Tag: stunning

Head Shakers

One of the “head shakers” about China is the ever-present music of Kenny G on elevators, in supermarkets, in malls, and in restaurants. I do like slow easy jazz, and back in the 1980’s. But I, like most Americans, have moved WAYYYY past all that.

We moved past mullets. We moved past Miami Vice. We moved on from large curly hair, and pastels. We moved on from Windows DOS.

But, you know, China never experienced those things, and have no idea how out of date all this is. And us expats, really, have no heart to admonish our friends in China to stop being so retro. We, well, we just let it all ride.

Just like no one ever says “What’s uppppppppppp!” any longer.

Or, “Where’s the beef?”

Or, Max Headroom.

Todays…

At what point should America issue an arrest warrant for China’s Xi Jinping à la Manuel Noriega?

First it's the unchecked flooding of Chinese Fentanyl into America. Next, mercenary bounties get placed on British residents.

First of all, Fentanyl is used for treating severe pain especially for cancer patients and is deem a medicine product which many countries import mainly from China. Likewise it is your own country laws and regulations to prevent abuse instead of blaming China or Mexico or another other countries. If illegal Fentanyl managed to slip into your country, blame your border guards and custom officer for not doing the job or your judges for not imposing severe penalties.

Just like a simple soap for washing and bathing and you decided to abuse it by eating them as food and then you blame China other then yourself.

I suggest in that case better that your country be pure communist like Mao time where China totally shut off from the world where no exports and no imports can take place.

Would that scenerio be a better option for your country . That covers all your citizens from visiting any countries so that they will not be arrested or detained or even your organs been harvested for scientific research.

The moral of my answer is don’t blame others, other than yourself if you decided your own will to do stupid things.

Why are the people of the PRC hypocrites that they say they don’t want their nuclear arsenal to be increased and yet they increased from 300 to 400 nuclear arsenal?

Here’s the fun thing.

We don’t actually need them. This is from the US military college. A war with China will wipe 3600 US soldiers out or 50,000 a week. That means ONE brigade a day.

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main qimg 9edc4a61f5c9274ffb1048a611b9d6aa

Kiwifruit Teriyaki

kiwi marinade
kiwi marinade

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 4 kiwifruit
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • Soy sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 to 2 pound (1 inch thick) boneless round steak

Instructions

  1. Pare and puree 2 kiwifruit. Combine with wine, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and oil in large baking dish.
  2. Add steak and marinate for 1/2 hour. Marinating for more than 1 hour may over-tenderize it.
  3. Remove steak from marinade, and broil to desired degree of doneness.
  4. Slice steak and arrange on serving platter.
  5. Pare and slice remaining kiwi; garnish platter with slices.

Have you ever refused an inheritance? Why?

Yes. My brother died last September without signing his will (they had it filled out but he didn’t sign it).

I have helped his widow out with cleaning the house.

Because he was intestate, I’m technically entitled to 25% of his inheritance under my state law as our parents are dead, but he was married (75/25 split by law).

He literally told me he wanted everything to go to his wife, who I would consider my sister now.

I’m not screwing a 60 year old lady out of her house.

Yeah, as a working class guy, I could REALLY use 100k+ dollars if I fought it, but I will absolutely NOT destroy his dream of his wife having a nice little home.

Them home cooked meals, talk and sharing memories a couple times every few months are worth more to me than money.

Maybe I’m an idiot, but I love him and her too much to go by “the law”.

Signing that form for her lawyer was about the easiest moral choice I’ve ever had to take.

CN bans ASML products,Lays off 86 million employees; Photolithography machine turned into scrap metal

For china to make a competitive smartphone to Apple with old generation technology is truly remarkable, I know why U.S and Europe is scared of china…they are simply better in technology.

Is democracy inevitable in the long term? Will countries like China and Russia ever become democracies?

Depends on your definition of Democracy

Let’s start with Russia

Russia IS a democracy. Merely because they keep electing Putin and the UR Party all the time or because the election rules favor the ruling party doesn’t disturb the definition

Ultimately Putin IS elected by the people of Russia

The Government under Putin has helped Russia rise from a torn apart and destroyed country in 1991 to a very strong, united force in 2023

So the People are happy and the People vote for the Government and President

That’s Democracy to me

If the US don’t like it, they can go f*** themselves

Next China

Chinese society is 5000 years old

The Chinese mindset is entirely based on the premise that EVERY CHINESE has a role to play in Society and if every Chinese plays their role properly, China will flourish

Under the Emperors, this role was defined by birth and family

Under today’s CPC, this role is defined by ABILITY, ABILITY and more ABILITY

That very mindset is completely against Democracy which claims everyone from a Pauper to a Beggar to a Technology Geek to a Clerk to a Oil Baron have the same rights in choosing a Government

The result is before you

India and China became Independent in 1947 and 1949 – at the same time virtually

Yet China is advanced in EVERY SINGLE FACET over India

China stands before the US as such a feared opponent that the US spends every waking moment on trying to countering China with propaganda and lies and failing

Proof that the CPC did more for China than any Democracy in the history of the modern world

Why would they need this US loser version of democracy

The Chinese version of Governance:-

  • The Worthy keep voting in the Grassroots
  • The Unworthy do what they are told to do
  • Only Ability and Merit matters
  • One Party, different opinions
  • Gays, Transgenders put in their proper place which is a ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell environment’

That alone is enough for China to grow

They don’t need the horrors of becoming a Cesspit democracy

Oh SH*T, What Russia and China are doing will change everything, and the west wants WAR

What Russia, China and North Korea are doing will change everything. The massive economic expansion is pushing the West to do some very desperate things. This week Russia and North Korea signed remarkable new trade agreements. It came on the same week as China and Russia launched a new cross border energy hub. Do you see what’s happening?

URGENT: RUSSIA **HALTS** ALL EXPORT OF GASOLINE AND DIESEL FUEL

World Hal Turner

This morning, Thursday, September 21, Russia announced they are “temporarily” halting the export of all Gasoline and Diesel Fuel. 

Russia is the world’s single biggest seaborne exporter of diesel-type fuel.

Their decision will have an immediate impact on fuel costs and availability.   Expect skyrocketing prices, especially for Diesel, and subsequent skyrocketing prices on EVERY product that moves by truck.

It is not known at this hour, exactly how long this “temporary” halt will last.

Confession of the Day

There’s always someone who ended up in a worse situation with a bigger loss. Every time I hear those stories, it makes me feel a little better that it “could have been worse.” Hope this helps someone realize how bad it can get before you ultimately end in the same place, with the same loss, and the same need for help. It’s also therapeutic to write it down, I’ve found.

In 2012 I had $20k to my name. Turned that into $100k in 5 years buying American Airlines and chip stocks. Took most of the $100k and bought a house to run as an Airbnb. Made about $100k off that in 2 years and sold it when they banned airbnbs. Bought my own house and sold it a year later for another $100k profit. Invested that $300k in the market around the Covid drop and ended 2020 with about $600k. Then I started with options. The ability to make huge gains so quickly was so intoxicating and addictive. $20k in a day. $50k. $100k. I was crushing it and starting to dream of my new rich life. I broke the $1mil threshold and ended the day with $1.1m.

The next day the market sucked and I knew it. But I had such an itch I made a play anyway. I was down $250k by noon because I broke all my own rules just to avoid “taking a loss.” I finally accepted the loss but tried to chase it by jumping to the other side. That cost me an additional $100k loss. Within 2 days I made it back to within spitting distance of being a millionaire once again, but spoiler alert, I’d never see that number again.

Down $200k, another $300k. I finally had to go to my dad for a bailout. He refueled me and I lost it all again within a month. Another bailout, another loss. I was so depressed and suicidal at this point. It was like a bad dream that I couldn’t wake up from. I will forgo buying a drink with a meal because I don’t want to spend the extra $3 but I had no problem loosing $600k in a single day if it meant I could get the dopamine rush.

Then comes the shame of having to admit what happened. The relapses. The broken future. The never ending despair.

I made right moves far more times than wrong but my losses were always much larger than my gains because I couldn’t accept a loss and didn’t want to further risk a gain. In the end, the money didn’t actually mean anything and it was never about the money (not really anyway) it was always about the high of submitting the order and watching the dollars come or go.

In the end, if it wasn’t for anti depressants and my daughter, I wouldn’t be here today. Looking back it’s impossible to imagine how something could have completely high jacked my brain in such a way but it really did.

There is recovery. There is help. It does work. I only wish it didn’t take losing $2mil before I realized it and finally sought help and treatment.

Don’t make my mistake if waiting and find help now. Also, give the “unhappy millionaire” episode of Happiness Lab podcast a listen, changed my life.

Giving up the American Dream is hard.

giving up the American Dream is Hard. I made a few videos: why I gave up the American Dream, the real cost of the American dream and how to ditch the American Dream. Folks have resonated with it, hated it and everything in between.

But let’s be honest, it’s hard to give up the American dream, especially as a Black woman.

Hustle Culture is not for Black women, but the pursuit of the American dream is tied directly to it.

