"Whereas, all through Chinese history, when the rulers screwed up, the peasants would kill the lot of them, together with their wives and children, and festoon their heads at the front gate of the city."

So you wonder WHY, China is a merit-driven society that is very serious about war? Very serious about society? Very serious about economics?

China. Does. Not. Play.

Ai! We are all unfortunate spectators riding on a bus driven by a madman. I don’t care what anyone else says. They are all on drugs, lack experiences, wrapped up in a world alien to the rest of us. They have mental illnesses, and access to enormous powerful weapons.

It’s frightening.

The ignorance of Americans…

Evidently Chinese are still farming with oxen. You got to love the paranoia and sheer ignorance floating around in Murica.

In 1966, an engineer named Walter “Taffy” Holden found himself in a perilous situation when he accidentally took off in a jet without knowing how to fly it.

Holden, who had minimal experience flying small aircraft, was in command of the No. 33 Maintenance Unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF) at RAF Lyneham.

His unit maintained the English Electric Lightning F.1, a high-speed jet fighter capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 2.

On the day of the incident, Holden was working on the jet, trying to replicate an electrical problem.

While attempting to press the throttle slightly, he inadvertently engaged the afterburners, which resulted in a surge of power.

Unfortunately, the jet had locking gates on the throttle once the afterburners were engaged, and Holden was unfamiliar with how to release them.

He found himself hurtling down the runway at a high speed, with another plane ahead of him.

In a split-second decision, Holden chose to take off rather than power down the engines.

Despite lacking a helmet, communication with an experienced pilot, and with the landing gear locked in the down position, he managed to narrowly avoid the other aircraft and successfully took off.

However, his attempts to eject from the jet were futile as the ejection seat was in service mode.

Holden, now airborne and in control of the jet, turned it around and attempted to land on a different runway. After two failed attempts, he finally managed to touch down using a maneuver called the “taildragger,” which he had learned from his experience with single-seat aircraft.

Although not ideal for the Lightning, this landing technique allowed him to safely land the jet.

The aircraft was subsequently repaired and put back into service.

Today, it can be seen fully intact at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.

Holden’s actions were later deemed to be in the best interests of himself and the aircraft. He continued to serve in the RAF until his retirement many years later.

Holden passed away in 2016 at the age of 90, leaving behind a remarkable and beloved story of an engineer who accidentally flew a jet.

Not the costliest mistake in history, nonetheless its an interesting story.

When Police Find Out Her License Is Suspended, She Loses It

False Claims About Russia Continue To Cloud The ‘West’s’ Vision

The pro-Ukrainian Spectator states correctly that the sanctions on Russia have failed. But its reasoning is dubious:

The West embarked on its sanctions war with an exaggerated sense of its own influence around the world. As we have discovered, non-western countries lack the will to impose sanctions on either Russia or on Russian oligarchs. The results of the miscalculation are there for all to see. In April last year, the IMF forecast that the Russian economy would contract by 8.5 per cent in 2022 and by a further 2.3 per cent this year. As it turned out, GDP fell by just 2.1 per cent last year, and this year the IMF is forecasting a small rise of 0.7 per cent. And that is all in spite of the war in Ukraine going much more badly than many imagined it would in February of last year. The Russian economy has not been destroyed; it has merely been reconfigured, reorientated to look eastwards and southwards rather than westwards.

Yes, the ‘West’ had an “exaggerated sense of its own influence around the world”. But that is only a part of the problem. The ‘West’ still thinks it is superior to other countries even as at least some other countries have caught up with it and are, in parts, superior in the use of science and technology.

Moreover the ‘West’ thought that Russia was inferior to it. In 2015 the late Senator John McCain called it a “gas station masquerading as a country”:

“Look, Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country,” McCain said. “It’s kleptocracy. It’s corruption. It’s a nation that’s really only dependent upon oil and gas for their economy, and so economic sanctions are important.”

In the early 1990s Russia surely was down. But it wasn’t out. It had a heavy industry and everything it needed to feed it. It had well educated people and large scientific community. When McCain spoke, 25 years after Russia’s downfall, the country was largely back in the upper league.

Its per head production of steel, cement, energy and food was and is higher than in most ‘western’ countries. Those are the basics numbers one needs to judge an industrial country and its capabilities, not some dubious number like the Gross Domestic Product which includes ‘services’ of dubious value. (For example the share of health expenditure in the quite high U.S. GDP is 16.8% with a worse outcome for the general population than in less spending European countries.)

