Take a look at reality today while gulping down all kinds of coffee

The United States leadership, the nation and it’s “news” are all functionally delusional, living inside strange inaccurate echo-chambers, and have no concept of how they appear to the rest of the world.

For instance…

Here’s what the American media is saying…

“China is easing quarantine rules”.

No convinced that this is the American “news” narrative…

**And what China actually says…**

Not yet convinced?

But why?

Why is China sticking to the zero-COVID policy?

The ONLY thing that has changed is that the 7+3 plan has changed to a 5+3 plan, and people on incoming planes do not “bounce back” if someone on the plane has COVID.

China 09:11, 12-Nov-2022

Chinese mainland records 1,504 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

Updated 11:34, 12-Nov-2022

CGTN

The Chinese mainland recorded 1,504 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, with 1,452 attributed to local transmissions and 52 from overseas, data from the National Health Commission showed on Saturday.

Girl Picking Poppies

Daniel Ridgway Knight

How about a happy thought?

As you probably know — or maybe I have the great pleasure of being the first one to tell you — “Meta,” which is what FaceBook calls itself now because “FaceBook” has the brand approval rating of NAMBLA or The Lincoln Project, just laid off 11,000 of its least useful employees, which, considering that these are “workers” paid to play ping-pong and drink lattes all day in an industry devoted to goldbricking, check-hammering and clock-watching, is really saying something.

The awesomeness of the family station wagon…

One day when the US beat China in war, which countries are willing to take in refugees of a 1.4 billion population?

This stupid question is asked by someone who has no understanding of world affairs.

The US cannot beat China in war. The US will not dare engage China in war and risk nuclear destruction.

The Pentagon conducted numerous war game simulations involving China in the South China Sea, and in each and every one of them, China won. Waging war in China’s backyard is a non-starter.

China has the second largest and most powerful military in the world. Waging war with China is extremely foolish.

Thai Iced Coffee

“This is a recipe request. But, as I love iced coffee and drink it right through from May to September, I thought I’d post for others like me. Sounds delicious.”

Ingredients

very strong black regular grind coffee, sufficient to brew 4 cups
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
crushed ice

Directions

Add the cardamom to the ground coffee, and brew the coffee; when the coffee is brewed, add the sugar and almond flavoring, mix well and then let the coffee cool to lukewarm.
Fill four 12 ounce highball glasses half-way to the rim with crushed ice and then fill two-thirds full with coffee; into each glass, stir about 1 tablespoon of heavy cream.
To achieve a layered effect, hold a spoon on top of the coffee and pour the cream slowly into the spoon so that the cream floats on top of the glass over the coffee.

Falling Down – Whats wrong to the street?

What will it take for China to forever end their desire for unification with Taiwan, and to allow them to officially have their independence?

Nothing. China will never relinquish Taiwan.

Taiwan’s status is deliberately ambiguous from the US perspective. Taiwan is not recognized by the UN.

Thus, China regards Taiwan as a domestic matter, and if anybody else interferes, it will be war.

War with China is a very bad idea because…say it with me…China is a major nuclear power.

Unless you fancy living in a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic world, you will stay the fuck out of China’s business.

Americans Selling THEIR BLOOD To Make Ends Meet

Pepe Escobar

November 4, 2022

The Scholz caravan went to Beijing to lay down the preparatory steps for working out a peace deal with Russia, with China as privileged messenger.

With his inimitable flair for economic analysis steeped in historical depth, Professor Michael Hudson’s latest essay, originally written for a German audience, presents a stunning parallel between the Crusades and the current “rules-based international order” imposed by the Hegemon.

Professor Hudson details how the Papacy in Rome managed to lock up unipolar control over secular realms (rings a bell?) when the game was all about Papal precedence over kings, above all the German Holy Roman Emperors. As we know, half in jest, the Empire was not exactly Holy, nor German (perhaps a little Roman), and not even an Empire.

A clause in the Papal Dictates provided the Pope with the authority to excommunicate whomever was “not at peace with the Roman Church.” Hudson sharply notes how US sanctions are the modern equivalent of excommunication.

Arguably there are Top Two dates in the whole process.

The first one would be the Third Ecumenical Council of 435: this is when only Rome (italics mine) was attributed universal authority (italics mine). Alexandria and Antioch, for instance, were limited to regional authority within the Roman Empire.

The other top date is 1054 – when Rome and Constantinople split for good. That is, the Roman Catholic Church split from Orthodoxy, which leads us to Russia, and Moscow as The Third Rome – and the centuries-old animosity of “the West” against Russia.

A State of Martial Law

Professor Hudson then delves on the trip by “Liver Sausage” Chancellor Scholz’s delegation to China this week to “demand that it dismantle its public sector and stops subsidizing its economy, or else Germany and Europe will impose sanctions on trade with China.”

Well, in fact this happens to be just childish wishful thinking, expressed by the German Council on Foreign Relations in a piece published on the Financial Times (the Japanese-owned platform in the City of London). The Council, as correctly described by Hudson, is “the neoliberal ‘libertarian’ arm of NATO demanding German de-industrialization and dependency” on the US.

So the FT, predictably, is printing NATO wet dreams.

Context is essential. German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in a keynote speech at Bellevue Castle, has all but admitted that Berlin is broke: “An era of headwinds is beginning for Germany – difficult, difficult years are coming for us. Germany is in the deepest crisis since reunification.”

Yet schizophrenia, once again, reigns supreme, as Steinmeier, after a ridiculous stunt in Kiev – complete with posing as a unwitting actor huddled in a bunker – announced an extra handout: two more MARS multiple rocket launchers and four Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers to be delivered to the Ukrainians.

So even if the “world” economy – actually the EU – is so fragilized that member-states cannot help Kiev anymore without harming their own populations, and the EU is on the verge of a catastrophic energy crisis, fighting for “our values” in Country 404 trumps it all.

The Big Picture context is also key. Andrea Zhok, Professor of Ethical Philosophy at the University of Milan, has taken Giorgio Agamben’s “State of Exception” concept to new heights.

Zhok proposes that the zombified collective West is now completely subjugated to a “State of Martial Law” – where a Forever War ethos is the ultimate priority for rarified global elites.

Every other variable – from trans-humanism to depopulation and even cancel culture – is subordinated to the State of Martial Law, and is basically inessential. The only thing that matters is exercising absolute, raw control.

Berlin – Moscow – Beijing

Solid German business sources completely contradict the “message” delivered by the German Council on Foreign Relations on the trip to China.

According to these sources, the Scholz caravan went to Beijing to essentially lay down the preparatory steps for working out a peace deal with Russia, with China as privileged messenger.

This is – literally – as explosive, geopolitically and geoeconomically, as it gets. As I pointed out in one of my previous columns, Berlin and Moscow were keeping a secret communication back channel – via business interlocutors – right to the minute the usual suspects, in desperation, decided to blow up the Nord Streams.

Cue to the now notorious SMS from Liz Truss’s iPhone to Little Tony Blinken, one minute after the explosions: “It’s done.”

There’s more: the Scholz caravan may be trying to start a long and convoluted process of eventually replacing the US with China as a key ally. One should never forget that the top BRI trade/connectivity terminal in the EU is Germany (the Ruhr valley).

According to one of the sources, “if this effort is successful, then Germany, China and Russia can ally themselves together and drive the US out of Europe.”

Another source provided the cherry on the cake: “Olaf Scholz is being accompanied on this trip by German industrialists who actually control Germany and are not going to sit back watching themselves being destroyed.”

Moscow knows very well what the imperial aim is when it comes to the EU reduced to the role of totally dominated – and deindustrialized – vassal, exercising zero sovereignty. The back channels after all are not lying in tatters on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Additionally, China has not provided any hint that its massive trade with Germany and the EU is about to vanish.

Scholz himself, one day before his caravan hit Beijing, stressed to Chinese media that Germany has no intention of decoupling from China, and there’s nothing to justify “the calls by some to isolate China.”

In parallel, Xi Jinping and the new Politburo are very much aware of the Kremlin position, reiterated again and again: we always remain open for negotiations, as long as Washington finally decides to talk about the end of unlimited NATO expansion drenched in Russophobia.

So to negotiate means the Empire signing on the dotted line of the document it has received from Moscow on December 1^st, 2021, focused on “indivisibility of security”. Otherwise there’s nothing to negotiate.

And when we have Pentagon lobbyist Lloyd “Raytheon” Austin advising the Ukrainians on the record to advance on Kherson, it’s even more crystal clear there’s nothing to negotiate.

So could this all be the foundation stone of the Berlin-Moscow-Beijing trans-Eurasia geopolitical/geoeconomic corridor? That will mean Bye Bye Empire. Once again: it ain’t over till the fat lady goes Gotterdammerung.

Things we should bring back…

Or not.

This vaccine news is STUNNING and they need to go to prison for it

Jesus H Christ! Look at the drop on this chart!

Ok. Please check out this video. Remember they are talking about the Western mRNA injections. NOT the “dead host” vaccinations used in China.

Black Magic Coffee, Sugar Free-Fat Free

“This is my own creation. I made it for a regular coffee mug but for a “Grande” simply double everything and use a tall latte mug. If you want to go all out for guests or your sweetie leave room at the top of the mug for a wallop (forget the dollop!) of whipped cream and sprinkle it with shaved bittersweet chocolate and finely crushed hazelnuts. Time for making this is after the coffee is brewed.”

Ingredients

10 ounces hot black coffee (freshly brewed)
¹⁄₄ teaspoon chocolate extract (or to taste)
¹⁄₄ teaspoon hazelnut extract (or to taste)
¹⁄₄ teaspoon rum extract (or to taste)
Splenda sugar substitute

Directions

Pour fresh coffee into mug.
Add the extracts and Splenda.
Stir and enjoy!

14 arrested over LA smash-and-grab thefts, but all released as leaders call for end to COVID no-bail policy

December 3, 2021 / 7:26 AM / CBS

A time machine look back to see why the smash and grabs so so bad and terrible in the United States today.-MM

Authorities in Los Angeles on Thursday announced more than a dozen arrests in recent smash-and-grab thefts at stores where nearly $340,000 worth of merchandise was stolen, part of a rash of organized retail crime in California. Fourteen people were arrested in connection with 11 brazen robberies between November 18 and 28, but all were released from custody, police Chief Michel Moore said. Most bailed out or met no-bail criteria, and one is a juvenile, he said.

At a joint news conference, both Moore and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti called for an end to a no-bail policy for some defendants aimed at reducing overcrowding at Los Angeles County jails during the coronavirus pandemic.

A photo from surveillance video taken during a recent smash-and-grab robbery at a California retail store, showing a suspect spraying a substance at a security guard, is shown during a news conference to announce arrests in connection with a series of such robberies at LAPD Headquarters in Los Angeles, on December 2, 2021.

Garcetti said with the pandemic easing, it’s time to make room again in lockups for criminals who commit violent acts and put store employees in danger.

“We need the help of our criminal justice system, of our judges, of our jailers,” Garcetti said. “We have opened up a lot of the city because we’re in a better place with COVID. We should be able to also open up our jails, and we should be able to have judges that put people behind those bars.”

A statewide policy of imposing $0 bail for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies ended last year, but it was kept in place within the LA County Superior Court system.

Joined by business owners and community leaders, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, left, and Police Chief Michel Moore shake hands during a news conference outside the Los Angeles Police Headquarters in Los Angeles, December 2, 2021. Jae C. Hong/AP
.

Moore said at least $338,000 in goods were stolen over ten days from stores and malls across the city that incurred $40,000 in property damage. Investigators are searching for multiple outstanding suspects, he said.

The incidents were part of a recent run of large-scale thefts in California and across the nation in which groups of individuals shoplift en masse from stores or smash and grab from display cases. Single operators have also been a growing problems for retailers who say the thieves face little consequence.

Another brazen robbery occurred on Thursday in San Jose, north of Los Angeles, that saw a group of five suspects walk into a mall jewelry store and smash display cases before walking out with whatever they could stuff into their pockets. CBS San Francisco reported that the entire incident took only about 15 seconds, and no arrests had been made.

The LA police chief said he was confident that officers investigating the retail robberies had the support of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, who ran on a reform agenda and supports ending bail across the board for misdemeanor, non-violent and non-serious felony offenses.

Gascón’s office said in a statement Thursday that those who commit smash-and-grab thefts will be held accountable.

“Our office has been collaborating with multiple law enforcement agencies and once all the evidence has been gathered, we will review the cases to determine what criminal charges should be filed,” Alex Bastian, special advisor to Gascón, said in the statement. “These brazen acts hurt all of us: retailers, employees and customers alike.”

I Lost $400,000, Almost Everything I Had, on a Single Robinhood Bet

From HERE

A young retail trader explains what it’s like to make the retail trade from hell.

I was 26 and stupid. I had arrived in the U.S. when I was 18. I didn’t have money and worked shitty jobs to get through college. I didn’t go to a nice school, and I’ve worked in sales ever since I graduated. My first job paid me $40,000. Next one $50,000. So I basically only started getting money like three and a half years ago, when I got a good job. And I was like, Oh my God, this is really great.

I had no other passions other than really earning money, just stacking it up, so I just worked and saved up quite a bit. That’s all I did for three years, and I just needed to do something else to kind of take my mind off of work. Because if I kept working like that, I’d go crazy, and investing seemed like a thrilling, fun journey. It was kind of like gambling.

I’m super conservative. I don’t spend anything. My monthly expenses are around $2,500 a month. I pay $900 a month in rent. The three biggest purchases I’ve made in the last 10 years were my laptop in 2014, which was around $1,500; my car, in 2017, which was around $2,700, $2,800; and then recently, I bought myself a new iPhone, which I’ve never done before ever, for $1,300. I usually use my mom’s old phones when she gets a new one.

It’ll come off as stupid, but I consider myself conservative from an investing perspective. I had $300,000 in a high-yield savings account, and I made like $1,000 a year on it, which was ridiculous, but I had been following the market pretty constantly. My job involves a lot of researching companies and trying to understand business and economic models. I like to read a lot, and there’s a lot of books on investing.

Do you work for Robinhood or are you a trader with a story to tell? From a non-work device, contact the reporter at maxwell.strachan@vice.com or via Signal at 310-614-3752 for extra security.

I put chump change, like three grand, into crypto, when I only had five grand to begin with in 2017, and I lost all of it. But I was seeing everybody making money hand over fist, and I wasn’t. I work in tech, and a lot of my colleagues were worth, like, $10 million. But the big tipping point was GameStop. It was just ridiculous, and I got greedy and had FOMO.

It didn’t start with Alibaba. It started with a $5,000 bet on AMC. Then the $5,000 became $15,000 when I bet on something else, then it became $50,000 when I bet on silver. And that’s when I was like, Okay, I’m done with this. Now I want to buy a safe bet. And the safe bet was Alibaba. It had fallen from $330 to $245, but I had wanted to find a company where the price-earnings ratio was low, and every single analyst had a buy rating with like a 40-50% upside on it. Looking at all of TipRanks, my understanding was that this was a very, very safe bet with a limited amount of risk.

