I often comment about my experiences in world line slides.
I talk about how things were different, and how they seemed strange. I talked about how sometimes my body would be different.
Like I would have a scar or a tattoo, or some other minor change. Like socks changing into black and white checkered race flag designs instead of my normal business socks and so on and so forth.
Once, I will tell you, that I had a heightened sense of smell. I could smell the most amazing things, but my consciousness could not process all of it. Which means that to me, everything in that world-line adventure smelled like an animal zoo to me.
It was, I’ll tell you the truth, quite an interesting experience.
Good for me that the trip on that line was short lived.
Ah. Ignorance is bliss.
Today…
Blinken to China to fuss about support for Russia
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Beijing soon to raise concerns about China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base and its purchase of Iranian oil products.
Blinken’s China trip was announced after Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran ended a three-day visit in Beijing on Tuesday.
Last week, US officials briefed reporters on materials China was providing to Russia, including drone and missile technology, satellite imagery and machine tools, Reuters reported.
Blinken is also set to discuss with Chinese officials the situation in the Middle East.
On April 11, Blinken requested to have a phone call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to talk about the Iran-Israel conflict. Wang said China strongly condemned Israel’s attack on the Iranian Embassy in Syria, which happened on April 1.
On April 12, US President Joe Biden said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later.” He underscored Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. On April 13-14, Iran unleashed a barrage of missiles and drones against Israel, which successfully intercepted most of them.
No full-blown Mideast war yet
Both Washington and Beijing called for de-escalation and a full-blown war has not yet broken out in the region.
(Indeed, if a report for which veteran American investigative reporter Seymour Hersh cites unnamed sources is correct, the attack was something of a charade, negotiated in advance, in which Iran was permitted a massive show of anger while inflicting very limited damage.)
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives on Monday passed bipartisan legislation called the Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act by a 383-11 vote.
Jointly proposed by Democrat Josh Gottheimer and Republican Mike Lawler, the bill is aimed at making it more difficult for China to purchase Iranian petroleum and related products. It needs approval from the Senate before it can go to Biden for his signature.
“After Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel, and as its regime of terror deepens ties to China, we are reminded that they cannot be trusted,” said Gottheimer.
”We must hold Iran and its backers accountable, especially China, the number one purchaser of Iranian petroleum,” said Lawler.
The duo said the Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act, along with the SHIP Act passed last November, will kneecap Iran’s ability to export murder and instability across the Middle East region.
Also on Monday, Wang had a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Wang said China believed that Iran is fully cognizant of the situation and will avoid causing further turbulence while defending its sovereignty and dignity. He added that China will steadily advance practical cooperation in various fields with Iran to make greater progress in China-Iran relations.
A pundit responds
“The passage of the Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act by the US House is a bargaining chip that is aimed at forcing China to compromise on Iranian issues,” You Feng, a visiting lecturer at Peking University and a military commentator, says in an article published on Wednesday. “It seems that if we do not fulfill the United States’ demand of exerting influence over Iran, the act will soon take effect.”
“But obviously,” she adds, “even if Blinken will raise the matter during his upcoming visit to Beijing, China is unlikely to give up its cooperation with Russia and Iran. The reason is simple. Our cooperation with Russia and Iran is normal trade. The United States’ unreasonable demand directly hurts our interests, and this is unacceptable.”
She says China will definitely fight back if the US imposes sanctions. She says Blinken should consider Beijing’s opinions, before departing for China, instead of presenting a bunch of unreasonable demands.
Overcapacity
Last June, Blinken visited China and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping after US-China relations had been impacted by the Chinese spy balloon incident, the US chip export ban and Taiwan issues in early 2023.
Since then, more US and Chinese officials have held meetings. A face-to-face meeting between Xi and US President Joe Biden in San Francisco last November also helped stabilize Sino-US relations. But the US sanctioned more Chinese firms that shipped products to Russia. It unveiled new chip export rules against China last October.
Now Washington is urging the European Union to take actions to avoid being hurt by China’s industrial overcapacity, especially in the electric vehicle (EV) sector.
During a meeting with Chinese Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz raised the issue of China’s overcapacity and said that Germany wants open and fair markets.
Xi asked the German side to look at the matter objectively. He said a surge in China’s clean-technology exports can help the world tackle inflation and achieve its green goals.
“The notion that China’s overcapacity harms the global market is a complete fallacy,” Li Jian, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in a regular media briefing on Wednesday. “Those who spread that narrative to justify protectionism have nothing to gain from it and will only destabilize and disrupt industrial and supply chains, hinder the world’s green transition and curb the growth of emerging sectors.”
An article published by China National Radio’s flagship radio channel called The Voice of China said that the accusation of “overcapacity” is another form of the West’s “decoupling” with China. It said US politicians want to use this campaign to gain benefit in this year’s presidential election.
Li Daokui, director of the Center for China in the World Economy (CCWE) at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management, was quoted as saying in the article that all countries would subsidize their new industries during the development stage.
He said the US cannot accuse China of subsidizing its new energy sector while it is openly subsidizing its chip industry.
“A ‘super-cycle’ exists in EVs and renewable energy equipment as excess supply in certain parts of their supply chain is coupled with yet-to-materialized demand,” Chim Lee, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, says in a research note on Monday. “These sectors are highly politicized globally. Lower prices can be perceived as the result of government support, but they are also key to accelerating the green transition.”
They are freaking out
When did you realize small things matter?
One day while leaving the office at 8.30pm. The security guard looked at me with the phone in his hand in a confused state. Curious I was, I went near him and from there, the conversation started.
Me :What happened? Why are you looking so confused?
He : Sir I tried to withdraw money from our office ATM but the transaction was failed due to timed out. Then I got the message from the bank that my money was deducted from my account!
Me: Don’t worry they will refund the money within one or two days.
He : Sir, but I didn’t get any message about the refund. How will I get? Also the bank is far away from here so I cannot go immediately.
Me : Don’t worry bhiaya I too faced similar kind of problem but I got refunded within 3 days. So don’t worry.
