Does anyone have any warehouse space available that I could use for deliveries and pickup for my client's shipping companies? Need enough space for a container or so, basically a couple pallets worth of space, does not need to be climate controlled.
Looking for a spot that is not my house. Any references / referrals would be appreciated, does not have to be local to Tampa, but open to what could be possible.

Karma, Coincidence, or Penitence: Abortion, a Man’s Story
June 5, 2023
Around April or May 1973 I had intimate relations with a girlfriend in college in the last days of our relationship. I was a confused young man and didn’t know what to think of our relationship—I assumed it was over. I was graduating that May and my ex-girlfriend had two years to go. I had also contracted hepatitis A and felt awful. I was told by my Doc that I probably contracted the virus from contaminated food; who can say for sure but it didn’t come from my ex-girlfriend (she never had the disease.) Not knowing what to do I moved back to my parents’ home to be treated and rest; it was the year of the 1973 oil embargo. My ex-girlfriend had become pregnant sometime in late May to the dismay of both of us. She called me with this information and I took no responsibility other than sending her $100. I never called to check on her emotional state or anything. At the time, I thought a woman just gets an abortion and has a procedure like a person gets their ear’s flushed—something like that. Frankly I did not think about nor reflect of the ramifications of an abortion on an unborn soul or on the woman at all, other than it was an inconvenience. She was not able to have children when she married and wanted children.
In 1977, I met my next girlfriend, whom I moved in with. After a few months she got pregnant. I thought she was on birth control pills but I didn’t really pay that much attention. I didn’t think I was ready to be a parent, being a musician who traveled, but to be honest, I didn’t want the responsibility and didn’t think I was mature enough to be a parent. At the least, I did go to the clinic with her. No one at the clinic talked to us about how an actual abortion procedure worked: no images of the fetus; no counseling on alternatives—nothing. After 2 or three years in this relationship, she got pregnant again; this time I don’t remember going to the clinic to be with her. I might have been on the road, but I think we’d recently broken up, it’s been a long time ago. Not even remembering says a lot about me.
The cultural climate of the 1970s was that abortion was just another type of birth control. I was of the opinion, that life started after a birth—that’s the way I thought about it at the time. I knew my parents tried to have me for years before my Mom got pregnant. I always and still do feel like I was wanted when I was born and that’s how I wanted to have children. On my Dad’s side there was a lot of dysfunction and plain meanness and I knew that there was an element in me that would rear its’ head occasionally. I desperately wanted to have children, but on my terms when I thought I was most ready to break the cycle of dysfunction with a flourishing career and with a loving wife.
So at 36 years old, I married the lady of my dreams and looked forward to having a solid home life, a burgeoning career as a musician, and independent record label owner. At this time, we embarked on consciously bringing children into the world. After two years, my wife developed pelvic inflammatory disease and had to a have an emergency surgery which resulted in one ovary and fallopian tube removed. My wife had terrible pain after the surgery and it was discovered soon after the surgery that she had massive amounts of scar tissue and it was strangling internal organs. We then found a surgeon in Los Angeles who was skilled in removing scar tissue in this area of the body. During the surgery, the Doc informed us that the one remaining fallopian tube that normally and necessarily has undulating fingers had been cut off. We were not informed of this by the first surgeon, who by this time left the country and relocated in Mexico. The Doc made tiny slices in the end of the fallopian tube hoping that it could allow the end of the fallopian tube to move and capture an egg. My wife and I then went to a fertility doctor for 3-4 years (the length of time is hazy but I believe it was that long.) By the way, the insurance company wouldn’t pay for that $35K procedure because once the doc made the slits on the fallopian tube, they considered the procedure for fertility. We tried everything short of buying eggs. Before we went down the road of fertility enhancement, the Doc required us to get counseling, in regards to fertility treatment. We were informed that couples that don’t get pregnant after lengthy efforts have a 70 – 90 % chance of divorcing from the stress and trauma. I’ll never forget that moment; we looked at each other and said that was nonsense. Well, it did happen to us. On Thanksgiving Day, I believe 1997, she asked me for a divorce. I knew it was coming. I was broken and wanted to separate in order to regroup but she was ready to part ways completely. I was shocked to my core.
In 1998 I gave CDs from my “Sacred Sites” series to an abortion clinic in Albuquerque. The music is slow and relaxing. I was asked to come to the clinic which I did. After seeing the faces of the women and the feelings in the clinic, I had a reversal of my feelings for abortion. For the last 25 years I have been haunted by my actions in regards to abortion and how life turned out for my girlfriends, my wife, and me. I never had children or attempted to have children after my past actions. I was totally selfish, ignorant, and arrogant as a young man. I am so, so sorry for my actions and guilty for not fighting for those souls. I thought of myself as someone who thinks of himself as caring, compassionate, and intelligent, but didn’t engage any of those qualities when I participated in those pregnancies. I have asked for forgiveness from both ladies, God, the unborn little people, and myself for years, but to be honest, I don’t feel it in the depths of my soul. Both ladies who I had the abortions with were not able to have children later in life as a result of the procedures and they were all done in supposedly profession clinics. They intensely wanted to have children. I take responsibility for those disastrous decisions. The pregnancies started from me, no matter what excuses I might have expressed at the time. As for my ex-wife that I wanted to have children with, I can only wonder if my previous actions brought suffering and loss to her.
This wasn’t my fate, but a result of the choices I made. I took the easy way out, or so I thought regarding abortion. But what I’ve learned through all this, is that the pain and inconvenience of discipline is nothing compared to the pain of regret.
As of June 13th, 2022 I was diagnosed with 4th stage prostate cancer. I’ve gone through chemo, currently radiation, and hormone therapy. I won’t go into the specifics what happens to a man during this process, but it does affect the sex organs. Google it up if you’re interested.
I am eternally sorry for my actions; they will reverberate in me until my last breath and I am at peace with that. If my story helps one person to reconsider their CHOICE in regards to abortion; then I’ve done something good. Please, think deeply about what your actions will mean to yourself and others now and in the unknown future.
So, is it “Karma, Coincidence, or Penitence?”
Jay Rusty Crutcher

