Lines are being created, and the world splits in two halves

The world has split, and the rest of the world is just starting to recognize it. The United States is “punting”. A world War III would end the United States, so a “cold war” of isolation is being set in motion. Stand by.

Let’s go through the “news”…

The power of community

“A bookstore owner in Southampton, England, has asked for help as he was relocating his library due to high rent and wanted to move books.

The man was surprised by the presence of more than 250 young, elderly, and people with special needs, who formed a human chain in which they took thousands of books and transferred them hand in hand from the old place to the new ones,

a distance of 500 feet in an hour. Those who know the value of the book and the status of knowledge, they never disappoint from their gesture”

Have you ever been reported on by a neighbor to your HOA?

YES!

Then I made it my life’s mission to make her miserable. I am a volunteer firefighter and paramedic. I was signed up to cover a shift, but instead of waiting at the fire station, I brought the paramedic fly car home with me. You know, so I could selfishly be home, in my own house. with my family, while I did what would otherwise be a $50,000 a year job for free. The fly car in question looked kind of like this:

It is a fire-engine-red SUV, with the fire dept name and PARAMEDIC ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT on it. It has a “Star of life” in the windows, and the heart rhythm going down the stripe. It has 911 painted on it, and it has “GOVT EXEMPT” license plates, too.

My dipshit neighbor, who was the ultimate definition of “a Karen,” even though her name is Debbie, called not just the HOA, but the POLICE. You are not allowed to have a commercial vehicle with lettering in your driveway after six pm. I told the HOA guy, that’s not a Commercial Vehicle, that’s a GOVERNMENT vehicle, an EMERGENCY VEHICLE, and it can be anywhere it needs to be, and until 8 a.m., it needs to be at my house unless somebody in this town does something that begins with, “Hey y’all watch this!” before then. I showed the HOA guy the GOVT EXEMPT plates, and then the cops basically told them the same thing.

Well she kept pushing…. and pushing…. Calling the police chief, the fire chief, the captain of EMS (GEE, WONDER WHO HE WAS, YOU DIDNT NOTICE THE LAST NAME????). Eventually the fire district lawyer firmly put his foot down, making it clear that anyone authorized to be in possession of a district vehicle can take them anywhere in the district for any purpose at any time, and anything other than quiet acceptance of this constitutes “Interference with governmental administration” and/or “obstruction of a public safety official.”

She fumed and bitched and passed around petitions. It was hilarious because the OTHER neighbors kind of dig the idea that a paramedic response is like a minute and a half away. Like when the guy across the street had his heart attack, I was literally “On Scene” before the tones went out, because the teenage kids ran and fetched me while the mom was calling 911.

She just did not seem to get it, “What, is he above the law?” YES.

“So what you’re saying is the law doesn’t apply to him?” YES.

God you’re finally getting it, you’re not nearly as stupid as you look, Debbie. LOL

But now that I knew it bothered good ole Debbie so much, and because she persisted in giving me the stink eye, I decided to be a total prick and sign out the fly car whenever it was not otherwise covered. I also enacted an “open house” policy for any other emergency personnel.

Any time, day or night, if the lighted Dalmation is on the porch, come on by for coffee and a snack. Just park whatever you are driving – Engine 302, Ladder 305, Rescue 308, ya’ll come on down. I have coffee, and popcorn, and little pizza snacks, and Backdraft, Ladder 49, AND Bringing out the Dead. Look, guys, I have the ENTIRE “Emergency!” DVD box set – all six seasons. 122 episodes of Roy and Jonny and the adventures of Engine 51.

She was sooooooo pissed.

European natural gas prices are taking a breather amid further signs that soaring energy costs are crippling economic output, heaping pressure on politicians to resolve the crisis with winter just a few months away.

Benchmark futures retreated after settling at a record high on Monday. Prices are still about six times higher than they were at this time last year, with the panic spreading across nations ahead of peak winter demand.

British grassroots group “Don’t Pay UK” is calling for people to boycott energy bills from Oct. 1, while the trade union-backed “Enough is Enough” campaign kicked off a series of rallies and actions in mid-August calling for pay rises, rent caps, cheaper energy and food, and taxes on the rich.

A worsening cost-of-living crisis across Europe has already seen workers in France, Spain and Belgium go out on strike in the public transport, health and aviation sectors, pushing for higher wages to help them cope with rocketing inflation.

The list of industries that are curbing output is growing. Poland’s biggest chemicals company, Grupa Azoty SA, has stopped making some of its key products and trimmed production of ammonia because of record gas prices, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Emmanuel Macron has warned the French they are facing sacrifices and what he called the “end of abundance”, at his government’s first cabinet meeting after the summer holidays.

The president, speaking before ministers at the Élysée, said the country was at a “tipping point” and faced a difficult winter and a new era of instability caused by climate change and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. natural gas prices briefly hurdled $10 per million British thermal units (BTUs) on Tuesday, the highest since 2008. They are up more than 150% this year.

At least 20 million households — or about 1 in 6 American homes — are behind on their power bills as soaring electricity prices spark what is said to be the worst-ever crisis in late utility payments, according to Bloomberg, citing data from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (Neada).

Neada said electricity prices had increased significantly since 2020 after a decade of stagnation. The steep rise has resulted in billions of dollars in overdue power bills.