He : Okay sir. Thank you
Then after few days I saw him running towards me and he said “Sir thank you so much, I got my money refunded”
Me : Oh great! Why are you saying thanks to me?
He : You only said about this refund. Otherwise I would have taken leave to visit bank next day. You saved my one day salary.
Me : Oh! its OK bhaiya. Happy that you got the money back.
Which I thought to be a small piece of information, after seeing his smiling face, only then I realized how big it was.
SO YES these kind of small things matters a lot to me and gives satisfaction!!
Power
What are some examples of great marketing?
WeChat, which is owned by Tencent, was launched in 2011, and its programming team gradually added new features to attract new users to switch from QQ Mobile (also owned by Tencent) to WeChat.
However, compared to Alibaba’s offerings, it was weak because it still did not have a wallet and payment function.
The Guangzhou-based 10-person team led by Alan Zhang 张小龙 worked on a programming solution to this hole in WeChat’s functionality, while the business team worked with the Chinese government to enable digital functionality by plugging into their bank accounts.
The product marketing team needed to do something big in order to really put WeChat Wallet on the map. They decided to launch around Chinese New Year 2014 so that they could leverage a traditional Chinese custom, and turn it digital. During Chinese New Year, the Chinese traditionally hand out red envelopes stuffed with cash (in new bills) to children.
The strategy was brilliantly simple: WeChat Wallet would hand out digital red envelopes. In order for the campaign to succeed, WeChat Wallet would have to connect with a minimum of two bank accounts: one person to send the money, and the other person to receive the money. Usually, the number was much higher than two because adults would have to give New Year’s money to more than one child or teenager.
The product marketing team focused on seeding a significant number of early adopters so that they could get others to connect their bank accounts so that they could receive money. In order to simplify the money amount selection process, buttons were marked in the amounts of 8, 10, 88, and 100 yuan; most of the time, people just selected a default amount to transfer.
The marketing campaign immediately went viral and was a tremendous success, and within two months, more than 100 million bank accounts were connected to WeChat Wallet. At the same time, merchants and small businesses applied for QR codes so that they could accept payment online and offline by just providing a QR code to scan.
Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, who is a strong competitor with Tencent, complimented the success of this launch, and in internal meetings, referred to it as a “digital Pearl Harbor attack” on Alibaba because it was caught completely by surprise. Coming from Tencent’s main competitor in the China market, it was a true compliment.
Within two years, Chinese society went largely cashless. Now, in China, most of the people who pay in cash are travelers from outside China. Everyone else uses either Tencent’s or Alipay’s digital wallet which they carry in their mobile phones.
The social repercussions have been huge: e-commerce and delivery services have taken off in China, and the volume and velocity of transaction is much larger than in the US.
I feel your pain fellas…
New PLA unit underscores intelligentized warfare shift
China has just unveiled its People’s Liberation Army-Information Support Force (PLA-ISF), a rebranding of its previous PLA-Strategic Support Force (PLA-SSF) to reflect new responsibilities and capabilities and guide the military’s technology-driven integrated combat concept, Chinese state media reports said.
In contrast to traditional PLA services such as the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force, the PLA’s strategic arms, such as the Aerospace Force, Cyberspace Force and Joint Logistics Support, focus on more specialized areas critical to modern warfare.
PLA-SSF, founded in 2015, was initially tasked with developing and implementing most of the PLA’s space-based capabilities and counter-space operations. Stressing the PLA-ISF’s broader responsibilities, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized that the renamed PLA-ISF will be crucial in advancing the PLA’s modernization and effectiveness in modern warfare.
Xi also stated that the PLA-ISF would be integrated into the PLA’s joint operations system, feature unique Chinese characteristics and accelerate the development of integrated combat capabilities more effectively.
China may have rebranded its PLA-SSF into the PLA-ISF in line with its evolving strategic thought and changing operational strategy.
It says that “preparations for military struggle” (PMS) are under the context of winning “informationized local wars,” emphasizing that information is not just vital but will play a dominant role in winning future conflicts.
Building on the premise of China’s 2015 Military Strategy, the 2019 China’s National Defense in the New Era white paper notes that technologies such as AI, quantum information, big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) mark an evolution from “informationized” to “intelligentized” warfare.
Koichiro Takagi mentions in an April 2022 War on the Rocks article that the main idea of China’s “intelligentized warfare” concept is to use AI to directly influence the will of top policymakers, military commanders and citizens.
Takagi says that “intelligence dominance” will become a new area of struggle in intelligentized warfare, emphasizing that China envisions using AI for military purposes differently than the US and its allies.
In a January 2022 article in the Security and Strategy journal, Maasaki Yatsuzuka outlines the imperatives that may have led to the rebranding of the PLA-SSF into the PLA-ISF from political and military angles.
From a political standpoint, Yatsuzuka notes that the Xi administration’s implementation of intelligentized warfare signifies a shift toward a centralized decision-making process in the PLA.
This process, he says, aims to uphold the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) control over the PLA and secure its alignment with the party’s goals and ideology.
He also mentions that the need for centralized control is emphasized by integrating military reforms with broader party policies, such as the Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) strategy.
Further, Yatsuzuka says that the PLA’s emphasis on political education and control through political commissars is becoming increasingly crucial as warfare becomes more technologically advanced and specialized.
From a military standpoint, Yatsuzuka says that to move toward intelligentized warfare, the PLA must establish integrated information systems to effectively manage the diverse aspects of modern warfare, including land, air, sea, space, cyber, cognitive and electromagnetic domains.
He mentions that effective utilization of AI and real-time data processing is crucial for future operations as it requires a robust data flow and analysis framework across various platforms and military units.
Yatsuzuka stresses the importance of a consolidated strategic directive incorporating inputs from multiple military and civilian sources to enable a united and adaptable response driven by centralized military leadership.
The rebranding of China’s PLA-SSF into PLA-ISF may also reflect the need to integrate information warfare and emerging technologies and capabilities into a multi-domain operational concept.
In October 2023, Asia Times reported on China’s Multi-Domain Precision Warfare (MDPW) concept, which utilizes AI and big data advances to identify weaknesses in the US operational system and launch precision strikes. It also tests and improves AI-driven capacities to align with China’s military doctrine.
