I posted a comment / answer on Quora, and it was deleted. The space was a “Warfare” space, and was very heavily “Pro-America”. The same thing, that you all understand if you were brought up in the USA… America is the best, and the toughest and the king of the world… yeah. Sure.

Here’s the post…

Well, why is the nuclear buildup showing Xi Jinping preparing for a ‘large-scale war with America’?

This answer was declined. Posting here. If you know the reasons for it being declined Please inform me.

China is a peaceful nation.

But, it is NOT stupid.

…

The United States has thrown EVERYTHING at China. And I do mean EVERYTHING.

From “color revolutions” inside of China, to “color revolutions” in all the nations surrounding China. From undersea excursions and conflicts, to near-space satellite warfare. From cyber warfare, to bio-warfare attacks. From managed famines to lawfare assaults. From efforts designed to collapse the Chiense banking industry to efforts to collapse the Chinese real estate industry.

It’s been full spectrum and absolute.

But not reported in the “news” of the West.

…

Instead we hear of submarines ramming undersea mountains, freak geomagnetic storms, the “apparent random” firings of Naval Commanders, and the Secretary of the Navy. We read (in the West) about Chinese “warmongering” a build up for a “Taiwanese invasion”.

All this interspersed about how Putin has brain cancer, and how Russia is running out of ammo. We read about how Xi Peng is going to be disposed and how the poor downtrodden people of China are going to rise up for “democracy” and Freedom”.

…

Info war is in full swing.

There is ZERO credibility in Western “news” media. Today it is so outrageous and comically fake and ridiculous that it is amazing that these tabloids are still able to have people that watch and read their content.

…

So… Yeah. It’s full spectrum. EVERYTHING.

Of course…

The clueless in the West would believe the fake narratives of Putin losing, China collapsing, and America remaining strong. They will believe that COVID was fake, or if it was something of concern, then it was “China’s fault” for one reason or the other. That’s the narrative, and that’s want the oligarchy expects Westerners to believe.

…

The United States is a feudal plutocracy.

While China is military-based meritocracy.

…

And the question is…

“Why is China preparing for a war with the United States”?

Answer…

China must. China owes it to it’s people. China has a responsibility to its people to expect the best, but prepare for the worst… and prepare they ARE.

…

Oh, it’s just like the United States is throwing EVERYTHING at China, China is preparing with EVERYTHING as well.

And, let me tell you all…

They don’t read American / Western “news”.

They know what is REALLY going on.

…

So China is ready.

If you are a consumer of Western “news” you will be unaware of the following facts, but you do need to brace yourself for the realities.

• Were the USA, either directly or through proxy, attacks China… China will throw nuclear warheads at American cities and military installations.

Oh, sure. China has a “no first use policy” in regards to nuclear weapons.

But within the FORMAL WORDING of this (particular) policy is one sentence that you all should all pay attention to…

“…if attacked… China reserves the right … to use every means at its disposal … to attack the nation that attacks it.”

For some reason, the Western “news” media glosses over this sentence.

Perhaps they cannot read Chinese, or simply just cut and paste their “news articles” directly out of Langley VA.

Whatever, the Chinese FORMAL STATEMENT regarding nuclear weapons use is very carefully worded, and intentionally ambiguous enough to give the most aggressive neocons pause to consider.

…

So, yeah. China is ready.

It was ready in 1950–53 when it defeated the United States in Korea, and is ready today as it dishes EVERYTHING thrown at it, right back to the United States to consume.

…

At this point in time…

The United States and China are like a married couple living together weeks prior to a divorce. The United States is cheating, bending words, manipulating systems… and thinking “They’ll never find out”.

While China, is playing it smart.

Already has contacted the divorce attorneys, arranged the legal papers and made all the necessary arrangements. Just waiting for the time of CHINA’s choosing to terminate the relationship.

…

Quick summary

• China is READY to take on the United States, simultaneously with it’s proxy “allies”.
• China WILL use nuclear weapons.
• China is above-peer capable with the best equipment of the West.
• China is a military-based meritocracy.

…

Quick Note

• The disinformation about China permeates all levels.
• China is a military-based meritocracy, but the West portrays this reality as “conscription”. Which is disingenuous. It gives the Western reader a pre-conceived illusion of poorly trained, unmotivated troops. But the reality is something quite different.

 

…

I was going though my stacks and found other posts similarly deleted on the American website.

Such as this one…

…

Is ‘World War 3’ really on the horizon?

I can understand your fear and concern.

I hope to calm you down with a nice happy dose of reality. The biggest culprit in this fear is the media. Whether it is social media, or main-stream media. Media is filling your mind with fear.

What the American Main-Stream Media says

According to 99.9999% of the American government controlled Western media; the world is heading towards world war 3 out of necessity. Both Putin and Xi are “loose cannons” with a selection of mental disorders and are out of control in trying to rule the world. Putin invaded Ukraine out of greed and lust, and Xi Peng will invade Taiwan for the same reasons. They despise democracy and freedom and want to rule the world as a dystopian nightmare world where everyone is controlled by Tiktok and weather balloons.

The REAL answer – being under-reported intentionally

World War 3 is the climax of the massive period of change that the world is going though. It is a generational event, and coincidences with solar activity. It is as predictable as the orbits of planets, and the mass movements of animals.

This period of change is a rather long event cycle and involves change at all levels. Some nations collapse. Some nations grow. Some groups engage in battles, while others suffer economic hardships. What ever happens, it is not homogeneous. But rather an aggregate of minor events sprinkled over a multi-decade long time periods.

The build-up to this period can be traced back to the 1960’s where the major dominant power; The United States, began a series of strategic blunders that set the stage for events that we are now witnessing.

The actual pivot point for contentious calamity occurred in 2008 with an economic meltdown in the West, and the resulting frantic splashing and doggie-paddling that we see today all spawn from it.

The actual war occurred in 2019 though 2022 with was the Coronavirus event. This was a three tiered biological phased attack on China by the United States.

Other events during this “war” consisted of the the disastrous 2020 Trump Flotilla into the South Chinese Sea, the undersea submarine wars from 2021 to 2023, and the satellite wars of 2020 to 2023.

Simultaneous with these events are the generalized cultural, social, and economic collapse of the United States and it’s Western proxies, the NATO incursions and war in the Ukraine following the “color revolution” in Kiev in 2014, and the failed Hong Kong color revolution of 2018 – 2020.

While the West shrinks in influence, the East (and Global South) grows. Both Russia and China are major global powers in all measurements, and are generally immune from the boiler-plate of attacks, and manipulations normally used by the West.

Africa is completely changing, and it has shed it’s colonial slave role and embraced a role as the “new” middle class in a rapidly changing world. Along with this follows a rag-tag collection of power centers around the world.

The world is now has entered into a “reconstruction” period globally. This is resulting in new alignments, and massive failures of nations and societies that are unable to adjust and change with the times.

This period will be a long one, and I am afraid that it has only begun.

Though, I anticipate the end of this period around 2030 or so, give or take two years. … The main-stream “news’ is designed to incite and inject fear to control people. I urge everyone to control themselves.

The future looks bright for most of the world. It is change that we do not like, and those in power want us to fear it. Do not. The intelligent person recognizes this and takes appropriate steps for a bright future ahead rather than clutching on the past though fear.

…

Resulting in this comment…

I see the “West” and in late-stage dying. The “dance of death” where the body contorts and twists and shudders.

Today…

Why are Chinese students frequently harassed by customs officials when entering the US? What kind of mindset does this reflect on the US authorities?

Not only just chinese from China but also chinese origin from others even from Singapore.

I travel to US for a dozen times both business and holidays but each time my checked in luggages 100% checked and prised open plus hand luggage checked even if you go to green lane.

This prove one thing for sure. US had created so many enemies around the world that they are living in fear of daily terrorist attacks whereas chinese people in China are living in peace and harmony without any fear or concern for their safety.

When you approach American policeman, they are ready to draw their guns whereas when you approach a chinese policeman, their mindset is that you need help.

