The United States continues to collapse, and everyone is pointing fingers at each other. On television, and on the internet it’s about race. On the military, and political schedules, it’s about Russia and China. In the streets, it’s woke society, and in our backyards it’s inflation. Everyone is wondering “what is going on?” and “when will this end?”. No answers here, friends.
But it still has a way to go before rock bottom is hit. You all are just in the shit, knee deep. It’s going to get worse, sorry to say. But you can control it.
- Affirmation prayers.
- Friends.
- Society and community.
- Being helpful.
Be the best you that you can be. Smile. Be extra nice and do nice things. All will turn out fine. I believe in you.
Ape prostitution
I suppose we are all just apes, eh?
Can the USA contain China?
It is not possible to contain China in the short-, medium, or long-run.
China has a rich history of civilization and culture that are indigenous as well as copied from other traditions. Dynastic and government cycles rise and fall, but in the ultimate, the rich civilization and culture prevail. The hundred years or so commonly referred to as the century of humiliation, is but a blip in its history. The current is the ascendency of that blip. If we take the period of each cycle at 300 years, the CPC has a very long way to go. It is not even 100 years – only at the first century of the cycle.
The nature of this ascendency is a youngish China in growth terms, rising and taking-off. Government is strong, well trusted at home and respected abroad. People are determined and confident – riding on a broad escalator with space for the more ambitious and capable to climb up as they ride. Rising educated workforce and middle class. Society is stable, emphasizes affordability of services, social mobility, and equality of opportunities. Military has been modernized, continues to strengthen, and is well equipped to defend the country. Economy remains on centrestage. Urbanisation and developments are being spread out to the less developed regions. Centres of specialisations are created in the established regions. Pillars of growth are technology & innovation, digitalisation, and green economy. In the foreign space, BRI will increase in size and gains stature.
Political: Country is united. Sovereignty is secured. Strong government, enjoying high trust of the people, decisive policy and effective execution. People in high state of wellbeing, confident, disciplined, and determined. Respect for law and order.
Social: No food shortages. End of extreme poverty. Continue to uplift livelihood & living standard. Rising education, housing, public health, and recreational amenities. Focuses of government: Affordability of housing and public services, equality of opportunities, social mobility, and leveling of urban/rural income, and between regions. Target to double the middle-class from about 400 million now in 10 to 15 years.
Economics: Spreading out development & growth as well as urbanisation into inland and western regions. Consolidation, synergies and specialisations in the coastal and eastern regions, such as Greater Bay Area in southern China. Manufacturing hub and centre of international supply-chain. Growing educated workforce, riding on STEM education. Pillars of growth: Technology & innovation (strategic industries, foundation technologies, software, patents, and R&D …..), Digital economy (payment systems, digital Yuan, and applications of 5G & other technologies throughout the economy ….), and Green economy (renewables and supply-chain from critical materials, EVs, and public transport ….).
Defence: Already a nuclear power. Armed forces undergone modernisation, from command and control, through troops training, through mechanization, equipment, and weaponry. The process to strengthen and broaden their capabilities is ongoing. Well capable to achieve the mission to defend the country on land, sea, and air.
Foreign Relations: Well respected and growing in stature through good relations, equality of relationships, trade & investments, trade agreements, BRI, and supply of Covid vaccines. China’s economic growth has raised many boats. Its rise has been peaceful, no wars, no gunboats follow its trade missions, no exploitations of foreign countries. China does not proselytize and demands other countries to do its ways.
So we conclude – US is incapable of containing China, even including all its allies. How to contain a population of 1.4 billion people – capable, confident, disciplined, and determined – from rising and achieving their aspirations? It is just not possible.
And yet the US is determined, why? Would it not be better served to cooperate and collaborate instead? It should just recognize that hegemony is passe.
Why is Singapore so safe?
In late 1993, Singapore experienced a large increase in car vandalism. The investigation ultimately led police to the Singapore American School where several students were questioned. Michael Fay, an American, who had moved to Singapore to live with his mother and her new husband, was one of those questioned.
Fay pled guilty to vandalizing cars (and stealing road signs).
He was sentenced to four months in jail, a monetary fine, and six strokes of the cane.
