I’ve worked at many places. One was particularly nasty.
It was a “float glass” factory. You see there is this river of molten lead that flows down the factory. Glass is mixed, and then melted and allowed to flow onto the hot lead, where it cools and moves on to conveyors. Whence it is cut and packaged.
The factory was old, but still operating. And all the people were miserable.
The factory supervisor crew operated like a gang of mobsters and they pretty much picked on, belittled and preyed on the rest of us. Just a bunch of biker-assholes.
Now, eventually I left, and I do not really want to dredge up particularly nasty memories of this event stream. However, I do want to point some thing out.
Lead fumes.
They were everywhere. And I believe that they affected the brains of the workers there. Supervisors who lived there and worked there for years were very mean, cruel and just nasty. And I think that it was due to inhaling all those lead fumes.
You know how you read about ancient Rome and how the wealthy started to get a little “unhinged” because they drank water from lead pipes? Oh, yeah… knowing what I know and experienced, it was more than just “odd behavior”. I think that they became enraged lunatics with all that exposure to heavy metals.
Well, that’s what I think anyway.
Today…
“This is Unlike Anything We’ve Seen Before… | Pepe Escobar”
Pepe Tells it like it is. A must watch.
The ERA of information warfare is OVER. The West is beyond repair.
https://youtu.be/BwQQrPuXvp0
What should be the international community’s perception of China’s peace efforts for the Ukrainian crisis?
Ukrainian politicians are too hurtful to the feelings of people from other countries.
For example:
China donated civilian supplies like food, tents, and generators, and they cursed China, saying, “Why not give military aid?”
At the time, the whole nation was in an uproar.
We were only supporting your civilians; we didn’t want the war to escalate. Why would we donate military supplies?
Then:
South Korea has been the biggest contributor of military aid to Ukraine, such as the first batch of 155mm howitzers, donating 500,000 rounds.
You read it right. In China’s eyes, South Korea is nothing.
But,its military capabilities exceed those of Europe.
And how did Ukraine repay them?
Their ambassador went to pay respects at the Yasukuni Shrine!
This didn’t just infuriate the Chinese people to the extreme. You need to understand that historically, Japan invaded Korea twice, and long before World War II, Japan had already caused profound disasters for the Korean people as well.
Next step:
The Ukrainian government declared that Ukraine is willing to fight alongside the United States “in the trenches near Beijing.”
What the hell? ！
惊！我特么真惊了！你妈个臭逼！你是疯了吧啊你，你是咋了啊，你想死就说啊，操你妈！傻逼可以，不能你这么傻逼啊，还你妈逼的要打到北京？老子气笑了，你妈了个比的你知道北京在哪儿嘛？你个傻逼玩意！你这小国，中国一根小指头就按死你的，懂？还你妈逼要在在北京附近的战壕里作战？你妈个臭逼！直说了：北京的乌克兰婊子多的很，几百块RMB就能玩一通宵，你知道不？逗！逗你妈！这不是疯了吗，这娃儿！你们乌克兰婊子的生意都受你们政府瞎几把说的影响了，知道不？
（The above is a passage that I can only express with complete fluency and satisfaction in my native language.Bad language）
How stupid do you have to be to say something like that?
The Chinese internet was already saying, “Three of our heavy armored divisions could flatten you idiots!”
You have been able to accurately step on the heart of the Chinese people on the issues of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Xinjiang, and follow the United States step by step.
Wel,well,well, you have friends like the United States, and if you are willing to be China’s enemy, we will satisfy you.
We are your enemy.
And then:
The Ukrainian government claimed that “Chinese and Indian people have significant intellectual defects.”
I’m too tired to even talk about it!
Provoke China? We’re gentle and tolerant; we might take a step back, and at most, the Foreign Ministry would issue a strong protest.
But you dare provoke India too? Are you out of your mind????
In summary, the Ukrainian government is just that incredible! Utterly speechless.
I don’t know about national policy, and whatever the country decides, I’d support it.
But personally, I just hope this country ceases to exist.
Damn it, on the very day our nation was mourning our fallen compatriots, they went to pay respects at the Yasukuni Shrine?
You deserve to be wiped out.
China cannot interfere.
The Ukrainian people have been licking the ass of the United States for many years with their efforts.
Now, they have finally ushered in the end of the country’s destruction.
This is the choice of the Ukrainian people.
The Chinese people respect the internal affairs of other countries and respect the choice of the Ukrainian people.
China may participate in post-war reconstruction for economic interests, but it can obviously only sign a contract with the Russian government.
RedNote Has Americans In Shock & Crying Seeing How Better China Is + Asian Men Are Making Moves !
https://youtu.be/wUDV9457QuY
What is something that you can’t explain?
One day in 2016, I had gone in to the office around 8:30, as I usually do. I had a totally unremarkable day at work. Ate lunch at a little restaurant one street over. Just a typical workday with nothing out of the ordinary.
