R.H.

I can’t sleep, the stress is palpable.

I'm with you. Once we turn to AI to think or do anything else for us, we lose ourselves.
As Agent Smith perfectly summarized in The Matrix in 1999:

YouTube video by JohnnyCashVEVO Johnny Cash - Hurt

As I wake to the 81st day of the Fall of the American Empire, the question I contemplate:

Which version of "Hurt" is more appropriate as a soundtrack to the decline? The Johnny Cash cover, or the Nine Inch Nails original? 🤔
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHC...

Barcelona Superblocks!

Hot take: I’ve been predicting the fall of the U.S. and the division of states into countries since I was 15 or 16. And it’s never been so clear a picture until now, how that will come to be. The only thing that’s been holding us all together has been deeply rooted nationalism, which is crumbling.

I feel like it should be a bigger deal that the Secretary of State has just announced he’s considering selling American citizens into slavery to a foreign country.

The Small Business Closure Crisis Baby boomers own over half of all privately held firms in the United States. This Silver Tsunami of retiring business owners own over 2.9 million firms which represent half of all job-creating businesses in the country. These firms employ roughly 32 million workers and generate nearly $6.5 trillion in revenue. As most of these owners retire, our local business landscape is going through a dramatic shift. 6 out of 10 business owners plan to sell in the next decade. By selling to their employees, owners can secure their legacy and keep these businesses and jobs in the community. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. Small businesses make up 99.9% of all firms and provide 46.4% of all jobs in the United States. In addition, they circulate 3x more money back into local communities than absentee-owned businesses and corporate chains. Baby boomers employ an estimated 1 in 5 private sector workers nationwide.

The Employee Ownership Solution Employee ownership deepens the impact of local businesses and keeps them locally owned for the long term. Let Project Equity help you track the impact of baby boomer retirements in your region and turn crisis into opportunity. Benefits to businesses: ● Higher productivity and growth ● Lower employee turnover ● Improved longevity, lasting legacy Benefits to workers: ● Better pay and benefits ● Assets and business ownership ● Voice in key decisions Benefits to communities ● Increased local spending ● Heightened civic engagement ● Community wealth building Interested in learning how businesses can transition to employee ownership and communities can keep good jobs? Visit project-equity.org

Millions of baby boomer business owners are set to retire, yet many do not have succession plans. If these businesses are sold to corporations or close down, communities will suffer. This is where transitioning to worker ownership emerges as the clear solution.

project-equity.org/impact/silve...

We cannot forget nuance. There’s more to it all than meets the eye, and mostly its underlying mental loads yet to be dealt with. I.e. we are made up of our entire lives, deal with your sh*t lest you make it someone else’s problem.

a close up of a cartoon pikachu with his mouth open . ALT: a close up of a cartoon pikachu with his mouth open .

My reaction minus the eye twitch

Enter the memory of a coworker telling me I wasn’t supposed to feel bad for Skyler in breaking bad.

Trump wants you to forget that he gutted the Aviation Safety Committee and ousted the FAA administrator during his first week in office.

Don’t forget.

Yes! We need this right now!

I used to laugh at the "I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread" Bilbo line, but boy do I get it now

Not to brag but, for Valentine’s Day my boyfriend got me all the expansion packs for 7 wonders + the ones for duel, and the organizers for the boxes so you can keep all the expansion packs together in one box. I fcking love this man! 💕

look, you just need to care about others.

Skepticism towards workplace democracy is normal. People are accustomed to top-down hierarchies with limited worker participation.

But skepticism often marks the beginning of great ideas. Political democracy was initially met with great resistance. And then it changed the world.

The United Nations proclaimed 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives to promote the development of cooperatives worldwide.

Cooperatives are 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯 to advance environmentalism, sustainability, and democracy across the planet for a more inclusive and equitable society. #IYC2025

2025.coop

We're living George Orwell's 1984: IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

If you can read this, I just want you to be happy, safe, and free from need.

Anxiety is categorized by worry for anyone wondering the difference

You’ll always have to worry about those in power, because everyone is corruptible. We are human beings and we are failable, we need to strive toward a life of ease for all so we may better engage in our political systems. Not strive toward ignorance to the systems.

And not for nothing but investing in local business is how we begin to bring manufacturing jobs back to our communities. Who invests more in locally produced goods, a local shop or a corporation?

I truly believe the key to all this mess is to start with building up local employee owned businesses. Develop walkable communities and invest in social services. Community starts with knowing your neighbors.

This is awesome. From a custom knife forging shop in Edom, Texas.

I honestly believe our most powerful position in a toxic time that feeds on cynicism, apathy,& despair is to genuinely care and act for a better world.

Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO

We don’t live in a vacuum, we are all living out the consequences of someone else’s actions. Then we have children and thrust upon them our legacy of passing the buck. Let’s come together to end that practice, take on the responsibility whether it’s ours or not and work to make the world better.

Do not prematurely comply or give into their attempts to control us. Take meaningful action within your community to support each other.

This campaign needs you now “Protect Women’s Rights: Block H​.​R. 722 and Ensure Access to Life-Saving Healthcare

chng.it/y8MVqSLK4T
I never know how much use this is in actually stopping things but I have to try.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.

When interacting with ICE, you have rights guaranteed by the Constitution, no matter your immigration status. ⬇️

Absolutely love the show! Please keep it coming!