Nobody ever used the formal board room.

Well, that might be an exaggeration — technically the quarterly board meetings were held there, but that was it. And I always knew when those were happening because they were a Big Deal and required days of preparation on my part every time.

As the office manager for the Houston branch of a medium-sized oil & gas company, I knew everything that went on in that space. Every morning I made the rounds of the office — straightening chairs in the two smaller conference rooms that actually saw regular use, refilling drinks in the fridge, wiping down spots the janitorial crew had missed…that office was my domain and I maintained it with pride.

Every morning I poked my head into the board room and it was always exactly as I had left it, in pristine condition, because nobody had opened the door except me.

When I was a student at Salford University I met a group of American exchange students from Detroit.

They wanted to see as much of the U.K. as they could whilst over here and one of the trips they booked was a coach tour around North Wales. Excitement started to grow when I told them Wales is another country, separate from England.

A couple of days before they were due to leave I asked if they’d managed to get their entry visas through in time. They all started to get very worried as it hadn’t occurred to them they’d need a visa.

“Don’t worry,” I said, “they hardly ever check them anyway and the coach probably won’t even stop at the border. Just wave your passport at the window as you drive past, they’ll see you’re American and everything will be fine.”

When they got back a few days later I had a massive roasting. Apparently the bus was full of Americans and the girls had asked the driver to let them know when they were approaching the border. As they drove through an entire bus full of Americans all waved their passports at the sheep in the neighbouring fields. The driver, so I’m told, didn’t stop laughing for the rest of their excursion.

A whirlwind of changes is taking place in the global financial markets threatening the superiority of the U.S. dollar. A handful of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe are looking to end reliance on the dollar and promote BRICS or their native currencies. Iraq banned the U.S. dollar, posing a hefty fine and jail term for anyone trading with the USD.

The Iraqi government banned entities from initiating business transactions with the U.S. dollar. Iraq aims to control the fluctuating black market exchange rate, that plagues the country for decades. The move is also positioned to strengthen the usage of the Iraqi Dinar in the Forex markets.

Offenders who trade in the U.S. dollar will face a penalty of up to 1 million Iraqi Dinar. Repeat offenders will also face a jail term of one year and have their business licenses overturned.

The South African BRICS ambassador confirmed that European countries have expressed interest to join the BRICS alliance. He did not reveal the names of the European nations but hinted that a global financial change is brewing. According to recent developments, all arrows point towards France and Belarus showing interest to join BRICS.

France settled an LNG gas trade with China by settling the cross-border transaction with the Chinese Yuan in March. French President Emmanuel Macron also called for the European Union to distance itself from the U.S. dollar.

Great question! He was WAY worse in real life compared to Gladiator.

Gladiator portrays Commodus as this obsessive power-hungry monster concerned with the love of the people above all.

In reality, Commodus was a vain, sick, and evil bastard that caused tons of suffering to countless people and cared only for himself.

Commodus’s had a good father to learn from. His dad and Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, was a top-tier Emperor who worked very hard to maintain the strength of the Empire.

When Marcus died and passed power to his son he was at the end of a years-long war against the Germanic tribes along the border, specifically the Marcomanni. These tribes had long been a serious problem and had been raiding the Empire constantly for centuries.

Marcus was closing in on victory when he died and made his son promise to finish the wars. Once Commodus was in power though he decided that he just didn’t want to spend any more time fighting the Germans and ended the war with a crappy peace deal.

Back in Rome, there were problems. Commodus could care less though.

You see Commodus never wanted to be Emperor. He only ever wanted to be a gladiator.

So Commodus appointed his two best friends (both slaves) to run the Empire while he went off to be a gladiator.

This was bonkers FYI. Gladiators were slaves who died for the amusement of the people. To see an Emperor fight as a gladiator is like seeing the President walk the street as a hooker trying to turn tricks.

While Commodus trained and fought his buddies mucked it all up. Rome would experience a famine, economic hardship, and social upheaval all while Commodus played gladiator.

Commodus would nearly bankrupt the treasury his father had built up by throwing near-constant gladiator games. You see Commodus loved to fight in the ring, though his opponents had dull swords and could never win. Mostly though Commodus enjoyed killing animals.

Moreover, Commodus loved to kill people he deemed “weird”. This includes women, dwarfs, disabled people, mentally ill people- you name it. He really enjoyed making them suffer often slowly killing them to show off his sword or bow skills.