Just ranting because I need to and want to see if anyone else can relate or has advice. I got sterilized back in February and recently stopped my birth control pills (about 2 weeks ago maybe.) At first I noticed slight mood changes, nothing out of control though, just like I would get teary watching a video that wouldn't have had that affect on me before. The past few days though, I feel like I'm getting worse and bordering "out of control" territory.
The thing is though, I live in the northeast and am currently living in the smoke cloud coming from the Canadian wildfires. I've always had climate anxiety but this has ramped it up. Especially since I would usually blow off steam and feel better by getting outside and riding my bike or taking a walk but I can't really because we have an air quality warning. I feel like it's natural that I would have some anxiety and depressing feelings in an event like this, but I also feel like I'm not coping as well and that I just have this constant cloud I'm carrying with me and have been having random crying fits today for no particular reason. Im wondering if this coupled with the fact that I went off the pill is triggering this reaction.
Has anyone else experienced something like this when they stopped their bc? Any advice or gleams of hope? I have an appointment with a doctor to get some blood work done and get my hormone levels checked but that's not till the end of July and I'm worried that this could escalate into a real bad situation before then. I'd like to be at my natural hormone levels when I'm getting my blood work done, but I'm feeling conflicted as to whether I should just take my pills again or if that would just cause more inconsistencies and fluctuations.

Come on. You can smell it too right?
We’re on the absolute brink of what’s about to be a completely new world. Huge changes from all corners of society and life as we have ever known it.
AI technology will be the driving force in three key ways:
First way: The ease of things
By solving our insatiable need (desire) for convenience.
Humanity has never been so demanding of ease. Why? Because we want so much nowadays! Mentally and physically, there’s too much to consume. Leaving us impatiently hungry for more.
So ya’ better give it to me quickly!
Second way: Healing society
AI will then perform humanitarian acts; offer climate solutions, patents for cures and ‘efficient’ societal strategies that supersede human politics.
To completely deflect any nefarious suspicions (lol us lot), they will show AI in the purest light.
Third way: Go Quantum
I’m not a scientist, I don’t know how quantum physics works. Hell, I probably am too ignorant on the subject to even be making a comment.
But with all the Marvel and pop culture predictive programming on ‘quantum reality’ and other dimensions - that will definitely be weaponized to control us.
All of these factors will be sold to the public globally. The division in consciousness; those in the matrix and those outside of it will become CRYSTAL clear.

Not sure if anyone else has experienced this but with my 2020 select, I will hit a bigger bump in the road and my phone will disconnect. I live in Michigan so bumps are a common thing. I sometimes can switch the cord placement from the usb plug under the climate control to in the center counsel and it will work after switching. However, sometimes the screen says it’s not able to connect to CarPlay at all even though my phone is charging. Gets a bit frustrating especially if I’m using GPS and both usb plugs stop working from a bump. I’ve also switched out the cord so I don’t think that’s it. Any input would be great!

Day 1 - unknown system- We're filled with high spirits bright As the crew conducts their flight For all to witness, day and night Exploring space, its limits in sight
Day 2 - unknown system- A leak in hydraulics, a minor plight Our engineers shine, repairs ignite. With skill and precision, we set it right, The ship's design restored, ready for the fight.
Day 3 - unknown system- The air pump is leaking, the climate control is rusted But we’ll get it quickly adjusted It may have been our fault, we left it busted But this ship is our lifeline, we all just trust it
Day 4 - unknown system- Oxygen is getting short, but we all can still breathe One of our crew is loosing some teeth We’re in no danger, that’s a mistaken belief! Let’s just focus on our mission brief
Day 5 - unknown system- The crew are dead. Their faces pale blue The only light from the console’s neon hue They all had wrong priorities, didn’t know what to do So I kept the air for myself - my mission will continue
Day 6 - unknown system- :no user found: :no entry:

I've got a 2015 bighorn 2500 and I absolutely hate the Uconnect. What can I do to fix this problem? It'll connect for phone calls but not media. Has anyone replaced there's with an aftermarket unit that has both Android auto and apple carplay? Or can I update/upgrade my current head unit/uconnect? I don't know the exact model of my head unit but it dosn't have Nav. I like being able to change the climate and other shit on the screen and don't want to lose that if I don't have to but I also hate not being able to play media.

