Elon Musk Is Making Twitter Fun Again — MTFA
— Twitter Means Nothing; Or Right Now, It Means Everything
- What is Twitter, Anyway?
- What Does The Left Think Elon Musk is Trying to Accomplish?
- What is Elon Musk Really Accomplishing?
- The Golden Helmet
- Making Twitter Fun Again
- My Account is Still Permanently Suspended
- My Video
What is Twitter, Anyway?
It's just a social media platform with very limited features by design.
In fact, when it began, the character limit was 120, same as for SMS on phones. Since 2017 it's been 280 but still, that demands quite a bit of efficiency when attempting to get a complex idea off in one tweet.
It was dismissed by many as silly...and with various derisions such as "men don't TWEET!"
In spite of that, however, it gained lots of traction as a place to exchange serious ideas and many serious people have accounts on it because it's pretty damn efficient for that in ways what other platforms like Facebook and Instagram aren't.
Its brevity or, pithiness when at its best, is likely a good reason it has persisted and at least part of why a guy who builds cars and rocketships decided it was worth paying 44 Billion for.
Amongst the things Elon Musk thought about when deciding to buy the thing or not must have been whatever his take is on Twitter's role as a public town square; and if I think about that, isn't it common that in situations where a bunch of people are arguing or discussing ideas, that everyone just gets a few words?
Black Friday to End of Year Sale
— 2 Months Free for Monthly Subscriptions
— $10 Off for Annual Subscriptions
— $25 Off for Pay-Once Lifetime Subscriptions
… That's $6 per Month with 2 Months Free; $40 for the 1st Year; or $225 for Life
… BECAUSE … on January 1, 2023 ... ALL PRICES DOUBLE FOREVER.
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The Bangkok Black Friday to End Of Year Sale
— Bangkok doesn’t really have anything to do with it… I headed out to shoot a quick 2-minute video trailer for this sale. I hate sales but I’m doing it anyway. Sales are kinda like lies…in the sense that if you can sell something at that price, then why not just set that as the…
Read MoreFTA News — Wednesday, November 23, 2022 — DEPLATFORMED BY STRIPE?
If someone forwarded this to you in the newsletter version and you bizarrely ended up liking it on balance, you can subscribe for free to future copies that [ought to] arrive in your email twice per week. You’ll get the whole thing, not just the excerpt provided here on the blog. The blog rendering of it has added things like embedded videos, larger images with lightbox thingy, etc.
- From Bangkok — New MacBook Air
- Troubles With Stripe Credit Card Processing
- From Ao Nang, Krabi
- Youngun “Party Town” Thailand: Sexless, Self-Righteous, Androgynous
- Covidless Excess Mortality
From Bangkok
Beginning with the most recent thing, from today.
I don’t know how long one must go between computer trade-ins, but I’m pretty safe in saying that eight and a half years is plenty of time—a veritable signal of my great virtue—to pound away on the same notebook computer. Since 2008 and after 20 years at PCs, I’m an Apple Mac guy. Had two MacBook Pros over 4 years. I’ll not get into it but the Pro version is generally overkill for most people. In 2012 I researched whether a MacBook Air could reliably drive the 27″ Apple Cinema Display I had.
Indeed it could and indeed it did—even running HD video on its two screens with rapidity and ease (many believe you need the expensive Pro to do all these things and most who think that don’t even do those things…but pay for the Pro anyway). The 2014 model was the last computer I’ve purchased until this morning at the stunningly beautiful Apple Store at Central World in Bangkok.
I didn’t even come to Bangkok yesterday for this…that’s another story for the next section. I’d looked into it, but the info I got online is that you have to order it, which I assumed was because of the US keyboard and not Thai.
I checked into my hotel with a smokin’ deal. $43 per night in a 4-star, regular $120. Long time since I stayed in a hermetically-sealed fancy-pants place…the Marriott in Warsaw, 2019 if memory serves.
…I don’t like them. Tomorrow, my two nights is up and I’m moving to a $20 place where I can at least open the fucking windows, for shit’s sake.
…Anyway, soon as I checked in and arranged every item out of my travel-light, 30L backpack, I headed out. Hoofed it to the Apple store 2.5 KM away. What I found out was that they did indeed have plenty of the M2-processor MBAs in all four anodized aluminum colors with US keyboards. It’s any customizations that have to be ordered. So, if I want more RAM, bigger SSdrive, etc… OK, nope.