That is the difference between China and America.

 

 

Baked Lasagna

Ingredients

Sauce

• 3 pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped

Lasagna

• 3/4 to 1 pound lasagna noodles
• Butter
• 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 pound Italian sausage or ground beef, coarsely chopped
• 2 hardboiled eggs, chopped
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese

Instructions

Sauce

1. Put all the ingredients into a large cooking pot. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour.
2. Pass through a sieve; return to the pot, and season to your satisfaction. Continue to simmer until sauce has thickened.
3. Just before using this sauce, stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter.
4. Lasagna: Brown sausage or beef, then drain.
5. Boil lasagna noodles. Drain and put a layer into a well buttered casserole dish.
6. Add a layer of mozzarella cheese, then a layer of sausage or beef and a thin layer of hardboiled egg.
7. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and ricotta or cottage cheese. Moisten cheese with some of tomato sauce.
8. Continue in layers, finishing with a good thick layer of grated Parmesan.
9. Dot with butter and bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes.
10. Serve with garlic bread.

Don’t people in China wish to live in a democratic country?

I am a Chinese, have studied in the UK and traveled to many countries.

For me, China is democratic – probably even more democratic than western countries.

Of course, I am referring to the original meaning of the word democracy – the power of the state belongs to the people and the people have the right to rule the government.

Nowadays, democracy in the west often refers to multi-party competition, where the ruling party are elected by universal suffrage.

But this approach has some significant problems. As voters are ordinary people who has no specialized knowledge on managing the country, the core competitiveness of the election process becomes the ability to publicize public opinion, personal affinity, and persuasion, which have little to do with whether they can actually formulate and implement policies well, but are more relevant to the resources of the society and the media operation behind them.

In the west, the rule of the people is in a single choice question of political preference, and the frequency of being able to make a choice is once every four years. If you are the minority voter, you will not be able to get a satisfactory result in those four years.

In contrast, China’s “democracy” works like this:

1. A huge system of officials that everyone can enter by studying and taking exams – from the smallest local township government to the central government, all within the same pyramid-tested promotion system. For Chinese graduates, it is a very common career selection to pick an official position related to their major from an open government list, take a test on logic and issue processing skills, and become a government official. All newcomers need to start from the basic positions and get enough practical results before they are internally elected with promotion.

2. The criterion value of the government affairs is “people first”. The most important judgment dimension is whether they can improve the life of the majority and satisfy the people.

3. Public opinion monitoring and feedback mechanism. All levels of government have set up channels to receive public opinion, such as emails, petitions reception, or social media. For every actual problem, the government must give feedback or specific plans within a period of time; and after a period of time, they must do regular follow-up visits to ensure that the problem has been solved satisfactorily. All this is counted in the KPIs of government staff. If the people are not satisfied with this government’s response, they can complain to a higher level of government, which has absolute power over the next level of government, and the government department complained against will be penalized and monitored.

In China, the rule of the people is in the government’s “people first” evaluation criteria, and in the mechanism of feedback and resolution of specific issues that are highly valued. However, if your opinion is detrimental to the interests of the underprivileged, or if you are not looking for a solution, but simply venting your negative feelings and trying to get more people to share your negative feelings, then your opinion might be refused or ignored, or be deferred in to future considerations.

I think this is why people say: in the west, you can change the government, but you can’t change the policies; however in China, you can’t change the government, but you can change the policies.

Of course, both mechanisms have their own drawbacks. For example, since the core competence of universal suffrage is the ability of influencing public opinion, so having control of the media and enough money is almost equivalent to having a high probability of obtaining the highest power in the country; in China, it is very difficult to make the complex internal promotion completely transparent, and it is not easy for the people to monitor inefficiencies and corruption inside the system.

But for me and at least 80%+ Chinese people, the current one party Chinese government is still very satisfactory.

As for the so-called “Communist Party is not the same as government”: in fact, the CCP is not the same as the Soviet Union type of “communism”, for example, China has its market economy system and is running well. Actually when there is only one political party, the notion of party advocacy would be extremely weakened. In the case of China, people would tend to feel that the Chinese system is more like a parliamentary system even within the government. China is a country with a secular culture, and ideology discussion is not really that important, what matters to this government council is simply about insisting with the people-oriented value, and making people living in better lives.

To be honest, I think that the vast majority of the world’s people don’t care about politics.

People care more about their own lives – whether they can live healthy and happy lives with the people they love, whether the society is fair, safe and free, whether they can enjoy their civil rights as a human being, whether their problems can be solved and whether their dreams can be realized.

Also, I agree that China is better for ordinary people, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to live in, but not for the extremely rich guys. If you are a rich tycoon or celebrity and has no interest in benefiting ordinary people, then the Chinese government might supervising you with very strict rules, you will have more freedom and power in the West.

But as for me, China is not bad.

Kirill Babaev: Here’s why the result of Taiwan’s election is bad news for the US

It will become apparent in the long term that China was the real winner

By Kirill Babaev, PhD, director of the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professor of the Financial University, and deputy chairman of the Presidium of the National Committee for BRICS Research.

In 2023, the volume of trade between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait was $268 billion. This means Taipei traded more with its main adversary, Beijing, than with its foremost ally, Washington. And for Chinese business, Taiwan was a more important counterparty than the state’s key strategic partner, Russia.

These facts are important for an understanding of the current relationship between the two parts of China. They are inextricably linked not only by the commonality of language, history, and culture, but also by hundreds of thousands of trade and production contracts. And this may prove to be a decisive factor in the long-term struggle for the island between the great powers.

The elections in Taiwan on January 13 did nothing to change this. On the contrary, apart from pro-American candidate Lai Qingde’s victory (with a far-from-solid 40% of the vote), the parliamentary elections revealed the defeat of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which lost its majority and ten seats in the Legislative Yuan to the conventionally “pro-Chinese” Kuomintang Party.

The outcome has made the island’s power system somewhat unstable, suggesting that the main battle between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan is yet to come. However, the US has only one undeniable advantage in this war – the ability to pump its proxy with weapons and defense systems in anticipation of a violent conflict. China, on the other hand, has far more leverage. Thus, in the coming years, Beijing won’t try to solve the Taiwan problem militarily: on the contrary, it will attempt to turn America’s “Pyrrhic victory” on January 13 into a final US defeat in the next elections on the island.

In his first post-election comments, winning candidate Lai (who won’t officially become president until May) spoke in a peaceful way about Beijing and Sino-Taiwanese relations, without in any way trying to demonstrate a desire to unilaterally declare the island’s independence. US leaders have also spoken in the same vein, stressing that they intend to develop only “informal” relations with Taiwan, while continuing to be guided by the “One-China” principle.

As a result, Taiwan is now well aware that the path to independence is a dead end, as none of Taipei’s closest allies will endorse the move or recognize the existence of an “alternative China.” The path of maintaining the status quo, on the other hand, is the most unstable, because in this case the sword of Damocles of armed conflict between the US and China will hang over Taiwan, in which the island risks losing its entire economy and many thousands of its citizens’ lives.

The only option for Taiwan in the long term is a compromise with mainland China; some kind of full-fledged arrangement that will allow the island to maintain the way of life and economic system that it’s accustomed to, and that will allow Beijing to consider the question of reunification closed, or at least with a clear, if distant, solution.

Hong Kong may partly serve as a model for such a solution, but in the case of Taiwan, the compromise is likely to be much softer. Beijing and Taipei could agree on a roadmap to reunification by 2049 – ending a century-long cycle of confrontation. That plan could well lead to a union state along the lines of the EU or Russia and Belarus.

Of course, such an outcome would be good for all Chinese on both sides of the strait, as it would remove all risk of armed conflict or a ‘hostile takeover’ of Taiwan by the PRC. These are precisely the outcomes feared by all those who voted for Lai on January 13.

