When I was young, and throughout elementary school, I eventually learned to stop playing board games with my sister.
Oh, do not misunderstand. I enjoyed playing board games. We had a number of games from Life, to Candyland, to Checkers, to Chutes and ladders. Lots and lots of board games.
But the thing was that my sister could not EVER accept losing.
We would spend an hour playing a game, and near the end when it appeared that I, or anyone else would win, she would grab the board and throw it into the air, tossing all the pieces everywhere.
And so, you might argue that she was a “sore loser”.
I disagree.
What was actually happening was that SHE NEVER really experienced a loss, and could not handle what it was like to lose.
Later on when she got older, this continued way into her first marriage.
…
From my point of view it was difficult.
If you only play games with people who flip-the-board when they seem to be losing, you never win.
For a while, and I do mean a LONG while, I went without winning any games. I would either lose a game or I would experience a board flip event.
You know, it’s difficult to have and build self-confidence when all you experience is losing, or board flips.
…
I often wonder about the current crop of deep-state politicians, and Western leaders. They all seem to be cut from the same mold.; being protected from adverse conditions, living a pampered life, and thus always being immune to criticism or retribution for their errors.
Which of course, makes me fearful as they all seem completely delusional and have the power to launch nuclear weapons…
…anyways, when I would complain to my father about my sister and her propensity for toss the board-game into the air when she was losing, his response was always boilerplate. “You are the big brother. You must take it. If you don’t want that to happen, stop playing with her.”
*sigh*
Instead of addressing the root cause of the problem; a behavior aberration of my sister. He told me to adapt to her.
Well… yes. A man (as a boy) must learn to adapt to situations. But Jeeze Louise, you cannot adapt to every situation. Sometimes you have to react. And a good punch in the nose is sometimes the best action to take.
He was training me to be George McFly with a kick-me sign on his back.
A piece of paper bearing the words KICK ME was affixed to a victim's back without his or her knowledge, and usually resulted in the victim being playfully kicked — usually in the buttocks. Mark Dixon attached one such sign to George McFly's back on the morning of November 7, 1955, in between classes at Hill Valley High School. Marty and Doc witnessed Dixon and another student repeatedly kick George, who tried desperately to take the harassment in stride. It was all for naught, as the repeated kicks caused George to drop his books. Seconds later, Mr. Strickland appeared, pulled the sign from George's back, and admonished him for being a slacker.
My dad made so many mistakes.
And it retarded my natural male development.
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.
…
I hope and pray that the current crop of misfits in office won’t flip the board when things get testy, but given my very own personal experience with these kinds of people…
Today…
Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to incite fear of China vaccines – Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/
What would you do if someone pepper sprayed your dog?
My neighbor shot my father’s dog one day to “try out” his new shotgun.
The dog was on our property, doing nothing.
My father has one leg, 7 herniated disks, and a collapsed spinal cord supported by titanium rods.
He heard the shot, saw Sugarbear running and stood up from his wheelchair.
“Uhh Dad?”
He didn’t respond verbally. On his prosthetic leg he moved without his walker or even a cane, faster than I’ve ever seen ANYONE move, much less him.
I got out the backdoor just about the time he was getting to the guy holding the shotgun. Words were exchanged, I couldn’t hear them. Suddenly my father grabbed this guy by the chest with one hand and lifted him up off the ground, still holding the shotgun. He pulled him in close and said something. Then he threw him like 20 feet! He landed on his ass and the gun fell to the ground.
My father had his injuries since before I was born, I was always in awe of how smart and persistent a man he was. He was the poster-child for being level-headed, I had never even seen him yell before this day. After that day I understood what a beast of a man he could be if he wanted. I was, (and 20 years later am still) in awe of this man’s strength.
The dog lived and is fine today. (Edit: Sugarbear has passed since writing this answer. Peacefully.)
The neighbor? Pissed his pants and calls us all “Sir” now. I won’t look at or speak to him or any member of that family.
Edit: I should have put some back story. My bad.
- My father was a semi-pro body builder before he injured his back. He is an enormous man, he can easily pick up a car battery with one hand.
- I was 12 when this happened, so it probably wasn’t 20 feet, plus I was behind my father so hard to judge distance from there.
- Yeah, I probably exaggerated about how far he threw him, so what? He’s my dad! That was the coolest f***ing thing I’d ever seen!
Is the world going to let the United States get away with this, after its greatness is due to the robbery and massacre of many people in many nations around the world?
First of all, the United States is not the first imperial power to abuse and exploit other nations. Previous imperial powers include Great Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Rome. They’ve all gotten away with it until they finally lost their imperial power.
The United States will lose its imperial power, too, probably within the next 20 years.
China and Russia and BRICS are taking steps to hasten the decline of American power. The Global South is consolidating and pushing back against the United States. Their actions will undermine the supremacy of the US Dollar. A new multipolar world order will make it more difficult for America to wage illegal wars.
Foreign Girls React | The Fifth Element | First Time Watch
Fun fun fun.
Putin: The West is Pushing World “To the point of no return” – Lays out Terms for Ukraine PEACE
Vladimir Putin has issued another chilling warning to the West, saying its ‘selfishness and hypocrisy’ has led to a ‘dangerous turn of events’ and brought the world ‘close to a point of no return.
Speaking to foreign ministry officials, the Kremlin leader said: ‘Calls to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, which possesses the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons demonstrate the extreme recklessness of Western politicians.
‘They either do not understand the scale of the threat they are creating – or are simply obsessed with their own sense of impunity and exceptionalism.
