Why does our Rocker-Leaper protocol help make good pitchers... great? Tom House 〽️ Dean Doxakis Robert Ambrose Best answer will receive a free NPA hat, training shirt, & training towel.show more

Been building this little brand for almost three years... now with Grant Eastey and Ejay ODonnell. That’s my wife and I packing our first orders in our tiny garage that couldn’t even fit a car. But in the end the garage found its purpose. There’s something special about just going for it. We just wanted to make some hats for dads that we didn’t see out there for ourselves. Everything else was dad bod humor, mowing the lawn, ugly sneakers, etc. Being a dad is so much more than that. Being a dad really isn’t any of that funny stuff. That’s just the weird brand social media has given us. We’re about to cross half a million hats sold soon and still see ourselves in that tiny garage. Just trying things. Seeing what happens and doubling down if it works. The brand has become so much more than we ever imagined. I don’t enjoy the notion of becoming a “DTC brand”, just become a brand. Become a community and movement. You should see the notes we get from customers saying our hat helped them become better parents, our hat helped them keep trying to have children, our hat brought their kids joy when their dad passed away, our hat showed up and changed the life of someone deciding if they wanted to go on. I don’t care about the metrics. Obsession over CAC and ROAS won’t create this. Building something with meaning is so beyond any of the acronyms we see here on a regular basis. At the end of the day it’s all about trying. You just need to try. It’s as simple as that. I used to think there’s so much to risk by trying. At the end of the day it’s usually ego or fear. And two things are true. Ego decisions are solely based on your perception of what you’ll look like to others, which will never matter in the end. The second thing is fear. Fear usually only lives within YOU. Nowhere else. You make it up and decide how to act from it. Greatness is on the other side of fear. There’s no pressure over here. I was born into project buildings in Poland. “Making it” happened long before the brand started. Making it was getting out of Poland and into the US at the age of 7. On our pod yesterday Nate Lagos📈 asked me why I even stay on X when having a successful brand. The answer is simple. I personally want to give away as much free game as possible. I don’t know it all, not even close. But I want to help others break through and get their ideas into motion. Everyone is charging for courses and slack access. I get it, but it’s not how I care to move. There’s plenty to go around for everyone and if I can help then I’d love to. Gate keeping is weird. Pass it on. Help others win. Looking back at my time in that tiny garage I miss it. The excitement of a new idea forming. Hand packing every order and writing notes. Not caring if it works but trying and having fun. Going for it. To this day. 95% of all creative is Canva and iPhone. Free Shopify theme. I run all marketing. No employees. Great partners. It’s beautiful. One more time. JUST GO FOR IT.show more

🌟 "SHOULD I BUY AN IPHONE FOR TRACKING?" 🌟... tl;dr at bottom I've been using a facecam and Nvidia tracking for a long time and upgrading to a used iphone 13 combined with vbridger, the difference is HUGE. Here is my take on it! Why is Facecam > iPhone? ✅️ More affordable, esp for those using android phones ✅️ More convenient. If you launch Vtubestudio, there's a setting where your webcam automatically turns on, which is great. ✅️ Can track pretty well in the dark IF you already have a good webcam for night tracking. ❌️❌️ Stiff tracking at times ❌️ Not good at tracking specific mouth movement Why iPhone > Facecam? ✅️✅️ You can make the most of your model, since movement along the X and Y axes are a lot more accurate and wider. Also tracks eyes and overall face better. ✅️ More EXPRESSIONS. If your rigging allows for it, things like cheek puff, and tongue are able to be tracked. As far as I know, I cannot do this on facecam. ❌️❌️ WAY more expensive or requires that you have an iPhone already. Needs more set-up (need phone stand right in front of you, need to hook your phone up to a charger at all times, phone could possibly overheat as well if it's old, so you might need a cooler). TL;DR For me, if you have an extra 200 to spare for WAY better tracking, I would 1000% recommend buying a used iPhone on Amazon. iPhone X is the BARE minumum, I would recommend 12/13 so that your phone does not overheat. I do not need to use a cooler for my used iPhone 13. Being able to use my rigging to its fullest makes the model feel so so so different (in a good way). Feel free to reply with any questions, I will try to answer them!show more

Universities and High Schools have not moved rapidly enough... to guide students to have skills for the next decade. THEY HAVE FAILED. It is a massive crisis that can be averted by understanding what AI and Robotics will bring about. Solutions are knowing how to use these tools and new industries that will rise. But this situation is also on ALL OF US. No “job” is safe from founder to entry level in most industries. You and I, by what we do, will be “replaced” ultimately. What to do? AI and Robotics are tools, the next decade is owned by those who know how to use them expertly, but this is also temporary. We have to understand that what we do for “work” will change giving ultimately a greater value to those that are: Creative Flexible Always learning Willing to be wrong Love being human Love being alive Know history Covet wisdom Knowing all tech has downsides Building strong family and friends Realize many institutions have failed The first four are required for you to be able to live through this period with your sanity intact. The rest will allow you to thrive. There are no true careers at this point anymore. There are advocation and vocations which will either earn you money or give life meaning. We will learn that we are not “what we do”, just like we knew for 99% of human existence. Let that sink in. — You and I are far, far ahead of knowing this and we can do two things: 1) Laugh at the “clueless” 2) Help people understand with grace Go to Reddit if you are 1, in fact don’t follow me because you will not like this next decade and what I post. You are 2 and thank you. Even if you and I have not solved this issue, we can help people understand what is ahead and with determination and creativity bound together to solve it locally. Or human family has done this millions of times. The evidence is: you are here. The Neo Luddite movement has not even begun and it will potentially rip apart society even more than all the fashionable moment in the recent past has. These Luddites will have a good point with the wrong answers cooked up by dying academics that cling to labels, “virtues” and victim hood. It will be readymade for some governments to enter in as “big daddy” to “help us”. You will not like what they do, but you will only know when it is too late. It will include YOU “volunteering” to “leave” by 60, to “help out” CanadaPod style. “Brian, I’m 24 what do I do?”. I hope to do much more here to help. But I do know this: 1) Learn a trade or vocation because it’s valuable. It may also be free to low cost if you do it right. 2) Learn everything you can about USING AI and TRAINING YOUR AI. Your expertise will be in the top 1% for a decade. But not forever. 3) Understand Bitcoin and how it will rise while other things sink. This is a short list for now. We will know more moving forward. When you see videos like this posted below, know one thing: Many of these folks had no real family of mental and physical support. Maybe no parent or one parent. Maybe only a broke system to prepare them for—nothing. This was not their doing. Now it is not your “job” to help them, it is your survival to help them if that is what you need. See some day after the dust settles these 20 year olds will be 40 year olds and running YOUR world. And at some point you may need them more than you think you do. You will need them, as they need you now. THIS IS WHAT PAST WISDOM KNEW. The elders of the past never found the need to piss on the youth and hope for the best. THE YOUTH ARE OUR BEST, let us all find ways to change it, even if every aspect of “the system” wants us to berate them into the ground.show more

Happy 5th Anniversary to Everyone ❤️ Since the birth... of our NFSC, we’ve walked a powerful path through storms and sunshine and Mr. Miles Guo didn’t just help us - He awakened us and he taught us Truth, Love, Courage through the movement and this is more than a fight - This is Family, this is Faith, this is History in the making. I don’t have the right to speak for others and I never will but based on what I’ve seen - The Alliance and our Great Fellow Fighters didn’t just fight but they protected, they bled, they sacrificed, they stood tall when it hurt the most and their bravery has become the heartbeat of our movement and this is the reality, not a story or a rumor and from my point of view, it’s only going to get better and stronger. With all due respect to Brothers and Sisters, let’s take a moment to show more appreciation towards the great people around us, those in the Alliance, your Farm, your Fellow Fighters who are showing up with intelligence and courage, both online and offline activities and I truly mean this to everyone from every part of the world - One of the greatest way to stay United is by sharing Love, Respect, Support, Advice, Experiences with one another, all under the one and only important goal is to grow stronger together and fight against CCP, a journey that has been incredibly tough and long but deeply meaningful. For a very long time - I kept hearing the same question over and over again: People asked with worry, when will Mr. Miles Guo come out ? But ever since 3.15, my mind has been holding onto just one question that I keep asking myself every single day: Why would he choose to stay inside when he had the option to be free outside ? IN MY PERSONAL OPINION, it's because he wants to make it clear to everyone that he prioritizes his mission to TAKE DOWN THE CCP over his own freedom - That’s why I’ve never spent even a second believing he couldn’t get out because the people behind him is massive and there’s no such thing as 99% - It’s a 100% chance he could be released if he chose to make the call... Most importantly, please don’t misunderstand: the FACT is that he is a PURE, CLEAN, INNOCENT PERSON who has done absolutely nothing wrong and everyone knows it - CCP, the West, the Families knows it pretty well and they know far more than all of us combined and whether people agree or not, it doesn’t change the fact that he was a good person, a man of his word, a man who never backed down from doing what’s right and good for the Chinese people.show more

