When I lived in Milford, Massachusetts, I lived in a “crack house”.
Oh, it wasn’t my intention. But that is exactly what had happened.
There was this old Victorian mansion in Milford, right next to the police station. And, a man (an Iranian immigrant) bought the house and divided it up into six apartments. He renovated the place nicely, and I fell in love with the “huge “drawing room” apartment on the first floor.
Soon, others moved in. Most were like myself. Middle class.
Then his brother brought in a “section eight” family.
Now, a “section eight family” is a person living off the state. Takes welfare and government benefits, and is usually the lowest of the low.
And from the moment she moved in, it was non-stop under -16 drug, alcohol parties. All night. Loud with the thick vapors of crack smoke seeping into our apartment.
Oh, I talked to the owner; landlord, and he couldn’t do anything. It was against the law to deny housing to welfare recipients.
I talked to the police, they couldn’t do anything. All the 60+ kids were “protected” as they were juveniles in a private residence.
Well, there were raids on the property. Busts discovering drugs… mostly crack and all the rest. There were stabbings, and car damage, and all sorts of nonsense. It truly was a Hell. Ugh!
And it was Hell for me. As soon as my contract was up I left. Then I sued the owner. Long story, but we parted on good terms.
Do not ever let that happen to youse guys. Ever!
Nothing quite ruins your day as the thick sweet smell of crack wafting up from the basement.
Today…
What is the most shameless thing you have ever seen a teacher do?
I don’t know if I’d call this “shameless”, but it shows how a student (me) can so bother a teacher that he’ll make irrational decisions!
I was a lousy student. Either didn’t do homework or did a really sloppy job. My written work was really hard to read because I didn’t try to be neat.
Anyway, it drove my US History 1 teacher crazy, especially since I always tested very high in aptitude! Aptitude doesn’t triumph over laziness!
Anyway, while I was getting low grades in his class, I probably would barely pass for the year. We got to the mid term exam and he gave me an “F” on my report card (the exam was equal to a regular grading period so it was a big deal – 1/8th of the year’s average for each exam)
So my mother goes in to talk to him because, while my grades were usually bad, I generally did well on big exams. I guess I’d remember the major points that such tests cover, but wouldn’t remember the little things that normal tests include.
So my mother mentions that I usually do fairly well on the big exams and asked him about it. He pulls out my test and at the top it says I got a B minus!
My mother asked why the report card said the score was an F instead of B minus. And this is where it got weird.
He said, “He took the examine in the Old Cafeteria and it very easy to copy the work of other students”.
This was true. It had been converted into one big room with those one-armed desks jammed side by side, so even though we sat every other seat for exams, it was still easier to see a neighbors paper than in a regular classroom. But it wasn’t our fault we were assigned to that space!!!
My mother asked the obvious question: “Did you give every student who took a test there an F as well?”
It was at that point that he finally returned to his senses and changed my grade.
I actually liked him and he wasn’t trying to be a jerk or an idiot. I just drove him nuts! Since I later became a teacher myself, I also learned how students can push a teacher’s buttons!
Will the US allow itself to be overtaken by China?
The spirit is willing but the body is weak, my friend. Like the famous kung-fu move 吸精大法Sucking Spirit Move, every punch that US executes, the zest is sucked out of US to make China stronger. It’s not like China didn’t warn US not to engage in fruitless trade wars, but warnings have been ignored and the commoners were cheering her on, oblivious of the risks involved.
It is too late. Not only will China overtake US, she will do it in record time, estimated to be in 2026. Enjoy the inevitable.
Explain (I can’t believe we haven’t fixed this yet)
Why is the US doing such a bad job countering China’s rise?
Imagine you are the world’s fastest runner in the 100m sprint. You know your closest rival is training hard and will soon surpass you. What do you do?
You train even harder to stay ahead.
What you don’t do is try to hobble your rival by accusing him of cheating, denying him training opportunities, keeping him out of competition, and using underhand methods to ensure you keep on winning.
And that is what the US is trying to do to China. Instead of working harder to stay ahead, it has focused it on trying to slow China down.
The US cannot see that this approach will not work. It may have worked with other countries that threatened American superiority and dominance in the past but China is different.
In 1971 I read Dick Wilson’s book, A Quarter of Mankind. My classmates and I realised that once China got its act together, its rise was inevitable.
For a long time, I thought India would rise faster. It did not and will not for reasons that belong ion another answer.
Since Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, China has been on the up and up. And rather than rise to the challenge, the US has opted to try to stop China’s inevitable development and dominance. It may have even contributed to it with its rampant capitalist policies.
The US has not just done a bad job countering China’s rise, it has utterly failed. And it continues to flounder.
The new normal
Have you ever witnessed a “Don’t tell me how to raise my child” moment?
It was with a colleague in the US.
We had a guy at my office who was married to a Japanese woman. They had just had their first baby, and the wife was staying at home going forward.
First, our overbearing colleague started to ask why they didn’t just get a nanny. Why didn’t his wife want to work?
Our overbearing co-worker hired a nanny, and offloaded all the things that parents usually do to the nanny. She wasn’t wealthy, but it seemed like she would rather work full-time than spend time with her children.
But that wasn’t the main issue. The new parents had taken the drastic step of *gasp* co-sleeping with their newborn.
He was 1/2 asleep one day by the copy machine when the overbearing woman got after him again. “You guys need a nanny. You’re sleep-deprived.”
“Don’t remind me.” He was trying to brush it off, but she wouldn’t let it go.
“I mean, if you’re not going to get a nanny and your wife wants to stay home with the kid, why can’t she take care of her without waking you up?”
“We share a bed.”
This was met with a blank stare.
“You know, co-sleeping.” He had told me before that he was nervous about it, but had read some research on how it helps infants regulate their breathing.
“Oh, my gawd! Are you crazy? Didn’t you hear about the couple who did that and the Dad rolled over and killed the baby?”
Sometimes you don’t know that you’ve crossed a line until it’s too late.
“No, but I heard about the couple that got a nanny who BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THEIR KIDS!”
WARNING: Never mess with a sleep-deprived new father.
What is the most panic-inducing thing that can happen as a teenager?
I was 13 years old,
That time there were no smartphones in popularity. Nokia was the king of mobiles and keypad phones were in use. My dad used to have Nokia 7210.
Sometimes I used to play games in my dad’s mobile. One day, I was casually scrolling through his mobile. I didn’t know much about phones those days. I was curious to explore.
In curiosity I don’t know what I have clicked, Suddenly a text message has been received which shocked me-
“Dear customer, thanks for choosing our service. 198rs has been deducted from your balance.”
I was stunned. My body started shivering and it was like a heart attack for me. 10 years ago, 198 ruppees had more value as compared to now. I knew that I am fcuked up. I put the mobile and was surviving the attack.
After sometime, My dad came. He had to make a call. I was edging near death. He dialed number and got to hear this,
“Sorry your account doesn’t have enough balance to make call.”
My heartbeats almost stopped.
He : Gurmeet, come here!
I felt like Yamraj is calling me.
I went somehow because my legs weren’t supporting me to go near him.
He : What you did in mobile? Tell me!
Me : mmmm! I don’t know.
I started crying. He was angry.