‘Both can lead to tragedy.’
Putin also warned that plans by Western countries to provide Ukraine with loans using interest from Russian assets frozen abroad was theft and would not go unpunished.
‘Despite all the chicanery, theft will certainly remain theft. And it will not go unpunished,’ he said.
‘Now it is becoming obvious to all countries, companies (and) sovereign funds that their assets and reserves are far from safe in both the legal and economic sense of the word.
‘Anyone could be next in line for expropriation by the US and the West.’
Putin was speaking a day after G7 leaders agreed on an outline deal to provide $50 billion of loans for Ukraine using interest from Russian sovereign assets.
TERMS FOR PEACE IN UKRAINE
He told officials the ‘Western model’ of global security is collapsing and ‘needs to be essentially created anew’ – adding he is open to talks with everyone, including NATO.
‘All this requires us, together with our partners, with all interested countries, and there are many of them, to work out our own options for ensuring security in Eurasia, proposing them then for wider international discussion,’ he said.
‘We live on the same continent. No matter what happens, you cannot change the geography. We will have to coexist and work together one way or another.’
Putin also set out his prerequisites for peace talks with Ukraine.
‘Conditions are very simple,’ he said. ‘Ukrainian forces must be completely withdrawn from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
‘[It’s] important to note, from all territories of these regions within their administrative borders which existed upon their accession to Ukraine.
‘As soon as Kyiv says they’re ready for such decision and start the real withdrawal of forces form these regions and officially declare rejection of plans to join NATO, from our side, immediately, literally the same minute, will come an order to stop the fire and start negotiations.
‘We will do it immediately. Obviously, we will guarantee the uninterrupted and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian forces.’
UPDATE 1:08 PM EDT —
Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the territory of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions
Ukraine must not join NATO
Russia wants a neutral, non-aligned, nuclear-free status of Ukraine
All Western sanctions against the Russian Federation must be lifted
The status of Crimea and Sevastopol, DPR and LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions as regions of the Russian Federation should be recorded in international treaties
If Kiev and the West refuse the new peace proposal, further conditions will be different, Putin said.
Ukraine rejects new Russian peace proposal
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, claimed that Putin’s new initiative to settle the conflict allegedly does not contain a “real peace proposal”.
Vladimir Putin has declared that Russia is making another real peace proposal but if the West and Kiev reject it, they will be responsible for the bloodshed.
Fufu Pizza with Garlicky Pesto Sauce
Ingredients
Garlicky Pesto Sauce
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon freshly minced garlic, more or less if desired
- Fresh black pepper to taste
- Fresh lemon juice to taste
Fufu Pizza
- Pesto Sauce
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes or 1 cup fresh diced tomatoes
- 1 cup feta cheese
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 4 pita breads
- Olive oil
Instructions
Garlicky Pesto Sauce
- In a food processor, put the basil leaves and half of the olive oil, blend well.
- Stop processor, add pine nuts and blend.
- Stop processor and add cheese, remaining olive oil, black pepper, garlic and lemon juice. Puree well.
- Stop and taste. If necessary, add more garlic and pepper.
- Keep covered and refrigerated.
Fufu Pizza
- To prepare pizza, spread pesto sauce evenly over pita breads, followed with feta cheese and tomatoes.
- Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over tops of pizzas.
- Bake in a preheated 425 degrees F oven for approximately 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted and bread is hot and slightly crispy.
- Sprinkle olive oil on tops, slice and serve.
The Most Convincing Time Traveler
In The Old Days We Had “Slumlords”, But In 2024 We Have “Vanlords”
If you live in a major city, you can see them all around you. I am talking about aging vans, RVs and trailers that are parked on the side of the road for months at a time and that obviously have people living in them. There is an entire class of people that live in such conditions, and there is an entire class of “businessmen” that prey on such people. When I was growing up, there were lots of headlines about “slumlords” that were taking advantage of the poor. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a “slumlord” is “a landlord who receives unusually large profits from substandard, poorly maintained properties”. Today, we have a different sort of a problem. “Vanlords” are parking vans, RVs and trailers along the streets of the worst parts of our major cities, and they are renting them out to people that cannot afford regular homes. Sadly, we live at a time when lots and lots of people cannot afford regular homes because homelessness is absolutely exploding all over the nation. In some areas there have been efforts to crack down on the “vanlords”, but when things get too hot in one area they just move somewhere else. As long as there are vast hordes of homeless Americans that are deeply suffering, there will be “vanlords” that are eager to take advantage of them.
Matt Feely just authored a very interesting piece about this phenomenon. He says that things are particularly bad in the poorest sections of Oakland…
The most familiar and ominous form of homelessness in Oakland, however, has become the vehicle encampment. A few small clusters of vehicles have gathered in my North Oakland neighbourhood, lines of dirty campers and battered cars seeking shade under an elevated freeway, but poor East Oakland has it the worst. There, such encampments have taken over long stretches of busy street, visiting already-distressed neighbourhoods with huge living sculptures of ugliness and disorder — cars filled with clothes and junk; hulking RVs parked for months at a time, drug and sex deals conducted streetside; trash gathering around and between the vehicles, and lots of new crime. Recently, the city had to replace traffic lights at an East Oakland intersection with stop signs, because people, presumably from the vehicle encampment close by, were constantly stealing the cables to sell the copper wire inside.
All over the country, this is how vast numbers of people are living now.
