The threat period of world war 3 has passed.

Oh, sure, it might still happen, but it is increasingly unlikely with each month. The risk and threat level has passed.

The owners of the American “leadership” realize that alternatives to a global conflict with Russia, China and their buddy nations is not going to happen, as the USA would be smashed by catastrophic blows.

We are now is the LONG-SLIDE towards reconstruction surgery of the world’s governance system. The rest of the world are puking out the Western ideals, and governance. This pooling mess of hot blood stained vomit which going to get obvious and very unsightly as time progresses.

Most of the MM readership will be spared for horrific consequences that many of the West will need to endure.

The “news” will present a real mess. But, do not fall for that.

Everything is starting to settle out. It will appear that the world is in one giant blender, but that is not the full story. There is a sorting going on. There will be winners and losers. But it will not be like many fear.

The world War 3, started in 2007 (with the breakdown of American society) and the global war that started in 2014, peaked in 2022. A bit early. Welcome to the reconstruction phase.

…

I would now like to compare what we experienced with what John Titor has to say…

American civil war and breakdown

• Titor said 2004, and fought in 2011
• I observe / claim it began around 2007

“There is a civil war in the United States that starts in 2005. That conflict flares up and down for 10 years.“

World War 3

• Titor said nuclear strikes occurred in 2015
• I claim that it began in 2014. No nuclear strikes but a biological assault on china in 2019. NATO hot war with Russia in 2022.

“In 2015, Russia launches a nuclear strike against the major cities in the United States (which is the “other side” of the civil war from my perspective), China and Europe. The United States counter attacks. The US cities are destroyed along with the AFE (American Federal Empire)…thus we (in the country) won. The European Union and China were also destroyed. Russia is now our largest trading partner and the Capitol of the US was moved to Omaha Nebraska.“

Things to ponder. Eh?

Today…

The Real Africa that they do not show you…

Why are Europeans not as fat as Americans are when Europeans eat white bread and pasta and butter all the time?

I went to Europe early this year. Paris, Rome and Barcelona. I asked my wife “Where do they hide the fat people?” Things I noticed:

1. I did not see anyplace that was “all you can eat”.
2. The food I bought in the street was fresh and delicious. The strawberries were the size of grapes but so delicious and were meant to be eaten right away meaning no steroids or preservatives. I had some Brie cheese and I could taste the cow.
3. Food portions were small but I never left a table hungry.
4. My Fitbit said I met my goals as far as number of steps taken: at least 10,000 per day. In Positano, Italy it said I climbed the equivalent of 60 floors. In the US, I barely make 3,000.
5. Refrigerators are small. You don’t buy two weeks worth of food full of preservatives so they still look good after two weeks. We bought everything we needed to eat each day.
6. You walk everywhere. Burn those calories.

Netanyahoo’s Strategic Dilemma

Israel is a colonial settler state in permanent conflict with the suppressed natives.

It thought it could survive in that state, or even extend its settlements, by deterring opposing forces with its superior military.

Hamas has breached that deterrence myth by inflicting, in one day, more casualties in Israel than it had experienced in any previous wars.

Natanyahoo is under pressure to restore the deterrence, to again provide the Zionists with a feeling of superiority.

He can not do that.

Any land attack in Gaza means urban warfare in an already destroyed city with large underground facilities. During the taking of Bakhmut the Wagener forces had in total some 40,000 casualties (dead and wounded). The other side had more than 70,000. What price would the IDF have to pay to ‘destroy Hamas’?

The other factor is of course Hizbullah and other resistance groups, which may well attack Israel from the north and various other directions. Hizbullah has loudly said it would do so should the IDF enter Gaza. It has some 100,000 missiles – more than enough to exhaust Israel’s air defenses. Its longest reach missiles can attack any major city within Israel. There have already been daily fire exchanges at the norther border.

The 2006 war in Lebanon has shown that Hizbullah is dug in and very able to defend itself. It has since gained more experience by fighting ISIS in Syria. Neither U.S. air force attacks nor a land force invasion can hinder Hizbullah from firing its missiles.

(Syria, as well as Iran, will not intervene in the war unless they are directly attacked.)

Netanyahoo must attack Gaza to restore deterrence. He can not attack Gaza because the urban warfare would cause large Israeli casualties. He can not attack Gaza because Hizbullah would then destroy the myth of the superior settler state even more than Hamas has done so far.

Israel, with the help of the U.S., has tried to push the population of Gaza into Egypt. From Egypt’s standpoint that would be a humanitarian solution, at least as long as others pay for it. But it would cause a serious strategic problem. Resistance by Hamas and others against Israel would continue indefinitely, but Egypt would be held responsible for it. It can not and will not take on that burden.

Netanyahoo’s next idea was to starve Gaza. But the world will not let him do that. At least not beyond a certain point. Even the UN Secretary General has visited the Rafah crossing. Other global organizations, like the WHO and ASEAN, have spoken up. Pictures of starving people will make it impossible for the west to support that ‘solution’.

Meanwhile Hamas fighters will continue to sit in their tunnels, ready to defend their land, and likely with enough provisions to hold out for months.

Israeli settlers, with the support of the IDF, are rampaging through the West Bank. They are killing more Palestinians and further enrage the global public against their deeds. This will escalate.

Israel’s decision making is paralyzed. It will for now continue to talk of a ground invasion but will not launch one. It will also continue to starve Gaza.

But something will soon break. At any minute there might be a new large atrocity in Gaza or a pogrom in the West Bank. Any miscalculation in the north could launch that front into a hot war. Hizbullah could start to ‘preemptively’ invade Israeli proper.

But Israel’s Jewish public is still demanding a war of revenge. It still needs the restoration of its deterrence and superiority.

But what if that turns out to be impossible to achieve?

Well. Then something else must change.

As Adam Shatz summarizes in the London Review of Books:

Vengeful Pathologies (archived)

The inescapable truth is that Israel cannot extinguish Palestinian resistance by violence, any more than the Palestinians can win an Algerian-style liberation war: Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs are stuck with each other, unless Israel, the far stronger party, drives the Palestinians into exile for good. The only thing that can save the people of Israel and Palestine, and prevent another Nakba – a real possibility, while another Holocaust remains a traumatic hallucination – is a political solution that recognises both as equal citizens, and allows them to live in peace and freedom, whether in a single democratic state, two states, or a federation. So long as this solution is avoided, a continuing degradation, and an even greater catastrophe, are all but guaranteed.

Posted by b at 14:52 UTC | Comments (306)

RICH MANS GOLD! INSANE Reaction Oliver Anthony

Why did China sell missiles to the terrorist group Hamas?

The Steel Casings used in 60% of the Missiles on earth comes from China

It’s either Grade 7 Or Grade 8 Customized Light Steel Alloy Plate (LSAP)

It can be used for reinforcing I beams or making missile casings

Likewise the Electronics for basic primitive rockets almost entirely come from China

They can all be purchased retail across the market and can be used for do it yourself drones to basic rockets capable of 40–50 km range depending on the fuel thrust

I know because that’s the justification China gave when the West said Russia was being provided with Chinese weapons

China said – we give the steel, the basic raw materials and chips. How the Russians use them isn’t our business

They can be used to make Deep Freezers or can be used in basic rocketry

---

The Hamas likely buy their raw materials from China on the open market by playing secondary orders from Saudi or Turkey

Delivery comes through Jordan or Egypt

It’s just basic steel plate and basic electronics, so nobody cares what it’s being used for

Chemicals also flood through Egypt into Gaza from China.