When I got home, my Mother was at the house having tea with my wife. I walked in, gave them both a kiss, and poured myself a cup. My wife asked “Did your meeting get cancelled?” and I asked what she was talking about.
She replied “After you picked up the file that you came home this afternoon to get. You said you accidentally left it here and had to have it for the planning meeting.”
With the exception of leaving the office for lunch for around 40 minutes, I had been in the office all day, and there was no planning meeting.
When I told her that I hadn’t come home, my Mother, who had been there visiting since lunch, said “Honey, you walked right through the kitchen door, said hello to both of us and said you had forgotten a file you needed, then went to your office to get it.”
In essence, both of them swore that I had come home, around two o’clock, went to my office, grabbed a file folder, and then left. They even told me that I had spoken to them both coming and going.
The next day at the office, I pulled the surveillance videos from the wall cameras, and at 2:00 I was sitting at my desk reviewing some spreadsheets. My parking log showed that I had come in at just before 9:00 and left at around 5:15. The parking lot cameras showed that my car had not moved all day. I even reached out to my cell phone carrier to see if my phone had pinged elsewhere, but they wouldn’t give me any information.
My wife and I discussed this, and she, and my Mother, swear I came home that afternoon and picked up some paperwork from my home office.
To this day, I have no idea what happened, or how it happened.
Chinese Showing American Tiktok Refugees How Amazing Life In China Is
Wow. This is a really nice video. It summarizes what is going on right now, and it is expertly narrated.
This video goes into the “secret formula” that allows China to provide a great standard of life for its people.
What the man around 9min was explaining is effectively that NO essential services; health care, education, public transportation, electricity, water etc etc should e run entirely by private corporations. These should always remain publicly owned, non-profit and operated to benefit the people never private profits.
Doesn’t China have to invade Taiwan to conquer it?
No.
Japan surrendered without being invaded, and the Japs were considered the most stubborn and battle hardened people of WWII. The anti-China Taiwanese are just a bunch of cry babies compared to the “fight to the last man” Japanese.
Taiwanese are only putting up a show of resistance against China because they know that China sees them as fellow Chinese so won’t really hurt them. As a kid, you argue with your parents, put up fits of rage, because you don’t really believe they would really hurt you.
China can get Taiwan to come back without landing on the island with its military, when China gets its spoiled kid to respect it again (in this case make mainland Chinese richer than average Taiwanese), or when it convinces Taiwan that its patience has run out after waiting for 75 years and counting.
Texas Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 1 roast
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 1 can tomatoes with green chiles (Ro*Tel)
- 1 tomato can water
- 1 envelope taco seasoning mix or 2 tablespoons homemade Taco Seasoning
Instructions
- Toss all ingredients into slow cooker.
- Cook on LOW for 8 hours.
Female Coworker Complained To HR After I Used Heimlich Maneuver To Save Her, Now Angry I’m Avoiding
The Crevice
Submitted into Contest #210 in response to: Write a story about a character who is trying to share groundbreaking news, but isn’t being taken seriously.… view prompt
Lily Finch
She grabbed a smoothie and helped herself to a sandwich. She extended an invitation to anyone interested in accompanying her back down the manhole. Four eager adventurers joined her on her return journey to visit Amelia and Fred.
Madeleine could barely wait to show them, Earhart and Noonan. Once they were all inside and had walked toward where Madeleine had encountered the pair earlier, there was nothing there. Something was wrong. There were only ice walls, no Amelia or Fred.
“But they were right here! I spoke with them. That’s the truth!” She looked dumbfounded and dejected. There was a lot of whispering and speculation about her mental state. They assured her that everything would be all right when they got back to the resort.
The quartet, however, shrugged and shook their heads once they were back at the resort. Madeleine looked down at her ski boots. She knew her credibility was shot.
She returned alone to the manhole. This time with a camera.
She captured everything on film. She took photographs from every angle with her Polaroid camera. This gave her physical evidence her story was true. She tucked them in her pocket as she headed back to the resort.
When she tried to tell people again about her big news, nobody paid attention to her. She grabbed hold of one of the four people who had gone into the cave with her earlier and showed her the photographs. But from the look on her face, Madeleine knew something was off. Madeleine looked at the photos in disbelief; they were all black.
An accomplished younger skier overheard what Madeleine was saying. He believed her. He took it upon himself to ski up to the manhole to see if Madeleine was telling the truth.
He was stunned when he entered the crevice. Madeleine was right! He too met Amelia and Fred, who greeted him by name. At that moment, he fled He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He climbed rapidly up the ladder and out into the crisp air. The drone flew out after him. He swatted the drone, and it crashed into a rock. He threw on his skis and started down the mountain.
