Monday, August 1
Will Pelosi Go To Taiwan?
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has confirmed a visit to Asia this week but questions remain over whether it will include a stop in Taiwan.
In a press release on Sunday, Pelosi said a delegation would travel to the Indo-Pacific “to reaffirm America’s strong and unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region”.
The delegation left Hawaii on Sunday and there will be stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. Pelosi said they would hold “high-level meetings” in those countries to discuss the advancement of “shared interests and values” including peace and security. The press release did not mention Taiwan.
Pelosi was supposed to visit Taiwan in April but the trip was postponed after she contracted Covid-19. Recent reports suggesting Pelosi intended to visit in August have angered Beijing and prompted threats of military countermeasures. Some analysts have said it is one of the most dangerous moments in cross-strait relations in decades.
China considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province destined for reunification, and strongly objects to all acts that appear to support Taiwan as an independent sovereign state. In a phone call lasting more than two hours, China’s president, Xi Jinping, warned Joe Biden over what he considers China’s “territorial integrity”. “Those who play with fire will perish by it,” Xi said. READ MORE...
Asia Stops Buying Oil From Russia
Asia's biggest oil refiner has slashed its purchases of Russian crude this month as it was unwilling to pay higher prices other buyers elsewhere, were offering, Reuters reported.
China-based Sinopec has been the largest buyer of ESPO, a type of Russian crude, in the past two months, acquiring about 20 million barrels.
But in July, the company is expected to snap up fewer cargoes after offering lower bids to Russian exporters.
"Sinopec may only lift a very small amount as their bids were too low for the Russians," a trade source told Reuters.
Sinopec bid for Russian crude at $20 a barrel below the price of the Middle East benchmark price for July cargoes, according to the outlet.
"Sinopec may only lift a very small amount as their bids were too low for the Russians," a trade source told Reuters.
Sinopec bid for Russian crude at $20 a barrel below the price of the Middle East benchmark price for July cargoes, according to the outlet.
Dubai-based trader Coral Energy, state-owned companies CNOOC, PetroChina and Shandong Port International Trade, however, outbid Sinopec for this month's shipments. READ MORE...
Ancient Egyptian Foreign Mercenaries
A team of archaeologists from the Czech institute of Egyptology have unearthed a tomb in the Abusir necropolis, near to modern-day Cairo, Egypt.
The tomb belongs to an Egyptian dignitary named Wahibre-mery-Neith, who lived during the 26th or 27th Dynasty (5th century BC).
Inscriptions in the burial shaft describe him as a “Commander of Foreign Mercenaries”, suggesting that he supervised the mercenaries from the Aegean islands and Asia Minor.
The site was first excavated in 2021, where archaeologists found the largest ancient embalming cache in Egypt, containing 370 pottery storage jars that held materials used in the mummification of Wahibre-mery-Neith.
In the latest season of excavations, the team focused on the burial shaft and excavated 14 metres of material to a depth 6 metres below ground level. They found that the shaft was orientated east-west and measures approximately 6.5 by 3.3 metres.
At the bottom of the shaft the researchers found a double sarcophagus situated directly on a filling of sand, but discovered that the tomb had already been robbed in late antiquity during the 4th to 5th century AD (indicated by two early Coptic vessels found in the main shaft).
The outer sarcophagus is made of two massive blocks of white limestone that contains an inner sarcophagus made of basalt and is inscribed with the Book of the Dead, chapter 72, describing the resurrection of the deceased and his departure to the afterlife. READ MORE...
Sunday, July 31
Globally Weak Biden
Xi Jinping of China has warned the US not to send Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan or the US will suffer serious consequences and if her aircraft is escorted by fighter jets to Taiwan then China will consider that an act of war...
Conveniently, President Biden's doctors have announced that his COVID symptoms have returned... so, he will be able to blame COVID if he makes the wrong move...