Then I just went all in on this one single stock option: The $200 strike price call option on Alibaba. I would describe a call option as a leveraged bet on an underlying stock, which helps you increase the upside (or downside) of the bet you’re trying to make. I initially invested $300,000 in February, basically every single liquid asset in my account. Not retirement, but everything cash. I didn’t have anything left. My thesis was I might not make a lot of money, but I won’t lose much. The downside seemed limited, and that if worse comes to worse, it would go down to like $280,000.

[The price started to continuously drop almost from the get-go.] I was watching it night and day, and it took a mental toll. The issue with Alibaba is it’s dual-listed stock. It trades in Hong Kong and in the U.S. So all day you’re watching pre-market and opening in Hong Kong, and then again in the U.S., Monday through Friday. You’re constantly watching.

My mom told me on April 13, Get out today. And it might have been ego. It might have been just stupidity, ignoring the facts. but my conviction was high. If you listened to “smart people,” they all said it would go up. So I was like, Hey, this is gonna rebound. And as my salary came in, I saved another $100,000. So in July, I put in another almost $100,000. I basically transferred all the liquid cash that I had and maxed out my account. If my company had not paid me at the end of July, I wouldn’t have made my rent payment on August 1. My mom told me not to do it. And I still did it. When I invested the other $100,000, she told me sell tomorrow, sell tomorrow, sell tomorrow. I didn’t listen. It was stupid, an extreme level of greed and risk taking.

The next 10 days after that, it dropped by another 30 percent. It was fully out of the money by then.

[Editor’s note: “Out of the money” means below the price at which the option’s owner can buy or sell the underlying security. In this retail trader’s world, it meant he was screwed.]

The whole $400,000 turned to almost zero. [Editor’s note: For more about call options, go here.] It was at that time that I knew I had that there’s no coming back from this. I was literally begging for it to come back so I could even get $300,000 out. Just praying, you know like once you go from desperation to literally praying? And I’m not even religious.

But the truth was, I was still somewhat optimistic. I still had $75,000, and I was hoping that Alibaba would make a recovery, which of course it did not. My next thing was Okay, how do I earn all this money back? But it fell from $75,000 to $50,000 and …

I was pretty depressed for like two months. I knew I messed up and felt stupid. I was so unhappy that my parents didn’t want to make me feel more stupid. Sure, my mom told me off a couple of times, but she was also supportive because she knew I was already beating myself up. I should have listened to her. She told me to diversify a little. Don’t go all in on one. But I felt like, because she told me not to do it so many times, I actually had to.

I sold and shut down my Robinhood account in October, right before my birthday. I decided I don’t want to have this hanging over my head. [Editor’s note: He walked away with under $20,000.] The day I sold it, I was like, You know what? I fucked up. It was a mistake. But clean slate, dust yourself off and move on. I felt better when I sold, much better actually.

One of the things that actually helped me was I met this random person. He told me a story that changed my perspective a little. This guy, he’s in his 50s or something. It took him a long, long time to save up like $150,000. He put it in the market, and he lost I think $110,000 out of the $150,000. What he told me touched my heart. He said that all he really cared about now was having enough money now to send this to two girls to college. And I was like, what am I really crying about? I have a roof over my head. I have food on the table. It changed my perspective.

I don’t believe in passive index investing. You know how Warren Buffett made a multimillion dollar bet that the index will outperform a bunch of hedge funds over a decade long period? My truthful belief is I don’t necessarily believe passive investing to be the answer.

But I also don’t think this maniacal [way is the answer either], because a lot of retail traders are simply not educated, and trading stocks is not within their circle of competence. I feel like the younger folks are really, really stupid, especially folks who have money now. There’s a lot of other folks like me who think they know the stock market and the right way to manage risk exposures and diversify, but a lot of them do not. They’re just overconfident idiots.

When you want to do videos on YouTube about credit spreads or any of these options or derivative-centric strategies, which have inherent risk, most people have this inclination to believe they’re smarter than the rest. The truth is we’re not. I was fucking stupid. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I just felt so confident in my bet.

It’s my fault. At the end of the day. I was stupid enough to not diversify. But I don’t think Robinhood is a net positive for society. The way it’s designed, you get dopamine hits. When you place a trade, when you see it go up or down, the green or the red, it’s addictive. If their model is payment for order flow, there’s no question they just want you to trade, no matter if you win or lose money. [Editor’s note: “Robinhood Markets Inc. gets about 80% of its revenue from payment for order flow,” according to Bloomberg.]

Making Facebook addictive is one thing. But making people’s financial livelihood addictive is a whole next level of evil. And Robinhood has gamified their application. It hurt me quite a bit. I’ve been fortunate and lucky, and I’m still young. But if somebody who’s working a minimum-wage job gets addicted to stuff like this, that is financial ruin, and that’s what I don’t want.

Alibaba is today trading at $125, which is almost half of where it was at the beginning when I bought it. In retrospect, it’s extremely obvious that it was a stupid decision from a risk management perspective and from a basic investment fundamentals perspective—a combination of ego, greed, overconfidence, and FOMO. Still, if I could do it again, I wouldn’t have put the other $100,000 in, but I would have still made the initial $300,000 bet, even if I would have lost it all. Had I not gotten this lesson, had I not lost the $300,000 now, I would have thought Hey, this is something within my circle of competence, which I absolutely know now it is not. What if I had waited another three years, and it had been $2 million instead of $300,000?

When I lost the money, the things that I regretted were actually not losing the money. I realized I just had no other passions at all. For three years now, all I’ve done is work. I can’t think of one weekend when I was just having fun. How stupid is that?

*****

In response to the retail trader’s story, a Robinhood spokesperson repudiated the idea that it had helped gamify stock trading, issuing the following statement to Motherboard:

As a self-directed brokerage, we’ve invested heavily in stability, educational materials, and customer support so that we can meet our customers wherever they are in their investing journey. Over the past year, we’ve made a number of improvements to our options platform, including more rigorous eligibility requirements for customers who want to trade options. We’re constantly working to provide an educational options experience so people can make informed investing decisions. Our platform is designed to make investing intuitive, approachable and more accessible, and it’s important not to conflate that with gamification.

The spokesperson additionally said the company’s design and business model are industry standard and that Robinhood “continue[s] to refine our options approval process.” It has recently “implemented more rigorous criteria for customers’ eligibility,” which includes some revised financial and experience requirements, the spokesperson added.

“In addition, the onboarding experience now walks approved customers through the foundations of an options spread before upgrading from Level 2 to Level 3 options trading,” the spokesperson said. Robinhood also monitors customers’ eligibility to trade options on an ongoing basis.

Great job China

What are some reasons for Asian countries to become more westernized?

Zero.

There are zero reasons for Eastern countries to become more Westernized. Western does not equal civilized. The fact Ukraine and Russia are at war is proof of that. No country should resort to bloodshed to solve problems in 2022 but here we are. The fact the US has been to war for most of its existence is ample proof that the West is not the better path.

The Eastern worldview is not somehow lesser than the West. The Eastern hemisphere is just fine as they are and they do not need any interference from CIA Inc disguised as NGO’s. Stay home, save tax payer dollars and leave the Eastern world the heck alone.

Casino | How Robert De Niro Deals with Scammers

Turkish Coffee

“From Saad Fayed, Turkish coffee is famed for the way it is made. It is prepared in an ibrik, a small coffee pot that is heated. Sugar is added during the brewing process, not after, so the need for a serving spoon is eliminated. Cream or milk is never added to Turkish coffee, and sugar is optional. It is always served in demitasse cups. In some regions, your fortune is told by the placement of the coffee grinds left in the cup!”

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 tablespoon of extra fine ground coffee (powder consistency)
¹⁄₈ teaspoon ground cardamom or 1 cardamom pod
sugar (optional)

Directions

Bring water and sugar to a boil in ibrik.
If you do not have an ibrik, a small saucepan will work.
Remove from heat, add coffee and cardamom.
Return saucepan to heat and allow to come to a boil.
Remove from heat when coffee foams.
Again, return to heat, allowing to foam and remove from heat.
Pour into cup, and allow to sit for a few minutes for the grounds to settle to the bottom of the cup.
Cardamom pod may be served in cup for added flavor.
TURKISH COFFEE TIPS:
****** Many people have made note that the coffee did not foam the second boiling. Sorry about that. Maybe if, when you pour the coffee into the cup, you do it from up high. I think I read that somewhere.
Turkish coffee must always be served with foam on top.
If you can’t find finely ground Arabic coffee, you can purchase a bag of coffee at any coffeehouse and ask them to grind it for Turkish coffee. You need to have a powder-like consistency.
Do not stir after pouring into cups; the foam will collapse.
Always use cold water.

As An Arabic person who drinks 4 to 5 cups of turkish coffee a day, you did it extremely well. This is the way Nana Lee. but you can serve this coffee without foam, it depends on the taste of the person and the sugar should be used to the taste like 1/2 coffee spoon of sugar for the same recipe is u like it medium sweet and 1 if u like it sweet and when u want it little sweet let it be just on the top of the spoon. the spoon of sugar should be leveled not full. Good appetite. By the way my nick name is Nana Too.

We call this Greek Coffee here in Greece...love it! I like the addition of cardamom in this recipe - provides a nice fragrant brew. Be prepared for a kind of coffee 'cream' to form on top and coffee sediment (the fine grounds) to settle to the bottom of your cup. Do not drink these. If you were in Greece or in Turkey, you would swirl the last few drops of coffee in your cup, overturn the cup to eliminate the sediment and allow the pattern formed on the cup to dry, upside-down. Then, a nice local lady would 'read' your cup and predict your future.

Thank You for this. I haven't made it myself but I will! Not long ago I had Turkish Coffee for the first time - and its my favorite!!!! I've always disliked adding creme/milk to my coffee, but felt I needed to because of the taste and how it made my stomach feel. Turkish coffee was gentle on my stomach, love the taste - of course and no need to add anything to it - pure coffee bliss!!!! thanks again Rosario

Yay! Ever since I spent my KG2 in Syria 17 years ago (my mom comes from there), I longed for that smell. To me, nothing beats the smell of coffee and cardamom, especially in the morning or after a large meal. I just enjoyed a cup of this recipe, and it's almost as good as when I was there! (There's only one thing missing to make it as good : Syria) When I went back with my mom 6 years ago, we brought back some bags of Turkish coffee. There was 3 types : 5% cardamom, 10% and 15%. I'm always annoyed that my mom never chooses 15%, but I can make my own now! It's simple, I go by weight (yeah, 15% is really a LOT) and I choose a blend of very dark bitter coffee mixed with a light sweet one. Here are some approximations. 5% is regular : it means that for 1 tbsp coffee, you put about 1/8 tsp cardamom. 10% is strong : 1/4 tsp cardamom. 15% is very strong : for the same amount of coffee, you put 1/2 tsp cardamom. That's how I like it!

Are the CCP so stupid they couldn’t come up with a decent vaccine despite making the virus in their lab in Wuhan?

It has been confirmed that the virus came from a US lab. That’s the reason why more than a million Americans died from it because the virus feel most at home in the US. And about the US vaccine, let’s just say that covid is still killing many Americans every day.

How Ukraine – Not Russia – Floods Social Media With War Propaganda

Red Eye

“Very strong coffee for those days you just do not want to get up.”

Ingredients

1 ounce espresso
1 cup hot coffee

Directions

Combine in a glass.

Court: Biden Student Loan Forgiveness UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Nation Hal Turner 11 November 2022

People who were glad that illegitimate President Joe Biden put forth Student Loan Forgiveness got a big dose of reality Thursday, when a US District Court Judge struck down the plan as “Unconstitutional.” Student Loan debt cannot be forgiven by a US President.

United States District Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee, scolded Joe Biden in a blistering opinion.

Joe Biden unilaterally announced a massive forgiveness of student loans in August.

Biden canceled up to $10,000 in student debt for borrowers who earn $125,000 a year or less and up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants.

The student loan bailout plan did not pass through Congress as Joe Biden falsely claimed – and Judge Pittman BLASTED Biden for ruling with a ‘pen and phone.’

“In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone. Instead, we are ruled by a Constitution that provides for three distinct and independent branches of government…The Court is not blind to the current political division in our country. But it is fundamental to the survival of our Republic that the separation of powers as outlined in our Constitution be preserved. And having interpreted the HEROES Act, the Court holds that it does not provide ‘clear congressional authorization’ for the Program proposed by the Secretary,” Judge Pittman wrote.

“Whether the Program constitutes good public policy is not the role of this Court to determine. Still, no one can plausibly deny that it is either one of the largest delegations of legislative power to the executive branch, or one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States,” United States District Judge Mark Pittman wrote.

Elaine Parker, President of Job Creators Network Foundation, which brought the lawsuit, reacted to the ruling on Thursday.

“The court has correctly ruled in favor of our motion and deemed the Biden student loan program illegal. The judge criticized the Biden Administration program, calling it ‘one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States.’ This ruling protects the rule of law which requires all Americans to have their voices heard by their federal government,” Parker said.

“This attempted illegal student loan bailout would have done nothing to address the root cause of unaffordable tuition: greedy and bloated colleges that raise tuition far more than inflation year after year while sitting on $700 billion in endowments. We hope that the court’s decision today will lay the groundwork for real solutions to the student loan crisis.”

I found out my 17 year old daughter purchased an inappropriate toy online so I took away her debit card and I’m regulating her job money but now she’s barely talking to me. What do I do?

If you want to have any relationship with your daughter whatsoever, you cease your regulation of her job money and you give her debit card back. Also, make sure to put an apology in there, too.

What you did was an absolutely asshole move. Not just an asshole move, but one that can have severe repercussions going forward. Your daughter has her own body with her own needs and desires, which she is trying to satisfy in a way that is safe and private. Would you prefer she meets those needs with some man who would be all too happy to oblige?

Using the aid, she can’t contract an STD, she can’t get pregnant and she can’t have her heart broken. What you did is make ALL THE ABOVE the alternative that she might be opting towards.

Stop being an asshole, stop denying the bodily autonomy of others and do your best to mend this fence. Because as things stand, she is gone as soon as she hits eighteen.

Pulp Fiction: Final Confrontation (HD CLIP)

Why do so many people still think China is a poor country?

Here’s a personal anecdote.

In the early 2000s, I was living in Hong Kong and traveling a lot in China for work. Candidly, I didn’t really enjoy traveling there. Credit cards weren’t widely accepted. Cash (usually via grubby renminbi notes, many of them counterfeit) was king. Trains were slow. Airports were congested (and pretty crap).

Then in 2009, I went to live in Europe for 3 years, returning to Hong Kong in 2012.

My first trip into China after coming back to Asia was disorienting. In the 3 years I was away, an extensive high-speed rail network had somehow been constructed. My rmb notes were no longer welcome at restaurants or street stalls; most people now used mobile payment platforms such as AliPay and WeChat Pay.

Candidly, I was stunned how much had changed in three years. And that goes a ways to explaining why people still think China is poor: because not so long ago it was poor.

