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Missed opportunities, or problem avoidance strategy
When I left prison, it was the experience of a lifetime. After "dressing out", waiting in the hallway until the day ended and a spare guard can drive us to the bus station, and getting on the shuttle to the bus, it was sunset in the hot Arkansas dusk.
There, I was given a card for $100 to help me get to where I needed to go and to start my life anew.
And got on the Greyhound bus and left to my last known family location; where my sister rented out a room for me to live in for two weeks. That is in itself another story, but for this part of the narrative, I will discuss the bus ride out of Arkansas. It was something like 14 hours.
Mostly empty, as the bus picked up other felons that did their time.
I chatted with a guy who just finished 15 years. And met some women from a woman's prison who were heading in our direction. They suggested that we tag along with them, hang out. Spend the night and "party" with them. Good looking chicks... if a bit feral. We are all sex starved, and I'm sure those gals would be jumping our bones and pumping us dry in no time.
But I declined.
I had a plan.
I had a stopwatch and I had to get settled, get my passport, get a plane ticket and LEAVE and never... NEVER return.
So I stayed on the bus while the group got off somewhere in Tennessee.
Sometimes I wonder was I smart... or was I stupid and blind to opportunities that come my way? I don't know. I still wonder about it all.
Still, I could have spent the night... then left in the morning...
Missed opportunities, or problem avoidance strategy. You decide.
Today...
How is the perception, treatment, categorisation etc. of plus sized models in China different from the West?
I don’t know anything about the perception of plus-sized models in “the West”, but I have a cousin in Hangzhou who works for an online clothing brand as a plus-sized model and she sometimes share bits and pieces about her job with me.
Despite what some may think, it’s not easy to join the ranks of plus-sized models.
All the job requirements for non-plus-sized models also apply to plus-sized models.
For example, my cousin tells me the standard requirements for girls to be plus-sized models for online fashion catalogue work is that they are at least 165 cm or above, that they have “curvy” silhouette, and that they have all the basics: great skin, great hair, beautiful facial features, etc.
Naturally, being plus-sized models, they can be heavier than the typical non-plus-sized models.
Many of my cousin’s plus-sized model friends are heavier than I am, as they tend to be around the 60 to 70 kg weight range. The taller girls (175 cm >) can easily be above 70 kgs.
But she mentions that how that weight is distributed across the body is also an important consideration (hence, the “curvy” silhouette mentioned above)
There’s a growing demand for online plus-sized fashion shopping and from what my cousin has shared with me, there’s massive potential, and the current situation is nowhere close to even approaching that potential.
Career-wise, an average non-celebrity, not-famous plus-sized model, in general, can earn around 10,000 to 15,000 yuan per month (1380 to 2071 USD) a month. That’s pretty good.
She also tells me that she gets a lot of positive and supportive comments whenever she posts about her life, job, and fashion choices on 小红书 (a Chinese app that’s a mix between IG and Pinterest)
She enjoys her job, is very good at what she does, is compensated well, and most importantly, she’s happy with her decision to go into plus-sized modeling.
Couldn’t be happier for her! ^^
Picture below is that of a Chinese plus-sized model modeling clothes for a Chinese online clothing store:
Why does NO anti-China nation want to decouple or at least try to decouple from China? How could you want to have nuclear war with China/overthrow the CPC/Xi Jinping and subjugate China and STILL want China's business? It makes no sense!
NOBODY wants a nuclear war with China.
Decoupling from China would be too painful for Western economies. Inflation would go through the roof and governments would fall.
But you’re right. Even a conventional war with China makes no sense. But who said Western governments possess common sense?
What is something that someone told you that made you immediately realize that the crazy story they were telling you was actually true?
Many years ago, I was a supervisor on a Government-funded youth employment scheme, trying to get unemployed young people into work.
One day, one of the lads managed to get a cut to the top of his head. Only a small flesh wound but, being a scalp wound, there was blood everywhere - his hair was soaked, it was in his eyes, dripping from his nose, etc.
As we were working at a site close to the hospital, we drove him there ourselves, rather than wait for an ambulance. As it was clearly a head wound, he was rushed straight through for assessment.
A few minutes later, a nurse came out, looking quite worried. Whilst they were asking him routine questions, he had apparently deteriorated. In particular, when they asked his date of birth, he had said “Don’t know!” and when they followed up with “Well, when is your birthday?” he had replied “Don’t have one!”. Clearly the wound was worse than we had thought and there was some neurological damage; either temporary or permanent. At the nurse’s request, we asked our HR unit to fax across his basic details, so that the hospital could contact his family.
