The strategists of Russia and China are now working full time on how to return all strands of Hybrid War against the Hegemon.

A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you’re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by selected stops and enlightening conversations, crystallizing disparate vectors one year after the start of the accelerated phase of the proxy war between U.S./NATO and Russia.

That’s how Moscow welcomes you: the undisputed capital of the 21st century multipolar world.

A long, walking meditation impregnates on us how President Putin’s address – rather, a civilizational speech – last week was a game-changer when it comes to the demarcation of the civilizational red lines we are all now facing. It acted like a powerful drill perforating the less than short, actually zero term memory of the Collective West. No wonder it exercised a somewhat sobering effect contrasting the non-stop Russophobia binge of the NATOstan space.

Alexey Dobrinin, Director of the Foreign Policy Planning Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Russia, has correctly described Putin’s address as “a methodological basis for understanding, describing and constructing multipolarity.”

For years some of us have been showing how the emerging multipolar world is defined – but goes way beyond – high speed interconnectivity, physical and geoeconomic. Now, as we reach the next stage, it’s as if Putin and Xi Jinping, each in their own way, are conceptualizing the two key civilizational vectors of multipolarity. That’s the deeper meaning of the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership, invisible to the naked eye.

Metaphorically, it also speaks volumes that Russia’s pivot to the East, towards the rising sun, now irreversible, was the only logical path to follow as, to quote Dylan, darkness dawns at the break of noon across the West.

As it stands, with the wobblin’, ragin’ Hegemon lost in its own pre-fabricated daze, the real runners of the show feeding burning flesh to irredeemably mediocre political “elites”, China may have a little more latitude than Russia, as the Middle Kingdom is not – yet – under the same existential pressure Russia has been put under.

Whatever happens next geopolitically, Russia is at heart a – giant – obstacle on the warmongering path of the Hegemon: the ultimate target is top “threat” China.

Putin’s ability to size up our extremely delicate geopolitical moment – via a dose of highly concentrated, undiluted realism – is something to behold. And then Foreign Minister Lavrov provided the sweet cherry on top, calling the hapless U.S. ambassador for a hardcore dress down: oh yeah, this is war, hybrid and otherwise, and your NATO mercenaries as well as your junk hardware are legitimate targets.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council, now more than ever relishing his “unplugged” status, made it all very clear: “Russia risks being torn apart if it stops a special military operation (SMO) before victory is achieved.”

And the message is even more acute because it represents the – public – cue to the Chinese leadership at the Zhongnahhai to understand: whatever happens next, this is the Kremlin’s unmovable official position.

The Chinese restore the Mandate of Heaven

All these vectors are evolving as ramifications of the bombing of the Nord Streams, the only military attack – cum industrial terrorism – ever perpetrated against the EU, leave the Collective West paralyzed, dazed and confused.

Perfectly in tandem with Putin’s address, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs chose the geopolitical/existential moment to finally take the gloves off, with a flourish: enter the

U.S. Hegemony and its Perils essay cum report, which became an instant massive hit across Chinese media, examined with relish all across East Asia.

This blistering enumeration of all the Hegemon’s lethal follies, for decades, constitutes a point of no return for trademark Chinese diplomacy, so far characterized by passivity, ambivalence, actual restraint and extreme politeness. So such turnaround is yet another proud “achievement” of the outright Sinophobia and mendacious hostility exhibited by American neocons and neoliberal-cons.

Scholar Quan Le notes that this document may be regarded as the traditional form – but now filled with contemporary wording – the Chinese Sovereigns used in their millenary past before going to war.

It is in fact an axio-epistemo-political proclamation justifying a serious war, which in the Chinese universe means a war ordained by a Higher Power capable of restoring Justice & Harmony in a troubled Universe.

After the proclamation the warriors are equipped to strike mercilessly at the entity judged to be troubling the Harmony of the Universe: in our case, the psycho Straussian neo-cons and neoliberal-cons commanded as rabid dogs by the real American elites.

Of course in the Chinese universe there’s no place for “God” – much less a Christian version; “God” for the Chinese means the Beauty-Goodness-Truth trinity, Timeless Heavenly Universal Principles. The closest concept for a non-Chinese to understand is Dao: the Way. So the Way to the Beauty-Goodness-Truth trinity represents symbolically Beauty-Goodness-Truth.

