For the last year and a half. I started with Transcendental meditation. Then Vipasana in January and right not I’m learning Zen from “The Way” meditation app by Zen master and poet Henry Shukman. It’s actually very good and instructional. He’s created a series of paths that teach you step by step not only how to meditate but also how to expand awareness.

The first 12 are free and then there’s a monthly subscription. If you don’t have the money you can tell them and they will offer a much lower yearly discount or give it to you for free.

I highly recommend it.

The sourness that you taste in store-bought sour bread is usually from some type of acidic acid that they add to it. Baking sourdough at home and getting that sour taste is more or less like playing the lottery. To get that sour flavor, you need to have consistently specific temperatures in your kitchen, in your oven, etc. It’s not easy to do. I stopped worrying about that long ago. As long as the bread taste good, that’s all that really matters.

Honestly, it looks fine. The real question is, how does it taste?

Rachel Riley is a force all her own. You never want to underestimate her

You can only do what you can when you can. When it’s time too vote, vote. When it’s time to help your community, help them. When it’s time to lend your voice to the cause, then do so.

But most importantly, stay safe. Protect your loved ones. Do what’s needed to keep them safe even if it means finding safety elsewhere. People have survived this kinds of political authoritarianism before. People have survived fascist regimes before. You can too.

Thanks for the reply.

“inherently probabilistic and can’t be determined” is just another way of saying “random” or “we don’t know yet”.

If reality was not deterministic, the reliability of models and predictions in physics would be upended.

In a deterministic reality, where all things are due and subject to causation, there can be no free will. If we did not live in a causal reality, we’d never be able to make accurate predictions or models.

“Randomness” is not free will either. If you’re not in complete control of your influences, then you can not be said to have free will. Randomness does nothing to help the argument for free will.

With that said. Regardless of the existence of free will, what does exists is your awareness of what it’s like to be you. To be in the circumstances that currently govern your life. And in that awareness exists the boundless capacity for compassion. Once you understand that no one is in control of their lives, that all things are causal, it allows you to be less judgmental.

"If a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own skiff, he will not become angry. He will simply guide his boat around it.

But if he sees a person in the boat, he will shout at the other to steer clear. If the shout is not heard, and the boats collide, he will curse the other person.

Yet, if the boat were empty, he would not be angry."

— Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi)

I wrote a simple explanation of determinism in a blog post earlier this year (there’s an audio version available as well.) https://mrfunkedude.wordpress.com/2024/12/03/following-the-strings/

I don’t even care anymore.

I love GTAV and play Online almost everyday. But this bullshit about delays and more delays every year is just annoying as hell. How many years have they had to get this right?

I’m reminded of the quote “Don’t let perfect get in the way of good.” and I’m beginning to wonder if that’s what’s going on here? Are they delaying a good game because it’s not “perfect” or are they just so incompetent that they have to keep going back to “fix” things???

And watch, when it does come out it’ll be buggy as hell. Everyone will be asking “You’ve had all of this time. Why are there so many bugs?” and Rockstar will just shrug their shoulders all of the way to the bank.

Why does it look like it’s wearing a track suit?

I’ve been using Mint for a year now and I just got a second laptop and the first thing I did was Wipe Windows 11 off of it and install Mint.

It does everything I need it too.

People still use Email???

Book? I thought it was a demonic brownie! Looks kinda yummy!

Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.

ha! Jokes on you. I paid for the TV.

oh, fuck no.

Sesame Street.
We get it. Burt and Ernie are just “friends”. Oscar is a “grouch” because people treat his home like trash. Big Bird in an unhomed youth forced to sleep in an alley on some twigs that he uses for a bed. It’s a damn soap opera.

I mean, come on.

OK that hit home closer then I’d like.

What him?

Again?

Was the $100 price ever confirmed? I thought it was just rumored?

They’ve been saying that since Cheeto ran for office the second time and look where we are. 🙄