And so, voilà, and I resolved to return this morning and do the deal. In the meantime, I set out to get some food, so I headed down to Nana Plaza, perhaps the most curious place on earth. I don’t care for it much—or go-go bars in general—but it’s quite a spectacle to behold with three floors of them in a 70s style indoor-mall format. There’s a Hooters across the street, though, so I had a pretty decent grilled-chicken Caesar. Given that Thai girls have smaller breasts on average (rocket tits, I call them), I think the franchise should be called Handfulls over here…right? That added 1.6 KM to the trek tally.
Read MoreYoungun “Party Town” Thailand: Sexless, Self-Righteous, Androgynous
— In a rational world, brats get sent to bed without any dinner
As I've been recounting in my recent Newsletter issues, I've been doing some no-reservations travel where one just sorta spontaneously heads off in one direction and goes with the flow along that path. I didn't plan to go to Koh Phi Phi again, but that's where I ended up for a night before continuing on to Koh Lanta, refreshingly devoid of the young set. Lanta is a place for older, mature-of-mind-and-attitude expats, to partake in its peace and tranquility—which it delivers handily.
Instead of hopping the ferry back home to Phuket, I opted to grab a 3-hr minivan transport to Ao Nang for a couple of nights—at the heart of geologically-astounding Krabi province and its Phang Nga bay. You have to see it to believe it.
This is what no-reservations travel is all about...no-commitment trekking at your whim and leisure. You wanna stay an extra day or two? Can do. Had enough, and you wish to move on right now? Can do. Wanna switch your next destination to someplace else? Can do. Wanna go there by a different route or change the means of your transport? Can do.
I've been travelling like this for 38 years all over the place and have yet to end up hunkering down in a sidewalk alcove for shelter and sleep. I'd never want to do travel any other way, preferably.
...But you have to live a rather fearless life as prerequisite—or you'll fret yourself silly—and the planet doesn't produce many of those types, anymore.
Better safe than sorry!
Ao Nang, like Phi Phi, is a popular destination for the young set—backpackers, students, dreadlocks, elephant pants, vegans, etc.
Plus: NO SEX!!!
...It gets way, way worse from here out, so this is where I'll need to cut it off. If you'd like to read it anyway, plus get unfettered access to everything devoid of hassle going forward, then join up.
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FTA News — Sunday, November 13, 2022 — THE BEST INVESTMENT
If someone forwarded this to you and you bizarrely ended up liking it on balance, you can subscribe for free to future copies that arrive in your email twice per week. You’ll get the whole thing, not just this excerpt. The blog rendering of it has added things like embedded videos, larger images with lightbox, etc., and soon, a searchable archive.
- Greetings from Koh Lanta
- No reservations
- The hot and humid hike
- Snagging an amazing modern updated beach bungalow
- Chillin’ in remote and sleepy Lanta
- The food; lots of pics
- The Best Investment Option For 2022 to 2122
- Everyone is an investor
- The financial markets
- Tax sheltering and deferral
- Crypto
- Entrepreneurship and Geoarbitrage for max gains
- The FTX Crypto Fraud is So Delicious
- Overview
- Andrew Tate makes a point
- “Bankman” demonstrates that point
- Sorry you’re bankrupt
- The “CEO” who doesn’t use math
- The laughs keep piling up
- Hit & Run
- The Church of Texas at Austin
- Moron cucked simps kneeling before assholes
- It’s true about unmarried adult women in America
- Children should be seen and not heard
- Like the Fyre Festival fraud
- IF covid CAN kill you…
- Birth control
- God bless the internet
- Kamala is living proof
- Just do it right, for God’s sake
- Pet Peeve of the Week
— Greetings this Monday. Yea, it’s supposed to be out your Sunday morning in America. What befell me My excuses are I was deep diving into the FTX collapse-fraud and also travelling still. Left Koh Lanta this AM, now in Ao Nang, Krabi. In this Newsletter I’ll cover my getting to Koh Lanta and a bit of that 4-day experience; the best investment you can make in 2022 and for the next 100 years; the FTX crypto fraud (so delicious); a bunch of Hit & Run; and maybe more…we’ll see when I get to the end. Also, this late Sunday edition might count as an early Wednesday edition to just get on track. Again, we’ll see.
Greetings From Koh Lanta
After the night in Phi Phi that kicked off the last newsletter, things went without a hitch for stage 2 of my no reservations travel. The speedboat ride was sunny, fun, calm, and short.
