Topics

2356

General Discussion / Been to Buc-ees gas stations several times, didn't know they get paid this much

« on: February 21, 2023, 10:52:37 PM »

This Texas gas station is hiring — and many of the openings earn up to $225K a year (with great benefits, plenty of paid vacation). 3 ways to make your own juicy compensation package

Talk about fill ’er up: A Texas gas station and convenience store chain, Buc-ee’s, received tons of attention recently after a post stating employees could earn up to $225,000 per year. The company also boasted a 401(k) match of up to 6%, along with three weeks paid vacation, health care and an additional $2 per hour for overnight services.

That kind of compensation package moved one person to Tweet, in essence, that going to college and racking up a mountain of debt was a poor investment by comparison.

The average cost for a college education in the U.S. runs just shy of $36,000, according to the Education Data Initiative. While this includes items like tuition and books, it excludes living expenses (think groceries and eating out) that a part-time job may barely offset.

In terms of compensation, Buc-ee’s certainly qualifies as an outlier. The average full-time salary in 2022 came in at $54,132 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But it’s a big country, and what you get paid — even in the same industry and at the same position — will vary widely based on factors such as where you live and the company’s resources.

ZipRecruiter data shows that the average salary for a car wash manager sits far below six figures at about $45,000. Even a general manager only makes about $60,000 in most states. But before you pull up stakes and move close to a Buc-ee’s, consider the ways you can get more mileage, if you will, from your current job.

2357

General Discussion / No, I don't feel sorry for this idiot as he deserves it

« on: February 21, 2023, 10:49:07 PM »

WATCH: California catalytic converter theft victim who ran over suspect not facing homicide charges

https://www.yahoo.com/news/watch-california-catalytic-converter-theft-185622397.html

Video from AV NEWS CREW provided to Fox News Digital shows the moment California authorities responded to a Feb. 11 catalytic converter theft incident that resulted in a homicide after the victim ran over the suspect.

Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said a woman sleeping in her Ford 4x4 Excursion in a Target parking lot in Palmdale awoke to the sound of someone sawing off her catalytic converter.

The woman then started her vehicle and put it in reverse, at which point she felt a "bump" and immediately stopped her vehicle, locked her doors and called 911 for assistance, LASD told Fox NEws Digital.

A smaller vehicle had parked right next to hers contained three other suspects described as two Hispanic women and one Hispanic male sitting inside while the fourth — later identified as 42-year-old Alfredo Ramos — was beneath her car, allegedly attempting to steal the converter.

2358

General Discussion / $50 Guess The Photo contest is back part deux!!!

« on: February 21, 2023, 01:07:56 AM »

First PH member to guess what the writing in the sky is wins...and yes, Admins and Mods are allow to participate as usual..

***To be fair, you only need to guess what the first three words said in the sentence correctly to win***

Also yes, same rules and stipulations.. .GOOD LUCK TO ALL! 

2359

General Discussion / $50 Guess The Photo contest is back!!!

« on: February 21, 2023, 01:03:34 AM »

First PH member to guess what this plant is wins...and yes, Admins and Mods are allow to participate as usual..

Also yes, same rules and stipulations.. .GOOD LUCK TO ALL! 

2360

General Discussion / Did Brenda Song turn down Harvard University?

« on: February 21, 2023, 12:48:49 AM »

Brenda Song says she had 'no hesitation' choosing 'The Suite Life' over Harvard


Disney alum Brenda Song recently recalled choosing “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” over attending Harvard University.

In an interview with Glamour, Song, 34, described some of the struggles she faced as the eldest child of a first-generation Thai and Hmong family pursuing her childhood dream to become an actor.

While Song’s parents and grandparents had been supportive of her career, she recalled her family’s financial struggles.

My mom had me at 17, and my dad was a teacher and still in school. My grandma was a maid working at the Marriott hotels. We had no money. My grandma took everything out of her savings—$527—and took me to this acting school that was not legit at all. But through them, I met a real agent and started doing print modeling work that led to commercials.