Combine that with the fact that relatively few Westerners actually set foot in China and know anything about the country beyond what their media outlets tell them, and it’s not surprising that plenty of misconceptions about China exist. A mainland Chinese friend was sharing with me how even in Hong Kong, which reverted to Chinese sovereignty 25 years ago, some 2.5 million HKers have not visited the Mainland within the last 5 years. And yes, many of them have an outdated impression of what the country is like.

Because as I found out, that’s a really long time in China.

Why are some speculating collapse of the Chinese economy? Is the crisis with builders and bank run that serious? Do they not have some way to implement quantitative easing through their own fed reserve equivalent entity?

Evergrande has survived 13 1/2 months

Evergrande has paid back 36% of all Depositors in Mainland China with money and 26% of all depositors with property shares – in FULL

Evergrande has completed and delivered 1710 homes out of the 13000 homes yet to be delivered in November 2021 while it has surrendered another 3300 homes to the Governments of Xian, Harbin and Hubei. That’s roughly 37.8% commitments closed in a single year.

Evergrande s CEO has coughed up almost $ 1.3 Billion of his own money and properties in Mainland China and Hongkong.

When did you last see a company pull something like this in a Democracy?

Enron? BUST

Lehmann Bros? BUST

Kingfisher? BUST

Barings? BUST

The reason has already been highlighted by Kevin Wong except he uses “Command Economy” instead of “Mixed Economy”

In laymans terms – THE LAND BELONGS TO CHINA!!!

If say an Indian builder like Raheja failed to deliver flats, he would go to jail and the land would remain empty for 20 years courts decide.

In China it will take the Chinese Government maybe a month to start building flats with someone else or even their own Construction Companies used in City Development

Meanwhile the other leases will be taken away and handed to the bank who will sell the leases to someone else and get their money back.

Or the Government will buy back it’s leases with all that delicious export moolah that China rakes in.

Its a closed system.

Will Evergrande Collapse?

Oh sure.

Evergrande stands today to finish it’s debts and ensure the Public in China don’t suffer the consequences.

In US, you have a Chapter 11 and you can retire to Florida and saddle your investors and depositors with debts saying “Hey!!! That’s Capitalism”

In China, you have ECONOMIC OFFENCES and you and your family pay a very big price including loss and dishonor of several generations

Eventually Evergrande will Collapse and the Government will watch it’s collapse like an Oncologist watches a cancerous tumour being surgically removed.

Maybe by Dec – April 2023 or slightly later

Is the problem over with Real Estate, once Evergrande is finished?

Nopes

Xi Jingping feels that Real Estate is too badly speculated and has crashed all demand due to torrential prices.

Yet Real Estate Instruments are also a prime source of Income investment for Chinese People and if Real Estate Crashes then so does the Income from these instruments.

You see the situation?

So what is China doing?

On one hand, the low demand is perfect for reducing prices and speculation. A Flat once costing 5.6 Million Yuan now costs 3.1 Million Yuan with a 40 year payment model instead of 25.

Many Big Developers have been told to accept fixed instead of speculative profits

Slowly Xi hopes people will buy homes again. The key target this time are the 91 Million Families that dont own any homes instead of the ones who own multiple homes and keep buying homes for investments.

And the Investors?

Ah!!! Sadly they will slowly take out whatever money they can because those 15% rates will simply be impossible now.

I predict by 2027, Investors would lose roughly 747 Billion Yuan ($ 111 Billion) which would be bad but something the CPC has just accepted will happen.

Better to break off the Band Aid instead of keeping appearances and losing 7 Trillion in 10 years time.

How will this end?

Socialism in the Real Estate Sector

Not full Socialism but no more Capitalism for sure.

By 2027, Homes will be available for Fixed rather than Speculative prices.

The Real Estate Sector contribution to GDP will fall from 26% in 2012 to 6.1% in 2027.

More and More Chinese will own homes and the bloating would have ended long back.

The Wealthy 5% will cry but the Median Income Group would cheer.

Yet what can the Wealthy do? The CPC belongs to Xi Jingping and his loyalists for the next 30 years at least.

It would be a Great End for the People of China with Minimal Repurcussions

Would it lead to the Collapse of the Chinese Economy?

No. Of course not.

Not a chance.

A Probable $ 100–120 Billion Public Hit would not even Dent the Chinese Economy

Even if the problem is 10 times worse (And that’s impossible). That’s $ 1.2 Trillion which would cause a stagnancy of (-) 1% on Chinas Growth for 10 years which would bring down aggregate growth from 4.13% to 3.13%

That’s still a whopping $ 566 Billion a year added to the economy

Still more than USA

So why did the West make so much fuss about Evergrande?

Simple

They hoped Xi Jingping would somehow lose support within the CPC if enough speculative damage could be done with Evergrande

They hoped somehow Li Keiqang or someone like him could take charge

Now they will rake up Evergrande again until January, hoping that at least XJP will not become the President of China at the People’s Congress Meeting.

Not a chance of them succeeding!!!

Mexican Coffee (Café Mexicano)

“Posted for the Zaar World Tour 2006-Mexico. This drink is so yummy and definitely warms you up on a cold day.”

Ingredients

1 ounce Kahlua
¹⁄₂ ounce brandy
1 teaspoon chocolate syrup
1 dash ground cinnamon
hot coffee
sweetened whipped cream

Directions

Place Kahlúa, brandy, chocolate syrup and cinnamon in a coffee cup or mug. Fill with hot coffee. Stir to blend. Top with sweetened whipped cream.

What is some of the best advice you don’t hear very often?

I was meeting with the CEO of a large oil company to gain insight on business. I won’t disclose his name but I can tell you he had a net worth upwards of 8 figures. I was excited to meet him and drove over 4 hours to Atlanta to catch him before his flight left.

He was very kind, but you could tell that he was stern when he needed to be. Instead of picking a five star restaurant, he chose a small burger joint.

We talked about innovation, marketing, management, accounting, investing, and a few other things.

We got to the end of our lunch and I asked, “is there any one thing that’s contributed to the success of your career?”

Being the CEO of a large oil company, I expected him to say something like:

“Work hard”

“Don’t take crap from anyone”

“Profit comes first”

But instead, he said:

“Tithe.”

“Tithe?” I asked, a bit surprised.

“Yes, never forget to tithe.”

“Like give to the church?”

“Well, yes that’s a form of tithing. But a great way is to give to those less fortunate than you.”

I left our meeting a little confused. I was in the process of starting a business and didn’t have much to spare. I thought, “I barely have enough to get by, how am I supposed to give?”

Right at that moment I drove passed a homeless man.

And then it hit me.

No matter where you’re at in life, there’s always someone doing worse than you.

I immediately drove to Target and purchased supplies to make care packages. I was literally making sandwiches in my car. I put them in bags along with clothes and other items.

I then went around Atlanta handing out these bags to homeless people.

They were just the essentials. Nothing fancy. But from the looks on their faces, you would’ve thought I had just handed them a gold bar.

I can’t explain the feeling you get from giving to those less fortunate, but it’s wonderful.

It’s something that’s always stuck with me.

And if you dig deep enough, you’ll find that every super successful person participates in some form of tithing, whether it be money or simply time.

The reason is not only because you get to help people, but also because it puts you in a state of abundance.

I promise you that for every bit you give, you will get tenfold back.

“Never forget to tithe.”

main qimg 381909675403bb766b623ed0eef9d780 lq

Geo-Political issues are falling in place, and it looks like they will solidify shortly

Time marches on. Do you think you can handle all the changes? Most say that they can. But, judging from what I see of all the rats a scurrying on the Deck of the United States, I’d have to disagree.

Sure there is a band playing on the deck, and the lights are still on. There’s some wealthy gentlemen playing cards in the lounge, and a calmness with the passengers as they slowly debate whether or not to board the lifeboats, but below… in the deep bosom of the ship, there’s discomfort and turmoil.

The wealthy gentlemen are placing bets on what will happen next, and more than a few crew and passengers are playing with and fondling chunks of ice that they found on the deck. No one seems in a hurry to do anything.

Oh, there’s a Captain at the helm and he’s standing resolute. He continues to order “full steam ahead”, and the vast bulk of the vessel is a moving forward into the icy darkness with great haste. Under the decks the boilers are running red-hot as more and more coal, energy, paper, money is thrown into the furnaces.

But the vessel is listing. It’s shaking. A few stewards are quietly alerting key select passengers who are toying with the idea or wearing that “uncomfortable” life vest.

A radio operator and the chief engineer approach the Captain on the bridge. They try to reason with the Captain. In hushed tones they whisper words that they dare not voice loudly. But the Captain will hear none of that!

This ship is unsinkable! he roars.

It’s exceptional. We have democracy, freedom, and are the beacon for all to admire!

The others slink away and try to hide into the shadows.

Here Are 5 Examples That Show Why There Is A Mass Exodus Out Of Major U.S. Cities Right Now

August 30, 2022 by Michael

Once upon a time, our major cities were highly civilized places that were filled with highly civilized people.

In fact, there was a time when even our largest cities were sparkling clean and people dressed up in their best clothes would leisurely stroll through downtown areas without being concerned that they might be suddenly attacked.

But now everything has changed.

Crime rates are surging all over the United States, open air drug markets have become commonplace in many communities, an epidemic of homelessness is rapidly growing from coast to coast, and there are countless predators that fearlessly roam the streets searching for their next victims.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why so many Americans have been fleeing our urban areas in recent years. Our once great cities are degenerating into crime-infested hellholes, and it is getting worse with each passing day.

Let me give you an example. In New York City, armed moped thieves are now brazenly terrorizing random citizens and robbing them in broad daylight…

New York City has been hit by spate of recent thefts by armed moped thieves who aggressively drive up onto city sidewalks and attack unsuspecting victims.

Three of the most recent attacks happened over the weekend where thieves ripped a $12,000 Rolex watch from a man’s arm while he was walking in Chelsea and the very next day, two women walking near the Guggenheim Museum on the Upper East Side fought off thieves on a moped who tried to snatch their jewelry.

A third attack happened in Inwood. In all three, the thieves on bikes jump the sidewalks, reach out at their unsuspecting victims and attempt to rob them.

This is the sort of thing that normally happens in third world countries.

Now it is happening here.

On the west coast, things are getting really crazy too.

The number of homicides in Hollywood has doubled this year, and Los Angeles Police Department Captain Ray Valois is also extremely concerned about the huge spike in armed robberies that his department has been seeing…

“You’ll have a victim walking back to their car, maybe from a night out, and a suspect will come up behind them with a gun and say, ‘Give me all your money.’ Those are the ones that concern me the most and those are what I believe we had a spike in,” Capt. Valois said.

Capt. Valois says it’s important for Angelenos and visitors to be aware of street lighting, especially at night.

Actually, I don’t think that is very wise advice.

If you choose to go out in the Hollywood area at night in 2022, you are literally putting your life on the line.

Farther north, one of the biggest problems in San Francisco these days is the hordes of homeless people that seem to grow with each passing month.

Many of them are drug addicts, and way too often those addicts can be found passed out or defecating on the streets of one of the wealthiest cities in the entire world…

Rows of tents were pictured lined up outside businesses with people’s belongings strewn across the sidewalk.

Homeless individuals, some of whom were struggling with clear physical ailments as well as drug and alcohol addiction, sat in the street right outside entrances to residential properties and small businesses struggling to bounce back after highly restrictive COVID laws forced them to close, destroying revenues.

Some images depicted addicts openly smoking illegal drugs on the sidewalk and passing out on the asphalt in the middle of the day.

All the way up in Portland, being at the wrong place at the wrong time can literally get you killed.

It wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time, Portland was one of the most beautiful and most peaceful cities in the entire country.

But now there are times when the streets of Portland literally resemble a war zone. The following example happened just this past Sunday night…

At one of the street racing takeovers on Sunday night near the Expo Center attended by hundreds, an elderly man in a van appeared to be caught in the road before being violently attacked by an armed mob. 

Video posted on social media shows that as he desperately attempted to reverse and drive away while being attacked, he backed into a car.

A man in the crowd then fires at least 18 rounds at his fleeing van. 

A follow-up video shows the crowd catching up with the elderly man who had stopped on a patch of grass. He appeared to be in shock and was bleeding heavily.

Lastly, let me talk about Baltimore a bit.

In the old days, I would visit Baltimore quite often.

It was scary in those times, and things have gotten significantly worse since then.

When I read about what just happened to an Apple TV+ show that features Natalie Portman in a leading role, I just had to smile…

The Apple TV+ show “Lady in the Lake” was filming in downtown Baltimore when two local hoodlums claimed that the Hollywood crew were on their turf and needed to pay up. 

The drug dealers forced the production to shut down around 4 pm but said they could resume working for a fee of $50,000.

The pair brandished a firearm and reportedly pointed it at members of the crew. After they delivered their ultimatum, the two left and said they would return a few hours later for the production’s response.

Baltimore police confirmed to The Baltimore Banner that the two men who made the threats were local drug dealers and were serious.

The moral of the story is that you should never, ever film a television show in Baltimore.

In fact, unless you are a drug dealer, a crime lord or an extremely corrupt politician that is in league with the first two groups you should probably avoid the city completely.

Of course the entire country is going downhill really fast. Our culture is systematically degenerating right in front of our eyes, and a society with a degenerate culture will inevitably collapse.

If we do not rescue our culture, there is no future for America.

I wish that more people would realize this, because time to turn things around is rapidly slipping away.

French Roast

Ingredients

1 (4 -6 lb) french beef roast
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons mustard
1 cup Chinese duck sauce
¹⁄₂ cup orange juice
¹⁄₂ cup dark grape juice
1 onion, chopped
4 -5 garlic cloves, minced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degree.
Place the onions and garlic on the bottom of your pan. Add roast.
Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over roast in pan.
Bake 3-4 hours, covered.

Russian, Chinese navies to hold Vostok 2022 strategic drills in Sea of Japan — top brass

Source: tass.com
Editor: Chen Zhuo

Time: 2022-08-31 10:10:21

MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. The Russian and Chinese navies will operate in the Sea of Japan in the upcoming Vostok 2022 strategic drills, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told a briefing for foreign military attaches on Monday.

“The [Russian] Pacific Fleet jointly with the Navy of the People’s Liberation Army of China will practice interoperability in the northern and central parts of the Sea of Japan in the Far Eastern maritime zone with the aim of assisting ground forces in the Primorye direction and defending sea lanes and areas of maritime economic activity,” Fomin said.

General-purpose naval forces will practice operations in the waters and in the coastline areas of the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, he added.

The Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff drills will run on September 1-7 under the command of Chief of Russia’s General Staff Valery Gerasimov on the territory of Russia’s Eastern Military District and will be the final stage of the training of the Russian Armed Forces this year.

The strategic exercise will bring together over 50,000 troops and more than 5,000 items of armaments and military hardware, in particular, 140 aircraft, 60 combat ships, gunboats and support vessels.

