I once had an interview with a company in Danville, Illinois. This was a super small city in Southern Illinois, that had the unique single skyscraper sticking out of it like a “sore thumb”. Apparently a rich man of the town thought that by building such a structure it would “modernize” the city. He was wrong. But it was a 1930’s era Art Deco masterpiece…

Anyways, so I interviewed for a project engineer role in this company. It made electrical ballasts for those huge advertising billboards at the side of the road. And the interview was going well.

That was until I met the electrical engineer. This guy was an engineer out of India who thought that he was GOD.  What an arrogant prick!

He spent the entire interview tying to exert his dominance on me. And, Lordy! was it irritating. What was his malfunction? Somehow he got it in his quirky little mind that we would not be equals, but rather he would instruct me what to do. Mind you, at that time, I was a Project Leader interviewing for a design position. A semi-step downward.

Nope. Not gonna do that shit.

Anyways, that and other events though the years has convinced me that many Indians, not all of them of course, come with unexpected “baggage” and tricks that you need to unpack and resolve before dealing with them. And that is why I NEVER deal with Indians unless it is face to face, and recorded on video. I just do not trust them.

People (!) learn from your experiences and take adequate measures to preserve your happiness.

Today…

 

What is an experience you had at a car dealership you’ll never forget?

I had recently totaled a car and was looking at used cars. I went to a number of local dealerships until I’d found the one I wanted. I’m mechanically inclined but because this was my biggest purchase ever I wanted my dad to look at it. I said I’d be back the next day.

I came back the next day with my dad and he found it needed new shocks and brake pads. I negotiated a price and put down my deposit. The salesman said he needed manager approval and the manager wasn’t in so I was to call him the next day.

I called the next day and the manager still wasn’t in and to call again the next day. I called the next day and the salesman asked if I had the money. When I said yes he said come on in.

I was in college at the time and had just taken a social psychology class. The professor had discussed used car sales and a trick they used. The salesman would say the manager wasn’t in and to call back later. In the interim you had told all your friends about your new car and pictured yourself driving it. So when the salesman said he couldn’t sell you the car at the negotiated price, but added a few hundred dollars to the price you would agree.

I was prepared for that to happen and knew something was up when I walked in and the salesman wouldn’t look me in the eye. The salesman directed me to the managers office and the manager said I can’t give it to you at the negotiated price. For another $300.00 more it’s yours. I figured that was the cost of shocks, brake pads, and labor in the early 1990’s. I said no and asked for my money deposit back. The manager said no, you aren’t getting the deposit back. Being young, I didn’t know what to do so I left.

I had made plans with a friend to go out in my new car and went to his house. When I showed up in my rental car he asked where my new car was and I told him. He told me to wait a minute as he called his mother, the manager of one of the Department of Motor Vehicles offices. He put her on the phone and I told her the story. She told us to wait and she’d call me back.

After a short wait she called me back telling me they can’t legally keep my deposit and that I needed to return to the dealer and get my deposit. She also gave me a name and phone number and said “This is the private number for the Commissioner of Used Car Sales in our state. If you don’t get the deposit returned, you are to have the manager call this number and explain why I can’t get my money back.”

My friend and I drove to the dealer to be met almost immediately by the manager telling us we needed to leave, I wasn’t getting my money back. I replied, “That’s fine, you’ll need to call this number and explain that.” The manager replied whose number is this? When I told him the name and title of the person and added he is expecting a call on his private line the managers face went white. Within minutes I had my deposit.

That car sat on the lot another 6 months and the car I purchased was $1,000 more than what we negotiated plus the extra $300

 

Pizza Rustica (Italian Easter Pie)

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 cups cooked, smoked ham, cubed
• 2 cups cooked Italian sausage, sliced
• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, cubed or shredded
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup Ricotta cheese
• 3 eggs, uncooked
• Salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste

Crust

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated yeast
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups hot tap water

Instructions

Filling

1. Mix all chopped ingredients in a large bowl. Place uncooked eggs and Ricotta cheese in a blender container and mix on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add to the chopped ingredients and combine well.
2. Crust: Place flour and salt in a large bowl. Combine hot water, oil and yeast in a measuring cup with a fork. Add to flour and mix well. If dough is dry, add water as necessary. If dough is too sticky, add flour, one tablespoon at a time. Knead until dough forms ball. Leave in the bowl in warm place to rise until double in volume. Punch down before rolling.
3. Divide dough in half and roll to fit a large pie pan or 15 inch pizza pan. Place one circle on bottom of pan. Top with the filling, pressing out all air pockets. The pie will look too full. Top with remaining dough. Trim around pan with knife leaving about 1 inch extra all around. Press edges to seal and tuck sealed edge in all around pan. Prick top with fork several times to make air holes.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake an additional 30 minutes.

What driver behavior makes you want to scream?

Seeing one of my fellow truckers in the passing lane, trying to bully a four wheeler over by riding inches from its bumper. He’s essentially using his vehicle as a 40 ton weapon.

All I can do is shake my head and can’t help but wonder why some people think we’re the dregs of the motoring public. I’m not sure what distance it takes to stop your average car at 65 mph, but it takes a loaded semi the length of a football field, and that’s under ideal conditions.

I also can’t help but wonder why they can’t see the negative outcome of a situation like that. I have and it usually ends up with the car unrecognizable, a family grieving, and the driver going to prison for vehicular homicide.

Yeah, there’s the remains of what use to be a car under there and in it was somebody’s father, mother, sister, or brother. And all because that jackass driver thought a game of chicken was a good idea.

 

 

How did the Wehrmacht treat female prisoners of war?

Wehrmacht systematically raped and murdered practically all female prisoners of war. They thought women on the front line were a sign of communist and Jewish degeneration, and as such exterminated them where ever they met.

Many Soviet female soldiers were captured during the first months of Operation Barbarossa. Except from Red Army nurses who were sometimes spared, practically all of those captured were killed, and almost certainly raped first. The regular Wehrmacht’s attitude is quite clearly expressed by the Heer field Marshall just 7 days into Operation Barbarossa.

29th of June 1941

Women in uniform are to be shot on sight.

Field Marshall Günther von Kluge

Less known is that the Reichenau order aka Severity Order

, issued to the Germans of the 6th Army (The one at Stalingrad) specifically said that the German army should not take female POWs, as well as shoot commissar and partisans who surrender.

Another general Ernst Hammer, also distributed an order to execute all captured females. German divisions filed a constant stream of reports where they explicitly say they execute women.

Later in the war, some units did not execute women on sight, but instead handed them over to the SS, who generally speaking placed them in concentration camps, mostly Ravensbrück and some in Auschwitz.

