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Episode-1390- Listener Feedback for 7-21-14

The Survival Podcast Posted on by
Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Today on the Survival Podcast I take your comments, questions and thoughts on liberty, economics, black cherry, air rifles, what is worth making for yourself and more.

Make sure if you submit content for a feedback show that you put something like “comment for jack”, “question for jack” or “article for jack” in the subject line to assure proper identification for my screening process.

Please understand I receive several hundred emails a day and can’t get them all on the air.

I also do put out a lot of information on Facebook from emails that I can’t fit on the program though so keep em coming.

Join Me Today As I Respond to Your Emails On

  • Follow up from last weeks rant on personal liberty
  • We are now  in the third largest stock bubble in history
  • What are uses for black cherry, how best to harvest it
  • Thoughts on air rifles and what to look for in one
  • What you should make at home and what you should buy
  • Thoughts on the traditional roles of male and female

Resources for today’s show…

Today’s Conflicted Monday Scenario

You are bugging out by foot and see a crashed prison bus.  The inmates are stuck and trying to get out.  The bus is on fire and they are begging for help.  Do you use your axe to break the windshield glass and let them out, or do you let them die?

Last Week’s Conflicted Monday Scenario

After the collapse, people start bartering for goods and services.  Illegal drugs have become a hot commodity in your region.  One day while showing off your wares at a local trading post, someone tries to barter with with you by paying you in drugs. 

There are no longer any laws to say what is legal or illegal but you know these substances are harmful and addictive.  Would you take drugs in exchange for your goods and services after the collapse?  Why or why not?

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Also remember we have an expert council you can address your calls to. If you do this you should email me right after your call at jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with expert council call in the subject line. In the body of your email tell me that you just called in a question for the council and what number you called in from. I will then give the call priority when I screen calls.

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Comments

Episode-1390- Listener Feedback for 7-21-14 — 110 Comments

  1. Note that Darwin never used the phrase. “survival of the fittest”

    MOD

  2. As a parent of a child in a wheelchair, I really liked your comments about the need to deal with your reality, no matter your circumstances. The best thing that keeps my daughter going is the mental attitude to not focus on what she can’t do, but on what she CAN do. She’s an amazing kid and can still surprise us with what she can accomplish!

  3. As a woman who quit her full time office job almost 4 years ago to stay home with my kids and start homesteading, I’m glad you talked about that today. So many women I know say things like “I don’t know how you do it!”, “I could never afford to stay home. You’re so lucky!” and total crap like that. I know they’re trying to show admiration but it’s almost insulting. Insulting because we work damn hard, budget like crazy and cut in lots of places so I can stay home. It has exactly ZERO to do with luck. My husband doesn’t make a lot of money at all, below $40k actually. We decided this path was what we wanted for our family and we made it happen. There has been a lot of penny pinching and we sold our nice, big house in town (big on price and size) and bought a much smaller, not as nice place in the country. But you know what? We have a lot more land, we have no regulations on what we’re allowed to do and we’re happier here. Yes, it’s a lot more work physically but I LOVE it. I finally feel like I’m doing what I was meant to do all along. I love being home with my two boys, raising chickens, rabbits, ducks and growing our own food. I feel so much more fulfilled than I ever did working in some job I was just “supposed” to have because it’s what society says we should do.

    • Luv it. Sounds like my family. My wife stays home with our girls, and she stared homeschooling this year. People always say thing like “I wish we could do that.” Then I see on Facebook them going to the new restaurant or on a vacation and such.

    • My wife and I are sacrificing a ton for her to stay home and raise our child as well as home school. We have done so much already on so little pay and most of the time it can be done…So all the while, the people that have their fancy gadgets and gizmos can wish and want; it can be done by making it a priority. For us, this is a real life, dedicated to bringing back the idea of what “family” really means…It starts by raising your own kids and taking responsibility where needed. Thanks for sharing your story and good job!

    • Stay at home and Homeschooling mom for 12 years now. I have homeschooled my two and 4 others. I LOVE being home. My kids are those kids who have responsibilities not chores. We hunt, fish, and grow most of our own food. At 16 and 14 our kids know how to run a house, butcher, budget, clean, can, and freeze, among many other skills. I am often asked if others can borrow them and how old they are because they display maturity not seen in kids their age. We are in the same boat at you Elisabeth, we make do with less. I can’t even tell you when someone else cut any of our hair other than ourselves or when we purchased new clothing. And NO we don’t look like the Beverly Hillbillies. I often get comments on my clothing and how nice I look. Goodwill has some nice stuff and husbands can be very masculine and learn to cut hair. Our lifestyle is a sacrifice in many ways, not just financial. The time it takes to live like this takes away from a social life. But it is a sacrifice and I am glad to make it. I know not everyone’s situation is ideal and I try to help those people when I can. Note the 4 kids who were not mine whom I schooled. I have also helped other moms with babysitting and teaching them to can, cook, and homeschool. Sometimes we have to sacrifice for others too. After all, my kids have to live in the world with those kids when I am gone.

  4. Also there’s a really good book on women staying home because they want to that opened my eyes and is what spurred me to sell our expensive house and move out of my comfort zone. It’s called Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity From a Consumer Culture by Shannon Hayes. Very worth the read.

  6. Wow, I always wonder what your emails are like when you spend 15 minutes explaining how just cause you know a man that is emotional all men are emotional… really that needs to be explained????

    You need to do a show on logical fallacies then you can just say hey that’s a hasty generalization see ep 1xxx for the 15 min detail 🙂

    I agree with you, I tell my wife all the time how proud I am of her with how she runs this household and takes care of our children. It is the most important job and very tough.

  7. Conflicted Monday response: I play the odds and figure that most of the people in the bus are there for a victimless crime and aren’t violent offenders. Letting people suffer a horrific death really isn’t in my character so I’d break the glass and help them get out. Hopefully they respect my good samaritan act and go peacefully on their way. Worst case scenario….they kill me and take my stuff. Best case scenario….a couple of them befriend me and I have some traveling companions who will watch my back.

  8. I’m ambivalent about replying, much of what you say is valid but oh wow, it is so depressing to hear your comments on how women are irrational because of periods and men are logical because they don’t have them.. This was precisely the argument that was used to try to stop women from getting the vote and equal pay for equal work and so forth.

    I’m curious about how for example, the riots at soccer or hockey games because the “wrong” team won (or sometimes even the right one celebrations) leading to mob violence and sometimes millions of dollars of random damage or even deaths exactly shows the logical nature of men?

    Also, the mess that the world is in today is largely a result of the “logical decisions” made by men, women have been very much a minority in the halls of power, though that’s changing slowly.

    Men are often conditioned not to express much emotion except anger but that doesn’t mean they don’t feel all the feelings that women feel. People are just people. You do both genders an injustice when you deny that.

    Many women would indeed choose to stay home and look after their kids if they could but I also know a whole lot of men who would love to do that too. Admiring someone’s baby is a social thing for women, just as I imagine admiring someone’s newly built hot rod is for many men. As far as that goes, many fathers are just as proud and desirous of approval for their child as the mother is.

    I have a good deal of respect for the knowledge you have in other areas, but in this area, your early conditioning and bias are showing.

    • @Pam, let me tell you something, your first sentence proves my point, you DIDN’T hear what I said and you are putting words in my mouth due to emotions, vs. logic. I pointed to that to point out there are physiological differences between men and women, you TOOK IT TO MEAN WOMEN are irrational due to periods WHICH IS NOT what I said and makes any further response to you POINTLESS.

    • Let me add Pam I didn’t even mention menstruation at all, I mentioned ovulation and that was all. You are acting in a preprogrammed response because you didn’t hear what was said rather you heard what you expected. I could as just as easily pointed to pregnancy as a psychological difference. Perhaps you should listen again with your ears open and your mental mouth closed and ignore that which you have heard from others and only listen to what I said.

      • Modern Survival, what was said on the podcast was THE FIRST HALF of why we were taught women should not run for office or hold a position of responsibility. Pam assumed that you were aware of the second half as well.

        50 years ago that was how things were. I like things better now, MUCH better! People just assume that women learn to deal with mood swings before they take on a leadership role, and that we are not going to start a global thermal nuclear war because of them. And YES that was considered a valid concern back them, that a woman would “push the button” if she was having a mood swing!

        I liked what was said about men divorcing older women and keeping all of the family assets: that rally was a major problem back then. I remember that as well. Yes alimony was usually ordered but I do not recall hearing if anything was done if the man did not pay it: I was too young back then to pay attention. I knew that a divorced woman with kids was sometimes desperate, but kids can be very self centered and so I never thought much about it!

        • @Terri

          Talk about being full of it! Again I didn’t assign any negative connotations to anything about how a woman functions, I DARE you to quote me where I did so. Pointing out bio chemical components of women vs. men is NOT AN INSULT, just to be blunt.

          Oh and you like things better today? Really? You like it better with a divorce rate higher then 50% well that is just dandy ain’t it? You like it now that the majority of women are forced into the workforce even if they would prefer to be stay at home moms? Do you like it BETTER that 40.7% of children born in 2013 were born out of wedlock? Is that better too? Oh yes things are so much better now! Yipee!

          You have been lied to and bullshitted about what equality means. You have been programed to believe if a man mentions that a woman has a period (which again I DIDN’T even do, I only mentioned ovulation) it is an insult.

          Do you really think “forcing a man to pay alimony” is a valid solution to our current problems in this area?

          Let me tell you I have known men making 350 a week ordered to pay 250 a week in support, how the hell is that man supposed to survive on 100 a week? I am talking good men doing their best to get by.

