Archive for October 2022
Empires Come And Go But Pax Is Lasting (For As Long As It Lasts)
— "Whatever happens will be for the worse; therefore, it is our interest that as little should happen as possible." — Lord Salisbury
That was uttered by the statesman Lord Salisbury whilst the inevitability of British decline as an empire was too apparent to dismiss as the world entered into the 20th Century.
I find it a rather humorous thing to say in regard to matters of such import; but, alas, I find myself in a similar vein watching in horror delight—can't decide—as American decline is manifest as a trip to hell—either by handbasket or rocket sled depending upon which day it is.
I'll begin with a basic question most everyone has an unthinking, automatic answer reaction to:
Was the government of the US ever a good government?
I don't know that there's a definitive answer to that question that would even begin to satisfy the most skeptical, critical, and objective thinkers amongst us even if able to set aside our biases.
Surely, one of the first questions to the question would be, what's the standard of "good?" a legitimate and fair query. So, that's where claims must be staked first and reaching agreement on a single standard or set of non-contradictory standards will be next to impossible and much of that hinges and pivots upon an individual's views on complex, unsettled matters such as free will, natural rights, spiritualism, materialism, et al.
But we can cut to the chase a little bit, so let's just do that.
[In essence, THE CURRENT THING! is fast becoming how the Left is having a bad day, week, month, and year...getting face-fucked from all directions at once.
May it continue and heighten. We don't have enough prison space but we're going to have to manage.
Justice this time around is essential, no matter who, or from which party. Most of the political establishment should be serving long sentences for any number of actions that have harmed people in America and abroad. For instance, when it becomes apparent and is proven that the US blew up Nord Stream and plunged everyday Europeans into financial ruin and the cold, how many republicans should do 25 To Life for that?]
The remaining 3400 word are to be found below the "paywall."
There's no way around the reality that I've managed to take this near 20-year-old blog to a membership direct-pay, viable proposition. With each new subscriber—usually several per day—combined with my geoarbitrage advantage, the thought of doing "free" content financed by affiliate deals, advertising, and corporate sponsorships that I pester you with incessantly, fades. Fast. This should become apparent to anyone pretty quick who tries to access anything beyond excerpts and introductions.
Inevitably, some are going to get weary of being locked out of stuff and join up so that access is unfettered, or they'll just cease popping in. Inevitable. I'm fine with either. I think it's silly to try to persuade someone to buy an ongoing subscription to something that's not of some genuine importance to them.
Here's one of the recent testimonials.
Found Richard 2012ish from Tom Naughton of Fathead fame. In short, came for the Paleo, stayed for the intellect. I believe Richard is honest. I admire that he is 100% true to himself, and he puts it all out there, take it or leave it. And, he’s really fine with either! He gives narratives/takes on subjects that, while entertaining, often makes me think and question how I view things. Unequivocally, Richard has given me more value than any other independent internet resource for a decade now. I’m happy to support his efforts of “one mind at a time,” as I have surely benefited from them. — Ron in Florida
There's a lot of that in the testimonials. So too, the excerpts.
Here's how to join up. Do note that on January 1, 2023—the anniversary year of this blog...at it for 20 years and over 5000 posts—the prices for paid membership will double for monthly, annual, and lifetime subscriptions. Those already subscribed to one of those paying levels on December 31st will not only retain the current price levels so long as they maintain their memberships, but will have the option to upgrade (monthly to annual or lifetime, annual to lifetime) for a limited time by paying only the difference the new and the original pricing as it stands now.
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Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Food.
— All Things Work Together For Good... (Romans 8:28)
Only at FreeTheAnimal do you get such a bizarre juxtaposition of title, sub-title, and banner image. A total WTF.
It's Sunday morning my time and I've been a busy beaver. Lots to report but for today, I'm popping up 2 relatively short videos of the 3 vids I cut on Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand yesterday. The third is about Russia-Ukraine-Nord Stream that accompanies a huge and substantial post that's been in draft for days: Empires Come And Go But Pax Is Lasting (For As Long As It Lasts). Stay tuned for that after this diversional post.
Why am I in Patong Beach, Phuket and where do I go from here?
Yesterday was such a beautiful sunny day on the heels of Friday's monsoon deluge that resulted in flooding right here on the streets. Big yawn for the Thais, though. The water? Off a duck's back. Do enough monsoon seasons here and you'll get caught many times riding your motorcycle in such a blustery downpour.