He skied down the hill as fast as he could. The slope gripped his skis, and he began to slide. His speed was too fast for him to correct it in time. He collided with a tree and died on impact. Skiers and snowboarders in the gondola and on the chairs witnessed the tragedy. The snow patrol gathered up his body and took it away. His death shocked everyone in the competition. They raised their mugs of Scnapp’s to toast the young skier.
There was no sign of Madeleine anywhere. She returned to the manhole. The man sprayed water on Madeleine’s face. She stood beside Amelia and Fred. She was frozen in the ice. Madeleine became a frozen deathsicle.
Can Trump win a US trade war with China? | Richard Wolff | Real Talk
Is it true that most American sailors don’t like being deployed aboard an aircraft carrier because it’s boring compared to other types of warships?
No, it is not true. A typical day for me on a carrier was about 14–15 hours of working on the flightdeck. We would normally fly planes 12 hours a day, and we had to be there an hour before the first launch, and about an hour after the last recovery. We had to load the weapons on the planes, arm them up on the catapults just before take-off, de-arm them as soon as they landed, and reload them for the next launch.
Anyone who was bored on that ship was up on the island, standing on Vulture’s Row, watching us folks on the flight deck. You will never see a show like that in any movie, and we did it for every aircraft launch and recovery cycle. Yeah, anyone who is bored on that boat can come up on the roof and load 500-pound bombs all day. Normally 10–12 per plane, each squadron with about 4 planes per launch. 10–12 launches per day. Yep, about 480 of them a day, and they are loaded MANUALLY. —-Pick them up and hang them in the bomb rack, one at a time, 7 days a week.
Or, you can be a plane captain and basically take care of your plane. Ride the brakes whenever it is moved, stick with that plane when it is NOT being moved, observe everyone doing repair jobs on your plane, and help when you can. Yep, boring as hell. Same with those who work on the cat crew or the arresting crew or the crash crew or those who are moving planes all day long.
I have no idea who you talked to, but they sure never worked on the roof of a carrier.
How many straight white males in the workplace have experienced discrimination?
One of the useful tricks women have is their quick thinking. A woman, if she wanted to, could really come up with stuff to bring you down. A recently hired female worker who wanted more hours tried to do that to me.
I’ve have been with the company roughly five years prior to when she came on board. During that time, I built up a good relationship with the female boss. When she came on board, she was back stabbing me every which way to Sunday saying I never did my work and people were complaining.
Eventually I called the boss in the back room and I told her that before you believe her, realize that before she came on board, you never had a problem with me and everything got done. Now suddenly after she’s hired, I’m not doing a damn thing. Take that in consideration before you believe her.
Luckily she did. It’s good to have an ally in the right department when employees try to backstab you.
Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Parakeet’s Pursuit
Ah, dear reader, prepare yourself for another whimsical adventure on Sir Whiskerton’s farm, where the animals are as eccentric as ever, and the mischief is always just a whisker away. Today’s tale introduces Lucile, a parakeet with a heart full of love and a voice full of… well, let’s just say it’s unique. Lucile has been chasing Angus the Armadillo across farms, trying to catch up with her wandering hobo beau. Meanwhile, Ferdinand the Duck has a plan to teach Lucile how to sing “properly,” leading to a duet so hilariously terrible that it terrifies the farm animals but somehow attracts fans from neighboring farms. So, grab your sense of humor and let’s dive into The Case of the Parakeet’s Pursuit.
The Plot Thickens
It all began on a sunny afternoon when Sir Whiskerton was enjoying his usual sunbeam on the barn roof. The peace was shattered by the sound of fluttering wings and a high-pitched squawk.
“Angus! Angus, where are you?!” a voice screeched, echoing across the farm.
Sir Whiskerton opened one eye to see a vibrant green parakeet darting around the barnyard, her feathers ruffled and her tiny chest heaving with exertion. She landed on the roof next to Sir Whiskerton, panting.
“You there, cat!” the parakeet said, pointing a wing at Sir Whiskerton. “Have you seen an armadillo around here? Scruffy, bandana, smells like desperation?”
Sir Whiskerton raised an eyebrow. “You must be Lucile. Angus mentioned you. He’s not here, though. Last I heard, he was mooching off Catnip’s farm.”
Lucile sighed dramatically. “That no-good, wandering armadillo! I’ve been chasing him from farm to farm, and I always just miss him. It’s like he’s allergic to commitment!”
Sir Whiskerton smirked. “Well, Lucile, maybe it’s time to give up the chase and focus on yourself. Ever thought about taking up a hobby? Like, say, singing?”
Lucile tilted her head. “Singing? Oh, I love singing! But Angus says my voice sounds like a rusty gate in a windstorm.”
Sir Whiskerton chuckled. “Well, maybe you just need a little coaching. Ferdinand the Duck is quite the vocalist. I’m sure he’d be happy to help.”