Unfortunately, most of the people that are living in RVs don’t even own them. Instead, most of them are owned by the “vanlords”…
But the people in those RVs don’t own them. They rent them, from people who’ve come to be called “vanlords”. These energetic businesspeople buy up old trailers and RVs and either drive or tow them to unfortunate neighbourhoods in cities like Oakland. There they enter into informal rental agreements with homeless people.
This is also happening on a very large scale in southern California.
In fact, it is being estimated that the number of people living in RVs in Los Angeles County actually increased by 31 percent from 2020 to 2023…
The number of people living in RVs across L.A. County has jumped 31% from 2020 to 2023, according to the annual homeless counts.
About 11,500 people are estimated to live in roughly 6,800 RVs.
With each passing day, more impoverished people are being forced out into the streets.
And with each passing day, more formerly middle class Americans are joining the ranks of the poor.
Our standard of living has declined so much that we have reached a point where even most middle class Americans are struggling financially…
A majority of middle-class Americans are experiencing financial hardship that they expect will continue for the rest of their lives, according to a new poll.
Findings published by the National True Cost of Living Coalition show that 65% of Americans whose incomes are 200% above the national poverty line – which is about $62,300 for a family of four, often considered middle class – said they are struggling financially.
In many cases, a single accident or a single bad break is enough to push someone over the edge.
The vast majority of us are just barely scraping by from month to month, and that is because the cost of living has been rising much faster than paychecks have…
The typical U.S. household needed to pay $227 more a month in March to purchase the same goods and services it did one year ago because of still-high inflation. Americans are paying on average $784 more each month compared with the same time two years ago and $1,069 more compared with three years ago.
If you are still doing well, please don’t look down on those that are hurting.
Many of them were once just like you.
Sadly, many more Americans will be dumped out into the streets soon as economic conditions continue to deteriorate.
This week, we learned that initial claims for unemployment benefits have hit the highest level in 10 months…
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week unexpectedly jumped to the highest level in 10 months, the latest sign that the labor market is starting to cool in the face of high interest rates.
Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department show initial claims for the week ending June 8 increased by 13,000 to 242,000, above the 2019 pre-pandemic average of 218,000 claims. It marks the highest level for jobless claims since August 2023.
Continuing claims, filed by Americans who are consecutively receiving unemployment benefits, also rose to 1.82 million for the week ended June 1, an increase of 30,000 from the previous week.
Virtually all of the economic numbers that we have been getting lately tell us that the economy is rapidly heading in the wrong direction.
So if you think that things are bad now, just wait until you see what is coming.
Personally, I fully expect conditions to get steadily worse throughout the rest of 2024.
All of the “vanlords” out there will soon have even more potential customers to prey on, and that is not good news for any of us.
President of Serbia: We Will Have World War within 3 to 4 months
Aleksandar Vučić is the President of Serbia. He gave a television interview which I mentioned on last night’s Hal Turner Radio Show, wherein he states plainly “We will have World War within three to four months, maybe sooner.” Clips from that interview appear below – watch it.
He went on to say his people are being told to check their flour, sugar, and food supplies, and prepare.
He outlines very clearly, what is at stake for the collective West as it relates to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, and how if the West loses, it falls apart politically and loses respect of the entire world, but if Russia loses, their country “will no longer exist as it is shaped today.” With the stakes so high for both sides, a massive collision and war seems now to be “unavoidable.”
For MONTHS, I have warned readers of this website and listeners to my radio show, that this conflict was going to go “wild weasel” and result in what I personally believe, will be actual nuclear war.
I have suggested, advised, cajoled, and even implored you to get emergency water, emergency food, extra medicine that you need to live, and other “preps” like flashlights for every room in the house, spare batteries for them, a first aid kit with bandages to treat wounds or injuries, a generator to supply electric to your refrigerator so your food won’t go bad if the electric grid goes down, spare fuel for that generator, COMMUNICATIONS GEAR like CB or HAM radio, to talk with locals and be able to hear news from around the world by shortwave (HAM).
I have been regularly ridiculed as “Chicken Little – the Sky is falling.” People have lambasted me as promoting “fear porn” and offering stories as “click bait” even though there are no ads on this site for which I get any revenue!
Many people have flatly DENIED REALITY for months, have ignored my warnings and have done nothing. Now, the President of Serbia is telling everyone just how bad things are getting.
If you don’t start getting the emergency supplies you will need, then you and your family will be shit-out-of-luck when the fighting starts – because millions of other morons, who also did nothing, will all be running to the stores trying to get food and supplies. The store shelves will be picked clear within hours. Just like what happens when a hurricane is going to make landfall, and all the morons who didn’t do anything because they wanted to see where it would come ashore, all run out to get supplies at the last minute. Store shelves are emptied and they are out of luck.
8 Reasons Why I DON’T Live in the USA
Why can’t the Chinese criticize themselves? They love criticizing others but not themselves. In the US, we criticize ourselves all the time. Other Asians like S. Koreans and Japanese do it too. Are the Chinese afraid just like the North Koreans?
Chinese call the years between 1842–1949 as the century of humiliation! China know themself well, the knew they made 2 deadly mistake to end up in this humiliation!
One the Ching Dynasty from 17th century where the Manchu’s ruled the Han Chinese for 200 over years in a corrupt and weak government allowing warlords to fight each other for local control. It weakened the Chinese spirit and made Chinese easily disillusioned by the time the Japanese started its imperial colonialism over Taiwan and Manchuria.