China’s intelligent warfare strategy is expected to involve a combination of human and machine command and control systems. Humans will have limited control over autonomous weapons and the focus will be on expanding warfare to areas where humans cannot operate, such as the cognitive domain.
MDPW may be China’s answer to the US Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) system, a tech-driven plan to enhance military interoperability and AI integration across all warfare domains with allies and partners.
In practice, MDPW may seek to dismantle and destroy CJADC2’s kill chain by targeting critical information nodes such as aircraft and satellites through physical attack, targeting information networks by jamming, electronic warfare and cyberattack. It may also seek to disrupt decision-making within and between the US and its allies.
MDPW may capitalize on the fixed and centralized approach of US kill chains, which lack diversity in sharing information among different components, making them vulnerable and arguably unsuitable for a large-scale conflict in the Indo-Pacific region.
Survive
What is the sweetest revenge you’ve ever taken?
This is actually pretty cool.
So I worked with this person. She stole 80$. I was a server. There was nothing I could do and I wasn’t getting my money back and I knew it.
Months later I had found a new job. I get a call from my old place of employment. “Yes I need a cab to so and so”. I recognized the voice. I was the cab driver.
I knew it was her.
I go anyway. When I arrive there she is smiling. I said 80$ to get in this cab babe. And I just looked at her and smiled back.
”You can’t do that. I know the company. I’m calling you in. I know the owner”. I laugh and I’m like yeah I know him too. He’s the guy that hired me. But if you want in this particular cab, there’s an 80$ deposit.
Ha I’m like go right ahead but if you don’t wanna walk home in the rain there’s an 80$ up front fee.
Now this whole time I have the window cracked. And literally nothing else is unlocked.
She was so mad.
I smiled ear to ear and says hey remember fucking me out of 80 dollars? She said fuck you you’re a cabbie now and you have a duty to customer service. I said well just slip a hundo through the window.
She was absolutely livid. You can’t do this. This is an assault. I NEED A RIDE HOME…. NOW. I was like yep I need my money back honey!
But what could she do? I drove away smiling. Karma, sometimes, is a mother!
Russia Issues Economic Ultimatum, China Drops Stimulus Bombshell To Counter G7 Threats
What are some examples of companies that outsourced or offshored to lower costs and it backfired?
On the morning of May 21, 2014, an Indian system admin working at HCL logged on to one of the servers of Norwegian petroleum company Statoil.
By accident, he had logged on to a production server that was giving him some warning messages. Not completely understanding the messages, he decided to reboot the server. Despite additional warnings that a reboot was inadvisable, he went along with it.
On the other side of the globe, at the Mongstad facility, the largest oil refinery in Norway, a tanker was being loaded with 50 million liters of gasoline. Enough to fill up the fuel tanks of about a million cars.
Suddenly, the operation came to a halt. Gasoline started pouring violently into the ocean. Boatloads of it.
The night shift crew monitoring the facility looked on in horror as millions of dollars worth of liquid was disappearing by the minute.
The situation could quickly turn into an environmental disaster that would wreak havoc on the local sea life.
Fortunately, the crew at the facility reacted quickly and was able to avert a major disaster by overriding the operation manually.
A few years earlier, Statoil had outsourced all maintenance of server infrastructure to India. The incident at Mongstad, as dramatic as it was, wasn’t a one-off occurence.
Several times, Statoil’s various facilities had to be evacuated because of compromised IT security and server shutdowns. The company executives now feared they could face incidents that would lead to loss of life.
It turned out that about 100 consultants in India had admin access to all of Statoil’s production servers. Yes, all of them. None of the consultants had been background-checked.
Statoil (now Equinor) is the company that forms the backbone of the Norwegian economy, one of the strongest economies in the world. The amount of damage these guys could do to the Norwegian economy and society as a whole if they wanted to was cataclysmic.
In 2017, Statoil was in the midst of a global oil crisis, with plummeting oil prices. Yet, despite the red numbers in the balance sheets and strong focus on cost-savings, the company decided to homesource IT infrastructure to Norway again, even if this came at a massive cost.
It wasn’t so much that the Indian consultants lacked the technical knowledge to manage the servers. The main problem was that they didn’t have the domain knowledge to understand what the servers were actually doing. They often didn’t appreciate the gravity of the situation. Communicating this across the globe through timezones and language barriers proved difficult.
The entire outsourcing experiment ended up being a massive failure, even though it was supposed to save the company billions of dollars on paper.
Men at work
When the US threatens China with so many sanctions, why doesn’t China retaliate?
It’s because the Sanctions are toothless
For instance we all heard of the ban on Xinjiang Cotton by many brands across the world
Yet it was puzzling to see that Cotton Exports from China from Xinjiang rose by 10.7% in 2023 from 2021 after being down by 4.6% in 2022
Then I saw the fine print
Imports and Sales of Xinjiang Cotton produced through Forced Labor in contravention of Human Rights after 30 June 2021 may attract Sanctions
This means any order signed until 29/6/2021 is legal and free from any sanction
And most big importers, they don’t place orders for Cotton every 2–3 months or even 6 months
They place orders for 5–10 years at a time
So most orders signed between Xinjiang Cotton producers and US Importers and European Importers that were signed before 30/6/2021 are still active and unaffected by any sanctions
These orders will likely continue to run until minimum 2026 and maximum 2031
So the Xinjiang Cotton orders will cease only from 2031
That’s a long time away
By then Biden, Trump won’t be in power and maybe the next President can repeal the order
Either way 2031 is a long way off
So despite all the noise, in reality the Sanctions won’t bite until 2031 or earliest 2026
Likewise the US have demanded that NVDIA not sell their A100 Chips to China without permission and license
So NVDIA simply modified their A100 and H100 designs, reduced density by 1/16th and sold the new GPUs as H800
China placed orders from 1 February 2023 for the next 3 years
Sanctions cannot affect existing orders per WTO regulations and Free Trade Law.
