When I was a Senior in High School, the big “buzzword” on television and radio at that time was “rebate”. All the elected officials were talking about giving “rebates” of huge wads of money back to the citizenry.
Lot and lots of talk… “hot air”. Round and round.
So when I ran as the Class President, I too emulated this presidential model.
It was all about “rebates”.
Ah. When we are young we learn from our environment. I can well imagine that today, students are talking about “tariffs”, and “sanctions” too.
LOL
Oh, for sure, just an observation. I think that it is both curious and funny. I wonder how prevalent that this is in human culture. I suppose that it is a universal normal. Lordy!
Just some musing thoughts.
Today…
⚡ ALERT! THEY DID IT! USA Goes NUCLEAR on Russia! TOMAHAWKS!! NATO PLANES GO DARK! Cancel Plans!
What was very useful when it first came out but is useless today?
From the late 19th century through the mid to late part of the 20th century, farmers built silos, like the one to the right of the barn in this picture:
A silo (not to be confused with a grain bin, which is for dry storage of crops) is a vertical, tank-like structure. High moisture fodder (typically, green cornstalks) are chopped and transferred into the silo by means of a large blower. Over a few weeks’ time, the fodder ferments, preserving it and converting the sugars to acids which make the fodder more easily digested by cattle.
The fermented fodder (called silage) is used as cattle feed. It has higher nutrient and calorie density than grass hay, which was the primary feed for cattle before the invention of silage in the mid-1800s.
The silo has a few problems:
- Labor intensive. To unload the silo, a farmhand must climb up the silo, open a door at the level of the silage, and manually shovel the silage to a wagon below.
- Limited capacity. As the herd grows, the silo may be inadequate. A farmer ends up limiting the size of his herd according to his storage capacity.
- Liability. Silage is corrosive, so a silo has a limited useful life. At some point, the silo becomes unsafe and must be torn down and replaced. Demolishing a silo is very dangerous.
- Expensive. Silos are costly to build.
Farmers rarely build silos anymore, but they still feed their cattle silage.
How do they make silage instead?
They pile it on the ground and cover it with waterproof, airtight plastic tarps weighed down with used tires (or just tire sidewalls) to keep the wind from blowing it away.
It works just as well, offers virtually unlimited capacity, is relatively inexpensive, and allows for the silage to be handled entirely mechanically.
If silage piles are so much better, why were silos even invented? The technology of the 1800s and early 1900s didn’t include large, waterproof, airtight tarps or tractors capable of handling the silage more efficiently than manual labor. Those technologies are more recent, and supplanted silos as the means of producing and handling silage.
Even if a farm has a silo, the farmer won’t use it.
To be honest, some silos are still in use, but it is not popular — just like many other obsolete technologies. Some farmers may have limited ground space, making a silo necessary.
Photo credits:
- Barn and silo: the author. This barn and silo are on my property. I don’t feed my cattle silage; I don’t have the resources or need to produce silage in a cost-effective manner.
- Silage pile: Hubbard Feeds (photographer unknown; may be a secondary source). The photo accompanied an article about silage pile safety. The person standing on top of the pile is taking a dangerous risk: the sheer, vertical wall of the face of the pile can collapse without warning, trapping those working around the pile. It’s recommended to limit the height of silage piles to reduce the danger of entrapment.
The Male Body
Hmm…yeah… It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves, considering that the ancient Greeks famously fetishized the male body in sculptures depicting powerful and illustrious men as enormous figures with tense, rippling muscles. Sometimes these figures appear partially dressed in draperies or robes; often they are completely naked.
To the modern eye, their bodies are ideal, except for one, ahem, crucial detail. “They have small or very small penises, relative to the average human,” says art historian Andrew Lear, a specialist in ancient Greek art and sexuality. “And they’re usually flaccid.”
Countless contemporary art lovers and historians have been struck by the modest nature of the phalluses found in classical sculptures of gods, emperors, and other elite men, from Zeus to celebrated athletes. The small members seem at odds with the massive bodies and mythically large personalities they accompany. But the ancient Greeks had their reasons for this aesthetic choice.
If you go back in time to the ancient Greek world around 400 BC you will find that large, erect penises were not considered desirable, nor were they a sign of power or strength. In his play The Birds (ca. 419–423 BC), the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes summed up the ideal traits of his male peers as “a glistening chest, glowing skin, broad shoulders, a tiny tongue, strong buttocks, and a small prick.”
The small penis was in keeping with Greek ideals of male beauty. It was a badge of the highest culture and a model of civilization .
In ancient Greek art, most of the features of a commanding man were depicted as broad, firm, and sleek, so why weren’t these same aesthetic principles applied to the penis? Part of the answer lies in how the penises of less admirable men were depicted.
Satyrs, lustful and depraved, in particular, were rendered with very large, erect genitals, sometimes almost as tall as their torsos. According to mythology, these creatures were part man, part animal, and totally lacking in moderation, a quality reviled by Greek high society. Large penises were vulgar and outside the cultural norm, something flaunted by the barbarians of the world . Indeed, across many amphora friezes, well-endowed satyrs can be seen drinking and frolicking wildly.
In Greek comedy, fools regularly displayed large genitals, “the sign of stupidity, more of a beast than a man.” So too did artistic representations of the Egyptians, who had long been enemies of the Greeks. In this way, satyrs, fools, and enemies served as foils for the gods and male heroes, who were honored for their self-control and intelligence (along with other qualities requiring moderation, such as loyalty and prudence). If large phalluses represented gluttonous appetites, then one might conclude that the small, flaccid penis represented self-control.
While today, being well-endowed is often equated with power and even solid leadership, the penis was never a badge of manhood in ancient Greece as it was in other cultures. Power came from the intellect needed to fuel a man’s responsibility as a father of children.
they used the penis as an indicator of character.
At the time, it indicated whether or not a man was trustworthy. But while the cultural symbolism of the penis has changed since then, some things haven’t – Then, as now, the male sex was seen as the distillation of a man’s ability to dominate.
The Coming Collapse: Why This Recession Will Be Worse Than 2008.
