Posted On: Tuesday - May 12th 2026 6:19PM MST
In Topics: Immigration Stupidity Music China Americans Bible/Religion
(File photo - we were outside.)
There were a whole lot of Chinese Christians at the big church gathering outside recently. (Well, it was a Sunday, anyway, if that helps.) The weather was perfect, and we were all glad to be there. A groups of a dozen Chinese kids, from 5 to 12 y/o did some song & dance routine. There was lunch and some activities around and in the pond.
As I watched the people sitting in this old small outdoor amphitheater, I looked at some and figured they are probably glad to be in America. They should be, and after all, they never go home except to visit, so that says something.
To digress slightly here, I'll read commentary everywhere now about how great China is doing. They've got those gleaming cities and trains, and amazing new highways. We've written before, though, that All that glitter ... ... it ain't all gold. They've got their social problems there, as we'll go on about some more in another post.
America has its own problems, and besides the illegals who can't keep up due to being too busy being trafficked and their nil command of English, the Chinese people here can keep up with the bad news along with the Gospel. The new problems in China aside, the "students" at American universities on this visa and the next, forever and ever, the preachers doing jobs American Christians JUST! WON'T! DO!™, the King Buffet Indentured Servant waitresses, ALL of them, end up staying here. They do everything possible to stay. If China is so great now, and America is going down, why does nearly every single one of the Chinese people in America still want to stay here?! I have a LARGE sample size.
We were sitting on the rock steps of the amphitheater, which I know personally was built at least half a century back, and the facilities - boat docks, dining facility, etc (except the zip line) were also built also that long ago, all by the White, and maybe a few black, Americans of last century. Do these newcomers think about this? How about that these common areas for worship and recreation were built, mostly selflessly, by White Americans? Are they grateful for this land?
I thought that they surely must be glad to be in a place with so much room compared to China. One could say that this is just the luck of the draw. No, not really. It took a couple of centuries of hard-working Colonists and Americans to BUILD the country out of savage NOTHINGNESS out in the elements. It took a certain type of people, mostly the English, to develop the never-before-seen (maybe never again) Constitution and limited government that allowed people to be freer here than about anywhere else. Americans created these "commons" that the Churchgoers enjoyed that day. That's what's now allegedly bequeathed to the rest of the whole World.
If nothing else, being Christians, one thing these Chinese people must appreciate is that they can practice it openly with no fear. Right now, in China, that's a big no-no.
At lunch, I talked to a Chinese couple that my wife knows. They had just gotten back from a visit to the old Middle Kingdom, to where the woman's 90 y/o Mom lives, in Yuanan or Guanxi, one. After I got the details of the trip, the lady mentioned that she really is glad to be back. She has a bad "feeling" whenever she is in China. I tried to get her to explain. "Well, you can't be open about everything there..." I prompted. I asked her if it was about the Orwellian business with having to use one's phone for payments and all manner of things. "Here we still have lots of wide-open spaces...". I think she agreed with the latter two, at least. It's a "feeling". It's enough to where everyone wants to stay.
As for me, I know what we still have here (to some degree). It's more than a feeling.
Well, you knew THIS was coming, right? Boston from the Boston album, one I have on a vinyl picture-disk of those electric guitar spaceships. Tom Schultz was in another world, and this song was unworldly to me when I first heard it. More Than a Feeling was created more than a half century ago too, and released to the world right at that long ago, in September of 1976.
Boston was:
Tom Scholz – lead and rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, special effects guitar, bass, organ, clavinet, percussion, producer, engineer
Brad Delp – vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, percussion
Sib Hashian – drums, percussion
Barry Goudreau – lead and rhythm guitar, guitar solos on "Long Time" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight"
Fran Sheehan – bass on "Foreplay" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight"
Comments:
Adam Smith
Wednesday - May 13th 2026 10:19AM MST
PS: Me again,
𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦 𝑆𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 $151 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐸𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝐴𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛...
Apparently, $151 million for each eligible African in America would only cost $6.2 quadrillion.
https://i.ibb.co/RpD9tr1S/151-million-in-reparations.jpg
Seems pretty reasonable. Good thing that money is coming from the "government" and not the taxcattle.
☮️
𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦 𝑆𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 $151 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐸𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝐴𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛...