Last night I ran The Workshop Watches from the first edition of Arcadia. The players loved it!
I ran the session as a one shot, but afterward basically everyone said that they wanted to keep playing, if not in this adventure at the very least more in the world. It was such a good time. The characters (Minerva, elf wizard, Jeffrey, drow rogue (these first two had to peace about half way through the session) Dan, human druid, Joe, bugbear wizard, and Quartz, dwarf fighter) were on the mission from Amari to investigate the wizards and their progress in assistive magic. They arrived at the workshop and met SAM, the magical AI that was the workshop, but they assumed that it was just a door keeper. I had SAM appear as the light illuminating one of the runes the wizards had carved into the walls, but the players were surprised to see that the light followed them, illuminating the runes closest to them to represent SAM's presence. They asked SAM about the wizards and it said it didn't know where they were, and created food and water for them. The party wasn't specifically trusting or mistrusting of SAM, but they assumed it wouldn't be a big part of the story.
They got into the library and the druid tangled with the mimic. They defeated it easily enough but it was a cool moment for sure, the druid wild shaped into a bear while he was being eaten by the mimic. There were so many dope moments like that in this session.
The players kept moving through the workshop and started getting less and less trusting of SAM. I had the shambling mound/awakened tree be a kind of first try the wizards had given to creating an intelligent magical entity, they had tried to merge books with its consciousness to increase its knowledge, but it ended up breaking the tree's mind. Also another memorable battle because the druid (still a bear) was up on the roof of the green house and then broke through the glass to attack the shambling mound (the druid noticed it before the other characters since he was looking through the roof), and as he fell from the ceiling he shot a lightning bolt out of his mouth (not even sure if you can do that in wild shape, but it was a one shot). That blew a hole through the thing's chest which it then used to envelop the bear and the wizard summoned demons to fight. Lots of good crazy stuff. After that battle I had SAM act super curious asking more about how they'd learned to fight and cast spells which was a dope set up for the final battle. The players were at least mostly distrusting of SAM at this point since it still hadn't told them what happened to the wizards. They also saw the scorched part of the greenhouse and noticed that SAM shouted "CLIMATE CONTROL" at blasted ice when the wizard used burning hands against the shambling mound. It was such a dope fight. At one point the druid tried to climb back out of the greenhouse and the shambling mound hit him with an AoP just enough to take him out of wild shape, but I said he still managed to grab a hold of the roof as his hands shifted out of paws. Then the shambling mound tried to chase him up (the druid had by far done the most damage to him) and just as it arrived on the roof he hit it with a thunderwave, destroying the rest of the roof and the thing taking even more damage from falling. It was some dope stuff. The players were freaking out like every turn.
When they finally started up the stairs to the final room SAM started saying they needed rest, and cast sleep, which took out the wizard. The druid had had enough of SAM and decided to try sneaking over the peak of the mountain to get to the upper level instead of going through the workshop. He had an immovable rod and worked some shenanigans. The fighter thought that the wizard had just dropped dead and started to negotiate with SAM. He asked SAM to get some pillows so they could all go to sleep but as soon as SAM left he sprinted up the stairs, busted open the door to the workshop and saw the animated armor finishing SAM's body. At that point everything went crazy. The fighter started hacking the armor as the druid arrived over the peak, just in time for the wizard to come to and cast fireball in the middle of the hallway, melting two suits of armor and the flying swords, and damaging both his allies. A crazy battle ensued, SAM got into its new body just in time to be hit by a lightning bolt, only to return the favor and knock out the fighter. That was when the players realized SAM could copy their spells and they freaked out when it summoned four demons just as the wizard had done earlier. The wizard stuck a swarm of rats on SAM's new body as the druid, transforming into a warhorse, managed to take out most of the minions. The fight kept getting more and more intense as the fighter started failing his death saves, and the druid was torn between healing him and trying to take out SAM. In the end SAM knocked out the druid as the fighter failed his last death save, the wizard looked at his odds and misty stepped the crap out of there. I had no idea how it was going to wrap up other than a TPK, but I figured SAM hadn't seen the wizard teleport away and would probably stabilize the druid to get more information about the outside world out of him. But then the druid rolls a nat twenty on his death save, and opens his eyes to see SAM standing over him. "How did I fare in battle?" He asked the druid, half gloating. In the back of my head I'm thinking "there's no way he gets out of this, he has one hit point." But, instead of groveling or begging for mercy the druid tells SAM he had performed very poorly, and that the wizards had made a mistake in creating him. SAM got angry and started yelling that he'd defeated the party and the druid gets really quiet and then says "you saw me change into all manner of creatures, for which you have no explanation." SAM had asked him earlier how he'd changed into the bear, and the druid didn't bother to explain. He taunts SAM a little more, and then says, but practically shouts across the table "You think this is my only body? I have powers you can't dream of." I was struck by how hard he was roleplaying it and thought SAM is a being of curiousity, and so he says "how do you do it?" The druid smiles and says, "come close, I'll tell you my secret." I knew he had something up his sleeve but I had no idea what and he was playing to SAM's weakness so well, so I had him lean in. "Closer, I'm weak," he whispers and I say that their faces are inches apart. "I grab his center plate and I cast thunderwave." I have never seen three players so intensely focused. My mind was scrambling to figure out what would happen, knowing it was such a dramatic moment. SAM mega failed his save against the spell. The druid played his cards so well.
I say "An explosion rocks the room. Your vision goes blurry from the kick back of your own spell. When you open your eyes there is just SAM's center panel in your hand. You hear metal pieces clattering across the room and down the stairs." I describe how he sees now that the panel has a handle, and he opens it, revealing the amulet that holds SAM's consciousness. As he touches it he hears SAM's voice in his head. And then the player does something crazier than I could have imagined.
"I eat it."
The room is in silence. I look at him like he's insane, and he just nods. I ask for a constitution save as my mind races. He rolls a 19. This is a one shot.
I explain that he feels the amulet hit his stomach acid, and it breaks open. He can feel SAM's consciousness enter into his body, and it starts to push against his. In hindsight I should've had him roll a Charisma save here but I just stuck with the Con save he's already smashed, and said that he's able to overcome SAM's consciousness and absorb it into his. So I look at him and I say "well, you're like a 9th level wizard now." The entire table drops their jaw, including me. But the druid doesn't loose a second, he says "I wanna know what happened to the wizards." I say that he can feel SAM's memories as a part of him now, and so I describe how he incinerated Exor, and then pushed the others off the cliff. The players are stunned, but again the druid had no time to waste. I feel like its relevant to say that I literally met this dude last night, and he had just broken the entire adventure, maybe the world. He says "do I know revivify?" I laugh in shock and roll a dice and say yeah, he does. He brings the fighter back to life, and he describes how there's now a tiny blue light in the back of his eyes, and the fighter can tell that something is different about him. But he just smiles and says "Come with me, there is much to do."
Thank you Matt Colville for creating this wonderful shared moment at my table.