California’s PG&E Corp. has seen a more than 40% jump since February 2020 in the number of residential customers behind on payments. For New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group, the total is up more than 30% for customers at least 90 days late—and that’s just since March.

Whichever route they choose, the coming winter is set to be plagued by social unrest, warned Naomi Hossain, a professor of development politics at the American University in Washington D.C. who is studying energy, fuel and food riots.

At a conservative estimate, 10,000 such protests have taken place worldwide since last November, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation – with more expected in an uncertain future.

Nebby Neighbors

We own a home on the water in WA state. It includes ownership of the tidelands in front of the property out to the low low tide mark. One day my mother in law was out on the beach digging clams. She is a non English speaking Asian woman and is dressed similar to this:

After half an hour she comes up and talks to my wife and says the neighbor guy who has always been a grumpy old cuss has been yelling at her saying she can’t dig clams here. My wife went down with her to resume digging. He comes charging out onto my tidelands and demands they stop and to see fishing licenses. He says he was a retired Fish and Game officer and that he was going to call F&G and report them. The wife is upset but just ignores him so he stalks off to his house and they continue to collect the tasty bivalves.

I got home a short while later and am there a few minutes when I hear a knock the door. I answer and a F&G warden is standing on my porch. I ask what’s up. He says he has a report of illegal shell fishing on the beach. I call the wife and MIL up and ask what is going on. They tell of their encounter with Mr. Grumpy pants including his claim to have been a F&G warden. The F&G officer asks the key question “ Is this your property?” Yes. “ Do you own the tide lands?” Yes.

Thank you very much, because you own the tidelands all the shellfish in the tidelands belong to you and no license is required to harvest them. Sorry to bother you. He then walks next door and proceeds to read the riot act to my neighbor including threatening to haul him in for impersonating a State official. Never had another issue with the old cuss.

The last laugh is the best laugh.

Bacon, Chile and Cream Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Jalapeño poppers are the inspiration for these addictive, crispy baked chicken breasts.

Ingredients

• 2 slices bacon, chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 poblano chile, cored, seeded and diced
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (2 oz)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 oz each)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup Progresso™ plain panko crispy bread crumbs

New Capital City for Egypt

Note: China has being cashing her US dollar treasury debt to help the developing countries across the world. A new world order with mutual destiny, mutual respect, and win win culture are slowlying spreading. The world is in the process of winning back their freedom from the crusaders bullying, looting, bombing and control.

Below from CNN:

Egypt’s new capital city moved a step closer to reality with the announcement that Chinese developers will largely fund the megaproject.

The China Fortune Land Development Company (CFLD) agreed to provide $20 billion for the currently unnamed city, after a meeting between heads of the firm and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. This follows a previous commitment of $15 billion from another Chinese state-owned company, bringing the project close to its $45 billion budget requirements for phase I.

Egypt is getting a new capital — courtesy of China – CNN Style

New Nuclear Power Plant for Egypt

South Korea signs US$2.25 billion deal with Russian nuclear energy company | South China Morning Post

• Nation has contract with Russian state-run firm to provide components and construct turbine building for Egypt’s first nuclear power plant
• South Korea said US was consulted, and technologies supplied by Seoul would not clash with international sanctions against Moscow over war

From HERE

Saved Kitty

When I was living with my ex girlfriend she heard a coworker basically bragging that she was surrendering her 1.5 year old cat to be put down because he was “stupid, hyper and destructive “ she told me and the following morning we went on a rescue mission and came home with this poor scared underweight cat (he was just under 9 pounds) you could see his rib cage and spine.

its been just over two years and I am no longer with that woman who convinced me to drive myself to this cats rescue. He was given a fresh chance at life. He is now a happy and healthy 13 lbs 3 year old mackerel tabby. And he is my best friend. I am so close with and love this rescue cat that I cannot fathom not knowing that hes in my room as I go to bed.

The Disposable Cigarette Lighter as an insight into manufacturing

Many people have no idea about modern manufacturing.

有什么廉价但是技术含量很高的东西？ – 知乎

This link is a Zhihu answer about “What is something cheap but also contains quite some technologies?”

The answer says “disposable lighter”.

Retailing price 1~2 RMB (0.16~0.3 USD) each, whole selling price 0.2~0.5 RMB (0.03~0.08 USD) each.

It:

• is a small pressure container, which contains liquid butane under 0.25Mpa pressure.
• has a small piece of piezoelectric ceramic which could generate 6000V and several microamp of current.
• flame is about 1300 degress at the outter layer of the flame.
• contains about 20 compartments.
• is made through over 10 process and dozens of equipments are involved.
• is easy to use, even for kids. (but keep them away from kids)
• is reliable, and usually could keep functioning till the gas is out.
• is adjustable on the flame length, from 1 cm to over 10 cm.
• fulfills almost all requirements.
• is designed by considering calculations of phase transition, gas spread, burning conditions, flame control, etc.
• costs almost nothing.

Such a lighter in the west usually costs 1 USD or even more. So what’s the secret about keeping it low priced? Not forced labor, because America has too many prisoners as forced labors.

It’s delicate designing and full supply chain coverage.

In 80’s, Japanese and Taiwanese could make much better disposable lighters, and that’s how they were trying to do in mainland China. They brought their design, invested their factories, and produced their product. However, a disposable lighter doesn’t need to last for years, but only long enough till the gas being used.