Let’s talk about grieving the American Dream. content included: giving up the American Dream, I gave up the American Dream, Giving up the American Dream is hard, Hustle Culture is not for Black women, Healing for Black women, I gave up Black excellence, hustle culture is toxic, the real price of the American Dream, Black Women deserve good things, Black woman wage gap, I gave up the American Dream, why I gave up on the American Dream, grieving the American Dream, Black women and the American Dream,

What has been your most stunning find at a thrift shop?

I work as a manager in a Charity Shop/thrift Store and I look having a good search through donations for that special item!

One day, I had some items donated and a handbag. In that handbag in a secret pocket was a Genuine Cartier watch.

I was in absolute awe and was so excited!! Thing is, I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted to sell it without the donors consent. (I knew it was genuine as it’s myself who deals with all the name branded luxury items)

I chased the lady through town and told her what I’d found. She broke down in tears telling me they were her late mums things and the watch was lost for many years. Her mum had dementia and her father was only just starting to clear through her things.

So anyway, she asked me to stay with her whilst she rang her father to tell him the news (he also cried which started me off crying!)

After the ordeal of the day I genuinely felt pretty chuffed with myself. I could’ve easily sold it online for a 3figure sum – but something just didn’t feel right.

A few days later that same gentleman came in and thanked me personally. He told me he’d brought it his wife for an anniversary present. I asked how it came to being in an everyday handbag and he explained that she went to get it cleaned (it was boxed) but her dementia was in it’s early stages and was eventually forgotten about. The kind gentleman had a funeral collection in the Charities name and even made a £200 donation to me personally, which I put to the charity.

So yea, that’s my amazing find

Oprah has no idea there’s a Cost of Living Crisis

Why everything feels so expensive right now.

“The basic price of commodities has tripled in my experience from 2019. The same 1 bedroom apartment I rented in Dallas for 700 dollars in 2017 is 1400 dollars in 2023. The house that would cost 180k in suburban DFW just 5 years ago costs 400k. The cost of home and car insurance is over the roof. All this in Dallas which is still very cheap compared to many other big cities in the USA.”

Beijing says it uncovered US National Security Agency operatives behind cyberattack on Chinese university


Article HERE
Second Date’ software used in Northwestern Polytechnical University attack is potent cyber espionage tool developed by US agency, says state media
After global tracing, Chinese team reportedly found ‘thousands of network devices’ across the country still infected by the spyware and its derivatives

China says it has identified US National Security Agency operatives while investigating a recent cyberattack on Northwestern Polytechnical University, as its top spying and anti-espionage agency vowed on Thursday to root out all “digital spies”.
The revelation came just three days after Beijing revealed more details about John Shing-wan Leung, a Hong Kong permanent resident and US citizen the Chinese Ministry of State Security said posed as a philanthropist while snooping for information. He was jailed for life for espionage in May, two years after his arrest in China.

State-run CCTV said on Thursday that China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre, with help from Chinese antivirus company 360 Total Security, had discovered the identity of the National Security Agency (NSA) operative or operatives – the broadcaster did not specify how many or name them – after it extracted “multiple samples” of a spyware called “Second Date”.

It said the spyware was used in the cyberattack on Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shaanxi province.

‘Stop stealing’: China condemns US over Trojan horse cyberattacks on state-funded university
The report said technical analysis showed that Second Date was a cyber-espionage weapon developed by the NSA to sniff out and hijack network traffic and insert malicious codes.

Quoting senior engineer at the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre Du Zhenhua, it said software was a potent cyberespionage tool that enabled attackers to take control of target network devices and the data traffic flowing through them, and use them as a “forward base” for the next stage of attacks. It could run on various operating systems and was compatible with multiple architectures.

Du was quoted as saying the spyware was usually used in conjunction with various network device vulnerability attack tools from the NSA’s Office of Tailored Access Operations (TAO). The TAO, now renamed Computer Network Operations, is a cyberwarfare intelligence-gathering unit.

China’s foreign ministry says the international community should be highly vigilant about CIA activities as a new report alleges a years-long global cyberattack campaign. Photo: AFP
The report said that after global tracing, the Chinese team found “thousands of network devices” across the country were still infected by the spyware and its derivatives. It said they also found springboard servers remotely controlled by the NSA in Germany, Japan, South Korea, India and Taiwan.

Those pesky Chinese…!

INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Sep 20 2023 20:39 utc | 31

Back in China | Our First Impressions…

Can you describe the creepiest person you have ever met?

I had an abusive boyfriend. He was great at first, of course. As soon as he was confident of me, he stalked me, tried to run me off the road many times, pointed a gun at my head a few times, cut my phone lines, beat me, fired a gun into my floor pretending to commit suicide (he would never have done that, he only wanted to scare me), destroyed my things, and more. He was military (so was I) and I had no protection. I was able to get him out of my apartment with the help of his best friend and because he was put in a mental hospital for a few weeks. But I never got a break until I was discharged (honorably), moved across the country to a large city, and changed my name. An ex-husband kindly let me take his name, a common one. The abuser knew my friends and family. A false friend who secretly hated me (I didn’t know) kept telling him how to find me and encouraged others to do the same. People thought it was romantic that he carried such a torch for me. I thought he would appear at my door any day and kill me. He stalked me for 13 more years until I persuaded his commanding office to make him stop. I can’t imagine after all those years that this worked, but it did. Perhaps it was because he didn’t deny what he did and the commanding officer threatened his career and his pension. I never heard from him again. In those 13 years, things had changed somewhat.

I went to law school and made it my mission for many years to protect other women who were treated this badly and sometimes worse by abusers. I got them protection orders and divorces. I got their abusers out of their homes and sometimes in jail. It was very satisfying work. I’m retired now and happy to be so. I feel I did my bit.

Dedollarization Accelerating Within BRICS, Across Globe

It will be amazing if BRICS can come up with some gold-backed trading currency. The dedollarization is happening fast. Over the last 20 years, you see the share of global payments in the dollar has gone down at a steady rate.

This is getting even faster now. At the same time, to “truly dedollarize,” several aspects should be taken into account, he added.

“The harder part” in efforts to replace the dollar lies in the reserve aspect of the currency, the Netley Group president noted. For instance, the United States’ big advantage at the moment is the breadth of its bond market, Goddard explained. “One of the ways, I think, BRICS could develop something to compete with that would be the technology to actually link the BRICS bond markets,” the entrepreneur added.

Combining these two things — a stable trade currency and a strong joint bond market — could create the potential to eventually displace the dollar, Goddard also stated. This process could be even sped up with the enlargement of BRICS, increasing the depth of these economic ties, he concluded.

Why did Israel allow a terrorist and thuggish nation like China to take over the Haifa port?

I live in Haifa, Israel, the location of that port.

A few decades ago we decided to build tunnels to connect the north, the south, and the middle of Haifa. We hired a Chinese company from Shanghai with experience in tunnel building to do the work. It was a massive project and took a few years, during which the Chinese workers lived here. The Chinese company did an excellent job. These tunnels have reduced traffic congestion in Haifa.

The Chinese company we chose to run the new Haifa port has a lot of experience in that kind of work.

In both cases, we chose based on objective criteria, not on politics.

Btw, many Chinese students study at the Technion here, and Chinese tourists visit.

European Union’s decision to launch an anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles, will it make the Chinese EV industry become another Huawei?

The Claim is :-

China offers subsidies to their EVs in battery making and other areas, heavy subsidies in taxes and waivers to ensure that EVs are produced at a final cost that is 20% cheaper

This makes Chinese EVs deliver lower cost at better quality than many European EVs

Second complaint is that most of the world pays a premium for Chinese EV batteries but BYD and other players pay 45% lower costs for the same battery due to the fact that the batteries are made in China

This is alleged as unfair competition

They want either the batteries at lower costs or a 20% mark up on Chinese EVs that eliminates the subsidy effect

It’s Classic Protectionism 101

Soviet Style rather than Adam Smith

China didn’t do this

When Volkswagens and Citroens and Mercedes Benz and Toyota and Mitsubishi dominated the vehicle markets of China a decade or so ago:-

China didn’t impose extra tariffs on them nor make it unfair for them to import custom made parts by imposing 60–260% tariffs

China told BYD and SAIC and Great Wall to either make similar quality cars or go out of business because the customer needs the best

Thus these companies formed partnerships and purchased technology and leased technology and made a living with limited market share

Yet this competition helped them prepare a lead in EVs and dominate today

However the West isn’t prepared to do the same thing and ask Renault and Chevy and Volkswagen to COMPETE or go out of business

They want to protect their companies

Like US , Germany, France

They talked of free trade when their products were much superior and Asian nations imposed protectionism

Today when they are being left behind, they scream and yell and whine about tariffs and duties

China has many weapons here

China sells 61.5% of the EV Batteries in the world and 86% of EV Batteries today are made by Chinese players with only Tesla having it’s own supply chain and making it’s own battery for it’s own cars

If you want EVs – you need the Chinese Battery, Electric System and Motors and Chargers