The records duly arrived. We looked to see what his date of birth was - and we all fell about laughing, nurse included. The records clearly stated that he had been unable to provide a date of birth.
It turned out that the whole family were illiterate and no-one had bothered to register his birth until he was about 3 or 4 years old - by which time they couldn’t remember what time of year he had been born!
A quick wash to remove the blood, three stitches and a couple of painkiller tablets later, he was discharged and we drove him home.
Göbekli Tepe and the Prophecy of Pillar 43 | Apocalypse and the Vulture Stone
Göbekli Tepe and the Vulture Stone Prophecy We are the descendants of an ancient civilization; one which mastered technology, mapped the cosmos, and understood our relationship with the natural world. Our ancestors traveled the world and built enormous structures. They scaled their creations into cities. They shared a common governance and similar religious beliefs. Our ancestors lived, as we do today, as a global society. Around 14,500 years ago, this global superpower started to collapse. First came uncontrollable change, and then a cataclysm. In less than a week, everything and almost everyone was gone. Those left behind built monuments. Monuments not as tributes to Gods or homage to kings. The monuments are a warning to future generations: to us. That warning is simple: danger is coming. Our civilization has ended before. And it will end again. This is one story Big Archaeology and world governments don’t want you to know. Once you hear it, you’ll never trust them again. Because the danger that’s coming? There’s nothing they can do to stop it.
What are the best stories to prove that everything happens for a reason?
I had resigned my previous company without having any job offer in hand!
I was continuously feeling stressed out from past few weeks. Suddenly in my project, the pressure got increased and my manager was not ready to hire any extra resource. Not even a single day was there when I felt relaxed. If you push yourself everyday too much, it will start impacting your health. Same happened with me. I started being sleep deprived and my weight started dropping. Despite that, I tried my best to pull it off but later I realised that I should stop now.
It was not easy for me to quit without any job offer in hand but I decided to leave. I put down my papers and informed my manager. My family was unaware of this because I didn’t wanted them to freak out. It was a chaotic moment for me but I motivated myself to find a new job. I started applying rigorously, gave interviews, faced rejections. Many nights I used to overthink but I knew that I didn’t want to back out.
After 1 month of resignation, I got one offer letter. My confidence boosted up and I kept on trying for better opportunities. At last, I got a decent offer and above that I got great work environment.
In life, sometimes, we take very quick and tough decisions but those decisions carve our path towards new phases. Maybe, that day you would feel that what you did was stupidity but later you will realise that it happened for a reason.
Everything happens for a reason!
In court, what was the most devastating cross-examination of a witness that you ever saw?
This is a bit long for one of my answers. And, it has nothing to do with being an agent or a lawyer myself.
My ex and I wanted to foster a child and take him with us when we moved out of state. He was an inner city African American child, about eight years old. He was not on the growth chart, he could not read or write. He had ADD.
But, my ex had fallen for him.
He came to school with clothes picked out of pile of adult clothes. Made his way to school riding public transportation, and no one asked him to pay. He came to school because it was safe, and provided him two meals a day.
He lived with his grandmother and five to seven others in about a 900 square foot house. Many of the residents were minors and the grandmother received all the benefits for them.
It was an expensive proposition to foster this child. I paid for our attorneys who told us no one had ever been allowed to obtain foster rights and immediately move out of state. Especially a white couple attempting to take a black child. I paid for the guardian ad litem. And, I paid for the grandmother’s attorney.
We were in the second day of the hearing before the family court judge. The grandmother was on the stand. She had held up well during cross examination.
But, then then I noticed the judge slide his glasses down to the end of his nose and peer over them and say,”I have just a couple of very simple questions. Nothing to worry about.”
I had been a little bored until this point, but I knew this maneuver. I had been around courthouses and in interviews for many years by this time. And, my senses told me things were about to get interesting.
The judge then proceeded to ask about the moneys she received to help support the children in her care. The judge asked what she did with the money. The judge asked if she liked to gamble.
In the state we were in, there were gambling casinos. And, she admitted to attending gambling casinos.
The judge began to ask her about her gambling habits, and whether she won or lost. And, the big lies began.
The grandmother claimed she won as much as she lost.
And, the judge bore down. And, I am thinking… I am paying for three attorneys and no one figured out she had a gambling addiction.
And, the judge rakes her, and gets her to admit she loses a little more than she makes. And, it went down hill from there, allowing my attorneys to pull her gambling records which were kept by every casino. And, those records showed a pattern of gambling and loss that were incredible.
