Mark my words

All evidence indicates that China and Russia are coordinating their actions. This uptick in nuclear talk with Russia and the USA troops in Ukraine, along with the stuff going on in the Pacific. It’s all very clear. It’s coordinated.

More chatter about Scott Ritter and what that means all in front of the nuclear war backdrop. Lots of stuff going on right now.

Today is a Geo-politics heavy post.

The vectors are all disturbing.

• USA culture is collapsed.
• USA society is wiped out.
• The West is now very dangerous and police are not available.
• Warrants, and laws are ignored.
• Nuclear war is gleefully discussed without a care in the world.
• Crazy inflation… and it’s gonna get much worse.

I get the impression that the USA is a big bonfire right now, and the wealthy and Washington insiders are all throwing gasoline and kerosene on the fire…

Raw Truth

Have I read this wrong? Putin started a war he can’t possibly win, as China embeds deeper and deeper into the fabric of eastern Russia. He isolates his country, makes it a vassal state to China, and for what? Is the guy missing a brain?

Question: Have I read this wrong? Putin started a war he can’t possibly win, as China embeds deeper and deeper into the fabric of eastern Russia. He isolates his country, makes it a vassal state to China, and for what? Is the guy missing a brain?

Answer:

Yes, you are reading it wrong.

As of 2024, Ukraine manpower has been depleted to such a point that Russia is in a position to get a lot more than they would have gotten with a negotiation back in 2020.

He didn’t isolate his country, because the BRICs payment system, particularly via RMB can cover up to 95% of human population. At this point, kicking Russia out of SWIFT just means reducing SWIFT’s value as a payment system.

In fact, the European sanctions helped the Russian economy tremendously, this is because prior to European sanctions, Putin’s main enemies are actually the Russian Oligarchies and to a lesser extent, the pro-West Russian capitalist. The European and US sanctions crippled both, meaning a lot money Russian money is investing into Russian economy instead of going to Europe and US.

And with China, the entire point is that China didn’t take advantage with any military venture into Russia far east. So at this point, 4,209.3 kilometres out of 22,407 kilometres of Russian land border suddenly don’t require any significant security investment, which frees up significant amount of Russian attention and budget.

Right now, the main Chinese complaint against Russian border is that the border customs are too under staffed and the roads sucked, so the cross border traders have to wait for long hours there.

See, that’s the power of not playing a zero sum game and constantly trying to screw other people over.

Blueberry Puffs

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh or 1 bag frozen blueberries
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 12 slices bread
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups Half-and-Half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Mix first 7 ingredients in a saucepan. Heat until the sauce is semi-thick. Set aside and cool to room temperature.
2. Cut crusts from bread. Spray a 2-quart rectangular glass pan with a nonstick pan coating. Cover the bottom of pan with 6 bread slices.
3. In separate bowl, mix eggs, Half-and-Half, vanilla extract and sugar. Pour half of this mixture over bread.
4. Spread thickened, cooled blueberry sauce over bottom layer.
5. Arrange the other half of the bread on top of blueberry filling.
6. Pour remaining egg mixture over the top.
7. Sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg.
8. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.
9. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 60 minutes.
10. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into 6 servings or 12 servings for a buffet.
11. Top with brown sugar and a few blueberries.

Woke Staff Go Silent as New CEO Says This in Brutal Meeting

“The beginnings of the Third World War “Nuclear war: the scenario of the end of the world? In all likelihood, it will not be a conventional war.”

We learn that President Biden has authorized Ukraine to “conduct limited attacks inside Russia with American-made weapons”. Some of the United States’ allies had already gone further. Britain, several weeks ago, allowed Ukraine to use its Storm Shadow long-range missile systems for attacks in any part of Russia, and France and Germany have recently taken the same position. We are, therefore, at a critical moment and the probability of moving from low-key conflicts to a war of uncontrollable global dimensions, including the great powers.

In an interview on March 18, President Putin warned: “It is clear to everyone that a [conflict between Russia and NATO] would mark the final step before a Third World War. I don’t think anyone wants that.” Asked by Reuters about Emmanuel Macron’s comments, who said he did not rule out the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine and the risk of a conflict with NATO, Vladimir Putin quipped: “Everything is possible in the modern world.” Emmanuel Macron, who has said he does not want an “escalation”, last week called on the West to “jump” out, warning that a Russian victory in Ukraine would pose an “existential threat” to Europe. President Putin adds that NATO military personnel were already in Ukraine. Russian troops heard communications in English and French on the battlefield, he said. “There is nothing good in all this, first and foremost for them since they are dying there and in large numbers.”1

«Will NATO member states individually or collectively go to war against Russia? This is the question of Western decision-makers. In an interview with The Economist, Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the Alliance said: “The time has come for allies to reflect on whether they should lift some of the restrictions imposed on the use of weapons given to Ukraine (…) Especially now, when a lot of fighting is taking place in Kharkov, near the border, denying Ukraine the possibility of using these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very difficult to defend it.” He pre-announced Washington’s decision to the European Allies. Speaking at the Council of the European Union, he said: “According to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defence. And the right to self-defense also includes striking legitimate military objectives inside Russia.” (…) Extending the protection of the Atlantic anti-missile shield to Ukrainian territory would mean going to war collectively against Russia. But allowing Ukraine to attack Russia with weapons supplied by NATO member states would mean their entry into an individual war against Russia. For his part, Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, commented: “This gentleman [Jens Stoltenberg] is dangerous because talking about a Third World War, Western weapons capable of striking and killing inside Russia, seems to me very, very dangerous and reckless.”

Vladimir Putin, replied to journalists: “This constant escalation can lead to serious consequences. Let them [the European NATO member states] remember that their territory is small and their population dense,” Senator Dmitry Rogozin, former director of Roscosmos, directly warned Washington: “We are not only on the threshold, but already on the edge, beyond which, if the enemy is not stopped in such actions, an irreversible collapse of the strategic security of the nuclear powers will begin.”2

Nuclear war: the scenario of the end of the world?
In all likelihood, it will not be a conventional war; For the evil is profound; it is the temptation to perpetuate an empire without a vital prognosis for Western countries against an existential threat for Russia which will not hesitate to pulverize the West even if it is a plantar nuclear fire; This reflection from the website Notre Planète Info allows us to predict the consequences of a nuclear war: “Feared during the Cold War, total nuclear war has proved to be such a heavy threat to the very future of humanity that the major nuclear powers have refrained from using nuclear weapons on a massive scale”.3