Chemicals that can be used to make explosives but also ball point pen ink

---

So China never sells Weaponry to Hamas

The Hamas uses Chinese Raw Materials and makes their own primitive, crude but effective weaponry

---

Advanced guidance electronics come from Iran

Chinese won’t go that far to sell more advanced electronics to Hamas. These have END USER CERTIFICATES and if Jordan or Egypt sell such electronics to Hamas , they will get into a lot of trouble.

You may convince the world Hamas is making ball point pens and cheap electronic stuff

Can’t convince the world, Hamas is building EVs or High Altitude Drones right?

Plus plenty of Drones come from Iran who have a near independent supply chain and some of the finest reverse engineering on earth

Iran also supplies a lot of Missiles but that’s mostly to Hezbollah

---

Plus a third source is from Ukraine via the BLACK MARKET through the Balkans

A $ 55,000 box of 10,000 Rounds of 9 Ammunition sells for upto $ 400,000 on the black market without an end user certificate

Hence a Ukrainian Unit could remove 50 Boxes and sell them for $ 20 Million and pocket the entire sum

Who will audit or count the rounds every day?

$ 20 Million is CHUMP CHANGE for Saudi Billionaires or Emiratis or Qataris

That’s 500,000 Rounds of 9 mm Ammunition

That can sustain gunfire for 50 days at 10,000 rounds and day and kill at least 400–500 Israelis

A $ 1250 tagged M14 Rifle goes for upto $ 5000 In the black market , so a corrupt Ukrainian unit happily sells 1000 Rifles for $ 5 Million and claims the rifles were damaged

---

So

A. They buy raw materials from China and build their own rockets and other stuff like chemical explosives

B. They get Drones and Better Chips from Iran

C. They get other stuff from black markets and other war surplus from Europe

Real Texas Chili

This classic Texas chili (no beans, no onion, no tomatoes) was created by native Houstonian Carter Rochelle, a professional fund-raiser. Former New York Times food editor Craig Claiborne once pronounced this chili his favorite and published the recipe in two of his cookbooks.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Serve with pinto beans and chopped onion on the side to mix in as desired. Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, warmed flour tortillas or corn bread.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds boneless beef stew meat (chuck or round)
• 6 ounces beef suet (hard white fat), cut into pieces (see note)
• 3 or 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 to 6 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste
• 8 tablespoons Masa Harina (Mexican corn flour)
• 6 cups hot water
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon or beef bouillon cubes
• Red chiles, crushed or dried and chopped, to taste (optional)

Instructions

1. Remove gristle and most of fat from meat; cut into 1/2 inch or smaller cubes (some of the beef should be chipped or flaked).
2. Place suet in large skillet or heavy kettle and render it (cook until fat melts).
3. Skim residue off rendered suet; discard residue.
4. Add meat to hot fat and sauté until lightly browned.
5. Add garlic, salt, black pepper and chili powder. Mix well and let seasonings permeate meat a few minutes.
6. Sprinkle in Masa Harina and mix, stirring rapidly until smooth.
7. Add water, vinegar, bouillon and chilies. Reduce heat and simmer until meat is very tender; some of the meat should virtually dissolve into the chili.
8. If chili becomes too dry while cooking, add a little water from time to time.
9. Correct seasonings.
10. When done, skim fat from surface. (You can refrigerate overnight and scrape hardened fat off before reheating.)

Notes

Because of health concerns, many chili cooks substitute 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup vegetable oil or shortening for rendered beef suet, which is a highly saturated fat.

If a startup has a great product, then why don’t people buy it still?

Originally Answered: If a startup has a great product why don’t people buy it still?

Startup mistake:

“I have a great product. Come and buy it!”

“I have the best business idea. You should invest in it!”

“My product is the best in the market. I deserve your money!”

—

I’ve made this mistake so many times, it’s painful!

It’s probably one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when starting their business.

The challenge is to make decisions RATIONALLY, not emotionally.

Entrepreneurship is complex because we act on our emotions, but we should make all decisions with data. Without the proper guidance and discipline, it’s very easy to make mistakes.

Now, there’s no negative judgment of failures, just lessons and growth. You’d be surprised, though, how history repeats itself over and over again down through the ages. The most successful companies and entrepreneurs have learned this the hard way.

Examples:

1957 — Ford Edsel

Ford invested $400 million into the car, but Americans wanted smaller, more economic vehicles. FAILED.

1975 — Sony Betamax

Sony kept Betamax proprietary, meaning that the market for VHS products quickly outpaced Betamax. FAILED.

1985 — New Coke

The “Pepsi Challenge” ads were responsible for Coca-Cola trying to create a product that would taste more like Pepsi. FAILED.

1993 — Apple Newton

Apple’s great idea was ahead of its time. The technology wasn’t there yet. FAILED.

2006 — Microsoft Zune

The Zune was targeted to take over Apple’s iPod. It didn’t. FAILED.

2006 — HD-DVD

HD-DVD was the hi-def replacement to DVD, but Sony led with Blu-ray built into their Playstation console. FAILED.

2009 — The Nook

Amazon’s Kindle is cheaper and syncs up easily with Amazon’s account. FAILED.

2014 — Amazon’s Fire Phone

Amazon’s Fire Phone released in 2014 looked competitive. Amazon discontinued the phone 13 months after its launch. FAILED.

2019 — Google+

“Google+ was one of the most ambitious bets in the company’s history,” Eric Schmidt wrote in his book, How Google Works. It was believed that it would be a Facebook killer. FAILED.

---

To answer your question, if a startup has a great product, why aren’t people still buying it?

People don’t buy products or services — they buy results, benefits and solutions.

PUSHING your products and services to the consumer is a recipe for failure.

Startups commonly fail because they waste their most scarce resource (cash) on advertising and promotions. The ‘in’ reality is that marketing goes in one ear and right out the other.

Solution?

1. Figure out your niche in the market; DON’T try to sell to everyone.
2. Understand their hurts and their frustrations. Why is it that they will buy your product? Example: people don’t buy eyeglasses, they buy vision, the benefit!
3. Learn to feel like them to a point to deeply understand them.
4. Communicate their problem in their language. Listen to them, don’t guess what they want — talk to them. What you think they need is very commonly not what they want.
5. Test your market BEFORE scaling.

What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?

He was irritated to come out to a secretary’s desk and find she wasn’t yet seated. She was in the lounge putting away her coat and then fixed herself a cup of coffee, and she sat down at 8:36 — instead of 8:30.

It happened to be a morning of extreme stress and he really needed all hands on deck that morning. Got it, but he was very short-sighted. The 6 minutes didn’t change the course of the day, but his Memo to Staff certainly did.

He circulated a memo to all staff which said something to the effect of:

“The day begins at 8:30. Not 8:36, or 8:40, or when you found a parking space, or when the coffee was ready. If you need more time, plan your day accordingly and make your cup of coffee, and find your spot, and hang up your coat, earlier than normal. 8:30 means in your seat, at your desk, ready for the day’s work to begin. Not coming through the door.”

Okay — we got it. Well, I was a paralegal at the time, and I put in SO many more hours than the 40 hours I was paid for. I arrived early, left late, frequently delayed lunch, often didn’t take breaks on busy days preparing for trial.