          You want to know the truth about this stuff, get a copy of this and watch it, http://www.divorcecorp.com/

          I find women such as yourself to be just as blind as the obnoxious males you claim to object to. Just because some turd named Billy Bob and his buddies think you need to be barefoot and in the kitchen, I am guilty too.

          Unless I am some touchy freely metro sexual all sensitive that would never even mention the phyical and biological differences between women and men, I am in league with Billy Bob, that is you tone. Two words to respond to that take, the first is horse and second is shit.

          By the way you say that women and the emotions around menstruation were once considered a valid reason they should not run for office.

          Is that true? Yes. That was once also used as an excuse for why women should not vote. Were both assertions wrong? Of course.

          However, just because the conclusions are wrong, “they should not hold office” doesn’t make the fact wrong. Because are women moody and do they loose emotional control at times due to bio chemical responses in the body due to the menstruation cycle? Yea they do. Do all of them? No! Do a significant percentage do so? Yes.

          Does this mean women are bad, inferior or not suited for some employment? I would say no but I would also couch it with, it depends. I had a girlfriend who became the fing Tasmanian devil during “her time” (her words not mine).

          Personally I think it was 50% symptomatic and 50% an excuse to be the psychopath she really was, either way I ended the relationship after her second “time”. Was this woman qualified to hold office? HELL NO!

          It doesn’t matter if the PMS was real or an excuse, the emotional break downs, the yelling and the expectation that others “just deal with it” are disqualifying for anything in politics. Frankly I’d not hire this woman to be a receptionist! Is that sexist? No it is equality, you act like and idiot for 7-10 days a month, I don’t care WHY, I just care THAT and that means no job in my company for you.

          Now please try to prove that is sexist, seriously. That if a woman is a complete psyco due to menstruation or WHATEVER reason for a week a month she still deserves a customer facing job. If a man has some emotional connection to a certain week and is a mess 5 days a week should I hire him? If you say no to the man but yes to the woman then YOU are the sexist here, not me.

          Equality means equal treatment. The same consequences for the same actions good or bad. The same expectation of work load if you want the same pay.

          I worked a warehouse job one time, we were paid a base hourly rate, everyone the same. As packers we were also paid a bonus for all work exceeding our quotas. One day all the women got together and bitched, they said it was unfair that the men made more money then they did.

          Well the average male packer was packing 25% more than the average female, but they said “we work just as hard”. Well you were not paid to just work hard there, you were paid for RESULTS.

          Do you think this company was sexist? Were they unfair to women? I say they provided equality! By the way, I was the number two packer in the warehouse, the number three was a woman but the next 17 were all men. The women made up the bottom from there.

          I am happy you like it better now, but something tells me you have no idea what that means. That you are too young to actually know what “it used to be like” and are basing your assessment on what you have been told, vs. what you have experienced.

          There is no doubt that women were disrespected in the past by SOME and frankly it was the norm. The progress made for women’s rights is good in many ways, but it was not necessary to destroy what it means to be a man and the family unit to accomplish it.

        • I also re read your post. You might have been more explaining the view vs expressing it. If so don’t take my response personally and read it as a response to the view regardless of who holds it.

        • (wrong reply level)

          I was explaining to a new listener that in Jack Speak..

          If you believe x YOU’RE AND IDIOT!
          .. translates to..
          x is a dumb idea.

          😉

          it ain’t personal folks.. its impassioned argument..

        • Thanks man, many times I should say “you’re being an idiot” as in temporary condition. Or “you’re acting like an idiot”, situational condition. Or “you’re talking like an idiot”, expressing a stupid idea.

          I seldom think the person is actually a wholesale idiot. If I did, frankly I would not reply to them. The truly stupid are not worth of an answer.

    • Yes Pam I think you missed the point. I didn’t take offense at all and I’m a woman. Jack wasn’t saying all women are emotional train wrecks and men are the superior being. Nothing he said was the least bit derogatory or misogynistic. All he was saying is men and women are inherently different. They compliment each other and that’s the environment children thrive in. I actually wish more men would understand like Jack does that women aren’t just silly little girls with mood swings but rather that there is a biological reason for their emotions. And I think a lot of men do, including my husband, my father and plenty of others. I am not generalizing here. But I do feel that the feminist agenda did a great disservice to society in many ways by telling women they can be just like men, don’t need men and making women get offended when a man says anything to the contrary. Lighten up Pam and go back and relisten. If you really listen without getting your feathers ruffled first then you’ll understand what he was trying to say.

      • Thank you for actually LISTENING to what I said.

        It is hard to listen to things you have an emotional attachment to, whether you are a man or a woman doesn’t matter in that regard.

        When a person has been programmed to expect something to mean something they always jump to the conclusion that it means just that. Men are just as bad.

        Here is one conservative and libertarian men are HUGELY guilty of.

        Every time a news reporter calls say brass cases bullets or say a magazine a clip, they say what? It is the anti gun agenda!

        It is just nonsense! It isn’t anti guy it is ignorance and reading a teleprompter.

        If you support ANY gun legislation at all they accuse you of being a commie, a liberal, an Obama lover and for big government.

        This happened to me with a group of guys, “how can you support this”? Etc. The law? A ballot initiative in Texas to change what brandishing meant. So that concealed carry holder who accidentally printed when say paying for gas would not be arrested for “brandishing”, fortunately the measure passed.

        But these guys heard “gun” and “law” and it was over. It took a lot just to get them to shut their beer holes and understand it. Once they did, they were like oh yea, of course. Yet when I tried to point out their knee jerk reactions they could not even bother to see it.

        This isn’t a women v man issue! This is a human issue about what we have been programmed to believe.

      • preach it sister!!! Thanks Jack for all you do! I agreed with this portion of the podcast wholeheartedly!

  9. One of the things in today’s society that bugs me the most is how SAHMs and working Mothers insult each other. Is there a point in this? Is what is right for one woman right for another? I do not see how that can be.

    The lack of choice is a great evil, and it was all to common when I was growing up. And, I see no reason for women to chew at each other the way that they do. Half the time I worked and half the time I was a Mom, and it really did not matter: I did what I thought was best, which is what adults generally do.

    Is my husband as emotional as I am? Yes, and I really LIKE that about him! Did I want a career? Yes, and he liked that about me also.

    Was that how we were raised? No, but it is how we honestly are, and there is nothing wrong with that.

    To have choices in life is a precious, precious thing. I glory in it. And, if I can advise people on how to reach for their dreams, I do.

  10. Jack, I totally agree with you on young boys needing a real male role model.
    I remember growing up and learning those things from my father. “Hold the door for a lady. Never strike a woman. Take responsibility for what you did and don’t whine about it.” And even on the almost comical side, when we were playing cards: “You get caught dealing from the bottom like that in a real card game you could get shot.” LOL
    When I got my driver’s license I had an accident and had to go to court. My father had to go with me because I was under 18. What he said to me before the trial was, “When you get up there that judge is going to ask you some questions, and it might get rough. Tell the truth, answer the questions, and don’t start crying.”
    That’s the way it was back then.
    And it wasn’t just my father. It was the two uncles who also lived right next to us who also provided male role models to us. Even when we stayed with our school friends… I remember once three of us kids were riding in the back of one of the fathers’ pickup trucks, (Lord, don’t even try that now! LOL) when the car in front of us got a flat. There were two young college girls in the car. The father stopped behind them, leaned back and said “Boys, get out there and change that tire.” while telling the driver “Don’t you worry, Ma’am, those boys will change that tire for you.”
    And you can believe we didn’t even think of asking for money for doing it.
    Broken marriages are to blame for the loss of male role models, in my opinion… I remember years ago Howard Stern once said on his show, “So many of you younger guys talk like women now. I think it’s because you were all raised by single women and didn’t have a male role model in the house.”
    Is that sexist? Maybe, but I know that Japanese can usually tell if a European learned Japanese from a man or a woman.

    • Yep and there are still some of us left! Trust me I know one young man who damn well holds the door for a lady, would never fail to help with something like a break down, etc. There is a picture somewhere of when he was 12 doing his homework. I am standing over his shoulder, with a Marlin lever gun in hand, pointing over shoulder with my free hand at his paper. I was helping him with a math problem.

      The picture is one we treasure, I am sure today that it would create a visit from CPS. The “boy” is now 25, his name is Matt of course. He is a new “father by choice” just as I was to him. When I watch him with his boy and watch him hold the boy (who is only 3) accountable for his actions consistently and lovingly, I know there will be yet another one of us in this modern wussified world soon.

  11. I would attempt to rescue the inmates. I would not trust them at all. But I would never condemn a person to death by fire unless I knew that person had burned people alive. I would try to protect my self but I know that some times those that protect or save lives sometimes trade their own for others.

  12. Once again Jack, I have to say: You are brilliant.
    You are right on about how the economy is being manipulated and very likely correct about the outcome. Thanks by the way for explaining money (yet again); I am tired of people not getting it. Your liberty addendum was brilliant as well. I would like to recommend a book: How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by the late great Harry Browne. It is available free as a pdf on the Internet.

  13. Jack
    My dogs were going nuts because of the background noise in today’s show. It ought it was funny as hell!!! My wife was walking around the house after the dogs yelling at them “what the hell are you barking at!!” And I sat and laughed my ass off for about half the show. Finally she figured it out and was pissed that I didn’t tell her what it was. Now she thinks it’s funny too.
    Keep up the great work!!!