«NATO’s expansionist policy and the revival of openly Nazi armies in Ukraine triggered a Russian special operation of demilitarization and denazification in February 2022. The United States has always kept the possibility of carrying out preventive nuclear strikes. The United States has 750 military bases in more than 80 countries. The US has already spent 230 years (out of 246 years of existence), in direct and proxy wars abroad. In addition, the Pentagon’s new national defense strategy adopted in late October 2022 crossed a new line by authorizing the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear threats. A particularly risky doctrine according to Democratic Senator Edward Markey: “The risk of nuclear war seriously threatens the survival of the human species. Unfortunately, by not ruling out being the first to use nuclear weapons, the United States is increasing the risk of an unintended nuclear escalation.” Indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia will retaliate against any nuclear attack with nuclear strikes. In other words, in the event of a potentially nuclear missile attack on Russia, hundreds of nuclear missiles will be launched immediately against the aggressive country, which will then be assured of total destruction.” [3]

The naivety of the West, which is banking on Russia’s misunderstanding of China
Alastair Crooke, the well-known journalist, describes the dilemma that in a way “blocks” and so much the better is the outbreak of the war of the West, NATO against Russia with the two blasters of Poland (enraged against Russia) and France of an unrecognizable paleo-Gaulian dignity: “The discourse of military escalation is fashionable in Europe, but both in the Middle East and in Ukraine, Western policy is in great difficulty. The paradox is that the Biden team – purely inadvertently – is giving birth to a “new world”. The more Western elites oppose birth — by “saving Zionism,” “saving European Ukraine,” and crushing dissidents — the more they accelerate the fall of Leviathan.”4

«The nearly 8,000-word China-Russia joint statement evokes the elementary laws of nature itself by describing the West’s usurpation of the fundamental principles of humanity, reality and order – a criticism that has engulfed the collective West mad with rage. But how and why can it be said that the West is accelerating its own dissolution? The New York Times gives a clue as to the “why”: The old “Anglo-Saxon” obsession with a defiant Russia that the West has never been able to bend to its will. Today, Russia and China signed a joint statement somewhat similar to the “limitless” friendship declared in February 2022, but which goes further. This statement describes their relationship as “superior to the political and military alliances of the Cold War era.” The friendship between the two states has no limits, there are no “forbidden” areas of cooperation. Ray McGovern, a former adviser to the US president, recounted how “when Biden took office in 2021, his advisers assured him that he could play on Russia’s fear (sic) of China – and drive a wedge between the two. This represents the ‘mother of all errors’ of judgment, for it causes the circumstances in which the Western ‘Order’ can dissolve.” “China is seeking to become the world’s most powerful economy and the world’s largest and most powerful military.” [4]

«In August 2019, when the United States withdrew from the treaty banning intermediate-range missiles in Europe, it had already deployed missiles in Romania and Poland. It is not possible to determine which missile is loaded because the tubes have lids. The time it takes for these missiles to reach Moscow would be 9 minutes from Poland and 10 minutes from Romania. (…) On May 18 in Moscow, in the wake of the last Xi-Putin summit – as M.K. Bhadrakumar notes. Western thought processes, Lavrov said, are moving dangerously toward “the contours of the formation of a European military alliance — with a nuclear component.” He deplored the fact that “they have chosen a confrontation on the battlefield: We are ready for it”. “The program to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia – militarily and otherwise – is a pure fantasy that will be resolutely countered.”[4]

The multidimensional cooperation between Russia and China scares the West
The West mistakenly thinks that it can impose its norm in the name of its rights; American and European strategists are doing everything they can to create dissension between Russia and China. Even President Biden believes in it. Alain Constant of the newspaper Le Monde, whom we have known much more professionally, writes: “In June 1997, Senator Joe Biden, returning from a trip to Moscow intended to reassure Russia about the enlargement of NATO, brushed aside the risks of Russia’s rapprochement with China. For the Biden of 1997, a Russian-Sino-Iranian rapprochement is unthinkable and is akin to political fiction. At the time, few American officials were aware of the danger. But Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former adviser, warns: “The worst-case scenario would be a grand coalition of China, Russia and perhaps Iran, united by a common hatred of the United States.” A nightmare scenario for the West that has become reality (…) After years of rapprochement and various treaties, the three countries are now clearly aligned on a common roadmap: to put an end to Western hegemony. All this while waging a hybrid fight against the West, at once military, technological, commercial, IT and civilizational.”5

In the same vein, Alain Frachon sends this message to the West: “There is no point in entertaining irresponsible illusions in Washington, Paris or Berlin: the Sino-Russian couple is not about to divorce. Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Europe and Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing a few days later have shown it unambiguously: the two countries are united by the same ambition, that of fighting against Western “hegemony”, In the spring of 2024, Xi Jinping recalled that he was a stakeholder in the conflict raging in Europe: He is on the Russian side (…) The aim is to increase trade between their two countries in the face of a “hostile and destructive American policy” intended, according to them, to “stem” the rise of China and Russia (…) This situation requires enhanced military cooperation. China will further support the war economy that Putin is establishing in Russia. Clearly, China is maintaining the Russian war effort.”6

Inventory of the world’s nuclear forces
According to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published in June 2023 (SIPRI), “in January 2023, 12,512 nuclear weapons, of which 9576 were stored in warehouses for potential use. United States (1770 units) and Russia (1674 units). Together, these two states possess about 90 percent of all nuclear weapons.”7

«Global military spending is rising amid war, escalating tensions and insecurity Global military spending has risen to a record high of $2443 billion. “States are prioritising military force, which risks fuelling the ‘action-reaction’ spiral Russia’s military spending has increased by 24% to $109 billion in 2023. Ukraine is at $64.8 billion. Ukraine has also received at least $35 billion in military aid to the United States, including $25.4 billion from the United States. Together, this aid and Ukraine’s military spending is equivalent to about 91% of Russian military spending. In 2023, the military spending of NATO’s 31 members amounts to $1341 billion, or 55% of global military spending.”8

«U.S. military spending increased by 2.3% to $916 billion in 2023, accounting for 68% of NATO’s total military spending. In 2023, most European NATO member states increased their spending. China’s increased military spending is leading to that of its neighbors. China, 2nd with 296 billion dollars. Israel’s military spending – the second largest in the region after Saudi Arabia’s – reached $27.5 billion in 2023. India is the 4th largest with $83.6 billion. Algeria’s military spending increased by 76% to $18.3 billion. Iran is the 4th largest military spender in the Middle East in 2023 with $10.3 billion.”9