The grandmother would lose all the monthly benefits for her grandchildren within a couple of days. And, we all missed it, but for a family court judge who was wiser than a room full of attorneys.
Hands down, the best cross examination I ever saw. Judge… you can drop the mic.
China Military's Biggest Upgrade In Cyber Security Warfare & Space
In modern era of warfare, control of information is a game changer. Keep that in mind and breaking away from traditional structures, the one of the worlds highest military has established new independent units dedicated to information, space, and cyber operations, marking the most extensive shakeup in nearly a decade. One thing is now certain, the Chinese military is ready for anything adversaries might throw at it and win conflicts with relative ease! Today’s episode will uncover the recent shakeup of Chinese military which has added new units determined to succeed in modern warfare.
You find a new job, so you give your employer two weeks' notice. Your boss then gets angry that you are quitting and tells you not to come back in anymore. How should you respond to your boss?
My wife is literally going through this right now. She was the only person in her office that did what she did and had been the best employee that employer had ever seen. Literally in 10 years she had taken 1 sick day. Over the course of that decade she never got a single raise and zero retirement. Another opportunity came along and she took it. Knowing her job would be very difficult to fill she gave her employer a 6 week notice. The employer was so irrational about it that she fired her and said she would not be paying out the 3 weeks of vacation time my wife had on the books. Well where we live, the state law does not allow that unless there is a signed policy stating as much, which there has not been. So here we are, on vacation enjoying a 2 week span of time before my wife starts her new job. She was able to move up her start date with her new employer, though she did not have to. Her old employer is now responsible to pay her unemployment for these 2 weeks as well as her 3 weeks of vacation. She would have been very wise to just take the 6 weeks my wife offered, but we won in the end so whatever
Fun vintage comics
"The United States, the UK, Germany, and France—these are some of the most oppressive and repressive governments in the world if you remove all of the self-praise and the propaganda that they spew about themselves and about freedom and civil rights and so on.
They are a Western axis against freedom, and if you don't know that—I mean, if you live there and you don't know that—then you just haven't tested it.
The only way that you can live in any of those countries—and increasingly in the US—and not know that they are despotic tyrannies, is if you have been so numbed and so brainwashed that you hold no opinion in your head that wasn't put there by the state, that wasn't injected into your lifeless brain by the mainstream media.
So, you never had anything to protest about.
You never questioned your government.
You never challenged the official narratives about anything.
That's the only way that you can't know what I'm talking about.
And that makes you even more repressed, more oppressed, and more tyrannized than the people who are getting beaten and who are getting detained for objecting to their government's brutality.
You're even more of a victim.
You're even more abused than those protesters who are getting clubbed upside the head and getting choked and getting abused by the security forces because your government, your rulers, your ruling class has never let you live a day in your life without telling you what to think and sabotaging your ability to think for yourself.
You're the most abused in your society.
What they did to you is worse than beating; it's worse than detention; it's worse than imprisonment.
At least those protesters who are getting beaten and arrested by the police—at least their minds are free, at least they have their own thoughts in their heads.
But you—your leaders have made you a zombie that thinks that the right thing, the moral thing, is whatever power chooses to do; your government has put you into a moral coma.
You're morally comatose.
They put you under an induced coma so that you can't see them sponsoring the wanton murder of 34,000 people, some 24,000 innocent women and children.
You can't see that there's anything wrong with that.
You feel nothing, or even worse, you think it's the right thing, you think it's the moral thing, you think that what your government is doing is good by sanctioning indiscriminate slaughter; you think that's fine.
Why?
They've robbed you of your very humanity, and that's the only reason that you can believe that you live in a free society.
That's the only reason that you can believe that you live in a society with civil rights and liberty and free speech and all of those other wonderful things that you never had and never will have.
The only freedom that you have in those countries is the freedom to agree with power.
You're free to submit to the powers that be."
Excerpt from remarks by American geopolitical analyst Shahid Bolsen in a video where he speaks about the ongoing protests against the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on university campuses, both in the U.S. and around the world, April 27, 2024.
Does memory depend on intelligence?
"One day, Einstein was traveling by train from Princeton, when a train conductor passed through the corridor, stamping the tickets of all the passengers. When he arrived in front of Einstein, the scientist searched for the ticket in his vest pocket, but didn't find it; it wasn't even there in the pants pockets; so he looked in the briefcase, but he couldn't find it.
The driver said, “Doctor Einstein, I know who you are. I'm sure you bought the ticket. Don't worry. Einstein nodded in thanks.
And the driver continued to stamp the tickets in the aisle. Just as he was about to move on to the next car, he turned to see the large body looking under his seat for the ticket.