  14. On the rant about personal liberty, what about suggestions for somebody after they wake up? You’re very clear about what the first step is, but maybe the caller wanted suggestions for the next steps?
    Of course, once you take the first step and begin thinking for yourself you’ll start asking questions like “what do I want in life” and “how do I get there,” and then you’ll start creating a plan to get there, so giving any further steps is pointless.
    I think you could (and really should) do a whole show about lifestyle planning in this way to avoid becoming, as you like to put it, “the government’s bitch.”

    • I give suggestions for what to do on a daily basis. Almost every single show. Those questions though don’t do dick except make you think you are doing something until such time as you choose to think for yourself.

      • I think you misinterpreted what I meant. The only way to design a lifestyle of liberty is to figure out what YOU want, and find a way to get there in a way that works for YOU. And then do it. Which can only be accomplished by thinking for yourself. That was my point. And no, those questions don’t “do dick” if you use them to go DO it.

        Sometimes I think you get in a debate mindset and you stay there.

  15. Notice how all the major money holding companies are buying up as many tech start-ups as possible? The big boys are transferring currency into hard assets thats go up in value, “commodity assets” that Jack was talking about? All the rich folks getting out of currency and into high end art and holding properties. Writing is on the wall, pretty sure Jack is correct. When you see Apple start to buy up shit tons of stuff, its probably a sign that its time to hop out of liquid assets asap.

    • And you know the other two big places money is going right? Timber land and ag land. Yea the other shoe is coming around.

      • The casino loading up again sounds like a big game of musical chairs, or a dance hall with only a couple exits. The big-money institutions are waltzing around, swirling their investments in and out of risk, always diverting some into safe assets, until the perfect storm hits and they all agree to make a run for it. If they can get out first then all who follow will get burned. I wonder who is invited to the BF Party, and who will find the exits when the fire breaks out.

  16. Your comments on airguns are spot on, but get an old one. Actually get a 70’s/80’s vintage Sheridan Blue Streak. It is like the 392 you mentioned but better. You and I are the same age, so you saw the ads for them in the magazines back then. They are 20 cal, or 5mm, but pellets are readily available. I usually buy 3 or 4 boxes at a time and a couple thousand will last for a while. I have a 71 vintage one I paid a 100 bucks for that I set up with a Williams peep sight. Jack, you cant miss with it. It does 680 fps with a 14 grain pellet, and even at 43 years old will hold air for months at a time. Last time I was at the big gun store there where two on the rack for 85 bucks, used of course. The trigger break like the lawyers aren’t involved, and the stock is walnut with nice figure and fiddleback in it to boot. I’ll send you a pic to your regular email.

    Great show, infantry leads the way, Iraq 05-06, i was the old guy there!

  17. Jack, 3 subspecies of blackcherry in Texas including Escarpment Black Cherry (Prunus serotina var. eximia) which grows on limestone in hill country. Grows well in north Texas, I had 100 in my nursery 10 years ago.

    • Where do you live? I have never seen any in this area, near Azle. I have walked the nature refuge off 199 extensively and haven’t seen a single one. We are talking thousands of acres. Perhaps you can get me some seed?

      • Sure thing. I’m up in Gainesville. I used to know of a couple eastern black cherry naturally growing right here at whitesboro but they succumbed to conurbation before I could get seed. Escarpment black cherry natural range is Edwards plateau up to around Lampasas. Couple bison ranches I consult have it, I’ll see what I can come up with.

  18. Great encouragemnet on the roles of Men and Women there Jack.

    These roles have been attacked not only by society as a whole but by the church as well. Men in today’s society grow up feeling guilty for the way they are, for being what they were created to be.

    Men are wild at heart, for a reason. Which reminds me of a book that I read that made my creator more real to me than anything the “Church” ever told me. I would highly recomend this book to any Man who wants to know what they were intended to be, for any Man who wants to raise strong sons and daughters, and any Woman who wants to know the secrets of her Man.

    The book is called Wild at Heart.

    http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Heart-Discovering-Secret-Mans-ebook/dp/B00527N04O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406037275&sr=8-1&keywords=wild+at+heart

    • @barngeek

      Here is an example from my childhood. When I was in 4th grade, (in Catholic school by the way). There was this kid that was a real ass to me. Constantly provoking me, calling me out, etc. I wanted very much to punch this kid in the head. I had talked about it so my family was aware of the situation but they didn’t get involved, but they knew.

      One day we were out for recess. This kid tired of mouthing off to me and decided to target another boy. I let it go until he shoved the kid into the dirt, my time had come I punched him in the head just like I always wanted to. Well he was big in mouth but small in courage and well, cried like a baby.

      OF COURSE the teacher only say my right cross, off to the principle I go. I plead my case but was sent home for three days suspension. The only one that could pick me up was my grandfather, he was NOT AMUSED. The principle had something else to do so she scheduled a follow up with my parents and he just picked me up.

      He was fuming in the car. He told me this, “men have a fighting instinct, it is what makes us protect our families, it is normal that you want to hit people. Men though know when to use force and it is only when you necessary, you can’t just hit a person because they made you mad.”

      I then told him what happened, he goes, “oh I see”, u-turn. Where are we going I asked? He says well you were a young man today, so I owe it to you to be a man on your side right now.

      Back we go, he demands to see the principle NOW. They comply, he verifies that they believe me!

      He says, do we not send this boy to your fine school so that he can learn to stand up for those who are weaker?

      Yes, but?

      No, no, hold on, this boy taunted him for months and he did nothing but when the boy actually hurt another person he stepped in to defend him?

      Yes, but?

      Oh hell no! I am not done yet. Did you find him sitting on this kids chest, pounding on him or did he simply intervene and step back?

      Well yes that is how it appears.

      Okay so he will be going back to class now right?

      Well, we have a policy of “no fighting”.

      Well mam, my grandson here didn’t fight, he defended another child from harm, he did only enough to do so and then he stood down. So he is going back to class right.

      I got a talk from the priest, turn the other cheek crap and all BUT I went back to class!

      FWIW this is my other grandfather the one I talk less about, my mother’s father. He was a huge influence on my life just in earlier years so I remember him less frequently.

    • @Jack – Great story about the school ‘fight’ with the bully.

      Your grandfather’s intervention might have worked 30 years ago in a private school, but no WAY would that go over today in a public school (not sure baout private schools). Today, you would be suspended for more than three days, if not expelled.

      IMHO, ‘Zero Tolerance’ policies == ‘Zero Thought/Compassion/Understanding/Intelligence’ policies — but that’s how it is I guess.

    • Great story Jack.

      I can tell you that the turn the other cheek thing is often misapplied, by well intentioned fools.

      You followed the true Spirit of God when you resisted the temptation to pound that kid, until he hurt someone else. Countless times in the bible God suffers long for his own sake, but when an innocent is hurt, his wrath is severe.

      Jack, I think that the heart of God has been kept from you by well intentioned fools.

      As I have said before, I think you have a very good gut morality, another way of saying that is that you are a Man after God’s own heart. When you encounter Christians who speak against what you know in your heart, you rightly reject it.

      And you don’t let them tell you who God is.

      I, like you rejected the lies I was told in Church about God. I knew that what they said was wrong, and I knew the truth when I saw it. So I began seeking the truth. On that journey I discovered the book I mentioned above….

      I’m sure you have heard of people having an encounter with God… You know a Moses at the burning bush moment or a Jacob wrestling with God moment? (both of those were wild encounters with God BTW)

      I had a moment like that after reading that book. I discovered that the true Heart of God was much like my own, and it was a heart I could recognize and follow.

      As the book says, There is a desire for 3 things in the hearts of all Men

      “A battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue”

      That is the truth that we were created to be.

      • @barngeek the problem is you assume since my faith is different from your faith that I am lacking God in my life. You are simply wrong about that.

        I consider your faith well intentioned myth. If you find that offensive please recognize that it is accurate to say that is your opinion of my faith as well. The difference is I understand your faith very well. Dare I say well enough to teach it, well enough that if I faked it I would be a damn fine preacher or priest.

        You don’t understand my faith, I am not asking you to, I am not trying to convince you I am right. I am only asking for mutual respect and not to be told something in ignorance like, “the heart of God has been kept from you”.

        Sir when you say that I forgive you because you have no knowledge of what you are saying. I am asking that you realize that and respect my beliefs as I respect yours. I may not share your belief and you don’t share mine but I am not about to tell you that you are wrong or am I going to tell you that I know what you believe or don’t believe, I believe I am due the same courtesy.

        Again though you believe what you want but trust me you don’t understand deism at all based on the statement you just made.

        • I did not intend to insult your faith.

          I simply meant to point out that others have attempted to keep the heart of God from you. I appoligize that my wording failed to do that.

        • You are right Jack, I do not understand Deism.

          Based on the little I have read it is my understanding that Deists believe that God is not personal. That he created all things and then pretty much left it to it’s own devices.

          is that incorrect?

        • Jack, I think that if you got to know me you would be shocked to discover that on religion and God, you and I agree much more than we disagree.

          I believe that the name God gave himself is the most accurate “I AM” or as you say “IS”. If any human term could accuratly define God that is.

          I have a question though.

          You said “We do not believe that any God worth our time would order one man to murder another man, let alone to murder children”

          I agree. I aslo think that murder is horrible and wrong. I base that on my own morality which is a gift from God written on my heart.

          But previous to that you said.

          “If you die a horrible death it won’t matter, your consciousnesses lives on and won’t really care in the long run”

          I agree with that as well.

          So why then do we think that murder is wrong?