The bluster of the West. Russia invincible with the RS-28 Sarmat missile
In a lucid contribution, Andrew Cockburn explains that the effects of Western propaganda hide a sad reality: “The obsession with technology has not benefited Washington. The United States produces sophisticated and expensive weapons, which Russian forces have quickly learned to neutralize. Andrew Cockburn talks about it: “American weapons have not prevented Ukraine from retreating and suffering a possible defeat. Many failures of U.S. weapons in Ukraine, including HIMARS LRMs, are related to the use of highly vulnerable guidance systems with GPS. Russia has long paid special attention to electronic warfare and excels at jamming GPS signals. “Most Western systems have proven ineffective in combat conditions” due to Russian jamming.10

In the extreme conditions, which is an existential problem for Russia, it is no longer bound by any commitment: “Russia withdrew from the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions Start-II/SNV-III, on February 23, 2023 In addition to its “conventional” continental ballistic missiles, Russia has acquired a heavy intercontinental ballistic missile called “RS-28 Sarmat” (or Satan 2 for the West), operational since the end of August 2023. It is a missile capable of striking any region on Earth with devastating and unparalleled firepower. This missile can carry up to 10 large nuclear warheads or 16 small warheads that can be aimed at a target each. They are thus much more destructive than the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War. And for good reason, this 200-ton missile, 35.5 meters long and 3 m in diameter, has a total power of 8 to 12 Mt of TNT (450 times the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima), enough to transform a country the size of France or Great Britain into an uninhabitable desert (its destruction zone is 650,000 km²) in just 2 minutes… With a speed of 20 times that of sound (26,000 km/h), this new missile is impossible to intercept At least 50 Sarmat launch systems have been deployed on the territory of Russia since 2023. Russia finally has a “Perimeter” system, nicknamed “Dead Hand” (“Main more”) by NATO experts. This is a final retaliatory nuclear strike even if Russia is bombed by nuclear strikes and is on the verge of annihilation.”[3]

Putin’s warning is direct and explicit
Journalist M.K. Bhadrakumur said: “Putin has been explicit and direct. He made it known in advance that he would be forced to respond with a nuclear capability if the Russian state was threatened. Putin addressed the Federal Assembly in front of the crème de la crème of the Russian elite and took the whole nation into confidence by saying that the country could be pushed into a nuclear war for its own preservation. In fact, US Secretary of State Lloyd Austin said at a congressional hearing in Washington that “NATO will fight with Russia” if Ukraine is defeated. To put it plainly, Austin meant that if Ukraine loses, NATO will have to oppose Russia. It is a call for Europe to mobilise for a continental war. What French President Emmanuel Macron said: The defeat of Russia is indispensable for the security and stability of Europe.”11

The Doomsday Clock The impotence of the international community
The nuclear threat in the world is illustrated in particular by the Doomsday Clock. Created in 1947, shortly after the American atomic bombings of Japan, and has been regularly updated since then, by members of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, (BAS) based at the University of Chicago. In 2012 it indicated 11:55 p.m., only 5 minutes before the end of the world. In 2023, its hand has moved forward again to just 90 seconds. The question of nuclear war therefore remains more topical than ever. UN humanitarian officials and members of civil society discussed the humanitarian community’s response to a nuclear explosion. “The humanitarian consequences of a nuclear attack or accident would be potentially devastating and catastrophic,” warned the Director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva.

An apocalyptic post-nuclear bombing scenario
«Within hours, 34 million people would be killed by the direct effect of nuclear explosions. Colossal and uncontrollable fires generated by the bombs would send 9 million tons of soot into the atmosphere. In less than 50 days, the entire planet would be affected by ash. For a decade, the sun’s rays would then be partially filtered. As a result, the global temperature would drop by 1.25°C in the first three years; global precipitation would decrease by 10% in the two to four years following the event; frosts would be more frequent. Agriculture would then be severely affected and therefore food resources for all of humanity. Finally, this scenario is accompanied by a generalized loss (75% at the global level – 65% in the tropics) of the stratospheric ozone layer for about 15 years.” [3]

The effects of nuclear weapons on human health
According to the specialized site: describing the dropping of an atomic bomb “The intense fireball generated at the very moment of the explosion of a nuclear weapon of this power would release heat, shock waves and radiation at the same time. The victims of thermal radiation: the temperature on earth, under the epicenter of the explosion, would reach about 7000°C and, in this area, all living beings would be pulverized. Tens of thousands of people are believed to be burned, most with horrific third-degree burns. A fireball and thermal radiation would be immediately followed by pressure waves traveling at supersonic speeds. The victims would have organ ruptures, open fractures, skull fractures and penetrating wounds. A significant number of people would lose their hearing as a result of perforated eardrums.”12

«Victims of the firestorm: It is also possible that radioactive fallout could be blown far by the wind, endangering far more people than the explosion and fires. Many of those affected would not realize they had received a life-threatening dose of radiation for several days or weeks. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the number of deaths attributed to bombings had reached 200,000 and 140,000 respectively in 1950. Even today, radiation-related illnesses and deaths are observed among the now elderly population of survivors of the 1945 bombings.” [12]

What should Algeria do?
«When the great make war on each other, it is the weak who die.” This quote from Jean Paul Sarre sums up the current situation. In the face of the new world that will give birth in pain, there will be collateral damage. We are close to a future place of confrontation! An atomic bomb 800 km from Algiers will impact life in Algeria, in the opposite direction. Let us remember the 13 multicolored jerboas, in addition to having ravaged and sterilized entire regions, allowed winds to disperse the atomic cloud over thousands of km in all directions!

It is truly an uncertain era in which all the settling of scores will have free rein, now that there is no United Nations capable of preserving morality and human dignity. This “War of all against all”, “Bellum omnium contra omnes” according to Hobbes, must oblige us more than ever to introspect and review our being in the world. Only force governs the world. Russia manages to resist the West thanks to the 450,000 engineers per year! and several million technicians!

Technological power should be based on science and military industry also on heavy equipment (tanks, planes, cannons) guided by computer power are the immune defenses that we need to strengthen. To do this, we must fundamentally review the training of engineers and scientists in terms of quantity and quality. The discipline of mathematics should be the apple of our eye and a special scholarship should be allowed to mathematics baccalaureates and technological disciplines, as President Boumediene did in his time. A President of whom some discover, late and in spite of themselves, the vision of the statesman who thinks in terms of the future. The next five-year term will also have to continue to bring the structuring projects to fruition: Betting on renewable energy and green hydrogen. Strengthen steel capacity, a strong link in any industrialization, particularly in the rail and military industries. The security of the country depends on it. This means that Algerians must all be vigilant together.

