Boy oh boy is the Geopolitical situation changing (with a good look at Vietnam)

Man, I can hardly keep up.

Today, we are going to enjoy contemporaneous Vietnamese pop music. Very, very popular in China and throughout SE Asia.

Man, oh man! Talk about color, and style.

Certainly SE Asia is not some third world banana republic any longer. Wow!

This is the same throughout the (rest of) the world. While the Untied States has been enjoying the fruits of looting, and unlimited spending, and fees, and excessive fees and taxes, the rest of the world has been quietly strengthening itself.

To understand what the new world is, you need to observe what is going on in the rest of the world. That means Asia and Africa.

If you are NOT AWARE how the rest of the world (outside of the West) has changed, you will never NEVER fully grasp how precarious the West is right now.

Do you hear me?

The world has REALLY changed.

Really.

It looks nothing like that old stale 1940’s , black and white, card-board cut-out imagery that the American / Western “news” portrays.

And that is a theme that all of us expats are trying to warn those whom remain inside the burning United States. It’s OVER. It has been over, and you all have no clue as to how far the United States has fallen.

To hitch your nation to the dying zombie nation of the United States is absolute insanity. The world has moved on…

I strongly suggest you all watch every one of the Vietnamese videos here.

French Warship Transits Taiwan Strait With China’s Approval

Reporter/Provider – Alex Chen/Bryn Thomas/Charlie Storrar

Publish Date – 04/12/2023

This is after France agree not to be militarily hostile to China:

Article HERE

Hoàng Thuỳ Linh – Hạ Phỏm | Official Music Video

Ma Ying-jeou’s mainland visit shows cross-Strait China-Taiwan kinship

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A spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office noted that the visit of Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, to the Chinese mainland, showed that compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese and of one family.

Ma’s visit drew wide attention from both sides of the Strait and received positive comments from the public, spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said Wednesday (April 12) at a press conference.

It has positive significance for promoting the exchanges between compatriots on both sides of the Strait and the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, Zhu said.

The visit also showed the common hope of compatriots on both sides for cross-Strait peace, development, communication and cooperation, and manifested that the 1992 Consensus is the fundamental anchor for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, the spokesperson said.

Zhu expressed the hope that the compatriots on the two sides of the Strait join hands on the common political foundation of upholding the 1992 Consensus and securing the long-term welfare of the Chinese nation.

Làm gì phải Hốt – JustaTee x Hoàng Thùy Linh x Đen | Official Music Video

Macron Outlines Need for European Sovereignty

From VOA “news”

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday outlined his vision for European economic and industrial sovereignty during a visit to the Netherlands, following criticism over recent remarks about China and the United States.

Speaking at a Dutch research organization in The Hague, Macron said it was essential the European Union carve out an independent stance on five key areas, including trade, competitiveness and European industry. Embedded across all, he said, should be European values and goals in areas such as climate change. (What is European values? Colonialism? Imperialism? Bullying? Looting? Double standard? Fake news? Colour revolution funding? So Typical ash hole supremacist language)

“We want to be open,” said the president. “We want allies, we want good friends, we want partners. But we always want to be in a situation to choose them. Not to be 100 percent dependent on them.” (besides the crusader DNA countries keep doing that, who else?)

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, looks at demonstrators unfolding a banner that says “President of Violence and Hypocrisy” while he explains his vision of Europe during a lecture in The Hague, Netherlands, April 11, 2023.

Macron said Tuesday the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine helped drive the need for an independent European strategy — not reliant, for example, on either Chinese or U.S. technology. (It is US that forced Europe choice, not Chinese. A balancing language to avoid upsetting the US too much?)

“Defending sovereignty doesn’t mean to shy away from allies,” he said. “It means we must be able to choose our partners and shape our own destiny, rather than being, I would say, a mere witness of the dramatic evolution of this world.”

Macron made his remarks during a state visit to the Netherlands — the first by a French president in more than two decades. The comments follow a controversial interview with French and U.S. media, when he reportedly warned against Europe becoming entangled in unrelated crises — apparently referring to Taiwan — and becoming too dependent on the United States for defense… read more…

Coq au Vin
(Cock with Red Wine and Mushrooms)

Equipment

Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) chicken, cut up (or parts of choice)
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 slices bacon
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 cup red wine
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons parsley, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dry basil
1 small bay leaf
1 (16 ounce) can white onions, drained
1/4 cup brandy

Instructions

Coat chicken, onion and carrot in mixture of flour, salt and pepper; set aside.
Fry bacon in a 4 or 6 quart pressure cooker until crisp; remove, crumble and set aside.
Sauté mushrooms in bacon drippings; remove and set aside.
Brown chicken a few pieces at a time; set aside.
Brown onions and carrots, then return all chicken to the pot.
Combine wine, garlic, parsley, basil and bay leaf; pour over chicken. Close pressure cooker securely. Place regulator on vent; cook for 8 minutes at 15 pounds pressure, with the regulator rocking slowly. Cool pressure cooker at once.
Remove chicken and veggies to a warm serving dish.
Add reserved mushrooms and the canned white onions to the liquid and simmer until heated through. Thicken if necessary (cornstarch slurry works fine). Add bacon and brandy; heat. Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables.

Hoàng Thùy Linh – Bánh Trôi Nước (Woman)

A personal favorite.

Classic Pin-Up Girls Before And After Editing: The Real Women Behind Those Gil Elvgren’s Incredible Paintings

Ever wonder about the process that went on behind the scenes of those classic pin-up images that adorned the noses of bombers and the walls of soldiers barracks in the 1940s and ’50s? Anyone who’s familiar with pin up paintings will know the caricature-esque works of Gil Elvgren. His fantastical cheesecake pictures feature curvy 1950s women revealing their stockings – and sometimes a bit more – in a series of eyebrow-raising situations.

h/t: vintag.es

It seems in the age before digital photo editing, it was paint which made women seem to posess an impossible beauty, as these erotic illustrations reveal. These great before and after images of 1950s pin-up girls will give you a sneak peak of the photograph that came before the artists rendering.

Hoàng Thùy Linh – Kẻ Cắp Gặp Bà Già (Diamond Cut Diamond)| Official Music Video

Super popular inside of China.

The EU Trojan Horse: Poland, Romania and the Baltic States

Roger Boyd

It is said that after a fruitless 10-year siege of Troy, the Greeks left a huge wooden horse outside the gates of the city and seemed to have sailed away. The occupants of Troy brought the horse into the city, only to find that night that it was full of Greek soldiers who opened the city gates so that the Greeks could take the city. Just as the occupants of Troy brought a poisoned gift into their city, the EU welcomed in Poland (2003), Romania (2007) and the Baltic states (2004). What they did not understand is that they were welcoming in states with elites (especially their diasporas) that have a searing visceral hatred of anything Russian and are happy US vassals. Any thought of a new Ostpolitik of the 1970s or the European friendship that Gorbachev wished for was off the table. In addition, the concurrent accession of these states into NATO broke the repeated promises of the West not to move NATO closer to Russia, negating the possibility of a zone of neutral peace.

The history of Poland (the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569-1795) and Russia is one of repeated wars. At its peak in the seventeenth century, the Commonwealth included most of what is now the Baltic States and Belarus and western Ukraine. In 1795 it was put to rest as what was left of it was dismembered between Austria, Prussia and Russia. Poland came back into being as part of the WW1 settlement, which also created the states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (as well as Finland). Poland invaded Russian territories during the Russian Civil War (Polish-Soviet War 1918-1921) in an attempt to rebuild the Commonwealth. This included the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919 against Ukrainian nationalists, with the latter forced into alliance with Poland. After being pushed back to Warsaw and nearly defeated, the Poles won the Battle of Warsaw (1920), and the Peace of Riga (1921) was signed that gave large areas of what is now western Belarus and Ukraine to Poland; areas that were predominantly Slavic not Polish. In 1939, the Soviet Union took back these territories, as well as the Baltic States, as part of its agreement with Germany. The territories taken back by the Soviet Union played a critical role in its survival of the 1941 German invasion, by moving the start line for that invasion (Barbarossa) hundreds of kilometres west. The Soviet Union had also forced the Finns to modify their border with the Soviet Union, to move it away from the Leningrad area. Poland, the Baltic States and Finland were all seen as putative allies of Germany in any invasion of the Soviet Union. At the time Poland was a majority peasant society, ruled by an authoritarian military regime (“regime of the colonels”) that was supported by the aristocracy and the landowning gentry. As Korbonski notes:

There is little doubt that interwar Poland presents a textbook case of what Huntington calls “oligarchical praetorianism.” In such societies, the dominant political forces tend to be the landowners, the clergy, and the military, with the last-mentioned exercising dominance.

Romania had gained Bessarabia after the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1918, but was forced to give it, as well as Northern Bukovina (the combination of which became the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic), to the Soviet Union in 1940. After the collapse of the Soviet Union these areas became the new nation-state of Moldova. This territorial change also pushed back the start line for Barbarossa, which Romania took an active part in as an ally of Germany. Pre-WW2 Romania was a majority peasant country, ruled over by a fascist dictatorship. Lithuania was a fascist one-party (Lithuanian Nationalist Union) authoritarian state, Latvia an authoritarian nationalist dictatorship, and Estonia a right-wing one-party (Patriotic League) authoritarian state.

I include the historical background above to combat much of the recent historical rewriting that serves to paint these nations, and their pre-WW2 leadership in as positive a light as possible. At the end of WW1, the new Soviet Union was “punished” by the other Allied nations through the taking of Russian lands to create Finland, the Baltic States and Poland; in addition to Western invasions of the Soviet Union in an attempt to crush the communist government. Poland and Romania also seized through wars of aggression other pieces of Russia. None of these states were democracies at the start of WW2, they were all highly antisemitic, and enemies of the Soviet Union. In 1940, the Soviet Union took back the lands taken by Poland and Romania, extinguished the Baltic States created from its territory at the end of WW1, and pushed back the Finnish border away from the critical Leningrad area. Without these moves, the Barbarossa offensive may have taken both Moscow and Leningrad in 1941 and Hitler may have gained his lebensraum. What would Eastern Europe and Russia look like today if that had happened? Those that wish to demonize the Soviet Union, and its progeny Russia, ignore and suppress these historical realities.

After WW2, the Soviet Union occupied Eastern Europe as a buffer against Western aggression, a position fully supported by the many European and Western attempts to subjugate Russia and then the Soviet Union. The historical enemies of Poland and Romania would be kept well under control, but not extinguished. Finland also had to accept some additional border changes but was not occupied by the Soviet Union. The Soviet-backed government of Poland was not the disaster many now claim, as it carried out land reform, eradicated illiteracy, provided universal healthcare and education, and established rapid industrialization and urbanization. The population of Poland doubled between 1947 and 1989 and many lower-class Poles had opportunities that they would never have had under previous administrations. The Polish crisis of the 1980s was the result of massive borrowing from the West in the 1970s that lead to severe economic conditions, even rationing, as Western interest rates rose as part of the Volcker Shock. This was the exacerbated by the economic disintegration of the Soviet Union toward the end of that decade. The Romanian experience of communism was much more brutal, but the extremes of the Ceausescu regime were due to the mass austerity imposed to pay off loans from the West; impoverishing the population.

In recent times, Romania has become a deeply corrupt state run by a kleptocracy, which is governed by a US and Western comprador elite and acts as a NATO forward base against Russia and pushes for integration with Moldova (recently with a “strategic partnership”) to reclaim the “lost” Bessarabia. A friend of mine recently visited Bucharest during a diplomatic summit and noted the difference between the modern rich center that the world tends to see and the sea of poverty that it sits within. An example of the deep corruption in Romania, not much has changed in the past few years since:

Read the REST HERE

Hoàng Thùy Linh – Lắm Mối Tối Ngồi Không (Run After Two Hares, Catch Nones) | Official Lyrics Video

Brisket and Beans

Cowboy Beans 3 1024x1536 1 — Cowboy Beans 3 1024×1536 1

Equipment

Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) brisket
2 cups water
1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans
6 potatoes, peeled, quartered
1/4 teaspoon marjoram, crumbled
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Instructions

Remove any excess fat from brisket.
In a pressure cooker, bring brisket, water and seasonings to 15 pounds pressure and cook for 30 to 40 minutes.
Reduce pressure under cold water.
Open cooker, and add vegetables. Cover, then bring to 15 pounds pressure and cook 5 minutes; reduce pressure again.
Remove meat, and slice thinly on the diagonal.
Serve with green beans and potatoes drenched with cooking liquid. Do not thicken the natural gravy.

Hoàng Thuỳ Linh, Thanh Lam, Tùng Dương – Đánh Đố | Official Music Video

11 Illustrations That Show Just How Much The Internet Has Changed Our Lives

None of us should ever succumb to panic — real life is definitely still out there despite the huge role that the Internet plays in modern life. Gadgets and technology play a part in our lives, but it really is just a part. Nevertheless, it’s funny to think about the hundreds of little ways these things have changed our behavior.

h/t: brightside

Trưởng Nữ Chạy Trốn – Hoàng Thùy Linh (choreography by Pdragteam)

Greek Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce

53044c7cc5c83dfd630f49a933228b9a greek meatballs spaghetti and meatballs

Equipment

Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 pound beef, veal and pork ground together (or ground turkey)
1/4 cup sherry
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 medium size onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 slices bread, finely crumbled (store bought bread crumbs if you want)
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil or less
1/2 teaspoon dried mint

Sauce

1 large onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 slices bacon, diced (optional)
2 carrots, coarsely diced
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup beef broth or stock
2 tablespoons sherry
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1/2 teaspoon mint
2 bay leaves
Cooked pasta or rice to serve

Instructions

Prepare meatballs. Set aside.

Meatballs

Combine meat, sherry and the egg in a bowl. Add onion, garlic, bread crumbs and seasonings. Knead until completely mixed. Shape into walnut-size meatballs. Do not over-handle or they will be tough.

Sauce

In a pressure cooker, sauté onion, garlic, tomato paste, bacon, carrots, and parsley over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Add tomato sauce or puree, broth, sherry, brown sugar, salt, pepper flakes, oregano, fennel, mint and bay leaves. Stir to combine, and add meatballs. Secure lid. Over medium-high heat develop steam to high pressure. Reduce heat to maintain pressure and cook 10 minutes.
Release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions. Remove lid. Gently stir meatballs in sauce. Discard bay leaves. Let stand 5 minutes.
Skim fat from surface.
In a pressure cooker, sauté meatballs in hot oil over high heat until lightly browned. Cook about 10 meatballs at a time, turning with tongs.

Hoàng Thùy Linh – Duyên Âm (Love of Ghost) | Official Music Video

What type of women should you never date?

Not by MM. Full Disclaimer. 
-MM

Five Warning Signs:-

Sign One:-

She expects you to pay for everything from the very first date or within the first 10 dates.

Going Dutch is the norm for any girl except for treats (50–50 or paying alternatively)

Sign Two:-

She expects you to improve your behaviour or parts of your personality from the first date or within the first ten dates

The usual norm is after 10 dates she says “Look I really like you but you eat too fast or you swear too much or you slouch toi much, will you please correct it”

Sign Three:-

She is dismissive to things you hold very dear from the very first date or within the first 10 dates

The norm is to nod her head when you praise Modi or Kohli or some random German writer she has never heard of

Then after enough familiarity, she will say “Please shut up. It bores me”

That’s perfectly normal

Sign Four:-

She talks too much of her boyfriend even if its angry stuff

It means you could be a rebound or she isn’t over him

The norm is she won’t want to talk about him initially and later doesn’t care about him enough to talk about him

Sign Five:-

She is dismissive about Parents or your mother or excessive caring by parents

Talent at the Top

Why China Leads the World

Godfree Roberts

Apr 21, 2023

Them

300,000 Chinese people have an IQ above 160¹, which means they can do highly innovative work in quantum physics and mathematics and invent sciences and win Nobels, and all of them work for the Government of China as officials, academics or researchers.

For fifty generations, China’s geniuses have always become government officials because, well, because China only allows geniuses run the country. No-one else need apply.

Young geniuses with political ambitions live in the poorest villages until they raise incomes 50%. Then, if their KPIs remain high for a quarter century, they might ascend to Beijing, official Valhalla.

Two geniuses – one ran the space program, and his buddy who designed its rockets – were made Provincial Governors², each responsible for 5% economic growth in his province, for environmental improvement, for a dozen KPIs, and for delivering their share of the Five Year Plan.

In preparation for their career change, they went back to school. They spent a semester at the most exclusive university on earth, the lakeside campus of the Central Party School in Beijing. There they hung out with world thinkers who earn small fortunes for giving seminars to promising officials and yakking about the future. A Hungarian economist friend, who had heard about the School’s generosity, waited until he was seated on the ‘plane to open his honorarium envelope, “My hands shook. I actually wept. The next week, I paid off the mortgage, bought my wife a car, and left the rest in the bank”.

Xi Jinping began his cursus honorum² at the same age as Cicero, by being elected Village Party Secretary at nineteen. His KPIs were excellent for 25 years, and he picked up a Master’s in Marxist economics and a PhD in rural marketization. An Oxford PhD and African developmental economist attending a conference in Beijing was astonished to find herself sipping tea with Xi and his translator in his office, gabbing about Chinese aid hits and misses. Xi, incidentally, is held responsible for the same KPIs and the same Five Year goals. All of them.

Despair

President Trump despaired, “People say I don’t like China? No, I love them! But their leaders are much smarter than ours. And we can’t maintain ourselves against that. It’s like playing the New England Patriots and Tom Brady against your high school football team.” His elaboration on Xi’s personal qualities is interesting:

Us

30,000 (note4) Westerners have an IQ above 160, but none of them will ever govern a state, let alone a country. Honesty is fatal in our politics, and smart people are honest.

In addition to their lack of intelligence, education and morality, our officials are unaccountable and have no goals. Most have never accomplished anything beyond winning an election, as their disastrous policies make clear.

Let’s not beat a dead horse. There’s no way on God’s earth the West can compete with China, as Lee Kwan Yew (note 5) warned decades ago, “The size of China’s displacement of the world balance is such that the world must find a new balance. It is not possible to pretend that this is just another big player. This is the biggest player in the history of the world”.

If you’re interested in how China actually works, read Why China Leads the World: Talent at the Top, Data in the Middle, Democracy from the Bottom. To learn how Chinese officialdom works, read Dean of Shandong, whose author, Daniel Bell, was a Chinese Government official in this lifetime.