Apparently, $151 million for each eligible African in America would only cost $6.2 quadrillion.
https://i.ibb.co/RpD9tr1S/151-million-in-reparations.jpg
Seems pretty reasonable. Good thing that money is coming from the "government" and not the taxcattle.
☮️
Adam Smith
Wednesday - May 13th 2026 10:00AM MST
PS: Good afternoon, Mr. Hail,
"𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒!," 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑. "𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠." 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦...
After Reparations Study Suggests $151 Million for Each African American, Experts Say Money Alone Isn't Enough...
https://archive.ph/OvDGs
(Original, possibly paywalled, article...)
https://www.newsweek.com/reparations-slavery-cost-more-just-money-1518649
https://i.ibb.co/n8r8ZFts/131-trillion-in-reparations-for-Blacks-is-a-good-start-But-it-is-not-enough.jpg
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑗𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑗𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑟𝑦. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83x2n7B6Ltc
Thanks for the insight into East Asian culture. It is something that I have pretty much zero experience with or understanding of.
Cheers! ☮️
"𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒!," 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑. "𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠." 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦...
After Reparations Study Suggests $151 Million for Each African American, Experts Say Money Alone Isn't Enough...
https://archive.ph/OvDGs
(Original, possibly paywalled, article...)
https://www.newsweek.com/reparations-slavery-cost-more-just-money-1518649
https://i.ibb.co/n8r8ZFts/131-trillion-in-reparations-for-Blacks-is-a-good-start-But-it-is-not-enough.jpg
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑗𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑗𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑟𝑦. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83x2n7B6Ltc
Thanks for the insight into East Asian culture. It is something that I have pretty much zero experience with or understanding of.
Cheers! ☮️
Adam Smith
Wednesday - May 13th 2026 9:26AM MST
PS: Good afternoon, Mr. Moderator, Mr. Hail,
𝐼 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠...
I did not. I only know she "got in a fight" because of the wound on her head. I assumed it was a cat fight because we have plenty of feral cats living 'round here.
𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑔𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑒/𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑛.
Funny you should mention that...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0WjO_xRgpM
It's been a while since I've seen a raccoon up here, but I know they live here. (Always have.) We're pretty good about taking in the cat food at night so we don't invite any other critters but, naturally, we do sometimes forget.
But, yeah. Based on the timestamp of that raccoon video, it is very possible, even likely, that Baby Girl was injured by getting in a tussle with that raccoon. It does look more like a scratch than a bite but raccoons are dirty little creatures that carry lots of harmful bacteria and other pathogens. (Which is kind of a shame because they are otherwise interesting, intelligent little creatures. It's just too bad they are so destructive and such significant disease vectors.)
＜A Quick Side Story>
Years ago, (oh god, must be like 15 of 'em) Mrs. Smith took an aeroplane trip to visit her aging father. One night, I saw this little family of raccoons in the yard. A mama and a couple babies. They were so cute and curious. If they weren't so destructive and such disease carriers I would have been inclined to feed them. (Baby raccoons really are pretty adorable.)
As I shooed them off I told them that they best be gone before Mrs. Smith returns. "She'll shoot you on sight." I told that little raccoon family. "I'm serious. She'll be back in just a few days and if she sees you she'll kill you."
I guess that mama raccoon understood me well enough because she and her babies were gone before Mrs. Smith returned. I guess she even told her raccoon friends and the word got out because this is the first raccoon I've seen on the porch since I told that mama raccoon that hanging around here was not a good idea. (And I only noticed this one because the reolink cam caught a quick glimpse.)
＜/A Quick Side Story>
In any case, Baby Girl is doing well. She's playing and making her rounds like normal. Eating well. Friendly and purring. She let me check out her injury this morning and it looks pretty good. (A bit ugly/nasty looking as is usual for a feline abscess, but otherwise "good" and not infected.) I'll just have to keep an eye on it a bit longer. If it doesn't keep getting "better" I can still her her with a round of antibiotics.
𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡.
Yeah, it's in a pretty tricky place for that. If it were on her paw or something it would be much easier to irrigate and flush to keep it clean. But it looks pretty good so I guess we just ride it out.
