I once had a dog, a Siberian Husky. It was my sisters dog, but she never took care of it. Instead, I inherited that role. His name was “Frisky”, and was a “good boy”. But the rest of the family thought of him as a burden. Which was bad. He was a good dog.
One day, my father came to the back yard, and asked me to get him.
So I did.
He told me that he was going to take Frisky to a farm “where he could run about freely”. I believed him.
But, you know, what did I know? I was only 16 at the time.
Frisky looked up at me. Very skiddish.
I comforted him. And he seemed to be ok. He believed me. It’s gonna be fine, I told him.
My dad got him. Loaded him into the car.
And that was the last time I saw him.
…
Unwilling participant.
Yet my brothers and sisters, many decades later, berated me. Arguing how I couldn’t possibly realize what was going on. They knew. Why didn’t I?
Sigh.
I have remorse.
…
Today…
What is something you absolutely despise about your country?
Look at these statistics, let them sink in for a moment.
I have seen countless times:
- An obese parent in front of me at the grocery store, with an obese child under the age of 10. Their grocery cart is full of pure junk food.
- An obese person in a wheel chair ordering fast food.
- People eating candy bars for breakfast on a daily basis.
- Coworkers, who complain about their diabetes, with a bowl of candy by their monitor that they pick at all day.
- I know of at least 3 people with diabetes who had their foot (or other limb) amputated because they couldn’t control their eating.
- Children, under the age of 10, who weigh over 150 lbs (68 kg). These children are stretching their skin out and effectively ruining their bodies.
Our health education is pathetic. Our Physical Education and Gym programs are skeletal at this point.
Our country literally subsidizes food that makes people fat. We are essentially paying people to get fat.
It bothers me because people’s lack of discipline (or caring) ramps up healthcare costs that I have to pay for in tax dollars.
It bothers me because people don’t care about the way they look. They are willing to just let go.
But more than anything I am concerned for people’s well-being. You don’t always get second chances on heart attacks and strokes.
We are a prosperous country. But the scourge of prosperity is obesity.
I don’t despise obese people but I do despise it as a health epidemic in our country.
What is one mistake you made that you would like to warn others not to make?
My business was failing and I couldn’t understand why.
Things were NOT looking good since day one.
My mind was spinning out of control day and night trying to understand what was wrong.
In 2014 I found what seemed a great opportunity. I managed to negotiate an unusual deal with one of the best “warehouse” retailers in the USA. I had a signed agreement to purchase their overstocks… at unbelievable prices.
This was my math:
- Regular price of the item: $100
Warehouse discounted price of the retailer: $90
I could get their items at 10% to 20% of their price.
My price would be between $9 to $18! - Yes, that’s over 90% OFF the retail price!
- Reselling these items, even at huge discounts to my customers could easily double or triple my money. It seemed like a priceless opportunity.
So I rented this HUGE warehouse:
I called it the Red Barn Outlet.
Located in a very busy street, with huge traffic count, we opened the doors to our customers.
We had great products and unbeatable prices, yet, we didn’t had the expected volume of sales.
I did marketing — and found little to no improvement.
I even hired amazing helpers:
Nothing helped…
To answer your question: What is one mistake you made that you would like to warn others not to make?
The laws of work have changed!
I learned this lesson in a very painful way.
- Retail has changed.
- Our Economy has changed.
- The world has changed.
- We have changed.
Today we have retail on our fingertips!
“There’s an app for that!”
I was competing with a disrupted business model and as a small business owner, there’s NO way to win.
I was playing on the OLD Economy and as a consequence suffered a slow painful death because of disruption.
Today I teach people and businesses how to anticipate disruptive trends because I understand how painful it is.
This is my warning:
“Hard work is not good enough anymore.”
Tactics win battles; strategy wins wars.
Texas Roasted Potatoes
Serve this side dish at your next cookout.
Yield: 8
Ingredients
- 3 pounds red potatoes, quartered
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Toss together all the ingredients in a large bowl.
- Place on a baking sheet.
- Bake for one hour (turning frequently) or until lightly browned.
Time-Slip Artifacts: Modern Objects in the Ancient World – Volume 1
I do love this show. Enjoy this fun show.
Is Hamas together with Hezbollah strong enough to beat Israel in a war?
Not a strictly conventional war
However they can ensure Israel never enjoys a minute peace.
They can ensure Israelis ultimately prefer to leave and migrate to other countries for a peaceful life
They can keep dying and keep replenishing their numbers and ensure money from sympathetic yet cowardly countries and their billionaires
It’s an effective strategy
Hezbollah attacks Israel, kills IDF Soldiers and occupied families
Israel bombs Lebanon blindly, kills mostly ordinary civilians
Hatred against Israel is reinforced
Arab Preachers will ensure hatred against Israel is maintained in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria
It keeps the Middle East divided and hostile and ensures it’s what the US wants
The only way to defeat Hezbollah and Hamas is the way Khalistan Or LTTE were defeated
BY THE PEOPLE
The way to do that is to give the Palestinians what should have been given decades ago to them
Development, money, prosperity etc
Today 99% of the Palestinian Youth pick up a gun because they have no other option
Tomorrow with prosperity and development, only 60% will pick up a gun
Then 40%
Then 20%
Same happened with the LTTE
Same with the ETA in Spain
Same with the Uyghur Separatists
Same with the Chechen Militia
The Chinese saying “Full bellies quell revolution, empty bellies forment it”
Why this isn’t happening is because of Democracy
Israeli politicians know they won’t win 10 votes if they hand over the original territories of Palestine back to the Palestinians
US Politicians will lose control in an area where they are already losing control by the day
Neither side think Long term and decide to kick the ball down the road for the future politicians
It’s why most countries that won against terrorism/rebels were Autocracies Or Dominant Party Democracies – China, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka
Josep Borell, EU foreign policy chief, accuses China of treating Europe as a US puppet. How can this perception on the part of the Chinese be changed?
Until you grow balls! Until you tell the U.S. if you blow Nord Stream pipeline Germany will blow away Alaskan pipeline!
Until you tell off the U.S. when it becomes a jerk. Ask them to fxxk off and say over your dead body will you listen to them. Get rid of your current leaders ASAP. They behaves shamefully.
China don’t hear words. China sees action. And the see a wimp and a weak government push around by Uncle Sam. So why talk to EU?
What steps should be taken to update and close the loopholes in the current set of rules on exporting advanced computing chips to China?
There are two parties here.
The American seller, and the Chinese buyer.
Absent of government policy, is the American seller willing and motivated to sell to the Chinese?
Why yes. Absolutely.
The Chinese are one of their biggest and best customers, and have helped prop up the stock price for decades, because the Chinese are not only volume shoppers of value, but also the high-margin cutting edge. That’s a significant STREAM of revenue on the table.
The American seller will try every trick in the book to preserve their bottomline, from lobbying the Congress and the White House, to tailoring specific products for the Chinese to circumvent sanctions. The quick and dirty will be to ship product to a subsidiary market, for example Korea, Japan or Taiwan, and re-export the chips through a third party. As a country, China isn’t being sanctioned like Iran or Cuba, so this will appear like normal trade flow.
That’s the seller. But what about the buyer? China has plenty of friends. Is Nvidia going to say no to a million-piece GPU order from Qatar, just because it’s destined for data server/AI farms within a Chinese-run business park? What if the Saudis make another million-chip order and ships it along to Shenzhen because they have a stake in a Chinese subsidiary’s AI project? The possibilities are endless. Nvidia can’t very well demand geolocation tracking of their sold product, can they? Chips can’t be repaired anyway and can be easily transported by air, so warranty claims can be easily dealt with.
The fundamental issue is this.
Does America want to continue doing business with the Chinese, the world’s biggest single market?
If the answer is a firm no, we can talk ironclad rules.
But the half-hearted “this is national security dual use tech” approach manned by a tiny office within the Department of Commerce won’t work, not when they are trying to fix corporations with more money than God, able to buy the services of legal teams that run rings around legislation and policy.
Such is the nature of American capitalism.
Singaporean PM warns danger in seeing one-China question as ‘democracy vs autocracy’
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday warned of dangerous consequences in framing the one-China question through the narrative of “democracy versus autocracy.”
Lee gave the warning at the closing dialogue of the Asia Future Summit in Singapore.
Recognized by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971, there is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.
Speaking during a Q&A session at the closing dialogue of the summit, Lee called for countries to make clear that they will not change this “very fundamental basis of the international understanding.”
“One China is the basis on which nearly every country in the world recognizes the PRC, and has informal, unofficial relations with Taiwan,” he said. “And I think that has to remain the fundamental basis on which the relationships are maintained and the status quo is justified.”
Lee continued by saying that to describe the question of one China as “a question of democracy versus autocracy” is “dangerous.”