Conclusion
In one of his many meetings for the NO to the 1914-18 war, Jean Jaurès, the French socialist leader, understood where the ills of humanity came from. Rolling liberalism! He wrote: “Capitalism carries war within it, as the sleeping cloud carries the storm.” He will be assassinated! We live in a troubled time where anything can happen to God forbid In a famous poem from 1955, Jacques Brel, in a lucid and prophetic way, described the world of the time in the making.”
–Professor Chems Eddine Chitour

INTERVIEW: Land of the free, home of the grave

Scott Ritter on the assassination of the constitution and how three heavily-armed goons removed his passport with all of his rights. The grisly sequel follows…

Vintage illustration

ETERNAL LIBRARY: THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE

Submitted into Contest #251 in response to: Dream up a secret library. Write a story about an adventurer who discovers it. What’s in the library? Why was it kept secret?… view prompt

Why is the Chinese style of mutilevel democracy and meritocracy to select national leaders over 25-35 years of proven records much superior to the western style democracy of selecting their national boss?

Say you have cancer.

Would you pick someone from the street to manage your treatment just because he happens to be tall, old, and gives nice speeches?

Yet that is what America has been doing for problems far more complex than cancer.

How does a rank amateur who has never spent a day in public office expect to master the task of running an entire nation from day 1?

That will be no different from picking a Mr. Random to replace Tim Cook at apple.

How do you think apple stock will fare once the appointment is confirmed, particularly if the replacement cannot explain the difference between a potato chip and a silicon chip?

Whatever you think of the Chinese, their system GUARANTEES that anyone with even a sniff at the politburo knows thoroughly what governance is all about–the stakes involved, how the various arms work, the major players, and most importantly, how to go about fulfilling their own roles.

You cannot say the same about the American system right at the very top because the cabinet is essentially parachuted in, and that can include the president.

What’s your rudest encounter with a hotel staff?

My home burnt down. And a nonprofit organization was helping me and my wife by paying for a room for us for a couple days while we found new residence..

1 hotel ..the best western.. refused to house us bc they saw nonprofit residents as poor and filthy (said they ruined rooms…like rich cant do that too)

The next one, one we ended up being placed in for 2 days called the scottish inn was owned by an Indian looking lady and family id presume. The woman acted like, and stated, she was *doing us a favor* by taking paid in full rates for a room bc it was paid by an organization (guaranteed $ in bag) she also treated us like scum of the Earth. From the second we showed up being recited a hundred rules and placed in room next to office and told to not make any noise and that our 2 kids ages 5 and 8 needed to *keep quiet completely* to not cooking any food and accused of doing soo when we brought some of our belongings we salvaged in, and 1 item was an air fryer.

Day 2 they called room around noon and told us, not even 18 hrs later, that we needed to vacate room w our stuff soo they could clean.

We did soo.. and returned to the entire room covered in news paper and the owner lady came knocking 2 seconds in.. she told me i couldnt have my own tv in room at first.. then told me no drinks can be in room (kool aid) then told me no touching tv. Keep in mind that the room was spotless, wed been up 2 days at this point and slept most this time.. our kids had slept 8 or 9 of the 14 hrs as well and were very well behaved.

We hadnt done anything at all besides drink some kool aid and flick around cable tv channels and talk amongst ourselves.

Soo Finally I burst and defended myself and exclaimed how she is treating us different because she assumes we are poor, but we are still people and it needs to stop.

I asked if we had done anything wrong. To which she replied no.. soo i said *then leave us alone.. if we do anything wrong, then tell us and we will stop…until then, plz stop treating us like scum that will ruin things, its a hotel.. we paid, leave us be..you dont cover every customers room w news paper and hover over them w rules like a prison guard do you? Soo why do that to us.. you are NOT doing us a favor, we could have found other accomodations if youd been uncomfortable. I understand your worry but we didnt do anything to be treated poorly and its making us feel opressed and uncomfortable even talking w eachother at a normal tone.. please relax and leave us be*

Horrible experience and completely demeaning.

I had to stop her when she just sat there 20 mins in my room w my kids belittling me. Hope she didnt take offence I wasnt mad , just making clear it was rude.

The USA is now completely lawless

What’s the difference between a rich man in Nigeria and in the United States?

A Rich Man In Nigeria

1. He might have more than 7 cars. He is not paying tax or insurance on them so they are easy for him to maintain.
2. Rather than for Nigerian Police officers to protect citizens, you see them guarding the Nigerian rich men. The middle class always employ Gate men. (security issues)
3. The Nigerian rich men mostly send their wives to USA for child birth because of citizenship. The uncertainties in Nigeria are too many and he wants the best for his kids.
4. The Nigeria rich man always seeks medical aid abroad.He doesn’t trust the Nigerian health care system even though we have both public and private hospitals.Nigeria President son had a bike accident ,he was transported to Germany for check up/treatment. His father (President Buhari ) almost stayed in London for a year because of health care.Yes they are rich and can afford this extravagant life.
5. The Nigeria rich man evades tax a lot. Yes FIRS, the Nigerian version of IRS, aren’t effective.Till today, we do not even know how much Nigerian legislatives earn monthly.
6. The Nigerian rich man might establish his own private university and send his own kids abroad for college education.

A rich man in the USA.

1. He enjoys a business conducive environment.
2. He enjoys access to health care
3. He gets taxed for all his properties and liabilities.
4. He files his taxes or risks jail.
5. If he is an Entrepreneur, he employs workers and pays them with minimum wage. Nigeria is still battling with fixing its minimum wage to $100 monthly. The rich men in Nigeria are seriously taking advantage of the poor youths, paying them peanuts.

I hope you understand my points from another view of life.

Thanks

No One Wants to Work Anymore ….. The Debt Trend

Will WW3 involve all the G20 countries?

Hopefully yes!

You see Europeans are against war… in Europe they’re absolutely fine with devastation and killing OUTSIDE Europe.

After WW2 it was never again in Europe.

This is why the vast majority of them supported the Iraq and Afghan genocides. The people loved the 20 year mass murder of Iraqis and Afghans and most of them were happy about it.

All their governments which remember are elected and WHOLLY REPRESENTATIVE of the people as they’re democracies remember which is the PERFECT MOST REPRESENTATIVE system support killing of brown people.

This is why Europe needs to be utterly devastated along with the USA. Some of them might have the awareness and think OMG we did this for years against other countries! Are we the baddies?

most of them will be nah! They’re just insects!!!

Wanna play?

Col. Larry Wilkerson on Scott Ritter and Russia’s Devastating Warning to NATO

Everyone is convinced that the United States is in full scale collapse.

What is a historical fact that would sadden most people if they found out?

In the 1860’s, abused children were not protected under the law. So animal activists had to step in to rescue an abused child. Mary Ellen Wilson was the first child abuse case in America that initiated welfare rights for abused children.

If you beat and mistreated your furry animal, the newly formed ASPCA (the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) had the right to take it away from you. In some cases, you could be imprisoned.

