that I utilized, the world-line travel ability of the drone pilot and the biological artifice, and my (apparent) “soul contract” with the <redacted>.
This is by agreement between the humans souls and the <redacted> souls.
As such there are a large number of world-lines that I can traverse (not infinite, but rather finite), but how different they are (their individual divergence) can only be determined by myself through a measure of “regional-factor variance” (this is a very difficult attribute to describe). In any event, the drone pilot helps me in this regard, for it seems to be able to detect the best and most beneficial world-lines to visit.
Now, how it appears to me is very personal and unique. It is how it would appear to anyone with EBP that are interfaced to the ELF probes during artifice transitions in either manual or automatic mode.
I can “feel” comfort or revision as delineated by a group of seven (7) factors or types. These can be displayed alpha-numerically if I am in a manual slide mode.
In all cases, if I were to select more than one or two factors that are in variance, then I would slide into progressively stranger world-lines. My “feelings” toward the selection of these (to me numerical factors) would determine the degree of comfort or distress upon slide arrival.
As such, there are seven adjustable (7) characteristics or
factors that “point in the direction” or variance from my (present) world-line.
While I cannot identify HOW they will be different, I have two gauges that I can use to determine
my relative acceptance or revulsion to where the next traveled upon world-line
would be like. This consists of my “feelings” (comfort or discomfort), and a
numerical value (in manual slide mode). The [1] larger the numerical values
(plus or minus) and [2] the way I “feel” will always be a measure of how
different the new world-line would be.
Thus, the new world-line cannot be predicted in terms of
physical attributes.
In can only be predicted in terms of relative comfort to the
present world-line, where a measure of comfort is simply how greatly I would
learn from my movement into the new world-line.
The more I will experience that is new and different, the more discomfort
I would experience.
It has been my personal experience that large variances and deviance’s from present world-lines are exponentially uncomfortable and a lot of work. They can be horrific and frightening. All this being stated, I did not intentionally direct any my world-line travel. My drone pilot did all the “driving”. I was just the “passenger”
Manual appearance
What does your “built-in” “heads-up display” show to you when you are in manual mode?
(In “manual mode”) It shows a series of seven alpha-numerical “numbers”. The numbers are arranged horizontally in front of my eyes and are in focus no matter what my gaze is upon.
Each number is “soft” and “hardens” once I make a “slide” into another world-line.
Each number is a percentage of deviance (to three decimal places) for seven coordinates. It is a measure of deviance of my previous world-line to my present world-line. Each number has either a plus or a minus sign in front of it. Typically, the first four numbers were always “00.000” with no sign. The numbers would stay in my line of sight until I would “wish” them away.
There are times when the alphabet is used. This is either singularly, or in conjunction with numbers. The meaning of these variations are <redacted>. They hold a very special hint to the <redacted>. In operation, <redacted>.
For instance, during training, <redacted>.
On another occasion, when I was <redacted>, the opportunity came for me to <redacted>, so I <redacted>.
Manual Operation of the EBP
How did you (manually) change world-lines?
This is in regards to manual operation.
[1] I would “pull up” the “built-in” “heads-up display”. It would show the seven numbers of my current world-line. Since I was present on that world-line, all the characters / numbers would be set at “00.000”.
[2] I could move a reticle that looked like a big circle
over any of the numbers.
[3] Once the reticle was over a set of numbers, I could
change the numbers by “thinking up/down”. The numbers would move slowly. I never could change the first four numbers
and the last number. The only numbers that I could change were the fifth, and
the sixth. I never moved the numbers
greater than a value of “02.000” because I was unable to.
[4] Once I made my settings, I would “think slide”. When this happened, the numbers would “harden” and I would “slide” into the new world-line.
[5] The numbers would stay “hard” until I would “wish” them away. It was that simple.
Strangest or Weirdest World-lines
What was the strangest or weirdest world-line that you have ever glimpsed?
Well, aside from this one?
This is a really fucked up world-line.
I mean, for goodness sakes, look around you. This world is weird. It is really absolutely a tad bit bat-shit crazy. You’ve got a President that is a reality television star, an educational system where grades have zero importance, you have plastic straws banned, and where enormous fat girls are proud of their rolls of fat, and jiggle their asses in front of everyone.
For Pete’s sake, you don’t eat beans with eggs, and ride bicycles with helmets and knee and elbow protectors. There are no families or at least one with a father and a mother that raises children. You have most Americans living in an “existence” of which they are completely and positively tethered to the government.
Large sodas are banned, but deep fried pork rinds aren’t. Michelle Obama was voted most attractive woman in the world numerous times, it’s against the law to collect rainwater, or use a fireplace in your house. Sexual deviants go to the White House and get rewards for “their contribution to society”, and a rising tide of angst is being directed at “white people” for their “privilege”.
I mean the next thing could be the outlawing of bags, the importance of treating pets as humans and giving them voting rights, and of course more taxes… you know… for the children.
Hey! Don't you all think that this is natural and not contrived? Really? You don't possibly believe that there might be some bat-shit crazy idiot behind "the curtain" moving the reality around in crazy-assed ways?
Ok. Well, the strangest ones were during training.
Now, prior to my training with the drone pilot, I pretty much had this ability to move about and traverse world-lines (at will) but that I had no control or understanding of it. About the time when I was first being trained, my Mars-time drone role interacted with the drone pilot and we conducted some exercises together. (This was at Ridgecrest, California during a weekend when I was not on the base.)
In one of those exercises, we were moving about a wide swath of world-lines with the drone pilot actually at the controls. On Mars, and at the base, there were never any changes.
However, my Earth reality changed substantially, and cycled through various realities.
The strangest was when the desert that surrounded us transformed into a lush green tropical forest. Everything was different, including my wife. The language was different, but I could not speak it. I think it was Spanish, but I never could tell the difference between Spanish and Portuguese.
The big thing that I remember, it’s funny the things that you remember best, was what it was like riding a motorcycle with a sidecar attached.
Choices
Do you wish that you could have selected a different world-line to retire to?
I selected this one.
I selected this one based on my “feelings” at the time, and the direction of the drone pilot. He (I think) “locked in” my selection to only a handful of choices. Then permits me autonomous alteration via intention MWI navigation for tweaking.
This world-line is my physical reward for my three decades of contribution. It’s better than anything that I could have possibly imagined.
I live this world line. I am currently in the preferred world-line given the limits of my abilities. I think that I am doing pretty well.
I live on the beach in a tropical paradise, I make enough money, I am married to a stunning beautiful “stacked” Asian beauty. I live in a huge house (comparatively), with a huge porch, on the beach in a resort destination, with a huge roomy wine cellar (not that I use it). I have all the perks of being a boss in Asia. I eat quite well, and live a life that others would find hard to believe.
What I think is beautiful is not what most Americans think is beautiful. But then again, I am old-fashioned and not at all a progressive and neutral-gender beta-male.
Futurama considerations.
Do you think that the Dimensional Portal on the base was just like the “Parallel Universe Box” from the television show “Futurama”?
Yes. Though I must remind the reader that Hollywood takes the complex and simplifies it for public consumption.
In reality, dimensional travel is possible using existing (extraterrestrially amplified) technologies that work under set rules and behaviors.
I do not think that travel through the gate would be desirous if one went into wildly divergent destinations. It would serve no practical purpose. However, please note that accidental transport to unplanned destinations could result in horrors beyond one’s comprehension.
The parallel dimensional box from the Futurama television series.
From the (fictional )television show; Futurama. “The Parallel Universe Box was an invention accidentally created by Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth. Within the box was a parallel universe, inside which were alternate colored versions of the Planet Express crew. The only differences between the universes are coin flips, which apparently have decided the majority of Planet Express’ decisions and the colors of people.
Image what could happen if accidentally, though a technical glitch, a person ended up in a 65% divergent world-line? Yikes!
The ultimate MWI destination
With the ability to change world-lines, you could enter “realities” where you could be rich, famous, powerful, where you could live your wildest fantasies. Why didn’t you?
This is one of the most common questions and perceptions
that I hear. So it must be answered carefully.
Do you, the reader, really WANT to live your wildest fantasies? I don’t want fame. I don’t want extreme wealth (not really if you get down to it). The things that I really love are all attainable by me, if I put my mind to it. Like a tomato sandwich, or a pet cat, I can get them easily if I wanted them (by paying a price).
I want to live in a beautiful area. I have it.
I want to have a stress-free life. I have it.
I want a happy and stable life. I have it.
I want a sexy wonderful and amazing wife. I have it.
I want to have fun, eat well, be respected, and play. I have it.
MONEY: There are those who think that “just” if they made some more money they would be happier. However, that has NOT been my experience. The times when I was happiest, aside from now being “retired” was when I was very poor. (We called that being “dirt” poor.)
Please believe me, the attainment of money is not what you should concentrate on. It should be the attainment of happiness.
FAME. Fame is a childhood desire for attention and appreciation. Once you live life, you realize that fame is tied to ego. The smaller your ego, the more fame you desire. However, there is another side of fame, when it brings you money. Now, that is another issue, but fraught with complications. Beware.
They believe that if they were “just” famous they could sleep with anyone. Probably true, but with fame comes the problem of “thought imposition”, and that is a ugly reality that famous people have to deal with. Most do not deal with it well. I know that I would not be able to.
Thoughts of others are terribly restrictive.
They PREVENT growth and experience of the soul in the physical. The
people know of you, the more thoughts are directed towards you. Each thought narrows your choice selection in your reality (your world-line) variances.
In other words, once many people think and know of you, the number of world-lines that you can traverse sharply decreases.
It’s an inertial set of chains.
Now, you DO KNOW, that there are other ways aside from fame that can open up some opportunities to meet a lot of different girls? You all don’t have to be a slime-ball with a casting couch.
SEX: I have a stunning wife and can all the sex I want at any time. Additionally, if I wanted variety, that is quite available to me as a Boss in China. My sexual needs are all, and always, fulfilled. And, I might add, are with REAL beauties. Not bargain-basement skanks, or Thailand short-time girls.
Besides, contrary to the impression that you might get in the United States media, most traditional men (such as myself) are naturally happy with a singular wife and family. We adopt the K-strategy. Not the r-strategy so promoted in the American mainstream media.
POWER: I have what ever power I desire. It’s not that much. I’m a boss and I have a lot of respect from my charges and my peers. I have a “following” of sorts, and that’s good enough for me.
What kind of power do you want? Be careful. For as you obtain power, you also obtain a lot of baggage and problems associated with it. Limit your desires to what makes you happy and no more. Be careful.
If you, the reader, really and actually had the ability to move to a world-line; one world-line that would provide you with your deepest desires, what would that world-line look like?
It would not be the same as mine. Maybe you would like something along the lines of this…
Do you really want power? Or, would you rather have the fun things that come with the respect that you earn through others? Think about that for a spell. Real power is not something that you see on Hollywood.
Mine pretty much looks like the preferences that I filled out on the handout way back when I was in the Navy sitting with all the beautiful women.
All in all, I think that I am doing pretty darn good.
No, it is not perfect. Yes, I could be making more money, and I have always wanted to have a Bentley, but you know what? I like being driven around. I no longer drive. Yes, I do like to cook, and I make a great pot of chili, but I am just as satisfied with the chili that my wife makes for me, and the dinner that she provides.
We all have to turn off that propaganda machine known as television, and the internet, and start appreciating what we have RIGHT NOW.
How about you go and buy yourself a bagel – nice and hot right out of the oven. Yum!
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are
posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic
and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I
really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really
wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies
were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only
conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain
secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These
particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part
of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I
was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super
special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I
try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
Influencer Questions
Here are posts
that have gathered a series of questions from various influencers. They
are interesting in many ways and could help all of us unravel the
mysteries of the lives that we live.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts
are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line
travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person
has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different
world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are
posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another
person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to
utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the
past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple
posts in this regard.
They are;
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
We all have regrets. Don’t we? Unless you have a mental illness, you will have regrets of one form or the other.
Do you have regrets about your joining MAJestic?
Sometimes I actually do. But these are short lived events often triggered by physical needs such as worry, fear, shelter, hunger, etc. It’s hard being “MAJestic retired” in the USA.
That’s why I said “Fuck this”, and moved to China.
Disbelief
What do you have to say to those who do not believe you?
Fuck you.
Brainwashed
How do you know that you are not “brainwashed” or manipulated by the probes in your brain?
I do not know. I could very well be played the fool.
However, it really does seem like a vast waste of resources to take an educated person who exceeded in college, then got accepted to fly Naval aircraft in high stress situations to turn them into some kind of a joke or lab rat…
I mean, think about it.
The President of the United States (Ronald Reagan at that time) does not authorize a program that depletes the Naval Aviator candidate pool (a very selective and elite group) only to use the people as “lab rats” or “test subjects”.
Now, if it was another President… like Barrack Obama, Bill Clinton, or George Bush… well, that could be a distinct possibility. But I do have a real difficult time believing that Ronald Reagan would deplete the Naval Aviation ranks on a whim.
Military Space Command since the 1970’s
If you go on the Internet, you will read people who claim to have gone through dimensional portals, much like I lay claim. They will talk about high technology, and weapons, and “space marines”. So, naturally, the inquisitive person will go ahead and ask me about this.
Others who have claimed that they were part of MAJestic state that there is a military space command where human battle extraterrestrials and defended the earth. Were you part of this contingent?
As far as I know this is all nonsense.
While Ronald Reagan wanted to increase our military in numerous areas, it would take centuries for us to be able to successfully battle against the Type-I greys and the <redacted>. They have an understanding of reality that is beyond our comprehension, with supporting technology that could implement just about anything that they desire.
While we would try to figure out some new kind of “pulsed ion cannon”, they could simply flick a switch and move our entire world-line into the center of the sun for about five minutes. Then move it back, all smoking and roasty-toasty. Then they would simply start all over with fresh life on the planet.
They are that powerful and capable. The universe is not what everyone assumes it is. It’s not even close.
MAJestic Career Path
The fucking thing about this is that I entered MAJestic for a singular role, and that was it. Nothing else.
If you were in MAJestic, why didn’t you advance to a more impressive leadership position?
That is not how MAJestic works.
MAJestic is not set up like a conventional business or military operation. Once we join, our roles are fixed.
Yeah. Tell me about it. It does fucking suck.
None of us advance or change roles or tasks unless it is specifically intended (by non-human beings long before the selection process ever occurred). We operate in that role, obtaining and gaining experience, but never advancing in position or responsibility. There are no “pay grades” in MAJestic.
Dimensional Portal Technology
Good question this. Pay attention.
Can the Jump gate technology (dimensional portal) be used to traverse the galaxy to other solar systems?
I do not know officially, however it is my personal belief
that this technology could deliver a person [1] anywhere in the known universe,
as well as [2] anywhere in an alternative universe, as well as [3] anywhere in
an alternative time line.
I personally believe that some of the numerical values in my “manual mode” operation of world-line travel involves physical and time coordinates. However, I could not (easily, and on a whim) manipulate them. I do not know that this was the actual case, but I suspect it to be true.
The “manual” mode indicated only seven alpha-numerical values.
However, the mode using the circular glyphs (the one driven by the drone pilot) was far more intricate and complex than just seven variables. If I were to provide a raw number, I might suggest a much higher value on the number of variables. Perhaps hundreds, or even thousands of different variables that would alter and tailor the destination world-line that a person can travel to.
The circular glyphs were always that complex.
This tells me that the “manual” mode was a greatly limited version of what was possible through use of the biological artifice. If I were able to fully control all the variables open to the drone pilot, I am sure that I could travel to anywhere in the universe, at any time, and on any world-line at any degree of deviation.
From what I can gather, the answer is “yes”, you can travel anywhere, at any time, all over the known (and unknown) universe.
However, you will absolutely need to fully understand your destination coordinates, otherwise travel could be fatal.
Fatal, as in dead.
Purpose
What information does the <redacted> allow you to disseminate?
They have their own purposes, of which I can only speculate on.
I have thought about this issue a lot. I have thus come to the conclusion that somehow, in some way, whatever I discuss is of some importance to some (one or two) key people. I am absolutely convinced that I am not destined to provide information to the masses. But rather to provide some insight that would benefit mankind in SENTIENCE sorting.
What that information is, can be anyone’s guess.
It could be anything from the importance of eating a well-made club sandwich, with a frosty icy beer, to the psi realities in how the universe is actually constructed.
On a personal note, I have answered some perplexing mysteries that the alert searcher should pay attention to.
The Cambrian Explosion was initiated when the moon entered orbit around the Earth.
The CARET gliphs are ladder chains that have defined indexing features.
The moon has an enormous void and within it exists an long-duration colony of extraterrestrials.
The “Mantids” are native to the Earth and evolved to become multi-dimensional beings.
The “passage of time” is actually world-line switching in the MWI.
Consciousness does not share physical reality.
At the bare minimum, don’t you all think that either [1] I know this from MAJestic entanglement like I say, [2] that I am an absolute fucking genius. Or, else [3] I am bat-shit loony-tunes.
Choose one.
Exploration
Why didn’t you manually
explore really “interesting” or strange world-lines?
There is a cost to do so.
The greater the deviance, the larger the effect or influence on the consciousness. If I were to go to a world line of say 30% deviance, and return, my consciousness will be affected and influenced.
Long term influences are problematic because once I return to the previous world-line my integration or “fit” into it alters. I will start looking, thinking and reacting to things differently. My memories reside outside of a given world-line. They exists outside. And, no (chuckles) they do not exist within the brain. Only a simpleton thinks that.
World-line travel affects a given world-line just as much, or maybe even more so, than thoughts do.
Think about that for a second will ya.
A great example of this is a scene in the movie “The butterfly effect” where the hero goes from one world-line where he was in prison, to a new world-line where he was “normal”. However, when he was in the new world-line, he still maintained his previous prison behaviors (such as covering his meal when he ate). This was a habit that he picked up in the “prison world-line”. While in his new world-line, he had nothing to do with prison, his habits and actions reflect his memories of his previous excursion in the “prison world-line”.
The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American psychological thriller supernatural fiction film written and directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart. The title refers to the butterfly effect, a popular hypothetical example of chaos theory which illustrates how small initial differences may lead to large unforeseen consequences over time.
World-line travel can result in uncomfortable realities.
World-lines are realities constructed for one purpose only; they create experiences for the soul. While we can traverse nearby world-lines with little consequence, distant world-lines (in terms of deviance) will have consequences.
Not to mention, my most important consideration, which is that once you have a “good thing going”, you don’t want to risk it all on a lark.
Seriously.
It is very easy to leave a perfect world-line on the promise that the “grass is greener” on another world-line only to find out that it is worse off in many other ways. Please take my word for it, when you have a great thing going you DON’T FUCK IT UP.
In a Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer changes the past and comes back to an alternate universe where his family is rich and happy. All is fantastic, but when Marge does not know what a donut is, Homer freaks out and leaves abruptly.
Homer goes back to the toaster-time-machine to travel back through time again. He obviously doesn't want to live in a world or universe where there are no donuts.
However, we learn just when Homer leaves, it starts raining donuts. (On that world-line, donuts are called rain.)
Sometimes you need to stop when the grass is green enough.
Abductions
Yes. I do get these kinds of questions.
Were you ever involved in an abduction of a human?
No.
However, I have “observed” the collection of biological samples from Americans who were not physically or consciously aware of the collection process. (Entanglement had it’s benefits.)
They were treated well, if indifferently, and were returned back to their point of acquisition without any memory of the engagement. There was none of that nonsense that you might read on the internet about.
It is my understanding that their soul had given prior approval to the collection process. This could be considered, by the ignorant, as an abduction event. Not to be insulting, but I do mean “ignorant of the realities of consciousness migration”.
A little bit about "observation" in this context.
Though entanglement with the artifice I can "observe" certain events. It’s very difficult for me to describe, but I can “tune in” to various events that the Drone Pilot was involved in. It’s similar to being in a crowded room that is full of noise.
You can selectively “tune in” and hear certain conversations by focusing on a a particular subject. For instance, if there are some High School girls talking, you can focus on them. If there is a pair of old people, you can focus on them. It is like that.
Which brings up an interesting point. The Drone Pilot was NOT only my pilot. It was the pilot for all of us Drone Commanders. Thus, by concentrating on the feed, or “noise”, we could observe or see what was going on elsewhere.
I could “listen in” on what other drones were doing through their Drone Commanders, though I could not at all access the Drone Commander myself. I could only access his feed as it passed through the artifice to the drone pilot.
Another interesting point is that, if my impressions are correct, the number of people involved in this program is far less that what I have stated. I have stated that it might be as high as 12. Yet, the truth is <redacted> artifice.
<redacted>.
<redacted>
Maybe I said too much. Eh?
Area 51
Have you ever been to “Area 51”?
No.
Alternative 3
What can you tell me about “Alternative 3”?
Nothing.
I was never briefed on it, nor was there anything regarding this in the <redacted> My personal opinion is that this is a human fabrication for some reason or the other. Yes, as far as I know, this is an Internet hoax.
Personally, I really do not believe it. However, that means nothing. What I can say is that I have absolutely no experience with this or anything like it. To me, it sounds outrageous and far fetched.
The following was found on the Internet. I do NOT agree with the information presented. It is only for the reader to know what is being discussed without needing to go sleuthing on the Internet themselves.
“Alternative 2 and Alternative 3 are again secret programs of the “Secret Government” having to do with the colonization of the Moon and Mars. Alternative 2 was the program for the colonization of the Moon. This occurred long before our first official public landing on the Moon by astronaut Armstrong.The basic plan of the Alternative 2 program was to build a vast network of underground cities and tunnels in which a select representation of all cultures and occupations would survive in case of a nuclear holocaust on Earth.Alternative 3 was a similar joint Soviet Union and United States plan to set up a similar colony on Mars. A space probe landed on Mars and confirmed the existence of an environment that could support life. Not long afterward the construction of a colony on Mars began in earnest. This information was obviously not released to the American people.”
Cell Egress at ADC Pine Bluff via MWI
You said that the core kit #2 group of probes provided you with world-line travel ability without using a dimensional portal. Why didn’t you exit your cell (at ADC Pine Bluff) if you regained access to that technology?
This is a very good question. Once, I was able to regain control of my implants after Lester the “good ol’ boy” messed everything up, I did indeed try to jump to alternative world-lines.
In fact, I suspect that the two feducials directly opposite my cell door in Pine Bluff were for that distinct purpose, or if not, something similar in regards to the MAJestic program. When I saw the feducials, I knew proof-positive, that I was at ADC Pine Bluff for MAJestic retirement.
As such, I did try.
Man, I will tell the reader, I tried and tried. I must have spun through a thousand switches. And you know what, they were almost all alike. (I knew that I was actually successful in switching. The dialog <redacted>.) In every case, I still ended up inside the Pine Bluff prison cell.
Tells you something about fate, eh?
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are
posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic
and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I
really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really
wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies
were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only
conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain
secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These
particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part
of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I
was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super
special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I
try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
Influencer Questions
Here are posts
that have gathered a series of questions from various influencers. They
are interesting in many ways and could help all of us unravel the
mysteries of the lives that we live.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts
are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line
travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person
has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different
world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are
posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another
person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to
utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the
past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple
posts in this regard.
They are;
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
What do you think about organized government plans regarding time travel?
I know nothing about the subject aside from what I have heard on the Internet. I know that time travel, as conventionally understood does not exist.
The closest thing is (apparent) time travel, which is really dimensional travel that indexes a different state of entropy via gravitational proximity measurement (such as described by John Titor).
While it is well known and widely understood that the United States government has been involved in all kinds of highly classified and secret projects, the plausibility of one being related to time travel is actually rather low.
The reason behind this belief is because there has to be a reason for a given project. Those involved in the projects must have [1] a quantifiable goal, with [2] specific measurables to judge the success or failure of the task.
For instance, I was in MAJestic. My particular project fell under MAJI simply because I was involved working with extraterrestrials.
I do not know what my management thought my role would be, aside from being lent out as I was.
I could not fathom anyone from Washington D.C. approving “dimensional anchoring” activity as directed by an extraterrestrial species. In fact, I think it was set up with an understanding that I would be “used” by the <redacted> for some unspecified roles. I do believe that they proceeded on the assumption that I might be hurt or changed in the process, but shrugged their shoulders and said “meh”.
That the monitoring of my engagement with them would be recorded by the ELF signals.
My functional goal was dimensional anchoring. The measurables were also defined. Either the human sentience follows a normal evolutionary development, or veers off into unapproved sentience development. It was clear.
I have a difficult time believing that time travel would have a specific goal. That is because if a person does not like how something turned out, they can move to a different world-line. Also, how could the success of such an action be measured? It just cannot.
Point One. Truthfully, If a person was involved with extraterrestrials or involved in using extraterrestrial technology, they would have a Core Kit #1 probe installation. Everyone in the world, who deals with extraterrestrials have these probes. If they don’t have the probes, then they are just blowing smoke up your ass.
Point Two. To get the probes, you would need to be associated with the military. They would also be in the military, probably the United States Navy, and be part of MAJestic. Even those pretty civilian girls on the base, were ON THE MILITARY BASE.
Point Three. Additionally, they would NEED to have a technical background. That means an engineering degree at the bare minimum. Engineering degrees teach how to research, solve problems, and quickly analyze situations. These are fundamental requirements for extraterrestrial interaction.
If you are going to utilize extraterrestrial technology in any way then you will HAVE and NEED to possess a technical background; a college degree in some technical field. It would be a baccalaureate or higher in the sciences.
This should be obvious to every clear thinking and reasoning person out there.
No one is going to expose extraterrestrial contact and technology to anyone without making sure that they have the skills and knowledge to handle the knowledge. Right?
A friend of mine bought a steak for his dog, Buddy. It was an end cut, but he wanted to give the dog something special. So he bought a $10 slab of steak.
I will never forget that day.
He showed the steak to Buddy. He sniffed it, and went CHOMP, and swallowed. It went from steak to zero in less than a second.
And Buddy is there, not knowing what's going on, begging. More, more, more...
You have to know, and understand, and show by demonstration that you are able to handle NEW, unusual, and unique experiences. It’s NOT handed out like political favors (a nod to the Obama’s), or given because you provide sexual gratification (a nod to Hollywood), or given to you because your parents are wealthy and powerful (a nod to Stanford, Yale and the rest).
That requires verifiable education.
They are not going to hand over the keys to any technology without them [1] being implanted with ELF probes (core kit #1 at minimum) and taking [2] a military oath.
So when I read stories about people who supposedly held key leadership roles in MAJestic, and they have no demonstrable abilities, all I can do is laugh.
Uncontrollable laughter.
Discordant Sentience’s
What is a discordant sentience?
Concerning humans, the <redacted> did not want a discordant sentience to develop; (in the case of humans) the discordant sentience is a “service for self sentience” that believe that they are actually a “service for others” sentience.
There are really three types of sentience’s that human consciousness can migrate towards. They are (plus the discordant variant)…
Service for others.
Service for another.
Service for oneself.
Discordant.
Discordant sentience’s manifest in different ways. In short, a discordant sentience is one that will not evolve into an approved sentience archetype.
This was what was actually occurring at the time of my entry
into the program. Through the advances
in technology, various individuals were convincing vast groups of people that
they were “helping others” by “being selfish”.
As a result, large groups of people were getting conflicting thoughts
regarding their identity.
All entities must know their identities.
A fox knows it’s a fox. A dog knows it’s a dog. However, humans (in larger and larger numbers) started thinking they were doing one thing when they were actually doing something else.
Believing that you are helping people by demanding that person "X" does something to help person "Y". You believe by doing so you are helping others. You aren't. You are instead being selfish.
Thoughts create realities.
So the resultant world-line directions were not going in associated directions. The manners that would match the thoughts with the actions were not occurring.
This created problems in world-line direction, and altered severely the educational value of the experiences that the people would be exposed to. This is absolutely and positively unacceptable.
Examples abound. Such as [1] having a basically kind and loving person vigorously insists that we need to tax other people to help a certain “special” segment of the population. Alternatively, [2] that we had to fight a war, to help others who would suffer otherwise. In both examples, the kind person believes that they did not have to do anything, just make others do the work that they think is required.
Sentience is tied to personal physical action of the person having the thoughts. You cannot delegate responsibility or actions. It does not work that way.
James Orsen Bakker (born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist, convicted fraudster, a former Assemblies of God minister, and a former host (with his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker) of The PTL Club, an evangelical Christian television program. An accusation of rape made by his secretary led to his resignation from the ministry. Subsequent revelations of accounting fraud brought about his imprisonment and divorce. He later remarried and returned to televangelism.
A person can be manipulated into being a discordant sentience.
This is selfish behavior on behalf of the kind person. They did not do anything positive. Instead they “forced”, though thought or action, another person fulfill their desires. Their thoughts were kind, their intentions were good, but their actions were selfish.
Those who do this possess discordant sentience’s. Ignorance has no bearing in this issue. Thoughts create realities.
The Future Doom…
Will any of the great “fears” actually manifest in your lifetime?
Global warming will not melt the ice caps, nor will it cause a “snowball effect” and another global ice age. The same was true about global cooling. Both excuses are suitable for collecting money for the easily manipulated ignorant. Humans do not have the ability to alter climate on a global basis… yet.
There will not be a global pandemic, and there will not be a pole shift that we need to worry about.
“Mad Cow” disease will not kill too many people.
2012 will come and pass with hardly a ripple. (And there wasn’t a ripple was there?)
All these things are simply media generated fears specifically targeted to manipulate people to behave in certain ways. Usually to empty our wallets and to give the money to “others” and “experts” to use as they see fit.
One of the reasons for the NEED to anchor mass groupings of world-line realities was because of the amplification of efforts to manipulate people though mass thought control.
Education
Do you believe that you can teach the science of our souls to the general population?
No.
We do not know enough about soul construction to be able to teach anything. What I know is only trivial in substance. What I provide here is intended to be a spark that ignites an effort to study and research the soul, and it’s construction.
CIA
Were you in the CIA?
No. Nothing that I was involved in has anything to do with that agency.
Naval Aviator
Why do you claim to be a Naval SEAL? It sounds like you are making up stories to inflate yourself like being an American Indian like Senator Warren.
I was never a Navy SEAL.
I never applied for one, and have no idea why anyone would want to be one in the first place. My interests were always in aviation, and with the most skilled aviators, flying the most advanced aircraft. These people were (and still are) in the US Navy.
My goal and desire has always to be a “Spaceman”. You can pour through my High School transcripts, my university transcripts, and come to the same conclusion. I studied hard, hard science classes. Then you can easily see that I was in class 21-81 at AOCS at NAS, NASC Pensacola, Florida.
All of what I proclaim is verifiable. Go ahead. Look at my W-2 forms. You will see that I dropped off the grid right after joining MAJestic, and popped up at NAS China Lake where I trained. It’s all verifiable. It’s all in my jacket. Or my retirement binder. It’s in multiple places.
I’m not blowing smoke up your ass. I am in a monitoring program, and I have seen the document. It’s THICK. It’s about five times thicker than any others that I have had the chance opportunity to compare with.
If you don’t want to believe the paper-trail, you can minimize it. You can say that it’s just coincidence.
Now, people like Elizabeth Warren say and do what they do for MONEY. They use it to obtain wealth, popularity, or some other kind of physical benefit. They want fame to acquire power, and use it to obtain wealth.
Not me.
I get absolutely derive zero benefit from writing this, except to leave something behind upon my death. I do not want fame. I have other ventures that provide income, and anything that I get off this blog is really a minuscule pittance.
Come on. Be honest with yourself. Do you really think that I would derive any kind of benefit by telling others about my life?
Really?
This is what my life is…
In general, if you found paradise… you keep it to yourself.
The “Deep Dive”
Why didn’t you stay in the “great life” that manifested during the “deep dive”?
I had no control.
I could not abort the process and the procedure. The “deep dive” was beyond my control. Besides, I really do not think that I would like it as much as I do my current life.
If there is one thing that I have learned is that there are trade-offs with everything.
The Roswell event.
What do you know about Roswell, NM and the famous UFO event?
I only know what I have read. I never had a briefing on this event, and I have no idea one way or the other about it.
Retirement as a sex offender
Is there anything that you have learned since you were arrested, imprisoned, and released from prison?
Yes. Many things.
Firstly, if I can be thrown in prison for “nothing” but a trumped up charge, anyone can. I have lived a rather unassuming and quiet life. All MAJestic members do. We are quiet and keep to ourselves as part of our training.
If “they” want you there, you will go and there isn’t a bloody thing that you can do about it. It is now your fate, as horrible as it is.
You must deal with it.
In my case, my attorney gave me a document to sign. On it was a plea bargain. I agreed to nine months in-home supervision at my Father’s house in exchange for a plea of guilty.
I believed that if an arrangement was worked out between the DA and my attorney, that that was the way things would work out. So I signed it.
Plea of Guilty = 9 months in-house detention.
But the DA fucking lied.
During sentencing, the judge held the plea agreement. He started to give me the sentence agreed to. However, the prosecuting attorney used HAND SIGNALS (a thumbs up, waving vigorously upward) to signal the judge to NOT give me the agreed to plea. As a result the judge stopped mid-sentence, and started to say one year, and the DA shook his head vigorously. Then he started to say two years. Still the DA wagged his head and shook his head. Finally, he said “Five Years” and slammed the gravel.
He gave me FIVE YEARS. Five years at hard labor for a FIRST OFFENSE. Anyone who works in the Justice Department will tell you that is is one fucking harsh sentence.
My father, who had come to the sentencing to take me home for my detention, was crestfallen and didn’t know what the fuck was going on. He couldn’t believe that our Justice system was so corrupt.
Sentenced on a Guilty Plea = Five years at Hard Labor
If they want you in prison, you will go. Even if that means that they will lie to you.
Secondly, it was terrible and uncomfortable. (Putting it mildly.) I endured Brickey’s which has the reputation in the United States for being the worst hard-labor facility in America. And yet, you know what? I survived.
If I can survive Brickey’s I can survive anything.
You can endure and survive anything, and once you get out “It’s all good”. It’s downhill, easy street for the rest of your life.
I can feel carpet on my feet. I can see and appreciate colors. I can use wall outlets and light switches. I can eat food… glorious food. I can sleep without a light over my face. I can sit on a chair with a soft cushion.
Oh FUCK, it’s all good.
Thirdly, and I know that no one is going to want to hear this, but I no longer fear the police and getting arrested.
Prison was not fun, but you adapt. What that means is that now, today, if I will need to fight someone, I will fight to KILL. I will not hold back. I will stab their eyes out. Bite their nose and swallow it. I will pick up a spoon and jab that sucker right through the temple.
I am not afraid what would happen afterwards. Big fucking deal. I get arrested. Big Deal. Big deal. Been there, done that. I dealt with the worst and survived it.
Being a murderer won’t be worse than being a sex offender felon at Brickey’s.
I know the truth in this.
I did five years Bricky hard labor on a whim, while murders got two years maximum in an “easy” prison like Malvern. I’m no longer afraid. I did the harsh time. I did the awful time.
Inter-dimensional Communication.
How can the drone pilot, and the biological artifice operate if you are on a different world-line then they are?
Outstanding question.
I do not know. I can only presuppose that they operate in a state of reality that transcends that of the physical world. To solve this quandary we must take a good hard look at the anthropic principle. Specifically, the ψ which is a measure of how thought alters our reality.
World-lines are each individually ψ-epistemic .
While the entire universe is actually ψ-ontic.
Obviously the <redacted> species has been able to derive a technology that is finer than anything available with a ψ-epistemic world-line MWI.
Confused? Check out this post for clarity…
The Girls
What about the girls who entered the portal with you; since you all entered at the same time, are they not the same as you and have the same mission parameters?
No. [1] None of them were Naval Aviators. So they did not endure the same entry qualifications as we had.
[2] They were all female, and Sebastian and myself (the only two Naval Aviator Candidates) were male.
Additionally, [3] none of them went directly through the portal on the same day that they must have been implanted (they had to be implanted, otherwise the portal would not work for them).
[4] None of the females were at the same implantation booths during our implantation.
Finally, [5] during the SAP briefing, the person instructing us told us that we had different roles and were involved in different program, and were subject to different levels of SAP. He specifically stated that Sebastian and myself were involved in a much more secretive program.
Thoughts
What are thoughts exactly?
Thoughts are what your consciousness creates. It is the only thing that a consciousness can create. It is a directed entanglement of an idea, a place, a person, or a thing.
These “creations” are how consciousness can navigate the MWI. It is how different world-lines are manifested.
The thing about thoughts is that they are generated by a number of things;
An individual consciousness can generate individual thoughts, and this can navigate the MWI many world-lines.
Other “quantum shadows”, the other “people” within your world-line also have thoughts. In fact every world-line is filled with the thoughts of all the quantum shadows that occupy the world-line.
Thoughts are “sticky”. They tend to associate themselves with objects, people and things.
They can be influenced by other thoughts. This can be nearby within the world-line, and also from adjacent world-lines that cluster near the one that is occupied.
If you are in a place, like prison for example, the thoughts of those around you will “stick” with you. And as your consciousness moves through the MWI and in and out of different world-lines, they will attract and repel other thoughts. This will create bad situations (if you were in prison), or good situations (if you were in a monastery).
It takes time for the “sticky” thoughts to fall away. That is why I strongly recommend a serious period of contemplation and a good happy environment for the person who is released from a bad situation.
Or else, they will come across a higher than usual percentage of individuals and situations similar to what they just left.
This is also true of used furniture, and other objects such a “haunted” houses, and automobile “lemons”.
Scene from the Stephen King horror movie “Christine”.
For us to be truly happy we need to carefully cultivate our thoughts.
Avoid negative friends, relationships and toxic people.
Avoid old things, clutter, and brick a brack.
Avoid most news.
Avoid movies, or music that will upset us.
Regrets
Do you have any great regrets?
Yes. I wish that I would have spent more time with my friends and family.
When opportunities arose, I should have taken them.
I wish that I would have spent more time with my pets rather than worry about work so much. I wish that I would have spent the time to play with my dogs and cats and given them more happiness, no matter how tired and stressed I was. I should have been a better caretaker of my pets.
I should have been a better friend to those whom I cared for, and I should have been a better human to the strangers whom I encountered. I truly regret that I did not purpose my personal life more fully.
I was far too goal-focused, and missed out on the wonders of life as they were presented to me.
When it became clear that my first wife possessed a terminal
mental illness, and that she would never get better. I should have taken the
doctor’s advice and left her. It would have been better for both of us.
Instead, I only endured a very painful process. I could not stop her madness. I
could only delay its onslaught. The price that I paid for this postponement
took a great toll on my sanity and health. It did not help her at all.
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, and how much effort you put into something, you will fail.
When my beloved pet was dying. I should have taken him to
the vet and put him to sleep. Instead, I wanted to keep him alive as long as
possible. This was selfish of me, and my dear pet suffered because of it. I did
things for my own selfish reasons.
I was too selfish at times, and love ones suffered.
When I was younger, and my mother was happy and singing while getting things together during Christmas, I should have allowed her to sing, and even joined her. Instead, I criticized her singing, and just pouted about, not even offering to help her in the kitchen. I was so self-absorbed.
Yes. I have regrets. All humans (aside from sociopaths) have regrets.
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are
posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic
and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I
really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really
wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies
were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only
conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain
secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These
particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part
of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I
was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super
special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I
try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
Influencer Questions
Here are posts
that have gathered a series of questions from various influencers. They
are interesting in many ways and could help all of us unravel the
mysteries of the lives that we live.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts
are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line
travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person
has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different
world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are
posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another
person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to
utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the
past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple
posts in this regard.
They are;
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This particular post has been compiled from an array of common questions that I have collected over the years. It originates from others which whom I have discussed my history with. It dates back years, though this is the first time any of it was “published” on the internet.
It is my hope that I will be able to provide some direct answers to simple questions that might have eluded the average reader.
These questions are composed of numerous “actual questions” that seem to come up, even after the questioner had read the any of the writings or archived manuscripts. They also include other more detailed “probing” questions that were asked by a number of more inquisitive individuals that I considered worthy to include.
In all cases the reader must realize that I can only answer these questions from my point of view; the view of the participant, and the view of the observer. I cannot provide an absolute answer, because in many cases I do not know the answers.
Questions are in paragraphs with a blue-colored background. Answers are on a white colored background. My comments are all over the place. But, it’s my methodology, don’t ya know.
Let’s get started…
The Philadelphia Experiment
People who are naturally inquisitive have a tendency to know a lot. They tend to read a lot. They tend to look at other sources of information. They tend to come across unusual thoughts, and speculations. Often these are ideas that are foreign to the vast bulk of the population. As such, they are often introduced to “fringe” and other “out of the mainstream” subjects.
These tend to be easily (and quickly) dismissed by the ignorant. They are dismissed simply because they are not promoted by the mainstream news networks.
As such I argue that the respect that everyone has for mainstream American Media is wholly misplaced. They are a very established and well-organized propaganda network. Further, they haven’t produced non-biased news for at least 50 years, if not longer.
Therefore, using them as a measure of credibility is foolish.
Now sometimes, people will read my posts, and try to find connections to other “fringe” subjects. When you start talking about “extraterrestrials”, the first thing people think of is “UFO’s”, then comes “little green aliens”, and then you have the “Reptilians”. Sigh.
You just don’t know what is real and what is fake.
There are a host of “fringe” subjects that all kind of get lumped in the same general “basket” with disclosures. These are the realms of “the X-files” and other similar fiction.
One of which is “The Philadelphia Experiment”.
Today, this subject has taken on “legs” of it’s own. I, however, well remember when I was first exposed to it. Back in the early 1970’s. I had a paperback book titled “The Philadelphia Experiment”. I read it with great interest.
I found the stories about people getting stuck between bulkheads and decks particularly horrific.
This is a screen shot from a television show that depicted what the book claimed to have happened. I do not know if it is true or not. What I can say is that it scared the Dejesus out of me when I read about in middle school.
As I recall, apparently someone took the original book, and wrote in the margins in three different colored pens. Later, someone “discovered” the annotated book. This resulted in their comments being published. All in all, their comments painted a fantastical picture of war-time experimentation gone terribly wrong.
The “Jump Gate” / “Dimensional Portal” that you refer to, the one that you had your first egress from at NAS, NASC Pensacola Florida, is this technology derived from the Philadelphia Experiment?
I do not know.
The impression that I get is that the technology is quite mature and is probably something developed by the <redacted> or another extraterrestrial species. Personally, I do not think that it is wholly a “home grown” human invented technology. It could be, of course. But, I just do not think that it is.
However, the very truth is that I do not know.
What I do know is that;
The technology was used on an American Naval base.
It was mature technology.
There was strict usage protocols involved.
It did deliver me to a “place” not on this Earth.
My destination was wholly inhabited by extraterrestrials.
MK ULTRA
Project MKUltra, also called the CIA mind control program, is the code name given to a program of experiments on human subjects that were designed and undertaken by the United States Central Intelligence Agency—and which were, at times, illegal. Experiments on humans were intended to identify and develop drugs and procedures to be used in interrogations in order to weaken the individual and force confessions through mind control. The project was organized through the Office of Scientific Intelligence of the CIA and coordinated with the U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories.
-Wikipedia
Do you think that you were involved in MK ULTRA?
No.
That program was an experimental program involving a completely different branch of the American government, and at least “officially” terminated in the 1970’s. I did not experience anything even remotely resembling any of the “training” or “events” that have been publicly disclosed.
The MK-Ultra project sounds like the stuff of fiction, but it’s all too real. MK-Ultra was created as part of the Cold War. At the time, the government believed that Russia was experimenting with mind control technology, and the US government wanted to keep pace. Disturbingly, many of the subjects of MK-Ultra had no idea that they were being experimented on.
According to The Washington Times, the project began as a response to soldiers returning home with stories about the mind control techniques used by their “Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean captors.” Originally, the project’s primary goal was to manipulate prisoners of war in order to gain influence with country leaders. However, MK-Ultra expanded quickly into a vast series of subprojects. The Washington Times reported that the subjects of the study were “perception, behavioral analysis, religious cults, personality conditioning, microwaves, sensory deprivation, and hallucinogenic drugs.”
MK-Ultra began as a volunteer-based program, but the government went on to use test subjects who had no idea that they were being experimented on. Declassified CIA documents revealed that one branch of the project used a San Francisco brothel to test the effects of LSD on adults without their knowledge. The men who came to the brothel were served cocktails laced with acid, and the rooms featured two-way mirrors so that CIA operatives could watch the effects of the drug play out.When it was discovered that the CIA were illegally running tests on Americans, the American leadership got nervious and started shredding all documents. Very few precious reports and photographs remain. This is one such photo that managed to elude destruction.
Youth Recruitment
Some people claim that they are chrononauts. (Ah, it’s just a fancy-pansy name for time-traveler.) They argue that they were recruited at an early age and groomed for this role…
Many other people who say that they were recruited for “top secret” roles involving dimensional-travel, and time-travel state that they were recruited at a young age, even genetically programmed for it. Were you?
No.
As far as I know, I was just an average kid who did well in school and was in the right place at the right time, with the right skills when this opportunity “fell into my lap”. Granted, from an early age I was groomed for space.
Anyways, the candidates for my role had to possess …
[1] A technical education. (A bachelor of science at the bare minimum.)
[2] Be qualified to enter the rigorous Naval Aviation program. This meant a battery of tests, personal interviews, physical, emotional and mental tests, and a series of “hoops” that we all had to jump through.
[3] Had to meet a series of other ELF qualification tests that most Naval Aviators apparently failed at. (Lucky me, eh?)
Further, [4] one had to be pre-selected (or perhaps pre-screened) by an extraterrestrial species prior to getting involved in MAJestic.
Secrecy
Questions about what I say relative to the point that I know very little about things…
How can you make any statements regarding MAJestic when you yourself specifically stated that you were “kept in the dark” on many elements of the program?
The statements that I make are educated extrapolations from what I actually know and what I have been exposed to.
I could very well be wrong about many things. So, I must ask the reader this; what is better [1] say and do nothing and let the reader live in ignorance, or [2] provide what little I do actually know and let the reader come to their own conclusions?
I chose the latter.
World-Line Sharing
Do you and Sebastian share the same world-line?
No.
No one shares their reality with another. We share “similar” world-lines and interact with each others “quantum shadows”. We both have the same mission parameters. Yet we operate independently.
Bonus:
Here's some real answers to help explain how consciousness moves about the MWI;
Imagine that the MWI is a big football stadium. You are standing in the middle of it, and trying to listen to different people talking in the stadium. You start by focusing on the child with the balloon. Then you focus on the fat man with a hot dog, then you go to the third cheerleader from the left. You can focus your mind on the specific sounds at will.
The people closest to you will be the easiest to listen in on. Those far from you will be progressively more difficult to hear.
That is exactly how consciousness moves about the MWI.
The only difference is that it doesn't hop around so much. It goes to nearby and adjacent sounds. Those are those naturally easy to hear. Those, and further ones that are loud (like someone yelling or screaming).
The movement towards the loudest, and closest sounds is exactly how consciousness moves about in the MWI.
TIME
We call that "the passage of time".
INTENTION
The "Law of Intention" is directed thought where you intentionally listen to certain sounds and avoid other sounds. That is so that your destination reality that you want manifests.
DIMENSIONAL EGRESS
Now, with the right technology, such as a parabolic hearing aide, you can "zoom" into specific sounds quire easily and exactly. That is how dimensional portals work.
Specific Mission Parameters
What was your “mission” in MAJestic?
This is how the MAJestic leadership understood my role…
My PRIMARY purposed task was to be utilized by an extraterrestrial species so they can monitor the Earth. I was lent to them by MAJestic; “rented out” so to speak. Once I was rented out to them, they implanted an EBP and altered my genetic makeup. I then become their “eyes and ears”.
As such, I was like an “Ambassador of sorts”.
I was never told that this was my role. I learned about it much later.
That was all that the MAJestic leadership knew about. I was to be the "eyes and ears" of an extraterrestrial species though the implantation of a special device inside my skull. This device is known as a EBP.
My SECONDARY task was for MAJestic to monitor my interaction with the sponsoring extraterrestrial species. Then report findings back to MAJestic leadership. This was facilitated in “real time” via ELF communication. MAJestic implanted a series of seven other devices that enabled my actions and behaviors to be monitored. These are ELF devices.
Kit #1 is the “normal” MAJestic kit that all members have.
Kit #2 interfaces with the EPB, and enables dimensional egress.
That is what my MAJestic documentation, the stuff that no one is supposed to know about, says. That is all fine and dandy, but you know, our extraterrestrial benefactors have other plans and other purposes, often far, far beyond human understandings.
Now, this is what my role actually was…
Being implanted with the EBP severely altered my perceptions. As such I was entangled with a biological artifice, and privy to a reality that was much more expansive than what my human senses could provide.
As humans, we have five senses, and perceptions that are processed by our brain. I was connected to a species that had a much more expansive array of perceptions. The EBP permitted me to “tap into” these other perceptions, and obtain exposure to their reality and understandings. It changed me. I could experience more than my “normal” humans. This knowledge and exposure provided me with skills and abilities that “normal” humans have no awareness of.
It took me a while to get used to this enlarged understanding of things, and augmented perceptions, and out of necessity, I developed “coping skills”.
Over time, I was better able to understand what my actual functional role was by the extraterrestrials that implanted the EBP. Saying that it was to “monitor the earth” is a very simplistic understanding. For they have a much larger understanding on how the universe works, and our role in it.
We humans think that the universe is one big singular place and we all share it together on this planet.
Our extraterrestrial benefactors believe that consciousness inhabits world-lines. They tend to cluster together, and this action must be monitored or else catastrophic sentience disruption may occur.
Actually and functionally, I was involved in “dimensional anchoring”. This was a task that facilitated the management of our nursery on the earth for the benefit for the <redacted> extraterrestrials.
In this task, I traversed a number of world-lines of strong similarities in order to keep them “stable”. That is, stable relative to the extraterrestrial requirement. I did this task automatically, and through entanglement with an extraterrestrial entity that had world-line-switching ability by nature of it’s soul structure. In order to achieve entanglement with this other species, I needed to utilize a biological artifice; a “drone” as an intermediary.
It's a very strange thing to say, as most other people who disclose such things to the public talk about "Space Marines", "Reptilians", "enlightened beings", and the healing powers of crystals.
I can positively say, beyond any doubt, that I haven't a clue as to what they are all talking about. I know nothing about anything they so earnestly banter about.
It does not mean that I hold the only keys to the library of knowledge, but rather my experiences are all very limited and defined within a very narrow band. As such I have no experiences that resemble any of the fringe "X-file" like subjects you hear about on the internet.
To fully understand my purpose, and role, you must recognize that humans are very different from extraterrestrials. We are about as similar as an elephant is to a sweet potato.
It is not like you might see on the science fiction movies, or on “Star Trek”, or the “Star Wars” franchise. Actually, if I would be so bold, it is more like a cross between Robert Heinlein’s story “Glory Road” (of which I have a full text reprint here in Metallicman), and Ursula K. Le Guin‘s “Lathe of Heaven”.
Take heed that these other extraterrestrials are [1] much older than us, [2] much more technologically advanced than we are, and [3] substantially better versed in the mechanism of our reality.
Their technology does absolutely look like magic to us humans.
Yeah. What the Hell do you think a real disclosure would look like? Do you honestly believe that it would discuss pulsed infra-ray weapons, shape-shifting reptilians, and enlightened spiritual entities that use crystals to channel thoughts?
I’m going to repeat myself.
This is the real-deal. This is what I was involved with and the trade off that MAJestic worked out with our extraterrestrial benefactors back in the the 1980’s.
Not so exciting, eh?
Sorry, life is not a detective television show with good cops chasing bad guys every week. There are large and long period of dormant and often uninteresting activity.
The only novelty comes from the uniqueness of the characters in the show and the situational environment that the episodes take place in.
Don't you think that a real disclosure would reflect...
[1] different ways of looking at things,
[2] technologies beyond our comprehension, and
[3] an understanding that they could have erased the human race 600 million years ago if they wanted to.
We couldn't fight them with "Space Marines" if we wanted to.
Roles
I refer to various “roles”. This has apparently caused great consternation.
Why do you refer to the roles of “Pilot”, “Commander” and “Drone” when using the artifice?
This is a good question. This is HOW I thought about them. However, this actually might be confusing to the reader. I suggest that the reader adopt the following scheme if they are confused;
Drone = Biological Artifice Device.
Pilot = Extraterrestrial operating the Biological Device.
Commander = MAJestic agent using the Biological Device.
Entanglement Utility
How did entanglement assist you in your “mission”?
Entanglement with an extraterrestrial (via a biological artifice / drone) was the only way that I was able to be trained to use alien or extraterrestrial technology.
Humans could not train me. I needed to be trained by an extraterrestrial. They needed to “get inside my head” and teach me in that manner.
Entanglement was always like being in two places at once. On one hand I was living a life as a "normal" guy int he United States, on the other hand I was fully aware of being an extraterrestrial "pilot" elsewhere. This was a simultaneous real-time experience.
During entanglement, it appeared that the (so called) “drone pilot” trained me. Additionally, the operation of the biological artifice /drone required active operation of the drone pilot.
I could not conduct any world-line travel without the drone pilot helping me by operating the biological artifice. When performing world-line operations, the drone pilot would perform most of the work when in “automatic mode”.
When in “manual mode”, the drone pilot was still involved, even though it’s participation was not obvious to me.
What needs to be understood is that all humans are fully capable of autonomous world-line travel and navigation ourselves. Our thoughts move us in and out and through the various world-lines. This is conducted specifically though ADJACENT world-lines based on thought navigation. We refer to this as “the passage of time”.
The “arrow of time” is the perception of our consciousness as it moves in and out of adjacent world-lines. It is our thoughts (and actions) that contribute to the destination that we often arrive at.
We can use the power of intention; directed thoughts, to navigate our consciousness towards world-lines that we would prefer to live in.
We can use the power of intention to navigate our consciousness toward preferred world-lines that we would prefer to live within. This can be anything that our mind can think about.
This differs substantially from the kind of world-line travel that both the dimensional-portal and the drone pilot / biological artifice was involved in. These portals or techniques transported a person or a consciousness (or both) to a NON-ADJACENT world-line.
We can use a dimensional portal to move anywhere and arrive anywhere. This is anywhere in time and space, as well as within any world-line no matter how strange.
These world-lines could be very odd depending on the deviance variation from your egress (start point) world-line origination.
CARET similarity to EBP / ELF programming
Your programming for the EBP / ELF probes seem to be similar to the programming for the C.A.R.E.T. “hoax”. Is it the same?
I was actually able to read and understand the coding on the CARET photographs. It has been a long time, but it is pretty clear that the photographs show the functional programming of the materials.
CARET example from Isaac.
They utilize an APL-like coding that fits within control ladders to specify behavior(s). Once you know the basics, you can easily see the formatting, and the assignment of variables, identification glyphs, and location within the ladder chains.
The language is similar something that might look like an APL version of a standard ladder language to IEC 61131 part 7. That tells me that the technology is the same and the species that made my probes is the same species that provided the CARET drones.
IEC 61131 is an IEC standard for programmable controllers. It was known as IEC 1131 before the change in numbering system by IEC. The parts of the IEC 61131 standard are prepared and maintained working group 7, programmable control systems, of subcommittee SC 65B of Technical Committee TC65 of the IEC.
Fuzzy Control Language, or FCL, is a language for implementing fuzzy logic, especially fuzzy control. It was standardized by IEC 61131-7. It is a domain-specific programming language: it has no features unrelated to fuzzy logic, so it is impossible to even print "Hello, world!". Therefore, one does not write a program in FCL, but one may write part of it in FCL.
I have visited various cypher websites where some ignorant millennials “prove” that CARET is a hoax.
I wonder; do they have beards, and rainbow colored suspenders as well...
Made by Microsoft Incorporated and assembled in Malaysia.
These jokers could not “decode” or decipher an existing coding language in English, let alone another entirely different technology. Truth this!
Try this. Here’s some APL coding. Convert this into English phrases please;
Travel to Mars
Often, people don’t fully comprehend the complexities of the story as I present it.
They use (what I refer to as) “crutches” to help fill-in blanks and things that aren’t really all that clear to them…
Why did you need to go to Mars?
I never physically “went” to Mars. (I think. Perhaps the off-world medical procedure was on Mars. I don’t know for positive.)
Instead, I was entangled with a biological interface / artifice that was physically located on Mars. This “entanglement” was not like what you the reader might think. It was sort of like me sharing two bodies. I was in two places at once. I was here in my body, on earth, doing my day-to-day activities, and I was completely aware of everything that the drone pilot was doing AS IF I WAS RIGHT THERE IN ITS’ SKIN.
Entanglement does not require physical close proximity.
The drone pilot was in a place that really looked a lot like Mars. However, please take special note. I don’t actually know where it really was. This “Mars” was NOT the Mars that we see on the news and out of photographs from NASA. This is a Mars from a different world-line, a different time, and of course, a completely different history.
Oh, and by the way. The drone pilot lived a very boring and sedentary life most of the time. It resided in a very bland room, doing very bland things, with little in the way of social interaction. It was like being entangled with a golem.
Think about it will ya?
You've got a extraterrestrial species that, by their very biological nature, can see the MWI. Wouldn't it make sense for them to use this ability in everyday life?
Of course, they would use it.
For all those idiots who think that we humans (with our big and powerful American military) can go up against a species that developed planetary spaceflight 600,000 years ago, and go in and out of different world-lines at will, are absolutely delusional.
In order to use the technology in the probes, I needed to access the thought-streams of an extraterrestrial that possessed multi-dimensional ability. This entity was the drone pilot. (This was an extraterrestrial with world-line manipulation ability).
For reasons of safety and security, we shared a drone. That was how I was able to be connected and linked to the extraterrestrial. The drone was located on Mars in a “safe” world-line. Therefore, while I never had to physically go to Mars, that was where my drone was. Thus, I stayed on the earth in this realm. The extraterrestrial drone-pilot stayed on it’s world line and planet. The drone was located on the “safe” Martian world-line.
Why be trained by extraterrestrials?
Why not?
Why did the Mantids or Type-I greys (or another unknown extraterrestrial) need to train you through entanglement?
Because many of the core features of the probes required a non-human understanding and ability to utilize them and unlock their abilities.
Obviously, you cannot have a dog train you how to drive a human-manufactured automobile. You cannot have a snail teach you how to use a cell phone, or use a monkey to teach you how to bake a tasty strudel.
If you want to properly use extraterrestrial technology, they will need to teach you the proper care and use of it. Anything else is just silly.
Personal Benefit.
What benefit would the Mantids give you personally for working with them?
The reward for my participation with the Mantids in this effort was rapid evolutionary soul development through participative exercises. It’s not like they have made promises about this or anything. Rather, it is what naturally happens because my thought streams have been altered, and by the nature of souls, my thoughts establish entanglements. Thus they form and shape, and reshape the garbons, swales and soul components.
Upon my death (in the physical), my “root” soul will evolve into another kind of being (different soul archetypes manifest different physical forms). Possibly even become a Mantid myself. Who knows?
My public life.
Sigh.
All of this is all about what you did for MAJestic, but the truth is aside from your “fantasy world”, you were ONLY an engineer. What did you do in “real life”?
I always wanted to be a space man. I took hard science classes, qualified for Naval Aviation, and entered MAJestic.
I was modified, trained and let loose to be a “normal” guy.
Normal Guy Life.
For the first third of my career, I was a “design engineer”. That means that I designed products. This included computers, appliances, and devices of all sorts. I drew pictures on CAD systems, tested them out, and worked with Industrial design houses to make them attractive.
Professionally, my education was in a joint BS Aerospace / Mechanical Engineering. However, once I was accepted for a pilot role, I dropped the Aerospace / Mechanical program and entered in a simple Mechanical Engineering program so I could immediately enter into the Navy. Later on, I took classes in Electrical Engineering. So my technical background was and still is, Aerospace, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering.
Hey! Here's a big secret. University degrees are just expensive pieces of paper.
If you really want to be successful, then start providing a service and getting a whole bunch of customers. Working for someone else is foolish.
Be a boss, anything else is below you.
Depending on the company, I took on various roles such as Design Engineer, Product Engineer, Product Manager, Project Manager or Quality Engineer. I was pretty good at it, and in some companies I held the (informal title) role of “gageteer” or “inventor”. There, I would spend significant time making new gizmos and appliances from scratch in the proto-lab.
It is the closest thing that you can come to a “Mad Scientist” in the industry today.
I climbed the management “ladder” and ended up in the top levels of various companies. This is hardly being “only an engineer”. The stakes are higher, the role is more important, and consequences of failure are more sinister. I worked in middle management roles, and then on to senior management, and finally to executive and director levels.
I then advanced into Senior Engineering / Middle Management roles. I managed groups and teams of technical people towards creation of electro-mechanical devices, mechanisms and products for the consumer and OEM market.
After thirty years of this, MAJestic entered my life again. I was “retired”, and everything was put into a dormant state.
When I was retired, I was just starting a VP Engineering position when the President, and the VP Engineering retired / stepped down.
Unfortunately, my retirement eviscerated my career progression.
Retired MAJestic operative.
No one would hire me. Not even as a janitor, or even to clean up dog and cat shit in the local Animal Shelter. I was willing to clean up contagious tainted hospital rooms, and equipment, and they refused offering me the jab… not because I couldn’t do it. But rather because of my retirement and record associated with it.
I was unhirable.
I started at ground zero when I arrived in China, and then worked my way back up the career ladder into Senior Management and Director level positions. I spent a considerable time in Quality, Production, and the Marketing fields. I was hardly “just” an engineer.
Hey! You try building up your life from absolutely nothing. You try with one set of underwear, and $100 to your name in a new nation where you can’t even fucking speak the language. It was fucking difficult.
说汉语很难。我还在学习。但我的狗比我说话好。
Enjoy being a scientist?
Anyways…
Do you enjoy being a scientist / engineer?
I love to design, invent and make things. Of course, over time, I moved on and advanced beyond this role. There aren’t too many Senior Scientist roles in companies and if you want job stability and financial security, you need to take on management roles.
In one of the companies where I worked (in Milford,
Massachusetts) I was constantly making prototypes of consumer appliances. I would take existing products and using the
tools of Doctor Frankenstein, I would create all kinds of strange creations.
Many of the resulting masterpieces included parts and components from this
company.
I think that the little boy still resides deep down inside of me. While the government can ban this and that, they can’t quench our love for science and the gadgets and gizmos associated with it. My dear reader let me introduce you to the “American Science & Surplus” store.
The store is large and has a very diverse selection of items. Most of it is what they claim it to be. It is surplus. There have everything from test tubes and beakers, to electronic components, to toys for kids and toys for us bigger kids.
Every explorer, scientist, artist, inventor and visionary can find supplies here to bring their concepts to life. It is full of nerdy gags here and there, there is also standardized scientific and engineering equipment large and small to meet your needs. Who knows, maybe you want to build a time machine, or a nuclear engine converter for your motorcycle?
Well, here is the place where you can go.
This place is fantastic. You can spend $20 and get an array of items nostalgic from your childhood. I find this a great place to buy the supplies you need to introduce your young children to basic science principles. I could also easily spend $2000 here. Have a naked gun turret?
Sure, doesn't everyone? They have a naked gun turret cover for you.
Items include nice telescopes to anatomy items.
More surplus examples include Swiss army knives stamped with the address of a company in PA to tiaras and cardboard crowns. Haven't see a Mexican jumping bean since I was a kid....but here?
Yup!
Super fly! And even a super fly eater , Venus Fly Trap is available!
Also you will find many novelty items like a Chinese MIG helmet, some old typewriters, lava lamps, and cold war gas
masks.
Have someone in your life who is hard to buy for? Go here. It is amazing. Go here for the online version; https://www.sciplus.com/
As a result, I have made design disclosures and I do possess numerous American (and International) design patents. Last I checked I still had 11 still active! Imagine that! Obviously someone sees the value in paying the fees to keep them alive.
Though they never bothered to give me the dollar that the contract specified that they fork over to me for relinquishing my ownership rights. Ah, but that's a story for another time.
My most substantive patents are those involving the manipulation of insect behavior. If the user is creative enough, the patents clearly pave the way for the “remote control” of specific insect species. Most notably those that are blood-feeders.
I can tell youse guys stories bout how we tested the effectiveness of the device. We would get inside this 2 meter squared room and sit there for an hour in our underwear. Then we would count the number of bites that they took. Yow! I am not at all "pulling your leg".
Hey! Yeah, and when you are driving on the road today look at all the brake-lights on those cars. They are all LED’s, eh? Who do you think paved the way for their use? Yupper, your’s truly. Oh yeah, and when you see a Brita water filter, you can think about me as well. My products are all over Walmart, K-Mart, and (the now defunct) Sears.
It was the industry that I was in.
Proof
Why don’t you offer PROOF
and prove yourself to the reader?
I ask the reader this; ten years ago did you go grocery
shopping and buy some dairy products like milk or eggs?
Yes. Good.
Now, you prove it to me.
I would like to see photos, receipts, documents, and confirmation from multiple witnesses. Without proof, everything that you say is just nonsense. You could just be saying you bought eggs and milk, when in fact you were actually buying a six pack of Pepsi cola.
I have spelled out everything that I know, as I well understand it. It is up to you, the reader, to accept it or discard it. I can well predict that there will be many who will “prove” that all of this is a “fraud” and a “hoax”. You can join one of those debunking armies if you don’t like what I have to say.
It’s your life. It’s your reality. It’s in your hands. I’m just telling you the way things are.
Why include pretty girls?
Heh heh. Why the Hell not?
Why do you include all the
“pretty girls” that you admit were not part of your program?
The girls had a role. I do not know precisely what the role was, but Sebastian and I were connected to them somehow.
Not only did we fill out the same form, enter the same off-world dimensional portal, but we all had similar characteristics. Sebastian and I were both high-achievers who were aerospace bound. We both possessed technical backgrounds, and we both were “service-to-others” sentience with a desire to help the world and make it better.
The girls were all tops in beauty. They were all kind, and (after talking with them) they all seemed to be of the same sentience and ambitions. We all were gathered together for a reason. We all shared the SAP briefing together, and we all filled out the same handout together.
During operations, I do not recall having anything to do with pretty girls. Either through entanglement, or in my physical life. (Aside from being married to one.)
It wasn’t until after I was retired that I began to associate with large numbers of beautiful girls. From my work office being surrounded by K-POP, and C-POP dance teams, to my many female friends, and various work relationships. The ratio of pretty girls to men is about 20 to one in my work building. (Far, far better than what I had during my university days.) LOL.
Where I live, I am surrounded by all sorts of girls that do their best to fit into the C-Pop and J-Pop culture. I do really enjoy watching them dancing.
No. They were not the same girls that I entered the portal with, but they are all too similar (in type) to dismiss straight out of hand.
Why publish on the internet?
Why did you write this as an internet blog? Why not just simply write a book or two and be done with it?
I suggest you write your own book. This manuscript was written by myself, and I chose this format for my own reasons.
Why talk like you do?
Why do you talk about girls, dating, sex, and penises? I mean it is all over your manuscript, from the moment you entered MAJestic until you describe your current life. Why?
Ah, now to be fair, I also talk about glorious beer served ice cold and a fine sandwich or hamburger. I would love to ramble on about delicious tomatoes and how to grow the best sweetest kinds. I would also like to learn how to make home-made refried beans, and to share some chili recipes.
I also like wine.
And do not get me started on the joys and terrors of having dogs and cats. Those little guys are such a big part of my life.
Here’s a big pink penis. What do ya think? I think it’s glorious.
If you saw a massive, pink penis being carried down the street by hundreds of people, you’d be forgiven for thinking… actually we have no idea what the first thing to spring to your mind would be. But, if you did witness a massive pink penis being carried down the street yesterday, then you’d probably stumbled across Kanamara Matsuri, Japan’s annual penis festival – known locally as the ‘Festival of the Steel Phallus’. Of course.
The festival happens every year on the first Sunday of April, and is held in the Japanese city of Kawasaki. After the lighting of the sacred flame at the Kanayama shrine, a giant pink penis altar is carried around the city in a huge procession.
There’s also penis-shaped sweets, illustrations and carved vegetables as part of the event. Visitors can also buy small penis-shaped souvenirs, which they’re encouraged to rub on a large cast-iron sculpture of a vagina and a pair of legs for good luck. Which couldn’t sound more normal. It’s a tradition that dates back as far as Japan’s Edo Period in the 16th century and originally the festival centered around a local penis-venerating shrine, which was popular with prostitutes who would pray to it for protection from STIs.
The penis altar is also said to help provide marriage harmony and – bizarrely – business protection. These days, the festival is used to raise money for HIV research and it’s become a massive tourist attraction with thousands of people coming from all over to marvel at the penisy splendor of the whole thing.
Sex is an inherent biological motivator. Men will do almost anything to attract the opposite sex, and would likely do anything in their power to procure sexual liaisons with a girl. This is a pretty much well-known fact. (That is, unless they are not a homosexual or sexual deviant of some type. )
It is the understanding of this fact that made Hugh Hefner wealthy. It is the understanding of this fact that made pharmacy companies incredibly wealthy selling Viagra.
Delicious penises on a stick. Women make chocolate covered bananas shaped as phalluses during Honen-sai, a fertility festival at Tagata Shrine in Komaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The traditional Shinto festival celebrates fertility and a bountiful harvest. The principal offering during the festival is a large wooden phallus. Each year a craftsman carves a new phallus from a Japanese cypress tree. It measures almost 2.4 meters (13 feet) long and weights 280kg (620 pounds).
It is the understanding of this basic fact that creates the situation for high-priced escorts and business KTV’s and clubs.
When guys get together, we make fun of sex, and joke about penises. We talk about all kinds of things, just like girls do. However, if you go into “mixed company”, the subject matter is usually not discussed at all. This is true all over the world. Guys talk among other guys about certain things that they won’t talk to gals about.
"Mixed Company" = Men and women together in a group.
Using the “carrot and stick” approach, MAJestic was able to manipulate my brain to motivate me to do certain things and behave in certain ways. I think that is why they had me, and the gals, fill out such a personal questionnaire when I first joined MAJestic.
Per my questionnaire, I like big-boobed chesty women with an oval face, dark hair, and a big charming smile. I like green to brown eyes. Now this is just me, and this is what was programmed in the equipment at NAS NASC.
"Carrot and stick method" = American idiom. A motivational tactic that uses a reward and punishment system to encourage improved performance or behavior.
Seriously, if you (the reader) had the ability to motivate a crew of men to do certain tasks, would not (guaranteed) sex with a hot super-attractive girl be great? Wouldn’t it be a GREATER motivating method than a pen with some kind of conventional work-related motivational saying?
Or are you so shallow that your would prefer the motivational pen?
(You know, like I once got for earning a couple of million dollars for the company. It said “Success is a way of life.” I got the pen, and the CEO bought a brand new Mercedes Benz.)
Motivational pen. There are some people that believe that people are inherently self motivated. All you need to do is to remind them of their obligations. This can be in the form of a pen, or a wall poster showing a kitten hanging onto a lamp shade, or a picture of a beautiful mountain sunset with words of inspiration. I disagree. I think that that is all bullshit.
Be honest now.
Or course, I wrote all these posts as if I were talking to one of my best friends. I just lay it all out, without fear, and not afraid of offending anyone. So I talk about things that most “polite company” would never broach. Sex is a part of my life. I was born with a penis and am going to die with one as well. As a man, I act and talk manly about things that interest men.
I like cars. I like technology. I like food. I like pretty girls. I like drinking delicious wine, and singing. I like getting dressed up and going out on the town. I like to sing Country and Western music, and playing with my dogs and cats. It’s just me, but I am very happy just being me.
I have this routine that when I arrive home, my dog brings his little stuffed bone to me. I then pick it up and throw it for him to go run and get. Yet, I also add a twist. I pretend that I cannot find him. He’s out beside himself trying to say to me “Here I am! Here I am!” and then I throw it for him to go and fetch. Good times. Good times.
Oh, and boy oh boy, does he get upset when we go and wash his soft stuffed toy bone. He carries on so.
The primary motivator for men is sex. This is a common truth that progressive revisionists want to bury behind the new LGBT fantasy. Nonsense, all men love, desire, need and work towards sex.
I am not a woman. I do not know what motivates them. I just know what motivates men.
Here’s what motivates me…
Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.
Motivational girl #1.
Oval face. Long dark hair. Brown or green eyes. Nice rack. And OMG what a smile! Check… check… check…
I what do know is what motivates myself, my friends and my business associates. I know what men like, and what they don’t like. Oh, yes, maybe we all have our various different tastes, most men that I know would be very happy to have the opportunity to meet (and just talk – nothing else) any of these following girls.
And if there is a “connection” who knows… It’s what drives men to accomplish things.
Motivational Girl #2
Oval face. Long dark hair. Brown or green eyes. Nice rack. Soft and nice and sweet. Check… check… check…
Hopefully one of these girls might strike a bone with the readers to help illustrate my point.
Aren’t you just a sicko who are constantly on the hunt for sex?
No, I am just an average man. We all are motivated by sex. Surprise!
(Though many of us are disgusted by the pretend “male feminists” who claim that they would never behave like a man. They do this so that they can procure women and sex by showing a disingenuous face that they believe would appeal to women. Cowards. They are just actors.)
Motivational Girl #3
Oval face. Brown eyes. Chesty. Long dark hair and an OMG smile! This is my personal ideal.
Now, there are real sime-balls out there. No doubt. These guys would take on predatory behavior, target a girl (or a guy) and harm them terribly.
I have seen stories, on the Internet, about “mongrels” who go on sex trips to have sex with as many prostitutes as possible. Usually this is in Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand.
That is not exactly my “cup of tea”.
American idiom that means “Not something one prefers, desires, enjoys, or cares about.”.
Diversity of sexual liaisons could be quite enjoyable when mixed with singing and booze, but I am not as keen on this as I should be. When you get older, some things that you enjoyed as a youth becomes less important. I’m far removed from the realities of these self-centered lifestyles.
There are also some youthful studs who write on the Internet proclaiming that they work at procuring sex all the time and they do it in places such as Vietnam, et al. They claim ridiculous numbers like 300 hook-ups a year. Give me a break!
In reality, the things that they are saying do not match up with the number of times they go to the hospital for STD's. If you have that much sex with strangers you WILL have a doctor on call, and his business card in your wallet.
Motivational Girl #4
Here’s another girl. Can you see why I think that she is attractive?
By the way, if you date ten girls and can’t find one that you would want to have a repeat date with, then you are a real sorry shit.
If you meet 300 girls and are absolutely unable to find one that would want to spend some long-term relationships with you then you must be an absolutely horribly disfigured person AND have the personality of a trashcan.
I know many plain guys that have managed long-term relationships with meeting just one girl. What I know from my own experience, is that when I am with a girl, the truth is that most of the time they want to come back for more.
They want friendship, commitment, courtesy and respect. Gawd, if you can’t have solid relationships after a handful of dates then truly you are a sorry sorry person.
You are going to have sex with a different girl each day, who are not prostitutes, and you don’t have a job or a source of income and can’t speak the language. Yeah, there are idiots that believe this nonsense.
My point is along the lines of why would anyone WANT to write such
nonsense (I don’t believe it at all) if it wasn’t for the need to associate
sexual procurement with personal ego. Bingo!
That is the point in all of this; a man’s ego is tied directly to his ability to procure sex. You get rich, and are a man of “means”, and then you can get all the sex you want. Yeah, if you are famous. Yes, if you have made a successful business, or are a wealthy and powerful politician…yes you can get sex, and yes, you will have an ego to match it.
Motivational Girl #5
Here’s yet another gal. Right along my speed. Different personality, yet the same archetype. Love it!
Sex is MORE than just a biological necessity. It is a motivating factor in men’s behaviors, and the control of it is a direct path to the control of that man. That is how many “secret” organizations control their members. It is one of the ways that MAJestic controls us.
Now, I do know that the world is filled with different kinds of people, and that there are different motivations for the fraction, of a fraction, of a fraction of a percent that have serious gender identity issues. For those rare few, I offer this to titillate…
Hot guys being attractive to other men.
Fighting, battles and Hollywood…
Were you ever involved in actual battle, defense or fighting?
No.
I never participated in any kind of military action. I never shot at anyone either through a computer interface, or physically. Aside from training “shake and bakes” in my Navy days, I was never involved in anything like what you would find in Hollywood.
I never recognized any kind of enemy, whether it was terrestrial or extraterrestrial.
Retirement
I hated my retirement. It sucked.
How sure are you that all MAJestic members are retired as sex offenders?
I am very confident that this is the case for the bulk of the implanted membership. Certainly those in the highest levels are retired in other manners.
For me, my entire MAJestic cell was retired as sex offenders.
However, the reader might not take my word for it. You can just ignore my statements and say that it was “just a coincidence” that my entire three-man MAJestic cell was retired that way. You can say that it was just a coincidence that we were all retired in Arkansas, at the same facility, during the same month exactly thirty years after joining MAJestic.
It’s just a coincidence.
Where are all those extraterrestrials?
Why do you think that no one has ever seen an extraterrestrial?
I don’t know what you are talking about. I have seen them numerous times.
Remote Viewing
Were you ever involved in Remote Viewing?
No. Though for a lark after reading a few books on the subject, I tried it alone by myself. I was pretty much unsuccessful as far as I could tell.
For a while, I believed that Remote Viewing is a “power” or ability that one can obtain through training and practice. I still believe that.
However, I had previously considered the idea that the “rolling of snake eyes” over and over again (a reference to an event that I had in my early days once I was discharged from the Navy) was a manifestation of some sort of enhanced ESP on my part.
There was an "event" at a keg party after I was discharged from the Navy. I attended a party and everyone was playing backgammon. I started rolling "snake eyes". We were all drinking, and after about the sixth time I rolled "snake eyes" everyone wanted to see how many I could roll. It was an enormous and unlikely number, way, way over 75 times.
I've tried to replicate this event, but have been unsuccessful. I used to think that it was due to some kind of special ESP or PSI ability that I had "somehow" picked up somewhere.
Today, I do not believe this at all.
The exercise in the “rolling of snake eyes” was simply a subconscious slide that I did on my own before I had obtained any kind of training.
These probes connected me with an entity (the drone pilot) that possessed a soul that was capable of inter-dimensional travel and understanding. Any “carry-over” skills that I have or would obtain from it, would simply be a characteristic of my entanglement with that entity.
It would not be part of any kind of enhanced ESP ability.
That being stated, everyone has an inherent ESP ability. It lies latent simply because we as children are taught to ignore the elements related to ESP.
Now, earlier in my writings I alluded to the point that those of us so implanted had an improved ESP ability. It is not, and I do mean NOT, because of the probes themselves, but rather because the entanglement has forced us to think and use our minds in other manners.
These other manners are “friendly” to improving one’s ESP ability. Thus, those implanted will have a better ESP ability than before they were implanted.
It’s sort of how the longer you drive a car, the better you get at driving.
ESP
What is ESP actually?
There are many kinds of ESP.
Essentially, ESP is nothing less than a portion of entangled quanta associated (shared) with the consciousness.
As such, this portion can manifest as a wave while consciousness maintains particle behaviors.
When it is a wave it can access the non-physical reality that surrounds our physical reality. There, it can access entire histories and thoughts associated with objects and people within a given reality. If the reader were to take the time to study different manifestations of this aspect, they will be able to see how clearly ESP manifests.
Precognition – The ability to see into the future.
Retrocognition – The ability to see into the distant past.
Clairvoyance – The ability to see events without being physically present.
Mediumship – The ability to communicate with spiritual world and talk to the deceased.
Clairsentience – The ability to feel the emotions of others.
Clairaudience – The ability to receive messages and information through “psychic hearing”.
Telepathy – The ability to read the minds of others and know what they’re thinking.
Clairalience – The ability to get psychic impressions from the sense of smell.
Clairgustance – The paranormal ability to taste a substance without putting it in mouth.
I believe that a human can be taught how to improve and actuate their latent ESP ability. Though, some people are “naturals” in this regard.
Precognition refers to the ability to see the future. Though the scientific community generally rejects precognition because of the lack of demonstration, many scientific explanations are available to explain it. Experiments conducted by the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University show the human mind has a habit along with the ability to subconsciously predict an outcome of events by judging current circumstances. Such predictions, if they later become true, are then related to precognition.
Retrocognition refers to the ability to see in the distant past. It can be as simple as recognizing a place, or a person, or somehow knowing what happened in a certain situation one had nothing to do with at the time it took place. When someone experiences déjà vu, it could be a simple instance of retrocognition.
Telepathy refers to the ability to read and other persons thoughts. Telepathy allows a person to communicate with one or more people using their mind and no other sensory input. Recently there are some articles that seem to indicate that certain tests has proven this ability in dogs and cats.
Clairvoyance refers to the ability to see objects or events that are happening to someone else. Similar to telepathy, clairvoyance refers to the ability to gain knowledge about a person, event, or thing without sensory input. Though typically thought to be strongest during meditation, many psychics can get information about the past, present, and future in a variety of non-meditative environments.
Clairaudience refers the ability to hear objects or events that are happening to someone else, without any other additional sensory information. Like clairvoyance, clairaudience is thought to be strongest during meditation, however many clairaudients can obtain information in a variety of environments.
Clairsentience refers to the ability to perceive a feeling throughout the whole body, without any stimulation related to the feeling or information. Some people with this ability may also be considered clairempaths as they can physically tune into other peoples, places, or animals’ emotional experiences. This is considered a type of telepathy that allows emotions to be felt.
Mediumship refers to the ability to communicate with the dead by channeling their spirits. Personally, I am very skeptical about this. It certainly tends to be used in more than just a few scams. I cannot find the utility relative to consciousness application. But, what do I know?
A secondary form of ESP, clairaliencerefers to the psychic ability to smell. While all humans have the ability to smell, this type of ESP refers to aromas that are not detected by everyone else.
Another secondary form of ESP, clairgustance refers to the ability to taste. While all humans have the ability to taste, this type of ESP refers to the ability to taste without putting anything in the mouth. It is thought that those who have this ability can perceive the essence of a particular substance from the spiritual realms through taste.
Jay Treaty
What do you know about the “Jay Treaty”?
Nothing. However, I do know what the reference is towards. There are a series of “time travel” related videos posted on You-Tube that refer to the “Jay treaty” in a mysterious manner. The production value of the videos is ok, but the content is lacking.
Personally, I think the entire series of videos and all the “cloak and dagger” nonsense regarding the Jay Treaty and historical changes are all nonsensical.
If it happened, so what?
You are on this world-line now. If it didn’t happen, so what? It’s a hoax. Some young millennial with some basic video editing software and some time on their hands contrived to make a series of low budget videos.
It is all just nonsense.
At numerous FAQs for this part, let’s go and move on to the next part of this post which covers more questions and further commentary about my role within MAJestic.
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are
posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic
and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I
really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really
wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies
were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only
conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain
secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These
particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part
of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I
was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super
special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I
try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
Influencer Questions
Here are posts
that have gathered a series of questions from various influencers. They
are interesting in many ways and could help all of us unravel the
mysteries of the lives that we live.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts
are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line
travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person
has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different
world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are
posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another
person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to
utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the
past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple
posts in this regard.
They are;
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
In the town square the queue had formed at five in the morning, while cocks were crowing far out in the rimed country and there were no fires. All about, among the ruined buildings, bits of mist had clung at first, but now with the new light of seven o’clock it was beginning to disperse. Down the road, in twos and threes, more people were gathering in for the day of marketing the day of festival.
The small bay stood immediately behind two men who had been talking loudly in the clear air, and all of the sounds they made seemed twice as loud because of the cold. The small boy stamped his feet and blew on his red, chapped hands, and looked up at the soiled gunny-sack clothing of the men, and down the long line of men and women ahead.
‘Here, boy, what’re you doing out so early?’ said the man behind him.
‘Got my place in line, I have,’ said the boy.
‘Whyn’t you run off, give your place to someone who appreciates?’
‘Leave the boy alone,’ said the man ahead, suddenly turning.
‘I was joking.’ The man behind put his hand on the boy’s head. The boy shook it away coldly. ‘I just thought it strange, a boy out of bed so early.’
‘This boy’s an appreciator of arts, I’ll have you know,’ said the boy’s defender, a man named Grigsby, ‘What’s your name, lad?’
‘Tom.’
‘Tom here is going to spit clean and true, right, Tom?’
‘I sure am!’
Laughter passed down the line.
A man was selling cracked cups of hot coffee up ahead. Tom looked and saw the little hot fire and the brew bubbling in a rusty pan. It wasn’t really coffee. It was made from some berry that grew on the meadowlands beyond town, and it sold a penny a cup to warm their stomachs; but not many were buying, not many had the wealth.
Tom stared ahead to the place where the line ended, beyond a bombed-out stone wall.
‘They say she _smiles,’ _said the boy.
‘Aye, she does,’ said Grigsby.
‘They say she’s made of oil and canvas.’
‘True. And that’s what makes me think she’s not the original one. The original, now, I’ve heard, was painted on wood a long time ago.’
‘They say she’s four centuries old.’
‘Maybe more. No one knows what year this is, to be sure.’
‘It’s 2061’
‘That’s what they say, boy, yes. Liars. Could be 3,000 or 5,000, for all we know. Things were in a fearful mess there for a while. All we got now is bits and pieces.’
They shuffled along the cold stones of the street.
‘How much longer before we see her?’ asked Tom, uneasily.
‘Just a few more minutes. They got her set up with four brass poles and a velvet rope to keep folks back. Now mind, no rocks, Tom; they don’t allow rocks thrown at her.’
‘Yes, sir.’
The sun rose higher in the heavens, bringing heat which made the men shed their grimy coats and greasy hats.
‘Why’re we all here in line?’ asked Tom, at last. ‘Why’re we all here to spit?’
Grigsby did not glance clown at him, but judged the sun. ‘Well, Tom, there’s lots of reasons.’ He reached absently for a pocket that was long gone, for a cigarette that wasn’t there. Tom had seen the gesture a million times. ‘Tom, it has to do with hate. Hate for everything in the Past. I ask you, Tom, how did we get in such a state, cities all junk, roads like jigsaws from bombs and half the cornfields glowing with radio-activity at night? Ain’t that a lousy stew, I ask you?’
‘Yes, _sir, I guess so.’
‘It’s this way, Tom. You hate whatever it was that got you all knocked down and ruined. That’s human nature. Unthinking, maybe, but human nature anyway.’
‘There’s hardly nobody or nothing we don’t hate,’ said Tom.
‘Right! The whole blooming caboodle of the people in Past who run the world. So here we are on a Thursday morning with our guts plastered to our spines, cold, live in caves and such, don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t nothing except have our festivals, Tom, our festivals.’
And Tom thought of the festivals in the past few years. The year they tore up all the books in the square and burned them and everyone was drunk and laughing. And the festival of science a month ago when they dragged in the last motor-car and picked lots and each lucky man who won was allowed one smash of a sledge-hammer at the car.
‘Do I remember that, Tom? Do I _remember? Why, I got smash the front window, you hear? My God, it made a lovely sound! Crash!’
Tom could hear the glass falling in glittering heaps.
‘And Bill Henderson, he got to bash the engine. Oh, he did a smart job of it, with great efficiency. Wham!’
But the best of all, recalled Grigsby, there was the time they smashed a factory that was still trying to turn out aeroplanes.
‘Lord, did we feel good blowing it up!’ said Grigsby. ‘And then we found that newspaper plant and the munitions depot. and exploded them together. Do you understand, Tom?’
Tom puzzled over it. ‘I guess.’
It was high noon. Now the odors of the ruined city stank on the hot air and things crawled among the tumbled buildings.
‘Won’t it ever come back, mister?’
‘What, civilization? Nobody wants it. Not me!’ ‘I could stand a bit of it,’ said the man behind another . ‘There were a few spots of beauty in it.’
‘Don’t worry your heads,’ shouted Grigsby. ‘There’s no room for that, either.’
‘Ah,’ said the man behind the man. ‘Someone’ll come along some day with imagination and patch it up. Mark my words. someone with a heart.’
‘No,’ said Grigsby.
‘I say yes. Someone with a soul for pretty things. Might give us back a kind of limited sort of civilization, the kind we could live in in peace.’
‘First thing you know there’s war!’
‘But maybe next time it’d be different,’
At last they stood in the main square. A man on horseback was riding from the distance into the town. He had a peace of paper in his hand. In the centre of the square was the roped-off area. Tom, Grigsby, and the others were collecting their spittle and moving forward moving forward prepared and ready, eyes wide. Tom felt his heart beating very strongly and excitedly, and the earth was hot under his bare feet.
‘Here we go, Tom, let fly!’
Four policemen stood at the corners of the roped area, four men with bits of yellow twine on their wrists to show thcir authority over other men. They were there to prevent rocks being hurled.
‘This way,’ said Grigsby at the last moment, ‘everyone. feels he’s had his chance at her, you see, Tom? Go on, now!’
Tom stood before the painting and looked at it for a it for a long time.
‘Tom, spit!’
His mouth was dry.
‘Get on, Tom! Move!’
‘But,’ said Tom, slowly, ‘she’s _beautiful.’
‘Here, I’ll spit for you!’ Grigsby spat and the missile flew in the sunlight. The woman in the portrait smiled serenely, secretly, at Tom, and he looked back at her, his heart beating, a kind of music in his ears. ‘She’s beautiful,’ he said.
The line fell silent. One moment they were berating Tom for not moving forward, now they were turning to the man on horseback.
‘What do they call it, sir?’ asked Tom, quietly.
‘The picture? ‘Mona Lisa’, Tom, I think. Yes, the ‘Mona Lisa’.
‘I have an announcement,’ said the man on horseback. ‘The authorities have decreed that as of high noon today tin portrait in the square is to be given over into the hands of the populace there, so they may participate in the destruction of —‘
Tom hadn’t even time to scream before the crowd bore him, shouting and pummelling about, stampeding toward the portrait. There was a sharp ripping sound. The police ran to escape. The crowd was in full cry, their hands like so man, hungry birds pecking away at the portrait. Tom felt himself thrust almost through the broken thing. Reaching out in blind imitation of the others, he snatched a scrap of oily canvas, yanked, felt the canvas give, then fell, was kicked, sent rolling to the outer rim of the mob. Bloody, his clothing torn, watched old women chew pieces of canvas, men break the frame, kick the ragged cloth, and rip it into confetti.
Only Tom stood apart, silent in the moving square. He looked down at his hand. It clutched the piece of canvas close his chest, hidden.
‘Hey there, Tom!’ cried Grigsby.
Without a word, sobbing, Tom ran. He ran out and the down bomb-pitted road, into a field, across a shallow stream, not looking back, his hand clenched tightly, tucked under his coat.
At sunset he reached the small village and passed on through. By nine o’clock he came to the ruined farm dwelling. Around back, in the part that still remained upright, he heard the sounds of sleeping, the family — his mother, father, and brother. He slipped quickly, silently, through the small door and lay down, panting.
‘Tom?’ called his mother in the dark.
‘Yes.’
‘Where’ve you been?’ snapped his father. ‘I’ll beat you the morning.’
Someone kicked him. His brother, who had been left behind to work their little patch of ground.
‘Go to sleep,’ cried his mother, faintly.
Another kick.
Tom lay getting his breath. All was quiet. His hand was pushed to his chest, tight, tight. He lay for half an hour this way, eyes closed.
Then he felt something, and it was a cold white light. Th moon rose very high and the little square of light crept slowly over Tom’s body. Then, and only then, did his hand relax. Slowly, carefully, listening to those who slept about him, Tom drew his hand forth. He hesitated, sucked in his breath, and then, waiting, opened his hand and uncrumpled the fragment of painted canvas.
All the world was asleep in the moonlight.
And there on his hand was the Smile.
He looked at it in the white illumination from the midnight sky. And he thought, over to himself, quietly, the Smile, the lovely Smile.
An hour later he could still see it, even after he had folded it carefully and hidden it. He shut his eyes and the Smile was there in the darkness. And it was still there, warm and gentle, when he went to sleep and the world was silent and the moon sailed up and then down the cold sky towards morning.
Conclusion
Can you believe that I went to college with people who took classes that offered this story, and they never read it? Seriously. Instead, they studied the Cliff Notes and took the tests to get the grades. They completely bypassed the learning process.
In colleges and universities, many students opt to study the Cliff Notes or Spark Note summaries of the stories. They do so as a quick way to hit the pints that you can be tested on. Unfortunately, once the test is completed, they forget what they crammed for, and while they might have obtained a grade, they learned NOTHING.
Not that they needed to learn. Many of whom were much wealthier than I was. They somehow got into university… somehow. Their parents were rich, or bankers, or had connections. They would run their BMW’s in pot-holes to splash icy water on me as I made my way to study in the Engineering Hall.
I find out about where they are now, by checking the University alumni rosters that are published yearly. Indeed, they are mostly doing well. Either stock brokers, bankers, or have major roles on the board of directors of companies. many obtained these role when they were in their middle 20’s.
Rich Frat boys at the university. Most managed to get into college through bribes or huge donations by their parents. While in school they didn’t need to study because they knew that they would be employed upon graduation for enormous amounts of money.
It’s truly amazing to me. Because I knew these ding-bats in university. They had the intelligence of a potato, and yet they somehow passed their SAT and got into university easily. Then during the entire time while I toiled and studied, they were just partying and having a great old time.
It didn’t seem fair then, and it isn’t fair now.
But you know, these stories of Ray Bradbury take us to places… strange places where our imagination can roam. They take us to places that stretch our emotions and tax our comprehension. To this, I must say to Mr. Bradbury; Thank you.
Because life is the sum total of our experiences. This is the width and the depth of our experiences. Mr. Bradbury has added color to mine. His stores made the air a little bit sweeter, the weather a little bit nicer, and my friends a little bit more important.
Those who have never experienced the stories of Ray Bradbury are denied this pleasure.
Attribution
This story was written by Ray Bradbury, and presented here under Article 22 of China’s Copyright Law. The Smile is a short story written in 1952, a year before Fahrenheit 451, which it shares a few ideas with. This story is set in the post-apocalyptic future (year 2061), where the last “bits and pieces” of civilization are destroyed by humanity itself.
I have found this version of the story on the Ray Bradbury library portal in Russia, and I have copied it here exactly as found. Credit to the wonderful people at the Ray Bradbury Library for posting it where a smuck like myself can read it within China. (Рэй Брэдбери .RU found at http://www.raybradbury.ru ) And, of course, credit to the great master; Ray Bradbury for providing this work of art for our inspiration and pleasure.
Ray Bradbury is one of my personal heroes and his writings greatly influenced me in ways that I am only just now beginning to understand.
I love the way that Ray Bradbury brings advanced concepts to the masses though his very (seemingly) simplistic stories.
Background
“There was this fence where we pressed our faces and felt the wind turn warm and held to the fence and forgot who we were or where we came from but dreamed of who we might be and where we might go…” -R is for Rocket Ray Bradbury
For years I had amassed a well worn, and dusty collection of Ray Bradbury paperbacks that I would pick up and read for pleasure and inspiration. Later, when I left the United States, and moved to China, I had to leave my treasured books behind. Sigh.
A small collection of well worn, well read and well appreciated Ray Bradbury books. My collection looked a little something like this, only I think the books were a little more worn, and a little yellower.
It is very difficult to come across Ray Bradbury books in China. When ever I find one, I certainly snatch it up. Cost is no object when it comes to these masterpieces. At one time, I must have had five books containing this story.
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
Here are some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society within communist China. As there are some really stark differences between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little different, in subtle ways.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come and enjoy a read or two as well.
Here is a continuation of a dialog with an influencer. Provided for your interest and consideration.
The discussion continues…
Conversely, they COULD have killed you instead of just driving you into defacto exile. From the government’s perspective, I’d hate to be the bureaucrat on-the-hook if you were to ran amok with your implants and all. It certainly is a shitty life sentence you ended up with but I definitely feel your pain! If your story is true (I think it is), I’d like offer my support in gratitude of your service to country. Besides, maybe your benefactors would look well upon my friendship towards you 😉
About my retirement. I haven’t written about this, at least nothing that I published. But they DID try to do something other than exile. It’s a story that needs to be said, but I have a very difficult time grappling with it. So, I just think that now is not the time to mention it. It would only “muddy the waters”.
Looking back, I should be happy that things worked out as they did. Evidence shows that things could have been much worse for me.
During the retirement procedure, there were (other) efforts to terminate my role more effectively. However, the EBP enabled me to side-step those efforts. (Maybe that’s exactly the kind of thing that the folk in Washington were afraid of… Nah. The retirement team had absolutely no idea of what I was involved in.)
As far as I understand it, I was going to be retired no matter what.
This was a fate that I signed up for, even though, I had no idea about it. There wasn’t much that I could do about it, except… I could (through my MAJestic training, sidestep the non-MAJestic operations and) select how the retirement sequence would manifest.
Believe me, I took the easiest and safest route.
And so here I am.
I have a big write-up on the actual retirement procedure in Pine Bluff, AR. How the respective agents were flown in, and the reactivation of the ELF probes while I was tied down in a safe location. It’s a pretty comprehensive narrative, but now is not the time to publish it. It’s all written from my point of view and it is really confusing.
It is very confusing. Sort of like the movie “Naked Lunch”. It’s a very difficult read to follow, as my experiences lay outside my physical experiences as viewed by everyone else.
When we watch movies, we watch it from a third person perspective. But no one could possibly view my experiences with any kind of rational understanding as it was all in a first person perspective. So it is very, very confusing.
Look at this scene below. Can you understand what is going on in it?
Movie still from the movie “Naked Lunch”. It portrays the vision of a world from the eyes of a man addicted to bug poison. It is a difficult movie to understand if you are a third person observer of a first person themed movie.
Anyways, thanks for your heart-felt concern.
I had a very strange and ostensibly missing-time (about 3 hours) dream last Tuesday night, that’s never happened before!
That dream of yours is very interesting to me. It really is.
First of all dreams are many things. Fundamentally, it is just the brain relaxing and the brain memories firing and imagination going off in tangents. That’s just plain old innocuous dreaming. But, if you are in certain states of mind, it can be other things; more critical and active things. For instance, when a loved one passes on, they can come and visit you.
That’s a great example of this.
A most wonderful painting titled the “dream of St. Joseph”. Angels and information can be imparted in our dreams.
An experience we had while we slept.
When I was in my Senior year at Syracuse, I was crashed out with my friends Jay and Peter in their dorm room. One of our friends, Marty, had died suddenly three days earlier. He was playing football. He had a brain aneurysm and died. Now, I knew him, but I wasn’t as close to him as Peter and Jay was. I knew him by his nick-name “Rhino”. What he would do is head-butt everyone he met. So that’s how he made friends.
Anyways, three days after he died, at around 4am, Peter, Jay and myself all woke up simultaneously. It seems that Marty had visited all of us in our sleep. He told us not to worry that he was fine and happy, and he was saying good-bye to us for now. The thing is that we all all immediately woke up simultaneously at the same time and had similar (if not the same) dreams.
We can have communications while we are at rest and our mind relaxes. This happens quite often and everyone has experienced it.
What you can take out of this is that consciousness (of one person) can access the minds, thoughts and memories of others through dreams.
This means of providing information to the brain, directly by consciousness exists. It doesn’t need to be a close friend or loved one that died. It can be through artifice, like my EBP, or through ELF radiation via the ELF probe kits. It can also be through other consciousnesses and other entities that have the necessary permissions to do so.
The “Guardian Angel”.
Everyone, that is every human, has a “guardian angel”. This is an entity that goes by many names; Spiritualists, Angels, Mantids, and the like. There are paintings of these creatures as tall and big beautiful human-shaped creatures with wings.
The artists took a great deal of artistic license in painting the creatures. They painted them as large humans, often male, with wings, handsome and often possessed a halo or other heavenly “signature” around the head.
In all actuality, they are a species that protects our human species. They are invertebrates. They are multi-dimensional. They work for a higher purpose.
Every person has a guardian angel. This is a consciousness that exists as a multi-dimensional being and that assists and guides our consciousness as it travels forth within our individual realities. This is a painting of a guardian angel from 1900.
They and they alone have the necessary permissions to access your consciousness on anything more than a trivial communication level. Loved ones can communicate, but the transmission of more complex forms of data is restricted to those with permissions. When the more intense data-streams are provided, you will be able to recognize it through one or more of the following experiences..
Dead-sleep. No dreams at all. A big blank of zero memories.
Intensively different and vivid dreams, with sounds, colors, and smells.
Dreams about attending schools or educational institutions, etc.
The mechanism for “special dreams”.
This is the mechanism how these “special” dream conditions manifest. It works like this…
Now, when a person is exposed to a new kind of knowledge or experience, the mind and the consciousness comes to grips and tries to understand that information. This will result in different thoughts, and dreams.
Now, these thoughts and dreams can be thought of as a kind of “prayer”. You aren’t trying to ask or pray for anything. But, what is happening is that you have set up a “carrier wave” that your “guardian angel” can notice. They, in turn, adjusts your Earth experience to fit.
This tells me that your path in and out of the various realities; your “time” had been altered and it had a course correction and a new vector. It will direct you to something good, for you on your own personal level.
What it is, I don’t know. What I can tell you is that is a very good sign.
The Progenitors.
Tell me more about the progenitors if you don’t mind?
OK, now about the Progenitors. I know of them, but what I know is rather sparse.
They have “seeded” this section of the galaxy many, many years ago. Maybe one billion years ago.
This means that they have “planted” rudimentary lifeforms adapted to the environment where planted. This meant that they took some kind of basic “primordial biological stew” (a biological template) and mixed it with various promising local native life. Thus, creating a kind of pre-species life that would eventually become some kind of intelligent native species.
When they were involved in this procedure and operation, they had physical bodies, and traveled in vehicles.
I do not know what they looked like. I have no idea about their appearance, size, or biology in any way. For all I know, they could be telepathic cats. I just do not know.
They went all over the galaxy and traveled far and wide. They planted “kits” of biological entities. These kits were merged with local life and created very early life-forms.
Sometimes the life-forms survived and grew. Other times they died off. The progenitors were aware of this, and while they hoped that the life forms would grown, they recognized that they might not take.
This species traveled far and wide in our galaxy, as well as in other galaxies! That I do know.
They were active in seeding the universe, at least in our corner of it. The impression that I have is that they were involved in this activity long AFTER the (initial primary) sentience disruption period, but long before any kind of local galactic government formation.
Here is a three dimensional rendering of our enormous galaxy and the locations of the other nearby galaxies. It is my understanding that the Progenitors were space faring creatures that seeded our galaxy and neighboring galaxies.
They (might have) periodically came back to check and revise their creations. But I don’t know if this ever happened with our Earth.
What I do know is that they transitioned into non-physical multi-dimensional entities at the same time that the Mantids were active and alive on our planet. I believe that the two species were aware of each other, but I do not know if they ever collaborated together, but I do know that the Progenitors sort of “passed on the torch” to the Mantids in regards to human care-taking.
Whatever happened between the Progenitors and the Mantids, the Mantids now have a major role in sentience evolution of humans on the Earth.
This is a more detailed picture of the local group showing more detail and the various structures that lie around us.
There are ruins and some progenitor artifacts laying around in our solar system, but I do not know where they are or what they would look like.
Write a book?
You should write a book, maybe: “Gray Agenda”. You’ve already got the manuscript basically done. The description might be: “A first person account of the intentions the extraterrestrial races have planned for the people of Earth” (or something along those lines).
Writing an allegory about classified events IS legal as long as no one is named or harmed in the process (ie “Sebastian”). Besides, you never signed an NDA plus I believe that you are currently the highest declassification authority within in your compartment, anyway. I’d buy it!
About the Slides.
On the other topic, are there no “black-hat” (bad guys) out there? What about evil, the devil and such things, you must of run into such things in your “slides” to alternate realities?
You never actually discussed how the “slide” occurs and when things look like while in transit (more gray wall)? Would love to hear about that too!
Oh, you have opened up a huge keg of worms. I will respond to this, but where all my other correspondence was extraterrestrial studies 101, this enters in to the realm of “OMG, where do I begin?”. It’s really out there.
If you think that what I have already disclosed is far-out, you have no idea, how far “down the rabbit hole this thing goes”.
I’ll respond better once I gather my thoughts and I will do my best to keep it simple.
Firstly, [A] please take note (and take heart) that I am and have always been, protected by the Mantids. (You can kindly refer to them by the moniker of “Angelics”, if you wish. I like to think of them as Guardian Angels.)
I look at it sort of like this;
You have a five year old that wants to walk all over the place, but has no idea about roads, trucks, ferocious dogs, and bee stings. You want to protect the five year old, but you don’t want to overly coddle it. The child has to learn, don’t ya know.
It’s sort of like that.
There were so many times that I could have ended up in automobile accidents, getting a serious illness, lost a loved one, or had my very being disassembled and parted-out to other entities. Listen, it’s a dangerous world out there, and it is way, way beyond our ability to deal with alone.
We are always watched by our guardian angels. They assist us in steering our realities in such as way as to assist our spiritual growth of consciousness. We are never alone. Never. If you don’t believe me, take a large dosage of MDA. See for yourself. MDA in large doses can temporarily suppress elements that block our view of the “man behind the curtain”.
As much as I would love to chat about this, you [B] also asked about the slides.
Now, that is an encyclopedia in itself. I’ll tell you what. Now, today, I don’t think nothing about it, but it’s actually a complicated process.
Implants, probes, EBP & ELF operation.
The ELF probes monitor the actions and activities for the MAJestic organization present in the reality that I inhabit at that time.
The EBP device is itself, timeless.
The EBP device is not a “stand alone” mechanism. Instead it is a “cog” or an “I/O” device that interfaces with other mechanisms.
These other mechanisms are quire complex, and I know exactly zero about them. However, what I do know is that the next most important element that the EBP interface with is a biological artifice.
Fundamentally, the only way that the EBP can work is when it operates though use of an artifice. This artifice is biological in nature. It it is not enjoined with that artifice, then it cannot work. It is just “dead”.
Now, you might think of the EPB as a computer or a complex electronic mechanism, but that is incorrect. It is a biological computer with a dedicated function. It connects to another biological device; the artifice. It, in turn, is controlled by a extraterrestrial “pilot”.
Stranger and Stranger
If you are a species that can access the MWI at will; the ability to traverse world-lines, then you can secure your operations in places that are safe and secure from others.
As such, this artifice is located on [A.1] another planet, that resides [A.2] within another reality. Think of it as another “world-line”. A species that can move in and out of world-lines has the ability to place critical infrastructure on “safe” and “protected” world-lines.
In other words, it’s really hard for some highly motivated contemporaneous oligarch, like George Soros (for instance), to tinker with operations HQ located on the planet Mars. That is most especially true when the planet Mars, and the HQ is located on a world-line where the Earth did not exist.
So, I m a “Commander” who works in behalf of the arrangements with MAJestic. The operation of the process is controlled via artifice with a controller who I refer to as the “pilot”. The pilot is of the type-I grey species, but the artifice links to the Mantid species “thought highway”.
Of course, my terms are really weird. Simply because there are no terms for this in the English Language.
Generalized overview of the rules and operation of the EBP. The Type-1 grey operates the artifice as the Pilot. The human with the EBP is the Commander.
It gets complicated.
For the longest time, I was under the impression that the type-I greys did not have the ability to recognize world-line slides and what happens. I thought only the Mantids know the entire process and procedure that I am involved in. I was under the impression that only the type-1 greys operate the technology.
Now I am not so sure.
I will talk about this in much more detail. But I feel that I have overwhelmed you in the process. So let’s stop here, for now.
White Hats.
No, I knew about the bit players like the Mantids and the Grays but never knew how they fit into the puzzle, I take it they are the white-hats?Are you familiar with the Tall Whites and Charles Hall’s story?
I don’t know anything about the Charles Hall story. At least, as I recall. I will check it out on the internet and get back with you on it.
I went through the above links. No, I have absolutely zero experience with this species. I have nothing that even resembles any of this. However the writings are quite interesting. It’s not the kind of stuff that an author or hoaxter would come up with. Even though I have zero experience with this species, I DO KNOW that MAJestic has been working with numerous species.
"He explains that the pencil weapon can be used to stimulate calcium atomic frequencies to cause great pain like being burned, but one was not actually burned. When the iodine setting is used by the stun gun it can cause one to bleed to death. He compared this to the black plague when people would bleed to death due to arteries being weakened and blood would leak out causing death. In an email, Charles clarified how the pencil weapon works: “The pencil weapon could be set to stimulate the atomic frequencies of Sodium, Calcium or Iodine. Stimulating the Sodium atoms caused immense pain because it caused the nerves to discharge. If the weapon is set high enough, it can cause instant death. Stimulating the Calcium atoms caused the reverse (i.e. sleep, calmness, relaxation etc ) because it causes the nerves to reset and relax. Stimulating the Iodine atoms, of course, as described in book three, causes death by internal bleeding because it causes chemical changes that allow the blood to pass through the walls of the arteries in and around the thyroid gland.” " -Exopolitics
The “Tall Whites” are NOT the Mantid species.
The type-1 greys are an intermediary that carry on work for and along the purposes of the Mantids.
A typical slide.
Take me through a typical “slide”, does conservation of mass and energy hold in the MWI, sounds like not?
Conservation of mass and energy holds true only within a given reality. Reality slides are movement from one reality to another. The consciousness moves, and when it does it does so in the form of waves, as opposed to particle, form.
Each reality is ψ-epistemic. It is a self-contained reality that runs from nothing to nothing, with all kinds of things going on between those two points. There is a near-infinite number of realities that exist. these realities exist in a universe or baseline structure. This universe is ψ-ontic .
You can move from reality to reality in all sorts of ways.
The most common is (of course) “the arrow of time”. We, and those around us think and process thoughts. All of this constructs the next momentary reality that our consciousness inhabits. It is so ingrained in our mind that we just move about ahead naturally with little in the way of thought consideration. We consider it “natural’. That is, because it actually is natural.
The second way, is “dimensional travel”. You can “jump” through one reality into another. This can get complicated. As you need to know where you are, and where you want to go. You need coordinates in a minimum of 11 dimensions (as far as I understand).
My first slide was through a “dimensional door”, and it was exactly as I described it. You disappear into thin air, and reappear elsewhere. If you are walking through the egress tube, you will pass through something that would appear to be a curtain of water, and when you exit it, you will actually feel wet. Then, it will be as nothing happened.
There are “grades” or techniques of this kind of travel.
Dimensional portal
Manufactured bubble (as in a vehicle)
Manufactured bubble (as in a small handheld device)
7th dimensional entry and egress.
My EBP artifice supported travel.
I have written about all the other kinds. You have the dimensional portal travel the MAJestic uses with the type-1 greys. You have the manufactured bubble travel such as the John Titor saga, and the mysterious woman in the aluminum foil coat. You have the 7th dimensional entry and egress as shown by the mystery woman in the airport, or the bicycle riding man in Russia. And finally, you have EBP directed travel.
Almost all of my experiences is via EBP. So my slides are going to differ from any of the other methods.
The EBP, firstly gives me the ability to see my reality normally, as well as to “sense” other nearby realities. I can, for instance, sense realities that can be harmful to me, and other realities that will be great for me. This gives me a greater degree of control in the overall immediate direction of my life.
These realities are momentary visions. They pop in and out, and jiggle about. They are controlled by thought, and the surrounding physical environment.
As cool as this sounds, I am handicapped in whether or not I can take advantage of any potential reality directions that are presented to me. That is because my ability to travel about these nearby realities can be locked in or out by the EBP artifice. Yes, the “pilot” can make sure that I am steered in the right direction so that the Mantids Type-1 Greysvget the most efficient benefit of my actions and activities.
Which really sucks. You know, you see an “opportunity” and it is right there if only you do XXX or YYY. You can see it plainly.
Yet as soon as you want to do XXX, the EBP locks you out.
Why it sucks to be me.
They have always wanted me to represent “average”. Not “average” college graduate. Not “average” Naval Aviator. Not “average” type-A personality hard worker…. no. They want me to be entirely “average”, from the most slothful lazy jackass to the most aggressive rich oligarch billionaire.
Average.
Which means, and one thing that I really resent, is that they took Sebastian and myself (above average in intelligence, skill sets, and motivations) and put us in a situation where we represented the average person. Which is far lower in intelligence. Far lower in skill set. Far lower in motivations.
This is pretty much how it manifested to me personally. You push and you strive to be the top 1% of the 1% of the 1% (as repeatedly told to us at NAS NASC Pensacola FL). But the role in MAJestic was such that I had to represent the “average” American. That meant that the reality that surrounded me would be locked down and suppressed to be the reality that most Americans would experience. It sucked.
No matter what I would want to do, and no matter that I could clearly see how the realities would open up, I would be locked out of the opportunities in order to maintain my role within MAJestic.
Anyways…
How it worked.
The MAJestic pilot would control the artifice in such a way that the course that I am to follow and the world that I am to experience is mapped out. In a non-MAJestic world, I might have a path that would go A-B-C-D-E-F. But, in MAJestic, my role would be for me to experience reality Z.
So the pilot would map out a path that would be A-B-C1-E2-G5-T8-X-Y-Z.
The adjacent realities that I would experience could sometimes deviate quite substantially from my previous reality. The deviations are immediate and you don’t really know what is going on except what you “feel” and the over all “sensing” of the situation. This is true, even though there are some visual clues that the EBP provides.
Let’s relate an experience that I had years ago, and use it to illustrate how the system worked.
It was back in the early 1990’s, I don’t remember when, but let’s imagine that it was around 1991 or 1992. I was in a roadside restaurant with my wife. It was a local diner, not a chain diner like the Waffle House or anything like that. Just a normal glass walled stainless steel box with a counter and booths along the windows.
The diner looked a little something like this. Photo obtained from the internet, and I haven’t a clue as to who the old man is, so don’t ask. Photo is for illustrative purposes. This event happened long before cell phones, and while I did have a 35mm camera, it was not with me that day, and I did not take pictures to record the events.
A normal person would go in, order from the menu, eat, pay and leave. The process would be pretty predictable and would be along the lines of A-B-C-D-E-F. After a 45 minute span of time, the man would be at reality F.
For me, however, it would be different.
My objective was to occupy reality Z after 45 minutes in the restaurant. To do this, the pilot would send me; the “commander”, along a different reality track. I would “slide” along a different route to my destination. I would go A-B-C1-E2-G5-T8-X-Y-Z.
I entered the diner with my wife normally. Now, you know, I knew that I was dealing with slides immediately. I could feel the differences. I could sense the changes. There would be different smells for starters.
After we looked at the menu, I ordered a hamburger platter with fries and a cup of coffee. My wife ordered some eggs and toast. The restaurant smelled like a normal restaurant, but then I started to notice that it smelled strongly of curry, as well as raisins. It was like you were walking around the booths of an international fair full of exotic foods and flavors of the world. It no longer smelled of hamburger and fries.
It smelled of lamb and curry.
The waitress brought out our dishes and I was eating a curry-gyro with rice, and a tall glass of white wine. My wife, who now had a really dark tan, was busily attacking her tuna-fish salad. As we ate, I started to notice that the normal day started to variate in a substantially different direction. The sky was no longer blue, but it was a glaring white and people were rubbing their eyes. The girls were also trending towards long skirts, and the guys were no longer wearing tee-shirts, but rather plain white button-down white short-sleeve shirts.
By the time my meal was finished, it was back to a half-eaten hamburger, but I was drinking coke instead of wine or the coffee that I ordered. My wife was full from the taco-salad that she had, and her skin was back to being light color. She and I were both wearing tee-shirts again. Though, they were “newer” than I recalled before the dive. She also now was a smoker, while before we went into the restaurant, she did not smoke.
Our car was back to being the same as it was, except that the car was a little wider than it was before, and on the drive home, there were some roads that were missing. I went home and discovered that I had an extra cat in the house, as well as some bills that apparently needed to be paid (yet again). In this 45 minute interlude, I dove to reality Z, via really odd-ball realities to get where I needed to go.
The need to dive into really strange realities has always been a kind of mystery to me, but the real reason is that we can only travel into adjacent realities using the EBP. To use this method, you need to dive into really strange adjacent realities to resurface into a nearby objective reality that would be prohibitively difficult for me to reach otherwise.
More questions.
Very fascinating, did you know before hand there was a slide planned for that day?
No. I never knew. They just happened, and I rode them whether I liked it or not. They came at all hours of the day and at night.
Generally they were not disruptive in any way that was life threatening, but they were discordant. You could be watching a movie, and find out that they movie changed during a slide. For instance, in this reality Roxanne is a comedy about a man with a really big nose. However, when it first came out, the reality that I was in as different. Instead of Steve Martin being the lead actor, it was John Candy.
What were/are the Mantids trying to do, stabilize the overall reality streams? Maybe reduce the probability of war (say)? Increase human awareness or sentience? Move us more towards “Service to others” soul types?
I really don’t know for sure. No one ever told me anything.
What I can sense is that the slides were [1] important. They [2] assisted the Mantids in gauging the direction and situation of the “human condition”. This enabled them [3] to alter trends and reality via the MWI for a portion of the population. (No, the human population does not share similar realities. Instead they play the percentages. Thus, forcing me to ride the “averages”.)
[4] The type-1 grey had a role(s) as a pilot. He followed the direction from the Mantids, and used their abilities and interfaced with the Type-1 grey technology. This required a biological artifice, but how it all worked, I haven’t a clue.
Now, they (the Mantids) did not care if humans suffered. They did not care if humans prospered. They did not care. What they cared about was the general direction of human sentience. Why they would have been pleased if all humans moved towards to “service to others” sentience, they never expected that to ever happen. What they wanted to do was “push” the conditions of the MWI reality shared by many human consciousnesses towards the consciousness that they are most likely to migrate towards.
The type- greys did not care either. What they wanted was to identify those humans that would migrate to the “Service to self” and “service to another” consciousness so that they would then work onto either farming them as an adjunct to their species – a sub-species (farming or being farmed), or being assimilated into their hive or matrix soul configuration.
Some might have this happen quickly, but my understanding is that it might take many reincarnations. The push to ride the slides was a way to monitor the evolutionary process.
So once you were “in” the slides from A-B-C…n, it just kept coming until they were done? That must have been maddening!
Yes it was. Sometimes I was horrible and I really would get frustrated. But, in some way, I do not know how, the pilot was able to predetermine just how far I could be pushed. It would be rather counter-productive to have me kill myself because I thought I was mad.
Imagine that you really want to eat pizza. All day you are looking forward to having pizza. You sit down and eat pizza in a restaurant, only to find out that in the current world-line pizza consists of pizza bread covered in corn and ketchup. Or when you go to work and find out that the project that you have spent the last four months working on had never existed, or discovering that your pretty decent boss was replaced with a jack-ass. Or, buying a new car only to have it revert to a distressed clunker. Or, getting used to paying in 2 and 3 dollar bills and discovering that in the current world-line they never existed.
Or winning the lottery (not a big multi-million dollar payout, but $1000 is big news), and suddenly finding out that you had never bought the ticket in your new world line. Finding out your sister had four children not five. Discovering that you now had different musical tastes on this new world line, or that your wife was suddenly allergic to popcorn (so she wouldn’t ever go to the movies).
In general, the most important aspects of life remained pretty much constant, though their appearance might change. Loved ones, friends, pets all pretty much didn’t change that much outside of appearance.
Your wife might have long black hair, then she might have short curly hair. Stuff like that.
7th dimensional egress.
BTW, I think that Russian guy on the bike materializing is actually an artifact of how digital video works, I think he was riding from a direction where the camera software had aliased the area as blank (no change between scans) to an area where it was actively recording (the left side), that’s why he seems to suddenly appear from behind the person walking. You see this all the time on YouTube videos, where someone pops into frame because the camera software just noticed them moving (a change between scans). Sometimes though, it captures something on the unexplainable side, those are the weird ones (like a leprechaun, or little person or ghost thing running by, there’s LOTS of them too). The ones where someone just “pops” in are mostly due to the way digital video process images though.
This information about the guy on the bike is something to think about on numerous levels. I do not have all the answers just some perceptions given my previous experience.
You know, if you rode a bike you could explain to non-bike riders how much fun it is, and what it is like to have the air on your face. You could talk about putting air in the tires and so forth. Maybe you would not know anything about motorcycles, but you could guess with some degree of accuracy. I would think that its sort of like that.
The only point I was making about the “pop-in” videos is that most are easily explained as an artifact of how digital cameras work, that’s all.
This could very well be true. I need to think about it. The problem that I have about this is that the images show that this “artifact” is selective in application. Why so, if the point of view of the camera as an observer is just different hued pixels?
More on slides.
Gyros are good but I would not like curry pizza, that I know for sure! 😉
Actually, I never had any idea of when a slide would materialize. It was always without notice and could come at the most inconvenient times.
I well remember once I was giving an important presentation. The managers above me were all in the room, and I turned to the white board to draw an arrow on a sketch that I had been working on only to find the board was blank. I then turned around and the room was empty. I was in a reality where I wasn’t giving the presentation.
Yes, it was maddening. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would certainly believe that I was loony-tunes.
The why.
As far as to the why… well, no one ever told me anything. I have only come up with my own understandings. I do know that the type-1 greys would be tickled pink if they could harvest a large portion of the human population over to their sentience. They would then partition them out as either assimilated co-drones, or as farmed sentience’s. Ohhhh. That’s a horrible fate. They would be farmed for their experiences, and then the quantum associations would be excised and extracted, and they would then live another experience, but without ever obtaining the quantum arrangement benefits. Yuck. They view this transitional period much longer than we humans would recognize…say 500 years or so.
The Mantids are moving a pace and expect to assist in a sizable portion of humans towards a different kind of sentience. This sizable number would be smaller than any number harvested by the Greys.
Both species recognize that the human species are a transitional or temporary species. We will evolve into something else. The path that we will take will be one such that there would be but three ultimate destinations.
The lowest of the “service for self”, and many of the “service for another” would eventually evolve towards incarnations as “farmed sentience’s”. This would be life in Hell. I am not at all kidding.
The type-1 greys.
The Grays sound distinctively demonic, based upon your experience. I have heard of other stories where people have evoked the name of Jesus while being abducted and they have frozen on terror, now why should an alien from a difference star system have any care about the name of Christ if they are not demonic in their orientation?
I have also read about Russian Orthodox priests who state that there is no element of the Gray Aliens that doesn’t sound satanic in their actions and properties.
I do not know about involing the name of Jesus.
But, the vast bulk of humanity, would pretty much evolve towards a “service for self” sentience as it would fit within a Type-1 grey hive or matrix soul configuration. In that case, it would be sort of like “Purgatory”. There would no longer be an individual soul that they would advance, but rather they would be part of something else. They would function as a tiny gear in a huge and vast machine (metaphorically speaking).
Those that are “service for others” would advance to a new higher-energy sentience and would transcend the physical reality. Ultimately becoming inter-dimensional beings, and closer to “God”. It would be like living in Heaven. This is what the Mantids are working towards.
The dives.
These dives that I was involved in, differed from a regular slide. I like to think that a slide would be a minor alteration of my reality, as they often were. But a dive was a series of slides that went all over the place (with different realities), eventually wrapping up at a different point. I think that the dives were necessary because, otherwise I would choose or select a reality that might be personally harmful to me personally or detrimental to my MAJestic objectives.
For instance, I might get fired, when it was necessary for me to continue working at a company. Or I might get tangled up with some chick, when it would result in me getting hurt or ill. Or, I might end up in the wrong place where I would die in a car accident. To move me around and avoid these circumstance, I had to be placed on dive detours. Some of which were really crazy. I related the deep dive that sent me into a really alternative reality, but there were others. Many others. I lived this life for three decades. Ugh.
The Greys as Borgs
That taken with your logical rationalizing about the Hell experience the selfish human souls being “farmed” into by them and end up makes me arrive to the same conclusion. Their Gray-Borg farm is a loser for humanity, sounds like to me, how about you?
So, I don’t want to be insulting but from the sound of your past experiences, I think you were being used (big time). They signed you up for something that in 20/20 hindsight, you would have probably declined.
The Grays do strike me as serving evil, there are many traits they seem to exhibit that confirm this: Their collective matrix-soul over the responsibility imparted to the individual, their disregard for the holiness of the physical body, their manipulation of humans to feed their psychic hunger, their consciousness splitting technology, it just goes on and on. Then there are the observations of other people who have studied this phenomenon such as Dr. John Mack and other ufologists. The conclusion is pretty obvious, they feed on us and the negative psychic energy they produce through us for their own appetite.
The effects of these abduction experiences on the personal transformation of abductees are very clearly enumerated by Dr. Mack (p. 48-49) and provide us with clear insight into the psychic and spiritual dimensions of the abduction experience. Once the initial terror of the experience subsides, and with the sense of familiarity or comfort that repeated abductions foster, abductees report profound changes in their philosophical outlook and understanding of themselves, others, and the world around them.
Dr. Mack identifies eight stages in this process of change:
1) The individual begins to accept the aliens and experiences what he calls an "ego death."
2) Abductees come to regard their abductors as "intermediaries...between...human beings and the primal source of creation or God."
3) They begin to think of their experiences as trans-temporal and trans-spatial, as "returning to their cosmic source or ‘Home.’"
4) The individual begins to feel that he is himself an alien, when he returns "back" to Earth.
5) Abductees come to understand existence in terms of "cycles of birth and death over long stretches of time."
6) The individual forms a feeling of "identification of consciousness with virtually endless kinds of beings and entities."
7) Abductees develop "a double identity," associating their souls with an alien identity and their personalities with a limited human self.
8) They report functioning beyond what they often call a "veil" and describe "being in multiple times and places at the same moment," among other things.
Well if you don’t want to comment, that’s alright, I understand (to a small degree) how hard the past 30 years must have been for you.
I do agree with you, but for some reason I am having difficulty in seeing evil. I am going to check out those links.
Opinions on the Greys.
From my fresh-eyed look at your experience and information listed plus what I have aggregated myself, I see the Grays as human soul hunters. They have been with us all through our history in one form or another and always from a negative understanding (evil).
Have they given us a cure for disease, a cure for cancer, a cure for hunger, mutual understanding and brotherhood among mankind, better water purification, free electricity in the form of nuclear fusion or some other means? NOPE!
They have provided vehicle technology for our study and reverse engineering efforts. They have provided us dimensional door technology. They have been working with MAJestic on human DNA manipulation, and mapping. They have helped and assisted on non-lethal weapons systems.
However, they have most vigorously quarantined us from lunar exploration back in the 1970’s.
Slides to maximize the “hunting” expeditions.
Your slides seem to be their attempt to manipulated the time-lines in order to maximize the success of their hunting operations. They feed off of our suffering, selfishness and bad psychic energy which they use their technology to enable, that strikes me as pretty evil (no?).
It is certainly very selfish. It is certainly “service to self” behavior. Whether or not it is evil from their point of view, I don’t think so. They seem to think that they are helping us as part of a greater plan. And, as part of that, some people are going to be hurt for the greater good of all.
Evil is as evil does.
There isn’t a single incidence ever recorded in our esoteric history of one of them helping us, every culture records them as bad. Even in modern times such as in the “Journey to Serpo” story, they only help us in order to help themselves screw us better.
Are there any times when they helped you for purely unselfish reasons? I don’t know man, they sure seem demonic to me!
This is an angle and an idea that I have not thought of. I am still digesting the links that you gave me. I cannot say that I disagree with them, it’s just that the viewpoints are different from what I have accepted. I am still digesting them, and I do see some real truth there. There is nothing that I disagree with.
It’s that I am coming to grips with the idea of “pure evil”, when in my mind it is all neutral.
A “service to self” sentience is that way because it is the way it is. To me, a “service to self” sentience is inherently evil from a person who’s sentience is “service to others”. By looking at it this way, you can easily see who is who in the various roles.
I see a snake as a “service to self” species. They go about their life taking what they need and doing snake activities. They are all self-absorbed in what they want and cannot conceive helping others in any shape or form.
But, yes. You are absolutely correct. They do feed off our suffering. The thoughts generated during conflict create associations with the quanta and that means the construction of specific types of garbons. The more suffering, the greater the yield. Eventually they will harvest the “ripest fruit”. Now, I do know a little about this.
They are selective. They just do not want just any “fruit” or fresh garbon, to harvest. They want specially constructed ones, and they really want the ownership of the individual that creates such thoughts. Then they could farm and harvest at will. Over time, that person would migrate towards more, and more severe “service to self” behaviors. At that point in time, through reincarnation, they can then migrate and have the soul reconfigured from a (non-approved transitional) configuration into matrix or hive configuration from which they can assimilate into their Borg-like collective.
So, here is where I am trying to understand them. Remember, I have no answers. Just experience. To me, they seem to be “Lawful Neutral”, or “Lawful Evil” from my point of view, with “Neutral” and “Neutral Evil” being strong possibilities FROM MY POINT OF VIEW. From their point of view, I would think that they see themselves as “Neutral Good” or “Lawful Good”. Perceptions on this comes from our consciousness within this reality, as such it forms thoughts. How the thoughts arrange affect our individual soul growth. That is how it is all tied together.
Different types of good and evil.
This is an interesting thought stream. Need to ponder it some more. I don’t think that they are Demoniac, though it is a real possibility that they are Diabolic.
The idea that they might have intentionally forced me to endure trials and poor-assed experiences so that they could personally harvest my own garbons never actually occurred to me. I need to think about this more.
As you have a very good point.
I do believe that while my slides were for the purpose of sentience evolution for the purposes of the Mantids, it is also very… very possible that the Type-1 greys would also configure the system for their own profit. Which means that my MAJestic operations were to the benefit of both species, and that anything that I endured will be harvested later and I would obtain no benefit from it personally.
It gives me a sickening feeling. I need to think about this more.
The process.
While it is true that you can’t be forced into doing something against your will, you CAN be tricked into doing it. Figure this: The Grays get to keep the psychic energy they turn and their master gets the soul. Sounds like the nature of the deal, no?
Yes, that’s pretty much how it works, more or less.
DNA discovery.
It’s been recently discovered that DNA has a quantum signature in its election cloud and there are ~9billion base pairs per molecule and trillions of trillions of molecules per person, that’s A LOT of qbit energy man!
This is interesting stuff. I would be interested in following up on this stuff about quantum signatures in the electron clouds of DNA.
On animals.
On evil, a snake is an animal and animals have no choice, they can only be what they are so they’re neutral. True snakes do kill baby birds and cute bunnies but they do so as a means of control over the population of their prey, not out of any malice or advantage over another. To them it’s just eating, seems to be the way the Grays regard mankind?
The Grays may have helped engineer our evolution but they must obviously see that we are NOT animals and must be given a choice in life but seem to lack such an ethic. “The Journey to Serpo” (if true) seems to indicate that the Grays have about the same regard for the sanctity of life as we might over an upgraded computer, it’s just hardware to them. The story goes that they took one of the human crew that had died on the journey and used his body to engineer some sort of clone without any regard for his body or seeking permission from the commanding officer, just took it like it was an old piece of hardware. Those warm feeling of love and compassion could be implanted memories or fake emotions to cover their tracks, you yourself said in one of the web pages that they regard us as their property.
The idea of personal rights intrinsic to the human person is an affectation of Christianity but one I happen to agree with. Avoiding the Gray collective gives another dimension to acting in an less selfish manner and for my own good, it really does!
Oh, and by the way. We are always protected. Always. And while the greys might want to direct us in certain ways, it is up to our own individual consciousness to allow or to deny it from happening.
Remember, that everyone has a “Guardian Angel”, this is a dedicated multi-dimensional Mantid species that works the “levers of reality” “behind the curtain.” They are busy trying to assist our human species towards sentience evolution. They really want us to be “service for others” sentience.
They greys seduce us in ways, means and directions toward “service to self” activities. This can easily lead us in the direction where they want us to go. They have their own intentions and purposes. We should never mistake high physical technology, no matter how apparently “God-like” to be representative of spiritual superiority.
That’s possible because phonons have a wavelength which is similar in size to a DNA helix and this allows standing waves to form, a phenomenon known as phonon trapping. When this happens, the phonons cannot easily escape. A similar kind of phonon trapping is known to cause problems in silicon structures of the same size.
That would be of little significance if it had no overall effect on the helix. But the model developed by Rieper and co suggests that the effect is profound.
Although each nucleotide in a base pair is oscillating in opposite directions, this occurs as a superposition of states, so that the overall movement of the helix is zero. In a purely classical model, however, this cannot happen, in which case the helix would vibrate and shake itself apart. So in this sense, these quantum effects are responsible for holding DNA together.
Experiments over the past few decades, however, have shown that enzymes make use of a remarkable trick called quantum tunneling to accelerate biochemical reactions. Essentially, the enzyme encourages electrons and protons to vanish from one position in a biomolecule and instantly rematerialise in another, without passing through the gap in between – a kind of quantum teleportation.
You must have some wild theories on the quantum mechanics of our bodies and conscious mind, don’t you? The one on the DNA electron cloud I have to look for at work, can’t seem to find it right now.
Yes, I do in fact.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
I have been in contact and often hold discussions with influencers. Here is one such series of the discussions. It is of course, in the form of questions being answered by myself. Perhaps, I think, you the reader, might find this to be of interest.
I have kept the influencer’s name confidential, and no attribution other than that knowledge is provided.
First Question
What’s Catholic Church have to w this, why hands off by EBs?
I was raised as a Catholic. Yet, all of my (MAJestic) experiences were devoid of any direct references to any specific types of religions, icons, or particular dogma or teachings. That being said, I can make a few observations that you might find curious. These statements should be considered as “profound” and not, at all, trivial.
Humans have a need for ritual. Rituals work on a very important level.
The
level that rituals work upon is NOT part of the physical brain. It is a
quantum field that is associated with the physical brain. Let’s just
simply refer to it as “sub-level”. That is because there is absolutely
no English name for this condition. Nor am I aware of any name in other
religions, or in any of the sciences.
This “sub-level” is an underlying quantum field that memories, and thoughts are empowered by.
The area of the mind (not the brain) that is influenced by ritual ALSO influences the reality that surrounds us.
Thus, rituals affect memories and thoughts.
Memories and thoughts influence our reality.
That being said, let’s now consider other entities that exist in our universe.
Other entities also work on this “sub-level”.
Many of them are more “attuned” or more “in touch” with how to interact with the “sub-level”.
Being so skilled, they can easily communicate with others of the same species. We might consider it telepathy.
It is rather easy for other entities to communicate with humans if they are “attuned” or accustomed to the “sub-level”.
Because of a lack of vocabulary, such communication can be misinterpreted by others.
Thus,
it is entirely possible that Catholic Saints or other devoted
individuals have gotten in touch with their “sub-level”. As such, they
could have easily communicated with others… been “inspired” by
others… been “influenced” by others, and also been able to create a
local environment where things can manifest at will. With this
understood, a person or creature communicating at this level, would not
at all need physical proofs for others to recognize. Though, it might be
desirable.
Second Question
I guess that I didn’t answer the question properly. Thus, I ended up getting a secondary question. I guess that he wanted to understand why extraterrestrial beings would act or behave like they do. What are their motivations?
My question involves your statement that the benefactors have been told “hands off the Catholic Church”. Can you please expound on this prohibition and by whom?
There is a hierarchy of species in our “neck of the woods”. Some are very technically advanced, and occupy the physical, and others are very ancient and occupy a different KIND of reality. One in which Heaven and physical Earth are pretty much the same to them.
There is a group of entities that help police this sentience nursery that we are a part of. These are those “little green men” or Zeta’s that everyone “knows” about. But they are actually one species that uses physical bodies like clothing and are very busy policing our world. They are very old and have been involved with the evolution of humans for many, many years. Easily 30,000 or 40,000 more years. They zip about in these craft that can be hidden from human eyesight. They monitor for biological threats to our environment, make sure that we avoid nuclear war, and do everything that they can to influence sentience evolution.
They are a “service for self” species. So, it would be their preference if humans also evolved to be “service to self”.
Yet, as advanced as they are, they are only “worker bees”. They are a species that provides the task of monitoring this sentience nursery. Just like they are monitoring the other sentience nurseries in our general geographic region of space.
I do not know WHY they have this role. I do not know WHAT benefit they get from doing this. I strongly suspect that they have manipulated themselves into this position.
They believe that by assisting in the sentience evolution of humans, that they might be able to eventually assimilate the various “service for self” entities into their collective. (Sounds like a Star Trek theme.Eh?) And their species would grow proportionally. This would be true no matter what direction the human species evolves into.
The Borg is a fictional species of creatures that exist within the fictional Star Trek universe. They are comprised of many different biological species that share a Hive-mind through technology and biological alterations.
When a “service to self” entity or species evolves, they also tend to evolve their mind, their physical body, their technology and eventually they tinker with their soul construction, thus affecting their consciousnesses. First they tend to alter DNA at birth to prevent birth defects and illness. Then they do so to improve the child; make them smarter, more attractive, and so forth. Then the species collectively make rules for the modification of DNA, eventually leading to whole-scale DNA alteration of the entire species. Over all, they constantly tinker and improve, over and over again over the centuries.
This tinkering will only take them so far. They will become masters of the physical universe, but will forever be chained to it. Thus, for a “service to self” entity, their sentience evolution eventually becomes a “dead end”.
Now… There are other species, much much older that have evolved PAST the physical environment. They are truly multi-dimensional entities. There is one such species that I am very involved with. They are an invertebrate, multidimensional species. That are working towards human sentience evolution.
They have manipulated (or tasked, I don’t know) the other Grey’s to monitor this physical environment for them. While they are involved in much more detailed activities.
This other species are way, way, WAY more advanced than the Grey’s are.
They are the ones that are cultivating the human species. Not the Greys. They want the human species ( I strongly believe) to follow their path. They want the human species to evolve towards a multi-dimensional species like they are. It is a great path, and not as limiting as the “service to self” path is. To do this, humans need to evolve towards a “service to others” inclination.
I guess, that you could call this species “angels”. It’s a very apt term, on many levels.
Imagine a totally different species that decided to evolve in a different direction. Instead of altering their physical DNA, they decided to advance spiritually. They made a science of how the mind, soul and consciousness interconnect. They use this science to advance and have had many, many centuries to advice scientifically in this direction. Today, they are a inter-dimensional species that rarely accesses the physical reality.
Using
the “back plane” they can communicate directly humans on an individual
basis. However the situation and the circumstances needs to be correct.
Humans require [1] ritual and [2] certain conditions to become open and
receptive.
Humans require ritual and certain other conditions to be able to communicate with any inter-dimensional species though use of the "back plane".
There are numerous religions that provide these opportunities for direct communication. Though many of the humans would not recognize the communication. Most think it is their imagination, or that they had a “hunch”, or that they were “directed” to act in a certain way.
Having a “vision”
Getting a “hunch”.
Having a “gut feeling”.
Having a “nudge”
But when in that environment, they can more easily “link up” with this entity or entities. The entity would help and assist them on a personal level towards a more direct “service to others” sentience.
The Catholic Church, for all the scandals and all the past misdeeds, is one such environment. It’s perhaps the biggest and most important environment for this communication. (It’s not the only one. Mind you. It’s just the best.) The channels are there. Everything that you need is there. (So you need to ignore it’s faults and misdeeds. You need to focus on the message and the environment that it is given in.)
This “Angel” species has set things in motion such that no matter what the worker Grey’s do, this most fundamental means of communication be open for those individuals whom wish to follow the path towards “service to others” spiritual sentience evolution.
Yes. The Catholic Church is “hands off” to any of the Grey species.
Third Question – In multiple parts
So there are two races of “grays”, one essentially good and one essentially bad?
No. There is one race of “greys” (that I know of).
They have different bodies that look, to us humans, as different species. There are short greys, tall greys, fat greys, skinny and ugly greys, etc. They are all part of the same hive soul construct. They all share the same consciousness, in quite a bit different way that we have individual consciousnesses.
They work with emerging species, and those that show a “service for self” sentience, they assimilate into their “collective”. The species then is overwhelmed by their technology, and is absorbed into the “hive”.
Once they join, the consciousness segments can move in and out of any physical body within the collective. One minute you have the body of a pilot of a “flying saucer” and the next minute you have the body of a laborer in a dome on the moon. It’s sort of like that.
They are neither good, nor bad. They are neutral.
The old video image (of an “Eban”) you feature in one of your articles are which kind (I’m guessing good)?
The video image is of a type-1 grey “pilot”. It’s a recovered member of a crew that operates an observation / interdiction vehicle. I do not know anything else about this individual except from scant knowledge regarding the movies that were recorded of it.
I have never experienced any malevolence by these creatures in any way. For the most part, they remind me of the neighborhood vet that I would take my pets to. Friendly but not close, professional and skilled, but serious.
I understand the “Eban” reference and the Stitchen references. However, I can not confirm nor deny any association. I just do not know. What I do know is from things that I just cannot talk about, and at that, it is just very scant. Sorry.
For your purposes you can consider the “eban” to be the same as my Type-1 grey.
Are the two grays from a similar lineage or entirely different one?
They share the same soul. They both have segmented consciousnesses, and they same the same technology. Their DNA is similar but NOT identical.
They are just like the science fiction television show Star Trek with the “Borg”. (I have often suspected that the media somehow taps into the unconsciousness, or is driven by MAJestic to provide information to Americans in a way that is disguised as fictional adventures.)
In the fictional Star Trek universe there is a race of creatures known as “The Borg”. This species captures other races and assimilates them by electro-biological and mechanical means turning them into robots for the collective. The Type-1 greys are sort of like this.
You know how the “Borg” goes about and “assimilates” other species? Well, in real life, it’s like that. Only they just don’t assimilate an entire species. What they do is integrate species members that have a soul configuration that matches their own. This is [1] a “service to self” sentience. This is also [2] a “Service for another” sentience.
Both (of these two types of) human sentience’s are easily converted or absorbed into the Grey core “collective.
The “service for others” sentience is a harder path, but leads to a far greater growth and evolutionary track. Which is why the “Angelics” (the other species that I mentioned that is invertebrate) wants humans to follow.
Have you read or been told about any of the past 30k years in earth history? I’m guessing our “history” is completely bass-ackwards-wrong?
I do know of some of the history. What I do know is in fragmented answers. I was never given a formal briefing, as it was always expected that I would be told just what I needed to accomplish my tasks and no more.
I am aware that others in MAJestic have tried to map out some sort of history track. I am also aware that they have done so in various papers and that they have used some type of extraterrestrial technology to access it. I have heard from non-MAJestic sources that this is in the form of a “yellow book”. I don’t know anything about that. What I do know is that there is a complete historical record available to certain elements of MAJestic and this is in the form of an extraterrestrial artifact.
MAJestic is in possession of the entire historical record of the human species dating back many, many thousands of years. It is in the form of an artifact. It is referred to by non-MAJestic sources as a “yellow book”, but I do not know how accurate that nomenclature is, or whether or not it is descriptive in any way.
Unfortunately, as far as I know, the MAJestic investigative staff have been unable to properly search and index using that technology. (I know why, but no one ever asked me for my help.)
Much of the problem has to do with the problem with vector time. We humans treat time as a one-way vector. We measure it as our consciousness moves in and out of different (adjacent) realities. So we think, incorrectly, that time is a one-way vector and that the past is the past and that it is “carved in stone”. But that is not how the universe works.
Each reality has it’s own past history.
Each past history is different from reality to reality. So, to put it in another way, the past can be changed. It is NOT fixed. To read and measure and learn from the past, you need to target a fixed segment vector and “lock it down”.
Thus the reason why the staff cannot index or jump-search using extraterrestrial technology. Is that the moment they try to index, the reality switches, and a new past reality materializes. (Even if the difference in the reality is a fleck of dust on a lampshade.)
The history that I know of goes back far…far back…way back to a time long before there were dinosaurs.
What would be some significant past earthly historical events that nobody has ever heard of?
There are all sorts of interesting stories. Some involve extraterrestrials, but many do not.
For instance, did you know that the ancient Egyptians used DC electricity? Who would figure, eh? They used it for [1] electroplating, [2] primitive illumination, [3] impressive displays of power with ruler staffs, and [4] certain medicinal techniques and preparations.
Ancient Egyptian light bulb in use. Obviously they were very crude designs compared to what we have available today and through the Edison light-bulb technology.
I know that it is hard to believe, but there is a contingent of people who believe that the Egyptians had crystal power that had all these magical properties. Well, I hate to rain on your parade, but they didn’t have this ability as far as I know.
However, they did actually harness DC power and had batteries and used copper conductive cables to move the electricity about. They were quite an amazing people.
Another image of an Egyptian light bulb. When historians came across these reliefs they did not know what a light bulb was, as it pre-dated Thomas Edison. So they interpreted this mural as religiously symbolic.
They built the pyramids using fluid buoyancy. (This is very similar to the Chris Masseys theory of construction.) A huge lake was constructed. Dressed stones were transported to the build site using rafts, and leveled using the water table. There were no slaves, or ramps with slave-supervision and whips.
More about the method of shipment of the blocks to the build site can be found HERE. I suppose that we are supposed to believe that after transporting them by boat, then would remove them off the boat, and then push them up earthen ramps to the top of the Pyramids, eh?
Once the building was completed the lake was mostly drained and existed as a reflection pool that surrounded all of the structures there. There were walkways or causeways that went from the edge of the reflection pool to the pyramids, and important people would use these for their own purposes and rituals.
The pyramids were impressive in their day. They were sheathed in well-cut stone that reflected light and emitted heat at sunset much like Ayers Rock does today! At the top of each pyramid was an impressive metallic iron capstone with carvings of special significance. Oh, and as far as I understand, whatever the purpose of the Great Pyramid was, it wasn’t as a tomb. It was for something else.
Ayers Rock at sunset. The heat that is built up in side the rock all day, radiates away at sunset. It makes the rock glow in a reddish color while the darkening dusk appears. This is how the Great Pyramid used to be.
At the time of construction, the pyramids were at the center of a very lush and tropical area. The Nile would raise and lower, but there weren’t the surrounding deserts like we see today. Instead they consisted of lightly forested areas, fields, and were flush with wildlife of all sorts. The Egyptian people were a very religious people, but their religion did not resemble anything like what contemporaneous Egyptian scholars suppose.
Egypt existed as a significant cultural center at that time. They are older than we contemporaneously give them credit for, but not as old as Graham Hancock and his followers wish to believe. Egyptian history is far more colorful and complex than the Egyptian histories let on.
Their ships traveled to both Australia, and to the Americas. But, as far as I know they never integrated or settled with the populations there. Though, they have most certainly influenced them.
And don’t even get me started on the stone softening techniques of South America…
You mention “The Journey to Serpo” but sounds like you don’t believe the story (I have found some corroboration through).
I do not believe it because I do not know the entire story. What I have read is wholly at odd with my own experiences, so I have (perhaps wrongly) discounted the narrative.
Remember that my experiences are completely different.
That being said, I will never say that someone did not experience what they claim to have experienced. Everyone’s experience is unique to themselves. So, to better frame things, it is possible that what is said about Serpo is true, it’s just that I have no comparative similar attributes that I can relate to.
It’s possible there are different elements of their culture just like here, right? So maybe the “worker bees” are vacant nerds but maybe not the ones of their home worlds?
Yes that is possible. But, I do not know.
In regards to the type-1 greys, they are a very effective bunch. They know what they need to do and do it. They do not mess around. I have no idea what they do for recreation.
This is a type-1 grey. This particular entity is a pilot of a vehicle. He was filmed in Russia and this is a still from the video.
I have no idea if they value art, beauty, smells, scents, visual or musical art or anything similar. Yet, it is certain that somethings are important to them.
The impression that I get is that their personal enjoyment or motivations lie outside of the physical. Whether this is in their version of “Heaven”, or in their mind, or somewhere else physically.
The angelics are invertebrates you say? Like an octopus or more like an insect? So, they’re heroic but spineless huh, weird!
I know that this will freak you out. I am sorry, but you asked.
Well, you have heard about the Mantids? Eh? Well, that is pretty much what they are like. They are tall. They have wings. They have no bones, and a hard shell that looks like they wear a helmet on their head. They emit and radiate love, care and concern.
They evolved on Earth a long, long, long time ago.
(They are) Unlike the type-1 greys, that are space-faring entities. The angelics are multi-dimensional creatures that can traverse anywhere in the universe, but have a very special affinity for species on the Earth.
They care about humans very much, and are involved with humans on a personal individual basis. In fact, I would even go as far as to say that “guardian angels” are truly absolutely real.
Do the angelics believe in God or make any reference to a God?
Yes they do.
However, it is not a old aged human with a big white beard sitting on a throne near some pearly gates.
They are striving to get closer in their actions, by being more “service to another” sentience. They believe that the more they strive to help others, the better their soul configuration realigns with the true purpose of the universe. Thus, they get closer to their purpose of being, and closer to God by helping others.
They believe that by helping humans on this path, that we will get closer to God ourselves. Personally, I think that they are correct.
Do they still have a body or have they moved onto pure conscientiousness? What do they look like?
They are multidimensional beings.
We can see them under certain circumstances. If you take an overdose of MDA (for some reason) you can see your very own guardian angel. It is a very short visit and vision, but if it is important to you it is possible to do so.
They do look like a big insect. They are much taller than us humans and you need to look up to see their face. I would gather that they stand a full 18 inches taller than humans. They do have a triangular head. They have wings.
They do not look hideous however, and I have no idea why that is the case. I, for one, are horrified by insects, but they do not trigger any revulsion at all.
Do they also regard us as “property”?
No. They view us as their “children” that need to be protected, and taught how to grow and learn.
Fourth Question
I always thought I had a pretty good grasp on soul and conscience but I guess not, can you please expound on them some more?
I actually wrote some posts on this subject. But, here is the five cent overview. A soul is a collection of (inter-dimensional) quanta. They are “associated” together using a kind of “glue”. The “glue” that keeps them together are [1] thoughts, [2] actions, [3] intentions, and [4] associations. They do not reside within the physical. They reside all over the place, but they all all associated with each other.
At some point in time (not that time exists, mind you), but “eventually” somehow, somewhere the soul starts to obtain “self realization”. And with “self realization” (I exist because I think I exist) comes the formation of consciousness. Once this happens, consciousness realizes that the soul from whence it originates from, can grow and be “improved”. It discovers that it can improve its soul through conscious thought.
Initially, it starts to improve itself, and quickly it starts to meet other souls that are also similar to it. They learn from each other. Eventually, they realize that they can improve their soul structures by obtaining experiences. Experiences are thoughts + actions. But soul is existing in a point of “Heaven”. It’s difficult to modify the soul in any way other than thought. So an environment needs to be created from which to learn and grow from.
Yes, an entire universe (several actually) were created by our “human” souls. Each universe is in it’s entirety. From birth to death. Many trillions of trillions of trillions of years of existence. It exists there with each possible world-line variation of that universe available to the soul.
The soul then can take it’s consciousness, or create another (a soul can create and use multiple consciousnesses) and place it within one of the moments of time in that universe. Now, time is a funky thing. It is not what we think it is. It is a momentary instant. I call this a bubble. Time is our consciousness moving with the created universe from moment to moment. Or, in my terminology, from instant to instant. Thus, we (our consciousness) experiences this movement within this universe as an arrow; an arrow of time.
