When I was in the ADC being “retired”, I was required to narrate my most despicable sexual fantasies They wanted all sorts of lurid stories and things that I would fantasize about during sex.
They wanted and insisted I do this as a requirement for me being discharged from prison. I would write about my most lurid fantasies and it would go into my “binder” proving (in my own words) what a despicable pervert I was.
*sigh*
Well, everyone has sexual fantasies.
And I am a writer, so I did it. Indeed, I gave the five pages of things that I found titillating to the authority at the ADC.
I really had two main sexual fantasies.
My top fantasy (by far) was having sex in a barn; rolling about in the hay. It really was something that I was really into, and it was my actual and real fantasy. And not only that, but my wife and I acted upon it. We would find a barn, slip in and then go at it.
Spring, Summer and Fall were my favorite adventures. Winter not so much. It’s collllld in those drafty places. But I don’t know why it was such a titillation to me. Maybe the smell of the hay, or the sneakiness of the adventure, or the threat of getting caught.
I know it sounds so silly. But it’s the truth It was a thing that I really liked and it would really help me get my rocks off. And my wife, who loved me, would also participate (obviously) with no qualms.
The other fantasy, ah…
You know, I really never got to spend any time around women. I worked in factories and in industry. And the most attractive gal was usually some fifty-year old cleaning lady. So my fantasy at that time was dating a professional secretary. These were the only women that were not hags within my immediate contacts.
Nice black three piece suit. And high heels, and of course glasses.
I never took action on that fantasy. Though, my wife would sometimes really titillate me with that fantasy.
But that was it.
So when the ADC demanded that I write my nastiest and dirtiest sexual fantasies on paper, and a minimum of five pages, I did so, and truthfully told about my fantasies.
And I handed the papers to the ADC professional.
He looked at it, started to read it, and yelled at me. “What shit is this!” He scowled and frowned at me.
Threw the papers back at me. Ordered me to do it again, and this time write about little children, and ordered me to make sure that no one was over the age of ten in the writing. Then he ordered me to leave.
I tried.
I tried, but I couldn’t. It was just way too alien for me.
So I said “fuck this” (to myself), and wrote nothing.
If they wanted to keep me in prison past my sentence, they would have to come up with a good reason. I just wasn’t going to write any bullshit.
But others in my barracks just told me to write anything. That it won’t matter. That I could even copy their stories. But, I said “fuck it”. And didn’t so a thing.
I was usually a passive guy, but this was one thing that I wouldn’t budge on.
And you know what?
It came time for me to leave. My sentence was up.
And yeah, and they let me go.
That bullshit of me having to write a document or they would hold me indefinably in prison was all bullshit. Bull Fucking Shit.
I was this close >||< to making a big mistake.
Now, what happened to the document that I wrote about sex in the barns, and my attractiveness to business women was eventually thrown away and forgotten. And with that, so was my memory of the entire event sequence.
But that’s the was the ADC worked and that’s the way the incarceration system worked. It would have all been on file; guaranteeing me lifetime in prison because some asshole insisted that I make up stories to put in my files and my binder.
*sigh*
Sex in a barn. In Fall with my someone who I loved.
Then home with my cats and a cup of coffee.
It’s astounding how evil people can twist such innocent and nice things for power, wealth and dominance.
Don’t ever be convinced to do something that you are uncomfortable about.
Today…
What is your opinion about China and Chinese people?
I’m an American who lived in China for 16 years. I basically grew up there, went to school there, worked there and even got married there (though it wasn’t to a Chinese).
I’ve lived all over the country and have had interactions with people from various ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, religions and in different areas of China.
There is no possible way for me to sum up what I think of “Chinese” people or the country itself, except that I feel it’s been downplayed as to how diverse it really is. In fact, I hate it when other foreigners say something is ‘typically Chinese’ or generalize…because they are such a diverse country. And sometimes I feel that Chinese nationals don’t even know or appreciate how genuinely diverse their country is.
Now that I’m back in the US, it’s very hard to explain to people what China is actually like or answer their many questions about life there. About the only things I can say that are general is: 1) There are indeed a lot of people; 2) Computer stuff is cheap; 3) Eating out is cheap; 4) Public transport is extremely cheap and very efficient.
Another observation I’ve had is despite all of its diversity and it’s huge population, somehow the government/businesses have managed to really streamline things for the most part. Just working in a Chinese company, my concepts of how to deal with a large volume of applications, paperwork and workload are much different than a lot of my peers here in the US. So when I did come back and start working for US companies, sometimes my managers would be shocked at how quickly I got so much done. Like they didn’t even understand it. Not to put them down in anyway. And occasionally I would even get in trouble for doing something differently than others and they would be like, “Why on earth would you do it this way? How did you even think of this?” but that was often before they could see the results.
But on the negative side of that, I had a hard time dealing with all of the personal needs of customers and the tailoring that a lot of Americans require. I’m using to dealing with a huge workload but that’s mostly uniform where people have chosen from a small category of options. I’m not as used to dealing with the incredible personal preferences of a handful of clients who can’t seem to make up their minds. In China, they don’t tend to give you a lot of ‘options’. And people don’t really expect them either. They tend to walk in when they want a service and already know exactly what they want. So it’s a much easier process of facilitating that.
What Would Happen if the US Decided to Not Pay its Debt?
Iranian missiles said to have completely destroyed Israeli Nevatim air base and other bases; Nevatim housed over 20 F-35 fighters which are all destroyed now, as well an advanced American X-band radar site. How is Israel going to get revenge now?
It was a pretty effective strike
The details are trickling in and it does appear that Israel has had 20 damaged F-35s (They aren’t using the word destroyed) but a damaged F35 is as bad as a destroyed one for minimum 12–18 weeks
The Radar site is definitely destroyed
It’s why Israel has postponed their attack on Iran
However the attack will happen
Mostly they will use Drones and they will hit Iranian Top Military and Intelligence Brass with US Intelligence and surveillance capabilities
Lies aren’t as easily accepted without some ground truth. Sometimes, they are just partial truths taken to extremes, often times out of ignorance and good faith. This is something that all Chinese people eventually realize after living in China for long enough; some people are better at working with partial pictures than others.
There was a great thread by Glenn Luk as usual, responding to this article. But more on that, there was a great supplementary thread by David Fishman, who succinctly highlights the issue of interpreting China by using three anecdotes he scraped together:
In elite control societies, what often goes dismissed are the experiences of the common person. This is especially true of the US where “middle class” has represented the top 10% of US society for decades— cue the many complaints of “middle class” houses in Hollywood films that are nothing short of multi-million dollar McMansions. The same can be said about the more liberal Chinese takes on China. I for one know the mood among the high performers of academia China. It is not the greatest, though I must say, I have been quite uncomfortable being in so many BMW SUVs (ostentatious wealth not really my style).
The reason why I do not share in these dour takes on China is because of my paternal family and the fortunes of people from back from the village. I know where those family members come from, what kind of temperament they have, and especially what they have nowadays. Back in 1998, we rode in a cheap knockoff sedan sporting a false police siren (to speed on country roads), driving over half paved, half dirt roads just to get to our T5 city. Ever since, I have watched them get far wealthier. Today my elder cousin does better than me; he owns 3 properties in a T1 city and rents two of them out for a very pretty penny, while I struggle as someone in the top 5% of the US to actually buy a cheap house ($850k) in the place I grew up. The difference between my cousin that is younger by a year and my other cousin who is graduating from undergrad this year is night and day; the former has moved to the US and lives a great life but had to be top of her class to do so, while the latter is pretty much the definition of academic mediocrity. Even so, her mentality bears all the hallmarks of polite urbanite (while I remember the former offering me a beer back when we were 13, as no one cared out in the sticks). That former cousin grew up in that T5 city, the latter cousin is basically a T1 city girl; both, it seems, can do quite well for themselves despite the wide gulf in effort. Hence, people who tell me that China is terrible for everyone but the elites are only going to get the stinkeye from me— it’s like they don’t even care that my family exists.