2361

General Discussion / This Asian guy found out the hard way so good thing many Hmong don't use knife

« on: February 21, 2023, 12:43:32 AM »

..during their cock fighting events  :

Man killed by his own rooster during illegal cockfight in India


NEW DELHI, INDIA -- A rooster fitted with a knife for an illegal cockfight in southern India has killed its owner, sparking a manhunt for the organisers of the event, police said Saturday.

The bird had a knife attached to its leg ready to take on an opponent when it inflicted serious injuries to the man's groin as it tried to escape, officers said.

The victim died from loss of blood before he could reach a hospital in the Karimnagar district of Telangana state earlier this week, local police officer B. Jeevan told AFP.

The man was among 16 people organizing the cockfight in the village of Lothunur when the freak accident took place, Jeevan said.

The rooster was briefly held at the local police station before it was sent to a poultry farm.

"We are searching for the other 15 people involved in organising the illegal fight," Jeevan said.

They could face charges of manslaughter, illegal betting and hosting a cockfight.

Cockfights are banned but still common in rural areas of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha states -- particularly around the Hindu festival of Sankranti.

Specially-bred roosters have 7.5-centimetre (three-inch) knives or blades tethered to their legs and punters bet on who will win the gruesome fight.

Thousands of roosters die each year in the battles which, despite the efforts of animal rights groups, attract large crowds.

2362

Marriage & Family Life / Witnessed my fair share of cases like this in Laos and to a lesser extent here

« on: February 21, 2023, 12:37:56 AM »

..so I believe those Hmong women's claim. Sad and unfortunate that it's still happening in 2023...  :

I was like a slave: Hmong women use TikTok to reveal married exploitation


Young Hmong wives are using TikTok to expose the slave-like conditions they have to ensure with their husbands’ families. Despite the bonds of kinship, their lives of unpaid labour and denied freedoms are seen by experts as crossing a red line under anti-human trafficking law.

“We barely have any free time. Working in the fields every day. … So the videos we made are just about going to the fields every day, because we are just in the fields, we have no time to do anything else.”

“Because there is work to do on the scallions every day - picking the scallion flowers, and then having to weed, and then having to add fertiliser, we do this time after time for the whole year. … We have no time to rest.”

These are the words of Pakkhom, 20, a young Hmong wife whose TikTok account has over 470,000 followers. She is one among many Hmong TikTokers who have been using the platform to tell the public of the burden they have to shoulder each day. Their hardship can be found by the hashtags #ลูกสะใภ้ม้ง #สะใภ้ม้ง (Hmong daughter-in law) and #สาวม้ง (Hmong woman).

By monitoring TikTok and interviewing 8 Hmong women, we found many Hmong women of 15-16 years of age were involved in forced and arranged marriages in line with their ethnic culture.

They moved into the husband’s home where they were subjected to long hours of work in the family’s business, such as running a resort, store or farm, and in housework. In return for working over 12 hours per day for 1 to 3 years, they were paid 500 to 30,000 Baht, about 15 to 873 US Dollars. They later decided to part ways with their husbands.

Some legal experts see their fate as constituting forced labour as defined under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act B.E. 2551 (2008).

“It is conceivable that this may be modern slavery, because daughters-in-law have no negotiating power. … They don’t get wages, they work hard from dawn till dusk, and they receive no welfare because it is seen as family work, so according to the law, they do not count as part of the workforce,” said Suchart Trakoonhuthip, coordinator of the MAP Foundation, a civil society organization that addresses ethnic labour issues.

Modern slavery is a term that includes human trafficking, forced labour, child labour, slavery, prostitution, and forced marriage.

Pakkhom said she has to get up at four or five in the morning to do the housework and get breakfast. Then she goes to the scallion field to gather the flowers, add fertiliser, and weed. She is in the field until dusk before returning home to cook and do house chores, sleep, and repeat the schedule without a day off. Free time was spent planting vegetables at home, gathering firewood, and making Hmong garments to wear.

“When men actually take us as wife, we have no freedom. It’s just like slavery. Hmong daughters-in-law will be involved in farming, gardening, and housework, everything. No matter where we want to go, we have to get permission from our mother-in-law,” said Pakkhom.

At least 3 Hmong women said in interviews that they had to work hard because the Hmong believe that when women are married, their bodies and souls move into their husband’s families and that the women’s guardian spirits will also be replaced by those of the husbands’ families.