It should come as no surprise, that the Germans had a genocidal attitude and systematic rape tendency, considering that even outside of the army, the Germans murdered over 6 million civilian women in the USSR alone. And countless other abuses were conducted as well.

What did the teacher in your high school get fired for?

It was Junior High/Middle School, but social studies/civics teacher was let go for his political rantings to the class. Whether he was right or not, the audience was probably the wrong one. In a school where the catchment area averaged $200–400k homes (in Omaha, Nebraska, back in the early 90s), and most families had one or more parents working in a professional capacity, making statements like “anybody with a house over $100k does not deserve it” and bringing in news articles or Dateline clips speaking ill of some of the big corporate employers in the area. Today they’d probably make him Superintendent. But at that time and place, his brand of socialism didn’t sit well with the PTA. Oh, and there was also the incident where he was in a car accident and said that not wearing his seatbelt is what saved his life so telling kids to tell their parents that buckling up is “a personal choice” didn’t go well either.

If A Woman Can’t Offer THIS She’s Useless To You

Needs to be said.

https://youtu.be/FGQQ6_RIh3c

 

 

On the internet, I find Canadians to exhibit a sense of superiority to Americans. Is that also their true feeling in real life?

Canadians present a really interesting dichotemy between having both a superiority and inferiority complex when comparing themselves to Americans, which they do unwittingly all the time.

Growing up in Canada, I was dismayed with the amount of American products and culture that we consumed, signfifying the acceptance of a nearly dependent relationship. I remember being constantly being admonished and mocked as a high school student for saying my favourite TV show was a small budget Canadian TV. Years later, the show was picked up by an American network and its stars become Hollywood A-listers, only then of course, was that considered success for Canadians to be proud of.

I remember people calling Canada a ‘small country’, yet it has a growing population that size of a ‘big’ European country such as Poland and an economy that punches above its weight, as a member of the G-7.

While at the same time feeling culturally insignificant and inferior, in this way, and also for having an economy, military and international influence that is dwarfed by American, all that is juxtaposed by the feeling of having created a better society: Better health care, less gun culture, safer streets, less homlessness, drugs, racial segregation, etc. THis feeling of superiority was closer to smugness when Donald J Trump was elected stateside. ‘Couldn’t happen here.’ almost everyone thought.

For Canada to really hit its strude, it should cut itself adrift from the U.S. No, not a border wall. I mean drifting off to the middle of the sea far away, like Australia, where it can develop its own identity, without being compared or comparing itself to a neighbour which is considered more of a big brother.

What in life is not like a trap but actually is?

Being easy on the eyes.

I never bought into the idea that Instagram made people more superficial. It merely surfaced what was already there.

When I look at Insta-models, who have millions of followers, I can’t help but wonder if they define themselves beyond washboard abs and a half-moon goddess behind.

God-given good looks create a facade of reality, a mask the owners often don’t realize they are wearing. It opens doors that were otherwise closed.

(Yael Shaeba, rated the most beautiful woman in the world in another useless study.)

The hard truth is that: At nearly every mundane corner of life, physical attractiveness confers advantages. It’s even proven that attractive people receive shorter prison sentences.

To the men feeling inadequate - I have good news. An FSU study found that women skew happier in relationships where their partner is less attractive.

There is less pressure to meet expectations. They have fewer body image issues.

This is in line with what I saw working at an ad agency early in my career.

We spent a lot of time around female models. It was a known thing amongst them, “You don’t date male models. They are all dogs (promiscuous).”

Meanwhile, an OK Cupid study found women think 80% of men are unattractive. So I’m not sure where that leaves us.

Beauty is complicated - but it undeniably gives a mile-long list of benefits: better negotiations, promotions, and higher likeability. But letting it, or any one thing, be your chief identity is a trap.

Self-worth rooted in beauty is destined to die on the same altar it was built on: time.

Character ages better than beauty.

10 Effects No Intimacy in Marriage has on Men

This is important. Both men and women need to know this.

https://youtu.be/GK3p4hqwJJc

 

 

 

 

As a CEO, have you ever fired an employee based on their activities on the computer?

I actually was placed in a very sensitive position. I’m at my desk, was working on a huge project when I received a call from the CEO.

He said his computer was “Going nuts!” “I was on the internet, then other sites were automatically opening non-stop, should I do a hard shutdown?” Immediately I said, Don’t turn it off!!!”

I get into his office and look at the monitor. Porn sites are opening about 1-per second.

We used two different fire wall servers, the first server was using Linux before going to Microsoft (I believe it was Server 2012. You would think all of that would have stopped this, right?

I had a direct line to our IS people, called them told them what was happening. They were able to quickly solve the issue.

So, I just asking him “What was the last thing you did before the virus came through?” “I was working on the budget, it’s then all the porn sites started to pop up.”

I know he could read my face, it’s then I said “BS.”

Now I am in his seat, I opened ‘history’ . He had just been on a porn site. OH! It wasn’t just one site, over two weeks+ I see the dates and time.

His door was open so I quietly said to him “What the hell!” “What?” “You have been hitting porn sites.” He begins to get the ‘oh shit’ look on his face. “Alan you have to stop hitting porn sites!” “Yeah, it won’t happen again.”

Oh yeah, I gave him a hard time about it…..for weeks.

Have you ever seen someone call the cops and it backfired on them?

When my parents divorced, my dad moved up north 5 hours with his new girlfriend. My mom had custody but we had to visit him every other weekend. We met in the middle and if my mom was a minute late he would be making calls. I remember he would always speak bad on my mom like what she did when they were married and how she’s the bad guy of course. it was like this for years.

one time specifically my mom drove us up and we met halfway. my dad came alone in the single cab ford ranger. my mom & dad had 3 kids total and his new wife had 3 kids so usually when we were getting picked up it was in the expedition and it was a full house.

Now my mom was late again, and my dad wasn’t having it. He called the cops on my mom for being late again and violating court order. But when the cop came he was very confused on how my dad was going to drive all three of us kids home safely in a single cab. this was probably 20 years ago and i’ll admit we did all fit comfortably in the ranger but the cop said if he drove off like that he would get arrested. so we had to wait there for 2.5 more hours for my dads wife to come in the other vehicle. it was a long and hot day too so definitely backfired on my dad. I don’t remember but i’m sure he stopped calling the cops afterwards!

 

Would you prefer a million pounds in diamonds or a million pound of gold?

“Would you prefer a million pounds in diamonds or a million pound of gold?”

Gold.

Hands down, no ifs, ands, or buts.

