One of the things that cat owners deal with is puss filled blisters from cat-fights. What happens is that a cats claw will tear into the skin and leave a mark. Sometimes the scratches get infected, and puss forms. The puss (more often than not) grows under the skin and forms a blister. The blister tends to get really big, and it is really painful for the cat. It is called a abscess. Many cat owners will take the cat to the vet if the have the means. The vet will then cut the blister, drain the puss, and put a lancet in the hold. This is two holes, and a string that is kept in place for a couple of days. But if you don’t have the money, or the time, there is a traditional easy way to drain the puss filled blisters. You make a poultice.
- Crush up one or four cloves of garlic. Say about a tablespoon or two full.
- Put it in a clean sock, so that it is at the bottom at the sock.
- Then put the sock with the garlic in a pot and let it boil for a few minutes.
- Then let it sit there for a while.
- Then remove the sock and let it cool off until it is warm but not hot.
Then get the cat. Rap it in a blanket so it is a cat-burrito. Hold it with love and then softly place the WARM sock with the garlic on the abscess. After a few minutes, the cat will start to squirm. Just hold on tight. The medicine is working. It is causing the abscess to drain. Eventually, after 15 to 20 minutes, it will drain. The liquid would be a thick greyish color and rather yucky. Just clean it up with a tissue, and that’s about it. In a day or two everything will be back to normal. And that’s it. If you have a cat… I hope that this has been of help to you. And that is all for now. Today…
Americans!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0DiNp1one8k?feature=share
Will Boeing ever return to a time that their commercial aircraft was the gold standard of the airline industry?
I used to work helping large organizations to change the norms of behavior to do business more effectively, and I can tell you that … it’s hard. It’s really, really hard. It’s made even harder because the only way to do it effectively is if management is UTTERLY committed to it and gives it the day-to-day, year-after-year attention it takes to make it happen. That’s bloody rare. Usually, any commitment is just a thin patina over more deeply held and conflicting values that make such large scale change impossible.
So, WILL Boeing ever return to a time that they were the gold standard? I have doubts, but let’s just explore how that might happen.
I have not been inside doing research into Boeing’s inner workings, so I have no particular knowledge of what Boeing needs to do, but let me just throw out some things that I’ve seen over and over and over again that are LIKELY things Boeing needs to do.
- It’s clear from Boeing’s divestment of its vertical manufacturing assets over the years that management and the Board have bought into the idea that return on net assets (RONA), return on capital employed (ROCE), and economic value added (EVA) are the most important measurements of success. This approach has made Boeing dependent on quality assurance processes outside their direct control with terrible results. Boeing just announced the re-acquisition of a key vendor in what is clearly an attempt to bring at least some vertical manufacturing back. So that’s a positive.
- From external reports, it seems clear that Boeing’s formal (and VERY likely informal) internal reward/punishment system focuses on meeting production goals. When quality is not a strong enough factor in being rewarded and avoiding punishment, you can be absolutely certain that managers at all levels will cut corners on quality in order to meet production goals. Boeing has to fix this, and fix it now. That will require both formal reworking of performance management and incentive pay design and a constant message that producing zero defects will enhance careers (and also making this true).
- What Boeing really needs to do is to focus on this culture shift from production to quality right away, making the point to investors and customers that getting the quality issue right will lead to higher production. And it will, of course. Boeing has been mired in production difficulties stemming from supply chain disruption, ill-fitting parts, poorly made assemblies, and the like since they distributed their manufacturing to outside vendors. But this is not what will happen.I’ve been through this. What management will say is something like, “We have to become 100% focused on quality WHILE improving production,” followed up by something like, “We have to fix the bicycle while we’re riding it.” The result will be a mess of conflicting messages and reward and punishment structures. Employees and managers will quickly figure out which messages are BS and which are real, and the production side is likely to win out as the “real” message.
- The decision to use the 737 airframe over and over in new variants to meet market demand in that segment is not working out well. Boeing needs a new aircraft, and there are serious questions about whether it is up to the job of producing a successful one. That’s an engineering issue, and there are serious doubts about whether senior management is up to the task.
So … can they? Sure. It’s possible. WILL they? I doubt it. It’s very hard to make this kind of change, and they really just may not have the management talent to pull it off.
What is your best experience with a babysitter as a child?
My Mom had a baby like every two years. So, it was pretty common for us to have a babysitter during the day when she was in the hospital.
We were a houseful of boys, so we went through babysitters like water. One of our most faithful babysitters was graduating high school, so she would not be available for much longer. Fortunately, she had two younger sisters, and the older of the two decided to sit for us.
Well, like I said, we were a bunch of boys, and our cousins who also lived on the farm were a bunch of boys as well. One of them was my best friend, and we were constantly finding ways to get in trouble.
As the years went by it finally came down to the youngest sitter to sit for us. Unfortunately, she was rather nervous about it after hearing stories from her older sisters about these country boys and their shenanigans.
When we heard that the she was going to be the new girl we thought we’d give her the good ole country boys welcome!
We used red food coloring to taint the water in our water guns. Then we put on white t-shirts.
When we heard Barbie (that was her real name) in the kitchen we began to yell at each other. No AC in the house, so the screen windows and doors allowed all the outside noises in.
She came to the kitchen window and asked what all the fussing was about. We made up some stupid story about how my cousin did me wrong, and I was going to shoot him.
She told us to behave and be quiet, but we would have none of it.
When I saw her looking at us I raised my water gun and yelled “Pow! Suddenly, my cousin’s shirt starting sporting a giant red mark. Another Pow and another shot to his chest.