…

IQ is distributed logarithmically and since China’s national IQ is 105, its 1.4 billion citizens harbor 300,000 of them. 95% of us have IQ’s under 130, so theoretical physics is probably beyond us.

There are typically 3 levels of civil service between a provincial governor and the President of China. At the provincial level, the governor is considered a level-1 official. Above the governor are level-2 officials who are responsible for larger regions or multiple provinces, such as the vice-ministers in various ministries of the central government. Level-3 officials are the highest-ranking officials in the country and are responsible for national policies and decision-making. The President of China is a level-3 official.

the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and early Empire.

Because China’s median IQ is 105+ and the West’s is 100- and because IQ is logarithmic and because China has twice as many people.

Lee graduated at the top of his year at Cambridge – he was a genius who ran his country well. He. His Prime Minister son outshone him – in mathematics. Singapore will succeed if it keeps Prime Ministerial IQ above 130? China’s has probably not been below 130 since 505 AD.

USA’s hegemony has angered the entire world & thus backfired to USA. After Brazil, France, Saudi & Iran, Africa & ASEAN, now Vietnam. What has Vietnam done?

On 2023/4/15, US Secretary A Blinken visited Vietnam & met Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. In the meeting room, there was a Vietnamese national flag. But absolutely no US flag.

This is unheard of in diplomacy.

Pham told Blinken:

We Vietnamese do not take sides. We can decide what is righteous & fair (to us).

Vietnam is communist. While USA propagates communist as evil, USA is befriending communist Vietnam. Haha.

2 points here:

[1], It is proof that communism is NOT the problem for USA. It is China. USA is paranoid about China surpassing it. That is all. Hence USA uses “communism” to scare Americans. Don’t forget. USA befriended communist China in 1972 to “fight” the strong USSR.

[2], USA uses Vietnam to encircle China.

USA is infamous in gossiping & breaking up friendship between countries. We witness the mess in Middle East caused by USA.

Blinken has 2 missions.

One, for the opening of a new US embassy in Vietnam.
Two, befriend Vietnam to encircle China.

USA delivered a 3rd naval cutter to support Vietnam coast guard in South China Sea. Security is US concern, Blinken said. (It is said that the cutter is pretty old.)

The Chinese embassy in Vietnam responded:

"all countries in the region of SCS work together to maintain peace in the region. Any outsider is malicious & to sow discord in the region."

Who is the outsider? USA because USA is many thousands of miles away from SCS.

There is a saying circulating around:

Vietnam was not afraid of USA some 40 years ago in Vietnam war. Neither is it afraid today.

Quite similar to what former Chinese Diplomat Yang Jiechi rebuked Blinken in the 2021 Alaska meeting:

"USA is not qualified to talk to China this way. Not today. Not 20 years ago. Not 40 years ago. China will not take it. "

MLEM MLEM | MIN X JUSTATEE X YUNO BIGBOI | OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

Glimpses of contemporaneous Vietnam. Oh, it is so very different from what you would expect

Here, I continue on my “bender” on taking a look at other nations in our world. In each case, so far, I have shown the reality to be something different from what you would ever read about in the Western (especially the American) press. I have looked at China, Russia, Thailand, Cambodia, the middle East, and now, Vietnam.

Vietnam is a very interesting place full of great beauty, beautiful women, delicious food, and an easy going happy-go-lucky lifestyle.

Enter Donald Trump and his neocon war-mongers

Vietnam continued their easy and laid back lifestyle since the tumultuous 1960’s when America decided to churn up and rape the countryside for freedom™ and democracy™. And it continued that way through the decades, up until Donald Trump took office and started his “War on China”.

He demanded that American companies leave China or face all sorts of consequences. In American “language” this means that “border-line legal” actions might (and probably would) be directed at the company. Such as suspicious hard-line tax audits, and review of OSHA and EPA policies and factory operation shut-downs during the “investigations” as well as mysterious fires in the warehouses, random union uprisings and personal tax audits and random arrests of key corporate executives.

Many, but not all, American companies started to relocate a number of their operations out of China. The vast bulk did not return to America, however. Instead, they went to Mexico and Vietnam.

About Factories

When America switched from manufacturing inside of America to outsourcing to China, they did NOT teach the Chinese how to make factories or build products. Instead, they went to existing factories, handed over the blueprints, and quality specifications, moved their tooling and equipment, and said “make this for us”. And that is pretty much (as harsh as it sounds) what actually happened.

Now, in the thirty to forty years that America has been devoid of solid manufacturing skill, the American companies that manufactured inside of China were in a bind. Just how do you move your factory, when you don’t own it?

Do you start from scratch? Hire new engineers? Try to reverse engineer your systems to fit a Mexican or Vietnamese work force? What do you do?

Well, I can’t say that this is what happened to all of the factories, but I can tell you that a sizable number took this action…

…the Chinese factories that supplied the American companies, set up divisions inside of Vietnam.

Thus, the Donald Trump trade war, as far as bringing manufacturing capability back to the United States failed. Instead, all that happened is the existing Chinese factories continued to supply the American companies. The only difference is that they did so out of Vietnam.

Vietnam Changed.

Of course, all of this movement of Chinese factories into Vietnam, and with it, the Chinese support structures, have made great changes to Vietnam. While it is still a sluggish and rather backward nation, it is growing and expanding. And this has created a rather unique mix of older traditional Vietnam, with modern Chinese industry and support structures. Very few American influences are present. As America is rather a nation of bankers, accountants, lawyers, and diversity experts. Very few have an kind of impact on Vietnamese society.

Here we are going to look at some videos out of Vietnam taken these last two months. It’s a quite interesting mix of color and tradition.

The Videos

Let’s go through these videos.

I suggest you watch them in order to get the full diverse effect. And I hope hope that you enjoy them and get “something out of them”. This group has around 85 (give or take) videos. So to prevent you from getting carpal tunnel syndrome (yikes!) clicking on each individual video, I have clustered the videos into small zip files that you click on, download and then browse through at your leisure.

Group A

Cooking some kind of purple Vietnamese food.
Foreigner in Vietnam trying to pick up a local butterfly girl.
Young love having some fun.
Lunch in a Chinese factory located in Vietnam.
Dressing up to go out on a date.
You ride scooters to get anywhere.
Making supper.
Loved ones going off to do their mandatory military service.
Some girls getting down at a local gathering.
Another foreigner trying to pick up some butterfly girls.
Night life in one of the bigger cities.
Two girls on the way to work (my guess is a massage or restaurant).
Bar Life.
Home made turbo-generators for local village power needs.

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group B

Single 20-something girl in her one-room apartment.
Hair stylist.
Wedding party.
Bride’s Maids showing their disdain for the bride for leaving them behind.
Pretty Vietnam girl in a tea house.
Pretty Vietnam farm girl in the field.
Some 20-something’s “hanging out”.
Pretty factory girl on the factory campus.
Drunk factory girl in her shared dorm room.
Classmates cheering up a sad girl.
Before a wedding.
Prep-cook.
Lunch with beer and pigeon eggs.
Vietnam government taking guidance from China and fighting COVID.

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group C

What small-town Vietnam is actually like.
A typical highway between towns.
Pretty girl doing a Tictok.
Wedding tradition.
Wedding reception activity.
Girls of the night looking for customers.
Picnic Vietnamese style.
Female Vietnamese kick-boxer.
Haircut and a shave.
Happy birthday.
Handing out money to those wearing masks.
Chilled girl stopping by the side to put on a warmer top.
One of the many wedding rituals.
Butterfly Girl on the prowl in the night-life section.

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group D

Foreigner interacting with some “ladies of the night”.
Not quite sure what is going on.
Laundry on the porch.
Young love at the factory.
A beautiful Vietnamese girl.
Leaving his house as he has to go off to work now.
Lining up for vaccinations.
Household savings.
Nothing is sexier than a woman cooking.
Working the farm.
Washing hair outside.
Traditional outfit.
[Video messes up on MS systems about 50% of the time.]
Traditional family.

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group E

Butterfly girls (prostitutes) lined up for some customers.
making waffles for breakfast.
City night ride.
China giving away free “dead virus” (traditional) vaccines in Vietnam.
Pretty girl 1.
Pretty girl 2.
A factory lunch.
A friend had a little too much to drink.
Off to the honeymoon.
Night life.
A girl of the night.
Making products for American consumers in a Chinese factory in Vietnam.
Farting at loved ones.
I am not too sure what is going on here.

You can download this entire archive HERE.

Group F

Foreigner picking up a butterfly girl.
Another butterfly girl scores BIG.
Pretty girl in traditional attire.
OMG! What a sexy video!!!!!
Night time going out to be with friends.
Confrontation or something…?
It’s hot! HOT!
Healthy dinner.
China is assisting Vietnam in the construction of hospitals.
KTV fun. I wish I was there.
Later on at the KTV things are getting a little crazy.
You have to wear pants over your miniskirt while riding a scooter.
Wedding exchanges.
Friends partying.
A bit of fun at a Chinese factory inside of Vietnam making products for Americans.

You can download this entire archive HERE.

On a topical note…

As the Biden administration consolidates its foreign policy, it has predictably turned its attention towards Southeast Asia in a bid to “counter China”.

Just last week, Mid-August 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore in a bid to increase military ties between Washington and the region.

Means… allow American military bases there, American war ships to sail there, and the placement of American offensive missile systems there.

Right on China’s “doorstep”.

Imagine that!

Now, Kamala Harris is also set to visit two of these countries (Vietnam and Singapore), where the reported main message will be ‘America is Back!’ – a sentiment which will no doubt go down a storm in Hanoi.

You know like swallowing bile that rise up in your throat.

The vice president’s aim with this trip is to “call out” China over its maritime claims in the South China Sea.They can’t do it personally face-to-face with China. They will no longer play “that game”. So like cowards, they are trying to undermine all the relationships of all the nations that border on China.

They come with ~~suitcases~~ (no cross that out) ~~pallets~~, (no cross that out) Shipping containers full of freshly minted US dollars.

Freshly minted.

Hot off the (over worked) printing presses.

For, you know, the leadership to do what ever they want with the nice crisp “green backs”.

This comes amid America’s attempts to militarize the region.

They’ve been really busy, don’t you know.

The anti-China QUAD; those vassal states of the UK and Japan who will be compelled to “die on their swords” at the push of a button from the American Pentagon. To Australia who has only become a vassal state for reasons not so obvious. In my mind, a treasonous Morrison government with many, many skeletons in his closet is willing to sacrifice his people for Washington DC.

As well as continuously sailing aircraft carriers through the sensitive waters in a bid to project American power.

It comes as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the ASEAN-China ministerial meeting, where he has warned against “external interference” by “extraterritorial powers” in the region.

No prizes here for guessing who he was talking about…

The US says that it’s “back” to Southeast Asian countries.

It’s just bullshit.

The reality is this: apart from all the militaristic “sabre rattling” and pushing a non-stop hate China narrative while convincing everyone (with a pulse) to oppose China, the United States actually doesn’t have a strategy for the region.

But Beijing does.

In many ways, the legacy of recent US policies in this area of the world has been self-defeating.

The “political space” (the room to maneuver and work around is) that Biden has to turn it around is really quite limited.

In other words, it’s essentially still Trump’s ‘America First’ sentiment.

And that is quite telling as the biggest gaping hole in America’s strategy towards Southeast Asian countries is failing to offer them anything in return.

There are no, absolutely zero, economic incentives to oppose China. All they have to offer is personal riches for the rulers. As well as promises to offer them “green cards” and citizenship if the whole plan goes “tits up”.

China, need I remind you, which is right next door to these nations.

On this front, America has isolated itself.

In so many ways too.

Most notably by withdrawing from the mega trade deal which Obama fashioned as an anti-China initiative known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Now rebranded CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) amongst local partners.

On the level of US domestic politics, this is toxic because the consensus is that free trade is bad, especially if it detracts from jobs at home.

Therefore, Biden faces protectionist pressure not to re-join it, thus it has not come back on the Biden agenda.

China, on the other hand, has comprehensively doubled down on its economic ties with the surrounding region and entrenched its presence. Most notably through joining the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which it quickly ratified.

This creates an obvious problem for America.

China is increasingly integrating itself with the region on an economic level.

In which local parties (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, etc.) welcome with open arms gleefully.

But, you know, the United States is not happy with in the least.

China has, in addition, begun to move away from the US dollar in its business with these countries. This includes a local currency trade agreement with Indonesia and the setting up of an RMB bank in the Philippines, amongst other things.

No longer is trade being conducted in the “almighty” US Dollar. It’s local currency to the e-yuan. And as time moves forward, more and more nations are following this lead.

The US doesn’t have an answer to any of this.

Recently, it was reported that Washington wanted to try and propose a ‘digital trade deal’ among the economies of the Asia-Pacific. This “digital trade deal” is intended to lock China out of trade with any nations that sign that agreement. This is by regulation.

A favorite technique, mind you, well established and mature to crush nations that do not “toe the line” with American Geo-political policy.

This is intended to be done by setting strict rules and regulations on the ‘digital economy’ of the region.

Diplomatic sources dismissed it as a complete non-starter.

Why?

Because it’s absolutely untenable for these countries to lock China out, and it’s not hard to see why.

Yesterday (Mid-August 2021) Huawei announced it would be investing $100 million into over 1,000 software start-ups throughout Southeast Asia. And that’s just one of the many initiatives in bringing manufacturing, development, growth and prosperity to all the nations that surround China.

With a high degree of integration and economic benefits, it is impossible for the US to now shape the region’s initiative while keeping China excluded.

There’s nothing left.

This leaves the military.

And this is where China is increasingly powerful, but the US remains competitive and relevant.

Many countries in the region accept the presence of the United States and its allies militarily, because it gives them strategic space to prevent them from being completely dominated by China.

For a small city state like Singapore, this inclination makes obvious sense, but this is not so much ‘siding’ with America as it is a geopolitical balancing act between both powers.

Walking the “tight rope”; the “fine line” of neutrality.

Here lies the problem: America wants countries to align with it against China in a binary way, but the nations themselves want neutrality.

And ASEAN (The association of South East Asian nations) as an institution officially seeks such.

Singapore’s prime minister stated several days ago that it seeks balance between both powers, and did not want to become torn between them.

Seeks balance.

Seeks neutrality.

Seeks a uni-polar world.

Some of these states of course are formally allied with America, such as the Philippines. Yet, you know, for all intents and purposes they utilize a strategy of ‘hedging’ between both sides.

And for certain, they do not seek confrontation with Beijing.

If Washington pushes too hard on anti-China initiatives, these countries become uncomfortable, and this may have the ‘opposite’ result.

Recognizing what the US is doing, China is now pre-empting it by making diplomatic breakthroughs and concessions on the ‘South China Sea code of conduct’ – a proposal that has been in gridlock for decades.

This aims to ease tensions, and brands the US a ‘troublemaker’.

Duh!

Again, Washington doesn’t have the ability to conduct close diplomacy with these countries as a neighbor, only as a ‘visitor’.

America is an outsider.

China is local.

China is right there.

All in all, geography works against America. China is the neighbor of Southeast Asia, not the US.

Beijing is the largest economy in the region and is irreversibly integrated in terms of trade, technology, and finance.

America is not.

Yet, the US foreign policy strategy seems to pursue the bizarre premise that they can somehow dominate this region…

… push back China…

…and match its growing power…

… despite the fact they physically cannot, simply because they are not based there.

This means that whilst these countries are not necessarily rejecting an American presence, they are never going to adopt any serious anti-China policies or the militarization of the region that Biden hopes for.

Would you start a fight with your much bigger next-door neighbor?

Biden has no economic incentives to offer either.

China is, in many ways, continuing to lead and shape the regional agenda through its own initiatives, and as its own military presence in this area also grows, it has plenty of options to counter US posturing.

And the United States is impotent in the region, no matter what the American media says to the contrary.

Conclusion

Most of the world is still being influenced by the American media in one form or the other. And on subjects that everyone seems to have adjusted to what ever narrative that the American government made, the belief is that what ever Washington DC says is the truth. Nope. It is not.

Vietnam is many things, but an American proxy nation, whether military, commercial or economic, is simply not true.

This article broaches the true and actual state of affairs, and I do hope that it was interesting and meaningful at the same time. I have tried to present a diverse collection of videos showing the great breadth and width of the colorful Vietnamese society, and I hope that I put it in a positive light.

I have many friends how go to Vietnam, as it’s not too far from where I live, and they pretty much confirm what I have listed here. I hope that you all can see that it has a bright future ahead, and some deep and wonderful culture and traditions. I sincerely hope that they hold on to them and not allow them to disappear.

And when the pandemic ends, perhaps a nice visit to Vietnam would be a wonderful trip, and I am sure that you would make some wonderful, maybe even lifelong friends. And isn’t that what we all want out of life?

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my Happiness Index here…

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You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
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Tales of War; When the VC overran Fire Support Base “Mary Ann” in March 1971.

Every school-child knows about General Custer and how he was surrounded and engaged with the Indians and eventually perished. Few Americans know about any other battles where American took great causalities and losses. 

That is because the American news media is a propaganda machine. And in it, American NEVER lose wars, battles or suffers defeat. America is the unstoppable army filled with Rambo's.

It's not true.

And people should stop believing this lie. War is a dangerous activity and the tables and tides can turn in a moment's notice.

Here we look at one of the numerous defeats that the American military suffered at the hands of a small group of "primitives" in a "third world shithole" in Vietnam. 

There's lessons galore to the reader who wants to learn a thing or two...

I strongly believe that everyone should study history. Not the names of people, places and things. No. But rather the stories of those who have lived in trying times, and under unique situations. We should learn from their tales; learn the lessons that they can offer us, and apply them to our own lives.

We know now…

We know now, that the Vietnam war never should have happened.

With President Trump declassifying the President Kennedy Assassination documents, we can see how frighteningly easy it was for the Military / political leadership and “deep state” to murder him. And, as soon as he was dead and gone, the new President Lyndon B. Johnson drove America into war.

Oh yes.

The documents now released by the government clearly show how President Kennedy was assassinated. Eight shooters were involved, and the entire military, CIA, political staff, and “deep state” were all involved. All the details regarding the shooting teams, the radio frequencies used, the body-doubles, the switches, and the handlers, are all well documented and very clear in excruciating detail. We know everyone’s names… that is excluding those still alive and working in Washington D.C.. We know just about everything.

Oh…

Sorry to burst your bubble.

Yes, I remember.

We fought “Communism”, we fought against the “Domino Theory“. We fought for “liberty” and Democracy”. At least that was what the Mainstream media poured into our collective minds. When in reality, we were starting the military-industrial engine, that would grow to become an uncontrollable global monster.