In the end, the idiot would leave a “people I am going to kill” list on his desk for his mistress to find. The chief name on the list was hers, Commodus’s trainer, and a number of Senators. They decided to strike first and Commodus was strangled to death in his bath.

so I decided to walk over to them and I asked her ” how was the meeting today darlin? ” she looked at me and said ” it was good, I’ll tell you more about it when we get home in a few “. I replied with ” wonderful I’ll pick up your favorite for dinner”.

The two guys left in a hurry and she told me ” you have no idea how much that meant to me …. thank you.” I said “you’re very welcome ma’am …. you can never be too careful. “

I made sure the guys left before I walked back to my car and as I was walking back all I could do was think ” I hope a man does that for my future daughter one day”.”

~ Cody Bret

BRICS is moving at a rapid pace to sideline the U.S. dollar and promote their native currencies for global trade. Around 41 countries have expressed their interest to join the BRICS alliance and accept the new currency for cross-border transactions.

Russia and China are convincing many other countries to enter the bloc to dethrone the U.S. dollar. The USD’s global reserve status is being challenged by developing nations and could send the greenback on a path of decline.

10 ASEAN countries have agreed to stop trading in the U.S. dollar and will use native currencies for cross-border settlements. ASEAN is a bloc of 10 countries compromising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The ASEAN alliance put a declaration in place avoiding the U.S. dollar for settlements and advancing the local currency usage. The Eastern countries are taking steps to end reliance on the dollar and create a new global financial order.

On the other hand, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are following suit with the ASEAN bloc. Member nations of GCC Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have expressed their interest to join BRICS. In addition, Saudi Arabia is in talks to fund the BRICS bank, commonly called The New Development Bank (NDB).

If Saudi Arabia funds the BRICS bank, the alliance could receive an economic boost and sideline the U.S. dollar. The move could attract many other countries to accept the BRICS currency and stop trading with the dollar altogether. Read here to know more details on why Saudi funding the BRICS bank is dangerous to the American economy.

The decision to launch a new currency will be jointly taken in the next summit in South Africa in August.

Only in the United States, the cradle of Democracy

This is Dianne Feinstein

• she is 89 years old
• she is a Senator
• who almost never show up at the Senate
• she is reported to have cognitive issues, similar to President Joe Biden
• as well as suffering from some very painful disease
• during the course of her tenure in office, she has amassed over $200 million in assets

Elected American officials are allowed to put their own interests and ego over the interest of the American people. Americans deserve better. They deserve leaders who can lead them to a better place.

Back in the early 2000’s I worked for Mega Evil Douchebag Corp (might not be the actual name, but that’s how I remember it…). MEDC main business was giving credit cards to people with bad credit. Seriously, you could have a single digit credit score and these people would say yes.

Due to the type of people this attracted, nearly 80% of people defaulted on their cards, usually after the first bill arrived and they realised it wasn’t free money. As staff, I also had a card, but with better rates and a considerably higher credit limit.

Because of the number of defaults, MEDC had a contract with a particularly belligerent debt collection agency. These debt collectors would come to the office once a month, go to the records room and be handed a pile of defaulted accounts. Every month they would leave with bin bags full of paperwork.

One day I had cause to go to the records room and I was amazed at what I saw. The room was exactly as the name suggests, a room full of customer records, but that’s as far as it went in terms of an accurate description. The records were everywhere. Piles on this desk, piles on that desk. Heaps on the floor. Boxes in no discernible order. It was a mess – and that’s being polite.

The debt collectors used to go into this room and were only supposed to take records from a particular desk. In fact, they took whatever they wanted.

One month, they managed to get my paperwork by mistake. This began more than six long months of letters, phonecalls, emails and debt collectors turning up at my door threatening me with bankruptcy and prison if I didn’t pay the full sum I owed them.

I didn’t owe them anything. My account was still open and my card in regular use. One of the conditions of having a card as a staff member was you had to pay the balance in full every month. I did, and could prove it.

Being debt collectors, and therefore not the brightest of individuals, they wouldn’t accept “go fuck yourself” as payment for a debt I didn’t owe, so I told them to take me to court. Eventually they did.

When I got to court I saw their solicitors huddling together, no doubt discussing how they were going to crush me under their mighty law degrees. I represented myself.