Hey all, wanted to post for 2 reasons: to provide a record of my weekly updates on this WOE for my own accountability, and to give information to the community about what is working for me and what isn't. I am willing to discuss anything mentioned below in greater detail.
Background: American, 34F, 5'4, SW 212 (bra size 36DD (it's a little small tbh), men's Levi's size 38x30). I have tried this diet in the past but was never really strict enough...I still included things like salsa, avocadoes, condiments, hard alcohol, and way too much cheese. This time around, I'm a lot more committed to the pure basics and not so interested in finding ways to softly cheat. Part of the reason for this is also to address what I feel is a growing problem with alcohol (regularly consuming 6+ drinks per day). I have a high stress job and have been moderately depressed/anxious but unmedicated since my teen years. I recently went through the ending of an 8-year relationship as well and a move. I smoke cigarettes rarely and cannabis even more rarely, but they are both on the table for me still. Beyond weight, mental health, and alcohol abuse (my primary concerns), I hope to address stubborn acne, reactivity to poison oak and sunburn, knee and shoulder pain from old injuries, and menstrual symptoms. I currently supplement with a women's multivitamin, lysine, and krill oil...whether I continue these after I run out remains to be seen. I am not on hormonal birth control or any rx meds.
Week 1 (June 1-7): Meals consisted mostly of 80/20 ground beef, with pork sausage, bear sausage, linguica, ribeye steaks, bacon, butter, smoked salmon, cream cheese, turkey breast, and a few eggs mixed in. The first day I tried dousing everything in my normal serving of hot sauce, which was a big mistake as I found out that night and the next morning. Since then I have just used salt, pepper, and garlic powder if I feel like it. I have been decreasing the salt over my normal amount. I eat once or twice a day, so far it has been somewhere between 1-2# of meat total (not much of a measurer).
I have noticed my sleep is better in some aspects and a lot worse in others. When I was drinking, I would fall asleep easier, but wake up with heartburn, anxiety, a headache, or some combination of hangover symptoms. I do not have any heartburn anymore after the first couple days, but I wake up every hour or so and have a much harder time falling asleep. I think this could be attributed to more than just dietary changes.
I have also noticed my mood is much more stable, notably, I am not as sad. I still feel stress and anger at times, but I don't wake up with a pit of dread and I feel less "hopeless." In fact, I had the motivation to attend a yoga class for the first time in years. The caveat with this is, I live in a rainy/foggy coastal climate, and my mood generally improves around the start of summer.
I have not had any alcohol since starting. I have been drinking a LOT of LaCroix and just plain water, as well as drip coffee, espresso, and green tea (all straight, no milk of any kind). This has certainly been challenging, but I feel that combining my carb and alcohol cravings and addressing them together has so far proven more effective than trying to separate them. I have tried to stop or cut back on drinking many, many times and have not had what I would consider success for many years. The interesting thing is, I'm not experiencing crazy sugar cravings like I have in the past with quitting drinking. I may also cut back on coffee as I don't feel as sluggish in the morning once I actually get out of bed.
I have lost 7# and some pants I couldn't even get on last week now button up easily. The fat roll on my back is almost gone, and my face looks better (acne is still there, I attribute that to stress and the detox from drinking). My overall body comp has always tended to be a bit musculadense.
This next week (June 8-14), I plan to introduce 48-72 hour fasts in the mix, mostly over weekends when my stress and activity levels are a bit lower. I attempted a 24-hr fast around day 4, and found that I was just so stressed out from work that I couldn't possibly bear the additional stress of not eating. I am trying to get back in tune with my body, I have neglected it for a long time and even put on the weight as a subconscious protection measure...a different topic. I also plan to reintroduce a light weightlifting regimen, I've lifted on and off since my teen athlete days. I might attempt a run or long bike ride as well. I plan to eat more ground beef, as well as bacon, elk steaks, ground bear, pork steaks, and smoked salmon or canned sardines. I think I might try the "gallon of water a day" thing and see how that goes.
The main takeways this week: greatly increased mood and outlook, more optimism rather than pessimism, no heartburn, better digestion, and better mornings.