So what Beijing did – and the Collective West is completely clueless about it – was to issue an axio-epistemo-political proclamation explaining the legitimacy of their quest to restore Timeless Heavenly Universal Principles. They will be fulfilling the Mandate of Heaven – nothing less. The West won’t know what it hit them until it’s too late.

It was predictable that sooner or later the heirs of Chinese civilization would have had enough – and formally identify, mirroring Putin’s analysis, the upstart Hegemon as the premier source of chaos, inequality and war across the planet. Empire of Chaos, Lies and Plunder, in a nutshell.

To put it bluntly, in streetwise language, the hell with this Americana crap of hegemony being justified by “manifest destiny”.

So here we are. You want Hybrid War? We will return the favor.

Back to the Wolfowitz Doctrine

A former CIA advisor has issued a quite sobering report on a pebble along the rocky way: a possible endgame in Ukraine, now that even some elite-run parrots are contemplating a “way out” with minimal loss of face.

It’s never idle to remember that way back in 2000, the year Vladimir Putin was first elected as President, in the pre-9/11 world, rabid neocon Paul Wolfowitz was side by side with Zbig “Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski in a huge Ukraine-U.S. symposium in Washington, where he unabashedly raved about provoking Russia to go to war with Ukraine, and committed to finance the destruction of Russia.

Everyone remembers the Wolfowitz doctrine – which was essentially a tawdry, pedestrian rehash of Brzezinski: to keep permanent U.S. hegemony it was primordial to pre-empt the emergence of any potential competitor.

Now we have two nuclear-powered, tech savvy peer competitors united by a comprehensive strategic partnership.

As I finished my long walk paying due respect by the Kremlin to the heroes of 1941-1945, the feeling was inescapable that as much as Russia is a master of riddles and China is a master of paradox, their strategists are now working full time on how to return all strands of Hybrid War against the Hegemon. One thing is certain: unlike boastful Americans, they won’t outline any breakthroughs until they are already in effect.

The Duran…

China arms sale panic

"Thank you gentlemen for putting flesh on the bones of speculation for us. I'm European and living in China for almost 15 years now and it's an amazing country and as you travel around China it's plain to see that the entire country is blossoming. The people here are extremely proud of what they have achieved without spilling an ounce of blood or a single invasion or war. However, when I return home, there's a massive anti-China swing in the western media and every little incident is seized upon to hype the "China threat", especially since the Trump era and it now looks like the US/western elite will do absolutely anything to subvert and overcome China... including war, which they are apparently preparing for. The Thucydides Trap is unfolding before our eyes, and it seems like there's nothing anyone can do but watch history repeat itself. It would appear that the lesson of history is that we learn nothing from history...."

Today’s installment of food.

Afghan Boulani

Boulani is a baked or fried, stuffed bread. It is made by filling a square piece of dough with a garlic-chive mixture and folding it diagonally into a triangle. Traditionally it is filled with gandana (similar to garlic-chives) and served with a yogurt sauce. Gandana is available at Middle Eastern markets. Scallions, however, make a good substitute.

Ingredients

Wrappers

• 1 package ready-made, large size egg roll skins, removed from the package and covered with a dish towel to prevent drying filling

Filling

• 4 cups chopped scallions or garlic-chives (gandana)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 bird or serrano chile, finely chopped

Yogurt Sauce

• 1 small cucumber, seeded and grated
• 1 clove garlic, crushed, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon mint flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups plain yogurt, beaten

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients for the filling using a rubber spatula (do not use a food processor as it makes it too liquid) and set aside.
2. To make the yogurt sauce, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a mixing bowl and set aside.
3. To fill the boulani, lay out a wrapper on your work surface. Place 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling in a diagonal corner of the wrapper and moisten the edge with a little water. Fold the wrapper over to form a triangle, and pinch and crimp the edges. Place the finished boulani, separated from each other, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a dish towel to prevent them from drying out and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook.
4. To cook the boulani, heat 1/4 cup oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, until hot (330 to 375 degrees F). Fry for 1 minute, on each side, until they are a light golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
5. Serve right away with the Yogurt Sauce on the side.