The pattern I’ve seen in a lot of the anti-China reporting is that they pay attention to only the elites. Keep in mind we are only talking about those reports from people who seem like they know what they are talking about, either because they have Chinese names or they actually bother going to China. On the surface, this is a remarkable step up from the typical “China expert” who knows no Chinese and hasn’t ever visited. Unfortunately this step up seems to be what is selling authenticity today, when in fact it is just clearing a minimum threshold of “not 100% fantasy.”
I have said this time and time again, even all the way back to random comments in 2015 or so: China is insanely complex. Its size should humble all who engage. When I hear about a foreigner who has stayed for 15–20+ years in China, I will usually go “wow, you must have a lot of insight!” But make no mistake, that’s not me calling them a China expert, that is me expecting that they have some very narrow experiences that strike very deep and true, and that I will be able to glean some insights on a tiny sliver of China through them. Most people of that degree of stay in China are likewise humble and know that we all are just in the business of exchanging very narrow and specific slivers of China. To those observing, particularly neophytes to the experience that is China, this subtext may go unnoticed.
David Fishman is a valuable resource. He has tons of stories from people he can reach on the streets. But I know better than to expect him to really know Chinese governance; he has little in the way of penetration into the government track lifestyle. He is also white, which means he won’t have the perspective of someone who can blend into the streets and watch China the way a Chinese person can. There are always limitations to one’s China experience, which is why we all fan out in our information gathering through guanxi (connections).
Yes, there are a lot of blatant lies about China. But just because they exist, don’t get complacent when someone comes by with experience or a Chinese name and starts generalizing. Specificity is the name of the game; pity that most Chinese people don’t feel safe sharing specifics. This is often the reason why you have to hit the streets and make your own guanxi. First, build trust, then get specifics. You never know when someone is withholding information from strangers but not their guanxi network.
But just to highlight, driving back to that T5 city from the T1 city took generally 2 hours in the late 90s. It was unwise to do after a rain as the mud would likely have made the roads unmanageable. In the late 00s, that drive went down to 1.5 hours; the road at the outskirts of the T5 city had massive potholes that you could not evade and would require cars to go at most 5 km/h. In the late 10s, I don’t recognize most of the city anymore. I don’t remember seeing any donkeys driving carts anymore, only the standard blue motor trike at the very bottom end. I can barely estimate that the town square that felt so hollow and eerie at night in the 00s (due to all of the empty concrete apartment shells, lack of lights, and echoing) was now a park with big trees and plenty of amenities.
Remember, T5 city! Where those pink trees are was generally where a line of stores were, and back in the 00s one of those stores sold crappy CRT TVs. One of them played Shrek in Chinese dub, which captivated some 20-ish children as onlookers. I joined them as I was bored then. Everything now is unrecognizable.
Anecdotes aren’t that powerful, but they can serve as smell tests for the kind of China headlines that pander to American audiences. The more you have your own experiences to look back on, the more you too can be immunized to bold but bad China takes. Because the sad reality is, it is just too easy to lie about China, and even the truths are not that good either!
11 Harsh Realities of Life for a 60 year old retired man.
What is stopping China and the United States from becoming allies?
The truth: China desperately want to become friend with US, however, US sees China as a threat and want to see China lose.
Lived in both countries, what I’ve observed is in China, everyone (including main stream media like CCTV) is talking about US being the best country:
- the higher level of democracy
- the innovation
- hollywood movies, hot actors / actress
- advanced technologies, respect for skill and knowlege…
- the list goes on…
When I actually get here, I’d say some of these high reviews are true, but overall it’s probably overrated.
Then when I start to read news on CNN, Fox, NY Times, I see lots of negative news about China.
- food imported from China are poisons
- Chinese constantly steal US intellectual property
- in China everything is about building connections, just having the skills will fail you in China
- Chinese government tortures minority
- China ‘bully’ neighbouring countries.
- … and the list goes on
Non of these are true – I’m not saying China is a perfect country, it’s far from perfect, but the real issue in China was never cared and covered by western media. All these news is designed to make people hate China.
Oven Swiss Steak
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 (1 1/2 pound) beef round steak, cut 3/4 inch thick
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons shortening
- 1 (16 ounce) can tomatoes, cut up
- 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Cut meat into 6 serving-size portions.
- Combine flour and salt; with meat mallet, pound 2 tablespoons of the mixture into meat on both sides. Brown meat on both sides in hot shortening.
- Transfer meat to a 12 x 7 inch baking dish.
- Blend remaining 2 tablespoons flour mixture into pan drippings.
- Stir in undrained tomatoes, celery, carrot and Worcestershire sauce. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly; pour over meat.
- Bake steak, covered, at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour or until meat is tender.
China’s first photonic chip pilot line opened in Wuxi leading the industry to take off
On September 25, at the 2024 Integrated Circuit (Wuxi) Innovation and Development Conference, the first photonic chip pilot line in China built by the Wuxi Photonic Chip Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University was officially put into use. This marks that photonic chips have officially entered the fast lane of industrialization, which will break through the limitations of computing paradigms and bring new imagination space for large-scale intelligent computing. A glorious era for photons is about to begin.
Photonic chips are the core of the new generation of information technology. They can meet the technical needs of transmission, computing, storage, and display in the fields of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, cloud computing, biomedicine, etc. in the new round of scientific and technological revolution. They have become a new driving force for economic growth and an industrial highland for global competition.
The pilot platform has a total area of 17,000 square meters, integrating scientific research, production and services. It has complete supporting facilities and is equipped with more than 100 world-class CMOS process equipment, covering the full closed-loop process of thin-film lithium niobate photonic chips from lithography, thin film deposition, etching, wet process, cutting, measurement to packaging.
The platform also takes into account other material systems such as silicon and silicon nitride, builds N special process platforms, and forms a leading “1+N” advanced photonic device innovation platform. It can not only provide full-process technical services for universities, research institutes, and innovative enterprises, but also incubate photonic industry projects, efficiently link with industrial funds, open up the complete chain from product research and development to marketization, and accelerate the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements.
The pilot platform will not only accelerate the flywheel effect of technology iteration, promote the continuous optimization of process flow and the improvement of product innovation capabilities, but will also touch the technological frontier at an unprecedented speed, solve the long-standing structural contradictions between the innovation chain and the industrial chain, and ultimately achieve breaking up the obstacles in technology and industry.
The successful completion of the photonic chip pilot line is a vivid epitome of the cooperation between the university and the local government to achieve industrial breakthrough.
In 2021, City of Binhu introduced Shanghai Jiaotong University to establish the Shanghai Jiaotong University Wuxi Photonic Chip Research Institute project. The pilot line officially started construction in December 2022, the structure was capped in October 2023, and the first batch of equipment entered the site in January 2024. After intensive equipment debugging, it was officially put into use in September 2024. This landmark of the lake bay has achieved a leap from idea to physical implementation in an almost unrivaled manner. The physical structure was built according to the “Green Building Three Star” standard, and achieved key features such as anti-micro-vibration, constant temperature and humidity, and ultra-cleanliness to provides first-class guarantee for the R&D and production of photonic chips.
Now, walking into the nearly 6,000 square meters of high-grade micro-nano processing clean room of the photonic chip pilot line, people can see equipment neatly arranged, and technicians in clean clothes skillfully operating various equipment and observing the operating conditions of various product parameters.
The 9-meter-high first floor is divided into three floors, with the main equipment on the middle floor. In addition to the pipelines for supplying gas and chemicals, the invisible upper and lower mezzanines are also equipped with fresh air systems to transport clean air and maintain positive pressure in the room, which is then exhausted to the outside through the ventilation holes, so that the cleanliness level of the workshop reaches the 100, 1,000, and 10,000-level standards.