As far as becoming an inside cat... Lol... I don't think that can happen with this cat. There is simply no way she can get the exercise that's she's used to as an inside cat. (Hell, even on cold winter nights when we have brought her inside she isn't really interested and always eager to get back outside.) We've talked a little bit about how we might one day have to bring her in more often as she becomes elderly, but that is certainly not in the cards as of yet. If it should ever come to that, well... We'll just have to do whatever it is we need to do and we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Fortunately, she's still doing well for an old girl.
With a little luck, she'll live into her 30s...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme_Puff_(cat)
☮️
𝐼 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠...
I did not. I only know she "got in a fight" because of the wound on her head. I assumed it was a cat fight because we have plenty of feral cats living 'round here.
𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑔𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑒/𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑛.
Funny you should mention that...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0WjO_xRgpM
It's been a while since I've seen a raccoon up here, but I know they live here. (Always have.) We're pretty good about taking in the cat food at night so we don't invite any other critters but, naturally, we do sometimes forget.
But, yeah. Based on the timestamp of that raccoon video, it is very possible, even likely, that Baby Girl was injured by getting in a tussle with that raccoon. It does look more like a scratch than a bite but raccoons are dirty little creatures that carry lots of harmful bacteria and other pathogens. (Which is kind of a shame because they are otherwise interesting, intelligent little creatures. It's just too bad they are so destructive and such significant disease vectors.)
＜A Quick Side Story>
Years ago, (oh god, must be like 15 of 'em) Mrs. Smith took an aeroplane trip to visit her aging father. One night, I saw this little family of raccoons in the yard. A mama and a couple babies. They were so cute and curious. If they weren't so destructive and such disease carriers I would have been inclined to feed them. (Baby raccoons really are pretty adorable.)
As I shooed them off I told them that they best be gone before Mrs. Smith returns. "She'll shoot you on sight." I told that little raccoon family. "I'm serious. She'll be back in just a few days and if she sees you she'll kill you."
I guess that mama raccoon understood me well enough because she and her babies were gone before Mrs. Smith returned. I guess she even told her raccoon friends and the word got out because this is the first raccoon I've seen on the porch since I told that mama raccoon that hanging around here was not a good idea. (And I only noticed this one because the reolink cam caught a quick glimpse.)
＜/A Quick Side Story>
In any case, Baby Girl is doing well. She's playing and making her rounds like normal. Eating well. Friendly and purring. She let me check out her injury this morning and it looks pretty good. (A bit ugly/nasty looking as is usual for a feline abscess, but otherwise "good" and not infected.) I'll just have to keep an eye on it a bit longer. If it doesn't keep getting "better" I can still her her with a round of antibiotics.
𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡.
Yeah, it's in a pretty tricky place for that. If it were on her paw or something it would be much easier to irrigate and flush to keep it clean. But it looks pretty good so I guess we just ride it out.
As far as becoming an inside cat... Lol... I don't think that can happen with this cat. There is simply no way she can get the exercise that's she's used to as an inside cat. (Hell, even on cold winter nights when we have brought her inside she isn't really interested and always eager to get back outside.) We've talked a little bit about how we might one day have to bring her in more often as she becomes elderly, but that is certainly not in the cards as of yet. If it should ever come to that, well... We'll just have to do whatever it is we need to do and we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Fortunately, she's still doing well for an old girl.
With a little luck, she'll live into her 30s...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme_Puff_(cat)
☮️
Moderator
Wednesday - May 13th 2026 5:49AM MST
PS: "This man would monologue about as follows: Judged on the span of centuries, Whites didn't do a good job in North America, with the genocide of the Indians, the wars, and slavery. East Asians could've done a lot better with an open continent. The ONLY reason (he stressed this repeatedly) that the USA is wealthy, or that Whites in the West generally are wealthy, is because of the random chance of inheriting an open continent, North America. East Asians would've done even better if they'd gotten the continent. (Remember he was saying this directly to me, a a U.S. White male.)"
Yeah, that takes a lot of gall. As you wrote, historical illiteracy is part of this, but how does he get off acting like he knows this history more than, say, E.H. Hail of America does? That's the arrogance. Sometimes, I think it's just their feelings of superiority (especially the people on-line) that have them calling out "racist" "stolen land", all that BS just to come out on top in an argument, knowing full well that it's a load of garbage.