The US Government got involved and then President Clinton called the punishment ‘extreme’. Due to Clinton’s public comments, the punishment was reduced to four strokes.
On May 5, 1994, Fay received his punishment.
After his caning, Fay stated that it was hard to sit for the first few days but he was able to walk and do push ups in his cell. There was some blood which he likened to a typical nose bleed.
After his release, Fay returned to the US. He began sniffing butane to forget what happened in Singapore. He ultimately entered rehabilitation and has stayed out of the public eye. In 2005 he returned to university to finish his bachelor’s degree.
Singapore continues to have one of the lowest crime rates in the world.
I think the moral of the Michael Fay incident is do not mess with Singapore.
Why hasn’t the US been able to develop an industrial development policy as effective as China’s?
During the peak of American power after WWII, no industrial policy was necessary because the US had been producing 50% of world goods and GDP and was able to retain the best engineers and scientists who are able to materialize any industry project. As the world becomes more competitive together with the never-ending war of foreign interference, and diminishing government funding, the industry policy has once more come to the fore of Uncle Sam.
There are two main reasons why the US has not been able to develop an effective industrial policy despite many tries. First, the US always relies on the market to determine industrial policy and the market is transient and fizzles away as quickly as it comes. Second, even with policy in hand and legislated law behind it, the incompetent bureaucracy often failed to implement on time, within budget, and meet the intended policy goal due to political division and corruption. Case in point, the Texas Supercollider project went bust after several trillion wasted efforts, and 50+ billion for the Artemis project is having a hard time getting off the ground vs the 4 billion spent by the Tiangong project by China.
America today
How do I keep my cat entertained when I’m away?
Put out a box
.
For all Americans living abroad: Have your thoughts on America changed since you moved?
Most definitely. I used to think much more highly of America and its people than I do now, having lived in England the better part of the past three-plus years.
Just knowing that it’s much less likely that me or anybody I know will be shot, or have to choose between groceries and medicine, has removed layers of stress that I didn’t realize I had in America.
Knowing that the government won’t allow me or my family to become homeless, or to have to go without electricity and heat, if we fall on hard times, has made me realize the United States government never really gave a shit about my well-being.
I’m not trying to say there aren’t tens of millions of Americans who work very hard every day to improve America. I know that the problem is Republicans who confuse surviving in a state of desperation with freedom.
But whatever I suspected were America’s problems before have been confirmed by living abroad. Decent Americans are held hostage by a cruel, backward, brainwashed minority of right-wingers, who’ve made America a great country for the wealthy but a terrible country for the masses.
I won’t be going back for more than a holiday to visit relatives.
Are there any times when correlation proves causation?
No, it cannot “prove” a causation, but the detail is interesting.
Further scientific investigation may demonstrate a reproducible, or strong, correlation, but is that a causation? No matter how far you take this, a correlation doesn’t suddenly become a causation because they are quite different.
Causality has no strict scientific definition, and it defies reductive analysis. Writers such as Russell and Norton have rightly argued that it is merely an empirical principle: something that we use to rationalise the dynamical change around us.
When there is sufficient proximity (spatial and/or temporal) between the supposed cause and the effect then we can infer a causation, but science has to establish a causal chain (A caused B which then caused C, etc.) based upon accepted examples of lower-level causal instances. But applying reductionism to such instances will always reach a level where the notion of causality no longer applies, and where we just have discrete particle interactions (which are symmetrical in time) or even quantum entanglement.
So, although science cannot define causation, it has an accepted set of explanations that constitute instances of causation. When it can explain some new correlation in terms of those accepted instances then it can be construed as a causation. Noting, of course, that nothing is ever proved beyond doubt in science (cf. Karl Popper).
Is it weird that my cat follows me?
My 3 follow me all over the place. The entire day consistently. Assuming they tumble to rest around evening time and I take a stab at sneaking discreetly up to bed, I have around 5 mins (once in a long while) to really get in bed before they barrage me. Regularly, while I’m cleaning my teeth, they will look out either for the sink or in the bed (not so quietly!).
In American politics, corruption is expected and accepted. Why?
