Men are desperate and done

You know, I can understand how one might get the impression that specific behaviors are mandated in jail or prison due to prisoners adhering so meticulously to certain practices.

But inmates have many self-imposed rules, and the sock thing is definitely one of these.


Nobody in their right mind wants to put bare foot to floor in lockup.

The only reasons I EVER removed my socks in county was —

    1. …to put on a cleaner pair;
    2. …to don shower shoes;
    3. …to clip my toenails.

And that’s it.


Despite the CO’s wheeling in a janitorial cart once a day, and every con in the pod swabbing the day room floor, our individual cells (particularly the stainless steel toilet/sink combo), and the shower stall and additional open air communal head at the end of the second tier catwalk — despite all this — the surfaces in jail were never truly clean.


Jails and prisons are veritable petri dishes for tinea pedis, protozoa, cold/flu viruses and your everyday run-of-the-mill despair.

And in an environment where a relatively mundane illness can blossom into something life-threatening due to substandard healthcare, you do what you can to minimize contact.

And if that means wearing socks and marginalizing bunkies who refuse to get with the program, then so be it.


We called the few prisoners stupid enough to go barefoot in the pod “Jethros.”

And it wasn’t a term of endearment.

Nobody wanted a Jethro for a cellmate.

They usually ended up camping out on yoga mats under the corrugated steel stairway rather than getting a cellie.


So the sock thing, like the courtesy flush, was a rule of our very own.

And you broke it at your own peril.

America has gone INSANE!

I was working near Houston, Texas, from UK, when I took my wife to visit the town. We parked for a little while to study the city map when somone, we know not who, or why, let fly with an automatic rifle of some sort, so yes, that did shock us.

I was in Loisiana with a group of workmates when we were held up by a gang of young children, made strong by one of thier gang holding a small hand gun. One of my group was shot in the stomach, causing relatively minor injuries, but with a certain amount of trauma, so again, yes you can say we were shocked.

I was on holiday in Maine, near Bangor airport, when a stranger, from his demeanor I guess he was probably not of sound mind,walked past brandishing a large automtic pistol in his hand. By now I was more difficult to impress but my wife was certainly very impressed and quite shocked.

My son was mugged by a gang of five youths in Central Park, I think around 1990. It made your national news as my son is also a competent and very aggressive combatant. He layed into the gang, disaarmed them of their knives and holding two of them until the police got there. The rest of the gang got away with ten dollars. We were at home in England when we received a phone call from the New York police. They praised my lad but also asked us to tell my lad, that that is the way of things in this little backwater town of New York and it would be better if he had just handed over his cash to the thieves and let them escape.

You seem to have little idea just how insane you are all becoming.

Tell me, are Americans shocked when they first come the UK?

When you Accidentally Compromise every CPU on Earth

The Pizza Index.

I have been a university lecturer in the following countries, and experienced it in the following ways:

  1. Germany: A very pleasant experience. The students are mature and polite, and it felt like I was conversing with adults on an even, intellectual level. It’s nice to teach at university level in Germany. The colleagues also tend to be quite dignified and interesting. Hierarchies are steep. As a lecturer in Germany, you feel respected. Income is not very high though, after deductions. And one thing you will sometimes sense is a certain sense of depression. Students in Germany aren’t always happy people, and you will sometimes bump into some really dark and brooding characters.
  2. England: A bit more demanding, also on your pedagogic abilities. British students appear much younger and less mature than German students. You will have plenty of discipline and disturbance issues, and motivation can be low. Still, there is respect for the lecturer, and I have always enjoyed my British colleagues. The research aspect is demanding. Much more so than in Germany, and one feels at times that the only way to earn one’s keep is by bringing in plenty of research funding. I often felt like a mixture of a high school teacher and a fund raiser while working in England. Pay is fairly good. I earned much better than in Germany, and generally felt that my work gave me more status.
  3. New Zealand: Like in England, but with the exception that there was an unusual level of interpersonal friction. Students will openly challenge you and make life as hard as possible, and colleagues can dedicate themselves to strong and long lived animosities that will be carried out in eerily orchestrated mobbing scenarios. I have to say I have no interest whatsoever in working in New Zealand again. It nearly broke me. Pay is average. You will earn more as a courier driver or sales person. What is nice though is that you get a good amount of time off to enjoy New Zealand’s fantastic scenery.
  4. France: Here, you really need to make sure you understand the institution’s philosophy first, and then sing from the same song sheet as everyone else. I found my work at French university highly inspiring, but also unbelievably demanding. The levels of discipline and integrity required are higher than elsewhere. I often say it, and will say it again: Living and working successfully in France requires a certain military spirit. Reporting orders, understanding hierarchies, and not getting into the mills of politics, are your daily life. Bottom line for me was, I learned more about my field teaching for a French university than I did studying in Germany, the US, and Canada. But watch out for the students. France is where they once beheaded their royals – that streak runs deep. Student complaints can occur with a vengeance. Pay was good. Better than in England.
  5. China: Here, you have two choices. Either you go through your material in any way you please, or you make a pedagogic effort. In both cases, the students will be exquisitely polite and respectful, and assure you of their warmest feelings. Come examination time, the true picture emerges, and you will see just how successful your teaching methods were. Having said that, expectations in grades are very high, and the stigma of failing is enormous, so you will eventually relegate yourself to mark on the unrealistically high side, just to evade human drama. For me, teaching in China meant having to reinvent myself totally, because I wanted to make sure the high marks I pretty much had to give actually reflected reality. I have taught myself to teach properly only in China. Pay, by national standards, is on the higher side, but then, I was an expat.
  6. India: If you are one of those idealists who dream about a career in teaching because you want to make a difference, and imagine your students will love you for your efforts, India is the place to be. My Indian students were my favourites. Nobody else is this eager to learn, displays more genuine interest and even enthusiasm, and connects more strongly on a personal basis than Indian students. Teaching in India really was absolutely brilliant, and I would do it again. Even though the management is often disgustingly top down, and will do whatever they like, such as ordering staff in for meetings on weekends, or the likes. It doesn’t matter. In India, you really experience genuine hunger for knowledge, and pleasure in making it accessible. I was on a lucrative expat contract.
  7. Sweden: Very much like Germany. Swedish students are a mature, polite, and jolly bunch who see you as a human being and will do their best to keep things pleasant for everybody. The actual organisation though is much tighter than in Germany, while providing a fireworks of fun stuff on the side for staff and students alike. In Sweden, year schedules are ready and perfect for the entire academic year by August, and everything is timed and apportioned to the minute, with a great sense of timing and availability of resources. Colleagues are warm and lovely, and you will feel very comfortable with your workplace, which will be hugely more attractive and homely than in any of the other places. I can’t imagine a better place to be a university lecturer than Sweden if you simply want to enjoy life and do well. Pay is about the same as in France, which makes me a member of the somewhat more comfortable pay bracket in Sweden.

Coffee Liqueur Wings

Delicious
Delicious

Coffee Liqueur Wings can be prepared a day ahead and can be reheated in the oven.

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce butter
  • 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
  • 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
  • 2 drops hot sauce
  • 1 cup barbecue sauce
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup coffee liqueur
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 20 chicken wings

Instructions

  1. In a 2 quart saucepan melt butter; sauté garlic and onion over medium heat for 3 minutes.
  2. Add cumin and chili powder and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.
  3. Blend in coffee liqueur and cook to reduce liquid by one-half.
  4. Stir in hot sauce, Worcestershire, barbecue sauce and salt. Simmer 5 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat and add honey. Set aside and allow to cool.
  6. Prepare chicken wings by removing and discarding the tips. Divide the wings in half at the remaining joint.
  7. Marinate the wings in the cooked sauce for 1 hour at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.
  8. To cook, place the marinated wings on a broiler pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and broil 5 minutes, turn and brush with the remaining sauce and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
  9. Serve hot.