The Asia Future Summit was jointly held by Singapore’s flagship media, The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and The Business Times, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Speakers across the world shared their views on geopolitical hot spots, economic issues, and social governance during the event.
Millions Of Men Finally Get The Cheat Code To The Dating Game
“I personally want to thank every modern girl that hopped online to tell us how much they want to be railed by Chad and Tyrone and after they hit the wall, look for guys they ignored for a decade to suddenly want him only for his money and free validation, because now us guys who have red pilled know exactly what play they wanna try the moment we see them and tell them” not interested”. All is becoming right in the world.”
Do you think China’s subsidies for electric vehicles are “distorting” the car market of the European Union as claimed by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen?
This claim or accusation about China subsidizing EV cars is just a loser’s speech.
We Chinese are already surprised about Chinese EV cars being sold in EU with twice of the prices than in China.
Meanwhile, Europeans (mostly Germans) are also surprised about VW EV cars being sold in China with half of the prices than in Germany.
Tesla cars made in China are also cheaper than anywhere else, because of China subsidizing Tesla?
If anything, China’s subsidy about EV cars is “after” the cars got purchased.
There is something in China called “car purchasing tax”, and it’s about 9% of what you pay to the dealer. EV and PHEV cars can enjoy deduction on purchasing tax.
Also, about 45% of gasoline price in China is all kinds of tax and fee. However, the government doesn’t charge car electricity for the same amount. The 45% includes road maintenance fee, which means that it’s now entirely afforded by gasoline and diesel vehicle owners.
Mercedes is still doing good in China, but not the EV part.
In August alone, Mercedes sold 70.8 thousand cars in China, and accumulated sale of over half million cars (527.7 thousand) from January to August in 2023.
However, for EV cars, like EQE, the sales numbers from Jan to Aug are: 289, 421, 730, 48, 1254, 613, 591, and 941.
Only 1 EQC was sold in August.
The 19th highest EV/PHEV sales brand in August is Arcfox, and it sold 1868.
Europeans were too arrogant to develop their EV technologies.
They spent very little in this field, and was convinced that their petrol and diesel cars would keep dominating the world.
It’s why they are left behind.
Plus, this time’s farce is proposed by France, rather than Germany.
Von der Leyen is being supportive to this because she’s an US dog, and would do anything to screw China.
Some Germans have waken up, put down their pride and chose to cooperate with Chinese.
Meanwhile in France, car manufacturers are dying. They need to find a way to stop Germans from getting stronger.
Just like many other topics in EU, this, according to my personal opinion, will not go anywhere.
They would not have a result within 2023, and they will keep arguing in 2024.
If not because of their low efficiency, they would not be in such an embarrassing situation at the first place.
What was the reason for the sudden attack on Israel by Hamas killing innocent people?
Sudden?
Please
This was planned for a long time
It’s execution was FLAWLESS
I repeat FLAWLESS
Military Style than Militant Style
Multiple Incursions, Hostages, Point attacks – coordinated to precision after distracting them by rocket strikes
The vaunted Israeli intelligence was caught off guard completely.
That means a lot of Planning
So it isn’t SUDDEN at all
Why?
Many possibilities
First, the US possibly knew about the attack and turned a blind eye and didn’t warn the Israelis to divert attention from Ukraine and the disaster unfolding out there
It worked. Yesterday the whole coverage was on Palestine and Israel and not on Ukraine or even Chaiyina (China)
Second, Hamas backed by someone powerful, possibly Iran with Hezbollah waiting, decided to take advantage of a West that was completely swamped with Ukraine and an Israel that was desperately short of munitions (Israel gave 360,000 Shells to Ukraine, forced by USA) and decided to launch a strike and escalate things
An Escalation would allow the Russians, Chinese and the Global South to raise hypocrisy slogans against the West comparing Palestinians to Ukranians
If Israel does march into Gaza, the UN would become a battleground of anger and rage
Third, the US plans major war in the Middle East. They plan to launch Israel against Syria & Iran. It could be why China invited Assad and maybe tipped him off
It’s a delicate place today for the world
Especially India
If India support Israel as our friend Achal Gautam says in invading and destroying Gaza, that’s a billion Muslims who will hate India
Many Oil and Gas Producers and the biggest and richest vendors for key projects like Ports or Bridges
Plus most Muslims including the Azeris & Kazakhs and Turkmens and Kyrgyz people will flock to Russia, China and the CSTO
Hell even Turkey will rage against NATO
It would be the worst thing for Israel to blindly attack Gaza in an act of war
It would be fantastic news for Russia and China if Israel invades Gaza
Huawei releases a disruptive quantum chip, disrupting the global semiconductor industry!
This shouldn’t be a surprise as Huawei has been continuously innovating, researching and improving its technology. It has thousands of researchers and scientists continuously doing their best. This undoubtedly will make US/EU to try to surpress and annihilate it.
Should China and Russia send the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to help Palestine overthrow the apartheid regime?
In the past 1900 years, in my impression, the Arabs have not failed the Jews. The destruction of ancient Israel was not caused by the Arabs, but by the Romans. It would be unfair for Israelis to blame the Arabs for the destruction of ancient Israel. The persecution of Jews before and after WWII came from the Nazis in Europe, not the Arabs.
However, the Jews have really done things that are sorry to the Arabs in half a century.
Palestinian Arabs are human beings and should enjoy equal human rights … You can’t go bullying them like that…
As for whether it will become the sixth Middle East war…it is too early to tell. The scale of armed conflict is not that large. This was just a raid, not a full-scale attack. China and Russia will be diplomatically concerned, but will not intervene by force.
And a military raid was not the outcome the Arabs wanted.
All this proves only one thing:
As long as Israel does not abandon its own national exclusionary ideology based on Zionism, and as long as it continues to defend its current policies throughout the Palestinian areas, Israel will always be a country that lives in the shadow of fear, betrayal and repentance.
Iran, from West Asia, and Saudi Arabia, from the Arabian Peninsula, are both large among Muslim countries.
After Iran and Saudi Arabia reconcile, and the Muslim countries put aside their previous infighting, there will be a strong and unified Middle East.
We can understand that the Muslims in the Arab world are most eager for China to raise the anti-American flag due to the continuous aggression and plunder of the Western world, but the demise of the United States will not happen overnight, nor will it happen only militarily, but also economically, culturally, politically, etc., and there will be a slow process.
Maya Angelou always advise the African-American elite to read The prince of Machiavelli, because, she said, without a proper understanding of this book, you won’t understand the western elite. The Prince is their bedside book. it contains the main principle all imperialist applies: “If you want to control the people, separate the people and you can rule them. Divide them and you can conquer them.” Simply put, “divide and conquer.”
If 1.3 billion Muslims were united, it would be a huge force in the world.
Gone are the days when Israel relied on the US to dominate the Middle East. A declining Uncle Sam will not be able to bless Israel for long.
Therefore, the Israelis, if they are smart enough, must be mentally prepared to negotiate peace with the Palestinians and return to the 1967 Palestinian-Israeli borders, otherwise they will not be able to survive in the Arab state crevasse.
Sad Looking Cat Gets Adopted And Purrs For The First Time Ever | The Dodo
Watch this really sad shelter cat become a purring kitten with his new mom after finally getting adopted.
Can the Mate 60 chip developed by Huawei prove the failure of the US technology blockade against China? Can the United States finally succeed in preventing China’s technological upgrade?
Huawei has just unveiled its Mate 60 chip, a stunning feat of technological innovation that shows how the US has failed to stifle China’s rise in the global arena. The US has been waging a relentless campaign of sanctions and restrictions against Huawei and other Chinese firms, hoping to cut them off from the vital resources, software, and markets they need to thrive. But instead of crippling China’s technological ambitions, the US has only spurred them to become more self-reliant and creative.
The Mate 60 chip is the crown jewel of Huawei’s HiSilicon division, which makes chips for smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets. The chip is based on the most advanced process technology in the industry, the 5-nanometer node. It boasts a powerful octa-core CPU, a Mali-G78 GPU, a dual-core neural processing unit (NPU), and a 5G modem. The chip also supports features that enhance the user experience, such as multi-screen collaboration, smart charging, and more.
The Mate 60 chip is a remarkable achievement for Huawei, especially considering the US technology blockade. Since 2019, the US has put Huawei on its Entity List, which bans US companies from supplying it with software and hardware without a license. The US has also pressured its allies to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks, citing security concerns. As a result, Huawei has lost access to Google’s Android operating system, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips, and other essential components and services.
But Huawei has not given up. It has poured resources into its own research and development to overcome the challenges. It has developed its own operating system, HarmonyOS, which can run on various devices and platforms. It has also increased its self-sufficiency in chip design and production, relying on its HiSilicon division and other partners. Moreover, it has expanded its global presence and cooperation, especially with countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The Mate 60 chip is not only a breakthrough for Huawei, but also for China’s overall technological development. The chip represents China’s progress in mastering the core technologies of the semiconductor industry, which is crucial for its economic growth and national security. The chip also demonstrates China’s ability to innovate and compete in the global market, despite the US attempts to contain and isolate it. Furthermore, the chip reflects China’s vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, as it seeks to provide high-quality products and services to consumers around the world.