The world-class hardware, the leading domestic precision equipment, and the complete closed-loop control of the process are the three core elements supporting the industrialization of photonic chips. This pilot line is in line with the top-level planning and has reached international standards. After the pilot line is officially put into use, the annual production capacity is expected to reach 10,000 wafers. In the first quarter of 2025, the PDK will be officially released, and external wafer flow services will be provided.
Currently, the whole world is committed to solving the iteration problem caused by the lack of computing resources. Optical quantum computing is not only backward compatible with related technologies, but its theory and framework also enable exponential computing power that is endless. However, due to the lack of matching hardware systems and the immature industrial chain for landing products, optical computing and quantum computing cannot be commercialized. Currently, the world is starting from the same starting line, which provides China with an opportunity to surpass in technology.
The institute will focus on 6/8-inch thin-film lithium niobate wafers and thin-film lithium niobate modulators to overcome the engineering and technical challenges faced by the industrialization of thin-film lithium niobate photonic chips, develop wafer-level chip mass production processes, and achieve large-scale mass production of thin-film lithium niobate photonic chips to meet the high computing power needs of artificial intelligence development.
The Wuxi Photonic Chip Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University will continue to be a leader in new-quality productivity, continue to explore cutting-edge technologies in quantum science and technology and common key technologies, and rely on the photonic chip pilot line to carry out a three-in-one strategic layout of “platform + incubation + fund”. Focusing on new-generation information technologies such as core, light, intelligence, and computing, it will carry out scientific and technological achievement transformation and incubation and investment in entrepreneurship, explore new paradigms for the incubation of hard technology innovation, and help Binhu District and even Wuxi form a world-class photonic innovation ecosystem with clustered and large-scale development.
De-Dollarization: China Squeezes USD Debt By Guaranteeing RMB Bonds In The Global Markets
Is there any evidence that supports the argument that The United States is becoming a police state?
About a month ago, there was a noise complaint at the neighbor of my brother’s home.
The police arrived. My brother went over because his 11 year old son was there and wanted to ensure his son was okay. The police arrested my brother, charged him with resisting arrest, assault on an officer, aggravated battery on an officer.
These charges carry a two to twenty year prison sentence.
When I asked my brother what happened, he told me that the charges were made up. He asked about his son, the officers (3 of them) engaged him and decided to put him in the squad car. He never touched anyone. He never resisted. Because of the charges, he has no bail, and the bond hearing was set for a month out.
I asked, “Were the officer’s bodycams on?” He replied, “No.” They said all their cams were off.
I thought to myself. “Oh shit.” Then I replied, “Okay, sit tight, I’ll get you a lawyer.”
But to be honest…without any camera footage, my brother was cooked.
Now. I love my brother, and I know his character. I know there was no way he attacked three police officers. To be honest, if he did, they’d just shoot him. He’s a big black guy who spends a lot of time at the gym. No one would have challenged his death.
But, that’s not who he is. However…SOMETHING must have happened, right? It couldn’t be that he just walked up, the police then put him in the car and charged him. That’s not real.
2 to 20 years in prison. Three officers are saying he attacked them. Aggravated Battery on a police officer. All of this was a month ago…labor day weekend. No video evidence, so it’s their word and his. He’s so fucking cooked.
But wait. Remember the part where I said my brother walked over to his neighbor’s house?
The neighbor’s ring door camera activated, and his lawyer has not one…but three videos from ring cameras and security cameras covering the entire event.
You know what actually happened? Well, I’ll say it this way. As soon as the lawyer told the prosecution that they had camera footage from the ring camera, the prosecution dropped the assault and aggravated battery charge immediately. They downgraded the resisting arrest to a misdemeanor and gave my brother a 50,000 bond, which we immediately posted. They also added another charge (a misdemeanor), and handed the entire case from the felony prosecution to the misdemeanor prosecution who wanted to settle. My brother’s lawyer said…”No.” We want this fast tracked to trial. You’ve only seen one video. I have two more. The footage shows my brother walking up to the officers, them having a very normal conversation, and when my brother asked for his son, the officer told him “No.” My brother continued to ask, and the officer put him in cuffs and put him in the car for “protection of the officers.” That was it. No one even raised their voices.
Now. Because this is still in flight, and my brother has plans to sue for wrongful arrest or something…which he’ll lose, I won’t say which department this is, but will post all the details after the case and suite are done.
But here is the thing. Do you know what happened to the three police officers who made up the assault and aggravated battery on a police officer charges with the up to 20 year prison sentence?
Nothing.
Do you know what would have happened to my brother if those ring cameras didn’t kick in? I’m guessing he’d get about 7 years. What’s your guess?
That’s the definition of a police state. They can just make something up to throw you in prison…and in the 1 in a 1000 chance you are able to prove your innocence, nothing happens.
I still nearly tear up at the thought of how close he came. He’s a father of 4 who works for Mitsubishi building generators as a supervisor. And he nearly lost his freedom…for what. I yelled at him “You know never to engage with the police. You know better you fool.” All he could say is…”but my son was over there.” 30K for a lawyer (gone). 5K for the 50K bond (gone) all because you approached police.
I’ll update the results when I can. But more than likely…nothing will happen.
Have you ever suspected that a family member was guilty of murder?
I’m pretty sure Grandpa killed my cousin’s abusive ex-husband.
The ex ticked all the psycho boxes: he was physically, sexually, and verbally abusive. When my cousin finally started the divorce proceedings and got a restraining order, the ex repeatedly violated it. He’d make numerous harassing phone calls daily, show up at her workplace, and was arrested a couple times for trying to force his way into her house. Somehow he’d always make bail and within 24 hours or so be right back at it.
Shortly after the divorce was finalized and she got 100% custody of their son, the psycho broke into her home while she was at work and trashed the house. He left voicemails threatening to kill her. My cousin came and stayed with us for awhile so she could make arrangements to move and would not be home alone.
One day the calls stopped. She stopped seeing his truck around town. My cousin was still scared, it was not like him to just stop, and she figured he had gotten arrested, and would soon be out and back at it again. She said words to that effect one morning at breakfast. There sat Grandpa, reading the paper, with a cup of coffee and a Pall Mall Red. Without looking up he just said, “He won’t bother you again.”
And he didn’t. Going on twenty years and no one has seen or heard of the psycho ex. Grandpa knew something we didn’t, but he died in ’05 so he ain’t telling.
EDIT: to address some of the comments without posting repetitively, I suspect Grandpa got rid of the ex. I do not know if her ex is alive or dead. I don’t know for sure what, if anything Grandpa had to do with it. All I can say for sure is he said the ex wouldn’t bother her again and he hasn’t. Wouldn’t put it past the old man to have done his own problem solving though.
Grand Funk Legend Died & Saw the Afterlife – Mark Farner Tells All!
What is the most current lie told about China?
There are several major lies that are all equally current:
- China is planning to invade Taiwan.
- China is oppressing the Uyghurs in Xinjiang (genocide, forced labor, concentration camps, etc.).
- China is oppressing the Chinese people in general (Xi Jinping is a dictator).
- China’s economy is a disaster (property market, youth unemployment, demographics, etc.).
- China can’t innovate; it can only steal IP.
- China is debt-trapping African countries.
Once, when I was on duty in the Emergency Department during my residency training on a 36-hour shift, I noticed something. Something strange, something that was not normal.
There was this one kid, around 10 years old. I saw him wandering around the emergency department all day long. And just like that, it was midnight. I had time to reflect on the events of that night. That same kid was standing outside. So, I decided to find out what was happening to that boy, why was he wandering around the emergency room all day long by himself?
