It is reported that Velma from the cartoon Scooby Doo is now officially a lesbian. The reporters in Hollywood are all giddy with joy.
“OMG LESBIAN VELMA FINALLY,” reads one tweet, which has over 100,000 likes.
As I get older, the more I realize that it’s not only the American leadership that are “bat-shit crazy”, but most of the population as well.
Sheech!
Velma was sort of a cartoon version of my (boyhood) dream girl. She was soft, nice, smart, talented, and wore a soft turtleneck cuddly sweater. Oh, and she wore nerd glasses before they were cool. And let’s not forget about her many discoveries and de-masking of the “bad guys”!
My fantasies lie dead in the dust! Sigh.
When did so many American citizens stop believing their government can function as a force for good?
Some people have always believed this but it didn’t become a mainstream idea until Ronald Reagan popularized it.
He said things like “The government is not the solution to our problems, it is the problem” and “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”
Prior to Reagan most Republicans were for smaller government but still believed that it could be a force for good.
Republican president Eisenhower increased the minimum wage, expanded Social Security and created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and started large government projects like the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Interstate Highway System.
Republican President Nixon wanted to expand Welfare to a “living wage” system, proposed universal health care, signed Title IX guarantying equal educational opportunities for women, signed the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and formed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. Reagan pushed previously fringe anti-government views into the mainstream.
The Three Stooges || You Nazty Spy 1940
This old skit reminds me of how the USA operates today. LOL
https://youtu.be/LvVPopDC9vA
Chinese Girl
The Monkees on The Johnny Cash Show 1969
Is China a democracy, since anyone can join the Communist Party and thus anyone can vote? Is a single-party democracy any different from a non-partisan democracy?
China is a democracy. However, it is not a liberal Western democracy.
The West are not entitled to define what is and isn’t democracy.
In both democratic systems, citizens vote for their representatives. The only difference is that China is based on a one-party state while the West have multiple parties that compete with one another.
Bekah
My daughter Bekah passed away 1 year ago from an unexpected asthma attack causing her to go into cardiac arrest. She was alone in her apartment when it happened and dialed 911 herself.
They were quickly able to reach her and bring back a pulse but she coded a second time in the ambulance. After 9 days in the ICU she was totally unresponsive to any stimuli and they called a time of death although she was still “alive”. She was an organ donor and helped to save 5 people.
A friend of mine had a vivid dream of my daughter in where my daughter walked in the room looking very much alive.
He shouted to me “Bekah is alive” She looked at him and said “no, I’m here to give my heart.”
She then walked up to a child and handed her heart to her. My daughters heart did go to a child, a 12 yr old. I’ve struggled with the what if’s and feeling guilty that she was alone when she passed.
I worry that she was scared or that she felt pain. Hearing some of the stories on this group help to give me hope that she’s at peace and maybe she did choose to give of herself to help others.
I ask God daily to please give me a million signs of her presence until it’s my time to see her beautiful face once again. Bekah’s mom ~ forever 22
Kitty chooses her “owner”
This little girl showed up at my back door on Christmas Eve three years ago. Per my estimate she was about 4 to 6 months old and about a quarter her current size.
Since her belly was shaved (I assumed she was spayed) and she is a bit of a rare breed for where I live (she looks and has all the characteristics of a pure Russian Blue), I assumed she belonged to someone in my neighborhood.
She wanted attention (a sure sign she was raised by someone since feral cats do not crave petting and human attention).
I asked all my neighbors and they had never seen her before nor did she belong to anyone in the neighborhood, as I checked; she also had no chip for identification purposes. I waited over a week assuming she would find her rightful owner, as she might have just wandered off, but she kept hanging around and coming back, so I took her into my home and adopted her.
I have had cats before so I have experiences and other past cats as a comparison.
This particular cat is the most affectionate, happy (per her constant purring), and cuddly cat I have ever known, but only with me as she just hides when other people come around.
Sometimes she jumps up in the middle of a dead sleep and immediately looks over at me as if just wanting to know I am still there.
I can say with certainty this cat is afraid of being abandoned again and she is grateful to have been rescued/adopted.
Chinese Girl
Here’s Why The U.S. Blew Up Nord Stream Pipeline!
Is there really a problem with human rights in China?
Every time I answer a question about “human rights in China,” I get frustrated. Because the exchanges and debates around the topic have been so thoroughly tarnished by Washington. The issue of human rights has become increasingly removed from its own meaning and has become a classic geopolitical game. So I’ve grown tired of debating with people who firmly believe that China has a human rights problem. When they talk about human rights in China, their focus is always on the tiny minority that confronts China’s constitutional system, and they are indifferent to the content of human rights that is fundamental to China and most important to the general public. They don’t even seem to be interested in China’s efforts to reduce and eliminate inequities in everything from education to health care, to increase poverty alleviation, to strengthen the rule of law, to increase the rate of petition resolution, and so on.
The Chinese are not stupid, the Chinese are not retarded, and the Chinese are not brainwashed. If there is a real human rights problem in China, you don’t need to worry, they will resist, and no political party can withstand the power of 1.4 billion Chinese people. It is because the Chinese people have witnessed the stark contrast between the Chinese government’s all-out effort to fight the epidemic and the U.S. government’s disregard for the lives of the people that they are convinced that the Chinese must value their human rights more than the Americans do. This is more effective than any amount of preaching and propaganda. China, as a rapidly growing society with a huge population, is not easy to govern itself, which is why they are very strict about “confronting the political system” -It does not mean that China is not doing a good job of building human rights. That’s why I find it ridiculous when the US and some small European countries with a few million people tell China what to do. They are like little kids driving go-karts in a park who want to teach the driver of a giant truck how to take the wheel.
No one can deny that the vast majority of people’s rights derive from the continued stable development of the country. To destabilize China and curb its development is to fundamentally deprive the Chinese people of their rights, and the U.S. government today is the greatest threat to human rights in China. Take, for example, the Hong Kong affair, where the core issue is restoring order, and the U.S. labels it a human rights issue and encourages violence and protest. Then there is the Xinjiang Re-education Center, which is simply an organization that trains Uyghurs to help them acquire skills for better employment, and is smeared by the U.S. as a concentration camp for genocide. These actions are unlikely to promote “better human rights” in Hong Kong or Xinjiang, but they do add to the problems and costs of China’s rise.