Mentava’s early literacy software has taken 2yos (almost 3)... to an early 2nd grade reading level in as little as 3 months. Some people think this is a miracle. I do not. If a kid can learn fast, we let them learn fast. If a kid learns slower, we let them learn slower. This should be common sense, but unfortunately it’s opposed by the National Education Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Council of Teachers in Mathematics, and many other groups who drive education policy. It’s a tragic indictment of our education system that Mentava simply reveals how fast some kids can learn and people think it’s a miracle. Mentava’s early literacy software has two main ingredients: curriculum + motivation There’s nothing revolutionary about Mentava’s curriculum. Our curriculum is a typical, extremely structured phonics curriculum. There is a massive body of evidence (and common sense) backing the idea that kids should learn to read by sounding out words. Armed with any decent phonics curriculum, I would expect a skilled parent/teacher who can motivate, engage, and teach a kid 1-1 on a daily basis over a period of several months to get similar results to our software. (I frequently recommend the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons as a cheaper alternative to Mentava.) So why do some families choose to pay $500/month for Mentava? Well, not everyone has the time/motivation/desire to become that teacher. Some people do, and they love that process. On the other hand, some families come to Mentava and say, “I used that book to teach my first child to read. It worked, we both hated it, and I will never do it again.” By contrast, my 4yo wakes me up in the morning asking to do Mentava. He gets mad in the evenings when I don’t have time to do it with him. He LOVES learning to read. What Mentava does exceptionally well is provide motivation and fun - without sacrificing academic rigor. Our team members led some of the top mobile and AAA games in the world. We are very very good at motivation design. In short, we take phonics and gamify it to be as fun, easy, efficient, and motivating as we can possibly make it. So, claims: - Mentava works really, really well for SOME kids - Mentava probably does not work well for ALL kids - Under ideal conditions, other phonics programs will probably perform similarly to Mentava (or better!) No research study will tell you whether Mentava is the best fit for your family. So we offer a two-week free trial. That’s enough time for some families to make it most of the way through our kindergarten curriculum. Use Mentava with the kids it works for. Don't use it with kids for whom it doesn't. Don’t overcomplicate things.show more

🚨 Protocol Update #9 It's incredible how time flies... when you’re laser-focused on building and delivering the essential products that form the backbone of decentralized finance. Hatom has now been live on the Mainnet for over a year, and we're proud to say that this entire period has been free of issues or downtime. Our platform has been battle-tested during volatile market conditions, and each of our products has performed exactly as expected—solidifying our place as a cornerstone in the #MultiversX ecosystem. Describing last year as “incredible” feels like an understatement. We’ve witnessed unprecedented growth across the entire #MultiversX ecosystem, particularly in terms of TVL and yield opportunities. The day before Hatom launched its Lending Protocol and Liquid Staking on Mainnet, #MultiversX had a total TVL of $95 million. Within two weeks, the ecosystem surpassed $200 million in TVL, with Hatom driving over 50% of that growth. At its peak, Hatom reached over $280 million in TVL, accounting for more than 70% of the chain’s total TVL. What's even more remarkable is that, after initially using Treasury funds to incentivize users, Hatom has shifted to distributing rewards solely from protocol revenue. This marks the start of a fully sustainable, real-yield model, proving our products' rapid product-market fit and long-term viability. A Recap of the Past Year Here’s a quick overview of what we’ve accomplished in the past year: • Launched the first Lending Protocol in the #MultiversX ecosystem, along with the Liquid Staking Protocol on Mainnet. • Surpassed $100 million in TVL within just five days of the launch. • Deployed the HTM Booster Module and Accumulator. • Launched the Tao Bridge and Tao Liquid Staking, bringing over 33k $TAO into the #MultiversX ecosystem in just two weeks. • Implemented multiple upgrades to core infrastructure. • $HTM became the second-largest ESDT token after $EGLD. • Distributed over $3.85 million in rewards to our users. We are happy to announce that Hatom V2 is now live! After an incredible year of growth, we’re excited to take the next step toward becoming the leading liquidity hub across multiple chains. We invite you to explore our newly rebranded website at marking the beginning of our omni-chain journey. This rebranding reflects our bold vision and sets the stage for a full overhaul of our dApps, delivering a fresh and enhanced experience for all users. Achieving self-sustainability in such a short time, we now focus on research and development. Instead of pursuing many ideas, we’re committed to building high-impact products that create perfect synergies within our ecosystem. With that said, let’s dive into the key topics of this update: USH and Booster V2. Hatom USD (USH) We’ve highlighted USH in several updates, and it’s great to see the community recognizing its potential. USH is set to be one of the most impactful products on #MultiversX, providing a key revenue stream for Hatom while helping us maintain competitive rates and long-term sustainability. USH is the result of extensive research and careful development, designed to seamlessly fit into the Hatom ecosystem. While many DeFi projects are raising millions for new stablecoins, USH stands as another powerful product within our hub. The time has finally come for USH to be unveiled to the public, and we are excited to announce that USH will officially launch on Devnet on 28th October. While we’ve thoroughly tested for bugs internally, we’re excited to engage the community in this critical phase. To encourage participation, we’ll offer incentives for those testing USH on the Devnet, with more details to be shared at launch. Understanding USH's architecture is key to how it functions within our ecosystem. Let’s break it down step by step, starting with an explanation of each component. Facilitators USH’s minting process is driven by Facilitators—smart contracts responsible for the controlled minting and burning of USH. At launch, two primary facilitators will handle these tasks, each with distinct functionality: 1. Lending Protocol Facilitator The Lending Protocol Facilitator allows users to mint USH using a variety of supported collateral assets directly into the Hatom Lending Protocol. Unlike traditional lending mechanisms, where interest rates fluctuate based on the utilization rate, the minting of USH has fixed interest rates, thanks to Hatom's unique role as the entity managing the minting process. In a scenario where a user is minting USH through this facilitator using multiple assets as collateral, the protocol automatically prioritizes collateral with the lowest Minting APY. Let’s consider an example where a user deposits: - $1,000 in USDC (with a collateral factor of 80% and a 2% Minting APY) - $1,000 in BTC (with a collateral factor of 75% and a 3% Minting APY) - $1,000 in HTM (with a collateral factor of 70% and a 4% Minting APY) Based on these parameters, the user can mint a maximum of $2,250 worth of USH, distributed as follows: - $800 from $USDC (80% of $1,000) at 2% Minting APY - $750 from $BTC (75% of $1,000) at 3% Minting APY - $700 from $HTM (70% of $1,000) at 4% Minting APY The overall Minting APY will be a weighted average of these individual APYs, calculated based on the proportion of USH minted from each collateral type. Now, if the user decides to borrow only $1,000 worth of USH, the APY is determined as follows: - The first $800 will be borrowed from $USDC at 2% APY - The remaining $200 will be borrowed from $BTC at 3% APY This results in an effective Minting APY of 2.2%, reflecting a weighted average of the APYs across the borrowed amounts. It’s important to note that EGLD and wTAO, along with their liquid staking derivatives such as sEGLD and swTAO, can only be used as collateral in the Isolated Pools (which will be explained in the next section), not in the Lending Protocol 2. Isolated Pools Facilitator The Isolated Pools Facilitator allows users to mint $USH at zero interest using $EGLD, $wTAO, or their liquid staking derivatives ( $sEGLD or $swTAO) as collateral. Here’s how it works: When depositing EGLD or wTAO • These assets are staked through the Hatom Liquid Staking Protocol, generating the staking APY. • The staked assets are then deposited into the Lending Protocol, earning a supply APY, but are not activated