So when I approached him and asked him if I could help him I saw that he was really upset. After that he tried to avoid my questions but I insisted to find out what was going on with him, he asked if we can talk in a private place.
I took him into an office and he lifted his shirt and showed me a scar on his chest that was obviously from a previous heart surgery.
He confessed that he was looking for the doctor who had performed the surgery on him when he was a baby and asked where to find them.
Of course, I knew the surgeon who had operated on the child. But I insisted on knowing why he had been sitting in the emergency room all day looking for that surgeon.
Then I found out that the surgeon in question not only treated the kid for free, but also paid for all the costs of his surgery (since he didn’t have any kind of insurance) and also visited his home every two months after the surgery, paid his family’s rent, got them food and clothes (note this was years ago).
But for the last one and a half years the surgeon was not seen in the children’s house, and his mother did not even have money to pay the rent. That is why he was searching for him.
Sadly, the kid didn’t know that the surgeon had died a year and a half earlier, and he started crying when I told him.
Later that day I told some of my cardiac surgery friends about the incident. I found out that for the past year and a half since the cardiac surgeon’s death, many people have been coming to the hospital regularly asking where he was! Because no one apparently knew that not only did he pay for their surgeries (for those who were unable to pay), but he also made it his mission to help those people’s entire families. And even his wife and children did not know he did that.
What an incredible, inspiring and fascinating person he was.
He was Brigadier-General Dr. Muhammad Fayez in the Royal Medical Services of the Jordanian Armed Forces.
He was a cardiac surgery consultant and head of the cardiac surgery department when he died of a heart attack at the age of 52.
His typical day started at 8:00am and ended at 11:00pm. He was a talented, dedicated, humble and decent man who preferred to work behind the scenes. Didn’t want fame or fortune. A true human being.
UPDATE – Wife Has Known For 8 YEARS That Her Best Friend’s Husband Punched My Son And NEVER Told Me!
Cosmic Catastrophe: A Space Adventure Gone Awry
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
Kayla Flemming
With time running out, Captain Jackson made a split-second decision – they would attempt a risky maneuver to evade the planet’s gravitational pull and regain control of the ship.
“Brace yourselves!” he shouted, his hands gripping the controls with steely determination.
As the ship plunged towards the planet’s surface, the crew held their breath, their hearts pounding in their chests. But just when it seemed all hope was lost, Captain Jackson’s daring maneuver paid off, and the ship veered away from the planet at the last possible moment.
Cheers erupted throughout the cockpit as the crew celebrated their narrow escape from disaster. But their relief was short-lived as they realized they were now adrift in the void of space, their navigation systems fried and their chances of survival dwindling by the second.
As they frantically searched for a way to repair the ship and plot a course home, Captain Jackson couldn’t help but wonder what other dangers lurked in the darkness of space, waiting to test their courage and resolve.
Despite the chaos that ensued, the crew of the spaceship refused to let fear dictate their actions. With determination in their hearts and a spirit of camaraderie that bound them together, they set out to explore the planet they had narrowly avoided crashing into. As they descended through the atmosphere, they were greeted by a breathtaking landscape unlike anything they had ever seen before – towering mountains, shimmering lakes, and lush forests stretching out to the horizon.
Eager to uncover the secrets of this alien world, the crew donned their spacesuits and ventured out onto the surface, their eyes wide with wonder as they took in the sights and sounds of this new frontier.
But their sense of adventure soon turned to apprehension as they encountered strange and wondrous creatures lurking in the shadows – creatures with scales as hard as steel, eyes that glowed with an otherworldly light, and voices that echoed through the caverns like whispers from the void.
Undeterred, the crew pressed on, their curiosity driving them ever forward in their quest for knowledge and discovery. And though they faced countless challenges and obstacles along the way, their indomitable spirit carried them through, guiding them on a journey of exploration that would change their lives forever.
As they prepared to leave the planet behind and return to the safety of their ship, Captain Jackson couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude for the adventure they had shared together. For in the face of adversity, they had found strength in each other, forging bonds that would withstand the test of time.
Amidst the chaos and excitement of their unplanned detour, the crew found moments of levity that brought much-needed relief from the tension of their predicament.
From Lieutenant Ramirez’s failed attempts at fixing the ship’s malfunctioning systems to Ensign Johnson’s comical mishaps during their explorations on the planet’s surface, there was never a dull moment aboard the spaceship.
Even Captain Jackson, typically stoic and reserved, couldn’t help but crack a smile as he watched his crew stumble their way through one misadventure after another. But amidst the laughter and camaraderie, there was a sense of camaraderie that bound them together, a shared sense of purpose that gave them the strength to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
And as they finally set course for home, their ship repaired and their ship repaired and their spirits buoyed by the memories of their cosmic escapades, they knew that no matter what trials awaited them in the vast expanse of space, they would face them together, united in their quest for adventure and discovery.
The journey back to their home base was filled with moments of reflection and gratitude. Each member of the crew took the time to appreciate the bonds they had formed and the experiences they had shared during their time in the far reaches of space.
Lieutenant Ramirez, with her quick with and unwavering determination, became the heart and soul of the crew, guiding them through even the most challenging of situations with her calm demeanor and steady hand.
Ensign Johnson, despite his tendency to stumble into trouble, proved himself to be a valuable asset to the team, his ingenuity and resourcefulness saving them on more than one occasion.
And Captain Jackson, with his leadership and courage, inspired his crew to rise above their fears and doubts, leading them through adversity with unwavering resolve. As they neared their home base, a sense of anticipation filled the air. Though their journey had been fraught with danger and uncertainty, they had emerged stronger and more united than ever before.
And as they docked their ship and stepped onto solid ground once more, they knew that their adventure was far from over. For as long as there were stars in the sky and unexplored corners of the universe to discover, they would continue to journey forth, together, in search of the next great adventure that awaited them in the cosmos.
Shorpy
What was said at a funeral that you will never forget?
When I was eleven years old, a friend drowned while swimming alone at a local lake. He was alone because I had persuaded a mutual friend who was supposed to go with him, instead, to come visit me at my house, because I was grounded from leaving the house, but I could have a friend come over.
Denny’s was the first funeral I remember attending, and I walked into the funeral home alone. I was terrified and overcome with remorse and shame. Not quite knowing what to do, I slipped in the back and sat in the first chair I saw with no one near it.
Almost immediately, Denny’s mother came over and sat next to me. She said, “This is not your fault. You did not kill Denny. Tragic accidents happen all the time, sweetheart. Don’t carry this through your life. If you do, that will be a tragic accident too. When you leave today, leave any guilt you might feel right here so that we can bury it as well.
Then she hugged me while I cried. I did exactly as she said. And I have never forgotten the witness of her grace.
A MATTER OF SURVIVAL
Submitted into Contest #243 in response to: Write a story about a character who wakes up in space.… view prompt
Charles Corkery
As the man in charge of this mission, Glen had an intimate knowledge of his ship and understood that, once set, the timing device of a stasis pod could not be altered.
Nevertheless, heart thumping, he eased himself from the pod zone to the bridge of the craft, floating weightlessly, using his hands to push off bulkheads, hatches and overheads to reach the command centre of the shuttle where all typed modules relating to the workings of the ship were stored.
Breathing deeply, trying desperately to calm himself, he pulled down the tome that related directly to the cryogenic chambers and began to read. Within a few minutes, his worst fears were confirmed; the operational clock, once triggered, could not, under any circumstances, be recalibrated. For him, the ability to not age for the next nine and a half years was no longer an option.
Okay, okay. Stay calm. That’s not the end of the world, he told himself. Helen and Matt would get a shock when they snapped out of hibernation to find their commander almost a decade older than they remembered, sure. And life for him would be pretty damn unbearable in the interim but he could do it; would do it. Hell, he’d be a hero when they got back; maybe even secure a book deal.