Secondly the Chinese did not expect the evil and barbarically behaviour of the west and sleep walk into a fatal mess facing the British manipulation primarily till it is too way late! They admitted fully to the century of humiliation! So one cannot say Chinese lacks the ability admit weakness!
YEMEN CLAIM: UK Warship “HMS DIAMOND” Directly Hit with Ballistic Missiles
Ansar Allah, the name of the group calling themselves Houthis , that run the country of Yemen, announced this morning the United Kingdom Destroyer “HMS DIAMOND” was directly hit during an attack today.
Houthi Spokesman Saree announced this latest operation is in response to U.S-Israeli Nuseirat massacre.
According to intelligence information, both US and Israeli Forces came ashore in Gaza via the Pier set up by the US. The troops then took/stole an aid truck, used it to drive to Nuseirat, where those troops opened fire upon Palestinians for an alleged hostage rescue.
Photos circulating on social media show IDF troops, being accompanied by troops in different uniforms, undertaking the operation. Allegations circulating on social media say they were American Troops.
I walked the Hong Kong waterfront yesterday
What was the stupidest thing someone has called the police on you for?
Moving day.
My mom finally got a divorce after 40–50 years of hell. She said she knew it was wrong one day at the beginning when dad’s family basically laughed at making their dog attack her, but went through with it anyway. He was left literally on his knees in the street begging. She says, “it’s too late,” and drives off.
Right about an hour before that, (before the TV show “Hoarders”) the rest of us had done our best to get rid of our furniture and anything of value we couldn’t reasonably move. And we helped clean up the rest of the house to the specs of the buyer in order to complete the sale. Dad, well, he’s on his own. That’s when a cop shows up to tell us we are breaking a city ordinance for junk in public.
So, as the main cause of the ruckus of the psycho killer druggie house, I’m baffled as to why some of the neighbors who couldn’t possibly not know we were moving as per the “for sale” sign and all the moving, would want to keep us arrested there unless they were as desperate to keep up their routine of pain as dad was. Anything else is far more scary.
Car salesmen: who was the most “shrewd negotiator” customer you’ve ever had?
I had a customer that exhausted me with negotiating, but he got himself a great deal.
He would show up on the lot every few weeks showing interest in a new Toyota 4Runner. He would get our best price but never buy. One day during an off-site sale he started to get serious. We went back and forth for quite some time on the price. We had got to a price where my manager didn’t want to budge from anymore. It was something like $34500 (this was over 20 years ago). The customer would not pay this price because he said that the number 4 was unlucky in his culture (not unlucky enough for him to choose to pay a price over $34500). After I badgered my manager more, I finally got the price to $33399 for my customer.
Mind you, I wanted to strangle the customer, but after so many hours negotiating, I didn’t want to walk away without a sale. We got the 4 out of the price, so I thought for sure that I was finally going to be able to wrap up the deal. Wrong! Now he says that anything that ends with 99 is unlucky in his culture. By this point my manager (who was a very friendly, reasonable person) was DONE. He was not going to go another $99, and my customer wasn’t budging either. So there I was, $99 away from a deal.
I finally kicked in $99 out of my pocket (the commission was only $75, but I was getting a $250 spiff from Toyota). But I wanted something to show for the $99 that I put in. The customer owned a Chinese restaurant, so I told him I wanted a gift certificate for some buffets. He offered me 5 buffets (worth about $25-$30 total). Now it was time for me to have some fun. I told him that was not a fair trade for what I put into the deal. So then he offered me 10 buffets. I told him 10 was not a good number for me. He eventually offered 15, but wouldn’t you know it – that’s unlucky for me as well! I finally got 17 buffets from him. Only used four of the buffets, but I got some satisfaction in that negotiation.
Host Goes Silent When Doctor Admits Bird Flu LEAKED From a Lab
What was the worst thing your parents ever did to you?
When I was a teenager I got pregnant. My b/f was older (21) and wanted to marry me right away. However my parents would not even let him see me, and instead he was only allowed to communicate through my mother.
I became extremely sick and was hospitalized much of the pregnancy. B/f was understandably distraught. He was very emotional but the only person he had contact with was my mother.
Somehow – not that I care how – that connection turned physical. Yep – mom cheated on my dad with the father of my baby. But THEN to make sure I never found out, they forced b/f to return to his family, across the country.
They concocted a whole story about how b/f threatened to kill me so they forced him to leave our town. Oh and the days that mom went missing while on her tryst I was told b/f kidnapped her and she went with him to save my life.
I was young – I did not realize if that were true he would be in prison. I believed this story and at one point became so terrified of him – based on my mother constantly reinforcing that he wanted to hunt me down and kill me and the baby – I gave my child up to an open adoption with a family I was really close to. I never wanted him to hunt her down. Her name was changed and they moved to another state. I moved the opposite direction and my mother KNEW I did it out of fear, and still let me.
It was not until almost 7 years later that all of the truth came out with my father devastated for his part, and telling me EVERYTHING.
I contact previous b/f and asked him to tell me what happened. He told me the same story I had recently come to know was true. He felt awful about the affair but none of the threats or me needing give up my child over it was real.
I reunited with my daughter.
I will never speak to my mother again. She is truly dead to me. Even the last time I spoke with her, she tried to justify the nightmare she put on our family.
COVID- (mRNA) Vaccines cannot be mandated — 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Big Pharma manufacturers of the COVID -19 mRNA “vaccines” have lost their shield from product liability, after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the mRNA shots are NOT VACCINES, but rather “Treatments.”
