Here is another post with five links about how we came to the Afghanistan failure, the shadowy international education business, 30 rules, truths and beliefs by Morgan Housel, a gripping story about being shipwrecked in the Atlantic Ocean and surviving amid sharks eating your mates and a Covid-19 cases heat map that will shock you!
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The Best of Web posts are much shorter in length with material that is a notch or two above what you see in the regular TBB posts.
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Click on the headline for the link!
The Entirely Predictable Failure of the West’s Mission in Afghanistan
In early July, I met with a leading Taliban military commander. I asked when his fighters would arrive in Kabul. His answer: “They are already there.” How the Afghanistan mission failed and what happens next.
I hope this is the last time something about Afghanistan appears in my blog as by the time you read this the US is supposed to be just a day before we are all out of there and this mother of all deceptions ordeal is over…
Some lies served to obscure the true state of affairs in the country, others were the product of ignorance, and still others were truly believed. It was a fatal, collective delusion that ended up costing a six-figure number of Afghan lives along with those of more than 3,500 foreign troops. A fallacy that unintentionally sent Afghanistan on a 20-year detour from one Taliban reign to the next. Meanwhile, an entire generation grew up in the country’s cities under the assumption that the freedoms guaranteed by the foreign powers would be theirs forever.
Best piece I read on Afghanistan. Like everything in my Best of Web series, you should read it.
The Shadowy Business of International Education
Foreign students are lied to and exploited on every front. They’re also propping up higher education as we know it
This is written about the Canadian higher education system. I am sure the same thing happens in the US. Kudos to the journalists for the investigative piece exposing the BILLIONS involved in recruiting foreign students to study abroad and charging them much higher fees. This keeps many educational institutions afloat. Now there is a public company making money out of this. They end up getting greedy people looking to make a buck to make wild claims to parents about the quality of the education to be provided to their kids. Many mortgage everything and send their kids away totally unprepared for the extreme culture shock and many taking advantage of them. And then it turns tragic as many kids who do not adjust well get into trouble and some commit suicide…
As a former international college student in the US, this article moved me. I hope we see some changes. Be kind to new international students, you have no idea how difficult it is for them to be here with the burden to succeed on their shoulders!
These students are driving an international education industry that has exploded in recent years, their numbers tripling in the last decade. Today, Canada says it’s the third most popular country for study in the world behind only the United States and Australia. In press releases and reports, the federal government brags that foreign students bring over $21 billion into the economy each year—more than auto parts, more than lumber. Those numbers are the result of a decade of careful nurturing, a triumph of salesmanship, and carefully calibrated government policies.
International students are also the product of a system that has blurred the lines between immigration and education in an unofficial, ad hoc arrangement meant to appeal to potential immigrants while avoiding any responsibility for their settlement. It’s a system that is quietly transforming postsecondary institutions, which have grown dependent on fees from foreign students and therefore on the shadowy world of education agents who deliver them. And it’s a system built on attracting teenagers like Kushandeep from small villages across the world, taking their money, and bringing them to campuses from small-town Nova Scotia to suburban BC with lofty promises for the future but little regard for what actually happens to them once they arrive.
Did you know that international students are responsible for almost 40 percent of all tuition fees across Canada? Well, now you do. I wonder what is in the US?
It is a long article so you have been warned, enjoy.
Rules, Truths, Beliefs
These are great. There are about thirty of them, here are my five favorite ones:
Past performance increases confidence more than ability.
Price drives narrative and narrative drives price, so crazy things can last a long time.
“Be more patient” in investing is the “sleep 8 hours” of health. It sounds too simple to take seriously but will probably make a bigger difference than anything else you do.
The best way to get someone to believe something is not to show them facts, because facts can be interpreted in different ways. It’s to make their income or approval in a social circle depend on believing it.
Lots of contrarianism is actually cynicism and lots of patience is actually stubbornness.
