Revenues at China's giant military firms fell last year as corruption purges slowed arms contracts and procurement, according to a study released on Monday by a leading conflict think tank.

It's hard to explain the all-consuming adorableness of a kitten to someone who's never had one. Yes, we all see how cute they are in photos and videos, but falling in love, in real life, with a kitten of your own is a whole other level of swoon. Every single thing they do is cute. Every yawn. Every stretch. Every pounce. Don't even get me started on sneezes. How many times have we seen the classic "didn't want a cat" story of a "not a cat person" falling hard and fast for a kitten? It happens. And a viral video of a man who is unable to contain himself over his new kitten's cuteness perfectly encapsulates what that looks like. Kittens are the cutest. Photo credit: Canva"Well, I'm just going to explode, aren't I?" the man says to the woman behind the camera before going on and on about how he'd step in front of a bullet for the kitten. "Look at that cute little boy," he says as the small orange tabby lies curled up in a blanket. "Yeah, that's mine forever now. That's mine forever. And he comes before you, now. He's mine." @waif8chimney So I guess I’d die for this kitty? The pacing around with energy to burn. The "cute patootie bobooty." The "I'm literally going to explode" moving right into the "I'm going to eat him," and "I would die for you." The fact that they just met and he's already up to his eyeballs in gushy, smushy love. It's all so relatable to those of us who've gone off the deep end after adding a tiny furry feline to our family. People in the comments shared the sentiment."I got a kitten a week ago and it literally pains me to leave her everyday. She’s all i think about ?""The overstimulated pacing is so real.??""Every second of this was the correct response.""I just got two and the overload of emotions is beyond words.""12 years later and I still talk about my cat like this ?""The amount of times I tell her 'I'd shmurder for you!!'""The cuteness aggression is completely appropriate! 'Cutie-patootie-bobootie, I'm gonna eat em.'" Grrrr, wook at his widdle paws and his widdle whiskers. Photo credit: CanvaCute aggression is a real thingLots of people mentioned "cuteness aggression" in the comments, and that's exactly what we're witnessing in the video. When you feel so overwhelmed by the cuteness of something that you want to squish it, squeeze it, bite it, or even eat it? That's cute aggression, a term coined by social psychologist Oriana Aragon in 2014. "Cute aggression seems to be a mechanism to manage the overload of positive feelings we can get when we interact with something too cute for us to handle," says Associate Professor Lisa A. Williams, a social psychologist from the University of New South Wales. "In other words, to counter an overwhelming barrage of positive feelings, we seek to tamp it down – and weirdly enough, that can play out as an aggressive inclination." @sadiebreann_ unreal #cutenessaggression #motherhood #newborn #newbaby #motherhoodunplugged #motherhoodunfiltered #sahm #momlife #sahmsoftiktok #baby It's not actually aggression in the strictest sense, as the impulse comes along with a strong feeling of wanting to protect the cute little animal, child, or whatever is causing the explosion of feeling. Like, you might feel a strong urge to bite your baby, but you would never actually bite your baby. You might want to squish your kitten or hug your puppy as tight as you can, but you wouldn't because you know it would harm them. It's a weird contrast of feelings, but it's common. And it's hard to explain to people who don't experience it. Interestingly, Aragon says that those who do experience cute aggression also tend to experience other dimorphous expressions of positive emotion, which includes crying when happy. "People who, you know, want to pinch the baby's cheeks and growl at the baby are also people who are more likely to cry at the wedding or cry when the baby's born or have nervous laughter," she told NPR.Whatever we call it, the urge to bite the baby or squish the kitten is real for many of us who feel totally seen in these videos.