What do you do? You slow down, forget about getting soaked (it can't be helped), squint, and soldier on. What happens?
You get passed by cute, 20-sumthin', 40ish-kilo Thai chicks for whom this is commonplace every year and it never gets in the way of anything.
That's what happens.
In answer to the question, I'm changing things up. Summary of the video for those who dislike my videos. Plus, this will all come out piecemeal in writing soon enough.
- I'm soon to become a perpetual SE Asia traveler; doing my standard blogging (writing), just in the backdrop of being in new and exotic places most of the time.
- My home base in Rawai will be maintained. $90 per month, total cost. Less than most people's monthly parking space.
- Travel will be on the cheap, taking maximum advantage of geoarbitrage. My upcoming Social-Security partial-principal-payback begins in February—in an amount that is more than double my monthly living expenses!
- There's the potential for surprise in the form of an amazingly sexy 20-something partner and this travel being via automobile for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. I'll know more about that possibility in the days to come, as she's arriving here in 4 hours' time.
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The Arrow by Dr. Michael Eades
My history and friendship with Mike Eades goes back…ah…about a dozen years, I’d guess. I was a frequent reader of his blog, Protein Power, for at least a few years previous, had linked up a number of his posts here, and had read a book or two by himself and his doc-wife, Mary Dan. I…
Read MoreThe Real Anthony Fauci The Movie (It’s Free)
— Its purposes are neither to confirm nor deny your biases Preliminaries I’ll put the URL out there in the clear because attacks on the domain have already started. You may have to try multiple times. I seem to be able to get in with no issue and I watched the movie without issue. Then……...
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Last 2 Weeks Today Roundup
Just basically a roundup of a bunch of shit I did or liked over the last couple of weeks. Probably some stuff I hate, too. I don't know. I haven't written it yet. Free Member access. Public too, but oh well.
The last entry was on October 5th, 2 weeks ago.
- Got Badass New Tires
"Pre-Addendum"
[Below is a post-publication insertion that was at the end of it when it went out about 26 hours ago as Free Member and Public access. Now it's not. If you like my stuff, don't want to mess with when it's free and when it's not, just pay for my work. That simple. Join the other 200+ paying subscribers; or, the 4 new Annual subscribers, the 1 Annual renewal, the 1 new Monthly subscriber, and the 1 Monthly renewal who have come in over the last 24 hours since I ended with this, below.]
The foregoing is just the last two weeks, the highlights. I'm making it a free post for a day or two because we're in the last day of a promotion. I don't do hardly any free stuff anymore, so this is a rare exception. Plus, I write in-depth about all of the sorts of things, above. It's truly variety.
To the point, the subscription page is here. Or, you can just click the appropriate button and check out right here. Check the testimonials or excerpts if you can't decide. There's no mistaking that endorsement. There just isn't. Everyone gets to do as they wish but as for me, it's 98-99% of all content for paying members here. If you're cool with 1-2% because it's free, I've no argument or complaint.
For the next day [hours at this point], the Discount Code for Monthly and Annual is 2MONTHSFREE and for Lifetime is 25TOLIFE.
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The Three Things That Doubled My Paid Subscriptions (Now Four Things)
— I felt a certain and unmistakable sense of stagnation coming on Greetings one and all, First Some months ago, early July to be precise, I had the bright idea of getting into doing more videos. I’ve had the channel for 16 years and put up a video from time-to-time. Now, I went all in, sometimes shooting several……...
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My Easy Way To Stop Drinking: Relationships — The Good and the Bad — 2 Months In
— I seem to be undergoing a transition of sorts from where initially, alcohol cessation was all about the ways and means of getting it done—arriving at that point of no return—to now, increasingly, towards a more observant and deliberative consideration.
Preface
Kind of like: the chicken or the egg; what comes first? Do you get plastered because life sucks and it's an effective acute-pain reliever for that; or, is it that you typically drink for a multitude of reasons (or excuses), it eventually gets out of hand, and then proceeds to 'suck' up your life to the point that alcohol becomes a veritable coping requirement?
"Oh, boy...I could really use a drink."
...Or is it both, since the real answer to the question about chickens and eggs is that there's not the one, without the other. They're inexorably integrated, inseparable.
But still...I can wax philosophically or psychologically all I want, but it all has to meet a single criterion for me:
Does this nugget or tidbit or realization or actualization or idea or aha moment...bring someone to the Easy Place? Because let's face it: you're probably not going to brute force this thing to success. If it sucks, then it's likely going to get suckier and the suckier it gets, the more likely you are to fail.