If you beat and neglected a living, breathing child, the law allowed it because children were considered the property of the father.

Little Mary’s story begins tragically. Her father died when she was born, forcing her penniless mother to place her in the care of Martha Score. After Mary’s mother missed a few payments, Martha Score cruelly placed Mary Wilson into the New York City Department of Charities without her mother’s consent.

In that era, adoption was easy and unregulated. The couple walked into the orphanage, claimed to be her legitimate parents and took Mary Wilson home with them. The purpose of adopting her was to have an indentured servant, basically an unpaid servant.

Thomas McCormack died shortly after the adoption, and Mary McCormack remarried to Francis McConnell. It was during this period where Mary Wilson experienced extreme abuse. It was common knowledge in the neighborhood that her adopted mother savagely beat her.

Mary Wilson was beaten, burned, whipped and locked in a closet for hours. She was forced to do heavy labor and to sleep on the floor. The little girl slept on a dirty mat in a closet where she was chained like a dog.

During that period, Etta Wheeler, who was a missionary working for the poor, heard of the abuse and investigated. She expected to find an abused child but was still horrified by what she saw. Mary Wilson’s frail, starved body was covered in burns and cuts.

She went to authorities to have Mary Wilson removed from the abusive household but local authorities were unwilling to help, pointing out that the law allowed for physical discipline and Mary Wilson was the property of Francis McConnell.

“She’s better off with a home than on the street!” was the common belief.

Lost on what to do next, she decided to appeal to the organization that advocated against animal cruelty. Henry Bergh, the founder of ASPCA, was eager to help and built a legal case after Etta Wheeler gathered evidence and testimony on the abuse.

During the case, this was Mary Wilson’s chilling words on what she experienced.

My father and mother are both dead. I don’t know how old I am. I have no recollection of a time when I did not live with the Connollys. Mamma has been in the habit of whipping and beating me almost every day. She used to whip me with a twisted whip — a rawhide. The whip always left a black and blue mark on my body. I have now the black and blue marks on my head which were made by Mamma and also a cut on the left side of my forehead which was made by a pair of scissors. She struck me with the scissors and cut me; I have no recollection of ever having been kissed by any one — have never been kissed by Mamma. I have never been taken on my mamma’s lap and caressed or petted. I never dared to speak to anybody, because if I did, I would get whipped. I do not know for what I was whipped — Mamma never said anything to me when she whipped me. I do not want to go back to live with Mamma, because she beats me so. I have no recollection ever being on the street in my life.

Mary Wilson went on to live a happy life under the care of Etta Wheeler’s younger sister. She married and had two daughters, later adopting an orphaned girl. One of her daughters was named Etta, after the woman who rescued her.

She lived happily till her death at the age of 92. According to her children and grandchildren, she rarely discussed her early years and always possessed a kind, caring nature despite her horrific past.

After Mary Wilson’s case, laws were established against child abuse.

For the longest time in history, children and woman were considered property of their father or husband. This story goes to show how backwards society once was.

Can you believe that animals had more protection than children in history? It’s saddening.

Footnotes

[1] Mary Ellen Wilson: When Abused Children Had Fewer Rights Than Pets

[2] Mary Ellen Wilson – Wikipedia

Cool find

What happened in your office that became the stuff of legend?

I am a manager at a gourmet grocer and caterer.

One morning, my catering delivery driver comes running in the building to tell me that a trailer truck pulled in behind him as he was leaving with a catering delivery. The driver of the truck was nasty and refused to back up his truck.

This was a delivery for us from a company that we dealt with for many years. Apparently he was a new driver as we had never seen him before.

I am a 5′6″ 120 lb female and was probably about 56 years old at the time. Just saying, you’ll see.

So I went outside and asked the driver to move his truck. He refused and started swearing at me using words that would make my mother blush. He was standing in front of me with clenched fists. Very calmly, I told him I had 2 choices: I could call his boss or I could call the police. “you choose,” I said. He raised his fists and starting running towards me. I stood still with my arms crossed and then he stopped a few inches from me. “you’ll move your truck then”, I said. He turned and got back in the cab. I turned to go back in the building and there behind me was the 6′2” chef, the 6′ butcher and a 6′ driver. all big men.

How we laughed. I thought I had it under control all by myself! The guys couldn’t decide if I was a fool or brave. I thought I was brave!

I did call the drivers boss and that was the last time we saw him! We still laugh about that day several years later.

Chinese General “War is coming” Wait and You will See.

Very interesting “interview”.

The content you produce is top-tier and very valuable. High level overview of 'perceptions', 'narratives', and 'situations'. Becoming my go-to channel for Asia Pacific. Respect.

The forced closing of the China embassy in Houston seems to be a prelude to war by the USA. Will the USA land troops in Taiwan to force a war?

First it is not an embassy but a consulate. The Chinese ambassador resides in the Chinese embassy in DC, the capital city.

China has other consulates that serve different geographic regions of the US.

A prelude to war will require the severing of diplomatic relations, and the ambassador will close the embassy and return to China unmolested.

But of course, the United States is not known to be a stickler for international law so there is a nonzero possibility of unprovoked hostilities.

Unlikely but this administration has shown there are no bottomlines when it comes to the degree of outlandish and loutish they are willing to go.

Larry Johnson: Russia Is Flashing Red, the West Better Pay Attention

So worrying. This is important to view.

Can you put a soldier out of his misery?

NOTE: This information was true up until 2009 and I cannot unequivocally state that it is currently taught to medics and again, I doubt anyone would admit to others in a public forum if they had participated in the situation.

Yes, you can. Medics are taught how to but not instructed to. There is a terrible and fine line out there in “the suck” that medics, and medics alone, are asked to walk.

You don’t end a person’s life. Full stop. In the rare case that a soldier is mortally wounded (no way to maintain an airway or control bleeding and no higher medical assets within a reasonable time)… then a medic could administer an extra ampule of morphine or two. Even though the doctors and instructors teach the medics this, in the end, it’s on that one person’s shoulders. And conscience.

Is it better to leave your friend/co-worker screaming in agony until they are too weak to yell? Then watch them convulse every few minutes for a couple of hours. Then finally they stop responding to your voice or even painful stimulus.

Brain death is setting in. It takes a few minutes or a few days.

Every minute you have a seriously wounded soldier in your unit you have medics that are out of the fight. You also have a much more complicated command situation. Nobody (NOBODY) makes this decision lightly. They also never talk about it.

In the movies, there is always an EVAC helicopter with an escort available and ready to risk anything to get to the wounded. In combat, it’s not always possible. “Birds” get grounded for many reasons and MEDEVAC Strykers are delayed by the need for escort vehicles/crews and IED laden roads. In almost all cases, the wounded will live to see the operating room. In some form.