as collateral. When depositing sEGLD or swTAO • When users deposit staking derivatives into the Isolated Pools, the protocol holds the staking derivatives, but the user's exposure is immediately shifted to the underlying asset ( $EGLD or $wTAO). This means the user no longer benefits from the staking rewards of the derivative, and instead, their exposure is entirely tied to the value and price movements of the underlying asset. • The staked assets are deposited into the Hatom Lending Protocol, earning the supply APY, but again not being activated as collateral. Since the protocol generates revenue from staking and supplying assets in the Lending Protocol, this income is used to incentivize the USH Staking Module. The protocol buys HTM tokens from the open market and distributes them, along with all fees generated by other facilitators, as rewards to stakers. We believe that the Isolated Pools Facilitator is one of the most important pieces of the USH ecosystem. Its potential impact on the TVL within both the Hatom ecosystem and the broader #MultiversX blockchain is immense and the revenue generated by this facilitator through fees will significantly bolster the overall growth of the protocol. To illustrate the potential of Isolated Pools, let’s use the following example: • $50 million worth of $EGLD is deposited into the Isolated Pools, generating a 6% staking APY • $50 million worth of $wTAO is also deposited, earning a 15% staking APY The total staking rewards generated from these assets would be: • $EGLD staking rewards: $50 million × 6% = $3 million annually • $wTAO staking rewards: $50 million × 15% = $7.5 million annually In total, the protocol generates $10.5 million in staking rewards annually. These rewards are then used to buy back HTM tokens from the open market, driving significant buying pressure on the HTM token itself. The purchased HTM tokens are distributed to USH LP stakers in the USH Staking Module, alongside the revenue generated by the Lending Protocol Facilitator. TVL and Yield Impact As we explore the broader impact of USH and the Isolated Pools, it becomes evident how these mechanisms contribute to the overall growth of the Hatom ecosystem, particularly in terms of TVL and potential yield generation. Based on the above numbers, if $50 million worth of $EGLD and $50 million worth of $wTAO are deposited into the Isolated Pools with a 75% collateral factor, we could mint up to $75 million worth of $USH. However, to prioritize safety, we’ll mint only 50% of the maximum, resulting in $37.5 million worth of $USH. In an ideal scenario, but also very unlikely, the $37.5 million $USH would be deposited in the Staking Module to generate rewards. In order for $USH to be deposited in the Staking Module, it is paired with another token (e.g., $USDC or $EGLD) to form Liquidity Pool (LP) position, contributing $75 million to the USH Staking Module. Additionally, the $100 million deposited in the Isolated Pools cycles through Liquid Staking and into the Lending Protocol, contributing a total of $300 million in TVL. Total TVL Breakdown: • $300 million from assets flowing through Isolated Pools ($100m) → Liquid Staking ($100m) → Lending Protocol ($100m) • $75 million from LP positions in the USH Staking Module Total TVL = $375 million As mentioned above, the $100 million deposited in Isolated Pools generates approximately $10.5 million annually in staking rewards (6% APY from $sEGLD and 15% APY from $swTAO). If all minted $USH is deposited into the Staking Module, the $75 million staked would benefit from these rewards, resulting in a 14% APY for USH LP stakers. On top of the protocol’s rewards, liquidity providers earn additional fees from their LP positions on decentralized exchanges, creating the perfect opportunity for all the participants in the USH Staking Module looking for attractive yields. USH Stability: The Peg Mechanism Ensuring the stability of USH is paramount, and to maintain its value close to $1 under all market conditions, we’ve implemented a robust dual peg mechanism. This system consists of two key layers of protection—Soft Peg and Hard Peg—designed to keep USH stable through both market-driven incentives and other mechanisms for scenarios where the Soft Peg mechanism can’t reclaim the peg. 1. Soft Peg Mechanism The Soft Peg Mechanism helps keep USH stable around its $1 value by encouraging market participants to act when USH trades above or below $1. When USH trades below $1 Users can buy USH at a discount, on a DEX, and repay their USH loans on Hatom, as USH is always valued at $1 on the protocol. This action removes $USH from circulation, helping to restore its price. When USH trades above $1 Users can borrow USH from the protocol at $1 and sell it on the open market at the higher price, increasing the circulating supply of USH and pushing its price back down to $1. 2. Hard Peg Mechanism (Redemption Mode) In cases where the Soft Peg alone cannot restore USH to $1 and its price drops significantly below the peg, the Hard Peg Mechanism is triggered through Redemption Mode. This mechanism allows any market participant to step in and help restore the peg by repaying USH loans for other borrowers, seizing their collateral at the full $1 value. It's important to note that Redemption Mode is only activated in the Isolated Pools and does not impact users minting USH through the Lending Protocol. Here’s how Redemption Mode works: When USH trades below $1 and the Redemption Mode is activated, redeemers can buy USH at the lower market price (e.g., $0.95), and use it to repay borrowers' debts at the full $1 value within the protocol. The redeemer receives collateral in the form of liquid staked tokens(such as $sEGLD or $swTAO) equivalent to the USH they repaid at its full $1 value, profiting from the difference between the discounted purchase price and the redemption value. The borrower being redeemed also benefits by receiving a redemption bonus, which allows them to keep a portion of their collateral after part of it is seized after loan was repaid. This system ensures that borrowers are not penalized during redemption, creating a balanced mechanism where both the redeemer and the borrower have something to gain. Redemption Mode differs from Liquidation in several ways: Redemption is triggered by USH falling below $1 and involves repaying borrower accounts to restore the peg. Both the redeemer and the borrower benefit, with the redeemer profiting from the price difference, and the borrower receiving a bonus from their collateral. Liquidation occurs when a borrower’s collateral falls below a certain threshold, making them risky. During liquidation, a portion of the borrower’s loan is repaid, and the collateral is seized, while also incurring a liquidation penalty. Redemption Mode uses a data structure known as a Red-Black Tree to efficiently monitor and rank all borrower positions within the protocol smart contract itself. This structure dynamically tracks borrowers based on their Borrow Limit Used, which is the percentage of collateral they have utilized relative to their borrowing capacity. The system prioritizes borrowers with the highest Borrow Limit Used, meaning those who have borrowed the most relative to their collateral are considered first for redemption. USH Airdrop Regarding the USH Airdrop, we would like to inform you that snapshots will end once USH is deployed on the Public Mainnet. The airdrop will be concluded shortly after, once all liquidity pools are stable and we determine the optimal moment to distribute the rewards to the community. USH Staking Module & Booster V2 The USH Staking Module will play a critical role in maintaining deep liquidity for USH while offering users high-yield opportunities. By staking USH LP tokens, such as USH/USDC and USH/EGLD, users can earn rewards generated by USH facilitators. This approach strengthens USH’s liquidity pools, making them robust enough to handle significant trades without destabilizing its price, thus reinforcing USH’s peg and overall stability. Beyond creating robust liquidity, the USH Staking Module serves as the key utility module within the USH ecosystem, designed to provide users with an opportunity to earn high yields on their USH holdings in a sustainable and organic way. All rewards distributed through the module are generated by various products across the Hatom ecosystem, ensuring long-term sustainability. For users seeking a more stable yield, the USH/USDC LP provides lower risk and steady returns. Those looking to leverage their EGLD holdings can opt for the USH/EGLD LP, which can be staked in the USH Staking Module. A key advantage of staking in the USH Staking Module is that rewards are based on the full value of the LP, not just the USH portion, maximizing your yield potential. As we continue to grow, we’ll be adding more LPs, providing users with even greater flexibility and options for staking their USH in the module. While our current focus is on LP tokens, we’re also exploring the possibility of allowing direct USH staking in the future, expanding the staking opportunities across the ecosystem. The Integration of Booster V2 with the Staking Module Booster V2 will be available for testing with the USH Devnet release, and with its introduction, we’ve strengthened the relationship between the HTM token and USH. Our ecosystem now features two independent boosters: one for the Lending Protocol and one for the USH Staking Module, each operating with the goal of maximizing yields for users. Key Improvements in Booster V2 Booster V2 brings several enhancements that elevate the functionality and user experience: Support for Multiple Token Types: Users will be able to deposit Pool Tokens, Farm Tokens, Dual Farm Tokens, or Staked HTM Tokens (via xExchange). Only the HTM portion will be considered for boosting. Unlimited Staking: The cap on HTM deposits will be removed, allowing users to stake without limits. This will foster a competitive environment