It’s built that way.
Because American legislators aren’t constrained by party-line voting, as they are in other parliamentary democracies, they get to claim that they represent their constituents. They are, in actual fact, individually free to vote how they ‘feel,’ and how they ‘feel’ is up for sale or rent.
Combined with the ongoing requirement to fund-raise for the upcoming campaign, this leaves them open to bribes – okay: campaign contributions – from wealthy and powerful patrons. This wouldn’t be as prevalent, were they required to vote along party lines: why bribe back-bencher so-and-so, when it’s the big-wigs’ who’ll decide on the direction of the party? And bribes at THAT level are far more expensive, and far harder to conceal.
So, the system encourages individual legislators to become beholden to powerful interests, to a degree not seen in other nations, governed by outwardly-similar bodies.
US Gov’t panel wants ‘mental health screenings’ for all adults in America
BY PGF
USPSTF member Lori Pbert, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester, told the Washington Post that these mental health screening recommendations were being evaluated even before the COVID-19 outbreak, but said the era of lockdowns has had an impact on mental health throughout the country. “Covid has taken a tremendous toll on the mental health of Americans,” Pbert told the Washington Post. “This is a topic prioritized for its public health importance, but clearly there’s an increased focus on mental health in this country over the past few years.”
Ever notice how they keep saying it was Covid? As if flu could wreck a civilization. Why won’t they say “Lockdown?” It wasn’t the flu; it was the governments of the world that were and are the problem. And will it ever occur to them that if locking everybody in their homes and wrecking the economy can cause depression, that perhaps, and call me crazy, personal and business liberty in a free country with a free economy might make folks happy?
No, they want to “screen” everybody so they can enjoy the damage they’ve done to your family, especially your children. Nobody trusts doctors anymore, so this plan of theirs pretty much solves itself in the free market of ideas.
It’s plain to see this will eventually be used to categorize and deal with “malcontents” and “disrupters” who reject centralized control over their lives. Paraphrasing their god Sigmond Freud, before you blame depression and anger, make sure you are not, in fact, surrounded by total jerks ruining your life!
If cats ruled the world…
Is having a child born into U.S. citizenship the best thing that could happen to a prospective parent from another nation?
No.
I’m Irish, and if I were in America and there was even the slightest chance I’d go into labour while I was there, I’d be on the first plane home.
Not just because I couldn’t afford the medical bills, but because the US has no advantages for my child. Irish schools are better (judging by international ranking) and free. Health care is better (judging by international ranking) and free. Okay, some American universities are better, but the Irish ones are all excellent, and going to them won’t result in years of debt.
Ireland is also a more chilled country to live in. We go out without locking the door. We don’t worry about guns. And we have wi-fi on the bus.
Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
“Ready, Set, Cook! Hidden Valley Contest Entry. I love creating my own recipes and menus for people. I have been doing this since I was about 12 years old. I put together a birthday party with lots of freshly prepared food and cake that I prepared for my mom. I had help from my cousins and friends who were my assistants and servers. The party was a great success and I have been doing this ever since. I made this chicken dish 8 years ago and it was the only thing different my mom would eat so I made sure I perfected the dish just for her and of course others. I usually brine my chicken in a mixture of salt, brown sugar and water for at least 45 minutes”
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Hidden Valley Original Ranch Seasoning Mix
- 1 lb fresh spinach
- 1⁄2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1⁄2 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1⁄2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 (6 ounce) can black olives, sliced (optional)
Directions
- Butterfly chicken breast and drizzle with olive oil.
- Sprinkle chicken breast with Hidden Valley Seasoning and Dressing Mix and set aside.
- In a saute’ pan cook spinach until spinach has started to cook down. Remove spinach from heat and add to a medium bowl with Parmesan cheese, half of the mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs and beaten egg and olives. Mix all ingredients until well incorporated.
- Place a large spoonful of spinach mixture in the middle of each chicken breast and fold over, covering the spinach mixture completely.
- Sprinkle with remaining cheese and place on baking sheet and bake on 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until thermometer reaches 165 degrees when chicken is tested.
Is the United States the most evil country in the world?
