Addiction is separate from circumstances.
Look at Heath Ledger, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, etc etc etc.
Heath was young, successful, dating a billionaire, and had everything in the world at his fingertips. He decided to have a one man party with drugs and alcohol.
Think about it this way. In 1960, minimum wage was $1.00/hour and the average home was $11,000.00 In 1968, when Richard Nixon took office, ‘middle class’ meant one Union job supporting a family of four. By the time Bush Sr. left office in 1992 “middle class” was two college jobs to support the household.
Anyone can meditate.
You don’t have to imagine the beach or the mountains. Just find a quiet spot in your mind. Some folks just look at the inside of their eyelids.
It took me a long time to get the racing thoughts to settle down. One thing I would do is close my eyes and start the meditation by thinking about fireworks going off. After a few explosions it was easy to tell myself it was time to relax.
Inhale on ‘one,’ hold a beat and then exhale on ‘two.’ Repeat.
Even if it’s five seconds to start it’s a beginning.
You can also do it while walking or riding a bike. Obviously you don’t close your eyes, but you try to think about nothing but the next step or push on the pedal.
You can learn to meditate anywhere.
It’s like any other skill, you have to put some effort in at the start, but the results are worth it.
You don’t need meditation tapes, candles, or anything else.
Find a quiet place, sit down, close your eyes and try to find a quiet spot in your mind. A beach or a mountain top or grandma’s kitchen; wherever you feel most serene.
You can just count “one, two one, two” as you breath in and out.
Just try to keep your thoughts quiet for ten seconds to start. Then work up to 30 seconds, and then a minute.
“My dad says you used to be evil, but now you’re just cranky.”
iirc
Does this mean that by voting Republican we can secure abortion rights? The answer is no.
Actually, by your own post, in Alaska it does.
New York City established Ranked Choice voting in 2020 under a Dem Mayor and majority Dem City Council.
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I like to read old science fiction and check out the things the authors got wrong.
Maybe my favorite is the ‘mini VHS recorders’ from Neuromancer.
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I remember the golden age of the DVD Man. That noble soul who had all the latest movies on DVD a day after they opened. Quality ranged from someone recording the movie in the theater with a camcorder to perfect copies taken directly from the source.
Find a successful club and talk to the people who run it.
Doesn’t have to be related to your particular area; just a club that’s been running a while.
Also, these things take work. I do a bit of work in the groups I belong to, and I see the folks at the top doing way more work.
Good luck. Nice to see happy news here.
Hunter Thompson opined that the US draft was better than the alternative.
Under the draft everyone, rich and poor, was expected to serve. With a ‘volunteer army’ only the poor need to go.
Another drafted vet said that draftees are more likely to speak up if civilians are targeted because the soldiers know that they are eventually going home. Lifers will obey all orders.
He just casually invented cryptocurrency as a plot device.
I had a long flight so I took along Reamde.
I’d read it twice before, but damned if it didn’t hook me up again. I got to the first airport around 10 am and didn’t get home until 3 am. Saved my sanity.
For the uninitiated, Reamde involves the kidnapped niece of a billionaire game maker; the game is really fun and also a money laundering operation. There are terrorists, Right Wing militias, undercover spies, demented science fiction authors, and a bear skin rug.
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I’ve been telling people to read ‘Cryptonomicon’ for decades.
It tells two interwoven stories. Back in WW2 the grandfather is involved in proactive missions to keep the Nazis from learning the Allies had broken their codes, and in the late 1990’s the grandson is trying to start an online bank
If he’s an adult you can call the police.
People have family members arrested all the time.
It’s a cheap and easy way to teach children to visualize.
Just vacationed in Belize. Tiny place near Guatemala and Mexico on the Caribbean. It’s the only English speaking country in South America; founded by English pirates who wanted to steal Spanish gold. Great food, friendly people, and interesting history.
And your comment is relevant to 0.005% of the people in the world.