Combat wounded are intense. Gunfire is still raging in many cases. People are yelling, confusion is everywhere. The medic will be well trained but under a lot of stress. They know that they have to address breathing and bleeding in 2–3 minutes. They also need to avoid causing further injury and find any hidden wounds. While doing this they have to coordinate any available soldiers with combat lifesaver training to assist them with this or other injured. Finally, they also have to constantly keep the command apprised of the situation.

Who has X injury?

Can they return to the fight?

Do they need to be evacuated from battle or can we take them with us?

If they need to go NOW, how long do they realistically have?

Can we ground evac through the combat or do we need a bird?

While answering all of that the medic has assessed the wounded. Tried to control the bleeding and established a secure airway. Then they need to find a vein for an IV (super hard on a patient with blood loss or missing limbs). While doing this they also need to fill out the ‘9 Line’ medical evacuation form for the radio. Once this is done the medic will check the field dressings, the IV, the breathing. Record the wounds and vitals. Mark when/if morphine was given (how much, when, where administered) and done so that the surgeon can see it and blood doesn’t wash it away. Often in black sharpie on the forehead if the patient is unconscious- as awful as that sounds it works well.

So, don’t talk about the morality of this until you walk a mile (or 26) in a medic’s boots. Don’t talk about what happens until you live and work with a small team of men and women in a combat zone for over a year at a time. Infantry units are closer than most marriages/families. Your platoon SGT is dad and doc is mom. It’s a horrific moment to see one of your guys literally torn in half and dying. It’s much worse to know that due to a sandstorm there aren’t any flights that day. It’s hell on earth when you realize nobody is coming by road because of the IED you just hit. It’s unimaginable when you realize you only have 2 morphine ampules left and 3 critically wounded friends.

I didn’t have to make the hardest choice. I wouldn’t tell you if I did.

Great question. I hope someone who actually held this responsibility in combat can clear it up a little.

Update 2/1/21: I have received word from one medic who states they are no longer issued morphine, but it has been replaced with fentanyl and ketamine. I have two friends still in service who are currently issued morphine while fentanyl is on the medevac stryker, but I believe Mr. Walker regarding standard issue. Thank you to Alan Walker for the comment.

USA DEPLOYING 300K TROOPS TO EUROPE! RUSSIAS NUCLEAR LINE CROSSED, ATTACKS ON RUSSIA BEGIN

He is talking about what I have been saying. When the empire collapses, it starts locking down the country.

BREAKING NEWS: ISRAEL IS LAUNCHING ATTACKS UPON SOUTHERN LEBANON

Hal Turner World

Multiple Massive Explosions reported in Southern Lebanon as the Israeli Air Force appears to have begun Striking several Hezbollah Positions near the Border with Israel.; Strikes so Intense that Houses within the City of Kiryat Shmona are reported to be Shaking.

Drone reconnaissance activity over the Naqoura and Tyre sectors, south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon.

Says one observer:

“Israel is bombing Rafah. Israel is bombing Lebanon. Israel is bombing Syria. Bombing 3 different countries at the same time is not victim behavior. It is terrorism.”

Crossing red lines w/ Jeffrey Sachs

Very good, and he lays out a really good history of how we got here.

https://youtu.be/c-gIFpYWPuA

U.S. Surveillance Drone “FORTE-12” Has Gone “Missing” Over Black Sea

Hal Turner World

American Recon Drone “FORTE12” has apparently gone down in the Black Sea.  RUMORS say it was hit with jamming or Electronic Warfare (EW).

The intelligence drone was a Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk, flying out of an air base in Sicily. It circled at an altitude of 15.5 kilometers above the neutral waters of the Black Sea near Crimea according to the data of the website Flightradar24.

Judging by the data of the site, which allows real-time monitoring of aircraft movement, the reconnaissance drone flew out of the airfield Catania on the Italian island of Sicily. The drone gained height and proceeded through airspace of Greece and Bulgaria to the Black Sea.

According to Flightradar, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) belongs to the US Air Force and has registration number 10-2045, the call sign Forte-12.

The flight of the drone is tracked by more than five thousand users,  ranking first in the “popularity” on the FlightRadar24 website platform. According data at 11:39 Moscow time, drone tracking stopped on the site, the board stopped displaying on the map.

According to the manufacturing company, the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle is designed for reconnaissance and surveillance. It is capable of flying at high altitudes for more than 30 hours, is designed to receive images of large tracts of land with a high resolution in almost real time, is able to act in any weather and any time of day. In addition, such devices are used to support communication as repeaters.

As noted on the manufacturer’s website, Global Hawk, used by the US Air Force since 2001, “identifies potential threats, allowing commanders to gain a better understanding of their area of interest”.

This radio show called U.S. Central Command, twice, for comment. Both calls were picked up, with an almost immediate hang-up.  I then called the Pentagon Press office. That call was answered by “Quinn” and I told him I was trying to reach CENTCOM but two calls resulted in Hang-ups; that I was trying to get a comment about FORTE-12 Drone being downed in the Black Sea.  I asked him for a better contact number for CENTCOM.  He asked me to hold.  He came back a minute later saying “I am putting you through to Major Dietz.  The call rang 4x and voice mail picked up saying “You have reached a mailbox that cannot accept messages.”  

What is the scariest thing you know too much about?

The Jonestown Massacre.

If you think that’s trash on the ground, you would be, as the first helicopter pilots who flew over, mistaken.

These are the bodies of 918 members of the Peoples Temple who were brutally murdered by madman so high on himself and a truckload of barbiturates, I bet he still roams the location in a dream of undeserved self worship, refusing to accept that he died decades ago.

He died not the same way as the others.. Oh no that would be far too painful. You can mix as much drugs and sedatives into a vat of “Koolaid” as you want, it won’t make a difference when you throw buckets of potassium cyanide along with it. Cyanide has no mercy or morals, it stops the body from absorbing oxygen. Simple as that. It suffocates you, and I promise you it is not pleasant or “pain free” as Jim Jones promised it would be. The sedatives added would take up to 30 min to start working. Cyanide killed them in 5 min.

No my friends, Mr Jones took a bullet to the head. Probably didn’t even do it himself. He was too cowardly to drink his “potion”, nor shoot himself. Based on what his son said about him later, he knew he was a fraud. And when all failed, he refused to fail alone, and made all his followers follow him into death. Some were brainwashed, but many of them were forced.

He made the children drink first, so by the time they had gone, the parents wouldn’t have much to live for, and would want to go with their children into peace.