Yes. Name one other country that has waged endless wars around the globe causing massive death and destruction.
Name one other country that has sanctioned dozens of countries causing untold human suffering.
Name one other country that has allowed over a million of its citizens to die from COVID-19.
Name one other country that incarcerates its own citizens in greater number and greater rate than any other country in the world.
Name one other country that slaughtered millions of indigenous people to steal their land.
Name one other country that is taking us to the brink of nuclear armageddon in Ukraine and Taiwan.
Right, you can’t.
In order to conform to the Congress resolution on banning Xinjiang products and services, Walmart and Sam’s Clubs stores in China removed all their Xinjiang products.
This demonstrates that the family which owns these companies, which have been in China nearly 30 years, did not consult with any of their China staff before making this move. The corporate management only cares about US laws, and follows them all over the world.
This has led to Chinese consumers turning in their Sam’s Club membership cards and demanding refunds. Other competitors such as Carrefour and Hema are offering special promotions on Xinjiang products to bring in all the unhappy Walmart and Sam’s Club shoppers.
The Chinese government has not taken any action on the Walmart move, but if they do act, it will not be pretty for Walmart’s China business, which is one of the companies most profitable markets after the US.
Why is it so difficult for non-Americans to take vacations in the United States?
It is not so difficult as it is expensive. Their good hotels are outrageous whereas their cheaper hotels are total crap. Same with their transportation. Their infrastructure is mediocre at best so traveling by bus or train is a real hassle I tell you.
Then foreign tourists have to worry about the crime factor. It is very easy to wind up in the wrong area and be in danger. This is something that people don’t have to worry about in other countries.
Oh, then there is the severe lack of public toilets. And if you do find one, chances are you need to hold your breath and close your eyes while you use it. Horrible! Also be prepared to tip for everything – at least 15% or more, regardless of the quality of the service you receive.
USA looks really good on TV but in reality it is a far different picture. Unless one is very rich, foreign tourists need to be prepared for this shock before they arrive.
Almost All Corporate Executives Believe That Economic Conditions Are About To Get Significantly Worse
Are the months ahead going to be very painful for our economy?
This is something that I have been arguing for a long time, and apparently the vast majority of corporate CEOs now agree with me.
Of course economic conditions are not exactly good at this moment. Core U.S. inflation just rose to a 40 year high, mortgage rates just hit the highest level in more than two decades, home values are plummeting all over the nation, and retail sales in the United States unexpectedly fell in September. If you think that the U.S. economy is performing well right now, there is a very large bridge on the west coast that I would like to sell you. Unfortunately, it appears that economic conditions are about to get significantly worse. In fact, one recent survey found that 98 percent of corporate CEOs are planning “for a U.S. recession over the next year or year and a half”…
Nearly all CEOs are readying for the U.S. economy to fall into a recession, according to a survey released Thursday by The Conference Board. The survey, The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence, found that 98% of CEOs indicated they were preparing for a U.S. recession over the next year or year and a half. That figure is five percentage points higher than in the third-quarter survey.
Talk about a consensus.
But why is the number only 98 percent?
What are the other 2 percent thinking?
This week we also learned that a model created by Bloomberg economists is now forecasting a 100 percent chance of a recession within the next 12 months…
A U.S. recession is effectively certain in the next 12 months in new Bloomberg Economics model projections, a blow to President Joe Biden’s economic messaging ahead of the November midterms. The latest recession probability models by Bloomberg economists Anna Wong and Eliza Winger forecast a higher recession probability across all timeframes, with the 12-month estimate of a downturn by October 2023 hitting 100%, up from 65% for the comparable period in the previous update.
Of course it is pretty easy to forecast a recession when we are already in one.
But I don’t want to let that detail detract from the point that I am trying to make.
The point that I am trying to make is that the business community is bracing for things to get really bad in the months ahead.
And there are some sectors of the economy where things are already falling apart at a frightening pace.
For example, home prices are now being slashed “at a record clip”…
Home sellers are slashing their asking prices at a record clip as surging mortgage rates drive a downturn in the US housing market, according to a recent report from real estate firm Redfin. About 7.9% of home listings reported price drops during the four-week period ending Oct. 9, according to a rolling average compiled by Redfin. That figure marked a record high and a significant uptick compared to the same period last year, when just 4% of listings reported price cuts.