Ferdinand’s “Masterclass”
Ferdinand, ever the diva, was thrilled at the idea of mentoring Lucile. “Ah, my dear parakeet!” he quacked, puffing out his chest. “You have come to the right duck. I shall teach you the art of proper singing. Together, we shall create a duet so magnificent, it will bring tears to the eyes of all who hear it!”
Lucile clapped her wings excitedly. “Oh, Ferdinand, that sounds wonderful! But… are you sure I’m good enough?”
Ferdinand waved a wing dismissively. “Nonsense! With my guidance, even the most… challenging voices can be transformed into instruments of beauty.”
And so, Ferdinand and Lucile began their duet practice. Unfortunately, what followed was less “beautiful music” and more “auditory assault.”
The Duet from Hell
The first note Ferdinand sang was a rich, operatic tone that echoed across the farm. Lucile, eager to join in, opened her beak and let out a screech so high-pitched it made the chickens’ feathers stand on end.
“What in the name of clucking was that?!” Doris the Hen squawked, flapping her wings in panic.
Harriet clucked in agreement. “That! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian promptly fainted into a pile of hay.
Porkchop the Pig, who had been napping nearby, snorted awake. “What’s all the racket? Sounds like a cat got stuck in a blender!”
Even Rufus the Dog, who was usually unflappable, covered his ears with his paws. “Make it stop! Please, make it stop!”
But the duet continued, Ferdinand belting out his operatic notes while Lucile screeched in what she thought was harmony. The noise was so unbearable that the farm animals began to flee in all directions, seeking refuge from the auditory onslaught.
Unexpected Fans
Despite the chaos on Sir Whiskerton’s farm, the duet had an unexpected effect on the neighboring farms. Animals from miles around began to gather at the edge of the property, drawn by the… unique sounds coming from the barnyard.
“Is that… music?” a cow from the next farm over asked, her eyes wide with wonder.
“I think so!” a sheep replied, nodding enthusiastically. “It’s… different. But I kinda like it!”
Before long, Ferdinand and Lucile had attracted a crowd of fans, all cheering and clapping (or, in some cases, covering their ears but pretending to enjoy it).
The Moral of the Story
As the sun set and the barnyard returned to its usual peaceful state, Sir Whiskerton addressed the gathered animals. “Well, my friends, it seems we’ve learned an important lesson today.”
Ferdinand, still basking in the adoration of his fans, quacked proudly. “That true artistry knows no bounds?”
Sir Whiskerton shook his head. “No, Ferdinand. The lesson is that sometimes, the things we think are flaws can be our greatest strengths. Lucile’s unique voice may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it brought joy to others in its own way.”
Lucile smiled, her tiny chest puffing out with pride. “And maybe I don’t need to chase Angus anymore. Maybe I just need to be myself.”
Ditto, who had been watching from the sidelines, echoed, “Be yourself! Be yourself!”
Echo, not to be outdone, added, “Be yourself! Be yourself!”
And with that, the animals returned to their usual routines, content in the knowledge that once again, Sir Whiskerton had saved the farm from chaos.
The End.
TIKTOK refugees TROLL the US gov and Meta on Chinese Red Note
Should US investors be more concerned about China-specific risks?
Americans cannot answer this as they have to pretend and stay dumb since they are complicit in spreading misinformation about China risk. So here I am answering to your question! China is not going to attack or invade the US, or even its many dogs or slave nations not because it could not or it is not strong enough. But it simply doesn’t do these despicable acts and it is not a good thing to do. So what risk? Risk of China overtaking USA economically cannot be stopped nor even slow down.
The truth is China has in fact already overtaken the US economy and in technology except for fake and in reality an unsustainable US dollar exchange rate that still artificially. propped up its total GDP! But Americans migrating to Xiou Long Xu realised that it means nothing to pretend that in exchange rate Americans earned 4X Chinese when their cost of living is 8–10X higher! It is fooling your self!
So something that cannot be stopped cannot be a risk! So what risk are the US talking about. It is the risk that American lies and western lies that the so called liberal democracy is superior to socialism cannot be believable any longer! All the lies that communism and socialism constraint innovation or getting successful or productive has gone down the drain! That is the risk!
Is this a bad thing? Is lying to yourself perpetually ever a good thing? At some point Americans want the truth and nothing but the truth! Americans in the Chinese apps are so disgusted by the US media lies! Chinese people pays at best 10% of US taxes of all forms and yet Chinese provided universal healthcare and free education till college! They kept homes and essential food items dirt cheap! That is the risk!
Not a nuke or a war or any kind of aggression but a risk of US and the west not able to lie anymore! China is a very peaceful nation. In 5000 years of its existence it did not steal a Hawaii or a Falkland! So what is Chinese aggression? This lie is all but debunked!
NO WAY OUT: The End of the American Middle Class.
He starts the video “kicking down the door”.
Amen Brother.