The Chinese make the world’s best and most cost efficient products

Even Tesla battery technology is inferior to CATL and it’s latest batteries

It’s only in Autonomous driving that Tesla has an edge

So frankly China for the next 15 years at least can simply ban the export of batteries or impose a 80% tariff on EV exports and ensure European and US EVs simply can’t compete with ICEs

It throttles the EU green initiative

China loses the EU market but critically ensures Russia & Saudi gains a major leverage as EU and US become more dependent on Oil

That is one card

The Bigger card is

China can play it’s own protectionism

China has a huge market for European Cars with Eight Brands having their largest market in China

That’s 157,000 Jobs

China could simply ban the imports tomorrow and that would finish these companies revenue and share wise

Like the Iphone

Intel & Qualcomm openly said if China forced them to choose between the Chinese market and the Commerce Department restrictions, they would have to choose China for the sake of their US stockholders

If China banned Qualcomm entirely today and said “Okay. We will live with inferior phones but you B******* won’t sell or get a fifty cent piece from us”

Qualcomm would be brutally mauled

The Entire smartphone industry will be brutally mauled

The Entire Semiconductor industry will be brutally mauled

The Chinese are VERY PATIENT PEOPLE and they will play their cards very slowly

They thrive on competing

If China simply decides to close its markets to Foreigners except it’s Russian and Global South friends who will sell it all the Energy and Food it wants

Then most of the Tech firms will be brutally mauled

It was predicted that if Apple was banned entirely from China – $ 1.02 Trillion of it’s market share would never come back

The Total hit on the entire industry could touch $ 7–12 Trillion

Who will take up the slack?

India is expected to touch 40% of Chinas present market in 17–21 years (2040–2044)

Nobody else can take up even 3% of this slack

So China has a lot of Brahmastras to use

There will be no more Huaweis

Huawei was a blow

Nobody expected the West to be so brutally lawless and act like a mafia state , like a land with zero laws

Today China is ready

Every US attack has a party from China including the biggest Brahmastra

  • CUT OFF ACCESS TO PHARMA APIs & Cut off all components needed for Medical Equipment
  • Devalue US Debt by suddenly pegging an exchange rate of 2 Yuan to 1 USD. China will lose 17 Trillion Yuan and after the peg is removed the rate could reach 10–11 but US will lose 160 Trillion Yuan ($ 25 Trillion) , 8 times worse than the 2008 Crisis

APPLE Shocked! Huawei’s Secret Weapons: NearLink Explained

Amazing technology. Zero coverage in Western “news”.

Chinese wisdom: Wang Yi urges nations to help avert cold war

INTRODUCTION

Human behavior falls into durable patterns of action and reaction/response. Taking China-U.S. bilateral relations as an illustration, one almost always finds that China is forever responding, and that the United States is non-stop plotting, agitating and acting in annoying or irritating ways, resulting in China’s patterned response of rebuttal.

For example, in picking a fight with China, the United States will accuse China of “spying” and/or soliciting a prominent politician to accuse and confront China on “ideological” grounds, making it difficult for China to defend.

How do you defend an ideological choice?

As ideology is value-laden, it was adopted to change a sick Chinese society for the better, by bringing in fresh or foreign ideas that are believed to work.

For China, socialism with Chinese characteristics is designed to address its chronic social inequality and alleviate abject poverty. China’s adoption of a socialist ideology is observably bearing fruitful results, lifting millions of its people out of poverty, and building railways in foreign countries.

But, for the U.S. hardcore irrational antagonists such as Mike Pompeo, China is “on the wrong side of history”. What else then can these self-styled enemies of China do but to use and recycle the “spying” game of accusations, hoping to see their cooked-up situation comes to fruition.

In the following article taken from an English-language newspaper dated Thursday, July 30, 2020, the incidents that happened at the beginning of the Trump era were nearly the same as that is happening in the United Kingdom, which has officially announced that a parliamentary researcher has been lately accused of “spying” for the CCP.

For fear of missing its juicy details, let us go over this article.

Entered Wang Yi Who Called on All Countries to Resist “Unreasonable Acts” and to Help Prevent…

FM Wang Yi called on all countries to “resist” the United States’ “blatant and unreasonable acts”, and to help prevent the world’s two greatest powers from descending into what he called a new cold war.

In a phone call with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday, Wang said China would take “firm and rational responses” amid the intensifying rivalry with the US, but also stressed that Beijing would strive to maintain stable relations with Washington.

It was the fourth time in less than a fortnight that Wang, who is also a state councilor, has named the US in conversations with foreign official, following calls with his Russian, Vietnamese and German counterparts.

Before that, veiled attacks against Washington might have been made in talks with foreign governments without naming it.

The change in rhetoric and the increased frequency of verbal aggression by both sides has meant a rapid deterioration of China-US relations, and an imperative for Beijing to ensure other nations do not side with Washington.

“Tolerating a bully [such as Pompeo] will not keep you safe. It will only let the bully get bolder and act worse. All countries should act to resist any unilateral or hegemonic act and safeguard world peace and development.” Wang was quoted as saying in a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

Wang said the current decline in China-US relations was caused by a certain political faction in the US, driven by the need to lift campaign prospects and maintain unipolar hegemony.

During the phone call to Le Drian, Wang called for “vigilance against US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent remarks instigating renewed ideological confrontation and leading the world to a new cold war”.

In a speech last week, Pompeo called for China’s own citizens to join an international effort to “change the behavior” of the ruling Communist Party.

“We believe that all countries will make the right and wise decisions, instead of being held hostage by a small number of American politicians,” Wang said.

“All countries will make concerted efforts to prevent the world from being dragged into a new cold war of conflict and confrontation,” he said.

But Wong said the interests of the two countries were deeply integrated – and that Beijing stood “ready to maintain the stability of China-US relations through equal communication and exchanges with the US side”.

“We will never allow a few anti-China elements to overturn decades of successful exchanges and cooperation between China and the U.S., nor will we allow ideological prejudice to undermine the future development of China-US relations.”

Ties between the world’s most powerful nations have plunged to the lowest point in decades as they clash over trade, technology and geopolitical clout.

In their latest brawl last week, the US ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston –over spying claims. China retaliated – by ordering the US mission in Chengdu to shut down.

The foreign ministry rolled out a 10-point rebuttal yesterday against American accusations over the closure of the Houston consulate, denying that it was a hub for China’s spying efforts or that it was used as a base for its “fox hunt” operations to induce the return of Chinese fugitives. (Source: SCMP)

CONCLUSION

Readers may find it amazing after reading the above newspaper article on U.S. accusation of Chinese spying, and China’s retaliatory response. Amazed because the narrative over alleged Chinese spying is the same, except this time it is the UK that is the accuser. This pattern persists, and tensions go up.

The ultimate reality, though, is that “U.S. trade is still chained to sources in China.” Research demonstrates the difficulty of severing the countries’ economic ties. According to NYT.

In the end, it is U.S. pragmatism and Chinese rationality that prevails, settling the “spy” squabbling.

Ties may temporarily go sour; bilateral efforts will be made, and trade activities between the U.S. and China will resume. Wang Yi’s rationality is right and wise.

The latest visits by high-profile U.S. secretaries starting with Anthony Blinken, Janet Yellen and Gina Raimondi wrapped up the futile spying game – testifying to the law that damaging business ties lead to revenue loss.

Will the US actions against China over chips really set the Chinese tech sector back 100 years?

Only 100 years?! You bet, will be at least 1,000 years, or maybe, better back to the Stone Age!

And then, you might find one day, your country would have to import chips from China, and the products you use would be embedded with Chinese chips. LOL

The whole Western world, especially the nuclear powers, even later the Soviet Union, had blocked nuclear technology from entering into China back in the 1950s and 1960s. Then what?

The first Chinese nuclear test was conducted at Lop Nur on October 16, 1964. Then in less than 32 months, China detonated its first hydrogen bomb on June 14, 1967. Now, China’s nuclear arsenal is the world’s third largest, and China has, more importantly, also developed its nuclear technology for peaceful use, boasting the second largest number of nuclear power units in operation or under construction in the world.

China was officially barred from visiting the International Space Station (ISS) by the United States in 2011. Then what?

China is nearing its completion of the construction of its own space station -Tiangong, with many visits there already done by Chinese astronauts, three of them are right now flying over us in the station. With the ISS retiring sometime in 2030, China’s Tiangong will be the only space station in the world.

China has been under the tough blockade of Western military techonologies, especially high-end, advanced ones. Then what?

China has successfully tested several times of its hypersonic missiles, among the first nations who have achieved success in this most advanced weapon development.

Also, China has finished its third air-craft carrier, with a fully indigenous design, featuring a CATOBAR system and electromagnetic catapults, one of the most advanced in the world.

And China has its J-20, a twinjet all-weather stealth fighter aircraft with precision strike capability. The Y-20, a large military transport aircraft, the first cargo aircraft to use 3D printing technology to speed up its development and to lower its manufacturing cost.

Similar cases also include the tunnel boring machines, giant cranes, giant excavators, deep-sea drilling machines……You name it. Then what?

