This is the book I am following.
Another good read.
I like this one also.
Working on this book currently.
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
Jan 22
“I will keep constant watch over myself and—most usefully—will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil—that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 83.2
It is easy to look ahead to what I plan on doing in the future. It is much harder to give an honest review of the past. I look back and see the times I was unnecessarily angry at my wife because I had a headache. Will this stop me from repeating this? No, but if I am aware of it it will cut down the number of times I repeat it. That will help to make a better future.
Jan 23
“Let’s pass over to the really rich—how often the occasions they look just like the poor! When they travel abroad they must restrict their baggage, and when haste is necessary, they dismiss their
entourage. And those who are in the army, how few of their possessions they get to keep . . .”
—SENECA, ON CONSOLATION TO HELVIA, 12. 1.b–2
Being fairly well off has benefits but it also has limits. This passage is a reminder of that. If I had to leave in a hurry, what do I own that’s really necessary?
Jan 24
“From Rusticus . . . I learned to read carefully and not be satisfied with a rough understanding of the whole, and not to agree too quickly with those who have a lot to say about something.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 1.7.3
I try to get past the initial basic reporting on most stories. It’s difficult when it seems most stories are slanted or leave out crucial details. I have an internal problem where I have to be right. I don’t mean whatever I say is right, but I cannot deal with internal double think. Sometimes if I jump too soon, it’s easy to get it wrong. Hence, the 48 hour rule.
Jan 25
“What’s left to be prized? This, I think—to limit our action or inaction to only what’s in keeping with the needs of our own preparation . . . it’s what the exertions of education and teaching are all about—here is the thing to be prized! If you hold this firmly, you’ll stop trying to get yourself all the other things. . . . If
you don’t, you won’t be free, self-sufficient, or liberated from passion, but necessarily full of envy, jealousy, and suspicion for any who have the power to take them, and you’ll plot against those who do have what you prize. . . . But by having some self respect for your own mind and prizing it, you will please yourself and be in better harmony with your fellow human beings, and more in tune with the gods—praising everything they have set in order and allotted you.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.16.2b–4a
It is important to have self respect -not self esteem-. How do I develop self respect? By making the correct choices and living in a way that meshes with those choices. If I live the wrong way, it’s easy to feel sorry for myself and let bad choices snowball. If I don’t control the things I can, I will look to things I can’t control and pour my energy into those. That will cause more stress than anything the world throws at me, if I don’t understand the difference.
Jan 26
“Erase the false impressions from your mind by constantly saying to yourself, I have it in my soul to keep out any evil, desire or any kind of disturbance—instead, seeing the true nature of things, I will give them only their due. Always remember this power that nature gave you.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.29
I try to remind myself that I have the power to decide what I do and how I react. At work when the proggie ladies are spewing the latest Dem talking points, there is no positive to arguing with them and getting myself pissed off. There are a couple people I do talk to about things, , but they are honest enough to actually talk and not just fall into mindless bumper sticker slogans.
Jan 27
“There are three areas in which the person who would be wise and good must be trained. The first has to do with desires and aversions—that a person may never miss the mark in desires nor fall into what repels them. The second has to do with impulses to act and not to act—and more broadly, with duty—that a person may act deliberately for good reasons and not carelessly. The third has to do with freedom from deception and composure and the whole area of judgment, the assent our mind gives to its perceptions. Of these areas, the chief and most urgent is the first which has to do with the passions, for strong emotions arise only when we fail in our desires and aversions.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.2.1–3a
If I don’t know what I desire, it will be easy for me to it will be easy to do things counter productive. I desire to have a happy life with my wife, so it’s important to do things that work for both of us. It’s important to me that I live with honor and not be an idiot that cheats on his wife or drinks to the point where it affects my life the next day. I also try really hard not to lie to myself and remember that I am the easiest person I can fool. I struggle with composure, this morning, I was a little late, the computer didn’t want to come up so I could double check the location of the ship I was inspecting, I had to double back because I forgot my ID, and as I was driving I was fuming. I had to remind myself that anger wasn’t helping and was able to calm down. A few years ago, I would have been pissed the whole drive and forced myself to calm down for work and then been pissed again driving home.
Jan 28
“Take a good hard look at people’s ruling principle, especially of the wise, what they run away from and what they seek out.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.38
It’s good to have examples to learn from. I learned from my step dad that if you want someone to respect you, you have to be honest. Counterpoint, what I learned from my dad is if you want to end up bitter and alone, treat your wife like shit and blame the divorce on her without taking any responsibility.