...But fear ye not!
...That failure can be "magically transformed" into success, see? All you have to do on the back-end of failure is float the notion that it was just a test to show that you actually can abstain and now the test is over.
See? "I can quit anytime I want!"
...Though I've surprisingly not faced this [what would be] understandable criticism anywhere, it nonetheless nags at me a little. What am I doing, essentially creating what purports to be an authoritative gospel for kicking the bottle when I've been at it such a short time?
It smacks of unbridled exuberance—like when you're a kid and had your first beer. Or, you've discovered a hammer and so now, everything is a nail.
But that's just me and has always been me. Once I really get into something I take it up with a very rapid gusto so I can master the essentials, which is a process of shit-canning most of what's out there, leaving only the valid stuff. That's why most stuff is easier than it looks—or is purported to be by those seeking your money. They want you to think it's hard. Not to worry. They're here to help.
Those with the most just and valid reasons to ask you for compensation are those who are constantly simplifying, clarifying, and deconstructing for ease of implementation and better chances of success. Others continually complicate, obfuscate, qualify, manufacture exceptions, and issue rules that are self-serving, requiring endless guidance and management.
C'mon, look how simple I make shit: don't [eat, drink, or do X] too much, too often. What's amazing is how damn difficult it is to get out a simple message like that, undercutting all the abject bullshit. It's because it's perceived to be obvious, so of little value. Ironic, that, isn't it?
In most things being touted and marketed, "simple steps to..." are never simple. Rather, they are intentionally near to impossible. But all that will be laid out in the next release, at a good price...and so on.
What access does a paid subscription get you?
- The other 2,500 words detailing my 2-months-in reflections—including my short unlisted video intro, shot on Pattaya Beach last week
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If you doubt those last two bullets, then I encourage you to browse the newly added Testimonials page, or if pressed for time, just the excerpts. Then see what paying members who have been readers for 10 years plus have to say about me and my style.
Details about membership and signup are here. From now through Friday, 21 October—4 more days—deals are being offered on monthly, annual, and lifetime memberships. Details here. The Discount code for Monthly and Annual is 2MONTHSFREE and for Lifetime, is 25TOLIFE. And if that's not enough reason for now rather than later, then please be informed that the prices for all membership levels double on January 1st.
2023, my 20th year of writing this blog, is going to be a banner year for writing production and quality with several substantive posts for paid members each week.
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Which Diet Dogma is the Least Dogmatic?
— I stumbled across something today, read it, dropped a comment about it some other place, and then left it alone.
Until I couldn't.
I sat there eating my first food in 19 hours—courtesy of an almost daily fast—time restricted feeding, eating window, whatever— and looked down at my 159 baht ($4.15) plate of grilled pork and chicken, with mushroom sauce, green peppercorn sauce, mashed potatoes, smoked pork sausage, and grilled vegetables...then realized I'm eating something that many a diet zealot loves, and that another hates.
...What I'd seen was a head-shaking post by Amber O'Hearn recalling an experience with potatoes she hadn't touched so much as a bite of in over 2 decades. I seem to recognize the name, perhaps from the Paleo Daze—and apparently, she switched trains at the station at some point, in favor of a high-fat, low-protein keto/carnivore dogma approach.
Yep, I'm perpetually straddling dietary salvation and condemnation both, in nearly every meal—all of them falling short of either someone's dietary prescriptions or someone else's proscriptions. And on deeper sociological examination, isn't that part of of the point of different diets as such, and in the first place?
It starts with chocolate and vanilla...but oops, both are proscribed by some dietary catechisms, allowed only in moderation in others. And unless there's an Ice Cream DietTM, I don't know that either are prescribed anywhere...unless perhaps the chocolate is 70% or greater organic cacao and then it might fall under the grudgingly allowable for some. I digress.
I'll go into detail over Ms. O'Hearn's post, below.
So what constitutes the ideal inspiration for a jump-to-the-front blog post more than that? I mean, just look.
This was at my favorite place in Rawai, JeePhueng Phochana and Steak House, a hole-in-the-wall owned and operated by a trained-chef hubby & wife team who met while working in a fancy hotel restaurant on the island, pre-Covid. Unique in the world, a "Thai" restaurant that serves only Farang food, but at Thai-normal prices. It's less than 2km from my place, I've walked over and back a number of times. Every time I go I end up meeting Thai folks who've become Farang-food fans, as well as the astute Farangs, and the regulars, like myself.