He : Tell me, what the hell you did? Where’s balance?
…
After a minute,
He : Next time don’t dare to touch my mobile.
He said and went. I beat the death and got my life back. I was extremely scared and stressed, however he didn’t react much.
Que : What’s most panic inducing thing that can happen as teenager?
Ans : when first time parents suffer loss because of us. When first time we do something wrong and get caught. After this, they get used to losses so it doesn’t induce more panic next time.
LOL
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rG7D7MPUFIw?feature=share
What is something extremely unjust that happened to you at work that made you quit your job?
I was at a convention out of town. Just before dinner, I received a call from my mom saying my dad’s appointment had confirmed what we had expected-stage 4 lung cancer. Doctors said 1 month. Of course I was in tears and beside myself. I went to the dinner with tears rolling down my face. I was sitting quietly just remembering all the good things. My district manager came up and asked what was wrong. I told her. Her exact words were…..get over it. This was the same woman who just had 4 months off because her sister got sick. As soon as we got back I handed in my resignation. I just felt that comment was completely heartless and I lost all respect for her.
What is a split-second decision you made that changed your life?
We were in a restaurant with a group of my friends almost 20 years ago…
As we were waiting for our food, I saw the richest and probably most respected man in our town walk in. He was super well known and employed over 500 people at that time.
We started talking together about him and my friend said.
“You would never have the balls to go talk to him!”
I actually didn’t, and the whole idea of talking to someone on that level scared me to death. But, my friends kept telling me to go, and I just said, “Ok, ok, I’ll do it.”
He was sitting alone, waiting for his food, and I just walked up to him and told him how he has been an inspiration for all of us guys sitting at that table over there and how we respect his work.
He was super nice to me and told me to sit down with him. I asked for some advice from him, and that started our friendship. He became my mentor.
He gave me so much good advice and helped me to grow my company. It’s sad that he passed away 2 years ago; he was 59 when I met him. It’s crazy that he took me under his wing.
That was the best split-second decision I made.
Jail and Porn equivalents
Have you ever walked out of an interview?
Once. Just once.
The interviewer was a little … stiff. Spoke with a German accent. Nothing wrong with Germans – it was just my own bias at the time that I expected them to be over-formal. Sticklers.
He asked me a question, which I didn’t like much because it was kind of basic for somebody with lots of experience, about submitting a form from a web page.
So I sketched out the answer on a white board and he asked a question, and I answered, “Yes, in that case I would add an ‘A=5’ right here.”
That was the end of the question, but before we moved on, he said, “Oh – do you want to put that?”
I said “Put that?”
“Write it. On the board.”
“Um … is somebody else going to read this or something?”
“No – we’re done. It’s in order to … finish the exercise.”
“So you want me to write ‘A=5’, right here? What’s next?”
“Then we can just erase it and move on to the next one.”
“So you need me to write A=5. And then erase it. So that the exercise is completed.”
“Yes.”
“Yea. No offense, really, I can tell we just wouldn’t get along at all.”
(This was the guy I would be reporting to.) As I made my awkward exit, both he and his boss made valiant efforts to change my mind, but I just offered, “It’s a gut thing. Trust me. We’d clash.”
I could never shake the hunch that as I was driving off, the interviewer gave a heavy sigh, picked up a marker, wrote “A=5” on the board, and then erased the whole thing.
How did Huawei manage to achieve its fastest growth in four years despite US sanctions?
What the fuck is US sanction you can do what you like in the U.S. but we the rest of the world don’t gives a shit about you! Huawei is popular in 88% of the world. Your 12% can love Apple till your market drop it don’t mean shit. Get that!
Record Record Record
What is the rudest thing another shopper has told you while waiting in line?
This wasn’t said to me, but to my then 7-year-old daughter, who had, for the first 6 and a half years of her life, had people, especially grandmotherly women, gushing over her: “Oh, what a beautiful girl! Oh, how well-behaved! What lovely, silky blond hair! You’re so lucky to have her!” etc. While she wasn’t entirely comfortable with total strangers coming up to her to adore her, it was still nice of them, and who doesn’t like being complimented, right?
Then baby sister came along, and the compliments got shared; baby sister was also pretty, though much different in looks. Stiil good; she loved her baby sister and was quite proud of her.
One day, though, we were in line at the grocery store check-out, when this grandmotherly-looking old lady came up and started gushing about the baby (somewhere between 6 and 12 months old) and how beautiful her eyes were, and her hair, and how sweet she was, and started remarking to other people in the line about the beautiful baby, and asking saying things like “don’t you think so?” to which the others, wanting to be polite to this older woman, of course agreed.
What was so rude? She then turned to my also very beautiful and well-behaved 7-year-old daughter, and practically sang out, “Oh, aren’t you lucky to have such a beautiful sister! Your mother must be so proud of her!” after which she marched off to resume her shopping.
Though I’m reasonably sure it was meant with good intentions from a totally clueless person, that was definitely one of the rudest and cruelest things I’ve ever heard said to a child, at least by someone who had no idea how hurtful their words could be.
I know that ruder and intentionally meaner things are said to or about people every day, but what astounded me was that this woman could have said what she did with no thought as to how negatively her words might be heard and interpreted by a child.
Why has Anthony Fauci predicted 100,000 to 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the US with millions of cases? For perspective, total deaths in China stood at 3,186 today.
Because the cordon sanitaire is a joke stateside. You have to ringfence the virus to break transmission.
New York is now worse hit than Wuhan. Have state borders been sealed?
If someone tests positive but has mild symptoms do you send the person home?
What if he is a renter who shares the space with others and gets kicked out?
What if they are adults in nuclear families?
What if they are homeless?
Where are the quarantine facilities?
Further, who ensures compliance with quarantine orders for those that test positive?
Relying on goodwill and personal responsibility contributed to a handful of individuals becoming responsible for more than half of Korea’s cases. That is 5,000!
Where and how effective is contact tracing when America solves only 60 percent of murders each year? Every missed contact can mean thousands of cases down the road.
America is not putting whole of nation and whole of government effort into fighting this. They are fighting each other and have an eye on the stock market. How do you have the best days in a century when 3 million lose their jobs in one week?
Me me me will kill you and me.
Where is us us us?