Not a small force at all. This is a LARGE exercise. -MM

A girl smoking at a cattle show in Appenzell, Switzerland.

“Appenzell is a beautiful and very odd place. It’s a tiny rural town in the east of Switzerland, built in the 16th century.

Here, all the cliches are true: the fondue and the yodelling, the pink cows and the magnificent ski slopes.

It’s also a place with very local habits.

They still celebrate the new year according to the Julian calendar. And every October, they hold the Viehschau cattle show – a beauty show, but for cows.

I first visited it in 2013. As soon as I started taking photographs, I noticed that many of the younger kids were passing around cigarettes, smoking one after another.

They weren’t misbehaving; their parents were around and they all seemed comfortable with it.

Letting your children smoke at the cattle show is a long-standing custom, I learnt. Kids as young as six do it.

Appenzeller people are quite strong-minded.

I have tried to ask why they let their children smoke, but no one has ever given me a clear explanation. I think most of the parents hope their kids will find it disgusting and won’t do it when they’re older.

Or maybe they feel they should treat their children as equals on this special occasion. As far as I know, it only happens here, and only at that particular time of year. The adults grew up with the custom and now no one questions it”. (Photo by Jiří Makovec)

A girl smoking at a cattle show in Appenzell, Switzerland.

Another Dead American

It’s not just Ukraine losing people, the United States is losing citizens as well.

In the area of the settlement of Yegorovka, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) troops found a body of a mercenary from the USA, Alan Joshua Jones, who lived in Tennessee before arriving in Ukraine. The dead body was mined. According to reports, he was shot by Ukraine troops after he tried to retreat . .

The Only Thing Keeping US and China from War Is Running Dangerously Thin

Scott Ritter • August 21, 2022

American relations with China in regards to Taiwan have been dictated by years of ambiguous statements and commitments. Now this rhetoric is breaking down and armed conflict seems closer than ever – but is Washington ready to fight over Taiwan, or capable of winning?

Assurances and commitments

Officially, US policy toward Taiwan is guided by three US-China Joint Communiques issued between 1972 and 1982, the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, and the so-called “Six Assurances” issued in 1982. In the Shanghai Communique of 1972, China asserted that

“the Taiwan question is the crucial question obstructing the normalization of relations between China and the United States,” declaring that “the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government of China,” that Taiwan is a province of China, and that  “the liberation of Taiwan is China’s internal affair in which no other country has the right to interfere.”

The US responded by acknowledging that

“all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China,”

something the US government did not challenge. The US also reaffirmed its interest

“in a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question by the Chinese themselves.”

Before that, on January 1, 1979, the US and China had issued a “Joint Communique of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations” in which the US undertook to recognize

“the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China,”

noting that, within the context of that commitment,

“the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.”

President Jimmy Carter, in announcing the communique, went out of his way to ensure the people of Taiwan

“that normalization of relations between our country and the People’s Republic will not jeopardize the well-being of the people of Taiwan,”

adding that

“the people of our country will maintain our current commercial, cultural, trade, and other relations with Taiwan through nongovernmental means.”

Beijing reacts to ‘ambitious’ US plan for Taiwan

Carter’s move to establish diplomatic relations with China did not sit well with many members of Congress, who responded by passing the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, in which it was declared that it is US policy

“to preserve and promote extensive, close, and friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan, as well as the people on the China mainland,” and “to make clear that the United States decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means.”

In this regard, the Taiwan Relations Act underscored that the US would

“consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States,”

and

“to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character.”

Finally, the Act declared that the US would maintain the capacity

“to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.”

The emphasis on arms sales contained in the Taiwan Relations Act led to the third joint communiqué between the US and China, released on August 17, 1982, which sought to settle differences between the two nations regarding US arms sales to Taiwan.

The communique was basically a quid-pro-quo agreement where China underscored that it maintained

“a fundamental policy of striving for a peaceful reunification”

with Taiwan, over which it claimed sovereignty. For its part, the US declared that it

 “understands and appreciates the Chinese policy of striving for a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan question,”

and, with that in mind, the US declared that it did not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, and that it would gradually reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan while working for a final resolution to reunification.

To mollify Taiwanese concerns about the third communique, the US agreed to what have become known as “the Six Assurances” between the US and Taiwan.

These are

1) the US has not set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan,
2) the US has not agreed to prior consultations with China about arms sales to Taiwan,
3) the US has not agreed to any mediation role between China and Taiwan,
4) the US has not agreed to revise the Taiwan Relations Act,
5) the US has not taken a position regarding the sovereignty of Taiwan, and
6) that the US would never put pressure on Taiwan to negotiate with China.

There was an unwritten corollary to the third communique—an internal memorandum signed by President Ronald Reagan in which he declared that

“the US willingness to reduce its arms sales to Taiwan is conditioned absolutely upon the continued commitment of China to the peaceful solution of the Taiwan-PRC [People’s Republic of China] differences,”

adding that

“it is essential that the quantity and quality of the arms provided Taiwan be conditioned entirely on the threat posed by the PRC.”

A US policy at war with itself

What emerges from this amalgam of policy statements and positions is a US policy that is inherently at war with itself, unable to fully commit either to the finality of a “one China” policy or walk away from the sale of weapons to Taiwan.

The US disguises this inherent inconsistency by referring to it as “strategic ambiguity.” The problem is this policy stew is neither strategic in vision, nor ambiguous.

From the moment President Reagan issued the “Six Assurances,” US-China policy was strained over the issue of weapons sales, with China making the case that the US was not serious about either the peaceful reunification of Taiwan with China, or the elimination of arms sales to Taiwan.

Arms sales increased exponentially from the Reagan administration to that of George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, with the US providing Taipei F-16 fighters, Patriot surface-to-air missiles, and other advanced weapons.

In 1997, House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan as part of a Pacific tour that included China.

Gingrich claims he told his Chinese hosts that, if China were to attack Taiwan, the US “will defend Taiwan. Period.”

In 2005, in response to US backsliding when it came to arms sales and Taiwan, China adopted legislation known as the “Anti-Secession Law” which stated firmly that Taiwan “is part of China.”

In the law, China declared that it

“shall never allow the ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist forces to make Taiwan secede from China under any name or by any means.”

China reiterated its official stance that reunification through “peaceful means” best serves the fundamental interests of China.

However, the law made it clear that China would not stand idle in the face of any effort to

“cause the fact of Taiwan’s secession from China.”

If this were to occur, China would use

“non-peaceful means and other necessary measures”

to protect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Taiwan’s independence means war – China

Fast forward to 2021. The Biden administration, in policy guidance issued soon after the president was sworn in, undertook to deter Chinese aggression and counter threats to the

“collective security, prosperity and democratic way of life”

of the US and its allies, while publicly committing to a Taiwan policy which would be

“in line with long-standing American commitments,”

including the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, which limited US military support for Taiwan to weapons of a defensive character.

The brink of war

This, it turned out, was a lie.

In his October 2021 confirmation hearing before the US Senate, the current US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns declared that, from the perspective of the Biden administration, the policy of “strategic ambiguity” provided the US with “enormous latitude” under the Taiwan Relations Act to deepen US security assistance to Taiwan.

“Our responsibility,”

Burns said,

“is to make Taiwan a tough nut to crack.”

This was a stark departure from past practice, and served as the justification for Biden himself, on two occasions, to articulate as policy an American commitment to come to the defense of Taiwan if China were to attack.

This radical departure from stated US policy by the Biden administration helped launch a Congressional trifecta of hubris-laced ignorance, which saw the dispatch of three consecutive delegations that threaten to propel China down the path toward a war with Taiwan it doesn’t want to wage, and which the world (including the US) is not prepared to suffer the consequences of.

The first delegation, in May, was led by Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois).

Prior to her departure from the US, Duckworth helped push through the “Strengthen Taiwan’s Security Act” which, among other things, sought to improve US-Taiwan intelligence sharing, develop plans to continue the provision of military aid in the case of a Chinese attack, and explore the possibility of deploying pre-positioned stocks of weapons for US troops in Taiwan that would be dispatched to Taiwan in the event of a war with China.

Let that last point sink in for a moment —Duckworth was proposing to implement measures that would guarantee US troops would confront Chinese troops in the case of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Part two of the Congressional trifecta of policy ignorance was the visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, of which much has already be written.

The final act in this tragicomedy is the visit of Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), which took place earlier this week.

According to a press release issued by Markey’s office prior to his visit, his delegation would

“meet with elected leaders and members of the private sector to discuss shared interests including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and expanding economic cooperation, including investments in semiconductors.”

US must ‘challenge’ Chinese missile launch – admiral

Left unspoken is the environment in which all three of these visits took place. Even before Duckworth’s initial visit, Chinese authorities had taken the unprecedented step of issuing a stark warning regarding Taiwan.

On May 18, China’s senior diplomat Yang Jiechi warned Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that

“if the US continues to play the Taiwan card and head further on the wrong path, this will certainly lead to dangerous situations.”

Today China, the US, Taiwan, and the rest of the world are left to face such a “dangerous situation.”

There is no doubt that any undertaking by Taiwan to formally declare its independence from China will result in a Chinese invasion of that island.

Moreover, it is unlikely that Taiwan would ever undertake such an action void of guarantees of US military support backed up by actions designed to breath reality into rhetoric.

This is where the trio of Congressional delegations comes into play.

Legislation such as that proposed by Duckworth, and seemingly supported by Pelosi and Markey, would be required if the US was to formally break with its past policy undertakings regarding China and Taiwan.

The more Congress continues to interface with Taiwan, the more China must fear legislative action by the US Congress which would officially put the US and China on a path toward war.

As things currently stand, the US is not prepared to fight and win a war with China over Taiwan.

If China were to invade Taiwan today, there is little the US military could do to put teeth to the verbal commitments made by Newt Gingrich and Joe Biden about coming to the defense of Taipei.

China has, through large-scale military maneuvers undertaken following Pelosi’s precipitous visit, demonstrated its ability to invade Taiwan at any moment.

Such an invasion, if it occurs, would be overwhelming in scope and destructive on a scale like that being experienced by Ukraine today in the face of Russia’s ongoing military operations.

And yet China continues to hold back.

Some armchair generals assess the reluctance to go to war on China’s part as a sign of weakness, proof that Beijing is all bark and no bite.

Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.

Unlike the United States, China seeks to strictly adhere to its stated policy, which is to exhaust every peaceful option possible in securing the unification of China and Taiwan.

Despite the clear evidence of a marked departure from past policy regarding Taiwan and weapons sales, China continues to believe that there is a non-violent solution to the one China problem.

If only America would give peace a chance.

Justice Served

He was 18 years old when he hit a 24-year-old mother who was just trying to cross the street with her 22-month-old baby killing two innocent people while street racing with his friends.

3 years later, He was given a 24-year sentence in jail. But people are still defending him why?

Majority because of his “good looks”. I’m pretty sure if he was average-looking it wouldn’t even have been a topic.

And for the people who are saying it wasn’t intentional, He was driving at the speed of 160km per hr, The mother whom he crashed into hit 40 ft far away, the baby daughter hit 70 ft away. He has already been warned 4 times of the speed limit.

He was also recorded to have multiple speeding incidents just days before the accident proving his complete disregard for the consequences of his actions.

He clearly deserves to be in jail and there’s absolutely no way anybody can have even an ounce of sympathy for him, right?

Unfortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth because people all over social media have been defending him for no other reason than because he is attractive.

These people obsessing with him aren’t taking into account how the family of the mother and daughter feel or how devastating is that a young mother and her baby were killed due to his recklessness.

Sure, He lost the best years of his life but the man lost the best part of his life.

If someone that is conventionally unattractive did this exact same thing I know with every bone in my body that people would be treating him very differently.

Society has came to a point where we value looks above anything and that needs to change.

Nobody deserves to get away with something and not have to deal with their careless actions just because they fit the societal standards of beauty.

It’s time we treat people based on their character and not their appearance because criminals like him don’t deserve good treatment for inexcusable actions.

Being attractive is a privilege and it can be dangerous to only care about how someone looks rather than how they act.

Beauty is not really as subjective as we like to say it is.

Well, This is a prime example of pretty privilege and how damaging it can be.

A doughnut story

I am feeling very low. Can you say something which can instantly uplift me?

Ask for a donut, get a house.

Sixteen-year old Chauncy Jones was desperate. There was no food in the house. Not a single penny either. Mom’s disability check had already been spent on utilities, rent and groceries. But they were specially hungry that week and all the food in the house was in their bellies days before the next welfare check was due to arrive.

Begging was out of the question. But Chauncy did have a plan. He grabbed his monthly bus pass and headed for the upscale side of Memphis.

Standing in front of the local Kroger grocer store, Chauncy asked, “May I carry your groceries in exchange for a box of donuts?”

“Go away kid.”

Chauncy asked another patron.

Just an icy cold stare came back from the respondent. No words were necessary. Chauncy was scared, out of his neighborhood and way out of his comfort zone.

Hours passed. Vulgarities were shouted at him. But he still had no donuts to take home to his mom.

“Please sir, may I carry your groceries for a box of donuts?”

“Yeah, dude. I’ll get you some donuts.”

Success! The hours of effort had paid off. His mom would be thrilled!

Matt White went inside with Chauncy and got his glazed donuts. They were less expensive than the jelly filled, but Chauncy wasn’t greedy. His mom would not complain.

There was something tragic about Chauncy. Perhaps it was his desperation. Perhaps it was the sadness in his eyes as life kicked him in the teeth, day after day. But there was something magical, too, a perseverance that would not die. A selfless need to help his mother. Matt was touched.

“Get something healthy kid. Buy whatever you want.”

Ecstatic and grateful, Chauncy grabbed a cart and got enough food to last the rest of the week.

Matt gave Chauncy a ride home. The scene sickened him. Chauncy’s gracious, but scared, mother had body tremors. There was no furniture, just pads on the floor for sleeping. The house was a dilapidated structure, patched together by unskilled, uncaring contractors.

Matt placed a request for 250 dollars on the GoFundMe website. That was the price of a lawnmower and the industrious Chauncy could finally start his own business.

There are lots of heroes in this story – Chauncy for having the drive and ambition; mom for raising a noble child and sharing her love; Matt for caring and putting in the extra effort to help strangers; and the thousands of donors who sent more than $340,000.00 to help two people in need.

China remains attractive for US firms

By ZHONG NAN | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-08-31 07:48

Eighty-nine percent of firms say their operations in the nation are strong and profitable

China’s attraction as a huge, lucrative market for US companies has remained unchanged this year, despite the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and disruptions to trade, analysts and government officials said on Tuesday.

They made the remark after the US-China Business Council released a survey on Monday in which US companies continued to report their strong performance in the country last year, with 89 percent saying their operations were profitable.

The report, compiled by the Washington DC-based organization in June, interviewed 117 member companies on issues related to their business outlook, investment climate and market conditions in the nation.

The study found that most respondents are NOT moving segments of their supply chains out of China. This speaks to the country’s competitiveness in speed, quantity, quality and cost of manufacturing, despite tariffs and other factors.