The driver turned around and said, "Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are." This is not a problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one.
Einstein looked at him and said, "Young man, I also know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going. That's why I'm looking for my ticket."
BLINKEN TRIP TO CHINA: U.S. dominance is over!
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken went home with his tail between his legs after an official three-day visit to China in which he tried his very best to convince the world of a litany of nonsensical crap that neither he nor anyone else with a brain believes, including spouting the “over-capacity” myth that Yellen tried to start on her last visit, and trying to tell Beijing that Washington has some kind of right to decide who China can and cannot trade with. This desperation and hypocrisy blatantly on show from U.S. leaders visiting China is a sign of one thing: the hegemony of the U.S.-led West is falling, and it’s a joy to watch! Today we’ll talk about it.
1.The only letter that doesn’t appear on the periodic table is J.
2.One habit of intelligent humans is being easily annoyed by people around them, but saying nothing in order to avoid a meaningless argument.
3.2006, a Coca-Cola employee offered to sell Coca-Cola secrets to Pepsi. Pepsi responded by notifying Coca-Cola.
4.The famous line in Titanic from Leonardo DiCaprio, “I’m king of the world!” was improvised
5.If you cut down a cactus in Arizona, you’ll be penalized up to 25 years in jail. It is similar to cutting down a protected tree species.
6. In 1923, a jockey suffered a fatal heart attack but his horse finished and won the race, making him the first and only jockey to win a race after death.
7.Iceland does not have a railway system.
8.The spiked dog collar was invented by the Ancient Greeks to protect their dogs from wolf attacks.
9.German Chocolate Cake is named after an American baker by the name of Samuel German.
10.The voice actor of SpongeBob and the voice actor of Karen, Plankton’s computer wife, have been married since 1995.
11.The largest Japanese population outside of Japan stands at 1.6 million people who live in Brazil.
12.IKEA is an acronym which stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd, which is the founder’s name, farm where he grew up, and hometown.
13.Violin bows are commonly made from horse hair.
14.The youngest Pope in history was Pope Benedict IX who was 11 years old at the time of election. He is also the only person to have been the Pope more than once.
15.In Svalbard, a remote Norwegian island, it is illegal to die.
16.People who post their fitness routine to Facebook are more likely to have psychological problems.
17.Standing around burns calories. On average, a 150 pound person burns 114 calories per hour while standing and doing nothing.
18.There is a punctuation mark used to signify irony or sarcasm that looks like a backwards question mark ⸮
19.Saint Lucia is the only country in the world named after a woman.
20.There is a town in Nebraska called Monowi with a population of one. The only resident is a woman who is the Mayor, Bartender and Librarian.
When was a time you said silently to your boss “I told you so”?
We have a F350 work truck that is notorious for giving hints it is about to break on us. Main thing is how often it regens the DPF. Told my team lead(boss) one day that we had about a month before it shits itself again at best. 3 weeks later, while driving to pick up equipment/supplies, sure enough it starts blowing blueish smoke out the tail pipe. Turbo was leaking oil. Day or two prior, it was non-stop “regen in progress “ message on the dash, prior to that it was daily regens at highway speeds. He had to stop what he was doing and drive another truck 2 hours to come swap it out, then get broke truck towed 4 hrs away to the stealership to have it sit there for 3 months getting fixed.
Another time, there was an older dump truck that started making a weird noise from the engine bay. From the sound of it, I suggested that either a pulley or tensioner was about to go. He shrugged it off and said it was a worn belt. Few days later, the tensioner shit itself and left him stranded.
Same truck started loosing hold back power on the “exhaust “ (actually found out it’s a transmission brake) brake. Reported to him, he dismissed me. Days later it either threw a valve if I remember right, or dropped/washed a cylinder and ran like dog shit.
Another one of our dumps blew a small pilot hydro line that runs the hydro pump to give pressure as it is constantly turning with the engine. Helped replace the blown line and noticed that 6 other lines are worn to or thru the metal casing. Told him, he said just keep running it. Ended up blowing hoses in the middle of working, for weeks on end. Would drain the hydro tank and such so not only did we have to replace the line during inclement weather, but dump up to 30 gallons of new hydro oil in to the tank.
Once I promoted to be equal to him, I took my side of the fleet and ran thru it with a fine tooth comb. Spent several thousand dollars fixing issues to prevent as much breakdowns as possible. The worst breakdown I had this winter was a wiper motor crapped out on me near the end of the day, but I had noticed it having issues prior and had a new assembly waiting to be installed sitting in the truck due to the nature of our job of being out for days on end w/o being able to fix minor things until a day where the truck could be down. Was down for maybe 30 mins while I swapped it out.