His memo so back-fired, that every single employee was grumbling, not just the secretary. As it happened, I was the most affected (in a positive way, actually) by this policy memo because I was the staff member who had the MOST lost-time from working beyond my schedule. I was never late, so he didn’t have a problem with me, but he also abused my time more than anyone else. There were months where I never took so much as a coffee break. Often ate lunch at my desk while working. Seldom left at closing time. Often came in on Saturdays or Sundays to help get ready for Mondays. I just always shrugged it away and took it as “part of the industry.” A trial litigation practice is stressful and schedules need to be fluid.

He didn’t appreciate that, so we responded as a group of 16 employees with total solidarity.

We were AT our desks at 8:30 a.m. We LEFT our desks promptly at 5:30. We took our breaks and our lunch hours exactly on time.

It was a disaster.

I was the first to respond. “Sorry, I can’t help right now. My lunch is 12 to 1, and I have to stand up at 12, and sit back down at 1, so this copy project would make my lunch “12 ish to 1 ish.” I’ll start on this at exactly 1:01 p.m., when I’m back at my desk.”

I also left at exactly 5:30 p.m. I stood up, put the cover on my typewriter, and cleared my desk. He said “Can you just—-” and some paperwork in his hands.

“No, I’m sorry. My day begins promptly at 8:30 and ends exactly at 5:30. I’ll help with that tomorrow.”

I left.

Everyone did the same. All week.

“No I’m sorry, I’m required to take a 10 minute break in this hour.”

“No, I’m sorry, my lunch begins in 15 minutes at 12:00, and that’s 30 minutes of dictation you want transcribed. I’ll begin exactly at 1:00 when I’m IN MY SEAT and AT MY DESK.”

He realized the petty nature of his Memo to Staff within 2 business days, and sent around an apology memo within a week of disastrous results.

He then sent us all out for an extended lunch of 2 hours — on the house. He didn’t come.

His memo said “Go complain about your boss over a 2 hour lunch — on me.”

Oliver Anthony – I’ve Got To Get Sober | REACTION!

What was a red flag that made you stop talking to a person immediately?

I had a friend who I knew smoked Marijuana among other things. I chose not to partake of any of this so he would walk away do his thing then come back. No big deal… well it had a few months since we had been able to hang out and decided to meet up at a local festival. I was having gall bladder issues at that time. The day we were to meet I was in the middle of a very severe “attack” but chose to go anyway because I missed him so much. I told him this when I arrived. After about 2 or so hours he said he wanted to go “smoke” so I sat listening to a band while I waited. And waited… and waited. Over an hour waiting on him while I was very sick and in pain. I finally left. I later found out that he decided to go drop acid instead. He forgot I was there because he was so messed up. That was the last time I saw him. If drugs are more important than our friendship then I don’t need you in my life.

David Cross: Why America Sucks at Everything – US American Reacts

Have you ever seen a drill instructor compliment a recruit?

Of course they do.

I LOVE YOUR TINY LITTLE VOICE, WHY DON’T YOU SAY IT LOUDER FOR MY FRIEND TO HEAR TOO?

Drill Instructor Sergeant Ferry was the most merciless individual ever known to man. He would punish you for something as simple as not sitting properly and play mind games with recruits just to kill time. Sergeant Ferry had little tolerance for any sort of discretion and was the most hated man out of all the Drill Instructors in our platoon since he was the designated disciplinarian or otherwise known as the Kill Hat.

During Recruit Training, there was one particular class where we were educated on the benefits of knowing a foreign language then told to sign up to take the Defense Language Proficiency Test, if we claimed to be bilingual. I signed up to take the DLPT for Vietnamese and was promptly removed for one entire morning along with a few other recruits from other platoons to take the exam. The Drill Instructor escorting us to the Receiving Building where testing was held, was none other than Drill Instructor Sergeant Ferry.

While we were waiting for the proctors to set up the computer lab, Sergeant Ferry had a few remarks for us.

“If you pass this test, you will earn the chance to get paid extra money every month, and probably go on missions requiring speakers of your language.” he growled.

“Be the one to fail and I will make sure your life is absolutely miserable when you return to your platoons.”

Luckily for me, I passed the DLPT and could not have been happier as I walked back to my platoon’s squad bay alone after a well deserved lunch.

Later on that evening in a rare moment of sanity, Sergeant Ferry was loudly lecturing the platoon on the importance of being a well-rounded Marine. At some point in his speech he said, “IF YOU KNOW A SECOND LANGUAGE LIKE VIETNAMESE, YOU CAN GET PAID FOR IT IF YOU PASS A QUALIFICATION TEST AND GET EXTRA MONEY IN YOUR PAYCHECK EVERY MONTH!!”

While he did not mention my name at all, I felt that was his way of saying “Good job Vu for passing the exam!” without stating the obvious.

After completing the Crucible a month later at Camp Pendleton, the contract Private First Class Marines in the platoon were asked on which Drill Instructor they would like to pin them in the promotion ceremony that was held before our Warrior’s Breakfast. I chose Sergeant Ferry to pin me as a PFC.

As he was pinning on the chevrons onto my collar, Sergeant Ferry said in a hoarse voice, “Getting promoted to Private First Class and getting paid extra for speaking Vietnamese? I’m damn proud of you Vu”.

He shook my hand with an iron grip and I felt humbled as he walked to the next Marine.

Is China’s WhitePaper a global rescue plan or a global threat?

It’s a great question, there is a new White Paper and China is “threatening” to lead the world into a different place – who benefits and how?

What is the best case of “You just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?

I’m a nurse. When I was a mere student (many years ago now), I was doing my stint in A&E (ER for my American friends). It was a Saturday night. I had requested it specifically, as I wanted to see some “exciting” cases. I was put onto triage with a qualified nurse, to see how the system worked.

The department I worked in was in the city center, so a lot of “walk in” patients. About 8pm, in walked 2 young lads in their late teens, early 20’s. One with a broken nose, the other with a possible fractured jaw. They had been “set upon by a group of guys in the city”. They were seated, awaiting X-ray. We also informed the special constable on duty attached to the department (auxiliary police) about a possible assault case.

About an hour or so later, an old guy in his late 70’s to early 80’s walked in. He had what we call a “boxers fracture”.. basically, a fracture of the hand that is normally sustained by punching something. What we found interesting, is that the old guy was not medically trained, but came to us saying “I’ve got a bloody brawlers fracture, haven’t I?”. How did he know? He said he had been “set upon” by two young lads who had tried to mug him.

Well, I finished my shift, went home and on Monday morning heard the rest of the story.

The old man and the two young men had seen each other in the X-ray dept. The old man had started shouting, saying “those are the ones that attacked me”. The police had been called, the two men questioned and arrested.

A week later, I came in for one of my last shifts in the department and, in the staff room, there was a newspaper cutting from the local press saying something along the lines of “Hurricane Harry wins his final bout”.

The old man, at about 84, had only just stopped training local boxers. He was an ex prizefighter, had been an army middleweight champion during the war and devoted his life to boxing. Set upon by two young lads, he decided to teach them a lesson in respecting your elders haha.

China’s First 28nm Lithography Tool to Be Delivered This Year

By Anton Shilov

China’s most advanced domestic scanner.

Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE), China’s most successful lithography scanner manufacturer, reiterated plans this week to deliver its first scanner capable of producing chips on a 28nm-class fabrication process by the end of the year, reports TechWire Asia, citing newspaper Securities Daily, which in turn cites an unnamed source.

For SMEE, its SSA/800-10W scanner is a breakthrough since the most advanced scanner that the company has today is only capable of 90nm and thicker fabrication processes. A 28nm-capable lithography tool will over time enable Chinese chipmakers to rely on domestic lithography equipment for a range of mature technologies.