China has self developed all of them, not only meeting its own market needs, but also exporting them at a much more affordable price than their Western competitors. What’s more ironic is, some of them have been exported even to those countries who had previously blocked their techonologies into China!

So, in the short term, yes, China is sufferting from the heavy blow from the US, but in the long run, the US and its allies would not only lose the lion’s share of chip market here in China, but will have also to face a strong competitor in semi-conductors, or chips, or something alternative which have similar functions, in the not-too-far-away future, maybe in their own market, and also in the global market.

But during the process, the US would have dried up its influence as a banner-holder of liberal market economy, its credibility as the rule-setter who betrays its own rules, its reliability to its allies since all of them would have to suffer along with the US, and hence, its soft power in leading the world.

Nothing much to gain, but a lot to lose, yet, the US is determined to ride on the self-devastating road. The faster it runs, the quicker the fall of its hegemony.

Japanese-Style Sirloin

japanese style sirloin
japanese style sirloin

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 pound Certified Angus Beef ® boneless sirloin steak, cut into 1/4 inch strips
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons sake or dry sherry
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 8 scallions, cut diagonally into 1 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
  • 8 ounces Napa cabbage, chopped
  • 4 ounces bean sprouts
  • 1 cup cooked short grain rice
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Combine soy sauce, sugar and sake in a small bowl. Set aside.
  2. Heat wok or electric frying pan to medium heat.
  3. Heat oil, add steak strips and stir until beef is browned (about 3-5 minutes).
  4. Push beef to one side. On the other side, add scallions and peppers and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
  5. Add cabbage and sprouts, combining all ingredients in the pan. Stir-fry about 1 minute.
  6. Sprinkle soy mixture over meat and vegetables. Cook for 1 minute.
  7. Serve over warm rice and garnish with sesame seeds.

Why People are Leaving Canada, Top 5 Reasons Why People Leave

I left Canada about 1.5 years ago to travel the world and here are some of the top reasons why I left. I give a lot of my own personal anecdotes as someone who has lived in canada for over 20 years. This video represents my personal opinion about living in canada and why I prefer to live in Asia or other countries.

The main reasons. why people are leaving

1. High living costs creates a low standard of living, especially in Vancouver and Toronto.

2. Lack of infrustructure for transportation which means you need to have a car in order to get around

3. Brain drain and lack of opportunities because most talent go to the states

4. Lack of medical healthcare because most people can’t find a family doctor or are finding it difficult to find one

5. Not much social life /activities for young people, most stores close at 6pm

https://youtu.be/2vXjQHNfiW8

China, the next war

On China, the US is again lying itself into the next war. The US says “The [Defense] Department remains committed to abiding by the well-established one China policy of the United States” and “this Administration opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side of the Strait. We have not supported Taiwan independence, we do not support it now.”

But actually the US is supporting the Taiwan independence from China, while Taiwan is calling its independent government the “Republic of China” which is a violation of the “one China” claim. The US also admits that the principle reason for this attention to China’s internal matters is to sustain the anti-China barriers in the off-shore China region: “Taiwan is located at a critical node within the First Island Chain in the Indo-Pacific region.” More detailed information on the coming anti-China next war is recent testimony in the House Armed Services Committee here and here.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Sep 20 2023 15:14 utc | 7

Is India acting as a spoiler in the BRICS on behalf of the West?

A spoiler must possess some power to manipulate but this India clearly does not have.

India can do nothing within BRICS with China around (that’s why they didn’t even dare to join RCEP). Modi was left sitting in the corner of their meeting hall.and as quiet as a church mouse during the last BRICS summit because he had no allies to support him on anything. BRICS proceeded accordingly to invite those countries that Xi had pursued.

An interesting thing happened between then and the Modi show at the G20 with new BRICS members Saudi Arabia and the UAE getting into the act. And of course Xi completely abstaining from even attending. Expectations are of course that the G7 countries, headed by Biden, would be there to cheerlead to elevate Modi’s ego as their way of wooing him to their side.

As the saying goes, give the guy enough rope and he’ll be sure to do it to himself!

And true to form, Modi came out with a true masterpiece that had behind him the G7 countries – U.S., E.U., Germany, France and Italy – applauding him on. and the Western MSM hyping up Modi as the new major player to contest China’s BRI plans. This is the G7’s main challenge to China and to be implemented unti its GPII initiative!!

But this plan could not have been possible without the push of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Of course, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have grand plans for themselves – mostly to transition and establish their economy as a major global force after their days of oil dominance is over.

But look at the curious first part of the IMEC journey that has the starting route going through the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which essentially is an alternative route to bypass the Suez Canal.

And then of all places, this very expensive trans-Arabian rail line ends up in Isreal!!!!!

Now, who are the Arabs in their right mind would set up the crown jewel of their economic infrastructure to land in the hands of their arch nemesis to be held hostage anyttime any conflict should arise?

So, you have Modi hoisting himself as a challenger to Xi’s BRI.and also coincidentally, there will be after this G20 a third BRI Meeting in Beijing in October 2023!

The big question is: What are Saudi Arablia and the UAE’s real plans? Are they with the IMEC or are they part of the BRI still and be officially inducted as new BRICS member in 2024?

Have you ever tried to eat at a restaurant, which happened to be a mafia front, but you didn’t know it was a mafia front, and everyone inside just stared at you when you walked in, because nobody actually eats there?

A friend of mine told the story of going to visit his childhood home in Brooklyn. He had hired a car for the day to go all around the old neighborhood so he wouldn’t have to rely on taxis. On the way to visit his mother’s grave at the cemetery, he spotted a flower shop and thought it might be nice to bring flowers.

He went inside, and found a couple of men playing cards, They didn’t seem to notice him. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

“A customer!” one declared, as if in shock.

My friend said he had grown up in the neighborhood, and he chatted with the proprietor a bit about how things have changed over the years.

“Why don’t you sit down and have an espresso with us?” he asked.

“I can’t, I have a driver outside!”

“Well, invite him in, too!”

After he politely refused, they made a beautiful bouquet for him, fairly quickly. He was impressed with the work.

“How much do I owe you?” he asked.

The florist looked hurt. “It’s for your mother! How could I possibly charge you?”

After a little back and forth, it was clear that they weren’t going to accept payment. He thanked them for their generosity and left.

It dawned on him that this place probably wasn’t a flower shop. But they did make him a nice arrangement.

Something TERRIBLE Just Happened in Maui, Oprah & The Rock

James sues Hawaii for First Amendment violations over ban on public photography in Lahaina “This isn’t merely about the freedom to take photos; it’s about the freedom of the press and the right to hold our leaders accontable.

What are your thoughts on China surpassing the USA

Well, China has surpassed the United States in so many ways, that this question is a tad out of date. China is quite a formidable and powerful force right now. Depending on the measurements used, you can easily map out the dates when the mantel of power was transferred.

  • Economic = around 2013.
  • Military = around 1950.
  • Educational = around 1995.
  • Social = around 2005.
  • Manufacturing = around 1990.
  • Technological = in process.

So what are my thoughts about this?

I really don’t think that China is trying to surpass anyone. And certainly isn’t trying to better the USA. I just think that China is doing what it needs to do to serve it’s people. It’s 1.4 billion people, don’t you know. And they need to be satiated, satisfied, and happy.

China is doing that.

All these sanctions, political posturing, and the general madness out the United States (and it actually is a DSM-4 state of crazy-town) is only accelerating and necessitating China to become absolutely independent of the leashes and chains that the United States controls.

Soon, and I do mean SOON, whatever vestiges of American “greatness” will be eclipsed by a rather harsh reality.

Oh, and it PAINS me to speak of it.

But today, the United States is a lie, on top of a lie, that is covered up by lies, and the only good thing about it is that the lies are so obvious that everyone KNOWS that the lies are simply BULLSHIT.

Today, the USA is a third-rated, banana-republic, ruled by psychopathic morons.

And when history books are written about this has-been nation, it will refer to it as a over-glorified “strip mall” masquerading as transsexual brothel built upon an open sewer.

This is common knowledge in “fly over country”.

Those “Rich Men North of Richmond” really gutted the country, and are now stealing everything they can lay their hands on as they flee the cesspool that they created.

When did China surpass the United States?

Oh, sometime back in 1776. It’s been downhill ever since.

Neocons turn on Joe Biden

Calling Biden a president is like calling Harris a vice president.

Some fine examples of what Chinese ladies are like. All are in short video format.

This article is devoted to one of my more neglected sub-indexes. Which is the “learning about China by looking at Chinese girls” sub-index. Well, in this article we won’t be teaching you all all that much about China so much as we are showing you images of what the girls are like in China.

I know, I know… the American propaganda mills have been working over-time to make China look like an evil monster, dark, gloomy, sad and dirty. It’s nothing like that. But you know, the sheeple love to read things like that. It makes them feel good about their sorry lives.

So what I did was I got on my local internet and started collecting short videos made by gals here in China. They are in no particular order. I just went ahead and vacuumed them up as I found them. Over all, they are a great introduction to what the girls of China look like today.