In the actual courtroom, I was sat on one side, on my own with just a glass of water and my wallet on the desk. They were sat on their side, all shiny briefcases, stacks of folders containing damning paperwork and expensive suits. I saw them look over at me a couple of times, knowing they were going to win. I just sat there quietly.

The judge walked in, introduced himself, and for my benefit, explained how this hearing would work. I sat, listened and nodded appropriately.

Before we started, he asked me why I was representing myself. I explained this was an easy case and I didn’t feel the need to waste money on a solicitor. I was also asked why I didn’t have any paperwork with me and I explained that I didn’t believe I needed any and was confident in my ability to defend myself, but that I would be asking the courts indulgence to break a minor rule during my defence, but I would explain at the time what I wanted to do, and why.

It was all very friendly. Then it was like he flipped a switch in his brain to turn “judge mode” on.

The debt collectors solicitors started as they were bringing the case against me.

According to them I had entered into a contract with Mega Evil Douchebag Corp for the supply and use of a line of credit, by means of a MEDC credit card. I had the benefit of that card (legal speak for “he used it”). I had failed to make payments as obligated by the contract, and payment demands. After a period of time, MEDC cancelled the line of credit, the card and the account, and sent the account to collections. Collections tried to contact me on many occasions, were unable to do so, and eventually sold the account to the debt collectors. The debt collectors then tried collecting the money owed over six months and were unable to do so, as I repeatedly refused to pay.

In evidence of their allegations they had the original MEDC card paperwork and all the account statements. They also provided copies of all the letters they sent me demanding payment, and proof of receipt of several of them. They stated that I told them over the phone I didn’t know who MEDC were, and that I never had a card with them.

It was a cut and dry, air-tight case. They had the contract, they had the letters, they had everything they needed to get a judgement in their favour.

In fact, they had nothing.

Now it was my turn.

I stood and immediately apologised for wasting the courts time. I opened my wallet and took out the obviously well used Evil Douchebag credit card and explained I never denied having one, or regularly using it. I then took out my company ID card, showing I was an employee of MEDC and then explained what that meant in terms of having one of their cards.

I asked for the statements being used against me and they were handed over. I showed the judge each and every time I had made full payment against the amount owed (which was every month as per the staff conditions). I then explained that the account had not been closed and sent to debt collectors as it was still open, and had been used that week to buy petrol.

The judge stopped me and asked the solicitors if my account was open or closed. They confirmed it was definitely closed.

He asked me to continue and it was at this point I asked to break the rules. I told the judge I could definitively prove their entire case was bogus by making a simple phonecall. I asked the clerk to call the customer services number on the statements the solicitors provided against me and the judge agreed. I went through security and connected to a customer rep. I asked for my current balance and the amount owed on the next payment. I then asked him to confirm if the account was listed as open or closed. He – of course – said it was open. I finally asked if he could check the notes screen for any Collections Dept activity and he said there was none. That’s where I ended the call.

I thanked the judge and quickly explained that since I studied law at A-level, there was something I had always wanted to say in open court, even though it wasn’t the done thing in the UK, and before he could say anything, I said “I rest my case”.

The judge just about went mental. He dismissed the case immediately, but refused to let the solicitors leave until they had explained why they were chasing me for a debt I very clearly didn’t owe. He wanted to know how their clients added fees were calculated, and exactly what was being charged for the “court fees” I was being charged too. He also told them that whilst I had no evidence of what was said when they visited my home and told me they would make sure I went to prison, he was inclined to believe me. Not only that, but he would now be watching out for cases involving their clients and be more inclined to accept verbal evidence than he normally would.

I just sat there and watched them squirm as they couldn’t answer any questions he wanted answers to. The judge told me I was free to leave if I wanted to, but the solicitors weren’t going anywhere until he had answers. As I left the courtroom, they were on the phone with their clients demanding those answers.

The judge told me “well done” as I left, smiling. I sincerely doubt the solicitors were smiling for quite some time afterwards.

General Ray Davis USMC fought the Imperial Japanese Army, North Korean People’s Army, Chinese People’s Volunteers, and the North Vietnamese Army during his storied career. He was awarded the Medal of Honor while commanding an infantry battalion in 1950 during the Chosin Reservoir Campaign. I had the pleasure to meet him one afternoon in Virginia. During our conversation, I asked him for his opinion on the combat performance of the various enemy armed forces he fought over the course of three different wars. His response is provided below.

