Monday, July 21, 2025
Bizarre Novellas by Ladislav Velinský
Sunday, July 20, 2025
Nauru inhabitants acclimatized milkfish (Chanos chanos) to freshwater
My favorite Werner Herzog moments - nihilist penguin and murder jungle
Saturday, July 19, 2025
Predictions for Israel and Palestine
Paleoart masters - Charles Knight, Rudolph Zallinger, and Phil Tippets
Friday, July 18, 2025
US soldier punished for waterboarding POW during Vietnam War
Captain Planet, environmentalist propaganda, and hypocrisy
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
US Army basic training vs IDF
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Greetings to my readers in my home country, the good ol' USA
more random jokes
all the odd Wikipedia articles
Black Physicists Discover Smallest Particle of Black Lives Matter
Monday, July 14, 2025
clever metal working and carpentry trick uses geometry
random wise quotes
100 Things You're Not Supposed to Know
Walrus Tango and Song
War of the Boorish Boer and the Poor Moor
Sunday, July 13, 2025
Satan Considers Selling His Soul to Trump
Saturday, July 12, 2025
On battle cries and dying screams
Aliens Invade Earth; Women and Minorities Hardest Hit
Nation's College Deans Move Back With Their Parents
KKK, Antifa Merge to Form Klantifa
Connect 4, what did we win?
connect the dots
Thursday, July 10, 2025
more compare and contrast
NY Library Brings Drag Queens to Kids Story Hour
Army Unveils New 'Peaceful Protester' Attack Helicopter
Trump on Dead Soldiers: They Probably Vote Democrat Anyway
random military thought
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Hero and Angel - a fairy tale for grown ups
Greetings to my readers in India
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
The only ways to topple a nation's government
At any given time, people from about 40 countries are reading my blog
Screenshot from my stats page a few minutes ago:
Culture can be a prison - "afraid of mud, escape to thorns"
Jiggers (Tunga penetrans) are parasitic fleas that are native to Central and South America. They were inadvertently introduced to Africa centuries ago by European traders. In many parts of Africa, there is a tradition of going barefoot, which unfortunately can lead to jigger infestations of the feet. The only solution is to cut the fleas out with a knife. It's a slow, messy, and painful process.
Simon's Jigger Removal - Jiggers Dug Out!
In these and other cases, people do themselves and others needless harm out of beliefs which do not hold up under scrutiny.
Many times, people put up with things because they see no alternative or believe that life cannot change. In Japanese, that fatalism is found in the saying shikata ga nai, which means "it can't be helped" or "there's nothing that can be done". In English, we sometimes say "it is what it is".
This fatalism is wrongheaded. Things can always change, at least on the individual level or at a small scale. You don't have to always do, say, or believe as others. You might pay a price, but it will be small compared to the freedom and happiness you gain.