          If God doesn’t Care (judge) and neither do we in the long run then why is it wrong?

          Is it any more wrong for me to kill another human for the food they posess then it is for a lion to kill for food?

          You said also that a relationship with God can exist but that it is largely a one way relationship.

          I agree there as well, though I think my one way might be the opposite way.

          You said

          “We don’t believe god would destroy all life with a flood or with any event because he was angry. ”

          Me niether.

          You said

          “We do not believe that God cares if we ever go to church.”

          I Agree

          You said, and this is the most important one.

          “We don’t believe God saved Joe on 9-11 and was watching over him while thousands of others died, we think that is preposterous. Absolutely ridiculous. ”

          I not only agree but….. AMEN!

          9-11 was an act of pure evil. God is not willing that ANY should perish… you know the rest.

          But again I ask, if God doesn’t Judge or Care, why do we?

          Finally this statement I have a question about.

          “We believe free will is free will not free will but damnation if you use it. Free will comes with responsibility and consequences in the here and now not in some sort of eternal hell or temporary purging in a purgatory. ”

          Who will free them from the tyrant in their mirror?

          Who can wake the from the Zombie sleep?

          Who can restore their free will enough so they can think freely?

          If you and I cannot do it, then who can?

        • I will not go into the weeds with you here. I told you what I believe some of your questions are typical Christian baiting stuff, been there, done that and wasted a lot of verbal calories over it. For instance this is just a stupid question, sorry it is.

          “But again I ask, if God doesn’t Judge or Care, why do we?”

          Simply dude because we live here, we chose to live here and we agreed to the rules when we came here. Because no man should harm another man save in defense. Duh! One need not even believe in God much less give a crap what God “thinks” to understand this. We should care because life in general works out better for US if we live without harming others. Because being truly “moral” is in our OWN BEST INTEREST.

          Shitty people get short term gains but they usually fall miserably in the end. Even when you think they got away with it they end up fucking miserable and hate themselves and die full of regret. God doesn’t need to judge or punish just like I don’t need to punish a child that touches a hot burner, the behavior provides all the punishment necessary.

          God doesn’t free you, Jesus doesn’t free you, to quote your book, “the truth frees you”, I just don’t think “Jesus is lord” is the actual truth, well he was no more God than you or I, and that is IF he actually existed. He may have he may not have, there is no evidence he did. I say Jesus is Robin Hood, a combination of people into one myth. You don’t believe that, I don’t desire to change your belief, I don’t want to convert you, I don’t care, got it? I respect your belief and I respect the belief of the Pagan too and the Muslim, etc. I really respect the Buddhist though I think some of the beliefs they have (multiple gods of this and that) are best described as BAT SHIT CRAZY.

          Doesn’t matter for some it works, it helps them, fine great as long as they don’t shove their beliefs down my throat I DON’T CARE.

          You seem to feel that someone turned me away from your God, this is false. I assure you that my decision to walk away from the Catholic Church and later all of Christianity is a logical well thought out decision. The more I learned about the Bible the more preposterous it became for me. Further if I were to believe in that God, I would have to HATE him.

          I am left with two choices. Believe in the biblical version of God and consider God an evil, vain, jealous, murdering, advanced entity who is nothing but a spoiled brat of a child in reality. And trust me I could go on with more reasons I loathe the God you worship. Or my other choice is to use logic and reason and comprehend that no actual creator, no perfect God can be what the Bible claims. Hence I choose not to believe the astro literary myth many consider the “word of God”.

          I am being as NICE as I can in my opinions and ONLY offering them because you keep asking.

          Sooner or later you will be offended if you keep on this path, I won’t insult you but you will feel it was so. And you will NEVER change my mind. You can’t “save me” because I have no need or or desire for salvation.

          Frankly to be blunt, if the God of the bible does exist, I don’t want a thing to do with him, based on his own “word”.

        • “God doesn’t need to judge or punish just like I don’t need to punish a child that touches a hot burner, the behavior provides all the punishment necessary. ”

          A parent with Grace would inform the child ahead of time that the burner is hot and that it hurts to get burned. A parent with Grace would also do their best to ease the child’s suffering after they are burned.

          Is that parent limiting the child’s free will or giving the child more freedom?

          What about a God with grace like that? Grace enough to save you from yourself? Isn’t that much more free, than being left to suffer the consequences?

          A god that would leave you to face the tyrant in the mirror is a god I could not follow, that god is much colder than the one I worship.

          You seem to think the God I worship hands out punishments and laws because he somehow enjoys making people suffer?

          You think just punishment is allowing natural consequences to play out? Maybe so, but I tell you this sir, God is no where near that mean.

        • See you are now wasting time for both of us.

          “A parent with Grace would inform the child ahead of time that the burner is hot”

          And kids till touch the burner, still get burned and have no further need of punishment when that happens.

          Again though the God of the bible to me is no “parent with Grace”. He is a murderer of children. Worship that if you want to.

          You seem to have no problem with a God that is jealous, murders, orders the murder of others, would gamble with the life of one of his children, send his child to be tortured because his other children deserve it, etc.

          What you have a problem with is a God that lets you deal with your own shit though?

          You and I share ONE coure belief here, God made this world! Right, if that is so then it is absolutely the case that God allows natural consequences to play out for all of us. Then God is “mean” for that? If you think so you are at am impasse! Because no matter what book you believe it is the absolute case that God does so! If you stick your finger in a band saw, you get the consequence! You are LEFT WITH THE CONSEQUENCE, period. Further if your finger is restored GOD DOESN’T DO SO a man that has studied the creation intimately in his specialty does so. We call them surgeons.

          I am sorry you think of your reflection as a tyrant, sounds like YOU need to do some real work on YOU. I consider the man in the mirror to be nothing but a reflection of myself and I love me, I really do. I love who I am, I love the good in me, the bad in me, the mistakes, the victories. I love myself and I know that the church teaches that is wrong and I know that is why most people are miserable, they believe it wrong to love themselves.

          Of course we should love ourselves. Why should we not? If you do not love yourself, then you hate yourself. Those that hate themselves do horrible things to this world. Most people do love themselves but they can’t admit it, they feel guilty for saying it, etc. It is a great way to control humanity.

          Religion is nothing but the original form or government, tithes are nothing but the original form of taxes.

        • I will also add if a man murdered 10 just 10 children and his excuse was well I had to, I didn’t want to and I didn’t like doing it. And he did in fact murder them, if I could do so without going to prison myself. I would have NO PROBLEM, cocking back the hammer of my 45 and blowing his brains out the back of his head. Such a man, even if he really “didn’t want to and didn’t enjoy doing it” need not have the opportunity to ever do this again.

          So I don’t give a shit when people say “God didn’t want to”, frankly I would hold God to a higher standard than a man.

        • “Further if your finger is restored GOD DOESN’T DO SO a man that has studied the creation intimately in his specialty does so. We call them surgeons. ”

          Didn’t you just say that “God made this world!” Didn’t you also say “Many of us believe as I do that God lives in all of us, from the least to the greatest that we are all children of the great IS. ”

          Is the surgeon not part of this created world?

          How could grace exist if the creator has none?

          Isn’t sometimes the natural consequence of cutting a finger an infection that causes death? Why then isn’t it always that bad?

          You keep wanting to put me in this box you have created with a narrow dogmatic view of a cruel god. I’m sorry Jack, I don’t fit in your box and neither does God.

          Do you admit that you view the bible through a 21st century bias?

          For example: You have heard “an eye for an eye” right? Did you know, that is far less severe than the punishment that proceeded it? Before that, the law of that culture said if you take my eye, I get to kill you.

          Do you think that a culture who was used to that level of punishment would have accepted the idea that the eye taker should just go to jail for a couple years?

          They would not have accepted that as justice. But, we look back on an eye for an eye as barbaric. Why is that? it is because God has been leading us toward a path of Grace and Forgiveness.

          Our cruel damaged hearts think that punishment is justice. Has any murder victim ever been resurrected by the sentencing of the murderer? No? Then how is that justice?

          You see Jack, my issue with Deism, as you describe it, isn’t that it has gone too far from the narrow dogmatic view of Religion, it’s that it hasn’t gone far enough.

        • Okay I am done, you believe what you believe, I don’t and I won’t and I need not waste anymore time. If you want to credit God for what a surgeon does fine, I credit the man and the men that built the science that makes it possible. I will not carry this any further, your agenda is clear and I have no interest in it.

          You know why there is animosity against Christians that doesn’t seem to exist with any other faith. Christians are the only people with the need to not just evangelize but to literally shove what they believe constantly into the faces of people with no interest including people that likely know more about their own faith then they do.

          You just told me you know Stalin wasn’t really that bad in the way he murdered so many people, he did it with less severity and more humanity than say Hitler and the Mongols.

          Go read your bible dude and leave me alone, I am very happy the way I am. Not only will I not continue this debate as it has run its course I will remove any further posting about it. This serves no purpose in relation to the message of TSP and certainly none in relation to the attached episode.

      • I would add one more thing, that is important to note.

        The Bible although used and manipulated by fools, was NOT written by them. Don’t let them keep you from finding the truth that is within it’s pages.

        • I view the bible as an astro literary hybrid. More astrology then anything else, you don’t and I am cool with that.

      • I’ve been reading about deism for the last 40 minutes or so, just so I can attempt to engage in a conversation about it with you.

        Based on what I read and what you said I would ask if this statement is correct to a Deist?

        Everything that can be proved with Reason in the bible could be said to be a self evident truth, Therefore everything that cannot be proven with reason in the bible cannot be true.