Thus China has a continuous stock of deliveries of the H800 GPU until 2026 minimum
So Sanctions won’t affect any commercial product for minimum 2–5 years because of existing contracts
Only Military Sanctions will work because delivery does take 5–10 years and most orders aren’t fully commercial so the WTO argument can’t be used
Hits them hard with reality
Have you ever been treated so poorly at work that you left without notice and never returned? What were the circumstances that caused you to leave, and did anyone say anything after you left?
I worked in a call center for a highly respected financial institution, and was treated more poorly than when I worked for Subway when I was in college.
First of all, my team were required to arrive for work 15 minutes early in order to get signed in to our computers and phone systems, but were not allowed to clock in until our shift actually started.
That was the least of my issues, however. My manager was a horribly arrogant woman who only liked around five people on her 20 person team. If you weren’t one of her favorites, you were treated like something yucky she stepped in that morning.
While her favorites were allowed to put a call on hold and go to her desk to ask a question, I would be reprimanded for leaving a call on hold while seeking an answer, then reprimanded for not knowing the answer.
I got in trouble for constantly eating at my desk, which was untrue. Toward the end of my shift I might grab a snack from the vending machine, but I ate any substantial meals during lunch or designated breaks. I had coworkers who always had full meals at their desks, which they would be eating while they were on the phone with clients. I’m seriously talking bacon, eggs, pancakes, and hashbrowns……
The final straw was when I was reprimanded for not handling a call professionally. A client called in and was immediately verbally abusive. I did my best to calm him down and attempt to address his issues, but the abusive behavior progressed throughout the call. At around the five minute mark, he started telling me that I should call him “Daddy” and that he knew that I was a bad girl, among other inappropriate things. I handled the call as well as I could, but I wasn’t incredibly friendly by the end of the call.
When I got to work the next day my Manager called me into her office. It turns out that the client had called to complain about me because I had been “very rude” to him during our call. She told me that she had reviewed the call with three other Managers and could not excuse my behavior during the call. She would have to write me up.
I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. This was not a phone sex number, it was a freaking brokerage house. I asked her how I should have handled the call. Should I have called the client “Daddy?” Should I have agreed that I’d been bad and asked him to spank me? She simply said that I could have handled the call more professionally, although she didn’t offer me any coaching toward *how* I should have handled the call.
I grabbed an empty box, packed up my cubicle, and walked out. Apparently she was fired about a week later. The team that I was on was the third team that she had been moved to since she had been promoted to Manager. She had been moved due to complaints regarding harrassment and favoritism, and upper management finally realized that she actually was a terrible Manager and not worth their trouble anymore.
The dangers
Chinese firms to assemble EVs in Europe, duck tariffs
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers are pushing forward their plans to building production capacity in Europe in order to evade potential tariffs that would be imposed by the European Union.
Chery Automobile President Yin Tongyue said Sunday that his company will soon purchase an old plant of Nissan’s in Barcelona, Spain, and turn it into its first manufacturing site in Europe. He said the reopening of the facility, which stopped running in 2021, can create 1,600 jobs.
He said Chery is discussing partnerships with two European brands, with one of the deals to be closed soon. Chinese media said Chery is having a discussion with Stellantis, the Italian auto conglomerate that owns Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot.
Spain’s Industry Ministry said an agreement for Chery to start production in the country will be formalized in the coming days.
Chery is still talking with the Italian government about building a factory there but there has been any update yet.
In the first quarter of this year, the number of the company’s exported cars rose 40.9% year-on-year to 253,418 units. The company is now focusing on markets in South America, the Middle East and Russia and will explore those in Spain, Italy Poland and the United Kingdom later this year.
Other key Chinese EV makers also have their manufacturing plans in Europe. Last December, the Shenzhen-based BYD said it will build a passenger car factory in Szeged, Hungary. It said the facility will be the first of its kind built by a Chinese automotive company in Europe and will have an advanced car production line.
Great Wall Motor said last year that it was mulling whether to locate its first European plant in Germany, Hungary or the Czech Republic.
SAIC Motor Corp said it was considering setting up a plant in the United Kingdom although the country has already left the European Union.
Meanwhile, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME), a Beijing-based industry group, said the 13-month investigation launched by the European Union last September against Chinese EV makers is not transparent and is in violation of global trading rules.
In a hearing with the European Commission in Brussels on April 11, CCCME Vice President Shi Yonghong, said he was concerned that the findings of the EU probe of Chinese EV imports would be distorted and unobjective.
Shi said the European Commission had departed from its principle of selecting for study the top Chinese EV makers, such as BYD, Geely and SAIC, and seemed to have purposely focused on three Chinese-owned producers to reach predetermined findings of subsidization.
He said the biased sample selection has tainted the entire investigatory process. He added that the probe was a perfect example of the EU’s double standards as it avoided taking any action against the US$400 billion of subsidies granted by the US government and also billions of euros of subsidies granted by the EU to the EV and battery sectors.
A spokesperson of the European Commission said the investigation and its findings would fully respect EU and international obligations. He said the EC will make sure this anti-subsidy investigation is thorough, fair and fact-based.
Impact of tariffs
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who finished her six-day China trip on April 9, told CNN on Sunday that the US will not take “anything off the table” in response to China’s manufacturing capacity, including the possibility of additional tariffs to stop the influx of cheap Chinese goods into the US market.
“We’re concerned about the possibility of surges in Chinese exports to our markets in areas where they have a great deal of overcapacity,” She said.
She said she has told Chinese officials that China’s overcapacity problem is a concern not only to the US, but also to other countries and regions, such as Europe and Japan, and even to emerging markets including India, Mexico and Brazil.
As the Trump administration imposed an extra 25% tariff on Chinese goods on top of the usual 2.5% tariff in 2019, Chinese EV and battery firms found it very difficult to develop their US markets.
They then turned to build factories in Mexico, which signed a free trade agreement with the US and Canada in 2018, trying to evade the extra 25% tariff. But Republican candidate Donald Trump said last month that he will impose a 100% tariff on Chinese cars that are made in Mexico if he wins the presidential election in November.
