Posts made by cteavin

Not true, I look under 35 though.  :cheers:

TPBM watched Gotham the other day.

Well, that depends. Am I using my mocha pot, french press, drip, espresso maker, or vacuum maker?

I have a French Press filled with my morning liter as I type.

I really love coffee with real cream – nothing is better. Starbucks is selling their green pea coffee and that's how I prefer that one. I most often dilute coffees with whole milk, partly to cool it down, partly as the dairy/protein part of breakfast. But if I want that coffee taste I'll go for pure espresso.

Oh, I forgot, Khalua makes a pumpkin spice liquor. I love a shot in my coffee with whole milk or cream, with or without ice.

Have you ever tried butter coffee? How about adding a little salt to it or the dairy? Soy milk is amazing in a cold cuppa.

Ah, variety.

I was a twink. I'm 48 now. I can kinda grow a beard – and when I do I look really good -- but nothing on my cheeks. When I shave closely I'm always mistaken for early 30's and get comments like "babyface", which you'll appreciate when you get older.

I could not put weight on no matter what I did until I got a personal trainer around 30 and devoted myself to diet and exercise. I think the combination of diet, exercise, and age helped propel me from 70KG to 100KG. It took time but I got ripped and buff. When I did, people saw me differently, less bottom and more top.

There are three different types of elliptical machines at my gym. Recently I've been bringing my own jump rope and going into one of the vacant studios to jump – it feels amazing, is fun, and has really helped develop my calves.

It depends on your goals and where you are now.

Check out the first four videos of their beginners series https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMiamiTrainer
They go into the progressions so you can do things like pull ups and push ups, the basic exercises.

Alan Thral on YouTube has amazing videos on the squat, deadlift, and bench press, all part of a well-balanced exercise plan.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/find-a-plan.html

They have a ton. Whichever plan you choose, you can download an optional app to "remind" you to go to the gym. There's another part of the site that has videos of each and every exercise. They have forums. And you can start a blog so you have a place to brag, curse, or talk about your fitness adventure.

It's the best place I've seen online for fitness.

In my opinion, Alan Thrall on YouTube has the best videos explaining the three core movements, if you're getting into weightlifting.

Tom Merrick has excellent videos on stretching. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU0DZhN-8KFLYO6beSaYljg

And THENX has four videos on beginners calisthenics that are a must to watch whatever program you decide to do. https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMiamiTrainer

The US did land them on the moon 48 years ago – then never went back and has only recently looked towards Mars.

By contrast, China's economy and infrastructure were similar to the US circa 1790 in 1969. Plus they were in the middle of a huge population explosion with massive hunger and Mao's great idea was to starve 20 - 45 million of his people to death. (numbers vary)

To say China has made great strides forward does not diminish the United States accomplishments. The US should learn from China because we're sliding backward into poverty with a failing infrastructure and we're taking on more people with unnecessary immigration.

As for numbers, the difference is real vs nominal. This article explains it simply. http://www.businessinsider.com/china-overtakes-us-as-worlds-largest-economy-2014-10

(If you look for them you can read the original reports from The World Bank, etc.)

Perhaps it wasn't big news in the US but in 2014 when China entered the number one slot Japan was bumped to number three – the news was all over the airwaves here. I got a great education into our economies are intertwined then.

@Frederick:

Asvdq@cteavin:

I was not aware of that.  I heard that Japan had to make artificial islands and level off mountains into flat surfaces to create more land.  I also heard that in Japan, entire families have to live in the same house for several generations to pay for it.

I wonder who is paying China and Russia for the foot, I don't think China and Russia are known for giving food away.

If North Korea is interested in TRADE… why don't they try offering to do away with their nukes and ICBMs in exchange for better trade?  They do the opposite.. they keep going further with their nukes and ICBMs leading to even more sanctions and embargos.

It's also not very nice of that fat turd ruling NK to execute people including his own family members and closest advisors by blasting them to bits with anti-aircraft artillery.     Hmm.. that might be a good idea!  Line up  Hillary, Pelosi, Schumer, Waters, McCain, Colbert, Lemon, etc. and mow them down with artillery!

I showed my bf your comment about Japan. He's speechless. (lol) He never shuts up, too. Thank you.