The move is part of China’s broader goal to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency and reduce its dependence on foreign technology. But the question remains as to whether SMEE can produce this scanner in mass quantities, and when it can make such scanners available to substitute for machines from ASML, Canon, and Nikon.

The latest export regulations from the U.S. government prevent Chinese chipmakers from accessing tools and technologies essential for creating non-planar transistor logic chips under 14nm/16nm dimensions, 3D NAND chips with over 127 active layers, and DRAM ICs with a half-pitch smaller than 18nm. Restrictions from the Netherlands, Japan, and Taiwan that went into effect earlier this fall further isolated Chinese firms like SMIC and YMTC from advanced tools. These limitations impede their ability to produce chips using their newest manufacturing processes, notably SMIC’s 14nm/12nm and 2nd generation 7nm as well as YMTC’s 128-layer and 232-layer 3D NAND.

As a result, China needs advanced domestic lithography tools to ensure that its chipmakers can produce chips on even fairly advanced process technologies, such as 14nm. For now, it looks like Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment is on track to reveal its 28nm-capable SSA/800-10W scanner, which it will ship either to SMIC or a chip research intitute.

After it does this, it will still take some time for the chipmaker to integrate the new scanner into its production flow. However, it will only do this only if SMEE can produce a sufficient number of such tools.

What is something that people commonly think is true, that is actually a myth?

There is a myth that is way popular.
It’s not a myth, actually, it is a myth within a myth.

Myth-ception.

You must have heard this statement before:
“NASA invested $1,000,000 to develop a pen that works in space, while Russia used a pencil.”

Why did I say this is a “Myth within a Myth” (Myth-ception)?

Here, I’ll explain:

• Facts that show that the statement is a myth:

1. Before a proper Space-Pen was developed, astronauts from both the USA and Russia used pencil in space.
2. NASA never spent the $1,000,000 to develop a pen that works in zero-gravity of outer space by themselves.
3. Russia itself, along with the USA, uses a space-pen today.

• The fact that busts the myth present within the myth:

1. A normal pen can work in space!

Who told you that a normal ballpoint pen won’t work in space?

Let me explain it to you properly.

In the initial days of space flight, scientists were unsure about whether or not normal pens would work in the hostile conditions of outer space. And the capsule in which astronauts were sent into space had very little space to send only the essential stuff. So, they couldn’t send some normal pens along with pencils just to try.

They couldn’t risk the situation by sending only pens instead of pencils. What if an astronaut inside the ISS (International Space Station) takes a pen but it doesn’t work? There is no stationery shop floating outside the station to buy another pen or a pencil. If the pen they took wouldn’t have worked, no instruments would be available to write.

Hence, all of the astronauts had to take pencils with them. No pen was given a chance.

In 1967, during the launch rehearsal test of the 1st Apollo mission, a cabin fire took place. This fire killed all of the three astronauts present in that crew.

After this incident, engineers tried eliminating all of the flammable items in any space mission. The pencil was one of them.

But what do you use if a pencil is eliminated?

Then NASA turned towards the man named Paul C. Fisher. This man had patented an “Anti-Gravity” ballpoint pen in 1966.

Fisher was the person, who invested his own $1,000,000 to make a space-pen, independent of any organization. NASA approached his company after the pen was launched.

Now, some people think that the pen itself costs a lot. But the thing is, the cost of a million dollars was spent to make the pen. NASA actually bought the pens for a cheaper price (around $6 per pen).

Now I will come to why we don’t use normal pens in space (even if we can).

What I think is, after reading all of this history, people just assumed that normal pens don’t work in space. But the situation is a bit different.

I did an analysis of the mechanism of all types of pens and came to an amazing conclusion.

For you to understand that, you will have to know how a space pen works. And for you to know how a space pen works, I will have to explain how a normal pen works.

• Basically, pens are divided into 5 main categories:

1. Fountain pen
2. Rollerball pen
3. Felt tip pen
4. Ballpoint pen
5. Gel pen

Now, I will tell you the mechanism of each type of pen.

Fountain pens

To understand its mechanism, it can be divided into three parts:

1. The Nib
2. The Feed
3. The Reservoir

Structure of a regular Fountain pen

To know how things look in real, I broke my own ink pen:

I’ll explain the function of these three parts, starting with the reservoir.

The reservoir contains a cartridge which holds ink. This part is broad and the ink can move independently under the action of gravity. The job of this section is to hold ink and supply it to the feed.

A pipe starts from the reservoir and it sends ink to the feed.

This pipe has 4 thin channels — 3 for ink and 1 for air.

Now you would ask, “Why a channel for air?”

Well, let me make it clear with an example.

Take a plastic bottle and fill it with water.
Make a tiny hole on the cap.
Invert the bottle so that the cap is facing down.

Does water start flowing?
NO.

That is because of the atmospheric pressure (air stops the flow from below).
It is just like pressing the hole with a finger. Water won’t flow out of the hole (even if gravity is supporting you in this case).

You will have to squeeze the bottle to get water out of it.

The reason for the water not flowing out is the absence of air above. If water gets out of the hole, a vacuum will be created above (since the water level has to go down). We know that this is impossible. There must be some way, by which air will be filled in the upper section as the water level keeps moving down.

You can do this by making a hole above (on the base of bottle). Now, water will keep flowing from the hole made on the cap (without squeezing the bottle).

As water moves out from the hole, the water level keeps decreasing from above – this leads to the formation of vacuum – which, in turn, sucks air from the opposite hole.

A similar mechanism is used in the Fountain pen.

The only difference is that – the hole for air is made near the same point, where the three holes for ink flow are made (instead of making one on the opposite).

When you glide the nib on the paper, ink flows out from the three channels and air keeps getting from one channel. This air goes through the feed and reaches the reservoir. (This way, the air is filled in the space emptied by the loss of ink.)

Hence, constant flow is maintained.

Here is the structure of the feed:

Structure of the feed

The feed consists of three parts:

1. Wings
2. Fins
3. Post

I have mentioned the function of each in the image.

Here is the structure of the nib:

Structure of the Nib

I have mentioned the main components, with their functions, in the image.

Now, coming to the main point.

Why did I mention that there are 3 thin channels for ink in the feed?

That is because these channels introduce Capillary Action in the fountain pen. The movement of ink through these channels happen due to capillary action, and not gravity.

See, the two components that drive ink downwards, inside a fountain pen, are:

1. Gravity — inside the reservoir (Because it is broad, hence, no capillary action can take place).
2. Capillary action — inside the thin channels of the feed (Because they are way thinner).

When the ink exits the feed, it enters the slit of the nib. The slit is also very thin. Hence, the ink flows from the breather hole to the tip of the nib, by Capillary action, again.

My point here is to explain that if we use this pen in a zero-gravity spaceship, it is bound to work for some time (thanks to the capillary action).
But… once the feed is emptied, the pen will stop to work. The ink in the reservoir (cartridge) will keep floating and won’t come down.

Also, there is another big disadvantage of taking a fountain pen to space.

You must remember the role of air in the functioning of an ink pen (as I have mentioned above). We know that a spaceship has an oxygen supply. But, if an astronaut takes a fountain pen outside the spaceship, the absence of the atmosphere will make the pen function-less.

Coming to the Rollerball pens:

This type is said to be invented in 1888.

The most common example of this kind of pen is Trimax.