Read MoreThe Best Investment Option For 2022 to 2122
— Enough to cover anyone's lifetime
Just over a week ago I was asked a question about investing in today's climate, so I did a video and intended to write a more detailed post in the next day or so, then procrastinated until last Wednesday, and then I was off on another pack-the-backpack spontaneous travel thing, as documented in my last newsletter (free by email).
If all things work together for good, then this delay surely worked out because I now have a whole new laugh to mock, involving a 30-year-old losing people's billions of dollars.
Yes, it's a laughing matter.
Sorry not sorry. How many times is shit like this going to happen before people stop chasing just another turn on playing the lottery? I can't count the times over the last few years I've been told about various too-good-to-be-true-or-lasting deals, where you supposedly get a lot of free money. "Money," I should say.
You know, just because something has better maths doesn't mean it's good maths. Lots of stuff is better than shit and that's not saying much. I'll speak to crypto and its latest lost-billions fiasco down below. The quote I use in the headline image will tie into that, primarily.
...Everyone is an investor. The difference amounts to what's the nature of the investment. When people say they invest in stocks, bonds, funds, real estate, startups, et al, they're just using common lingo to make distinctions, which is fine. But, there are many things to invest in and what I intend to do here is draw the most critical and wide-scope integral distinction you'll ever consider.
You might be left wondering why you never looked at it like that.
Topics
- The Financial Markets
- Tax Sheltering
- Story: How My Company Was Penalized For Giving Away Too Much Money
- Real Estate
- Vacation Rentals: The Sure Big Bucks in R/E!
- Potential Investment in R/E With Vacation Rental Level Income
- Crypto
- FTX Fiasco (LOL)
- Entrepreneurship and Geoarbitrage for Max Gains
Since the video is already public, here it is, to be viewed as a scant introduction to this post. If it's only appetite wetting, feel free to get more. It doesn't cover much on vacation rentals and almost nothing on crypto, for example. It sets a tone, though.
The membership for unfettered access to everything at all times is $6 per month, $50 per year, or $250 lifetime. I've been at this for 19 years this month (03 November 2003 was post #1) so it's a good bet I'll be at it long enough into the future to make lifetime the best investment. Plus, the price of membership doubles 01 January 2023 across the board. If you're thinking of popping for it before then, what better time than now?
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FTA NEWS — Thursday, November 10, 2022 — RED DROPLETS
If someone forwarded this and you end up liking it on balance, you can subscribe for free to future copies that arrive in your email twice per week.
- Greetings from Koh Phi Phi
- No reservations
- Snagging a “room” anyway
- Late night Phi Phi
- Later night writing
- Red Droplets and a Newborn Mouse
- The mountain rumbled
- 1000-words
- Fear, money, and status
- Red Waves of the past vs. Red Trickles now
- A fix, again?
- Some Admin Stuff
- Newsletter
- Blog membership
- 3 Months No Booze Update
- Hit & Run
- Modesty for women at the Buddhist temple
- Thanks, covid
- Firing half of everybody yet doing better
- CIA disinformation eagerly promulgated by US media
- How essential is sexy sex with a sexy woman?
- Ungentlemanliness
- America’s diminishing cachet (two topics)
Greetings From Koh Phi Phi
Phi Phi is the island where that silly DiCaprio film, The Beach, was partially shot. Details are way off throughout the whole thing but whatever. I didn’t intend to be here and I like it just as little as when I was here a year and a half ago during peak covidiocy, and the only tourists were Thai families (the saving grace).
The geology and oceanography is breathtaking but in terms of having an enjoyable time otherwise, not really my thing. Last time it was totally quiet but now, has resumed its rap as a party place…which means the young crowd and you know what that means.
Basically Spring Break shit, though with “adults.” Or something.
Anyway, I’m here on an overnight because in my 40-year penchant for no-reservations travel I suddenly told myself to go to Koh Lanta, packed the backpack, and headed out on the cafe racer to catch the 12.30 ferry at Rassada Pier, 35 minutes away. But the boats to Lanta were booked. Best option was to take the 1 hr speedboat ferry to Phi Phi, stay the night, and check out the famed “party” island post-covidiocy. Then, catch the 30 minutes over to Lanta the next morning, which is happening.
Read MoreMY EASY WAY To Stop Drinking: Nothing To Be Proud Of
— Rather, It's About Time...
This occured to me as I was making my list of what to cover in Todoist, a fantastic new app I'm using to keep track of almost literally everything. More on that later.
So this was a rather hefty milestone...to make it 3 months with zero booze, not even a whiff or sniff. And as I have emphasized over and over: it has been effortlessly easy and I mean Effortlessly. Easy. I shit you not and my cachet here over many years is that I don't fucking lie to you.