Notes

Boulani is best eaten hot.

Voyage S2E10 The Silent Saboteurs HDTV with Star Trek’s George Takei FULL EPISODE!

https://youtu.be/tW8fd_kfBDg

The United States Treasury had an auction today to sell Treasury Bills for a ten year period.   The Bills were offering 4.005% interest . . . . . . . .

There were NO BIDS.

Nobody . . .  on the entire planet . . .  offered to buy any Treasury Bills.

Nobody wants U.S. Debt anymore.

This will not end well.

But it will end quickly; for us.

Petticoat Junction – Season 3 Episode 26

Starts at about the one minute point.

When Someone Really Likes You, It’s Effortless

February 23, 2023

 

When someone really likes you, it’s effortless. They text you right away or soon after, they will be excited to make plans to meet you, they’ll flirt and ask you questions, they’ll seem interested in your life.

What they won’t do is be unsure whether they’re free, leave you on read or wait hours to reply, not ask questions and give you short replies.

• They don’t make you think you’re not “good enough” for them.
• They don’t think “we should date other people too”.
• They don’t say “I’m not ready to be in a relationship because I need to work on myself”
• They never make you feel like you’re their last choice when they don’t have anything better to do
• They will make plans with you. They will give you a time and a place, not just “Let’s see if I’m avalaible tomorrow”
• They compliment you
• They actually care about what you have to say

If they want to be with you, they’ll be with you. There’s no ifs and buts. There’s no mysteries in it. If they’re acting like they don’t care that much, or if they’re playing hot and cold they’re not really into you. You’re just a convenient source of attention. Don’t let them waste your time.

Blackstone DEFAULTS!

World Hal Turner 02 March 2023

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Wall Street’s largest commercial real estate landlord, private equity firm Blackstone, has defaulted on a €531 million ($562 million) bond backed by a portfolio of offices and stores owned by Sponda Oy, a Finnish landlord it acquired in 2018.

While Blackstone had sought an extension from holders of the securitized notes to allow time to dispose of assets and repay the debt, the surge in market volatility triggered by the war in Ukraine and rising interest rates interrupted the sales process, and bondholders voted against a further extension.

Since the security has now matured and has not been repaid, loan servicer Mount Street has determined that an event of default has occurred, according to a statement Thursday. The loan will now be transferred to a special servicer.

“This debt relates to a small portion of the Sponda portfolio,” a Blackstone representative said in an emailed statement. “We are disappointed that the servicer has not advanced our proposal, which reflects our best efforts and we believe would deliver the best outcome for note holders. We continue to have full confidence in the core Sponda portfolio and its management team, whose priority remains delivering high-quality retail and office assets.”

Blackstone is understandably trying to minimize the news, yet the firm clearly continues to scramble to stabilize the bleeding in its massive real estate portfolio. On Wednesday it said that it had blocked investors from cashing out their investments at its $71 billion real estate income trust (BREIT), as the private equity firm continues to grapple with a flurry of redemption requests.

BREIT said it fulfilled redemption requests of $1.4 billion in February, which represents only 35% of the approximately $3.9 billion in total withdrawal requests for the month, the firm said in a letter to investors as Reuters first reported.

Oliver and Lisa’s Chicken Lays Square Eggs – Green Acres – 1966

Caesar’s Savage Human Skewers Unearthed In German Fort

Was this German silver mine really defended by two Roman forts and a line of “spike defenses”? Or, were the Romans protecting something even more valuable than silver?

Having spent several months in the French hills fighting off clandestine guerrilla attacks, Roman emperor Julius Caesar was utterly exhausted. In his book ” Gallic Wars ,” Cesar described his invention of a horrific weapon of war: rows of submerged “spiked” tree branch fortifications.

Once the Roman soldiers had cut and sharpened hundreds of thick tree branches, they were sunk into trenches and covered with branches, to hide them. Caesar noted that whoever attempted to enter his camp would “impale themselves on very sharp stakes.”

Having secured his HQ, Caesar strategized for the 52 BC Battle of Alesia, in which battled and crushed the largest Gallic army ever assembled, under the command of general Vercingetorix.