Oh my…
Marilyn Monroe is said to have smiled at Einstein one day and said:
“If we have a child, he will be perfect, with all my beauty and all your intelligence.”
Einstein responded with a bit of humor:
“Or what if I inherited my beauty and your intelligence?”
However, something that was not known at the time was that later studies would reveal that Marilyn Monroe had an IQ of 165, higher than Einstein’s.
Marilyn Monroe (real name: Norma Jeane Baker, 1926-1962) was a woman who combined intelligence and passion with her beauty. Her home had a library of about 1,000 books, and she read deeply in a wide range of subjects, including literature, poetry, theater, and philosophy. She not only loved life, but was also filled with an insatiable desire to learn. Her intellectual curiosity was the driving force that made her soul shine.
Below are some of her memorable quotes.
– “Being a woman is one of the greatest gifts in life, and every woman should feel that way.”
– “People started saying I was a lesbian, but I just smiled. If there’s love, gender doesn’t matter.”
– “Dogs don’t hurt people, but humans don’t.”
– “It’s not the freshness of spring. I feel the burning red of autumn.”
– “Don’t forget to smile, especially when you’re sad. It’s easy to cry, but it takes many times more strength to laugh.”
– “I want to age without a facelift. I want to be proud of the face that I have, the proof of my life.”
– “No one ever told me I was beautiful as a child. But every child should be told they’re beautiful, even if it’s not true.”
– “When you become a sex symbol, you become just a thing. I hate that.”
– “It’s much better to be alone than to be in an unhappy relationship.”
– “You don’t have to be perfect. Madness is genius, and a funny person is better than a boring person.”
– “Disappointment can open our eyes, but it can also close our hearts.”
– “I’m just a little girl looking for love in the big world.”
– “Sex is a part of nature, and I’m in good terms with nature.”
– “I have never abandoned anyone who believed in me.”
– “I have never deceived anyone; I have only allowed men to deceive me.”
– “If I followed all the rules, I don’t think I’d accomplish anything.”
– “It’s easy to love a man, but hard to live with him.”
– “Keep your head up, your chin up, and remember to smile. Life is beautiful and there are so many reasons to smile.”
Her words reveal that she was not just a beautiful actress, but also had hidden strength, intelligence, and deep sensitivity. Marilyn Monroe, the woman who shone with light in her short life, continues to speak to our hearts even today.
Bayou Chicken Bake
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
- 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup uncooked regular long grain rice
- 1 (16 ounce) package frozen black-eyed peas
- 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans Cajun-style stewed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
- Sprinkle chicken with Cajun seasoning; place in baking pan.
- In large bowl, combine onion, rice, black-eyed peas and tomatoes. Pour over chicken.
- Cover and bake 45 minutes.
- Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer, or until chicken is cooked through.
- Sprinkle with parsley before serving.
Have you ever been mistaken in a store for working there when you actually don’t?
A friend worked in a bike shop. Popped in to see him and he was serving a customer.
- Excuse me , can you tell me about this bike.? Was a tag with the description. We were heading into town, was waiting for him to finish work and had a few ciders, was only 18 I think. Basically read the description whilst telling her every feature was excellent until Rob was free. Had no idea what any of them meant in general.
Cant remember if she bought it or not to be honest
What happens if you have a heart attack and don’t go to the hospital?
My Mother-In-Law (at the time) came home from work one day, she had a shower and was relaxing on the lounge. She started experiencing chest pains, her partner said “let’s go to hospital,” she brushed it off.
Shortly after she ate some dinner, couldn’t finish it and said she didn’t feel well, so she went and lay in her bed. Her partner soon heard her groaning in pain, he went into the bedroom and said again “lets go to hospital” she agreed and got in the car. It was a 15min drive to the closest hospital, 5mins into the drive she slumped forward in her chair and died. Her partner freaked out and sped his way to hospital in his panic.
As they pulled into the emergency bay the nurses and doctors revived her in car and got her inside the hospital to do further testing, unfortunately because she was 10mins without oxygen she had significant brain damage and was later removed off of life support three days later where she died again. She was 50 years old.
If she had gone to hospital as soon as she felt the first chest pains she would be alive today, if she had decided to leave just 10mins earlier she would be alive today. I learnt to never be complacent with Chest pains.
Moon Shattered
Submitted into Contest #288 in response to: Set your story in a place where the weather never changes.… view prompt
Daniel Rogers
The Russian laughed, “Good one.”
A couple of LTF officers walked in. The Russian stared at them and laughed, “What jokes. The entire Lunar Task Force is nothing but a bunch of clowns. I killed two in New London last week.”
I know he’s lying. I would have heard about it, although I don’t doubt he has killed a few.
“You’re boring company. You know that?” He finished off his vodka just as the officers came to our table.
“Everything alright here?”
“You know it,” the Russian moved slowly with his hands in plain sight.
“Good. Make sure it stays that way.” They moved to the bar.
“Just because we’re prospectors,” the Russian shook his head. “Anyway, I don’t like killing a man without knowing his name.”
“Tango.”
“That’s not your real name.”
We locked eyes, measuring each other, killer to killer.
“I guess Tango will have to do. See you in the crater.”
I watched until he left the bar and called my company contact, Jeeves.
“The Russian just paid me a visit.”
“How unfortunate,” the British male voice sounded bored. “I’ll add a high-powered sniper rifle to your gear.”
“And a bullet-proof suit.”
“Those are hard to come by in a wasteland city, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“He took out Spec last month. Make it happen, or MoonCorp might never know if there are diamonds in that crater.”
“Spec? I didn’t know he was dead. That’s very unfortunate. Will you be able to deal with the Russian? Or should we hire another?”
“I’ll handle him. Just get me the suit.”
I took the monorail to the hotel district, watching my back. I wouldn’t put it past the Russian to make an attempt before we get anywhere near the crater. My gaze went to the projected blue sky and white puffy clouds of the city’s dome, reminding me of Earth. I’ve been here too long. I’m tired of fake sky. I know what’s on the other side-a wasteland of darkness and rocks, craters and chasms, hopelessness and death.