Leaking non hazmat fluid tanks, worn thru outer casing on electrical wires exposed to the elements, leaking valves, leaking fittings, leaking non hazmat fluid hoses, missing filters for services, low replacement fluid levels for services, the list goes on and on.
What is the pettiest thing you’ve seen a cheap person do at a restaurant?
Years ago the ex hubby took over an Italian restaurant…that is another story altogether. He slowly built the clientele up from nothing to a steady flow of clients, and we always loved a large booking. One night a table was booked for about 10–14 people, I forget exactly but it was a family group. The guy who had booked the table made it his night’s work to find fault: little subtle digs aimed at the staff, calling the staff back constantly, a smudge on a glass, a missing fork, the waiter was made to feel an imbecile.
I made it a point to double-check each plate as it was placed at the table, but did not serve or have any interaction with him until the end of the evening. He was the lead bull at the table, lording it over every other person, and then the bill was handed to him.
He pored over the bill for an age, demanding that everyone tell him what they had, was anything missing from the meal, then he told the waiter that he had been overcharged and the waiter called me over. The client then proceeded to tell me that he had been swindled, that he had been overcharged. I looked at the bill, which was accurate, told the waiter to bring up every receipt, looked the client in the face and said, “I am the owner, I am happy to go through all the receipts with you and I will also ask everyone here to tell me what they ordered, but you ordered such a huge quantity of food and drinks that in all likelihood this bill I have in my hand is going to be under. If I find the staff to have undercharged you, I will be expecting you to pay the full amount, so are you sure you want me to do this?”…he was apoplectic.
I totted up the bill, and it was short to the tune of around £40 (this was 25 years ago). He paid up in a fury and left not a penny for the staff. The next day he phoned the restaurant and claimed that some of the party had food poisoning, that he demanded we refund him. I asked him who had the food poisoning and he mentioned three of the guests; I had the exact details of each plate the guests had had, and remembered that two guests had switched plates, I then told him that he was wrong, that he should go get his story straight, for these three guests did not eat the same food. I realized he had asked each guest what they had ordered, NOT what they had eaten, and it was obvious he had had no contact with these supposedly poisoned family members. I recommended he file a complaint with Health & Safety, and never heard a word back.
Some of my latest AI image generations
The theme is tropical.
Have you, as a police officer, ever known a “dirty” cop? If so, what did you do about it?
Some fifteen years back…
I was buddying with someone temporarily for bike patrolling. There was something barren and sinister about him. It is hard to explain.
One evening, we stopped at a random point and initiated snap checking, while at it… my colleague stopped a kid who walked by us, holding a small bag of fries. He must be 11 years old.
My colleague started asking him questions.
- What’s your name?
- Where are you coming from?
And believe it or not…
- What is it in your hand? Give it to me!
The scared kid handed the police officer that bag of fries. And he went to town, eating it in front of that kid. Not just that… he actually smirked as well while witnessing that child’s facial expression of fear and shock.
I was a few feet away, checking registration book of a motorcyclist but I had to postpone that and approach them. To multiply my misery and embarrassment, the road with crowded and full of traffic. I did not want to make a scene.
Without saying a word, I snatched that bag of fries and gave it back to the kid, apologized and politely asked him to leave. The kid left.
I stood there looking at my colleagues’s deadpan face like nothing has happened.
This is low, even for a scum like you who conveniently rot the idea of community policing. This is why the public does not hold us in good regards. This attitude is what they fear and abhor.
I never worked with him again, I also informed the duty officer of this incident later that night.
I remember that guys face clearly, I remember his name, I remember the repulsion his company caused me
So Quorans, you might wonder if this is the dirtiest I have ever seen as you see me narrating this account carefully and in detail.
No, God… No!
This is me telling you of a distasteful minor incident that occurred years ago, that has burnt into my memory for good. In my understanding, he was not a good cop. And I strongly disliked him.
That should give you some idea about my feelings for those who are worse or worst. Who go above and beyond breaking the rules, violating the code, abusing their powers and involved in corruption.
They do exist.
And there’s only so much I practically could do about them, way above my pay grade you see.
But I’m not sad or hopeless. I have spent eighteen years in police service and I see the systematical grind of the department that works restlessly and naturally and gets them here and there. I see them getting hooked and punished.
It's okay, but it certainly could be better.
What's something you realized about a family member once you got older?
Not until the deaths of both my parents did I understand the dynamic of their marriage.