We heard Barbie scream, but she screamed louder when my cousin shot me! We both fell down in the yard, and she went ballistic.
I’m not sure what happened after that, but my father came home in the middle of the day.
That was the first and last time that Barbie sat for us.
After that we had an old black woman who wasn’t nearly as excitable. But her fried chicken tamed us all.
When a Killer Vlogs His Murders
https://youtu.be/-vorUEpbHNU
Why can’t I find a single photo of the actual deaths as a result of Mao’s ‘great leap forward policy’, the greatest mass killing in history?
First off, kudos on asking this question. It seems as if, perhaps, you are beginning to think. I mean, if the numbers some report are accurate, then there must be physical evidence of it, right? But I’ll get to that aspect of it later. Before that, I should point out that strictly speaking, the Great Leap Forward didn’t result in any deaths (or at least any numbers of note. I’m sure that there were some mundane accidents, but not an anomalous amount). It was, however, a contributing factor in making the Great Chinese Famine worse than it could’ve been. This famine is what (usually anti-Chinese) people point to when they make their claims about the Great Leap Forward. But there were a few reasons why this occurred. In short, it was a mixture of mistakes on the national level, mistakes on the local level, environmental problems, and international political problems.
National level
The biggest mistake on the national level comes from a policy which was meant to eradicate endemic problems. There were four animals that were targeted as pests – rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows. Some of these, like mosquitoes, are pretty obvious. Other ones, like sparrows, were not, but since they were known to eat crops, they were targeted. It later was realized that sparrows also kept in check the population of other, more dangerous (but less common) pests, like locusts. You see, locusts are a strange creature. They really don’t normally exist. Instead, usually they are grasshoppers, but when there is a large population of grasshoppers, they change themselves into the swarming variation, which we know as locusts. Since, besides crops, sparrows ate grasshoppers, and the population of sparrows was greatly diminished, it meant that the population of grasshoppers grew. Once it reached a large enough threshold, they morphed into locusts and devastated crops much more than sparrows ever could.
Environmental level
Yeah, I know, I have local mistakes listed before this, but in order for you to understand things more, it’s important that this goes here. Right as the Great Leap Forward began, in 1958, the Yellow River flooded. Nearly 2000 farming villages had to be evacuated. The end result was that the farmland was devastated in that region, and was unworkable that year. That already put the food reserves down from where they should’ve been. Because of the flooding, over the next few years, labor was moved from agriculture to building new dams, reservoirs, irrigation canals, etc. in order to help control the water. But again, this meant fewer workers in the fields, putting a strain on the system once again. Then, in 1960, China was hit with a drought. Now, it wasn’t the worst drought ever, but it was considerable, especially considering the aforementioned waterworks weren’t ready yet. This, again, therefore, resulted in crop failures.
Local level
Throughout 1958, a system of farming communes was implemented, and initially, the system was showing an increase in crop production. Local leaders were pleased by this, and based their production quotas on the belief that this was only the beginning. However, due to the above mentioned problems (i.e. the killing of sparrows and the weather extremes), the amount of crops grown kept shrinking. Many of the local leaders in charge of the communes tried to hide this fact – they didn’t want to admit either their mistake or the failure of the system. Instead, they pretended that everything was great, and they even falsely reported a continual increase in the amount of crops grown. Due to the local leaders being unwilling to communicate the problems, the national government didn’t initially know about it, and therefore did nothing. Food was taken away from the communes as if things were fine, but it actually resulted in the farmers who grew the food starving.
International level
Now, for starters here, we’ve got to go back around 20 or so years prior to the Great Leap Forward. During the war with Japan, as the Japanese advanced, the dictator of the Republic of China (the Chinese Civil War was still ongoing, but was put on hold around this time) ordered the destruction of infrastructure throughout China, including dams and canals, in order to slow down the advances of the Japanese troops. When the Chinese Civil War ended, and the ROC lost, the newly-founded PRC was practically bankrupt – the dictator of the ROC emptied the national treasury and looted museums before fleeing to the recently returned island of Taiwan. Work rebuilding what had been destroyed had to be prioritized, which is one of the reasons why the flooding of the Yellow River was so devastating – they hadn’t gotten around to rebuilding the waterworks yet.
But as for the period of the Great Chinese Famine in general, as knowledge of the situation finally reached the national level, it was too late for them to turn around and fix it themselves. People were already starving, which created a vicious cycle (starving people became weaker, which meant less output, which meant less food, which meant more starving). But by this time, in large part thanks to the Great Leap Forward, the industrial production side of the economy was stronger than it had ever been. They could trade with the rest of the world… except for one small problem. At that time, the United Nations still recognized the ROC as the government of China (it didn’t change until 1971, when the UN General Assembly voted on making the PRC the official government of China). As such, nations like the United States embargoed trade, meaning that it was basically impossible to import any food to alleviate the problem.
Now you know what happened and why, but how does that relate to your question? Well, right at the beginning, I mentioned how you were asking the right question. This is because it’s very important to understand the numbers reported. By looking at actual historical documents and other evidence, the numbers reported in China are between 3–6 million deaths. Now, I’m sure that you’d be shocked by that number – not because of how many died, but because of how few died. This is because in the West, the high numbers they report (I’ve personally seen people claim 50 million, 60 million, and 80 million deaths – the number always changes) are not actually deaths. You see, the number that they give are based on the birthrate. During the time of the Great Chinese Famine, birthrates dropped. They then look at this drop in birthrate and attribute non-births as deaths. Their argument being that if there were no famine, then these children would’ve been born. Therefore, their not being born means that they died. It honestly doesn’t make any sense. It’s like claiming that every time a man pleasures himself, he murders, on average, between 80 million and 300 million children (since that’s the average number of “lil’ swimmers” in a man’s “load”). But by claiming these high numbers, they can then turn around and claim that China is this big, bad, evil thing. And that’s the crux of the problem. The reason why you can’t find any photos of 50+ million deaths is because they literally weren’t there.