China and the USA

Recently, President Xi met with a delegation of 20 United States CEOs in a closed-door meeting concerning investment opportunities in China. This event comes as the US military is actively stationing troops just kilometers away from the coast of Mainland China.

Am I the only one noticing a contradiction here?

reality
reality

What these two simultaneous events indicate is that there is a growing disconnect between the military-industrial complex coupled with the ruling class on the one hand, and the wealthy elite on the other. The fact is that China has overwhelming support among US capitalists, who want nothing more than to be able to trade freely with China.

More specifically, this means that the sectors of the capitalist class who are not involved in arms-dealing are not interested in the escalation of tensions, nor war, with China. However, their interests are not being reflected in government. US foreign policy has become via the pull of the military-industrial complex, which drags the country’s resources into wars and conflicts around the world. It is a growing tumor of greed that is depriving society of the blood and oxygen it needs to sustain itself.

Only when the US ruling class accepts the fact that China is not going anywhere can it move forward as a country. Otherwise, the contradictions between reality and its unrealistic objectives will tear it apart.

It doesn’t take a communist to realize that all attempts at dismantling China will fail, and that by insisting on doing the impossible, more people are losing out than just the working class. If America wants even to preserve its prized capitalist system, to say nothing of socialism, it will have to accept these realities. The preservation of capitalism in America rests on win-win cooperation with China.

The above contradictions are a direct outcome of China’s four-dimensional chess strategy of using a relatively weak currency to create a trade surplus — causing Western capitalist nations to both rejoice at the untold amounts of profit they receive from an endless pool of cheap but reliable labor, and seethe at the fact that the investment they put into such labor is also going towards building a developed socialist country that will not bend toward their will.

All of this begs the question, why do the pro-China US capitalists not use their wealth and influence to form a party and run for office, defending their capital interests via preserving positive trade relations with China?

At this point in time, even the most exploitative form of capitalism would be a more rational social structure than what we have in the US, which is now a rogue state threatening global stability and quite literally all life on the planet. If there were even a bourgeoisie overthrow of the current regime, I would put my full support behind it, because at least it would eliminate some of the risks of direct military confrontation with unbeatable opponents and destruction of life on a scale rarely seen before.

Ironically, this might be the best chance we have at seeing a non-imperialist United States in this lifetime. And those of us who don’t want to see war with China should be the first to not only accept, but also encourage this reality in coming to fruition.

Boss Babe Horrors

I’ve worked and lived in India for two years, and for me, India is one of the most amusing countries in the world, together with Japan, Great Britain, and Australia. There’s always something going on that makes me chuckle in these places.

In India, my list of amusements is this:

  • the way they speak; I don’t know why, but it immediately lifts my spirits to hear an Indian speak English. There is something very funny about it for me. Perhaps it’s because of the way they seemtospeakwithoutanybreakbetweenwords, roll the Rs, and choose quaint old-fashioned expressions while sounding somehow… cute. There is a trademark intonation that I have actually picked up myself while living there, and I fall back on it in some situations, which makes my wife laugh, because she used to work for a big, Indian company once, and it reminds her of the way the management spoke.
  • the way they decorate vehicles. I’m a car designer, from Germany, and they teach us to design vehicles to look serious, determined, premium… and then come the Indians and paint flower garlands and happy colours and religious symbols onto them. It’s like trying to design a fighter jet, and someone paints kittens and sun flowers on it. They just somehow aren’t with the program in that regard, which the hippie inside me secretly approves of.
  • their start-up spirit and professionalism with even the most modest of entrepreneurial endeavours. I’ve talked to guys selling street food in Bangalore from little carts, and from the terminology they were using, you might have thought they owned a supermarket chain with car washes.
  • music videos in Hindi where you get some gent singing in a landscape, and before you know it, there comes a whole army of brightly dressed ladies and whirls through the background in flowing dresses, performing perfectly synchronized movements. It’s just not something we see in the west, where music videos are mostly about some somber individual glowering at something unseen in mysterious surroundings.
  • the way they initiate conversations. It was an absolute classic for me to be sitting in the university canteen with a plate of chana masala and some roti, and here comes a student and sits next to me and asks brightly, “are you a foreigner, sir?” To which I was sometimes tempted to answer “no, silly, haven’t you seen how many blond, blue eyed Indians with Canadian/ German accents there are?” It was of course clear to them that I wasn’t a local, but they still managed to be diplomatic even with such a blunt question.

I came to India from my expat posting in China on a French contract, and it was a huge sigh of relief for me to come to India, even though I really enjoyed China. I felt somehow immediately at home in India, partly because everyone spoke English, and partly because of something else that I can’t quite place.

A Naadi reader told me in Bangalore once that I had been an Indian in a previous life, and I could absolutely see that. A friend of mine in Bangalore says she believes I’m a “closet Indian”.

I certainly had a great time in India in this life. I

He’s special

  1. Russia’s overall objectives were, are, and will remain securing the Donbass and Crimea.
  2. When they initially invaded in the north, east, and south, the intent was to force Ukraine forces to draw back from the Donbass. This part of the initial invasion was a huge success, despite what the USuk’s CIA and MI6 propaganda told you (and misinformed you).
  3. To invade, take and hold even half of Ukraine, Russia would have needed far more forces than the initial 70,000 that they used. They used armor and mechanized infantry to take aggressive positions in hopes that it would force Ukraine to sue for a quick peace and settlement.
  4. Initially, even that part of the bold Russian actions seemed to be a huge success. Then Ukraine asked for negotiations, and the results were to demand Russia to move back its forces to show a willingness to negotiate and not just use the negotiations as a ruse. Russia complied somewhat, but this only led to Ukraine doing exactly what they accused Russia of doing—aggressively counter-attacking and sabotaging the peace negotiations.
  5. At that point, relatively small expeditionary Russian forces were dangerously overextended, so they doubled down on their original plans. Pull back, consolidate, and secure the Donbass and Crimea.
  6. In order to take cities like Kharkov and Kherson, Russian forces will have to destroy much of these cities—unless Ukraine forces flee from those cities. The Ukraine strategy has been to put much of its military right in the cities in order to protect the forces because, for the most part, Russian forces have refrained from bombing them. After all, if the cities are part of the objective, you really don’t want to kill their largely Russian populations or destroy the buildings. It’s Russia that will have to pay for the reconstruction of E. Ukraine.
  7. It took Russia two years to build up the defense of the Donbass and Crimea regions to the point where they can then use them as bases for going on the offensive to take the rest of the Donbass. That point has been reached, and now Ukraine is losing badly. Basically, Russia is using a much smaller force to neutralize Ukraine’s much larger army in E Ukraine.

When a client can’t get it up :/

Set one of your tires on fire. They produce an inky black smoke that will be visible for miles. Also, they burn for a really long time too.

main qimg 80ff931a86b4af7941400a7d7ef0576d lq
main qimg 80ff931a86b4af7941400a7d7ef0576d lq

When a tire field catches fire it produces a smokestack that is visible for huge distances. And these tire fires are actually really difficult to put out too because they reignite themselves from within due to their composition.

I’d space out when you burn each tire though. The rescue search might not start until after you’ve been missing for a while.

Also — don’t leave your car — that is usually how people die. Too often, a rescue team gets to a car only to find it is empty.