To understand the internal structure of this pen, I had to break my own pen.

This answer required a high budget. LOL.

The upper section of my Trimax (a rollerball pen).
The Feed and The Nib

You can see that this pen has a lot of similarity with the fountain pen.

To show you how all of the parts of this pen look, in detail, I used my simple microscope to zoom at each part of the Feed and Nib:

A detailed structure of a Rollerball pen.
The visible parts were zoomed and pictured using my simple microscope.

You can see that the Fins part of the feed is similar to a fountain pen.

The main difference is created by the Post and the Nib.

Instead of having a pipe with four channels, the post of this pen is a porous substance, which transfers ink by suction.

This porous material was inserted in these pens, during their invention period, for easy writing on rough surfaces.

The Nib is the same as the ballpoint pen. I will explain the structure of the ballpoint Nib in the section of how ballpoint pens work.

I removed the ballpoint nib of this pen and this is what I was inside:

Inside the Nib of a rollerball pen.
(Imaged under my simple microscope).
It is the same extended porous material (that caries ink). Just a metal nib is added over it.

We don’t need a separate channel for air since the refill of the pen is open from above.

• Talking about this pen to be used in space:
  
  We can say that the flow of ink can happen in the absence of gravity, through a suction-based cloth type material. But the main issue is the Water-based ink used in this type of pens.
  
  Water-based ink has a very low cohesive force. That is, the molecules in that ink aren’t attracted to each other at a large scale. So, we can’t assure a constant flow of ink. The pen may stop writing at a point.

Coming to the Felt-tip pen:

Common examples are Regular sketch-pens.

The mechanism is way similar to that of rollerball pens. The flow of water-based ink is maintained through suction, using a similar porous material.

The only major difference that I could notice was — they don’t have a ballpoint nib.

I showed you how the nib of a rollerball pen looks when you remove the metal nib. That is exactly how a nib of Felt-tip pen looks. The nib is nothing but the same continued section of porous material.

Why can’t we use these pens in space:
Same reason as with the Rollerball pen → the damn water-based non-viscous ink.

Coming to the main contestant — Ballpoint pens.

These pens have a simple structure. There won’t be a need to discuss the mechanism of a refill.

The only complicated part is — the ballpoint metal nib.

The mechanism of the Ballpoint metal Nib.
I have labelled all of the parts, with their functions.

In the image, I have also explained the working of the ballpoint pen.

I won’t be discussing the gel pens because they have the same mechanism as that of ballpoint pens. The only difference is in the ink. Gel pens use Water-based ink.

Coming to the main issue:

• Why can’t we use a ballpoint pen in space?
  
  Who said that we can’t?
  We can!
  
  In 2003, an astronaut named Pedro Duque took a normal ballpoint pen with him, to confirm the fact. He found that the ballpoint pen worked pretty fine. He wrote 4–6 paragraphs in his diary and the pen didn’t stop!
  
  According to my analysis, this happened because of the Oil-based ink present in the refill of a ballpoint pen. This ink is highly viscous and sticks itself pretty well. Cohesive forces (among the molecules of this ink) is very high.
  
  So, for the pen to work, we need a small driving force that could maintain the flow of ink. The Capillary action inside the thin nib is enough for it.
  
  See, the refill of a ballpoint pen is thick and it can’t build a capillary action. On earth, this part relies on gravity.
  
  But… when you take this pen to outer space (zero-gravity), the small section near the nib will suck the ink under capillary action. This will drive entire ink because of the “stickiness” of that ink. It will have a continuous flow.

Now you would ask, “Then why don’t we use normal ballpoint pens in space?”

The thing is, zero-gravity is not the only issue. There are other problems like extreme temperatures (cold and hot), UV radiation, lack of atmosphere outside the spaceship.

The issue is the same: If astronauts take normal ballpoint pens with them and they stop working somehow, there is no stationary shop floating outside the spaceship. We can’t risk. Hence, the space-pen was bound to be made.

The Space-Pen:

Paul C. Fisher spent his $1,000,000 to make a pen that overcomes all of the limitations of other pens.

Every pen has some drawbacks, which pose a risk to be dependent upon. I have tried to mention all of these drawbacks from my analysis.

This pen uses refills which contain pressurized nitrogen gas inside them. The pressure forces the ink out of the nib even in the absence of Gravity and Atmosphere.

The ink used in this pen is extremely viscous (like jelly). So, continuous flow is maintained even in zero-gravity.

Also, the materials used while manufacturing is chosen such that the pen can write even in extremely hot and cold temperatures. The shocking part is that this pen can also be used to write underwater.

So, here we are.
At the end of the Myth-ception.

I hope that I was able to clear all of the myths, along with the myths present within the myths.

Sunny Dhondkar

This is funny

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Cx7hntWSueg?feature=share

Why is it a problem when 5 countries (BRICS) decide that they want to step away from using the dollar for their trade? They didnt say the whole world should do it, They are just doing it amongst themselves. Why does the US have a problem with that?

I’ll keep it simple. The US earns 1 trillion a year and spends 2 trillion right, they make up the shortfall by printing a trillion every year – they issue T bills. In the normal course of events printing the equivlent of your yearly GDP would create massive inflation and your economy would collapse.

However. The USD is used for most of the trade on the planet so all of that money gets to share the inflationary pressure – all countries suffer the inflation and so (given that all countries are ‘inflating’) there is no inflation. All of the currencies are inflating at the same rate.

When other countries (BRICS countries and more) move away from the USD that not only takes USD out of circulation (incresing inflationary pressure on what is left) but makes those (BRICS) countries more immune to the inflationary presssure.

So the problem that the US has with it is that it’ll totally fuck the US. Which is as it should be.

What is something that your mother-in-law said that you’ll never forget?

My ex-fiance’s mom and I were incredibly close. We used to spend all our time together when she visited, even when her son was at work.

Then, the heart-wrenching day came when I had to break the news about his infidelity. She was nearly as devastated as I was. We had planned our wedding for six months down the road, discussing every tiny detail with excitement. She often expressed how proud she was that I would officially become her daughter-in-law.

However, her son didn’t share her sentiments.

When we split, I never got to say goodbye in person because they lived far away. Within a week, I packed up and moved back to Spain to heal with my family. We exchanged messages, and she confessed that part of her was relieved we hadn’t met to say goodbye because she didn’t know how she would handle it.

Fast forward a year, we still keep in touch on WhatsApp (her son and I definitely do not!). I’m solo traveling in Australia, and she checks on me. She remembered my birthday and even shared what would have been my wedding day with me. She continues to be my mother-in-law in spirit.

This past Christmas, she sent me a message that brought tears to my eyes. In their family, everyone had a special bauble on her Christmas tree. She told me to add one because she considered me family. I bought a simple, beautiful one.

Christmas 2018, I thought about that bauble and how life changes. Two days later, she messaged me, asking about my trip to Bali for Christmas and New Years. She sent a photo of her beautifully decorated tree, saying, “Your bauble is still on my tree, and it will be every year xx.”

I was truly fortunate to have her as my mother-in-law.

Oliver Anthony is Single-Handedly Destroying the Recording Industry

Oliver Antony chose an unconventional path to fame and fortune. In the process, he showed other artists how to break the backs of the recording industry. All you need is strong vocals, a good message, and a Youtube channel to rake in millions of dollars without any censorship of your message.

What is an insane coincidence that you’ve experienced?