One million pounds of gold (I am presuming standard pounds) equals 14,583,333.3 troy ounces. At today’s (mid-May 2019) spot price, gold is hovering around $1,300 per troy oz. Assuming it is pure gold (24 kt, or .999), that is at about $18,958,333,290.

It can be visualized as 36,458 400-troy ounce “Good Delivery” bars (and change) of the same type stored in Fort Knox and worth about $520,000 each.

400-t oz Good Delivery gold bar. Image from Wikipedia.

Each good delivery bar weighs in at a hair over 27.42 lb / 12.44 kg. It might actually be more convenient to get it in 100-t oz bars, which can be more readily sold.

Of course, a million pounds is 500 tons, which is about one-fifth of the output of all the gold mines in the world in a year.

The good news is; if doled out over time (several years), they will not have that much of an impact on the price of gold. This means that even taking buyer costs into account, there will still be a significant chunk of value per ounce.

The bad news is that if sold at once it will collapse the current price of gold and I would never get anywhere near the actual value of the gold. Also, the sheer amount of gold sold will attract the attention of the government revenue service, who will want their share.

Diamonds, on the other hand, cannot be sold in bulk without a specialized infrastructure in place to grade them by color, clarity, carat, and cut (the “Four C’s”).

Keep in mind that a pound of diamond powder for industrial use goes for about $10. That is ten dollars.

Unless you are already well-connected in the diamond industry, selling the diamonds is going to be far too much hassle for too little return and will leave a paper trail a mile wide at every step.

Honestly, I would take a million pounds in 90% silver before I take a million pounds in diamonds, and still come out ahead profit-wise.

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Edit: The question I answered was merged with another one that removes the million and leaves just one pound of either gold or diamonds.

One pound of gold equals 14.5833 troy ounces (or 453.592 grams); at $1,300/t oz, that is $18,958.29.

One pound of silver (at $14.85/t oz) equals $216.56.

One pound of diamonds equals 2,267.96 carats. Unless these are relatively large, high-quality diamonds, they are not even worthy of consideration; I would need to get $8.36 per carat to equal the yield of the gold… and that will not happen; the cost of grading the diamonds, plus commissions along the way, will barely get you that much.

Heck, if they are industrial grade, I might consider myself extremely lucky to get $5,000 for the pound.

On the other hand, I could easily sell the gold in any pawn shop at near-parity to spot price with zero hassles.

What is the wildest reaction you have seen to someone getting fired?

A year before Covid hit I was the last to be hired on full time and others after me were hired as temps like a trial run before permanently hiring them. One kid out of the military at least 10 years younger than everyone else. This one kid he started buying expensive cars, would engage in conversation asking how much money I made and that he makes more than I do, I told him none of his damn business. So I’ve been a new guy before so I really tried to cut this kid a break but he just would not get off his phone, would literally be playing on his phone in a meeting in front of everyone. He said he can multitask. The company got tired of the slack and warned him over and over. He was awkward and wasn’t a man quite yet. It was early morning 9am and he was in the office and was let go, he runs into the office pacing back and forth muttering to himself like a crazy person, he would then drop to his knees and start crying and then have another outburst saying “why why why” and it makes you think that this guy could probably hurt someone. When he started temping with us apparently got an expensive car and new apartment just living lavishly, and a few months after we would get bombarded with creditors calling into the office.

6 Signs You’re An Attractive Older Man (Even If You Don’t Think So)

Worth your time.

https://youtu.be/WRgLMjWfMlo

 

 

Is it true that martial arts are useless in a street fight?

Let me be clear…DO NOT GET INTO A STREET FIGHT! THE BEST THING YOU CAN EXPECT FROM IT IS TO NOT GET HURT TOO BADLY. The best defense is to not get into a street fight in them…now assuming that you’re in one of those situations where you can’t get out of a fight…Martial arts can be of assistance, but it really depends on a lot of factors.

1. Does the martial art teach you to strike, block, hold, defend against a moving opponent? If not…then it’s probably not going to be very helpful.
2. Do you learn to get hit and take a hit? Getting punched in the face is a fairly debilitating thing for the inexperienced. The first few times you get hit in the face hard…it’s a pretty jarring experience…you do need to learn how to get used to it.
3. Are you in practice? Your martial arts training from 25 years ago isn’t going to mean much…like anything else skills must be practiced or lost. You may have been the toughest guy around years ago…but guaranteed you’re not anymore if you haven’t seen a punch coming your way since then. I used to box regularly, and didn’t step into a ring for over a decade. A friend of mine asked me to spar a few months ago, and even though muscle memory did some of the work, the first time he connected with a solid jab, I felt like I got a bucket of cold water thrown in my face.
4. Does the marital art teach you to fight bare-handed? Punching with a naked fist hurts, and if you’re going to do it effectively, you need to toughen up. I don’t mean that from a psychological perspective, you literally need to get used to punching things and get your hands to build up resilience. If you don’t fight bare-handed, and throw a heavy punch; you could break one of the little bones in your hand. Even if you’ve toughened up your hands you can connect with someone’s skull or hit off your main knuckles and end up breaking your hand.
5. Do you learn grappling, most street fights are at VERY close range…usually your opponent will look to grab you and throw you around rather than to keep their distance. If you look at the old bare knuckle boxers you’ll see that they use a very odd stance (at least to modern eyes) and that’s because they had to defend against grappling, and were better suited to bare knuckle fighting. In a street fight, those old school fighters would decimate pretty much any opponent…but it’s not exactly like you can go to the old-timey boxing gym and learn to punch like John Sullivan.

6. Is your opponent used to street fighting? If so, you’re entering their arena, it’s like asking a BJJ fighter to fix in a boxing ring…even if the BJJ fighter is more skilled and experience, the home-field advantage of the boxer is huge. If you don’t have the experience in a street fight, you’re at a disadvantage. Frankly, that’s the type of experience you don’t want to get. If your opponent is inexperienced though…and you have martial arts experience assuming that you have the right type of experience…you’re going to have an edge. If you don’t have the right type of experience; and you’re not used to close-in fighting with bare hands…you’re going to have a bad time…possibly worse than the neophyte who isn’t fighting their instincts.

There’s a bunch of secondary factors…but these are the big ones IMO. As someone who got into his share of scraps and got some training…If I could never get into a fight again, I would consider it a personal victory. Fighting is not fun, people punch, kick, scratch, spit, gouge…and in some cases even bring weapons, friends and generally don’t fight fair or clean. You can have all the training in the world…but still won’t be able to stop a knife or a bullet from someone who knows what they’re doing…or takes you from behind…or just straight-up surprises you.