        If that is true. Do more things become self evident truths as science can explain things that were once mysteries?

        Is Deism constantly changing?

        • Well I am not sure engaging in deep discussion here on this will be productive. Like all people you believe what you believe and this will likely end in you trying to explain to me why what you believe is right, true, better, etc. Please don’t waste your energy there, seriously I know the bible better than most preachers, I promise you that is the case. You will never convince me to go back to that belief system, ever, period. Just know that. I won’t tell you why, it will only result in debate and you telling me I don’t understand this or that, which will be incorrect. I understand perfectly, I just don’t believe it, AT ALL.

          Okay now on the Deism question you are struggling with understanding because you are asking for Deism’s “dogma” and none exists. Some Deists think god made the universe and just went on hiatus, sure some believe that. Some feel god is not “personal” the way a christian means it but that doesn’t mean one can’t know God or even have a relationship with the creator, it is just largely a one way relationship. God is in all things (preaches with their panties in a wad call it pantheism) and hence via study and reflection we can know God by observation of the miracle of his creation. This is MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. I know God better today then I ever did when I made the sign of the cross, ate crackers I was told were Jesus’ body and told some strange dude my “sins”.

          To me God IS, that is all I need. You know this as “tell them I AM sent you”. Am and Is are both the same basic verb. Forms of to be of course. God is the source of all life and energy and matter. The great architect of the universe and in fact the multi verses. God has no need or desire to judge me any more than to judge a lion for eating an antelope. He doesn’t care what I do or you do because his creation in the end is perfect.

          We I believe choose to incarnate here on earth as flesh and blood for the purpose of entertainment and education. If you die a horrible death it won’t matter, your consciousnesses lives on and won’t really care in the long run, this is what I PERSONALLY BELIEVE. Some deists believe an afterlife some in reincarnation, some in not much when we die and many that something happens but they don’t know or really care what.

          We don’t agree on what we must believe the discovery is up to each of us alone. There is no Deists Creed as say a Counter to the Nicene Creed. We don’t all agree, we know what we know and we know that belief is just that a belief vs. a fact.

          We do know what we don’t believe though and there is a a lot of consensus there.

          We do not believe in “salvation” by god or any entity. Period the end, done. We see no judgement by God necessary for the universe to function the way God (whatever it is) wants it to.

          We do not believe that any God worth our time would order one man to murder another man, let alone to murder children and we don’t think a “new covenant” changes the past and erases it and makes everything cool.

          We don’t believe god would harden a heart of one of his own children and think it is extremely arrogant that any group of people thinks they are Gods “chosen”.

          We don’t believe god would destroy all life with a flood or with any event because he was angry.

          We do not believe that God cares if we ever go to church.

          Many of us believe in prayer as communication none of us though believe in interventionist prayer, IE that you can pray to God for X to occur and God will make it happen, EVER. Doesn’t matter if it is for it to snow or save a life, God isn’t in that business.

          We don’t believe God saved Joe on 9-11 and was watching over him while thousands of others died, we think that is preposterous. Absolutely ridiculous.

          We believe free will is free will not free will but damnation if you use it. Free will comes with responsibility and consequences in the here and now not in some sort of eternal hell or temporary purging in a purgatory.

          The core belief of Deism is simply that God exists and that logic and reason dictate this. God might be a entity similar in some way to a human and God just might be the sum total of all knowledge and energy in the universe expressed as a singularity of intelligence. We don’t know what exactly God is, we are okay with that, just fine with it. Many of us believe as I do that God lives in all of us, from the least to the greatest that we are all children of the great IS.

          We reject all revealed religions as a method of men to control other men and believe the genesis of all the revealed religions is nothing but a form or government.

          None of us wish to convert you, none of us want to debate the Bible, Torah or Koran, etc. we figure that would be about as productive for us as debating a Harry Potter novel, it may say X but that doesn’t matter to me, I don’t believe it.

  19. Totally missed the conflicted Monday. Can I just put the fire out? I would do that first? If not, how dangerous is the situation? If I could, I would break them out because if it’s today’s prisoners they are in there for drugs. Problem is aren’t they chained to the seats or behind a cage. I don’t think it is as easy as breaking the windshield which also probably sucks with an axe. I’ve never done any of this. That would be my only concern, I don’t want to go in and get killed or injured because of that. Also, the guards would have guns, ammo, pepper spray. Where are the guards, are they inside? Might be something to investigate first, like if the guards neck is slit, then no I’m not breaking them out.

  20. Tobins q – Before losing your mind because of this one metric, maybe you should consider a whole slew of other metrics attempting to forecast the future. Try Shiller’s PE10, P/B, the yield curve, or whatever strikes your fancy. Go look at a plot of Tobins q over the last 50 years, pick a rising period, blank out the rest of the chart and then make a prediction as to when the blowout occurs. Good luck with that. Maybe you would be better with a coin flip.

    Suppose you are buying beach front property and the agent tells you not to worry because there is only a 1% chance that you will see a hurricane in any given year, so not to worry. So you actually try to use some of that probability theory you were supposed to learn in college or maybe even HS. You do the math and come up with a one in four chance that you are going to get hit if you are there for thirty years. This goes up to almost 40% if you stay for 50 years.

    Forget the financial ratios, if you are playing the game and you do not realize that the farther you go into the future the greater the odds that you will see a reversal then maybe you should not play the game at all.

    The main reason I listen to your podcast is because I think you realize this, and mostly you help people save themselves from those infrequent, but mostly certain calamities people are going to experience over their lifetimes.

    Predicting financial market direction is folly, even in this case where they are rigged (and not your favor). Having a plan B is required, but trying to time things may end up a lot worse than your plan B.

  21. I just felt compelled to say that it is incredibly refreshing to hear someone other than myself preach that the differences between men and women should be celebrated.

    The only problem that arises, is when we assume that just because someone is different that one is inherently “better”. All I can say is that assuming that one quality is better or more important is absolutely ridiculous.

    Kudos to you for saying what a good majority of women are afraid to say because we’ve been shamed into feeling like if we aren’t working 40 hours a week, we’re lazy and have no drive. But if you want to work and you love your career, you shouldn’t be shamed into feeling like a “bad mom” for not wanting to stay at home, either.

    I would also add, that in some cases (not all) even men feel occassionally like they need to work when he might be supporting the family better by being a stay at home dad. If mom wants to be a CEO and has a high-powered career where she is thriving, and dad loves being at home and taking care of the household, well then freaking do it.

    Do what you want, people. Who cares what “society” thinks you should do?

    • I took a gender studies class while in college (that was like 90% all female) and I can definitely attest to this. Probably at least half the girls in the classes wanted to “work” at home. We had to write like a weekly journal entry or something, and I remember that many of them wrote that they felt threatened or ashamed of such desires.

      It’s just too silly and ridiculous. I think taking back our lives, requires pushing everyone back to the home more often. If one member can stay home, we’re 50% of the way there. I personally think women are the backbone of society, and now its almost an “every person for themself” type of situation.

      I am a person who really, REALLY believes in the duality in life where difference forces come together in a balance and harmony. You can’t have happiness without sadness. You can’t have order without disorder. You can’t have ONLY logic, because logic doesn’t answer all questions, nor does using logic guarrantee your footing is solid.

      • I think the larger problem is this.

        We have as a species been convinced that our “worth” is tied to a job. Why do so many women want a modern career now? Do they want it because it is what they really want or because they have been led to believe that you are some how worthless if you don’t have a J-O-B?

        But as I began here, do not the same questions apply to a man. Let me change one word…

        Why do so many men want a modern career? Do they want it because it is what they really want or because they have been led to believe that you are some how worthless if you don’t have a J-O-B?

        Today we are told that responsible adults go to school, get good grades, get a good job and conform to society’s norms. I say that in and of itself is bullshit! Not that it isn’t the right path for some, just that it is not “THE PATH” for all nor should it likely be for most.

        The current dynamic of economics we see today, (a typical job) is VERY NEW. It was not with us for the majority of our time as a species. Women and Men have both been sold a big fat ass lie. Women were just sold it more recently, that is the only real difference.

        • After becoming engrossed with business (back to the basics), I actually understand what you’re talking about now with “j o b”. A job could and should be defined as a set of tasks that somebody else pays you to do.

          Why on earth would anybody derive their personal value from such a thing is beyond me. I guess people take it as, “they’re willing to pay me to do X because I do it well.” That’s great, you can provide value without necessarily being paid by an EMPLOYER.

          I recently came across the fact that this one woman started selling kids clothing on ebay, starting doing well enough that she started taking it a bit more seriously, and after a year or so time she was doing it full time, and using facebook to market it. Like not 5 years after she started she employeed like 100 people here in the united states making clothing. At no point in time was she working a job. In fact, it was a fun hobby she would do at home, as a house wife.

        • Further to this. (Talking with my wife so this sparked this).

          I told her mom recently that I set a date to quit my job and pursue full time, whatever I wanted to, and eventually it was my goal, perhaps in 3-5 years to get my wife out of a job. Her mom was quite confused by this idea. (Both her parents are doctors).

          If you’re not working a job, or being paid by someone, you’re not going in the right direction. I now realize just how ridiculous that is. So in other words so long as I’m a wage slave I’m good? Yeah right. It’s funny talking to people now, because so many people don’t realize what non-worker life is. Uhm… hello passive incomes? Being Owners of things, not necessarily a worker…. Being a visionary… not a lever puller. Doing whatever you want and loving your life 99% of the time vs. hating your life 9-5 monday through friday, then being SO THANKFUL its a friday.