As it has now become clear even to the Spectator that the sanctions on Russia have failed one would hope that the ‘West’ would come to a more realistic view of itself and of Russia economic capabilities. Unfortunately that is not yet the case.

Witness Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis who in March 2023 basically repeated McCain’s false claim:

… DeSantis said of Putin. “And so, he’s basically a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons and one of the things we could be doing better is utilizing our own energy resources in the US.”

The ‘West’ will continue to underestimate Russia’s capability as long as such false claims are still believed. Only a realistic assessment and more respect for Russia’s capabilities can correct the mistake of waging and losing a proxy war against it.

World Hal Turner 14 May 2023

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A clear spike in gamma radiation has been detected in Khmelnitsky, Ukraine after a Russian Missile blew up a Ukrainian ammo depot on or about May 12th. Radiation levels continued to rise on the 13th and presently remain at the elevated level. It appears the ammo depot stored Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions.

The explosion which rocked Khmelnitsky from the Russian missile strike, was very big. Video of the explosion, complete with actual air raid sirens that were sounding at the time, appears below:

Very little gamma radiation comes from depleted uranium.  As such, this clear spike in gamma radiation in Khmelnitsky indicates that there was very large stockpile of the DU munitions that was destroyed, distributing uranium dust into the air.

By comparison, the towns of Ternopol, Khmilnik, and Novaya Ushitsa remained at their regular, base radiation levels. This indicates that the Khmelnitsky anomaly is indeed a spike and corroborates the claim that the stockpile in Khmelnitsky contained DU munitions.

Mr. Spock Sends Up a Flare – Star Trek – 1967

Super Antics: The Badass Comics by Kerry Callen

Kerry Callen is a talented illustrator and book author who loves depicting the humorous adventures of the golden age Superman, his friends, and all the hijinks of their wacky universe. He calls this series of cartoons “Super Antics”, and they’re brilliant.

More: Kerry Callen h/t: sadanduseless

China Rising

A fantastic interview with Jeff Brown. A must watch!

HERE

Goetta

Goetta, a breakfast sausage, was originally a peasant dish, meant to stretch out servings of meat over several meals. It is very popular in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 pound ground beef
• 8 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups steel cut oatmeal
• 1 large onion, sliced*
• 1 to 4 bay leaves (optional)*
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Pinch of pepper

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Instructions

1. In a large pot with a lid, boil the water, add salt, pepper and oatmeal. Cover and let cook for two hours, stirring often.
2. Add the meat, onion and bay leaves. Mix well. Cook for another hour, stirring often. Remove bay leaf.
3. Pour into any size bread pans. Refrigerate overnight.
4. To serve, slice the goetta and fry it until crispy or just until heated through.
5. Goetta may be served with pancakes and eggs, on sandwiches or in place of meat at dinner.

Notes

* Two teaspoons of savory may be substituted for the onion and bay leaf.

The Fall of Rome vs. the US Today

Troubled Pakistan Arrests Former PM Imran Khan

Today former prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan was arrested while visiting the Islamabad High Court in an unrelated case. The arrest comes at a critical point for Pakistan’s economy. Behind the scene U.S. and China are wrestling for influence.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arrested as he appeared in a court in the capital, Islamabad, to face corruption allegations, sparking protests across the country.The arrest on Tuesday is the latest twist in a months-long political crisis and follows several unsuccessful attempts to apprehend the cricketer-turned-politician, including a police raid in March at his residence in the eastern city of Lahore which he had managed to evade.

Last year Imran Khan was ousted from office after a few turncoats in his PTI party decided to vote with the opposition against him. He has alleged that the Pakistani military, and behind it the U.S., were involved in the scheme. Since then he has called for new elections.

Khan continues to be the most popular politician in the country and has a large following. His supporters are now out in the streets to protest against his arrest.

The case that led to this arrest is one of several dubious ones launched against him:

Akbar Nasir Khan, a top police official in Islamabad, told Al Jazeera that Khan was arrested in a case related to the Al-Qadir University Trust. The anti-corruption National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had issued an arrest warrant against Khan on May 1 in relation to the case, he said.The accountability body issued a statement saying Khan had been arrested “for the crime of corruption”.

“The former prime minister has not given any adequate response to the summoning notices of NAB. His arrest has been made in accordance with the NAB ordinance and the law,” the statement read.

Since his removal from power last year, Khan has been slapped with dozens of charges, all of which he denies and says are politically motivated.

There is video of the unruly arrest by some 100 paramilitary rangers in riot gear.