Fun fact; the rate of movement from moment to moment is the speed at which our brain processes thought. Now, that varies from person to person, and from instance to instance. So the apparent "arrow of time" is unique from individual to individual.
As our consciousness moves though our reality, it actuates the body that it occupies. This cause thoughts, dreams, hopes, fears, and physical actions which result in “situations” that need to be resolved.
Everything that occurs in the physical bubble of reality builds upon the structure of soul. In fact, if you look at it directly, our physical actions are actually shaping our soul. As we shape our soul, we give it abilities and help it to grow in certain directions.
Souls can grow and advance, and as it grows, it can develop new structures, new associations, new constructions, and new shapes. In a soul, this is much more than appearance. It is the creation of new abilities. The soul can develop into another soul form or shape. A soul can begin as a tiny thing. Maybe nothing more than useful than a stone, a rock or a pebble.
Eventually it can obtain consciousness and become a germ, a fly or a tiny microbe. Given many millions of life and death cycles, it can further grow into a shape that could master a “lower form” animal. Like a dog, a cat, or a human.
Further, by controlling experiences, it can grow into a greater being like an angel or something bigger and better, or stronger.
The type-1 greys have all mastered their soul configuration for control of their life within this universe. They are highly technically advanced. But they cannot become a trans-dimensional being. Their soul growth and advancement is limited where they are now. The only way now for them to grow further is to disassemble this enormous soul construct that they have worked millions of years to create. That is not going to happen, so their soul construct and advancement is at a dead end. All they can do is expand the size of the soul, and develop other attributes and skills. However, inter-dimensional soul ability is denied them.
The Mantids, on the other hand have transcended this situation. Their soul is lighter, freer, less ‘solid” and complex
Us humans can establish a soul configuration in any direction. In fact, that is what is going on now (within the next five centuries or so) is the direction of soul selection and development of most of mankind. This is firstly determined by sentience selection. As there (for the most part) are three sentience’s that we can gravitate to. These choices will determine how our soul develops by our actions on this planet (bubble of reality).
Service to self
Service to another
Service for others
You’re the first one to mention the Mantids as our benefactors and not as a force of evil. I for one have always liked insects including praying mantis (but not arachnids), however an 8′ one would freak me out! Have you ever seen one up close? Do they have a smell? Are they from this galaxy? Can they still fly?
The Mantids is the species that I am very, very familiar with. They are the ones that I am connected to, and from which I was selected to be associated with.
If the base commander would have told me and Sebastian that we would be integrated with giant insects we would have gone running away and AWOL faster than a pig on fire. I have always thought insects were horrible. The only ones I actually had any affection towards were ladybugs and bees, and at that, I was always fearful of bees
I am sure that there are many different insect-appearing species all over the universe. The species that I am knowledgeable of is the “giant praying mantis” type that I have mentioned previously.
They apparently evolved on our very own Earth. Yes, it seems really impossible, but they most certainly did. They evolved into thinking and tool-creating creatures during the Devonian period more or less. That’s a long long time ago. Maybe from 350 to 400 million years ago.
Eventually, they were able to transcend the physical reality. They did this after about 75 million years of physical existence. (These are all rough guesstimates as no one has ever set me down and pointed out the exact dates, as they vary from MWI to MWI world-line.)
I wish I could answer what they smell like. I don’t know. My association with them is via a mechanism; and artifice. It enables me to have a link with them (in certain very, very limited ways).
The traffic on the link is one way…to them. Dual feedback to me, for my understanding is tangential. I can pick up what is going on as an observer. Much of which I couldn’t make out for the longest time. Over time, my brain adapted and I could better understand things. (The brain self-learns and adapts. Really, I would have never expected that. ) I could ask questions of a sort, and understandings would be generated.
This EBP is their direct link to them, and the ELF probes enabled MAJestic to tap into what was going on. My training with the ELF probes provided me with insight, and I was able to self-calibrate during my retirement sequence, thus opening up access to the EBP data stream. Today, how the world around me looks is quite different than it did when I first joined the Navy
There is a old science fiction movie called “They Live”. In the movie, there was a pair of glasses that you could put on that would let you see the world as it really was. Well, it’s kind…kind… of like that.
The science fiction movie titled “They Live” describe a pair of glasses that enable the wearer to see what the world really looks like.
Where before my operation, I would see but one simple reality moment to moment, today, I see various moments moving about, jumping about, frittering about all the time, then they sort of “freeze” in place momentarily as my thoughts solidity. (Yeah I know it’s strange.)
Well, on top of that new reality that I endure, I now have “channels”. Sort of like how there used to be VHF and UHF dials on the old analog television screens. I can “focus” on what I can view and (sort of) “switch channels”.
Anyways, the reality that we (as normal humans) see is really not the true reality at all. It is a a specially selected reality that our consciousness uses to occupy a given reality. It is kept simple for purposes of function. Thoughts and actions arrange soul constructs. Simple results from simple cause and effect actions
In the fictional movie “They Live” the wearer of the special glasses can see the world as it actually is. They can see people for what they are and how everyone is being brainwashed towards certain behaviors.
Now, back to the Mantids. Once you can “pull the curtain” away and see what is going on behind the scenes, you can see the background activity.
They rarely materialize in the physical, though I do have some GIF’s and JPG’s of a Mantid moving across a parking lot caught on a security camera. They are busy assisting individual humans in various ways.
If I switch to another visual channel I can see them quite clearly. Though I usually only see one at a time. I have never seen them in groups. They do have assistants. The assistants on my “UHF” channel are not type-1 greys they are something else.
I can tell you what they look like. I can describe how they appear to me.
The EBP is mostly a visual device with thought conveyance...i.e. most humans ONLY think visually. Few think in terms of smells, tastes and tactile abilities. When was the last time you tasted anything in your dreams?
I can communicate how I feel around them; about them; and their emotions and thoughts toward me. However, that’s about the extent of my skill set.
I don’t think that they can fly. But that is because I never saw them unfurl their wings, so I just assume that they never use that ability. Honestly, I think that I would be scared shitless if they did so in front of me.
BTW, they are very attuned to my emotions and are as innocuous as possible when dealing with me. This is going to sound strange, but when I see them, I don’t “see” them. I mean that I visually can see them, and my eyes registers how they appear, but my thoughts and feelings are filled with love and concern to such an extent that it drowns out any revision that I might otherwise have towards them.
I was going to ask about some corroboration but after reading your description of Government building linoleum, furniture and piled up decades of old old projects, BLUF, I knew you were talking straight up shit. My first desk was one of those “Government Standard” dark gray desks w the rubber writing surface from the 40s that weighed 300 pounds, they were sure better than the IKEA like stuff they give us today.
I’ve got some MRI scans of my brain gathering dust somewhere. You can easily see the probes there. When the doctor imaged this he asked me if I was ever shot at with a BB gun when I was a little child. (At the time, I was having headaches, and so I went to a hospital to see if I had any problems. It turned out that the headaches were from stress by a terrible manager at a horrible job.) So that is how I got an MRI to see what is in my skull.
You can see the triangular chiseled feducal features in various government buildings if you know where to look.
I’ve
got a paper trail from the IRS and the USPS that specifies all the
places where I lived. A novice wouldn’t be able to make out much from
it, but it clearly shows that I traveled all over the nation working in
high-end technical fields and suddenly having to move to another part of
the nation. This is not normal. No matter how you look at it.
My degrees are there. It’s pretty difficult to fake a BS in Aerospace / Mechanical Engineering. My Navy paperwork is there. My retirement dates are all verifiable. All my patents are public record.
You can argue that it is all coincidence. Just like a type-1 grey would land their disk-shaped vehicle on the white house lawn, and the UFO skeptics would say that it didn’t happen.
Just like CNN is now arguing that the Miller investigation against Trump was not conclusive. In this world you either believe things or not. If pizza is delicious, then it is good. If you don’t like pizza then it is bad. That is the way everything is in this world.
It’s
nice that you maybe you can get something out of my experiences. I hope
that it helps you in some great and profound way. Just keep in mind
that my ability to freely talk and discuss is at the discretion of
others. This can certainly be terminated by request, and I would
absolutely honor any such request.
BTW, I don’t want to join the Gray-Borg collective!
Good for you! It is a wise choice my friend. Believe me in that.
Here are some pictures of a bunch of “service for another” sentience. They think that they are protesting. They believe that they are influencing others. They believe that they are doing what their “consciousness” tells them.
But in truth, what they are being is “serving another person”. They are pawns in a large political game, and their actions betray define their sentience.
Progressives trying to force a progressive agenda in Russia.
Another Question…
This question started with a complaint that many of my blog links didn’t work. The WordPress that I used changed their system, and orphaned a ton load of my internal links. Ugh!
Those 4 links still don’t work for me, if you want to bury them in an email, I’ll drop a coin in your can 😉
All of the links should work now. I just tested it out. What happens is that your browser might not reload a new page. Instead it will just access a (old) page in cache memory. Here are some links that should work now;
And while you didn’t mention it, these were also broken links. All are very good reads.
Then the influencer went straight to the the subject, referring to the last series of responses.
The discussion on soul and conscience is deep, beyond Cartesian cogito by light years. It requires many re-reads to take in, I expected that our simple model was wrong, but it’s really-REALLY wrong!
Yeah, I appreciate that you understand what I am trying to relate.
You know, that was part of my role by MAJestic; To collect what I could from the Mantids through this technology, and then disseminate it.
Too bad that my role in MAJestic is all shut-down and there just isn’t anyone left to document what I have to relate.
So this is why the blog exists. Meanwhile the rest of the world is trying to grapple with really old and odd concepts and trying to fit new discoveries in a model that just won’t even accept them
This knowledge describes what time actually is. What the universe actually is, and how it is constructed. It describes how soul works and why consciousness exists and how it interfaces.
Unlike other people talking about their channeled knowledge from the “enlightened ones”, I talk about ψ-ontic realities and the practical applications of it as far as our scientific study is concerned;
This post (above) describes the “threshold” or borderline between what we can control in our universe by thought, and what is beyond our control. It’s not your everyday “oh, I saw a UFO and they told me to be kind to my fellow man.” typical post.
Here’s a great post with a lousy title. It discusses what time actually is, and how people can use 5th or 7th dimensional travel to enter or leave our “bubble” of reality easily. Make sure that you are able to view the videos and the GIF’s. Reload the browser as necessary. They show actual examples that fit into my narrative, but are dismissed as hoaxes as they fail to fit into any conventional narrative of what reality is.
The mantids are earthlings huh, that makes sense actually.
This is the truth, and it took me a while to get my hands around this concept. Their relationship with the rest of the Galaxy is a complex one and I do not know all that much in detail regarding it. But I can say a couple of things.
First of all, the Galaxy that we are in is a very mature, stable and well policed place. This is a narrative that is quite unlike what you will hear anyone else refer to. To everyone else, our Galaxy is a barren, empty place with planets just “ripe” for the pickings. Not so.
This is what I know about our Galaxy.
I refer to a species known as “The Progenitors”. They are NOT the Mantids, but they are similar to them in various ways. You can read more here;
Numerous species have evolved on the Earth, and moved on. I speak about one which I consider the “first” species that evolved into an approved sentience archetype (as defined by the Galactic “powers that be”). That is actually not — precisely — true. There are elements of Mantid and Cephalopod that overlap in certain areas. But, to keep everything simple, I just prefer to keep things boxed up in easy to understand bite-sized chunks.
Sometimes I am tasked with providing mathematical proofs as to show why I talk about the things like I do. Seriously? I have a life and you either believe what I have to relate or you don’t.
Anyways, I have always argued that all of our Newtonian science is based on observation. However, quantum physics clearly tells us that observation changes results. So this means that there should be violations of physical laws that would show us that our reality is based on quantum physics and not Newtonian physics. Here, I discuss this issue. It’s a technical post. I hope you like math…
Did they (the Mantids) task the Grays or is it a mutual relationship?
Oh boy oh, boy is this a great subject. I can answer that I don’t know for certain, but I have a very…very good idea of what is going on.
Firstly, any sentience that is “service for self” can only advance so far. No matter how technically advanced they appear, they always will suffer from limitations of the physical reality. That is the bane of their existence. While “service for others” sentience enables the thoughts to manifest in soul building exercises that are pure(r) and more “malleable”. It leads to multi-dimensional and trans-dimensional capabilities. They are abilities that are forever frozen and locked away from those hive and matrix souls that are fundamentally locked into “service for self” sentience’s. Thus, the Mantids are far more capable in many many, many areas than the Greys.
I believe that the Greys think that they are working on the Earth in their own best interests. But it is the Mantids that have easily convinced them to feel this way.
Have you ever watched the movie “push“? Well, it really illustrates this point. There is a girl in the movie who has PSI / ESP powers that can “push” memories and thoughts into the heads and minds of others. She uses this to control those people. One minute they are a single child, and the next they have a memory where their (now) best friend killed their beloved sister. Thus causing the person to go and kill his best friend.
In the movie “push”, a PSI / ESP trained person has the ability to change the memories and resultant thoughts of any person they want. I believe that the Mantids have this ability as well, only it’s not part of a fictional universe. It is real.
What about some other reported alien-earthlings like the Reptilians? Hollywood hints at these with the Sleestaks from “Land of the Lost” TV series (remember that on Saturday mornings)? If you read between the lines in Genesis, they pop out.
I am absolutely positive that there are other species of creatures. I do know for a fact that many have been documented by MAJestic, and that some do resemble reptilians in certain aspects.
However, they are not central to my mission objectives, nor were in my cone of experience, so I cannot say too much about them. This is because I really don’t know that much about them.
However, what I can say is that there is an internet presence that has gotten blown all out of proportion and it nowhere resembles the actually extent or role that these creatures have on this Earth.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited
for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret
programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret.
It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the
technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer.
The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to
maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are
all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things
that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super
special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I
try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms
are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that
when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass
into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some
extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor”
claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts
from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have
multiple posts in this regard.
Here is a simplistic premier on how our universe works, and how we can control the reality that we inhabit. We also touch upon how we can “cheat” and use certain techniques to cross into other realities, or other world-lines.
This is often referred to as world-line travel.
To best understand world-line travel or dimensional egress, you need to throw away any obsolete Newtonian ideas about the universe that you might cherish. You all need to. If you keep thinking in ways that have no bearing on reality, how in the heck will you eventually be able to master reality?
So…
Throw it all away. Chuck it all. Listen to me, and learn. This is the way the universe really works.
How world-line travel can manifest
First of all, here is what the universe really looks like. It is a multiverse with a near infinite number of realities that we might inhabit at any given time.
This pretty much agrees with the MWI theory of quantum mechanics. However, most people never think about it and take it to it’s logical conclusion. They try to take the observed physical world and try to make it fit into the MWI. It doesn’t work that way. It just cannot fit together. It’s like mixing oil and water; not gonna happen.
This is how it manifests…
There is no such thing as time.
The “physical” is a construct.
We possess a “soul” that does understand and operate in the true totality of the universe.
The “soul” creates a “consciousness” for it to use.
The “consciousness” is placed within a physical body residing within a reality construct.
Now, the problem is what when people study the MWI theory, they do so with the “baggage” of their childhood assumptions. For instance, we assume that there might be multiple world-lines, but there is only one that we all share. The others might not exist, or that the person we are with is a person with an active consciousness within our reality.
All these assumptions are false.
Nothing is shared. It only appears that way. We occupy a given reality alone. Our consciousness connects to a physical body within the reality that our soul selects.
It looks like we all share our universe with others. Yes, that is what it looks like. However, that is not the case. The universe that we inhabit is designed for us and us alone. There is only one “consciousness” within it. That is our very own “consciousness”.
There is generally, one “reality” per one “consciousness”.
All those other people are like props that populate our reality. Yes, there is a chance that some of them have a “consciousness” controlling them, but they are off in their very own reality doing so. What we actually experience and see is the “shadows” of what their “consciousness” does within our reality.
This is what the universe really looks like. There is a “consciousness”. This is shown as a RED fuzzy ball. It resides attached to a physical person. This physical person resides inside an observable physical reality. That reality is surrounded by a non-physical reality. There is an infinite number of physical / non-physical realities. Some lie “close” to our reality, and many are “far” from our reality.
Some clarity on the graphic is in order
The image above is really quite different what what people think the universe looks like. That is because it is. We, as humans, can only see a very small portion of the universe. We can only see one instance in time, that is our “reality”.
The true reality is one that is not shared. Each consciousness occupies it’s own reality. We share the reality with “others”. Yet these “others” are actually “shadows” from other realities. We can see the others as shadows. They seem real enough to us, but that person’s consciousness is actually elsewhere within a completely different reality.
There are actually two aspects of “reality”. There is a visible reality, and an unseen reality. The unseen reality includes thoughts, emotions, heaven, and all sorts of things from radio waves to gravity.
The soul selects a “starting reality” at birth. This sets the stage for the soul to acquire experiences. The direction that the life-experiences take on is controlled by the thoughts, the emotions and the actions of the person that the consciousness inhabits.
Further, there is a physical body. And our soul connects to it using a mechanism known as consciousness.
Every moment is a change in reality…
Every moment that we live is a change in our reality. If we think one tiny thing, our reality adjusts accordingly. If we feel sad, our reality changes. Our reality is a on-going dynamic “bubble” that is constantly changing. The thing is that we do not stay in that reality. We move to a new reality with every change in thought, action, emotion or outside influence.
So while it might seem that we are sitting still in place, it is our thoughts that change the reality that surrounds us. So if you were to look at the “big picture” outside of our reality, what you would see is something like this. You would see a vector… an “arrow of time” that would move from one reality to another as determined by our thoughts, emotions and our actions.
Further, all the influences of others, and their thoughts change our reality as well. Thus, if you were to look at a clock, you would see your reality change. It would seem like you were sitting still, but in truth your entire reality was constantly changing in all sorts of ways.
The passage of time is the movement of consciousness. Time is our consciousness being aware that it moves through the different realities. It seems like an “arrow of time”, as a directional vector. But that is just the illusion that it makes. There is no such thing as “times” as understood by the average person. Every instant, the consciousness moves to a new reality. They look identical to each other because the realities that are adjacent are nearly identical.
The passage of time is the movement of consciousness.
But, what about world-lines?
Now it should be understood that people who don’t understand our universe, and don’t understand what time is, would have the dickens of a time understanding what a “world-line” is. To them, they view it as a “different” universe. Like ours but somehow “different”. Well, it is and it isn’t.
But, it need not be confusing.
All a “world-line” is is the time vector as experienced by a given consciousness.
We consider the “world-line” that we are on to be unique. It is simply the path that our consciousness makes as it moves through different realities. We ASSUME that everyone else shares this time vector, and thus we ASSUME that our “world-line” is shared with others. This is not the case. Each and every consciousness has it’s own passage of time and own “world-line”.
Each thought, emotion, or event that surrounds us (in the physical and non-physical) alters our reality. As such, then we realize that by controlling our thoughts and our actions…
…we can control the realities that we inhabit.
We can control the direction of our life and what manifests. It’s up to us. This shouldn’t be a big surprise. Many people have promoted this idea over the years. From The Secret, to the Intention Experiment, to the water studies ofDr. Masaru Emoto.
The difference here is that I argue that is is the fundamental mechanism that controls our reality. I argue that the consciousness is linked at a fundamental level with the reality that we inhabit.
More about thoughts…
This is both good and bad.
For instance, if we isolate the bad thoughts, and the bad and toxic people from our lives, we can start to inhabit new realities that are better. Likewise, if we don’t, and allow the bad things to affect our thoughts and moods, then bad things can occur.
Which is why I argue that everyone should shut off the American media. It is a toxic brew designed to manipulate, and it is plunging all of America into dark times. But, I digress…
The movement of our consciousness through he multiverse of realities is controlled by thought. It is our thoughts that open up the world of possibilities for us. We we think of the world as full of abundance and good things, then our reality will manifest that. If we think of hardship and terrible things, then our life will manifest that. Therefore, it is critically important that we control our thoughts.
However there is more to this than “what meets the eye”. You see, the unseen reality is much larger and more powerful than the seen and observed reality. While you might be successful in changing your observed physical reality, it will take some time to all the unseen reality to readjust.
The changes are never immediate.
That is because the thoughts of other “quantum shadows” influence the reality that we inhabit. It takes time to “pull away” and release from those other influences.
This is a common enough event. There is a person who wants to be in a relationship with you. They could be a friend, a lover, or a co-worker. You decide that you don’t want them in your life. Yet, they refuse to let go. They cling to you.
For instance, let’s suppose you wanted to leave a relationship with a bad person. You stop talking to them, you stop seeing them, and you stop thinking about them. Yet, you wonder why your life doesn’t immediately spring up and improve…
…that is because their thoughts, their emotions and their actions are still influencing their unseen reality. This interaction and influence will also influence your unseen reality.
The actions of others, if their non-physical reality touches yours, will influence your life. This means that their thoughts, emotions, and non-physical behaviors will still continue to influence your life. So if you be neutral, or friendly and loving, the non-physical influences will be positive. No one is an island, but we can make it so that our interactions are positive.
The more influences in your life, the harder it will be to remove yourself from them. Be advised.
Once we are able to master this, then we can easily steer our life to be the kind of life that we desire…
If there was a life that we want to attain; whether it is a life full of love, wealth, happiness or whatever, this “golden life” is attainable within our world-line. We need to absolutely gain control of our thoughts. We must [1] Shut out the bad thoughts, and [2] focus on the good thoughts that create the golden reality that we desire. Shutting out the negativity is the hardest thing to do.
Shortcuts
Many people should be aware that you can take “shortcuts” to bypass the realities that we would normally encounter.
We can attain anything we desire on this earth within our reality through the control of our thoughts. However, we can take “shortcuts”. Here, certain techniques using energy to “bend” our reality and the “dimensional fabric” of our universe can permit us to egress in 5th, and 7th dimensional travel. We can refer to these techniques as either 5-delta or 7-delta.
We can, using certain techniques, “tunnel through” the adjacent realities to hit the “rich meat” of our desires. Many of these techniques require mechanisms or devices to work. I have covered these in other posts.
For instance, you can utilize a fixed portal. This consists of a device that can place a person anywhere in the universe at any time. It is big and bulky and requires some training to use…
Or, you could end up like me, and utilize a biological artifice (EBP integrated with ELF implants) to alter your realities. The problem with this is that someone (or something) else is driving your experiences. Yikes!
You could utilize a personal hand-held device to move about. There are all sorts of examples of this. Here, I show examples of 5th dimensional egress, as well as some more advanced 7th dimensional egress.
Or you could utilize a vehicle to do so. Here we talk about how it is done and why. Compared to the 5th and 7th dimensional egress, and the MWI portal, and EBP x ELF implants, this method is rather crude.
In fact, if you want to study this issue in more depth, perhaps the John Titor saga might enlighten you…
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
They are;
Conclusion
World line travel opens up all sorts of opportunities to understand our place within this universe. Fundamentally, we can understand how consciousness is connected and important to the soul. If we can embrace this understanding, then we have the ability to interact with other intelligent species and create environments for the mutual benefit of all.
There are many ways to break outside of the reality that we inhabit.
We can use thoughts and actions. We can control our emotions and the people around us. We can control what we read, what we watch and what we eat.
We can also use advanced techniques in the manipulation of energy and quantum behaviors to enable more radical and advanced methods of entering and leaving our realities. In fact, some of these techniques can result in severely different realities. Realities that are quite different from anything that we have experienced within our already experienced world-lines.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
They are;
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
Here are some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society within communist China. As there are some really stark differences between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little different, in subtle ways.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come and enjoy a read or two as well.
When people discover what my role was in MAJestic, one of the first things that they ask me is whether or not I can “tell them the secrets of the universe”. After all, I was intimately entangled with another very ancient, and highly technology advanced species. Certainly, they argue, I must have learned something… Well, in a way, they are correct. I actually DID learn a thing or two. The problem is that the frame of reference is so unlike what we humans think that it sounds fantastical.
When I tell them this, most everyone says “try me”.
Well here is my post on this matter. The first thing that everyone must understand is that just about everything that we know, what we think and our assumptions about everything is pretty faulted. It is all pretty much false, and following our preconceived assumptions will lead us into confusion and into dead-ends.
What we think the Universe is…
Most people, not all, but most believe that the universe is shared. What we sense, either naturally or through our machines, describe our “known” universe. We measure changes to our universe by a device known as “time”. We consider it a “straight arrow” that cannot be undone.
Further, depending on our religious persuasions, we add elements of the “unseen” to this universe. These “unseen” elements can include Heaven, Hell, and various “planes of existence”. It’s all sort of like this. Look familiar?
This is what the traditional view of what the universe is to most people today. All that we see, and sense is considered the “known” universe. We all exist within it together. It changes along a route that we refer to as “time”. Additionally, once our consciousness leaves this universe, it can go into other universes (depending on our actions) known as Heaven and Hell.
This is the traditional view of what the universe is. While there are variations from person to person, the concept of what it is pretty much stays the same.
Baptists, Methodists, and other Christians consider Heaven to be the “reward” for a God-Fearing life. Other religions, such as Islam and Buddha, describe it slightly differently and utilize different terms and avenues, but all pretty much follow the duality model: good vs. bad.
There are outliers, such as Satanists, Wicca, and their ilk that describe the unseen universes differently. They ascribe benefits to Hell rather than to Heaven. They also conjure up different avenues of behavior and rules. Never the less, they also follow the duality model.
Revisions to the Traditional Understandings
This model of the universe worked pretty good for a long, long time. We lived in a Newtonian world were science was formed through observation. What ever we observed within our reality, that defined the limits of our universe. And it worked well.
We developed fluid mechanics, airplanes, high-rise skyscrapers, radio and television. We put a man (actually a couple) on the Moon. Indeed, we thought that we had it all figured out.
That is, however, until we started to probe deeper and deeper into the secrets of our reality. We studied and peered deeper and deeper into what an atom is, and discovered that it wasn’t the smallest thing in the universe. In fact we discovered that it was made up of even smaller things…!
And when we peered into what made up these smaller things, we discovered that there were even much smaller things that they were made up of. We kept on digging, deeper and deeper. And as we dug down, we came up and made some very stunning discoveries.
We discovered the basement foundation from which our universe is made from. We call this understanding, and this area; “Quantum Physics”.
As we explored this “foundation” or “basement” we “unlocked” some secrets of the universe. In fact, much of what we discovered was so very strange that many in the sciences refused to accept it.
We discovered that reality; or our universe can be changed by thought. We discovered that time doesn’t really exist at all. We discovered that there are other world-lines and other time-lines, we discovered that anything and everything was possible. At which we then discovered that Heaven and Hell could actually exist.
People have tried to incorporate these discoveries in different ways to their understanding of the universe.
Some refused to accept it; like the MWI. “It doesn’t exist because it is not yet proven to my satisfaction”.
Others tried to incorporate it into their flawed understanding of the universe – creating a “Frankenstein” or bastardized model.
Others tried to accept it, but found themselves hampered as there have not yet been any kind of unified agreement as to what our reality is.
Many people, follow one or more of these behaviors – depending on their experiences, knowledge, and tendency to resist new information and change.
Here is (for instance) how many people try to incorporate the MWI (Many Word Interpretation) into their understanding of what the universe is…
This is how many people interpret what the MWI means relative to their (faulted) understanding of the universe. In their mind, it represents an infinite number of alternative “world-lines” representing every possible combination of our universe, as observed. Time still proceeds forward in their view point, even though they realize that by their calculations, it does not exist.
Consider “Time Traveler” Mr. John Titor
When “time traveler” Mr. John Titor entered our world-line, people naturally tried to fit his narrative and his story to their understanding of what reality is. (The ruling is still “out” whether or not he was a “real” time traveler. Here, we use him as an example.) He claimed that he had a “time machine” and could visit these alternative world-lines along the time track. In so doing, visiting them like we would take a boat and go from island to island, visiting and exploring.
It would look something like this…
Light in the sky. Here Here is the path that John Titor apparently took with his “time machine”. It is portrayed as understood by his fans (and detractors).
I do want to tell you, the reader this. Indeed, this type of travel, as described by John Titor, is indeed possible.
However, it is very limited. In his description of his dimensional displacement machine, it is clear that the VGL sensors and the gravity sensing is very crude. Obviously, his travel was limited to fifth-dimensional travel. As such, he would only be able to travel in his existing body to meet other on other world-lines. (That is a fundamental limitation of fifth dimensional transport.)
But, you know, you don’t have to limit yourself to that kind of travel.
That is because, he was forced to travel in that way due to the limitations of his equipment. So, from his point of view, it only looked that way (well, actually… he probably did understood the real nature of the universe.). To travel and maintain the reality of our universe, you need to understand it, and what it actually is.
We do not share a reality
Firstly and most importantly, what we see is NOT at all what there is.
The universe where we all share one universe; one reality is not true. We are not all individual consciousnesses all sharing one physical universe. It is not like this…
Individual consciousnesses do not share the same reality. In fact, while it is possible that this could happen momentarily, it is exceedingly rare.
This understanding is faulty. This is not the way things work, and it is certainly not the way that the MWI operates.
Our physical world operates at the pleasure of our consciousness.
It is not the other way around; it is not where there is this big universe, and we are trapped within it. We do not join others when we are born and share the same universe. We do not look at others and see the physical manifestation of their consciousnesses. Instead, each consciousness operates within it’s very own, unique reality.
SECRET #1
The rule is this; there is only one consciousness for each reality. Having another consciousness within the reality that your consciousness occupies is exceedingly rare.
The rule is this; there is only one consciousness for each reality.
As such, the true nature of our universe looks quite different from what most people assume it to be…
There is only one consciousness per world-line reality. Indeed, there is an infinite number of realities. And, the vast majority of them are devoid of any kind of consciousness. It appears that we share the reality with others, but those “others” are “quantum shadows” of what another consciousness might do and act upon our reality. Note also that there is no such thing as time in this model. Time is actually the moment by moment natural migration of our consciousness through these world-lines.
Thus, the big “secret of the universe” is that the universe is not at all what it looks like.
The universe is a near infinite number of realities. We, our consciousness, moves in and out of those realities. This movement is perceived as time.
“Time” is the apparent movement through realities.
The direction of movement (selection of reality) is defined by our consciousness. It is determined by thought.
Thoughts steer our consciousness in and out of the various realities.
Our universe is defined by our consciousness. What we think about creates our reality. We can act upon those thoughts or not, but they will tend to shape what will happen to the reality that surrounds us.
What time actually is
Time is the perception that consciousness has to the changes within our reality. Remember, thoughts alter our reality. It is not only our consciousness, but the consciousnesses of others. While they might not share our reality their thoughts do have the ability to alter the changes that influence the reality we exist in.
Now…
Reality is not fixed. It is constantly changing. It is changing moment to moment. Each moment that change in our reality is perceived as “time”.
This is what “time” really is…
This is what “the passage of time” really is. Our thoughts change our universe. They change our reality. Not just the thoughts generated by our consciousness, but also the thoughts generated by other consciousnesses as well. thus, we actually move from one “bubble” or “snapshot” of reality to another. Each movement is a natural movement from one “world-line” to another. This is what time actually is. Time is the movement of consciousness from one momentary reality to another one with small variations.
SECRET #2
This is thus another 'secret of the universe". Time does not exist. Not mathematically, and not physically. It is the perception of our own individual consciousness as it moves from one "bubble of reality" to another.
Think of a movie reel. It consists of individual photos that are strung together. By changing the images you obtain the illusion of movement. That is what time is.
Each world-line in the MWI is like a frame in a movie.
The movement of the frames is viewed by consciousness as “time”.
This is an illustration of what time actually is. Time does not exist. It is a perception that our consciousness has as it moves and weaves in and out of different world-lines. Here we use an old-fashioned movie reel projector to help illustrate this understanding.
Putting it all together
Since we now know how the universe works; we can now understand how one can conduct both “world-line” travel and a sub-set of it; “time travel”.
The best and “cleanest” way to conduct world-line travel is to control your thoughts and actions. You think good things, and your life eventually unfolds in the direction that your thoughts lead it towards. This will take time depending on your personal discipline as well as the thought influences of the consciousnesses (associated with the “quantum shadows”) surrounding you.
You can also utilize “brute force” physical methods to bend the reality that you inhabit. This is the method as described by Mr. John Titor, and the method that I describe as the “dimensional portal” that I utilized as part of my entry into MAJestic way back in 1981.
And let’s not leave out Mr. John Titor…
But… as so very exciting as this all is, the fact remains that this is all a very crude way to traverse the MWI.
The better way to traverse the MWI, provided that it is in alignment with our soul’s individualized objectives, is to conduct 7th dimensional egress. Not the more limiting 5th dimensional techniques. I discuss this in other posts…
Here, we utilize a more powerful technique. Instead of moving an entire physical body (with the consciousness) to a new world-line, we only move the consciousness. The consciousness then travels the MWI and occupies the associated physical container as necessary.
There are, of course, limitations and variations. Some individuals elect to migrate physical bodies and vehicles using this technology. That is a rather crude way of utilizing this technology, but it does have it’s advantages. What ever they may be.
Overall, you can easily identify 7th dimensional migration by the inability for the observer to witness entry or egress on to a world-line.
7th dimensional egress is noted by an inability to observe the action or entering or leaving reality.
Of course, when we start talking about world-line travel, especially the migration of consciousness, we need to understand what it is, and how it manifests. here is some very good discussions on this subject.
When I am asked about the “secrets of the universe” I must admit that I do know quite a bit. I understand how things work on many levels, I understand the nature of man, of soul, and of the Heavens. I understand of our reality, and our place in the universe. But, you know, all this is meaningless unless you first understand that everything that you know, what you think you know, and what you are taught in most schools is wrong. It is wrong, wrong, wrong!
Of course, no one wants to hear this.
They don’t exist. Well, at not at least along the lines of popular literature and the on-going narrative.
People want to hear things that agree with their personal views, and their own personal understandings of the universe. They want to hear that you can buy your way into Heaven through charitable donations. They want to hear that being popular, famous or wealthy are elements of success. They want to hear that scientists have full control over our lives and fully understand the universe. They want to hear about Reptilians, and star children that will teach us the ways of the Heavens…. oh, yeah.
There are no Reptilians, or star beings. You might not want to hear this, but it is the truth.
There is no spiritual beings that is going to show you the way through “magic crystals” (that you can buy on-line for only $99.98.). There isn’t any shape-changing Reptilians that are secreting directing the United States government towards a one-world government. Nope. That idea is from certain very rich oligarchs. Extraterrestrials couldn’t care less.
Seriously. They don’t give a flying fuck about that. Seriously.
OK. Later on I discuss some of these more “physical” issues that everyone is concerned about. I will cover Global warming or global cooling….(what ever is the popular narrative at the time). I will cover bases on Mars, and technology transfer. I will cover biological sampling (you all refer to them as “abductions”). I will cover various OOPARTS and of course, why humans are going (apparently) “bat-shit crazy” right now (It’s a sentience sorting behavior.)
All that will come in time. But, not today.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are
all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things
that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super
special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I
try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms
are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that
when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass
into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some
extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor”
claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts
from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have
multiple posts in this regard.
From the late 1990’s until around 2001, the Internet was “rocked” by the sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of a Mr. John Titor. This person claimed to be a “time traveler” by using inter-dimensional travel.
He posted his thoughts and opinions on numerous time travel BBS.
He was rapidly dismissed as a hoax, in unity, by all the major debunking organizations, and his posts mysteriously disappeared off the Internet. Since then, all the sources that he posted on all found that their files related to John Titor were all corrupted and could not be reclaimed.
That was the case for over a decade.
Then, in 2014, a number of private individuals managed to piece together independently saved dialogs relating to John Titor. They constructed numerous websites that hosted these reclaimed dialogs, and posted them on the Internet for others to view.
Presented here are recovered posts from the Internet collected in 2014. This posting concerns the TTI BBS board. As John Titor posted on numerous “time travel” boards. Metallicman posts 5, 6 and 7 concern a different BBS.
It is not known if any posts have been deleted or altered. They are presented as they were found by the author. These posts are independent from the other collections presented on this website previously and includes information not presented elsewhere.
Important Warning
The information within this series of posts are speculative. I have no factual information if this John Titor is what he claimed to be. It is presented herein as the only (or maybe, one of the only) sources that claim to be associated with the vehicles that pop in and out of our reality from time to time.
He was, as far as I know, never associated with MAJestic in any way.
Original John Titor Posts – Part 8 – Transcripts D
Here are the original John Titor posts from the TTI Board. Obtained from HERE.
This thread has been saved from the TTI board. It no longer exists on that board because the administrator said it became corrupted and they had to delete it. This thread it is here only for archival and historical purpose and for your reading enjoyment.
TimeTravel_0 is John Titor.
John Titor dialog is in normal text, text by others are italicized. Metallicman corrected spelling and some punctuation to make the text easier to read and understand. For unedited text, please refer to the source.
John Titor dialog is in normal text in brown color, text by others are normal.
When referencing other non-Titor questions, green color is used.
Purple color is for non-related text.
Metallicman comments are in red color.
TTI Board Introductory Statement(s)
This is the introductory statement on the TTI board. As the reader can tell, it makes all kinds of interesting statements in accordance with conventional understandings of reality. However, reality is not as what is conventionally understood. Therefore, most of what is presented is just simply nonsense.
Time-travel Paradoxes!
Author Topic: Time-travel Paradoxes!
Paul (Paul Member posted 23 October 2000 05:14)
THE PARADOXES…
If you went back in time and visited your granny during her ninth birthday don’t kill her! Because if you put a gun to her head and pull the trigger she could not have given birth to your mum. YOU certainly were never born…
Therefore you could not have killed anyone as you never existed. Now this means your granny couldn’t have been killed by you. She didn’t die nine years old. This permits you to be born.
If you were born could you go back and kill your granny? No, not your real granny. This general idea has been used in Back to the future. Marty nearly stops himself from being born when he prevents his parents from falling in love.
[The reader can plainly see that this entire scenario is based on the single premise that there is only ONE reality, and that it is SHARED. As such, there is an "arrow of time" that flows in one direction.
This premise is terribly flawed as that is not how the universe works.
However, for archival purposes, we will elect to continue to follow this narrative to see how Mr. John Titor jumps in and enters in this dialog.- Metallicman]Solving The Problem
1, You simply can’t change history meaning if you go back in time you have no free will (as shown in Twelve Monkeys, Crime Traveler etc.) Events will get in your way if you try to kill your granny. YOU CAN’T DO IT.
2, When you so-called change history you’re actually moving up a different branch in time into another universe. The previous universe (where you were born) still exists. When you fire the gun you’re really killing another version of your grandmother.
3, Any actions you make in the so-called past has no affects on the present. It’s a different time-line universe.
The laws true solutions don’t present real time-travel as you go into another world.
Conclusion
We can’t simply use the grandmother paradox to rule out time-travel claiming it causes logical inconsistencies. We need to look at all the possibilities.
The author, Paul, then goes forward with his ideas on building a “time machine”. So that a person who inhabits a “shared ultimate reality” can move forward and backward along the entropic path…
How could we build a time machine?
The mathematics of general relativity suggest that under extreme conditions space-time might become so warped it would be possible to travel back in time. There is also the possibility of tunnels in time created by negative mass.
[1] Very long rotating cylinders of matter-proposed by Frank Tipler
[2] Kerr’s spinning black-holes since most stars spin this becomes worth looking (proposed by Roy Kerr).
[3] Cosmic strings-(as Richard Cott suggested)
[4] Traveling faster than light – would take us back in time(as suggested by solutions to relativity). Wormholes might allow us to outpace light (if you walk through the short cut quicker than light through conventional (normal) space.
[5] Tachyon -are sub-atomic particles which always travel faster than light and therefore move back in time constantly. They have not yet been found and remain hypothetical.
[6] Contracting Universe- Time might then be running backwards but since everything else also would it’s unsuitable.
[7] Macro-wormholes(Kip Thorne showed how we could use it as a time machine).
Now, of course, all these “solutions” are ingenious and curious. But they are all faulted. As they rely on a universe the DOES NOT EXIST. There is no such thing as a shared universe. There are actually individual realities that are occupied by an individual consciousness.
Never the less, let’s continue with this fiction…
time – paradox
Paradoxes
Grandfather paradox
Suppose you could go back in time, lets say several decades and found your grandfather when he was two years old. In his house you could grab a knife and stab him to death.
He doesn’t get the chance to have children with your grandmother.
Therefore either your mother or father doesn’t get born.
Your parents can’t give birth to you because one of them don’t exist.
You could never have been born and don’t even exist.
But could your grandfather have been killed by someone who doesn’t exist? He must have lived through his childhood. This would allow you to exist if this is the case. Seemingly you can go back in time to commit the murder if you are born but then you would never have been born. And so on and so on. This situation is not consistent with itself. It doesn’t make sense and can’t possibly happen.
So, then the author; Paul, continues and offers solutions to this faulted narrative. Since the basis of his understanding is terribly in error, the solutions seem to be problematic and contentious.
Solutions
1, You simply can’t change the past. Time will stop you limiting your freedom while you’re in the past from your point of view. This puts the concept of freewill in serious danger especially if you tell people what’s going to happen to them in their future. If you believe when you go back in time you are from one possible future from everyone else’s point of view they can simply go up any root in time they want.
According to quantum physics Many Worlds theory there are a huge amount of universes where every possibility occurs between them all. In some you’re the opposite sex. In some you won the lottery etc.
[It's things like this that drive me so frustratingly crazy. Yes, the MWI (the Multi-Worlds Theory) does exist and it is a reality. However, don't use it and apply it to your falted understanding of the universe. It replaces what you consider the universe to be.
Instead of one shared universe with a direction arrow of time, that somehow the MWI offers alternatives to...
We have the MWI alone. A consciousness sits within one of an infinite number of realities. Using the proper techniques, you can move about these realities. To the consciousness it may appear that we are traveling in and out of time and in and out of alternative universes. -Metallicman.]
You might be heading towards the universe you originally came from before you traveled back in time. Everything will happen the way you remember it. But all the people you meet are free to decide what they want to do and enter a different universe. Since it’s not possible for you to be there you disappear from their lives. Meeting a time traveler from your future could therefore be very strange.
2, A parallel universe might be created when you seem to change the past. Imagine if time itself was just like a tree. The different branches show different ways events could have happened. Every time we decide to do or not to do something time splits. Even if we are not aware we decided something it have affects. Quantum physics reveals a many worlds theory like this.
In the movie series “Back to the future” this situation is illustrated plainly. Here, we see the Doctor explaining this kind of divergence on a blackboard to Marty.
He continues using this faulted reasoning…
Conclusion
Since this parallel universe is not really your past (despite it’s first appearance) anything you do there does not affect you. You can prevent a version of yourself from being born because you are not really related to anyone there. They just look very like your family and friends. You are not home! You may be somewhere that looks like the place you live but a different universe in quantum physics is a completely different reality.
[Yes, it is not really your past.
Firstly, you are in a new world-line. If you occupy a new body that conforms to that reality, you would inherit the new scars, hair styles, aches and pains, and memories of the new "you". Right?
As such, you would have no memories of your prior world-line.
But that is NOT what happens.
Firstly, memories are retained in the quantum sphere that lies OUTSIDE of our reality. Thus, your consciousness can occupy any new body and look and act the same, but your old memories would be retained. So if you enter a world-line where everyone speaks Russian, and you came from a world-line where everyone spoke English, you would be in for a big shock. You would not be able to speak Russian.
Now, the good thing is that the migration from one reality to another is natural. It is the way our universe actually works. We consider it the "arrow of time". Every moment we move from the "old" reality to a "new" reality depending on our thoughts. (As well as the thoughts of nearby consciousnesses.)
My MAJestic ELF and EBP machinations through the Oxia Palus facility artifice operated this way, except it utilized seventh dimensional egress technology. MAJestic empowered the <redacted> to have autonomous control over my reality switches in exchange for advanced technology.
My consciousness occupied a new body and inherited a new situation that my old memories would have to adjust towards.
Now, the 5th dimensional egress portal operated differently. Here, we have a transport device that perfected time and geographical transport. Through utilization of this device, it would be possible to enter new world-lines where you could conceivably meet yourself, and alter that timeline.
While this is the entire argument that the John Titor saga, and this particular section of the narrative is all about, it has been my experience that meeting yourself (two "you's" in one reality) is a trivial condition and easily avoided.
As such, it lends me to disbelieve the John Titor story... Except his description of his machine is indicative of a fairly crude mechanism. Which then leads me to reconsider... Oh, well. -Metallicman]
3, No matter what you do in what is really a parallel universe you will do back to your previous universe which is not affected by your previous actions. A space-time wormhole could lead you back to your original unaffected universe.
What came out of the wormhole if the ball never went into it?
Another common example of a paradox is a ball that goes through a wormhole connected with a moment in the past. Therefore it comes out of the other space-time wormhole mouth actually before it went in! Then what might happen? If the ball then hits it’s younger self out of the way of the mouth then it never goes in. But if the ball never did go in the wormhole then how can it ever come out. The existence of the older version of the ball is destroyed i.e. it never falls back in time. But then this version certainly can’t hit the younger version out of the way. So it must go into the wormhole as a collision with it’s older self is evidently the only force that could and did stop the ball from entering the wormhole. This of course is unexplainable and is logically inconsistent.
[Which should tell you a lot about the faulted understanding of our universe. But NO! It is just ignored as a "problem" with the logic in the understanding. People, we need to listen and think.
The first thing we need to do is throw away the outdated and obsolete understanding of what our universe it. Our assumptions are wrong and results in many dead-ends for scientific pursuit. -Metallicman.]
Continuing with the TTI introduction…
But the situation could happen differently to allow it to become self consistent.
1, What if after the ball comes out of the wormhole at an earlier time it does hit it’s previous self but this collision is what makes the ball fall into the mouth in the first place! It hits the other version into the mouth. This would imply that the past or present is affected by the future. In fact in this case the past is dependent on the future.
2, The ball might simply hit it’s other self only slightly so the direction of the ball is not altered enough to cause a paradox.
3, The ball might just miss it’s younger self.
Nature might protect time and prevent paradoxes. From theories and many stories it’s clear that paradoxes cannot happen in the real world.
[This is getting silly. Paradoxes are what occurs when our understanding of reality does not match the true reality. -Metallicman.]
The author continues…
Other types of paradoxes
In the terminator movies John had something important to tell Sarah. Thank her for her help through the hell. Tell her not to give up or he will never exist.
Who wrote the speech?
John certainly didn’t write it. He was told it since he was a kid from Sarah who could remember it. Sarah just recalls what Kyle told her in 1984. Kyle just remembered what John told him to say.
Obviously there are many misunderstandings of what our universe is, what reality is, and how our soul and consciousness interacts with Heaven.
Conclusion
No one wrote it. It exists somehow but not by John, Kyle or Sarah being creative. No one had to write it because it was created by the affect the future on the past had on each other.
If I in 2000 study the history of work done in a private factory and learn about the development of a time machine! Their scientists worked from designs and plans noted in a book (never published)they used. They had no idea how to achieve such technology until they read it.
Then to experiment with temporal(time) paradoxes I am sent back to 1983. The entire building has not even been built as I arrive. Later accidentally I meet one of the scientists and talk to him. When I hear how excited he is I hand him that book which he uses future success. The answers! He is more than willing to read and use the book.
But who came up with the idea of how the time machine is built?
Not any of the scientists as they just followed instructions in that book.
Not me as all I did was hand a scientist a book. No one actually wrote the book and no one had to work it out.
Is this allowed by physical laws?
No one really knows…
——————
Paul Curran from Co Derry, Ireland
[This message has been edited by Paul (edited 12 January 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Paul (edited 23 January 2001).]
IP: Logged
After that introduction by Paul Curran from Co Derry, Ireland, we see the activity on the TTI BBS…
NoTime unregistered posted 23 October 2000 13:06
——————————————————————————–
There is no grandfather paradox in the multiverse scenario. In a multiverse, your grandfather’s multiple histories included many in which he was not murdered and many in which he was murdered.
Those many histories in which he was murdered included some involving different male or female murderers who killed him. It’s possible that you were one of those murderers in one of your previous lifetimes or incarnations.
IP: Logged
SHADOWshadow unregistered posted 24 October 2000 22:37
——————————————————————————–
Paradox can’t hold a candle to “twinadox”. That's when you time travel back and MARRY your grandmother and become your own grandpaw. What if you had a twin brother and the THREE of you all show up one day, wich one is the other you? How do you know that there shouldn’t be four of you and somebodys missing? Cheesh man!! I’m going to get some sleep, and try not to read this thread next time…er wait a minute, on the other hand………the me in a paralell reality may infulence me to change my mind………….
IP: Logged
1.21 Jiga-watts unregistered posted 25 October 2000 16:05
——————————————————————————–
Let’s get away from traveling to the past for a moment. Let’s look at what was made popular in Back to the Future pt 2, where Marty sees his son, or his girlfriend sees herself.
It cannot happen!
If you left time, you would be considered ‘missing’, or dead. The truth is, you don’t exist from the point in which you lept forward in time. You therefore cannot see yourself, or your son, because you stopped existing at that point in the past where you left.
Is this a proper paradox? Is there any reasoning I am missing that says you can see your future self?
Look forward to responses.
1.21 Jiga-watts
IP: Logged
NoTime unregistered posted 25 October 2000 16:32
——————————————————————————–
True. If you leave this time, you will not be here until you return. But, if you are alive in the future as you were alive in the past, then you could visit yourself because you are there. Your present self is different from your past or future self. This definitely applies to the past because you know you lived in the past and if you can go there, then you can visit yourself.
IP: Logged
Crono Member posted 25 October 2000 17:52
——————————————————————————–
I think there is two ways to look at this Jiga Watts. The first one is where you can actually change the past so it effects the future. If you were presumed dead in the future, then you could go back to the time right after you left and nothing would have been changed. However if you leave again, it will just be the same as before.
The second one is where you can’t change the past, and you’ll only be creating a parallel universe. What used to be your future is now your present, and since what used to be your present is now your past, you can’t change the past, so you’ll still be presumed dead at when you left off. And so you can still go back in the past and live there as usual, you won’t be changing the future.
I think that’s how those theories go.
IP: Logged
Paul Member posted 26 October 2000 06:27
——————————————————————————–
It is very interesting what would happen if you left the present and reached the future. In The Time Machine the time travelers asks about himself and people claim he went missing when he left on his journey through time.
It seems like an BTTF2 Marty was taken away in 1985 so his kids and everything couldn’t exist in 2015…
But the existence of his kids might just be evidence that they will later return to 1985 to do all those things! This would imply that everything they are going to do have already been decided!
It became clear the the future is NOT set as Doc claimed the future hasn’t been written yet. So how could they travel into what does not exist? Even when Marty went to 1955 he must have been from the future from some people’s point of view?
The future they traveled to might just have been one possible future! In the quantum many worlds theory there are an infinite amount of futures where every possibility occurs…
——————
Paul Curran
IP: Logged
Cocurious unregistered posted 26 October 2000 08:16
——————————————————————————–
In response to 1.21 jiga-watts. If you go into the future and see yourself, then by rights you will succeed in whatever you are doing in the future, and make it back to the present. If you don’t see yourself, then one could assume that you never made it back to your own time in the present.
IP: Logged
NoTime unregistered posted 26 October 2000 13:22
——————————————————————————–
In some probabilities, you traveled to the future and made it back, in others you did not make it back. In some probabilities you are alive in a future time and in others you are not alive. A multiverse contains all possibilities and all combinations of possibilities.
If you can travel to the future, you can meet a future self or not, depending on which probable future you go to.
IP: Logged
NoTime unregistered posted 26 October 2000 13:27
——————————————————————————–
…also, in a multiverse containing all possibilities, you can’t change anything because whatever changes you try to make are already there as one of the possibilities.
IP: Logged
1.21 Jiga-Watts unregistered posted 30 October 2000 09:53
——————————————————————————–
Thank you all for your responses. It’s a fascinating discussion, to be sure, and one that seemingly has endless possibilities.
I’m pretty set on the paradox I raised, however. It just doesn’t seem possible that you can see your future self.
I’ll check in every now and then. Continue in your hypothesizing!
1.21 Jiga-Watts
IP: Logged
OK. Here’s where John Titor popped in to join in the discussion…
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 02 November 2000 01:16
TimeTravel_0——————————————————————————–
Wow! Paul is right on the money. I was just about to give up hope on anyone knowing who Tipler or Kerr was on this world-line.
By the way, #2 is the correct answer and the basics for time travel start at CERN in about a year and end in 2034 with the first “time machine” built by GE.
Too bad we can’t post pictures or I’d show it to you.
——————————————–
No Problem!!…….”Wherever you go, there you are, and I’ll be waiting.”
p)’i4q4
——————————————–
[This message has been edited by Time02112 (edited 19 November 2000).]
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 02 November 2000 05:48
——————————————————————————–
TimeTravel_0-
Guess what? You can put pictures on Doc’s board… we would like to see it.
here is the URL: http://pub2.ezboard.com/bmagisystems
Im sure he would be more than happy to post the picture for you. He is the moderator for the montauk section on this web site.
Look forward to seeing your picture!
thanks,
pamela
[This message has been edited by pamela (edited 02 November 2000).]
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 02 November 2000 08:55
——————————————————————————–
Is there a site where I don’t need to register personal information to post pictures?
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 02 November 2000 12:26
——————————————————————————–
Time travel_0-
I am registered on Doc’s site.
you can send it to me and I will post it for you.and if you want you can always set up a new e-mail account and only use it once.
There may be a site where you could post the picture with no info but I personally don’t know of any. because of what people would put up with no accountability.
any other info you give will remain confidential . besides your IP address is already logged on this forum when you post. I’ll help you out if you want. or you could just e-mail Doc yourself I'm sure he would put it up for you without registering. just explain the situation to him. I feel he is very trustworthy. Actually he posted someone else's picture anonymously that claimed he built a time machine. his name was “director”. that's it.
sincerely,
pamela
pamela2@raex.com
IP: Logged
Dymenzionz Moderator posted 02 November 2000 14:53
——————————————————————————–
What the Hell’s a jiga-watt?
(gigawatt)
🙂
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 02 November 2000 18:27
——————————————————————————–
I’ll be happy to send them to you and answer any questions you may have.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 02 November 2000 19:09
——————————————————————————–
Time Travel_0- “confirming”.
Dymenzionz- HI!!!!! Good to see ya back!
sincerely,
pamela
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 04 November 2000 05:24
——————————————————————————–
TimeTravel_0-
your pictures are posted as promised and can be found here:
http://pub2.ezboard.com/bmagisystems
click on the topic- timelords anonymous
and it is titled: anonymous gravity/time device pictures.
sincerely,
pamela
THANKS DOC!
[This message has been edited by pamela (edited 04 November 2000).]
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 05 November 2000 03:29
——————————————————————————–
Questions for timetravel_0 with permission to post.
Pamela:
by the way can you tell me what it feels like to time travel? when you are in the process of doing it what does it feel like and what do you see and hear. you made mention that you had to get use to the fields. Do you see a bright flash of light?
Timetravel_0:Interesting first question. The unit has a ramp up time after the destination coordinates are fed into the computers. An audible alarm and a small light start a short countdown at which point you should be secured in a seat.
The gravity field generated by the unit overtakes you very quickly.
You feel a tug toward the unit similar to rising quickly in an elevator and it continues to rise based on the power setting the unit is working under. At 100% power, the constant pull of gravity can be as high as 2 Gs or more depending on how close you are to the unit. There are no serious side effects but I try to avoid eating before a flight.
No bright flash of light is seen.
Outside, the vehicle appears to accelerate as the light is bent around it. We have to wear sunglasses or close our eyes as this happens due to a short burst of ultraviolet radiation. Personally I think it looks like your driving under a rainbow.
After that, it appears to fade to black and remains totally black until the unit is turned off.
We are advised to keep the windows closed as a great deal of heat builds up outside the car. The gravity field also traps a small air pocket around the car that acts as your only O2 supply unless you bring compressed air with you. This pocket will only last for a short period and a carbon sensor tells us when it’s too dangerous.
The C204 unit is accurate from 50 to 60 years a jump and travels at about 10 years an hour at 100% power.
You do hear a slight hum as the unit operates and when the power changes or the unit turns off. There is a great deal of electrical crackling noise from static electricity.Pamela:
1. what are some of your memories of 2036?
Timetravel_0:I remember 2036 very clearly. It is difficult to describe 2036 in detail without spending a great deal of time explaining why things are so different.
In 2036, I live in central Florida with my family and I’m currently stationed at an Army base in Tampa. A world war in 2015 killed nearly three billion people. The people that survived grew closer together.
Life is centered around the family and then the community. I can not imagine living even a few hundred miles away from my parents. There is no large industrial complex creating masses of useless food and recreational items. Food and livestock is grown and sold locally. People spend much more time reading and talking together face to face.
Religion is taken seriously and everyone can multiple and divide in the heads.Pamela:
2. can you send me more of the manual?
Timetravel_0:I will considering it but I do not expect they are worth anything to most people except as a curiosity.Pamela:
3.what would happen if you would meet yourself on another world line?
Timetravel_0:It has always surprised me why that concept is so hard for people to imagine and accept. Nothing would happen.
The universe would not end and there are no paradox problems that threaten existence.
Temporal space-time is made up of every possible quantum state. The Everett Wheeler model is correct.
I have met and/or seen myself twice on different world lines. The first was a training mission and the second is now. I was born in 1998 so the other “me” is 2 on this world line.
There is a saying where I come from….Every possible thing that can happen or will happen has already happened somewhere.Pamela:
4.How is this world line different from your own?
Timetravel_0:For starters….the fact that I’m here makes it different.
I’ve also noticed little things like news events that happen at different times, football games won by other teams…things like that.
I would guess the temporal divergence between this world line and my original is about 1 or 2 percent. Of course, the longer I am here, the larger that divergence becomes from my point of view.[You start with 1-2% divergence, and stay for three years, are involved in Y2K, and post on an Internet chat forum or TWO. Yeah, you will really cause some divergences. You can bet on it. - Metallicman]Pamela:
5.Is the vehicle a jeep?
Timetravel_0:No…its a 1967 Chevrolet..Pamela:
6.Are you having normal dreams right now? any out of body experiences? drawing you to different times? Do you dream you wake up in other places and other times?
TimeTravel_0:No strange dreams or other experiences. Everything is pretty much the way I expected it.Pamela:
7.are you able to control where you go or is it random?
Timetravel_0:Yes, it can be controlled. However, the distortion unit has operational limits.
Imagine your path through time is through a cone. The farther away from the center of the cone, the more differences you will see in the world line.
The C204 begins to “break away” at about 60 years. This means the level of confidence drops rapidly after 60 years of travel and the world line divergence increases.
In other words, if I wanted to go back 2000 years and meet Christ, there is a better than average chance I would end up on a world line where he was never born.
The computer units and gravity sensors “record” your trip and you are quite easily able to return to your point of origin. I am aware that research is being done on faster units with more accurate clocks. I imagine that they will be able to go back farther with a higher degree of divergence confidence.Pamela: 8.
are you feeling drawn back to your own time or are you stable in this world?
Timetravel_0:I’m not sure what you mean by stable. If you mean mentally…there are many things that bother me here but being with my parents right now is important to me. Physically, the only thing really wrong is the number of colds I get.Pamela:
9.Are you able to go back to your own world line?
Timetravel_0:Yes.Pamela:
10.how are you protecting yourself from radiation? it alters DNA if you dont.
Timetravel_0:I’m not sure what radiation you mean. If you mean from the unit, you can see it vents X-rays and Gamma radiation out of the rear. As long as you stay away from that, you should be okay. I keep a radiation detector with me to check my environment and make sure the unit isn’t “leaking”.Pamela:
11.How long would you say that ultraviolet radiation lasts? about 10 seconds? and when you are in that light can you see anything around you or does the light kind of “fill up” everything and that is all you can see at then time?
Timetravel_0:The light bending only lasts a second. Its like driving under a tunnel and being in total black.Pamela:
12.Do your people know where you are right now? Can you communicate with them? do you have a biological implant?
Timetravel_0:No. They do not know where I am and I can not communicate with them.
Interesting idea though. From their point of view, I will return almost exactly at the same moment I left. From their viewpoint, I will only have aged more than expected.Pamela:
13. after the flash of light is gone are you then in another time? What does it look like as the new time unfolds? Is it just there? or does it slowly come into view? does it fade in and out for a time?
Timetravel_0:While the machine is on. Everything is black. When the machine is turned off, it is the reverse affect. It appears you are driving out from a bridge. To tell you the truth, I’m usually sleeping when the unit turns off but yes…it does appear that the world fades in from black.Pamela:
14. what happens if the device messes up? Do you end up in space? if it goes offline and shifts ? does a hole open elsewhere?
Timetravel_0:Good question!!! That one almost never comes up.
The hard part of traveling through time is not the bending of gravity but the plotting of your course and holding to the basic “position” in your environment.
This is done through a system called VGL (variable gravity lock).
Basically, the unit takes a reading of the local gravity and samples it during the “trip” in pulses. If the gravity is too far off, the unit stops or reverses itself to the last sample period where the readings were correct.
If there is some sort of failure, the unit shuts down and drops out to where ever you may be.Pamela:
15. what affects are caused on the immediate area where the gravity has been distorted after you leave it and when you arrive? are there permanent effects left on the land such as electromagnetic disturbances in that area?
Timetravel_0:Another good question!!! The only real physical trace is a large chunk of ground missing from the point of origin and a large pile of dirt at the destination. The gravity field surrounds a small portion of the earth under you and takes it along for the ride. There is really no way around this.
Please feel free to post these if you wish.
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 05 November 2000 20:08
——————————————————————————–
Pam, did you ask about going forward in time? Do you need an invite from a future traveler? Where did MR. 0 get the ’67 chevy?
Bringing chunks of ground along with you as you casually rewrite the history of entire worlds? I guess that's why Docs’ Delorian was fitted with levitation equipment, to make a fast get away from angry property owners having to fill and grade every time he time jumps.
TimeLine 2015; STOP THE PRESSES!! 3 Billion Killed!!! Oh the presses are already stopped? Now if he time traveled *before* the planet was pulverized it would be a bit more believable.
Does Mr. 0 work for GE? Maybe he owns some GE stock. Speaking of stocks we could all use a hot tip from the guy that already knows who’s going to be the next Cisco, Coke or Microsoft.
Most importantly why would Mr. 0 want to talk the likes of us?
IP: Logged
Draco2 unregistered posted 06 November 2000 08:59
——————————————————————————–
Hey TIMETRAVEL_0!!
That’s a very interesting experience you are describing!! I have one question for you, and that is in regards to the climactic of the earth in 2034, had the polar ice caps melted, as they are now doing at an accelerated rate in this current time.
[This poster is asking about Global Warming. - Metallicman.]
Sincerely, Draco
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 06 November 2000 09:04
——————————————————————————–
In response to Shadow:
Perhaps it’s a bit easier to understand why time travelers do not revel themselves.
Yes, you can travel forward in time. No, you do not need an “invite” from the future. I first saw the car in 2036. The idea was to find a vehicle that would not draw too much attention for the time period. Unfortunately, there were not very many suitable vehicles around in 2036 and I sold the car when I arrived in 2000.
You do not rewrite history.
I can only affect what happens here just as easily as you can. Why do people in this time period worry so much about time traveler’s destroying their world line when they have no problem doing it themselves every day?
My goal is not to be believed.
Most people do not take news of the war very well but I find that everyone believes it’s inevitable. Even in your own history, are not great inventions and discoveries made during a time of war in your effort to kill and main in new and more efficient ways?
No, I do not work for GE or any other company.
Are “stock tips” really the first thing you want to know about in the future? As a representative of your time period, do you realize what that says about you? You should probably know that this time is not remembered for its selflessness, charity or ability to work together.
Why would I want to talk to you?
Why don’t you believe you have something interesting or worthwhile to say to someone in the future?
Mr. “O”
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 06 November 2000 09:08
——————————————————————————–
To Draco:
No, the ice caps are not melting any faster than they are now. There is also far less smog and industrial waste in 2036.
[In his home world-line, there is no evidence for Global Warming. - Metallicman.]
IP: Logged
Draco2 unregistered posted 06 November 2000 10:28
——————————————————————————–
Hey TimeTravel_0!!!
So then what you’re saying is that our current computer models are wrong about Glacial and Polar Ice Cap melting, even though they are going by our current emissions rate and projected emissions of the growth of fossil fuels consumption??
While Global Warming is factually happening and even if we stopped burning fossil fuels today and stopped destroying the rain forests today, the impact that is already altered our planetary climate would not stop today as the ball is already rolling.
The toxins in the ozone layer and the earths lessening inability to create oxygen, due to the catastrophic daily destruction of the rain forests that give us most of our oxygen, would take longer than beyond the year 2036 to repair itself, even with our help.
I find it amazing that if you throw a WWIII into the equation, one devastating enough to cause the death of 3 Billion people, would not add to the acceleration of Global Warming and raise the sea level to the point where in 2036 most of Florida will be underwater. Help me understand what reversed this impending climatic catastrophe..
Sincerely, Draco
[This poster has fully bought into the Global Warming hoax. He laid out his concerns and reasoning. He is asking for an elaboration on the answer from John Titor. - Metallicman.]
IP: Logged
Janus Member posted 06 November 2000 14:01
——————————————————————————–
Ok, Mr. 0 . First things: you have to realize that people will be hostile toward you when you make such a big claim. What reason have we to believe you? But, enough thought experiments occur here anyways, so…
I don’t think any era in history has been particularly noted for its compassion or selflessness. Why should we be any different?
Ok, so why not give us stock tips? You said you weren’t worried about polluting the timeline, right?
As for rewriting history, the normal objection is causality. But, if you use multiple-universe theory, then it’s all good. My question is, how do you get back to your proper universe – you said you’re very close to your family – how come another jump wouldn’t just send you into some third, different universe?
And, finally: what happens if you go back in time to a time when, right where you were standing, there was a giant cement block? Do you just appear inside of it and die? Or do you get pushed away?
Thanks,
Janus.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 06 November 2000 16:43
——————————————————————————–
To Draco:
You asked about the North Polar ice pack. I never said the environment wasn’t a problem. Doesn’t water expand when it freezes? If the polar ice cap melted, wouldn’t sea level go down? I don’t know if there’s enough ice for this to make a difference and I’m not an expert on global warming.
Mr. “0”
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 06 November 2000 17:26
——————————————————————————–
To Janus:
Yes, I realize people become hostile. I don’t expect anyone to believe me and I have nothing to sell. I take no offense by it. Just out of curiosity, if you were a time traveler, what do you think it would take to get people to believe you?
I suppose we could agree that no particular era in history is famous for its development of humanity but just once I would like to hear questions like,
What is family life like in the future?
How does society deal with poverty?
Is AIDS, abortion and drug use still a problem?
Why don’t I give you a stock tip? The money you make would dilute the intelligence and forethought that a smart person had in picking the stock all by themselves. If I told you how to get rich, I would be taking money from them and giving it to you.
Getting back to my “proper” universe is tricky but possible. Yes, another jump would take me to a different family.
Cement block…good question. The hard part of traveling to other world lines is just that. There is a system of clocks and gravity sensors that sample the environment before dropping out. Its called VGL, (variable gravity lock). If a cement block were there, the machine would “backtrack” until it sensed relative congruity to the original gravity sample. A great deal of time and effort goes into picking just the right spot since you can not physically move during a displacement.
Mr. “0”
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 06 November 2000 22:13
——————————————————————————–
posted with permission:
TimeTravel_0-Greetings:
Please keep in mind a couple of points as I answer your questions. First, I am not a physicist. “Time travel” is only a tool that allowed me to do my job 1975. Most airline pilots are probably not aerospace engineers.
Second, let me give you an example of the position we are in. Imagine you live in the year 1900 and a “time traveler” attempts to explain how a jet engine works. Even though the invention of the airplane is only a decade in the future, he would have to find some frame of reference to explain the basics of flight. Then, he would have to outline the mechanics of how the engine works. As amazing as it would sound, the jet would be invented about thirty years later.Pamela:
1. can you explain to me in detail the basic physics and mathematics behind how the machine operates? and exactly how it distorts gravity.
Timetravel_0:1) Time travel is achieved by altering gravity.
This concept is already proven by atomic clock experiments. The closer an observer is to a gravity source (high mass), the slower time passes for them. Traveling at high speeds mimics this effect which = the twin paradox of faster than light travel. However, this type of gravity manipulation is not sufficient to alter your world line.
The basic math to alter world lines exists right now. Tipler first described a working “time machine” through his theory of massive rotating spheres. I apologize for the web site but it was the only one I could find quickly.
http://www.geocities.com:0080/Area51/Station/5763/time.html
Certain types of black holes also exhibit the “time travel” abilities of Tipler cylinders. Kerr was one of the first to describe the dual event horizons of a rotating black hole. As with Tipler’s cylinders, it was possible to travel on a “time-like” trip through a Kerr black hole and end up in a different world line without being squished by the gravity of the singularity.
http://www.physics.fsu.edu/courses/fall98/ast1002/section4/blackholes/fig11-13/fig11-132.htm
http://qso.lanl.gov/~bromley/nu_nofun.html
http://www.leonllo.freeservers.com/blackworm.html
http://www.astro.ku.dk/~cramer/RelViz/text/geom_web/node4.html
(deleted)……………………………………………….
The mass and gravitational field of a microsingularity can then be manipulated by “injecting” electrons onto its surface. By rotating two electric microsigularities at high speed, it is possible to create and modify a local gravity sinusoid that replicates the affects of a Kerr black hole.
For those asking how come a microsingularity doesn’t swallow the Earth or want to know details about the size, stability, mass, temperature and resulting Hawking radiation from such a thing.. those details I must keep to myself.Pamela:
2. can you travel to the future as well as the past? my understanding of the machine is the trip is recorded so you can get back to your original time line but what about a future beyond your time line are you able to access it as well? or does it have to be open by a future chrononaunt?
Timetravel_0:Yes, you can travel into the future and it takes less energy than going into the past.Pamela:
3.I don't see the computer in the device. is it the hand held device on the side of the larger device? If so what kind of power supply does the computer work off of is it the battery as well or some type of crystal?
Timetravel_0:The computer system is connected to the unit through an electrical bus. There are actually three computers linked together that take the same signals from the gravity sensors and clocks. They use a Borda error correcting protocol that checks the integrity of the data and trips the VGL system.Pamela:
4.Is your DNA remaining stable in this world or does it shift? does time traveling affect your body or aura or spirit in any way you know of?
timetravel_o:4) I am not aware of any physical change to my DNA or “aura”. I do however seem to be more susceptible to colds.Pamela:
5. when you go back to the future will we remember you?
Time travel_0:Yes, you will remember me if you want to. World lines do not change that way and I will only become a insignificant part of your history.
[This message has been edited by pamela (edited 06 November 2000).]
IP: Logged
Fast Member posted 07 November 2000 15:42
——————————————————————————–
mm..General Electric built a time machine for the government?
or are time machines so common in the future that there makes and models are as commonly varied as our age’s car models..?
Fast Out
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 07 November 2000 17:18
——————————————————————————–
I would equate the “future” GM distortion units to their current jet engines. The first one worked great but they can always make it better.
The C204 unit uses 4 cesium clocks. The C206 uses 6 cesium clocks but they use an optical system to check the oscillation frequency. This makes the world line divergence confidence much higher.
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 07 November 2000 21:01
——————————————————————————–
Time Traveler-0
If you could bring some material thing back to your time in 2036 what would it be?
Could I travel to a future that was, say 0.5 seconds ahead of now? In the same vein, if you just happened to arrive at “the year 2000″ a fraction of a second in my past, or future would I ever know that you just ‘landed soon by”? In other words, what makes this time line be ‘now’ at any given moment versus being any other time. We exist as A point on a time LINE, what is it that defines that point?
As far as how wonderful your people are in the time after the war I’m very happy for you. Maybe they succeeded in wiping out the RIGHT 3 billion people. Something that could not be done with the nuclear sledge hammer. Perhaps the enemy released a killer virus that zeros in on only those who carried the Idiot gene?
2036 is not impossibly far off, what is your street address then? I’ll stop in and swap tales from days of old…assuming I live that long.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 07 November 2000 21:23
——————————————————————————–
what will the year 2036 be like?
pamela:
1.I will ask you about your environment then and I want to know about the family life and also about your religion. what religion has survived? Do you believe in Jesus Christ or someone else. Do people still pray to God? Do you still have churches?
timetravel_0:Yes I believe in Jesus Christ and we pray to God in churches. There are some differences you may be interested in. Religion is a major part of peoples life in 2036. Pain and change tend to bring people together and closer to God. However, religion is far more personal than it is now.
There are no huge, centralized religions and people talk openly about their beliefs. It might also interest you to know that the day of worship is Saturday, the day God meant to be the Sabbath and the 10 commandments have been restored to the “10” that God gave us.pamela:
2. what kind of jobs do people do and do they still work long hours? whats the majority of job types in the future?
timetravel_0:
Life is much more rural in the future but “high” technology is used to communicate and travel. People raise a great deal of their own food and do more “farm” work.
Yes, compared to now, we do work long hours. After the war, my father made a living selling oranges up and down the West coast of Florida. My closest friend raises horses and another works for a company that maintains “wireless” internet nodes.pamela:
3.what is a typical day like for someone in your time? do you still have the internet? has it advanced to all virtual reality yet? what type of diseases are you currently dealing with? are there still advances in science?
timetravel_0:
A typical day…hmmm. Life has changed so much over my lifetime that it’s hard to pin down a “normal” day. When I was 13, I was a soldier. As a teenager, I helped my dad haul cargo. I went to college when I was 31 and I was recruited to “time travel” shortly after that. Again…I suppose an average day in 2036 is like an average day on the farm.pamela:
4.Is there still a post office? how do you receive messages from one another? you said most people talk face to face.
timetravel-0:Yes…there is a post office. The internet is still alive and well in the future. People spend more time talking because life is more centered around the community. I’ve noticed the same type of effect here when the power goes off. People tend to come out of their homes and actually spend time with their neighbors. There is a lot more personal trust and less paranoia.pamela:
5.what type of housing do you live in?
timetravel_0:
When I’m with my parents, I live in a community made up of “tree houses” on a large river in Florida. The river floods sometimes and we have access to the Gulf. Most of our neighbors make a living off the sea or in moving cargo by boat.
pamela:
6.what started the war? and who fought in it? who won?what countries were destroyed and what survived?
timetravel_0:
Wow…that’s a big question.
There is a civil war in the United States that starts in 2005. That conflict flares up and down for 10 years.
In 2015, Russia launches a nuclear strike against the major cities in the United States (which is the “other side” of the civil war from my perspective), China and Europe.
The United States counter attacks.
The US cities are destroyed along with the AFE (American Federal Empire)…thus we (in the country) won. The European Union and China were also destroyed.
Russia is now our largest trading partner and the Capitol of the US was moved to Omaha Nebraska.pamela:
7.did you ever discover what aliens were and ufos?
timetravel_0:
No new information there. I find that an interesting subject myself. Personally, I think “UFOs” might be time travelers with very sophisticated distortion units. But that might be a bit wacky.pamela:
8. what type of environmental problems do you know of that exist? do you have pure water to drink? are you mostly vegetarian-seems how most people are going that way today.
timetravel_0:
One of the biggest reasons why food production is localized is because the environment is so screwed up with disease and radiation. We are making huge strides in getting it cleaned up. Water is produced on a community level and we do eat meat..that we raise ourselves.
pamela:
9. are they still messing around with genetics? and altering the food and animals?
timetravel_0:
Yes…genetic engineering is used but it’s like any other technology. It can be good and bad. One thing we did not do was create more hybrid seeds. What are people thinking???pamela:
10.what do you believe about life after death?
timetravel_0:
I am a Christian Agnostic. I do not believe faith alone is enough to get us back to God. I’m not sure what happens when we die but I’m pretty sure it’s not a walk in the park.pamela:
11. do you have an advances in spacetravel or exploration?
timetravel_0:
No. We are working on it.
pamela:
12. what new inventions do we have to look forward to?
timetravel_0:
Hmmm….I hesitate to answer but I’ll give a bit. Hydrogen fuel cells and more efficient solar cells are big deals. Computer technology and software gets MUCH better.pamela:
13. what brings you the greatest joy on Earth? what are some things you and others do for entertainment and fun?
timetravel_0:
I like this question. My greatest joy is sailing. For fun, I enjoy swimming, playing cards, reading, playing games on the net and talking with people who live in other countries. As a community, we celebrate much more and have bon fires and dances. My hobby is sorting through old magazines and videos of life before the war.
pamela:
14. what are your schools and universities like?
timetravel_0:
After the war, early new communities gathered around the current universities. That’s where the libraries were. I went to school at Fort UF which is now called the University of Florida. Not too much is different except the military is large part of people’s life and we spend a great deal of time in the fields and farms at the “University” or Fort.pamela:
15. what are some of your fondest memories growing up? what kind of cameras do you have now to take pictures of the family? did they ever invent a hologram camera?
timetravel_0:
Most of my memories growing up are not fond. Life was very hard. Simple things make me happy like hugging my mother and father. Yes, we have cameras. More digital. Film is used like painting is today. No hologram camera though.pamela:
16. do you still have telephones? what is your major source of energy that you use? solar power? electricity? have you discovered new energies.
timetravel_0:
Yes we have phones but the service is through the web. Most power generation is localized. It amazes me how much power is wasted now. Yes, solar is big. There is thought that a singularity generator could also be used but most people are against it.[Another John Titor PREDICTION. - Metallicman.]pamela:
17. how do you take care of your elderly? and your poor and your orphans? and the ones who cannot work?
timetravel_0:
The elderly are highly revered and looked after on a community level. So are orphans. There is always something people can do now matter what. The idea of avoiding work is looked down on. Everyone pulls together to keep the COMMUNITY strong.pamela:
18. what is the dress style of the time what do you wear on your bodies as a style?
timetravel_0:
Hats are more common in the future and flashy colors are less common. Dress is much more functional and we “dress up” when ever we get a chance. I have noticed that no one in this time dresses for occasions even when they have the clothes. Why do people wear shorts to church?pamela:
19. do people wear their hair differently than we do?every generation has a different style what is the style of your time? what is popular for kids to wear? for adults to wear?
timetravel-0:We do not spend nearly the amount of time on our hair as people do now. Women like to wear their hair longer and men have it much shorter. Both sexes shave it all off when they’re in active military service.pamela:
20. are surgeries mostly performed by lasers? or were there new technologies developed?
timetravel_o:
Far less medical treatment in the future even though its more advanced. People die when they now its time to die. No lasers. Genetic medicine and cloning organs are the obvious new techs in the future.pamela:
21. do you still have the current form of government, presidents and vice presidents like we do?
timetravel_0:No. The Constitution was changed after the war. We have 5 presidents that are voted in and out on different term periods. The vice president is the president of the senate and they are voted separately.pamela:
22. how do you get from one place to another with not many cars around.do you teleport from one place to another?
timetravel_0:
We have cars…just not a whole bunch of them. There is public transportation from city to city.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 07 November 2000 22:18
——————————————————————————–
If I could bring some material thing back to your time from 2036…it would be a copy of the new US Constitution.
Yes, you could travel to a future that was 0.5 seconds ahead of now but not with my machine. The C204 uses the second as the basic unit of measure. The C206 may be capable of .05 sec.(In the same vien, if you just happened to arrive at “the year 2000″ a fraction of a second in my past, or future would I ever know that you just ‘landed soonby”?)No “you” would not. But the “you” on that world line would.(In other words, what makes this time line be ‘now’ at any given moment versus being any other time. We exist as A point on a time LINE, what is it that defines that point?)It is believed there are some sort of measurable quantum differences in world lines. I am not an expert on that so I can offer little information.(As far as how wonderful your people are in the time after the war I’m very happy for you. Maybe they succeeded in wiping out the RIGHT 3billion people.)Yes, we did.(2036 is not impossibly far off, what is your street address then? I’ll stop in and swap tales from days of old…assuming I live that long.)You would be welcome in my home.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 08 November 2000 11:47
——————————————————————————–
Timetravel_0-
1.Without going into detail what you are here specifically for can you please explain what the primary purpose of time travel is in the future?
2.Why it is used and how often to your knowledge it is used.?
3.Are there specific time periods time .travelers go to most?
4.you stated there were several time machines available are they all active at this time to your knowledge?
5.What kind of car are you going to go back in since you sold the Chevy?
6.Are you able to take people with you in the same car back to your time or another time?
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 08 November 2000 22:27
——————————————————————————–
(1.Without going into detail what you are here specifically for can you please explain what the primary purpose of time travel is in the future?)
In 2036, a great deal of effort is going into “repairing” our environment. I was sent to 1975 to get a computer system and take it back to 2036. Time travel is not a secret in 2036 and I expect it will become more common.
(2.Why it is used and how often to your knowledge it is used.?)
Right now, its used to get information or “items” that would be helpful in getting a post WWIII world back to a normal condition. There are 7 other time travelers in my unit.
(3.Are there specific time periods time .travelers go to most?)
Right now, most of our practical missions are from 1960 to 1980. There is a great deal of research into later and future periods but the farther you go, the lower the divergence confidence of the world line.
(4.you stated there were several time machines available are they all active at this time to your knowledge?)
Yes.
(5.What kind of car are you going to go back in since you sold the Chevy?)
It’s a 1987 4WD. The vehicle needs a strong suspension system to handle the weight of the distortion unit.
(6.Are you able to take people with you in the same car back to your time or another time?)
Yes.
IP: Logged
Curious unregistered posted 09 November 2000 12:41
——————————————————————————–
Timetravel_0, I have a couple of tech questions. If you change “vehicle” do you have to re-calibrate the unit? (Does mass effect the field strength or power level needed to travel?) What kind of coils are used to contain, and maintain the singularity? (tri-coil, or quadrature coil, etc.) Can your unit also dimensionally travel? (can it move laterally in time as well as forward/reverse)
Curious
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 09 November 2000 09:35
——————————————————————————–
To TimeTravel_0
Have you seen the movies ‘Terminator’ and ‘Terminator 2’? We have a lot of good movies in this time but it is hard to pick them out from the huge piles of “trash movies”.
Movies are contemporary liturature.
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 09 November 2000 11:01
——————————————————————————–
TT_0,
If your conveyence is accurate to one second then you must have a reason for picking the particular second or at least particular day or week, you did.
Let me guess, you are here NOW to look at the unusual hung election we have going on. Or maybe this is the trigger event in the coming world wide economic meltdown? Some other pivot point in history? Fess up. Why now?
IP: Logged
Fast Member posted 11 November 2000 12:34
——————————————————————————–
TT0-
if you journeyed here from 2036(i think) to get a computer system,why is it you are posting on a time travel message board information as to how you arrived here?
treason!
a VW Bus would make a fine time machine
Fast Out
——————–
Got light? Make matter.
pamela2@raex.com
——————————————————————————–
Posts: 985 | From: U.S.A | Registered: Apr 2001 | IP: Logged
Pamela
Moderator
——————————————————————————–
to TT0:
“–The C204 unit is accurate from 50 to 60 years a jump and travels at about 10 years an hour at 100% power. –” 10 years an hour?
from 2036 wouldnt that take three+ hours??
how could you survive with merely the pocket of air you caught in your vehicle’s field??
Fast Out
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 11 November 2000 18:46
——————————————————————————–
To Curious:
(If you change “vehicle” do you have to re-calibrate the unit?)
Yes. But its a function of the VGL system. A gravity baseline is taken and rechecked every time the unit is used. A new vehicle would alter the gravity signature.
(What kind of coils are used to contain, and maintain the singularity?)
I am not a physicist so I can not answer that to your level of sophistication. The singularities are held in an enclosed magnetic field.
(Can your unit also dimensionally travel?)
No. However, the longer the unit is on past a safe divergence confidence, the “stranger” the world line becomes. The unit I have is safe to about 1% for every sixty years at max power.[Which is why I often consider his "time machine" to be rather crude. It only senses gravitational deviations, and travels up and down similar time-lines.
True exploration of alternative world-lines is not that hard, once you have this basic level of technology. You can modulate the fields and inject various particles in various ways to achieve striking changes in destination world-line composition.
Not that I am an expert, but the variables enable the traveler to pick and choose, to a limited degree, certain aspects of the destination world-line. Such as technology level, cultural variations, population, and though specifically (pre-determined) manifestations. -Metallicman.]
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 11 November 2000 18:56
——————————————————————————–
TO Shadow:
(Have you seen the movies ‘Terminator’ and ‘Terminator 2’?)Yes. I’ve seen those movies. Very entertaining.(If your conveyance is accurate to one second then you must have a reason for picking the particular second or at least particular day or week, you did.)My goal was to reach a certain date and time which is converted into seconds for the computer to make its calculations. I do not pick the second. Its more important to have a low divergence confidence number.(Let me guess, you are here NOW to look at the unusual hung election we have going on. Or maybe this is the trigger event in the coming world wide economic meltdown? Some other pivot point in history? Fess up. Why now?)I would use the word “elections” a bit cautiously. Perhaps its easier now to see a civil war in your future?[From John Titor's point of view, a civil war is brewing.
Also, he seemingly has some strong views on what constitutes an "election". It makes me suspect that elections aren't really what they seem to be. Eh? -Metallicman.]
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 11 November 2000 19:07
——————————————————————————–
To Fast:
(if you journeyed here from 2036(i think) to get a computer system,why is it you are posting on a time travel message board information as to how you arrived here? treason!)Why would it be treason?
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 11 November 2000 19:11
——————————————————————————–
To Fast Out:
(10 years an hour? from 2036 wouldn't that take three+ hours?? how could you survive with merely the pocket of air you caught in your vehicle’s field??)Yes…that’s about right but my initial trip was to 1975, not 2000. I guess its a question of how many technical details you really want or you feel I’m making up. We do take additional 02 and the air pocket is a bit larger than you might think.
IP: Logged
Curious unregistered posted 11 November 2000 20:09
——————————————————————————–
Timetravel_O I am surprised they went with the VGL system over the “time lock” system. It must be more accurate as far as timeline devergance. No direct lateral travel huh? That means some places are not easily accessible.(there is a safe place to hide, LOL)
One last question, Can anybody operate the 204 unit? Or is it safe guarded by a “key of some kind? Thanks for answering. Yes, you would be welcome at my home.
Curious
IP: Logged
Fast Member posted 11 November 2000 20:28
——————————————————————————–
TT0:
the Chinese were said to threaten death by torture to those who gave away the secret of silk making…why not time travel also?
i now understand the oxygen part,thought i found a slip in your trip (to coin a phrase) to our (or 1975…) time…
why is it you traveled to 1975 anyway??
Fast Out
IP: Logged
Searcher of Truth unregistered posted 12 November 2000 13:22
——————————————————————————–
Time travel_0,
I followed the link to your pictures and if time travel is not a secret in your “time” then why do the top of your pictures say “restricted file”??
restricted file means LIMITED TO AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
Have you considered the possible adverse consequences the person might face that you had post them for you since you remain covert? or don’t you care since it is not your world-line. what about the people that read the information and attempt to build one? what if they get injured in the process because they are not knowledgeable enough to handle the forces they are playing with at this “time”.
what is your true purpose for posting assumingly “restricted” government documents on a public bulletin board where everyone can see it?
Did your Unit Commander authorize such a thing or is it something you decided to do completely on your own?
Have you considered your actions and probable outcome carefully?
-SOT
IP: Logged
Curious unregistered posted 12 November 2000 14:06
——————————————————————————–
To Seeker of Truth. The chances of one of us building a C204 are slim to none. (and Slim’s dead) Who’s to say that someone that will read this board, will be the one to actually invent the means for the C204 (or other units) to be operational? The divergence factor is so low, everybody will forget about this in a short time.
I wouldn’t worry about it When Timetravel_0 goes back, this will be nothing but a memory…
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 12 November 2000 16:41
——————————————————————————–
(Have you considered the possible adverse consequences the person might face that you had post them for you since you remain covert? or don’t you care since it is not your world-line. what about the people that read the information and attempt to build one? what if they get injured in the process because they are not knowledgeable enough to handle the forces they are playing with at this “time”.)
Yes, I have considered it but it is very easy to remain hidden behind a veil of disbelief.
The people who understand what they are seeing are not aggressive. Everyone else just finds them entertaining.
The obvious first answer is that the only world-line of consequence is my own and I don’t care what happens here. That however, is not the case. I have shown these documents in order that people might consider the possibility.
I do not expect people to believe them.
(what is your true purpose for posting assumingly “restricted” government documents on a public bulletin board where everyone can see it?)
The restricted nature of the documents I posted refers to the departmentalized nature of the technical information. The manual is supposed to remain with the unit. The current F-16 fighter jet probably has an operations manual. All the information in it is not secret but no one wants it to “walk” away from the plane.
(Did your Unit Commander authorize such a thing or is it something you decided to do completely on your own?)
I am here for personal reasons.
For a few months now, I have bee trying to alert anyone that would listen to the possibility of a civil war in the United States in 2005.
Does that seem more likely now? Actually it’s quite amazing to see what’s happening. I have been trying to get people to pay attention for the last few months but to see it unfold is very interesting. Before I leave, I’ll try and post my report.
I am curious… will anyone be upset if Florida’s votes are not counted in the Electoral College because of the current “confusion”?
(Have you considered your actions and probable outcome carefully?)
Yes.
IP: Logged
Curious unregistered posted 12 November 2000 17:22
——————————————————————————–
Timetravel_0, People have been “warned” of the upcoming events (or high probability of) for sometime. The date seems to move up and down the timeline a little, but the out come seems to be the same. Some of the “new age crackpots(?)” have already said this. A few have even given an estimate of when (some have been close to the year you stated). From what I understand, it is coinciding with a natural disaster (or cosmic event). I hope not be around then. Have a safe trip. Good luck.
Curious
——————————————–
Pardon my intrusion on your post, I thought it would be more suitable to include the following information here, as it is synonymous with your post, and placing it at the end of this thread where the conversation has taken a different direction altogether would not be in sync with the current flow of thought.
p)’i4q4—————–
Flood forthcoming
Monday, November 27 2000 @ 03:26 AM EST
Contributed by: Porfiry
Global warming could be on the verge of triggering a rise in sea levels that would flood huge swathes of the Earth’s most densely populated regions, says an unpublished report from the world’s top climate scientists. Caused in large part by the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet, this process would take a thousand years or more but would be “irreversible” once under way.
The report, due to be published next May by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is being read by the world’s governments. The final draft seen by New Scientist suggests that dozens of the countries meeting this week to agree on global warming limits through the Kyoto Protocol may face being wiped off the world map.
Four years ago, the IPCC forecast that sea levels could rise by half a metre in this century and by a maximum of between 1.5 and 3 metres over the coming 500 years. The new assessment suggests an eventual rise of 7 to 13 metres is more likely. This is enough to drown immense areas of land and many major cities. These rises will occur even if governments succeed in halting global warming within the next few decades, the report says.
Two factors are causing the rise: the slow spread of heat to the ocean depths and the destabilising of major ice sheets. It will take about a thousand years for warming in the atmosphere to reach the bottom of the oceans. The resulting thermal expansion “would continue to raise sea levels for many centuries after stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations”. Even if global warming is halted within a century, thermal expansion will eventually raise the oceans by between 0.5 and 4 metres.
Even more alarming is the fate of the ice that covers Greenland. Among all of the world’s ice sheets, this is now thought to be “the most vulnerable to climatic warming”. It contains enough snow and ice to raise sea levels by about 7 metres if it melts. And this looks increasingly likely to happen.
Models show that after any warming above 2.7 °C, “the Greenland ice sheet eventually disappears”. Nearly all predictions show Greenland warming more than this, says the report, and the faster the warming, the faster the melting. An extra 5.5 °C would cause sea levels to rise by 3 metres over a thousand years. An 8 °C warming would cause a 6-metre rise in sea levels in the same time.
The report’s authors are not allowed to discuss their findings until publication. But Jonathan Gregory of Britain’s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Bracknell, who co-authored the chapter on sea level, told New Scientist recently that once under way, the disintegration of the Greenland ice sheet would be “irreversible this side of a new ice age”.
The fate of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which is perched on submerged islands, remains controversial, says the report. If it melted, it would raise sea levels by a further 6 metres. Some experts quoted in the report predict that the sheet could entirely disappear within 700 years. Others, supported by the authors, expect that the sheet will contribute “no more than 3 metres” to sea level in that time.
If sea levels were 10 metres higher than today by the year 3000, it would cause the inundation of a total area larger than the US, with a population of more than a billion people and most of the world’s most fertile farmland.
Fred Pearce
From New Scientist magazine, 25 November 2000.
[This message has been edited by Time02112 (edited 27 November 2000).]
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 12 November 2000 17:44
——————————————————————————–
TimeTravel_0-
is there some reason you are not responding to any of my e-mails lately?
I have deleted all of your e-mails from my computer to protect you. no one will ever know your e-mail address. that is my promise to you.
if your not going to reply to me can you just answer me one question….was that you I seen? or you can e-mail me if you still can.
sincerely,
pamela
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 12 November 2000 20:53
——————————————————————————–
timetravel_0-
1
your friend,
pamela
IP: Logged
daViper unregistered posted 13 November 2000 23:04
——————————————————————————–
Contrary to popular belief, and certain speculations here, the plain simple fact is, there ARE no paradoxes. There never have been and there never will be. The term itself is an oxymoron and an invention of the intellect of the human mind, in search of creative thought and outright fantasy. The Universe exists without either the need for, or possibility of them.
[He is correct. - Metallicman]
Once one comes to this simple realization, one can then put the concept of “Time Travel” in IT’S proper perspective. Namely, that as is usually thought of, it doesn’t exist. Never has, never will. For the simple reason that our invented concept of time itself is fundamentally flawed. Time is not an entity. It is a unit of measurement invented by man, to define the interval between cause and effect. Like Meter. Or Yard. Or Foot. Or pound. Can we “Meter” travel? or “Foot” travel? Or perhaps “Acre” travel? Gets silly doesn’t it. Why does anyone think you can actually “Time” travel?
[He is correct. - Metallicman]
Interesting that the so called “Twins Paradox” was not discussed in depth here, but then it’s really not a paradox at all. It is only beleived to BE one by people who do not understand the simple laws of physics and the Theory of relativity.
If anyone is interested, I can show you how it CANNOT be a paradox. Unless you already know. In which case you wouldn’t be here speculating on the “how” of something that doesn’t exist in the first place.
It isn’t that Time Travel is not possible, it’s that there is NO SUCH THING in the first place. Never has been. Never will be. Like the Gods of MT. Olympus. Or the Fire Breathing Dragons of old. And Pegasus. Or the Earth as the Center of the Universe. It’s mythology. Based on INNOCENT ignorance. It’s a skewed concept created by a lack of understanding of the fundamental Theories of relativity (General and Special), in the first place.
[He is correct. - Metallicman]
And it doesn’t require “Multiple” Universes to solve. If there are multiple universes, than there MUST be an INFINITE number of them. In which case, all things that have ever happened, will happen, are happening Now. If THAT’S the case, what makes anyone think they have anything resembling free will at all?
[He is correct. - Metallicman]
Alas, I’m afrid even THIS attempt to resolve the so called “paradoxes” of Time Travel is also a pursuit in search of what is a non-existant problem in the first place. Another lapse into inventing a new mythology.
[He is correct. - Metallicman]
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 13 November 2000 23:24
——————————————————————————–
TimeTravel_0
Checked out the picture and documents (Pamala?) posted. Your ’67 Chev looks remarkably new…….hmmmm
If the manual is legit and that's a real working time machine in your front seat, the OBVIOUS conclusion, if not the correct conclusion, is that you are either in the employ of the US Army or you stole the friggen thing. I hardly think you picked it up for 20 bucks at the surplus store.
Looks like you’ve got a little baby field model there, the owners of which would surely have bigger and badder ones to come and collect it with. But you would know all about that. What you might not know is that the people who actually run things around now, will snatch you right out of your shoes at the first possible instant they get wind of you and your ah……. thing.
The one thing that you are REALLY REALLY NOT supposed to do is show up with something that might be perceived to be “dangerous”. You had better hide real good or get lost, one.
Been nice ‘talking’ to ya. Why not just spill the *entire* pan of beans before you split? Anything to piss off the rich folks, I say.
IP: Logged
Janus Member posted 14 November 2000 15:25
——————————————————————————–
I hope ‘Mr. 0′ is still there…
I’d like to believe you. What I need is one more prediction – you’ve predicted an American civil war in 2005; in order to fully believe you, I need one more unambiguous prediction like that. Something like, maybe, who will win the 100m in Salt Lake City. Really, anything like that, if I see two predictions like that come true you will have my unwavering belief. I’m a rationalist but not an idiot – the problem with most people who claim to time travel is that they have no evidence to back it up. What I ask for would be enough evidence for me, and probably most people.
[This message has been edited by Janus (edited 14 November 2000).]
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 15 November 2000 13:56
——————————————————————————–
Mr. DaViper,
A broken clock tells the right time twice a day.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 15 November 2000 14:12
——————————————————————————–
To: Shadow
If this shows up twice, I apologize.
(Your ’67 Chev looks remarkably new…….hmmmm)
Thanks. I sold it when I arrived here. It attracted a great deal of attention. Perhaps that’s why it was still around in 2036.
(…you are either in the employ of the US Army…)
More or less correct.
(Looks like you’ve got a little baby field model there, the owners of which would surely have bigger and badder ones to come and collect it with.)
Why would they come looking for me? I’m expected back but I will only have been gone a few seconds from their point of view.
(What you might not know is that the people who actually run things around now, will snatch you right out of your shoes at the first possible instant they get wind of you and your ah……. thing.)
Stupidity and greed are fairly predictable for a period of time.
(The one thing that you are REALLY REALLY NOT supposed to do is show up with something that might be percieved to be “dangerous”.)
Have you considered that your society might be better off if half of you were dead?
(Why not just spill the *entire* pan of beans before you split? Anything to piss off the rich folks, I say.)
I’m thinking about it. I’m waiting for my family to buy up all the good stuff cheap first…(joke).
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 15 November 2000 14:20
——————————————————————————–
To Janus:
(I’d like to believe you. What I need is one more prediction – you’ve predicted an American civil war in 2005; in order to fully believe you, I need one more unambiguous prediction like that.)
I appreciate the position you are in but you must realize that I am not affected in the least if you believe me or not.
(Something like, maybe, who will win the 100m in Salt Lake City.)
Off the top of your head, can you tell me if it rained in Atlanta this time last year? Do you think time travelers carry a sports reference with them?
In the movie “Back to the future II”, there is a scene where Marty goes tot he future and buys a sport’s almanac from an antique store to take back with him to the past.
(Really, anything like that, if I see two predictions like that come true you will have my unwavering belief.)
It is a mistake to give anyone your unwavering belief…but you will find that out yourself in 2005.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 15 November 2000 14:33
——————————————————————————–
To: Curious
(One last question, Can anybody operate the 204 unit? Or is it safe guarded by a “key of some kind? Thanks for answering. Yes, you would be welcome at my home.)
The unit has two security systems to protect it from “most” people. One, it has a code that must be entered correctly. Second, and probably more effective now, the unit can not be used by anyone who can’t add and subtract.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 15 November 2000 14:41
——————————————————————————–
To Fast:
(i now understand the oxygen part,thought i found a slip in your trip(to coin a phrase) to our(or 1975…) time… why is it you traveled to 1975 anyway??)
The first “leg” of my trip was from 2036 to 1975. After two VGL checks, the divergence was estimated at about 2.5% (from my 2036). I was “sent” to get an IBM computer system called the 5100. It was one the first portable computers made and it has the ability to read the older IBM programming languages in addition to APL and Basic. We need they system to “debug” various legacy computer programs in 2036. UNIX has a problem in 2038.
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 15 November 2000 20:29
——————————————————————————–
For totally selfish reasons I would like to know how one would communicate across time periods? Think of the grief one could save themselves by simply by calling yourself at 6AM from 6PM and getting the lowdown on the days pitfalls.
It is tough for me to visualize how, from our perspective, the future is frozen solid such that you could knock around here for a week or two and yet scarcely a blink of an eye has passed in 2036.
If you want to get peoples attention, it seemes to me that a pocket full of real US currency and coins dated 2001 and up would cause a stir.
Here is a nickel from 2067. I have been unable to find any strong information on to the lineage of this coin. I suspect that it is a fake, but who knows. Eh? A person with reasonable casting skills could make a reasonable copy out of lead or another metal. Photos would not be able to determine the difference.
It could be used as a standard test to see who is braindead and who can add 2+2.
You speak of 1 & 2 % “divergence” as being unimportant. I don’t get it. Like for example if OUR IBM5100 is 1% different than the code you have to run on it, it ain’t gonna work right. One percent in the FL vote count would be important. If I could see only 99% of the cars on the road it would be important to me. So, what exactly is X% divergent, and why is it not a major problem?
Janus is a Scientist. Don’t mess with him!
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 15 November 2000 21:39
——————————————————————————–
Oh, sorry Janus, forget I said that. I must have gotten your post mixed up with somebody eleses.
To TimeTravler_0
The trouble with having the “half the population dead” is that before the fact, one cannot tell to which half ones’ self belongs. The politics of who gets thrown out of the lifeboat and who gets to stay is not topic for polite conversation. So lets ask the question in the affirmative. ” What does one have to do in order to stay on the lifeboat?”
I don’t imagine you have much a fondness for the CJD (mad cow) prion. Any advise on how to defeat or avoid this plague?
IP: Logged
mokrie dela Member posted 16 November 2000 12:35
——————————————————————————–
_0 —Just popped in for a minute. If your on the level could you be so kind as to drop me off in 1880. No, I’m not kidding. If you pick up hitch hikers I’d really like a ride. Also, I’ve missed you Pamela and Time and the ever evasive Doc.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 16 November 2000 12:43
——————————————————————————–
Mokrie!!!!!!!
{{{{{HUG}}}}}}
I missed you to. I was wondering what world you fell into ( heheheh.)
hey now…only so many of us can fit into the 4×4! I asked first! I get the front seat!!!! heheh.
Doc if you are out there somewhere you need to respond! we are worried about you. alot of people have written you and you have not responded. your friends care about you!
sincerely,
pamela
IP: Logged
daViper unregistered posted 16 November 2000 16:42
——————————————————————————–
Shadow:
There is only ever one “time period” to communicate in. This one. The “now”.
In the classic so called “twins paradox”, the two are always in the same time line.
Visualize the traveling twin doing this travel always in sight of Earth. Orbiting the Sun at near the speed of light. He is always visible from Earth via telescope and radio. Although there will be some doppler shifting in his image and radio signals, communication is nevertheless still possible.
Just difficult.
He is traveling for what seems to be his Earth bound twin’s span of 50 years. During his voyage, he ALSO counts the Earth rotating around the Sun 50 times! Yup. That’s the way it works. Yet when he finally lands back on Earth, he has aged only 5 years!
Relativity has slowed his BIOLOGICAL clock, relative to his twin. Not time itself. Just like it slows the atomic clock on the moving jet plane, relative to the one left on the ground. Gravity has little or nothing to do with it.
It is the difference in RELATIVE velocity that produces what gets measured as time dilation. The same is true for the twins. Actually, neither twin left the other’s time line. Both were always in the same one. Both counted 50 revolutions of the Earth around the Sun, but the travelers biological CLOCK ran slower. That’s all.
There is no paradox. And communication across “time periods” is only ever communication across the same time period.
Where I am now, it’s 11:30 AM. But in Japan, it’s 4:30 TOMORROW MORNING. But me and the Japanese are still in the same time line, time period (in the greater sense), and can communicate with each other just fine.
The past has gone by. The future hasn’t happened yet. And all the near light speed travel or power sources that alter matter can’t change that. It’s a rather fundamental law of the universe.
Even Einstein only ever said time running backwards during faster than light travel, MIGHT be possible. He NEVER said for sure that it was true or for certain WOULD occur. And even withdrew further and further from this original position as he got older.
In the pure scientific sense, we need to always be vigilant as to the difference in what constitutes hypothesis, and what constitutes theory.
Good science always tries to DISPROVE hypothesis. Not prove it. Failure to DIS-prove it is what then results in what becomes evolving theory. And still only theory at that.
Enjoy.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 16 November 2000 23:33
——————————————————————————–
DaViper…biological clock ran slower?
Can you explain this concept further?
sincerely,
pamela
[This message has been edited by pamela (edited 17 November 2000).]
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 17 November 2000 09:34
——————————————————————————–
It is thought that being close to a gravitational field has a biological effect on all matter including cells. The effect is to slow the movement of electrons in the orbits of their nucleus which thus slows the mechanical and bilological functions of the observer close to the gravity.
Thus the passing of time is a local phenomenon depending on how close you are to a gravitational source.
This is one example of a theory involving “time shells” progressing in size and intensity around a gravitational point from all matter. The more massive the object, the larger and more influencial the time shells around it (like an onion). Another offshoot of this theory is that kinetic energy is actually the conversion of stored energy in the atom as it passes through time shells in a gravitational field.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 17 November 2000 12:01
——————————————————————————–
Time travel_0-
Would this serve a purpose to put cloned or donated organs in a field to keep it as fresh and un-aged as possible until ready to transplant into the new recipient patient?
In response to your last e-mail…
you never know what my future will hold.
maybe I’ll be visiting YOU. (maybe in one of those advanced distortion units.)
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 17 November 2000 19:12
——————————————————————————–
To daViper
Here’s the way I see it if I want to “foot travel or acre travel” or even frothing at the mouth mad dog banana split travel then I will just get on with it. I don’t need you to tell me I can’t. Heck if I want to pretend that I’m Superman and fly around the sun 50 times to save Lois Lane……..oh excuse me THAT ONE was YOUR idea.
We got a guy on here whom I believe to be an actual time traveler, somebody that knows about gravic shells. artificial singularities, computers and the history of the next 36 years. Somebody who has “been there done that” and I don’t really want to hear you spouting off about what you learned in 6th grade science class. I took the same class 35 years ago. Here is a news flash for you; Einstein was out of date 60 years ago.
You say there is no possibility of any time paradox ever occuring. How in heck would you know? Even if you are right on this one, its a lucky guess on your part. You don’t know. I don’t think you could think your way out of a paper bag.
You said that it is “tommorrow in Japan”. Does that mean that it is yesterday in Spain? Good grief, get a grip. If you would think a little more yourself, maybe you would be less inclined to tell everybody else how to do it.
I do advise however, that you could stick around and learn something.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 17 November 2000 21:11
——————————————————————————–
Shadow,
I have to hand it to you that was funny! banana split travel…hehheh
your a good person I can tell.
I personally cannot understand why someone posts on a time-travel web site that does not believe time travel is or ever will be possible. but I'm glad they do because I do learn things from them.
I think it a little humorous….. although it would be foolish to believe everyone that says they are a time traveler that shows up on here, and we have actually disproved several fake attempts.
I believe if a real time traveler actually showed up… nobody would even believe them. there is only a couple of people on here who even asked this guy questions. even though this web site gets an average hit of about 98 people in a 12 hour period.
how could you ever come to the knowledge of the truth if you dont ask questions?
my question is….do we really believe time travel is possible or do we have to be one who experiences a little of it first before we will even consider it?
Is time travel ever going to be a possibility in our future? if the answer is yes but not for thousands of years… well if they travel back to our time then it now becomes a possibility in our time as well.
DaViper? why is it you have not attempted to Disprove why the diagrams could not work?
why have you not argued against the use of singularities? or why it could not be possible for him to be here? Is it because you don’t understand what it is you are seeing? I want to hear the arguments why nobody believes this could be a possibility …don't any of you people have an opinion?
In our current view of things The possibility of it not being true is pretty high for a time traveler to openly expose himself in this manner..but..what if in his world time travel is not a secret?
In relating to a time traveler from a future time may be like relating to an alien from another country,another dimension or even another world. you first have to understand the environment from which they came. depending on how far in the future it would be.. their thinking would not be the same on certain issues because of how they were raised in their environment.
I think it is as he has said though that some people would not believe it even if the machine was right in front of them.
Just consider for a moment…. what if it was true? what a great opportunity you have all lost.
sincerely,
pamela
[This message has been edited by pamela (edited 18 November 2000).]
IP: Logged
Curious unregistered posted 17 November 2000 23:22
——————————————————————————–
My opinion is that there is a high probability that he (Timetravel_0) is as he has represented him self. And to add to that, what makes anybody so sure there hasn’t been others? How would you know? Do you think they will show you a time travel visa? It is sometimes amazing how great the human mind is able to except new ideas. The (energy field) diagram in the manual looks very similar to some diagrams that were purported to be from the Philadelphia Project. (from an Al Beilek video tape) Just my opinion, I could be wrong………..
IP: Logged
Dr Light unregistered posted 19 November 2000 06:15
——————————————————————————–
Now then..
If i go back to the year 1960 and give the scientist community there a book on advanced electronics in computers , would it not be that they would READ this book and design say, a pentium 3 chip in 1960 that would forward our technology advances 40 years?
if that is so how would this timeline be like? Would we have far better microproccessors here in 2000?
The materials needed to produce a chip like the P3 for example were available (to an extent) in 1960. So it would not be unheard of for me to jump back in time , give a book on microprocessors to IBM and see what they come up with…
A thought…
Did anyone witness the giant computer “boom” of the late 60’s? Computer technology went from basic 286 processors to great big polygon crunchers in the early 90’s. In the space a short 10 years microprocessor speeds have doubled every six months…
Technology is advancing at an incredible rate which leads me to think that perhaps we were visited by time-travelers in the 60’s or thereof, in order to further the advancement of the human race. How does one explain the massive technology jumps from the moon landing to our present time?
Seems to quick to go from a 286 to a 1 GHZ…
I think we had help , but that's my opinion.
Insights? Opinions?
Thank you.
Dr Light
IP: Logged
Fast Member posted 19 November 2000 19:35
——————————————————————————–
according to TT0,our technology would not change in the least..you would return you your original dimension and the book would (POSSIBLY) advance some other dimension’s technology…
[Actually, since there is no single "correct" world-line, and that all of our individual consciousnesses occupy our own very unique realities, then the thoughts of others on other world-lines will influence our world-line.
I call this the "reality template", or over-riding tends that most of our consciousnesses follow within a given time (a given state of entropy). - Metallicman.]
Fast Out
IP: Logged
Dr Light unregistered posted 20 November 2000 12:14
——————————————————————————–
But if the parallel worlds theory is true , that would make the book in question be relevant to ALL worlds including the one i just came from…
Therefore that would make technology jumps for all of the worlds, not just every dimension besides mine.
Perhaps it would evolve differently for my dimension but there is still the fact that it WOULD evolve because i went back and changed history for every world.
But….
that’s my opinion…
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 20 November 2000 12:20
——————————————————————————–
I still say “Something” of a very peculiar High Strangeness did occur in Roswell in the forties, and whatever it was, it had something to contribute to our current Time-Line, which altered it indefinitely.
IP: Logged
Dr Light unregistered posted 20 November 2000 12:35
——————————————————————————–
A few words..
i just finished reading the whole two pages and i have come to this conclusion.
Pamela…your a champion…no really…and thank you for the links.
and Mr_0….good luck my friend…see you in 2036.
Light
Thanks you
IP: Logged
Dr light unregistered posted 20 November 2000 05:39
——————————————————————————–
You sold your 67′ when you got here?
how do you expect to get back?!
Also, how have you overcome the problem of housing , food , job ,social security number , tax…or perhaps you are not here for that long.
Also how did you get on the net and have access to a scanner to reproduce your work on the net?
So many questions and things to do in this time..yet you have the time to post your C204 manual on the web.
I am not trying to disprove you Mr _0, but the people in power (pamela) urges us to ask relevant questions surrounding your existence in this time. This world is run on the economical side of things and i am just curious to how you happened to blend in to “our” way of living.
The way i see it..is that you MAY be a T.Traveler judging by your grasp on quantum mechanics and your vivid picture of the future but……
This world is run on the basis of “guilty until proven innocent” Myself..i would like to believe and your diagrams and schematics seem to confirm this. BUT there are skeptics out there who might think your a loony as you have seen.
I myself believe in time travel and as the theory goes..” if , at any point in history we will be able to T.T , we are being visited by others right now , from the future.”
If it makes no matter that you are here telling us about your revolutionary new T.T device…what would happen if we SUPPOSEDLY built a prototype …as my argument would state about the P3 and the 286..we would fast forward events in time…..36 years or so , with the development of a prototype c204 right NOW , using the schematics you have given us.But as pamela said…”..don't any of you people have an opinion?”
I am not out to shatter your reputation on this forum.. but i just want simple answers.
Thank you
Dr Light
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 20 November 2000 17:16
——————————————————————————–
To: Dr. Light.
(You sold your 67′ when you got here? how do you expect to get back?!)
The unit is portable between vehicles. It is very heavy and requires a “stiff” suspension. The unit is currently in a 4WD.
(Also, how have you overcome the problem of housing , food , job ,social security number , tax…or perhaps you are not here for that long.)
I am currently living with my parents on this world line. They know exactly who I am and how I got here.
(Also how did you get on the net and have access to a scanner to reproduce your work on the net?)
There are numerous ways to do that. Any local printing shop allows you access to a computer system.
(So many questions and things to do in this time..yet you have the time to post your C204 manual on the web.)
What suggestions do you have?
(This world is run on the economical side of things and i am just curious to how you happened to blend in to “our” way of living.)
You don’t think you could blend into 1970? What difficulties would you expect to have that couldn’t be overcome?
(BUT there are skeptics out there who might think your a loony as you have seen.)
I have nothing to sell nor do I want anyone to believe in me or take some action. What other people think of me does not affect me in the least.
(If it makes no matter that you are here telling us about your revolutionary new T.T device…what would happen if we SUPPOSEDLY built a prototype …as my argument would state about the P3 and the 286..we would fast forward events in time…..36 years or so , with the development of a prototype c204 right NOW , using the schematics you have given us.But as pamela said…”..don't any of you people have an opinion?”)
What you do on your world line is your own business. I can’t think of any better way to start a war than for someone to figure out how to make a time machine. Go for it.
(I am not out to shatter your reputation on this forum.. but i just want simple answers.)
I will be happy to answer “almost” any question you have.
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 20 November 2000 23:07
——————————————————————————–
TT_0
I STRONGLY urge you to contact me before you leave us! I must make contact with you before you go.
[This message has been edited by Time02112 (edited 20 November 2000).]
IP: Logged
——————–
Got light? Make matter.
pamela2@raex.com
——————————————————————————–
Posts: 985 | From: U.S.A | Registered: Apr 2001 | IP: Logged
Pamela
Moderator
Dr Light unregistered posted 21 November 2000 01:10
——————————————————————————–
So Mr_0
Perhaps you would like to explain to me how your parents fully understand HOW you got here , since you are a T.T, you showed them you c204 and they believed you totally?
I do not know your age so i am assuming that you would be over 40 years old.
How would your parents react to seeing you in 2000 as a 40 year old man? That would surely be enough evidence to show you are a true time traveller…
What exactly does the year 2000 have for you?
If you say the year 2005 is the war where 3 billion people die..you only have 5 years left then you will merely whisk off to 2036 with your IBM 5100 p.c,leaving our timeline in ruins and you would only be away for a few seconds…
What we do on our timeline IS our own business ,but we would appreciate it if you do not jeopardize our position here by giving someone the information/schematics to build a time machine that you say would “start a war”.
So what your saying is that the development of the C204 is the reason the “war” started?
So why are you trying to put us through your timeline and kill us too? Or are you trying to change history here and hope it will work on the parallel worlds theory and turns out well for you in the end?
As Pamela said you have an obligation to this world line. We may be in infinitely spaced world lines but that does not mean you should put us through your problems too.
What if you never showed up and gave us the schematics? Are you trying to AVOID or START a war of massive consequences?
Your argument is taken entirely out of context when i compare it to my previous argument about the P3 and the 286 processor
“What we do is our business” but you are here causing controversy and “hoping?” perhaps someone does create the c204?
So you are willing to sacrifice billions of lives and hope that everything is fine and dandy when you get back.
If events DO change here…they will change for you too.
BUT…
that's my OPINION.
Remember just answers please..
Thanking you,
Dr P.Light
(p.s pamela ,your opinion please)
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 21 November 2000 10:29
——————————————————————————–
Dr. Light,
There is a thin line between question and accusation. I’m pretty sure TT-O DOES NOT check in here seeking abuse or accusal.
The reason this board is here is to determine the the plausibility and possible usability of time travel. If there is no such thing, or even the perception that there is no time travel and no time travelers then we need to unplug this board and for all of us to ‘go home’.
The point is not is Mr. TT-O for real but rather is what we THINK we are doing here for real.
As TT-O says how we take care of our own time line IS OUR BUSINESS. Doing so in stark ignorance can lead to problems for those who put a priority on getting through the day alive.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 21 November 2000 10:41
——————————————————————————–
All of the questions asked by Mr. Light have been answered in one way or another. I believe Pamela has that information if she has not released it already.
You assume I am here to start a war?
Consider this: You are a time traveler who wishes to go back in time to 1941 because your grandparents live close to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. You realize you can’t stop the war but you may be able to help them prepare for it. Strangely, December 7th comes and goes with no sneak attack. As the war in Europe rages on, Japan fails to join the axis power, there is no war in the Pacific and the United States remains neutral. Then, you watch as Germany begins to develop the atomic bomb… all by themselves.
For a change, I have a question for all of you. I want you to think…think very hard. What major disaster was expected and prepared for in the last year and a half that never happened?[He's telling the audience his true purpose and intention in 1998 to 2000. It's Y2K. -Metallicman.]As far as war goes, I have faith you are quite capable of starting one all by yourself. I am hard pressed to accept any criticism on my outlook on that subject.
Growing up might have been a vastly different experience for me than it was for most of you. Personal responsibility, determination, honor, friendship and self-reliance are not just words we try to live up to or fantasize about.
On my world line, life is not easy.
We live in a world recovering from years of war, poison, destruction and hate. All of it, courtesy of the thinking and actions of people that live right now in the same world you do, worrying about which stocks to buy or whether or not a stranger is lying to them on the internet.
Destroyed Washington DC. The world as depicted by John Titor is not pleasant. In fact it is terrifying. The civil war fighting the DHS does not sound like fun either.
I believe that hardship and challenge develop character and community.
My first experience with war came when I joined a shotgun infantry unit at the age of thirteen. In the 4 years I served as a “rebel”, I watched hundreds of people get shot, burn and bleed to death.
I know exactly where I was and every detail of the exact moment the first nuclear warheads began falling on Jacksonville. I know the pain and regret of not acting soon enough to enjoy a relationship as a loved one dies of brain cancer from a war that gained nothing.
How can you possibly criticize me for any conflict that comes to you? I watch every day what you are doing as a society. While you sit by and watch your Constitution being torn away from you, you willfully eat poisoned food, buy manufactured products no one needs and turn an uncaring eye away from millions of people suffering and dying all around you. Is this the “Universal Law” you subscribe to?
Perhaps I should let you all in on a little secret. No one likes you in the future. This time period is looked at as being full of lazy, self-centered, civicly ignorant sheep. Perhaps you should be less concerned about me and more concerned about that.
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 21 November 2000 13:17
——————————————————————————–
Think, think, think, what major disaster didn’t happen last year. No y2k computer meltdown! Are you intimating that your people fiddled with time and saved us from that one? If so how could I complain other than to say that MY y2k preperations in themselves have turned into a MAJOR PERSONAL disaster that continues to this day. Ky-sur-sur-rah, ay?
Reading your posts I get conflicting ideas about what effect our timeline has on yours. Didn’t you say that “another you” was here now as a two year old child? Is the ‘Everret Many Worlds’ interpretation of quantum mechanics it the correct one then? You seem to look at us as represenative of your ACTUAL predicessors. There is something a bit unnerving about that. In fact the main reason why I think you might be genuine is that I have trouble thinking LIKE you do. I would expect this of an encounter with a “Chrono-alien”.
It seems to me that there would be some effect from one parallel world to another. Therefore what you do in this time line would have at least INDIRECT consequences in all future lines. The idea of many time lines I can ‘get’, but infinite ones? Perhaps on the parallel axis they just keep getting more different until they are seen as completly different alien worlds.
Is it possible to communicate between times and parallel worlds without physically going to them? Im getting a little sick of talking to myself…ha ha ..(.I think).
So we are all lazy and selfish around these times. Not exactly a news flash bud. Oh, did I leave out ignorant too? Hey it fits the profile. The word you are looking for however is POWERLESS. That is why we now, in general don’t give a flying crap about what goes on. There ain’t nothing we can do about it aside getting out teeth kicked in for trying.
Let me put it this way. The wrong people got all the money……already.
The rest of us are mostly concentrating on not starving or freezing to death. What do you want anyway? The disaster you have suffered in your time (and ours to come I suppose) got its start long long before today. We were warned decades ago……yeah now I see your point.
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 21 November 2000 13:37
——————————————————————————–
To: TimeTravel_0
Refer to post above…….forgot to stick your name on it again.
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 21 November 2000 13:47
——————————————————————————–
To: TimeTravel_0
Has the mystery of UFO’s been solved by 2036? Crop circles? I figure it is all “paralell worlder” stuff but is anything specific been determined?
BTW
The one way questioning going on here is mosty because you already know lots more about us than we can ever know about you. Let us know when you plan to check out.
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 21 November 2000 14:41
——————————————————————————–
A.) Russia has “ALWAYS” been considered the first Country, to be suspect of a probable Nuclear Attack against the USA, and I, for one have NEVER relinquished the thought that inevitably, this will happen while I remain alive to witness this unfourtunate trajedy come to fruition.
*Why have they been stockpiling Nuclear arms purchased from their Diplomatic relations with China, and protesting our “Star-Wars” defense systems during this plot?
We never seen it comming?
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 21 November 2000 21:31
——————————————————————————–
There have been a great many questions piling up that I do plan to get to. If anyone sees a question I have answered before, please feel free to repeat the answer.
I do not plan on leaving this world line for a while yet. I very much enjoy spending time with my family.
IP: Logged
Curious unregistered posted 21 November 2000 23:01
——————————————————————————–
To TT_0, How is it, that in the future they can produce and contain an artificial singularity, by complex computer systems, but can’t reproduce a basic pc (IBM 5100). Or is it easier to just “borrow” these items from an alternate time line? Or did you use the lack of a computer system as an excuse to vist your family?
Curious
IP: Logged
Dr Light unregistered posted 22 November 2000 12:57
——————————————————————————–
To T.T_0,
So if we are a bunch of sick lazy ignorant stupid etc etc’s……what are YOU doing among us?
Do you like our artificial foods? Or is it the meaningless piles of “junk” we churn out year after year? Perhaps it is the choked atmosphere? And we also turn an “uncaring eye” away from the millions suffering too?
Perhaps this time is just like yours……
We still have war , hate and all the above.
Humph. I didnt know that what we think is so technologically advanced and superior ( myself excluded)is looked upon as ,for want of a better word, “Sh*t”
I agree with Shadow.
Can we help but to eat these foods , drink this water? Survival is the key word here.
But another question arises..
Do you think i am accusing you? I meerly went and posted a message about my opinions on the subject.I happen to strongly believe in Time travel and i also believe YOU.They are only QUESTIONS as i have stated Mr_0. I also dont think you are here to start a war, of all things. if it was for my family, i would go though time too.
Or else what would i be doing here?
As soon as anyone here on this forumn starts talking in terms of “not believing you” you get aggravated? I dont wish for that to be.
These are questions , and nothing more. Tell me if i have hit a soft spot. Im not trying to but it might seem that way.
Life here in 2000 is not at all easy for us here too. A handfull of people run this timeline….
(Sigh)
Regards,
Dr. P.Light
(P.S) There are a few questions (not accustaions as you out them) i would like to ask about the workings of the C204 unit before you leave us. I will post them up later.
IP: Logged
Lllllllll unregistered posted 22 November 2000 14:32
——————————————————————————–
What Can we do to help you here in this time line.
Who is responcible for the disaster to come?
Can you tell us if the world has been unified under one single goverment in your time?
Do you have the means to calculate interactions over the range of the universe so that to enable which alterations need to be made at which points in the present universe at given times in order recreate an optimal time period for yourself when you return?
Remember this no matter what generation one goes to there is always trechory for it is sin in the human race that enables such degradation?
What do you think about our time period?
Have you tried any of our fast food?
What technologies were lost as a result of the war?
Who won the war?
My favorite junk food is M&M’s.
What ebergy source did you use for your traveling technique?
Did you use acceleration or compression as a stabilizing force?
How did you overcome the temperal turbulence caused by the affects of time dilation?
Was topology a big part of it?
Are you seeking to return to a parallel dimension?
In the present. Has anyone actually created a true interdimensional device. Or has only parrellel frames past frames been abtained within the worldline of the negative universe?
What do you need to fix your ship?
Has your resurfacing in the past resulted in the creation of a parallel entity as a result of the transfer of a phantom point of entity equivalence across the intersimensional barrier resulting in the abstraction of an existant entity out of the fractional entity less then zero?
Have you figured a way to counter this energy?
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 22 November 2000 16:44
——————————————————————————–
11/20/00 – Mon/Tue
Guest: Dr. Eugene Mallove
Dr. Mallove, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Infinite Energy Magazine will discuss cold fusion and new energy technology. Dr. Mallove holds a Master of Science Degree and Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from MIT and a Science Doctorate in Environmental Health Sciences from Harvard University.
Book: Fire from Ice: Searching for the Truth Behind the Cold Fusion Furor
Website: www.infinite-energy.com
(Click on the Windows media icon above, to listen to the pre-recorded broadcast.)
I posted this elswhere, however I wanted to ensure that TT_0 would review this, and post his comments accordingly…
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 22 November 2000 20:58
——————————————————————————–
Pamela: 1.What exactly would an observer see as they saw you arriving in this time? and exactly what would they see as you departed? would you just appear suddenly or slowly? would you look like a heat mirage for awhile? Any light effects? or hazy misty shimmering distortion?
Time travel_0- The observation of time travelers “appearing” suddenly in a world line do not happen very often. There are two cases and two points of view to consider. In the first case, the time machine does not move as it goes from one world line to another and then returns. The people watching on the original world linewould wave good bye and watch as the machine is turned on.
There would be a static discharge and the air would appear to “ripple” as if it were getting denser. Then, it would stop and the machine will have appeared to have gone no where. If the machine doesn’t move its position from world line to world line, the observer would not see it disappear at all.
In the second case, if the machine is moved, it would disappear from the viewpoint of the observer and return in a different location based on where it was moved and turned on from the destination world line.
In that case, the rippling seems to dissolve the machine and it disappears. If that happens while you are watching it leave and you expect it to return, you know it was moved or had a serious malfunction.
It is actually quite dangerous to get too close to a distortion unit as it enters or leaves a world line. It vents radiation and has a very strong localized gravity field. Personally, I worry about that a great deal.Pamela:2.What is the dimension of the field around the car? How many feet out from the car would you say it goes?
Timetravel_0-It can be adjusted to some degree. The CG (center of gravity) is adjustable within about 4 feet and the unit is effective about 10 to 12 feet in either direction from there. The vertical distance is quite a bit shorter and is determined by sensors in the unit.Pamela:3.approximately in inches how much of the ground is taken with you in one trip?
timetravel_0-Depending on weather or not you are going forward or backward, the footprint of the unit is different. I wouldn’t quite say it “scoops” up the ground cleanly. It sort of vibrates it loose and takes it along for the ride. It looks like someone raked the ground an inch or so deep with a small hand hoe or shovel.
The negative ergosphere “scoops” up the front and back areas of the field. The positive ergosphere leaves a longer area near the center of mass. Its about a cubic foot of dirt spread out over six square feet or so.Pamela:4.If they put the device in a house and turned it on what do you think would happen?
Timetravel_0-It might not be as destructive as you think. Depending on how close any object is to the field, it might not do any damage at all except for the floor.Pamela:5.what would happen to a bird or small animal that ran across the field right when it was producing the field to travel?
Timetravel_0-It would be quickly spread out over the lateral length of the gravity field. Imagine being squished and stretched at the same time. I would imagine anything left after that would be vaporized and generate static electricity.Pamela:6.how hot would you say the temperature gets on the outside of the car while in operation?
Timetravel_0-Very! hot. Depending on the power setting, 100 to 120 degrees is average.Pamela:7.is the car in drive mode when the device is activated or is it totally turned off?
Timetravel_0-The car is off and the brake on.Pamela: 8.has the device been tested on ships and airplanes?
Timetravel_0-Not that I’m aware of. Its important that it remain as still as possible so the gravity sensors can get a good lock. The divergence confidence would be way off if the vehicle was moving.Pamela:9.do you wear special uniforms when you time travel? what do they look like and does your group have a timetravel emblem or group name?
Timetravel_0-I wear a standard civilian service uniform during instruction and training. Its sort of a cross between an army uniform and overalls.
We do have a quarter master who distributes clothing appropriate to where ever we are going.
There is a patch. It is round and has a graphic of a Kerr singularity (sort of looks like an eye with gravity waves around it) with two spiral paths running through it’s center. One path represents the “safe” way and the other is the path to God. The bottom of the patch has my unit number along with “Temporal Recon” printed on it.
However, we remove any identification and patches before we go anywhere.Pamela:10.Can you tell us what you know about the famous Philadelphia experiment?
timetravel_0-I am aware of the basic story but I don’t have any other information to prove or disprove it.Pamela:11. How long do we have to talk to you before you leave?
timetravel_0-I’ll be around for a while yet.
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 22 November 2000 22:13
——————————————————————————–
Leader of a troup of time traveling Irish Army ants:
Corporal_O’Kerrants.
If you see him
It ain’t ’em, but “EM”
IP: Logged
TimeMaster 1a Member posted 23 November 2000 06:10
——————————————————————————–
TimeTravel_0:
I have been looking over your time displacement unit and find it interesting.
This is a list of the basic components as I see it.
[1] Singularity drive housing.
[2] Singularity magnetic field coil.
[3] Magnetic field generator / regulator.
[4] Electron mass injection manifold.
[5] Electron regulator.
[6] Electron condenser.
[7] Singularity ??? sensor.
[8] Singularity cooling housing.
[9] Singularity cooling pump.
[10] Singularity cooling supply.
[11] Gravity sensor unit.
[12] Battery supply.
Can you verify these components? What type of sensor is number seven? Why are the four atomic clocks not shown?
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 25 November 2000 09:10
——————————————————————————–
(Can you verify these components?)
That looks correct. I must apologize for the poor quality of the information. There’s a running inside joke about the technical issues. If the unit has a serious problem its not as if anyone can use those drawings to take the electron manifold off the singularity housing with a flat head screw driver.
(What type of senser is number seven?)
That sensor detects various parameters from the singularity.
(Why are the four atomic clocks not shown?)
There is another page that depicts the computer and clock systems. That technology is not new and not very interesting. There is a cut-a-way drawing of the entire unit that I will probably post before I leave. I’ll send it to Pamalea.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 25 November 2000 13:57
——————————————————————————–
To Shadow:
UFOs are as much as a mystery to me as they are to you. Would you be surprised to know that there are a great many people who don’t believe in time travel on my world line? I do believe UFOs are a real mystery but I also know that chaos theory dictates that no matter what technology or knowledge we have, there are always unknowns.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 25 November 2000 13:59
——————————————————————————–
To: Curious
On my world line, it is known that the 5100 series is capable of reading all the IBM code written before the widespread use of APL and Basic. Unfortunately, there are none left that anyone can find on my world line.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 25 November 2000 14:01
——————————————————————————–
To: Dr. P.Light
It is quite difficult to get used to some of the communication patterns I have come across here. Confusing conversational conflict for anger seems to be a common and typical problem. Why does the expression of differing emotion seem to threaten so many people? I do not feel accused nor was I trying to accuse anyone. Your opinions are as valid as anyone’s and I do not suggest you change them because of anything I say. I never said I was here to start a war although I have strong opinions about what a war would do for you. I am not aggravated by words.
Imagine you are Jewish and you are able to travel back in time to Germany in 1935. All around you are the patterns of thinking and action that will lead to a great deal of harm, death and destruction in just a few years. You have the advantage of knowing what will come but no one will listen to you. In fact, they think you’re insane and the situations you describe could never happen.
What I feel is not anger, it is sadness that you can not see what I see.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 25 November 2000 14:03
——————————————————————————–
To: IIIIIIIIII
I appreciate your offer for help but I am quite alright. The responsibility for the “disaster” is your own but I do not consider it a disaster. Rebirth is often painful. My world line is not unified under a single government but I would say it is closer to a unified purpose. Isn’t that what you want anyway? No, I do not have the ability to make calculations that would effect world lines to my advantage. Besides the fact that manipulating people for personal gain is wrong, I am of the belief that it is best to make the world line you are on now better.
I like the incredible freedom you have on this world line but I see it as a trap and I fear the cost is the loss of your sense of connection with family and community. Yes, you can self actualize your ambitions but at what cost to the people around you…or yet to be born? The incredible availability of art, literature and limitless resources is hardly taken advantage of as I imagine the number of people sitting in front of their TVs.
No, I have not tried any fast food. Thinking about where the food came from, how it was shipped and treated absolutely terrifies me. I have tried to tell people about CJD disease and it seems to be “catching on” in Europe.
Technologies themselves are not lost but some of the older tools and techniques have been lost. I think there is more detailed information about the war posted earlier.
The energy stored in the singularity is used to create the distortion fields. That energy is created in a particle accelerator. I’m not sure what you mean by “temporal turbulence”. What effect would that have that would need to be overcome?
When I leave, I will return to 2036. The computer I have is expected there. I am unaware of any “true” inter-dimensional device available on this world line now. I would image the effects of such a device would be hard to hide.
My “ship” is not broken. I am here by choice. Don’t you find current events interesting? Again, I’m not sure I understand your last question. Perhaps we should agree to the definitions of a few terms and basic physics before I try to answer that.
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 25 November 2000 17:08
——————————————————————————–
I am unaware of any “true” interdimensional device available on this world line now. I would image the effects of such a device would be hard to hide.
TT_0 I recommend that you read the following archived posts. Although there are some interesting information about “Existing” portals that traverse the Space-Time continuumn, Time~Travel capability is just one ability that these devices are capable of, and the most interesting factor resides with the fact that they may even pre-date mankinds own history? (perhaps.)
The fact that better equipment is supposed to get the reverse-time traveler closer to their actual past indicates that there is an ACTUAL SPECIFIC past that he is aiming for. So if in practical application the traveler ends up 2% divergent upon arrival in the past and if he stays in that line he finds that it is not a line at all, but that going forward, divergence approaches infinity. If this is so, the only way to get back to ones’ original future is to have left some kind of specified object or condition there as a marker. Reverse time divergence is an artifact of the machine you use and not a built in natural law of physics.
In this idea the past is exactly behind you and the future is always and literally “right around the corner”, It also suggests that the self is fractionalized over several to many parallel time lines even though we may only *realize* one line at once. Organic psyche may be what LIMITS divergence (of time lines). Also if this theory is correct we may be 2% divergent from TT_0 but going forward in this time line he is 98% divergent from us. My logic is pretty good here, how’s my facts?
BTW Someone just gave me a working IBM 5160. Should I save it or toss it?
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 26 November 2000 16:32
——————————————————————————–
To the reader: feel fortunate you are reading this I had a hard time posting it hopefully it will appear this time. More questions from me to Timetravel_0 and his answers.
(can you tell us which of our foods are poison and why?)(What can we do to prepare ourselves for the coming war.)
I tried to consolidate your questions into a basic list. I hope this helps.
[1] Do not eat or use products from any animal that is fed and eats parts of its own dead.
[2] Do not kiss or have intimate relations with anyone you do not know.
[3] Learn basic sanitation and water purification.
[4] Be comfortable around firearms. Learn to shoot and clean a gun.
[5] Get a good first aid kit and learn to use it.
[6] Find 5 people within 100 miles that you trust with your life and stay in contact with them.
[7] Get a copy of the US Constitution and read it.
[8] Eat less.
[9] Get a bicycle and two sets of spare tires. Ride it 10 miles a week.
[10] Consider what you would bring with you if you had to leave your home in 10 min. and never return.
(Can you tell us exactly what event started the war? Is there any way we can stop it?)
The war is a result of faulty politics and desperation from Western leadership during the US civil war. Yes, I suppose you could stop it.
(Are some states or countries safer than others?)
Take a close look at the county by county voting map from the last elections.
(Did they use biological and chemical weapons in the war besides nukes? Did they use mind control weapons?)
Yes there were bio and chem weapons used. No mind control weapons but there are new “non-lethal” weapon systems that turn out to be quite lethal.
( Have you discovered the cure for cancer or aids yet?)
Aids…no. Cancer…some progress.
(If our leaders of this world line were reading this posting and believe who you say you are……..what would you say to them right now?)
Revel in your confidence today because you will not win tomorrow.
(What is the main message you want to convey to us at this time?)
Please, please wake up. Look at the sign posts around you now.
(Can you explain this further when you talked of your patch and the two spirals one was the “safe” way and one was the way to God. Can you expound on that I didn't quite understand it.)
The safe way is the one calculated to take you in time where you want to go, the other path will take you to God (death). Both are equally accepted and anticipated before each trip.
[This message has been edited by pamela (edited 26 November 2000).] IP: Logged
Fast Member posted 26 November 2000 17:51
——————————————————————————–
ive been gone for 4 days and i get back and TT0 is leaving and there are people in doubt over his story??
I have been reading that around 2011 there is some new world order-type government in place…TT0,can u verify?
Also,a while back(page 2 of the posts) you said something was wrong with UNIX in your time…what is wrong?
Fast Out
IP: Logged
Fast Member posted 26 November 2000 18:01
——————————————————————————–
“–Perhaps I should let you all in on a little secret. No one likes you in the future. This time period is looked at as being full of lazy, self-centered, civicly ignorant sheep. Perhaps you should be less concerned about me and more concerned about that.”
who’s to say that in your own time-line’s future,your not considered barbaric and immature in your own arrogance with the notion that ‘yes we survived…we can handle another war…now lets use the technology that STARTED the bloody war and go back into someone else’s time-line and start a war there too…perhaps then we will have parallel companions with the same motives?’
War is the darkest of all Arts.The Age which follows includes those who practice another of the darkest:arrogance.
Fast Out
IP: Logged
Dr. Light unregistered posted 27 November 2000 01:37
——————————————————————————–
To: T-T-0
Just a quick question before i jet,
Does the events happening in the Middle east concerning the Arabs and Jews have anything to do with the coming war? I mean to say that since the Jewish population seems to have quite considerable power now in 2000, would they mount a force against other countries or am i under the belief that the war will result from the U.S government election?(among other things).
On another previous note,
You must understand that we cannot just willingly give in our skepticism just because a person comes onto a bulletin board and announces that he/she is from 2036?
Tell me T-T_0, when you first typed a message here announcing your arrival…did anyone believe you? We have had proven “false” time travelers here before as you may have heard. But your considerable grasp of quantum physics and distortion fields seems to justify you.
Seems like your the …”real deal”
P.S–I KNEW that particle acceleraton technology would be part of time travel!!!
Makes sense doesn't it!
P.P.S– Singularity cooling pump?
What do you cool the singularity with?
IP: Logged
Dr .P Light unregistered posted 27 November 2000 04:01
——————————————————————————–
To TT-0
Just an afterthought i forgot to add to my previous post..
How much more advanced are the computer hardware and software systems in the future?
Are we looking at 110Ghtz computers with stamped silicon system technology as opposed to 200 million microtransistor configurations?
Or do we have the usual “crawling along with hardware advances every 6 months?”
Please feel free to go into details.
Dr P.Light
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 27 November 2000 16:03
——————————————————————————–
pamela
Member posted 08 April 2000 18:23
——————————————————————————–
This is interesting: http://www.damanhur.org/time/html/kindred_spirit_s_article.htm
click on “interview with a timetraveller.”
“tales of the unexpected” is his recall of his travels.
————————–
Do you remember this one Pamela? http://tectime.cjb.net
[This message has been edited by Time02112 (edited 27 November 2000).] IP: Logged
IIIIIIIIII unregistered posted 27 November 2000 22:57
——————————————————————————–
Dear Time0,
if one found a method to pry apart a magnetic field would this result in a containable release of energy. Would the energy channeled through the tear be in the form of a tachyon field with the forward edge of the tachyon field at a velocity of light. Would the internal tachyons within the tachyon field have a velocity greater then light even though existing in the present subliminal time frame?
inquisitively.
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 28 November 2000 01:29
——————————————————————————–
TT_0
What can you tell us about
“Space Time Transposing” ?
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 28 November 2000 01:51
——————————————————————————–
Originaly posted from the coast to coast forum by: Alan Troidl http://post.coasttocoastam.com/showthread.php?threadid=355
————————————–
Time travel has been taking place for thousands of years. The foremost device used was the pyramids around the world used by ancient civilizations. This was for time travel and not so much as a burial site as commonly believed. The physics behind this is the sacred geometrics of the pyramid shape.
The geometric shape of the pyramid allows for the concentration of “White Light” as well as “Dark Light”. The dark light was conducted from the area in the pyramid know as the “well” which no one could understand its use as it is a hole that suddenly stops with no apparent purpose or use.
Above the King’s Chamber are huge layered stones with air spaces. One side shiny and smooth and the other side dark and rough. This is a capacitance machine for the separate collection of the 2 light sources.
These 2 light sources, one coming from the earth and the white light from the cosmos above criss crossed but did not intersect each other at the point of the sarcophagus. This technology allowed for time travel and the opening of the “third eye”.
As well, the design of 2 pyramids intersecting base to base to give you the design of the 6 point star, (or the star of david), is the sacred symbol and geometry to enter into zero point time or Christ Consciousness. There are modern day devices that impliment these principals for time travel.
By having your own brain operating at the same harmonic frequency as obtained through man made devices, can give you the same ability to do conscious time travel.
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 28 November 2000 02:01
——————————————————————————–
There is a fortelling of a significant Time Divergence that is believed to occur during the year 2012 according to the ancient Mayans, yet you claim to be from 2034, and posses a working Time Travel device…
What can you tell us would happen to you, or anyone else who were to use your device, or another one similar in capabilities to travel to the yr. 2012???———–
(also I would like you to tell us what you know, or have been told what takes place in “2112”)
incidentally, since it is common knowledge that many events within our cosmos are cyclical, interesting enough the “Photon Belt” returns to our solar system every 26,000 yrs. and in the given Time frame since it’s last presence in our solar system, that would place it’s peak convergence upon us again at 2012 coincidence?
[This message has been edited by Time02112 (edited 28 November 2000).] IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 29 November 2000 02:22
——————————————————————————–
TT_0 so many questions, yet you seem to have more “Time” than most to address them, so while I await your replies to my other posts, here goes another….
I’ts no big secret among thos who are “In the Know” of our current worldline’s attempts to control the weather i.e. HAARP & Chemtrails, so What can you tell us about the future of weather control such as the following…
bronze flying globes that float in the air over the earth, and are aligned in grid formations, and lasers joining them together in the air, churning out snow storms, rain, or whatever else they decide to induce,to be created in the given space provided???
——BTW; I traveled to the past, and grabbed an earlier comment you posted.
Does anyone remember this one?
——————————
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 02 November 2000 01:00
——————————————————————————–
I saw the posting requesting the basic systems for a gravity distortion system that will allow time travel. Here they are:
[1] Magnetic housing units for dual microsignularities. [2] Electron injection manifold to alter mass and gravity of microsingularities. [3] Cooling and x-ray venting system [4] Gravity sensors (VGL system) [5] Main clocks (4 cesium units) [6] Main computer units (3)
[This message has been edited by Time02112 (edited 29 November 2000).] IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 29 November 2000 09:29
——————————————————————————–
I hate to sound sarcastic but didn’t you some what gloss over the most critical piece of time-travel equipment? I don’t see the $10,000,000+ dollars listed anywhere, that it would take to buy and fabricate all that other stuff.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 30 November 2000 19:43
——————————————————————————–
time 02112:
this web site from Nov. 1, 2000 at 10:00pm till Nov. 30, 2000 at 7:38pm has been accessed: 4026 times.
I was curious how many hits it got in about a month. well there it is… heheheh
if it continues it will be well over 48,312 a year.
I thought it was interesting. there seems to be a lot of people interested in time travel but few post.
-pamela
[This message has been edited by pamela (edited 30 November 2000).] IP: Logged
Perhaps it is better to understand if one understands that all fractional entities less then one is equal to zero spatially and less then zero temperally when measuring the temperal fractional entity in terms of spacial fractional entity known as a plancs length. Of course I could be misinterpreting the definition of a plancs length. Please feel free to correct me if I am incorrect in assuming that what I have gathered as the definition of a temperal zero, and a spacial zero; and the plancs temperal length, and a plancs spacial length as being the same conscept: is wrong. Otherwise the ofore mentioned point of view ought to be considered. (If there is any confusion as to what I am talking about please have a look see under rgrunts time travel posting in order to acquire the basic train of thought behind the above mentioned statement.)
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 01 December 2000 23:04
——————————————————————————–
timetravel_0 said he would be back he is just a little busy right now.
patience is a virtue. time takes… time.
-pamela
———————————————
[This message has been edited by Time02112 (edited 02 December 2000).] IP: Logged
Thanks for the knowledge Pamela. I really think that the design or basic model that Time-o gave sounds legit but I think that if he could replace the particle accelerator with a an electromagnetic device that uses only one kind of particle-a magnetic photon- that the energy would be much more stable and easier to control. I also believe that such a replacement would require much less accuracy and would be at the minimum as efficient if not more efficient then the energy production that he is intent on using. A gravity generator would also be just as effective in extracting the necessary energy required to power the device. This will require alot more effort such as discovering how to make a gravitational generator.
sincerely,
Edwin G. Schasteen
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 06 December 2000 21:36
——————————————————————————–
(What is the popular music like?)
Most of the same music you enjoy is available on archive. However the days of mega-stars playing multiple track studio produced music and lip synching on a huge stage are pretty much isolated to your time period. Like everything else, music is much less centralized. The general trend is away from “computer generated” music and more toward real people playing real instruments. Music is much more of a personal experience. More people know how to read music and play together in small groups.
(Are there any social prejudices)
Yes there are. However, as odd as it may sound, it serves a useful purpose in my time. First, you must realize that your experiences with “prejudice” and mine are different. I would characterize the intolerance you have here as a result of ignorance and fear. I have observed that people with unfounded and irrational fears about their fellow man in this time have the luxury of not having their beliefs tested.
After the war, much of the prejudice you have now was swept away by simple necessity. People had to work and fight together just to survive. This has a way of opening a person’s eyes as to the value of fellow human beings.
What difference does the color of a man’s skin make when you are both fighting against the same enemy to survive or find water or grow food? On my world line, if a man doesn’t pull his weight in the community, then we feel prejudice towards him as a burden to us. This feeling of shame he experiences then makes him realize his responsibilities.
(What is the health care system like)
You would probably not like it at all. I would compare it to what you see in Western movies. We do have hospitals but there are more family doctors and house calls as compared to what you are used to. There is no real organized health care. If you get a serious disease, you die. This however has had a tendency to strengthen the general genetic pool. Doctors are more concerned about things like broken legs, snake bites and delivering healthy babies.
(What is the entertainment industry like, movies, tv, radio, internet?)
Again, entertainment is less centralized. There are “movies” and “tv” but everything is distributed over the net and more people produce their own “shows”.
(How difficult is it for someone to start from nothing and get a job and make a living for themselves?)
Very easy. If you can work with your hands and get along with other people, you will always find work.
(If a group of people were to travel forward in time to avoid a situation, would they be still be able to live in relative peace? Or would they be looked down on for that? Should they just keep that a secret to make things easier?)
From a physical standpoint, I suppose that would work if you were trying to escape a natural disaster. But you must consider that trying to “escape” by time traveling has it’s own problems. I’m not exactly sure what you mean by being looked down on.
(I have been reading that around 2011 there is some new world order-type government in place…TT0,can u verify?)
On my world line in 2011, the United States is in the middle of a civil war that has dramatic effects on most of the other Western governments.
(Also,a while back(page 2 of the posts) you said something was wrong with UNIX in your time…what is wrong?)
Yes… and with your’s too. I have to believe there must be a UNIX expert out there someplace that can confirm that. I’m not exactly sure what the technical issue is but I believe some sort of UNIX system registry stops in 2038.
(Does the events happening in the Middle east concerning the Arabs and Jews have anything to do with the coming war? )
Yes.
(I mean to say that since the jewish population seems to have quite considerable power now in 2000…)
I’m not sure what power you are referring to.
(Tell me T-T_0, when you first typed a message here announcing your arrival…did anyone believe you?)
I don’t know if anyone believes me now. But you must realize that I don’t expect anyone to believe me or does it affect me one way or the other. I enjoy these conversations too. What would you expect a time traveler to say or do in your time?
(What do you cool the singularity with?)
Very highly technical, cooling stuff. [sorry, I don’t get much of a chance to be a wise guy ]
(How much more advanced are the computer hardware and software systems in the future? )
Good question! I would say the biggest difference is in the reliability of the hardware and software. It absolutely amazes me how willing people are here to accept computer and software failures on such a regular basis.
I was very surprised to see how prolific it is. You can look forward to very stringent manufacturing parameters and programming discipline. Think back to the early days of the computer and how much work and cleverness it took to fit those programs into such small areas of memory.
Has more and cheaper memory brought better programs or just more programs?
As far as technical specifics, I’m afraid I can not go into too much detail. However, I will tell you that processor speed and memory size take dramatic leaps forward.
(if one found a method to pryapart a magnetic field would this result in a containable release of energy. Would the energy channeled through the tear be in the form of a tachyon field with the forward edge of the tachyon field at a velocity of light. Would the internal tachyons within the tachyon field have a velocity greater then light even though existing in the present subluminal time frame? inquisitively.)
Hmmm… I afraid my notebook on Maxwell’s equations isn’t with me and I must say again that I am not a physicist. As far as tachyons goes, it’s my understanding that they can not exist at all unless they are created and “traveling” faster than light. As far as time travel goes, I’m afraid tachyons are merely useful for describing various quirky effects of strange matter.
Time 02112 has asked me some questions that I must give further thought to. I will post again as soon as I get a chance.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 08 December 2000 01:08
——————————————————————————–
Timetraveler_0-
I thought people might be interested in seeing the drawing of the patch you sent me that you wear on your uniform. minus the unit number and the name TEMPORAL RECON.
I know you said you didnt care if i posted it or not. for anyone who would like to see it Doc has posted it on his site here:http://pub2.ezboard.com/bmagisystems then click on “timelords anonymous” and it is after your other pictures on the “anonymous gravity/time device pictures” I tried to do a direct link but it didnt work.