where the more HTM you stake, the higher your potential APY. Integrated xExchange Management: Users will be able to manage their xExchange positions directly from the Booster dashboard. This will include creating pools, farming, dual farming, and staking HTM tokens, all from one convenient dashboard. Energy Management Integration: Booster V2 will allow users to manage their xExchange Energy directly from the dashboard, providing an additional way to boost rewards even further. Seamless Migration: Users will be able to migrate HTM between the Lending Protocol Booster and the USH Staking Module Booster without any cooldown periods, making it easier to optimize strategies across both modules. How the Yields Work Booster V2 will introduce a more structured and competitive approach to yield distribution across both the Lending Protocol and the Staking Module. HTM Booster in the Lending Protocol Base APY (First Batch): This is available to all users who stake a specific percentage of HTM relative to their collateral value. Any user can achieve this Base APY by staking the required amount of HTM. Boosted APY (Second Batch): After achieving the base level, users can boost their returns further by staking additional HTM, competing for the second batch of rewards. The more HTM staked beyond the base threshold, the higher the potential yield. USH Staking Module Yields Staking APY: Users who deposit USH-related LP tokens without boosting through the HTM Booster will still receive a Staking APY. This ensures that even passive participants which are not looking to stake their HTM in the Booster can take advantage of the USH Ecosystem to generate yields. Booster APY: Similar to the system in the Lending Protocol, users can stake HTM to unlock a Base APY. Beyond this threshold, any additional HTM staked will increase their APY in a competitive manner, allowing users to maximize their returns based on the amount of HTM they commit to boosting their positions. Rollout Plan for USH USH will be deployed in a phased rollout to ensure smooth implementation: Public Devnet: Open for testing, with incentives for participants to explore and stress-test the platform. Private Mainnet: A limited launch with partners to mint USH, bootstrap USH liquidity and generate initial protocol revenue. Public Mainnet: A full-scale launch, enabling all users to mint, stake, and trade USH. We know DeFi can be complex, which is why we’re committed to providing the tools and resources needed to navigate our ecosystem. With the USH Public Devnet launch, we’ll release updated documentation offering clear guidance on Hatom’s products. Developer documentation is also in the works, and we’re exploring the idea of a Hatom Academy for educational resources. Plus, we’ll soon roll out content focused on USH, helping users fully tap into its potential within Hatom and the MultiversX ecosystem. What’s Next? Hatom Pulse As Hatom grows, our focus remains on pushing DeFi boundaries while expanding across multiple ecosystems. Although this update doesn’t include a full roadmap—that will come later—our priority is clear: expanding Hatom across chains. To stand out in the competitive DeFi landscape, we’re committed to developing standout products. With that in mind, we’re excited to give you an exclusive preview of one of our most innovative products in development: Hatom Pulse. Over-collateralized non-custodial lending protocols, liquid staking, and over-collateralized stablecoins already exist on #Ethereum. What sets us apart is the synergy between these components within a unified ecosystem. By integrating these pillars, we tackle capital inefficiencies, allowing one protocol to enhance strategies that benefit the others, maximizing returns across the board. For example, when USH is minted, it means that EGLD is deposited, liquid-staked, and supplied in the lending protocol—all three protocols working in harmony. Hatom Pulse will elevate this synergy to another level, solving key issues faced by Aave, Compound Labs , and other leading protocols. We believe this innovation will be pivotal as we work to gain market share while expanding cross-chain. Our proof of concept will be deployed and battle-tested on #MultiversX, but the real growth will come when we scale this to markets that are thousands of times larger. This will be a turning point for Hatom. So, what is Hatom Pulse? On Hatom, like on Aave and other leading lending protocols, the largest assets used as collateral are often not borrowed, leading to substantial revenue loss for the protocol. This also results in very low income on the supply side, as borrowing fees depend on utilization rates, which only increase when borrowing activity rises. Generally, lending protocols are used to provide assets for borrowing stablecoins or for leveraging liquid staking strategies. This inefficiency locks up billions of dollars in dormant assets, and users earn very low supply rates on their collateral, which doesn’t help offset their loan interest. Hatom Pulse is designed to address these inefficiencies by leveraging the synergy between our existing products. It creates sophisticated vaults that activate dormant assets, unlocking advanced yield opportunities through a delta-neutral strategy. By utilizing assets like $EGLD, $sEGLD, $wTAO, and $swTAO, Hatom Pulse enables users to engage in delta-neutral strategies, where we long and short these assets on (CEXs), earning funding rates and staking rewards while keeping their assets intact. (The exact strategy, along with all the details, will be shared once USH is fully established). Initially, these vaults will operate on CEXs, where liquidity is highest, and will be managed through custodians like Copper.co to mitigate counterparty risks. Later, we plan to extend this to DEXs where all operations will be governed by smart contracts, ensuring full decentralization. serves as a strong proof of concept for us in this regard. However, our strategy will differ, as our focus will be on protecting the unit value, rather than the dollar value. Although Hatom Pulse is still in its research phase, early estimates suggest that this product alone could generate over 18% annual returns on $EGLD and more than 35% on $wTAO, with what we believe to be minimal risk. It’s important to note that these figures reflect current metrics based on internal calculations and may slightly differ upon product launch. But imagine reaching this on #Ethereum, while allowing users to borrow using their assets—this could be a disruptive protocol. We believe Hatom Pulse has the potential to become a cornerstone product as we transition into an omni-chain future. In a competitive DeFi landscape, it could give us a significant edge by offering something truly groundbreaking, capable of competing with well-established protocols across various chains. This strategy represents immense untapped potential. Hatom Pulse is being developed for risk-averse users who seek higher returns without excessive risk. By addressing inefficiencies in current DeFi strategies, we aim to offer a secure, robust option for yield generation that could rival established protocols. It's been an intense year for our team, and we sincerely thank the community for their patience, trust, and unwavering support as we've worked hard to build and deliver these groundbreaking products. As Hatom's omni-chain expansion nears, we remain focused on improving our existing products and researching new innovations to stay ahead in this competitive market. Our goal is to build a comprehensive DeFi ecosystem, accessible across all blockchains. With USH approaching its Mainnet release, we're proud of how our products have reshaped the DeFi landscape on MultiversX. By filling key gaps in the on-chain economy, we've created opportunities for users to generate yield, unlock the potential of decentralized finance, and provide strong utility for EGLD. In just over a year, we’ve built a strong ecosystem, but this is only the beginning. We’re ready to go even further, developing better products and unlocking new opportunities for our users. We’ll share more about our expansion plans in a dedicated post, staying focused on what matters most. Rest assured, what’s coming will be truly impressive for Hatom and our growing community!show more

As we prepare to launch several projects, we're eager... to provide a general update to our community. We are steadily approaching our end goal, thanks to the daily progress we're making toward our vision. Achieving our objectives will bring about a significant transformation in cross-chain interoperability and the flow of liquidity within protocols. This will address crucial challenges and drive mass adoption. Our future-focused approach and effective team collaboration keep us moving forward in an organized manner. Let’s delve deeper into the state of development of our current products and upcoming projects. Tao Bridge Starting with the Tao Bridge, which enables the #Bittensor community to unlock DeFi opportunities with their $TAO via a highly efficient blockchain like #MultiversX, known for its security, speed, and affordability. We deeply admire #Bittensor and believe a project like that is crucial for the future of not just the crypto space but also humanity, as it addresses the major challenges AI faces today: centralization, siloed and isolated work, which pose risks and hinder the technology's potential. We are committed to the vision of subnets and dynamic $TAO, convinced that this ecosystem is as groundbreaking as #Ethereum or #Bitcoin. We will continue to support #Bittensor wherever possible, and our bridge will also expand to other chains with Hatom V2. The TAO Bridge, deployed on and accessible through will launch on the Mainnet in 14 days, on March 27th. You can follow the countdown on the lending page at Given that our main priorities are security and stability, this period will be primarily focused on quality assurance to ensure a flawless