I don’t know if my answer to this question is what you want, but it’s all from the bottom of my heart. As always, when you talk about human rights, first ask the people of that country. If you really want to know the human rights situation in China, you can visit China and take a look or do some research there. If you can be objective and respectful, you will be welcome.
What is the difference between an Australian meat pie and an English meat pie?
Growing up in the UK until migrating to Australia in the mid 1970s meat pies were popular but fairly limited and were either rather runny minced beef, or steak and kidney. I lived in Cardiff for a while and there was a round pie or a larger rectangular one. When I returned to Britain on holiday in 2000 I couldn’t find a proper meat pie anywhere. Most of the bakers seemed to do a rectangular ‘steak bake’ that was tasty and reminiscent of a pie but not really the proper article. They were also disappointingly small and you needed two.
I spent a month in England, Wales, Scotland and failed to track down a proper pie. With two hungry teenage boys in tow we would have loved an Aussie style pie.
In Australia nearly every bakery has a big pie and sausage roll section with a hot cabinet and there are a lot of dedicated pie shops selling a huge range of pies. I’d guess pie consumption is far higher in Australia and every town has a signature pie outlet that is very popular and against which others are measured.
Often there are up to 30 different varieties such as chunky steak, crocodile, chicken mornay, curry, vegetarian options etc. And most sit-down pie cafes accompany the pie with mashed potato, mushy peas and a generous dollop of gravy.
That’s one I regularly have from the popular pie cart whenever I visit Lismore New South Wales. There’s a pie under there somewhere!
A pommie steak bake would scream in terror and run away down the street.
Globalists are pushing a nuclear attack, and Putin knows it
Why do school lunches taste bad?
You may be surprised to find out school meals in the United States actually cost more per student than better lunches elsewhere.
That’s because although the school lunch program started out with a very good motive, someone found a way to pervert it into something terrible.
So, first the school lunch program. During World War II, the draft office was rejecting lots of people because they were malnourished and underweight. The government looked into it and found that most of them weren’t eating well because their parents couldn’t afford enough food for them. To address the issue, the easiest way to give them more calories and nutrition was to feed them in school when they were all together and the food could be prepared in bulk.
Now, food used to be a major expense in people’s budgets. However, during the Nixon administration, about the same time as the oil embargo, food prices spiked and that percentage went up. In order to address this, the Nixon administration pursued several policies to encourage food production, like subsidies and price supports.
Now, this means that Americans now spend a very low percentage of their income on food. The problem is that this still means there is a lot of food grown that can’t be eaten or exported – there’s too much of it and there’s no demand for it. Dairy is cheap, but that’s because the government pays a guaranteed price for milk. Milk doesn’t last long, so most of it is turned into cheese.
Enterprising politicians decided to take advantage of this by requiring most of the surplus to be purchased by schools for school meals.
So, cookies (use up all the surplus wheat and flour), peas (surplus of those too), canned fruit (lots of surplus fruit), potatoes (lots of surplus) and chicken (also surplus). Rounding it off is ketchup, which is also surplus.
However, this stuff still isn’t “cheap”. All that processing costs money. That’s okay, the school lunch program will pay for that, as long as you stick to their surplus menu.
Meanwhile, over in France, the people in charge of school meals can pretty much get whatever is in season at the local market.
So, a little pasta salad, fresh bread, fresh fruit, a small breaded fish cutlet, and cauliflower with sauce. This meal is obviously less expensive, but it’s also better in every respect.
Chinese Girl
Best ever Roast Beef
Over the years I have always been told that the best roast beef comes from the best quality beef. It is correct if you use a top quality cut of beef and roast it to medium rare the result is amazing. What is not correct is that you cannot create the perfect roast with a more budget cut of beef.
Top quality cuts of beef are not usually in a families weekly food budget so I went on a mission on how to create the same tender and amazing roast beef on a more everyday budget cut of meat that will give you that OMG moment when you take a bite but not break the bank balance.
I tried various methods, slow cooking in the slow cooker, roasting in the air fryer, slow cooking in the oven and while the result was good, it was not outstanding and the quality you get from a more expensive cut of meat just was not there.
When you research cooking methods and recipes one thing always stands out to me, most cheap cuts of meat are slow cooked AND they have some sort of marinade/ sauce attached to the recipe.
With this in mind I set about creating a marinade from ingredients I would use typically with beef and in making a gravy and presto the result was arguably the best weekly roast beef we have had and the gravy well that is just a whole other story because the gravy was out of this world.
I marinated the beef from the morning to the evening for the best result, however if you run out of time make sure you marinate it for at least 30 minutes.
We have now had this roast dinner on weekly rotation not because of the meat but because of the gravy which started off as the beef marinade, was cooked in the tray with the beef sitting on top of a rack and the juices pouring into the marinade and then thickened up on the stove top.
While the cut of meat may not be the top quality meats you can buy the end result is so good that it would warrant being star of your table at your next dinner party. It is that juicy and tender and cooked to perfection your guests would not be wrong in mistaking it is an eye fillet roast!
And being school holidays if you are away camping this is the perfect camp oven roast dinner to cook over an open fire!
Prep 10 min // Cook 1 hr 20 min (including resting time)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 – 1.6kg topside beef roast
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup good quality red wine
- 2-3 cups liquid beef stock
- 3 tbs EDMK Italian spice mix (or commercial brand)
- 4 tbs seeded mustard
- 4 tbs minced garlic
- 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper to taste.
- 2 tbs butter
- 2 tbs plain flour
Marinade
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 1/2 cups liquid beef stock
- 2 tbs seeded mustard
- 2 tbs minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tbs EDMK Italian spice mixed
- 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce.
METHOD
-
Mix all above ingredients together in a jug and set aside.
-
Place beef in a container and pour the marinade over the top and place in fridge to marinade for a minimum of 30 min.
-
Preheat oven to 160 degrees and remove the beef from fridge and rest until room temperature.
-
Pour the marinade into an oven tray and place a rack over the top and place the beef on the rack.
-
Smear the remaining seeded mustard and garlic over the beef and then place in the oven.
-
Cook for 25 min per 500g of meat checking the roast 1-2 times and if the liquid begins to evaporate pour a little more liquid beef stock in the bottom.
-
When the meat is cooked to medium rare based on weight remove from the oven and transfer to a board and cover with foil to rest.