I took the micro-videos and grouped them into batches of ten. Then I zipped up the file so that you can download all ten together. It’s much faster and easier for you to check out these ladies this way. I did make a point to put at least one “noticeable” worthy girl in each group. I’ll have you know.

But first…

Realize that just because the girls like to dance around on Chinese social media does not equate them to be the “standard, and normal” Chinese lass. They tend to stand apart in one way or the other as this video clearly indicates…

Video HERE.

What the American propaganda says…

But first, let’s see what kinds of images that you can find on American Internet and American websites that depict what Chinese girls must look like. OK.

This is a screen shot of a Bing Image Search…

Chinese girls according to Bing Search.

You know, there are ugly people all over, but seriously, the density of all these types of girls gives you the illusion that this is what all the Chinese girls look like. It’s not even remotely true.

Some Examples of Chinese Girls…

OK. Here’s some fun videos of come pretty Chinese girls.

  • Click on the link under the picture. It will download a ZIP file.
  • Unzip to a folder.
  • Then when you open the folder you will see the ten videos.
  • Click on the first one, and the computer will play all ten one after the other. You should be able to go through all the ten micro-videos in just over a minute.

Group 1

The ladies come in all shapes and sizes. Some are busty. Some are not. Some are short, and some are tall. All are lovely.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 2

Most of the Chinese girls like to wear tight fitting clothes. It’s the current fashion, I figure. I am not complaining. It’s like when I lived in California back in the early 1980’s, and all the girls wore these one-piece spandex suits that they rode bicycles in.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 3

All of these girls, no matter what size or shape, all have one or more attributes that are attractive to me personally. I think that it is their personality that comes out on these little videos.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 4

You will note that not all Chinese girls have long black hair. Many have brown or shades of brown hair. And while the predominant eye color is brown, there are other colors that manifest from time to time.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 5

When I look at these girls, a flood of thoughts assault me. And one of the dominant thoughts is, of course, sharing a bottle of wine with them and eating some fine delicious food.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 6

All of these gals have a story to tell. Wouldn’t you like to sit at a table, enjoy some fine food, play some games. Drink some wine and listen to their stories?

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 7

The gal on the bottom row in the middle is wearing some traditional Hunan clothing. I find the gals, the food, and the hilly countryside very appealing to me.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 8

The girl in the blue jeans is showing off her butt. It’s a pity that she doesn’t turn around so that we can see her face, and shape. But that’s the way life is. Sometimes people want to emphasize what they feel is their “best” physical attribute.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 9

Girl number two here is quite top heavy. I think that the outfit doesn’t do her justice. She might be better served with a long dress and a expansive top. But that’s just me, don’t you know.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 10

Having cleavage is a “thing” for girls in their 20’s in China, I guess. But you have to see them outside the work environment and in the clubs or KTV’s to appreciate it.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 11

The girl cutting up food is a real turn on. There are few things that get me more excited than a woman making and cooking dinner. It’s a fetish I suppose.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Group 12

This first gal in the golden spandex has a very nice butt. I could watch her a walking all day long, I’ll tell you what.

And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.

Some final thoughts

Now that I am older, when I look at a pretty and attractive lady, I think about going out together. I think about talking, eating fine delicious food, and drinking some nice alcohol. It makes me want to put on my “best side” also and just spend a lovely day or evening together. Engaging in free talk, and just having fun.

If something else happens, then great. If not, well, that’s fine too.

In every event, we would all have a great time. Talking, being our best and sharing our thoughts, our lives and fun together. It’s a precious thing.

One of the things that I really like about China is that you can speak freely to each other. You don’t have to worry about offending someone by your mannerisms, or your language or your subject matter. And this fact really becomes pronounced when I meet someone from the West who comes to China on a  visit and I immediately notice they stiffen up and get uncomfortable when I speak, or smoke or drink.

But what’s their problem. I offer them a cigarette. You know?

Jeeze! They are so imprisoned that they don’t know what freedom actually is.

Being afraid to say something, least the person gets offended is not freedom. Freedom is the ability to be yourself. So be it. Don’t try to please others. Please yourself. You’ll end up being a heck of a lot happier in return.

Throw in some fine delicious wine.

And some tasty food.

And some great conversation with some attractive ladies, and you have the makings of a wonderful time. I kid you not. You can believe  me on this. And that is really true if one of the ladies is an animal lover, a cook, a gardener, a history buff, a poet, an archivist, or a dancer. My experiences with these kinds of women has always been extraordinary.

And don’t even get me started on some of the prime MM subjects here. You’ll never get me to shut up!

Generally speaking in China, the more you can drink, the more respect you will earn. If you can drink excessive amounts of alcohol, still stand up, form relatively coherent sentences and follow proper Chinese drinking etiquette (see below), you’ll no doubt impress your table-mates and leave a good impression. If you fail, don’t worry! You probably won’t remember it anyway. Obviously never drink more than you can handle no matter what the pressure.

Do you want more?

I have more posts like this in my Pretty Girls of China Index here…

Pretty Chinese Girls

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Some selected favorite artworks by John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse was an amazing artist that produced at least 180 artworks during his career. He is considered to be a “English , Victorian Romanticist painter and draftsman”. He was born in 1849 and Died on 2/10/1917.

You can see his entire collection on the Art Renewal Center here.

Like my post on Lawrence Alma-Tadema, you might want to consider this post to be an excurion into Greek mythology and Roman history through the artwork of renessance painters in Europe.

The Lady of Shalott

I have often admired this painting but really had little understanding about what was so appealing about it. To me, it was a sad woman in boat, alone and drifting off into the mists.

This painting depicted an event or circumstance that was described in a poem.

"The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892). It tells the story of a young noble woman imprisoned in a tower on an island near Camelot.

-The Lady of Shalott - Wikipedia

This poem depicted a sad and forlorn woman who was locked up and who had little freedom. That lack of freeom and the imprisonment was not obvious to anyone but herself.

During the period of the 19th century in which “The Lady of Shalott” poem was written, women were not treated in the same way that they are today. History tells us the story of how women came to be “equal” to men, yet when reading this poem, we see that this was not the case for the Lady of Shalott.

The women during this period were seen more as a possession rather than a person or a partner to a male. They were kept in the house and were sometimes not allowed to go outside and socialize. We see this neglect of women demonstrated many times throughout Tennyson’s poem.

Kept as a sort of prisoner in a building, or castle, on the secluded island of Shalott, the Lady of Shalott is described as a “fairy” woman who has been cursed.

For me, I could see this situation. Not only for the woman, in that time and plce, but for anyone who is trapped in a situation that they cannot get out of easily…

Links…

Consulting the Oracle

An oracle is a priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods in classical antiquity.

-Dictionary.com

There were many other oracles in Greece, but the Oracle at Delphi was the most famous, and everyone who could afford to consult the Oracle at Delphi preferred to do so.

Of course, there was a long waiting period to consult the oracle (sometimes several months), and there were a number of expensive, preliminary sacrifices. Most of the people who consulted the Oracle at Delphi were wealthy individuals or even heads of state.

The long path leading up the mountain to Apollo’s temple, called the Sacred Way, was lined with treasure houses. These treasuries were filled with costly gifts that leaders and cities had given to Apollo. Some of these treasuries are still standing, and a very few of those precious gifts can still be seen in the museum at Delphi.

When someone came to ask a question of the Oracle, he would need to make a preliminary sacrifice of a goat, and then purify himself in the nearby Castilian Spring.

Then he would approach the adyton of Apollo’s temple.

The adyton is a room inside the temple that was off limits; no one could go in. It is unclear whether those who were consulting the oracle were allowed to go inside the adyton, or whether they had to remain outside.

The Pythia is usually conceived of as sitting on a tripod when she gave her prophecies.

A tripod (as its name implies) was a three-footed stand, usually made of metal. Tripods had a round, metal band around the top, and they were usually used to hold a cauldron over the fire for cooking. But in this case, the Pythia would sit on it, almost like she was sitting on a three-legged stool, to give her prophecies.

In the painting we see this tripod in use at the center of the room, but the oracle is not sitting on it.

The Oracle by Camillo Miola (1880) in the Getty Museum
The Oracle by Camillo Miola (1880) in the Getty Museum

After the person consulting the Oracle asked his question, the Pythia would go into a trance; it was believed that Apollo himself possessed her.

She would speak and a priest (or several priests) who were standing near-by would take down what she said and translate her words into a poem written in hexameters.

It is usually assumed that the Pythia’s original words were coherent, but not very clear. Of course, there is no way to know for sure what her words were really like, but perhaps we can get a good idea from Cassandra’s prophecies in Aeschylus’ play, the Agamemnon.

In that play, Cassandra gives several prophecies that make sense to the audience (because we know what is going to happen), but are so fragmented and confusing that the other characters in the drama do not understand them.

Once the Pythia’s words were translated into hexameter poetry, the poem was written down and given to the person who sought the advice; it was always the responsibility of the recipient to interpret the oracle correctly.