I've got to go now, so I'll write back later on today.
Yeah, that takes a lot of gall. As you wrote, historical illiteracy is part of this, but how does he get off acting like he knows this history more than, say, E.H. Hail of America does? That's the arrogance. Sometimes, I think it's just their feelings of superiority (especially the people on-line) that have them calling out "racist" "stolen land", all that BS just to come out on top in an argument, knowing full well that it's a load of garbage.
I've got to go now, so I'll write back later on today.
Moderator
Wednesday - May 13th 2026 5:45AM MST
PS: First I read your story of Mr. Steve McClusky who died via getting caught in that escalator. That common sense that would have someone simply hitting the red stop button - no fuss, no muss, if that's how they are - was just missing. We have more safety features all over and warning signs than ever.
One thought I had after seeing a real lunatic recently at a busy intersection, not too far from where the "crazy house" used to be, BTW, was that people might be used to so many crazy bums around that they thought this guy was one too. People are used to avoiding them because they can and have gotten violent. True, this was a White guy, so the chances would be lower. (That is, under someone's assumption that he's not hurt, but just some crazy or drugged-out bum laying there having a fit.)
OTOH, what I just wrote to someone on TUR is that Bostonians make NYC people look downright friendly and hospitable. Well actually I made that observation at the end of last century - seems like yesterday. It might still hold for the Boston end of it.
Would it have been better for him were he non-White? I don't think so in this case.
That was very sad. I have your URL to the story of Good Samaritans (not ANY Samaritans - most were wankers, apparently, but not all!) in China in a tab. I'll check that out. My first thoughts from spending lots of time there is that it's not a high-trust society, maybe hasn't been in a long time, or maybe never has.
One thought I had after seeing a real lunatic recently at a busy intersection, not too far from where the "crazy house" used to be, BTW, was that people might be used to so many crazy bums around that they thought this guy was one too. People are used to avoiding them because they can and have gotten violent. True, this was a White guy, so the chances would be lower. (That is, under someone's assumption that he's not hurt, but just some crazy or drugged-out bum laying there having a fit.)
OTOH, what I just wrote to someone on TUR is that Bostonians make NYC people look downright friendly and hospitable. Well actually I made that observation at the end of last century - seems like yesterday. It might still hold for the Boston end of it.
Would it have been better for him were he non-White? I don't think so in this case.
That was very sad. I have your URL to the story of Good Samaritans (not ANY Samaritans - most were wankers, apparently, but not all!) in China in a tab. I'll check that out. My first thoughts from spending lots of time there is that it's not a high-trust society, maybe hasn't been in a long time, or maybe never has.
Moderator
Wednesday - May 13th 2026 5:32AM MST
PS: "Apparently Baby Girl got in a cat fight the other night." I take it you saw or heard this. Otherwise, I was thinking of a cat I used to have who got his worst bite/infection from a raccoon. That was the only time he had to wear a lampshade over his head. I don't know if you can get some alcohol in there without getting it in her eye and without her freaking out.
I hope she recovers soon. Heaven forbid she has to stay in the rest of her life, starting at 16. That may be the best thing for her health, but that's not a good life for a cat used to the outdoors.
I hope she recovers soon. Heaven forbid she has to stay in the rest of her life, starting at 16. That may be the best thing for her health, but that's not a good life for a cat used to the outdoors.
Hail
Tuesday - May 12th 2026 11:12PM MST
PS
_______
"Are they grateful?"
I have long experience with various sorts of East Asians. My view -- to condense it to a simple, direct answer to the question of "Are they grateful" -- is:
No. They are not grateful.
Oversimplified answers lose a lot of nuance and can sound harsh. To expand a little:
A word/concept "Gratefulness" as an attitude, as an idea, is framed in Western thinking and does not fully "map" onto the East Asian mind, like when the richness of a sentence fails to work as well in translation.
It probably sounds surprising to most Western people to say this, but it's not quite in their ethical code to BE grateful. Some of them may SAY the words, that's true. But with Asians, there's something important to understand: words, true inner-feelings, and actions rarely align. Nothing like in the way they generally do for Westerners.