Food! Jeez, he’d forgotten about how much sustenance he was going to need to make it through. These shuttles were not overstocked with nutritional products as the majority of travel time was spent in natural hibernation and space food, whether dehydrated, irradiated, freeze dried or thermo- stabilised, still added hugely to fuel costs for every pound stored on board. Time to calculate.
An hour later, having entered the nutritional info of every single item of food he had located in the shuttle into the command and data subsystem, including Helen’s specially packaged must haves, Cheetos, and Matt’s, similarly wrapped, Hershey Kisses, and allowing for a ration of 0.58 kilograms per day, he realised, heart plunging, that he had only enough fluids and solids to sustain life for just twelve months!
A year later, an emaciated, stinking, full bearded commander entered the pod zone for the first time in weeks. Initially, and for several months, he had checked on his colleagues several times per day but, as time had passed, he had limited himself to a once a week visit, the effort involved just too much for his weakened body. This time though, he had another reason for entering this part of the ship: the knowledge that, within the temperature controlled systems lay several litres of much needed water and he was going to figure out how to drain it. With all food having been consumed, although estimates were varied, it was believed that man could extend one’s life by up to two months living on water alone and there was no reason to maintain the perfect 32 degrees C that his hibernating colleagues were dwelling in.
The year had been the toughest of this man’s life. Having nothing to look at except the darkness of deep space that remained unchanged constantly outside the window of the bridge, nobody to talk to except himself, he had, slowly, drifted into semi-insanity. Unable to wash, shave or brush his teeth, with every drop of moisture being so precious, he had, knowingly, allowed himself to become a savage. Wild thoughts entered his mind and he would spend endless, comatose hours debating the rights and wrongs of each. Many, many times, he had considered cutting the power to his colleagues’ cryopods. If he had to suffer so, then why not them, too?
He had even thought about opening the pod of Matt Weitz and, while he was still disoriented, pulling him from his sleeping chamber and taking his place; sure that lifting the lid of the pod would not affect the countdown clock. But, always, the still rational part of his brain would win through and talk him out of this murderous act.
Many, many times, he had told himself that he should accept his fate, climb down into the sealed exit hatch bay and eject himself out into the void and, twice, had entered this part of the ship, fully intending to do the honourable thing. But, each time, something, whether an inbuilt survival instinct or a fatal optimism, prevented him from carrying through with his plan. He knew that he only had enough food and water to sustain him for twelve months; that death was inevitable. Yet, he could not quit; had to claw on to life, hoping, believing that a miracle might occur. His experience in space had confirmed him in his atheistic outlook and he did not, for one minute, give any credence to the existence of a God but, still, he found himself repeating the mantras that had been drilled into him as a child, brought up in a Christian household.
Now, as he drained the water from the tubing that surrounded all three pods, the brownish, foul smelling water seeping into the container he had brought here for this purpose, he looked, once again, at his two colleagues, sleeping peacefully, completely oblivious to the torment that he was going through and, against his better impulses, angry and envious thoughts flooded his brain. Why did his pod have to be the one that failed?
***
Breaking News
“We go now to Independence Square, NASA HQ, where NASA Administrator, Bob Nelson, is waiting to talk to us with the latest on the ill fated shuttle. Bob, thanks for coming on. What can you tell us?”
“I can now confirm, Mary, that our inquiry has shown, beyond any doubt, that the oxygen supply for the craft had defaulted and was responsible for the demise of our three brave astronauts”.
“Did they suffer, Bob?”
“No. All three were in hibernation, completely unaware of the system breakdown. They would all have died peacefully and painlessly in their sleep”.
“What about their families?”
“Well, none of our deep space astronauts are actually married, have children or are in relationships, Mary. It’s not something that is common knowledge but, I’m sure you’ll understand, they are away from home for a very long time. In this case, for example, Commodore V11 was on a twenty year voyage to Pluto and, while the cryogenic sleeping pods ensure that the occupants of the shuttle age only a year or two, the same would not apply to any relatives left on Earth. For that reason, we only train men and women who are prepared to forego a family life, at least until their later years”.
“Well, thanks for sharing that, Bob. Makes me wonder why anybody would want to put themselves through that though”.
“Mary, these are a very special breed of human; pioneers, if you like. They undertake only one deep space mission in their careers and they are expanding boundaries for the human race and, of course, they get extremely well compensated for it”.
“If they survive, Bob. If they survive”.
***
Human Health and Performance (HH+P) Medical and Clinical Unit Secure Ward, Johnson Space Center
“Okay, doc, let me have it”.
“Well, there’s no way to sugar coat this, Bob. Deep space, deep psychosis. It’s that simple”.
“Is he coherent?”
“Depends on what you mean by coherent. I can understand what he’s saying but that doesn’t mean he’s talking a whole lot of sense. He’s cognisant of his actions and, in many ways, as repulsive as they were, he was simply reverting to the human’s inbuilt instinct for survival. Throughout history, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of similar happenings where cannibalism has been a last resort. That plane crash in the Andes, for example. If they hadn’t made that choice to eat their former comrades, those guys would never have survived…”
“Difference is, doc, their comrades were already dead. Commander Glen Thomas chose to eat his living colleagues. Big distinction!”
“So what now, Bob? That’s the fourth time this has happened in recent years.”
“Well, we can never let this get out. It would decimate our entire deep space program budgets. So you know what to do, doc. Same as before. Just make it painless for the poor sap”.
***
Why is China being increasingly targeted? Are they really a threat to the future of the world?
The Chinese has been targeted since the mid 1800 when the first batch of Chinese went to the US to open up the East West railway lines. They were badly discriminated and I am sure many died. But in those days it is not illegal to kill a Chinese! Of course Anglo Saxon wants the world to forget everything from African slavery to Red Indians culling to Chinese exclusion act now that their victims are all dead and gone!
But so much to western human rights hypocrisy! We will always remember and we will remind you forever! Has anything change? No the white supremacy idea still exists and today Wall Street Journal or Economist still do racism with profit! The western media slur and demonised and get rewarded by the US government with 1.6 billion funding.
it is such a terrible thing to do to use monies instead of helping their 2.5 million homeless on incentives to lie and fabricate on China and the Chinese people. It is Deja Vu all over again. It is Chinese excision act 2025! But this time the world is on the Chinese side. Sure they are dogs and slaves like UK, Australia, Philippines! But there will always be people who stays on the wrong side of history.
Marriage Is Often a Terrible Deal | Orion Taraban
How will China’s “temporary anti-dumping measures” on brandy imported from the European Union affect the global brandy market?
I think a lot of it is because China sees little reason to support western countires who are almost universally taking antagonistic attitudes towards China. And what has China done. Basically it has just done better than the west. Funny thing is this is not new. It is repeated time and time again in history. Back in the 19th century the European invasions of China were brought about because the Western world wanted Chinese goods, but there was little that the Chinese wanted from the west, and so the British becaome the biggest drug cartel in the world, effectively forcing opium on the Chinese the same way drug dealers do it today, and then selling to those people. The Chinese government was too weak to do much against it, but at least were able to prevent the west from conquoring China (unlike Inida). Also during the 19th century, Chinese teams working on the American railroads were able to accomplish tasks other teams could not accomplish and were always more productive. For thier good work they were effectively presecuted by vigilanties. This is something that has happened to the Chinese diaspora throughout history. So similar to what has constantly happened to the Jews.