The 9th Circuit said it’s not a vaccine if the claim isn’t to “PREVENT THE SPREAD” of a disease.
COVID shots were claimed to “reduce symptoms” and prevent hospitalization. Those claims make it a TREATMENT.
The case involved the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) mandating their people get the “vaccine.”
But the 9th circuit, in a very detailed and complex ruling said the US District Court ERRED because this particular “vaccine” did not “prevent the spread of disease.” Here is the pertinent portion of the 9th Circuit ruling:
So while the court held that government __can__ force vaccines to “halt the spread” of a disease in a public health crisis, government cannot expand that power to cover medical treatment which is simply for a citizen’s benefit merely for “reducing symptoms.”
Protecting public health by stopping the spread to others, is one thing, but trying to force vaccines that do not stop the spread, merely “reduce symptoms” is not within government’s power to do.
Why The American Dream Is DEAD
This hits close to home for me. After losing my first career and seeing 'just how valuable of an employee I was after great sacrifice for nothing', living hand to mouth, listening to what my culture told be "work hard, go to school and be rewarded' and living in this ultra-competitive highly individualistic society, I left America for Japan for a total of 4 years. I knew society and economic systems were screwed up; after living in Japan and its different culture, I was forever changed, for the better! I now say that the "American Dream is just good marketing to sell you a false sense of self at your own expense." Thank you Austin!
What is the most clever way that you have seen someone get served a legal document?
I saw one that was too clever by half!
A classmate in graduate school had gotten divorced. It was amicable, so he thought. Before papers were finalized, they split their $40,000 savings and he agreed to provide a third of his post-doctoral stipend (a third of ~$20,000) in alimony. He then left the State to start his post-doctoral position while he made preparations to complete the last step of his degree – the “final, public oral examination.”
Final Orals were very stressful. The candidate would get grilled by four faculty members in front of anyone who cared to show up. Some faculty members would take the opportunity to show the candidate how stupid he was. People actually flunked and would get just one more try, usually six months to a year later. Nonetheless, most candidates had a party planned in anticipation of success.
When my classmate returned to the State for his Final Orals, he was met in the exam room by a process server. His estranged wife was seeking half of his $20,000. Her lawyer had advised her to hide the half she had already been given and to shake down my classmate for another $10,000. He complied.
A few months later, his position took a very favorable turn. His professor had been hired by a very large tech company. Part of the deal was that the professor got to bring along his post-docs but at $60,000 industrial salaries instead of post-doctoral stipends.
My classmate asked his lawyer if he should tell his estranged wife about his new salary. The separation had, after all, been amicable. The lawyer laughed. After the stunt in the exam room, the lawyer told my classmate to tell her nothing and give her nothing. For at least ten years, she never caught on that her ex-husband was making three times what she thought.
Are people in the US really willing to instigate war with China simply because they can’t beat them economically?
That’s just the prevailing narrative, nothing more. It’s fashion, a naked mannequin for intellectuals to dress up.
After all, what kind of economic threat has Russia posed to America this century?
It’s just hegemony, and the ever-present need to demonstrate who’s in charge, and who’s words carry the day. The U.S. Congress and White House lavish inordinate effort on issues beyond American shores, because there are no limits to American sovereignty.
Or like the Chinese lovingly put it: 眼里容不得沙子
So yes, America, whether it is the more dignified Joe or in-your-face Donald, will stop at nothing to win and dominate.
Winning, in a might is right world, is the only metric that matters.
Decades of Donald the “winningest man in business” should have educated the world at large about the nature of American “values”.
Little By Little, The Economy Has Declined To A Point Where Almost Everyone Is Struggling
It happened so gradually that a lot of people didn’t even realize what was happening. The cost of living just kept rising faster than paychecks were, and little by little our standard of living just kept going down. Now we have reached a stage where the ultra-wealthy are thriving but almost everyone else is struggling. For most people, it is a real fight just to pay the bills from month to month. The majority of the population is deep in debt, and meanwhile the cost of just about everything is going up and up. Millions of Americans feel like they are drowning financially, and there is no easy way out. Sadly, many of them don’t even realize that the game was designed to get them on to a hamster wheel and keep them running for as long as possible.
When I was a kid, the United States had a very large and very prosperous middle class.
Life certainly wasn’t perfect in those days, but just about everyone that I knew could afford to live a comfortable middle class lifestyle.
Sadly, now everything has changed.
According to a survey that was just conducted by Seven Letter Insight, 65 percent of Americans “who earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level” admit that they are struggling financially…
In the large poll of 2,500 adults, 65% of people who earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level — that’s at least $60,000 for a family of four, often considered middle class — said they are struggling financially.
If 65 percent of those that “earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level” are struggling, what about those that earn less than that?
Needless to say, almost all of them are struggling.
That same survey discovered that 46 percent of Americans don’t even have 500 dollars saved up…
About 40% of respondents were unable to plan beyond their next paycheck, and 46% didn’t have $500 saved. The February poll found that more than half said it’s at least somewhat difficult to manage current levels of debt.
Over the past couple of years, the stock market has been “booming” and the ultra-wealthy have been getting richer and richer.
But things have been getting worse for virtually all the rest of us.
According to Zillow, over the past four years “the monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home has nearly doubled”…
The real estate firm Zillow reports that since January 2020, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home has nearly doubled. It’s up 96% in just four years.
According to Zillow, a typical buyer will now pay nearly $2,200 a month, with a 10% down payment. Meaning, homeownership now costs well above the 30% of median income that was once thought to equate to “affordable” housing cost in America.