And…

We allowed it to happen.

From the death of President Kennedy, until way into my High School years, we were bombarded with news about how “we were winning the war in Vietnam“. We all believed it. Whether it was Johnson speaking, or Nixon. It was the same narrative. Happy times! War is good for the just causes and we were winning!

All bullshit.

We weren’t winning anything. In the end, Vietnam collapsed and turned communist and the only people who won were the members of the military-industrial complex that funded that war.

It was a different kind of war…

For the first time in American history, the Industrial-military complex, aligned with the “deep state” took control of the nation. As such it began fighting wars.

Wars…

Wars everywhere, and wars with no exit strategy. The idea was not to solve problems, resolve conflicts or provide global stability for American interests.

The goals were to become a mechanism for profit.

Money is the reason why America is so busy fighting wars all over the globe today. It's the greed of big business, and their political accomplices. — Money is the reason why America is so busy fighting wars all over the globe today. It’s the greed of big business, and their political accomplices.

Instead of ending wars in a brief but nasty period of time… two years, three years or four years. The wars became “open ended” and were driven as profit mechanisms.

This did not sit well with the bulk of the American citizenry. They wanted, what all citizens want; happiness, liberty and freedom and accountability. But that is not what they got. And instead they watched the news report daily on the death and carnage as fellow Americans died in rice paddy’s as expensive jets bombed mud huts and killed water buffalo.

Most people reading this will have NEVER experienced a single year without America fighting some kind of war.

A simple discussion.

We are not going to cover the crimes inherent in this.

Instead, we are going to look at the war from the perspective of an individual fighting “in the trenches” in a far away land. While the fat cats in Washington, D.C. and in the walnut and mahogany lined walls of industry drank their cocktails and counted their stacks of Benjamins, it was the “average Joe” that had to do the dirty work.

via GIPHY

Here is one such story.

There are many lessons to be learned here, so please sit back and pay attention.

The article is titled " VC Overrun Fire Support Base Mary Ann". It was written on  December 30, 2013 , by  pdoggbiker and found on the Vietnam War Website. All credit to the author, and everything else. 

I was in elementary and middle school during this entire debacle, and I have a lot of respect for those that came before and fought and died alongside their friends and comrades. 

Please give this masterful piece of work the respect that it deserves.

VC Overrun Fire Support Base Mary Ann

Date March 28, 1971 Location 15°18′20″N 108°6′37″ECoordinates: 15°18′20″N 108°6′37″E  Quang Tin province, South Vietnam MGRS AS 962-998 

Result Viet Cong victory

In March of 1971, the 25th Infantry Division was packing it up and leaving Vietnam.

Those of us not having nine months in country were reassigned to other units within the country; I went to the 101st Airborne Division with many of my friends, others I knew, went to the Americal Division near Chu Lai…

…some flew out to FSB Mary Ann temporarily until a permanent home can be determined.

This deadly attack occurred on their second night there!

SHTF! Boom! Boom! Small arms fire…

Running down the hallway of the battalion tactical operations center (TOC), Captain Paul S. Spilberg charged into a cloud of tear gas just as he reached the commander’s quarters.

Staggering blindly back the way he had come, Spilberg made it to the north exit, crawled up the stairs and out the door into the fresh but bullet-ridden air. Forcing his eyes to focus, the shaken captain was stunned to hear the fire of AK-47s and the crash of rocket-propelled grenades from inside the base’s perimeter. In amazement he watched as numerous small figures darted catlike among the spreading flames. Everywhere he looked he saw the scurrying silhouettes, who were enemy sappers feeding the chain of explosions devouring Fire Support Base Mary Ann on that afternoon in 1971.

This is the story of the 23^rd Infantry Division “Americal”   1^st Battalion, 46^th Infantry Regiment2^nd ARVN DivisionBattery B, 22^nd Field Artillery , against  Military Region 5409^th VC Main Force Sapper Battalion .

Four days earlier.

Four days before the fatal attack, Spilberg had arrived at the FSB by helicopter. He was an old hand there, having previously served at Mary Ann as a company commander.

Along with three assistants, he now had returned as a marksmanship instructor. His team had established a training course using targets on a crude rifle range set up on the FSB’s southwest slope.

The hill was garrisoned by Company C, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry (1-46), 196th Light Infantry Brigade, assigned to the 23rd ‘Americal’ Infantry Division.

The battalion commander, Lt. Col. William P. Doyle, was a serious professional.

Along with the Company C commander, Captain Richard V. Knight, Doyle had molded this handful of reluctant draftees into one of the better combat units still in the field in 1971.

Mary Ann was in a generally quiet sector, and the soldiers atop the hill had come to regard their outpost as something of a rear echelon area rather than what it actually was — the division’s most forward firebase.

It starts.

Three hours later the American firebase was rocked from within by a series of powerful explosions. Spilberg was asleep deep inside the TOC.

The structure was a sturdily reinforced, half-buried bunker, and from its interior Spilberg initially had a hard time recognizing the muffled crashes. Thinking the base was taking mortar fire, he rolled off his cot and began pulling on his boots and shirt.

Before leaving the bunker, he grabbed his .45-caliber pistol from under his pillow.

Hindsight; earlier that day.

On the afternoon of March 27, 1971, after the soldiers had completed their target practice, the three officers remained on the shooting range. They plinked with various weapons and talked awhile, and then Doyle and Knight headed for the mess tent.

Spilberg remained behind to take a few more shots. He had only the base’s mascot dog for company.

The mongrel suddenly bristled and began barking and growling at something downslope that Spilberg could not locate. He had never seen the amiable mutt behave like that, but try as he might he could not detect what was agitating the animal.

Finally deciding the dog must have scented a tiger or cobra, Spilberg set out after the other officers.

Much later he related: ‘I never said anything to Doyle about that dog being on alert, but I should have known. It bothered me for years and years. It was my second tour. I should have known.’

Sappers storm the base.

One of the sappers had thrown tear gas into the TOC officers’ quarters, and Colonel Doyle was trying desperately to escape his gas-filled room.

As he struggled to unlatch the plywood door, a satchel charge detonated in the hallway, blowing the door from its hinges and flattening him. Picking himself up, he turned toward the door and faced a sapper wearing nothing but bush shorts, a gas mask and a full-body coating of camouflage.

When the Communist drew back to hurl another satchel charge, Doyle raised his own .45 and shot him square in the chest. As the man fell backward the bomb went off, blowing him to bits and flattening Doyle a second time. Three more charges exploded in the hall before Doyle was able to dig through the rubble and leave the bunker.

Viet Cong soldiers assaulting a fortified position.

By then he was bleeding from fragmentation wounds in one leg and both arms. He was unable to hear through his blood-filled ears, and could barely see through gas-seared eyes.

For 45 minutes, the infiltrators sprinted throughout the firebase, expertly planting their charges among the frantic, befuddled Americans. As the assault concluded, the TOC was a towering pyre.

Spilberg picked up a damaged M-16 he found on the ground. Wincing from three grenade fragments in his back, he made for Knight’s company command post to see if the captain had survived.

The CP was a bonfire and beginning to collapse. As he reached the crumbling entrance, Spilberg could hear ammunition exploding in the flames. He peered inside but saw only a blazing vision of hell. Somewhere within that inferno, Knight lay dead.

Company C commander, Captain Richard V. Knight

The company CP and battalion TOC had been the primary targets for the brilliantly executed sapper assault, and Knight was one of 30 Americans killed. On the morning of March 28, Doyle and Spilberg were among the 82 wounded GIs evacuated.

The first indicator that something bad was afoot had come on the night of March 25-26. Lieutenant Scott Bell was on patrol, on what was supposed to be his last night on the hill.

As he squinted into the surrounding silent, mist-cloaked jungle, he sensed an almost tangible uneasiness in the air, and felt a primordial sense of dread that motivated him to organize one last big rat kill before his departure. Maybe that would keep his men alert.

The last big rat kill.

The soldiers knew the drill.

They constructed ingenious rattraps from empty C-ration cans laced with cheese and blasting caps. All night the men counted miniature explosions as squirrel-sized Asian rats died in the competition between platoons.

By dawn there were 130 dead rodents laid out in neat lines in front of the CP. These were the last fireworks here for Bell and Company A.

The next morning they moved out and were replaced by Captain Knight and his Charlie Company, who were transferred in from Chu Lai.

Charlie Company settled into the new position and started policing the area in preparation for a visit from the brigade commander, Colonel William Hathaway, who had been unhappy with Company A on his last inspection.

Knight hurriedly set his men to work disposing of dead rats, marijuana cigarette butts, empty whiskey bottles and other such junk left behind by their predecessors. When Hathaway, accompanied by Doyle and Knight, walked the perimeter that afternoon, he was delighted with the improvement over what he had seen a week earlier.

Hathaway, however, did not inspect the tactical outer wire because, he later explained,’somewhere along the line you have to put the trust in the company commander.’

Additional trip flares were triggered by the prop blast of CH-47 helicopters as they landed at and took off from the FSB.

The Americans did not replace the flares.

In hindsight, Hathaway thought overconfidence might have been another factor contributing to the debacle.

Overconfidence.

‘Charlie Company, commanded by Captain Knight, was certainly the best company in that battalion, and probably one of the best companies in this division,’ Hathaway said later. ‘One of the problems was that they were so good they were a little contemptuous of the enemy.

They were the hunters, not the hunted.’

But the outer defenses were not in order.

As Lieutenant Jerry Sams, leader of C Company’s 2nd Platoon, later explained: ‘The sergeant major was on everybody’s ass about policing the area before the inspection, and they had my platoon out there picking paper off the wire.

Those helicopters would come in and kick up all kinds of crap.

I had to send the guys out two or three times, and it was one of those typical Army things where everybody’s bitching and raising hell. They were accidentally setting off trip flares in the wire — all our early warning devices that would have come in mighty handy later on that night.’

Another cause for the false sense of security was that there had been no signs of an impending attack. Major Alva V. Hardin, the 196th Infantry Brigade’s intelligence officer, later testified, ‘We had no intelligence to indicate there would be an attack on Mary Ann.’

Lack of Listening Posts.

The lack of listening posts outside the wire was another critical mistake. When Hathaway learned Doyle had not deployed LPs beyond the outer perimeter, he concurred. ‘Listening posts were not a policy,’ explained Hathaway.

‘I considered listening posts outside the wire a hazard. I considered the danger of people getting wounded, either by defensive fires or somebody getting excited and firing on the perimeter, to be greater than the necessity for the listening post.’

Mary Ann had been constructed on the bulldozed summit of a ridge running northwest to southeast.

In profile the elevation looked like the back of a camel, with the base stretching 500 meters across both humps. It was 75 meters wide between the humps, and 125 meters broad at each end. A continuous trench that was knee- to waist-deep and had 22 bunkers formed the perimeter.

Inside the perimeter were 30 buildings of various styles, giving the appearance of a shantytown. The whole thing was surrounded by two belts of concertina wire.

Two dirt roads interrupted the trench and wire line of the perimeter. Doyle had tried unsuccessfully to have chain-link fencing flown in to close the openings, but higher headquarters, noting that the base was soon to be turned over to the ARVN, decided against providing construction materials for the soldiers of South Vietnam.

The road openings remained.

Easing up the guard…

With the 196th Infantry Brigade already scheduled for redeployment to Da Nang, Doyle had ceased all construction projects within and around Mary Ann and had started packing for the move.

By March most of the base’s mortars and artillery had been airlifted to nearby LZ Mildred to fire on enemy positions in that sector. By March 27, all of Mary Ann’s starlight scopes and ground radars had been shipped to the rear for maintenance.

On the night of the attack, the infantry under Doyle at Mary Ann consisted of 231 Americans and 21 South Vietnamese, plus the battalion training team, battalion intelligence officer, the sergeant major, an interpreter and 22 transient soldiers from Companies A, B and D. The transient troops spending the night at the base were in no mood to remain on alert.

Specialist 4 Harold Wise was one of those who had just arrived. ‘Thirty percent of the guys on the hill were heads,’ he said later. ‘Marijuana, heroin, whatever you wanted. The guys in the sensor hooch next to the tactical operations center were potheads, and a lot of people congregated there to buy stuff, but unless they knew you, you didn’t come in.

They had locks on the door of their hooch.

Nobody did it in the open. It wasn’t brazen. If an officer saw somebody doing it, he’d bust the guy. Some of the officers and sergeants knew what was going on, but as long as you did your job, they didn’t say anything.’

The drug problem on the base, although not as pronounced as in other areas, was still sufficient to benefit the enemy.

Battery C, 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery (155mm), was aligned in battery formation atop the base’s highest elevation. The infiltrators quickly destroyed both of the unit’s howitzers. Staff Sergeant Easton Rowell, the chief of the firing battery, was wounded six times. He later groused, ‘We took a screwin’ because the grunts on that hill were a bunch of potheads!’

VC 409th Sapper Battalion

The attackers were from the Main Force VC 409th Sapper Battalion.

This unit was known for operating against the ARVN in Quang Nam province, and at that time was thought by out-of-date U.S. intelligence to be 15 to 20 kilometers east of Mary Ann, preparing for a major push against the South Vietnamese.

At 0200 hours on March 28, an American searchlight crew conducted a cursory 20-minute illumination sweep of the slope outside the exit to the firing range.

The hillside had been cleared of vegetation, but still was punctuated by boulders and tree stumps, all of which provided good hiding places for the small enemy. Seeing nothing unusual, the GIs shut down their light and headed for their bunker.

The explosions started 10 minutes later.

The 409th sappers were experts in their trade. With AK-47s strapped to their backs, grenades in their belts and satchel charges fastened to their chests, they wore nothing but khaki shorts and soot. They crawled silently, slowly and steadily through the jungle, using their fingertips as probes.

When they detected trip flares, they used lengths of bamboo, carried in their teeth, to tie down the strikers. When they felt wires leading to Claymore mines, they used wire cutters to cut the lines. They were careful to cut only two-thirds of the way through the strands of concertina, then used their fingers to break the rest of the way through the wire silently and without shaking the large coils.

Approaching from the southwest, the infiltrators cut four big gaps through the concertina, two holes on each side of the road where it left the perimeter.

They repeated the procedure 50 meters farther on, through the second barrier, although the wire there was in such a state of disrepair that many sappers simply walked across the rusty, breaking steel strands. Another 30 yards and they came to the final concertina barrier.

Rather than risk having the snip of cutters heard by some alert sentry, the infiltrators simply spread a gap through the wire, tying it open with bamboo strips.

Viet Cong sappers approach an American Fire Base.

The sappers were well-rehearsed. Splitting up into three- and six-man squads in the zone between the inner wire barrier and the bunkers facing southwest, the assault teams waited until 0230 hours.

Then their supporting mortars opened with accurate fire on the TOC and CP on the base’s southeast side, and on the remaining U.S. mortar and artillery positions in the northwest area.

All Hell breaks out.

A card game in the radio room was just breaking up when the first rounds hit.

The explosion hurled Wise onto his back, knocked off his glasses, broke his left arm and sprayed the front of his body head-to-foot with fragments. Using his right arm to drag himself into his hooch, he shook awake his roommate, Pfc Peter Detlef, and then hid behind his reel-to-reel tape deck as he seated himself on the floor and tried to cover the door with his M-16.

When Detlef, still half asleep, tried to go through the door, another explosion blasted the door off its frame and on top of him.

As the VC had anticipated, most defenders were immobilized by confusion. One radioman never bothered to crank up his radio to report the situation, but simply rolled off his cot onto his hut’s dirt floor and hid beneath his mattress until the shooting stopped.

Inside the TOC, Spc. 4 Stephen Gutosky grabbed his radio mike and reported: ‘Be advised, we are taking incoming at this time! Stand by and I’ll see if I can get a direction on it!’

When he realized with a start that he was still inside the TOC, he shouted into his microphone: ‘I can’t get outside to see where it’s coming from! Just fire all the counter mortars and counter rockets you got ASAP!’

By that point the south end of the TOC was burning from the inside after a satchel charge set off a case of white phosphorus grenades. Yet Doyle still refused to abandon his position. After ordering Gutosky to radio for helicopter gunships and illumination, the wounded colonel said, ‘I’m going out to see what’s going on!’

Doyle did not realize how badly he was hurt. He was almost deaf and blind from tear gas, powder burns and explosion concussions. The shrapnel wounds in his arms and legs would take months to heal. Nonetheless he made it to the top of the exit steps, raised his M-16 and started to aim at a couple of infiltrators outside the bunker — but a third, unseen enemy soldier threw a grenade at him. It landed at his feet and exploded as he turned to head back inside, blowing him down the stairs.

The entire TOC was now burning. Lieutenant Edward McKay, the TOC night duty officer, started to panic in the ovenlike bunker. ‘We gotta get outta here!’ screamed McKay.

‘Not yet!’ hollered Doyle.

‘We’re all going to die!’ sobbed McKay.

Summoning his last element of strength, Doyle slapped the hysterical junior officer hard across the face and snarled, ‘Shut up, lieutenant!’

It was now 0251, and radio telephone operator (RTO) David Tarnay managed to raise LZ Mildred.

Spilberg heard Tarnay shouting into his microphone, he bounded back inside the blazing TOC. Grabbing a handset, he shouted to Lieutenant Thomas Schmitz at LZ Mildred: ‘I want artillery 50 meters out, 360 degrees around our position. On my command be prepared to fire on the firebase!’

Grabbing a handset, he shouted to Lieutenant Thomas Schmitz at LZ Mildred: ‘I want artillery 50 meters out, 360 degrees around our position. On my command be prepared to fire on the firebase!’

Spilberg realized that calling down fire on his own position was likely the only way to save the surviving Americans there.

Doyle next grabbed the mike and informed Schmitz they were being forced to evacuate the TOC and would temporarily lose radio contact. With Tarnay and Gutosky carrying all the radio equipment they could, and with the now-incoherent McKay slung over Tarnay’s shoulder, the handful of resolute GIs made their way to the firebase aid station, where Tarnay put McKay on a cot and then tried to get a radio working.

It was now 0251, and radio telephone operator (RTO) David Tarnay managed to raise LZ Mildred.

Doyle and Spilberg left the aid station and crossed the compound to the Charlie Company CP. When they arrived they found that it too was an inferno, its sandbagged entrance collapsed.

Throughout Mary Ann, unprepared Americans were shot and blown apart by the VC sappers, who seemed to know precisely where to concentrate their assault.