And for the record, isn’t it fascinating that people get hung up on this while completely ignoring the famines in British-controlled India that were directly caused by British policies? Around the same number of people died in what is now Bangladesh in 1943 due to the British essentially stealing the food from the local people. But, of course, you’ll never hear about that, since it makes a Western nation look bad.
Be the Rufus
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/x22TXKt6rys?feature=share
What was the cruellest secret that anybody ever kept from you?
Nobody told me that my dad was dead. Here’s the deal, I was born out of wedlock to an interracial couple in the early 80s in (super white) Oregon. I’m my mother’s only child, my dad has 2 older boys.
He was a truck driver originally from Oklahoma, his route frequently took him to the West Coast, at some point in 1978 or 1979 he meets my mom and they strike up a relationship.
So a couple years down the road, they decide it’s time for a baby. They apparently already had a pregnancy earlier on, but ultimately decided to terminate it for whatever reason.
My mom was very adamant that although she never wanted kids (which is a whole separate topic entirely!) but she saw how great my dad was with kids and how much kids seemed to just naturally take to him, that she wanted that man’s baby! So due to his occupation, my dad was frequently in and out of the picture.
The relationship between them was very on and off (which I suspect the fact that my mom is gay played a factor.) anyways,
I’m born in August of 1982, named after my dad (middle name is “Dawn” and my dad’s first name is “Don”). For the next few months my parents really tried to make it work.
My mom was growing extra annoyed with my dad for what she perceived as lazy, he had stopped driving truck, had started smoking an increasingly large amount of marijuana, it just wasn’t working out for either one of them.
Apparently they split amicably and so when my dad told my mom that he needed to go back home because he just got the news that someone in his family had just gotten very sick, my mom thought nothing of it.
Then pretty soon the numbers he gave my mom to reach him in Oklahoma stopped working. The days, weeks, months go by…. nothing. My mom realized he wasn’t coming back and she was right. Now that I’m a mother, I can only imagine how that must have felt. To add insult to injury, I grew up to be the female version of my father, both physically and otherwise.
I’m told I walk and stand like him even. Same sense of humor, same musical abilities, similar personality… basically an everyday reminder of the child my mom was left to raise alone. Growing up I was told that my dad walked out on us, he was a deadbeat, this and that, in the same breath told that I’m exactly like him…which is very confusing to an already confused little girl.
So fast forward 30+ years, I reach out and find my dad’s family. The first call was from an aunt, my dad’s sister.
I see her Facebook profile and immediately notice the resemblance between myself and her, her daughter, and granddaughter!
She tells me “how pretty I am” lol, I laugh cause I look just like her! She tells me that they all knew about me.
My dad brought back so many pictures of me as a baby and had his entire room decorated with them. I asked when I would be able to talk to him, she got real quiet… she said that their brother would call me…ok…my uncle calls me next. Informs me that my dad had passed shortly after leaving Oregon the last time he saw me. He had been diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer sometime during my mom’s pregnancy and didn’t know how to tell her….so he just didn’t.
I was led to believe that my dad was a deadbeat who didn’t want me. In reality, I’m told that he literally died while looking at my baby picture on his wall. Later on I would come to know some caviats that at least give me some insight as to why no one felt it was necessary to notify my mom that he died.
My uncle told me that my dad specifically asked him to make sure I wasn’t around his family, he wanted me to be raised in Oregon by my mom and her family.
A cousin and I talked and she told me that sexual abuse is almost everywhere you look in our family, however when my dad was around, you knew you were safe!
He was 6ft 5 and wasn’t up for reasoning with anyone who hurts kids…that makes me proud! An uncle backed up this with telling me that my dad didn’t want me around any of his family if he wasn’t around to protect me, his only daughter.
I get that, but growing up feeling unwanted and unloved is not easy trauma to heal from either.
How a Small Town Took Out the Town Bully And Covered It Up for 30 Years
What do Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans think of each other?
This is the personal opinion of one Japanese person.
South Koreans:
- They will help even strangers when they are in trouble.
- Once you become friends with them, they treat you like family.
- They will treat you with respect if you are older than them.
- They often give gifts.
- They are studious.
- They are better at English than Japanese.
- They are taller than Japanese.
- They have a high sense of beauty.
- They have a unique culture.
- Korean idols are good at singing and dancing.
- They make a lot of interesting movies and dramas.
- Their GDP per capita is higher than Japan’s.
- They are hasty, but they are often late for appointments.
North Koreans:
- It is believed that there are many North Korean operatives in Japan.
- North Korea once broadcast random numbers in the middle of the night, which we thought it was a code for spies. The North Korean female announcer kept repeating a code-like phrase over and over, which felt creepy to me when I heard it for the first time.
- There was a rumor that if Japanese went to the sea at night, they would be abducted by North Korea. In fact, in 2002, North Korea admitted to abductions.
Chinese:
- They are cheerful and have a sense of humor.
- They are kind.
- They are cheerful and have a sense of humor.
- They are kind.
- For better or worse, they are honest.