A drone flying outside my window shook me out of my ruminations. My instincts warned me to beware. Drones are as common in a lunar city as birds on Earth. However, a drone matching the speed and direction of a monorail doesn’t happen often, if at all.
Suddenly, two miniguns materialized from the drone. I ducked just as it opened fire. Shattered glass fell on me. Passengers screamed. I pulled my pistol, rolled the quad barrel to scattershot, and destroyed the drone. I scanned for more drones before holstering my gun.
After a grueling round of questions from the LTF, I finally made it to my hotel. The rifle and suit lay on my bed. These should give me an advantage in the crater, assuming I make it out of the city.
I grabbed the rifle to feel its weight and peered through the scope. To my horror, I spotted a gun pointed at me from the opposite building. I pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. I hadn’t loaded it. Just then, my window shattered, and a bullet grazed my cheek.
I fell to my knees and crawled to the corner, out of sight of the gunman. How is he always one step ahead of me? It’s like he knows where I’ll be before I do. Then it hit me-my phone. Jeeves gave it to me when I arrived. I almost threw it out the window, but then I had an idea.
I crawled to the edge of my bed, still out of sight of the window, loaded my rifle, and grabbed a drone from my gear bag under the bed. I secured my phone to the drone and entered Jeeves’ hotel coordinates.
If the gunman could track my phone, then he’d think I retreated to my safe house. I carefully used a mirror to see if he had gone. He had. I quickly dressed my wound to avoid questions, threw on my long jacket, and concealed my rifle.
I found a low-rise building whose roof would be perfect for my plan. I positioned myself and waited. An hour passed before the Russian took his shot. Jeeves’ window shattered exactly where the drone landed with my phone.
I saw the gun flash on the fifth floor of a building slightly to my right. I aimed for his head and fired. He instantly fell.
I walked to Jeeves’ place and looked through the shattered window. He lay in a pool of blood. The Russian hit him between the eyes—an instant kill. Jeeves betrayed me. It’s poetic justice that his asset killed him. The company who hired them must know there are diamonds in that crater. Or else, they would have never attempted to take me out in the city.
I hurried to the Russian before the LTF arrived. He lay where I shot him. For the first time in my career, the sight of death made me sick. He was just like me–a prospector. It’s just business. Nothing personal.
I saw myself lying in a pool of blood, like the Russian. I, too, will make a mistake one day and take one between the eyes. Suddenly, it began to feel very personal. I’ve had enough of this rock. The vultures can have it.
I looked back down at the Russian.
“Back at the bar, you asked for my real name. I don’t know why it’s important to you, but I owe you that much. It’s Tom. Nothing fancy. Just Tom.”
I left for the nearest shuttle port.
Hal Turner reports
Word leaking-out about the Kursk Region of Russia confirms thousands of Ukrainian troops are, in fact, surrounded by Russian Forces but today, there’s a “twist.”
According to information leaking out of the combat zone, in addition to Ukrainian troops who are trapped, there are allegedly thirty (30) Active-Duty Commanding Officers from the official military in several NATO countries.
These are reportedly not merely “Advisors” they are COMMANDING OFFICERS, giving orders to Ukraine troops.
It appears Russia’s Blitz to repel Ukraine from Kursk, yielded some surprises about who it is that’s actually causing all the trouble over there: NATO.
What is the most bogus charge you’ve seen on a bill?
As a nurse, I had heard this added charge would happen from time to time, but never experienced it myself. Until my husband was admitted to the hospital for a surgical procedure. I noticed a doctor (not his) stood in the doorway, never actually entered the room and asked “Are you doing okay?”. Later, we got the EOB from the Insurance company and there was a $200 dollar charge from an unknown doctor. I immediately knew what it was. I called the Insurance company right away to dispute that charge. They promptly dismissed the charge from the EOB and made the hospital drop it as well.
What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?
I remember several. Three that stand out:
In one early job we had state-of-the-art (!j monochrome CRT terminals. People tended to leave them in standby mode overnight because they could take quite a while to warm up and establish connections with the corporate mainframe. Then someone upstairs looked at how much electricity each box used in standby which gave him the brilliant idea that the department would see “significant savings” if all terminals were switched off at the end of the day.
Some EEs in the engineering group raised flags about how many on/off cycles the tube circuitry could withstand, and were of course overruled.
We dutifully powered off our machinery every night – until the EEs’ warnings proved true. Once or twice a week there’d be a sometimes-blue shout as a terminal failed, often spectacularly. Needless to say we went back to putting our boxes in standby every night. My supervisor told be that the “significant” electricity savings had been only a few dollars per night, but that each failed terminal had cost the company upwards of 8K – and that was in 1980s dollars!
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I was a senior developer at a large consulting firm. The consultants had long been subject to billable-hours rules so that work could be equitably allocated among our clients. Several years after I started there the corner-office guys decided that software r&d should adopt the same policy, even though almost none of our products were client-specific. Not only that, our department manager said we as a group had to exceed the corporate billable-hours goals that had been set for consultants.
So there we were, a whole bunch of programmers and computer systems people trying not just to fill out spreadsheets allocating generic work to individual clients in half-hour increments, but also to put in enough of those half hours to beat the corporate magic target.
We all turned into fiction writers. We threw numbers into the spreadsheets and started counting any and every minute that could possibly be work-related towards our totals. If we discussed something in the hallway or break room, we wrote that time down. If you got an inspiration whike lying in bed or standing in the shower that too counted towards the billable total.
After a year we had nothing to show for it in terms of output, software quality, or anything that mattered. But we sure had oceans of meaningless numbers … well, not really meaningless, because the amount of time allocated to admin tasks was way up, thanks to all the hours everyone spent chasing minutes here and minutes there. A few months later we went back to doing our jobs instead of busywork.
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The second case didn’t happen in my office but in another division of the first company I worked for after grad school. Most of the offices were more than a bit laid back about dress codes, especially considering this was in the early 1980s. They typically held to what’s now called business casual, even nodding at jeans during bad weather. However one facility brought in a retired Army colonel – let’s call him Denny O’Hanlon – to oversee their operations. An acquaintance at the facility told me they were warned to keep their heads down because “Dangerous Denny” still considered himself to be a commanding officer rather than a manager.