Mainnet launch. The launch will also introduce TAO Liquid Staking at along with the integration of both $wTAO and $swTAO on the lending page. This allows #Bittensor users to leverage liquid stake, employ short or long strategies, among other DeFi strategies, or simply access stablecoin liquidity while maintaining exposure to their $TAO. Up to $1M will be distributed as additional incentives on top of the supply APYs at the launch of the $wTAO and $swTAO money markets, with $200K allocated for the first month specifically for bootstrapping. Initially, 70% of rewards will go to liquidity providers, and 30% to those using $HTM to boost their lending positions. This changes to a 50-50 split in the second month, and by the third month, all incentives are directed through the Booster. This approach encourages early participation and sustained engagement with $HTM. Introducing $TAO to #MultiversX will result in the creation of Liquidity Pools (LPs) on both AshSwap 🔥 and xExchange ⚡. These LPs will be incentivized by both entities, and Hatom will distribute extra rewards at launch. The goal is to make #MultiversX a one-stop hub for $TAO holders. Upon stabilizing the volumes, there will also be plans to integrate it on AshPerp 🔥. Furthermore, with the release of $USH, users will have the ability to mint it while retaining exposure to their $TAO. The TAO Bridge and TAO Liquid Staking smart contracts have been audited by Runtime Vеrification and @arda_project, while penetration testing and DevSecOps have been performed on our infrastructure by CertiK. We're excited to announce our exclusive partnership with TAONEW one of the top 5 validators on #Bittensor. TAONEW has been extremely helpful and supportive from day one. By sharing 50% of its service fee with its stakers, TAONEW enables Hatom to offer an optimized Staking APY to its users. Since our initial reference, #Bittensor has grown sevenfold, becoming the largest AI project in the crypto sphere. We reiterate our commitment to contribute to such technology and hope to address some of its current DeFi challenges. Syfy Moving forward, today marks a significant milestone, not only for our decentralized protocols but also for our development companies, which currently stand as the sole and primary contributors to the Hatom Labs and Soul Labs. We’re excited to unveil Syfy, the evolved identity of Hatom Labs and Soul Labs, now serving as the parent entity for our burgeoning development companies. Organization is crucial for scalability, which is why Syfy was established to cultivate an environment where our teams can collaborate more seamlessly, enhancing our effectiveness and efficiency. At the same time, we remain committed to upholding the financial independence of each project, supported by its own community of funding contributors. Feel free to explore our website at for more information! Additionally, don't forget to follow Syfy and explore their Genesis article highlighted in their initial post: Booster V2 The Booster V2 will introduce a range of new features and opportunities for $HTM holders: Optimized Position Boosting: Previously, boosting was done individually for each money market, necessitating $HTM token distribution and periodic rebalancing due to price fluctuations. With Booster V2, the system now considers the overall position, eliminating the need for manual rebalancing. Gas Fee Reduction: Booster V2 implements optimizations that result in reduced gas fees, making transactions more cost-effective for users. Incorporation of Governance: Users staking $HTM tokens gain voting rights directly within the Booster, allowing them to participate in governance decisions while maintaining their staked positions. (Note: Only $HTM tokens are considered for governance; LP tokens are not included.) Enhanced Boosting Mechanism: The Booster V2 enables LP Tokens to boost positions within the Booster, leveraging trading fees from swaps and farm incentives while boosting lending positions. Smart Contract Completion: The Booster smart contract has been completed and audited by @arda_project, ensuring security and reliability. Frontend Implementation: The frontend design for Booster V2 has been successfully implemented, providing users with an intuitive interface. Collaboration with xExchange: Exploration is ongoing for collaboration with xExchange ⚡ to enable LP creation, farming, and meta-staking within the Booster. Upon finalization of testing, we will launch the Booster V2 on the devnet to gather community feedback and begin preparations for the mainnet release. Soul Before delving into Soul Labs's developments, it's essential to summarize its core functionality briefly: Soul Labs seamlessly connects different lending protocols and blockchains, facilitating lending and borrowing across platforms like Aave, Compound Labs, and Hatom Labs, consolidating liquidity and users' borrowing capabilities. Utilizing LayerZero Labs and other messaging layers for cross-chain communication, Soul Labs bypasses asset bridging or synthetics, unlocking novel DeFi strategies and solidifying its position as the ultimate solution for cross-lending dilemmas. Soul V1 will be permissionless, holding censorship-resistant features, incorporating multiple redundancy mechanisms, and providing support for various DApps. We're thrilled to announce that, following the launch of the Tao Bridge in 2-3 weeks, we will introduce the Soul Labs website. This platform has been meticulously crafted over 250 days to not only provide a comprehensive overview of our vision but also to offer an engaging and captivating experience that promises to be memorable. Regarding the app, significant progress has been made on the V1 protocol, including: Smart Contract Development and Testing: • Completion of the initial phase of smart contract development. • Conducting advanced testing to ensure the system's robustness. • Establishment of a fully functional proof of concept. Successful deployment and testing on the #Goerli (#Ethereum Testnet) and #Mumbai (#Polygon Testnet), leveraging LayerZero Labs for seamless operation. Feature Enhancement and Protocol Optimization: • Enhanced testing procedures to bolster system resilience. • Integration of advanced features and significant code refactoring for optimization. • Incorporation of various communication methods, including LayerZero Labs, Formerly Axelar, now at @axelar, Chainlink CCIP), and wormholecrypto, into Soul Labs framework, enhancing its resilience and flexibility. This allows Soul Labs to maintain operation through alternative protocols if the primary one is temporarily paused. Website Development and Documentation: • Nearing the completion of the v1 app, with final touches being applied. • The preparation of comprehensive V1 documentation and the Yellow Paper, available upon Soul Labs's public launch, offering detailed insights into the platform's infrastructure and capabilities. USH Recognizing the critical need for stable liquidity within the ecosystem, we have positioned ourselves at the forefront of providing a solution by introducing $USH, the first native, decentralized, and over-collateralized stablecoin on #MultiversX. As market conditions have improved, we have observed a growing demand for stablecoins in the ecosystem, evidenced by the utilization rate in the Lending Protocol spiking to over 90% several times in recent months. Therefore, our goal is to tackle the current challenges faced by users by creating a robust product that will not only help them hedge against market volatility but also open up better opportunities to trade the markets and generate yield. We're happy to unveil the $USH website, now live with a sleek and intuitive user interface, designed for ease of use, which ensures that interacting with the protocol is straightforward and accessible for all. You can access it now through this link: For the technical side, we’re advancing steadily and we’ve accomplished the following milestones: Lending Protocol Facilitator: • Coded the first version to support multiple discount factors for different collaterals. • Implemented tracking of borrowing effectiveness to enable earnings forecasting for the module and support minting processes. Isolated Pools Facilitator: • Coded the first version of Isolated Pools Facilitator. • Use of $EGLD or $sEGLD as collateral, with positions stored always in $EGLD to benefit the protocol through Liquid Staking and lending interest. • Virtual account implementation for converting $sEGLD earnings into $USH, functioning like liquidation where users deposit $USH for a higher amount of $HsELGD. Staking Module • Coded the first version of the Staking Module that allows users to stake and unstake without any restrictions. We're currently focusing our efforts on the following tasks: • Implementation of HTM Booster in the discount model in the Lending Protocol. • Implementation of different depeg strategies and brainstorming further potential “soft” depeg mechanisms. • Research and implementation of rewards model for Staking Module. • Research and implementation of Boosted Vaults Facilitator. • Review and stress-test the first version of the code. Upon launch, $USH will be integrated into various protocols and AMMs across the ecosystem, further increasing both its utility and liquidity. The opportunities will be vast, enabling users to engage in a wide range of activities such as yield farming, staking, and arbitrage, all while leveraging a stable and reliable asset. Regarding the USH Airdrop campaign, it will continue until the official launch of $USH planned for late Q2-early Q3, rewarding all users who have actively participated in the initiative. Hatom V2 It is clear by now that we are driven to build a more robust, interoperable, and secure DeFi space, removing the current barriers that hinder users' capabilities to seamlessly interact with different blockchains. Through Hatom V2, we will introduce Hatom's cross-chain architecture, designed from the ground