Contra

Lazy workout thread: what’s the thing you can always talk yourself into doing even when everything else sounds terrible? For me it’s kettlebell swings. 10 swings for EMOM for 15 minutes, done, somehow it counts.

There’s something deeply cynical about politicians who declare “America is a Christian nation” while their own lives tell a different story. JD Vance says Christianity is America’s Creed, yet he’s married to a Hindu and celebrates Hanukkah with his family. I’m not questioning his marriage or his respect for other faiths. I’m questioning the authenticity of his public theology. As a reformed Christian, I believe America’s founding was deeply shaped by Christian ethics and moral reasoning. That’s a historical reality we can trace through the documents, debates, and institutions our founders created. But there’s a massive difference between acknowledging that influence and weaponizing faith for electoral advantage. When politicians suddenly discover the language of Christian nationalism at precisely the moment it polls well with their base, we have an obligation to call it what it is: pandering. They’re not defending the faith. They’re using it as a vehicle to power. The gospel doesn’t need politicians to protect it. It needs believers who live with integrity, who refuse to let our most sacred convictions become just another campaign strategy. When faith becomes nothing more than a demographic to capture, we’ve lost something essential. I’d rather have a leader who lives their convictions quietly and inconsistently than one who performs them loudly while calculating their next move. At least the first one isn’t treating my faith like a focus group finding.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Dads, your kids are watching everything you do, even when you think they’re not paying attention. They’re watching how you treat their mom. How you handle stress. Whether you keep your promises. How you react when things don’t go your way. Whether you own your mistakes or blame everyone else. You’re not just providing for them, you’re showing them what a man looks like. What strength looks like. What integrity looks like. They’re learning from you whether the world is safe, whether they matter, whether people can be trusted. A lot of fathers think their job is mainly to work and provide money. That matters, but it’s not enough. Your presence matters. Your attention matters. The way you listen when they talk about something you don’t care about, that matters. You don’t have to be perfect. You’ll mess up, and that’s okay. What matters is being there, being consistent, and actually caring about who they’re becoming. The distance you create now, the conversations you avoid, the times you choose work or your phone over them, that stuff echoes for decades. Your role is bigger than you think. Show up for them now or they’ll rely on a government that will use you children for profit.

When we debate which faction should wield state power, we’re arguing over who gets to hold the leash, while missing that the leash itself is the problem. Real economic and social power belongs to those creating value, not those regulating its creation. The question isn’t who should control the machinery of government, but how quickly we can reduce that machinery to its minimal necessary functions…protecting rights, enforcing contracts, preventing coercion. Everything beyond that is just different factions taking turns standing in the way. Get out of our way!

"They took our oil rights. We had a lot of oil there. They threw our companies out. And we want it back." - Trump HERES A FACT MR PRESIDENT: Venezuela is a sovereign country. We don't have claim to their oil, land or sovereignty. IF THEY CAN SEIZE A SOVEREIGN COUNTRY’S LAND AND RESOURCES BY FORCE, WHAT THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK THEY WON’T DO THE SAME TO YOU? THIS IS THE PRECEDENT BEING SET RIGHT NOW. THEY’RE SHOWING YOU EXACTLY WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY’RE CAPABLE OF. WAKE UP. TAKE EVERY NECESSARY STEP TO PROTECT WHAT’S YOURS BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

Surveillance doesn’t primarily function through catching wrongdoers. It functions through making everyone preemptively compliant because they know that sufficient data, sufficiently analyzed, can construct a prosecutable narrative from any life. View quoted note →

Ia the machine greasing the skids? Guess we’ll find out.. 👇🏻 According to Tucker Carlson, a congressional member informed him that Trump’s address tonight will include an announcement that “a war is coming.” In response to Judge Napolitano asking: “Is Trump going to start a war in Venezuela?” Carlson replied: “I don’t know the answer … here’s what I know so far, which is that members of Congress were briefed yesterday that a war is coming and it’ll be announced in the address to the nation tonight at 9 o’clock by the president…“​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Got lower back pain? Got rotator joint pain? I started doing this years ago and it works. The dead hang might be the simplest fix for your shoulders and lower back. Hang from a bar for 30-60 seconds. That’s it. What happens? Your shoulder joints decompress and restore natural spacing. The scapula resets to proper position. Your spine lengthens under traction, releasing compressed discs in the lower back. Modern life keeps us hunched forward. The dead hang does the opposite. It opens your chest, externally rotates your shoulders, and lets gravity work for you instead of against you. Start with Progressive loading. 10-20 seconds. Build to 2+ minutes over weeks. Do it daily. Your CNS also recalibrates. Hanging activates reflexive grip strength and full body tension patterns we’ve lost sitting all day. Ancient movement pattern. Zero equipment needed. Maximum return.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

We live in a state of existence that quite possibly no one else in world history has. We have both access to instant global connectivity, infinite information, and access to artificial intelligence. But we are the last few humans in history who remember what life was like before it. We are the last living people to have experienced life before the digital age. And I fear that it may become nearly impossible for younger generations to even differentiate the digital world from the real one. But what gives me hope is the people who are building the alternative. The developers writing clients on nights and weekends because they believe in something better. The every day Nostr user helping e ergo be and anyone. The single mom learning about keys and relays because she wants her kids to grow up free. The guy running a node from his closet while everyone thinks he’s crazy. The people helping complete strangers understand Lightning, zapping value to content they believe in, teaching others even though no one’s paying them to do it. No one asked them. No one’s paying most of them. And most of the world has no idea they’re even there. These are the real leaders. And we need to empower them. We need to give them places to gather and the ability to act.

This may be the only post you see today from me. I will post more, but this may be it for you. I remind you to get out there and enjoy this day. Enjoy the people and cherish this moment. Once it’s gone it’s gone. Gm Nostr. ☕️ View quoted note →