          Even though I am still a wage slave, I still try to create as much of a weekend atmosphere as I can during the week. “Let’s get pizza, who cares its a wednesday”.

        • Which is even sadder because as Doctors they are both so short sighted for not running their own practices.

          Um, though if they are, ring, ring, “hello, hold on, hey pot the kettle is on line one”

        • That is a LONG story. I think they used to. But its now easier to just play by the gubmnit rules. Both work for a major University in Virginia. There really isn’t much more to say about that other than “Ahh… i see…”.

  22. The main reason women are working is to pay the additional tax burden we are under.

    • It really isn’t that simple. Most middle income working married families pay almost no income tax.

  23. I discovered that I had a black cherry tree this year too. It didn’t produce the last two years, so I believe that it needs to have a certain amount of chill hours to set fruit. This past year was COLD! Anyway, I collected as many as I could because the tree is grown. I used some rum and infused it with them. It turned out damn good! The book says that they do best infusing brandy. The guy you had on that talked about curing pork recommended the River Cottage website. I bought the “Booze” book from them, it is excellent. Lots of ideas about what to do with foraged fruits.

  24. What a great show Jack – thank you so much for saying it how it is and being yourself. It is so refreshing listening to you being so unpoliticaly incorrect, I love it!!!

  25. Conflicted Monday: If I’m bugging out on foot, I’m in a relatively insecure position, which leaves me wanting for others with skills weighed against a need for security and a need to use sparse resources. Prisoners have a code just like other human groups who are together either naturally or by force. Except for the most whacked out, a favor earns respect or a debt of honor just as it would with a group of nuns. I think that if I’m alone on foot, I’m breaking into the bus with the axe and getting them out. Inmates are typically resourceful with little resources and could be of assistance. If I’m with my wife and kids (vulnerable and desirable targets) I do not think that I’m breaking into the bus at this age. If this is 10 years down the road when I have a teenage girl and two adult sons who would all be armed, we’re saving lives.

  26. We have tons of Black Cherries where we live. In fact two large ones right behind our house. Picking them can definitely be a pain in the butt. Often times people around here will put tarps down and then shake the trees. Not to mention since the tree is so tall, we maybe picked up to 10 feet, and everything else was for the birds.

    My wife made a bunch of cherry bounce with it. Here soon we’ll be putting the brandy in it, and giving it a shot.

    • Regarding women wanting to work. My wife is definitely in that boat. If she saw herself how she is today years ago, she would be flabergasted.

      She’s even in her desired field of work, and yet, she still realizes that she would be happier not at work. I think we (as men) have been tricked into thinking that being away from the home and working for someone else, is right, and good. I completely disagree. I work at home (thankfully) and I will never go back, unless it makes sense. My wife would be much happier, if she could do what she wants to do.

      This is why I’m working on creating passive income streams, to allow my wife to be able to do what she wants to do. I think we’d all be happier.

    • Just finished listening to the podcast and got to the end of the “man woman” discussion. Very hilarious. You went from a reasonable, rational set of arguments, and then, to some people threw all that away with the “where is your dress” statements. Too funny. Unfortunately people (may) hit that part and then re-galvenized their hate for anyone who makes a joke.

      One way you can see that women in general are “stronger” than men, or at least more focused, it probably the lack of overt jokes and criticisms of the over the top logical nature of man. Maybe that’s why some get so butt hurt, because of the statements that are intrepretted way too strongly as “negative on women”. Women it would seem, look through the bullshit, and just do the things that need to get done and don’t get caught up in the egotistical and often times self-patting pride that men have. “Look at this amazing thing I created.” “That’s nice, there’s shit that needs doing, everyday.”

      Couldn’t be more thankful for my little lady.

      • I see it the other way, if you can’t take a joke (that is clearly a joke) you are weak, at least in that regard.

        When I started my career I ran what you would best call “construction crews”. It was my first exposure to the Tea Cups. Young new hires almost in tears for what other crew members said to f with them.

        They would tell me I don’t understand why they pick on me. I would tell them to either put on a dress and heels and get a job nursing babies or get the hell over it. Seriously I would say that or something like it.

        Then I would go actual counselor. I would ask, do you not see that they all do it to each other too? Do you not realize that on some levels they are just hazing you as “the new guy”? Do you not realize these guys love each other like brothers and watch each others back? Do you not realize how dangerous the work we do really is? Any of us could be killed by a gas main, electrocuted or hit by traffic any day if we are not always on our toes.

        These guys f with each other as a way to keep everyone paying attention and frankly because it is just what guys do. They are okay with one calling the other asshat or dumbshit because in the end they all know they have to look out for each other. Get with it or find a new career path.

        • Jack, I listened closely when you went into the male/female differences and you were all good until you associated the “emotional train wreck” men with being on their period or needing a dress. It was just a clumsy segue to the wrap-up, but I immediately saw how it could re-color your previous, balanced statements in the eyes of many. (many crazy women, am I right? hey-yo).

          But seriously, I try not to call a guy displaying weakness (of body or mind) a pussy, because that’s sexist language, and it may reinforce that very guy’s insecurities toward women and encourage him to disrespect some female in the future (based on wherever he might be on the abuse spectrum).

          Many of the same guys who didn’t learn how to be a proper man for lack of a dad, did learn how to abuse women due to the dysfunctional relationships they witnessed growing up.

        • To many people are too sensitive and can’t take a fucking joke, those people are not my problem.

        • @Norcal
          That’s why I made the statements that I made. But the problem with what you’re talking about is the absolute 100% insidious nature of political correctness.

          You’re making a calm, rational argument, and attempting to police it up (jokes) because some people might be offended, take it the wrong way, and do things like “go act that way towards their wife”. That is literally political correctness. It’s sensitivity when there is no need for sensitivity (on that particular subject). It would be one thing if the person has an “identity crisis” and you told them to take the dress off. har har har.

          You then make this insightful statement:
          “Many of the same guys who didn’t learn how to be a proper man for lack of a dad, did learn how to abuse women due to the dysfunctional relationships they witnessed growing up.”

          In my opinion, this is a much more meaningful example of the wrongs AND completely negates your earlier point. Nobody is beating their wife, or treating them like their lower than dirt because somebody told them to man up, and take the dress off. They’re doing it because they’ve been “raised that way” and they’ve never questioned it. Nurture/environment and lack of personal critique. Neither one of those stem from jokes, or interactions with another person, in my view.

        • And let me add something about “men that act like women”. I do often mean exactly what I say but it also is the case that people don’t pay attention enough to words to grasp them. The key word is “men that ACT like women”. A man can’t be a woman, an emotional train wreck feminized man doesn’t behave like a woman he ACTS like one. You do get the difference right?

          I can ACT like a monkey, I can do it well enough that you would go “oh Jack is acting like a monkey” but you would not say (if you were attempting to be accurate with language) Jack is BEING a monkey.

          When I come down on men for this women should not be offended in anyway. First it isn’t directed at women. Second though it doesn’t infer that women act that way, it infers that man trying to be a woman does.

          Men can’t be women and women can’t be men, it doesn’t work and one doesn’t actually behave like the other when they do. A man PMSing (for lack of a better term) is flat out worse then the average woman being emotional. Not just because you don’t expect it from a man, but because he is just worse to deal with period (no pun intended).

          With the exception of some men who are just effeminate by genetics (most of whom are gay and in control of their lives by the way and anyone claiming I have a problem with Gay people is just an idiot) men are not wired to behave like women, when they do it is a fing disaster. And yes most of these men had zero positive male role models. Not all are from single homes though. Some had weak fathers constantly dominated by their mothers as well.

          It is the same as what I discussed before about working night club security on nights when they brought in male stippers and only let women in for a few hours, then sent the dancers home and opened the doors for all. (this marketing by the way worked)

          The women behaved like absolute morons during the show. As security I worked more bullshit on those nights than any other time, dealing with women being complete stupid fools. They always said shit like, “what it is okay if men do this but not women”. I could tell none of these women had ever been to the sad, lonesome, self hatred environment of a strip club where men go galk at women.

          These women had in their head what men must do at a stirp joint, likely reenforced from a few BS Hollywood movies. So they mimicked the male behavior. They “acted” like men in a strip bar, they however were not behaving like men in a strip bar. Had I been working a typical strip bar as security and men had acted this way, many would have been VERY FORCEFULLY shown to the parking lot SURFACE if you catch my drift.

          It is the same dynamic, whenever one sex mimics the other the results are terrible. It is like trying to mix oil and water.

      • Oh and tell me NCOs in the Corps don’t refer to their men as their “bitches”, just like they do in the Army.

        • NCOs definitely don’t call their men bitches hahaha. But there is MORE than enough other names. Usually its turds. I infact, call my wife a turd. I have done it “in public” (around my mom and sister) for which they were thoroughly upset by it. (They had NO concept of context). My mom sent me an angrily written letter (rather than calling me), so once I explained it’s a marine corps term of inderement, she kinda eased up and realized, my wife isn’t being abused, she’s becoming/is “one of my guys”.

          Shithead is definitely another big one. The environment can be “tough” but in general just everybody fits in, because its just part of the environment. Yes, people sometimes really come in with some crazy ideas, and get way too butt hurt way too easy. A new lance corporal joined the unit, and me and him really hit it off. I thought he was pretty good to go. He told me he had been to OCS already (I had been to OCS myself) so we were chatting about it. He then told me that he failed so many events he went before the Battalion board where you meet the colonel and decides whether or not you can stay. He liked the guy so he was able to stay and complete. (He had good personality). I took one big laugh and said “WOW, you’re a piece of shit”. In the most laughingest of manners. Apparently he took that VERY seriously.