Has Europe banned American beef just because we are more technically advanced and make better meat? Is it jealousy or what?
American Beef tastes fine, you probably couldn’t tell it apart from “European” beef. The issue is how it’s produced.
Most British (and Irish) beef is grass fed in open fields.
Some (not all) American beef is raised on intensive farms, so is fed mainly corn, and needs regular anti-biotics and growth hormones to make as much profit as possible.
European law has recognised that these practices are inhumane and harmful to the consumer, so we banned them.
We have this weird custom of putting people’s health above the profit of corporate agri-businessmen.
Every single cow can be traced back to the farm it was born on and how it was raised.
The question is, why are American farming practices so far behind?
What do you think are the chances that DeepSeek used methods like distillation to replicate advanced U.S. A.I. models?
Every time China discovers something US will accuse it of theft or copying it in this, that, or the other. This has become quite tiresome.
DeepSeek said it used 2,000 second-rate chips to train its LLM vs 16,000 first-rate chips for Meta’s model, which it beats on some rankings. Cost was $6 million vs the training cost of tens of millions of dollars for American LLM. What makes the great difference is Chinese innovation rather than relying on the latest computer chips.
It is thus able to charge people using its interface 1/30 of what OpenAI charge to use o1. Its “reasoning” model competes with the state-of-the-art offering by OpenAI.
DeepSeek is open-source model. American firms can copy its techniques if they want. There is a report that Meta has allocated $60 billion to discover its secrets. This is an incredible amount of money.
DeepSeek has hit the news by storm. Nasdaq’s valuation crashed $1 trillion. The timing puts the fate of the new $500 billion AI fund in question.
But it is not alone. There is the report of another Chinese open-source model, called Kimi k1.5, which has out-performed GPT-4o and Claude Sonnet 3.5 by up to 550% in key benchmarks. It is the first LLM to beat GPT-4 in math, coding, & vision.
Shorpy
Watch: Keyu Jin DESTROYS “China Collapse” Myth
Thanks for the western media’s negative coverage, many people believe that China’s economy is about to collapse. But is it really so? Well, listen to what Professor Keyu Jin has to say…
Aliens on my desk
Submitted into Contest #210 in response to: Write a story about a character who is trying to share groundbreaking news, but isn’t being taken seriously.… view prompt
Lyle Closs
Dear MI5
I believe you handle external threats to the U.K. I am not sure how much of a existential threat they are, but aliens have arrived. They are on my desk. Let me tell you about them. They really are VERY small.
When they stand to attention they look remarkably like half a match-stick. Their legs and arms fold into their tiny little trunks and almost merge into the surface. Their red ‘heads’ grow up from their trunk without necks and I cannot see eyes, nose, mouth or ears. Their bodies are flexible though and they can leap surprising distances using the spring of their whole bodies. I have had to pick up a few that have inadvertently leapt off my desk before Patsy, my highland/fox terrier cross got to them.
They have a spaceship (on my desk) about the size and shape of a rugby or gridiron football. It has a matt black surface with no perceivable breaks so it is a surprise when openings appear. Inside seems to be a complete jumble of shiny objects. I cannot interpret what the objects are for.
They have worked out how to send signals of some sort, presumably over wifi, to my PC, but they have disabled my internet connection so I am unable to forward those signals to anyone. I am also unable to make phone calls. They seem to know how to manipulate and interrupt electromagnetic signals. The information they send me includes sounds much like my dog’s farts and symbols that remind me of Akkadian cuneiform.
They come out of the football at odd intervals and make strange martial sounds which may be perceived as music while they march up and down my desk in squadrons of 20. They all look alike to me so there might be hundreds of them in there or there may be just 20.
When I move around the house the ‘football’ follows me and if I try to leave via my front or back door the football gets in front of me and will not let me through. I am unable to push it aside even though it seems to be just floating in the air. They clearly have some amazing technology with force fields or the like.
I am writing this letter because it’s the only way I can communicate. They don’t seem to understand writing by hand. I am slipping this under the door when the postie comes by. I would raise an alarum with her when she is at the door but I fear what the aliens might do in response.
Can you please send someone round to help resolve the impasse here at 26 Grove Road, Wimbledon SW20 6TY.
Regards
Jonathan Starfield (sic)
20 January 2024
Dear Mr Starfield
Hold on. We will be round imminently.
Only joking, along the lines of your letter to us of the 16th inst.
I am sure you will appreciate that MI5, which does not exist, has more to worry about than a football and a few matches on your desk.
Regards
Hortense Cummerbatch, Regional Nuisance Handler
23 January 2024
Dear Mrs Cummerbatch
I am grateful that you have replied to my letter. So few people these days seem to appreciate that ignoring a polite inquiry is the height of rudeness, and we are subjects, it sometimes seems, more of Rudeness than of His Majesty.