…and another one, (Cleaned & Enlarged) version here:> http://www.egroups.com/files/tapten/TAP-TEN/TT_0/T-T+Insignia.jpg
IP: Logged
Roby unregistered posted 10 December 2000 12:07
——————————————————————————–
I was just wondering who won the Super Bowl in the year 2001?
IP: Logged
Tiger Cohen Junior Member posted 10 December 2000 09:24
——————————————————————————–
Hello TT_O!
I have read some of the concourse up to the end of this topic’s dialogue. I find your answers to questions posed, quite … um, shall we say … creative. To say the least you are a very imaginative person.
I am not here debunking your travels or to discount your stated technology, but I do have just one question.
If your machine is capable of traveling back through time from future earth to now, I wonder how your vehicle landed on this earth at all? You obviously know that this earth and your earth do not occupy the same quadrant of space. Our earth is rotating along it’s axis at 1600kph and moving on an elliptical orbit around a sun in a solar system which itself is circling and expanding the galactic center of our galaxy which is itself ever-expanding outward. In truth your machine should (but doesn’t) also have some kind of ‘warp’ capability incorporated in it in order to go back in space to the point where we are now. It’s a wonder that your vehicle didn’t end up in deep space or caught in the gravity well of some other stellar mass. You would also need a life support system to sustain you until you were within earth’s atmosphere.
Oh, I know that you may claim to have access to galactic stellar cartography from this period of space and time, but how would you account for the earth’s rotational speed as well as the moon’s gravitation effect and lastly the avoidance of man made structures which are not totally mapped even by our geosynchronus comsats of this day?
I’m not worried about pieces of dirt within your temporal field or even the odd stray cat being dispersed by your resulting static electricity, but I am curious as to how you overcome all of these obstacles from the contoured seat of what you claim is just a time machine?
Pamela seemed concerned with the ‘go nowhere ripple effect’ that might occur when a time machine left and then returned, but I find even that logic flawed. I maintain that a time machine would imprint itself spatially upon a certain time period. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity would dictate that even if you left in such a machine for two minutes, this time would continue to advance and this world would still move through space and rotate. Therefore a time machine would NOT appear to stand still but rather would (depending upon the time interval) appear to suddenly defy gravity as it disappeared and then, free of the gravitational momentum, would reappear in near or far space. If you think my logic is faulty, then try jumping high in the air from the back of a flatbed truck while it moves along at freeway speeds.
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 10 December 2000 11:00
——————————————————————————–
I will try to answer all of your questions however, I have noticed that there seems to be a difficulty in entering a conversation in the middle. Most of the following questions I have answered at length in previous posts. I understand how important it is to have these answers when new people read portions of the posting but I find it tiring to keep repeating myself. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
(I was just wondering who won the Super Bowl in the year 2001?)
I do not answer questions like this. Although I don’t really know the motivation for the question…I can guess. If a time traveler had knowledge of your future, and you could only ask one question, would this be it? Besides, can you tell me if it rained in New York on June 4th 1932? You are from their future so should you know that?
(I have read some of the concourse up to the end of this topic’s dialogue…. 1. If your machine is capable of traveling back through time from future earth to now, I wonder how your vehicle landed on this earth at all? You obviously know that this earth and your earth do not occupy the same quadrant of space…. You would also need a life support system to sustain you until you were within earth’s atmosphere… and lastly the avoidance of man made structures…)
This is actually a very good question that parts and pieces of the answer are scattered around in previous postings. I am often surprised that it is not the first one asked.
You are correct, this problem is actually the most difficult part of time travel. Although some of your assumptions about matter displacement are a bit off, the problem is real. Inside the displacement unit are a series of very sensitive clocks and gravity sensors.
This system is called the VGL (variable gravity lock).
In simple terms, before the unit “leaves” a world line, it takes a base reading of the local gravity and adjusts the Tipler sinusoid to “lock” into that position. Although the tmporal physics of this statement are wrong, in effect, it holds you to the “Earth”. During travel, it periodically checks to see that the field has not varied. If it does, it stops and reverses course or drops out at that point. Buildings and other terrain features are avoided in the same way.
Yes, we do bring oxygen in the vehicle with us but we do not lose atmospheric pressure.
(Pamela seemed concerned with the ‘go nowhere ripple effect’ that might occur when a time machine left and then returned, but I find even that logic flawed. I maintain that a time machine would imprint itself spatially upon a certain time period.)
I’m not sure what you mean by imprint?
(Einstein’s Theory of Relativity would dictate that even if you left in such a machine for two minutes, this time would continue to advance and this world would still move through space and rotate.)
Yes that is correct.
(Therefore a time machine would NOT appear to stand still but rather would (depending upon the time interval) appear to suddenly defy gravity as it disappeared and then, free of the gravitational momentum, would reappear in near or far space.)
Please see VGL system above. Also, please be aware that from the viewpoint of the time traveler, the displacement unit actually left and then returned. The viewer does not experience this. Think of it as a Gosub statement in a computer program.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 10 December 2000 11:32
——————————————————————————–
from an e-mail to timetraveler_0 and his answers. (TTO-If any of this is different from what you sent me please let me know.this is copied and pasted.)
>1. what type of money system do you have on your world line? meaning how do you buy and sell things? Do you have the same type of money or do we have a cashless society? such as smart cards, credit cards or ID biochips.
Its not very different than it is now. Yes, we have money and credit cards. However, like everything else, the monetary system is decentralized. Banking is based mostly around the community structure. There are no multinational banking or computerized economic systems. There are also no income taxes.
>2. do you still use radio transponders to ID your cattle and other farm animals?
Some of the larger farm communities use electronic markers and fences. I am not a farmer so I don’t have very many details about that.
>3.Is the Global Positioning Satellite system still in place around the Earth?
Oh yes! In fact, the unit I have with me works here. I’m not sure why that surprises me. here are also a great many communications and internet satellite systems.
>4.Do you still have the American Flag as your flag? does it look different or is there a new flag?
Yes, we still have the flag. There is a debate about changing it from 50 stars to 5.
>5.Is there some states or areas that have new names ? is there a NewDenver, Kansas by any chance?
Not that I can think of… No major cities anyway. I am aware that some smaller towns changed their names after the war and most universities have the word “fort” before them on my world line.
>6. How many weeks of training is required before you timetravel? to what extent does the training involve? Are you able to make basic emergency repairs to the unit?
I started training on the recommendation of my PS officer when I got out of school in 34. I graduated in March of 35. Actual hands on training started soon after that and I left 2036 in April. No, there are not very many repairs I can make to the unit. The unit is built very well but the tolerances are very small. I could probably repair the electrical systems and it will accept inputs from older computers.
>7.Are you able to fish or are the waters polluted from fallout from the war?
Yes, we can fish. There are some areas that are still too dangerous to spend a lot of time in so we can’t fish in those areas.
>8.Are you aware of any time travelers from our time or other world lines that have entered your world line? Have you spoke to any of them?
No I am not aware. But I accept the possibility.
>9.What type of public transportation is used to get around in your cities?
A high speed train system connects the larger cities. Roads are still used for cars and many people ride horses and bikes.
>10. What things do you think you will take back with you from this time?
Books! I’m also taking copies of family photos that were lost during the war.
>11. How many weeks have you been in this world line? when did you arrive?
That I must keep to myself right now.
>12. What kind of books do you like to read? What kind of music do you like? do you play a musical instrument?
I read a great deal of history. I like piano classics and some older rock and roll. (why did that type of music go so far down hill?) No, I don’t play any instruments myself.
>13.Are you concerned about our government investigating you or trying to seize you or your device?
Not really. In order to find me, they would have to believe time travel is possible.
>14. are you videotaping or taking pictures of the events going on here to bring back with you to your time?
Oh yes.
>15. what is your favorite food to eat? here and in your world line.
Its very hard for me to find food here. It all scares the Hell out of me. I’ve found a couple of local farms where I am resonably sure the raw food is safe and my mother started a garden for me.
>16.does the cure for cancer have any thing to do with genetics?
Again…I’m no expert. I believe there is a great deal of progress in treating the cancer cells with modified viruses. So I guess the answer is yes.
>17.Do you have an increase in tornados and earthquakes than what we have now? is the average temperature in Florida in your time about the same as it is here? or is it different?
That’s one area I’ve decided not to talk about…sorry. The average temperature worldwide is a bit cooler.
>18. are any of the other 7 time travelers with you in this world line or are you by yourself?
No. They are off doing something else I’m sure.
>19. are there time travel web sites in the future? does this one still exist?
Time travel is a major point of social discussion. I’ll have to check when I get back. Most of the larger servers that were in the major cities were lost or destroyed. I’ll try to bring a copy back with me. Perhaps you can check that in your 2036.
>20.do you feel any connection at all to your other 2 year old self on this world line? does it seem like you or someone totally different? who does he think you are when you talk to him?
He calls me uncle. Yes, there is a connection. He feels like a younger brother. Sometimes I get mixed emotions watching him and realize I’m watching the origins of my personality. I tend to playfully criticize my father about that.
IP: Logged
djayr42 Member posted 10 December 2000 13:00
——————————————————————————–
Time Travel_0, some more questions for you. What is the education system like? For children? For adults? Is there more home schooling then there is now. What are the class sizes like? Is there any emphasis on a subject or subjects that are don’t exist now?
IP: Logged
Rgrunt unregistered posted 10 December 2000 13:10
——————————————————————————–
Are you going to take your family away with you to protect them from the coming events. Is this a temptation for you? Aren’t you worried about somebody finding your ship?
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 11 December 2000 12:58
——————————————————————————–
Reflecting upon the words timetravler_0 has shared with me personally and what I have posted of some of our conversations and watching the news everyday seeing what is happening now in Florida and the courts has made me think deeply upon the United States and the US constitution. What the US was founded on originally.
I found a web site that has the US constitution and the bill of rights here:
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/charters.html
for anybody interested in reading it.
I printed out the whole constitution including the bill of rights and then sat down and read the whole thing out loud to myself thinking deeply on the rights our founding fathers were trying to protect.
For those of you U.S. citizens who cant remember the constitution beyond the words, “we the people.” its probably time to take another look. You never know what the future will be like. or how it will change.
The future is up to us…..
At the beginning of the constitution the first three words “WE THE PEOPLE..” was written in large letters on purpose.
sincerely,
pamela
IP: Logged
Dr Light unregistered posted 11 December 2000 05:27
——————————————————————————–
TT-O,
Could you elaborate on my previous questions..
I.E
How and why do the arabs/jews become entangled in the civil war of the U.S.A?
Also, about my previous question.. If you would look around you may notice that jewish poeple seem to hold “considerable” power concering major political positions both in America and Israel. For instance the latest technology concerning “defensive” technology
which you might think is reserved only for the superpowers, somehow made its way into Israel’s hands…
My point is that they seem to be an “underhand” world power that no-one seems to recognize,(or so it seems)
Also about the Arab side of affairs, they seem to be holding Biological weapons and thermonuclear weaponry. Do they end up launching these weapons against America or any other power?
I hope that cleared up my points somewhat.
Thanks,
Dr.P.Light
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 12 December 2000 20:36
——————————————————————————–
To TT-0
“Show me the money!” More impressive than the pix of your TT machine would be a clear photo of your post 2000 pocket change and paper currency.
IP: Logged
Fast Member posted 12 December 2000 21:01
——————————————————————————–
yes,im with shadow.show me the money
i remember reading somewhere online that somebody met their future self and got a dollar’s worth of quarters from the future… did they ever finish the 50 State Quarters,or did war break out and they halted it??
Fast Out
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 13 December 2000 03:15
——————————————————————————–
Count me in on that on also (Good point)
while your at it, why not give us all a video, and provide us with a Link that would allow us to watch online, demonstrating your machine in use?
(perhaps as a parting gift.)
I still (patiently, patiently, PATIENTLY) await answers to several previous questions.
IP: Logged
Trintius unregistered posted 13 December 2000 08:17
——————————————————————————–
TimeTravel_0 a few questions,
– Just wondering who actually wins the US election, it’s fair question and im assuming they have Encyclopedia’s in the year 2036 so you have no excuse for not knowing the history of your own country?
– Secondly, thanks to national pride I must ask what becomes of Australia during and after the war?
Thanks for your time.
P.S – Dr Light stop peppering the poor time traveler with monotonous questions about Arabs and Jews, we all know you guys are gunna take over the world one day so there's no need to rub it in
IP: Logged
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 13 December 2000 12:44
——————————————————————————–
Well…it looks like the election is almost over. I have been quite busy in the last few days and I appreciate everyone’s patience. I should be thanking you for listening and even if everything I have said before means nothing, I expect it has at least been entertaining. I went through the postings looking for questions I have not addressed yet. I hope I got to all of them. I get my email remotely through about three different systems and I use one of your hand-held computer units to write with. In a few days, I would like to send Pamela a list of questions of my own. As you know, one of my areas of expertise is in history and the information I have gathered has been invaluable. Although I am not leaving right away, I would like to include some of your thoughts in my report.
(Who’s to say that someone that will read this board, will be the one to actually invent the means for the C204 (or other units) to be operational? The divergence factor is so low, everybody will forget about this in a short time. I wouldn’t worry about it When Timetravel_0 goes back, this will be nothing but a memory…)
This statement is quite insightful. One of the reasons I have been communicating this way is so that others that do not post who I have directed here can see some of the information I have shared with you.
(You speak of 1 & 2 % “divergence” as being unimportant. I don’t get it. Like for example if OUR IBM5100 is 1% different than the code you have to run on it, it ain’t gonna work right. One percent in the FL vote count would be important. If I could see only 99% of the cars on the road it would be important to me. So, what exactly is X% divergent, and why is it not a major problem?)
The divergence measurement refers to the local gravitational field as compared to the point of origin. It is mearly an empirical indicator of overall change in a world line. Some things that are quite different on one world line have very little effect as time passes and the world lines appear to “converge” again and look very similar. World line changes are not exponential, they act more like chaotic attractors with varying effect depending on their size and location.
(Reading your posts I get conflicting ideas about what effect our timeline has on yours. Didn’t you say that “another you” was here now as a two year old child? Is the ‘Everret Many Worlds’ interpretation of quantum mechanics it the correct one then? You seem to look at us as representative of your ACTUAL predecessors. There is something a bit unnerving about that. In fact the main reason why I think you might be genuine is that I have trouble thinking LIKE you do. I would expect this of an encounter with a “Chrono-alien”.)
You are correct in your thinking. This world line is not mine but it looks very similar. It may be compared to reading two books that are the same. I can jump back and forth between them and still see the same story. I do not consider you true representatives of my world line but I do know something of how the story ends. In consideration of Everret-Wheeler, the reason we don’t know if Schrodinger’s cat is dead is because it might have had a time machine.
(Russia has “ALWAYS” been considered the first Country, to be suspect of a probable Nuclear Attack against the USA, and I, for one have NEVER relinquished the thought that inevitably, this will happen while I remain alive to witness this unfortunate tragedy come to fruition.)
You are also correct but I want to add a twist to your thinking. Russia’s enemy in the United States is not you, the average person. Russia’s enemy is the United States government.
(The fact that better equipment is supposed to get the reverse-time traveler closer to their actual past indicates that there is an ACTUAL SPECIFIC past that he is aiming for. So if in practical application the traveler ends up 2% divergent upon arrival in the past and if he stays in that line he finds that it is not a line at all, but that going forward, divergence approaches infinity.)
Yes, this is true. If I go forward on this world line, the future will not be my future. I get home by going back to 1975 before I arrived and then going forward to 2036.
(Also if this theory is correct we may be 2% divergent from TT_0 but going forward in this time line he is 98% divergent from us. My logic is pretty good here, how’s my facts?)
Your deductions are quite accurate. (I’m not stating yet that I did… but) what if I told you I did go forward to “your” 2036 and it looks nothing like mine. It is quite possible.
(BTW Someone just gave me a working IBM 5160. Should I save it or toss it?)
Toss it. The 5100 is the interesting machine.
(Does the events happening in the Middle east concerning the Arabs and Jews have anything to do with the coming war? I mean to say that since the Jewish population seems to have quite considerable power now in 2000, would they mount a force against other countries or am I under the belief that the war will result from the U.S government election?(among other things).)
Real disruptions in world events begin with the destabilization of the West as a result of degrading US foreign policy and consistency. This becomes apparent around 2004 as civil unrest develops near the next presidential election. The Jewish population in Israel is not prepared for a true offensive war. They are prepared for the ultimate defense. Wavering western support for Israel is what gives Israel’s neighbors the confidence to attack. The last resort for a defensive Israel and it’s offensive Arab neighbors is to use weapons of mass destruction. In the grand scheme of things, the war in the middle-east is a part of what’s to come, not the cause.
(What can you tell us about “Space Time Transposing” ?)
Perhaps you could describe what you mean? It appears to be space travel or the effect of similar atomic particles that seem to be related over great distances. Again, please forgive my ignorance, I am not a trained physist.
(There is a foretelling of a significant Time Divergence that is believed to occur during the year 2012 according to the ancient Mayans, yet you claim to be from 2034, and posses a working Time Travel device… What can you tell us would happen to you, or anyone else who were to use your device, or another one similar in capabilities to travel to the yr. 2012???———-also I would like you to tell us what you know, or have been told what takes place in “2112”)
In my 2012, I was 14 years old spending most of my time living, running and hiding in the woods and rivers of central Florida. The civil war was in its 7th year and the world war was three years away. Yes, there are unusual events in 2012 but they do not cause the world to end. Unfortunately, I have decided not to discuss events that you or I can do anything about. It is important that they be a surprise. Perhaps you are familiar with the story of the Red Sea and the Egyptians?
(It’s no big secret among those who are “In the Know” of our current world line’s attempts to control the weather i.e. HAARP & Chemtrails, so What can you tell us about the future of weather control such as the following… bronze flying globes that float in the air over the earth, and are aligned in grid formations, and lasers joining them together in the air, churning out snow storms, rain, or whatever else they decide to induce, to be created in the given space provided???)
I must admit I am unfamiliar with most of what you have asked here. I am aware of the Harp system but I don’t know how they would control weather with it.
(What is the education system like? For children? For adults? Is there more home schooling then there is now. What are the class sizes like? Is there any emphasis on a subject or subjects that are don’t exist now?)
The education system has been through many changes. School in 2036 is no longer a political indoctrination system and students “learn how to learn”. Since community activity varies from place to place, the emphasis on basic reading, math and language is augmented with skills particular to the community. One school may emphasis farming while another teaches woodworking.
Having children is a bit different and less common in 2036.
A typical school day involves a setting very much like it was 100 years ago with smaller classes and few administrators to teachers. Other areas of study that are less common now are history, citizenship and personal economics.
(Are you going to take your family away with you to protect them from the coming events. Is this a temptation for you? Aren’t you worried about somebody finding your ship?)
No I am not taking them with me but I am trying to prepare them for the future as a promise to my Grandfather in 1975. I am not really that concerned about the “time machine”. It is quite safe.
(How and why do the Arabs Jews become entangled in the civil war of the U.S.A?)
They are not directly involved but political situations are dependant on Western stability, which collapses in 2005.
(Also about the Arab side of affairs, they seem to be holding Biological weapons and thermonuclear weaponry. Do they end up launching these weapons against America or any other power? )
Not against America but they are used against each other.
(“Show me the money!” More impressive than the pix of your TT machine would be a clear photo of your post 2000 pocket change and paper currency.)
I am disappointed that you feel I am trying to impress you. Why would I bring money from 2036 with me? Besides, isn’t that something that could easily be faked? Now if I told you I was your cousin’s brother and I knew about that scare on your left leg…that would convince you.
(while your at it, why not give us all a video, and provide us with a Link that would allow us to watch online, demonstrating your machine in use?(perhaps as a parting gift.)
That is an interesting idea. I will look into how to do that.
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 13 December 2000 18:12
——————————————————————————–
While your at it TT_0, don’t forget to place a v-cam inside with you, so we can observe the video images that appear through your eyes as you travel, as well as another observing yourself, and a third one outside of the field, observing you depart, and return.
I’m talking 3 V-Cams, to give us these different observations with, which means you have to leave & return to us, to deliver the images.
This would be more valuable than giving us picture of future money, also it would really be way cool, if you could send us video images of the earth below, while observing from an aircraft, what this future landscape of yours looks like, after this great flood of the East & Western U.S. coastal areas that is supposed to take place.
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 13 December 2000 18:19
——————————————————————————–
BTW TT_0, whatever you can arrange would be appreciated, if you cannot get access to an aircraft, you “DO” have access to remote Sattalight imagery, so either way, you must be capable of this permitting you have the free will to leave & return as you wish.
IP: Logged
Curious unregistered posted 13 December 2000 19:03
——————————————————————————–
TT_O, an easy example (or proof) would be to video tape the jump to 1975 and give the video recorder and tape to your self (the you that has already been there/just arrived). That way you don’t have to jump back and fourth. The video tape and recorder would then be available to you now. you could send the tape to someone (when you leave, we don’t need any more time-loops).That way there is no danger of divergence in this time-line. Just a thought.
Do you believe in the lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior?
Would it be safe to assume that the substance of time itself might be classified as the sum of two equal opposite forces acting in direct cancellation?
If the person or persons responsible for the development of time travel technologies were posting on this sight would you let them know that they were or are responsible. If so would you do so directly or would you hint it only. Or would you use a third option that is to be careful not to say anything that would point out the person or persons responsible neither to the persons responsible themselves nor to the other persons that are on this forum?
In short will you say something a coded message that the person or persons responsible only will be able to pick up on or recognize to know that they are the ones responsible for the development of the technologies.
It can be anything that the person or persons will recognize as indisputable evidence not as your being valid but as them being the ones responsible for the development?
If you are not willing to answer this please just be straight forward about this and answer that you are unwilling to let the persons no who they are.
If you have any questions as to my identity ask pamela for she knows who I am and is free to oblige you the information. If you wish to answer this privately even if the answer is no fill free to e-mail me at rgrunt@yahoo.com . I believe that is all the questions I have for know please have a good trip back and thanks for visiting our time line it has been an honor. On behalf of us all I welcome you to return any time you wish. Goodluck and Godspeed. Live long and live well.
sincerely,
Lcpl Edwin Gary Schasteen U.S.M.C. Active
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 13 December 2000 23:52
——————————————————————————–
(Here are Timetraveler_0’s questions to everyone on the forum that he sent to me. )
TTO:
Sure thing, here are your questions. my answers follow.
sincerely,
pamela
Dear Pamela,
In my last posting, I said I would come up with questions of my own and send them to you to post. I would appreciate it if you would do that and answer them yourself. I would like to include the opinions of the people I have met in my report when I return home.
Thanks for the help.
[1] According to the Constitution, who do you think has the final word on choosing a President and why? [2] Do you think the Electoral College should be continued? [3] Why do you think the Bill of Rights was written? [4] What is your opinion of the second amendment to the Bill of Rights? [5] Does anyone know what industry is the largest US political contributor? [6] Does anyone know who owns the majority of the solar power research and development companies? [7] Imagine you have all the money and power you desire. What do you see yourself doing? [8] What is the longest distance you ever ran and/or walked at one time without stopping? [9] What is the longest period of time you went without food? [10] Do you know what Cholera is and how to avoid getting it?
TTO:
To tell you the truth politics never really interested me that much…until now. As I can see now how the corruption of it can ruin an entire nation.
So I don’t really have a lot of info in that area.
My interests were more in Medical research and other areas of science. In fact I only became interested in time-travel and quantum physics because of the many experiences I started having as I have shared some of those with you. But I will answer the best I can.(good thing I printed out the constitution and the bill of rights! )
(1. According to the Constitution, who do you think has the final word on choosing a President and why? Do you think the Electoral College should be continued?)
I think the people should have the final word on who should become president. whoever has the most votes should win. (I had to go back and add this…I think every last vote should count. absolutely none thrown out.a system should be in place to eliminate ballots that cannot be read such as if the chad is not fully pierced you should see a light blink and maybe a small beeping sound heard to redo it. I think a whole new voting system is needed.)
(3. Why do you think the Bill of Rights was written?)
To protect the rights of the people and to keep them free.
(4. What is your opinion of the second amendment to the Bill of Rights?)
I beleive it is to keep the government from becoming corrupt and taking over and enslaving the people under tyranny.
(5. Does anyone know what industry is the largest US political contributor? Does anyone know who owns the majority of the solar power research and development companies?)
sorry, I dont know the answer to these two questions.
(7. Imagine you have all the money and power you desire. What do you see yourself doing?)
Hmmm, Im not really a power, money hungry person. but if I had more money my heart will still be in helping other people. The greatest joy is knowing you’ve made a difference in someone elses life. That you played a part in creating a ripple of good that ripples out from generation to generation. every time you help someone you not only help them but every person they touch from that moment on. I’d probably be more free to do more research. and make new and exciting discoveries. Id spend more time doing things that mattered for eternity and not just to pay bills and taxes. Id also be more free to learn,explore and grow. as well as helping others do so.
one thing I would get though…I would DEFINETELY get a new computer!! (HEEEHEE) mines a piece of crap! I could stay on longer before it crashed or freezed up on me with an error message!
(8. What is the longest distance you ever ran and/or walked at one time without stopping?)
hmmm without stopping at ALL? I dont know. I walked a 20 mile walkathon once. (I think for cerebral palsy, or muscular dystrophy) I dont think we stopped much but we stop at the little boothes they had set up along the way to get water to drink.
(9. What is the longest period of time you went without food?)
4 days.
(10. Do you know what Cholera is and how to avoid getting it?)
Cholera is an acute bacterial infection of the small intestine. The disease is caused by water and food that have been contaminated by feces of persons previously infected. The symptoms are caused by toxic substances produced by the infecting organism which mostly causes watery diarrhea and depletes the body of fluids and minerals.
How to avoid getting it? There is currently a cholera vaccine available for people traveling to areas where the infection is endemic. Other preventive measures you could take would include drinking only boiled or bottled water and eating only cooked foods.
Treatment includes administration of antibiotics to destroy the infecting bacteria and to restore the fluids and electrolytes with intravenous solutions.
sincerely,
pamela
[This message has been edited by pamela (edited 14 December 2000).] IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 14 December 2000 10:01
——————————————————————————–
If an advertisement is a snow job then public education is a fullblown blizzard. We are for example tought in high school that there are *THREE* branches of government. There are *FOUR* branches of government in the US. The fourth being “We the People*. To say that that fact gets “glossed over” would be quite the understatement. Every citizen of the US is an official part of the the Official Government. HOWEVER we get to vote only once every two years and it seems that even then our overlings have a bit too much trouble “counting” the votes.
What was the catch word last election? “Disenfranchised”. Don’t they friggen wish. The People will be heard from…..sooner or later.
IP: Logged
TimeMaster 1a Member posted 14 December 2000 10:54
——————————————————————————–
There is an article in Discover magazine that express physicist Julian Barbour theorizes of time. Anyone searching for an understanding of the true nature of time would do well to read this article. Barbour is a theoretical physics that has devoted nearly 40 years to the study of time. There are also links to his home page at discover.com, look under current issue.
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 14 December 2000 21:13
——————————————————————————–
Question #7 What would I do with plenty of money & power? First I build a bomb shelter, then think about it.
Oh yeah, TT-0, just supposing I do have a scar on my left leg, *exactly* where would it be located? And wouldn’t my cousins’ brother just be another cousin?
You got me on the pocket change. If one were not trying to prove anything I guess they would have left their wallet in the future. But doesn’t that mean that you would have to bring some antique money back here with you? Like when I go to France I can buy Franks when I get there. But if one were to exchange 2036 dollars for 2000 dollars ….. well lets just say they wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.
Ok, so gold is gold and that would solve the exchange problem.
IP: Logged
Earthship Junior Member posted 15 December 2000 02:26
——————————————————————————–
TT 0
Time – I don’t believe it actually exists. Or rather, it exists as a series of “now moments” for eternity (that’s a paradox if i ever saw one).
My question is; SHOULD we try to avoid this pending calamity (ww3) in our future? It seems that to bring about true change, some growing pains are needed to be experienced.
IP: Logged
Dr Light unregistered posted 16 December 2000 02:48
——————————————————————————–
To- Trintius
…..Damn straight…!!!
(laughs)
Operation Domination is in action!!
P.S—-To any American posting here…
Exactly how many Americans voted for the president out of the entire U.S.A?
Thanks for your…(ahem)…”time”
Dr.P.Light
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 16 December 2000 03:56
——————————————————————————–
Hey! Hows come nobody but me has taken the time to answer timetraveler_0’s questions?
Do you really think that is fair?
He has tried to answer all of our questions.
he only asked ten. we have asked him alot.
shadow answered one.
sincerely,
pamela
IP: Logged
djayr42 Member posted 16 December 2000 17:08
——————————————————————————–
Some answers for TT_0:
[1] According to the Constitution, who do you think has the final word on choosing a President and why?
I would say that the senate could use article 1 section 3 and appoint a president pro tem. or they can use the 20th amendment section 3. this could have been used in the recent case and a run off election could have been done.
[2] Do you think the Electoral College should be continued?
Yes, it can disagree with the popular vote. I thought the popular vote was more democratic.
[3] Why do you think the Bill of Rights was written?
To preserve order and protect the people and to give them a sense of participation in the formation of policy in government.
[4] What is your opinion of the second amendment to the Bill of Rights?
It seems as though I suffer from being myopic as well, the right to bear arms is all I ever heard. I think it has been taken out of context as an excuse to have a gun and do anything you want with it. I think there should be some sort of responsibility amendment.
[5] Does anyone know what industry is the largest US political contributor?
I thought it was the tobacco industry.
[6] Does anyone know who owns the majority of the solar power research and development companies?
Other major power companies, P.G.+E, Con Edison. Dow Chemical also is in there.
[7] Imagine you have all the money and power you desire. What do you see yourself doing?
Two things. Manufacturing electric cars – the right way. Research in my own lab.
[8] What is the longest distance you ever ran and/or walked at one time without stopping?
Along time ago, 15 miles – a walk-a-thon for muscular dystrophy. More recently, 1 mile to and from work. I like to see the stars in the early morning while going to work
[9] What is the longest period of time you went without food?
7 days, just to see if I could. 24 hours no water no food, 168 hours no sleep. Not in that order and not all at once 🙂
[10] Do you know what Cholera is and how to avoid getting it?
Not sure on this one. I think it has something to do with un-purified water. You would need to boil the water or add a purifying agent to it.
Hows that Pam? :-))
[This message has been edited by djayr42 (edited 16 December 2000).] IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 16 December 2000 21:04
——————————————————————————–
djayr42,
Ok,.. I feel a little better now. )
-pamela
IP: Logged
Trintius unregistered posted 16 December 2000 23:10
——————————————————————————–
quote:
——————————————————————————–
Originally posted by Dr Light
Exactly how many Americans voted for the president out of the entire U.S.A?
——————————————————————————–
Shouldn’t be ‘how many Americans voted for the correct president
Amazing country though, they’ve proved –
– They can’t design ballot papers
– They can’t read ballot papers
– They can’t use ballot papers
– They can’t count
– They don’t want to count
– They file law suits against each other because they can’t count
– It takes them 2 months to elect a head of state
– Their head of state can’t read ballot papers or count
– etc etc etc
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 17 December 2000 17:21
——————————————————————————–
What ever happened to “Exentuate The Positive” ??
Frankly, I’ve heard enough negativity as to what we “Cannot” do, or what others have “Failed” to do. Why not discuss what we “Can” do, or what we can attempt to do that may lead to success in spite of all these failures?
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 17 December 2000 20:24
——————————————————————————–
Trintius:
America may have some problems ,as all countries do, but its still a great country. its a beautiful country. I always liked this popular song:
“I am proud to be an American
where atleast I know Im free
and I honor those that fought
to give that right to me.
And I’d gladly stand up next to them
and defend her still today,
There aint no country like it,
God bless the USA!”
Its unethical to down someone elses country infront of them. Almost everybody is proud of their own countries. no matter what has happened in the past.Iam sure you are proud of Australia. Changes may need to be made here but I still love America.
I agree with you Time02112 I would much rather think on the positive.
sincerely,
pamela
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 17 December 2000 20:40
——————————————————————————–
TT-0
I think you know very well the answers to the questions you have asked. You just want to guage the quality of our replies, or just remind us that we SHOULD be up to speed on our constitutional rights and responsibilities.
A young person should want to survive and live for better days ahead. At some point, however, an older person will realize, especially in the face of disaster, that better days are NOT on the horizon…….ever. What you are forcasting for 95% of the present population is 20 years of hell followed by survivors in the rubble. I’ve already put in my 40 year shift of work and worry. Why should we fret over politics on our way to slaughter? Isn’t that like telling the Captain of the Titanic, that all he has to do to save the ship is to back up really fast after the collision?
It was obvious 5 to 10 YEARS ago that we’ve been SOLD OUT. For us, the game is over. I should offer an excuse for apathy? It should do for a reason at least. Actually TT-O, maybe in you we can see that eventually SOMEBODY finds their friggin guts and puts an end to the madness.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 17 December 2000 23:38
——————————————————————————–
Don’t give up shadow. even in the midst of caos there is always hope. our end doesnt have to be like his end.
there are some people even as we speak that are actively making a time machine.
If this outcome for us would actually be true we have time on are side now.
the outcome of this time is UNKNOWN.
If there is one timetraveler.. there are many.
we can change the future, Shadow.
next comes the brave souls that are willing to try.
as he said when he uses his machine that going to another time line or dieing is both equally accepted.
How brave are we? I am not afraid of dieing.
I have done it before.
When the time comes….I will go.
I will be willing to go and make it right.
[This message has been edited by pamela (edited 18 December 2000).] IP: Logged
Dr Light unregistered posted 18 December 2000 01:23
——————————————————————————–
To Trintius,
You do not realize how long i laughed after reading that post but let me assure you I found it…. mildly amusing.
Thank you.
I will be back with more questions for T-T0 later in the week
Dr.P.Light
IP: Logged
Fast Member posted 19 December 2000 09:53
——————————————————————————–
for all we know,it was TT-0 who indirectly started the war.perhaps the TT-0 who traveled to HIS timeline was captured and they assimilated his General Electric Time Machine which spurred the war?
when did he say the war started,btw.
Fast Out
IP: Logged
Shadow unregistered posted 19 December 2000 11:28
——————————————————————————–
Pamela,
Thanks for the encouraging words. I do lean to the dark side. It comes from hours, days, and years of “partial successes”.
I’m sorry to hear that you keep dieing all over the place. Fortunately I haven’t had a lot of practice at it lately. But do keep up the good work, you are the heart & soul of this board. I rank no higher than jestser and deservedly so.
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 19 December 2000 15:12
——————————————————————————–
Shadow,
I know you are much more than that! I have read your postings on this forum. They are very intelligent and insightful.
I don’t keep dying over and over but I have had a near death experience. And it has erased my fear of death. I know there is much more to this world than what we can see.
sincerely,
pamela
IP: Logged
Pamela Member posted 20 December 2000 01:24
——————————————————————————–
I think it was interesting as I was reading my NEWSWEEK I received today on page 55. in the article “36 days:The Fallout” were these words in a box amongst all the little boxes of pictures.
“After this story, what could come next to keep the spoiled media beast interested? civil war? ”
just had to share that with you.
sincerely,
pamela
IP: Logged
Fast Member posted 20 December 2000 19:50
——————————————————————————–
last night i felt terrible,and had a fever.i fell asleep at 9PM and slept until 2PM this afternoon.
during my sleep,i had a dream of me,in my English Class.my english teacher brought her child to school.her child had been a government experiment gone wrong.they had tried to combine oranges and a baby to make an orange baby.her baby had orange hair with a blue stripe down the middle,and had orange skin and orange-blue spiral eyes.my grandmother was also in the dream and she said we had all came from potatos anyway.my mother was there too and she said ‘why are there still potatos here if we came from them,and why would we be eating them?’
then i woke up…
is it possible to have acid flashbacks while your asleep??
IP: Logged
mokrie dela Member posted 21 December 2000 01:44
——————————————————————————–
Yes
IP: Logged
DaViper unregistered posted 21 December 2000 04:00
——————————————————————————–
“Paradox”, as an English word, has it’s origins in Latin and Greek.
But alas, it is still just a word in any language, regardless of how it is spoken, ancient or modern. And thus a verbal utterance that represents the conveyance of a concept. As all words are.
Generally, it refers to the “idea” of the existence of a problem that has no solution.
But again alas, this is nothing but an invention of the mind of man. Nothing that actually occurs in the Universe.
There are no paradoxes in the Universe.
The so called “grandfather” paradox has not, does not, and cannot ever occur simply because the situation that defines it is not possible in the first place. There is no past where/when your “grandfather” is “alive” for you to ever encounter. Any more than there is a future where your “grandson” travels back from to encounter you.
If there is “Time Travel”, it requires much more sophisticated concepts than this simple non-existant “problem”.
And…
The so called “twins” paradox is actually not a paradox at all once one understands the idiosyncrasies of Relativity. Many think they do, but few actually do. Those who consider the “twins” paradox to actually BE a paradox, are among those who don’t.
Hint: Think about what constitutes a “year”, as opposed to watching the hands of your wristwatch move. Remember, “year” is again a word that conveys the concept of a single revolution of the Earth around the Sun.
Both “twins, the Earthbound one AND the travelling one will still have lived in a Universe where the Earth went around the Sun the SAME number of times.
The traveler’s BIOLOGICAL clock would run slower, as do physical clocks under the circumstances, but the Earth will have orbited the Sun the SAME number of times from BOTH of their points of view! Even while the traveler’s watch ran slower.
Time dilation, as a proven effect of differing relative velocities may be an unusual idiosyncracy inherent in the properties of relativity, but…
There is no paradox here.
And it most certainly does not constitute Time travel in and of itself.
There is no paradox ANYWHERE in the Universe for that matter.
How could there be?
The very concept is itself absurd. A mind game. A modernist mythology. Right up there with Jupiter governing the Universe from Mt. Olympus, or Noah’s Ark.
You believe in the “Great Flood” perhaps. Gee, where did all the water come from? (Descended from nowhere out of space?) Where did it go? (Evaporated back into nothingness into space?) Do you have any idea how much water it would take to cover the Earth up to the top of Mt. Everest and beyond? Or how thick the cloud cover would have to be that contained the water that constituted the rain that had to have fallen to make a flood THAT big?
About as much as it takes to drown the idea that “paradoxes” actually exist, from my calculation.
TimeTravel_0 unregistered posted 21 December 2000 10:59
——————————————————————————–
DaViper
Very interesting argument but I have a couple of questions. You described the word paradox as, “…it refers to the “idea” of the existence of a problem that has no solution.” Actually, the #1 definition I read in the American Heritage Dictionary is “…a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true”,
Also, what exactly is your definition of “time travel”? I was taught that time travel is strictly a local observation that can only be measured by the experience of an individual or single particle. Under that definition, the “twin paradox” (time dilation due to acceleration or gravity) and even sleeping can be considered time travel. You appear to be arguing against dematerialization and/or spacelike trips under the limits of special relativity in a single worldline.
I do agree that the “grandfather paradox” is not possible simply because the classic problem is presented as an observer’s issue magnified to a universal issue. Your statements about observation are correct when you isolate the experiences to a single worldline. However, the reason there are no paradoxes is because the universe doesn’t care how we react to its handy-work. In a Universe made up of infinite worldliness (superuniverse), everything is possible and has a 100% probability, therefore…no paradoxes.
“You believe in the “Great Flood” perhaps. Gee, where did all the water come from?”
I believe the explanation for the “great flood” stories originate with the changes that occurred near the Mediterranean at the end of the last ice age. Even on this world-line, there is a great deal of evidence to support the fact that sea levels did change radically in isolated areas worldwide. I also heard someplace that if the ice mass on Antarctica melted today, sea level worldwide would rise about 100 feet. I’m not exactly sure that’s true but still… Mt. Everest might be a bit of a stretch.
I do however agree with you that there are no physical paradoxes but for the opposite reasoning.
Peace to you also.
IP: Logged
mokrie dela Member posted 21 December 2000 18:42
——————————————————————————–
Also flooding could easily occur with monsoon rains lasting anywhere past 5 days in a region of low ground. And don’t forget in those days, “the world” was defined as that small region only. These people had never been to Switzerland! (Hi Time, missed you you ole rattle snake.)
IP: Logged
Time02112 Member posted 22 December 2000 12:06
——————————————————————————–
Anyone ever heard of “Pangia”
it referrs to when the earth, or “Gia” was once pne singl large body of land.
when I find more info on this latter, I will edit this post, and include the links. meanwhile if anyone else wishes to make any additional comments about pangia, and how the water vovered the remaining 3/4 of the land mass around the geosphere, please by all means, share with us what you have to offer.
What do you suppose would happen during the next “Great Flood” now that the former Pangia is broken into the current continetal land structures of today’s earth?
~just a thought~
p)’i4q4
IP: Logged
mokrie dela Member posted 22 December 2000 15:28
——————————————————————————–
That’s right Time, I also heard that originally the continent of Africa was connected to America by a connecting land mass. I believe that’s part of the Atlantis theory, that it was the connecting land. I know there are some incredible things underwater off of Bimini. (can’t spell it or find it) There are huge Greek columns with huge hands at the top holding some sort of ball. Also what looks like roads made of hand cut flat stones that would break a fork lift. What I wouldn't give to time travel to before that sunk and see it it all it’s glory. It’s must have been beautiful beyond comprehension.
IP: Logged
Eighth of multiple Posts
This post is the eighth of a series of posts related to John Titor. The other posts are;
Commentary
Again, there are elements of sublime truth in the words of “John Titor”, as well as evidence of a hoax. Certainly, some of what he said rings true to my experiences in MAJestic, but the elements of falsehoods are disturbing to me.
As it stands, he is the only other person who is able to suggest and describe a system of operation, purpose and objective of all the many people and vehicles that seemingly pop in and out of our reality. This alone has merit. Thus, this is why he is placed herein in this blog.
Conclusion
Our reality is not what we think it is. I am not the only person who has disclosed that there are others, and other organizations that can enter and leave our reality at will. Another person who made this claim went by the name John Titor.
Only where as, I claim to be part of MAJestic and was employed as part of human sentience management, John Titor claimed to be a person who was part of another world-line. Together, we both claim that the MWI is real, and we utilize it to perform dimensional egress for our own purposes.
I claim that it is a tool that is used to manage human sentience evolution.
John Titor claims that he utilized the time variable to conduct acquisition activities in the past.
He claimed that on that world-line, the United States was fundamentally different after a rapid series of events in the late 1990’s. He claimed that he needed to perform some acquisition of certain technical devices through the use of the time-variance option in dimensional travel.
Take Aways
John Titor claimed to be a time traveler.
He utilized dimensional travel to move in and out of the baseline reality.
As such, he visited our world-line to acquire some technology needed on his world-line.
That technology was produced in “our” past. Thus the idea that it involved “time travel”.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
From the late 1990’s until around 2001, the Internet was “rocked” by the sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of a Mr. John Titor. This person claimed to be a “time traveler” by using inter-dimensional travel. Here in this post we have the John Titor final transcripts.
Now, that being stated, all of this was rapidly dismissed as a hoax, in unity, by all the major debunking organizations, and his posts mysteriously disappeared off the Internet. Since then, all the sources that he posted on all found that their files related to John Titor were all corrupted and could not be reclaimed.
That was the case for over a decade.
Then, in 2014, a number of private individuals managed to piece together independently saved dialogs relating to John Titor. They constructed numerous websites that hosted these reclaimed dialogs, and posted them on the Internet for others to view. Here we have the John Titor final transcripts.
Presented here are recovered posts from the Internet collected in 2014. It is not known if any posts have been deleted or altered. They are presented as they were found by the author. This group contains a significant amount of back and forth banter regarding his documents and photos. It also includes his farewell post. Enjoy.
Important Warning
The information within this series of posts are speculative. I have no factual information if this John Titor is what he claimed to be. It is presented herein as the only (or maybe, one of the only) sources that claim to be associated with the vehicles that pop in and out of our reality from time to time.
He was, as far as I know, never associated with MAJestic in any way.
Original John Titor Posts – Part 7 – Transcripts C
Here are the original John Titor posts from the Post2Post Art Bell Forum. Obtained from HERE. This is the second group of the john titor post history.
John Titor dialog is in normal text in brown color, text by others are italicized.
When referencing other non-Titor questions, green color is used.
Purple color is for non-related text.
Metallicman comments are in red color.
Metallicman corrected spelling and some punctuation to make the text easier to read and understand. For unedited text, please refer to the source.
I also added some commentary to liven things up somewhat. Enjoy.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-19-2001 11:38 PM
Tom,
actually I noticed this difference and several others you have not mentioned when I first saw the diagrams and questioned John about it here is his response below from an email:“If you take another look at the pages you can see that the first one is much smaller too and there are two punch holes at the top of the second one.Since I was getting complaints about the quality of the picture I decided to use the larger ones which are a compilation of the technical drawings in a packet attached to the unit. The cut-a-way is also a bit different from the unit I have as it shows the interior of the prototype.I haven’t looked closely at all the documents and I suppose there may be other differences too. In fact, there is another version of the same drawing in question which has a side profile on it and it’s not in the manual either. I would imagine that may have been one of the updates.#5 still says cone. I hadn’t noticed the error in numbering before and I’ve seen others in the manual but that’s pretty typical for a military document."If you would, do me a favor and post this if someone else catches that. Actually, this is quite interesting because I suppose if it were a fraud it would be expected to be perfect. That’s fascinating and I hadn’t thought about it before.”sincerely,PamelaJavier, Where is John? probably P.A.C.K.I.N.G.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-20-2001 03:04 AM
SmileI am not a time traveler.Can I apply a truth table to all this discussion?What if I said that I might be able to?What would that prove?Some of the people would believe it, some people would not believe it, some people would not care.That’s about it. That’s all that is happening anytime people get together to discuss anything from the past or the future.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-20-2001 03:25 AM
Javier,“P.S. Sure, where should we all take our vacation? Me, you, and John “I wanna be a Time Traveler someday” Titor, wanna go off to?”How about the stoneage? Wanna take a ride???hehheheheh-pamela
Posted by Mel Reckling on 03-20-2001 06:35 AM
Oh! The misdirected rage of a 21 year old. Javier, put your efforts into something worthwhile and you’ll go far in life. Don’t let this time of your life be wasted smashing things.
Posted by James R.Quayle III on 03-20-2001 06:40 AM
AngryI do not need to believe in John titor’s claims too say,Javier your a good intelligent skeptic,But your also the type that will get left in the dust when something big does happen,
You remind me of the neighbors who run inside here in Newport Beach when Ufo’s fly over the beach,they run inside saying,NO ,NO I see it but it CAN”t be real!
I have read all the replies on this **** time travel post from the beginning,and at the end ,I find you a bitter dude.
In your universe view the world must be a boring place.
Sure,Time Travel is not true,Javier,now go play while me and my friends go back in time and make sure your Mom and dad never met,ha,ha.
Skepticism is good but ,your little barbs flown over and over on this post seems bitter,You probably have never experienced Any odd phenomena?
That is how it seems,so sad for you,open your eyes and The Wierd will appear.
Happy Trails John Titor,where ever you go,you made me and others think,not necesarily believe ,but what a gift of thought.Javier resign to your cubicle,horse blinded view ,how non-unique you are Javier.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-20-2001 06:48 AM
Cooljust grab the shades and hop in the Chevy to “take a ride”.Pamela: Wouldn’t you all look a tad out of place in the stone age? Seems that trip would definitely blow ones cover, but who would care. Just a bunch of grunting hairy but naked human-like ancestors. I can see it, a Chevy pick up, probably black or dark blue in color appears in stone age florida…isnt it wet? NO matter, its a chevy. 🙂 The only problem is there is room for 3 in that extra cab and a tight squeeze at that.Javier: You would be sitting behind John. That would be an interesting development. If John is a TT, he is still human. How would you handle that morally? Take away his toy? j/kThe stone age would be a drag I think. Unknown diseases, yuk. Might as well be a cow and go to England. Ever thought of say….the 1920’s. Florida would be there…and definitely dry. Besides the ’20’s would be interesting. Period cash? Who cares. Does not seem that money is all that important in Time Travel.Having Fun.Phil
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-20-2001 06:58 AM
Tom: Last week I was looking at the images that JT had uploaded onto MSN and noticed a simple typo in the operations manual page showing a diagram of the Tipler sinusoid field produced by his device where in the diagram, item 10.
The (Negative Time Event Horizon) had been transposed as item 11 in the diagram, though the item value was printed correctly in the legend. I didn’t think anything of it until I looked at the same page as found on Ricks site and saw that the typo was gone from the page.
I’m not trying to play pixel person or anything, but unexplained edits to the images that have been posted do lead me to wonder what other changes are being made. (Then again, a time machine might just turn out to be a copywriters best friend!)Tom – For the record, those pictures were pulled from Doc’s site about 3-4 weeks ago, about the time I got involved in this discussion. I’ve had copies of them since then, and have made no modifications. Are you telling me that you found a discrepancy between the ones I have and some OTHER pictures? If so, please give me the URLS where you located them.Thanks(Edited & added) – I just read Pamela’s comments on the photos, and sure it is plausible that he had multiple copies of various diagrams. She is also accurate in her statement about military documents being full of errors. I deal with technical orders and other such documents all the time, and they ALWAYS have misprints, typos, misspellings and mislabeled diagrams. Regardless of how much money is being spent on a government project, the documentation is only as good as the cheapest tech-writer they can hire. Remember – LOWEST BIDDER!Rick[Edited by Rick Donaldson on 03-20-2001 at 07:14 AM]
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-20-2001 06:59 AM
ArrowHi James.I am not defending Javier, nor am I putting him down, but your last post needs a clarification…in fairness.You wrote to Javier:“You probably have never experienced Any odd phenomena?”I cannot be specific, but he has claimed to experience odd phenomena. Some sort of Temporal condition. Impressions I think. Whatever the case, I did not figure him to be a dry non-experiencing figure. At times he has seemed a “tad” bigoted to time travelers. Perhaps he will expand that for clarification.Not a slam James, I saw an error and am pointing it out. The pages Javier stated his beliefs and experiences were fairly early in the thread and included his web site link that does clearly state his mission.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-20-2001 07:09 AM
John – Pamela – whoever can get John to listen…I have offered my services as an independent viewer/observer of the departure. I can and will make arrangements to fly to Florida with video taping equipment and some camera gear. However, I need a little lead time to get the equipment to me. Olav, the S4 Data base web master has offered basically unlimited space on the web site, as well as digitizing the video – making it free for folks to see.I do not believe that making a video “for profit” is going to convince anyone that anything occurred. Worse, turning such a video over to anyone other than say, Art Bell himself, or independent (and skeptical) observers is just plain silly. Anyone with their hands in the “belief” portion of the video might not do as good a job as I might, since I am not really on the “believing” side.Now… I’ve not had a reply from John at this point, but if his departure is imminent, I still require time to make arrangements for equipment, flight, car rental etc. This would be coming out of my pocket.That also means I won’t be helping anyone hoax anything.Now… John… are you going to take me up on this offer or not? If I don’t see it first hand – I doubt a video will make it any more real.What do the rest of you say?Rick[Edited by Rick Donaldson on 03-20-2001 at 07:18 AM]
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-20-2001 07:49 AM
WinkI have stated on more than one occasion that I would find it very interesting to have John’s departure recorded, and I have asked John in this forum if he still planned on doing so. I do not believe I was ever directly responded to.From the basis of comments made in this thread, I view Rick as an open-minded skeptic who would appear to have strong credibility. He has made an offer more than once to document this event at his own expense and I, for one, hope John takes him up on his offer.What do you say, John? We are all awaiting your response.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-20-2001 07:59 AM
Red faceThat John, just a few days ago stated he was going to have the video done, but was not intending a 3rd party to be there. Indeed this raises the eyebrow, but even if it is a hoax, it is still interesting and I am curious what might happen in the video. I think there was talk of the field surrounding the mechanism, that it might disrupt or corrupt the video if taken too close in distance. I would love for Rick to be a third party assignee for video. He has credibility.I know that is not what you desire John, but contact Rick. He has the means to handle this and is a skeptic. Besides, according to your description, this world line differs from yours. No harm would come to your family on your world line..that is IF Rick were corrupt, which I sincerely do not think is the case. Perhaps worth considering?
Posted by Alexander A.Shpilman on 03-20-2001 09:46 AM
The history John Titor, resemblances to me a April Fools’ joke of the students.
1) The style of thinking is similar to style of thinking of the American of 1990. And plot of a film-hit: When all people of the Earth catch illness a “cow rage”. Or such as – what will be, if there will be overturning magnetic poles of the Earth?
2) The history of the people abounds “surprises”. But we to them quickly get accustomed. In this history there are no surprises. There is nothing is paradoxical new.
3) How to distinguish micro Kerr black holes from electron, proton or neutron? The difference will be in mass? It microsingularites. How it to make macrosingularites? I think, it is necessary better to know thin structure of a matter.
4) It is necessary to distinguish a “global line” from “world-line”. There is an analogy: many people go on the rope bridge. The bridge is swing from a wind and movement of the people. The rope bridge is a “global line” matters (body of the man). “World-line” is a trajectory of movement of the man in space on the rope bridge. Obviously, a “Global line” from “world-line” are connected among themselves, but they differ.
If I would be TTer, I would study properties of a “global line”. I would study, how the change of events in the past (events at my doubles in the past), my opportunity influences to change events in the present time.
Certainly, it is difficult.
But it is possible to begin from study of a situation of planets and stars, earthquakes and hurricanes, in various temporary flows. Then to study the moments of occurrence of scientific opening and moments of creation of masterpieces of art, and their difference in various temporary flows.In detail about time and OVERTAME look in http://www.pmicro.kz/MISC/UFL/Almanach/2n00/OVERTIMEa.htmand http://www.pmicro.kz/MISC/UFL/Almanach/1n01/OVERTIMEa.htm
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-20-2001 09:53 AM
I have a few more pictures apparently from John now, that we will post on the anomalies site as soon as I can get in touch with my webby guy out there in CA.I have examined them (the pics of the machine itself) and have not changed my opinion on the machine – it “looks” real enough from a military / government perspective. Even the manuals appear to be what they are purported to be.One thing to note, which I can not remember if I mentioned before – and I am sure no one else has at this point, is a yellow object in the upper part of the picture of the machine in the vehicle.
The yellow device is a geiger counter.
I’m familiar with THAT machine specifically – not just gieger counters, but THAT model. I’ve used it. I carried two of them in tactical weather gear in the 1970’s and 80’s.
I also used one of those devices extensively during my stay at the White House from 1989-1992 during training at a facility outside of DC, where we trained for NBC (nuclear/biological/chemical) warfare. More specifically I used them during training for “shelter management” where we each played President and others.
This is a close up view of the apparently the same make and model of Geiger Counter as used by John Titor in his photographs. According to him, this device is necessary in a post World War III reality. But, more than that. This device would also be used to measure radiation from the time-travel machine. It an instrument used for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation of all types. The radiation dose rate, displayed in a unit such as the sievert which is normally used for measuring gamma or X-ray dose rates.
Anyway, that is a real device.
If you look carefully, you will see an older “CD” or Civil Defense sticker on the side. The device is rather old though – probably built in the mid to late 70s and was an important piece of gear in my weather systems and shelters I took care of in those days. It could have come from old stocks of military gear (in 2013 or later) or it could have come from surplus store in 1999 or 2000. Not sure.I did want to point out what it was though.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-20-2001 09:59 AM
Yes, I think Rick ought to film this, but John has already said that this may not do any good.From the book “Galaxies” by Tim Ferris, yes I know its getting old, but then, why is anyone who deals with the structure of cosmology still are leaning this way:One of a number of sophisticated cosmological models that have been constructed within the broad purview of the big-bang account of cosmic history, this theory, proposed by J. Richard Gott III of Princeton University, postulates the existence of not one universe but three. It envisions that the big bang gave rise not only to our universe, where matter predominates over antimatter and time runs forward, but a second universe where antimatter predominates and time moves backward, as well as a tachyon universe where everything moves faster than the velocity of light. Our universe and the antimatter universe are segregated in terms of time. Both are segregated from the tachyon universe in terms of space, since the tachyons in the first instant of creation fled beyond the light cones of all observers in both the matter and antimatter universes.The Gott cosmology is a masterpiece of symmetry without being dictatorial about it: it predicts, for instance, that there should be traces of contamination of our universe by antimatter (as has been verified by observation) and by tachyons (as has not). Whatever likelihood we might care to assign to its validity, in this combination of symmetry and imperfection the Gott model is redolent of nature’s style.Now are you sure that you can not communicate with another you in the antimatter universe?
Now what if this is proved. It may prove that God (she) has put you all over the place, and in many different places for one reason, you may have the means to destroy yourself with science of the future.
She(God) has wiped your butt all over the place already, now who won besides (God)?We all win, maybe, this way.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-20-2001 10:11 AM
God may be angry as John proposes, but still, I think it is just humans that are doing the dirty deed, and humans are the ones that are angry. This has nothing to do with God, so if this happens, blame the humans, not God.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-20-2001 10:19 AM
This theory leaves at least two Johns running around, and maybe a lot of johns running around.(Alright, it a joke, johns. You are all the other johns running around.)
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-20-2001 10:20 AM
Rick,Good observation on the device. I’ve been looking through surplus gear sites on the web to find a similar device for sale.The two yellow caution tapes on the device are misaligned. Sloppy workmanship.
According to this comment, the warning tape is misaligned, and that is evidence of shoddy workmanship. I don’t know about you (dear reader), but the tape looks fine to me.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-20-2001 12:02 PM
Albert: Yes, I think Rick ought to film this, but John has already said that this may not do any good.I am not sure I understood your piece there Albert. Are you saying that because someone else films/video tapes the departure, we might not see it on tape?I’m not sure what that has to do with antimatter. If John were an anti-matter John, he could not have come here in the first place. One doesn’t have to meet ones-self to destroy oneself when made of antimatter. One mere must contact ANY matter. Matter and antimatter will obliterate one another no matter what form it is in when it contacts.Darby: The two yellow caution tapes on the device are misaligned. Sloppy workmanship.Which is pretty much normal for government equipment. Doesn’t prove anything though. I have equipment that is government gear that has similar labels. None of them are aligned.As far as a “good call” well, I’m not sure about that, I was just stating what I know to be facts from personal experience. I know, for instance that the yellow geiger counters were standard gear for fallout shelters for military personnel in certain places. I also know that almost NO ONE knew anything about them, how to operate, read or change the batteries in them. I don’t even remember the type of batteries they took but if I remember right, they were C cells (but they might have been 6v lantern batteries too – I simply can not recall that part). I will never forget using them though. The government cost back then was around 900-1200 bucks. Something similar today will run you 750 or 800 commercially, but they aren’t as sturdy as the good old yellow ones were.I’ve been doing some careful examination of the pictures. They simply aren’t high enough quality to be able to get details though. <shrugs>
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-20-2001 02:05 PM
I am just saying that John is the one that said that it may prove nothing further, that the pictures will not help anyone believe him to be a TT or not, if they do not already believe.I would like to see the pictures, though.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-20-2001 02:30 PM
Albert;I see your point. But… it will prove it to ME. That’s what *I* care about. Call me selfish if you like, but I could care less if anyone else believes or not. I don’t care if you do, or Javier believes or disbelieves.I am trying to show 1) Either fraud or 2) John is a time traveler.If someone goes and actually is present as a witness besides his own family or personal friends, it won’t matter then because they can not fake the photography, nor pull “magic tricks” – smoke and mirrors, whatever you want to call it.I consider myself qualified as an observer for several reasons.First and foremost, I’m extremely interested in the outcome of this exercise.Secondly, I’m a skeptic. For a skeptic to see something with their own eyes, is PROOF POSITIVE to a skeptic. Whether or not YOU believe the skeptic is up to you. If you went I might believe you. If Javier goes, I would definately believe him. Personally, I do not trust Javier to go without doing something to disrupt things. He has made it very clear he has a problem – moral or otherwise, with time travelers.
[Not true. I once took a skeptic to visit my first wife's cousin who had this weird ability to bend spoons. He did not believe.
So we gave him the opportunity to take a spoon from his own kitchen, and give it to the spoon-bending cousin. There, right in front of his eyes, inches away, she rubbed the spoon and it started to bend and twist and deform.
He still did not believe.
To this day, he still is trying to come up with "how" she was able to pull off the "trick". Skeptics tend to defend the reality that they know, and are often very closed to new ideas. - Metallicman.]Thirdly, I’m a “trained observer”. My jobs over the years, from engineer, to teacher, to computer ‘guru’ to storm chaser more than qualifies me to do the job of objectively observing an experiment and giving a truthful and objective report on the subject, no matter what the subject entails.Fourthly, I’ve heard no one else offer their services, their own hard earned cash or their time to do this. I have. I certainly haven’t seen Art Bell come in the forum and post his thoughts. If he had, and offered to be there, and perhaps do a live report, that would have been the best thing. I don’t think he will – for several reasons. But most importantly, it could be dangerous!Fifthly – Danger… been there, done that. I’m afraid of heights and don’t climb if I dont have to. I do have antenna towers in the back and climb them. I have to. I hate and am afraid of flying. I’ve been to 42 countries. I didn’t get there on a slow boat. I’ve been shot at many times in Central America, and also in the middle east. Nancy Reagan and Richard Nixon have chewed my ass. I’m not afraid of anything else (except spiders). I do not have to fly (cept to get there), I don’t have to climb (cept perhaps to get a good video shot), I don’t have to deal with spiders, Nancy Reagan or Richard Nixon. I DO have to get truthful video, good pictures and even perhaps an interview if John would consent to doing so. This I CAN DO.Sixthly – I consider myself a decent writer. You will get a very good report.Now… Whether you chose to believe the data that I will bring you, is up to you – and each person will have to decide. Without knowing me personally, none of you can be sure I’m not a government agent, I’m not a Russian Spy or I’m not in cahoots with John.Since I’m not any of these things, and I don’t have much else I can show you right now to prove this, you’ll have to take my word. For now.However, anyone that wants to know more about me is welcome to read up on my writing, my bio and a lot of other stuff on my web site. You can – as several people have pointed out, get a good idea of a person’s background from their writing. It might take you some time, but, the data is there. I’m not extremely private, and anyone that wants to find me, can. My “secrets” are things that I’ve done for the government and no one will get that information from me under ANY circumstances, but the rest of my life is pretty much an open book.Now… do you want to trust your intutition completely, your eyes and ears, me, John or this forum? You decide.Rick[Edited by Rick Donaldson on 03-20-2001 at 02:34 PM]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-20-2001 04:21 PM
Dear “FREE”,Thankyou for the “jet” link. I read all of it.yes, that was very interesting.wasn’t sure if I could use your email address to respond back to you.but I wanted to let you know I did read it all.and I will keep what you said in mind.Thankyou for being concerned.sincerely,pamela
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-20-2001 08:22 PM
The Stoneage you said huh? Nah, I was thinking more along the lines of Medieval Times. I always liked playing with Swords and fighting when I was a kid.My big brother would be the Ninja (a real ninja) and beat me up all the time. Ahh the good ole’ days .-Javier C.P.S. Mel and James. Excuse me for having a little fun here for a change. When do I ever? And when I do, I get hassled about it.You don’t know me, you don’t know what I am capable of. I have abilities and control that alot of people my age lack. Maybe once you learn to not accept life for it’s flaws, and stand up for what’s right, you’ll make something of your self.And see that I was right all along .[Edited by Javier Cortez on 03-20-2001 at 08:35 PM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-20-2001 10:53 PM
Here’s what I think of John at this point.
It really does not matter if he is a TT or not, well, it might.
John thought about some things going on and with technology and he decided that he had something to say about the future as he saw it. He came up with a story to get people interested with what he was thinking. That was: time travel may be possible in the future, if it is, and other countries found out, this may not be good. He presented it as a story to strongly interest people about what they thought about the future, if time travel becomes a reality.
He may have a three year old and wonder what kind of world he will grow up in.
I must admit that I was not really thinking in those terms, so to me it was a wake up call. You get going with school, life, and hear news but it nevers just clicks with you.
The What If?
I tend to look at the world through rose colored glasses sometimes, and that becomes too relaxed.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-20-2001 11:38 PM
Here’s something I found out this year.
During the Cold War or maybe about in the ’70’s, the Russians were working on a new type of jet engine. This engine that uses, if I remember right because its not at the newscientist website anymore, ionized gases to control the engine. This means that it needs no wings, no airelons, or controls. Just by changing the ionized gas flowing around the engine, this engine is unique.
Now NASA been informed of it, and is working with it, and Russia can build a plane, not mach speed, but for transport that uses this type of engine.
It called something like “Plasma” engine.
If you like to consider the fact that this engine may be a prototype UFO, I guess it may also be something of a forerunner that could eventually be used to some effect as a UFO moves.
Consider that.
Russians are not dumb. At the BBC Talking Point, they had the question, just a few weeks ago “Is Russia a Superpower?” Now responses came from around the world, including Russians. One said that they have some bright theoretical physics students, and they have pride in their country. The answer to me is simple: Do they have nuclear weapons? Yes.
They are still a Superpower.
Posted by Mel Reckling on 03-21-2001 08:03 AM
The problem with being 21 is that no one ever takes you seriously. We all know that. You should be enjoying yourself right now. You are far too serious, intense and vindictive.
You have been raggin’ on this guy through this whole thread.
I certainly don’t know if John is for real. The one thing I do know is that this has been a great topic and that you need to lighten up and stop trying to save us all with your “Time Cop” role.
[Amen. Try editing this bilge. - Metallicman.]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-21-2001 11:45 AM
Here’s another thing, well, maybe not that important.
Harpoon IV is coming out about the end of this year or so.
The Navy people play this game. I have Harpoon II and you can download it free, I think still, at website Home of the Underdogs, I think but not sure, its underdogs.com. Well, written by Larry Bond, a Naval Officer of many years, it is about Naval Warfare. The database is well worth looking at, to view for the most part, the Navies of different nations, and type of weapons. Its the closes to having about the best unclassified weapons of war of the modern age. The new one being programmed by someone else will be more of a 3-D type Harpoon. Russians weapons are usually twice the size of US weapons and if you get hit by one, that’s about it. The US weapons usually take 2 or 3 to sink one of their submarines or ships. In any case, Russians have more subs than anything else right now, besides land warfare. The new Harpoon IV will have landings of Marines on shore. I learned a great deal about weapon systems on this planet from that computer game.
Just a thought.
That Russian engine is still a kind of jet engine. The only way it might fly, (and I am just imagining), around is put it so it swivels. Just dreaming at this point. Still more like a regular airplane. Ionized gases instead of whatever jet engines use, (air?).
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-21-2001 12:25 PM
CoolI’ll get off.
Here’s a for instance:Russian weapons — == 200 mile blast area. Russia never built a “small” weapon in their life. The US does.2000 miles by 3000 miles — size of the US about.It would take 150 Russian missiles and there would be no US.And they do not have to be accurate.So Russia would have to change their entire philosophy.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-21-2001 01:24 PM
Albert:I’ll get off.Here’s a for instance:Russian weapons — == 200 mile blast area. Russia never built a “small” weapon in their life. The US does.2000 miles by 3000 miles — size of the US about.It would take 150 Russian missiles and there would be no US.And they do not have to be accurate.So Russia would have to change their entire philosophy.Albert… what are you talking about? A “small weapon”? A “large weapon”? There is no such thing as a “200 mile blast range”. The fireball from the largest ever known thermonuclear weapon was less than 5 miles in diameter. The Russians are purported to have built a 350 megaton bomb at one point, of course, we do not know this for sure and it is rumor.Your numbers are way out of scale. I suggest you spend some time doing some research on the subject before you quote numbers. I’ll tell you where to start…http://www.janes.com/http://www.milnet.com/milnet/nukeweap/nfaq0.htmhttp://sun00781.dn.net/nuke/hew/http://www.cdi.org/issues/nukef&f/database/rusnukes.htmlhttp://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/nukeffct/http://www.dnfsb.gov/This should get you started. You will not find anywhere in any of the data where there are 200 mile radii damage zones. Even with the worst thing the Russians can throw at the United States there might be a 7-10 mile damage radius around the blast zone.In my reserch, 20 Megatons seems to be the absolute maximum any one weapon will do. Yeah, they are bad, they are radioactive and they are gonna do some serious, serious damage to the land and perhaps even the planet. However, 200 bombs will not “obliterate” the United States.However – as I JUST finished writing last night in an article, if you’re planning on giving up now, before such a war or survival situation comes up, please – feel free to ship me your food, and weapons. I CERTAINLY will put them to good use.Rick
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-21-2001 01:32 PM
Pictures of the time machine and the manual for those who have NOT yet seen them, are located at:http://www.anomalies.nethttp://survival.anomalies.netExact URLs are as follows:
http://www.anomalies.net/time_traveler/http://survival.anomalies.net/time_travel.htmI understand there are some more, that I’ve missed and they are supposed to be sent to me shortly.Rick
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-21-2001 08:00 PM
Poor misguided Mel. You speak as if you almost knew better. Yet still you know nothing about my life, and insist that I am what you claim to be. Well I hate bragging about my self, but I see that it’s necessary. Or else you’ll continue to know nothing about me, and continue ****ing me off. So here I go…Are you a 2nd Degree black belt in Karate? (Everyone in my family knows how to defend themselves, tradition since I am a quarter Chinese, my blood demands it). Were you a League Champ in High School Wrestling? How about going through Army Basic Training? I know tough, if anything I am far from weak and like an average 21 year old.I am incredibly disciplined. I don’t wait another day to speak my mind and take action on things that are wrong.Growing up in So.Cal I’ve seen death, I’ve seen terror, and I’ve seen people taken advantage of. Maybe it’s different where you were brought up, but these kinds of things I I want to do something about them. So pardon, for taking a stand and wanting to do something about the wrong things in life. You don’t see many young people doing that, and I believe it should be encouraged, not condemned.Thank you very much;those were my 2 cents,-Javier C.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-21-2001 11:04 PM
Rick,If you have contact with Boomer please attempt to verify the elapsed time (on his internal chronometer) for his trip from 2036 to 1975. I need that data for a calculation.Two problems still unresolved:Problem #1Early on Boomer posted that the radius of effect of the time distortion field is 12 to 15 feet (Schwarzschild Radius of 4 to 5 meters). He also said that the mass of the singularities is that of a “small mountain”. I suggested 3*10^18/kg (1/2,000,000th the mass of the Earth)and he did not dispute it (though it may be smaller)…anyone see where I’m going with this?Problem #2There’s another problem with his diagrams on your site:Page #5 (C204 Tipler Sinusoid…) Item #1 shows the twin singularities in line with the x-ray venting zone.The schematic following the photos also shows the singularities in line – and in line with the driver’s seat. It seems that the x-rays are vented directly at the driver.
[Good eyes. However, the singularities each are physically adjustable using a black knob at the top of them, and they can be relocated depending on the orientation of the time-travel machine within the vehicle. - Metallicman.]I’ll post the answer to problem #1 later. Just giving everyone else a chance to do the math.Hint: R=2GM/c^2 (I posted this formula with little comment for Boomer last week. He didn’t pick up on its significance.)[Edited by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-21-2001 at 11:16 PM]
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-22-2001 12:06 AM
Rick,I do hope that you get a chance to see Boomer off. But a video won’t help prove the veracity of Boomer’s story. If what he says is true you’ll only have a video fogged by x-ray emmissions (and maybe some leukemia for yourself). If its unfogged then everything given to you to post on your site about the device is false and misleading.The last time I checked the physics I didn’t see an “on-off” switch for a black hole or any other singularity. Whether his machine is on or off the singularities continue to generate an event horizon. The singularities are contained in the black box. I have a very good idea of what the Schwarzchild Radius of the alleged micro-singularities should be. The black box lies within the event horizon. How does one photograph an object inside the event horizon from the exterior of the event horizon (in this case the driver’s window of a Chevy pick-up)?If there is an x-ray problem associated with his machine how is it that his photos aren’t fogged? And, though he’s never said that he hasn’t let anyone else come close to the machine, who took the picture of his two hands in one of the photos?
[Good questions. Easy answers. X-rays are generated during operation. Venting of X-rays are during operation. During operation a person outside of the vehcile would not see anything. The photographer would need to be inside the vehicle. If there were to be a photo taken during operation (such as the laser pointer) then the photographer would need to stand OUTSIDE of the X-ray discharge cone. - Metallicman.]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 12:47 AM
In my opinion, I don’t believe John, A.k.a “Boomer” expected people to not believe him this close to his leave date of April 10th (his window of opportunity). I’m sure he wanted everyone to believe his story. But in-light to what Darby has shown us, and John’s unwillingness to rebuttal.
We must now see that he has forfeited his opportunity to prove us wrong (your silence only incriminates you and confirms that you are a fraud). Cause he him self is wrong. Somehow, I think Darby was an unexpected variable. I’m glad you were apart of this discussion; I take my hat off to you Darby , great job.Just something to think about… I know that some of John’s loyal subjects will continue to think he was for real. But I have never, nor have I ever wished that he were a real Time Traveler. The rest of you, shame-shame. Always answering questions for him, defending him, giving him a way out, never really letting him do it all on his own. Always sounded like Heaven’s Gate to me.Until then, I think John has sung his last song. Either that, or he’s cramming as much math, physics and logic to assist him in answering the last questions. Last chance to make people believers aye John?I expect a good answer John, if you do decide to answer . If not, that was pretty rude of you to leave without saying good-bye. Or what kind of idiots do you take us for making an excuse like that .-Javier C.
[For whatever it is worth, during 2001, when this post was written, I was busy in MAJestic. I was traversing the MWI quite adroitly. So, I find such sneers by some of these posters as both amusing and irritating.
You know, just because you cannot speak Chinese doesn't mean that there aren't people who cannot.Just because you don't know how to fly a plane, doesn't mean that no one else does. And, just because you don't know the "secrets of the universe", doesn't mean that everyone doesn't know them either. -Metallicman.]
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-22-2001 01:29 AM
Javier,What surprises me about the believers is that they apparently never really looked closely at what Boomer was telling them. Now, I don’t think he’s a bad guy – I’ve enjoyed the time (there’s that word again) we’ve spent together bantering this subject – but…Here’s who Boomer says he is (from the totality of his posts but more specifically his early posts):A civil war begins in the U.S. when he’s six years old (2004). By 2012, at age 14, he’s a member of a Florida vanguard revolutionary brigade fighting the “enemy state”. He and his military assist the former Soviet Union (Russia) with their invasion of the United States. He said, “The enemy attacked by Russia was the forces of the government you are under now.” He said that the conflict “will consume everyone in the U.S. by 2012”. This will be followed by a short WWIII in 2015.Surely some of the gentle readers have children. Lola has two teenagers. Who else has children, spouses, loved ones who will be of military service age between 2004 and 2012? Boomer admits to making war on the United States and giving aid and comfort to the invading enemy forces. Sounds like treason from our perspective. Sounds like murder if its your children that he kills in the conflict. As Rick Donaldson would say, we are the government – we the people. Boomer says that we are the enemy.So – for the supporters: do you really hope that he’s what he says that he is? Is this what you want for your children?
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-22-2001 01:33 AM
Rick, I check it out later.
To me, after seeing movies of H-bombs, early pictures, I was under the impression that a shock-wave is what goes that far or so. Pictures I seen of old ’50’s type mushroom clouds had trees down and everything flated by the shockwave of the blast. That’s what I’m going by.
I look it up later, I have to catch up on things I have to get done.I been just thinking, like Emmett perhaps, doesn’t anyone see anything wrong with building, how can I put it?I think John said essentially, although I may have to review:An electron fed, spin controlled, (for the ergospheres), rotating microsingularity.
At one point, because I was reading some posts of John, he said that controlling the spin of (what I thought)the microsingularity was what kept the ergospheres in line. Controlling both ‘spins’ of the microsingularities.
How would you ever control the spin of a subatomic particle?All we do is blast them in the accelerators to photograph the tracks made, because you can not even see the particles, only the tracks that were left by the particles.
I have seen pictures, and if it were not for the track’s photograph, there would be no picture of the particle. The particle had already decayed, or something, that only left the tracks to be photographed. That’s all anyone can get from blasting particles near the speed of light. They were black and white photographs that only showed the tracks of the particle. Someday, I have to look up those photographs, maybe they have them at a particle accelerator website.
No, I was not on the Internet then, this was way back when I was in my local astronomy club. Over 11 years ago. I remember those photos. I think it was Wayne the founder of the club who brought us those photographs. Just a sorta long white-looking track where the particle had gone after smashing. Yes, if you saw them, …… spiraling off after impact.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-22-2001 01:45 AM
Here’s John’s post (part of it, don’t ask me what page):The singularities do not create Tipler cylinders they create the same physical environment without all the mass. The same math works for both. There are two singularities. Their mass and spin is altered in order to adjust the size of the ergosphere and cause the event horizons to interact and create the gravity sinusoid. I have a basic home schooling education (k-12) and a bachelor’s degree in history.I would like to know when humans can control the mass and spin of a singularity?
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-22-2001 07:30 AM
Javier – You kill me. Haha. Basic training? You’re 21 years old and have been through basic? But you’re not in the military? What happened there? Typically, there is a minimum of three years of service required after basic training. Get kicked out for your attitude? <chuckles>Darby: Problem #1Early on Boomer posted that the radius of effect of the time distortion field is 12 to 15 feet (Schwarzschild Radius of 4 to 5 meters). He also said that the mass of the singularities is that of a “small mountain”. I suggested 3*10^18/kg (1/2,000,000th the mass of the Earth)and he did not dispute it (though it may be smaller)… anyone see where I’m going with this?I see where you’re going – weight of the machine among other things. Also – I do not believe that this is the schwarzschild radius that he is talking about. That radius is the “blue event horizon” – and… I hate to say this, but nothing within that radius would be seen again. So… this is more like the theory behind tipler cylinders (read up on that, I’m not gonna explain it here). Basically though, you do NOT enter into the radius when traveling along a tipler cylinder.Problem #2There’s another problem with his diagrams on your site:Page #5 (C204 Tipler Sinusoid…) Item #1 shows the twin singularities in line with the x-ray venting zone.The schematic following the photos also shows the singularities in line – and in line with the driver’s seat. It seems that the x-rays are vented directly at the driver.Where’s the problem? Hehehe. But, you have to note, that the diagram is NOT TO SCALE. Also, remember that no matter what government document you’re talking about, if it is a manual, it is GOING TO CONTAIN INACCURACIES. The government uses “lowest bid” – remember?About the “fogging of the film”… well, yes true, if it is film.
Video tape is magnetic. X-rays will not affect magnetic tape in this manner – that is by fogging the video. There might be some “magenetic domains” knocked out of place by x-radiation, however, the result would be these little sparkles you see on the TV when you do not have a very good (strong) signal coming in. We call it “snow”. I’m sure folks have seen this before.I haven’t really done any calculations on the distance of the event horizon from the actual “surface” of a black hole – but, I know what I’ve read states that the event horizon is actually very close to the “surface” (if indeed it could be called a surface).
Point being, we’re talking about a ‘microsingularity’.
I have my doubts as to whether it can exist in the first place, but a physcist friend tells me that it is possible for such a thing and indeed, there have been discussions of doing JUST that with a linear accelerator. The problem was that they just weren’t sure if it would decay quickly or become something that might envelop the earth. There was no discussion of the “weight” of such a thing, because it is man made, and would not be a true singularity.I won’t dispute any calculations you have made regarding the Schwarzchild Radius of the microsingularity, but I will say, I believe it to be on the order of microns rather than inches or feet. Remember, we’re talking about something the size of an electron.By the way, *I* can tell electrons which way to spin and I’m not a “full fledged physcist”. So I suppose it wouldn’t be that big of a stretch to force a black hole to spin this way or that.Albert: I probably misunderstood your post.
Yes, the blast radius is pretty big, but it isn’t 200 miles in any case. Remember a blast wave is basically a supersonic sound wave and it will dissapate over distance. That dissapation is based on several factors, like density of the air, temperature, how close to the ground, etc etc. I’m sure I left something out. In any case, a blast wave will be very strong very close to ground zero (the point of the ground above which the bomb is detonated). As the wave travels outward, and the distance increases, the overpressure drops quickly. I believe it is an inverse of the distance traveled.
That basically means – as an example (and I’m not sure this is completely accurate, but those links I gave will tell you for sure) as the distance doubles the overpressure will be reduced by a factor of four. (It’s too early for me to do math, and I was called into work last night, so I’m doubly tired now).Damage from a nuclear bomb would be devastating, but only in the target area. That means… perhaps at distances of up to 10 miles away there would be damage, increasingly worse as you get closer and closer to ground Zero. But – as you get further and further away the damage is reduced.
Basically.. I have a ranch style house – I’m seven miles from Cheynne mountain. If they hit it with a 20 megaton bomb, my house goes bye bye. My basement, however, will remain intact. It is below ground level and unless the fire ball touches the region below ground, then below ground is safe, that’s been my point all along. Hence, survivablity of nuclear attacks.Your black and white photos of tracks of particle trails was accomplished actually, very easily. I’ve performed those precise experiments without the aid of an accelerator myself. The tracks actually are drawn in a cloud of vapor – usually CO2 vapor.
In fact when I did it, I used radium from a old wrist watch, and dry ice for the vapor. The trails were CLEARLY visible with the naked eye. When examined under a magnifying glass (I used a microscope) I could seen the decay as a long trail that fell into a “death spiral” as I called it. When the particles decayed completely, the spiral ended. Of course this occured VERY fast, and essentially, I saw only the result of the decay, which was the track in the fog.I did these experiments when I was 15 years old or so, in my basement lab. I had a fully stocked chemistry/physics lab when I was a kid. That stopped the day I ****ed near killed everyone in the house with clorine gas… duh…
Anyway, I decided that chemistry wasn’t my bag, and went instead into electronics and physics after that.
Posted by Mel Reckling on 03-22-2001 08:30 AM
It is obvious that you think too much of yourself. Am I supposed to be scared? What I am saying is that you are wasting too much of your young life getting worked up over a post like this. You will be old soon enough and you’ll wish you did things differently.You have mentioned that you are very mature for your age. Who are you trying to convince, yourself? The overreactions are not a sign of maturity. You also seem to have a propensity to want to smash things like this time machine. Is that a sign of maturity?The answer to all those pointless things you mentioned is, no. Please channel your energy into things that will further your career. Someday you’ll thank me for this.[Edited by Mel Reckling on 03-22-2001 at 08:33 AM]
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-22-2001 09:35 AM
I need to post something here… I have nothing to do with any possible military involvement in this forum. I want folks to understand that I am simply interested in this for the sake of science fiction, science fact and a very strong curiosity about time travel.John can not be reached right now. And certain other individuals appear to have been contacted. I can’t say more, but… if anyone is contacted by “military personnel” make sure you get names, ranks and any other information you can from them. Give it to me. I DO have the means to verify their existence. Now… I just put MY ass on the line here, so if someone DOES contact you.. I wanna know right away, but if you don’t have a name, rank, base of operations, serial number or anything else, then they are probably not real.Listen… if someone contacts you in email and says they are “investigating this or that” and claim to be military – ask them:1) What branch of service?2) What organization are you in?3) What is your military rank and pay grade?4) Are you a law enforcement officer?5) Why are you contacting ME?If you get these silly-assed answers about “National Security” or whatever – then ask them:“What is YOUR need to know?” and end the conversation.
You have Constitutional rights, even where National Security is involved. So, remember that. And unless and until they contact you IN PERSON and SHOW A BADGE, ID CARD or other authorizing documentation (like, let’s say a WARRANT) then they can’t even be bothering you if you do not invite them to do so.Rick
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-22-2001 11:07 AM
Darby,This stuff is for fun, remember? Traitors? Good Grief!(good grief is probably a good example of those linguistic time frame give aways)Lola[Edited by Lola Montez on 03-22-2001 at 11:18 AM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 11:26 AM
Mel,
Some things are worth fighting for. And as you can see, others are following in. You took my wanting to smash his machine to serious. After all, it was in a joke you probably took as serious as well. And worked your self up to frenzy about it, and into a debate against me, about something you found immature in a joke . Now who’s overreacting…?I don’t think that highly of my self, how you think I probably do. I merely mentioned that (for the first time here) of what I know and can do and feel in my heart, to show you that I am mature. Not that you care, not that I care, it’s just that you were ****ing me off making unfair assumptions, while not even knowing me. And still are.I have nothing to prove to anyone, I can careless. Just don’t attack my character, because that’s personal.Btw way, how old are you? Are you speaking about maybe your life? Why do you have many regrets? I find it that sometimes people your age speak from experience… Well let me tell you something, not all 21 year olds end up with a screwed up life.
I am just happened to want to do something about the world’s condition. But I guess those ideals died in you along time ago, and now accept the life you have everyday for what it is. Man, that’s sad. Maybe instead of condemning us young “whimper snappers,” you should listen to us. Our will to fight is strong (some of us) might wake you up and feel the need to do something.Sincerely,Javier C.P.S. Yeah Rick, shortly after BCT, I got medically discharged. It’s a personal matter though, and I don’t wish to talk about it thanks.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 11:29 AM
Oh come on Lola, it’s it for fun, then tell me how many times have I been attacked by you, and told that I am hostile?Please.-J.C.
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-22-2001 11:47 AM
Mel, I’ve been following this thread and it’s comic book format for some time now. I don’t think it matters if this Titor guy is from the future or from Jersey. It was fun listening to his rap. The other guy Xavier?….well.“Poor misguided Mel. You speak as if you almost knew better. Yet still you know nothing about my life, and insist that I am what you claim to be. Well I hate bragging about my self, but I see that it’s necessary. Or else you’ll continue to know nothing about me, and continue ****ing me off. So here I go…”Ok, that was a classic ‘Ming the Merciless’ opener. Guess we’ll have to set our blasters on stun. Here comes the pedigree.“Are you a 2nd Degree black belt in Karate?”No and if I was I would know that it is considered very poor behavior to tout one’s supposed skill in martial arts.“(Everyone in my family knows how to defend themselves, tradition since I am a quarter Chinese, my blood demands it).”The parenthesis is to inform us of qualifying information…as if he were saying it under his breath while delivering the Vulcan Death Grip.“Were you a League Champ in High School Wrestling?”This is to let you know that in the tradition of the WWF…”Talk’s cheap Bozo! Let’s get it on!”…and we wonder why kids in southern California are shooting…“How about going through Army Basic Training?”No thanks, already went through Marine training myself back when it WAS hard and the little pieces of army guys get caught between my teeth.“I know tough, if anything I am far from weak and like an average 21 year old.”The average 21 year old is a limp sack of s**t who worships at a mall and is more concerned with the tenderness of his feelings than the toughness of his resolve.“I am incredibly disciplined.”This guy should get together with Helen Reddy and roar.“I don’t wait another day to speak my mind and take action on things that are wrong.”Sounds like he’s running for office here.“Growing up in So.Cal I’ve seen death, I’ve seen terror, and I’ve seen people taken advantage of.”James Taylor couldn’t say it any better…gimme’ my guitar and lemme’ put on that work shirt and wide belt….“Maybe it’s different where you were brought up, but these kinds of things I I want to do something about them.”Using two ‘I’s like that gives me a suspicion that this may be a Rastafarian masquerading as a Pastafarian..“So pardon, for taking a stand and wanting to do something about the wrong things in life.”Well, at least he apologizes but I wish he would bring back that stand. Two wrongs don’t make a right.“You don’t see many young people doing that, and I believe it should be encouraged, not condemned.”Bring up super of American flag come in for close up as tear rolls down cheek raise music and fade to credits…..“Thank you very much; those were my 2 cents,”Final shot thanking the armed forces for their help and cooperation and the people of China for their one quarter donation of genetic material….go to black. End.[Edited by Lee Heggy on 03-22-2001 at 11:50 AM]
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-22-2001 12:14 PM
ArrowHi, I commend your passion for what you yourself believe. I wish to point out that every other person in the world also has their own beliefs. It is when a person appears to, or even tries to foist their own beliefs on others that the problems arise. Not everyone here believes that TT is an immoral or evil technology. You know this, but my point is that you appear to be going about distributing your beleif in a counter-productive way.Your current method of discussion seems clouded by your passionate dislike for the technology and frankly, it is hard to take you serious because of that. At your web site you describe your beliefs. It was an interesting read, but it is also not in the same form of presentation as you are giving here. I would actually like to know more about your view, but you seem to view people who are older than you in a distrustful if not aggravated way. Although I believe differently than you about the application of TT technology, I would sincerely be interested in understanding your belief when presented in a less inflamed fashion.For the sake of discussion, suppose John really is a TT. What are you specifically trying to accomplish in this dialogue? If you feel others are wrong, ok, but say why others are wrong without attacking. I mean, if you want someone to understand your viewpoint, calling them sheep is a bad way to start.Phil
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-22-2001 12:16 PM
WinkI do not think that Russia attacks the US with people, just missiles.Anyway, I have no information about much of this topic.It would not do anybody any good to ask me any question.I just tried to bring up points for discussion and maybe some ‘bad’ jokes.Rick, look at it this way,:If you have enough advance warning like John said, how long would it take you to drive to Omaha (maybe an airplane)(about 611 miles)?You can ball me out in person, if this story is true.Bring some water, and a distillation unit for it, and how fast can you really drive, if enough advanced warning.You can tell me all day, ‘See, I told you so!’ or something.In fact, it true, how long would it take anyone to get to Omaha, I drove straight through to Florida, 1200 miles, only took 24 hours, on a lazy driving trip.
We can all sit down and have a cup of coffee of something.Or I’ll be on my way surely, if all this is happening.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-22-2001 12:20 PM
Ok,I think Lee tapped the nail on the head… once, then drove it home. LOL.Sorry, but that was funny as all get-out. But, I don’t think it is necessary for any of us to be attacking anyone. Once the forum degenerates for those who are (perhaps) trying to cause it to degenerate, no longer will communication work.In other words, as much fun as Javier, Lee, myself and others are having with the barbs and insults… they are very counter-productive.I personally apologize to Javier for my comment about his military discharge. That wasn’t any of my business and I really shouldn’t have taken it to that level. I’m sorry Javier. Your discharge is not the subject of discussion here (even though you DID throw it out to be picked on like you did, I shouldn’t have picked on it).Now – I’m not saying that we shouldn’t debate. In fact, I think a good argument is very good, however, we should stick as closely to the facts as we see them, and try to explain to each other WHY we take the tack we take on talking the way we are. I’ve tried in past posts to do so.Now – another subject. My post a few back that is entitled “Military Involvment”… please do not read anything into that. I’ve received several quite interesting messages today trying to dechiper what I said.PLEASE – There is NOTHING to dechiper. What I intended was a sort of “panic reduction” message. Sometimes in these forums (and this is not the first, nor will it be the last) people get the feeling they are being stalked by the government, or some Men in Black or something. I can’t say that doesn’t happen, but I can tell you from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE that if someone suspects you of some national security violation, they are NOT going to contact you via email.They ARE going to find out what you’re about, and might even contact you in person, but they will be legitimate law enforcement officers, not men in black, not guys in green or any other Three-Letter-Agency EXCEPT the FBI.See the FBI is the US Law Enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over national security matters within the United States and its territories. NSA ain’t coming out, CIA won’t bother with you, and if there are Men in Black, I bet you dimes to Martian quarters they aren’t Americans (or Earthlings). http://www.artbell.com/img/marsmoney.jpgSo chances are, if some dufus from the Pentagon is contacting you via email, he is definately a dufus, isn’t authorized, and certainly isn’t from the Pentagon (or any other such place, Area 51, UFO Island or anywhere else). If the guy comes to your door with a badge book and says “FBI”… ask him if he has a warrant and then send him on his way if he doesn’t.Otherwise… don’t get too wrapped up in being paranoid.That’s MY job.Rick[Edited by Rick Donaldson on 03-22-2001 at 01:38 PM]
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-22-2001 12:27 PM
SmileJust when things started getting REALLY interesting….
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-22-2001 12:28 PM
I’m really, really sorry if my little cut-up has hurt ANYONE’S feelings or bruised the ever so delicate sensitivities of others who post here. I’m especially sorry if I’ve hacked off the Chinese. I just thought Mel was getting short shrift and…well…dang it all..Mel, dude…I LOVE YOU MAN! There, I’m glad I got that off my chest. Now I’m gonna look at those fuzzy pictures of John’s time traveling golf cart and see if I can make heads or tails out of any of it.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 12:28 PM
Lee Heggy,Thank you very much for scrutinizing everything I said in a Howard Stern manner. But you missed my point. You asked no real questions, had no real dialogue. Just commented and ran off saying vicinities. Just like Mel.I take it you speak like this often.((and we wonder why kids in southern California are shooting…))Maybe because of people like you.
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-22-2001 12:38 PM
I think I got your point quite well and if not then you just made it for me with your nasty little tag at the end of your squawk. Sorry if I stepped on your tail.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 12:41 PM
Where you been Phil?(( but my point is that you appear to be going about distributing your beleif in a counter-productive way. ))What would be a productive way for you?((Your current method of discussion seems clouded by your passionate dislike for the technology and frankly, it is hard to take you serious because of that.))If you knew illegal drugs were bad and could kill your kids if they tried that, wouldn’t you tell them, and hate illegal drugs?((….. you seem to view people who are older than you in a distrustful if not aggravated way.))When? All I did was answer Mel’s questions, and I didn’t even say every old person. I said him in particular.(( I would sincerely be interested in understanding your belief when presented in a less inflamed fashion.))Again, how should I present it?((… you feel others are wrong, ok, but say why others are wrong without attacking. I mean, if you want someone to understand your viewpoint, calling them sheep is a bad way to start.))First off, haven’t I been telling people how it’s wrong? Second of all, sheep was a comment to those people that bowed to John like if he can’t be wrong. To people who wouldn’t listen to any other side but John’s.I hope this clarifies things.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-22-2001 12:48 PM
UnhappyLee said:(and we wonder why kids in southern California are shooting…))Javier said:“Maybe because of people like you.”I say:Ouch! Wrong forum to be discussing the child shooters, but I have looked at why it happens and come up with my own conclusions. People like Lee are not among the evidence. C’mon Javier, I am rootin’ for a constructive dialogue.
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-22-2001 12:55 PM
[1] “Some things are worth fighting for.” Chocolate, maybe, but the credibility of a self-proclaimed time traveler ln an internet message board?[2] People are drawing conclusions based sheerly on the issue of whether Titor has posted lately, concluding its an admission of guilt, knavery, chicanery, etc. It proves no such thing. The fact that you draw a flawed or hasty conclusion or project causal connections has nothing to do with reality itself. There are all sorts of legitimate reasons why he might not have posted lately.[3] I think Javier sees himself as Don Quixote, the man of La Mancha, defending us “sheep,” and deluded “followers” of the ‘Pie Pipper'(sic), ie, the guardian alpha-male patrolling the edge of the herd for danger. I see him as a good guy too, but one who because of tenacity and obsession, has singlehandedly beaten the funfactor of this thread to a bloody pulp.
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-22-2001 12:55 PM
Thanks for the vote of confidence there Phil. Xavier also said that,“I take it you speak like this often.”and then in the very next post replicates my form of posting. (which isn’t patented and used by thousands of others as well) Imitation is a form of flattery though and I’ll take it for what it’s worth. I’m logging off and leaving now (not running). I’ve got to go eat a burger before they are outlawed.
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-22-2001 01:01 PM
Jeez, you guys, I wish you wouldn’t encourage him. Now we will never be able to move on. Very funny, though,Lola
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 01:25 PM
Phil,Ouch? It wasn’t me who started. I had to finish it though… You support the person who just attacked me by defending his statements. But don’t wish to answer my questions? Talk about being counter-productive…Where’s your credibility now? Where do you stand? I thought you wanted me to say where people are wrong. Which is just what I did… And have been doing from the start.Any further questions?-Javier C.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-22-2001 01:25 PM
Is Javier or Time Travel the subject of discussion now?
Posted by Mel Reckling on 03-22-2001 01:31 PM
Thanks guys for coming to my defense. In response to your post. I am 47 years old and yes I was once 21. Regrets I’ve had a few, but than again too few to mention(thanks Mr. Sinatra). Didn’t Al Bundy once score 4 touchdowns in a single game in high school and still wind up a shoe salesman?I know I’m a nobody, but I’ll ask you do you own a Porsche? I do. Do you own your own business? I do. Have you ever shot under par in golf? I have 8 times. Do you own your home? I do. About 15 years ago I was one of the top 50 Toyota salesman in the country. The point is none of this matters. We all have our own accomplishments. The only thing I’m apparently good at is getting under some people’s skin on this post to post BBS.By the time I was 21 I had been to Europe twice. Once made it back from Amsterdam with only 20 bucks in my pocket and having to hitch through N.Y.C. The important thing in life is to make the most of your experiences and to listen to the advice of people more experienced than yourself. I guess I’m doomed to be an old Fuddy Duddy.I feel a truce is in order. We are way off topic and they’ll probably pull the plug on us at any time. Let me know how you feel.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 01:31 PM
Rick,I don’t know what’s up with some of these people. It could be anything. It could be the fact that John isn’t here. Maybe now that Darby is perhaps brining people to realize what they believed John to be, has upsetted them a bit. Or maybe they hate us, for being apart of driving John away, I don’t know. Those are my guesses though.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 01:37 PM
Sure Mel, I guess we can have a truce. Even though I have more to say .But remember, I had no body supporting me, I am half your age, and someday I will own a house. All in due time.Truly,Javier C.P.S. Actually I am only 20 years old. My birthday is in 3 weeks .[Edited by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 at 01:40 PM]
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-22-2001 01:45 PM
Javier,It isn’t “these people”… it’s you my friend. It wasn’t John that brought out the worst in any of us, it was each of us in turn, turning up the heat.You have a way of upsetting people, and quickly. When they feel the must defend whatever it is you’ve upset them about, they come back with all guns a-blazing.Seriously, you do have a problem with time travelers – so it seems, and you’re dead set on proving it. We all understand that, but here, the point it moot. We don’t care too much whether or not you like them, we only care to prove the truth.Unfortunately, none of us, except John can do that right now, and he isn’t around.I sort of suspected he vanish quietly – and he apparently has. So… rather than everyone discussing the points of being 21/43 or 56, we should be discussing the data we DO have, pictures and otherwise, and trying to piece together what little we know.If John is real, and he wants a person to observe, he will let us know. Note that it is my opinion he won’t want us to, and if he DOES provide a video, obviously none of us are going to believe it. Which, by the way, John stated several times in the beginning – “I do not WANT you to believe” – I think were his words.The bickering accomplishes nothing, except to escalate a war that has no purpose. Testosterone has its place, but it ain’t here.Rick
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-22-2001 01:53 PM
I admit I am confused.I may have to consult “Doctor Who”, President of Galifry, President of the High Council of ‘Time Lords’ and ask him a few questions. He’s usually off though fighting humans mortal enemey, the ‘Darleks’.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-22-2001 01:53 PM
Post“What would be a productive way for you?”Well, since you ask, I would attempt to describe my view in a clear and descriptive manner. I have read all your posts and your web site. I still do not understand *specifically* what your view IS based on. You may have stated these things in previous posts, but overall the tone you take in presenting has made it difficult to assemble an accurate picture of what it is you are trying to say. The objective in presentations is to make it EASY for the ‘viewer’ to understand. The rhetoric confuses your message.“If you knew illegal drugs were bad and could kill your kids if they tried that, wouldn’t you tell them, and hate illegaldrugs? ”I do know why certain drugs are illegal. I am aware that people die from them sometimes. I had a friend who went on a research trip on homelessness and lived the life and tried heroin and died. I have no kids, but should I be so graced as to have them someday, I would raise them knowing that I am the one man they can always count on to care about them. I would encourage the discussion of anything, no matter the subject by not violating trust issues involved in personal discussions. If said child were to somehow become involved with the drugs, I would not hate the drugs, I would find the distributor of said drugs to children and at the very least quietly talk to my local PD Detectives about removing said distributor from society. As for said child, I would desire to discover why they felt the need to do illegal drugs, but not freak on the child so they do not shut down and hate their elders.“All I did was answer Mel’s questions, and I didn’t even say every old person. I said him in particular.”Sorry. I was a tad too broad perhaps, but there is a valid point to make. Sometimes people state things in such a way that they themself do not see how others are reading\hearing it. The way I read your comment was indeed toward Mel when viewed on its own, but collectively your demeanor seems fairly anti-toward people you do not know personally and may happen to be older than yourself.“First off, haven’t I been telling people how it’s wrong?”Perhaps you have, but it seems to come across as if to say *because I say so*“…sheep was a comment to those people thatbowed to John like if he can’t be wrong. To people who wouldn’t listen to any other side but John’s.”Again, Its all in how you state things. The way in which you stated the sheep comment literally implied that everyone else were sheep. Again, you may not see that implication, but it IS there.“I hope this clarifies things”Me too. I almost admire the enthusiasm you show, but as I see it, when enthusiasm is coupled with a hatred of something it becomes a crusade. The crusades were over long ago. I urge you to re-evaluate your feeling of hatred, but I will not suggest you rethink your view. Hate is such an ugly emotion that it consumes ones soul. I am not intending to offend you Javier and it is not my goal to help everyone in the world, but you have such a determined passion, it seems a waste to see that consumed with the hatred. I hated someone before. Turns out, I had been harming myself by hating that person. They were external to me so I moved on with life and although I still Strongly dislike them, I do not throw myself into their path on purpose and am a pretty happy guy.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 02:40 PM
Phil,Your empathic nature is understandable. But I cannot always be concern by how someone will interpret what I say. I don’t claim to be a people person; I never said I would be politically correct. I said I would do what’s right, and bring out the truth. Which is what we are all looking for, and doing?So my way is different. Is there a standard I have to follow?You can get the same results in many different ways. I suppose being offence, instead of defense or neutral is what most people prefer that I be. That’s very nice, but it wouldn’t fit my nature.Action if more my forte, defense might be another mans way of solving problems. And some are neutral (pacifists) who don’t try, but get things done somehow.Each way has it’s own merit. Like many others things in this world (religions, schools, governments). I choose action though.-Javier C.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-22-2001 02:54 PM
ArrowI was not trying to change you. I was simply offering advice on a more effective way to get your message understood. If force is your way, so be it, but be prepared to be misunderstood. No harm no foul. No disrespect. Take care Javier. I believe you have peoples best interest at heart, but I also believe you are taking the hard path to communication.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 03:10 PM
My way is not so much force, but actually doing something. Taking action. Force by it’s self sounds really bad. And I guess that’s were I was misunderstood. Oh well, thanks for understanding . I’m glad we could all come to a resolution.-Javier C.
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-22-2001 03:29 PM
This thread has gone south. Rick, I think you should be the one to start a new thread on TT where we can carry on our previous discussion and leave these guys to worry over JC’s communication style (or lack thereof).[Edited by Lola Montez on 03-22-2001 at 03:32 PM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 06:10 PM
And what previous discussion would that be? Supporting a man who claims to be from the future? Ookkaayy.-J.C.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-22-2001 06:19 PM
Rick,What Boomer has described so far, even though he uses the term Tipler Sinusoid, isn’t the description of a Tipler cylinder. Professor Tipler describes the cylinder as having 10 solar masses or more and squeezed into an infinitely dense and infinitely long cylinder – which is longitudionally spun at about one billion RPM’s.I suppose that if you were interested in verification of Boomer’s science that you could go right to the source, Dr. Frank Tipler, Tulane University, for an interview. Ask him his thoughts on Boomer’s device – afterall, its Dr. Tipler’s science:http://www.math.tulane.edu/~tipler/Address: Department of MathematicsTulane UniversityNew Orleans, LA 70118Email: tipler@math.tulane.eduOffice: Gibson 305Phone: (504) 862-3449FAX: (504) 865-5063Oh…the Schwarzschild Radius of about 1.33 meters (4 ft). I hope that Boomer doesn’t hang his left arm out the window because it might be left behind in 2036 when he fires up that puppy.I doubt that you’ll get to interview Boomer. I wanted to know the ET of his trip because of some comments he posted at various times. He’s stated that its very important for the machine to be absolutely still – it makes a “timelike trip” and not a “spacelike trip”. He also says that the traveler is exposed to 1.5 to 2.0 g’s of accelleration and needs an oxygen supply. At 2 g accelleration you will be traveling just a tad faster than a Chevy pick-up in short order (about one year to reach light speed).
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-22-2001 08:30 PM
TalkingDo You suppose DARBY, that IF John is a TT, that the Tipler cyclinder he describes could simply be a revision on the current one that Mr. Tipler has? I mean, if he is from 2036, it could be a revised schematic.Lola:Todays side trip with JC was actually healthy for the thread by my view, for there has been contempt brewing for a while and perhaps that released some tensions. For my part, I was trying to offer a method of communicating to JC because I am sincerely interested in all perspectives given. His included. I dunno if he will provide a detailed and less ‘action’ aka force oriented dialogue (teasing JC), but we shall see. That is what makes it pertinent to the thread.
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-22-2001 09:38 PM
Phil,I certainly applaud your effort and admire you for having the kind of heart that makes that effort. But I think it is obvious by now that no headway is possible. It starts to detract from the other good stuff going on here.To the board-Why do you think John has gone off the board? Is it because Darby’s analysis made him uncomfortable or could it have been Rick’s serious offer to film the event? (or neither)I don’t think packing would be taking every waking moment as there is not much room in that car.There was another alleged TT around awhile ago that left due to lack of interest. He claims to be from the far future. It would be interesting to see where our discussion might go with a different scenario for the future.I wanted to make a point regarding Darby’s treason suggestion made earlier. Every revolution starts with an act of treason. History is written by the victors. We have many hero’s in our past that would be considered villians if the English had won the war.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-22-2001 10:02 PM
I had a few ideas why John might not be here. About 2 pages ago today .John feels the pressure he’s been getting in this thread by someone he didn’t expect. He was well comfortable when it was just me being the only one opposing him. But now, that’s all changed.We all know John wouldn’t leave without saying good-bye. He likes the attention; he likes people to think he’s interesting. Right Pamela?Typical Machiavellian behavior if you ask me.-Javier C.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-22-2001 10:46 PM
He was out of town.
Posted by Barbara Clements on 03-22-2001 11:01 PM
Well, my guess is he’ll be back. In the meantime can someone explain what a tipler sinusoid field is?
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-22-2001 11:16 PM
The thoughts fromt the ‘Great Nuthin’ which will prove nuthin’. While I never followed through on physics and just do not remember it, I leave the calcs to someone else. My whole thought, and I will have to do a lot of reviewing, is even if a person (John) shows up with a device claiming to travel in time, something just bothers me about the convenience of it.
To me all things that were built needed a boost of technology. Nothing was convenient. Now I admit that producing a microsinglarity would be significant, and clever engineering would help, but still I feel that it just does not produce a time machine.
I have to check on the theory of “why” that would produce ‘time travel’. I must admit that I am not trying to solve how to produce a time machine, which to me with all of the math and thinking just ends up being in a different ball park then where the ball was even hit.That’s all I have right now, two cents.But if your really convinced that this produces time travel, I read about it.
Posted by Barbara Clements on 03-22-2001 11:35 PM
One thought did just occurr to me, and I’m not saying this as proof of anyone claiming to be a time travelor, but more or less as an interesting socialolical point, no one believed Jesus was who he was either.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-22-2001 11:35 PM
I’ll try to be brief.
At first, I thought ‘smart rocks’ sounded like a good idea. Now, I do not. The only practical purpose of having a ‘smart rock’ to me is to shoot down an incoming missile to keep the missile from reaching the target. Leaving nuclear missiles in the ocean or exploding the missile high above, perhaps in space, may just wreck the ozone layer or something, especially, leaving corroded nuclear missiles in the ocean. They will corrode. They do find bombs from WWII yet.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-23-2001 12:06 AM
Pamela,How do you know? Is he back then? I guess we should hear from him real soon .Barbara, so what’s your point? John is a real Time Traveler because some people don’t believe him?J.C.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-23-2001 01:29 AM
Okay, I admit that somewhere I am not up to par with these theories. But one question seems to not have been asked, and if I missed it I apologize.Interesting theories, except “Who or what was the first time traveler?”I am not debating whether John is real or not, nor if the theory supports time travel. Before humans went into space, I think, if I ever think I remember, monkeys went into space. I find that it would be dishearting if all of a sudden, “we need a human operator of this device, because a human must go in order to get back.” I think of a moral, ethical people, that some type of remote controls and initial flights would be needed. Frankly, this type of time travel, even with 100% certainty, scares the “heck” out of me. Is anyone sure that they would indeed volunteer for a “All of the theory works out, but…. we won’t really be sure until you come back from your TT trip.” And by the way, have a nice day!Just imagining what going on this trip really means.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-23-2001 07:47 AM
Phil,I’m assuming that if what Boomer says is true then the science would be an advancement on what Dr. Tipler has proposed. However Dr. Tipler isn’t in 2036 he’s here in 2001 and should have some ideas about what Boomer purports to be true of Tipler-based science.Surely you’re not suggesting that if Albert Einstein was alive today that there would be no value in seeking his opinion of Boomer’s GR ideads, are you?
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-23-2001 07:59 AM
ArrowJavier: About Barbaras comment, she states that” I’m not saying this as proof of anyone claiming to be a time travelor”. It seems clear enough that she was only drawing the conclusion that Jesus was not believed to be Jesus and John may not be believed to be a TT. Yes I agree it leads to an assumption, but moreso she seems to clearly bring up the fact that we really do not know and will not know unless something happens to prove it or disclaim it.James: Yesterday was a day that was more or less devoted to Javier. I do not wish to offend you, but really, Javier has his point of view too. I would agree that his manner of conveying that message has at times been caustic, but your attack on him actually seems worse than his ‘action’aka force oriented method of communication. The frustration is understood by everyone I think, but isn’t the action of telling him “leave and go back to your website” a tad extreme?Everyone: Yesterday was indeed a day that centered less on topic than might be desired, in the words of an infamous person,”cant we all just, get along?” 🙂 j/k Really though, I am curious if anyone believes John is a TT based on faith, since as of yet there is no concrete proof. I ask this out of curiosity and request that if anyone responds to this that everyone simply address this, if they wish, without attacking. Yes Javier, I am asking you too (playin with ya, J)
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-23-2001 08:07 AM
TalkingWell, Darby, I think I overlooked the possible value of talking to Mr. Tipler and discussing the model that John has brought forth. Who knows, may that is how Mr Tipler revises his model. Would that not be bizarre if someone brought the John design to Mr Tiplers attention and thus caused the Time Travel Technology to advance?“Surely you’re not suggesting that if Albert Einstein was alive today that there would be no value in seeking his opinion of Boomer’s GR ideads, are you?”Oh No! 🙂 Al was a facinating a brilliant man. Personally I rate Schrodinger a tad higher on the list, but not by much. I actually suspect that Al would be pertly opposed to the concepts brought up here. Maybe I am wrong, but Al only desired to go just so far into quantum physics. therefore rendering his opinion interesting but not necesarily pertinent. Am I wrong?
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-23-2001 08:18 AM
SmileIf time travel is to be achieved using the methods described by John, where is the mass coming from that would be required to achieve it? I believe Darby touched on this earlier, but I have not seen a satisfactory explanation given.Supposing John is who he said he is, what business is it of anybody here to question his “motives”? I see this as no different, in this aspect, as it is for anyone of us to take a trip across town or across state lines. Since John is an American, he is legally allowed to move about as he feels as long as he is not breaking any laws. Had he been from another country, then I suppose he would have had to report to Immigration.I know of no laws against time travel, per se. I do know of some regimes that have existed, though, where freedom of movement by individuals was not allowed…”Show me your papers!”…and it was not in the United States of America.Darby, I do not necessarily regard John’s purported actions in the upcoming conflict to have been treasonous. They MAY have been, but I would have to know more details to make that determination.By the way, Darby, I picture you as about 55 to 60 years of age, working as a university professor with patches on the elbows of your jacket and loafers on your feet, occasionally imbibing on a pipe filled with excellent and aromatic tobacco. You enjoyed reading Sherlock Holmes as a child, and fancy yourself as a modern day sleuth of his ilk. You are highly intelligent, as well as being very popular with your students. I do not believe you have ever married or had children, as you were gilted by the one and only true love of your life while still a youth. Being the romantic that you are, it was at that low point in your life that you decided to devote yourself to your academic pursuits. You also drive a two seated European convertible.How did I do?(By the way, I would have loved to have had you as one of my professors, too!)[Edited by David R Ferguson on 03-23-2001 at 08:25 AM]
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-23-2001 08:18 AM
First, I wish to apologise for perhaps stirring the pot with a bit too much vigor yesterday..
I thought that the possibility of time travel was pretty much accepted since in a way we are all time travelers but only in one direction and at a universal speed common to all of us. The thought that through mechanical contrivance we could go in several different directions at different rates is a fascinating conjecture.
I believe that John Titor (the real name or gender is irrelevant) is a real person. As to the possibility that he/she/it may be from some elsewhen I have my doubts but I will allow for a tiny crack of that possibility to exist.
Why such a person would spend precious time here on this BBS is unfathomable to me.
It would be like going back to the 1930s and listening in on a party-line telephone. It seems apparent that unless he/she/it comes back and makes further comment there isn’t much point to this thread and a new general discussion of temporeal movement is in order.
[This is a very good point. Why expose yourself to problems, when you really don't need the aggrivation. -Metallicman.]
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-23-2001 08:24 AM
Lola,Thanks for the kind words. And you’re right, every revolution begins with a traitor’s act. And is then fought by 19 year old kids. Love to talk it over with you – lunch at the Red Barn, SY.Everyone should understand that I don’t really consider Boomer to be a traitor or a murderer principally because I don’t believe his story and secondarily because his online persona appears to be that of a decent person.What I attempted to point out is that the totality of a circumstance should be considered in any analysis of rhetoric. As Boomer spun the yarn he made some statements about his political alignment that needed to be addressed. There’s more yet to be considered. For instance:Let’s ‘jus ‘spose once again that its all true. Boomer is a TT, a Major in the military (or former Major now under civilian contract)of the regional nation of Florida (or whatever that region is called)and our government is the enemy state in the war to begin in 2004. Let’s also ‘jus ‘spose that Rick really is a former Military/DoD intelligence operative (and shooter)of that enemy state. Would Boomer, a trained field grade military officer allow Rick within 1000 miles of his country’s device? If Rick turned out to be a “not-so-Ex” spook and managed to snatch the device with a little help from his friends what would prevent we, the enemy state, from returning the machine to 2036 with a suitcase nuclear device onboard?Boomer has rather flippantly answered questions at times by saying that we can’t affect his personal timeline. While that may be true a retalliatory strike by us would affect someone’s timeline. A 22 kt nuke would mess up their entire afternoon if it went off in the lab upon the return of the machine.Again, its a great topic for discussion but Boomer isn’t a TT. No country, past-present-future, would trust such a powerful strategic device to Clodpole for the purpose of mixing both a business trip and a personal vacation. For the techno-military geeks: Have you ever heard of an Air FOrce officer who took out an SR-71 Blackbird on a vacation trip – kind of on loan from DIA/NSA for a few months. Same-same here.Boomer may feel that a flip answer is OK, but his handlers wouldn’t be quite so confident that the machine wouldn’t be snatched.Note for Rick: I agree with your earlier post that some sloppy detail work on military hardware or manuals is common. PRC-25’s, PRC-75’s and other common communications hardware are old and utilitarian and treated roughly.Was sloppy workmanship and detailing on ICBM’s, LA class nuke boats and nuclear devices also your experience? The machine and manual wouldn’t be common grunt equipment that get humped in the boonies and tossed into the hooch at night. Its two year old (in 2036) cutting edge strategic technology developed by GE and CERN (cyclorton) and cost billions of dollars. Is it your experience that that sort of hardware is treated with the same disdain as a field radio?[Edited by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-23-2001 at 08:28 AM]
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-23-2001 08:45 AM
CoolDarby:“what would prevent we, the enemy state, from returning the machine to 2036 with a suitcase nuclear device onboard? ”In your described ‘jus’ suppose scenario I had a couple thoughts that might bring caution to the possibility of ANY authority sending a suitcase in time. If I recall correctly, John stated he has to travel back to 1975 and then back to 2036. First, if I am correct with this statement, The machine would have to stop in ’75 and it would stay there without a person in attendance thus blowing up somewhens 1975. Second, do we know if a person has to be in the ‘driver seat’ of the Chevy to operate the machine? If so, a suitcase nuke and a operator both go boom, thus a suicide mission. Also, Suppose an authority did that suitcase trick. Suppose it gets to 2036. There will be a lot of surprised people in Florida. Well, ‘what if’ the world line that received the suitacse happened to be ours when we reach 2036. OOPS!Just a thought or two.BTW, If 4 out of 5 Time Travellers SUFFER from diarhea, does the other one enjoy it?
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-23-2001 09:10 AM
So……We have progressed to talking and questioning John to thinking of what would happen if you sent a suitcase bomb back to John’s world, blowing him up along with his machine and parts of the worldline he would be on at the time…possibly ours????….Do you still wonder why you never see any time travelers?[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-23-2001 at 09:13 AM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-23-2001 09:28 AM
Does anyone wonder if we will even make it through this time?
Maybe, John, is more adept at not being caught, then we think.
I beginning to think about the story, that it is not entirely been written by John, himself. That a group of people covered the story. I also wondered if John was a Russian, I would submit, although I do not know, that there are people in this country, that should not be here, and not poor people from another nation. Tied to embassies of foreign nations, I think the US does the same thing.What would be the purpose of sending a suitcase bomb explosive through time?
You people are getting dangerous. Is that the use of a time machine?Someone better bow to Javier than, because certainly other people would be fighting to not allow time travel.
I think most of the time, there must be continual civil wars in the future by opposing groups.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-23-2001 09:29 AM
QuestionThe suitcase thing is a suppose-it scenario that I cannot see anyone saying “oh yeah great idea” about.Seems that by and large the posts have been quite thorough and inquisitive, but it is odd that John has not posted since the 18th. I saw your post about him being out of town. Does that mean he is back in town? If so, there are loads of questions still to be asked.As for the way the thread has spun toward its current path. Consider a classroom of 4th graders. If the teacher leaves the classroom, does the class atmosphere take a spin toward another direction until the teacher returns to bring things back to the original direction? Yes.I am not using the above example as a literal application to this threads posters or John, just the concept.Please consider that before frowning at the current status. I am certain everyone would be quite pleased if john came on and fielded the concerns of those here. He did start the thread and it would be appropriate if he continued his dialogue or said thats it, time to skip the world lines.If you have read back…except for yesterday…there have been many good questions left unanswered going way back. In fact I cannot find a single response from John regarding anything I have asked, so I have not been attempting to ask anything. Rather I have continued the interaction with others here. If you feel that a TT would not come here because someone chooses to speculate on other motives that are in the realm of possibilty to stretched possibility, then so be it, but look close and see the suitcase stuff for what it is. A speculation. Did anyone actually imply the application of that speculation? Not that I saw.Respectfully.Phil
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-23-2001 09:43 AM
But Phil, it is an interesting twist. Star Trek never addressed questions like “If we have matter dispacement, we’ll beam a bomb aboard”. All the tech from these made-up worlds were so different that no species could do that. Still, there are ‘laws of nature’ that are all the same.
How does ‘tech’ remain different if all ‘laws of nature’ are the same?
That does include all species in the Universe to me, so far. We suppose that species would be different somehow, but in the end because of the ‘laws of nature’ that may not be true. How do we know that John is not a alien? At which point do humans go a different way with tech. In the future, if a war happened, if anyone mentioned doing certain tech, I think witch hunts would be common, not that tech, never mention it again, kind of life.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-23-2001 09:46 AM
John, are you receiving smileys yet! Smile, smile, smile, lots of smileys!
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-23-2001 09:49 AM
Pamela:Nice to have you back! I concur with a lot of what Phil just posted. I, too, have asked several questions to John and none of them was ever answered. Maybe he did not consider them “deep” enough to reply to, but I felt that my questions were not of the sort that could be construed as a means for me to gain an unfair advantage over someone else. For example, I asked if the NCAA still held a baskeball tournament, and if so, was it still in its current format.As for Darby’s comment regarding placing a suitcase sized nuclear device in John’s time machine, that appears to be a good and appropriate point in which to discuss. It falls within the realm of philosphical and moral implications that have previously appeared in this thread. I have not really been able to place my finger on just what it is that Javier has found so offensive about time travel in general, but this is a scenario that might explain it. Maybe Javier fears Time Travelers doing the reverse and bringing back nuclear (or worse) devices into our time and setting them off in an act of terrorism.Anyway, I am glad back to have you back in the discussion, Pamela. Do you think John will resurface here?
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-23-2001 10:03 AM
ArrowI didn’t bring up the scenario of the suitcase. I did try and explain why I felt it was pointless for anyone to try it though. I see no error in logic there. You mention Star Trek. In the Wrath of Kahn, was there not a Genesis device that Kahn wanted to use as a weapon? That is a tech spec example that uses well intended science for less nobel causes. The difference is that in that movie, Khan Intended to do his scheme. Here it was not an intended action. Just speculation on what a governing body could contemplate doing. Of course from my current viewpoint, the theories and discussion here are facinating, but still fantasy role play unless that role play becomes real thru solid proof.I can only speak for myself, but I do not wish harm to anyone. Not a sole. As to John specifically, he has not harmed me or my loved ones, so why should I desire to harm him. I would like it if he would come back for a bit and at least properly terminate the discussion from his part. It is irritating when someone starts something and then simply disappears. Have you seen the number of people who have browsed this thread? My god, theres been tens of thousands of browses and well over 700 posts. That seems to say something about the interest level.Seems that overall, everyone here would like to continue this discussion, but the central figure in the debate is MIA.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-23-2001 10:20 AM
I’m to wish no harm on anyone. I am just referring to the storyline.
Let’s suppose its true, then: “Once the nuclear button is pressed, humanity breaks down.” It may never recuperate.
New Rule from God, perhaps: “Thou shall keep thy finger off of the nuclear button, humans never again gain for hundreds of year.” Then such a tech as TT, would be a ‘forbidden’ tech.
Well, I’ll have to think of something more pleasant.
John stated that he did not understand why people would stay in the cities if nuclear war was immenient, this may be the reason.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-23-2001 10:51 AM
To answer John’s question somewhere along this thread:Humans just have a better life coming up with techs that help humans out to deal with overpopulation and other issues than developing techs that lead the world into madness.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-23-2001 11:06 AM
“John stated that he did not understand why people would stay in the cities if nuclear war was immenient, this may be the reason.”I actually think that the majority of people stay in the city because the emphasis of lifestyle has shifted away from the rural. I cannot count how many people have told me that they could not even contemplate living anywhere but L.A., for example. Additionally, I also come across many people who are insulated from real news by their own choice. Just those two attitudes alone can account for many of the people who would choose to stay in a city.I live in suburbia. Downtown L.A. is 35 miles from me as the crow flies. There is the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station so close to me that I can just about see their fences. The only reason I am here is because my wife will not move out of the region. I would prefer a rural setting. Life has choices and because I love my wife, I stay. Rest assured that if/when it comes time to flee, I will be doing so, bringing her along by force if necessary. I am certain many will stay. Why? Lots of reasons, but I only will name the two.It is pointless to me to continue speculating on if John is a TT unless additional compelling documents are conversational exchanges occur, for if nothing else, he has provided a discusion that allowed us all to explore many themes that spur from future thinking. His list of suggestions are logical and the entire dialogue has been entertaining to boot.Ever heard of classes that entertain while teaching? Comedy traffic school is an example. Of course this is not a school and John is not a teacher, but the principle is the same.[Edited by Phil Fiord on 03-23-2001 at 11:08 AM]
Posted by Barbara Clements on 03-23-2001 11:40 AM
Well, like with Jesus and his situation, I was just thinking how frustrating to the person it must be if it IS true.
Suddenly everything is frozen, you have to defend your arrival, and that becomes the whole thing.
After all, everyone else walks in a room and advances from that point, but if you doubt the reality of the person coming in the room its like you never get to be in the room until you can prove your going through the door is allowed.
I always thought it must’ve been frustrating to be Jesus, (saying here he was what he said he was) and spend all your time having to defend your claim, and not get on to the reason you came and all. Very aggravating.
Posted by James Boley on 03-23-2001 11:41 AM
Darby sure seemed to hit the nail on the head with John Titor. He came towards the end of Johns ‘reign’ over his followers.Is Darby John Titor?
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-23-2001 11:54 AM
I sure hope not, I like the way Darby thinks .-J.C.P.S. If I don’t come back today, it’s because somethings gone wrong with my computer upgrade. C-ya.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-23-2001 12:03 PM
The purpose of John’s visit is that we help them solve their problems in the future, that’s why he is here.
I do not know if we can do that without being a comedy routine to him. Certainly, if everyone bowed to everyone, like the Japanense do then no human may be talking. Taking it to the ridiculous, everyone be bowing the rest of their lives. Living in a major city is to me another point of ridiculous, people live there for the greatness of the city, then everyone decides that they really rather be actually at times somewhere else, away from a big city. The only reason to be in a ‘big city’ is to feel more alive.
I admit I am dumbfounded at this point. I can not perhaps help John with his problems in the future, and I can not help anyone in this world now, but still I must be, somehow.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-23-2001 12:50 PM
I’ll propose another question to John. I like the validity of the TV show “StarGate”. You need six points of reference for a cube and a seventh reference, the point of origin, before you can travel through a wormhole type time travel.
May be that I am missing something here. Further thought required.The Universe is central to our existence, but we are central to the Universe. Yet we have infinite multiple ‘worldlines’ of all time where we are ‘yet’ not a ‘God’ but are a ‘God’. Interesting.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-23-2001 03:45 PM
James,An interesting thought – Boomer and me – the same person. Imagine the philosophical thought games that I’d be playing with myself. Fortunately for me, I’m not him (I think he’d agree).AllI posed the question of sending a device back to Boomer’s lab in the machine from the perspective of his handlers. From their perspective we are the enemy upon whom they made war. Would they be willing to risk even the smallest of possibility of having their machine fall into enemy hands and incur some sort of retaliatory strike? Nuke, biological, chemical, or just a healthy dose of C4? Imagine the result of blowing up the device with ordinary explosives. I don’t know if I’d want two 3*10^18 kg black holes auguring into my back yard.Does it really make sense that his handlers would authorize a personal vacation with their billion-dollar machine? It is, after all, a machine. Machines can break down. It’s the result of a program that went live in 2034. It has a computer – software, by definition, has bugs. Last I heard we still have burglars in Florida. While he’s been hanging around some hype could steal his IBM 5100. It may be a piece of junk but would a junkie know that? When your nose is running and your skin is crawling and you want that smacked-back feeling any port in the storm will do to get a fix – even Boomer’s IBM 5100. If the machine were that important to his handlers would they authorize a personal vacation and risk losing the computer?I dunno – how about you?
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-23-2001 04:02 PM
((Pamela. Do you think John will resurface here?))I think he is planning on it but he said he will be unable to address everything.. I don’t think he has time. I don’t want to speak for him though maybe he will come on here and tell you himself.Albert, it is interesting that you mentioned “StarGate.” That was one of my favorite movies. I thought of that right away when they spoke of sending a bomb back to John’s lab.
they did the same in that science fiction movie they snuck a nuclear device back through the stargate to blow up the other world if they found life on it.Did you see the movie “contact” with Jodie Foster? That is another one of my favorite movies.John and Darby are NOT the same person. maybe Javier and Darby are the same??? hehehehehe[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-23-2001 at 04:11 PM]
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-23-2001 04:15 PM
Pamela, If John IS a real TT…he will have time, all the time in the world.
[Not true. He has limitations determined by destination target conditions. -Metallicman.]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-23-2001 04:26 PM
Lee,I think that is a misconception. that a time traveler has “all the time in the world.”
That might be true if his machine could be operated in that manner. but my understanding is it cannot. once you operate the machine and you leave the worldline can you return to the same one?
You can only arrive and leave at certain times .the conditions have to be right.
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-23-2001 04:51 PM
Pamela, You may be right about that. I just don’t know but I do find it very interesting that although none of us are currently time traveling except in our own lives we have somehow managed to divise rules of the road for doing so.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-23-2001 04:58 PM
“none of us are currently time traveling except in our own lives…”How can you be so sure? Maybe there are others…..
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-23-2001 05:09 PM
I have just received another picture from John to post.I will send it to Rick Donaldson to post on his board.It is titled “final proof?”Hopefully he will post it soon.sincerely,Pamela
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-23-2001 05:13 PM
Well I suppose nothing is what it seems if you can warp time and space so you’ve got me there but I have a pretty solid feeling that most if not all of us are very firmly docked in the present. Thanks for keeping me loose.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-23-2001 05:25 PM
Thanks Pamela, I’ll take that as a compliment, but I’m not Darby . Btw, Lee brought up something interesting I’d like to talk about. “Rules of the Road” as we know them, apply for everyone’s safety. How I have been saying all along, as far as we know they are no rules for Time Travelers. Exploiting the past, and its unknowing people is unethical and convenient for them. For all we know, they could be invisible right now, and orchestrating our lives to their will. Anyone ever think about that? Well we all should… Consider the possibilities that Time Travelers are opportunist, who wish nothing more then to help them selves.I have a lot to say on this matter, but I’ll spare you all the rhetoric… For the moment .Anyway’s, speaking of movies, check out this website and it’s trailer, I like it . http://www.finalfantasy.com-Javier C.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-23-2001 07:20 PM
Daryby: Let’s ‘jus ‘spose once again that its all true.
Boomer is a TT, a Major in the military (or former Major now under civilian contract)of the regional nation of Florida (or whatever that region is called) and our government is the enemy state in the war to begin in 2004.
Let’s also ‘jus ‘spose that Rick really is a former Military/DoD intelligence operative (and shooter) of that enemy state.
Would Boomer, a trained field grade military officer allow Rick within 1000 miles of his country’s device? If Rick turned out to be a “not-so-Ex” spook and managed to snatch the device with a little help from his friends what would prevent we, the enemy state, from returning the machine to 2036 with a suitcase nuclear device onboard?Excellent!
That was, I suppose one of the main reasons I tried to point out several things, including the fact that 1) he won’t let me be “3rd party” 2) Anyone on this board might be a spook with just such a motive (though I SERIOUSLY doubt it).Also Darby: Note for Rick: I agree with your earlier post that some sloppy detail work on military hardware or manuals is common. PRC-25’s, PRC-75’s and other common communications hardware are old and utilitarian and treated roughly.Was sloppy workmanship and detailing on ICBM’s, LA class nuke boats and nuclear devices also your experience? The machine and manual wouldn’t be common grunt equipment that get humped in the boonies and tossed into the hooch at night. Its two year old (in 2036) cutting edge strategic technology developed by GE and CERN (cyclorton) and cost billions of dollars. Is it your experience that that sort of hardware is treated with the same disdain as a field radio?Right- Well, since I never dealt with ICBMs, LA Class nuke subs, and other nuclear devices personally, I can’t answer that. The truth is though, that all military manuals have errors, even on ships.One last thing… along these lines: For the techno-military geeks: Have youever heard of an Air Force officer who took out an SR-71 Blackbird on a vacation trip –NEVER.. which is the first reason I considered John a fraud but just never stated it.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-23-2001 07:38 PM
Excellent critical thinking on that ex-military scenario Rick .-J.C.P.S. Anyone here a computer tech? I have a computer problem .
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-23-2001 08:01 PM
Pam said: I have just received another picture from John to post.I will send it to Rick Donaldson to post on his board.It is titled “final proof?”Hopefully he will post it soon.As she stated, I have recieved said photograph and it is very, very interesting. I find it almost funny in a way. But, before I tell you about it, let me tell you something even funnier – as in “Strange”.A few days ago, someone here on this list began to receive unsolicited email claiming they were from the government. They have threatened certain persons here as well. I have for the most part, successfully discovered who that person is. He is from this list.Tonight, shortly after Pamela posted her message about the “final proof”, my web site, and Anomalies.net went down…One of two possibilities exists right now. The sites reside in California and it is possible a power outage caused the site to go offline. However, everything should have come back online after power was restored. I’m checking that right now and ought to have an answer sometime tomorrow morning.The second possibility is there has been an attack on the site. Something called a denial of service, if anyone knows what that is. I’ve determined that INDEED there have been some “hits” on the machines out there – but at this point, I haven’t confirmed it. I have people who are going to check though. If I find out, and the IPs – correction, the ISP matches the person who is sending out threatening letters… I have a sneaky suspicion the ONLY person being visited by the FBI or government agents will be the perpetrator.Some how… some folks seem to forget those of us in computer security have means at our disposal not normally assigned to the normal internet crowd.So – that said.. let me talk about the photograph since I can’t post it tonight.The photo is a scan of a Florida Government document.
The exact gist of the document is regarding the fact that insurance has run out on a specific vehicle and needs to be renewed or some other action taken.The name, and most of the vehicle information has been blanked for privacy-sake. But… the important part is the date.The date is 03/26/01That’s three days from today.Unforntunately even for me, I find this to be no true explanation for John Titor, Time Traveler. As a “true skeptic” (not of time travel, but rather believing that John IS a time traveler) I realize that given the fiasco of the Florida election process this past year, that Florida of ALL places is suspect when it comes to government documents. It is in all likelyhood a typographical error. But, all of you can be the judge (assuming my site is back online tonight). Otherwise, I willget the photo online as soon as humanly possible. Yesterday, if I had a time machine.Rick
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-23-2001 09:03 PM
~when it begins to rain,it is time to go rainbow gazing.~-pamela
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-23-2001 09:12 PM
What’s the suppose to mean Pamela?Let’s take a poll, who here has been contacted by someone claiming to be from the government?I haven’t.Obviously what would they want with a TimeTravelActivist .[Edited by Javier Cortez on 03-23-2001 at 09:14 PM]
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-23-2001 10:17 PM
I haven’t.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-23-2001 10:50 PM
I feel for John for having such a mixed-up youth, but even John should realize certain thing. The Government probably is not interested in his ‘time machine’.
But you know politicians, they have probably passed a law that John owes them some kind of tax for entering from a different worldline, even if from the past or from the future.
It is probably already as law in this day and age.
John, you will have to pay your tax before you leave.
They have no need to poke you with needles or take your ‘time machine’, but they will be very determined to collect their money. Why, heck, they do not even care if you pay with future money; since the debt is so large, and it would not even be paid off in the future of 2036. You would not want to leave small John with such a debt, would you?What do you think John?Yes, Pam, I have seen ‘Contact’, a while back. I think I remember some of it, not that much of it though.
Tell John to pay his tax before he leaves.You know this day and age and politicians.
Posted by Philip Mistlberger on 03-24-2001 02:20 AM
Such a grandly entertaining thread.About two years back, on the old Art Bell BBS (which used to be highlighted in that tiring blue, not this pleasant green), there was a self-proclaimed time traveller (Marc “X”) who had everyone in a tizzy for about a month or so. The thread racked up hundreds of posts, it was often extremely funny, mostly for the interplay between several posters, about 4 or 5 of whom were all named “Mark”.
The time-traveller, Marc X, claimed to be an anthropologist from the 22nd century. Unfortunately, in his initial introductory post he spelt “anthropologist” wrong several times. When this was duly pointed out to him by one of the Marks, he defended himself by claiming that English had morphed in the future, but that he would do his best to adapt to our current patterns. This explanation became his most common “out” when in hot spots.Marc was not stupid, but I must say that John Titor has him beat hands down. He not only has covered his bases quite well, he has managed to disappear in a cloud of uncertainty that will at the worst leave some wondering (though granted Darby seems to have stymied him in the physics department).Marc X made the error of returning from periods of absence in an attempt to offer rebuttals to attacks on his claims, and to try to dodge and justify and explain his way out of too many loopholes. In the end he failed.
He was finally exposed, as someone tracked him down (the giveway being the “c” at the end of his first name, which made his whole name actually uncommon) and located him as a college student in a north mid-west university. But as a prankster he did a good job, provided the most entertaining thread I ever recall seeing on this BBS (outside of the “Oh My God” forum), and certainly stimulated many to think.
I haven’t been able to read every post in this thread, so I’m not sure if this has been mentioned. But John’s explanation of a “Russian invasion” of the U.S. is strikingly reminiscent of an obscure 1984 science fiction film called “Red Dawn”, which dealt with just such a theme. The idea seems so outlandish that I can only wonder if “time-traveller John” didn’t see that movie — cheesie as it was.[Edited by Philip Mistlberger on 03-24-2001 at 02:22 AM]
Posted by Barbara Clements on 03-24-2001 04:30 AM
Did anyone listen to Art’s show last night, he had a line open for TT’s. Did any call in? I had to go to sleep as I get up at 5am to go to work, so I wondered.
Posted by Mike Haley on 03-24-2001 05:26 AM
Thumbs downI am listening to the archive at the moment and am currently 2 hours into it. Well, most of the calls have been people claiming to be the Anti-Christ. Will the real Anti-Christ please stand up and smite the false ones with pillars of fire? Or, better yet, do so on the air. That would inspire some righteous ( or not-so-righteous ) fear.The few time travellers that called in really were not all that spectacular. None of them convincing, in my opinion. Especially the one that talked about time travelling vacations via pill, using nano-bots to send the body back in time. Sounds a little too much like that show “Time Trax”. Now, if someone were capable of time travelling into the near future, say 30 minutes, then come back and, on the air, tell everyone who would call and what they would say, then that would be interesting.Apparently, though, most time travellers come from 2008 and jump back to 2001 for some reason. Why 2001 is beyond me ( of course, we’re only 3 months into it ) when 4004 BC would be so much more interesting. In my opinion, at least.
Posted by Randy Empey on 03-24-2001 07:33 AM
Philip M:Why do you consider ‘Red Dawn’ an obscure science fiction film? Maybe we’re not thinking the same movie, but your mention of the russian factor is pretty telling. It might be speculative near-future, but it is more patriotism-fiction or guns-and-glory-feel-good-save-the-free-world than it is science fiction — nothing futuristic is involved at all. The pickup truck the main characters escape the opening scene in might be as old as the one Titor says he carries his time machine around in.ALL:I think the line between observations, theories, dreams, past experiences and good stories are blurred by both the medium here and the participants. So what? As long as ideas are exchanged, there is some intelligent dissembly & assembly going on and expressed possibilities are maximized, I think this kind of interchange is still healthy.Its long been my intuition that the facts and figures we struggle to learn in school aren’t the actual useful lessons we learn in school — its learning to learn, excercising our minds, that is the ultimate benifit. It was my hope that simmular results could be gained in threads of this type.And it has, yet ….Some of us have traveled so far, and gained so much in our ‘official’ educational journeys that its become a knee jerk reaction to shoot ‘impossible’ stories down. I bet amazing will power has been excercised to keep said knee-jerks to a minimum, they have still had their effects …Of course, I error in the other direction, and that has its own short comings … but, Javier, I am not being led of a cliff — If I plunge into the sea of imagination it is of my own free will.Critical thinking and analysis is needed and is doing good here, but lets not let it stop us from seeing the rest of the forest here.—-Then again, I was always one of those boring kids who read the text book (or whatever fiction I had brought from home) when the teacher left the room … (unless I was enlisted by the trouble makers to plan thier escape, but that is niether here nor there …)So, throw your spit wads … make fun of the teacher’s baldness and tie … prepare your rebbuttals of the establisment’s version of the facts … there is something to be learned from such actions too — just lets stop letting our knee-jerk reactions kick each other around.What does plausibility of a story have to do with the reality of events indicated in said story? Its not a one to one relationship, I am sure — is there enough correlation to back our claims of validity or invalidity without reasonable doubts?
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-24-2001 07:46 AM
Great observations Randy! Anyone can call themselves a time traveler and be the catylst for lively discourse provided they do at least as good a job of it as JT did.Don’t get too hard on ‘Old Philip’. Talking pictures themselves were only rumors when he descended from the highlands of Tibet.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-24-2001 08:08 AM
Angryhttp://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22090That news link might be very interesting to some who’ve been following some of the “predictions” here.It covers a report about Jane’s news – regarding the new “Russian Offensive”. With the expulsion of the 50-something-odd Russians who are supposed to be spies… well, this comes as no surprise to me, but welcome back to the Cold War of the 21st Century.My web site is still down, but is likely due to power outages.I will be starting a thread later today about something related to this stuff in the hopes we can continues some important discussions, and lacking the intellectual barbs. Just give me some time, because I have to run through all of the several hundred posts again.RickPS Javier… *I* wasn’t contacted either. But, instead of you trying to figure it out, why don’t you back off on that subject. The individuals who contacted me about it were upset and do not want to be known, hence the reason for NOT posting their names to begin with. Me thinks thou doth protest too much, so knock it off.[Edited by Rick Donaldson on 03-24-2001 at 08:29 AM]
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-24-2001 10:26 AM
John has not been seen or heard from here in this public forum since approximately page 40. Ten new pages, mostly barbs and personal attacks have occured since then.I have compiled all of the writing that has been done by John Titor, alledged Time Traveler and will be going through it today for “predictions”.Let me explain.John stated at one point he would not make any. In at least two other places he mentioned his reasons, or morals for not doing so.However… I find it very difficult myself to not make predictions.Let’s make a rash assumption that any one of us could travel back in time to, say 1979 and once there, we could answer any questions presented to us by that population with whom we would interact.At that point, people start asking you about the future. Though your personal rules keep you from making “predictions”, they do not stop you from answering well placed questions about yourself, the time travel aspect, and even perhaps some vague history of yourself (Future to everyone else).Within that aspect, you will give answers regarding the future that were either inadvertent or that you mistakenly considered “safe”.I place before you the supposition that John Titor, Alleged Time Traveler has done just so. In the thread I am about to open, we will discuss his information. Sometime today, I will post my list of possible predictions to a future Earth.Join me there for this discussion… and let’s keep this one open for the possibility John will post a good bye, or make an offer for me to fly down for his departure. (I’m still open to doing so).Rick
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-24-2001 12:25 PM
Rick,If I was still in the Military I may have to listen to you. But I’m not, so I won’t. Plus how can I protest to much about this, when I only mentioned it once?Anyway’s, I just woke up from a very strange Time Travel Dream. It was the year 2225, and it had to do with being a frozen cube. It was very weird .-J.C.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-24-2001 03:53 PM
The following message was forwarded to me from an anonymous source. I do not know why this person chose the venue he or she chose to attack me – which was through an innocent individual, but I don’t like it one bit.This is apparently one of the folks claiming military connections and asking folks to shut up. Well...
I don’t like cowards. I don’t people telling me to shut up either. If you want to talk to me, my email address is public. Feel free to write. I certainly want to hear from you in person. Until then, suffice it to say, I do not require ‘enlightenment’ from you or anyone else.As far as whether or not “is he or isn’t he” this is a free country in which I live so I am entitled to my opinion on this subject. I don’t care if you wrote every manual in the US government. You’re way off base attacking me, THROUGH someone else, and privately.You’re a coward.
Come out from hiding and admit who you really are instead of using innocent go-betweens. You haven’t a clue what you’re talking about when you refer to me. You also haven’t a clue what a “future manual” might look like, no more than I have a clue about it.You see… If John were from the future, and the items I’ve already posted on another thread are even remotely true, the government as you know it now, and publications standards ARE NOT what you think they are. So… smart ass – either come out in public, or shut up.In the mean time, answer me here – in Public.
And before I hear any bitching about “private email” remember this, you SENT IT TO ME THROUGH A THIRD PARTY – therefore it is MINE TO DO WITH AS I WISH, and I wish to release it to the public domain, right here on this board. Now… if you want a private debate, write me privately. Until then, keep your mouth shut and leave the middle people out of this.My Comments below, are in Parens:—– Original Message —–
From: <Name Blanked by Me>
To: <name Blanked by me>
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2001 2:23 PM
Subject: Let’s help Rick out, shall we?
<Name Blanked by me>
Sigh. Sorry to trouble you again. Please do “Rick Donaldson” a favor and forward this text on to him.
Thanks.
—
Rick,
This is a private note to you. I trust that <Name Blanked by me> will keep it in confidence also.
(That person did… I chose not to)
Now, your claims of government service allowing you to be knowledgeable about “tech pubs” – just what exposure did you have to them? Was it a tech pub for swivel chair maintenance?
(Nope… my background is documented well, in several places, you apparently didn’t bother yourself to read them)
As a civilian who grew up an Army brat only to marry a spouse who spent twenty years, combined, in the military and the private military aerospace arena and during which time I went into the publishing world where I ended up working on military technical publications for a while, I find your lack of knowledge (and gullibility) striking. So allow me to privately enlighten you.
(As a civilian huh? Funny… you’re in the “publishing world”. As a matter of fact, so am I. As a matter of fact, I worry about many THOUSANDS of documents. As a matter of FACT I’m neither gullible nor am I lacking in knowledge. Nothing I’ve stated to this point on this BBS is inaccurate in any sense of the word. Your insults from someone so obviously “enlightened” trouble me though, since you obviously do not belong in the job you’re in now, especially if you have a clearance… tell me who you are so we can take care of that forthwith.)
Considering the subject at hand is purported to be such a high level technical device which, by its very nature, would potentially put lives in danger with each use (much like an aircraft), its manual format WILL BE in compliance with the highest available mil-specs and standards. Not only that, MULTIPLE MANUALS ARE CREATED by the military contractor, for said device, in different actual physical sizes for such technical devices covering many aspects of said devices – not just one.
(WILL BE in compliance with WHOSE standards? Yours? Certainly not. You obviously are from the year 2001. Funny how everyone wants to put their standards on someone like John. I don’t believe John is a time traveler any more than you apparently do, on the other hand… at least I’m open minded enough to discuss the subject, something you’re afraid to do in public. Your standards are for you, not for John. Get over it).
The private contractor who manufactured the device for the military would be required to rigidly adhere to those specs and standards for the accompanying technical publications as a requirement and condition of having been awarded a contract for manufacturing such a device…”lowest bidder” my ass. That has nothing in the world to do with mil-spec compliance which the government takes very seriously. The teams of degreed Engineers, Tech Writers, Drafts Persons, Graphic Artists, CAD Operators, Computer Programmers, Word Processor Operators, Technical Proofreaders et. al., responsible for putting these highly complicated books together, who take their responsibilities very seriously, thank you for your insulting remarks.
(Assuming the same ‘rigid standards’ exist in John’s time frame. The truth is, these rigid standards are subject to changes locally on ALL documentation, and errors ABOUND in them. I see them every day and I KNOW FOR A FACT THEY EXIST WITH ERRORS. Please come down from your perfect world and join the rest of us in reality. My so-called insulting remarks are nothing compared to yours so far. I’m telling the truth, you’re an example of someone in denial. As far as “lowest bidder – my ass” goes.. well, the lowest bidder who got the contract does follow whatever standards are in place at the time. However, the LOWEST BIDDER STILL GETS THE CONTRACT – so, they are thereby just as limited as anyone else, what with cost overruns, budget reductions to get rid of extra people on a job so they can make a profit and so forth. So don’t give me any crap about it being “mil spec” because the government says so. I KNOW what the government requires, and I also know what gets past the technical writers as well.)
A typical cover/title page for any such manual SHOULD, by mil-specs and standards, resemble _something_ like this (see below), no two ways around it.
(Should, again according to YOUR specifications. Not to those in John’s “Time Frame”. I’m sorry but you’re putting yourself further and further into a hole here. Remember – John is alledgely from 2036, a few years AFTER a nuclear war. I’m certain – I’m POSTIVE that people after such a thing are not going to adhere to YOUR standards simply because YOU say so.)
For the technical publication itself (including cover/title page), mil-spec requirements for everything (right down to the minimum card stock quality) include:
Fonts to be used, font sizes (in the point system used by publishers), text spacings, line spacings, margin widths, justifications (left, center or right, depending), decimal point lineups, how “figures” (illustrations, etc) are numbered and classified (not even present on the “document” in question, oh by the way), requirements for numbering of paragraphs (decimal system), page numbering system, character string identifiers required to be present at the bottom of each and every page (not even present on the “document” in question, oh by the way)…
…and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, AND ON, AD NAUSEUM are laid out in NUMEROUS SEPARATE GOVERNMENT MANUALS written specifically for contractors ON HOW TO WRITE THE TECH PUB that would have you going blind and pulling your hair out before you have read and learned it all.
(Technical manuals and technical orders are already difficult to read, they are so blasted difficult for the guys in the field they don’t even use them. Truth be told, if I had to take out a manual to repair a radio, by following the instructions therein, I would not get it repaired. I set them aside and use my talents for troubleshooting before I would read one of YOUR technical manuals. ANYONE who has EVER used an Air Force Technical Order knows PRECISELY what I am talking about! So get off your high horse.)
Not to mention the fact that tech pubs are ALWAYS in a binder system to accommodate the insertion of the inevitable revisions and changes, and replacement of damaged pages. Where are the page holes if the pages were removed for copying?
(You’re right, they are in binder systems. IF they are technical orders. However, guess what? The Army from 1932 through 1960-something published manuals in BOOKS. They weren’t in binders. Guess what? They have started doing so again. Only the Air Force has a standard binder. Inevitable revisions and changes… you mean – AD NAUSEUM again, don’t you? If there are prefect manuals out there, then why the hell are there so many changes all the time? Think about it… perfect manuals mean there should never be corrections – which is what almost EVERY SINGLE PAGE I’VE EVER FILED IN AN EXISTING MANUAL ARE THERE FOR! CORRECTIONS TO MISTAKES FOUND BY THE GUYS IN THE FIELD!!!!!!!!)
That cover page and content “evidence” for the “time machine” looks like it’s from a high school book report! It’s not even close to being in mil-spec compliance in any way shape or form. Dear God, when you go to work on Monday, lay your hands on a real technical publication – if you have the clearance to do so – and look at it. Examine the format carefully. How it’s assembled. Notice the character string identifiers all over the place, etc., etc., etc.
( I never said it WAS A TIME MACHINE MANUAL. I never said it was in compliance with mil-spec either. I said I had experts looking at it. MY EXPERTS have since been appraised of this entire forum and are reading it. THEY tell me that not only is is POSSIBLE but ” … who knows what the technical standards for the future might be? I <the guy answering me> do not know one way or another, but my opinion is it isn’t a time machine and isn’t a real manual.” Happy??? I don’t know what your problem is, but I’ve got as many, if not MORE resources to ask about this stuff as you do. So back off. By the way.. you AND my folks only have a couple of pages, not the original manual. I defy ALL of you to make an accurate determination from a PHOTOCOPY that was THEN SCANNED into the computer on binding, or anything else! Not only can you NOT decide it isn’t real, you can NOT DECIDE IT IS REAL.)
If you REALLY knew what the technical publications looked like for a high level device (system), you most certainly would have tossed this ridiculous “is he or isn’t he” speculation out the window, oh, about 2 seconds after viewing the “time machine” pages, like I did.