One of Denny’s first orders was that everyone except building maintenance employees were to be “in uniform”. That meant men were expected to wear suits or sport coats, white or light shirts, and always have a tie. No exceptions. There was some grumbling but given that coats and ties tended to be the norm at most other firms, people went along.
Only for a little while, that is. One morning I got to work and the place was buzzing with “Did you hear what happened to Dangerous Denny over at the XYZ office?” It turned out that a new mainframe was being installed on a raised floor that offered maybe 30″/75 cm of working clearance. The people doing the work naturally stripped off their coats and ties, until Denny saw them and ordered them back “in uniform”. Aside from the fact that working under the floor was tough enough even without a coat and tie, these guys weren’t getting paid anywhere NEAR enough to risk damaging their clothes. The situation had escalated until one of the installers lost it and cold-cocked Denny.
Obviously there were legal consequences, nut IIRC neither Denny nor his dress code lasted long afterward.
Average At Best Woman Tells The Truth About Women’s Dating Options
As a doctor/surgeon, is life easy, or would you have chosen a different career?
The first few years in medicine were stressful because I did not really know what I was doing and was terrified of making mistakes. The hours were very long, and this was compounded by having to drive 1 hour to work, and 1 hour to get home, every day.
As I became more senior, the work load gradually increased, but I could get through it more efficiently and having a very good grasp on what you’re doing and knowing you’re practising safely, relieves a lot of stress – at least, it did for me.
Mentally, I no longer find the work all that taxing. In terms of emotional stress, I rarely experience that at all, because I have, for better or worse, built up an enormous firewall between myself and the patient, that, so long as I did all I could within reason, I do not find myself distressed at their death anymore. I have also learned the limits of medicine – and the fact is that everyone has to die sometime.
Physically, the work is easy. The most strenuous activity I usually have to do is lifting a patient forward so I can auscultate their lungs fields with my stethoscope. In fact, the work is so physically undemanding of me, I purposefully take the stairs, stand when I could sit and will, when no one is looking, randomly do push ups and sit ups in my office to get the blood flowing. The danger in medicine is becoming too sedentary. You lose endurance and physical conditioning, and you start to feel tired with routine tasks. You’ve really got to take every opportunity to exercise. And it really helps with your mood. Try it – next time, if there is an quiet time at all, or just before lunch, do twenty pushups. You’ll find your mood may improve (Edit: I do pushups when no one is looking, because people gave me funny looks when I did do it in from of them)
Try to find humour in your job – not at the patient’s expense, obviously, but try to find the funnier side of things, make jokes when you can. Try to find happiness in teaching. I love medical trivia and teaching students – I love history and will try to find other colleagues who share that interest.
Medicine can be stressful and hard, but there is really joy to be had, especially on an intellectual level. The hardest thing is finding your comfort zone and building that internal emotional firewall – that is crucial.
What is the craziest thing you have ever said or done at an interview and still gotten the job?
Not even at the interview stage.
I applied for a job and set-up an interview. I was offered another job that seriously paid nearly ten times as much as they were offering. I called them to cancel the interview.
The next week I got a call from a manager screaming at me because I didn’t show up at work. I told him I didn’t want to work for them. He didn’t like my attitude and fired me.
Basically, I applied, didn’t go to the interview, didn’t step foot on their property, only ever talked to the receptionist, told them I didn’t want to work for them, and still got the job.
Before you ask, no it wasn’t for a Human Resources Manager position, although I do believe they needed one.
Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Cursed Cheese Wheel: A Tale of Quirky Riddles, Bad Luck, and Unexpected Consequences
Ah, dear reader, prepare yourself for a tale of mystery, mischief, and one very cursed cheese wheel. Today’s story is one of riddles, bad luck, and the importance of being careful what you wish for. So, grab your sense of humor and a wedge of cheese (for snacking), as we dive into Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Cursed Cheese Wheel: A Tale of Quirky Riddles, Bad Luck, and Unexpected Consequences.
The Curse is Cast
It all began on a quiet afternoon, when the farm was bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. The animals were going about their usual routines—Doris the Hen was gossiping with Harriet and Lillian, Rufus the Dog was chasing his tail, and Porkchop the Pig was lounging in his favorite mud puddle. But the peace was shattered when a loud thud echoed from the barn.
“What was that?” Porkchop asked, his ears perking up.
“That!” Ditto echoed, his tiny tail twitching with curiosity.
Sir Whiskerton, ever the vigilant detective, leapt from his sunbeam and made his way to the barn. There, lying in the middle of the floor, was a large, round cheese wheel. It was golden and glistening, with a strange symbol carved into its rind.
“Hmm,” Sir Whiskerton mused, narrowing his piercing green eyes. “This is most peculiar. Where did this cheese come from?”
Before anyone could answer, Ratso the Rat emerged from the shadows, his trench coat flapping dramatically in the breeze. “It’s cursed,” he said, his voice gravelly and world-weary. “A cursed cheese wheel. Anyone who eats it will be plagued by bad luck.”
Porkchop’s eyes widened. “Cursed cheese? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Cheese is cheese. How can it be cursed?”
Ratso shook his head. “You don’t understand. This cheese is no ordinary cheese. It’s the Cheese of Calamity. Legend has it that it was created by an ancient cheesemaker who was betrayed by his apprentice. In his anger, he cursed the cheese, ensuring that anyone who ate it would suffer misfortune.”
Sir Whiskerton flicked his tail. “A cursed cheese wheel. How… cheesy.”
The First Victim
Despite Ratso’s warning, Porkchop couldn’t resist the allure of the golden cheese. “It’s just a silly legend,” he said, his mouth watering. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
With that, he took a big bite of the cheese. Almost immediately, strange things began to happen. First, his mud puddle dried up. Then, a swarm of bees chased him around the barnyard. Finally, he tripped over a rock and landed face-first in a pile of hay.
“See?” Ratso said, crossing his arms. “I told you it was cursed.”
Porkchop groaned. “Okay, okay, I believe you. But how do we break the curse?”