This belief makes divorce difficult, not to mention the stigma when the community in some areas believe that widows bring disaster to the family.

Tawan (pseudonym), 20, another Hmong woman, said with a feeling of unease that she had to work at her husband’s resort and Chinese cabbage field in Phetchabun Province. But when all the hard work is done, her husband is the one who handles all the income.

“At that time, I was clearly like a slave, a menial. … Everyone else was employed at tens of thousands [of baht] a month. They just had to do the cleaning. They did not have to cook at night. … [The employees] only worked from 8 to 5, and then they could go home and rest,” said Tawan.

Limits to Freedom
Many Hmong interviewees said they had to receive permission to go out or spend money, depriving them of the freedom to enjoy personal lives or travel back to see their own families.

Waew (pseudonym), 26, another Hmong woman, said her parents-in-law forbade her to wear a skirt or associate with friends at any social gathering. Her mother-in-law usually picked on her, damaging her self-confidence. And when she wanted to talk about her opinion or stress, they brushed it aside, seeing it as nothing of importance.

“I felt really worthless. Sometimes I wanted to cry and go back home to see my mother. I never cooked for my mother, so why does she still praise me as a good, capable and hard-working person? But now I’m with them, whatever I do, they are not pleased,” said Waew in tears.

Domestic violence, forced labour
Three legal experts said the way the Hmong women were made to work may constitute a violation of Section 6/1 of the anti-human trafficking law as constituting forced labour or forced service. Offenders can be given a 6-month prison term or 50,000 baht fine. If the forced labour victim dies, the offender may also face the death penalty.

Papop Siamhan, an independent lawyer, said the cases mentioned may count as forced labour when checked against the International Labour Organization’s Key Indicators of Forced Labour in that the women were made subject their husband’s families’ orders via labour exploitation with no payment and with deprivation of their freedoms.

“They are overlapping issues … a dimension of law enforcement and a dimension of tradition. … If we enforce the law directly, many Hmong will be face charges with serious criminal punishments.

“Creating an understanding of human rights among the Hmong community may create more sustainability,” said Papop.

Raporn Pongpanitanon , an expert from the Office of Women's Affairs and Family Development, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, said what the Hmong women had been through counts as domestic violence and that the offenders could be charged under the Victims of Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act, B.E.2550 (2007).

Raporn, however, said the details have to be looked into in order to proceed with charges, and that the law has usually been used in business cases rather than family disputes.

Unchained
Waew recounted the day she moved into her husband’s house in Mae Hong Son Province. She was made to replace three employees who were hired at 250 baht a day. Working in place of three people meant that she had to work 14 hours a day but without any payment. Her husband's family were the ones who got all the money.

“I was pregnant, but they still had no pity. They still used me to lift heavy things… I lifted it till my stomach went hard. It hurt. I went to lie down for a moment, and they called me back to work,” said Waew.

After this, she decided to part ways with her husband in 2019 to live her own life.

“I’ve made a mistake once. The big one in my life. I won’t do it again. I was once married, but it turned out worthless. But today I see my own value. I have the right to choose. I listen to my own heart as best I can, and move forward,” said Waew.

Beside Waew, Tawan also took her 2-year-old child out of her husband’s house and moved to a strawberry farm in Udon Thani. However, many Hmong women still have different reasons to not follow suit and stay with their husbands.

2363

Marriage & Family Life / My wife and I don't but do some of you married folks prefer this arrangement?

« on: February 21, 2023, 12:29:53 AM »

study finds more couple prefers to sleep in separate bedrooms

I Love You, but I Don’t Want to Sleep With You

Snoring and conflicting schedules are top reasons couples decide to sleep in separate bedrooms. Sex therapists and marriage counselors have their doubts about the arrangement.

2364

General Discussion / Most folks my age should remember this guy in California, "Go See Cal"

« on: February 21, 2023, 12:25:25 AM »

After more than 40 years, end of the road for Southern California’s Cal Worthington car dealership

Make no mistake about it, bub, Southern California is car country.

So automobile dealer Calvin Coolidge Worthington decided to have a little fun, attract attention, and empty his lots with “My Dog Spot” TV commercials featuring a live, snarling gorilla.