My favorite Viet street cook
"All natural resources on which economic development, influence and might depend are instruments of political struggle. It is logical that they are used for political purposes, including geopolitical ones. We saw this in the 1980s, when the United States put colossal pressure on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which were the main oil producers, bringing about a collapse in oil prices to $10 or even lower per barrel in the hope of reducing the Soviet Union’s foreign exchange earnings and hence its capacity to continue to develop and ensure its security. At that time, we continued to compete with the United States and the West as a whole. They achieved their goal. The Soviet Union’s revenues plummeted, which was one of the causes, though not the main or only one, that led to its dissolution. They put pressure on the oil market, used speculation for the fall, drew the Soviet Union into an arms race, and promoted 'democratic reforms' when our country was not prepared for them. Taken together, this contributed to the fall of a great power. Since then, the Americans have been using oil and oil prices as a weapon. A relevant example is Iran, which had its oil exports banned and the channels of oil deliveries contrary to that illegal ban were blocked. Today, oil sanctions against Iran have been lifted. The latest example is Venezuela, which was the third largest oil supplier to the United States in 2019. In 2022, the Americans adopted an oil embargo against it, allegedly in the struggle against the 'regime' of Nicolas Maduro, as they put it. But later they faced the consequences of the OPEC and OPEC Plus efforts to stabilise the oil market based on the main economic factors and a balance of interests of producers, importers and transit countries. Today, the Americans are playing new political games against Venezuela, offering it an agreement to resume oil exports to the United States in exchange for political concessions. However, it is a fact that Washington is suffering the consequences of its own actions considering that a vast number of American oil refineries were equipped to process Venezuelan oil. It is a combination of purely economic factors and a desire to take advantage of economic ties, in this instance, use oil as a weapon. As for Russia, what is the oil price cap imposed on Russian oil by the Americans, which the West was pressured to adopt as well? It is flagrant interference in the workings and principles of the free market, which the Americans have been promoting for decades. They described the dollar not as an American currency but as a global element of interconnectivity between the global economy and finances. The structure collapsed when they decided to use these instruments to inflict what they described as 'geopolitical defeat' on Russia. It is obvious that nobody is happy about the use of these underhanded methods, although few people, especially in the West, dare to put their uneasiness into words. The pinnacle of using hydrocarbons as a weapon was the explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines, which directly targeted Germany. American analysts have admitted it, and many in Germany are openly saying this. It is evidence of the current German government’s impotence and inability not just to think independently but to even protect its vital interests on which the prosperity and well-being of German citizens depend. As a result of that subversive terrorist attack, businesses, faced with rising gas prices, are leaving Germany and other European countries, and relocating, for the most part, to the United States. They have started to talk about the de-industrialisation of Europe. A year ago, French Minister for the Economy and Finances Bruno Le Maire said in a public statement that businesses paid four times more for energy in Europe than in the United States. I believe the balance is approximately the same now. It is a fact that the United States has created much more favourable conditions for businesses, including by approving credit subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act. Business is moving to the United States. At the same time, immediately after blowing up the gas pipelines, Washington said that in the absence of Russian gas Europe needed to buy American LNG, even though it cost more and there was a lack of the necessary infrastructure, which was still to be built. Four years ago, when Angela Merkel was chancellor and life was easier, the Americans attempted to convince Germany that it had no need for Nord Stream or Russian gas in general, that it could buy American LNG instead. Angela Merkel argued that it would be more complicated and much more expensive. The Americans agreed that it would cost more and suggested covering the difference with higher taxes. After all, they said, you can tell your people that it is a good cause in the interests of peace and democracy throughout the world. There are more examples of this kind."
—Answer by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the question, “Do you agree that oil is an instrument of political manipulation? Can you provide more striking examples of this or arguments to the contrary?” during an interview for the documentary series ‘Oil’, Moscow, March 21, 2024.
What is the most heartbreaking conversation you’ve ever had?
It was March 2016. Nine months before I had been granted parole and I would be going home in November. My brother knew I was being released and was ecstatic.
So I was on the yard when I was called to the Captains Office. I get there and the room is full of white shirts and C/Os . They asked me to have a seat. I said I would prefer to stand. The Captain asked if everyone in the room would sit would I please sit. I reluctantly agreed. Some C/Os had to squat. My mind was racing. What had I done to cause so many officers to be in the room? They told me I to call my sister in law and pointed at the phone. I couldn’t reach her. They then told me my brother had passed. I did not believe it. They asked if I would prefer to go to the hole so I could be alone. I told them no. I felt numb . I could barely understand what was being said. A C/O offered to walk me to my housing unit again no.
I get back to my housing unit and call my sister in law. She was crying so hard I could barely understand her. But she confirmed my brother had passed away. I was devastated. My little brother who I went to prison for by killing his abuser was gone. He passed within mnths of me getting out
Could you cover a grenade that’s about to explode with a military issued helmet to protect yourself from flying shrapnel?
See this right here?
That on the table is, or rather was, a helmet.
It belonged to Corporal Jason Dunham
of the US Marine Corps. While his Marine squad was trying to subdue an enemy combatant, the insurgent dropped a grenade among them. Dunham jumped on the grenade to save his comrades, placing his combat helmet directly over the grenade to reduce the blast.
You can see how that worked out for the helmet.
Surprisingly, Dunham was not immediately killed by the blast, but he was severely wounded. His injuries sent him into a coma, and he died eight days later.
Dunham was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his sacrifice.
So judging by real world experience, the answer to this question is no. Of course, if you are presented with a grenade, you want to put as much distance and protection between you and it as possible. If that includes a helmet, it’s better than nothing. But you cannot expect that it will save you.
If you’ve got a better option, take it.
How can I stress Google and significantly increase their costs?
Physical attacks are cheaper, easier and possibly less risky than electronic attacks.
The US-101 exit for the Google Headquarters in Mountain View is notoriously busy. It can take 15 minutes of sitting in traffic, and causes a great deal of stress to Googlers.
If your car ‘broke down’ in that junction thousands of people would be delayed in getting to work. Let’s say that the fully burdened cost of an engineer is $100 /hr, you might delay 2000 people getting to work by half an hour, costing Google $100k. (Some people might give up and turn around).
In addition, one of the reasons that people leave Google to work elsewhere is the traffic. A few engineers might quit. Hiring new engineers is expensive (I think Bob See has given the cost somewhere on this site, and it’s in the thousands of dollars), plus it takes time to ramp up at Google – you are not productive for at least a couple of months, and possibly up to six months. Let’s call that $100 * 8 hours * 60 days, that’s another 50k.
So, for the cost of the cheapest car you can find, that will actually start, and a couple of hours of your time, you have cost Google $150k. (You might need to add the price of travel and the time to get to Mountain View).
You could pull this stunt as often as you can get away with it, each time costing $150k.
That’s much easier than a botnet attack, or 10s of thousands of Gmail accounts.
Another advantage of this method is that you haven’t committed a very serious crime – the FBI aren’t going to come after you for hacking. You can probably get away with it at least once by being told to be more careful.
American Society of Magical Negroes is AWFUL – People Are SICK of Woke Hollywood
WTF? It’s an actual movie? Whoa!
What’s something your gender does that the opposite gender never even thinks about?
A lot of men try very hard to not seem like creeps or pervs, whereas I’ve never heard of any woman making any similar effort.
For example, I am currently at the beach. Literally, I am sitting in a chair in the sand about 15 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. There are about 40 other people within eyesight on this beach, including a group of teen girls to the right of me who’ve been taking bikini selfies for about two hours. They’re hard to ignore, because they’re doing weird poses and giggling a lot.
To the left, there are more women in bikinis. They’re sunbathing.
So I’m making a point to keep my eyes on my laptop, the book I’m reading, or the ocean in front of me. I hesitate to look left or right, lest I get accused of being a creep.
But, there are also a lot of scantily-clad men out here too. The women around me seem to have no problem staring at these guys. Older women, younger women, it doesn’t matter. When a shirtless guy jogs by (it happens a lot… there’s a Marine base near here), some of these women are downright shameless in their gawking.
Imagine if a guy did that to a woman running by, especially if that woman was a generation younger than them. They’d be driven off the beach by an angry mob, accusing them of being a pervert.