Jones was a sick man, and a terrible lesson for us to learn. Let us learn it well.

Those who forget the past, are condemned to repeat it.

The US Sanctioned China…You Won’t Believe How Beijing Responded!

Taiwan is a jurisdiction that never invade its neighbor given that it has the world most advanced military technology. How many hours can China last it comes to battle ?

You are quite deluded. Taiwan’s military is primitive compared to the militaries of China and USA.

A war between China and Taiwan, excluding the participation of USA, would last a matter of days. And Taiwan would LOSE.

All of Taiwan’s military equipment from USA are second-rate leftovers from the US military. Taiwan does not have access to F-22, F-35, and advanced US Navy ships and submarines.

Malaysian News has not done adequate research on the matter. Or, Malaysian News chooses to be wilfully ignorant. Denial is not a river in Africa.

Scott Ritter Exposed: Secret U.S.-NATO Challenges Russia, Nuclear War is Inevitable

German Chocolate Doughnuts

Surprise! There’s a yummy secret filling in these chocolate-glazed doughnuts.

Prep: 30 min | Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 4 cups Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme™ Coconut Pecan Frosting
• 1/2 cup Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme™ Chocolate Frosting
• 1 can Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Flaky Layers refrigerated honey butter biscuits
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup flaked coconut, toasted*

Instructions

1. In 3-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.
2. Meanwhile, spoon coconut pecan frosting into decorating bag fitted with 1/2-inch wide tip. Set aside.
3. In medium bowl, stir chocolate frosting and 1 tablespoon water until smooth. Set aside.
4. Place paper towels under cooling rack. Separate dough into 8 biscuits; gently place 2 biscuits at a time in hot oil. Cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until golden brown. Using tongs, gently turn over; cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack; cool 2 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix pecans and coconut.
6. To fill doughnuts, insert decorating tip** into side of each biscuit. Squeeze about 2 tablespoons of coconut pecan frosting into center.
7. Dip one side of each biscuit in chocolate glaze. Sprinkle with pecan mixture.
8. Serve warm or cool.

Notes

* To toast coconut, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread coconut in ungreased shallow pan. Bake uncovered 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.

** If you don’t have a decorating bag and tip, use a 1 gallon plastic freezer bag. Spoon frosting into bag and cut 1/2 inch off one corner of bag. Fill doughnuts as stated.

Nutrition

Per serving: Calories 530 Calories from Fat 290 Total Fat 32g Saturated Fat 10g Trans Fat 2 1/2g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 600mg Total Carbohydrate 55g Dietary Fiber 1g Sugars 1g Protein 4g

% Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% Iron 8%

Exchanges:1 Starch; 0 Fruit; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 6 1/2 Fat

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

What is the craziest thing that has happened to you as an entrepreneur?

Some years ago my brother and I decided to open up a cigar parlor. We wanted to open it at the newly-developed Patriot Place, home of the New England Patriots. Being a marketing manager by trade I researched and wrote a business plan for the project, learning much along the way. For example, the average retail store generates about 150 dollars of revenue per square foot: for decades, Tiffany’s generated the most at 4000 dollars per square foot til Apple came along and blew everyone out of the water at 6000 dollars per square foot.

I did traffic pattern analysis and so on. I got all kinds of rental statistics from the Patriot Place management office and wrote a plan. We got a lawyer and incorporated. We got an accountant and became an LLC. We went to a bank and got 400,000 in SBA financing. We went to the Chamber of Commerce and they hooked us up with a business team at a business college who wrote our financial plan for us for free. We went to Patriot Place sales management and they showed us a concrete box available in the mall. It was 11oo square feet. The rent was 89,000 dollars a year. We hired an architect who drew up a plot plan and did basic diagrams of the layout we wanted. We worked with the town health inspector to make sure there were no gotchas. The triumph was going to the town to apply for a liquor license. By the merest of chance a liquor license had been surrendered that day and the town clerk approved my application. All I needed was a rubber-stamp approval from the town government and the clerk told me it was a formality. It cost me 250 dollars. By comparison, a liquor license in Massachusetts sold by a business costs between 250,000 and 500,000 dollars. I was in the right place at the right time. Most of the profit in any food business is the liquor. A cigar, after taxes, might make 20 percent. Booze makes many times that. Many businesses are propped up by the booze sales alone. Everything else is just a gimmick to get customers to come in and buy booze.

Once the Plan was complete with architectural drawings, contractor lists, materials required, SBA documents, business plan, pro-forma financial documents and every other duck lined up we contacted Patriot Place management. They arranged a sit-down meeting to discuss the viability of our potential business in their mall. Meanwhile we contacted all the businesses that would be around us. Almost every single one of them said a variation of the following: “Do not do business with these people. You are getting in bed with the devil. Run away while you still have the time. Once you sign a five year contract it will be too late to run away.” But by this time we had invested over 40,000 dollars in the operation. So we went forward.

The meeting was scheduled for 2:oo PM at the Patriot Place boardroom. My brother and I put on our best suits: we made copies of the plans and had them bound. We wanted to look professional and capable. At 2:00 we showed up at the Patriot Place office. No one was around. After about fifteen minutes a guy showed up who said he represented Patriot Place rental management. He looked about 25. He was wearing cut-off shorts and flip flops, a concert T-shirt and dark Ray-Bans. He told us the conference room was not available so we would have to do the meeting at Davios restaurant. We walked to the restaurant in silence. I was hoping we would meet other officials there who were more professional. But when we got to the restaurant it was fully booked. The guy stood outside in his flip flops for a minute and then he said, “We can do the presentation here on the park bench.” I was incredulous. We were going to give a business presentation in the middle of a mall on a bench, with shoppers passing by. So I said, “Will others from the organization be joining us?” and he grinned and said, “It’s just me, baby!”. What choice did we have but to sit down and present? My tie was flapping in the wind. My brother was silent. I handed a packet to the guy and went to my Power Point summary. At first all he was interested in was our liquor license: how we got it, the miraculous story of how I was in the right place at the right time. He listened intently.

But when I started to present the guy’s cell phone rang. He picked it up. “It’s my girlfriend,” he said. And started talking. Then while he was talking he said to us, “Yeah, keep going.” There was a pit in the bottom of my stomach. It was like talking to air as I spoke while he carried on an animated conversation with his girlfriend. I finished before he did. We waited in silence for him to finish his call. When he was done all he said was, “Does this packet include everything?” I said, “Yes, the business plan, architectural diagrams, contracts, LLC legal documents, all of it.” “OK,” he said, getting up, “We’ll let you know in two weeks. By the way, it’s triple net and we take 2 percent of any revenues over 1 million dollars per year. That’s revenues, not profit. And you have to use our services for snow and trash removal, plumbing, electrical and janitorial. You’ll be billed monthly.” And he got up and left.