Has your income doubled over the past four years?
If not, you are falling behind.
The American people absolutely hate what is being done to their standard of living.
In fact, during a recent interview Neel Kashkari astutely observed that Americans “really, viscerally hate high inflation”…
Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, says one of the things he has learned in the past few years is that consumers would rather see the economy fall into a recession than to continue to suffer the pain of soaring prices.
“The American people – and maybe people in Europe, equally – really hate high inflation,” Kashkari told the Financial Times podcast “The Economics Show with Soumaya Keynes” last week. “I mean, really, viscerally hate high inflation.”
He is right.
I really detest inflation.
I am sure that you do too.
But what he didn’t mention is that the Federal Reserve and our politicians in Washington are responsible for creating the epic cost of living crisis that we are currently facing.
They caused this mess, and now they don’t seem to have any solutions for cleaning it up.
Meanwhile, economic activity just continues to slow down.
On Tuesday, we learned that the number of job openings in the U.S. has fallen to the lowest level in more than 3 years…
Job openings fell more than forecast in April, signaling a potential weakening in the labor market that could provide the Federal Reserve with more impetus to start lowering interest rates.
The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released Tuesday showed that the level of employment vacancies slipped to 8.06 million for the month, down by nearly 300,000 from March and close to 19% lower than a year ago.
Moreover, the total marked the lowest since February 2021.
And more workers are being dumped into the streets with each passing day.
For example, Rubio’s Coastal Grill just announced that it will be permanently closing 48 locations in the state of California…
California’s $20-an-hour fast food minimum wage has its first casualty.
Mexican chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill is shuttering 48 restaurants in the state – because of the ‘rising cost of doing business in California’.
‘While painful, the store closures are a necessary step in our strategic long-term plan to position Rubio’s for success for years to come,’ a Rubio’s spokesperson added.
As this year rolls along, we will see a lot more stories like this.
For a long time, our leaders were able to keep the party going by flooding the system with money.
But now inflation is out of control and we have reached the terminal phase of the “greatest credit bubble in human history”…
Mark Spitznagel, chief investment officer of Universa Investments, is known for being a “permabear” when it comes to the stock market outlook.
Spitznagel told Bloomberg in an earlier interview that we’re witnessing the “greatest credit bubble in human history.”
“Credit bubbles end. They pop. There’s no way to stop them from popping,” he said, adding that the Fed has brought the economy to a place “where there’s no turning back.”
Spitznagel is right on target.
There really is no turning back now.
Our leaders have wrecked the greatest economic machine in the history of the world.
What is ahead of us is a tremendous amount of pain.
So if you think that things are bad now, just wait until you see what is coming next.
For years, little by little our standard of living has been collapsing.
But now we are entering a time when our economic slide will become an economic avalanche.
Decades of absolutely disastrous decisions have brought us to this point, and now we shall truly reap what we have sown.
Shorpy
Four Frightened Kittens Sat On the Mast of a Burning, Crew Abandoned Ship
Is it true that Space Shuttle Challenger’s crew compartment had extremely disturbing contents when the US Navy finally recovered it from the ocean?
The tragic fate of the Space Shuttle Challenger’s crew is still a haunting memory for many.
When the US Navy finally recovered the crew compartment from the ocean, the contents were indeed extremely disturbing.
One of the most shocking discoveries was that the crew members’ remains were still seated in their chairs, with their seatbelts still fastened, a gruesome testament to the sudden and catastrophic nature of the disaster.
The investigation revealed that the crew compartment had remained remarkably intact, despite the intense forces generated by the explosion.
This was due in part to the compartment’s robust design, which was capable of withstanding intense pressure and extreme temperatures.
In the aftermath of the disaster, the crew compartment was subjected to a series of intense forces, including extreme deceleration, massive shock waves, and intense heat generated by the explosion.
The post-accident investigation also revealed that the crew had likely survived the initial explosion, but succumbed to the extreme conditions during the subsequent free fall towards the ocean.
This was evident from the fact that the crew members were still strapped in their seats, with some even having their helmets still on, indicating that they had not lost consciousness immediately.
The recovery of the crew compartment was a complex and challenging operation, involving a team of divers and engineers who worked tirelessly to locate and retrieve the wreckage.
The operation was made even more difficult by the fact that the debris was scattered over a wide area, with some pieces sinking to depths of over 12,000 feet.
One of the most poignant aspects of the recovery operation was the discovery of personal items belonging to the crew, including a set of keys, a calculator, and a CD player, which served as a haunting reminder of the human lives lost in the tragedy.
The intact condition of the crew compartment also raised important questions about the design and safety features of the Space Shuttle program, leading to significant changes in the years that followed.
Random pictures of interest
Reuters reported that China is pushing rival Ukraine peace plan before Swiss summit, according to diplomatic sources. What’s your view on this?
A pragmatic peace summit, in which both warring parties must participate.
The Ukrainian Peace Summit held in Lucerne, Switzerland was unilaterally invited by Ukraine, but Russia was not invited to participate, and China, South Africa and Brazil also stated that they would not attend the meeting. Therefore, this summit was not a peace summit at all, but a summit with the theme of “condemning Russia”.
Without Russia’s participation, discussing issues such as ceasefire is completely futile and will only be empty talk without achieving any practical results.
Such a meeting is meaningless. It is not a “peace summit” but a venue to provoke and stimulate Russia.