The Mate 60 chip developed by Huawei proves that the US technology blockade against China is doomed to fail. The US cannot stop China’s technological upgrade by imposing unilateral sanctions and restrictions. On the contrary, these actions have only motivated China to enhance its self-reliance and innovation capabilities. The US should realize that cooperation is better than confrontation in the field of science and technology, and that both countries can benefit from mutual learning and exchange.
What is the oddest weather you’ve experienced?
One afternoon in 1985 on a nice sunny day when I was working outside about half an hour North of Toronto I felt a sudden hot gust of wind, a very strong gust.
I turned around and looked at where the wind came from and I saw the sky, it was swirling all around, kind of like waves hitting a beach.
But that’s not what surprised me, it was the colour of the sky that I’ll never forget. It was green! The clouds were literally forest green, swirling around with dark gray clouds, in a fluid way that I had never seen before.
The clouds were also very close to the ground and were coming towards me fast.
I called out to my coworkers who hadn’t noticed yet and said we had better take shelter. They turned around and the colour drained from their faces, we looked at each other and ran across the field to the main building which was made of brick.
Not two minutes later day turned to night and it started pouring rain. All we did was look out the window at the raw violence of the storm until it passed less than half an hour later.
Little did we know at the time that just a few miles North of us a category F4 tornado had just devastated the city of Barrie.
It was totally unprecedented at the time, none of us believed our ears when we heard it on the radio.
Canada doesn’t have tornadoes, and certainly not category F4 tornadoes!
We were all in disbelief, that is until we got home and saw the destruction with our own eyes on television.
It was the only thing everyone talked about for over a month.
Foxconn has repeatedly requested to OEM for Huawei Mate60, but Huawei has sternly rejected it.
Huawei is now no.1 mobile phone manufacturer and it doesn’t need Qualcomm anymore to supply the chips. Qualcomm has betrayed Huawei by giving up Its relationship with Huawei and Huawei doesn’t need Qualcomm as an OEM anymore as its quality is below Huawei’s standard. Now that Huawei can mass produce the Kirin 9000s chips it certainly doesn’t need Qualcomm but domestic China’s OEM instead.
US Deploys at least nine B-2 Stealth Bombers to Europe
The United States on Friday allegedly deployed at least nine (9) — and reportedly “dozens”– of B-2, nuclear-capable, Stealth Bombers to Europe on Friday. Those aircraft are specifically designed for a nuclear first-strike.
Video posted publicly, reportedly shows the deployment as it took place:
<video not available>
This deployment came just one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said publicly that if an enemy launches a nuclear attack upon Russia, “hundreds of our missiles will be in the air against ALL our enemies, in ALL directions — and there will be no survivors”
Surprise Attack Stuns Israel; WaPo: Ukraine Despair War Unwinnable; EU Granada Summit Shambles
Surprise Attack Stuns Israel; WaPo: Ukraine Despair War ‘Unwinnable’; EU Granada Summit ‘Shambles’; Huge Rus Missile Drone Strikes Topic 987
Palestine Is Striking Back
October 5 2023:
Over 800 Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa compound during Jewish Sukkot holiday
More than 800 Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday morning under the protection of Israeli forces.
Rabbis, heads of settlement associations, and far-right university lecturers were among 832 people who forced their way into the religious site compound, a source in the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem told The New Arab’s Arabic sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Israeli forces imposed severe restrictions on Muslim worshippers entering Al-Aqsa and those under 60 were prevented from accessing the site.
It comes during the Jewish religious holiday of Sukkot, which started on 29 September and ends on Friday. The holiday has seen thousands of Israeli extremists storm the Al-Aqsa compound, with almost 1,500 entering the site on Monday.
Israeli extremists also continued on Thursday to hold provocative marches both inside Jerusalem’s Old City and outside its walls, attacking Palestinians and their property.
They also beat and spat at journalists in a market area near Al-Aqsa, where shops were forced to close for the sixth day in a row.
The Old City is home to Al-Aqsa as well as the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Al-Aqsa compound is the third holiest site in Islam and the most important Muslim place in Palestine.
October 7 2023:
Escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
This morning, the Islamic Jihad group announced the start of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, igniting another local war against Israel. They formally cited regular oppression and attempts on Al-Aqsa as reasons, where local Arab worshippers have been repressed repeatedly (in addition, there have been raids against the Islamic Jihad in Jenin over the past few weeks).
The operation began quite dramatically: a naval landing was carried out in the north of the Gaza Strip, and there are also reports of airborne landings – someone parachuted into rear cities.
…
After three hours of fighting, the group successfully captured a military base in the town of Kerem Shalom: there are enough images on social media of killed IDF servicemen and captured equipment (there are also photos of a burnt “Merkava” tank). This is a huge base on the border with Egypt. To put it mildly, the trophy is very valuable.
▪️As of now, fighting is still ongoing in Netiv HaAsara, Berri, and Sderot. Panic has gripped the population of bordering villages, with footage of people fleeing on foot. The Israel Defense Forces began retaliatory strikes only after 10 in the morning. The Israeli Ministry of Defense has stated outright that Hamas has gone to war with them, and at 10:30, the official start of the Iron Swords counter-terrorism operation was announced.
This is likely to escalate. It is impossible to predict when or how this will end.
Posted by b on October 7, 2023 at 9:05 UTC | Permalink
Israel-Hamas War Update. Israeli General captured by Hamas. 200 Israelis and 232 Palestinians killed
Hamas coming in on hang-glider parachutes was pretty awesome not going to lie.
According to research, China leads the world in 37 out of 44 technologies and the gap is widening. Do you believe that the world is safe with future technology in the hands of China?
Yes.
A lot lot lot safer under the Chinese than the west.
What did the west did with technology for the last 400 years?
They use the technology to loot and plunder the entire world. Many of the loot are in the western museums today! Or worn on the crowns of western monarchs till today.
They use the technology to enslave Africans and coloured people to do menial task for the west. They snagged islands like collecting sea shells and corals. Hawaii, Guan, Falklands, Gibraltar and another hundreds of islands are still under the west.
They carry out genocides to steal continents such as the Americas and Australia. They abused, steal, raped and murder throughout the entire world. They colonised and destroyed the people living there and stole everything of value!
They continue virtual colonialism after physical colonisation is not possible through what they termed international rules based international order. They took control the entire worlds economy, and wealth. They continue to use the technology to threaten every nation and non Caucasian societies including Slavs and non European citizens.
And you question if China can be trusted with the technology? What kind of logic apart from racist rhetoric do you have?
Why did Hamas think attacking nuclear-armed and USA-allied Israel would be a good idea?
Desperation.
For years, the Arab states have been moving towards normalizing relations with Israel. Hamas counts upon the support of Arab states, both material and financial, to exist, since it has very limited means of its own.
Normalized Arab-Israeli relations would be the coup de grace for Hamas and the “Palestinian liberation” movement. Because a precondition of normalized relations with Israel would be ceasing support to Hamas.
Part of the reason why Arab states were warming up to Israel was that Arab leaders have been losing faith in the Palestinian forces for decades now and an improvement for the Palestinians was nowhere in sight.
Regardless of where you stand on this conflict, it’s hard to argue that Palestinian forces have had much in the way of success recently (or ever, for that matter), having lost land to Israel almost continously since Israel’s inception. The reasons for this are not surprising. Palestine isn’t really even a nation, at this point, it’s two paltry strips of impoverished land run by a corrupt elite and barely educated militants with no resources of their own. They are facing a prosperous, well-organized nation state with a highly competent military and the direct support of the world’s premier powers. It was never going to turn out well for them.
And I suppose the Arabs were tired of tying their money up in so clearly a lost cause. Oh sure, they still outwardly broadcast support for Palestine for religious reasons and internal appeasement (most Arab Muslims are extremely against any reproachment with Israel), but I suspect they have been planning a move away from being active stakeholders in the Israel-Palestine conflict for a while.
So why the attack from Hamas now? Well it’s an obvious attempt to sabotage the normalization of relations across the ME, which would have sounded the death knell for them. I cannot imagine the Hamas leadership were going to stand idle and let the war coffers they plunder empty out. So they attacked Israel, performing the attack in a way that would cause the most severe reaction from the Israelis. Massacring Jews, abducting Jews, the whole shabang. They were trying to force Israel into the largest possible retaliation against them (they might have succeeded), and thereby force the Arab powers into taking a stance against said Israeli retaliation. That’s my only explanation for this attack. Otherwise, the immediate tactical value of killing a few hundred Israeli civilians eludes me.
And it seems to have worked…for now.