And the oracles, even in their final form, were always ambiguous. Frequently (though not always), the recipients did not interpret them correctly, and they suffered as a result.

Saint Cecilia

This is a true story that actually happened. As a result, the woman in the story became a Catholic Saint. As such, the story of St. Cecilia is not without beauty or merit. She is said to have been quite close to God and prayed often:

In the city of Rome there was a virgin named Cecilia, who came from an extremely rich family and was given in marriage to a youth named Valerian. She wore sackcloth next to her skin, fasted, and invoked the saints, angels, and virgins, beseeching them to guard her virginity

During her wedding ceremony she was said to have sung in her heart to God and before the consummation of her nuptials, she told her husband she had taken a vow of virginity and had an angel protecting her. Valerian asked to see the angel as proof, and Cecilia told him he would have eyes to see once he traveled to the third milestone on the Via Appia (Appian Way) and was baptized by Pope Urbanus.

Following his baptism, Valerian returned to his wife and found an angel at her side. The angel then crowned Cecilia with a chaplet of rose and lily and when Valerian’s brother, Tibertius, heard of the angel and his brother’s baptism, he also was baptized and together the brothers dedicated their lives to burying the saints who were murdered each day by the prefect of the city, Turcius Almachius.

Both brothers were eventually arrested and brought before the prefect where they were executed after they refused to offer a sacrifice to the gods.

As her husband and brother-in-law buried the dead, St. Cecilia spent her time preaching and in her lifetime was able to convert over four hundred people, most of whom were baptized by Pope Urban.

Cecilia was later arrested and condemned to be suffocated in the baths. She was shut in for one night and one day, as fires were heaped up and stoked to a terrifying heat – but Cecilia did not even sweat.

When Almachius heard this, he sent an executioner to cut off her head in the baths.

The executioner struck her three times but was unable to decapitate her so he left her bleeding and she lived for three days. Crowds came to her and collected her blood while she preached to them or prayed. On the third day she died and was buried by Pope Urban and his deacons.

St. Cecilia is regarded as the patroness of music, because she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was married, and is represented in art with an organ or organ-pipes in her hand.

Officials exhumed her body in 1599 and found her to be incorrupt, the first of all incurrupt saints. She was draped in a silk veil and wore a gold embroidered dress. Officials only looked through the veil in an act of holy reverence and made no further examinations. They also reported a “mysterious and delightful flower-like odor which proceeded from the coffin.”

The church viewed this as a measure of sanctity, and incorruptibles -- people whose bodies mysteriously thwart decay -- were canonized into the tenets of Catholic mysticism. Incorruptibility became a component of beatification -- the process of becoming sainted.

-How can a corpse be incorruptible? 

St. Cecilia’s remains were transferred to Cecilia’s titular church in Trastevere and placed under the high altar.

The Favourites of the Emperor Honorious

Flavius Honorius was born in the east in 384, the younger son of the emperor Theodosius I (379-395) and Aelia Flavia Flaccilla. In his youth he was named Most Noble Child (nobilissimus puer), and in 386 he held the consulate. He was summoned by his father to Rome when he was five, but in 391 he returned with him to Constantinople, where in 393 he was proclaimed emperor of Rome.

After the Visigothic invasion of Italy in 402, Honorius and the imperial court retired from Milan to the inaccessible and heavily defended city of Ravenna.

Only rarely did later emperors reside for any length of time elsewhere.

Meanwhile, palace intrigues resulted in Stilicho’s assassination in 408, and Honorius was left to deal with barbarians Alaric and the Visigoths.

The indecisive emperor, influenced first by one adviser and then by another, vacillated between resistance and conciliation. The end result was the sack of Rome in 410.

Here we see a painting of the emperior playing idily with pigeons while Rome collapses all around him.

As for the feckless and timid Honorius, he generally took little part in public affairs. He was generally passive in nature, except when he was motivated to act by fear. He left military operations to his generals, but he did become involved in a controversy over the choice of a bishop of Rome in 418. 

He eventually died of "dropsy" -- perhaps edema of the lungs -- in 423. 

He left no issue, which resulted in the proclamation of Johannes, the Chief Secretary, after his death. Not until 425 did his nephew Valentinian III, the son of Galla Placidia and Constantius, restore the legitimate dynasty. 

Even though the unity of the western empire was shakily maintained during Honorius' reign -- only Britain was lost for good (Honorius wrote to the Britons advising them to defend themselves) -- he left a legacy of fragmentation and feeble, lackluster leadership which eventually would result in the dissolution of the western empire.

-Roman Emperors - DIR Honorius

Flora and the Zephyrs

A nymph called Chloris was kissed by the West Wind, Zephyrus, and was turned into Flora. This story is the subject of Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera. 

Flora, in Roman religion, the goddess of the flowering of plants. 

Titus Tatius (according to tradition, the Sabine king who ruled with Romulus) is said to have introduced her cult to Rome; her temple stood near the Circus Maximus. 

Her festival, called the Floralia, was instituted in 238 BC. A representation of Flora’s head, distinguished only by a floral crown, appeared on coins of the republic. 

Her name survives in the botanical term for vegetation of a particular environment.

-Britanna

Zephyrus or Zephyros (Gr: Ζεφυρος) is the god of the west wind and spring. He is the gentlest of the winds. He lived in a cave in Thrace.

Zephyr was the son of Astraeus and Eos, the goddess of the dawn and he was the father of the spring flowers. His mate was Podarge and together they created the two immortal horses of Achilles, Xanthus and Balius

For centuries, poets have eulogized Zephyrus, the Greek god of the west wind, and his "swete breeth" (in the words of Geoffrey Chaucer). Zephyrus, the personified west wind, eventually evolved into zephyr, a word for a breeze that is westerly or gentle, or both. Breezy zephyr may have blown into English with the help of William Shakespeare, who used the word in his 1611 play Cymbeline: "Thou divine Nature, thou thyself thou blazon'st / In these two princely boys! They are as gentle / As zephyrs blowing below the violet." Today, zephyr is also the sobriquet of a lightweight fabric and the clothing that is made from it.

-Dictionary

The painting by Waterhouse depicts Zephyrus kidnapping Chloris…

From whence he “kissed” her and turned her into a Flora.

Oh, those lustful Gods.

The Awakening of Adonis

Adonis was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite in Greek mythology. 

In Ovid's first-century AD telling of the myth, he was conceived after Aphrodite cursed his mother Myrrha to lust after her own father, King Cinyras of Cyprus. 

Myrrha had sex with her father in complete darkness for nine nights, but he discovered her identity and chased her with a sword. 

The gods transformed her into a myrrh tree and, in the form of a tree, she gave birth to Adonis. 

Aphrodite found the infant and gave him to be raised by Persephone, the queen of the Underworld. 

Adonis grew into an astonishingly handsome young man, causing Aphrodite and Persephone to feud over him, with Zeus eventually decreeing that Adonis would spend one third of the year in the Underworld with Persephone, one third of the year with Aphrodite, and the final third of the year with whomever he chose. 

Adonis chose to spend his final third of the year with Aphrodite.

-Wikipedia

Those were lustful times back then.

Waterhouse’s great mythological subject The Awakening of Adonis (Collection of Lord Lloyd-Webber) was painted in 1899.

However, it was not finished in time to send to the Royal Academy that year, and was therefore held over to the summer exhibition of 1900. 

On that occasion it was recognised as one of the artist’s most powerful and characteristic works and one that aimed, in the words of one reviewer, ‘at representing the passionate emotions of an historic tragedy in a highly dramatic fashion’ (Athenaeum, 1900, p.568).  

The Awakening of Adonis takes its subject from the ancient fable, retold by Apollodorus, Hyginus and Ovid, which tells how Adonis was the child of Myrrha and her father Theias, the king of Syria. The goddess Venus had encouraged this incestuous union and, when Adonis was born from the trunk of the myrrh tree into which his mother had been transformed, it was she who took care of him, entrusting him to Persephone, goddess of the Underworld. 

The child grew up to be so beautiful that Persephone found that she could not bear to return him to Venus, leading to a dispute between the two. 

This was settled by Zeus, who decided that Adonis should spend four months of the year with Venus and another four with Persephone. 

The remaining third of the year he might spend with whichever of the two goddesses he preferred. 

Venus used the power of magic to cause him to want her rather than Persephone. 

In Waterhouse’ painting the beautiful boy is awakened with a kiss from Venus in her Elysian pleasure-garden. 

Cupid, the god of love, blows on a torch to rekindle a flame, and is accompanied by a band of putto holding flowers. White doves take to the air and the garden is fecund with roses (symbols of Venus) and anemone flowers that were said to grow from the blood of the dying Adonis. 

The mythological legend of Adonis, as represented in the present painting, is therefore symbolic of the renewal of life, vigour, and desire at the arrival of spring. 

– From Sotheby’s catalogue.

A Naiad

In Greek mythology, the Naiads are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.

-Wikipedia

Naiad, (from Greek naiein, “to flow”), in Greek mythology, one of the nymphs of flowing water—springs, rivers, fountains, lakes.