Khan had recently accused the head of the Pakistan’s military intelligence service ISI of being responsible for two assassination attempts against him:

The military on Monday issued a harshly worded statement, terming the accusations of its involvement in last year’s shooting “highly irresponsible and baseless”.“We ask the political leader concerned to make a recourse to legal avenues and stop making false allegations,” the statement said.

Khan, however, doubled down on the allegations in a video message he released early on Tuesday, before leaving Lahore for Islamabad to attend a court hearing in a separate case.

“This man [Major General Faisal Naseer] tried to kill me twice and whenever an investigation is carried out, I will prove that it was this man and there is a whole gang with him,” the PTI chief said.

The PTI has called on its supporters to protest against the arrest. There have since been some riotous scenes throughout Pakistan’s cities.

Arresting Khan over some dubious issue after his recent spat with the military looks bad. The current unelected government will be seen as illegitimate instrument of the military, a role Khan himself was accused of before he was ousted.

There will now come days of rioting and violent police and probably military response throughout Pakistan. These will continue until Khan is released. In similar cases Pakistan’s supreme court eventually ruled that arrests like the one of Khan are illegal:

“In a state like ours, the state’s power to use violence and restrict an individual’s freedom is often used to punish politicians and leaders who have lost the establishment’s favour. Without prejudice to the merits of the case against Imran Khan, his recent arrest can hardly be viewed with a legal lens alone.“Even when viewed from a legal lens, the arrest appears derogate with the judgment rendered by the supreme court in the Khawaja Salman Rafia’s case, where it held that arrests before conviction are an aberration given the serious erosion of fundamental rights that it entails.

“Additionally, the court in that case had alluded to accountability laws being used for political engineering. While the PTI government had preferred a review against the afore-noted decision in 2020, its leader now appears to have been embroiled in the same web of political engineering, thus showing the more things change, the more they remain the same.”

Pakistan’s economy is extremely weak with very high inflation, food scarcity and too few currency reserves. It might default soon. An announced but not agreed upon IMF program will impose even more harsh conditions that the country will be unable to fulfill.

It is possible that the U.S. controlled IMF is intentionally trying to push Pakistan into default. Much of the country’s debt is to Chinese institutions and the U.S. has for some time tried to involve Chinese belt and roads project related debt into national restructuring attempts. China has rejected that scheme. To then let Pakistan default will only make it more reliant on China.

The U.S. however may still try to do it.

Posted by b on May 9, 2023 at 16:20 UTC | Permalink

Best of Larry, Darryl, and Darryl (part 11)

How an insane couple accidentally turned themselves in

Inflation in China

Compare to the rest of the world.

By the way, is inflation in the USA really 4.9%?

Inflation in China. 0.1%.

Why do middle aged women think the more experience they have acquired in life the more it increases their chances to find men, but they fail to realize there is no product in the marketplace that increases in value with age and use?

I like online dating for finding partners. Gives me more control.

I use mediocre to bad pictures. I talk about my history of mental illness. I highlight my brain and my aesthetic sensibilities. I talk about my values, my goals, and the kind of life I enjoy living on a day-to-day basis.

That is, I highlight my personality, life experience, and lifestyle. Despite what you claim, it works well.

And I mean, I’m reasonably cute. But in a schlubby no-effort sort of way.

This is me annoyed by trying to avoid glare from my glasses in the photo. Because I don’t take enough selfies to know how to avoid that. It’s representative of the crap I put on my dating profiles.

I message people I’m interested in, and I encourage them to reject me when they’re hesitant. I don’t want hesitation, and I don’t want anyone to settle for me.

If you’re interested, cool. If not, also cool.

I’m not for everyone. No one is. I only want people who can tolerate my weaknesses and appreciate my strengths. I continually work to decrease the former while increasing the latter, but I make no promises, and the changes I make may not align with your desires. Hoping for anything else is madness.

I’m not here to impress you. I’m here to have fun. With you, if you can keep up. But if not? That’s cool.

I am a niche product. There is only one of me. As a rule, the supply does not meet the demand. That may change in 20 years, when my sun-avoidance and EDS-wrinkle-prevention skin becomes less of an asset.

But I doubt it.

Maybe we’re just in different dating pools. I hope you like yours as much as I like mine.

Sarah literally thinks she’s going home later…

Seven Russian Tu-95 Strategic Bombers Airborne and Moving to Attack Vector

World Hal Turner 13 May 2023 

As of 5:20 PM eastern US Time on Saturday, 13 May, seven Russian Tu-95 Strategic Bombers have gone airborne and are moving to attack positions for missile launches against Ukraine. Air raid alerts are sounding throughout Ukraine as seen on the map image above.