To lower the cost, mainland factories began to alter the design and look for a better solution. It’s not just lowering every spec, that would cause massive lawsuits. It was to minimize the cost, while still maintain over 3000 times lighting and 2 minutes continued burning period. People use such a lighter mostly for a cigarette, 99% of the time it would be missing before being totally used out, and no one would light a cigarette for over 2 minutes.

A lighter has plastic, metal, chemical, and some other materials. So it would be unwise for a factory to produce them on itself. It requires several partners to focus on making one or several parts, just to reduces the cost and stablize the quality.

To support all the factories, local government must maintain a steady environment, such as water, electricity, and education, since educated and skilled workers are needed to operate machines.

Local government also needs to ensure a long period policy.

To move all the parts into the final assembally factory, it requires a functional logistics network, which is supplied by massive infrastructure investment, fast truck repairing, and a active logistics market.

Last but not least, steel plants are needed for metal parts, refinaries are needed for the gas, etc.

Behind a cheap lighter, there is a whole industrialized country.

If you think about this question again, just exactly which country has the ability to take over China’s role?

I mean the US is still the leading country in high-end technology research and product manufacturing, but what only counts a small part of the whole manufacturing industry.

Robots would solve some of the educated labor issue, but that’s not everything manufacturing industry needs. Educated people, strong infratructure, stable policy, fuctional logistics, supply chains.

Many probably don’t know that many so called “moved to Vietnam” business still require parts imported from China.

The world is on the edge of nuclear catastrophe in no small part because of the failure of Western political leaders to be forthright about the causes of the escalating global conflicts. The relentless Western narrative that the West is noble while Russia and China are evil is simple-minded and extraordinarily dangerous. It is an attempt to manipulate public opinion, not to deal with very real and pressing diplomacy.

Europe should reflect on the fact that the non-enlargement of NATO and the implementation of the Minsk II agreements would have averted this awful war in Ukraine.

The essential narrative of the West is built into US national security strategy. The core US idea is that China and Russia are implacable foes that are “attempting to erode American security and prosperity.” These countries are, according to the US, “determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence.”

The irony is that since 1980 the US has been in at least 15 overseas wars of choice (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Panama, Serbia, Syria, and Yemen just to name a few), while China has been in none, and Russia only in one (Syria) beyond the former Soviet Union. The US has military bases in 85 countries, China in 3, and Russia in 1 (Syria) beyond the former Soviet Union.

President Joe Biden has promoted this narrative, declaring that the greatest challenge of our time is the competition with the autocracies, which “seek to advance their own power, export and expand their influence around the world, and justify their repressive policies and practices as a more efficient way to address today’s challenges.” US security strategy is not the work of any single US president but of the US security establishment, which is largely autonomous, and operates behind a wall of secrecy.

The overwrought fear of China and Russia is sold to a Western public through manipulation of the facts. A generation earlier George W. Bush, Jr. sold the public on the idea that America’s greatest threat was Islamic fundamentalism, without mentioning that it was the CIA, with Saudi Arabia and other countries, that had created, funded, and deployed the jihadists in Afghanistan, Syria, and elsewhere to fight America’s wars.

Or consider the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, which was painted in the Western media as an act of unprovoked perfidy. Years later, we learned that the Soviet invasion was actually preceded by a CIA operation designed to provoke the Soviet invasion! The same misinformation occurred vis-à-vis Syria. The Western press is filled with recriminations against Putin’s military assistance to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad beginning in 2015, without mentioning that the US supported the overthrow of al-Assad beginning in 2011, with the CIA funding a major operation (Timber Sycamore) to overthrow Assad years before Russia arrived.

Or more recently, when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recklessly flew to Taiwan despite China’s warnings, no G7 foreign minister criticized Pelosi’s provocation, yet the G7 ministers together harshly criticized China’s “overreaction” to Pelosi’s trip.

The Western narrative about the Ukraine war is that it is an unprovoked attack by Putin in the quest to recreate the Russian empire. Yet the real history starts with the Western promise to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not enlarge to the East, followed by four waves of NATO aggrandizement: in 1999, incorporating three Central European countries; in 2004, incorporating 7 more, including in the Black Sea and Baltic States; in 2008, committing to enlarge to Ukraine and Georgia; and in 2022, inviting four Asia-Pacific leaders to NATO to take aim at China.

Nor do the Western media mention the US role in the 2014 overthrow of Ukraine’s pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych; the failure of the Governments of France and Germany, guarantors of the Minsk II agreement, to press Ukraine to carry out its commitments; the vast US armaments sent to Ukraine during the Trump and Biden Administrations in the lead-up to war; nor the refusal of the US to negotiate with Putin over NATO enlargement to Ukraine.

Of course, NATO says that is purely defensive, so that Putin should have nothing to fear. In other words, Putin should take no notice of the CIA operations in Afghanistan and Syria; the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999; the NATO overthrow of Moammar Qaddafi in 2011; the NATO occupation of Afghanistan for 15 years; nor Biden’s “gaffe” calling for Putin’s ouster (which of course was no gaffe at all); nor US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stating that the US war aim in Ukraine is the weakening of Russia.

At the core of all of this is the US attempt to remain the world’s hegemonic power, by augmenting military alliances around the world to contain or defeat China and Russia. It’s a dangerous, delusional, and outmoded idea. The US has a mere 4.2% of the world population, and now a mere 16% of world GDP (measured at international prices). In fact, the combined GDP of the G7 is now less than that of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), while the G7 population is just 6 percent of the world compared with 41 percent in the BRICS.