-
In a saucepan melt the butter over a low heat and then stir in the flour until it turns a light brown colour.
-
Pour all juices from the bottom of the oven tray into the saucepan and whisk continually over a low heat until the gravy is thick and smooth. Add more liquid beef stock for additional gravy or until you reach your desire consistency.
-
Slice the meat against the grain into thick slices and serve with roasted vegetables and gravy.
Note: To cook over a camp oven or in a slow cooker cook in the marinade and then remove the beef when cooked and thicken the sauce as per the above instructions.
Chinese Girl
What if North Korea nuked China? What would happen?
Then I hope the crazy fat kid has a very large bunker deep underground.
Because the Chinese will blast his fat ass to Pluto.
LUCY Clip – “Give Me The Case” (2014)
Is the United States leadership responsive to the needs of the people?
No. It supports extreme partisanship, enables propaganda, perpetuates horribly exploitative big pharma, and oversees a very racist society. Currently it appears to be turning into a Banana Republic with the President baying for the head of his opponent, threatening to lock her up, baiting North Korea into WWIII, lying constantly to the electorate, and trying to force a ridiculous $multi-bn wall onto it’s citizens. Charisma, charm and superficiality quite literally Trump substance, integrity and truth.
We can only hope that we will look back on all of this one day in shame, whilst watching a poorly-constructed yet inexplicably watchable Lifetime movie about how things managed to get so, so bad.
Forrest Gump: Saving lives in Vietnam
Why is the meat pie in Australia so poor?
As with practically any other item of food, there are good ones and bad ones to be had.
In general terms, if you’re buying one in a plastic bag from a convenience store, it won’t be as good as one bought loose from a bakery. But then there are good bakery pies and bad bakery pies. I can even think of a couple of bakeries I know where certain fillings of pie are significantly better than others. And that’s before you consider factors such as the time of day you’re buying the pie and whether the bakery has changed owners – a very good bakery around my way has sadly gone downhill after a change in ownership, for example.
Stalingrad (1993) Firing Squad Scene
Where can I get some British fish and chips?
There used to be a really good chippy in Wragby. Barnsley used to have Woody’s (hurrraayyy!), but they sold it, the new bloke ruined it, and went bust, and now they’ve knocked it down (booooo!) so you’re out of luck there, but cheer up, because there’s a really nice one that looks like the chippy from hell but serves the chips of heaven a bit further along down an alleyway, and if you’re a bit more posh you can do a fifty minute or so walk up to Dodworth and go to Gate Chippy which is very good indeed.
Or you could go to Whitby, but avoid the last weekend in October because it’s packed end-to-end with Goths being spooky, and go to the Magpie. Be prepared for a long queue. Personally I liked that place in Skegness the best; it’s a fish ’n’ chip restaurant upstairs with a sea view; you get a big fish, loads of chips, mushy peas if you want ’em and a couple of slices of bread ’n’ butter, all brought to your table by pretty girls in proper waitress’s uniforms, and it’s all a bit Bertie Wooster so what’s not to like?
Scotland does a lot of ‘em, especially if you go to Glasgow, where they’ll deep fry anything. Fish, sausage, Mars Bars, pizzas, you name it they’ll dip in batter and fry it.
There was a good one in Monmouth where I got served by a woman who quite obviously did not like the English. When I open my gob, in the course of one sentence you are left under no doubt that I am English. Oh dear. I think she’d have pissed on my chips if she thought she could get away with it. Honestly, I was in awe of her passive aggression, and some of it wasn’t all that passive. I made notes to use later. I gave her the tenner with the words Bank of England (unlike Scotland, Wales didn’t have its own money) uppermost and plainly visible just to wind her up. When she rammed it in the till I thought it was going to explode. I sniffed my chips outside to check for cyanide. They were good chips, though, and the fish wasn’t bad, either.
So really, anywhere in England, Scotland, or Wales, and I don’t really know about Northern Ireland since when I was younger the main goal was to do what you’d got to and get back to the other side of the Irish Sea rather than looking for a decent chippy. Just ask one of the locals which they think is best. They’ll know where it is. Guaranteed.
I blame the EU. Ursaveloy und ein Loadachips.
Bobby Bacala Sr Kills Sally And His Friend – The Sopranos HD
How has China been able to maintain such a large economy despite being an authoritarian state?
Historically, economies have grown under authoritarian control, for example,
- the Roman Empire
- the Ottoman Empire
- the Portuguese Empire
- the Spanish Empire
- the Dutch Empire
- the French Empire
- the German Empire
- the British Empire
- the Soviet Union
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Taiwan
Large democratic economies have only existed in the last half century or so. Note that USA is not a democracy (it’s a republic).
Authoritarian states tend to be more effective at economic growth because they face no opposition. They can create policies without compromise. They can execute policies without hindrance, especially in the long term. They can galvanize their populations to produce economic output. Tight control is the order of the day.
Sloppy governance leads to wastage and inefficiency.
Get Hard (2015) – Gangbanger Accountant Scene
Why are American shopping malls dying?
True story.
My 15-year-old son’s best friend’s parents work at the Macy’s in our local mall.
I know that Macy’s is struggling, so I decided I would do some shopping there when I could. I really wanted my son’s friend’s parents to keep their jobs, because they don’t live close, and I’m worried that if they lose their jobs they will pull their son out of the school he’s in and my son will lose his friend. (They used to live in the neighborhood but moved to get a larger living space).
So I went over to the Macy’s to buy a throw rug. We have carpet in our house and the cats chew it up and I just wanted to buy a small throw rug to cover up part of the carpet.
When I got to the Macy’s, the escalator was broken. No big deal. I walked up three flights. I then found the rugs but they were incredibly expensive. The cheapest one was many hundreds of dollars.
The next problem was that I could not find anyone to pay for the rug! It was late on a Sunday and no one seemed to be around anywhere. I found myself wandering from department to department, carrying the heavy rug on my shoulder. I finally found an employee, but they said they could not help me. I needed to go back to the housewares department and find someone there.
I finally found myself getting so frustrated that I almost started shouting, “Is there noone here who can help me?!? I just need some help!”
But then I calmed down and realized that shouting like a lunatic was probably a bad idea. I put back the rug, left the Macy’s, walked back down the stairs, came home, fired up the Internet, and ordered a nice throw rug for $50 in a few minutes. It arrived at my front door a day later.