Since the government is "obviously" incapable of helping "climate control" should regular people advocate against things such deforestation, agricultural runoff, and plastic pollution?

1. The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in “advanced” countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. It will certainly subject human beings to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world, it will probably lead to greater social disruption and psychological suffering, and it may lead to increased physical suffering even in “advanced” countries.

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1. The industrial-technological system may survive or it may break down. If it survives, it MAY eventually achieve a low level of physical and psychological suffering, but only after passing through a long and very painful period of adjustment and only at the cost of permanently reducing human beings and many other living organisms to engineered products and mere cogs in the social machine. Furthermore, if the system survives, the consequences will be inevitable: There is no way of reforming or modifying the system so as to prevent it from depriving people of dignity and autonomy.

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1. If the system breaks down the consequences will still be very painful. But the bigger the system grows the more disastrous the results of its breakdown will be, so if it is to break down it had best break down sooner rather than later.

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1. We therefore advocate a revolution against the industrial system. This revolution may or may not make use of violence; it may be sudden or it may be a relatively gradual process spanning a few decades. We can’t predict any of that. But we do outline in a very general way the measures that those who hate the industrial system should take in order to prepare the way for a revolution against that form of society. This is not to be a POLITICAL revolution. Its object will be to overthrow not governments but the economic and technological basis of the present society.

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1. In this article we give attention to only some of the negative developments that have grown out of the industrial-technological system. Other such developments we mention only briefly or ignore altogether. This does not mean that we regard these other developments as unimportant. For practical reasons we have to confine our discussion to areas that have received insufficient public attention or in which we have something new to say. For example, since there are well-developed environmental and wilderness movements, we have written very little about environmental degradation or the destruction of wild nature, even though we consider these to be highly important.

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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MODERN LEFTISM
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1. Almost everyone will agree that we live in a deeply troubled society. One of the most widespread manifestations of the craziness of our world is leftism, so a discussion of the psychology of leftism can serve as an introduction to the discussion of the problems of modern society in general.

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1. But what is leftism? During the first half of the 20th century leftism could have been practically identified with socialism. Today the movement is fragmented and it is not clear who can properly be called a leftist. When we speak of leftists in this article we have in mind mainly socialists, collectivists, “politically correct” types, feminists, gay and disability activists, animal rights activists and the like. But not everyone who is associated with one of these movements is a leftist. What we are trying to get at in discussing leftism is not so much movement or an ideology as a psychological type, or rather a collection of related types. Thus, what we mean by “leftism” will emerge more clearly in the course of our discussion of leftist psychology. (Also, see paragraphs 227-230.)

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1. Even so, our conception of leftism will remain a good deal less clear than we would wish, but there doesn’t seem to be any remedy for this. All we are trying to do here is indicate in a rough and approximate way the two psychological tendencies that we believe are the main driving force of modern leftism. We by no means claim to be telling the WHOLE truth about leftist psychology. Also, our discussion is meant to apply to modern leftism only. We leave open the question of the extent to which our discussion could be applied to the leftists of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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1. The two psychological tendencies that underlie modern leftism we call “feelings of inferiority” and “oversocialization.” Feelings of inferiority are characteristic of modern leftism as a whole, while oversocialization is characteristic only of a certain segment of modern leftism; but this segment is highly influential.

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FEELINGS OF INFERIORITY
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1. By “feelings of inferiority” we mean not only inferiority feelings in the strict sense but a whole spectrum of related traits; low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, depressive tendencies, defeatism, guilt, self- hatred, etc. We argue that modern leftists tend to have some such feelings (possibly more or less repressed) and that these feelings are decisive in determining the direction of modern leftism.

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1. When someone interprets as derogatory almost anything that is said about him (or about groups with whom he identifies) we conclude that he has inferiority feelings or low self-esteem. This tendency is pronounced among minority rights activists, whether or not they belong to the minority groups whose rights they defend. They are hypersensitive about the words used to designate minorities and about anything that is said concerning minorities. The terms “negro,” “oriental,” “handicapped” or “chick” for an African, an Asian, a disabled person or a woman originally had no derogatory connotation. “Broad” and “chick” were merely the feminine equivalents of “guy,” “dude” or “fellow.” The negative connotations have been attached to these terms by the activists themselves. Some animal rights activists have gone so far as to reject the word “pet” and insist on its replacement by “animal companion.” Leftish anthropologists go to great lengths to avoid saying anything about primitive peoples that could conceivably be interpreted as negative. They want to replace the world “primitive” by “nonliterate.” They seem almost paranoid about anything that might suggest that any primitive culture is inferior to our own. (We do not mean to imply that primitive cultures ARE inferior to ours. We merely point out the hypersensitivity of leftish anthropologists.)

