That’s why they make that empty hollow carton sound when they finish sucking all the blood out.

They should paint this as a fresco on the ceiling of the promenade of Deep Space Nine

They celebrate the general that survived the battles he directed … no one ever counts the dead that piled up in order to achieve victory on the battle field … no one except the families left behind.

Of all the reading I’ve done so far … here’s my favourite summary of the First World War

https://stephaniehuesler.com/2019/12/15/history-undusted-if-world-war-i-were-a-bar-fight/

I do this on purpose to myself every time because if I buy chips, I’ll just eat them all on the first day. If I have a chance I’ll buy more next time and on and on and on.

Instead I just cut myself off because I know I can’t trust myself.

My own worst influence is myself.

Test tube babies probably … because giving natural birth has become so politicized and affected by religious beliefs that fewer people will actually want to have children and countries will try to figure out alternative ways of creating expendable humans.

I was referring to the Second World War … but the first world war was a weird bit of history, the more I read about it, the more confused I become as to why in the hell that conflict was even started. It reads more like a bar fight that went horribly out of control and lasted for four years and killed 20 million people for no apparent real reason … which then laid the foundation for another more horrible war after.

I’m Indigenous Canadian and I’m probably the first fully English speaking generation in my family. My grandfather was recruited into this war after being told he had to help his king and that he would be rewarded for it all. He left the country to go to England for two years, worked like a dog in the Forestry Corp (thankfully never fought in the front lines), came home and never received a penny. He was as poor when he came home as when he left and no one cared. He and our entire family have also never understood why he even fought in that war. As much reading as I’ve done about that war … I still don’t understand exactly why so many people had to fight and die for such arcane, questionable and stupid reasons.

BTW … I love all the references to Black Adder (that is the show right?) and Rowan Atkinson and Stephen Fry … I really have to take time to watch that show

and the big argument that a lot of first world countries debate is the lowering birth rates … why in the hell would anyone want to have children in this environment?

Guy Simonds, Canadian general who led the Canadian forces in the battle of the scheldt in Belgium.

Basically just threw young inexperienced Canadian soldiers against battle hardened Germans until they literally ran out of soldiers.

He was celebrated because he let so many young Canadians die unnecessarily.

I know the story because I have a relative that survived that battle and another that died there.

They should just exclude pregnancy, births and anything associated with it from health care.

Sure they both launch big bombs at each other

one side has ten missiles (and a buddy that can give them ten more)

the other side has a thousand

doesn’t matter what anyone likes to argue, people are going to die and the only way to stop is to negotiate

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves a world full of blind, toothless people”

I’m Indigenous Canadian and I grew up in a semi remote community where my family only spoke our Ojibway/Cree language. That was my first language for about the first ten years of my life.

I went to school and learned English and could understand it from a young age but I never needed to speak it.

At 14 I had to go high school in a city where everyone spoke English and I didn’t. I could understand everyone but I had a hell of a hard time speaking or even to be heard. My brain knew what to say but my mouth parts were so out of practice that I couldn’t speak properly or be understood. The software was working 100% but the hardware didn’t cooperate.

I had a hard time speaking English all through my teen years. I didn’t get comfortable with it until about 20. Even after that I spent about another five / ten years before I got fully comfortable with the language. I’m almost 50 now and I can comfortably speak English now and I have no problem making myself heard. Sad part is that in all that time, I’ve lost some of my ability to speak my Indigenous language.

Basically it’s just practice and sticking with it. You won’t sound right or you won’t sound good for a few years but keep at it. Make mistakes, make yourself sound goofy or silly … who cares … keep practicing and eventually you’ll get better with it. It took me a long time because I just don’t like interacting with people. I saw others like me who were more extroverted pick up the language a lot faster and within a year or two just become as normal of a speaker as anyone else.

Practise … it’s like saying you want to learn to sing … you won’t be good at it at first so you have to practice and not be afraid to fail and fail often … keep at it and eventually you’ll be just as good at speaking as anyone else.

The next step will be to demand that these migrant workers stay … as slaves to work without rights, recognition or protection.

The world has left everything on the shelf in full public view and access for anyone to take. Everything is based on a system of trust where we willingly pay for things and take what’s on the shelf, knowing full well that we could just take the thing off the shelf and walk away without paying. We all trust one another to be fair and do the right thing … and for the most part, the majority of everyone agrees with that.

Unfortunately, some asshats decided that it was a good idea to make everything expensive or to nickel and dime everyone to death … most people especially young people just get so pissed off because they can afford fewer and fewer things that they decide that the system of trust is no longer working or worth it.

So they just take the things off the shelf and tell the asshats to go fuck themselves.

so you agree with half of half of young Norwegians

I’m mid way through life and I haven’t even left the first chapter

Crushing poverty and the threat of starvation

It’s also a matter of trust … we’re handing off money to a restaurant that will pass on the amount to the employee or employees … who decides who gets it? do they share it? do just the waiters get it? does the owner get a cut? do the kitchen staff get some? is it shared equally? Do they add up everything at the end of the day? end of the week? end of a shift?

Some places are good and fair with distributing tips but some places aren’t and no one ever gets to know what any one does with the funds.

You’re actually dead and died in that second knock out … this is purgatory and you’ll be commenting like this for a few thousand years.

I’m no scientist, doctor or medical professional … I just know that its dangerous to try to knock someone’s noggin really hard to try to make them pass out. Dangerous to the point that there is a good chance that it can kill someone.