It’s Helloween!
It’s amazing how good they still sound.
It is much harder to give an honest review of the past.
I would say nearly impossible. We humans have an amazing ability to either hand-wave things away, or be so stupidly critical of ourselves that productive learning becomes a fantasy.
Good stuff as always, ron. Thank you!
Memories are liars, especially if you were wrong and know it.
Me, wrong? What kind of fiction have the soviets been feeding you?
Speaking of memories; Helloween! Used to enjoy that band, lost track after Keeper II. Never really ‘serious’ music to me, but fun. Kiske is sounding pretty damn good for a vocalist of his style at this age!
or this is what makes us evil—that none of us looks back upon our own lives.
I guess I forestalled evil for one more day. I looked back upon my life by listening to a bunch of old Helloween stuff. Sure that’s not really looking back on my own life in any real sense and that’s not what he meant, but I will be a bit less evil today because I’m in a good mood listening to some of that old stuff.
I listened to the a little when I was younger, and recently rediscovered them. The two singers live are amazing.
For life in general: Being Happy.
At work: Profit.
Politically: Freedom.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Fear God and dread naught. Keep your hands to yourself. Mind your own business.
My girl might not like it if I lived by your 2nd principle.
I think it is implied that if invited…
Even more fun if it’s *only* implied…
For life in general: Being Happy. – I gave up on that now I want more expensive scotch
Wait…expensive Scotch = happy, right?
neah more along the line of choosing your favorite form of misery
Choose the form of your destructor?
Since this is a philosophical post…
“There is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! Love is the only reality of the world, because it is all One, you see. And the only laws are paradox, humor and change. There is no problem, never was, and never will be. Release your struggle, let go of your mind, throw away your concerns, and relax into the world. No need to resist life, just do your best. Open your eyes and see that you are far more than you imagine. You are the world, you are the universe; you are yourself and everyone else, too! It’s all the marvelous Play of God. Wake up, regain your humor. Don’t worry, just be happy. You are already free!”
am I going to say this only half joking: that sounds like a bunch of hippie crap to me
Doesn’t make it incorrect.
In other words, always look on the bright side of life.
MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS – I said it before but it is all easy to say when you are emperor
“Its good to be the
KingEmperor!”But it’s hard to be remembered as a “good” emperor. Just ask his son.
Easy to say, yes.
Easy to live by when you have the power he had, no.
can we really know to what degree he lived by ?
Not 100%, but it seems he did. Wouldn’t you know? Or you’re not an elder?
Even if he was a hypocrite, it doesn’t change if it’s a good philosophy or not.
Rome was lame in the second century
I’d imagine it was much more interesting during the collapse of the republic.
To me, it was much more interesting during the Republic, but few academics want to focus on that period.
Thanks Ron!
It’s difficult when it seems most stories are slanted or leave out crucial details.
Candidate for understatement of the century?
The lies of omission are maddening and constant.
You’re welcome
Isn’t that supposed to be her excuse?
I get sinus headaches and sometimes they are REALLY bad.
It’s Helloween! – that noise isnt music
You’re right, this is.
I don’t much listen to hip hop but that is not bad
But have you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?
I used to like you, but after that noise comment….
Just got off a call with a colleague who I had not spoken with in a while. Missed a month of work with influenza and blood clots..
*Vaccine injury!*
I didn’t say it and she probably doesn’t think it – but yeah.
I’ve been coviding from home this week
covid is killing productivity: can’t get anything fabricated
parts finally finished, and: installation crew is sick
it’s another mini-generation of delayed consumption and investment
it will all I can do to get the systems made and installed; selling is easy; the rest is impossible….and I have parts and steel on the shelf
Most of our projects are just spinning our wheels. Too many people out and the ones in are totally distracted.
Have you thought about getting into the alignment/tire replacement business?
I was going to put chains on them.
Yeah, I feel bad about getting sick this week and missing my trip.
Feeling much better today but still not able to travel and not sure when they will let me back in to work.
Glad you’re feeling better!
Hopefully they lift your exile when you’re through it.
Yeah, my in-laws roofing company is having problems getting a lot of material.
The Yakutian Morning Routine: Ice Bath (-50°C/-58°F)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MqbdX6n6yY
Damn.
My heart wants to stop just watching that. No thanks.
Big deal. The water is no colder than 32 degrees.
Might be, if it’s salt water
*brushes Doritos dust off of belly*
This cunte is crashing and burning.
A constituent asks @DanCrenshawTX what he has done to help Jan 6 prisoners being held in jail without due process.