Martial arts are great; they’re a great way to get fit, to get flexible, and teach you discipline. They’re great to build confidence and make you feel more secure in day-to-day situations. Generally, you will be able to defend yourself better than someone who is completely untrained…but it doesn’t make you into someone who can take on all takers…there’s always someone tougher or more capable…or someone more willing to fight dirty. Martial arts can’t prepare you for that.

Does money bring people happiness?

Lucy Gordon fortune valued at 11 million when she decided to hang out in her apartment in the best area of ​​Paris.

Do you think 11 million is little?

Philip Seymour Hoffman $36 million

when he died of a heroin overdose.

Maybe it’s still too little for you…

Robin Williams fortune valued at 50 million

when he decided to hang himself in his house.

Kurt Cobain worth $60 million at the time he shot himself with a shotgun.

Maybe with more…

Elvis Presley made 300 million dollars while he was alive, in the end his drug problems ended up causing him a heart attack.

I think they are concrete examples of why a person does not get happiness from money, with this I do not mean that it is bad to want to make money, nor does it mean that if you are unhappy, making more money will not help you, what I mean by this is that money does not give you ABSOLUTE happiness. And it is that in reality nothing will make you completely happy.

I believe that the closest you can get to being happy is having a life with meaning and purpose, living day by day cultivating meaningful relationships and friendships.

That will bring you closer to happiness than anything.

Marrying the Ugly Daughter of the Yakuza Boss to Settle My Debts…

I really enjoyed this. So, so… Japanese.

https://youtu.be/kbV6SUaKMT8

 

 

What was said to an Australian by an American that you will never forget?

I’m an Aussie. I was travelling in SanFrancisco. I was visiting the zoo and looking at one of the enclosure’s I saw a big red roo. I commented to my wife “look at that kangaroo! He’s a BIG red roo!” A young American woman overheard me and corrected me by saying “ It’s a waaaalaby” and rolled her eyes as she pointed at the sign in front of the enclosure that said there was wallabies in there. I was very confused and doubted myself and thought, maybe I’m wrong. The sign definitely says they’re wallabies in there but, that looks like a “big red”. I was embarrassed thinking that I didn’t even know my own countries wildlife. I walked on another five or so metres (15 feet) and then I saw the next sign which said there actually was red kangaroos in the exhibit. I felt better then. I also want to add that I had a great time in the US and found the people to be really friendly.

 

I want to change my life. How do I start?

When people want to change their lives, they usually start out by thinking about the different things that need to be added to their lives to get to where they want to be.

They need to add a workout program, a mentor, a new job, new friends, new habits, etc.

They add, add, and add some more until they’re just constantly in motion all the time. They’re not a different person and their life hasn’t changed for the better — they’re just busier.

I know I thought like this when I first started my self-improvement journey.

I started waking up early. I started listening to self-improvement podcasts. I started reading books. I started meditating. Journaling. Following a more dedicated workout program.

I did a lot of stuff.

But you know what?

Although my life changed, it didn’t change how I wanted it to.

I just became busy.

I still had anxiety. I still got really sad. I still had bad friends and shitty relationships. I still spiraled the same way.

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The truth is that changing your life is not about what you do, it’s about what you stop doing.

Removing bad habits is how you actually have lasting change. This is how you make lasting progress toward goals. This is how you change the person you are in a sustainable and manageable way so that you skip the period where everything comes crashing down.

You skip that phase where you’re just an overwhelmed mess all the time.

You get some peace. You learn to embrace boredom. You learn that boredom elicits creativity.

You learn to drop your bad habits instead of just following new havits to cancel out the bad ones.

It’s the equivalent of doing a bunch of burpees to hopefully cancel out a whole pizza.

Just don’t eat the whole pizza.

True self-improvement is not about what you do, it’s about what you stop doing. It’s about quitting.

Let’s make quitting cool again.

What is the most surprising thing someone has found in a house they bought?

I bought a house in Indianapolis in 1985. It was 110 years old at the time of purchase. It was a duplex with wonderful old bones but was in very poor condition. It was in such poor condition that I paid about $3,200 for it. In the process of doing a 100% renovation, I tore out 90% of the old lathe and plaster walls. In a cavity of the interior wall was a bundle wrapped in old newspaper (dated 1885) from when the house was built. In the wrapped up bundle were old copies of magazines from the period when color printing was just in its mass-produced infancy. There were six different copies of the magazine, “Ladies Home Companion” All of the graphics were of hand drawn images of exquisite art decco design. Also included in the bundle was a pair of lady’s kid gloves and a small leather change purse with a single penny, nickel, dime, quarter, fifty cent piece and dollar – all, except the penny were silver and dated 1885. The coins, gloves, change purse and magazine were all in perfect condition. I have the impression that it was a woman who hid the bundle in the wall as the house was being built. I sold them all to an antiques dealer (except the dime, which I still own – a liberty seated dime, and the quarter, which I gave to my mother who also collected coins) and got quite a lot of money for all of those items. Had I not been so hard up for the money at the time, I would have kept the Morgan silver dollar, which I sold back then for $2,000. I also found an assortment of bottles, too, which I also sold.

 

After atomizing Hiroshima, why was it necessary to do the same with Nagasaki? Was the USA planning to drop twelve (12) nukes on Japan in 1945?

Translation in case you can’t read Japanese:

TO THE JAPANESE PEOPLE:

America asks that you take immediate heed of what we say on this leaflet.

We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate.

We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city.

Before using this bomb to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, we ask that you now petition the Emperor to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better and peace-loving Japan.

You should take steps now to cease military resistance. Otherwise, we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war.

EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.

ATTENTION JAPANESE PEOPLE. EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.

Because your military leaders have rejected the thirteen part surrender declaration, two momentous events have occurred in the last few days.

The Soviet Union, because of this rejection on the part of the military has notified your Ambassador Sato that it has declared war on your nation. Thus, all powerful countries of the world are now at war with you.

Also, because of your leaders’ refusal to accept the surrender declaration that would enable Japan to honorably end this useless war, we have employed our atomic bomb.

A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s could have carried on a single mission. Radio Tokyo has told you that with the first use of this weapon of total destruction, Hiroshima was virtually destroyed.

Before we use this bomb again and again to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, petition the emperor now to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better, and peace-loving Japan.

Act at once or we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war.

EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.

The US was prepared to do whatever it took to get Japan to unconditionally surrender. That includes the use of the bomb as was necessary for the war to end. The third bomb was intended for release on 19 August. Fortunately for all parties, Japan surrendered by 15 August 1945.

How life changes when you get a cat

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZervDYULXVA?feature=share

 

According to CNN, China’s Xi calls for stronger ‘strategic coordination’ with Russia in Lunar New Year call with Putin, do you agree with it?