I'm quoting here, "No. What?", with a priceless quizzical face.

He says after the war there was a need to expand and that they did need to reclaim land and plan for food but that's more his grand parent's issue. As for the house, no. Mortgages actually have really low interest rates here. They pay them off quickly.

North Korea does produce things, including food. Their main trading partners are China, South Korea, and Russia. With the sanctions, they're limited in what they can trade and to whom.

As for nukes, North Korea has a political philosophy called Juche where the leaders are, more or less, worshiped. Think of it as the Kims are everyone's father-figure and they are his/their children. All must obey the father. It goes a long way in understanding the cult of personality surrounding that family. They also have a military policy called songun which means the military is on top because it protects the nation (which is one big extended family). If you're lucky enough to get in the military, you're set for life, and just as we, in the West, support our Capitalist/Democratic ideologies even though some things are fucked up, the people of North Korea have never risen against their leaders. In the context of Asian thinking and their political beliefs, it makes perfect sense.

The Kim's sought out nuclear weapons simply because it affords status on the world stage. Think about it: If NK had real nuclear missiles they'd have a powerful bargaining chip to renegotiate their position. That's what they're going for and the former President Clinton was stupid enough to give it to them. If Hilary had won, Kim would be setting the terms right now. Not likely with Trump, though; and so the world is on edge.

It is true that Kim had his relatives executed. It's also true that his nephew, that now dead brother's son, wants to change NK, and that's a no-no. Again, juche and songun.

And I wouldn't believe take literally what someone says in the paper right now about what happens in North Korea. There's a lot of incentive to paint them as evil mosters in case we go to war. My feeling is that these stories were released towards that end.

@Zeitgeist:

@lovegp88:

I liked it, but i understand why people hate it

Without spoiling too much, what do you think was the movie's main issue? The acting? The plot?

People don't think in allegory. Those that can see what the director was doing see it as pretentious. Others might think on it too much as a political statement and so dismiss it as political. I think mainstream folk walked in expecting a gross-out horror film and got an art film instead.

The movie is visually stunning and worth seeing if you like art house cinema.

@Zeitgeist:

Do you happen to have that coconut curry recipe? I'm always on the hunt for new ways to cook food.

For something as easy as curry I don't need recipes.

Every few months I whip up a HUGE batch of masala and freeze it in half cup increments in Ziplock bags.

When I want a quick dinner/lunch to a fry pan I add whatever meat, most often chicken, or paneer to the pan then I take out one of those frozen packs of masala and add to it a can of coconut milk, a can of chopped tomatoes and whatever additional spices I want (including garlic or ginger). I add in my vegetables and cook it for 30 or 40 minutes.

Super simple.

When I need to cut down on carbs I'll often mash the now cooked squash to help thicken the sauce. It makes it heartier, gives it a more mouthfeel.

Full disclosure, I'm 48. When I was an adolescent tattoos were what we used to identify the people coming back from the Vietnam War or WWII vets. Oh, and that rough trade class on the wrong side of town.

When I was in high school earrings were a scandal for a boy and then it became body piercings.

Twenty years after that it's like there's a tattoo virus that's attacking young skin and it's everywhere – and it's in my porn! I can't enjoy western porn, anymore. I've switched to Asian. :crazy2:

So why do you have tattoos? Where did you have them placed? How old were you when you decided to make yourself unappealing to me? And why has it taken off like it has -- they're everywhere.

I hope you'll forgive me but I think the OP's post is bullshit.

I'm 48 and single I love being older. When I was in my teens I was keenly aware that age was a bitch and that my health was nothing to take for granted. I made a choice when I was 14 to be a vegetarian (lasted till I was 21) and I've eaten well ever since. I also followed the wisdom that tanned skin is damaged skin and I have always exercised regularly.

The result is I've neither a wrinkle nor mole, have a strong body (was last sick in 2001), and I'm happy. Every single friend I came of age with is fat to obese, gray, and slow.

As for wealth, I started investing for my retirement when I was 25 and I'm set.

As for relationships, I've not done well with long-term relationships but I have a lot of fun – and I'm fine with that. I've already taken care of my future by making sure I'm healthy, financially stable, and have a wide circle of friends.