Only one country would be extremely disadvantaged by such a cross-strait arrangement, namely the US. Washington has invested too much in the doctrine of containment of China, in the formation of a chain of military and political alliances around its borders and a defense belt on the island of Taiwan itself, to lose this “unsinkable aircraft carrier.” Of course, the Americans will do everything in their power to oppose any kind of agreement between the two parts of China, whatever it may be.

But attempts to move Taiwan away from Chinese shores and closer to the US coast are geographically meaningless. As Beijing’s economic power grows, the importance of the Sino-Taiwan economic relationship will only increase (even if bilateral trade temporarily declined in 2023). The status quo that Washington has fought so hard to preserve is actually more favorable to China. It seems that President Lai Qingde will prove to be a much more balanced politician than the outgoing leader, Tsai Ing-wen. If this is the case, it may well come to pass that the January 13 elections were actually won by Beijing, not Washington.

Peter Man Comments

The author, as a smart PhD, should state the obvious. All Taiwan election results are bad for the US.

Once again, I will say something not echoing media platitudes. China is, in fact, conducting long-term strategic actions to weaken the hegemon, which will eventually collapse by exhaustion. This strategy has been applied many times in China’s history, and as a history lover, I will illustrate with one example, the war between Chu and Wu during the Spring and Autumn Era (771 – 476 BCE). This was the early Zhou feudal era when historians began recording state annals. Chinese annals in those days were known as Spring and Autumn, meaning a year. It came from the Shang, Chinese civilization’s progenitor, who did not have summer and winter seasons so spring and autumn represented a year.

Near the end of this era, the barbarian (culturally and linguistically non-Chinese) state of Chu in the south along the middle part of the Yangzi River became a behemoth. After making a strong matrimonial alliance with Qin in the northwest, which lasted until Qin Shihuang unified China, Chu threatened and made war on every state in the north while encroaching and swallowing small states to its east. The last bulwark against Chu’s eastern expansion to the Pacific coast was Wu, a small barbarian state centered around Suzhou to the west of Shanghai. Chinese annals recorded that Wu natives shaved their heads and tattooed their bodies, decidedly non-Chinese practices.

At the time, Chu had subjugated many small tribes and states between themselves and Wu, creating a buffer zone as well as a launch pad for future wars against Wu. When looking at this behemoth state of Chu with a hundred times the power of this small state of Wu living on the plains of Huai River, it would appear that Wu’s fate was sealed. Instead, over two generations, Wu would not only survive but defeat Chu in every battle, eventually capturing Chu’s capital.

One of Wu’s strategies was to light up endless fires in the buffer zone. Chu could not maintain its hegemony without reacting. Each time there was trouble, Chu had to send its army over long distances across mountainous areas, and each time Wu would withdraw into a defensive position nearby. When the Chu army, being tired, far from home and uncertain of their vassals’ loyalty, decided to retreat, the Wu army would ambush them and cause further damage. Thus, Wu, at very little cost, exhausted Chu (疲于奔命) and eventually defeated them.

The history of the Chu and Wu conflict is a much bigger story, but this illustrates how a big, hegemonic country with its fingers in every pie can be weakened from exhaustion caused by endless small fires. Knowing this, I’m not surprised that China is not using its weight to put out small fires. All this talk of China helping America cool things down in the Middle East or West Asia is just wishful thinking.

Another thing that China definitely should be aware of and which I have always averred, the US and Japan will not intervene militarily should the PLA decide to land in Taiwan. Chang Ya-chung, the deep blue KMT member who advocates immediate negotiations with China for peaceful reunification, said as much in a recent interview.

In short, Stop dreaming anyone will come and rescue us in a war with mainland China. If there is war, Taiwan will be destroyed like Ukraine. I guarantee not a single GI will die for you. Why not? Because their opponent will be the PRC, a well-armed nuclear state, America is not that stupid. They will tell you all kinds of rubbish to sell arms and use you as a proxy.

They will use you, the Taiwanese people, as a pawn and sacrifice you in a heartbeat.

So you better wake up and do what’s best for Taiwan and its people.” For all pols and pundits who paint Chang as a red communist trojan horse, he welcomes holding a public debate, but no one wants to take him up on the challenge.

No one wants that debate lest people learn the bitter truth.

Chang, as the principal of Dr. Sun College is well respected as an educator and well-liked by young Taiwanese. These well-educated young voters are not stupid. They voted en mass for Ko because they’re disillusioned with the corrupt KMT led by a scumbag who appointed an unwinnable nonentity as the presidential candidate.

PM

What are some good examples of “life isn’t fair”?

The accusations emerged in May of 2016.

Amber Heard, Johnny Depp’s now ex-wife, posted pictures of his alleged abuse and the outcry was immediate.

The breakdown of a golden couple.

When Johnny was cast in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, news outlets were quick to condemn him.

How dare they hire him? He shouldn’t be there. He’s a terrible, terrible person.

Meanwhile, Heard was praised, crowned as a survivor and champion of abused women. She took jobs as a poster child for the ACLU and UN.

Johnny lost a reputation he worked for years to build. No one wanted to hire him, or even work with him. He was tainted by the label abuser.

He received hate, from once-fans, from the media, from basically everyone.

And, of course, it was justified. He hurt an innocent, defenseless woman. We should hate him. Right?

Tell the world I, Johnny Depp, a man, I’m a victim too of domestic violence

And see how many people believe or side with you.

But this year, Johnny released tapes that reframed the allegations we were all so quick to believe.

Maybe they weren’t so golden after all.

She admitted to hitting him and throwing cans and glass bottles at him. She says that glass from one such assault sliced the top of Depp’s finger off.

And then she mocked him. Because she knew no one would believe his word over hers.

You think life is fair?

This is a man who was physically assaulted by his wife and then torn down on global television because we all love a villain.

We all love a villain, even when they’ve done nothing wrong.

What office rule made you say “You gotta be kidding me”?

I ran an Engineering department that covered military equipment scattered across the country.

We had specialised staff based out of an office building who were dispatched nationwide as required.

We had a good atmosphere. Staff worked hard and long as required and when it was quiet were compensated with additional vacation days and “under the table” days off. Overtime was not available.

For example – it was fairly normal for an eng team to leave home at 4 in the morning to be at an airbase for 7:30, leave at 8 pm and do the same the next day, and for as long as required. The company refused to give hotel accommodation, considering every base within the country “drivable”.

A new admin boss took over and a biometric system was implemented. A decree was issued that EVERY member of staff MUST clock in and out, and while clocking out could be any time, clocking in had to be between 7 and 7:30 am.

I fought it for about 6 months but eventually was told to toe the line or leave.

It was no longer possible to pay staff back with vacation days, official or unofficial, and the company immediately lost hundreds of hours of productivity with staff, understandably cutting back their hours, feeling unappreciated. As their boss (and a human being) I could no longer ask them to work the ridiculous hours they had been previously working, knowing there was no compensation available.

Another productivity masterstroke from the same guy was the removal of all printers from eng department, putting us on the print server located on a different floor, sharing with other departments.

The boss had previously implemented a rule that petty cash could only cover items up to USD 80. One day we ran out of toner for the color printer, had to print documents for a top level meeting.

The boss, wanting to impress by cutting stationery costs, had delayed signing approval for purchase of toner, ordered weeks earlier, so the cupboard was bare! I contacted the IT guy and explained about the meeting, who was going to be there, and that the boss wasn’t around and he nipped out to the local mall and picked up toner at a cash cost of USD 81. As punishment, for exceeding the 80 buck limit, the boss removed all printers from Engineering.

These things happen when people get promoted beyond their capability.

 

 

What’s something on an employee’s first day that sets off red flags?

I can think of two instances.

One, was a friend of a friend. He was actually a pretty smart guy, and did programing of some sort. The guy’s personal life was a disaster. His wife left him, he bought a car he couldn’t afford, then got fired from his job. He kept the car but stopped making payments, and hid the car so they couldn’t repo it. He was staying at my friends house for a while and he screwed that up as well by being a jerk to his hosts. So, he finally found a job as a programmer, and it seemed he was going to be able to turn his life around. His first day on the job, he sent an email to upper management, and basically cc’d the entire company, telling them everything they were doing wrong. >They came to see him, thanked him for coming in, and fired him. This guy is a total dufus.