There is only one country whose self-declared fantasy is to be the world’s dominant power: the US. It’s past time that the US recognized the true sources of security: internal social cohesion and responsible cooperation with the rest of the world, rather than the illusion of hegemony. With such a revised foreign policy, the US and its allies would avoid war with China and Russia, and enable the world to face its myriad environment, energy, food and social crises.

Above all, at this time of extreme danger, European leaders should pursue the true source of European security: not US hegemony, but European security arrangements that respect the legitimate security interests of all European nations, certainly including Ukraine, but also including Russia, which continues to resist NATO enlargements into the Black Sea. Europe should reflect on the fact that the non-enlargement of NATO and the implementation of the Minsk II agreements would have averted this awful war in Ukraine. At this stage, diplomacy, not military escalation, is the true path to European and global security.

When things go wrong

The worst year of my life… 2008

• I was developing a 72 unit condo in a vacation area

• With a huge pool at the roof top

• Everything was done

• Building permits

• Financing

• Marketing

• Even pre-sales

• I was happy

---

Then… while we were at the peak of our sales season

A Category 2 Hurricane passed through the vacation area

• Complete devastation

The area was without power for several weeks

We lost a few pre-sales

---

• As if things couldn’t get any worse

• The 2008 Financial Meltdown destroyed my dream…
  • Took 100% of my investment money… lost everything
  • Took almost 3 years of my life invested into this project
  • Took my investors trust
  • Took my friends for money issues
  • Took my reputation
  • Took my pride
  • Took my joy

---

The entrepreneurial life is not easy.

But this didn’t stop me.

Strangely… this is a way of life.

I can’t quit… I won’t quit.

Lesson?

As an entrepreneur… don’t expect one problem

I should add:

• Tough Finances
• Family Sacrifices
• Depression and getting back up
• Misunderstood and called crazy
• Pains of failure
• Execution problems
• Bad partnerships
• Deceived, tricked, robbed, backstabbed
• etc… etc… etc…

---

• “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”

Raising a little girl

My daughter was being bullied in high school by a few other girls. More than once they ganged up on her, slapped her around, embarrassed her. The school wouldn’t do anything but make excuses. So during summer break between her freshman/sophomore year I got her outside and taught her how to box. Gloves, punching bag, jumprope, the works.

To be honest, I really didn’t technically teach her how to box. I showed her how to get her wind up, keep her chin down, and taught her how to hit. How to punch through, to counter punch, and put together combinations. Put her shoulder behind it, and her hip into it.. And she done well. Before summer was over I had the bruises to prove it.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea. I told her to walk away when she could. I made her promise. But if she found herself jammed up, don’t just stand there and let herself get beat up.

Well, once school started it was only a few weeks before the phone rang. They told me my daughter was alright. Then right away, off to the principal’s office I went. The same three girls had jumped on her again in one of the bathrooms. When I got there the first thing I saw was two girls sitting in the outer office wearing bloody clothes. The secretary showed me right into the principal’s office, and there sat my daughter without a scratch on her. The story was she whipped two of them and the third girl ran away.

So we got through all of that, warning about this, threats of suspension if it happens again, blah, blah. About halfway through the school year, and my phone rings again. This time it’s my wife. The school called, my little girl’s been fighting again.

Her best friend is a gorgeous sweet heart of a young girl, whose only physical flaw is she had been a breach birth. It damaged her hips, and she walks with a severe limp. They were in the school cafeteria and a couple boys were picking on my daughter’s friend. Apparently it was more than she could stand, because my little girl got up and beat the snot out of both of those boys before anybody could stop her. Then when I got to the school there they sat, in the same spot, bloodied up worse than the girls before. Now she had started beating up the boys, two at a time. After the dust settled she was suspended from school for three days.

I don’t regret teaching her to defend herself, and if I encouraged her that’s alright too. Since she was in the right (mostly) I took her side just as I promised I would. We left the school and had pizza buffet for lunch, I wasn’t angry.

I’ll tell you what though, don’t think that girl can’t hit. But maybe I should have taught her how to wrestle instead.

Troop Notification – Fort Campbell, KY

Nation Hal Turner 25 August 2022 

.

The Hal Turner Radio Show received an email overnight which read as follows:

Son in law just got the call.
He's army ranger airborne copter munitions specialist.

All hands on deck.
Deployment ASAP.
Kiev.

Getting even against bullies

Oh this one is going to be good, the story of sweet, sweet revenge 🙂

I used to train skiing and there was one guy that was sort of bullying everyone. Since he was a lot taller and bigger nobody really fought back, and every time he tried made it look like a joke while really humiliating the victim.

One day we were sitting in a large dining hall eating, when he decided it would be fun to try to push my head in the bowl of pasta bolognese.

Now, he did it just enough to keep my head really close without me really touching the food.

While this was happening I looked him in the eyes and said “watch this mother******” , and I put my head into the bowl of pasta covering my full face and started complaining loudly so that the trainer heard me.

This was the point when he knew he was done.

The trainer ran over, and immediately started screaming at him. He then called his parents to come to pick him up, but… but…

But not before he had the worst training of his life, including 15km run, up hill sprints, push ups etc.

And it lasted for as long as he didn’t puke!

The best part of this story is that he knew I set him up, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it, and as a result I never had problem with him again.