My point and reason for writing is this: You made choices and now the consequences for those choices have come to bite you on the ass. You have a chance to make new choices for a different future. Either you will or you won't but it is within your power to make changes to improve yourself. The alternative is that you can wallow in pessimism and self-pity.

The choice is yours. It is not too late.

https://www.happyfacts.me/news/10-people-who-look-really-young-their-age-without-a-scalpel-sight/

@mhorndisk:

Who is the "Beloved Disciple?" I think that Jesus was gay. I Do you think it's nonsense? Discuss.

Yup. It's nonsense.

First, to use a modern concept like "gay" to refer to the historical past is inaccurate. There was no such thing as "gay" in biblical times. There was homosexual behaviour but there was also a lot more bestiality than now, so much so that there was a lot of art depicting it and prohibitions against it.

Men and women were expected to marry; sex was an invitation to pregnancy. In many communities, homosexual sex was connected to pagan rituals, not the monotheism practices/traditions in Judaism (Christianity hadn't taken off yet) or Zoroastrianism. There were same-sex relationships, to be sure. To what degree in biblical times depended on what tribe you belonged to and from what I've read most of that evidence has been destroyed. We know the Roman's sometimes had male lovers but I don't know of any "gay" Romans. They did their duty and fathered children.

So was Jesus gay? No. Did Jesus have gay sex? He might have but considering that he was a zealot that saw himself as the messiah I'm going to take a guess that he was more inclined to follow the religious rules and see lust as the work of the devil (the "adversary").

When given the choice, you sleep with whoever is better looking or otherwise best floats your boat.

If you have moral hangups, go with the bicurious guy.

Well, I live in Japan. Korea is a common weekend trip.

Japan's population is shrinking, not growing. The news here centers on the number of unused homes, empty apartments, and small towns that are uninhabited. Japan neither needs nor wants any part of Korea. As for natural resources, those are in NK.

North Korea – I almost went there on holiday once -- isn't so unlike the US. Within our borders we have the world's largest prison population. North Korea uses theirs for domestic slave labor; we pay prisoners less than minimum wage for their services.

NK gets the food to feed its military through trade with China and Russia. It's not often reported in the western press but NK sends slave workers to China and Russia as a resource. Along with that NK gets food aid from the UN, Japan, the US. Those goods are distributed first to the elite and then to the poor.

I think NK is grossly misunderstood and we all should try rethink our assumptions.

To be sure, NK has to lose its nuclear program but at the same time, the West has to accept that it forced them into a position where they felt they needed to arm themselves not to be taken over. They need to either assassinate Kim Un or ease NK back into the global community through trade.

@mhorndisk:

While I support North Korea for being one of the only nations in the world without a global centralized banking system run by the Rothschild empire, I also understand that nukes are totally fake. Just look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They said nobody could live their for a million years without dying of cancer, yet they are bustling cities. Nukes are fake. The elements are a valuable resource, and they want to act like they are dangerous to monopolize them. Same thing in Chernobyl. The areas have big green plants growing and people living there without cancer. It's fake news. The infamous scientist Galen Winsor went on a tour in the 80s eating uranium and swimming in the pools at nuclear reactors. The US knows this as well, obviously. The whole show is just a big play. It's China's way of threatening the US propaganda machine AKA CNN that controls the public.

I can't tell if you're being serious or not.

Fake news is useful when discussing bias but if you're actually saying that nuclear radiation is harmless – if you really mean that – I will pay for you to come here to Japan, I will volunteer your to go into one of the pools where the nuclear fuel rods are sitting to clean it up. You will get a hero's reward for your trouble -- you'll also be dead.

The reason Hiroshima and Nagasaki are habitable is that the bombs were detonated way up in the air. The fire bathed the ground; the fuel blew in many directions. In Fukushima the topsoil was literally scrapped off and in storage while the Japanese government builds a storage facility to bury it.

@Frederick:

@cteavin:

@Frederick:

First of all… the one's to blame for the disaster in North Korea is North Korea.   They screwed themselves.

