Belize. Tiny country next to Mexico and Guatemala. I was there in August for scuba diving. Population under 200,000.

It’s British Commonwealth so everyone speaks English; has Mayan ruins and extensive caves; it’s next to the second largest reef system in the world and has fantastic scuba diving.

[off topic]

A while back I gave my friend $50 for his birthday. I got fifty ‘gold’ dollars at the bank and gave them in a drawstring purse [the kind Robin Hood or Conan the Barbarian would carry]

He really enjoyed it.

Yeah, a factory worker would get $5 and pay back $6 the next week. That was a terrible crime. Then Reagan deregulated the banks and it became business as usual.

Sounds like ‘pay day loans’ in the US.

Back in the day, a loan shark was a criminal who charged an outrageous 20% interest for money. Working class folks were at the mercy of these “six-for-fivers.”

Ronald Reagan became President and now established banks could charge 35% or more.

I have a 5 liter pot. I’ll make a big batch of chili/stew/soup and freeze it in pint size containers. Right now I have portions of lentil soup and chili sitting in the freezer. It takes me five minutes to microwave.

Try this one.

“Altered States.”

A Harvard neuroscientist is experimenting with sensory deprivation and other hallucinogens.

I just noped out of a book called “Exquisite Corpse” by Poppy Z. Brite. It’s torture porn with necrophilia and sadism by the ton. It’s actually well written, but I just got sick of it.

First school book I ever noped out of.

I saw it as a play, and it was amazing. Never understood why English teachers have students read plays. The whole point of a play is to have it performed. It’s like trying to teach swimming in an empty pool.

Addiction is separate from circumstances.

Look at Heath Ledger, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, etc etc etc.

Heath was young, successful, dating a billionaire, and had everything in the world at his fingertips. He decided to have a one man party with drugs and alcohol.

Anyone can meditate.

You don’t have to imagine the beach or the mountains. Just find a quiet spot in your mind. Some folks just look at the inside of their eyelids.

It took me a long time to get the racing thoughts to settle down. One thing I would do is close my eyes and start the meditation by thinking about fireworks going off. After a few explosions it was easy to tell myself it was time to relax.

Inhale on ‘one,’ hold a beat and then exhale on ‘two.’ Repeat.

Even if it’s five seconds to start it’s a beginning.

You can also do it while walking or riding a bike. Obviously you don’t close your eyes, but you try to think about nothing but the next step or push on the pedal.

You can learn to meditate anywhere.

It’s like any other skill, you have to put some effort in at the start, but the results are worth it.

You don’t need meditation tapes, candles, or anything else.

Find a quiet place, sit down, close your eyes and try to find a quiet spot in your mind. A beach or a mountain top or grandma’s kitchen; wherever you feel most serene.

You can just count “one, two one, two” as you breath in and out.

Just try to keep your thoughts quiet for ten seconds to start. Then work up to 30 seconds, and then a minute.

“My dad says you used to be evil, but now you’re just cranky.”

iirc

[off topic]

I like to read old science fiction and check out the things the authors got wrong.

Maybe my favorite is the ‘mini VHS recorders’ from Neuromancer.

[off topic]

I remember the golden age of the DVD Man. That noble soul who had all the latest movies on DVD a day after they opened. Quality ranged from someone recording the movie in the theater with a camcorder to perfect copies taken directly from the source.

Find a successful club and talk to the people who run it.

Doesn’t have to be related to your particular area; just a club that’s been running a while.

Also, these things take work. I do a bit of work in the groups I belong to, and I see the folks at the top doing way more work.

Good luck. Nice to see happy news here.

Hunter Thompson opined that the US draft was better than the alternative.

Under the draft everyone, rich and poor, was expected to serve. With a ‘volunteer army’ only the poor need to go.

Another drafted vet said that draftees are more likely to speak up if civilians are targeted because the soldiers know that they are eventually going home. Lifers will obey all orders.

If he’s an adult you can call the police.

People have family members arrested all the time.

Just vacationed in Belize. Tiny place near Guatemala and Mexico on the Caribbean. It’s the only English speaking country in South America; founded by English pirates who wanted to steal Spanish gold. Great food, friendly people, and interesting history.