(continued from part two)

The day before what I hoped would be my last meeting on the Omega Ambulance Service, I got a phone call, asking me for two meetings, one at ten o’clock and another at eleven. I agreed, but added a bit about family obligations and hoping this would be the last set of meetings for a while. The man on their other end tried to comfort me about that, while not actually committing.

Ah well, I thought, supplying a persecuted class with medical care is eminently worth it. And so I agreed. Continue reading “The Omega Ambulance Service, Part 3”

(continued from part one)

As I mentioned last time, my second meeting was with the kids of the older men… their sons, actually. And I found them an odd mix of styles. In one way they were their fathers’ sons: serious and willful. But at the same time their clothing and their demeanor was strongly corporate. They clearly wanted to move their family businesses into a different direction, though it seemed they were having a slow go of it. Continue reading “The Omega Ambulance Service, Part 2”

As I’ve mentioned before, between about 2007 and 2014, I was a regular participant in what we used to call “the offshore circuit.” Quite a few of us combined to teach people how they could structure their lives differently and gain some financial liberation. My part was teaching people to protect their data.

We had a lot of fun and we helped a lot of good people. But the market for our services eventually changed and the conferences wound down. Now, however, the times have changed again and the conferences are coming back.  Continue reading “The PW25 Asset Protection Conference In Las Vegas”

continued from part two

Lesson Number 9: Family Classics

In my youth, we had a weekly television show called Family Classics. It showed films suitable for the whole family, even editing out scenes that might not be. And I’ve found this model to be useful for bedtime stories.

First of all, it can be a nice family moment to sit down together and watch an uplifting show. (More in a moment on finding such shows.) I wouldn’t make this a primary means of education, but it works nicely as an adjunct. Continue reading “The Art of Telling Bedtime Stories, Part 3”

I’ll spare you the details, but after a long and convoluted process, I found myself once again at Jay’s Bar… this time at ten o’clock in the morning, and with all the doors locked. Michele set me at a table with four seasoned and very serious men, filled our water glasses, then vanished into his back room. Continue reading “The Omega Ambulance Service, Part 1”

Back when Western civilization still had a foothold in the public square, people paid attention to the freedom of belief, the freedom to choose a career, and the freedom to speak one’s mind. All good and necessary things, of course, but there was one freedom that they dared not mention… dared not consider. And that’s the one I’ll cover today: Political freedom… the ability to choose how we will be governed, if we wish to be governed at all.

 

There is a kinship between productive human beings; one that spreads all across this planet. It may be invisible to power and hierarchy, but we productive people recognize it. When we drive into a new town, we know, almost by instinct, that we can trust the hard-working carpenter further than someone permanently on the dole. It’s possible that the guy on the dole is a saint, but the hardworking man shares our specific ethics, and we are tuned to them. Even if this carpenter is a negative exception, we’ll be able to tell. Continue reading “The Kinship of Producers”

continued from part one

Lesson Number 3: Let The Child Guide Too

When telling bedtime stories, it’s crucial to tune in to the desires of the child, in addition to the lessons you feel he or she needs. That is, you want to give the child what they want too. Story time needs to be fun, if it’s to be effective. Continue reading “The Art of Telling Bedtime Stories, Part 2”

Yes, you. All reasonably healthy humans are demi-gods.

I apologize for hitting you with a concept that may feel foreign, dangerous and ridiculous, but it needs to be said. And regardless that we lack proper definitions for such concepts, it’s true.

I’ll also remind you that there’s nothing sacrilegious about saying this: David, the great Psalmist, was bolder than I, flatly stating, “You are gods.” He even used the Hebrew word elohim, the same word used in “God created the heaven and the earth.” And Jesus repeated the line without reservation.

Now, let’s move forward. Continue reading “You Are A Demi-God”

A lot of parents, probably the majority, sit down to read bed-time stories to their children with a sort of dread. They know this is something they’re “supposed to do,” but they also feel uncomfortable with it; they don’t know what to say or how. And so they buy a book of bedtime stories and try to convince themselves that it will solve their problem.

The story books don’t really fix the problem, however. Some of them will be stories the parent feels funny about reading – a kind of half-understood feeling that something’s a bit off about them – but for which they have no alternative. And so they keep reading, reasoning that the stories in the book are old, and so they must be good. They also feel they have no better alternative, not knowing how to find one and not feeling confident enough to create one. Continue reading “The Art of Telling Bedtime Stories, Part 1”