- Many Chinese people in Japan are good at Japanese.
- They are very proactive. I can see them even in where Japanese people rarely come.
- They give their seats to elderly people on the train.
- We both use kanji (Chinese Character), so even though they are foreigners, I feel a sense of closeness.
- They value their families.
- They have ancient Chinese saints that Japanese people respect.
- They have a rich food culture. Yes, we love Chinese food.
- They are far more advanced than Japan in the IT field.
- The factory of the world. Most of the products around us are MADE IN CHINA.
- They are good at sports.
- They don’t apologize easily compared to Japanese people.
The Moment Cops Find the Man Offering Kids Candy to Get into His Truck
How do you feel when you see China go from the sick man of East Asia to a world power? I’m not hostile. I’m just asking?
The term “sick man” describing China as being ill and weak actually first came from British writers in the 19th century.
The term “sick man” being applied to China first appeared in the Daily News on 5 Jan 1863. The Daily News, started by Charles Dickens, was a national daily newspaper of Great Britain in those days.
At the time, China was undergoing a large scale civil war known as the Taiping Rebellion, which was started by a Hakka person by the name of Hong Xiuquan. He claimed to be the incarnated brother of Jesus Christ who had the heaven’s mandate to rule China. The Daily News was reporting on the ongoing civil war:
“Great pains have been taken to impress upon the public of this country the idea that China is in “agony,” but that cannot be truly said of it as a whole, and there seems some danger that the disorder of this sick man is about to be aggravated rather than alleviated.”
Two days later, the article was reprinted on Belfast Morning News under the title “The Supposed ‘Sick Man’ in China.”
So, it was the British newspapers who first described China as a “sick man”. In those days, the British must have felt they were superior after they defeated China twice in the two Opium Wars, looting many of the war booties from Chinese imperial palaces. Of course, the largest booty taken from China was Hong Kong.
Karma seems to have returned in one big circle. As China ascends to soon become the #1 economy of the world, British economy is sinking further after she was mismanaged by a number of Tory governments and most importantly, after Brexit.
At the current trajectory, it won’t be surprised to see Great Britain no longer become great but “aggravated rather than alleviated.” UK may just become a “sick man of Europe”.
Historian Warns the American Civil War of 2024 Has Already Started
What did the job interviewer say that made you NOT accept the job offer?
I’ve been in sales for roughly the last 20 years, and managing a team for the last 3. About 6 months ago I sent out some resumes to see what my current market value is, and to take on a new challenge. I saw an ad on LinkedIn, the job seemed perfect for me, the description was one that I would have written for myself if someone asked me what my next career challenge.
About 2 days after I sent my resume I got a call from their in house recruiter, a brief phone conversation and mutually agreed to move forward with a phone interview with the guy who would be my boss. I get an email shortly after my phone call with days/times available and we pick a time for a 2nd phone interview. He and I hit it off well, talked for 30 minutes or so, great dialog, call going great. He explains at teh beginning that he has a “hard stop” in 30 minutes. We get close to the 30 minute mark, he says, if I’m still interested, that next week he and his boss can fly into my area, or they’ll fly me out to them for a face to face.
They were going to be in NY the following week for a client meeting so it was decided that we’d meet while they were in the city, I’d work that area for the day and we’d grab lunch… all good.
We meet for lunch at a great restaurant, sit, good conversation, going well and I. WANT. THIS. JOB. Their Sr. VP of sales (he would be my boss’s boss) says they’ve made a decision, they flew up wanted to make sure that I present well in person before making an offer. They slide an offer letter across the table and we continue to talk about the job. I ask my favorite interview question
“Why did the person I’d be replacing leave this position?”
There’s plenty of good answers to this question, but I wasn’t ready for the answer that came from the Sr VP of sales. “Bob was very good at his job, he was with us 4 years, the last 2 he was salesman of the year, wrote 20–25% increases when the rest of the company was averaging 12%. He made great money, won the company trip. We decided to increase his budget to a 30% increase, he didn’t hit his numbers so we mutually agreed to cut our work relationship.”
I asked some follow up questions: “what was the rest of the team budget increases?” around 8% was the answer. “what was he trending?” about 22%. If he was writing 22% increase this year, and wrote more than 2.5X the average salesrep, why would you want to let him go, and why was the choice mutual?”
“Well his job is to hit budget, he wasn’t doing his job if he was only 22%. And because he was making less this year than last, he was complaining about his income being so much lower than the previous 4 years, we agreed he should find another job”
I had a brief follow up question: “If over the last 4 years he increased his/your business by over 100%, why would he make less money than in previous years?”
“Our commission structure is based on percent of budget, not on sales dollars, or sales increase”
My final question was, “so l want to make sure I understand, if I CRUSH this year, end up doubling my business, the following year you can budget me a 100% increase and if I only write a 75% increase, I’ll make less money, despite the huge increase again? and about how much less?” The answer was that it was a mathematical formula, and it would have been roughly 1/2 of previous year.
I thanked them for lunch, told them that’s not a program I would want to be on. I never opened their offer letter and have no idea what they offering. I just knew that it wasn’t the place for me. They knowingly wrote a budget the guy likely wouldn’t hit so they could decrease his pay.
NOPE NOT ME… I want every salesperson on my team to make as much as possible. The more they sell, the more they make. The more they make, the more I make, and the more the owner of our company makes
Men Are Turning Their Back On The West As It Collapses
Does China have a 24-hour uninterrupted power supply throughout the year?