My friend Jackie, for instance—a former 2nd-baseman for the Phillies way, way on back—eats there every day for lunch. Everyone says the same thing: 'love the prices but we come here because everything is so good!'
And then I thought about the dinners I cooked at home the last two nights and it's the same thing. Love & hate on the same plate, depending upon which dogmatic dietary perspective one pays homage to adheres to...practices. There. I fixed it.
Wait until you see those marvelous, mouth-watering photos. But first, the setup.
Two days ago I was in Lotus Fresh, a Seven Eleven-sized offshoot of the Tesco Lotus chain and I walked past the most beautiful pork filet I have ever seen in my life. And that's the truth. A good inch and 1/2 thick, perfectly marbled, with a thin strip of fat that would turn singed and succulent over a grill flame. I had to have it, though it would set me back 69 baht ($1.80). I pared it with a boiled potato and bathed the entire shebang in a tarragon chicken-stock reduction sauce, dusted with black pepper and cayenne for a wee bit of kick and a Lagasse BANG!
Then down the aisle, an equally attractive, thick chicken breast with its skin called to me at only half the price of the pork. So I got that too, for last night, and that lower-carbohydrate meal was paired with mixed stir-fried vegetables and garlic, tossed in unsalted butter. I did the same thing with tarragon and chicken stock, but added a smidgen of milk for a southern flair.
I trust you'll be able to tell which is which.
The current membership deal, good thru next Friday, 21 October, 2022, is 2 months free for the monthly subscription, $10 off the first year for the annual, and $25 off the Lifetime Membership. Here's the announcement post with the applicable Discount Codes. But take great care. The post is littered with irrefusable hypnotic suggestions and the chances that you make it thru unscathed are slim. The other tidbit is that the price for Membership doubles on January 1st, 2023. Those who join prior to then are grandfathered, of course, and so the current discount-code offer is even more attractive to all with even an inkling of perhaps maybe someday.
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How To Overcome and Outplay Sales and Marketing Hype For Fun
— But Can't You Just Escape It? The Short Answer Is No.
The Basics
The problem is that for better or worse, marketing qua marketing is essential. And the other problem is that if there's sound marketing then there's hyped, bullshit marketing. ...Bad with the good, or tolerable. There's a straightforward chain of requirements for a decent life that culminate in the essential of marketing.
- Life requires a lot of values just to survive, and lot more to prosper and live comfortably and happily.
- It's near impossible for an individual to acquire or produce all that's needed for bare survival, let alone prosperity.
- So we're social beings, endowed with a certain natural division of labor based upon gender (and at the un-woke extreme of that...only one gender can get pregnant), age, stature, physical prowess, intelligence, creativity, imagination, fortitude, talents, etc.
- In the families and small tribes of old, there was no need for marketing because...everyone knew what everyone else produced.
In the barest sense, marketing is merely getting word out to those who need it but don't know about it. It is the creation and facilitation of markets (i.e., trade) that otherwise doesn't exist.
So that's good and there's a lot of good in it. And there's even more good. It's the sort of marketing where a legitimate need is identified but products don't exist; so marketing becomes a dual role of outright creation—or sourcing and integrating—then fulfillment to customers. The greatest marketing good is that which envisions the unimagined but possible, creating the products or services, and then making—not filling—the [nonexistent] market for that product or service.
Marketing is the mother of invention. It's the quintessential question that asks: 'what if there was...?'
...But, alas, humans wouldn't be human if the race didn't include the lazy legions among us who take shortcuts...producing a mountain of shit...then writing ad copy to urgently sell—BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!—its sweet aroma downwind.
And so long as people keep buying, they'll keep producing [the crap], marketing, and selling it. We've all fallen victim, succumbed...too heavy on unbridled exuberance, hopes, and fantasy while being too light on discipline, thought, and self-control.
Anti Marketing
That phenomena—and no need to describe it further because we're all intimately familiar, being inundated with it all the time—gives rise to a method dubbed anti-marketing.
That's the headline at this page for an ad agency owner. The copy following it continues in the same vein. I got wind of that because I sent a link to this post of mine mocking standard sales copywriting while using it myself tongue-in-cheek. (It's a post kicking off the 10-day paid-membership promotion we're in. So, you probably won't want to take a look.) Anyway, I sent it to Kelvin Parker, a marketer and copywriter I've known forever, and he shot me back that link.