(No, I wouldn’t have done such a thing. Again, you’re applying whatever mediocre standards of yourself to me. The difference between me and you is an open mind. Yours is obviously closed and you suffer a severe case of denial. I’m sorry for your security clearance, but when reality sets in, you will be safely out of the system and away from any government sites. Your most obvious problem is an ego the size of Seattle. Perhaps you need an Ego-quake to put you in your place.)
Good Luck.
TYPICAL STYLE FOR TECH PUB COVER/TITLE PAGE
INCLUDING VARYING FONT SIZES: 24, 18, 14 & 8 POINT:
___________________________________________________
“SECURITY CLASSIFICATION”
XX-XXX-XX-X (PUB # HERE)
__________________________
VOLUME #/PART # REVISION#
TECHNICAL MANUAL
(TYPE OF PUB HERE – MAINTENANCE,
OPERATION, ETC.)
(NOMENCLATURE OF EQUIPMENT HERE)
(SUBTITLE HERE)
(NAME OF MANUFACTURER OF EQUIPMENT, AND GOVERNMENT CONTRACT NUMBER HERE)
***
(INSERT APPROX. 2-INCH SIZE “BRANCH OF SERVICE” SEAL HERE)
***
(SUPERCEDURE NOTICE HERE)
(SUPPLEMENT NOTICE HERE)
(DISCLOSURE NOTICE HERE)
(DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT INCLUDING RESTRICTIONS HERE)_____________________________________________(This is indeed similar to SOME manuals the government uses, but, it isn’t similar at ALL to some that we use today. Matter of fact, I have several non-standard manuals that more conform to John’s manual than to yours, but they are all classified and I can’t even SHOW YOU the format. So put that in your pipe and smoke it with whatever else you’re already smoking.)[Edited by Rick Donaldson on 03-24-2001 at 04:07 PM]
Posted by John Titor on 03-24-2001 06:19 PM
I will be leaving this worldline shortly and this will be my final post. There are only a handful of people who will know exactly when I will be leaving and I’m sure they will let you know when I’m gone.
In the last few days I have found your choice of topics quite interesting and from an objective viewpoint I think it collectively answers one of your own questions, “If time travel is real, where are all the time travelers?” In the past, I have stated that quite frankly, you all scare the Hell out of me and I’m sure other temporal drivers would feel the same. But now I have an expanded explanation with two examples.
A while ago (on one of the posts), I related an experience I had with my parents while we were driving down a highway. Every now and then, we would pass someone who was in obvious distress with their vehicle. I was amazed that so many people could pass them by without stopping to help. Their explanation was fear. The risk of helping someone was too great and with today’s technology, they probably had a cell phone anyway. If they didn’t, the walk to a gas station would be good for them and teach them a lesson for running out of gas.
The other example is the plight of the homeless. When you pass them as individuals on the street I see the way people selectively choose an alternate path to avoid them.
Those two examples best define why time travelers do not show themselves. In trying to help you, we put ourselves as great risk and there’s really no point to it. We know the nature of time dictates that traveling between “exact” worldlines is impossible. Therefore, the only results we will see will be the ones we stay to see. Since worldlines, outcomes and events are infinite, we have better things to do. When I arrive in the “new” 1998 worldline on my way home I could easily start all of this again and continue to go through the same conversations with all of the same people. However, I already know you won’t pay any attention or believe me because we’ve already been through it on this worldline. Besides, I think the walk to the gas station will do you some good.
*****************************************************************************************
The following are the last questions I saw before my “going home” post. I apologize for not being able to get to all of them.
ROBERT:((Do most of the people of that time die out, especially ones that currently have health problems?))Yes, and people are still dying and a great deal of them are passing from CJD. As I said, with my very first few posts almost 6 months ago, I want to emphasize how devastating this will be. I believe two people are confirmed dead in Colorado from CDJ from surgical instruments. Ahhhh, the power of cheese. Milk does a body good and beef is what’s for dinner!
Me: “No, I have not tried any fast food. Thinking about where the food came from, how it was shipped and treated absolutely terrifies me. I have tried to tell people about CJD disease and it seems to be “catching on” in Europe.”
Me: Do not eat or use products from any animal that is fed and eats parts of its own dead.
Me: The “Mad Cow” story here is yet to begin…((Is it possible that sometime in your future or in your present time that time travel will be commonplace?))Yes, that is absolutely possible and eventual.((Have any of the scientists of your time discovered any new planets, possibly ones with life?))Not that I’m aware of.((Has the bandwidth of the Internet increased greatly?))Yes.((And finally, one last question…how did Texas fare during the war?))Texas is still there but Spanish is a lot more popular.DAN:((How does time travel affect our future (no pun intended) exploration of the universe? It seems that the greatest obstacles in our way right now are a matter of energy (propulsion technology) and economic feasibility. It seems to me that time travel technology could neatly takes care of both.))There is a great deal of debate about trying to use a distortion unit to “travel” to the moon. The experiment would require very precise calculations that would allow the VGL system to find a theoretical path to the moon on a different world-line. The only problem is there is no way to communicate with anyone if the experiment should succeed. In other words, it’s possible to do it but only the people on the receiving end could take advantage of it.DAVID:((My oldest son wanted me to ask if you have any siblings.))No, I am an only child.((Also, are you still planning on broadcasting your departure via a broadcast over the Internet? That would be quite interesting.))My father will be videotaping the departure. I appreciate Rick’s offer but my primary concern is the anonymity of my family. In addition, my departure will be in a somewhat public place and I do not want to draw additional attention to myself. At no fault of his own, I would also submit that Rick’s involvement would not add any credibility to the event.((Is there still an NCAA basketball tournament in 2036, and if so, has it expanded from its current 64-team format?))Yes, we still play basketball but I am not a fan and can’t comment on its organization.ALBERT:((Interesting anyway, hoped you used some of the links.
Thanks.))Yes I did, thank you.JOE:((You say that you wear some kind of flight suit like coveralls when you are time traveling and that you experience 2 g’s for 6-8 hrs. How is it possible to withstand that kind of g-force for such a long period without the use of an anti-g suit?))The average human can take 2 G’s without too much difficulty. Blackout occurs at about 8 or 9 Gs and redout occurs at negative 3 Gs.((I know you must be physically trained for space travel, but you should also have the benefit of equipment to help you out.))We are encouraged to stay physically fit.EMMETT:In an effort to address Emmett’s comments, (and in all fairness) the following posts are out of context and not in order. If I’m not a real time traveler I would suggest that Emmett is at a disadvantage on his tactics to “expose” me.
If I present a picture of a sea monster to you and I claim it’s real you are forced to argue its validity on the basis of the evidence that I present or create. Under these circumstances, you can’t win. If you look at the picture and argue that sea monsters should have more teeth or their incisors are not in proportion to the amount of fish they eat, it’s easy to ask you how you know so much about sea monsters if they don’t exist. Granted, you could point to dinosaur skeletons and make comparisons. But I can still say, its not a dinosaur, it’s a sea monster. In fact, I could even “whip” up some tooth marks on a piece of petrified wood and prove to you don’t know anything about sea monsters.((I realize that you haven’t given “all of the technical details” of the device…so, the reparte has been fun. But your device, as described, simply won’t work.))If you don’t have all the details, how do you know it doesn’t work?((Honestly, I’m not upset about any of this…and the only emotion involved for me is joy. This is fun! It really is.)Joy?
Emmett drew the following assumptions from our conversation and I don’t believe I said any of them.((The universe that you described, that is, one where mass is accelerated to light speed and forms a singularity doesn’t exist.))
((1. As you accelerated to light speed in your machine you and your machine formed a black hole.))
((2. From your perspective as you accelerated to light speed every other object in the universe formed a black hole due to your relative velocities))
((Take a close look at the technical drawing. Look especially at the left and right end perspectives. Not the same – very poor quality CAD for a billion dollar project.))A billion? How do you know it’s a CAD drawing?((If you have contact with Boomer please attempt to verify the elapsed time (on his internal chronometer) for his trip from 2036 to 1975. I need that data for a calculation.))The first leg takes me to 1998. I think I said that quite a few times.((He also said that the mass of the singularities is that of a “small mountain”.))If that were true, the unit could not be moved. I only refrenced the mass of a small mountain in one of our physics conversations. In fact, I believe I said the mass for the singularities in the distortion unit was much smaller.((The last time I checked the physics I didn’t see an “on-off” switch for a black hole or any other singularity.))Me neither. I don’t believe I said you could turn it on or off.((At 2 g acceleration you will be traveling just a tad faster than a Chevy pick-up in short order (about one year to reach light speed).))This is the one that really disappoints me. Even you should know that Einstein’s thought experiment in the isolated elevator was based on the idea that the effects of acceleration and gravity are the same. I never said acceleration had anything to do with how the unit operates.((Does it really make sense that his handlers would authorize a personal vacation with their billion-dollar machine?))I’m looking at my orders and I don’t see the word vacation on it anywhere. You had my hopes up for a moment. Interesting how quickly a billion-dollars has become a fact now.((And, though he’s never said that he hasn’t let anyone else come close to the machine, who took the picture of his two hands in one of the photos?))When did I say that? I’ll have to let Pamela explain the laser pointer picture. She may already have posted the email I sent earlier.
Here are a few other comments I found interesting:((The answer to the question, “How does a person born in 1998 use the language…?” is – who knows?))I agree. How would you know?((The two yellow caution tapes on the device are misaligned. Sloppy workmanship.))I’ll have to point that out to my “handlers” when I get back.((I suppose that if you were interested in verification of Boomer’s science that you could go right to the source, Dr. Frank Tipler, Tulane University, for an interview.))He’s a very pleasant gentleman. I highly recommend his book, The Physics of Immortality. I believe I made reference to this earlier.((…what would prevent we, the enemy state, from returning the machine to 2036 with a suitcase nuclear device onboard?))This is the second time I’ve seen a reference to the unit as a weapon. I would submit that the people of this worldline have nothing to fear from me. What would you do with the unit?((J.C. …I like the way Darby thinks))Now there’s an endorsement.
For more information on black holes and sigularities, I did find this site.
http://www.rdrop.com/users/green/school/primordi.htm
In your opinion, what is the smallest mass that can form a singulairty? Even Hawking suggested primordial singularities were created at the Big Bang. Were there planets (or half planets) around to form them then?
Based on your ability to draw conclusions about someone’s profile from their typed words I find it hard to believe you would make such errors in the syntax and meaning of the exact same words. Unfortunately, you have now maneuvered yourself into a position where I have the last word and our debate must has come to an end. Boomer isn’t a bad name and I sort of like it. Thanks TarBaby.JAY:((If there were an infinite number of realities, then there would necessarily arise a reality that somehow causes there to be no other realities. In fact, an infinite number of such realities would have to arise that cause there to be no other realities.))Yes!! Excellent insight. I would have enjoyed a conversation on this.
I’m really going to miss my friend J.C. Although I did find a buried layer of truth and dedication in what his message was he never failed to make me smile in his attempt to make it. I couldn’t help but post a few choice comments he’s made over the last few months.((Further more, my identity in the future would most likely be changed… Nevertheless, if you have been to the future, you know who I am. No doubt about that… ))
((Just start naming historical figures in your “time” or stop saying that you are a time traveler.))
((Hey, listen up… As a Time Traveler to the future my self, I have seen the uniforms. I have even put one on. Therefore, if TimeTraveler_0 <JOHN> can offer us a picture of his uniform as proof, I will verify it’s legitimacy with the one I wore.))
((And about GW Bush, I don’t know what to tell you. Although I have an uncle that looks like him.))
((How many times have I said to band Time Travel?))
(( And oh, that unknown variable, it’s me. You didn’t plan on encountering resistance. Especially a TimeTravelActivist. Hey this sounds more like something that would happen at the end of a Scobby Do cartoon. “You rotton kids…”))
(( So in retro-pects, I sense you have anger in me, for having morals and a sense of ethics on this issue of Time Travel.))
((What do you have to lose that you haven’t already messed up already.))
((I mean no disrespect, but you don’t seem to have the wisdom that I would expect someone from an advanced future would have. Your ideals are to liberal, much like in the 70’s where things were all about Sex, drugs and free love. Nasty…))
((I have been trying not to attack anyone since my return. And look at you, you hypocrite. Calling me an “agitator.”))
((Which is probably why so many people believe your story. But your not Anti-Time Travel like me. None of you have ever been manipulated by a Time Travelers plan for 21 years. Which is not to say they are, and you just don’t know it.))This one is my favorite.((I’d just like to say, before John Titor, (A.K.A. TT_0 in the post where he’s been taken out almost) that when he posts, he does a maneuver that focuses the question back to the receiver, as to have him think it’s been answered, and to shut him up. (Which in fact, he just avoided answering it, by doing what he did). He does this very often, and I’d just wanted to point that out before he did it again.))
((By the way, not to be picky or anything. But I know how perfect you like to have things with your writing. I just wanted to point out that you misspelled CHOOSEN. It’s Chosen, with one O.))
((Some Yang will always exist to oppose some Ying.))
((A person doesn’t have to be aggressive to be a @&^$#%. As you can tell, he’s been using his superior intellect, to manipulate and control his agenda here. Or am I the only one who can see that?))Here are a few other things I found in our general conversations which might be worth repeating:
Me: “By that time, it was pretty clear that we were not going back to what we had and the division between the “cities” and the “country” was well defined. My father made a living by putting together 12-volt electrical systems…”
I believe it was a few days ago I saw a news story about potential problems with power that “might” affect the entire United States. Where do you think they’ll turn it off first when push comes to shove?
Me: “ However, there are a great many “non lethal” weapon systems in development that turn out to be quite lethal.”
Anyone for microwave popcorn?
Me: If you push a farmer too far, they stop growing food and have nothing to do but hide in the woods and shoot back.”Second Vermont Sheep Herd Seized
By Wilson Ring
Associated Press Writer
Friday, March 23, 2001; 10:42 a.m. EST
EAST WARREN, Vt. –– Federal agents early Friday seized a second flock of Vermont sheep suspected of having been exposed to a form of mad cow disease.
Friday, March 23 9:08 PM SGT
Britain extends culling of healthy animals to whole country
LONDON, March 23 (AFP) –
Britain stepped up its fight against foot-and-mouth disease Friday, announcing measures to slaughter animals throughout the country and not just in three targeted areas.I also want to thank Pamela for helping me with the email and everyone else who asked intelligent and insightful questions. I have learned a great deal.
My parting thought revolves around something J.C. has been harping on since day one. No, I do not have a secret agenda but I have been paying a great deal of attention to your world-line. My interaction with you was not a direct mission parameter but it was a secondary mission protocol based on standing orders given to all temporal drivers. That secondary objective is basically to gather as much information about a worldline based on a set of observable variables when we first arrive. Your worldline met those conditions. What amazes me is why no one here wonders why Y2K didn’t hit them at all?
Bring a gas can with you when the car dies on the side of the road.
Farewell.
John
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-24-2001 07:01 PM
Oh come on John, even in the end you still try to buy into people emotions in hopes that this will be their last chance to believe you. I feel sorry for those that do. Farewell John, but you only brought this upon your self. I was only asking the questions no one was asking.-J.C.P.S. you said you were out of Town, but I’ll bet you were watching for a few days since you been back. You won’t be leaving till the 11th of April. Am I to believe you will still keep watching?
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-24-2001 07:12 PM
Ahh my hypothetical comments to you. I almost forget about them. Seems to me like a crawling maneuver. Last chance to get me back for all those months of asking the questioning no one was asking, uhh ? You sound bitter John. Bitter that the end didn’t come the way you expected?Don’t be a sore loser, and leave slapping and whining. That’s just not what a future major does? Or is it ? Have a nice life John. I mean that, sincerely I do. I just regret you couldn’t have been sincere as well.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 03-24-2001 at 07:15 PM]
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-24-2001 07:37 PM
John – I said this in another thread. Good luck, where ever you might end up… and no matter what time line it happens to be.I do not believe for a second that you’re going anywhere in a time machine, and as a matter of fact, my observation of said departure WOULD lend credibility to your story. You don’t have any IDEA how much credibility it would add. Some people do understand that, but, unfortunately, the one who needs to understand it, doesn’t. Such is life, and missed opportunities.If you ARE a time traveler – and you DO go back to 1998, I’m more than willing to listen to you then, as I am now. If you forward that email to me in that year, you can bet your ass on the fact, I will post it. That means it will show up on my web site after you depart our time line. With the right dates on the file name…. I’m making a note to myself to look for it.If it does not show up… then you aren’t what you said you were.Good luck.Rick
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-24-2001 08:01 PM
Well, as I understand it, there are still people alive, including everyone looking or involved. So, we all have to live it!This makes such a topic ‘picky’. (Emotionally Inebriated).Twilight Zone.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-24-2001 08:06 PM
Well, as I understand it, there are still people alive, including everyone looking or involved. So, we all have to live it!
This makes such a topic ‘picky’. (Emotionally Inebriated).
Twilight Zone.A little humor, my feeling, if you can not, then be prepared for a world that’s could be quite terrible.
Most of the time, whether anyone will agree or not, people usually get what they wish for, but in a form, that may not be agreeable with the viewpoint of the person making the wish.Make sure you really are knowing what you are really wishin’ for.And you may want to break apart the ‘chicken bone’ before there is none left.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-24-2001 08:30 PM
Well Rick, it’s good to understand how much respect and influence people here think you have. Just make sure you use that responsibly, and try and see both sides of an issue. Or else, we may end up bumping heads in a many discussions. After all, I have mentioned time after time, how much I dislike opportunist and those that exploit people.But personally, I respect you, and think you can be as much a passionate person like my self when it comes to certain issues.Just a tad disappointing how much you endorse John like you do… Or brown nosing? Either way, John is gone now. What he’s left behind will be people’s gospel. Sad but true. Well, it’s a good thing this board has a TimeTravelActivist . To ensure that the other side that never gets talked about, does.Sincerely,Javier C.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-24-2001 08:31 PM
John, you scare the ‘heck’ out of us. And this ‘connection timed out’ is really scary, and its not even Halloween.Can I post a message without it double posting because of this, can I, can I?
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-24-2001 08:32 PM
Bye John, it’s been grand.
Thanks for starting a thread that has been amusing, thought provoking and a darn good read. I have met many people here that I like and hope to meet again on other boards.Here’s hoping you make good time,Lola[Edited by Lola Montez on 03-24-2001 at 08:48 PM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-24-2001 09:36 PM
Bye, bye John. Going to another worldline to show this stuff?The Beginning of Timehttp://www.hawking.org.uk/lectures/lindex.htmlWelcome to Professor Stephen Hawking’s website.http://www.hawking.org.uk/home/hindex.htmlTime?
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-25-2001 12:03 AM
Explanation of laser picture:The machine is in the back and that is a picture of John’s instructor demonstrating how the machine effects the light beam while on low power. you can see it bending the beam.
. Laser light distorted by the gravity field!
The cigar smoke was blown on the lasar beam to cause the beam to be seen better. John was in the drivers seat and took the picture. His instructor was in the passenger seat.John,goodbye my friend…safe journey home.perhaps we shall meet again??In another Time, another Place…and the journey continues…………………..I will think of you everytime I see a rainbow.your friend throughout time,Pamela[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-25-2001 at 12:15 AM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-25-2001 12:12 AM
Actually that laser looks more like a bent red wire to me. But I guess everyone believe it’s a bent laser, and that the cigar smoke is to make it be seen well.Pamela,What do you mean good-bye? You know your one of the select few he’s keeping in touch with until he leaves . So John is a real Time Traveler according to you now?-J.C.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 03-25-2001 at 12:24 AM]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-25-2001 01:44 AM
John’s document can be seen here. I feel it is important to be viewed before the 26th.I suggest viewing it right away…never know how long it will be up before it cannot be viewed anymore for “mysterious” reasons.I am sorry it was not available to be seen when it was given to me.http://content.communities.msn.com/isapi/fetch.dll?action=get_album&ID_Community=MagiForums&ID_Topic=3sincerely,pamela
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-25-2001 07:20 AM
Nationwide Assurance is not a mistake on the document.I had never heard of it before and researched it i always heard of Nationwide insurance. but i did research it and found that this insurance agancy does exist.This is from here: http://www.bestreview.com/2000-06/corporatechange.html (about half way down) Colonial Insurance Company of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), Columbus, Ohio. Effective April 30, the title was changed to Nationwide Assurance Co.sincerely,pamela[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-25-2001 at 08:00 AM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-25-2001 10:17 AM
WARNING!This thread may or may not contain hazards to your health.It may or may not already contain radioactive material.This warning has been placed here for your protection.Before use, read the instructions.
Seventh of multiple Posts
This post is the seventh of a series of posts related to John Titor. The other posts are;
Commentary
Again, there are elements of sublime truth in the words of “John Titor”, as well as evidence of a hoax. Certainly, some of what he said rings true to my experiences in MAJestic, but the elements of falsehoods are disturbing to me.
As it stands, he is the only other person who is able to suggest and describe a system of operation, purpose and objective of all the many people and vehicles that seemingly pop in and out of our reality. This alone has merit. Thus, this is why he is placed herein in this blog.
Conclusion
Our reality is not what we think it is. I am not the only person who has disclosed that there are others, and other organizations that can enter and leave our reality at will. Another person who made this claim went by the name John Titor.
Only where as, I claim to be part of MAJestic and was employed as part of human sentience management, John Titor claimed to be a person who was part of another world-line. Together, we both claim that the MWI is real, and we utilize it to perform dimensional egress for our own purposes.
I claim that it is a tool that is used to manage human sentience evolution.
John Titor claims that he utilized the time variable to conduct acquisition activities in the past.
He claimed that on that world-line, the United States was fundamentally different after a rapid series of events in the late 1990’s. He claimed that he needed to perform some acquisition of certain technical devices through the use of the time-variance option in dimensional travel.
This is the seventh of a multi-part post.
Take Aways
John Titor claimed to be a time traveler.
He utilized dimensional travel to move in and out of the baseline reality.
As such, he visited our world-line to acquire some technology needed on his world-line.
That technology was produced in “our” past. Thus the idea that it involved “time travel”.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
From the late 1990’s until around 2001, the Internet was “rocked” by the sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of a Mr. John Titor. This person claimed to be a “time traveler” by using inter-dimensional travel. Here is the john titor post history.
He was rapidly dismissed as a hoax, in unity, by all the major debunking organizations, and his posts mysteriously disappeared off the Internet. Since then, all the sources that he posted on all found that their files related to John Titor were all corrupted and could not be reclaimed.
That was the case for over a decade.
Then, in 2014, a number of private individuals managed to piece together independently saved dialogs relating to John Titor. They constructed numerous websites that hosted these reclaimed dialogs, and posted them on the Internet for others to view.
Metallicman is one such website.
Presented here are recovered posts from the Internet collected in 2014. It is not known if any posts have been deleted or altered. They are presented as they were found by the author.
Due to the large size of the transcripts, I have broken it down into multiple pages. Here is the second group “Transcripts B”. Within it are some very interesting tidbits that many enthusiasts of the John Titor issue are unaware of.
Important Warning
The information within this series of posts are speculative. I have no factual information if this John Titor is what he claimed to be. It is presented herein as the only (or maybe, one of the only) sources that claim to be associated with the vehicles that pop in and out of our reality from time to time.
He was, as far as I know, never associated with MAJestic in any way.
Original John Titor Posts – Part 6 – Transcripts B
Here are the original John Titor posts from the Post2Post Art Bell Forum. Obtained from HERE. This is the second group of the john titor post history.
John Titor dialog is in normal text in brown color, text by others are italicized.
When referencing other non-Titor questions, green color is used.
Purple color is for non-related text.
Metallicman comments are in red color.
Metallicman corrected spelling and some punctuation to make the text easier to read and understand. For unedited text, please refer to the source.
I also added some commentary to liven things up somewhat. Enjoy.
Posted by Bob Marz on 02-22-2001 09:14 AM
John Titor:It’s comforting to know miracles still occur in the future as well as the distant past. I refer to your report on the Aussies repelling a Chinese invasion.How come it doesn’t bother you that people may die through your inaction yet you find it “morally wrong” that you might affect lives by active involvement?
Isn’t it just as morally wrong to affect lives through inaction as it is through action? Hint: The answer is YES.One of the issues that runs throughout your posts is this moral ambiguity. You’ve thought it through enough to decide it boils down to personal decision (which should liberate you from further qualms) yet you still say you dare not decide who “deserves” to (live or) die.
In other words you’ve made the intellectual realization but it hasn’t yet trickled down into your everyday life/actions. IE, Since good/evil are subjective/relative, depending on circumstance and viewpoint, you aren’t required to possess precognition to discern all present or future ramifications of any lives you may save either by action/inaction.
Your immediate decision, in itself, is its own authority.
In the basic life versus non-life equation you should choose to support life. Further confusion, such as (as you said) whether you’re qualified to determine who deserves to live or die, is outside your sphere of influence, therefore you’re not responsible for such a decision. But, here’s the crux, rather than decide to simply remain uninvolved, you should simply move in the direction of life-affirming action.
If good and evil achieve a balance in the larger picture, as you suspect, and all life is “God” experiencing physical manifestation, the question of you being required to decide who lives or dies is moot.
What should motivate you is that which promotes this life process, a subset of which is experience/information/knowledge viability.
The fact that I couldn’t restrain myself from telling you this because I see you bumping your head against it constantly means, sadly, it’s non-experiential for you and probably obstructs your embracing this idea rather than facilitates it.“If you have not lived it, it is not true.
“The only real sin is that which obstructs the acquisition of knowledge.”
“Friend, listen. The God whom I love is inside.”Thanks for the ride, you’ve done a great job here.[Edited by Bob Marz on 02-22-2001 at 09:22 AM]
Posted by James R.Quayle III on 02-22-2001 09:51 AM
Thumbs upGuierdjeff,Ouspensky spoke of how humans will eventually need to go back in time and bring every wrong to right ,every hitler to moot.
Through tech or mind one will eventually give into the good,if one can travel through time then fixing things would be the new prime directive.
I would think,to take it upon oneself to right the wrongs if one can to protect the beautiful thing which is the fragile human life experience,to be loyal to this experience all we humans reading this go through(To nurture humans in what ever time one finds oneself into).
To awaken in a utopia because men and women went back and hinted and helped some who were to be swayed by evil to be strong and do what we all know is right.
Eventually we all have to get along on the planet.
Languages and culture/customs should not divide but unite through the randomness and difference in the others.
Perhaps telepathy would be a better communicational tool ,then what is currently being used on the planet.agentq3i would give my life to such a cause if i had a way to time travel consistantly and safely,through tech or Will(Magick),or doorways.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-22-2001 10:01 AM
John,I know some won’t like me for saying this, but like I said before in the other forum, I’m not here to be liked.I just wanted to say that there have been a few complaints from some who think your not answering their questions to their satisfaction. Now, before you would just say it’s me, and that I have these expectations in how you answer my questions.But as you can see, that was not the case, nor is it now with others.More people nowadays are coming forward that besides the technical questions being answered, your showing signs of just being general, vague, contradictive or just plain not knowledgeable in these other areas. Where as you say, you being a Time Traveler from the year 2036, you should know this.Just wanted to make it known to you, before you use your manipulative ways to make it seem like if you answered the question. But in fact, you haven’t. You reverse alot of what you answer. And you know it.Sincerely,Javier C.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-22-2001 10:08 AM
James R.Quayle III,
Yeah that’s the way to do it. That’s way better then doing it as something mankind should come together in an agreement on. Better then over coming our problems on our own, when there is an instant fix for it. Just change the past without them knowing it, for a future hidden agenda.(In case you had no idea, I was being sarcastic).-Javier C.
Posted by John Titor on 02-22-2001 10:44 AM
I will get to all the questions. I’m trying to comment on them in order. I’m posting the names before all the questions so if you feel I missed something just bring it up again.
I saw something last night that I want everyone’s opinion on. Its concerning two television commercials advertising the same cellular phone product. The first commercial I didn’t understand right away but the second was obvious.
In the first commercial, a man dressed in cold weather gear appears to be in a snowstorm. He’s on a cellular phone saying goodbye to his family as if he was going to die in the storm. We then see he is standing in front of a snow machine at a ski resort area.
In the second commercial, another man dressed in cold weather gear is talking on a cellular phone. We see a young women inviting him to a romantic evening. He seems a bit stunned and excited, hangs up the phone and runs off. We then see he has abandoned an unconscious person he was giving emergency medical treatment to.
What do you think of these commercials?
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-22-2001 10:49 AM
John – I think you live in an area that is being aimed because of a demographic profile. They would never run those kinds of ads in abig city. People would get fired up too easily.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-22-2001 12:14 PM
Spare us John, just say what your point is. Or is your point having people’s opinions on these commercials? And if so, would that fall under one of your agendas?
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-22-2001 12:17 PM
John,
At the risk of asking too many questions and taking up more than my share of cyberspace, please respond to one more train of thought. You refuse to give advice that might actually allow someone to dodge the bullet. I postulate that you actually do not have any more of an advantage or responsibility than the person who grabs someone who is about to step off the curb and get hit by a bus.
I would not stop and think ‘gee, I don’t know, do they deserve to be saved from the fate of a roadkill?’
A doctor or priest does not take it upon himself to decide who should be helped.
A jet pilot doesn’t stop to think “Hey, air travel is pretty unnatural, these people should have to walk and row their way to Paris.
I am messing with the way time and space is perceived and the nature of reality with this form of transportation.” Time travel is just another form of transportation in one sense. Our possible new ability to time travel in the future may not seem any more exotic than our ability to access other cultures is now.
Anyway, I think maybe your reluctance to elaborate is unwarranted.
What happens, happens and everything is experience. I have come to the place that there is no such thing as a bad experience just painful crash courses in personal growth.Lola
Lola
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-22-2001 12:25 PM
Bob,I did not see your post before I got my last one on. Seems we have similar attitudes about choice and responsibility. Also, about religion as experiential.John,Most ads are sick panderings to people’s insecurity, sex drive or greed. If it’s a really good ad it hits all three.Lola
Posted by Jim Houlahan on 02-22-2001 12:41 PM
John – Are you posting on other (non time travel related) boards without revealing your status as a time traveler? Is the conversation as interesting? What are your conclusions so far?
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-22-2001 12:45 PM
Lola and Bob – Very interesting. By the same token, why do we take the Prime Directive from Star Trek, for granted? It seems to have something to do with being able to operate with an unfair advantage. What is this about technology that seems to put the users at odds with natural law?What if John were to rescue someone who was about to be hit by a bus, and this person then went out to a bar that night and killed someone? That’s a general idea, I wonm’t load it up with more scenarios and examples.I’ve really enjoyed this thread guys. I would like to get a little closer to the buzz I first had, that this could be possibly true.John – I think you have answered this – are, or were, you in contact with TTs in 2036, and if so, what percentage of the people accept it as possible? After the flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, it took 10 plus years for people to accept it as anything more than just an urban myth.[Edited by Craig Cuthbert on 02-22-2001 at 12:52 PM]
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-22-2001 01:09 PM
Craig,
Maybe I missed your point, but mine was “how is John saving someone any different from our doing so?” I do not see him having an “unfair” advantage.
He did not time travel to kill Hitlers mother after all.
I guess that would be out of the 60 year limit but I imagine there is some bad guy that would fit the bill. Scientists and others are always making knowledgeable predictions but Southern California is still occupied. I doubt that John telling us what he sees coming would change very much of our behavior no matter how dire the information.
Although, I have seen some Star Trek episodes in the past I am not a Trekkie and am not familiar with Prime Directives.
Lola
Posted by Doug Beauchamp on 02-22-2001 01:28 PM
The Prime Directive in Star Trek is to explore space without interfering with any cultures not fully advanced in the area of space exploration. In short, it’s there to protect other cultures. Imagine if people from space came to our planet and gave us the secret of space exploration. Likewise, imagine if a time traveler from the future came to this time period and told us the secret of time travel.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-22-2001 02:02 PM
Did everyone forget that John has a secret agenda? No body knows if he’s killed anyone. So what if he seems like he’s not capable, because of the way he sounds. He is a soilder, a person trained to kill.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-22-2001 02:28 PM
Lola – Sorry it was a quick post and it jumped across some of the mental references.What is the difference between someone like John saving somebody and someone like me saving somebody? (BTW I have saved somebody, LOL).The difference, of course is that John has (theoretically) come from the future with the assistance of some technology that is not native to our time. That’s where the correlation to the Prime Directive derives.
The real interesting question is the one you two raised. Why is this an issue? To me personnaly, its intrinsically poignant. It revolves around the same questions of technology that you could apply if you tried to go back in time with some modern weaponry and alter a particular battle.
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-22-2001 04:02 PM
Why is it different than using a jet to go to a primitive tribe and give them, say, antiobiotics. (never mind the problems with antibiotics)It is a high tech way of interfering with a culture. Who cares what time zone. Ethically isn’t it the same?[Edited by Lola Montez on 02-22-2001 at 04:27 PM]
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-22-2001 06:16 PM
I don’t think there are a lot of differences in that analogy. Though you have to ask whether going into a tribe and innoculating them would have unintended consequences, not the least of which would be – which has happened in real life – soldiers coming in and amputating the innocualted limb. That wasn’t just a story from Apocalypse Now.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-22-2001 11:05 PM
Hey John,Haven’t heard much from you today. You care to comment on what we’re talking about? I know it might be a bit far from your line of expertise, but your from the future. You should have something insightful to say about this, No?Well I can understand if you wish not to comment. I know the pressure in answering questions like this can really impose on your persona. Always selective and reserve in what you answer huh ?-Javier C.P.S. So are you going to have spectators watching you leave, or not? If so, can I come by with a few of my friends ?
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-23-2001 07:42 AM
Javier- I wasn’t really trying to be inspirational, only point out that sometimes for any understanding to occur, there needs to be a kid of base-line on where we begin an investigation. That is, we can postulate all we wish, but a theory must be in place, and several aspects of the experiment must be given a kind of non-variance in regards to belief. That is, if we do not believe ANYTHING we see or hear, we can never honestly learn, since nothing is believeable!That is my take on this. Sure, I don’t necessarily believe John is a time traveler, and I do understand that a debate (or argument if you prefer the term) prevents stagnation. Folks who blindly believe in anything that comes along are the same people that PT Barnam spoke about (ie “There’s a sucker born every minute”). I am certain no one here is a sucker, but, folks tend to want to go with the crowd. I don’t. You don’t. And John obviously doesn’t.I would suggest that if you asked 100 people about time travel 80% or more would say they think it is possible in SOME MANNER. 99% of them won’t have a clue about science either. So… given that we have a wide range of people and talents here, I give everyone his and her due where it comes to “believing”. If they wanna believe, that is THEIR perogitive. We really don’t need some hero to come along and “save us”.Expose the truth, yes. So keep up the good work. hahaJohn – commercials. They are ignorant commercials. In fact, almost every commercial on television these days are either totally stupid (so they come out funny), or they are aimed at people whose humor suffers from being “in the black” a lot. Black humor seems to be the way things go these days. I don’t much care for it.Javier – a comment about soliers. You’re correct. *I* am a solider first. I’ve been in the military 26 years now. I’ve been everything from an electronics teacher, to a team chief at the White House Communications Agency. I’ve seen combat (though not what most people think of as combat – fire fights in Central America). My “real job” as a reservist is the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of a communications flight for a tactical airlift wing. I have computer, radio and cryptographers working for me. Our job.. main job is to make communications work.Every one of us have traveled someplace dangerous, and done jobs that most people wouldn’t DREAM of doing. In our civilian lives, we are all in computers or some other “less than dangerous career”. Every person that works for me can climb, run, survive, shoot… and kill. They all know how to do it from the newest Mom in our group to the oldest man (me). My 18 year olds are just as deadly in their jobs as the oldest guy (which is me).If I’m sent to do my job, I will. And killing is one part of it. Some people forget that a military member’s job is killing sometimes. It isn’t always their main job, but it is part of what goes with being a soldier, sailor, airman and marine. Many might balk when told they have to do it… but, they WILL do it when the time comes.
Anyone know why? Because it is called survival.If there is to be a war in our future, every man, woman and child now alive will become involved if it comes to OUR HOMEFRONT. That is, more than anything, what John has been saying I believe.Whether it will come or not is a different story.
It is MY duty to prevent a war. Even though I might be told to fight one, even against my own people – I won’t kill Americans. Nor will any other military member in the US Armed forces.So – to John… this is a kind of an answer to something you said earlier on. No, military people are not asked to sign anything saying they will kill anyone. It is either an urban legend that has been perpetuated in the past few years, or it really happened with one Marine platoon in 29 palms. I’ve had two men tell me they participated, and both say it happened, but it was NOT a military-wide thing.I’ve researched this. NO ONE HAS ANY DOCUMENTATION ON IT! That’s the facts. The fiction is what my side (the progun people) are pushing about the UN. But, that is another discussion for another time – and perhaps another place.
[I researched this (never take anyone's word for it.). There are more than just a few articles. Snopes, of course "proved" that this is not the case. Never the less, who believes SNOPES? They have been unmasked as a propiganda arm of the oligarchy.
"Former Navy SEAL Ben Smith warns that the Obama administration is asking top brass in the military if they would be comfortable with disarming U.S. citizens, a litmus test that includes gauging whether they would be prepared to order NCOs to fire on Americans." Read it HERE.
Original text, highlighted by Metallicman]Suffice it to say, the US Military will never turn on the people, we are sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic … and to obey the laws of the President and the Officers appointed above (us) me. That means the orders have to be LAWFUL. Think on that folks, as you consider your future actions.Rick Donaldson
Posted by John Titor on 02-23-2001 08:08 AM
((So – to John… this is a kind of an answer to something you said earlier on. No, military people are not asked to sign anything saying they will kill anyone. It is either an urban legend that has been perpetuated in the past few years, or it really happened with one Marine platoon in 29 palms.
I’ve had two men tell me they participated, and both say it happened, but it was NOT a military-wide thing.))
I agree the details are very important. My statement ended with a question mark. I made no difinitve statement.
“I’m not positive but don’t they sign a small piece of paper now asking them if they would have a problem with that?”
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-23-2001 08:25 AM
Rick,Wow, I had no idea you were in the Military. You don’t come off as an NCO. Well most of the ones I met were A-Holes. It’s good to know some nice people are in the Military after all .What branch and what rank, if you don’t mind me asking?-Javier C.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-23-2001 08:33 AM
Atleast we know John is here reading these. He’s just not answering .I have a question for you. Since your here, you won’t mind answering it.What did you anticipate when you came to these boards? What reason could you have to come here and spill your guts to the whole world who you are? I mean, did you think you would get people to listen to you. I think you knew you would…But I am picking up, that you have encountered a few things you didn’t anticipate. And it’s only becoming more apparent as the days go on.Now Military knows about you. Worried?What are your thoughts as you see your perfect little world you created with lies shatters into pieces?-Javier C.P.S. Answer my others questions too.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 02-23-2001 at 08:58 AM]
Posted by Filip Sandor on 02-23-2001 10:31 AM
QuestionI don’t see the need to bring out any BS o’meter; what are we going to prove? That it is not worth thinking seriously about what our time traveler friend has come to share with us? What is it going to change if we KNOW FOR CERTAIN whether John is really from the future? It will definately change SOMETHING (different for all of us), I know that much for sure, but I don’t think we need that sort of distraction at this point.Honestly, I believe that even if John answered all your questions correctly, Mike, it would change nothing of the essence of John’s message. I really think he is trying to tell us something; more than the fact that he is a time traveler. Now, if we could just pin-point what it is that he is trying to tell us; I literally mean, pin-point, or focus on. The message is clear, but we like to create lots of fog.Time travel is REAL.
Anyone who knows physics well or has listened to Art’s guest, Mr. David Anderson about a week ago, knows this.
[Some background for the reader...
DavidAnderson'sSpaceTimeTravelTheoryMoreAboutDavidAnderson - YourTimeTravelExperienceDr. David Lewis Anderson and timetravel., page 1
-Metallicman]The truth is we can run, but we can’t hide (from own actions). So why even bother, why not face what we are faced with? Even if we managed to get a knavish grip on a ‘magical’ time machine, what would it really change for us… unless we knew what to use it for?
It is irrelevant for us to have access to a time machine or to know which time John has come to visit us from when there are really more important things for us to think about, at least some of the time.
I am not saying we have to BELIEVE John to be a time traveler, that is irrelevant, but I think we should listen to his ideas about what we might be able to do in order to prevent our own greeds from consuming us whole.John, I appreciate you being here and I think most of us do, even if your presence only means a good debate, which some of us evidentally enjoy. Debates are good!I would like to finish this post with a question (for John): Is spiritual awakening a difficult process; if yes, then why is it so difficult, and are we all capable of it?
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-23-2001 11:06 AM
(Javier Wrote...
Rick,
Wow, I had no idea you were in the Military. You don’t come off as an NCO. Well most of the ones I met were A-Holes. It’s good to know some nice people are in the Military after all . What branch and what rank, if you don’t mind me asking?
-Javier C.Hahaha is that how folks see us military guys? There is a saying a buddy has who was an officer in the Air Force. He tells me that his job as an officer was really to be “diplomatic” to get a job done (including war fighting) but when diplomacy fails it is the NCO’s ‘kick @$ and take names'”Mostly, I see where time travel if is becomes a real thing in our ‘time line’ would indeed be handled by the US Space Command and then eventually would off shoot to a US Time Command or something like that.Remember that todays NCOs and Sargents are not like they were in times past. Today, some of the enlisted personnel in the United States military are as educated (if not more so) than most of the officers.Also, Javier – about me personally, remember, I’m an active duty RESERVIST, so I am a civilian most of the time. Also, remember that military people, are no different from any one else except in certain attitudes they might maintain. In other words, we are just as curious, just as intelligent and just as politically savvy as any civilian out there. The difference being we are sometimes limited on our avenues of voicing our opinions.The military in general is “conservative” about social, economic and even political idealisms. You can not honestly be a “liberal minded” person in the military and expect to last long. Why? Because you tend to beliefs that are contridictory to military life.That isn’t saying we do not have things like gays, and non-religious people. That isn’t saying we don’t have out and out anti-“Republican” “forces” in the military. But, they are few and far between.Anyway… I know this is less about time travel than it should be, and semi-iff topic, but in a way, it does relate to the over all scheme of things in this “time line”.Take care all… see you all on the other side (of the weekend).Rick
Posted by Randy Empey on 02-23-2001 11:19 AM
John —
Here is some cut&paste to put this in perspective:
((
((I believe that faith AND good works will get one to God. There are other things, but they can arguably be included under the headings of ‘faith’ and ‘good works’.
I believe there is an organized force of evil that works against God’s plan for men’s souls. It’s all part of the plan. Your next question may be “Why do you believe that?” ))
Please don’t think me so cynical. I would never insult or degrade someone’s religious views. My next questions would be “what about knowledge?” I am a firm believer that faith (and good works) is not enough to get to God. There is a mystery we must solve first. ))
Imagining cynicism where it is not is a hobby of mine, please excuse me if I sound too paranoid for your tastes.
What about knowledge?
There are plenty of great mysteries, but if your only aim its to ‘get to God’, it is not neccesary to solve them.
Faith and good works is enough. Its got to be the right kind of faith and good works of course, but you don’t have to be a wise old monk to get into heaven. .
But what about knowledge? That is where the fun begins . . .
If ones aim is to become like God, or be able to cooperate with him in his future endeavors, or self betterment, then spending ones life questing after knowledge is a good recipe. There are plenty of mysteries to be discovered. But the rewards are not at the end so much as they are in the journey.
Learning is what we are here to do.
At the same time, there is still a ‘light side’ and a ‘dark side.’
I look forward to further conversation here.
Another question has just hit me — What do you see for the future of TT in your world-line?
Posted by John Titor on 02-23-2001 11:31 AM
RANDY:((You mention gathering written material here . . . so I assume you do a lot of reading — before this trip, in your spare time, did you read much fiction? If so, what genre? Any books from this century?))I am a big fan of Conrad, Twain, London and any type of religious apocryphia.((What brought you to this bbs in the first place?))When I decided to present or revel myself as a displacement driver I had been watching similar boards for quite a while. I believe the only way to accept what I have to say as being remotely possible requires an open mind able to temporarily suspend major portions of the belief and logic system. In his own strange way, even Javier falls into this category. I would much rather talk to him than a straight line, give me the equations physicist. I don’t gain any insight that way.((And here is another character-o-meter question I’d like you to answer: Have you seen George Lucas’s Star Wars Trilogy (bonus points for any of the prequels or sequels)?))Yes I have seen them. I like the first one the best and the “next one”, in my opinion, isn’t that great either. That’s a heck of a battery those light sabers.JOE:
((1: What happens to Bill Clinton between now and 2036 ))I don’t really know.((2: What happens to Bill Gates between now and 2036))This I do know but I won’t discuss.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-23-2001 09:22 PM
John you opportunist, why don’t you answer my questions? Why so selective and silent? Did I scare you off or something, why you backing off? I must have told you the truth, and now you must be thinking it over .You’re like a vulture, in the sense that your just waiting to find a question to bring up your popularity back up. While avoiding those that would bring it down. Cause you know your afraid. I told you it was only a matter of time.I’m lucky, I don’t fear anything, and I stick to my word.The TimeTravelActivist say’s, “Any question, any time, JUST BRING IT!”http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/9822/shades1.jpg-J.C.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 02-23-2001 at 09:42 PM]
Posted by Jeanette Foresta on 02-24-2001 07:05 AM
I had met someone, a year or so ago, who said he was from the year 2036 also. He said something happened to make this travel all the more possible.
He gave me some details, I wonder if they are the same as yours.I printed out and read the article at the site you wrote.The five presidents? He gave me a breakdown of the government in 2036, I would like to know if there is something called the DNE? Democracy of a New Earth? In which the world is broken into 5 sections. I won’t elaborate here. Yet. I may write it into an article, but then I would feel guilty, (as you say)for being money hungry, and not just contributing. I will think about what I will do according to if I hear from you personally.
Posted by John Titor on 02-24-2001 12:37 PM
LOLA:((Why are orphans an issue? It seems war orphans would be pretty old by now.))Problems with the environment still have lasting affects on all people, which cause the average life span to lower. In addition, people are more susceptible to accidents. Family life and children are very highly valued and the community takes the responsibility for raising children if their parents die.((What is your biggest or gravest environmental issue?))Water. You need it for everything and there is very little left in the world that is positively safe to drink.((Does distillation remove radioactivity from water?))It removes the dust and dirt particles that are radioactive.((Do people still watch TV?))Yes but it isn’t broadcast anymore.[This is yet another one of those often overlooked PREDICTIONS of John Titor. The decision to stop broadcasting television and switch from analog broadcasts to digital communication occurred in 2009 under President Obama. - Metallicman.]((Are there any women on your travel team?))Not that I’m aware of but I would assume there are women who are either trained or are training for the same type of work. I don’t know why there wouldn’t be.((What is the status of women in your time?))I understand the question but I have nothing to relate it to in 2036. The status of women is the same as men. Equality issues disappeared during the war.((Do they hold office?))Yes.((Work outside the home?))Women are not expected to stay home and be “barefoot and pregnant” if that’s what you mean.
((Get equal pay?))Yes.((Are they safe on the streets at night?))There is still crime but people do not attack each other the way they do here.((What do women wear for the most part?))Clothing is more functional. Women wear very similar clothing as men when working or training. In our free time or with our family and friends, clothing is much more individualized. Long dresses, knitted sweaters and pants are still quite popular. You’ll have to forgive me; I’m not very good at describing women’s clothing.((Are the Amish alive and well?))Yes, I believe they are.((What is the birth rate?))I don’t know the exact figures but having children is radically lower than it is now. It is the one thing I wish we had that you enjoy here.[The rapidly declining birthrate in the Western nations was not noticed or an issue until the Obama Presidency. It was precisely because of this that the EU has opened it's borders to migrants from Africa. This is another PREDICTION by John Titor, that was way off the radar screen in 1998. -Metallicman]((Is there an unusual rate of birth defects and if so what kind?))
Yes. Mostly stillborn.
((You said that your culture was centered around the Universities. Weren’t they wiped out in the war? They are in cities after all. ))
Not all major universities are in large cities.
((Do you use cell phones?))
Yes, we use a form of cell phone.
[Another PREDICTION by John Titor, though this one could have been predicted by just about anyone on the planet. He was right. Cell-phones were phased out and replaced by smart-phones. During the time of this dialog, the cell-phones resembled a phone with only one function which was to place telephone calls. The ability to do texting on a phone was not yet implemented. The ability to list to music on a cell-phone did not occur until 2004, and movies and internet access did not occur until after that. While we still use "cell phones" they do not at all resemble the cell-phones of that time period. We use "smart phones". - Metallicman.]((Eat allot of red meat?))
Yes but not as much as you do.
((Drive cars?))
Yes but they are not produced in nearly the same numbers or used the same way.
((Are airlines in operation?))
Yes but again, not nearly as many.
((Internationally?))
Yes, but most people don’t get really want to go overseas.
((Are people pressured (subtle or otherwise) to adhere to a Christian doctrine?))
Not at all.
((Do police make drug busts?))
No.
[This is another interesting reply. Arresting people for drugs did not occur until the 1920's, and then went out of control during the 1960's. It was all part of the new society that was trying to be implemented. His statement indicates a strong return to constitutional principles where the government no longer polices people's behavior and protects them from themselves. - Metallicman.]</span]
((Are there many jails? What kind of criminals are in them?))Yes there are jails. Mostly theft, fraud, rape and murder.((What kind of public punishment is there?))Hard labor, community service, banishment (you must move to another community), public execution.((Sounds like New England during religious persecution and intolerance. ))How do you define intolerance? We don’t really have the energy or desire to waste time being intolerant. If you produce and help the community than you can do pretty much think and do anything you want within the law.((Are there Wholistic healers? Herbal medicines? Alternative life styles? ))Yes.((Is there personal freedom?))Yes, the same freedoms you enjoy under the Constitution.((Is there an IRS and a need to keep a lot of receipts and paperwork around to justify yourself?))Yes, we pay taxes. Sounds like you don’t enjoy keeping track of your personal income taxes. I don’t think anyone does.[On another post he states that there are no income taxes. That implies an IRS. Here, he states that there are taxes. Putting the two together statements together, we can conclude that there are local and state taxes, but no federal income tax. - Metallicman.]((Is the same type of currency used? Is ours today good in say 2010 or 2020?))Yes, we use money. That’s a good question. I don’t see why you couldn’t use your current bills in the future.((Other than time travel how do most people get around the country? Do people tend to travel much? ))There is a high-speed train system, horseback, bike, walking. Automobiles are used mostly for sport and some transportation.[America has some (so called) "high-speed" rail. However, they really aren't high speed. They are just called that. Elsewhere in the world "high speed" means services at or above 250 km/h (160 mph). As of 2017, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is working on the California High Speed Rail project and construction is under way on sections traversing the Central Valley. Phase I will be completed in 2029, and Phase II will likely be completed before 2040.-Metallicman]((Are people suspicious of strangers or all you one big happy family now?))There is still conflict and mistrust. Yes, I am suspicious of strangers. I think that’s an instinct we are given to help us stay alive.((How do most people die during the war? Radiation, starvation? bullet wounds?))Correct…but in this order: Starvation – Disease – Bullet Wounds – Radiation.
Posted by Richard Lina on 02-24-2001 01:24 PM
ArrowJohn,thank you for sharing,I find this fascinating.
wanted to ask, has California,had”the Big” earthquake,in your time and has any of the north Coast disappeared?
..also, I really do wish that you could be a guest on Art’s show,I am sure it would be enjoyable…thanks again…..Richard
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-24-2001 02:22 PM
How hard is it for you to come up with a one sentence answer to people’s questions? That’s what you just did, though you might say it took you a whole day to come up with what to say.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-24-2001 02:49 PM
I hope my last couple of posts weren’t too off the wall. Just wanted to say that I understand why someone assisted by advanced technology, would have reservations about interfering with the status quo here.
The law of unintended consequences.So John, c’mon man (do people still say that?), let’s hear what kind of culture you live in.>What music do 20 year olds listen to.>What’s the future of cloning.>Any more on Bill Gates?>Do people wear chips yet?>Are you a marked man?BTW, Which hand are you not supposed to take it on (hint: its not the left) and why?
Posted by Randy Empey on 02-24-2001 03:04 PM
Javier —Keep up the crusade, but . . . .Bear in mind that your expectations seem unjustified to us less concerned about John’s veracity.Some times I go for days without even reading posts, but should my critics hassle me about it?I know . . . I know . . . . extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof . . . . but that's only to prove them, not to talk about the ramifications of their possibility or the ideas involved.
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-24-2001 04:02 PM
John,Thanks for taking the trouble. I would still like to know what population makes a city big.
Your time sounds grim. Are you tempted to deliver your computer to 2036 and then retire in the 1970’s?
What did you think about those commercials?Lola
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-24-2001 04:49 PM
Timetraveler_0~When it is beginning to rain….it is time to go rainbow gazing.~pamela
Posted by John Titor on 02-24-2001 05:24 PM
Its been pointed out to me that the links to the pictures are all down for some reason.
If anyone has a public site I can post them again, I will be happy to see that they get to you.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-24-2001 05:32 PM
Craig,John is here reading these posts. Only answering when it’s convenient for him (i.e. the nature of the question doesn’t entitle him being exposed). So as you can see, it’s not like he’s been away for quite a while, he’s making him self-known to us, and avoiding to answer my questions.Do you not see that?a
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-24-2001 07:14 PM
No word on why the pics are down?
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-25-2001 12:44 AM
Problems with the pictures:I have got in contact with Doc, where the pictures are located-Doc is having some technical difficulty with the site.Where geocities has suddenly restricted some of his images.
[Photos posted by John Titor were classified as restricted by geocities with no explaination. - Metallicman.]He should be able to correct the problem he said.and if not he can easily move them to a site that can not be touched.sincerely,pamela[Edited by Pamela Moore on 02-25-2001 at 01:10 AM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-25-2001 01:36 AM
Pamela,Since you have appointed your self as John’s personal representative. Perhaps you can assist in shading some light into who he real is. Tell us, is he fearful of what he has done and how things have turned out here in these message boards? Notice how silent he’s gotten, and only answering specific questions.What’s your opinion on that?Oh yeah, busy archiving, but still able to read these posts and post when convenient.Do you personally think he’s for real? I can understand if you wish not to tell me. I respect you for keeping it a secret, if he asked you not to tell.Either way, I will still keep asking John questions, and others will too. Until… well I don’t want to break it to you, how will you feel if he is exposed as a fraud? I know you believe into his story quite a bit, I’d hate for you to feel betrayed and deceived by him. It’s a terrible feeling, trust me. I once had a friend who I thought I could trust, until I found out the truth.Well I hope this doesn’t upset you. I understand that people are always going to be looking for answers. But they shouldn’t take short cuts in finding them (i.e. Time Travel). And everyone is always going to need someone to look up to and to acknowledge. But John here, has a secret agenda, and is being praised like a God. Now doesn’t that just strike you as wrong? It does to me.Sincerely,Javier C.
Posted by John Titor on 02-25-2001 07:31 AM
RICK:((John, do they have anything to do with the “future” of time travel, as YOU know it?))There are numerous people and organizations that contribute to the practical application of physical time travel. I think you would be surprised how much real work is being done right now.((About video taping the departure… Let us assume you do this, and your agents (family?) in Florida send the tape to the Sci Fi channel, or to Art Bell… how would this affect you in the future?))It wouldn’t affect me on my home world-line in the least. I would only be concerned how it would affect the “me” here. Of course it may be a large part of my secret agenda and I have no choice but to do it anyway.((Theoretically speaking, I doubt that anyone could determine that you actually time traveled, but it would certainly make a very good show.))I wonder what it would have been like to see a plane break the sound barrier before the jet engine was invented?PHILLIP:((You said that there will be a big war right? And that Russia will nuke some of our major cities, right? Can you at least tell us which cities will be nuked?))No I won’t do that.
However, I submit to you that when the moment comes it will be absolutely plain as day that you are unsafe in the cities. The millions people that stay will choose to stay. That’s what comes as a surprise.((Are we traveling in space in 2036?))Not yet but they are working on it.((Has first contact with an alien race occurred?))Not that I’m aware of.
Posted by John Titor on 02-25-2001 08:00 AM
DOUG:((1) You say your machine has roughly a 60 year limit. Is it possible to go back 60 years and then another 60 years? ))Yes, that is possible but the divergence grows exponentially as you move farther away from your world-line of origin. I could make 50-year jumps to go back and see what the world looked like 2000 years ago but there is a strong chance it would look nothing like what I expect. There are larger distortion units that are more accurate and have a larger window.((2) Have the people of your time proved the “world-line theory?” If they have, is there any information you can share with is that proves it?))The Many Worlds theory seems to wrap up very nicely into current string theory. Unfortunately, we have not solved string theory yet either but (n-10) seems to be the best working model we have in 2036. As you are probably aware, the “big equation” does not need the final solution in order to take advantage of the smaller parts that do work in the real world.((3) Ever hear the story of Oedipus? To make a long story short, after being told he will kill his father and marry his mother he moves far away. On the road he accidentally killed his father and ended up marrying his mother. Thus, the prophecy is what caused him to fulfill it. You say you don’t want to effect anything too much by giving out information, but you could drastically change this world-line just by talking about the war, or anything for that matter.))I see your point but do you think Oedipus would not have taken those actions if he didn’t know the prophecy? I don’t believe that knowing a possible future makes it happen. You are capable of changing your world-line for the better right now. None of the things I have said will be a surprise. They were set in motion ten, twenty, even thirty years ago. Are you really surprised to find out that Iraq has nukes now or is that just BS to whip everyone up into accepting the next war?STEPHEN:((If you’re interested in posting some more photos and (pending your decision) the video of your departure, I would be happy to display them on my site. I’ve only got 5 meg storage, but I’m not using it at the moment.))I appreciate that. It looks like the previous issue has straightened itself out.
Posted by James Dvorak on 02-25-2001 01:00 PM
Exclamationi cant spell too good, hehe. But someone asked john about AIDS and cancer in 2036 and he said no cure for aids, and Cancer that there was some progress. but haven't you been listening to art bell lately John??? we are on the literal brink of finding cures, even if its not this year, we will still find cure in under 30 years.
I also find it hard to believe that our planet would want to do time travel and than let anyone use it??? But you'll probably say you are government or something.
Don't you think government would be more concerned with getting other things taken care of than A time machine??? why you need an old ass computer from the 70s anyway????
I'm sorry you might be an actually time traveler but no way in hell do i believe you without any proof.
Here's a question maybe you can answer without “upsetting ” the time line…
There was a show on Fox very recently presenting evidence that we didn't land on the moon, I really believe this because of evidence presented, now this wont prove to me that you are TmTrvlr, but Just tell me if we actually did or not.
I really was hoping we would have found a way to live on other planets by 2036, also how about flying cars. you should know what GINGER “is”, you knew it was some kind of mobile personal transit system, but you don't know exacts??? open minds people, open minds (don't trust this one!)
Posted by John Titor on 02-25-2001 03:54 PM
JAMES:((John Titor ,i posted to you before and would like to let you know that i would love to come along for the ride to the future if you need a sidekick,i am able to fly hot air balloons,a good shot,physically strong and quick,smart on my feet in case a odd event occurs and I would not mind leaving this time to go to yours.))I appreciate the offer but I’m not sure you would like the year 2036.CHRIS:((There have been many movements in music…rock, disco, and hip hop are some of them. Though most people probably can’t rifle out names of musical groups from 35 years ago, they probably would have a basic awareness of what musical influences prevailed at the time. So my question is…what is the NEXT big movement in music that will take place here in the US, specifically?))I appreciate your frustration and quite a few people have asked me questions like this. The expected answer is that I don’t want to break my personal code of “time travel ethics”. The real answer is, I just don’t know. I was not prepared for the year 2001, I was prepared for 1975. I don’t suppose it would be very impressive if I told you Disco would be big until 1980.MEL:((Am I getting this right? You load up all the people who want to go with you in the back of your Chevy pickup…))Actually, the requests were rhetorical. No one is going back with me.((…drive from Florida to Minnesota. Sell that truck in Minnesota, buy another truck older than 1975…)
Doesn’t have to be a truck but I get your point.
((…load everyone back in that truck, drive back to Florida and then depart back to the future. Sounds like it will be quite a sight to behold. If you can, swing by Ohio and give me a honk. Your welcome to stay at my place. ))Thanks. One thing I do find interesting about time travel tech is the expectation that we can pretty much go anywhere at anytime. These systems are quite complicated and they do have limitations. Are you going to be around in 1975?
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-25-2001 05:38 PM
I find it interesting how now, after all the deliberation of attempting to convince others of your story, you are now backing out.Did someone here do it for you?In the last few replies, you commented on not wanting to break your code of ethics. But as we have seen now for the past few months with you is that you have broken ethics to go out of your way of proving to us what you are.Here is a sample of what was just said:((The expected answer is that I don’t want to break my personal code of “time travel ethics”. The real answer is, I just don’t know. I was not prepared for the year 2001, I was prepared for 1975. I don’t suppose it would be very impressive if I told you Disco would be big until 1980.))That above example not just shows how irresponsible you are, but how ignorant as a Time Traveler you are as well: “I just don’t know. I was not prepared for the year 2001.” Good choice, 2036.And here, we see you backing out of a jam, with something like:((Actually, the requests were rhetorical. No one is going back with me.))Nice revision to your story, but you lied to everyone. Some people actually took your request seriously.Right?What, no public apology?Don’t you feel that you done a bad thing, making people believe you, only to tell them it’s not true?You mentioned you would take people back with you on more then one occasions. Did people think you sounded serious? YES. Did people believe you, YES.Think about that…Truly,Javier C.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 02-25-2001 at 05:46 PM]
Posted by James R.Quayle III on 02-25-2001 10:41 PM
Thumbs upIt’s not that one believes one truth,It is more like i leave my options open and I have learned from my experiences that anything can happen.
But that is my life,not yours,I bet John is from somewhenelse,time to me is just like a distance to get to,sometimes we find a ride to where we never thought we were going,and when offered a chance to time travel why not?
Peace to you javier and John Titor,James,And JOhn Titor
I would like it in 2036,because if you knew of my life experiences ,anywhere ON earth is good,and I bet it can’t be all that bad?
Simplicity is good i was a good boy scout who can camp,and hike forever.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-26-2001 01:42 AM
James,You said:((It’s not that one believes one truth,It is more like i leave my options open and I have learned from my experiences that anything can happen)).You responds in the beginning is neutral to either side. But towards the end you clearly contradict your self and side with John. Talk about not wanting to believe one truth.Still waiting for you to answer John, and Pamela.Truly,Javier C.P.S. I meant no disrespect to you James, I just felt obligated to point out the truth, as what I am doing questioning John.Btw, what kind of experiences have you had? If you don’t mind taking about them.[Edited by Mary Rowland on 02-26-2001 at 09:06 PM]
Posted by Angel Lynnn on 02-26-2001 04:14 AM
QuestionHello, John.Can you tell us if reverse speech is used in the future for business or even pleasure?
Also, can you talk about earthquakes in California or Nevada?
Thanks, John, for starting this topic and sharing your time with us. We are really enjoying it and you!Angel Lynnn
Posted by Mel Reckling on 02-26-2001 08:13 AM
John,I will be around in 1975, I guess.
That would be a very good year to miss for me. I do have a 1972 Porsche, but it hasn’t been started in 15 years.
Maybe if I could go back to 1985 when I last drove it I could do a few things different, not just with that car, but maybe buy some of that Microsoft stock.
Posted by Randy Empey on 02-26-2001 08:20 AM
I think the strongest argument for time travel not being easy or possible at all is the greed factor.Warping time and space takes lots of energy . .. making finding out if or how TT works hard . . . is this because of some accidental way the universe turned out, or is it a fundamental law written in by the Creator?Any thoughts on that side of things, John T. or Javier?
Posted by Luis Gonzalez on 02-26-2001 09:16 AM
ArrowJohn,I would like to speak to you in private. Please email me at the following addresswiccanism@hotmail.comluis
Posted by John Titor on 02-26-2001 03:39 PM
JAVIER:((Better then being a fanatic, who believes in people so blindly.))fa.nat.ic (n.) A person possessed by an excessive zeal for an uncritical attachment to a cause or position.JAMES:((Hello John I was wondering if you could respond to my post, I was serious…))If I didn’t get to something, please feel free to ask again. I’m going in order of the postings and trying to get to everything that seems worthwhile and/or productive.DOUG:((Many people asking about the dangers of the war are asking about cities being nuked. During school today I was thinking about this, and nuclear warfare doesn’t seem to be the biggest form of fighting in the future.))Nuclear war will be very effective at destroying an enemy’s economy and the people’s will to fight.((Other than the small countries, I doubt nuclear warheads are going to be shot from each end of the globe.))I would caution against that. That’s exactly what “they” want you to think while they continue to develop smaller and more accurate MIRV’s. Have you ever seen a neutron bomb the size of a basketball?[Today, we know that the major military powers have miniaturized nuclear weapons, including neutron bombs, cruise missiles, and hyper-glide technology. The submarine launch capability is quite mature, and WMD is an issue because it is a real threat. -Metallicman.](( John, you say one of the hardest things to do in 2036 is find clean water. You also say you only trust food you’ve grown. Is any of this a result of your experiences with biological warfare? Is biological warfare a major threat in this war you speak of?))Yes and no. Yes, biological warfare and accidents do cause a great deal of problems but the lack of a working infrastructure also hinders the continuation of the food manufacturing you depend on now.((This is definitely the least serious of my questions, but is there anymore background information you can give (What city you were born in, etc)? I understand if you can’t but after this thread is over I may get a little bored and see if I can find any information on the John Titor of “today,” assuming that’s your real name. ))Once I leave, I would not want any attention to come to my family here.JIM:((I’m guessing the date of your return to the future is April 19th. Is this correct?))That is a day to remember but I was thinking more along the lines of March 21.ERNIE:((My mention of Joseph Campbell was a rebuttal to someone who claimed that your General story was un-original. In fact the most likely leader of a movement like the one you describe would most likely be a Farmer since being a Farmer would provide much of the scenario required.))Throughout history, farmers have often been a target of oppression because they are absolutely necessary to civilization but too busy to defend themselves. If you push a farmer too far, they stop growing food and have nothing to do but hide in the woods and shoot back.((My asking you if the mention of CERN going on-line and discovering this and that, was a prediction was a genuine question completely un-related to “making a Buck”. I wondered if it was just a hint you were giving as to something that could be verified after the fact with little chance of you mentioning it having an effect on it.))Please do not be offended by my “making a buck” remark. I say it with a wink to help other people form their questions. Yes, some very interesting things will be going on at CERN in the near future.((For me what is interesting is the type of questions that are being asked, and the apparent hostility that someone like you can be subjected to for no “good” reason.))Yes, I find that interesting too. Sometimes I wonder what people are really angry about and I have come to the conclusion that frustration is better directed at the messenger. But then again, that’s history.((I’m sure even in 2036 there is a tendency to tease one’s detractors if they make themselves available.))I have no intention of teasing anyone but I do grow tired of the same cycle over and over again. Eventually, the people who do not like me or what I have to say (real or not) will win. I will either leave or grow tired of answering the same questions.((John is “playing you” Javier. It’s an old trick, if your most vociferous detractor continually puts on weak attacks; it takes attention away from the really challenging questions.))Again, please do not confuse my inability to answer the same questions over and over with a desire to make someone upset. I gain nothing by angering Javier or making him look foolish.
((He knows “make a buck” and “more power to you”, and “off the cuff”.He is unaware or dislikes “buy in” or “buy that”
Does that prove anything? not really. Given enough text you can profile him and make a good guess.))I know my English isn’t perfect but I blame my parents for most of the phrases I pick up (wink). It’s different sometimes seeing them in print than hearing them. It took me quite a while to shake off “sock it to me baby”. “Cool” seems to be the longest lived phrase I’ve heard so far and “peace” seems to be making a comeback.[John trained for the 1970's. Not for the year 2000. - Metallicman.]((What 82 page book written in England in 1884 is required reading for all physics students? I admit it’s possible you may not know in 2036, but highly unlikely. The same reason that makes it so important for physics students would make it just as important to understanding Time travel. Secondly why is this little book so important. If he doesn’t know this it lends more circumstantial evidence to your side. But he could ask someone and then how do you prove that?))Well, I’m pretty sure it’s not the Principia and it looks more like something to do with Maxwell but to make your point, I did find this.http://www.livingarchive.uk.com/LA.htmls/manchester.history.htmlJust about anything can be looked up.((How about this? Let John make a recording of himself saying he is from the future and whatever other part of his story he wants. We could submit that to voice stress analysis. Is that enough? no again, since a well trained person can beat a voice stress analysis by using self-hypnosis or having someone hypnotize them prior to recording. Again no proof.))I’ve heard a tack in the shoe works. It throws off the baseline “no stress” readings. Also, if you speak slowly enough, you can beat those programs.
Posted by James R.Quayle III on 02-26-2001 04:42 PM
Thumbs upJohn Titor,what if something happens to your device to get back,let us say inoperable,would you then change the world by announcing warnings,and also what if you got a flat tire in betwwen times would you have to pull over to fix it in a wrong time?
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-26-2001 04:47 PM
John,I congratulate you on your restraint and good humor in responding to some of the posters who are as tireless as an old turntable in playing the same old song.
(I include myself in this group as I know I keep asking you specific questions regarding safe ground during the possible trouble ahead).
I still have some questions you have not responded to but hate to ask again in the event you do not wish to respond or just have not made your way to them yet. Could you let me know which? I will wait to hit you with more until I know the status.If any of you missed Dr. David Anderson on Art’s show you should go to the archives and listen. It is about time distortion going on in New York.Kind regards,Lola
Posted by Brad Brown on 02-26-2001 05:31 PM
John I’m curious.
You’ve expressed a want to experience the world as it was.
However you seem to spend a great amount of time talking about TT.
Why aren’t you traveling and telling us about your latest trip to the pyramids instead of talking about specifics you should be bored from in your awareness to them? Are the Great Pyramids still standing in 2036?
If you wish to experience society as it was, admitting yourself to be a time traveler is counter-productive.
How’s communication around the world in 2036?
Do you still have literature widely available?
What’s the latest book you’ve read that you were only able to hear about in your own time?
Is new literature also so available?
Is the English language beginning to segment into sects and accents with less influence from tourists? Or is tourism still strong and thriving in 2036.
You wanted questions not in relation to stock, here you go.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-26-2001 07:01 PM
John,Just 1 sentence is all I get for waiting for another 5 days? Even then, it’s nothing more then some discombobulated definition in your own words. What dictionary did you use? Is it the dictionary you learned English in, in the future ?Try Oxford next time.Why don’t you give it up John, you know this little experiment of yours went more out of hand then you wanted it to go. Now look at you, you’re attempting to lay-low until your window of opportunity to leave… Am I right?Try answering this, instead of something that was said almost 2 weeks ago.I’m sure lots of people would like to hear you explaining your self. After all, I did expose some of your lies.But then again, there are those here who are “fanatic” about your cause that they still believe your from the future. Quite sad isn’t it?What do you say to something like that? Look at all these people, completely taking your word for it. Doesn’t that just do something for you? You can answer too Pamela if you wish.-Javier C.
Posted by John Titor on 02-26-2001 09:07 PM
CRAIG:((IS your sense of “timing” off, in new time environments? I’ve heard people who have “out-of-body-experiences” find that it sometimes takes a day or two to regain a sense of normalcy in their minute interactions with the physical world.))No, my timing isn’t off. I do however find myself stopping in mid-stride and paying extra attention to my environment when I forget “when” I am.
When I was a child, my mother would tell me stories about angels. She told me that angels found it hard to communicate with man because man could remember his past but couldn’t see the future.
Angels, acting as the eyes and servants of God, had no memory of the past but had infinite knowledge of the future.
Although I am no angel, I often thought about that story after I left 2036. Besides that, I do get a lot of colds.((John – You were born about halfway into this cycle. BTW, GenXers would be about 40-50 years old in 2036. How they doin’? Were they pretty resourceful scrappers?(Fighters/Survivors))In my opinion, the Gen Xr’s ended up in two categories.
There were the ones who had learned to be independent by breaking away from tradition and societies expectations and the others who had no idea how to take care of themselves and just wanted the trains to run on time.
The ones in the first group feel very guilty about “letting” the world go to Hell and the ones in the second group are dead.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-26-2001 10:52 PM
John – I can understand that. Being from the end of the Boomer Generation myself, I can say that GenXers may feel that way (those who are left) though it always appeared to me that they were abandoned young by Boomer parents off doing “their own trip”. GenXers were the original “latchkey kids”.I’ll repeat this link, as I really enjoyed the book.http://www.timepage.org/time.htmlI hear their new book, forecasting the next 10 or 15 years, is also pretty interesting.http://www.fourthturning.com/html/fourth_turning.htmlShort of holding seminars, is there anything else you’d like to do while you’re here, with respect to your interaction with us?
Posted by James Dvorak on 02-27-2001 01:42 AM
Coolcan you tell me what year the police will stop busting people for smoking weed???
after the war right??
in 2015?
do they start pushing for legalization earlier than the war???? this is the ****!
I'm still working for the community though……………………
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-27-2001 06:59 AM
John – about voice stress analysis… No, you can’t “beat” a combination of voice stress and body language analysis. You can, under certain circumstances, beat a polygraph, but only if the examiner is very inexperienced. I’ve been through a few myself.I suggest that you do your video tape of the departure. Here is why:1) An impromtu video tape will give you an opportunity to say some things to us as a kind of “final farewell” which we can all observe. Then you can step into your time traveling truck and vanish for the camera. That will give us something to think about.2) You will be gone from our time line, and we can examine the video tape, using voice stress and body language analysis to determine if you were being honest to us about your trip back to the future.3) You do not have to worry about the ramifications of the tape because of time line divergence – and because of several things you’ve lead us to believe you here, will not be affected in the least – nor will your time line be affected in your time.4) If there is any doubt in your story now (and there is apparently with Javier’s continued chipping away at the story and your own attitude toward him) then you can clear it up with such a tape.5) Some of us would really like to believe, have hope for, or even be shown that time travel is not only possible, but practical and already (somewhere/sometime) going on. You can prove it to me, beyond a shadow of doubt with a video tape.Now… you’ve offered to do so. I have the resources to place said tape up online. When our web site comes back online we will have plenty of space to do so. (Some of you might be familiar with the site already – anomalies.net). In any case, we will be more than willing to put up all the photos, manual scans, video tapes and anything else you would be willing to show us. I would even be willing to fly to whatever place you want and film it myself, at my cost, as long as you give me a bit of a heads up.(and for those of you wondering, NO I am NOT doing this for the government. I’m as curious as anyone else here, nothing more, nothing less. I’m not in this for money, I’m not in this for personal gain – except the knowledge that the “truth is out there”)John… you can reach me privately through my email address on this board. I urge you to do so, if not for yourself or us… for the future.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-27-2001 07:14 AM
To The Board:Doc’s site is still not fixed and I have no doubt in my mind that he will eventually move the pictures to his other site.But in the meantime I have all of John’s pictures and anyone who wants them can email me and I will send them to you.My email is in my profile.Also John and I have talked and anybody who wants to forward anything to John can do so through my email address and I will make sure that John receives it.I will do this as long as I am able.sincerely,Pamela[Edited by Pamela Moore on 02-27-2001 at 07:31 AM]
Posted by Abe Figer on 02-27-2001 08:58 AM
hey I´m very interested in john titor story.. but I have some question for him……
what is going to happen to Mexico in 2035?
is going to be safe going south after de war starts?…..
depending on his answer i will give me an idea of how real his story is…
Posted by Luis Gonzalez on 02-27-2001 10:15 AM
SmileJohn, email me…
Posted by John Titor on 02-27-2001 05:25 PM
LOLA:((You say you were in the militia fighting the US Army. I would think that civilians would have a snowballs chance in hell of successfully fighting the military.))You must realize that why people are fighting is more important that what they are fighting with. The conflict was not about taking and holding ground it was about order and rights. They were betting that people wanted security instead of freedom and they were wrong.[This was written BEFORE 9-11, the "War on Terror", the TSA, the DHS, the perpetual snooping by the NSA, and everything that came with it. Yes. John actually PREDICTED all of this. And no one believed him. Crazy nonsense they said. -Metallicman.]((What does this look like? Is it a stalemate with the resistance/militia hiding out until the cities are wiped out allowing them to surface?))The cities were not isolated because of them; they were isolated because of us.((You site the approximate number of cities and military bases intact before the nuclear attack. Are they ALL hit?))Nuclear weapons and guidance systems are less than perfect. Most targets receive more than one warhead but some of them were more accurate than others. I would estimate the overall accuracy was around 60 to 70 percent.((Three days walk from where? The nearest city? Again, though, what population makes a city a city and not a town?))In my experience, a motivated starving person is only capable of walking about three days. The more distance you put between yourself and anyone who is likely to be hungry, the better.((Does any one or any group stay neutral during all of these years of fighting?))Some try to.((Does anyone just lead a reasonably normal life during the civil war?))No.((You say the civil war lasts from 2004 to 2008 and then the short big one in 2015. What do the years from 2008 to 2015 look like? How long does WWIII last.))I’m not sure I said that exactly. By 2008, I would say the civil conflict is pretty much at everyone’s doorstep. Western instability during the conflict leads to the attack in 2015. WWIII is very short with a longer period of mop up.((You mention the nature of Canadians but I don’t think you mentioned the impact of all of this on that country. Would you?))There’s not a great deal I know about Canada except to say they were pretty much in the same type of conflict. They did have the Dew Line you know.((Oh yeah, one more thing that is rather haunting is your allusion to the position of women as being controversial and conservative in 2036. Yikes! What is that supposed to mean?))It certainly isn’t disrespectful. I apologize if it sounded that way. It’s one of those areas I realize will be difficult to discuss because we may lack similar experiences.
In 2036, there is not a desire to “have it all”.
With factors such as the difficulty in conceiving and the decentralization of production and industry, there is not an unrealistic scramble to have a “career” and a family.
Out of necessity and circumstance, family life has become more traditional. However, there are many families where the wife / mother is the main breadwinner and the husband / father remains “home” with the family.
The difference is in the method of decision-making. People do not have children (if they are able) unless they can devote the required resources to maintain it.
Posted by Jeff Borgus on 02-27-2001 05:39 PM
(Actually, the requests were rhetorical. No one is going back with me.))Just like your whole story is rhetorical.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-27-2001 10:28 PM
John,Many movies that take place in the future show an Earth under ruin, war and famine. You have been buying into that fear people have in some corner of their minds from the very start. Creating, what we have here a John Titor worship board.
No longer a place to discuss views of Time Travel, and gain knowledge. More like a handout of knowledge. In other words John, you have become these people’s prophet. You are now deeply involved in their belief system.My only problem with that is that it’s on a wide scale.
Tell me something, is that why the civil war started? To many people take people like you and put them on pedestals? Lots of people can no longer think on their own, they depend solely now on what you have to say. How pathetic, and your future culture finds no flaw with prolonging it. Instead, they gave one of their Time Traveler (meaning you) a device to come to the past and exploit the chance to take and do as you and they see fit.That’s very nice. You’ve managed to convince a lot of good people, honest sincere people. That your genuine, the real McCoy. That however, may be okay with you, but not by me, not by a long shot.Someone once brought up the example of some of these people being sheep. At first that might have been an unfair presumption, but now that I think about it, it’s true. And you still haven’t commented on my request to answer my statements. What’s wrong? Why don’t you?Let’s face it John, I’m one of the very last ones you have not corrupted with your story. It has been your straightforward effort to say you are from the future, and convince others of it as well. But just look at you, look at how unprepared you were. The lies you were caught in. And trying to recover only makes you look phonier in my eyes.I swear, I will expose you John. My passion and conviction in this matter is unquestionable. Your friend Pamela can attest to that.People like you, who use this to benefit from unknowing people, make me sick. Time Travel is an evil means to get what you want; I wouldn’t be surprised if your world is Satanic.The fight is not over between you and me John. Nor will it be over any time soon. I will continue to pursue in exposing you as a fraud, there is no doubt about that. I don’t fear you John, I do however fear a world that has followers like your fans. That only entices me more to continue the fight.If others find that silly and funny, I feel sorry for you. You’ve lost your sense of passion for doing what’s right. You openly accept the flaws of this world, and succumb deeper to them. Creating what we have now, a delusional world solely dependent on everyone’s individual beliefs. That saddens me. Call me old fashion, but that kind of mentally is only asking for trouble. That’s the sort of mindset that causes wars. Confusion, uncertainty, fear in the truth.But in the end, there is no escaping what you all are. In the end, we will all get judged, and see that instead of laughing at me, and thinking I was a nut job, you all should have known better. It’s like the Metaphor of the Ant and the Grasshopper. Just think about that.Sincerely,Javier C.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 02-27-2001 11:45 PM
All very interesting, but one nuclear bomb hitting around Colorado would do the entire food belt in by the wind blowing.
Russia’s power plant went 1500 miles away because of the wind.
I guess the wind blows here too.
Now, how far does the Earth move in 36 years traveling along with the Milky Way Galaxy at 33 miles/second. Quite far, so how do you manage to not space travel? The Universe is always moving.
From 1975, add another 25 + 36 years and around 61 years is where you went too. Now the Earth has even traveled further, I suggest you all look up at the Universe, a Supreme Being might just be praying for all of us on the Spaceship Planet Earth.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 02-28-2001 01:30 AM
John,When you get a chance can you post an answer to my question regarding the “30 second” scenario that I asked about a week or so ago? Thanks.I’ve also been wondering about how you have manage to overcome the simultaneity problem in maintaining common world-line references between yourself and the two micro-singularities that travel with you. As you know, bodies under acceleration lose their initial constant velocity world-line reference with respect to each other – the Twins Paradox.
Given that you have a possible 2.5% divergence from your own world-line (5% on a round trip?)on a 60 year trip and the micro-singularities (each having their own world-line) are subject to the same divergence, how do you keep them in phase?
Does the divergence extend into N-dimensions? Is the 2.5% the total error or is each dimension subject to the 2.5% divergence individually?I understand that you’re a tech (a bus driver as it were) and not the physicist, but how did you manage to overcome the problem of gathering sufficient power to artificially create a micro-singularity in such a short time (sometime prior to 2036)? I believe that it would theoretically take the total energy output of the Sun since the time of Richard the Lionhearted (about a thousand years) to form one micro-singularity, let along two.
Posted by John Titor on 02-28-2001 05:55 AM
((When you get a chance can you post an answer to my question regarding the “30 second” scenario that I asked about a week or so ago? Thanks.))Please take a look at page 18. If I didn’t get to everything, please expand your question.
Posted by Bob Marz on 02-28-2001 06:17 AM
I haven’t seen an answer to my issue concerning moral turpitude through action or inaction. Did I miss it?Javier: You’ve worked yourself into a tizzy over John’s spontaneous whim. He started this forum with a joke about coming back from the future with the old computer and noticed people taking him seriously so kept up the gag. I think he’s done a great job, it’s just for fun.
John has never been inflammatory, in fact he’s maintained a good-natured witty sci-fi scenario, urging people to play along.
What gives the gag a nice dynamic impact is the fact that John stays in character and takes every question seriously, giving us realistic answers. ala Orson Welles War of the Worlds or Blair Witch Trial. The more John stays completely in character the better the experience for us.[Edited by Bob Marz on 02-28-2001 at 06:26 AM]
Posted by John Titor on 02-28-2001 06:51 AM
In order to assist in where I am in the questions, I will post the page and person I left off with. It would also help if you could do the same when asking when I will get to yours. Since my time is growing short, I will be unable to answer questions that have already been asked in some form or another and I will make a note when I come across one.
Unfortunately, it has also come to my attention the proposed email system for sending out the pictures is not working out. Apparently, people on the receiving end of the requesting email are starting to have problems with their computers. They suspect it’s coming from the “asking” email. Before I leave, I do plan to send out a few more pages of the manual and a video of my departure. I’m sure a method of will be developed to do that.
Currently, I am on page 18 right before Rick’s questions.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-28-2001 09:13 AM
SmileI am still getting some email in-between the attacks. Anybody wishing to email John in private please use my email address and I will forward it to him. and send you a confirmation that your letter has been forwarded to John.
I delete your mail right afterwards. so if any attack happens to get past my security system your email will not be there for anybody to see it. several people have the pictures already. (keep them safe!)If you can’t get to my email please post on the board your desire for the pictures and I will make sure you receive them.Anybody wishing to forward a private letter to John, you don’t have much time left.while your at it…say Hello to the future! these pages(according to John) will be archived and posted on a web site in the future.
actually that is quite interesting..how would you prove to someone reading this in 2036 that you are really from 2001???PEACE TO ALL!!-pamela
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-28-2001 10:21 AM
Earth to Pamela,Yeah, you’re gone. What happened to being skeptical? Hypocrisy I tell you. And that’s not an attack, that’s the truth.If people do read these in the future, they’ll see how foolish you all were to fall for his story so easily. No wonder the future looks down on us, look at our culture, our attitudes. You have this blind faith in a man who you all know for only 3 months.Why not have a dialogue with me Pamela, instead of just being his supporter.Before you would state your own thoughts. But now, your completely at his disposal, and nod at whatever he says. And you find that normal? It appears more like brainwashing to me.You know I won’t attack you, I will however tell you the truth. So accept my request, since you speak for John, you shouldn’t be afraid to answer for him as well.I await you.-Javier C.
Posted by John Titor on 02-28-2001 11:14 AM
Actually, Pamela is quite quick to catch many possible discrepancies in what I’ve said over quite a few sites in the last few months. For example:
PAMELA ASKS: >1. What type of money system do you have on your world line? meaning how do you buy and sell things? Do you have the same type of money or do we have a cashless society? such as smart cards, credit cards or ID biochips.I RESPOND: Its not very different than it is now. Yes, we have money and credit cards. However, like everything else, the monetary system is decentralized. Banking is based mostly around the community structure. There are no multinational banking or computerized economic systems..there are also no income taxes.
QUESTION ON THIS SITE: ((Is there an IRS and a need to keep a lot of receipts and paperwork around to justify yourself?))I RESPOND: Yes, we pay taxes.. Sounds like you don’t enjoy keeping track of your personal income taxes. I don’t think anyone does.
MY RESPONSE TO PAMELLA: I had considered going into more detail about the tax system but I didn’t have a great deal of time. Currently, I am watching my father go over all his taxes and he doesn’t look like he’s having a very good time. My comment referred to the collective misery I see around me during this time of year.
Posted by Bridget Talarico on 02-28-2001 11:23 AM
Red faceOh John, who am I to say “nay”, this guy’s a nut?
But let me ask you one simple question: instead of sitting at your computer, why not present yourself to George W, proof in hand?
THAT would throw quite a monkey wrench into the government’s coverup machine, don’t you think?
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 02-28-2001 11:45 AM
John,Thanks for the answer to the original questions. Here are some follow-ups for you to ponder.<<Q: What is the result of the duplicates arriving simultaneously at the same place?
A: Psychological confusion and a few fist fights.>>John, I think that you missed the point here. The problem that needs to be addressed is what happens to the duplicates as they simultaneously arrive at virtually the exact same location. Given that their masses will occupy the same space, what prevents a naked singularity from forming? (Black holes seem to be the only constructs that can violate the Exclusion Principle. And unless the duplicates were drunk they shouldn’t be spinning <wink> – thus a naked singularity.)<<Q: How long will it take for the loop to decay? Will it decay? Is it a loop?
A: The chances of hitting the precise world-line where all the other duplicates are arriving is almost zero. It’s possible but increasingly less probable with each arriving duplicate. The divergence decays and the world-line is “less available” for new “yous” to arrive on.>>It’s a nice creative answer, but it didn’t address the question. The question was is it a loop; will it decay and how long will it take to decay? Divergence won’t decay, unless you’re saying that the divergence decreases (which I don’t believe is what you were indicating). Its true that each duplicate has a decreasing probability of arriving on the same world-line – but its an infinite number of duplicates. Any subset of that infinity is simply a less intense infinity, but an infinity none-the-less. The implication is that an infinite number of duplicates will appear simultaneously. What prevents this from happening?<<Q: What happens if the experimenter, upon seeing his duplicate, decides not to continue the experiment?
A: He can always leave the room on his own world-line or put a desk full of books in the position where the time machine is arriving every 30 seconds. That will probably trip the VGL system and stop the time machines from arriving.>>Again, nice try on the answer. But these duplicates aren’t arriving every 30 seconds. They are all arriving simultaneously 30 seconds before the experiment begins apparently violating Causality if the experimenter decides to cancel the trip.This question was a follow-up to your 2.5% world-line error problem. On your 60-year journey you have a problem if the error is 2.5% in N-dimensions. If your error is in the ‘t’ dimension you have a chance to arrive back home as early as 2034 and as late as 2038. If the error is cumulative for each leg you could arrive as early as 2032 and as late as 2040. Arrive too early and the boss won’t have a clue as to why you brought him a 1975 vintage computer. Arrive too late and your haven’t helped solve the problem in a timely (excuse the pun) manner.You’re also faced again with the Twins Paradox. In this case the twin is you: The “you” in 2036 and 2001. Each of you is a body in motion and under acceleration (the velocity of Earth, the Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy and Vegan Local Group and the general expansion of the universe are not constant.) Moreover, the distance between each “you” is increasing at 54 km/sec. The 2036 Earth is approximately 60 billion kilometers from where it is today. The 2.5% divergence error is not constant. The longer you stay here in 2001 the greater the distance between the two Earths thus the degree of error increases. The physicists in 2036 aren’t able to help you as they don’t know where you are and as you aren’t a physicist you’re probably not going to be able to make the corrections from this end. How are you going to get home safely?John, you’re actually doing a credible job of handling this thread. I personally don’t believe that you’re a time traveler but that’s not the point. I have to put some thought into asking these questions. SO, you make me think and that’s always good. Thank you.
Posted by John Titor on 02-28-2001 12:28 PM
EMMETT:I do enjoy the questions and I appreciate the interest.
I suppose there is a difference between a thought experiment and the real world. It appears we have our virtual laboratories confused and I’m not sure I understood all the rules to your experiment and then it occurred to me that in your position, this is all just a thought experiment anyway. I will try to be more literal in my explanation.((In this experiment the traveler only goes 30 seconds into the past to appear in his lab. It seems that 30 seconds before his experiment was to begin he saw himself appear in the lab. There would now be two travelers and two time machines. It doesn’t appear that it ends that simply as the “second” time traveler says that he saw a duplicate self appear in the lab thirty seconds before he started the trip. It would appear that its a time loop and an infinite number of duplicates see a duplicate self appear in the lab thirty seconds prior to the start of the trip. ))I’m not positive but I don’t see anything that indicates the time traveler would remain in the same spot once he arrives. 30 seconds is almost long enough to get coffee in your thought experiment.
If that were true, and they all kept moving, than the experiment could go on for quite a while until the planet filled with time travelers.
You also stated, “it would appear” as a time loop.
If it only appears that way, than the natural divergence may stop the experiment when three or four time travelers arrive and the others end up on different world-lines.((The problem that needs to be addressed is what happens to the duplicates as they simultaneously arrive at virtually the exact same location.))Again, you use the world virtually, which to me means not exactly the same spot. Under the laws of physics, I don’t personally know what happens if it were on exactly the same spot but I do know it’s possible.
Under the operational limits of the distortion unit, as soon as the VGL sensors pick up an unexpected mass in the target world-line, it would shut down and drop off in a world-line where your experiment is not occurring.((Given that their masses will occupy the same space, what prevents a naked singularity from forming?))
I see, now they are in the same space. I suppose that’s a possibility. If so, than the as soon as the experiment started, a singularity would form under the infinite mass and swallow the planet.
Perhaps they tried this on Cygnus?((It’s a nice creative answer, but it didn’t address the question. The question was is it a loop; will it decay and how long will it take to decay?))Well, I think it’s a nice creative question too. Under your example, the “loop” would terminate as soon as the singularity forms and would be constantly fed by all the arriving time travelers.
Thanks again, I’ll follow up on the rest in a bit.
Posted by John Titor on 02-28-2001 01:05 PM
After taking a quick shower and listening to the quiet hum of my archiving hard drives, I decided that Emmett and I may have made bad second impressions on each other. I find it ironic because it’s people like Emmett that will actually solve those physical issues and make it possible for people like me to go back in time and argue with them. So I hope, no hard feelings Emmett.
It also reminds me of a short story between a bicycle maker in the 1900s and a man who could fly faster than sound.BICYCLE MAKER: Well Mr. Mach, if your plane can go faster than the speed of sound, how did you solve the compressibility problem that would tear your flimsy craft to pieces?
MR. MACH: First off, the aircraft are much more stable and made of metal instead of wood and fabric. Second, it is possible to pass the sound barrier by designing the wings and body to move the shock wave down the plane as you surpass the speed of sound.
BICYCLE MAKER: Really? Planes made of metal? Well, if your plane can fly faster than sound then why don’t you just fly to the moon?
MR. MACH: It doesn’t work that way. You need air to make the engine function.
BICYCLE MAKER: I see. Your plane can go faster than sound but needs air to function. That’s convenient and it all sounds like a penny-book fantasy to me.
MR. MACH: Perhaps… perhaps not
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-28-2001 02:03 PM
Give me a break John, your so full of it. Your pathetic attempts to crawl out of a tight hole our becoming narrower and narrower to get passed these days. Not just are you being broken down, but being exposed as a fraud.More discrepancies. Your a lair, you really didn’t plan on taking anyone back with you. Yet people believed you. Still waiting for you to apologize to everyone.And don’t say your busy going in order trying to answer everyone’s questions. You just skipped the rest and went straight to the most current. How considerate you are. Others have been waiting for much longer time, and you found it convenient to seize the opportunity to answer something that would make you look good in the eyes of your followers.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 02-28-2001 02:15 PM
Not that I believe you, but would not the vintage computer from 1975 be bigger than the time machine to haul back to the future?
It handles 3 people, personal computers were really not out then, only a very few people were trying to make a personal computer, and they only had kits to put together. I mean 4kB of memory is nothing like the current crop of computers with up to about 1gB of memory one can put in the computer.
Just some thoughts about what you are saying?
It does not fit quite right with me. If there was a War, then it seems reasonable to me that you were not even born until all of the Wars were over.
That would make you about 21 years old from 2015 or just about 29 from 2008. It does not add up if millions of people died from these happenings. I just add things up logically, and from my perspective, the story does not seem real.
Oh, well, we all have to do something with our time, I guess. I think I’ll be 90 in 2036 and right now you appear to be younger than I am now and have not developed the critical thinking skills that come with age on Spaceship Earth.
Posted by David R Ferguson on 02-28-2001 02:29 PM
I have finally read all of the posts in this thread and I have come to one conclusion…it is definitely been more entertaining than anything currently on television, except, of course, for the televised Illinois basketball games!Thanks to everyone for your posts. It has certainly been very educational.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 02-28-2001 02:58 PM
John,My friend, I have absolutely no hard feelings. To the contrary, this thread is quite enjoyable.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-28-2001 04:43 PM
WinkHOLD ON JAVIER!!! IM COMING!!!!I am grasping the tether on the front ofmy outerspace suit.attached somewhere down thereto earth…I'm pulling…..myself……………right hand…over left hand…over right hand…I'm pulling myself into Earth’s atmosphere…a little further…a little further…..(hahhah)Ok..Javier what kind of dialogue do you want to have?….I'm here.No, I have not lost all my skepticism and you areconstantly acting on your own assumptions and fears.I don’t speak for John, I simply helped him out on a couple of questions he already had answered earlier.Am I brainwashed? Of course not. That is silly!I have talked to John for hours and hours about things.and I know some things you don’t. John is a highly intelligent man and he is very interesting to talk to.People are not stupid, Javier. and you know I am not.Can’t you just enjoy the conversation in this thread?it’s probably not going to last much longer…pretty soon John will be gone and you won’t have to worry about him anymore.(he’ll either drop off of the board if he is fake, or go back to future if he is real.)the truth may not possibly come until after he is gone.I know you have a good heart. but you get a little carried away sometimes.I have an email address you know if you want to talk further…sincerely,pamela
Posted by Angel Lynnn on 02-28-2001 07:10 PM
ExclamationJohn,Are people using “reverse speech” in courts, etc. or even recreational?Can you talk about earthquakes in California and Nevada?Thanks.Angel Lynnn
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-28-2001 07:59 PM
Angel,What’s reverse speech?Lola
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-28-2001 08:02 PM
Pamela,No need to be sarcastic ya know, but thanks for finally answering one of my questions.However, the dialog will mainly be question/answer. I said that, because it seemed to me that I was the only one talking. You weren’t responding to any of my questions. Neither was John.And since your John’s little helper, you can assist him in answering for him. Make sense?But since you said your only posting answers to questions already asked, I fail to see how you will be of any help to me and the rest.Yes, John maybe smarter and more interesting then me, but that doesn’t make what I do know, any less important. Thanks for be little-ling me . Nonetheless, you know I can’t just stand idly by while he preaches and others bow at his feet. I can’t stand for that, nor will I allow it. Others must hear another side, not just his.So if I am criticized as being afraid and acting on my own assumptions, I don’t care. I’m not here to win the best personal image award. I am here to speak the truth.And you say your still skeptical; well actions speak louder then words. I guess we won’t find out all the truth, until she leaves. Will you be telling us more details about him, or will you conceal it still in fear of them finding out the whereabouts of his younger self?Your taking quite a risk trusting someone with your secrets John. Didn’t your mom teach you to be weary of a pretty face?Just the facts though…-J.C.
Posted by Stephen McKay on 02-28-2001 09:24 PM
Javier,Why are you so defensive about this whole thread? I may be mistaken, or perhaps you have a different definition of preach, I don’t remember John _ever_ preaching.
Nor any of us “worshiping” him.
The way I see it, John has made a claim which may be true or may not be. The possibility of it being true interests some of us, so we have questions. John’s doing his best to answer us. Maybe he’s full of it, but I enjoy science fiction as much as the next UFO nut.Just because we ask questions, does not mean we are shouting from the rooftops “This man speaks the truth, he is the Messiah”. It simply means we are willing to accept the possibility that he is telling the truth.
If he is, great, we can learn from him and look back on these posts when we reach his time. If not, what have we lost? A few moment of time, which, in the grand scheme of things, amount to little.My question for you is this: If John is a fraud, what do you personally stand to lose? What is the reason for your conviction? Whether it’s the truth or not, it’s interesting. For my part that’s reason enough to continue. If you don’t believe John, leave. If you’re not interested, leave. It’s your choice. What I think is important is that none of us are really sure whether John is telling us the truth or not, but we’re willing to entertain the possibility.An open mind is an important thing.Steve
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-28-2001 11:41 PM
Javier,“Yes, John maybe smarter and more interesting then me, but that doesn’t make what I do know, any less important. Thanks for be little-ling me .”I'm sorry you misinterpreted my words in this manner.“And you say your still skeptical; well actions speak louder then words. I guess we won’t find out all the truth, until she leaves. Will you be telling us more details about him, or will you conceal it still in fear of them finding out the whereabouts of his younger self? ”I won’t be doing or saying anything that could possibly jeopardize or bring harm to John or his family.sincerely,pamela
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-01-2001 12:31 AM
What interests me is the need for time travel in the first place?
I think by rational thinking that time travel is impossible.
[I don't know about all this John Titor stuff, but I do know what I have experienced. For what ever it is worth, I conducted my first MWI world-line egress in the Spring of 1981. It was on an American Navy base, and I was part of a SAP called MAJestic. As far as I understand, MAJestic has had this technology since the 1970's. - Metallicman]
Do I care that people tell me to be open-minded? I am open-minded. What bothers me is that people will go through so much trouble to bother with a technology that will only occur in the very far future.
I suggest that John talks to Dr. Fred Bell, who has traveled forward in time, according to him when he was a guest on the show, and that John tells him how they have solved the problem of disorientation from time travel.
Now every thing is nifty with time travel, and there is no ill effect?
I like fantasy as much as the next person, but I see no Civil War on the horizon.
[I am editing this in December 2018. An American civil war seems a distinct possibility. Sorry. -Metallicman.]
Only the people who would want to see a Civil War start actually see a Civil War on the horizon.
My, if I were John, I buy a TV and a VCR player and take back the episodes of Star Wars. Try to transcend above this physical plane of existence, and you will see that the Force is actually a reality.
Time-travel, well, its a grand idea, but like all ideas, when rational thinking is done on the subject instead of emotional turmoil, time-travel is so far into the future that as I the only one who can see that?
This leads to the freedom not to be influenced by the very type of people that always are seeking the wrong truths.
People should look up at night. In the beginning there was nothing. How long can you have nothing? Forever! A unit of measurement has been invoked, call it forever. A yardstick, a ruler called forever. And time was just created. Then something was made out of the nothingness, being a potential, and here the Universe exists in God’s Glory. God does not leave this chance.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-01-2001 12:32 AM
Red faceStephen & Pamela,I have a good responds for both of you. But it’s passed 12 right now, and I have to get up early for work. Maybe during work, I will reply to you.Good night,Javier C.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-01-2001 07:17 AM
Albert wrote:” All very interesting, but one nuclear bomb hitting around Colorado would do the entire food belt in by the wind blowing. Russia’s power plant went 1500 miles away because of the wind. I guess the wind blows here too. Now, how far does the Earth move in 36 years traveling along with the Milky Way Galaxy at 33 miles/second. Quite far, so how do you manage to not space travel? The Universe is always moving. From 1975, add another 25 + 36 years and around 61 years is where you went too. Now the Earth has even traveled further, I suggest you all look up at the Universe, a Supreme Being might just be praying for all of us on the Spaceship Planet Earth.”Albert, for the record, our government does not push the “nuclear war survivability scenario” for a reason – they simply do not care.
Anyone who builds a bomb shelter is considered a kook. I don’t think they are kooks. I don’t think anyone who believes in survival is a kook.
Now, why I mention that is your “wind blows” theory.
Yes, you’re correct that the wind blows generally west to east and if a ground blast occurs there will indeed be fallout. However, understand a good number of nuclear weapons will be air burst weapons. There will still be fall out, but considerably less than if the weapons are ground burst.
There will be a lot of little weapons that will miss their targets. I LIVE in Colorado, believe me I’ve studied the what-ifs carefully, for the sake of my family. There isn’t an easy survival answer either. (Which is why I CARRY NBC protective gear with me everywhere I GO and my home is being slowly set up to protect us against nuclear fallout. Won’t protect us against a direct strike, but even in my area, I think an atomic attack will be survivable.)The moving earth situation has been discussed at length several times, and John’s explanation was “gravity sensors”.
While I’m not aware of anything called a gravity sensor in this day and age, I wouldn’t discount such a thing. Physics has a way of surprising us.
Already we are sure (in physics) that there are such things as “gravity waves” – similar in fact, to radio, light or even x-rays – all of which are “waves”. If this is correct, and I believe it is, then there will be very shortly a way to measure them, and therefore “sense” gravity waves. Doing calculations and measurements could compensate for the “movement through time” of a time ship.Javier – Man you’re obviously taking this way too seriously.
Especially when you start insulting everyone on the list. Now, I don’t usually take things personally, but you and I have discussed this offline already a couple of times. While I understand your reasoning for trying to prove John a fake time traveler (Or even if a real one, he shouldn’t be here – if I understand your web page correctly) some of the comments about people being sheep, followers and “believers” is a little bit harsh.Let me explain. I’m not a “believer” in the sense you’re implying. That is, if John were a time traveler here and now, and was doing what he is doing (as a REAL TIME TRAVELER) then I would have no qualms about listening to his story.In fact, I have no qualms about listening to it now. Regardless of whether he is real or not, the idea of time travel, science fiction and a ****ed good story is something I’m always “into”.In other words, what Pamela and some others have called “attacks” by you, might not, by you be considered such – but the rest of us do. Basically, you insult the intelligence of everyone on this list by saying we “are sheep”.
I personally am not, and I’m sure you weren’t referring to me personally – however, even if I DID totally believe John, and was taken in by him, and believed he was telling the total truth – who are you to come rescue me?People in this world have free will.
This is something SO MANY Of us forget all to often. I protect my children and grandchildren from bad things, because they are young and might not have the wisdom of age to get themselves out of a situation. But, as adults, we have the free will to believe, or disbelieve whatever we wish.An open mind is very important in science – something a lot of scientists even forget. Skeptism is important, but at the same time, if you do not have an open mind to what “may be” you will never get past the arrogance of your own mind and you might just miss the most important discovery of all time.About Today’s World:In the place I work, we look at many different things, including intelligence reports, terrorism, war in other places and in general the “state of the world”. I study many things, related and unrelated to my job, but most importantly we in the DoD and military tend to examine everything, even the smallest, insignificant incidents in the world, looking for those things that might ignite an all-out war.If any one has been following global intelligence at all (and you can do as good a job as the CIA on your own, if you simply know where to look) you will see that in the United States an “awakening” of sorts has occured regarding our personal freedoms.
There are these anti-gun nuts out there trying to ban guns – using the children as the catalyst. Without examining the reason we have for owning guns (and it isn’t a last week thing, this is a HISTORICAL THING) then they do us all a disservice. America is on to them. We are on to those who would take our freedoms and we aren’t going to let it happen without a fight. Hence the possibility of “civil war” DOES exist today. If you’re not close to the subject you might not see it. Those of us who are protecting our freedoms DO SEE IT.Russia has been “feeling it’s oats” lately… doing attack runs on our ships, rattling their sabers (i.e. “We’ll pull our support of the internation space station if you even THINK of continuing with National Missile Defense – just one example). Russia has not disassembled several nukes they said they did. Satellites show it. They just move them now. China has linked up with Iraq – assisting them in repairing their weapons systems – hence the attacks recently on Baghdad.There are reports of Cubans, Chinese and perhaps North Koreans in and around the Sonora desert (think about this to understand what it means – basically, that is our weakest border. If *I* were going to put a force against america, I’d come in that way).These are just SOME of the little things. We have a kind of unrest in America now. It could very well lead to a civil war of sorts.Russia, China, N. Korea, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, France – and you can add quite a few others to this list – would just love to see America on her knees and will do whatever it is they can to help us down there. NEVER EVER UNDERESTIMATE enemies – especially FORMER enemies (like Russia).What I am trying to say, without being able to do so in a short note, is that even if John is “fake” his scenarios are absolutely POSSIBLE and even PROBABLE at this point in our time line. Those of us who spend time checking intelligence reports can CONFIRM his social theories about “what might be”.In short, even if John is fake – his possibile future is accurate for us, even now. I hope he (and I) are wrong, and I hope it won’t come to a civil war in this country, but I have been seeing it coming for a few years now. The thing with Russia and nuclear war – well… it is so much more a possibility NOW than it was in the Cold War that *I* am considering building that bomb shelter once again.Rick
Posted by Angel Lynnn on 03-01-2001 08:06 AM
ExclamationSome employers are using this to help them with hiring employees. They record the interviewee talking then they reverse their speech to see if they were telling the truth, etc. Whatever comes out in reverse is what was on the persons mind while speaking.
I’m curious if they are using reverse speech in courts etc. in the future. Maybe it will be a good thing to get into and learn more about.Angel Lynnn[Edited by Mary Rowland on 03-01-2001 at 03:10 PM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-01-2001 08:24 AM
Well Rick, you seem to have a passionate belief in something as well. Yet you blame me for having the same zest. You accuse me of being harsh; yeah maybe I was just a tad. But you call these people who want to take away the second amendment “nuts,” how do you think they will feel about you saying that? So I see it as something one in the same.I am only trying to get the message out that we shouldn’t give our selves to easily to someone claiming to know the truth. I want freedom too, I’d hate for it to be taken away. That’s why I’m working towards not having that future.Except my way, no one seems to understand. They call me crazy or going to far. Perhaps, but if you’ve gone through the things I have, you’d also protest. You’d want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.As for everyone being sheep’s, I didn’t mean you. I meant those that stick to John like glue who can’t see another side but his. Forgive me if I offended you, I can get pretty worked up in my campaign.Stephen,You sound like your new here. Why don’t you visit my site first? I think that’s probably the best way I can answer your questions. Learn a little about my cause, and me and if you still have questions I’ll be more then happy to answer them. Critical or not, I don’t run away from questions.Pamela,Like I said before, I respect you for keeping what John told you in confidence secret. I would do the same. Nor would I want his younger self in a government facility being tested on. Because I know the feeling of being exploited, and no body deserves that fate.Even John…If there is anything I hate more then liars, are people who take advantage of others. People who exploit those to gain an advantage in some hidden goal. Makes me sick…Hence my hatred towards Time Travel, and Time Travelers.Someone’s got to do something. Who here has the guts to stand up for justice in the matter of temporal violators?I volunteer, for as long the threat shall exist.Javier Cortez[Edited by Javier Cortez on 03-01-2001 at 08:30 AM]
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-01-2001 09:19 AM
Javier,I did check out your website and find it funny that you are possibly the only one on this board who claims to BELIEVE in time travel wholeheartedly yet you are the one who spends all of his board time trying to convince us sheep that John is a fraud. You may be the only one who isn’t skeptical.
You are truly the only fanatic, so far, on this board.
John has hooked you good. The rest of us keep an open mind (something you should consider), learn what we can and have a good time in the process. You seem on the point of a nervous breakdown.
I have also considered the possibility that you just want as much attention as possible and are jealous of the position John holds on the board. This stance gets you more feedback than you would otherwise get. This may be a subliminal motive. Isn’t there something else you want to do here just in case time travel is as real as you think it is?I’ll take a fraudulent time traveler over an evangelist anyday.Baa BaaLola[Edited by Lola Montez on 03-01-2001 at 09:34 AM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-01-2001 09:58 AM
Lola,Your last post smells like revenge to me. This must be for what I said to you last time. Sorry, but it was the truth. And people say I’m harsh and hostile. I think you just took that title away from me.I don’t care about the attention, like I said before I can care less what others think about me. And I have no subliminal motive, because that would go against everything I stand for.Since my birth I have gone through experiences that cannot be explained by psychologist. Ever see “The Sixth Sense.” Notice how angry he gets and writes those hateful words. Well maybe you wouldn’t think it’s so funny if you stand on the opposite end of something like that.And as for me being jealous of John, that’s not likely. Why would I be jealous of a Time Traveler? I hate Time Travelers. And despite all his intelligence and fans, I still manage to out wit him now and then, and post questions that he can’t answer. I’m very happy being who I am . Even though the visions and manifestations get out of hand at times, I’m fortunate to have this life, a good family and friends.
Posted by John Titor on 03-01-2001 11:31 AM
BOB (from 18):
I must preface the following with a bit of melodrama. I feel a bit unqualified to answer the next few questions for the following reason. The way you and I look at life and death and its relative value is radically different.
As any other soldier can tell you, once you watch a man’s arm come off from a bullet you just fired or have been close enough to feel someone’s last breath on your face, it changes you.
I can only describe it in two distinct waves. The first feeling is power. You won when it counted and survived. All the personal shortcomings and faults you’ve carried with you your whole life just melt away in a savage euphoria.
If there’s time to think about it, the next wave comes shortly after and is underlined by overwelming guilt. You just killed someone and now God might be ticked off.
Fortunately, the second feeling goes away quickly when the shooting starts again and gets shorter and shorter after every battle. After all, why would God put you in this situation?
The point is, I personally do not like going through that cycle and the decisions I make about life and death might not be the ones you would expect me to make.
((How come it doesn’t bother you that people may die through your inaction yet you find it “morally wrong” that you might affect lives by active involvement?))
I’m not sure I said it didn’t bother me, I only stated I won’t interfere on purpose.
Again I refer to a historical example. Before Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, a small group of US soldiers were experimenting with a new technology called RADAR. As the Japanese planes were flying toward the island, they actually picked them up in time to thwart the surprise attack.
Unfortunately, they were unfamiliar with the equipment and figured it wasn’t working correctly. As you are aware, the ruthlessness of the Japanese “sneak” attack galvanized the US people into entering WWII.
As a time traveler it would be easy for me to take a short hike up that hill where the RADAR operators were and point out to them that indeed the equipment was working just fine and they should probably call it in.
Assuming they believed me, it is arguable that my lone single action could start a chain of events that would allow the US to meet the Japanese planes and stop them from attacking the battleships. As a result, the US people would still be angry but not motivated to enter the war fully since the Japanese were not a precieved threat.
Thus, you don’t begin research on the atomic bomb until well after Hitler has already dropped a couple on London.
I could save thousands of men on the Arizona at the cost of millions in London. I just don’t know how one life will affect another. However, if I were standing next to a soldier who was about to be shot by a passing Japanese plane, I would push him to safety. I realize this is inconsistent on a small scale but I am tired of watching people die in front of me. If there is a price to pay for that than so be it.((Isn’t it just as morally wrong to affect lives through inaction as it is through action? Hint: The answer is YES.))Why are you concerned about what I might do to corrupt your world-line when you have no problem letting other people do it around you every day? Do you blame yourself for not taking any action right now to “save” people living on your streets or suffering from poverty and disease? Besides, how exactly would you propose I decide who to tell and who not to tell? (provided I knew anything at all).((Your immediate decision, in itself, is its own authority.))What God judges about my decision is the only authority. Again, all the things you claim I can do you are capable of also.((If good and evil achieve a balance in the larger picture, as you suspect, and all life is “God” experiencing physical manifestation, the question of you being required to decide who lives or dies is moot.))It’s not moot to me. To tell you the truth, I’m afraid.
I don’t want the responsibility of being expected to know who lives and who dies. I know it would change me for the worse.
Besides, how can you be sure my “inaction” now isn’t a result of something I’ve already screwed up and I’m trying to fix it? Javier might be right after all. Thanks for the good questions.
I am on Lola’s question at the top of 19.
Posted by Stephen McKay on 03-01-2001 05:23 PM
Javier,I’ve been following this thread from the start, but only posted once or twice. I had a read of your site. Let me see if I can get this straight – It’s not so much that you don’t believe John is a Time Traveller, you just wish to uncover his secret agenda? I don’t mean to sound sarcastic, from what I read on your site you seem to believe in Time Travel, you’re just not a fan of it.
I’ll make sure that this is where you’re coming from before I comment on it…Steve
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-01-2001 07:49 PM
Stephen, or do you prefer Steve?Yes, I do strongly believe in time travel. And it’s not so much that I believe John is a time traveler as well, but yes I like uncovering people’s lies when they make grand accusations like that. So far, I have to say John is very clever. But personally I don’t like Time Travelers, so I can’t be like you or the rest and listen to him.Basically like I said, I’m a paradox. My way of thinking may at times be inconsistent, but that’s how I have always been. It’s my curse. To believe in something, and experience it first hand, and to then shake it off and say it’s not real.Sorta like a double personality, but not really. But I’m not crazy , I can however get really angry at times.I guess I’m just following in the footsteps of my great great great great great great great great ancestor. I’m someone with conviction, just how he was. And if it weren’t for him, there would be no Mexico. Not that he was a good man, and not that he was a bad man either. He was a man with great conviction.I try and do as I see morally right with my conviction. And I always choose integrity above all else.Javier C.
Posted by Daniel Kirkbride on 03-01-2001 09:42 PM
Javier,I am curious as to what drives you to so passionately need to “save” people from what they want. To over simplify things for the sake of brevity, some are following this thread in the pursuit of entertainment and their own curiosity, and others are willing to buy whatever snake oil is closest at hand to make their lives more interesting.
Exploring possibilities and boundaries is both healthy and fun. On the occasion that it becomes unhealthy and obsessive, well that’s just natural selection. At least in this situation those more prone to get carried away are free to choose their own poison in whatever dose they see fit. You yourself being a perfect example.
Besides, if everything john says is absolutely true, what harm has been done? Any changes in this particular world line are specific and inevitable and alterations are only alterations to those with the perspective of light cones dipped a couple of degrees off the beaten path.
For those naturally in our specific world line the only change made is the change that was going to be made anyway.
For john any change does not affect his own world line for the same reasons. The only change is in the degree of difference between these two lines, which is only evident from an outside perspective, but that variance is absolute.
In short, it is possible to go back in time and kill you parents, but only by traveling to the world line where that is what happens. You can then decide out of remorse to go back and kill yourself to save your parents, but only by going to the world line where you do that.
However this does not change the world line where you successfully commit parricide, because in that line they did die. Future and past within a specific world line is absolute.
Time travel merely grants the traveler the unique ability to recognize variances between world lines.
Therefore, any changes to our world line are actually not really changes, because our tomorrow will be what it is going to be and will not change when looking at it from the perspective of the day after tomorrow. So no matter how insidious or innocuous johns “secret agenda” is, he cannot affect any changes that he is not going to affect anyway.
It’s a battle that can’t be won because in our future it already has or has not been. I know this all sounds a little convoluted, but the mathematics behind it all are actually rather simple. Which brings me to a question for John.John,I don’t mean to suggest that I accept any of what you claim, but I do have a technical question.
Are the singularities in your machine supposed to be offsetting the light cones of particles within it’s sphere of influence allowing the world lines of these particles to appear to loop form the perspective of particles outside the effected area?
I don’t mean to insult you by spelling out the obvious to you so basically, but that seems the most obvious need of a singularity.
If so, how can you account for generating a gravity well deep enough to create such a disparity between light cones without sucking the planet through the eye of a needle?
Also, this requires motion through the space immediately influenced by the mass, yet you claim travel is accomplished while the traveler is stationary. I look forward to your response….
Posted by Stephen McKay on 03-01-2001 10:02 PM
Javier,Probably prefer Steve, but it doesn’t really bother me. As far as I can see John is not making accusations but claims. I also think it is important to uncover deception, but I’m not sure what makes you so sure that John is lying.He may slip up, but he’s only human, as are we all. I just don’t think the point lies in whether or not John is from the future. He’s made his claim and unfortunately there is no proof either way. As much as you may believe it, I don’t think you can use his posts to disprove his claims, nor can they be used to prove them.The point is that what he says is fascinating. Millions of people go to see psychics and fortune tellers, not because they believe they are seers and everything they say is true, but because they are curious. I think that is the same attitude of most people asking questions of John. If John did tell us of a company whose worth jumps drastically in the next few years, I honestly doubt that anyone on this thread would invest their savings in that company.They’re not devoting their lives to John’s words, they’re just interested. As I said earlier, if John’s telling the truth, then we all get a sneak peek and preparation for the future; if not, then all we get is an entertaining story. If we read this thread in that light, then we have nothing to lose.Steve
Posted by Michael E. Hendrickson on 03-01-2001 10:32 PM
Regarding your 2-21-01 comments on my first post,i.e.,
that I should view the video “Waco,The Rules Of Engagement” to get a better understanding and appreciation(I suppose)for federal law enforcement personnel acting criminally beyond the pale. And ,you asked rhetorically,( I may be paraphrasing somewhat) “if the allegations made in this piece were proven to be true, what would you hope would happen, nothing?”My answer to that is that if these allegations were proven to be true I would not have hope, but rather every confidence that our criminal justice system would prosecute and convict whoever the criminal perpetrators turned out to be, whether federal cops, or otherwise(thereby obviating the need for citizen uprisings).
The ATF,followed by the FBI, clearly blundered at Waco, causing the needless deaths of some 80 of our citizenry. However, to charge these federal officers with criminal violations of the law either directly orimpliedly as is done in this video, simply doesn’t accord with the real facts. Actually, there’s some evidence now to suggest that not only the FBI, but other federal as well as state and local law enforcement agencies have learned something from the Waco tragedy, and will take great care not to repeat it.
[Really? Such an optimist. - Metallicman.]This, of course, goes directly against your predicted scenario for the next 11 years, which posits a series of Waco type events crescendoing ,finally, in a full blown civil war, with honest citizenry from the heartland (with shotguns, I suppose) battling the evil forces of our federal governmentBaloney! This is the typical paranoid militiaman mentality which manifests itself often in your writings,in references to federal policemen conducting illegal searches and engaging in other depredations against innocent citizens. I guess all these things happen after our Constitution is suspended, and our republlican form of democratic government, now 225 years old, all comes crashing down in less than a dozen years, under your projected scenario. More nonsense.
Perhaps, your mentor and guide is that goofball from West Virginia (I can’t recall his name)who has written and sold a militiaman’s manual of sorts,and which I think makes many of the same kinds of predictions which you have been making. I know that I previously wrote that I thought,perhaps, the inspiration for your story of our near future was a science fiction novel. However, now that I’ve given the matter some further thought,I beleve a good part of it may come from this militiaman’s manual. MH[Edited by Michael E. Hendrickson on 03-01-2001 at 11:11 PM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-01-2001 11:43 PM
I can save you all a bunch of rhetoric. It’s a matter of principal that drives me.I don’t believe John is a Time Traveler. It’s the principal behind it all that motivates me to question him though. It’s what makes my blood boil; it’s my outlet to speak out. And like I said before, maybe if you’ve gone through what I have, you’d also want to protest Time Travel.Time Travel = Exploitation
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-01-2001 11:45 PM
I’ll be gone soon. I really do not have time for this.
First of all, to Rick, everyone wants to protect their family. The reason I can not buy into this is: if John is making up a story, it is a very wrong thing to do.
The interests of the day are the same ones from back in the ’50s.
People were building bomb shelters, and by the 1960’s, I was there, everyone thought that no one would survive a nuclear war. It is self-evident.
The US alone has more nuclear weapons that would blow up this Planet a 100 times over. I had 32 nuclear missiles aimed at me every second of every minute of every hour of every day for the thirty years this Cold War was going on.
By the 1970’s smiling Pres. Jimmy Carter said, “Its MAD”, Mutual Assured Destruction. If we are to have a War, we will not stop until everything is utterly completely destroyed for we can not win a Nuclear War.
Carl Sagan came out in the 1980’s and said if too many nuclear missiles are released in even a limited nuclear war that it would cause a nuclear winter. If anyone survived, there would be no food, and like in the past when the dinasours disappeared, humans would just die off. No one wins in a Nuclear War.
In the 1980’s Pres. Reagan said exactly that, “If you launch, we launch, if we launch, you launch”. “NO ONE WINS”. Everyone dies. We will start Star Wars, to protect ourselves.
Of course Star Wars the movie was out in 1980 and told us about something new, a new way of looking at things, yes, the Force. Use the Force. What do you think people have been doing? It commonly referred to as a Relaxation Response Method.
You block out negative thoughts coming into your head, by conscious effort, and say something like “Cancel, cancel.”
This takes practice and effort to reprogram your brain. What we have now in the US is people who do not know these techniques. We have been doing this since about 1985. Star Wars Reagan began a process that nuclear weapons would be reduced.
Now in the 1990’s, Saddem was not going to get by with his “Naked Agression” and thats exactly what Pres. Bush meant.
Now Pres. Clinton signed an Accidental Nuclear Release Treaty with Pres. Boris Yelstein. If terrorists get ahold of a nuclear device, we will call first, to avoid an all out exchange of nuclear missiles.
Some in the US, as some in Russia, think a Nuclear War is winable, IT IS NOT.
This has been proven time and time again.
Yet minor countries like North Korea or major countries like China or India or Pakistan want to continue on with developing longer ranged nuclear missiles. They already have them.
The point is the SDI defense, making nuclear missiles obsolete. How? That’s easy. It’s still the same with the US. We have more nuclear weapons than Russia. If anyone launches a all out War, the US will literally destroy this entire Planet. AND WE MEAN IT.
We have lived it, so when someone comes and says I am from the future, and there is a Nuclear War and a Civil War, I say “Bull”.
Every country in this world knows that the US will destroy this entire Planet if it needs too. There will not be a limited Nuclear War in my estimation.
Having all lived through this 50 years of crap, makes us not be interested by annoying people claiming this or that after having a Cold War with Russian leaders. We are not amused at this type of behavior.
This will not cause a Civil War, or a Nuclear War, got it.
[Oh so very sure. So very sure. Well, the year is 2018, and look at who is in charge of America. - Metallicman.]
Here are the people who operate the enormous buracracy in the United States. You know, the ones that say one things and do the other. John Brennan. James Clapper, and their ilk.
Posted by John Titor on 03-02-2001 05:46 AM
DANIEL:((Are the singularities in your machine supposed to be offsetting the light cones of particles within it’s sphere of influence allowing the world lines of these particles to appear to loop form the perspective of particles outside the effected area?))
No, that’s not how it works.
The singularities are used to manipulate gravity around the observer.
The singularities do not interact with any matter except the electrons that are injected onto its event horizon.
The hazardous areas of gravity are quite small and exist only around the inner singularity ring and another area created in the gravity sinusoid outside the vehicle.
((I don’t mean to insult you by spelling out the obvious to you so basically, but that seems the most obvious need of a singularity.))
No insult taken.
I would imagine we both agree that standing behind an operating jet engine is an unhealthy thing to do also.
((If so, how can you account for generating a gravity well deep enough to create such a disparity between light cones without sucking the planet through the eye of a needle?))
The gravity well created by the singularities is not that large.
The portion of the field that is felt by the operator is about the equivalent of 2 Gs.
I would urge you to examine a Penrose diagram for a Kerr black hole.
As you are probably aware, the singularity is donut shaped and exhibits two event horizons.
The singularities are used to “simulate” a path through the center of one of these singularities which is what takes the observer to an alternate worldline.
Earlier in the thread I did go into this in a bit more detail.
((Also, this requires motion through the space immediately influenced by the mass, yet you claim travel is accomplished while the traveler is stationary.))
The unit must be stationary during operation due to the sensitivity of the gravity sensors. Any motion with an acceleration component would throw the gravity measurement from the singularities off.
Posted by Joe Applebaum on 03-02-2001 06:12 AM
I’m new and I didn’t get a chance to read every post up to this point, so I’m sorry if my questions are repeats.1. Could you explain your theory about world-lines? Are there infinite world-lines? Are all world-lines separate or connected to each other in some way?2. Where did you attend High school and what year did you graduate? Was it difficult?3. What college did you attend, what year did you graduate? Would you estimate that your college life was similar to ours in our world-line?4. Hypothetically: If you fell in love with someone here (lets say Pamela) and you took her “back to the future” with you in your timex machine, wouldn’t that act upset both of our world-lines especially if she were pregnant? Or all of the world-lines,assuming time travel is possible? Conversely, If you were gay and you took a gay man back with you, would that disrupt the world-lines less, assuming the both you could not bear offspring.5. Have you had a chance to watch a movie here that you had already seen in your 2036 word-line? If so, did they have the same endings?Thank You, looking forward to your replies.
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-02-2001 06:45 AM
John: Thanks for your response.
I understand the dilemma and paradoxes involved in the moral questions. I’m still not convinced, though, that of the two basic choices of involvement/non-involvement when faced with an immediate moral dilemma, you find inaction okay but action (active intervention) suspect. I don’t see why you don’t regard them equally.
Example: I’m at a blind intersection and I see a bus barreling down on a man who’s crossing the street. Would God condone me staying out of it because I feared the moral ramifications of the myriad future scenarios?
This kind of second-guessing would prevent any immediate action.
Lifeguards, firemen and cops would be rendered obsolete. With such a standard I could leave a kitten up a tree, a wandering child outside on a cold night, a blind woman headfirst in a snowbank, on and on, because I really don’t know what affect these living beings will have on future events.
How can a God expect you to be omniscient, that’s His job. Since you’re not omniscient you’re not responsible, which is what I meant by “moot.”There are an infinite amount of variables. Therefore the Pearl Harbor scenario is ambiguous. You don’t know that involvement of a time-traveler would prevent a nation’s motivation. Or that it wouldn’t. Or that your inaction is any more moral than involvement.What concerns me is that your reasoning endorses any sort of non-involvement in day-to-day events – yes, even cowardice. All the lives that Schindler saved, for example? He should have simply stayed out of it because one of their descendants might someday become a second Hitler? I’m sure those he saved would have a different opinion.
I need to think about this more.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-02-2001 08:01 AM
Javier: [Well Rick, you seem to have a passionate belief in something as well. Yet you blame me for having the same zest. You accuse me of being harsh; yeah maybe I was just a tad. But you call these people who want to take away the second amendment “nuts,” how do you think they will feel about you saying that? So I see it as something one in the same. ]Javier, I do have a passionate belief in something – the Constitution. But, you misunderstand a bit. I’m not BLAMING anyone for anything. Let me see if I can say this simply… we all want to learn something.
By you (or anyone) denying outright the existence of something – or attacking it directly as a “bad thing” without listening to both sides, you deny the chance for observation, and therefore, learning.
Nothing against your methods, but, to put the problem into the perspective that “this is simply wrong” without back up justification for it being wrong – other than your own perception (which some of us might not understand) makes it hard for anyone to follow the story.
I just have a problem with anyone lumping EVERYONE that doesn’t have the same beliefs as that person (doing the ‘lumping’), in the same category.As for your example of my calling the anti-gun people “nuts” – it isn’t the same thing.
We do not know the “history of time travel” but we DO know the history of Europe and America and that many, many times history has shown that tyrants take arms from the people to keep themselves in power.
This has been repeated over and over throughout history.
Our history, our time line.
So, I could care less if they are “upset” by me calling them nuts. They are, plain and simple, ignorant people who do not know or understand their own history – and who use emotionalism to take something away. They are wrong and by my defination they are nuts.
You are calling everyone sheep who are going along with the story line here, because they are curious, wish to learn, understand or perhaps even believe that there is some truth to the story. There is nothing wrong with someone following along or playing along with the story, it certainly does not make them sheep.The difference is, we do not know for certain Time Travelers can affect the world time line of ourselves.
If they can and do, we WOULDN’T KNOW IT! If, as in John’s example, he goes up the hill and helps the Radar folks (and I’m very familiar with not only this particular story, I’m familiar with various historical changes that MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED because I’ve written a paper on that VERY subject many years ago in college) – then there might have been changes that would have prevented us from entering the war, developing the bomb before Hitler and perhaps we would all be speaking German today.
So if that happened because of a time traveler… would we know it? How do we know that someone DIDN’T interfere already ALLOWING US TO WIN THE WAR? We do not know this.Michael E. Hendrickson: Just a couple quick comments, because I am not sure I understand where you’re coming from. Apparently you have a problem with “militia” people.
I’ll tell you this from my point of view, with 26 years of military and goverment service, having sworn to protect and defend the Constitution. I have been on both sides of this fence.
The Constitution is first. Before anything else.
Militia people – those who fancy themselves as protectors of the Constitution – are. They are very keen on what is going on in the world today. They will be backed up by military members should a “civil war” ever occur in this country.
The military will protect the Constitution first.
You see, the government is by, of and for the people – meaning that people run it. People are part of this country and people are corruptable, regardless of your belief that they aren’t.In the past six months, several illegal raids by the BATF have occurred in Mesa, Arizon.
I will give you the opportunity to look up the information yourself, because you won’t find it in the normal media. But you will find that people like the Right to Keep and Bear Arms organizations have been tracking these things.
So, the government, run by people who make mistakes DO MAKE MISTAKES. And they need to get their act together before a lot more people become aware of their mistakes.
I don’t care if you’re anti-gun or not, that’s fine. But if you are (not you personally, but “you” in the generic sense) then you are unaware of the GOOD that guns can do – or simply do not care (this is not directed at you Michael, but the general anti-gun people who say things similar to what you did).And for the record – just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean people ARE NOT OUT TO GET YOU! Remember that. A little paranoia goes a long way to keeping people honest. That is a fact. In my current position, if I WEREN’T paranoid, I couldn’t get my job done!!!!!!!!!!!!Albert Cattoir: Albert, I’m not sure if you were trying to teach me something or not. You didn’t tell me anything I did not already know and understand.
Let me tell you something… I have lived in Detroit Michigan, Oklahoma City, Washington, DC and Colorado Springs – among other places. All of those places had dozens of nuclear warheads pointed at them during the cold war. Some STILL have nukes aimed at them (specifically where I live now, at NORAD. So, like you I’ve lived under that shroud as well.I was there with Reagan and Bush.
I wear a belt buckle George H. W. Bush gave me just prior to his inaguration – not that it has bearing on this conversation, but it shows at least to me and my family that I’ve been there through some of the most important moments of history in the 20th century.
I was there when the wall fell.
I was there when the Iranian rescue mission failed.
I was there, and shot at several times, during the contra days in the late ’70s.
I understand and fully aggree with the old SDI projects, and now NMD. That’s my job… I want it to succeed and work. I would love nothing more than to see nuclear weapons become an obselete, even archane and useless weapon.So, please do not assume that because you were there, the rest of us were not. As to your last comments….[There will not be a limited Nuclear War in my estimation. Having all lived through this 50 years of crap, makes us not be interested by annoying people claiming this or that after having a Cold War with Russian leaders. We are not amused at this type of behavior. This will not cause a Civil War, or a Nuclear War, got it.]In your estimation – opinion, there will not.
In MY estimation – it CAN happen and will if the opportunity presents itself to those who wish to see American fall.Denial, however, is a symptom from which we all suffer from time to time. We do not want to see bad things come to pass and therefore deny it can possibly happen.
Civil war can be caused by many things.
In our country – a place considered by us Americans to be the best place in the world to live, it hasn’t happened since the 1870s… a barbaric time in history.
Now, we believe we are above that.
I hope we are. However, look around you. Examine the distrust people have for a growingly powerful government that can arrest you for even THINKING bad thoughts today.
The so-called “Hate Crimes” bills they keep trying to pass are a good example.
Who cares what you and I think about each other, or someone else? Only those who feel “threatened” by our thoughts. Why should I bow down to someone who believes I SHOULD NOT THINK A CERTAIN WAY?
Civil war is not only POSSIBLE in this country, if trends in social behavior continue, and government continues to grow at an exponential rate, taking more and more of YOUR MONEY then more and more people will become dissatisfied.Limited nuclear war is NOT impossible and under some circumstances, very probable.
You seem to forget that our national policy is to use nuclear weapons if attacked by anyone with any weapons of mass destruction. That is, if some city in the US, or military personnel (or embassy) were attacked with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, our response would be swift, and severe.
A nuclear strike on the perpetrators WILL happen.
At that point it becomes a limited nuclear war. (If something I saw yesterday has any truth, then we were so close to a nuclear war during the Kursk incident, you people will pee your pants!)John’s being on this forum and making the claims he makes points out that there are indeed social problems today with which we all live. Those social problems, indeed the world problems we observe all around us from Israel to Russia, from Central America to Washington DC show that we live in an unstable world, in the 21st Century.
Our actions – those actions of individuals – touch the lives of many, many others around us. People we know and do not know will be touched by one thing you do today.If John is a time traveler, out of his own time line, then he exists here today because of something some scientists did some time ago, just as some people, perhaps entire families DO NOT EXIST TODAY because of the actions of some other scientists in 1945 at the Trinity site in New Mexico.Today might be the day that a new Einstein is born, or dies due to an accident. Today might be they day aliens land and make first contact. I doubt that any of these things will happen, but that doesn’t make it impossible. Keeping our minds open to the possibilities of WHAT MIGHT BE only helps us to prevent the evil things that might befall the human race.
To deny that evil can happen, denies good the chance to defend itself.
Posted by John Titor on 03-02-2001 08:07 AM
I plan to address the previous questions in more detail but I thought this was interesting and might add something.
Lola States:((I postulate that you actually do not have any more of an advantage or responsibility than the person who grabs someone who is about to step off the curb and get hit by a bus. I would not stop and think ‘gee, I don’t know, do they deserve to be saved from the fate of a roadkill?’ A doctor or priest does not take it upon himself to decide who should be helped. A jet pilot doesn’t stop to think “Hey, air travel is pretty unnatural, these people should have to walk and row their way to Paris. I am messing with the way time and space is perceived and the nature of reality with this form of transportation.” Time travel is just another form of transportation in one sense. Our possible new ability to time travel in the future may not seem any more exotic than our ability to access other cultures is now.))
I agree with this also.
((Why is it different than using a jet to go to a primitive tribe and give them, say, antiobiotics. (never mind the problems with antibiotics)It is a high tech way of interfering with a culture. Who cares what time zone. Ethically isn’t it the same?))JIM:(( Are you posting on other (non time travel related) boards without revealing your status as a time traveler? Is the conversation as interesting? What are your conclusions so far?))
Not really, there are a number of science rooms and other chats I do visit and just sit and watch.
I have discovered that people who frequent this board and some others have the most open and creative minds.
I realize no one actually believes me but they are still able to look past that and ask some very important and interesting questions.
CRAIG:((… are, or were, you in contact with TTs in 2036, and if so, what percentage of the people accept it as possible? After the flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, it took 10 plus years for people to accept it as anything more than just an urban myth.))
The general public was informed about time travel around 2034.
Yes, I have had conversations with other time travelers on my home worldline.
Your insight on the public is more or less correct. I would say 60% of the people realize what it is and the possible implications, 20% of the people don’t care, 10% don’t believe it and another 10% see it as something that should be banned and stopped.
DOUG:((Likewise, imagine if a time traveler from the future came to this time period and told us the secret of time travel.))
Yes, imagine that. Do you think that would be a good thing or a bad thing?
RICK:((John – commercials. They are ignorant commercials. In fact, almost every commercial on television these days are either totally stupid (so they come out funny), or they are aimed at people whose humor suffers from being “in the black” a lot. Black humor seems to be the way things go these days. I don’t much care for it.))
Back in the 50s and 60s, television commercials were pretty straightforward. Usually along the lines of, “Cheese! It’s good! Buy cheese.”
In the 70s, there was more identification with a producer or trademark but the commercials were still pretty easy to understand. “Buy this beer, it tastes great!”
Today, I have no idea what some commercials are advertising until they show the logo at the end. Do you find this more effective?
Only recently have I seen this move toward dark humor. I’ve never seen anything like it before, even in “your” archives in 2036.
FLIP top of 20
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-02-2001 12:01 PM
Rick,
Your post brought to mind a conversation I had with a woman from Yugoslavia several years ago just a few months before the war started there. She was very adamant that there could be no real civil strife. Everyone got along very well, there were mixed marriages, mixed neighborhoods and in general everyone and everything was very civilized.
Not a year later they were in a full civil war and doing unimaginable things to one another.
This woman was a University philosophy professor who had spent her entire life in Yugoslavia.
As you say, anything can happen.
People are the same EVERYWHERE. It is foolish to imagine that things that happen in Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Africa and have happened here are now no longer possible because we are now so evolved and civilized.
History has the most important lessons for us yet we are unable to learn from them (or maybe it is truly impossible for us to change). But one thing is for sure-History repeats itself.Lola
At that comment, I would like to post a comment that I found on Free Republic on 4DEC18. Ths comment is in regards to the huge number of non-citizens that get free benefits in America and the fact that Americans themselves cannot qualify for those benefits.
The U.S. is like a sick animal covered with ticks.-10 posted on 12/4/2018, 6:43:13 AM by SpaceBar
Civilizations, nations and people all follow a natural process of birth, growth, stagnation and decay.
Meanwhile, back to the the archives…
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-02-2001 01:13 PM
Lola… you’re right, and I think you said what I was trying to say in a short note. Thanks.In America, we look around us and see a civilized society – where gangs, criminals and hoodlums carry guns illegally every day, and USE THEM – but law-abiding, non-violent people are denied the ease of obtaining or carrying weapons with which to defend themselves.Obviously, this is not everywhere. I think 37 states now have Right to Carry laws now. Colorado, where I live has limited issue licenses for concealed weapons.The point here is that LITTLE things like this challenge us every day. People somehow feel that “a new law” will fix a problem, when really, only common sense – and an understanding of previous laws would really fix the problem. I bring the weapons situation up, because it is a daily concern in my life, as well as the lives of many around me. It is a “hot button” issue for a LOT of people. You either want gun control or you want no gun control.There are those who want to be in the middle (like a certain Congressman who hears from me weekly anymore) and concern yourself with “common sense gun laws” – which still ban guns to some extent.These hot button issues cause people to get upset and DO SOMETHING about the situation. Sometimes one side takes it futher than the other side, which then escalates the situation.No… there is no reason to believe that we will never have another civil war in this country, and there is definately no reason to believe there will never be a nuclear strike on ourselves or another country. Whether or not either of these scenarios would be survivalable is debatable but moot – since the possibilities exist that civil war, and/or nuclear war (whether limited or all-out) still exist.The American or Western culture to which most of us posting here belong, are different in some ways than other countries. But, we are all still human. Humans make mistakes, misinterpert information, and humans simply in large numbers have differences of opinions. Humans… kill their own kind too.Sorry for getting a bit off topic, but I’m still stuck on the Time Traveler Predictions John has given us. While John might not be a real time traveler, I can see merit in his statements.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-02-2001 01:29 PM
Don’t get me wrong. I like the topic of time travel.
Its been known that every civilization that has had something new given to them, say antibiotics, new medicine, or a new belief, has been known to eventually destroy themselves.
The same way if we ever met a alien not from our Planet.
This supposedly has happen, so has time travel. So, the end result is because we were exposed to this, this civilization as we know it, destroys itself. The same question in a form is still asked today:
If a human walks outside and there is a dark cloud overhead, the human says “I think I will grab an umbrella, it may rain”.
The other human walking outside with the first human, says “You will not need an umbrella, if no human exists, then no human will know that there was a dark cloud overhead.”
Which type of human are you, either one or both, or most important, to answer to yourself, why?
If we think that humanity will destroy itself, then maybe our prophecy will fulfill itself, if we think the other way, then John may be already be in an alternate reality in a parallel universe in which case, the future as he knows it never happens.
It reminds me of the show with Jonathan Burke about the book, “Connections”.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-02-2001 03:11 PM
Typing of “Connections”:How can John assume that as dangerous humans on this Planet, we won’t kart off his 500lbs. time machine, so we develop time travel by the year 2036?How can anyone go to jail for stealing a toy that was made in the future?Do not worry, John, we will help get you back to your own reality and own real parallel Universe, so you can travel back in time by the year 2036.
You may have to go through a few alternate realities and parallel Universes, but you will get back to the future.
Any second of any minute of any hour of any day before you leave, we may interfere with your plans?
Do we fulfill any future prophecy by doing this, afterall we assume that we really are dangerous humans on this Planet?
I do not assume that it will be me who does this, it may be someone else, who can tell?
Posted by John Titor on 03-02-2001 03:14 PM
FLIP:((Is spiritual awakening a difficult process; if yes, then why is it so difficult, and are we all capable of it?))Personally, I believe spiritual awakening is difficult. Why? I think God wants us back but the road we have to haul is no picnic. Maybe he’s a little angry for some reason.I think the world is seductively clever in its presentation. “It” wants us to stay here and it distracts us from God by creating want, greed and four or five other motivations. Our goal should be to; yes, have faith and do good deeds but also look past that and have the wisdom and knowledge to realize that this place, this world, this universe is not really our home. The question I ask myself is not can I get to God, it’s am I prepared for what will it be like when I get there.RANDY:((There are plenty of great mysteries, but if your only aim its to ‘get to God’, it is not necessary to solve them.))I mean mysteries not of this world. For example: I suspect that the final thing we will have to give up to get to God is our free will. Do you think many people will be standing at the pearly gates saying “yes” to that one if they had a choice to come back here?[It's statements like this that puts me in the pro-John Titor is a "time traveler" column. -Metallicman]((What do you see for the future of TT in your world-line?))That’s a good question. I am hopeful that one day when we get the planet cleaned up it will be a nice place to live on again and no one will want to leave it. On the other hand, if time travel were commonplace right now, I think a great many people would leave and perhaps never return. There is also a suggestion that time travel might make an interesting punishment. However, I don’t think we have the right to force criminals on unsuspecting worldlines and sending them to the Stone Age might be a bit much.
“All Our Yesterdays” is a third season (and the penultimate) episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek, first broadcast March 14, 1969, and repeated on August 5, 1969. It is episode #78, production #78. In this scene McCoy and Spock are saved by Zarabeth, a beautiful woman who takes them to a sheltered cave. As McCoy recovers from severe exposure, Zarabeth explains to Spock that she too is from Sarpeidon’s future, but a tyrant banished her to this era after some of her relatives were implicated in an assassination plot.
JEANETTE:((I had met someone, a year or so ago, who said he was from the year 2036 also. He said something happened to make this travel all the more possible. He gave me some details, I wonder if they are the same as yours.))Although not impossible, I doubt there is another time traveler here from 2036.
I have been chatting on and off for quite a while and in other chatrooms.
I have also seen and heard about other people who have taken a creative license with some of the things I’ve said and posted. It might have been me but I’ve never heard of the DNE.RICHARD((John,thank you for sharing,I find this fasinating.wanted to ask, has California,had”the Big” earthquake,in your time and has any of the north Coast disappeared?..also, I really do wish that you could be a guest on Art’s show,I am sure it would be enjoyable…thanks again…..Richard.))The big one? As you are experiencing now, there are earthquakes, storms and other unfortunate surprises from Mother Nature that have impacts on your society and future history. That is one reason I won’t go into detail.
However, don’t worry too much about major portions of coastline slipping under water.I do enjoy Art’s show very much and I must admit I’ve been surprised more than once by some of the things I’ve heard.
I’ve seen reference to other “time travelers” that Art has spoken with and I realize his credibility (and ability to have an entertaining program) is at stake when he talks to someone making such extreme claims. As you all know, I think skepticism is good.I enjoy talking to you too. Thanks for the enlightenment.CRAIG on page 20:
Posted by Barbara Clements on 03-02-2001 07:51 PM
John, all kidding aside, an extremely important thing; do they ever get around to making any new Aeon Flux episodes?
Posted by Lynne Lynch on 03-02-2001 07:57 PM
Just a couple of questions for you,1. Can you say if the Geon will be ever be revealed at all in the future?2. What do Guinea Pigs eat in your time frame?
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-03-2001 12:07 PM
SmileJohn,I was thinking about what you wrote here in your previous thread: “”…There is also a suggestion that time travel might make an interesting punishment. However, I don’t think we have the right to force criminals on unsuspecting worldlines and sending them to the Stone Age might be a bit much. “”Whoa! now there is a thought.putting criminals back in time for punishment.What if you put a repeat offender rapist back in the stoneage, or even further….before man.And he started mating with everything he could find.His first target would probably be the apes since there would be no other humans around.He might even create a half-ape/half-man being.Which might alter entire belief systems when they dug up the bones later. Leading people to believe we came from apes.How’s that for creative thinking???? hahahaWhat if he left footprints? or worse yet…a shoe print?Putting angry criminals back in time is probably not a good idea. could you imagine the consequences??hmmmm, I think I know what you mean now by no absolute truths when dealing with time travel….things could always change.sincerely,pamela
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-03-2001 03:12 PM
Okay, the US has social problems. Every country does, including Russia.
Its not a debate to be that War in any form can be avoided. Let’s take the scenarios that John lays out.
A Civil War needs a leader first.
How is this done? By groups hanging out in the invisible. Maybe. The Congress and President drafts everyone it can, the military takes over at first, marshall law can be declared.
What happens, leaders take over, and the President is still left free to perform other duties like monitering Russia.
Russia supposedly attacks.
How limited is the nuclear war.
First it must be defined. Any kind of debate concludes that you are assuming that some form of life exists when it is all over. How many missiles is limited? 150 missiles. How many get through? Einstein used a thought experiment, or imagined relativity. We shoot most of the missiles down, so does Russia, China does not.
Little wars start all over the World. North and South Korea, India and Pakistan. Use nuclear missiles.
The US may bomb Iraq. Now how many missiles are flying totally. Over 500 about. That may be just enough to end life on this Planet. The oceans heat up, the water recedes from ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The Polar Caps start melting, the oceans go up. The magnetic pole of the Earth shifts, it goes too far. The Earth starts moving off it spin axis, resulting in more destruction. Earthquakes now take place, the atmosphere depletes letting water vapor out into space. The land starts going under the water level. Animals turn on humans.
Elephants drop over, trample things. On and on, all because humans could not imagine what the result would be of even a limited nuclear war. Would humans survive this? I do not want to find out.
There’s seem to be an emotion about having a limited nuclear war, that humans would survive, it still takes thought processes. Whatever they are feeling for that emotion is nothing that I want to be around. I am not their slave. The result, life ends even if it takes just a little longer.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-03-2001 09:35 PM
Pamela,Banishing criminals to the past – an interesting thought.I’m glad that there seems to be no evidence that that has happened. As it happens, “criminals” are my business and have been so for the past thirty-three years.I’d have some very strong objections to sending them into the Stoneage (or any other prior age for that matter). As it happens, there truly isn’t a strong correlation between low intelligence and criminal behavior. Criminals tend to be less educated but do possess at least average intelligence.
If we were to send them into the past we’d create a timeline where “modern” ingenuity and “modern” man appear in (circa) 10,000 BC…thus no Stoneage.
Even with a limited education the banished would introduce the technical skills of their chosen trades into that age (criminals really do have work skills – even skills that qualify as “expert” by our standards.) It gets worse if you send them into a “pre-human” era. By fiat you have re-defined “pre-human” to exclude that period from being “pre-human.”OT area:I still see no practical applicability for time travel to our experience.
If it turns out that string or bubble theory is true then time travel is possible – but the “place” traveled to has no connection to our reality. And a successful return trip from another bubble or string is tenuous at best. One would have no way of verifying that the timeline to which they returned was the same timeline from which they left.
If it turns out that there is but one unified timeline, then any meddling with the past (i.e. time traveling) ends causality on the timeline from the instant of the Big Bang and renders the timeline untenable – that is, it precludes the formation of our universe. (The reason for positing that causality ends at the instant of the Big Bang is the result of contamination.
If time travel is possible in a non-string/bubble reality then the time line has the entirity of eternity for time travelers to contaminate the whole of the time line.
Causality fails at all instants on the time line and it collapses before it forms. A macro-singularity of mass-energy & space-time, as it were.)Frankly, I’m probably no different than anyone else who logs onto the Time Travel threads. Thinking about, fantasizing about and pondering the significance of time travel is fascinating. This facet of modern theoretical physics and philosophy is the cutting edge of critical thought.I suppose that time travel is so fascinating for me because everyone who poses an opinion is potentially correct – without exclusion. If time travel can be accomplished then it will be accomplished. Because our timeline appears to be one where cause and effect are directly related then it would appear that string-bubble reality is proved in that context. Our four dimensional view of reality is one (of an infinite array of possibilities) where cause precedes effect. That may not be true of other timelines.
[One of the on-going themes in this "time travel" business is the blank assumption that we all share the same reality; that there is one "world-line" that we all occupy, and from time to time, a person travels from it. In reality, there are multiple realities, and one reality per consciousness. When you look at everything from that point of view all these arguments against time travel collapse. -Metallicman.]
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-04-2001 06:51 AM
RE: Getting back to one’s own timeI assume as we get to the final touches of engineering time travel we will devise a system to ensure a return trip. Analogous to bringing along a ball of twine and letting it out, or, as Hansel and Gretal did, drop breadcrumbs along the way to follow back, or, as spelunkers do sometimes, tie down an anchor point and explore on the tether.There will have to be a fixed starting point that the electronics can follow back. Or some sort of electronic marker or “fix” will be referenced before the trip starts. This means, of course, more sophisticated computers than that old IBM box that John uses (or gear that works in conjunction with it).