The aircraft began taking off about two ago, from Olenya Air Base in Northwestern Russia, around 3:15 PM EDT, and have been flying large holding patterns until about 5:30 PM EDT when they began moving into attack positions.

 

Live Updates to appear below . . . check back

UPDATE 5:48 PM EDT —

A Russian Mig-31K, with a belly-mounted Kinzhal hypersonic missile clearly visible, took off from Savasleyka Airport located at the red marker on the scalable map below:

UPDATE 5:52 PM EDT —

Explosions now in Ternopol, in far northwestern Ukraine, with two such explosions shown in the images below:

MORE:

Reports coming in saying Iskander launch from Belgorod towards Kharkov…

UPDATE 5:59 PM EDT —

Missile over Odessa tonight not sure by whom…

Explosions Slavyansk just in..

 

UPDATE 8:03 PM EDT —

Second round of Air Raid Alerts in much of Ukraine now sounding.

USAF AWACS on the border of Ukraine;  Squawking NORSE61

Cruise missiles have reportedly been launched over the Caspian Sea from Tu-95s

Travel time for such missiles varies.   Kh-55 Air-Launched Cruise Missiles expected to enter Ukrainian Airspace any minute.

Russian tactical aviation is active in the north east direction bordering Ukraine.

What are the benefits of America’s alliances with Japan and Australia? What are the obligations of these countries to America as allies?

Frankly no benefit to America, Americans and their dogs, Japan, Japanese, Australia and Aussies. They are delaying the inevitable and screwing up their relationship with the worlds biggest market. Roughly bigger than their next 10 biggest market put together. And that is a conservative estimate!

What benefit? Imagine opening up a restaurant and screwing up to 60% of your customer by bad mouthing and fabricate lies 24/7 and 365 days a year and wondering why they won’t give you business.

Japanese. Australian and Americans should trade amongst themselves and be ready to suffer 50% inflation rate and become poorer by 75%! Yes go ahead and steal and scam each other.

Obligations! as long as you are the dog and a slave of the US that you clearly signed up to be. Talk shit, lie, fabricate falsehoods blame China and Chinese for everything and anything! Basically get ready to sink with the sinking ship United States of America!

“If We Only Had Some Phasers” – Star Trek – 1967

Midwestern Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

Midwestern Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches are extremely popular in Illinois and through the Midwest.

Yield: 4 sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless pork loin (or boneless pork chops)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 large sandwich buns

Instructions

1. Cut 4 (1 inch) slices of pork. Trim any exterior fat from edges and butterfly each slice by cutting horizontally through the middle almost to the edge so that the halves are connected by only a thick piece of meat. Put each butterflied slice between pieces of plastic wrap. Using a wooden meat mallet, or the side of a cleaver, pound vigorously until the slice is about 10 inches across.
2. Mix together flour, cornmeal, salt and black pepper.
3. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a deep, wide skillet to 365 degrees F. Dip each slice of pork in water, then in flour mixture. Fry tenderloin, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Drain on paper towels and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Serve on buns with desired condiments (mustard, mayonnaise, dill pickle chips, ketchup, sliced onion, lettuce).

When A Dumb Criminal Is Also A Terrible Liar

Chinese Ships Seen Mapping Strategic Seabed of India’s Andaman Nicobar islands In Indian Ocean:

Chinese government ships have been carrying out a systematic survey in the eastern Indian ocean. Data gathered may be particularly relevant to submarine warfare.

The survey activity covers a massive area, around 500,000 square km, and is getting larger. The inference is that, as well as conducting civilian research, these ships may be gathering information for naval planners.

Hydrographic data is civilian-defense agnostic. This means that it can be used for both civilian and military purposes. The eastern Indian Ocean is likely to be of particular interest to the Chinese Navy as they expand their submarine capabilities. The data from these surveys may help submarines navigate, or improve their chances of remaining undetected.

Some of the survey activities, nearer to Indonesia and the Andaman and Nicobar islands, may relate to finding the US Navy’s reputed ‘fish hook’ sensor networks. These are designed to track Chinese submarines entering the Indian Ocean.

30 Countries Now Ready To Accept BRICS Currency

Vinod Dsouza
May 13, 2023

A growing number of countries are showing interest to join the BRICS alliance and accept the new currency. BRICS could soon become BRICS+ as the South African ambassador, Anil Sooklal hinted that the alliance could expand this year. The decision to allow other countries to join the bloc could be taken at the next summit in August in South Africa. Sooklal confirmed that more than a dozen countries have formally and informally applied to join BRICS, according to Bloomberg.