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1. Those who are most sensitive about “politically incorrect” terminology are not the average black ghetto- dweller, Asian immigrant, abused woman or disabled person, but a minority of activists, many of whom do not even belong to any “oppressed” group but come from privileged strata of society. Political correctness has its stronghold among university professors, who have secure employment with comfortable salaries, and the majority of whom are heterosexual white males from middle- to upper-middle-class families.

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1. Many leftists have an intense identification with the problems of groups that have an image of being weak (women), defeated (American Indians), repellent (homosexuals) or otherwise inferior. The leftists themselves feel that these groups are inferior. They would never admit to themselves that they have such feelings, but it is precisely because they do see these groups as inferior that they identify with their problems. (We do not mean to suggest that women, Indians, etc. ARE inferior; we are only making a point about leftist psychology.)

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1. Feminists are desperately anxious to prove that women are as strong and as capable as men. Clearly they are nagged by a fear that women may NOT be as strong and as capable as men.

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1. Leftists tend to hate anything that has an image of being strong, good and successful. They hate America, they hate Western civilization, they hate white males, they hate rationality. The reasons that leftists give for hating the West, etc. clearly do not correspond with their real motives. They SAY they hate the West because it is warlike, imperialistic, sexist, ethnocentric and so forth, but where these same faults appear in socialist countries or in primitive cultures, the leftist finds excuses for them, or at best he GRUDGINGLY admits that they exist; whereas he ENTHUSIASTICALLY points out (and often greatly exaggerates) these faults where they appear in Western civilization. Thus it is clear that these faults are not the leftist’s real motive for hating America and the West. He hates America and the West because they are strong and successful.

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1. Words like “self-confidence,” “self-reliance,” “initiative,” “enterprise,” “optimism,” etc., play little role in the liberal and leftist vocabulary. The leftist is anti-individualistic, pro-collectivist. He wants society to solve everyone’s problems for them, satisfy everyone’s needs for them, take care of them. He is not the sort of person who has an inner sense of confidence in his ability to solve his own problems and satisfy his own needs. The leftist is antagonistic to the concept of competition because, deep inside, he feels like a loser.

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1. Art forms that appeal to modern leftish intellectuals tend to focus on sordidness, defeat and despair, or else they take an orgiastic tone, throwing off rational control as if there were no hope of accomplishing anything through rational calculation and all that was left was to immerse oneself in the sensations of the moment.

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1. Modern leftish philosophers tend to dismiss reason, science, objective reality and to insist that everything is culturally relative. It is true that one can ask serious questions about the foundations of scientific knowledge and about how, if at all, the concept of objective reality can be defined. But it is obvious that modern leftish philosophers are not simply cool-headed logicians systematically analyzing the foundations of knowledge. They are deeply involved emotionally in their attack on truth and reality. They attack these concepts because of their own psychological needs. For one thing, their attack is an outlet for hostility, and, to the extent that it is successful, it satisfies the drive for power. More importantly, the leftist hates science and rationality because they classify certain beliefs as true (i.e., successful, superior) and other beliefs as false (i.e., failed, inferior). The leftist’s feelings of inferiority run so deep that he cannot tolerate any classification of some things as successful or superior and other things as failed or inferior. This also underlies the rejection by many leftists of the concept of mental illness and of the utility of IQ tests. Leftists are antagonistic to genetic explanations of human abilities or behavior because such explanations tend to make some persons appear superior or inferior to others. Leftists prefer to give society the credit or blame for an individual’s ability or lack of it. Thus if a person is “inferior” it is not his fault, but society’s, because he has not been brought up properly.

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1. The leftist is not typically the kind of person whose feelings of inferiority make him a braggart, an egotist, a bully, a self-promoter, a ruthless competitor. This kind of person has not wholly lost faith in himself. He has a deficit in his sense of power and self-worth, but he can still conceive of himself as having the capacity to be strong, and his efforts to make himself strong produce his unpleasant behavior. [1] But the leftist is too far gone for that. His feelings of inferiority are so ingrained that he cannot conceive of himself as individually strong and valuable. Hence the collectivism of the leftist. He can feel strong only as a member of a large organization or a mass movement with which he identifies himself.

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1. Notice the masochistic tendency of leftist tactics. Leftists protest by lying down in front of vehicles, they intentionally provoke police or racists to abuse them, etc. These tactics may often be effective, but many leftists use them not as a means to an end but because they PREFER masochistic tactics. Self-hatred is a leftist trait.

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1. Leftists may claim that their activism is motivated by compassion or by moral principles, and moral principle does play a role for the leftist of the oversocialized type. But compassion and moral principle cannot be the main motives for leftist activism. Hostility is too prominent a component of leftist behavior; so is the drive for power. Moreover, much leftist behavior is not rationally calculated to be of benefit to the people whom the leftists claim to be trying to help. For example, if one believes that affirmative action is good for black people, does it make sense to demand affirmative action in hostile or dogmatic terms? Obviously it would be more productive to take a diplomatic and conciliatory approach that would make at least verbal and symbolic concessions to white people who think that affirmative action discriminates against them. But leftist activists do not take such an approach because it would not satisfy their emotional needs. Helping black people is not their real goal. Instead, race problems serve as an excuse for them to express their own hostility and frustrated need for power. In doing so they actually harm black people, because the activists’ hostile attitude toward the white majority tends to intensify race hatred.