He says he can’t do anything because he has no power.
*gets booed*
Crowd yells: “why do we need you?”
Muahahaha! Die, grifter!
Haha. Similarly another grifter doesn’t like it when the rabble decides to continue their no mask campaign that she was once apart of.
https://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/2022/01/attempted-insurrection-causes-clackamas-county-commissioners-to-move-to-virtual-meetings.html
Paywalled but the summary is enough.
Good.
That’s so funny. I’m listening to a Jordan Peterson podcast with Crenshaw as guest.
Yeah, he seems to really like Crenshaw for some reason. But JBP does have his blind spots… Have to remember he is essentially a leftist pro establishment guy. It’s just that left has shifted really left lately.
*sends up flare*
I’m going to need help editing an open post for the 28th. It’s just moving images around but it’s beyond me. I haven’t submitted it yet, I need to get one more pic.
video? slide show? Gif?
No, static images, but getting them to be in any kind of layout other than wordpress deciding it goes… HERE! is a problem.
Moving Pictures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1uA4O6g1G4
Moving Pictures
Moving pictures.
Pictures of You.
Photographs And Memories
These guys used to play at my frat before they hit it sorta big.
Photograph
Moving Pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzQKECQgjW8
^ What about me?
Sheesh.
“Take a good hard look at people’s ruling principle, especially of the wise, what they run away from and what they seek out.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.38
That one merits framing and putting on the wall.
I think it works for both the wise and foolish.
Yes, but it only works when the observer can tell the difference between a wise person and a fool. For example, Fauci is considered wise.
Like everything else, if you are unable to filter what you see, you will be easily led astray.
Ron, here’s another book that might help solve anger issues: The Stoic Challenge, by William Irvine. He (like the rest of us) still gets pissed on occasionbut found several ways to keep it under control. IMHO, it’s a good read.
I’ll look into it, thanks.
FACT CHECK!
Despite repeated misinformation being shared online about the “Great Reset”, this sustainability plan proposed by the World Economic Forum is not a secret plot to end private property or create a totalitarian state.
Sure, except for them stating these things outright.
I don’t know who I despise more, the assholes who make these plans, or the assholes who cover for them.
They’re not making a secret of it.
To wit:
https://twitter.com/MichaelPSenger/status/1484214963191222272
It’s not a secret plot. It’s out in the open. You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy.
Now do a fact check about whether the Great Reset has anything to do with sustainability. For that matter, first define sustainability.
That is OUR holy word, you may not defame it by making us misuse or defend it. SHUT UP and kneel.
Um, Reuters…
https://www.reuters.com/world/the-great-reboot/
Fact check: Reuters is unbiased and trustworthy
Verdict: FALSE
Um, exsqueeze me. I’M the vice president.
ANCHOR: “Is Vladimir Putin likely to listen to a later statement from the White House press secretary or the words of President Biden?”
HARRIS: “I’m vice president of the United States.”
How is she so bad at this?
Because her only real skill set involves blowing her way to the top of the political food chain.
She didn’t get there on her intellectual merits.
During the debates I thought “How can a former prosecutor be this bad at debating?”
Shows you how much skill they need to do their job which appears to mostly consist of threatening defendants into plea deals.
Um, as I recall, she got bench-slapped by the CA SC once, maybe twice.
y’know,if Putin were really the supervillain all the Democrats have believed for five years, he should’ve had Biden assassinated just to watch the clown show of President Harris trying to be in charge.
If what they claim is true, he would have assassinated Biden just because he foiled his coup attempt with his puppet Trump.
Why bother? What are the odds of Biden being alive in a year?
I didn’t think he was going to make it to the inauguration. Boy, was I wrong.
He has to make it two years so Harris can reign for ten.
Her head bobs a lot when speaking.
Old habits die hard?
Dang, JI. That’s gonna leave a . . . stain.
Eeeeew!
/teenage girl
That fact that she keeps telling us that she’s the VP, makes me wonder what’s going on behind the scenes.
I’d say it means she gets no respect and has to lean on her rank to get people to listen to her. If you have to say, “I’m the boss, that’s why,” you’re doing it all wrong.
Shut the Fuck Up! She is a Woman! A Woman of Color! You just can’t understand!
HARRIS: “I’m vice president of the United States.”
ANCHOR: “OK, is Vladimir Putin likely to listen to a later statement from the Vice President or the words of President Biden?”
That reminded me of this: Harriet Jones Prime Minister.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOrbrjBQf7Y
Don’t you think Harris looks tired?