“China remains a critical market for the US companies, disproving the notion of economic decoupling,” said Bai Ming, deputy director of the international market research department at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing.

Even though there have been some investment outflows to Southeast Asia due to lower labor costs, it does not conflict with the investment plans of US firms in China, which are more about collaboration in high-tech and service industries and in line with China’s high quality growth strategy, he said.

The US-China Business Council survey also found that 63 percent of respondents indicated that their profitability increased last year — a level and proportion unseen in more than a decade.

The performance figures show the potential that the China market holds for US companies. If they are not able to participate in the China market and reap these benefits, they are at a global disadvantage compared with competitors who are able to do so, the study said.

The growth of US investment in China will maintain its sound pace this year, thanks to the country’s moves to upgrade its industries and huge market demand for goods and services, said Huo Jianguo, vice-chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies.

China-US trade grew by 11.8 percent year-on-year to 2.93 trillion yuan ($423.64 billion) in the first seven months of the year, while China’s actual use of the US capital surged 36.3 percent on a yearly basis, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Together with the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement coming into force in January, this enhances the expectations of many US companies for freer trade, Huo added.

Guo Tingting, assistant minister of commerce, stressed in a news conference in Beijing that the government will accelerate the pace of introducing the new edition of the industry catalog of sectors encouraging foreign investment, further expanding the scope of foreign investment in advanced manufacturing, scientific and technological innovation and modern services.

US companies continue to see business opportunities in China not only in established fields such as in the domestic consumption and manufacturing sector, but also in new areas like the country’s leading-edge adoption of new digital technologies, said Sun Fuquan, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development in Beijing.

Nakul Duggal, senior vice-president and general manager of automotives for Qualcomm Technologies Inc, the California-based chip manufacturer, said the Chinese market will be a major revenue source for the group’s automotive business, as its massive vehicle sector has a faster adoption of autonomous driving technologies than many others.

Intuitive Surgical Inc, a US-based robotic surgical system manufacturer, announced earlier this month it will invest over 700 million yuan to build a manufacturing and innovation base in Shanghai. The base will help expand access to robot-assisted surgery to more patients in China.

Gary Guthart, the company’s CEO, said the firm’s new facilities are expected to be operational in Shanghai in 2025 and will produce surgery robots for the Chinese market.

Why do Africans dislike Chinese?

I’m an African and I do not find a single reason why I should hate the Chinese but I do have hundreds others to express gratefulness to them.

First the Chinese have built infrastructure in Africa that has spurred development in many parts of the continent. The Chinese input is the other untold line of the “Africa rising” story.

Second the Chinese do not tell us what to do, they do not benchmark our institutions against theirs or polarize our people. They come for business and do it rather well.

Unlike the Western companies, they do not wage war or threaten us to access our resources.

Unlike the west, the Chinese never stole our gold, copper, silver! They pay a fair price for it.

Our coffee is not priced in Beijing and our cocoa not priced in Shanghai, but those commodities that our hard working farmers produce are priced in the west against any commercial logic.

I produce my goods and the customer imposes on me the price he will pay for it…the same people talking about human rights and social justice!

Unlike the West, the chinese never took our brothers and sisters and enslaved them to generate selfish wealth.

Unlike the west, the Chinese never hired mercenaries to overthrow legitimate governments to install chaos or dictatorship.

And for the Chinese/african babies…this continent is your home too. Hope those “funny eyed babies” will be the bridge that will strengthen China-African relationship and promote co-development and co-prosperity.

Did I hear anyone say long live China?

Biden Warns ‘Brave Right-Wing’ Americans—’If You Want to Fight Against the Country, You Need an F-15′

Nation Hal Turner 30 August 2022

Speaking from Pennsylvania on Tuesday, President Joe Biden issued a message for “brave right-wing Americans,” saying that they “need something a little more than a gun” to fight against the United States, giving the example of an F-15 fighter jet as something to use instead.

“And for those brave right-wing Americans who say it’s all about keeping Americans independent and safe, you want to fight against the country? You need an F-15, you need something a little more than a gun,” Biden told the crowd, referring to the second amendment.

Biden issued the comment during a speech he gave in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania regarding his “Safer America Plan” to reduce gun crimes nationwide.

Announced earlier this month, the Safer America Plan looks fund police departments, invest in services that “address the causes of crime and reduce the burdens on police so they can focus on violent crime,” and calls on Congress to pass additional gun restrictions.

The plan looks to hire 100,000 police officers, calling on Congress to appropriate $10.77 billion in funding over five years for the COPS Hiring Program.

HAL TURNER EDITORIAL OPINION

Nice that the President threatens half the country! I guess he means he would actually USE fighter jets against his own citizens! That’s interesting to know.

Well, it seems to me, and this is only my opinion, the “brave right-wingers” already have F-15’s.

Someone ought to tell the illegitimate President, our “Commander-in-Thief” whose political party stole the presidency in November, 2020 through brazen election fraud, that a whole slew of those military pilots . . . are conservatives. Those pilots . . . it seems to me . . . they’re conservatives. They ARE some of the “brave right-wingers.”

Stick that in your son’s crack pipe and smoke it, you dementia-addled lame brain.

Foreigners (inside China) are not above and beyond the law

By Zhang Zhouxiang | China Daily | Updated: 2022-08-29 07:49

Canadian citizen Robert Lloyd Schellenberg appears in court in Dalian, Liaoning province in Jan, 2019. [File photo provided to China Daily]

Zhejiang Provincial High People’s Court has upheld the death sentence of a United States citizen found guilty of intentional homicide.Shadeed Abdulmateen was convicted of the murder of a woman surnamed Chen. Lying that he was divorced and single, Abdulmateen began a relationship with Chen in 2019. After Chen said she wanted to end their relationship, Abdulmateen arranged to meet her. On July 14 last year, he killed her by stabbing her in the neck and face. At his trial, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to death.That sentence has been upheld by the court of the second instance.When Abdulmateen committed his crime, he was a teacher at Ningbo University of Technology in Ningbo, Zhejiang. His case should sound an alarm to all schools to check the credentials of foreign job applicants.Those on Western social media networks claiming that the case shows China is “anti-foreigner” are talking nonsense. Soon after Abdulmateen received the verdict of the court, Francis Stonier, an associate professor at Southwest University in Chongqing, received wide applause on Chinese social media networks for his active participation in the fight against forest fires in Chongqing. Being able to use and mend a chain saw, Stonier volunteered to stand together with locals in cutting down trees to make isolation belts. To foreigners who live here law abidingly and in friendship, the Chinese people are willing to show their friendliness in return.That a foreign citizen has received a death sentence should put an end to any illusion some foreigners in China may have that their foreign nationality means they won’t face punishment if they commit a crime.

Neil Oliver: ‘Don’t be fooled into thinking this disaster movie is coming to an end’

From Scotland. Applies to all nations of the West.

Wonderful Photos Capture Everyday Life of Florida in the 1980s

Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba; it is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

More: Steven Martin h/t: vintag.es

Spanning 65,758 square miles (170,310 km2), Florida ranks 22nd in area among the 50 states, and with a population of over 21 million, is the third-most populous. The state capital is Tallahassee and the most populous city is Jacksonville. The Miami metropolitan area, with a population of almost 6.2 million, is the most populous urban area in Florida and the ninth-most populous in the United States; other urban conurbations with over one million people are Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville.

Florida is world-renowned for its beach resorts, amusement parks, warm and sunny climate, and nautical recreation; attractions such as Walt Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center, and Miami Beach draw tens of millions of visitors annually. It has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States, spanning approximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km), not including its many barrier islands, and has 4,510 islands that are ten acres (4 ha) or larger in area, the second highest number after Alaska.

Florida has several unique ecosystems, most notably Everglades National Park, the largest tropical wilderness in the U.S. and among the largest in the Americas. Unique wildlife include the American alligator, American crocodile, American flamingo, Roseate spoonbill, Florida panther, bottlenose dolphin, and manatee. The Florida Reef is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States, and the third-largest coral barrier reef system in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef).

Golden Girls Elvis Wedding

This is such a great clip. Put a big old smile on your face. Please enjoy!

A Russian Blue

A couple months after our guinea pig had passed away, my mother asked my brother and I if we wanted another guinea pig. My brother refused and I suggested as I had been for months that we should get a cat.

My mother and father took this as a joke as I was allergic to cats.

I didn’t give up.

I researched for months about hypoallergenic cat breeds that would cause less of a reaction.

I used a website called Petfinder that showed thousands of cats and told you their breed, personality and which shelter they were at.

I found a Russian Blue at a nearby shelter and convinced my mother to drive me there on a Saturday so I could visit him.

When we got there I spotted him immediately and asked a volunteer if I could hold him.

The volunteer went to pick him up (He was enormous and I knew from the shelter’s website that he weighed about 12 pounds) but he jumped out of her arms and smacked her hands away.

The volunteer apologized and told me that he didn’t want to be held right now.

I told her it was alright and turned to look at the other cats.

While looking I saw a cat staring at me nearby.

I read her information sheet that was hung on her crate that she was a Siamese cat named Josie.

I knew Siamese cat were considered by some to be hypoallergenic because of their low shedding and asked the volunteer if I could hold her.

Josie came out of her crate willingly and the second she was in my arms, she began to purr.

The volunteer said that Josie was usually unfriendly to visitors.

In fact she had been a adopted before and returned after three days because she had not been friendly enough.

I cuddled her and turned to my mom with a big smile.

Even my mom had to admit it was perfect.

We applied for adoption that very night.

Two weeks later, after much shopping, we brought Josie home with us.

“Anyone who is a Republican has a spiritual problem” … The Raft of George W. Bush, NM, 2006.

“This was based on Théodore Géricault’s painting The Raft of the Medusa, which recorded a great tragedy in French history. Géricault depicted the aftermath of a terrible act of cowardice by the Medusa’s captain and his officers. They ran the ship aground off the coast of what is now Mauritania in 1816. When they couldn’t set the frigate free, they took all of the small boats and left more than 140 passengers to fend for themselves on a raft.

Only 15 survived, having resorted to cannibalism.

When I saw the painting in the Louvre, I noticed a correlation between that tragedy and the eight years of George W. Bush’s administration. I think Bush would have been a wonderful president of the Baseball Association. But he had no talent for the job of president of my country.

I spent a long time looking at the original painting, but decided to add something: a crown of lights on Bush’s head, to represent his little thoughts. And I had his hand fondling the breast of someone who I thought might be Condoleezza Rice, his secretary of state”. (Photo by Joel-Peter Witkin)

This is where “Asians” come from…

The haunted face of Sicily.

“I’d just come back from shooting in a poor district of Palermo. I was waiting for the bus and I saw this guy. His face was a battlefield. The dark energy was all there.

He’s not a mafioso.

Mafiosi have a totally different body language. They stand tall, they are aggressive. I just saw this battered, haunted face of Sicily. I work with a Hasselblad 500cm so I hold the camera at waist level and look down into the viewfinder. I composed, judged the focus, aperture and shutter speed, then I shot – two or three frames.

He looked straight at me. He was frozen somehow.

He didn’t realise I was taking his picture. Immediately after, I approached him and asked if I could take a closer one. He said: “No, no, no, no, no!” I asked why. His voice was anxious. “Because I’m nervous!” Why are you nervous? “Because I’m waiting for the bus!”. (Photo by Mimi Mollica)

What’s the most inaccurate thing your child has ever been taught in school?

I was at work. The phone at my desk rang.

It was the school office calling me.

“Mr. Phillips, this is Mrs. Smith (not her real name), I am calling you to tell you that your daughter had an accident, today.”

My heart immediately sank. The tension rose in my heart like I had just jumped into Lake Superior while there were still ice blocks washing up on shore.

“What’s happened? Is she okay?” Waiting anxiously for each word.

“Yes, I guess, Mr. Phillips. Your (11 years old, mind you) daughter urinated on herself in class and we need you to bring her a new set of clothing.”

—-Long pause—-

Internally, I was overjoyed that it wasn’t a physical injury of some kind; but then my mind started to insert a few questions into my consciousness.

Me: “Wait, what did you say?” (Mrs. Smith repeated her statement.)

Me: “Where was she?”

Smith: “She was in class.”

Me: “Where is she now?”

Smith: “Well, she’s in the lobby of the school office.”

Me: “When did this happen?” (Her reply was muddled a bit. I found out later that it was more like an hour.)

Me: “Is she still in her wet clothing?”

Smith: “Yes”

At this point, I am an hour away from the school and my wife was unavailable. I reminded them of those facts…

Apparently, my daughter was taught by the teacher that girls (a lie just because the teacher didn’t like kids getting up and disrupting her class), could hold their bladder longer than class, so no girl should have to get up and go to the bathroom, during class.

As she explained that my daughter deliberately peed herself to get out of class, I stopped Mrs. Smith and demanded to speak to the vice principal.

Mr. Jones (not his real name) picked up the phone. “Mr. Jones. Hi, Mr. Phillips, your daughter is sitting on a towel here in the main office. How soon can you get here? It’s starting to smell.”

My eyes are starting to bleed, at this point. With all my military bearing now completely gone, my words came fast and full of “pappa bear”.

ME: “Mr. Jones, I am about an hour away from school. I can’t leave work. However, I will be picking my daughter up from school today. When I do pick her up, here’s what I expect. I expect my daughter will be clean, dressed in fresh clothing, and full of stories about how she was apologized to by you, your teacher and the principal of the school for not allowing her to go to the restroom when she politely asked. IF I find she’s anything other than what I just described, then I will drive my daughter in her urine-soaked smelly clothing to the emergency room at the local hospital, to make sure her bladder isn’t ruptured, then to my attorney’s office, so that he can participate in teaching you all accurate information about the illegality of physically keeping a child from going to the restroom! On top of that, I will be speaking at great length to the school board about how irresponsible and cruel it was for you to do this to someone’s child! Do I make myself clear?”

That situation still grieves me terribly, every time I think of it. It’s not just information that comes to our kids, all mixed up and twisted. They are being manipulated by school staff, as a commodity. When you see stuff like this, it makes you so angry!

Epilogue: I picked up my daughter, and her clothes were nicer than the ones I sent her to school with. She was clean and gave me a big hug. She was sitting some distance away from the vice principal while he was on the phone with me, but she heard me quite clearly explain their error to them.

I told her, “If you hear anything in school that you doubt for one second, come to me. Call your mom. Don’t ever be disrespectful; but if you ever have to go to the restroom, you excuse yourself politely, and you get up and go. I will back you!”

Another hug.

The Decline And Fall Of The Western Empire

Almost everyone sees it, and almost no one wants to discuss it: America and Western Europe are spiraling out of control. And the speed of the descent is crescendoing rapidly.

ByJonas E. Alexis, Assistant Editor

–

August 30, 2022

By Chuck Baldwin

Almost everyone sees it, and almost no one wants to discuss it: America and Western Europe are spiraling out of control. And the speed of the descent is crescendoing rapidly.