Many of the Arab nations previously moving towards normalized relations with Israel have now performed a sudden U-turn, mostly for reasons of posturing (and possibly gaining leverage out of the situation). But I don’t think this will last long. Some of the Gulf states didn’t even openly side with Palestine this time, the UAE came out with this statement;
“The UAE calls for the exercise of maximum restraint and an immediate ceasefire to avoid serious repercussions,”
I imagine most of the Arab powers see that the writing is on the wall for Hamas. There is no possible way that having poked the Israeli bear, Hamas is going to be able to effectively resist any Israeli-counter operation. Afterall, the Israeli army is a world-class professional fighting force, and Hamas is a glorified militia at best, fighting on very little land, completely trapped and encircled. Or to be brief, they’re f*cked.
I suppose once the Arab countries can extract some personal benefit/concession out of the situation, they will perform another U-turn and go back to ditching Palestine. I can see Saudi Arabia’s shallow declaration of support for Hamas disappearing once the Saudi’s can get some sort of security deal with the US in exchange for re-normalizing relations with Israel.
Regardless, the long-term outlook for Hamas is poor. This was a desperate, flailing attempt to gain some short-term ground in “reuniting the Ummah” and gain an [im]moral victory against Israel.
But in time, I think, they will come to regret it.
HE’S BASED !! Oliver Anthony – Rich Mans Gold | REACTION
Thanks for a great video and reaction! I love the message, and you wound it up wonderfully! God bless you, and yours!
World should be prepared for sustained high inflation in US — Global Times
The outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has driven up oil prices again, while a potential oil crisis could risk putting the Fed’s inflation fight in jeopardy, adding uncertainties to the global economic recovery.
The US and Venezuela have progressed in talks that could provide sanctions relief to Caracas by allowing at least one additional foreign oil firm to take Venezuelan crude oil for debt repayment, Reuters reported on Monday, citing five anonymous sources.
The timing of the news seems delicate, as it comes at a time when oil prices keep rising on market fears of the Middle East conflict exacerbating supply tightness. On Monday, global benchmark Brent Crude rose 4.2 percent to $88.15 a barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 4.3 percent to $86.38 per barrel.
Both Brent Crude and WTI remained around their Monday closing levels during Tuesday’s trading. The regained upward momentum contrasted with a drop of more than 8 percent in global oil prices over the previous week.
Apparently, the US releasing information through media outlets over potential sanctions relief on oil-exporting country Venezuela serves as a reminder to the market that even if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict brings uncertainty to crude oil supply in the Middle East, the US may be able to affect oil prices in other ways.
If the US does ease sanctions on Venezuelan crude oil, then an immediate effect would be an increase in supply to the world oil market and a fall in oil prices.
However, even though it is not clear how oil prices will unfold, US anxiety about high oil prices triggering high inflation is almost certain. At a time when the Fed’s monetary tightening policy has approached its limit, if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict leads to a sustained rebound in global crude prices, then it will certainly disrupt the interest rate hiking cycle of the Fed.
If the Fed continues to hike interest rates to curb inflation, the US economy will likely slip into a recession. A worse scenario for the Fed could be that the economy falls into a recession with the inflation rate still high.
While some may argue that since neither Palestine nor Israel is a major oil-producing country, the impact on the oil market is limited, and the conflict may not last long. Yet, market fears about the Middle East situation are not unfounded. There are no reliable indications of whether the conflict will end soon or lead to wider regional instability. If it escalates to involve more Middle East nations, it could threaten crude supply by the surrounding major oil-producing countries. The Middle East is home to some of the world’s biggest oil producers, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as key transit routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, which is known as the world’s most important “oil chokepoint.”
The US will try its best to avoid the worst-case scenario. Diplomatic efforts may convince Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela to increase their oil production to relieve its inflation pressure. But it needs to be reminded that given the past oil crises in the Middle East that caused great volatility in the global crude market, the psychological impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the crude market shouldn’t be underestimated. As long as the conflict remains unresolved, the impact will remain.
Also, since the Biden administration has already released several batches of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the purpose of reining in high inflation, the remaining stocks may not be as sufficient as they were during previous oil crises. It is disturbing to think how few tools the US has left to affect inflation.
Can the Fed’s monetary policy withstand the test of this round of oil market volatility? If the Fed changes the pace of rate hikes because of the Middle East situation, then the risk of a US recession will increase significantly.
At that point, even the world economic recovery will face greater difficulties. That will also create more challenges for the Chinese economy, especially in terms of the spillover effect of US rate hikes and China’s cooperation with the Middle East. In this sense, essential preparations are needed for the potential shocks.
King Abdullah II of Jordan Orders Humanitarian Aid to Gaza; IDF Says “no”
King Abdullah II of Jordan, in coordination with the Egyptian Government, has reportedly ordered the Delivery of Humanitarian Aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Border Crossing.
However the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is continuing to state that any Supply Trucks that attempt to enter the Gaza Strip through Egypt will be Destroyed.
The government of Israel needs to remind it IDF that THEY do not make policy; the civilian government makes policy. The government of Israel also needs to remind the IDF that THEY do not get to starve people to death, which, now that Israel has formally declared “War” would be a war crime. A crime against Humanity.
Hal Turner Editorial Opinion: We all see and know the ferocious and horrifying situation that now exists in Israel with the ongoing war. Israel absolutely, positively, has a right to defend itself and its people. On this, there is no disagreement. None. At all.
Israel does NOT, however, get to throw out all the rules of war — or humanity — and starve 2.3 Million people to death in Gaza. That’s not a tactic, that’s Genocide – and it is not allowed. Period. Full stop.
What were the worst two minutes of your life?
I was 20. I was going to college and working.
It was late one night after a summer rain. I came upon a light truck that had slid off the road and flipped.
I stopped and ran to the truck and found a 16 year old kid impaled on a fence post and bleeding out. He was dying and he knew it. He was crying, calling for his mother and saying I don’t want to die over and over.
I told him I was going for help and he said please don’t let me die alone. I stayed with that kid, held him as he died.
It really messed me up. The cops thought I was a victim too because I had his blood all over me.
The paramedics gave me a shot and took me to hospital. They told me that’s the only way I’d let him go. Maybe I thought if I’d hung onto him he’d be all right.
I’d never met the kid but I would have given my life if he could have lived.
They kept me in the hospital a few days. Cops and paramedics came to see me. We talked a lot. The first time you come across a scene like that is a horror. If you aren’t ready for it, it’ll mess you up. I went down the drain in a haze of booze and drugs.
I had a bad case of PTSD. Every time I closed my eyes, that kid was there. In his eyes was the plea don’t let me die and there was nothing I could do.
Six months later I was in rehab.
I worked with a shrink. For another six months. I haven’t had a drink or drug since.
The nightmares are rare now. I learned how fragile and precious life is and, how quickly that can change in a matter of seconds.
How did Amazon fail in China?
Thanks for the A2A.
Answer: The Chinese market and regulations were vastly different. Amazon’s business operations worldwide were essentially stripped downed clones of their American operations. In the early days (early 2000s), Amazon China either didn’t have the authority, or simply arrogance prevented them to adapt-and-improve to the local reality. By the time Amazon China wanted to adapt-and-improve in the early 2010s, it was already too late. AWS is a different case, thou.
Just give an example:
Amazon and eBay arrived on China’s e-commerce scene in its formative years in the early 2000s. Amazon and eBay started off with absolute dominance. However, in the early 2000s, e-commerce in China was tiny, especially outside B2B. One common obstacle was the lack of credit cards. Buyers had to submit payments via wire transfers from their nearest post offices. In case of a fraud, it was nearly impossible to recover the losses.
Then, Alibaba/Taobao, a minor player at the time, launched Alipay, an online payment escrow service. Very soon, Taobao wiped eBay out who also happened to be in online auction business.
Why did eBay or Amazon not preempt AliPal? After all, eBay owned PayPal.
There were a whole bunch of missed opportunities for Amazon China in the following years.
China is Decoupling From the US
Damn! This is great.
If there is one video that you MUST watch from start to finish, this is it!
Carl Zha talks to @TheRedPillDiariesOfficial about how the US attempt to decouple from China has actually led to China decoupling from the US which only results in more isolation of the West from the rest of the World. US money printing and financial sanctions also led to acceleration of de-dollarization in the rest of the world.
How did you get revenge on your boss?
I was the editor for a small daily newspaper in texas. I had four reporters and a photographer on my team.
Newspapers are notorious for not paying overtime, even though it is the law in most cases.
They forced the employees to work 50–60 hours a week and to turn in a 40-hour time card, so they got paid no overtime. The bad thing was, I was the one who had to tell them to work. The only option was to work without pay or get fired, and people needed a job so they stayed.
I secretly kept meticulous records. I had each employee fill out their real hours on a time card and give it to me. I took notes of every conversation.
