A few days late.

Hey Kiddos. No new content this week, unfortunately.

I've been so damned busy with a new project or two that I haven't had time to update. It's literally driving me crazy.

In return, have a quick doodle I did whilst working on the first project. This has nothing to do with the second project.  It may have to do with the third.

Some news:

I'm now 250-255 lbs, that's down 45-50 lbs from April 7-12, when I started losing weight in earnest.

Ice cream tastes like ass thanks to low carb. It's way too sweet. .

I bought a car, so I may be able to mobo again. It's a small one/ That makes mobo more of a starry-eyed dream.


I will try to write about what independence really means. About how you too can walk away from things that don't advantage you. But for now, my digital tablet awaits.

Cheers

Is this the condition that I so feared?

My kiddos, I have a confession to make:

I never wanted to write about politics in this blog.

I never want to be political. I call myself an anarcho-moderate, and I am fanatically so. I had a rule

But I broke the rule and waxed political.

I waxed political because deep down this blog is about independence. The most important thing for man (or women!) is to have the liberty to live their life as they wish. To be free.

Free from illness by being healthy.
Free from hatred, ignorance and unhealthy agendas by keeping your mind open.
Free from mental illness through diet, exercise, reflection and meditation.
Free from drugs by being responsible for your body and mind.
And sometimes, free from a corrupt government (regardless of the party affiliation - from which you should also be free!).

Many people, and myself, often say we need something. And yet a lot of people get along without. I need a car, I need a gym, I need a job.

You don't. Your mind, your ingenuity, and your positivity are all you *need*. Everything else is optional or obtainable with those things.

I know, I sound like a raving hippy.

We are hooked - chained, to the world by needs and desires - for money, for love, for sex, for food, and those chains are being used to make you act in ways that maybe you don't want to act.

Well, there are two ways to release those chains. The first is to give everyone everything that they desire. If everyone is fulfilled, then there is no way to use fulfillment to motivate someone.  While I like this  option - because hay, free stuff, I think it's a dangerous option. There will always be something that is scarce - and that means something more valuable than another thing.

Plus it requires changing the world. That step's a-doozy.

The better solution is to reject those desires. Learn how little you actually need, so that you can  find what you really want. Reduce the value of something from the demand side, by simply not desiring it. This requires you to change yourself, but it's effects, if done by the commons as whole, will be immense.

The obvious and simple example is "I need a gym." Do you really need heavy equipment to get a workout, to become strong?  Smith racks, Leg Press machines, and thousand-dollar treadmills?

Not at all.  I have a gym membership. I do not need one.  All the equipment I really need is my body - and that's free.

I have spent about 45 dollars on exercise equipment that I use almost daily. It's cobbled together, grabbed from junk yards, and works better than the gym equipment. And Instead of a treadmill, I just go for a run.

To be free, you must remove things from your life, not add. Perhaps, like Diogenes, I see things as often a distraction.  Perhaps, like Seneca, I see us all working jobs we don't like for things we don't need.

So that's what this blog is about. Independence. It's a lot of work, kiddos, but it's worth it.

So my assignment for you is to take some time and remove yourself from a habit. I spent 5 weeks without Internet, and it was extremely productive. I advise you remove something - Internet, TV, even idle reading, if you are so inclined, and ask yourself as Seneca asks, "Is this the condition that I so feared?"

More on living as independently as possible next week, my friends.  

SHUT IT DOWN! SHUT IT ALL DOWN!

Alright, a couple of things today, my friends.

No political rant today, but just some rhetoric. I don't know much about the shutdown anyway.

So the government is shutting down, and all non-essential employees are getting a free day (without pay, which is lame) and all essential employees are sitting at there desks wishing they were getting paid.

Notice how the people who keep us safe, the people who create and guard our beauty, our memorials, who teach and who serve, are the ones getting shut down. And the people who make these silly rules and spend the money aren't hurt in the least by these shutdowns.

I do hate that the people who are tightening the belt aren't wearing the belt.

Here's a link to what some vets thought of closing down the WWII memorial park.  hint: They didn't think it well.

Why is this shutdown affecting people we need and want. Why don't we put a moratorium on say, the DEA. For the next week, smoke them if you got them. Or snort. or..inject, I guess, if that's your thing...

I wee bit of hyperbole, but the point stands. The people punished by this shutdown are the people who protect our homes, keep our parks, and send us mail.  Does that seem just to you? And I am not letting anyone off the hook here. Shutdown is the worst thing in the world, and there were alternatives. But both sides were playing whiny poo-poo head.

Seriously, our legislative and executive branches are acting like children who refuse to find a solution that both sides find acceptable, and then blaming each other for starting it.

We the people need to start being the adult in the room and send them to bed without supper.

OK, I guess this was a rant. Maybe I'll shutdown for the day.

Edit: Quick Update on the Dickery of th Feds:

The Washington Monument syndrome, also known as the Mount Rushmore Syndrome,^[1] or the firemen first principle,^[2][3] is a political tactic used in the United States by government agencies when faced with budget cuts. The tactic entails cutting the most visible or appreciated service provided by the government, from popular services such as national parks and libraries^[1] to valued public employees such as teachers and firefighters.^[2] This is done to gain support for tax increases that the public would otherwise be against. The name derives from the National Park Service's alleged habit of saying that any cuts would lead to an immediate closure of the wildly popular Washington

Monument.^[4] The National Review compare the tactic to hostage taking or blackmail.^[5]Although the strategy usually intends to highlight the government's value to voters, it can also be aimed at lawmakers themselves. Faced with budget cuts in the 1970s, Amtrak announced plans to cease train routes in the home districts of several members ofCongress.^[2]

The term was first used after George Hartzog, the seventh director of the National Park Service, closed popular national parks such as the Washington Monument and Grand Canyon National Park for two days a week in 1969. In response to complaints, Congress fired Hartzog and restored the funding.