Stages Of Life

Stages Of Life

I put on a bit too much weight while I was away so I upped my exercise regime aiming for that Norwegian 4 x 4 I mentioned a few newsletters ago.

I now do 100 lunges and 100 leg raises on the way to the exercise station at the park. There I do 4 sets of these:
30 second sprint
25 star jumps/jumping jacks
25 squats
25 dips
30 second wall sit
25 dips
5 burpees
25 mountain climbers
25 shoulder taps plank
25 pushups
30 second dead hang
20 pull ups

with two minutes of different stretches between each set.

I say that not to brag (my belly is doing more than enough of that for both of us!) just to indicate that if you feel you are in the third category, it is remedial!

The Artist

Kelly O'Brien Artist
“Musicians, (singers, painters, ALL artists) are some of the most driven, courageous people on the face of the earth.
They deal with more day-to-day rejection in one year than most people do in a lifetime.
Every day, they face the financial challenge of living a freelance lifestyle, the disrespect of people who think they should get real jobs, and their own fear that they’ll never work again.
Every day, they have to ignore the possibility that the vision they have dedicated their lives to is a pipe dream. With every note, they stretch themselves, emotionally and physically, risking criticism and judgment. with every passing year, many of them watch as the other people their age achieve the predictable milestones of normal life – the car, the family, the house, the nest egg.
Why? Because musicians are willing to give their entire lives to a moment – to that melody, that lyric, that chord, or that interpretation that will stir the audience’s soul.
Musicians (and artists) are beings who have tasted life’s nectar in that crystal moment when they poured out their creative spirit and touched another’s heart.
In that instant, they were as close to magic, God, and perfection as anyone could ever be.
And in their own hearts, they know that to dedicate oneself to that moment is worth a thousand lifetimes.”
—David Ackert, LA Times.

Be Yourself

Be Yourself

As a side-note, be the best you that you can be. Always be working on improving/upskilling you. Get rid of the things that have been added to youn an attempt to be what others consider more desirable/appropriate/optimum.

Understand You

Understand You

There is some truth in this but it does not address the necessity to improve the quality and quantity of whatever the product is that you produce. Or the fact that much gain can be had from increasing your knowledge, awareness and competence.

A Well Written Call To Climate Reason

Chris Martz writes on X:

Here’s my story. I have been studying climate change for over six-years, and became so interested in it that I decided to pursue a meteorology degree which I complete next year.

When I first embarked on this journey, I started out as a casual believer in the mainstream narrative. I wouldn’t have called myself a “climate doomer” per se, but if not that, I was certainly an alarmist. I thought that climate change was a very serious problem. I was worried about the weather, thinking that it was more extreme than it has ever been in history. I thought that wickedly warm December in 2015 was unprecedented, living in blissful ignorance of the fact similarly mild Decembers occurred in 1889, 1932, 1964, 1965 and 1982. I thought Hurricane Harvey was also unprecedented, not knowing that we have had far more intense hurricane strikes in the past such as Camille (1969) and Labor Day (1935). I was a total dork blindly accepting whatever was spoon-fed to me.

Then one day, I came across my friend Tony Heller’s YouTube channel. Soon after, Joe Bastardi’s page. The two of them know our weather history better than anyone else and it’s not even close. And, I sat down, I listened to what they had to say, and they put things into some much-needed perspective. I then, and only then, began to question what I was taught about the weather becoming more extreme as a result of carbon dioxide emissions. Then I began to think for myself, I began to research. I didn’t divert my thinking to other people, I dove headfirst into the data. Bought books, read through the literature (not the Washington Post headlines) and I educated myself.

The weather we observe today is really no different than it was 30, 50 or 100-years ago and the coupled, non-linear ocean-atmosphere system is far more complex than many scientists make it out to be. The more I research, the less concerned I am. Sure, we impact the environment around us, and that includes the climate. But, this idea that we’re in a “climate crisis” just isn’t a scientifically supportable statement. The human condition has never been better than it is today, and that is largely thanks to fossil fuels. And, life without reliable and affordable energy such as oil and natural gas is cold, dark and short.

And, perhaps a more startling revelation is that most climate activists are Marxists masquerading as environmentalists. They advertise as being “green” on the outside, but in reality, they are red on the inside. Watermelons, if you will. It wasn’t apparent to me at first, but through my interactions with these green energy scammers on this platform and in real life, I’ve come to find that the entire movement is just smoke and mirrors for an authoritarian agenda that my values do not align with. I made the mistake of thinking that these people had a common goal of finding truth by means of the scientific method. I gave them an inch, they demand a mile. There’s no meeting in the middle with these people. They are champions of DEI until it comes to diversity of opinion. They’re disgusting, vile and dangerous.

Ever since becoming vocal about my position, I have faced threats from hundreds of climate activists. They write into my university emailing my professors trying to get me kicked out before I finish my undergraduate degree. They engage in extortion trying to get me to absorb back into the fold, or else they’ll make sure my career is ruined. They’ve been unsuccessful, and I’m not concerned. But, it just goes to show the lengths these people will go to in order to achieve the outcome they want. They see me, a 21-year-old college student, as a threat to their house of cards. They don’t like that someone so young can see through their buIIshit and is actively educating young people on these matters.

If there is anyone out there who is on the fence on the issue, I encourage you to keep an open mind. Get your information from a wide array of sources and follow people with differing perspectives, and form your own educated conclusion. But, remain open to new ideas. I am told that my judgement is clouded, but my views changed upon a second close examination of the data. I encourage others to do the same.