Now, more than two millennia later, archaeologists over in Germany have discovered similar “defensive stakes” to what Caesar described, that are ‘believed’ to have protected an ancient silver mine.

The excavation site that revealed the first example of the Roman defensive spikes. (Frederic Auth/ Aktuelles Uni )

If You Attack By Night, You Get Skewered. Simple

A report about this recent discovery of “stake defenses” in Live Science describes the system as “ancient barbed wire.” This description is accurate only in that the sharpened branches served to deter people entering a location, but in reality, this system of defense was nothing like barbed wire. While warriors might get entangled in barbed wire, and subsequently arrowed or chopped up, lines of closely positioned sharp wooden stakes would have pierced Gallic and Germanic soldiers’ bodies like kebab skewers.

The discovery site was at Bad Ems, which is about halfway between the present-day cities of Bonn and Mainz in Germany. The site was first explored by professional archaeologists from the late 19th century, however, the recent discovery of an ancient Roman ‘spike defense’ was made by a team of students. And to put this find into proper context, this area of Germany was known as “the limes” (meaning “boundary line”), and served as the northern border of the Roman Empire.

The excavations in Bad Ems were initiated by J. Eigenbrod, who spotted suspicious traces in the field which were the first sighting of a Roman ditch. (Hans-Joachim du Roi/ Aktuelles Uni )

Roman Military Power Rising

During the late 19th century excavations, archaeologists at this site identified wall foundations, processed silver ore and metal slag. This led to the assumption that the site was a smelting works dating to the early second century AD. But in 2016, a researcher noticed a series of unnaturally square crop formations and informed archaeologists at the Goethe University in Frankfurt.

Trying to contextualize the crop marks, archaeologists researched volumes of ancient literature and were recently able to pinpoint an ancient “ Roman fort .” The following excavations were led by Professor Markus Scholz, from Goethe University, and after test trenches were dug a “20-acre (8 hectares) double-ditched Roman camp with the remains of around 40 wooden watchtowers” was discovered.

Thanks Only To Damp Conditions

The preserved wooden spikes were found in damp soil on Blöskopf Hill. At this site, which is about 2 kilometers (1.3 miles) distant from the first fort, a second Roman fort was recently discovered. The team of excavators found a Roman coin that was minted in 43 AD, which established that the two forts were built before The Limes defenses, that were constructed in 110 AD.

The researchers said it was the particularly damp condition of the soil on Blöskopf Hill that preserved the ancient wooden stakes, which would otherwise have deteriorated long ago. While scouring through historical records the archaeologists read the works of the Roman historian, Tacitus, who wrote that a Roman governor named Curtius Rufus had failed trying “to mine silver” in this area of Germany in 47 AD.

While Rufus came away empty handed, this was no failing of his geographers and geologists, for in the preceding centuries around 200 tons of silver was mined from the site, according to Live Science. The Roman digging technologies simply couldn’t dig deep enough to hit the pay dirt.

All Might Not Be What It Seems

In ancient Rome, the arts of war were taught based on previous successful military campaigns. While Julius Caesar died over half a century before the two forts were built at Bad Ems in Germany, it certainly ‘appears’ that the great military leader’s brutal spikes, that he designed under duress in France, were recreated by later Roman generals in Germany to guard what they considered as a potentially valuable silver mine.

While the stake defense discovered in Germany ‘suggests’ Caesar’s battle tactics were reused in Germany long after he died, archaeologist Markus Scholz is showing caution regarding the whole discovery. He says there exists a lot of outstanding questions, for example, why was the larger of the two forts never completed? Furthermore, why were both forts purposefully burned shortly after their construction?

Until answers to these questions are found, the idea that the two Roman forts were built to defend a silver mine is pure speculation. And so too is the notion that the spiked branches also guarded that same mine. It might be the case that something else was being guarded, or defended, that potentially impales the mine into historical insignificance. However, Scholz is confident that all these questions will soon be answered after the next round of digs at the location.

Top image: Roman defensive spikes found at Bad Ems.   Source: Frederic Auth/ Aktuelles Uni

By Ashley Cowie

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea S2E04 The Cyborg HDTV FULL EPISODE!

https://youtu.be/z2vviIfboCs

What’s It Like To Have Your Film Flop At The Box Office?