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-04-2001 02:54 PM
Thumbs upGot a message back from Doc. John’s images are back up.He said he did some study on the problem, and it seems that Geocities is blocking links from other servers that attempt to access their database.He said he put tto’s images on his comteck server for right now until he can find another one. The pics work on the forum now despite interferance from geocities.magisystemstimelordsanonymusI knew Doc would find a way! hurray DOC!sincerely,pamela[Edited by Mary Rowland on 03-05-2001 at 12:07 AM]
Posted by E. Robert Gonzalez on 03-04-2001 03:35 PM
QuestionI have been a temporal researcher for at least two years now and mostly studied radionic forms of time travel. I personally have not yet used one of the devices but have heard stories and evidence leading me to think they work.
I was also wondering if you have heard of any of the radionic and Steven Gibbs devices.
I have had a possible encounter with my future self that I can only characterize as being very strange. He knew all my most personal thoughts and convinced me over a period of about a year that he was me or atleast someone who knew me very well.
Apparently he came from an alternate time line like you, and his motive seemed more like an informational one to me. It appears at some point in time I might time travel although I’m not sure.
What he told me somewhat corresponds to what you say and that’s what scares me.
[Yikes! - Metallicman.]
I was hoping maybe it was just a future in another universe much different from ours and that my future would be some what peaceful and good to live in.
I now see a picture of a world that is war torn and hard to live in. At first I was skeptical and then accepted you as being a true time traveler with all the evidence and stories you put forth. I hope to maybe send a comment to my future self and ask a couple of questions.
I would like to tell my future self this message: “Never forget Echelon Group and the ones you love you most, keep strong and don’t give up.”
If his time line is anything like mine, he’ll know what I mean. It’s just something to keep his spirits up.
Now for some questions, is it possible that I somehow help any areas of time travel or get noticed in the future (Maybe recognize my name)? Do most of the people of that time die out, especially ones that currently have health problems?
Is it possible that sometime in your future or in your present time that time travel will be common place?
Have any of the scientists of your time discovered any new planets, possibly ones with life?
Has the bandwidth of the internet increased greatly? And finally, one last question…how did Texas fare during the war (If you can answer)?
Thanks for your time…I hope maybe I can e-mail you or maybe I can e-mail you some how and talk for awhile.[Edited by E. Robert Gonzalez on 03-04-2001 at 03:41 PM]
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 03-04-2001 03:44 PM
– – – “Craig on Page 20” ….What comes after that??? LOL
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-05-2001 02:02 AM
E. Robert Gonzalez,I take it by your last name that your Spanish, am I right? I noticed from your post that you believe John’s claims, that he’s actually a bona-fined Time Traveler. You know, once I asked John a very similar question to the one you just asked him. “Am I deeply involved in a Time Travel project?” Knowing already the answer to that question, he answered me by saying that he didn’t know me. And that if he did, he wouldn’t tell me.To everyone:I just wanted to emphasis to the whole public viewing these posts that John still has not made it clear what his secret agenda is. To allow our minds to accept what he says to be true, we accept the very immorality of his secret agenda, whatever it may be.He is a Time Traveler, most of you people believe. Do most of you also believe that he is sincere in everything he says? Yet you forget that he said he would take people back with him.I know that some of you wanted to volunteer. Yet John lied, and now your faith in him is still strong, adjusting accordingly to keep his ideals true. Why am I the only one bringing this up, questioning him? Maybe because I don’t believe him, and because I won’t be disappointed like some of you if I find out he isn’t a Time Traveler. Reminds me of the Heaven’s Gate movement all over again.That’s pathetic isn’t it? I know that some of you want to admit it; you’re in the closet, thinking it over. Whether he truly is, or isn’t. You still have that doubt that refuses to answer. You have a voice… don’t be afraid of using it and taking leadership.Somebody has to be on the opposing side, am I to believe that I am the only one?John has many followers on his side; there is no doubt about that. But do you know what you are actually following?He has put his younger self in danger of someday being found out and exploited by our government. He has exploited the opportunity of using the past to rowdy up events for some secret agenda he claims to have. Saying he will video tape his departure, completely irresponsible of its repercussions. Just to name a few.The choice is ours people; our future is what we want it to be. Do most of you want a future where Time Travel is a way of life? I know I don’t, because how would you feel knowing that your life is not yours to dictate, but mainly what the future wants it to be.I wouldn’t dare think of exploiting the past, to benefit in some event in the future. That goes against my ethics. Obviously, some of you will have no problem with that, and ruin it for the rest of us. Gee, thanks a lot.Sincerely yours,Javier C.
Posted by John Titor on 03-05-2001 06:06 AM
((He is a Time Traveler, most of you people believe. Do most of you also believe that he is sincere in everything he says? Yet you forget that he said he would take people back with him.))Could you do me a favor and point out exactly where I made that offer? I do recall a few people asking what it would be like but I don’t believe I ever offered to take people back.
J.C., a few days ago on Art’s show, I heard Art make refrence to someone named J.C. who was very persistant in calling the show when ever the subject of time travel came up. If it’s you, I admire your dedication.
Also, what happened to your “time cop” thread?
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-05-2001 07:18 AM
Gooten Tag – one and all.I’ve just spent the worst weekend. Wish I could go back in time and correct it.Albert: First I want to address some things you said, but not your entire message. I’ll try to keep my comments brief.“Let’s take the scenarios that John lays out. A Civil War needs a leader first. How is this done? By groups hanging out in the invisible. Maybe.”There are already very, very large militia groups that formed around the time of the last elections. In fact, the NRA is being considered a ‘militia group’ by some now. It grew by millions prior to the elections – mainly due to direct attacks on the right to keep and bear arms. Organizations such as the Militia of Montana have gained hundreds of members in recent weeks. There are others, that are larger. There are leaders, there are invisible groups that even I don’t know about (and I keep track of who’s who in the militia arena – for personal reason, nothing related to my job).“The Congress and President drafts everyone it can, the military takes over at first, marshall law can be declared. What happens, leaders take over, and the President is still left free to perform other duties like monitering Russia. Russia supposedly attacks. ”If and when Martial Law is declared – that will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The current President KNOWS this, and CLinton knew it too. I surmise from his last actions (the pardons for instance) that he felt the timing wrong for declaring martial law and would have if he thought he could have remained in office. Many of the groups I mentioned before were braced for precisely that event. They are braced for martial law. The biggest thing is that if martial law is declared, some believe UN forces will be brought in to suplement US forces. Why? Because foreigners do not have qualms about shooting americans. Keep that in mind if things start looking like they are moving toward that sort of thing.John – can you… confirm from your point of view any of that? (Nothing specific there obviously).“How limited is the nuclear war. First it must be defined. Any kind of debate concludes that you are assuming that some form of life exists when it is all over. How many missiles is limited? 150 missiles. How many get through? Einstein used a thought experiment, or imagined relativity. We shoot >most of the missiles down, so does Russia, China does not. Little wars start all over the World. North and South Korea, India and Pakistan. Use nuclear missiles. The US may bomb Iraq. Now how many missiles are flying totally. Over 500 about. That may be just enough to end life on this Planet. The oceans heat up, the water recedes from ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The Polar Caps start melting, the oceans go up. The magnetic pole of the Earth shifts, it goes too far. The Earth starts moving off it spin axis, resulting in more destruction. ”Obviously, all of this is supposition on both our parts. However, I agree with you about the “smaller wars”. As far as how many get through… right now, all of them. Life will exist when it is all over. You know why? Because there have been many, many “Ice Ages” throughout our geological history. There have been at least 5, (I believe 6) major extinctions already in the history of our planet. Each time a major extinction has occurred the dominate life forms were destroyed, and yet life continued to survive, then thrive and finally a new, dominate life form took over. Each obviously more intelligent than the last.The last two involved dinosaurs and other higher lifeforms, and man is the latest incarnation of dominate lifeform on this planet. Man is capable of total destruction of this world if man does so.“There’s seem to be an emotion about having a limited nuclear war, that humans would survive, it still takes thought processes. Whatever they are feeling for that emotion is nothing that I want to be around. I am not their slave. The result, life ends even if it takes just a little longer.”Emotion is the main ingredient in any war, regardless of whether or not it is nuclear or conventional. People get mad, they fight, they argue and eventually they go to war as a group/country/nation/race/religion/etc. The thought processes change radically from “let’s get along” to “those BASTARDS” to “let’s kill them all” and then back to a very organized thought process of how best to kill the enemy.But, the part that precipitates a war takes very little effort or thought on the part of the antagonists. They simply let their emotions take over. When it gets too far, war starts and after the beginning of the war – the thoughts turn to killing, not how to get out of the war.Nuclear weapons are the ultimate device with which to put a stop to a war. As such they won’t be used until they are deemed absolutely necessary. But, once a war begins, the possibility exists, and as low as the probabilities might seem, they are always much higher than any of us believe.As we can see from this forum alone, the human mind grabs hold of ideas that are on the fringe and believes them. But thoughts that are scary, deadly and even point to the real truth about humanity (how bad and evil people can be if they want) we try to deny those possibilities. We do not wish to believe that the human race is capable of some of the evil that we’ve seen in the past.So – we try to deny it. My point throughout this forum, to everyone including you and Javier is that even if you do not BELIEVE in something, do not believe it can happen, you STILL MUST keep your mind open to the possibilities because then you are forewarned. Forewarned is forearmed.Rick
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-05-2001 08:38 AM
John,That didn’t stop you from having people believe it. You could have come forward and made a public announcement to get it straight with people the first time. And now finally you say you never said it. What not say that the first time I brought it up too?My guess, is that I out-witted you, and now you finally found a come back .Your guess is as good as mine on the thread. I have no idea where it went to. Perhaps it’s the J.C. that’s calling Art’s show. Maybe it’s a future me, who took it down to minimize speculation.Knowing how I am, I know that I will not rest until I bring Time Travel Violators to justice. So maybe there is a high chance that it could be me. Why, scared John? You sounded nervous to me.-J.C.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-05-2001 09:20 AM
I leave the Mr. Time Traveler, and all, a parting gift. The meaning of life is explicit, the questions are not. Whether John’s future is true or not, whether any possibility exists, whether foreigner will kill citizens of the US. The answers were always there, written by other people long ago thinking about life.Written by Thomas Jefferson, June 1776, :When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.The thinking has all been done, still the questions will always be asked. What is the meaning of life? There a glimpse of it from Thomas Jefferson.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-05-2001 09:39 AM
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. ”My point was, and still is that because of this document, because our government is self-governing, because the people control the outcome and not some entity called “government” there is and always will be, as long as the Constitution exists in its present form… the possibilities that those “in power” will make mistakes, either accidently or purposefully, and those accidents will lead to nodes in time.
[Reading comments like this, especially from the point of view of someone in 2018 is amusing...and sad. Yes, people actually believed that we were self-governing. We believed that our votes mattered and not some oligarch. We believed that wars were only fought when necessary, and our taxes would fix the roads. And that the laws were to protect us. What a bunch of dupes we were. - Metallicman.]This “node in time” is what I call the various crossroads where, if a certain incident had not occured then other, larger events would not have occurred.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-05-2001 10:21 AM
Very nicely put Albert.
I agree with Thomas Jefferson. We must do something. The way things are going, lots of people are just letting the government do things to us. No body takes enough of a stand anymore in matters of the government taking away our rights, our freedom.
Look at the picture our resident Time Travel painted for us.
We can’t do jack in his Time Line. And to make matters worse, Time Travel is a way of life to their government and people, and for what hidden agenda?I’ll bet you’ll have some very interesting stories to tell your government about us when you go back John . What will your report entitle?
That you weren’t prepared for the year 2001, and that you had information about your time device leak out?
It’s true; you stated you weren’t ready for the year 2001, who knows what things you could have done different had you been ready.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-05-2001 11:23 AM
And in conclusion, Thomas Jefferson wrote:In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.The US is backed by NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
I think its safe to assume that the people who bought and paid for these weapons of mass destruction may well know what to do with the Devil as soon as I get there, or him, or her.
No, these weapons do not make the World safe, but I do know where I might be going, afterall: “How can God allow a person into Heaven even if that person is praying for forgiveness while still socking it to that place when whoever shows up down there, well maybe?
Is a further question maybe, are humans ever at Peace?
Posted by John Titor on 03-05-2001 11:32 AM
CRAIG:((What music do 20 year olds listen to.))People listen to all types of music. A great deal of it is available over the web. I would also add that people spend much more time making their own music.((What’s the future of cloning.))Cloning full people has been determined to be medically and ethically unsound. We do have research and progress in cloning body parts and creating more viable sperm and egg production.((Any more on Bill Gates? ))Not really. Just curious, why is he of such interest?((Do people wear chips yet?))No. People value their personal independence and ability to take care of themselves.((Are you a marked man?))Not that I’m aware of.LOLA:((I would still like to know what population makes a city big.))Cities become targets because of their military and economic value. Any large area supported by a civil infrastructure is likely to be on that list.((Your time sounds grim. Are you tempted to deliver your computer to 2036 and then retire in the 1970’s? ))
Not at all. I’m anxious to get home.((What did you think about those commercials?))I think those commercials capitalize on other people’s misery and misfortune in an attempt to sell a product. I can understand coming up with an idea like but what confuses me is how does it get past that stage? How do people sit in a room around a large conference table and agree that leaving a critically injured person lying in the snow is funny and will sell cell phones?Page 21
Posted by Chester Ward on 03-05-2001 12:15 PM
I’m new to the forum as of today and having just read the older discussions, I can tell you when you “invited” people to time-hop with you. Although your post of February 9th wasn’t truly an invitation to join you when you travel back, I can see how it could have been taken by some as being such.I’d love to go back to the funkier times of the ’70s; every day I feel more out of step with today’s world. If there’s room for me and you are amenable to it, could you really drop me off in 1975? If so please reply. Thank you.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-05-2001 12:24 PM
SmileAhh haa. Busted John.See you did lie, and you kept it going. So your just as guilty whether or not you implied it directly or not. The point is, people believed you, and you did nothing to stop that.Way to go John, still waiting for that public apology.
Posted by John Titor on 03-05-2001 12:52 PM
((Although your post of February 9th wasn’t truly an invitation to join you when you travel back, I can see how it could have been taken by some as being such.))I’m sure many things by many people are taken in many ways. I find this an interesting point because I think its important to have implied agreements on words and meanings before you can talk with another person. If it wasn’t an invitation (by your own acknowledgement), am I responsible for what people think? If I am, how would you propose that I double check that? Are there really that many people out there upset about this?((Way to go John, still waiting for that public apology.))I publicly apologize for confusing you J.C. and anyone else who is packing their old bell-bottoms and shalls for a trip back to 1975.
Just curious J.C. Can you think of anything I could do to prove to you that I’m not a time traveler?
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-05-2001 01:06 PM
Smile((Just curious J.C. Can you think of anything I could do to prove to you that I’m not a time traveler? ))I’m confused… what do you mean? I don’t think you are. Just wanted you to get your own story stright that’s all.It’s not my fault I found some discrepancies. You didn’t get upset with Pamela when she did too. All I did was pointed them out to you. Just how she did. Right?Hypocrisy, I tell you.-J.C.P.S. Now don’t you feel better now after you apologize? It wasn’t so hard after all, I don’t see why you waited so long to do so ?[Edited by Javier Cortez on 03-05-2001 at 01:29 PM]
Posted by Barbara Clements on 03-05-2001 01:14 PM
John;Since Heaven’s Gate was mentioned, I would like to say those involved in Heaven’s Gate were seeking a meaning for their lives. They wanted the easy way out, to hand thinking over to someone else, and follow with the implication they were now endowed with that meaning. I think they must’ve had a feeling of lack of meaning in the first place. Maybe people wish to believe in a time traveler in order to feel the same way. That they have meaning to their lives, proved by the fact that they are under the surveilance of someone ‘important’.Perhaps you are a time traveler, perhaps you are Whitley Streiber under a pen name, who knows? Thomas Jefferson wrote with thoughts that mattered not if he ever transcended his own time bodily, his mind did it for him. The beauty of his soul came from his ability to think in relation to his fellow human beings with empathy for their plight. If time travel is possible, someone please give him a bus ticket, because we need him in every time available.[Edited by Barbara Clements on 03-05-2001 at 01:44 PM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-05-2001 01:21 PM
Now that we have the “What If Scenarios”.If it happens, it happens.
Similiar to questions asked here, another forum discussed some possibilities in the form a a Forum Story Googolplex. That was at http://www.sidgames.com/forums in the topic class: Off-Topic.
The story came down to the question “Can humans with run-on sentences increase the total mass of the Universe, at which point, it buldges at it seams, and we cause a split, or a duality, of the Universe with all of this Information Age, or that the Universe is destroyed, (blows up) from the increase in mass due to run-on sentences?”If it happens, well, I guess, it happened.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-05-2001 01:22 PM
Thumbs upBarbara,That was beautifully put . I hope though, that your post actually reach some people.
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-05-2001 01:47 PM
Barbara,Thomas Jefferson owned 2,000 slaves.Lola
[And your point is...? -Metallicman]
Posted by Chester Ward on 03-05-2001 01:48 PM
…about returning to ’75.I’m not in any way trying to jump on the “let’s trip John up” bandwagon here. I’m sorry if that’s how you took it. You asked if someone would point out the “invitation” and, as the post was fresh in my mind, I did, and also clarified it as “not exactly an invitation”. I asked if you’d consider taking a hitch-hiker, as I’ve no reason to doubt you’re being who you say you are, I absolutely believe time travel happens and have, for the past decade, dreamed of going back to simpler times. Since you’re stopping there anyway….
Posted by Randy Empey on 03-05-2001 02:15 PM
Javier —Actually, I have a question (which is along very simular lines as what I think John is getting at) that I want to see you answer: Can you prove or disprove anything? And if your answer to that is ‘Yes.’ then I’d also like to have you prove it.[Edited by Randy Empey on 03-05-2001 at 02:24 PM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-05-2001 02:28 PM
Here is a link to Russia, http://allnews.ru , did I just prove it?
Posted by Barbara Clements on 03-05-2001 02:32 PM
Lola, those were the times.
Posted by E. Robert Gonzalez on 03-05-2001 02:45 PM
I probably worded it wrong when I talked about believing John. I am now leaning towards the possibility that he is a time traveler for alot of personal reasons as well.
I hope I can get my questions answered by John and further understand your apparently grim future. Apparently the more visible mission of my “future-self” was to save my future and that of my family’s. I am very worried about the future and would do my best to protect the ones I love.
If I can atleast be prepared for it, then maybe I’ll fare well.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-05-2001 02:50 PM
Randy,Prove what? All I did was point out John’s discrepancies. I think it’s proof enough, if you can see what he’s said in past post, and what he says now. It doesn’t match up.
Posted by John Titor on 03-05-2001 05:49 PM
ANGEL:((Can you tell us if reverse speech is used in the future for business or even pleasure?))I’m not very familiar with reverse speech but what I saw on the web leads me to conclude it’s a bit objective. I’m not sure if its been proven scientifically to be very accurate. Are you aware of any research that shows that?((Also, can you talk about earthquakes in California or Nevada?))No I can’t.
Besides, I see others predicting earthquakes and very few people pay any attention to them.((Thanks, John, for starting this topic and sharing your time with us. We are really enjoying it and you!))I appreciate that a great deal. Your future will be fine.RANDY:((Warping time and space takes lots of energy))Yes it does. A nuclear aircraft carrier and a space shuttle main engine also take a great deal of energy.((. .. making finding out if or how TT works hard . . . is this because of some accidental way the universe turned out, or is it a fundamental law written in by the Creator?))Hawking believes it’s possible to build a time machine but a mysterious energy will destroy it if anyone tries to use it.
In my opinion, manipulating gravity is not the hard part of time travel. Also, with great power comes great responsibility. If man has a limitation, that’s it.JAMES:((John Titor,what if something happens to your device to get back,let us say inoperable,would you then change the world by announcing warnings,and also what if you got a flat tire inbetwwen times would you have to pull over to fix it in a wrong time?))No, I wouldn’t do anything different if my machine broke. I would still be a stranger and a guest here. My opinions and “announcements” would also be the same as anyone else’s. I may however offer advice to my younger self.LOLA:((I still have some questions you have not responded to but hate to ask again in the event you do not wish to respond or just have not made your way to them yet. Could you let me know which? I will wait to hit you with more until I know the status.))If I missed something feel free to bring it up again.BRAD(( Why aren’t you traveling and telling us about your latest trip to the pyramids…))Yes, that would be fascinating but the unit I have is unable to go back that far accurately.((instead of talking about specifics you should be bored from in your awareness to them?))Not at all, I find the subject fascinating. There are two real issues I hope people think about when I’m gone.
One, how will you react when another time traveler shows up and two, how are we going to handle the responsibility of time travel when its invented.((Are the Great Pryamids still standing in 2036?))Yes, although one of them was severely damaged.((If you wish to experience society as it was, admitting yourself to be a time traverler is counter-productive.))Yes, if I was here for that purpose and if you believed me I suppose that would be an issue.((How’s communication around the world in 2036. Do you still have literature widely available?))Yes, books and other literature are available but most of the distribution is via the net.[Yet another John Titor prediction. Keep in mind that this dialog is from 1998.- Metallicman.]((What’s the latest book you’ve read that you were only able to hear about in your own time?))
The latest book I read was the autobiography of the Red Baron compiled from letters to his mother. Yes, I was aware of it in my own time but finding an original copy there was almost impossible.((Is new literature also so available?))Yes.((Is the english language begining to segment into sects and accents with less influence from trourists? Or is tourism still strong and thriving in 2036.))I would say the English language is pretty much the same as it is now. There are differences in slang and figures of speech but it’s nothing you couldn’t pick up. Yes, I suppose we do have “tourism”.CRAIG:Thanks again for the book reference.JAMES:((can you tell me what year the police will stop busting people for smoking weed???))It happens about the same time they stop coming to your house when you dial 911.((do they start pushing for legalization earlier than the war????))It’s not really an issue of the government letting you do something, It’s more like they have other things to worry about.
Don’t you feel you’re capable of taking care of yourself? If you want to take mood-altering drugs, why should my opinions stop you from that? They don’t stop you from taking alcohol, tobacco or fast food.[Written and penned in 1998 before President Clinton (and his minions) banned cigarettes all over the workplace, public parks, being near children, etc. This was before super-sized cokes were banned by the Democarats in power in NY and NJ. This was before the limitations placed on mnay of the vices that were taken for granted. - Metallicman]
In any case, it also lets Darwin take over. One of the reasons drug abuse isn’t a major problem in 2036 is because no one wants to die from it and everyone else who did is dead.
RICK 22
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-05-2001 06:25 PM
TalkingJohn,Hypothetically speaking, what will make your trip to the future impossible? And if you do go back, what here can change it?Even superman has weakness, and I am sure there is something or someone (hehe ) in this world that can change your future.Some Yang will always exist to oppose some Ying.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-05-2001 07:43 PM
Javier,You make the statement that you do not believe John is really a time traveler…..what is all of this then????(all from this thread..”Iam from 2036″)page 21:“That above example not just shows how irresponsible you are, but how ignorant as a Time Traveler you are as well: “I just don’t know. I was not prepared for the year 2001.” Good choice, 2036″page 22:..”and your future culture finds no flaw with prolonging it. Instead, they gave one of their Time Traveler (meaning you) a device to come to the past and exploit the chance to take and do as you and they see fit.Time Travel is an evil means to get what you want; I wouldn’t be surprised if your world is Satanic. ”page 24:“Hence my hatred towards Time Travel, and Time Travelers. ”“Someone’s got to do something. Who here has the guts to stand up for justice in the matter of temporal violators?”“And as for me being jealous of John, that’s not likely. Why would I be jealous of a Time Traveler? I hate Time Travelers”page 25:“I have to say John is very clever. But personally I don’t like Time Travelers, so I can’t be like you or the rest and listen to him. ”page 26:“Look at the picture our resident Time Travel painted for us. We can’t do jack in his Time Line. And to make matters worse, Time Travel is a way of life to their government and people, and for what hidden agenda?”“I’ll bet you’ll have some very interesting stories to tell your government about us when you go back John . What will your report entitle? That you weren’t prepared for the year 2001, and that you had information about your time device leak out? It’s true; you stated you weren’t ready for the year 2001, who knows what things you could have done different had you been ready”“knowing how I am, I know that I will not rest until I bring time Travel Violators to justice. So maybe there is a high chance that it could be me. Why, scared John? You sounded nervous to me.”“He has put his younger self in danger of someday being found out and exploited by our government. He has exploited the opportunity of using the past to rowdy up events for some secret agenda he claims to have. Saying he will video tape his departure, completely irresponsible of its repercussions. Just to name a few.The choice is ours people; our future is what we want it to be. Do most of you want a future where Time Travel is a way of life? I know I don’t, because how would you feel knowing that your life is not yours to dictate, but mainly what the future wants it to be. ”Javier,With all things considered, Is it not possible that people could misunderstand you as well?for anyone listening to these statements might just come to the conclusion that you may be the biggest believer of all.John said: ((Just curious J.C. Can you think of anything I could do to prove to you that I’m not a time traveler? ))sincerely,pamela“Prove what? All I did was point out John’s discrepancies. I think it’s proof enough, if you can see what he’s said in past post, and what he says now. It doesn’t match up. ”[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-05-2001 at 08:34 PM]
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 03-05-2001 08:09 PM
Barbara those were nice thoughts though isn’t it a bit presumptuous to imagine you know how the Heaven’s Gate people felt? It is my understanding that the majority of them had lived together for some 20 years and had spent a lot of time directly confronting the difficult issues of their own and each other’s lives, in an exciting, supportive and sometimes uncomfortably confrontive way.
People who wanted to leave were given $1000 to help get back into the swing of normal life. Most testimonials talked about how deep their experience of life had been on their path. People here in San Diego who had contact with them spoke of what a joy it was to just be around them.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-05-2001 11:04 PM
A future Russian leader starts a conversation answered by the American leader in the future:Dah!Duh!Dah, Dah, Dah, dah, dah, Dah!Duh! Duh!, Duh!, duh, duh, duh, duh, Duh!Dah! Dah!Duh, duh, duh, duh duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duhDah! dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah,dah dahDuh! duh, duh, duh,duh,duh,duh,duh Duh!Dah!Duh!
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-06-2001 03:43 AM
Well, I been reading more, now I’ll lose some sleep.
It seems that the Civil War part, is what I question.
If I went by what you say John, then, if I’m not too tired, then it would be the Police that start acting weird?
Well, a lot of people seem to be bent towards hate these days. Want to hand out orders, be in control.
But still I just find that the Police are trying to do their job.
Now the lastest is thermal imaging of houses where drugs may be grown. Is that a real loss of a freedom, or should they have the right to (spy) on people with high-tech devices?
A laser that shines on a window can record the conversation going on in the house.
Since I mainly listen to talk radio, this is where I get my info, from a talk-show host that seems to have a nack for finding out things going on in this time.
I guess this is the question that we now have to answer, high-tech equipment helping out law-enforcement?
I still think if people are not doing anything wrong, then these problems can be solved peacefully, not at the expense of human-life?
Others may conclude that it means a loss of rights.
Many people would not like to admit their madness in this day and age. I find that usually fighting for things that may not change to be the biggest problem with people, they want to instantly fight over all things.
It’s this pettyness that drives people now. Road rage, not allowing for other people to think, others not being concerned with what they are doing, causing problems, but a deep un-relaxed feeling that everyone is against them.
Are we blooming flowers or dying wilting flowers?A lot of people scare themselves into thinking doom.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-06-2001 07:36 AM
Pamela,You out of all people, should know that I speak hypothetically. Or if anyone claims to be something, I make it sound if he were, what would he do if he were. Haven’t you noticed? Everytime I question him, it’s to make it seem that if he were a Time Traveler, why is he messing up so much? I don’t believe he is though, you took what I said and attacked me without knowing all the facts. And you know me better then these people, so that makes it even more difficult to understand why you would be so much against me.He didn’t get mad at you when you brought forward his mistakes, but when I bring out his mistakes he gets mad at me, and you support him everytime. That’s just not fair.How many times must I tell you that it’s the principal that drives me. If he is, or isn’t a Time Traveler, he claims he is. I don’t believe him though. You do though, and so do alot of other people here.Excuse me for being on the opposite side of things, but it needs to be known.Have a nice day,Javier C.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-06-2001 08:43 AM
Javier,I am trying to make you aware of something. I am trying to point something out to you.“you took what I said and attacked me without knowing all the facts.”I have only done with your words what you have done with John’s. If you consider this an attack…you might want to consider what you are doing to John.“I don’t believe him though. You do though, and so do alot of other people here.”you are assuming this but have no idea what people believe on this forum unless they have stated it openly. even then….people can change their minds.You, yourself have no proof whatsoever that John is or isnt a time traveler. people have the right to beleive or not believe whatever they want to. Most people just want to hear what John has to say. let them make up their own minds.I am not against you, Javier. I am just trying to make you aware of some things. what you are doing to others, you do not like yourself. And talking about not being fair…I don’t think you are being very fair to John.sincerely,pamela
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-06-2001 09:44 AM
Pamela,Well talk about streching the truth. John was direct in claims of being a Time Traveler, everyone knew I was intentive in exposing him. If that method is to give the example of “What if you were a Time Traveler” “what would you do if” and so on, does not mean I believe he is, if it gave you and him the impression that I believed him. I think that’s where you misunderstood me and all this started.I can do very well without bringing up what you said, I know what you mean. People can make up their own minds. But you must let them choose. Not just let them have 1 side of a subject to choose.Me being quiet, will just leave 1 side. Your side. And that is what I have been trying to make you be aware of for almost a year now.Moreover, did you think I cared what John has said to you about me. NO! Have I ever asked you, NO! What makes you think I care?Just because I said it wasn’t fair, does not mean I want others to feel sorry for me because you think you turned it around on me. I just said that to point out how hypocritical some people can be.-J.C.
Posted by James N. Dickey on 03-06-2001 11:17 AM
WinkLet’s just say for now Ok. I take it the big corporate giants are still around(GE, GM, GF and the like) is the World of 2036 still Money Driven or has that changed.
Does it still Squelch the little Guy with a better Mouse Trap(Free Energie) or more Produtive means of producing Power(Like H2O2 Receprecating Rocket Engine) or the Burk 2-Stroke which was demonstrated in the 60’s and was able to run an 18-whlr with only 60cc engine size.
Did the Perpetual Thermal Steam Disk ever take off in mass Use. or did it preaty much stay the same as it has been(Exploite the Non Renuable Resorcess) and their By Products. Just a few Thaughts for Now. James
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-06-2001 11:37 AM
CoolJohn and all, I have been reading with fascination this thread for a few weeks now. Are you a Time Traveler, John? I do not know. You make an interesting and compelling case, regardless of whether I or anyone else believes that you are.The whole concept of time travel — with its myriad possibilities due to an action occurring in one brief moment — is mind-boggling. To imagine for a moment that a single event sets off unforeseen consequences, and knowing that this happens in infinite numbers at all times, can be quite humbling.Take, if you will, a chain of events which happened to me within the past day. While proceeding to get my two year old a cup of milk last evening, I somehow managed to lose the cap off of the milk carton. My wife then poured the milk into a pitcher and placed it back inside the refrigerator. This morning my two year old went to help himself to another cup of milk, and you guessed it, he dropped the pitcher spilling the contents all over our kitchen floor. This made me 10 minutes later beginning my commute to work, and possibly saved my life as I was not involved in a car accident that occurred where I normally would have been had I left at my normal time.I only mention the above because it seems that even the fact of my encountering this thread on this website seems to all be interconnected somehow.This brings me to another point. I have been very moved by some of John’s accounts, as well as others, in relation to the projected upcoming strife and war. I said I have a two year old boy, which means he is the approximate same age as John. If these prognostications are true, then I certainly do not like what is foreboded for my children.I, personally, am not surprised at this picture because I have foretold this scenario myself, not by implementing any time traveling means, but through observation and analysis. A person only needs to look at the recent presidential election to see that a war is a distinct possiblitiy involving rural America versus the cities. Look at how the electoral college played out. Al Gore carried the heavily populated east and west coasts, with the rural areas between basically favoring George W. Bush.
The mainstream media tried to portray this as proving how close to the “center” the electorate is.
[My have times changed! Eh? - Metallicman]
I, however, hold an opposing viewpoint in that I believe it shows just how polarized we have become. The rural areas want more of a traditional America with traditional family values. I predicted an imminent violent uprising even before the election, and I still hold to this belief. I hope I am wrong.Do I own a gun? No, but I certainly support the Second Amendment and a person’s right to do so.Take care all of you, and God bless America!
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-06-2001 12:30 PM
All very interesting David up previous.
I really do not see rural America really interested in starting an uprising. What is bothering people to me, is constant lay-offs and the changing of life in the Information Age. Some refuse to need this new kind of thinking, ushered in by people using computer more.
This grand thing called the computer to make life easier has also had its drawbacks.
I wish that America would look into a Think Tank type of operation for thinking about issues and quality first, but then I guess that would not be America anymore.
People I guess, feel that they are shoved around, but that is nothing different than previous management from the past. The social problems are a relatively few individuals, whom other people hear more about on the news.
I suggest everyone listen to talk-radio more, only a few shows on TV are worth watching.
As one person put it, greed is driving America, and some feel at the loss of interaction between people. People have their opinions, but like arse-holes, everyone got one, and for the most part, opinions are just a form of belief system held by the individual. People see panic where there may be none.
I put it this way, upper management looks at America and the way individuals are acting and says “I put the operation overseas”, well, at least to me.
Its all concerned with how much of the moola people can have. That may not lead to anything. Combined with taxes and people talk about change.
The best way is still the old way, write your Congress People and keep at it. Most people complain but that is ordinary too.
Life could be a lot harder, we have become slack for saying lack of money to spend on anything. People have no fear, if they do something wrong, they will not suffer the punishment that is needed to correct the situation.
I got the opinion that baby-boomers were treated too good, for some of them, and afterall, I am a baby-bummer, like some of the rest.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-06-2001 02:40 PM
Not much was mentioned about the Middle East (Arab Countries). What happens there? Wiped mostly out like Europe? (WWIII)
Posted by Barbara Clements on 03-06-2001 09:12 PM
Craig;So it doesn’t matter that the Pied Piper is leading you off the cliff? Only that you have a smile on your face as you go down. Well then, all I have to say to you is have a nice trip.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-07-2001 12:04 AM
We live in this world. Not to misuse anyone or site or thing:Here’s a few, I use to have more, now who’s looking?England, and BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/Ireland and the Internet: http://www.nua.ie/ wrote the book about the upcoming digital age for the US. Government.Antarctica through Australia: http://www.antdiv.gov.au/Australia: http://www.newaus.com.au/Russia: http://allnews.ruItaly: http://www.publinet.it/Switzerland: http://www.pubblinet.it/The Constitution: http://www.constitution.org/
Congress but through another website:http://www.freerepublic.com/congress.htmNow China can also be reached, 16 million on Internet, HongKong, Japan.The world got small, so when we assume that America with Canada with Brazil are the only ones on the Internet,
I always wonder who looking at what on the Internet.Well, that my speech, that all you’ll hear. Who may care anyway?
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-07-2001 09:07 AM
Albert Cattoir: “All very interesting David up previous. I really do not see rural America really interested in starting an uprising. What is bothering people to me, is constant lay-offs and the changing of life in the Information Age. ”If you can’t see this (rural America, for one) then you are not looking. It is as plain as your image in the mirror.“People I guess, feel that they are shoved around, but that is nothing different than previous management from the past. The social problems are a relatively few individuals, whom other people hear more about on the news. ”People are being shoved around.
I have been having some serious family problems this past week. I won’t go into details, but, let us say that someone can make an accusation against another in todays society and the person being accused is arrested, held for up to 72 hours without seeing a judge (thereby missing work, school, perhaps getting fired or failing classes) all because someone made a FALSE ACCUSATION!
This actually happened so dont come back telling me it DOESN’T happen.
The social problems we see on the news are indeed the most news-worthy, at least in the sense of the media.
However, a LOT of people are having problems in society, from taxes to government intervention where there should be neither.People, in short, in America are FED UP with government intervention. They are fed up with people attacking their rights because of a few bad apples.Your suggestion of talk radio is right on the mark. Folks really should be listening to alternative news sources. They are accurate, truthful and most importantly, cover things and facts that the main-stream media does not cover.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-07-2001 09:47 AM
Rick,It’s refreshing to hear someone besides me taking a passionate stand on something. Keep it up buddy .
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-07-2001 09:48 AM
Yes, that has happened to me also.Sense of humor?Well, would you look at that? What is that suppose to be?An ET. No, just a crazy human running around with his arms wavering over his head. Oh!
Posted by Dan Richardson on 03-07-2001 10:03 AM
Before I pose my questions to John, I would like to take this opportunity to point out to all participants in this thread that regardless of whether one believes in the validity of John’s claims, it is wonderful to see people engaging in a discussion that pushes participants to present their opinions and questions based on ones individual experiences, philosophies, and knowledge.
What worries me most about our future is that we, as a civilization, seem to be more interested in being spoon-fed our opinions on any given issue because it is much easier to take another’s word for it, rather than ask questions and come to our own conclussion.
I apologize if I am rambling on, but I felt it necessary to point out that if we don’t ask ourselves and each other the hard questions and participate in discussions, we will always have to take someone else’s word it.Now, my question for John:
How does time travel affect our future(no pun intended) exploration of the universe?
It seems that the geatest obstacles in our way right now are a matter of energy (propulsion technology) and economic feasibility. It seems to me that time travel technology could neatly takes care of both.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-07-2001 10:31 AM
Hope things work out, Rick.Maybe its a rememberance as a child, but the closet I ever came to having a distinct feeling of helplessness, and maybe hopelessness, was during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Now, Pres. Kennedy was not going to allow Russia to move missiles into Cuba, at any time by any means. When broadcast on TV, his speech was so that many may have thought that the end of the World just might occur.Back then, no one even thought of the possibility of what a War meant, just that it may happen.
Hopefully everything works out, and the future does not have this really occuring.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-07-2001 11:18 AM
I still like the topic time travel, well at least in this minute.Last dreadful reply.
1) It occurs sooner now, it occurs later, it does not occur at all. I am telling you the future.
2) Missiles come in from some other country. Hit cities.
How many cities hit around Washington D.C.?
Does the President or anyone in Congress, or any leader escape in Air Force One? Only 12 or so minutes before dead. Out to Andrews Air Force base, very fast in helicopter, 5 minutes, ususally takes 10 minutes. Jet lifts off, climbs up, oops, caught in blast. All leaders dead. No, maybe a Senator is alive. Goood! Go fine Senator, leader at moment. Why?
What are the nuclear silo people doing?
Will the country launch another attack?
Are their nuclear silo people still alive?
Both are, stay down there for months. No contact with any civilization. Who got authority to tell them not to launch another attack?
I do not know. Waving arms at all nuclear silo bunkers, with radiation suit on. Please do not launch another attack. Humans stll exist. I do not know if through their camera, they can even see me. Who got authority?
Did that person communicate with these trained personnel? How?
All communication may be down. How do we contact these trained personnel with orders that may include, “Launch all missiles if no sign of life after a certain period of time?
My scenario, all life ends, some life may exist?, it never happens.
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-07-2001 11:44 AM
TalkingRick:I, too, wish and hope that things work out for you. I have also seen too many times when just the false accusation has ruined peoples’ lives.People in this country are tired of the Constitution being trampled upon by those in power, and it does seem to be that those in the predominantly rural areas of the country are the most upset about the continued erosion of personal freedom by an increasingly intrusive federal government.
John’s description of the future in the relative short term does appear highly plausible.John:My oldest son wanted me to ask if you have any siblings. I apologize in advance if you have already answered this previously, but I do not recall you mentioning anyone other than yourself and your parents in your prior messages.Also, are you still planning on broadcasting your departure via a broadcast over the Internet? That would be quite interesting.Is there still an NCAA basketball tournament in 2036, and if so, has it expanded from its current 64 team format?Please answer at your earliest convenience.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-07-2001 04:48 PM
John,Hello, again.I’ve been pondering you and the philosophy that you’ve printed here and it occurred to me:John Titor – anagram “I John Trot”Is this possible? In 18th Century pantomime Clown was also known as John Trot,Clodpole and Clodpate. This character often played opposite Harlequin and Columbine. In the Frederic Bastiat economic sophism “The Tax Collector” Clodpate played the tax collector who was extracting tax from vintner James Goodfellow. James asks of Clodpate how he will benefit from paying an extortionate tax:James: And what benefit do I derive from it today?Clodpate: The satisfaction of saying:How proud I am to be a FrenchmanWhen I behold the triumphal column!James: And the humiliation of leaving to my heirs an estate burdened with a rent that they will have to pay for all time to come. Still, one really must pay one’s debts, however foolishly the money may have been spent.Is it true? Is your nom de plum an anagram telling us that you are Clown poking fun at both the government and us?
Posted by John Titor on 03-07-2001 06:24 PM
((Is this possible? In 18th Century pantomime Clown was also known as John Trot,Clodpole and Clodpate. This character often played opposite Harlequin and Columbine. In the Frederic Bastiat economic sophism “The Tax Collector” Clodpate played the tax collector who was extracting tax from vintner James Goodfellow. James asks of Clodpate how he will benefit from paying an extortionate tax))Unfortunately, I’m not that well read. But it does look like an interesting story and I will be sure to pick it up if it sparks a connection between it and me. Madam I’m Adam…that’s the only one I know.
Questions coming…
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-07-2001 07:12 PM
((Unfortunately, I’m not that well read.))Nah fa real? Your to modest .
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-07-2001 10:14 PM
John,I know…it was stretch. But your political humor would be appreciated by Clodpate in any case.And: dios mio, Javier. Calmete. Whether John is real or not, he hasn’t asked me for any money, hasn’t tried to sell me anything and isn’t “pumping & dumping” penny stocks. I happen to like the John Trot anagram because John Trot is humorous as is John Titor.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-07-2001 10:36 PM
Hey Darby, tu habals Español too? I’m more of Spanglish then Spanish and English. But I can still roll my “R’s” as good as the best of them. I’m a real motoRrrrrrrr .-J.C.P.S. I know John is humorous, that’s why I gave a little smile at the end.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-07-2001 11:04 PM
WinkJavier,Thanks for confirming that you too can see the humor in this thread. For me its a bit like coming home to my favorite TV program. We post one evening, go to bed and then when I get home from work the next day I can’t wait to see the next chapter in the story.Oh, yeah. I do speak Spanish…I even pick up my bi-lingual allowance every payday. Growing up in Santa Barbara County it was a must…my friends spoke Spanish at home. Little did I know “way back when” how much money I’d make because I took those classes just because I enjoyed them. (Sorry Mary & Keith – I know…OT)
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-08-2001 12:37 AM
John,This evening I was involved in following up on your reference material from your postings on another site. And guess what? As I was following the Frank Tipler/Tipler sinusoid material I landed on the “Ultimate Bulletin Board” Time Travel thread.There were the Big Three from this thread: You as TimeTravel_0, Pamela, Javier and one other fellow on page 11…Trott.I believe that I nailed the anagram. And I swear, I didn’t peak at the Ultimate Bulletin Board first. I nailed Trot last night and found Trott tonight.
Posted by Barbara Clements on 03-08-2001 03:39 AM
Tried to find this Ultimate Bulletin Board, but am not allowed in, because one must be a member. Can you list the site? Am I at the right site address?
Posted by John Titor on 03-08-2001 07:32 AM
((There were the Big Three from this thread: You as TimeTravel_0, Pamela, Javier and one other fellow on page 11…Trott. ))
((I believe that I nailed the anagram. And I swear, I didn’t peak at the Ultimate Bulletin Board first. I nailed Trot last night and found Trott tonight.))I find this interesting because it gives me a very tempting easy out. I could now rest assured that someone had “figured me out” and I can relax before I leave.
However, I am not Trott and this name and TTO are the only names I’ve used online. After looking at my name here, have you considered its origin from another word-play standpoint? For example, TITOR could equal TIme-Travel-OR.
After looking at your name Mr. Darby, I can pull out “MEET ME TAR BABY” which I’m assuming is a reference to the Song of the South. In that case, are you telling us in a secret way that you are trying to distract us by fooling us in the bre’r patch?
I would not insult your collective intelligence by leaving a hook out there for you to discover while I was making sport of you. Whether I’m a time traveler or not, I think we’ve spoken about many important things I would not want to diminish.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 03-08-2001 08:22 AM
One of John’s messages is one of impending Civil War (or some kind of war)If you haven’t noticed, this generation is Ready to RumbleDELTONA — A fifth-grade boy on Tuesday threatened to bring a gun to Sunrise Elementary School, one day after a school shooting in Southern California left two people dead and 13 others injured.… With the nation on edge over a deadly school shooting in San Diego, more incidents of school violence were reported Wednesday, but no one was killed. In Pennsylvania, police commended a teen-ager who, after a classmate was shot inside their crowded cafeteria, persuaded the alleged shooter to drop her gun.…In the jittery two days after the deadly shootings at Santana High School, at least 11 California students were arrested and several more suspended for reportedly making threats against classmates or bringing real or fake weapons to schools.…Authorities in Washington state arrested a student Wednesday for allegedly bringing a gun to Kentwood High School in suburban Seattle.…Three junior high school students in San Bernardino County were arrested Tuesday for threatening to place a bomb on a teacher’s desk
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-08-2001 08:26 AM
Hey John,I don’t know about you being well read, but I do know your well taught in matters of not wanting to apper manipulative to your fans .
Posted by Randy Empey on 03-08-2001 11:05 AM
Javier —Me, earlier:quote:Actually, I have a question (which is along very simmular lines as what I think John is getting at) that I want to see you answer: Can you prove or disprove anything? And if your answer to that is ‘Yes.’ then I’d also like to have you prove it.Javier, earlier:quote:Randy,Prove what? All I did was point out John’s discrepancies. I think it’s proof enough, if you can see what he’s said in past post, and what he says now. It doesn’t match up.First things first: Prove what? Well, that you can prove anything, for starters.Discrepancies in written material isn’t proof enough of anything.It certainly is important information, and thanks for pointing out what you have.But please stop pretending it is proof of anything.There still is room for AT LEAST a reasonable doubt, both ways, here . . . and the generally accepted norm is to assume an individual not-guilty of a crime until they can be prooven guilty without a reasonable doubt.Timetravel ain’t a crime, I’m fairly certain.But lying certainly seems like one.So lets assume John not-guilty of lying about being a time-traveler until you can prove to us that he isn’t without a reasonable doubt.You still won’t be able to prove it absolutely though, so don’t pretend you can.And, just so you know, I don’t think the above is a proof, but I do think it elliminates many reasonable doubts about my argument.Lets let John and my fellow ‘lemmings’ talk philosophy, physics and about the human condition, and cut down a bit on the evil-timetraveler rhetoric, OK?
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-08-2001 01:47 PM
Let’s see, John, you are a time-traveler or not.Your story is true or not.Interesting anyway, hoped you used some of the links.Thanks.
Posted by Jay Richards on 03-08-2001 02:20 PM
John, I want to be sure to get this Q out before you might stop posting here. I’ve read a number of posts, but I’ll go back and read the entire thread afterwards, so sorry if this has been adequatly covered already.From your perspective of posting as a time traveller from 2036, please tell if any significant theistic events occur between now and then and if so, please describe.(That question does not directly pertain to religion)
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-08-2001 03:10 PM
<<However, I am not Trott and this name and TTO are the only names I’ve used online. After looking at my name here, have you considered its origin from another word-play standpoint? For example, TITOR could equal TIme-Travel-OR.After looking at your name Mr. Darby, I can pull out “MEET ME TAR BABY” which I’m assuming is a reference to the Song of the South. In that case, are you telling us in a secret way that you are trying to distract us by fooling us in the bre’r patch? >>Actually, John, I did consider Time-Travel-OR based on the moniker TimeTravel_O elsewhere. I didn’t consider that as a possibility as it begs the question, “Time Travel-OR what?”It’s never been my motivation to attack your veracity. Whether you are an actual time traveler or not doesn’t concern me. I did consider that you might have opted to create your own foil in Trott (or even Javier) to create a sophistic dialogue through which your message is delivered. You and Trott – Phaedo and Echerates of Phlius: instead of discussing the four arguments of immortality while lamenting the suicide of Socrates, you discuss the possibility of time travel and the society of our not too distant future. I still find you to be humorous and thought inspiring.Oh, the anagram of my name: Emmett is my first name and “Darby” is a nickname taken from my last name, Darbyshire. I hope that my Gaelic ancestors didn’t play a joke on me by giving me that last name and having my parents give me that first name.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-08-2001 07:34 PM
Randy,So am I to assume that there is no way of truly answering your prove it question? Especially here in a forum, where anyone can fabricate anything and try to pass if off as the genuine truth.So I guess however you put it, we can’t prove anything here. And in the end, we’ll still be asking the questions, “Was John telling the truth” “Was he a real Time Traveler”?I personally don’t believe him, but you and others may think other wise. I only trust what I can feel inside my guts. They have never steered me wrong before. I got a Spidey Sense .Can’t prove that either, but I’m not here to convince you of anything. I just call’em how I see’em, that’s all.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 03-08-2001 09:28 PM
John – Could you give us your reaction to the following. It is from another folder on these school shootings. And BTW, what are your thoughts on what’s happened this week throughout the country. We had a kid run over four college students in Sta. Cruz and a rash of weapons related inceidents in High Schools throughout the country.Here’s an excerpt. I hope Mr. Hamner does not mind“I was talking to a dear friend of mine last night. He seemed very upset so I asked what was up and if I could help.He related that his 14 year old son was now in the custody of the police. I asked what had happened. He then told that his son and some other boys had just gotten into paintball. On the school bus they’d talk about the games they were playing. The bus driver understood that it was only paintball.
Anyway, the bus driver told the boys that “they were just plain evil” at that my friends son told the bus driver “no, if I was evil I’d shoot you” (not smart in todays enviroment), this happen monday afternoon. On Tuesday night the sheriff’s department showed up and arrested his son, took him to the juvenile detetion center. As of last night my friend had been unable to talk to his child. He has met with the school officials, the principle was unaware of the incident.”
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-08-2001 10:50 PM
Craig,If you don’t mind me asking, what are you hoping to accomplish by having John answer this?
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-09-2001 12:19 AM
Craig,I’m with Javier on this one. Other than being just another guy on the street what difference does it make what John feels about the four incidents (count ’em, four) you referred to?There wasn’t a rash of incidents. There was one major incident at a school followed by editors running as lead stories anything that involved a kid and a weapon nationwide. No San Diego incident = no “rash” (the wire services wouldn’t pick up on the stories) And a small correction. Unless UC Santa Cruz ALSO had four students run over, it was UC Santa Barbara (actually in Isla Vista) where the students were run over – about two miles from my home and 250 miles from Santa Cruz.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-09-2001 01:18 AM
According to a talk-show host that looked all over the country and was talking about it on his show, there was a “rash” of incidents with school kids. Let’s see, Thursday.I think the kids think its “cool” to be able to talk to their other peers and tell them about what they do. Well, something has to be done about this. I would tell you what the talk-show host and others blame it on, but that would probably start a debate that never ended. Some parents were acting strange also.
Parents taking a base-ball bat to school to, I guess, be arrested. Strange people.
Try the relaxation response. It takes time to work, maybe a month, be when you feel deeper relaxed, you will know. Concentrate on your breathing and quiet your brain activity so you dwell on no one thought, let them pass just out without dwelling on life’s problems.
Negative thoughts you have to consciously do, it takes practice, say cancel, cancel to yourself should one come in. In a quiet place, and undisturbed for about 20 minutes.
Something else needs to be taught to kids in school.
What has all this to do with time travel?
This thread has a life of its own, traveling itself through time. It may end up in the year 2036, before its done.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 03-09-2001 05:58 AM
Not to get too morbid, though its interesting to me, as the premise of John’s situation is that in 2012 the world is at war. Not hard to see why, with a whole generation of kids wondering if they’re next to see a friend go postal.There’s more to this topic, ten year olds become 20 year olds and carry the day etc. Its not a stretch to believe a civil war is imminent. That’s all
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-09-2001 06:53 AM
“There wasn’t a rash of incidents. There was one major incident at a school followed by editors running as lead stories anything that involved a kid and a weapon nationwide. No San Diego incident = no “rash” (the wire services wouldn’t pick up on the stories) And a small correction. Unless UC Santa Cruz ALSO had four students run over, it was UC Santa Barbara (actually in Isla Vista) where the students were run over – about two miles from my home and 250 miles from Santa Cruz.”Actually… there was a rash of incidents. I’m aware of seven different things that happened here in Colorado yesterday, alone. I’m certain there were dozens of other such incidents throughout the country yesterday.Here we had 2 bomb threats, 3 “civil disturbances” at other schools in other areas, and there was a kid here that placed a “fake bomb” in a school in Colorado Springs. There was reference to something else like a gun being found in another school somewhere, but I didn’t catch the location.So.. that was just MY state. How about other states?
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-09-2001 07:03 AM
I need to continue this thought here. First of all, we have in most of our school systems something called a “Zero Tolerance Policy”. This equates to a “Zero Common Sense Policy” based upon the busdriver incident alone. Anyone listing to the kids talk would understand the kid didnt make a threat, he made a statement.We have a society where political correctness (read: Thought Control) is the norm. Kids aren’t allowed to carry a pocket knife (I carried a HUNTING KNIFE on my belt when I was in grade school, in Kentucky… as I walked through the woods to school. No one ever said ANYTHING to be about it.)Anything that can be construed as a weapon is banned, even if it isn’t a weapon.The media has the attitude that banning this or that is newsworthy (i.e. guns, kids getting in to fights in school etc).So, what we really have (all of this above, plus all the other little things that nag at us every day) is a society waiting for something bigger to trigger something else.Now, I’m not saying that we’re waiting for that civil war, but I AM saying that we have placed ourselves in a very sensitive, precarious position by making everything so “hair-trigger” likely to put something else into motion.Time moves forward for us, and those nodal points of change can be anywhere in our future.
Posted by Lee Heggy on 03-09-2001 07:11 AM
Judging by the endurance of this thread if Mr. Titor is a time traveler or not will be a moot point. When this topic is done he will be in his own time.
Posted by John Titor on 03-09-2001 07:52 AM
____________________________________________________________
I think the day when animals are born, raised on a farm, slaughtered within 15 to 50 miles of that farm, and sold in the area, is just about OVER. This outbreak is, in my opinion, the swan song for local farming. I can hear the very large lady warbling in the background…
If, the virus was released because of the bombing of Iraq in Feb., then there is ONE more Country that remains to be punished. The US. If the UK was an act of agraterrorism, then what hell awaits the US?
Of course, please keep in my, this is pure speculation…there is no hard data in to support this theory…YET.
____________________________________________________________
Greetings everyone. I do plan to get to the questions soon. I have been quite busy lately so I apologize for being a bit slow.
In my travels over your web, I came across this section of a speculative news article. I would urge you all to take a good hard look at this idea and consider the possibility that it is true. And…..no, I did not make this up nor am I trying to tell you something in a left-handed way.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-09-2001 08:36 AM
John,A comment from “the intel department”. I follow global intelligence extremely closely. Some of us in my security community believe that Mad Cow disease is not speculative terrorism, it is fact. No proof, but many, many talking points on the subject can show it. I’ll give you some examples.1) The west uses more beef/red meat products than ANY OTHER COUNTRY – in fact more than most other countries put together.
[Correction. The consumption of Beef was over taken by China around the early 1990's. This statement was false at the time it was made, and is certainly incorrect today. - Metallicman.]
A comparison of the consumption of meat by China and by the Untied States. Data compiled from 1960 to 2012. Granted the statement concerned beef, but the idea is the same.
2) Eco-terrorism, by some of the anti-meat eaters has been considered, but at the same time, it is not conducive to them to kill animals, because the majority of non-meat eaters in western culture believe “animals have rights” and would consider such a thing a type of genocide.3) Biological warfare is indeed the greatest threat to our society. It is cheap, easy to produce, easy to release, and most importantly… biological warfare is “Stealth Warfare”. Biological agents can be released as an aerosol, into water, into food.4) What better way to destroy a country than to screw up their food sources. By creating a messed up animal supply, you thrust the prices of meat skyward, quickly. You cause the production to drop, loss of wages, loss of profit, loss of food supplies. You put a strain on several other food sources to take up for the lost portion of production.5) A sudden and deadly resurgence of a disease that hasn’t really been a problem for decades is a very obvious attack. This is the very reason people believe things like AIDS is a biological agent that got loose on society. It appeared quickly in the 80s. It could not be traced, and what little tracing they showed, claimed it came from “monkeys” or apes or something (I don’t recall the specifics at this point). However, AIDS like other such diseases can not simply “begin to exist” without mutations or some other intervention. Mad Cow disease, as well as Hoof and Mouth disease (what we call it in America – they call it Foot and Mouth in the UK) has suddenly appeared with a vengence. The former is a relatively new disease. The latter is very old, but, was pretty much wiped out. Suddenly, it is back.So, we have two things specifically in the UK that are attacking hoofed creature. Both of which are either new or resurgences of old diseases. These diseases came about at roughly the same time, and spread rapidly.I believe (and I’ve not had a lot of time to research it, but then, I’m betting it will be very difficult right now to track it precisely) that this most recent outbreak occured in several places simultaneously. If so, it was definately a planned and probably well carried-out attack.America is NEXT. But, not only will it be something like Hoof and Mouth, Mad Cow something else will likely be introduced as well. Swine flu, something that attacks chickens and perhaps some kind of wheat blight. That would hit MAJOR portions of our food supplies, causing all the aforementioned problems, plus more.A major economic crash is likely. THis would weaken the US to a great extent opening us up for other types of attacks.Currently America is under attack by several former states of the Soviet Union, many arab states and terrorist organizations already. They are coming in through computers and networks, probing constantly, looking for weaknesses, testing our defenses and looking for the proper time and place to make a major attack.Things to watch:A) Increased internet attacks.B) A MAJOR attack on the internet.C) Sudden outbreak of any sort of weird animal diseases.D) Increased readiness of the military in the US.E) Increased movements of the military in the US.F) Increased public awareness of police force training, particularily in computer attacks, raids finding “illegal guns”.G) Attacks on “militia groups” again.When the latter occurs, be prepared for the Pro-Consitution forces to get loud, and “in-your-face” attitudes. They will not stand for more attacks on the Second Amendment.Anyway – those are from my point of view. Whether I am completely accurate or not, remains to be seen. However, I believe my data is accurate, and I am not usually wrong on the “big picture”.Rick
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-09-2001 08:53 AM
John, busy? You mean you have other things to do on your vacation besides talk to us?Darby mentioned a few posts ago that he thought possibly the Javier personna might be a “sophisticated dialogue” construct of our time-traveller for self dialogue. Eh? We need to examine your definition of “sophisticated.”[Edited by Bob Marz on 03-09-2001 at 09:06 AM]
Posted by John Titor on 03-09-2001 03:27 PM
((Darby mentioned a few posts ago that he thought possibly the Javier personna might be a “sophisticated dialogue” construct of our time-traveller for self dialogue. ))Had you considered the possibility that Javier is the one who made me up? But, as we both know Bob, I am YOUR alter ego.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-09-2001 08:37 PM
John,Do I sense some covert hostility in that last remark?Just keeping you honest, how you said I do .
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-09-2001 09:32 PM
SmileHave you considered the possibility that I made up both Javier and John?
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-09-2001 10:38 PM
Hahaha . Right Pamela. That’s really funny.And everyone is just a figment of my imagination after all just like I always suspected.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-09-2001 10:53 PM
The moral implications for the future are real enough. Ever since the US had to construct the atom bomb, moral questions of what we are doing now seem to last longer.
Take that we, as people, as humans, are getting into enough gray areas with human cloning, using human embryos, and such topics of the day, I think the moral questions will be around longer than they were in the past. Never before this time had we had to ask ourselves the morality of civilization. Nuclear weapons are still not really solved, we seem as humans to be digging a hole ourselves with these questions which can seem to imply that the probability of future events being grim becomes more real as we grapple with these questions.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-10-2001 11:51 AM
Albert,But you think Time Travel is Okay?Just want to make sure I’m understanding where you stand. Because there is so much hypocrisy in the world these days. Where some people claim they are against something bad, but not against something else that’s bad. Which when you look at it, there one in the same. See what I’m saying?Javier C.
Posted by Joe Applebaum on 03-10-2001 02:16 PM
Question for John:You say that you wear some kind of flight suit like coveralls when you are time traveling and that you experience 2 g’s for 6-8 hrs. How is it possible to withstand that kind of g-force for such a long period without the use of an anti-g suit? If not to keep you from blacking out, at least to make your time travel safer and more confortable? I know you must be physically trained for space travel, but you should also have the benefit of equipment to help you out.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-10-2001 04:27 PM
Javier,Being in a free country dictates that certain people will do certain experiments(?) without regard to who complain’s about it. The rest of us are left to decide other alternative actions to prevent these leaps of technology from interferring with humanity on (as) a whole.
I had little choice in the making of a atom bomb.
If the US did not do it, than it is probable that Hilter would have. With that, things in the future would be indeed different.
So, as with anything, we are (forced, as in War) to do a certain number of things.
In peace, we are still (forced) to see what other countries are up to.
The fear of America is that if we fall behind, then someone someway will take control of us.
In the case of the Middle East, I suppose that would be Saddam. In the case of a time traveler, I doubt he could achieve such a possibility unless he knew every “connection” to change the events of history. That part was described in that book by Jonathan Burke in the book “Connections”.
I make no commitment as to the morality of time travel.
Someone will do it, if it’s possible, someday. Otherwise, we have no freedom. We are left to change things in the future should enough people agree that time travel is a “bad” thing.
But then there might be “bad” people time traveling and “good” people time traveling in a kind of “time travel war”.
Posted by John Titor on 03-10-2001 07:26 PM
Dear Fellow Time Travelers:
In about 30 days, I will be leaving this worldline to return home to 2036. I first want to say thank you for the wonderful conversation and insight into your society. I have learned a great deal and my opinion on quite a few things has changed dramatically.
I will finish the questions that have been posted on this site up to this date. Unfortunately, I must now spend my spare time preparing to leave and I will not be on the computer very much. I do however want to repeat my offer and add a slight twist.
After going over my flight plan home, I have discovered my VGL holdover period is a bit longer than I expected. I will be spending at least three weeks in April of 1998 as I make my way back to 1975. Therefore, I not only offer you the chance to leave a message to yourself in 2036 but I offer you the chance to leave yourself a message in 1998. I will take any compiled messages and email addressees you provide and send them on the net when I get to 1998.
Granted, this will not affect you on your worldline now but you make take some comfort that another “you” on another worldline has the advantage of knowing something you wish you knew three years ago. Based on the earlier questions I’ve seen, I’ve decided a day-to-day record of the Dow a day in advance should convince you that the messages are real in 1998.
In addition, I am hopeful a series of photocopies and photographs will be available for you that may give you more insight into the technology of the distortion unit. I will let you know the address of the site when it is available. I also plan to have my parents videotape my departure. If they succeed, it will also be posted after I leave.
I look forward to these last few weeks with my family and I will check in periodically to check this site.
Live in Peace 2001,
John
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-10-2001 09:19 PM
Maybe Moe Howard is a “sophisticated dialogue” device for Steven Hawkings?Well, Johnny, you’ve been entertaining for the most part. Nevertheless, I find it rather depressing that time travel, the most exciting and profound accomplishment of man, is being put to such banal and frivolous use. The most wonderful invention possible in all of human history and they apparently can’t figure out what to do with it other than arrange for you to amuse us few idjits here on the Art Bell message board. Kinda makes ya proud. (thniff)[Not edited by the future Bob Marz on 03-10-2036 at 09:21 PM – message being sent back to 2001] [Edited by Bob Marz on 03-10-2001 at 09:27 PM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-10-2001 11:35 PM
Good luck in whatever worldline you return to.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-11-2001 01:10 AM
Albert,Well I had a hard time getting through what all your rhetoric was about. And still didn’t see you actually answer my question. “Where do you stand?” Well that’s not important now, as I see that you believe John Titor, A.k.a. TT_0 is for real. So thank you for proving my point correctly.Hypocrisy I tell you.First you came off as inspirational, speaking with convictions about right and wrong. But in the end, you’re only as much a hypocrite as the rest of us are.I however do not tolerate immoralities on any level, and I live my life according to basic human law. Compassion and principal our my guiding truths. “We the people” should realize this, and not accept what is basically wrong. There have been to many compromises, too much acceptation. But the truth is clear, that despite all of what we are trying to accomplish, of becoming an advance civilization and people, we are failing in the worst possible way. And that is by following our principles.Just think about that…John,I see you finally made your big pre-farewell speech. Very nice, you almost made me feel sorry to see you go. Then I remembered what you are. An opportunist.Well wherever you go, just remember me! And know that wherever you stand, that somewhere someone with enough guts exists to change the entire face of Time Travel someday. Your days are numbered…30 more days huh John? You know that’s a very interesting number. Because I’m going to FL in 30 days also, coincidence huh?Let’s see in 1998, I was 18 years old. I graduated high school that year good year. Except for some personal problems. I wrote a story that year about my new experiences, I think you read it before Pamela. Remember “Displacement?”Catch-ya on the flip side,Javier C.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 03-11-2001 at 01:13 AM]
Posted by Stephen McKay on 03-11-2001 02:37 AM
John,These messages to oneself in 1998 sound very interesting.Is there somewhere I can e-mail it to rather than post it on the board?
Posted by Michelle Esposito on 03-11-2001 03:59 AM
John, I’d like to take you up on your offer for the 1998 message to myself. I assume your instructions will appear on this thread . . .
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-11-2001 04:15 AM
Geeeez Louise… See now that’s what I’m talking about, right there.Talk about being a lost soul.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-11-2001 06:10 AM
John has asked me if I wouldnt mind collecting the emails for him again and forwarding them to him.
anybody who wants to can write me using my email address found in my profile and I will forward your letters or “messages to 1998″ ,”messages to 2036” to John.
All messages I receive I will keep confidential and they will be forwarded right to John.sincerely,Pamela[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-11-2001 at 06:17 AM]
Posted by LaMar Prince on 03-11-2001 06:23 AM
Thumbs upI would like to E-Mail You. I would like to Leave message. Like the the Poster said I’m sure You will leave instructions?………Peace! L>P>
Posted by Randy Empey on 03-11-2001 07:08 AM
Javier —Didn’t you ever play ‘pretend’ as a child?Also, why do you feel that you have such a firm grasp on reality right now that you can say such things with such certainty?I find that, usually, those who shout ‘hypocrisy’ from the rooftops are trying to draw attention from thier own.Their are so many untruths and myths that bombard us daily, either through design or simply the uncertain nature of communication, that we ALL swallow hook-line-and-sinker that most the things you think you know are wrong.Since there is no firm basis to rate new experiences about, generalizing from past experiences can be a dangerous game of darts.Reserving judgement and thinking things through is warranted.Quite being so loud the rest of us “can’t” think.Everybody has an agenda. Everybody has shortcomings.BBSes are fantasy worlds by nature, and nothing you try can change that.Let the people who still remember how to pretend play thier games without too much trouble and you won’t get called names on the ‘playground’.Life’s all a big play anyway. (Probably a play within a play . . .)Let the guy play out his ‘final scene’ if he wants . . .. .. wait, maybe I’m infringing on your pretending .. .… if I am, my sincere apologies.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-11-2001 08:45 AM
John,So long and have a good trip home.As I’ve pondered your experience of being here it ocurred to me that I should cover my bases and at least try to make a living from the information that you’ve given us. So…I’m in the process of filing copyright protection in my name for the following terms:Temporal Displacement UnitVariable Gravity LockVGLVariable Gravity Lock Model C204VGL C204Model C204Variable Gravity Lock Model C206CGL C206Model C206Singularity Magnetic Field CoilElectron Mass Injection Manifold
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-11-2001 09:58 AM
Javier,First, I’ll keep the social demise in mind.
Second, I do not believe.
Third, I do not think TT will be solved in my lifetime, therefore I do not have to have any morals about it.That will be for some future person.
Fourth, from my viewpoint, it is just one of many possibilities that could occur in the future.
Fifth, if TTler is true, then wishing anything to him is just something that I wish upon myself also.
Sixth and most important. There have been problems associated with the theory presented that neither the TTler or I can resolve at this time, in my estimation, and I am usually right. So, for the other people, I leave them also with their thoughts.
I would discuss this in more detail about the problems associated but I really have got other things to do and these other things are really more important.
Seventh, to me it has been just an exercise in thought, and I think humankind have more immediate problems facing us now, that I see on other websites like the BBC in England and Talking Point or some of their news articles.
Eighth, that’s all I can do now. I can not solve the technical problems associated with building a time machine.
Ninth, I getting close to the end of my post.
Tenth, when all else fails, count to ten.
Posted by E. Robert Gonzalez on 03-11-2001 10:19 AM
Hopefully you can answer my past questions before you leave and send that message out.
It really has been enjoyable watching this thread and getting to know you John.
There is a part of me that wants to believe and another that says your not a time traveler. But right now I believe you, and you being here means one way or another time travel is real.
I only hope all my alternate selves are doing well.
I was thinking though, if all these alternate timelines are so similar… Then shouldn’t another “you” be doing the samething in another timeline, possibly in infinite time lines?
Because if that is so, then another “you” would go back to our timeline in 1998 per se and we’d actually get the messages that people are sending. Now, I’m not sure if that is possible or not.
But, in my understanding it seems likely with what you said about alternate universes.
[A common misconception is that people look at time-travel and dimensional travel in the terms of a physical reality. Instead they should look at it in terms of the consciousness as established by soul. That would clear up so many of the dead-ends and misconceptions that everyone seems to have. - Metallicman.]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-11-2001 10:31 AM
Javier,First, Good luck to you in your worldline.
Second, The things the TTler is talking about in the near future will not occur in your lifetime, to me.
[not if he died five years after writing this. Indeed many, many of the things that John Titor (sans the nuclear war) has occurred. - Metallicman.]Third, Have you visit this website, http://www.nist.gov/There you will find a picture of an atomic clock at present.
Fourth, Our Solar System is near the edge on an arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.
[No it is not. - Metallicman]
Fifth, There may be a Black Hole at the center of our Galaxy.
Sixth, I think humankind will have to worry if the Sun, Sol, burns up first in 5,000,000,000 years or the Solar System gets sucked into the Black Hole at the center of our Galaxy.
Seventh, Still its nice to dream, or have a fantasy wish.
Eighth, I must really really go now.
Ninth, I will just say that social problems have been around forever on this Planet, and it is still traveling in space along with the Milky Way Galaxy, at what I think is, at about 33 miles/second. No need to be space-sick.
Tenth, Ever since I became, I been traveling through space and time. Just trying to have a little fun in the great demise of things, all past, all present, all future, all, all.Best wishes to everyone on this forum and the world and “Just say No”.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-11-2001 10:49 AM
While, I probably get in trouble: specific links:http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/wwv.htmlGood luck All![Edited by Mary Rowland on 03-11-2001 at 10:55 AM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-11-2001 10:51 AM
Oops, the other link, while I’m getting in trouble.http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/tour.html
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-11-2001 12:41 PM
John –In 2036 I will be in the mountains in Colorado. Somewhere west of where Colorado Springs used to be. Not sure if I will have access to the internet at that point, but I WILL have access to radio equipment. Somewhere around January 1-10th, 2036 I will be broadcasting on 28390 Khz, USB. I will look for you there on that frequency in the middle of the day.I will 77 years old – and will turn 78 that year.I expect to hear from you then.RickPS – I AM one of the “farmer generals” John mentioned. Perhaps not the most famous… but, I will be there.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-11-2001 12:42 PM
Randy,Obviously you must not have been listening to what I been saying from the start.And people blamed me for speaking for everyone.((Quite being so loud the rest of us “can’t” think.))Is it perhaps because I make you think of what your doing, thus spoiling what you what you want to believe him as real?Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-11-2001 12:46 PMAck!I forgot to mention that I’ve also listed “John Titor” on the copyright application – just in case I want to write a book using that name as a character.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-11-2001 12:58 PM
After spending the last few days working on family business and keeping my mind busy thinking about time traveling, from John’s point of view, I have come to a sudden and surprising conclusion.John is perhaps what he says he is… however, I don’t think he is a “TIME TRAVELER” – I think he is a world-line, or for lack of a better word, a dimension traveler.I say this based on a couple of assumptions. His machine uses gravity calculations/measurements to maintain his “physical position”.But, he claims there is up to a 2.5 % divergence from his reality.That means to me that:1) He is NOT on his ‘reality” but on ours.2) He will be going back to his reality – or at least pretty close to it.3) Our reality is not precisely his reality.4) There are multiple worlds, multiple time lines if you will and he is no longer on his orginal one.5) Anything he does here on our time line will NOT EFFECT OUR TIME LINE EXCEPT locally (time related). That is, if he were to kill someone’s grandparents here, they would NOT cease to exist on HIS time line. They would here though. If he goes back to 1975 and does this, OUR grandparents will be JUST FINE. It is the ones on the time line where he stopped.6) John’s machine uses tipler cylinders – somehow. I believe it would be very possible to create a tipler cylinder using singularities. A physcist I know confirmed my suspicions on Friday-last. He stated that such a machine could be built now. He said that it would take some strong scientific work on the part of linear accelerator scientists though, and so far as he knew, it hasn’t been accomplished YET, but will be in the very near future.7) If microsingularities are made, they can be held in ‘statis’ or in a magnetic field in a vacuum. According to my physcist that is. If so, it would be possible to effect them with magnetic fields in such a manner as to allow them to interact with each other (on that micro scale).8) If so – then it might be very possible to speed up, slow down or even STOP time altogether. In fact, he believes it possible to reverse time altogether.9) The effects of using such a machine would be that “high gravitational fields would be present around the machine”. However, at this point, neither myself, him nor other folks we talked to could come up with a way to measure gravity fields with any reliable method. (Scales, things like that work, but… that is rather crude I think).10) Anything within the field of a tipler cylinder would be carried along with the device… the method of “travel” would or could be based on voltages applied to the magentic fields in some manner as to cause a change in the rotation of the field.11) John’s machine will not take him back in time. It takes him to a diffent time LINE, in a different world, on a different plane of existence.Anyway, that’s my 2-cents worth. Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps I’m right. No matter if John is a real TT or not is moot at this point.John… take this message back in time to 1998 and … how do you propose to see that we get these messages anyway????I will post it on my web site, which is already up in 1998.Rick
Posted by Jim Houlahan on 03-11-2001 01:51 PM
Albert,Although laboratory standard atomic clocks are huge, commercial standard atomic clocks are the size of a suitcase today. Given 35 years of future development, I can imagine four of them fitting into John’s device. Here’s a picture of the “suitcase atomic clock”…http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cesium.html
Posted by Randy Empey on 03-11-2001 02:15 PM
Javier —Since I seldom sub-vocalize as I read, I don’t think it matters whether I was listening or not . .. . I have been reading and trying my darndest to understand… from the start.As to this question:quote:Is it perhaps because I make you think of what your doing, thus spoiling what you what you want to believe him as real?My answer is simply, “Of course not.”But you can pretend so if you wish. Pplease understand that delusion is often a team sport. Or is it that non-delusion is often a team sport?Actually, I just have to wonder why you feel you have such a firm grasp on this reality that you feel confident in many of the things you have asserted.But I guess I don’t expect an answer, since I am merely a figment of someone else’s imagination.Either play by ALL the rules or throw them ALL out — no middle of the road please, I am already confused.John —Seems your journey will be forking from some of ours — watch out and don’t forget to smell the roses.That said, lets disregared the sentimental stuff and keep up the philosophizing. How about a few more monologues from the main character here? The stage has been set, and your ques have been uttered.(Javier — if it sounds like I speak for more than just myself, please just chalk it up to schizophrenia or simmular talents.)[Edited by Randy Empey on 03-11-2001 at 02:21 PM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-11-2001 03:35 PM
You know what Randy?I’d expect that kind of a responds from a John Titor supporter.The only difference between you and me is, is that when I make a statement like that, but of speaking about morals and principles? I get an angry rowdy crowd who believes I’m waking them up from their fantasy. Hence the attacks.And the difference is Randy, is that there are more of you then they are of me out there in this world. So no one will ever complain to you about being hostile, or not being open-minded. Your perfect, you fit right in the norm of things in society. You’re perhaps the majority of people who voted for Bill Clinton the second time around. The kinds of people that support same sex marriages. You’re also the kind of people that are waiting in line to get genetically engineered, or to clone your self. Or to just try every “New Fad” that comes into the market.How low can this countries morals get? I’d hate to find out.So yes I do have a firm grasp on reality. I’m not blind, I can see very clearly. And I know what needs to be fixed. Do you?-Javier C.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-11-2001 04:42 PM
Thanks, Jim, I saw that page.John, if you come back from the past or from the future,can you call yourself “Power Time Traveler Ranger” in the “Way-back Laid-back Time Machine”.By the way, is there a way that a yellow school bus can be included in the time field as a way of travel?That might scare anybody from the past or the future.Just a thought.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-11-2001 05:04 PM
WinkJavier,For your sake, lets hope when you get discussed in the future, all of John’s time travel buddies in his unit are as nice as he is…………. hehe[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-11-2001 at 05:06 PM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-11-2001 05:09 PM
Craig,Can you tell them to speed up the development of that device by the year 2014, and bring it down in price so that I can buy one?I am not joking.Just a thought.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-11-2001 05:20 PM
Pamela,What’s that suppose to mean? Sounded like a threat to me. Care to clearify?
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-11-2001 05:40 PM
Seems pretty clear to me.“Darby”: Good stuff!
Posted by Anthony Reed on 03-11-2001 05:56 PM
That seems clear to me too. I’m just sorry I’m late to this board. And why would you be worried anyway Javier? I thought you did not believe him anyway.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-11-2001 06:10 PM
Well Anthony,Like you just said, your late to this board. Of course some details will be unknown to you. But rest assured, if you read back I answer that question.
Posted by Donnie Smith on 03-11-2001 08:44 PM
WinkRick, you are absolutely right. And, what John Titor has said reflects exactly that.
John is from the end result of a reality shifting movement that is being given birth to now.
They have recognized that time does not exist in the fashion that many believe in today, only infinite parallel realities in the same or different stages of history or alternative history. The term time travel is, however, the closest thing that humans of this period can relate to.[Emphasis by Metallicman. This is actually spot on and very poignant. - Metallicman.]
In the future, it has been adjusted to refer to the illusion of traveling to the past or future. Those realities are mere reflections of where we have been and where we are going, but are by no means the real mc coy!
Carry on John Titor, Peace from the Eye of Harmony of the Matrix of this Reality. Have a safe trip.
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-12-2001 08:41 AM
WinkJohn:Good luck to you. I do hope you make a visual record of your departure. Thank you for the interesting thread. And did you ever answer whether or not you have any siblings?I have not decided whether or not you are a Time Traveler, but I do believe the near future you have described is a real possibility, if not even a probability. Let’s all be prepared and pray for the best.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-12-2001 12:55 PM
David,Earlier in posts, if I understand it right, he said he was single. Many stillborn in the future because of the War according to him.He will probably check back.Just thought that I include that.
Posted by Ron Polesky on 03-12-2001 01:31 PM
Wow! I have just spent the better part of an entire day reading EVERY message within this thread and I must complement everyone on a fine job!
This has been some of the most entertaining and thought provocative writing that I have read in a long time. Great job everyone! I extend my sincerest thanks, a hearty cheer and (as a first time poster) a warm hello.To John Titor I reserve a special thanks for starting this thread!
Your consistency in conjunction with an entertaining narrative complete with motive, ethics, physics, and general openness is amazing and enlightening to say the least. However, above all of that, your calm in facing some staunch and intelligent critics is an inspiration and something rarely found on message boards when one is met with the fire of emotion based in disbelief. If I take nothing else from this thread, your steady coolness under such adverse criticism will be fondly remembered and hopefully emulated.Now, onto the crux of this posting:Whether John is or is NOT a time traveler is moot, based upon my own personal beliefs and experience.
Simply put, the most powerful component of ANY interaction or activity involving humans is the human will. Because humans make hundreds or thousands of decisions everyday, most very minor and immediately forgettable, the possibilities of potential outcomes to ANY situation in which one is involved is subject to randomness (chaos?). Our own personal decisions are influenced by a multitude of factors such as mood, health, weather, stress, intelligence, finances, family, interactions with other people, past experience, future expectations, hopes, personal and societal myths…the list could be endless.And, of course, we are subjected not only to the outcomes of our OWN decisions but also to those of others.
For example, one poster noted that a simple and common occurrence with a child potentially helped him avoid a tragedy. If one accepts that my statements are true, then it requires no giant leap of faith to also agree that this randomness prevents anyone from EVER predicting a future event that involves the decisions of humans.Let us assume for the moment that John is indeed a traveler from 2036 and that all his statements are 100% fact. Within his own timeline, these major occurrences of a civil war and a nuclear holocaust have occurred and, based on a randomness factor of 2.5% one could speculate that the same could occur here. We do, after all, have the SAME people involved. However, 2.5% is a HUGE variable given the already incalculable odds that a small decision by a child, for instance, could change the whole scenario or outcome.History is rife with stories of decisions that seemed meaningless at the time averting or causing major disasters or occurrences.
We even have several words and terms to describe these things: luck, misfortune, angel on my shoulder, God watching over me, wrong place/wrong time, caught a break, etc.
In fact, one of our favorite pastimes as humans is “what if”.
Given these factors, it is little wonder that John will not give short-term “hard facts”…because he doesn’t really KNOW! And, I speculate he knows he doesn’t know. Just because Duke, for instance, won the NCAA tournament in 2001 in his timeline is no assurance the same will happen here (if they and their opponent score 150 points total in the championship game, nearly 4 points or 2.5% are going SOMEWHERE..add decision making under stress and there is simply no WAY that an outcome could be predicted with certainty).Regardless, whether OUR future is the future that John “remembers” or not, the randomness of human will and the factors impacting it will insure a different outcome, for better or worse, in this timeline.
Different decisions cause different actions which nearly always render different results.
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-12-2001 02:30 PM
Ron Polesky:Very good post. I wish you had been able to be here all the time. You have drawn some conclusions that are thought provoking regarding John’s or anyone’s ability to predict the future.I, for one, take what many many find to be a simplistic view of time travel theory, and that is that should time travel become available, there is nothing any time traveler can do to change or alter anyone’s timeline because it already has happened. I guess I would add that if my theory is true, Javier, then you have nothing in which to worry regarding John or any other Time Traveler.Just my two cents worth….
Posted by Randy Empey on 03-12-2001 02:46 PM
ExclamationJavier —There is a difference between a John Titor supporter and a person who believes John Titor is a time-traveller.I support John Titor in his effort to have a discussion in this thread.I’ve reserved judgement about his veracity because there is simply no way of knowing, and very little to be gained by guessing, even if I guess right.Frankly, I don’t think it matters whether he is hoaxing us or not.It is the interaction and exchange that occurs here that matters.Why is it that the moment I question the nature of reality and ask you to do the same, I become a nazi-lovin’ liberal-satanist wannabee in your eyes?Javier, I am unique, friend. There are only one ‘of me out there in this world’. As such, I can’t out number you.People will complain about anything and everything, as you now are proving.I am not perfect, nor do I pretend to be.Norms do not exist.I never voted for Bill Clinton — your wrong on that one too.Same sex marriages are just plain sick and wrong, IMO.I don’t see how you can know how I stand on genetic engineering and human cloning when haven’t even decided for certain — you really are amazing.Next time you chose to share a diatribe with us, please don’t engage in character assassination as you do so. It makes it hard to see that much of what you say agrees with the way I see things.If you really are against John Titor and rational discussion in this thread, calling names is the best way to declare your alignment.Once again Javier, I must ask you (and I direct this at everybody else too): Why are you so certain that you do have a firm grasp on reality? Are you sure you see and understand all things very clearly? How do you know what you know?Indeed, do I know what needs to be fixed?At times I feel I do, and I often act upon my beleifs and impulses in an attempt to ‘fix’ the world . . . but, at other times, I wonder whether its me or the world that needs fixing . . .Proving things is impossible in this realm.But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.It means the reward is in the trying.The idea is to keep learning (ad infinitum) until you finally do know everthing. And not to stop when convenient and declare that the end has been reached..Lets talk about the possibilities, since there are no certainties.Excuse this outburst, it just felt right at the time.Its not over till the fatlady sings John.— Randy E.
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 03-13-2001 04:10 AM
Red faceThere have been almost 19,000 views of these posts since its inception and that alone gives credit to the number of people who are interested in this topic.Given the extreme interest (and it is extreme) and the number of people who no doubt repeatedly visit here (as I do) even if not to always post, but to READ… that is incredible.John has stated he is ‘leaving’ in about 30 days. Someone else is critical of that. If John said he was going on a two month Time travel excursion for a particular reason, someone else would be critical. If John said he’s making some kind of adjustment to his devices, someone would be critical. Hmm.Given that there is in my view no problem in relating information by John – given the odds that his timeline deviates from ours by around a possible 2.5%, it would seem fair to this threads viewers for John to provide a thorough discourse on what his timeline offers (afterall John, there’s no way you can be judged on that given your noted deviance.)It seems most of us are acting as if its the last goodbyes – but don’t forget he gave us 30 days (or given himself the same.) Can we not make use of that (whether he is or is not a TT is irrelevant.)Perhaps final concrete questions could be answered at this time? We’ll see. There’s nothing to loose is there?
Posted by John Titor on 03-13-2001 06:32 AM
I’m going to try and get to the remaining questions today. Pamela has been collecting the email and forwarding them to another address. In respect for your privacy, I am not reading them. I am only planning to forward them.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-13-2001 07:28 AM
Randy,((It is the interaction and exchange that occurs here that matters. ))Even if that interaction is generating a group of people following him, praising him, looking up to him as this perfect role-model? It could all just be a front, but they don’t care. They should however be made aware of this. Just look at how those people in “Heaven’s Gate” felt towards their founder? Mighty similar to what is happening here, and it makes me sick to see it.I am reminded of this quote. I don’t know who said it, just got it out of some book with quotes: “Use your eyes. Sometimes those who offer us eternal salvation surround themselves with dead plants.”How many people here wish they could go with John in to the future?How is that any different then those people who wanted to get on the Hale-Bop spaceship to Heaven?((Why is it that the moment I question the nature of reality and ask you to do the same, I become a nazi-lovin’ liberal-satanist wannabee in your eyes?))Because you and lots of people are 1 sided individuals, who can’t conceive the possibility that I can actually be right about John and Time Travel.((I am not perfect, nor do I pretend to be. ))I agree, I’m not either.((I never voted for Bill Clinton — your wrong on that one too. ))I said: “You’re perhaps the majority of people who voted for Bill Clinton the second time around” I didn’t say you did.((If you really are against John Titor and rational discussion in this thread, calling names is the best way to declare your alignment. ))Is there something wrong in what I am trying to accomplish here? Am I not trying my hardest too?I am also reminded of this quote: “Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.”((At times I feel I do, and I often act upon my beleifs and impulses in an attempt to ‘fix’ the world . . . but, at other times, I wonder whether its me or the world that needs fixing . . . ))So your uncertain, I’m not. I know what needs to be fixed. I’ve seen it, I still see it. If you only knew…And for the last time, yes I do have a firm grasp of reality. But if you wish not to accept that answer, because it’s not to your expectation, then I ask you to please stop asking it, for I will not answer it again. Because there will not be a good enough answer for you, no matter what I say.((Proving things is impossible in this realm.))I can prove things in this realm. Something’s are harder then others though.((The idea is to keep learning (ad infinitum) until you finally do know everything. And not to stop when convenient and declare that the end has been reached. ))The end will come when justice is served. I am merely trying to see that justice gets served in the mean while. Cops do it all the time; do you blame them for doing their job? I see something wrong, I have to help. I can’t let someone down, especially if there is something I can do about it.((Lets talk about the possibilities, since there are no certainties. ))Say’s you. But I don’t think I will take your word for it.-Javier C.
Posted by Mel Reckling on 03-13-2001 07:40 AM
I will certainly miss this post when Johns gone . Maybe we can keep it alive until 2036! If you’ve followed this thread you’ll notice I’ve tried to keep a lighter side to my responses, mostly stupid comments meant to break up the intense scrutiny some people have put John under.As far as the most verbal of John’s critics, Javier Cortez, if I’m not mistaken he has posted his age on the birthday thread as being 21 years old. That could explain a lot. Now age is not that relevant, but maturity rarely comes at that age. He is not a “Time Cop” as he states, rather he probably harbors that fantasy. This is not an attack or threat or anything of the sort. Just a statement of fact.As far as John goes, it would be great if he is who he said he was. I cannot pass judgement on him. All I can do is thank him for this most interesting thread and wish him “God Speed” and tell him to keep the Chevy out of the ditch.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-13-2001 08:01 AM
Mel,The Time Cop statement was hypothetical. And I am very mature for my age, thank you very much.Good-day,Javier C.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-13-2001 08:41 AM
I belong in a cave.Well, not yet. We (what do you mean we, human?) have lived through some difficult times (from the past). But still the fact remains that somehow, humans have gotten through it.
One could say that the probability of having a War increases since we have had nuclear weapons around for a long time. If it comes to pass, then what will you do?
I see no problem with being concerned about the future, maybe it becomes a good thought question.
What can anyone do about it? Meaning that the interaction of humans may have a nullifying effect. Maybe John’s purpose is simple, maybe it is complex. Still from leaders in the world, we still have posturing. Here’s an example:General Ivashov: Russia insists on preservation of 1972 ABM Treaty
12.03.01. 18:29Russia’s position on the 1972 Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems is unchanged: it is necessary to preserve the Treaty, strictly observe its standards, and perform all obligations the sides took upon themselves, Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, chief of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation at the Defense Ministry of Russia, was reported as making an official statement at a press conference in Moscow March 12.He also stressed that “Russia regarded and regards NATO’s progress east as a threat to its security and the Russian position in this matter has suffered no changes either.”In his opinion, the Russian proposals on the creation of a European non-strategic antimissile defense system, which were handed to NATO Secretary General George Robertson in the course of his February visit to Moscow, “are diametrically opposite to the U.S. intentions of creating a national missile defense system.”The Russian proposals “are not leading to breaches of some obligations or other treaties in this sphere,” he explained. The U.S. intentions at the same time are leading to the disruption of the 1972 ABM Treaty, he said.Russia’s proposals are based on the idea of creating “international mobile forces for relocation to directions of missile threat, whereas the U.S.A. intends to cover only its national territory with a protective umbrella,” he said.In this connection, in his view, the Russian proposals, as opposed to the U.S. ones, “will not cause an arms race but rather may reverse it.”Creating an U.S. national missile defense system, on the contrary, “will lead to a competitive process between creators of strategic defense and attack systems,” he claimed.In accordance with his statement, Russia will never agree to having the United States unilaterally disrupt the foundation of international security such as the ABM Treaty is.Russia’s proposals on the creation of a European non-strategic antimissile system are “diametrically opposite” to the U.S. plans to create a national missile defense system, he said.“Our proposals do not breach any agreements and will not lead to an arms race whereas the U.S. program will assist a competitive process in the area of strategic defense and attack systems,” he stressed.He also mentioned the fact that in the UN Security Council 89 countries spoke against the U.S. national missile defense system and only four in support of it. “The majority of countries are on our side and this frightens the U.S.A.,” he concluded.He also said Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell would soon discuss the U.S. plans and the Russian proposals in this area.“For our part, we will try to convince the U.S.A. that the implementation of their plans will have ruinous consequences for the world community,” he said.(It just seems right when a talk show host around where I live still says that Russia still has people that react the old way, (as a Communist) when discussing anything about these treaties.) As of 3/12/01, this article from a Russian newspaper (on-line) is still what they are trying to convince their people of.
Posted by John Titor on 03-13-2001 08:46 AM
EMMETT:((As you know, bodies under acceleration lose their initial constant velocity worldline reference with respect to each other – the Twins Paradox.))I’m not sure that’s accurate. Twin Paradox time travel only suspends your perspective on a local level as the “world” around you goes on. You do not change worldlines.
((Given that you have a possible 2.5% divergence from your own worldline (5% on a roundtrip?)on a 60-year trip and the micro-singularities (each having their own worldline) are subject to the same divergence, how do you keep them in phase?))
Good thinking but that’s not exactly the way they work and divergence is not cumulative.
((Does the divergence extend into N-dimensions? Is the 2.5% the total error or is each dimension subject to the 2.5% divergence individually?))
Yes, that’s a little closer. You should perhaps change the “N” to and “X” to avoid string theory confusion.
((…but how did you manage to overcome the problem of gathering sufficient power to artificially create a micro-singularity in such a short time (sometime prior to 2036))
The “machine” with the energy to do it will come on-line very soon. The “method” for doing it has already been “mostly” perfected in the Z machine at the National lab in New Mexico.
((I believe that it would theoretically take the total energy output of the Sun since the time of Richard the Lionhearted (about a thousand years) to form one micro-singularity, let along two.))
Not that much.
BOB:((I haven’t seen an answer to my issue concerning moral turpitude through action or inaction. Did I miss it?))
If I missed something, please repeat it.
BRIDGET:((But let me ask you one simple question: instead of sitting at your computer, why not present yourself to George W, proof in hand? THAT would throw quite a monkey wrench into the government’s cover-up machine, don’t you think?))
Please take a look at the front cover of this month’s Popular Mechanics because it’s a great example of your legacy to 2036 after the war. One side of the cover it describes in great detail how your government is ready spying on you. On the other side (and just as important) it tells you how to install a hot tub.
In March of 2001, Popular Mechanics released the “April” issue of Popular Mechanics. This is the issue that John Titor was referring to.
The reason time travelers do not revel themselves is because your society scares the hell out of us. We do not want to end up in a cement room on a permanent supply of sodium prenatal as men with lab coats poke at our machine with a screwdriver.ALBERT:((…but would not the vintage computer from 1975 be bigger than the time machine to haul back to the future?))Not at all. The 5100 series will fit on a tabletop.ANGEL:((Are people using “reverse speech” in courts, etc. or even recreational?))Not that I’m aware of.RICK:((…and John’s explanation was “gravity sensors”. While I’m not aware of anything called a gravity sensor in this day and age, I wouldn’t discount such a thing.))http://es.epa.gov/ncerqa_abstracts/sbir/other/monana/warburto.htmlFor a second there, I thought 2.5% took a big chunk out of this worldline. I found this site and I’m sure there are others out there.((Russia, China, N. Korea, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, France – and you can add quite a few others to this list – would just love to see America on her knees and will do whatever it is they can to help us down there. NEVER EVER UNDERESTIMATE enemies – especially FORMER enemies (like Russia).))Didn’t North Korea just break off some sort of talks with South Korea?MICHEAL:((WACO…with criminal violations of the law either directly or impliedly as is done in this video, simply doesn’t accord with the real facts. Actually, there’s some evidence now to suggest that not only the FBI, but other federal as well as state and local law enforcement agencies have learned something from the Waco tragedy, and will take great care not to repeat it.))A large point of contention seems to be the “flashes” of light that appear to be gunfire that were recorded from the aircraft flying over the compound. The FBI has stated that these flashes were sunlight reflections. I find that rather interesting since the camera was not a visible light camera, it was a thermal camera. If the federal forces learned anything from WACO it was to install more reliable suppressors on their automatic weapons and don’t use flash grenades that leave shell casings after the fire.JOE:Sorry for the short answers.((1. Could you explain your theory about worldlines? Are there
infinite worldlines? Are all worldlines separate or
connected to each other in some way?))Yes, worldlines are infinite. Yes, they are separate but can be traversed through certain large gravity anomalies.((2. Where did you attend High school and what year did you
graduate? Was it difficult?))No, I did not have a “high school” experience.((3. What college did you attend, what year did you graduate? Would you estimate that your college life was similar to ours in our worldline? ))I was educated at the University of Florida. I entered a military sponsored program in 2029 and graduated between 2033 – 34. No, it was not very similar.((4. Hypothetically: If you fell in love with someone here (lets say Pamela) and you took her “back to the future” with you in your timex machine, wouldn’t that act upset both of our worldlines especiall if she were pregnant? Or all of the worldlines,assuming time travel is possible? Conversly, If you were gay and you took a gay man back with you, would that disrupt the worldlines less, assuming the both you could not bear offspring. ))No, it would not disrupt anyone’s worldlines.((5. Have you had a chance to watch a movie here that you had already seen in your 2036 wordline? If so, did they have the same endings?))Interesting question. If I watch enough of them I should see a difference somewhere but I haven’t seen one yet.BOB 25
Posted by John Titor on 03-13-2001 08:52 AM
EMMETT:((I’m not sure that’s accurate. Twin Paradox time travel only suspends your perspective on a local level as the “world” around you goes on. You do not change worldlines.))After reading this, it occured to me that our definition of worldline may not be the same.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-13-2001 09:18 AM
John,(This may seem like a stupid question, since I am not familiar with any of this in my reality.)Can world-lines converge closer together every so many years?
(Something like world-lines coming closer together during the time Jesus was on Earth, and now in the future, with the awesome power (nuclear) we have, an ebbing or flowing of the convergence and divergence of world-lines.)
((I must add that if this is true, then morals of all world-lines are tilted towards a certain aspect (good or evil) at these times, (causing the outcome of many, many, many worldlines to be similiar at those times)).
Just a thought.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-13-2001 12:26 PM
John,At one time I asked you about the mass of your singularities but didn’t receive an answer. From other information gathered here it appears that your machine heats to about 100 degrees (approx. 400 kelvin).The Hawking Radiation of a singularity with a mass of 3 x 10^20 kg of mass would have a temperature of approx. 400 kelvin.Hawking radiation in kelvins=(6 x 10^-8/M) where M is Solar masses. The smaller the mass the greater the temperature.The mass of 3 x 10^20 kg is equilalent to a slice of the Earth 1.2 miles wide at the equator, extending from pole to pole to the depth of the center of the Earth. (The mass of the Earth is 5.98 x 10^24 kg.) Your society isn’t involved in space travel (according to earlier posts) so it appears that your singularities are madfe from the Earth itself. Ouch! Your society is killing the world. Eco-terrorists as it were.Where is the mass coming from?
Posted by John Titor on 03-13-2001 12:43 PM
EMMETT:((Where is the mass coming from?))E=MCsquared can be solved for mass too.
Posted by John Titor on 03-13-2001 12:49 PM
EMMETT:This appeared to be the same question from the other site so I just copied my old response.((For instance, he has stated that his society is not involved in space travel. He’s also stated that the temperature in and around his device while in use is approximately 100 degrees (approx 375 kelvin). ))I’m not sure I understand the connection between no space travel and the temperature around the device.((If the Hawking Radiation of a black hole stated in Kelvins is…))The singularities are not unstable; therefore, uncontrolled evaporation is not possible. In addition, there is no extemporaneous matter near the singularity that would cause it to give off radiation or heat.((Or – he’s taken a slice of the Earth about 1.2 miles wide at the equator from pole to pole down to the center of the Earth and compressed it into a singularity. And his machine has two of them, GE has a larger unit (C206) and there are multiple machines of each model (C204 & C206). ))A singularity about the size of an electron would only require the mass of a large mountain. The singularities inside the C204 are much small than that. And no, I didn’t make them.((If his society doesn’t space travel – then they are gobbling up the Earth to make their singularities.))You know… E = MC squared can be written to solve for mass too.
Posted by Don Berg on 03-13-2001 04:44 PM
John Titor, would you consider having your departure from this time period be video taped for Art Bell? What would you expect to be seen during that event from the outside perspective? I remember that Art wanted to do this when MadMan Markham was going to attempt time travel, so I would expect Art would be interested. Please email and fax Art about this proposal if you accept.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-13-2001 05:01 PM
SmileDear Don,He is planning on having someone video tape his departure.What it will look like:((Pamela: 1.What exactly would an observer see as they saw you arriving in this time? and exactly what would they see as you departed? would you just appear suddenly or slowly? would you look like a heat mirage for awhile? any light effects? or hazy misty shimmering distortion?Time travel_0- The observation of time travelers “appearing” suddenly in a world line do not happen very often. There are two cases and two points of view to consider. In the first case, the time machine does not move as it goes from one world line to another and then returns. The people watching on the original world line would wave good bye and watch as the machine is turned on.
There would be a static discharge and the air would appear to “ripple” as if it were getting denser. Then, it would stop and the machine will have appeared to have gone no where. If the machine doesn’t move its position from world line to world line, the observer would not see it disappear at all. In the second case, if the machine is moved, it would disappear from the viewpoint of the observer and return in a different location based on where it was moved and turned on from the destination world line. In that case, the rippling seems to dissolve the machine and it disappears. If that happens while you are watching it leave and you expect it to return, you know it was moved or had a serious malfunction. It is actually quite dangerous to get too close to a distortion unit as it enters or leaves a world line. It vents radiation and has a very strong localized gravity field. Personally, I worry about that a great deal.))sincerely,pamela[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-13-2001 at 05:14 PM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-13-2001 10:20 PM
Actually John,You really do not have to answer my questions. I saw the computer on a webpage after I asked that question. I was under the assumption that IBM only had larger computers back then at that time. I do not think any other questions I asked are even that relevant. I was also under the assumption that space travel would come first, now I have my doubts, and as one person put it:
Space is big. I saw some of the other webpages also.
Time is big. I will be thinking about all of this more in the summer, too much to do right now.Well, certainly I wonder what humans will be doing in the future as to the wisdom that may be needed with certain aspects of technological breakthroughs. I really wonder if humankind has the wisdom in some of these pursuits.I really wonder.Here’s hoping we did not step on your toes too much.
Posted by Raxamon Bathory on 03-14-2001 02:05 AM
ExclamationGood evening to all of you, and John. I wont start this off by displaying whether I fully believe you or not, other than I’d love to believe you, perhaps even love the fact that I’d love to believe you, but not whether I concretely do, or not.I am not very good grammatically, or even at organizing my thoughts in a cohesive list of things, so please bear with me as I struggle to manipulate an unweildly and cumbersome form of communication to the best of my ability. First and foremost I am inquisitive about religious belief systems you seem to make many references to a obviously Male Dominated religious system, perhaps even the religion I loathe so much, known as Christianity.
Being that you claim to be from 2036, you must forgive my arrogance but I will assume for you to be a representative of people in that time, and that world-line.
Am I, a faithful Witchcraft Practicing Neo-pagan to believe that Christianity is still the dominant form of religion in whats left of a post-cataclysmic United States?
And that mankind is still aspiring towards a rather unbalanced religion, responsible for a lot of the sorrow, misery, torture, death, and narrow mindedness of this world-lines past, and in some ways present, and none actively seek reunification with the old ways, seeking to come closer to the bosom of earth based religion?
Or is it that Neo-paganism is such a minority in your time and world-line that you have yet to mention it in any form?
I am sorry to sound rather bitter, but with regards to most of Christianity and its followers, all I have seen and experienced is narrow mindedness, hatred, and malevolent intent towards anything remotely different from themselves (Holy War is a good example, Salem Witch trials is another, and down here in the deep south you can find it anywhere simply by walking into a southern baptist church on Sunday wearing a pentagram and wearing black).
If neo-paganism is not a viable and accepted religion or tolerated much amongst the christian counterparts in your communities, I should think I know where I’ll be aiming my guns when, and if such a war arrives. It is my deep seated belief that if all religions don't wake up and unify and realize all religious (and spiritual) belief leads to the same sources, there may well be uprisings from pagans (I should think after so many centuries of hatred we’re quite fed up by now, and its showing in the Black Metal musical underground movement occurring presently in Norway, and some of Europe in which angry fans are quite literally burning centuries old catholic churches to the ground sometimes with followers inside).I wont leave anything aside in saying I’m a Gen X individual, only difference instead of not caring, I’m angry, Not only am I angry, I’m rather overjoyed to hear the possibility of Mutually Assured Destruction for all mankind, because for the most part, most people dont deserve the life given to them, I’ll be cheering from the sidelines when the bombs start dropping, waiting for an opportunity for an anarchistic environment wherein I could easily inact revenge upon Governmental officials, and Religious Zealots with deadly force.However, the image you produce of mankind drawing inward upon itself, and becoming….more holistic in a sense, caring more about the community as a whole, and the well being of the mass body, than the greed of the self I must admit is a heartening one, perhaps a step towards spiritual enlightenment, for all parties, in which Christian, Pagans, Muslims, Buddhists and the like can all sit down and break bread with each other and be as brothers.
If such is the case I would indeed think, even through the hardships, I’d be more than willing to live through that. Furthermore the possibility for daily bloodshed from water raiders and the like would thrill me, a more earth based, rather than economy, or rather Capitalistic based life would seem more than an enjoyable experience.Personally many seem to think of the fact of millions of dying as a bad thing, I don't.
I think getting rid of the mass populace would be a wonderful thing, and rest assured if it happens, I’ll be doing my part to weed out the morons that slipped through the cracks of devastation with the point of a gun, of that you have my oath.At any rate, I have a favor to ask of you, if you don't mind.
You stated earlier, you would post this information up on the net in your world-line when you arrived back at your destination (or rather as close as you can get to your original world-line).
I have two children who I should hope will be smart enough to live through the devastation (perhaps though it would however be a kinder gesture that they did not however, considering possibility of nuclear winter, fallout, mutation, cancer, morons freely toting guns etc).
Please do me a favor and look up if you can Celeste Electra Watson, and Damon Caine Watson, and tell them their father loves them deeply, and wishes them the best in all that they achieve, and that I wish the light grace and love of the Lord and Lady to shine upon them always and in all that they do.
I have no message for myself, as in truth its not me, and even if it was, I should be 57 by this time, and possibly A. Dead or B. a doddering old fool. And also how would the other me with a different time-line know to even look myself up. which means only that the message would never get to me. Which is why I ask you the favor of directly looking up my children if they still live and telling them such.On another note, out of curiosity, say one turned on a Tesla coil nearby the machine you use to travel, emitting the emp dreaded by anything with transistors, and then attempted to utilize the time machine? is it shielded against the effects of EMP or would you then be sitting, staring at a now useless piece of machinery stuck in a time period you were unfamiliar with?
Furthermore, also electromagnetism I should think would be slightly different from our time to yours, considering massive worldwide global thermonuclear war would destroy most power grids *snicker* in your time period, do other electromagnetic fields such as those produced from surrounding power lines, and such in any way hamper the proper utilization of the machine? or make it more difficult to take accurate “snapshots” so that you remain “stuck to the world” ?Also on a further note…considering you’ll never actually get back to your own world-line, why go back?
I dunno bout you, but I’d say FuX0R that, and not care anymore and slide further and further back in time (or forward) as far as I possibly could, expecting cumulative divergence from my point of origin, seeking out and exploring the many possibilities of the multiverse.
I should think a world where Hitler won would be on the side of the amount of divergence I’m talking about, or a World Where the Egyptian Empire was never beaten by the Persians and Alexander the Great, thusly resulting in a superpower of the same might of Rome by the time of Cleopatra's reign (or lack of reign, lol we are talking massive divergence here are we not?) and why settle for the efforts of petty human civilization?
go back, keep going back, Millions of years, grab up specimens of the Triassic era, then have fun hopping back into the future with your specimens then gleefully set loose say, hell a pack of raptors onto the populace of New York? then laugh as you warp off to another point in time, in another world, where any possibility could be reality. (only thing I’d be really worried about is hopping into a world where the Russians did not back down from the Cuban missile crisis, under the Kennedy administration).
After all who is gonna stop you?
the multiverse is now your playground, and who cares about your time period and their problems, as you said others would step through from other world-lines to take your place in your concurrent world-line, perhaps one of them will decide to go back with the machine so they get what they want, and you get a free ride on one of the greatest adventures I could imagine.I dunno, but that's what I’d do, I mean you just took a mission where in essence quite simply there is NO return, so why give a flip about the issues of humans, your now above all that with the multiverse being your playground.Anyways that's just a few ideas and questions and whatnot I figured I’d toss your way. Sounds like fun were it real, and if it isn’t **** man write a book. I’d pay just to read it LOL
Posted by John Titor on 03-14-2001 08:12 AM
Departure Video for Art Bell
((John Titor, would you consider having your departure from this time period be video taped for Art Bell? What would you expect to be seen during that event from the outside perspective? I remember that Art wanted to do this when
MadMan Markham was going to attempt time travel, so I would expect Art would be interested. Please email and fax Art about this proposal if you accept. ))
Earlier in the thread I had said I would be willing to videotape my departure and Pamela copied a much earlier post describing it. There are a few technical and logistical problems but I do plan to have it done. (i.e. the videotape recording has static and interference if it’s too close to the unit.) At this point, the videotape would be for pure entertainment value. It won’t prove one way or another if I’m a time traveler but I feel you deserve just a tad of bread and circuses.
When I approached my grandfather in 1975 it took me quite a while to convince him I was who I said I was. He said something I’ve never forgotten and I’ve heard some of you allude to it also. After looking at the unit he turned to me and said, “Either you’ve escaped from an insane asylum or you’re a time traveler.” As the weeks went on, it occurred to me that both were just as threatening and dangerous to him and I’m not sure he ever decided which one was worse.
Based on my own experiences on the web and a few comments some of you have made, I suspect Art is growing weary of people claiming to be time travelers for the same reason. As we have discussed, there is really no way to prove it and I would imagine Art is tired of putting himself at risk by entertaining the idea. He does have a responsibility to his listeners and I respect that. I suppose it goes back to the old question you’ve all asked yourselves. What is proof of time travel?
Posted by Joe Section on 03-14-2001 08:59 AM
John Titor,I am confused by one of your actions. Why is it NOT ok to give us information about our near future in detail, but it IS ok to take back detailed emails and totally modify that time line?I would like to know the next AOL on this time line, not another
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-14-2001 09:23 AM
Well what a way to play the crowd John. But what are you truly trying to say?Often times you have hidden meanings in your statements. And I know that this time is no acceptation. Why are you now emphasizing trying to say something about proving to us if you are real or not?As a way out perhaps?That video of your departure, are you afraid that it will be proven fraudulent?And you just want to spare people the disappointment?Well if my guesses are correct, I think we found something we agree on. We both wouldn’t like to see people suckered into believing you as a fraud.-Javier C.
Posted by John Titor on 03-14-2001 10:09 AM
((Why is it NOT ok to give us information about our near future in detail, but it IS ok to take back detailed emails and totally modify that time line?))I’m not saying anything in your messages. You are. Are you suggesting I edit your emails? Are you unable to weigh the consequences of your opportunity and I am now responsible for what you might say to yourself? Now that you have the chance to put your own morals to the test do you feel you’re incapable of living up to your own standards?
Is it wrong to say one thing and not something else? If you feel you should tell yourself to buy a certain stock than I suppose you are willing to take the risk that “your” advice doesn’t prove wrong in the next few days.
What ever I might do, I would consider the fact that someday you will have to address this question again as an entire society.
J.C. Why would I offer to make the video if I thought it would “expose” me? If it makes you feel better, I doubt it will change your mind anyway but it will give you something to talk about when I’m gone. I think that’s the greatest gift I could give you.
Posted by Joe Section on 03-14-2001 10:48 AM
John T,It is not against my morals to give myself a financial edge with some information from the future, but it does seem to be against your morals as you won’t give any of us a stock tip or any specific information from the future.Why would you allow all kinds of information to make it’s way back in time, yet give no information on this time line? The exchange of information would not be possible without your help.I am sure if you asked the future me, he would give permission to give the current me some useful information>>I’m not saying anything in your messages. You are. Are you suggesting I edit your emails? Are you unable to weigh the consequences of your opportunity and I am now responsible for what you might say to yourself? Now that you have the chance to put your own morals to the test do you feel you’re incapable of living up to your own standards?<<
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-14-2001 10:57 AM
Greatest gift for me? How do you know what the greatest gift for me is? I’d take it you didn’t mean just me when you said that.
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-14-2001 10:57 AM
WinkI am not going to be sending an e-mail to myself in 1998 because I am sticking to my belief that since I did not receive an e-mail from myself in 1998, then it never happened.I would, however, like to receive an e-mail message from myself in the future. I would now how I would be able to prove to myself that it was legit.Have fun, all, and I look forward to seeing your departure, John.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-14-2001 11:19 AM
John,I know that you don’t understand…which is sad. Its the Hawking Radiation that you can’t overcome. This radiation is seperate from any other radiation given off by extemporaneous matter falling into the singularity. It is part of the description of a singularity per se absent any other matter. A singularity emits Hawking Radiation.A simple “E=Mc^2” isn’t the answer here. You have to form the singularity for your machine to work and that takes mass – real, not virtual mass. You have to get the mass for the singularity from somewhere and if you can’t or don’t travel in space (to grab the mass from somewhere other than Earth) then you have to be gobbling up the planet itself.The truly faulty part of your description of your device involves the Hawking Radiation. You can’t overcome it and you can’t ignore it. Its not the size of the singularity that matters – its solely the mass involved that determines the temperature of the radiation.400 kelvin or 100 degrees C emitted as Hawking Radiation from the singularity requires a mass of 3 * 10^20 kg. Lert’s assume that the mass of the singularity is “about the mass of a large mountain”. Let’s say that the mass of the singularity is 1/1,000,000th (5.98*10^18 kg)the mass of the Earth. The Hawking Radiation temperature around your singularity will be approximately 20,000 degrees kelvin. The surface temperature of the sun is about 5,600 degrees kelvin. That’s a sunburn that you won’t forget for a while.So, the reparte has been fun. But your device, as described, simply won’t work.Its too bad that this has occurred. People want to believe in the future and future technology but get confused by bad science. As I’ve said before, it doesn’t particularly bother me that you don’t really have a time machine. Its fun to ” jus’ ‘spose” it was true. The problem comes when people really are convinced that its true based on bad science. In any case, there’s plenty of evidence available for people to check on their own so they can make informed decisions and learn what the true state of the science is. Where we are in physics today is truly exciting without making it up.20,000 degrees…ouch, ouch, ouch!
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-14-2001 11:20 AM
SmileJohn, I just want to clarify my last post: I am not looking forward to your leaving in the sense that I want you to go, I meant it that I am looking forward to seeing your departure from an observational perspective. This has been an enjoyable, educational, and thought-provoking thread.[Edited by David R Ferguson on 03-14-2001 at 11:41 AM]
Posted by John Titor on 03-14-2001 11:55 AM
((I know that you don’t understand…which is sad.))Perhaps you are just having a hard time making yourself clear? I will admit you are a little out of my ballpark but I do understand what you are referring to.((It’s the Hawking Radiation that you can’t overcome. This radiation is separate from any other radiation given off by extemporaneous matter falling into the singularity. It is part of the description of a singularity per se absent any other matter. A singularity emits Hawking Radiation.))Yes, that is true. If you firmly believe that Hawking radiation cannot be controlled or goes on even without the presence of virtual particles forever until the singularity explodes than you are correct.((A simple “E=Mc^2” isn’t the answer here.))You asked where the mass comes from. I simply pointed out that mass and energy are interchangeable in the same equation. One of my Stanford pals tells me there is a running gag about the chances a VW Beetle spontaneously appearing inside the accelerator. It could only come from the transfer of energy to mass.((You have to form the singularity for your machine to work and that takes mass – real, not virtual mass.))That is incorrect.((The truly faulty part of your description of your device involves the Hawking Radiation. You can’t overcome it and you can’t ignore it. Its not the size of the singularity that matters – its solely the mass involved that determines the temperature of the radiation.))You seem to be quite upset and I understand your argument. I do however think it is important to gather the facts and probabilities before expelling emotional energy on them. Please keep in mind that I have not shared all the technical details of the machine with you. So an easy out would be for me to just make something up.
However, and as I’m sure you are aware, Stephen Hawking admits that his own equations support the “possibility” that microsingularities may not totally disappear as they evaporate in a sea of virtual particles and in fact may leave behind a very stable naked singularity. I’m sure you can look that up. I suppose the difficult part is believing that we’ve taken advantage of it, not that it’s impossible.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-14-2001 11:58 AM
My.Back to my reality.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-14-2001 12:47 PM
Inherently, freedom from responsibility, is not evidenced in this Universe, this is why humans are so small.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-14-2001 01:32 PM
Darby, I simply do not have time to get into details right now – but, if you take some time to do some internet searches you will find that not only is is POSSIBLE to create a microsingularity, it is possibly to do so NOW with a linear accellerator. In fact, there was an article recently (about 5-6 months ago I think, which is why I can’t remember the exact source right now) that stated there is a distinct probability of it happening.I THINK if you do a search on the discovery channel, or discovery magazine, you should find this information yourself.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-14-2001 08:49 PM
Questionspeaking of time, i am on page 18 and have spent hours contemplating, reading, going to links etc. Facinating stuff. Great Discussion.I do have a question or two, and please forgive me if they were addressed and I have not reached them yet.In the years leading to the civil war in the US and ww3, when searches are being conducted in homes, what is being searched for specifically? I can assume weapons, but that seems too simple.Also, John, can you elaborate on recognizing who the enemy will be domestically? You had stated sometime back in the thread that it would be those who had the most to lose..(paraphrasing) I may be taking this out of context, but maybe not.I am on the fence post, but intrigued by this topic. I cannot obviously say you are a TT, but that is not the issue for me. I need no proof. At the least, this discussion has been a laymans guide to understanding Time Travel theory. At most, you are “visiting”. Either way, Thanks
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-15-2001 11:41 AM
Who’s going to remember this thread in the future?Have you made a poster about something like “I am from 2036” to jog your memory?If these events come to pass, have you made plans about what you will do?No need to answer me, but in a couple of years, no one may remember this thread, due to life events of the yous or you.I find the events mentioned as incredible, I also find that most people could look forward and describe certain events that might take place in the future. These possibilities have always been with us.I, myself, and I have a lot of meetings with myself, self, and I am having another meeting with myself, dictate that the 50 me-s that are all having meetings with myself may get confused from time to time. This leaves 50 or more me-s in every world-line with more me-s showing up possibly all the time.
With all of you doing all the same, then these parallel worlds are all busy with all the you-s and me-s.
We all only take up one space on the game-board still in the world.
Further thoughts on all of these meetings may be forthcoming, soon I hope.In the near future, I know what I have to do, due to obligations of all the me-s that had meetings with all the other me-s, I guess.
Well, that leaves all of the me-s tied up at the moment.Anyone else feel this way?
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-15-2001 11:48 AM
If it seems that I may be howling at the Moon, Ah~~~~~~Ow, would you might think of it as a form of March Madness?After all, all of the me-s holding all of these me-s meetings may have nothing to do, if not howling at the Moon, leaving the other me-s to say, what a pity, that some of the me-s are howling at the Moon. I also have to assume that all of the other world-lines are having quite a time also with this.
I can not decide when I had the time to do all of this, though.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-15-2001 12:03 PM
Also, one could write a paper describing this action as a Class, perhaps even putting it in a computer, with a programming language to describe this Class. Making a Object of the Class and referencing it, would instansiate this Class. This would give the computer a Busy Class Object that describes the methods, events, and properties of the Busy Class Act.
I must be a Busy Class Object Act.
Is this part of the Future events?Fitting at this time, I must include a Prayer:Now, I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep.And if I should die, before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-15-2001 12:15 PM
I leave to go into the Future, moment by moment, step, by step.What awaits me there?There was another forum where a topic was created. Oxuma, a Brailizan, came up with this: (Give credit where credit is due).
What has someone said to you that was stupid at some time in your life?Some of the replies given back by people who responded could be made into a sort of conversation that would go like this:Space is big.The idea is good, but the forum is not.There’s grass on the lawn.Is that all there is to talk about?The seashore is where the sea and the shore meet.If I taught you everything I know, you still would not know anything.Can someone go out and get me a monkey sandwich?The winner was given some sort of symbolic prize: The Golden Grass Award.And the winner, was: There’s grass on the lawn.I leave you to your thoughts.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-15-2001 01:17 PM
John,Honestly, I’m not upset about any of this…and the only emotion involved for me is joy. This is fun! It really is. And the energy expelled (other than the Hawking Radiation <poke> is intellectual. Back to the didactic…I realize that you haven’t given “all of the technical details” of the device. If it (the device) exists, the details aren’t yours to give in any case.
The details of the device, as intellectual property, belongs to GE and its shareholders (of which I am one).
The details that you have posted publicly may actually be in violation of copyright and patent law relative to the rights of GE in 2001.
Did the Board of Directors of today’s GE authorize you to publicly post their technical drawings? (Did GE in 2036 for that matter give similar authorization?)
The reason that I ask this question is that we don’t know that GE isn’t, in fact, working on this device as we speak.
The technical drawing that you have posted, if it reflects a reality, has some implications that you may not have taken into consideration. You see a time machine. I see a very powerful weapons system – an x-ray emitter with directional control. It’s there in the drawing.X-rays will be emitted if matter is pumped into the device (which you say isn’t happening) and the engineers are concerned about where to vent the x-rays – a mismatch.
The drawing indicates in Detail #5 “X-Ray Venting Zone”. It details x-rays being focused and vented directionally. It has applications as a weapons system and today’s DOD & GE would not want any details of the system publicized.
Posted by John Titor on 03-15-2001 02:11 PM
EMMETT:I too enjoy these conversations.((I realize that you haven’t given “all of the technical details” of the device.))Actually, I’m hoping the cut-a-way drawing from the manual will be available to you very soon.((If it (the device) exists, the details aren’t yours to give in any case.))…smiling… So let me get this straight, John please prove you’re a time traveler but don’t show us any copyrighted material?((The details that you have posted publicly may actually be in violation of copyright and patent law relative to the rights of GE in 2001.))No, I am not breaking any of “my” laws but I suppose that’s something else you and your world-line will have to deal with when time travel comes.((The reason that I ask this question is that we don’t know that GE isn’t, in fact, working on this device as we speak.))They might be now.((You see a time machine. I see a very powerful weapons system – an x-ray emitter with directional control. It’s there in the drawing.))Yes I suppose that is one thing you could do with it. I could also cut my hand off with a power saw or heat up a crowd of people with a microwave. However, I believe Teller already came up with an X-ray laser that destroys itself after going off.((X-rays will be emitted if matter is pumped into the device (which you say isn’t happening) and the engineers are concerned about where to vent the x-rays – a mismatch.))Actually, I thought we were focusing on the degree of radiation and temperature. I don’t believe I ever said it didn’t give off radiation. Yes, the device does give off x-rays.((The drawing indicates in Detail #5 “X-Ray Venting Zone”. It details x-rays being focused and vented directionally. It has applications as a weapons system and today’s DOD & GE would not want any details of the system publicized.))As you said, it’s interesting that I see a time machine and you see a weapon. Maybe it’s a sign of the “times”. However, it is a good point. If the Chinese or Russians thought you had one of these what do you think they would do?
Again, maybe you should ask yourself if you’re sure you want me to prove I’m a time traveler. Maybe that’s what makes a time traveler “evil” in that he would be willing to share everything with you. If that were true, does J.C. have a good point after all?
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 03-15-2001 02:30 PM
John – This has been fascinating.John – IF you (or other TTs), were to lose – a way to get back – would there be a rescue team? Your story would not go over really well here in 2000, if you were in need of assistance – probably lock you up with the other time travelers. No, I’m sure of it. Though I understand you have family. Are there interesting stories of TTs who have had to wing it through tough missions? What would you do. Get a job? Freelance engineering?Another thing, if you were to take back a carload of shopping items, would they make it?Sounds like your heading back soon. Did I hear that correct?Does the “you” in the other time line, have to “absorb” you back? How do you keep from having two “yous”, back home?Can you e-mail us from the future and tell us how we’re doing there? No, guess not.[Edited by Craig Cuthbert on 03-15-2001 at 02:51 PM]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-15-2001 04:24 PM
Darby,you are so funny.“The details of the device, as intellectual property, belongs to GE and its shareholders (of which I am one). The details that you have posted publicly may actually be in violation of copyright and patent law relative to the rights of GE in 2001. Did the Board of Directors of today’s GE authorize you to publicly post their technical drawings? (Did GE in 2036 for that matter give similar authorization?) The reason that I ask this question is that we don’t know that GE isn’t, in fact, working on this device as we speak. The technical drawing that you have ..”If John’s device is real .it belongs to another world altogether. another GE, therefore it would violate no known copy right laws here.or patent laws here.
In fact with a 2.5 divergence how do you know the patent numbers or the device would be the same?
Besides as of now the patent doesn't even exist here. technically it would not be THIS GE’s pictures. It would not be THIS GE’s device. it belongs to another world line. since it hasn't been invented yet how would you say he got the pictures??
Now THAT would be an interesting case indeed. would they have to prove him to be a time traveler? Is there known laws at this time that states this as a criminal offense to share technology from other world lines? what if it is NOT an offense in John’s world?
The Burden of proof would fall on YOU, not on John.…..Wouldnt want THAT case! Would any lawyer actually TAKE that case??? hehehhmmm…noticed Doc’s board is down again…-pamela[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-15-2001 at 04:51 PM]
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-15-2001 08:47 PM
Just to change the subject for a minute; doesn’t it seem strange that this board has been hit so much? I checked and most don’t get over 500 or so. (this one over 19,000!!!)This has had more than any other. The only other ones that come close are two discussions about c2c guests. What do you think of that, if anything?Lola
Posted by John Titor on 03-15-2001 09:33 PM
((If John’s device is real .it belongs to another world altogether. another GE, therefore it would violate no known copy right laws here.or patent laws here.))Any government document can not be copyrighted. I could also argue that the manual “could” be from a future where it has become public domain but then again, it would mean proving I am a time traveler.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-15-2001 09:41 PM
CoolLOLA: Hi, I agree that it is amazing how many views have been done on this discussion. Well, maybe not. It is a topic that does not itself generate tons of controversy it seems, but as evidenced by the many exchanges, it can get heated. I wish I had been here for the whole discussion instead of reading up.No matter if John is a real TT or not. He started and kept up with a wonderful and informative discussion. In a way I will be a little sad when this thread stops altogether. It was truly the best thread I have read in a long *time*. I am not a PhD, but I did get a good laymans view on the theories surrounding Time Travel. It has been an interest for as long as I remember.Question: Anyone else acutely conscious of the word *time* in daily speech? I am now. Just my focus I guess.To All who Participated:Thanks for the great read! Everyone. There are many well thought out parties on this sys.Rick: You really DoD Intel?
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-15-2001 10:31 PM
John,So what do you have to say about what you started here? Have you no idea that some of these people are following you like the Pie Pipper?I don’t know about you, but I call that taking advantage of buying into people’s fascination with Time Travel, using that as leverage for perhaps your “Secret Agenda.”Wherever you go in 3 weeks John, you’ll find someone with enough guts to stand up to people like you, and oppose your exploitation. Remember ME!-Javier C.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-15-2001 10:57 PM
I still do not see how anyone can be from a future when that has not happened as far as I am concerned yet.
No doubt the answer is here in this thread.
I will have to go over it again.
For a moment, I was thinking that a microsinglularity might just eat energy, and mass just gets in the way, (it’s not needed), making a microsinglularity a kind of energy generator that can move mass with its energy field, (skirting around its edge horizon event).
I have to look that up, again.
If so, then building this thing may not be all that difficult, except for a few engineering problems.
Should of listened to the Prof in Thermodynamics, after all he wrote the answers for the test on the blackboard.
At the time, I guess I was interested in something else, I could tell you what, but I’ll keep it to myself for now.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-15-2001 11:14 PM
Oh, I see you invented a new machine here. What do you call this thing?
I call it a ‘Time Travel’ machine.
Well, what do you hope it does when you turn it on?
I hope it doesn’t blow up the entire Solar System.
Interesting.Well , I think it be more interesting if humans waited until we can take the whole entire Universe along.
Well, what do you mean?
Well, if we had antimatter, and could blow up the whole entire Universe, we could call it, “The Big Bang”.
Posted by Al Ryder on 03-15-2001 11:17 PM
Do you have a Timex Sinclair in your collection ??
Posted by Jim Houlahan on 03-16-2001 12:22 AM
Hi John,You’ve mentioned (and it makes sense that) computers get much better by your time. Considering the vast difference between that 1975-vintage IBM 5100 you’ve picked up and the computer I have sitting on my desk, I can’t imagine what computers will be like in 2036. Are they even still called “computers”?
Are you carrying a computing device from your time?
Have you had to use our ancient technology for all this posting? I think I’d like to use my 1978 TRS-80 Model 1 again for nostalgia’s sake, but 10 minutes of that and I’d have to stop from frustration. How are you coping with our “stone-knives and bear-skins” technology? That’s a Star Trek reference. Have you watched Star Trek?What can you tell us about future computing technology without conflicting with your “temporal prime directive”? We could guess some things based on Moore’s Law concerning storage, speed, etc. It would be nice for computer-geeks like me to hear some specifics though – especially about form, function and interface.Thanks for spending time giving us all great stuff to think about!
Posted by Jay Richards on 03-16-2001 12:36 AM
John, you never addressed my question posted several days ago. Would you address it?Also, I noticed a post from you on a different thread where you said something to the effect that everything that can or could have ever happened has happened, and thus there’s an infinite number of realities.If there were an infinite number of realities, then there would necessarily arise a reality that somehow causes there to be no other realities. In fact, an infinite number of such realities would have to arise that cause there to be no other realities.It’d also necessarily give rise to a reality that somehow causes there to be only one single reality. In fact, it would necessarily give rise to an infinite number of such realities that somehow cause there to be only one reality.It’d also necessarily give rise to a reality that somehow causes there to no realities at all. In fact, it would necessarily give rise to an infinite number of such realities that somehow cause there to be no realities at all.One might desire to argue that such realities could arise in the future, from our perspective, and we simply haven’t encountered the effects of that yet but we might in our future. But if that where the case, then there would necessarily arise an infinite number of realities that somehow causes there to have never been any other reality from any perspective.Etc.There seems to be a bit of a problem with any sort of “infinite reality” concept (or infinite Universes, for that matter), doesn’t there?So furthermore, if there’s a limit to the quantity of realities (or Universes, for that matter), which logic clearly dictates that there must be, what is the limiting factor?Is it the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin? I don’t think so. There can be only one.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-16-2001 06:31 AM
ArrowAL: The Timex Sinclair…I had one. I was 10 and it was incredible! At that time I remember getting the expansion pack for the RAM, it came stock with 2k i think. All Basic code on hot keys. Thanks, never thought anyone else used one. Seems to me the Sinclair was as useless as the Altair though. (that was b4 my start in comps.)JOHN:
I agree with Jim. I to am interested in your thoughts on the future of computers and their interface etc. Any new types of peripheral devices?Also,if the WTO protesters in Seattle had been at the time of the future civil war, would they be at all similar to the victors of the war?And 1 more thing, I know you have commented about your puzzlement at questions regarding Bill Gates. Well, Bill Gates has an interesting story in how he became the wealthiest man (monetarily) on earth. Obvious, however if what you suggest of the future is true, I see Mr. Gates as a becoming a pinata for the amusement of those opposed to his iconical representation of wealth.
Hmmm. Being that his company has been (arguably unfairly) chased by anti-trust issues..does he become a financial force behind the Constitutional defenders?
Just wonderin’
Posted by Mel Reckling on 03-16-2001 07:04 AM
Sounds like the computers of the future will be much like the kind found in the Monty Python movie” Brazil” with their ancient typewriter keyboards and those hilarious screen magnifiers. Can anyone tell me what a “Pie Pipper” is?
Computer from the odd-ball movie Brazil. I love the retro keyboard, and the micro screen enlarger.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-16-2001 07:09 AM
Phil: “Rick: You really DoD Intel? ”My background is in intel. Communications, electronics, intelligence. Currently I work in the computer security field. I work in a national research facility. I keep my hands in intelligence – though no longer professionally. Once you’re a part of that, you never really leave it.I am a very patriotic person. I joined the military when I was younger because of patriotism, not for college, not for the fun of it, and certainly not because I HAD to do it. I did it because I believe in the Constitution of the United States.At the same time – I believe, apparently like John, that our society, and indeed our government, has taken a turn for the worst.
See… we the people, ARE the government.
When a society’s morals break down, the government isn’t far behind. We’ve got this “entity” called “government” now, that has grown massively in power, while losing all common sense.
In order for American citizens to take control of their government, two things must occur. Firstly, the secret societies that operate in Washington DC must be eliminated. This “swamp” must be drained. Secondly, the American government must put the needs and interests of American first before everything else. This goes in direct opposition of what the global oligarchs desire.
The truth is a non-existent entity can’t HAVE common sense.
It can only have bureaucratic ‘thoughts’ – the collective thoughts, and actions of a group of people controlling the purse strings, controlling everything, even down the people of the country.The problem with this is – people like me still exist and probably always will. We sit within a system that we view as corrupt, and believe we can change it within the system itself. We try, hitting brick wall after brick wall.I still believe that our greatest achievements are yet to come – and yet, a gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach has been telling me that something is going to happen, and soon. I’ve felt this for about 5-6 years now. I can not put my finger on it, but, it all comes back to your question… Intelligence.We watch foreign governments and wonder what they will do next, even predict what they will do next. We see things like Mad Cow disease – and more recently a suddenl virile outbreak of hoof and mouth disease. It didn’t hit just one farm, it hit most of England at the same time. I believe – along with others, that this was a biological attack (what better way to get away with murdering millions of people without getting caught? You reduce their food supplies, and they die slowly. You’re never caught because no one knows where you released the disease).Sitting here, reading this forum – and seeing what someone else saw – that there were 19K hits or more makes me wonder about the future. John may or may not be “for real” – but I will reserve my final judgement for the upcoming video – even so, he has sparked an intelligence, well thoughtout discussion on the part of each and everyone writing here. We all are going to come away with a heightened sense of our own reality, mortality and perhaps even our own future.If John has been accurate on even a small portion of his future predictions (which by the way, he has made several, you simply have to carefully read the notes here) then my own thoughts follow along on the civil war, and even nuclear war. MY family will have a fallout shelter within a few months.I already am a ‘survivalist’.
My web site has been online for years and contains a lot of information about nuclear war, disasters, storms, earth changes… you name it, it’s there. If anyone wants the URL, write me privately (Not sure if I can post it here). In the mean time – I personally will be keeping my eyes on the intel side of things. Many others will be too.
Posted by John Titor on 03-16-2001 07:55 AM
To my knowledge, there are no other sites where these pictures can be seen and is stable. A few of them have not been posted before. I suspect they will generate more questions which I will try to address.
John
http://content.communities.msn.com/isapi/fetch.dll?action=get_album&ID_Topic=2&ID_Community=MyTimeMachine
Posted by David R Ferguson on 03-16-2001 08:28 AM
SmileMel:I believe you are referencing a comment made by Javier a few posts earlier, and I believe “Pie Pipper” was just misspelled…I believe he meant “The Pied Piper,” the legendary character and exterminator from the German fairy tale of the same name who first led rats out of a village by playing his magic pipe. Later he led all the children of the village away when the town folk refused to pay him for ridding their village of the rat infestation.
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-16-2001 09:10 AM
No No No. The Pied Piper was a mere facsimile of our future Lord, the Pie Pipper. A poseur. An interloper. All hail and bow to the Lord of the Future! The Pie Pipper. Mothers shalt bake the pies, even shalt they include the apple, the strawberry-rhubarb and the chocolate silk. Baker’s Square shalt become places of worship. And the pies shall be the symbol we shalt follow. Heretics and infidels who shalt mock and ridicule the Pie Pipper shall be cast into a cherry pit.I (vaguely) remember a book by Joe Haldeman where one of the characters says, “With all these infinite moments, the future must get pretty crowded, eh?”That time traveller answered, “You can’t crowd infinity!”
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-16-2001 09:34 AM
We’re going to die.At least while you are here, John, have you visited some of the people’s leader, at Disneyland, “Mickey Mouse”?Who’s the leader of the land, whos made for you and me?M–i–c–k–e–y, M-o-u-s-e,Mickey Mouse, Mickey MouseForever will he lead us to the end.Who’s the leader of the land, whos made for you and me?M–i–c–, k–e–y, M-o-u-s-e.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-16-2001 09:37 AM
Thumbs upMEL: I think what John actually said was that typewriters are in use in the future because it requires no electricity. Makes sense to me. Consider what a waste it is to use a computer (electric) to type a single note that will be simply thrown away after it is read….hmmmAs for the “Pie Pipper”, I am not sure what is meant except perhaps it is really the Pied Piper, a fictional character that led rats out of a European town by use of a flute?RICK: I identify closely with all you stated above.“I keep my hands in intelligence – though no longer professionally. Once you’re a part of that, you never really leave it.”I believe that. I have done skip tracing for an attorney and am glad I developed those skills. Helps me now in searching for truth and reality. I knew a fella who claimed to be retired CIA. One night we had a couple drinks..well I did, he had more than a few.
Anyway, he proceeded to tell me a lot of really intense stuff and some less intense but still interesting as far as discussion.
About a year later some things he talked about were coming to light in media and the net….he had been retired for several years.
What was really sad in his case was that he was obviously an intelligent man, but he was so burnt out mentally and physically, and very aggressive.“At the same time – I believe, apparently like John, that our society, and indeed our government, has taken a turn for the worst. See… we the people, ARE the government. When a society’s morals break down, the government isn’t far behind. We’ve got this “entity” called “government” now, that has grown massively in power, while losing all common sense. The truth is a non-existent entity can’t HAVE common sense. It can only have bureaucratic ‘thoughts'”I agree with that statement as well, but I see a further influence in this. Media attempts to entertain instead of inform and so skews the focus of life in our country. Seems to me that a properly managed info show is entertaining. Hmmm, Art may have some far out people on sometimes, but he does inform > entertain.“a gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach has been telling me that something is going to happen, and soon. I’ve felt this for about 5-6 years now. I can not put my finger on it,”For a long time I have interpreted a feeling that I am supposed to DO something (maybe better prepare for eventualities), but as of yet do not know what for sure. I too sense a shift somehow and there is at times a feeling of massive change on the horizon. I have learned to embrace change as good though. I have stagnated in my personal life before and even the downside to change can be welcome for everything seems to balance in the end result.“We see things like Mad Cow disease”Me too. I posted an opinion here on the bbs at Predictions>Terrorist Attack in US. I would like you opinion on this over there if you could be so kind.“John may or may not be “for real”… he has sparked an intelligence, well thought out discussion on the part of each and everyone writing here. We all are going to come away with a heightened sense of our own reality, mortality and perhaps even our own future.”I could not have said it better.“If John has been accurate on even a small portion of his future predictions (which by the way, he has made several, you simply have to carefully read the notes here) then my own thoughts follow along on the civil war, and even nuclear war. MY family will have a fallout shelter within a few months. ”At the least John seems to develop plausible, nay…probable analysis. I have this sometimes annoying habit of catching things based on the way they are phrased and I too caught several cue phrases that suggest predictions. I am not so fortunate as to have a shelter. I live 35 miles from downtown LA in a suburb. I would be atomized in a surprise attack. I plan to abandon the southland for someplce else if imminent attack occurs. I know a place that is likely not targetted for its non usefulness in a strategic strike. I plan to survive. Afterall, that would be a change and tragicaly facinating.Also Rick, in playing catch up in the posts two days ago, I did come across your link, just have to go check it out further.JOHN: That link you provided does indeed show pictures that were not on Doc’s page. Actually its better, Doc’s page has that annoying Comet Mouse thing that stalls my browser. It is interesting to note, for me anyway, that you use “archive” as a task label. I have used that myself over the years, but it is not a common phrase. Is it a label you use because of research?
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-16-2001 02:24 PM
((If John’s device is real .it belongs to another world altogether. another GE, therefore it would violate no known copy right laws here.or patent laws here.))(((Any government document can not be copyrighted. I could also argue that the manual “could” be from a future where it has become public domain but then again, it would mean proving I am a time traveler)))John,I like the way the thread is going here.I brought up the patent/copyright ideas because time travel does pose some interesting threats to intellectual property rights. We could argue that the future GE has no problem with the release of intellectual property into the public domain in 2036 and that they have no connection with our timeline. However it could still impact the present GE. It’s an interesting area to explore.How do the two Boards of Directors protect their company(s) and their shareholders? For the doubters, again, let’s “jus’ ‘spose” that the research is ongoing today. It will not be cheap even if underwritten by the government. Shareholders have a right to expect a return on their investment and that includes protecting the company from disclosure of “secret” documents. John has released post-R&D materials. They are details of a working model. But their release is at a time while the R&D is in process. GE would not want potential competitors (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Westinghouse, etc.) to have access to any such material.What, if any, standing does a potential plaintiff have and how do they assert their rights? Where do they assert their rights (in what time and what court of law)?John, I still have my doubts about your machine based on the science – but there’s always the chance that I’m wrong. So, I’m not changing-up on you but posing some questions for you and everyone else to consider. If we view the two worldlines as separate nations that have contact with each other and to some extent affect each other, then the political-legal implications have some validity. How do we resolve these issues as we move forward?BTW – Government documents actually can be and are copyrighted. Here’s one example. The “California Building Standards” portion of the California Code of Regulations (Title 24) is copyrighted. This not only a government document, but it’s also the law of the State of California (go figure).Taken from: http://www.oal.ca.gov“Why is Title 24 (the California Building Standards) not included as part of this CCR Website?Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, known as California Building Standards, contains copyrighted materials under the ownership of several model code publishers and cannot be provided here. The eleven parts of Title 24 that comprise California’s Building Standards are available for review at depository libraries, or for purchase in paper format from the copyright holders…”When private companies are contracted by the government to do research there are contractual agreements between the parties as to which, if any, items discovered, written, produced, etc. are the property of the government and which are the property of the private company
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-16-2001 02:31 PM
I find Rick’s attitude supportable as well. I think the youth are indeed ready to rumble. They are an angry and aggressive group to a large degree. It probably hasn’t helped to watch the love and peace generation turn into the biggest, most hypocritical sell outs of all time.As long as members of the 60’s generation take a yoga class once in a while they feel free to consume and pollute without a backward glance at the ideals they once held. (I am describing a good number of my friends. And, God help me, maybe myself as well)It must look obvious to the kids now that had we paid our ideals more than lip service the United States might be in better shape.It must make them bitter and also instill a good measure of hopelessness. My nephew is in a band that travels internationally and he comments on how the European youth do not have this hostility so present in all of the US cities he plays. So many of us are insulated in our little realities we just don’t feel those currents.One comment on infinite realities. Infinity is something we can’t wrap our brains around. We just don’t know what it means. We dismiss infinite realities as an impossible situation because it is as yet beyond the scope of the human brain. Mathematicians work on it as a “problem to solve”. Mathematically, finite is as impossible as infinite. Go figure!Lola
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-16-2001 03:14 PM
SmileDARBY: Indeed it is interesting you bring up the possible problems of the R&D phase of a project being affected by post R&D documents. One thing you overlooked is that while GE is in direct competition (in some areas)with the other companies you list, I cannot recall a single project that was soley developed by a single contractor in recent time. Even various projects for NASA are Boeing/Lockheed products if I am not mistaken.For Example: The B2 Bomber is a Northrop creation, they are Prime contractor….with sub-contracted systems developed in partnership with Lockhead and Boeing and scads of smaller companies as suppliers to these larger systems.What I am suggesting is that while GE may be the Prime Contractor for the C204, it is unlikely they manufacture the entire unit in house. Certainly most of the research will encompass GE solely, but Lockheed is the only one I can think of that can come close to producing useable products *almost* by themsleves through skunk works. My assertion here as it relates to your question is that even if these docs ‘from’ 2036 are genuine, the impact is unlikely to alter anythink based on copyrighted status, for many companies will have had a hand in the process.Besides, being that this is a separate world line from John’s, the point is moot. At worst the development of the C204 is accellerated. No problem there for me. Also, maybe in John’s world line a man introduced documents in 2001 that enabled the development of TT by 2034…hmmmLOLA: Hypocrisy, that is what you described in relation to many 60’s folk that sold out for the cash. I do not remember the 60’s very well…..I was not alive yet.
Posted by John Titor on 03-16-2001 05:28 PM
((BTW – Government documents actually can be and are copyrighted. Here’s one example. The “California Building Standards” portion of the California Code of Regulations (Title 24) is copyrighted. This not only a government document, but it’s also the law of the State of California (go figure).))My fault. It’s Federal documents.“”Federal documents and publications are not copyrighted, and therefore are considered to be in the Public Domain.””
http://www.benedict.com/basic/public/public.htmCourtesy of your web.
Posted by John Wade on 03-16-2001 08:21 PM
WinkI didn’t have time to read through all of John Titor’s statements. I do find it interesting that a high technology person from the near future who is into the dynamics of moving objects through space and time doesn’t even know the correct date for the Wright Brothers first motor powered heavier than air aircraft flight which is 1903.
He said 1910 which is way off.
Its only the most important date in the history of aviation and flight other than 1969, the date for Neil Armstrong’s touch down on the moon. The 1903 date is in all the encyclopedias and history of aviation books.To get the date wrong, and so totally wrong, to me is absolute proof that this person is a fraud. John
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-16-2001 10:47 PM
I do not know what the 60’s folks sold out of. Since I was around then, you had two choices, either go to Vietnam or go to college.
Take your pick, you had no other.
What I see out of the young generation is more time for the future to take hold since I lived through very turbulent times. I wonder how really mad the young folks would be if they were drafted, or well, go to college. Seems younger people we tried to make the world better for, do not appreciate it.
How about they do something better, before they find out that life doesn’t have to be nice!
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-16-2001 11:02 PM
Exactly, some enlisted because they knew otherwise they would be drafted. Excuse us if we decide to change our minds again and decide that drafting people would solve some problems in this country. Probably not, they are still convinced that the cure is college.
Certainly Norway or Denmark did not, they rescinded their Constitution for a couple of months last year or the year before because of problems I guess, then re-instituted it again. That has not happened in the US yet.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-17-2001 01:07 AM
John, Got up this morning and checked the web sites and where you posted your new pictures yesterday is this message:“Sorry, MSN Web Communities is temporarily unavailable while we update our service.
Our improved site will be up and running again as soon as possible.We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and encourage you to try back later.Thank you! ”hmmm….Is there NO WHERE safe???? hhehehehewhat a coincidence…huh?good news: Doc got his board back up and working…again.[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-17-2001 at 01:16 AM]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-17-2001 01:26 AM
John,I just checked the site again because I couldnt beleive it was down. you better check it…some of your pictures are gone and they have a little box with a red X in it……………………just like Doc’s board had.wow…that IS weird.
hmmm….oh well…I am sure it will be fixed soon.
when you click on the pictures that are still there you get this message:“The server is temporarily unavailable. Sorry, the server is maxed out now. Please try again later when the pressure lets up.”Nothing like being there at the right time and right place huh?? heheeh well, got to go…[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-17-2001 at 01:32 AM]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-17-2001 01:38 AM
hahahahah…went back again before I logged off and all the pictures are back up again.well…I guess they were just updating their systems.
Posted by Andrew Hubbard on 03-17-2001 03:55 AM
1) How big is your time machine?2) Is it possible that this world line ends at a different time to yours?3) Does the bible code foretell any events that happen between now and 2036?4) Is it possible to have a war between two different world-lines? for instance, mine and yours?5) Couldn’t you be the person single handedly responsible for not saving the man who finds the cure for cancer, or the person who finds out how to filter the sea water of nuclear pollution, by not giving us advice on survival? There has been a lot more people who have done great deeds for mankind than people that have nearly destroyed it.6) How fast is the average connection to the internet in the future? is it all broadband?
Posted by John Titor on 03-17-2001 05:23 AM
((heavier than air aircraft flight which is 1903. He said 1910 which is way off. Its only the most important date in the history of aviation and flight other than 1969, the date))I suppose its impossible to defend every possible combination of what people want to see. I don’t believe I said anything about the date for the first flight. All I did was pick a moment in history.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 11:40 AM
Dear John,Well, it had to have a ‘Dear John’ reply sometime.
Simply putting us in this multiple world-lines ‘theory’ to us is not known. Therefore, I can only relate to how the me in this world-line thinks about this multiple world-lines.
I am the boss of myself here, if anything, then the other mes in other world-lines that act worse than the me in this world-line do not have a chance. They can complain about it all they want, but since I am the boss here of me in this world-line, then I simply imply that I am killing off (those mes are actually killing themselves) those other world-lines where the me is worse, simply the me here will not put up with it.
Then the me here is creating new world-lines where the mes bosses all think that we edge slowly towards a coherent whole before most of the mes ‘goodly-mes’ die, leaving the dead mes in the other morally bad world-lines to not have any choice in the say of it ( and they should now know to repent).
Now, this is about as much sense as this multiple world-lines multiple realities means to me, here in this me world-line, and if no one including me can understand this new theory, than I have achieved my objective, understanding that the me in this world-line is still not sure that all this is happening at any given moment of time. This is the way to the ‘Source’ and all of the world-line mes can fight all we want to, but it will not do all of the infinite mes any good, I guess.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 12:04 PM
I will now try to refine the previous post.
Since in the energy flux of the mes, we are all blinking in and out of existence at the energy level of existence. Since most humans are not aware of this sub, sub, sub-atomic energy level, where we all form into a sorta one energy flux, the infinite mes are always having meetings for a brief energy moment of all mes.
Therefore, information of all of the mes can change world-lines at those moments of blinking in and the blinking out of existence of all the world-lines. This may lead to different part of mes exchanging with the exact same me that left this previous one world-line.
The reason that most of the time this will not occur is because the information is retained by the me in the world-line that briefly left for this microscopic energy meet of all the mes, and usually the same me that left one particular world-line will still usually be the same me that comes back to the same world-line.
This is why we would all try to fight if meeting for the other mes know that this is going on also, and most of the time they cannot interfere with the good mes in the good world-lines and are left to travel back to their other world-lines where they take it out on those world-lines.
Thus all of the mes can never be sure that part of some of the mes just did not happen to change minutely even if just for a moment. This all goes on continually, as a way of interaction of all mes in all world-lines.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 12:16 PM
Oh.Dissertion of RealityIt implies that the Universe and everything in the Universe of all universes in the superverse is nothing more than an form of energy. That the mass you imply that you see is nothing more at the sub, sub, sub, atomic level than energy, given form to appear to make it more appealing to us as a reality. This was discussed in books in the mid 80’s and I doubt if you will find anything about this subject on the Internet. Dealings about reality.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 12:34 PM
Also, since everything everywhere is energy, this has allowed communication between these different energy ‘states’ and has allowed the creation of self ‘consciousness’ or self ‘awareness’ by the constant filtering action of the now energy ‘states’ left to determine how these energy ‘states’ dealt with determining the best way to develop these concepts and all concepts in all dimensions of all time. I guess one could call this the “All”.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 12:47 PM
Now if no one is getting tired of this discussion. I will leave with the final thoughts and you can have all of your own thoughts.