Sadly last week, the Republicans WERE PLAYED by Manchin and the Democrats and a huge spending bill is about to become passed by the Senate... Economists say that governments do not spend their way out of inflation... and since Janet Yellen says we are not in a recession despite to quarters of economic downturns... then spending will only worsen our already present inflation... but, I am not an economist...
Back to Taiwan and Biden's approval rating among Americans and the rest of the world...
To say it sucks is an understatement.
Pelosi MUST visit Taiwan, especially after China gave us an ultimatum otherwise Biden will be China's pork belly pig for the next two years...
- Is Biden mentally equipped to handle this kind of stress?
- Is Kamala Harris mentally equipped to handle this kind of stress should Biden crap out physically?
- Is Nancy Pelosi mentally equipped to handle this kind of stress if DO NOTHING HARRIS cannot stop laughing?
This country could be in a world of hurt very shortly if our current administration makes the wrong moves here...
From The Back Porch
I am a Tarheel born and raised but am completely partial to east Tennessee after living here for 32 years. It don't make me a volunteer or nothing but I do like the area.
I am a retired educator who is also a veteran (not that it makes much difference other than having the "balls" to defend this country) and most of my days are spent in the quiet solitude of my own environment trying to pull thoughts out of my head that I use to write novels.
I flip flop on whether or not I should try and have them published but if I did, it would be through Amazon... I write about 200 pages in MS Word (8X11 format) but I would have to reformat to 6X9 which would make them about 400 pages.
I have found that it is not that difficult to write as novel... as much as it takes to edit the damn thing. Editing is necessary but it really is a pain in the ass and seems like it takes more time than it does to write it... of course, if I had the money I could just pay someone to do it for me.
And, I will do that once I make some money of my first one... LOL there...
I seem to spend most of my time these days wondering what the hell is going through the minds of the Biden administration as some, if not all of their decisions for that last year and a have been dumb and dumber and whatever word comes after that last one... dumbest...
While my wife and I have sufficient funds to withstand this inflation, it seems rather stupid to pay $2 more for a meal or a gallon of gasoline when we really did not need to... just because those democratic assholes want to stop using fossil fuels... for gasoline...
And, I have checked into electric vehicles and you ain't really gonna save any money there because the charging fees are going to be very similar to our current gasoline prices... plus the cost of the vehicle at $60,000+ is not the kind of money that most of us have lying around the house or under the mattress.
- Does the USA have the electric power grid strong enough to withstand everyone owning electric cars?
- Are there enough charging stations already constructed to meet the charging demand of electric cars?
- When the battery dies, there is no neutral gear to push the car off to the side of the road.
My other rather large concern are these damn ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS... now, I am not opposed to people wanting to come to this country but if they are going to break the law to get here, how many laws are they going to break after they arrive?
- Illegal immigrants have no jobs
- Where are they going to live?
- How are they going to eat?
- How are they going to buy clothes?
- How are they going to pay for healthcare?
- How do they feed their babies and children?
- Do they even speak English?
- Have they been checked for diseases?
- Will they create slums here?
Inflation and Immigration are two key issues for me and that bother me on a daily basis and while neither of them are hurting my retirement they still are of concern.
America is a strange place... we don't put up a traffic light at an intersection until several people have been killed.
Being patient does not always have positive results...
Monkeypox is a Public Health Concern
(CNN) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
The decision was announced Saturday morning after WHO convened its second emergency committee on the issue on Thursday.
“I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Saturday morning.
Tedros said while the committee was unable to reach a consensus, he came to the decision after considering the five elements required on deciding whether an outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.
He added that while he was declaring monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, “For the moment this is an outbreak that’s concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those who have multiple partners, that means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right right groups.”
WHO initially stopped short of declaring the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after its first emergency committee meeting on June 23. At the time, Tedros said the emergency committee advised that at the moment, “the event does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern” but acknowledged the “evolving health threat” that WHO would be following extremely closely. READ MORE...
Develop the Growth Mindset
Illustration: Getty Images
Where success is concerned, growth and fixed mindset aren't an either/or proposition. Instead, you need a bit of both.