The Naiads, appropriately in their relation to freshwater, were represented as beautiful, lighthearted, and beneficent.

Like the other classes of nymphs, they were extremely long-lived, although not immortal.

...in Greek mythology, naiads supposedly drowned the young men with whom they became enamored.

-Naiad | Definition of Naiad by Merriam-Webster

Variations…

  • Nymph. Nymph, in Greek mythology, any of a large class of inferior female divinities. The nymphs were usually associated with fertile, growing things, such as trees, or with water. They were not immortal but were extremely long-lived and were on the whole kindly disposed toward men. They were distinguished according to the sphere of nature with which they were connected.
  • The Oceanids, were sea nymphs.
  • The Nereids inhabited both saltwater and freshwater; the Naiads presided over springs, rivers, and lakes.
  • The Oreads (oros, “mountain”) were nymphs of mountains and grottoes.
  • The Napaeae (nape, “dell”) and the Alseids (alsos, “grove”) were nymphs of glens and groves.
  • The Dryads or Hamadryads presided over forests and trees.
  • Myth. Myth, a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief. It is distinguished from symbolic behaviour (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons). Myths are specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings involved in extraordinary events or circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is understood as existing apart from ordinary human experience.

Good Neighbours

I love this picure for it’s technique, attention to detail, and the timelessness of it. I think that it is a “treasure”.

Hylas and the Nymphs

Hylas, in ancient Greek legend, son of Theiodamas (king of the Dryopians in Thessaly), favourite and companion of Heracles on the Argonautic expedition. 

Having gone ashore at Cios in Mysia to fetch water, he was dragged down by the nymphs of the spring in which he dipped his pitcher.

-Hylas | Greek mythology | Britannica

The story isn’t long, but it does seem important. It has continued to be represented in art and in story (though there have DEFINITELY been some changes made to make it fit into the new cultures), but it was also super important in ancient Greece, where sacrifices were made in a festival in his honor. Rituals were done in his name.

This story is found slightly more fully in Book One of the Argonautica, and in that version, it is clarified that he walked off from the group hoping to get water to make a meal for his man.

His man, of course, was Herakles.

Now, we should sidenote here that Herakles definitely liked a sexy youth or two. Hylas is the most famous of his beloveds, but by no means the only one. 

This does not mean that Heracles was gay. It does not even mean that he was bi. These terms did not even exist. Although I think this topic is fascinating, I will suffice it to say that the relationship between Hylas and Herakles was very normal and even celebrated in ancient Greek culture.

So it would make sense that Hylas (the beloved and “passive” partner) would be getting water to make something nice before Herakles got back to camp.

But, unfortunately for him, he was deep in Pegae territory.

Now, most of them were away guarding the forest for a nymphaic jamboree they were planning on throwing for Artemis, but one chick was left to hold down the fort, I suppose and when she saw Hylas, standing there in the moonlight (moonlight is like mood lighting …) lookin’ all pretty and sexy, her heart just went pitter pat.

It didn’t help that Aphrodite was there aiding the whole process (didn’t help Hylas that is).

And if you have read about the nymphs, then you know, this is NOT a good situation our young man is walking into.

The authors have already established that he’s kinda delicate, that he’s relatively passive in his relationships, he’s young, and he’s mortal.

Said nymph may appear delicate, but she is super powerful compared to this dude, and no good can come from relationships where women hold more power than men – at least not in ancient Greek mythology.

…

You already know what happens next, but I’ll spin in out all poetic like.

Hylas, dipping like a dancer, kneels and drags his pitcher through the water. And as his arm went into the water, her arm came out and wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer for a kiss.

Truly, our source must have been a mouse watching from land, because the story ends there.

We do not even know if she got her kiss, because when Hylas tumbled into the water, it was the last anyone ever heard of him.

Sure, Herakles searched the island for a long time, but eventually, the crew of the Argo gave up and continued their quest without him.

The moral of the story?

Don’t be like Hylas.

Saint Eulalia

Eulalia was a Christian girl who had the cosmic misfortune of being born in Barcelona in the third century after Jesus, during the reign of Roman emperor Diocleciano.

Diocleciano was the kind of emperor who didn’t like Christians and wanted them all to recant their faith.

Unfortunately, Eulalia was of the mindset that she’s an independent girl who don’t need no emperor telling her who to worship.

Diocleciano didn’t like that.

So her ordered that Eulalia suffer 13 tortures, one for each of her years on earth. Yep, she was 13 when she was tortured to death and subsequently martyred. 

ST EULALIA 13 TORTURES

Her tortures were (because we’re a morbid bunch when fucked-up shit happened to ancient people):

  1. Imprisonment in a tiny prison,
  2. Being whipped,
  3. Tearing her skin in strips,
  4. Making her walk barefoot on burning embers,
  5. The cutting off of her breasts,
  6. Rubbing her wounds with rough stones,
  7. Branding her with cast iron,
  8. Throwing boiling oil and,
  9. Molten lead over her,
  10. Submerged in burning lime,
  11. Locked in a flea box,
  12. Rolled down a hill, naked, in a barrel full of knives, swords and glass, and finally,
  13. Crucified in the form of a cross.

After all that she was decapitated and apparently a white dove flew from her neck. This is why there are 13 geese in the Barcelonan cathedral of Saint Eulalia. (doves, geese, whatevers).

Holy smokes!

And now, after all of that, she gets a relatively crappy festival compared to Merce’s amazing one? How flaky are the Catalans? Poor Eulalia goes through all that and then they try and replace her because she maybe didn’t chase off some insects? Give us a break!

The Story and History of Saint Eulalia

The story and history of Saint Eulalia. Saint Eulalia was a native of Merida, in Spain. 

She was but twelve years old when the bloody edicts of Diocletian were issued. 

Eulalia presented herself before the cruel judge Dacianus, and reproached him for attempting to destroy souls by compelling them to renounce the only true God. 

The governor commanded her to be seized, and at first tried to win her over by flattery, but failing in this, he had recourse to threats, and caused the most dreadful instruments of torture to be placed before her eyes, saying to her: "All this you shall escape if you will but touch a little salt and frankincense with the tip of your finger." 

Provoked at these seducing flatteries, our Saint threw down the idol, and trampled upon the cake which was laid for the sacrifice. 

At the judge's order, two executioners tore her tender sides with iron hooks, so as to leave the very bones bare. 

Next lighted torches were applied to her breasts and sides; under which torment, instead of groans, nothing was heard from her mouth but thanksgivings. 

The fire at length catching her hair, surrounded her head and face, and the Saint was stifled by the smoke and flame.

-St. Eulalia of Merida - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

Mariamne Leaving the Judgement Seat of Herod

Things were totally and completely fucked-up in the old days.

King Herod of Judea

Herod I ( c. 74/73 BCE – 4 BCE/1 CE), also known as Herod the Great, was the King of Judea from 37 to 4 BC. At the time Judea was a client state of Rome. During his 33 year reign, Herod was an excellent administrator. But he is most famous for the Bible account of his killing the boys of Bethlehem.

-Herod the Great

Herod was an Idumaenean, from the Land of Edom, a desert region of nomads to the south of Judaea. His father was Antipater, who became a trusted procurator of Judaea, and his mother was Kupros, a woman of Arab descent.

At that time the King of Judaea was Hyrcanus II.

He was from the family of Hasmoneans, a popular nationalist, Jewish family who had been priests and Kings of the area from about the second century BC.

Antipater was, in his new position and friendship with King Hyrcanus II able to secure good jobs for his sons.

One of them, Phasael was made prefect of Jerusalem and the other son, Herod, was given the job of military prefect of Galilee.

Herod, now moving in the royal circles, caught the eye of Mariamne, the granddaughter of Hyrcanus II and, after divorcing his wife Doris, they became engaged to be married.

However, in 40 BC things took a turn for the worse as the Parthians invaded the area and set up Antigonus, another Hasmonaean, as King.

As Jerusalem fell, Herod escaped with his family but Hyrcanus and Phasael were captured.

After making sure that his family were safe he set off for Rome where he persuaded the Roman senate to give him the title, ‘King of the Jews’, and to pledge himself to return and take Judaea back under Roman allegiance.

He returned to the Palestine region and starting from Galilee he slowly took control of his kingdom.

In just three years he succeeded in capturing Antigonus, and with his new bride Mariamne, the grandaughter of Hyrcanus, he began to rule his kingdom.

King Herod began to rebuild the temple.

He established new towns and harbours and brought neighbouring regions into his own kingdom and in alliance to Rome. However, this apparently successful story of how a member of an Idumaenean nomadic family became the ruler of a kingdom was unfortunately marred by Herod’s chronic insecurity.

This was partly because the Jews did not like him because he was an Idumaenean.

Although he practised Judaism, it was not thought that he gave it much priority.

In modern terms he was a multi-faith enthusiast, giving credence to other religious ideas which in Jewish eyes diluted his conviction to the faith .

Also against him was his overthrowing of Antigonus from the popular Hasmonean family.