Homeless cat hopelessly goes to fire station on a cold day and pleads to be allowed in, because of the fact that she is freezing

One day a street cat in an extreme cold went under the window of a fire station trusting that individuals would help her.

Someone at the Steinbach Fire Department in Canada was greatly amazed when he strolled by and saw a little feline gazing out the window at him.“

It was a frosty evening and she was stopping outside of the window. At the point when one of our firemen headed outside, she ran directly to him.”

The feline didn’t go anywhere and kept on sitting under the window. Obviously, she had no place to go.

Firemen let the feline into the room, worrying that in the evening in an extreme cold it would freeze.

In the glow, the feline should have been visible better, it turned out to be foul and truly needed to eat. Simultaneously the feline quickly reacted with a purr.

The fire boss Kelvin, who already had four felines at home, proposed to briefly take it to his home. He called her Amber and took her to the vet for assessment the following day.

Aside from mild frostbite on the tips of the ears, the veterinarian viewed the feline as very sound.

“I sent her photograph and story on Facebook, possibly somebody lost her. Yet, when for a considerable length of time nobody reacted, we again took her to the vet, where she was immunized and tracked down ear parasites on her, from which we quickly started to remedy her.”

During these assessments, Amber didn’t avoid by any means, yet appeared to appreciate human consideration.

A few firemen wished to make Amber a station feline, yet it worked out that the station has days off when there isn’t even a duty official and there will be nobody to take care of the feline at that time.

Then, at that point, they chose to track down a forever home for her. We posted her photos on Facebook and it seems as though we’ve find out a forever home for her,” Kelvin said.

Source: Save Earth

Bullied Special needs kid

Let me preface this post by saying my son is the SWEETEST kid in the world. That is not hyperbole. My son is quite possibly the sweetest child on the planet.

And he’s been through a LOT in his 8 years on this ride called “Life”. More than I ever could’ve predicted when he was born. From his father being in an accident that left me considerably disabled (I’m doing alright now, thank God) to his mother abandoning him to pursue the elusive “White Dragon” and everything in between.

Couple all that trauma with a speech impediment and a delay in his motor skills, and you’re left with a shy socially awkward little boy with an absolute heart of gold.

The past two summers, I sent my son to a day camp. I wanted him to overcome his social anxieties and make some damn friends.

But this year, on the very first day, he was beaten up by two boys on the bus ride home. They were brothers. One his age, the other a few years older.

He didn’t want to tell me when he got home. But I quickly recognized when he walked in the door that something was off. I had to really prod him to get him to open up.

He said the boys had started ganging up on him so he went to the bus matron, but she sent him back to his seat. She may have had trouble understanding him if he was upset or flustered, but she should have had some patience and figured out what was happening.

I called the camp supervisor immediately and was assured it would be handled.

A few days later, it happened again. This time with a third participant joining in the bullying.

I told my son, who is a very big strong kid (he’s 5 feet tall and weighs 130 lbs.) that if the staff is failing to protect him, then he has to defend himself (being as big as he is, but as shy as he is, with his speech impediment, he’s always a target for bullies. So he takes martial arts classes just in case…) but he said “No dad, fighting is against the rules and I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

I’m getting a bit choked up just thinking about that conversation… and those brats are damn LUCKY my boy is so kind because he could SMASH kids his age if he wanted!

“Besides dad, they can’t hurt me because I’m bigger than them.”

God damnit, imagining anyone taking advantage of my son’s big heart makes the fighter in me want to go do to their parents what the parents failed to teach their kids NOT to do. I know that wouldn’t solve anything, but I would definitely feel vindicated to some degree…but I digress.

A few days later, somebody made fun of him for not being good at soccer while they were playing. Again, no adult stepped in. So my son left the game and went to sit by himself in the lunch area. When he sat down, one of these boys snuck up behind him and dumped a cup of dirt over his head. Then another boy ran up and shoved him and ran off.

When he told me this, I lost my shit. It was a Friday so my family advised me to wait until Monday to call the supervisor, after I had a chance to calm down and THINK.

I called first thing Monday morning, a half hour before his bus pickup, leaving myself ample time to cancel the bus if the call didn’t go well enough that I felt he was ‘safe’.

We’re getting close to the original question now. If you’re a parent, especially of a special needs child, be prepared to be FUCKING OUTRAGED.

The supervisor (she’s lucky I don’t believe in “doxing” people. Sometimes it requires great restraint to remain composed and responsible) asked me what the three boys’ names were. I told her I didn’t know, but asked why SHE didn’t know yet!?! After all, this was our FOURTH discussion about the same serious issue!!

She said, “If you can’t give me the boys’ names, what am I supposed to do? Besides, this happened on FRIDAY, and you’re just calling me NOW?”

I said, “I did you a FAVOR by not calling on Friday, because I would not have been able to control myself on Friday. So I’m calling you TODAY. And my son doesn’t KNOW the boys’ names, but I was under the impression YOU had figured that out by now!” to which she replied, “Your son has been taking the bus with these kids for three weeks. How does he not know their names by now??”

I wasn’t sure if she was insinuating my son was LYING or she was ridiculing him. Both scenarios would’ve incensed me equally.

I replied, “My son doesn’t know their names because he has social anxiety due to his speech! So it’s hard talking to kids he doesn’t know, because he’s ashamed of his speech impediment.” I continued, “I explained these issues to you before I paid you the three grand for the camp! You assured me you were qualified and adept at caring for special needs kids. If that wasn’t the case, you should have told me so from the start!”