According to research on achievement and success by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, most people embrace -- whether consciously or not -- one of two mental perspectives where talent is concerned:
Fixed mindset: The belief that intelligence, ability, and talent are inborn and relatively fixed.
Someone with a fixed mindset might think, "Numbers have never been my thing... so I probably shouldn't try to start a business."
Growth mindset: The belief that intelligence, ability, and talent can be learned and improved with effort.
Someone with a growth mindset might think, you're likely to think things like, "I didn't do well in math in school, but with a little time and effort I can understand the financial side of running a business."
Clearly, embracing a growth mindset is advantageous.
Assume you are what you are, and you can't change what you are -- that you aren't smart, or aren't talented, or aren't a natural leader, etc. -- and when the going gets tough and you start to struggle, you almost immediately feel overwhelmed and even helpless, because what you "are" just isn't good enough.
So you stop trying. (Or you never started trying in the first place, because you assumed that you're just not cut out for whatever you imagined achieving.)
But here's the thing. While fixed and growth mindset are usually considered as opposites -- you possess either one or the other -- fixed and growth mindset are separate mindsets.
You can have both. In fact, you want to have both. READ MORE...
The Wealthy Dump Luxury Properties
The rich are now paying attention to prices and their income, lament high-end agents in hotspots like Miami and San Francisco. "It's pretty sudden," one said.
After a decade of feeling invincible, the tech industry is suddenly facing something new: financial insecurity. Valuations are down, layoffs are up, startup funding no longer feels limitless, and an air of fear has started to permeate the sector, as bosses and workers alike adjust to a harsher version of reality.
In cities like San Francisco, New York, and Miami, luxury real estate agents are starting to notice the effects of the tech downturn on their business, they tell Motherboard, as wealthy tech clients grapple with the fact that raises, bonuses, and job offers no longer seem as inevitable as they did a few months ago.
“The elephant in the room these days is that there's a recession coming,” said Karley Chynces, a blockchain-focused real estate agent at Sotheby's International Realty in Miami.
Nationally, rising interest rates for home loans have combined with record home costs to price out potential homebuyers. But within the pockets of the country where tech workers tend to throw money down on housing, interest rates are less of a concern than the decline of tech stocks and the constant barrage of layoff announcements, according to conversations agents have had with their clients. READ MORE...
Saturday, July 30
Observations of a Lesser Kind
I have lived my entire life in the South except for 4 years when I lived in a foreign country and while I enjoyed living in Cairo, Egypt, I have always preferred the southern lifestyle even though I have only visited other parts of the US and never lived in those place for longer than a week or two which does not really give you a proper perspective of that lifestyle. However, I can say without exception that the weather is warmer down south than up north. As I get older, the colder weather seems to bother me even more than high humidity.
The wages are less down south as is the cost of living. Depending on one's lifestyle, I doubt that the entire state of Tennessee has fewer bars than New York City but that kind of lifestyle has never been one I cared much for, even though I did my fair share of drinking in college.
One thing that has caught my attention in some southern states is the number of churches that one sees around the urban areas... and, most of them are Baptist. Seems like a waste of money to have so many of these Baptist churches in one area when one or two would suffice.
The other thing that has caught my attention is the number of pickup trucks I see on the road. Like SUVs, it is difficult to see around pickup truck to get an idea of what is in front of you before it is too late. What I find rather humorous is that whenever I see the driver get out of their pickup truck that person is always under 6 feet tall. I have concluded that only short people drive pickup trucks. I know that is a false conclusion but that is all I have seen.
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky are the states in which I have lived. Most of my years have been spent in Tennessee actually 32 in total. I like Tennessee the best but not because I have lived here the longest but because it fits my lifestyle and mentality.
I live simply with no debt for the last 15 years. I can walk around the community without the fear of getting harmed. There is no state income tax. We have an adequate number of franchised restaurants. There is minimal traffic except during rush hour in Knoxville. I can do everything that I want to do.