August 5, 2021

 

When you work “above the line” on a movie (writer, director, actor, producer, etc.) watching it flop at the box office is devastating. I had such an experience during the opening weekend of Conan the Barbarian 3D.

A movie’s opening day is analogous to a political election night. Although I’ve never worked in politics, I remember having similar feelings of disappointment and disillusionment when my candidate lost a presidential bid, so I imagine that working as a speechwriter or a fundraiser for the losing campaign would feel about the same as working on an unsuccessful film.

One joins a movie production, the same way one might join a campaign, years before the actual release/election, and in the beginning one is filled with hope, enthusiasm and belief.

I joined the Conan team, having loved the character in comic books and the stories of Robert E. Howard, filled with the same kind of raw energy and drive that one needs in politics.

Any film production, like a long grueling campaign over months and years, is filled with crisis, compromise, exhaustion, conflict, elation, and blind faith that if one just works harder, the results will turn out all right in the end.

During that process whatever anger, frustration, or disagreement you have with the candidate/film you keep to yourself.

Privately you may oppose various decisions, strategies, or compromises; you may learn things about the candidate that cloud your resolve and shake your confidence, but you soldier on, committed to the end.

You rationalize it along the way by imagining that the struggle will be worth it when the candidate wins.

A few months before release, “tracking numbers” play the role in movies that polls play in politics.

It’s easy to get caught up in this excitement, like a college volunteer handing out fliers for a politician.

As the release date approaches and the the tracking numbers start to fall, you start adjusting expectations, but always with a kind of desperate optimism. “I don’t believe the polls,” say the smiling candidates.

You hope that advertising and word of mouth will improve the numbers, and even as the numbers get tighter and the omens get darker, you keep telling yourself that things will turn around, that your guy will surprise the experts and pollsters.

You stay optimistic. You begin selectively ignoring bad news and highlighting the good. You make the best of it. You believe.

In the days before the release, you get all sorts of enthusiastic congratulations from friends and family.

Everyone seems to believe it will go well, and everyone has something positive to say, so you allow yourself to get swept up in it.

You tell yourself to just enjoy the process. That whether you succeed or fail, win or lose, it will be fine.

You pretend to be Zen. You adopt detachment, and ironic humor, while secretly praying for a miracle.

The Friday night of the release is like the Tuesday night of an election. “Exit polls” are taken of people leaving the theater, and estimated box office numbers start leaking out in the afternoon, like early ballot returns.

You are glued to your computer, clicking wildly over websites, chatting nonstop with peers, and calling anyone and everyone to find out what they’ve heard.

Have any numbers come back yet? That’s when your stomach starts to drop.

By about 9 PM it’s clear when your “candidate” has lost by a startlingly wide margin, more than you or even the most pessimistic political observers could have predicted.

With a movie its much the same: trade magazines like Variety and Hollywood Reporter call the weekend winners and losers based on projections.

That’s when the reality of the loss sinks in, and you don’t sleep the rest of the night.

For the next couple of days, you walk in a daze, and your friends and family offer kind words, but mostly avoid the subject.

Since you had planned (ardently believed, despite it all) that success would propel you to new appointments and opportunities, you find yourself at a loss about what to do next.

It can all seem very grim.

You make light of it, of course. You joke and shrug. But the blow to your ego and reputation can’t be brushed off.

Reviewers, even when they were positive, mocked Conan The Barbarian for its lack of story, lack of characterization, and lack of wit.

This doesn’t speak well of the screenwriting – and any filmmaker who tells you s/he “doesn’t read reviews” just doesn’t want to admit how much they sting.

But one thought this morning has lightened my mood:

My father is a retired trumpet player. I remember, when I was a boy, watching him spend months preparing for an audition with a famous philharmonic.

Trumpet positions in major orchestras only become available once every few years.

Hundreds of world class players will fly in to try out for these positions from all over the world.

I remember my dad coming home from this competition, one that he desperately wanted to win, one that he desperately needed to win because work was so hard to come by.

Out of hundreds of candidates and days of auditions and callbacks, my father came in….second.