The second is almost the same. A friend mine, never seems to be able to hold a job. She told me she got hired at a new place. She wanted to make her mark there, so sent the president and the executive a long e-mail about how they could improve the company by taking her advice, and listed a bunch of her suggestions. This, after working there for less than a week.. yup she got fired.

Some people are just too stupid.

What caused you to realize how dysfunctional your marriage was, and how long had you been in denial?

Snow fell in Texas and the whole metroplex closed down. School was cancelled, power outages disabled many households, and I found myself collecting fallen branches in our front yard to make a fire for warmth.

My worries about entertaining my five young kids for the day, however, quickly dwindled as my two oldest began to organize an elaborate project in the back yard.

“Come on, let’s build an igloo!” they hollered.

I thought, “OK, that’s not going to work, but at least they’ll be occupied for a while.”

Bradley, my oldest, gathered supplies, while Amber helped my younger kids get dressed in layers of their warmest clothes. Garden gloves had to suffice for hand ware, but nobody minded. Excitement lit up the house to where we barely needed electricity.

I went to work starting a fire in the fireplace and preparing a crude meal that required no heat.

I looked outside and saw the meager beginnings of a snow structure and, after feeling a bit sorry for them, thought, “This might be a great chance for my kids to use real-life problem solving skills.”

The next time I looked out, I was amazed! Someone had the idea to empty out the sidewalk chalk boxes and use the plastic containers as molds for the igloo blocks.

They worked all day on that igloo, eventually building it up to Bradley’s head. As the sun went down, they made plans to finish the structure the next day.

All my kids went to bed early, as there was really nothing much to do in the dark, and they were exhausted from their laborious day.

Then, my husband came home from work. His business never closed. He parked in the driveway behind our house and came in through the back door. Being so dark, he ran right into the igloo, got snow “all over” him and became irate.

He destroyed the igloo, claiming that the weather would soon become warm, the snow blocks would melt, the grass underneath would be saturated, resulting in a huge mud puddle and a ruined lawn. He then got a shovel and a flash light and spread the snow all over the back yard. The igloo was gone and I was furious.

That was February.

The crushing of the igloo had crushed my kids’ hearts, and when I stood at the window watching my husband with a shovel and a flashlight spread out snow to preserve his lawn, something else was crushed too. My denial — at how dysfunctional our marriage was — shattered, and other fits of his unnecessary anger over the last decade flooded my mind, just like that igloo was going to flood the backyard.

I filed for divorce in March.

That was 14 years ago, and I am now happily married to a man who would never dream of crushing a child’s igloo.

What is the craziest thing you have ever said or done at an interview and still gotten the job?

This happened with one of my friend:

After getting rejected in his first interview of the day, he was naturally dejected. So he entered the room with a frustrated face.

He was hardly interested in the company profile and such was his mood that he wanted to take someone on.

Interviewer: Are you fine? You don’t look well!

Friend: I haven’t eaten since morning, I prepared for my previous interview so well and got rejected in the very first round.

I: So, did you prepare for this interview as well?

F: No! I was more interested in that company. And I wanted to give my best at one place.

I: Do you know trading?

F: No! I don’t!

I: Then why are you interested in this company?

F: For the money! Do you think all those standing outside know trading?

I: Atleast some of them might?

F: I’m telling you, they don’t.

I: So you are a student of geology, right? How do think you’ll be able to manage working in a trading company?

F: There is a novel named Liar’s Poker in which the male protagonist was a student of Art History and ended up getting trained at Salomon Brothers. He works as a financial journalist now. And yes, it’s not fiction, the guy wrote it as his semi-autobiography. I think I will be fine.

(He knew he scored there)

(After asking some basic tell-me-about-you questions)

I: What’s your biggest strength?

F: I’m very patient.

I: See! We need people who are dynamic and full of energy. I don’t think patience and our required qualities go hand in hand.

(This was like a tipping point for him)

F: Have you heard of Rahul Dravid? He is regarded as one of the most patient cricketer. Yet, once he had the fastest fifty in ODIs. When he played his first T-20, he hit 3 consecutive sixes. Just because someone is patient doesn’t mean they can’t be dynamic and aggressive.

(Interviewer gave a smile at this answer)

Result: Selected

UFC fighters were assaulted by the woke mob

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ALCYyC1P2hM?feature=share

Federal Reserve Chairman: U.S. Debt “Unsustainable”

Nation Hal Turner 05 February 2024

The United States is on an “unsustainable” path with regard to its national debt and it is time to address the issue, Jerome Powell said in an interview aired Sunday.

The US national debt currently stands at more than $34 trillion, according to the US Treasury.

“In the long run, the US is on an unsustainable fiscal path. The US federal government’s on an unsustainable fiscal path. And that just means that the debt is growing faster than the economy,” Powell told CBS’ “60 Minutes” news program.

“It’s probably time, or past time, to get back to an adult conversation among elected officials about getting the federal government back on a sustainable fiscal path,” he said in the interview, which was recorded on Thursday.

In the CBS interview, Powell reiterated that stance, saying it was unlikely that a rate cut would come at the next meeting of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in March.

“I think it’s not likely that this committee will reach that level of confidence in time for the March meeting, which is in seven weeks,” Powell said.

I fear living a normal format of life (study, job, marriage, kids). What are your thoughts on living a solitary life following passion and various hobbies with less human interactions?

No problems at all

If you have the MONEY then no issues at all

You can buy a place away from town and live a solitary life and follow your hobbies

• Study is mainly for a Job
• Job is for making money to sustain yourselves
• Marriage and Kids are to take you to your next generation

As long as you can sustain yourself without studies, you don’t need the same

As long as you have enough money, you don’t need a job

As for marriage and kids – that’s entirely your choice. You can choose to avoid either.

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The question is WHY?

Are you really uninterested in human reactions or are you having a massive chip on your shoulder?

This is key

A Major break up or A fight in the family or Hidden Sexuality are some reasons why a person may feel that he doesn’t want human interaction

It’s temporary

If you flunk an exam or don’t get through an interview then you may feel the same

So you have to be ABSOLUTELY SURE you want to avoid any of this without any other factor

Another reason could be FEAR OF COMPETITION

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So my advise is – Explore yourself and find out WHY you want to stay and live a life of solitude

Then TRY IT FOR A WHILE

Try to live without speaking to parents or relatives or friends.

No Whatsapp with friends

No contact with friends

No outings

Just stay and go to work and come home and live to yourself with minimal interactions

Then see if you can manage it for LIFE

What are some mind-blowing facts about the Vietnam War?

1. The VC/NVA had dedicated SIGINT (signals intelligence) units involving in radio interception, telephone tapping, and code-breaking. Their members were fluent in many languages. In 1970, the U.S. 25th Infantry Division found a North Vietnamese SIGINT facility hidden underground near the Thi Tinh River; every single radio communication of the U.S. 1st and 25th Divisions had been logged, and the intercepts translated into Vietnamese.
2. In 1966, all 14 Vietnamese barbers working in the U.S. 25th Infantry Division’s base camp were Vietcong sympathizers. They didn’t cut anybody’s throat but they did gather intelligence.
3. During the battle for Hamburger Hill in May 1969, U.S. friendly fire killed 7 and wounded 53 of their own men.

