Empire, Republic and Shadow Wars Podcast

USA. There is a store where everything costs one dollar, and I went in to find the catch. I am still inside, philosophically. Scissors: one dollar. A mug: one dollar. Reading glasses, a birthday card, a chess set, gardening gloves, a ceramic frog: one dollar EACH. I held the ceramic frog for a long time. It is a perfectly acceptable frog. Some craftsman made this frog. The frog crossed an ocean, as I did. ONE DOLLAR. In Japan, our hundred-yen shops are the same sorcery, so I thought I was prepared. I was not prepared. Yours has GROCERIES. Yours has READING GLASSES. A man can arrive blind and hungry with five dollars and leave seeing, fed, and holding a frog. I asked an employee how any of this is possible. She said: "Don't think about it too hard." DON'T THINK ABOUT IT TOO HARD. That is not an answer, America. That is a warning on a sealed door. That is what the village elder says about the forest. I disobeyed her, naturally. I have thought about it extremely hard, and here is my conclusion: the dollar store is not commerce. It is a TRAINING GROUND. Every item asks the same koan — "It is one dollar. Do you NEED it?" — and every aisle reveals your character. I watched a man stand motionless before a dollar lighthouse figurine for two full minutes. He was not shopping. He was being EXAMINED. He bought the lighthouse. He failed. We all fail. I entered for tape. I left with tape, two mugs, a flag windsock, glow sticks, and the frog. Seven dollars. Seven defeats. A man does not ask the store what the catch is. He becomes the catch, holding a frog. The frog sits by my door now. My wife asked where it came from. I said, "One dollar," and she nodded, because in this country that phrase is a receipt, an explanation, and an absolution, all at once. A man who can leave the dollar store with only what he came for has completed his training. I have never met this man, America. I do not believe he exists. The frog has a name now. His name is Mortgage. Ask me nothing further.

@SkylarSkye3 Cody Jinks and Whitey Morgan.

Country music literally doesn’t exist in the UK but it’s all you Americans listen to. Gonna be going on some long drives while I’m here and I want to feel the 🇺🇸 vibes Who’s got some good recommendations?

USA. A hibachi restaurant. My American friends brought me here to enjoy the cuisine of my homeland, and I witnessed a ritual I have never seen in eight hundred years of being Japanese. The chef stacked onion rings into a tower. He filled it with oil. And he set it on fire. "THE VOLCANO!" my friends cheered. They knew the ritual. They had seen it many times. In Japan, I have eaten ten thousand meals. No one has ever built me a volcano. I said nothing. A guest does not question the ceremony. "Is this how they do it back home?" my friend asked, glowing with joy. "...The technique is flawless," I said. A samurai may retreat. He may not lie. He may, however, aim the truth very carefully. Then the chef flicked a shrimp through the air at my face. "Catch it!" the table roared. In my land, food is set before you with two hands and an apology for the wait. Here, the shrimp attacks. I caught it. With my mouth. The table erupted. The chef saluted me with his spatula. I have received medals with less pride. "You're a natural," the chef said. "My family has trained for this for generations," I said. It was not technically a lie. We trained. Just not for this. My friends drove me home, full and happy, honored to have shown me my own country. A man does not question the volcano. He catches the shrimp. Whatever this cuisine is, wherever it was truly born — the fire is real, the joy is real, and I caught what was thrown at me. That is Japanese enough.

USA. A supermarket. I went to buy one bottle of the white sauce this nation pours on everything. I found a WALL. Ranch. Spicy ranch. Chipotle ranch. Avocado ranch. Bacon ranch. LIGHT ranch, for the disciplined. There was a ranch labeled "secret recipe" that printed its ingredients on the back, which is not how secrets work, and I respect the audacity. In Japan, a sauce knows its place. One dish, one purpose, centuries of refinement. Here I stood before forty bottles of the same white dynasty, each claiming the bloodline. I asked a passing employee: which is the true heir? He looked at the wall. He looked at me. "It's all just ranch, dude." It is NOT all just ranch. That is exactly what a branch family would say. I bought the original. The founding house. One honors the main line — this is not negotiable. I also bought the chipotle. We meet at lunch. Privately. The original does not know. A man may serve one lord and still admire the ambition of the younger branch. This is recorded in many histories, and I will not be judged by a nation with forty sauces in its door. At the register, the cashier saw my two bottles and said the most American sentence I have yet heard: "Smart. You got your everyday ranch and your fancy ranch." EVERYDAY RANCH AND FANCY RANCH. She understood the entire feudal structure instantly. This country runs deeper than it pretends. A man does not betray the main house in daylight. Lunch is at noon, with the curtains drawn. A man does not ask the dynasty to be one bottle. He only becomes loyal to more of them. So tell me, America, and be honest with me: how many ranches live in your door right now? Count them. Then tell me again who the samurai is.

What happened?

Kids these days...

@GrowingUpRetro I still do!

Admit it, you knew someone in the 90s who had a waterbed.

@SenSanders You are worth millions. Send in more money. I’m sure they’ll accept it.

Today, Elon Musk, a trillionaire, pays the same amount into Social Security as someone making $184,500. If we end that absurdity and lift the cap on taxable income, we can make Social Security solvent for 75 years and expand benefits by $2,400. My Social Security bill does that.

Today, I’m releasing never before seen intelligence revealing new evidence of past US government funding for more than 120 biolabs in over 30 countries, including Ukraine. In support of President Trump‘s Executive Order to end federal funding of dangerous gain of function research around the world, and increase transparency and accountability, ODNI will continue working with partners across the Administration to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain, and what “research” is being conducted. odni.gov/index.php/news…

@BlackBearDiner been to your restaurant twice, food was great. But the service was AWFUL. So bad in fact, it’s probably the worst I’ve ever had at any restaurant.. route to corporate and got zero response. I guess you don’t care about customers huh?

Love seeing these videos

The more time I spend in America the more I realise it’s not just fast food, hotdogs, large trucks and the Simpsons. There is so much real culture here and friendly, down to earth people. I know a lot of people have picked up on this now but it’s genuinely shocked me.

Two British guys try ribs for the first time — and totally lose it.

🚨 HYPOCRISY ALERT Ben Stiller urged New Yorkers to “do something” about homelessness Today he walked straight past a homeless man on the street like he didn’t exist. “Are you enjoying a home right now?” Stiller asks. “Thousands of others can’t.” Another Hollywood Fraud

It's 1989, which movie are you seeing?

The Knicks trailed by 17 points with less than 9 minutes to go.   Entering today, teams were 0-96 when trailing by 17+ points in the final 9 minutes of regulation of a Finals game since 1970-71. The Knicks have just made that 1-96.

Wemby told Mitchell Robinson that he was in his head and proceeded to blow a 29 pt lead. Biggest aura loss moment in recent NBA history!