She replied, “Look I’ve tried talking to your son about the beatings and the bullying. I couldn’t understand anything he said. So if your son can’t talk clearly enough to tell me what’s going on, I don’t know what to tell you!”

I hung up on her.

I scoured the internet to track down the man who OWNS the camp.

When I called him, he said he’d already spoken to his supervisor and she informed him that “it sounded like Mr. Pinto and his son need a break from camp.” The $3000 plus lunch, trip fees and supplies camp. Yeah, she thought we needed a break from THAT.

But the owner is a ‘real’ professional caregiver. He wanted to hear my side of the story.

So I filled him in on what happened. And he wasnt very happy.

He informed me that he was a special needs child too, and he was bullied for it, and he knew first hand the long term damage it can do. He apologized and said “This type of crap has NO PLACE in my camps!”

Then he asked if he could call me back…

because he had to “Go deal with some people”.

He called me back two hours later and informed me those boys were no longer members of the camp, and his staff would be undergoing training again. He also called the bus company and said special needs children are never to be out of the sight of the matron, and if they can’t adequately monitor the children, he’d use another company…

He even picked one of the college aged counselors to be my son’s “buddy”. The kid went everywhere with my son (as a “buddy”, not a chaperone) and helped him assimilate into a group of friends. This really helped my son open up and socialize the last two weeks.

And there was never an issue again. Just like that.

Two hours; problem solved. ‘Real’ caregiver.

Amazing how simple it was to eliminate the problem once somebody gave a damn.

Bullying is a serious issue and should be treated as such.

You never know…

My father was a carpenter and cabinetmaker. He built our house and all the furniture in it. It was his joy. But in addition to being a carpenter he was also something of an asshole and a strict and often violent father. As a result I grew up to despise and hate him. My brothers and I were often called to help him on a job – which we had to do for free. One entire summer we worked framing a house from May until September, for which we were paid a grand total of 100 dollars. So I swore that when I grew up I would never, ever pick up a hammer again. Ever.

And so it went. Unless I was forced to do something with wood, I refused to do it. And then my dad died and I inherited his cabinet making shop. It stood idle for years until one day, out of curiosity, I visited the shop. The smells of my childhood sprang instantly back to me as I opened the door. The building was dark and silent, the old sawdust rotting on the floor, the tools lined up in racks, rusting away, the machines sitting idle. As I strolled around the shop I suddenly had the desire to make a wooden box. My father always said that almost every project starts with a box. And without thinking I picked up a pencil and a square and laid out a box. Over the next few weeks, I made a really nice blanket box that I still have. But what was more, I found myself increasingly interested in making things at the shop.

At about that time I had a girlfriend who liked to travel and one of the places we visited was Mystic, Connecticut where there is an entire museum town and shipyard representing life in the whaling period of New England in the mid to late 1800s. After an interesting and educational visit we went to the gift shop, because she also liked to buy things, and there was a book of plans for boat and shipbuilding. She loved the architectural diagrams and wanted me to frame some of the builder’s diagrams of ships and boats for art. So she bought the book and handed it to me.

Later I took the book to the shop with the intention of cutting out the scaled-down diagrams and putting them in a nice frame for her. I started flipping through the book for the best and most complicated drawings. By then my carpentry skills and curiosity had grown enough that I was interested in how things were made and I paid particular attention to the boat joinery. I knew I could never make a boat – that took skill that was far, far beyond me, but the way that the compound angles and joinery of ship making was incredibly fascinating. Instead of making the picture frame, I pulled out some lumber and formed the stem of a boat – just to see how the wood worked together. I had no intention of going further. But the next time I went to the shop I cut out a keel… and attached it to the stem. And soon I was attaching ribs. I had never done anything like this before and many times I pulled out the chainsaw to cut it into firewood before someone saw the embarrassment. But I kept coming back to it. The plans in the book were like 1/6 scale – if you wanted to build a full size ship, they were willing to sell you the entire kit for some amount of money, I forget how much now, but I said, “Screw that. I’m not buying plans for a boat I will never build. I simply don’t have the skill.” So instead I took a protractor and a compass and a set of dividers and I scaled the plans up directly onto some plywood, which I cut into strakes and thwarts and screwed onto the ribs.

Within a few months, to my amazement, there was a giant boat in my shop. I say “giant” with a bit of sarcasm. When I started, I figured the thing might be 8 or 10 feet when I was done – but when I was finished, it was almost 20 feet long. To me, that was enormous. And I kept saying, “I can’t do this – I just don’t have the skill,” especially when it came time to fiberglass the hull and cracks and so on. I used the West System and I was terrified. I had heard so many horror stories from old timers about its combustibility, about how fast it set, about how hard it was to work with, about how dangerous it was, that I moved timidly though a batch that would fit in a Dixie cup while wearing a full face mask and respirator and long rubber gloves and a leather apron. Imagine my amazement when it went on like rubber cement and dried to golden amber. The next time I made a bigger batch in a coffee can and eschewed most of the safety gear. The fiberglass filler filled up every crack and mistake the way frosting makes an ugly cake beautiful and the fiberglass mesh was stronger than steel when it dried. In another month the shell was complete. I was completely awestruck. I had made a boat. I painted it in vibrant colors and because it was such a heartache to me every time I made a mistake through lack of skill and knowledge, I hung the name on the transom – “Little Beeyotch”. I stepped a mast and put on all kinds of lines and a little pirate flag and then I towed it 150 miles to my house in Maine. I was absolutely certain it would go straight to the bottom when it was launched.