My mother died of a stroke at age 66. It turned out that years earlier, she had survived a heart attack which probably occurred in her sleep because no one ever knew about it. When she died, I was dumbfounded that her sisters and friends were all angry at Dad, blaming him for having driven Mom into an early grave.
In the 22 years before he died, clues gradually fell into place. I remembered how Mom said his mother had made Dad the person he was. How, when my older brothers brought their families home to visit, Dad sulked and said Mom was going to work herself to death waiting on them hand and foot. How he said the same thing about his second wife and her children and grandchildren.
I remembered how Mom refused to have a renewal of vows ceremony for their 25th anniversary, saying she’d meant her vows to be for life the first time, so she didn’t see any point. I looked at the photo albums and saw Mom’s face change from her engagement, a giddy young woman in love, to an unsmiling older woman. When he said he’d retire at 62 instead of 65 and be home all the time, Mom seemed resigned, not happy.
Most telling, I remembered that when Dad was a boy, his mother sometimes punished him by locking him in a closet. What made this particularly terrifying: Grandma was deaf, so his crying, beating on the door and begging moved her not at all. He might well have believed that he could die in that closet.
All the facts in front of me the whole time finally made sense: when Dad married Mom, he expected her to be his mommy as much as his wife, because his own mother had been abusive, not loving. It was surely no coincidence that Mom was older by 18 months.
Mom died in November, he was engaged by Christmas, and remarried in April — to a widowed nurse 17 years younger, someone who’d outlive him and care for him like both mommy and wife. Dad remarried so quickly not because he didn’t love Mom, but because her death had left him as bereft as Theodore Roosevelt when his mother and his first wife died on the same day.
When he pouted about Mom’s delight in her visiting children and grandchildren, he was jealous. He thought she had a fixed amount of love and any she gave to someone else was less for him. At family gatherings she could be happily chatting with family members, but if he wanted her attention, she had to go with him or he’d sulk. He retired early so he could spend more time with her. He couldn’t very well demand that his second wife cut off all contact with her children and grandchildren, but he hadn’t forgotten how to pout.
Dad and Mom met before he went off to a monastery to spend three years. I never understood why, because if he was looking for mother love, he wasn’t going to find it in an all-male community. But neither did I understand why he ever dropped out, because he spent so much time in church and in prayer at home that even a priest told me he was overdoing it. (When a priest says there’s such a thing as too much religion….) I’m now convinced that he was trying to back God into a corner: “See how devout I am, God. You can’t take the person I love away from me.”
And Mom’s refusal to renew her wedding vows? What she really meant, I suspect, was “Don’t ask me if I’d marry you all over again, because you might not like my answer.”
Oh no! Is this fairytale preview of things to come where women aren’t accountable?
The original stories from the last century are really interesting. This one is worth your time.
Have you ever quit your job in the middle of the work day? Why?
Yes actually I have. I was working at a local call center about 11 or 12 years ago, and I knew that they had a strict attendance policy, and that they were not hesitant to put points on your attendance record if you were late or left early or called off. However I did not know to what extent they would uphold that policy, and how much people were exaggerating how strict they were about it until I had been there about six months or so. One morning we heard a big commotion coming from the other side of the dividing wall, from the other business contract that was next to us. Well, later in the day we found out that one of the older men on the other contract had had a heart attack and had to be taken to the hospital by an ambulance. So I did not really think anything of it other than feeling bad for the guy, but a couple days later I was out back on break and I heard his supervisor talking to another employee about how she had to put 1/2 of a point on his attendance because he had to leave before his shift was over. I walked over to her and asked if I heard her correctly because I was almost certain that I had actually misheard her. But to my surprise she told me that I did hear her correctly and that she did have to put a half of a point on that employee's attendance record. Once I confirmed that I had actually heard her correctly I went up to the front of the building to the human resources department and asked the lady working in the office if what the manager had said was true. She told me that unfortunately the manager was correct and that according to the attendance policy of the employee would be pointed for leaving before his shift was over, even though it was due to a medical emergency. At that point I took my badge off of my belt loop, laid it on her desk and told her I quit. The job itself was not too bad, but after hearing that I could not bring myself to work for a company who just blatantly did not care about their employees like that.
Italian Prime Minister announced that Italy would no longer participate in the "Belt and Road Initiative", and then tried to strengthen relations with China, claiming that "the relationship between China and Italy is close". What does this indicate?
One the one hand Meloni is controlled by the EU and European Council which has become a tane colonial outpost of the United States so that any US order comes with the response “How high master?”