Enjoy the other twenty five…
Shipwrecked: A Shocking Tale of Love, Loss, and Survival in the Deep Blue Sea
Wow, what a story! Reading it felt I was there with them fighting to stay afloat in the ocean while my body was giving everything and the sharks circling to make a meal out of me. After reading this if anyone invites me to go sailing out in the ocean I would politely decline, no way!
Must read. Hopefully on dry land!
Heat Map Of Active COVID-19 Cases Per Capita In The United States From January 2020 To August 2021, Visualized
Click the Play button and prepare to be shocked seeing what happened here. The waves that roll in and out, wow! The horror, the horror!
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Thanks for the fascinating links!
@ DML: We are the last of the Mohicans apparently…
I should do something else with my life it appears 🙂
Silver!
Thank you for yesterday’s response to question about best Cruise Credit Card. I am leaning to starting with the Chase Sapphire card. I checked my credit score and it was 785, is that good enough?
I have been using the same Banco Popular Visa card for 20 years, it is all I have except Sears credit card. So I Where can I learn more about this applying for cards to earn travel. Where should I apply? How many and how often. How does it affect my credit score. I know close to nothing about all this but I am ready to jump in Big time. You are my Muse, thank you for responding, it blew me away that you are so helpful.
First, I did a post titled: So You Want To Travel For Free Like Me? Are You Sure?
https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/17842-2/
It was about five years ago but the main principles laid out STILL apply. Heed the warnings! We are dealing with your money and your credit and this may develop into an addiction that could harm you if you can not control yourself! Most big blogs out there just want to make some money off you and could care less about your well being!
I have helped many, here is Wei in his own words, again for some principles:
https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/i-am-wei-i-was-a-newbie-and-then-started-to-travel-for-free/
Ok, now for the REAL advice and where to find it. Bookmark this and read everything under BASIC READING on the right hand side!:
https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/
And STUDY this flowchart…what is exactly what you asked for in the first place but the previous links will better educate you:
https://m16p-churning.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Card+Recommendation+Flowchart+v17.html
5/24 rule: It is a rule by Chase bank to slow us churning types down. The bank will not approve you for one of their cards if you have had five cards from ANY bank in the past 24 months. Soooooo, Chase banks tend to be the best cards out there in general so many who get started aim to get the best offers before they hit this rule and get shut out of Chase until…that date their oldest card rolls of the 24 month clock.
My daughter is a college sophomore and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card was her third card ever and score was 746 and she got it. So yes, you should get approved. If you have frozen your credit with any of the bureaus, do not forget to unfreeze it before you apply! Even if you do not get approved instantly, each bank has a reconsideration department and you need to talk through to them to convince them to approve you. Usually, it is something minor or stupid (identification related, address thingie, etc.).
We would not hold it against you for holding a Banco Popular card for so many years 🙂 And the Sears card used to have some crazy promos…which finally contributed to its sorry demise no doubt, sad lol.
Go at your own pace, we have been doing this for decades.
Applying may have a tiny hit on your credit score…but if you use it AND of course ALWAYS pay the full balance it will improve your score after some months. This is a long misconception.
I may link to this response in my blog, just got this idea!
Having a specific redemption in mind can help you focus. The great thing about CSP is that you can cash it out.
One error I made was to collect ALL kinds of points. And some I have lost or barely used. Acquire points you WILL use. Earn AND burn.
Yeah, was the same. I am a lot more focused now and let all the little bonuses/offers/”deals” go past me and it is all good 🙂
Can i apply for more than 1 card at a time? That sounds crazy?
We used to apply for six or seven at a time in the old days, we called this the “apporama” and it was so much fun! Those days are long gone.
Many banks have also placed restrictions in how often you can apply for their cards. So, it depends on the bank and the particular cards you are going for:
Here are the rules per each bank, bookmark this post:
https://milestomemories.com/credit-card-application-rules-by-bank/
And, for the love of God, do not use the cc links from these salesmen of financial product salesmen and clickbait mass pumper blogs 🙂
https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/blog-reviews/blogs-i-ignore/
There IS a lot to learn! Go slow, have some goals in mind at first as ABC said. This insanity only happens with US banks to our benefit as many targets of all this plastic screw up and…end up paying for our free travel. Sad but true.