I was disappointed however to garner the impression that I was not believed and that, indeed, I may have been the butt of some ridicule in the corridors of the previously highly-esteemed MI5.
If an alien spaceship was to land on your desk I am sure you would like to feel that His Majesty’s loyal supernumeries were willing and able to leap to the breach and provide all the requisite assistance.
Indeed this inconvenienced humble subject of the King has every right to expect succour. My expectations are not for a squadron of HM’s finest but simply a man from Porlock who can verify the veracity of my claims and then allow HM’s government and armed forces to take over in this quite exceptional circumstance.
Really it is too much that I should be expected to administer the nation’s response to a novel and confident alien force on my own, however self-confident and unalarmed I may be.
Sincerely
J. Starfield
27 January 2024
Dear Mr Starfield
I will not deign to reply to further correspondence along the lines with which you sadly feel obliged to persist.
If you must, please bring the alien objects to the Bethlem Psychiatric Hospital in Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham where they can be assiduously interrogated by our alien experts.
Sincerely
HC
1 February 2024
Dear Madam
Flippancy and derision are the fallbacks of incompetence. Clearly you are unable to grasp the difficulty of my situation and the opportunity for your career. I am delighted however to be able to demonstrate ineluctably that I have aliens in the house. I have spoken to them.
Their computers, which are vastly superior to our own, have analysed the written words, audiobooks and podcasts on my PC and my phone and we have been able to communicate. You can imagine the surprise and delight with which I received this demonstration of their immeasurable superiority. That the speech coming from my speakers is in a clumsy yet comprehensible simulacrum of the English language is beyond extraordinary. It is sensational.
We are communicating. We are building trust and consideration. I am friendly, humble, self-deprecating and helpful. I am not tendentious or over-bearing, as seems to be the style encouraged in your own less than venerable institution.
They have told me that tomorrow they will demonstrate some of their capabilities. They appear happy to share them with me, which is more than I deserve as a lonely neighbour from a distant galaxy with few grudges upon which to act.
This may be my last communication, or it may not be. In fact this may be the last opportunity for HM Government to reverse its to-date unconscionable refusal to take seriously my loyalty to, and fast-diminishing admiration for, the panjandrums and nabobs of the Great British Public Service and to believe what I say. I have aliens on my desk!
Cum melancholia et desperatione
Starfield
5 February 2024
Dear Mr Starfield
I wish you would just disappear up your own fundament, if you haven’t already.
HC
P.S. This is a private view and in no way expresses the views or opinions of my departments, my superiors or HM Government or any of its departments.
9 February 2024
Dear Mrs Cummerbatch
The demonstrations of the alien weapons was most elucidative. You will note in the evening news that the Brighton Pier has burnt down, a sinkhole has appeared under the M25 between junctions 12 and 13, a fire in a generator has caused the closure of a major nuclear power plant, and Rockall has disappeared under the waves of the North Sea. None of these are coincidences.
I ask only that you take me seriously and we open discussions.
Please don’t send police around. They will not be treated kindly.
As a way of opening the conversation, I would be grateful if you could deposit £20 million in my Barclays current account. My aliens inform me that I will be able to access the account online. We have built up a really lovely level of trust and mutual appreciation. They are not at all happy at the way I have been treated. Like me, they only wish to be taken seriously and listened to.
By the way they come from the planet Scltch which appears to be somewhere in the Crab Nebula.
Yours
Jonathan Starfield
…
11 Feb 2024
“Mr Starfield!”
The policeman banged on the door.
“Mr Starfield, we’d like to talk to you.”
Jonathan opened the door.
“Why officer, they’ve taken me seriously at last.”
Jonathan learned forward and looked out and around, then back to the policeman.
“You are on your own?”
“Yes sir, now, we’ve heard you’ve been making outrageous claims and have even demanded money from the government.”
“They sent you…on your own?”
“Well, clearly, now…”
Jonathan slammed the door shut. The officer banged on the door again. There was a huge explosion – he was blown off his feet and he felt a wave of heat. His car was completely on fire.
The door opened. Starfield looked out at the burning car, the policeman struggling to get up.
“Of cats and pigeons,” he said, smiling, and shut the door again.
…
The squad sent next could not get closer than 50 metres to the house in Grove Road. The force field was only visible as a slight interruption in the air, like a heat shimmer. Nothing could get through it. They watched as Jonathan Starfield left his house wearing a dark blue suit, a pressed white shirt and a light blue tie. A sorry-looking mongrel trotted at his heels. The sleek black object shaped like a rugby ball followed him, floating in the air.
He got into his 1960s Mini followed by the dog and the floating object and drove away from the police down the suburban street. The shimmering travelled with them.
…
The police helicopter called in: “He’s driving towards Hammersmith. Any car that comes close seems to stop working. A police van tried to ram him but bounced off the – for want of a better word – force field…
“He’s heading up Fulham Palace Road…
“…now up the A219. You don’t suppose he’s heading for the BBC do you?”