On the other hand - Italian Luxury brands depend on 13% to 25% of their revenue from China and Italy gets Low Cost products from China that it can sell to it's people for 2.75–3.5 times the cost and help with value addition into the economy
Italian Businesses are worried about their Chinese markets
They are worried more about Chinese Luxury Brands that could put the Italians out of business in China
So the Italian Government sends the message lets follow the same advantages that we had under the BRI but let's just not call it that anymore
And as you can see
- China gets tariff breaks until 2027 which means even if EU imposes tariffs on Chinese EVs, Italy having an agreement already can't implement the same tariffs until after 30/6/2027
- Italian Brands get the same tariff advantages in China until 30/6/2027
- Both Nations have the same benefits in Shipping and with their Investments into each other
So Nothing has changed except the official relationship between China and Italy
Do you think it's creepy that Leonardo DiCaprio is dating a girl so young that he is older than her mother?
It’s definitely bizarre.
He always seems to have a mob of young women around him.
Someone on Reddit made a chart of every girlfriend he’s had, and he seems to have a rule of never dating older than 25:
And he has a new girlfriend, who is now, you guessed it, 25:
He is 49.
This is all fine and legal. But it is just odd that he limits himself to this very narrow demographic of women. And a peculiar coincidence that they never make it further than that. I suspect he is hanging out a lot at fashion shows, or some place all these models mingle at (they are almost all tall thin models).
I know that for me, I’m so different than I was at age 20. I don’t know what I’d talk to a 20-year-old about. But to each their own.
Why Bother Working For a Living .... Public Assistance Game
There is no more middle class. Every thing has been gentrified from housing , cars People not being able to find a decent paying job and the cost to live is getting way out of hand . Gen Z and Millennials No Long Want to work towards nothing. America is Broken and it's not cool. Looks like everyones going to be on welfare
Have you ever been with someone who is so cheap it’s uncomfortable?
I used to have a friend who, despite being well-off, was incredibly cheap, to the point that it was not only embarrassing, it was often hurtful too.
She is very adept at worming out of paying for her share of things, mainly by making things SO awkward that you end up caving in and paying for her, simply because you just want the situation to be over!
Some examples:
On one occasion, when she was staying with me for a couple of days, she insisted that we go swimming, because she said she had to do exercise every day. I didn't really mind, so off we went to the local swimming pool. After queuing for quite some time at the reception desk to pay, we eventually got to the front... but when the receptionist said "That'll be £2.50, please", my friend became really indignant, as the swimming pool she usually went to apparently only cost £2.00. She started arguing with the poor receptionist over the 50p difference, much to the annoyance of all the other people in the queue behind us, waiting to pay. So, I ended up paying for both of us -- not a big deal at all, you might think, but this was just one example of how I always seemed to end up paying for her.
Later that same day, we went to the cinema to see a film. I paid the admission for both of us (I didn't want a repeat of the incident at the swimming pool!) and then we wandered over to the sweets kiosk to look at the snacks. She decided she didn't want anything; I bought myself a large bag of M&Ms. Once we'd taken our seats and the film had started, she announced that, actually, she WAS hungry after all, but didn't want to miss any of the film by going back out to the sweets kiosk. No problem, I said, you can share my M&Ms if you like. This started out fine: like you do when you're sharing sweets, I kept angling the bag towards her, to make sure she could dig in. However, after about 20 mins, she said that SHE wanted to hold the bag... Bit weird, I thought, but I duly gave the bag to her to hold.
As the film continued, every now and then I took some M&Ms out of the bag, as did she. But then she started leaning over every few minutes or so and whispering "Are you going to have any more?". As you can imagine, this started to get pretty irritating, especially as I was trying to watch the film. This went on for a while, with me saying "Yes", every time she asked. Eventually, I asked her why she kept asking and she told me that she wanted to "save them for later"!! What the heck?! I was quite surprised at this, but couldn't really make a fuss in the middle of the film. I carried on helping myself to the sweets that I'D BOUGHT, but it was all really awkward and a bit stressful, and it kind of spoilt the film a bit.
It's almost like she has a pathological need to not part with any money and to milk other people as much as possible.
I once went to stay with her, but after having been at her house for a few hours, she hadn't offered me anything to drink. Not a problem, as we had been engrossed in chatting. But, when I asked if it was OK if I put the kettle on (I am one of those Brits who quickly wilts if I'm not kept topped up with tea!) she said that she didn't have any tea. Or, in fact, anything at all to drink. OK, no problem, water is fine, I said.
For our evening meal that day, we went out to a restaurant, where (you guessed it) I ended up paying.