My last name is not exactly common. Especially in northeast Ohio where I grew up. In the Cleveland area, if you know someone with the last name of Breaux, they are most definitely closely related to me.

So, there I was working for Geek Squad. I arrived at a client’s house to perform some kind of repair on an older guy’s computer. I introduced myself and we made a little small talk on the way back to his office. He pointed me to the office chair and told me a little about the problem. When I booted up the computer, it needed a password so I asked him to type it in.

“I’ll just tell it to you. You look trustworthy. You might want to write it down, though.”

I grabbed my notepad and a pen and nodded to him.

“B”

“R”

“E”

“A”

“U”

“X”

I just stared at him, confused and a little freaked out. Why was this guy’s password my last name?

I must have just looked confused because he chuckled and said “It’s my middle name. Strange, I know, but I was named after a close family friend growing up in Detroit.”

My jaw almost hit the ground. My dad and grandfather were born in Detroit, my Great Grandfather had moved there in the early 1920s. I was pretty sure he was the only Breaux that moved up from Louisiana at that time.

After I collected myself, I showed him my ID badge and his eyes lit up and he got a huge smile on his face. It turns out, it was my great grandfather that he was named after. He remembers my grandfather as a child and used to play with him when their dads would visit each other. After my he and my grandfather joined the military to fight in WWII, they lost contact and never spoke again.

I may have spent much more than my allotted time at that client’s house, but I got to hear stories of my grandfather as a child growing up in Detroit. I wouldn’t have traded those stories for any number of extra clients that day.

What was it like having a Navy SEAL for a father?

Misunderstood.

My pops was an active duty SEAL for the first 30 years of my life. Many (most?) of his closest friends are former SEALs. Many of my friends and acquaintances were also raised by frogmen.

Note: I’m going to speak in broad strokes here, but I’ll do so with care.

*Understood Incorrectly*

Strictness Speaking generally, yes, they are tough dads. But probably less strict than most Marine fathers or the expectation many of you have. Perhaps family life is a welcome break from a day job that involves being hard.

You learn respect early. Talking back isn’t tolerated. But it isn’t extreme. Most SEAL communities are teamwork oriented, there are levels of compassion and understanding that underlie their tough outer core.

Put simply, they teach their children a lot of lessons that don’t involve kicking the shit out of kids on the playground.

Lineage Most team guys don’t pressure their kids to become SEALs.

In fact, I can’t name a single son who followed in his father’s footsteps.

Why? Well, for one, it is an extreme career path. You need to be near-born with a desire, a calling, a primal urge to pursue it. Anything less isn’t enough.

I’ll further speculate, many fathers may feel the same trepidation that a pro athlete feels when they see their son also pursuing a pro-sports career.

They know that their kid may be setting themselves up for failure. With SEALs as with a pro sports career: most are not cut out out for the task in front of them.

Also, serving screws a lot of guys up. Physically and mentally, SEALs see a lot of bad things and have a lot of bad things happen to them.

Quick tip: when you find out someone’s dad is a SEAL, don’t let your first question be, “Why didn’t you join like him?” The question is beat to death.

*Understood Correctly*

Quiet Warriors They don’t talk about what they do. Never heard anything. And believe me, I’ve asked.

Philosophy Someone who joins the SEALs has an underlying belief that evil exists in this world. And that becoming a SEAL will give them the best opportunity to help rid the world of darkness, help protect the weak from those who would do them harm.

Tangent to that, being allowed to operate with (arguably) the most elite group on Earth, is a privilege. You’re given access to high-level equipment, training, and above all, the most talented peers available. Service is, again, seen as privilege.

Consequently, humility is a strong value among team members. I’ve seen that humility frequently passed down to their children.

Values Driven They tend to pass along a strong sense of values and orientation towards right and wrong (again good vs evil). Most are conservative. Many are also religious (Christian).

Physical Fitness Most SEAL families are indeed athletic. Staying physically fit was always held in high regard, a sign of work ethic and self-discipline.

Overall, it is a great experience. I’ve only lived one life (that I know of) and given the choice, I think I’d repeat.

SEAL dads make pretty darn good dads.

What is the reason for the discrepancy between the Chinese government’s desire to have more tourists and the way it treats its own citizens?

The Chinese government treated its people way better that the U.S. treated its own people.

Let’s put things in perspective not be foolish to repeat US narratives on CCP, China and the Chinese people.

Freedom. The U.S. has 9 times more per million in jail than China! For a nation calling itself the land of the free, this is simply shameful. US has a law that disallow its people to drink a beer on the streets but allowed lethal military weapons and today the U.S. has more mass random shooting incidents in a week than China has in a decade! Freedom to shoot and kill but not free to drink a beer on the go! China allows you to drink alcohol and beer as long as you don’t disturb the peace but one is not allowed even a 4” blade in your pocket.

Living Standard. The U.S. has stopped growing in real living standards since 1960. Today it is fast deteriorating. Your inflation is 5 times higher than your income growth since 2020! The poor is getting poorer and up to a million live in tents on the streets. And 50 million has joined the poor from the middle class. China grew real standard of living 30 times in 40 years from 1980–2020 alone! China’s inflation is a shade below 2% and its growth is way past 6%! China’s middle class is today close to 700 million or more than twice the entire U.S. population!

Disparity of income. The Rich in the US is filthy rich and the poor is dirt poor. The U.S. has many companies which is too big to fail! Not China, even the richest man will be hold accountable and even the biggest company need to be held responsible. The U.S. 1% owns almost 90% of the wealth and the 99% share the 10%. The rich influence the government and dare I say owns the government! Not in China. People comes first.

Safety. In China one can roam the streets at 3 am in the morning alone! In U.S. chances of you being robbed or rape is very high. Even shot to death is likely. Cops in the U.S. can necked you to death and shoot you all due to the colour of your skin. If the cops don’t get you the racist or the mass random shooter can kill you anytime! If you lose your mobile phone. Chinese cops get it back to you within hours!

So grow up the U.S. government don’t care about you. They take care of big pharmaceutical companies and military industrial complex and National Rifles Association and weapons manufacturers! The U.S. government are put in place by these companies. They owned the government.

Travel and tourism. Chinas has more high speed railway than the entire world put together. US failed to complete 100 kilometres line from LA to San Francisco after 20 years. During this time China put up 120K miles of high speed railway! It is cheaper and more convenient to travel for everyone in China.

Free Medicine. China offers universal health coverage for everyone rich or poor. No one dies because the don’t have health insurance. The Rich pays more and the poor lays little or none. In the U.S. 35% of Americans. Cannot get treatment because they could not afford health insurance.

Free Education. In China if you kids qualify for college. Chinese government provide it free. In the U.S. your kids get into debts just for attending college!

Chinese government is so much better than the U.S. government in China. Admittedly one cannot attack their own capital like Trumps supporters did in Washington in China. But we don’t mind.

The Best Near-Death Experience I’ve Ever Heard

“The best NDE I’ve ever heard.” Rosemary Thornton had a near-death experience (NDE) while undergoing cancer treatment. She instantly found herself on the other side in a white room where she conversed with God and Angels before going to Heaven. Rosemary’s near-death experience (NDE) showed her what happens after death, what angels look like, and that there is life after death. Her near-death experience (NDE) provides more evidence/proof of an afterlife.

Could the US just not pay the bonds that China has as a sanction? What would the consequences be?