China’s increased “strategic collaboration” with Russia is nothing more than a repetition of an old policy, except that it has now entered the “strategic counter-offensive” phase, which Xi Jinping once again emphasized to his close friend and colleague, President Vladimir Putin, and hoped that he would increase his confidence in winning the war.

In 2019, when the U.S. launches a trade war with China, China’s manufacturing GDP will account for less than 30% of the global total, while the U.S.’s manufacturing GDP account for more than 13% of the global total.

Recently, according to a report released by the OECD, China’s manufacturing gdp will account for more than 35% of the world’s total value in 2023. Even the sum of the 2nd to 10th place is not as high as China’s share. The U.S. manufacturing gdp accounts for 12% of the world’s total, while India’s manufacturing gdp, which is highly regarded by the West, accounts for 3%.

Trump initiated the trade war with the intention of returning manufacturing to the US, but the data shows that the return of manufacturing to the US over the past few years has only been negative. In this regard, the decline in electricity generation and consumption in the U.S. confirms this from the side.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-01/americans-electricity-use-just-keeps-falling

Let’s look at the U.S. advantage: performance in the technology sector.

In 2019, in the globally recognized top 10 future technology and advanced manufacturing fields, China and the United States each accounted for half of the wall, but China in the United States of America’s all-out siege and set the entire Western world’s strength of the suppression of the U.S. After 4 years, the U.S. advantageous areas once again disappeared in 2 areas, and in the United States of America’s strongest field of chips, China is also gradually catching up.

Now, the U.S. is caught in the quagmire of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has almost depleted the soft power that the U.S. has accumulated over the past hundred years.

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2024/01/04/were-out-of-money-us-exhausts-security-funds-for-ukraine/

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/07/bidens-support-of-israel-leaves-him-as-isolated-as-russia-on-the-world-stage-analyst.html

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/11/359179/gaza-bidens-blind-support-for-israel-deepens-erosion-of-us-global-standing

And with the DPRK having just declared that it no longer regards South Korea as a fellow countryman, the risk of war on the Korean Peninsula has increased dramatically. It is difficult for the United States to provide further assistance to South Korea under financial constraints. If war breaks out in Taiwan, Washington will not be able to raise as much money for support even if it auctions off the White House, Capitol Hill and Pentagon complex.

In addition, the U.S. has been beset by a host of domestic problems, and its international influence has been declining. It is not an exaggeration to describe the U.S. as being in an internal and external quagmire.

Although Washington still does not recognize the decline in the strength of the United States and tries to whitewash the United States “strong economic growth, domestic social stability”, even if Washington continues to whitewash the United States financial situation, but the risk of the United States’s debt crisis is still growing.

The Texas independence movement has left Washington at a loss, and if Washington tries to disarm Texas independence, a large-scale civil war will undoubtedly break out.

The question for the United States was no longer whether it could retain world hegemony. Whether it is military, financial, economic or technological, it is a fact that the United States has lost its hegemony, and it is time for the United States to consider how to retain its position as a world power and a rich country.

Perhaps, in the collective insanity of the U.S. political scene today, only Trump is still sober. He believes that the U.S. can maintain its position as the world’s second largest power by relying on the world’s second largest oil and gas reserves.

Perhaps becoming a major energy exporter in the future is the best way out for the United States after it loses its world hegemony.

Truth

Power optionality

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/f-tNeRZ3yFo?feature=share

 

Why is the US so desperate to compete with China when the world knows it cannot?

The ONLY people who realize that the United States is unable to compete with China is the Western “news” media, and the people that consume it.

The rest of the world, INCLUDING the American “leadership” and the Pentagon understand the futility of “Tonya Harding” competition strategies.

However, the United States is not a “healthy” nation. It is a nation in “free-fall”. There is no one at the helm, and those that are in control of various functional aspects of the government are stymied by a complex web network of counter-productive political polarization. Often led by those with self-interest at their core, and incapable of actual subjective reasoning. For everyone in the West are under the propagandized narratives that they themselves create.

Like (for instance) the “brick wall” of Tucker Carlson interviewing Putin.

…

But there is an “out”.

Cooperation NOT Competition.

China wants to see a better world, but in order for that reality to play out, some very toxic behaviors, and legacy dysfunctions must be excised (one way or the other) from the West. I am afraid that it will be a painful process.

The United States NEEDS friends, and help. China is willing to take on this role. But I am fearful that that will not materialize until a period of disharmony adjusts the objective reality of the West.

 

What are some hacks that everyone should know?

1. Dress well, always. A lot depends on how you look!
2. Pinch yourself if you can’t stop laughing.
3. At every job, you should either earn or learn. Either is fine. Both are best. But if it’s neither, quit.
4. To exercise should be done daily, whatever the time. It doesn’t matter if it is 5 minutes or 50 minutes.
5. To keep bananas fresh for a longer time, wrap the top part of the bunch in plastic wrap.
6. Research shows that the right ear is better at picking up words & speech, while the left ear is better at picking up music & other sounds.
7. Adding a teaspoon of baking soda when you boil eggs and the shell will come off easily.
8. If you place dry tea bags in smelly shoes and leave them for a few hours, the bad smell will go away.
9. If you want to make sure the person you talk to is paying attention to you, start the conversation with “I shouldn’t be telling you this but…”
10. You can make the elevator go faster by pressing “close” and your floor at the same time.

I love you

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/40W_fseTCS0?feature=share

 

 

What did your boss ever say in the office that caused you to resign?

I was working at a travel agency in the late 80s. I was hired as a receptionist. Having a knack for computers, I taught myself the reservation system and was helping the rest of the office learn and use the system. This in addition to reception and helping the bookkeeper. This was before the internet. The company signed a new contract that included internet and the computers were installed and the network was set up. They neglected to tell us that if we did not shut down at night data would be used. Again, this was when internet was new. At that time you were charged based on how much data you used. After the first month, we got a bill for around $800. The boss was not happy. I made the calls to find out why and resolve the issue. A credit was issued leaving a bill of around $500. Now at the time I was a single mother and they were paying me $6 an hour after having been there over 5 years. The Owner told me if I did not get the bill completely removed it would be taken out of my pay. That was it for me. I told him do what you have to. I quit. Found a much better paying job within two weeks. BUT… My revenge was sweet. He actually had to hire 3 different people to do the job I had been doing.

 

Was Japan angry at America after World War II?

The Japanese were much worse than they are portrayed in the movies, especially in the war they were at their worst.

They were extremely cruel and despised the lives of their enemies, this is now a historical fact known to those who cared a little. But the worst victims were the prisoners of war.