The commercials, in which he also used other animals as a dog named Spot — a penguin, camel, elephant, bear, lion, hippopotamus, and tiger — helped Worthington build an empire of 27 dealerships that sold more than 1 million cars.

Many of those commercials were filmed under the large “Worthington Ford in Long Beach” sign at the dealership he bought in 1963.

Now that sign has come to mark the end of an era. Worthington’s family said they have sold the 3-acre business, the last dealership still bearing the name of the legendary car salesman who died in 2012.

“It’s very sad,” Nick Worthington, Cal’s grandson, said in an interview with ABC7. “Our employees have been with us 40 plus years.

“It’s a part of everyone’s childhood and life growing up here,” he added. “It’s hard to close that book for everybody.”

On Saturday, Shawn Abdallah, finance director at the dealership, said news of the sale “came as a shock, although there had been rumors for a couple of months that something like this was in the works.”

“The rumors were confirmed on Thursday,” he said, “when Nick had everyone gather in a conference room here for an important message.

“He said, ‘You probably heard the rumors and today I am here to confirm them.’ ” Abdallah recalled. “He was very emotional. And yeah, there were tears all around.”

The buyer, Nouri/Shaver Automobile Group, plans to keep all the Worthington Ford employees, but they will have to reapply for their jobs, Abdallah said.

The iconic large blue “Worthington” sign overlooking Bellflower Boulevard, Abdallah said, “won’t be taken down until March 1.”

In the meantime, visitors don’t have to go far to see reminders of the flashy stunts used by the Oklahoma transplant to make the hard sell during a 65-year career that made him an icon of quirky Southern California culture.

The showroom of gleaming new Ford models, for instance, features a floor-to-ceiling photograph of Worthington cheek-to-cheek with a tiger: the most personable of all the animals that helped him build a cult following.

It’s a reminder of a quirky era when automobile salesmen here, in the capital of car and freeway culture, dressed like Napoleon, wore halos, and adopted exotic animals for a sale.

Worthington’s signature gimmicks were the “Dog Spot” ads, which first appeared on-air in 1971. They were originally intended to be spoofs of two competitors: Ralph Williams and Fletcher Jones.

Williams had launched an ad campaign with a German shepherd named Storm, and Jones appeared on TV cuddling puppies.

2365

Faith & Beliefs / He must've really believe he's Jesus

« on: February 21, 2023, 12:18:21 AM »

 :

A 39-year-old pastor died after trying to go 40 days without food and water while fasting like Jesus

A 39-year-old pastor in Mozambique died after attempting to emulate Jesus' 40 day fast.
Francisco Barajah's organs failed by the 25th day of the fast, and he was sent to hospital, The BBC reported.
Barajah was administered serums to get rehydrated, but died on Wednesday, wrote the outlet.

2366

Debate Central / How do you Asian GOP/conservatives feel when White conservators don't like you??

« on: February 21, 2023, 12:15:57 AM »

For example this White conservative's hate toward this Asian conservative:

Ann Coulter tells Nikki Haley to ‘go back to your own country’ in racist rant against new GOP presidential candidate
“What’s with the worshipping of the cows? They’re all starving over there," Coulter also said.

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter is under fire for a racist tirade against new Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

In an appearance on the "The Mark Simone Show" podcast this week, Coulter made several xenophobic comments about Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who was born in the U.S. to Indian immigrant parents. "Why don't you go back to your own country?" Coulter said.

Coulter, known for her racist and anti-immigrant stances, attacked India, as well.

"Her candidacy did remind me that I need to immigrate to India so I can demand they start taking down parts of their history," she said. "What's with the worshipping of the cows? They're all starving over there. Did you know they have a rat temple, where they worship rats?"

Haley did not respond to a request for comment.

Coulter also called Haley a "bimbo" and a "preposterous creature," criticizing her for having advocated removing the Confederate flag from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse in the wake of the 2015 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

"This is my country, lady," she said. "I'm not an American Indian, and I don't like them taking down all the monuments."

Haley announced her candidacy Tuesday, making her the first Republican opponent for former President Donald Trump, for whom Coulter has been a vocal proponent.