In part because the west is trying to isolate China. and doing western leadership constantly attempts to destroy China, China appears to feel that it is better to build relationships with the 90% that make up the rest of the world, and it has an added benefit in that doing this is economically better given that products and goods from those countries are less expensive than western countries. At the same time it gives Chinese the opportunity to now produce final products and sell them under Chinese brands, so the profit it much greater, and the dependence on the west is greatly reduced. These countries have proven to be a lot more appreciative of the Chinese, and why not. The Chinese products are so much cheaper than the western products, the Chinese are not buying lots of agricultural products from them, Chinese companies are also selling farm equipment at a fraction of the cost of the west to them so that they can be increase production, building factories in the countries (something the west never did to any extent), and significantly helping them build much better infrastructure in the countries. It is a big win for China, and a big win for those countries that struggled so long under Western imperialism and colonialsim and then Western neo-colonialism.
People talk about how China is so hated by the international community, but that is not the international community but the collective west.
China is learning that the doublespeak “International” community (the reality the collective west) is never going to be a friend to China, maybe because the Chinese are not white and have more power. It is much better to get the rest of the world to be with you, and isolate the west so that they can no longer do you any harm. Russia is learning the same lesson because the white people of the west also consider them untermensch. All the better for China.
And to make matters worse for the west the tactic they used in the 19th century will not work in the 21st century, that of forcing China to turn around, bend over and pull down its pants. As proof of this just look how dangerous is will be for the US Navy to operate within well over 1000km of China. This is proven by articles that admit the the F35 does not have enough range.
China is now a regional hegemon. Its military can stop dead any attempts to intimidate China. They US is fuming. Nothing it does or can do against China works.
King of the Hill – 1950’s Super Panavision 70
Why do we exhibit a lack of fortitude and strength in failing to equip and empower our brethren in Russia and West Asia to combat Western Imperialism, despite the Western Imperialist supplying arms and munitions to eradicate them?
Western imperialism is closely linked to nationalism, racism, white supremacy, and Eurocentrism (America-centrism).
Should people follow the nationalist incitement of their governments and go to kill each other? No!
So-called patriotism, nationalism and chauvinism have always been the gravediggers of the proletariat.
Don’t forget that beyond these claims, there is communism.
Humanity is facing a series of serious problems, namely an insurmountable economic crisis, continuous wars, xenophobia, the impoverishment of the working class, and the destruction of the earth’s ecology, all of which cannot be solved by nationalism.
If we fall into the trap of nationalism, the entire human race will be destroyed. 200 million people died in endless wars in the 20th century alone.
Only by overthrowing this development model in this society can humanity escape this barbaric dead end. This is the message that the working class, especially the younger generation, wants to send to social movements in other countries.
- In Japan, protests against the explosion and radiation effects of the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been one after another, and there is growing anger about the impact of the economic crisis.
- In the United States, there have been a series of strikes by workers to protest against their incredible exploitation.
- In many other countries, we can cite many examples, such as the Arab Spring, Spain, Greece, Bangladesh, etc., where the working class has been massively fired, unemployed and impoverished, and the pressure of work has been increasing.
The solution to so many problems is not nationalism in collusion with the state, but the Class struggle.
We cannot rely on the brutal burning of stores and production bases belonging to “foreign competitors” or calling for a boycott of foreign competitors’ goods to sanction opponents or overcome the crisis.
We need to unite the camp of the working class and then oppose another class camp with our class camp, rather than a conflict between countries.
Our slogan is still: the working class has no motherland and no borders!
We must inherit this internationalist tradition and break the shackles of nationalism.
The rulers want our young generation to swallow the nationalist pill, that is, the rulers threaten each other every day and launch propaganda for war. But we must firmly put forward our different proposals – Class struggle.
Only in this way can mankind not usher in the Third World War and not perish.
There is a scene in the Japanese film ‘Break Through! (パッチギ!, Patchigi!) ’:
The teacher takes out a copy of ‘Chairman Mao’s Quotations’ and introduces it to the students, saying, ‘Chairman Mao of China tells us this…’
Student: ‘Teacher, have you ever been to China?’
Teacher: ‘No, I haven’t, but I know.’
The students don’t give a damn. Then the teacher continues, ‘The world is yours and ours, but in the end it is yours. There is only one way to eliminate war…’
Student: ‘Is it the atomic bomb?’
Teacher: ‘Idiot, war originates from conflict among classes. Eliminating class differences can eliminate war. This is Chairman Mao’s theory.’
40 Brutal Truths I Wish I Knew in My 20s
1. Don’t become good at something you hate.
2. Go to bed and wake up at the exact same time every day.
3. Take care of your body; it’s the only one you have.
4. Stay close to people who want more for you, not from you.
5. Normalize leaving people in the reality they’ve chosen.
6. Being humble is thinking of yourself less, not thinking less of yourself.
7. You get tested the most when it’s your time to level up.
8. Improve yourself daily—make that your only addiction.
9. You teach people how to treat you.
10. Admit you’ve walked through the wrong door instead of staying in the wrong room.
11. Waiting for a sign is a sign.
12. Nothing you’ve gone through has made you weaker.
13. Everything wants you when you want nothing.
14. Be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time to be successful.
15. When things get easy, go hard.
16. Only ask for advice from people who have been where you want to go.
17. The word “No” is a complete sentence.
18. Don’t dim your light to make others comfortable.
19. Have a primary aim for your life.
20. Stop reading books, start studying them.
21. Always assume positive intent.
22. Put your own mask on first before helping others.
23. Look for problems, don’t avoid them.
24. Your new life will cost you your old one.
25. Confidence comes from keeping commitments you make to yourself in private.
26. Dedicate a decade, not a day, to your goals.
27. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
28. Tell people about themselves; acknowledge their strengths.
29. If you keep running into bad people, you may be the problem.
30. Avoid drama and gossip at all costs.
31. Fear gives bad advice.
32. It’s never too late to change.
33. Get rid of all your vices.
34. If you’re addicted to your phone, your life isn’t interesting enough.
35. Take on as much responsibility as you can.
36. Don’t blame anyone else but yourself for your circumstances.
37. Be blissfully dissatisfied with where you’re at in life.
38. Make time for what matters to you.
39. Respect comes from admiration, not fear.
40. Life is a mirror, not a window.
Imagine walking around with a nuclear cell phone! The concept is not that farfetched after Chinese company Betavolt developed a battery the size of a coin that runs on nuclear energy and lasts for an incredible five decades. The technology is also applicable to drones and laptops and the energy density is 10 times more powerful than standard lithium-ion batteries of the same size.
Earth’s first miniaturized atomic energy system
Betavolt’s nuclear battery uses 63 nuclear isotopes positioned within a thumb-sized module. The energy created by the decaying isotopes is converted into electricity, a concept that has existed since the 20th century.
Startup Betavolt has begun pilot testing ahead of mass production for commercial purposes, and future applications include smartphones, drones, and laptops. They’re not the only company looking into similar technology, though. Australia’s PhosEnergy is also in the game after the Department of Defence awarded them $2.3 million to develop extra-long-life batteries.
Betavolt said in a statement:
“If policies permit, atomic energy batteries can allow a mobile phone to never be charged, and drones that can only fly for 15 minutes can fly continuously. Our atomic energy batteries can provide enduring power in diverse scenarios, such as aerospace, AI equipment, medical devices, microprocessors, advanced sensors, small drones, and micro-robots.”
The development of miniaturized nuclear batteries
Betavolt’s initial nuclear design delivers 100 microwatts of power and 3V voltage. It’s only 15x15x5 cubic millimeters big, which is great news for smaller electronic devices like phones. Betavolt’s plan includes developing a battery with 1 watt of power by 2025.
Scientists have been looking into the development of miniature nuclear batteries for many years. The US and the Soviet Union explored nuclear battery technology for use in underwater systems, remote science stations, and spacecraft. In those early days, however, the hardware was bulky and costly.
Aside from China, research institutions in Europe and America are also working on similar projects. The groundbreaking tech may revolutionize the world of electronics by removing the need to charge devices.