A new housing crash is here.
And just like we witnessed in 2008, it is going to cause immense pain for Wall Street.
Sadly, there is a lot of pain on Main Street as well.
Every single day, more Americans are falling out of the middle class and into poverty. As a result, our homeless population is absolutely exploding.
If you can believe it, the New York Post is reporting that there are approximately 120 tent cities in Washington D.C. right now…
In the past two years, homeless encampments have exploded in Washington D.C., as both the city and federal governments lifted enforcement measures during the COVID-19 pandemic — and made it a no-brainer for itinerants to lay down roots by providing for their every need. A tour by The Post of the district’s major tourist areas this week found at least 35 vagrants in residence at a National Park Service site two blocks from the White House; more than 20 in the green spaces surrounding the State Department complex; and five across the street from the infamous Watergate Hotel. And these sites accounted for less than 5 percent of the estimated 120 tent cities in Washington D.C.
Wow.
If things are this bad already, what will our major cities look like once economic conditions really start to spiral out of control?
Unfortunately, the man in the White House is in an advanced state of mental decline, and he is in complete denial about what is happening…
The comment came during a conversation with a reporter at a Baskin Robbins in Portland, Oregon, who asked the president if he had any worry about the strength of the U.S. dollar amid rising inflation. With a chocolate chip ice cream cone in his hand, Biden answered: “I’m not concerned about the strength of the dollar. I’m concerned about the rest of the world. Our economy is strong as hell.”
Really?
Our economy is “strong as hell”?
I understand that he is trying to help Democrats do well in November, but nobody is going to believe such a delusional statement.
At this moment, the U.S. economy is in the worst shape that it has been since 2008, and the Federal Reserve seems determined to push us over the edge by raising interest rates even more.
In fact, James Bullard says that the Fed may raise rates by 75 basis points in both November and December…
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard left open the possibility that the central bank would raise interest rates by 75 basis points at each of its next two meetings in November and December, while saying it was too soon to make that call. The Fed hiked rates by 75 basis points for the third straight meeting last month, to a target range of 3% to 3.25%. Officials projected 125 basis points of tightening for the rest of the year, suggesting a 75 basis-point move in November and 50 basis points in December. A further 25 basis points of tightening was penciled in for 2023, according to their median estimate.
It would be absolutely suicidal to raise rates by 75 basis points in each of the next two months.
But I think that the Fed might do it anyway.
In any event, the “Great American Economic Meltdown” that so many of us have been waiting for is here, and that is going to mean a tremendous amount of pain for all of us in 2023 and beyond.
In 2008, the Fed was able to contain the bleeding by pushing interest rates all the way to the floor and by pumping massive amounts of fresh money into the financial system.
This time around the Fed isn’t going to be able to make such dramatic moves because they are scared to death of inflation.
We really are facing a nightmare scenario, and virtually every CEO in America realizes that tough times are ahead.
Things could have turned out very differently if our leaders had made better decisions in the years leading up to this crisis.
But that didn’t happen, and so now we all get to suffer as a result.
Cats. I love this picture.
Is the conflict between USA and China because USA is not able to hurt China economically like it did to other nations by simply moving its companies from China and create economic troubles as China has been able to create its own brands and company?
The conflict is because the USA is treating China as a military threat when it is simply economically ascendant and has a far superior industrial policy.
We are entering a multi-polar world with China ascendant in Asia and America still the largest economy in the west.
The world will see more global institutions with China’s fingerprints on them, instead of legacy institutes mostly shaped by America.
The existing global institutions will see more influence ceded to China as well.
But the USA has created significant structural problems for itself. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, it has massively increased its military spending, and given large tax cuts to the richest Americans.
It has squandered its status as the trading and reserve currency on those policies instead of health care, education and maintaining infrastructure.
And now it’s seen 40 years of stagnant or declining real value income for 80% of its citizens, its infrastructure is crumbling, its literacy rate has dropped to 88% and its life expectancy has declined by years.