up for interoperability. This approach will elevate the protocol to unprecedented levels, enabling its deployment across various blockchains and facilitating seamless connections between them through Soul. By enhancing interoperability, Hatom V2 aims to foster a more inclusive and accessible ecosystem. This expansion will not only broaden the protocol's reach but also significantly increase its flexibility and utility, allowing users to interact with a diverse range of assets and products across different chains. We’re thrilled to share that we are currently crafting the V2 redesign of the Hatom webpage. Anticipate a jaw-dropping transformation that will truly astonish, blending cutting-edge design with an unparalleled user experience, elevating it to a dynamic, interactive hub, and making every interaction more engaging. Good things take time, but we are confident that the release of V2 website will take place in the second quarter of this year and will officially mark the start of our journey into the cross-chain landscape. We are excited about the future and we truly believe that this will mark the beginning of a new era for Hatom. It's crucial for us to develop rapidly without sacrificing the quality or the security of each product. We're strategically allocating resources to ensure smooth progress in every area of our work. As we push forward, we believe that the launch of Soul Labs will be the most important milestone due to its massive potential and disruptive technology. We would like to thank you all for the unwavering support you've shown over the past few months; it truly fuels our passion to push daily and make strides toward achieving our ambitious goals.show more

WHAT IS ZELENSKY? Why does Ukraine continue to allow... Russian oil and gas to cross its territory to serve its European neighbours which generates revenue for Kyiv and Moscow? In the video below a BBC reporter asks Zelensky - If you win, will Vladimir Putin survive to which Zelensky responds 'I don't care...' But I thought he hated Putin 🤔😉 Why would he not care if Putin survived as leader of Russia? Why didn't Zelensky attack President Trump after the phone call between them, when the Deep State tried to make President Trump look bad? Instead Zelensky backed him up and said the call was fine...🤔 Did you know that Zelensky grew up speaking Russian? He later earned a law degree from the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics. After this (training to become an agent) he decided to become a comedian. (his cover story) 😄 He then spent a lot of time in Moscow and constantly toured around post-Soviet countries doing 'comedy'. 😉 Zelensky worked mostly in Russian-language productions. With this in mind, do you really think he is ok with what has been happening to the Russian speaking people of Donbass since the CIA coup of 2014? In August 2014, Zelensky spoke out against the intention of the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture to ban Russian artists from Ukraine. In 2015, Zelensky became the star of the television series Servant of the People, where he played the role of the president of Ukraine. (seeding future moves) Just four years later on 20 May 2019, Zelensky was inaugurated as President for real after beating the Deep State candidate - Petro Poroshenko (run by CIA Victoria Nuland). Zelensky has appointed himself president who will bring peace. Zelensky (a Russian speaking jew), is hated by the AZOV NAZIS who infiltrated the Ukrainian Government (CIA coup in 2014) and had his life threatened by the neo-Nazis. Following the 2014 coup in Ukraine, parliament abolished a law (Minsk agreements)that permitted the use of the Russian language, and Zelensky appeared on national television to argue that the Russian-speaking populations in eastern Ukraine and Crimea should be allowed to speak their language. He said : "In the East and Crimea - people want to speak Russian. Leave them alone... Legally, provide them the right to speak Russian. Language should never divide our country." He spoke with the Azov battalion, and told them to lay down their arms, and they simply expelled him from there, saying, “Shut up.. We will slap you.” The neo-Nazis threatened Zelensky, saying: "We will hang you to death if you sign the Minsk agreements" of the settlement demanded by Russia in Ukraine Was he ok with that? Just who is running Zelensky??? Why does he wear camo gear instead of a suit when meeting world leaders? You would think it would have crossed his mind that he would be perceived as having more credibility if he dressed more professional. It seems like he (a former comedian) is wearing a costume portraying a character. Is he really a tough military man like he is playing or is he something else? Was Zelensky sent around to be the Deep State pin up boy (various governments, US Congress, WEF, OSCARS, NATO, TIME Magazine etc) only to stab them in the back later on by doing a peace deal with Putin? What would that do to the Deep State narrative in the minds of the masses? Is Zelensky exposing the Military Industrial Complex’s funding of overseas wars by demanding more and more money to wake up Americans to make sure American money is kept for the American people? Remember anti-EU Viktor Yanukovych (in Moscow since 2014 CIA assassination attempt) is still the legitimate President of Ukraine. Putin is carrying out a 'Special Operation' of DENAZIFICATION in Ukraine to undo the damage done in Obama's 2014 CIA coup. Wouldn't having a 'man on the inside' really help such a plan and maybe speed things up by giving Putin certain information? Have you ever watched the movie 'THE DEPARTED'? 🐀 What makes a good movie? (good actors) What is Zelensky? MTBshow more

Hexagons and Octagons Those who follow football and coaching... will be well aware that there are trends that emerge and become the great break through in coaching, only to vanish quite quickly. A few stick around and become a staple. Such as the rondo, or the 4v4+4 Guardiola rondo variation. One that did not stick around in the coaching collective consciousness that possible should have was Thomas Tuchel’s use of hexagonal and octagonal playing areas in training sessions. Tuchel explained that cutting off the corners and angling the pitch forced “sharp diagonal” passes that would help break the press. The positioning of players outside the hexagon/octagon or players close to the edges will be manipulated into an open body shape by the angles of the pitch. Players are impacted by environmental constraints and embodied cognition, where the geography of the playing area influences their actions. This influence spreads to the creation of triangles and diamonds within the playing area due to the “funnel” like nature of the playing area. We can use the cut outside angles by placing bounce or target players on the exterior, influencing the movement and organisation internally. The inside players will not have to move wide as those areas are occupied. The internal players will seek to create passing angles using the positioning of the outside players and their internal team mates. The diamonds and triangles will appear. If we leave the spaces on the outside empty players can move to fill the spaces. These act as free spaces to receive from the goalkeeper or open spaces for attackers to overlap into, encouraging attacking combination play and crosses. A different way of using the space is to remove goals and goalkeepers from the ends and place bounce/target players on the outside. Players now can combine with the outside players, when they do so they are then free to finish into the outside goals. The condition can be extended to combining with the target player in the opposite side of the pitch before scoring, adding an element of switching play. The hexagon and octagon are versatile spaces that help to replicate aspects of the game. By funneling the spaces we impact players body shape, ability to play forward quickly, team shape (or small group shapes), players cutting in, defending centrally, the types of combination used and the angles of line breaking pass (diagonals). The angles are hugely significant for teams that value combinations and possession football, Straight passes and receiving angles are much easier to intercept and carry high risks for being counter attacked. Short diagonals can bypass players and attacking shapes, creating angled connections. If an angles pass is given away there is still a risk of being counter attacked but there is more chance of having players around the ball to regain possession. To counter press. The question that emerges is should we then be using hexagons and octagons more? If they are of greater benefit than squares and rectangles, why use them? Should all pitches, including those of a small sided nature be hexagonal? Can the rondo square be replaced by the rondo octagon?show more