As for who is the biggest economy, that would be the United States which is 24.32% of the world's economy.   China is a distant second at 14.84%     Considering that China has over 4 times the population of the USA... that is pretty pathetic!   Per capita, China only has about 3.7% of the world's economy. 
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/worlds-biggest-economies-in-2017/

Like all statistics, they read based on which data you pull the numbers from. There are two principle ways banks and governments judge which is the bigger economy and both what you and I wrote are correct. I'm talking about real terms in which The World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, and other financial/governmental entities declared in 2014 that China surpassed the US. You're talking GPD in which China is forecasted to overtake the US as early as next year. Neither set of numbers disproves what I said: Your thinking about China's motivations is flawed, unrealistic, and suicidal.

And why do you feel a need to call another country "pathetic"? I don't see the point.

China raised its people out from abject poverty and turned itself into a global superpower in twenty years – 20. China in the 1990's was still largely dirt roads leading into and out of destitute villages where hunger was common and there was no infrastructure. Last year China landed their own rangers and telescopes ON THE MOON.

China is an amazing country you ought to visit. Myself, I was in Tibet for summer vacation. The Chinese are modernizing the country. It's incredible what they've been able to do.

As for North Korea, my point is only that the US has no business dictating other countries politics, especially when they've/we've been hypocritical with countries like Saudi Arabia.

I saw a video recently called Suck Dick Save The World 4. There's this really hot scene where after a fantastic blowjob the top cums into his man's mouth and lets him eat it in a very sloppy way then asks him if he wants some piss. Yeah. The top starts to pee in the bottoms mouth so that he can drink it. It was slow. The bottom was clearly drinking it and not spilling a drop. It was really hot.

I've seen piss porn before where the pee all over each other, basically just making a huge mess. That's never interested me. This though, that was really hot.

Does anyone have any suggestions on piss drinking vids, or where piss drinking (from the cock, not a glass) is part of the play?

@Frederick:

North Korea seems determined to provoke the USA into attacking them. 
My current theory about this is that China is behind it, and will protect NK so that NK can overtake South Korea.. and then China will have all of Korea as their puppet to antagonize Japan and Guam. 
I also think that North Korea and China are in for a big surprise and will wish they had stuck to eating dogs and cats.

You're theory has some flaws.

China is the worlds biggest economy and relies upon both Japan and the US to manufacture there while, at the same time, Japan and the US consume Chinese made products. Any attack against either the US or Japan would destabilize China's economy and all their development would come to a halt. South Korea is further down the list of strong economies and unifying with the North, with all the expenses required in developing the North, would also pull that economy down. In short, what you're suggesting is that China wants to destroy both itself and the Asian economic miracle.

A different way to see what's going on in the North is that they are looking for food aid. They've undergone yet another drought this year. North Korea has zero food reserves. In the past, touting their nuclear program has gotten them food but not this time and none of the countries involved know how this is going to play out.

North Korea is also aware that a nuclear power commands respect on the world stage, one of the reasons they won't give it up. If and when NK can prove it's a nuclear power it can exercise more power on the world stage, much like we only pay attention to Pakistan now because they have nukes.

If you step back and refocus you might see that North Korea is where they are economical because western powers, led by the US after the Cold War, isolated NK. They have never been able to rule themselves without outside forces trying to destabilize them. Perhaps, had they been allowed to trade they wouldn't be so antagonist and feel they need nukes to protect themselves. But people cry that we can't support that kind of regime! Lord knows the worlds been dealing with another odious country these past thirty years: Saudi Arabia. Yes, we could have kept our noses out of the Koreas and the world today might have been safer for it.

@mhorndisk:

They knew Hillary would lose, just like we said.

They knew Trump would deliver, just like we said.

They knew Trump would drain the swamp, just like we said.

They knew Obamacare was failing, just like we said.

They didn't know Hillary would lose, that's why they're shocked and still whining about it. They knew Obamacare needed a fix and expected Clinton to do it. Oops.

So far I don't see Trump as having delivered. Unless they pass the (first?) repeal of Obamacare by this weekend, the wall is still unbuilt, no one is talking tax reform seriously, and the same Republicans and Democrats are polluting the House and Senate.

I want Trump to succeed. The economy, and my investments within the economy, have been made great again but too much else remains unchanged.