On a cloudy spring morning a neighbor helped me launch. The boat slid off the trailer, banged into the ground and slid into the water. And then it started to float away while I stood on the shore in surprise. It was floating. I couldn’t believe it. But now it was too far away to wade out to – I had to swim for it. When I grabbed the thwart, I went to pull myself into the boat, looking inside for the spraying fountains of water I expected from a dozen leaks. But the boat was bone dry. The West System had proved itself. “I could make a cinder block seaworthy with that stuff,” I marveled. And I grabbed the oars and went for ride around the lake. I had made a sailboat – and it survived for more than ten years.

A fresh start

I had been homeless for nearly a year. There was a bench I liked sitting on where I could scowl at the people driving by. There was a stop light right on the corner so I had them captive for a couple of minutes or so. One day, someone rolled down the window in their car and asked me if I was interested in working. I recognized the lady from the community college I had attended many years before. She handed me a business card and drove away. She was the station manager of a nearby radio station. I called her later from a payphone and she asked me to come to work the next day. I showed up not knowing what to expect. She gave me a few radio scripts to read in the control booth. A couple of other people had gathered to listen and as I was reading, I saw smiles and then nods. The station manager called me back into her office. She handed me three hundred dollars in cash and said I’ll see you back here tomorrow. Go get cleaned up.

This was me the next day:

Creamy Chicken One-Pot Pasta

When the craving for a creamy, cheesy pasta strikes—but you still need to bring some protein and veggies to the table—this one-pot meal is your simple solution. Chicken, bell peppers and green onions make this a dinner that’s complete, comforting and little grownup all at the same time.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 to 1 1/4 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup diced yellow bell pepper (about 1 large)
• 1/2 cup sliced green onion whites
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 carton (32 oz) Progresso™ chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 12 oz uncooked rotini pasta (3 3/4 cups)
• 1 cup frozen sweet peas
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (8 oz)
• 1/4 cup sliced green onion greens

The Layoff Tsunami Has Begun: 50% Of U.S. Companies Plan To Eliminate Jobs Within The Next 12 Months

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If half of the firms in the entire country really do cut jobs over the next year, what will our economy look like afterwards?  All over America, companies are anticipating that a major economic downturn is coming in 2023, and a lot of them are already planning to shed workers in order to cut costs.  Of course this sounds so much like what we went through back in 2008 and 2009.  Millions of Americans lost their jobs during the “Great Recession”, and it was truly a very dark time in our history.  So are we right on the verge of seeing a repeat?

Let hope that isn’t the case.

Unfortunately, a brand new survey that was just released has discovered that 50 percent of all U.S. companies plan to eliminate jobs within the next 12 months.  The following comes from CNBC…

Meanwhile, 50% of firms are anticipating a reduction in overall headcount, while 52% foresee instituting a hiring freeze and 44% rescinding job offers, according to a PwC survey of 722 U.S. executives fielded in early August.

These are executives’ expectations for the next six months to a year, and therefore may evolve, according to Bhushan Sethi, co-head of PwC’s global people and organization group.

Can those numbers be accurate?

I knew that things were bad because I write about this stuff on a daily basis.

But I didn’t think that half of the firms in the entire nation were already looking to cut workers.

Wow.

At this moment, I am at a loss for words.

It’s going to get bad out there.  If you have a good job right now, try to do whatever you can to hold on to it.

Sadly, some of the biggest names in the corporate world have already started to lay off workers.  For example, Ford Motor just announced that it will be laying off “roughly 3,000 white-collar and contract employees”…

Ford Motor confirmed Monday it is laying off roughly 3,000 white-collar and contract employees, marking the latest in its efforts to slash costs as it makes a longer-range transition to electric vehicles. Ford sent an internal email Monday to employees, saying it would begin notifying affected salaried and agency workers this week of the cuts. The email was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Wayfair has also decided that now is the time for mass layoffs…

Home goods company Wayfair decided to cut approximately 870 workers to help manage operation costs and “realign its investment priorities” following the coronavirus pandemic, the Associated Press (AP) reported this week.

I thought that Wayfair was doing quite well.

I guess not.

In a desperate attempt to stay afloat, Peloton has also chosen to lay off “hundreds of workers”…

Seeking to cut costs and end a flood of red ink, Peloton is planning to raise prices on key products, shutter stores and lay off hundreds of workers, according to a memo from CEO Barry McCarthy.

And even Groupon is getting in on the act.  500 of their workers will now be updating their resumes…

Chicago-based Groupon today laid off more than 500 of its employees — 15% of its 3,416-person headcount — according to posts from former employees on social media. The reduction impacted workers in teams including merchant development, sales, recruiting, engineering, product and marketing.

Other big names that have announced layoffs in recent weeks include Best Buy, HBO Max, Shopify, Re/Max and Walmart.

Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

As this new economic downturn deepens, countless more Americans will lose their jobs.

And as that happens, all of a sudden there will be vast numbers of people that can’t pay their mortgages or make their rent payments, and that will make our new housing crash even worse.