The only one who seems to be enjoying themselves is Dr. Jill.
Though she did look pissed when Joe said “Let’s go Brandon, I agree”.
That exact scene pops into my head every time Biden appears on the TV screen.
Harris ain’t in no way tared!
/Hillary voice
I don’t feel tardy.
/VH
But, she did look tired.
She looked like 2 hours after the zombie bit her in Shaun of the Dead.
I had to remind myself that anger wasn’t helping
Oh the years it took me to learn that.
I forget where I heard it:
Holding anger is like holding a red hot piece of iron and hoping it burns whatever you’re angry at.
I tell my wife that – but that doesn’t help either.
Biden Free Test Update:
More government genius.
Everyone at work is reminding everyone else to get your test kits.
My boss is out right now waiting on a test result.
He is fine, but one of his grand kids was sick.
He got a little perturbed when I questioned why he would test if he wasn’t sick.
We got a request from my SIL for all our free tests. Why? Don’t know. Why does she think we’d be willing to do a straw acquisition to bolster her stock? Don’t know.
If she is hot I know she can find a
sugardaddytestdaddy“Don’t know.”
I can only hear that in The Critical Drinker’s voice now.
That and “It’ll be fine.”
“Go away now”
Blow her mind: ask her if you can have all of her free tests.
Just got a text from my boss, his test was negative.
He believes it’s because he’s vaccinated and they’re not.
I almost texted for him to keep believing the voodoo, but I refrained.
He also says he will now have to stay away from the grand kids.
I really want to ask if he trusts the vaccine, why would you avoid them?
By the time people get the tests the Omicron wave will be over.
Hopefully by then they have the omicron vaccine.
Offs
You do know that was a joke?
Only to us, the rubes and pharmaceutical companies really want that.
My mom probably does, although she is double vaxxed and boosted.
Local news is already saying the Omicron “surge” is over in Northeast Ohio based on hospitalization and case numbers.
Dons tin foil hat… Maybe once-frozen kits lead to more false positives – feature, not bug.
These people are amazingly incompetent.
Screeching hysteria does not lead to good outcomes.
Worked for Def Leppard.
“Employees are required to come to the office unless they feel sick or test positive.”
“I’m gonna need a shitload of tests so I can still work from home as much as possible.”
Problem with these tests is that although they have a huge false negative problem, if you test positive you probably have covid.
If they have a huge false negative problem, they likely have a huge false positive problem too.
Chemistry isn’t my wheelhouse, but I imagine these tests are set to detect an antigen. A false negative is much simpler to achieve than a false positive as it’s just impeding the ability to detect the antigen. Messing with the reagent through temp changes or physical movement could do that.
I’d guess false negatives are much higher in home pregnancy tests than false positives.
I’ve kept my positive one so I can take a new pic of it if I need a positive result.
Heh.
Just take a whole bunch of pics of it now with slightly different lighting and angles; then just dole’em out as you’re asked. No need to keep the silly test around.
y’know,if Putin were really the supervillain all the Democrats have believed for five years, he should’ve had Biden assassinated just to watch the clown show of President Harris trying to be in charge.
Nice. Next election the Rooskies should rig it so a horse wins.
It would be an improvement.
Sarah Jessica Parker is going into politics?
She looks like a foot.
If they have a huge false negative problem, they likely have a huge false positive problem too.
Mission Accomplished. No more plague!
Me read’um comments gud.
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/20/twitter-launches-nft-profile-picture-verification/
Wut?
Listen, Jack. If Democrats lose then the election is illegitimate. I mean, c-c-c’mon. It’s our democracy. Democracy. Democrat. It’s right there in the – uh – you know the thing.
This second attempt from Biden on whether the election will be legit is even worse.
“Oh, yeah, I think it could easily be illegitimate … The increase in the prospect of being illegitimate is in proportion to not being able to get these reforms passed.”
So every election without no-questions-asked voting, after election day, by mail, was illegitimate.
Who wants to tell him?
I think he has the equation inverted.
Sounds like the narrative is set for the next election.
“Democrats win, it was legitimate. They lose, it was illegitimate. Easy-peasy.”
We’re from the government, and we’re here to help
You will soon be required to provide a selfie to a third-party identity verification company to access certain tools and applications on IRS.gov.
Starting in summer 2022, if you need to login to the IRS’s website to access the Child Tax Credit Update Portal, get your tax transcript or view a payment agreement with the agency, you will need to create an account with third-party identity verification company ID.me.