Through the energy ‘states’ all meeting at all times, it is left to these moments of meetings to determine the most appropriate ways of getting to the “All-knowing” God figure we subscribe to. This does not imply that evil does not have its share of these moments, but simply in the end of the “All” if there is an end, then the figure of “God” has already won, and should evil still have its moments than it has been a bad decision on their parts of these energy ‘meetings’ of information.Well, something like that.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 01:00 PM
This implies the “soul” as being a self-healer, that may or may not correct itself, on the journey to the “All-knowing”.This implies that the journey can perhaps be as long and as knowing as it allows itself to be and that we are left with a “Wonderful God” and the “All” is of good design.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 01:24 PM
Not to ‘hog’ this thread, for I am busy, very busy.<b> I do not see the need for bomb shelters. Did I not state that it may do you no good.</b>
The fact that underground water sources, that exist, may be at least be partly shielded from such a blatant exchange of radioactive fallout, including the lead in it and other parts that may have to be filtered out, may leave a source of water, but that would depend on where you set up camp, when the stupidness ends if the radioactive event should happen.I leave you with your own thoughts about this.
Next:Petersen Guide to Wild Berries.Petersen Guide to Mammals on the North American Continent.Petersen Guide to Birds of the North American Continent.etc, etc, the end.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 02:58 PM
Conclusion of the “Perfect Symmetry of All”.As an example:In Einstein’s Equation there are four possible ‘states’ of reality.These four would be:+E = +(MC^2)-E = +(MC^2)+E = -(MC^2)-E = -(MC^2)The two middle results are of an imaginery numbering system.The signs are not minus, but negative.The two middle equations cancel out, forming a “nonexistence”. The other two equations form “existence”.E = MC^2-E = -(MC^2).Both exist.Now we must venture in to the imaginery worlds of existence.I leave you to your own thoughts.As Einstein stated “God does not play dice with the Universe”.To do other, may lead to irrational and implausible ‘states’ for existence, that can not ever be as been defined.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 03:05 PM
Oh, I beg for your pardon with all of this existence.It is all contained in the Chocolate Sandwich Cremes filled cookies or in a slice of Apple Pie or with a scoop of Ice Cream of your choice.This leaves anyone to deal with the anti-dimensions. We all conclude that dealing with anti-dimensions may be a waste of time, for we break down the “set” of mathematics (existence) to suit our own purposals.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 03:16 PM
Oh, I concluded with a new word “proposals”. Its a combination of “purpose” and “proposals”. I just did not know that I did that, but now I do.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 03:54 PM
Therefore, there is “infinite world-lines where morals equal zero” and a “anti infinite world-lines where morals equal zero”, which we do not use in the reality we subscribe to; and the two imaginary existence that does no good or evil to prove.
Therefore, there are more “All of yous” in existence, that can be proved mathematically, for to define “Mathematics”, you have to reduce every equation for its proof to zero equals zero. Equations must pass that test or you have no “Mathematics”. It would be reduced to absurtium.I beg for your pardon with all of the yous in all of existence.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 04:09 PM
Yous are left free, free, free, free, to receive, receive, receive, receive with all of “This”.
You have permission to receive.Yous may put yours “Evil Eyes” along with yours “anti-Evil Eyes” and yours “Imaginary Evil Eyes” along with yours “anti Imaginary Evil Eyes” to all of “This”.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-17-2001 04:21 PM
There is then the possibility of “surround protection” that protects these clumps of energy, although I suppose, that if allowed to break down, that can happen also.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-17-2001 05:28 PM
John,Away the political-legal palaver and back to science for a bit…A few of our posts back in reply to my comment, “A simple E=Mc^2 is not the answer…you need real, not virtual mass” to form the singularity” you said “Not True” or close thereto.You’re still missing it, John, as we talk about singularities, Hawking Radiation and General Relativity.The universe that you described, that is, one where mass is accelerated to light speed and forms a singularity doesn’t exist. If that were so you have some really bad problems:
1. As you accelerated to light speed in your machine you and your machine formed a black hole2. From your perspective as you accelerated to light speed every other object in the universe formed a black hole due to your relative velocitiesOf course neither event occurred. The problem is the comic book view of General Relativity and the definition of mass in E=Mc^2.The word “mass” has two distinct and very different definitions:Mr = relativistic massMo = invariant mass (rest mass)Invariant mass is independent of v velocity.You are stating your singularity forms as a result of Mr = E/c^2…The formula is correct. The statement is not.The definition of rest mass is Mo = sqrt (E^2/c^4 – p^2/c^2)p=momentum! Momentum…motion…kinetic energy! Its not there in E=Mc^2.The comic book view that General Relativity somehow suggests that a if a body is accelerated to light speed that it will form a singularity is based on the formula “2GM/c^2”. That is, if the body is squeezed small enough by acceleration its radius will be smaller than the Schwarzschild radius surrounding it…it falls inside of the event horizon. This comes from very early interpretations of General relativity which ignored momentum and angular momentum…it was a static solution. Einstein himself stated that it applied to kinetic energy – not rest mass. There are many places where this can be verified. American Journal of Physics, 55, 739 (1987) which quotes from a 1907 interview with Dr. Einstein; “Out of My Later Years”, Einstein, Albert (1950), Philosophical Library, NY, Chapter 11 (“E=Mc^2”) note: I’m proud to possess a very nice copy of this tomb.Your science is still very wrong, John. (And the baseball players at Stanford should know better than to suggest that a VW would form in the accelerator – it would be an Audi)
Posted by John Titor on 03-17-2001 06:04 PM
EMMETT:((..where mass is accelerated to light speed and forms a singularity doesn’t exist.))I can’t find where I said that. Could you point that for me?
Posted by Anthony Reed on 03-17-2001 06:37 PM
Hi John,I went to see your pictures, the one is a bit dark. The red light arc. I liked the cutaway view but, will you be posting the picture of the key or legend that goes with the cut away view? Let us know when or if you will, please. thank you.A Reed.
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-17-2001 08:04 PM
John: You didn’t say “..where mass is accelerated to light speed and forms a singularity…” but you did chide Emmitt a few pages back saying “E=MCsquared can be solved for mass too.”[Edited by Bob Marz on 03-17-2001 at 08:07 PM]
Posted by John Titor on 03-17-2001 08:31 PM
((You didn’t say “..where mass is accelerated to light speed and forms a singularity…” but you did chide Emmitt a few pages back saying “E=MCsquared can be solved for mass too.”))
The speed of light squred is a constant number used to represent the variation between energy and mass. It does not imply that acceleration is required to change or represent the other.
Posted by Michael E. Hendrickson on 03-17-2001 08:36 PM
Hey, Cattoir, enough of your “cybernoise”. (How’s that for a neologism?) Get thee to an abattoir!,( metaphorically speaking, of course.) MH[Edited by Michael E. Hendrickson on 03-17-2001 at 08:38 PM]
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-17-2001 11:21 PM
John,The accelleration to light speed is implied in your reference to virtual mass. Virtual particles travel at light speed. I tried to give you an out there but you insisted that the mass was virtual.OK…here goes:John was born sometime between 1954 and 1956. He attended a west coast university, UC Davis, UC Berkeley or Stanford. He has an IQ of about 120 but was never a physical science major. His major was either cultural anthropology or general sociology. He may have dropped out in his senior year but his expected year of graduation was between 1975 and 1977. He took, as an elective, cosmology, introduction to astronomy or both. He did not take any upper division physical science. Neither of his parents graduated from a university but managed to provide a very stable life for him.His understanding of physics is based on 1970’s emerging physics but he didn’t keep abreast of the advances in the field until about six months ago. His new knowledge since that time is based on cursory internet searches so that he can respond to inquiries. He is very intelligent and a deceptively good debater even though his knowledge of physics is limited and a quarter of a century out-of-date.John, I laud your effort to have tried to take on such an onorous task as to debate both the social issues of futurism and the scientific debates of physics. Next time, though, bite off a small slice.[Edited by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-17-2001 at 11:27 PM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-18-2001 01:01 AM
Splendid work Emmett .Hey John,Took a look at your pictures of your Supposed “Time Travel Device” on the other message board.And usually I can pick whether it’s outwardly or just an ordinary piece of technology.(Partial Psychic remember )And I couldn’t pick up anything, no hidden impressions, no memories, all I could see was something just put together with no real purpose.Well in a way I did pick up something, maybe just 2 Army soldiers.Purpose unknown??Btw, Where did you steal it from ?Lately I have not had any Time Travel dreams. But visions I have. And non show you as a Time Traveler. Sorry .-J.C.
Posted by John Titor on 03-18-2001 05:57 AM
((The accelleration to light speed is implied in your reference to virtual mass. Virtual particles travel at light speed. I tried to give you an out there but you insisted that the mass was virtual.))The word implied is not a very stable platform to come up with a profile for my parents education but I applaud your attempt.
Well at least we aren’t seeing any more thermal and mass stabs in the dark. Interesting profile but you couldn’t slide me just 10 more points on the I.Q.?
Are you suggesting that in all cases there must be an acceleration component in the conversion of energy to mass or mass to energy?
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-18-2001 07:37 AM
<<<Are you suggesting that in all cases there must be an acceleration component in the conversion of energy to mass or mass to energy? >>>No. Just the present case.The bigger question is why you weren’t aware of the difference between relativistic mass (M sub-r) and invariant mass (M sub-o). You’ve consistently misapplied relativistic mass in situations where invarient mass is to be used. This isn’t new information…its a century old. Its a common mistake among pop-science buffs to misapply the terms. Michio Kaku wrote “Hyperspace” and Steven Hawking wrote “A Brief History of Time”. These were wonderful books so far as pop-science is concerned. They aren’t, nor are they intended to be, the foundation for PhD level physics discussions. You’re understanding of physics is at the level of those two books and I’m assuming that they are heavily drawn upon by you as source material.To continue…John has held several jobs during the past 25 years, but hasn’t held any one for more than about 8 years. He interviews well and has no problem getting hired. He annoys his co-workers and especially his supervisor. He’s a 60’s Northern California child and has a problem with authority. He works best when he works alone. He’s taught before, probably at the Community College level (Palomar Commuity College?) and maybe even at the State College level (SF State?). He still lives in the Bay area.[Edited by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-18-2001 at 08:11 AM]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-18-2001 08:51 AM
Smileok Darby,heres my profile on John,(guessing on some of course!)hehehJohn is a 38 year old male. who has roughly around the same IQ I do and could probably pass a Mensa exam .He is a kind and caring individual who was chosen to go on a mission based on who he was related to and how easily he could get the person to cooperate.and his skills obtained at his university.He is able to work alone and under great pressure he is very calm. although he has a great sense of responsibility and morals he will defend himself and others when confronted to the point of taking a life if needed. He believes strongly in peoples rights and freedoms and his community.he cant stand lazy people who dont work.he is a good samaritan and will not pass by the wounded man laying on the side of the road. He feels accountable to God for his actions.He has the basic knowledge to operate and control his machine .although he is not a physicist he understands the basics in the way his machine operates and can make minor repairs if needed and he greatly exceeds in the area of mathematics.his favorite food is oranges.and he loves to sail.and read old magazines and books of life before the war.he likes to communicate with other people on the internet and gets joy out of just the communicating experience.sharing ideas and learning of history.and his parents are just as kind and wonderful as he is.-pamela
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-18-2001 09:19 AM
Hey, let me try this too!Re: PamelaPamela is a loyal person (with dark hair) who (while having an overly inflated opinion of Mensa) greatly admires John Titor and has been actively involved or consulting in the Titor memoirs on the ArtBell BBS message board, mainly on the posts concerning social issues.Pamela had a black and white Teddy Bear and though she’s passed through San Rafael many times has never stopped there. She once ate Chinese food in a small town called North Salinas, CA.My name is Bob, I have an IQ of 60, on a good day, and I am a member of Densa. And even I sensed there was a problem on the acceleration/mass singularity issue.[Edited by Bob Marz on 03-18-2001 at 09:23 AM]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-18-2001 09:28 AM
SmileBob-HEHEHEHE you are funny!sincerely,pamelap.s. that chinese food was good too! heheh[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-18-2001 at 10:22 AM]
Posted by Randy Empey on 03-18-2001 10:46 AM
Emmit —Now, are you arriving at these ‘facts’ through the written word equivalent of phrenology — or have you actually played amateur detective and tracked our storyteller here down?If it is textual-phrenology, I would be interested in knowing what you’ve deduced from my words here.If its amateur detective work, I’m not certain how you are going to get people here to believe you.Lets assume for a moment that all john has said is true or at least accurate to his knowledge.They didn’t send back a physics professor, but a more down to earth type guy whose experience in the field would help with survival. Of course, he mentioned that having family in the right area was a major factor, but — there is a number of good reasons they wouldn’t send their equivalent of Stephen Hawkin back here.If you don’t know how your time machine works, you are pretty much stuck to the game plan — less improvision, less hotwiring, more possibility that the objectives will actually be achieved.I’d be suspicious if John’s concept of the physics involved made much more sense than it does now.Currently, there are two main possibilities from my POV — he is fake and is a gifted story teller (his tale is self-supporting in it incompleteness, a hard thing to achieve on purpose), or he is real and definitely not a top of the line 21st century physicist.Basically, tell us where you got your most recent profile for him — textual-phrenology, amatuer detective work, imagination? Where?[Edited by Randy Empey on 03-18-2001 at 10:53 AM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-18-2001 11:57 AM
If it helps the ‘dogma’ of this forum topic, “they” have found traces of antimatter in this Universe.Even Enstein would know that both views of his equation is real.+ (E) = + (MC^2)and the anti-Universe– (E) = – (MC^2)Both exist.And I might add “just as expected by proven mathematics”.While we’re dicussing life and death, here is something playful:Death be with us and with us all.Ever lurking near or far.Death may be lurking just around the corner.Death, Death, Death.Its a wonder we are still all alive on this Planet, maybe it should read.Live be with us and with us all.Ever lurking near or far.Life may be lurking just around the corner.Life, Life, Life.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-18-2001 02:34 PM
Hey Pamela, that profile you made for John sounds just like me too . Except I’m not that Old, I am Anti-Time Travel, and I have a high keen sense in picking things up that are flawed, especially when someone claims to be from the future. Other then that, it’s just like looking right in the mirror .
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-18-2001 04:27 PM
Randy,Its not related to “written phrenology”. Its associated with linguistics and statistical modelling of the use of English words in this case. (And any detective work would definitely not be amateur <wink>Language, written or spoken, is broken down into regional dialects and even temporal dialects. That is, when and where you learned to speak and write a language will determine how you tend to use it (patterns, word frequency, colloquialisms, idioms, “buzz words” etc.) Someone born in the late 1920’s (my parents for instance) speaks the language differently than I…that is: upon very close inspection a distinct difference is seen.You can analyze the written word of a target and make some very reliable guesses about what, when and where they are (were). With a sufficiently large volume of written words you can even determine who the writer is (maybe). One use is to help validate newly discovered historical documents that are associated with an historical figure: is the document a forgery or real?John’s use of the English is very (and I mean VERY) baby-boomer typical. Give that a degree of confidence of 90%+. There is absolutely nothing in his use of the English language that is atypical of someone born in the United States between 1945-1975 (degree of confidence 99%).[Edited by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-18-2001 at 05:49 PM]
Posted by John Titor on 03-18-2001 05:33 PM
EMMETT:((John’s use of the English is very (and I mean VERY) baby-boomer typical.))I actually worked quite hard on that. It appears the physics questions have come to a hault but at least you’re not insulting about my mother anymore. Thanks.((There is absolutely nothing in his use of the English language that is atypical of someone born in the United States between 1945-1975 (degree of confidence 99%).))Perhaps you could raise your confidence level to 100% by going from 30 to say… 100 years; maybe 1930 – 2030?
The tools you use to have that much faith in my profile must be pretty good. I’m interested in what you compared me with. How exactly does a person born in 1998 who traveled across world-lines from 2036 use the English language?
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-18-2001 06:02 PM
The use of the language isn’t something you can practice so that you can change it. The linguistic synapses were formed by the time you were three years of age – by age 12 they were fully developed (which is why aphasic children over the age of 11 or 12 rarely learn to talk). Much like a polygraph, the analysis would reveal the forced use of the language via inconsistencies. There is no such anomaly in your syntax, frequency, idiomatic usage, etc. Northern California baby-boomer American Standard English with a slight Depression Era southeastern U.S. “accent” from your parents.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-18-2001 06:18 PM
The answer to the question, “How does a person born in 1998 use the language…?” is – who knows? Those persons are three years old today and just learning to speak. What we do know, however, is that during the course of their life they will learn how to talk by age 12…and the common usage of the language will be statistically different than what we use today.Everyone knows this instinctively. We can listen to a movie made in the 1960’s, for instance, and there is no doubt that we are listening to a movie made in the 60’s based on the dialogue. We also have a pretty good chance of figuring out that the script for a recently made 60’s style movie was written in the 90’s – the words seem forced, contrived, unnatural. The untrained person may not be able to put his or her “finger on it”, but they can tell the difference. It’s also possible to quantify the difference.Your new name is John “Boomer” Titor
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-18-2001 06:21 PM
Well now John, Golly! I would take that there as a compliment.oh nelly!yes siree! by george! You studied that area and I would say you “passed with fly’in colors!” “your as smart as a whip!”oops! excuse me not using terminology from my generation.WHATZZZZ UPPP??? (heheheeheheh)Gee wizz! Im so confused I almost forgot what generation I came from! what letter are we now? “X” “Y” “D”????-pamela
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-18-2001 06:51 PM
Come now Pamela, I think you shouldn’t take John’s defeats to personal. I mean there is a difference when you defend a friend, and when you stand up for someone because of devotion to a cause. I’m sure John can fight his battles just well on his own.After all, who else here has a cheerleader on the side supporting anyone in particular?No one, just you…So this question is for you John, do you feel like you need to be defended?-J.C.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-18-2001 07:01 PM
TalkingCome now Javier, I was just having fun with Darby!!But as for my cheerleading….Give me a “J”Give me an “O”Give me a “HN”whats it spell? JOHN!!! GO JOHN GO!heheheheh[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-18-2001 at 07:21 PM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-18-2001 08:30 PM
SmileMy bad Pamela, but I just call’em how I see’em .You know, just like actions speak louder then words.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 03-18-2001 at 08:34 PM]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-18-2001 08:46 PM
Good thing your not an umpire.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-18-2001 09:15 PM
John,Darby said:”Your new name is John “Boomer” Titor.”you might have to take this name since he COPYRIGHTED your other name! (snicker..heehehheeh.. I know you are laughing John!)[Edited by Pamela Moore on 03-18-2001 at 09:27 PM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-18-2001 09:53 PM
Nah, I’ll give John something to really laugh about .“Johnny has a girlfriend, Johnny has a girlfriend.”I know I’m LOL, heehe-Javier C.
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-18-2001 10:10 PM
Well, hopefully the Russians do not screw up the total eclipse in the year 2017 passing through around the center line by Cleveland, Ohio.In fact, what can you do at the end of March of any year?Well, you can visit your local astronomical society and view all 110 Messier object in the sky at night.Only time during the year around when you can do this.Don’t worry, your eyes will adjust to the dark.Hooray, for the dark.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-19-2001 07:07 AM
Red faceAlthough I can appreciate the study of language and the determination of locality based on that, I would suspect that IF John is from the future, language pattern would have changed and in some ways not progressed too much insofar as patterns. John painted a picture of a world in distress for many years, and indeed our US. Looking back in my studies to WW2, there were many things that changed and progressed, but what did not change was language…..except slang terms.I have not noticed too many slang terms from John, but I have noticed some (real or not) difficultly with certain phrasing. I refer you back to earlier in the thread when questions arose from phrases involving ‘sell out’ type of things. I am not an expert on language, but aspire to be so I am not saying I am correct. I am just guessing that if John is from the future, and less focus is applied to money and greed, as he implied, phrases implying the selling and buying of goods as slang, would be confusing. That remains consistent.I am all for being skeptical, but approaching the language factor is not, to me, proof John is from our time. Conversely, it does not imply he is from the future either. His story actually supports the idea he is from the future when subtleties such as what I mention are look at. Go figure, we are still at the point of maybe-maybe not.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-19-2001 07:29 AM
John Wade: To get the date wrong, and so totally wrong, to me is absolute proof that this person is a fraud. JohnActually John, that doesn’t prove anything except he got the date wrong, and that he is human. Even historians do not remember every single, important date in history.For instance… can you tell me the exact date and time that the Lusitania was sunk? Can you tell me the exact day and time of D-Day? Can you tell me what day Louis Pasteur came up with the “vaccination”?I mean… think about it. You can certainly look those things up if you’re so inclined – and answer them, BUT, do you know them RIGHT NOW, without looking them up?Rick
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-19-2001 07:36 AM
Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire: Darby I liked your take on John’s background. Please do mine now.Rick
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-19-2001 08:12 AM
Red faceI mean, this hole talk iz gettin’ perty intense, dude.Any guesses? Where is that lingo from? Written language is interesting, but if I were to go in the past, I would study the language and customs. Much as one might study language and customs before travelling abroad. Sounds like I am defending John, but I need not do so. Here is the excerpt from Johns post on page 40:>EMMETT:>((John’s use of the English is very (and I mean VERY) >baby-boomer typical.))>I actually worked quite hard on that.John stated he worked on talking our talk. At the least, his story is still plausible and consistent. May I urge people to quote the phrases being used when being critical of them. Page numbers help. I am enjoying the speculation, but linguistics in this case are also subject to interpretation. My interpretation supports Johns assertion he is in florida and a native of there.Peace, Man.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-19-2001 08:13 AM
Interesting this “language” thing Darby came up with. I’m certain he is correct in his assessment of listening to a movie made in the 1960s, or ’50s. I know that I can personally tell you from the dialect of a movie without having seen the video running approximately which year the movie was made. Of course, there is a degree of inaccuracy in doing so.As far as dialect changes go, I’m sure that from decade to decade there are obvious changes and some not so obvious changes. There are terms I remember from when I was a kid that are used even now. There are things I’ve seen in movies made before I was born, that also are in use, even now.I do not see that this placing someone based on their language is an exact science.John/Pamela – Pictures. I have plenty of web space, and I expect the site to remain online (though is has gone down on and off over the past couple of years due to weird problems). My web site http://survival.anomalies.net and another site I assist in managing http://www.anomalies.net are both available for the video, as well as the pictures. I have the pictures already and will try to get them up on my site tonight – under the heading of “Time Travel”.If and when there is a video made available – I would be happy to convert that into a format (or several formats) for the computer and place it online for download. I would be more than willing to come film it independently myself – if John wishes (besides which, I would love to be there to see it for myself – if only to know for myself that it is real).So – John, you’re welcome to contact me privately and I will personally arrange my own travel, and bring my cameras and video the whole thing – with complete confidence that I will not reveal location, time, date or anything else until after your departure.About Albert Cattior… I’m wondering if Albert himself isn’t a time traveler as well.. and is suffering some sort of time dysphasia or something. <chuckles>Speaking of that – John, if you have time before you go.. are there any known mental disorders that are associated with time travel?Lastly: Someone mentioned (Sorry, can’t remember who now, or where I read it, but it was this forum) something about “shelters won’t be needed”. If I understood the gist of this statement, it was meant in the terms that if a nuclear attack becomes a reality, a shelter will be useless.That can not be further from the truth. I can tell you I am accutely aware of what atomic/thermonuclear weapons are capable of doing – and what they are NOT capable of doing. I also know that depending on the attack and the type of weapon, not only is an attack survivable, placing yourself and your loved ones, as well as a few weeks worth of food in a fallout shelter will protect you from fallout radiation.My web site has survival information on it regarding such things, and believe it or not, it comes from the US Government. So, even they believe nuclear strikes are survivalable. They just do not press that publicly, because 1) they do not want to panic people (because if the government says you should have a shelter, conspiracy theorists suddenly become convinced the government is trying to warn us without warning us, it upsets natives of other nuclear powers into believing WE will start a war – etc). 2) Doing so legitimizes the use of nuclear weapons to everyone, thus making it more of a possibility they will be used without a second thought to doing so. 3) It will raise the price of land throughout the United States. Precived “safe zones” would go up in value – especially with pre-existing shelters. I’m sure there are other reasons I haven’t thought of, but suffice it to say that the government DOES believe nuclear war is survivable. Just not by everyone.I believe it as well. I’m not one of those guys that wants to be around for the blast. With my luck I would get blinded and blown around, but not killed outright, leaving me blinded and crippled and not able to fend for myself, left to die miserably. I’d prefer a fighting chance. Give me a basement, some water and a little food and I will make due. Don’t count the human race off as defeated the minute the nukes start flying. We’ve been around a long time, and will continue to be around for many more centuries.The question is not, can or will the human race survive. The question is how WELL will they survive?Rick[Edited by Rick Donaldson on 03-19-2001 at 08:18 AM]
Posted by Mel Reckling on 03-19-2001 08:32 AM
A total eclipse in Cleveland in 2017? WOW!! Finally something our fair city will be famous for. By the way, we put out our “Flaming River” back in 1969 for those of you who think it is still on fire.We better get busy writing out invitations if we only have 16 years left.
Posted by Bob Marz on 03-19-2001 09:04 AM
Darby, As brilliant as I think you are, I just can’t buy it that your linguistic analysis is all THAT comprehensive and precise. You have no voice inflection, no body language or handwriting patterns to supplement the analysis. Only his printed texts. And I think a smart person, intuitively aware of the more common giveaways, could take care to maintain a neutral linguistic demeanor. I suspect, if you do have a high success rate with your method, it’s because you yourself have psychic abilities (that are being sublimated through your more mundane rationalization). Your leftbrain is doing a wonderful job explaining what your rightbrain is doing. The breadth of your insights suggest, otherwise, an external source of information.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-19-2001 09:07 AM
Rick,You haven’t submitted enough written material to use statistically. Boomer has submitted materials all over the net – thousands and thousands of words. Its not magic or para-psychology. Its simply statistics. Sorry.
Posted by Randy Empey on 03-19-2001 10:20 AM
Question:quote:Basically, tell us where you got your most recent profile for him — textual-phrenology, amatuer detective work, imagination? Where?Answer:quote:Its not related to “written phrenology”. Its associated with linguistics and statistical modelling of the use of English words in this case. (And any detective work would definitely not be amateur <wink>Of course I am leaving out a lot, but I’d like to shine the hypothetical laser pointer at these two things.So … its not phrenology of the written word, and not amatueur detective work, and we are led to think that it is not imagination or non-amatueur detective work.In fact, it is heralded as an off-shoot of modern linguistics and statistical modelling of the usage of English words.If that is not at least simmular to textual-phrenology, I am misunderstanding things.Which is completely possible.But it involves statistics, which I’ve always had a superstitious disbelief in.You have to be very careful to qualify your results. Can you establish a one to one relationship between certain subsets of attributes and certain subsets of people? Not absolutely. But you may be able to come close enough to make your 90% probable guesses — but the amount of work that would really take would be staggering.If you undertook it, then I salute you. But still respectfully choose to view this as only one of many possibilities here, with no special status.The sample sizes involved (that I am aware of) are simply not large enough to lend the confidence levels you are implying.It would take the analysis and comparison of billions of words from millions of reasonably ‘representative’ individuals, and then a relativily large number of words from the target.At least thats my intuition, and I’ve yet to see proof or convincing evidence hinting strongly enough to the contrary.John simply hasn’t written enough words here. Perhaps you’ve dug through his trash and analyzed his snail-mail correspondence . .. making your sample size bigger, and more representative … but would it be big enough?Way too many variables to play with here, even for the mythic strengths of ‘statistics’.Language usage is mutable. Upbringing and other factors of environment have effects. But so do conciouis decisions while composing, the nature of the form of communication, the subject’s emotional state at the moment, the proximity of a thesaurus, etc..At the moment, ‘he’ could be a accidental persona who is the results of thousands of chimpanzees in a labs across the usa, involved in a program that posts the results from their typing on gov. issued typewriters onto the internet, when it seems to make sense. The timing, and appearant ‘on topic’-ness is then just a weird coincidence.That is just as likely as any of the profiles presented so far.Explain why this isn’t phrenology of the written word — or diff. enough from phrenology that we should pay attention to it.Maybe we should devote a thread to such ‘profiling’ … where gurus like yourself analyze all comers ….—–http://www.dictionary.com says:quote:phre·nol·o·gy
Abbr. phren.
The study of the shape and protuberances of the skull, based on the now discredited belief that they reveal character and mental capacity.—–How many days left here John?If they started a ‘countdown’ would it embarrass you or feed your ego?[Edited by Randy Empey on 03-19-2001 at 10:50 AM]
Posted by Lola Montez on 03-19-2001 11:25 AM
I thought Darby’s observations interesting. Since I read his post I have tuned into a couple of old movies; 40’s or 50’s stuff. The differences can be subtle but they are there. I will now be listening for those linguistic time bubbles whenever I hear conversation or a movie. It is especially fun listening to my nephews in their early twenties. I agree that during crisis those sorts of changes may happen more slowly (with less media input) but I should think John’s phrases and slang would more resemble that of my nephew’s than my own. Also, I don’t understand why it would have been important to study the nuances of the time for John’s particular mission. Certainly, a turn 1900’s era gentleman could carry on a conversation today without being suspected of being a time traveler.This is an interesting and educational way to view John’s claims. Far superior to mindless bashing or searching for stock tips. I bet John enjoys this scrutiny as well. After all, what does he have to loose if we believe him or not. This board is hardly big time exposure.Darby, do you mind saying what you do for a living? It seems your background must be varied to have insight into both linguistics and physics. How about a profile of yourself.Lola[Edited by Lola Montez on 03-19-2001 at 11:30 AM]
‘Darby’:I’m not really saying your linguistic-phrenology, or whatever you call it, has no validity — just that its validity is yet to field-proven to the masses here, or at least myself.Why don’t you share the specifics and your reasoning, as you share the results?Where does your data come from, exactly.What expertise do you draw upon?Is this like Javier’s intuition — which would be perfectly fine, as long as your honest about the source of your knowing, and don’t expect us to believe you implicity with out a good ‘track record’.Or is this some scientific method you’ve troubled yourself to learn — which would also be perfectly fine, as long as you share your work, if you expect to be believed.Question to John:Does this linguistic phrenology type ‘technology’ have a prominent existance (that you know of, of course) in your native time?[Edited by Randy Empey on 03-19-2001 at 11:54 AM]
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-19-2001 01:00 PM
Red faceHere’s a couple of hyperlinks:http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/~jpierre/strings/links.htmhttp://www.treasure-troves.com/physics/about.htmlComputer: Security retina scan complete.……..Dr. Carol Markus: Project Genesis … A Proposal to the FederationSpock: Carol MarkusKirk ……YesDr. Carol Markus: Exactly what is Genesis? Put simply, Genesis is life from lifelessness. It is a process whereby molecular structure is reorganized at the subatomic level into life-generating matter of equal mass.……Spock: It literally is Genesis.Kirk: The power of creation!……Bones: Dear Lord, do you think we’re intelligent enough to, suppose, what if this thing was used where life already exist?Spock: It would destroy such life in favor of its new matrix.Bones: This new matrix! Do you have any idea what you’re saying?Spock: I was not attempting to evaluate its moral implications, Doctor. As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create.Bones: Not any more! Now we can do both at the same time. According to myth, the Earth was created in six days, now watch out, here comes Genesis, we’ll do it for you in six minutes!Spock: Really Doctor McCoy, …you must learn to govern your passions. They will be your undoing. Logic suggests….Bones: Logic?! My God, the man’s talking about Logic, we’re talking about Universal Armageddon! You green blooded, inhuman.Bridge to Admiral Kirk: Admiral, sensors indicate a vessel in our area, closing fast.Kirk: What do you make of her?Bridge: Its one of ours, Admiral, its Reliant!Spock: Reliant?Kirk: Try the emergency channels…….Picture Mr. Sajvek.Kahn: Slow to one half impulse power, lets be friends.Movie: 1982, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 03-19-2001 01:26 PM
What’d that have to do with anything? Unless you were talking about the moral implications of time travel.Linquistic phrenology.. I think it is a crock.Tell you what my friend, since I haven’t written enough here, please, feel free to use my web site as your model. There are literally gigabytes of my writing there. Articles, news, views, op-ed… even a biography. But, it doesn’t tell all. I suggest though, you not read the bio if you have any propriety regarding this so-called ability to predict where people have been in their lives using their words as a guide.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-19-2001 01:43 PM
Lola,Some very brief notes on my background would contain reference to a degree in Experimental Psychology (including psycholinguistics and neuro-physiology). Psycholinguistics is the study of the psychology of speech – phonetics (This is Noam Chomsky’s work). Professionally the notes would include work in the intelligence community including de-briefing.Phrenology, the work of the German scholar Franz Joseph Gall (very early 19th Century), is a word that has too many negative connotations that have little to do with Herbert Spencer’s work in evolutionary biology. It dredges up pictures of Gestapo “scientists” seeking out Jews based on skull and facial knots, ridges and shapes or 19th Century English detectives “identifying” criminals by similar methods.
Posted by Phil Fiord on 03-19-2001 01:51 PM
Thumbs upJohn is a White male of 38 years who may or may not be a time traveller. He shows a well worked knowledge of Time based technology. He claims to not be a scientist, and understands how his machine is supposed to work.By his own claim, he has more documentation, but chooses not to share it. This makes sense to me, for if I were a TT, I would not give out more than I chose to. In fact, here on the bbs, we each can simply give just the details of what we want others to know. In subtle ways John has given predictions and even 1 date that I came across. This does not validate Johns status, but in the coming days to years we all shall see.In a nutshell, methods such as linguistic phrenology may have some credit, but no evidence of how that ‘science’ was utilized in the ‘john model’ has been given. That leads itself to be just as known as Johns real status as a TT or not.I suggest that those with the gutteral umph to do it, go back. Read ALL of Johns statements. Put them together. Analyze what was written. Not for Regional specificity, but for the small details that were scattered about. If not read carefully, one might miss things stated.Bash me if you like, but I am at a point were I sincerely HOPE John is a TT. None of us can say yeah or nay really as a point of fact, and if at this point John said, ” Oh, btw, I am just a fella from Little Rock Arkansas “, can that really be absolved as true? Not really.Fun Ain’t It?
Posted by Albert Cattoir on 03-19-2001 02:09 PM
Spock: Admiral, scanning an energy source on Reliant, a pattern I’ve never seen before.Kirk’s Son, David: Its the Genesis Wave.Kirk: What?David: They’re on a build up to detonation.Kirk: How soon?David: We encoded four minutes.Kirk: We’ll beam aboard and stop it.David: You can’t.Kirk: Scotty, I need warp speed in three minutes or we’re all dead!Uhara: No response, Admiral!Kirk: Scotty, ….. Mr. Zulu, get up out of here, best possible speed.……..Bones: Are you out of your Vulcan mind! No human can tolerate the radiation that’s in there!Spock: As you are so fond of observing, I am not human.Bones: You’re not going in there!Spock: Perhaps, you’re right. What is Mr. Scott’s condition? …… I’m sorry, Doctor, I have no time to discuss this logically! ……..Remember!Movie: Star Trek II, The Wrath of Kahn
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-19-2001 05:45 PM
Anyone notice how quiet John has become in the recent days? It happened just around the time Darby was commenting on his use of his supposed 2036 language .Just call’em how I see’em.John you’ve done this Machiavellian routine so much, it’s predictable now. Whenever anyone comments on anything you don’t know how to answer or that might expose you, you go quiet and answer back in a few days. And make the excuse of being busy archiving, when you do fine an answer to it.If that doesn’t spell fraud and opportunistic traits, then a lot of people are blind and can’t obverse the obvious.-Javier C.
Posted by Anthony Reed on 03-19-2001 06:06 PM
Javier,John said he would be leaving in the spring, that officially is only 2 days away. If you were packing to go somewhere (time travel or not) you have to get things ready don’t you?And you are on the internet, there is no such thing as obvious.Reed
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-19-2001 06:34 PM
Are you new here Anthony?John said on March 10th, that he would be leaving in 30 days. That would make it about April 10th or 11th.I will be leaving at around the same time, and may return in about a month or so hehe.
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 03-19-2001 06:44 PM
ArrowAnd now we know why the christ-force had to return three days after bodily death. Maybe, just maybe he came back to his apostles not owing to some predestined miracle, but because he was getting such a heavenly headache…And perhaps thereafter said to them “Listen here you sqaubling bunch of know-it-alls, you-too Judas! Stop infighting amongst each other about who’s right, who’s wrong, what your instinct or intellect is telling you, just get out there. You’ve got all you need now to get on with the job.”Or maybe the christ force said, Hey! Is not cool dude. Watzup da matter? Gotta cold ur sumtink? Getcha out mun! Catch ya de later!Who, and I mean, WHO really really cares.More the point, if I was JT the TT person, I would be thinking What the H*LL – I’ve tried but right now I just don’t care. Off to catch my broomstick and that’s all that matters right now.Later (dude. hehe).
Posted by Pamela Moore on 03-19-2001 06:56 PM
Javier,Did John really say that?((John said on March 10th, that he would be leaving in 30 days. That would make it about April 10th or 11th.)))Hey! that is MY vacation week too! we could like all have a big party or something down there!!! heheheh
Posted by Tom Young on 03-19-2001 08:41 PM
QuestionLast week I was looking at the images that JT had uploaded onto MSN and noticed a simple typo in the operations manual page showing a diagram of the Tipler sinusoid field produced by his device where in the diagram, item 10 (Negative Time Event Horizon) had been transposed as item 11 in the diagram, though the item value was printed correctly in the legend. I didn’t think anything of it until I looked at the same page as found on Ricks site and saw that the typo was gone from the page. I’m not trying to play pixel person or anything, but unexplained edits to the images that have been posted do lead me to wonder what other changes are being made. (Then again, a time machine might just turn out to be a copywriters best friend!)
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-19-2001 09:55 PM
Bob,Really – its a lot more mundane than that (psychic ability). The profile is truly based on what Boomer has written and posted. Its statistics, analysis and interpretation.Voice stress, handwriting analysis, non-verbal communication (body language) isn’t part of this. Those criteria are generally used for truth testing. I don’t have any interest in directly challenging Boomer’s veracity. He and I are having fun with a battle of wits. Cat-and-mouse rhetoric as it were.I’m getting ready for the next round…Major Boomer,What was the elapsed time (indicated on your machine’s internal chronometer) for the trip back to 1975?
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 03-19-2001 10:47 PM
Tom,Good catch. We’ll make you a questioned documents tech yet.Look even closer. Upper left hand corner legend: you can still see the faint cut-and-paste edge outlined on the paper (not computer cut-and-paste, literal scissors and glue cut-and-paste) and a finger smudge where the ink ran onto the paper when the pasted section was smoothed. Same-same for the center title – which is also warped.Take a close look at the technical drawing. Look especially at the left and right end perspectives. Not the same – very poor quality CAD for a billion dollar project.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 03-19-2001 11:03 PM
Hey Pamela, where’s your buddy Johnny? Can’t he come out and play?Darby is calling for him too . You go Darby.It’s not me this time John, so you’re going to have to try a whole new approach. With that said, I am sure we are to expect something new from you in about a day or so .See you real soon ,Javier C.P.S. Sure, where should we all take our vacation? Me, you, and John “I wanna be a Time Traveler someday” Titor, wanna go off to?Oh and John btw, I suggest you leave that piece of junk you made in your garage at home, cause I’ll break it if I see it . Have a nice day.
Final Comments
I went through and edited for readability and for content. I have to tell you all, the sniping and picking on the John Titor character soon grew old. It made me just want to give up and toss all this away.
I really don’t know if John Titor is real or not. However, what I do know is this…
Vehicles and people enter and leave our reality all the time.
The only (admitted) report of one such traveler (that I am aware of, at this time) is this John Titor character.
I am unfamiliar with his technology.
Though I can follow and understand the theory behind it.
He is also the only one who seemingly understands the true nature of reality in the MWI.
This information, as tiresome as it is, is placed her for others to peruse and study.
Sixth of multiple Posts
This post is the sixth of a series of posts related to John Titor. The other posts are;
Conclusion
Our reality is not what we think it is. I am not the only person who has disclosed that there are others, and other organizations that can enter and leave our reality at will. Another person who made this claim went by the name John Titor.
Only where as, I claim to be part of MAJestic and was employed as part of human sentience management, John Titor claimed to be a person who was part of another world-line. Together, we both claim that the MWI is real, and we utilize it to perform dimensional egress for our own purposes.
I claim that it is a tool that is used to manage human sentience evolution.
John Titor claims that he utilized the time variable to conduct acquisition activities in the past.
He claimed that on that world-line, the United States was fundamentally different after a rapid series of events in the late 1990’s. He claimed that he needed to perform some acquisition of certain technical devices through the use of the time-variance option in dimensional travel.
This is a multi-part post.
Take Aways
John Titor claimed to be a time traveler.
He utilized dimensional travel to move in and out of the baseline reality.
As such, he visited our world-line to acquire some technology needed on his world-line.
That technology was produced in “our” past. Thus the idea that it involved “time travel”.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
From the late 1990’s until around 2001, the Internet was “rocked” by the sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of a Mr. John Titor. This person claimed to be a “time traveler” by using inter-dimensional travel.
He was rapidly dismissed as a hoax, in unity, by all the major debunking organizations, and his posts mysteriously disappeared off the Internet. Since then, all the sources that he posted on all found that their files related to John Titor were all corrupted and could not be reclaimed.
That was the case for over a decade.
Then, in 2014, a number of private individuals managed to piece together independently saved dialogs relating to John Titor. They constructed numerous websites that hosted these reclaimed dialogs, and posted them on the Internet for others to view.
Metallicman is one such website.
Presented here are recovered posts from the Internet collected in 2014. It is not known if any posts have been deleted or altered. They are presented as they were found by the author.
Important Warning
The information within this series of posts are speculative. I have no factual information if this John Titor is what he claimed to be. It is presented herein as the only (or maybe, one of the only) sources that claim to be associated with the vehicles that pop in and out of our reality from time to time.
He was, as far as I know, never associated with MAJestic in any way.
Original John Titor Posts – Part 5 – Transcripts A
Here are the original John Titor posts from the Post2Post Art Bell Forum. Obtained from HERE.
John Titor dialog is in normal text in brown color, text by others are italicized.
When referencing other non-Titor questions, green color is used.
Purple color is for non-related text.
Metallicman comments are in red color.
Metallicman corrected spelling and some punctuation to make the text easier to read and understand. For unedited text, please refer to the source.
Posted by John Titor
John Titor – I am from 2036
Post to Post (http://bbs.artbell.com/index.php)
– Time Travel (http://bbs.artbell.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=25)
— I am from 2036 (http://bbs.artbell.com/showthread.php?threadid=1203)
Posted by John Titor on 01-27-2001 12:45 PM
Greetings. I am a time traveler from the year 2036. I am on my way home after getting an IBM 5100 computer system from the year 1975.
My “time” machine is a stationary mass, temporal displacement unit manufactured by General Electric. The unit is powered by two, top-spin, dual-positive singularities that produce a standard, off-set Tipler sinusoid.
I will be happy to post pictures of the unit.
Posted by Mike Klinge on 01-27-2001 03:01 PM
Hi,As you are well aware of, I am sure, people can post anything here, whether or not it is true. What proof do you have that you have traveled through time? Rest assured that I want to believe you, but why should I believe?Thank you for indulging me.
Posted by John Titor on 01-27-2001 09:15 PM
I have been communicating online with others who are interested in time travel.
Also, for more information:
http://www.p3n.org/pn120100.shtml
[Edited by Mary Rowland on 01-28-2001 at 03:04 PM]
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 01-28-2001 03:23 AM
QuestionJust an obviously curious note: If you were returning from the 1970’s to 2036 (um that’s 66 years)…. and you are using a time-travel machine…. why on earth would you just per chance stop in 2001? Let alone have a web page.Answer welcome – I didn’t know time travel had resting stops between scheduled trips? Hey – I’m not going to disbelieve on that basis, just curious.
Posted by John Titor on 01-28-2001 06:35 AM
My initial flight was from 2036 to 1975 (61 yrs). I then went from 1975 to 2000 (25 yrs.) Later this year, one of two favorable windows will open and I will return to my 2036 (35 yrs.) I am here now for personal reasons. The web page is not mine. I have been speaking online for about three months and the page is a collection of the various documents and pictures I have sent to other individuals.
Also, I realize there is no way for anyone to believe me with absolute certainty so I hope I’m at least entertaining. You may be interested to know that even in 2036, there are a large number of people who don’t believe in time travel. Are you sure the world is round?
Posted by Theresa Wood on 01-28-2001 07:33 PM
I read the q&a on the link posted and I found it to be very interesting. Whether you are a time traveler or not is not relevant. This is a very probable scenario of what our future holds if things continue on their present course.
Sometimes we need to step out of a situation in order to see it more clearly. A time traveler from the future “seeing” the events of the day helps in understanding the current social/political trends. You hit it square on the head, in my opinion.
I enjoyed reading it, thanx!
Posted by Jeret Schisler on 01-28-2001 07:40 PM
WinkJohn, Can you please tell me some lotto numbers for 2036? I’ll be ready to retire around that time. if I’m still alive. Thanks
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 01-29-2001 02:45 AM
UnhappyI visited your web page and it immediately struck me with those “photo’s” you claimed to have put there or made available or believe in… mind if I ask something to clear my logical thinking mind…Why is it, given that laser printers etc can print up to 2,400cpi, (or at least 600cpi) and pictures can be scanned at god only knows what (9,600+cpi) why your text and graphics appear to be 1950’s reproduction of a faint typewriter in need of a ribbon replacement (God I havn’t used the word ‘Ribbon’ since…. hmmm.)And then there’s the fact that given the obvious typewriter appearance, the ‘text’ sure wasn’t made in 2036.Oh… please don’t use the “oh – technology went by the board by then.” approach cause it won’t stick.Please understand that I have examined time travel and parallel world theories extensively and therefore only seek to clarify these points with you.
Posted by John Titor on 01-29-2001 07:47 AM
Please keep in mind the web site is not mine and I apologize for the poor quality of the files. The photo you saw was taken by me with a Polaroid camera manufactured here. The other documents were duplicated by placing a book onto a copy machine at a packaging and shipping store and then scanning and saving them.
As for the printing technology in 2036, you may be surprised at how many people use typewriters however I agree the documents were probably not created that way.
I too am very anxious to hear your thoughts and questions on time travel / gravity displacement and any comments on the Everett Wheeler Graham model.
Posted by Lee Heggy on 01-29-2001 12:14 PM
2036 sounds more like 1836 with all the ‘good stuff’ of modern life thrown in. Personally I prefer our current time-line even with all of it’s excess and decadency it’s an exciting time to be alive and I can still multiply and divide in my head.
Posted by John Titor on 01-29-2001 03:48 PM
Although the documents posted were printed from a computer printer, is it really that hard to believe that manual typing is just a bit more common in thirty years? After the war, many things like manual printing machines, bicycles, sailboats and hand tools were valued a great deal. I have noticed more people in California are installing wood burning stoves.
I realize my claims are a bit ridiculous but my intent is not really to be believed. However, if I had an opportunity to talk to a time traveler, I might ask questions like: How exactly does the singularity sensor measure the expansion of the inner event horizon or why does the reality of multiple worlds support the religious dogma that there are no good or bad people just good and bad decisions or what were the political motivations that changed the U.S. Constitution?
Posted by Mike Kolesnik on 01-29-2001 06:38 PM
Red faceHo hum…ANOTHER time traveler.Well, time to run him thru the BS o’meter.Did you ever notice how time travelers never specify events that happen in the NEAR future? As in a week to a month or so. The reason why is because then people could check on these “events” to determine if they have happened or not.Well John, answer a few questions that any person from the future should know (or at least have easy access to)
1. What was the final death count in the recent India earthquake?2. What is the “Ginger” (IT) invention?3. Who wins the Stanley Cup (Hockey) this year?
Posted by Kimberly Nease on 01-29-2001 07:26 PM
AngrySuper questions. This “time traveler” should have NO trouble at all answering these questions, especially the GINGER one so get cracking John.Kim
Posted by John Titor on 01-29-2001 09:10 PM
How do you figure I have easy access? I can appreciate your skepticism but I must admit I’m confused by your choice of questions. I fail to understand why a time traveler would be expected to know the details you ask.
Right now, do any of you know the details of the first week in February for 1970?
For that matter, could you tell me from memory if it rained in Atlanta last week?
Is a sports almanac a required or expected piece of equipment for all “time machines”?
At least you didn’t ask the standard “what stocks should I buy” question. Interesting that no one ever asks which stocks to sell. I’m sure my answers will be quite unsatisfying but you should know I do not want your unshakable faith nor do I think anyone should give it so easily if a “time traveler” were able to answer those questions.
In fact, over this medium, it’s impossible to prove I’m a time traveler, therefore, it’s impossible to believe. Actually, I depend on that a great deal so I don’t have to worry about being picked up by your friendly law enforcement officers. What do you think they would do with two micro-singularities?
So here goes…
(1). I have no idea.
(2). It looks like some sort of motorized scooter. What do you think “IT” is?
(3). I know this one but I think it would be unfair and immoral for anyone to win a bet based on something I’ve told them.
Posted by Stephen McKay on 01-29-2001 10:16 PM
I’m sure it would be unfair and immoral if we had certainty, but the truth is anyone placing a bet on your answer would still be gambling on whether you are in fact from the future. Spill the beans!
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 01-30-2001 04:57 AM
TalkingI can understand the ethics at hand here quite well. If you know, for instance, that someone is going to have a fatal accident, or meet with an unpleasant incident at a specific time, would you tell them the specifics? I wouldn’t. If you knew when Microsoft was going to break, or where the next and largest ever earthquake was to hit – would you tell? There is the matter of ethics indeed. Who want to force life-changes that are not natural to their path? Paths which intermingle with all other life, indeed creation played out on this earth. No indeed you wouldn’t.Yet if a person already knew, as I do, that they are in the history books, as I am, but not known widely or available within the community yet – there is a simple challenge. And no – I am not talking from any egotistical sense – just one of knowing. However, whether time travelers wish to demonstrate based on the above is up to them. I would certainly be forthright in my confirmation to them (private email is allowed given the circumstances.)But gentlemen and ladies… it also seems that certain ‘time travelers’ traverse linear time whereas others appear to travel cross-dimensionally. Interesting and one worth discussion.
[Text in bold are my highlights. Metallicman.]I personally challenge said time traveller(s) to demonstrate their proof by confirming to me what is already known to me as per my own history but not yet in public circulation.And I should add given that scenario – you can not bend or manipulate my future path because you would not be telling me anything I did not already know. Fun aye ???
Posted by John Titor on 01-30-2001 06:21 AM
(To the moderators: I apologize for the links, I understand and it won’t happen again. I will be happy to submit the same material if there’s a place to post it here.)
In my experience, when it becomes necessary to convince someone what I do for a living the only way to do that is to be related to them. Everything else is immediately written off as a parlor trick, even if they’re standing in front of a cooling distortion unit and I show them a dollar bill with the year 2029 on it.
In the last few months, I have had numerous extended conversations online and there are quite a few things I’ve said which can easily be checked out but haven’t. I get no pleasure out of being right when it comes to CJD disease, war in the Middle East or suffering people in far away lands. There’s nothing like the look on someone’s face when you tell them 100,000 people will be dead tomorrow. In my travels, I have discovered that most people really don’t want to know about the future because if its different than what they want it ticks them off. Actually, I don’t blame them.
The means by which I travel in time is very physical. I require a “machine” to do it. It weighs about 500 pounds and gets quite hot. I do not own it and I did not build it. Within limits, I will be happy to discuss how it works and how “future” science thinks time works. No we have not completed string theory yet but (N-10) seems to work pretty well.
As far as the future goes, your world-line is about 2.5% different than mine. This is a roughly cumulative measurement based on my arrival in 1975. As far as I can tell right now, you are headed toward the same events I would call “my history” in 2036. However, the very nature of time travel states that every worldline is unique and you are very much in control of what you do and how you get there. Heck, the fact that I’m here makes it different from mine.
I have nothing to sell, and there is nothing I want anyone to do. For all other time travelers out there, I have no tests for you and I would enjoy discussing your feelings and experiences after the war. To everyone else, while I’m here, I am very interested in your philosophy, religious outlooks and speculations on technology.
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 01-30-2001 12:36 PM
WinkAh… the war. Now that’s interesting. Is it worth mentioning the visions I observed in this or similar respect?Now as to answering my previous post… I simply placed a task there that if done would not alter my time-line but for sure answer one thing – I believe in the reality of Alien technology as I was one of several verifiable people to OBSERVE the same occurence. I believe in astral/spiritual travel as a person who has done so and spoken to others of the same. I believe in the potential of time travel BUT have not received anything that would make me properly convinced yet.But then… perchance I missed some other posts prior to this BBS (although I did on occasion read the old system when it was active.)You tell of war… and your desire to study the inhabitants of this time-line prior to ‘the war’. Is the general population more interested in (a) mind-baffling time-travel technology, or (b) the events and observances of a time-traveller? A bit of both perhaps?Care to shed some light on your view on ‘The War’ and why it is that technology appears to have gone – or become the seclusive property of controlling authorities? Interesting. I note also the American Computer Corporation announcing an alternative storage/processing system 12,000 times faster than current systems…apparently by non-human intelligence. Now as a technician, that IS interesting but of the apparent 3,000 the director sent out…. wonder if there’s one left for a genuine techo to study?
Posted by John Titor on 01-30-2001 02:09 PM
Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to approach the Wright Brothers in 1910, before their first flight, and make the suggestion that in a mere thirty years, man would be on the brink of flying through the air at the speed of sound.
What tools would I be able to show them that would convince them? Would a picture of a jet airplane do it? Would complicated math and physics equations do it? Would it take a ride? Perhaps there will be a way to share the photos again but I don’t expect it would convince anyone. I would only hope they would spark conversation and make the reality of time travel a little more personal.
Although I have no personal experience with non-mechanical time travel, I cannot discount it. Physics has a way of making the impossible a reality.
I’m not here to study anyone. My objective was in 1975 and the reason I’m here now is my family. I find my preconceptions of what I would encounter interesting. Being exposed to a society through its art, music and advertising is one thing and experiencing it is another.
I’m not sure the physics of time travel is really that hard to grasp. Most of the working theory has been around on a large scale since 1970 and the technical breakthroughs are happening on your worldline right now.
Technology is not gone in 2036 nor is it the private domain of “government” leaders. Computer printers just didn’t work very well on 12 volts and many people just got used to doing things the old way. After the war, the main problem was distribution. Can anyone tell me how many companies in the United States still manufacture bicycle tires today? Anyone who still has a bike in 2008 will find out.
Posted by Mike Kolesnik on 01-30-2001 07:58 PM
Red faceThe wave rider spun a similar yarn and reeled Art in, hook, line and sinker. Then Art had him on the show. He started off ok but quickly went downhill into the Wacko Zone. After he told Art that Marilyn Monore is not only alive but that she shot JFK there was a LONG silence from Art. I could hear the gears turning in Art’s head as he finally realized that he had been suckered.It was the most glorious moment of silence!Art recovered and proceeded to blast him.Now, Back to “John”. Some items, John.If I traveled back in time I would absolutely want to know the history of the period and location. Since you have revealed yourself you have obviously been trying to convince people of you credibility. So since you had fore knowledge of your intentions you should have been ABSOLUTELY sure of having easy-to-verify NEAR future history. Showing crappy pictures of dollar bills from the future is child’s play.
Anybody with a $500 computer can do that. You sound like one of those religious cult nuts whose story keeps changing.
The “temporal divergence” you mention makes it an easy answer for every probing question. ” Well, because of the temporal divergence, the whole world just changed, THAT’s why none of my predictions come true.There is a medical term for people like you.
Look it up!
So General Electric makes your TT machine. Well if that’s the case then being masters of mass production they should have made millions of them because EVERYONE would want one.
(1) If the machine does exist we should be FLOODED with TTer’s right now!
(2) CJD That story has been know since the late 1940’s. No great news there.
(3) Middle east problems? That’s a no brainer.
You are spitting out the same things Ed Dames did.None of his predictions came true either…Yawn…
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 01-31-2001 02:14 AM
Galvanization is something occasionally found on a packet of building-grade nails (like ‘galvanized flat-head’) But with the lack of tangible evidence I’m thinking of shifting my belief in just what (or who) should be termed galvanised?I have not seen a constructively frame-worked document outlining required ethics which any trained TT would of necessity agree to. I have not seen a TT willing to forward a single piece of physical time travel device to this particular technician since first posting anything over five years ago. I have not heard of any governing declaration of use for TT devices from the future.I have seen ‘interesting’ crude pictures, photo’s of items with curly cords and really pre-1990 style equipment with perchance a few common dials, needles, and circuits in probably arc-welded metal boxes. I have seen diagrams, descriptions, interpretations, crude ‘make your own’ manuals, and the like – and yet nothing, not one iota of anything that could without question come from some future.I am not p***ed off – not yet. I am calm (breathe man breathe!) and wait in anticipation of some correct answers to some simple questions and for goodness sake… some undoubtable proof. Then – only then – would constructive discussion really begin.
Posted by John Titor on 01-31-2001 06:30 AM
I’m not aware of any predictions I made or perhaps we do not agree on the definition. What anyone chooses to do based on something I might say will not affect me in the least. My goal is not to believed and I submit that your life would not be any better (and perhaps worse) if you did believe me. You placed “tests” before me that I must pass. Why? What do I have to gain by passing them?
The fact is there is nothing I can say or show you or let you drop hydrochloric acid on that will “make” you believe me and I really don’t want that. It would be nice to discuss your view on religion, politics, physics and the mechanical requirements of time travel but in order to engage in those types of conversations, I must apparently tell you who wins the hockey game next week. I’m just guessing that if were to write out the ten lines for Fermat’s final proof you wouldn’t be very impressed either.
(1) Industrialized mass production does not produce the uncountable tonnage of useless consumer items so gleefully absorbed by your society. I would estimate there are about 10 units like mine (C204) and twenty larger units (C206). The main difference is the sensitivity and number of the main Cesium clocks. I would estimate that some sort of public time travel will be common around 2045.
(2) I’m not aware of any other time traveler’s “here” now. But if they are here, I’m sure they’re pouring over sports history books so they can go back in time another week and start a friendly conversation on the web.
(3) The “Mad Cow” story here is yet to begin but don’t worry, the fruited jellitine deserts are safe.
(4) I’m glad to see it’s so easy for to dismiss the Middle East. Yes, I suppose it is a no brainer but pretty soon it will be a “no arrmer” and a “no legger”.
Ethics is an excellent topic of discussion and I hope we can move past a collective insistence of applying everything to this frame of reference.
Posted by Melinda Floyd on 01-31-2001 10:50 AM
Of course I only speak for myself, but I think it’s irrelevant and pointless to argue whether or not this man is a Time Traveler or not. This thread sure beats anything else on the BBS right now, and it doesn’t matter if what John is claiming is fact, a hypothetical exercise or pure BS. He’s raised some very interesting points that I think would be beneficial for discussion:1) Civil War–considering the current political climate of our country, this is feasible. Figuring in the pervading apathy regarding what has happened in the last couple of months (the serious implications should have at least ‘clicked’ by now), I think something much more drastic would have to happen to get Americans off their couches and away from their TV’s (or computers) in order to fight for ANYTHING.
2) Mass Production–I was thinking the other day how much we waste in this country via mass production. I was in a store standing in front of a wall covered with utterly useless ‘stuff’ and the absurdity of it struck me so much I had to laugh. I’ve always admired Gandhi’s belief in doing away with industrializing India in favor of keeping to a much smaller (but more widely spread among the people) production of textiles (ie; ‘craftsmen’).
3) Ethics and Holistic thinking–shouldn’t the more prosperous lend a helping hand to those in less fortunate circumstances, and shouldn’t this be done worldwide? I know we in America have allowed ourselves to be lied to regarding what is important and what is not. We seem to be more valued in this society for what kind of, and how many material possessions we accumulate than for the intangible/non-material but longer lasting treasures we might possess.
4) Anything is possible. Why not? If you think for yourself, someone like John shouldn’t be a threat. Haven’t you had ‘futuristic’ dreams? Do you suspect that you are living in other timelines or ‘realities’–some very similar, some so different that you don’t even have a frame of reference in order to understand them with? Do you remember doing this particular incarnation millions of times before? Is sanity just too boring for you?=)Anyways, I only briefly touched on some of the things John has brought up in his posts (and from the link he posted). Yeah John, I’d like to discuss what ethics and the human condition would be like in the future.
Posted by Vanessa Bunn on 01-31-2001 03:41 PM
John Titor,A serious reply please. When you determine the time to which you want to travel do you “dial in” the date to which you want to go, can you “jump” to a new date, say in 1000 year increments. Can you “sample” the time period by stopping only for a few moments before continueing your trip and can you take passengers with you????? please answer honestly.
Posted by John Titor on 01-31-2001 07:13 PM
The distortion unit reaches its target destination by using very sensitive gravity sensors and atomic clocks. The basic unit of calculation is the second. So yes, in a sense you do “dial in” in a date and the computer system controls the distortion field. At maximum power, the unit I have is capable of traveling about 10 years an hour.
Unfortunately, time travel is not an exact science. There is inherent error and chaos in the computers ability to make accurate calculations. Based on the current technology of the clocks and sensors, distortion units are only accurate to about 60 years or so. So no, in 2036, we are unable to travel back 1000 years due to the error rate in the system. The divergence between the worldline of origin and the target worldline would be too great. If one were to try and travel back that far, history would look nothing like what you would expect.
The unit has mass limits but the 204 is capable of transporting about three people and equipment. I don’t think you would like 2036 very much.
Posted by Charles Moltrup on 01-31-2001 09:02 PM
WinkWhy would you want a IBM 5100 I can find them at auctions for next to nothing, i think they were the first 286 CPU’s.
Why didn’t you stop in this year first and by one.Well I have a good question for you in 2036 do you still use toliet paper to wipe your ass.
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 02-01-2001 04:58 AM
I’m pleased to see certain persons take little offense and in fact upon re-reading my posts recently I have noticed they don’t read as intended – I am for the record pleasant but usually quiet company! Sorry if I upset you (I hope not.)
Dear God… please hurry up and make these computers write not what is typed… but what is meant…. hmm.I have a natural inquisitive mind and enjoy and technical challenges. I am also a Spiritualist and to that end enjoy both spirit and mind… which is why I for one am naturally curious about the future, time travel, parallel universes, and spiritual matters. I believe that most people visiting this site do so for a mixture of reasons – including the DESIRE to know.You mentioned previously the year 2008 – what’s significant given your observed 2.5% difference between this time line and your own?You mentioned a certain model (204) travel unit – what is the source of power and what type of ‘engine’ is used?If as you claimed, most of the requisite information has been around since 1970’s – and yet time travel is not public until ? 2045… why is it that a time traveler can not divulge design information that would demonstrate its reality. Are there missing common elements/materials yet to be discovered or engineered?
Posted by John Titor on 02-01-2001 08:36 AM
The 5100 had a very simple and unique feature that IBM did not account for and decided it was not in their best interest to advertise (which in hindsight was not very smart). This accidental feature was thus removed from any future desktop computers. In order to take advantage of this feature, the 5100 I have now required a couple of special “tweaks” that had to be done by one of the software engineers in 1975. Anyone who is familiar with this feature and was told to keep their mouth shut about it will be able to tell you what it is.
Yes we still have toilet tissue and some people still suffer from extreme anal fixation.
I have noticed and gotten used to the act of verbal conflict as a cathartic entertainment. I don’t totally understand it but I take no offense by it either. Perhaps we could just arm wrestle some day and still be able to have a pleasant conversation.
The year 2008 was a general date by which time everyone will realize the world they thought they were living in was over. The civil war in the United States will start in 2004. I would describe it as having a Waco type event every month that steadily gets worse. The conflict will consume everyone in the US by 2012 and end in 2015 with a very short WWIII.
The source of power for the C204 that allows it to distort and manipulate gravity comes from two microsingularities that were created, captured and cleaned at a much larger and “circular” facility. The dual event horizons of each one and their mass is manipulated by injecting electrons onto the surface of their respective ergospheres. The electricity comes from batteries. The breakthrough that will allow for this technology will occur within a year or so when CERN brings their larger facility online.
Perhaps it would have been clearer to state that the math has been around since 1970. I would urge you to examine the properties of Kerr black holes and Tipler cylinders. An actual working prototype was first tested in 2034.
On my worldline, time travel is not a public recreation but we are all aware that it exists. You may be disappointed to know that the ability to manipulate gravity is not the technical challenge that had to be overcome. Miniaturizing the clocks and sensors, creating clever ways to vent x-rays and creating a computer system dependable enough to calculate the changes required to the field were the main challenges. There are no missing pieces…just missing energy levels and a few very interesting subatomic particles.
Posted by Mel Reckling on 02-01-2001 10:42 AM
JOHN,I always thought a good question to ask a time traveler would be: When is the next triple crown won in horse racing and what is that horse’s name.
Those events are few and far between and generally remembered. They should stand out in most people’s minds. This could be a good little test. A winner of some obscure 10k race in Utah nobody would remember, but Derby winners and especially Triple Crown winners hold international prominence.
Posted by John Titor on 02-01-2001 11:28 AM
Unfortunately, winners of historical sports betting events are not high on the priority list of people in 2036. As a thought experiment, If I did tell you who the winning horse was and you killed it before the final race, would that make me a liar or would it support my statement that our world-lines are about 2% different? Do you know who won that race 30 years ago?
Posted by Matt Hagemeier on 02-01-2001 11:55 AM
John. a few questions: what is the political climate like in the U.S in your current timeline? I mean, what form of government is there?
Posted by Charles Moltrup on 02-01-2001 12:04 PM
TalkingSorry about the flip question you do know your computers but still why didn’t you buy a CRAY computer second hand they are much more reliable.Have a nice flight BACK TO THE FUTURE
Posted by Grant Nelson on 02-01-2001 07:21 PM
John, you are right about the significance of the 5100 so I tend to believe most of what you say about the near future will also come to pass in my personal time line.I propose a little experiment.I will come look you up if I happen to be in Florida in 2036 and we can talk computers or go fishing.PS Next time somebody asks which team won a particular game just tell ’em it was the one that scored the most points.
Posted by John Tooker on 02-02-2001 02:21 AM
Thumbs upHey,You’re a traveler too? Have you ever interacted with any of the pre 1983 staff, at Montauk? If so, you may have met me. When I was working there, I was a R&D assistant to Dr. Von Neumann, and was known as Daniel John Waters, and had a rank of Lt. Col., in the Psi Corps.
I looked exactly like Jack Parsons, in that incarnation, and was in on the “rebellion” that Al Bielek, Preston Nichols, et al were on, and was working with Duncan Cameron on the specific night everything went down.
I discovered this largely via recovered memories, and psychical research, but my website, and story, can be read at http://members.tripod.com/~jrtooker/index-2.html, but I have no hard evidence that this person existed. Which is why I’m trying to contact other travelers.
BTW, this isn’t my original timeline, as I believe that I jumped timelines, not long after doing some work with Steve Gibbs, on his trip up to Calgary, Canada.John
Posted by John Tooker on 02-02-2001 02:24 AM
Thumbs upHey,You’re a traveler too? Have you ever interacted with any of the pre 1983 staff, at Montauk? If so, you may have met me. When I was working there, I was a R&D assistant to Dr. Von Neumann, and was known as Daniel John Waters, and had a rank of Lt. Col., in the Psi Corps.
I looked exactly like Jack Parsons, in that incarnation, and was in on the “rebellion” that Al Bielek, Preston Nichols, et al were on, and was working with Duncan Cameron on the specific night everything went down.John
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 02-02-2001 04:03 AM
AngryAnd I just loved wasting my time looking at how to be informed about cannabis… wanna try again? Perhaps check the link?
Posted by John Titor on 02-02-2001 06:34 AM
If you could change one thing about your government right now, what would it be?
The United States is still a representative republic in 2036 but it was touch and go for a while.
After the war, the U.S. had divided into 5 general areas based on their economic and defensive strengths. Many people blamed the government organization for the war and the last Constitutional Congress was held in 2020 to officially scrap the Constitution and start over.
Fortunately, this exercise in anger pointed out how hard it was to come up with anything better.
It was decided the document wasn’t at fault.
As a result, there have been a few small changes to the Constitution and the executive branch but you would easily recognize it. The average citizen is more educated about the Constitution and aware of the rights and responsibilities it gives them. Federal power has been decentralized and the focus of daily politics is in the state senates. Federal law has also been streamlined but much harder to change or make additions to.
The people who sign my paycheck told me why we needed a 5100 and sent me off to get one. I was not in a position to make alternate suggestions. As I recall, isn’t the Cray a rather large system? We need something portable. The 5100 isn’t required for its reliability, its needed to translate between APL, UNIX and a few obscure IBM mainframe languages.
The fishing is great and you’re more than welcome to join us but the “me” here is only three. I’ll have to tell him your coming.
Posted by James R.Quayle III on 02-02-2001 06:49 AM
CoolGreetings TT Titor,I have not been on this site in a long while,I am acquaintances with Al Bielek,and I have been in close quarters with beings not human and not from this place or time.
The Humans who talk with you on this post have not asked you yet how you feel about your travels?
How has it effected you emotionally?
Do you age?
Does the hair grow on your face faster,do your nails grow quicker?
Does the air taste different in different time periods?
How is the food in the future?
Have you tried to eat things not found in your time?
Do you know me in the future?
I plan on living 120 years,so i am sure going to look for you later 35 years from now i will be 66,I was born in 1970.
I have met a few other TT people(Time Travel),I did not ask them about lotteries or sh1t like that(How petty)I like my time,but i see Traveling into Another Time and Space as too much for most humans.
To think on different levels,to not lose oneself,to not fall in love or like with peoples from different times.That must be the hardest,to not be able to connect with others that would be traumatized by the info given by a TT person.
Whether your from here nor there matters not, thanks for helping the ones from this Time think of what they are and where they may be heading.
Agentq3 Blessed Be in your travels!
Posted by Mel Reckling on 02-02-2001 07:52 AM
John,I know sports questions are not good for you, so how about a couple of other questions? Does GW survive his presidency or is there an attempt on his life? That should be historically documented.
Do the current inhabitants of this here planet travel to Mars between now and 2036? If that is the case when does that happen? n,
Posted by Chris Greycheck on 02-02-2001 09:42 AM
QuestionOK, this John Titor guy obviously is really into science fiction, a scientist, or is actually a TT’er.Trust me, I would *really* love to believe that you are from the future. So as Mike suggested, instead of going on about fantastic time machine components and WW3, why not actually gain some credibility by correctly telling NEAR future events? Indeed, you are very convincing with your stories of what you claim will be, but unless you actually *prove* who you claim to be, quit wasting our time…you may as well be beating your head against the wall.Although, if you consistently tell of near-future events, you will rightly gain all our respect, and we will be hanging off your every word…As I said, I want to believe, but don’t give us the typical “I don’t need to prove myself, I am not here to do that” Well you should be!…Why come on here and spend all that time with your stories, if everyone discounts you as a crackpot. If you want us to actually *listen* to you, then prove yourself! I know that the *first* thing that I would do if I claimed to be a time traveler, is *consistently* tell of *near*-future events…whether it’s politics or entertainment…just give us *anything* that we can all relate to…I don’t mean to sound cynical and negative, but if you want us to believe you, then just do what I suggest, and quit being so evasive.Thanks.[Edited by Chris Greycheck on 02-02-2001 at 10:07 AM]
Posted by John Titor on 02-02-2001 10:09 AM
Yes, I age and my hair and nails grow at normal rates. Please keep in mind that gravity distortion does involve some dilation effects but “jumping” between world-lines are time-like trips, not space-like trips.
The air is about the same although I do smell and taste industrial odors here my parents cannot.
The food in the future is grown and raised naturally inside the community structure. This is done primarily for safety reasons. I am amazed at the risks people here are willing to take with processed food. All of the food I eat here is grown and prepared by myself or my family.
Unfortunately, I do not know if we are acquainted on my world-line. Yes, love is a challenge. What’s harder is knowing you could go back and correct a mistake but at the cost of the “you” on that world-line you want to live your life over again on.
The questions about the president and space travel are reasonable but now we come to a conflict between physics and ethics.
First, the ethics:
I have seen a television program about a man who is able to speak with the dead. When I watch the show, I am more afraid about the possibility that what he is doing is real not weather or not he is doing it.
Since I will be leaving this world-line in the coming year, I could easily tell you that the President lives or dies in the next four years.
In fact, I could probably find some way to even charge you for it. When the day comes for my “prediction” to be realized it will either happen or not. If it does happen, then your ability to judge your environment is crippled by your acceptance of me as a “knower of all things” and gifted with the ability to tell the future.
If I am wrong, then everything I have said that might possibly have made you think about your world in a different way is suddenly discredited.
I do not want either.
Although I do have personal reasons for being here and speaking with you, the most I could hope for is that you recognize the possibility of time travel as a reality. You are able to change your world-line for better or worse just as I am. Although this will make me a far less interesting time traveler, these are the rules I personally try to hold to:
[1] I will not disclose any information that will cause someone to personally gain by its knowledge. This means no stock or sports tips.
[2] I will not disclose any detailed information that would allow someone to avoid death by probability. This means no earthquake or bomb information.
[3] I will not disclose any information that may compromise any future actions by individual people or threaten their family and well-being. I will not disclose names or events associated with individuals.
Now for the physics:
The grandfather paradox is impossible. In fact, all paradox is impossible. The Everett-Wheeler-Graham or multiple world theory (MWI) is correct. All possible quantum states, events, possibilities and outcomes are real, eventual and occurring. The chances of everything happening someplace at sometime in the superverse is 100%. (For all you scientists out there, if Schrodinger’s cat had a time machine, he might not be in the box at all.)
Therefore, there is a world-line where you are alive and another world-line where you have gone back in time to kill your relative and the you on the new world-line won’t be born but “you” the killer is still running around there.
Differences between world-lines are measured from the perspective of the time traveler in terms of divergence percentage. The higher the divergence, the more “un-like” your destination world-line looks like compared to your world-line of origin.
Therefore, any “prediction” I might make has a slight chance of being incorrect anyway and you now have the ability to act on it based on what I’ve said. Can you stop the war before it gets here? Sure. Will you do it? Probably not.
As far as space travel goes… no, we are not on Mars yet but we’re trying very hard so we can avoid another “Hell’s Kitchen” outcome from an overpopulated Earth
Posted by Chris Greycheck on 02-02-2001 10:26 AM
John,As I read more and more of your posts, I am admittedly intrigued, but increasingly annoyed by your insistence.OK, fine, there are ethical issues, relating to lotto numbers and gambling, so tell us something like how many will be found dead in the earthquake in India. Tell us something that happens in politics on a national level.
Surely you can tell us *something* that has a neutral moral effect on society.You stated:“Although I do have personal reasons for being here and speaking with you, the most I could hope for is that you recognize the possibility of time travel as a reality”Tell us something we don’t know!! Look at what message board you are on!! How redundant can one be? Of course it’s not unreasonable that most of us on here certainly think that time travel is a possibility!!..come on…“2. I will not disclose any detailed information that would allow someone to avoid death by probability. This means no earthquake or bomb information”Why not? What the hell is wrong with you? If I knew someone was going to be in a situation where they may die, and there was a chance I could stop it, I have the moral obligation to do something about it.John, it’s becoming clearer to me that you are simply a fraud…how sad indeed…you can still save yourself, but you better do it soon.
Posted by John Titor on 02-02-2001 10:53 AM
Perhaps it would be better if you just considered me a fraud. I really don’t have a problem with that. If that were the case, could we then have discussions that you were comfortable with?
((Why not? What the hell is wrong with you? If I knew someone was going to be in a situation where they may die, and there was a chance I could stop it, I have the moral obligation to do something about it.))
I can think of a couple of examples.
If the Egyptians knew the Red Sea was going to drown them, do you think they would have pursued Moses?
If you could go back in time to 1941 and tell the radar operators to take a second look at the radar screen on December 7th, would you? Before you say yes and accept that parade in your honor down main street, perhaps you should go forward in time and see if the U.S still had the motivation to make the A-bomb before Hitler did.
Posted by James R.Quayle III on 02-02-2001 10:59 AM
Thank you for your timely reply,and i feel if i am not someone you recognize as a future name known then how about you let me know if Newport Beach is a bad place to be in case of a war?
Nuked area?
Probably,i bet.What area is a good one to be in when the nukes fall?
Have you met any other time travelers besides yourself?
Have you ever had an alien encounter?
Because i have had some very interesting meetings with ET’s.
agentq3 Thank you again for your time john titor
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-02-2001 11:00 AM
John –Can you give us some brief personal stories of your past? For instance, in relation to history what were some of your growing up sagas?Can you tell us how China and Africa make their way into the 21st Century?Jazz -Swing -BeBop -R&B -Rock ‘n Roll -Disco -Rap/HipHop – ….what comes next???Do Crop Circles play a part in labeling these micromeasurements in time of gravity/energy?
Posted by Chris Greycheck on 02-02-2001 11:09 AM
QuestionJohn,I am certainly not uncomfortable in thinking that you are a fraud, although it would bring me (and others) great comfort if you could prove yourself.You chose only to reply to my statement of the moral obligation to help others if you knew they were going to die, (but still not directly, as I was saying that if you knew someone who was going to be in a life-threatening situation, especially a family member or friend, it’s your duty to get them out of it…I was not talking about people who knew of their imminent deaths…and your 1941 example was not clear…Yet you didn’t bother to reply to me when I said that you were being redundant when you say that your wish is to get others to believe that time travel is a possibility. Again, I will say, that the whole premise of this board is based on the paranormal, and if anything, most of us *already* believe that time travel is a possibility, including myself…so your many posts on this board are on the basis of redundancy.Again I will ask: Tell us something that is morally neutral, like a near-future event in Hollywood or politics…something…come on, I am giving you chance after chance, I want to believe…I am trying to be objective about this, but as you continually evade and dodge the real questions, you become less and less credible.
Posted by James Boley on 02-02-2001 11:17 AM
John,I applaud your story. It would make for a great book or Hollywood movie.You keep mentioning ethics as an excuse not to divulge information of the near future, however you still freely talk about other items such as the physics behind your machine or facts about the far future.I have a hard time believing that time travel, if possible and if it will be done, would be done in such a lax way. What would happen if you, while traveling on personel business, died while visiting yourself. Or what if a scientist reading this thread who in the future will develop time travel alters his patterns of study and changes the future, thus changing you thus changing everything?The mere chance of a severe domino effect would, I believe, limit time travel on a very strict and limited manner, if it is allowed at all! Why would a group of seemingly intelligent people risk changing there present on the desire to see themselves in the past?While entertaining, your story is bogus.
Posted by Randy Empey on 02-02-2001 11:36 AM
Based on the models John professes to beleive and to be the basis on the tech. that got him here, many of your reasons for disbelief, particular those just mentioned by James . . . are easily shot down or at least deflected.If it is not the truth for John, it is at least an ingeniously well constructed story.Lets talk about those things John has been repetitiously asking to talk about . . . since, John’s being a TT may be his reality, but at the same time, never be part of one of us critique’s realities.
Posted by John Titor on 02-02-2001 11:41 AM
I fail to understand why my words generate so much conflict. I think it’s far better for you to consider what I say as fantasy so there is no question of credibility. How is my credibility going to affect your life? I don’t want you to believe me and it doesn’t affect me in the least if you did.
I don’t know any other way to tell you that I am unaware of what happens in the next week, especially in Hollywood. Just curious…that’s a common question, why do you think I would know something about that?
Yes, it’s very possible that what I say would spin your future off into a different direction. But since what I say is “bogus” that shouldn’t be a problem.
On a philosophical level, the existence of multiple worlds implies a moral balance in the superverse. For every world-line you perform a good action, there is a world-line where you perform a bad action.
There are no good and bad people, just good and bad decisions.
We can only be responsible for what we do as individuals on the world-line we are on now. So take heart!
Somewhere out there is a world-line where I’m spilling all the beans on Hockey, the stock market and Hollywood and you’re all off to Vegas and Wall Street making millions of dollars.
I do very much enjoy these conversations and I’m working on the other questions…
Posted by Matt Hagemeier on 02-02-2001 11:50 AM
john, I really don’t have much complaint about government, Although not perfect I still believe this is the best place to live on the planet. One thing the government needs to do is decriminalize drugs. The drug war is a useless war.So is the civil war started by those anti-gov types?The next question is religion, if time travel is possible, what does that do to the religious? If I exist on many time lines, which one is really me? Did God create one “me”, or many “me’s”What about movies, TV, Sports, Nebraska Cornhusker football, please don't tell me there us no husker football in 2036.
Posted by James Boley on 02-02-2001 01:05 PM
John,Rereading my last post, bogus came off a little strong. I did not mean to conflict with you per se, but tell you I don’t believe your story.There are a couple of questions I would like answered.First if you don’t care if we believe you or not, why are you posting here? What purpose do you have to tell part of your story?Next, I assume that you would have superiors over seeing your work. What do they think of your use of the equipment for personel reasons?Are you afraid of altering your reality in our future or your present in the slightest?You have mentioned that there is a flux of change for every 60 years. This would suggest to me that you are also traveling across dimensions or as Star Trek lingo suggests, alternate realities. 8^) If you are doing this, is there any concern of yours or your comrades that you are affecting our future? Would that concern you if it did not affect you?Is there such a thing, in your reality, as crimes against time? For example, killing an enemy while he is a child? Or changing the past to make your present more pleasant (lotteries and gaming franchises have been mentionned)?I have said I do not believe your story, but I hope you will still answer my questions.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-02-2001 03:23 PM
50% of the world lives on $2.00 a day and a good portion of those not even that (general One-Worlder figure per Jimmy Carter on NPR the other day).
Many of these people think the whole notion of a western world is a big myth. People living in tribes in parts of Africa, South America, and Western China would laugh if you were to tell them there are cities with more than a million people in them – they have automatic vehicles for transport – some even fly -, they communicate electronically, wash and cook using machines etc.
That’s RIGHT HERE ON THIS PLANET. Should we go tell them about us? This concept right away illustrates some illusions about our (Western Worlders’) presence in the world.John can you say more regarding this phenomenon and how future societies (might) handle the new frontiers of technology in our world?About 4 or 5 years ago Art Bell had on a guest involved in researching feral humans. He told of a remote Venezuelan tribe that refused to believe there was a city such as Caracas. HE described how the senior tribesman tried to relate to the notion that there was such a type of civilization anywhere near them.A couple of years before that I had some adventures here in the US. I began traveling around the country staying at Youth Hostels and working where I could.
I found myself riding freight trains in the Pacific Northwest and had a last minute rider in my car. He threw his stuff in, climbed aboard and we had quite a few hours of conversation. He was a migrant worker who was starting the Apple Orchard season. (A not uncommon occupation for unskilled labor both foreign and domestic in the Northwest -though most non-immigrant workers will head out on the fishing boats for good/hard-earned money).HE told me about leaving his little village in Oaxaca many years ago.
When he left he was convinced that the jungle surrounding his village just continued on forever and was really surprised when he found other landscapes- cities-cultures.
HE spent quite a few years listening to talk radio shows on his little walkmans, working and travelling. I was really surprised about how much he knew of history, politics, science and even overseas cultures.I also have to say that, what I saw of Freight Train Riders, during this period. represented a fairly evolved subculture, and one not very involved in what we would consider the NORMAL world.PBS ran the Jazz series a few weeks ago.
When Louis Armstrong finally made the leap out of New Orleans and Kansas City to travel to New York to play with “King” Oliver’s band he was FOB (fresh off the boat), in a way. Dressed funny, and gawking at all the huge buildings of which was convinced were all Universities – huge Towers of Learning.My father grew up in a little! town in the hills of western Pennsylvania. His parents were not the most educated tools in the shed. He has told me since that often when he was little he wondered whether all the stories about places like France, Germany etc. were just made up tales that got passed around on the radio and in print. Of course that could have been just him <g>.Just some examples, to me at least, about how little we know of the world … of which we think we know so much.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-02-2001 04:06 PM
The previous examples were all – of the uneducated “others” in the world, obviously.WE, of course, are a part of that group which ranks itself at the very pinnacle of evolutionary capabilities.
Posted by Lee Heggy on 02-02-2001 04:29 PM
I am from 4535…no wait, thats my address. Sorry.
Posted by Grant Nelson on 02-02-2001 07:20 PM
James wrote “John, I applaud your story. It would make for a great book or Hollywood movie.”James. it did ! good prediction from one remote viewer. [ IT, the movez: was popularized in late 20th century good returns at the box office and widely circulated on illegal DVD discs . Just before the lights went out in 2001 it played to appreciative audiences in LA & NY.John, I been thinking about the “fission” trip and wanted to tell you about one of my favorite places. I always try and land on the Shell Mound just north of Cedar Key every so many seconds.
For some reason it always works. Minimal distortion. Maybe its because the People have eaten oysters on this spot of 10 x 4 years or maybe more if one believes the Miami Circle evidence. Why just the other day some neighbors were burning some ol’ logs they got out of the drying up lake bed and you know what ? The arch*e*olo*gee people landed like ***** on **** and wanted to know what the ++++ they were doing burning thousand year old native american dug out canoes for to keep warm. in the oil crisis.
They said a “little child” had told them to do it. Noonans Lake. General Noonan was only there for ten days during the last Civil War. The People enjoyed this land for many many many moons. Go figure. 10 days 10,000 years. is this a log factor ?You could send me the current GPS co ordinates for where I’m talking about and also set your cessium clock to remind you where to meet up in 2036. Since you been there and done that I will let you pick a day. My birthday for example.note that I have email and am a real person, unlike some journalists you may have encountered.You all come on over and visit while I’m here. grantPS Maybe the only place [bicycle distance] in 1976 to go for computer tech was either U.F. Gainesville or up Tallahassee way. You know, where the high energy magnetics lab is located? In 1976 you would have maybe dealt with NERD*c or some such entity. Welcome back.[Edited by Grant Nelson on 02-02-2001 at 07:45 PM]
Posted by Anthony D’Amato on 02-02-2001 07:30 PM
Hi I am from Beliviue, looking for John Titor.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-03-2001 09:09 AM
John – read your page. Guess you’re saying the troubles we avoid(ed) during the Y2K scare might be seen as similar to the consequences of not having had Pearl Harbor saved.—“This is one example of a theory involving “time shells” progressing in size and intensity around a gravitational point from all matter. The more massive the object, the larger and more influential the time shells around it (like an onion). —Like an isobaric map of potential time lines and “intentions”.“Perhaps I should let you all in on a little secret. No one likes you in the future."
LOLFigures…I’m not sure I like many of us right now.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-03-2001 09:15 AM
Exclusive of everyone here, that is. 🙂
Posted by Mel Reckling on 02-03-2001 09:29 AM
JOHN,Two more questions. Is there official disclosure or any sudden revelations in the area of an ET presence and how is the world view of our space in the whole scheme of things.
In other words do we by 2036 know for sure we’re not alone?
I do remember who won the triple crown about 30 years ago; Secretariat in 1973, also I think Affirmed did it in 1978. I don’t think it has been done since.
I have no way to prosper from knowing whether GW makes it through his presidency, I just thought it would be a good question. Odds are in your favor to say he doesn’t.
I’m just trying to formulate non-invasive ways to see if you are who you say you are. I have a keen interest in this amazing field and unfortunately we have seen too many people who, if you are for real, have made it difficult for you. To tell you the truth I hope you are for real.
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 02-04-2001 11:37 PM
QuestionBut then I suppose anyone dealing in trans-vectoring across multiple time-flows eventually crosses itself in the fore or aft directions. We know that time is a malleable product and so too are the options of this linear flow. So then… if that is the case how could one establish that *this* timeline is *the* prime and all the others are variants that may cross on periods like a biorhythm.
More I suspect they are all prime in and of themselves and we simply have attached to this particular one.Personally I like the Spiritualist ideal of pre-physical choice – I chose to be here, I chose this existence, extending that to…I chose this timeline. Maybe also their perspective of being a part of God within their own makeup to the extent of being able to choose futures is also evident – how do you know you have not cognitively chosen your personal direction a billion times and not even realized at this moment all the choices you have made along time to get to this point thus far.Its a bit like realizing that what to Spirit are Spiritual powers is in the weaker sense to the Physical (us) with its Psychic powers… we only know so much but in the Spiritual worlds we know so much more… consciousness expansion.Just my tuppence in between our venerable TT’s absence. Cheers all.
Posted by John Michael Davis on 02-05-2001 12:38 AM
TalkingI don’t believe in the possibility of time travel – the transcendence of time/space a total other framed reference but an individual revelation that really translates everyday realities – then but to visit the age of the dinosaurs on some planet – that would to me be traveling time – viewing our own development on swell universal fractals – and we are the et’s – synchronizing galactic calandrical systems – what of the machine – that we have been born here – living the first years of our lives among them – room and board – all at once and eternal.
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 02-05-2001 01:28 AM
Really? If you do not believe in Time travel then I suggest for discussion that you CHOOSE not to believe. Do you believe in ET’s or UFO’s – choices. Do you believe that the rest of the world or the known universe exists – choices. Do you believe you were born of sin – choices. You choose not to believe – this is not the same as the ability for it to exist.Ah then the critic would say… ok TT… demonstrate.
Yes I’d love a demonstration – but more – the specifics on its design and a guide on correct ethics and use. I have not seen a Time Travel device that I am aware of – but that does not mean I do not believe – especially in the potential.All things can be created, all things can be – the difference is I chose not to make the choice of yes or no – I believe or I don’t until it slaps me like a wet fish.And where is our venerable TT John T? Hope you are well friend – and yes, I was very serious about ethics and technology. But alas, all requests have met with zero in my hands to work with. But still – I choose to be patient.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-05-2001 07:30 AM
Potential Hazard of being a Time Traveler — Always putting things off until you can “get back” to doing them. LOL
Posted by John Titor on 02-05-2001 11:28 AM
As far as the war goes, my best advice is to find at least 5 people within 100 miles of you that you trust with your life.
No, I haven’t met any other time travelers here and although from my perspective that’s highly unlikely, it’s not impossible.
No, I don’t have any additional information concerning crop circles, ETs or UFOs. I find those subjects rather interesting myself and it’s one of the reasons I was drawn to this web site.
((Can you give us some brief personal stories of your past? For instance, in relation to history what were some of your growing up sagas?))I was born in 1998 so I do share some childhood memories with all of you. I remember going to Disney World at Christmas and I remember going to the beach in Daytona.
When the civil “conflict” started and got worse, people generally decided to either stay in the cities and lose most of their civil rights under the guise of security [Highlighted by metallicman, remember this was BEFORE 9-11.] or leave the cities for more isolated and rural areas. Our home was searched once and the neighbor across the street was arrested for some unknown reason. That convinced my father to leave the city.
From the age of 8 to 12, we lived away from the cities and spent most of our time in a farm community with other families avoiding conflict with the federal police [In 2001, there wasn't any "federal police". It was created after 9-11 and called DHS Department of Homeland Security. - Metallicman.] and national guard.
By that time, it was pretty clear that we were not going back to what we had and the division between the “cities” and the “country” was well defined.
2016 Election Results by County. Placed by Metallicman for points of reference.
My father made a living by putting together 12-volt electrical systems and sailing “commodities” up and down the coast of Florida. I spent most of my time helping him.
Outright open fighting was common by then and I joined a shotgun infantry unit in 2011. I served with the “Fighting Diamondbacks” for about 4 years. (Hearing in my right ear isn’t as good as I would like it).
The civil war ended in 2015 when Russia attacked the U.S. cities (our enemy), China and Europe. As unusual and bad as my childhood might seem, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Africa is not a pleasant place to be in 2036 although I would characterize it as recovering.
The music you enjoy now is quite popular and available it’s just not produced in anywhere near the same amount. There is a revival of “local” and classical music. Many people have learned to play their own. I personally enjoy Big Band, some Classical and interesting lyrical pieces from the 1970s and 1980s.
((if time travel is possible, what does that do to the religious? If I exist on many time lines, which one is really me? Did God create one “me”, or many “me’s”))
This is an excellent question that causes a great deal of controversy.
Since every possible outcome, event and possibility is happening and will happen, then all good and all evil balances out in the superverse. After the reality of multiple worlds sank into our collective thought, the one basic change to all religious dogma is the concept that good and evil does not exist as an organized force in our lives nor can it be used as a useful way to judge what God may think of a situation.
Good and evil are personal experiences that can only guide what we do as individuals and how we relate to others. This outlook also makes it impossible for me to judge any other person or event. We cannot see the entire universe as God sees it therefore we will never be Gods or be capable of judging anything outside of ourselves. My actions can only be judged as good and bad by me and my God.
There is also an area of thought that maintains all of the “yous” out there will make up the “you” that eventually returns to God. In that manner, it is frustrating to know that you are capable of and acting on all of the thoughts and ideas you have regardless of what the “you” here is doing. How good or evil do you think you can be?
There is even an idea (supported in physics apparently but I have a hard time with this one) that there is some sort of communication going on between all of the “yous” that are out there. Some people think that memories, intuition and conscious are actually attempts by one version of “you” to talk to another. [He just hit the issue with world-line anchoring. - Metallicman.]
Yes, we still have football and you will easily recognize it in 2036.
I am posting here because I enjoy talking with people without having to hide who I am, it’s safe for me and my family and I can gather historical information from you and the web.
Yes, I have superiors.
However, from their perspective, I will only have been gone a split second. The only real risk I am taking is spending too long outside my main line and risking a probability error (dying, accident, etc.).
Based on the physics of gravity displacement, I can’t leave when I ever I want anyway and I do have some leeway into how I conduct my mission.
It is impossible for me to change any world-line that I am not on.
Nothing I do here will affect my home. The “60 year flux” is a limitation of my machine, not of physics. Jet planes can’t fly into space, my machine is not reliable past a 60 + year destination.
You’ve been to Cedar Key? You must be aware I don’t know any personal information about you. If I was just going to guess, I would say it’s important to avoid the rattlesnake or you might be “walking” back to shore. You may be happy to know that although the bridge is gone, Cedar Key is still there.
The computer is from 1975, Rochester Mn.
Yes, the Pearl Harbor example relates to Y2K. Have you considered that I might already have accidentally screwed up your worldline?
((Potential Hazard of being a Time Traveler — Always putting things off until you can “get back” to doing them.))
What’s even worse is having the ability to go back and help the “you” there and you won’t listen to yourself.
Posted by James Boley on 02-05-2001 01:32 PM
Is there any sort of a log in your machine to show where and when you stopped? Will your superiors check that?Is there crimes against time? Can you get in trouble for altering a time line?Philisophical question. While in your alleged time travels you meet a man an convince him to go somewhere with you, causing him not to meet his future wife. Because of this a certain child is not born, and denied existance. Are you guilty because of this change? You may have known this unborn child in the future. It may have even been your friend.And if that child would grow up to stop this civil war in the future, and mankind is better for it (no doubt saving several of your friends and family members), would you feel guilty?Maybe this is a better question. Does what happen here affect your future?
Posted by John Titor on 02-05-2001 02:09 PM
Yes, there is a log and my report and debriefing will agree with it. I have no reason to lie about where I am and why I’m here.
There are no crimes against time. However, if I were to go on some sort of a murder spree and I admitted it when I returned, then I would be held responsible for the crime of murder.
I am no more able to affect your world-line than you are. Yes, I could make the changes you suggested but you must remember that there are an infinite number of world-lines out there where I didn’t and I don’t. In fact, there’s even a world-line out there where you’re the time traveler and I’m the one writing the question.
I think the war would be good for you and your society. I don’t want to stop it.
Nothing I do here will affect any other world-line. “My” original world-line will always be the same and yes I can make changes here that would make this world-line different from mine but so can you.
Posted by Chris McWhirt on 02-05-2001 05:56 PM
John,1) What effect will following technologies have
MEMs(microelectromechanicals)quantum computersfuel cells2) Which GE group builds time machine?
Posted by Mike Kolesnik on 02-05-2001 07:48 PM
… and how many Suckers he reels in!People, I can’t belive your gullibility.Please apply some basic Common Sense, Logicand a detective’s view of “John’s” statements.Before I waste more of my precious time uncovering this Fakir I need some help from any of you. I’m looking for at least ONE post where the poster has gone thru “John’s” statements and found some contradictions. (there are MANY)
I need to know if any of you are worth saving from this *Prophet*Who is “John”
(1) A bored college student (or group) on a dare or assignment?
(2) A former Y2k doom and gloomer finding a new flock?
(3) A Member of Skeptical Enquirer playing an early April Fool’s Joke?
(4) A mentally disturbed individual enjoying his 15 minutes of Fame?
(5) I real time traveler? (HA! see below)
Some Items:(In spite of Star Trek storylines)
(1)There are NO “alternate world-lines” There are ONLY Possibilities and Probabilities. One of the Possibilities MAY occur and, one and ONLY one of the Probabilities WILL occur. There are NO multiple world-lines, histories, or whatever occurring at this or any time. There are no proven, half-proven, or .001% proven data for multiple Earths.There are only Star Trekein blabberings.
Once an event occurs it NEVER changes( except for What special happenings?- you should know this John!)
(2) Hey “John”, show me the symbol and formula for the relationship between Gravity and Magnetism. It should be child’s play for you and a fundamental part of ANY TT machine. It is Quite simple.
(3) I know a certain FACT about time travel, you haven’t mentioned it and it is an absolutely VITAL part of TT. Tell me what it is. I’ll give you a hint: It has TWO special requirements!——————
WAKE UP PEOPLE AND THINK FOR YOURSELF!!!!
Posted by Kathleen Sander on 02-05-2001 11:15 PM
Do you live within the vicinity of your 2-year old self? Have you seen yourself face to face or do you have any intentions of doing so?
Posted by Kevin Spooner on 02-06-2001 04:05 AM
AngryDear Mike Kolesnik,Either you are a person who knows about time travel in the flesh so to speak or you contradict yourself by making out hat you do. You have challenged John Titor into revealing specific answers which you claim to have current knowledge of. Further you make yourself out to be some kind of ‘saviour’ wondering if any of us require ‘saving’ so long as we meet your expectations of us. Even more you state there are contradictions in John’s writing.Personally I don’t need saving from you and in fact I am not following lines of gullibility. Rather I too have asked direct questions and placed challenges to all time travelers.Further, any segmented regular writing of this nature on any BBS will create natural discrepencies – even I suspect in your own and mine to boot. Such is life in the slow lane with us mere mortals.Please place here you seal of Godliness incarnate for others to marvel at and rather than attack others (which is not in keeping with fair play) please feel free to join our quest for knowledge… which I suspect you are attempting to do in a rather vicious manner.God bless and may knowledge strike us like a wet fish soon !
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-06-2001 06:05 AM
((“There are NO “alternate world-lines” There are ONLY Possibilities and Probabilities. One of the Possibilities MAY occur and, one and ONLY one of the Probabilities WILL occur. There are NO multiple world-lines, histories, or whatever occurring at this or any time. There are no proven, half-proven, or .001% proven data for multiple Earths.”))
I’m trying to figure out why I haven’t seen Mike Kolesnik’s name in any of the esteemed journals that debate Time Travel. You know, the one’s chaired by graduates of MIT, Princeton, Yale, Stanford…? Surely having the answers to the nature of ”reality” would be worth pursuing with others whose careers are based on research. Isn’t this the same type of reasoning used by debunkers against anything THEY find unreasonable?C’mon Mike, unsnit those panties and ask yourself why you care whether this is true or not.AS far as Mr. Titor is concerned … How do you finance your excursion? I would venture its not totally on the level with current financial accounting procedures.That said, I apologize, though I feel I have to withhold some of my investigative curiosities, as I have a niece who is exactly your age and I could sense the possibility of a confluence that at this point which could precipitate greater than expected divergences.Around the mid-nineties I came to my conclusion re: the “isobaric” nature of both gravity and time. Like anything, I suspect the gradients involved are minuscule by our finite standards, though 10% or 15% divergence over 60 years sounds about right.
Posted by John Titor on 02-06-2001 06:35 AM
[[[ATTENTION! The following is a secret message for all mindless robot slaves controlled by time travelers. If you are unable to read this, please disregard it. This is an emergency, can someone do me a favor and look up everything they can find on Maxwell’s equations, relativity and the formulas for volts and amps. I left all my physics books back in the time machine…and remember, just because I control your mind doesn’t mean I think you’re an idiot. MESSAGE OVER.]]]
Yes, there are significant advances in computer science. It’s interesting how easy it is to be fixated on the “machine” itself without any curiosity about many of the support systems. This is not really big news but if / then is out and if /then /maybe is in.
Yes I am with the “me” on this world-line and he is three now. I find that fact to be rather hard for people to get along with so I don’t bring it up directly. This is the second time I have “met myself”.
The “machine” is owned by the military. I am part of a unit stationed in Tampa Florida.
The real energy is in creating the machine, not operating it. It’s interesting you should bring up the divergence percentage. You may find it…entertainingly interesting to know that the divergence can be more accurate with more sensitive gravity sensors and clocks. The C206 uses 6 Cesium clocks and an active method of timing the changes in the atom.
Posted by James Boley on 02-06-2001 06:47 AM
Why does your kind time travel?You mentioned that in the future, or in your future for the sake of the argument, that you still believe in God. How does God play in these infinite number of ‘time lines’. Are there infinite number of Gods? One for each timeline?How does a persons soul play into this? Are you suggesting there are infinite number of my souls around?
Posted by Charlotte Boren on 02-06-2001 07:11 AM
(1) Who wins the Triple Crown for the next 20 years?(2) Who will be elected president for the next 20 years?(3) Will there still be Harley-Davidsons around when you are born?(4) Please list the price of gold for the last 20 of your years and I can tell you the condition of the stock market in the future.(5) Will it still be fairly lawful for me to own and use handguns when are beginning your time travel adventures?(6) Is it possible for you to bump into yourself when you are time travelling? Saw a Jean Claude Van Dam movie about that once. I think it was called “Time Cop”. Whatever you do, don’t shake hands with yourself, if you do meet. You melt.(7) I go on vacation in May. Can I go with you the next time you leap? I have an ex-husband I want to punch in the nose when he walks up to the 1981 me the first time we met and says “Hi.” I’ll get the 1981 me pushed out of the way with a 1981 broom or something. It won’t take much to convince the 1981 me that this is the 2001 her. I know her past too well—regrets and happiest moments. (Wonders if Scott Bakula is just as cute today as he was in “Quantum Leap”.)[Edited by Charlotte Boren on 02-06-2001 at 07:23 AM]
Posted by John Titor on 02-06-2001 08:33 AM
We time travel to solve problems. A great deal of effort is going into repairing the environment and infrastructure.
I think there is only one God. I also think that our soul may be a combination of all the collective thoughts and actions of the infinite “yous”. If that is true, it becomes very difficult to define death until all worldlines come to an end.
[(1) Who wins the Triple Crown for the next 20 years?]
I don’t know. Even if I did, you could stop the horse(s) anyway and make it untrue.
(2) Who will be elected president for the next 20 years?
Please see number 2.
(3) Will there still be Harley-Davidsons around when you are born?
I was born in 1998.
(4) Please list the price of gold for the last 20 of your years and I can tell you the condition of the stock market in the future.
I don’t understand the importance of this type of information. Please tell me your opnion why this is interesting and worth remembering for 30 years.
(5) Will it still be fairly lawful for me to own and use handguns when are beginning your time travel adventures?
I thought owning a handgun was legal in the United States? Yes, being familiar with firearms (along with the other responsibilities of the Constitution) becomes an important part of people’s lives in thirty years.
(6) Is it possible for you to bump into yourself when you are time travelling? Saw a Jean Claude Van Dam movie about that once. I think it was called “Time Cop”. Whatever you do, don’t shake hands with yourself, if you do meet.
Yes that is possible and there are no limitations on interacting with them. I find it interesting that there is some sort of collective negativity with the idea of doing that. Could it be that we are not really that comfortable with ourselves and therefore we cannot imagine meeting, liking or helping another one of us on another worldline?
(7) I go on vacation in May. Can I go with you on your journeys through time? Anybody else want to go along?
I could probably manage three people with me. However, I would have to dump a great deal of archival material to get you in. I’m not sure you would like 2036 very much.
Posted by Matt Hagemeier on 02-06-2001 02:33 PM
John, the life you desrribe in 2036, sounds very much like life my grandparents described in the WW2 era. interesting indeed.What was the reason for Russia’s involvement in the civil war? Why did they bomb China and Europe?
Did the U.S counter attack with their own nuclear weapons?
Posted by John Lensk on 02-06-2001 03:25 PM
QuestionDear John,I am very intrigued by your story, but some things don't make very much sense to me. This IBM 5100 computer you talk of having to go back in time to get is the first thing that does not make sense to me.
What does the old 5100 computer do that computers of your time isn't able to do?
I'm sure the future will have a wide use of emulation technology, in which you could easily emulate this old computer and all of its uses. What would the original computer do that an emulated version of it not be able to do?
Posted by Kathleen Sander on 02-07-2001 01:02 AM
Could your parents tell something seemed familiar about you or have you only seen your 3-year old self? I guess you would have to re-meet your parents and be a friend of the family. Any changes in how children are taught? Education still “taught” in a classroom?
Posted by James Boley on 02-08-2001 08:27 AM
I still don’t buy your story. There are inconsistencies that are to large to write off.Some of the first posts you mentioned that you hoped your story would be at least interesting. It is.
Posted by John Titor on 02-08-2001 09:40 AM
Russia and China have always had a very strange relationship. Even the news I see now indicates that continued weapons deals to allies, border clashes and overpopulation will lead to hostilities.
The West will become very unstable which gives China the confidence to “expand”. I’m assuming you are all aware that China has millions of male soldiers right now that they know will never be able to find wives.
The attack on Europe is in response to a unified European army that masses and moves East from Germany. Also, please be aware that from my viewpoint, Russia attacked my enemy who was in the U.S. cities.
Yes, the U.S. did counter attack.
Based on what I know about the 5100, it has a few very interesting and worthwhile properties that make it worthwhile for a time traveler to recover. Also, please keep in mind that civilization is recovering from a war. Yes, we do have the technology but many of the tools were lost.
As you are probably aware, UNIX will have a timeout error in 2038 and many of the mainframe systems that ran a large part of the infrastructure were based on very old IBM computer code.
The 5100 has the ability to easily translate between the old IBM code, APL, BASIC and (with a few tweaks in 1975) UNIX. This may seem insignificant but the fact that the 5100 is portable means I can easily take it back to 2036. I do expect they will create some sort of emulation system to use in multiple locations.
When I arrived, I approached my father and was easily able to prove to him who I was. I am currently with my parents and the “me” who is three. They are very aware of what I am doing, why I am here and when I will be leaving.
It may interest you to know that my father still does not truly believe the machine works even after touching and seeing it.
Yes, education is still taught in a classroom but the entire focus and system looks nothing like what you have now. Don’t worry, you won’t miss it.
((I still don’t buy your story. There are inconsistancies that are to large to write off…))
I understand your viewpoint and I respect it. However, I am confused by a twist in the way the language is used. Another fellow who posted earlier was a bit upset over what I was saying because he thought I was soon going to ask for money by selling something. Since I don’t have anything to sell I am curious why, “I…don’t buy your story”, is the natural way to say what you did. I am aware that it’s off the cuff to say but wouldn’t it be better to say I don’t believe your story?
Why is the other way so common?
Posted by James Boley on 02-08-2001 10:01 AM
I don’t believe your story.
Posted by Matt Hagemeier on 02-08-2001 10:52 AM
John, Does the U.S still have adversaries or “outside” threats 2036? If so, who, what, and why?Korea United?How does the U.S media cover the civil war? Is it unibased or does it favor one side?Are you creating a alternate timeline by just interacting with us?
Posted by Jack Stansbury on 02-08-2001 11:40 AM
Everyone that is reading or posting wants to what the future has in store for them and their family and friends. John only can tell us that he is from 2036. Well John give us some good stuff. That’s all we want. We need meat .Jack
Posted by Thurstan Davies on 02-08-2001 01:13 PM
Dear John Titor,Thank-you for your interesting forum entries.I am currently living and working in the Middle East and I imagine that I will become one of the 3 Billion that die during WWIII.I am not asking if I will die or how the Middle East fairs during the conflicts.I am though interested in the patern of exchange of fire, in that you mentioned US, Russia, China and Europe.You didn’t mention Australia… if this continent survived unscathed or in fact any other land, would this be a better place, in your time, to gather the resources you require ?RegardsThurstan
Posted by John Titor on 02-08-2001 01:18 PM
I would characterize world politics as two boxers who have just gone multiple rounds and they’re both pretty beat up. I’m sure someone out there wants to kill us but no one is very organized yet. There is a great deal of fear over rogue groups coming across un-launched missile systems, 55 gallon drums of Anthrax or portable nuclear weapons.
((Korea United?))
I guess you could say that. Taiwan, Japan and Korea were all “forcefully annexed” before N Day.
I don’t remember a great deal about media coverage during the civil conflicts. I would probably characterize it the same way you see coverage of Waco, Ruby Ridge and Elian Gonzalez.
From my viewpoint, yes, this is an alternate timeline. From your viewpoint, no.
I have thought again about how to revel information that would make me more believable but I always come across the following problems:
1.All of you become much less interesting as sheep. I can’t talk to you if you’re not skeptical.
2.Anything I say could be acted on beforehand and changed anyway.
3.All the really interesting information is months or years away and I’d be gone when it happens.
4.I find it morally wrong to assist someone with anything where they might gain and someone else would lose or die.
5.There’s a slim chance your worldline is just different enough my “prediction” won’t happen.
6.I simply don’t know.
Consider that you are a time traveler who goes back in time to the first week of February 1970 and you are confronted with the same problem. What do you remember right now about the second week of February 1970?
Naturally, the conflict in Vietnam and the Middle East come up but as someone has already stated here, “that’s old news”. I suppose I could predict the failure of Apollo 13 spacecraft but since time travel is ridiculous, I would be blamed for sabotage. I might even decide to tell you about an earthquake in Peru but then people that would have died by chance will now live and vice versa.
All I can think of is to make something up. So here goes…. The space shuttle mission may or may not have a problem connecting the new lab to the space station.
How was that?
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-08-2001 01:22 PM
“Buying a Story” means “I don’t buy what you’re selling”.
It’s a reaction to a preoccupation we have with issues of “Trust” …because we have so many interactions with “others” i.e. people who aren’t a part of our immediate inner circles.
There’s a wariness that “another” is deceiving us in some manner, either to con us (gain our confidence for some gain – possibly financial) or work their way into our inner circles and cause some form of havoc.
Therefore their story is up for judgement as to whether it is worth “banking on”. EG – You may think you could have some sort or beneficial effect by telling people how things may turn out in the future? Don’t bank on it.Art Bell use to have an archive of the night that he had an open line for Time Travelers. I have to say that much of what I listened to, rang true with my own “prophetic” thoughts.So, this enemy that was attacked in the US by Russia, was it Islamic in nature?What it IT (Ginger)? The buzz is that it revolutionizes transportation. What change happened in the early ’00s that relates to this?I want to get into the Automated Home technologies business. Any suggestions? Please e-mail me 🙂
Posted by Chris Greycheck on 02-08-2001 01:53 PM
LightbulbJohn,Again I have to congratulate you on your perceived high level of intelligence, and I don’t doubt that you may indeed be a physics professor or just some guy who gets off misleading others.You stated:“2.Anything I say could be acted on beforehand and changed anyway.”Not true at all…not *anything*…just a few days ago there was an attempt at Bush’s life, surely that’s going to be a significant historical event. It’s the first attack/assassination attempt on the president of the new millennium.
Hmmm, yeah, you could have warned us days ago about, and it may have been changed, and not happened…but that’s very very doubtful.
At the time, no one would have taken you seriously anyway…but if you had of predicted that, and it happened, then even I would likely believe you now.
Or what about telling us something like a hollywood story of someone breaking up, or getting married, good luck trying to change that…or of a company’s profits…SOMETHING…You are VERY evasive, and you don’t give even a single “iota” of evidence…nothing…nadda…zero. I remember you saying that your point of this was to come on and get people to at least accept the possibility of time travel, well no kidding, great time traveler…sheesh..
Look at what message board you are on!! many including myself certainly believe that it’s possible, but all you do is give fantastic stories and shrug off any attempt at evidence with your lame excuses. What all of us on here want is the truth, not science fiction.“3.All the really interesting information is months or years away and I’d be gone when it happens.”Hey, we’ll be the judge of that there John. That’s not the point whether the information is interesting, that’s subjective, the point is that you should prove yourself. It’s true that you claim to be a scientist right? Well isn’t one of the aims of scientists is to prove to *others* of their hypothesis or theory. Even if you’re not one, you should still make an *attempt* at trying to prove yourself.“4.I find it morally wrong to assist someone with anything where they might gain and someone else would lose or die.”</em>
OK fine…so why don’t tell us a way in which we can save lives or help people without harming others…like of car accidents…what plane trip not to take…etc?! And don’t come back with the cliched, “well it wouldn’t be morally right to change the future”…you are morally obligated to help someone if you can stop it!! You can’t argue with that.John, why don’t you quit claiming that you’re from the future and actually make any attempt to prove that you are…This is scary almost, does this guy actually believe in what he says? or did Art hire some science fiction just to keep these boards interesting? There’s obviously some deception going on here…
Posted by Matt Hagemeier on 02-08-2001 02:03 PM
John. are you saying there isn’t enough skepticism on this board? Fom what I observe, the skeptics on here out number us “sheep”.There is no way I can know if you are real time traveler, I’m asking you questions because I’m interested in your answers.My rational, logical mind says you are nothing but a bored cyber geek with a lot of “time” (no pun intended) on your hands, however, part of me also wants to believe that time travel is (or will be) a reality as it has always been a fascination of mine.I know there is much more to the Universe that I can possibly understand, therefore, my mind always will be open to new possibilities.
Posted by Louis D’Avenio on 02-08-2001 02:25 PM
Thumbs downJohn,When does your creative writing course end?????????
Posted by Jack Stansbury on 02-08-2001 02:47 PM
Mr. John the time merchant is he selling truth or lies??
The members of this BBS are people that want to believe, We aren’t stupid. John give us the respect that we have given to you. Please tell the truth. However if it is true you are just a geek tell the members so. The truth will set you free !!!!!!!!!
Posted by D’Wayne Bolton on 02-08-2001 02:50 PM
As the 38? year old that you are today, do you remember yourself showing up and visiting yourself as a three year old?
Are your parents still living in 2036?
Have they ever mentioned your having time traveled back to see them in 2001?
Posted by Jason Plett on 02-08-2001 05:24 PM
QuestionMr. Titor, I find this fascinating. Perhaps, if you do not mind, I would enjoy a ride in your time device. I am sure you wouldn’t mind me taking a spin into the future a few years. If you are ever in the Denver area let me know I would like to interview you and take a ride in your machine.
Posted by Robert A. Cook on 02-08-2001 05:42 PM
Yep, Jason hit the nail right on the head, didn’t he?I too would like to take a ride in the rumble seat of your time machine.I would like to visit the late ‘fifties and early ‘sixties. I’d like to have coffee with my father and my uncle, with spray-painted gold lamps overhead, encrusted with plastic jewels.I’d like to watch them smoke their pipes and cigarettes unmolested, and discuss the simple issues of their time.Sadly, I believe time travel is bull***t.I wish it were otherwise.
Posted by John Lensk on 02-08-2001 06:45 PM
QuestionJohn is there anything you can let us know about the future? I know you are doing the whole “not gonna tell any real information due to money being made off betting on the information you tell us”. But can you just name some people who will be major tv stars or movie stars, or future major politicians or major companies? Or even other major technologies besides the obvious that we aren't aware of?
Posted by John Titor on 02-08-2001 06:59 PM
This post addresses what I have seen before the last three. I enjoy the conversation and I will respond.
The “pattern” of exchange in the war will not be a surprise.Many people will perish as a result of starvation and disease. I would also submit that you already know if you’re safe or not. The trick is to not turn off your fear when you’ll need it the most.
Australia is sort of interesting in what is unknown. After the war, they were not very cooperative or friendly (can’t blame them really). It is known they did repulse a Chinese invasion and most of their cities were hit. They have a trading relationship with the U.S. but I would characterize them as reclusive and ticked off.
When people use phrases like “See what I mean”, “You’re not hearing what I’m saying” or “Something smells fishy”, they are indicating the primary sense they use to process information about a situation.
I find it interesting that my credibility and the phrases that describe it hinge on economic terms and whether or not I have something to sell. I don’t. I also don’t know how to clarify my position any better so I would suggest that if what I say angers you, it might be best to just consider it fiction. Soon you’ll get bored and I will leave in a few months. Either way, it won’t be an issue.
The “enemy” that was attacked by Russia in the U.S. was the forces of the government you live under right now.
((…or just some guy who gets off misleading others.))
I do not seek followers to mislead. I seek safety, animosity and good conversation.
(2). To me it would seem obvious that we both have a very different perspective on what’s important right now in 2001. I would think that’s what makes our interaction interesting. Would I be anymore believable if I told you I had just stopped a horrible event and you won’t hear about it because it didn’t happen? Again, this is the second time it has come up and I am very curious. Why would you expect a time traveler to know or care about what happens in Hollywood or some individual companies profits? You seem to think I have tomorrow’s paper in front of me. Is that what time travel means to you?
(3) I never said I was a scientist. If this is about economics somehow and you hope to “buy” my story, then what do I gain by “selling” it?
(5) You already know that cars are dangerous and planes crash. I’m very confident you are capable of killing yourselves without my intervention. Actually, my moral obligation has nothing to do with you, it’s between me and God.
Deception? Exactly what standard do you use to measure the truth around you? I have seen other threads with amazing and potentially real experiences on them. Why am I more threatening?
I have no memory of meeting an older me as a three year old. The events between world-lines are isolated and nothing I do here will affect my world-line. Yes, my parents are alive in 2036 but they have no experience with a time traveling “me” in their 2001 either.
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-08-2001 09:39 PM
CoolHi John:I’ve read all the postings here and I sense that what we have here is a failure to communicate. It’s been my experience that the majority of posters on this board are genuinely open minded, and ready to believe. Actually I’m intrigued by the escalating level of frustration being experienced here, and wonder where it’s going.In my opinion you have sparked a good discussion here. If you are from the future, then we all have something to learn from you. If you are not, then it’s a good game of cat and mouse, and since audience participation is not mandatory, I really have no reason to be upset with you. For me the challenge here is two-fold.
(1) To try and somehow get you to validate yourself without violating your ethics.
(2) To try to get you to trip yourself up, and prove yourself a hoax.
Either way in the end we all get what we wanted.Rather than degenerating into a “let’s get John mob” I propose we try to devise creative lines of questioning to get to the bottom of the “John Titor” story.I don’t believe animosity is a requirement for a satisfying excercise in thinking. We do need to level the playing field so it would be helpful if you would agree to a few “rules of sportsmanship” (pardon the P.I. sexist reference).You have more than once noted your disdain for our colloquialisms and cultural inclinations. This is inherently unfair, and you should give it some thought. You being the “TT”, have an unfair advantage here.
We do live in an economy based society and it’s natural for us to use terms like, “Im sold”. You used the term “off the cuff” in your comments about “buying in”, does this mean in the future “cuffs” have some cultural significance? or is it simply a familiar concept? ….food for thought.I of course only speak for myself, so here are my questions.
Is John Titor your real name? (just kidding)2. What is the name of your locality/State/Country?3. Are you a free man?4. Have civil liberties become more significant?5. Do you live in a racist society?6. What is your form of government?7. Would you be considered a member of the Patriot movement today?8. In your time, have people developed their spirituality?9. Do you know what happens when you die in your time?10. If any what is the predominant religion?11. Did Jesus come back?12. Did we send manned missions to Mars?13. What did we find on Mars?14. Did we colonize the Moon?15. Are we currently being bombarded by mind control devices?16. Is Psionics a part of your every day life?17. Is Europe made up of feudal states?18. Did the N.W.O turn out to be real? or just vapor?19. Do you have teleportation for the average citizen?20. Was AIDS created by the government?21. Are there gays in the military?22. Are there gay people in your time?23. What is your race?24. Is there a Movie industry?25. Is VR legal?26. What is the average lifespan?27. Why are you still using paper money?28. As far as you know who is the most significant figure of the 21st century.29. Do you use Tesla technology?30. Given the differentials values you quoted, why can’t your technology compensate by offsetting the target coordinates so the error puts you in the correct “world time”?31. Do you have the death penalty?32. What is the most common crime commited?33. Is race mixing allowed?34. Is cloning common practice?35. What is the racial make up of the continental U.S.36. Is there segregation?37. What is your education system like?38. What is the woman’s role in your time?39. Are there equal rights?40. What sort of birth control do you practice?41. Are there same sex marriages?42. What happened to South America?43. Are there recreational drugs?44. Do you remember the Beatles?45. What is the name of the Pope? (name changes)
If you answer these questions you will not violate any of your rules except for question #1, so I’ll retract that one.That’s my 2 centsPS: If you need a real web site I can give you one, all to yourself, for as long as you stay in our time line. E-mail me if you want it.
Posted by Charles Moltrup on 02-08-2001 11:30 PM
How close does asteroid 2000SG344 come to earth in the year 2030 I will be 78 years old by then and want to find a big rock to hide under. PS my time machine works all the time i call it the human mind it takes me to any time line I want and it runs on Imagination. see ya around
Posted by Thurstan Davies on 02-09-2001 01:44 AM
Dear John Titor,Thank-you for your words :“I would also submit that you already know if you’re safe or not. The trick is to not turn off your fear when you’ll need it the most.”After some pondering over your kind reply, I did smile at your words and I did need to hear them, how ever many times I do hear them from one source or another…May I ask one question, when you saw my name “Thurstan” did you recognize it, I won’t ask why or how, or where, just if.Once again Thank-you, I hope your project succeeds before ’38.Best RegardsThurstan
Posted by D’Wayne Bolton on 02-09-2001 06:32 AM
Many of the above questions are answered in preceeding posts.
If John is from the future, let’s keep his interest and not bore him with the same questions over and over and over and over again.
However, some of the questions are new and I too would like to hear the answers.
Posted by Mel Reckling on 02-09-2001 10:45 AM
John,Unless you’ve been here for the last 10 years or so, how would know how we have seen the media coverage of Waco(94?),Ruby Ridge(93?), Elian?
Posted by Chris Greycheck on 02-09-2001 11:11 AM
John,I must say that I am impressed as to how calm you remain, then again, that only helps to make you even more believable.
When I was referring to plane crashes, I meant you should be able to tell us of near-future air disasters and their flight numbers, so we can warn anyone that we may know, thus saving their lives. What is so unreasonable about that?
Anyway, I am not totally clear on your point, of being here as your main one was already shown to be redundant (getting us to at least accept the possibility of TT), so what it’s going to be now?
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-09-2001 12:33 PM
I would say if this is all legit – and I’m leaning that way as I would rather it be, and I have nothing at stake – that the whole issue is very much about divergence.
On certain levels divergences matter very little.
For instance, did it really matter whether you got gas, last Thurs., at an AMPM (amp ’em) or a Chevromn Quik Mart?
If a timeline was altered and on a new line you found yourself gassing up at a Texaco Food Mart AFTER you went to the Library, as opposed the AM/PM (amp ’em) before you went to the school board meeting – would it matter?
Suppose you went back in time and suggested to your bonehead cousin that he should get a job at the new service center down the street. And he met some girl there, they got married and now you get to visit them once every year in LAs Vegas?
Suppose you suggested he try telemarketing at 1 800 RIGHT-IN-THE MIDDLE-OF-DINNER and he lasted 3.5 weeks and then found a job in Vegas dealing cards and then met some girl there.
I guess my point is that different divergences have different “loads” of importance.Enough … though true freedom means looking at these consequences on a more continual basis than one would have if one were used to a more routinized existence. I find this whole topic of divergence to be the more intriguing topic (though I would like to know what Chinese pop culture will look like.)
Posted by John Titor on 02-09-2001 02:02 PM
For all of you interested in coming back with me to 2036, perhaps we should discuss the trip.
Please be aware, the displacement unit moves through time, not space.
First, we will be driving the current vehicle (Chevy truck) with the displacement unit in it to Tampa Florida. From there, we will go back to my arrival date on this world-line. Then we will have to drive to Minnesota, sell the current vehicle and get another one that would have been around in 1975. We will then move the displacement unit (500 lbs or so) into the new vehicle and go back to 1975. Once in 1975, we’ll drive back to Tampa and make the final hop to 2036. If you’d like to stay in 1975, you’re welcome to do that.
It can also get quite hot and stuffy during the trip and you’ll be subjected to a 1.5 to 2 G force the entire time. You’ll also need some sort of a re-breather system or oxygen supply.
I have found that many misunderstandings and arguments are based on the differences in understanding over a single word. Two different cultures can have a drastic impact on the meaning of words like “proof”, “trust” and “credibility”. My frustration is in understanding the use of the words. I am trying to follow the logic of all of the comments.
After reading the questions, I want to paint a picture that may help with the general theme of our collective experience in 2036.
The war had very profound affects on people and how they relate to each other. As individuals, almost everyone in 2036 is very familiar with death. We all have stories of loved ones that have died from disease, war or acts of inhumanity. Most of us have even taken part in dishing the same thing out to the other side. As a result, we have become far more compassionate to the ones we love but mush less forgiving to those who don’t pull their weight. We are more accepting of other’s differences in our community because we depend on them to survive. We are also more conservative with our resources and closer to God because for a period, life on Earth was Hell.
The other major difference is in the concept of good and evil.
With multiple worlds come multiple decisions and outcomes. For every good act, there is an equal and possible bad act on another world-line. Taken to the extreme, this must mean that in God’s eyes, there is no total good and total bad in the superverse. It balances itself out to infinity.
I believe we are judged on the decisions we make as individuals and the good/evil I see on my world-line is an illusion that has no worth to God. My reaction to it is what’s important to God. Although this may seem rather heartless, it does allow me to see past the evil that people do and acknowledge the core of potential goodness inside them.
(2) I am currently based in Tamp Florida in Hillsborough County.
(3) Yes I am free but I have obligations as a citizen. Everyone is required to have basic military training and provide a period of time for community service. It is very much like a type of mandatory National Guard service + Peace Corps.
(4) Yes civil liberties are more important. You will feel the same after having your house searched a couple of times.
(5) We do not live in a racist society but definitely a prejudiced one. Everyone carries their own water.
(6) Our government looks very much like yours. It is a representative republic.
(7) My definition of a patriot is anyone who defends the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
(8) Religion has become far less centralized. Extremes tend to bring you closer to God so I would characterize religion and spirituality as a much more of a personal institution.
(9) I do not know what happens when we die. However, I don’t think it will be easy. There may be some very difficult decisions we have to make when we die that we are totally unprepared for.
(10) It’s difficult to define the most predominant religion. Christianity has fragmented into many groups and people with different beliefs speak mush more openly with others who have different outlooks and opinions. I would imagine there are large groups of Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims but I have not come across them personally.
(11) No, Jesus did not come back. At least not that I’m aware of. If or when Jesus returns, do you think he’ll be a lamb or a lion?
(12) No mission to Mars but we are working on it. There is a group working on the idea of gravity displacement to get into space but the calculations and error rate are very large obstacles to overcome.
(13) We don’t know what’s on Mars yet.
(14) We’re not on the moon yet either. A great deal of technical effort is going into cleaning the planet up.
(15) I’m not aware of any “mind control” devices being used on you now. However, there are a great many “non lethal” weapon systems in development that turn out to be quite lethal. Sometimes I watch your television programs that show SWAT teams using new non-lethal weapons. They usually start out with, “In the future, the army and police will fight its enemies with new weapons systems…” When they use the word “enemy”, they’re talking about YOU! You don’t really think the Marines are going to jump out of helicopters overseas with sticky goop, pepper spray and seizure lights, do you?
(16) I’m not familiar with the term Psionics. I’ll look it up and see if we just have another word for it.
(17) Yes, Europe is a mess.
(18) Yes, I think the New World Order idea tried to establish itself. I would consider them the combination of the old U.S. federal system, Europe, Canada and Australia.
(19) When you say “teleportation”, I assume you mean public transportation. Yes, we have a basic high-speed system.
(20) I don’t know if the government created AIDS. I tend to think yes but controlling it escaped them as it mutated. You can’t have conspiracy to limit the population with a disease without the cure.
(21) Yes, homosexuals are in the army. You tend to look past the individual differences of people when their job is to protect your life.
(22) Yes, there are “gay” people in 2036.
(23) I am a white male.
(24) Yes, there is an entertainment industry. Again, it is very decentralized. The technology to express yourself with video is so readily available that many people do it all by themselves or in small groups. Much of the distribution is over the web. I would compare it theater here.
(25) I don’t know what you mean by VR?
(26) The average lifespan is about 60 but I expect that will improve as we get things cleaned up.
(27) Yes, paper money is still widely used.
(28) The 21st century has awhile to go but the most significant person in my opinion is the farmer-general who led us to victory.
(29) Even for you Tesla technology can be found in appliances, motors and generators. I would have to say we have come a long way on Tesla’s foundation but we don’t have electricity rays that cause earthquakes.
(30) Getting back to my exact world-line of origin is impossible but it depends on how you define the correct world-line. I can get close enough so neither I nor anyone there would know the difference. It relates to the classic example of cutting a distance in half to reach it. You can always get closer but never there. It also has a lot do with neighboring universes on Penrose diagrams but that requires more math.
(31) Yes, we have the death penalty. We also have public punishment.
(32) The most common crime is theft.
(33) I don’t understand what you mean by “race mixing”.
(34) Cloning is not common. However, altering the sperm and egg cell are common. It is very difficult to have children in 2036 for environmental reasons.
(35) It’s hard to say what the exact racial make up of the U.S. is. I would say it’s probably the same minus 130 million people or so.
(36) No, there is no segregation.
(37) The education system is very similar to yours but the organization and implementation is controlled on a community and county level. Various communities also specialize in certain disciplines.
(38)(39) My comments on equal rights and “women’s roles” could be quite lengthy and controversial. I wish to discuss that separately. However, women do fight in the military just as the men do but their role on the community level is very conservative.
(40) Having children is such a serious issue in 2036 that birth control is almost unheard of. It is very difficult and precious to have and raise children. Again, this is an issue I will be happy to go into later.
(41) Yes, there are same sex marriages but it’s not very common. Again, people have lived through so much hardship that if what someone else is doing does not affect them or harm the community, it’s not a big issue.
(42) South America went relatively unharmed. However, there is still a great deal of internal conflict with conventional arms.
(43) Yes, people use drugs that alter consciousness but they are not very common.
(44) Yes, I know who the Beatles are. Old music and other entertainment is available on the web.
(45) There is another Pope but I do not know his name.
(46) I do remember the name Thurstan. Isn’t that a character on a television program about people stranded on a desert island?
(47) I do believe that “you’re” UNIX will also have a problem in 2038. I don’t think that’s a secret but maybe someone should put a 5100 aside for thirty years or so.
John
Posted by Brett Fredrico on 02-09-2001 07:04 PM
LightbulbOne Question for the time traveler….You mention a full scale nuclear weapons deployment as a result of WWIII. You also mention that electronics, computers, and even the Internet still functioning some time after that.
Can you explain how these devices (and more importantly the facilities that made them) withstood the EMP air-bursts associated with any full scale nuclear war?
Every electronic device would be inoperable after such an event and it would take decades (if even possible) to rebuild the infrastructure to allow for the building of an electric razor, let alone an Internet.
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-09-2001 07:16 PM
Thumbs upJohn,First, thanks for the insightful answers. I have to admit that the overall picture you paint, sounds very real, and sobering. As you accurately detected my questions were really an exercise in profiling.
You are either from the future as you say, or you are the next Robert Heinlein.As for me, in as much as I have been given to understand by your answers you don’t have the mentality of a hoaxer. Actually you sound like a 30 something, militia member who has experienced much hardship, and your calm yet aggressive demeanor indicates you are accustomed to making difficult decisions.
Your “skirting” of the “equality” issue and your use of the word “prejudiced” is indicative of the kind of hard, post war climate you claim to be from, and the measures that would be required for survival. I assume your comment “everyone carries their own water” was both literal and figurative? and is the equivalent of “our” “you have to carry your own weight”?As a programmer, the UNIX issue you refer to is a bit of a problem. I write code in APL, PLI, Lisp, C, C++, VB, Fortran , Cobol, smalltalk, Java, Python, and a slew of less known languages. The 2038 “bug” is about as dangerous as the Y2K bug. I can “with a little tweaking” do anything with a computer that can be done with a computer. I assume there are programmers in 2036, that being the case, a “good programmer” can fix your Y2K38 date inconsistency.
As for the undocumented IBM design modification in the 5100, I know nothing so I can’t comment there.The new .net platform from microsoft has the capability to integrate all the languages you mentioned + all the ones I mentioned. Would it not be easier to write in the original language instead of having a machine translation?Can you tell me how your UNIX differs from ours?As for proof, I don’t think any is forthcoming that would be “conclusive”.At this point I have no concrete reason to disbelieve anything you say save for standard skepticism.I’d like to discuss some current technology with you in private if you have the time. If you can E-mail me I’d appreciate it.Good luck John, you’re an interesting person, thanks for the conversation.Thurston Howell is the name of a character on “Gilligan's Island”. for a definition of psionics you can check http://www.psi-ops.com.
If you guys can run windows, I have some software for you that would come in real handy in your time. (really!)
Posted by John Titor on 02-10-2001 09:49 AM
Waco, Ruby Ridge and Elian exist in your news archives. Telling you about impending place crashes or other disasters (provided I could give you exact dates and times) may save lives at one point but cause cascading changes that take others at a later point.
I enjoy the posts because it’s very hard to remain safe and have a conversation. I have often seen the classic question, “why don’t time travelers revel themselves’? That’s easy, if you believe us, you’ll drug us into oblivion and put us in a small dark cell while men in white lab coats take a Phillips head screw driver to the magnetic lock on the singularity drive housing.
I will examine the web site you mentioned. I believe the 5100 is unique in its ability to run assembler language on the 360-machine platform and still be portable. I’m not sure if that fact was ever made public so it’s the best “proof” I have. I would like to examine the software you mentioned; perhaps I can further justify my side-trip.
Yes, EMP took out a great number of electronic devices.
That’s one of the reasons why we don’t have reliable technology laying around. However, in the opening hours of N Day, the Russians did not launch any high altitude detonations. They knew we would most likely clean up after them so they wanted everyone outside the cities to be able to communicate. Most of the warheads that hit the cities came in threes and exploded close to the ground. The heavy EMP damage was isolated to those areas.
Actually, you will probably be quite impressed with our internet. It’s based on a series of independent, self-powered nodes that are mobile and can be put up anywhere. It looks a great deal like your current cell phone system.
Posted by Walt Moss on 02-11-2001 10:35 AM
(1) What is your opinion of Revelations in the New Testiment,Do you feel it related to the coming War?(2) Are you familiar with the Fatima Prophesies and were these achieved?(3) You mentioned earlier (I don’t know if it were hypothetical) that you were sent to change something here in 2000 or 2001, were you successful? and if you were it has already happened so could you go into detail as to what you did.(4) Was there an Antichrist, and was he part of the EU.Thanks for responce
Posted by Brett Fredrico on 02-11-2001 02:53 PM
QuestionI don’t know if you have answered this yet, but how did you learn about Art Bell? Is AM still mostly talk radio in your time? Lastly, what more do you know about UFOs and those pesky greys?
Posted by Angel Lynnn on 02-12-2001 12:42 AM
QuestionJohn,I have been reading the posts about you and your travels tonight and am fascinated.
Thank you so much for posting here and answering our questions.I wish you peace and happiness.
I would really like to know if hand made items are popular or liked in the year 2036. Are people still knitting and crocheting with their hands?
I am an avid crocheter and I’m very curious about this. I make hats, scarfs, purses, rugs, dish cloths, towels, etc…
Maybe you need a break from the IMPORTANT questions and you could indulge me…………Thank you, John for being you.Angel Lynnn
Posted by Kennith Viccars on 02-12-2001 09:20 AM
Hello,Just read through this thread and found it very interesting.I just had a couple questions…I’m from Calgary, Canada. What part will Canada have in the War? Specifically western Canada, should I get out and move to Fiji ?Do you think it’s very smart to be talking to people online?
I mean anyone could get your ip, with a few connections find your address and locate you. I know for a fact that a few “men in black” read this board. If they thought for a second that you were for real, they would be on your ass so fast, and your “Time Machine” would be in the hands of the US military my friend.I’m about 99.9% skeptical, but I do like the odd sci-fi story, and enjoy your writing. I don’t pity you for trying to convince the gullible hordes that flock this board. Everybody needs to feel “wanted”, and we all like to feel “special”. If this is your way of getting attention, I have no problem with it, no ones getting hurt.Thx John.
Posted by Don Hackman on 02-12-2001 09:23 AM
WinkI have put all my accounts in order and bought rebreathers etc. as instructed and have sent you all our credit cards.
Are you sure the 1/2 life of the radioactive fallout from WWIII is now / then safe in 2038 ? Should I bring tin foil?
Posted by Blonnie Dowden on 02-12-2001 09:27 AM
Questionplease forgive me if you have already responded to a similar question – but i am a very curious person & can not wait to ask this..just in case i forget.. my question:you say that you can not tell us when something of very little historical importance occurs.. because we may alter/change something & look to you as a phsycic of some sort.
perhaps, you could mention something that will happen very soon after you’ve just left.
no one will be able to contact you so what could they possibly change and/or ask you about? as someone has suggested: over time periods certain types of music run to the forfront of our society.
in the early 90’s it was grunge.. now it seems to be the bubbly pop teen sensations, i.e. backstreet boys & britney spears.. you couldn’t even answer the simple question of what will be the next ‘movement’ in music?
just something so simple as that.. couldn’t possibly have some profound affect on the future? & especially for just the people on this board..i have my doubts that they’d run out & “do something” about the fact that acid jazz (for instance) is the next big musical hit.. know what i mean?more questions: dunno if you’ve been asked this, but what are the areas least affected by the ww3 bombings ..you will probably not be able to answer that.. just going to see if you will anyway. another thing i wanted to mention was that even though you think because of one small thing you say may affect the future greatly, i assure you that 90% of the people.. will not take it seriously. so if you said: “the eastern shore will be most affected.”..i doubt that in 2012 everyone will swarm to the west. of the large population our world has.. it is very small in comparison to the population of -this-board-..
& our country is full of skeptics (which i’m sure you’ve realized).. so even if 100 people said “the eastern shore will not be affected.. a traveler from the future -said so-!!!”.. maybe 1 or 2 people would actually believe them. i think the affect you think you’d have..is not as large as it really would be.another: have you visited your -past- family? what city were you born in/grew up in? could you even say that so-and-so.. *an unknown person in today’s history*..”will be a big star”..etc..?-blonnie-just curious
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-12-2001 09:45 AM
I’ve read this entire forum through twice now.What I find fasinating more than John’s Time Traveling, are the people who seem to be attacking him. Now, I “believe” that Time Travel is possible – and I think there is plenty of physics evidence for this. So – perhaps the word “belief ” is really not the correct word.I have a couple of questions for John as well, so if you can answer these John, I would appreciate your answers.(1) Once a microsingularity is produced and placed in statis in a magnetic field, what is the approximate strength of that magnetic field.(2) How is the magnetic field produced (I mean – what power source holds the field in place)?(3) What would happen to the microsignularity if that source FAILED? For instance would the microsingularity begin to grow? Or would it cease to exist?In relation to my first comments about folks attacking John’s veracity – I have to say that John’s stories/statements DO hold water. The folks that chose not to believe him are welcome to do so, but, you do not have to “save anyone” from themselves or John. I believe most of us are intelligent enough to determine for ourselves if there is any kind of fraud. Even if there IS fraud, I personally am impressed with the background. It is well thought-out and consistent so far.John has stated several times that what he says will not affect us, or him, and what we say will not affect him whatsoever. I have to take that to mean that even if he DOES tell you something here, it will NOT affect HIS timeline, since there is some deviation from his actual timeline here. In other words, John is NOT the same John he is visiting now, as his 3 year old self. His mom and dad are NOT his REAL mom and dad in his time line. We are NOT the same PEOPLE IN HIS TIME LINE.Therefore, John (and none of you could do this either) can NOT tell us anything about our current timeline with any great accuracy that can be verified.Think about it.Rick DonaldsonColorado Springs
Posted by Blonnie Dowden on 02-12-2001 09:53 AM
another thing i do not understand.you said in a previous post:((“I am no more able to affect your world-line than you are. Yes, I could make the changes you suggested but you must remember that there are an infinite number of world-lines out there where I didn’t and I don’t. In fact, there’s even a world-line out there where you’re the time traveler and I’m the one writing the question.I think the war would be good for you and your society. I don’t want to stop it.Nothing I do here will affect any other world-line. “My” original world-line will always be the same and yes I can make changes here that would make this world-line different from mine but so can you.”))from this i suppose that you mean, that yes, you could & possibly have affected our ‘world-line’.. & our world-line is different from -your- world-line.. if this is true then why do you keep telling us about the ww3..etc.. how do you know that will even -happen- in our world-line? it may have already been nipped in the bud for all you know..because ours is a different -world-line- from yours!another thing i wanted to respond to:((“(2). To me it would seem obvious that we both have a very different perspective on what’s important right now in 2001. I would think that’s what makes our interaction interesting. Would I be anymore believable if I told you I had just stopped a horrible event and you won’t hear about it because it didn’t happen? Again, this is the second time it has come up and I am very curious. Why would you expect a time traveler to know or care about what happens in Hollywood or some individual companies profits? You seem to think I have tomorrow’s paper in front of me. Is that what time travel means to you? ”))i understand what you’re saying .. why would you care what happens in Hollywood..etc.. or individual companies profits.. what you’re basically saying is you just don’t remember (or maybe you do..but you won’t tell us?).. why would you care?
if you asked anyone today who, for instance: Marilyn Monroe is.. we would all know.. or who bill gates was & what he did for computers – we would all know.
you’re insinuating that you don’t know &/or don’t care about any of these things in the future. perhaps so..but how could you POSSIBLY not know who the next big inventor is.. or what the invention is.
you claim that if you told us.. we could alter it & keep it from happening. how many people do you think will be SO concerned that a -mega-super-razor- that keeps all facial hair gone for 20 days (for example).. that they want to go & stop the inventor from inventing it? & also you said, you’d be gone by the time the ‘good stuff’ happens..
OK.. isn’t that -further- better for your point..in that you say it’s better to have us be skeptics rather than sheep? well if you told us “in 2 years, there will be an earthquake in Israel”.. & you were gone by then..all we could do is say, “wow, that guy on the board in 2001 said this would happen! he was real!”.. we couldn’t -do- anything.. we couldn’t STOP the earthquake & i doubt anyone would go there & tell everyone to evacuate (and even if they did, no one would!).. it would just prove that you were -true- & existed.
i can’t fathom why you can not speak of something such as that..
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-12-2001 11:14 AM
John – Another question suddenly came to mind. I asked before about the microsingularities. Are they used to create the “rotating tipler cylinder” somehow through the axis of your time machine?
All matter within a certain distance is then pushed (somehow) along a time-dilation type trip in time, forward or backward.Is this about right?
I’m betting that (assuming this is real) the microsingularities are used to create the infinite length aspect of the tipler cylinder which appears to be required for this time function change to occur. The aspect of rotating microsingularities (MS from now on) means that some sort of gravitational field between the MS is also rotating, so as to create this illusion of a gravitational cylinder AROUND WHICH TIME IS DISTORTED GREATLY!!Hmmmm… I’m about to start believing this guy, John the Time Traveler is real.John, one last question, what sort of actual educational background (in your time) do you have? That is.. university, college, high school, etc? ThanksRick DonaldsonColorado Springs
Posted by Benedict Gumby on 02-12-2001 12:06 PM
QuestionI just have this to ask you.Do you recognize the name Benedict?I want to know because I fully intend to be a prominent figure within the next 20 years.
Posted by Kane Greene on 02-12-2001 12:14 PM
SmileI have read these threads and that web site you directed us all too on the first page. When first approaching this thread, I was expecting something to be comical, just some guy who would admit a page later that it was a joke. He would do that because he would not know how to answer questions or slip up, something in which you haven’t done! I am extremely surprised! With each reply you have, the more and more I think you could be possibly telling the truth.Some things in John’s defense to think of before being so harsh. Say you were back in 1900, and you mentioned something about us going to the moon. What do you think the response would have been? You probably would have been thought crazy, or a drunk! That is kinda in relation to what is going on now, we are not familiar or have no knowledge of Time Travel actually happening before this.Another thing about people saying how John doesn’t know any World Events that are about to happen in the next few months. But you have to remember, that the last time John was in our time, assuming he hasn’t traveled back was when he was 3 years old! How many of you can honestly say you remember at-the-time important issues that happened when you were 3! I know I can’t!John, now, I would like to ask you a few things I am curious about! This is something I have found to be very interesting and could possibly believe you!(1) Have you ever went on any other time traveling missions? If so, what were they?(2) I believe you said you had pictures of your time machine, could you post a link to uploaded images?(3) If you have any pictures of the IBM computer you were supposed to get, could you post a link to them also?(4) I looked up the name ‘Titor’ in the state of Florida on 555-1212.com and couldn’t find ANY Titors, is your family not listed in the phone book?(5) Can I contact you through any other means of online communications? Like AOL Instant Messagner? ICQ? MSN? Something so I can have a conversation with you! But if you don’t have those, could you possibly consider downloading one of them, http://www.AIM.com, http://www.ICQ.com. And then emailing me your user name abcs_123s@hotmail.com , thanks!(6) What is the specific Date that the Nuclear war starts? If you can’t remember the exact date, could you put the month at least? An estimate!(7)W hat is the speed of the average computer in the future? I am assuming it is in ghZ, if it is higher, could you post the name of that hZ measurement and its relation to the ghZ?(8) Can you do your own Time Traveling ventures whenever you want? If so, how much does it cost? Or can you make ‘pit stops’ along the way back to 2036?(9) Have you ever went past your future, like to 2050 or somewhere around there? If so, what is the world like then?Also, someone said why does he think that there will be a WW3 in our world since it isn’t the same as his. Well, John said that there is a 2.5% difference from our world and his, that isn’t that much of a difference, so a WW3 is very likely to happen if what he says is true and there is only that much of a difference!
Posted by Blonnie Dowden on 02-12-2001 12:31 PM
Kane Greene wrote:“Another thing about people saying how John doesn’t know any World Events that are about to happen in the next few months. But you have to remember, that the last time John was in our time, assuming he hasn’t traveled back was when he was 3 years old! How many of you can honestly say you remember at-the-time important issues that happened when you were 3! I know I can’t!”3 years old.. yes. i was 3 years old when Reagan was president & i probably had no idea he even existed at the time..yet, i know now that he existed. john is not a three year old now – he’s 38 he says & unless the schools of the future teach no history then why wouldn’t he know these things? & as they are big events in history i can understand (possibly) why he wouldn’t want to post them… but it has nothing to do with his age… tell me there weren’t things that happened or people that existed when you were three.. that you didn’t know of then but know of now? the Beatles for instance were alive & famous before i was ever born, yet i know they existed in the 60’s/70’s. i was born in 81 & challenger blew up soon thereafter (in 83 i think it was???) i never saw it on television happening.. but i know it happened.–what about Marilyn Monroe? i wasn’t even born yet when she was alive – but i know she existed? & telling us something such as her existence would not greatly affect the outcome of our entire world.. so why not tell us? i can possibly understand how telling us that there will be a horrible bombing in Canada..would affect the future .. someone on here may be from Canada & keep their family away from the site of the bombing .. thus, changing future.. but telling us something of little importance will NOT change the future! it will only prove he is who/what he says he is.-blonnie-
Posted by Kane Greene on 02-12-2001 12:45 PM
Red faceBy Blonnie:((“3 years old.. yes. i was 3 years old when Reagan was president & i probably had no idea he even existed at the time..yet, i know now that he existed. john is not a three year old now – he’s 38 he says & unless the schools of the future teach no history then why wouldn’t he know these things? & as they are big events in history i can understand (possibly) why he wouldn’t want to post them… but it has nothing to do with his age… tell me there weren’t things that happened or people that existed when you were three.. that you didn’t know of then but know of now? the Beatles for instance were alive & famous before i was ever born, yet i know they existed in the 60’s/70’s. i was born in 81 & challenger blew up soon thereafter (in 83 i think it was???) i never saw it on television happening.. but i know it happened.–what about marilyn monroe? i wasn’t even born yet when she was alive – but i know she existed? & telling us something such as her existance would not greatly affect the outcome of our entire world.. so why not tell us? i can possibly understand how telling us that there will be a horrible bombing in canada..would affect the future .. someone on here may be from canada & keep their family away from the site of the bombing .. thus, changing future.. but telling us something of little importance will NOT change the future! it will only prove he is who/what he says he is. ”))I was alive when Desert Storm took place, do I know the month it happened? No.. I wouldn’t expect John to either. Plus, History books from that time would probably contain things about the war from 2005, possibly things leading up to the war. Not inventions like ‘Ginger’ and pop artists!History books might mention some things, but they just give a year most of the time if it is not of grave importance, they more than less are going to just give the year and say what it did.Blah! Why can’t vBulletin have the quote feature like the better, UBB? Blah!