1. The Imperial Japanese Army was the toughest adversary he ever encountered on the battlefield. Japanese soldiers used their weaponry with great skill. Their camouflage and concealment was first rate. Their iron discipline and refusal to surrender made Imperial soldiers extremely difficult to defeat. They always fought to the death when overrun.
2. Chinese People’s Army volunteers were good soldiers. A lot of them were former Nationalist soldiers who had received excellent combat training from US Army instructors during WW II. The communist cadre provided mostly excellent leadership. Most CPV command groups had worked together in combat against the Japanese and the Nationalists before the Korean War and were thoroughly trained and experienced in the art of war. But the average Chinese soldiers lacked initiative and Chinese commanders tended to double down on failure during offensive combat. If one attack failed, a second, third, etc attack would generally use the same avenues of approach and tactics even though every proceeding attack failed. Chinese weaponry was a mixed bag. Logistics appeared terrible. Uniforms were unsuited for winter combat in Korea. Thousands of Chinese died from exposure and inadequate food and medical supplies. If the cadre became casualties, Chinese soldiers tended to surrender or retreat. Overall, the Chinese were tough soldiers, but the average soldier wasn’t as committed as an Imperial Japanese soldier.
3. The North Koreans were tough soldiers, but he only fought them briefly in Korea. Like the Chinese, North Korean units were prone to surrender or sudden withdrawals if their leadership cadre became casualties.
4. The North Vietnamese Army was highly disciplined, well led, and wielded its weaponry with great skill. NVA commanders refused to allow their units to be wiped out in unequal battles against US forces. They knew how to hit hard and when to break contact. NVA commanders always realized it was better to withdraw and live to fight another day rather than be annihilated on the battlefield. The NVA and the NV government focused on fighting the long war and outlasting US political will. They succeeded. Nonetheless, Davis assessed that the Imperial Japanese soldiers were tougher overall adversaries.

I hope this post answers your question.

The F-35 stealth fighter’s Pratt & Whitney F135 engines have cost the Pentagon $38 billion of dollars in unexpected maintenance costs due, according to a new report by auditors from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)

The engine’s cooling capacity in particular has been wholly insufficient to meet the power demands of the fighter’s sensors and electronics, with the F135 having been commissioned when the F-35 was still conceptualised as a much lighter and cheaper fighter with lower power demands closer to the size of its predecessor the F-16.

The engine has gained growing criticism over the past year, with its role being particularly critical for the US Military and for NATO more broadly as the F-35 is the only post fourth generation fighter in production outside China and Russia – and the only peer level challenger to the Chinese J-20 stealth fighter in terms of avionics, stealth and the integration of key next generation technologies.

The F-35 is relied on by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marines and the services of multiple allied states from Japan and South Korea to Israel and a fast growing number of European NATO members, with a lack of remotely comparable competition from other Western fighters ensuring a very large market share.

The F135’s outstandingly low availability rates and excessive maintenance needs have nevertheless continued to ground F-35s at six times the standard rate of other fighter classes, with Pentagon officials having highlighted issues with the F135’s power module as a key cause for the fighter’s low mission capable rates.

When a good friend, from the Marine Corps, was K.I.A., his eldest brother cracked open the deceased’s apartment, before the funeral had taken place. My friend’s widow, also deployed, hadn’t even been notified, yet. By the time she knew of the situation, their home had been ransacked by nearly twenty members of two families.

I called the brother, and offered him an out, which he blew off. Over the next ten days, I contacted each of the offending parties; only two responded, and not favorably. Then, acting on the widow’s behalf, I hired an attorney and filed police reports. I went to the D.A., who filed 98 separate charges against all of the perpetrators, including the management and owners of the complex.

After sixteen months of legal crap, nine of the family members(one was an attorney, another a university economics professor) were convicted of misdemeanors, spent between thirty and sixty days in jail, and paid both restitution and fines of $500.00–6,000.00. The eldest brother, an electrician and small-business owner, now a felon, spent eight months in jail; the widow sued him and won a $450,000.00 settlement. The apartment complex ended up terminating the managers; and, they paid the widow $2.9M.

Not one of these people had been a criminal, prior to the incident. They were simply ignorant, greedy assholes, who deserved everything they got.