I eventually got fired because a story that I didn’t know about didn’t get in the paper. Should not have been that big of a deal, but I was relieved.
My first order of business was to contact the labor board in the state. I gave them all the actual hours, and copies of the time cards the employees were forced to sign. Along with notes about conversations I had.
A few weeks later the paper was fined several thousand dollars, had to pay every employee, including me, backpay with overtime. The company fired my boss as well. That was a good piece of revenge
What are things men have to go through that women either do not understand or have empathy for?
Today, I took my dog to the dog park. It’s his favorite place in the world. I sat there and was watching him run around with the other dogs.
A young girl, maybe six years old, walked up to me. She said hi and asked if I wanted to see something.
I said “sure.” There were maybe six other adults there, so I knew I was somewhat protected by witnesses. She said she could “run as fast as a velociraptor.” It was really cute. She took off about 20 yards and ran back.
I said that was really cool and asked where she learned about velociraptors. She said “school.” I thought it was nice to hear a kid talk about something they learned in school.
I asked which school she goes to. But before she could answer, I stopped her. I interrupted “never mind. Don’t answer that.” I immediately got up and walked to another bench.
I don’t think most women could understand how nervous I was for that minute. I was terrified of being labeled, had she told her adult supervisor that I asked her that question.
I think any woman would feel perfectly comfortable having a conversation like that with a six year old boy. But no man is completely safe in a situation like that.
How do I respectfully and tactfully tell someone that I can’t split the bill at a restaurant when their portion is way more than mine?
I got caught once at a dinner out with people from work. I heard one check and thought we’ll we can do the math, and I ordered according to my means. I don’t drink alcohol, and watched evryone else had a pre-dinner cocktail, then several bottles of wine with dinner, plus they each ordered dessert. So I knew what I owed plus 20% of my own tab. But the lead of tne event, a little tipsy announces “let’s divide the check 11 ways”. I took a deep breath, and said but Mary Kate, I didn’t have any cocktails or wine, or dessert. I was surprised when a waiter stepped forward and supported that he kept jote that I had NOT had any of those extras. So therexwas silence and eye rolling, but I gave my amount including tip. Then they equally divided the rest. I saved myself 65.00. Tvwas awkward but I offered some folks rides home for free. I was never invited to another girls night out, but others did approach me at work quietly saying they didn’t drink more than one cocktail and felt stuck paying the big excess. So for the rest of my life I Che k before going out, how are we splitting the bill tonight? Then I can decline in advance. I’m not cheap, but careful with my money I work hard for, and when the money is to cover everyone else’s booze, no thanks.
UK Rail Thoughts
Expensive high speed railway farce of UK shows it isn’t a competitor to China
In the 19th century, Britain was the nation which invented the railway. The landmark invention of the steam engine, known as “Stephenson’s Rocket,” was a creation which revolutionized the world and became a pinnacle of building the modern, industrialized world, connecting nations and enabling trade like never before. It was through the genius of this innovation that Britain excelled against its competitors and established itself as a global empire, a scientific, technological and military giant which allowed it to dominate and subjugate countless countries, including China.
Yet, Britain today pales in comparison to its historical achievements, as it struggles to even muster the organization, funding and political will to build a second high speed railway. This project, known as High Speed 2 (HS2), has proven to be one of the most controversial, politically contested and expensive infrastructure projects in British history, with a report from Channel 4 stating its costs could spiral upward to 108 billion pounds ($131.6 billion). The railway was designed to connect Britain’s largest two cities, London and Birmingham, cutting transportation time to just an hour, but it was also envisioned to extend to other major cities including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh, connecting all the economic centres of the country.
That isn’t happening. As the costs of construction continue to grow, and as the date of completion continues to get pushed back, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has lost the political will to pursue it and decided to effectively scrap the northern link, instead proposing to shoehorn the trains onto existing lines.
There are several factors which have contributed to this scaling back, but all are the government’s fault. This includes disastrous policy choices including full-throttle escalation of the war in Ukraine, which the government has devoted billions to, and the subsequent onslaught of inflation and economic stagnation, mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also more subtly, the government’s decision to, at the behest of the US, pursue an antagonistic foreign policy toward China against its national interests.
How are China and HS2 linked? First of all, at the end of 2019, the Boris Johnson government proposed to the press that China Railway Corp be used as the contractor for HS2. This was the most effective, reliable and cheapest option available. Not only would the project have been completed far earlier, but it would have also been far less expensive. The following year, Britain reset its foreign policy on China at the influence of the US, and the whole thing went out the window. With that policy shift, Britain began effectively sabotaging its own infrastructure development to suit US preferences. The costs of Britain banning Huawei from its 5G network, to take just one example, have been astronomical.
China’s high speed railway record speaks for itself. Meanwhile, Britain is struggling to connect just two major cities just 117 miles (188 kilometres) apart, China has built a comprehensive high speed railway network within the scope of just 15 years, which as of 2022, spans 42,000 kilometres and is still growing. It is possible to travel across the entire country in just seven hours from Shenzhen to Beijing. In 25 years, Britain has only managed to complete one high speed network (HS1), which is in fact a transnational route which goes to France, the Netherlands and Belgium, making it a joint collaboration rather than a distinctly “British” achievement.
The fundamental reason behind Britain’s failure to move ahead with high speed railway is that its infrastructure is a series of privately owned, for-profit franchises, without any subsidies, which substantially drives up the costs and also limits investment in the infrastructure simultaneously. Even without considering the High Speed Rail, the quality of British railways is astonishingly poor and behind most of its European counterparts. This model has also been bad for the workers, which has led to routine industrial action and strikes throughout the year of 2022-23, making services unreliable. This contrasts sharply to China’s state-led model of development which is superior to the British railway system in every single way.
This makes the comparison ironic given that Britain sees China as a “competitor” and a “threat to its economic security.” Britain is a stagnating, declining country while China is the world’s second largest economy, and rather than learning from China’s development successes and courting Chinese investment, the UK has made the bizarre choice to “cut its nose off to spite its face” and antagonise Beijing to suit US interests.
But what have they got to show for it? The answer is a single high speed rail route spanning into the cost of more than 100 billion pounds which has taken decades to build and has to be scaled back from its original plans. This is the country which invented the railway, but now finds itself falling behind at an alarming rate. This means shunning Chinese companies was one of the most expensive and short-sighted decisions taken by politicians in recent years, among many other things.
Saudi Arabia Rejects US, Gives $70 Billion Order To China!
“I like watching the US suffer it’s like seeing a bully get punished, it’s amazing.”
What was the most British thing anyone ever said?
My wife and I were walking with our youngest over the old bridge between Lichfield Cathedral and the market place. A lovely spring day. I’m British, my wife isn’t.
A young man came dashing past the end of the bridge, a police officer in hot pursuit. They both vanished from view rapidly.
We stopped to read the information board about the historic bridge. A few minutes later, the suspect and the copper came walking back, a little out of breath. We overheard their conversation.
Copper: “Sorry for running after you like that, mate. But you were running away.”
Suspect: “Yeah, sorry about that, mate. I shouldn’t have run, but I didn’t want to get caught.”
My wife stood open-jawed. I didn’t quite see why it was so unusual. I mean, just because they’re trying to arrest you doesn’t mean police officers should be rude or unsympathetic. Just because they may have done something the law may forbid doesn’t mean someone has to be abusive.
We continued to eavesdrop.
Copper, leading suspect to a park bench, where they both sat down, “Are you ready to give me your name and address, or do you want a bit of a breather first?”
Suspect, “You don’t have a cigarette, do you?”
Copper, pulling a packet of fags from his breast pocket and handing it to the suspect, “Here you go.”
As he lit the man’s cigarette, the police van arrived. Copper: “Just finish your smoke and we’ll finish the details at the station.”
I told my wife there was a good chance the cop didnt smoke, but kept a handy packet to help put people at ease.
She’s told friends and family in several countries about that. It is, she says, absolutely the most British thing she’s witnessed: a cop apologising for arresting someone who apologised for trying to run away.
If this story has failed to entertain or amuse, all I can say is sorry. And what could be more British than that?
What are the biggest lessons you have learned in the corporate world?
Going Anonymous, because most of my colleagues are my followers and vice-versa.
I’m a male professional. I have had only 2+ years of experience in one of the fortune 500 companies.
Sharing my top 6 learning so far, being honest:)
1. To ensure that your peers, immediate supervisor, or your manager don’t take your effort and time for granted.
2. I have learnt to document, I mean, putting everything on emails, which is a must!! Trust, team work, and other fancy words come next. This is one of the most important lessons I have learnt, after many betrayals from my peers.
3. Don’t expect your supervisor or lead to talk for you, say for example: nominating you for awards or acknowledging your efforts in front of the team. Instead, if you really expect awards,remember you have tongue!
4. I have good relationship with many female co-workers. But, if something goes wrong, say for example an argument regarding work or something. If they want to take it further and make your life miserable, you’ll be the victim for sure, trust me.
