I get kicked out of the best places. Sometimes I insist upon it.
At a party in college, a friend got into a political argument with the hostess. It got hot and she demanded he read Noam Chomsky. None of us really knew shit, so he retorted with some garbage about New World Order kooks and, well, things got hotter.
She exiled him from her apartment, but I suppose I couldn’t be left out of the fun, so I got up and charged out in “solidarity.”
Although drinking and ego were the driving forces that night, I maintain a mindset that I don’t want to occupy spaces where my friends are unwelcome.
In another moment of synchronicity, I spotted this interview on one of my favorite podcasts while that story was on my mind.
Chomsky is an interesting and intelligent character. Lex Fridman is an excellent interviewer amd gives him plenty of room to speak during this episode.
I was interested in the effectiveness of masks before Covid madness settled into American culture. During six days in the hospital with my wife I learned that there was little enforcement or consistency with mask policy, even in the ICU with a respiratory infection.
I didn’t dive deep at the time, but I was surprised to read that masks were largely regarded as useless outside a surgical setting, according to decades of studies.
In 2020, I revisited those studies with a closer, and less emotional, eye. I hadn’t fooled myself, masks created more of a sense of security than actual health or safety. I don’t know why doctors and nurses ignore this, or perpetuate the farce. I don’t really know why Dr. Fauci told the world that masks were ineffective, then told the world they were. I was lying then, but I’m telling the truth now? Sounds like classic toxic male.
Ian Miller is data obsessed and has been publishing official government statistics in chart form since near the beginning of the Lockdown.
In this conversation with Thaddeus Russell, Miller shares how he became the go-to source for seekers of Covid data truth. Over and over again his charts showed that mask mandates had no measurable effect on health outcomes anywhere.
Disclosure: The link below is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
I’m seeing more people in masks again. It is important that we reach as many as who will listen about the lies that have been peddled about mask effectiveness.
This conversation and this book are great weapons of truth. Please take time to listen, read, and share. There will be another attempt by government offcials to deny citizens their rights of travel, speech, and assembly. We must be armed with the truth and be ready to speak it. We must defy the lies by acting against their mandates.
An unschool friend has started a podcast where he interviews musicians in the punk and hardcore scenes. He’s taking his loves of live music and content creation to a new level with a very listenable show.
As music fans who aren’t all that knowledgeable about these genres, my boys and I have really enjoyed the first few episodes. It is most exciting to watch Gabe evolve as an interviewer and host.
I hope we can spread the word about his show and get him a few more listeners and watchers.
What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:31-39 RSV
An internet disagreement went well. That might be enough of a story to hit Publish right now and be done with it. However, it got more interesting as my conversation partner direct messaged me because his next thoughts might be construed as pagan or occult and he didn’t want the potential backlash.
There’s a narrowness to allowable Christian discourse that doesn’t help our messy search for truth. Certain precepts are not to be questioned and wisdom from non-Christian religious teachings is all but outlawed.
In this video, Jonathan Pageau addresses some of the knee-jerk reactions that Christians have to symbols they don’t understand.
My understanding is that God uses all things to His good. I also understand that symbols can be powerful and one shouldn’t be lackadaisical when engaging with them. The answer is to intentionally focus on God. If you stay in His love, you will receive wisdom and remain in a good place.
Learning is fun for me, I play with ideas and try to remain aware that I might be wrong about everything. That keeps Ego in check and prepares me to change course when truth is revealed.
Disclosure: The links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
I’ve removed myself almost entirely from the consumption of corporate media. There isn’t enough truth in any of their story telling to make it worth my time.
Their focus is always designed to divert attention away from the crimes of the powerful against the powerless (e.g., Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial).
Tom Woods is dedicated to the truth and here interviews Jason Fink, a filmmaker and eye witness to the events of January 6th, 2021: The Regime’s Obsession with January 6.
I haven’t listened to Colion Noir before, but in this conversation with Joe Rogan he lays out some important statistics about gun violence in the United States.
Four (or more) witnesses, all aged 13 or under, from three (or more) families were enjoying their free-range privileges far from parental eyes when things got out of hand.
My elder son and his rowdy buddy found a frog. It was alive and then it was dead. That’s where agreement seemed to end as I texted with the other parents hours later.
My patience is most pressed when I am lied to. My son was not forthcoming with the truth and I could only walk away from him to check back with the other parents for more pieces of the story.
A short lecture on respecting all life and the danger and hurtfulness of deceit was the consequence.
I can’t know what happened in the woods. Those who made bad decisions will be judged by their peers and God, I don’t see much of a role for myself. It’s the kind of uncomfortable relinquishing of control that defines free range parenting. As Bridget Phetasy says in her interview with Lenore Skenazy, “That’s kid stuff, don’t bother the adults with it.”
T.K. Coleman and Isaac Morehouse are the reason this blog is approaching one thousand posts. Although I have failed multiple times in the last few months at Coleman’s year-of-blogging challenge, the attempts have helped me find and grow internal and external connections.
In this conversation, Morehouse touches on all of the reasons I’ve been following him for years. He’s been a catalyzer for my learning lifestyle and an inspiration to start my own business. His aim to connect and help people aligns with my heart’s direction and I won’t wait to send him a Thank You as soon as I hit PUBLISH.
I am heartbroken that arts organizations are making it harder for people like Clifton Duncan and my sons to act and work in the arts.
These organizations are dividing people with their medical demands and promoting a segregated society.
And for those of us devoid of talent; yet who feel deeply when we sit down and experience humanity distilled into a moving performance, the arts are shutting out some of their most fervent supporters.
Masks? Who still has an argument for this? Fauci and his acolytes have been lying for two years and now they are caught out. Why are arts organizations so far behind the truth?
Vaccines? What does “fully vaccinated” mean? It changes depending on location and political climate, neither of which has any basis in truth. How can you continue to pressure your neighbors into medical decisions when there is so much uncertainty and more signs of deception from public health officials?
You are forcing the emergence of an alternative community that will supplant you. Those who respect human sovereignty are driven to create truly inclusive communities. We are celebrating the great works and producing our own without poking into each others political and personal lives.
You have taken the first step towards becoming a relic of superstition. To quote Duncan from another podcast, “There aren’t enough wealthy white theater goers…” to sustain the industry.
The conversation is wide ranging and enlightening.
The only whole heart is a broken one because it lets the light in. -David Wolpe
I wouldn’t be much without my broken hearts. I feel like I’d be a shell without the broken mind I experienced after losing my wife.
Brokenness is scapegoated for our frailties and flaws, yet it allows us to let light into places that were walled off. Our tragedies, whether self-inflicted, perpetrated against us, or random, teach us more about ourselves than otherwise possible.