Being lost in the desert is no bueno (not good). It reminds me of that one Far Side comic:

main qimg 99518d0a902216d964c08134642bc6f2 pjlq
main qimg 99518d0a902216d964c08134642bc6f2 pjlq

Creepy

I am answering this on behalf of my husband.

Incident –

My husband was working with a restaurant. He was in the kitchen section of the restaurant.

There was a woman in her mid thirties who worked there. She was like my husband’s Elder sister.

My husband then switched the job as the pay was low.

After he switched, the owner started calling him as he had no one to work. My husband had given him 2 months notice.

Then one day he accused my husband as a pervert. And he told him that the woman who works there complained about my husband touching his private parts while at work.

My husband couldn’t speak and came to me, hugged and started crying hysterically.

He never cries.

I asked him and he told me everything.

I understood what happened. My husband had a bacterial infection on that area when he was younger.

He gets itching when there is high temperature. When he used to work there, due to stove he got that itching and his hand went there.

It’s a medical condition. He was helpless.

I straight away called that lady to clarify.

She told me that she didn’t complain, but the owner modified the truth to abuse my husband put allegation.

That night she called my husband and apologised.

The hardest part of being a guy is even if he doesn’t mean anything vulgar in actions, he can’t clarify with a female.

Thanks

Riya

PS – please share the answer because I don’t think anyone should suffer from this type of judgemental attitude.

Fathers are fucked

There was this guy who we will call Bob. ( Not his real Name). He always looked at people with a cold stare. He rarely talked and never smiled . One day i went to chow because the meal wasn’t that bad. He sat down opposite of me . Others that were going to sit with me sat at the next table . Bob stared at me as he ate. Never took his eyes off me , never looked at his plate or looked around . Just stared at me . This is the way he did everyone but it was my first encounter that close to him My workout partner said “Hey Harve . come over with us. “ I wanted to but I also felt if I moved he would think he intimidated me. And to be honest I was nervous. So I just stared back.

A couple years later I saw him in the dog program and he was outside with a dog. He was smiling and laughing as he talked to the dog. I walked up and asked if I could pet the dog and he said with a big smile “Sure” I told him that it was the first time I ever saw him smile and asked what made him so happy. He basically told me the dog made him happy and that being in the dog program gave him purpose. I already knew the dog program was a good program but this definitely confirmed it

Creepy and cringe

Filled out an application to work at an airport gift shop. Went to the airport for an interview and got to the point for a drug screen, no problem. Got through that part and received the call that I was hired. I was to show up on Monday morning in khaki pants, a white polo shirt, and comfy shoes. I arrived on time and had to fill out all of the paperwork for taxes, etc. Then I got the uniform ‘receipt” that I was to sign that I had been given two uniform shirts and that I would provide the proper khaki slacks or skirt. AND if I quit or was let go within 90 days, my final paycheck would be deducted $125 for the uniform shirts. What?? No way I was signing that paper work. First of all, I had NOT be given anything and wasn’t going to find out later they didn’t have my size or I should wear my own shirt until more came in – whatever. Nothing had been said prior to this about the uniform policy. I placed my clip board on the chair and went to the restroom to figure this out and calm down a bit. Finally, went back to the office and told them I was sick (pretty much was at how they treat their employees) and had to go home. On my way, received a call from another place I had applied and had an interview the next day with a company who was upfront and did not try to screw new employees.

Shocked doesn’t quite cover it. Appalled is closer. The ‘welcome’ at the airport quite takes my breath away. It seems to be assumed that everyone is a terrorist and should be treated like one. The wait was also very long, it isn’t like that in Europe. We should start treating Americans in the same way so they understand how unacceptable it is.

All taxi rides I’ve had remind me of Grand Theft Auto. It seems to be necessary either to be accelerating or braking hard and changing lanes harshly.

The tipping culture is mad, why can’t you just pay the staff a salary and show real prices? Make tips mean something so that they really do reward someone for exceptional service.

prices in shops are strange. The price on the shelf isn’t what you pay because it doesn’t include taxes. That needs to be sorted out!

People seem to be judged by how rich they are, richer people receive better service. Probably due to the tipping culture. Everyone should be treated the same regardless of money, culture and sex.

I have been a few times but won’t return willingly.

i could go on, but I’ve said enough.

Thanks for all of the upvotes ! You have probably noticed that I have turned off comments because not everyone was playing nicely.

I’ll confess that I’ve only visited the USA a single time, back in 1993. We went to New York for our honeymoon.

Generally, I found New York to be quite grimy and also very fast paced. The only thing that truly surprised me was the television service.

In the UK, believe it or not (for any fellow Brits) we show seven minutes of commercials per hour on our commercial channels. (The BBC does not show commercials other than trailers for upcoming shows on its own network.)

We didn’t plan to watch much television, but on the night we arrived after our flight, we were quite tired and wanted to sit down quietly and relax for a bit.

I believe the show we saw was Family Feud (which we know as Family Fortunes in the UK). I may be exaggerating, but this is how it seemed:

Theme music, introduction of host.

Commercial break.

Introduction of each family.

Commercial break.

First question. Winner chooses whether to play or pass.

Commercial break.

Rest of winner’s family answer the question.

Commercial break.

Opposing family try to complete the board.

Commercial break.

Second question. Winner chooses whether to play or pass.

Commercial break.

Winner’s family answer the question.

Commercial break.

Opposing family attempt to complete the board.

Commercial break.

Third, fourth, and fifth question as above. Winning family announced.

Commercial break.

Head-to-head player one answers the final questions.

Commercial break.

Head-to-head player two answers the same questions.

Commercial break.

Player two’s answers checked, revealing whether the family have passed the number of points to win the big prize of a car, sponsored by NYC Motors. Keys to the car given to family.

Commercial break.

Host thanks you for watching, credits roll.

Commercial break.

If I tell you that the original version of Family Fortunes in the UK which ran from 1980 to 2002 was a half hour show – with a single commercial break, you’ll understand why the USA version seemed overly heavy with commercials. You stretched a half hour show to what seemed like two hours. (In fairness, in 2006 when Family Fortunes was revived in the UK, we managed to string it out to a full hour per show.)

For reference, when 24 starring Keifer Sutherland was broadcast in the UK on our non-commercial channel BBC2, it ran for 40–41 minutes per episode. That kinda ruined the “each episode covers an hour” premise of the show.

These days, I never watch commercial TV live.

I record everything and then fast forward through the breaks. Television advertising used to be rather an art form in the UK – prizes were awarded for the year’s best campaign. These days, with so many channels available, advertisers spend little money on creating their ads and they’re not worth watching. Life is too short for commercial breaks.

Major changed to the Western society is in process. Japan was the “canary in the coal mine”, and Holy Fuck! Listen and watch this video.

Great video
Great video

So many average guys are MGTOW, and don’t even know what the term means.

Banned from fun

I want to relate a story of something that happened when I was in fifth grade.

At that time, I was attending a small elementary school in my town, and it was so very typical of the 1960’s. It was, just as you might imagine it to be. Wholesome, 1960’s era, and just middle America. It was a slice from “Mayberry RFD”.

My class was 60 students and one teacher. I seem to recall that his name was Mr. Calhoun. It was pretty much 30 girls and 30 boys.

One day,a classmate named Steven decided to have a birthday party at his home on Saturday. And he sent out invitations to everyone except to two students; myself and a girl named Karen.

I didn’t care. But Karen was pretty upset about it.

Nothing much would of come of it, except that my parents (when they took my sister to the party) noticed that everyone in the class was there except me. And so they asked her what was going on, and my sister told them “Oh, Robert and Karen, weren’t invited. We don’t want them at the party.