(It's like Vivek Ramaswamy reciting a memorized list of anti-Wokeness talking-points while his assistants are en route to the bank, laughing all the way, with bags of cash bilked from supporters. Words are often seen something like incantations. I'm also reminded of some blue-city scenes during the early 2020s when they debate Slavery Reparations and a cavalcade of Black people came to the mic and begged for reparations and how much they needed them, just a flat $1 million/head payout, that's all, then the issue is settled. "Please!," they cried. "Just do this one good thing for us." They thought their words and theatrics were a magical incantation that might get the money.)
______
quote from the PS entry: "She has a bad 'feeling' whenever she is in China. I tried to get her to explain. 'Well, you can't be open about everything there...' I prompted."
Do I read this to mean the "You can't be open about everything there" was said by you and not by the Chinese woman?
The fact is, the environments created by East Asians, social norms they create everywhere, are oppressive and stifling compared to what we do (what we demand). This is just as true when they come to dominate a milieu within a Western country.
I don't have much of any direct experience in the (rising) number of now-majority-Asian cities in Southern California, such as Arcadia, but reliable reports I hear suggest that basically the same thing is going on there. They transform norms from ours to theirs, conditions become oppressive and a cruel form of exlusionistic groupthink steadily takes over.
__________
Related to both points above: Ungratefulness and the stifling or oppressive environments that Asian-normed societies tend to be:
I once worked for a man from one of the East Asian populations. He had much more of a foot back home, and within about a year of my working with him he returned home to his country to some important position that opened up.
I, being far junior in position and age, and because other tie-ins related to my work and study situation back then, had no ability to "fight back." Some might've done it, but caused themselves lots of avoidable problems. (I had enough of a problem of that with PC/Woke constraints.) I just had to listen and never more than gently push back.
This man that I'm remembering, he was a kind of classic bigot, in that he had preconceived notions that he didn't alter. He believed Whites, like me, needed to be put in their place. (Almost as a rule, Asians who have power over Whites tend this way.)
This man would monologue about as follows: Judged on the span of centuries, Whites didn't do a good job in North America, with the genocide of the Indians, the wars, and slavery. East Asians could've done a lot better with an open continent. The ONLY reason (he stressed this repeatedly) that the USA is wealthy, or that Whites in the West generally are wealthy, is because of the random chance of inheriting an open continent, North America. East Asians would've done even better if they'd gotten the continent. (Remember he was saying this directly to me, a a U.S. White male.)
That man's attitude was a lot of things: ungrateful (yes), tone-deaf, not very historically literate, and insulting (I took it in stride but at times you can't avoid it being demoralizing; luckily, I only spent a few hours a week in his direct presence). Just imagine scaling up with versions of that guy manning the social and political rungs, agenda-setting and norm-setting...
________
_______
"Are they grateful?"
I have long experience with various sorts of East Asians. My view -- to condense it to a simple, direct answer to the question of "Are they grateful" -- is:
No. They are not grateful.
Oversimplified answers lose a lot of nuance and can sound harsh. To expand a little:
A word/concept "Gratefulness" as an attitude, as an idea, is framed in Western thinking and does not fully "map" onto the East Asian mind, like when the richness of a sentence fails to work as well in translation.
It probably sounds surprising to most Western people to say this, but it's not quite in their ethical code to BE grateful. Some of them may SAY the words, that's true. But with Asians, there's something important to understand: words, true inner-feelings, and actions rarely align. Nothing like in the way they generally do for Westerners.
(It's like Vivek Ramaswamy reciting a memorized list of anti-Wokeness talking-points while his assistants are en route to the bank, laughing all the way, with bags of cash bilked from supporters. Words are often seen something like incantations. I'm also reminded of some blue-city scenes during the early 2020s when they debate Slavery Reparations and a cavalcade of Black people came to the mic and begged for reparations and how much they needed them, just a flat $1 million/head payout, that's all, then the issue is settled. "Please!," they cried. "Just do this one good thing for us." They thought their words and theatrics were a magical incantation that might get the money.)
______
quote from the PS entry: "She has a bad 'feeling' whenever she is in China. I tried to get her to explain. 'Well, you can't be open about everything there...' I prompted."
Do I read this to mean the "You can't be open about everything there" was said by you and not by the Chinese woman?