The next morning, we got up and sat chatting for a while. After a couple of hours, she hadn't mentioned breakfast and I was getting pretty hungry. I asked if it would be OK if I made some toast or something, but she said that she didn't have any food in. This was a bit surprising, as she'd invited me to stay for the weekend and it had been arranged for some time. In retrospect, I think she wanted to see me but didn't want to have to spend any money on feeding me. I think it's highly possible that she ate breakfast in her bedroom, in secret, before getting up and coming into the living room to chat with me. She loves food (as do I) and always used to complain at my house, if I didn't keep her well fed; like me, she's definitely not the sort of person to skip breakfast.
Anyway, as I was so hungry, I suggested we went out to a cafe for some breakfast -- I was thinking of something cheap and cheerful. She took me to a really wonderful artisan eatery, where we enjoyed a delicious breakfast. Silly me, assumed that she'd be paying, given that I'd paid for everything else that weekend and given that she hadn't provided breakfast at home. However -- you can see where this is going -- when it came to pay the bill, she started lamenting about how she "doesn't normally like to spend money on breakfast", so I ended up paying for it. She'd chosen a really expensive place, knowing that she was going to get me to pay for it!
Other examples include us going into McDonald's to buy a drink each and her asking me to pay for hers, as she didn't want to break in to her £10 note!
Each individual incident was no big deal on its own, but when it happens a lot, you realise that you're being taken advantage of. She was basically taking advantage of my generosity and the fact that I hate any kind of awkwardness. She knows that I (and probably most people) don't want to cause a fuss in public, so will just end up paying.
To put it into context, she is from a fairly wealthy family and had a well-paid job, so it's not like I could blame her behaviour on deprivation (either current or historical). She's just incredibly tight with her money. She hardly ever leaves a tip in restaurants and when she does, she leaves 2p.
Because of her behaviour with money, but also because I realised she just wasn't really a very nice person in general, I eventually cut off contact with her. We'd known each other for about 30 years, but sometimes the longest friendships aren't always the best ones.
EDIT
To the Quoran who went through my entire answer and suggested I change ALL my apostrophes to apostrophes that are slightly more curly: I'm afraid I only have one type of apostrophe on my keyboard. I don't have a not-very-curly option and then also a curly option. Like most keyboards (I'm guessing?), I just have one apostrophe to choose from.
I'm sorry that it is not quite as curly as the one on your keyboard. However, hopefully my not-very-curly apostrophes haven't affected the readability of my post too much?
I think you may have a LITTLE too much time on your hands 🙂 .
Do people abuse the welfare system in your country?
Do you know anybody who always eats a lot, but never shops, cooks or cleans up?
Or maybe somebody who disappears when it’s their turn to buy a round at the bar or coffee machine?
Did you ever see someone devastate the buffet, leave a dollar tip on the table and then empty the mints from the bowl at the cash register on the way out?
Ever experience unflushed public toilets devoid of toilet paper? How about coworkers that only pretend to work?
And of course no party is complete without the eternally-empty-handed guest.
Let’s face it, freeloaders exist all over the globe. Their entitlement knows no bounds.
So yes, people abuse welfare in my country, and in both countries I lived in before this one.
I am disgusted by freeloaders. I think most people are. I think it likely even many of the freeloaders don’t like themselves much.
Despite all this, I support welfare and I do it for selfish and conservative reasons.
I am willing to pay the taxes needed to enjoy clean streets free of unfortunate, mentally ill and addicted people.
I see that when welfare is tied to education, sponges often turn into contributors who lighten my tax load.
And for the incorrigibly lazy, $ 9,000 (average cost per welfare recipient) is less than $ 35,000 (average cost per prisoner).
Living in Germany and France showed me that welfare programs really do reduce crime and homelessness and lower prison populations.
Welfare works well when driven by data and economic evidence not empathy or scorn. It needs carrots and sticks and not too many of either.
Men Are Checking Out of Relationships in Thousands & No One Can Stop Them
This is a very serious situation.
Until someone stops the free reign of Family Court, men will avoid marriage and women in general. Nowadays, only 6.5 men in a thousand get married due to the following scenario:
(1) man gets married,
(2) wife refuses to have sex,
(3) wife racks up huge credit card debt,
(4) wife stop contributing financially,
(5) wife stops cooking & cleaning,
(6) wife cheats on husband,
(7) wife files for divorce and takes the house, cars, savings, and kids, (8) wife falsely accuses husband of abuse and he no longer can see his kids,
(9) wife poisons kids against the father.
What man in his right mind will sign up for this?