My parents said, “if Robert cannot go, you won’t go either” which caused a howling of lament and kicked up a big fuss-storm. “We don’t want them!” and all the rest.

Well…

I’ll give my parents this credit. They went up to Steven’s parents and had a word to them. Which pretty much straightened out everything, and soon Karen and myself were able to attend, and we were given first class treatment at the party.

About eight years later I was attending university, and my friends were all on this one particular dorm in the building on campus. I was there all the time.

Day Hall.

day
day

Everyone knew me. Not a day went by where I did not hang out there, even though I actually lived off campus. That dorm was my actual home.

Well, the dorm floor (it was co-ed) was going to have a dinner, but the RA (Residential advisor) refused to allow me to participate in the dinner, even if I was willing to contribute and pay for my dinner. The entire floor was upset. But she held her ground. Stating that “rules were rules”.

So I didn’t go.

Neither did, one of the most popular people on that floor; Howard.

No. He went and took me out to dinner himself and we ate dinner at a place called “Hungry Charlies” and had a good old time.

Hungry Charlies before it was torn down
Hungry Charlies before it was torn down

Apparently, without us two, the dinner was just kind of bland, and a formal kind of thing. Not filled with the normal crazy life that use odd-balls contributed to the environment. LOL.

When we finished dinner, and arrived at the dorm, we got off the elevator and was welcomed by the entire floor with open arms. It was a great time! Lot’s of missing us, apologies and all the rest.

Both events were similar.

A party was held, a few people were left out, later they were let back in, and people learned that these individuals were more important to the body politic than was was first obvious on the surface. So take note. And have heart.

Odd-balls, and the outliers should always be welcome.

Today…

Disturbing addresses after Victoria Neuland is dismissed

Rufus story

Six-year-old Bridger from Cheyenne, Wyoming, saved his sister from an attacking dog on July 9. After getting bit several times, he grabbed her hand and ran for safety. He later said, “If someone had to die, I thought it should be me.” He’s now in recovery after receiving about 90 stitches. A true hero who deserves our praise! ❤️

Credit: Nikki Walker / Instagram

The reason why US companies have not fully decoupled from China is multifaceted. Firstly, China is an integral part of the global supply chain that feeds into American companies’ production processes. Products manufactured in China are often price competitive and offer good value, which appeals to US consumers’ preferences for affordability and quality.

Additionally, China boasts the largest consumer market globally, providing significant opportunities for US companies to generate profits. These profits contribute to various pension funds, including those for millions of public employees(military personnel, government employees, and teachers). Moreover, a portion of these profits is reinvested into the US economy for future business endeavors and research and development, further solidifying the economic ties between the two countries. Overall, the interconnectedness of the global economy, coupled with China’s significance as a manufacturing hub and consumer market, incentivizes US companies to maintain their presence and operations in China.

Additionally, several other factors contribute to US companies’ continued engagement with China:

  1. Skilled Workforce: China has a large and increasingly skilled workforce, making it an attractive destination for manufacturing and production activities. Many US companies benefit from access to this pool of labor, which can be cost-effective and efficient for certain types of manufacturing processes.
  2. Infrastructure: China has invested heavily in infrastructure development, including transportation networks, ports, and industrial zones. This infrastructure supports efficient logistics and supply chain management, making it easier for US companies to conduct business operations in China.
  3. Supply Chain Resilience: While there has been discussion about diversifying supply chains away from China, the country still offers supply chain resilience due to its extensive network of suppliers, subcontractors, and manufacturing capabilities. US companies may find it challenging to replicate this level of integration and efficiency elsewhere.
  4. Technological Collaboration: China is increasingly investing in research and development across various industries, creating opportunities for technological collaboration and innovation partnerships with US companies. These collaborations can drive advancements in technology and foster mutually beneficial relationships.
  5. Cost Considerations: Despite rising labor and operational costs in China, certain industries still find it cost-effective to manufacture products there. Factors such as economies of scale, specialized skills, and established infrastructure can offset higher labor costs, making China a competitive manufacturing destination.

While there are challenges and complexities associated with doing business in China, the country offers significant advantages and opportunities for US companies across various sectors. As a result, many companies continue to maintain their presence and engagement in the Chinese market.

Being real

Yes.

Back in the mid 80’s I contracted salmonella poisoning from eating undercooked chicken at an employee luncheon.

About 6 hours after eating the chicken, I started feeling sick. I was aching all over, running a fever and having bad diarrhea.

But I had a three yr old and a 1 yr old to care for and my now ex husband did not believe it was a man’s place to take care of the children.

I made it through the first night and got the babies ready for day care the next day. I have never been so sick in my life. I remember lying in bed dreaming of eating popsicles because I was so thirsty. This went on for a couple more days, sending the kids to day care in the mornings, lying in bed all day, and trying my best to take care of them at night.

I was just 22, so I finally broke and called my mom. She came immediately, took my temperature, which read at 106 degrees, and ordered my husband to take me to the emergency room while she watched the babies.

I fully expected to get a prescription and get sent home. I had no idea just how sick I was.

I waited for about 30 minutes before being seen. But once I was, things moved really fast. I was a little out of it, but I remember a team of doctors and nurses trying to get an IV in me. Every vein they tried collapsed because I was so dehydrated. They eventually got an IV into my jugular vein.

The next thing I remember was lying on a bed and being rushed through the halls. Whoever was pushing me was literally running.

I was taken to the ICU where I stayed for almost 2 weeks. One night I was freezing, so when the nurse came in, I asked for an extra blanket. She told me she would get it as soon as she checked my vitals. I never got the blanket. When she checked my temperature, she literally dropped the thermometer and ran out of the room. There was another nurse with her, so I asked her how high my fever was. She said “honey, it’s so high that we can’t read it”. I was packed with ice bags and a cooling blanket after that. I was in and out but do remember someone saying “I think it’s time to call in the family.”

I made it through the night, but had a small stroke as a result of my fever being so high.

I eventually fully recovered and my doctor told me that I had had the most severe case of salmonella ever reported in our county and that I was lucky to be alive.

If not for my mom insisting that my ex husband take me to the ER, I probably wouldn’t be here today.

Thank God for moms. 🙂

Overpriced American Weapon vs Low-Cost Chinese Golf Cart

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main qimg 2f2ed16a43b27247ce20cbca871a391d

Beef Turnovers (Empanadas)

You can use the discos or make your own turnover pastry. I’ve done both, and they’re equally as good.

9355t7
9355t7

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup tomato sauce
  • 6 stuffed green olives, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons sofrito
  • 1 packet sazon with coriander and annato
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 (14 ounce) package Goya discos (yellow or white), thawed*
  • Vegetable oil, for frying

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes more.
  3. Stir in tomato sauce, olives, sofrito, garlic, oregano and black pepper. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture thickens, about 15 minutes.
  4. On a lightly floured work surface, using a rolling pin, roll out discos until 1/2-inch larger in diameter. Spoon about 1 tablespoon meat mixture into middle, fold in half to form a half moon; moisten edges with water and pinch to seal closed, or seal with a fork.
  5. Fill a deep saucepan with oil to a depth of 2 1/2 inches. Heat oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking (350 degrees F on deep-fry thermometer).
  6. Cook turnovers in batches until crisp and golden brown, flipping once, 4 – 6 minutes.
  7. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Notes

* Flattened dough for turnover pastries all rolled out and ready to fill – in the Mexican refrigerated section. Make sure you buy the larger ones.

As far as sazon, you can really use whichever flavor you like. Goya now makes a salt-free version of their seasoning. Or, if you don’t want to use sazon for any reason, just use a good seasoning salt, to taste.

Some more nice renderings of girls and food

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It’s the kind of mood that I am in now.