5. Whenever I have had discussions with my manager, I have gotten very angry because of her bad review comments. FYI, I have not received any negating feedback from the stakeholders (Also, not any appreciation) . But, after each discussion, I have worked on my skills and added them to my resume. Remember, at last, only that matters is what is in it for you and am hoping to get a new job with a good hike.
6. Don’t show that you badly want to be in the job, although you have debts to pay, pretend to be confident. Otherwise, you’ll end up doing loads of work, which you are not supposed to do.
Rich Men North Of Richmond [ @TheMarineRapper Remix]
Nice remix.
UKRAINE SOLD WEAPONS TO HAMAS – USED AGAINST ISRAEL
During the intense fighting which broke out yesterday between HAMAS and Israel, astonishing things took place. Despite the most advanced intelligence and surveillance systems in the world, Palestinians allegedly broke through into Israel — somehow un-noticed by all the surveillance gear.
One Israeli Border Guard told me “Our systems could see if a Bird was flying-in; yet authorities would have us believe they couldn’t see dozens of Palestinians on motorized para-gliders in the air? It’s simply not possible. They let this happen on purpose.”
Another Israeli told me “MOSSAD knows when these people, HAMAS, take a dump in the bathroom, yet we’re supposed to believe MOSSAD had no idea this gigantic operation was being planned?”
Israel has the best intelligence on its neighbors of any nation on earth. Israel has lots of “assets” embedded in these various “terrorist” organizations, as well as SIGINT (including U.S. satellite data) which allows Israel to always have a finger on the pulse of these organizations.
There is no way in hell that a coordinated, major attack involving about 1,000 Hamas fighters, sea-based/ land-based/ aerial attacks could have been planned, coordinated, and executed without Israeli intelligence getting wind of it. 0% chance.
Others had similar statements of anger and disbelief. One IDF soldier who saw Palestinians use a Drone to destroy an Israeli Merkava Tank said “Where did the Palestinians get drones with armor-piercing explosives? That technology is being used in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. How did it suddenly appear here, in Israel?”
Other IDF soldiers pointed to Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) being used against Israeli Security Forces. He said “These are weapons being seen on the Ukraine battlefields, how did they get into the Gaza Strip?”
Then, in the midst of the fighting, this video came out: HAMAS thanking Ukraine for selling them weapons to be used against Israel:
The most raging questions had to do with alleged “electronic jamming” that was said to have taken place as the Palestinians with para-gliders flew across the border into Israel. According to numerous sources on both sides, “electronic warfare” technology was allegedly used to jam Israeli radar and other surveillance gear. Said one Israeli “Only the Russians have gear to carry out such effective jamming – how did the Palestinians get it?”
That seems to be the most burning question right now since videos are also out showing armed Palestinian fighters para-glding into a massive “RAVE” party inside Israel:
The answers all see to point to yesterday’s outbreak of violence as “payback” to Israel, from Russia, over Israel’s support of Ukraine, and over Israel’s supplying of weapons and technology to Azerbaijan, which used it against Armenia again over the past two weeks, to seize Nagorno-Karaback and send 100,000 Armenians fleeing for their lives.
If this conclusion about Russia is correct, then one might ask, how much farther all this fighting in Israel may go? Will Israel still exist when this is over? Maybe. Maybe not.
One official with whom I spoke overnight told me “Israel is suffering from Desertification of its land; the ground water table is receding 25 meters a year and soon, there won’t be enough arable land to support the continued existence of Israel. But . . . quite coincidentally . . . there is now rich, arable land, in the center of Europe, where half its population has either fled or been killed, that would suit a relocation of Israel: Ukraine. Maybe they’ll all move there.”
Gee. What a coincidence.
As for those asking “Why are the Palestinians so violent towards Israel?” the answer has been on maps for years, right in front of everyone’s eyes. Below is the reality from the time “Israel” was created in 1949, until today. The White areas are “Israel” and the Green are “Palestinian.” Look at what has happened to the Palestinians in their own land, since 1949:
The Palestinians have been systematically purged from their land, their homes, and their freedom. THAT is the root of this hatred. It’s not going away.
They never show you this map on the news. That’s because it provides the crucial context necessary to anyone wanting to understand the Israel/Palestine situation.
How do I become very successful in my early twenties?
A young man with mental health problems just walked into the coffee shop while I was writing on Quora.
He’s strong and looks normal, but he can’t stop talking to himself.
He’s talking continuously to himself, and every few steps he takes, he does a quick ‘Michael-Jackson-turn’ and then continues walking forward.
Witnessing this individual with no self control helped me not only to feel grateful but also helped give me the answer to this question.
I have written several times about my own mind-battles. I’ve always struggled with ADD and possibly dyslexia. The consequences of this “lack of brain control” made me a terrible student academically.
Failing classes at school killed my self-confidence. These struggles shaped my childhood.
So, where am I going with all of this?
There’s a hidden secret to success, but it demands an open mind to understand it and humility to implement it.
So, to answer your question, how can you become very successful in your early twenties?
I could answer this with a huge list of “best practices,” but as I’ve learned NONE of those work if you don’t first master yourself.
What do I mean?
Some examples:
- Are YOU in control of yourself, or are your fears controlling you?
- Are YOU in control of your life, or is your need to please other people controlling you?
- Do you know your strengths and your weaknesses, or are you hiding and ignoring your weaknesses with distractions or numbing addictions?
- Do you struggle with depression, anxieties or other emotional issues?
But hold on!
Remember what I said before?
“There’s a hidden secret to success which demands an OPEN mind to understand, and HUMILITY to implement it.”
Open: Learn to listen!
Humility: Stop hiding and being defensive!
That’s the fastest road to success!
It wasn’t until I stopped running and hiding who I really was that change started to happen in my life. Over the years, I had developed the strength to fit into this competitive world, but I was fooling myself, not everyone else.
Maturing and accepting who I was, and starting to work on those strengths and weaknesses is when I started to grow to my fullest potential!
There’s still a long journey ahead…
Whether we recognize it or not, we’re all imperfect human beings. There’s NO person on earth who doesn’t struggle with some kind of mental/emotional issue.
Well, excuse me… except you!
If you are or feel “perfect,” go on and keep doing what you’re doing… good luck!
For those of us who have been humbled by the battlefield of life, this is your way to success:
Self-Awareness is your best friend!
Like a wild horse — you may be the fastest “horse” in the world, but if you are not ‘tamed’ you will NEVER win the race!
The Uncomfortable Study That Ended Affirmative Action | 𝘋𝘳. 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸
Interesting stuff. I remember reading a few years ago about some other work this professor was involved in. It had to do with the etymological implications of contemporary media figures and their pseudonyms, and ended up concluding that Destiny was a woman’s name.
How would a 1950s-style American cheeseburger and fries stand up to todays? Were the milkshakes real back then?
My Father, Grandfather and Uncle were partners in a restaurant business in the 1950–70’s. This was before fast food existed. My grandfather had started teaching me how to cook when I was 4-5 years old. This is around 1960. When I was 10, I started going there on Sunday and did some bits of work. A year or two later I was working there evenings and weekends, peeling potatoes and making fries, food prep, waiting tables, washing dishes and floors.
I learned how to make milkshakes and all the desserts. Milkshakes were one scoop of ice cream, fill to the line in the metal cup with homogenized milk (no 2% in those days) and two squirts of syrup. The ice cream flavor and the syrup matched the flavor the customer ordered. We had Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla and that was typical of the selection in those days. The contents of the metal cup was usually larger than the glass that we served it in, so after we filled the glass, we took both the glass and the remaining in the metal cup to the customer’s table.
I also cooked and ate hamburgers regularly. My father ground the meat and he put some seasoning and egg into the mixture. When he was done, we manually made balls of meat, flattened them into hamburger size and put them in a stack, first a burger, then a small sheet of wax paper. I think the size was about 7 inches diameter and 1/4 inch thick. These would shrink when cooked to about 5 inches diameter and 1/2 inch thick. We put these stacks of burgers in the freezer. Each time someone ordered a burger, we would take one out and fry it up. The buns were simple buns like hamburger buns you’d buy at the grocers. I think the meat tasted much better than any fast food we have today. It tasted like a hamburger you’d buy in a good restaurant, you could taste the meat. The cheese was also real cheese, not the processed stuff you have today. It came with a slice of onion and tomato, 2 slices of real bacon was extra. Condiments were mustard, relish and ketchup.
Historically, what are some of the strangest and most absurd military plans that actually worked?
I think this has got to be the story of the Dutch minesweeper HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen. It was 1941, when the Japanese suddenly attacked Dutch East Indies, as well as other colonies in southeast Asia. The minesweeper found itself suddenly in danger of the sophisticated Japanese aircraft and patrolling ships.