Now Chinese automakers are accelerating their plans to localize their production capacity in Europe, in case the EU imposes extra tariffs on EVs made in China later this year.
About one in five EVs sold in Europe last year were made in China, according to Transport & Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based non-profit organization. The figure is expected to grow to about 25% in 2024.
More than half of Chinese imports into Europe are still western brands, such as Tesla, Dacia and BMW, T&E says – but Chinese brands, including SAIC’s MG, Geely’s Polestar and BYD, could reach 11% of the European EV market in 2024 and 20% in 2027, up from about 7.5% last year.
“Tariffs will force carmakers to localize EV production in Europe, and that’s a good thing because we want these jobs and skills,” said Julia Poliscanova, senior director for vehicles and e-mobility supply chains at T&E. “But tariffs won’t shield legacy carmakers for long.”
She said a higher tariff should be accompanied by a regulatory push to increase local production of EVs, including electrification targets for company car fleets by 2039, on top of the agreed 100% clean car goal in 2035.
No dumping
After European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen announced a probe into unfair Chinese competition in the EV sector on September 13 last year, German Economic Minister Robert Habeck welcomed the decision.
But then German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, on September 28, that he was not convinced about the need to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs. He said that, since Germany wants to sell its cars in all places in the world, it should also open its market to foreign firms.
On a visit to China on Monday, he told Chinese students in Shanghai that Germany wants open and fair auto markets. He said Chinese cars will still be in Germany and Europe at some point if there is fair competition with no dumping, overproduction or infringement of copyrights.
According to the MarkLines Data Center, German automakers sold 462,720 vehicles in China last year, up 3.8% from 2022. They accounted for about 17.8% of the Chinese markets.
Chinese brands sold 1.46 million vehicles domestically with a 56.2% market share. Japanese brands sold 382,900 vehicles in China with a 14.7% market share.
Stroganoff Soup
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds stew meat
- 6 cups beef broth – (I used low sodium)
- 4 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste – (I use about 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 8 ounces mushrooms – sliced, (about 1 cup sliced mushrooms)
- 8 ounces short noodles – cooked, (egg noodles, rotini, and cellentani work great)
- ⅓ cup cold water
- ¼ cup corn starch
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
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In your instant pot, combine stew meat, beef broth, worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Place lid on the instant pot, make sure the vent nozzle is in the non-venting position, press “pressure cook” and set timer to 1 hour.
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Move venting nozzle to the vent position and allow to vent until the button drops down. Remove lid, and switch Instant Pot to “soup” mode. Stir together sour cream and 1 cup of broth from the Instant Pot until smooth. Stir mixture back into the pot along with the mushrooms. Whisk together cold water and corn starch in a bowl.
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Once soup is boiling, whisk corn starch mixture into the Instant Pot until soup thickens. Stir in noodles. Taste, add salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Garnish with cracked black pepper, fresh thyme or parsley, and grated parmesan cheese and serve.
Slow Cooker Instructions
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In your slow cooker, combine stew meat, beef broth, worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on high 3 hours, or low 6 hours.
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Stir together sour cream and 1 cup of broth from the slow cooker until smooth. Stir mixture back into the pot along with the mushrooms. Whisk together cold water and corn starch in a bowl, then stir into the slow cooker.
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Cover and cook on high for 1 hour longer. Taste, add salt and pepper to taste if needed. Add cooked noodles. Garnish with cracked black pepper, fresh thyme or parsley, and grated parmesan cheese and serve.
Notes
Should I make this in the Instant Pot or a Slow Cooker?
I’ve included instructions for making this easy Beef Stroganoff Soup in either the Instant Pot or the Slow Cooker. Both methods work great, it really just depends on your personal preference and whether you have an Instant Pot or not.
Side note: If you haven’t made the leap to getting and Instant Pot yet (*and this is not sponsored in any way!!!*) you have got to get one. You may not know this but the Instant Pot has a setting for slow cooking so it really is an all-in-one. BAM. Let whoever drew your name for Christmas know, this is what you need.
What cut of beef should I use?
My favorite meat to use for this Beef Stroganoff Soup is stew meat, because it gets so juicy and fall-apart tender in the Instant Pot on the pressure cooker setting (only takes an hour!) or after slow cooking in the crockpot all day. It’s also really budget friendly and makes this meal super affordable. Win win!
What type of noodles should I use?
Any short noodle works great! Egg noodles are really common with traditional stroganoff and taste great in this soup, my favorite though are twirly noodles as I like to call them, or Callentani. You could also use penne, ronini, or macaroni elbows!
Can I cook the noodles in the Instant Pot/Slow Cooker?
Technically, yes, you can cook them right in the Instant Pot/Slow Cooker. Personally, I prefer to cook my noodles separately for two reasons. 1) You need to add extra liquid to the recipe to account for the liquid that is absorbed by the noodles while cooking. My issue with this is that the excess dilutes the soup and makes it less flavorful. 2) It gets tricky with short noodles like these to know exactly how much cooking time they need, while making sure they don’t overcook. The whole point of a crockpot recipe in my opinion is to not have to keep a close eye on it the whole time, and to say hey this can cook for 6ish or 7ish hours. If you’ve got noodles in there though, that extra half hour or whatnot can turn your noodles to mush.
Chinese warn of Taiwan crisis from US military aid
Beijing has expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition after the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that will grant military aid to Taiwan and countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
The US House on April 20 passed four bills in a US$95 billion package to boost the defense ability of Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. About $60.84 billion of funding will be earmarked for Ukraine to counter Russia while $26.38 bill be used to support Israel to defend itself against Iran and its proxies.
One of the bills consists of $8.12 billion for Taiwan and Indo-Pacific countries to “counter communist China and ensure strong deterrence in the region.”
The aid includes:
- a $3.3 billion funding to develop submarine infrastructure, including investments in dry dock construction;
- $2 billion in a foreign military financing program for Taiwan and other key allies and security partners in the Indo-Pacific confronting Chinese aggression; and
- $1.9 billion to replenish defense articles and defense services provided to Taiwan and regional partners.