Oh fuck

  • If a woman says she is okay or replies with ‘hmm’ , she is not okay , she is either mad or her mood is off.
  • A woman doesn’t dress up or do a lot of skincare for guys or other people , she does it , cause she feels relaxed and happy while taking care of herself.
  • If you are a friend with a woman and you like her , you better tell her early because its hard to get out of the friend zone or brother zone she has put you in.
  • Beautiful , cute , pretty are lame compliments, these never make women blush or anything. Be genuine and comment about her personality and her soul not only outer beauty .
  • If a girl is a wearing makeup or glasses and you tell her that “ you look good without makeup/glasses .” Please don’t, she didn’t do makeup to look same and she is wearing glasses cause she has to. That is literally a backhanded compliment.
  • Women likes guys who are caring , genuine, can make them laugh and a man who has his future planned.
  • If a women is kind and sweet to all and if you ever get on her bad side get ready to see worst of hell.
  • Women are more mature than men but they act immature only infront of their favorite men.
  • Being friendly and flirty doesn’t mean that a girl likes you. She acts like that with everyone cause she wants to be kind and not uptight. So be clear about your feelings because what you are reading as signals are clearly her being kind to you.

Make it stick

They will allow it. EDIT, mostly because they’re powerless to stop it. Russian military production capability exceeds all of NATO and westerners are still just TALKING about ramping up production.

But what will happen yeah? Is the state controlled media in NATO countries will simply stop talking about it and hope everybody forgets.

Remember this? I sure do.

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main qimg deca59c8fdedcf597654a2bcc96eae1f lq

The Americans with their SUPER SOLDIERS, SUPER MEGA ULTRA TECH weapons and the best training and best everything… were humiliated by a bunch of men with beards.

They spent trillions to replace the Taliban… with the Taliban.

Note how little news coverage this absolute humiliation gets.

The same will happen.

Smooth

It’s a lot of fun, but will have a tragic ending. Octopuses are fairly well known for being intelligent, which is something that makes them interesting pets. Most octopuses are nocturnal by nature, meaning they are most active at night, like bats. Thing is, many of the octopuses I’ve kept quickly realized that Jim and other humans are harmless and, in fact, friendly. From there, the octopuses also quickly realized Jim is the Food God, which naturally helped jump start our relationships. Once that is established, they happily started following my schedule. Just like an affectionate dog or cat is excited to see their master when they get home from work, a pet octopus will also come out in anticipation of a treat or some interaction. This friendship will grow. You will get to know your octopus, and it will get to know you. Some of my octopuses loved being petted. Some loved playing tug-O-war games. Some just enjoyed running their sucker-covered arms over my hands (which is how they smell us- their suckers are full of sensory cells) Others enjoyed getting a Lego submarine or other toy they could tear apart and destroy. Several octopuses I kept seemed to be music lovers- I was a guitar player/singer in several bands and when we practiced at my house, my octopuses routinely came out and danced around on the glass all night while we played. They are very complex animals, and no two are alike in personality or demeanor. Some will become your best friend, but others may just want to be left alone.

The problem is that they are also very short lived critters. Most octopuses only live about a year. They hatch as teeny tiny little things and grow very quickly. What that means for the prospective keeper is that a wild-caught octopus is likely already more than 6 months old (so it has grown large enough for collection divers to find). By the time you bring it home and have tamed it to the point of a relationship I described above, it’s close to the end. It’s usually heartbreaking. Male octopuses often suffer from senescence- a sort of cephalopod-based senility. They lose their minds and start doing strange things. They stop eating food and begin nibbling the ends of their arms off. They will do strange things. One hung upside down from some of the tank plumbing and refused to move. In the wild, they often stop hiding and get snapped up by predators. Despite their reputation for being escape artists, most of my escaped octopuses were suffering senescence. Then one day your little buddy will just die, and it can be just like losing that loyal dog or cat: it’s going to hurt. Just as you started to get to know him, his time is over. Female octopuses will often lay eggs whether they mated or not. At that time, she will guard those eggs literally with her life. She will refuse food and do nothing but hide in her den and groom the eggs religiously. In the wild, when the eggs hatch the babies go off on their own and the mother will die hours later. At home, she will defend those eggs for a month or so until she expires. There’s no avoiding it.

I’ve been keeping and studying octopuses for over 20 years now. You learn to brace for that early end, but it does not get any easier, especially when you happen upon an especially interesting and unique octopus.

My God!

When Chinese environment is bad you guys demonised China and blamed them for global warming and accused them of being uncaring to their population. Well the acted positively. They now cultivate the most wind, water and solar energy and they subsidise their population to stop using Internal combustion Engines and moved into full EVs that made their environment healthy and their skies blue again and now you find fault with these too!

China can never ever win! China should not care about what the west says at all! China should and is doing what is good for China and the world! The west also gave subsidies to their EVs too except that they are simply not as strategic or as smart as BYDs and the likes. That is your problem it has nothing to do with China.

The U.S. and the west made a racial profiling that they meaning white people and only they can makes stuffs so they can charge whatever they wanted. Hence they allowed their workers and their CEO get whatever they wanted. As these cost can always be passed on to consumers! But the are dead wrong. The Japanese, then Koreans, ASEAN and now Chinese can do everything faster, cheaper and way better than the west and today it cannot sell everything unless it is heavily subsidised. It not only EVS. It is everything.

Sick and Tired

Two cases come to mind.

  1. Flood Insurance case: I represented a lady who had the misfortune to rent an apartment in a flood zone, and it flooded. She did have the good sense to buy a flood insurance policy, but FEMA declined to pay for an obscure reason. The apartment owner also had flood insurance, and FEMA paid that claim. I filed suit on behalf of the lady, and said that her apartment was the exact same apartment insured by policy # XXX issued to the owner, and that the owner’s claim was paid. Three days before Christmas I got a call from a Department of Justice attorney representing FEMA and she said “We read your complaint. You’re right. How do we write the check?”
  2. Collection case: I represented a guy who was being sued on a credit card account. After preliminary skirmishes it’s the day of the trial – client asked where should he meet me, and I said he wasn’t to meet me unless I called him. I told him to stay away from the courthouse but close enough he could be there within 10 minutes if I called. He objected and I told him to trust me on this. I went into court and the lawyer for the credit card company (who had interned for me a few years earlier) showed up; we exchanged pleasantries. She then asked ‘where’s your client?’ and I said I didn’t know but was ready to try the case without him. She had a blank look for a moment, then said something about my maternal canine ancestry as she realized my tactic (to my immense grinning) and had to take a dismissal of the case. She had planned to call my client as an adverse witness to introduce the credit card documents (credit card collection companies almost never send a witness to court) which had to be done to prove the collection case. But my client wasn’t subpoenaed as a witness so didn’t have to be there. Without a witness to the debt (which probably was in fact owed) they couldn’t get a judgment.

Fun

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6n-OJCvZ8nE?feature=share

“If you don’t do as I say, I’ll upload every photo I have of you”. This was the email Cassidy Wolf received from her hacker.

Cassidy was confused. Only two photos of herself hung on her bedroom wall. She realized later that the hacker had been spying on her for over a year through her webcam.

Cassidy used to keep her laptop open on her bedroom floor. She would play music whilst studying, changing and going back and forth in the shower. The hacker watched everything.

Cassidy must have opened an email with a link, enabling him to place malicious software on her laptop. If she clicked on the link, this would have granted him full access to her computer.

The hacker was able to trace the keystrokes on Cassidy’s keyboard. This way, he learnt her passwords, saw the sites she was accessing, and accessed her webcam 24/7.