          Probably 2 years later he brought it up out the blue how pissed off he was at me for saying that. I was like I don’t remember saying that at all. He then retold me the story (about how he failed). I took one hearty laugh and again said “Wow, HAH you are a piece of shit”. I think he finally got it, I was just kidding. Who cares? The guy finished, became an officer, and is smart as hell, just didn’t have a very strong personal background.

        • Are you serious? I guess it is just an Army thing then. Wow would have lost money on that one!

          Turd and shit head? You mean after your boot camp or during?

          That was not acceptable in the Army after basic. I could never have called a solider shit head and gotten away with it. Now in Basic and in some “leadership courses” like PLDC (school you complete before you can be promoted to an NCO) I was called that and worse. LOL It was expected and situational.

          But in permanent duty the words “my bitches” was often heard.

          I will say this though, mostly by young and somewhat arrogant buck sergeants. The best NCOs didn’t do this. In fact I would say most of the “my bitches” NCOs were trying to hold onto when they were one of “the guys” if you no what I mean.

          You make Sgt or even get lateraled to Corporal and you move to a different barracks or at least a different part of the barracks. You go from buddy to boss, from fellow screw up to councilor, etc. Now that I think of it during the brief time that I was an NCO I didn’t ever say that any of my guys were my bitches. I immediately took on the role and separated myself from being one of “the guys”.

          I still hung out in the bars, would drink beer and cut up with a private but only in civilian clothes and I preferred to NOT socialize much after ours and away from the barracks with my men. I would have a BBQ with them at a Boheio on post, drink a few beers and get to know them etc. But in the end my personal time was mine and I was all solider during business hours.

          I think this was easier for me because I never really got personal with my platoon anyway. Most wanted to chase Panamian chicks in town and I spent my time either at the on post club, in the jungle, on the beach fishing or up country on the Costa Rican border with locals. I have to say had I had the relationship with my platoon that I did with the soliders I knew from other units that were my closest friends it would have been harder. I think this is why many NCOs request a transfer after that first big promotion. It is just easier to have that authority over men that never knew you as anything else.

          I have to say I am grateful for my military time but I really on some levels hated it. I didn’t know why then, I do now. It wasn’t the authority over me, I knew I would be a short timer and I accepted it as part of the deal. I knew three years wasn’t that long and I would go back to “normal life”. What I actually disliked the most was so much authority over another man.

        • “Turd and shit head? You mean after your boot camp or during?”

          No throughout your entire Marine Corps career. hah. You won’t be called that by somebody who doesn’t know you, but yeah it’s not uncommon whatsoever to be called, or call somebody a turd. In fact I have no idea of its beginnings either, but it persists. I have a friend who i work with who is I guess in his low 50s. His dad was a marine, and apparently he was also called a turd. (By his dad). Enough said.

          You’re 100% right about being transferred. I actually think the other person I’m friends with that I work with (who is now the lead/project manager) I think he needs to leave. I “try” to give him a little respect, but I can’t at the same time. (Not like I disrespect him, but you get what I mean).

          The same really goes with any and all changes in your being and personality. If you to be “reborn” with a new better personality, perhaps the person who makes decisions instead of stays quiet, you have two things you have to do. A. Act the part and B. Be in the environment where that acting can be applied. That can’t exist if you are in the same environment you were, before hand, where everybody knows you as the goofy kid.

          That is one advantage I’ve had as growing up in a military family. Each time you move you can reset, and allow yourself to apply the personality growths, rather than being that person everybody knew back in kindergarten. People you meet in your life, you accrue personality baggage. I still think of people back in highschool, and I’ll still have those lenses on, even if they’ve TOTALLY changed. (how would I know).

    • I wonder if you got a long pole and did the tarp thing and smacked branches if it would work better than shaking a big tree? I know that works damn good with pecans.

      When my dad owned a gas station there were two large pecans in the back of it. He had these huge long measuring sticks to take readings of the underground gas tanks, about 14 feel long if I remember right. I would go down there when the pecans were ready and beat the branches and they rained down hard enough that I wore a cheap hard hat when I did it.

    • A long stick isn’t a bad idea. I should ask my uncle, he will fabricate just about anything. He fabricated a Muscadine picker, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you could come up with something.

      They definitely come in clusters. Generally they all ripen together, but that isn’t always the case. And obviously you want them VERY black. Anything else and its like trying to consume battery acid. Just ain’t gonna work. We harvested them by hand by just pulling the whole clumps off and putting them in a bucket. We then just kinda used our hands to scrape them off the vines.

      Mayhaws have similar issues as well. My uncle came up with a technique of basically rolling the mayhaws down an inclined plane of plywood, where the plywood was just rough enough to gather the crap, and the berries would just roll down into a bucket at the bottom (after being funneled). I wonder if that might help.

  27. Regarding the whole ‘wheelchair’ thing..

    First off, I don’t want anyone to get the impression that Jack and I don’t agree on everything.. *cough* *cough* 😉

    My reply wasn’t intended to mean that ‘thinking for yourself’ isn’t the ONLY way to personal liberty. Jack answered the question AS ASKED. And its the only sane response. A robot has no personal liberty. A cult member has no personal liberty.

    And people that slavishly follow a media personality, no matter how ‘alternative’ are cult members.

    Now, the difference between a congregation and a cult, is simply who/what is the focus of attention? If its the ‘leader’ instead of the idea, its a cult. People show up here to listen to ‘brother Jack’ because he’s inspiring, entertaining, thoughtful (as in full of thoughts) and is always investigating new things and sharing those discoveries. At least, that’s why I tune in. When they show up for something else: to be TOLD ‘what to do’, to be led, then we have a problem.

    The brain needs to be on, all the time. And frankly, we need to train ourselves to be MORE skeptical when listening to someone we generally agree with.. simply because comfort causes you to get lazy in your thinking (gee.. Jack sure is right a lot! No sense in me thinking anymore, I’ll just do what he says!)

    But anyway.. the wheelchair thing. That was entirely aimed at BarnGeek, as his comment was that maybe he just needed to get ‘tougher’ with people.

    Now, I don’t have any idea what’s going on with his cousin, or what the history of it is. So I was (mostly) responding out of some of my own experiences.

    The brain atrophy I was referring to is something I’m observing first hand, in a high school student mentee. He’s a ‘smart kid’, in an IQ sense. But he just doesn’t THINK. Ever.

    I am trying to get his brain jump started by making him work thru ‘thought’. Simple things like.. here is a task, what do you think would be the first step to completing this task? The response is generally a long pause, followed by a guess, followed by an expression that one gives ‘the teacher’ when one has made a wild as guess and wants the AUTHORITY FIGURE to VERIFY that he has THOUGHT CORRECTLY.

    Its horrifying.

    His standard way of being is to passively wait for someone to tell him what to do. And then to do it EXACTLY as he is TOLD to do it. Thought free, reflection free, judgement free.. an automation of flesh, waiting for its programming.

    So.. government schools are ‘succeeding’.. its just that their actual goals aren’t to ‘educate’ your children.

    • This has sparked a big conversation with the wife. You’re too right, and I realize it now. These are trite ass statements, but, they’re only trite if you’re not thinking and realizing.

      I had a friend who was #2 in the class. He was “almost” perfect. But he is the guy who in general broke the mold because he was SO “smart” that he was smoking in the grades, AND was an excellent thinker. (Way outside the box). Probably the only reason he had the grades he did was because his dad was the command general of the Marine base and was a stickler dick (as you might imagine).

      It turns out when you really think about school, even in something like english, there are “facts”. You’re job as a student from eaaaaaaaarly on till highschool (and beyond) is to say the right answers. You are given the material, you learn (memorize) it, then say the right answer when asked. Even in math, if anything its so much easier to indocrinate. Here are the rules, learn the rules. Ok now that you know the rules solve this puzzle (math problem). Yes, you have to “think” but its not a regular kind of thinking, its a “here are the rules, I must follow the rules, and get to the ONE and TRUE right answer”.

      Never thought of it that way.

      • See and with math is it actually easy to teach thinking.

        Here are math’s basic rules (math does have basic rules, not all rule are bad)

        Now tell me something you want to build.

        Okay now use math to figure out how you would build it, how much stuff you need to build it with, etc.

        Simple project that requires independent thought.

        Not only did I not tell you what to build or what to make it out of, I didn’t even tell you how to apply the math.

        • Agreed!

          Is a weapon a bad evil thing? Or a useful tool? Depends on who is using it, and for what reasons. It’s just a tool, it’s just how the tool is presented and what it’s for is the problem.

          I wonder how much of the activity of a child at school relates to how their parents are. If the parents have that much more right answer wrong answer mentality, or a more open perspective. The more open perspective, is going to yield crappier grades (more than likely), but a better more open life.

  28. YAY we finally got to the middle ages and the Teutonic Knights. One of my favorite history subjects. For anyone that likes PC strategy games, Europa Universalis 4 has some really awesome history woven in around this time.

  29. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for addressing the roles of males and females Jack! I have been saying the same things for years and have received so much criticism for the same views. I went to a liberal arts college and all they did was spew feminazi hate and it’s truly depressing. Appreciate your points man!