The alliance would become stronger after expansion as their GDPs would race ahead of the U.S. and other Western powers. This could put the dollar and the Euro on the back foot as developing nations might end reliance on the USD. Therefore, BRICS stands in a better position to usher in a new global financial order than at any time before.

According to the latest report, 25 countries are ready to join BRICS and accept the new currency for international trade. The countries that have shown interest to join the BRICS alliance are Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

BRICS comprises five countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Therefore, a total of 30 countries are now participating to dethrone the U.S. dollar from its global reserve status.

If these many countries ditch the dollar and begin cross-border transactions with a new currency, the USD could be hit. The dollar could weaken on a global scale and find no means to fund its deficit. The soon-to-be-released BRICS currency could have the power to eliminate the dollar’s dominance internationally.

The countries that are interested to join BRICS are also oil-rich nations. Therefore, the alliance could force European countries to pay with the new currency for oil and not the dollar. Read here to know how many sectors in the U.S. could be affected if this development takes place.

Christian Romero, The 8-Year-Old Killer…

Is China’s J-31 fighter significantly better than their J-20 fighter?

Is a screwdriver better than a hammer?

When it meets a nail, no.

But the hammer cries no contest with screws.

Warmaking is a system on system competition, and not a duel between particular weapon systems.

The FC-31, now known as the J-35, has evolved into the Swiss Army knife, next to the single-minded interceptor/air superiority fighter that is the J-20.

A mainland friend that is a military buff contends it is the lack of domestic engines that curtailed the J-35’s introduction, with the available parts going to the J-20’s production. After a decade of hard work, the latest J-20s coming off the production line are equipped with powerful thrust vectoring domestic engines, a massive upgrade over the interim Saturn AL-31.

He pointed to videos that analyzed the flight profiles of recent J-20 airshow demos, and the evolution from earlier models.

With the J-20 becoming operational in all 5 Chinese theater commands, the time is ripe for the introduction of the J-35 family.

The navalized version is destined for the EMALs-capable Fujian and future Chinese supercarriers. The regular version will supplement the J-20 as a multirole strike fighter.

There is apparently a V-STOL version in development, which will change the nature of the Liaoning/Shandong’s ability to project combat power, as well as future escort carriers.

Note the J-35 is a 5th-gen twin-engine design, unlike the American F-35.

The J-20, being the more mature platform, has been spotted as a two-seater test bed.

This is the world’s first 5th gen two-seater, and possibilities are rich with a WSO onboard. The J-20 can turn into a forward command post for EW, drone C&C, autonomous stealth wingmen or even a stealthy AWACS role in joint operations.

The J-20/J-35 are shaping up nicely to fill different operational gaps as Chinese air power marches steadily (and stealthily) towards 21st century parity.

The first world no longer determines the cycle time for weapon systems this century. That is the key takeaway.

Even basic infantry gear like assault rifles and MREs are being retired and replaced at a much faster clip by the PLA than elsewhere.

Meet the new QBZ-191, no longer a bullpup.

Get used to being surprised by the Chinese repeatedly. They have hit a string of home runs in the past decade.

The J-35 will be no different, having gone through a long period of testing and development.

Life in the United States

“if you want more money, get a better job!!”

“ok..” gets better job

“why can’t i fill all these $10 job openings?! nObOdY wAnTs To wOrK!!!!”

What does poverty look like in your country?

This is the ghetto in Salinas California in The United States.

Also locally known as “China Town”.

I was born and raised in Salinas and was told to never go to Chinatown and I never did until three months ago I am 36 years old now.

I went there for a job interview for a Social Worker position to help homeless find a home.

This area is secluded from the rest of Salinas.

It almost feels like you entered another city.

They cut off roads that go in a circle to keep people out and leave the homeless in.

When i entered it was PACKED with people in the streets.

It smelled like urine and feces.

During my interview a man overdosed on drugs and was having a seizure.

His lips were blue!

The ambulance came.

Once my interview was done. There was pimps, postitutes, drug addicts and drug dealers all scattered in the streets it was hard for me to drive out of there because they kept walking close to my car.

I was terrified!!

It was strange to see the transactions with the drug dealer and the addict..

The drug dealer was in nice clean named band clothes with some expensive sunglasses on talking to a bum with dirty rags on with long facial hair.

The difference between their appearances was major!

Once I finally made it out I CRIED and was praying to god for ALL of them. It was such a shock to know that place existed while I was being raised there.

the american dream doesn’t exist