[1]  The hacker posted pictures of Cassidy changing using various Facebook accounts, including her younger sister’s account.

The hacker was someone from her high school; somebody whom she passed in the hallway every day.

Despite the hacker being caught, Cassidy has to live with this trauma forever. The sound of every email notification will continue to make her stomach churn.

This happened before she was Miss Teen USA. If this could happen to Cassidy, it could happen to any one of us.

Somebody may be watching you through your camera right now…


Image Source: Miss Teen USA webcam hacker Jared James Abrahams sentenced to 18

Footnotes

Feminists are furious!

Yes of course you are unless you become a US lackey in that case you become a U.S. dog! Taiwanese are like me an ancestor from Hokkien or Fuxian province in the south of China. I am what you called a Singaporean with a Chinese origin and you are a Chinese living in a province of China call Taiwan! We both loved our motherland and we will do everything to helped the cause of Chinese successes.

The U.S. and the west are Chinese haters simply because the failed to steal China into their spheres and could not break China up into a hundred minute nations so that it can swallow up one by one. Hence it us trying to destabilise Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinxiang using false pretences and war mongering. But it has failed so far and it is costing the US an arm and a leg doing so. So to China it is like providing the US with a long and strong rope to kill it selves. If that is what they wanted!

Taiwan will forever be a part of China and that status can never changed no matter ho much the U.S. tries to prised it away.

Leftists SHOCKED Employer LIED In Order To Avoid Hiring Them, Company FEARS WOKE LAWSUITS

Surprise!

This is a very good video. It surprised me. It really did.

Not in any meaningful way.

Let’s say you went to prison with an artificial leg. The leg enables you to walk and you’ve used it for so long that, with pants on, most people think you just have a bad limp.

The prison says you can’t bring your prosthesis in with you because it might have drugs hidden in a secret compartment. No worries they say… we’ll get you fitted for a new leg when the doctor comes around… in September. So you wait… and wait… and wait in a prison issue wheelchair.

The day of the doctor’s visit finally comes. Uh oh… there was a fight at the higher security prison next door. We’re on lock down. Nobody is going anywhere. No worries they say… the doctor will be back next year.

So, you file a grievance. You have the right to write down whatever angers you on a form and give it to your case manager. He dismisses your concerns… you try to go over his head, but you need copies of his denial…hard to get when he’s only in his office an hour each week… It’s amazing how often the man can lose paperwork. Case managers are often the folks not friendly or efficient enough to work at the DMV.

Nine months later, you’ve made it through three levels of appeal and only have a couple more to go… what are you crying about says the next appeal response… the doc will be there in just three short months! They mark your grievance as “resolved” and list it as a success for the process.

Yes. On paper prisoners have rights. In reality they are locked away from being able to help themselves or exercise those rights. They are completely at the mercy of a staff that could not care any less.

Oh, and my story about the artificial leg? He was still stuck in the chair when I left.

Brenden’s Easy Pork Ribs

This is one of the best and easiest ways to make baked barbecue ribs. Try using pineapple or mango juice or other juices instead of the orange juice.

Oven Pork Ribs IMAGE 5
Oven Pork Ribs IMAGE 5

Ingredients

  • Pork ribs (any variety)
  • 1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce
  • 1 cup orange juice

Instructions

  1. Mix together barbecue sauce and orange juice.
  2. Lay ribs in a baking pan and pour barbecue mixture over the top. The ribs should be nearly submerged in the barbecue mixture.
  3. Cover pan with foil and set oven to 250 degrees F.
  4. Option 1: Cook for approximately 3 hours (depending on amount of meat). Remove from pan. The meat will be juicy and delicious. This method will make the meat fall off the bones. Excellent for sandwiches!
  5. Option 2: Cook meat for about 2 hours, remove from oven and transfer to hot grill. While on grill, continue to brush with barbecue mix from pan. They should only need a few minutes on each side. The barbecue sauce should get a bit crispy.
  6. Option 3: Instant Pot: Stand ribs on end on a trivet in Instant Pot. Pour in orange juice. Cook on manual for 25 minutes. Natural release for 10 minutes. Place ribs on foil-lined baking sheet, and brush with barbecue sauce. Broil for 7 minutes, then serve.

Darn cool from Africa

EU ambassadors are unanimously ignoring an invitation to talk from Lavrov

MACHINE-TRANSLATED FROM DER-SPEIGEL IN GERMANY — The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has invited EU ambassadors to speak to Foreign Minister Lavrov, but EU ambassadors have canceled their participation. Russia says it will have “terrible consequences.

Ambassadors sent to other countries are primarily responsible for being in contact with the government of their host country. They prepare meetings of politicians, negotiate economic issues, but of course also cultural and other issues. But their most important task is to contact the government of the host country.

Ambassadors must not interfere in the internal affairs of their host country. The UN Charter, i.e. the basis of international law, clearly defines this in Article 2. However, this does not prevent the ambassadors of the EU and its member states from interfering in Russian affairs by supporting the radical Russian opposition or making LGBT propaganda, which is prohibited in Russia. For the sake of completeness, LGBT is not banned or punished even in Russia, there are gay clubs and so on. It is only forbidden in Russia to propagate this.

Imagine that the Russian ambassador to Germany would interfere in German politics, support Reich citizens effectively, for example, and violate German laws. Would the federal government put up with it, or would it invite the Russian ambassador to speak and demand that he refrain from doing so?

That was also what the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wanted to tell the EU ambassadors about the hot phase of the Russian presidential campaign, as Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. March in an interview told:

„ Two days before the planned event, before the meeting, they sent us a note: ‚ We decided not to go there. ‘ Can you imagine relations with diplomatic countries whose ambassadors are afraid to meet the minister of the country where they are accredited? Where was that ever seen? “

Lavrov said that his ministry „ has gathered a lot of material on how EU embassies in Moscow are preparing for our presidential election, what mechanisms for interference “ they use and that „ any projects are created to support our non-systemic opponents “. And he said:

„ Overall, these are things that messages are not allowed to do. “

The arrogance of the EU

Thereupon a Russian business portal asked the EU embassy in Moscow and the following answer to get:

„ Our reaction followed the death of Alexei Navalny and after the EU’s demands for an independent international investigation into the causes of death had not been considered. “

It is fascinating how arrogant the EU is. Would a western country accept an international investigation requested by Russia if a prisoner dies there in prison? For example, God forbid Julian Assange? And why is the EU coming the Russian demand not, to investigate the shooting down of the Russian Il-76 with 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board?

In its response, the Permanent Representation of the EU also referred to an extremely low level of trust „ and added:

„ We were invited to discuss EU-Russia relations, but Minister Lavrov is now saying that the conversation was about teaching us. This proves that we were right to reject the invitation. “

That raises two questions. First, why are there still ambassadors for the EU and its member states in Russia if they now even reject invitations to talk to their contact person, i.e. the Russian Foreign Minister? Secondly, who really makes foreign policy decisions in the EU if the EU can ensure that the ambassadors of all EU countries simply reject an invitation?

The official Russian reaction

Maria Sakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was at her regular Press conference asked about the scandal and I completely translated the question and its answer.

Start of translation:

Question: You mentioned that the EU ambassadors refused to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. What consequences will your actions have for you?

Sakharova: The consequences for them become terrible, terrible. If a professional diplomat loses his face, if everyone realizes that he has lost his professionalism and skills, then there is no compensation, in no way and in no form. They have to ascribe that to themselves.