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1. If our society had no social problems at all, the leftists would have to INVENT problems in order to provide themselves with an excuse for making a fuss.

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1. We emphasize that the foregoing does not pretend to be an accurate description of everyone who might be considered a leftist. It is only a rough indication of a general tendency of leftism.

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OVERSOCIALIZATION
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1. Psychologists use the term “socialization” to designate the process by which children are trained to think and act as society demands. A person is said to be well socialized if he believes in and obeys the moral code of his society and fits in well as a functioning part of that society. It may seem senseless to say that many leftists are oversocialized, since the leftist is perceived as a rebel. Nevertheless, the position can be defended. Many leftists are not such rebels as they seem.

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1. The moral code of our society is so demanding that no one can think, feel and act in a completely moral way. For example, we are not supposed to hate anyone, yet almost everyone hates somebody at some time or other, whether he admits it to himself or not. Some people are so highly socialized that the attempt to think, feel and act morally imposes a severe burden on them. In order to avoid feelings of guilt, they continually have to deceive themselves about their own motives and find moral explanations for feelings and actions that in reality have a non-moral origin. We use the term “oversocialized” to describe such people. [2]

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1. Oversocialization can lead to low self-esteem, a sense of powerlessness, defeatism, guilt, etc. One of the most important means by which our society socializes children is by making them feel ashamed of behavior or speech that is contrary to society’s expectations. If this is overdone, or if a particular child is especially susceptible to such feelings, he ends by feeling ashamed of HIMSELF. Moreover the thought and the behavior of the oversocialized person are more restricted by society’s expectations than are those of the lightly socialized person. The majority of people engage in a significant amount of naughty behavior. They lie, they commit petty thefts, they break traffic laws, they goof off at work, they hate someone, they say spiteful things or they use some underhanded trick to get ahead of the other guy. The oversocialized person cannot do these things, or if he does do them he generates in himself a sense of shame and self-hatred. The oversocialized person cannot even experience, without guilt, thoughts or feelings that are contrary to the accepted morality; he cannot think “unclean” thoughts. And socialization is not just a matter of morality; we are socialized to conform to many norms of behavior that do not fall under the heading of morality. Thus the oversocialized person is kept on a psychological leash and spends his life running on rails that society has laid down for him. In many oversocialized people this results in a sense of constraint and powerlessness that can be a severe hardship. We suggest that oversocialization is among the more serious cruelties that human beings inflict on one another.

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1. We argue that a very important and influential segment of the modern left is oversocialized and that their oversocialization is of great importance in determining the direction of modern leftism. Leftists of the oversocialized type tend to be intellectuals or members of the upper-middle class. Notice that university intellectuals [3] constitute the most highly socialized segment of our society and also the most left-wing segment.

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1. The leftist of the oversocialized type tries to get off his psychological leash and assert his autonomy by rebelling. But usually he is not strong enough to rebel against the most basic values of society. Generally speaking, the goals of today’s leftists are NOT in conflict with the accepted morality. On the contrary, the left takes an accepted moral principle, adopts it as its own, and then accuses mainstream society of violating that principle. Examples: racial equality, equality of the sexes, helping poor people, peace as opposed to war, nonviolence generally, freedom of expression, kindness to animals. More fundamentally, the duty of the individual to serve society and the duty of society to take care of the individual. All these have been deeply rooted values of our society (or at least of its middle and upper classes [4] for a long time. These values are explicitly or implicitly expressed or presupposed in most of the material presented to us by the mainstream communications media and the educational system. Leftists, especially those of the oversocialized type, usually do not rebel against these principles but justify their hostility to society by claiming (with some degree of truth) that society is not living up to these principles.

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1. Here is an illustration of the way in which the oversocialized leftist shows his real attachment to the conventional attitudes of our society while pretending to be in rebellion against it. Many leftists push for affirmative action, for moving black people into high-prestige jobs, for improved education in black schools and more money for such schools; the way of life of the black “underclass” they regard as a social disgrace. They want to integrate the black man into the system, make him a business executive, a lawyer, a scientist just like upper-middle-class white people. The leftists will reply that the last thing they want is to make the black man into a copy of the white man; instead, they want to preserve African American culture. But in what does this preservation of African American culture consist? It can hardly consist in anything more than eating black-style food, listening to black-style music, wearing black-style clothing and going to a black- style church or mosque. In other words, it can express itself only in superficial matters. In all ESSENTIAL respects most leftists of the oversocialized type want to make the black man conform to white, middle-class ideals. They want to make him study technical subjects, become an executive or a scientist, spend his life climbing the status ladder to prove that black people are as good as white. They want to make black fathers “responsible,” they want black gangs to become nonviolent, etc. But these are exactly the values of the industrial-technological system. The system couldn’t care less what kind of music a man listens to, what kind of clothes he wears or what religion he believes in as long as he studies in school, holds a respectable job, climbs the status ladder, is a “responsible” parent, is nonviolent and so forth. In effect, however much he may deny it, the oversocialized leftist wants to integrate the black man into the system and make him adopt its values.