• The first B-52 operational losses of the Vietnam war took place on 18 June 1965 when two B-52s were destroyed in a mid-air collision, costing American taxpayers 20 million dollar.
• In early 1970, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces made a short incursion into Cambodia and discovered huge NVA compounds containing: 4,793 small arms, 730 mortars, over 3 million rifle rounds, 6.5 million anti-aircraft rounds, 7,285 rockets, 124 trucks, nearly 1 thousand tons of rice and a telephone switchboard.
• A report issued by the Pentagon in 1973 estimated that 35% of all enlisted men who had served in Vietnam had tried heroin and 20% had been addicted at some point during their tour.
• By 1968, the U.S. had set up 40 ice-cream plants in Vietnam and 760,000 tons of supplies were being delivered every month. American movies, stage shows, color TVs, chilled beer, Napoleon brandy, etc. were readily available. Rear-echelon troops could imagine they were still back home.
• Some 10,000 U.S. servicemen lost at least one limb in Vietnam – more than in World War II and Korea put together.
• The number of U.S. helicopter lost during the war: 4,865.
• Eight (8) million tons of bombs were dropped on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, 4 times more than the amount dropped in all of World War 2.
• The amount of ammunition fired per U.S. soldier was 26 times greater in Vietnam than during World War II.
• For each artillery shell or rocket hitting its base camp, the U.S. 25th Infantry Division’s official policy was to fire 1,000 shells on the surrounding countryside in retaliation. (Talking about a rich man’s war, huh)
• Lucky number 13: An estimated 27 thousands tons of unexploded ordnance were littered throughout the country at the end of the war. In November 2015, one unexploded 406mm naval shell was unearthed from a garden in Quang Tri Province, near the former Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Presumably, this 2,000-pound shell was fired from the battleship USS New Jersey.

14. Over 18 million gallons (or 72 million liters) of defoliants were used throughout the war, even now Vietnamese children are being born with horrifying physical disabilities as a direct result of the US use of chemical defoliants.

15. In 1965, around 42% of all chemical defoliants sprayed in South Vietnam were aimed at food crops, and the country quickly went from rice exporter to rice importer.

16. At the peak of their commitment, South Korea had 44,829 troops in South Vietnam, Australia had 7,672, Philippines sent 2,000, Taiwan sent 31 and Fascist Spain sent 13 men. Morocco sent 10,000 cans of sardines.

17. By the early 1970s, years before the war’s end, South Vietnam’s landscape was already pockmarked with an estimated 21 million bomb and artillery craters, covering some 350,000 acres in all.

18. At its peak, the U.S. effort in Vietnam was soaking up 37% of all American military spending and required the fighting strength of more than 50% of all Marine Corps divisions, 40% of all combat-ready army divisions, and 33% of the navy.

19. In mid 1969, the GI underground newspaper in Vietnam, “GI Says,” publicly offered a $10,000 reward for the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Weldon Honeycutt, the officer responsible for the disastrous attack on Hamburger Hill in May that year. There were at least 7 attempts, but Honeycutt managed to live out his tour and return to the U.S.

20. US Navy pilot (later Senator and 2008 Presidential Candidate) John McCain was taken prisoner by North Vietnam on October 26, 1967 when his A-4 aircraft was shot down over Hanoi. Upon discovering that his father was the admiral commanding all U.S. forces in the Pacific, North Vietnam offered to return him early, in exchange for his cooperation. McCain, however, insisted that standard military procedures be followed and prisoners of war be returned in the order of their date of capture. He ended up spending 5 and a half years in captivity and was frequently tortured.

Sources:

1–2: The Tunnels of Cu Chi: Tom Mangold

4–10, 13, 14, 16: Vietnam Nigel Cawthorne

11, 12, 15, 17, 18: Kill Anything That Moves- Nick Turse

The Divorce Rules for Men

I already went through two of these things. Ugh. They were painful. Not be like me.

https://youtu.be/qlJNTSMwGO4

What did someone say/do that made you close down your account and go to another bank?

3 of my kids were in a horrible car accident. 2 only had minor injuries but my youngest son, Joe, was severely injured. He had a brain injury and fractured orbital plane requiring immediate surgery. When the insurance company settled the 2 received $1500.00 in a trust until they turned 18. But Joe was awarded $35,000. The courts insisted the trust was a regular bank, which had lower interest rates, rather than my credit union. When the bank received the 2 trusts for $1500 we decided to put the money into CDs, at the time CDs were getting 8–9% interest. Then Joe’s case was settled and the money sent to the same bank. However the bank refused to put his into a CD, instead they put into regular savings which paid maybe 3%. My husband went to his business bank and had them look over the court order. That bank said there was no valid reason for not putting the money onto a CD and they requested a wire transfer to their bank placed all 3 into an even higher rate termed to end when each turned 18. As a result Joe had 65,000 dollars when he graduated from high school. The 1st bank tried to fight the move but the court backed us up. Their loss Joe’s win.

Ancient Romans Reproduced so much that A Plant Went Extinct

ByKnow Nepal

Ancient Romans and Greeks used a plant called Silphium as a super effective contraceptive. But here’s the crazy part: they used it so much that it actually went extinct. Can you imagine that? This plant was so important to them, and they relied on it so heavily, that they ended up losing it forever.

Its heart-shaped seeds are thought to be the reason we associate the symbol with romance to this day.

It was cherished by the Romans and held such a special place in their hearts that they immortalized it in poems, songs, and esteemed works of literature. Its popularity was so profound that it contributed to the wealth and prosperity of the city of Cyrene, located in modern-day Shahhat, Libya, making it the wealthiest city in Africa.

The history of silphium can be traced back to ancient times. It was first mentioned in writings by the Greek poet Hesiod in the 8th century BCE, and it was also referenced in the works of other ancient Greek writers, including Theophrastus and Aristotle. The ancient Greeks believed that silphium was a gift from the gods and valued it highly for its medicinal properties.

The Greek residents of Cyrene valued silphium to such an extent that they depicted its silhouette on their currency before relinquishing control to the Romans. The significance of this extraordinary plant was even recognized by Julius Caesar, who stored an impressive stockpile of 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms) in the official treasury.

It grew abundantly in the wild in ancient North Africa, particularly in the region that is now modern-day Libya. It had large heart-shaped leaves, tall stalks, and yellow flowers, which grew in clusters. It was unique in its flavor and aroma. The leaves and stems were used to flavor food and wine, while its juice was used as a natural remedy for a variety of ailments.

Not only as a contraceptive and in beverages, but Silphium was also used for treating a variety of medical conditions such as coughs, sore throats, and indigestion.

The plant grew only in a small region around Cyrene, which made it a rare and valuable commodity. As the plant became more and more scarce, its price skyrocketed, making it became more valuable and further increasing the demand for it. Despite efforts to cultivate the plant and protect it from overharvesting, it ultimately proved to be unsustainable and went extinct.

The loss of the Silphium plant had significant consequences for the ancient Greeks and Romans. Without access to this effective form of birth control, the population of these societies may have grown at a faster rate, leading to increased competition for resources and potentially putting strain on their economies and environments.

But the story of Silphium doesn’t end there. In fact, its extinction may have had even wider-reaching consequences. The plant was not only used as a contraceptive but also as a remedy for a variety of ailments. Its loss meant that people were no longer able to rely on it for these medical purposes, and they had to find alternative treatments. This had a major impact on the health and well-being of the ancient Greek and Roman people.

The extinction of the Silphium plant serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of overconsumption and the need to carefully manage our use of natural resources. It also serves as a reminder of the important role that plants like Silphium have played in human history, and the need to preserve and protect the biodiversity of our planet. So the next time you hear about a plant or animal going extinct, remember the story of Silphium and the lessons it holds for us all.

Today, the exact identity of silphium remains a mystery, as no specimens of the plant have survived. However, it is believed to have been related to the fennel or giant fennel plant, and its medicinal properties are thought to have been due to a resinous substance contained within the plant. The legacy of silphium can still be seen in ancient artwork and writings, which depict the plant and its many uses.

How did people’s attitudes change towards you after you bought your first luxury car?

I was investigated by CID, are you selling drugs? Are you working in a strip club? Are you dating men who give you money?

A rumor that I was sleeping with the Post Commanding General went around my unit.

I was placed on night shift, and every crosswalk duty for a month.

My promotion paperwork for an upcoming board disappeared.

Keep in mind this was at Ft. Benning GA in 1997, I was an MP (military police)

The” war on drugs” was still around and the perception in the news was that the only African Americans who drove luxury cars were drug, that was the “obvious” conclusion.