The fact is, the environments created by East Asians, social norms they create everywhere, are oppressive and stifling compared to what we do (what we demand). This is just as true when they come to dominate a milieu within a Western country.
I don't have much of any direct experience in the (rising) number of now-majority-Asian cities in Southern California, such as Arcadia, but reliable reports I hear suggest that basically the same thing is going on there. They transform norms from ours to theirs, conditions become oppressive and a cruel form of exlusionistic groupthink steadily takes over.
__________
Related to both points above: Ungratefulness and the stifling or oppressive environments that Asian-normed societies tend to be:
I once worked for a man from one of the East Asian populations. He had much more of a foot back home, and within about a year of my working with him he returned home to his country to some important position that opened up.
I, being far junior in position and age, and because other tie-ins related to my work and study situation back then, had no ability to "fight back." Some might've done it, but caused themselves lots of avoidable problems. (I had enough of a problem of that with PC/Woke constraints.) I just had to listen and never more than gently push back.
This man that I'm remembering, he was a kind of classic bigot, in that he had preconceived notions that he didn't alter. He believed Whites, like me, needed to be put in their place. (Almost as a rule, Asians who have power over Whites tend this way.)
This man would monologue about as follows: Judged on the span of centuries, Whites didn't do a good job in North America, with the genocide of the Indians, the wars, and slavery. East Asians could've done a lot better with an open continent. The ONLY reason (he stressed this repeatedly) that the USA is wealthy, or that Whites in the West generally are wealthy, is because of the random chance of inheriting an open continent, North America. East Asians would've done even better if they'd gotten the continent. (Remember he was saying this directly to me, a a U.S. White male.)
That man's attitude was a lot of things: ungrateful (yes), tone-deaf, not very historically literate, and insulting (I took it in stride but at times you can't avoid it being demoralizing; luckily, I only spent a few hours a week in his direct presence). Just imagine scaling up with versions of that guy manning the social and political rungs, agenda-setting and norm-setting...
________
Adam Smith
Tuesday - May 12th 2026 10:07PM MST
PS: Good evening, Achmed and friends,
I've been meaning to check in for a couple days, but I've been mildly busy. All is well here, mostly anyway...
Apparently Baby Girl got in a cat fight the other night. She seemed a little off the day before yesterday, but I didn't think much about it. (Makes sense now, in hindsight.) She's 16 years old now, and often up late, so I figured she was just a bit tired or something. Then yesterday, I noticed she had an injury on her head. (above her left eye, in front of her ear) Looked a whole lot like a cat scratch. (Oh well. Outdoor cats, don't cha know.)
Then... This morning I got her some breakfast. (The kitten wasn't anywhere around. Out walking or maybe still sleeping.) Baby Girl's cat scratch looked a bit more swollen than yesterday, and a bit scabbed over... But she was otherwise normal. In good spirits. Happy breakfast was served. Happy to see me, purring and friendly. Normal.
I fed her and went in to get her some fresh water.
When I returned her injury had popped. Apparently, she had an abscess. (Usually happens from a cat bite. This looked more like a scratch, but I guess it could have been a bite. Or a scratch.)
And the poor dear had pus running down her face, over her eye, dripping onto her arm, into her food and on to the deck. (What a mess!)
I went in and got some towels to clean her up. (She was a really good sport about it. Even purring as I cleaned her up.) But wowsers. I didn't know so much pus could come out of such a seemingly small wound. (It was really pretty gross.)
So now I'm wondering if I should have started her on amoxicillin, but I haven't yet because I don't like giving her antibiotics unnecessarily, and maybe I will tomorrow, but I have to keep an eye on it... So far shes seems good. Eating well, acting normal. Like it will heal without the antibiotic. But it might heal faster with the antibiotic... And if it doesn't look "better" tomorrow I will start dosing her...
(You get the idea.)
So, yeah... I guess that is the end of my cat rant.
(Not really a rant. Just what's going on.)
How are you? I hope you're well...
A little closer to the topic of the post.
(Kind of...)