Vaccine scientist Dr. Stanley Plotkin among those giving public comments in CDC’s advisory committee mtg. His turn came after several anti-vax comments.
He begins: “After hearing some of the prior comments, I would move to remind you that there is no vaccine against stupidity.”
This is great.
Seeing some pics from anti vaxx protests in Greece. And the old Christian Orthodox element is so strong there, how embarrassing.
Hold on there youngster, we’re still reading and enjoying your posts. Just been a little hectic lately trying to catch up from all the time I have missed at work, etc. This long hauler shite has been a challenge, and I am still reluctant to believe the symptoms will be long term. But it still kicks my ass from time to time.
Thanks for the links Buzz, Friday’s post was really great.
Thanks David. Was worried about you. Keep fighting man!
Whew! Good stuff today! I had to stop watching that moving map about 4 months in, it was depressing me too much! Wanting so bad to do a road trip after Labor Day yet and scared a bit of the rising Delta counts in the parts of the country I want to drive through, even though I mask up and am vaccinated.
Stay safe and healthy and take your time with the running thing!
That moving map….just shows how we go into waves….I hope this is the last one…but with school openings everywhere…I am really worried it could be the mother of all waves.
I am not going anywhere those lowly vaccinated rate states, no way!
Humans are growing an extra artery. Evolution continues!
https://www.sciencealert.com/more-humans-are-growing-an-extra-artery-in-our-arms-because-we-re-still-evolving
Whaaaat?
Great post George!
Looking at foreign students in the US, for graduate degrees, if you’re not in STEM, you shouldn’t come to the US. It’s extremely difficult to get on of the coveted H1B visas and you’re paying top dollar. You can get a comparable degree in Europe for a fraction of the cost, and get hired there. If you really want to settle in the US you can get hired in a multinational in Europe and then try a transfer to the US with an L visa. Longer path but much cheaper. I know a lot of folks in their 20s doing this now.
I think this is great advice Peteco, thank you.
It’s slow in here so I’m going to stir the pot. Here’s a 2017 publication: “Ivermectin: enigmatic multifaceted ‘wonder’ drug continues to surprise and exceed expectations”
https://www.nature.com/articles/ja201711
Is this the one approved for the horses? 🙂
Scientists say it does crap for Covid-19. Oh wait, it does make you crap. A LOT!
Anyway, to lighten the mood…Former gas station was vacant for a while about 1.5 miles away from my house. Right next to a donut shop. Finally saw some work done to it. And last week….another weed shop. So you can get your weed and donuts, brilliant! 🙂
Given that most retail spending is done by women, I wonder if it would be possible to have a strip mall niche that caters to men, with–for example–a hardware store, a comic book store, and a barber shop. But those are the only stores I can think of that are male-dominated.
Interesting idea…even though you will never find me in a hardware store unless I am out of salt for the driveway or propane gas for the grill 🙂
Sorry no blog post today. I did not think what I had was enough for a worthy TBB Buzz post. I need to get over the mental block that my posts need to be meaty enough to get published especially after looking at Boarding Area blogs posting about reviewing corn beef sandwiches and frozen chicken parts smh…
See you all tomorrow with another TBB Buzz post, it will shock you 🙂
And thanks for the support in the month of August. I know readers getting cards in my site will never pay interest to the bank and will just take from them and that is the way it should be 🙂
regarding covid delta. Not sure we understand why this is the case.
“The breakthrough attack rate went from pre-Delta 0.25/100,000 to Delta 5.7/100,000 in fully vaccinated (23-fold)”
https://twitter.com/erictopol/status/1433172826819813376?s=21
Ok, so shouldn’t we boost with a delta mutant specific spike protein vaccine (made by the mRNA) rather than the one we’ve been using so far?
Asking for a pretend epidemiologist/immunologist friend on Twitter.
No idea, let me do my research 🙂