I lost one cat to cancer. Nearly lost another... to diabetes. My purebred lab was constantly sick with allergies and infections. All three were eating "premium" pet food recommended by vets. Here's everything I wish I'd learned sooner: 1. Feed them a clean, low-carb diet. Our diabetic cat used to be addicted to high-carb treats and food, the stuff sold in most pet stores. It’s the pet version living on Pop-Tarts and Twinkies for us. After switching to a low-carb, high-protein diet, she no longer needed insulin and lived a long, healthy life. A raw carnivore diet from clean sources free of pesticides and antibiotics is arguably best for both cats and dogs. 2. Only feed them two meals per day. We made the mistake of leaving food out for our cats all day. I’m sure our younger cat (that died of cancer) was metabolically damaged from this. Neutering him too early also negatively affected his health, as he developed a pot belly soon after. Time-restricted eating benefits humans and animals alike. So, aim for an 8-hour feeding window or less. Don't feed them 3 hours before bed or 1 hour after waking, then gradually shrink the window. You'll notice more energy in yourself and healthier weight and digestion in your pets. 3. Only give them pure, clean water. We gave our cats tap water for years. While chlorine dissipates quickly, chemical residues, heavy metals, and hormones remain. Reverse osmosis or spring water proved to be the best. You can remineralize RO water with products like this: (ad) 4. Detoxify Pets are exposed to more toxins than we are. Their food is loaded with pesticides, antibiotics, and heavy metals. Artificial fragrances, chemical cleaners, and lawn pesticides add even more toxic stress. Like I emphasize in my book, “Ultimate Health,” constipation is the first thing to address in detoxification. The same goes for pets. If their bowel movements are strained, this needs to be improved. Increasing their hydration and fiber intake can help, as can fish oil and probiotics. To get a full colon detox protocol for yourself, get the first chapter of my book free here: For deeper detox, use modified citrus pectin because it enters the bloodstream rather than just the gut. Mix into tuna juice, bone broth, or their water dish away from food. 5. Treat your pets for parasites Parasites are strongly correlated to many diseases, including cancer. There's a great book called "The Cure For All Diseases" that covers this in detail (free PDFs online). Fenbendazole is a popular anti-parasitic that’s routinely helped human cancer patients survive. Fenben is also an over-the-counter pet medication. I wish I’d learned of it before Max passed away from cancer. He was such a loving little guy. For ongoing parasite management, consider mixing diatomaceous earth into your pet’s food. 6. Exercise more Dog walks benefit both of you, especially without your phone. Fetch or tug is their high-intensity interval training. *Side note for cat owners: What's your favorite way to get your furry friend moving? Drop a comment below, I'm interested in trying them out. 7. Give them more affection Affection releases oxytocin in both you and your pet. It improves sleep, mood, stress, pain, and muscle repair. Boost your oxytocin further with techniques from "Super Gut" or this video: 8. Replace LED bulbs with incandescent This one surprises people… I wish I had known years ago how damaging artificial LED lighting is for humans and pets. Natural sunlight and incandescent bulbs keep you both healthy. Follow ☣️ Pleb Kruse = BTC foundationalist in exile 🟩🔆 if you want to learn more about this. 9. Watch the sunrise every morning with your pet. Dr. Kruse talks about this constantly. Sunrise has red and infrared wavelengths that heal the brain, eyes, skin, and hormones. Do it for a week, and you'll definitely feel the difference. 10. Remember: what's good for them is usually good for you too. We're mammals. They're mammals. The fundamentals are remarkably similar. Discipline matters. Knowledge matters. Having a purpose and a partner makes change easier. So why not decide that your purpose is for both you and your pet to get healthier? THANK YOU for reading and sharing this with other pet owners. Follow me Craig Brockie for more health strategies that work. (Here are Zeven, Ellewood & Max. The inspiration for this post.)show more

‡ Brant – Fast, Expensive, and Worrying In a... recent 2yo MSW race at Santa Anita, Brant, a $3m OBS March sales purchase, made a winning debut for his high-profile connections. Sent off at odds of 4/5, he tracked the pace before taking command on the turn, and drew off to win by 5 1/4 lengths. He recorded a very fast raw time, and a 101 Beyer figure. His high auction price was due largely to his having breezed an eighth of a mile in :09 3/5 at OBS. In the wake of the bidding, Amr Zedan, who purchased the colt on the recommendation of his trainer, Bob Baffert, and bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, was quoted in TDN as saying: "These horses are difficult to come by. He ticked all the boxes. He was a very precocious Gun Runner with a great pedigree. And more importantly, if you have someone like Mr. [Bob] Baffert in your corner, that gives you the courage and the guts to just go after quality. And you'll know they are in the best hands to turn them into champions. This one is for the team: Donato and obviously Bob and his ability to turn them into champions. So if you have the great team, the great training, the rest is easy. Was he pricey? Yes. But quality dictates price. So I never hesitated.” The hyperbole, and boilerplate optimism, are understandable, as even owners with very deep pockets prefer not to dwell on their inevitably long lists of expensive failures. But Zedan and their team have also enjoyed a number of high-profile successes, including Taiba, another Gun Runner colt, which won the Santa Anita Derby and the Malibu, both Grade I, before being retired to stud. Lanni, who has signed for at least some of Zedan's other good horses, was quoted as saying: "This is what the boss [Baffert] wanted and what Amr wanted. Gun Runner is a tremendous stallion and he worked really good and galloped out good. He did everything you want one to do.” Again, boilerplate, and if one were to take the reactions of the owner and agent at face value, it would be easy to arrive at the conclusion that the horse had no faults. But that would be naïve. So, let's first take a look at Brant's pedigree. Gun Runner is a "top" sire, and well-capable of getting high-class runners. It's a bit too early to fully judge him as a source of durability, but excluding his current crop of 2yos, his runners are only averaging 10 career starts. That number will rise, but likely not enough to reach, let alone exceed the contemporary industry average of ~15. In other words, though he himself raced 19 times, and won his swan song (the Pegasus World Cup) at five, there is no evidence to suggest that he is likely to eventually prove to be a particular source of durability. Brant's dam, Tynan, raced 13 times, and he is her first registered foal. His second dam, Pappascat, has produced at least five foals to have raced, and while only one has reached 20 starts, four of the five raced at least 12 times, which by today's degraded standards, isn't so bad. The fact that the coat color inherited by Brant, and his dam, can be traced to a notably unsound influence, Unbridled's Song, may or may not be meaningful. But I wouldn't ignore it as a potentially worrying connection. Brant's dam-sire, Liam’s Map, was lightly raced himself, and both his sire (US) and dam have poor records in terms of durability. As a sire, he has thus far produced numbers similar to Gun Runner. So while Brant's first two dams promise more than many that I have come across in similar assessments, and his sire displayed durability on the track, his overall pedigree suggests average durability at best. And what about the word that Mr. Zedan used twice in the above quote – "quality"? Well, Curlin is a quality sire, but in terms of bottom-line production, it leaves a lot to be desired. That's not to say that there are no good runners to be found, in fact the closely related Pappacap, under Brant's second-dam, was a Gr. III winner, and twice Grade I placed. However, through Brant's first six dams at least, I believe there to be just a single Grade I winner, Al Qasr, a Champion stayer in Peru, which appears under his fourth-dam. That is not, by any reasonable definition, a strong bottom-line, although it is fair to say that Brant's first dam is unproven. *** What might be learned from Brant's debut race? Everyone can see that he ran fast, and was much the best of that field, but I would say that there were some nuanced aspects of his performance that were both interesting, and worrying. Those nuances relate to his action, as viewed both through the pan shot, and head-on. Watching the basic (pan) view, Brant appears to display some "knee action". It isn't extreme, but also isn't the type of action that ideally suits dirt runners, and I wouldn't say that the colt appears totally comfortable. Here's a brief, related post on knee action, for reference: Then, we have the (embedded) head-on view, in which Brant displays seriously distorted action in his near-fore (left front leg; right when viewed head-on). It's a fairly extreme example of what is called "winging", and for a number of reasons, does not bode well for durability. Such action is never desirable, and is typically related to certain foreleg conformation flaws, which may include an offset knee, and/or toeing in or out, etc. Note also that under typical American racing conditions (i.e. tightly turning, left-handed tracks), the left front leg is subjected to the greatest torque, which amplifies the potential for injury. It should go without saying that there are occasional anomalies, horses with poor action that remain sound despite such flaws. But they are the exceptions, and it is not uncommon to find abbreviated careers associated with such action. For further reference, here is a link to a closely related post that I wrote after a filly named Amor Fati broke her maiden in eye-catching style in February of 2024. She has made just one further start, and hasn't recorded a work over the past 15 months. What's interesting about Brant is that there are two separate issues relating to his action, and that the some obvious mitigating steps that could have been, or should be taken, in efforts to keep him sound, were not, and are unlikely to ever be taken. First, with regard to his knee action, keep in mind that it is a characteristic that is more typically associated with turf horses. And guess what? Brant's dam was a turf horse. His second-dam was also at her best on turf, and was Gr. II placed on that surface. Also, in some respects, he physically resembles that female line more than his sire. Of course no one who spends millions on a horse that breezed exceptionally fast at a 2yo sale would be thinking "turf", given that the commercial market, and