In Urban China – Yes
Every Apartment has a Battery System and since most power cuts are between 30 seconds to 2 minutes due to distribution change (As Demand rises and eases through the day) – the Average Chinese doesn’t ever feel there are power cuts
Every Apartment nowadays has a backup battery system that immediately comes on when the power goes and within 1–2 minutes the power is back
Otherwise if the Apartments are older (Built Pre 2007), then they have a Generator and after 45 seconds to 90 seconds, the Generator is automatically powered on
So maximum you may have 1 – 1 1/2 minutes without power
The Lift will drop you on the next floor even without power (If you are between the 6th and 7th floors, it will go to the seventh floor and drop you and then stop there till either power comes back or Generator is on)
Longer power cuts happen due to (a) Weather related reasons
In such cases a Generator can run for upto 24–48 hours
You also have a six month maintenance for 8 hours without power
Yet again Generator and Battery makes sure that Power cuts are rarely even felt
Rural China is different
Rural China has a 92.2% Rural Electrification Rate meaning even today (31/12/23) , 7.8% Rural Households don’t have electricity (Mostly Xizang)
Priority is for Industry, so many times power cuts happen for even 1 Hour Or 2 Hours
Plus without a Coal supply, Power cuts could happen for 8–12 hours also
The Solothurn 20mm Anti-Tank Rifle
Mexi-Chili Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
- 1 (15 ounce) can enchilada sauce
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1 (6 ounce) package corn chips
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups sour cream
Instructions
- In a skillet brown the ground beef. Drain off fat.
- Combine beans, enchilada and tomato sauces in a bowl with minced onion.
- Set aside 1 cup corn chips and 1/2 cup cheese.
- Add the remaining cheese and corn chips with the meat to the beans. Stir to blend.
- Empty into a lightly buttered 2 quart casserole.
- Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through.
- Spread the top with sour cream and sprinkle with the reserved cheese.
- Ring the remaining corn chips around the edge; return to the oven for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the cheese melts.
Notes
This will double or triple easily for a large group. May be made ahead and refrigerated.
Question: China’s proven history does not exceed 3,700 years. Why does China state that their history exceeds 5,000 years?
Answer:
Nowadays the proof is actually quite simple, because they did dig up proof that China’s proven history exceed 5000 years:
Of course, they know that previously as well. Duh, by the time oracle bones (where the 3700 years comment comes from) are around, the Chinese culture were a full-fledged feudal level civilization complete with culture custom and technology in all fields.
So unless you think aliens made the Chinese and skipped from stone/early bronze age straight to late bronze age/early iron age, then it is safe to assume the Chinese, like everyone else, spent considerable amount of time in those early age before advancing to the point where they found the oracle bones.
The fact they picked perishable material for record is a shame and made the later archeological work harder, but even very basic and simple logic should be able to tell you that fully developed civilization doesn’t just pop out of thin air and the previous archeologists are certainly capable of simple logic.
Edit (2023–06–06):
Apparently in the recent times they have dug out a lot more from the Liangzhu Ruins:
Note, the picture below is a re-creation based on the existing excavation results:
It turned out the ancient Chinese has been building things on par or even bigger than the great pyramids, but instead of tombs, these things are in the form of fortified city walls, water dams, etc. Certainly less mysterious than the pyramids since it doesn’t involve the dead, but actually a lot more challenging engineering-wise.
And yes, they started to dug up things with marks now:
One of the major mystery right now is this:
“What on earth were they fighting to require city walls of that size”? Because the Liangzhu walls were on par with something you’d see in great civilizations in 5th century BC instead 30th century BC.
The popular opinion right now is, well, the the Chinese ancestor were very very into human sacrifice. Specifically, prior to Zhou dynasty’s religious reforms in around 1000BC, the Chinese used to perform human sacrifice to such a scale that made Aztecs look like pacifists. This is mostly owning to the fact that there were a lot more people in East Asia back then than central Americas during Aztec’s time, but still.
So it is a high possibility that the ancient Chinese, when they war with each other, the loser would have an excellent chance of ending up on a sacrificial altar rather than being enslaved. So they are really afraid of losing.
Does the USA have a stronger army than the whole world combined?
Hell, no.
The USA isn’t even strong enough to take on Russia. Otherwise, it would put boots on the ground in Ukraine.
Remember, the USA had no qualms about fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, but against Russia, it is reluctant.
China’s military is larger than the USA’s. The largest army (over 2 million). The largest navy (over 370 warships). A vast rocket force (including hypersonic) and a large fleet of stealth fighters (J-20). The USA would be foolish to take on China.
Combine Russia’s army and China’s army and Iran’s army (which is formidable), and the USA is easily outclassed.
The Oubliette: A Medieval Torture of Unspeakable Horror…
As a Chinese, did you become anti CPC, pro-democratic, and USA fan after accessing websites and social media platforms which are blocked in China?
No, and in fact, it’s the opposite.
I WAS an anti-CPC, pro-democratic and USA fan before I got access to the banned social media. It’s an universal rule that banned things are more appealing to people. U.S was like a heaven and I am living in hell.
But things change when I got a Facebook account, and I saw queations like:
Why don’t people in China brush their teeth?
I suddenly realized that foreigners, they are NOT Gods. Yes, they’ve had amazing persons, but they have fools too. There’s no such places of absolute heaven on earth.
I got so fed up of all the bias and racism on the Internet
I got so fed up of these losers blaming their own economy failure on my country.
I got so upset about people constantly asking me if my dog is safe.
I got so fed up of people denying everything you said just with the single reason of Chinese propaganda.
