I just took a flight and I’m really close to never wanting to fly again.
I just took a flight and I’m really close to never wanting to fly again.
They don’t really believe.
I forget who told me that and where, but I believe it was in a discussion that started with Anarchism, the New Atheism. I have talked about being comforted by a belief and how people do not give up such comforting beliefs easily. The point was made to me, that deep down, they don’t really believe. They want to remain in a sort of pleasant delirium and that state of mind requires a kind of focus of thought without too much distraction by reality.
I discovered this wonderful corporate outreach by Starbuck’s on World AIDS Day through Facebook. It appears that Starbuck’s is going to oh-so-generously donate 5 cents when you buy one of their beverages. Well, not any beverage of course. It has to be one of three holiday specials, so they won’t be sacrificing 5 cents on their less exorbitantly-priced beverages. It’s not just people dying in Africa depending on them, after all. They have shareholders dependent on them as well.
I know that reads sarcastically, but I’m actually one of the last people to complain about someone making money by providing a product people like. In fact, kudos to them for some brilliant marketing. That’s what it is, after all. I’d be willing to bet they’ll spend more on the ad campaign promoting their “charity” than they will actually end up donating. Let’s be real. Starbuck’s is not a charity. It’s a business.
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There is no forest. There are only trees. The “forest” is a human fabrication, an abstraction that exists only in our minds. Abstractions serve a purpose in human communication, of course. However, we must never forget what they really are and that they only exist in our minds.
If you take a particular cluster of trees and establish boundaries in your mind and decide to name it Fangorn Forest, then until you tell others about it and they agree with you, Fangorn Forest exists only in your mind. Even when you do tell people about it and perhaps draw some boundary lines on a map, some may agree, some may disagree about what the boundaries are, or may want to call it something else, or may not want to acknowledge it at all. Even then, Fangorn Forest exists in some minds but not others. At no point has reality ever actually been altered. The “forest” does not exist. The forest has only abstract existence and even then it exists only to the extent that various people consent to it and to the extent that they agree on its properties.
The video below shows Ian being ordered arrested by Mr. Burke within a minute of walking into the room and within seconds of Ian opening his mouth to speak. Free speech, be damned. Then Ian is led into another room where nothing can be filmed or audio recorded. Public trial by one’s peers be damned. Then Ian is sentenced to 90 days for one of the most vague and sweeping of charges– contempt of court. Just punishment be damned. He got 3 days for the charge that he was there to answer for, a code violation for failing to force his tenants to remove their couch from their yard.
On Sunday, October 26th, a bunch of different folks interested in promoting liberty gathered (assembled, if you like) in Keene, New Hampshire’s public Railroad Square for what was commonly referred to as The Freedom Festival. A week later, I did this interview with some locals who have been performing for tips in Railroad Square for about 10 months. They’re considering the name Z Squared but haven’t decided yet. I wish them well and hope the police continue to leave them unharassed.
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