I think what’s happening is that, as brick and mortar stores bring in fewer sales, they are having to cut staff and cut spending. As they do so, the shopping experience becomes less and less pleasant. Which then drives more people online. Which then means the store must cut more people and more budget. It’s a vicious cycle. I’m going to miss having brick and mortar stores nearby when I need something urgently. But I don’t see how you stop it.
FULL INTERVIEW: The conversations turn on civil war in the US says Prof Richard Wolff
There are many predictions about China’s economic collapse. Why isn’t that happening?
Take Evergrande!!!!
Why did so many Economists predict that Evergrande collapse would be huge etc etc????
Because they are stupid??? No
Because they are biased??? Maybe…but they are still reputed Academics who wont just tout propaganda
So Why????
BECAUSE THEY LOOK AT EVERYTHING FROM THE US ANGLE (And the European Angle and the Japanese Angle and the Indian Angle) or the US LENS
In the United States – The Shareholder is GOD
So any Collapse of a Company , leads to a blow in the Markets which causes massive massive massive losses and creates all the financial crises since 1929.
In China – The Investor is GOD
China believes that the Speculator is a Gambler. They restrict major funds from investing too much into the Stock market and ensure that the Common Citizens who invest in the stock market know that they can lose their shirt or win a pile of gold. Instead their Focus is on the Investor - the ones who paid for the Houses, the ones who bought Bonds etc. They are to the Chinese - the backbone of Economics.
IN the United States – Rule of Law is Cumbersome but Absolute
This means - THE LAW Comes First. So whenever any Company Collapses - you have Chapter 11s filed , Protection of the Company Directors and Shareholders , Allowing the Company to file counter suits etc. This means the Assets of the Company get wound up for an average of 46 months and by this time shares plummet to Zero. Thus a Companys failure means failure for all its investors.
In China – The Public is Absolute or the Common Man
China puts everything including Freedom or Human Rights above the Common Man. So in China when a Collapses - the System will first Force a company to pay back its investors. The Law never interferes The Company has to pay back its investors by selling Assets, swapping Assets etc. This means Assets of a Company can be disposed off in weeks rather than months or years. And thus Investors almost always get between 55% - 100% of what they invested
IN the United States – Value is all about Perception
US doesnt like the word ‘Assets’ or ‘Profits’ They like ‘ Potential’ or ‘Expansion’ This means many Companies in US are almost always heavily bloated with very little Real Assets So in a sense US is mostly like India. They do nothing until a company folds and then its Chapter 11 and in some cases - FBI investigations or SEC investigations So when a Company crashes - its Perception or Potential crashes and its Value crashes.
In China – Value is all about ASSETS
China doesnt like words like ‘Potential’ or ‘Closing a Deal’ etc. They like Hard Core Assets - Land, Contracts, Trade Deals, Gold, Jade, Coal , Gas Pipelines are what they love. So when a Company crashes - It always has Assets to back it up and these Assets manage to salvage a big chunk of Value
So thats what is helping China ignore Evergrande or even a Real Estate Crisis while if this was happening in US or even India – people would be scrambling for cover.
Yet while Economists are good – they simply dont think like a Chinese or know the Chinese System
My Associate Lawyer in Singapore told me how Westerners focussed on Huge Office Space whereas a CHinese office was a small 15X10 enclosure and yet you had 10 times larger deals floating through the same.
Likewise Most Western Personal Debts are based on paperwork etc. Most Chinese Personal Debts are given based on just the mans face and his Chop (Chop is a personalized Stamp like thing with Unique Chinese characters)
So those who make Predictions on China – Just don’t understand how China works
Its why Singapore never makes Predictions on China. They simply report the US Predictions and Laugh because They are Chinese too.
Likewise South Korea understands the Chinese Way as does Taiwan and even HK
That’s why South East Asia really didn’t care too much about Evergrande. They just reported what the West said but ignored it.
That’s why South East Asia scrambled in Panic when Lehman Brothers folded. They also know how US works and knew how big a crisis it was.
Just change your glasses and wear a Chinese one – and you will see just how different Chinese Business is compared to the Western models
Why are Americans leaving America?
I really can only answer for myself.
I have been living in Europe on and off since 2000. I moved first for work reasons.. I opened a European office of my company in Berlin. I kept my home in Colorado and would commute every 6 weeks. In 2010 I finally sold everything in the US and moved permanently to Latvia.
I moved permanently to Europe for a number of reasons:
- The cost of health insurance and healthcare was becoming insane. As I got older I knew that I would need a dependable healthcare system where I did not need to concern myself with any pre-existing conditions. In Europe I did not need to worry about healthcare. I get top notch healthcare and never have to worry about pre-existing conditions or expensive health insurance.
- I really enjoy the multitude of cultures here in Europe. I enjoy exploring, learning about cultures, languages, foods and history. Now I can get in my car, drive a while, cross a border and be in another world. I can explore millennia of history everywhere I go.
- I really got tired of the consumer society that America has become. People go way out on a limb to buy the latest crap that they do not even need. There is constant propaganda to buy, buy, buy. It becomes a mindset. Even after all these years I am still getting out of that programming. Maybe because some of that has spread to Europe but it is no where near as bad.
- I no longer wanted to be around all the willfully ignorant, bigots, idiots, morons, closed minded assholes, and greedy sociopaths in America. I did not want to walk into a restaurant, bar or doctor’s office and have Fox playing on the TV polluting the environment. I wanted to be out of the right wing propaganda bubble that America was surrounded by. I saw this getting worse every year. I watched as the right wing influence in the media grew. I watched as the right wing Christians and conservatives infiltrated our schools, military, police forces, corporations, media, government, bureaucracies and every other aspect of society. It got to the point where there were too many acquaintances and colleagues who I could no longer even be around. More and more they felt it was acceptable to be openly bigoted and hateful towards ‘others’ and those who they deemed different or less than themselves. I could see the writing on the wall and saw where America was headed. So I left it all behind. I am glad I did. After Trump was elected I realized I no longer had a country. That America had gone so far downhill that I could no longer live there even if I wanted to. I know that even after Trump is gone the trumpistas will still be loud and proud, creating chaos for their corporate masters and destroying our country. I prefer being far away from that toxic environment.