…
The Prime Minster had his shoes off and his feet on a pouffe, sipping coffee and watching the TV. He had been informed about the strange events unfolding and was curious. Force fields indeed! The Met chief was clearly under some form of misapprehension.
The camera showed Jonathan Starfield siting at a news desk. The black rugby ball the prime minister had been told about rested on the desk beside him. A decidedly ratty-looking dog lay in front of the desk.
“I tried to tell the government about my new friends,” Jonathan Starfield gestured at the black object, “but they wouldn’t listen.” He spoke in a high-pitched voice more like a cartoon caricature than a news reader. “So now things have changed. I would have been happy with a polite response and intelligent curiosity, but would they listen? No, they wouldn’t. We have been led by idiots.”
“Oh don’t turn it off,” he said to someone off camera. There was a noise, something like a body collapsing to the floor. Someone screamed. More sounds of people falling to the floor.
“Look. Just let the camera run and everyone will be OK. No-one has died. They’ll wake up in five minutes. Can we get on now?”
“Why doesn’t someone just shoot him?” the prime minister asked.
“Did you see the video someone put online when the SAS tried to shoot him outside the BBC?”
“Do I look at videos online? Show me!”
The assistant held a phone to the PM. He watched as soldiers shot at Jonathan Starfield. Bullets pinged off the force field. Then, as one, they dropped their weapons which glowed red hot on the ground, then melted.
“Bloody hell,” the PM said, sitting up.
“Listen, listen,” the assistant said, pointing to the TV.
“I am now in charge of Britain,” Jonathan said. “Everyone should just go on with their normal lives. Politicians should go home and get other jobs. The armed forces should focus on protecting our nation.” He giggled. “In fact I may be in charge of the whole world. My friends here are going to get rid of all nuclear weapons, missiles no matter what their range, chemicals weapons, artillery – every weapon that can kill another person or animal. Sorry America.
“We are going to focus on being better people on a better planet.
“But first, we are going to make two subjects mandatory for all primary, secondary and tertiary education – English Literature and Language, and Politeness and Consideration.
“The key to civilisation is writing better letters and being nicer to other people.
“Oh, and I want to have a word to Hortense Cummerbatch at MI5.”
What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?
In the early 80s I tried a couple frozen TV dinners made by a company called “Taste-o-Sea.”
These dinners cost $.99 each and consisted of 2 rectangular breaded fish patties, a small bunch of tater tots, and a compartment of green peas, on an aluminum tray (Remember, this was almost 40 years ago).
Well, they were nothing special but, hey, they were only a buck.
Funny thing happened, when I saw that there was a 50 cents-off coupon printed on the inside of the box they came in.
Back then, Stop & Shop doubled coupons of less than a dollar.
As you might divine, I bought the first 5 or so dinners with actual money, and then ate about 5 or 6 per week (work lunches mostly) for the next year, all paid for by doubling those coupons printed inside the box.
I figure I got between 2 and 3 hundred free dinners that way.
How can one learn about China from a Chinese perspective?
Ah, my friend, to learn about China from a Chinese perspective, one must walk the path of wisdom with humility and sincerity.
‘Once, there was a farmer who planted a tree. Every day, he watered it, tended to its roots, and protected it from the wind. Years passed, and the tree grew tall and strong, its branches reaching toward the heavens. One day, a traveler saw the tree and marveled at its beauty. “Tell me,” the traveler asked the farmer, “how did this tree grow so magnificent?” The farmer smiled and said, “I did not make the tree grow. I simply provided it with what it needed: water, care, and time.”‘
The sage paused and looked at the scholar. ‘To understand China, you must be like the farmer. You cannot force knowledge; you must nurture it. Begin by studying our ancient texts—the Analects, the Book of Songs, and the Book of Rites. These are the roots of our culture. But do not merely read them; reflect on their meaning, for they are like water to the soul.’
The sage then took the scholar to a village festival. The air was filled with the sound of drums, the scent of incense, and the laughter of children. ‘Observe,’ the sage said. ‘These rituals are not empty traditions. They are the heartbeat of our people, the expression of our values. When you see the respect we show to our ancestors, the harmony we seek in our relationships, and the joy we find in our celebrations, you will begin to understand the spirit of China.’
Next, the sage led the scholar to a quiet garden, where an old man was tending to a bamboo grove. ‘This man,’ the sage said, ‘has lived through many seasons. He has seen dynasties rise and fall, and he carries the wisdom of our history in his heart. Speak to him, listen to his stories, and you will learn the lessons of the past.’
The scholar sat with the old man for hours, hearing tales of emperors and poets, of wars and peace, of hardship and resilience. With each story, he felt a deeper connection to the land and its people.