The remaining $920 million will be spent on strengthening US military capabilities in the region, enhancing the production and development of artillery and critical munitions and providing additional flexibility for Foreign Military Financing loans and loan guarantees.
Already, on February 8, the US Senate had passed its own $95 billion package to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and reports are that the Senate will now accept the House version and the package will soon be submitted to US President Joe Biden for approval, whereupon it will become law.
“The US insists on passing and signing a bill containing negative content related to Taiwan, seriously interfering in China’s internal affairs and seriously violating the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques,” Chen Binhua, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said Monday. “We express strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this.”
Chen also said the Democratic Progressive Party, the ruling party in Taiwan, is trying to rely on the US and use force to seek independence but such an attempt is doomed to failure.
“By providing military aid to Taiwan, the US is trying to stir up a crisis and confrontation in the Taiwan Strait and related region,” Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times in an interview. “The US will then use the chaos and conflicts it creates to make countries in East Asia and Western Pacific regions lean to its side and form an alliance.”
Li said such a move will lead to division in the Asia Pacific region, undermine the important foundation for the stability of Sino-US relations and seriously damage the existing order and security environment for shared prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
US commitment
The Taipei government and local media were cheered by the newly-approved US military aid. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen thanked the US Congress for approving it.
Taiwanese Premier Chen Chien-jen said Monday that a peaceful and stable Taiwan Strait is important to peace and prosperity in the world.
He said Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded countries, including the US and all countries in the free democratic camp, to safeguard peace and freedom in the Indo-Pacific region and make the Taiwan Strait area more stable.
The approval of the military aid for Taiwan reaffirmed Washington’s “rock-solid” commitment to helping the island defend itself, especially when this year marks the 45th anniversary of the passage of the US-Taiwan Relations Act, said Anny Hsiao, executive director of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), a Washington-based organization of Taiwanese Americans.
She said the US should give up its “strategic ambiguity” on the China-Taiwan matter and adopt “strategic clarity.”
For several decades, Washington has remained ambiguous about whether it will provide military support to Taiwan if the island is attacked by mainland China. Last year, Biden said on several occasions that the US will support Taiwan if a war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait.
‘Salami tactics’
Xie Feng, Chinese Ambassador to the US, delivered a speech on April 20 at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024.
He warned the US of the consequences of interfering with China’s internal affairs and damaging China’s interests on issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet) and the South China Sea.
”Applying salami tactics and crossing red lines on issues bearing on others’ core interests is just like racing cars on a cliff’s edge, where a crash is almost inevitable,” he said.
“The Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive issue in China-US relations. The so-called ‘Taiwan independence’ is a dead end, and the one-China principle is a red line not to be crossed,” he said.
He added that it’s natural for the US and China to have differences but it’s also important for both sides to properly manage their differences and respect each other’s core interests and major concerns.
Meanwhile, US State Secretary Antony Blinken is set to visit Beijing from Wednesday to Friday, invited by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
A senior US State Department official told the media that Blinken during his China trip will convey Washington’s deep concerns” over China’s aid for Russia’s defense industrial base.
It is expected that Blinken’s topics to be discussed with his Chinese counterparts will be Taiwan issues, Chinese industrial overcapacity and the Middle East conflicts.
The Plague
Did you ever see karma hit someone who deserved it so befittingly that it was eerie?
Ah yes, I love telling this story.
A little after the pandemic when stores were able to take people in again, I was working at an essential store. Well, one thing about me when it comes to work, I learn to do everything, so I can do everything. Well one day , heavy traffic in store and I’m on my toes. I’m all over the place. We are getting slammed with people and their stimulus checks lol one of the managers kept telling me to go on lunch but everytime I tried someone needed help, so there I would go . It got to a point where they were about to write me up, As I was helping two families, I had to apologize and excuse myself. Well as I’m walking out about to go to my car , my coworker stops me and says hey this guy needs help. The manager is staring at me, so I say “I’m sorry I can’t , have you tried to radio it in?”
The guy then says “what do you mean you can’t? Is it really that much work?”
I chuckled and said “no sir but I’m on the verge of getting a wri-”
Guy- “then stop wasting time and help me, all your doing is pushing a cart. I haven’t seen you work at all”
Me- “I really can’t , I’m about to get a write up if I don’t go to lunch”
Guy- “you just don’t want to work , lazy m********ker”
Me-”have a good day “ *walked out*
He walked out behind me and he still kept shouting profanity and a racial slur . I turned back around and at that moment all his stuff started falling off the flatbed(he had his flat stacked too high) and onto the gravel outside, his other cart rolling down the steep parking lot ended up getting swiped by an 18 wheeler.
It’s like the stars and planets aligned perfectly on that Sunday afternoon
Decisive: Upon $61 Billion in new U.S. Aid to Ukraine, Russia Declares It Must Now Also Take Sumy and Kharkiv Oblasts
As a direct result of the United States approving $61 Billion in new military aid to Ukraine, Russia has announced they are now required to take two additional states of Ukraine – Sumy and Kharkiv — to assure Russian national security.
The aid package from the United States includes long-range ATACMS missiles, which can be used to strike targets inside traditional Russia, so Russia needs a safety zone to protect itself from such launches.
The map below shows the two additional Oblasts (states) that Russia must now take from Ukraine to assure its security:
In response to the new Aid sent to Ukraine and the attacks by mercenaries on Belgorod, the Russian Army will now expand the objectives of the Special Military Operation (SMO).
The new regions, Kharkov and Sumy will be the main focus of the new Group N (north).
Hal Turner Snap Analysis
This conflict is escalating. U.S. meddling, and the massive amount of new US financial aid for military gear, is causing it to get worse.
Zelensky could have at least bargained to cede the Donbass for Ukraine’s neutrality but I guess more regions will now be incorporated into the Russian Federation.
What has someone done to you that you won’t be able to forgive?
When my wife walked out on me, it wasn’t the fact that she abandoned everything and everyone related to “us” that hit me the most (and obliterated “us” in the act), but what she had done in the months prior to her parting with me.