He tried to overcome this by marrying Mariamne, King Hyrcanus II’s grandaughter, and therefore a Hasmonean princess.

He also curried favour with the people by placing Hasmoneans in important positions in his court.

This had the affect of making people tolerate his kingship but it also made him feel under even more threat from the very people he had promoted. and led to increasing insecurity.

Having reached the heights of Kingship, he never felt totally secure and he saw conspiracy and plotting from every quarter.

(uh oh…)

First to be killed on his orders was his brother-in-law and high priest, Aristobulus.

While answering the charge of his murder in Egypt he gave the order to his uncle Joseph that if he should die, then his wife and her mother were to be executed.

Herod managed to talk his way out of the murder charge, but on his return to Jerusalem found that his wife had learned his arrangement with Joseph.

Needless to say Mariamne was none too pleased to hear of this arrangement!

…!

Herod began to wonder why Joseph had told Mariamne, and came to the wrong conclusion they were having an affair.

In fact Joseph had told her of the plan in order to demonstrate Herod’s love for her.

However, despite the total lack of evidence Joseph was executed.

Herod was very much in love with Mariamne, but with jealous accusations from his other wives and Mariamne’s increasing coldness towards him, he eventually persuaded himself to have her executed too.

He regretted it straight away and became filled with guilt, making himself mentally and physically ill.

Thinking that Herod was about to die, Alexandra, Mariamne’s mother made arrangements to put Herod’s children by Mariamne, Alexander and Aristobulus, on the throne.

She too was then executed for her presumption!

Herod had 10 wives altogether and towards the end of Herod’s life, Antipater, the eldest son by his first wife began to realise that he was not favoured to take over from his father.

He was deeply jealous of the sons of Mariamne, and in order to discredit them he accused his two step brothers of treachery and, believing him, Herod had them both executed too.

Antipater must have thought he had got away with it, but just before Herod died, Antipater was executed as well, accused of trying to accelerate his death.

Signing Antipater’s death warrant, Augustus Caesar remarked that he would rather be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son!

Just before his death, Herod, realising that when he died there would be no great mourning, sent letters to the principle heads of every family in Judaism demanding their presence on pain of death.

Having got them to Jerusalem, Herod ordered them to be locked up in the horse-racing ground.

He then gave the orders to his sister that upon his death they were all to be executed.

Thus making sure that the whole nation would mourn when he died, albeit not for him.

(Talk about a fucked-up plan!)

Fortunately, when Herod died, his sister released the imprisoned Jews and allowed them to return home. Herod died 37 years after being declared ‘King of the Jews’, leaving four sons, to whom was given one quarter of his kingdom each. 

Diogenes

Diogenes of Sinope (c. 404-323 BCE) was a Greek Cynic philosopher best known for holding a lantern (or candle) to the faces of the citizens of Athens claiming he was searching for an honest man.

He was most likely a student of the philosopher Antisthenes (445-365 BCE) and, in the words of Plato (allegedly), was “A Socrates gone mad.” He was driven into exile from his native city of Sinope for defacing currency (though some sources say it was his father who committed the crime and Diogenes simply followed him into exile).

Diogenes came to Athens where he met Antisthenes who at first refused him as a student but, eventually, was worn down by his persistence and accepted him.

Like Antisthenes, Diogenes believed in self-control, the importance of personal excellence in one’s behavior (in Greek, arete, usually translated as `virtue’), and the rejection of all which was considered unnecessary in life such as personal possessions and social status.

He was so ardent in his beliefs that he lived them very publicly in the market place of Athens. He took up residence in a large wine cask (some sources claim it was an abandoned bathtub), owned nothing, and seems to have lived off the charity of others.

He owned a cup which served also has a bowl for food but threw it away when he saw a boy drinking water from his hands and realized one did not even need a cup to sustain oneself.

It seems clear that Diogenes believed what people called `manners’ were simply lies used to hide the true nature of the individual.

He was known for brutal honesty in conversation, paid no attention to any kind of etiquette regarding social class, and seems to have had no problem urinating or even masturbating in public and, when criticized, pointed out that such activities were normal and that everyone engaged in them but hid in private what he did openly.

Diogenes was a widely misunderstood man.

Pandora

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god co-operated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground kylix in the British Museum—is Anesidora, "she who sends up gifts".

-Wikipedia

When Prometheus stole fire from the gods, Zeus created Pandora as a punishment for mankind. One would think Zeus had doled out enough punishment after sentencing Prometheus to spend an eternity chained to a rock while birds pecked at his liver, but it seemed the king of the gods had more in store.

Zeus commissioned the god Hephaestus to sculpt a beautiful woman out of clay, and she was given gifts from a few gods before she was sent down to fulfill her purpose. Pandora was sent to be the wife of Epimetheus (Prometheus’s brother), and only brought one thing with her: a container full of all the world’s evils. 

Of course, Zeus didn’t tell Pandora what was inside the box – instead, he told her to never open it, and then gave the key to her husband, because when you tell someone to not do something, you put temptation as close as possible. Can you blame her for sneaking a peek? 

Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's Works and Days. In modern times an idiom has grown from it meaning "Any source of great and unexpected troubles", or alternatively "A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse". Later depictions of the fatal container have been varied, while some literary and artistic treatments have focused more on the contents of the idiomatic box than on Pandora herself. The container mentioned in the original story was actually a large storage jar but the word was later mistranslated as "box".

-Wikipedia

Like any rational creature, Pandora’s curiosity was piqued when she was given a secret container, told never to open it, and sent to earth to marry a stranger who held the key to this mystery vessel. Unfortunately, the temptation was just too much and it was this curiosity that unleashed all the world’s evils.

The list of items released from Pandora’s box are a handful: illness, worry, crime, hate, envy… basically any bad thing you could think of. They flew out of the box like little bugs, and Pandora tried to shut it back up as quickly as she could. She did, according to some of the versions of her myth, manage to trap one important thing inside: hope. 

It is disputed why Zeus would even put hope in a vessel of evils. One rationale is that Zeus wasn’t the worst, and snuck hope in there as some sort of nicety in the midst of all the other horrors. Another is that Zeus meant for hope to remain in the box, to make the people suffer even more, and make them understand why they should never cross him again.  

When Zeus sent Pandora to Earth, he married her off to Prometheus’s brother, Epimetheus. It seems odd that Zeus would gift a beautiful woman to the brother of someone he hated, but Pandora was supposed to be a punishment, so maybe it was part of his bigger plan. In fact, Prometheus warned his brother not to accept any gifts from the gods, but Epimetheus was too drawn in by Pandora’s beauty. She was crafted by the gods, after all.

Zeus entrusted Epimetheus with the key to Pandora’s box, which he refused to give to her no matter how hard she begged. So, eventually, Pandora snuck it away from him as he slept and unlocked the box herself (other versions of the myth also say Pandora simply broke the seal of the pithos). 

Nymphs finding the Head of Orpheus

Nymphs Finding The Head of Orpheus is one of his most dramatic. The painting depicts two curious nymphs sitting by a small waterfall watching the head of Orpheus as it floats in a pool of water among the lily pads. A beautiful gift for fans of John William Waterhouse, Mythological Paintings, Orpheus, and Fantasy art

-Nymphs Finding The Head of Orpheus

Orpheus is a figure from ancient Greek mythology, most famous for his virtuoso ability in playing the lyre or kithara.

His music could charm the wild animals of the forest, and even streams would pause and trees bend a little closer to hear his sublime singing. He was also a renowned poet, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, and even descended into the Underworld of Hades to recover his lost wife Eurydice.

Orpheus was seen as the head of a poetic tradition known as Orphism where, according to some scholars, adherents performed certain rituals and composed or read poems, texts, and hymns, which included an alternative view of humanity’s origins. Orpheus is widely referenced in all forms of ancient Greek art from pottery to sculpture.

He had quite an interesting life…

  • A member of Jason’s expedition to find the Golden Fleece.
  • Orpheus married Eurydice (aka Agriope).
  • Eurydice died, in some accounts, on her wedding night.
  • Orpheus followed his love down to Hades, the Greek Underworld.
  • He was able to rescue her, provided he would not glance behind.
  • He did, and lost her.
  • He never got over her and roamed the forests of Thrace.

Orpheus’ misery would soon end, though, when he was set upon by a group of frenzied Maenads (the female followers of Dionysos, the god of wine).

They stoned him to the ground and ripped him to pieces for his lack of merriment.

According to Plutarch (c. 45-50 – c. 120-125 CE), the Maenads were punished for their crime by being turned into trees. Other Thracian women had their bodies tattooed by their husbands as a warning not to repeat such a crime – a cultural practice in the region stretching from antiquity to modern times. 

And thus…

… in the forests of Thrace…

…Nymphs find the stoned head of Orpheus.

The Orange Gatherers

It’s just a nice painting. I love the technique and the composition.

At Capri

And finally, I’ll end this post with another nice printing. There might be a story abhind it, but I don’t really know what it is. I just love the colors and composition.

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my Art Index here…

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