Finally, the sage took the scholar to a river. ‘Look into the water,’ he said. ‘What do you see?’ The scholar gazed at his reflection and said, ‘I see myself.’ The sage smiled. ‘And what do you see when you look beyond your reflection?’ The scholar looked again and saw the sky, the trees, and the mountains mirrored in the water. ‘Ah,’ the sage said, ‘to understand China, you must look beyond yourself. Cultivate virtue within, but also see how you are connected to others. Practice ren (benevolence), yi(righteousness), and li (propriety), and you will find harmony with the world around you.’
The scholar bowed deeply to the sage. ‘Thank you, Master. You have shown me that to understand China is not merely to study it but to live it, to feel it, and to grow with it.’
The sage nodded. ‘Remember,’ he said, ‘the journey of understanding is like the growth of a tree. It takes time, care, and patience. But if you nurture it with an open heart, it will bear fruit that will nourish your soul.’
And so, the scholar returned to his homeland, not with a list of facts, but with a heart full of wisdom and a deep appreciation for the beauty and complexity of China.”
Confucius smiled at the traveler beneath the ginkgo tree. “And now, my friend, the question is not how to learn about China, but how you will begin your journey.”
Tri-Tip Burritos
Ingredients
- 1 medium-size tri-tip
- 1 large can green enchilada sauce
- Fresh jalapenos, sliced (about 5 to 6)
- Burrito-size flour tortillas
- Sour cream
- Shredded Cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Place meat at bottom of slow cooker.
- Cover with entire can of enchilada sauce and throw in jalapeno slices.
- Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
- Before serving, take meat out (with portion of sauce) and place in bowl.
- Shred with 2 forks (meat should shred very easily).
- Warm tortillas and serve meat/sauce on tortillas with sour cream and Cheddar cheese as garnish.
Why did leftist Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum put retaliatory tariffs on our goods? She was supposed to bow down and obey President Trump, like we were told. What gives?
No, no, you don’t understand!
She caved. Bigly. Herr Diktator’s negotiating tactic worked perfectly, just like everything he does!
She’s sending 10,000 troops to the border! Yes, that was announced last December when Biden was president but she “reiterated” it after trump tariffed the poor girl, proving that he won!!!
He is so stupid.
This is the same bullying tactic he used in NYC until there was a contractor willing to work with him. (Gotta think that had something to do with him getting out of the development business.)
He did it with the banks, until the only one willing to lend to him was an internet bank until about 15 minutes ago.
He still hasn’t figure out that everyone sees him coming. They know his game better than he knows theirs. So they give him something meaningless — e.g. something already committed — know that once he gets something to boast about he’ll leave them alone.
And — trump doesn’t talk about this bit — Sheinbaum got a commitment to look into the 200,000 – 500,000 guns that flow into Mexico from the US every year.
(He won’t, of course, but now she’s got something to beat him with.)
Of course, none of this matters to the 1/3rd of the country who put a convicted felon into the highest office in the world. The Axis of Bullshit — which now includes Twitter — will see endless clips of him claiming TOTAL VICTORY. They will hear spineless Republicans praise him as better than Jesus.
And they will believe.
Which is all trump really cares about.
People who have won “car prizes”: What is the process of getting the car and what did you do with it?
I didn’t win a car. But my boss did. It didn’t go well.
Early 1990s. A new restaurant/pub opened up in town. They teamed up with our local radio station and a Chevy dealer for their grand opening. They advertised for weeks that they were going to raffle off a Geo Metro to a lucky customer.
A bunch of of us from the office went. It was all right. My boss won the car raffle that night. Great.
The next week he called the restaurant to inquire about the car he’d won. It took him two days to finally reach the manager who told him that the raffle was not the restaurant’s promotion, but the local Chevy dealership. He told him to contact the dealer. He said that the dealer just wanted in on the new restaurant’s publicity.
So he stopped by the dealership after work. The manager told him that the restaurant manager was wrong and that it was the restaurant that would have to buy the car, then give it to him. He said that the restaurant had wanted the dealership tie-in.
So…a few more phones calls. The restaurant and the dealership both pointed at the other as the responsible party.
We talked about it and decided that it was fraud. So we called some friends we knew at the county District Attorney’s office. The DA was interested. He said that is was fraud by deception. So the DA wrote a nice letter to the restaurant telling him that he had to deliver a car to the winner or face fraud charges.
A week later, my boss got a call from a very, very angry restaurant owner. He told him to come get his car. So after work I took my boss down there. The owner was a total jerk. He threw the keys and paperwork at my boss. Yelled at him. And then he banned us for life from his restaurant.
Needless to say, the restaurant failed six months later. We didn’t shed a tear.
Hi there, thank you again for all your efforts.
The tale to understand “china” is a gem – it transcends even deeper and should relate to every humane being.
Apart from this, My Journey has begun.
And best wishes of happiness on your adventure! -MM