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-12-2001 01:15 PM
I was born in 1957. I DO remember the 1962 crisis, at least in terms of the adults being scared. I would have been 5 years old. I distinctly remember John Glenn going up and splashing down, and I remember hearing about Alan Sheppard (first man in space for you younguns hehe).I indeed remember watching John Glenn though. I remember Walter Cronkites voice on television. I can tell you what my house looked like back then, the size of the TV and that it was black and white. I remember playing with magnets back then, and being absolutely fascinated with the magic of magnetic fields even then (which eventually drove me into the sciences, chemistry, physics and finally electronics engineering).I remember a TV show called “Time Tunnel” in the late 60’s. Anyone else?Anyway, the basic point is, I do have very vivid memories of things from when I was a child, of no more than 3-4. I have very, very clear memories of things when I was 3 and even my mom when she was alive was amazed at the things I could recall from such a young age. Well… I don’t remember much about politics though. I know that Eisenhower was the Prez when I was born, but… I don’t remember ANYTHING about him, but I DO remember all KINDS of things about Kennedy.So… what I am getting at, John would not necessarily (nor would anyone else) remember things of politics in their baby years. Some of us do, many of us do not.I can tell you something very important to me though… if *I* stepped into a time machine to go back to… say 1961 or 1962 I ABSOULTELY would have a complete knowledge of the era that I was returning to, in my mind. I’d have studied it very carefully, and I would ensure I had clothing of that era (up to and including the geeky classes I used to wear as a kid) to “fit in”. 1962 was a year of the almost end of the human race as we know it now, and I CERTAINLY would not want to step into a time where I could have been noticed as being out of place and out of time. Curiousity about me might cause my arrest or anything else in those days.As a 43 year old grandpa, I know a LOT more now, than I did then. I KNOW that if I had the chance to go see it with what I know now, I would take that chance. I also know that I probably would NOT pass on intelligence from the future as a matter of course. I would not communicate with anyone who might be able to discern my intent, or even anything about the future from me.Even if I were 2.6% off track from my time line. Even if I were 45% off track, I would not give anyone the chance to gloam on to anything I said about the future.Rick DonaldsonColorado Springs
Posted by Nikki Colwill on 02-12-2001 01:31 PM
Please tell us about the environment, the animal kingdom, are there any left…what kind? If there were nukes, how do any survive? What are the physical concequences on us?Have you heard of ascension or “The Rapture”? If so please tell what you know.Do you trust anyone in this time frame? If so, do you share more info with them?Have you heard of the Mayan Calendar? Do you believe it to be a true or factual event timeline?I am told that fear keeps us further from the truth and God, that being said, you had stated earlier that fear is what would keep us alive, at least I think you said something like that, anyway I find that a contradiction.I would like to speak/e-mail with you. Is that possible or something you would be willing to do? Would you consider that?Thanks, NikkiPS–Is Art Bell remembered? Who are the most remembered people from this time?[Edited by Nikki Colwill on 02-12-2001 at 01:37 PM]
Posted by Kane Greene on 02-12-2001 03:49 PM
LightbulbJohn, I have a few more questions. These ones are more about the ‘War’, and the state of your world.(1) Who is the Major Super Power?(2) Are the two political parties still Republicans and Democrats?(3) How many States are there?(4) Which states get the worst?(5) Were only cities along the Eastern Sea port hit in the Nuclear War, or all over the country?(6) Do company's like Microsoft, Yahoo!, and other internet software company's still exist?(7) Does money look a lot different than it does now? If you have a picture, could you please upload it and post the link!(8) So then when you time travel you can never actually go back to the EXACT same place you left from?(9) Was a lot of the United States’ 18-24 age group slaughtered in the war because of Draft?(10)Do you ever get visitors from later time periods to 2036?(11) Are there any other company's, besides the one you work for that have TTs and send them out regularly?(12) Does the government know there is TT going on?(13) Why were YOU selected to be a TT? What gave you special qualifications?(14) How many TTs are there on the team that you are on? How do new recruits get selected?(15) What all countries are on our side in the war? What all countries are on the opposite side?(16) Which country gets the worst in the war?Those are just a few more I came up with , I will let you know if I think of more!
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-12-2001 07:28 PM
John Titor is a fraud. Check out this forum he’s been posting on for months. And see how he suddenly goes quiet because he is exposed.http://www.xone.net/tti/board/ubbhtml/Forum1/HTML/000433.htmlAnd also see the discrepancy’s in his story. And how he attempts to lure people into believing in him.
http://www.xone.net/tti/board/ubbhtml/Forum1/HTML/000367.htmlWe found you TT_0, and now the calvary will soon arrive to expose you here too.-Javier C.A.K.A. TimeTravelActivist
Posted by Kennith Viccars on 02-12-2001 07:50 PM
You people are seriously starting to scare me.Some shmuck claims to be from the year 2036, posts a few intelligent posts on a online forum, and has a herd of sheep hanging off his every word.Get some direction in you lives.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-12-2001 08:07 PM
Well it was fun while it lasted. Still haven’t read the archive of posts of the mentioned board, though, sheep that I am, I’ll have to take your word for it. (until I get time to read up). What were the points that stuck out, Javier?(I do believe in ghosts, I do believe in ghosts, I do, I do …. and on)
Posted by Sally Stanton on 02-12-2001 08:16 PM
TalkingWatch me pull a rabbit out of Ong’s Hat!!Anway, ‘scuze me. Gotta run. My kitty’s looking for that Door into Sumer (sic).
Posted by John Titor on 02-12-2001 08:54 PM
Thank you Vega for the information. I will visit the site and I expect I will have some questions.
Yes, there are a great many people who think that Revelations has come to pass. However, the new fear is that Christ has returned, he’s not telling us and he’s very angry.
I am not familiar with the Fatima Prophesies but I am aware of the term. I was not sent here to change anything. Since it would not affect my home anyway, it would be rather pointless.
I am here because of my family and the interaction I had with them in 1975.
I understand the question about the Antichrist but I must admit I hadn’t given it much thought. My initial reaction is to consider how the Antichrist would affect my life if I could identify him/her. If your life became a sort of “Hell” anyway, would it matter if the Antichrist was real?
I became aware of this bulletin board through my various archiving work through the web. We do enjoy “talk programs” but they are distributed over the web.
I don’t have additional information about UFOs and I find the subject quite interesting myself. I have often wondered if they aren’t time travelers with very sophisticated machines. Based on what I know about the nature of time I find this difficult to believe but nothing is impossible.
Yes, handmade items and the skills to make them are quite prevalent and people take a great deal of pride in their work. People with the skills to make clothing, work with leather and wood or cultivate a garden have become quite valuable. Please do not think your questions are unimportant. I enjoy the conversation.
Fiji?
I’ve noticed that when most Americans think about Canada in this time, they think about pine trees, chooks and back-bacon. It may interest you to know that most Canadians in 2036 are some of the most efficient, ruthless and dangerous people I know. God help Quebec.
Within limits, I’m confident my anonymity is secure. The various email and web accounts I have do not have a big sign that says “Time Machine This Way –>”. In order to be at risk I would have to be believed. In my experience, evil may be powerful, but they aren’t very bright.
((you couldn’t even answer the simple question of what will be the next ‘movement’ in music? just something so simple as that))
Unfortunately, your question is rather difficult for me.
Any personal experience I might have with your world-line at a specific moment is limited to my viewpoint and age. I can’t tell you what music is popular in the next few years because the “me” here is only three years old. In addition, how does someone decide what the most popular music trend is? It would seem rather subjective to me. Thinking about it now I sort of wonder what it would be like to be a teenager now and know the answer to that question. When I was thirteen I used to worry about which shotgun slug would take a door handle off and whether or not I had any dry socks. Current fallout estimates are accurate but a bit exaggerated.
Your example of what people would do based on something I might say is accurate. However, my concern would be the potential actions of a single person, not the masses. In 1963, if I suggested that someone should watch the book depository windows as the President went by, the actions of a single person might have a huge impact on history. You also asked if I’ve visited my “past” family. That’s where I am now.
((1) Once a micro-singularity is produced and placed in statis in a magnetic field, what is the approximate strength of that magnetic field.
2) How is the magnetic field produced (I mean – what power source holds the field in place)?
3) What would happen to the microsignularity if that source FAILED? For instance would the microsingularity begin to grow? Or would it cease to exist?))
These are excellent questions that I probably won’t answer to your satisfaction but let me make a couple of points first. Although I am familiar with the general manufacture of the unit, I am not a physicist or a scientist.
My background is in history and I had the correct profile to accomplish my given task in 1975. I doubt that most jet fighter pilots are aeronautical engineers[Curious he should make this point. - Metallicman.] and I’ll bet most of you couldn’t give me the formula for horsepower, yet you drive a car every day.
The second point I can illustrate with an interesting story.
In the opening phases of WWI, one of the largest problems early fighter pilots had was how to shoot a machine gun through the propeller blades without chopping it to bits. The problem was very straightforward. When the engine was off, the blades took up only a small percentage of the total arch but with the engine on, there was seemingly no way to know when it was safe to shoot through them.
This problem lasted for quite a while until a very smart person came up with a very simple solution. By using a small lobed cam on the propeller shaft that controlled a switch on the machine gun, it was possible to stop the gun from firing only when the cam turned off the switch at the point a bullet might hit the blade. It was so simple in fact, the other side only caught on to the idea after one of the planes crashed and they were able to take it apart.
My point is; seemingly very complicated problems often have very simple and ingenious solutions using technology that is already available.
The distortion unit is not magic and no alien technology was required to make it work. If you could see it, the “smarts” that went into designing it will amaze you more than the technology. Heck, the really interesting technology is in the computer.
The magnetic field does not require the fantastic energies you might imagine. The field is “created” and captures the singularity inside a very large and powerful specially designed particle accelerator. If the magnetic system failed (which has numerous backups including a system that would remove it from this world-line), the singularity would evaporate. Although it is smaller than an electron, it would still be quite undesirable.
((why do you keep telling us about the ww3..etc.. how do you know that will even -happen- in our world-line? it may have already been nipped in the bud for all you know..because ours is a different -worldline- from yours!))
Yes, you are correct!
However, I am not confident things are different enough for you to avoid the conflict. You may also consider the possibility that a world with no war is far less desirable in the long run. In response to your other point, your assumptions about causality are correct but my personal morality still comes into play. I won’t deviate from my three rules because of the way I would feel about myself.
The singularities do not create Tipler cylinders they create the same physical environment without all the mass. The same math works for both. There are two singularities.
Their mass and spin is altered in order to adjust the size of the ergosphere and cause the event horizons to interact and create the gravity sinusoid.
I have a basic home schooling education (k-12) and a bachelor’s degree in history.
I will get to the remaining questions soon.
John
Posted by Blonnie Dowden on 02-12-2001 09:35 PM
i am simply going to answer many questions at once.. read above for sources.. i do not site the source of the question. i also want to note that i’m a very -unskeptical- person..i kinda have the philosophy that anything is possible .. i infact, believe that time travel does most likely exist.. but mr titor you have skirted around too many questions to be believable. someone asked why they could not find a ‘titor ‘listed in florida.. & you failed to answer that question.. here are my responses.(a summary of a question) “he was only 3 years old now..how would -he- know what the next big movement in music was?”..i know that Madonna was a HUGE THING in the 80’s.. yet i was only born in 81!! i know that ‘Dallas’ & ‘dynasty’ & ‘falcon crest’ were big time t.v. shows then..but i was very young. why wouldn’t he know of such simple things as that? & even if he was just 3..he was 5 & 6 & up to 38 before he ‘came here’..!!another response:“I was alive when Desert Storm took place, do I know the month it happened? No.. I wouldn’t expect John to either. Plus, History books from that time would probably contain things about the war from 2005, possibly things leading up to the war. Not inventions like ‘Ginger’ and pop artists!History books might mention some things, but they just give a year most of the time if it is not of grave importance, they more than less are going to just give the year and say what it did. ”i never asked for an exact month – i asked for a rough time period. you do not need a history book to know the things that i ask – because i’m asking things that are common knowledge among -society-. in our ‘dumbed down’ society.. even the people w/the largest lack of knowledge about current events know popular things that are occuring. & if they happen to be three years old right now – don’t you think they’d say ‘well, when i was 13, -guzzenberry- was a big t.v. show’. i need no history book to know that by the time i was 5-9 she-ra dolls were a big time thing.. & they were the next rave of toys. or that ‘we didn’t start the fire’ or whatever it’s title.. was a big hit song.. if you were a person at that time..you’d remember those sorts of silly little things.mr titors response to my question (mine in parenthesis):“((you couldn’t even answer the simple question of what will be the next ‘movement’ in music? just something so simple as that))“”Unfortunately, your question is rather difficult for me. Any personal experience I might have with your world-line at a specific moment is limited to my viewpoint and age. I can’t tell you what music is popular in the next few years because the “me” here is only three years old. In addition, how does someone decide what the most popular music trend is? It would seem rather subjective to me. Thinking about it now I sort of wonder what it would be like to be a teenager now and know the answer to that question. When I was thirteen I used to worry about which shotgun slug would take a door handle off and whether or not I had any dry socks. Current fallout estimates are accurate but a bit exaggerated.”you say popular music would be subjective..but i say: even though i am not a fan of rap music..i know it came to the forfront in the 80’s.. run dmc.. the fresh prince.. ton loc. (ok, i kinda like those bands..but the more modern day ones i care little for..).. i know that madonna for instance was on countless billboards in the 80’s & was known for her ‘sex’ driven image..michael jackson was the ‘king of pop’.. – milli vanilli -sucked- & that ‘the new kids on the block’ were a rave w/my generation.you also say this:
“Your example of what people would do based on something I might say is accurate. However, my concern would be the potential actions of a single person, not the masses. In 1963, if I suggested that someone should watch the book depository windows as the President went by, the actions of a single person might have a huge impact on history. You also asked if I’ve visited my “past” family. That’s where I am now.”when i ask you a question of why you can’t tell us ‘there will be an earthquake in isreal in 2010..’ or something of the such..this is not a question that someone could CHANGE. it is a natural disaster & i purposely chose that sort of a disaster so the question could not be passed by as you did in your response. however, you choose to use a different type of example rather than answer my question -directly-..i am a basic naive -schmuck-..in that i am gullible & like to believe everything. i’ve heard of the planet ‘nibiru’ & find the theories extremely interesting & i even think it could be/might be true.. i do believe in time travel & i even think that we are perhaps being visited -now- by time travelers.. however, i don’t know if this is -true-..just a possibility.i just think you skirt around too many issues .. & by refusing to even mention something from the ‘future’ that could not be -changed- by people -today-..it just gives me further evidence that you are not who you say you are.i apologize to be so blunt.. but you skirt around so many questions that i just find you hard to believe.
Posted by Mike Kolesnik on 02-12-2001 11:00 PM
Red faceThis could be a good exercise in Logic and Critical Thinking. I will try to approach this from a math set theory point of view.John says he is a TT. ( Ok, here we have a basic statement)John says he came here (1975 actually) for an IBM 5100 computer. ( Ok, he has a purpose)John wants to remain anon but posts numerous posts to this board and at least 2 others where he expounds on, among other things, the functioning and design of the TT machine.
(OK, here is the BIG problem. Why would a TT’er reveal himself & the TT machine? In John’s stated mission, these actions have no purpose.)John alludes to a civil war being started between the Democrats and Republicans. Later, this escalates into WW3 and he mentions that it is a “good” thing for our soceity. ( 3 billion people dead a “good” thing?)John tells us to: buy a gun, find 5 friends, get a bicycle, yada, yada, yada. ( this conflicts with his above comments: here he seems to want to save some people, while above he wants to kill us all off)In previous posts John mentions that he has no idea what GINGER is but in a later post he mentions media hype and alludes to IT not amounting to much.John mentions the Big War(2015) was between the Cities of America (the enemy of John) and Russia, China, etc.(so not only do we have a civil war but now we have a war between the city folk and rural folk in the US, AND a world war)John says the civil war which starts in 2004 or 2005 (depending on the post) leads to the world war which starts in 2015. ( So we have a TEN YEAR civil war???)John mentions that the mechanical typewriter is a major machine again in the future, but in another post says the Internet still exists and is widely used.
( Who builds typewriters anymore and who last used the typewriter in a most infamous way? Hint: he lived in a one room cabin in Montana and hated technology and soceity)Responses???
Posted by John Titor on 02-12-2001 11:51 PM
I almost made it to bed…
I’m flattered you went back and double checked.
((3. John wants to remain anon but posts numerous posts to this board and at least 2 others where he expounds on, among other things, the functioning and design of the TT machine. OK, here is the BIG problem. Why would a TT’er reveal himself & the TT machine? In John’s stated mission, these actions have no purpose.))
I still fail to see why this is a problem. If you can think of another way where I can interact with people I would very much like to hear your suggestions. Why isn’t the mere act of speaking with other people an end in itself? Personally, I find the unit interesting and I like talking about it. There must be something in your life like that.
((4. John alludes to a civil war being started between the Democrats and Republicans. Later, this escalates into WW3 and he mentions that it is a “good” thing for our soceity. ( 3 billion people dead a “good” thing?))
I don’t believe I ever said the war was between Democrats and Republicans. If I am incorrect, please point that out. It doesn’t exactly escalate as much as it opens the door for other aggression. Yes, I think the war would be good for society and I would be happy to debate that with you.
((5. John tells us to: buy a gun, find 5 friends, get a bicycle, yada, yada, yada. ( this conflicts with his above comments: here he seems to want to save some people, while above he wants to kill us all off))
If you could point out how this violates the three guidelines I stated earlier I will give it considerable thought. Perhaps you are correct and that was a mistake. Again, I don’t believe I said I want to kill you. Personally, I think murder is wrong. You seem to be pretty good at that yourself.
((6. In previous posts John mentions that he has no idea what GINGER is but in a later post he mentions media hype and alludes to IT not amounting to much.))
Again, I don’t believe I said that either. My point in that conversation was about feeling manipulated by hype. Since they ARE asking you to buy something, I would be very interested in your lengthy and critical postings about ITS credibility. If you could post that link I would very much like to see it.
((7. John mentions the Big War(2015) was between the Cities of America (the enemy of John) and Russia, China, etc.(so not only do we have a civil war but now we have a war between the city folk and rural folk in the US, AND a world war))
Hmmm…are you familiar with the Russian partisan movement in WWII?
((8. John says the civil war which starts in 2004 or 2005 (depending on the post) leads to the world war which starts in 2015. ( So we have a TEN YEAR civil war???))
It’s 2004. I apologize for a missed key (very observant – we all need good critics). Perhaps our definition of war is different. I would define it as a conflict where organized groups engage in maneuver and armed conflict. The first U.S. civil war lasted 4 years and the English civil war lasted 6. How long is too long?
((9. John mentions that the mechanical typewriter is a major machine again in the future, but in another post says the Internet still exists and is widely used. ( Who builds typewriters anymore and who last used the typewriter in a most infamous way? Hint: he lived in a one room cabin in Montana and hated technology and soceity))
Actually, what I said was, “…you may be surprised at how many people use typewriters.” I don’t understand the conflict. What’s wrong with typewriters? At least you don’t have to plug them in.
Thanks for the patience…getting to the other questions.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-13-2001 07:54 AM
First off, the clown who called everyone “sheep” here is out of line. Go BACK and read my posts, CAREFULLY. No one here is a sheep. We are interested in what the guy had to say, because he made several points, some of them very sound, scientifically.I really detest people like you who go around and make rash assumptions about “everyone on this list” or another list. You’re the same kind of jerk that goes around and tells the media that “all militia members are a bad”, or “guns are a bad thing”. The same kind of person that wants people like “Social Services” to pidgeonhole everyone. Instead of insulting the intelligence of the people who are here trying to use deductive reasoning to ascertain the truth about someone’s means, motive and methods, why don’t you go back to your little world and leave the rest of us alone who are trying to find out the truth about someone!? Absolute, denial of any possibilities is your bag. Go deny Big Foot exists, or go deny that the military has an Area 51.Mr. Titor, no, you didn’t answer my questions at all regarding singularities (except that they would ‘evaporate’, or the device would ‘remove itself from the time line’).In fact, regardless of your background you should have a basic understanding of physics. I’m absolutely CERTAIN that if you’re a pilot of an aircraft you ARE an engineer to an extent in that you understand BASIC PHYSICS of how your aircraft flies.If you’re a race car driver, evidence points to the fact that even THEY have a very good understanding of their cars, engines and the physics thereof.I know for instance that my Jeep is capable of about 198 horsepower. I know that it uses fuel injection. I’m not a mechanic, but I can certainly tell you a great deal about how an internal combustion engine works. I can tell you how a bicycle functions (because I used to ride them). I can tell you a good deal about physiology as well – the human body, BECAUSE I HAVE TO KNOW!By the way, I don’t remember the “horsepower formula” off HAND, but I can tell you 1 hp = 746 watts. I am an engineer – and I can tell you this much more, if you’re a real time traveler from 2036 and time travel is as easy (and as often) as you say it is, and you’re in the military or some government service, then by 1) exposing yourself, you’ve very likely broken several regulations, 2) Put yourself at risk by doing so, 3) should know a hell of a lot more about the machines you’re operating, 4) are inconsistent in several aspects of your posts.In other words John – you’re an apparent fraud. That’s too bad, too. These people here want to know the truth, they want to believe that there are time travelers, and that perhaps TT would even explain the UFO pheonomenon or other things that are unexplained in the world today. If you were a real person and you have gone so far as to tell us “I’m real, but I don’t care if you believe me, in fact I don’t want you to believe me”… then you’ve got a serious problem with reality – not relativity.By the way, I have some very extreme reasons to doubt that a microsignularity exists in the first place, and in the second place, if it DID exist, I doubt it would be the “size of an electron”. In any case, a signularity (a black hole for those of you who haven’t figured that out yet) is an extreme mass, and holding it in a magnetic field in a gravitational field as strong as Earth’s would simply rip the singularity from the magnetic field causing the black hold to crash to the center of the mass of Earth. The Earth would then become part of the black hole as it grew in size, pulling in the matter of the Earth.At least that’s what physics says. If there are “fail safes” on such a device, the device’s power would have to be backed up multiple times, and then STILL FUNCTION (to ‘rotate the craft out of this time line’) to save the existing time line from major problems.Sorry folks, too many holes (not black holes) in this theory.[Edited by Rick Donaldson on 02-13-2001 at 08:01 AM]
Posted by Chris Greycheck on 02-13-2001 08:57 AM
Thumbs upRick (& John)Rick, you’ve made some very good points and criticisms regarding John and his claims.That’s right, even a race-car driver has a basic understanding as to the physics involved in his car, so John, why can’t you explain your “time machine” in greater detail?And just for the record the formula for horsepower is something along the lines of reldline rpm X 35 / 6500…
I know that’s not the right formula, but it’s something like that, I can check it in my “Top 10 Torque Monsters” of Motor Trend magazine.
Posted by Mel Reckling on 02-13-2001 09:14 AM
John,A couple of questions
(1) Is the Chevy truck better than the Ford truck for time travel. I always thought the TT package meant trailer towing. Geez was I wrong! Is Chevy still making time travel machines in 2036?(2) How did you buy your truck? How could you title it if you are only 3 years old to the title bureau at this point? You won’t be able to sell it in Minnesota unless it’s in your name and clear. Is the Chevy newer and how did you pay for it? Did you scrounge around to find 40 year old currency in 2036? I know I wouldn’t take any money from someone that had mint marks from 2036.(3) Does the truck have to be running when you are travelingthrough time. Did you come here in a Chevy? What if you run out of gas? Are there any factory options that make it easier, like cruise control?That’s all I can think of for now.
Posted by John Titor on 02-13-2001 10:51 AM
((1) Have you ever went on any other time traveling missions? If so, what were they?))
Yes, but they were all training missions.
There is a great deal of psychological profiling and testing and one of the training missions involved choosing a time in your life (within two years) where you wish you would have done something different and then going back to convince yourself to do it.
The idea is to become familiar with the possibility of meeting yourself which can be rather difficult.
It is quite odd to look at “yourself” and have a conversation. Since any “you” on another world-line would not be a mirror image, you get a slightly distorted feeling while seeing yourself, let alone the concept of speaking to yourself.
[This type of dialog is not commonly found on forums. It is suggestive of real experiences. - Metallicaman.]
(2) I believe you said you had pictures of your time machine, could you post a link to uploaded images?
I would be happy to do that and I tried a link earlier. I suspect that attaching links to other boards without the Sysop’s permission is in bad taste.
(3) If you have any pictures of the IBM computer you were supposed to get, could you post a link to them also?
I’m pretty sure there must be something on the web now about the IBM 5100.
(4) I looked up the name ‘Titor’ in the state of Flordia on 555-1212.com and couldn’t find ANY Titors, is your family not listed in the phone book?
I guess it depends when you look.
(5) Can I contact you through any other means of online communications? Like AOL Instant Messagner? ICQ? MSN? Something so I can have a conversation with you! But if you don’t have those, could you possibly consider downloading one of them, then emailing me your user name abcs_123s@hotmail.com,nks!
I’ve tried talking online before and found it quite enjoyable but I find the questions and comments come so rapidly its hard to keep up.
(6) What is the specific Date that the Nuclear war starts? If you can’t remember the exact date, could you put the month at least? An estimate!
I remember the exact date. When it comes, it will not be a surprise.
(7) What is the speed of the average computer in the future? I am assuming it is in ghZ, if it is higher, could you post the name of that hZ measurement and its relation to the ghZ?
Ghz is not a useful measurement. Computers are no longer measured by their speed as much as the number of variables (not calculations) they can handle per second.
(8 )Can you do your own Time Traveling ventures whenever you want? If so, how much does it cost? Or can you make ‘pit stops’ along the way back to 2036?
No, the unit doesn’t belong to me. I can’t make stops on the way home as it will throw the gravity measurements off and It would force me to backtrack along the backtrack. Also, I can’t just leave and arrive at any place and time I want to. There are physical and technical limits to when and where I can go.
(9) Have you ever went past your future, like to 2050 or somewhere around there? If so, what is the world like then?
No, I haven’t been to the future of my 2036. My profile qualified me for a trip to the past.
((what about Marilyn Monroe? i wasn’t even born yet when she was alive – but i know she existed? & telling us something such as her existance would not greatly affect the outcome of our entire world.. so why not tell us?))
I understand your position and appreciate your supportive outlook. However, I have given some very detailed information that could be checked out. Please consider that our frame of reference is quite different and finding subjects to discuss and exchange information about could be a challenge. I’m just not up on music, Hollywood and sports in the year 2001. You could ask me all you want about 1975 but I suspect that’s not very impressive.
((…but it has nothing to do with his age..))
Actually it does, I have never personally experienced this time as an adult and “Brittany Spears” was not a big topic of conversation when your hiking through the swamp. Everything I know about your time is from books, magazines and old videotapes that weren’t destroyed in the war. If it makes you feel any better, I do struggle with not talking about football.
The animal Kingdom is alive and well. I’m sure it suffered but there fewer people infringing on animal’s habitats now. Nuclear war is a very undesirable thing but it is not the end of the world. There are areas and cities we can’t enter and the environment did suffer a great deal of damage but we are recovering. Isn’t Hirroshima a thriving city today? The major physical affects include skin cancer, infertility, infection, etc. Almost everyone has some sort of physical remnant from the war.
I am aware the concept of the Rapture is related to Christian Prophecy but I am not familiar with the details. Yes, there are people I trust here and I would hate for any harassment or harm to come to them. I am aware of the Mayan Calander but in 2012, it was not something I was able to think about. When the time comes, I’m sure people will find the signs they are looking for that leads them to the end of time.
When I say fear will keep you alive I am talking about the natural instincts and premonitions that we all trun off when its convienent. The same person who has five dead bolt locks on their door will think nothing about getting into a parking garage elevator with a total stranger. I think the fear of God is the fear of separation from God.
Some of you may wonder what a time traveler does with his day while he’s posting on the web. I spend a great deal of time downloading information and storing it for my return. “Art’s” site is definitely on that list. I’ll have to think about who the most remembered people are. Again, my viewpoint is quite squewed.
((1) Who is the Major Super Power? ))
It depends on how you define power. If you mean military, the world has developed into an odd balance. There are plenty of nuclear weapons left but if anyone uses them they will be instantly erased from the planet by everyone else regardless of the politics. We are very tired of war.
(2) Are the two political parties still Republicans and Democrats?
There are no Republicans or Democrats to speak of. There are now over 10 major political parties.
(3) How many States are there?
The states as you know them still exist but their political power has been combined with other states around them. There are now 5 major geopolitical areas in the united states.
(4) Which states get the worst?
When you can’t drink the water its bad everywhere.
(5) Were only cities along the Eastern Sea port hit in the Nuclear War, or all over the country?
Mostly cities and large military areas in the entire country.
(6) Do companies like Microsoft, Yahoo!, and other internet software companys still exist?
No.
(7) Does money look a lot different than it does now? If you have a picture, could you please upload it and post the link!
No, money is pretty much the same. Unfortunately, I do not have any money with me because I wouldn’t be able to use it here.
(8) So then when you time travel you can never actually go back to the EXACT same place you left from?
That is correct, in physical terms, I can never get back to the exact world-line I left from.
(9) Was a lot of the United States’ 18-24 age group slaughtered in the war because of Draft?
Yes.
(10) Do you ever get visitors from later time periods to 2036?
Not that I’m aware of but I can’t say it isn’t happening.
(11) Are there any other companies, besides the one you work for that have TTs and send them out regularly?
I work for the military. GE just makes the unit.
(12) Does the government know there is TT going on?
In 2036, yes.
(13) Why were YOU selected to be a TT? What gave you special qualifications?
I am related to a key figure in the development of the IBM 5100.
(14) How many TTs are there on the team that you are on? How do new recruits get selected?
My unit has between 6 and 10. When I left, there were 7 others. Military service, physical fitness, history or technical background and special relationship to target contacts get you in the door.
(15) What all countries are on our side in the war? What all countries are on the oposite side?
Don’t have much to add there.
(16) Which country gets the worst in the war?
Again, the entire world is affected. Even if you don’t take a direct hit, dying crops and no water can ruin your day.
My time traveling nemesis Javier (a.k.a. TTA) has found me yet again! As long as the links last, I do urge people to go back and take a look at some of the more insightful things you have to share.
((when i ask you a question of why you can’t tell us ‘there will be an earthquake in Israel in 2010..’ or something of the such..this is not a question that someone could CHANGE. it is a natural disaster & i purposely chose that sort of a disaster so the question could not be passed by as you did in your response. however, you choose to use a different type of example rather than answer my question -directly-.))
I will not share information that would allow someone to avoid death by probability.
((i just think you skirt around too many issues .. & by refusing to even mention something from the ‘future’ that could not be -changed- by people -today-..it just gives me further evidence that you are not who you say you are.))
Again, what I think is important doesn’t impress anyone and although I could point to various things I’ve said about other subjects the response is usually ho-hum tell us about music and sports. I suppose I could lie and make something up but what’s the point?
((In fact, regardless of your background you should have a basic understanding of physics.))
I do but your questions were rather specific. I would love to talk physics and I’ll be happy to walk through the operation of the unit.
((1) exposing yourself, you’ve very likely broken several regulations,
No, I haven’t.
((2) Put yourself at risk by doing so,))
Yes, that’s potential true but what I gain offsets that. Does that statement answer the question why time traveler’s do not revel themselves?
((3) should know a hell of a lot more about the machines you’re operating,))
I do know very much about it. I’m just not willing to share it with everyone.
((4) are inconsistent in several aspects of your posts.))
If you could point out the specific questions I will be happy to address them.
((By the way, I have some very extreme reasons to doubt that a microsignularity exists in the first place, and in the second place, if it DID exist, I doubt it would be the “size of an electron”. In any case, a signularity (a black hole for those of you who haven’t figured that out yet) is an extreme mass, and holding it in a magnetic field in a gravitational field as strong as Earth’s would simply rip the singularity from the magnetic field causing the black hold to crash to the center of the mass of Earth. The Earth would then become part of the black hole as it grew in size, pulling in the matter of the Earth.))
I’m not sure if you want me to go over these issues one at a time or if you’re just making a point.
The formula for horsepower is HP = torque X RPM / 5252.
((1. Is the Chevy truck better than the Ford truck for time travel. I always thought the TT package meant trailer towing. Geez was I wrong! Is Chevy still making time travel machines in 2036?))
The vehicle must have a strong suspension.
((2. How did you buy your truck? How could you title it if you are only 3 years old to the title bureau at this point? You won’t be able to sell it in Minnesota unless it’s in your name and clear. Is the Chevy newer and how did you pay for it? Did you scrounge around to find 40 year old currency in 2036? I know I wouldn’t take any money from someone that had mint marks from 2036.))
Don’t worry. Fortunately, these are things we’re taught at time travel school in “how to get around in the sarcastic 20th century. I said I didn’t have any money from 2036. I have plenty from here.
((3. Does the truck have to be running when you are traveling through time. Did you come here in a Chevy? What if you run out of gas? Are there any factory options that make it easier, like cruise control?))
The vehicle must be standing still.
Posted by Benedict Gumby on 02-13-2001 11:07 AM
You still haven’t answered my question from page 8}:P
Posted by John Titor on 02-13-2001 11:23 AM
((I just have this to ask you. Do you recognize the name Benedict? I want to know because I fully intend to be a prominent figure within the next 20 years))
No, I can’t say that I do. However, since I’m archiving all of this and will submit it with my report, it will eventually end up on our internet.
If you want to leave a message to yourself in the future, please feel free to do so. I would make it broad enough so your name or some other important word will pop up in routine search engine that “you” might be using in 2036.
Also, be aware that the “you” in my 2036 will be unaware that the you left a message at all.
Posted by Blonnie Dowden on 02-13-2001 01:14 PM
my question ((i just think you skirt around too many issues .. & by refusing to even mention something from the ‘future’ that could not be -changed- by people -today-..it just gives me further evidence that you are not who you say you are.))your response: Again, what I think is important doesn’t impress anyone and although I could point to various things I’ve said about other subjects the response is usually ho-hum tell us about music and sports. I suppose I could lie and make something up but what’s the point?you fail to understand why i ask the silly hum-drum questions. i do not truly care what the music/hollywood will be like in 5-10 years..my whole reason for asking the unimportant questions is because they are -unimportant-.
you say that you can’t answer questions about when a natural disastor occurs..or things that can be -changed- by people to alter the way they -should- happen. so i am asking questions that can NOT be changed. someone can not change the fact that “Girly G. Hottie” is the next big name in showbusiness’.. my whole reason for asking these things is so that in 5-10 years when you’re “gone” i can say “holy bejezuz.., maybe that guy was for real!”.
that would be the extent of it..it’s not like i could -do-change- anything.. i just want to know if you’re real & you give no proof whatsoever that you’re real.
even if it’s not an instantaneous realization..i would realize this when whatever you said would happen came true. i am -not- trying to be shallow w/my questions..these are no things that i -care- whether or not it’s this or that.. it’s just proof for me.i’m beginning to think, as someone suggested – that you’re writing a book & this is all material for it. you said you didnt want us to be sheep & just believe..you -wanted- us to ask questions. so if we ask questions then you can sew up any holes you have in your story.. so it will be the tightest & most realisticly possibly sci-fi time travel story ever. i don’t like the idea that you could possibly be using all of these people & if you are *grr* shame on you.
Posted by John Titor on 02-13-2001 01:51 PM
((my whole reason for asking the unimportant questions is because they are -unimportant-))
If it’s unimportant to you why would it be important to me?
Posted by Blonnie Dowden on 02-13-2001 02:00 PM
you are the most frustrating time traveler i’ve ever met!!!!!!!!!!!!!(ok you’re the only one i’ve ever met)–geez..why do you isolate that one question? the whole thing was used to mean that it was -unimportant- in the fact that just because you tell us those things ..we can not change or alter them.. they are just -proof-.. unimportant meaning why would it alter time by you telling us.. “keep an eye out for so-and-so..they will rise to fame.” or something like that. we couldn’t -change- that.. & if we could..why would we want to because it’s “unimportant” in comparison to a bombing or drought or war..etc..it is just PROOF THAT YOU’RE TRUE which you fail to provide.you are aggravating.-blonie-
Posted by James Boley on 02-13-2001 02:05 PM
There is a guy claiming your a fraud in another string entitled “I am from 2040…”It would be interesting to see you go head to head.
Posted by Brad Jensen on 02-13-2001 02:39 PM
Fraud!!!Go to my post in “I am from the year 2040…” and debunk my calculations on time travel.You can’t, because you are a fraud!
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-13-2001 03:31 PM
This is getting just …weird …enough.John Titor – Are you being obtuse about Bonnie’s inquiries for more personal reasons? Her logic is pretty sound, and you’re avoiding discussing some of the things that people naturally find curious about other cultures. If I was traveling in any other cultural setting, I would want to know about … The Culture. What kind of music is popular, what kind of recreation is enjoyable, what holidays are important…Being a bit coy, I would say, for someone who’s been through the rigors of such heavy historical dramas. My guess is that there are some simple folk songs that people find some pleasure in hearing, in the future (especially after cultural destabilizing events).Do you feel some pleasure in breathing clean air and not having to check a geiger counter every few miles?Are there people in this time period who are hip (aware) of Time Travelers and who accept you as one? I would imagine there are folk in our time, who travel in different circles (out of the mainstream), who have some money and/or some power, and who know things that the rest of us do not. Are you, or others, in touch with people like that? How ARE you financing things?And if this is NOT for real, working that tongue a little harder ‘gainst the edge of your cheek – for the rest of us simpletons, could earn you some game points.
Posted by Jeffery Birks on 02-13-2001 05:39 PM
I spotted few typing errors in Johns comments so I will assume that he has had an average education by our standards. There are better questions than those posed, ones which he should find easier to answer, but for anyone else would be much harder;[1] Name the immediate political succeosor’s to George Bush and Tony Blair.[2] Name any human being/animal/invention which became famous from obscurity prior to today (This is really easy, just name anyone who shot to fame for anything – provided they are completely unknown now, and that it happens soon).[3] Name any near future shock event that makes history – political assassinations, inventions, marriages etc, same rules – it should happen soon with nobody having a clue it was about to happen (except maybe time-travelers).If you are older than 36 then there should be 2 of you here right now. You would both possess the same basic fingerprints and DNA. If you really want to prove your case then meet up with your younger self and get some police evidence.
Posted by Angel Lynnn on 02-13-2001 06:10 PM
ExclamationJohn,Would you be willing to call in on Art’s show on Wednesday, Feb. 14? He will have open lines all night.If he had a time traveler line open would you call in?How long will you be here in 2001?When are you going back?What all are you taking back with you?Is propane still around in the future?Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.Angel Lynnn
Posted by Roy Meserve on 02-13-2001 06:43 PM
A most compelling story and an interesting person. I am no scientist so cannot question adequately the physics involved in such endeavors- but I could not understand Al Bielek and his recounting of the science behind the Montauk episode either, but I know he was telling the truth. For those interested, from that interview and Mr Bielek’s book, I fully believe time and space travel exists,(since 1983) although under exactly whose aegis I do not presume to know.And your socio/eco/political comments about our present state and its fate are eminently believable and highly likely.I would hope that the paradise I live in would somehow be spared (the Hawaiian Islands) but I suspect it would not be spared as a strategic target for obvious reasons. Indeed, in general terms I understand innately for myself why these things must come to pass. May God have mercy on our souls.Thanks for your own curiosity and courage. I wish you and your family only the best…for all time.R.C. Meservercmeserv@lava.net
Posted by Mike Kolesnik on 02-13-2001 06:55 PM
TalkingBut I will absolutely not get sucked into another “Waverider” hoax.Come on people, don’t you remember the Waverider?The Waverider and his fantastic faxes to AB?Well I do.And I admit he suckered me too…for a while.I also remember when he went on the show and made a complete fool of himself. Art finally came to his senses too and blasted him. It would be nice to find out the date he was on and get a copy of the broadcast.Webmaster? A little help please.Well anyway, back to the subject matter. I don’t hate John and I don’t dislike him either. I am nuetral about him.
There is a world of difference between him and the Waverider though. John has an articulate manner of writing and has an amazing command of our present language (35 years old by him) I also went back and reread ALL his posts and I only found one spelling error and no grammatical errors, so he pretty much shames me on that count. His written content seems to be well subdued and consistent. (except for the 2004 vs. 2005 thing) John seems to be of above average IQ and conducts himself in a dignified manner.Of course all this analysis was made from his posts so he could be an entirely different person in real life.Since I am not completely galvanized against John I have thought about the possibility of Human TT. (ET TT is another matter)Logically though the revelation of his TT ability still makes no sense, as he could easily question people of this time and get all sorts of info without revealing himself.So that leads to the question why would he reveal himself if he has no stated aganda for doing so?Some hypothesis:[1] John IS a TT’er who has a hidden agenda. It could be as simple as a gentle nudge in a certain direction. ( It ain't gonna happen John, for the most part humans are a stubborn illogical lot whose memory of past events is in the area of weeks, instead of years or decades)[2] John came here to give somebody a “Back to the Future” type of push so as to invent the Time Machine. ( My opinion on this is that no one needs to “invent” the TM because if is has been built in the future then it has always been invented, and we are merely waiting for someone to “discover” it. Just look back at most of the major advancements in science, almost every invention of science already existed, it only needed people to put it together.
About the only things humans have invented deal in the arts. music etc. This opinion comes from the “all times exist at once” theory.)[3] John came back for some kind of nostalgia tour and has decided to take a rest stop in 2001 ( don’t stay too long John or you will become polluted by us to such an extent you will probably end up in Vegas hocking your TM at the tables!)[4] John came here to witness some catastrophic near future event and won’t tell us about it (to me this would be the most plausible reason of them all because whatever he tells us would be rendered mute by the “event”)< your thoeries here>
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-13-2001 07:10 PM
SmileI’d just like to say, before John Titor, (A.K.A. TT_0 in the post where he’s been taken out almost) that when he posts, he does a maneuver that focuses the question back to the receiver, as to have him think it’s been answered, and to shut him up. (Which in fact, he just avoided answering it, by doing what he did). He does this very often, and I’d just wanted to point that out before he did it again.Hey TT_0, why didn’t you acknowledge my last post? It’s me TTA. I know your feeling the pressure, and it’s only going to get worse.-Javier C.P.S. You should have seen Johns reply posts to me in the beginning. He likes to use the word “Kill” alot.
Posted by John Titor on 02-13-2001 11:32 PM
((John has been unable to explain time travel, I will explain it here.))
I could be wrong but I don’t recall being asked to “explain time travel”. If you could point that out to me in the posts I would appreciate it.
So it’s ritualized combat on the battlefield of differential geometry. It’s a shame we couldn’t have more constructive dialogue on the subject. Of course, I’ve left my physics book in the time machine so unless you snuck in a hidden land-mine, I found your opening move very straightforward. However, you’re too confident I won’t be able to offer an explanation that I’m sure other physics fans will appreciate. I wonder if Einstein and Grossmann did it this way or maybe they just listened to each other and tried to build on what they thought would work. Oh well.
((..and debunk my calculations on time travel. You can’t, because you are a fraud!))
When I look up debunk, I see: “To expose or ridicule the falseness, sham or exaggerated claims.” The reason I cannot debunk your calculations is because they are true. They are not false, based on speculative facts or exaggerated. They are just incomplete. What you really want me to do is finish your explanation or I will be an imposter.
((There are, however, certain quantities that do remain constant. These constants are related to four-dimensional quantities known as metric tensors.))
Actually, I don’t think that’s correct. Minkowski space-time (4-D) will not allow you to use Pythagoras’ theorem to decribe tensors because time needs to be expressed with the opposite sign. (please excuse my change of varibale case).
ds^2 = -c^2dt^2 + dx^2 + dy^2 + dz^2
(where ds describes time-like and space-like trips).
The tensor we should be discussing is:
ds^2 = -a^2dt^2 + w^2(df – wdt)^2 + (r^2/ D)dr^2 + r^2dq^2
I hope I got the symbols right but you should be able to recognize this…right? nuts… the a, f, r, Delta and q didn’t make the translation in this font.
((The US government, including the UN, has its hands in everything from biological tests to secret planes that can fly out of Earths atmosphere.))
Care to share with me how you solved the overheating problem on your spaceplane?
Javier, don’t worry. I’ll talk to you too. Please check again and you’ll find my hello.
I will get to and review the questions I missed. I apologize if my answers seemed flippant. There are many posts I want to respond to and I am unable to pay as much attention as I would like.
Posted by Andrew Hubbard on 02-14-2001 04:10 AM
QuestionThis is great.here is some questions:(1) Does the last name Hubbard have any historical(is that the right term?) relevance?(2) What happens with Australia? does it play a major part in the war?(3) What colloquial language is used in the future?(4) What exactly happens to the water? does it get poisoned from radiation?(5) Have you actually met your parents? if so, what are their thoughts on you?(6) Does time have ends?(7) Lets just say that people from the future are manipulating events now, such as preventing a tragedy, making it never occur. If it never occurred, no body would be sent back to stop it, which would mean that the event does take place. This would lead to the prevention of it happening again, and so on. What would happen in one of these situations?
Posted by Ryan Murphy on 02-14-2001 05:28 AM
John, if you really did travel through time you’d be dead. You have to take into account that the universe is expanding, the Earth, the solar system and the galaxy are all moving. If you truely did travel back through time, you’d materialize in 1970 where the Earth WILL be in 2036, which is the vacuum of space..
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-14-2001 06:25 AM
You requested I point out some inconsistencies. I’ll point out one in the following exchange between you and I.[[I do but your questions were rather specific. I would love to talk physics and I’ll be happy to walk through the operationof the unit.((1) exposing yourself, you’ve very likely broken several regulations,))No, I haven’t.((2) Put yourself at risk by doing so,))Yes, that’s potential true but what I gain offsets that. Does that statement answer the question why time traveler’s donot revel themselves?((3) should know a hell of a lot more about the machines you’re operating,))I do know very much about it. I’m just not willing to share it with everyone.((4) are inconsistent in several aspects of your posts.))If you could point out the specific questions I will be happy to address them. ]]Specifically, you stated my questions were “rather specific” and you’d be “love to discuss physics and happy to walk through the operation (I assume of the machine)”. A few lines later you state (after me saying you should know a hell of a lot more about the machines you’re operating) that you do know much about it, but you’re not willing to share it with everyone. So… which is it? Are you willing to share information on the operation, a walk through of the machine, time travel… or AREN’T YOU?
Posted by Brad Jensen on 02-14-2001 07:01 AM
You have been challenged John. You have finished the space-time manipulation calculations, but left important details out, of which we will not expound on.Read my reply in my string. Can you explain, just basicly mind you, the time travel process?
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-14-2001 07:18 AM
I conclude that John is:(1) Not from the future.(2) He has no time machine.(3) He is doing this for personal gain – whether monetary, or social-interaction, but more specifically, I believe he is working on either a psychology study/degree/thesis.(4) He is in his late 20’s or early 30s.If John were a time traveler, he would not be here telling us anything about himself. He certainly would not give us information regarding anything having to do with “future technology”, regardless of the divergence of timelines. You see… even a semi-unethical person would have qualms about screwing up a society that you can taste, touch, feel and experience.If John truely IS a time traveler (which he isn’t in the sense he is trying to lead us to believe) then he is here to witness an historical event that we have yet to figure out. Either the beginning of World War III (which some of us already believe is about to happen) or the beginning of Civil war. I can postulate and guess all day, at all sorts of reasons – about all all sorts of things I can figure out on my own. In other words.. if John were a time traveler, he would be here NOW to watch something about to happen (very historical, very important…). If he would answer some questions about the physics of his alledged time ship, I would be willing to go along with this some more.At this point… my points above (1-4) stand. John is a fraud.Sorry John… it was fun while it lasted.
Posted by John Titor on 02-14-2001 07:25 AM
On a nearby thread, Brad writes:
((John has been unable to explain Time Travel, I will explain it here.
So where do we start? Well let us start with one of the greatest triumphs of the human mind, the great theorem of Pythagoras, a true pillar of all mathematics and physics. The theorem, which is applicable to right angled triangles in flat Cartesian (Newtonian) space takes the form of:
c^2 = a^2 + b^2
where a, b and c are the lengths of the sides of the triangle.
Next we will jump straight to Einstein’s theory of Relativity which states that neither time, length, or indeed mass remain constant additive quantities when approaching the speed of light c.
Our simple ideas of time and space come from the fact the we are so used to living in a three dimensional universe. Einstein showed that this was simply not true and in fact all the “foundational” three laws of Newton have to be fudged by the Lorentz factor
L_f = (1 – v^2/c^2)^-1/2
There are, however, certain quantities that do remain constant.
These constants are related to four-dimensional quantities known as metric tensors. From this Einstein proved that space and time are two aspects of the same thing and that matter and energy are also two aspects of the same thing. From the second of these concepts we get the most famous equation in physics
E = mc^2
Now since time and space are aspects of space-time and we wish to travel through time and not build atom bombs we will leave E=mc^2 for the moment. To illustrate this, look at the extension of Pythagorean theorem for the distance, d, between two points in space:
d^2 = x^2 + y^2 + z^2
where x, y and z are the lengths, or more correctly the difference in the co-ordinates, in each of the three spatial directions. This distance remains constant for fixed displacements of the origin.
In Einstein’s relativity the same equation is modified to remain constant with respect to displacement (and rotation), but not with respect to motion. For a moving object, at least one of the lengths from which the distance, d, is calculated is contracted relative to a stationary observer.
The equation now becomes:
d^2 = x^2 + y^2 + z^2 (1-v^2/c^2)^1/2
and this implies that the distances all shrink as one moves faster, so does this mean there are no constant distances left in the universe? The answer is that there are because of Einstein’s revolutionary concept of space-time where time is distance and distance is time!
So now
s^2 = x^2 + y^2 + z^2 – ct^2
and this new distance s (remember s stands for Space-time) does indeed remain constant for all who are in relative motion.
This distance is said to be a Lorentz transformation invariant and has the same value for all inertial observers. Since the equation mixes time and space up we have to always think in terms of this new concept: space-time!
Then one runs into the problem of ‘outside dating’.
Meaning, as the traveler manipulates space-time, the rest of the universe ages normaly. Then we must take inter-dimensional transition into account. Once a hole is ripped into a dimensions fabric, it follows whatever entered the rip.
Once the travler enters the new dimension, he commences his engines to reach the c speed (speed of light), and travels through time. The rip on the travelers side will stay in the same geographic location, while traveling through time, while the rip on the new dimension will follow the traveler.
Once the desired time is reached, the travelar reenters the rip, and he has effectively traveled through time))
((As for John Titor’s corrections on space-time manipulation, he has completed it correctly. However, he still an imposter.))Apparently, I have made the leap from “fraud” to imposter. At least that’s a start and I respect my opponent on his polite yet quiet concession on the other thread.
I wish to emphasize a point I tired to make earlier. Even though I answered the question correctly, it doesn’t really prove one way or another if I’m a time traveler and you should not think otherwise.
I might just be really quick at looking up things up on the web.
I suppose we could debate whether or not I’m a fraud all the way up to the point I leave your world-line.
Posted by Mel Reckling on 02-14-2001 08:05 AM
Why do I keep flashing back to the Monty Python movie ” Brazil “? The picture of those old typewriters with those hilarious screen magnifiers just sticks in my head. Is this the world we are heading towards where everything is so bizzarely complicated that nothing works?
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-14-2001 09:05 AM
AngryTime out!I thought the idea here was to have constructive dialogue.Personally I don’t give a rat’s behind whether or not John is from the future.I have enjoyed this discussion more than any I’ve been in before. First off why the personal attacks? I’ve mentioned before that this guy is a study in self control. He never sinks to the level of the aggressor, some of us could learn from that.NEWS FLASH:In case somebody here has not noticed!When was the last time you spoke with someone as intelligent and well versed in these subjects?I hope John or whatever his name is writes a book. I’ll publish him if he wants.The story John tells is sobering, realistic, and ENTERTAINING.
The last time I looked participation here was discretionary. If you don’t like the subject, either question the guy, expose the guy, or leave the guy alone. Alternatively you can learn from what he says.
I don’t understand all the personal attacks.Let’s say that John is a “confused person” would it not be kinder to help him regain his senses, than to attack him.Let’s say he’s writing a book. Hey John “great story” when does the book come out.Let’s say he’s a hoaxer and really enjoys deceiving everyone and lies all the time. Mr. Titor we have a job for you in D.C. after the “Neanderthal” gets voted out in 4 years.I know people who would consider John’s world a reasonable improvement over what we have today. I agree with them.
If you had to guess what John’s political affiliation was what would you say?DemocratRepublicanLibertarianIndependentConservativeLiberalNone of it fits does it?
I have revelation for you. This guy is “an American”.As gloomy a picture as he paints, the society he describes is leaps and bounds ahead of us in their reverence for the Constitution which as John says we should all read.JC has been on this guy’s case for a while now and I don’t see “Titor” insulting him or anyone else.As to the frequency of the word “kill” in his posts. so what? it proves nothing and if you look at all the posts that statement is invalid.Go read some of Ed Dames’s garbage.I’m not here to defend John I’m expressing my frustration with the posters that derive their ego gratification by attacking others and hitting below the belt.By below the belt I mean “unwarranted personal attacks”Read the rules of this BBS, you’ll see that it’s supposed to be an open forum for “discussions from the other side of the fence” if you want namby pamby traditional BS go to the Rush Limbaugh show, or maybe you like born again Christian lies, Jerry Fallwell has a few books to sell you.To the physicists and physics enthusiasts. Let’s see your proof, your CV, and your school transcripts. Do you want to talk about verifiable backgrounds?
Why don’t you subject yourself to the same scrutiny that you subject others to. Most serious physicists would be hard pressed to come “here” of all places and “demand” empirically tested responses from a guy who claims to be from 2036. Get a clue!I suggest that if he is an attention monger hoaxer, he got you. He made you get flustered and loose your sense of decorum. Your folly not his.Before I forget. Anyone who has been on the Internet longer than 5 minutes knows that spelling errors, and grammatical errors are not considered to be indicative of a person’s intelligence, or educational background.No I will not engage in name calling on a personal basis, and I won’t respond to flame e-mails, and I won’t be posting any more in this thread. Some of you are childish and have a mob mentality. who wants to discuss time travel, physics, or the time of day, with a lynch mob.Peace[Edited by Ernie Vega on 02-14-2001 at 09:16 AM]
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-14-2001 09:44 AM
((“NEWS FLASH:In case somebody here has not noticed!When was the last time you spoke with someone as intelligent and well versed in these subjects? ”Well… last time *I* personally spoke to someone about these subjects who is as ‘well-versed’ was about 30 minutes ago when I came from speaking to a couple of physicists upstairs. Somehow, I end up speaking to a lot of these types of folks (physicists) – I guess it might have something to do with the job I do for the government.“The last time I looked participation here was discretionary. If you don’t like the subject, either question the guy, expose the guy, or leave the guy alone. Alternatively you can learn from what he says. I don’t understand all the personal attacks. ”))You’re right, however, I don’t think we are attacking him, we are QUESTIONING HIM. Somehow I always see this out of liberally-biased people, when someone is being quizzed, these liberally-biased people complain of attacks when they (or their heros) can’t answer questions to someone’s satisfaction. He has not answered questions to anyone’s satisfaction thus far. He has subjected himself to our scrutiny and you are jumping to his defense because you feel bad for him? Don’t. He put himself in this position. He is responsible for the questions, not you.“Let’s say that John is a “confused person” would it not be kinder to help him regain his senses, than to attack him. Let’s say he’s writing a book. Hey John “great story” when does the book come out. ”Not at all. John is not confused. John is also not a time traveler, but he has a fantastic imagination. That much is true. Political correctness is not my forte, nor do I profess that anyone use it anymore. It is passe. Sorry. PC is thought control, and being NICE to someone so as not to hurt their feelings is a by-gone thing, of another era.“Let’s say he’s a hoaxer and really enjoys deceiving everyone and lies all the time. Mr. Titor we have a job for you in D.C. after the “Neanderthal” gets voted out in 4 years. ”Hmmm… now, you bring me to the point of asking you – why are you now attacking the President of the United States? What has he to do with any of this? Why are you calling him a Neanderthal? Because your guy, Gore, lost the election? I’m sorry you feel that way, especially since you seem to think we ought to be nice to John and not attack him (even though we weren’t). You thought, more than likely, we should have been nice to Clinton as well. I expect you to act the same way as you expect me to act. Don’t attack the President (in particular since he has nothing to do with this conversation).The one thing I can agree with you that was mentioned, that I didn’t quote here was the idea of spelling errors, grammer errors and such. I’m certain I have spelling errors. I have almost 21 years of hard-core “schooling” and I make serious spelling errors all the time. That includes over 9 years of college, thoughout which, writing was one of the most important aspects. We all make errors, in spelling… judgement. Perhaps we could all be nicer to those of us who make spelling errors.However, Ernie, when one places himself up for study, as has John, then one needs to understand that there will be questions. These are not attacks (as your crude comments about the President of the United States were), but questions concerning his veracity. Question yourself, before you judge others motives. I’ve questioned MYSELF on whether I should even consider joining this discussion. I did so based solely on my inherit need to know about things like time travel. I asked legitimate questions. They were ignored, then later, when I asked others, they were skirted. John is therefore, either a liar, writer or a man who simply doesn’t want to get caught in a circle of lies from which he can not extract himself. That is too bad.I really hoped it was the real thing, this time.
Posted by Kennith Viccars on 02-14-2001 09:50 AM
This is no more then a comedy sketch thread now.Keep it coming, it’s great material.John, you ever consider doing stand up?
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-14-2001 10:24 AM
http://pub2.ezboard.com/fmagisystemstimelordsanonymus.showMessage?topicID=53.topicIn case anyone is interested is looking at them.
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-14-2001 02:53 PM
Red faceTouche? Rick:I would have sent this to you personally but you won’t accept e-mails. Your web site is unreachable. and ICQ is not an option for me. Do you actually use ICQ from work? where there is sensitive information?I admit it was naive indeed for me to think I could get away with my last post without being taken to task for it.So I hereby eat my words about not posting anymore. I guess that makes me a liar also.Why did you assume I was directing my comments to you? my statements were not an indictment of your questions in particular. In fact I didn’t consider “your” statements as an attack at all until you called JT a liar.I’m not defending Titor or his claims, he did not answer some of my question to my satisfaction either, but I don’t take that to mean I have license to call him a liar. Do you call everyone that doesn’t give you a satisfactory answer a liar? if so does that really make sense?As to scrutiny being self inflicted. I have personal experience there also.If you care to look. I make statements on my web sites that yield thousands of e-mails pro and con. I deal with controversial topics, I write about them, and I market alternative energy devices. I use physics in my work every day.Can you explain the mechanics of creating a trans-dimensional vortex?What would happen if you mixed equal parts 4oz each of: bronzing powder, epoxy, and bee’s wax,and NASA grade quartz, then into it you introduce a gold plated rod, introduce 2 coils, one on each side. Attach a tone generator to each coil reversing the polarities.
Then attach a power supply of to each tone generator say, 12 volts / 500 Ma. Once the epoxy sets up.
Set one generator to pulse at 18 hz and the other at 11hz and pushed the on button? What would happen? any clue? If you could get this to spin at say 3600 rpm what would happen then?What would the use of pi as opposed to phi in a formula for attenuating a static EMF do to a multidimensional construct?If you could see zero point energy what color would it be?Is there a sub-atomic particle that requires being acknowledged before it can be measured? If so explain why?Why does water have molecular memory? If it does, does it mean we don’t need to use drugs anymore, and we can just charge water with a sample?How is homeopathic medicine prepared? do you really believe that, a homeopath in Schenectady New York has the equipment to perform a 40 million to 1 dilution of a microgram of some substance with any degree of accuracy?I have my fair share of supporters and detractors regarding my life work, and political ideology.
I have been called everything you can imagine that is unpleasant, by people that don’t know me at all. Excuse me if I take issue with this. Notice how quickly you labeled me a liberal. Why Rick? was it something I said? or did you make other assumptions about me? based on my profile? or my surname?I don’t deny anyone’s right to say what they want. In fact I’ll go to the mat for free speech. That’s a basic right we have here in the U.S.Your profile implies that you are a patriotic American. If so why don’t you see what Titor is really doing. Patriotism is something near and dear to me. My family has lost much in defense of idealism.My family has been involved in the military, government, and diplomacy for 900+ years, in many nations where my ancestors have lived starting with Spain and culminating here. I take politics and politicians very seriously, and you should also since they are the manipulators of our society, and attempt to architect our way of thinking.All I know about you is in your profile and your post. None of it is enough for me to feel the need to insult you, or be condescending to you as your post was to me. I don’t know you!For the record.I don’t think anyone who ran for office last November was worth a vote.I’m not a liberal.Gore was never “my” guy.Clinton is no better no worse than any other politician.If P.C. is passe why can’t I say the President is a neanderthal.If you really like “guns, shooting” and you are interested in democracy, you should be reading the writing on the wall, like many other patriots.In the not so distant future you may have to actually live up to the Patriotic ideal that gun advocates talk about all the time, and actually have to go out and defend the Constitution. Would you do this? I would, against all enemies foreign and domestic. This includes the governmet by the way.I don’t think the enemy is “Black” or “Hispanic” or from the middle east. If you have to fight for your country and your family during your lifetime it will most likely be against Americans of all races.The office of the President of the United States is the most important job on the planet.
Much depends on the President’s ability to think, and act in a decisive and clear fashion, our lives depend on it.Although I don’t know President Bush personally, nor would I care to make his acquaintance.
It is common knowledge that in the brain department he is (let’s be P.C. so you don’t have a partisan fit) to say the least “challenged”. This is a matter of record not conjecture. Surely you are not going to deny that.What would be your guess as to Dan Quaile’s IQ?Would you argue that point of light?2 less than brilliant people as President, and Vice President in a row says as much about Republicans, as the Clinton scandals, and Gore’s ineptitude say a about the democrats.Can you honestly state here that in the last 8 years you did not voice any opinion about Clinton, or something personally disparaging about him or his wife. Did you ever call Carter a coward?Did you just start your job at the government? if you started before the new administration why are you so quick to jump to your new boss’s defense and so quick to indict your previous boss?If you could, would you debate the President on internal issues? or foreign policy? I would. According to the Constitution everyone is fair game for scrutiny “especially” the President.A large segment of the population has become indifferent to the actions of the FED.
We are all going to pay dearly for acting like “sheep”.Government Phycisists do not really discuss time travel with “System Engineers”. Unless they are just conjecturing to impress you, and don’t really know much more than you do.If they did they would go to jail for telling you.
Unless of course you have adequate security clearance, in which case “you” would likely be in breech discussing it here. Moreover you would already know the truth about time travel, so there would be no point in seeking it here.Working for the government does not of itself give you access to classified information. I worked for the government in the past and all it got me was an education in government squandering of taxpayer money.You are a systems Engineer working for a government agency right? I have a 5 questions for you.
[1] What happens to your budget next year if you don’t use up all of this year’s allotment?[2] What happens to the hardware that your agency replaces with newer models?[3] Have you ever performed a partisan task while on the job?[4] Have you ever made a political contribution to keep your job?[5] Have you ever used your office PC to surf the web for non work related reasons?
See how easy it is to take a cheap shot.It was government scientists that decided that Heroin addicts in methadone programs were being discriminated against when denied work driving Trains and buses, even piloting aircraft, or as air traffic controllers. The rationale was that since some addicts showed agitation, and others became lethargic, that in general Methadone does not have a deleterious effect on concentration, and coordination. They actually went as far as to publish that Methadone only has a placebo effect and does not produce a high.Going to credibility and proof? Just how much is enough for you?If I were to tell you a story that was fantastic in nature and read like a science fiction book. This story would relate meetings with high ranking Military officers, DOD operatives, The CIA. It dealt with UFO, E.T., global politics, and manipulation of the American press by foreign operatives in cahoots with the CIA. Would you believe?I think not.What if you were able to verify that all of the above actually took place by checking declassifed documents, addresses, military records, police reports, individual personal validation by witnesses, and the only thing you could not know for sure was what was discussed at these meetings.Would you then believe? I doubt it, why? because the actual facts (the conversations) can’t be verified.I have lived such a story and I know I could never prove it to anyone’s satisfaction, yet it really happened to me, I was nearly killed. I even have permission from the government to tell anybody I want because they know there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that anyone (that counts)would believe it.I have considered fictionalizing it but it irks me to have to lie so people will take me seriously. Since I don’t need the money, and I don’t want to have to respond to every question posed to me, intelligent or not, I choose to keep it to myself and my friends.My point is that as hard as you try on this board, there is no way you are going to find the truth (about time travel at least)you are looking for until someone pulls up to you in a time machine and takes you to another time.I enjoy a good debate as much as the next guy, and I'm prepared to back up all my statements. I do however require a certain amount of civility to enter into protracted debate, as I believe that the moment you lose perspective, the conversation becomes moot.I do feel that some personal attacks are valid. If a person is harming others with his statements, and has been “proven” to be dishonest, and malicious in intent.
Like the President for instance
I have no problem with anyone taking them on on a personal level. I do it so I would be a hypocrite to expect others not to.Again I appeal to you to e-mail me if you want to carry this any further we are off topic now.Peace
Posted by Heather Cattles on 02-14-2001 03:40 PM
I have to agree with Ernie in some aspects. So what if you don’t believe he’s a true time traveler? Leave it at that. I’m always open to ideas, I neither poo poo them nor do I automatically say their true. I like to say I sit on a line between where I can go either way. I’m not frowned upon because I make descisons too fast. There’s a lot in this world we don’t know.. everything from creatures, to diseases to even time travel.Personally I find this thread interesting, without a lot of the just totally putting John down. If you don’t believe him fine, leave it at that. John, you are an interesting person and I’m here and I enjoy seeing your replys, be it real or not. I’m just glad to see a person or two remaining cool in this and not going towards personal attacks.John, if you are a true time traveler, when you leave to go back to the future, give my “Hello” to the future.-Heather
Posted by Andrew Hubbard on 02-14-2001 05:13 PM
I feel my earlier questions were written without much thought.
I have read all of your posts, and although I don’t ‘believe’, I do find what you are saying very very interesting. I would like to rephrase a few of my questions, In hope that it may make it easier for you to answer (feel free to just answer yes/no).
I am mainly interested in the roles/parts Australia plays (as I live here) in the war and then the general way of life after the war. I understand you may not have much information regarding other countries, but I thought I would ask anyway.1) What role does Australia play in the war? You stated elsewhere that they repulse a Chinese invasion – Does this mean Australian government side with your enemy? (As I think I recall you stating that they allied with your side + Russia… Could be wrong though.)2) Does intercontinental transportation still exist? If so, have you visited other countries?On a more observational note, the world you describe reminds me of the post sacked Trantor in Asimov’s ‘Foundation’ series. And that makes me smile.Thanks
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-14-2001 07:48 PM
SmileJohn,Why do you not answer people’s questions, but only answer certain questions that they ask?Here’s a question, why not answer Rick’s Post? He brought out some good points, I’m sure there worth commenting on. And I’m pretty sure lots of people here would love to hear your input on them.-J.C.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-15-2001 01:09 AM
Well John, I imagine you are here gathering technology for the forces of “Good” – or at least for the forces of just plain old decent folk doing the best they know how.Today’s news stories“In a news report reminiscent of the days of the old USSR, Pravda recently claimed that Pres. Bush’s National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, made belligerent comments about Russia to the magazine El Figaro. Only problem: Rice was never interviewed with El Figaro. Rice’s office tells NewsMax.com most of the claims made in the reports were fabricated.”Any idea whose provoking this?…and this one“MOSCOW –– The Russian military held air exercises near Norway and Japan on Wednesday, forcing fighter jets in both countries to scramble and eliciting a strong protest from Japan, which said the planes violated its airspace.Japan’s Foreign Ministry called in a Russian diplomat to protest and the defense agency said the Russian military planes violated Japanese airspace twice.…“Russia has sharply increased test flights of its planes since NATO’s campaign in Kosovo,” said Alexander Pikayev, a military analyst at the Carnegie Endowment’s Moscow office. “The military wants to show that it’s too early to write Russia off.”“Whether they violated airspace of not, that’s not the key thing,” said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst. “They were demonstrating the rebirth of Russia’s military might.”Pikayev said Wednesday’s exercises may also be a response to recent signals from Washington that Russia no longer occupies a privileged place in U.S. foreign policy.____I got about 70-80% of your dimension ripping tutorial, BTW. Thanks
Posted by Chad Dirks on 02-15-2001 01:12 AM
Hrm, Mr. Titor, I do not believe anything that you have said, nor do I believe that you are in any manner what you claim to be.…you are of course, welcome to hold the same opinion of myself, but since this does appear to be a forum for discussion, I shall try to lend what I can, yes?(Please forgive my lacking grammar, and by all means, don’t feel forced to read or respond, this is quite lengthy.)[1] You have claimed several times that you will not participate in assisting anyone to get out of ‘death by probability’. Yet any number of the things that you have said could have already caused an individual to do or not do something that will now result in them either dying, or escaping death an otherwise fated death.It does not matter whether or not everyone believes you. For every statement made there are people who believe you, and there are people changing their living patterns in response to those beliefs. There is no way for you know there is no future world leader reading this and believing.————————————————————[2] You claim that you have no interest in proving to us that you are a time-traveller. To hear you take such a stance is laughable. Look at what a show you have put on here. Instead you tell us that you only wish us to make us aware of time-travel as a possiblity (see #1 again), or that you only wish to observe us and speak of cultural and religious issues, something interesting to a historian.You came and posted on this site with one intention that was clear as of your first post: to make us believe that you are a time-traveller. You have continued this thread for that purpose alone, and I find everything you have done supports this.As far as wishing to speak of issues regarding our humanity, or culture, it is quite clear that this is not your intention (contrary to what you insist). If you truly wished to do this your first line would not have been, ‘I am a time-traveller’. If you truly wished to do this you would not have continued this thread once you realized that line would not serve your claimed goals.You certainly did not expect to examine our humanity or culture by first telling us that we would be discussing it with a time-traveller. The entirety of this thread has been: you developing your story.This thread that you have continued to participate in has gone entirely counter to your claimed goals, and it is obvious that you are knowingl fueling it in that direction.————————————————————[3] “5100 I have now required a couple of special “tweaks” that had to be done by one of the software engineers in 1975”“We need something portable. The 5100 isn’t required for its reliability, its needed to translate between APL, UNIX and a few obscure IBM mainframe languages.”I find it very difficult to believe that a software tweak (hence ‘software engineers’, -software-) done to a 1975 machine could cause it to do this translation more effectively or more portably than something around even today. I find it almost impossible to believe that a tweak done by a ‘software engineer’ in 1975 could provide for you something that you could find at no other place between now and ‘your time’, and certainly without having to make a stop-over in our time to get back that far.Furthermore, I find the notion that one of a limited number of time-machines would be used in this manner to be nothing short of nonsensical. There are more effective ways to accomplish what you claim in this regard.————————————————————[4] I have, and continue to believe Dr. Hawking’s view in regards to the possibility of time travel if indeed the model of time is what you have suggested, that all possibilities occur in different time-lines, in different universes is the way that time truly is. For this reason alone I cannot accept you. It is entirely logical, and I have seen no good case to counter it.————————————————————You claim that you have no desire to prove your story to us, yet everything you have done from the moment you first posted here has flown in the face of that. As I mentioned before, your desire is so strong that you have even appeared to become heated in manner in reaction to your validity being questioned.What is more, you bring with you the claim that you will tell us no names, no locations, or any specifics as a result of your supposed ethics. If those were indeed the ethics you were committed to and reasoned with, you would not be here now.However, I do commend you on engineering your story, as by its very nature we cannot prove it false.[I realize that I am only feeding this frenzy, but that speaks for what it is and what Mr. Titor has indeed accomplished, it is effective in provoking a response, but then again, so is stepping on a rusty nail]Mr. Titor:====================================I visit with a pink unicorn in the garden behind my house at night and it talks to me. I would show it to you but it only comes out when I am alone. Any attempts to trick it to do otherwise would be unsuccessful, but you are certainly welcome to try and prove what I say false.[Edited by Chad Dirks on 02-15-2001 at 01:34 AM]
Posted by Ryan Murphy on 02-15-2001 02:41 AM
Buddy.. listen..This is for all you other believers to:Time travel may be possible, but if you were to time travel, you would NOT land on Earth. You would land in a vacuum of space. You have to take into account that the universe is expanding, the Earth, the solar system and the galaxy are all moving. If you truely did travel back through time, you’d materialize in 1970 where the Earth WILL be in 2036, which is NOT Earth.. it’s space.Get it? You’d be dead. It’s impossible.Answer this factoid, John, and I will believe you until the ends of the Earth.
Posted by Dan Rouse on 02-15-2001 07:54 AM
Ryan…couldn’t distance be expressed as a function of time?If that’s true, is it not possible that a time warp implies a space warp?
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-15-2001 08:07 AM
Heather, Ernie and others.. I did leave it at that. Haha. I posted my opinion. That’s all I was doing. For the record, I have answered Ernie’s letter offline due to the length of the response, and the fact that it is offtopic to a great extent, I did not post it here.I have nothing against John Titor, Ernie or anyone else. I’m simply trying to get to the bottom of the story. Unless, and until John comes forward with more information, my opinion is formed and won’t change.I did however, post pictures of his time machine (actually, I posted the link where you can find them.. let me be more specific, I’ve never seen this thing in person, though I would like to see it).If John wants a way to prove anything – which from his previous posts he has stated he DOESN’T WANT TO DO – then I am more than willing to look over his proofs. However – just because I were to look something over gives no more meaning to the rest of you than it would if one of you looked his stuff over, believed it then told ME.You see.. we live in a time when we must see to believe. All of us.I think the thread is very interesting myself. I think the guy that called us Sheep is wrong and it is folks like HIM that completely close off education and communication. *I* am not trying to do so. I simply made some statements that I don’t believe John is “for real”. If he is, I would love to know he is. However, so far, he hasn’t put enough evidence forward. So… PLEASE continue the thread and learn, if you can, the truth.That’s all *I* want.
Posted by Ryan Murphy on 02-15-2001 08:08 AM
It would be impossible to calculate where the Earth would be, either 30 years ago or 30 years from now.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-15-2001 08:28 AM
Hi AllI can see why Mr. Titor enjoys this.You guys are pretty passionate about your beliefs. Then again, that’s what its all about.Going over a few of the posts, and I say that they are full of the classical – “I find it hard to believe, therefore I declare it to be impossible” – types of postulates. I can see the levels you are defining, in some cases, – and I can see that they are encompassed in possibilities you are not consideringEx.—I find it very difficult to believe that a software tweak (hence ‘software engineers’, -software-) done to a 1975 machine could cause it to do this translation more effectively or more portably than something around even today. I find it almost impossible to believe that a tweak done by a ‘software engineer’ in 1975 could provide for you something that you could find at no other place between now and ‘your time’, and certainly without having to make a stop-over in our time to get back that far. —Also, Ryan – I think John has provided some explanation regarding how positionings are affected by the mass and gravity of known OBJECTS. I would have to study the posts a little more carefully, though I would say that the variables used in computing projected postionings, rely heavily on detecting these known masses as opposed to trying to figure out where they would end up in space (and time).One of the first assumptions I would discard is that physics suppositions are “either/or” proposals. My view (with a few years under my belt), is that things work more fluidly than that.In viewing the following models take into consideration that the degrees I am talking about, are minuscule with respect to their effects on human activity – that’s why the “10%-15%” divergence over some 60 years, sounds OK to me.If you looked at a weather system of HIGH and LOW pressures, and fronts, you would see isobaric “circles” that delineate common weather areas. Correlate these fields, as local “areas” or “eras” of time. Again the differences regarding how fast time “moves” in these “circles”, would be slight and perhaps unnoticeable. They would be enough, though, to provide “circles of common interaction” and (significantly, I believe), would also provide some sort of common playing field or “fabric” – for all the individuals within that area. Moving into other regions or circles, would be fluid transistions (as opposed to “either/or” transistions). I believe such a move would also precipitate new experiences. You might then have to deal with, what Terrence McKenna termed “DEGREES OF NOVELTY AND HABIT”. Moving into other “topographical areas”, you would also have to “shift gears” … your “sense of timing” would be a bit off, until you either found some groove of activity that you could fall into, or until you could create new ways of “being” and acting, to handle the new circumstances. The effects of novelty could be noticed in little things like misteps and mistakes, or unintended synchronicities that might seem to alter your path. The effects of falling into normal routines would soon cause your new environment to loose its “newness”.Similarly, a geo-topological map (rings of altitudes) works the same in depicting (minor) GRAVITATIONAL fields. Again, I would think the degrees in gravitational differences, would be unnoticeably present, though present non-the-less.Within these geographical “circles” of time, and gravitational pulls, people work out certain local and global destinies and intentions. These then cumulate into cultural topologies.Given this model, the “degrees of separation” can only have extended effects depending on the interactivities of field compontents (you and me, or even other living things). John’s interactions on these boards probably have little effect on what’s going on in a small school room in the Ukraine, or a in hospital grieving area outside of Tokyo, at this very moment. They might have more of an effect on how you handle you’re work day after spending a morning reading posts, though. They might even have an effect on how a co-worker or fellow commuter handles their evening after they’ve been around you.Discussions regarding such potential realities do seem to be a good way to get people to think – Its about time, after all <g>.
Posted by Lee Heggy on 02-15-2001 08:31 AM
It’s very possible to calculate such coordinates but you have to have a reference point to start from that is static in relation to the motion of the solar system and the rest of the universe. We know what direction we are moving in. You merely have to plot the points along that linear track. You would also want to be very careful and exact or you would end up inside of a cow or worse.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-15-2001 08:31 AM
Actually, Ryan, that isn’t true.I can, given the right software not only calculate the specific location of the earth 30 years ago, where it will be thirty years hence.Based on the presumption that the sun is sitting still you can calculate the precise location of the earth at any time.Given that the above is not true – that is the sun is traveling through space at several thousand miles per second, as well, as the planets moving about it, and the entire arm of the galaxy in which we reside is moving as well… it is more difficult, BUT not impossible.As Captain Kirk once said to his crew after the battle with Khan, “he is thinking in two dimensions only”… we are thinking in three only. The fourth, time, is traveling away from us as precisely the same rate as it was a few moments ago. Given this we can calcuate the exact location based on several factors, knowing the current location of the sun, the past location of the sun and then figuring the future location of the sun.Given this, we know that our Earth travels in an ellipse around the sun at a given speed over 365.25 days per year. That tells us the Earth will be in a specific location 30 years from now.Personally, I’ve taken tracking programs meant for satellites and calculated the projected location of Near Earth Asteroids several times. If *I* can do it, certainly an advanced computer from the future can figure out where we are now.Rick
Posted by Mel Reckling on 02-15-2001 10:05 AM
John,How would someone that came here with no money all of the sudden have plenty of money now? You could have brought the lowest denomination coin of your time with a mint mark anywhere after 2001 and probably convinced almost all of us. At least some people. It would be hard to fake.
Posted by Simon Wiggins on 02-15-2001 10:35 AM
Cool(1) Simply inscribe your knowledge of any large scale events (disasters, discoveries, etc etc) over the next six months (there should be at least one memorable example) into a text file.(2) Encrypt said text file.(3) Give text file to a custodian. I sure Art Bell would volunteer, he’s very interested in time travel.(4) In six months time give Art the encryption key and he can reveal what you said.Easy !It doesn’t affect any timelines for that covered six months.Art can’t peek, even if he wants to, which he probably would.Thanks,Simon.
Posted by Matt Hagemeier on 02-15-2001 10:41 AM
Does anybody here remember Marc Wade from the old BBS board. He was the first time travler, if I remember right, he talked of a future solcialistic, self supporting society as well, a ww3, millions die, and so on, but I can’t remember what time he said he was from.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-15-2001 11:12 AM
I also remember “The Sun Is Not Real” in which a poster had me in stitches with his theory that the present sun was switched to a holographic representation, in the late 70’s? early 80’s.
Posted by Randy Empey on 02-15-2001 11:40 AM
Mr. Murphy —If you are standing still on the surface of the earth, does the earth move away from you as the years progress?It is not necessary to calculate and then adjust for the exact location of the earth relative to some static frame of reference like the center of the galaxy or some magic ‘origin’ point. Everything is relative. A TT blessed with a TT-device capable of traveling through time while standing still relative to the earth wouldn’t have to worry much about where the earth would be 30 years into the future — because he and his device are already moving in such a way that he will be in the same place 30 years down the time axis.Of course this is assuming that Einsteins physics was at least accurate enough for such purposes. That is yet to be proven, but it has held strong for more than half a century, as a general case.But the reality that makes his theory seem to work makes you argument next to moot.John T. —Are we having fun yet?How ’bout some philosophy.What is your conception of the nature of reality?Is it subjective or objective?Is there one grand reality, or is it ‘to each his own’?Do you think there are any absolutes? If so, in which contexts?Things of that nature . . . has our understanding (on the level of society you fit into) changed in these respects?Does sin exist?What happens when you die?Etcetera Etcetera Etcetera . . .— Randy E.P.S. — Personally, I don’t understand why it is so important to the people who post here that they believe you . . . communications, such that they are, make perfect understanding between individuals dicey at best . . . how can I be sure that something that is in my ‘reality’ is in yours? How can anybody be sure of anything? Keep thinking . . . and perhaps, share your thoughts with those here which read first and write later.
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-15-2001 11:45 AM
SmileHi all:I’ve read Rick’s note and thank him for it. I have no animosity towards Rick or anyone else. At the risk of being corrected I believe Rick and I have worked out our difference of opinion. At least to my satisfaction.bye for now
Posted by John Titor on 02-15-2001 12:07 PM
My Motive:
I’ve been in your time a bit longer than I had expected.
My next opportunity to go home comes in the spring. For most of my adult life, I have read about, wondered and debated about this time.
I value this opportunity to share experiences. If you absolutely believed I was a time traveler, with no skepticism whatsoever, then we would be unable to communicate. The focus of our attention would then always be on the machine. The experiences, opinions and reasons you do things are just as valid as mine and just as different.
I hope to return home with a better understanding of why you think and believe the way you do. Although I do understand the reasons for asking, I won’t gain from any communication with you by spouting physics formulas and pop culture predictions.
Please do not assume I am purposely avoiding questions. I am human, I get tired, and I forget things. Please, just remind me if I missed a question and I will get to it.
I do have one tip though.
If you want me to go over your post in detail put, “Hey John, you’re a big Jerk.” at the end of the insightful and logical part, not the beginning. In fact, maybe you could just abbreviate it and put a number rating from 1-100 next to it so I know how strong you feel. Something like, HJYABJ (78). It would save space.
The Physics of Time Travel:
ACCELERATION = TIME DILATION
As pointed out earlier, acceleration will produce time dilation. This can be observed by the “twins paradox”. As one twin stays on Earth, the other twin in his accelerating spaceship experiences a slower passing of time. When he returns to Earth, he is noticeably younger than his twin who aged normally in Earth time. This type of “time travel” (should have been proven already on this worldline) with atomic clock experiments. With sufficient power, this type of time travel will only provide practical displacement in a future direction. This type of time travel is also isolated to a single worldline. You will not meet yourself.
GRAVITY = ACCELERATION
As Einstein pointed out with his STR, the effects of gravity and acceleration are the same. Therefore, you will experience the same time travel effects in the twin paradox by being close to a large gravity source. In the atomic clock experiments mentioned above, the reason there was a difference in time was not because the clock in the plane was moving, it was because the clock in the well was closer to the center of the Earth. Constant speed is not acceleration.
LARGE GRAVITY = STATIC BLACK HOLE
The next step is to find a large gravity source to use in your time machine. Static black holes provide this type of power. As one twin approaches the event horizon or edge of the black hole, the other twin will watch him as he appears to slow down. He will notice his twin’s watch run slower until it stops at the event horizon. The twin moving toward the horizon will notice none of this and see his watch running just fine. Although possible, a trip into a static black hole will not take you to another worldline and it’s one-way. The force of gravity will crush you.
ROTATING BLACK HOLE = DONUTS-SHAPED SINGULARITY
Fortunately, most black holes are not static. They spin. Spinning black holes are often referred to as Kerr black holes. A Kerr black hole has two interesting properties. One, they have two event horizons and two, the singularity is not a point, it looks more like a donut. These odd properties also have a pronounced affect on the black hole’s gravity. There are vectors where you can approach the singularity without being crushed by gravity. (For those interested in seeing a graphic of a photon trip through a Kerr black hole, try here)
http://qso.lanl.gov/~bromley/nu_nofun.html
DONUTS-SHAPED SINGULARITY = PASSAGE INTO ALTERNATE WORLD-LINE
Another other more interesting result of passing through a donut singularity is that you travel through time by passing into another universe or worldline. Please see Penrose diagrams for Kerr Black holes or you can examine the calculations of Frank Tipler.
So now the problem becomes…where do we find a doughnut-shaped singularity?
A PONDERING HAWKING = MICRO-SINGULARITY
Steven Hawking proposed the existence of micro-singularities that were created in the big bang. They were probably about the size of a proton and disappeared over the years due to an effect of radiation evaporation. (Yes, black holes do emit energy.)
HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS = ARTIFICIAL MICRO-SINGULARITY
When I first started posting online a few months ago, I said that major breakthroughs in particle physics were around your corner. Soon, CERN will bring their big machine on line and they will be smashing very fast and high-energy particles together. One of the more odd and potentially dangerous items produced from this incease in energy will be microsingularities a fraction of the size of an electron. (for those who would like to follow the developments at CERN)
http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Welcome.html
ARTIFICIAL MICRO-SINGULARITY = LOCALIZED KERR FIELD
Through trial and error, and although they are quite heavy, hot and capable of putting out a great deal of energy (300 – 500 megawatts), it’s discovered that these microsingularities can be electrified and captured. It is also interesting to note at this point that electrified singularities also have two event horizons. By spinning these various microsingularities, a localized Kerr field is created.
LOCALIZED KERR FIELD = TIPLER SINUSOID
By using two microsingularites in close proximity to each other, it is possible to create, manipulate and alter the Kerr fields to create a Tipler gravity sinusoid. This field can be adjusted, rotated and moved in order to simulate the movement of mass through a donut-shaped singularity and into an alternate world line. Thus, safe time travel.
I will continue with the individual posts next. Thank you for your patience.
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-15-2001 12:42 PM
QuestionHi John:Is this what I think it is?ARTIFICIAL MICROSINGULARITY = LOCALIZED KERR FIELDThrough trial and error, and although they are quite heavy, hot and capable of putting out a great deal of energy (300 – 500 megawatts), it’s discovered that these microsingularities can be electrified and captured. It is also interesting to note at this point that electrified singularities also have two event horizons. By spinning these various microsingularities, a localized Kerr field is created.It looks like a prediction. Is it.Best regards,Ernie
Posted by Blonnie Dowden on 02-15-2001 01:04 PM
i would first like to state that i for one have never said you’re an idiot – i said you are aggravating. which is not really a personal problem w/yourself it is just how i perceive you to be. an adjective – not a noun.this sentence bothers me:“Although I do understand the reasons for asking, I won’t gain from any communication with you by spouting physics formulas and pop culture predictions.”so that’s what this is all about? you come here & want us to “help” you by asking questions.. so you can figure out how -we- percieve things & why we think the way we do but you do not recipricate the efforts. you only discuss things that you care about or that -you- think are important or that -you- think you will “gain” something from. seems rather -one-sided- to me.you say:“The experiences, opinions and reasons you do things are just as valid as mine and just as different. I hope to return home with a better understanding of why you think and believe the way you do. ”so you return home w/a better understanding while we’re left here w/the same questions we had before? it doesn’t seem very beneficial to -us-..just to -you- (at least from your statements).-blonnie-
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-15-2001 04:13 PM
If all the idealists who have traveled the path of confronting skeptics, were laid end to end … ?they’d be better off that way?Where are we in the universe BTW, irrespective of our relation to surrounding physical masses.The galaxy, and us with it, is traveling at ~ 390 km/sec. The Local Group, superclusters … and on out… how fast are they traveling? With respect to what? Last time I looked at the moon there were no strings attached either. It just sort of sits out there and whirs around, kinda like we do… or at least as I do. Pretty trick, if’n anyone’s asking.John – Ever have any oldsters (60-80 year olds) come up to you and mention past correspondences?Take Care All!
Posted by John Titor on 02-15-2001 05:06 PM
The following are personal rules I try to keep(unless of course they conflict with my secret agenda). I look forward to discussing any discrepancies you may find.PERSONAL RULES FOR TEMPORAL DISCLOSURE:
(1). I will not disclose any information that will cause someone to personally gain by its knowledge.
(2). I will not disclose any detailed information that would allow someone to avoid death by probability.
(3). I will not disclose any information that may compromise any future actions by individual people or threaten their family and well-being.BLONNIE:
Thank you for your persistence and patience. It would appear some of my more sarcastic comments are directed at you. They are not and I apologize.
((so i am asking questions that can NOT be changed. someone can not change the fact that “Girly G. Hottie” is the next big name in showbusiness))
Rule 3 – Your future is not unchangeable? Why couldn’t harm may come to a person if I define them as someone who will do something in the future? However, in this case, I just don’t know. I am not familiar with pop culture in 2001.
((“keep an eye out for so-and-so..they will rise to fame.” or something like that. we couldn’t -change- that..))
I find this an interesting point you’ve made again. Why do you feel that would be unchangeable?CRAIG:
((Are you being obtuse about Bonnie’s inquiries for more personal reasons? Her logic is pretty sound, and you’re avoiding discussing some of the things that people naturally find curious about other cultures…))
I very much want to discuss our cultures but please help me understand how you won’t be able to change something I tell you happened on my worldine.
((What kind of music is popular, what kind of recreation is enjoyable, what holidays are important…))
I’m not sure if you wanted to discuss these or not. If yes, I will be happy to do that.
((Do you feel some pleasure in breathing clean air and not having to check a geiger counter every few miles?))
Yes I do. However there is a fear about being here that I can only define as uncertainty. When I walk around in 2001, the air smells clean but I wonder if it really is. In 2036, there is no gray. The air is either clean or it will kill you. That feeling is very overwhelming when I eat here.
((Are there people in this time period who are hip (aware) of Time Travelers and who accept you as one?))
I have a very few precious relationships with people online who accept me as real or crazy and don’t ask any questions. Much of my email flows through them. My parents are the only ones that have access to everything I could use to prove who I am.
((I would imagine there are folk in our time, who travel in different circles (out of the mainstream), who have some money and/or some power, and who know things that the rest of us do not. Are you, or others, in touch with people like that? How ARE you financing things?))
I have taken very clever and reliable measures to go undetected. Yes, there are probably people like that but I am not in active conversation with them. My expenses are not that large. I spend a great deal of time now archiving.JEFFERY:
((I spotted few typing errors in Johns comments so I will assume that he has had an average education by our standards))
You must be energized and anxious to improve your education system then. Please tell me what you plan to do.
((1. Name the immediate political successors to George Bush and Tony Blair.))
– RULE 3
((2. Name any human being/animal/invention which became famous from obscurity prior to today (This is really easy, just name anyone who shot to fame for anything – provided they are completely unknown now, and that it happens soon).) –
RULE 2, RULE 3
((3. Name any near future shock event that makes history – political assasinations, inventions, marriages etc, same rules – it should happen soon with nobody having a clue it was about to happen (exept maybe time-travellers).)
You mean other than the mad cow pandemic, the breakthroughs in high-energy physics and the unknown functions of the 5100? I realize I’ve only been on this board for a few weeks but I assume you’ve read the other postings I’ve made about these issues months ago in order to be so definitive.
((4. If you are older than 36 then there should be 2 of you here right now. You would both possess the same basic fingerprints and DNA. If you really want to prove your case then meet up with your younger self and get some police evidence.))
I am with my younger self. I don’t have a case to prove and I wonder how many needles I would be on the receiving end for that one. With your superior education, I assume you already figured out that pretty soon someone might try that with a clone. Be careful what you take for definitive proof.ANGEL:If he had a time traveler line open would you call in?
((How long will you be here in 2001? When are you going back?))
My first opportunity to go home is this spring.
((What all are you taking back with you?))
A lot of hard drives filled with books, archived web sites, pictures and audio files. I’m also taking back family items that were lost in the war.
((Is propane still around in the future?))
Yes but not very much of it comes from natural gas. Hydrogen is converted into propane because it’s easier to handle.ROY:
((I would hope that the paradise I live in would somehow be spared (the Hawaiian Islands) but I suspect it would not be spared as a strategic target for obvious reasons))
My parents went to Hawaii on their Honeymoon. My dad told me a quick story about going to a fast food store and paying 6 or 7 dollars for a hamburger. I got an image in my head of a huge tanker filled with frozen hamburgers headed into the Pacific. Hawaii is very dependant on the mainland for food….isn’t it?
Thank you for your kind words.MIKE:
((Logically though the revelation of his TT ability still makes no sense, as he could easily question people of this time and get all sorts of info without revealing himself.))
Medium like the internet offer unique opportunities for communication. When I return, I will be debriefed on my opinions about how people in 2001 will accept time travelers.
((So that leads to the question why would he reveal himself if he has no stated aganda for doing so?))
I’m not sure I exactly said that.
((2. John came here to give somebody a “Back to the Future” type of push so as to invent the Time Machine. (My opinion on this is that no one needs to “invent” the TM because if is has been built in the future then it has always been invented, and we are merely waiting for someone to “discover” it. Just look back at most of the major advancements in science, almost every invention of science already existed, it only needed people to put it together.
About the only things humans have invented deal in the arts. Music etc. This opinion comes from the “all times exist at once” theory.))
I find this one the most interesting. What do you think would happen if the United States, China or Russia suddenly developed a time machine and the rest of the world found out about it?MY FRIEND JAVIER:
((…he does a maneuver that focuses the question back to the receiver, as to have him think it’s been answered, and to shut him up. (Which in fact, he just avoided answering it, by doing what he did). He does this very often, and I’d just wanted to point that out before he did it again.))
Hmmm….I am forced to admit I must rethink what I know about Mobius loops.ANDREW:
((1) Does the last name Hubbard have any historical(is that the right term?) relevance?))
You may leave a message to yourself if you wish.
((2) What happens with Australia? does it play a major part in the war?))
I believed I wrote about Australia a bit earlier.
((3) What colloquial language is used in the future?))
Many people use the internet for communication and entertainment. I would say that affects our speech. We type very fast.
((4) What exactly happens to the water? does it get poisoned from radiation?))
Yes, radiation affected the water but that can always be distilled out. There are biological hazards that cannot. In addition, fresh water is hard to come by without talking to someone with a gun first.
((5) Have you actually met your parents? if so, what are their thoughts on you? ))
Yes. I am with them now. I would say it’s a combination of fear and relief.
((6) Does time have ends?))
Yes. It is believed that all world-lines end. It is also thought that parallel world-lines that appear to be the same end at different times.[Highlight by Metallicman.]
((7) Lets just say that people from the future are manipulating events now, such as preventing a tragedy, making it never occur. If it never occurred, no body would be sent back to stop it, which would mean that the event does take place. This would lead to the prevention of it happening again, and so on. What would happen in one of these situations?))
Based on my understanding of time, manipulation of your worldline by future time travelers would have no affect on their original or home worldline. If that is happening, it must be for a desired outcome or result on your worldline only. If UFOs are time travelers, they plan on reaping what they sew from you not their home.RYAN
((John, if you really did travel through time you’d be dead. You have to take into account that the universe is expanding, the Earth, the solar system and the galaxy are all moving. If you truely did travel back through time, you’d materialize in 1970 where the Earth WILL be in 2036, which is the vacuum of space.))
This is an excellent point and one I thought I went over a bit earlier. There is a gravity lock system that compensates for the local gravity outside of the Tipler sinusoid. This is the reason the unit is only accurate to about 60 years.RICK:
((Specifically, you stated my questions were “rather specific” and you’d be “love to discuss physics and happy to walk through the operation (I assume of the machine)”. A few lines later you state (after me saying you should know a hell of a lot more about the machines you’re operating) that you do know much about it, but you’re not willing to share it with everyone. So… which is it? Are you willing to share information on the operation, a walkthrough of the machine, time travel… or AREN’T YOU?))
I suppose I am thinking about the physics and the engineering as separate subjects. I apologize for the confusion and I will be happy to answer your questions more directly.
((I asked legitimate questions. They were ignored, then later, when I asked others, they were skirted.))
Perhaps we could just start over again?ANDREW:
((1) What role does Australia play in the war? You stated elsewhere that they repulse a Chinese invasion – Does this mean Australian government side with your enemy? (As I think I recall you stating that they allied with your side + Russia… Could be wrong though.))
There were deep divisions in Australia also. I would associate it more with a powder keg than a civil war.
((2) Does intercontinental transportation still exist? If so, have you visited other countries?))
Yes, but the market is much smaller. No, I have not been overseas.
Page 12 on coming…
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-15-2001 07:53 PM
WinkJohn,What state do you live in now in 2001?Is John Titor your real name?What do you look like? Post a picture of your self.What is your secret agenda?Is this dialogue between people in these posts part of your secret agenda?Does your younger self realize what you are?Are you married?What rank were you in the Army?Where did you go to BCT?What company were you with, and what year did you graduate from BCT?You have any fears? If so, what are they?What are the rules for fraternizing with people who aren’t from your time; do you make friends easily here in 2001?What would the DOD do to you if they found you out?What would you do if someone attempted to investigate you? Hundreds of people go through these forums a day I’m sure. Some of which can be government. Aren’t you at all worried that it’s only a matter of time before you are found out?And you said; “I very much want to discuss our cultures but please help me understand how you won’t be able to change something I tell you happened on my worldine.”Can you elaborate further on the matter?I appreciate you answering these questions for me John, and thank you for calling me your friend .-Javier C.HJYABJ 100
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-16-2001 08:00 AM
John,I want you to understand something – since you’re using our discussions to make a determination of our thinking for when you go back. Understand that I don’t think you’re a jerk, but I believe you to be a “false time traveler” at this point. HOWEVER, I will say that you took the time to post some information that DOES answer some of my questions. Your disertation on physics (at least in a small way) confirms a few things that I think are relatively accurate.Are the pictures (at the URL I posted a couple days ago) YOUR pictures of your time machine? (http://pub2.ezboard.com/fmagisystemstimelordsanonymus.showMessage?topicID=53.topic)I’m going to help John answer a question that someone else asked. “What would the DOD do to you if they found you out?”John would be grabbed by government federal agents and held incognito until a determination could be made based on national security. He certainly would be at risk of his life in “all probability” because he IS (will be/was – put in any decriptors based on tense you wish) a threat to national security in “our time”.Here is why. John claims to come from a different time, our future time actually. Even though it is perhaps a different time thread, or time line, he could affect the outcome of our own future either through active participation or negligent participation. In other words, Johns actions could conceivable make a difference what happens. This is the main reason he is following some very specific “non interference” doctrine.The very fact that John has made himself “visible” to the users here makes him a target. Believe it or not – *I* work for the government. I work in an area that, while my particular job has nothing to do with this, am extremely interested in his statements. Yes – we in the government DO watch for things like this. However, rest assured, if I went to the security office and said “I have access to a time traveler” I’d get laughed at. I’d have to get in touch with the “right people” to “report” the incident, and even then the skeptics would over rule the “believers”.What this means is, even though John could be consider a national security threat, he certainly is safer than even me, who works daily in government facilities.Now that I have admitted my “government participation” let me tell you MY motive. Time travel. Afew days ago, someone sent me a copy of a time travel ad. I was intrigued by this. The ad, mysteriously appeared on Art Bells site last night. (Go there and look at it – you will see precisely what I saw). I have drafted a letter indicating I’m interested. Yes, I have my own weapons (and a family, grandkids and kids ) but… if I had a chance to go back in time, I would take it. Assuming I could get back. haha.My problem is that I would “interact” I believe. I would find the idea of interaction almost irresistable, which I would assume is one of the things psychologists would have a problem with time travelers in any case.The US government… Russian or any other, would be in the same boat. They would, if they could believe it, GRAB and hold time travelers – checking the veracity of their stories and preventing them from having any interaction with anyone.Sound about right John?I have a distinct feeling that I want to “believe” that John is truly a time traveler. The reason is simple and probably selfish. I have always said I want to live to see the ripe old age of 200. I MIGHT make it to 150 given todays medical advancements. If so, I have around 107 years to go. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.I want to LIVE time though, I don’t want to go to the future and not be able to get back to my family and friends. I want to see that something so fantastic and so outlandish that it is science fiction right now, come true.Those are MY motives for being here, chatting about this.Granted, there are deeper, more scientific discussions on other boards and elsewhere in the scientific community, but they are “deeper” than I wish to delve. John has given me at least that tiny hope that somewhere out there, on some time line, someone will indeed do what we’ve been believing all along.So – John, my comments about being fraudulent – please don’t take them seriously and please do not think I have anything against you personally, nor wish to discredit you. I only want the honest truth.If you tomorrow, said, Rick, this was an experiment in psychology, writing, or fantasy – whatever, I would not be surprised. If I had a way to prove you were truly a time traveler – that secret would be safe with me (as would anything else you told me). See, I believe in America, and I believe in Freedom.I believe if you’re really what you say you are – then you’re a hope for the future. Even if there is ‘civil war’ or nuclear war – people like myself are already prepared for those things.Whatever comes of this… best of luck in either your studies in psychology, time travel or writing. I’ll be listening in (and commenting) from time to time.Rick
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-16-2001 10:26 AM
Thumbs upHi Rick, John, all:I also found John’s post regarding the specifics to be beyond much contention. My scale is tipping toward belief.I’ll say this much. The descriptions John provided are much more convincing than his ability to write a given equation. I think I understand why Rick was impressed as I know a bit more about Rick today than I did 2 days ago I mean his technical background.Here is my opinion.John thus far has demonstrated the following:Ability to discuss physics that seems to rise (eventually) to the level of the question posed.High degree of intelligence.Has not wavered in his ethical assertions regarding (verifiable) disclosure of future events.No interest in making money for this (so far)Continuity of statements (not 100%, but he’s human)Accurate cultural behavior for a person from the world he claims to come from.Has “I believe” made more than 1 verifiable prediction. (I think) correct me if I misunderstood his post.PatienceA degree of loyalty to his country, and for democracy not found every day. He has read the Constitution and understood it. IMHOHinted that he may have had something to do with recent events that did not come to pass.An accurate depiction of the climate that would escalate to the wars and events he describes.Made statements that contradict many other Time Traveler'sStatements.Has attempted to answer most of what is asked of him.The ability to accurately relate a story as if he had been there.A great deal of self control when “questioned”.(for you RickIn general has been a very good thread host.None of this proves he’s a time traveler, but it does prove to me that I should continue to read the posts, and ask further question.As someone recently mentioned a preponderance of circumstantial evidence builds credibility.I have a question for John:John, what would it take to get you to stick around after spring and leave during the next window of opportunity?I fear that another month or 2 may not be enough time to get as much said and discussed as I would like to have.Regarding the photos. I have asked 6 friends that have been in the military and “whatever” the device is in the photo looks very authentic. The manual also is what you would expect from the military. The revisions on the cover page look normal for such a manual. Maybe Rick can take a close look at the photos. Has anyone done any imaging on the photos to make the individual controls on the “machine” more visible.In your “world time” have things like “Sasquatch” , “Loch Ness monster”, and other reported unusual animals been seen, or captured or explained away.Is remote viewing used to gather military intelligence?Are psychics still common? are they used by the government?Is there a Police Dept as we know it. Have any of your top leaders or politicians been jailed or impeached?John, any chance of getting a better set of photos with more of the manual?.John please respond to my question as to “the prediction” did I jump the Gun? (get ahead of myself).One final question? Is there a Global Superpower state and what nation is it.Best regards,Ernie
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-16-2001 10:48 AM
I think I understand. I guess you are held accountable, in some way, for changes that occur in your time period. You would know, and I guess no one else has to. Let me see if I get this. You tell me about a new cultural fad – for instance, let’s say Czech Dance Wear, becomes chic. I keep my eye on trends, and invest, in a way that benefits me, at the exclusion of someone else. OR I open a shop that begins the trend and then trend burns out sooner than it otherwise would. Then you, on your time-line, notice, when you get back, that the weekly dance at the local Youth Hall is no longer centered around Czech Bouncing, for the summer of ’36. Instead, for some quirky reason, Cowboy Line Dancing appeals to everyone for a few weeks or months during this period. Otherwise everything else remains relatively unchanged.Please answer this question to the best of your ability to assist us. I’m a big believer in grassroots resourcefulness, and its power in creating discerning situations that test people’s willingness and ability to make their own way.It seems to me that with the cities under such stresses, people would flock in large numbers to remote areas like Winnipeg (sorry guys) or some other region with plenty of clean water, air and soil. Why is this such a nelected fix? I would also imagine that the network of Intentional Communities (communes?) that took root over the years, would provide infrastructural support to a nation needing to find its “FOXFIRE” roots.If I was transposed to the 1920’s or 30’s, you would have a hard time keeping me off the streets, out of public places, shops, concert halls, etc. just trying to take it all in. Ditto with just about any other time and place.Which reminds me of an old story about the TT who saw a sign outside a restaurant that said “Breakfast served any time”. He eventually settled on eggs benedict during the Renaissance.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-16-2001 11:35 AM
It is interesting to note that the photos posted on that other site were posted by an “anonomyous time traveler” some time back. It fits the exact description John has give us of his machine. Therefore, based on his discription alone, I would say he is the one that posted the pictures. If he didn’t post them, then he is using them for the basis of his story.Regardless of the two suppositions above, the device appears to be “authentic” to me. I have some experts looking at the manual and the pictures as well – for obvious reasons, I won’t tell you who because they aren’t aware of this discussion and I don’t intend to tell them about it.I am extremely familiar with military spec equipment in many forms, more specifically communications systems of various types. I have never seen this particular item (in my time… ) nor anything vaguely resembling it. HOWEVER, it does have the look and feel of a piece of gear produced by a large corporation for the military.John – in looking closely at this device, I see there is a hand control unit – with some sort of screen on it. I assume this is the computer interface through which the device is programmed (or time settings are made). Is that an accurate assumption? What does the display show you (for instance, does it simply show things like time/date calculations, or radiation [probably wrong word] of the fields from the device?)Also, there are 16 apparent buttons. I have to assume further that these are multifunction keys (that is you press one for an alt/control function and other buttons have names or labels and perhaps even numerical meanings). Is that also accurate?thanks
Posted by Doug Beauchamp on 02-16-2001 05:38 PM
At the very beginning of this thread, I was very skeptical. Who wouldn’t be on a topic like this? However, I find myself believing it even more with each page.
What I find strange is why so many people don’t believe.
I think we’ve established that a majority of us do believe time travel a possibility. Most of us also believe that the human race does indeed learn how to travel to time sometime in the future.
If we believe this, then why do we find it so hard to believe that there are people from the future among us?
If John is not a time traveler, then he’s a **** good lier. There are minor flaws in his stories, but I think there are more strengths than flaws. Maybe I just believe his story because I want to (selective belief).As for the issue of security, I think Rick covered it all.
I don’t think the government would be as open-minded to this topic as some of us. Unless John proved he was a time traveler, I don’t think anyone will be using his IP to track him.
Which is a reason I don’t think John can be proving to us that he is indeed a TT. (Maybe that’s one of the lessons in TT training.) Unless there is a branch of the FBI similar to the X-Files, I doubt anyone will be knocking on Johns door anytime soon.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-16-2001 08:48 PM
So John, when do you plan on answering my questions?Is there a problem in answering?Please let me know…. I await you.-Javier C.Sysop: We do not provide links to other boards, Sorry. Peace, Mary[Edited by Mary Rowland on 02-16-2001 at 09:19 PM]
Posted by Tim Utterback on 02-16-2001 10:17 PM
WinkHey John. If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance. Then baffle them with BS!!!
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-17-2001 12:10 AM
Man, that’s the second time someones edited out my posts. But that’s not important, what is, is your answers John.I’m still waiting. So far it’s been 48 hours. What’s wrong? Are you unable to answer?
Posted by Roy Meserve on 02-17-2001 11:13 AM
Hello,Thanks for your reply. Yes, unfortunately Hawai’i is quite tied to the fate of the mainland US in major ways. Efforts at some amicable sovereignty are halting or stillborn.Just wanted to recommend a book I think might tell you volumes about present macro socio-economic conditions that lay the foundation for the evolving political divisions you state lead to a civil war in the US in the near future.The book is “When Corporations Rule the World” by John C. Korten.While certainly not the only important work or view of this present paradigm, behind the ‘sturm und drang’ of partisan noise and distraction, this well-written and researched book by a dedicated veteran of more than 30 years abroad in various aid and developmental programs aimed at Third world areas, squarely focuses on the escalating conglomeration of power and money increasingly in the hands of the few and the resulting loss of control over individual and community autonomy. Now, in the twilight of the 21st century, this locus of capital, political influence and media control is taking on a life of its own, out of the control of even those at the top of the command hierarchy, with concomitant social decline, rampant environmental degradation, and of course the threat of war as a means both of deflection of attention on the real problem, and further dividing and conquering to consolidate ever more power. No black hats and white hats, per se, but more the result of unthinking acceptance of a certain economic model at the root.This is why I feel there is a kind of inevitability to some sort of wrenching change, whether or not it follows ‘your’ probable outcome. Another older book by a similar ‘dissociated’ entity that might interest you is “The Nature of Personal Reality” by Jane Roberts (circa 1979-80). From a ghost no less! Both can be found at the public library, but are worth perusal. Submitted humbly in the spirit of apocalypse or (Greek)- ‘unveiling’….regards,Roy
Posted by Andrew Hubbard on 02-17-2001 08:40 PM
1) would you be able to internationally travel by traveling to the year 2001, fly a plane to the desired destination, and then go to the future from there?2) If each world line is separate from the others, then wouldn’t the consequences of your actions now have no effect on your original world-line? If this is the case, why won’t you tell us things that will give us knowledge or let us avoid death? My only guess is that you are not a time traveler, and don’t want to say anything that could make a gullible person do something stupid.3) how can I leave a message for myself in the future if the things i do in this world-line do not effect the others?
Posted by Michael E. Hendrickson on 02-18-2001 08:03 AM
The falsity of your claims is revealed in your predicted scenario for our country in the years 2004-2012,i.e., a virtual collapse of our constitutional system into a warring divide between the cities and the countrysides, with a farmer general leading the latter to victory in 2012, presumably, after a horrendous, internecine struggle.
I believe in fact this describes a plot in one or more science fiction novels written in the past 50 years.
This scenario could plausibly describe events which, perhaps, might occur 100 years from now, or even much further in the future, but most certainly not commencing a mere three years from now. A breakdown of this magnitude would’ve had to have been preceded by many more fracturing events other than Ruby Ridge, Waco,the Oklahoma bombing,etc., over a much longer period of time in order to culminate in your predicted scenario.
Given what we know about our society today with its very stable system of government(however else you may wish to describe it), your prediction of its pending disintegration, beginning in three short years, is utterly improbable, if not impossible. Hmm., I’m, trying to think, was it Asimov or Kurt Vonnegut Jr. who originally authored this scenario? MH
P.S. The idea of a farmer general leaving his fields to lead his country’s troops to victory is an old one going back, at least, to Roman times. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus, I believe, was the gentleman’s name, from the 5th Century B.C. Roman Republic.[Edited by Michael E. Hendrickson on 02-18-2001 at 08:28 AM]
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-18-2001 11:06 AM
The recent film “Gladiator” featured Maximus a farmer general who defeated a “fictionalized” Commodus.I guess if you asked Joseph Campbell there are only a few stories and all literature is the re-telling of the same few stories in different settings.Boy saves girlBoy saves the nationGirl dies boy avengesBoy gets girl usually another boy loses girl.Underdog defeats the champ. David and Goliath, farmer generalGood boy goes badbad boy goes goodand a few more.there are a few that’s all then we just enhance the content to fit our cultural needs.Peace
Posted by Randy Empey on 02-18-2001 11:36 AM
Mr. Vega and Mr. Hendrickson:The wonderful ability for the human mind to group things by similarities, generalize, and vaguely remember stories heard in the past exists.But it is not conclusive proof of the falsity of anybodies claims.I, as an attempted-author (pretty similar to being an attempted-murderer), have ran into the ‘universal hero myth’ dillema face to face, in mental combat to the death . . . and have yet to arrise victorious . . . but it does not mean I have no good stories to tell, nor that they are unoriginal. And it certainly doesn’t mean that any story I may come up with is most definetly not true . . .I am fairly certain that proving anything is impossible. (By this I mean proving ABSOLUTELY . . . within certain frameworks, like mathematics, things can be proven . . . but in general? I think not. In what we call ‘reality’? I also think not. Life would be too simple.)If this is true, and I think it is, it also follows that it is impossible to disprove anything — although the two are often different problems.So the ongoing ‘discussion’ about the veracity of this TT’s claims is largely in vain. Good works may yet come from it, but I am sure there are better ways to spend this thread. John has already suggested this, it seems to me, and I believe it is everybody’s best interest to recognize that we have never been in the realm of absolutes and that the main goal here is the intelligent exchange of ideas, observations, insights and ‘feelings’.Just because a plot appears often in the worlds portrayed in science fiction doesn’t preclude them from being what you seem to consider science fact.Spacecraft are a prime example of this.Timecraft ARE ALSO!The mind is the ultimate vessel for any kind of exploration . . . lets please direct our miranderings a little more effectively even on this micro level, . . . if only to please my aesthetic sense!I’m sure we will all be a lot happier and the fruits will then be better.
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-18-2001 02:56 PM
CoolHi all:Randy, although I remain to be convinced as to the nature of John or his story. I have never said he was a fake or a fraud, or a liar, actually, I expressed frustration at the seemingly all important “is he or isn’t he” debate.I propose that “what John is” is irrelevant to this conversation. What is relevant is the ideas, and very good technical information being discussed here. I can tell you that I’m sure that some of the posters know more about time travel and it’s why’s and why nots, than they did prior to coming here.The real interesting conversation has been about the culture he describes, and the way they approach life.My comment regarding story lines is accurate. It does not however, detract from any literary work. It also had no connection to John Titor, I was actually disagreeing with the previous poster that stated that the Farmer General metaphor somehow was indicative of deception on Johns part, or a weak link in his story. The Farmer General is nothing new. History is replete with Farmer Generals.I was pointing out to him the “preponderance” of similarity that exists in the area of “plot development”. As an author you must have at times asked yourself if the scene you were creating did not sound too much like “this”, or “that”.Anyway, I just wanted to clarify the point.Oh one more thing.You sayThe mind is the ultimate vessel for any kind of exploration . . . lets please direct our miranderings a little more effectively even on this micro level, . . . if only to please my aesthetic sense!Please excuse me if I misunderstood but neither I nor anyone else here is going direct their meanderings in any direction to please “your” sense of Aesthetics.
As soon as you become a moderator here you can dictate whatever you want. Remember that whatever you post will most likely get a response.By the way “effective meandering” is a poor choice of metaphor, you see it’s a borderline oximoron.Peace[Edited by Ernie Vega on 02-18-2001 at 03:24 PM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-18-2001 11:04 PM
SmileOK John, I know your playing this Machiavelli role again, of going silent and hiding. But just wanted to let you know, that when you do return, answer my questions first. I asked first. So don’t avoid answering my questions. Got that ?-Javier C.
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-19-2001 12:23 AM
Hello,To John Titor:
I have found this thread very interesting.
How far from what size city is it the safest to be?
You suggest bicycle. What about horseback?
Should we be stockpiling guns?
What kind of people will be the ones least trustworthy?
Is the conflict racial in any way?
Does the civil war start in such a way that with this foreknowledge those willing will have time to remove themselves to safer locations?
Will you readily be able to identify the enemy?
Does living near a river with a distillation unit take care of water problems?
How are the five people within the 100 miles contacted?
Do communications stay intact?
I have 86 acres on a river in Central California about 125 miles north of LA. I have geese, turkeys, horses, chickens, milk cows, good pasture, a well run by electricity, and a garden. I also have two teenage sons who are gun nuts. Plenty of rifles, semi-automatic and otherwise. Any comment on our chances or suggestions? My oldest son, 19, is joining the army for 3 years. Will he be asked to kill his countrymen?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Posted by Emmett “Darby” Darbyshire on 02-19-2001 01:22 AM
John,Sometime earlier you wrote that there are no paradoxes in time travel. I have a question regarding a paradox that I can’t seem to overcome. Maybe you can help.People who posit theories of time travel generally write in terms of time travel in years. My problem deals with very short trips – the kind that early experimenters would most likely attempt (to avoid divergence problems if nothing else).In this experiment the traveler only goes 30 seconds into the past to appear in his lab. It seems that 30 seconds before his experiment was to begin he saw himself apppear in the lab. There would now be two travellers and two time machines. It doesn’t appear that it ends that simply as the “second” time traveller says that he saw a duplicate self appear in the lab thirty seconds before he started the trip. It would appear that its a time loop and an infinite number of duplicates see a duplicate self appear in the lab thirty seconds prior to the start of the trip.Your time machine weighs 500 lbs and an average man weighs about 180 lbs. So lets say that that the mass is about 700 lbs per traveller. What is the mass of the duplicates and where did the mass come from? What is the result of the duplicates arriving ~simultaneously at the ~same place and time? How long will it take for the loop to decay? Will it decay? Is it a loop? What happens if the experimenter, upon seeing his duplicate, decides not to continue the experiment?
Posted by Randy Empey on 02-19-2001 07:52 AM
Mr. Vega, I excuse you as you ask. Complete understanding between separate entities in this world is likely an impossibility. I claim no such moderatorship — I was just attempting to appeal to everybody's sense of ‘proper actions during mutually-benificial social interactions’ (I hate it when I can’t find the right, single word to say what I want to say . . .) . . . attempting to phrase it in a way that hasn’t already been said here . . . obviously, at least in your case, it back fired. I still feel its a good sentiment.“Effective meandering” appealed to me for exact reason which seems to make you feel it was a poor metaphor. It has the meaning I intend, as I know the language.———John T:Since you are stockpiling examples of written word from this time, whether to bring back to the future or for sources in your own written endeavours, I suggest you make this a two way street — you take our words, so lets have some more of yours.Do you remember any poetry or verse from after 2001 in your past?Is there an active market on new books in your time, or has that infranstructure not rebuilt it self? Are most the books available old or new?Out of curiosity, as a rough judge of character, have you read the works of J.R.R. Tolkien? And did you enjoy them.Actually, this all boils down to the question the last few posters have been getting at — R U THERE?All –Even if John never posts again, this thread would still seem to be useful . . . there is enough conflict here to make it good drama.I think time-travel is possible . . . others among us think its impossible . . . there are other threads where battles in this war are fought . . . but this particular theatre is far from over.
Posted by John Titor on 02-19-2001 11:03 AM
CHAD:
((1. You have claimed several times that you will not participate in assisting anyone to get out of ‘death by probability’. Yet any number of the things that you have said could have already caused an individual to do or not do something that will now result in them either dying, or escaping death an otherwise fated death.))
It would help if you could give an example. If you are referring to the conflict and war in your future, I’m not sure I’m specific enough to help any individuals avoid anything. Suggesting there is a war coming is a bit different than saying avoid Washington DC at 3:45 AM on March 12, 2015.
((There is no way for you to know if there is no future world leader reading this and believing.))
Are you sure about that? Besides, I think you can have just as much impact as any “future leader”.
((2. You claim that you have no interest in proving to us that you are a time-traveler. To hear you take such a stance is laughable. Look at what a show you have put on here. Instead you tell us that you only wish us to make us aware of time-travel as a possiblity (see #1 again), or that you only wish to observe us and speak of cultural and religious issues, something interesting to a historian.))
I submit there is no way for me to prove anything on the internet, therefore it makes no sense to desire it. What exactly do you think I could do to prove it to anyone? I am confused by your term “the show”. Do you feel my only goal here is to entertain?
((You came and posted on this site with one intention that was clear as of your first post: to make us believe that you are a time-traveller. You have continued this thread for that purpose alone, and I find everything you have done supports this.))
Again, I am unable to make you do anything nor would I want that.
((As far as wishing to speak of issues regarding our humanity, or culture, it is quite clear that this is not your intention (contrary to what you insist). If you truly wished to do this your first line would not have been, ‘I am a time-traveller’. If you truly wished to do this you would not have continued this thread once you realized that line would not serve your claimed goals.))
I learn a great deal about your culture from the words you write (like right now). What do you think my goals are?
((The entirety of this thread has been: you developing your story.))
I’m not sure I understand this. How would “my story” differ it was “developed”?
((I find it very difficult to believe that a software tweak (hence ‘software engineers’, -software-) done to a 1975 machine could cause it to do this translation more effectively or more portably than something around even today.))
Ahhh…something we have in common. Yes, I felt that way too. However, my job was to go and get it and not debate why they wanted it. I am not a computer expert.
((I find it almost impossible to believe that a tweak done by a ‘software engineer’ in 1975 could provide for you something that you could find at no other place between now and ‘your time’, and certainly without having to make a stop-over in our time to get back that far.))
A great deal of the computer infrastructure you depend on is based on very old systems and code. One of the reasons I was sent to 1975 was because of the person I met there, not the technology.
((Furthermore, I find the notion that one of a limited number of time-machines would be used in this manner to be nothing short of nonsensical. There are more effective ways to accomplish what you claim in this regard.))
Perhaps you would share them with me. You might be right and I could make your suggestions when I return.
((4. I have, and continue to believe Dr. Hawking’s view in regards to the possibility of time travel if indeed the model of time is what you have suggested, that all possibilities occur in different time-lines, in different universes is the way that time truly is. For this reason alone I cannot accept you. It is entirely logical, and I have seen no good case to counter it.))
I’m not sure I understand what you mean. If you believe in Multiple World Theory, Hawking was not the one who first thought of that. If you do, then I must be real if all possibilities exist. As I recall, Hawking felt that it was possible to build a machine but some sort of vacuum fluctuations would destroy it right before you tried to use it.
((You claim that you have no desire to prove your story to us, yet everything you have done from the moment you first posted here has flown in the face of that.))
I’m not sure that’s true. In fact, I’ve tried to point out on at least two occasions that anything I do (at the request of someone else) to support my claims can be found someplace else on your worldline right now.
((What is more, you bring with you the claim that you will tell us no names, no locations, or any specifics as a result of your supposed ethics. If those were indeed the ethics you were committed to and reasoned with, you would not be here now.))
I am curious about this also. Do you think I should not interact with you for your safety or mine?
((I visit with a pink unicorn in the garden behind my house at night and it talks to me. I would show it to you but it only comes out when I am alone.))
For some reason, I believe you.RYAN:
((Time travel may be possible, but if you were to time travel, you would NOT land on Earth. You would land in a vacuum of space. You have to take into account that the universe is expanding, the Earth, the solar system and the galaxy are all moving. If you truely did travel back through time, you’d materialize in 1970 where the Earth WILL be in 2036, which is NOT Earth.. it’s space.))
Yes, this is a problem.
It was solved by taking a “snapshot” of the local gravity around the unit before leaving a world-line and incorporating it into the sinusoid during travel.
The short answer is, you “stick” to the earth but this is only a useful explanation to understand it and it’s not practical. Since the computer system is using a virtual reference, the calculations become flawed. Thus:
[1] Based on the accuracy and timing of the “snapshots” the distortion units are limited to how long they can travel before becoming unstable.
[2] We must leave and arrive in areas we have prior or future knowledge of in order to avoid massive objects (buildings, water, etc…)
[3] The unit has a fail-safe system during travel that drops out in case of a unit shutdown or radical departure in gravity readings.
((Answer this factoid, John, and I will believe you until the ends of the Earth.))
Again, you should not offer this to anyone for any reason.RICK:
((If John wants a way to prove anything – which from his previous posts he has stated he DOESN’T WANT TO DO – then I am more than willing to look over his proofs. However – just because I were to look something over gives no more meaning to the rest of you than it would if one of you looked his stuff over, believed it then told ME.))
Exactly!MEL:
((How would someone that came here with no money all of the sudden have plenty of money now? You could have brought the lowest denomination coin of your time with a mint mark anywhere after 2001 and probably convinced almost all of us. At least some people. It would be hard to fake.))
The reason I don’t have 2036 money is because it takes up weight, space and can be faked and I can’t use it for anything. What type of expenses do you think a time traveler would have that I would need so much money for?SIMON:
((1) Simply inscribe your knowledge of any large scale events (disasters, discoveries, etc etc) over the next six months (there should be at least one memorable example) into a text file.
(2) Encrypt said text file.
(3) Give text file to a custodian. I sure Art Bell would volunteer, he’s very interested in time travel.
(4) In six months time give Art the encryption key and he can reveal what you said.))
The only problem is, now you have to trust the person who brings the information forward.RANDY:I’m not sure you really wanted me to answer those questions. If you could be more specific I would enjoy the conversation. Do you believe that faith alone will get you to God? Do you believe in an organized force of evil that works against men’s souls?
13 coming…
Posted by Randy Empey on 02-19-2001 01:00 PM
Thumbs upJohn T —I would like you to answer any of the questions which you feel you can answer. I would not ask were I not curious. You, of course, are allowed to censor yourself and direct the conversation by what you choose to respond to and say.It may interest you to read some of the other threads on this bbs, the ones about other topics, like religion . . . and post in them.But I think I can provide a brief response to your questions to promote further conversation here.I believe that faith AND good works will get one to God. There are other things, but they can arguably be included under the headings of ‘faith’ and ‘good works’.I believe there is an organized force of evil that works against God’s plan for men’s souls. Its all part of the plan.Your next question may be “Why do you believe that?” . . .My answer is two part:[1] I was born into a family where such beliefs run strong. It feels right to believe what my loved ones believe.[2] My studies since my childhood have done nothing but confirm that such beliefs are at least well founded, if not indicated by the way I understand that ‘things’ work in this reality. By this I allude to many different avenues of the pursuit of knowledge. Recently, the most convincing has been things I’ve learned in my study of physics, of all things . . .Some scientist say science has made them atheists . . . I say science, as I understand it, has had the opposite effect on many others.I like to think, and the more I think, the more I become convinced that my beliefs are accurate enough for my purposes.But, they are beliefs, and I could not prove them to you.Another reason why I am stubborn in some of these beliefs, the religious ones and other parts of my philosophy is because it feels right — almost as if by intuition or subconscious communications from ‘the other side’.I don’t think the possibility of TT disagrees in any way with any of the elements of my philosophy.I think many reading this thread would like you to expound on the elements of your philosophy, John.I vaguely remember you mentioned being religious . . . am I remembering straight? (I’ll look over the past posts of course, but reiteration doesn’t hurt.) How would you answer your own questions?Could you talk a bit more on how the ‘many worlds’ view point introduced by the advent of the TT tech. developed in your society affects the religious views of both the masses and the thinkers?I think that it works with the way I understand things — Falling under the ‘many flocks’ argument, if nothing else.You mention gathering written material here . . . so I assume you do a lot of reading — before this trip, in your spare time, did you read much fiction? If so, what genre? Any books from this century?What brought you to this bbs in the first place?And here is another character-o-meter question I’d like you to answer: Have you seen George Lucas’s Star Wars Trilogy (bonus points for any of the prequels or sequels)?
Posted by Joe Norris on 02-19-2001 01:12 PM
Question1: What happens to Bill Clinton between now and 20362: What happens to Bill Gates between now and 2036I am sure these are both headline events that will be talked about for several years to come.
Posted by John Titor on 02-19-2001 01:14 PM
RANDY:
((I believe that faith AND good works will get one to God. There are other things, but they can arguably be included under the headings of ‘faith’ and ‘good works’.
I believe there is an organized force of evil that works against God’s plan for men’s souls. It’s all part of the plan. Your next question may be “Why do you believe that?” ))
Please don’t think me so cynical. I would never insult or degrade someone’s religious views. My next questions would be “what about knowledge?” I am a firm believer that faith (and good works) is not enough to get to God. There is a mystery we must solve first.
((I vaguely remember you mentioned being religious . . . am I remembering straight? (I’ll look over the past posts of course, but reiteration doesn’t hurt.) How would you answer your own questions?))
Yes, I believe in organized evil. It would sure be easier to carry out an “evil” plan if no one beloved you existed. Just curious, can anyone tell me what “Satan” really means?
Had to answer those quickly. I have nothing but open-mindedness for religious conversation and I look forward to more. I’ll get to the other questions soon.
Thanks.
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-19-2001 02:45 PM
WinkHi John:Best I could find is from the Hebrew Ha-Satan, or “the Adversary.”First, let’s examine what the Bible reveals about the origin of Satan and the demons.EZEKIEL 28:12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.
16 By the abundance of your trading [rekullatek] you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. 17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor . . .” (NKJV)
REVELATION 12:3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. . . . (NKJV)
LUKE 10:17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (NKJV)
From the preceding Scriptures, we can learn several things about Satan and the fallen angels. In the beginning, this “anointed cherub” was created as a wise, beautiful, and powerful angel. He apparently was one of the two cherubs who cover the mercy seat (God’s throne) with their wings (see Heb. 8:5; 9:5, 23-24; Exo. 25:20; 37:9; I Kin. 6:19-28; 8:6-7; I Chr. 28:18; II Chr.3:10-13; 5:7-8). However, because of pride in his beauty, this cherub’s wisdom was corrupted.Satan is symbolically called the “king of Tyre” (Eze. 28:12). The coastal city-state of Tyre was one of the world’s greatest traders during Israel’s monarch period. Isaiah calls Tyre “the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth” (Isa. 23:8).Although the Scriptures don’t define the trade Satan was engaged in, it clearly tells us that because of the abundance of his trade, he sinned. Possibly Satan implemented a system of competition rather than cooperation, which eventually filled him with violence, causing his iniquity.The word rendered “trading” in the NKJV translation of Ezekiel 28:16 is a form of the Hebrew noun rekulla, which means “traffic” or “merchandise.” This particular form of rekulla is only found five times, all in Ezekiel (Eze. 26:12; 27:20, 23; 28:16, 18).However, rekulla is derived from the root word rakal. It’s relevant to note that a closely-related derivative, rakil, means “slanderer.” It’s used in this context six times (Lev. 19:16; Jer. 6:28; 9:4; Eze. 22:9; Pro. 11:13; 20:19).
The account of Satan in Ezekiel 28 could well involve aspects of both these meanings. In the New Testament, this fallen angel is often called the “devil,” or the diabolos in the Greek (Matt. 4:1, 5, 8, 11; 13:39; 25:41; Luke 4:2, 3, 6, 13; 8:12; John 8:44; 13:2; Acts 10:38; 13:10; Eph. 4:27; 6:11; I Tim. 3:6, 7; II Tim. 2:26; Heb. 2:14; Jam. 4:27; I Pet. 5:8; I John 3:8, 10; Jude 9; Rev. 2:10; 12:9, 12; 20:2, 10). Not coincidentally, the literal meaning of diabolos and its variations is “slanderer.”It’s possible that through his “slander” and “gossip,” Satan turned one-third of the angelic host against God. We know that Satan tried this approach in the Garden of Eden, when he misrepresented God’s motives to Eve (Gen. 3:1-5). The angelic forces loyal to God eventually had to cast this “anointed cherub,” along with his allies, out of heaven. From that point forward he became known in Hebrew as Ha-Satan, or “the Adversary.”There is more e-mail me if anyone wants the restPeace
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-19-2001 03:25 PM
SmileI’m still waiting for you to respond to my questions TT_0. After all, I did put HJYABJ 100 at the end of my post.-Javier C.P.S. Now it’s no longer an excuse of not being able to log on. We await your respond.
Posted by Simon Wiggins on 02-19-2001 03:32 PM
>>The only problem is, now you have to trust the person who brings the information forward.Why if I had a glove sir !!!Of course you could trust Art to fess up if you were right!You must be from a very dystopian future to be so cynical
Posted by Nikki Colwill on 02-19-2001 04:57 PM
I just gotta say this is some of the best reading entertainment I have had in a LONG time!!!
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-19-2001 06:10 PM
SmileHi everybody. wow! this is a very interesting forum.for any body wanting to see what a IBM 5100 portable computer looks like they can see one here:you will have to type it in I guess direct links are not allowed. ((http://mercury.sfsu.edu/~hl/c.IBM.5100.html))
I am hoping this shows up ok and does not offend the moderators.It is on the other board but I was not sure if the link to the other board was still on here.Anyway it looks like a very interesting piece of machinery.It will give you a better idea on the machine John is talking about that he went back to 1975 to get. how big it is and what it looks like.sincerely,pamela
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-19-2001 07:21 PM
To John,I hope you will get to some of my previous questions, in the meantime I have more.Why are orphans an issue? It seems war orphans would be pretty old by now.What is your biggest or gravest environmental issue?Does distillation remove radioactivity from water?Do people still watch TV?Are there any women on your travel team? What is the status of women in your time? (This may only be able to be answered by a woman)Do they hold office? Work outside the home? Get equal pay? Are they safe on the streets at night?
What do women wear for the most part?Are the Amish alive and well?What is the birth rate?Is there an unusual rate of birth defects and if so what kind?Maybe you should be taking back healthy sperm and eggs.You said that your culture was centered around the Universities. Weren’t they wiped out in the war? They are in cities after all.Do you use cell phones? Eat allot of red meat? Drive cars?Are airlines in operation? Internationally?Are people pressured (subtle or otherwise) to adhere to a Christian doctrine?Do police make drug busts? Are there many jails? What kind of criminals are in them?What kind of public punishment is there? Sounds like New England during religious persecution and intolerance.Are there Wholistic healers? Herbal medicines? Alternative life styles?Is there personal freedom?Is there an IRS and a need to keep a lot of receipts and paperwork around to justify yourself?Is the same type of currency used? Is ours today good in say 2010 or 2020?Other than time travel how do most people get around the country? Do people tend to travel much?Are people suspicious of strangers or all you one big happy family now?How do most people die during the war? Radiation, starvation? bullet wounds?I have more but I better quit to see if you will get to these and don’t forget my first posting, please.Thanks,lola
Posted by John Titor on 02-19-2001 07:25 PM
ERNIE:
((ARTIFICIAL MICROSINGULARITY = LOCALIZED KERR FIELD
Through trial and error, and although they are quite heavy, hot and capable of putting out a great deal of energy (300 – 500 megawatts), it’s discovered that these microsingularities can be electrified and captured. It is also interesting to note at this point that electrified singularities also have two event horizons. By spinning these various microsingularities, a localized Kerr field is created.
It looks like a prediction. Is it.))
If you can take that paragraph and find a way to make a dollar from it than more power to you.BLONNIE:
((i would first like to state that i for one have never said you’re an idiot – i said you are aggravating. which is not really a personal problem w/yourself it is just how i perceive you to be. an adjective – not a noun.))
Point taken. I apologize.
((so that’s what this is all about? you come here & want us to “help” you by asking questions.. so you can figure out how -we- percieve things & why we think the way we do but you do not recipricate the efforts. you only discuss things that you care about or that -you- think are important or that -you- think you will “gain” something from. seems rather -one-sided- to me.))
I was hoping it wouldn’t be so confrontational. I don’t see how words can harm either one of us.
((so you return home w/a better understanding while we’re left here w/the same questions we had before? it doesn’t seem very beneficial to -us-..just to -you- (atleast from your statements)).
You must believe that we both have interesting things to say to each other. Isn’t that worth it all by itself?JAVIER:
((What state do you live in now in 2001?))
I am in Florida.
((Is John Titor your real name?))
Yes, John Titor is a real name.
((What do you look like? Post a picture of your self. ))
No.
((What is your secret agenda?))
If I tell you, it would just be an agenda, which I’m sure, is much less interesting.
((Is this dialogue between people in these posts part of your secret agenda?))
If I had a secret agenda, talking to people would not be part of it.
((Does your younger self realize what you are?))
Yes, he is aware that I exist but he doesn’t know who I am.
((Are you married?))
No but I did have a chance to convince myself otherwise.
((What rank were you in the Army?))
It is the equivalent of Major.
((Where did you go to BCT?))
I wasn’t fortunate enough to go to basic. We were fighting a war at the time.
((What company were you with, and what year did you graduate from BCT?))
The organization of the fighting unit I was in fell under the militia. We fought against the organized army. [Highlighted by metallicman.]
((You have any fears? If so, what are they?))
I fear people who want others to take action based on their own emotions and irrational fears.[Highlighted by metallicman.]
((What are the rules for fraternizing with people who aren’t from your time; do you make friends easily here in 2001?))
Have common sense and get your job done. Yes, I have friends.
((What would the DOD do to you if they found you out?))
I’m sure I would end up in one of their nice little padded cells while they poked at my machine with a screwdriver. What do you think they would do?
((What would you do if someone attempted to investigate you? Hundreds of people go through these forums a day I’m sure. Some of which can be government. Aren’t you at all worried that it’s only a matter of time before you are found out?))
I don’t worry about that very much. No one believes me anyway. Right?
((And you said; “I very much want to discuss our cultures but please help me understand how you won’t be able to change something I tell you happened on my worldine.” ))
Suppose I told you the space shuttle would have a problem landing at Kennedy tomorrow because something goes wrong with the runway. If someone with the authority to do so hears that and makes the decision to land at Edwards…bingo, your future has changed from my past.
((I appreciate you answering these questions for me John, and thank you for calling me your friend.))
I’d really like to believe thatRICK:
((I want you to understand something – since you’re using our discussions to make a determination of our thinking for when you go back.))
I am not qualified to judge you. I merely said it would be a subject of discussion when I return.
((However, rest assured, if I went to the security office and said, “I have access to a time traveler” I’d get laughed at. I’d have to get in touch with the “right people” to “report” the incident, and even then the skeptics would over rule the “believers”.))
If that were not the case, I would not be posting at all.
((The US government… Russian or any other, would be in the same boat. They would, if they could believe it, GRAB and hold time travelers – checking the veracity of their stories and preventing them from having any interaction with anyone.))
Yes, that’s what I think too. The irony is, I’m not sure the machine will really do anything for them and all I can give them is stock quotes and sports news. (Just a little humor.)
((So – John, my comments about being fraudulent – please don’t take them seriously and please do not think I have anything against you personally, nor wish to discredit you. I only want the honest truth.))
I don’t. Truth is something we all want. Like opportunity, its something you have to be ready for to recognize it.
((John, what would it take to get you to stick around after spring and leave during the next window of opportunity?))
My parents are much better at cards than I am. I fear they may not let me leave in such debt. If I had all the time I needed, I would spend much more time downloading and archiving.[Perhaps his true purpose is fundamentally to collect data off the internet. Highlighted by metallicman.]
((I fear that another month or 2 may not be enough time to get as much said and discussed as I would like to have.))
I will continue to answer the posts as long as I can.
((In your “world time” have things like “Saquatch” , “Loch Ness monster”, and other reported unusual animals been seen, or captured or explained away. ))
We have our swamp monsters too. In fact, I think it’s interesting that we all respond to the unknown the same way regardless of our cultural experiences.
((Is remote viewing used to gather military intelligence?))
I am only aware of it from this world-line. I don’t know otherwise.
((Are psychics still common? are they used by the government?))
Yes, psychics exist but I don’t have any knowledge of their use by the military.
((Is there a Police Dept as we know it. Have any of your top leaders or politicians been jailed or impeached?))
Yes, we have police but they are organized in smaller groups. Yes, we still have political and religious leaders who find it difficult to obey the law. I would submit to you that the law is only as good as the people’s willingness to apply it evenly and swiftly.[Highlighted by metallicman.]
((John, any chance of getting a better set of photos with more of the manual?. ))
Yes, I am pondering posting more of the manual. I am also considering having my departure videotaped and yes, it will be free. My only concern is how it might affect the “me” on this worldline.
((John please respond to my question as to “the prediction” did I jump the Gun? (get ahead of myself).)
I’ll have to go back and take a second look. Post again and remind me.
((One final question? Is there a Global Superpower state and what nation is it.))
Being a superpower only makes you a target. There is an uneasy balance in the world now that everyone “probably” has nukes, chems or bios. We don’t just bomb people for the hell of it anymore. Military power is based on the number of autonomous fighting men who are actually willing to fight.CRAIG:
((I guess you are held accountable, in some way, for changes that occur in your time period..))
You’re pretty much correct about your statement but actually, nothing I do here will affect my home. I hold myself accountable for any damage I do.
((It seems to me that with the cities under such stresses, people would flock in large numbers to remote areas like Winnipeg (sorry guys) or some other region with plenty of clean water, air and soil. Why is this such a nelected fix? I would also imagine that the network of Intentional Communities (communes?) that took root over the years, would provide infrastructural support to a nation needing to find its “FOXFIRE” roots.))
In my opinion, people “now” take clean water, electricity and their feeling of safety for granted. If they leave the city in search of fresh water they first have to make the realization that fresh water is a problem. It’s much easier to demand someone else owes you fresh water than it is to leave the lifestyle that made it bad in the first place.[Highlighted by metallicman.]
((If I was transposed to the 1920’s or 30’s, you would have a hard time keeping me off the streets, out of public places, shops, concert halls, etc. just trying to take it all in. Ditto with just about any other time and place.))
I agree with you. The first time I walked into a “superstore” I cried. I’d never seen so much excess in one place at one time.RICK:
((It is interesting to note that the photos posted on that other site were posted by an “anonomyous time traveler” some time back. It fits the exact description John has give us of his machine. Therefore, based on his discription alone, I would say he is the one that posted the pictures. If he didn’t post them, then he is using them for the basis of his story.))
Those are mine. They were posted by another person who I’m sure is reading this also and would be happy to confirm that.
((John – in looking closely at this device, I see there is a hand control unit – with some sort of screen on it. I assume this is the computer interface through which the device is programmed (or time settings are made). Is that an accurate assumption? What does the display show you (for instance, does it simply show things like time/date calculations, or radiation [probably wrong word] of the fields from the device?))
Yes, that is a remote unit. The unit itself gets hot and “unapproachable” during long travel and you’re usually subjected to about 2 G’s. It gets a little difficult to move around and the hand held unit sits next to you. The unit displays many things but time in transit, time to destination, VGL variance and unit temperature are the most common during travel.[Highlighted by metallicman.]
((Also, there are 16 apparent buttons. I have to assume further that these are multifunction keys (that is you press one for an alt/control function and other buttons have names or labels and perhaps even numerical meanings). Is that also accurate?))
Yes, the menus are screen driven. [Highlighted by metallicman.]
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-19-2001 07:53 PM
SmileConfirming for John:“”””RICK:((It is interesting to note that the photos posted on that other site were posted by an “anonymous time traveler” some time back. It fits the exact description John has give us of his machine. Therefore, based on his description alone, I would say he is the one that posted the pictures. If he didn’t post them, then he is using them for the basis of his story.))Those are mine. They were posted by another person who I’m sure is reading this also and would be happy to confirm that. “””””Yes, I will confirm the fact that John did send me the photos and I sent them to Doc ,who is also a friend of mine ,to post on his board.and I will be more than happy to post more of your manual if you want, John.
[Highlighted by metallicman.]sincerely,pamela
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-19-2001 08:13 PM
How do I find the pictures and manual pages you are speaking of?Thanks
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-19-2001 10:07 PM
John,So those responds to our questions took you 5 days to come up with? Is that the best you could do?Your not really efficient are you, when you’re asked to think on your feet?You said you went to basic training remember, on the other forum? And that’s how you got asked to be apart of this Time Travel project in the first place. Be consistent.And the question was, “Is John Titor your real name?”Your response, “Yes, John Titor is a real name.”And you didn’t even answer the other questions fully. You answered them like a politician would, and that’s by stepping around the truth without actually lying. You’re to generic. But it’s logical enough to keep your story and claims going.But for how long ?-Javier C.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 02-19-2001 at 10:13 PM]
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-19-2001 10:18 PM
John you were asked these 2 questions, and you responded to them. But I would like you to answer them again, and to please elaborate more on them. Thank you.((John, any chance of getting a better set of photos with more of the manual?. ))……..My only concern is how it might affect the “me” on this worldline.((I guess you are held accountable, in some way, for changes that occur in your time period..))……..nothing I do here will affect my home. I hold myself accountable for any damage I do.So where do you stand? Your awfully unclear when asked questions of this nature. And you always give a conflicting point of view to others you’ve had to answer. And it’s always about you.So how about we set the record straight here this time, huh ?Oh and by the way everyone. John here says no one believes him… Is that right everyone? Well if that’s true or not, he’s in FLORIDA and goes by the name of JOHN TITOR. Do your own investigation, and show him how much you believe him. I’m sure you’ll get some takers .-J.C.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 02-19-2001 at 10:46 PM]
Posted by John Titor on 02-20-2001 05:06 AM
JAVIER:
((So those responds to our questions took you 5 days to come up with? Is that the best you could do?))
How many days seem normal?
((You said you went to basic training remember, on the other forum? And that’s how you got asked to be apart of this Time Travel project in the first place. Be consistent.))
Your question referred to army basic training. My earlier comment referred to be chosen for this mission.
((…You answered them like a politician would, and that’s by stepping around the truth without actually lying. You’re to generic. But it’s logical enough to keep your story and claims going.))
I’m not sure but it sure looks like your trying to say I’m being truthful within your expectations. However, if you’re trying to hurt my feelings, comparing me to a politician will do it.
(……..My only concern is how it might affect the “me” on this world-line.)
Actually, this is a good question. If the “me” here goes on to have the same type of life and future work that I did, it may not look good on his resume that another “him” has left a videotape behind of his future mission to 1975.
((I guess you are held accountable, in some way, for changes that occur in your time period..))
((So where do you stand? Your awfully unclear when asked questions of this nature. And you always give a conflicting point of view to others you’ve had to answer. And it’s always about you.))
If you look at my concern carefully, you can see that it won’t affect me at all. It affects him.
((Oh and by the way everyone. John here says no one believes him… Is that right everyone? Well if that’s true or not, he’s in FLORIDA and goes by the name of JOHN TITOR. Do your own investigation, and show him how much you believe him. I’m sure you’ll get some takers))
I’m touched by your concern for my safety.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-20-2001 07:49 AM
Art had a fellow on the show the other day from a Time Travel organization.John, do they have anything to do with the “future” of time travel as YOU know it? The information can be found on Art Bell’s site, as well as the full audio archive of the show.If you get the chance, listen in, and check out the web site and tell us what you think of the information the doctor provided on the show.About video taping the departure… Let us assume you do this, and your agents (family?) in Florida send the tape to the Sci Fi channel, or to Art Bell… how would this affect you in the future?Theoretically speaking, I doubt that anyone could determine that you actually time traveled, but it would certainly make a very good show.When you depart this time, what is it we will see? Will the vehicle simply vanish instantly, or fade out? Will a “bubble” of time develop around the vehicle causing an darkened sphere preventing light from going through? Will anything (other biological entities) caught in the “time sphere” vanish as well – more specifically, any plants or animal life that approaches too closely to the vehicle… will they get dragged along?Rick
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-20-2001 08:16 AM
Rick,I am not familiar with Art’s site what is the name of the program on the time travel organization audio and how do i find it? I would like to listen to it. thanks.sincerely,pamela
.........I know John is busy archiving and I am going to help him out on this one because he has already answered the last couple of questions you had. I am sure he will appreciate it. here you go Rick:Pamela:
1.What exactly would an observer see as they saw you arriving in this time? and exactly what would they see as you departed? would you just appear suddenly or slowly? would you look like a heat mirage for awhile? any light effects? or hazy misty shimmering distortion?Time travel_0-The observation of time travelers “appearing” suddenly in a world line do not happen very often. There are two cases and two points of view to consider. In the first case, the time machine does not move as it goes from one world line to another and then returns. The people watching on the original world-line would wave good bye and watch as the machine is turned on.
There would be a static discharge and the air would appear to “ripple” as if it were getting denser. Then, it would stop and the machine will have appeared to have gone no where. If the machine doesn’t move its position from world line to world line, the observer would not see it disappear at all.
In the second case, if the machine is moved, it would disappear from the viewpoint of the observer and return in a different location based on where it was moved and turned on from the destination world line.
In that case, the rippling seems to dissolve the machine and it disappears. If that happens while you are watching it leave and you expect it to return, you know it was moved or had a serious malfunction. It is actually quite dangerous to get too close to a distortion unit as it enters or leaves a world line.
It vents radiation and has a very strong localized gravity field. Personally, I worry about that a great deal.Pamela:
2.What is the dimension of the field around the car? How many feet out from the car would you say it goes?Timetravel_0-
It can be adjusted to some degree. The CG (center of gravity) is adjustable within about 4 feet and the unit is effective about 10 to 12 feet in either direction from there. The vertical distance is quite a bit shorter and is determined by sensors in the unit.Pamela:
3.approximately in inches how much of the ground is taken with you in one trip?timetravel_0-
Depending on weather or not you are going forward or backward, the footprint of the unit is different. I wouldn’t quite say it “scoops” up the ground cleanly.
It sort of vibrates it loose and takes it along for the ride.
It looks like someone raked the ground an inch or so deep with a small hand hoe or shovel. The negative ergosphere “scoops” up the front and back areas of the field. The positive ergosphere leaves a longer area near the center of mass. Its about a cubic foot of dirt spread out over six square feet or so.Pamela:
4.If they put the device in a house and turned it on what do you think would happen?Timetravel_0-
It might not be as destructive as you think. Depending on how close any object is to the field, it might not do any damage at all except for the floor.Pamela:
5.what would happen to a bird or small animal that ran across the field right when it was producing the field to travel?Timetravel_0-
It would be quickly spread out over the lateral length of the gravity field. Imagine being squished and stretched at the same time. I would imagine anything left after that would be vaporized and generate static electricity.Pamela:
6.how hot would you say the temperature gets on the outside of the car while in operation?Timetravel_0-
Very! hot. Depending on the power setting, 100 to 120 degrees is average.Pamela:
7.is the car in drive mode when the device is activated or is it totally turned off?Timetravel_0-
The car is off and the brake on.Pamela:
8.has the device been tested on ships and airplanes?Timetravel_0-
Not that I’m aware of. Its important that it remain as still as possible so the gravity sensors can get a good lock. The divergence confidence would be way off if the vehicle was moving.Pamela:
9.do you wear special uniforms when you time travel? what do they look like and does your group have a time-travel emblem or group name?Timetravel_0-
I wear a standard civilian service uniform during instruction and training. Its sort of a cross between an army uniform and overalls. We do have a quarter master who distributes clothing appropriate to where ever we are going. There is a patch. It is round and has a graphic of a Kerr singularity (sort of looks like an eye with gravity waves around it)with two spiral paths running through it’s center. One path represents the “safe” way and the other is the path to God. The bottom of the patch has my unit number along with “Temporal Recon” printed on it. However, we remove any identification and patches before we go anywhere……………………………………….Pamela:by the way can you tell me what it feels like to time travel? when you arein the process of doing it what does it feel like and what do you see andhear. you made mention that you had to get use to the fields. Do you see abright flash of light?Timetravel_0:Interesting first question. The unit has a ramp up time after the destination coordinates are fed into the computers. An audible alarm and a small light start a short countdown at which point you should be secured in a seat. The gravity field generated by the unit overtakes you very quickly.
You feel a tug toward the unit similar to rising quickly in an elevator and it continues to rise based on the power setting the unit is working under.
At 100% power, the constant pull of gravity can be as high as 2 Gs or more
depending on how close you are to the unit. There are no serious side
effects but I try to avoid eating before a flight.
No bright flash of light is seen.
Outside, the vehicle appears to accelerate as the light is bent around it. We have to wear sunglasses or close our eyes as this happens due to a short burst of ultraviolet radiation. Personally I think it looks like your driving under a rainbow.
After that, it appears to fade to black and remains totally black until the unit is turned off. We are advised to keep the windows closed as a great deal of heat builds up outside the car. The gravity field also traps a small air pocket around the car that acts as your only O2 supply unless you bring compressed air with you. This pocket will only last for a short period and a carbon sensor tells us when it’s too dangerous. The C204 unit is accurate from 50 to 60 years a jump and travels at about 10 years an hour at 100% power.