It is unconstitutional for the U.S. government not to recognize its debt and pay interest on it. After the Civil War, the Supremacy Clause and the 14th Amendment established an obligation for the federal government to recognize and pay its debts, even those incurred during times of insurrection or rebellion, such as the Civil War. This constitutional principle serves as a foundational element of the nation’s financial stability and credibility. Therefore, the US government must follow its own laws to pay the bonds owned by China.

The United States has not defaulted on the principal or interest payments of its government bonds. The U.S. government has a long-standing reputation for honoring its debt obligations, both to domestic and foreign bondholders. This commitment to debt repayment is a key factor in maintaining the country’s financial stability and credibility in the global financial markets.

To default on the interest payments for bonds held by China, the United States would need to amend the constitution, a process that has not occurred since 1992, and identify which bond is held by China, a task that is impossible to carry out. In addition, these actions carry severe repercussions for the United States, including the potential for substantial economic and financial upheaval, harm to its global standing, and interruptions in government services. China could respond by liquidating its entire bond holdings, causing a crash in the bond market. Given these considerations, it would be less painful for the U.S. to meet its obligations by relying on future inflation and higher interest rates while printing more money.

What is the strangest thing you’ve seen on public transit?

A new mom boards a city bus, holding her baby in her arms. She deposits her fare, and greets the bus driver.

The bus driver asks her how old her baby is. She turns the baby around so he can see it and says proudly, “Just a week old, sir”.

The bus driver takes a look at the baby and exclaims “Wow, that’s literally the ugliest baby I’ve ever seen!”

Crushed and angry, the woman walks down the aisle of the bus and finds a seat next to a man.

The man notices she’s fuming, and asks her “Ma’am, you seem upset. What’s the matter?”

“The bus driver just insulted me saying really mean things. He was not a very nice person at all.”

The man quickly replies, “Wow, I’m so sorry to hear that! Tell you what, you should go right back up there and give the bus driving jerk a piece of your mind and demand an apology. And while you do that, I’ll hold your monkey for you.”

First Time You Realized America Really Messed You Up – Part 1 – US American Reaction

Which popular career advice will be abandoned 10 years from now?

The old man was walking with his wife at the local shopping mall.

He analyzed the latest Amazon’s Pop-Up Shop and searched for music products and couldn’t find any.

He continued to walk around and has a déjà-vu, “WOW! There’s a huge opportunity here!”

“What do you see, my love?” The old lady asked with eyes of admiration.

“Imagine how many people walk here everyday… everyone loves music, and there’s NO music store in all the shopping mall! I’m going to push our son Luigi to open a music store here!”

Oh dear, you’re old but still a visionary genius! I’m sure Luigi will love the idea!”

They excitedly hurry home.

“Son! Sit down right now and listen to me! You won’t believe the amazing opportunity I just found. Your future is guaranteed if you follow my wise advice.”

“What are you talking about, Dad? Tell me about it,” Luigi asked, taking a seat.

“I WANT you to open a music store at our local mall!” Old Mario said with authority.

“But Dad… that doesn’t sound like a good business anymore,” Luigi refuted fearfully.

“Don’t you be disrespectful to your father’s wisdom, Luigi! He’s offering you an opportunity of a lifetime!” Mom interrupted.

“But people don’t buy music at a shopping mall any more, Mom. It doesn’t make sense!”

“You listen to and obey the wisdom of your father. All those grey hairs are there for a reason! Your dad has already got a line of credit for you.”

Luigi had a bad feeling about this, but with no other choice he had to trust his parents.

He goes to the bank and takes a 100,000 dollar loan under his name and opens the music shop.

Four years of hard work and no results. Luigi is devastated. The market has changed. People don’t buy music CDs or cassette tapes anymore.

---

Moral of the story?

Luigi invested 4 years of his life into this venture, lost everything and now has to start all over again, but now with a financial burden of $100,000 that he must repay over time.

Mom and Dad feel deeply disappointed about Luigi’s incompetence.

Devastated and confused about his inability to make a living, Luigi must continue living with his parents while he reinvents himself to find a decent job.

How will Luigi get out of this financial mess?

---

Now, to answer your question, which famous career advice will be abandoned 10 years from now?

“Go to college and pay with a student loan!”

The story above is obviously a sarcastic story of what’s happening to a whole generation of young adults.

• Careers are changing, and parents are still forcing youngsters to study outdated degrees.
• Jobs are changing, and parents don’t understand it.
• Once graduated, many find themselves jobless and parents blame their child for incompetence.
• Young adults need to start all over again to find a real path into the future, but now with a financial load that won’t go away.

At nearly $1.5 trillion, the student debt problem is out of control and will soon become a problem of historic proportions.

Elites ‘are in the grip of a pseudo-ideology of control’: Former CIA analyst

Former CIA analyst and Author Martin Gurri says the world is incrementally moving towards authoritarianism as elites embrace a fragmented “pseudo ideology of control”. Mr Gurri described protests as being “hollow ideologically”. “In the end, it’s the rule of experts, the rule of science, the rule of justice, as defined by the people in charge,” Mr Gurri told Sky News host James Morrow. “You need something to be that something; you can’t be something with nothing. “You’re not going to beat a pseudo ideology of control, until you work out an ideology of freedom.”

What was the best revenge you’ve ever gotten?

Many years ago I drove into NYC to visit a friend for the weekend. Sunday evening I started up my car to drive home and smoke came out of the front end, which is never a good thing. I called AAA and some thingamabob was busted (I don’t remember which part) and needed fixing in order to drive the car. Being a Sunday, not much was open, but I found a car repair place that could do the work, so I had my car towed there. They said yes they could fix the car, but mysteriously all the credit card machines were broken, so I’d have to pay cash. They wouldn’t even take a check. Of course ATMs had a limit to the amount of cash you could take out per day, and the daily amount was less than what was needed, so they said I had to stay in NYC until I had enough cash before they would do the repair. I felt like they were holding my car for ransom, but there was nothing I could do. Fortunately I could stay at my friend’s place, but this meant I had to take Monday off from work. There was something about this place which didn’t seem right, but I don’t know a lot about cars and I didn’t know what else I could do.

By Monday afternoon I had amassed enough cash for the expensive repair, which didn’t take long, and got on the road to drive home. I wasn’t too far from home when the new part stopped working and smoke came out of the car again. Once again AAA towed me, this time to my mechanic. He took one look at the part and told me they had installed an old broken down part instead of the new one I had paid for. He had to pull it out and now install the actual part I had paid for. I was furious. Fortunately he knew what agencies to report this to in the State of NY and said he’d prepare whatever statement was needed to support that I was ripped off.

The next day I started calling and filing reports and claims against this shoddy repair facility in NYC. So the agency that handles such things went there to get their records and while there noticed so many things that were in violation of standards that they ended up revoking their license and shutting them down! Also turns out they had had their eye on this place and my reports were the evidence they needed to put them out of business for good.

For good measure, they also got a certified check from the place not only returning all funds that I had paid, but also including all the costs I paid to my mechanic to actually do the correct repair as punitive damages.

So for ripping off an out-of-state woman, they ended up paying for my repair and getting their business shut down. Sometimes crime doesn’t pay. Revenge is sweet.

Russia’s sanctions-dodging is getting ever more sophisticated. What do you think about it?

Of course it is

How much longer can a group of Nations keep threatening the world and sanctioning them unilaterally?