It was devastating for him. He looked completely numb. To come that close and lose tore out his heart.

But the next morning, at 6:00 AM, the same way he had done every morning since the age of 12, he did his mouthpiece drills. He did his warm ups. He practiced his usual routines, the same ones he tells his students they need to play every single day.

He didn’t take the morning off. He just went on. He was and is a trumpet player and that’s what trumpet players do, come success or failure.

Less than a year later, he went on to win a position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he played for three decades.

Good thing he kept practicing.

So with my father’s example in mind, here I sit, coffee steaming in its mug and dog asleep at my feet, starting my work for the day, revising yet another script, working out yet another pitch, thinking of the future (the next project, the next election) because I’m a screenwriter, and that’s just what screenwriters do.

On to the next campaign…

– Sean Hood

Green Acres – The Moo Activated Barn Door & Mr. Douglas’ TV Show

Bulgur Pilaf with Tomatoes
(Burghul bi Banadoura)

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 tablespoons vegetable or extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cups coarse-ground bulgur, washed in coldwater and drained
• 1 pound tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 1/2 cups water

Instructions

1. Fry onion in 2 tablespoons of oil until golden. Add bulgur and stir well.
2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, allspice and water. Stir and cook, covered, over very low heat for 15 minutes, adding a little water if too dry, or letting it evaporate uncovered if too wet.
3. Leave to rest, covered, for 10 minutes, or until grain is plump and tender, then stir in remaining oil.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Variation: Fry 2 medium eggplants, cut into 1-inch cubes, in shallow oil until lightly browned all over and soft inside. Drain on paper towels and fold gently into the bulgur.

“The Thing” Arrives at the Douglas’ Farm – Green Acres – 1967

What’s It Like To Be A Coal Miner?

August 10, 2021

 

I graduated from Virginia Tech with a BS in Mining Engineering and I’ve been coal mining ever since.

I get asked a lot if it is a 4 year degree – yes it is.

We have to study everything other engineers learn including thermodynamics, electrical theory, statics, dynamics, deforms.

Some coursework in my major included mine design, blasting, ventilation, geophysics, and engineering economics.

Many people ask if I have to crawl around all day long – nope! I drive an F-150 underground.

Speed limit is 25, but I’ve never gotten pulled over down there (all the trucks have governor chips set to 25).

 

Some mines in the Appa-latch-in Mountains are only 4 ft. high, but I’ve never worked there.

The walls are white with “rock dust”, this prevents coal dust from being breathed in and coal dust is also combustable – you don’t want it floating around.

 

This is the backbone of any high production coal mine – the longwall shearer.

It moves back and forth cutting out massive amounts of coal which is then transported via conveyor systems all the way out of the mine.

Some mines are only accessed by a shaft (vertical tunnel) and hoist, but I’ve only worked in mines that are accessed by a long slope (you just drive right down to 900 ft. underground). My mine produces 5 million tons of coal annually.

 

 

 

Another thing people ask is how dangerous it is.

I can honestly say that I’ve never felt in danger.

I read a statistic from the US Department of Labor that says underground coal mining has a lower accident incident rate than grocery stores, department stores, hospitals, and hotels.

That being said, people do still lose their lives.

Working around heavy machinery in close quarters is inherently dangerous.

 

This is a continuous miner. In mines out the entries (where we drive and set up belt lines and ventilation). Some small mines only use continuous miners, but they have nowhere near the efficiency and recovery rates that longwall shearers have. Most mines use 2-3 continuous miners per 1 longwall shearer.

Many coal companies that were previously “swimming in cash” are now out of business because they can’t survive with the dropping price of coal. Mining coal will be around for the rest of our lives no matter what – good or bad. Coal is required to make steel even if we no longer use it for electricity.

Most of the equipment is remote controlled, so that miners don’t need to be under unsupported roof or near the cutting heads.

 

Mining engineering pays at about the same level as chemical engineering, computer science, and petroleum engineering. I started at $70k and moved up from there. The hours are very long though – I start at 6AM and get off at 5PM.

US Claims Chinese “Incursion” Near Taiwan, US Sells Taiwan Millions in Arms as Next Proxy War Brews