Yesterday, I was sitting on the deck overlooking the ocean, using my binoculars to scan the horizon. I was looking for dolphins or boats or whatever I could see. But, as soon as a family with teenage girls showed up on the beach, I put the binoculars down. Seeing a dolphin isn’t worth the risk of being thought of as a possible creep.
Jia Qingguo (贾庆国)
What follows is a relatively wide-ranging interview with Jia Qingguo (贾庆国) discussing the prospects of cross-Strait relations, a potential Trump presidency and US-China ties more broadly. Jia has been a long-time foreign policy adviser in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and is the former Dean of Peking University’s School of International Studies. He has recently been outspokenly critical of the restrictions on Chinese scholars’ engagement with foreign counterparts. Among the highlights of this piece – his advocacy of “patience” in the Taiwan context so long as the incoming leadership does not pursue independence; his preference to see Biden re-elected rather than Trump (views among China’s establishment intellectuals continue to be divided); and his belief that there is still scope for alignment of US and Chinese interests on regional conflicts in Ukraine and the DPRK.
- Taiwan’s president-elect Lai Ching-te has his hands tied politically. The impact of his election on cross-Strait relations should be limited. China will continue to promote peaceful (re)unification “for some time to come”.
- Trump is “reckless”, has “outdated views” and lacks “basic moral principles”. He has shown that he is not the pragmatic businessman that many in China had hoped for back in 2016.
- His re-election would be particularly detrimental to China and could lead to “severe friction and confrontation” between Washington and Beijing. The prospect of his walking away from the US’s One-China Policy is real.
- A second Biden presidency would not prevent further tensions between the US and China, but it could help preserve the current trend of stabilizing and improving ties.
- Beijing should always keep its long-term interests in mind and avoid overreacting to provocations coming from the United States. Confrontation and tit-for-tat responses make little sense at a time when China is still more vulnerable than the US.
- There are still many areas in which the US and China can (and must) cooperate. For instance, defusing tensions on the Korean peninsula will only succeed if Beijing and Washington are prepared to join hands.
B̲o̲ston – B̲o̲ston (Full Album) 1976
Let’s hop into the GTO, crank it up loud, and roll up one.
I went to Walmart
“I went into Wal-Mart to grab three things. Fruit Loops, eggs & waffles. Healthy, I know. This woman was asking people for something and my goal was to bypass, get my things and go. She asked me to stop. I figured she was just asking for money and I already decided that I was going to politely let her know that I didn’t have any cash on me. I never carry cash. I listened to her. She had groceries in her cart and asked for help to buy food for her family. She proceeded to tell me that she turned her daughter in for dope, her 2-month-old grand baby was born addicted to crack and she has 6 grandchildren to take care of. I really felt for her. She was sobbing. See, I know stories like this to be FACT from working in an inner-city school and my husband working in a hospital. Babies are unfortunately born addicted all the time & responsibility of raising grandbabies does fall on the grandparents. She asked me if I would help her buy groceries.
I looked at what I had in my hands compared to what she had. She had shopped smart and had healthy food: bananas, bell peppers, meat, pancakes, etc. Practical things you would make meals with and feed children. I told her yes, go get diapers for the baby and meet me at the front. She sobbed, praised God and said hallelujah to the cashiers,etc. Yesterday, I turned 30, had my healthy family by my side, ate tons of crawfish and blew $20 at the casino for the heck of it. Well, I checked my humanity today. This woman has food to put on her table and even if she wasn’t telling the truth, I don’t even care in the least. She’s human, I’m human and today she helped me realize a few things and I hope that I helped her. She won’t have to worry for at least a little while about food. I didn’t expect this today but apparently I was called to it and was right where I needed to be.
The forgotten dresser
Cheese Steak Pizza
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion, cut crosswise into thin slices, separated into rings
- 1 small green or red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 (16 ounce, 12 inch diameter) package thick prebaked pizza crust
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Brown ground beef in large nonstick skillet over medium heat 6 minutes.
- Add onion and bell pepper; continue cooking until beef is not pink and vegetables are crisp-tender, breaking beef up into small crumbles.
- Pour off drippings; season with salt and pepper.
- Place pizza crust on ungreased large baking sheet. Spoon beef mixture evenly on pizza crust; sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Cut into 8 wedges.
What are some examples of grim legacies?
Saddam’s bunker was designed to withstand a nuclear bomb.
It was built directly under his palace.
(source: Outlook Magazine)
Much like traditional concrete design, steel rods were run first, then concrete poured over them.
Only—the steel was thicker, and so was the concrete.
It was so powerful that if a Hiroshima bomb went off 250m away—the bunker would be fine.
And through both Iraq wars, the bunker stood strong and withheld all the onslaughts of US forces. In today’s dollars, it cost well over $100 million to build.
But—to the question:
It was built by a Munich, Germany born designer, Karl Esser. He comes from a long line of architects who have also designed military grade bunkers. He expresses no guilt in designing the bunker, stating that it wasn’t a weapon, merely the equivalent of a bomb shelter.
He actually met with Saddam Hussein several times and stated that if you met him (in the 1980’s), he looks like a tax collector, there is nothing special about him. But when he starts speaking—you realize that he is far more than a tax collector, and you are reminded of that by how tense everyone around him is. (Source: Saddam’s bunker can withstand nuke attack, says its designer. Bhaita, Saida)
Again—to the question:
Karl was chosen specifically by Hussein because of his experience. His grandmother designed Hitler’s bunker. The family trade had been passed down to him.
To usher in Communism?
Really? These folk don’t have a clue as to what they are talking about.
Have you ever met a celebrity who asked you, “Do you know who I am?” and you said no?
Yes, as a matter of fact, Shaquille O’Neal. Now to be honest, he wasn’t as famous at the time as he has become since, but he was well known locally. I was a homicide detective in Baton Rouge, Louisiana one Friday or Saturday night was driving on one of the public thoroughfares to go through LSU campus, when a small truck ran a stop sign in front of me on Highland Road, almost causing an accident. Even though I was I was in an unmarked car, I decided to pull it over to advise the driver to be more careful. Upon stopping the vehicle, the driver of the truck exited, and it took him a while to unfold himself out of it. He towered over me, but smiling, advised apologetically that he didn’t have his drivers He advised he did not have license on him, saying friendly enough, “but you know who I am” More statement than a question.
I decided to play ‘dumb’. “No, who are you?” I asked with a straight face. I was pretty sure it was Shaquille O’Neal, but I wanted him to tell me who he was. I honestly did not do not follow basketball, but everyone was talking about him (he was the star LSU basketball player at the time). I almost felt sorry for him As he looked a little Bit crestfallen that I apparently did not know who he was. He wasn’t asking for special favors or making demands, he innocently thought he was well known in town BY ALL due his Athletic prowess and notoriety. I smiled at him, and I said something to the effect that, ‘ I know who you are, but need your DOB and some proof. He found his insurance or registration with his name on it and I explained why I stopped him and told him to please be more careful. He was friendly and respectful during the entire encounter. I am very proud that he now works as a reserve law enforcement officer. He is much more than some guy who can play a game, he is obviously a still a class act.