Read the damn testimonials, some by folks who've been readers for over 10 years.
This affirmation I make is not the typical hyperbolic, lying bullshit that's 99% of marketing on the internet these days. I don't blame you for being skeptical...jaded, even. I really get head-shaking fucking tired of it myself and even more, that it apparently still works, why so many marketers operate like that.
Can nobody just do a straight-up, take-it-or-leave-it, no-hard-feelings offer and deal, anymore?
So, Ok...
The more I contemplated and considered how I would present this 3 months in the can—both here in writing and in the video below—I became increasingly uncomfortable with being in any way proud, triumphant, exemplary, et al.
Instead, I had feelings of thankfulness that I'd apparently stumbled into a "method" of my own dumb-luck design...only to gain awareness of it in retrospect.
Perhaps that's why the location to do the video popped into my head and I immediately knew that yes, that's the only place to do it. Then as icing, I got cooperative weather (though I got soaked and chilled to the bone on the drive back).
No, this isn't about any virtue-signaling religious or spiritual experience as I explain in the video. Rather, it's simply a place that symbolizes socially-shared values so deep and ingrained that appreciation for the fortune of having them rather than not transcends many differences between us.
The List of Topics
- Set yourself up right
- Get calmer and cool
- Dump go-nowhere shit
- Started cooking again, a LOT
- Organizing out the ass - Todoist
- Nothing to be proud of
...OK, if you're a regular here or at least pop in from time-to-time, you know the drill. The real meat that follows is for the paying peeps.
Perhaps it's frustrating or annoying to be foiled once again, especially if this particular post is one of the ones you'd like to read. You do know how to solve that, to have unfettered access going forward, so there's no need for me to explain it. I get the reluctance. There's a lot of options out there and only you can judge the value to you.
What I will say is that over these last 3 months my attention has intensified and my vision is clear. I'm pretty confident in saying there can't possibly be very many 1-man-shows in the world who put out the varied content so voluminously, consistently, and for such a long track record, as I do and I have. I've always operated on the notion that any given reader is going to love some, hate some, not care one way or the other about some.
So, the modus operandi for me is to put out enough variety in enough styles—from reverent to censurious to vulgar—that everyone has enough here to love...and those who hate or are indifferent to everything have no business here anyway.
It's up to you, of course.
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About My Free Non-Pestering Newsletter — With Crazy Awesome New Sample
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— I could go on and on and on with pestering and annoying sales pitches about why you should fill in your name and email to subscribe to my Free Non-Pestering Newsletter.
How about I just show you a copy of one, instead? Now, this is the first of the revamped approach (details within). If you think it’s pretty good, it will evolve. That’s evolve…not devolve.
Got that?
If you love everything, check your exuberance and I’ll check about doing my job right. If you hate everything, you’re wrong and your silly little time is best spent elsewhere. If you love some hate some, then I’ve hit my sweet spot and I hope it’s yours, too. It will be the dual challenges to both bring you around eventually on the stuff you hate, and your challenge as I continually push your envelope on the spectrum over and over.
The bad news is that the browser version of this stupendous new thing, coming free to Newsletter subscribers each Wednesday and Sunday via email, is for paying members. That’s basically embedded videos, clickable larger images, etc. Also, a searchable archive pretty soon.
HOWEVER, all is not lost. You can check out a full issue right here and decide if you want to subscribe to the newsletter and get it free in email twice per week.
FTA NEWS — Sunday, November 6, 2022 — WHAT’S COOKING?!
— Cool stuff at FTA; Social Media engagements; Revampments; Things that are actually news, with commentary; and maybe more…like..COOKING!
Cool Stuff At FreeTheAnimal.com
Good morning FTA peeps. Welcome to the Sunday morning addition where it’s morning for me and Saturday afternoon or early evening for most…those in USA.
…Word is, y’all northern hemisphere agrarians are going to gain an hour in your sleep tonight. Probably, some of you need it. Enjoy. Here in Thailand, they work their asses off in the fields—or in whatever other micro-thing they do like prepare food and sell it from one of millions of food carts—from sunup until sundown anyway and being at 7 degrees N Latitude, day and night is pretty close to 12/12 throughout the year.
The clocks are fine as they are.