No place is perfect. Every country has its pluses and minuses. I guess, if we have the opportunity to move to a place where we feel more comfortable we should.
Why has the meat pie not seen much popularity outside of New Zealand, the UK, and Australia?
They’re popular in New England, though they’re not the same.
Aussie/Kiwi meat pies (in my experience) are kind of their own thing. They’re made primarily with ground meat (usually beef,) onion and bbq/tomato sauce. They’re delicious (and plentiful.) Meanwhile the British eat more kinds of pies than I have managed to try.
Here in New England, we eat Shepherd’s pie and chicken pot pie, which I realise are popular elsewhere.
We also eat the style popular in the Canadian maritimes — this is the type my family have always eaten, and here’s how I make them. Note that these use “ordinary” pie crust, as you’d use for apple, top and bottom. This will make a 9-inch pie:
Ingredients:
- 1/2 kg pork
- 1/2 kg beef
- 1 large yellow/Spanish onion
- 2 tablespoons summer savory (or 1 ea. sage & thyme)
- butter for browning meat
- 1 and 1/2 russet potatoes
- 1 tablespoon white lard
- Pie crust
NOTE that I buy the cheapest cuts of meat available. No need for anything fancy; just whatever’s on sale.
Arrange your lower crust by itself in the pie plate and pre-bake at 125C until golden.
Dice your meat into 2.5 cm (one inch) cubes, and brown the meat in a bit of butter in a frying pan until it is seared on the outside.
Put the meat, onion, and savory (or sage & thyme) in a stew pot, and add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to barely simmering, and simmer, covered, for 1.5 to 2 hours, checking every half hour to add water to keep the meat covered as necessary, until a piece of meat will just about fall apart when you squash it with a fork..
Remove from heat, and pour everything into a colander to strain it. Let it cool in the colander while you prepare the potatoes.
Peel and dice your potatoes, and boil them the same as if you were making mashed potatoes. When they’re done, strain out the water, add the lard, and then mash in the usual way. No lumps! Be thorough. Don’t add milk to these… just thoroughly mashed potatoes and lard. The potatoes are the binder that will hold your filling together. Canadian/New England pies don’t slouch and run the way some others do. They’re more like a pork pie.
Return to your cooled meat. Examine all your cooked pieces, and scrape away or remove any fat or gristle that remains (most of it will have boiled away.)
Now put the meat/onions in a mixing bowl, and start adding the potato/lard mixture, mixing/stirring as you go. Don’t worry that the meat falls apart as you mix. It will do that. But do try to keep it as intact as possible, so there are some big chunks in each slice.
Add salt and plenty of ground black pepper. When the filling is mixed, and tasting good, fill your (pre-cooked) lower crust, add your top crust, cut some vents, and bake at 175 deg C until the top crust is done, usually about 40 minutes or so.
Why has China chosen to remain silent regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
First, China has not been silent. Even before the war, China had been pressing for regional peace talks. But guess what, the West prefers to dig up dirt from the Beijing Olympics… I mean… I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The West should be like this: Who cares, we need the whole world to know the evil of the Olympic Games. Putin and Ukraine can wait.
Second, China knows better that internal affairs are usually better handled internally. The history between Russia and Ukraine goes back to 1991. Better to let Russia and Ukraine resolve these issues internally.
Third, I did not see the West upset when two US presidents destroyed three Middle Eastern countries in the space of 20 years, one of them for a bag of washing powder. Where were the ABC, BBC, CNN and the rest of the media when millions of refugees poured into the EU, hundreds of thousands were made homeless and countless civilians died? No, it’s all cool and normal 😀 They don’t even deserve to be in an entertainment column reporting on Brad Pitt’s facial (no offense, he’s a great actor).
Conclusion:
When things fall apart, blame China.
When things get better, talk down China.
When things are no longer things, guess what, China! 😀
Chinese Girl
Why does the United States have so much freedom compared to other developing nations?
Um, what freedoms do Americans have? Not too many I can think of.
Many Americans don’t have the freedom to:
- have affordable housing — homelessness is rampant in all the major US cities
- have affordable health care — many go bankrupt over medical bills
- be safe from gun violence — mass shootings occur on a daily basis!
- be safe from systemic racism — BLM and “I can’t breathe”
- be safe from a pandemic — USA has over a million Covid deaths!
- have a living minimum wage — minimum wage is stuck at 1960s level
- be safe from mass incarceration — the highest level and highest rate in the world
- express their political opinions on social media — Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. practice massive censorship
The list is endless.
So do tell me what these American freedoms are.
Are you fond of Australia?
Unlike many Australians, my husband and I had to make an active choice on where to live when I discovered I was pregnant with my first child. We were living in London at the time, owned our own flat, both had good jobs, and loving being so close to everything (travel was our lifeblood.)
Before five years in the UK, we had spent a year travelling through South America, and before that, five years in New Zealand, so hadn’t lived in Australia for more than a decade. So our dilemma was to stay in London, go back to New Zealand, or go home to Australia.
Both of our families lived in Australia, so clearly that was a factor, but we were never going to live close enough to them for it to be a major factor: my parents live so far north there are very few jobs for my husband there, and my inlaws lived at the other end of the state, where we’d gone to uni and started our working lives. We wanted to try something else.
Australia won, in the end, for pretty shallow reasons. Bigger houses, more outdoor space for kids to play, an economy that meant it was possible for us to live on one income for as long as we wanted to. My job was not a child-friendly one, involving long hours and lots of travel, so I chose not to work, and then to work from home.
We ended up in Melbourne because that’s where the first decent job offer came from, and I was seven months pregnant at the time and fairly keen to settle down. It was a blessing in disguise – Sydney (where we’d mostly been looking) was much more expensive housing wise, and the cooler, wetter Melbourne winters weren’t really a problem after our years in London.
(Top secret: when the sun comes out in a Melbourne winter, it is pure paradise on Earth. Not dissimilar to a UK summer, in fact.)