Victoria Nuland: The making of a psychopath. Chapter 1,2 and 3.
Have you ever stood up to a bully? What happened?
Starting in the second grade, when my father lifted the absolute prohibition on fighting. He got tired of picking me up from the school nurse, or the hospital. Also tired of the wear and tear on my clothing.
The very next day, one of my usual tormentors hit me in the back of the head. The teacher just watched, as usual. So I picked up my desk and beat him unconscious. Took three blows.
I was sent to the office, of course. The principal said I was to be expelled. My father asked if the other boys who hit me had also been expelled. “well, no. They didn’t use a desk.”
“So, it’s okay for them to beat MY son bloody, as long as they don’t use the furniture? Is that it? Did you at least discipline the teacher who allowed this to go on?”
“Well, no. Boys will be boys…”
“Well, my boy is a boy, too. You have demonstrated that you will do nothing to prevent him from being beaten; so where’s the problem if he fights back?
Tell you what. I’m going to send the hospital bills and the bills for damaged clothes to my lawyer, and the school board. we’ll let them sort it out.”
And that was the last said of expelling me.
OMG funny
What would happen if the US decoupled from China?
The life in the US would become like this.
How can an employee get a manager fired?
In my experience its easier if you don’t try. Couple of years ago a manager denied me several requests for Training, told me i was a waist of time. Few years latter my ceo inquired as to why i never made use of the company training system. So i told him. I told him about being denied and the waist of time comment, and how i did not even look at training anymore because of it.
That manager was demoted that Christmas, quit instead, then sent his layer to take a chunk out of my 401. The company successfully convinced him not to. But later they restricted my max contribution to the retirement account because of the incident.
And it all happened because i applied for training on how to handle an upset customer.
Second time was during an ataboy reward. Essentially i had a panic attack when that same ceo came to congratulate me. He was fired because, by procedure, when an employee freaks out the manager is supposed to walk away. Instead this ceo stayed around and calmed me down. The project manager 5feet away wrote the ceo up, and by the end of the week that ceo was gone. Only thing needed to make it all happen was a traumatic event in college to give me ptsd. “May God welcome you to his heavenly splendor Jerry. You will be missed and thank you.”
To get a manager fired do the following. Call a lawyer, get the lawyer to file a freedom of information. Aquire the company’s secret employment laws document. This will be the stack of papers that say among other things
1. A thong is ok for women to ware but brief’s are not ok for men to use.
2. An employee may be terminated for possession of pornography when: they are found to poses/refuse to submit to search and with a witness, or have a prior termination for and no witness. Or a manager successfully implants the audio album “innocent victim” on the employees phone.
3. Work place competition is permitted under these criteria. Or exceeds the bounds of acceptance under these criteria…
4. The employee was found holding a blade, even if found working with food in the kitchen.
5. Employees are permitted to use incontinence products but are subject to termination if they discard used products in the bathroom garbage bin. And by extension are not allowed to have extra diapers on company grounds.
Be warned if you do obtain these secret documents, most fortune 500 companys will respond by amending a new criteria. Usually the new criteria is specialized to target YOU and some thing YOU do. In this way even after you learn how to CAN anyone, you will not be bulletproof. HR is not stupid, they will fit you with a remote explosive collar.
But coming back to the original question, use what you learn then file a report on your manager for anything he is doing that violates those secret rules.
The underwear criteria was really surprising to me, then i got investigated for it one day.
Please let us know if you actually get someone canned for their underwear.
Final comments. The right reason to terminate a manager is when there replacement is both better than the current person, and when its better for the company. Any situation where you are involved in a non consensual passing of the torch will result in repercussions. If your manager is doing something you don’t like, ask them how you are supposed to respond. You will be surprised.
U.S IN TROUBLE! China Finally DESTROY U.S Companies
What are some dark sides about law enforcement you have seen?
A man was stabbed, killed and thrown in a desolate pit.
The mother blamed victim’s brothers in law for this. Police arrested both of them but later cleared them off. No lead, no progress at all. Senior officers and Judge were not happy.
Four months passed.
Then a young and handsome officer got transferred in our police station. A few ongoing cases were given to him to investigate and complete, this blind murder incident was exclusively included as well.
I remember… It was his first day at work, he chose to handle this blind murder case first. I knew him personally because his elder brother is my friend, a constable as well. So this officer preferred using my room until he gets a suitable place to set up his desk and everything.
So… yea. First day at work. He summoned those two suspects (in laws) as he wished to question them. Those two individuals arrived in my office. There were four people in my room. Me, detective and those two.
He began throwing question at them and investigated. Questions after questions… and a bit of persuasion.
They confessed the murder in half an hour. I kid you not. They confessed the murder, showed the place where they hid the knives and explained the motive.
This young detective solved a murder case in 30 minutes on his first day.
Senior officers couldn’t praise him more. That previous detective was blown upon hearing this news. He was ordered to report to head quarters. A seasoned one. I am sure he was asked…
How the hell couldn’t you resolve this piece of cake investigation in four months. Did you intentionally spare the murderers.
I remember the sweat on his forehead when he returned. He was worried as this may lead to dismissal from service and then some, if proved that he favored the murderers in his reports.
And if that’s truth “he sold a murder” which is awful and atrocious.
Anyway…. it’s not my place to put verdict.
I don’t know if he did it or not.
What is rare is not common
Is China’s rise America’s fall?
I have written extensively on this subject, focusing for a moment on what is China doing and what is the US doing which are in opposite directions. If you go the wrong direction for long enough then you are in real trouble, which America is in right now.
CHINA’S RISE
Forget about all the state capitalism vs corporate capitalism, yes this is an underlying difference but results are results. Either you are in the game or you are not and the USA is not in the game, China is.
It is all about one thing, investment. You do not invest you get nothing. Here is Pudong in 1982 when I first arrived in China. NOTHING NADA ZERO development.
Then there is Pudong today, same photo but completely developed.
AMERICA’S FALL
Here is Detroit where I grew up in 1950:
Ostensibly the ‘richest’ city in the world the year I was born, 1950.
Here is Detroit a few years ago:
I chose a nice image, just the after effects of destruction.
It is all about investment. The USA does not invest in anything other than military. Nothing, nada. The Trump administration even litigated against universities who were trying to enroll more blacks and minorities in favor of Chinese and whites, but really Chinese as they were the highest test scorers so they get in and nothing for black, latinos or other US citizens. Incarceration rates and numbers at 2.3 million, drugs, lack of opportunity, do you get it? America is still going in the wrong direction and now we have the QAnon types running the Republican party so you can forget about them to help. Up to the Democrats who are ok but they are no world beaters when it comes to investment as they are govt types and don’t get the private sector.
And Trump? Mr Glitz was the exact opposite of investment, but if you do not invest you die and he invested nothing.
The USA will die and be hollowed out and China will dominate the world completely if the USA and Europe and even Australia, but especially the USA, does not clean up its act and invest.
Invest in their education, in vocational training, in tax incentives to invest to get companies back to Detroit and everywhere else.
I could go on, but this nonsense about China’s gain is the US loss is only because the USA put all of their money and effort and investment INTO CHINA AND NOT INTO THE USA FOR THE PAST 35 YEARS!