This is because, in his code of conduct, it is a seriously dishonorable act to be captured. Better dead than dishonored.

Consequently, prisoners were severely punished for being captured.

A friend of relatives who had lived abroad for decades was captured and lived for two years in a Japanese prison camp.

When he returned home, it was a living skeleton with a permanent expression of pain reminiscent of the photo below. He had been a slave in the construction of a railroad.

Many died of exhaustion or were executed for the amusement of the guards, an incredibly barbaric behavior for a civilized people like the Japanese.

What was the oddest reason that your child’s principal ever called you?

Oh Boy, this was a fun call to field!

So, about 12pm-ish I get a call. “It’s Mr H from School. Just to start off, L (yr 3 daughter) is fine, no one is hurt, everything is ok.” Cue minor heart attack, but only minor. “You’ll probably hear about this in the news later, but L did the right thing and told her teacher straight away.” Yep, ok, heart attack settling. “L found a snake in her bag! Not to worry, but we did do a school lockdown drill to make sure the kids all calmly stayed away. The snake catchers are on their way.” OMG!

So, some more interesting facts – my daughter, all of 8 years old, found a snake in her school bag, hilariously a Gryffindor Harry Potter backpack she’d gotten for her birthday earlier that month. In Australia, school bags are kept on racks outside the classrooms. This all happened at the start of first break, so there were lots of bustling kids around. She told me after pick up, that’s she’d seen the end of it’s tail go into to her bag, so she’d calmly reached over and zipped it up! Then went & told the teachers, who trigger the lockdown just in case. Due to our more rural location, there’s a lot of bush around and the kids are actually drilled each term to make sure they know what to do if they spot a snake on the school grounds, which is to calmly back away and find the nearest teacher. My bright spark realised that, since the bag was only opened a small way, she’d be able to zip it closed without (hopefully) annoying the snake inside. The snake catchers called out said it was one of the easiest jobs they’d had, since it’d already been caught.

We did have fun telling the extended family though, my mother refused to believe it happened until it hit the news!

Ipswich student finds red belly black snake in school bag

 

Has a cop ever said something to you which was completely unexpected?

Just once. I had been placed into custody in the back of a police car. Not for long, because I wasn’t the guy they were actually looking for, and I was released when we got to the station in downtown Seattle.

I already KNEW I wasn’t the guy, so I was pretty relaxed about the whole thing. But on the way to the station, (being a writer and all) I decided to ask the cop a couple of questions about his work. He was still a patrol officer, but he was well past forty years old.

I asked him, “What’s the worst thing about being a cop? Is it that you might get hurt, or pull over the wrong guy and maybe he has a gun?”

I wasn’t even close.

“Nah,” he said. “The worst thing is that everyone lies to you, ALL the time. Even when you try to convince them they aren’t in trouble and aren’t going to jail. You really get tired of that after a while…”

It was the last thing I expected him to say.

A wonderful discovery

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nbg9kRTM3QY?feature=share

 

 

What’s wrong with being a functional addict?

Ask my aunt.

My uncle was a functional alcoholic. He drove perfectly. Never sped. Never ran a red light (or a yellow light). He would never do anything that might get him pulled over and subject to a sobriety test.

He had two girls. He sat at the dinner table each night that I lived with them, buzzed and silent, while their mother did all the work. He never went to college, because that would impinge on his drinking, so when he got laid off from Massive Megacorp, where we both worked, he was never able to get another job. He became a househusband and his wife got a job cleaning houses.

His drinking and gambling soon overran his wife’s meager income. They lost the house and moved into a rental. The girls grew up and both married young—quite unusual today, to their respective high school sweethearts.

Then one night, he woke up my aunt with his screaming. He was erupting blood from his mouth and his anus. He was hemorrhaging. She called an ambulance and they were able to save him.

A physician came in the room with my aunt. “Let me tell you how it’s going to be,” she said. “Your husband’s drinking has left him with 10% liver function. We can put him on the liver transplant list, but he will likely be passed over for someone without an addiction, as addicts tend to ruin their new organs as they did their old ones.

“He bled tonight because his liver was no longer able to detoxify the alcohol in his blood. Alcohol is corrosive, so it began to thin his esophagus and intestines. He now has the equivalent of varicose veins throughout his body. One of them ruptured today. One day, he will spring into a bleed from one of these veins, and we won’t be able to find it to stop it in time. And he will die.”

And so he did. Painfully, slowly, at the end engorged with the blood no longer contained in his veins. He never met his wonderful four grandchildren. He left his bereft wife a widow. He squandered his money. He squandered his life.

But he functioned.

America Does Not Appreciate the Gravity of Violence

Thought provoking.

https://youtu.be/YVNJHE3kK_g

What’s the most unreasonable request you’ve received from your boss?

The owner of a small company where I used to work made lots of unreasonable demands. I was a salaried, mid-career professional at the time, and I experienced things like:

• I was instructed by HR that when the owner came up to my desk, I was to immediately stop typing and put my hands in my lap. Continuing to type until a natural stopping point—say, the end of a sentence—was seen as “being up to something.”
• I was also instructed by HR that I was to stay until precisely 4:30 pm and not leave even a minute sooner (regardless of when I arrived in the morning). There was no valid business reason—the owner simply mandated that the office team stay until then.
• I was also told by the owner that working through lunch did not “count” toward making up a few hours that I had missed for an appointment. I could either come in early or stay late, but the extra hour I worked in the middle of the day was not acceptable for some reason.
• No matter what I did, it was always wrong. (This was true for everyone at the company.) There was the owner’s way and the wrong way, and usually no one understood the owner’s way because it was often extremely convoluted.

Unfortunately, because it was the owner, my choices were to accept it or find another job. Right or wrong, I put up with it, but thankfully, I was laid off during COVID. I’ve since started my own business, and as a result, I will never have to put up with that kind of BS in the workplace again, God help me. I still have bad dreams about that place.

 

What are some of the costliest mistakes ever made in history?

These people made a mistake in judgment for a brief moment, and they lost big time. Introducing the Hall of Fame club for costliest mistakes ever….>>

1. Tiger Woods cheated on his then-wife Elin Nordegren. The divorce settlement ended up costing him $750 million. That’s a lot of Gatorade…….

2. Captain Edward Smith steered the Titanic into an iceberg, sinking the $7.5 million ship. Most devastatingly, many lives were lost….

3. In England, an elderly lady won the $181 million Euromillions lottery. Except her husband threw the ticket away. It’s the only time a wife has wished her husband didn’t take out the trash…

4. NASA used the metric system to build an orbiter, while Lockheed Systems used the English system. Data couldn’t be transferred, and a $125 million orbiter was lost in space forever…

5. Immediately on takeoff, faulty equipment doomed a B-2 stealth bomber. America’s most expensive plane at $1.2 billion crashed and was destroyed. Again, $1.2 billion…..