My Platoon sergeant finally pulled me into his office and asked “private, how in the hell can you afford a brand new Mercedes!” I told it was 7 years old, she just looked good, it was the entry level Mercedes so was affordable and my payments were about 125.00 a month (can’t remember exact amount).

He sat back and just laughed, and said “ok that makes sense”

Now remember this was 1997, AOL was just coming out so an online search was not possible. And it never occurred to the big heads in CID to ask me how much I paid for the car, how old was it, all the questions my platoon Sergeant asked me. I am still shaking my head about that.

I was more mad that people thought that I would sleep with the Commanding General, I was 22 so he was probably 50+ so in my young eyes he was oooold, like The Crypt Keeper old! ROFL!

I have always driven a MB since, have two in the garage now.

Discipline

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ik5e3oF2bus?feature=share

Do you think Senator Tom Cotton’s questioning of Chew Shou Zi, TikTok CEO, implies that Singaporeans have communist ties just because of the ethnic Chinese majority in Singapore?

Chinese = villains.

This is the same prejudicial calculus behind the pogroms, lynchings, riots and destruction suffered repeatedly by Chinese communities around the world over the last few centuries.

In Indonesia, formerly known as Batavia, it has happened repeatedly, and it will happen again.

In Malaysia, the Emergency eventually led to depopulation of the Chinese through the forced Separation of Singapore, and the implementation of race-specific policy to encourage emigration through the clever use of Singapore as a relief valve.

In America, a massive wave of violence against Chinese immigrants beginning in the 1870s culminated in the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Scott Act, and the Geary Act in the 1880s-1890s. There were massive celebratory demonstrations in California each time an act was passed.

YELLOW PERIL became a crystallized phrase in the press at the turn of the 20th century.

Chinese in America were bottom of the ladder, and treated worse than vermin.

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Fast forward to the 21st century and the same attitudes persist. If the US could, it would have bombed Beijing or Shanghai like Gaza is being pounded today, and insist it isn’t a genocide.

Considering what his ancestors perpetrated repeatedly, Tom exhibited nothing more than rude antics, part of the election gameplan in a crucial “winner takes all” Presidential election year.

What we must bear in mind is the naked prejudice revealed and confirmed by the performance, and how the same sentiment can rapidly boil over into hate that require bloodletting to calm.

We should all make preparations for war in East Asia in the coming decade.

BULLETIN: EUROPEAN COUNTRY ISSUES NOTAM FOR “UNPLANNED MILITARY ACTIVITY NECESSARY TO PROTECT NATIONAL SECURITY”

World Hal Turner 06 February 2024

We now have an precise date window for the outbreak of World War 3 in Europe. A country has issued a NOTAM for “Unpanned military activity necessary to protect national security.”  This LIFE-SAVING content is now open to the General Public —

Poland has issued a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) involving the ENTIRE eastern 1/4 of the country of Poland from Gdansk in the north to the southern tip of the country, including the border with Belarus and Ukraine.

Specifically, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) in Coordination with the Polish Air Force has Introduced a Notice-to-Air-Missions (NOTAM) from February 5th to May 5th for the entire East of the Country on the Border with Ukraine due to the reported possibility of Unplanned Military Actions related to ensuring National Security.

The NOTAM requires any Civilian Aircraft which is Operating inside of the Zone to remain in Radio Contact with Flight Authorities and to Activate their Transponder as to prevent their Disruption of Increased Activity by Military Aircraft.

Hal Turner Analysis

It seems to me, as a guy with average intellect, the only reason Poland would do this is because they KNOW there will be a NATO entry into the Russia-Ukraine war during this specific time period, and as soon as that entry begins, war between NATO and Russia will ensue.  The NOTAM was issued yesterday and began yesterday, February 5, so WE ARE ALREADY IN THE WINDOW for the start of actual World War 3.

Also, as a regular guy with average intellect, this notice tells me they don’t yet know the specific date, but they know the window of time, which, to me, means when this comes, it will happen like a lightning bolt from the sky.  I suspect we, the general public, will have NO WARNING AT ALL.

For weeks now, European countries have been telling their citizens to stock-up on Prescription medicines they may need to live.  Many people found this advice curious; after all, why would there be a need to do something like that?   Now, we seem to know why. 

It looks to me as though they have been planning a NATO entry into the Ukraine war for quite some time, and they’re trying to prep the public for the war that NATO is going to cause.

In addition to countries in Europe telling their people to stock up on Prescription medicines, other nations, like Sweden and the UK, have been openly telling their citizens to “prepare for war” with emergency food, water, medicine, fuel, flashlights, batteries and portable radios for news.

So, it seems to me, the writing on the wall is now blazingly clear.

As all readers may recall, Russia made plain at the start of their Special Military Operation (SMO) into Ukraine, that if NATO chose to enter the conflict, Russian conventional forces are NOT comparable to NATO.  Russia admitted that from the start.

Russia then also made clear that “We are a nuclear power, and our abilities in this area are superior to NATO.” Russia finished by saying, “If NATO declares Article 5 Collective Self Defense against Russia, it will be a war that no one will win.”

Those words . . . . “a war no one will win” is a nuclear war.

So we are now in the window for the outbreak of actual nuclear war, from right this minute, until May 5.

I earnestly hope my readers have stocked-up on Emergency food, water, medicines, an electric generator with stored fuel to run it, so as to have electricity for refrigerators, freezers, maybe some light.

We are OUT OF TIME.  You have to possess these things NOW or get what you can IMMEDIATELY.

As I mentioned earlier, it seems to me we will have ZERO warning about this.  When it begins, it will likely escalate so fast, none of us will have any time to react.

If you don’t have your emergency supplies before this breaks out, there will be no way at all for you to get them.

The general public – who wait until the very last minute to do — . . .  anything . . . . — will be in shear panic.  Stores will be immediately flooded with shoppers trying to get their hands on anything they can.  It will be chaos.  Bedlam.

Store shelves will be wiped clean within a couple hours.

So if you don’t have your stuff, you won’t be able to get it.

Please, in the name of Almighty God, I implore you to get prepped right now.  

You need:

Shelf-stable foods:  Pasta, Rice, Dried Beans, Canned meats, Canned vegetables, Condiments (Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Salt, Pepper, SUGAR), cooking oil, Jarred pasta sauces and the like.

WATER!   A human needs 8  eight-ounce glasses of water, per day, to survive.  If the nukes fly, the public water supply will become contaminated.  You MUST have water stored.  Not for doing dishes, or showering, but to consume and cook with!

Medicines you take to survive.  For instance, my wife had Thyroid cancer and her Thyroid was surgically removed. But a human cannot live without Thyroid Hormone, so she has to take a pill EVERY DAY just to continue living.   If she runs out of those pills, by day 5 of no pill, she will be dead.

If YOU or your family members take medicines to live, YOU need to stock up.  Tell your doctor to give you a prescription so you can stock up.  Tell him why you want it.  And pay for it with your own money, because your insurance company WILL NOT PAY.

A generator or some type of small solar array with a battery.  You need to be able to power your refrigerator/freezer a couple hours a day to prevent food from spoiling.   Have spare fuel for that generator, but don’t store flammable fuel in your house.  It has to be outside.  And NEVER run a generator indoors.  Gas-operated generators give off carbon monoxide gas which is LETHAL.  You would die from the fumes within minutes if you ran the generator indoors.

COMMUNICATIONS GEAR:  Get yourself a small, cheap CB Radio ($39) with a small antenna for your car or your house.  If this thing happens, and I believe it will, our electric grid may go down.  All the TV and Radio stations have generators, but they may go down too after a few days of no power.  YOU have to be able to communicated with neighbors, friends, and the like.

Get a SHORTWAVE RECEIVER – small ones operate on batteries.  They’ll let you hear the news from many countries around the world.   You’ll be able to keep informed!  Have spare batteries for it, too.

Flashlights for each family member and replacement batteries for each light.

 The list is **NOT** complete, and for some of us, what we “need” seems endless, but these are the absolute essentials you need.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THEM.