The things she never told me. The things she always vehemently denied.
She broke up with me over the phone, separated by 500 miles of land and water which would become 500 light years soon. (It’s funny how far people can end up from each other once they have been so close — as if they become repelling magnets once pulled apart.)
And only over the phone was she able to admit that she had cheated all along, and slept with him for the first time on her birthday, while I was attending a conference. To make matters worse, before sleeping with him, they had met in the very pub where the former “we” had spend our first date.
(Anyways.)
If there was anything left of “us” whatsoever, her sudden urge of getting as much money as possible from me totally destroyed it. It left me wondering who she really was — and who she had become.
Even when it turned out she was dying from late stage breast cancer more than ten years later, there was something inside me that could and would not forgive her. Even when I saw her in the flesh, with half of her already in the shadows and the rest of her trying to grab on, realizing that all was lost.
Even when I saw her empty eyes, broken and desperate, I just couldn’t.
Because for me, she had died a long time ago.
The former she, that is.
That offends me
How did other homeless people treat you while being homeless?
I was homeless for about 2 years in the 2010s. it was a very shitty experience for me. i was depressed most of the time and struggling not to just end it all. it was very hard to get a job without a stable address and I got stuck doing dead end temp jobs for very little money. didn’t really have to worry about food because so many church groups came by the shelter to feed us. Plus no matter how nicely you dressed and behaved, it seemed that everyone could tell that you were homeless. and never forget the discrimination towards you by the majority of society.
In fact, It’s miserable. The boredom is ruthless. Once you’ve found something to eat, your work for the day is done. It’s the most lonely feeling you’ll ever experience. Night comes, you see people out with their friends, then you’ll see them go home, and you’re just looking for somewhere dark and safe to sleep. The only way I can describe it is being completely outside the human experience. Your old friends will stop being around you, and your new friends aren’t friends at all. You’ll become acutely aware of every little thing you used to take for granted.
I knew people who claimed to have “good” homeless experiences, but most of them were homeless by choice…why, I’ll never understand. It’s uncomfortable and oppressively lonely.
Why do people break rules in India while they follow all the rules of the country as soon as they land there?
In India, the probability of following rule is inversely proportional to the status of the person in the society.
The higher you are in the social hierarchy, the lesser rules you usually follow.
- If you see a vehicle coming on the wrong side, it most likely belongs to a top civil servant or politician.
- You will rarely find the police officials wearing helmet or seat belt.
- If you visit to a tourist place and you find a vehicle parked in the ‘No Parking’ Zone, it all likelihood, it must belong to a government officer.
It is a common belief in the government officers and politicians is that they are above law because the officials who are expected to enforce the law are below them.
How can a lower official dare to take action against the higher officials?
And if you even know someone in power, you can use your influence to break the law with immunity.
There is a famous saying in India, “Sainya bhaye kotval, to dar kahe ka?” (When the husband is a police officer, why should you fear?)
When the political leader and government officials who make the law and whose duty is to enforce the law themselves don’t follow the law, it is natural that the rest of citizens too follow their example.
This truth is beautifully stated in Bhagawat Gita, “Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps, and whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues”.
Unlike India, the elite in developed countries don’t get extra-constitutional privileges and protection.
Here is a picture of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, traveling in train with common people like a common person.
Top political leaders and civil servants here are like demi-gods in India who are beyond the purview of the laws applicable for the ordinary mortals of the land.
When Indians visit other countries, they know that they don’t have any such immunity from law and they are bound to suffer fine, penalty or arrest if they break the law.
Hence, they become quite law abiding in foreign land.
Only if the people who are in power in India learn to follow the rules, the rest of the Indians can be expected to follow the rules.
It is sure that this is not going to happen any time soon in India.
Footnotes
COVERT INTEL: Russia Has Moved Tactical Nuclear Missiles to their Western Border
In response to Finland joining NATO, Russia has moved hypersonic, “Iskander” Tactical Nuclear Missiles to Karelia, Russia.
The Iskander missile has about a 500km range and can travel at about 7500km per hour.
From their location in Karelia, Russia, these new nuclear-tipped missiles can reach most of populated Finland within just a very few short minutes.
The deployment of these missiles is CONFIRMED. The fact they are already nuclear-tipped is also CONFIRMED.
The map below shows a 500km radius from Karelia, Russia. Note is covers almost all of Finland – at least all the major population centers, and a good portion of Estonia as well:
Super Chill
French Onion Chicken
Sometimes a recipe needs refinement to get to the point of putting it in my recipe book, a little altering and adjustment here and there. Sometimes I test out a recipe and it comes out exactly as I’d hoped. No tweaks needed, no surprising flavors or textures, just spot-on recipe perfection.
And then there are times when I make a dish and with just one bite I am completely wowed and all of my expectations are exceeded. This is one of those times! I fully expected this French onion chicken would be delicious. I didn’t think for a minute I’d be fixing this for dinner three times in one week and reheating leftovers for lunch on the in-between days because it was that good.
Sometimes a home-run recipe just sneaks up on you like that.
Honest to goodness, this French onion chicken thing we’ve got going on here is straight-up life changing goodness. All those classic flavors of French onion soup, in a one pan skillet meal the whole family will beg you to fix again and again. And the recipe is so straight forward and simple you won’t mind one bit.
You start out by sauteing thinly sliced yellow onions in a bit of butter and beef broth til browned and very tender, just like you would with classic French onion soup. Then you move those onions over to a separate dish to keep warm while you brown the chicken in the same pan.
Move the onions back to the pan and add flour and beef broth to make the most delicious caramelized onion gravy EVERRRRR and then top your chicken with three kinds of Italian cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes and viola! The sauciest, tastiest 30-ish minute chicken dish you’ve ever made.