Design and safety of miniature nuclear batteries
Betavolt is certain that the design of their battery ensures its safety. It’s built with a layered structure to prevent it catching fire or exploding when exposed to a sudden force. The battery can also operate under a wide range of temperatures, from -60°C to 120°C.
Betavolt created the nuclear battery using nickel-63 as the energy source, which is a radioactive element. Diamond semiconductors are used to convert the energy to electricity. The single-crystal semiconductor is 10 microns thick, and a two-micron-thick nickel-63 sheet is placed between two converters. The energy that’s released as the radioactive element decays is what’s converted into an electrical current to power the device.
What about dangerous radiation?
Obviously, the main concern about nuclear energy is radiation. Betavolt is so confident of their battery’s safety that they claim it can be used to power medical devices inside the body, such as cochlear implants or pacemakers. After the radioactive element has finished decaying, a stable, harmless, non-radioactive isotope of copper is left behind, which has no environmental threat.
Betavolt’s BV100 battery is more secure compared to standard batteries. It does not explode or catch fire when exposed to high temperatures or punctured, making it a safer option.
Minimizing the risk
Betavolt claims the energy density of its miniature battery is 10 times higher than lithium-ion batteries. But they haven’t said much about the risk of beta radiation poisoning. The nickel-63 isotope releases beta radiation and converts it into electricity.
Beta particles are low-mass, high-speed, high-energy electrons that aren’t very dangerous. They can’t travel far as an X-ray or carry as much energy as an alpha particle. Although beta particles have sufficient impact to pierce several millimeters of skin, just a small amount of shielding is sufficient to provide suitable protection.
The biggest risk would come from swallowing one of these batteries, similar to the risk of standard lithium-ion batteries. Betavolt believes the potential of such long-life batteries outweighs the risks, and that their measures to make them safe for use in robotics and autonomous systems will ensure the public is safe.
Betavolt says this development puts the country of China “way ahead” of European and American scientific institutions and enterprises researching similar power sources. Production of the nuclear batteries has entered the pilot stage and mass production is expected to begin in 2025.
This news is brought to you by http://Diary24.com by Kelly L. October 9, 2024
Why is Iron Dome not effective against ballistic missiles?
The Iron Dome was not designed to defend against ballistic missiles, and definitely not the hypersonic missiles that Iran possesses.
Israel’s Iron Dome was designed principally against the low velocity short range home made rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza. It is adequate for those purpose given that Hamas does not possessed very many of those rockets. Even for low velocity weaponries such as Drones, Israel’s enemies can overwhelmed the Iron Dome by SWARMING the skies with it.
There are no missile system that exist currently in Western inventories, including those of Israel, that could effectively defend against a barrage of ballistic missiles – Iran had demonstrated that in its recent attacks when MOST of its missiles hit their target in Israel.
ADDITIONALLY, Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon had forced the evacuation of Israeli occupiers from Northern Israel by launching drones and rockets. The Iron Dome was not able to STOP those threats.
Should this war continue to ESCALATE, you will likely see the complete destruction of Israeli infrastructure – water supplies, electricity, port etc – because Israel and its allies just does not have the means to defend against those missiles that Iran and Hezbollah are known to possessed.
Some interesting pictures
Hawaiian Steak
Ingredients
- Individual steaks, 1/2 inch thick or less
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Pineapple slices
- 1 large can mushrooms
Instructions
- Punch both sides of each steak well with a fork, then marinate for 24 to 36 hours in a marinade made by combining soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and sugar.
- Simmer steaks on a low fire for 10 minutes in the marinade.
- Remove them and place steaks in a 350 degree F oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on thickness of meat. Three minutes before removing steaks, place a pineapple slice on each.
- To make gravy, slowly sauté a large can of mushrooms in butter. While doing so, boil down the sauce used for the marinade to make a gravy.
- Combine mushrooms and reduced marinade sauce.
- Serve individual steaks with the pineapple on top, over which has been poured a generous amount of gravy.
What is the most infuriating thing that doctors experience all the time?
He was brought to the ER in cardiac arrest. Feeble pulse, BP not recordable, he was connected to a ventilator.
He is your old case, the resident reminded me. I look at him. A flashback appears
–
Flashback
Despite my poor face-recognition software I remembered our last conversation.
‘Doctor, I stopped the medicine you gave and started this new ayurvedic medicine for diabetes, which I came across in Google search. I started it, now 3 months, and see the lab results, they are perfect’ he threw the lab test results on my table diffidently, with a look of someone who won a boxing match without a single punch. ‘And no side effects by the way’ the sarcasm was clear in his voice. Years of medical practice endowed me with the non-stick ‘mental coating’ that make me smile.
‘I am not the manufacturer of pills, and I don’t gain or lose by your choosing to take a pill’ I silently remind myself.
But yes, his blood sugar values were normal.
–
Fact Check
Diabetes is elevated blood sugar, and we know its consequences. Blood vessels, from heart to brain, from eyes to kidneys tend to get blocked in diabetes; leading to stroke, heart attack, kidney disease and loss off vision. But why does it happen? That’s still not clear, even if you read through every line of the 1250 pages of the latest edition of Joslin’s Text Book of Diabetes. Today we know that diabetes comes with a host of conditions like obesity, hypertension, low HDL and elevated triglyceride (known as metabolic syndrome) and could all be partially responsible for the development of vascular complications of diabetes.. Discovery of hyperinsulinemia (increased insulin levels) as the prime driver in type 2 diabetes has added a new dimension. The present understanding is that diabetes is a biochemical orchestra gone wrong, and high blood sugar may be just one single player. Reprimand him, throw him out, but your orchestra still doesn’t improve.
A study published in Lancet show that in a diabetic lowering of blood pressure and LDL cholesterol gives significant reduction of cardiovascular events but the quantum of benefit of lowering sugar is far lesser and has a J curve (more lowering may actually harm; even in the normal range).
A recent Swedish registry data published in New England Journal of Medicine shows that in a diabetic, lowering of blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, and stopping smoking along with blood sugar control conclusively prevent a heart attack, while only control of blood sugar doesn’t.
A researcher has aptly commented that ‘Diabetes is a cardiovascular disease with elevated blood sugar’. Control blood sugar, you could still be in danger.
–
The FDA now insists that all diabetic drugs should prove benefit in terms of cardio-vascular event reduction in large trials to be eligible for approval for treatment of diabetes. Mere sugar lowering won’t do.
–
I could see the big picture, at least a part of it. At least I knew that our knowledge is shallow. The myopic man, contended with a normal blood sugar value, lying helplessly still, connected to a host of tubes and a beeping monitor was blissfully unaware.
–
I don’t build my house myself; I trust the architect. I don’t stich my shirt, the tailor has my confidence. I believe that the local taxi driver knows roadblocks better than Google.
Funny that we all believe Google more than our doctor.
Not funny for the sobbing relatives, sitting outside the ICU praying for him to get well.
China has successfully developed a new type of standing oblique detonation ramjet engine, which has high energy conversion efficiency and strong adaptability, and is of great significance to improving rocket launch performance, reducing costs and deep space exploration.
The standing oblique detonation ramjet is actually a rocket engine that uses a special combustion mode. Its design is inspired by the propagation characteristics of the explosion wave. It generates powerful thrust by colliding the fuel and oxidizer at a high speed at a specific angle and triggering an explosion.
The standing oblique detonation ramjet engine not only has high working efficiency and long continuous working time, but also has great advantages in structure. The engine does not require any rotating or moving parts. It only uses the three parts of the air intake, hydrogen fuel injector and combustion chamber to form the whole device. Standing oblique detonation ramjet engines can only work under hypersonic airflow.
When a hypersonic aircraft flies in the air, the shockwave not only will make it difficult for the engine’s fuel to burn, but will also cause turbulence on the fuselage surface, causing the aircraft to vibrate violently in a short period of time that affects control, and may even cause the fuselage to disintegrate.