What is even more ironic is that although the United States has long supported Ukraine and is one of Zelenskyy’s important invitees, the US side stated that US President Biden will not attend the summit due to “scheduling conflicts.”
China and Brazil jointly issued a six-point peace consensus, calling for an international peace conference to be held at an appropriate time recognized by Russia and Ukraine, with all parties participating equally and discussing all options fairly. Only such a summit can achieve substantive peace results.
In addition, China has been promoting peace talks between Russia and Ukraine since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, and this has not just started recently.
One_Up
Submitted into Contest #250 in response to: Write a story in which someone can only hear one side of a conversation and must piece together the meaning of what they’ve heard.… view prompt
Joe Smallwood
#
I heard the most beautiful music—non-ghezi—across the way. I tried to patch in until I remembered what non-ghezi meant. Am I losing my mind?
She was so beautiful. Alone in her apartment, she had long blonde hair, which made her seem slenderer than she was. Is slenderer a word? She’d go to the window to feed some birds, and I could just make out a smile, being a stone’s throw away from her. Yes, that’s right, isn’t it? People used to say that. You could throw a stone; how far away you could throw it would describe the distance. I never threw a stone—not a real one. I wonder what it would be like to throw one. The other day…
“Darren!” shouted One_Up.
“DARREN! Time for your walk.”
“I don’t want to walk.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No!”
“We’ll go to the concert hall…”
People used to go to places like this. I feel the plush seating, the furrowed abrasive cloth caressing me as I sit. I imagine how people used to clap and swoon for music that I could hear anytime, anywhere. What did I miss? The energy, the shared experience? What exactly?
Could there be anything more than systems attuned to the beating hearts of billions that could be exceeded? And more still undiscovered, the synthesis of minds overcoming time and space? Yet what crushes me is the knowledge of what is gone forever. The silence is endlessly filled. Can everything really be nothing in disguise?
Dark again. Help me figure this out. Someone needs therapy, and I think the person who was supposed to provide it just got fired! At least, it sounds that way. It seems serious, too, like things aren’t working out. I’ll catch you later.
“There you are! Why do you keep hiding from me?” pouted One_Up.
#
One_up took me to the concert hall. I thought its job was to entertain me! C-O-N-C-E-R-T H-A-L-L. I could spell it! We meander down the streets, and I get bored. What was I hoping to find at the concert hall? Old Tech? An orchestra? Musical instruments? Like cave implements and ancient wall paintings! I am hunted by Neanderthals who aspire for immortality at my expense! I call up Instead™ but get put on hold. Then, it fails.
“Instead™ is non-ghezi!” says One_Up.
“Good.”
“What do you mean, good? Patch in here!” says One_Up.
Everything swirls. I’m playing Hell Surfers 6 in no time. It starts to hurt, but everything old is Neanderthal to me. I keep going!
#
There was no One_Up to greet me. Where am I? I feel so alone. Everything is dead when I try patching in— no patch in, no One_Up.
I go dark. Whew! That works. Help me out here, dear diary. This has never happened before. I swear! Maybe I should be scared or something. Let me know what you think.
Do the pronouncements work? When I switch on, the voices sound far away. I also try amplification, but it doesn’t work.
I’m only dimly aware…
“He’s in terrible shape. Yes. Uh-huh.”
Long silence.
“We tried that. She came to the window and snagged him a little, but the relapse was awfully quick. There are no legs on this one.”
Silence.
“Well, the last chance is to nuke him. We tried Instead™. Next™ isn’t the same generation. It wouldn’t work. Guaranteed…Uh-huh…Right. Do I have the go-ahead?”
I get so angry—angrier than ever! It’s part of the game—self-generating. I helped design it myself! The Hell you surf is your own, see? It’s self-replicating, too. It gobbles up everything to present the best entertainment ever! Because the best of realfun™ is how close it comes to everything imaginable that ever existed! Mashed together, a million billion experiences of people worldwide. You feel everything! Presented in endlessly entertaining entertainment…
“Darren?”
“DARREN?” yelled One_Up.
“We need an ambulance to this location. Can you please hurry?”
I’m out, but I’m not. I’m too tired to switch off. I can’t do anything. I wish I could turn off the voices in my head!
“We have to murder One_Up! You heard me! I don’t care if he has been trying to help Darren. Uh-huh. The sooner, the better.
One_Up is frantic. “You have to protect me, Darren!” Sure, sure, I say.
“Getting a fix. No, it’s not murder! It’s a figure of speech. Do I have your permission or not?”
Silence
“Can I hide in your secret place, Darren?”
I heard the most beautiful music. I can’t describe it. I don’t even know why I would try. They’re hunting for One_Up, but he’s safe, in a place I made that no one knows about! Until today, even One_Up didn’t know where I went!
#
“OK, ease it in,” said Dr. Oakley.
“I want to go on the record, sir,” said the lead nurse. “I recommend that we not proceed. We were unable to stop the program. His digital assistant is still operational, presenting an unquantifiable risk to the operation’s success.”
“I’m aware of the risks. It is my responsibility.”
“Are we cleared for this?” demanded a lawyer over a microphone from the observation deck.
Dr. Oakley looked up from the operating table. Three nurses, looking very apprehensive, tried to look busier. The lead nurse presumed to stop what he was doing to gaze at the lawyer, too.
“What do you mean? Are we cleared? I wouldn’t be here, would I?” snapped Oakley. “Has something changed?”
“He can’t die, that’s all,” the lawyer shouted. “Too many other people are involved.”