I then proceeded to improve upon it.
WARNING: You’re Now On The Cusp of a Sales Funnel. This is Your Last Chance to ESCAPE! Once in the Funnel, There IS NO ESCAPE. You Will Be Motivated to Buy a Small Thing and Then We Exhaust Every Last Gram of Your Resolve With Upsell Offers AFTER You Have Paid, But BEFORE Your Order is Confirmed. And EVEN IF You Manage to Weather That Onslaught, Rest Assured That We Have Your Email Address and You’ll Be Hearing From Us (A LOT).
So, I suppose the bottom line in all of this is that you can always be real in your various marketing efforts to make a living and if universes collide, become prosperous.
You can even use all the bullshit copy stuff to your advantage through mockery.
All The Rest
This is an ironic sort of post; in that, the rest of it covers other basics loosely referred to as microeconomics and because of my affirmations and protestations therein, I'm going to have to cut it off here for the free members and public. Paid membership details, here. Hurry, before it's too late!
This is a fairly tight presentation where I discuss the microeconomics of the firm:
- Willingness to pay
- Some will never pay no matter what
- Free stuff
- Nothing is free
- Piracy
- Free marketing
- Ads
- Loss Leaders
- Etc.
And I have a remarkably tight video I shot on a whim a while back, sorta forgot about it but one thing to another and I gave it a looksee and I liked it. Yea, get this...I watched my own video and far from wincing, it held my interest.
I damn near popped corn in coconut oil, taking the time as well to clarify butter.
Maybe it'll doya too.
So, Free Members and Members of the Public. The current membership deal, good thru next Friday, 21 October, 2022, is 2 months free for the monthly subscription, $10 off the first year for the annual, and $25 off the Lifetime Membership. Here's the announcement post with the applicable Discount Codes. But take great care. The post is littered with irrefusable hypnotic suggestions and the chances that you make it thru unscathed are slim. The other tidbit is that the price for Membership doubles on January 1st, 2023. Those who join prior to then are grandfathered, of course, and so the current discount-code offer is even more attractive to all with even an inkling of perhaps maybe someday.
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Greetings, Subscribers to my “Nikoley’s Sunday Scribbles.”
How about “rare, almost no-pestering?” How many times have you coughed up an email address in exchange for some informational value, expecting that ‘yea, there’s going to be some marketing efforts too?’ And that’s no prob for me if it’s sensible. I remain on several lists because marketing emails are pretty few and far between….…...
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C’mon, Gimme A Piece Of Your Mind!
As Part of My Continuous Improvement Process I’ve Added Testimonials — And I Want Yours! Yes, you can participate. Even the haters, provided you’re smart, clever, and funny about it. Reciprocity: you get your podium, but it serves me too. …Could I get a testimonial from each of you as to why-oh-why thousands of you……...
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Am I Writing About Hitting The Gym Again? Oh, Yes I Am…
[This post is public access and will be until I deem it's the right time to toss it behind the Membership Wall at some level to be decided. Notably, I have added a Lifetime Subscription option, by request. Details here.]
When I began to consider doing another workout or 'gym-post' yesterday—after a workout at Sun Fitness just a half-click walk from my hotel—I remembered that the gym was what lead me to Paleo and dieting in the first place, way way back in 2007; 15 damn years ago, at the age of 46.
Resistance Training
From my first post on the topic, May, 2007.
I will have much more to say about this in months to come, but it's becoming increasingly obvious to me that in terms of health and fitness, people have been suckered into a load of nonsense over the last 30 years with respect to the benefits of aerobics to the exclusion of all else.
Over four years ago, now, I embarked on a program of walking (briskly) every morning five days per week. I wanted to lose some poundage that needed losing, the dog needed walking anyway, and I like to walk. Well, 4,000 miles later (I was very religious about it, still am, and I enjoy it and intend to keep at it) I not only didn't lose any weight but probably put on about 20 lbs. This was three miles per day (about 45 minutes), fifteen miles per week, every week. If you think you're going to do much about an overweight problem with evening walks around the block you're probably fooling yourself.
What really got the ball rolling was a comment on the post. Long timers will know the prominent name in the LC, Paleo, and Evolutionary Fitness spheres.
Yep, it was Art De Vany. It was perfect, really. He had both a sensible fitness approach and a sensible dietary approach—both modelled after evolutionary principles. To this day and as far into the future as humans manage to remain genetically human, one cannot go wrong by simply adhering to his 'old' advice.