The remaining Dutch Navy was ordered to link up with the Australian navy, but Abraham Crijnssen was stuck all alone in Indonesia, armed with a single 76mm gun turret and two 20mm auto cannons. It had no chance to fight off really anything. So the crew decided to camouflage the entire ship, as an island. They cut down a bunch of jungle foliage, and painted what they couldn’t cover as sand or rock.
They only sailed at night, because during the day, the water ripples would have been visible from the air. During the day they simply anchored close to shore appearing as a small island – one of many along the Indonesian shore.
She arrived in Australia in March 1942, without being detected by the Japanese.
Iran President warns Israel against warmongering
October 8, 2023 – 23:24
TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned the Israeli regime against making warmongering steps, saying that equations in the region have changed.
President Raisi also spoke over the phone with Esmail Haniyeh, the chief of Hamas political bureau, and Ziyad Nakhala, the secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad Movement.
The Iranian president also issued a message on the situation in Palestine. He welcomed the Palestinian operation against the Zionist regime of Israel, saying that the operation frightened and startled the world of oppression.
He said the Palestinians took the initiative and showed that the steely determination prevails over all kinds of weaponry.
The Iranian president underlined that the Islamic Republic of Iran invites all the world to observe the truth that the accumulation of oppression and injustice against the Palestinian people, the continuation of insults to the women and prisoners, and sacrilege to Al-Aqsa Mosque cannot last forever and will be met with resistance by nations.
“Undoubtedly, the Zionist regime and its supporters are responsible for endangering the security of the nations of the region and must be held accountable. The Islamic Republic defends the legitimate defense of the Palestinian nation,” he said, according to IRNA.
Raisi asserted, “The honor of the nations is not obtained in reconciliation with oppression; And it is impossible to normalize the captivity of the free nation of Palestine.”
President Raisi also asked the Muslim governments to join the Islamic Ummah in supporting the Palestinian nation honestly.
Underlining that belligerence is detrimental to the Zionists, Raisi warned, “The Zionist enemy should also know that the equation has changed; Warmongering is detrimental to the Zionists. The Palestinian nation is the winner of this field.”
Palestinian attack turned the collapse nightmare into certainty: General
A senior Iranian general has said that the Saturday attack by Palestinian resistance groups against Israel turned the nightmare of collapse of Israel into a reality for the leaders of the Israeli regime.
In a message about the Palestinian attack, General Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of joint staff of Iran’s armed forces, said, “Al-Aqsa Storm turned the nightmare of collapse of the Zionist regime into a certainty for the leaders of this regime, and proved that some desperate efforts like the normalization charade will not be able to slow down or postpone the process of the decline and collapse of the spider web.”
General Bagheri was referring the Palestinian attack, code-named Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, which caught the Israeli regime off guard.
The Iranian general described the operation as “hybrid and proud” that took down the false redoubtable image and power of the occupying regime of Israel.
“The Palestinian resistance fighters, in this surprise operation that they prepared from the air, sea and land against the positions of the Zionist army, brought to the fore brilliant scenes of the resistance and standing of a suffering and oppressed nation,” General Bagheri said in the message.
He added, “A nation that, after several decades of imposed oppression, now with the support of the young motivated generation relying on Islam and under the shadow of trust in the divine promise, has achieved such a power that it has astonished the analysts and military strategists of the world.”
He pointed out that at some point, the defenseless nation of Palestine used to defend themselves with stones, but today they reached a point where they are able to pull off complex hybrid operations using thousands of rockets and missiles to denigrate the Israeli missile defense system Iron Dome.
“These defense weapons, when combined with the spirit of martyrdom of motivated Palestinian youth, produce such a power that it brings the Zionist regime to a collapse like a devastating deluge,” the Iranian general said.
He said, “The stormy movement of the Al-Aqsa Storm is the product of the holy anger that the Zionist enemy has planted in the oppressed Palestinian nation and must now reap.”
General Bagheri congratulated the Palestinian resistance fighters on their “proud victory,” expressing hope that the Al-Aqsa Mosque will soon be liberated from Israeli captivity.
“It is a divine promise that oppression won’t last long and the will of the oppressed people of Palestine will defeat the oppressors,” he concluded.
“Spontaneous” move.
Iran has said that the Palestinian operation against Israel is a “spontaneous” move.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani reacted to the current developments in occupied Palestine and the attack by the Palestinian resistance groups against the Zionist occupiers, saying Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was a spontaneous move by the resistance groups and the oppressed Palestinian people in defense of their inalienable and undeniable rights.
He added that the operation was the Palestinians’ natural reaction to the war-mongering, provocative and incendiary policies of the Zionists, especially the usurping regime’s extremist and adventurous prime minister, according to a statement by the Iranian foreign ministry.
Kanaani said the oppressed Palestinian people’s inalienable right to defend themselves, their land and their sanctities against occupation, aggression, daily violations and organized terror on part of the Zionist regime is a natural and legitimate right in line with all recognized international standards and the fundamental principles of international law.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman added that on the one hand, the continuation of the desecration of Islam’s holy sites and the first Qibla of Muslims by extremist and racist Zionists in recent months and weeks, and the persistence of the Zionist regime’s policy of killing, committing crimes and doing acts of aggression against the oppressed Palestinian people, especially women, children and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails amid the silence and inaction of the international community and the fake human rights defenders have left the Palestinian nation and resistance no way but to resist and rely on their inherent strength in the face of the Zionists.
Kanani noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms the inherent and legal right of Palestinians to defend themselves vis-à-vis the crimes of the usurpers of Palestine that have been going on for 75 years. He said Iran also holds the Zionist occupiers and its supporters responsible for the continuation and escalation of violence and atrocities against the Palestinians. He underlined that Iran calls on Muslim countries to support al-Aqsa Mosque and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
Small portion of Resistance Power
Ali Akbar Velayati, the secretary general of the global assembly of Islamic awakening, has reacted to the Palestinian operation against Israel, saying that the operation showed only small portion of the power accumulated by the Resistance Axis.
In a message to Esmail Haniyeh, the chief of Hamas political bureau, and Ziyad Nakhala, the secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Velayati hailed the Palestinian operation against the military positions of the Israeli regime.
He said that the photos coming out of the operation showed a great conquest that startled and astonished the enemies and stratified Muslims all over the world, especially in the West Asia region.
“The era of domination and tyranny of the Zionist terrorist regime is over and what is happening today in the occupied territories is a small manifestation of the accumulated power and authority of the Islamic Resistance Front in Palestine,” Velayati said.
He added, “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, which is a response to the ongoing crimes of the Zionist regime in the occupied territories, will definitely fundamentally change the balance of power in the occupied Palestine and will put the Zionist regime in a more vulnerable position.”
He noted, “This victorious operation, which will definitely facilitate and accelerate the collapse of the Zionist regime, promises the impending destruction of the Zionist regime.”
Velayati also said that “this great and strategic victory is a serious warning” to all those who seek to normalize relations with Israel.
Iran FM speaks with Turkish counterpart
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian spoke with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, about the situation in Palestine.
The reviewed the situation in Palestine and underlined the importance of respecting the rights of the Palestinian people.
In this call, Amir Abdollahian called the resistance movement spontaneous and the result of the continuous crimes of the Zionist regime against Palestine, according to a separate statement by the Iranian foreign ministry.
The Iranian foreign ministry emphasized the necessity of solidarity and cohesion of Islamic countries in supporting the Holy Quds and supporting the oppressed and resistant Palestinian nation.
New rules for war
A member of the Political Council of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement hailed the Palestinian forces’ recent military operation against Israel as a monumental milestone that has defined new regulations on the struggle with the Israeli enemy.
In an interview with Tasnim, Mahmoud Qamati paid tribute to the Hamas fighters for their bravery after launching the Al-Aqsa Storm operation against the Zionist regime outside the Gaza Strip.
“Today, we are witnessing a new chapter, a qualitative leap, a military upheaval, and a change in the war patterns and in the rules of military battle against the Zionist enemy,” he said.
Hailing the Palestinian resistance forces for “stabilizing their military power” by infiltrating into the Zionist settlements and the areas occupied by the Israeli regime, Qamati said the major development has marked a new, monumental and historical model in the history of confrontation with the Zionist enemy.
The Zionist regime’s army is neither capable of defense nor offense, is absent in the battlefield, and has practically fallen into a state of passiveness, the Hezbollah official stated, noting that the Zionist settlers are in panic because there is no army to take care of them.
Qamati also said the unprecedented surprise operation by the Palestinian forces has dealt a crushing blow not only to Israel, but also to the United States and the West, the staunch supporters of the Zionist regime.
Why don’t Chinese people use chopsticks made of steel? It would save lots of trees. Are there forks, knives, and spoons in China?
What’s this 1942?