As Everett Dirksen, a great US Senator once said when asked about the budget, ‘a billion here a billion there, and before you know it, you are talking about real money’. How about a trillion here a trillion there and before you know it, you are broke like the USA is about to be!
I could easily make a case that every US company was headed up by traitors, strong word I get it, but I want to make a point. If all you want to do is make profits in the next quarter, you and your country and your family and your future WILL LOSE.
China is also investing internally not just FDI any longer.
Good on them, now can the rest of the world get off their bums and stop thinking that selling each other cups of coffee and beers is good enough? And that all of the fake hedge funds and other financial ‘products’ are garbage and are not benefiting Americans rather a small elite that now does their business in China as they make more money there.
Hope that puts a different focus on this debate and gets people to back off on China and to focus instead on their own countries and their own people and solve their own problems.
There is plenty of time to discuss this all with China but clean up your acts first.
What are a few bitter truths of life?
In my office, there is a 26 year old married guy. He is an attendant and not earning much for leading a decent life in a metro city. Although, I am much above in post than him, I treat him as my friend.
So, his wife was about to give birth in a day or two yet he was not taking leave from the office. He told me that it is very close and could be today or tomorrow.
Then on the next day at 4 PM, he rushed towards me saying that wife is in labor and was taken to the hospital. I got furious and told him why he didn’t take leave that day. I quickly calmed down realizing his situation and offered to drop him. But to amazment, he refused.
I was speechless. He said he has some urgent work and only after finishing that he will go.
Next day he called me and said that he was blessed with a baby boy but he also said by the time he reached his wife had already given birth.
I demanded he explain this nonsense.
In a soft voice he explained that he needed to finish his duty till 5.30 pm otherwise his one day pay would be deducted.
Bitter truths:
- Money really is the most important thing because the lack of it is so painful.
- Our parents sacrifice so much but still sometimes we end up ignoring them.
- One cannot truly relate to the pain of others unless he is put in same position.
- Without education, a person is really on a path of lifelong struggle.
The Sopranos – Dick Barone – the king of garbage and Tony Soprano’s boss!
What is the most satisfying passive-aggressive thing you have ever done to a really mean or rude person?
I was working the AT YOUR SERVICE counter at Macy’s during the holiday rush when a woman with husband in tow stepped in front of the customer I was waiting on, a quiet and endlessly patient young man, and demanded that I call her a manager and, almost as an afterthought, added that the person I summoned had better be white.
She said this loud enough for everyone in the cordoned line behind her to hear.
The young man I’d been waiting on was black, as was practically everyone else in line.
I leaned towards her and hissed —
You realize you’ve just given me license to tell you exactly what I think of you without the risk of getting fired…
But I’m not gonna do that.
What I AM going to do is tell you to go to the end of the line and wait for me to finish with all these other good people…and then I’ll call you a manager.
His name will be Akeem.
And he’s just gonna LOVE talkin’ to YOU.
She didn’t make it to the end of the line. Her long suffering husband literally dragged her out of the store.
And Akeem wasn’t actually my supervisor. He was responsible for the ground floor and I was mall level.
I lied about that part.
But he did enjoy the story when I told it to him later on.
Mother Goes Off On Woke School Board Over Graphic Books in Her Child’s Elementary School
What are some things that make you think “what a strange world we live in”?
There are many places that make this a very strange world. The Nazca Lines, crop circles, Easter Island, Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, and so on. I thought I had read about them all, but this one was new to me.
The Band of Holes
In Pisco, Peru, stretching across the Cajamarquilla Plain are thousands of ancient holes that measure 6 feet (1.8 m) to 7 feet (2.1.m) deep and evenly spaced 3 feet (.9 m) apart. No one has any idea how these holes were formed. There are at least 5000 to 6000 depressions that run north and south for almost 2 miles. (3.2 k)
Who would dig all these holes? Why? How were they created? I’m imagining some poor sunburned guy with a spade saying, “Okay, 600 more to go then I’m stopping.”
It actually looks like some giant machine was travelling along this path. Was it a mining operation? What were these holes for?
Initially discovered by pilot Robert Shippee who took an aerial photo of them and published them in National Geographic, they are indeed strange. They date to around the 15th. century, they believe.
Truthfully, although there are many guesses, no one really knows who or what dug these holes and why.
Peru is a very strange place that’s for sure. Just read about Saqsaywaman, 12 Angled Stone, and Machu Picchu. Who built these places and how? Modern man would have a hell of a time reconstructing them. They might not be able to. I think we have forgotten the ways to do these stupendous feats. The ancients apparently knew them. We are now just learning, or relearning about moving rock through sound and wavelengths.
More experiments with text to picture
Here’s some examples from others that I thought were well done…
What if the USA attacked China?
I find it remarkable that so many people think that the USA would overwhelm China in a war, the country that wrote the book on military strategy and how to defeat larger, more powerful opponents.
The US could not even win in Korea or Vietnam, what makes you think they would prevail against the much larger and powerful China?
First of all, the US would likely only defeat China in a conventional war assuming that China fought back using similar conventional means. Unlikely.
You have certainly seen all the news reports about Chinese hacking by their military? These sorts of things are warnings. They are warnings to the US that if you come after us we know where your vulnerabilities are. And so do the Russians. And any attack on the Chinese would also likely bring about a quick military alliance with the Russians as well.
A ground war against China (not to mention ANY war against China) would be the height of idiocy. China has 6X the number of people, compared to the US, who could be called into military service fairly quickly. And China is a HUGE country with lots of very difficult terrain to cover.
And given all the bullying and warfare that the US has engaged in since this new century began, do you really think that the Chinese, and Russian military, have not been actively preparing for the potential of such a scenario?
The US military can overwhelm most countries because they are much smaller and weaker. But taking on someone even close to our own size would expose weaknesses and vulnerabilities, both in the military and the US government, that neither wants the American people to know about or experience.
If the US wants to get itself into the biggest military quagmire in history, and destroy its economy, then yeah go ahead and try and go to war with China.
Guy Mocks Leftists Worldview With Funniest Testimony You’ll Hear Today
Can the U.S defeat China in a day? It seems that is the worldwide consensus. If such is the case, then shouldn’t China thread lightly when it comes to the U.S? I’m starting to really think China doesn’t stand a chance against the U.S and her allies.
It took the USA four presidents, 2 trillion dollars and 20 years of war in Afghanistan to replace the Taliban with the Taliban.
And you think that the US can defeat China in a day. Do you mean, like, in a basketball game or something? Hahahaaa …
What are some reasons you have left a restaurant before ordering?
I went into a truck-stop restaurant one night (though not the only time this happened) and was seated by the hostess, who cheerfully brought me the coffee and water she offered. And that was the last time ANYONE came to my table.
I watched other drivers/customers, all male, come in, get served, and finish and leave, and I couldn’t get anyone’s attention even by standing up and waving, or calling out to them as they passed by my table.
Note: I was alone, female, 50ish, and dressed decently (not provocatively) and clean. And hungry.