2367

General Discussion / I recalled Hmong elderly folks telling young folks to find office jobs because

« on: February 21, 2023, 12:10:56 AM »

...of the physical toll and hardship they went through in Laos working as farmers and manual laborers..

But office desk jobs are not for everyone  :

Some Taliban fighters are sick of the 9 to 5 grind, complaining they've been sucked into urban life by working desk jobs to run Afghanistan

Many Taliban soldiers are now in government positions after the Taliban seized power in 2021.
But some are only just discovering the pains of living in the city, the Afghan Analysts Network reported.
Five young Taliban fighters described how their lives are now consumed by work and Twitter.

2368

General Discussion / Photos: Was in the area so stopped by Hoover & Grand Canyon too, saw a Packers

« on: January 17, 2023, 11:28:59 PM »

...couple enjoying the breath taking natural beauty of the Grand Canyon along the way. Not sure if they traveled all the way there from Wisconsin though  :

2369

General Discussion / Bunker fell due to rain and flood, was there doing my hang gliding research

« on: January 17, 2023, 10:48:19 PM »

..a few years ago:

A World War II bunker tumbled down a cliff onto a San Francisco beach. It's the latest in a series of landslides from record floods. A giant World War II-era military structure fell down a sandy cliff and onto a San Francisco beach. The incident at Fort Funston, a city park with 200-foot oceanside bluffs, is the latest in a series of landslides across Northern California caused by a deluge of heavy rainstorms

Took these photos when I was at that Fort:






Prepping their glides for flight:






Run way:




Drop zone:






Happened to be a wedding there that day so I took a snap shot of it.. :




sp

2370

General Discussion / similar to Hmong FRAUDs scamming other Hmong folks just cause they're also Hmong

« on: January 17, 2023, 10:34:53 PM »

..so easy target for the FRAUDs:

NC man arrested in Ponzi scheme defrauded people in the Indian community, FBI says

A former Chapel Hill transportation engineer was arrested Tuesday on 23 charges tied to an investment scam known as a “Ponzi scheme,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Kumar Arun Neppalli, 56, of Cary, is charged with 17 counts of wire fraud and six counts of conducting transactions in criminally derived property, according to a news release. He is expected to go to trial later this year and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Neppalli, who was hired in 2000 as Chapel Hill’s traffic engineer, abruptly resigned as the town’s traffic engineering manager on Nov. 1, 2021, after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy that October.

Then-Town Manager Maurice Jones, who resigned from his job in December, told The News & Observer after the allegations surfaced that the town was taking them seriously but did not have evidence that Neppalli used his position to unduly influence development projects.

On Tuesday, town spokesman Ran Northam said in an email that staff did not find any irregularities regarding Neppalli’s work with the town.

Bilking investors
An N&O investigation revealed that Neppalli, a native of India, was accused of bilking 15 investors out of $1.9 million in business loans that he acquired through his connections with the Triangle’s Indian community.

Four investors who spoke with The N&O said they knew Neppalli through mutual friends or state and national Indian cultural groups.

Neppalli previously served as vice president and president of the Triangle Area Telugu Association, and as a former board member with the Hindu Society of North Carolina. He also served for 11 years as president of his Twin Oaks homeowners association in Cary.

Chapel Hill officials learned about the allegations in an October 2021 email from Srinivasa Yenduri, a Connecticut resident listed as a creditor in court documents. Yenduri, who did not respond to The N&O’s efforts to reach him, told court officials he gave Neppalli $150,000 for a “business loan,” documents showed.

Other investors spoke with The N&O on background only, citing a need to consult with their attorneys. Their investments ranged from $15,000 to $400,000 and were made over the last three years or longer, documents and interviews revealed.

The investors told The N&O that Neppalli touted his work-related development connections in promoting pending real estate deal with an unnamed local builder.

In some cases, the money represented his investors’ life savings, court documents showed.

According to the release, Neppalli asked his investors to give him money quickly — sometimes that day — and promised to return the principal investment along with a profit within a few months. He asked some of his investors not to talk about the pending deal with other people or referred them to a nondisclosure agreement, the release said.

“Our investigation shows Neppalli abused the trust and confidence placed in him by fellow Indian-American community members,” said Michael C. Scherck, FBI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge.