So I went on ChatGPT and asked it to find that mystery movie that I have been having such a difficult time finding. This is what I asked…
please help me locate a movie. Sometime in the late 1980's and in the 1990s I watched a movie on television. it was a science fiction movie. It was apparently "made for television", though I do not know for sure. it was about the experiences of the main character; a female that was hired to work in a software company. The movie starts where she finds herself on this big sprawling campus of the company that she will work at. It is mostly empty of others, just a few people walking here and there. she then meets up with the rest of her design team. all are very smart like she is and all are specialists. they all are working on various software projects. eventually they realize that there is something strange about their life. they work for three days, and then it all starts all over again. at one point in the movie, they encounter a record left behind by their previous selves. with thousands of log entries. they decide to hack into the campus as it appears that they are software programs modeled after specific real-world engineers. they find this access port, which appeals to be a big hinged plug in the ground, and using that they hack into the entire campus and stop the endless cycle of repeat and redo. .... when I have used search engines for this movie, the usual standard, commonplace, movies came up. but this is not a usual movie. this is a very unique and seemingly forgotten movie. can you help me out?
And this is what it answered…
The movie you're describing sounds like "TekWar," a 1994 made-for-television science fiction film based on the TekWar novels by William Shatner. The main character you're referring to is likely Beth Kittridge, portrayed by Charlotte de Bruyne. In the film, she is hired by Jake Cardigan (played by Greg Evigan) to work at Cosmos, a futuristic software company. The storyline involves the characters discovering anomalies and facing challenges similar to what you described, including the repetitive nature of their experiences and the hacking into the system to stop it. "TekWar" was part of a larger franchise that included television movies, a TV series, and novels. It might not be widely remembered today, but it certainly fits the description you provided.
Well, I really don’t know if this is it. But it is the closest that I have found so far.
Sure as Hell beats a Google Search.
The actual video is on youtube HERE.
Today…
How the hell is America still a superpower when China is making such infrastructure and buildings while the US still has buildings from 1950?
The United States is NOT a superpower.
It is instead, a feudal, plutocracy that runs a military empire.
There is no longer a “middle class”, instead there are workers (known as “rabble”) and the elite (known as the 0.1%).
This indicative of late-stage empire decline.
Historically, within a few decades, the United States will disappear before transforming into some kind of new entity.
…
China is on another level… perhaps another plane… indeed, in another universe entirely. To compare the two is like comparing apples with Rocket sleds.
Adjust your perception
Why does America not retaliate for China making it hard for US companies to penetrate Chinese markets?
You really have to get out from under the influence of the media. It is clouding your faculties. There are so many companies operating and thriving in China. I personally was brought over to China by a New Hampshire company that was very successful in China. I live in a third tier city and there is no shortage of western companies operating here. There is a Dell EMC building across from my apartment, Multiple Starbucks within walking distance, KFC, McDonalds, Ford sells cars here, Buick, Jeep. Walk through the malls here and you see Adidas, Nike Under Armour, Dickies and Levis shops. Those are just the companies that sell to common people. Never mind the big corporations that do billions of dollars in business in China.
Wake up! The whole trade imbalance cry is not reality. It is for your consumption and it seems to be working very well. Really stop watching the news, it is not reality. Its sole purpose is to shape your perception of the world.
Men are sick and tired
What were the reasons for Germany’s defeat to Russia in World War II, despite having better equipment and military strategy? Was Russia’s success due to their fighting skills and familiarity with the land?
This is question despite being auto-generated that touches on the very core of how World War 2 is explained in popular history. The phrasing itself is very noteworthy, because the AI who generated this question does so on the basis of what others write, and it asks how Germany was defeated, not how the Soviets won. Do you think the fact the WW2 eastern front history is primarily told from the point of view of Nazis, might have significantly skewed the way the war is perceived? Hint: Yes.
If the Germans had superior equipment, superior strategy, their army was more experienced, and in 1941 even outnumbered the Soviets quite a bit on the front, then why didn’t they win? Well it must be because of the 3 things that Manstein and the other Nazi war criminals all agree on. The Weather, the number of Soviets and Hitler sabotaging himself. In reality, this is of course outright lies. Let’s talk about why these things are not the reason first.
- The Weather: As it turns out Russians, Ukrainians and other Soviet citizens did not have a natural +10 cold resistance. Reality isn’t DnD. The weather of the USSR affects Soviets in exactly the same way as the Germans. Germans were fully aware of the climate in Russia, their generals had read Napoleon, they had geographers and meteorologists who were professionals. So why were they affected so badly?
- During the fall of 1941, the winter was approaching, but the arrogance and racism inside the mind of Nazis convinced them that just pushing a little more would cause the Soviets to collapse and give up. The Nazi generals were in charge of their own requisition, and when asked if they wanted their winter equipment or more ammunition to kill more Soviets, they asked for ammunition not winter equipment. This is not a problem of weather, this was a collective German officer decision, based on arrogance and racism.
- Some German equipment was not well suited for winter combat, like the German tanks with narrow tracks unable to cope with snow and mud. This is not a weather problem, this is a design problem, showing poor thought in German equipment. Again, the Germans knew they would invade the USSR years in advance and didn’t fix this.
- The Soviet manpower monolith. If numbers had been decisive, then you’d think the Soviets would have done better in 1941 than later. In 1941, the Soviets had a larger population, around 190 million, versus the German 80 million. However, by Stalingrad, only 110 Million Soviets were available to the USSR, due to occupation and death, yet this is when the Soviets were winning. Additionally, the Soviets were not just fighting the Germans, but Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Finland and quite a lot of Italian too. If you look at the total manpower of the Axis forces the Soviets fought and not just the Germans, guess what. There were more Axis than Soviets.