ARVN helped plan the attack.

Later, some survivors would accuse the South Vietnamese of cooperating with the attackers. Specialist 4 Steven Webb was the only U.S. soldier who was with the base’s ARVN contingent throughout the fight. Despite later rumors that ARVN troops had fired on Americans that night, Webb said he never saw it happen.

Nevertheless, suspicion and bitterness lingered. One of Knight’s NCOs, Staff Sgt. John Calhoun, later remarked, ‘It was an inside job.’

Specialist 4 Edward L. Newton concurred. ‘That morning before the attack, an ARVN officer came up to our bunker and asked how we got out of the perimeter,’ he recalled. ‘We asked him why he wanted to know. He said because he and his men wanted to go down there fishing. We thought it was kind of peculiar. We said we did not know for sure.’

The officer, who wore the insignia of a South Vietnamese first lieutenant, persisted in his questioning of the Americans until some of them told him the easiest way in and out was the south end and on the road running past the rifle range to the water point.

Specialist 5 Carl Cullers later claimed: ‘[I saw] an ARVN going behind the rifle range. It was more or less a joke at first. One of the cooks said, `Hey Cullers, there’s an NVA down there,’ and I said, `Quit joking,’ and he said, `Wait, and I’ll point him out to you.’ I knew he was an ARVN by his size. He had gone out beyond the rifle range, and down the slope for about 20 minutes. I took it for granted he had gone down to defecate.’

Sergeant Andrew Olints of Company D was next to the helipad at dusk on the 27th when ‘an ARVN chopper came out, and fifteen of those little suckers got on,’ as he later reported. ‘They were thrilled to death, jumping on, pushing each other. I didn’t think the thing would take off, it was so overloaded. We had no idea what was coming, but in retrospect it sure looked like they did.’

Specialist 4 Gary Noller, an RTO at LZ Mildred, later wrote: ‘I remember an incident where a GI came to the TOC and said that an ARVN was signaling with a flashlight to someone outside the wire.’

He said he went to check it out. ‘[I] did encounter an ARVN with a GI flashlight near the east perimeter wire,’ Noller remembered. ‘I told him not to use it, in English, which he probably didn’t understand, and then reported this to an officer.

The incident was not treated seriously by the officers, but added credence as far as the GIs were concerned that some of the ARVN were not on our side.’

Wholly SHTF!

In one of the most dramatic events of the night, Lieutenant Barry McGee, who had been sleeping atop bunker No. 10 when the attack started, stumbled half asleep into his platoon CP with several of his men just as the enemy targeted the position.

McGee was the leader of C Company’s 3rd Platoon, which manned bunkers Nos. 9 through 13. As he and his men grabbed their weapons and prepared to return outside, two mortar rounds hit the bunker, half demolishing it and dislodging a heavy ceiling beam that fell on the lieutenant, seriously injuring his head.

A medic dressed the wound, and after about 15 minutes the men in the platoon CP noted that the explosions outside seemed to be ending.

McGee had just lurched to his feet, turned to the door and said, ‘All right, let’s go!’ when a grenade sailed through the door, exploded and blew the medic, Spc. 5 Carl Patton, back into McGee. Realizing he had lost his weapon, McGee grabbed Patton’s M-16 and again headed for the door.

Another satchel charge detonated on the roof, caving it in and killing 22-year-old Sergeant Warren Ritsema when a beam fell on him.

The blast knocked down McGee, who again lost his weapon. He staggered to his feet and stumbled outside, incoherent with pain and frustration.

When the short, stocky, powerfully built and unarmed lieutenant collided with a sapper outside the bunker, McGee wrestled him to the ground and strangled him with his bare hands.

It was quite a feat for somebody already half-dead from a fractured skull. The lieutenant’s corpse was later found atop the VC he had choked lifeless.

Another sapper had shot McGee in the back.

At 0320, Spilberg and Doyle were at the southern end of Mary Ann, believing the attack was almost over. But then, partly obscured by the billowing smoke, another team of sappers started back up the hill, throwing grenades in all directions.

Apparently searching for their own dead and wounded, the VC broke contact and withdrew when the first helicopter gunship finally arrived overhead.

The Viet Cong withdrew when the first helicopter gunship finally arrived overhead.

It was commanded by Captain Norman Hayes, Troop D, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry. Hayes radioed LZ Mildred that he had arrived at his objective and to lift and shift the artillery fire Spilberg had earlier ordered.

Mildred ceased firing except for illumination rounds.

When Hayes’ searchlight illuminated VC in the wire, they opened up on the gunship with small arms. As Hayes later put it, ‘We engaged, and I know that anything we fired on ceased firing on us.’

Hayes made repeated passes over the base, dropping grenades and strafing targets of opportunity, despite two of his guns becoming inoperative almost immediately after his arrival on station.

He made repeated radio calls for additional gunships and medevacs, but by the time he ran low on fuel and had to return to Chu Lai, no additional aircraft had arrived. Because of the chaotic state of communications, the brigade and division were under the misconception that Mary Ann had been subjected to nothing more than mortaring.

Hayes actually had time to return to Chu Lai, refuel, reload and repair his guns, and then fly all the way back to Mary Ann, before medical helicopters began arriving.

Colonel Hathaway and Lt. Col. Richard Martin, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery, arrived with the medevacs. Spilberg was almost amused at their reaction to the devastation, later remarking: ‘They were in a state of shock. They had just walked into Auschwitz.’

Despite having a gutful of fragments, Spilberg at first refused to leave the base.

He wanted all his wounded men taken out before him, and when Doyle told him to board a chopper he simply climbed in one door and out the other side.

Not until Hathaway gave him a direct order did Spilberg finally leave. He was later awarded the Silver Star.Spilberg also recommended Doyle for a Silver Star, but Hathaway refused to endorse the nomination.

He later said he was tortured by the decision, explaining, ‘I just felt that although he had conducted himself with a certain amount of valor, the situation had occurred because of shortcomings on his part.’

At 1600 the next day, the enemy hit the ruins of Mary Ann with 12.7mm machine gun fire, sweeping the enclosure from a ridgeline to the north.

One GI was wounded in the attack.Fifteen dead sappers were collected from within the base, although blood trails indicated several dead and wounded had been dragged back into the jungle.

After the debacle, however, the South Vietnamese decided they did not want to garrison Mary Ann. The FSB was closed and abandoned on April 24, 1971.

General Creighton Abrams, commander of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, held 23rd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. James Baldwin responsible for the disaster, and relieved him of his command. The 23rd ID’s name had been eternally tarnished three years earlier because of the My Lai massacre.

Many in the U.S. Army suspected that Baldwin would not have been fired had he been in any other division.

What happened at Mary Ann was a failure at the most basic level of soldiering. The Company had been warned by its South Vietnamese Kit Carson scout that it had been infiltrated by enemy spies posing as ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) soldiers.

All electronic sensors had been pulled from the perimeter the day before the attack.

Not a single ARVN soldier came to the aid of the Americans, and the enemy left their Vietnamese brothers alone throughout the assault.

The Americans also took fire from the ARVN part of the compound.

Mary Ann was a classic case of intelligence failure. The clues, quite simply, were never added up.

Fire Support Base Mary Ann was scheduled to be turned over to the ARVN in a matter of days. Nobody had bothered to tell the soldiers who died defending it.

Both Hathaway and Doyle received career-ending formal reprimands. Being blamed for the Mary Ann tragedy was a crushing blow to Doyle. He and his wife divorced soon after his release from the hospital.

He remarried in April 1972 — just two weeks before receiving his letter of reprimand from Army chief of staff General William Westmoreland. Doyle cut his honeymoon short in order to make a personal but futile appeal to Westmoreland.

Doyle developed a severe drinking problem, and he died of a heart attack in March 1984. He was 52. Hathaway and Spilberg were among those following his caisson to the gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery. While delivering the funeral oration, Spilberg spoke for many when he referred to Doyle as ‘the last casualty of Firebase Mary Ann.’

This article was written by Kelly Bell and originally published in the April 2006 issue of Vietnam Magazine.  Pictures provided from the internet and placed into the story line by John Podlaski

In memory of those who lost their lives that night:

Capt. Richard V. Knight, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
1st Lt. John L. Hogan, Battery B, 1-14th FA, attached to 1-46th Infantry
1st Lt. C. Barry McGee, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
S.Sgt. Terry H. Price, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sgt. Michael L. Crossley, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sgt. Warren P. Ritsema, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sgt. Ronald James Becksted, Company C, 1-46th Infantry

Sp4 Victor R. Bennett, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sp4 Richard J. Boehm, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sp4 Richard R.. Carson, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sp4 James E. Edgemon, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sp4 Myron B. Johnson, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sp4 Robert J. Schumacher, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sp4 Donald M. Stotts, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Pfc. Druey L. Hatfield, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Pfc. Michael S. Holloway, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Pfc. Laymon Palmer, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Pfc. Dallas D. Robinson, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Pfc. Paul A. Sheer, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Pvt. Steven D. Plath, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Pvt. Clark V. Shawnee, Company C, 1-46th Infantry
Sp5 Kyle S. Hamilton, HHC, 1-46th Infantry
Pfc. Wilbert S. Dupree, HHC, 1-46th Infantry
Sgt. Michael J. Bayne, Company A, 1-46th Infantry
Sp4 Larry W. McKee, Company A, 1-46th Infantry
Sp4 Larry D. Austin, Battery C, 3-16th FA
Sp4 Clifford W. Corr, Battery C, 3-16th FA
Sp4 Roger D. Whirlow, Battery C, 3-16th FA
Pfc. Donald C. Bennett, Battery C, 3-16th FA
Pfc. William W. Kirkpatrick, Battery C, 3-16th FA

Conclusion

War is a nasty business. We, especially today us contemporaneous Americans, are accustomed to “winning wars” and “winning battles”. Every defeat is turned into a victory without any opportunity to learn from our mistakes.

I argue that it is well past the time to learn from our mistakes.

Vietnam was a “third world shit hole”, and we lost. Image what damage could be expected were America’s leadership to pick a fight with the wrong foe; a nation that does NOT play, and who has the latest in military technology and weapons.

Learn from our past and vow never to repeat those mistakes.

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Some fun videos of Asia; to include China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. (Part 14)

Yes. Here we are going to explore Asia. This entire post is devoted to this. Except that we are going to take just a little bit of time to talk about something else.

As we continue in our video exploration of Asia, and my various rants of stuff, let’s first explore one of my all time movies. You know which one, don’t you? It’s from the photo splash screen above.

The movie is “Casablanca”, and it’s a classic.

I am so amazed at how many millennials have never heard of this move, nor watched it. It is stunning to me. Which is, perhaps, why I am going to spend a larger than usual amount of time writing about it.

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.

Lost in Love in Casablanca.

Casablanca is a film about the personal tragedy of occupation and war. It speaks to the oppression of the one side – and the heroism and self-deprecation of the other. From opportunists, to isolationists – from patriots to disenchanted lovers – the film has everything a man or woman would enjoy.

I cannot go with you or ever see you again.

Bravery, courage, intrigue, romance, beauty and love. Leading actors to please any appetite.

Watching this film is to step back to a world that doesn’t exist – yet to know it. It is to experience lives that have never been lived – but are “real to you.” It is to know pain and joy, pride and pity for characters that are a fiction – yet are so real that you can’t help but get lost in their story.

So what exactly is so special about it? Is it its great genre mix, never  equaled by another film? When we think of 'Casablanca' first, we  remember it as a romantic film (well, most of us do). 

But then again,  its also a drama involving terror, murder and flight. 

One can call it a  character study, centering on Rick. And there are quite a few moments of  comedic delight, just think of the pickpocket ("This place is full of  vultures, vultures everywhere!") or the elderly couple on the last  evening before their emigration to the US ("What watch?"). 

But  'Casablanca' is not only great as a whole, it still stands on top if we  break it apart and look at single lines of dialog, scenes or  performances alone.

Amazing cast, memorable dialogue, unforgettable story. Through this film, Casablanca will always live in my heart and I will think of its characters as family.

Seeing it for the first time is truly the start of a romance with ideals that will live in you long after credits end.

Casablanca 1 — Not only is the dialog great, it’s unforgettably delivered, especially by Humphrey Bogart (“I was misinformed.”) and Claude Rains (“I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here”). Many of scenes have become a part of film history; the duel of ‘Die Wacht am Rhein’ and ‘La Marseillaise’ is probably one of the greatest scenes ever shot, and the last scene is probably even familiar to the few people who’ve never seen ‘Casablanca’.

The Nazi envoy, Major Heinrich Strasser puts it: ‘Human life is cheap in Casablanca.” Of course because a man may be executed in its crowded market before Marshal Pétain’s portrait or where a charming girl may guarantee an exit visa by spending her night with the Prefect of Police…

Rick’s Café is the point of intersection, the espionage center, the background for Allied offensive, the focal point as refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe seek to gain exit visas to Lisboa…

The interesting club so well organized, leads to an open arena of conspiracy, counterspies, secret plans, black market transactions, in which the games and fights are between arrogant Nazis, patriotic French, idealists, murderers, pickpockets and gamblers around a roulette wheel, where a ball could rest on Rick’s command against the settled number 22…

Casablanca a love lost. — The cast is one of its main strengths, not just Bogart and Bergman but also the fine supporting cast. Rains, Greenstreet, Lorre, and the others are indispensable to the atmosphere and the story, and each has some very good moments.

“Casablanca” is an adventure film which victory is not won with cannons and guns… The action, the fight, the war takes place inside Rick’s walls rather than outside…

But who is this Rick? What is his magical power? His secret weapon? Rick is the anti-fascist with hard feelings, the former soldier of fortune who has grown tired of smuggling and fighting, and is now content to sit out the war in his own neutral territory…

Hum... A little like myself, eh?

Even loyalty to a friend doesn’t move him as he refuses to help Ugarte, a desperately frightened little courier who is fleeing from the police…

Casablanca 3 — This is a film that MUST belong in every video collection in the U.S. is not in the world. The stories about it’s making are legendary from the constant rewrites to the apocrypha of casting stories. What is amazing to me, and the reason I believe it holds audiences almost spellbound in successive viewings, is the connection with the horrors of World War II was almost every single cast member.

Emphatically, Rick says, “I stick my neck out for nobody.”

Ah, but we know he will do just that in a very short time, for into his quiet life comes a haunting vision from his past, the beautiful woman he still loves and bitterly remembers…

But…

But, she is married to an underground leader and she desperately needs those papers Rick conveniently now has in his possession…

OMG!

The cynical Rick’s facade of neutrality begins to weaken as he recalls the bittersweet memories of his past love affair, memories triggered repeatedly when the strains of “As Time Goes By” come from Sam, his piano-playing confidante…

But “Casablanca” basic message is a declaration of self-sacrifice… War. World II demanded all!

The words stated by Rick at the airport had their impact: ‘The problems of three people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.’ It goes without saying that Bogart is incomparable when he seems most like himself…

His way with a line makes “Casablanca” dialog part of the collective memory: ‘I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray. You were blue.’

Rick and lost in love. — Everyone in this film is fabulous, but it is the chemistry of Rick (Bogart) and Ilsa (Bergman) been truly holds the film together. When I saw this film almost frame by frame in the limited book series of classic films that were produced in the late 1960s, I was stunned by the subtlety of facial expressions that conveyed so much of Rick Blaine’s character by a marvelous actor Humphrey Bogart.

There is a reason why he was named the actor of the century. While every person in the film becomes a real flesh and blood presence, the story of Rick and Ilsa is the center of this cinema feast.

Intermixed in this intrigue are all the fascinating and beautifully acted supporting roles. With his customary skill, Claude Rains plays Major Renault, a prefect of police who is like Bogart in many ways…

He, too, claims neutrality, but is definitely against the Nazis…

He is Rick’s most devoted adversary, tauntingly calling the man a “sentimentalist” and delivering his share of cynically amusing lines…

When he makes a small bet and is encouraged to make a bigger one, he remarks that he is only a “poor corrupt official.”

Ingrid Bergman is fascinating as the lovely heroine, the mysterious impossible woman of an impossible love, the tender mood of every man, the love-affair, the quality of being romantic, the traditional woman enclosed by two rivals, symbol of a besieged Europe…

Time to say goodby. — CASABLANCA is the best treatment ever of the ancient theme of the love triangle. Set in World War II Casablanca, a Moroccan city under the control of the collaborationist Vichy French government, the movie starts with a news wire that two German couriers have been murdered and their letters of transit stolen. Each letter will permit one person to leave Casablanca to a neutral country.

Paul Henreid is Victor Laszlo, the anti-Nazi resistance leader, seeking in Morocco the two letters of transit signed by General De Gaulle…

Sidney Greenstreet is the black marketeer on good terms with Rick, the rival owner of the ‘Blue Parrot,’ the acceptable face of corruption…

Peter Lorre is Ugarte, the racketeer, the dealer of anything illegal, the killer, driven into a corner by the Vichy police, who has given Rick two letter of transit…

Enter Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, owner of the shady but cheerful Cafe Americaine. Rick is a cynical and hard-nosed man whose motto is, "I stick my neck out for nobody." Like many a cynic, Rick is an embittered ex-idealist, still nursing his wounds from being abandoned by his lover Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). By chance he falls into possession of the missing letters of transit.

Enter Ilsa, who comes to Casablanca on the arm of Czech Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a few steps ahead of the Nazi police. We now have three people and two letters of transit. Who will reach America, and who will stay in Casablanca? I know no other movie that so perfectly balances humor, romance, and drama.

The soul of good drama lies in presenting characters with hard choices, and few choices are as hard, or as illuminating of the protagonists' makeup, as the choices in CASABLANCA. All of the characters must decide what they will give up for love, for honor, and for themselves. The scenes of Rick and Ilsa's love, years ago in Paris, are some of the finest romantic scenes in cinema.

And the humor, particularly in the person of Casablanca's Prefect of Police, Louis Renault, has contributed dozens of dry witticisms to our everyday language - "I am shocked! Shocked! - "The Germans wore gray, you wore blue." - "I was misinformed." - "It would take a miracle to get you out of Casablanca, and the Germans have outlawed miracles."

So perfectly blended are these three major elements that you cannot point to a single shot or scene that should have been eliminated from the movie. Never try to watch only one scene from CASABLANCA; you will inevitably be absorbed until the very end of the film. It is little short of miraculous that the chaotically mismanaged shooting of this movie resulted in such a magnificent final product; it speaks volumes for luck and for Owen Marks' and Michael Curtiz' post-production editing.