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1. We certainly do not claim that leftists, even of the oversocialized type, NEVER rebel against the fundamental values of our society. Clearly they sometimes do. Some oversocialized leftists have gone so far as to rebel against one of modern society’s most important principles by engaging in physical violence. By their own account, violence is for them a form of “liberation.” In other words, by committing violence they break through the psychological restraints that have been trained into them. Because they are oversocialized these restraints have been more confining for them than for others; hence their need to break free of them. But they usually justify their rebellion in terms of mainstream values. If they engage in violence they claim to be fighting against racism or the like.

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1. We realize that many objections could be raised to the foregoing thumbnail sketch of leftist psychology. The real situation is complex, and anything like a complete description of it would take several volumes even if the necessary data were available. We claim only to have indicated very roughly the two most important tendencies in the psychology of modern leftism.

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1. The problems of the leftist are indicative of the problems of our society as a whole. Low self-esteem, depressive tendencies and defeatism are not restricted to the left. Though they are especially noticeable in the left, they are widespread in our society. And today’s society tries to socialize us to a greater extent than any previous society. We are even told by experts how to eat, how to exercise, how to make love, how to raise our kids and so forth.

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THE POWER PROCESS
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1. Human beings have a need (probably based in biology) for something that we will call the “power process.” This is closely related to the need for power (which is widely recognized) but is not quite the same thing. The power process has four elements. The three most clear-cut of these we call goal, effort and attainment of goal. (Everyone needs to have goals whose attainment requires effort, and needs to succeed in attaining at least some of his goals.) The fourth element is more difficult to define and may not be necessary for everyone. We call it autonomy and will discuss it later (paragraphs 42-44).

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1. Consider the hypothetical case of a man who can have anything he wants just by wishing for it. Such a man has power, but he will develop serious psychological problems. At first he will have a lot of fun, but by and by he will become acutely bored and demoralized. Eventually he may become clinically depressed. History shows that leisured aristocracies tend to become decadent. This is not true of fighting aristocracies that have to struggle to maintain their power. But leisured, secure aristocracies that have no need to exert themselves usually become bored, hedonistic and demoralized, even though they have power. This shows that power is not enough. One must have goals toward which to exercise one’s power.

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1. Everyone has goals; if nothing else, to obtain the physical necessities of life: food, water and whatever clothing and shelter are made necessary by the climate. But the leisured aristocrat obtains these things without effort. Hence his boredom and demoralization.

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1. Nonattainment of important goals results in death if the goals are physical necessities, and in frustration if nonattainment of the goals is compatible with survival. Consistent failure to attain goals throughout life results in defeatism, low self-esteem or depression.

hi! i am starting to raise polyphemus moths in the hopes that i can breed them year to year and use the silk they leave behind for fiber crafts.
my female mated with a wild male and laid about 100-150 eggs. today they hatched. i learned that the newly hatched caterpillars wander before eating, but are they also supposed to seem lethargic? they are about 6 hours old. many of them are just sort of sitting on the leaves completely still, as if resting or sleeping, others will wander away from them. i offered them aspen, birch, rose, & willow leaves, all documented as food plants, and all i have available in this forest. most of the caterpillars i have in a cardboard box, and a few are in glass jars with a cheesecloth in place of a top. ( i don't have any tupperware and won't be able to get any for another couple of weeks..i evacuated from fires recently so my setup just isn't the best, i prepared so well before but now i'm making do with what i have..) i put in damp paper towels to both of these just now, after reading that they can potentially dry out in this time window before they begin to eat. inside of this cabin it's not terribly dry but it is very warm. (i have no AC or heater or climate control, i keep windows open, so it's close to the outside air which i assume they are adapted to.)
i am just scared they will never eat and just die. i'm really beating myself up about the fact that my setup is so unideal because of circumstances outside my control. i wonder if i should just release the caterpillars on wild food plants so that they have a better chance at life.
help? i am a nervous wreck! i just want them to be happy and safe and experience the joy of eating.

Hey everyone, I’m looking to make a list of areas to visit that might be potential long term homes. My job is fully remote so finding a job isn’t a concern. I’m originally from Long Island, NY and currently reside in Wilmington, NC. While the area has grown on me—a lot—the annual threat of hurricanes would give me plenty of anxiety every year if I owned and didn’t rent. I’ve already visited Asheville (much too crowded/busy for me) and will be visiting Durham and Chapel Hill areas in July, possibly Roanoke VA in the fall.
This is basically what I’m looking for (on mobile, sorry if formatting is crap):

• Small city atmosphere
• Established downtown area
• Arts, nightlife
• Good food/drink
• Walkable/easy to navigate by car
• Access to outdoor activities
• Liberal leaning/progressive area
• Clean aiwater
• Infrastructure in decent condition
• Friendly people
• Relative safe from worst effects of climate change and natural disasters
• Proximity to regional airport
• Reliable high-speed internet
• Crime under control/generally safe
• Mild winters

Ideally I’d live on the outskirts of a small to mid-size city in a suburb where the houses weren’t crammed together. Space, quiet and privacy is important to me but I don’t want to get too rural or stray too far into the Bible Belt. EST states are preferred. Basically I’m just trying to find an area to live in that I can afford on my salary alone ($90k ish) if need be and not have to worry too much about extreme weather.
Let me know your suggestions!!