Science says that humans are naturally social creatures, but often in real life, nothing about interacting with others feels natural. Even the most confident people can struggle with what to say, how to read a room, or when to jump into a conversation. But according to Reddit, there are a handful of clever tricks that can give anyone a boost. When one user posed the question, “What’s an actual psychological ‘cheat code’ you use in social situations that works almost every time?” responses flooded in, revealing simple strategies for everything from memory recall to dealing with an enemy.Here are our favorites below:1. Act like everyone loves you, even strangers Gif media0.giphy.com “I pretend everyone I meet is in love with me. I mean, not literally. I’m not a complete narcissist. But I’ll start conversations with strangers who give me a smile or a knowing look. Assuming they like me makes me feel more likable. I’ve made friends more easily in my 30s than I did at any other time in my life.” 2. Switch gears during times of anger by getting a “yes”“When someone is angry—like irrationally, psychotically angry—get them to say ‘yes’ to anything. (E.g. Are you mad? Do you want help? Do you want me to give you space?) It engages a different part of the brain, and after that’s engaged, you can help them with problem solving.” 3. Visualize it going well“Before I go to an event, I imagine the room, the people in it, and the way I want to feel while I’m in the room. Sometimes I imagine a light sweeping over everyone like it’s sprinkling good vibes. I’ve noticed that it makes me feel more confident and easy going when I have some anxiety about going somewhere.” 4. Deal with a loud talker by speaking quietly Gif media4.giphy.com “Speaking at a lower volume if someone is being unnecessarily loud. One of my best friends has a LOUD voice she is completely unaware of, which can be incredibly annoying when we’re in public, so I will lower my speaking volume and she will subconsciously lower hers to match my volume.” 5. Make peace with silence“Being comfortable in silence is power. Especially in any sort of negotiation, complaint, somebody asking for something or vice versa. For some reason when you stay quiet, people break.”6. Build people up behind their back“Build up people who are part of the same social circle but aren’t currently present. For example, if you’re out at dinner with your normal circle of friends and one of them isn’t there, talk them up and share something positive about them to the rest of the group. Without consciously thinking about it, we start to become aware of the kind of things people in our social circles say about us when we’re not present.” 7. Use flattery to deal with an enemy “Someone doesn’t like you? Give them a genuine compliment. Keyword: genuine.”8. Raise a brow. Two, actually. Gif media4.giphy.com “Raise my eyebrows when I smile hello. Usually we only do that for people we recognize so it makes people feel like they are already accepted.” 9. Take note of last conversation you had with someone“Remember what they said to you the last time you saw them. If you last saw them a month ago, if you remember they were doing a thing, remember that thing and mention it.” 10. A simple trick when you don’t remember someone Gif media1.giphy.com “If someone comes up to you and says hi, and you can’t remember how you know that person, then say ‘how have you been’ instead of ‘how are you.’ 99% of the time they’ll start telling you about something that was going on the last time they saw you, and that will jog your memory about where you know them from.” 11. React to repetition with kindness“It’s a small one, but it comes up often enough that it’s been useful. People often repeat themselves and a knee-jerk response to someone bringing up something you’d already heard about is ‘You’ve told me this already,’ which incidentally has a somewhat negative connotation to it. Instead of saying that, say ‘I remember you told me about this.’ It’s more kindly affirming to the other person that you’ve listened when they told you the details/story in the past while also serving as a gentle reminder that they’ve already shared it.” 12. Smile at passive aggression“An effective way to deal with passive-aggressive comments is ‘stupid and cheerful.’ Don’t read into their comment, rise above it.” 13. Treat all staff with dignity“Always learn the names of the front office receptionists, custodians, maintenance crew at your place of work/volunteering/etc. Always say hello to them and treat them like human beings. You would be surprised at how nice they treat you and help you out.” 14. Let yourself be corrected Gif media2.giphy.com “When you want to learn something – facts, rumors, gossip, etc. State the fact but leave 1 detail intentionally wrong. The other person will love to correct you and give you ALL the information. It feeds their ego, you learn what you wanted, everyone is happy with the result. It works when I use it. I know it works on me as well.” And finally…15. Pretend the person you’re talking to is about to die“One thing that I’ll do when someone is irritating or boring me is to imagine (to myself! silently!) that they will actually die in the next 24 hours, painlessly. My job, then, is to help them have a good final 24 hours. It sounds morbid, but it’s not. There’s meaning and joy that can be pulled out of many moments, even dull and irritating ones.” At their core, many of these tricks are really just a different way of choosing kindness. And that truly is a strategy that works every time.

Michael Jordan, widely regarded as the greatest NBA player of all time, is notorious for his fierce competitive streak. He put on 15 pounds of muscle in the off-season with the specific goal of beating the bad boy Detroit Pistons. He played a game with the flu and put up 38 points. He was known to make his teammates stay after practice for shooting competitions, and his trash talk game was so potent that some say it ruined their careers.This competitiveness stemmed from his incredible love and passion for the game. In a recent interview with the NBA on NBC, Jordan told Mike Tirico that his love for the game was so intense that he made sure he could play it whenever he wanted and put it in his contract. He attributes some of his monumental success to the time he spent on the court, improving his game rather than in practice with trainers and coaches. Michael Jordan had a 'Love of the Game' clause in his contractJordan was so great that the Chicago Bulls were willing to risk paying his massive salary for an injury sustained during a game of streetball or at the local Y.M.C.A. - YouTube www.youtube.com “I had a clause in my contract — Love of the Game contract — that if I was driving with you down the street and I see a basketball game on the side of the road, I can go play in that basketball game. And if I get hurt, my contract is still guaranteed,” Jordan told Tirico.“I love the game so much that I would never let someone take the opportunity for me to play the game away from me. As opposed to now, where you don’t have it. Players probably don’t play. Now they get individual attention with their trainer,” he continued.Jordan believes that to improve your game truly, it has to be in a competitive situation, rather than the safety of a gymnasium with nothing on the line. “Sure, you’re ready to go out and shoot 100 shots — or a thousand shots. I found it to my benefit: go play basketball, man. That’s what you did. That’s what you grew up doing,” he continued. “Larry Bird took a whole summer to work on his left hand, right? He did it by playing basketball.”Michael Jordan is passionate about community health in North CarolinaAfter retiring from the NBA in 2003, Jordan purchased the Charlotte Hornets franchise in his home state of North Carolina. He has also turned his passion to philanthropy. Since 2020, he has opened four family medical clinics in North Carolina that serve underinsured or uninsured families. "Everyone is worthy of access to quality health care, no matter where you live or if you have insurance," Jordan said in a statement announcing the opening of his fourth clinic this year, adding that he is "truly inspired by the many powerful stories of people who are now thriving thanks to the support of our Charlotte medical clinics." - YouTube www.youtube.com Ultimately, Jordan believes that those who have the privilege of playing the game for a living shouldn’t let fame, social media attention, and money get in the way of what they do on the court—because that’s the only thing that will last. “Most [modern players] do a great job of navigating [off-court distractions]. That's as long as you understand that this is always going to be what you're remembered for. Basketball and your love for basketball should always be pure,” Jordan said. “I've always said this. We would play this game for free. We did. And now we just so happen to get paid for it.”

A musical snapshot in time. The post The gig Paul Simon called “the most extraordinary” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

Unsung hero. The post The guitarist Jimmy Page thought was a level above Eddie Van Halen: “I understand” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

The now-forgotten show aired 40 years ago.

15-year-old Mexican illegal arrested for guiding fellow illegals across southern border

Coordinated project operated behind a veil of anonymity, misdirection, and unreported political financing.

If they do not do this, we know the traitors are in charge. https://t.co/4800UO3d54 — Lara Logan (@laralogan) December 5, 2025