At the table in Casablanca. — A scene still from the 1943 Academy Award®-winning film “Casablanca” features (l to r) Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Paul Henried and Ingrid Bergman. Bogart received an Academy Award nomination in the Lead Actor category while Claude Rains was honored with a nomination in the Supporting Actor category. “Casablanca” received eight Academy Award nominations in total and won three Oscars® including Best Picture. Restored by Nick & jane for Dr. Macro’s High Quality Movie Scans Website: http:www.doctormacro.com. Enjoy!

Conrad Veidt is the very essence of German rigidity, unfeeling, unconcerned about life, but firmly believing in the foolish ideology of his Nazi compatriots…

“Casablanca” covers many highlights: The Marseillaise against the Horst Wessel song inspiring sequence; the blissful days in Paris; Ilsa’s emotional words to Rick in occupied Paris; the champagne toast; Ilsa’s request to Sam; the poetry of the magic words and the beautiful voice of Dooley Wilson; Captain Renault’s words in the airport; and the farewell…

The magic that developed from the teaming of Bogart and Bergman is enough to make a new romantic figure out of the former tough guy…

To his cynicism, his own code of ethics, his hatred of the phoniness in all human behavior, he now added the softening traits of tenderness and compassion and a feeling of heroic commitment to a cause…

They helped him complete the portrayal of the ideal man who all men wished to rival…

Casablanca and the fat man. — In December 1941, American expatriate Rick Blaine owns an upscale nightclub and gambling den in Casablanca. “Rick’s Café Américain” attracts a varied clientele, including Vichy French and German officials, refugees desperate to reach the still-neutral United States, and those who prey on them.

Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, he ran guns to Ethiopia during its war with Italy and fought on the Loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War. Petty crook Ugarte boasts to Rick of “letters of transit” obtained by murdering two German couriers. The papers allow the bearers to travel freely around German-controlled Europe and to neutral Portugal, and are priceless to the refugees stranded in Casablanca. Ugarte plans to sell them at the club, and asks Rick to hold them.

Before he can meet his contact, Ugarte is arrested by the local police under the command of Captain Louis Renault, the unabashedly corrupt Vichy prefect of police. Ugarte dies in custody without revealing that he entrusted the letters to Rick.

One can look at hundreds of films produced during this period without finding any whose composite pieces fall so perfectly into place…

Its photography is outstanding, the music score is inventive, the editing is concise and timed perfectly…

Bogart’s and Bergman’s love scenes create a genuinely romantic aura, capturing a sensitivity between the two stars one would not have believed possible…

Rick in love in Casablanca. — Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman starred in “Casablanca,” the Oscar®-winning film of 1943. Bogart was nominated for an Academy Award® in the Lead Actor category for his portrayal of Café Americain owner Rick Blaine. In total, “Casablanca” received eight Oscar nominations and won three, including Best Picture. Restored by Nick & jane for Dr. Macro’s High Quality Movie Scans Website: http:www.doctormacro.com. Enjoy!

“Casablanca” is a masterpiece of entertainment, an outstanding motion picture which brought Bogart his first Academy Award nomination (he lost to Paul Lukas for “Watch On the Rhine”) and won Awards for Best Picture of the Year, Best Director and Best Screenplay…

There is a scene about halfway through the movie Casablanca that has become commonly known as 'The Battle of the Anthems' throughout the film's long history. A group of German soldiers has come into Rick's Café American and are drunkenly singing the German National Anthem at the top of their voice. Victor Lazlo, the leader of the French Resistance, cannot stand this act and while the rest of the club stares appalled at the Germans, Lazlo orders the band to play 'Le Marseilles (sic?)' the French National Anthem. With a nod from Rick, the band begins playing, with Victor singing at the top of HIS voice. This in turn, inspires the whole club to begin singing and the Germans are forced to surrender and sit down at their table, humbled by the crowd's dedication. This scene is a turning point in the movie, for reasons that I leave to you to discover.

As I watched this movie again tonight for what must be the 100th time, I noticed there was a much smaller scene wrapped inside the bigger scene that, unless you look for it, you may never notice. Yvonne, a minor character who is hurt by Rick emotionally, falls into the company of a German soldier. In a land occupied by the Germans, but populated by the French, this is an unforgivable sin. She comes into the bar desperately seeking happiness in the club's wine, song, and gambling. Later, as the Germans begin singing we catch a glimpse of Yvonne sitting dejectedly at a table alone and in this brief glimpse, it is conveyed that she has discovered that this is not her path to fulfillment and she has no idea where to go from there. As the singing progresses, we see Yvonne slowly become inspired by Lazlo's act of defiance and by the end of the song, tears streaming down her face, she is singing at the top of her voice too. She has found her redemption. She has found something that will make her life never the same again from that point on.

Basically, this is Casablanca in a nutshell. On the surface, you may see it as a romance, or as a story of intrigue, but that is only partially correct.

The thing that makes Casablanca great is that it speaks to that place in each of us that seeks some kind of inspiration or redemption. On some level, every character in the story receives the same kind of catharsis and their lives are irrevocably changed. Rick's is the most obvious in that he learns to live again, instead of hiding from a lost love. He is reminded that there are things in the world more noble and important than he is and he wants to be a part of them. Louis, the scoundrel, gets his redemption by seeing the sacrifice Rick makes and is inspired to choose a side, where he had maintained careful neutrality. The stoic Lazlo gets his redemption by being shown that while thousands may need him to be a hero, there is someone he can rely upon when he needs inspiration in the form of his wife, who was ready to sacrifice her happiness for the chance that he would go on living. Even Ferrai, the local organized crime leader gets a measure of redemption by pointing Ilsa and Lazlo to Rick as a source of escape even though there is nothing in it for him.

This is the beauty of this movie. Every time I see it (and I have seen it a lot) it never fails that I see some subtle nuance that I have never seen before. Considering that the director would put that much meaning into what is basically a throw away moment (not the entire scene, but Yvonne's portion) speaks bundles about the quality of the film. My wife and I watched this movie on our first date, and since that first time over 12 years ago, it has grown to be, in my mind, the greatest movie ever made.

-A Masterwork for all Time

A great romance. — “Casablanca” is a great romance, not only for being so supremely entertaining with its humor and realistic-though-exotic wartime excitement, but because it’s not the least bit mushy. Take the way Rick’s face literally breaks when he first sees Ilsa in his bar, or how he recalls the last time he saw her in Paris: “The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.”

There’s a real human dimension to these people that makes us care for them and relate to them in a way that belies the passage of years. For me, and many, the most interesting relationship in the movie is Rick and Capt. Renault, the police prefect in Casablanca who is played by Claude Rains with a wonderful subtlety that builds as the film progresses. Theirs is a relationship of almost perfect cynicism, one-liners and professions of neutrality that provide much humor, as well as give a necessary display of Rick’s darker side before and after Ilsa’s arrival. But there’s so much to grab onto with a film like this.

You can talk about the music, or the way the setting becomes a living character with its floodlights and Moorish traceries. Paul Henreid is often looked at as a bit of a third wheel playing the role of Ilsa’s husband, but he manages to create a moral center around which the rest of the film operates, and his enigmatic relationship with Rick and especially Ilsa, a woman who obviously admires her husband but can’t somehow ever bring herself to say she loves him, is something to wonder at.

My favorite bit is when Rick finds himself the target of an entreaty by a Bulgarian refugee who just wants Rick’s assurance that Capt. Renault is “trustworthy,” and that, if she does “a bad thing” to secure her husband’s happiness, it would be forgivable.

Rick flashes on Ilsa, suppresses a grimace, tries to buy the woman off with a one-liner (“Go back to Bulgaria”), then finally does a marvelous thing that sets the whole second half of the film in motion without much calling attention to itself.

Time to go in Casablanca. — Love and sacrifice during WWII underlie the story about a café owner named Rick (Humphrey Bogart), and his link to two intellectual refugees from Nazi occupied France. Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) seek asylum here in politically neutral Casablanca and, like other European refugees, gravitate to Rick’s upscale café, near the city’s airport, with its revolving searchlight.

Rick is a middle-aged cynic who also has a touch of sentimentalism, especially for people in need, like Ilsa and Victor. The film’s story is ideal for romantics everywhere.

Sorry, for that long narrative. Let’s get back to Asia, shall we.

Faded. Music in China.

First stop is a DJ version of the song “Faded”. Faded is a song made popular by Alan Walker. It is very popular in China. As such, there have been many people who have used the song and music to manufacture “DJ” versions of the song.

There are many of them. Some of the best mix a kind of pop-rock with guitar solos and a background of war and machine-gun fire. Others, just take the melody and mix in Chinese dialog.

When done this way, it becomes a track that would evoke period of deep reflection while remembering the words of others who may or may not have been close to you. In the example below, you can well guess the complexity of those thoughts even though most would not have a clue as to what anyone was saying.

DJ Ricardo – Faded (英雄联盟台词版)

El Rusbo’ notices the roar of silence…

You know, El’ Rusbo had a great dialog on his progam on 7Aug19. In it he discussed what is going on while the American news media are going full-bore anti-Trump, anti-middle class America. Here’s an excerpt…

Trump Support Grows Stronger — and More Quiet — by the Day
Aug 7, 2019

x----snip

Well, it’s not entirely true, but I’ll try to make the point. There aren’t any, per se, Republican voters right now. There are Trump voters. There are Trump supporters and everybody else. Most of them are Republican, and Trump’s approval rating within the Republican Party still stands at 90 to 92%, and it may be even higher now. Those people are totally behind Trump. They are fully, quietly supportive of Trump and his agenda. They grow stronger and more quiet by the day, and that’s the great dichotomy. They are growing stronger, but they are shutting up.

They don’t want to make themselves targets. But they are seething out there. This is what I think the breakdown is. I think there are more and more Trump voters. Trump’s approval rating is at 49%. You go to state by state, and some states show him the losing there, but this is 16 months before the election. So there’s way too much time for any polling data here to be accurate. It’s nothing more than an interesting point of conversation at this point. But I really think that tends to describe the political lay of the land.

And the one thing that I think that is happening (just to reinforce this) that nobody is reporting on at all — not even what you would consider friendly outlets like Fox — is I think that the base support for Trump is solidifying and I think it is growing because I think those people are seething. They are the ones being called white supremacists. They are the ones being called white nationalists. They are the ones being blamed for all this, and they know they are not responsible for it, and they know that Donald Trump isn’t responsible for it.

They know that most of the rhetoric in this country that is inciting extremism emanates from the left. Most of the activity that incites extremism and violence emanates from the left. Do I need to give you the organizations? Antifa. Black Lives Matter. I could go down the list. Planned Parenthood. These are people who do this as a way of life. The basic Trump supporter (you), you’re just out there. Some of you are probably not totally invisible, but the grand majority of Trump supporters is just out there seething.

Look, I think I’m a typical Trump supporter, as far as you can define “typical.” And I am. I’m seething over this stuff. Each and every day, I’m seething over it. Now, don’t misunderstand. This doesn’t mean I’m depressed. This stuff literally ticks me off! Every time I hear these clowns throw out the term “white supremacist,” “white supremacy,” it ticks me off, and it makes me want to defeat them even more. It makes me want them to go down in flames even more — and in this, I believe I am typical.

I like his phrase “seething”.

It is what is going on. Be advised.

Chinese Hospital

China, as an enormous nation, has a wide hospital network. These include smaller local clinics and hospital branches. Like in the United States, they also have training and teaching hospital as well. The quality varies from region to region, but it is very easy to find a hospital suitable for what ever problem ails you.

In general, I have found the hospitals to be competent, staffed with caring and trained workers, and while the appearance varies from one hospital to the next, most Chinese hospitals are up to date and equipped with the latest in technology.

Aside from the handful of village hospitals that I have attended, most hospitals (and I have attended them for various reasons, many and yes, many times) all tend to look like this…

All with costs and prices far, far, far, FARRRRRR below what you would find in the United States. I think that the reason for this is that if the hospital or doctor tries to scam you or work in some kind of “kick-back” scheme through insurance or other legalized-bribery method, the Corruption Police will be unleashed.

Many regulations, agencies that require registration to work, fees, and other hidden costs are legalized ways for collecting bribes. Over the last 100 years, people have gamed the United States to extract as much money as possible from the citizens living there.

People, you DO NOT WANT the corruption police crashing through your window at night.

Thailand Beauty

My other posts were so serious with all the protests in China, and all that. I know these people “just want” “freedom and democracy”, though they are trying to appeal to Americans who live in an Oligarchy disguised as a Democracy (as evolved from a Republic). It’s all messed up.

The world has been gamed by the wealthy over the last 100 years, and now most people are serfs working on a plantation where everything they do has some kind of cost associated with it. This is most especially true in the United States and the UK. No so much elsewhere.

Here is some “lighter fare”. This is a cute girl in Thailand. I like the local rural restaurant that looks like an airplane, the green lush trees, and the blue skies. If it wasn’t for the gold temples over the next hill you would think that it’s in China.

Chinese Beauty

For comparison purposes, here is a similar video of a girl in China. As you can well see, that while the fashions are different, and the behavior and demeanor is different, there is a similarity that cannot be ignored. Ah. I do so love Asia.

European Beauty

Sometimes I get emails from trolls and other confused people. They seem to be under the impression that I need to curb what I write, or present so as not to offend anyone.

Nonsense!

If you are offended you can leave. I am far too old and too grouchy to tone down my thoughts for someone who has the emotions of an infant.

That being said, I do not want people to think that I do not appreciate other forms of human beauty. I am an equal-opportunity girl-watcher. I find so many women beautiful, and you would be so absolutely stunned at how wide ranging my tastes are.

For starters… here’s an European beauty. Isn’t she awesome? Wouldn’t you just love to take her out on a date, eat some fine steak or fish with a nice wine, and then go to a club or jazz bar? I would. I’ll tell you what.

OMG! I am such a sucker for a big toothy smile, and big hair. (Hint, hint to all you heavier girls out there…)

How to Cook Chicken Legs – Chinese Style

Here’s a quick video on how to cook chicken legs on the stove in a pan. This is the traditional Chinese cooking method, as most Chinese do not have ovens. It is not only tasty and healthy, but it uses far less electricity than cooking in a stove.

And as I finish this particular bunch of micro-videos about Asia, take a deeper look into my life as an American expat why don’t ya.

I have many more videos, but I just cannot put them into a single post. It will bog down your computer terribly. So to watch the rest of the videos in this post, please continue…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.

When the SJW movement took control of China

China and America Comparisons

As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

This is a series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and enjoyment.

Part 3 - The contemporaneous music of China.

part 3B - The contemporaneous music of China.

Part 4 - The contemporaneous popular music of China.

Part 5 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Part 5C - The music of contemporary China.

Part 5F - The contemporaneous music of China.

Post 6 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Post 7 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Post 8 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Part 9 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Post 11 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Parks in China

The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.

Really Strange China

Here are some posts that discuss a number of things about China that might seem odd, or strange to Westerners. Some of the things are everyday events, while others are just representative of the differences in culture.

What is China like?

The purpose of this post is to illustrate that the rest of the world, outside of America, has moved on with their lives. That while they might not be as great as America is, they are doing just fine thank you.

And while America has been squandering it’s money, decimating it’s resources, and just being cavalier with it’s military, the rest of the world has done the opposite. They have husbanded their day to day fortunes, and you can see this in their day-to-day lives.

Summer in Asia

Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

Some fun videos of Asia; to include China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. (Part 12)

Thank you for continuing with me in the adventure.

But first, let me explain the photo splash at the top of the page. That picture is of two of the band members from the 1980’s hit rock/pop group “Tears for Fears”.

The Seeds of Love is the third studio album by the British rock/pop band Tears for Fears,  released on 25 September 1989.. The album, which reportedly cost over  £1 million (GBP) to produce, retained the band's epic sound while  incorporating influences ranging from jazz and blues to The Beatles, of  which the latter is most evident on the hit single "Sowing the Seeds of Love". 

-Wikipedia

Tears for Fears – Sowing the Seeds of Love

Sometimes I really wonder about what is going on in the Western world these days. Back in the 1980’s, yes things weren’t perfect, but at least you knew that there were two genders, that a water fountain was GMO free, and that the English Queen was not transgender.

Now, today, you haven’t a clue. The news media completely and absolutely lies about everything and changes the narrative left and right. For instance, consider the latest mass-murdering shooter…

The Liberal Progressive socialists in charge of the American mainstream media and the software giants have rewritten the narrative of the events that transpired.

He was a Obama-following Antifa member, and now his history was changed to a crazed Trump QANAON.

There’s only one thing…

Real Conservatives, if pushed to violence, would not strike out at innocents. They would attack the instigators, the leaders, and those that finance what ever problems that they are dealing with. This fellow attacked innocents. Ergo – not a conservative.

Leftists Change Shooter Patrick Crusius’s MyLife Page

No kidding!

You have this Antifa progressive Obama follower who shoots up a ton load of people in a Walmart. Immediately the news media is blaming Trump for “Right Wing” Violence. When it was no such thing. Now, plastered all over the internet is the rewritten narrative that he was a Right-Wing Trump following kook and guns must be banned.

Perhaps, a little peek at what the news media did and handled this is in order, eh?

Some history…

A Walmart in Texas was shot up in August 2019 when a gunman rampaged through the store using an AK-47 clone. The event is known as the Cielo Vista Mall shooting in El Paso, Texas. He left a manifesto where he claimed to be a follower of Trump and wanted to kill all the illegal aliens in Texas.

Sounds pretty damning. Why it fits exactly the mainstream press narrative of a typical Trump supporter.

Then they got the guy.

Washington Examiner reporter Anna Giaritelli posted the name and a photos of the alleged shooter, sourced to law enforcement. “A law enforcement official in El Paso told me the Walmart shooter is in custody. His name is Patrick Crusius of Allen, a town in Texas outside of Dallas. He is pretty young, having just turned 21 years old this week.

A law enforcement official in El Paso told me the  Walmart shooter is in custody. Patrick Crusius of Dallas. Just turned  21 years old this week. pic.twitter.com/CEJh6rYij1

— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) August 3, 2019

But don’t ya know, Patrick Crusius has a profile on MyLife.com.

MyLife is an American  information brokerage founded in 2002 as Reunion.com. 

MyLife gathers  personal information through public records and other sources to  automatically generate a “MyLife Public Page” for each person, described by MyLife as a “complete Wikipedia-like biography on every American.” 

While people can edit their data, the software organization MyLife can change and rewrite a person's profile at will.