I’m brain washed and I know. Many of you didn’t realized that they are brain washed in some ways, and this is much much more dangerous than pure propaganda.
What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?
When I was the receptionist for a corporate office, there was always a bit of confusion as to who was supposed to relieve me when I went to lunch. The duty was shared around the office (often without the knowledge of the department that was suddenly saddled with answering the phones), but since the general rule in the office was that we only did warm transfers, that meant there had to be a person on the line to actually complete the transfer.
One day, we got a new GM and a new assistant to the GM, and after the question came up again between myself and the GM, the assistant inserted herself into the conversation to say that the phones should just be turned off when I went to lunch. After all, anyone who was affiliated with the company would know how to use the company directory to reach any office employee that they wanted to find, and anyone else would know to leave a message.
I tried to explain that this was not a good idea. I did not go to lunch at regular times, so on some days, the phones might be off from 11 to 12 and other days they might be off from 1 to 2 with no explanation. Also, it was not even remotely reliable to expect that other departments would answer the phones, even if they were called directly at their desk. Certain people in the office were well known for ignoring phone calls if they didn’t care to answer. But the assistant, who did not want to be put in the position to possibly answer the phones, remained insistent, and the GM decided that would be fine. Turn the phones off when you go to lunch, April.
So sure enough, one day when the GM was out of town, he called back into the office and couldn’t get anyone on the phone for a solid hour. When I got back from my lunch break, I had a very terse email to call him. I did.
Him: ”Why aren’t you answering the phones?“
Me: “I was at lunch.”
Him: ”Well, where’s [my assistant]?”
Me: ”Not sure, sir, I don’t see her at her desk at the moment, she might be walking around or she might also be at lunch.”
Him: ”Okay, but what about accounting? I called every one of their desks and none of them answered. Are they also all at lunch?”
Me: ”No, they’re all back there. Remember when I told you that if they’re in the middle of something, they don’t answer their phones, even if you called them directly?”
Him: (tangibly frustrated now) “So if you’re at lunch, NOBODY answers the phone at all?”
Me: ”Nope. Remember when your assistant said that it would be perfectly okay to turn the phones off for an hour? This is literally what happens if I’m not answering phones; nobody else bothers.”
There was silence. Then “Alright, I’ll handle it when I get back.”
He did. The phones stayed on while I went to lunch after that. And that assistant (after taking a shift on phones one day and coming away with a traumatized expression after one hour) began to keep her opinions to herself.
… sometimes.
2 men indicted for destruction on ancient Lake Mead rock formation
Why does it seem like no one wants to work these days?
Short answer,
Intergenerational Mobility
There is one famous quote from John Adams
I must study politics and war,
so that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture,
so that their children can study painting, poetry, music, architecture, sculpture, tapestry and porcelain.
Notice the shift from ‘must’ to ‘may have’ to ‘can’.
This increase in the liberty to choose what you want to do with generations is known as intergenerational mobility.
For one generation, work is a need. They have no luxury to choose. Whether it is 16 hours or 18 hours, whether they like it or not, whether they are healthy or not, they have to work because their whole family depends on their income. They are like manual labourers in a company.
For the next generation, work is a want. They have the limited luxury of choosing where to work, what kind of job they want and how many hours they want to work. They have vacations, investments, insurance and relaxed evenings. They are like managers in the same company.
For the next, next generation, work becomes a passion and a desire. They are in the elite class. They have all the liberty to choose what they want to do, study what they like and switch their passions. They have the resources to do all the outsourcing and the privilege to use their mind more than their body. They are the business owners or angel investors.
So as you move forward with decades, you encounter more people coming out of poverty and climbing the ladder. Either because of technology development or their accumulated wealth, they don’t have to work as hard as their previous generation and do things which they really, really like. They get the luxury to choose their fights or whether to fight or not.
Best Advice
Borealis
Submitted into Contest #247 in response to: Set your story on a spaceship exploring the far reaches of space when something goes wrong.… view prompt
Tzetze Fly
My generation
Shorpy
What Happened To The First Human Head Transplant? (Feat. Medlife Crisis)
Are China’s military exercises a threat that heighten geopolitical tensions?
You have watched too much news from BBC and CNN, so you say that “China’s military exercises have exacerbated geopolitical tensions.”
Take a good look at this picture. The United States has military bases on almost every continent. The only continent without a US military base is Antarctica.
The United States uses these military bases around the world and the United States’ military influence to contain and suppress its imaginary enemies, especially China.
Using military exercises to form cliques is a common trick of the United States.
In recent years, the US military has frequently conducted military exercises around China, especially joint military exercises.
Through cooperation with allies such as Japan, Australia and the Philippines, the US military has not only enhanced its combat effectiveness, but also formed a containment of China to a certain extent.
Such exercises are not only a display of military strength, but also a clear warning to China, indicating that the United States is prepared for any potential conflict.
The United States has established a large network of allies in the Asia-Pacific region to ensure support in the face of conflict. Japan, Australia, the Philippines and other countries have strengthened their military ties with the United States by signing military cooperation agreements.
This collective security mechanism makes the United States more calm when facing China, and also puts China under greater strategic pressure.
The United States uses its powerful media and public opinion resources to continue to exaggerate the “China threat theory” in an attempt to isolate China internationally.
This kind of public opinion war not only affects the international community’s view of China, but also provides “legitimacy” for the US military action. In this way, the United States hopes to portray China as an “aggressor” to provide an excuse for its military intervention.
The game between China and the United States is like a war without gunpowder, and both sides are fighting for their own interests.