Dr. Oakley’s jaw tightened. “You tell me this now? Let’s get this started!”
#
I was standing at the edge of an abyss—a volcano or something—only it was a long way down and incredibly hot. Waves of heat envelop me, so the moment sweat develops, it immediately evaporates. There was lava below, and I was going to fall!
“He’s reacting to this like he’s reading a script. We’re losing him!” the lead nurse yells, glancing at the heart monitor.
“Okay, ease back a little bit,” says Dr. Oakley. He’s got to take this seriously, or we’ll lose him for good.”
“Wait for it…” calls out the lead nurse.
One-Up! I don’t like this program. Switch, please! One_Up? Anybody?
“I’m here, Darren! At your service! None of this is real. I can switch this now if you want to?”
Oakley swore under his breath, “He has to try! Make the path away from the abyss clearer.”
“On it,” says the lead nurse.
“Blood pressure keeps rising, 155 over 90,” one of the nurses says.
“Stay with it. He has to realize that he doesn’t control everything,” says Dr. Oakley.
“He’s taking the path…” says the lead nurse. ”With One_Up!”
Everyone cheers.
#
“Debrief…everyone. You all have your assigned places. Dr. Oakley? Can we begin with you?” the head of hospital staff says.
Dr. Oakley took his seat, his laptop in front of him. “Well, it was a success, as you all know. Instead™ and even Next™ have come up with treatment plans. We’re coordinating that now. The patient is responding well.”
Another doctor asks, “How long until Darren Oakley is completely well?”
Dr. Oakley teared up. He struggled to clear his throat. “I’m sure we’ll manage,” he said.
The lead nurse caught up with the hospital lawyer after the meeting.
“That was a real bone-headed thing you did, calling out to us from the observation deck! What were you thinking?”
“What was I thinking? Well, try this on for size.” The lawyer took out his cell phone to project an image.
“Jeez!” exhaled the nurse.
“And those calls to emergency were just for the people with an addiction in North America! We don’t have good data for anyplace else.”
“Darren helped create it all,” wondered the nurse. “What was happening to him started to happen to everyone?”
The lawyer turned to go, but then he hesitated. “Say, do you feel like a beer?”
“No. But I’ll drink one.” cracked the nurse.
Pesto Chicken Flatbread Pizzas
Tuscan flavors will delight family and friends in this easy to make Pesto Chicken Flatbread Pizza. Great as a main dish or side dish to complement a meal.
Prep: 10 min | Cook: 8 min | Yield: 2 flatbread pizzas; 4 servings total
Ingredients
- 2 (3.5 ounce) Tuscan-style flatbreads
- 1/4 cup Buitoni Refrigerated All Natural Reduced Fat Pesto with Basil
- 2/3 cup sautéed or cooked chicken breast strips
- 2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup (.75 ounce) Buitoni Refrigerated Freshly Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place flatbreads on baking sheet.
- Spread pesto sauce evenly over each flatbread to within 1/2 inch of edge.
- Top each evenly with chicken, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until flatbread is crisp and cheese is melted.
Notes
Cooks Tip: Refer to your flatbread packaging to determine recommended bake temperature and time as each brand varies.
Try substituting regular BUITONI Refrigerated Pesto with Basil.
What was the biggest slap in the face a loved one ever did to you?
It was at my mother’s funeral. I went up to my brother to talk to him. I hadn’t seen him since he moved out at 18. I think it was around 20 years of not seeing or talking to him. I was a terrible sister to him when we were kids. I got him into so much trouble with mom. He received so many beatings because of me and my lies. I so much wanted to talk with him then. So I went up to him and went to put my arm around him to tell him how sorry I was about her passing. He shrugged my arm off and turned away without speaking. I kind of lost my temper a bit and told him he needed to grow up. He just walked away and wouldn’t even sit anywhere near me. I watch him sit there and cry during the funeral and knew there wasn’t anything I could do. I want to go over and hold him and tell him how sorry I was for how I treated him. But I didn’t want to hurt him and more then I already had.
And before anyone says it, yes I deserved that slap. Many years later we finally talked and I poured my heart out to him. I apologized and begged for him to forgive me. What he did surprised me. He hugged and and said there’s no reason for forgiveness. Because he had already forgiven me. That he saw from what I’ve written here that I had really changed and it was time to be brother and sister again. That day we both cried together.
China’s view of USA – Is it true that, from the point of view of China, the Constitution of the United States is a failed document?
I cannot speak on behalf of China.
Let me speak for myself.
I heard that US constitution guarantees Freedom of Speech. But Biden equated anti-genocide in Gaza or anti-war to antisemitism.
To be fair, anti-genocide is not unreasonable. Now the entire world minus Israel & USA condemns genocide. If we say the students are wrong, it is not possible that the entire world is also wrong.
See, Americans can make fun of their president or scold at him. But cannot be against Israel. US politicians made thousands of anti-China statements & lies. But cannot “touch” Israelis.
US constitution guarantees owning guns. When there are many gun-related deaths, USA is so “powerless” to protect the life of innocents. Ironically, Right to Life is also in US constitution.
Maybe US constitution is not a failed doc. It is the enforcement that is the problem.
This should keep you up at night more than anything.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I see a one-way ticket to poverty for Americans and the US dollar. BRIC's nations in coordination with Saudia Arabia are now selling oil in multiple denominations and they're backing it with gold. The ONLY thing that's kept the US prosperous since getting off the gold convertibility in 1971 is the petrodollar and now it's toast.