So, you would think that the American mainstream news media would take this information and disseminate it to the public? Nope…

On 3AUG19, at 2:46 PM the website MyLife had this profile for the deranged killer Patrick Crusius. It was quite clear. His original profile at 2:46 said he was a registered Democrat.

Look for yourself…

The deranged killer Patrick Crusius is a progressive democrat.

While he was in jail, right after the police caught him, there were some changes made to his profile. How? I do not know. What I do know is that his political affiliation was changed from Democrat to Republican on the day of the mass shooting.

Here is the changed profile. Check the dates and times. Notice what they wrote on the Summary…

Leftists rewriting history — Mall shooter has had his past history rewritten.

Yes. The leftists wrote;

"Before becoming a mass shooter / murderer, Patrick was a registered Republican, and Evangelical Christian. A former campaign worker for Donald Trump, he was also a QANON conspiracy theorist, and INCEL. "

Ethnicity was changed to African American, as well. WTF?

Now, if that wasn’t bad enough, it was changed yet again…

By Saturday night it continued to be revised. Now including anti-Jewish racial slurs and all sorts of the things that fit the CNN black & White narrative of what a Conservative is.

Progressive Democrat Socialists rewriting the MyLife profile for a mass murdering Antifa member.

Now what can we take from all this nonsense? Well…

Do Not Believe What You Read on the Internet

As far as his political leanings are concerned… traditional conservatives do not harm innocents. Only progressive leftists do. Don’t believe me? Crack open a fucking history book won’t ya?

Last minute commentary…

It seems strange to me that all of a sudden this push for gun bans and Red Flag laws, and "Alt Right" violence. It is almost like the time-table for the Hillary / Socialist take over of the country never reset after the election of Trump. 

It's like everything is just following the same timetable that was put in place under Obama.

Here are six posts that discuss this matter in detail…

What is planned for American Conservatives - Part 2

What is going to happen to conservatives - Part 3.

What is planned for conservatives - part 4

What is in store for Conservatives - part 5

What is in store for conservatives - part 6

OK. That being said, let’s move on out of the 1980’s and into contemporaneous Asia…

Bring back the Summer, lover…

I really like this.

I haven’t figured out what it is. Is it a movie? A cartoon? A music video? A narrative? Or what. Whatever it is, I like it.

Imagine this in the USA… not!

You would NEVER see this in the United States. It would be considered cultural misappropriation.

Remember, boys and girls, China is a meritocracy. You must strive to be the best that you can be, or go begging in the streets. There is no room for sloth, welfare moms, and freeloaders.

Remember everyone…

Universities in the United States have been discriminating against Asian students because their success makes racial minorities look and feel bad. Do not think that there will not be some kind of blow-back to their social re-engineering efforts. Ah. You do not mess around with the Chinese. Fools.

As we used to say in Pennsylvania…

You can put on lipstick, curl the hair, wear eyelashes, and put on a nice dress… but a pig is still a pig.

Diversity quotas are like putting lipstick on a pig. It might sound good, it might make the pigs happy, but very few people will actually find the pig beautiful.

Welcome to YiChang…

China has so many cities. Many (so called) towns would pass as large cities in the United States. Here’s an example of the small town of YiChang. Check it out why don’t ya…

Religious girls in Thailand

Just look at these beauties. They are so very yummy.

You know as I get older I really realize that it is our actions that complement our inherent attractiveness. It is how we behave, and how we interact with others that define our overall appearance.

Chinese Aviation

Aviation. I love it whether it is my very own background in American Naval Aviation, or aviation elsewhere, it is an interest and a passion of mine. Yes it is. Sort of like cats, dogs, and pizza. It’s like how I feel about pretty girls and red wine. I love it all.

Here we have a nice video (micro-video natch) concerning Chinese aviation.

Moving up… stay up

The Chinese culture is one of merit. That permeates the entire society. Anyone who tries to cheat, or get special privileges is pretty much shunned. They are known as “Fu er di” and pretty much considered the rich spoiled kinds of society.

Oh yes. The wealthy buy spots for their children in (the easy to bribe) American colleges, but the vast bulk of Chinese society is based upon merit. Every movie, and every song reinforces this notion.

Here is just a small snippet of how this all manifests within the Chinese society.

Yeah. You show that gal that you moved way past her…

Hong Kong Protests

Yeah. There are these “wanna have democracy” protests in Hong Kong. The American media promotes it as a some sort of a “proof” that China is gonna fall apart any day now. Yah right.

Don’t hold your breath.

China and Hong Kong are totally separate entities. Sort of like how Pago Pago in American Samoa is different from Kokomo, Indiana. (Bet ya didn’t know that Pago Pago is a part of an American territory.)

Yup. Hong Kong has their own government and their own laws, and pretty much Beijing allows them autonomy in their affairs. If it didn’t, you would see many changes in Hong Kong that would better fit the traditional Chinese social model. Hong Kong is NOT run in the way Beijing prefers.

Of course, you would never know this, or even have a clue to this situation by only reading American news media. Their role is to keep Americans ignorant of the true situation, huddled and fearful, and easily manipulated to follow heard and group behaviors.

Screen shot of Drudge Report American news aggregator, taken Sunday 4AUG19. What a load of nonsense.

Now, that being said, here’s a video from the Hong Kong government about the situation.

You’d NEVER see this on American mainstream media. It doesn’t fit inside the narrative.

Actually there is so much information regarding this, that I am afraid that I will need to post 4 or 5 videos about the protests to help put things in context. This is done in the next part – part 13…

I have many more videos, but I just cannot put them into a single post. It will bog down your computer terribly. So to watch the rest of the videos in this post, please continue…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.

China and America Comparisons

As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Parks in China

The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.

Really Strange China

What is China like?

Summer in Asia

Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

Some fun videos of Asia; to include China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. (Part 8)

Let’s continue on our exploration on Asia. But first, let’s chat a little bit about the splash screen image above. It’s from the 1980’s classic “Ferris Bueller’s Day off”.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 American teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes, and co-produced by Tom Jacobson. The film stars Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller, a high-school slacker who spends a day off from school, with Mia Sara and Alan Ruck. Ferris regularly breaks the fourth wall to explain his techniques and inner thoughts. Hughes wrote the screenplay in less than a week. Filming began in September 1985 and finished in November. Featuring many landmarks.

-Wikipedia

Ferris Bueller having fun during a parade in downtown Chicago.

Ok, now most of the people reading this, knows quite well about this movie. It’s not obscure, and unknown. It’s a classic.

 High school student Ferris Bueller wants a day off from school and  he's developed an incredibly sophisticated plan to pull it off. He  talks his friend Cameron into taking his father's prized Ferrari and  with his girlfriend Sloane head into Chicago for the day. While they are  taking in what the city has to offer school principal Ed Rooney is  convinced that Ferris is, not for the first time, playing hooky for the  day and is hell bent to catch him out. Ferris has anticipated that, much  to Rooney's chagrin. 

-IMDB

Ah, but what does this all matter. Right?

Ferris Bueller making the most of his day off. What is your excuse?

How about some quotes, perhaps that can pull in some context. Maybe, what do ya know…

 Economics Teacher: Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? 
 Simone: Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's  girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the  girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's  pretty serious. 
 Economics Teacher: Thank you, Simone. 
 Simone: No problem whatsoever.

You see, looking at the crazy life that we live can really be put into perspective if we are in a correct frame of mind; that of the third person perspective. For it is often difficult to see where we are because we take it all in so personally.

Seriously.

Don’t believe me, eh?

Ok. Here’s a screen shot of the today’s (when I composed this post) Drudge report. I want to ask you something. Is this “news” representative of your life?

Is it representative of the lives of others in your community? It is representative of the future course of life that you and your family will eventually need to embrace?

Will Pizza with insect toppings ever be part of your life?

It’s all nonsense.

Nonsense designed to manipulate you. The rest of the world is plowing forward, and completely oblivious to the machinations of the American oligarchy. I urge you, yes you, to ignore their manipulations and open your eyes. the world does not need to become the next American battle field “for democracy”.

Let’s take a look at the rest of the world, for once…

KTV Booths

Yeah. In China, people like to belt our a number of songs or two in an hour to release “stem”. Sort of how I used to scream (at the top of my lungs) “Carry on my way-ward son” when I was driving in my car.

Carry On Wayward Son - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On_Wayward_Son

"Carry On Wayward Son" is a single recorded by Kansas and written by Kerry Livgren for their 1976 album Leftoverture. In 1977, the song peaked at No. 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming their first top 20 entry in the nation. The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on December 18, 1990.

Come on… certainly you too liked to sing some Country and Western music or a sappy love ballad… Eh? Right?

Well, in China, a lot of people hold their emotions inside. They keep them stifled down…down…down below and never let them out. But when they sing, they can let their emotions out. So it is very popular to sing in KTV’s.

Here we have KTV mini booths were you and a close friend can sing your heart out. It’s really quite awesome. For me, it would be singing NZBZ (南征北战NZBZ《不再遥远》感受“速度与激情”). I’ll tell your what!

I really like this three man rap group. It speaks to me. Heh heh.

Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.

南征北战NZBZ – 穿越 (Live)

Anyways, here’s a really cute video of some girls coming out of one of those very cute KTV cubicles. It’s short but cute, and this is the way it really is.

This is China today.

Anyways…

School in Thailand

Here is a nice short clip about visiting a school in Thailand. But you, as maybe an American, never realized that other nations have schools eh? Yeah. It’s something that is considered unimportant.

Friends are so very important…

The Chinese believe that the group of friends, family and community is more important than the individual. That is quite the opposite of what is taught in the United States where the lone dog, the wolf individual is the most important. The democratic party ties to embrace, somewhat, the Chinese model of course leaving out the core strengths. Leaving it as just a simple collection of platitudes to manipulate the huddled masses of humanity.

But the truth is that we need each other. We form societies because we need each other.

People, we need each other.

It is our friends that make our life worth living. They care for us. they build us up. They help us and confide in us and we give back to them in support.

The Chinese will NEVER forget their history

China has a broad and varied history. It is a story of troubles, adventure, and strife. We, as Americans, like to think that we are strong and proud of our “freedom”. People, you have no idea what is like to suffer from 25 centuries of conflict. Heck, it is normal to have your family eviscerated and your daughters used as sex slaves.

But, China has never forgotten. And now, now… now.. they are not taking any chances.

Here’s a cute reenactment of some history. It could be from any year, as it is quite generic. But to tell you the truth, the Chinese have dealt with trouble and strife for many, many centuries. They have never forgotten, and the government does not buy into the “progressive reality that the past should be forgotten.

No. Instead it should be remembered, and never… NEVER … forgotten.

On Being a Father

I really love this little video clip. It is exactly on point as to what it is like when a woman advises her husband (or boyfriend) that she is pregnant with his child. i will tell you what, it is what all real men aspire to. To have a family with a woman who loves him and a child that he can rise as his own.

Anyways, this this the real deal. It is taken in China, but for that matter, it could have been taken anywhere in the world. It’s all the same. Us men, yearn for times like these. Real women, be not afraid. Men want and desire to have a family.

This is the real deal.

This is the real deal. You all.

This is how it works out. Any man who would not have this reaction is not a man. He’s still a boy. All men… real men… have this reaction. We all… yes, every one of us… want to have a family. It’s in our deepest being.

That is a real truth.

I’ll tell you what.

Bonus – How I got together with my wife.

This is the way it happened. I tell you the truth.

More information here…

I have many more videos, but I just cannot put them into a single post. It will bog down your computer terribly. So to watch the rest of the videos in this post, please continue…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.

China and America Comparisons

As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Parks in China

The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.

Really Strange China

What is China like?

Summer in Asia

Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

Some fun videos of Asia; to include China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. (Part 7)

Thank you for continuing on this video adventure into Asia. But firstly, let’s spend a few moments to talk about the photo splash (above). It’s a screen shot from the glorious movie “Bedazzled”. It’s all about a man who meets the devil. She grants him seven wishes in exchange for his soul.

You’ve got seven wishes. Choose carefully.

"You can't sell your soul. It doesn't really belong to you in the first  place. No way, nohow. It belongs to God—that universal spirit that  animates and binds all things in existence."

-Great quote from the movie "Bedazzled".

The main character, a dweeb named Elliot, desperately wants to change his life (also being unduly influenced by a girl) inspired him to sign over his soul to the devil. In exchange she gave him seven wishes. Each wish, he uses to create a different life for himself.

We can see that right?

Elliot becomes a rich ang powerful drug lord. — What would you wish for? Elliot wanted more control over his life. He thought that money and power would provide that. So the devil gave it to him. Elliot becomes a rich and powerful drug lord.

Things aren’t going well, we want to change things. We made mistakes in our past, we wish to undo them. We missed out on opportunities or completely revamp our life into something different. You know, like Elliot does…

 Inmate: What are you in for, brother?
 Elliot: Eternity.

 Inmate: Oooh. You must've done some really bad shit.
 Elliot: The worst— I sold my soul.

 Inmate: Well, I hope you got something good for it.
 Elliot: Actually, I got nothing for it.

 Inmate: Sounds like a really bad deal, if you ask me.
 Elliot: [glances over] I'm not asking you.

 Inmate: Doesn't matter. You can't sell your soul. It doesn't really belong to you in the first place. No way, no how.
 Elliot: Is that so? Then who does it belong to?

 Inmate: [looks straight at Elliot] It belongs to God:  that universal spirit that animates and binds all things in existence.  The Devil's gonna try and confuse you, but that's her gig. In the end,  you're gonna see clear to who you are and what you're here to do. Now,  you're gonna make some mistakes along the way. Everybody does. But if  you just open up your heart, and open up your mind, you'll get it.
 Elliot: Who are you?

 Inmate: Just a friend brother. Just a really good friend.

There are great things all around us. What we need to start doing is to CONTROL OUR THOUGHTS. We must turn off all those bad influences that abound around us, and yes that most certainly means the news. What a piece of horse shit. I swear to God.

Look around you. The world is a truly beautiful place…

Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.

Just some rain

Yes, it’s just some rain. But, it’s (you know) glorious.

Do you remember coming in from the rain when you were young. You would get home and your mother would peel off your wet clothes. She would rub you dry and maybe make you a cup of hot coco with little white marshmallows. Or maybe a nice warm bowl of tomato soup with a melted cheese sandwich.

Delicious tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich. As wonderful and delicious as this this, it is the people that we spend our moments with, and the great times that we share that makes our heart soar. Our emotions generate thoughts and those thoughts create our reality. Treasure those moments, for they are often fleeting.

Yes. You don’t remember the rain so much. But you do remember the times that you spent with someone who you love.

He stood before the yellow door. The printed letters over it said THE SUN DOME. He put his numb hand up to feel it. Then he twisted the doorknob and stumbled in. He stood for a moment looking about. Behind him the rain whirled at the door. Ahead of him, upon a low table, stood a silver pot of hot chocolate, steaming, and a cup, full, with a marshmallow in it. An beside that, on another tray, stood thick sandwiches of rich chicken meat and fresh-cut tomatoes and green onions. And on a rod just before his eyes was a great thick green Turkish towel, and a bin in which to throw wet clothes, and, to his right, a small cubicle in which heat rays might dry you instantly. And upon a chair, a fresh change of uniform, waiting for anyone—himself, or any lost one—to make use of it. And farther over, coffee in steaming copper urns, and a phonograph from which music was playing quietly, and books bound in red and brown leather. And near the books a cot, a soft deep cot upon which one might lie, exposed and bare, to drink in the rays of the one great bright thing which dominated the long room. 

-The Long Rain

Please do great things with your life…

Here is a blind girl hailing a DD. This is the Chinese version of Uber. He asks her where she wants to go. Then she asks how much, and he says 30 yuan. She agrees and he then helps her get in the car.

Because she is blind she cannot pay using the cellphone like most Chinese people do. So she asks how much. And then show him a wad of cash for him to take what he is owed.

Then he does something really special…

People, just be the best you can be. Be kind to animals, and people who need help. That’s the American way. Never forget that that is how REAL Americans behave.

You might notice that the bricks that comprise the sidewalk are in different shapes and colors. This is the norm in China. In China those yellow bricks are used by blind people to make their way through the large complex world that is China. It’s not that they are yellow, but rather they have a raised surface that blind people can use to get around with.

Young Love – Chinese Style

You know, the one thing that I really love about Asia is that young people go to school work hard, and then fall in love. They wait. And because of this, they tend to be very sweet when it comes to romance.

Floor Installation

Most homes in China have solid stone or wood flooring. It is extremely rare to have carpet covering particle board flooring. Here is a video of how the stone tiles are laid down. It’s interesting.

Anyways, I thought that it was very interesting. That is how it is done. Don’t you know.

You know, after a hard day of floor installation, there is nothing finer than a nice hearty meal and a tall frosty glass of ice cold beer. I am sure that the fellows in the video would appreciate it as well. Here’s a nice photo of some grilled cheese to inspire you.

Delicious and tasty grilled cheese sandwich. It would go great with some hot tomato soup and a nice tall glass of frosty icy beer. Maybe a delicious Budweiser, or PBR. I’ll tell you what.

All over the world are roads. Roads that exist and call out your name. Roads that you should travel upon. Roads that can lead you to adventure, and if you are fortunate…romance.

Rural Road in China

This is very typical. Please take note on the condition of the road. Note the amount of litter on the side of the road. Note the conditions of the building and the general care that the local government takes in maintaining public systems, roads and utilities.

Once the Chinese government established the crime and corruption police, there was a drastic and marked increase in the overall care and maintenance of public structures. It was very noticeable.

I wonder why.

Having Fun with Friends – China

OK. This is just a nice fun video. I guess that the point of this is to enjoy life. Everyone else is. So stop reading the bullshit news and being so serious. Let your hair down and start enjoying life.

I have many more videos, but I just cannot put them into a single post. It will bog down your computer terribly. So to watch the rest of the videos in this post, please continue…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.

China and America Comparisons

As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Parks in China

The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.

Really Strange China

What is China like?

Summer in Asia

Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

Some fun videos of Asia; to include China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. (Part 5)

Thank you all for keeping with me and following this video narrative and (sort of) political editorial through humor, adventure and audio visual exploration. But first, let’s explore the picture splash at the top of this page.

About the picture splash above; this is a screen capture of a scene from the movie Roxanne.  The large-nosed fireman C.D. Bales is in love with the beautiful Roxanne. Ah, but alas, she falls for his personality but another man's looks.

This is an old movie that I used to have on Betamax.

I thought it was cute, but not really memorable. However, when rewatching the move, I swear, it took me back to a far simpler time in America. A time of smaller communities, and far less problems. For that trip down nostalgia lane… it is worth the watch.

