“Freedom is not deserved. It is taken then defended.” from the story ‘The Peace Treaty Was a Lie—Humanity Knew It All Along’ on the YouTube channel SCIFI-HFY
Quote of the Day
“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” Stephen Covey – Author (1932 -2012)
Consequences
Lance Davis writes, “I always felt we are responsible for the decisions we make, right or wrong.”
I would add that the difference between an ethical person and one who is unethical is that the ethical person can and does more accurately predict the consequences of alternative courses of action and makes more pro-survival decisions based on that more accurate prediction.
Based on that observation, teaching our children to stop and think about the consequences of alternatives is perhaps one of the most valuable lessons we can give them.
Lucy and Uncle Sarge
It was 2 AM when I heard a knock on my door. I opened it to find a little girl, barefoot in the freezing cold, clutching a half-dead kitten to her chest. Her lips were blue, her pajamas soaked from walking through frost, but she looked up at me and whispered, “Can you fix my kitty like you fixed Daddy’s motorcycle?”
I’d never seen her before. My Harley was still parked out front with tools scattered around from earlier, and somehow this child decided a biker could fix anything—even a dying kitten. But then she added the words that made my stomach drop: “And Mommy won’t wake up.”
I scooped her up, wrapped her in my leather jacket, and called 911. She told me her name was Lucy. The kitten was Whiskers. She pointed down the street toward “the house with yellow flowers,” saying that was home.
When I asked why she came to me, she said something I’ll never forget: “Daddy… before he went to heaven… showed me a picture of his friends. They had jackets like yours. He said if Mommy ever got the sleeping sickness again, I had to find one of his angel brothers—‘cause you fight the monsters.”
Those words hit me like lightning. “Angel brothers” wasn’t just a child’s imagination—it was real. Her father had been one of us. A Heaven’s Angel. A brother I didn’t even know had left behind a wife and little girl.
I didn’t wait for paramedics. I carried Lucy and ran to her house. Inside, her mother was on the floor, unconscious, an insulin kit spilled beside her. A diabetic coma. I did what I could until help arrived. They managed to save her.
The kitten didn’t make it. But the bigger picture was clear—Lucy and her mom were alone, and they were family to me now.
When her mom woke up in the hospital, the first thing she saw was me sitting beside her bed, her daughter asleep in my lap. With tears in her eyes, she whispered, “You found one. Danny always said one of you would come.”
From that night on, they weren’t alone anymore. My brothers and I fixed up their house, filled their pantry, and set up a fund for Lucy’s future. She called me “Uncle Sarge.” I taught her to ride a bike, just like her dad would have.
She came to my door that night asking me to fix her kitten. But what really happened is—we fixed each other. She gave me a family to protect. And we got to keep a fallen brother’s promise: to fight the monsters and keep his girls safe.
Taylor Sheridan – No. 11 On The Call Sheet
In 2011, ‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan was a jobbing actor down to his last $800.
When he attempted to negotiate a pay rise for his role as Deputy Chief David Hale in FX’s ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ an exec knocked his attorney back by saying:
“He probably deserves to make more, but we’re not going to pay him more… There are 50 of him. He is #11 on the call sheet. That’s what that guy is and that’s all he’s ever going to be.”
That was the final insult that convinced Sheridan “I didn’t want to be #11 on the call sheet for the rest of my life.”
So he got to writing, and four years of typing away later, he’d turned in a screenplay that became Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Sicario’ (2015). A masterpiece, through and through.
The following year, Taylor Sheridan racked up nominations for David Mackenzie’s critically acclaimed ‘Hell or High Water’ (2016) starring Chris Pine and Ben Foster; before making his own spectacular directorial debut with ‘Wind River’ (2017).
The real game changer, however, was the moment he co-created one of the most successful modern television franchises with Art Linson: ‘Yellowstone.’
Despite being snobbishly rejected by HBO during a prolonged pitch process, the five-season affair featuring Kevin Costner has spawned two epic spin-off shows with three more currently in active development.
It also convinced Paramount to let him produce five more passion projects — ‘Mayor of Kingstown,’ ‘Tulsa King,’ ‘Special Ops: Lioness,’ ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves,’ and ‘Landman.’
In present day, Taylor Sheridan is worth over $200 million and the proud owner of historic Texas property Four Sixes Ranch, AKA 6666 Ranch (pictured: below).
How’s that for being #11 on the call sheet?
Building Men
On Detoxification
In an email I received Ty Bolinger wrote:
“…they’re saturating your life with toxins through the very products you trust. A stunning new global inventory has cataloged over 350,000 commercial chemicals, and in the US alone, more than 80,000 of these chemicals are used in everyday household products, with approximately 1,500 to 2,000 new chemicals introduced each year.
“This article exposes the cancer-causing agents hidden in your furniture, your water, your food, and even your children’s pajamas. Ignorance isn’t bliss; it’s a recipe for disease. https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/toxin-cleanse-identifying-harmful-toxins-affecting-your-health/
“However, you can’t stop there with internal toxins. What you put on your body is just as important. That “natural” moisturizer? It’s probably full of endocrine disruptors that are throwing your hormones into chaos. This article breaks down the link between the beauty industry, plummeting fertility rates, and skyrocketing cancer cases. Your skin is your largest organ, so it’s time to start paying attention to your skincare routine.” https://charlis.beauty/articles/your-skin-and-hormones-know-the-connection
(Tom: Now I know some will focus on the fact that he makes money by providing a solution with natural skin care but his data is supported by much I have seen elsewhere.