I saw this story this evening. About a guy who got caught in an escalator in Boston. It reminded me of some of those videos I've seen out of China. The ones where someone is in need of help, laying in the road, or caught in some machinery, possibly dying, and people just ignore it and walk around and over them.
https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/mbta-davis-escalator-death-investigation/3948562/
(A little background...)
https://warrenbisch.medium.com/chinas-bad-samaritan-crisis-6ca736ad6c8e
https://www.newyorker.com/news/evan-osnos/chinas-bystander-effect
Now, I really don't think this is unique to China or the orient. (I think it is a city thing. Maybe it's more common in China? I don't know.) Whatever it is, I do think this is a symptom of a low trust society. Something that we wouldn't usually see in America just a couple decades ago. (Maybe longer in a place like Boston?)
https://www.currentobituary.com/member/obit/299284
https://www.nbcboston.com/?s=Steven+McCluskey
If Steven McClusky was anything but a White man, would the local news have taken two+ months to report this story? Would people have stopped sooner to help him?
I guess we'll never know.
(Anyway...) Sorry about the gross and sad stories,
I hope you all have a great, day, afternoon, evening...
☮️
I've been meaning to check in for a couple days, but I've been mildly busy. All is well here, mostly anyway...
Apparently Baby Girl got in a cat fight the other night. She seemed a little off the day before yesterday, but I didn't think much about it. (Makes sense now, in hindsight.) She's 16 years old now, and often up late, so I figured she was just a bit tired or something. Then yesterday, I noticed she had an injury on her head. (above her left eye, in front of her ear) Looked a whole lot like a cat scratch. (Oh well. Outdoor cats, don't cha know.)
Then... This morning I got her some breakfast. (The kitten wasn't anywhere around. Out walking or maybe still sleeping.) Baby Girl's cat scratch looked a bit more swollen than yesterday, and a bit scabbed over... But she was otherwise normal. In good spirits. Happy breakfast was served. Happy to see me, purring and friendly. Normal.
I fed her and went in to get her some fresh water.
When I returned her injury had popped. Apparently, she had an abscess. (Usually happens from a cat bite. This looked more like a scratch, but I guess it could have been a bite. Or a scratch.)
And the poor dear had pus running down her face, over her eye, dripping onto her arm, into her food and on to the deck. (What a mess!)
I went in and got some towels to clean her up. (She was a really good sport about it. Even purring as I cleaned her up.) But wowsers. I didn't know so much pus could come out of such a seemingly small wound. (It was really pretty gross.)
So now I'm wondering if I should have started her on amoxicillin, but I haven't yet because I don't like giving her antibiotics unnecessarily, and maybe I will tomorrow, but I have to keep an eye on it... So far shes seems good. Eating well, acting normal. Like it will heal without the antibiotic. But it might heal faster with the antibiotic... And if it doesn't look "better" tomorrow I will start dosing her...
(You get the idea.)
So, yeah... I guess that is the end of my cat rant.
(Not really a rant. Just what's going on.)
How are you? I hope you're well...
A little closer to the topic of the post.
(Kind of...)
I saw this story this evening. About a guy who got caught in an escalator in Boston. It reminded me of some of those videos I've seen out of China. The ones where someone is in need of help, laying in the road, or caught in some machinery, possibly dying, and people just ignore it and walk around and over them.
https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/mbta-davis-escalator-death-investigation/3948562/
(A little background...)
https://warrenbisch.medium.com/chinas-bad-samaritan-crisis-6ca736ad6c8e
https://www.newyorker.com/news/evan-osnos/chinas-bystander-effect
Now, I really don't think this is unique to China or the orient. (I think it is a city thing. Maybe it's more common in China? I don't know.) Whatever it is, I do think this is a symptom of a low trust society. Something that we wouldn't usually see in America just a couple decades ago. (Maybe longer in a place like Boston?)
https://www.currentobituary.com/member/obit/299284
https://www.nbcboston.com/?s=Steven+McCluskey
If Steven McClusky was anything but a White man, would the local news have taken two+ months to report this story? Would people have stopped sooner to help him?
I guess we'll never know.
(Anyway...) Sorry about the gross and sad stories,
I hope you all have a great, day, afternoon, evening...
☮️
𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑛...
𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑧𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑢𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑜...
𝐵𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑁𝑌𝐶 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒...
I've never been to Boston, but I've heard stories. And yeah. I agree with you. The Steven McCluskey story is yet another unfortunate symptom of much deeper problems that have befallen the economic zone formerly known as America.
Later... ☮️