The aircraft thus has to be made into a special streamlined structure called wave rider. Its leading edge can “ride” on the shock wave in the hypersonic airflow, which will not cause vibration of the aircraft body, but make full use of the energy of the shock wave to maintain the stability of the flight attitude.
With the standing oblique detonation ramjet engine, the aircraft can fly at a speed of more than 5 times the speed of sound. With the wave rider technology, the aircraft can maintain a stable and controllable attitude during high-speed flight. The combination of the two technologies has laid a strong foundation for the breakthrough of the future military science and technology in China.
This technological breakthrough not only demonstrates China’s profound strength in aerospace science and technology, but also indicates that future spacecraft will have greater maneuverability and a wider range of applicability.
The uniqueness of this engine lies in its suitability for high-speed flight, especially in the field of hypersonic flight. Current aircraft can only reach speeds of several times the speed of sound, but with the help of this engine, aircraft can reach higher speeds, higher altitudes and longer distances.
This type of engine is mainly used in high-tech and high-efficiency industrial fields. For example, they play a vital role in industries such as aerospace, shipbuilding, power generation equipment, and heavy machinery. With its excellent performance and reliability, this type of engine provides strong power support for these industries and promotes technological progress and industrial development.
In terms of energy supply, they can improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption. In the field of transportation, whether it is cars, trains or planes, high-performance engines can improve operating efficiency and passenger experience. In the field of medical equipment, precision engine technology provides a more stable power source for medical devices, thereby improving the quality of medical services.
Have you ever walked out of a doctor’s office because the doctor was being disrespectful to you?
I went to see my new Internist with an itchy rash all over my body. My dermatologist had prescribed an antibiotic for a localized skin infection, and then gone out of town. I am allergic to a few antibiotics, but had never had an issue with this type before.
My internist entered the exam room, lifted one of my arms by the wrist and rotated it to see each side. He dropped it in my lap and said, “Doesn’t look too bad.” I told him I was a bit worried because of the previous allergic reactions I had experienced to antibiotics in the last few months (I was having chronic sinus infections at the time). He left the room without explanation and came back with a bottle of calamine lotion. He explained how to apply it. I looked at him skeptically and asked how it would help if the rash was caused by a medication I had taken orally. He sighed loudly several times and said, somewhat facetiously, “Well, just take Benedryl if you are so worried.” I said I had been told never to take Benedryl with the several medications I was taking for my autoimmune condition, as well as an SSRI and Benzodiazepine.
He became angry, and shouted, “Well then what do you want me to do?!” I pulled away from him on the edge of the exam table, as I meekly explained that I was usually given 5mg of prednisone for a few days for this type of reaction. “Do you even know how that medication works?” He spat at me. At the time, I was a pretty new college student and was also not great at reading sarcasm. I didn’t know he was asking a rhetorical question, so I answered him thoroughly, explaining the mechanism of action of corticosteroids for inflammation. His face got red and his eyes narrowed. “How do you know that? How do you know any of that?” I calmly reminded him I was a premed student studying biology, and that I liked to know what medications did before I took them. I was confused about his level of aggression, but I felt cornered and didn’t know what to do other than assert myself in as calm of a manner as I could. That is what I had been taught to do.
“Well, well…you know way too much for a girl. Especially a girl your age. This is very inappropriate for you to know this.” He stood up from his stool and walked out the door. I was frantically trying to figure out what I had done wrong. I started to cry. I called my mom and tried to tell her what had happened, hoping she could tell me what I missed. She said, “Hold on, he is calling on the other line.” She took the call. She later told me he told her the same he had said to me— that I knew too much, that my level of knowledge was inappropriate, and she cut him off, and said “Dr. ——, it sounds like you have a personal issue. What is inappropriate is this phone call.” She clicked back into my call and just said, “Leave. There’s something wrong with him.” I had not signed a release for him to speak with anyone about me, so technically, it was a HIPAA violation for him to contact my mom. He also contacted one of my specialists, who wouldn’t take his call. He left a message. I had not signed a release for them to speak either, as this was a new internist I was seeing. I am glad I did not, and glad I did not continue to see him.
Recently, I was seeing my current doctor, and out of habit, apologized for sounding like a know-it-all about a specific topic we were discussing. He said, “Never apologize for your knowledge. Never. It is one of your greatest attributes.” I told him I wished all doctors felt that way, and he responded, “If they don’t, it’s their problem, not yours.” Twelve years later, it really felt good to hear that.
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure – 1950s Super Panavision 70
What are the best and worst feelings in the world?
Worst feeling: being told my daughter needed life threatening surgery on her skull, and that without it, she would end up with permanent brain damage due to premature closure of the growth plates in her skull.
I took my daughter to the doctors just for her yearly health check and was given this news. The diagnosis was Saethre–Chotzen syndrome.
About six months later, watching her head growing deformed by the day, she was finally admitted to Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne, Australia).
The following day, she was wheeled into surgery. I kissed her goodbye as she went to sleep under the anaesthetic, not expecting her to make it. The doctor looked grim. The dozen or so staff in the surgery theatre were silent. I was ushered away.
The neurosurgeon said before I left that if all went well, she’d be in surgery for 3-4 hours. The subsequent nine hours were the longest in my life.
Afterwards, the neurosurgeon said it was worse than he had suspected and he had to remove her entire skull from the ears up and completely rebuild it with dissolvable plates.
To then see her afterwards in ICU looking like this…
I was a mess. My wife wouldn’t fall apart for another few days.
Don’t get me wrong, the hospital team are the best in the world. That night, as my wife lay beside my daughter’s ICU bed, she whispered to me ‘She’s going to pull through. I’m not worried about that now, but how the hell are we going to pay for all this?’
The best feeling for me, exceeding any joy that preceded it in my 50 years on Earth, was listening to my daughter singing the entire song Let it go from the movie Frozen, verbatim in Spanish (of all things) from a YouTube clipping she had watched the day before. She was doing this while building a sandcastle on the beach. It was a year post-op. Weird thing was, she didn’t know Spanish and could only speak English and Thai.
I don’t know if God exists, but angels certainly do.
BTW, my wife, who comes from Thailand, still can’t believe that healthcare is free here in Australia (paid for via our taxes).
Is Israel engaged in a seven-front war?
In fact, Israel has only one front at war: the residual military value of the US.
All provocative actions taken by Israel are aimed at making it increasingly difficult for the US to tolerate the damage it has suffered in terms of international influence, and attempting to ultimately force the US to deploy military force into the Middle East.
As one of the most valuable political legacies of the founding fathers of the US, Jews were almost excluded from the core of the military system and appointed solely around economic operations, which to some extent ensured the security of the US and the world. Now, this design is gradually taking effect: fanatical Zionist zealots have to use extremely poor methods to try to manipulate the US military power – that is almost the only value left that America can be plundered by Zionists.
Subsequently, Zionists will attempt to expand/transfer their influence, they will try to parasitize regions such as Ukraine, HK, and India or somewhere else. Now, tens of thousands of Israelis have gone abroad to Ukraine, which is a country lacking defense capabilities of them. They are trying to bribe HK officials to let them in. Basically, they plan to give up on the US after draining it, maybe also Israeli land itself.
But I don’t think this behavior will succeed. Israel has offended almost all major countries on Earth at the same time. Israel is attempting to harm American interests and deceive and fool the US. The negotiation process between Israel and Lebanon was guaranteed by the national credibility of Britain and France, then Israel broke it. Israel attempted to interfere with China’s reunification process. It tried to intimidate Chinese UN peacekeeping soldiers. Israel directly conflicts with Russia on the battlefield. I can continue to list, but let’s save our time.
Honestly, I can’t see in which way this newly founded country can continue to exist, or even this outdated civilization.