I finally gave up, and went to the cashier to pay for my coffee, and asked to speak to the manager. (It was the hostess who was acting as cashier). She asked, with concern, if there was a problem, and if there’d been anything wrong with the food. I said I wouldn’t know, since I never had the opportunity to order any. She got the manager, who said he was so sorry for the “misunderstanding”, and he’d be happy to take my order right then. I declined, saying that I had run out of time, and that I’d have to make do with a can of tuna or something I had in my truck for emergencies, but that it might be a good idea to speak to his waitstaff about the concept of customer service. And I added that I wouldn’t be stopping again there to eat anytime soon, as I didn’t have time in my life for that kind of treatment. I didn’t shout, or raise my voice, but I did want to make my displeasure known and understood.
On my way out, I left a tip with the hostess, who’d been cheerful and professional in her dealing with me, and told her that that tip was for her alone, and not to be shared, or “tipped out” with any servers. She already knew why, and thanked me.
Oh, and the coffee was comped.
What was your most horrible wedding experience as a guest?
Ha, not horrible just really rather bizarre! My husbands cousin was getting married. He turned out to be a horrible person but thats another story. At the wedding we are sat at the cousins table along with a mutual cousin who is/was a well known pop star. He was absolutely lovely, I was sat next to him and obviously the pop star has been left at home for the day. During the speech the brides father announced he was here and made him get up for a round of applause. Honestly he looked like he wanted to die on the spot. The brides father then spent the next 10 minutes talking about the pop star cousin and forgetting the bride and groom.
On another note 2 aunties had basically taken over the ladies loo where they could have a full blown row. You went in and they were just stood there, daggers drawn in silence. As you left you could hear them start again.
Overall it was a wedding to remember for all the wrong reasons and the bride and groom lasted about 10 years.
Niger DESTROYS Victoria Nuland’s Plot to Return Africa to France w/ Ben Norton
What office rule made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?
One place I worked still expected everyone to wear formal business attire even if they never met any clients. Amazingly, they issued an email that announced a trial run of “dress down Friday”. No guidance was given it was just dress down. This experiment was to run for a month.
After the second Friday we received another email cancelling all future dress down Fridays as some people had taken things too far. After a bit of discussion about what could have caused such a reaction, it is eventually revealed that some people wore jeans! Not scruffy jeans, jeans with holes in, slung too low, cut offs, just jeans.
Are people in China encouraged not to purchase American goods?
Many of my colleagues have moved away from iPhones. But it has nearly nothing to do with the brand beating a US brand.
An iPhone used to be a prestige item. A status symbol. But over the last 2 years so many people in China own one that it is no longer a status symbol. Factory workers, office workers etc. So what is so special about an iPhone that makes someone want to spend twice as much for it. They can buy another brand of phone that does what an iPhone does, make a phone call? Yup Take selfies? Yup. Use We Chat? Yup. Surf the net? Yup.
So that is the problem is Apple was too successful selling so many phones in China that there is no prestige that is worth paying an extra $500 for it.
And keep in mind that when someone in China is buying a phone they are paying for it all up front. So it is an extra $500 out of pocket. It is not like in the US where you pay for the phone monthly as part of your phone plan. So it is a painless extra $10 a month to buy an iPhone. So a Chinese person really thinks about the value they are getting when they hand over their money.
Of course now the little extra push to go with a Chinese brand is the trade war. But as far as I can see no one is telling them or asking them to not buy American.
Personally I think if the government ever did ask that US companies would sell very very very little here. Be thankful the Chinese government is showing restraint.
Is the quote “You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” attributed to General Isoroku Yamamoto based on a true story?
Admiral Yamamoto, not General. No, it is almost certainly bogus as there is no known citation for this supposed quote. The words have sometimes been attributed to the Gordon Prange, a historian on the staff of Douglas MacArthur, but it is found nowhere in his writings either. The quote should be regarded as bogus until someone can cite when and where it originated.
Nor did Admiral Yamamoto ever say:
I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.
That quote appears to be derived from the 1970 film Tora! Tora!, Tora! (great film). What he did say was:
A military man can scarcely pride himself on having smitten a sleeping enemy.
This is a reference regarding his disappointment over the bungled Japanese declaration of war which wasn’t delivered until a few hours after the attack on Pearl Harbour.
Cast-Iron Skillet Pizza
I would name this “Caprese Pizza.” It’s heavenly!
Prep: 10 min | Cook: 20 min | Yield: 2 (9 to 10 inch) pizzas
Ingredients
- 1 pound store-bought pizza dough (room temperature)
- 1 ripe tomato, thinly sliced
- 1/4 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, diced
- Coarse sea salt
- 2 tablespoons Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 cup shredded fresh basil
Instructions
- Heat well-oiled cast-iron or nonstick 10 or 12 inch frying pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Divide dough in half; roll one half into round 1 inch smaller than diameter of pan.
- Cook dough in hot pan until dough begins to rise and bottom starts to brown. Using metal spatula, turn carefully. Layer half the tomato slices over dough; scatter half the mozzarella over top. Lower heat to medium-low; cook until mozzarella melts.
- Using metal spatula, transfer pizza to cutting board. Sprinkle with salt; drizzle with half the olive oil.
- Cut into wedges; sprinkle half the basil over top.
- Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Why did my top performing employee quit after write up?
Imagine it from the top performer’s point of view.
They might be getting offers from other companies they don’t discuss with you.
If they’re performing better than everyone else and don’t perceive themselves as having erred (at least not enough for a write up) they’re left searching for reasons you may have written them up. It’s inevitable that they will arrive at political or financial motives.
Typically having a write up interferes with career advancement, raises, and bonuses.
Perhaps they thought you were trying to put them back on their heels to make them more controllable. Top performers don’t need to be controlled. Maybe the very act of writing them up was a final straw in proving the incompetence of your leadership to them.
If their work created opportunities or revenues perhaps they saw a write up as a way of denying or usurping those. Top salespeople get this all the time. It’s a typical ruse for an unscrupulous leadership team to mess with a salesperson’s compensation or territory when they confront how much money they may pay in commissions to one person. When they think they can close the book of business themselves these asshats will do things to marginalize or force out the salesperson to capture more revenue and take credit for the sale “in spite of” the salesperson’s supposed shortcomings.
If the company is already having some problems this kind of thing is a death knell. It’s like the drunk, losing poker player trying to scare a guy with a stack of chips into folding by going all-in with an obvious bluff. The experienced people see that and think, “Well, that’s the end of that.”
This type of thing is doubly bad because it simultaneously signals bad faith and incompetence. It inspires disgust and righteous anger in people who work diligently and honestly.
In general, the more honest and competent a person is, the more attuned they are to the dishonesty and incompetence of others. Since they are typically getting things done at a faster pace they end up encountering things that interfere with getting things done more often. They encounter and avoid the temptation to take dishonest shortcuts and are pressured to do so by their managers more often.
This whole time other companies are sending messages about the greener grass across the street.
Does any of this feel like it applies to you?
The Delta Hot Index: Compare your Mate Value at a Glance
What new policy did a new boss try to implement that made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?
Many years ago I worked at a Clinical Trials company. In the space of 18 months, two of the female staff had needed extended sick leave. I don’t know the exact nature of the illness these women had. I worked more closely with one of the women so, I know that she had a miscarriage and possibly depression afterward. I believe the other women had some long-standing health problems that resulted in a hysterectomy.