Sure, the summers can be hellishly hot, but the humidity is generally low, and waiting for the change (when the cool front comes through on the wind change, bringing a drastic drop in temperature and often a spectacular storm) is the state sport. (They’ll try and tell you its that AFL, but believe me – it’s waiting for the change. Watching it come on the radar and the whole household moving out onto the verandah just to FEEL the first kiss of cold air. )
We live where we live (out on the leafy suburban fringe) because I like to walk a lot and love having the choices of the sealed paths along the Yarra, the Plenty and Diamond Creek, or the wild bush tracks where you can feel dirt under your feet. If we want to have a long weekend away, sure, we can’t go to Paris or Rome or Seville any more, but there are a million little towns between Adelaide and Sydney along a spectacular coastline. Some places are completely undeveloped because of national park protection and it’s not hard to find somewhere almost empty once you figure out where to look. (Even on the Great Ocean Road.)
Melbourne is one of the great cultural capitals and we try to take advantage of that, but mostly don’t – we came home for the outdoors, and the bush, and space and quiet and privacy. Getting up to the city is actually quite easy – we live five minutes away from a railway station and its a 50 minute trip at slowest – and I’d be commuting that every day if I worked in the city. (Most people do.)
Sure, the traffic is worse than it used to be (isn’t it everywhere), and housing is more expensive than it was (isn’t it everywhere), but no one can take away the blue mornings in July that make you feel so alive, or the exhiliration of the change after a run of 40 degree days. Spring and Autumn, cool mornings, warm afternoons … perfect weather. (I like storms.)
As a parent, I love the fact that my children could attend good local schools and still get a solid education, but in Melbourne I have a massive choice of independent school options as well – we chose Montessori, but have a Steiner school, several good Catholic schools and several non-denominational independent schools nearby as well. Yes, we are saving money towards our children’s tertiary education because Australian university courses are way more expensive than they used to be, but they are still subsidised by the government and won’t be out of reach for our kids even if we don’t manage to save much.
Both of my kids are into high risk sports, and my husband commutes on a bike and races on the weekend, so our family has more contact with the health system than I’d like. Most of our GP and hospital visits are free, and even for xrays and the like, services are heavily subsidised.
The wildlife can kill you but mostly doesn’t want to, and a little bit of common sense goes a long way. (Never put your hand into a hole, never put your foot where you can’t see the ground.) Biggest risk for most people is probably the sun, to be honest – learn to wear a proper hat, and sunscreen, and stay hydrated. If its over 40 degrees, stay out of the sun until its cooler.
Talk to people. Get to know the place – get out of the cities and visit the parks, the beaches, the gorgeous wilderness. Smell the gum leaves, admire the wattle in bloom, see how the colours are different to anywhere else, this place has its own palette, red and yellow and silvery green.
(I like Australia wild and untamed, though suburbia is pretty great.)
How strictly are Chinese people isolated from the rest of the world?
I don’t know. You tell me.
I finished watching The Mandalorian last week.
To my surprise, I quite liked it.
IG-11’s sacrifice scene almost made me shed a tear.
But I still haven’t watched the last season of Game of Thrones.
Or Spiderman: Far from Home.
Most days I work from home from my laptop.
I go out for occasional walks in the park and in the evening I usually go for a run around the neighborhood.
I go to the nearest Tesco once a week to stock up on groceries. I find that on average, I spend about an average of €25 a week for groceries. But last week I broke my budget by €2 when I decided to get a jar of Ovaltine Light. * sad face *
Before I came to Ireland to do my Master’s, I had previously lived in several countries:
Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Germany.
I’ve also traveled to many more countries than that.
Iceland was a favorite.
I stayed a couple of days in a small town whose entire population is… get this… 200 people.
Last place I traveled to was London, in January 2020.
Five days. Had some Nando’s, tried the buffet at Pizza Hut (so-so), had too many quick meals at McDonald’s. And even had a chicken sandwich at a place called “Chicking” (I assume it’s Chicken + King)
Also, had a great haircut and dye job from a Singaporean hairstylist – there are wayyyyy more Asian hairstylists in London than Dublin.
I don’t think I live an isolated life, although Dublin is currently under Level 5 restrictions, so in that sense, you could say that I’m somewhat isolated because we’re not supposed to travel too far outside of our residence without a good reason (buying groceries would be a good reason, having a party with your mates who live 15 km away would be otherwise)
So, how did I do?
Do you think I’m isolated from the rest of the world?
Is it fair to say that the USA has gone from the greatest country on Earth to a near Third World country? Did conservatives not warn of this happening for the last 70 years?
Is it fair to say that the USA has gone from the greatest country on Earth to a near Third World country?
Yes, I think it’s fair to say that…
Did you know that America’s life expectancy this year dropped to below that of China’s? I’m not pulling your leg.
Life expectancy is one of the crucial factors that determine how well-developed a country is.
Another factor is the level of poverty in the country. In America, there are vast swaths of homeless people in all the major cities. For the supposedly richest nation on earth, this is unconscionable.
Millions of Americans suffer from food insecurity. Food banks are stretched to the limit.
Millions of Americans cannot afford health care, which is considered a fundamental human right around the world.
America has the some of the worst infrastructure in the world, literally crumbling and decaying.
Gun violence is so rampant in America that mass shootings occur on a daily basis! I’m not pulling your leg.
In 2020, 45,000 Americans were killed by guns, according to the CDC. This includes suicides.
Of course, wealthier Americans deny that USA is slipping in quality of life. They’re so insulated from the shit that’s going on around them, they have blinders on.
Chinese Girl
How long will it take for China to catch up to the United States economically and technologically?
Economically already surpassed on all parameters of consequence except one and that will also be reached in 2028–30 period. China is already the largest economy in PPP terms, the largest trading nation in the world, the largest industrial base, largest manufacturing capacity, largest tading partner to the most number of countries and it’s BRI project is the largest development and infrastructure project in history.
Technologically hard to tell whether China has already surpassed or has few years more to catch up. My guess is overall China is 95% of the overall US technology framework and architecture. This means in many technology fields China has already left USA behind in the dust and in some fields its at par while in few others its behind. So overall it’s 95% if we have to quantify it.
Sopranos and Lupertazzi’s Sitdown to discuss Ralph – The Sopranos HD
Where are the best meat pies in Australia?
In my opinion, Adelaide, my home town, makes the absolute best pies. One of the downsides of living in the city of Melbourne is that the only meat pies or bakery items I can find are either made by large franchises, and therefore depersonalised, or sold in a packet.
In Adelaide, that is near sacreligious. There is at least one good bakery in the heart of each suburb, which makes everything fresh in store, and typically has upwards of 20 savoury bakery varieties, and even more sweet varieties.