Of course everyone will take precautions

Russia started from 2014 itself. They bore the worst brunt of the sanctions from 2014 and it cost them almost $ 1 Trillion of GDP growth

That was a much tougher sanction package because Russia was completely unprepared

By Contrast in 2022, Russia was already slowly and surely capable of withstanding fundamental sanctions, had many alternate payment systems and had a very strong trade pact with China

They had 8 years to ensure their Dollar Assets and Euro Assets were buried cleverly and untraceable. They had 8 years to ensure that every dollar of western assets in Russia was monitored strongly

The present Sanctions package was a Joke without China. If China had stood apart, Russia would be in big trouble because it had no alternate currency buttress or payment system or all those wonderful industrial supplies and components

Luckily China realized that they were next in line and decided this was the time to stand strong with Russia

Once that happened, the Sanctions became near worthless to Russia but devastating to EU, UK and USA

Simple Example :- Russia refused to export Fertilisers to UK and US and shipped their entire stock to India and China. US immediately Comandeered all of the Canadian surplus and had no issues but UK suffered a 43% shortage and it’s translated in the shelves of supermarkets

Plus Obama, Merkel, Cameron were intelligent leaders who knew restraint

Biden, Blinken, Ursula, Scholz and Sunak don’t know their face from their arse.

Putin and Xi can cook them for breakfast and run rings and rings around them

What is the most mind blowing fact about either World War?

This is probably the least known fact of World War 2, that you never have heard of, which is a shame because it’s quite interesting.

During WW2 millions of Poles became refugees after Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939. The Soviet Union deported almost a million Poles and sent to freezing Siberia, where many died.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of Poles decided to flee, and they did this by crossing the Caspian Sea from Russia to no other country than Iran!

Over 116,000 Poles sailed across the Caspian Sea. The majority docked in the port city of Pahlevi, where they were fed and quarantined because many were carrying lethal diseases such as malaria and typhus.

When Polish refugees were loaded on to trucks to relocate from Pahlevi to Tehran, some Iranians threw objects at them. The frightened refugees thought they were being stoned — but they soon noticed that the objects were not rocks, but rather cookies, candies, and food.

They were warmly welcomed by both the Iranian people and government. Hundreds of buildings were built to house them, and Polish schools, businesses, and cultural organizations were established.

These refugees now had clean beds and plenty of food, after they had spent years in freezing and disease-ridden conditions.

Despite Iran being a country under occupation by the British and Soviets, and even though starvation and poverty were widespread, the refugees were warmly welcomed and witnessed the famous Persian hospitality and kindness first-hand.

The Polish refugees were nourished more by the smiles and generosity of the Iranian people than by the food dished out by British and Russian soldiers

– Polish scholar, Ryszard Antolak

After the war, many Poles decided to stay in Iran and build a life for themselves here in Iran.

Tehran also has a Polish cemetery (called Dulab) which houses the graves of more than 2,000 Poles.

What is the best thing you saw someone do when they got fired from their job?

I had worked with Frank for many years. we did application support for an IMS based system and Frank knew that system inside and out. when the word came that there was going to be downsizing, Frank was the least likely one to be displaced. He got along with everyone and did the job better than anyone. The manager that had to decide the person to leave picked Frank because he challenged her on some topics and he was not very subtle. So on Friday Frank was let go and got a severance package. then it was announced that they would fill the open slot via a contractor. Frank knew the head of the consulting firm and called him up. the consulting firm hired Frank Friday afternoon and on Monday Frank was back doing his old job, getting paid 30% more, was hourly instead of salaried and worked from home instead of coming to the office. That manager lasted a few more years, but eventually she was let go as well. Frank was legend and everyone loved telling that story of how he was able to turn getting let go into a huge positive.

Taqueria Guacamole

Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium fresh jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
• Coarse salt

Instructions

1. Halve avocados lengthwise around pit. Remove pit with a large spoon, then scoop out flesh into a bowl.
2. Squeeze the lemon juice into bowl.
3. Add tomato, onion, and jalapeno.
4. Mash guacamole with a fork to desired consistency.
5. Season guacamole with salt, to taste.

Who is stronger, China or the United States?

Militarily? I would say on par, I know yanks will always say they are, but I don’t think so, a few years ago? Yes, definitely, but theses days,? Not any more, if they went to war? Neither could win, they will both be destroyed, actually in my view, the whole planet would be. Because it would definitely evolve into WW3, and the nukes will start flying.

industrially? Definitely China there is no doubt about that, simply because of numbers, and work ethics, they can build rings around the USA,

in technology? Also close on par, the USA might have a slight edge, but again it comes down to numbers, China just has so many more graduates.

so over all? I guess China gets the gold medal,

that’s the main reason why the USA is so toxic against China to try and keep them down, instead of improving themselves? They prefer to squash any competition, but this time it’s not working, their boot isn’t heavy enough, and the meddlesome bug is to tough.

AMERICAN COUPLE React To Americans Living Abroad: First Time U Realized America Really Messed You Up

What is the best thing you saw someone do when they got fired from their job?

In my early days of work whilst on a summer internship. I didn’t actually see anything… I learned about/lived it. A guy in my office was having personality difficulties with our boss. Basically, the guy was older, smarter, more approachable and more helpful to his co-workers and the boss resented it. The writing was clearly on the wall that the boss had it out for him so when the guy was fired it was hardly a surprise to anyone, particularly not a surprise to the guy that was fired. He packed up and left quietly.

Fast forward a week… the office was starting to smell pretty rank. Everyone was checking their desks for a ‘forgotten lunch’ and orders came down from the top that the fridge and break room needed to be cleared out and cleaned or you’d lose whatever it was that you had stored there. Being the summer intern that somehow became my responsibility. Nothing overly offensive was found that could be the cause.

Fast forward two weeks… the office was uninhabitable. Everybody was sent home. I think they were about ready to bring in corpse search dogs to see if they could locate the offensive smell.

At the end of the third week (since the firing… the week after we were told to leave the office) were were notified that we would be returning to the office the following Monday (I’m not sure if it was paid or unpaid… I was an unpaid intern so I just had to do the work I was given from the local university library. Other actual employees did maintenance work from home during this time, but I don’t think a lot of work got done.)

Long story short, the cause of the smell trickled down to everyone — somebody pushed one of the false ceiling panels up and deposited a bag of fresh prawns into the ceiling cavity to sit during that hot summer. Nobody claimed credit for it and no names were given, but the fired employee’s ex-clerk received a card from the fired employee telling the clerk that he’d moved on to another job and would be happy to serve as a reference should the need arise (I think the fired employee was trying to bring his clerk with him). The kicker was the card was one of those nostalgic 1950s cards with a giant photo of a shrimp cocktail on the front of it.

Message received. Ha ha.

What is the significance of the 10-year Treasury briefly breaching the psychological 5% mark?

Think about this simple maths. The U.S. is indebted up to 34 trillion dollars now! Within 5 years chances it’s that it’s debt level will exceed 50 trillion dollars! That is almost a certainty.

5% of 50 trillion dollars is 2.5 trillion dollars just to service you loan! That means the entire U.S. government budget by that time goes to paying interest alone!

No more money left for welfare services, infrastructure spending, healthcare services and every war it get into it will need to print and create money without basis. Americans must bear this in mind before you vote in your next president. And before you think the U.S. and fight another perpetual war!

China SHOCKED US! New LW-30 Laser Defense Tech Introduced

As China continues to invest heavily in research and development, its laser defense systems have become increasingly sophisticated, capable of detecting and intercepting a wide array of targets, including drones, missiles, and even low-orbit satellites. Today’s episode will cover China’s laser defense technology.