In the same period, China mostly didn’t spend money on its military, invested in health care, invested in infrastructure and invested in education. It took 850 million human beings out of poverty in China alone. Now its literacy rate and life expectancy exceed America’s, with literacy vastly exceeding it. It now graduates more PhDs annually, and files more patents annually. It has a permanently manned space station it put up by itself, and landed rovers on the Moon and Mars.
Its industrial policy means that it is now the only scaled manufacturer of multiple clean technologies necessary for decarbonization.
Want tens or hundreds of thousands of electric buses and trucks? Only Chinese firms have done that and keep pumping them out.
Want solar panels? China.
Increasingly if you want reasonably priced wind turbines, the answer is China.
Want high-speed rail? China has built 40,000 km of it in 15 years, while Europe’s 19,000 is stagnant, and the USA has one stretch of occasionally higher speed rail. Etc. Etc. Etc.
America did not invest in the things which will enable it to compete. And it did invest in its military.
The combination is potentially explosive.
Chicken Breast With Honey-Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 4 (4 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breast halves
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
Directions
- Combine first 3 ingredients; sprinkle over both sides of chicken.
- Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 7 to 8 minutes on each side or until chicken is done.
- Transfer chicken to a platter; keep warm. Reduce heat to medium-low; add vinegar and honey to pan. Simmer 1 minute or until glaze thickens; stir constantly. Pour glaze over chicken.
Yesterday I was in Costco (American bulk grocery shopping company). I saw this:
Quora wont let me upload video. But it’s an LED panel with a looping video.
Yay, progress.
My first LED panel sighting inside a store.
I live in Silicon Valley, the world number 1 high tech capital of the world.
Except, these were literately everywhere I turned my head in China starting around 2008, 2010.
US still used printed posters and painted billboards then.
Yes, I did think about importing these LED panels to the US. Only I couldn’t get enough capital to form a company.
It’s not bashing USA. It’s reality. Silicon Valley, world high tech capital, is really lagging behind the world.
Internet? My house is limited to 50Mbps because they have nothing faster to offer. Fiber? Been waiting for that for 15 years, AT&T!!!
5G? Don’t call it 5G when it’s slower and less stable than the old 4G LTE. I still have to run out of the restaurants or stores, waving my phone in the air to get signal.
Electric vehicles? We have that. We also fight over EV charging stations because we don’t have enough to go about. I am very scared to drive my EV to a new place because hunting for EV charging station is a pain. Yes, they have apps to show stations on the map. Except, a lot of them are behind private properties like companies or apartment complexes.
For a radius of 20 miles, I only have 1 charging station I can charge. All the rest are … not accessible. This station is privately owned by a Chinese gentleman. Without him, I have to drive so far to even charge my EV.
This is the technological drama of Silicon Valley, America’s most innovative technology capital of the world.
A Rufus story…
“Some great guy in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada found a tiny kitten frozen outside that had no vital signs and was not breathing. A real miracle happened when he brought it inside of a warm subway car and did some kitty CPR. The kitten begins to breathe again and started to move around.”
What made you smile today?
I smiled but also had some tears when I saw the “before” photo.
Poor kitty was found with puncture wounds, infected lacerations and a crushed spine, most likely the result of an attack by a larger animal.
He had been brought in to the Vancouver Animal Emergency and Referral Centre by a BC SPCA officer.
He could barely move and one of his ears was badly damaged.
The next morning, BenBen was transferred to the BC SPCA hospital to continue treatment and was there for about 10 days.
He was deemed unadoptable and was scheduled to be put down.
At the last minute, veterinarian technician Sandy Windover stepped in, took him home and now BenBen is able to run and jump. He will have to take pain medication, but he has a new life and that is all good.
This cat who was abandoned twice, but now only knows a life filled with love.
Thank goodness for the kind humans who rescue and give a good home to kitties like poor BenBen.
Jason and the Argonauts 1963 Movie
Here’s a real treat. The full movie, and it’s glorious!
https://youtu.be/IF33xIhZGJk
It’s been close to 50 years since I’ve seen Jason and the Argonauts. Thanks for that treat indeed!
Yeah. It is a treat, Isn’t it.