One of my personal favourite locations is Enjoy Bakery on the Parade at Norwood, partially because it was within walking distance(1 hour or so) of my house, but also because they have a ridiculous range, not to mention delicious flavour.
Here is a visual aid:
Of course, any true Australian would accompany their bakery meal with the following beverage:
I happen to be holding one of these in my hand at this very moment!
You know someone isn’t Australian when something other than a meat pie comes into their mind when you say ‘pie’, it almost disgusts me that Americans would call a blueberry pie, ‘pie’ as if that were somehow acceptable.
Chinese Girl
What are the most intolerant and ridiculous school lunch policies, where teachers or lunch monitors criticize what you pack for your child’s lunch?
My cousin’s daughter brought home a note from her teacher saying that the lunch she had packaged for her had been thrown away because it was unhealthy and that she owed the school money for the school lunch her daughter had been given. My cousin called her daughter’s teacher to find out what the issue was and apparently the school had banned lunchables so her daughter’s lunch of sliced turkey breast, cheese grapes and yogurt was deemed a lunchable and therefore unhealthy because it included whole grain flatbread. which the teacher insisted were crackers so it was a homemade lunchable and violated the rules . The teacher didn’t care that it was whole grain it was a cracker so it was unhealthy.
My cousin’s set up a meeting with the teacher and the principal and explained exactly what her daughter had brought for lunch including the nutritional information to prove that her daughter’s lunch was indeed healthy then asked provided the menu for the day her daughter’s lunch was throw away. Pizza, corn, a roll and fruit cocktail. The principal apologized and said that it wouldn’t happen again. A few days later letters were sent home explaining that the teacher would be gone for the rest of the year and the students would be getting a new teacher.
Come to find out that the school hadn’t banned lunchables or had any requirements on lunches brought from home but the teacher in question had tried imposing rules on what SHE felt was acceptable lunches and gotten in trouble for throwing away a student’s lunch the year before so she ended up getting fired.
Nomar
I promised my cat Nomar that I would one day share her story, so here it is –
I was looking for a new cat since one of my others had recently passed on – it had left a void in the house, and he was sorely missed.
My nearby shelter (Paws) had quite a few up for adoption, and a small tuxedo cat caught my eye. When I first asked to see her, I was warned by the staff that she was a bit hostile toward people, but something told me to take a look anyway.
Well, they were more than correct as I was promptly scratched and bitten by the little thing. I was then told that she had arrived at the shelter a few months beforehand and was quite pregnant.
She gave birth to seven kittens soon after, all seven were quickly adopted out when they were ready.
It came to me quickly that Mom would definitely be difficult to find a forever home for. Well, (you guessed it) I could not allow her to sit in a cage forever and then possibly lose her life. My heart would not allow this – I adopted her.
Once home, to my surprise, my other cat took a liking to her, and they got along very well.
But for myself or any other human – well, she wanted to rip us to shreds immediately.
To shorten things, it took over a year of patience before she began to trust me. Here’s the fun part – one day I awakened to a brand – new cat in my home. It was nothing less than astounding, Nomar had gone through some sort of transformation during the night.
My vicious little girl kitty had suddenly become more than friendly, more like a loving, secure, happy cat.
It came as a total shock to me – she was a changeling. Nomar must have come to a conclusion – accepting me and trusting me completely as her own, to have forever.
Later I found that she had decided to love everyone else as well, friends, neighbors, even total strangers.
If there is such a thing as a miracle, this was it.
Through the years the two of us were tight as a knot, always together. She was very intelligent, inventing her own games to play, learning constantly and just plain loving her life, and I sure never regretted bringing Nomar home, a very, very special cat indeed.
I often think of what might have been. This wonderful, happy, trusting kitty may never have existed.
Of course, someone else may have felt the same as I did and adopted her, but to me – I was the lucky one.
Her real personality came alive when she realized no one would hurt her, ever. I can’t imagine what a waste it could have been.
We loved each other tremendously until that awful day came when she left our world. But I will forever remember Nomar, the sweetest little creature in the universe.
I believe that I gave her the best 15 years that a cat could have. Rest in peace Nomar. Hope I did you justice with this.
I will love you until I die.
Ralphie Figured Out Who Told Johnny Sack Of The Joke – The Sopranos HD
Why is China such a nightmarish country? China literally seems like the stuff of nightmares.
Because you don’t know the first thing about China. You need to visit China before talking shit about it.
Your understanding of China is based on Western media propaganda garbage.
Millions of foreign tourists visit China every year. They see China as a magnificent and beautiful country.
There is no substitute for your own eyes and experience. Stop reading Western media rubbish and go to China!
Why is the United States considered “the land of the free”? Is it because of all the free stuff that the government provides?
Yes it is a land of free money. Since Bush they have given out over 10 trillion dollars to Americans and American companies to buy its own shares. That is 10′000′000′000′000 whic is no different from the communist regime in the 1950s giving out food stamps.
But the sickening thing is the Americans laugh and slur Communism and Socialism. They are doing what Communist and socialist no longer need to do 70 years ago!
The US is broke and bankrupt for at least 30 years now, and totally dependent on printing money like there is no tomorrow doing things no one needs nor wanted and certainly will not pay for. And spending money they do not have.
This will end now. The USD will be used only amongst less than 10 countries within a decade. And this madness will stop and so will America’s hegemony. Unless it wants a 5000% inflation!
Johnny informs Tony about Ralphie’s joke – The Sopranos HD
The Australian Traditional Meat pie!
“This is The Australian Traditional Meat pie! usually eaten for lunch for just watching the aussie rules footy. You can make 1 big meat pie or more little ones from this recipe!”
Ingredients
- 500 g minced beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 cup water, divided
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 1⁄4 cup ketchup
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- pepper
- 1⁄2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons plain flour
- 2 puff pastry sheets
Directions
- Pre-heat oven at 220 degrees Celsius.
- Brown meat and onion.
- Add 3/4 cup of the water, bouillon cubes, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, pepper, oregano, and nutmeg.
- Boil and cover for 15 minutes.
- Blend flour with the remaining 1/4 cup water until it becomes a smooth paste; add to the meat mix.
- Let cool.
- Grease a pie dish and line with puff pastry.
- Add the cooled filling mixture; brush edges of pastry with milk or beaten egg; put the pastry top on; press edges down with a fork.