A simple username and password will no longer suffice: You will need to provide a government document with a photo, such as a driver’s license, state ID or passport, and take a video selfie with your smartphone or computer.
——-
The change is meant to prevent fraud and make the login process easier, but many users have reported issues using the service, including their unemployment benefits being delayed for months during the Covid-19 pandemic because they could not get their identity verified. Facial recognition software, in general, is contentious due to privacy concerns and possible racial discrimination.
If the online verification process does not work, ID.me says users will need to verify their identities over a video call with an ID.me employee, called a Trusted Referee.
What the everloving fuck?
Welcome to the future!
But you don’t need shit to get a voting ballot.
Got it!!
Paying your tax is a privilege, not a right. Am I doing it correctly?
JFC
I wonder which crony this is fantastically enriching.
I use ID.me for a lot of my veterans benefits and discounts. I am pretty savvy and getting it approved was worse than a day at the DMV
I use it to renew my VA prescriptions.
I don’t remember it being that difficult to set up.
Pissed me off though, been doing it online forever, not changing addresses or anything, just a renewal of my meds.
The new verification was as written. You have to send a legal photo ID and then use a camera phone or other device to get facial recognition. Now, that was their same-day verification. I am guessing, it needs to be accessible with ID since ID is racist OR the IRS knows blacks don’t do taxes. Can’t be either.
I must have done it earlier.
I didn’t have to take a selfie, just a picture of my ID, then got a code from a text.
Yeah, the first time I did it it was that, but I had to redo it for some reason. Fascists!
I haven’t used it lately, we’ll see next month.
Sounds like hell.
The increase in the prospect of being illegitimate is in proportion to not being able to get these reforms passed.”
“reforms”
Right.
It’s my older sister’s birthday, and my family and I are on a group text. My mom just asked if any of us work. Apparently she now identifies as a Canadian muppet. 🙂
Damn. Daily Mail main page has several savage articles on Biden and Harris.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html
From that article there is this headline
New Mexico will use National Guard and state bureaucrats to fill in for teachers calling out sick with COVID-19 infections in ‘unprecedented’ move: At least 800 substitute teachers and day care workers needed to cover shifts
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10420763/New-Mexico-asks-National-Guard-teach-COVID-shuts-schools.html
So what you are saying is…..a random NatG soldier or faceless bureaucrat can easily do the job of hero teachers? Hahahahahaha fuck heads.
Expect Biden to pack it in until the mid-terms.
“We’re calling a lid! *whispers* …until second week of November.”
DOOM.
Doomsday Clock set once again at 100 seconds to midnight, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced.
Unpossible. A Democrat is in office.
Wearing their masks, of course.
So did they set it to 100 seconds to midnight because we’re fucking around in Russia’s backyard or because climate change or COVID?
Because only one of those appears to be a real existential threat to me.
Do those masks filer radioactive fallout?
They’ll keep out alpha particles and beta particles, but not gamma, neutrons, or X-ray.
Is there a more useless bit of political theater?
I realize there is a lot of solid competition, but my money’s on this.
All this “Republicans are against voting rights!!” Crap is getting old, especially served up by the party of Jim Crow/kkk.
Can anyone find even one US citizen who was prevented from voting in 2020?
Or anyone who tried to get a govt ID and couldn’t?
There were anecdotes (I know, I know) of people who were not allowed to vote because they came in person and someone had already filed a mail-in ballot in their name.
“Therefore, universal vote by mail!”
Makes sense.
I got a postcard from San Diego voting registrar asking if my old Escondido address was still valid so they could make sure to mail my ballot correctly. It had been automatically forwarded.
I corrected the address to Nevada and mailed it back. If I were a dick I suppose I could have stayed silent and gotten my California ballot forwarded here too.
You will still get it… I still get LA County absentee ballots even though I haven’t lived there for 12 years and been registered here in NV since then.
I wonder which crony this is fantastically enriching.
We should check Nancy Pelosi’s portfolio. She’s got a nose for leading edge business propositions.
Otters are still adorable.
Corgi
Poor thing. No one gave it a shovel.
Let’s hope he’s a libertarian otter and just wants to leave us alone.
I have no idea how/why this posted in 2 places.
The otters have taken over for the squirrels!
Steve will save us.
Let’s hope he’s a libertarian otter and just wants to leave us alone.
Even better, he’s an anarchist. He’s just trying to decide who to liberate first!
Squee!
Well, Sheet. Trying to condense my job duties into an undersized form field. It almost sounds like I did something useful.