It took a long time for the old Roman Empire to collapse. The seeds of its demise blossomed slowly, but the historically astute among the Romans saw the destructive nation-eating plants growing when they first began to appear, but no one would believe them. And when the end came, it came quickly—almost overnight.

The Roman Empire was so rich and prosperous and so militarily mighty that no one within the empire could even imagine that a collapse was possible. I’m sure that what I’ve heard hundreds of Americans say, “It can’t happen here,” also echoed throughout the old Roman Empire for generations.

From The Saker:

Sometime in the future a learned academic will be writing a weighty tome with the title The Decline and Fall of the Western Empire. Perhaps the Contents Page will include, among others, twelve chapters with titles something like this: World War One. World War Two. Korea. Vietnam. Palestine. Iran. Nicaragua. Afghanistan. Iraq. Syria. Ukraine. Taiwan.

Indeed, Karin Kneissel, the former Austrian Foreign Minister, is at present writing a book with the working title A Requiem for Europe. In an interview with Asia Times on 31 July she declared that ‘European countries are growing ever weaker on the international stage and their places are being taken by Asian countries’. She said that the Europe ‘where she was born and grew up and to which she was devoted no longer exists’. ‘European leaders, through ignorance and arrogance, are neglecting the existing geopolitical realities and basic principles of diplomacy and this has created a dangerous situation’.

She added: ‘This is connected with Eurocentrism. We believe that we are so great that nobody can do without us…It seems to me that Europe needs Russia more than Russia needs Europe. If I am right, then is it really in the interests of the Old World to treat Moscow as an enemy, inclining Moscow to Beijing? Today Europeans are more and more disillusioned and desperate and this may cause mass disorder and anti-government violence’.

Kneissel, who is from Central Europe, makes it sound as if Europe is living in the past, before 1914, when it was politically central to the world, instead of being a more or less irrelevant political backwater as it is in 2022. What is certain is that the physical fall of an empire is always preceded by its spiritual fall.

Spiritual fall always precedes the fall of the State. In the Ukraine many have noticed the satanic tattoos and pentagrams on the bodies of the Neo-Nazi thugs who formed the elite of the Kiev regime armed forces and many have seen videos showing their satanic rituals.

The extraordinary thing is the self-justification of the Western world for its own suicide and its refusal to admit that anything is wrong with it. On the contrary, only its ‘values’ of ‘freedom, democracy and human rights’ are correct and must therefore be spread throughout the ‘free world’. All who do not accept its ‘values’, which in fact are anti-values because they are destructive, not constructive like real values, must be mocked, slandered and, if necessary, bombed into submission. Today’s Western world is visibly coming to resemble medieval frescoes showing the torments of hell, which are what spiritual death is. The Western world has been demonised, the demons have been called up from the bowels of hell to occupy it and visibly and mockingly inflict its ‘Western values’.

Did you catch what he said? “Spiritual fall always precedes the fall of the State.” I have been saying this for over three decades. How many times have you heard me say that America’s primary problems are spiritual, not political?

My critics often call me a “political” pastor. If those same people had really listened to me for any significant period of time they would know that I am one of the most apolitical preachers in the country. While the pastors who call me “too political” are neck-deep it partisan politics, defining America’s problems in mostly political terms by promoting the Republican Party and refusing to oppose GOP politicians when they engage in destructive and anti-Freedom activities and policies for fear that doing so would “help the Democrats,” I spare no party or politician. I am not interested in what is good for the party; I am only interested in what is good for the country and what is RIGHT.

Party partisanship, compromise, personal agendas, arrogance, willful ignorance of the Constitution and the total void of the fear of God have turned the vast majority of our political leaders in both parties into dangerous demagogues who are facilitating our nation’s destruction. Truly, they are “blind leaders of the blind.”

If America’s primary problems are spiritual (which they certainly are, as The Saker astutely observes), then the solutions are primarily spiritual. And this reality puts the responsibility of providing these spiritual solutions squarely on the shoulders of America’s spiritual shepherds: the pastors.

But as you very well know, on the whole, America’s pastors are totally unmoved and uninterested in providing the courageous spiritual leadership that America so desperately needs.

Very quickly, let me tell you the reasons why this is happening. Being a veteran pastor of over 47 years qualifies me to provide both an educated and experiential analysis. All pastors will not fall under each category below, but taken together, the following categories encompass the vast majority of evangelical pastors, regardless of denomination.

1. Pastors are hirelings.

They serve at the pleasure of a church board or committee. They are not their own men. They are bought and sold by the denomination or the church governing councils.

2. Pastors are success-driven.

Pastors covet “success.” They know they need people to fill their buildings and fund their programs. They also know that if they preach “hard” truth too much, they will lose a significant percentage of their congregations and thus lose a sizable percentage of their income.

In order to “succeed,” therefore, they use gimmicks, music, theatrics, entertainment, recreation and SOFT PREACHING to bring in—and keep—the masses. Accordingly, many pastors are not shepherds and watchmen; they are motivational speakers, comics and entertainers.

In short, they are people-pleasers and not God-pleasers.

At this point, I cannot resist the urge to quote the Apostle Paul:

Do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

3. Pastors fear the government more than God.

The fear of God is not their uppermost concern; the fear of government occupies that position.

The genesis of this transfer of allegiance began in 1954 when then-Senator Lyndon Johnson spearheaded the law that brought churches under the authority of the Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)(3) non-profit corporations.

The possibility of violating an IRS “guideline” for non-profit organizations and, therefore, losing the “church’s” precious tax-exempt status is uppermost in their minds every time a pastor stands behind his pulpit.

Over time, this subservient spirit—bolstered by the convenient misinterpretation of Romans 13—has turned pastors into sheepish servants of the state.

4. Pastors are cowards.

They know that in times such as we live in today, taking bold positions on controversial and inconvenient truths WILL cost something—and it might cost a lot. This they are unwilling to do.

My pastoral journey includes being in the inner circles of the so-called Religious Right in the late 1970s through the early 2000s. I knew many of the “big name” evangelical preachers of that era. I knew them in public; I knew them in private.

I saw the “marriage vow” they took to the GOP. I heard their private admissions to how being accepted by the political establishment, aka “having a seat at the table,” was directly linked to their personal fortunes. I saw the spirit of covetousness for power, position, notoriety and money. I saw the jealousies and raw ambitions.

To be sure, the above indictments do not apply to all of them—THANK GOD! But the above applies to far, far too many of them.

It’s easy to “courageously” attack Democrats when your bread is buttered by Republicans. In fact, if you could see the donor lists of the major Republican politicians and the major evangelical leaders, you would learn that those lists match almost perfectly. That pretty much says it all.

5. Pastors are servants and spokesmen for Zionist Israel.

Call me anything you want, but I am telling the truth when I say that Israeli interests and ideologies dominate the vast majority of evangelical pastors. The false prophecy doctrines of Zionist-bought Cyrus Scofield (aka Prophetic Dispensationalism, Prophetic Futurism, Christian Zionism, etc.) dominate the vast majority of major evangelical colleges and seminaries, the vast majority of television evangelists, the vast majority of evangelical radio broadcasts, the vast majority of evangelical publishing companies and the vast majority of evangelical churches.

Commitment to Zionism keeps pastors in bondage. One cannot separate the “global elite,” the “Davos crowd,” the “one-percenters,” the promoters of the “New World Order,” the modern-day cabal of international “moneychangers” and the promoters of all things anti-Christian, anti-America and anti-Liberty from Zionist Israel. They are inseparable.

As long as pastors are held in bondage to Zionism, they are incapable of discerning evil, much less resisting it.

Quoting The Saker again: “Spiritual fall always precedes the fall of the State.”

When The Decline And Fall Of The Western Empire is eventually written, it will not be kind to the evangelical pastors and Protestant leaders of this generation. And that’s putting it mildly.

What is an experience you had at a crime scene you’ll never forget?

As a crime scene technician, I have plenty. The first one that comes to mind is the woman who took PCP, then shot and killed her 4 young children, a neighbor, and herself.

I’ll give y’all the general idea, but out of respect & confidentiality, I won’t be posting any photos or information that could identify any of the persons involved.

My team and I arrived on scene. The local PD cleared us to enter the premises. Upon entry, there was blood everywhere. The mother killed herself at the doorway. To the right on the couch, the 5yr old was shot. Bloody, child sized footprints led down the hallway. The closet door was open in the hall, revealing the 6 month old baby she shot. To the right, a bedroom with 2 twin mattresses. The center of the mattress was the 8 or 9yr old. More bloody footprints in the room led to the closet. The 3yr old passed away there, cowering in fear.

My team did not access the neighbor who was killed.

We found a lot of evidence that the local PD had missed. Half of it was in plain sight. We discovered the killers cell phone, spent bullets, casings, I.D.s, etc. It seemed like the responding officers didn’t really look for any of it.

I believe that they were overwhelmed by such a gruesome scene. It was a very small country area & they probably hadn’t seen anything like it before. It was pretty intense.

To me, what made it unforgettable, was the fact a drug could completely change a person and cause them to run rampant, killing your own children.

I found this letter in a laundry basket.

The neighbors all knew this lady was getting messed up on PCP.

If you know of anyone with children in their home & are using hard drugs, please report them to CPS or the police. This whole situation could’ve been avoided if her neighbors & family had taken action.

Community. We need to be part of our community. - MM

How To Make Iced Vietnamese Coffee

Brewed in a traditional Vietnamese coffee maker

This is a step-by-step recipe for preparing delcious Vietnamese Coffee using a traditional Vietnamese coffee maker known in Vietnam as a phin (or French press). The phin most likely originated in Cambodia in the 1800’s and is essentially a single-serving coffee brewer and filter that sits atop the coffee cup or glass.

Vietnamese coffee prepared in this way ensures the grounds of the coffee are steeped for longer than some other brewing techniques and results in a richer and more intense flavor that is delcious served either hot or iced.

You can watch the Trung Nguyen Iced Coffee Video below, demonstrating this Vietnamese coffee brewing technique for making delicious iced Vietnamese coffee.

You will need:

2 tablespoons ground Vietnamese Coffee
1/2 cup boiling hot water
1-2 tablespoons of Sweet Condensed Milk (to taste)
1/2 cup ice cubes or crushed ice
Vietnamese Coffee Filter

Preparation

In a stainless steel Vietnamese Coffee Filter, add 2 tablespoons of Vietnamese Coffee. Screw the smaller filter into the coffee filter.
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of Sweet Condensed Milk into a drinking glass. Place filter on top of the drinking glass. Pour hot water into the filter.
Once hot water has filtered through, remove the filter from the glass. Stir the milk to dissolve into the coffee. Add ice with coffee and stir again.

Hot Vietnamese Coffee is made the same way but excluding the ice.

Cat Cafe Inspiration

I hope that this puts a smile on your face and warmth in your heart.

I want to post some uplifting happy stuff.

I hope this post makes the grade.

It all began in 2004, when the first cat cafe opened its doors in Osaka. Since then, the petting zoo/coffee house hybrids have invaded Tokyo, and business is booming. After removing your shoes and washing your hands, you can relax or play with the cats and kittens while you have your drink. Prices are reasonable, and the rules are simple: no flash photos, no grabbing tails or waking sleeping kitties.

Life is too short not to spend it with friends, family and our furry little friends. There are numerous cat, dog, and bird themed coffee houses and tea houses in China. They are nice to visit, and to spend some time in.

This is one in Japan.

It’s a great way to enjoy yourself and to make friends with some of the creatures that roam the tea / coffee establishments.

I know that this is a short post, but I am in the start of a new affirmation campaign and a large number of affirmations are coming into reality, and that means all sorts of upset, stress and change. Don’t freak out. It’s normal!

Have a great day you all.

Remember! I believe in you!

Some notes on night time bumping with new friends in China, hotels and QR codes

Well, this post is to be an elaboration on a few specific MM comments. The poster wanted some clarification on what is going on regarding [1] hotels (in China, obviously) and [2] “new friends” that you might make on your adventures inside of China, and I of course, was more than willing to help him out.

But before I begin, let me clarify a few things.

First Off, China has changed.

China is not the way it was ten years ago, or even later. The days of going to a salon with wall to wall girls that can give you some manly pleasures are few and far-between today. Even in the remote communities. It’s all kind of dying off.

So your experience from ten years ago or longer are actually (sad to say) not really going to be replicated. Those days are over.

I do not see them returning.

The same goes with the ladies that walk the streets, and hang out on the corners. You used to see them everywhere and on certain streets. You can still go to those streets, but things are much more discreet these days. You need to know what you are doing, and have a local friend to help you navigate the local geography.

It’s all about change.

And change is good. Well, in this case it’s good.

Part of the reasons behind these changes it are due to laws, part of it is due to society, and part of it is due to technology.

Laws

China has implemented some harsh laws regarding morality. The Chinese government wishes to maintain a traditional culture, and thus many venues related to vice are discouraged. Prostitution has always existed, and still exists, but it is no longer so blatant and open as it used to be.

Raw, Western style, quick flings are a dying breed. Instead, they have been replaced with talented and beautiful courtesans. These are mighty women. Some youngish (in their 20's) and some older. All strong, capable and beautiful.

Not to mention... profit oriented.

Society

China is very prosperous. 

The Western "news" has been so God-Damn awful that no one outside of China realizes just how well off the Chinese are. They are not only far richer than their American equals, but they own multiple homes, have savings, and are generally far happier. 

A walk through any Chinese parking lot will produce a vast number of Mercedes, BMW's, Porches, and high-end local vehicles. Not to mention the occasional Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Bentley.

What this means is that even the poorest Chinese person is doing quite well. The need to go prostitute yourself out of drug addiction, poverty or some kind of forced-slavery is no longer on the table. People who prostitute themselves in China do so for additional money, or to improve their lives. Not out of necessity.

Technology

QR code in the skies of Shenzhen. All done by laser-mounted and LED mounted drones flying via 5G and AI.

Sure there are dating APPs, and payment APPS and QR codes and all sorts of technology that makes business transactions very easy, and free. 

Unlike the USA where every single thing you do comes with a fee, in China it's free. You want to transfer some money electronically, scan the QR. No cost. It's free. Try doing that in America. America is the land with a million tiny, tiny hands in your wallet taking very small bites out of everything that you do, so that at the end of the day your wallet is empty.

Not in China.

So it's much easier to network electronically, make your connections and associations and make some "new friends" in the process. Everyone has a smart phone, and unlike America where you need to pay a weeks salary for one, here in China they are cheap and easy to get. Everyone has them. Everyone uses them.

And if you want to make a few spare yuan on the side, it's ridiculously easy to meet new people, and make new friends.

China is far, far, FAR more advanced than anyone in the West has any idea about. All those electronics, and technologies that come from Germany, Japan, Switzerland and Korea are all developed and made inside of China.

That’s the reality.

And that is partially why the US government is so horrified about “China’s rise”. As if it just happened “over night”. It didn’t.

And don’t even get me started on the idea that America is going to invest 2 trillion dollars on infrastructure to catch up with China…

Catch up…

The second point…

I think that the world has become a very harsh place.