Reality at work

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GEGIKD5U3MY?feature=share

 

 

How should I deal with a coworker who never wants to pay when we eat out?

Very early in my career, after a successful mission, the entire office team would go out to eat. This was way before separate checks, and we would have a group of 20–30 people. People would order what they could afford – or so I foolishly thought! At the end of the first get-together, when the bill came, the boss got the ticket, put a checkmark by his meal, add a $20 bill, and pass both money and ticket to the next person, and so on. As people paid, they left the restaurant. The two Admins – myself and the senior Admin – we the last people the ticket + cash reached. There was not even enough cash to cover the entrees ordered and consumed, much less the appetizers and drinks and tax and tip! We quite literally cried because WE were the lowest paid in the department and just did not have the money to cover everyone. The restaurant manager felt very sorry for us, and wrote off the remainder of the bill. We took the check-marked ticket back to the office. Of course, EVERYTHING on the ticket was checked. We took it to the boss and explained. He was livid! He went back to the restaurant and paid what was due. (Small military town)

A couple of weeks later, the team again went out to eat. This time, the boss had one of we Admins shadow the waitress and write down what each person ordered. While the food was being prepared he calculated what each person actually owed, including taxes. He even divided the cost of appetizers. At the end of the meal, he received the ticket, then called people by name. “Sean, you owe $10 plus $1 for a tip. Mark, you owe $28 plus $3 for tip” etc. Of course, those people who were NOT scamming were happy they didn’t have to calculate anything, and those who were attempting to grift off their colleagues complained loudly.

Those who were notorious for padding their expense reports ate and drank the most, then complained the loudest.

 

What is something everyone should know?

So you’re minding your own business one day. You download a file, open a link, or do something-or-other and, pop!

Uh Oh! Guess your last night’s child porno fest got caught by the feds! And they’ve locked your computer! Hm… Shame! You really should pay that $200 debt to society right?

Except… You weren’t watching child porn at all, were you? No, in fact, you were doing something completely different!

See, what this is, is ransomware. I mean look at this shitty grammar. “due to the violation of the federal laws of the United States of America!” It’s awkwardly worded, much easier to say “in violation of United States Federal Law” or something like that, and when has a formal notice besides a “WARNING!” ever used an exclamation mark? Firstly, here is what the closest thing to this is.

Do you see a single exclamation point? Do you see a single bit of bad grammar? Do you see the United States being referred to as the “U.S.A?”

Tell you what. When the FBI comes and seizes your computer, they will come and get a warrant from a judge. And they will come and take your computer from you.

They won’t do any of that $200 fine bullshit. It’s fake.

Are You Ready For This Plot Twist?

The various videos in this movie are odd, and disturbing. The one where the girl decides to sleep with a guy because of the car he drives really, really disturbs me.

https://youtu.be/f9QkFoGpjMs

How many German women did Russian soldiers impregnate after the fall of Third Reich? What percentage of Germany has Russian ancestry from the time of the 2nd World War?

Historians place the number at 300,000 for the number of live births from Soviet rapes.

“University historians in the German cities of Jena and Magdeburg conclude that only France helped children fathered by its occupying troops. Many of those born to German mothers in four occupation zones suffered ostracism their whole lives.”

The study published in June 2015 in a “German-language book whose title translates as “Bastards, the children of occupation in Germany after 1945” found that at least 300,000 children were fathered by occupying Soviet Red Army soldiers.”

“Rapes perpetrated on German women occurred in all four zones, including forced sex by members of French and US units. Only a few cases by British troops were uncovered.”

“The first of these children were born around Christmas 1945.”

“The researchers deduced the Soviet zone child figure from a count of up to two million rapes allegedly committed by Red Army soldiers.”

“Abortions were illegal in Germany according to Article 218 of the penal code, but Luchterhand says “there was a small window for those women because of that special situation of the mass rapes in 1945”.

“Altogether 995 pleas for abortion were approved by this one district office in Berlin office between June 1945 to 1946. The files contain over 1,000 fragile scraps of paper of different colours and sizes. In childish round handwriting, one girl testifies that she was assaulted in the living room of her home in front of her parents. “

“We will probably never know the true scale of the rapes. Soviet military tribunals and other sources remain classified. The Russian parliament recently passed a law which says that anyone who denigrates Russia’s record in World War Two could face fines and up to five years in prison.”

Troops fathered 400,000 children in post-war Germany | DW | 06.02.2015

 

Have you ever witnessed someone’s life fully change in one instant? What happened?

A friend of mine bought a pair scooters, like Vespas, so he and his wife could run around their ‘near dowtown’ neighborhood. He was driving down a local street, 35 mph speed limit. An inattentive driver coming the other way turned left right in front of him.

He had no time to react so he hit the side of the car going nearly 35. His momentum pushed his lower body into the scooters fenders and smashed both legs. Both broken, one so bad that even now, 2 years later he is still dealing with screws and rods in one leg to help it heal properly. He was wearing an open face helmet and his head was driven into the side of the by momentum. He smashed his face in. I don’t mean cuts and scrapes and a broken nose. He ended up with a broken orbital bone, a broken jaw and knocked out half his teeth.

Their condo was on the second floor of the building with no elevator, and when he got out of the hospital (after a month of surgeries on his legs and face) he could not go home. They had to rent a small house with just one floor, and ramps for his wheelchair. His wife had to take a sabbatical from work to help take care of him. She got paid for almost all the first year of his recovery and then they to rely on some savings, and pittance payouts from the other driver’s insurance company.

Their young daughter had to move into their condo because they couldn’t leave it sitting empty – that doubled her commute to college.

Some pictures started getting posted to Facebook and in none for at least a year was he smiling – too many dental issues to show.

2 years later, and at least one or two more surgeries on hig legs with the hardware, he is of course still doing physical therapy.

I certainly hope they were able to secure a good accident lawyer and sue for hundreds of thousands, if not more. That accident will certainly affect him for the rest of his life if his leg doesn’t heal as expected. He had to go back to the tech world he had left to train to be a chef. He was not able to stand for long periods of time and doesn’t know if ever will be able to back to the job he loves – cooking for people.

One moment of loss of concentration, of paying attention by that other driver and my friend came very close to being killed, and the outcome of his injuries have and will continue to negatively affect his life, his wife’s too, and their daughter close by ad well as their other children and grandchildren.