- Trim edges and glaze top with milk or beaten egg.
- Bake in a very hot oven, 220 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 25 more minutes, or until golden brown.
- Serve with veggies, fries, or salad.
Is the rest of the world going to have to choose between the US and the West or Russia and China?
They’re basically making that choice now. Most of the world’s nations refuse to side with the white Anglophone countries (USA, UK, Australia, Canada) and most of the countries within the EU…
- They refuse to follow Western sanctions against Russia.
- They refuse to follow Western sanctions against China. They’re buying 5G equipment from Huawei, for example.
- OPEC countries refuse to increase oil production at the West’s behest.
- They continue to trade with China and do business with China.
- They accept China’s offer to build their infrastructure through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
- They join alliances such as BRICS, RCEP, and SCO.
- They are moving to de-dollarize, to move away from using the US Dollar.
The world is bifurcating into two distinct spheres…economically, financially, technologically, diplomatically.
When I watched Lucy back in 2014, I thought to myself Hey, this is exactly who I should be in this life.
I felt a very strong connection with Lucy and hr rapid mastery of reality and ability to manipulate everything and everyone. A strong type of familiarity as if I have had this level of power, myself. Even though I was, and still am, barely able to function these days due to a litany of reasons, a part of me screamed THIS is how I should be.
Makes me think that in other World-Lines, the versions of me over there did have Lucy-levels of reality warping/precognition/mindreading, and did insane things to their World Lines as a result of it.
Then again, maybe it’s all just a big delusion of grandeur.
Who are the authors of these stories? No credits are given. That is confusing because on one hand I assume you, Mr. Metallicman, are the author, but it’s clear that you cannot possibly be the author of all these interesting vignettes because the personal details do not match your situation.
For example, My Daughter Bekah was written by her mom, apparently.
School Lunches Taste Bad was written by an American parent with a child currently (?) enrolled in an American public school.
The author of American Shopping Malls Are Dying seems to be living in America today, but you don’t.
The author of Why Are Americans Leaving America lives in Latvia.
Just wondering.
So, my point (that I neglected to mention in my previous comment) is that I’d like to know which articles YOU actually wrote. Sometimes you post articles from others that are clearly credited, such as those by the Saker. But often you run several disconnected articles one after another with no credits. That makes it hard to discern which articles and thoughts are yours alone.
That’s all.
When it is EASY to do so, I credit the authors. If I have to perform a cut and paste, delete code, eliminate and scrub the embeds, and then review the codes, it takes a LOT OF FUCKING TIME. So I don’t do it.
Maybe people think that it’s cute to have all these embedded code snippets, twitter links, facebook links, google affiliate links, adsense and all the rest, but it’s a ROYAL FUCKING PAIN IN THE ASS.
They do offer a button at the end of the text to share. Yeah right. You can share on facebook, twitter, and google platforms. Anywhere else is a hassle.
Every share button of any platform means, that they can track your movement on any website their embed buttons are embedded.
Personally, I hate that, and find it great that you don’t have any of those buttons here. It adds to the overall value to keep it lean (see https://mnmlist.com/w/, an article about keeping it simple – for your reading pleasure and every other reader who might be interested of how pleasant minimalism can be, as the whole website has lots of good articles).
Here’s how it looks to the reader…
And here is the code behind the simple…
So I ask you…
Do you have the FUCKING TIME to edit the code behind this?
I don’t.
In fact, I’m about ready to toss MM in the trash heap. Do you have any idea how many donations that I have gotten since May of this year?
Yeah.
I think I’m going throttle things back to equal the value that readers put on all this.
Please don’t toss your blog into the trash! For me, it is a jewel of insights and perspectives.
As soon as I get a response regarding some financial related issue, I’ll donate to you.
Is it possible to transfer in € (Euro) to you, instead of US$?
Thanks for that. Yeah, paypal accepts all currencies.
Look, guys. I’m not begging for money. But, I am tired of comments badmouthing me, and my message from people who haven’t given me anything. No money. No kinds words. No attempt to improve my videos. Nothing. Just I hate this and I hate that, and you don’t do this, and you are disgusting that.
Why bother?
I get up in the morning and the first thing I read is…
YOUR ARE A DISGUSTING PIG. ALL THESE GIRLS WHAT’S THE MATTER STILL LIVING IN YOUR PARENTS BASEMENT YOU FOUL AND DISGUSTING IDIOT> WE WANT REAL STUFF ABOUT ALIENS NOT ALL THIS JUNK. YOU REALLY DON’T CARE ABOUT THE REST OF US. WE WANT INFORMATION. NOT THE GARBAGE YOU HAVE BEEN CHURNING OUT.
I have a life.
Why am I not so driven to produce like I used to be? Why is there a slow down on output?
I told you. I’ve completed my mission with Domain. I’ve already achieved bringing in 2-3 members back home. I can actually retire if I want to. So the electricity behind my back is no longer there. This is the real deal folks. This is how it works.
I’m not tossing any thing, Not MM, but I really don’t need the disrespect and grief some some of the yokels out there. Sometimes, it just is very discouraging.
Man for every one that shows you disrespect there are 100 who totally respect you and what you do…
I’d say the all caps poster/trolls/hater are the usual psychos found on online fringe forums. If you don’t cater to their world views, you’ll get the full package of trash and hate thrown over, and this over and over again.
They cannot create anything positive, not even a kind word or encouragement, because they think the world owes them and has to come forward first.
But regardless how much it gives, and sends outstanding people like you even to shine a different light, it’ll never be good or good enough, because they’re greedy fuckers, thriving on any attention they can get.
I’ve had my share of them, too, and went back to the observer zone for a few years, until someone somewhere mentioned your place.
Like TAS said, there are lots of people who respect and value what you are giving, but it is frustrating to have the destructive people screaming around, not seeing the time and effort you put into your blog.
I don’t think you are begging for money. I want to express my appreciation for your blog not only by words but by sending some currency, because you cover so so much stuff of interest, and give valuable advice, confirmation, inspiration, and encouragement. As soon as I can donate, I’ll send you an email when it has been done 🙂
Until then and further, I have a lot to catch up to, as I have started reading your blog only a few weeks ago, going through the MAJestic articles and lots of branching out from there.
Thanks for this. It’s a positive “shot in the arm”. Thank you.