Read MoreIronically, The Inuit Show That The Keto Diet is Bullsh*t — They Genetically Adapted Against It
As most readers know, some months back, a collaborator came to me with some interesting findings in terms of research he’d discovered concerning what’s commonly called “animal fiber” (bits of animals that can feed the microbiome). This led to more digging and the understanding that when animals are eaten fresh, raw or frozen, many contain…
Read MoreProsper Through Crisis: Overcoming The Current Thing With Entrepreneurship and Geoarbitrage
— Contrived Global Crisis is the New Terrain Du Jour. Become Adept at Weathering All Storms. [This post was originally published as “Permanent Crisis Is The New Normal — Prosper Anyway.” There was also a separate series, “International Living By Geoarbitrage.” The latter is being incorporated into the former and now redirects here. This whole…
Read MoreThe Failed Rekindling Try With The Thai Girl
— I sincerely tried. Hopeless. Here's why.
[This is the 13th installment to the newly-published revamp of the "40% Testosterone Increase" series, which I've re-dubbed Asian Women: The Everyman's Definitive Guide. Hugely expanded and a far wider context for a lot more times and places, since 1982. Now I have endless Asian chick stories to write about...from Japan to Korea to Okinawa to Philippines to Hong Kong to Indonesia to Malaysia to Thailand...going back 40 years—if you're interested in that sort of thing and if not, no worries. Plenty of other stuff.]
...We were waiting for our order at a seriously good burger joint in Patong Beach, just off the famed Bangla Rd. "Walking Street."
I've been recently seeking out Google reviews of good burgers on the island and FAT MAMMA Burger Patong was my latest find. I even had a little fun on my Telegram feed with it.
Thankfully, five months later and such reenactment crap still isn't on the menu. It's a really damn fine all-beef burger though, just like the reviews said.
One hallmark of a good burger is that it's confident enough to not hide behind a bunch of produce, cheese, bacon, and whatever other non-burger stuff people are adding to them these days. My favorite burger in the world to date, still, is the near 1-lb charcoal grilled on about 1/3 of a bâtard (une baguette, but wider; what Americans call "French Bread."). That's it! No mayo, mustard, ketchup, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, cheese, bacon, or watercress. No sesame seeds. You'll find it at Original Joe's in San Jose, CA.
Bread. Meat.
Anyway, I was so impressed that I decided to take Yui to FAT MAMMA's...and...
...One of my members, Jacqueline, has this to say, in part:
"I am that rare thing a paying female member. Why? I enjoy getting the honest male point of view with all the rawness and crudity that sometimes entails. Yes, sometimes it’s a bit rough to take in, sometimes I disagree or I’m shouting back ‘well, I don’t think that!’ or ‘it’s not all women’! But that’s the point – you do not have to agree with everything someone says – and it’s a great stimulus to be challenged by a different point of view. It’s a great thing to be offended sometimes and to realise that it does not matter, you can still like the guy and value his contribution." [More...]
She's not the only one but they are fewer than the dudes for sure. The ones who do stick around over years and years remind me of the older women in my life growing up, grandmothers and the like. Stong, determined, unflappable.
Who else is like that? Then maybe you really belong here. Subscribe here.
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Asian Women: The Everyman’s Definitive Guide
— Above all, know the terrain and never fool yourself. [Formerly titled “What Caused My 40% Testosterone Increase?” and originally published in November of 2021. I found the subject matter too limited and too easy for someone to take as a sales pitch for some collection of male-enhancement product(s). So, I’m revamping the whole thing…
Read MoreEmpires 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.
If you think that's worthy and worth continuing indefinitely, you can help by being a paid subscriber.
"I’ve been a free member and was not planning to obtain a paid acct. But your heartstrings post got to me. What you did for Yui and kids was great. The house and schooling especially, and then the car and help with the shop." — Robert; Bradenton, FL
Remember, subscription prices double soon, as promised, so lock in the current price now, for as long as you maintain your subscription...or just pop for the easy lifetime option. At 19 years and 5000 posts, stronger and more productive than ever, I'm not going anywhere. Go lifer. Get it over with.
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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…
Read MoreLast 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…
Read MoreMy 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
- The MY EASY WAY To Stop Drinking Forever series of 9 posts and 11 unlisted videos so far
- My other Multi-Post Projects (the section right after "My Latest Posts" on the home page...9 more of them and soon to be 12, once I finish drafting the introductions)
- The archive of 5,095 paywalled posts going back 19 years, searchable on just about any topic you can think of. Yes, I have something to say about everything
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- Satinty, reason, and deliberation over perpetual fear, loathing, triggered reactions, crises, and society's sheepish reactions to all edicts from on high
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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