Ratso sighed. “The only way to break the curse is to solve a series of four riddles. Each riddle will lead you to a clue, and the final clue will reveal how to lift the curse.”
Sir Whiskerton nodded. “Very well. Porkchop, it seems we have a mystery to solve.”
The First Riddle
Ratso handed Sir Whiskerton a piece of parchment with the first riddle written on it:
“I am not alive, but I grow; I don’t have lungs, but I need air; I don’t have a mouth, but water kills me. What am I?”
Sir Whiskerton pondered the riddle for a moment. “Hmm. Not alive, but it grows. Doesn’t have lungs, but needs air. Doesn’t have a mouth, but water kills it. What could it be?”
Porkchop scratched his head. “A plant?”
Sir Whiskerton shook his head. “No, plants are alive. This riddle says it’s not alive.”
Ditto, ever the eager apprentice, piped up. “Fire!”
Sir Whiskerton’s eyes lit up. “Yes, Ditto! Fire grows, needs air, and is killed by water. Well done.”
With the first riddle solved, the trio made their way to the fireplace in the farmhouse, where they found the next clue: a small, charred piece of wood with the second riddle written on it.
The Second Riddle
The second riddle read:
“I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?”
Porkchop frowned. “This one’s tricky. Something that speaks without a mouth and hears without ears? And it comes alive with the wind?”
Sir Whiskerton flicked his tail. “Think about it, Porkchop. Something that communicates without a physical form. What could it be?”
Ditto tilted his head. “An echo!”
Sir Whiskerton smiled. “Exactly, Ditto. An echo speaks without a mouth and hears without ears. And it comes alive with the wind, as sound travels through the air.”
With the second riddle solved, the trio made their way to the pond, where the sound of their voices echoed across the water. There, they found the next clue: a smooth stone with the third riddle written on it.
The Third Riddle
The third riddle read:
“The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?”
Porkchop scratched his head. “The more you take, the more you leave behind? That doesn’t make any sense.”
Sir Whiskerton narrowed his eyes. “Think about it, Porkchop. What could you take that would leave something behind?”
Ditto, ever the quick thinker, piped up. “Footsteps!”
Sir Whiskerton nodded. “Yes, Ditto. The more footsteps you take, the more you leave behind. Well done.”
With the third riddle solved, the trio made their way to the path leading to the barn, where they found the final clue: a small, dusty book with the fourth riddle written on it.
The Fourth Riddle
The fourth riddle read:
“I am always in front of you but can never be seen. What am I?”
Porkchop groaned. “This one’s impossible. Something that’s always in front of you but can never be seen? What could it be?”
Sir Whiskerton flicked his tail. “Think about it, Porkchop. What is always in front of you, no matter where you go?”
Ditto tilted his head. “The future!”
Sir Whiskerton smiled. “Exactly, Ditto. The future is always in front of you, but it can never be seen. Well done.”
With the final riddle solved, the trio made their way to the barn, where they found a small, hidden compartment. Inside was a note that read: “To break the curse, share the cheese with a friend.”
The Curse is Broken
Sir Whiskerton turned to Porkchop. “Well, it seems the curse can only be broken by sharing the cheese. Are you willing to share?”
Porkchop hesitated. “Share my cheese? But it’s so delicious!”
Sir Whiskerton raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to keep suffering from bad luck?”
Porkchop sighed. “Fine. I’ll share.”
With that, Porkchop cut a piece of the cheese and offered it to Sir Whiskerton. As soon as Sir Whiskerton took a bite, the strange symbol on the cheese wheel faded away, and the curse was lifted.
The Moral of the Story
The moral of the story, dear reader, is this: Sometimes, the things we desire most come with unexpected consequences. Whether it’s a cursed cheese wheel or a tempting opportunity, it’s important to consider the potential risks before diving in. And when faced with challenges, sharing and working together can often lead to the best outcomes.
A Happy Ending
With the curse broken and the cheese safely shared, the farm returned to its peaceful state. Porkchop, though initially reluctant to share, learned the value of generosity and friendship. Sir Whiskerton, ever the vigilant detective, resumed his sunbeam vigil, content in the knowledge that he had once again saved the day.
As for Ratso, he disappeared into the shadows, his trench coat flapping dramatically in the breeze. “Another case closed,” he muttered, his voice gravelly and world-weary. “But the world is still full of mysteries.”
And so, dear reader, we leave our heroes with the promise of new adventures, new riddles, and hopefully, no more cursed cheese wheels. Until next time, may your days be filled with laughter, love, and just a little bit of feline genius.
The End.
Department of Justice CHARGES Three in Attacks Against TESLA
Today, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced charges against three individuals responsible for the violent destruction of Tesla properties.
All three defendants will face the full force of the law for using Molotov cocktails to set fire to Tesla cars and charging stations.
“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”
- One defendant, also armed with a suppressed AR-15 rifle, was arrested after throwing approximately eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership located in Salem, Oregon.
- Another was arrested in Loveland, Colorado after attempting to light Teslas on fire with Molotov cocktails. The defendant was later found in possession of materials used to produce additional incendiary weapons.
- In Charleston, South Carolina, a third defendant wrote profane messages against President Trump around Tesla charging stations before lighting the charging stations on fire with Molotov cocktails.
- Each defendant faces serious charges carrying a minimum penalty of five years and up to 20 years in prison.
The Department of Justice is committed to ending all acts of violence and arson directed at Tesla properties and otherwise.
What did a child’s teacher do that scared you for life?
Scared for life is maybe a bit much, but I am worried for this person’s students. What I was, was angry. Really angry.
2021, still full on COVID-19. We all go back to school with our masks on, and with either the vaccines done or endless tests done each week. Nonetheless, COVID was still raging around here and schools were quite a problem.
Nothing related to this, just to set the atmosphere – kids had missed a great deal of the previous school year, and many didn’t really have the social skills or school rules down yet.
Middle school, in a town in the countryside, small enough for everyone to know each other. I get to teach all of the classes of the school as the native speaker (I teach languages), along with 3 different teachers. One was the laziest I’ve ever met, one barely knew any English but she tried, and one was a full-blown psychopath, nothing else to think about her.
She constantly yelled at students. Not the usual “shut up/be quiet”, nope. More like “if you don’t shut up, I’ll push you down the stairs until you’re black and blue all over”. She was aggressive, angry, insane.
She shouted at kids because they were telling classmates their jumper/hat/scarf was on the floor, because they were doing the things I told them to do, because… who knows. She was constantly shouting horrible things.
She also tried hitting me, but I moved out of the way and told her not to even dare. I reported her, but nothing was done. She still teaches there, and it’s the one school who doesn’t benefit from a native speaker in the whole county. The word spread quickly enough. Still, there’s students going there who might just be in danger because of her.
Am I angry? I’m livid. Am I scared for those kids? I am, believe me, I am. She’s nowhere near retiring, either.
Americans Living In China Show How They Live Their Life On Rednote
Since the U.S. is no longer a reliable trade partner with Canada, should Canada start working with China instead on trade issues? China has a much bigger market to sell their goods to than the U.S.
Chinas market is primarily supplied to by the Chinese themselves who manufacture enough for themselves and the entire world
They make all the steel they want
They make all the Aluminium they want
They have all the Lumber they want, importing the rest from Russia and Finland for several years
They have no need for Oil Sand Crude when they have all the Urals crude and Saudi Crude and Iranian Crude they want
They have the world’s largest EV market which they control everything from refined rare earths to platforms to batteries to LIDAR to Software , so they don’t really need Canadian made automobiles
They have no need for Nickel, Lithium, Copper or any of the 41 metals Canada sells because they have access to the same metals with better refining techniques at 1/7th the cost
Canada has nothing that China wants
Trump has Canada over the edge of the barrel and he knows it
For every $ 10 that Canada Bleeds, the US is estimated to bleed by only $ 1.70–$2.30
However for every $ 10 that China Bleeds, the US could bleed by as much as $ 27–31
The EU may buy Canadian Steel and Aluminum now that Russias cheap energy is gone but even that is likely a long shot
Germany, Turkey, Italy make enough Steel and Aluminum for the EU
The EU also don’t need too many cars from Canada nor plan to build European cars in Canada if the US market is closed
So of the BIG THREE – China & EU are not a replacement to the US
So Canada is in big trouble
Luckily Canada has a huge stash of money and very little debt , so they may hang on to this trade war until Mid Term elections and hope the Dems win and throttle Trump in Congress until he finishes his term in 2028
What’s the best revenge you’ve gotten after being fired or let go from a job?
Don’t see the point in revenge. Got fired for basically not staying back a couple of hours every day as the manager’s girlfriend couldnt get out of bed in the morning and would ask me to wait until she arrived. 23 hours one month…sorry can’t pay you as would have to explain why I was doing overtime. Had a huge wedding that Saturday at the venue and they were screwed ..asked me to come back , a misunderstanding etc.
Nope . Have another job and am away to the football on Saturday
Shorpy
If life threw you to rock bottom, no way out, no silver lining, what’s the one thing that would keep you fighting?
That actually happened to me when I was thirty.
Most of it was my fault. Mostly ignorance, paycheck to paycheck living, then some bad luck. Check this out.
In 1988. My wife and I had a combined income of about $220,000 in today’s dollars. We were young, arrogant and really stupid. Saving nothing, eating out every night. Outrageous cars. Credit card debt. Minimum payments.
On Dec 23rd 1989 after a bad argument. She kicked me out. Then the divorce papers with mandatory spousal support until the hearing.
Then I got laid off from my job during a recession. Then a bad car accident. My unemployment didn’t even cover the court order. Forget about rent. Car payment, food.
By July I was basically homeless. Sleeping on friends couch. My parents were in senior development. Couldn’t go there. My siblings were useless. Then my friend lost his place. Now I was outside 100%.
From wealth, excess, surplus, decadence, praise, acclaim, comfort and ease. To living on the streets, broke, alone, recovering from injuries from that accident. Then the real fun started.
I fell behind on those court orders. I also missed court on that accident. Warrants for Failure to appear. I had no address.
Failure to Comply with a court installed order.
I had no money for a lawyer. Everybody was going off my last two years income so I didn’t qualify for a public defender or other aid.
I got picked up on those warrants and was jailed.
Now I was broke, alone, injured and jailed.
What kept me fighting?
I don’t know how I knew. I just knew this was temporary. That somehow, some way, I would come out the other side.
Sometimes the only thing that kept me from doing anything drastic was picturing my mother all broken and crushed standing by my casket. She was having lots of medical problems at that time and it killed me that I couldn’t be there for her. I was barely surviving.
At the very beginning of 1992 things all started coming together.
Those court cases were all over. I had lots of Court judgements. My health was better. After being indigent for two years I finally qualified for all kinds of benefits. SNAP, Section 8, help with getting a job.
Before anyone calls me a welfare king. A grifter, slob, or leech. I joined the Army at 17. Got out at 20. Worked. Went to school. Really succeeded. Payed lots of taxes. Up until 30.
I’m gonna tell you. There was lots of benefit to what I went through. Taught me some hard lessons I missed growing up.
1. I am 100% responsible for myself first. Nobody is coming to save me. I am of no use to anyone else unless I take care of myself first.
2. How to handle money. My old way didn’t work. No more paycheck to paycheck. Saving, investing.
3. I learned what the laws actually are. We don’t have debtors prisons over here. Go ahead and violate court ordered payments and watch how fast you end up in jail. The IRS too.
4. Everyone loves you when you,re up. Try to find them when your down.
5. Getting rich is actually easier than going broke if you pay attention.
6. There are some really good people in this world who know what they’re doing. They are rare but when you find one they are priceless. They will help you do for yourself. Open doors. Teach you things. A hand up, not a handout. I’m one of them now.
7. There’s also the opposite. Lots of predators out there. I grew up sheltered. Some of those predators wear badges, judicial robes, or clerical collars. Don’t judge a book by its cover.
I’m 65 now. I got back on my feet. Paid all that debt. Better and better jobs. Learned to use money correctly. Not assume all people are decent until they give me a reason not too. Sort the wheat from the chaff.
I’m wealthy, healthy, happy. I’ve helped lots of others do the same.
Sometimes the worst thing that can happen to you is exactly what you need. In my case it was. All my life I had things handed to me. Jobs, high paying jobs. All kinds of open doors. Each one better than the one before. Beautiful women. Tons of hanger ones. There for the easy ride.
It was like Job. Laying in the garbage pile with everyone mocking me. Lots of blame too.
Now I know I can go through anything. I know how things work. How to handle crisis and emergencies. Before all I knew was how to ride the crest of a really good wave.
It all made me a much better person.
Col Doug Macgregor: TOMAHAWK MISSILES – If Ukraine Gets & Uses, U.S. Will be at War w/Russia
Can I Have Your Attention Please
Submitted into Contest #289 in response to: Start your story with the lines: “The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here.”… view prompt
Jan Keifer
I thought about how strange the last three levels were. I saw my parents in the front row nodding their heads. I hear myself say, “Yes!”
The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. I don’t remember anything from my past. A bed, table, and chair sit in the middle of the room I sit down in the chair and the chair tilts down ejecting me through the a hole. I land about twenty feet down in another room. I look around and see four doors, one on each wall. I choose the first one I see. The area beyond the door is alive with sounds. It’s a rainforest and I am staring a crouching tiger, ready to pounce. I run. I jump a ravine and fall. I underestimated how far the other side was. I fall into a river at the bottom of the ravine.
I hurry, swimming towards the shoreline. I hear a splash behind me and turn, watching in horror, seeing the tiger swimming towards me. Reaching the shore I pull myself out of the water and take off. I don’t turn to look back. I grab a vine and swing over the next ravine and drop. I stop, panting hard and look back. There’s the tiger glaring at me. I wasn’t sure the tiger could cross the ravine so I run. I find a tree and climb up and look down. The tiger had given up and gone away. I lay my head back on the trunk of the tree and close my eyes.
I open my eyes and I’m back in the unfamiliar room. A man sits by the table. He gets up and holds out his hand.
“I would like to congratulate you on making it to level four. Only a few people have ever made it to level four.”
I push him away and yell, “Who are you? What’s happening to me?”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a box and pushes a button. “Sorry, I always forget to restore your memories.”
I am getting a sense that I should be remembering something. My brain is still trying to piece everything together when it suddenly freezes up on the scene of a tiger ready to pounce on me. I scream and push the man down and run. I hit the wall and bounce back falling to the floor.
“Sam? Sam, are you okay? The man says.
“Your name is Tom.” I say. My memory starts filling in the blanks.
“Yes it is. Sorry, it’s a side-effect of the process.” He takes my arm and pushes another button on the box. The wall disappears, revealing the audience. They all rise and applaud and I can hear chanting, “More, More.”
“Yes, folks, here his is. Now, will he continue? Sam will you walk away with your winnings or will you triple it by completing level five. A moment of silence ladies and gentlemen while he contemplates the decision. Sam you now have two hundred thousand and if you complete level five you will walk away with six hundred thousand. What will it be? You have fifteen seconds to decide.”
A large display on a screen behind my head started the countdown. You could hear the murmuring in the crowd as they whispered among themselves and placed side bets on my decision. I thought about the last level. It didn’t seem that scary now that I could look at it logically. There was an escape route and all I had to do was escape. I just needed to think, which I was very good at. I heard myself yell, “YES!” The audience roared. I closed my eyes relishing the attention.
The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. There is a table, a chair, and a bed. I go over to the bed and sit down and fall through the frame. I continue falling through the floor and falling hard at the bottom of another room. My leg is twisted at a crazy angle and my head is swimming. I see a door. I stand and test my leg. It hurts but I’m able to walk. I walk through the door and fall.
I cradle my head and curl up into a fetal position to try and brace for the impact. I land in front of a herd of strange animals. They ignore me as I look around. I hear a noise. The animals stampede in my direction. I run also. I dive behind a rock and cover my head, coming out once they have passed.
There is a horrific beast staring at me. It growls and I run. I head for the trees. The creature chases me. I grab onto the nearest branch of the first tree and swing myself up on the limb and start climbing up. Hoping that the beast can’t climb trees. To my horror, I see it climbing up.
All the trees are somewhat interconnected and I start racing from tree to tree. I check the progress of my protagonist. It’s not as as fast in the trees. The ground is close now and I jump down.
I hear a thud as the creature jumps to the ground. I start looking for anything that I can use as a weapon. I will have to kill this thing before I can rest. A branch falls and I grab it up. It has a sharpened point where it split from the tree. It seems sturdy enough to use as a spear. I stop and brace myself. The creature runs onto the spear impaling itself, dying. I close my eyes.
I hear clapping and open my eyes. The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. A man sits on a chair by the table. He stands up, takes my hand and shakes it.
“I congratulate you on making it to level five. Fewer people have ever made it this far. What you did with that branch was amazing.”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a box and pushes a button. “Okay Sam. How was your experience? Are you okay? You’re looking a little pale.”
I am getting a sense that I should be remembering something. I take a deep breath. My head is spinning and my leg is throbbing.
“Where am I?” I ask.
“Come with me, Sam. You will remember everything in just a moment.” He pushes another button and the wall disappears and a roar goes up from the audience.
My brain resets and I look down and see my parents looking up at me solemnly.
“Sam, are you going to make your parents proud and go to the next level. You have only one left. I will tell you now. Only two people have ever made it back from level six. One billion. Will you be the third in our game? I will put five minutes on the clock this time and you can go over and discuss it with whomever you choose this time. While you are deciding we will take a quick break to check in with our sponsors.” He cues the camera crews and then leads Sam over to his parents who are climbing up onto the stage.
“Mom, dad, I don’t know. It’s a lot of money. We could live in a better place.” I thought about what would happen if I didn’t survive the next level. They were holding me and crying.
I finally said, “I have to. I will survive. My survival instincts are good.”
Tom, cued the camera crews and everyone got back to their seats. I walked over and took my place beside Tom.
“Well folks, here he is with his decision. Sam, what will it be. Are you going to risk it all to complete level six the very last level worth one billion dollars? I need your answer, now.”
“Yes!” I say, closing my eyes.
I hear a grating noise and open my eyes. The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. There is no furniture and the floors are smooth. I finally get tired of looking for a way out and sit down against a wall and close my eyes listening for a moment.
I open my eyes and flail my arms about to try and stop the fall. My body is plummeting rapidly to the room below. I cradle my head and roll up trying to protect myself from the impact. I hit the bottom and cry out. I didn’t break any bones, but I hurt. A ladder hangs over me. I am hurting too much to attempt climbing the ladder so my only option is the door in the wall.
I go to the door and open it slowly. It leads to a meadow. A river is flowing to the side and there are deer grazing. I walk out head towards the river. I squat down and put my hand in the water. The water is icy. I am trying to remember how I got here.
I hear a growl that stands my hair on ends. I turn and see a large wolf looking at me and snarling. I could never run without the wolf catching me. I do the only thing left I jump into the river. I see the wolf running towards me. I swim. The water is so cold that I am having trouble breathing. The wolf is running beside the river following me and waiting for me to come to shore. I swim faster, trying to get to the other side, but my body is cold and I am having more trouble moving my arms and legs. My teeth are chattering and I know I am not going to make it. I sink to the bottom and realize, I’m in waist-deep water, a hundred yards from where I jumped in. The wolf is there trying to decide if it is worth getting wet to come after me. I stand and struggle to make my legs carry me to the other side so I can pull myself out of the river. I stumble and fall and swim to the other side. The wolf sits down on the other side and howls. The sound hurts my ears and I cringe. I make myself crawl out of the water. I start scooching backwards and come to a stop against a tree. I look up and see my salvation. I pull myself up and grab the side of the tree and start climbing the tree. I get about twenty feet off the ground and look down. A pack of wolves have arrived. Braving the water, they now sit at the base of the tree. They try to climb the tree and fail. Finally they leave. I climb further and find a decent limb to spread out on. I close my eyes.
I hear a noise and open my eyes. The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. A man is coming to me grinning.
“Welcome back. Sam you have done amazingly well. That was incredible how you jumped in the river. That was ingenious thinking on your part. That is the kind of thinking we need in our newest colony. You earned a seat on the next transport. You will have to sign a non disclosure agreement on everything that happened here. All you can say is that you won the money. Do you understand? We only have so many spots available in the new colony. This is how we choose the brightest minds.”
I could hear everything he said and I was reveling in my moment. I was going to the new colony that was all that mattered. Tom pushed a button on his box and the wall disappeared one last time. The audience surged the stage and his parents were up on the stage and grabbing him as he walked forward.
“I did it. Did you see? I made it.” I yelled above the crowd, as my parents joined me. I shook Tom’s hand and smiled for the camera then signed the non-disclosure agreement on the podium.
I hear a coughing noise and open my eyes. The room is unfamiliar. But I know how I got here. I am on the transport ship with my parents heading to our new lives.
How do you know when you’ve truly experienced a place versus just visiting it?
To truly experience a place you should live it in.
I always found amusing the people that identify as a “traveler” and not a “tourist.” They don’t like going to touristy spots, they want to go “out of the beaten path” and try to live like a local. Or the ones that rent airbnbs for a month and live in a city and try to “cosplay” living like a local.
I’m sorry but you’re still a tourist.
No matter how much superior moral you think you have for doing “non-touristy” things, you will never really experience a country unless you live in it, work in it, deal with its ups and downs, deal with its bureaucracy, its nuances, its real culture and not the superficial image you get sold as a tourist.
It’s like Japan. Many people dream to live there and say “oh you’re so lucky to be in Japan!” And many people idolize it. But the truth is that as tourists, you only get to experience the best qualities of the country, usually with better currency to spend as well. For many Japanese, Japan can be an extremely toxic place, where its not unusual to be bullied for not giving the best customer service for example, where people have extremely high expectations, where people can be overworked with very little off time, etc. But a tourist will never really know what goes behind the curtains.
Cajun Fried Turkey
If you’ve never tried frying a turkey, what are you waiting for? Get ready for perfectly crispy skin and classic Cajun flavors.
Yield: 10 to 14 servings
Ingredients
- 1 (5 ounce) bottle Slap Ya Mama Cajun Pepper Sauce
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon Slap Ya Mama Hot Blend Cajun Seasoning
- 1 (12 to 16 pound) turkey
- 5 gallons peanut oil
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat Slap Ya Mama Cajun Pepper Sauce, butter, lemon juice and Slap Ya Mama Hot Blend Cajun Seasoning over low heat until butter is melted.
- Using a large syringe, inject marinade into all meaty areas of turkey (breasts, thighs, legs, and wings). If possible, let turkey marinate for 2 to 4 hours in refrigerator. Remove turkey at least 30 minutes before frying.
- Prepare turkey fryer according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Fill fryer stockpot with peanut oil to within 10 to 12 inches of top. Heat over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 300 degrees F.
- Lower turkey very slowly and carefully into pot, and cover. Maintain a temperature of 280 degrees to 310 degrees F. Fry for 3 1/2 minutes per pound of turkey; the internal temperature should be 165 degrees F. (For a 12-pound turkey, fry for approximately 42 minutes.)
- Remove turkey from pot, and let drain.
- Wrap in foil, and let stand for at least 15 minutes before carving.
Is it true that America’s trying to contain the rise of China? If so, why?
The US seems to think the the laws of economics and an aging society can be ignored. China began to grow more than 40 years ago as they allowed private business to exist. The GDP is about the same size as the US (the figures vary and by some standards they are ahead of the US) and they are still a growing economy. The US foolishly has encouraged businesses to move production out of the US. Money isn’t wealth, it is the stuff that money buys that denotes real wealth.
China has production and the US has lost the ability to make things. During a real war that loss of production will be critical. The US still thinks it can keep critical technologies secret.
The rise of the US didn’t ruin European countries. The US mentality is destructive. European countries have a higher life expectancy today. If the US worried about the state of Americans instead of the rise of China, it would do much better.