The test of time is baked into the cake.
And so I made lots of progress in both areas and in terms of the gym, I blogged about it frequently.
Leangains by Martin Berkhan
This all culminated in working with Martin Berkhan, creator of the Leangains Protocol, beginning in April of 2010. Martin's demeanor is as badass and no bullshit as is his 700# deadlift. I was using an experienced trainer at the time—one with an actual degree in exercise physiology—who took well to Martin's approach, helping rather than hindering.
Six months later and I was ready to do a series of posts about all of it.
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2023, my 20th year of writing this blog, is going to be a banner year for writing production and quality with several substantive posts for paid members each week.
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FreeTheAnimal.com Today — October 5, 2022
A little catchier than FreeTheAnimal.com The Last Week Or So... or maybe not. That might be chuckle inducing.
Don't you get it though? It's a weekly Today. Makes perfect sense. Because I say so.
Don't ask me.
Rather than go to great lengths to explain what it is, here's the 3-min video 'trailer' of sorts.
So here's the initial sections. Suggestions for other stuff is welcome. Ultimately, some sort of template like those daily newsletters. Or whatever. This is just a first stab at it...
The Awful
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Mask Mandates: Huge Data In. Laughing My A*s Off.
Dumb sheep about covers it.
The weird thing—actually, criminal...but nobody will ever be prosecuted, much less executed for their crimes against billions which would be justice (we don't do justice, anymore)—is that the jab companies destroyed their own control groups who were participating in the clinical trials.
The justification given is that this shot was so damn effective and important (we now know that was a bald-faced lie and it's neither...and in some cases debilitating or deadly) that it would be unethical to not instanter give the real thing to the placebo control group.
So, tracks covered, it was time to just get on with the hyper-politicization, the hyper-marketing, the hyper-cheering, the hyper-politicization, the hyper-coercion, the hyper-lies, the hyper punishments, the hyper-shaming, the hyper-virtue-signalling, the... hyper-hype.
So, without an actual control group, what do you do?
You create one by enlisting 300K participants and then carefully select 18,500 out of those to be most representative of the general population.
That's what you do, since our Governmental and BigCorp Fascist Bedfellow Institutions are morally bankrupt and generally evil to the their core with no possibility of any redemption.
...It's WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO, NOW!
By creating a vastly diverse control group and having them answer questions monthly—compiling the data and then having it analyzed by a multinational independent group of professionals—we can get clues, in spite of inherent limitations in observational studies, because of the enormity of the dataset.
What The Data Covers
- Geographic Distribution of the Unvaccinated Communities
- Age Group and Gender
- Top Reasons for Not Receiving COVID-19 Vaccines
- Physical and Mental Health Status of the Unvaccinated Cohort
- COVID-19 infection before survey
- COVID-19 infection during five month period
- Severe illness situation of the infected respondents
- Self-administration of Vitamins and Medicines
- Mask-wearing Situation of Infected Respondents
- Discrimination Faced by Unvaccinated Control Group
- Job Losses for Participants of Working Age [You won't believe the holy-shit figures from Down Under]
- Mental Health Status of the Unvaccinated Cohort
While my focus with this post is mask-centric—for vitriolic scorn-heaping and shame-foisting opportunities—I'll also summarize the other data points for your convenience.
And oh, did you catch my massive 8,000-word post on Vladimir Putin's Historic Speech? Doc Michael Eades just told me the it was a real "stem-winder," which I had to look up.
US, mid-late 19th century, originally referring to then-recent stem-wind watches (invented in 1840s, commercialized initially 1850s by Patek Philippe & Co.). These were expensive, top-notch watches, hence generalized (1892) to “top-notch”, particularly applied to speeches, or to the orator in question. Non-speech senses later fell out of use. Nuance of “rousing” speech possibly by analogy with watch being wound up (“tighten by winding, excite, rouse”).
Tim Steele (of resistant starch and potato hack fame) and I have our first complete disagreement in comments...like 180 degrees different. Oh, well. It's cordial, of course.
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Will Russia Become The Moral Leader and Conscience of the World?
— “Whatever happens will be for the worse; therefore, it is our interest that as little should happen as possible.” — Lord Salisbury That was uttered by the statesman Lord Salisbury whilst the inevitability of British decline as an empire was too apparent to dismiss as the world entered into the 20th Century. I find……...
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