You sincerely harm me for one reason. They have become hostages to their own regimes. Many of them have come a long way to become ambassadors for EU countries in the Russian Federation. It is a fact that experienced people are deployed to large countries, including members of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and nuclear powers. Given its size, our country should actually send specialists who have considerable experience. After many years of work, they all came to this position, this post. And they made their own states look stupid and bad. Not their peoples, but the regimes in their countries. Unfortunately, that happened. I don’t think there is any other explanation.Whether they pinched themselves or whether their regimes showed them, it is always the same thing. They basically signed „ “ that they are not ambassadors for their countries.

What is a „ Ambassador “? An ambassador represents not only a specific organization, but the whole country as a whole. It is very important. It is not just someone who represents this or that political party or social movement that has appointed him. It is not someone who represents this or that ideology that is in power or in opposition. No, it is someone who represents the people of his country as a whole.

Who do they represent if they refuse to meet with the authority that is the counterpart for them? For them, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is primarily the source of all information, data, both on bilateral relations and on the position in multilateral formats. You did it all yourself and arranged it. This has the corresponding consequences.

The second point: it would be okay if they sealed themselves off on all fronts in our country and in principle didn’t speak to anyone. That would be a strange attitude, self-torture, unprofessional. But at least you could see a certain logic in it. According to the motto, self-isolation according to the COVID 19 pandemic is not over yet. But they regularly take part in some marginal events and are making a fool of themselves in our country.

We treat the representatives of countries and peoples with respect, who are guided by the fact that they represent their countries in their entirety. The proposal to hold this meeting was made out of respect for their peoples. But our people, the people, the NGOs literally laugh at them. They have already become heroes of „ Memes “ or a kind of performance art.

Go online and enter „ American Ambassador to Moscow “. Who writes that? It is not the government, it is not some special institution that does it. These are people who find it funny how the ambassadors of the countries of the „ collective West “ have turned from diplomats into marginal ones who take part in any wild actions, that are not intended for intergovernmental communication.

They agitate within our society, interfere in internal affairs and become the „ clowns “ who are released before a rodeo, to warm up the dog handler or rider „ “ and entertain the audience. They become these clowns, run around in front of our audience and endlessly try to attract attention, stage a performance, participate in something, send their strange messages and appeals, that are hardly understood by our audience. They are constantly trying to lay flowers somewhere, to raise any „ rainbow flags “ above their messages and wherever possible. People are already laughing at them. They probably just don’t understand it. Many of them speak little or no Russian. Maybe they just don’t understand how to think about them.

If the US ambassador now publishes information on his official website, the Russians are said to be not afraid to take part in „ humanitarian actions “ by the US government. That is said to not harm your patriotism. How is that possible? Our brothers and sisters, our citizens, are killed with American weapons. Terrorist attacks against civil infrastructure occur regularly in Russian regions. Children die and you invite our country’s citizens to participate in US government programs that guarantee, that their patriotism is not harmed? We decide for ourselves how we should deal with everything we should do with patriotism, how we can show it and how we should deal with all your programs.

This is sad, but was to be expected in view of the degradation that we have observed for many years in the diplomacy of the „ collective West “. The clearest example is Josep Borrell, who holds the post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. All 27 EU countries are guided by it and give it the right to speak on its behalf on foreign policy issues. What is he chatting about? It turned out that even official representatives of the EU countries do not understand what he is saying. It turned out that it is not he who writes his column, but that someone writes it for him. I’m not sure if he’s reading that at all. How does it work? What is that creepy performance?

What kind of diplomat is he? Have you ever heard a diplomat say that there is no place for diplomacy and that everything on the battlefield has to be decided? We always emphasize that we stand for peace, negotiations and, to the end, for a peaceful solution. Even though we are facing hybrid aggression from the United States. What did the head of European diplomacy say? Josep Borrell says the opposite and kills diplomacy.

Ursula von der Leyen, who also deals with the international relations of the EU, does she represent them? It enforces US policy within the EU. This is anti-diplomacy.

I would like to remind you of Liss Truss, who was Britain’s Prime Minister for a month and a half and before that was Foreign Minister, diplomat of the Kingdom, for a year. Before that, she also held various senior positions in the British government for a short time. What kind of diplomacy is that? At a fateful moment, she came to very important negotiations in our country and did not even know that the Rostov and Voronezh regions were part of the Russian Federation. Is that normal? This happened during a conversation about the situation between Russia and Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that she would not speak to Russia unless it turned 360 degrees and fundamentally changed its foreign policy. We turned 360 degrees, so what? We are waiting for active actions from Berlin. Where are they?

And she said that more than once. Either nobody tells her that she talks nonsense and stupid stuff, or she believes that they are all enemies who talk about their mistakes, and she has to resist that – I can’t tell you that. But that’s the level of „ diplomacy “. That was to be expected.

This is the degradation of western diplomacy in all its „ splendor “. What are they doing in the UN Security Council? They kill the Security Council by blocking obvious resolutions and only replacing them with sanctions. There is only one thing left for them: to decide on these endless sanctions that destroy diplomacy. Even more, these are not just sanctions, but part of the hybrid and economic war against our country.

End of translation

 

HAL TURNER OPINION

I’ve taken several hours to assess what is in the article above and, to me, it boils down to this:

The “Ambassadors” are acting like High School kids in a Clique:   “We’re not talking to yooooooou.”

It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic.

Yet “pathetic” is not the only descriptor that comes to my mind.  “Dangerous” is another descriptor.

What these “Ambassadors” are doing is leading very explicitly to actual World War 3.  When Diplomacy ceases, generally, war commences.

When history writes the epitaph of our collective West, it may say something like “They destroyed themselves because children in adult bodies threw a temper tantrum and wouldn’t talk Diplomatically.”

To me, it’s as though the Russians are the only adults in the room.

Our civilization is being lead down the road toward destruction my supposed “men” who choose to act like high school children.

He hasn’t a chance in the 2024 election, but he is the one deserving of consideration. Libertarian Party Candidate.

Russia Reveals Intent for Ukraine: Map Shows what will be left . . .

Russia Reveals Intent for Ukraine: Map Shows what will be left . . .

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (i.e. Senate), Dmitry Medvedev, has revealed how much of “Ukraine” will remain once Russia completes its military operation.  Not much.

In a social media posting, Medvedev made clear “We will not stop until this is the case.”   Here is the full map:

Medvedev map future Ukraine
Medvedev map future Ukraine

The collective West, through NATO, wanted to place US Missile defenses on Ukrainian territory so those missiles would have only about a five minute flight time to Moscow, and to Russia’s Strategic Nuclear Silos.  Russia said “no.”

Russia pointed out that no nation can defend itself from missiles that have only a five minute flight time between launch and impact, and so the positioning of US missiles on Ukraine soil was simply an intolerable security threat to Russia.

The West did not listen.

Russia tried to negotiate what they called “Iron-clad, legally enforceable, security guarantees” and the collective West scoffed, and threw Russia’s proposal (rhetorically) into the trash.

Russia then re-proposed those security guarantees by having their proposal hand delivered to the White House, to NATO HQ, and to the Executive  addresses for each NATO member country, with the additional warning that if Russia could not obtain security guarantees Diplomatically, they would do so by military, or military-technical mean.

The West waited about ten days before they scoffed (again) and (rhetorically) threw the proposal in the trash again.

Days later, Russia telephoned Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and told him he had FIVE HOURS to agree to Russia’s security demands.   Zelensky called both the British Home Office and the US State Department, both of whom told him “ignore Russia’s ultimatum.”

Two hours after that deadline passed, Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine.

So here we are, slightly over two years into the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and Russia is taking by force, the territory it needs to protect itself from US/NATO missiles.

Over one million troops are now dead — mostly Ukrainians, but a considerable number of Russians, too — all because the US and NATO wanted to put US missiles on Ukrainian territory.