We are now very clearly past the peak of the housing bubble, and the ride down is going to be really painful.

Last year at this time, the housing market in California was extremely hot, but now the numbers are definitely heading in the other direction…

Sales volume of single-family houses (SFH) in California plunged by 14% in July from June, seasonally adjusted, and by 31% from a year ago, the 13th month in a row of year-over-year declines, according to the California Association of Realtors.

Sales volume of condos plunged by 18% in July from June, and by 36% from a year ago.

Prices eventually follow volume: The median price of single-family houses dropped 3.5% in July from June, down for the second month in a row, slashing the year-over-year gain to just 2.8%.

If you are trying to sell a house right now, I would encourage you to try to get that done as quickly as possible before prices fall precipitously.

Speaking of declines, the Dow was down another 643 points on Monday…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply Monday, in its worst day since June, as the summer rally fizzled out and fears of aggressive interest rate hikes returned to Wall Street.

The Dow fell 643.13 points, or 1.91%, to 33,063.61. The S&P 500 dropped 2.14% to 4,137.99, and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.55% to 12,381.57, respectively. It was the worst day of trading since June 16 for the Dow and the S&P 500.

I think that a lot of people want to get out of the market before the summer ends.

Needless to say, there are many out there that are anticipating that the last few months of this year will not be kind to the financial markets.

On September 29th, 2008 the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 777 points.  That was a brand new record at that time, and it was a spark that set off mass panic on Wall Street.

Could we see something similar once summer is over?

Only time will tell.

But what we do know is that the U.S. economy is really starting to implode, and the stage is being set for the sort of historic economic meltdown that I have portrayed in my books.

At this point, everyone should be able to see that really hard times are on the horizon.

Those that are prudent will do what they can to get prepared in advance.

American Homeless

Having lived in Southern California my whole life, I’ve had lots of time to observe the homeless. This is my city, San Diego:

To give my opinion of the homeless, first I must tell you there are a few distinct kinds:

1. The Invisible Homeless: these people were previously middle or working class, and have fallen on hard times. You can find them at the public library, freshly showered from the gym (they have enough in their account to pay membership fees, but not enough for rent), filling out job applications, or just browsing reddit on the computers. At UCSD, I was shocked to learn that one of my fellow philosophy majors was sleeping in his car, because he couldn’t afford housing. He was always well dressed, and doing great in class. He had a van and a family in another city so he wasn’t that bad off, but technically still homeless.
2. Pariah Homeless: these unfortunate souls are usually extremely mentally ill, addicted, victims of childhood abuse, and/or were imprisoned early in their lives for petty crimes, and never recovered. These are the people who have been allowed to fall through the cracks in our Neoliberal economy. They should be in state facilities receiving medical care and counseling, not sleeping under the freeway. However, they’re not very sympathetic because they can be dangerous, delusional, and impossible to have a conversation with. They have no job skills, nor the ability to acquire any, so you have no illusions of being able to give them “a leg up”. Therefore, most of us just ignore them, to our shame.
3. Sane Homeless: these are the hardest to ignore. They face all the same challenges as the Pariah homeless, but are fundamentally sane, sober, normal people. They’re often very kindhearted, having nothing else to rely on but their human relationships. This makes you really feel bad for them. The upshot is that they have the potential to escape homelessness, and can do well when given assistance. When you help them, you feel you’re actually accomplishing something.
4. Hobo Homeless: these people choose homelessness of their own free will. Often they enjoy a vagabond lifestyle, or are simply too restless to hold down a job. You have less sympathy for these people, because they can be a drain on resources meant for the Pariah and Sane homeless. They’re often antisocial and criminally minded, so you can’t trust them at all. However, I don’t take issue with the hobo lifestyle in and of itself, and I accept that some people are simply not wired for this modern world.

I have never stayed at shelters to start with but I couldn’t right now if I wanted to, and believe as cold as it is I wish I could. My work hours and schedule make it so I have to choose between keeping my job or being warm at night.

There is my current camp. If you are lucky you have a car but it’s impossible to give you advice without knowing the area, I have been homeless for 7 years now and know plenty about how to stay alive out here. Hopefully I’ll get my motorcycle back from the shop sometime and then I can get into a place to live.

Just thought I’d add a edit because it seemed like some people might be interested. I had to move my camp because they were clearing the woods around me.

This is how I left the woods were I was staying, so you can see that not all homeless people leave places trashed. Were I’m at now is a place I had noticed awhile back and wasn’t very sure about it but I told my friend about it and he has been here for about a month. It’s really quite unusual or interesting. It’s gated and right off the main road but nobody has complained about us being here. The cops stopped once and asked who owns the land and we told them that we don’t know and asked if they did and they don’t. So we have a little gated homeless community, locked gate and all.

As you can see I got my vehicle back and that is his tent and area.

 And that is my tent and my view out like I said right on the main road. I have never seen anything like this in the years that I have been homeless but it’s convenient and we have picked up the trash that was here so hopefully it will last long enough for me to get into a place.

Woman adopts 20-year-old cat because she didn’t want him to spend the end of his life in a cage

September 22, 2021. Photo: Shelter staff :

Later, on reddit:

Remember that woman a few months ago who adopted a 20-year-old cat from a shelter because she didn't want him to alone ? Looks as though they are both doing fine.

The woman has not been identified. There have been no further updates, but this sweet kitty and all others like him should be loved and cherished until the last day of life.