Some places like the Middle East, and America are very difficult places to live. People feel under all sorts of pressure and need a release. They want some fun, and some pleasure.

And while I like to talk about the sexual activity that may or may not be associated with this, I strongly believe that the companionship of some new friends, some good food, and great conversation is really … REALLY… very much in need today.

Seriously, the best conversationalists are women.

I am sorry guys. That’s a fact. And they can chat up a storm, and they are interesting to boot! Add to that the fact that they can read EQ and emote to you on a very deep and significant level. It’s calming to me, and seriously I need to relax before I am ready to perform any kind of sexual activity. I’m not a 16 year old boy. I need intellectual stimulation to relax.

The old days of being “ready to go” in a second and leap into bed are long, long gone. Those days are like a very distant memory to me.

Now from my point of view, as a older man, I need to have more stimulation aside from what you would just get sexually. I need to have some good food. Some great wine. And some great conversation with a woman that spends the time to look great and who is willing to chat up and have some fun with me. Other older men in the MM audience know what I am talking about.

For you’se other guys that don’t know, and don’t understand, you WILL find out.

Just popping a Viagra, or a Cialis just won’t cut it.

It’s no longer about getting “it up”, and “staying hard”. It’s also about wanting to have sex, being interested, and staying interested, and having the energy and stamina to engage in some physical romping.

Your little-MM won’t budge an inch unless you are relaxed and interested in your partner and what they have to say.

That’s just the way it is.

Believe me or not. I don’t care.

For me, you just aren’t gonna get that with a run-of-the-mill street walker. Instead, You get that (what you need) from friends, and from other people who are upwardly mobile looking to chat up with successful and interesting men.

Interesting men. People who can discuss things on a wide selection of topics, and who have some money to spend, and like to play around a little bit. And that’s … well… you all like MM don’t you?

Ok. Enough of that disclaimer.

I think you all know what I am trying to say. Stop thinking that everything is a black and white cartoon. It isn’t. the world is colorful, and the needs of humans are varied and complex. Our best experiences come from understanding and embracing this fact.

Drink some wine. Chat up on a subject that you love to talk about. Be a little goofy, or silly. Don’t be afraid to say things. Joke some, drink some and eat some delicious food. have a great time, and then… relaxed, and engaged, you can take your time alone with your new friends. At a nice, leisurely pace.

It’s a win – win.

The Comment

I think this comment was written on 19APR21.

Concerning “ding dong” girls.

IMO best to just go into the bar. My first experience was in a Zhuhai hotel. (Took ferry straight from Hong Kong airport). The bar folks will call somone to come talk to you if there is no one there.

However, found out the hard way that first Chinese trip that you need to be careful about the pebble trick (I believe that is what happened: someone put a stone in the door so it never fully closed and while showering someone came in and exchanged my real RMB with counterfeit RMB). First the taxi guy told me I had fake RMB (didn’t believe him since I had it exchanged in the bank the previous day) but accepted they were fake when I went for an incredible foot and back massage the next night.

Also, learned the scary way in Shanghai to never go to KTVs that are not connected to the hotels you are staying in, unless you are with a local.

If one had a “ding dong” girl (first time I heard the term), how does one pay them if currency is no longer exchanged? Or do you still need cash for stuff like that?

And this is my response, and note that I elaborated upon it substantially…

Payment

You pay the girls using QR scans via Ali-pay, WeChat, or in E-yuan.

The most common way to move money around to friends or make purchases within China is through QR code. Everyone has one, and depending on your situation, you might have a couple all directing to different backs or purposes that you have arranged beforehand. You can read about it HERE.

Sometimes you can use some paper currency. They are useful. No one is going to reject a couple of thousand RMB if you hand it to them.

But in general, you use e-pay. You just generate your personal QR to your bank account. It’s amazingly easy.

If she (or he) is reluctant to give you a QR to scan, you can easily pass the money to here electronically. (BTW, It’s never happened.) I know that there is a KTV club in Louhu, Shenzhen that has a nice troop of young attractive men (in white) that service the ladies. They have a QR code printed on a cloth that is sewn into their jacket. They just flop out the cloth QR and the lady (or guy) scans the code and everyone is good to go.

Male hosts tend to provide services to the ladies in fine, clean (and often white) attire.

It doesn’t sound very classy, but it is. It’s all in the presentation. You know, for a man who is providing services to a lady, the actions and the behaviors are all very scripted and precise. It’s not crude at all, but rather very refined, polite, and calming.

In general, the most common way of transferring money is through the exchange of wechat names, and then you can either do a direct transfer, or send a few red envelopes to her. As in the picture at the top of this article.

Sending a “red envelope” full of money to a friend is very easy using WeChat.

If that doesn’t work, then you can do a direct surface to surface transfer of cash.You use a direct transfer APP and put your two phones physically together and the transfer goes directly without using Wifi.

Finally, if she is associated with the hotel, you can tack her fees to your hotel bill, and the gal at the register will hand her cash or transfer via QR.

Most of the bars with the bar-girls available via ferry from HK to Shekou no longer exist. The entire area has been built up by overseas Chinese investors and is now one large sprawling mall with Western prices. Yikes!

As far as Zhuhai is concerned, the major hotels that were involved in the KTV girls pretty much were closed. The hotel in front of my home was busted in 2013 for having 600 KTV girls. It was a night of many sorrows, I can well imagine.

Vice raids on Chinese hotels that host KTV girls and boys occur all over China. Since 2013 the police has put a major clamp-down on these establishments and most have ended up operating in a stealth mode ever since.

Ding Dong girls are the girls on the colorful business cards that you see shoved under your hotel doors, or on the street. Usually if you see a trail of cards on the sidewalk, they are a trail of “bread crumbs” that you follow to a hotel lobby.

You can tell that “X” marks the spot with a bunch of cards lying on the cement in front of the lobby door.

So you look down, see all these business sized colorful cards with pictures of cute girls and then you look in the front lobby. There when you go in, you’ll see from three to seven girls all sitting around in the lobby looking bored and playing with their phones.

You can, of course, go up to them and chat.

But more commonly is that you turn on your wechat “scan for local members” and see if any of the girls near you are broadcasting.This feature will alert you to all the local people near you with a wechat on. Which should be a couple thousand. But if you only look at those that are the closest to you, you will be fine. You should be able to pick out the girls really easily.

For instance, if you are in a lobby, the girls will be from 1 to 10 meters away. So you look over the closest girls and try to associate the girl with the wechat picture. The smartest girls will put their picture so that you can recognize them directly.

Chances are, that they are available. so you find the gal that you want, and you connect, and send her a message. The wechat function allows you to chat and translate at the same time. So you just say hi. Ask the amount, and the desired services, and then you two can go up to the hotel and have some fun.

It’s super convenient.

Now the “shake” feature is something different. You can easily connect with someone. You both click on the shake feature , and then both phones will connect. It’s useful when you don’t have a local Wifi and you don’t want to use data. You just shake and broadcast.

I tend not to use it very much.

But it can get you to meet some interesting people…

About the “fun”

Well, I assume that most MM readers are adults, eh?

Fun means many things to many people. When I was a younger fellow, I would immediately get down to “business”. Get my rocks off and they see the lady out the door. But, you know, that’s a long, long time ago.

How Your Sex Drive Changes in Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

A long time ago.

Like Brian Ferry long time ago. “Both Ends Burning” long time ago.

Roxy Music – Both Ends Burning

So you see guys, as you get older, your testosterone drops dramatically, You just don’t have the interest in sex like you used to have when you are younger.

Now, the thing is that it’s not only the singular need to have enough blood pressure in the nether regions so you can pop up a nice erection, but rather it is the entire system.

It’s like a car that’s getting old…

Worn out car. This is what happens to hard-drivers when they get old.

When you get old, you are like a high-performance car that needs some really, really good tender loving and care.

You run out of gas…

…and out of oil,

…and out of windshield washer fluid,

…and out of brake fluid,

…and out of steering wheel fluid,

…and a loss of air pressure in the tires…

Yikes!

And along with that comes with the entire effort to “get it up” to engage in sexual activity.

Actually as bad as it sounds, it’s no big deal. We all (really) don’t care that much about it. The truth of the matter is that by the time you are in your mid-60’s you know how the world works and discover that your fears about relationships and sex are just nonsense.

And when you don’t have that testosterone screaming in your ear all day and night, you can take your time and savor what is in front of you. Things are not so urgent, and driven any longer.

Truth.

You no longer gobble down a hamburger and wash it down with a coke. Instead, you take the time to find a nice local restaurant, and call a friend to join you. You pick out the meal carefully, and you savor the smells, the environment, and the companionship. You appreciate things more. You are no longer in such a frantic rush to “obtain”, or to “get” what ever it is that you are being driven towards.

As you get older, you start to savor what is placed before you. And you start enjoying life.

What is going on…

There are three primary components to a male sex rive & ability. They are…

Ability to have (and maintain) an erection. [Blood pressure]
Interest and desire
Ability to make the milky goodness and release.

Of course, this is never spoken about. The closest you ever come to this kind of discussion is on a Viagra commercial. But it’s a real issue and you all should be made aware of it.

Guys, because after all, we all encounter these situations. One way or the other, and…

Women, to understand what is going on with the men in your life, you need to best understand a little bit about their biology.

Now…

I really don’t want to have this entire article degrade into a biologically based topic, but I do want to though out some quick notes that people can nod in agreements with or go “pshaw! You dat crazy!”.

[1] Ability to have (and maintain) an erection. [Blood pressure]

This is easy, more or less, to take care of. There are medicines (today) such as viagra, levitra and cialis. that can take care of this issue. The thing is about this is that you must be careful with drinking alcohol when you mix drugs. And when you are older, and you are taking other medicines for heart issues, blood pressure issues, and other issues, mixing medicines can come with consequences.

The thing is, and it's an important thing, just being hard and strong means nothing unless your other two issues are taken cared for.

[2] Interest and desire

The ability to have interest and desire is also complex. Much of that comes from Testosterone. and men tend to lose it as they get older. Which can be a real problem. You can end up having a lot of sex, but can never release. It can be a little frustrating. Don't you know.

Now there are natural ways to increase your production of this very important hormone. Good healthy food, and moderate exercise will work wonders. You can also take one of the different kinds of testosterone medications that are available.

Heck! You can even get some of the testosterone injection tablets that they inject into cattle (to make them big) and suck on it for a few minutes to improve your dose. (They are little white pills that look like  tip of a ball point pen, on shaped like a miniature barrel.) But like all medications, if you do that without compensation in other areas, you might cause other problems. Try to strive for balance.

[3] Ability to make the milky goodness and release.

And thus, with the two above systems working well, and you are interested and relaxed with your partner, you would be able to ejaculate. And this (of course) starts up and fires up those wonderful endorphins that make us all feel good and healthy. 

And the more times you do this a day (with a partner) the younger you become. Not just in mental attitude, but also in physical health.

Which leads me to…

Exercise

Never the less, having sex is a great way to get exercise, and we need exercise. If you don’t get your needed exercise you can be prone to illnesses, and those illnesses can actually kill you. So exercise is an important part of your daily regimen. So we engage in healthy pleasureful exercise every opportunity we get.

Did you know that men who have daily or sex often (during) a week tend to live, act, and look ten times younger? Its true!

So every opportunity I get, I try to engage in sex… you know… for health reasons. It’s important for me (personally) and for my family. It’s a need that all men must take regardless of your age.

Now if you don’t believe me, that’s fine too. But I am going to stick with my theories. Thank you very much.

The need for fun & companionship

All this being said, even if you have near-zero levels of testosterone, and a low interest in sex, you do want and need to have companionship. And if you are out and about, on the road, working like crazy, far away from home you do get lonely.

It might be nice eating in a restaurant a few times a week, but it gets really old, really fast if you are forced to do it every single day.

The life of a “road warrior” is not all that it is cracked up to be. And so when you are out with your friend and are out and about, it’s a real pleasure to have some close physical contact with an attractive member of the opposite sex who you want talk to and who is interesting.

And really…

Seriously…

Why be lonely when you could share it with other nice and interesting people. Not just women, of course, but men. And dogs. And cats. Is that fight, fight, fight for the “big money” worth taking away from some companionship, pleasures and fun?

I say NO!

Hotels

Now, we’ve talked about all sorts of things, but let’s get down to talking about hotels. And Lordy, I have seen my fair share. I have been in every kind of hotel imaginable inside China. From five star castles to one star flop-houses, to rural three-star “business” hotels, to Bordello Hotels. I’ve been to them all.

It’s always an adventure.

They are not the clones of hotels that you see in the USA. Whether it is a Marriott, Hilton or Hotel-6. Each hotel inside of China has it’s own very unique and interesting branding. It’s all a real pleasure.

Like before, this all began with a comment…

In reply to congjing yu.

Your integrity shows by not trying to dispel reality.

The criticism of public washrooms must include a caveat about Hotel rooms and their showers.

Spent over a hundred days in China over 20+ trips to China in early 2010’s. Being SuperElite on Air Canada had me upgraded on almost ever flight to First Class while paying almost always under USD$1,000 return. So I am smart cheap and have experiences in Chinese hotels. And was fortunate to hit 6 of 7 continents before 50 and hope to step on 7th before I die.

Chinese hotels are the BOMB! Spacious and Clean and everyone with King-sized beds. Now there are filthy hotels I am sure, but I always paid between USD$50-USD$100/night. Each room would have cost more than USD$300 in Western Europe, USD$250 in NYC, and over USD$150 everywhere else in Canada and the U.S.

The Showers were the best in the World. All showers had room for 2 and many for 3. Rain showers with incredible shower heads were included in almost all rooms. Some had water jets from the sides. Funny things is that half were glass so you could see the rest of the room while showering (something I have never experienced outside China – maybe available in rest of southeast Asia, but I have not traveled there)! There was a shower curtain (shower privacy blind) on the side facing the room, so if you had a visitor in your room and didn’t want them to see you, you could pull down.

I suggest anyone wanting to see what I am raving about just watch a few of the many Chinese quarantine videos out there.

MM, question: You showed us your kit that you use to go on overnight stays. You included a toothbrush and toiletries. Have Chinese hotels gone the Rest of the World way and no longer provide these?

Every hotel room I was in had complimentary combs, tooth brushes, and plenty of everything else. Many even had complimentary condoms.

-TorontoSamIAm

Great info on the hotels, I think that I am going to write an article on this subject int he future. Thanks for the alert!

Actually, I am so used to the Hotels inside of China that I have forgotten just how shoddy the ones in the United States are.

You are absolutely correct, and they all are nice. Or course, you were a foreigner so you probably stayed at the four and five star hotels, and of course they are the shit! I’ll tell you what, but you must know that I am used to sleeping all over the place in China, from five star hotels to one star hotels. So I have a pretty decent idea of what it is all about.

Most showers are glass. When I mean most, I mean 99.9999% are. I have NEVER seen a shower curtain in my life here. Most are very open, spacious and have these very nice shower heads. Most of the shower accessories are made in FoShan, and coincidentally, I happen to know most of the factory bosses for this particular line of products. And yeah… all over the world… they are all made in China.

