We all live two lives. The second one starts when we at last fully realise that the first one has an absolute ending that isn't so far away after all. Only then do we both consciously as well as subconsciously commit to more comprehensively cherish each moment, more fulsomely embrace each opportunity, more so than ever before in this, our second life. One where grace, peace, tolerance and wisdom finally reign supreme over narcissism, aggression, impatience and immaturity. The arrogance and ignorance of youth dissipates as one gradually grows to understand that it's so much better to have lead a rich, meaningful life rather than die an abject, meaningless death.

It is hardly surprising that the skills and abilities which allow one to excel at one undertaking can be a positive hindrance to success at another.  The risk taking of the firefighter ill serves the estate planner, whose actions must abound in caution; the loquaciousness of your average salesman would probably get your average librarian fired.  I have recently gained first-hand experience of this truth. The desire to produce fluid, flawless prose which was my goal as an academic would paralyze me in my present position as psychiatric crisis worker, where reports must be filed immediately leaving time for only the most tangential concern towards the niceties as grammar and style.

I am writing this through the eyes of a newcomer to ChinaLoveMatch and AsiaLoveMatch because I am trying to imagine how they must feel when they first encounter Conspiracy Corner. This is how I am guessing they might feel, but it is also meant as a primer on how to participate in Conspiracy Corner if you wish to, and how to ignore it if you don’t. Some people love it, others think it is a colossal waste of time. I’d love to hear in the comments below how you felt about it when you found Conspiracy Corner on a Chinese or an Asian Dating Site. Here goes – Conspiracy Corner as I imagine you might see it as a newcomer to CLM and ALM:

Monday will be what I call 'Happy Moon cake day'.

I'm holding this piece of small device we call a cellphone in my hand. Actually, I'm hanging to it for dear life even though I feel a profound hatred for it. The only thing that stops me from throwing it against the wall is the fact that my wife lives in it. Yes, it's true. My wife is so tiny that she fits in my phone, living her life away without me. What a world we live in!   

We discussed in Part 1 of this blog that once people reach middle age, their metabolism slows down. Activity levels often decrease. Yet eating patterns typically remain more or less unchanged. This means threatening clouds looming on the horizon as far as weight issues are concerned. Oh joy. More calories going into your body with less being burnt or otherwise negated in some way, only means one thing. Trouble. Amidst the rubble and the unending stubble of our inevitably ageing and often lonely lives.

In todays's society, being tall and slim is the new elitism. A lean cowboy physique means you must be smarter and more successful than a shorter, fatter person, right? Of course, this stereotype is in reality quite wrong. But it's hard to shake. Just look at Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister, to see what I mean. Does anyone reading this - ignoring your political persuasion for one moment -  genuinely believe if PM Trudeau was a short, plump man, that he'd have reached the heights that he has today?

This article is a continuation from Part 2 of this series. It presents a random assortment of ideas flowing within a bubbling stream of consciousness concerning China and in fact, significant global issues generally. Once again, I ask that you please contain your excitement and despite your natural inclination, hold your approbation and applause. Thank you in advance. For those who were polite enough to stand, you may now please be seated.

I know the subject of this blog doesn't relate to Chinese dating, online dating and/or international relationships, and I need to apologize for that. However, I couldn't hold myself back from writing this article for a personal reason. There is a blogger on CLM, whom I'm going to name later in the article if you bear with me, who, like a parrot, keeps repeating his preferred words of nonsense in almost everything he writes about as of late. And what really pisses me off is that he does this condescendingly, calling us, ordinary people, CLM members, and bloggers, sheeple. Well, he's flat out wrong.

            For five centuries, China was the most powerful nation on Earth and poised to dominate the world.  Why didn't it?  Professor McNeill saw the answer in Chinese culture in general and Confucianism in particular.  Chinese iron production began to drop in the 13th century.  The same foundries that had been producing 30,000 tons of iron a year in the 11th century were barely producing 8,000 tons per year by 1260 and had ceased production altogether by 1736.  The Ming Dynasty forbade private merchants to engage in foreign trade in 1371, a ban that was not lifted until 1567 and by then the initiative had already been lost to the Portuguese.  In 1433, the Chinese navy stopped sailing into the Indian Ocean and in 1436 the Ming Dynasty issued a decree forbidding the construction of sea-going vessels.