- Hitler sabotaged everything. So many German generals tell you, and they tell you this because German chief of staff Franz Halder, coordinated with them after WW2 to blame everything bad on Hitler essentially. Halder was editor of several memoirs. In reality the German general staff loved the idea of invading the USSR, they were the ones who came up with the plan, they were the ones who ignored the logistical problems when this was pointed out to them, they were the ones who were defeated at Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad. Hitler made very few military decisions, and never without consulting his military staff. In some situations Hitler even made clearly better decisions than his officers did, when he said it would be an economic war, and that Germany needed to capture the resources of the USSR not the cities, he was absolutely right.
So with that out of the way, the better question is, how did the Soviets win? The answer is plain and boring. The Soviets approached war scientifically, they started WW2 with a bad theory and an incomplete procurement and training system. Throughout the war the Soviets introduced excellent military equipment, which in general was far better than the German, they introduced a new military doctrine specifically made to counter what the Germans were doing. Their officers gradually became more experienced, until the experienced Germans had no advantages anymore. And they correctly saw the strategic path to victory through attrition and by correctly exploiting weaknesses in the Axis lines.
This is the simple version of course, but really that is all there is to it, we can talk about equipment and strategy in details in the comments. Additionally if you are interested I wrote about the massive problems the Soviets had to outcome in 1941–1942 in terms of doctrine here:
Soviet Military Doctrine and the Officer Purge
Harsh L for men
If a random person came up to you in the street, ready to fight and asked you “What the F are you looking at” How or what would you do in response?
The illusionist Derren Brown has an interesting approach to this situation:
“This is simply about not engaging with your aggressor at the level they expect. I was coming back from a hotel at about 3am one night and there was a guy in the street with his girlfriend. He was really drunk, clearly looking for a fight and he started kicking off at me. I had a routine ready in my head for this sort of situation and it worked a treat on this occasion. He asked me that typical aggressive rhetorical question — “Do you want a fight?” You can’t say “yes” or “no” — you’ll get hit either way. So, I responded with, “The wall outside my house is four-feet high.”
I didn’t engage at the level he was expecting me to, so immediately he was on the back foot. He came back with, “What?” and I repeated my bizarre response. I delivered the line in a completely matter-of-fact tone, as if he was the one who was missing something here. Suddenly, he was confused. All his adrenaline had dropped away, because I’d pulled the rug from under him. It’s the verbal version of a martial-arts technique called an ‘adrenaline dump’, whereby you get the person to relax before you hit them. A punch will have much greater impact if the recipient’s guard is down. I stuck to this surreal conversational thread with my assailant, saying things like, “I lived in Spain for a while and the walls are really huge, but in this country they’re tiny.” After a few of these exchanges, he just went, “Oh f*ck!” and broke down in tears. The guy had all this adrenaline and was on the point of really laying into me — I was seeing myself beaten to a bloody pulp — but these non-threatening nonsense statements broke that aggression down and he genuinely started crying. I ended up sitting next to him on the kerb, comforting him.”
This is the battle in the USA today
Hi Irina,
One of the things I try to do, is to find people, ordinary people, to get their views on ‘reality’.Since I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I am at an advantage because Chiang Mai attracts people from all over the world, in particular, not just travelers, but those who are deliberately outside their home country. Of course, in my travels, I also try to talk to people, ordinary people inside a country to get their views.Recently I posted about a Russian guy I met in Moscow, with whom I had a Whatsapp exchange. Irina Boyko was kind enough to comment on the exchange that I posted.In this email, I’ll talk a little bit about someone whom I met here in Chiang Mai. She grew up during the Soviet era. Moved to Canada after it fell, but moved back to Ukraine a few years ago. After the start of the SMO, she came to Chiang Mai, presumably to ‘get out of Dodge’, meaning the Nazi infested regime, We had a lot of long talks about her life in Soviet Ukraine, how happy she was during those times, and how unhappy she was post USSR.In order to preserve her anonymity, I’m not going to publish this, only report within the CWG. In early March, she made the trip back to her home city, which I will leave nameless. Her mother has been quite ill, so my friend decided to go back to be with her.We chatted a little bit since her return. She felt very depressed. We finally caught up by phone and here are some of her observations, which will probably not come as a surprise to us, if not the ‘liberal guy from Moscow’, whom I also chatted with earlier.
- The difference in feeling between Chiang Mai, which is probably one of the most comfortable cities to live in, and her city was a real shock. She went into serious depression, but after consulting with both energy therapists and a psychologist is feeling better. She’s learning to cope with the situation.
- There is a general feeling of depression and foreboding.
- The streets are about half empty…that is, the population has dropped significantly. [This corresponds to information that other commentators have noted. The population used to be 50 million, while it’s now estimated at perhaps 25 million or less]
- She sees young women with babies, but no fathers. Where did they go?
- The men are in hiding. She told me about one guy who was taken from the same apartment building she’s in, and he was killed after being sent to fight.
- Everyone is terrified of the police. Nobody talks openly about conditions
- The forcible recruiters are now going into apartment buildings and knocking on doors. Nobody answers for fear of any men in the house being dragged away.
- For the time being, she still has electricity and internet, unlike many of the big cities, such as Kharkov.
- I said that it looks like the war will go in one of two ways. Either, Russia will win, come into her city, take control and things will improve, similar to what is happening in the newly reincorporated territories. Or, the US/NATO will escalate to the point of nuclear war and we’ll all die. That’s her assessment as well.
Addendum:I have another young Ukrainian friend here in Chiang Mai, he’s working online remotely. While he wants to go home, he knows that the situation is very difficult and dangerous. Numerous repressive laws are either in place or being considered to take away people’s money or their rights. He’s lucky he is here, otherwise, he probably would have been dragged off to fight and die.He also said that he was happy in Ukraine in 2021.Being an expat, I used to see reports saying that Ukraine is a great place for ‘Digital Nomads’, one of millions of mostly young people making a living online. I just thought…”wait…the place is highly unstable and likely to blow up.” But the average people in Ukraine apparently didn’t realize what was actually going on in their country, and where it was all heading.While, up to now, much of the basic infrastructure has been in place, and people had the basics of electricity and utilities, albeit at much higher prices, the electical supply is out in Kharkov and maybe Odessa. I felt some relief that my friend’s city has been spared for now However, as most of us know, Russia will probably go onto a much more robust offensive, and how those remaining in Ukraine will fare, is uncertain.Eric
This is the process…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Cy9Wvmon4xg?feature=share
Is living in Europe better than living in the USA in terms of standard of living, safety, healthcare, etc.?
I grew up in the US and lived there for much of my life and moved to Europe in 2000 so I guess I am qualified to answer.
Standard of living:
It depends on where you live, how much money you have and what you consider quality of life and living standards. If you live in a small town in Arkansas in a very poor area your standard of living will be pretty bad. You can find comparable places in poor towns in Central and Eastern Europe.
In Western Europe most cites have a very high standard of living for the majority of people. If you live in Paris, for example, your apartment is probably going to be in an older building but well renovated and very comfortable. In the suburbs it depends on the neighborhood and area, (arrondissement), just like in New York City or Boston. If you live in the Western European countryside you may live in a rustic place but it will probably be in very nice condition with all the modern comforts. When I lived in Germany and France I had many friends who lived in rural areas and their homes were small but extremely comfortable. Even in southern Italy the houses may look old on the outside but inside they are filled with all the modern conveniences and well renovated. People take pride in caring for their living spaces.
I would compare the central and southern parts of the US to Central and Eastern European countries like Czechia, Poland, Hungary and Estonia. Although the cities and towns in these countries have a great deal of history and character where most US cities and towns do not.
For shopping, it depends on what you want and where you live. If you live in or near a metropolitan area of the US you will have vast choices for goods. Many products like clothing and electronics will be cheaper than in Europe. Fuel prices are far cheaper than in Europe. Year round food choices are better in the US for the most part. Outlet malls and Costco’s are far better in the US and far cheaper. There have been attempts to make a Walmart or Target type chain in Europe but they have not been able to duplicate the US prices. Walmart tried to open in Germany but it did not succeed.
If you love nature and traveling then both continents have much to offer. America has far more raw and untouched nature. Europe has very little except in Scandinavia. There are beautiful natural areas in most countries but you can easily tell they are not very raw once you hike and explore there. If you enjoy getting out and pitching your tent next to a stream in a forest with no people around then there are very few places you might be able to do that in Europe except in Scandinavia. Wild camping is very restricted in most countries and illegal in some, like Italy. In the US I can drive up in the mountains of Colorado, find a great spot next to a lake or stream and set up my tent and spend a couple of weeks there if I like. I miss that. I do camp here but only in campgrounds in Latvia or Estonia. In Italy it is all too crowded for camping so I have never bothered. I just travel from home or stay in small hotels or BnB’s.
Safety:
I have lived in many places around the US. Usually in rural areas. So I always felt safe. Since university I have not lived in a big city so I am not sure what that is like safety wise. I suppose most US cites are as safe or dangerous as European cities. Some areas are safer than others and some are outright dangerous. In my little village in Italy I feel completely safe walking around at any time day or night. In my suburban neighborhood in Riga, Latvia I do not feel so safe walking around late at night. In any city it is best to be sensible and to know how to stay safe. That applies to both continents.
Healthcare:
I have experience with the US healthcare system and with the German, French, Italian and Latvian systems. As far as quality of care goes I would say that Western European healthcare is comparable and better to US healthcare. Latvian healthcare is not as good as either but is still respectable. I have had 3 major surgeries here so I have experience with this. In terms of costs, there is no comparison. In all European countries, I just go to my doctor or emergency room, get treated, say thank you and go home. In the US I had to check my health insurance provider to see which doctor I could go see, get an appointment, see the doctor, pay my part of the co-pay and amounts that the health insurance company refused. I also had to be mindful of the fact that my insurance company was going to know of any illness I might have and that my rates would go up. Or I could lose my insurance. The same with US hospitals. They provide great care if you can afford it. In Europe what you can afford is irrelevant unless you want to go to a fancy private clinic.
I could go on and on but those are just some of my experiences that stand out.
Bottom line:
I very much enjoy the US for certain things that I consider better there:
- Mexican, Cajun, BBQ, New Mexican, Asian cuisines
- Discount shopping and warehouse shopping like Costco
- Great electronics and cheap prices
- Wild nature and natural beauty
- Great and uncrowded skiing on weekdays
Other than that I far prefer being here in Europe and consider the life style, standard of living and other areas of life far superior.
Third world
What is the most savage reply you’ve given to an entitled person?
“You’re fired, a bill will be sent to your agent”
Allow me to explain. I work as a specialist costume designer and fight choreographer (I’m no one famous but I get work). One of the clauses I have directors write in to contracts is that “if anyone has lied about their skills, knowledge or experience to secure their role in such a way as to endanger the actors, fighters or other crew they will be summarily dismissed from the production AND they will be billed for the time and expense caused to the production”.
One girl turned up two hours late (strike one), was enormously rude to me, demanding I fetch her coffee and a pastry before she would do anything. Now, as a medieval fight choreographer I spend a lot of time in dirty muddy fields so I don’t exactly wear Gucci to set but I also don’t like to see anyone spoken to like that no matter their job (strike two).
The scenes we needed to get this day would involve the actress riding a horse and using a bow and a sword. She’d stated that she’d competed in Equestrian events so we planned to spend the morning getting some “travelling” shots so she and the stunt horse could get aquianted, then the afternoon would be me polishing up her mounted fight skills ready for the following week of action shots. No, this isn’t how I wanted to do it but we didn’t have the budget for weeks of trials and training camps.
Within thirty minutes of getting her on the horse she had wound it up so badly with her total lack of skill and experience that we couldn’t even put the poor thing back in her stall and the owner had to walk her around to try to calm her down.
The actress came roaring up to me screaming and roaring about how the horse was savage and nearly killed her etc, etc. (strike three).
“You’re fired, a bill will be sent to your agent”
That stopped her dead in her tracks and I reminded her what was in the contract she’d signed and had security (who I’d already called over) escort her to wardrobe and off set. Her agent pitched a fit when they saw the bill but they paid and we got the scenes she’d already done reshot by an actress I’m still friends with.
The Cult
What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?
I wouldn’t call this a ‘terrible’ backfire; humorous perhaps.
In the 1980s I was working overseas for a US contractor. Over a weekend a 30,000 horsepower gas turbine shut itself down and that plant’s production stopped. The Shift Supervisor called the maintenance shop where I worked. The on-duty tech couldn’t service the turbine. More and more calls were made. It was hours before a qualified tech was located.
‘Monday’ morning, Dave, the Plant Manager issued the edict: he wanted to know where an on-call technician was at all times. We said something about ‘standby pay’, or ‘callout premium’, or issue us a two-way radio or pager. No, no, and no. Not happening. The company felt that by our ‘terms of employment’ they owned us for whatever was needed. We weren’t happy about that.
One senior tech, Bill, said, “No problem. I’ll comply. When I get home at night, I’ll call him to let him know I’m home, and here is my phone number. When I go to the commissary, I’ll call him and tell him I’m leaving now. When I arrive at the commissary, I’ll call him from a pay phone and tell him I’ve arrived. He can call the commissary and have me paged if needed.” Bill was a golfer. On weekends he would report in, telling the manager how to have him contacted if needed.
End of the story, Dave, the Plant Manager, was quickly worn down, and the ‘edict’ faded away.
In retrospect, Dave probably did as was demanded of him, and he possibly had no intention of following through. Hmmm … Malicious compliance, perhaps? On various levels, perhaps? Hmmm …
Truth spit out
What was the strangest way an embezzler was caught?
Friend of mine caught one.
She was the new accountant looking after 4 companies, so spent time in each company. Come to pay review time, she asked the Payroll clerk for a list of annual salaries by name and department. ( straight from payroll software) In the tearoom, one of the admin staff suggested she have a close look at the accounting departments salaries. No reason given, just that “ it might be worthwhile” , and left it at that.
The salary of the payroll clerk was 30% higher then her colleagues. She had the master password for the software, so went in to payroll, and checked the salary history of that individual going back several years. 3 years before there this persons salary had jumped up. She checked with senior colleagues and no one was aware of any reason for a big payrise,
Her and HR interviewed the person, and she denied any wrongdoing, said she had earned the increase. Did a followup after the weekend, and said they were considering inviting the police in to investigate, at which point she confessed and said “I made a mistake on someones salary increase
, and no-one noticed, apart from me The next month , I corrected the wrong one and increased my own by the same amount. If someone had asked I would of said it was a mistake. No one did, so I just carried in with it.”
SHe had been so pleased with herself,and the extra clothes and holidays she could now afford, she had bragged to a colleague, about how clever she had been. Colleague was not impressed, and when the opportunity arose, tipped off my friend.
Piers Morgan Shocked When I Told Him the Truth About China!
Have you ever walked into your house and noticed a sound that you thought was suspicious? What happened?
Not me but my Dad (may he Rest In Peace). Dad had been sitting in a Tank during the Korean War but he had been stationed in Germany. Well, tanks from back in the 1950s did not have the noise suppression systems of the tanks of today and the technologies we have for Hearing Protection were practically non-existent; Dad had severe hearing loss before he ever met Mom.
Some time after their divorce, Dad had finally obtained some really GOOD hearing aids. He got home really tired and was traipsing through his kitchen when suddenly there was an unfamiliar noise. He spun around with his weapon drawn and…almost shot his new refrigerator, which he had never heard kick on before. 😀
EDIT!: Thank you to everybody so much for all the likes!
I am getting a FAQ for this post; here is the answer so I won’t have to spam it in the comments:
After Dad was out of the Army, he went to another service branch and then FINALLY left the Military altogether. But then he became a police officer.
As a Police Officer at the time the incident happened with the refrigerator, he had just gotten off a long shift and had a case of nerves that had not settled yet. Sometimes police are jittery after a long or difficult shift. He walked in his door and had not yet disarmed himself when he heard the fridge kick on for the very first time. He lived alone then, so that weird unfamiliar noise startled him and he reacted like he had been trained to react for his entire adult life. Dad practiced excellent trigger discipline and did not actually FIRE the weapon; he just aimed at the fridge.
Please keep in mind, this was MULTIPLE DECADES ago and where he worked at the time, Police could bring and use their own firearms on-duty, not just their Service pieces that were kept in lockers at the station.
Take it easy, everybody. Dad thought it was funny after it happened, it was told as a funny story, nothing bad happened. No Big Deal because nobody actually got hurt. The ‘danger’ has been in the past since I was a toddler.
I hope this clears things up enough for everybody. 🙂
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea – Attack! – Best America Scifi TV Series 2024
https://youtu.be/IhIMqQtpX0A
Some Shorpy historical images
Four things
What’s the shadiest tactic you’ve witnessed HR use at your job?
I worked at a grocery store when I was a teenager. Human Resources was called in to interview the employees about a beer and cigarette theft problem.
Before my interview, I saw a co-worker cleaning out his locker. “What happened?” I asked.
“Dude, they got us. They had cameras filming everything we did,” he said. “I just got fired for eating grapes that fell off the vine.”
My turn came and the HR guy said, “You need to confess to everything you have stolen here. Put a dollar amount on the stolen goods and we will set up a payment plan for restitution and avoid your being arrested.”
“I have never stolen,” I said.
“Okay, I am going to give you one more chance. If you are honest, we won’t get the police involved. If you are lying, things are not going to go well,” he said. “Be advised we have video.”
“I have never stolen anything,” I said.
“Call the police,” he said to the manager. “We are going to have to press charges.”
“You are full of it,” I said. “You have nothing.”
“Do you want to see the video?” He asked.
“Yes,” I said. “It doesn’t exist.”
“What makes you say that?” He said. “You seem very confident for someone about to go to jail.”
“I haven’t stolen anything,” I said. “If you had a video of people stealing, you wouldn’t need a confession.”
I think seven people confessed and were fired that day. My friend that ate the grapes put $7 on the amount he had stolen. He was one of the most honest people I worked with.
The ones eating steak cooked on the heat seal of the meat wrapper never confessed to anything. They did not catch the cigarette and beer thieves they were looking for either.
The people that confessed were the honest ones who felt guilty for their petty thefts while the dishonest ones stuck to their guns and confessed to nothing. Brilliant move by HR.
Jiggle Jiggle
Chicago Style Stuffed Pizza
Ingredients
- 2 (14 inch) soft pizza crusts
- 6 ounces pepperoni slices
- 6 ounces Italian sausage
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1 red onion, cut into thin strips
- 1 can pizza sauce
- 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/8 cup Italian seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Spray a 12 inch deep-dish pizza pan with vegetable oil.
- Place 1 pizza crust in pan and have crust come up sides like a pie.
- Add all listed ingredients into pizza pan, adding seasoning to top.
- Place second crust on top and use a fork to blend top and bottom crusts together like a pie. Cut off any additional crust.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.
Silent Running (Hidden Gems)
Has there been any case of enemy soldiers showing respect in WW2?
I can’t remember who wrote it, but I’d read a book many years ago about Operation Market Garden. Although some of the British 1st Airborne Division escaped Arnhem, many remained trapped and were captured by the Germans. One of the men who became a POW talked about marching into captivity past German soldiers. The Germans were cheering them saying things like “Good show, Tommy!” The writer said it felt like the winners of a soccer match were consoling the losers after the game. That, of course, didn’t make the defeat any easier to swallow!
Another I’d read about (again, I can’t remember the source) was the US occupation of Japan immediately after the Japanese surrender. As advance American units landed, they headed to Yokohama where their headquarters would be. The Japanese had lined the route with soldiers as guards – all of them had turned their backs to the road. The occupying Americans took that as a sign of disrespect but it was actually the opposite: in Japanese culture, that’s showing the utmost sign of respect.
Pay attention to this
This is real.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/O4KQmoVi3xM?feature=share
Star Trek:TNG – Data shows off his ultra human strength to primitive aliens(commander ,Data, )
Every day when I leave, my boss says, “Leaving already?” Today I replied, “I did my 8 hours” and he says “Well, you are salaried”. I do my work, don’t use my computer for anything other than work, and also work from home. What’s his deal?
Lovely. A guy still living in 1865 and he thinks we should be slaves to our jobs.
I remember, some time back, where portions of the bridge, out of my neighborhood were flooded out. No cars were getting into my neighborhood and none were leaving and this was the only way out of my neighborhood. I took pictures of this event and sent them to my boss. He came back and stated “So, this is your excuse for not coming into work. Consider yourself fired”.
So, I did and this was on a Friday morning. I started looking for jobs and by Friday evening, I secured a new job that started a week later. On Monday, my prior boss called around 10:30 AM and asked where I was at and I reminded him “Don’t you remember you firing me? You don’t?! Okay, as a former colleague, I am going to let you in on something, lay off on the day drinking. Everyone knows it is not your cologne.” It was an unhidden fact that everyone knew this manager was hitting the sauce, early on in the day, everyday. No one had the ability or courage to say anything and since I was fired… the courage was right there for me.
So accurate
What has your manager asked you to do that you outright refused to do?
I once did maintenance for a guy that was a true slumlord in Gainesville, FL. I was the only one that had a HVAC license in the whole company and he was using my license to buy Freon and to legally evacuate and recycle extracted Freon. The guy was so cheap that he only owned one Freon pump and vacuum pump, he wouldn’t even spend the money to buy a good set of gauges and I just used my own but I refused to bring my pumps and tanks to work because they’re expensive and I knew he wouldn’t replace them. Anyway, I was out on a job that was fairly remote and needed to evacuate system to do repairs, I called and asked if they could send the equipment out to me rather than me having to drive approximately 45 minutes back to the shop. The answer I got was no and that they were using it at another job (keep in mind that I’m the only one licensed to handle Freon) and if I needed it then I could just evacuate the Freon into the air. Well first off, that’s completely illegal and would cost me my license if I was caught, secondly it’s just plain unethical and I refused to do it. I flat refused and was told that if I didn’t want to do that to leave the job and he would send somebody else out to do it. At this point I not only flat refused I quit as soon as I got back to the shop. I then called the EPA and reported him and also made sure to let all the HVAC suppliers in the area know that they were no longer allowed to use my license for refrigerant purchases or anything else.
When he tries to purchase Freon and found out that he could no longer buy it, he completely flipped out and called me cussing me out as it was the middle of summer in the middle of the Florida swampland. He was having to contract the work out to HVAC companies now and they really didn’t like him so they were bending him over big time. Then on top of that he was investigated by the EPA and hit with huge fines. I have no regrets.
Such an American video
What was the most expensive surprise you received in a bill from a doctor or hospital? Did you pay it?
When I was 19 years old, I was going to collage, and working a job at a McDonald’s part-time.
At the time, I didn’t have either health insurance or a PCP.
It was a particularly cold winter, and I was often put in the drive-thru window; so about once every 2–3 weeks I’d end up with a nasty cold. I’d call in sick when this happened, as it’s illegal to work in food service while sick, and I’d typically be find after just a day or two. Sometime’s they’d accept over the phone, sometimes they’d make me come in anyways, before taking one look at me and telling me to go home.
One time when I called back to say I was over the cold, and good to work again, the manager told me I needed to get a doctor’s note before they’d let me go back to work. I explained I didn’t have insurance, or a doctor, they basically said “not my problem.”
So with literally no other option. I went to a hospital’s ER. I walked in, checked in, talked to the triage nurse, explained what was happening, and asked them to just write a note saying I’m good to work.
The triage nurse took my vitals and wrote the note, and I was out of the ER in literally 5 min, never having left the lobby nor seen an actual doctor.
A month later, I got a bill for $500 in the mail from the Hospital. I should mention that I was only making around $300 a month at my part time job, and had no other income.
I’m just about 40 now. It’s been over 20 years since they sent me that bill. I’ve still not paid it.
What’s the rudest thing a waiter ever said to you?
It wasn’t the waiter. It was the bartender. I had taken my two children out for lunch before we went school shopping. We stopped at Applebee’s, and as we were perusing the menu, we ordered our drinks. I ordered a bloody Mary with extra limes, my son ordered a cookie milkshake with extra cookies. I don’t remember what my daughter ordered, but she wanted something extra in her drink as well. The waitress left the table and walked over to the bar to order our drinks. The bartender yelled out extremely loud for the whole restaurant to here, including myself that sure we want to have extra things but don’t want to pay for them. What he didn’t know was I was a waitress at the time and had no problem paying for extras. I was so embarrassed! After that, I walked over to him and let him know I heard everything he had said, and we left the restaurant. Wasn’t too happy about Applebee’s that day. However, the next weekend I took my children there again in hopes for a better experience. We ended up having the same waitress and I told her I was so sorry that we left the prior week After she took her drink orders . She remembered us and has heard about the situation in regards to what the bartender said. She apologized profusely and the manager came over and apologized as well! We ended up getting our dinners free that day with free desserts. Not sure whatever happened to the bartender, but I must say Applebee’s stepped up to the plate! And yes, I left her a big tip!
Some fun with Text to picture
What was the most expensive surprise you received in a bill from a doctor or hospital? Did you pay it?
When I was 19 years old, I was going to collage, and working a job at a McDonald’s part-time.
At the time, I didn’t have either health insurance or a PCP.
It was a particularly cold winter, and I was often put in the drive-thru window; so about once every 2–3 weeks I’d end up with a nasty cold. I’d call in sick when this happened, as it’s illegal to work in food service while sick, and I’d typically be find after just a day or two. Sometime’s they’d accept over the phone, sometimes they’d make me come in anyways, before taking one look at me and telling me to go home.
One time when I called back to say I was over the cold, and good to work again, the manager told me I needed to get a doctor’s note before they’d let me go back to work. I explained I didn’t have insurance, or a doctor, they basically said “not my problem.”
So with literally no other option. I went to a hospital’s ER. I walked in, checked in, talked to the triage nurse, explained what was happening, and asked them to just write a note saying I’m good to work.
The triage nurse took my vitals and wrote the note, and I was out of the ER in literally 5 min, never having left the lobby nor seen an actual doctor.
A month later, I got a bill for $500 in the mail from the Hospital. I should mention that I was only making around $300 a month at my part time job, and had no other income.
I’m just about 40 now. It’s been over 20 years since they sent me that bill. I’ve still not paid it.
What happens if you give two weeks’ notice and they ask you to leave?
I gave3 weeks notice because the estimator I worked with would need time to be trained to cope without me (he was almost computer illiterate). Our boss ALWAYS let everyone work out their notice. He was very easy going like that, except with me. I pissed him off so much when I gave him my notice that he immediately escorted me out of the place like I was a common criminal. LOL
He first sent me in to get my stuff, but then realized that after being there a decade, I had a lot of stuff. My husband worked there also and we often went straight from work to meet clients. I kept clothes, shoes nice boots, work boots, makeup, meds, anything I might need was kept at work. He then came and told my estimator to just bring me home (I had a company vehicle).
“You can come back this weekend to get your stuff. I don’t want you to be embarrassed.”
“I’m not embarrassed.”
Trying to stop the flow
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Z95fwg6bP9U?feature=share
Have you actually ever heard someone say ‘Do you know who I am?’ indignantly?
A couple of years ago I was in my driveway when I witnessed a young mother and her child walking down our street, being harassed by a young man in his mid-20s. He was following them, getting in her face yelling at her, putting his hands on her and telling her to go back and get in the car. She kept telling him to leave her alone.
I called out to her and asked if she needed a ride somewhere. She and her child (small boy around 5 or 6) turned around and walked back to where I was standing – which pissed the man off. Then he followed them up my driveway and started screaming at me – calling me names and telling me to mind my own business. When I told him he had made it my business – he started posturing and making threats to me, asking loudly “Do you know who I am?”
My reply was “I don’t know who you think you are – but from where I stand, I see a sad little man child who likes to intimidate and harass women and children. Now step off my property before I call the cops. I’m sure they”ll know who you are.”
He took me seriously and stepped into the road- but continued his verbal harassment , even as the woman and her kid climbed into my car and I backed out of my driveway.
Turns out he was her boyfriend, but I never did find out what the argument was about. I offered to take her to the police station – but she didn’t want to go there – so instead I drove her to where she wanted to go (a few miles away.)
I haven’t seen either of them since but I sure as hell hope she got away from that abusive hothead.
- When someone answers your questions partially, wait. Don’t interrupt. Chances are high that they will complete the answer when you say nothing.
- When you want to get something from someone, frame it as an offer/opportunity instead of a request. Anyone will be ready to accept an offer/opportunity.
- When you meet people, notice their eye color while you smile at them. Don’t mention anything about it. It’s a good way to make sure that you really look them in the eyes.
- A person’s name is the sweetest sound in the world to that person. To make a person feel very special, remember and repeat their name.
- Have zero expectations when you are first trying something new, it prevents disappointment.
- To judge a person’s character, notice the way they treat people – who can’t do anything for them.
- After you state your position in a negotiation. Wait for a while. If you continue to speak, you are not speaking in your favour.
- Chewing gum while doing nerve-racking things calm your brain.
- When you are learning something, teach someone about it. You will remember it easily and explore more in the process of teaching.
- Most people’s favourite subject to talk about is themselves. If you don’t know what to talk about, or have awkward silence, just ask them questions.
- Emotional expression causes emotion. If you focus yourself to smile, your mood will actually improve.
- Stand up straight. It makes you look more confident and you will actually feel more confident.
- With kids, frame things in a way that always gives them a choice. It makes them feel like they are in control. For eg., “Do you want to wear red shirt or blue shirt?” Either way, they know it’s time to put on a shirt.
- When asking for favors use the word “because”. No matter how simple the reason. The word “because” makes them think it must be okay because there is a reason.
This Is The Best Red Pilled Video You Will Ever See!
Roasted Pepper and Gorgonzola Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza
- 1 Boboli or homemade crust
- Garlic Oil Sauce
- Mozzarella cheese, grated
- Gorgonzola cheese
- Roasted red bell pepper strips
Garlic Oil Sauce
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic
Instructions
Pizza
- Heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray or grease a pizza pan or stone.
- Top crust with Garlic Oil Sauce, mozzarella cheese, gorgonzola cheese and bell pepper strips.
- Bake on the bottom rack of oven for 8 to 12 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is piping hot.
Garlic Oil Sauce
- Puree olive oil and garlic in blender.
Undercover boss finds out just how evil graduate job applications are
I read about an employer who was telling a guy that nobody wants to work because they've been trying to hire people for months and were getting no takers. The man said "My son applied to your business online and got no response". Apparently, the software was rejecting all these applicants. The employer had no idea.
What bad experience had you saying “I will never buy from that company or use their service ever again”?
I was in Milwaukee about 3 years ago for training for a job I’d just gotten and the orientation was going to be 2 days so I was put up in my hotel room and I started to get hungry around 5:00 P.M. and while watching TV shows, I went to the website for EatStreet and looked up food places near the hotel in the downtown area and there’s this pizza and gyro delivery restaurant called New York Pizza Delivery and so I ordered a pizza, breadsticks and a soda from them. Went back to watching the TV. They said it would be there by 6:00 P.M. 6:00 P.M. arrived. No food delivery. So I thought I’d give them a margin in case they got delayed somehow which happens occasionally with food deliveries. By 6:30 P.M., still no food. So I called the restaurant, and I said, you know, where’s my food, they told me it’d be here by 6? The guy who answered the phone said it came but the driver couldn’t find me or my room but they’d send it again. So I headed down to the front lobby and asked the clerk if they’d seen the pizza delivery driver and they said they hadn’t. By 8:00 P.M there was still no pizza. So at 8:30 P.M, I called the restaurant again and asked them why my food wasn’t there and they said the driver forgot to drop off my pizza but they’d send him again. Basically I got my pizza a full 4 and a half hours later and it was only slightly warm. Worst customer service I’ve ever had. I’m not ordering through EatStreet again because they blow, too.
Freedom In CHINA Vs AMERICA! (Untold TRUTH)
Would Chinese people voluntarily fight in the Chinese military, are they forced to, or is it more an obligation rather than a desire?
To say volunteer is an understatement. It has become the major regret of some who could not make the cut to serve in the PLA. Each year enrollment into the PLA is selected from a big group of volunteers like around a few hundred thousands, and not all pass the selection process.
I personally have encountered more than 10 individuals who wanted to join the PLA but were rejected. Some of them express a major regret for not being able to join the PLA and wish that they could have contributed in some other way.
At first like most foreigners I was baffled, I could not believe my ears as I’m from Singapore where all young men that are proven to be healthy and fit are required to do national service and the more common idea in Singapore is to try and escape it and go into the workforce as fast as you can. To be frank, I never agree to the idea that one should escape national service and come up with all manners of excuses for it as I’m one of those very on the ball types in the army, but I’m still very very surprise when I got to know how different it is in China. You would be too if you have seen a grown man with tears in his eyes because he was rejected by the PLA. And of course, I was doubtful because he had some beer before those tears appeared. Lol.
But seriously, after staying here for abit and having a relative (my wife’s family) who is in the PLA, you start to understand the kind of glory they put into it. It’s like a perosnal honor, a family honor or even a social honor. It’s even comparable to going to an ivy league University kind of honor if you perform well in the PLA.
But, that’s not to say that it’s simply like a degree where you study for it and you graduated with honors. The PLA has been serving the people rather well, especially in times of natural disaster or even law enforcement. Common example are like disaster relief work after the many earthquakes in western China, but an event that happened in my wife hometown like 25 years ago was rather closer to me. An organised crime family setup base in her hometown at that time. Crime was rampant, prositution, loan sharks, drugs, murder, etc, were an everyday event. The local police at that time was weak and from what I understand also corrupted, thus unwilling to flush them out. So when a new mayor with PLA background was posted to her hometown, things started to change. He at first tried to form his own town watch and policing units, but were not very sucessful due to the strongarm methods of the crime family. In fact it became worse when the crime family resisted and tried to assasinate him. Understanding the dire situation (maybe also for his own life), he made some calls to his connections in the CCP and PLA, and within 2 days the PLA send down troops to flush out the crime family and the corrupted police officers. It was like a brand new place overnight.
Well other than from my wife and her family, I heard this from many others living there that it’s true. I stand by the story since my wife’s uncle happens to be one of the PLA soldiers who was send down to flush out the crime family and as a homegrown hero, he got the banners with words like 人民子弟兵典范，人民英雄，sent as gifts by the locals to my mother-in-law house. They are now in his own house after he left the PLA and he choose to retire in the countryside. Even now, when he goes visit my mother-in-law, he is still remembered by the older folks as one of the PLA who rescued the town from unimaginable crime. His son now is also in the PLA and is very proud to be serving even as a small platoon leader.
As far as I know, there are many stories like that about the PLA soldiers, from rescuing a village cow stuck in a mine field near the border, to saving the suicidal from drowning themselves when off duty. Maybe it’s because I look out for such news because I believe in the good of man, but I think the general citizens have a very good impression of most PLA soldiers.
Thus given the very different environment and expectations of the PLA, I think now I understand the honors that comes with joining them. I sometimes do wish that Singaporeans would give the same credits to our SAF, but in the end, respect is earned over time and it would be up to the SAF to prove themselves to Singaporeans.
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells Full Album
Takes me back…
NearLink
This is the first time I’ve heard of NearLink. Have you guys heard of this?
Transmission Range:
- Bluetooth – 10 m
- Wi-Fi – 300 m
- NearLink – 600 m
Transmission Rate:
- Bluetooth – 50 Mbps
- Wi-Fi – 500 Mbps
- NearLink – 900 Mbps
Latency:
- Bluetooth – 15-30 ms
- Wi-Fi – 100 ms
- NearLink – 20 μs
Microseconds?! Fucking, eh?
Connectable Devices:
- Bluetooth – 8
- Wi-Fi – 256
- NearLink – 4,096
This technology is taking off like a rocket, it appears.
Incredible
What is the best excuse you have given to the police for speeding?
I was headed to the doctors office (running late of course) with my two young children, both of whom had ear infections and were screaming/crying in their car seats. Because they’d been sick I’d gotten about 6 hrs of sleep in the past two days.
I’d rolled down my window before the officer got to the car and I was busy trying to shush the kids while grabbing my license etc. When he got to the window his first question was why I was in such a hurry? I explained to him the info above and the Dr office would charge me extra if I didn’t get there soon and I just couldn’t afford extra on top of the appointment and the meds I knew I was going to need to buy.
The whole time we’re talking the kids are still screaming!!! He walks away to check my info and I lean over the seat to again try to comfort my kids. He comes back and says everything checked out fine and He was just going to give me a warning this time. He then said that he’s a father so completely understands what I’m dealing with; but Please slow down, the roads are icy, he can see that my tires are bald and he’d hate for us to get into an accident. He then gave me a card with the name of a tire shop and said to call them, saying that officer XXXX sent me and they would help me get new tires.
After the appointment I figured, what the heck; it can’t hurt to try the shop. They asked me to come in and quoted me a very reasonable price for 4 new tires, asked if I could put $25 down and then I could pay the rest at $25 a month. I agreed because I really did need new tires.
When the first bill came in the mail it said “Paid in Full”. I thought there was a mistake and called the place; the lady on the phone explained to me that the owner of the shop and the Officer were brothers and they did this for those that they felt needed the help. Best traffic stop I’ve ever had!!!
Man – Eater Of Kumaon 1948
A old vintage movie. Get your mind off stuff.
For the record, Metallicman. I’ve been spending a bit of time testing out searches on Google of late, and it seems to me that the engine has been scrubbed of pretty much anything outside of the official or approved narratives. It is in fact a joke– and I’d never use it for anything other than day to day nonsense.
Yandex is better, but not by much.
The Dark Web is where it’s at for searching anything else, these days. But the amount of shit on that, too, speaks volumes in turn. As you say, sentience sorting– and one thinks that Project is a lot farther along than many people would realise.
Thanks for this.
Seemingly the Internet has been scrubbed and shadow blocked, and the control systems are all in place.
Let me recommend a video for you to watch…
https://youtu.be/VVMpple3CJc
Nice, thank you. I’m also beginning to think again about what some of my more exotically minded friends (the only kind now, really– after half a lifetime dealing with clods and plod) are saying about the Ghost Internet Theory (or something like that) I’d dismissed as a little too far out; that is, a large percentage of the hermetically sealed, 5 Eyes curated western “internet” is completely fake, and run by AI technology associated with deep black/DARPA cutouts 20 years ahead of anything available publicly at this point in time. Who EVVERRR woulda thunk THAT, eh?
Yah, look up the meaning of “curated” yee who would doubt. (This one gets my few normy/NPC acquaintances quite agitated whenever I bring it up, I’ve noticed; so there’s probably something to it.)
“Keep ’em plugged in, online, and searching ANYthing but the truth, guys…”
I’ve also my exotically minded friends to thank for my and their lack of myocarditis and chronic blood clotting, so perhaps when it comes to what they say about the internet, I should listen more often.
Gardening or learning another language is much more interesting anyway. And something the wwweb is actually useful for.
(As well as the Metallicman site, of course– for now, anyway.)
Why Files guy has had some pretty good vids lately. I noticed I can’t seem to find a way to login here lately unless I reply to a post. Formerly I could login by going to the forum area. Just saying… if there is another way to get logged in please someone let me know. Thanks
I saw your newest video on Patreon about someone asking for personal information, but I still want to ask: if the Domain can know what is inside your phone, why don’t they send messages to our electronics to communicate?And do they monitor their volunteers through phones and computers as well? All seem confusing for me