Some updates:
1) I've spent the last several days resting up and recharging, and it has been glorious. I think last week was pretty taxing, and as I look to the next several weeks, I know it's about to get worse. Yesterday my wife and I drove up to this beautiful area in the mountains, and just hiked around with our daughter. I started randomly throwing cheerios to some chipmunks nearby, and what followed was spectacular. Before long, we had 8 chipmunks running around, some climbing all over me, loudly munching on cheerios, while our one year old giggled and stared in amazement. It was great to get away, and experience some lighthearted serendipity before wading back into the mire that is our social divisions. I also started carving a little rocking horse for our daughter out of a log, so I'll post some pictures of my progress there, too.
My point is (and I know I've said this before, and I will 100% continue to say it) make sure you're taking care of yourself. Whatever brings you peace, refreshes you, centers you, grants perspective, etc. Make sure you're taking care of yourself, because as Dr. Strange famously said: "We're in the endgame, now."
One more observation from comic book wisdom before moving on. The '93-'94 Batman: Knightfall arc is the story that culminated in Bane breaking Batman's back (as somewhat mirrored in The Dark Knight Rises). The way Bane defeats Batman isn't by fighting him head-on. Instead, he frees all the criminals and villains in Gotham, and then waits until Batman has fully exhausted himself from rounding them all up again. Only when Batman is completely taxed does Bane confront him, resulting in Batman's defeat. Our lesson is simple: pay attention to your energy (physical, emotional, etc.). Take care of yourself. We can't expect to win the battle of ideas if we don't have enough energy for the fight.
2) The first presidential debate is this coming Tuesday night (9/29). I'm going to try to find a way to livestream and commentate on it, maybe on YouTube. The other idea I'm toying with is creating a Zoom meeting with a screenshare, and screensharing the debate window, something like that. I need to work out all the nuts and bolts. Either way, I'm planning to do something for that on Tuesday night, and then maybe do some commentary after it's over. It starts at 9PM Eastern/6PM Pacific time, so if that's something you're interested in, stay tuned for the details of what I end up planning. One thing is certain: there will be whiskey.
3) I'm really digging the conversations taking place here, and the ideas being shared. I just wanted to thank you all being a part of what we're trying to create in this community. You've probably read my About page here, so I'm not going to rehash it here. All I'll say is that I'm honored to be on this journey with you, to restore reason and civility to our society. Seriously, you guys are awesome.
4) If you feel so inclined, post your best "dad joke" in the replies. If you don't like those groaners, post your favorite joke in general, or a link to a stand-up special you like. Now more than ever, we need laughter in our lives 🤙
While driving yesterday, I had an idea to help facilitate more regular content creation, especially during this time when it is all but impossible to make videos outside of livestreams from my phone. The idea is that of a biweekly post that roughly takes the form of a newsletter, of which this is shall be the first volume. As an aside, evidently a synonym for biweekly is 'fortnightly,' which I'd totally use if it weren't for the association with a game of stupid dances.
My current plan for the format is as follows, though obviously this is likely to change.
-Introduction, brief life updates, and maybe a thought or two I've had lately that I wanted to share with you.
-What books I have been going through, and any excerpts or takeaways I feel are worth sharing.
-Any other noteworthy podcasts or media I've consumed lately.
-What stories I'm paying attention to (if any) and why
-Any questions I might have for you guys
-?
Alright, it's called TL;DR for a reason. Let's jump in.
As I mentioned earlier, we have Covid again. I'm not going to ...
I know it's been quiet here lately. I'll eventually explain what's been going on with my personal life (most of it has been a mixture of our new baby being really, really difficult, and perpetual sickness. For example, last week three our of the four of us had to go to the hospital) but this is what has consumed virtually all free time outside of work and family time.
Please consider helping us bring justice to these bastards. Their indifference and complicity in the harm done to these kids has to stop. Please help us make that happen.
For those who missed it, here's an open letter I wrote to my community last fall after the suicide of a former student, himself a victim of this school district:
https://returntoreason.medium.com/an-open-letter-to-the-citizens-of-albany-county-ca507fa24cd8
Thank you for everything you do. You guys are awesome, and I look forward to filling you in on what's been going on in the near future. See you soon.
ps- I will be...
Salutations! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. Here is my list of top ten the things I learned/conclusions I reached from this past year. Some are directly related to events, others are not. Either way, I tried my best to create a list of useful ideas for you to incorporate into your view of the present moment. I hope you find this list useful, as many of the items on it are lenses I find incredibly important for understanding the world around me. As always, I welcome any feedback you might have!
In Part 2, I use Conquest's Three Laws of Politics to expand on my specific critiques of Peterson's Manifesto, and flush out some of my own axioms that I failed to explain in Part 1. This is where I get into the nuts and bolts of how institutions deviate from their original purpose and begin to generate and pursue their own interests.
What began as a singular episode critiquing one of my intellectual heroes has turned into a multi-part series going after some foundational axioms of mainstream Conservatism.
In this introductions, I discuss Permanent Washington and the concept of accountability, and sew the seeds for what's to come in either trusting or rejecting many mainstream Western institutions.
It's worth mentioning that this recording, along with every other part in this series, has taken almost (in some cases more than) a day to upload. I have no idea why my internet is failing me as hard as it is, but here we are. Hopefully you find these recordings in time to assist you in your vote tomorrow 🤙
I've been wanting to do this for a while. It might have taken me two days to figure out how to get this from my phone to my computer, but I finally got it to work.
On Saturday, I used the voice recorder app on my phone to record a podcast covering Karl Schmitt, his discussions of power, and how we can map this onto our contemporary situation with The Regime that runs our country, and the Bureaucratic State which does its ideological bidding.
After listening to it, I realize there is some more context I need to add to the ending, so I might record another one tomorrow or Wednesday. Either way, it feels good to be recording stuff again. As always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback!
"We don't know where this thing isn't."
-Bret Weinstein
@JamesDerian suggested I pin and regularly update a thread of sources I'm compiling to illustrate the total societal takeover of Far-Left Orthodoxy, including their explicit targeting of our kids for indoctrination. Here is that thread.
Compromised entities:
Nickelodeon
Cartoon Network
Kellogg's Cereal
Mattel Toys
Lego
Sesame Street (SESAME STREET 🤦♂️)
PBS
CNN
The New York Times
The Washington Post
NPR
NBC News
Gender/Sexuality
Cartoon Network celebrating transgender children:
https://twitter.com/stage13network/status/1377332951659151360?s=20
More Cartoon Network trans stuff:
https://twitter.com/cartoonnetwork/status/1377259794294259717?s=20
Cartoon Network on "normalizing gender pronouns"
https://twitter.com/cartoonnetwork/status/1338539346530537475?s=20
Lego released "rainbow set" for Pride Month:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2021/may/everyone-is-awesome/
"Queer up your morning routine" with Kellogg's new cereal featuring edible glitter, ...