You do hear a slight hum as the unit operates and when the power changes or the unit turns off. There is a great deal of electrical crackling noise from static electricity.[Edited by Pamela Moore on 02-20-2001 at 08:54 AM]
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-20-2001 08:31 AM
http://www.artbell.com/topics.html (Link here)The information below will be listed on the site. The guy is Dr. Anderson. His site is listed below.Rick02/15/01 – Thu/FriGuest: Richard C. HoaglandBook: The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of ForeverWebsite: http://www.enterprisemission.comTopic Search: Apollo MissionsGuest: Dr David AndersonWebsite: http://www.time-travel.comTopic Search: Time Travel
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-20-2001 09:57 AM
Hi Pamela. Thanks for the answers. I assume you have all this archived from another BBS or something?What’s your part in all this? How did you get the pictures of the machine? Do you know, or have you met John personally?Have you seen the time machine yourself?John – If you wouldn’t mind, could you post a few more photos of the manual. Not anything that might give away some secret or something, but something that would be interesting from a scientific point of view? ThanksRick
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-20-2001 03:20 PM
SmileHi Rick,((I assume you have all of this archived from another BBS or something?))This piece of information originally came from an email conversation between John and I and yes, it was posted on the timetravelinstitute BB. I only submitted it here so John didnt have to explain it all over again. and it answered your question. I asked him the same question.((What’s your part in all of this?))I am not exactly sure… yet.((How did you get pictures of the machine?))John gave them to me.((Do you know, or have you met John personally?))I have been talking to John since Nov. 2, 2000.Where I came in contact with him through the timetravelinstitute. I have been in communication with him every since.Thank you for the link, Rick. I listened to Dr. Anderson it was very interesting indeed. a lot of information. hopefully John will have a chance to listen to it.
I am pleasantly surprised I didn't realize what a great source of information Art had here on his web site. I will be listening to several other audios.sincerely,pamela
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-20-2001 03:38 PM
You flatter your self John. You know very well I didn’t mean that. I think that was a desperate move on your part. Like always attempting to turn it back to the reciever.And I’m picking up that your a bit annoyed. What ever happened to thinking rational? One of your fears isn’t it?I am pressed for time at the moment, but I will return later to finish this post A.S.A.P.-Javier C.
Posted by Brett Fredrico on 02-20-2001 05:09 PM
John posted the following yesterday(2/19/01):<——SNIPSuppose I told you the space shuttle would have a problem landing at Kennedy tomorrow because something goes wrong with the runway. If someone with the authority to do so hears that and makes the decision to land at Edwards…bingo, your future has changed from my past.<——SNIPWell, what did happen today? The space shuttle was scheduled to land at Kennedy as of this morning but was changed to Edwards at the last minute because of weather. This happens almost half the time though…..so John had a (50/50) chance of telling us the future if that is what he intended to do.
Posted by John Titor on 02-20-2001 05:23 PM
((so John had a (50/50) chance of telling us the future if that is what he intended to do.))
Yes, there was a 50/50 chance of that happening but the odds were easily one out two that it could have gone the other way.
Posted by Phillip Stout on 02-20-2001 05:56 PM
John,You said that there will be a big war right? And that Russia will nuke some of our major cities, right? Can you at least tell us which cities will be nuked? I’m already guessing you can’t. I pray Anchorage isn’t one of them..Are we traveling in space in 2036?Have we made it to Mars?Have we colonized the Moon?Has first contact with an alien race occured?
Posted by Doug Beauchamp on 02-20-2001 06:51 PM
Just a few questions, I apologize if they don’t seem 100% thought out or if they’ve already been answered, I’m tired and I have a lot of work still to do.1) You say your machine has roughly a 60 year limit. Is it possible to go back 60 years and then another 60 years?2) Have the people of your time proved the “world-line theory?” If they have, is there any information you can share with is that proves it?3) Ever hear the story of Edipus? To make a long story short, after being told he will kill his father and marry his mother he moves far away. On the road he acciddently killed his father and ended up marrying his mother. Thus, the prophecy is what caused him to fulfill it. You say you don’t want to effect anything too much by giving out information, but you could drastically change this worldline just by talking about the war, or anything for that matter.
Posted by Stephen McKay on 02-20-2001 06:58 PM
John,If you’re interested in posting some more photos and (pending your decision) the video of your departure, I would be happy to display them on my site. I’ve only got 5 meg storage, but I’m not using it at the moment.I’m eager to see some better photosE-mail me if you’re interested.Steve
Posted by James R.Quayle III on 02-20-2001 07:29 PM
QuestionJohn Titor ,i posted to you before and would like to let you know that i would love to come along for the ride to the future if you need a sidekick,i am able to fly hot air balloons,a good shot,physically strong and quick,smart on my feet in case a odd event occurs and I would not mind leaving this time to go to yours.
I am not attached to any one on this earth ,after all my ET encounters I need not worry of much of this earth,i am 31 and have much experience in the Occult(the hidden),and ET/human affairs,Oh and i know another TT traveler,and have met others.agentq3@hotmail.com
I thought i would get to the point ,and those who brave to ask get the Willy Wonka Golden TIcket,eh,John Titor,(Or do you not know of that movie reference) ?
Posted by Chris Forrest on 02-20-2001 08:01 PM
SmileJohn Titor,ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US.Well, I don’t buy your story. Sorry, some slang terms seem to confuse you. I don’t BELIEVE your story. I don’t pretend to know the first thing about such advanced topics as time travel, calculating a NFL quarterback rating, or the perfect temperature to cook a Hot Pocket in. Having written all that, of course I do have a question, something that will definitely tell me whether you are full of it or not.So here goes…There have been many movements in music…rock, disco, and hip hop are some of them. Though most people probably can’t rifle out names of musical groups from 35 years ago, they probably would have a basic awareness of what musical influences prevailed at the time. So my question is…what is the NEXT big movement in music that will take place here in the US, specifically?I have the feeling this sort of knowledge isn’t the stuff you go to Vegas and bet on, because it’s pretty generalized and pretty vague, as well. Of course, being as simple-minded as I am, I would figure that most people your age would know at least the types of musical influences that were around as they were growing up. A direct answer will work here, if you don’t mind.>>Chris>>
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-20-2001 09:58 PM
John,I like your format, and I see the representative you hired to answer your posts does also. Don’t mind if I steal it from you for just a moment .((How many days seem normal?)). 2 at the most. Especially when you make grandiose claims of being from the year 2036. Your credibility suffers big time when you don’t reply. Gives the impression that your trying to figure out what to say next .((Your question referred to army basic training. My earlier comment referred to be choosen for this mission.))Are you sure about that? I remember distinctively you saying that you got approached for this mission right after basic training. I mean, it was one of my first posts to you in the other forum. After saying “good thing I got injured, or that would have been my fate too.”By the way, not to be picky or anything. But I know how perfect you like to have things with your writing. I just wanted to point out that you misspelled CHOOSEN. It’s Chosen, with one O.((I’m not sure but it sure looks like your trying to say I’m being truthful within your expectations. However, if you’re trying to hurt my feelings, comparing me to a politician will do it.))Ok, here’s were we had a failure in communication. I have been saying all along that you manipulate your statements to benefit your story. I was only saying that you keep doing this, while dodging certain things that would discredit you. But mainly what I’m saying is that your story is very important to you, and that consistency is paramount to you. Right?((Actually, this is a good question. If the “me” here goes on to have the same type of life and future work that I did, it may not look good on his resume that another “him” has left a videotape behind of his future mission to 1975.))Now you think about this? So you’re this Time Traveler from the year 2036 who somehow managed to learn perfect English while fighting a war. But when you Time Traveled to the year 2000 you just had to spill the beans to everyone, and are now finally realizing the out comes of your actions might not be wise.Man, how irresponsible is that? Do you have any idea how you exploited your self here? Talk about chewing gum and walking at the same time .((If you look at my concern carefully, you can see that it won’t affect me at all. It affects him.))Yeah I see your concern.[1] Announcing to the whole world who you are.[2] Telling everyone what the future is going to be like, and what to watch out for.[3] Sharing scientific theories of Time Travel to your past, which is our present .[4] Using your perfect English and logic to manipulate others into believing and following your story.[5] Asking for volunteers to go back with you to the year 2036.[6] Saying where you were born and where you live, and knowing that government officials read these post everyday.[7] Admitting that you have a secret agenda. With that said, you know anything you say can be questionable. In other words, you can be lying to everyone big time about everything, your purpose, your motives, your reason for being here.[8] Offering to make a videotape of your departure.And much much more.Yeah I can see how you’re really concerned.I’m sure little Johnny will thank you for making his stay in a government facility the most comfortable during the war and missing his opportunity in becoming a Time Traveler?((I’m touched by your concern for my safety.))You said your self no one believes you. I was merely trying to see if you were correct. Excuse me for trying to take a poll.-Javier C.
Posted by John Titor on 02-21-2001 06:33 AM
Perhaps it goes without saying but I would urge everyone to listen to Art’s show tonight.
Posted by Mel Reckling on 02-21-2001 07:43 AM
Am I getting this right? You load up all the people who want to go with you in the back of your Chevy pickup, drive from Florida to Minnesota. Sell that truck in Minnesota, buy another truck older than 1975, load everyone back in that truck, drive back to Florida and then depart back to the future. Sounds like it will be quite a sight to behold. If you can, swing by Ohio and give me a honk. Your welcome to stay at my place.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-21-2001 08:01 AM
Why is that John, somehow you managed to pay your way to get on the air? So your thinking big now huh?No problem.Little Johny needs all the free publicity he can get.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-21-2001 08:26 AM
Javier – I read your note here, and was thinking about something you said… something about “knowing government officials read these posts every day”.
Actually, I really don’t think they do.Think about this for a minute. I am one of the few government people I know that read stuff like this. To me, it is interesting (and there isn’t anything wrong with fantasy role playing in my opinion – assuming that is what John [and perhaps the rest of us] are doing).It makes sense that one would think they are, but.. who has time? (I do… I have a pretty inanne job most of the time so I read stuff like this when I’m waiting on backups to complete or other things running in the background).I seriously doubt the CIA or FBI has the man power or the time to do it. Secondarily to that – the so-called “Carnivore” system can’t POSSIBLY look at everything out there. I know it can’t. No matter what people think. It isn’t possible to catch every conversation, email, web page, pager data or anything else in the “ether”. IMPOSSIBLE at this point.Anyway… that’s my opinion on the government watching this stuff. They simply “don’t believe it” and “have better things to do”.
Posted by John Titor on 02-21-2001 08:45 AM
ROY:
((Just wanted to recommend a book I think might tell you volumes about present macro socio-economic conditions that lay the foundation for the evolving political divisions you state lead to a civil war in the US in the near future. The book is “When Corporations Rule the World” by John C. Korten.))
I’ll look for it, thanks. I have a couple for you. The Nine Nations of North America and/or The Physics of Immortality (anyone recognize this author).ANDREW:
((1) would you be able to internationally travel by: traveling to the year 2001, fly a plane to the desired destination, and then go to the future from there? ))
You can only travel in time from a static position (at least with the unit I have). In order to do even this, you must have knowledge of the local terrain and building structures. That’s one of the basic protocols we do in any time period for possible, future travelers.[Which pretty much agrees with my contention that roads, especially long-duration roads at cross sections, make the most stable destination targets for world-line and time-travel efforts. - Metallicman]
((2) If each world line is separate from the others, then wouldn’t the consequences of your actions now have no effect on your original world line?))
Yes, that’s correct.
((If this is the case, why won’t you tell us things that will give us knowledge or let us avoid death?))
I am not qualified to judge if you deserve it or not and I have no idea if you may be the next (for lack of a better reference) Hitler. However, if I were able to physically help you from a situation because I was there and I knew it was coming, I would help you.
((My only guess is that you are not a time traveler, and don’t want to say anything that could make a gullable person do something stupid. ))
Yes, I am aware that is the obvious first answer but I would hope my moral and logical arguments at least make a dent in your thinking. If you were a time traveler, would you be comfortable giving out all that information after considering the possible consequences? (Provided you knew it). If I were you, I would be worried about what the next time traveler might do….even by mistake.
((3) how can I leave a message for myself in the future if the things I do in this worldline do not effect the others?))
Just post it here. All this information will probably end up on the web in 2036. If you’re alive then and you think ahead for some reason to do a search on yourself, you might see it. Of course the “you” there would have no memory of doing it.MICHAEL:
((your prediction of its pending disintegration, beginning in three short years, is utterly improbable, if not impossible.))
Have you see the documentary on Waco? You can drive to a video store and rent it. It’s called “Waco – Rules of Engagement.” Just for argument’s sake, what do you think would happen if information were discovered that confirmed the worst accusations made against the law enforcement officers there? Would you hope….nothing?
((P.S. The idea of a farmer general leaving his fields to lead his country’s troops to victory is an old one going back, at least, to Roman times. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus, I believe, was the gentleman’s name, from the 5th Century B.C. Roman Republic.))
Yes, I often think about that when I see pictures of “my” farmer general in Omaha. It’s a large bronze depiction holding a shotgun in one hand a copy of the Constitution in the other. He is looking up at the sky in defiance of God after his father was killed. (At least his name isn’t Sparticus or William).ERNIE:
((I guess if you asked Joseph Campbell there are only a few stories and all literature is the re-telling of the same few stories in different settings.))
Just like life.Lola and the rest coming…
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-21-2001 10:28 AM
Javier,
You are getting very hostile. Lighten up! Why are you so threatened?
Does it really matter if John is authentic or not? The worst consequence of believing him is being better prepared in case of any emergency-natural disaster or otherwise. Weren’t you a boy-scout?
I think it would be more interesting, informative and just plain fun to find out more of what his vision of the future is than always trying to put him on the defensive.
(John, please stop buying into it)
Do you think you are going to finally find something to post that will get him to cry “Uncle!”. (Why wouldn’t he speak English?) I think you are getting too upset over this and you should ask yourself why.
Kind regards,Lola
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-21-2001 11:18 AM
How am I being hostile? I’m just asking John questions and answering his comments in the best manner that I know how. No one here is being hostile.Well, maybe you with those statements.Better then being a fanatic, who believes in people so blindly.Well John, you have another fan to back you up.Somehow some people here believe you need to be protected and backed up.Go fig.It must be your story that appeals to them .And I’m exposing you. And that just hurts some people’s feelings.[Edited by Javier Cortez on 02-21-2001 at 11:43 AM]
Posted by James R.Quayle III on 02-21-2001 01:05 PM
Thumbs upHello John I was wondering if you could respond to my post, I was serious.Agentq3
Posted by Joe Norris on 02-21-2001 01:29 PM
John:I guess there will be no answer about my Bill Clinton/Bill Gates post
Posted by John Titor on 02-21-2001 02:04 PM
If you take a look, I am answering every question in order unless I see something quick that I think needs a response.
Thanks.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-21-2001 02:53 PM
How about giving an estimate in how long they will have to wait to get an answer to their questions .[Edited by Javier Cortez on 02-21-2001 at 03:03 PM]
Posted by Doug Beauchamp on 02-21-2001 03:32 PM
Many people asking about the dangers of the war are asking about cities being nuked. During school today I was thinking about this, and nuclear warfare doesn’t seem to be the biggest form of fighting in the future.
Other than the small countries, I doubt nuclear warheads are going to be shot from each end of the globe.
To me, what seems like the biggest threat is biological warfare.
John, you say one of the hardest things to do in 2036 is find clean water. You also say you only trust food you’ve grown. Is any of this a result of your experiences with biological warfare? Is biological warfare a major threat in this war you speak of?This is definitely the least serious of my questions, but is there anymore background information you can give (What city you were born in, etc)? I understand if you can’t but after this thread is over I may get a little bored and see if I can find any information on the John Titor of “today,” assuming that’s your real name.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-21-2001 04:22 PM
Let’s get the facts straight.Javier I have been over those pages with a very open mind trying to figure out where you have seen John make that statement and I couldnt find it.This is the one you are claiming:[((Your question referred to army basic training. My earlier comment referred to be choosen for this mission))Are you sure about that? I remember distinctively you saying that you got approached for this mission right after basic training. I mean, it was one of my first posts to you in the other forum. After saying “good thing I got injured, or that would have been my fate also.]You made the statement on -Jan 1 2001page 6“well its a good thing I got injured in the Army, or else that might have been my fate as well.”awaiting your findings…could you please copy and paste the statement and tell me what page it is on…thanks.sincerely,pamela
Posted by John Titor on 02-21-2001 04:35 PM
LOLA:
((How far from what size city is it the safest to be?))
A 10 Kiloton nuclear weapon will vaporize metal for about ½ a mile and have a heat effect for about 3 miles. A 100 Megaton nuclear weapon will vaporize metal to 35 miles and have a heat effect to about 250 miles. I believe the largest nuclear weapon ever built and tested was about 60 megatons.
As I recall, the popular strategy toady is to strike targets with multiple numbers of smaller warheads. The 100 Kt to 1 Mt are the most popular. I believe there are about 150 – 200 major cities in the US and half as many military targets. Please correct me someone if I am grossly incorrect.
((You suggest bicycle. What about horseback?))
Yes, horses are good if you can feed and water them. Also, it’s very hard to eat a bicycle.
((Should we be stockpiling guns?))
The answer to this is NO!
You will draw a great deal of negative attention to yourself. I recommend become familiar with firearms. This means taking a safety course and learning to shoot and clean many different types. There will be plenty of guns around when you need them.
((What kind of people will be the ones least trustworthy?))
The people with the most to lose if the world changes -Camel through the eye of a needle?
((Is the conflict racial in any way?))
Not at all. In fact, I would say it goes a long way toward erasing racial problems.
((Does the civil war start in such a way that with this foreknowledge those willing will have time to remove themselves to safer locations.))
Yes. You will be forced to ask yourself how many civil rights you will give up to feel safe.[The reader needs to remember that this was written before 9-11.-Metallicman.]
((Will you readily be able to identify the enemy.))
They will be the ones arresting and holding people without due process.
((Does living near a river with a distillation unit take care of water problems?))
There is an odd saying that might be appropriate here. Safe is anywhere a hungry person can’t walk in three days. Water is important but you must consider that when people need it they will know where to get it. I would not plan on planting myself permanently next to a water source. Yes, distillation does make water safe but the runoff is highly dangerous. Please remember that distillation is not boiling.
((How are the five people within the 100 miles contacted?))
The goal is to have a place to go other than your house and to be able to trust someone with your life. Foster those relationships now.
((Do communications stay intact.))
Main communication systems no, CB, side-band and non-repeating short-wave, yes.
((I have 86 acres on a river in Central California about 125 miles north of LA. I have geese, turkeys, horses, chickens, milk cows, good pasture, a well run by electricity, and a garden. I also have two teenage sons who are gun nuts. Plenty of rifles, semi-automatic and otherwise.))
Be mobile. Set aside the things you absolutely would need and can carry on your back. You will not be able to stay anywhere indefinitely even with provisions and firearms.
(( Will he be asked to kill his countrymen?))
I’m not positive but don’t they sign a small piece of paper now asking them if they would have a problem with that?
Posted by Roy Meserve on 02-21-2001 05:44 PM
SmileThanks for those titles. I will look for them. To J Cortez chill… reality (and time) are very plastic things- we change the future AND the past constantly, and to far less noble ends. But, in the spirit of our friend- feel free to doubt and question- I do myself but I don’t let it stop me from trying to learn from what he has to say. Even the very common sense ‘rules’ for the potential future…. it costs me next to nothing to be aware or to prepare.Cheers,Royps John, it is Wednesday the 21st- did you say to tune into the show tonight?!!! Cause if so, I’m there! Hope you call.
Posted by Jim Houlahan on 02-21-2001 06:30 PM
John,I’m guessing the date of your return to the future is April 19th. Is this correct?Of course, if you’re just “having us on” then April 1st would be more appropriate.
Posted by Angel Lynnn on 02-21-2001 06:57 PM
ExclamationI think John was saying to listen to Dr. Day tonight. Check out her website:http://www.drday.com/Feb. 21, 2001Angellynnn
Posted by Ernie Vega on 02-21-2001 07:00 PM
SmileNow I’m not volunteering but…..I’ve noticed as so must have most of us. There are a lot of questions being asked that John has responded to.
Perhaps one of us could volunteer to compile all the direct q&a sort of a John Titor FAQ. This way new posters can read all the answers that have been given and not have the same questions asked over and over.John, we can have a topic just for the faq right on this board I think?General…I don’t think John is starved for web space to post his manual and pictures, many have offered John whatever resources he needs including me. So far he has not been interested.I’d be more than happy to give him a web site, a domain name, for that matter a web server if it would help get more answers and time out of him. Call me gullible if you want but I would do that.John:My mention of Joseph Campbell was a rebuttal to someone who claimed that your General story was nu-original. In fact the most likely leader of a movement like the one you describe would most likely be a Farmer since being a Farmer would provide much of the scenario required.My asking you if the mention of CERN going on-line and discovering this and that, was a prediction was a genuine question completely un-related to “making a Buck”.
I wondered if it was just a hint you were giving as to something that could be verified after the fact with little chance of you mentioning it having an effect on it.I’m sure it’s hard to remember what each poster has said, but in my case you missed. I have argued that the important thing here is the discussion and not if “you are” or “you are not” a TT. For me what is interesting is the type of questions that are being asked, and the apparent hostility that someone like you can be subjected to for no “good” reason.Ultimately there is no way to “prove” anything conclusive here.
Since I believe time travel is possible “now” I don’t have a problem with your story. I like your story since it ends up being a better world than we have now. I hope it is true.
If it is we are all lucky to have had a chance to talk to a TT. If not then I wish you either a quick recovery or a great career as a Sci Fi writer.What can we gain from this discussion? is the real question. I have already benefited from it as I believe you have, and many others.Javier…
To comment on Lola’s post. I understand your frustration, you want your questions answered.If I were John I would not answer your questions either or skirt them. Not because they are not valid, as they may be, but because your buttons are being pressed by his non compliance.I’m sure even in 2036 there is a tendency to tease one’s detractors if they make themselves available.To expose someone you have to present “proof” the same type of “proof” you are asking him for. According to our Laws if this were a court case John would not have to prove where he came from. The burden of proof is on the prosecution. It’s up to you to prove he is not a TT.So far most of your assertions have been related to either John not answering your questions, or some inconsistency in his story revolving around his Basic training and it’s relevance to when he was recruited for time travel.
Also his use of “perfect” English. His English is good but far from perfect.John has “not answered” some of my questions to “my satisfaction” and I for one am not ready to sign up for either the “I believe” camp or the “I don’t believe” camp.
My reason for straddling the fence at this time is that no one here has presented any evidence either way that would be conclusive. Not you, not John, not anyone.In a game of chess you have to either kill your opponent or chip away at his defenses until you trap him and he gives up. To do that you have to mount an offense that will neutralize his defenses. Conversely you have to mount a defense to repel his onslaught. So far you’ve not mounted either.John is “playing you” Javier. It’s an old trick, if your most vociferous detractor continually puts on weak attacks, it takes attention away from the really challenging questions.I’d be willing to bet that if you took all the posts from this BBS and the other one, and compared all of it, you may find more ammo for your cause.If I was going to come after a person, I would not warn him, I’d just get all my facts together, give him no warning and set up a line of questioning designed to trap him into “Mutually exclusive statements” if you could log enough of these you could prove he’s having trouble keeping the story together. A good sign that he is not telling the truth.Example:If you know enough about physics you can get him to say he doesn’t understand a concept that would be required to understand some other concept he claims to understand. To do that you have to know more than him. He knows as much physics as anyone posting here to say the least.Colloquial slips:
If you analyze all his statements you’ll find he is aware of some colloquialisms, and not others. That by itself is not much since he claims to come from the future you would expect some colloquial deviation. The thing to look at is which ones he knows and uses and which ones he doesn’t.He knows “make a buck” and “more power to you”, and “off the cuff”.He is unaware or dislikes “buy in” or “buy that”
Does that prove anything? not really. Given enough text you can profile him and make a good guess.Still it doesn’t “prove” anything. You have the same chance of exposing him as he has of convincing you. None.Here’s one for you John...What 82 page book written in England in 1884 is required reading for all physics students? I admit it’s possible you may not know in 2036, but highly unlikely. The same reason that makes it so important for physics students would make it just as important to understanding Time travel.Secondly why is this little book so important.
If he doesn’t know this it lends more circumstantial evidence to your side. But he could ask someone and then how do you prove that?How many amateur Physicists here know that answer without looking it up? Really. If you don’t know this off the top of your head, you don’t know squat about Hyper-dimensional Physics or it’s potential technological application. Unless you are Stephen Hawking, this is what it takes to get started. By the way Stephen Hawking read this book and knows exactly what I’m talking about. As do all physicists.How about this? Let John make a recording of himself saying he is from the future and whatever other part of his story he wants. We could submit that to voice stress analysis. Is that enough? no again, since a well trained person can beat a voice stress analysis by using self hypnosis or having someone hypnotize them prior to recording. Again no proof.Short of grabbing John and pumping him full of Sodium pentathol you are not going to have any conclusive proof until after he leaves and has made some predictions for you to check. Since he says this is not his timeline you can’t be sure a prediction is even a prediction. Again “no Proof”.So how is it you propose to expose John? can you show “me” your rationale. After all your statements and mine are up for scrutiny the moment we make them just like John.I realize in your mind you already have exposed him, just not good enough to convince me, and I would hazard to guess a number of others here.Let’s say everyone here agreed John was a fake. What then?No more discussion. End of exchange no more platform. Maybe.Anyway. that’s my take. I don’t think you are hostile just a little excited.Rick? any reports from your guys looking at the pics/manuals?Welcome LolaPeace
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-21-2001 07:08 PM
ExclamationPamela,Touchy…When I have a little time I’ll do a keyword search for it. I’m sure it’s there. Why else would I say it? Right?No need to get upset with me. I know he’s your friend, but stop protecting him all the time.And to everyone else here. You all fail to see the big picture here. You have welcomed a stranger into your lives who is not what he appears to be. And I being one of the only one with enough sense to see that, you get upset with me.Excuse me, but are you forgetting that this man has a secret agenda? You can all be being played right now.But no, that doesn’t matter to you. At least I make no secret of what I am. A Time Travel Activist.http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/9822/Thank you,Javier C.
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-21-2001 07:20 PM
(((When I have a little time I’ll do a keyword search for it. I’m sure it’s there. Why else would I say it? Right? ))will that be within two days?I shall await….sincerely,pamela
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-21-2001 08:06 PM
Pamela,I don’t know why your so upset with me, but you know my word is good. If I said I will do something, you know I will do it. Or have you forgotten that?-Javier C.
Posted by Craig Cuthbert on 02-21-2001 08:20 PM
Javier you will obviously be one of the survivors 🙂John – Thanks for your replies.Does the sense of “here and now” continue for you in 2036, while you are here?IS your sense of “timing” off, in new time environments? I’ve heard people who have “out-of-body-experiences” find that it sometimes takes a day or two to regain a sense of normalcy in their minute interactions with the physical world.I remember reading a book about 7 years ago.GENERATIONS: THE HISTORY OF AMERICAS FUTUREIt was a sociological look at the history of the United States through the lens of different generational groups. The Authors noted a four cycle repetition.
[He is talking about the "Fourth Turning". FYI. Metallicman.]Its a bit of hard book to summarize, though its central thesis is this – History follows certain cycles. With respect to this folder, what stuck out for me was that the Millenial Kids (recently born and probably up to about 10 or 12 now) were of the same type as the kids who grew up and built the US infrastructure during the 30’s and 40’s -and then fought WW2. (GI Generation) The GIs were classified as a very civic minded generation. So will the Millenial Kids(MKs). MKs will go on to build the global infrastructure of the information age, the new transportation systems and the new municipal infrastructures. Similar to the GIs they will then go on to engage in global conflict.John – You were born about halfway into this cycle. BTW, GenXers would be about 40-50 years old in 2036. How they doin’? Were they pretty resourceful scrappers?(Fighters/Survivors)Bottom line was – prepare for wars around 2008-2012.http://www.timepage.org/Also see the back page of the New Yorker Dec. 25, 2000 -Jan. 1 2001. I’ve seen a few references recently to this growing cultural tension, one that supercedes the obvious class, racial and economic divides. Its different and more aggressive cultural mitosis than I had earlier noticed.
Posted by John Titor on 02-21-2001 08:48 PM
EMMETT:
((In this experiment the traveler only goes 30 seconds into the past to appear in his lab. It seems that 30 seconds before his experiment was to begin he saw himself appear in the lab. There would now be two travelers and two time machines. It doesn’t appear that it ends that simply as the “second” time traveler says that he saw a duplicate self appear in the lab thirty seconds before he started the trip. It would appear that its a time loop and an infinite number of duplicates see a duplicate self appear in the lab thirty seconds prior to the start of the trip. ))
Yes, that’s possible.
((Your time machine weighs 500 lbs and an average man weighs about 180 lbs. So lets say that that the mass is about 700 lbs per traveler. What is the mass of the duplicates and where did the mass come from?))
The other mass comes from other world-lines. I like to think of it as standing in a room with mirrors on the walls and the apparent “me” in the room next to mine steps into the room from his.[Highlight for significance. Metallicman.]
((What is the result of the duplicates arriving ~simultaneously at the ~same place and time?))
Psychological confusion and a few fist fights.
((How long will it take for the loop to decay? Will it decay? Is it a loop?))
The chances of hitting the precise world-line where all the other duplicates are arriving is almost zero. It’s possible but increasingly less probable with each arriving duplicate. The divergence decays and the worldline is “less available” for new “yous” to arrive on.
((What happens if the experimenter, upon seeing his duplicate, decides not to continue the experiment?))
He can always leave the room on his own world-line or put a desk full of books in the position where the time machine is arriving every 30 seconds. That will probably trip the VGL system and stop the time machines from arriving.RANDY:
((Do you remember any poetry or verse from after 2001 in your past?))
A Soldier’s WinterThe day before it wasn’t snowing.The trees are strangers, leering, disapproving in the ash of winter..my world, my life, my wandering path.I pray God’s eyes may once again gaze upon me and remind me that I am still His child.
I only (think) I remember the first line but the last one I remember. It has quite a few more lines that I don’t remember. It is rumored this was written first as a letter by a soldier. After he died it was added to and edited by others. In my opinion, it has become a symbol for the collective guilt my parents’ generation feels for what became of the world.
((Is there an active market on new books in your time, or has that infrastructure not rebuilt it self? Are most the books available old or new? ))
Yes but there are no large commercial printing and distribution companies. Books and other forms of hard media are distributed on the web and printed or put on other media from local hubs. Napster + mailboxes etc.
((Out of curiosity, as a rough judge of character, have you read the works of J.R.R. Tolkien? And did you enjoy them.))
My father read the Hobbit to me as a child. I was always afraid of the dark riders but perhaps I admired them too.
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-21-2001 10:44 PM
UnhappyIn a post from you Pamela, one before the one I posted where you had from the other forum. I suppose I took it as if it was one of TT_0 posts. Sorry :-(.Here’s a sample: “……In 1983 I enlisted in the united states Army .it was shortly after my enlistment and before completing basic training that I was approached by those I now refer to simply as MY FRIENDS. This group does not contain aliens nor interdimensional beings, they are human….”Well I’m humble enough to say when I am wrong, and I apologize for continuing to ask you this question John, and Pamela.But, much still remains to be seen of your truthfulness. Yet you have tons of supporters who you managed to woo into believing you without any physical proof. That in it self, how you would allow that, speaks suspect.Not to mention that you have a secret agenda, and expecting us to think you’re being honest.Right…-Javier C.
Posted by Lola Montez on 02-22-2001 12:13 AM
John,Thank you for getting to some of my questions. Here are a couple more.You say you were in the militia fighting the US Army. I would think that civilians would have a snowballs chance in hell of successfully fighting the military. What does this look like? Is it a stalemate with the resistance/militia hiding out until the cities are wiped out allowing them to surface?You site the approximate number of cities and military bases intact before the nuclear attack. Are they ALL hit? Three days walk from where? The nearest city? Again, though, what population makes a city a city and not a town?Does any one or any group stay neutral during all of these years of fighting? Does anyone just lead a reasonably normal life during the civil war? You say the civil war lasts from 2004 to 2008 and then the short big one in 2015. What do the years from 2008 to 2015 look like? How long does WWIII last.Where is the safest place in the US to be. Come on be a sport. We all seem worth saving, don’t we? Besides it would be interesting to see if any of us took you seriously enough to end up there. I don’t think I believe in coincidence. Maybe the reason we are all on this board now is to find this out.You mention the nature of Canadians but I don’t think you mentioned the impact of all of this on that country. Would you?Also, regarding your view on the afterlife. I also think that it is a mystery to unravel. That it is information, awareness, state of mind and experience that leads to enlightenment and the experience of God. Deeds and Dogma just don’t do it. As our awareness broadens doing the right thing is what comes naturally (more often, anyway!)If it is based on someone else’s idea of right it is a shallow and sporatic endeavor. Religion must be experiential or it has no staying power (and probably not enough compassion or tolerance).Oh yeah, one more thing that is rather haunting is your allusion to the position of women as being controversial and conservative in 2036. Yikes! What is that supposed to mean?Lola
Posted by Pamela Moore on 02-22-2001 03:20 AM
Javier,
Thank you for your honesty.I have went back and looked up that post you mentioned.
Yes, that post was where we were discussing whether the waverider had any validity or not. and right after that was when someone else posted that he had been on art bell for awhile and that Art had proved him to be a fake. which was posted on the TTI forum on January 1, 2001.
I had first seen the story on a paranormal site.
yep… and you did post right after that I see. actually that might have been where john discovered Art’s site as well. yep…it looks like john registered in January.
Its ok to question, we are all just trying to find out the truth about things. But we have to get the facts straight.sincerely,pamelap.s. I am not mad at you.
Posted by Rick Donaldson on 02-22-2001 06:52 AM
Ernie – The only comment I have heard so far was – “Interesting… I need to look at the original though, to make any sort of determination. Where did you get this?”Hahaha. I told them I have “my sources”. They are content with that.To Javier – You made mention of something about folks taking someone into their lives, etc etc. While I understand that point of view – the “trust no one, be paranoid” very well – since I am like that myself, I have to say that you and a few others that have made comments here detract from the discussion in one aspect. Let me explain before you misunderstand me.In our society today, we have nothing but untrusting, cynical people out there. For good reason, most of them have had bad experiences. The internet is not to be trusted in general and people in general shouldn’t be trusted.Now, what I am trying to say here (not very well) is this is akin to some of the anti-gun people I meet. When I talk about the Second Amendment to them, they get all upset and scream and yell how no one should have guns and if there were no guns there would be no crime or war. I calmly point out that there were wars before there were guns, and they go on about how that was a “less civilized society”…Then there are the “skeptics” about UFOs, and any kind of odd, out of the ordinary occurrences (for instance, Big Foot, alien abductions, SETI etc). Let’s say for instance someone is a “skeptic” – that doesn’t mean they should close their minds completely to anything new, in fact, doesn’t mean they should close their eyes to the apparently impossible.In “my world” everything is possible. Just because we have a set of mathematics to describe something here and now, does NOT mean there isn’t a loop hole in those calculations.What I’m getting at is very simple. I don’t believe John is a time traveler right now. I have enough of a physics background to understand his information though and (assuming he IS real) eventually he will hit on something that I personally can use to verify for myself the truth.I think Ernie said nothing would be conclusive proof. Then again, I don’t require conclusive proof to keep “alive the idea that time travel is possible”.What I’m trying to say is that you’ve set yourself up to be John’s nemesis for some reason. If it is to protect the rest of us, that isn’t necessary. We’re all adult, thinking (free thinking) individuals who have the right to whatever beliefs we wish in this day and age, regardless of our gender, religious believes, race or even in my humble opinion, nationality.In other words… a skeptic is a good thing to be. Each of us should have our own, internal skepticism to use to mediate our belief systems. But, when someone comes in loud and strong trying to force everyone to his or her point of view, there is a serious problem.Now, I’m not asking that you (or anyone) NOT pursue their ideas, and idealism, nor am I even asking you not to try to convince people. I’m simply pointing out that we all have a right to our beliefs – without ridicule from anyone else.Don’t get me wrong here, I am not taking any one’s “side” as I don’t believe there are sides to take here.Someone else (I forget who it was) mentioned something about nuclear weapons being tossed from corner to corner of the earth and the impossibility of that. Think again.There is more of a nuclear threat, right now, today in 2001 than there was in 1983. During the Cold War, we never would have launched a nuke, nor would have the Soviet Union at each other.
[Did not happen. True, but almost did. Fact. Know your history. Metallicman.]However, there is a greater threat today because many smaller, and somewhat unstable countries are getting nuclear capability – and have access to other countries who would sell nukes without any qualms.Yes, biological threats are bigger, but do not rule out nukes, ever.Even the CIA special report that came our recently mentioned what I just said.I guess the only thing we need in this discussion are some more pictures of manuals, and/or a video tape of John’s “departure” (if that is what you would call it??) from our time line.Proof, sometimes like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.Rick
Posted by Javier Cortez on 02-22-2001 07:57 AM
Rick,That was very inspirational. (How ever you spell it =)However, please understand that my intention is to just keep it real. And believe it or not, someone here has to.People will march to the sound of his beating drum if someone doesn’t speak up and offer an other side. In other words, lots of people here are one sided.Some aren’t free willed thinking individuals as you described… Some need people like John here to give them purpose. A person whom they can look for answers, not someone to lead them. A short-cut more like it.And Time Travel is that short-cut.You never been face to face with a Time Traveler have you? First hand experiences are always the hardest to have others understand.John is not what he appears to be. Yes he is well spoken, and has a pleasant manner in how he presents him self. But looks are deceiving when you have a secret agenda. Take that into your explanation…Well I have to go now. Ask me more questions if you want. I will answer them all to the best of my knowledge.Thank you,Javier C.
Fifth of multiple Posts
This post is the fifth of a series of posts related to John Titor. The other posts are;
Conclusion
Our reality is not what we think it is. I am not the only person who has disclosed that there are others, and other organizations that can enter and leave our reality at will. Another person who made this claim went by the name John Titor.
Only where as, I claim to be part of MAJestic and was employed as part of human sentience management, John Titor claimed to be a person who was part of another world-line. Together, we both claim that the MWI is real, and we utilize it to perform dimensional egress for our own purposes.
I claim that it is a tool that is used to manage human sentience evolution.
John Titor claims that he utilized the time variable to conduct acquisition activities in the past.
He claimed that on that world-line, the United States was fundamentally different after a rapid series of events in the late 1990’s. He claimed that he needed to perform some acquisition of certain technical devices through the use of the time-variance option in dimensional travel.
This is the fifth of a multi-part post.
Take Aways
John Titor claimed to be a time traveler.
He utilized dimensional travel to move in and out of the baseline reality.
As such, he visited our world-line to acquire some technology needed on his world-line.
That technology was produced in “our” past. Thus the idea that it involved “time travel”.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
Continuing on our study of the John Titor situation, let’s look at the reactions that society has had to his presence… the John Titor Reactions…
Important Warning
The information within this series of posts are speculative. I have no factual information if this John Titor is what he claimed to be. It is presented herein as the only (or maybe, one of the only) sources that claim to be associated with the vehicles that pop in and out of our reality from time to time.
He was, as far as I know, never associated with MAJestic in any way.
Patents
John Titor Time Machine Patent
John Titor’s time machine has been patented . Application dated 2004, granted in 2006. Same drawings presented. Patented by: Marlin B. Pohlman, Tulsa, Oklahoma Application number: 10/954,767 Publication number: US 2006/0073976 A1 Filing date: Oct 1, 2004.
Below is a section from the first page from the patent.
"I claim:1. A method for the generation of a pseudo 2+1 dimensional anti-de Sitter space comprising the steps of: creating two Kerr type positively charged rotating dilation singularities, including the steps of maintaining one of the singularities as a axis of rotation reference singularity, maintaining the other of the singularities as a target singularity, and subjecting the target singularity to a differential electron flow so as to simultaneously pass the differential electron flow above a photosphere of said target singularity in a direction of rotation thereof and contrary to the direction of rotation thereof, in order to release a directed flow of gravitons in a sinusoidal oscillation simulating a rotational effect of the target singularity around the axis of rotation provided by the reference singularity. 2. A method of generating a force around a body, comprising the steps of: employing sinusoidal oscillations of electrical bombardment on the surface of one Kerr type reference singularity in close proximity to a second Kerr type target singularity to take advantage of the Lense-Thirring effect, wherein the electrical currents employed in the bombardment are passed simultaneously across the photosphere of said reference singularity in its direction of rotation and contrary to its direction of rotation to release a directed flow of gravitons in a sinusoidal oscillation simulating a rotational effect of the target singularity around the axis of rotation provided by the reference singularity; creating timelike curves in a compact time-oriented manifold of G{umlaut over ( )}odel-type geodesically complete spacetime envelope under the Van Den Broeck modification of the Alcubierre geometry, resulting in the creation of timelike curves in a compact time-oriented manifold permitting topology change from one spacelike boundary to the other in accordance with Geroch's theorem. Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to the use of technical time displacement devices, which operate by the modification of gravitational fields. These drive systems do not depend on the emission of matter to create thrust to take advantage of time dilation, but rather create a change in the curvature of space-time, in accordance with general relativity. This allows travel across topologies by warping space-time, to produce a topology change from one spacelike boundary to the other in accordance with Geroch's theorem (Geroch 1967)THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe concept of gravity should be examined in the light of quantum gravity and in turn as a component of quantum physics itself. The fundamental minimal quantum of energy in quantum physics is Planck's constant; h. Thus in accordance with the energy equivalence formula E=mc2, the fundamental minimum quantity of mass (mq) can therefore be derived, from known constants by; mq=h/c2 (1). Taking this minimal mass, it is possible to show that the formation of all matter, the forces of nature and indeed space-time itself derive from this single quintessential quantity.Thus if the number of quintessences in a system is; nq=m/mq: then the total Energy of the system is more logically given by, the energy of a single quintessence (h); directly multiplied by the number of quintessences (nq) in that system, thus E=hnq=mc2 (1 a).Furthermore, this minimal mass, termed quintessence, can form the basis of the existence of a quantum gravitational field in the form of a space-time lattice, from which quantum gravity may be derived from first principles. Furthermore, the conglomeration of these quintessences also accounts for the formation of the elementary particles and the forces acting between them, as in superstring theory. This concept explains the formation of matter and the forces of nature on a quantum mechanical basis and directly explains the existence of wave particle duality. Thus as nq=m/mq; the frequency of light and matter (f) is determined, directly, from the number of constituent quintessences. This leads automatically to the fundamental equation, derived from (1), f=nq=E/h, where nq is the number of quintessences, which leads directly to the frequency of both light and matter. This in turn leads directly to a Universal wave equation for matter...
Marlin B. Pohlman
What happened to the guy who patented this device is very interesting…
By creating an artificial wormhole time travel is possible. At first glance, such a thing might be too fantastic a notion to believe, yet Pohlman does hold a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics, an MBA from Lexington Business School, and a PhD in computer science from Trinity University.
He's also a member of Portland Mensa, and is a Licensed Professional Engineer, Certified Information Systems Auditor, Certified Information Security Manager and Certified Information Systems security professional.
Perhaps he invented the time machine because he discovered he hasn't enough time to squeeze in everything he wants to accomplish?-Ask Patents
One of the most curious sagas of the entire John Titor story is what happened to the person who patented the John Titor time displacement machine.
Whether the reader believes that the person who patented the invention is John Titor or an opportunist is up to the reader to determine. It is certainly a function of whether the reader believes he is a hoax or legitimate.
What is really interesting about this story is what happened once someone patented this invention. Please take note;
A guy named Marlin B Pohlman Patents the time displacement machine and related technology.
Pohlman applies for the patent in 2006.
Since the initial application date, the patent status has never changed! No rulings or decisions..Nothing.
No actual patent has been granted in this case (it was rejected in 2007 and abandoned in 2008). The official reason for the rejection is the lack of utility – meaning a lack of sufficient proof of this invention being possible/executable. (Quote: Final Rejection document from 08.08. 2007)
March 14, 2013 . Marlin Brandt Pohlman, a 43-year-old man accused of drugging and sexually assaulting four women he met at parties, pleaded not guilty in Multnomah County Circuit Court to 25 allegations.
Pohlman was held on a $2 million bail – a remarkably high sum for Portland.
He is arrested and sentenced to prison followed by monitoring as a Sex Offender.
Need I remind the reader that most MAJestic operatives are retired as Sex Offenders so that they can be monitored.
Most reach this period of retirement after 20 to 30 years in the MAJestic organization. I was retired when I was 44 years old. (I am not saying that this person is part of MAJestic, but rather that this individual is retired in a manner consistent with those whom possess technical “secrets” or abilities.)
What is most interesting is the large amount of press that he has gotten, and the great lengths made to disparage his background.
All that being said, it really is a good patent it’s just missing exactly what it says it’s missing and that’s probably why it was rejected because microsingularities haven’t been (officially) invented or even (officially) observed yet, but they are possible.
Remember, boys and girls, "official" existence of something is what is made public to the general population. Most advanced technology is kept hidden in "carve outs" and only the "anointed" might work with the technology.
But keep in mind this patent isn’t patenting Kerr black holes, it’s patenting a machine that uses them, even if theoretically.
I think the main reason it was rejected is because he included the John Titor diagrams which are already copyrighted and trademarked by the John Titor Foundation under Larry Haber. Anyways, let’s look at what the oligarchy has to say about Marln Pohlman…
“Portland computer expert accused of drugging, sexually assaulting women he met at parties”
“Computer executive ‘raped four women he met at parties after drugging them with LSD, ecstasy and laughing gas injected through spring-loaded syringes'”
“Really? Why all the press on this guy? This shit happens every day.. One link has a ten things you need to know slides how FFS... Something is very fishy here..”-DooobieDooobieDo“Guys this shit is crazy..read my OP for the edit.. This guy had to be set up”-DooobieDooobieDo
Fraud or World-Line Connections
Investigators from Italy have tracked the ISP and tell-tale electronic signatures relative to the postings of “John Titor” to an individual named “John Rick Harber”. This was confirmed by a private investigator named Mike Lynch.
The investigator has traced John Rick Haber’s brother to a foundation called the John Titor Foundation.
This organization owns much of the copyright information to the “John Titor” material.
Lawrence Haber, Esq. is the attorney and general manager for the John Titor Foundation.
He was also the Chief Counsel for VISI Corp (and may still be) when the Foundation came into existence. Mr. Haber is a computer scientist, so he would of course know about the technical aspects of the computer-related information as discussed by “John Titor”.
The very nature of this (possible) disclosure makes it impossible to verify.
The investigatory effort shows and indicates real connections between an individual and a means to profit from the disclosure. However, that in no way confirms that the person trying to profit from it is the SAME person who made the disclosure. They might be related, for instance a friend that John Titor made in this world-line. A friend, mind you, who permitted John Titor to access his ISP.
+++
In any event, in my mind, it seems that the evidence for this disclosure to be a fraud is pretty strong.
That is, however…
…until I look at what I know as part of MAJestic, and the other accumulation of various visual evidences collected in the previous chapter. Then, when I pause and take a second look. Today, I am no longer so sure…
Fun Frauds and Hoaxes
Oh the funny internet.
It seems that once you post something of interest, it tends to spawn a multitude of “false positives”. These “false positives” make it extremely difficult to find the genuine article among all that clutter.
Elsewhere, I have postulated that this is one of the characteristics of a disinformation campaign. And, indeed it is. If someone posts some on the internet that needs to be secret or hidden, you propagate all sorts of fakes that dilute the ability to find the originals.
However, that does not omit the fact that there are teenagers, and hoaxers of all ages with a cheap computer and time on their hands.
Here are some of the frauds and disinformation attempts that tend to render the disclosure into obscurity;
Photos ‘Prove’ Donald Trump Is Time Traveler John Titor
Why not? President Bush was a space alien, and President Obama was Jesus Christ (though he certainly acted more like Santa Claus…).
It’s a common theme apparently. There are more than just a few videos posted on the internet with this theme.
Someone apparently thought that the video of “Girls just want to have fun” by Cyndi Lauper contained a video of John Titor. How can this be you may ask? Well they stitched together some pictures of thin men with dark sunglasses and short hair throughout history. Called them time travelers, and pointed out a person with the same description in the video. Voilà!
Of course, they never discuss why in the world would anyone WANT to be in a music video in 1983. Nor do they discuss why a time traveler would want to do so either. It’s as if everyone wants to be famous and noticed. I guess everyone has the mindset of a 13 year old. How quaint.
Of course, many of the people who put up these silly videos haven’t even read his dialog. You would think that that would be one of the first things a person would do. Right?
Here’s a good example of that.
In this case the person posts a video of a guy walking into a bright light. Interesting, and great special effects. But we happen to know by reading the dialog that John Titor outfitted a car to go to 1975 to continue on his mission. (He had to back track and retrace his steps to return to his home world-line.) We know that the Time Displacement Mechanism is quite large. We also know that there is a momentary (micro-second not multiple-second) burst of UV light… not visible light. UV-light.
This stuff cracks me up.
The person who posted this did so on 18NOV15. He stated that “He recorded this video in 2001, that’s why the quality is bad.” Without telling us how John Titor recorded himself, and who had the video during the 15 years since, and how the poster obtained the video or any of the background information regarding it.
Some videos just throw about the name John Titor so they can get more “hits” and visits to watch the video. In it are some buried “evidence” of more or less curious banter. In the example below is a time traveler from the future who is interrogated. You would think that they would provide better lighting, and better filming then just a hand held smart phone. Don’t ya know?
But the eerie music and the preponderance of exclamation points in the dialog are a nice touch… (If you were a 5 year old.)
More Fake John Titor(s) – Retirement, Book Deals, Movies, Etc.
There are numerous individuals who are trying to capitalize on the “John Titor” saga. One even has his name. However, they are all hoaxes. It’s all nonsense. For purposes of clarity, there is only one John Titor with only one disclosure event. That event lasted for a brief period of time centered around the year 2000. Anything else is nonsense.
Here is a typical “fake” John Titor. Apparently this one is involved in more than just an Internet video, but has a book deal, and even a potential movie. My goodness! Go watch the nonsense here;
I have listened to some of these individuals who proclaim to be John Titor who returned back for “retirement”. Their stories do not even match up with the original John Titor at all. I wonder if they even ever did their homework.
For instance, John Titor (real) stated that there isn’t any “Global Warming”, the fake wanna-be John Titor claims that he returned to 2017 due to “Global Warming”. (Oh brother!)
The original John Titor did not want to tell anything about the future events that would happen, however the fake John Titor is full of all kinds of stories how Trump will hold two terms etc.
Seriously, moving to a different world-line for retirement is not a realistic scenario at the least;
Friends, family, dogs, cats, and possessions would have to be discarded, never to ever see again. The fake John Titor has no problem with this.
The fake John Titor thinks it is just fine to move to a different time and place and adapt so easy and comfortably. Cultural differences are fine for a short visit, but never fun when long term occupation is concerned. Don’t think so? Try living in Guangdong, China from Boston for six months. (And, even after all these years, I just can’t get over the lack of automats, and the crazy idea that potatoes are served with eggs. Potatoes! Of all things. At least in China they realize that breakfast should be served with beans of some sort…such as YouTiao, or DouJiang.)
Why move to 2017? According to original John Titor, it was not a desirable time, even if the world-line was altered. In other words, why retire right before World War III?
Retire to another world-line and write a book and make videos about it? Come on! You want to keep your knowledge and skill-sets quiet. At least until you are old and in your retirement years.
According to the fake John Titor he has the displacement mechanism in his garage. So, his employer would just give that piece of equipment to him? So that he can show it to everyone on this time line?
I suppose that upon my demise that there would be those who pretend to be me and spout fake nonsense after this blog is terminated. Well, dear reader, do not be fooled. There is only ONE manuscript. This is it.
I promise you that I won’t do anything else, even if somehow they exhume my body, resuscitate me and offer me a contract in payment. I won’t do it.I PROMISE. All and any subsequent writings, videos, audio, and photos will not come from me. I will be dead. Dead as a cold possum lying in the hot Texas heat alongside the road.
Latest updates
Discourse screen capture.
From reddit; As we know, John Titor, JT, allegedly left our timeline in the year 2001, leaving behind little, except for a few items to select individuals.
In the years since, the story has had its highs and lows, the most recent major spike sometime around 2010, over five years ago, when Lawrence H. Haber, supposed attorney for JT’s mother in our timeline, was found to be in connection with the John Titor Foundation, founded in 2003.
The trail’s been pretty cold ever since. A new website popped up in 2012, but I haven’t heard of anyone who’s been able to decode it; it clearly has something to do with multiple John’s somehow using the original posts to accomplish something. The case seems to have gone cold.
Links
The John Titor Story (Probably the best summary available).
John Titor: The Time Traveler From 2036. Why people believe John Titor. Published on Apr 21, 2017. To this day, those who spoke to him still wonder who he was, he left a lasting impression and people were very taken with what he had to say, he seemed very ahead of Time and could answer any question, remember this was a time before you could simply ‘google’ answers.
John titor Predictions (That came true.) This is a very good video listing many things that John Titor predicted that actually came true. Many or even most of what is listed here in this video is not covered in this manuscript. Published on Nov 28, 2014. I wish he would post an updated version after the 2016 election.
Time Travel: The Story of John Titor | Digging Deeper (Video summary)
Conclusion
“Some theorize that John Titor went back to 1973-1975 and just told the guy working on the IBM 5100 dating system how to deal with Y2K.”-Ren
In my mind, I happen to believe his story. I do believe that he is leaving certain things out. However, there are numerous tell tale signs that indicate validity.
He certainly went to a lot of effort to (physically) construct the “Time Displacement Mechanism” for a mere hoax. After all, he would have at the bare minimum have been expected to have taken more than two photos of it.
The point above also includes the technical cross section of the mechanism.
The point above includes photos of elements of the instruction manual.
The photo of the laser light bending outside the open window of the vehicle during operation is both convincing and difficult to fake using 1998 software (by most computer users at the time). Indeed who would even think of such an effect to fake? BTW, How could you fake that effect?
Manuals show evidence of manual (non-electric) typewritters using basic computer graphics found on pre-windows 98 systems. This is in full compliance with the John Titor story.
His disclosure’ reactions maintains the core indicators of a disinformation campaign.
He predicted the social & political trends accurately.
He predicted the American police state accurately.
He stated that one of the strangest American futures was one in which New York was without a prominent skyscraper (The World Trade Center which disappeared in 9-11-2001.). Note that he did not think that that would be the future for the United States. He expected that the world-line would maintain the same path to civil war followed by global nuclear war. The only thing that would be different was that there would not be any civil disruption associated with Y2K, and his parents would stay alive through it. However, what actually occurred is his meddling in the future brought a more extreme future (from his point of view). Alternatively, alternatively, he about this future all alone, but did not want to mention it.
The society today, and the social / political trends are what would be in place if he did thwart the Y2K fiasco.
Finally,
There is substantial evidence from automobile cams, road and traffic cams, and smart phones that vehicles are popping in and out of our reality on roads. This is the ONLY disclosure where someone offers an explanation as to what all this actually is.
The implications of this can alter our perception of the statist view of our world. It is a world that is constantly changing in accordance with MWI and is constantly undergoing changes in direction due to interference’s from other world lines. Additionally the influences of time travel abound. Finally, there are other extraterrestrial species that have perfected these techniques as well, and they too place a hand in the shaping of the world that we all communally perceive.
Fourth of multiple Posts
This post is the fourth of a series of posts related to John Titor. The other posts are;
Conclusion
Our reality is not what we think it is. I am not the only person who has disclosed that there are others, and other organizations that can enter and leave our reality at will. Another person who made this claim went by the name John Titor.
Only where as, I claim to be part of MAJestic and was employed as part of human sentience management, John Titor claimed to be a person who was part of another world-line. Together, we both claim that the MWI is real, and we utilize it to perform dimensional egress for our own purposes.
I claim that it is a tool that is used to manage human sentience evolution.
John Titor claims that he utilized the time variable to conduct acquisition activities in the past.
He claimed that on that world-line, the United States was fundamentally different after a rapid series of events in the late 1990’s. He claimed that he needed to perform some acquisition of certain technical devices through the use of the time-variance option in dimensional travel.
This is the fourth of a multi-part post.
Take Aways
John Titor claimed to be a time traveler.
He utilized dimensional travel to move in and out of the baseline reality.
As such, he visited our world-line to acquire some technology needed on his world-line.
That technology was produced in “our” past. Thus the idea that it involved “time travel”.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
Now, let’s take some time and talk about the John Titor Time Machine. For it is a mechanism that provides a bubble whereas a physical entity might move from one world-line and one time-line to another.
Titor started inviting people to see photos of the “John Titor Time Machine”, and explained to them how it worked. Titor described it as a “stationary mass, temporal displacement unit powered by two top-spin, dual positive singularities”, and posted several images of the manual. According to Titor, his time machine includes:
Two magnetic housing units for the dual micro singularities
An electron injection manifold to alter mass and gravity micro singularities
A cooling and X-ray venting system
Gravity sensors, or a variable gravity lock
Four main cesium clocks
Three main computer units
John Titor Time Machine. John Titor Displacement Mechanism Schematic. This is the schematic of the mechanism that he used for dimensional travel. This page is very interesting as it is the most detailed page of the manual, but is drawn by hand, not CAD. The rest of the manual is drawn using basic software drawing packages.
The John Titor Time Machine was installed in a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro (later in a van), and it weighed around 500 pounds. Titor claims that CERN would discover one year later a way to create micro-singularities, but that they would evaporate a split second after and emit large amounts of X and Gamma rays.
“TimeTravel_0 : SERN will discover some very odd things as a result of their high energy experiments, in about a year from your point of view. They will accidentally create micro-singularities, which will evaporate very quickly, and create a massive amount of X-ray and Gamma rays.
It will puzzle them for a while, until they figure out how to add an electrical charge and capture these strange odd and massive particles in a magnetic field.
If you bombard a singularity with electrons… you can alter the size of its event horizon, and thus its gravitational field. By overlapping these fields from two singularities… you can travel forward and backward through time. Its actually quite simple.”
Important Warning
The information within this series of posts are speculative. I have no factual information if this John Titor is what he claimed to be. It is presented herein as the only (or maybe, one of the only) sources that claim to be associated with the vehicles that pop in and out of our reality from time to time.
He was, as far as I know, never associated with MAJestic in any way.
Principle of Operation
The “John Titor Time Machine” works with a dual kerr black-hole principle. Titor comments that the real challenge here was detecting gravity. With his own words:
TimeTravel_0 : Altering gravity is not the hard part.
TimeTravel_0 : Detecting gravity is the hard part.
TimeTravel_0 : I will tell you a little story.
TimeTravel_0 : When time travel was invented.
TimeTravel_0 : They built prototypes that would go back in time for a split second and then return.
TimeTravel_0 : They had sensors and cameras on them.
TimeTravel_0 : ...and they never returned.
TimeTravel_0 : It was later discovered that the machines were ending up about 15 miles away and 3000 feet in the air.
TimeTravel_0 : feet
TimeTravel_0 : The Earth was rotating away from them.
TimeTravel_0 : A system had to be invented that would "hold" the machine to the Earth.
TimeTravel_0 : Its called VGL.
TimeTravel_0 : Its based on very sensitive clocks and gravity sensors.
TimeTravel_0 : It stops the time distortion machine if radical changes in gravity are detected.
wyrmkin_37 : mechanical or electronic clocksTimeTravel_0 : You wouldn't want to end up inside a mountain or under water...would you?
TimeTravel_0 : Cesium.
His Time Travel Theory
Imagine there is an infinite variety of “world lines” – parallel worlds, possible futures – there would as well be a world line, where John Titor grew up, experienced a World War 3 and time traveled. This is the basics on how the “John Titor Time Machine” worked.
Re-positioned in a van.
In fact, as I see it, there would always be a half of these world lines where a statement is true and where it’s false, i.g. World War 3 (a half infinity is still infinite). If we do not experience this event in our world line, we are in the half where this is not true, while John came from a world line where it actually happened – however, he meant that we are in a world line where this is going to happen.
. Laser light distorted by the gravity field! The idea that gravity bends light is common for students of physics, not so common for the bulk of Americans. The idea or concept that a generated black hole would generate gravity, and that it would bend light around it is not common knowledge, though movies like Star Wars might give one that impression. From the dialog “This is a picture taken in the fall of 2035 during my training. It shows my instructor beaming a handheld laser outside the vehicle during operation. The beam is being bent by the gravitational field produced outside the vehicle by the distortion unit. The beam is visible through smoke that is coming from his cigar. “
Question. How come he traveled to our world line, and not somebody else’s? (To get an IBM 5100 computer system, of course – but it still makes me wonder…) Again, there could be an infinite variety of world lines where he time traveled, and another infinite variety of world lines where he did not.
Anyway, here is an explanation from his point of view:
"As far as the future goes, your world-line is about 2.5% different than mine. This is a roughly cumulative measurement based on my arrival in 1975.
As far as I can tell right now, you are headed toward the same events I would call “my history” in 2036.
However, the very nature of time travel states that every world-line is unique and you are very much in control of what you do and how you get there. Heck, the fact that I’m here makes it different from mine."
The Invention Of Time Travel (According to John Titor)
There are many people with ideas and opinions. When we hear of something that lies outside our experience, we are often desirous of belittling it, or negating it. That is unfortunate, and should be avoided. We need to listen. We need to observe, and we need to think.
“Oliver Stone makes movies. I am willing to concede that he is quite accomplished in the area of film-making. Indeed, we should all listen to him if the subject of making movies happens to present itself here on Zero Hedge.
As for geopolitics, Oliver Stone has no more persuasiveness than the unemployed history doctorate that bags my groceries. He would do us all a favor by just keeping his mouth closed and staying with what he knows.”-Librarian . Comment posted in response to an article by famed movie producer Oliver Stone for his article where he claims that four months into the Donald Trump presidency, that it is disaster.
Here is an overview of the operation and the invention of time-travel as described John Titor. Originally posted by John Titor on February 14/15, 2001. Summary is presented herein with comments from the author.
Acceleration = Time Dilation
“As pointed out earlier, acceleration will produce time dilation. This can be observed by the “twins paradox”. As one twin stays on Earth, the other twin in his accelerating spaceship experiences a slower passing of time. When he returns to Earth, he is noticeably younger than his twin who aged normally in Earth time.
This type of “time travel” should have been proven already on this world-line with atomic clock experiments.
With sufficient power, this type of time travel will only provide practical displacement in a futile direction. This type of time travel is also isolated to a single world-line. You will not meet yourself.”
Time travel is possible along the lines in accordance with the understandings of contemporaneous literature and science. Time dilation creates a comparative method of time travel. This method is NOT the same as the method that John Titor used.
This method ONLY provides “time travel” in a forward direction. It does not permit travel into the past.
This method also is limited to a single world-line. It does not permit multiple world-line travel. Moreover, since it is limited to a single world-line and limited to only travel into the future, the time traveler is highly unlikely to meet himself.
This is an interesting analogy, but aside from the purposes of a basic introduction, it holds little value. Further, there are all sorts of arguments that “muddy up the waters” of this issue. Sigh…
“As Einstein pointed out with his STR, the effects of gravity and acceleration are the same. Therefore, you will experience the same time travel effects in the twin paradox by being close to a large gravity source.
In the atomic clock experiments mentioned above, the reason there was a difference in time was not because the clock in the plane was moving, it was because the clock in the well was closer to the center of the Earth.
Constant speed is not acceleration.”
This is basic Statics and Dynamics taught in any freshman engineering class.
Large Gravity = Static Black Hole
“The next step is to find a large gravity source to use in your time machine.
Static black holes provide this type of power.
As one twin approaches the event horizon or edge of the black hole, the other twin will watch him as he appears to slow down. He will notice his twin’s watch run slower until it stops at the event horizon.
The twin moving toward the horizon will notice none of this and see his watch running just fine.
Although possible, a trip into a static black hole will not take you to another world-line and it’s one-way. The force of gravity will crush you.”
Gravity affects time. Given a large enough gravity source, one can use it to alter time. This is also well known.
John Titor states that his machine controls micro-black holes. He states that static black holes can provide this type of power.
You cannot use them as they are for time travel. The nature of the black hole will crush the fragile humans by the huge gravitational forces present.
Rotating Black Hole = Doughnut-shaped Singularity
“Fortunately, most black holes are not static. They spin.
Spinning black holes are often referred to as Kerr black holes.
A Kerr black hole has two interesting properties.
One, they have two event horizons.
And two, the singularity is not a point, it looks more like a doughnut.
These odd properties also have a pronounced affect on the black hole’s gravity. There are vectors where you can approach the singularity without being crushed by gravity.”
According to John Titor, the micro-black hole in the dimensional distortion machine utilizes “Kerr Black Holes”.
According to John Titor the shape is not identical to what is commonly formulated by physicists; a simple rotating sphere. Instead, he claims that the actual shape is more akin to that of a doughnut. As such, the geometry of such an object allows it to possess not one, but two event horizons.
The Kerr metric or Kerr geometry describes the geometry of empty space-time around a rotating uncharged axially-symmetric black hole with a spherical event horizon. The Kerr metric is an exact solution of the Einstein field equations of general relativity; these equations are highly non-linear, which makes exact solutions very difficult to find. Go here; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerr_metric
However, I would prefer to digress here as it is my calculations indicate two event horizons as well. The event horizons are clearly shown in the figure below. The singularity is an equatorial line that circles the micro-black hole. (It is not a point singularity.)
The two event horizons differ from that of a classical point singularity = spherical event horizon, to that of a two dimensional singularity. Thus for a two dimensional singularity, the two event horizons are easy to visualize. As one is “above” the singularity, and the other is “below” the singularity. Please see the figure below.
Again, the singularity is not a spherical point, but rather more like a doughnut.
The geometry of such a configuration has a unique gravitational signature. Because of this, there are vectors, or “methods of approach” that a person can use to manipulate these unique properties to avoid the crush-properties of the inherent gravitational field.
A great write up on this can be found on the PDF titled “The Kerr Spacetime: A brief Introduction” found at https://arxiv.org/pdf/0706.0622v3.pdf#35 .
I urge the reader to take particular note to figure three which shows a Polar slice through the Kerr spacetime in Cartesian Kerr–Schild coordinates. Location of the horizons, ergosurfaces, and curvature singularity is shown for a = 0.99 m and m = 1. Note that the inner and outer horizons are ellipses in these coordinates, while the inner and outer ergosurfaces are more complicated. The curvature singularity lies at the kink in the inner ergosurface. The reader should note that there are two “kinks” displayed in the photo.
A Kerr black hole is a type of black hole that possesses only mass and angular momentum (but not electrical charge – the third possible property of a black hole).
In other words, a Kerr black hole is an uncharged black hole that rotates about a central axis. It is named after the New Zealand mathematician Roy Kerr who, in 1963, became the first person to solve the field equations of Einstein’s general theory of relativity for a situation of this kind.
Polar slice through Kerr Space-time. Polar slice through the Kerr spacetime in Cartesian Kerr–Schild coordinates. Location of the horizons, ergosurfaces, and curvature singularity is shown for a = 0.99 m and m = 1. Note that the inner and outer horizons are ellipses in these coordinates with an overall shape similar to that of a hole-less doughnut. The inner and outer ergosurfaces are more complicated. The curvature singularity lies at the kink in the inner ergosurface. The singularity is the kink indicated by the arrows.
Kerr black holes are probably the commonest in nature, since the massive stars from which they typically form possess rotation (but no overall charge) before they collapse at the end of their lives. By the principle of conservation of angular momentum, much of this spin is then retained by the black hole following the star’s terminal collapse
A Kerr black hole has the following distinct regions:
ring singularity
inner and outer event horizons (2 event horizons)
ergosphere
static limit (the boundary between the ergosphere and normal space)
It is, conventionally, considered to be the domain of the intellectual. It is considered, by many in academia, to be unstable and not worthy of investigation.
Doughnut-shaped singularity=Passage into an Alternate World-line
“Another other more interesting result of passing through a doughnut singularity is that you travel through time by passing into another universe or world-line. Please see Penrose diagrams for Kerr Black holes or you can examine the calculations of Frank Tipler.So now the problem becomes…where do we find a doughnut-shaped singularity?”
When you pass through a doughnut shaped Kerr black hole, you can enter another dimension or world-line. Because of this you can conduct “apparent” time-travel, by proceeding in the “past” of an alternative world-line.
Looking at the Penrose-Diagram for the rotating Kerr-Black hole, the reader will clearly note that there are two regions; II and III.
This is an idealized mathematical solution to the Einstein Field Equation.
In the idealized mathematical solution, as long as r is greater than zero and less than infinity, you can extend the solution further; and r is nonzero and finite at the boundaries between the I and II regions and between the II and III regions.
The Kerr solution has only two free parameters, the hole’s mass and angular momentum, and they are the same everywhere in a given solution (i.e., everywhere in the diagram). Those parameters determine the properties of the singularities, just as they determine the properties of the space-time as a whole.
Perhaps the reader could best understand the equivalent comparisons in a “real world” adaptation of this equation. In that case, there are only two variables in regards to dimensional –travel. They are angular momentum and mass of the singularity. Depending on the values, they create the two regions, II and III. These represent SPACE and TIME. Or to put it further, it defines the TIME within a DIMENSIONAL WORLD-LINE.
In summary, if one is able to manipulate the properties of a Kerr micro-black hole singularity, one would be able to access a specific date and time on a specific world-line.
Penrose diagram for a Kerr Black Hole
What is interesting, is if you for example take the Penrose Process, you assume that this approximately describes only a part of our universe and we can come from far away with particles carrying angular momentum (if you would not, then how should this idea of taking energy from the BH (BH=”Black Hole”) work?
You send in particles which reduce the angular momentum of the BH, which is only possible if you make a distinction between the BH angular momentum and the angular momentum of the particle).
So from physics point of view, we assume we have a BH carrying angular momentum and a particle carrying a different angular momentum. As soon as the particle enters the event horizon, we don’t know whether it travels to the next universe or ends its life in one of the singularities.
If it travels to the next universe however, the angular momentum of the BH itself should not change! So the only possibility to make the Penrose Process realistic seems to me, by postulating that the particle ends its life in one of the singularities…
The reader should take note that the Penrose process requires a black hole that changes mass and angular momentum, and strictly speaking, Kerr space-time can’t model that. However, Kerr space-time still provides a very good approximation for a process that changes the hole’s mass and angular momentum by a very small amount–for example, an object massing a few tons falling into a black hole a few times the mass of the Sun.
This process can be modeled to a very good approximation by using Kerr space-time with the original mass and angular momentum of the singularity at the black hole, and then, after the object falls in, just replacing it with Kerr space-time with the new mass and angular momentum of the hole. The change is so small, and happens so fast on the time scale of the hole, that there is no need to model the detailed dynamics of the change.
But… But…
Wouldn’t the gravity still affect anyone trying to enter a different time within a different dimension? The answer is no.
There is a point where there is no gravity within the singularity.
By looking at Killing surface gravity equation for Kerr black holes, you can see that gravity would be negative at the inner horizon for an object dropped from rest at infinity with zero angular momentum (ZAMO)-
Where,
or in the case of Kerr-Newman,
for an equation of the gravity locally (i.e. taking into account relativity) for a ZAMO, the following equation applies (in the equatorial plane only) for Kerr black holes-
This equation is undefined between r + and r − due to the square root of Δ which becomes negative between r + and r − , to get some idea of where gravity becomes negative mathematically, you could set the equation so that you get the square root of the absolute value of Δ
Note if you use r + and r − in the equation (above) and multiply by the redshift
you get results equal to the first equation. For a more extended equation of the gravity locally for a Kerr black hole (i.e. beyond the equatorial plane) for a ZAMO the following applies-
It appears that gravity becomes negative somewhere near the Cauchy horizon, remains negative within the Cauchy horizon and then becomes positive again near the singularity.
Important note; The source for equations (both the the derived equations)- at http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0407004 page 10.
A Pondering Hawking = Microsingularity
“Steven Hawking proposed the existence of microsingularities that were created in the big bang. They were probably about the size of a proton and disappeared over the years due to an effect of radiation evaporation. (Yes, black holes do emit energy.)”
Time and Displacement Fields.
High Energy Physics = Microsingularity
“When I first started posting online a few months ago, I said that major breakthroughs in particle physics were around your corner.
Soon, CERN will bring their big machine on line and they will be smashing very fast and high-energy particles together. One of the more odd and potentially dangerous items produced from this increase in energy will be microsingularities a fraction of the size of an electron.”
Artificial Microsingularity = Localized Kerr Field
“Through trial and error, and although they are quite heavy, hot and capable of putting out a great deal of energy (300 – 500 megawatts), it’s discovered that these microsingularities can be electrified and captured.
It is also interesting to note at this point that electrified singularities also have two event horizons.
By spinning these various microsingularities, a localized Kerr field is created.”
Micro singularities can be electrified. If they can be electrified, they can be captured. By inducing a spin on the micro singularities (possible if electrified), one can manipulate them to create a localized (of course) Kerr Field.
Localized Kerr Field = Tipler Sinusoid
“By using two microsingularites in close proximity to each other, it is possible to create, manipulate and alter the Kerr fields to create a Tipler gravity sinusoid.
This field can be adjusted, rotated and moved in order to simulate the movement of mass through a doughnut-shaped singularity and into an alternate world line. Thus, safe time travel.”
So, thus if a micro singularity can be controlled electronically (modification of the electrical field through rotation and other electrical techniques), you can create a localized Kerr field. Having two localized Kerr fields, both under control through electrical modification, one would be able to create a “Tipler gravity sinusoid”.
The manipulation of this “Tipler gravity sinusoid” permits travel in two “planes” or “dimensions” or reality. These are in TIME and in WORLD-LINE.
The reader should be advised that the “experts” in the field think that a Tipler Sinusoid is a notable mathematical exercise, but that it probably has no practical application.
An objection to the practicality of building a Tipler cylinder was made famous by the great physicist Stephen Hawking,. He provided a proof that simply stated that according to general relativity it is impossible to build a time machine in any finite region that satisfies the weak energy condition. In other words, he means that the region contains no exotic matter with negative energy.
The Tipler cylinder, on the other hand, does not involve any negative energy. So therefore, according to Hawking, it cannot possibly work.
Hawking comments ;
"it can't be done with positive energy density everywhere! I can prove that to build a finite time machine, you need negative energy."
Hawking’s proof appears in his 1992 paper on the chronology protection conjecture.
Although the proof is distinct from the conjecture itself,. The proof shows that classical general relativity predicts a finite region containing closed time-like curves. However, these region(s) can only be created if there is a violation of the weak energy condition within that region. The conjecture predicts that closed time-like curves will prove to be impossible in a future theory of quantum gravity which replaces general relativity.
In the paper, he examines “the case that the causality violations appear in a finite region of space-time without curvature singularities” and proves that
"[t]here will be a Cauchy horizon that is compactly generated and that in general contains one or more closed null geodesics which will be incomplete. One can define geometrical quantities that measure the Lorentz boost and area increase on going round these closed null geodesics. If the causality violation developed from a noncompact initial surface, the averaged weak energy condition must be violated on the Cauchy horizon."
The “expert” has spoken.
I actually do not know what the actual mechanism is. I do know that I myself participated in time and dimensional travel. I know that it did involve world-line egress and manipulation. However, I never did study the mechanism; I was never taught the theories behind it. I did not learn how to dissemble or repair the equipment, nor did I even know WHY I was being sent on “missions” or “tasks” using this kind of technology.
So, all I can say to this is that there MUST be a way to make this device work.
It has been my experience that when an “expert” says that something cannot be done, and you have actually done it, that expert is deriving their conclusions from FAULTY presumptions.
Enough about the theory. Let’s look at the documentation that John Titor provided.
Equipment layout & Documentation
John Titor provided some documentation to help explain the John Titor Time Machine. Personally, I have some problems with the documentation. As I will describe. To me, it seems that he created some false documents that he seeded within the baseline documentation. It is unknown why he did this.
Here are elements of the user manual that he provided to the public.
A better photograph of the John Titor time machine.
John Titor provided some pages from his manual. Here are some photographs of what he has provided. In my mind there is a serious discrepancy between the cross sectional layout of the time displacement mechanism and the bulk of the drawings within the manual.
Firstly, I do believe that the cross sectional drawing came from the original operation manual…
John Titor Displacement Mechanism Schematic. This is the schematic of the mechanism that he used for dimensional travel. I believe that is this original and from the manual that came with the machine.
It is the rest of the manual that I have a problem with.
Taken as a whole, this discrepancy would be enough to rule out any authenticity of this disclosure. That is, if I wasn’t involved in MAJestic and know what I know…
First Page. One the first page, the first thing that jumps out at me is how the zero’s are made. There aren’t any slashes through the number zero. Additionally, the dates utilize a non-military format. March 21, 2034 should be written as “21MAR34”.
The thing about this disclosure, is that while I can pretty much follow and agree with just about everything that this John Titor is saying and elaborating upon. I have a difficult time reconciling the manual. To me, the lack of formal (long term) use of military typesetting formatting, and the mish-mash of hand-drawn cross-sectional schematics and utilization of commercially available computer drawing packages from the 1990’s are suggestive of fraud.
In the 1990’s, there were numerous software packages that could have produced very nice drawings of a technical nature. These included ProE (Pro Engineer), Solidworks, Catia, Unigraphics, and Autocad.
Yet, even with this “red in the face” structural defect, the idea that the loss of advanced technology and the resultant reliance on typewriters lends some credence to the story. Yet, for me, it is a hard-sell.
This page could have been easily thrown together using pre-computer technology. A photograph is of the unit is then taped in place, and xerox copies made of it. Details are then typewritten in place. This method of binding documents and manuals are from my father’s generation; 1960 and early 1970 technology.
This next page, from the appendix has really thrown me as the illustration clearly uses 1990 computer drawing software technology.
Section I from the manual. Here is where I get a little confused and start to question the narrative on the source of the manual and the contents within it.
My feelings and opinions are reinforced by the drawing on other pages such as this one…
Come on! This drawing was made with 1990 drawing sketcher technology, not even using hand sketches, or the CAD systems available during that time.
This is a nice layout and is rather easy to understand. The idea that it was made using 1990’s technology flies in the face of the narrative that it was produced in the 2030’s. Even in a post nuclear-war world, the idea that this was germane to the future seems unlikely. I would assume fully hand-drawn illustrations, or CAD generated renderings. Not the 1990-era artwork. Giving John Titor the benefit of a doubt, I can only assume that he created these drawings himself and pretended that they originated out of the manual. Why he would do this raises a big question; one that can totally destroy his narrative, or at the very least suggest that he is hiding some technical features of the device from people on this world line. Not at all a unrealistic possibility.
As such… Could John Titor be trying to hide some features of the dimensional displacement unit?
In so doing… Maybe, providing the bare minimums to help us to understand the mechanism, but hiding some key features that make his unit special? A thought worth investigating…
The John Titor Time Machine. Layout as described.
I have no problems with the last pages, aside from the systems used to generate it.
If GE made the unit, and employed illustrators to hand draw the complete unit, they certainly could have used the same illustrators to document the manual. Yes, yes, I know, that technical illustration is NOT the same as technical drawing… which is what saves the manual in my eyes, but to me… It’s all discordant.
Here is a hand drawn motorcycle engine in 3D. It was done in the same way, using the same technique as the “authentic” dimensional displacement mechanism. Which tells me that someone took a significant amount to time to draw the picture and utilized a certain level of skill to do so.
Remember, Hand drawn drawings can be very beautiful and illustrative. The use of 1990-era computer software for technical and illustrative drawings seems … well, fraudulent.
Detail drawing of a automobile connecting rod. This is a hand drawn part drawing. It is beautiful and a work of art. In a way, a very fundamental way, it is of the same ilk at the cross sectional drawing of the entire unit. Thus, it is confusing to me why there is a serious disconnect between the methodologies used to document the manual. My only conclusion is that the specific information and drawings in the manual were created by John Titor himself using available 1990 technology available to him in 1998.
Anyways…
Moving forward…
World-line Divergence
Continuing with his narrative.
“Time itself can be understood in terms of connected lines. When you go back in time, you travel on your original timeline. When you turn your singularity engine off, a new timeline is created, due to the fact that you and your time machine are now there. In other words, a new universe is created.To get back to your original line, you must travel a split second father back, and immediately throw the engine into forward without turning it off.”-John Titor
John Titor’s time machine was only accurate “to about 60 years.” He couldn’t travel much farther than that, because the world-line divergence experienced in doing so would render his destination practically unrecognizable. In Titor’s words, “the longer the unit is on past a safe divergence confidence, the ‘stranger’ the world-line becomes.”
“The C204 begins to ‘break away’ at about 60 years. This means the level of confidence drops rapidly after 60 years of travel and the world-line divergence increases. In other words, if I wanted to go back 2000 years and meet Christ, there is a better than average chance I would end up on a world-line where he was never born.”– November 4, 2000
This divergence confidence was calculated to be about 1-2%, and newer versions of the time machine were being perfected in the future to make this more accurate:
“I would equate the ‘future’ GE distortion units to their current jet engines. The first one worked great but they can always make it better. The C204 unit uses 4 cesium clocks. The C206 uses 6 cesium clocks but they use an optical system to check the oscillation frequency. This makes the world-line divergence confidence much higher.”– November 7, 2000
According to Titor, you could “imagine your path through time [as] through a cone. The farther away from the center of the cone, the more differences you will see in the world-line.”
The VGL, computer systems, and clocks worked together to measure the divergence:
“The measurement for world-line divergence is an observation variable isolated to the distortion unit. An effective analogy would be a ‘gravity radar”. The unit’s sensors take a ‘snapshot’ of the local gravity around the unit before a flight. During travel, this baseline is periodically checked to make sure there are no major changes in the environment that would cause a catastrophic mass failure (brick wall appearing from nowhere). The percentage of VGL divergence from one world-line to another is a calculated guess by the three computers that control the unit based on its starting point. It is useless in describing characteristics of individual world-lines.”– January 10, 2001
This is accomplished using gravitational density flux sensors. In many ways these are similar to the magnetic flux sensors commonly used in industry today. Here is a prototype of one that I was involved in way back when I lived in Boston.
Flux Gravity Sensor Prototype. This was a unit that I was working on for gravity sensors for <redacted>. It’s an interesting technology and is frighteningly accurate. In fact, maybe too accurate for the application that we were trying to use it with. We would have needed multiple sensors to get reliable and valid readings.
The Mechanism
The photographs of the mechanism holds some significance if you are willing to look at it with an open mind.
Firstly, the placement of the Geiger counter on the unit was not an accident. A study of the blurred and pixelated image shows that the needle seemly above zero. This would be the case whether or not the unit would be in operation. This is not something that should be considered casually. While it is easy enough to fake (you place a fake reading in the readout for the counter), it is something that should be obviously necessary if the device was truly operational.
The two micro-singularities have an adjustable grip above each one. Along with that is an indicator (pointer) at the very top of the grip showing orientation. If the radiation field and the resultant dimensional bubble were truly oblong and not spherical, this feature would be mandatory. As for each vehicle, the mechanism would have to be positioned in different orientations, and the singularities adjusted accordingly.
Here are some of the key operational elements of the John Titor “time machine”. In a way, compared to what we use at MAJestic, it is quite crude. As it relies on degrees of deviance and gravitational sensing to locate a specific world line. The other elements, that control the individual variations of a given world-line, are not evident and presented.
This is not something that is of a trivial nature. Whoever thought up this device came tot he conclusion that they needed to be manually adjustable for proper operation.
Warning tape is present to surround the singularities so that the user can avoid the high potential danger zones of radiation emission and heat. The photos show the remote control. Note that it is connected to the unit via a wire and not using wifi or bluetooth. Also note that in all pictures, an oxygen mask pouch is near the unit and near the driver seat in the vehicle.
Clocks
“My ‘time’ machine is a stationary mass, temporal displacement unit manufactured by General Electric. The unit is powered by two, top-spin, dual-positive singularities that produce a standard, off-set Tipler sinusoid.”– January 27, 2001
Titor’s C204 unit also included a set of three computer systems and four cesium clocks.
The computer systems would “work with” the VGL to plot the machine’s course, and could “record” the trip to make the traveler’s return to his or her origin world-line as easy as possible.
According to Titor, “the really interesting technology is in the computer.” Of course, he never got much more specific than that.
“The computer system is connected to the unit through an electrical bus. There are actually three computers linked together that take the same signals from the gravity senors and clocks. They use a Borda error correcting protocol that checks the integrity of the data and trips the VGL system.”
The four cesium clocks calculated seconds as their basic units of measurement, and were used to calculate the course of the journey itself and the amount of world-line divergence:
“…in a sense you do *dial in* a date and the computer system controls the distortion field. At maximum power, the unit I have is capable of traveling about 10 years an hour.”– January 31, 2001
Microsingularities
In regards to the micro-singularities, Titor said the following:
“…there are 2 singularities in the unit.
The gravity field is manipulated by three factors that affect it in distinct ways.
[1] Adding electric charge to the singularities increases the diameter of the inner event horizons.
[2] Adding mass to the singularities increases the area of gravitational influence around the singularities.
[3] Rotating and positioning the polar axis of the singularities affects and alters the gravity sinusoid.”– January 15, 2001
These singularities were housed in “an enclosed magnetic field.”
Ironically, the method of time travel itself, involving the singularities, wasn’t the real issue with constructing the machine. Instead, it was everything else:
“Miniaturizing the clocks and sensors, creating clever ways to vent x-rays and creating a computer system dependable enough to calculate the changes required to the field were the main challenges.”– January 31, 2001
Finally, the unit also had two “security systems” in place:
“One, it has a code that must be entered correctly. Second, and probably more effective now, the unit cannot be used by anyone who can’t add and subtract.”– November 15, 2000
VGL
The Time Displacement Machine in a van.
The most important piece of Titor’s time machine was the VGL, or Variable Gravity Lock system. This was the system that kept the machine (and its passenger) fixed in place in its environment, so it wouldn’t end up floating out in empty space, or melding with any other objects, when it arrived in another time.
VGL = The Variable Gravity Lock System.
“…this problem is actually the most difficult part of time travel. Although some of your assumptions about matter displacement are a bit off, the problem is real. Inside the displacement unit are a series of very sensitive clocks and gravity sensors.
This system is called the VGL (variable gravity lock).”
This is a very important aspect of this machine.
It prevents the vehicle from materializing inside of a solid object, or underwater, or high above the surface. It measures the gravity in and about the vehicle, and if the gravity does not fit a certain profile equal to “empty space”, it will avoid that world-line or time on the world-line.
“Basically, the unit takes a reading of the local gravity and samples it during the ‘trip’ in pulses.
If the gravity is too far off, the unit stops or reverses itself to the last sample period where the readings were correct. If there is some sort of failure, the unit shuts down and drops out to where ever you may be.”– November 4, 2000
Later, Titor elaborated:
“…before the unit “leaves” a world-line, it takes a base reading of the local gravity and adjusts the Tipler sinusoid to ‘lock’ into that position.
Although the temporal physics of this statement are wrong, in effect, it holds you to the ‘Earth’.
During travel, it periodically checks to see that the field has not varied. If it does, it stops and reverses course or drops out at that point. Buildings and other terrain features are avoided in the same way.”– December 10, 2000
It didn’t take much to trip the VGL, either: according to Titor, simply placing a desk where the time machine was expected to arrive would trigger the VGL and prevent it from arriving. Likewise, the unit could not be used safely while in motion:
“The unit must be stationary during operation due to the sensitivity of the gravity sensors. Any motion with an acceleration component would throw the gravity measurement from the singularities off.”– March 3, 2001
This last statement is very interesting. It could, if taken at face value disprove the concept that brought us here (the contention of this post) in the first place; that vehicles were materializing and disappearing while in motion on the roads.
The Process
“On my world-line: (A) in 2036, I was given a mission in 1975. I turn my machine on and jump to another world-line (B) in 1975 with about a 2% divergence from (A).From the very point I turn my machine off on (B), I create a new world-line just because I’m there. This line can be described as (C) and started when I got to (B).I am now doing my mission on line (C) in 1975 when I discover a very good reason to go forward on (C) and see what happened. I turn my machine on and go forward on (C) to the year 2000.When I turn it off, I start another line called (D). So from my perspective, here we are on line (D) in the year 2000. In order to go home to line (A) I must turn my machine on and go back on (D) until I reach (C) which in turn would take me back to (B) which in turn takes me to a point before I arrived on (B) then I go forward from the point I arrived on (B) back to (A).”
On his initial trip, John Titor’s time machine was placed inside a 1967 Chevrolet. On part of his return journey, he used a 1987 4WD, because “the vehicle needs a strong suspension system to handle the weight of the distortion unit,” and the vehicles needed to match their respective time periods. I’m not sure what vehicle Titor chose for the final stretch of his trip.
Titor described the journey through time as dark, like “driving under a rainbow,” followed by “driving under a tunnel and being in total black.” During the journey, “the car is off and the brake is on.” The gravity field “overtakes you very quickly,” generating a steady G force, and you “feel a tug toward the unit similar to rising quickly in an elevator.”
“The unit has a ramp up time after the destination coordinates are fed into the computers. An audible alarm and a small light start a short countdown at which point you should be secured in a seat.”– November 4, 2000
The machine gives off quite a bit of heat, and the traveler must carry extra oxygen if the trip is likely to be a long one. You hear “a slight hum as the unit operates,” and electrical crackling from static electricity. “Everything is black,” he said.
“When the machine is turned off, it is the reverse affect. It appears you are driving out from a bridge. To tell you the truth, I’m usually sleeping when the unit turns off but yes, it does appear that the world fades in from black.”– November 4, 2000
To Outside Observers
To the observers watching Titor and his machine leave in 2036, he explained the appearance of gravity distortion:
“Outside, the vehicle appears to accelerate as the light is bent around it. We have to wear sunglasses or close our eyes as this happens due to a short burst of ultraviolet radiation.”– November 4, 2000
Later, he said:
“…the time machine does not move as it goes from one world-line to another and then returns. The people watching on the original world-line would wave good-bye and watch as the machine is turned on. There would be a static discharge and the air would appear to ‘ripple’ as if it were getting denser. Then, it would stop and the machine will have appeared to have disappeared. If the machine doesn’t move its position from world-line to world-line, the observer would not see it disappear at all.”– November 20, 2000
A “large chunk of ground” would also be missing from the area surrounding the machine.
“I wouldn’t quite say it ‘scoops’ up the ground cleanly. It sort of vibrates it loose and takes it along for the ride.”– November 22, 2000
As it left, the machine would also be “quite dangerous to get too close” to, because it vents radiation and “has a very strong localized gravity field.”
According to Titor,
“from their perspective, I will only have been gone for a split second.”
Trip to the Future
When asked if Titor could take anyone else with him back to the future, he simply stated that he didn’t think anyone here would like 2036 very much.
He did, however, imply that his machine could support “about three people and equipment,” though he’d have to offload a lot of archival material to fit them in (“There are mass limits to what can be taken back,” he said). The journey to the future, itself? He explained it like this:
“For all of you interested in coming back with me to 2036, perhaps we should discuss the trip. Please be aware, the displacement unit moves through time, not space.First, we will be driving the current vehicle (Chevy truck) with the displacement unit in it to Tampa Florida. From there, we will go back to my arrival date on this world-line. Then we will have to drive to Minnesota, sell the current vehicle and get another one that would have been around in 1975.We will then move the displacement unit (500 lbs or so) into the new vehicle and go back to 1975. Once in 1975, we’ll drive back to Tampa and make the final hop to 2036. If you’d like to stay in 1975, you’re welcome to do that.It can also get quite hot and stuffy during the trip and you’ll be subjected to a 1.5 to 2 G force the entire time. You’ll also need some sort of a re-breather system or oxygen supply.”
Not exactly the romantic time travel adventure we’re all used to seeing in books and movies.
Problems
Of course, the instructions were only useful to a point, and if something went wrong with the machine, well…
“There’s a running inside joke about the technical issues. If the unit has a serious problem it’s not as if anyone can use those drawings to take the electron manifold off the singularity housing with a flat head screwdriver.”– November 25, 2000
Perspective
The technology relative to what Mr. John Titor is describing is relative to his exposure on his world-line. It is not the ONLY way to conduct world-line travel.
I have been exposed to two other ways of accomplishing this using radically different technology. Further, there is evidence that others utilize other methods including vehicles and protected and shielded individuals.
Third of multiple Posts
This post is the third of a series of posts related to John Titor. The other posts are;
Conclusion
Our reality is not what we think it is. I am not the only person who has disclosed that there are others, and other organizations that can enter and leave our reality at will. Another person who made this claim went by the name John Titor.
Only where as, I claim to be part of MAJestic and was employed as part of human sentience management, John Titor claimed to be a person who was part of another world-line. Together, we both claim that the MWI is real, and we utilize it to perform dimensional egress for our own purposes.
I claim that it is a tool that is used to manage human sentience evolution.
John Titor claims that he utilized the time variable to conduct acquisition activities in the past.
He claimed that on that world-line, the United States was fundamentally different after a rapid series of events in the late 1990’s. He claimed that he needed to perform some acquisition of certain technical devices through the use of the time-variance option in dimensional travel.
This is a multi-part post.
Take Aways
John Titor claimed to be a time traveler.
He utilized dimensional travel to move in and out of the baseline reality.
As such, he visited our world-line to acquire some technology needed on his world-line.
That technology was produced in “our” past. Thus the idea that it involved “time travel”.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
While the Internet has well labeled John Titor as a hoax, when one takes a good hard look at his statements regarding life in the future in his alternative world-line, we can easily see that he was accurately predicting various trends (if not actual events – after all, it is an alternate world-line) that we are today seeing manifest… let’s look at the John Titor predictions.
Important Warning
The information within this series of posts are speculative. I have no factual information if this John Titor is what he claimed to be. It is presented herein as the only (or maybe, one of the only) sources that claim to be associated with the vehicles that pop in and out of our reality from time to time.
He was, as far as I know, never associated with MAJestic in any way.
Introduction
Over all, it is important to note that when one reads or reviews all of his statements and the dialog that he participated in, it becomes far more plausible that he was, indeed, a time and dimensional traveler.
The reader needs to listen or read the actual transcripts of what John Titor actually said. The reader needs to re-look at this through the eyes of someone who lived through 9-11, the war on terror, the Department of Homeland Security, the eight years under President Obama, and the election of Donald Trump. None of which was known to John Titor. These events all pre-dated his dialog. Therefore, let’s take a look at the John Titor predictions.
What seemed so far-fetched in 1998 seems absolutely frighteningly real now.
The reader must take special note that the dialog with Mr. John Titor occurred prior to 9-11. Before that there wasn’t any “War on Terror”, no hijackings of planes to crash into buildings, the threat of WMD’s and the Arab “spring” not only did not occur yet, but no one could even conceive of them occurring.
The Department of Homeland Security did not exist, and massive government surveillance was beyond the conception of most Americans.
Most Americans never heard of the NSA.
Google did not exist. To research anything you had to manually track down the sites through Yahoo! or AOL.
No one knew who Snowden was, the Black Lives Matter movement, or the Antifa groups sponsored by George Soros.
Yet, John Titor predicted all this in our future world-line. Quite the coincidence.
It is precisely this variance from what we know has transpired now, that lends credence to the words penned by this individual.
A very good narrative of these words is available on a series of You-Tube videos provided below. This is the “Realist News” website on You-tube. Here the investigator looks at the writings from the point of view of someone from 2000 and 2001. This can save the reader the energy from reading the entire dialog on their own.
This is most especially true as most of the dialog that John Titor was involved in has since disappeared from the internet since. Therefore, the only thing that most can find are just an array of websites and videos that typically disparage his contention that he was a time traveler.
Here, the You-Tube blogger at “Realist News” goes through the discourse between the John Titor individual and discusses the contents relative to what we knew in 2016. He takes a look at the John Titor predictions. Contrary to much of what you can locate on the Internet, this blogger makes a point that the predictive trends of an alternative world line similarly coincide with that of our time line.
This blogger makes a point that the predictive trends of an alternative world line similarly coincide with that of our time line.
While many of the statements that John Titor made in 2000 seemed outlandish at that time, subsequent events have actually foretold the active trends, if not the actual events.
A blogger discusses John Titor’s predictions 15 years later.
Part 1 – 13:00 “No, the ice caps are not melting”
There is no such thing as “Global Warming” in 2036. He did not say that it was a hoax set up by the government to fund various black initiatives. All he stated was that he saw no evidence at all for any kind of climate change in 2036. The way that it is worded, however does imply a disparagement of the Global Warming narrative.
Part 1 – 14:30 “I am more susceptible to colds”
The viral agents in this time line are different than what he is accustomed to. It is a curious statement.
Part 1 – 15:10 “The day of worship is Saturday”
Religion is a serious issue after global nuclear conflict, and how it is conducted and the belief structures imposed are quite different. Islam is not mentioned, even though President Obama stated that it was a fundamental part of the fabric of the United States. Of course,prior to 9-11 Americans rarely even thought about Muslims or the Islamic religion. Then, when Obama got elected, we ended up having Islam shoved down our collective throats.
Part 1 – 15:59 “When I was 13, I was a soldier”
He claimed that he fought during the American second civil war. That it was a war of rural countryside Americans against the urban elites and the city dwellers. This conflict continued for ten years and he often had to hide from the “Federal Police” (the DHS). This ended with the advent of World War III, when Russia ignited a nuclear exchange against American cities.
A nuclear exchange cut the Second American civil war short. The vast numbers of the urban elites, the oligarchy and their minions were all devastated during the nuclear exchange.
Part 1 – 16:37 He says that he is with his parents they live in a large “tree-house”.
Part 1 – 16:54 “No new information on UFO’s and aliens”
He knew nothing about this subject, though he suggests that UFO’s might be time machines from far in the future. This pretty much apparently explains why many UFO enthusiasts believe that UFO’s might be time travelers from the future. Oh BTW. Some might be, but many are not.
Part 1 – 17:51 “What we did NOT do was create more GMO seeds. What were people thinking?”
The reader must remember that this statement was made in 1998, almost 15 years before the big backlash against GMO’s. John Titor PREDICTED the anti-GMO movement.
Part 1 – 20:09 He likes the simple things like hugging his mother and father.
Part 1 – 21:45 “The Constitution was changed after the war”
Notice his comments. This was in 1998, and he wished he would have brought back to the past a copy of the new Constitution. This is a kind of statement that we would see after the 2016 election, not in 1998. John Titor PREDICTED that Americans would want to alter and change the Constitution.
Part 1 – 24:00 There are seven other time travelers in his unit.
Part 1 – 24:24 “Right now most of our practical (time and dimensional travel) missions are from 1960 to 1980”
The further back in the past one goes the greater the divergence, and the greater the difficulty in returning home to a similar world line to the one you left. Most missions were along close world lines that differed only in time and minor event sequences.
The John Titor mission was set in 1974. The 1998 (to 2001) visit was for personal reasons.
Part 1 – 24:37 The accuracy of the machine decreases sharply the farther back in time (or in the future) you go.
The blogger’s explanation about wanting to travel back in time to kill Hitler, but Hitler not even being on the time line isn’t really an accurate appraisal of what John Titor stated.
The truth is that there will be time lines with Hitler; it’s just the accuracy of you landing on that time line decreases. This is because that’s over 75 years in the past.
Your machine may read a 2% divergence, but it’s accuracy is compromised.
The result being is that you would actually land in a world-line that is 30% divergent instead of 3%, even though that is what your instruments would state.
Of course, there is a way around this. You go back in stages. You go back in 30 year increments, land and take a detailed reading and then continue. Then, on your return journey, you retrace your steps. Like placing “breadcrumbs” to find your way back.
Part 1 – 25:00 A message for the world leaders in government. “Revel in your confidence today, because you will not win tomorrow.”
He possessed a very low opinion of the United States government, and the general American population. He was convinced that America would eventually go through a civil war and those in power would get their comeuppance.
In order for American citizens to take control of their government, two things must occur. Firstly, the secret societies that operate in Washington DC must be eliminated. This “swamp” must be drained. Secondly, the American government must put the needs and interests of American first before everything else. This goes in direct opposition of what the global oligarchs desire.
Unfortunately that did not happen. Without Y2K instigating an acceleration of the backlash against the American oligarchy, the “deep state” became entrenched. The American empire grew to a point where today (2018) we are fighting seven different nations all around the globe.
Part 1 – 29:00 “Entertainment is more decentralized, and more people produce their own shows”
Written in 2000! No one could understand this statement at all. Why would people ever want to produce their own shows? Why not watch television? You-Tube wasn’t even created until 2005. John Titor PREDICTED this trend accurately.
Part 1 – 32:46 “There are also no income taxes.”
Part 1 – 33:30 “There is some debate in changing the number of stars on the flag from 50 to 5.”
Part 1 – 37:45 (schools today) “are no longer a political indoctrination system.”
Remember this statement was made nearly a decade before President Obama came to office. John Titor PREDICTED the reorientation of the Department of Education toward social polarization, and indoctrination by President Obama.
Published on Aug 28, 2013. The blogger continues reading the dialog between John Titor and various other bloggers. It is an interesting exchange. It is important for the reader to note that the actual dialog between John Titor and the other bloggers are no longer available on the Internet. The dialog is gone.
Part 2 – 0:25 Blogger states that he should hold on to the dialog just in case it disappears off the internet. In which case it actually did disappear.
Part 2 – 1:45 “There was an armed resistance (from the cities). We killed most of them by 2020.”
He is referring to most of the urban elite and the urban uneducated.
The BLM and Antifa became violent and vocal during the Obama presidency when enormous sums of money from the progressives in the American “deep state” and foreign agents such as George Soros pumped money towards their disruptive efforts.
Part 2 – 3:10 Question: “Why do you think that our future will be like your future?” Answer: “Because our world-lines are so similar.”
He landed on our world-line at a 1-2% divergence. Upon arrival the divergence immediately grew. Any mass communication efforts that reached large groups of people, such as using the internet, affected the thoughts of large bodies of people. This amplified the divergence.
While he arrived on our world-line at a small divergence of 1-2%, he left in 2001 leaving a far larger divergence. One that was the result of three years of active internet communication on a public forum.
Part 2 – 3:43 “This world-line and my own are almost exactly alike.”
But, we know that this is not really true, because we did not have a civil war, and a nuclear war. So they cannot be alike. He constantly stated that there was a 1 to 2% divergence. Yet, later he admitted to betting involved in prevention of the Y2K problem and that prevented a major period of civil unrest, and thus altered our world line. I suspect that it went from 2% divergence to something over 10%.
Part 2 – 6:05 “Since the concept of nationally subsidized welfare is not supported in my world-line, most people here would not like it.”
This statement would not have meant so much in the year 2000 as it does today.
Part 2 – 7:30 He tells his parents in the 2000 world-line to move to Omaha Nebraska because that is where the new capital will be, and it is a safe rural farming community.
Part 2 – 8:18 Of the other 7 time travelers, three are on other missions at the time John Titor went on his mission. He did not know what their missions were, but he assumed that they would be similar to his in some way.
Part 2 – 12:11 “There were no Olympics after 2004.” Meaning of course, that after World War III, the Olympics stopped.
Part 2 – 13:45 There are 10 type C204 time machines, and 20 type C206 time machines.
Part 2 – 14:28 The Mad-Cow Disease does not exist in his world-line.
The reader should remember that at the time of John Titor, the search engines were rather primitive. The biggest search engine of the day was Yahoo!
Google was just getting started. Google was founded in 1998, but it really didn’t become popular until the mid 2000’s. Long after John Titor got up and left. The scope of the subjects that John Titor covered is quite broad when placed in the context of a lack of adequate computer source and searching engines.
Part 2 – 14:30 “It’s pretty easy for you to dismiss the Middle East, but pretty soon it will be a no armer and a no legger.”
Written in 2000 before 9-11 and the subsequent rise in the Arab world of Islamic militants. John Titor PREDICTED the various conflicts in the Middle East.
Part 2 – 17:40 Most people blamed the “government organizations” for the war. Fast forward to 2017, where one the largest obstacles to meaningful change is the entrenched federal bureaucracy. Curious that John Titor would say “government organizations” and not “the government”. He actually predicted this problem.
Part 2 – 20:50 “When the civil war broke out most decided to stay in the cities and lose most of their civil rights in the guise of security…”
(Written in 2000, before 9-11, the DHS, the NSA, Snowden and Wikileaks. All of which were unheard of at that time. John Titor PREDICTED all the post-911 anti-terrorism legislation.)
Currently, it is certainly looking like a civil war will break out. Go here; http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/the-simple-reason-why-a-second-american-civil-war-may-be-inevitable_04212017 From the article;
“However, something has changed. You can feel it in the air. Our nation has clearly never been this divided since the Civil War. A lot of people noticed it after the last election, but the truth is that these divisions have been deepening for decades, and they’re just now reaching a very noticeable breaking point. That’s obvious enough when you look at how the left and the right have been going at each other. It used to be a war of words, but it’s turning into something very dark.
Consider what happened in Berkeley after Trump supporters and counter protesters clashed for the third time. 21 people were arrested and 11 were injured (that we know of), six of who had to be taken to the hospital. At least one person was stabbed. The police confiscated confiscated knives, stun guns, and poles. One Trump supporter admitted to being surrounded, pepper sprayed, and beaten with sticks by a mob of “protesters.”
But wait, that’s not the dark part. After these groups clashed, the leftist protesters took to Reddit and admitted that they lost this particular battle (I can’t believe I’m using the word “battle” to describe it), and that it was time for them to attain more combat training and better weapons, including firearms.
Do you see what’s going on here? Conservative demonstrations, which used to be placid affairs (remember the Tea Party protests?) are now turning violent as conservatives grow tired of restraining themselves, and are no longer afraid to hit back. Liberal demonstrators are responding by ratcheting up the level of force that they’re going to bring to the next street battle. It’s a tit for tat that keeps escalating, and I shudder to think of where it’s going to end up.
Honestly, I think we’re in the early stages of a second civil war. I can’t say what it’ll look like precisely, but I can tell you that our nation is on this path, and it’s not clear how we can get off of it. In fact, I fear that it may be inevitable, and there’s a very simple reason why.”
As an interesting aside, as of the second quarter of 2017, the American people are starting to recognize that a civil war is in process. The date of 2017 is about 4 years later than the professed civil war start of 2013 that John Titor spoke of. Listen and read here.
Part 2 – 21:20 “avoiding conflict with the federal police” (The Department of Homeland Security the DHS = the “federal Police”. Which was established by George Bush after 9-11. John Titor PREDICTED the Department of Homeland Security.)
Part 2 – 22:30 “The US cities were attacked by Russia who was our enemy.” In other words, the cities had become the de facto home of the enemies of the United States, and Russia attacked them.
Amazing stuff after seeing the 2016 election of Donald Trump and the concentration of riots originating out of the cities with the presumptive totalitarian behavior of the BLM and their associative progressive minions. In his own way John Titor PREDICTED the militant Soros funded black-clad militant movement after the 2016 election.
Then, in 18MAY17, the famous Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh discusses how the president of Russia, Putin openly warns the urban elite, the media, and the 1% against going against the will of the American people. Listen to it here.
Part 2 – 24:50 “The divergence percentage can be more accurate with more sensitive sensors and clocks”
Part 2 – 26:30 Yes, No and Maybe. How the computer figures out the variance divergence.
Part 2 – 28:15 “I thought owning a handgun was legal according to the Constitution”.
Part 2 – 28:17 Korea, Taiwan and Japan joined together prior to the world war.
Part 2 – 29:00 Media portrayal of the news.
Part 2 – 31:00 Good vrs. Bad is an illusion that has no worth to God.
WOW, WOW, WOW !!! this guy is describing an economy that uses sound money: Bitcoin ("it`s all distributed over the web" - Distributed consensus, Blockchain?)-Danilo BF
Part 2 – 33:00 “When the television uses the word ‘enemy’ they are talking about YOU.”
The federal police has been trained to treat patriots as threats to the government.
Part 2 – 35:20 You-Tube was not around when he wrote about the decline of big media and the rise of DIY media outlets.
Part 2 – 40:10 Canada is full of very dangerous and ruthless people.
Part 2 – 42:45 “There are no Republicans or Democrats to speak of.”
John Titor predicted the fall of both the Republican and Democrat parties in 2016. After all, the number one favored Democrat candidate in 2016 was Bernie Sanders who was an Independent, not a Democrat. Donald Trump was not a Conservative Republican he was and still is a nationalist.
This is a good enough location than anywhere else to place the words penned by Mr. Charlie Daniels in an open letter to all the American politicians.
“…And in your self-righteous zeal to toe the party line, you have completely forgotten about we the people and the welfare of the nation you're supposed to be serving.It's become a game with you people. You've all turned into tattletales, petulant pubescent third graders, all bent on becoming teacher’s pet and doing anything it takes to garner a few more votes.You'd rather deprive the nation of a benefit than to let the other party get the credit for passing it. There is no loyalty among you, and you will run away from a colleague who does something unpopular before the ink on the defaming article has even dried.You'd give citizenship to aardvarks if they could vote and say anything, accuracy and honesty be damned, and kiss a flatulent skunk’s posterior before you'd do or say anything that would make the other party look good.I sometimes wonder how you see yourselves, as a knight on a white horse saving the nation, or as the rest of us see you, as a poorly-mounted, impotent Don Quixote charging dilapidated windmills in rusty armor.And I wonder if any of you realize how very out of touch with what’s actually happening in the real world you are and how much that world has changed since you moved into your ivory tower, back when bell bottoms were in style.I truly believe that when our forefathers designed our political system they never made allowances for career politicians. I believe the system was designed for a citizen politician to serve a term or two and then vacate the seat so somebody who actually knows what's happening in the streets now can come in with a fresh opinion and without 20 or 30 years of partisan political baggage and obligations.”-Charlie Daniels written in “An Open Letter to Politicians: You Have Completely Forgotten About We the People” penned April 21, 2017.
Part 2 – 51:34 “The law is only as good as the willingness to apply it swiftly and evenly.”
Part 2 – 52:35 “China will put a man in orbit, I wouldn’t be surprised if they do that soon.”
John Titor PREDICTED the first manned space flight by China. Though honestly, at that time, China was considered to be an emerging third world nation. This was DECADES before Americans started to find their store shelves stuffed with products made in China. The idea that China would have manned spaceflight was considered a joke.
The Chinese launching rockets and orbiting in space was considered a joke that no one took seriously. At that time, China produced very cheap products that were just then getting placed on American shelves.
Part 2 – 53:16 Did John Titor give incorrect dates for the civil war and the world war because it might jeopardize his presence in this time line? Maybe the divergence is 1 to 2% like he stated, but the dates of the events are actually wrong.
The blogger suggests this because he questions what actually occurred did not match all the conflicts that John Titor predicted. Perhaps the events he mentions will actually still occur, only they will actually occur 10 years later.
Maybe, instead of a civil war in 2013, there is one in 2023? Nuclear war in 2025, instead of 2015.
Part 2 – 47:00 Hawaii will probably avoid much of the conflict, but it is dependent on the mainland for food. Therefore, there would be strife on any small island. Interesting that he should make this statement. Most people, by far, would assume that an island would be the best place to “ride out” world war III. But John Titor says differently. He says that the number one cause of death was starvation, and since most food to the island is imported, it would seem that it would not be a desirable location to hide.
“I believe john titor was accurate and made an error on the date of the civil war. the riots were supposed to start in 2004 leading to a civil war, i think he meant 2014. do you know the exact date of world war one or the civil war? you may entirely make a ten year mistake, remember this was his past, and he did lie and was contradictory about a lot, i truly believe he meant 2014, look at ferguson, he said these things would begin in 04 and get worse and worse.”-Frank Nagy
Part 2 – 54:40 A lot of smoke and haze that obscures the sun. Implies a substantial lack of electricity and reliance on fossil fuels, and wood.
Part 2 – 1:08:32 “One of the Great Pyramids was severely damaged.”
Part 3 – 3:14 “There is a civil war in the United States that starts in 2005.”
Part 3 – 3:30 “A nuclear war against the federal empire and the cities occurred in 2015, and thus we (in the countryside) won.”
All of the major American cities were wiped out by cluster of three MIRV nuclear warheads spread out for maximum damage.
The implication is that the civil war was not going well for the “deplorables” in the militias. The people in the countryside were losing, and the DHS (the Federal Police) were winning with all the advantages that we know about today.
However, the ignition of the nuclear war incinerated the cities and pretty much wiped out the oligarchy and their supporting minions and followers.
Even though the American second civil war was not going well for the middle states, a nuclear conflagration initiated by Russia changed the balance of power to the rural areas. Never the less the DHS (Federal Police) still operated, and a long period of “mop up” activities were initialized.
Part 3 – 5:45 The visit to 1999 through 2001 was for personal reasons. His actual mission was to obtain the computer back in 1975.
Part 3 – 6:45 Influence on the Y2K…?
Part 3 – 9:00 Jacksonville, Florida was vaporized by a nuclear weapon. He worked out of a military base in Tampa. That assumes that Tampa must not have been hit by a nuclear strike.
Russian cruse missile threat on the American Eastern seaboard. The Russians no longer need to rely upon ICBM with MIRV warheads to strike american cities. They can utilize sub-launched precise cruise missile technology armed with high-yield nuclear warheads.
Russian technology is quite advanced, and they have the ability to launch both SLBM and sub launched cruise missiles at a comfortable range undetected beneath the sea.
Part 3 – 9:45 “Let me let you in on a little secret. No one likes you in the future. This time period is looked upon as a lazy, self-centered, civilly ignorant sheep.”
No one in the year 2000 had any concept of just how ignorant of civics the nation had become after the purging of civics lessons from schools. Sure we were aware of an occasional rewriting of history, however the knowledge of what it is today was beyond our comprehension at that time.
Part 3 – 11:45 Imagine that you are a Jew and could travel back in time to Germany at the time of the rise of Hitler in the early 1930’s. You know what the future would be. Yet, you see all around you, the ignorant masses of people who continue their behaviors in complete ignorance in what it will eventually lead towards.
When Hitler came to power, he was just “another” political personage. Slowly at first, people started to follow him. He became populist, and it became a cultural fad to follow him and salute him.
Part 3 – 13:25 Question: Which parts of the United States are safe from the conflict of Civil war, and Nuclear war? Answer: Take a close look at the county by county voting maps of the last election.
2016 Election Results by County
Part 3 – 14:00 Prediction of Taser deaths by police using nonlethal weapons.
John Titor PREDICTION of the deaths by the American police using non-lethal weapons.
Part 3 – 16:15 “Russia’s enemy is not you the people. Russia’s enemy is the United States government.”
Part 3 – 16:45 Statements hint at the deterioration of the Middle East as a negative influence on global stability.
Part 3 – 18:15 Perhaps John Titor got involved in the Y2K issue, and was not wholly involved “on a personal level” for his visit here.
In so doing, perhaps he managed to make the “big event” in his world-line, not occur in ours, and thus completely disrupted the world-line for us. Thus, instead of civil war in 2005, we elected Obama in 2008 and totally changed our world-line into something other than what it should have been at the time John Titor landed in 1999.
Part 3 – 22:00 Tie-in to the President Obama and DHS action against 10th Amendment rights individuals back in 2013.
Part 3 – 24:54 “The year 2008 was a general time when everyone realized that the world they thought they lived in was over.”
Look at what happened, with the banker bailout, and the collapse of various financial markets. Just imagine what would have happened if this came right on the coattails of wide spread civil distress in 2004 due to a Y2K snap in 2001.
Part 3 – 29:00 Yes, he could have changed this world-line. However, he is not confident that things have changed enough for us to avoid the conflict. He was wrong, apparently. My guess is that he failed to take into account how many people would be influenced by his internet presence. At the time, maybe a few hundred. Over the last ten years and longer, that number exploded exponentially.
Part 3 – 29:16 “You need to consider that a world without war is far less desirable in the long run.”
Obama has given away more money, more things, and more cash than any other president. The only problem is that it wasn’t his money to give away. It was yours.
Part 3 – 34:13 When the war comes it will be blatantly obvious to everyone in the nation that it will occur. The shocking thing was that so many people decided to stay in the very cities where they knew the bombs would be dropped.
Part 3 – 37:30 The president at the time of the Civil War tried to be another Lincoln and hold the country together, but many of the government policies drove a wedge in the civil rights of Americans and created divisions that were irreconcilable. The President in 2009 was concerned ONLY in keeping his power base. (Stated with eerily accuracy in 2000.)
Part 3 – 38:10 One of the things that John Titor alluded to was that the United States president elected in 2008 might be a man or a woman. Yet, back in the year 2000 it was inconceivable that a woman would even consider running for President. Yet, we know now that Hillary Clinton did do exactly that and ran for President in 2008. It seems strange today, after the Hollywood blitz of Madam President Movies all in support of a Hillary Clinton Presidency. But at that time it was unknown.
John Titor PREDICTED that a woman would be considered to be President.)
Bernie Sanders rally and a Hillary CLinton rally during the same month. Yet, here we have John Titor predicting that there would be a woman candidate for president. He did this back in 1998.
Part 3 – 42:30 The people with the most to lose would be the most untrustworthy when the world changes.
Part 3 – 43:10 “We have a saying here. Safe is anywhere a hungry person cannot walk in three days.”
This is a unique saying that belies experience and would typically not be the kind of thing that a hoaxer would make up off the cuff.
Part 3 – 47:15 Most people will starve, the rest will die of disease, followed by bullet wounds and radiation. In that order.
Part 3 – 52:48 “The conflict was not about taking and holding ground, it was about order and rights… …they were betting that people wanted security over freedom and they were wrong.”
This statement was made in 2000, long before the NSA and all the erosion’s on American freedoms.
Part 3 – 54:38 “The cities were not isolated because of them, they were isolated because of us (the people in the “red states” or countryside.)”
Part 3 – 1:00:00 Discussing what it is like to kill a man relative to their ability to change future events. It seems far too detailed and deep for someone to state relative to a general hoax.
Part 3 – 1:10:00 John discusses various verification’s on the capabilities of the IBM computer that he has been sent back to obtain.
Part 3 – 1:18:00 John questions why go back to retrieve an old computer on a time travel mission, but he reasons that that was his orders and job so he just went and conducted his task.
Part 4 – 3:10 Influence of gravitational alignments and their significance in his return to his world-line world-time.
Part 4 – 9:05 Mentions CERN in 1998 which was a decade before this project went live in 2008. How did he know? (PREDICTION.)
Part 4 – 10:00 How time travel works, and the odd situations that occur whenever you operate the device.
Part 4 – 10:50 “the oddest one was seeing a skyscraper that don’t exist in New York.”
(PREDICTION. Hum. How did he know about the 9-11 WTC destruction?)
Part 4 – 11:24 John Titor confirms that he DID get involved in the Y2K issue so that our world line would not experience the same problems that his world line experienced.
Part 4 – 13:40 Arrived in the summer of 1998 and discusses some things of importance with Art Bell via fax. He includes some photos and schematics of the time travel equipment. The most interesting picture was the laser light actually curving in a photograph. This was made in 1998 and it does not have indications of Photoshop manipulation.
Part 4 – 18:35 There are no absolutes. It’s a universe of potentials.
Part 4 – 24:00 Mother gets on Art Bell show and says how and why she believed that John Titor was her son. The mother said that there was something about a mother and her child that KNOWS the relationship between the two.
He arrived in 1999 and stayed until 2001.
Just the exact period of time that the Y2K bug was supposed to cause all sorts of computer breakdowns and initiated a period of civil unrest. Perhaps, he wanted to use this period of time to spend with his folk before the unrest occurred, and in the process inadvertently caused a Y2K repair action. Through his action, inadvertent or not, the Y2K bug was thwarted and the period of upheaval and civil unrest was avoided. He confirmed in the dialog of Part 4 at 11:24 that he did indeed get involved with preventing the Y2K fiasco that caused such havoc in his world line.
Since this period of unrest was avoided, would it not be possible that subsequent events, all tied to the Y2K unrest were also avoided. Thus, he could have changed our future and altered this world-line. Because civil war did not start in 2005. Nuclear war did not start in 2015. Perhaps his alteration of the world-line has altered ours, but not solved the core problems inherent with our behaviors and our policies. Perhaps these events are still before us, only that they will only get worse?
This issue is discussed on REALIST NEWS – The John Titor Time Traveler Story Part 3 of 4 at part 3 at 18:15.
Dates of Contention
John Titor gave very specific dates regarding a series of events in our near future.
These dates came and passed without anything regarding his stated conflicts occurring. However, there are those that suggest that he actually lied about the dates. That the dates are actually ten years later, or alternatively the actual dates changed because he altered our time world-line.
Or, more plausible, is that he did not remember the dates correctly.
How many readers know the actual dates regarding the American civil war, or the start of hostilities in Vietnam, or how about the first or second gulf war? I don’t, though I think I could come up with a reasonable guess. These ideas are interesting, and for purposes of enjoyment, I have placed them assuming a ten year buffer. Please see below.
EVENT
JOHN TITOR DATE
+10 YEARS
REVISED DATE
Seeds started
2004 – 2005 (1)
+10
2014 – 2015
Start of conflicts
2008
+10
2018 (2)
Start of shootings
2010
+10
2020
Nuclear exchange
2013
+10
2023
The reader should note that if one were to follow the revised dates (assuming a ten year “adjustment” to the dates and figures provided by John Titor) that the result closely correlates with the nursery management considerations in the crisis (fourth Turning) in accordance with the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory
Note 1; Interesting quote published in the second quarter of 2017;
“For a time now, I stated that World War III began on the Morning of September 11, 2001. War has been raging ever since.
I also stated the Second American Civil War would begin on or before January 20, 2017. If you're starting to get this uneasy feeling about what's going on in Washington and other cities around America, and fearing some kind of flashpoint coming soon, let me explain it to you...
... we are in midst of the Second Civil War. And this is only the beginning.”
-http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3525528/posts
Continued under a new name and some time after the first four parts were produced;
Part 5 – 3:31 The police actually got away with harming an American citizen, filming it, and getting off with no negative consequences. Perhaps John Titor was right, because these are exactly the kinds of things that he stated would lead up to the American civil war.
Part 5 – 4:50 Our enemy was the global banking elite which were all centered in the cities.
Part 5 – 7:30 It is now Russia that is stopping the globalists, the New World Order people and the global Banking Elite.
This is exactly the same PREDICTION that John Titor made back in 1998. Maybe he was just an internet troll, but for a troll, he certainly was able to predict the global trends quite accurately.
Part 5 – 9:12 REALIST NEWS uses the term “Fake News” years before the 2017 election where everyone is decrying “Fake News”.
Part 5 – 11:05 When Russia nukes our cities, they are killing off our citizen’s enemies. Our enemies are internal, not external. (According to John Titor, the nukes were accurate and relatively “clean” and used in clusters of three.)
Part 5 – 15:00 John Titor said that he would prefer to have lived the live after World War III than a peaceful solution. The only way to fix the issues is to start fresh.
He has altered our World-Line through action
There is every evidence that he stated that he came for personal reasons.
He knew that the world line (that is ours) is very similar to his world line. He claimed only a 1-2% divergence. Because of that, he wanted to warn his parents to move to a safe area, as well as to meet with his parents. Apparently the war occurred when he was a young boy, and his parents died while he was still young. Maybe this was his way to protect them in some way, as well as to spend some time with them on a personal level.
Second of multiple Posts
This post is the second of a series of posts related to John Titor. The other posts are;
Conclusion
Our reality is not what we think it is. I am not the only person who has disclosed that there are others, and other organizations that can enter and leave our reality at will. Another person who made this claim went by the name John Titor.
Only where as, I claim to be part of MAJestic and was employed as part of human sentience management, John Titor claimed to be a person who was part of another world-line. Together, we both claim that the MWI is real, and we utilize it to perform dimensional egress for our own purposes.
I claim that it is a tool that is used to manage human sentience evolution.
John Titor claims that he utilized the time variable to conduct acquisition activities in the past.
He claimed that on that world-line, the United States was fundamentally different after a rapid series of events in the late 1990’s. He claimed that he needed to perform some acquisition of certain technical devices through the use of the time-variance option in dimensional travel.
This is a multi-part post.
Take Aways
John Titor claimed to be a time traveler.
He utilized dimensional travel to move in and out of the baseline reality.
As such, he visited our world-line to acquire some technology needed on his world-line.
That technology was produced in “our” past. Thus the idea that it involved “time travel”.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
Let’s look at an admitted “time traveler”; a Mr. John Titor. Who claimed to utilize dimensional-egress to conduct apparent “time travel” activities to acquire and retrieve information and artifices from history.
Yes. He made claims to being a “time traveler”.
Important Warning
The information within this series of posts are speculative. I have no factual information if this John Titor is what he claimed to be. It is presented herein as the only (or maybe, one of the only) sources that claim to be associated with the vehicles that pop in and out of our reality from time to time.
He was, as far as I know, never associated with MAJestic in any way.
Introduction
So, let’s take a step backward.
Yes, let’s take a step backward and just imagine that you (the reader) had no idea of my experiences. You did not read what I wrote. If you did, you did not understand it, nor believe it. As such, you just dismissed it as garbage. Let’s work from that understanding; that everything that I have written and narrated, is just nonsense.
An automat popular on other world-lines. While it enjoyed a brief and short-lived period of success on our world-line, it was eventually displaced by fast-food franchises. Yet, in the other world-lines that I have been familiar with, it is still popular and a part of the American culture.
From the reader’s point of view; it is all just nonsense. It holds as much importance as the average length of a giraffes neck. It holds as much meaning and significance as the number of pencils that the Lusaka elementary school system goes through in a year. It holds as much relative importance to you, the reader as the number of yellow-sticky papers remaining on your desk.
It is nonsense because it has no bearing on your, the reader’s, reality.
But, what if it did? What if I composed a narrative that could become personal to your own personal life? What would it look like?
There are people that pop into our reality, and exit it. I have shown numerous examples of this. There are vehicles that drive into our reality, and then exit it, just as readily. I have shown examples of this as well.
With that in mind, let’s consider some questions. What are those disappearing vehicles and appearing people? How do they fit into the “grand scheme” of things?
Investigate the debunked “Hoaxes”. I think that the reader should just put a “hold” on all those well-paid “experts” who you let define what your reality is. Turn off CNN, MSNBC and WaPo. The world is much bigger than what they allow you to see. Open up your eyes, and be open to the ideas herein. Yes. OMG. Close our mouth and hush now.
One of the aspects that we looked at involved the use of vehicles to enter and leave our reality. They are not using the transport portal like I used in the Navy. They are doing something else altogether.
I have posts that show that people are doing this using walk-through technology.
I have posts that show that people are doing this with vehicles.
As well as..
Now consider that, for a second. If there are people entering and leaving our reality, and they are using an automobile as the vehicle to do so, then could there be some kind of disclosure that might present more information on this phenomenon? And, if so, then what would that disclosure looks like?
"Theories have four stages of acceptance:
i) this is worthless nonsense;
ii) this is an interesting, but perverse, point of view;
iii) this is true, but quite unimportant;
iv) I always said so.
- J.B.S. Haldane, 1963
Well there is just such a disclosure.
There really is. However, it is a very difficult one to believe as it sounds so absolutely outlandish that it “must” be a hoax. (Not to mention that it has been “disproven” by Snopes (LOL), and is considered by many (people, children, and possibly animals) to be a hoax.)
Well, then, isn’t that a basic criterion for use to start from? We must look at what “just can’t possibly be” to study what actually is.
Dear readers, let me present the John Titor story.
This adventure down the “rabbit hole” begins in the middle of the Summer of 1998.
The First Fax
This is the first fax sent from John Titor to Art Bell on July 29, 1998;
“Dear Art,I had to fax when I heard other time travelers calling in from any time past the year 2500 AD. Please let me explain.Time travel was invented in 2034. Off-shoots of certain successful fusion reactor research allowed scientists at CERN to produce the world’s first contained singularity engine. The basic design involves rotating singularities inside a magnetic field. By altering the speed and direction of rotation, you can travel both forward and backward in time.Time itself can be understood in terms of connected lines. When you go back in time, you travel on your original timeline. When you turn your singularity engine off, a new timeline is created, due to the fact that you and your time machine are now there. In other words, a new universe is created.To get back to your original line, you must travel a split second father back, and immediately throw the engine into forward without turning it off.Some interesting outcomes of this are:One, you meet yourself. I have done it often, even taken a younger version of myself along for a few rides before returning myself to the new timeline and going back to mine.Two, you can alter history in the new universe that you have just created. Most of the time, the changes are subtle. Sometimes, I’ll notice car models that don’t exist, or books that come out late.The oldest one was a skyscraper that wasn’t built in a near favorite store of mine in New York.Interestingly, when you travel in time, you must compensate for the orbit of the earth. Since the time machine doesn’t move, you have to adjust the engines so you remain on the planet when you turn it off. Unfortunately, it was also discovered that anyone going forward in time, from my 2036, hit a brick wall in the year 2564.Everyone who has ever been there has reported that nothing exists. When the machine is turned off, you find yourself surrounded by blackness and silence.Now, most time travelers are trying to find out where the line went bad by going into the past, creating a new universe, and proceeding forward to see if the same thing results in 2564. It appears the line went bad around the year 2000. I’m here now, in this time, to test a few theories of mine before going forward.Now, for the future you might want to know about.One, Y2K is a disaster. Many people die on the highways when they freeze to death trying to get to warmer weather.Two, the government tries to keep power by instituting marshal law, but all of it collapses when their efforts to bring the power back up fail.Three, a power facility in Denver is able to restart itself, but is mobbed by hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed. This convinces most that maybe we shouldn’t bring the old system back up.Four, a few years later, communal government system is developed, after the constitution takes a few twists.China retakes Taiwan, Israel wins the largest battle for their life, and Russia is covered in nuclear snow from their collapsed reactors.Art, the reason I’m here now is because I believe a nuclear weapon set off by Iraq in the Middle East war with Israel might have something to do with the damaged timeline. I will test that theory and get back to you.Please pray that we discover the reason why there is no apparent future after 2564.”
This fax is what got the entire saga going.
Of course, there are always going to be others who will look for ever fault and problem with it. They will search and search. As such, some sleuthing internet investigators have found that this fax does not agree exactly with other information posted on the Internet.
This is a point that is not lost on others. They responded;
“Comparing the 1998 fax to the John Titor story that occurred a couple years later on the Internet, you can see that the “plot” changed somewhat.
[Point #1] There’s no mention of an IBM 5100 in the 1998 faxes, and [point #2] in 2000-2001, there wasn’t any focus at all on this mysterious “blackness and silence” in 2564, nor any reference to a damaged timeline.Perhaps the mission changed. Or maybe just the story.It’s possible, even, that the author of the faxes wasn’t the same person, that someone else snatched up the story, made a few changes and ran with it. But that’s just meaningless conjecture. I’ll leave you with this final thought: something’s weird about this first fax. I’ve transcribed it directly from a recording of the originally aired episode.The line Art reads, “The oldest one was a skyscraper that wasn’t built in a near favorite store of mine in New York,” is fairly strange, not just for its content, but for its structure. It’s often reinterpreted as “The oldest one was a skyscraper that don’t exist in New York.”Now, we can obviously understand what the other interpretation means, but “wasn’t built in a near favorite store of mine in New York” is just weird. Perhaps it was a typo on the fax, or Art misread it.Some, however, theorize that the original recording was edited, that the original content was obscured to hide…something. Or, perhaps, to add something. There are rumors that the audio, for whatever reason, was changed, and so multiple versions are floating around cyberspace.”
“Dear Mr. Bell,I am glad you’re back. I faxed this information to you the day before you left the air. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t lost in the shuffle so I am sending a gift. If you’ve already seen this please accept my apologies. If you choose to make this public please do not publish the fax number. I had to fax when I heard the other time traveler calling in from the recent time past in fact the year 2500 Ad.Let me explain, Mr. Bell. I sent a fax with this opening on July 29 1998. As I said then I am a time traveler. I have been on this world line since April of this year and I plan to leave soon. Typically time travelers do not purposely affect the world lines they visit. However, this mission is unusually long and I’ve grown attached to some of the people I have met here.Anyway, for my own reasons I have decided to help this world line by sharing information about the future with a few people in the hope that it will help their future. I am contacting you for the same reason. Unfortunately there is no historical reference to your program in my worldline.I believe you can change your future by creating one now.Some of the information presented on your program may be invaluable to up-line researchers. I suggest you isolate the programs that concentrate on military technology and new physics theories. Transcribe these programs and put them someplace safe away from the box. I recommend someplace in the midwest.I also urge you to reconsider your paranoia to the Russians.They are not preparing for war with the average US citizen. They are preparing for war with the US government. They will eventually save this country and the lives of millions of Americans.I realize my claims are a bit difficult to accept so I will send the following once I know you have received this fax. A few pages from the operations manual of my time machine. And a few colored photographs of my vehicle.If you wish to contact me I will be happy to share with you the nature of time, the physics of time travel and some of the events of your future.Please send a return package to…”
The webpage that posted this information explains;
“Two years later, on November 2, 2000, someone using the handle TimeTravel_0 would arrive on the Internet, explaining the particulars of a working time machine. Later, he’d pop up on Post to Post, Art Bell’s BBS forum, and the world would learn the name John Titor.”
Introduction
For the record, I initially found it difficult to believe this story.
I read the reviews and opinions online. To me, at first glance it seemed like a lying blogger who as a libertarian (Not that it is bad, just saying.) , just carried on a dialog with other bloggers regarding a “what if” scenario; to look at the world that evolves around them and look at it through the eyes of a dimensional-traveler.
Even though I was, more or less, involved in a (remotely) similar position or role, I could not sympathize with him at all.
None of my exercises, missions, or tasks resembled anything that he was describing or related to. Precisely because they did not fit into the “reality” that I was involved in, I discounted what he said without further thought. I, like, many (I am sure) dismissed the entire event sequence as a fraud.
What does not fit within our reality is often dismissed as fraudulent.
At that time, I thought (erroneously) that there was only one (soul focused) world-line, and only one (shared) reality, and as such there was only one way to traverse world-lines. That was my understanding back in the day. That was then.
This is now. Now, I “hold” things in a better perspective, and that knowledge has reshaped my understanding of the “John Titor” case.
My thoughts at that time were very conventional. I believed that we all participated in and shared the one “only” reality. (Just like you, the reader, probably believe right now.)
Later on, I was able to understand the concept of “individual realities” and quantum shadows. As part of this understanding came the realization that with multiple “true” realities came multiple types of world-line travel. Which then meant that there could be visitors to my current cluster of world-lines as I could visit others as well.
Additionally, they could just as well be part of different organizations, and using different technologies and systems (some more advanced or less advanced than others).
At that time, I dismissed all information about John Titor as a fraud. I dismissed it at that. The opinions of others, further convinced me that it was simply a fraud and a hoax.
I forgot about it. Life moved on. Years passed.
However, something kept nagging at me. The information that they presented to me seemed confusing. For a “simple” Internet hoax, the connections did not make sense.
Later, I noted that there was something very odd. No matter how hard I searched, I was just unable to find any kind of detailed, or total replication of his dialog. Oh, sure, I found snippits. I found some small quotes. I found summaries. But I was unable to find the complete transcript. And, that to me, was worrisome.
What was worrisome was that there were websites after websites discussing how the John Titor event was a fraud. It was a Hoax.
It was proven. It was discovered. It was investigated.
Yet, the actual hard-copy dialog; the full transcript of his narrative was missing. How could they come to this conclusion without the full transcript? And, further, why didn’t they post the full transcripts in their narratives. They only posted their conclusions, expecting the reader to agree with them on blind faith.
Which is exactly what the John Titor disclosure was all about. Curious. Very, very curious.
A photograph of John Titor-s time-displacement mechanism. He stated that he utilized dimensional-travel to move about through time. He did so within a vehicle, and this is a photograph that made it happen.
What? That is correct. How can something be disproved, and identified as a fraud, if the actual transcripts of his discussions are lost? What, in the heck, do the debunkers make their arguments upon?
Well, we do know, and it is covered elsewhere in my blog, that most “investigative” and “fact check” websites are funded by political interests, who use them to create a new and revised narrative that fits their agenda. Most of what they come up with are opinions provided with supporting (hand picked) “evidence”.
I managed to find complete transcripts of the John Titor saga. They were salvaged and propagated on the Internet sometime in 2014.
Reader take note:
The dearth of information regarding this is caused by misdirection by the largest American search engines such as Google, and Bing. However, I managed to find them using non-American search engines.
One thing that I do know is that the reality that we exist within is far more complex, colorful and interesting than our minds can grasp. Additionally, I KNOW that there are powers, forces, groups of people, individuals and trends that desire to keep the baseline of reality secret from the vast majority of humans. The failure to find a complete transcript was very suggestive of a disinformation effort.
Therefore, there just MIGHT be something to this story if one were to suspend their belief censors…
Over the years, I have connected various pieces together in regards to what I experienced, and what I know, with what has been reported by John Titor.
Could he be like me, but associated with another organization, from another place and time? Sure, the technology in one dimension such as a television can be present in another dimension. Could not Dimensional-travel portals and equipment?
Of course it could.
So, everything else aside, I for one (now) believe his story. No, it is not the same as mine. No. I was not part of the same organization and system. But, what I do know absolutely makes his story plausible. I present this to the reader as a plausible explanation for various events within our reality.
As such, I present his story.
I present it with all the blemishes that I was able to collect, and place my commentary (as someone who was engaged in something similar) alongside it. This is not supposed to be a technical exercise in how to build a dimensional portal, or time machine. Nor is this supposed to be a scientific exploration into the sciences involved.
This is just a playful romp into the disclosure of someone who appears to explain a number of the mysteries that confound many people today.
John Titor, Time Traveler
John Titor is the name used on several bulletin boards during the time period from 1998 to around 2001 by a poster claiming to be a time traveler from 2036. In these posts, Titor made numerous predictions about future events, some vague and some quite specific, starting with events in 2004.
His earliest post was in the summer of 1998. He placed a fax to Art Bell suggesting that he transcribe his show and place them in a safe location so that in the future others might be able to enjoy his shows.
He claimed that he travels in and out of time via a special device that he places inside of a vehicle. Each time he travels in time he actually enters an alternative world-line.
John Titor showed up 01-27-2001 12:45 PM on an online forum (in our world-line) with the username Timetraveler_0. He claimed the following:
"I am a time traveler from the year 2036. I am on my way home after getting an IBM 5100 computer system from the year 1975."
There are many, many websites and links discussing this interesting person / event. I would suggest a 55 minute long video on You-Tube which seems to offer a very complete and comprehensive introduction to the entire John Titor saga. It can be found here;
“Oliver Williams is the website editor for the time travel story of John Titor. He first saw John Titor's internet postings in the fall of 2002.
After reading many of the sites where John was discussed, it amazed Oliver as to how much polarization and confrontation John's posts caused.
Oliver soon realized that part of the problem was that there was no one place where all the posts could be easily seen.
In early 2003, Oliver gathered the posts that John had left online and edited them into a single web site. The website also contains email and news events that point to subjects John spoke about.
Oliver doesn't know if John Titor was a real time traveler or not, but, he says, what still amazes him about the posts is their ability to draw you in, question your sanity for thinking it might be real, and then scare you to death after seeing events unfold as John had said.”
Time Travel
The machine that John Titor refers to as a “Time Machine” is actually a “Dimensional Displacement Machine”. This device can place a person in other “world-lines” at other dates and times.
Due to the size of the unit, it is not portable. It is heavy, weighing about 500 pounds. It is too large to place in a backpack. Thus, either there has to be fixed “brick and mortar” structure to house the machine, or some other more mobile platform instead. John Titor states that the solution that his agency uses on the world-line that he is from is to move the device inside (preselected period) automobiles.
He stated that the technology that he utilized required that the vehicles remain in place and immobile. Thus, even though the displacement mechanism was placed inside a destination (historical period) vehicle, that vehicle had to remain immobile during operation.
Dates and Parameters
Assuming his story is correct, John Titor entered our world-line for personal reasons to visit his parents who had suffered greatly when he was a child. He entered our world-line in June 1998 and met his parents when he was only two years old. He met himself (as a two year old), his mother and his father. He moved in with them, and lived with them.
During this time (as I understand it to be) he was (somehow) involved in preventing a nationwide catastrophe known as Y2K that initiated civil strife in his world-line.
He stated that he came from a world line that was 1% to 2% in divergence from our world line.
(John Titor says 1 -2% difference. However, his world-line divergence was actually 2 to 3%. It’s a subjective comparison. I posit that the machine might calculate the relative similarities in a value percentage of say 1 to 2% prior to his entry onto that world line, however, the moment he materializes on the world line the percentage automatically jumps up. It would not be unrealistic to suppose it be at least a 2 to 3% at the initial point of arrival, and increase exponentially (not linearly) the longer he stays on the world-line.)
In other words, the target divergence was 1-2%. Upon arrival, the world-line is now 2-3% upon arrival, and over time increases proportionally. The increase is a function of his interaction upon the new destination world-line.
He claimed that due to the similarities in our two world lines that our future would be similar to his. In his future, an event known as Y2K causes serious civil disruption. Eventually this disruption resulted in nationwide civil war, and then eventually global nuclear war.
Important note; it was not Y2K that caused the civil strife, as what many people interpreted his writings to mean. Rather, Y2K was a trigger that instigated a number of civil disruptions that occurred at that time.
These disruptions set off a chain of events that eventually created a situation where the civil strife weakened the United States. As such, the United States was primed to a point whereas World War III was initiated.
He wanted to protect his parents, who suffered in his world line, by eliminating the Y2K catastrophe. When John Titor was young the federal police started to search houses and take people. It must have been a difficult time, as he and his parents packed up and moved to the country.
Important note that time when John Titor was making his posts, there was no DHS. Today we know the "federal police" as the Department of Homeland Security or DHS. It's one of those often overlooked aspects of the John Titor disclosure.
If he were to say "the DHS", not one person in 1998 or 2001 would know what he was referring to. So, he called them what they were; "federal police".
They apparently had seen strife, as John related how he was always on the run and in hiding during the civil conflict years. So while, his parents did not die during the civil war, their life was very difficult. He was a member of the militia that was busy fighting the DHS; the “federal police”.
American military vehicles deployed on American soil in defiance of the US Constitution. All vehicles were deployed under direction and orders from President Obama. These vehicles are fully equipped for military grade weapons and counter measures. If George Washington saw this he would be rolling in his grave.
John came back to create a new world-line (we have to suppose) for personal reasons, to have his parents move to a more stable area that is shielded from much of the conflict that his world-line parts (and himself) experienced.
However, by interfering in our world-line, he altered our divergence from his world-line.
What was once 1-2%, became 2-3% upon arrival, and after one or two years, entered maybe 5-6% deviance!
The subsequent conflicts of Y2K were avoided. Thus, he preserved his parents’ living standard. However, he also prevented the Y2K civil strife, the resulting civil war four years later, and the global nuclear conflict a decade after that. We are thus living in a substantially altered world-line from the one that he entered.
Here is where things get a little complicated.
Both I, and this John Titor both claim that there was to occur a “major” disruption around the 1995 to 2004 time period. John Titor claims that it was related to (what I consider to be a hoax, or dud) the Y2K event. He has thus “taken credit” in forestalling any disruption in accordance with his actions.
I, on the other hand, state that indeed there was a buildup of forces and events that were reaching a climax in this time period. I do not know the specific details of it. I do not know if it was to have been triggered by Y2K, or if that event was to be a symptom of a much more elaborate realignment sequence.
What I do know is that I, and Sebastian, and a handful of a few others have effectively “locked down” and secured the world-lines into a stable configuration based on our personalities and training.
If there was, anything that our personalities generated it was [1] a rapid increase in prosperity during the 1980’s up to 2004. American culture, always a roller-coaster ride at best, was [2] pretty stable with [3] traditional family values and a [4] more or less traditional concept of beauty and value.
This lasted until we were all retired in 2004 - 2006 time period. MAJestic disbanded our program and let the various forces continue unabated.
How did the John Titor actions affect the group collection of world-lines? It is hard to say. In my mind, it was more tactical than strategic. He caused a change that altered a course (direction vector) of (relative) apparent history, but he did not affect culture and mass humanity (group) thought.
He altered a time-line for personal reasons, and then abandoned it for his own home world-line.
Those of us who are on "bundled" world-lines so connected are now living in this constructed reality that he himself influenced.
There is no question that he altered the future destiny of our world-line. He did this in two major directions;
By working (somehow) to publicize and promote the avoidance of the Y2K event.
By staying on this world line for an extended period of time.
By his own admittance, the longer a traveler stays in a given world-line, the greater the divergence. Thus for a typical mission a few days might be required. However, he was involved in our world line for a little over two and a half years actively engaged in preventing a major catastrophic event.
The trends that we are witnessing at this time have not changed, but the nature of what they manifest as has.
He worked in this capacity until the Y2K task was completed. Once completed, he went online for a short period of time in January 2001 and announced that he was a “Time Traveler”. He did this knowing that no one would believe him, so he felt safe in doing so.
Y2K was considered a very serious issue in 1999. It was a major software design blunder that had the potential for serious infrastructure disruption.
Of course, we all “know” that Y2K was a big “nothing”.
Or, was it?
Once he was confident that his parents were safe, he left our world-line. As he still had a mission to complete. His (supposed) mission was to obtain a IBM computer from 1975 and return it to his world-line in 2036. He then left and has not been heard from since.
Suggestions of a Disinformation Effort
Actual and real or a hoax?
It’s impossible to prove. However, one can look to see if there are any efforts to render his claims are false. You generally do not need to do so with most actual hoaxes. They fall apart on their own.
The first thing to look for is the actual evidence. How difficult or easy is it to find full transcripts of his dialog? Remember, real disclosures tend to evaporate over time. Photos become harder to find. Small, heavily pixillated versions replace the HD versions. Actual transcripts disappear.
At this, was my first sign that there just might be something to this story.
No matter how hard I looked, I could not find the actual full transcripts. All I could find was a series of You-Tube videos reading the transcription (included herein).
(Undated update. In 2014 groups of bloggers gathered and collected transcripts and placed them on various websites. Unfortunately, Google and Bing have a difficult time locating these websites.) You need to use non-American search engines, or refer to my blog. LOL.
Another one of the best indications of a comprehensive disinformation effort is whether or not Hollywood, television, media, music, music video productions, or something related is involved. After all, [1] the C.A.R.E.T. disinformation protocol resulted in a music video and CGI graphics. The [2] suppression of the release of the <redacted> extraterrestrial photos resulted in a documentary with extensive FX work and CGI animations. And, of course, [3] let’s not forget all the mention of S4 from the John Lear disclosures that found their way into Hollywood…
Well, it seems that Hollywood has embraced John Titor as well.
Titor’s name appears first in the first episode of the series “Steins;Gate”. In the show, character Okabe Rintarou accuses Doctor Nakabachi of stealing John Titor’s time-travel theories. Nakabachi’s machine uses the same principles as the one described by Titor in the year 2000, so Rintarou, a fairly big Titor fanatic, recognizes it right away.
Or, maybe it’s just a coincidence.
One thing is for certain, Hollywood certainly likes the idea of using an automobile as a time travel vehicle. After all, that was the basis for the “Back to the Future” series of movies.
Time travel DeLorean. From the Back to the Future movie franchise.
Additionally, why are some individuals so fixated on disproving him?
Why is it your personal mission to disprove John Titor? Just curious why you put so much time into it? Not knocking you down just wondering-dandeville81I know, right?!
Instead of living his own life. hell, if John Titor was a hoax, then he himself put less effort and time into the hoax than this guy has debunking it! haha-Jon Lee
So, what is this? A hoax, a promotional effort for a video-novel, a disinformation effort to suppress some kind of information release or just a series of coincidences? I do not know.
However, for the record, based on my experiences I do believe him.
The John Titor Mission
The original John Titor from the years 1998 (by some accounts 1999) through 2001 claimed to be a soldier from the year 2036, sent to 1975 to retrieve an IBM 5100.
This computer, developed by IBM could use an IBM proprietary language, that he needed to prevent the 2k38 Bug and debug some legacy computer programs.
This early computer could translate between various computer languages including Basic, APL and UNEX. Which curiously I also know. Not so much of a coincidence as it is due to my age. These were the languages that were taught at my university when I went to school. My first computer language that I learned was APL.
Our world-line visit was not part of his primary mission. It was a stop-over.
A Japanese graphic showing the various world-line variations as specified by the John Titor fellow.
John Titor claimed to be in the year 2000 for “personal reasons”, as visiting his family and recovering photos lost during the civil war. He also claimed to be selected for this mission because his grandfather was directly involved in the creation of the time machine.
First of multiple Posts
This post is the first of a series of posts related to John Titor. The other posts are;
Conclusion
Our reality is not what we think it is. I am not the only person who has disclosed that there are others, and other organizations that can enter and leave our reality at will. Another person who made this claim went by the name John Titor.
Only where as, I claim to be part of MAJestic and was employed as part of human sentience management, John Titor claimed to be a person who was part of another world-line. Together, we both claim that the MWI is real, and we utilize it to perform dimensional egress for our own purposes.
I claim that it is a tool that is used to manage human sentience evolution.
John Titor claims that he utilized the time variable to conduct acquisition activities in the past.
He claimed that on that world-line, the United States was fundamentally different after a rapid series of events in the late 1990’s. He claimed that he needed to perform some acquisition of certain technical devices through the use of the time-variance option in dimensional travel.
This is a multi-part post.
Take Aways
John Titor claimed to be a time traveler.
He utilized dimensional travel to move in and out of the baseline reality.
As such, he visited our world-line to acquire some technology needed on his world-line.
That technology was produced in “our” past. Thus the idea that it involved “time travel”.
MAJestic Related Posts – Training
These are posts and articles that revolve around how I was recruited for MAJestic and my training. Also discussed is the nature of secret programs. I really do not know why the organization was kept so secret. It really wasn’t because of any kind of military concern, and the technologies were way too involved for any kind of information transfer. The only conclusion that I can come to is that we were obligated to maintain secrecy at the behalf of our extraterrestrial benefactors.
MAJestic Related Posts – Our Universe
These particular posts are concerned about the universe that we are all part of. Being entangled as I was, and involved in the crazy things that I was, I was given some insight. This insight wasn’t anything super special. Rather it offered me perception along with advantage. Here, I try to impart some of that knowledge through discussion.
Enjoy.
MAJestic Related Posts – World-Line Travel
These posts are related to “reality slides”. Other more common terms are “world-line travel”, or the MWI. What people fail to grasp is that when a person has the ability to slide into a different reality (pass into a different world-line), they are able to “touch” Heaven to some extent. Here are posts that cover this topic.
John Titor Related Posts
Another person, collectively known by the identity of “John Titor” claimed to utilize world-line (MWI egress) travel to collect artifacts from the past. He is an interesting subject to discuss. Here we have multiple posts in this regard.
r3/2, generalizes to elliptical orbits, and gives