One thing that I have decided to do which happened recently is I am going to donate my body to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for research when I die. Consequently, I will have no funeral expenses.
I turn 75 in 3 months and figure that I have no more than 20 years left to live. That is not a very pleasant thing to think about but it is a reality for me. So, sometimes in the morning when I am drinking my coffee, I think about what I would like to do these next 20 years that I have not yet done or accomplished. And I can think of nothing...
How Do You Take It?
Minute by minute
Hour by hour
Day by day
Week by week
Month by month
Year by year
Decade by decade
Our perception, I am told, changes with age, experiences, influences on and by others, as well as our financial situation...
For me... I take it day by day... as the AA programs suggests and one thing is for sure and that is that you never look back... looking forward is risky unless you are really isolated... so logically that just leaves us with one day at a time.
I am just finishing up my 14 year of being treated for cancer and the last half of those years, I received treatment for two cancers simultaneously. Yet, I do no live under the fear of becoming terminal although I am sure that is a possibility and I am not sure how I would initially feel if my Oncologist were to tell me something like that...
But age changes one's outlook on life even if you are perfectly healthy as priorities change and things that were once important don't seem so important anymore. And, the reverse is true as well... things that were once not important now take on at least the appearance of being important.
If there is something over which I have NO CONTROL or very little control, then I simply do not worry about it... then only issue that I can really control are my own choices and thoughts and actions... and quite possibly reactions.
However, I find myself becoming more impatient as the years pass and I really get angry at INCOMPETENCE and believe me there is a lot of that in our society these days.
The younger generation no longer wants to learn or retain any information and wants everything handed to them on a silver platter and not gold because some one on TV told them that silver was in short supply.
How many push mowers do you see being used to cut grass these days?
I guess these people are getting prepared to have their jobs replaced by robots so they are practicing to become lazy.
I betcha you don't even care or have never thought about how you take life... you just exist... and go through your routines without even thinking... letting your phone do all the thinking for you.
Best Cities In Which To Retire
Living on a fixed income during retirement doesn’t mean you have to miss out on any opportunities to have a fulfilling retirement. While it might seem difficult to find a place to retire that is affordable and also checks off all your boxes in terms of climate and social life, there are several cities that have it all.
To help you find a place to retire that fits your economic and lifestyle needs, GOBankingRates has created a list of the best places to retire for $2,000 a month that are not only affordable but also feature warm weather and sunny skies.
12. Pittsburgh
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,776.08
Livability score: 75
In Pittsburgh, retirees can rent a one-bedroom apartment for the cost of $990.40 per month. The city features a monthly grocery average of $415.95, and monthly healthcare falls on the lower end at $369.72. Those looking for social opportunities during retirement might want to consider this city, as 20% of the population is 65 and older.
11. Temple, Texas
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,794.41
Livability score: 75
Temple is a great option for retirees looking for a warm and sunny climate, as the average temperature high for the city falls at 78 F and the average low at 55 F. Temple’s monthly rent falls at $971.40 and grocery costs for this city average $401.95 per month.
10. Roanoke, Virginia
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,750.60
Livability score: 75
Roanoke is a great place for social butterflies as 20% of the city’s population is 65 and older. The city’s rent falls at $887 per month and the monthly grocery costs fall in the middle of the pack at $392.07.
9. Longview, Texas
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,684.45
Livability score: 78
In Longview, retirees can expect to save the most on groceries as the average monthly cost falls at $378.89 — the cheapest out of the cities on this list. The rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Longview falls at $877.60 and monthly healthcare falls in the middle at $427.97. The weather is nice too with an average high of 77 F.
8. Huntsville, Alabama
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,703.78
Livability score: 79
Retirees in Huntsville can rent a one-bedroom apartment for an average cost of $855 per month. The grocery bill for this city falls in the middle at $395.36, with monthly healthcare costing $453.42. The average low here is only 51 F. TO DISCOVER THESE OTHER CITIES... CLICK HERE...
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