What, “You know what, just to be safe,” thing did you do that saved yourself or your loved ones?

I was working on a ship, we were in a relatively mild storm, and a line had come loose and was flapping in the wind. I sent the deck hand out to secure it, he was wearing a floatation jacket, to keep him dry, and keep him afloat, if he fell over board. There was a railing all the way around the deck, except for the stairway. Since it wasn’t a bad storm, he wasn’t required to put on a safety line, and to tell you the truth, back in the 1980s people were pretty lax about safety, and safety lines were not always worn when they should be.

Just before he left the bridge, I said, “You know what, we should practice with the safety line, when its easy to get around, rather than only gain experience when its dangerous”

He wasn’t happy, they were a pain in the rear, and got tangled in every thing. But he put it on, and just clamped it onto the railing, when a rogue wave hit, and washed him down the deck, and under the railing. I grabbed a safety line, clamped on, and started to pull him up. Another wave came and washed him right back onto the deck. I dragged him into the bridge.

We always used safety lines after that, in even mild storms.

 

What’s something a flight attendant did to you that you will never forget?

We would take off a week or two around christmas to go visit family since we lived halfway across the US from them. Usually we would get a cat-sitter, but on one occasion, we didn’t have anybody lined up, and we were flying Southwest, which allows small animals in the cabin. I went by the airport to buy the special mesh carrier they require you to use as well as pay the fee for bringing an animal on-board.

On the day of travel, the cat is mildly sedated and attracting a lot of attention—people love animals in airports, and cats are especially uncommon to see.

While waiting for our connection, the attendants at the gate called us to the desk to inform us there was a family with cat allergies going to be on the same flight and to mitigate any issues, the family had opted to sit in the very back of the plane, and would we please mind boarding in the first group and selecting a seat towards the very front? Hell yeah! awesome, let’s do it!

So we aren’t the very first to board, the special priority members still got first dibs, but we do manage to get seats in the second row behind an older couple, so pretty good on distancing from the family with the allergies.

I’m holding the cat in the carrier on my lap while people board before sticking her under the seat, and at some point a passenger or flight attendant comments on how they love cats, at which point, the woman in the row ahead of us swivels to say “there’s a CAT?! but I’m allergic!”.

A nearby flight attendant explains that we are being seated up here to accommodate a family who also has an allergic member and that this woman and her companion are welcome to reseat in the back if it’s going to be a problem, but the cat will be confined to the carrier at all times, and they ask me to go ahead and put her under the seat in front of me, which I do.

“But, my husband needs the front row seat! His legs get cramps otherwise!”

“Well, you’re welcome to move back there by yourself then, ma’am”

It turned out she didn’t feel her allergies were severe enough to justify that. Her only symptoms I could observe during the flight were disdainful sniffs every so often.

I was very pleased at the respect paid to my cat, who was basically a ticketed passenger and had followed protocol, and I left the attendant a glowing review on the SWA site.

 

Are there people who are so smart that you think they are stupid?

My husband.

An amazing husband. An amazing father. Always putting his family first. An engineer. Smart. Smart as a whip.

At most things.

sometimes he does things and I don’t know wether to laugh or laugh and cry.

there was the the time he took back a new pair of shoes because the left one was too tight. The salesman with a deadpan face pulled the paper stuffing out if the shoe and said, try it now.

there was the time he got banned from the neighborhood gas station because he drove off with the gas handle still in the gas tank.

The time he jumped on his new racing bike but forgot there were no pedals. Yes I helped him up off the yard and died laughing.

so.., you get it.

I mentioned it to him once, for a smart guy you sure do a lot of not-so smart stuff.

He smiled. And shrugged his shoulders, ya, go figure, when someone’s smart brain switch turns on that bright, something else up there has to shut off.

God I love that man!

What is the most satisfying thing you’ve seen happen when someone rudely cut ahead of a long line?

When I still practiced dentistry, I was running tight on time getting to work, but I had to fuel my stomach first or pay the consequences. So I stood in line at Panera’s, only one person in front of me, when a woman dashed in just as the cashier called, “Next!”

To my shock (and the guy ahead of me), the woman dashed right on up to the cashier and began to place her order.

I walked over and pointed out to the cashier how the other guy and I had been waiting at least ten minutes, while this woman she was waiting on had just now flown through the door. The cashier had already started ringing up the woman’s order, so said cashier sheepishly shrugged and grimaced a half-assed apology, like, What do you expect me to do now, it’s too late. And continued on.

Entitled woman, in the meantime, yelled at me, “I’m running late for work!” As though that explained everything. To which I replied, “So am I! But I was here first, and now you’re going to make me even more late.”

She waved me off as the cashier went to get her order.

Now for the satisfaction.

As I walked toward the door with my bag of food, entitled woman stood at a counter to add sugar, etc. to her extra-large coffee, when the cup flipped over and spilled its contents all across the counter and onto her.

It may have been mean of me, but I said loud enough for her to hear, “Perfect karma,” walked on by and out the door.

A lesson for Americans to learn

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NdRfvJvncW4?feature=share

Did anyone ever survive the Nazi gas chambers?

Rarely, some people managed to survive the gas chambers and were not killed immediately afterwards. One such person is Gena Turgel and her story is more than astonishing. She survived three Nazi concentration camps and in Auschwitz-Birkenau was forced naked into the gas chambers.

Gena and Norman

She was 16 when her hometown of Krakow, Poland, was bombed by the Luftwaffe on September 1, 1939, the first day of the war. Norman had relatives in Chicago, but the family delayed putting plans to move there into action, and Poland was quickly conquered by the Germans.

In the Jewish ghetto of Krakow Gena lost two brothers fighting against the Nazis. She was then sent to Plaszow concentration camp, where she survived for two and a half years until her transfer to Auschwitz. There she survived numerous experiments conducted by Nazi “Angel of Death” Josef Mengele.

The most surprising part of her story is that she did not realize she was in a gas chamber until another prisoner told her. “Do you know what just happened? You were in a gas chamber!”. said Gena: “I never realized I was in the gas chamber… It must not have worked.

The “Krema 1” gas chamber at Auschwitz.

Here is how she described his path to the gas chamber,

“We went into that room with the stone floor and holes in the ceiling. We were shivering, it was very cold, and we were waiting and waiting.”

In Auschwitz, “the water was undrinkable and we lived mainly on beet soup,” she wrote. “Everywhere we went the horrible stench of the crematoria followed us.”

The time spent in Auschwitz left its consequences. Since then, Gena wore her perfume to forget the smell of the camp.

After two months in Auschwitz, as the Red Army advanced toward Auschwitz, she was sent on a “death march,” first to Buchenwald concentration camp and then to Belsen, where she shared a barrack with Anne Frank and offered herself as a nurse because of her knowledge of German. When Belsen was liberated by the British, she showed a young army officer, Norman Turgel, the hospital where she worked.

In October 1945, she and Sergeant Turgel were married in Lübeck, Germany, in a synagogue that the Germans had used as a stable during the war. She was 21 years old at the time.

Mr. Turgel died in 1995. Mrs. Turgel is survived by her three children, eight grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Gena Turgel died on June 7, 2018 at her home in England at the age of 95.

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This story is true, but you don’t have to trust me: feel free to do your research on the internet.

What was the biggest error you found on a store receipt?

Local grocery store where my niece worked for a while. One day I saw a sale on my favorite ice cream that I could not believe. It said on the sign 5 for $2.00. Wow I thought, that’s either a bad mistake by an employee misplacing the numbers, or just maybe the ice cream was out of date. I check dates and they were fine. So I grabbed five of my favorite flavors and headed to pay. I was fully expecting to pay $5 for two of them, which was still a bargain.

At the self checkout I rang them up and sure enough they were $5 for two. No problem I had taken a photo of the sign, and call the cashier over. I explained the situation and the sign. The lady then calls over a manager, who I explain again about the sign and the pricing. She does some button pushing, some things pop up on the screen, and she leaves saying she will go correct the sign. I said I was perfectly fine paying the $5 for two, but just wanted to let them know it was confusing. All went fine so I thought. They were nice and courteous as usual.