This is Fall comfort food at its finest. And I just want to point out that I even though this dish is inspired by soup, it is not a soup, unlike the past four recipes I’ve posted which are all actual real live soup. #soupbsessed #sorrynotsorry #longlivesoupseason
Ingredients
- 2 medium yellow onions – thinly sliced into rings
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoons beef broth – divided
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts – pounded to even thickness
- 1 tablespoon oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon Italian blend herbs/Italian seasoning – (OR ¼ teaspoon dried basil + ¼ teaspoon dried thyme + ½ teaspoon dried oregano)
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 4 slices provolone cheese
- 4 slices swiss cheese
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese
- fresh thyme or parsley and cracked black pepper for topping – (optional)
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to bake at 400 degrees OR broil on low. In a large oven-safe skillet (see note) over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add onions and 3 tablespoons beef broth and saute onions for 3-4 minutes until translucent. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally so the onions don’t burn, for about 15 minutes longer until browned and very tender. Use tongs or a fork to transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm.
-
While onions are cooking, prepare the chicken by drizzling with oil, then seasoning with salt and pepper (to taste) and Italian herbs. Once onions have finished cooking and are removed from the pan, cook chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side (don’t clean out the pan between the onions and chicken) until browned on both sides. (Chicken may not be fully cooked through yet, that is okay).
-
Transfer chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm and return the onions to the pan. Sprinkle flour over the onions and stir for 1 minute over medium-high heat. Add beef broth and continue to cook, stirring throughout, until mixture comes to a boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Return chicken to pan and spoon some of the sauce over each piece of chicken.
-
Top chicken with one slice of provolone each, then one slice of swiss, then 1/4 of the parmesan cheese. Transfer skillet to your preheated oven and cook for about 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through completely and cheeses are melted.
-
Spoon some of the onions and gravy over the top of the chicken, garnish with thyme or parsley and cracked black pepper, and serve.
Notes
Found in a tree
When did you realize that your childhood was not normal?
not sure of my exact age maybe 11 or 12? I went to a friends house and her mom made us cookies and took us to our soccer practice and stayed the whole time, she was so involved throughout the day , selfless, and loving. I thought how lucky my friend was to have a mom who cared so much. Then I went to another friends house and noticed the same love and interaction with her mom. It baffled me. My mom was always too busy, too self involved, and too irritable to have any relationship with me that was remotely close.
First part of my life, I chalked it up to her job but she retired early at 54 and even though less than 15 minutes away she rarely see me or her grandkids. She says she’s just SO busy.
As a mom myself now, I realize how messed up my childhood was. Us Kids fending for themselves, basically running feral, emotionally starving for attention, a dad who tried (& loved us dearly, that I was certain of) but he didn’t quite have the time (worked full-time) or tools. I had a mom that I rarely saw (though I was thankful bc when our paths crossed the interaction was not good).
growing up, We walked on eggshells. Don’t upset mom. We weren’t allowed to share food with friends but that was embarrassing and rude so I gave my portions to my friends & didn’t eat to help save food so my mom wouldn’t get mad. I did so many things “so mom won’t get mad.” She was physically abusive which I thought was normal as well. It was always about her; her desires and wishes. The rest of us had no say—-even my dad. she moved us all over the country. 3 different high schools. Leaving behind friends. I thought it was all normal.
I vowed to be present & loving to my kids. I vowed to be a mom who did the little things, who listened, who took the time, who apologized if needed, who didn’t scream, yell, hit, spank, slap; who met more than their basic needs and who genuinely cares about them and is interested in them.
Destruction of the family
What happened at a wedding that made you feel horrible for the groom?
My husband, son and I recently attended a friend’s wedding. The bride looked beautiful, the venue was well-chosen and the little details were perfect. Everyone was having a wonderful time.
And then the speeches started.
It was a well-known fact that the groom had hounded the bride for over a year to go on their first date, and that topic featured in every speech to a greater or lesser degree. The parents of the groom had a couple embarrassing stories to tell about his childhood, but they brought it back to how happy they were for him and how he deserved such a perfect wife. The brother and sister of the bride had a few ribs about her, too, but again, they finished on a loving, positive note.
The same cannot be said for the sister of the groom.
She was already a little…toasted by the time she hit the podium, so there were portions of her speech that were a little difficult to catch. But the jist was clear: her brother was an oaf and no amount of lipstick would improve the beauty of that pig.
From humiliating stories to hurtful jabs, she just kept barreling through her obviously not proofread speech, and everyone in the room was staring at their plates in embarrassment. I kept waiting for her to sigh and start on the positives, but the sigh never came. She finished her speech with a final zinger and stepped down to a very light smattering of grateful applause.
Our table was silent. My husband, who is not my brother’s biggest fan by any means, turned to me and said, “promise me you won’t do that to Dylan”.
What are some of the most mind-blowing celebrity facts?
George Clooney called 14 of his closest friends and said “Hey, mark Sept 27th, 2013, on your calendar. Everyone’s going to come to my house for dinner.”
The 14 friends belonged to varying economic backgrounds. One of them was married to Cindy Crawford while another was riding his bicycle on his way to work at a bar in Texas airport.
When ‘The Boys’ (the group’s name) arrived at Clooney’s house, they found 14 designer suitcases placed on the table.
And then- Clooney said:
Listen, I want you guys to know how much you’ve meant to me and how much you mean in my life. I came to L.A; I slept on your couch. I’m so fortunate in my life to have all of you, and I couldn’t be where I am today without all of you. So, it was really important to me that while we’re still all here together, that I give back. So I want you all to open your suitcases.
There was $1 million inside every suitcase, arranged in $20 notes.
I know we’ve all been through some hard times, some of you are still going through it. You don’t have to worry about your kids; you don’t have to worry about, you know, school, you don’t have to worry about paying your mortgage.
(Clooney also paid their taxes so they could pocket the entire $1 million. That’s an additional $3.5 million altogether.)
One of his friends, Rande Gerber (married to Crawford) refused to accept the gift, so Clooney made a condition – either they all accept the gift, or nobody gets it.
Gerber (who donated his share to charity) said “This is who George is. That was September 27th, 2013. Now, September 27th, 2014, he marries Amal. That’s good karma right there.”
Clooney is a legend.
In other news- “George Clooney is a piece of shit”, said his 15th closest friend.
Footnotes