None of this had to be.  Yet here we are.

Now, we see the extent to which Russia will conquer to protect itself.  The map is clear.

Only instead of figuring out that this **MUST** be the way things will be, the collective West is now talking about sending troops into Ukraine to fight Russia.

Russia has long said such an act would mean “a war no one will win” which, as Readers are well aware, means Nuclear War.   Yet French President Macron just this week, doubled-down on his idea to send troops into Ukraine.

What part of “No” does Macron (and NATO) not understand?

The world is being lead into a nuclear conflict that does not have to be.

Prostitutes in LA

If you’re talking about the Napoleonic era wars, with long lines of men in fields slowly marching forward and shooting en masse, as depicted in, for example, the movie “Barry Lyndon”:

The answer is that they fought this way, according to my military historian friend, because:

a) That was actually not as suicidal as it seems to modern eyes, because typically, in a big battle like that, you’d only have about 5% to 10% casualties…

b) Unless one side lost its nerve, and broke and ran, in which case they would have much, much higher casualties (because it’s much, much harder for scattered individuals to defend themselves against an organized group).

Hanging out with a military historian can be quite interesting. You can see how technology dictates tactics, and both evolve over time.

Long lines are for maximizing the number of guns that you can get into a mass volley fire (and massed fire, i.e. everyone shooting simultaneously, can have devastating psychological effect and break a charge).

Horses are for fast mobility, so you can get around the line faster than the men can re-arrange themselves, come at them from the side (where only a few can get a clear shot at you) and stomp all over them.

Squares (literally take that line of men and arrange them in a square, facing outward) are for keeping horses from being able to get around you.

The technology changes, then the tactics change.

EDIT: For a much more detailed (and fun!) dissection of military line tactics, see Eric Lowe’s answer to Why were line infantry tactics, the practice in which 18-19th century warfare was dominated by rows of men firing at each other, common practice? I understand single shot firearms, but the concept seems counterintuitive.

China continuing to be China

As a non-American, I really miss:

  1. That the US President acted and sounded presidential. Think about this; when he said Kanye West was a “jackass” (I personally believe this was light, considering what had happened), the press was all over it. Can you imagine if the president today called Kanye West a Jackass? It would not even make the news!
  2. He actually knew there was a world full of thinking, intelligent people outside of US borders.
  3. The way he behaved as a gentleman, to all people, but, specially, with his wife (you know, little things like opening a door for her, or waiting for her to get out of the car before joining someone).
  4. I know I already mentioned the way he talked, but I will also state here the way he responded to people speaking to him with highly charged emotions; he always seemed cool and tempered. He was smart, and his comebacks were always good, without being rude.
  5. That he was not afraid to admit a mistake.
  6. The fact that he was actually involved in being president. He knew what was going on; he based his knowledge on personal involvement. This also, of course, also made the fact that when he spoke, he knew what he was talking about.
  7. The depth of his speeches, and the lack of words like “big”, “enormous”, and “huge” being repeated a thousand times per speech.
  8. His wife and his children; they were just real. Looking at the Trump family today reminds me of when I met the Prince of Japan; the princess was nothing more than window dressing.

Overall, there is one word that describes Obama which Trump, no matter how hard he tries, he will never have:

CLASS

Bad guy gets justice

I went out with a co-worker who asked me to go furniture shopping with him because he wanted a woman’s opinion when decorating his new house. He said that for taking the time to go shopping with him, he wanted to buy me dinner.

I met him at his place and he drove the furniture store.

He asked for my opinion on different pieces of furniture and, if I liked anything, he would examine it thoroughly and then tell me everything that was wrong with it and why I was wrong to like it. 2 hours later, we left the store without buying so much as a lamp.

He stopped by Kentucky Fried Chicken and bought a bucket of chicken. He then drove us back to his house.

We ate the KFC at his kitchen counter (he had no table or chairs) and then he announced it was time for us to go to bed (more accurately, to mattress on the floor since he had no bed).

I picked up my purse and headed for the door. He was insulted and disappointed that we weren’t going to end that fantastic evening with coitus.

Worst part — I had to look at this moron every day at work for the next 5 years.

Cat tries to rescue dog

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/v-FSLiKkQGQ?feature=share

Yup! They have no trouble at all distinguishing one human from another. In fact, my first octopus hated my ex. She always tickled the octopus in a way that really annoyed the little cephalopod, and the octopus responded by squirting water at her.

It got to be a running joke, because if she even opened the lid slightly the octopus would surge up to the surface and give her a face full of water, then retreat and hide under its den. It was like a cartoon!

It liked me though. It would greet me and play tug O war and take food right from my hand. The octopus clearly could tell us apart, but I wanted to know: how far did the recognition go? It gave me an idea: we tried to fool the octopus.

I put on her hat, her sunglasses and jacket, and I let my hair down (I’ve had long hair since the ‘90s)

Nothing. He knew instantly it was me.

Then it was her turn: she tied her hair back in a ponytail, wore one of my shirts and sunglasses. She opened the lid and:….…GOOOOSH! Not even a little hesitation.

That was a long time and many many octopuses ago, but the trend is clear: That first octopus wasn’t unique. Since then, we have had many, many octopuses that could very obviously and easily tell us apart. Now I’m married to a fellow ceph expert, and now my darling wife and I make sure to take turns interacting with our octopuses to make sure neither of us winds up on the wet side of an unfavorable cephalopod yelp review.

It’s a myth that when you leave prison, you’re done.

You see it happen in movies… the prisoner is finally released after years. He walks out that front gate into a new life full of opportunity and hope.

Ahem… bullshit.

After you walk out that gate, your movements are monitored; you’ll have court ordered requirements and a probation officer to enforce them. You may be enrolled in classes, substance abuse sessions, public service, etc. You might have to take a weekly urinalysis. Maybe you’ll wear a drug patch. You might sport a nifty GPS ankle monitor that can shout helpful things at you like, “Call your PO, NOW!” You might have to cough up a chunk of your meager salary to pay for all these things.

You could have fines or restitution to take care of, and the courts are a creditor that doesn’t take no for an answer.

You’ll have a hell of a time finding a decent job. Apartments aren’t any easier. Would you want to rent to a felon, or hire one? Even people that say they would, still quietly look for ways not to.

I applied for a county job and had the job in the bag until my felony came up. The hiring manager said he believed in second chances… Ten days later I received a terse letter from the HR department explaining that “due to adverse information” I could not be considered for hire. The second chance wasn’t mine, it was theirs… a second chance to back out. Even if the hiring manager was 100% sure that I was the perfect candidate, he doesn’t want to stick his neck out for a felon. I don’t blame him.

Instead I wound up working at a car wash for minimum wage for my first year. Now I’ve got a warehouse job, but I still make only a quarter of what I made before my journey started. After child support and insurance are deducted, my job pays me $125 a week (don’t even raise the topic of getting support reduced… I’ve tried).

Your PO can knock on your door any time of the day or night and can ransack your place for any reason or suspicion. They can show up at your job to ask questions or talk to your neighbors (hasn’t happened to me, but I’ve heard plenty of state cases where it has).

My probation is for five years, but I’ve known a few guys who have lifetime probation. Imagine looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. One forbidden beer and you’re off to cell block seven!

The “help” the state provides to get you under way after release was the biggest impediment to starting over. I’m sure some guys need what was provided if they’ve burned every last bridge in their lives. For me, the halfway house just frustrated my efforts.

The felony will haunt you for as long as you live.

Truth is that once you’ve seen the inside of a prison, you never really get to walk out free again.

All good things end. This is a tribute, but I can feel it’s reality.