Foshan is in the center of the Guangdong province. It is near the major city of Guangzhou.

As far as the kit goes, each hotel is different.

Most do have toiletries. They do, as well as complementary items for your use and a few free bottles of water, a tea kettle, and free tea. Also normal are disposable slippers, bathrobes, and condom access. Also normal is a gas mask (in a red box) in case there is a fire in the hotel.

Emergency fire-mask that can be found in all of the hotels inside of China.

What is not normal is ice. The only time where I have seen an ice machine is in the five star western hotels. Never in the local hotels.

Also a shaving kit tends to be hit or miss. I would say around 40% of the hotels don’t have them. Also missing is hand creme or lotion. This seems to be very common in the United States, but absolutely absent in China.

Now that all being said, on occasion, I have run into instances where there isn’t a toothbrush. It does happen, you know. So what I tend to do is pick up a spare brush or two and throw it in my kit just in case. I haven’t needed them for a while, but it’s better safe than sorry.

In the smaller cities, you can also get a lot of “ding dong” girl cars slid under your door. They tend to look good on the cards, but the real deal is rather hit or miss.

Ding Dong Cards

These are the cards that you find lying everywhere. They have a half-life and tend to expire, so if you find a fresh card around then you can probably pick it up if you want to meet someone new.

And…

While I am at it…

Let’s take a look at some of the advertisements that you can find inside the men’s bathrooms all over China. The following is a stamp that I think ended up being stamped everywhere in China. They must have used a couple tankers of red ink to advertise all this…

Anyways…

This is pretty much how it is inside of China.

If you are at a Western hotel that caters to travelers from the West the beds will be extra soft, they will have complementary coffee packets, some hand lotion, and English-fluent staff. The rest of China will, however, have harder beds. Complementary tea bags, and instructions in Chinese.

It’s all good.

A final note…

We are not machines.

And the illusions that the media, and that the “news” provide to us tend to be lies. The gals in the pictures that you see might be all that perfect, and alluring and wonderful, but you know what?

It’s when their real personality comes out that I really get interested in them. It’s when I see what they are like. It’s when I see that behind that nice perfect appearance that they have “heart”, passion, and uniqueness.

It’s the PERSONALITY that makes my jizzle sizzle!

Do you want more?

I have more posts along these lines in my China KTV Index here…

Business KTV's

Articles & Links

Master Index

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The big lie that everyone is equal

It’s really a pretty big lie that everyone is equal. No one is.

We are all different. We have different types of hair, different ways of thinking, different likes in food, different views of attractiveness, and different ways of handling things.

Conformity is a tool used to control groups of people.

When you need to handle unruly herds of people, or things (like herding kittens), you need to create rules and ways of handling things. Back in the days when organized schools first started popping up, the fierce independence of the children were bleached out of them to make room for order and control.

During this time, as the children grew up and became adults they began to consider that level of control and uniformity as necessary for “a great society”. And when the adults became politicians, they repeated that action and placed rule after rule, and law after law. One after the other. All in an effort to make a well-organized, well-run nation.

But it’s not really true.

Independent thought, differences in ability, thoughts, emotions and opinions are what makes the world an interesting and colorful place. You really don’t want to relive the old days of conformity under some kind of grand master plan do you?

We try to force people into boxes to make them equal. You know, sort of like the scene in the Movie Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, where all the students are being repackaged into clones of each other.

You know.

Maybe something like this…

Is everyone equal in a court of law?

Is everyone equal in skills or ability?

Is everyone equal in beauty or attractiveness?

So WHY is America so obsessed with this notion of “equality”? No one is equal at anything. Instead, I argue that it is our DIFFERENCES that should be treasured. Not our similarities.

But…

That’s not how American schools operate…

And that indoctrination in school has entered American society. Like it or not. And that has since spread (like a dangerous virus) throughout the world…

One of the big lies in America today is that everyone is equal. It’s a lie because no one is actually equal. Everyone is different.

Quite. Different.

And that is a good thing.

Now the progressive liberals in the audience would be confused with this. As they equate “equality” with “democracy”, and “uniqueness” with “diversity”. You can’t do that and make those comparisons. They are nonsensical.

And the traditional conservatives want to make everyone fit into some kind of pre-determined role within society. One with stratification, and one where “misfits” have no place. It’s an exclusionary vision. It’s the “lone wolf” concept, where everyone is part of a tribe, with roles and set behaviors. All following a great parent-figure; their “leader”. And the misfits…

…well, they can just go somewhere else to die. Put them in a hospital. Put them on some kind of social program. Move them away, far away from the rest of society. They don’t belong. They are too different.

Which makes me want to have a cup of coffee and write this rant…

Do we really want to be like everyone else?

We see this all over the place.

There is NO SUCH THING as true equality. Yet, there is a large contingent of people that believe in this myth.

And I see it in the comment sections of social media. Where an eleven year old is commenting with a forty year old construction worker. The social media’s comment section gives the appearance that they are equal, but in “real life” they are world’s apart in knowledge, experience, ability and perceptions.

In truth, and in a real-world situation, the construction worker really wouldn’t give his “time of day” to the young opinionated kid.

Which is why metallicman screens all comments. It’s a grey-web don’t ya know. No one is equal. But everyone get’s an equal shot at saying their piece.

Other Places

On the LinkedIN social network, you can actually see the qualifications, experiences and abilities of the people commenting. This gives you advantage. And you can easily separate the commenters into groups;

Knowledgeable, savvy, experienced.
Young, idealistic, inexperienced.

Which is really handy-dandy in deciding whether or not to comment, respond or get dragged into a debate. If you see that the person is probably a ‘bot, or a youngster, or maybe a CEO (in name only) with no substantive background, you can well decide to ignore their sparring.

We need to know with whom we are talking with.

In “real life” you discuss matters as equals, with others that you consider to be equal to you. Whether it is an a social environment or in a work environment. You all know this. You talk differently with your bosses, boss than you do with a co-worker. Don’t you.

But social media has taken those natural barriers away.

Now we don’t really know whom we are talking with. Is is a peer, an equal, or someone we respect, or is it a snot nosed kid, a paid-for troll, or a drunk 20-something in his mother’s basement?

I like to imagine them trying to debate me face-to-face.

More than likely they would be pissing in their pants long before they skedaddled out the door.

You have to know who you are dealing with.

Which is a handy thing to be able to do; you only comment when it adds something to the discourse. You try to keep it focused, positive and kind if you can.

Metallicman Comments

Most of the Metallicman comments are worthy.

Meaning that they provide something of value to the discourse, and it enhances the site. You don’t have to crawl through comment after comment of insults, or distractions, or nonsense that you might find on other venues. (You know, I screen everyone. Yes. Even you Rob. LOL.)

Have you ever seen that?

You are reading a great article, and you get to the comment section and find that it has been hijacked by others, and the dialog went “off the rails” and on to some other subject? Yeah. Most of that is intentional. As most Trolls are paid to be assholes.

Anyways.

I like to think that the MM comment section is one of the best on the web. There’s good “meaty” stuff there from all over the world. And while not everyone agrees with each other, or holds the same point of view, everyone contributes equally. Some of which are truly outstanding.

It’s not like you have a stream of one-word gibberish from “participants” like this…

Hey!

Did any of those comments have meaning for you? Did they make sense to you? Are they contributing to the dialog in any way?

I read them, and I get this image of a 1950’s style robot with beeping and flashing red eyes, and brushed steel skin.

Contemporaneous commenters on most American social media platforms.

This equal participation is quite different from being fractionally equal to each other. Because I value our differences as key contribution vectors.

Contributions. Discussion. Social interaction.

Adds value to our life.

VALUE.

Time to chill over coffee

Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s there used to be a big old tureen of coffee in the backroom of where we would work. It did not matter what kind of work that you were doing. All companies provided free, thick and ample coffee to their employees. And as such, employees were free to drink as much as they want, with as much sugar and cream as they would like. This was thick, syrup-like deep coffee, with lots of sugar and real whipped cream.

We would drink the coffee in what ever was provided. Often is was one of about twenty old reused (over and over) old coffee cups. Sometimes it was styrofoam cups that we would use and then discard. When I worked in the military it was a big white cup emblazoned with the name of a project that I might be working on. I had about twenty of such cups lying all over my office(s) at one point in time.

Typical mug for people involved in Military development systems.

Anyways…

Drinking coffee and chatting about work is a pastime that I have come to appreciate. You know, when you go to a trade-show and you meet others in your industry, and you all can relate “war stories” about the same kinds of issues or the same kinds of problems… well it’s a bonding experience.

Whether it is something like this…

...That style mill is NOT a Sieg product, many enjoy it or the Precision Mathews branded version of it. I think Brian Rupnow has the Busy Bee one which is painted in Canadian paint. I can't specifically tell you if it is good for those jobs. I would think so, as long as it is mild steel and nothing hardened.

Or maybe something like this…

...With a nightmare engine, you may have tolerances set "by the book" on the ring gap, the mains and rod bearings, but every time you torque the bolts, you have to use a 4 foot pipe wrench on the crank pulley to turn it over. How does a normal rebuild become a nightmare? You may know or have heard of the scenario. You waste three gasket sets putting it together… tearing it down… putting it together… tearing it down etc, each time waiting for the UPS truck and new parts that you should've put in right off or replacements for new parts you destroyed on your first attempt. (Note: there's nothing I dislike more than cleaning gasket surfaces that I cleaned the weekend before). What should have been a weekend project has taken months, much of the time spent trying to avoid the shop so you can forget this perplexing failure. Many times, you are not at fault for a rebuild working out this way. It can happen frequently with engines that seized up in a hurry. Fortunately most rebuilds are undertaken because the tractor was just getting tired and nothing catastrophic happened to force the rebuild. By catastrophic, I mean something happened that made the engine stick hard and stick fast… while it was spinning at 1500 RPM.

Or on a different kind of subject…

We started off buy purchasing 1×12” fir from a local guy who has a small saw mill for his vast amount of timber. It’s always fun to dream of new creations when we go there. One thing when going through a small saw mill is the price of lumber is so much cheaper than the local hardware store. But the boards all needed plained so we bought a plainer to get this job done. It took five times per board going through the plainer. It was a full days job...

Or maybe something like this…

...now we must use the new FinCEN reports, which are available only electronically through the BSA E-Filing System. FinCEN is no longer accepting legacy reports, and that is a real pain in the ass...

To something not work related…

...You wouldn't need an alarm clock if you lived in the barn. That's because horses have a clock in their heads. Ask anyone who has to explain daylight-saving time to their horses. The better you can stick to a routine, the happier the horses are. That's not just referring to time, either. Make any other changes gradually, too, such as feed, water and turnout times.

Horses need friends. They're happy in a group situation, and if you see a horse who's a loner, he probably has some problem. Perhaps he's ill or hurting, or he's been pushed out of the group. You'll know right off that he's not a happy camper. The buddy doesn't have to be another horse, though that's preferable...

So what?

So what? Why is the “coffee break” so friggin’ important?

It’s simple really.

We are humans. We are not machines. We don’t go into a cube, at a certain time, stare into a lighted monitor for a set period of time, and then leave. We are social creatures, and we need social stimulation. The Coffee Break does that.

We can talk freely about anything.

A coffee break allows you to be able to speak freely about things.

Ah.

The freedom of speech.

It actually means something, don’t you know.

Being able to speak freely, with friends, colleagues, family or business associates is the bedrock of society. It is important. We can share our hopes, dreams, lives and frustrations together. We don’t need to hide behind politically correct speech or be quiet because someone might be offended.

And…

so…

I think that many of us have substituted “social media” for face-to-face in-person chatting and dialogs. We have forgotten that there is a difference between chatting with a kid on the street is different than with a coworker, which is much different than chatting in “mixed company” in a church, or some other social venue.

Conformity and “free speech”

When you have those that openly talk about limiting speech or print for one reason or the other, what you are seeing is that they are forcing people to conform.

Their vision of Heaven is one in which everyone wears the same state-issue wings. And all wear the same white robes, and all say the same things, in the same way.

Yet…

If you have a “free for all” where they are no rules, it becomes colorful and interesting. But only for a while…

A short while.

That marvelous utopia tends to collapse because there will always be a percentage who would abuse it. Whether it is a company trying to profit from it by spam, a couple of bored teenagers, a crusty old ill-tempered senior citizen, or an enraged SJW type, all it takes is a few misfits to spoil the entire “pot of chili”.

Which is why you need a minimum of rules, and a very flexible police force.

Here, on MM for instance… the rules are simple.

Don’t Troll.
Don’t insult me.
Don’t spam.
Don’t derail the discussion.
Don’t try to advertise.
Don’t be an asshole.

Aside from that, it’s pretty much a free-for-all. It’s colorful, and interesting and fun.

It’s not white = only approved comments that fit within the expectations of the readership.
It’s not black = anything goes. It’s not policed in anyway what so ever.
It’s grey. Minor policing of a chaotic situation.

And when you think about it, isn’t that the way everything should operate? Instead of having a 56 page manual on how to dress, like they did in General Motors, just replace it with a simple sentence “Dress appropriately for the task, role and situation.”

I like to believe that this “grey area” of discourse works for 95% of the population. And the policing keeps the 5% at bay and under control. It’s a mix of what is wanted and desired as opposed to abuse by those whom have poor social skills.

Conclusion

We need to realize that the ideal situation (in anything) is complex, colorful, chaotic and curious. To maintain that condition, you need to police it. You need to control the elements that want to either [1] destroy the individual environment (for what ever reason), or those that [2] want to improve the situation (usually invoking some kind of conformity).

This is true whether it is here at Metallicman, or in you local community.

We need to be on the constant alert for the people who wish to change what exists into something else…

…be it a free-for-all with trolls, commercials, profanity and other distortions…

…or, someone’s idea of utopia. One that can only be obtained with a great deal of laws, regulations and rules of behavior.

Do you want more?

I have more posts like this in my Happiness Index here…

Life & Happiness

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My publisher went out of business. So I need to set it up using other means. -MM

I want to buy one of your books but it is out of stock on Amazon. Is there a way…

Thanks for that. *sigh* Life can be so interesting sometimes. -MM

Sometimes the words in the 'narrative' need to be precise, at least in terms of 'calendar time'., or else confusion…

" Thanks for the Russian missile movement update via ol’ Panicky-Hal, Metallicman. What would life be like without him!? Meanwhile…

Here’s what the American media is saying…

And what China actually says…

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Russian, Chinese navies to hold Vostok 2022 strategic drills in Sea of Japan — top brass

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Biden Warns ‘Brave Right-Wing’ Americans—’If You Want to Fight Against the Country, You Need an F-15′

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The haunted face of Sicily.

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The Decline And Fall Of The Western Empire

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You will need:

Preparation

First Off, China has changed.

The second point…

The Comment

Payment

About the “fun”

What is going on…

Exercise

The need for fun & companionship

Hotels

**And what China actually says…**