One of the Managing Directors sent a fairly rambling memo about the inconvenience, to the company, of key staff being absent for long periods. He was proposing to take a gynaecological history of female staff in order to assess their ‘availabilty’ for certain roles in the company. Apparently, women’s plumbing is a bit different and inconveniently complex …. (In fairness, I should point out that he was a consultant gynaecologist).
As a Staff Representative, I was asked to forward a unanimous response on behalf of the female staff. The response was just two words and you know which two words.
He received his reply within an hour of sending his memo and the subject was never mentioned again.
S̲te̲e̲ly D̲a̲n – 1977 Greatest Hits – A̲̲ja̲ (Full Album)
OMG. This takes me back. We used to jam to this non-stop. First time I have listened to the full album in about fifty years. No shit!
Are Taiwanese oligarchs worried about chip breakthrough in mainland China that will affect their margin?
Not really
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Dragon Chipset costs around $ 450 and of that Qualcomm pockets $ 225 as Chip Designer while TSMC gets around $ 175 for Fabrication and the Packaging and Testing costs $ 50
A Huawei Kirin 9000s costs around $ 370 today of which Huawei pockets $ 100 as Chip Designer, the Foundry SMIC gets around $ 300 , the Packaging and Testing costs $ 20 and the Chinese Government subsidizes $ 50 a Chip
So as you can see TSMC pockets $ 175 for each Chip and has a margin of close to 40% as profit
SMIC pockets $ 300 for each Chip and has a margin of 7% as profit
Thus TSMC is paying almost $ 105 for manufacturing a 7 nm Chip while SMIC is paying a whopping $ 279 for manufacturing a 7 nm Chip with a 96% Yield
So TSMC is in a very advantageous position in terms of Chip manufacturing
It costs SMIC almost three times more to manufacture a 7 nm chip than TSMC at 96% Yield
The key is HUAWEI
You notice Huawei pockets only 24% of the Cost of the Chip whereas Apple and Qualcomm and Intel they pocket 50% of the Cost of the Chip
Likewise the Testing and Packaging and Finishing in China is 40% of what they charge in Taiwan
So the final Chipset is almost $ 50 Cheaper on the Mainland
So if you look at TSMC vs SMIC
SMIC is manufacturing a chip which is 96% in Yield of the same manufactured by TSMC at 3 times the cost and 20% of the Profit earned by TSMC (Not including the Subsidy)
If you look at the Kirin 9000s vs Snapdragon 888
The Kirin costs $ 50 Less than the Snapdragon and at virtually almost same quality
This translates to at least $ 117 on the final retail price of any phone using the Chipset
That’s 700 RMB cheaper at the lowest
Thats where China dominates
Ultimately the Brand mode of profiteering is why the West can never ultimately win against China in a fully competitive market
What was the most boneheaded mistake you saw someone make while in the military?
This was more than boneheaded!!!!!!!!!! This photo is of me as a MP about to go out on a jeep patrol in Danang Vietnam in 1970.
When we changed the watch, the watch before us gave us their 45 caliber pistol. They were supposed to remove the magazine, jack the weapon back and then shoot down at some sand or earth area to make sure no round was in it. The guy I had on one watch switch, took his weapon out did not take the magazine out, jacked it back (which loaded the chamber) and then shot it down about 2 inches from my toes. We were both on a concrete walkway going into our police office. What saved my life most likely was a rubber mat about 15 feet long on the sidewalk. The round went through the rubber mat and when it ricocheted on the concrete, the bullet slid about 12 feet under the mat between my legs behind me instead of going up into me. What followed was a huge flurry of of expletives to him from myself and the men around me. I could have died from friendly fire!
What will happen if America invades China?
This shall not happen.
Last time when the States invaded North Korea, 54246 American soldiers lost their lives, and we lost more. I believe that a wise POTUS would never decide to invade China by risking half of the army in far east.
If this shall happen, er…
Per the requirements of Chinese laws, I shall be recruited, and given a rank around caption.
I may be assigned to work in a camp, interrogating captured US soldiers (see I can speak English quite well, and I am somewhat familar with psychology, politics, history and western culture).
I am also a chemist graduating from a top university. I can also serve as a chemistry engineer in factories, producing gunpowder, medicine, and other necessary materials for the war.
If the war does not go on well, I may be sent to the front, holding a handgun, leading dozens of soldiers, and I may die there. If I die bravely in a battle, I shall be recognized as “revolutionary martyr” and beried in a “martyrs cemetery”. I may have no son or daughter, but all Chinese children living in the new peace world shall dance and sing on the land that I have bled for.
Both China and the States have well educated, brave and patriotic citizens. It would be a disaster for the people of both countries, even the whole world, to initiate a war between the two countries.
Lives shall be lost, cities shall be burned and children shall starve.
If we use our muscle suitably instead, we can make this world better.
What happened to you in China which made you think completely differently about the country and society?
Before going to China, I used to hear a lot from my Mainland Chinese friends in Australia how the Chinese are so selfish and cunning. They told me to be careful when buying something because I could get cheated, that the Chinese won’t do me any favor when I ask for one and if I ask somebody the direction they might point into a wrong direction. I heard the Shaghainese are arrogant, the Henanese are very bad, the Hubei-ese are cheaters, the North-Easterners are rough and so on so forth. Of course, they warned me on good will, and I thanked them for that.
Yet, when I was actually in China, I found that virtually all what they told me are wrong. I’ve never met any arrogant Shanghainese, Hubei-ese cheater, bad Henanese or rough North-Easterner (though many North-Easterners do talk loudly). When I had no umbrella on a rainy day, someone gave me an umbrella; when I took a bus but had no coin, someone gave me coins and when I forgot my belonging in a restaurant, someone told me that. Of course, there must be bad people in China as well, but not as many as I imagined before going there based on what those Chinese friends warned me.
EELF Collection
This is… well… not what you would think. I ran across this, and it’s… well… you just have to watch it.
Jeez, and I thought the upstairs tenant in a place I used to rent vacuuming at 830 in the morning a few times a week was annoying!
I must have been born under a lucky star, touch wood.
Reminds me of a hilarious story in the London press about 20 years ago that had half the readers wallowing gleefully in schadenfreude, and the other half soiling their satin panties. This guy paid millions for a trendy flat somewhere in Kensington and another tenant moved in upstairs shortly afterwards– who from day 1, it seems, insisted in walking around her equally very expensive, parquet floored apartment– as is her right, decided the magistrate after a very expensive court case taken and lost by the chump downstairs– in her very expensive high heeled Weitzmann creations. (Mornings and evenings only, I gathered. He was lucky it wasn’t all frikking day in London.)
It’s been my experience that a quick friendly chat with a noise offender up or downstairs is usually enough to sort out a problem, but the offended party in this case reportedly started with the aggression, and then sued when he couldn’t bully her into submission. (Good luck with that in a highend property case, 😂. And for which he was also quite rightly kickarsed by the judge– nobody likes a bully.) You pay millions for a place, and you can do whatever the eff you want in London, short of messy overflow into the foyer or, God forbid, the street!
Crack ho’s, though, are at another level entirely. And again, Metallicman’s former displays of patience are inspirational!! Don’t know how you do it, 👍.