Sometimes movies and pictures can take us back to a simpler and better time. One that is free of many of the worries and concerns that have been foistered upon us within our reality. — Sometimes movies and pictures can take us back to a simpler and better time. One that is free of many of the worries and concerns that have been fostered upon us within our reality. Like this photo for instance. The family goes out to watch a football game in cool fall air. The housewife prepares some warm coffee and sandwiches for the boys. Simpler times and simpler solutions. Movies and pictures can take us back to those times.

Ok. Now for the micro-videos and dialog…

Welcome to Beijing

Everyone knows about Beijing, in fact, many Americans when asked what cities are in China, they will only be able to name but one or two. Beijing being the first. With Shanghai a distant second.

Here’s Beijing. And yes, outside of the dust-storm season, many days do actually look a little like this… blue skies. I can see those readers just shaking their heads. They tell me, that it is ALWAYS full of terrible air pollution. You can see, they argue, all you need to do is perform a Google image search for Beijing.

Yup. That’s right. Go straight to the largest propaganda outlet in the United States to get your answers – Google.

But, really… Why stop there, how about Snopes?

Here’s a pollution profile that I just screen grabbed for Beijing as I write this.

Beijing Air pollution index. Taken 2AUG19.

And here is one for Los Angles. Again, it’s just a screen grab that I took just a few seconds ago…

Hum. It seems that the Air Pollution index for Beijing and Los Angles, at least on 2AUG19, were the same. Imagine that!

Who’d figure, given the near relentless breathless reporting on how bad pollution is in China, these days.

Nonsense.

This is what Beijing looks like, ya all…

American, and British, media will take pictures of the smoggiest days in Beijing. If they can’t get the weather to cooperate, then they will use a very smoggy photo out of their photo files.

Beijing does have smog, and the weather can be nasty at times. Much of it is a combination of particulate matters from the deserts (which create intense Sahara-style dust storms) and Winter related smoke from coal-fired furnaces in the cold-cold weather.

However, it is not ALWAYS like that.

Just like not every American gets FREE healthcare. FREE medicine. FREE homes, FREE cell phones, FREE cars. Nope. America was not called the “land of the free”, because of all the FREE stuff you would get.

It was called that for other reasons.

Reasons that no longer exist.

Check out some of the cities in the rest of China, why don’t ya. If you would believe those trolls on the Internet forums, China is one filthy dirty, smoggy place. With only America being the most beautiful spot int he world.

Take note…

Comparatively, with say Los Angles, the smog is Beijing is far easier to deal with. Masks are very sufficient to remove the gritty particles out of the air. You can use a HEPA air purifier to keep your office and home nice. However, no such luck on LA. That is a different kind of smog. It’s particulate level micro-beads of acid. It attacks the eyes, the nostrils and the mouth.

I have found that most American news is nonsense. It is designed to manipulate you. It is designed to keep you living in some kind of a box. Part of which is controlled by fear, and constant reassurances that you have it better than everyone else as long as you stay in your box.

American Propiganda. — **American Propaganda**; “Since the beginning of this year, the levels of air pollution in Beijing have been dangerously high, with thick clouds of smog chasing people indoors, disrupting air travel, and affecting the health of millions. The past two weeks have been especially bad — at one point the pollution level measured 40 times recommended safety levels. Authorities are taking short-term measures to combat the current crisis, shutting down some factories and limiting government auto usage. However, long-term solutions seem distant, as China’s use of coal continues to rise, and the government remains slow to acknowledge and address the problems. “

From The Atlantic.

What you all need to do is make comparisons ON YOUR OWN. Don’t listen to the news, and even don’t listen to me. Just you go to Beijing, yourself, and if you think it has terrible pollution, then believe it. Otherwise, don’t.

Automobile Problems – Thailand

Let’s go to Thailand.

Beautiful Thailand. — America isn’t the only place that has beauty. It exists all over the world. It really does. Just like Detroit is not a typical American city that represents what America looks like, nor does the images of other nations as portrayed in American media. Here is a beautiful Thailand beach.

I really like Thailand, but many of the rural roads are not paved, and just simple dirt. Not even gravel. that can cause problems for vehicles during the rainy season. As this poor fella has discovered much to his dismay.

Primitive, yes. But, bad… not so.

While we are in Thailand, let’s head out a little further East and go to rural Vietnam…

But let’s realize that just because the American mainstream media hasn’t been reporting on Vietnam for fifty years, the country still exists. It grows, people live and die. Things progress forward and change. It is not frozen in time, like many Americans seem to think that it is…

Siagon in the 1960's. — Saigon in the 1960’s. Vietnam has changed substantially over the years, and many Americans would not recognize it if their only experiences outside of America is through the American mainstream media.

Of course, Vietnam today is not anything like Americans remember it from the media narrative in the 1960’s. We need to look at the world with new eyes. Eyes that are not colored or flavored by the American mainstream press narrative.

Chicken Noodle Soup – Vietnam

This is modern, contemporaneous Vietnam. Here we have a rural village. (And I do like the rural areas of South-East Asia.)

With that, I would like to post some historical pictures of Vietnam during the 1960’s when America first decided to have a war there. And, while I am at it, let me remind everyone that while many Americans were quite patriotic, they could not understand why thousands of Americans would need to die in a far off land. They argued that the ONLY people who would benefit from such a war was the rich oligarchy.

Historically, we now know that they were ABSOLUTELY correct.

Does this picture strike a bell?

Americans refusing to fight in Vietnam. Looking back, the ONLY people who benefited from the war in Vietnam were the wealthy that had stocks and power within the military-industrial environment. This was something that the Johnson Presidency cultivated, and now today has grown into such an unwieldy monster. You do realize that today 2AUG19, America is currently fighting eight (x8) military shooting wars all over the world. Let me ask you, how are YOU personally benefiting?

This is the Vietnam that Americans had to fight (and protect) for (you know) mah democracy…

Life in Vietnam in the 1960's when America first started to get involved there. — Life in Vietnam in the 1960’s when America first started to get involved there. This is obviously outside a cafe or a restaurant.

I am of the opinion that the wealthy oligarchy in the United States couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the people in Vietnam, or the brave Americans that fought, became crippled or died over there.

All they cared about was their own personal profits. You know, like how the American software giants in Google, Facebook, and Twitter care about YOU today.

They do not.

They don’t give a rat’s ass about you, and think nothing about squashing you, your opinions, your thoughts and your life. They have absolute disdain for you, your culture and your family, and would squash your life out like they would step on a cockroach. they despise you.

Look at what the American rich did in Vietnam…

Killed so some wealthy Americans could make money. — Pretty couple riding their moped in Vietnam. This was in the 1960’s when America was first getting involved in the Vietnam conflict. Apparently the wealthy felt that the deaths of a couple thousand Americans, and many thousands of Vietnam citizens were of no consequence if they could be able to by another mansion.

Well, we did send troops to Vietnam.

Boeing 727 under guard. — Political and business VIP’s would visit Vietnam from time to time to see how things were progressing. They would always return back to America and demand more and more money…. you know, for the cause. Though it was just a way for them to cycle the money into their own pockets. Evil fucking bastards. Here we have one of their aircraft being watched by military personnel.

Many of whom died. Those that came back didn’t like what America had become. So they “dropped out”. They started to take drugs and get involved in non-social activities.

See what happens when the corrupt are permitted to rule over a nation. Everything becomes distorted and corrupted. Nations with long histories, such as China, know that crime and corruption can alter the face of a people in terrible, twisted and bad ways. So they try to do things to change all this.

Here’s some photos of the Vietnam military forces today. Yes they do want to trade with the United States. It’s a new generation, in a new nation. Let’s hope that everyone realizes just how important and precious life is, and the need to ONLY FIGHT to defend your family and way of life.

Exploring a Park in China

Ah. Sorry for being so serious.

It’s just that I really hate injustices, and I get really angry when people use their wealth to hurt others. And, I do not care what it is. Hurt is hurt. Whether it is erasing all of someone’s posts on social media, or bribing a politician to send another 30,000 solders to fight a war where many will get killed.

Wealth corrupts.

Here is China. There are many parks in China and many are very lovely.

I am of the very strong belief that a wide selection of different experiences, shared with others, causes us to think different. Since thoughts create our reality, that is how we grow.

We grow physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually though our thoughts.

Which is sort of why this post-sequence is all about shutting off the American media propaganda, getting out of the fear-cage that many Americans sit within and go forth and explore. You will discover, as I have, that many of us are quite similar, but it is our differences that should be enjoyed and savored.

As I am sure that this American serviceman discovered when dating his pretty Vietnam girlfriend…

Vietnam in the 1960s. — A United States soldier in Vietnam with his pretty Vietnamese girlfriend. It is the similarities that attract us to each other, and the differences that enable us to grow.

Water Festival – Thailand

Let’s take a look at the water festival in Thailand.

The Water Festival is the New Year's celebrations that take place in Southeast Asian nations such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand as well as among the Dai people of China. 

It is called the 'Water Festival' by Westerners because they notice people splashing or pouring water at one another as part of the cleansing ritual to welcome the New Year. 

Traditionally people gently sprinkled water on one another as a sign of respect, but as the new year falls during the hottest month in South East Asia, many people end up dousing strangers and passersby in vehicles in boisterous celebration. The act of pouring water is also a show of blessings and good wishes. It is believed that on this Water Festival, everything old must be thrown away, or it will bring the owner bad luck. 

-Wikipedia

Ah, some links if you are at all interested…

Small Community on the coast -China

Let’s take a look at some of the non-big city coastal areas in China. As you must know, there are thousands of these communities. All much, much larger than many American cities.

They all sort of resemble Miami or Fort Lauderdale beaches, more or less. As like this…

I have many more videos, but I just cannot put them into a single post. It will bog down your computer terribly. So to watch the rest of the videos in this post, please continue…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.

China and America Comparisons

As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Parks in China

The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.

Really Strange China

What is China like?

Summer in Asia

Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

Some fun videos of Asia; to include China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. (Part 4)

Thank you for continuing on my micro-video narrative. But first, let’s chat a little bit about the splash screen photo above.

About the splash-screen photo above. It's a screen shot of the movie "Kelly's Heroes". It's a World War II movie made in the 1960's that is loosely based upon the actual events during the war. 

You see, as Germany was collapsing, a bunch of Americans wanted to go ahead and seize all the gold that Hitler had squirreled away. It's a great movie, and the pop song "Burning Bridges" came from that movie.

You only have to mention the film ‘Kelly’s Heroes’ and within seconds everyone is firing off quotes from the film – our non WWII friends really do look at you as if you are some type of weird sandwich…

Kelly's Hero screen shot. — Hey! Don’t you go giving me off any of those bad waves.

Has to be one of the best war films of all time. So here is a challenge – how many of these quotes can you remember? And how many can you get into a conversation today…

Let’s start with…

Anyways, go ahead and chat with your friends. See how many remember the movie Kelly’s Heroes. It’s a great conversation starter. Sure better than talking about the new female 007 who is going to rock the movie world this year.

Not!

Just look at this pathetic picture. I look and I see that the producers are seriously Jonesing for a Michelle Obama (or Oprah Winfrey) leadership role to pave the way for a 2024 Presidential Election candidate. (Wanna bet this isn’t the case?)

Black Female British Actor Lashana Lynch to Play New '007 Agent' — Black Female British Actor Lashana Lynch to Play New ‘007 Agent’. Hint. She’s a diversity hire. (wink wink). Can’t wait to watch the latest James Bond flick… not!

Yeah. Just like they made so many Hollywood movies with female Presidents that looked markedly like Hillary Clinton during the last ten years. It’s ground work to prep the American population subconsciously.

Now…

I argue that the significance of this role placement is associated with the r/K survival strategy which pretty much establishes a Marxist social dominance within America under the r survival strategy. It’s all pretty obvious to those of us who are paying attention.

If you haven’t a clue as to what I am talking about, then check out this link…

So, when you have a society (like the “great society”) giving away all sorts of free-things (you know, to “eliminate” poverty), you end up with a society of abundance. People can live off the dole. They don’t have to work. They don’t have to compete. They don’t have to survive. They turn in to r-strategists.

Now, back to Asia…

Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.

Puddle Jumper

One of the things that I really like about the world (not just Asia) is flying in “puddle jumpers” into the smaller more rural airports and visiting the countryside. Here is a small micro-video about flying into the Tachiletk airport near Thailand.

That’s what adventure is all about.

Here is a photo that kind of tells you where Tachileik is located. It is in Myanmar near Northern Thailand. (It is near Myanmar and near Maesai, Thailand.) It is a religious place with temples and mosques, as well as monasteries and pagodas.

Oh, yeah. Speaking about travel, let’s inject another great quote from the great movie Kelly’s Heroes. I mean, why not?

Here's some quotes from the great movie "Kelly's Heroes".

I mean. So many positive waves. Maybe we can’t lose!

That’s one of the advantages of travel. So many positive waves.

Return of the Monkey King

Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is a melee agility hero,  best known for his slippery nature and his ability to do Mischief,  deceiving his enemies by turning into trees and other objects. Armed  with his magic extending staff, the Monkey King slams the ground with Boundless Strikes, and leaps to the treetops to have advantage over his foes with Tree Dance.

-Wikipedia

Now, the Monkey King is a big thing in China. Everyone knows about the Monkey King and admires it. But for me, as an American, I don’t see the big deal. I think that it is a cultural thing. Like about how Jarts, and click-clacks were popular in the 1970s’.

You remember those eh?

“At Least He Didn’t Have Access To Jarts” Say Authorities Of Florida School Shooter. No kidding. That’s what the detectives said.

 Trying to extract some positive from the horror in Florida, local  authorities reflected today on how much more carnage the school shooter  could have caused were it not for sensible regulations.

 “At least he didn’t have access to Jarts because they are thankfully banned in this country.”

 The outlawed lawn toys feature sharp metal tips designed to stick  into the ground when the Jart is lobbed underhand causing it to fall in a  large parabolic arc. 

 “This could have been so much worse.”
 
When  asked what could be done to prevent tragedies like this happening  again, they say they are staying focused on making sure this is as bad  as it gets.

 “Our number one priority right now is to ensure the Jart ban  isn’t repealed, and, beyond that, we are taking a serious look at banana  peels.”

-Breaking Bourgh

Ah, cultures can be so interesting.

Anyways, back to the Monkey King…

Check out this short micro-video about the Monkey King…

OK, now after connecting Jarts to the Monkey King, and Kelly’s Heroes with those positive waves in Northern Thailand, let’s talk about kitties…

Ah. But first, look at what I discovered…

Cheetos are being changed so that they will not resemble President Trump.

Now for the kitties after looking at bright lime green Cheetos…

Butting Heads with the Kitty Store Owner

I do think that many cat lovers might appreciate this micro-video…

This is in China, and no, it’s really quite rare for the Chinese to eat pets like dogs and cats. That’s one of the lies propagated by the American mainstream media. They want to keep you all huddled, isolated and afraid of others.

They want you to sit inside your house, work as a serf, pay your taxes and obey your “betters”.

The River Runs Through it…

Speaking about China. Here’s a nice video of a small rural town in the hills. I guess that you could say this is a little like San Louis Obispo in California. Only the Chinese are far more religious than those progressives in California. Look at the hill. There you can see lighted Buddhist statuary.

I like this video.

This video reminds me of how nice small towns can look like when the politicians are being policed by the “corruption police” and are unable to “game the system”, “funnel money” away from projects, and generally abuse their positions. You know, like they do in the United States.

Hey! You do know what I am talking about don’t you?

Yeah. Crime and corruption was pretty bad in China up until 2013, when roving militarized “corruption police” started their crack-downs on corruption. Anyone who says that China is full of corruption today is a fucking idiot. (Or barring that, just horribly misinformed.)

It is nothing like it was.

China is VERY SERIOUS about corruption and crime. They know that the nation cannot survive unless they are able to take control over the high-level corruption that has made China famous two decades ago. So they declared war on corruption. But no, this wasn’t like they do in the USA, where enormous sums of money are dished out to “influencers” and “blue panels of experts”.

Nope.

Targets are identified, systems are put in place. Evil people are rounded up. Many are tortured and incarcerated. Some are killed.

Today, most Chinese are petrified of tangling with the Corruption Police. Arrest means their lives are effectively over, both literally and figuratively.

China takes corruption very seriously. — (150509) — BEIJING, May 9, 2015 (Xinhua) — Chinese police escort Li Huabo (C), the second suspect from China’s “100 most wanted economic fugitives” list, upon his arrival at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, May 9, 2015. Li was repatriated Saturday as part of operation “Sky Net”. The Sky Net campaign aims to return fugitives for trial. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)(mcg)

Corruption Police arrest corrupt civil servant. — In January 2013, Hebei Xinhe County Police notified Guangxi Dongxing Municipal Police that between 2008 to 2011, the former Director of Baoding City Mancheng County Bureau of Land and Resource in Hebei Song Jianzhong used his power to illegally profit and collect 1.5 million RMB in bribes, and when faced investigated by the relevant departments fled to Vietnam with his mistress. Photo is of about 6pm February 5th, Mong Cai Municipal Police in Vietnam handing the suspects over to Guangxi Dongxing Municipal law enforcement officials. Picture by Zhuo Huang/CFP.

Corrupt offical arrested. — After over 20 days of investigation, in the afternoon of February 5th, Song and his mistress, Ren, appeared in Mong Cai, Vietnam. Mong Cai Police successfully arrested the two. In January 2013, Hebei Xinhe County Police notified Guangxi Dongxing Municipal Police that between 2008 to 2011, the former Director of Baoding City Mancheng County Bureau of Land and Resource in Hebei Song Jianzhong used his power to illegally profit and collect 1.5 million RMB in bribes, and when faced investigated by the relevant departments fled to Vietnam with his mistress. Photo is of about 6pm February 5th, Mong Cai Municipal Police in Vietnam handing the suspects over to Guangxi Dongxing Municipal law enforcement officials.

Corruption Police is exactly what America needs today.

Make no mistake. It’s Long…long… LONG overdue.

Anyways, back to the video, pay attention to how clean the streets are. Notice how nice the houses are. Corruption turns nice communities into Detroit, or Baltimore. Look, and pay attention.

When there is corruption, the buildings fall into disrepair. The streets fall apart and have potholes, and the general standard of life is very poor. You can ALWAYS judge the level of corruption in a non-industrial community by how clean and well taken cared for it is.