AMERICAN Living In CHINA Reveals The TRUTH!

https://youtu.be/-NnjcCb2ieg

 

Has your neighbor ever told you something you wish they hadn’t?

10 years ago I lived in a small town in Washington State. One of my neighbors was an older couple who kept to themselves. The wife loved her garden and the male would wave at everyone who drove down the roadway. One fall we had a mudslide on a major road that ran in and out of our small town. The only way we could leave was to drive north, thru the Canadian boarder and back down in another neighboring town. My (now ex) husband and I had just returned from our bi-weekly town visit for groceries. As we started to drive past this elderly couple’s home we noticed the wife standing outside by herself. At first we didn’t think there was anything wrong until my (now ex) husband got her attention and we realized that she was crying and had blood on her shirt. I stayed outside with her because she kept crying and pointing to the house. My Ex went in their house and quickly exited and called 911. All the wife would say to me was “I had to” over and over again.

The Police arrived and sorted it all out. Come to find out, the husband had severe dementia and attacked his wife during their evening nap. He tried to strangle her and punched her over and over again. She was finally able to get her hands on a pair of scissors and stabbed him with them. He survived and was placed in a nursing home after his recovery.

I hope I never “have to”.

 

China’s chip power is on full swing, and its output ranks higher than the rest of the world

https://youtu.be/RUyoxfktX7k

 

Have you ever accidentally found out that you were about to be fired?

I actually did it wasn’t so accidental. I was working for a dentist in Berkeley CA. It was a weird office but it was money. The office was open M-W with 1/2 day on Th. Well 1/2 for every body but me. I had to spend the other 1/2 day doing a deep clean of all the treatment rooms and file back a weeks worth of files. There was another Doctor in same building the Doctor was a Maxillofacial Surgeon. He had a X-Ray Tech. One day I was by my self filing back files. She told me she had heard them talking about the doctors son. He worked as a bell boy for a very posh hotel/privet country club in the Berkeley Hills (for those live in the SF Bay Area I am talking about the Clairmont) The doctor figured if he had to subsidies his 20 something year old son he might as well get something for it. He would teach his son to be a dental assistant. I think I found a new job before they could let me go. So so glad to be out of that place.

 

How does the IRS find people who work under the table?

It’s not hard.

Yes, they do sleuthy things. Around here a few years ago a tax guy went to the flea market—a huge flea market—made a list of every booth, and looked the people up. If memory recalls, over 70% of them were either on unemployment, social security disability insurance, not paying sales tax, not claiming their taxable income, or not claiming their employees. They were all just million dollar lemonade stands.

But most of the time the IRS doesn’t need to do any kind of stakeout. They simply say “hey computer, show me all the people in my area whose households don’t claim enough for them to reasonably live, sorted by how unreasonable.” And more queries along those lines. “Show me all the restaurants whose wage expenses don’t match expected for their stated income.” Computers can answer those questions in milliseconds.

I’ve said it a hundred times, but these are computers talking to computers. If you “got away” with something on your taxes, it does not mean you didn’t get caught. It means there was not political will to prosecute you.

And it’s not just business owners (well, you are technically a business owner if you’re working under the table). If you work for any of those people, you get caught the second they do. If a guy builds a fence in his backyard and asks you to come help him for a few weeks for $100/day, he’ll mention that fence on his taxes; the city will eventually mention that fence on his property tax appraisal, title will mention that fence when he sells the house. There’s a paper trail, and it’s not hard for anyone who reads accounting to see that. Ditto with your barista job, ditto with your life coaching job, ditto with your dad pretending you’re an employee so he can get you health insurance. It’s obvious to anyone who sees personal taxes all day long.

Oh, here’s a really obvious one, if you’re not an employee you will have expenses, and not just that, but expenses almost matching your income. If you say you rent a room out in your house as an airbnb, they’ll simply look at your taxes to see if you have 70% of your income going towards cleaning and repairs and new sheets and advertising. If you say you do odd jobs, they’ll assume you have a log of your mileage and receipts for tools. If you say you sell brownies at the farmer’s market, they’ll know you’re lying if you don’t have the cost of renting that booth and the cost of the booth on there somewhere. And again, if you’re the second in the booth, you’re at the mercy of the main person’s IRS reviewer too.

Oh, and if you’re an under the table waitress, know that you’ll eventually get caught by another waitress narc’ing on your boss.

Anyway, the main way they find out is by comparing you to 350M other people and seeing wherever you’re so far outside of the average that somethin’ must be up.

OH! here’s the easiest example yet: you’re a waitress and file your taxes without listing any tip income. It is unlikely the IRS will call you on that, but they obviously can see that you left the line that likely represents the majority of your income blank. The friend I’m picturing when I say this is paid about $40 a day as a waitress but makes $300 to $400 a day in tips. And I think it’s pretty safe to wonder whether her taxes say she is paying her rent and expenses with only $40 a day. The IRS isn’t stupid, but they are human and know there is little to collect from her, and it would be politically problematic to start targeting college-aged and single-mom waitresses.

Italian Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients

• 8 Italian sausages
• 4 green bell peppers, quartered (or a combination of yellow, green and red bell peppers)
• 1 onion, sliced

Instructions

1. Put sausages with 1 cup of water in a frying pan over medium heat. Turn as they brown and water evaporates.
2. Add onions and peppers. Stir, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Uncover and cook until the sausages and onions are brown.
4. Serve in small French bread buns.

What offended the German military when the American military came to Germany?

I don’t know if offended was the right word, but stunned, as R. W. says about the US not having animals (mules/horses). Here is a great pic of German POWs on the middle of the autobahn heading west, and Allied tanks/trucks heading into the heart of Germanyy:

You don’t see any animals (the average German division had 4–6,000 horses/division). The US did use mules in Africa, Italy and Southern France. Those mountains were tough, with no roads, so mules came into their own. The US Army contracted with mule owners for one herder + ten mules each. The column was lead by a GI and carried food, water, ammo up to the line and wounded down. The USMC still runs a mule training facility in California to train troops on this dying art.

One offense was American inattention of military courtesy to senior officers. The German paratroop commander, Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, at the end Crozon Peninsula fighting, told the US lieutenant that he would surrender his unit, but not to a company or field grade officer, only a general officer. This painting shows Gen Canham, ADC 8th ID, in the German HQ. The German said, “I am to surrender to you. I want to see your credentials”. Gen Canham, like any general officer, did not take this well, pointed to his GI’s, and said, “These are my credentials.” This later became the motto of the 8th ID.

Companies Announce Why They Don’t Want YOU Working For Them Anymore…

This is true. I can confirm this is the case in the United States.

https://youtu.be/wavk3uJGipc