The United States has selected the main battlefield in the eastern Pacific and frequently held military exercises in an attempt to curb China’s rise, while China is constantly strengthening its own defense capabilities and striving not to lose in this contest.
The Insane Lobotomy Craze Of The 1950s
Should the Philippines assert its claim in the West Philippine Sea?
This may sound like waking up someone pretending to be asleep, but I have to say, there is no so-called “West Philippine Sea.” Internationally, this sea area is referred to as the “South China Sea,” and it does not mean that the entire sea belongs to China. In fact, China made territorial claims in 1948. The Philippines did not protest at that time, but in recent years, they have come out with “protests,” and even have made a fake “arbitration”, which is suspicious to anyone with common sense.
As for the territory of the Philippines, it is delimited by a series of international treaties. Whether it is the Treaty of Paris in 1898, the Treaty of Washington in 1900, or the Convention Between the United States and Great Britain in 1930, none of them include China’s Nansha Qundao or Huangyan Dao.
Only the area within the dashed line box in the map is considered the territory of the Philippines, while the area outside the dashed line box are nothing but the Philippines’ unilateral and illegal claims. The Philippines’ so-called “whoever is closer owns it” rhetoric not only goes against international law but also laughable in modern society.
And you know what the Philippines should do? Withdraw its ship and personnel from China’s territory. It’s the only chance.
I noticed on Aug 31, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel MRRV-9701, which has been illegally anchored in the lagoon of China’s Xianbin Jiao for a long time, provoked troubles in an unprofessional and dangerous way and intentionally rammed into the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ship 5205, which was lawfully implementing control measures. As a result, a collision happened between the two vessels.
The recent actions by the Philippines once again highlight its close connection with certain Western countries. On-site footage shows that during the Philippine’s infringement operation, a US P-8A reconnaissance aircraft flew at low altitude, interfering with China’s law enforcement actions and providing on-site intelligence support to the PCG vessel. Ironically, after receiving some “support” from certain Western countries outside the South China Sea region, the Philippine side complained that Southeast Asian countries didn’t “support”.
Since entering the lagoon of Xianbin Jiao without China’s permission in April this year, the PCG ship has assumed the task of imitating the Philippines’ BRP Sierra Madre, which has been grounded illegally at China’s Ren’ai Jiao for a long time. But in fact, under the control of the CCG in accordance with the law, the PCG vessel has seen increasingly limited space to make any move.
PCG spokesperson Jay Tarriela admitted on Tuesday that the ship’s supplies were seriously insufficient and had reached a “critical level.” Seeing that it is difficult to “replicate” the goal of “deliberate grounding,” the PCG vessel 9701 began a new round of shows in Xianbin Jiao, which is nothing more than putting all the energy into making a scene and sadfishing, trying to make a public opinion sensation and gain sympathy by pretending to be a “victim.”
Betting on the safety of its own crew and the risk of military conflict, Manila constantly staged a self-inflicted provocative farce on the stage of the South China Sea, fantasizing about making “quantitative change” to achieve the breakthroughs of “qualitative change.”
The actions of the Philippines that have escalated tensions in the South China Sea are also a betrayal to ASEAN countries, clearly violating the provisions of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, including Article 4’s requirement for peaceful resolution of disputes, and Article 5’s call for self-restraint and not to affect regional peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Now the US and the Philippines are using each other in the South China Sea issue. For the US, no matter how beautiful the words are, the positioning of the Philippines as a “pawn” has never changed. Manila is also very clear that it has limited bargaining chips with the US, and the more extreme it goes in the South China Sea issue, the smaller its space it has in negotiating with the US.
Manila hopes that Washington can make some concrete commitments. However, for Manila, the most important thing is to face reality and give up illusions. Manila should not underestimate the cost of challenging China, nor should it assume that everything will be covered by the US.
The bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea issue has been held 9 times, with the most recent meeting taking place exactly 2 months ago. The commitments made by both sides to promote a de-escalation of tensions in the South China Sea are still fresh. Until Manila fundamentally changes its mind-set of using the South China Sea issue for geopolitical speculation, China is fully prepared for any possible backtracking or provocation by the Philippines. If the Philippines attempts to move forward one step, China will firmly push it back. China will not allow the Philippines to gain any advantage. Like I said, the only choice for the Philippines is to withdraw its ship and personnel.
Hungry thoughts
How does China enforce a limit of 3 hours per week of video games for offline games?
Here are the 2022 rules
A. User Internet Ids are assigned to every user who is over 7 years old
B. Users who are deemed Juvenile, ie:- between 16–18 years of age are restricted from logging on to any game on a Chinese platform between 10 PM and 8 AM on Mondays to Fridays and 12 PM and 7 AM on Weekends
C. Users who are deemed Minors between 12-16 years of age are restricted from logging into any game on a Chinese Platform only for a maximum of 2 Hours on a Weekday and 3 Hours on Saturday and 4 Hours on a Sunday but not after 9 PM on Weekdays and 11 PM on Weekends
D. Users deemed Children (<= 12) are restricted from playing any game on Chinese platforms for more than 3 hours from 12 AM on Monday to 11:59 PM on Sunday of every week
VPN for Chinese Games is useless
You can use VPN but when you play Chinese games, the Warning will say that if you continue you will go to a lower level and lose a lot of game money and game weapons and powers you have earned so far
So nobody uses VPN for playing games
Is it for all games?
No
Online Mobile Games deemed EDUCATIONAL, CULTURAL and SCIENTIFIC are exempted
In 2023 May, Mahjong in all forms was included in the restricted list but Online CHESS was exempted
How is the rule enforced?
Every Game has a Player Login
Every Player needs Internet ID
So that’s simple
You can’t use your Dads Internet ID because that’s a different Player Profile Or ID
So best case you can create a Player Profile for your Dad and play in his name
Or your older brother
Why these rules?
The Government got an Educational Report that Children were addicted to Mobile games and with In app money purchases
What games are restricted FULLY or PARTIALLY to Children?
Games deemed Violent
Games deemed Sexual
Games that promote Theft, Robbery and Crime
Games that feature GAMBLING or Chance and Odds (Card Games are exempted provided the games don’t have any numerical odds or any transfer of winnings)
Games deemed capable of Brainwashing and giving instructions and dares (Such Games are fully banned from the Mainland)
Can you bypass the 3 hour limit?
A Brilliant 9 year old managed to bypass the ban by creating a small code to make the system forget that it was 10 PM amd make the system go to 19:59:59 from 21:59:59 and keep playing endlessly
Tencent of course saw that someone had played 63 levels in 2 hours which was impossible and immediately overrode the local codes and the Kid was flushed out
They gave the Kid a Science Scholarship (Chairmans Junior Scholarship) usually granted for 12+ year olds
However apart from that – NO
Like I said – VPN means losing a lot of levels and goodies earned
So the only way is to use your father or older brother or older uncles Internet id, create a profile and play as them
Prehistoric Australia Was Pure Nightmare Fuel
What was the most messed up punishment(s) you received as a child?
Not me but my younger brother.
My brother was an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy, and from the start my mother wanted this kid gone by any means necessary. Unfortunately the law and her family wouldn’t allow it, so she was forced to carry this child to term and take care of it. She hated my brother from the start, wanted him dead or abandoned by the side of the road (whatever it took to get rid of him), and with that failing she strove to make this child’s life as miserable as she could for the sin of having dared to exist. My mother had a nasty cruel and vindictive streak.
Our parents divorced when I was nine and he was seven, and we moved to a house about 3 miles away. One day my mother got angry at my brother and locked him out of the house with orders to walk to our dad’s house. It was nighttime in mid December, about 15 degrees F outside, and he wasn’t wearing a coat. My mother then called my father and angrily bragged “I just threw him out of the house without a coat and told him to walk to your house. I don’t care if he freezes!”
My mother was not mentally ill, she was in complete control of herself, she was just filled with anger and hatred that she liked to inflict on those around her, especially those that had little choice but endure it. She felt it was a parental perk to be allowed to abuse your kids for whatever reason you wished, even if it was for her amusement (and it sometimes was). She got a certain sadistic joy out of making people feel miserable and worthless.
My father woke up the neighborhood and sent everyone out to find him, and he was eventually found wandering around a grocery store parking lot less than 1/4 mile from my mother’s house. He was minutes away from hypothermia. He very nearly died that day, and this was not the only time he narrowly escaped death at the hands of my mother.
I’ll never understand why she wasn’t charged and arrested for that. She passed away three years ago, and it’s a major trigger to my father (who hates her with a passion), so I guess I’ll never know.
POST EDIT: Several people have asked how my brother turned out, and he didn’t. He died at age 14, and ironically my mother had nothing to do with it. He asphyxiated himself huffing gasoline in my dad’s garage. After he died my mother almost never spoke of him again, and would go into psychotic rages whenever he was brought up. I quickly learned to not talk about him anymore.
He never had a chance from the start. This is the last known picture of him.
His name was Tim.
Minestrone Macaroni
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 (14 ounce) cans Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 1/4 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed, drained
- 1 can garbanzo beans, rinse, drain
- 1 (14 ounce) can cut green beans, rinsed and drained
Instructions
- In a large skillet, brown beef; drain.
- Add the tomatoes, water, macaroni and bouillon cubes; bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes or until macaroni is tender.
- Stir in beans and heat through.
The man you see in this photo is not a poor man, nor a beggar or a homeless person. This man is Leo Tolstoy: one of the giants of Russian literature, everyone knows his name, few know the extraordinary story behind this photograph
When he was fifty Tolstoy fell into depression. Day by day his sadness increased, for no reason. Tolstoy was a count, he was one of the richest men in his country, he was famous throughout the world. Yet he was unhappy. «Money was nothing, power was nothing. Many were seen who had both one and the other and were unhappy. Even health didn’t matter much; there were sick people full of the desire to live and there were healthy people who withered in anguish from the fear of suffering.”
One day he saw an orphan along Afanas’evsky alley, and moved with compassion, he took him home with him. And for the first time in a long time he felt good again. He forgot about himself, about his problems, about his sadness. From that moment Tolstoy renounced his gentleman’s clothes, luxury and privileges and began to lead a simple life, giving away what he possessed to those in need.
“Don’t talk to me about religion, about charity, about love,” he used to say, “but show me the religion in your actions.” Tolstoy was also the first theorist of non-violence, he preached brotherhood between peoples and his ideas inspired another great figure of the twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi. Until the day of his death he continued to help others, which is why many said he was crazy. In a world where he only counts having, possessing things and even people, where everyone wants to take but no one knows how to give, Tolstoy seemed crazy.
One day an old friend of his, who, unlike Tolstoy, lived in comfort and luxury, said to him: «What’s the point of doing all this? What do you care about others? You should think about yourself.” To which Tolstoy replied: “If you feel pain, you are alive, but if you feel the pain of others, you are human.”