Here is a summary of the detoxification data I have read: https://healthelicious.com.au/Detoxification.html)
Bill Gates’ Organipeel Nixed
Published July 16, 2025.
Apeel was not just approved for organic produce. Apeel Sciences made two food coatings, Edipeel for conventional produce and Organipeel for organic produce. In 2019, Organipeel was approved by the EPA and the Organic Materials Review Institute as an organic fungicide. People are mistaking that Organipeel was just approved, which is old news. In fact, Apeel has since discontinued Organipeel and is working on new formulations for USDA organic growers. No Apeel food coatings are currently approved or in the market for organic produce. I confirmed this with the OMRI yesterday.
Edipeel is still allowed for conventional non-organic produce in the US including avocados, limes, oranges, mandarins, grapefruits, and lemons. The vast majority of produce at the grocery store is coated with insect based, petroleum based, or plant based food coatings, not Apeel. The best bet to remove Apeel or any type of food coating is using vinegar and water and scrubbing with a vegetable brush or cloth.
https://myhealthforward.com/blogs/my-health-forward-july-25/organipeel-discontinued
Jean Hilliard
Wally Nelson thought his friend was dead when he found her frozen solid on his doorstep in Lengby, Minnesota, in December 1980.
Nineteen-year-old Jean Hilliard had been trying to walk to his house for help after her car skidded off an icy road. She collapsed just feet from his door in the -22°F cold.
When Nelson found her six hours later, she was like a block of ice. Her skin was too hard for a needle, and her body temperature was too low to register on a thermometer.
At the hospital, doctors were stunned. Her pulse was a dangerously low 12 beats per minute. They had little hope for her survival, and even if she did live, they expected severe damage and amputations.
They decided to try warming her gradually with heating pads, a gentle approach for a situation so extreme.
Incredibly, within a few hours, Jean began to show signs of life. By noon, she was conscious and speaking coherently with her family.
One of the first things she asked about was if she could borrow her dad’s car once his was out of the ditch.
Jean Hilliard made a full recovery with no lasting damage, not even frostbite. Her case remains a remarkable example of human endurance and the strange ways the body can protect itself in extreme cold. Her story left medical professionals and her small community in awe.
“Life may throw you scripts you never auditioned for, but you still have to hit your mark.”
On the morning of January 24, 2017, Mary Tyler Moore sat quietly in her Greenwich, Connecticut home, wrapped in a soft blue blanket as winter light filtered faintly through the frosted windows. Her husband, Dr. Robert Levine, had arranged her chair so she could see the snow-dusted trees, a view she always said reminded her of childhood winters in Brooklyn. Mary’s breathing had grown shallow, her once vibrant voice reduced to a faint murmur, but she still managed the occasional smile when Robert read aloud passages from her memoir “After All” (1995).
She had grown frailer in recent years, her battle with Type 1 diabetes diagnosed in 1969 marking a long and complicated journey that slowly reshaped her days into quiet routines. Mornings began with gentle stretches, guided by a nurse who had become part of the household. Music followed, often Frank Sinatra or classical piano, filling the stillness with the echoes of her youth. By late morning, she would spend time with photographs, her eyes softening at memories from “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961–1966) and the groundbreaking “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1970–1977). She would sometimes whisper lines from those days, almost to herself, testing the rhythm of comedy that had once flowed through her like second nature. Afternoons were quieter, her energy too limited, so Robert or close friends read to her, the sound of familiar voices bringing her calm.
January 25, 2017, was a Wednesday filled with hushed tones and somber watchfulness. Mary had been hospitalized days earlier with pneumonia complications, and though she insisted she wanted peace at home, her fragile state demanded care. By the early afternoon, her condition worsened. She passed away at the age of 80, her husband at her side, his hand clasping hers as the snow continued to fall outside the hospital window. The moment was quiet, without spectacle, a gentle slipping away from a world she had brightened with laughter and grace.
Mary’s bond with Robert had been one of her strongest anchors in later life. Married in 1983, their partnership endured through health battles and personal sorrows, including the tragic loss of her only son, Richie, in 1980. Their relationship was never about Hollywood lights or public appearances, but about resilience, small comforts, and the steady devotion that carried her through difficult years. For Mary, family meant intimacy, shared strength, and unwavering loyalty.
Even as her health declined, her wit never dulled. She once said with a sly grin to a friend visiting her bedside, “Life may throw you scripts you never auditioned for, but you still have to hit your mark.” Her humor, even in frailty, reminded everyone around her of the spark that had once inspired millions to believe in the independence and strength of women on television.
Beyond her iconic roles, Mary became a powerful advocate. Her decades-long dedication to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation brought her before Congress and countless fundraisers, where she spoke candidly about living with a disease often misunderstood. For many, she was more than Laura Petrie or Mary Richards; she was a symbol of courage, using her fame not for indulgence but for awareness.
Her career had carried her across an extraordinary range, comedy, drama, even Broadway, with performances in “Ordinary People” (1980), which earned her an Academy Award nomination, and “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (1967), which showcased her lighthearted charm. Awards mattered less to her than the chance to connect, to make audiences feel both joy and truth. Colleagues often recalled her laughter on set, the way she lightened long shooting days with jokes that never failed to land.
In her later years, she often looked through boxes of keepsakes, scripts marked with notes in the margins, Polaroids from sets, handwritten fan letters from women who said she made them believe independence was possible. Those quiet moments brought her comfort, grounding her not in nostalgia but in gratitude.
Mary Tyler Moore left this world as she had lived in it: gracefully, quietly strong, and forever entwined with the laughter and courage she gave to others. Her presence lingers like a soft refrain, reminding us that strength and tenderness can live in the same breath.