My brother and I sat there. It was like getting raped. Neither of us said a thing. We just looked around at the mall. “It’s like getting in bed with the Devil,” that store owner told us.

Two weeks went by. They never called us. Another week went by. They never called us. Finally I called the name on the card the man had given us. It took him awhile to remember who we were. “Oh, we’re not doing that,” he said, dismissively, “but thanks for the Plan. It was very thorough. We’ll use it as a template if we ever decide to put in a cigar store.” And he hung up. No good-bye. I stood there looking at my cellphone like an idiot. We were out 40,000 dollars and had nothing to show for it. Later we were alerted by the town that our liquor license had been denied. It had been given to Patriot Place instead.

We never went to Patriot Place again, not to shop, not to eat, not for anything. They were the devil.

Anti-War Activist Passport Confiscated & Pulled Off Plane By State Dept. – Scott Ritter

What is the craziest thing that has happened to you as an entrepreneur?

Some years ago my brother and I decided to open up a cigar parlor. We wanted to open it at the newly-developed Patriot Place, home of the New England Patriots. Being a marketing manager by trade I researched and wrote a business plan for the project, learning much along the way. For example, the average retail store generates about 150 dollars of revenue per square foot: for decades, Tiffany’s generated the most at 4000 dollars per square foot til Apple came along and blew everyone out of the water at 6000 dollars per square foot.

I did traffic pattern analysis and so on. I got all kinds of rental statistics from the Patriot Place management office and wrote a plan. We got a lawyer and incorporated. We got an accountant and became an LLC. We went to a bank and got 400,000 in SBA financing. We went to the Chamber of Commerce and they hooked us up with a business team at a business college who wrote our financial plan for us for free. We went to Patriot Place sales management and they showed us a concrete box available in the mall. It was 11oo square feet. The rent was 89,000 dollars a year. We hired an architect who drew up a plot plan and did basic diagrams of the layout we wanted. We worked with the town health inspector to make sure there were no gotchas. The triumph was going to the town to apply for a liquor license. By the merest of chance a liquor license had been surrendered that day and the town clerk approved my application. All I needed was a rubber-stamp approval from the town government and the clerk told me it was a formality. It cost me 250 dollars. By comparison, a liquor license in Massachusetts sold by a business costs between 250,000 and 500,000 dollars. I was in the right place at the right time. Most of the profit in any food business is the liquor. A cigar, after taxes, might make 20 percent. Booze makes many times that. Many businesses are propped up by the booze sales alone. Everything else is just a gimmick to get customers to come in and buy booze.

Once the Plan was complete with architectural drawings, contractor lists, materials required, SBA documents, business plan, pro-forma financial documents and every other duck lined up we contacted Patriot Place management. They arranged a sit-down meeting to discuss the viability of our potential business in their mall. Meanwhile we contacted all the businesses that would be around us. Almost every single one of them said a variation of the following: “Do not do business with these people. You are getting in bed with the devil. Run away while you still have the time. Once you sign a five year contract it will be too late to run away.” But by this time we had invested over 40,000 dollars in the operation. So we went forward.

The meeting was scheduled for 2:oo PM at the Patriot Place boardroom. My brother and I put on our best suits: we made copies of the plans and had them bound. We wanted to look professional and capable. At 2:00 we showed up at the Patriot Place office. No one was around. After about fifteen minutes a guy showed up who said he represented Patriot Place rental management. He looked about 25. He was wearing cut-off shorts and flip flops, a concert T-shirt and dark Ray-Bans. He told us the conference room was not available so we would have to do the meeting at Davios restaurant. We walked to the restaurant in silence. I was hoping we would meet other officials there who were more professional. But when we got to the restaurant it was fully booked. The guy stood outside in his flip flops for a minute and then he said, “We can do the presentation here on the park bench.” I was incredulous. We were going to give a business presentation in the middle of a mall on a bench, with shoppers passing by. So I said, “Will others from the organization be joining us?” and he grinned and said, “It’s just me, baby!”. What choice did we have but to sit down and present? My tie was flapping in the wind. My brother was silent. I handed a packet to the guy and went to my Power Point summary. At first all he was interested in was our liquor license: how we got it, the miraculous story of how I was in the right place at the right time. He listened intently.

But when I started to present the guy’s cell phone rang. He picked it up. “It’s my girlfriend,” he said. And started talking. Then while he was talking he said to us, “Yeah, keep going.” There was a pit in the bottom of my stomach. It was like talking to air as I spoke while he carried on an animated conversation with his girlfriend. I finished before he did. We waited in silence for him to finish his call. When he was done all he said was, “Does this packet include everything?” I said, “Yes, the business plan, architectural diagrams, contracts, LLC legal documents, all of it.” “OK,” he said, getting up, “We’ll let you know in two weeks. By the way, it’s triple net and we take 2 percent of any revenues over 1 million dollars per year. That’s revenues, not profit. And you have to use our services for snow and trash removal, plumbing, electrical and janitorial. You’ll be billed monthly.” And he got up and left.

My brother and I sat there. It was like getting raped. Neither of us said a thing. We just looked around at the mall. “It’s like getting in bed with the Devil,” that store owner told us.

Two weeks went by. They never called us. Another week went by. They never called us. Finally I called the name on the card the man had given us. It took him awhile to remember who we were. “Oh, we’re not doing that,” he said, dismissively, “but thanks for the Plan. It was very thorough. We’ll use it as a template if we ever decide to put in a cigar store.” And he hung up. No good-bye. I stood there looking at my cellphone like an idiot. We were out 40,000 dollars and had nothing to show for it. Later we were alerted by the town that our liquor license had been denied. It had been given to Patriot Place instead.

We never went to Patriot Place again, not to shop, not to eat, not for anything. They were the devil.

Apricot Cream Cheese French Toast

Ingredients

French Toast

• 1 loaf French bread, cut into 8 very thick slices
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup pecans
• Confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apricot Sauce

• 1 (12 ounce) jar apricot preserves
• 1/2 cup orange juice

Instructions

French Toast

1. Make a pocket in bread slices by slicing again, but not all the way through.
2. Mix the cream cheese with the pecans and a couple tablespoons of the confectioners’ sugar. Stuff the pocket in the French bread with the cream cheese mixture. Dip into a mixture of whipping cream, eggs, nutmeg and vanilla extract.
3. Grill on hot griddle, and serve with Apricot Sauce.

Apricot Sauce

1. Mix apricot preserves with orange juice over low heat.

Douglas Macgregor: Why you should pity American Soldiers | Truth on Washington