I get home and pack my 5 delicious pints of ice cream into our freezer. I was just curious what they charged me for the single pint, so I grabbed the receipt to have a look. Well, the only thing I could find for ice cream was that single $2.50 pint. Apparently the manager had deleted the other 4 from the que. I just got 4 free ice creams! I started thinking about it and I remember the employee had bagged up the ice cream herself as the manager punched away at the screen.

I called the store and explained the situation, saying I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble. I was told well it was an honest mistake and they didn’t take food back, so enjoy the sweets on them. I most certainly did enjoy those free pints which seem to taste better knowing they were free.

I feel no sympathy for the homeless because I feel like it is their own fault. Are there examples of seemingly “normal” and respectable people becoming homeless?

Know what? I’m homeless. I live in the driver’s seat of my Chevy Aveo.

I got there because my mom owned the house I was living in and paying her my house payments. I lost my job and she immediately told me she was going to sell the house. Keep in mind that I hadn’t missed a payment, and I offered her my 401K, which was ten months’ of payments to give me time to find a new job and keep things steady.

I have severe depression and anxiety, and this threw me into a severe depression episode where I talked about suicide. One of my friends freaked out about this and called the police who entered my house without permission and forced me out and into a shitty hospital. (That’s a whole other story. I came out in worse shape than when I went in.) While in the hospital, my family came and got my keys so my cats could be taken care of. Instead, they took my cats (who are at a foster home right now) and wouldn’t let me back in the house. They found a flipper, who paid $8,000 for my house and sold it for $80,000 after throwing out all of my possessions, putting a fresh coat of paint on everything and remodeling the bathroom.

I was left with my car, and that’s it. A friend took me in for a year, but he wanted to rent out the room I was in so I got kicked to the curb. That was 2 days before Thanksgiving.

I currently work 2 jobs but still don’t make enough to get a place to live. (Yay low wages.) I tried to take advantage of low income housing, but after a year and a half of filling out forms, there just isn’t anything, so I gave up. I’ve heard too many horror stories about shelters that I would rather sleep in my car when the temperatures get to 12 degrees than go there.

Quit trying to blame the poor and homeless people for their problems. Most of them would gladly work to pay for their own care and shelter. Until you’ve been there yourself, you’ll never understand because you just don’t want to see what’s really going on in this world.

Has someone ever stolen something from you for their wedding?

Yeah, $1500 and a week of backbreaking work.

I’ve told the story before, but an ex-friend of mine called in a panic 10 days before her wedding, telling me the caterer had cancelled. I was the only one she knew with catering experience and could I figure something out for the wedding?

We worked out a deal. If she could hire me two chef temps to help and pay for the food items, I’d give her the labor for her wedding gift.

Big mistake.

I spent a week and $1500 of my own money (that I really didn’t have) prepping food I’d bought wholesale, under the assumption that help would be arriving and that I’d have the money paid back.

The help never arrived. She said they wouldn’t work for an individual. That was blatantly false, but by this point I was scrambling.

Come the day of the wedding, I was frantically trying to get my home made pasta, bread, meatballs, sauces and sides to the venue. The venue employees were absolute angels who helped out in any way they could.

By the time it came to plate the food, we were a well oiled machine and it was amazing. And they even sent me home, telling me it was in their contract to clean up when it was all over. (I later learned this was my job, but they had already figured out I was being scammed and felt so bad for me.)

Two weeks later, the bride and I met up to settle the food payment. In fact, she suddenly changed the story, and said she was there for her wedding gift.

What.

The.

Fuck.

When she figured out I didn’t have one, she called me a terrible friend and stormed out. I had a bad feeling something was wrong. I called several other mutual friends and they came to the cafe I was at within the hour.

We hashed out what had happened to us. In fact, we all had wedding industry or industry adjacent jobs/skills. And she’d scammed all of us for our talents and money.

All in all, by telling us someone had cancelled and could we please do this and she’d pay us back, she got

• Catering
• A cake
• Photography
• Alterations and all three bridesmaids’ dresses sewn
• Most of the venue payment
• Decor
• Flowers

She got what was essentially a free wedding from all of us, by conning us all.

We did get our money back eventually, but it took small claims court, a debt collector, and a few years of frustration.

Baked Ravioli and Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 (50 count) package frozen cheese ravioli
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups cubed American cheese
• 3/4 cup crushed potato chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook ravioli according to package directions; drain.
2. Meanwhile, for sauce, melt butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour. Add milk; cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly.
3. Add cheese; heat and stir until cheese is melted.
4. Salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked ravioli; stir gently.
5. Spoon into an 8 inch square baking dish.
6. Sprinkle crushed potato chips over.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges bubble and top is golden brown.

What is the most tragic announcement that was made at your high school?

I’m getting goosebumps as I write this.

April 20th, 1999

I was in my 9th grade math class. One of my best friends brothers (he’s a year older than me) was sitting next to me. In front of me was another guy and we were in the back of the class in the corner.

The three of us are shooting crap, talking and messing around. We had finished an assignment and had a few minutes.

All of a sudden our principal comes over the loudspeaker.

“Teachers and students. I don’t know how to even start to say this. There’s been a shooting at Columbine.”

Everyone in the class went silent.

“We are on lockout until further notice. No one is to leave the school grounds and students who are off campus will not be allowed back in. Please, turn on the TV’s in your rooms for more information. I don’t know how many times I can say this out loud.

We are safe. Pray for Columbine.”

We were all in shock.

Columbine High School was about 10 miles from our high school.

My dad worked at Leawood Elementary, 2 blocks down the street, where the first kids ran.

Now, my dad normally worked nights, but he worked that day (and I don’t know why, maybe his boss was a closeted pot head, all I know was my dad was there that day.)

My dad was my first thought, since they didn’t know what was actually going on yet. Is my dad okay?!? What’s going on?

My second thought was about my mom. She worked at the central district office. What in the world was going on there? Then, my thoughts turned to my friends. Names I was lucky to not hear later on the news.

I know this sounds like it took minutes to think of all of this, but it was mili-seconds.

The whole class was in shock when the TV was on.

It showed the building that I had driven by every Friday night to take my dad dinner (Columbine). Another building….that my dad was in. The kids running away from the building with their heads covered.

We were all staring at the TV. Hoping that we’d recognize a face so that we would know our friends were safe.

Some kids cried. Others were in shock. No one spoke for what felt like hours. We just stared at the TV. Hoping it was just a dream, or a prank.

The bell rang, and we were dismissed to our next class.

That was the only time in my 4 years at my high school that the hallways were quiet. Once in a while you’d find a group of kids crying and holding each other. It was surreal.

I made it to the band room and was able to call my mom. It was a zoo at her office and my dad was safe, helping families who were coming to pick up their kids. He was in for a long night.

The day went on. Same thing. At 2:00 PM The principal gave us an update and let us know that we weren’t on lockdown anymore. You could tell he had been crying.

We went home that afternoon to watch the horrifying news unfold.

We know how the rest of the stories goes.

PS (if you’re interested)-I only had the courage to ask him (my dad) once about that day. It was about 7 years afterward.

I had only seen my dad cry 3 times in his whole life, and that was one of them.

He said that parents swarmed the school, searching for their children as the kids were brought to the school (I think by bus).

As the afternoon turned into evening, more and more parents were leaving, thankful that their kids were OK. There were parents of children who were injured that left with police officers and escorted to the hospitals.

There were parents whose children never showed up that afternoon.

My dad said it was about 8:00, one by one the parents were called into the office. They all knew what it meant to be the last parents there.

Some walked out crying. Some were in shock. Some screamed the most wretched noises he’s ever heard.

My dad was never really the same after that.

None of us were.

Abandoned $5.5 Million MEGA Mansion | Everything Left Behind

https://youtu.be/jmaBiHjPUAU