  30. Enjoyed your show today. On the male-female roles….Unfortunately, my wife couldn’t breastfeed our kids, so they went onto formula very young.
    Fortunate in a way though, as I was able to become a house hubby for 2 1/2 years after our 2nd was born, and my wife wanted to go back to work- which she hadn’t done since our first was born. Swapped back a few years later when our third was born. I FREAKIN’ LOVED IT at home with the babies!
    As a couple, we had decided that we wanted to have one parent at home with the kids while they were growing up- and it didn’t matter which one of us. Had to make some hard choices- no honeymoon, holidays away, new cars, or even purchasing a house, but we thought it worth it at the time-still do.
    We and our friends have not noticed any difference between our kids, and those of the more ‘traditional’ female carer roles.
    An interesting note- my daughters, actually responded better to their male teachers at primary(your elementary) school age than most of their female teachers.
    I actually copped more flack from women for doing what we did then men. Most of my male mates either also did it for a while, or wanted to and couldn’t -either for economic or other reasons.
    Anyway, as usual, your show makes me think, and appreciate what I have as well as identify things I want to change. Keep it up.

    • Sorry, had to add as I can’t edit- not noticed any major difference- apart from the relationship with the male teachers in general, vs most of their female teachers. Everything else- they are just typical knockaround kids. 😀

    • You know when I meet a man who has done the “house husband” thing especially with really young kids (read that still shitting their pants), I don’t envy them but I sure don’t give them flack, I admire them, seriously. Why? I can’t see myself doing it and I damn well know I could not have done it when I was in those prime child care years when most couples have babies (20-30s).

      I could not sit around feeding bottles and baby mush food, cleaning butts, dealing with all the crying, etc. I am not saying it isn’t extremely important and noble I am saying I would have gone bat shit crazy if I had been forced to do it.

      Part of being a father to my son was hard because he was about 6 when I met his mom and about 7 to where we were serious enough that I was willing to begin filling the role. By that age they have a lot of things decided, including who the hell is this guy to try to be my dad. On top of this his dad was in the middle of a slow suicide that would take another 5 years to complete. It was hard and I had to earn the title “dad” and it took years. I think I preferred that though to 3 years of whipping poopy butts!

      Some people are just not cut out for some things, I am not cut out for baby care. I can and have changed a diaper, wiped a face but to help out type of thing. As a primary role, nope. Now when my wife wants our grandson to stay over if it involves wiping or cleaning it is on her, 100%.

      I mean it I admire the man that can do this stuff, simply because I can’t. I tend to admire anyone that can do something positive that I can’t.

      As for the women that gave you flack, I have a one word explanation, jealousy.

  31. Just want to say, Jack, that you expressed my thoughts about gender roles in this day in age perfectly. I’m a 27 year old woman and I felt that since I was raised by a single mother that it was my duty to do well in school and get a good job to give myself a good life whether I had a man in it or not. My father left my mother when I was 3 years old, my twin sisters were 2 years old, and my older half-brother was 14. Then, he quit paying child support when I was 10 years old. This is all part of the reason why I’m into independence and self-reliance. My dad showed that I cannot depend on a man (or any person for that matter regardless of gender) to be there for me. I need to take care of myself and any kids that I have on my own. But, I can take this mindset a little too far sometimes and I have. I understand that not everyone is like my deadbeat father and I’m working on my trust issues 🙂

    It is truly hard to find a manly man these days though….or a ladylike woman. I think this void is a HUGE reason why podcasts like yours and blogs like artofmanliness do so well. We need people teaching these things.

    Again, another great podcast. I’m surprised people still jumped on you for the gender stuff after all the disclaimer you put in it. Sheesh!!!!

    • And before you condemn your dad as an eternal dead beat know that he may have been so extorted by the system, so pushed to the edge of poverty in the end he did what he did out of self preservation.

      For every dead beat dad (true dead beats) you can show me I can show you one that has been screwed to the edge by our system. Men making 300-400 a week and demanded by the state to pay 75% of it to “support”.

      Remember the system we have today is designed to destroy families, that is why you have to both know the system and get as far outside of it as possible.

      Just remember you view of your father was filtered though a hurt, angry and and pissed off mother.

      Likely both are victims of the system, neither can see it and both therefor blame each other. That is how class warfare works you know! Male and female is just another divide for the fascists running our nation.

      Here is how I view “spousal support” it is total bullshit and should only exist for about 24 months and then only IF the spouse receiving it was not working by mutual agreement and now needs time to get employed. 12 months would be reasonable in most instances.

      Child support. No one expects that a man making 400 dollars spend 300 on his children when he is living with them, so why should he be expected to when he is not?

      If the one partner wants phyical custody, they want the kids, Then THEY get to provide a basic home. The other partner should not be responsible for anything beyond the difference in say a one bedroom vs. a two bedroom. That is it not a penny more for housing. The other parent should help with food and what have you.

      Again everyone should watch this film, http://www.divorcecorp.com/

      Frankly the system makes the man the enemy in EVERY divorce unless the woman is a crack head or something to that extreme.

      The goal though is to victimize both sides and the children and for the state to make a shit load of money doing it.

    • Yeah, Jack, you may be right that my father made some of the choices he did based on the system, but he really does have issues. Issues he blames on his mother. He cheated on my mom and got remarried within 3 months of the divorce. Then, he had another baby, my half-sister, who I have only ever seen once in my life. When he divorced his second wife, he filed bankruptcy because he said he spent all his money trying to get custody of his daughter. He didn’t do that with me and my sisters when my mom and him were going through a divorce and there’s no way to tell if he was lying about that or not. He was supposed to pay 33% of his salary and visitations every other weekend and holidays. We saw him less than 10 times after the divorce. Last time I saw him was in 1995 and last time I talked to him on the phone was 2001. To me, a deadbeat dad is someone who doesn’t even TALK to their children. He also said that he “gave up financial custody” of his daughter to her step-dad – meaning he let her step-dad adopt her. He has no contact with any of his kids. Yes, the system beat him up pretty bad financially, but he deserved it for having kids with women he didn’t want to be with and he kept doing it with multiple marriages. Also, my mother never bad-mouthed my father when we were little (now it’s a different story). That’s the reason I don’t hate my father. I can call him a deadbeat without hating him. The only thing she said growing up is that you can’t depend on someone to always be there. I think part of the system makes it hard so that men think twice about divorcing their women and leaving their babies to be raised by other men or single women….but, we should also have the freedom to leave marital relationships when we want and not have our financial lives ruined over it. The system is very heavily biased, like you said, towards making the man’s life difficult and the woman’s life easier. Sometimes women use that for manipulation. They get married to someone for the sole intent of divorcing them to get their assets.

      I may watch Divorce Corp some time, but I really hope I never have to deal with that business. Have you heard of the new TV show on Bravo? It’s called “Untying the Knot” and it’s a reality show following divorce lawyers. Sounds like a horrible show to me….

  32. Kind of a day late listening in…but whoa that last part was an amazing sidetrack into a great topic. Myself being a young parent to a 3 year old son, this validates a lot of my recent introspections into our relationship as a family unit and helps me understand those loops which I haven’t gotten around to yet.

  33. Listening now, I am shocked to hear Jack revel the story from the book Illunsions by Richard Bach. I have shared this story with a handful of folks over time to which all of them have totally turned around. They are all clinging to the system and clenching harder than they/I ever thought they could, burying themselves in debt, and proud of their slavery status within the system. Im not sure my sharing this story with them caused these effects, but I do find it fascinating. I was hoping to demean the system and lead them to liberty, but this story (as I believe) has had a very negative result.

    Im still trying to get my head around Richard Bach’s intent with this story. It is like the words are ignored, and the conclusions people make is completely twisted around to justify their disposition in modern society.

    Another book that I found fascinating in this genre was a book called – “Dear God, its me Anna”…

    • Correction: The book is called “Mister God, This Is Anna”. I got this confused with “Dear God its me Margaret”. Incredible insights and something every critical thinker should enjoy.

  35. Awesome show again Jack….

    1. I use my husbands childhood pellet rifle to kill chipmunks… dead on the first shot with strawberries still in their mouth! Very satisfying!! We tried the new ones, but the sighting is way off and distance isn’t half of what the rifle is.

    2. I have that book Make the Bread buy the Butter. It is actually an awesome book.. I do not agree with everything she says. But I love that she did all the testing for us on what recipe was the best (in her eyes). I can up everything we grow to feed us through the year. That book is among one of many I use. It also helped me prioritize what to try making from scratch first.

    3. About the stay at home. There is one book the last child in the woods. It’s an older book. Talks about how the regulations and lack of outdoor play activity has really hurt our kids. It’s actually a compilation of test studies and findings and opens your mind to how society has screwed out kids. And what we can do to help them get back to our old normal. If that makes sense.

    Great show!

  36. I really got some mileage out of my “Make it or buy it” question Jack. It may be just me but I notice now up here anyway, more stay at home moms. Part of the problem here is our unemployment rate; close to 12%. Quite a few men have gone out west to the oil patch for work and it requires someone to stay at home with the kids. Some guys I know are pulling down about 150k a year CDN, and that allows the mothers to stay at home. So the situation is somewhat different. You really seem to be hitting a new level with the last few episodes and going deeper in some of these topics. I’ve had to listen twice to a few episodes to catch details I may have missed. Stay cool Spirko, that Texas heat is brutal

    • Brent, that book is really good. I read it cover to cover and found some really good recipes in it. She makes valid points on why some are better to make or to buy. Lots of thought went in to it.. I use it for the ground work and tweak it for my own uses. But there are also a ton of other great books… Look in to the Prepared Family Cookbook by Enola Gay. Both of those books I think you would like. I did a youtube review on Enola’s book.

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