If things are not so well taken cared for, and there are funds earmarked for maintenance, then you know that the levels of corruption are rather enormous.

Savage in a Parking Garage

On a lighter note. Let’s go Savage in one of those hyper-clean underground parking garages in China. It’s a thing, and I quite like it; those super clean parking garages. In the USA, it’s all damp, bare cement with dimly lit lighting. Yuck.

It’s so refreshing to be in a place where public places are treated as worthy of respect.

Back in the day, Americans used to take pride in their public spaces. Trees were planted in parks to provide shade. Benches were placed, and painted every year. Picnic tables were set up and yearly repaired and maintained. Roads and bridges had yearly inspection teams, fully funded, and taken cared for.

America of the past. — There was once a time when being an American was something special. It was not spit upon by members of Congress. The moneys to repair public works were on the local, not Federal level, and everyone was part of a community that participated. Not isolated, and living in fear facing an electronic box.

That all ended during the progressive onslaught around 1913 or so. Then it became something different. It went from “America for all of us”, to “What’s mine is mine, and I’ll give you a little bit if you obey me.”.

Now, back to China garages…

Ah it’s so refreshing.

Sure beats what you see in America everyday. Here is a typical photo of an American woman. It doesn’t matter where you go in the Untied States, or what city you visit, you will always be able to easily find American women that look like this…

American beautiful woman. — American woman shopping in Walmart. I wonder where she works? What do you think she does for a living? Do you have any idea how well she performed in school, and what she must be like as a person? People! We owe it to ourselves to reverse the obvious progressive decline of the American society.

Jackie Ma

China is a land of merit. You either do your best or fail and suffer the consequences. Much like America used to be when it was first founded. As such, I want to put a plug in for Jackie Ma. For he represents what China is today.

Sort of how Hillary Clinton represents what America is today.

I have many more videos, but I just cannot put them into a single post. It will bog down your computer terribly. So to watch the rest of the videos in this post, please continue…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.

China and America Comparisons

As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Parks in China

The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.

Really Strange China

What is China like?

Summer in Asia

Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

Some fun videos of Asia; to include China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan.

Oh, about the image splash. That's Vincent price in Dr. Goldfoot and the bikini machine. Yeah, you see, he's turned all these girl robots into bombs. Just your typical 1960's era Hollywood fare.

It’s all about having FUN.

By request, I’m posting some fun videos of what is going on in the rest of the world. You can turn off Drudge, CNN, MSNBC and the rest of all that nonsense. Here’s what the rest of the world are up to.

So grab a seat.

Pour yourself a big bowl of Doritos and some salsa. (Don’t forget the tomatoes, and onions, and delicious cheddar cheese.) Make sure that you are well equipped with frosty mugs of delicious beer (oh, and BTW, never scrimp on the beer. If, it’s not worthy of the money, it’s not worthy of drinking), and settle down.

Oh, and don’t forget your dog or cat, or both if you are anything like me. Make sure that there is enough room for them to squeeze in besides you. Relax. Light up.

I’ve selected some of the more unusual micro-videos from my collection. Some are really entertaining, while others are well… just really strange.

Watch them or not.

Just recognize that our world is a great and wonderful place. It is filled with wonderful, great people, and it is our differences from each other that should be appreciated and treasured, not our bland sameness. Let the sheep be like everyone else. Be the odd-man-out that follows a different beat.

Be who you are.

Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.

First up, let’s see a micro-video that kind of looks a little bit like me. Well, in style, anyways. And, no let’s not get all too deep about this subject matter.

We are all just having fun playing around.

He’s just like me!

Let’s start with this cool little video, that I jokenly refer to as a reflection of my life. LOL. It’s close… sort of. It’s a collection of clips from one of the top Chinese movies of this season.

The theme that runs through Chinese movies is pretty much [1] massive success after [2] tremendous study and preparation. (Yah. I’ve got tons, just tons, of micro-videos on these theme.)

That differs from many of the themes that you can find in Hollywood. You know the type. You are gifted with luck beyond your control. A meteor falls from the sky and you get magical powers. Or you are bit by a radioactive spider and become enhanced, or you are granted special abilities at birth, or some other kind of nonsense. Hollywood loves to produce those kinds of movies; “the world is outside your ability to control. But you can somehow… in some way… be magically transformed. Somehow…”

I guess is a difference between a traditional meritocracy, and a progressive utopia.

Guess which is which.

China = Traditional, Single-political party, Conservative.
USA = Progressive, forward thinking, Social utopia.

Anyways, I love his fashion sense, his cigars, and diving into the pool with all those cute bikini clad chicks. I can easily see myself wearing those fashionable plaid pants, the green sports jacket, and his polyester attire.

Can’t you?

Not to mention being surrounded by bikini clad ladies. Life is too short not to be surrounded by cute attractive women. Don’t you think? (At least, that’s my take on this matter.)

Oh, and don’t forget the pizza, beer, wine and lots and lots of music…

And, here’s another video that is a reflection of the kinds of movies coming out of China these days…

Having the beat…

Well, you asked. You see, everyone needs to dance to their own beat. And maybe you don’t know how to dance, heck you can still move your neck muscles around, eh?

Maybe a bit of explanation is in order. You will note that they are wearing traditional Han clothing. This is a regular thing in China. You honor tradition and you keep the memories alive of the past. You treasure statues, monuments, and traditions.

Again, that is what traditional conservative nations do. They honor their past.

Progressive enlightened nations tear down the past. They ignore or rewrite the past to fit a more “enlightened” understanding. Since China is very traditional, and extremely conservative, you can see this being reflected in their movies made within China.

This is the top movie in China this season…

Yeah. I don’t get it either.

Now who wouldn’t want to have a crew of nappy well-dressed mobsters wearing fedoras (and top hats) and carrying axes. Especially when they perform line dance routines to fight the opposition? I can relate. Can’t you?

Maybe this is how you deal with all that mob violence in cities like Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco or Baltimore. You know the places… those liberal progressive utopias where everyone is equal, just and happy!

Rap God

How about being a Rap God? They’ve got them in China, don’t ya know. It’s sort of like this. Hey! Can you rap in English and Chinese simultaneously?

I feel like I am getting a little too sidetracked on movies.

Let’s check out some other unknowns. Let’s check out the cool and beautiful islands.

Chinese Islands

Everyone knows about the thousands of islands in Thailand and Vietnam. What many people don’t know is that China has many, many thousands of islands as well. All of which are sitting right there waiting for you to explore and enjoy.

And people… that’s what you do.

Let’s continue forward, shall we… Ugh.

I have many more videos, but I just cannot put them into a single post. It will bog down your computer terribly. So to watch the rest of the videos in this post, please continue. The arrow will flush this page’s cache (sort of) and allow you to check out some more cool micro-videos.

I’ve got stuff on all kinds of things. From the HK riots, to eating, drinking, and pretty girls, to sudsy cluster parties. Ho Ya Baby!

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.

China and America Comparisons

As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Parks in China

The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.

Really Strange China

What is China like?

Summer in Asia

Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

Snapshots of Summer in Asia (part 6).

This post continues…

Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.

Small Town China.

Everyone knows about Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. But what about the smaller towns and cities? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of them. Here’s a typical fly through.

War Movies – China.

China is a nation with an enormous and complex history. If you think that the history of Europe, and all the wars and conflicts there were complex, you haven’t seen anything. The history of China if far older, with a far greater number of conflicts, battles and strife.

Not to mention, completely and positively, horrific.

 Most people perceive China as a monolith that existed peacefully  since its inception until today. That is far from being true. Back when  Europe was enjoying relative stability under Roman rule, the Celestial  Empire confronted one of the most prolonged crisis.

 Between 184 and 280 AD China was divided in three empires – Wei, Shu,  and Wu. The three emerged after the breakdown of the Han dynasty and  would be again reunited by the Jin monarchs.

 All historians base their life loss estimates on two national  censuses that give a difference of 38 million. Whether the calculations  were accurate will remain a mystery. Nevertheless, one thing is clear.  China has a formidable capacity of regenerating its population.

 It seems that the Chinese were so happy once the century-long conflict ended that they celebrated mostly in their beds. 

 -Unknown but not hidden

As such, popular shows, television series, and movies all discuss the history of China from various perspectives. For comparison, in the United States, we have war-themed movies as well. They generally consist of…

World War II
The Vietnam conflict
Cowboys and Indians

Certainly there are a rare handful of outliers, however, most of the movies fit within the top three main groups.

Well, while the USA might have three main groups, the Chinese have around 200-300 sub-groups. All of which may, or may not, involve magic, powers, and God-like beings. To understand China is to understand that they are historically, a culture that has been immersed in war for 5000 years. They are TIRED of it, and want no part of the glories of war.

The Taiping Civil War, the conflict lasted between 1850 and 1864 and  produced the most dramatic death toll in history at that time. The  rebellion started with the millenarian movement of the Heavenly Kingdom  of Peace, which tried to overthrow the Qing dynasty.

 As you seen saw far on the list, every significant political change  in the history of China came with savagery. The Taiping Rebellion counts  as the bloodiest civil war in history and makes the American equivalent  look like a banquet.

-Unknown but not hidden

Here’s a video taken from a popular Chinese television show.

 Between 1618 and 1683, China completed a full transition from its  southern Ming emperors to the new ruling elite coming all they from  northern Manchuria. You could say that in this fragment of history the  Starks were victorious.

 As you suspect, the Ming did not leave without a fight. The Manchu  (Qing) retaliation was unprecedented. More than 25,000,000 lost their  lives in a conflict that spread across the entire land.

 Whole provinces like Sichuan and Jiangnan were completely  depopulated, and chronicles mention massacres like the one of Yangzhou  where 800,000 innocent souls perished. The expression “women and  children first” had a terrifyingly different meaning for the Qing  generals.

 At this point, we need to stress the fact that Qing Manchurians were  foreigners who managed to conquer China mostly through betrayal and  manipulation. Their savagery will be avenged similarly just three  centuries later. 

 -Unknown but not hidden

In comparison, while the United States has been in a near state of fighting wars for much of the years since 1776, most of the population has been sheltered from war. They never had to flee their homes, suffer through periods of starvation, or experienced being rounded up by armed forces and killed in large groups.

The only two exceptions were the Revolutionary War, and the American Civil War.

Now, since many Americans haven’t experienced the horrific violence that war can bring, they are easily manipulated by an evil self-serving oligarchy to rant and rave about wars in far-off lands. Like Iran. Like Yemen. Like Libya. Like Syria. Like the Ukraine. Like China.

Sigh.

 At first glance, the An Lushan Rebellion seems to deserve just a footnote.

 That’s the error most historians make when they fail to check the  numbers. More than 21 million perished as a result of an attempted coup  that was close to overthrowing one of the most influential dynasties of  the time.

 Take a good look at the man who can be held responsible for the mess.  General An Lushan detonated order and peace once he proclaimed himself  emperor of Northern China in 755 AD. Seven years of turmoil followed,  during which China lost one-third of its population. 

 -Unknown but not hidden

Rural Holidays…

In China, the government has specifically designated the use of certain communities for travel, tourism and recreation. In these areas, large amounts of funding pours into the community to render that area especially attractive to visit.

Part of the reason is to generate tourist revenue to non-industrial areas, but also another part of the reason is based on the Chinese concept of tradition. They believe that it is duty as conservative traditional Chinese to take care of their environment, their habitat and their environment.

This belief is top down straight from Beijing, and is still meeting strong resistance from (now very old) progressives. These people were very active SJW in the day and followed Mr. Mao with a fine revolutionary fever. Luckily they are dying out, though the “Dancing Grandmothers” are still a royal pain in the ass.

Progressives, of every age, think only of one thing; ME! All they care about is themselves.

Thank God that Beijing follows a traditional Chinese conservative model.

Bike Paths

China believes that the purpose of government is to serve the people. It’s not a slogan like it is used in the United States. They actually believe it.

In fact, they have enforcement police that constantly reviews budgets and the behaviors of government officials to prevent crime and corruption. And you do not want to get into trouble with the “enforcement arm” of the “corruption police”. That little bribe, or way-sided amount of money, could cost you your eyes, your liver, a kidney or even worse. Not to mention hard time in the Chinese mines cracking rocks for a spell.

Now, one of the things that the local Chinese government does is to increase the livability index of the various cities and regions that they control. This is most commonly handled by planting flowers, creating parks, planting trees, adding ponds, and walking paths. As well as providing bike paths.

Here is a typical two-lane bike path in a smaller third-tier city.

You will see things like this throughout Europe, and maybe one or two places in the USA. In China is mandated to be everywhere. Everywhere.

Let’s continue on…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.

China and America Comparisons

As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Parks in China

The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.

Really Strange China

What is China like?

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

Snapshots of Summer in Asia.

Here are a selection of micro-videos that amply illustrate what is going on in Asia this summer. With that being said, let it be well understood that there is quite a bit going on, let me tell you all. And it is all so very different from what you would find in the West that it becomes noteworthy, though rather difficult to classify individually. Here, the videos depict China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan.

I hope that you all will enjoy these micro-videos and visions of Asia as much as I do.

Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.

Local Popular Music

All through Asia there are small groups of musicians that are making their scene. They are notable in very many ways. One of the things that I like about them, are their own individual uniqueness. You won’t find clones of Nicki Minaj here. Thank goodness.

Of course, I have other earlier posts that delineate the many, many musical venues and styles that are present in China. What I happen to like is the way that traditional music is fuzed with popular Western musical styles. Merged, they result in a very interesting sound.

Such as this example.

Here’s the full song. Listen on to it.

封茗囧菌 sung by 三国恋

Tom & Jerry

Who would figure? Everyone in China, from two year olds to great-grandmothers love the American comic strip Tom and Jerry. They are, by far, THE most popular thing in China. Don’t ask me how this came about, or even why. I haven’t a clue. I really do not know.

There are 246 Tom and Jerry cartoon suppliers, mainly located in Asia. The top supplying country is China (Mainland), which supplies 100% of Tom and Jerry cartoon items respectively. These products are exported globally. 

Outside of China, Tom and jerry cartoon products are most popular in North America, South America, and the Mid East.

Here are some shoppers in a grocery store checking out a Tom and Jerry cartoon on the television screen. I mean, it’s an enormous hit! Look at the expressions on their faces. My goodness!

Come on! Any society that loves Tom & Jerry can’t be all bad. Really!

Pouring Tea for Congress

China is all about face, and the importance of ritual. They view the collective society as more important than the individual, and so they have adopted various rituals and ways of doing things that seem so strange to our free-wheeling progressive lifestyle in the United States. And yes, in case you are confused, America today is quite a progressive-society. All you need to do is step outside the borders of the USA and compare it with other traditional conservative nations.

The People's Republic of China practices the system of people's congress. China's Constitution stipulates that all power in the People's Republic of China belongs to the people, and the organs through which the people exercise state power are the National People's Congress and the local people's congresses at different levels.

- National People's Congress

Here we have the auditorium for the Chinese version of Congress getting served tea in the proper ritualized manner. In China everything is about tradition, and “face”.

Face (Mianzi) The concept of “face” or “self-image”, known as Mianzi in Chinese, is core to Chinese culture and one which is critical to understand. It can be loosely described as someone’s social status or reputation in the eyes of others and is integral to both social and business dealings.

- Chinese Culture 101

Come on! Those three videos are all pretty cool. You do have to admit. Well, there are many more. However…

Too many videos will slow down the loading of this page, so I have broken this most into multiple pages so that you (the reader) can enjoy. Please click on the link to go to the next part of this multi-part post.

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.

China and America Comparisons

As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Parks in China

The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.

Really Strange China

What is China like?

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

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…

French Warship Transits Taiwan Strait With China’s Approval

Hoàng Thuỳ Linh – Hạ Phỏm | Official Music Video

Ma Ying-jeou’s mainland visit shows cross-Strait China-Taiwan kinship

Làm gì phải Hốt – JustaTee x Hoàng Thùy Linh x Đen | Official Music Video

Macron Outlines Need for European Sovereignty

Coq au Vin (Cock with Red Wine and Mushrooms)

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Hoàng Thùy Linh – Bánh Trôi Nước (Woman)

Classic Pin-Up Girls Before And After Editing: The Real Women Behind Those Gil Elvgren’s Incredible Paintings

Hoàng Thùy Linh – Kẻ Cắp Gặp Bà Già (Diamond Cut Diamond)| Official Music Video

The EU Trojan Horse: Poland, Romania and the Baltic States

Hoàng Thùy Linh – Lắm Mối Tối Ngồi Không (Run After Two Hares, Catch Nones) | Official Lyrics Video

Brisket and Beans

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Hoàng Thuỳ Linh, Thanh Lam, Tùng Dương – Đánh Đố | Official Music Video

11 Illustrations That Show Just How Much The Internet Has Changed Our Lives

Trưởng Nữ Chạy Trốn – Hoàng Thùy Linh (choreography by Pdragteam)

Top searches on Douyin: West-to-east green hydrogen transmission pipeline; Return of the panda

Hoàng Thùy Linh – Tứ Phủ (feat. Hồ Hoài Anh & TripleD) | Official Music Video

Greek Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Hoàng Thùy Linh – Duyên Âm (Love of Ghost) | Official Music Video

What type of women should you never date?

Talent at the Top

Why China Leads the World

Them

Despair

Us

USA’s hegemony has angered the entire world & thus backfired to USA. After Brazil, France, Saudi & Iran, Africa & ASEAN, now Vietnam. What has Vietnam done?

MLEM MLEM | MIN X JUSTATEE X YUNO BIGBOI | OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

Enter Donald Trump and his neocon war-mongers

About Factories

Vietnam Changed.

The Videos

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

On a topical note…

Conclusion

Do you want more?

Articles & Links

It was a different kind of war…

A simple discussion.

VC Overrun Fire Support Base Mary Ann

SHTF! Boom! Boom! Small arms fire…

Four days earlier.

It starts.

Hindsight; earlier that day.

Sappers storm the base.

The last big rat kill.

Overconfidence.

Lack of Listening Posts.

Easing up the guard…

VC 409th Sapper Battalion

All Hell breaks out.

ARVN helped plan the attack.

Wholly SHTF!

In memory of those who lost their lives that night:

Conclusion

Articles & Links

Lost in Love in Casablanca.

Faded. Music in China.

El Rusbo’ notices the roar of silence…

Chinese Hospital

Thailand Beauty

Chinese Beauty

European Beauty

How to Cook Chicken Legs – Chinese Style

Links about China

China and America Comparisons

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

Coq au Vin
(Cock with Red Wine and Mushrooms)