Today less than 6% Chopsticks in China are made of wood and bamboo
Plastic Chopsticks are most commonly used and form around 53% of Chopsticks used in China
Stainless Steel Chopsticks come next. Around 24% of Chopsticks in China are Stainless Steel
Porcelain Chopsticks are typically used in Chinese Homes and upscale restaurants and form around 17% of the Chopsticks used in China
‘Others’ count for a mere 6% and that includes Wood, Bamboo, Jade and a variety of other materials
Another fun fact
Almost 70% Wooden Chopsticks made in China are EXPORTED
Guess who uses them?
J A P A N
Japanese use almost 37% wooden Chopsticks
Texas Tra$h
Yield: 9 cups
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons seasoned salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups Rice Chex
- 2 cups Wheat Chex
- 4 ounces shoestring potatoes
- 2 cups pretzel sticks
- 1 cup salted nuts
Instructions
- Combine butter, Worcestershire sauce, salt and garlic powder. Blend well in skillet.
- Add remaining ingredients.
- Put into a baking dish.
- Bake at 250 degrees F for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Col Douglas Macgregor – “Their Army Is No More!…”
What major mistake did the Confederates make to lose the war?
The Union made a number of unforced errors that drastically prolonged the war and still won anyway. The Confederacy did surprisingly well and still lost anyway. That should tell you everything you need to know.
Seriously, no bullshit, the South had no path to victory from the start. An impoverished, agrarian nation with poor logistics declaring war on a far more industrialized, cohesive nation just starting to come into its own as an industrial power? Here’s your sign.
From the South’s perspective, the only winning move was not to play. The moment they commenced hostilities (and boy, the way they commenced hostilities was a barrel full of stupid), the end was preordained. They had this weird idea that Europe, who they believe could not survive without their textiles, would intervene on their behalf, and that’s a miscalculation you could write entire books about.
Turns out the English hated slavery more than they loved cheap cotton, much to the surprise of folks who basically made white supremacy into their equivalent of a state religion, and without a patron it wasn’t whether the South would lose, but when.
All of this should have been obvious. But like one of my high school teachers said, though he didn’t put it quite this succinctly: Slavery makes you lazy, and racism makes you stupid. (He contended that laziness and stupidity, directly traceable to the institution of chattel slavery, still persist in the South to this day.)
Americans get poorer as Washington throws cash at Ukraine and migrants
US families are undergoing a third-straight year of falling income, but politicians think taxpayer money is better spent elsewhere
As Uncle Sam continues to pump billions of dollars into Kiev’s flagging fight against Russia and provide tempting handouts to illegal migrants, why is the average American worker forced to live paycheck to paycheck?
Here’s a question that most people have considered at least once in their lives, and probably a lot recently: How much annual income would you need to feel financially secure? For the average American, the magic number comes out to be $233,000 a year, according to a survey by Bankrate.
To bring the ’99 percent’ back down to Earth, the US Census Bureau released some sobering data that dashed those elusive six-digit dreams. Inflation-adjusted median household income fell to $74,580 in 2022 – a 2.3% decline from the 2021 average of $76,330. This marks the third-straight annual decrease since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, taking a wrecking ball to the heart of the economy.
The bad news doesn’t end there for US consumers, who are now struggling with the consequences of a foreign conflict in a distant land and a wide-open border. Those factors have prompted the cost of living to surge higher than it has in over four decades amid runaway inflation. In June 2022, the year-over-year inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, hit a jaw-dropping 9.1%, the highest it’s been since the administration of former President Ronald Reagan.
A significant reason for the increase in inflation happened on March 3, 2022, when President Joe Biden signed an executive order to ban the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal to the US. This decision has had disastrous results for the local economy. Since Biden’s inauguration, the cost of gasoline alone had jumped at one point by 100% (as of September 27, the average price of regular gas was $3.832 per gallon, according to the AAA , while gas prices were an average of $2.3 per gallon when Biden entered office), forcing just about everything else to skyrocket, including the number of poor people.
The poverty rate in the US exploded last year, the first increase in 13 years, according to the Census Bureau. In 2022, the rate was 12.4%, up 4.6 percentage points from 2021, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), a method for tallying government welfare programs and tax credits designed to assist low-income families.
Meanwhile, the Expectations Index, determined by consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, sunk to 73.7 in September. That follows a drop to 83.3 in August. The worrisome part is that an Expectations Index below 80 generally indicates an impending recession.
An economic tragedy is already quietly happening for millions of American consumers who are now living paycheck to paycheck precariously and who have been forced to use the payment method of last resort to make ends meet: the almighty credit card, with its exorbitant interest fees. On this score, the US economy has broken yet another record, although not in a way that could be considered something to cheer about.
“US credit card debt rose by $45 billion to $1.03 trillion in the second quarter from the first quarter, a 4.6% quarterly increase,” The Street reported . “It’s the first time in US history that household credit card balances topped the $1 trillion mark as the number of credit card accounts expanded by 5.48 million to 578.35 million in the quarter.” When consumer debt suddenly equals the amount the US spends on its military-industrial complex, you know there’s a problem.
Clearly, the US has some serious domestic issues that need to be resolved, but instead, it would rather fund a totally senseless proxy war against a nuclear power halfway around the world.
Washington has given Ukraine close to $100 billion in aid, with more in the pipeline, since Moscow launched its military operation in February 2022. The cash, however, has not only been used to fund Ukraine’s military. Billions of dollars have subsidized participants of the Ukrainian economy, like farmers and small business owners, market players whose counterparts in the US desperately need help, too. A recent study conducted by the Council on Foreign Relations shows that more than $30 billion – around 40% of total US aid to Ukraine as of July 31 – has been financial or humanitarian assistance that is not directly connected to military support. Military funding comes out to around $50 billion.
As if that were not enough, the Biden administration continues to welcome illegal migrants at a price that is more than what is being spent fighting a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. Yes, you read that right; the annual cost of providing care for the millions of illegal migrants entering the US is $150.7 billion, according to the Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers (FAIR).
In August, US Border Patrol recorded 232,972 migrant encounters along the southwestern border, a jump from 183,494 in July. The number of crossings for September is predicted to be higher than the previous month.
So here we have two concurrent events – a disastrous military conflict in Ukraine and a leaky US border – that are sucking away precious funds from the American taxpayer. It’s important to note that the king’s ransom that is being handed over to support these deranged Democratic agendas will never be returned, not in our lifetime. Instead, it will just be added to the unsustainable US national debt load, which is currently at $33 trillion, according to the US Debt Clock . That is an astronomical sum of money that we or future generations will someday be forced to deal with, and probably sooner rather than later.
What American citizen could possibly believe that any of this government funding has been a good investment for the American people? Well, they’re representatives in Washington, DC, for one. In May, ‘conservative’ US Senator Lindsey Graham, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev, pronounced joyfully that “the Russians are dying” and aid to Ukraine is “the best money we’ve ever spent.” Aside from discounting the chances that such an “investment” could have towards unleashing World War III, Graham never thought for a second that such funds could have gone far at rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure, like that non-existent wall on the US-Mexico border. It would have been a wonderful work program for the US economy.
In short, it’s just another day in the discombobulated American empire, which, much like its ancient Roman precursor, could learn the lesson of overexpansion and overspending in the most brutal way imaginable – with its total and complete dissolution.
Great intro, thank you!
Poor old Frisky. They did the same thing to a beautiful Irish Red Setter, Amber, my grandparents raised from a puppy. Big as a horse! (Well, almost! To me he was) He was about ten and full of energy, jumped up onto a neighbor looking for a treat one day, scared her to bits, but he was a gentle giant and everyone knew that, and my father used that as an excuse to “take him to the farm”, too, as my grandfather had passed and the family were too lazy to look after him– or just didn’t care. Granny was upset, too. I’ll never forget him howling as they drove him off in the car, pleading eyes fixed on me through the window. I cried for a week, and never forgave my father for doing that to a magnificent, highly intelligent creature in his prime. And a loyal friend to me. I know my grandfather would have socked him one if he’d tried that before he died, but they waited ’til he passed. Saw a callous streak to my father that day I never forgot. And he knew it because the unfortunate Amber became a focus of his carefully hidden resentment of my maternal grandparents– which he knew I’d spotted earlier, too. Poor old Amber became a lever to hurt someone else under the pretext of a “charitable act”. I got revenge just b4 it was his turn to shuffle off, though. Years later. And it was a cold dish, served just at the right time. Another story entirely.
Guess the callousness was catching but at least I made a career out of it.
And held that grudge for over 30 years, and he knew it when he died,
still making excuses.
Moral of the story:
don’t hold grudges?
Hehheh, nah…
The moral is, be careful what you do around your children. They’re nowhere near as stupid as many “adults” seem to think. And some of them have pretty sharp memories.
So RIP Amber and Frisky, hope the next trip was a better one.
And go to hell anyone who’d hurt them for their own convenience.
Feel your pain, Metallicman,
🖖