stakes schedules greatly favor dirt runners. But at the same time, it would be a mistake to assume that a fast breeze at OBS necessarily indicates that a given horse will be best suited to dirt. I say that partly because the OBS track features an all-weather surface called "Safetrack", which is far from being identical to dirt racing surfaces. While countless horses have gone through those sales and excelled on dirt, it should never been taken for granted that it will be a preference. And to further flesh out the point, take a look at Brant's breeze video through this link (his pedigree page can also be seen): Despite being rushed to cover a furlong much faster than he ever will again, I would say that he looks smoother, and displays slightly less knee action than in his recent debut race. Why? Could it be, perhaps, because he would prove more comfortable on turf and/or synthetic tracks, than dirt surfaces? Given how he ran first out, this is purely an academic point, as there is virtually no chance that his connections would consider switching surfaces, unless his form on dirt were to deteriorate badly. The second, more important point, relates to Brant's distorted action. I can't find a head-on conformation photo of the colt, but would be very surprised if he does not display flaws in his near-fore. Even in the very unlikely event that the leg were to appear correct, such distorted action would have been on display at the sale, as well as in pre-training at Eddie Woods' farm. And it defies belief that experienced horsemen who were prepared to purchase an extremely expensive horse for an important client would not have covered that base. Which in turn begs two important questions. First, why recommend the purchase of a very expensive horse, no matter how fast, that has yet to race, and displays such distorted action? Secondly, why choose to give such a horse to a trainer whose style and history suggest that injury risk would likely be amplified, rather than mitigated? The answers to those questions help to illuminate why the breed-to-sell paradigm is so insidious. As long as breeders and stud farms are willing to overpay for stallion prospects, and turn blind eyes to conformation defects, distorted action, lack of durability, and modest female families, the connections of horses like Brant need only hope that they hold together long enough to win one or two big races, enabling them cash in. These are the number of career starts made by Zedan's previous best (and expensive) male runners: 9 Arabian Lion 6 Arabian Knight 9 Muth 10 Medina Spirit 11 Hejazi And as long as the AGSC (American Graded Stakes Committee) continues to enable the paradigm through its dishonest KY Derby "prep" Grade I designations, the ultimately damaging feedback loop will likely continue. The answer to the second question is closely entwined, and should be obvious. For all of his faults as a trainer, Baffert has long produced results in stakes races that lead to valuable stud careers, so owners who wish to play the breed-to-sell game consider him to be a logical choice. Of course Baffert and Zedan are hardly alone in supporting the dubious paradigm. But that a horse like Brant could bring millions at a sale, and be given to a trainer who trains very hard, and has compiled a very poor safety record, underscores the extreme degree to which the value of durability has been marginalized by the industry. One final note, and it's a genuine qualification that I always make when producing this type of post, I hope that Brant will enjoy a long, injury-free career. But if I were a betting man...show more

I've been working in silence for quite a while... now. Tbh, I don't really even know where to start, so cue the rambling and ranting. Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, no one can argue the past few years haven't been politically and economically wild. For crypto as a whole it feels like a never ending game of tug of war. A lot of X content has become toxic, so I just largely am not interacting these days. But I read, I read a lot of it. I think we like to forget history a bit in this community. $PLS launched off the highs, and the SEC swooped in right after. Very few people want to admit it, but it shook confidence immediately. I mean no other crypto project has survived such a thing at the time. But #PLS $PLSX and $HEX did. However, winning doesn't unshake that confidence. And RH during and after that event took social precautions to protect himself and his creations. Thing is, the guy isn't stupid. Someone once asked me if I thought certain aspects of the launch we rushed because he knew it was coming? And honestly, maybe. I'd attribute at least a non-zero probability to it. And If that were the case, im glad it was rushed. That case may have gone differently otherwise. Do I still think #PulseChain, #HEX, etc... all have futures? Yes. RH has had the opportunity to just straight up bounce from all of this. Why hasn't he? You could point to exhibit A, B, C, D, etc... of how he's likely got the funds to do that and we all could relatively do nothing about it. So why is he still around? I think it's pretty simple. The usual answer, he wants to win. It's in his twitter handle for Christs sakes. I'll go a step further and say he likely also wants us to win by extension, arguably not as much as he wins, but I mean that's pretty locked in at the moment 🤣 That's not to say he hasn't long been encumbered. And in that state, at lot has gone on without him. Much of which is / was bad. $pDAI guys... I pointed out from day one how building all this around a protocol in a dangerous state was a risky move. And I was right about that.... on multiple occasions... But does that matter now? I suppose not as much. In its current state, it's seemingly no longer exploitable. No different than a meme token now. (presumably, not like I have deep dove on any further risks since ESM). So I guess just whale risk mainly now? Now a lot of people here are in the anti-pdai camp. Me too for what it's worth. But I don't care as much about it's negative anymore in its current state. A lot of people are still in the #pDAI camp strongly. We view this as tribalism, but it's important to note that makes all of us in the #PulseChain camp universally. So these day I find myself relatively pDAI neutral. If you guys want to send it to $1 do it. Only whales can stop you, they run out eventually. (insert super strong this is NOT financial advice). Hell you can maybe even use Sigma to help? Or maybe it wont help, idk. Depends on how people use the software. Conversely, when looking at chain state overall... Why is there nearly $50M in stables sitting on the sidelines. Why not just bridge it out if you want out of what you think is a dead chain. Surely leaving it there exposes you to bridge risk? Why all these yield movements, why the $HEX dusts.... Something is happening. People are seemingly waiting to see what that something is. Or I am reading into things, NFA as always. This whole post is just ramblings of someone trying to do the best they can and certainly not any kind of advice. When I look at other ecosystems, I see a level of polish we don't have. I see tooling we don't have, I see a fostered developer environment we don't have. So I've just been building it, painstakingly.... Because someone has to if we want to be taken seriously. And what I've been building has allowed me to get Sigma to where it is. Sigma is so close... Really just in UI mode, performance optimization, going through nice to haves. I don't believe in launching in a non-finished immutable state. So yeah, I take my time. As with everything. But my point with all of this, and the "why" #Sigma question.... It's unifying, anyone can participate. Which tribe you're in doesn't matter. And if you don't like it, don't use it. It's just software you can use or not use. As it should be. The years of tooling work to deliver this has been a lot of work for one guy in silence. In that time AI has appeared. My take, every dev should be using it. Given the right direction and context. It will make you better. If you blindly trust it, it will make you worse. GPT 5.4 audits smart contracts better than most auditing services. Especially if you give it the context of what you are trying to do. Anyways I digress, testnet is soon. Soon more meaning a feeling of near completion not always reality. That how software is. I do think Sigma stands to unify the chain in a common goal, and shift liquidity into more meaningful places, but ultimately it up to the people the decide to use the software or not use it. And after these frameworks I've built will be applied to what I am tentatively calling the universal hex UI. More or less something aggregative of every derivative I can reasonably support. With data and analytics we since lost. So not just $HEX, $HDRN, and $ICSA, but others as well. However, that depends on some aspect of $Sigma to exist first, so sigma first, chain unity first. And last but not least, take care of yourselves and strive to do cool things. If we aren't doing cool things then what's the point? Hope you think my UI looks good, I spent a while on it. /rantshow more

I've bought over 30 RV & MH parks in... the last 5 years. Lately? 2 per month. Want our playbook? Here ya go: How to buy a small, off-market mobile home or RV park that can 2x your money in 1-2 years, in 5 steps: 1. Pick a city in a red state. The two biggest factors: Crime & unemployment rates Crime: CrimeGrade . org Unemployment: SimpleMaps . com Cities with 3k - 30k people are best. This is the sweet spot for enough population & not to much competition. You want parks with almost no web presence & little to no reviews. A DG nearby is great. Walmart is better. But remember, “if no DG, it ain’t for me.” If there's a Whole Foods you ain't getting a good deal, I promise. Growth rate is good too, but #3 to the two above. Don't worry about the path of progress as much as other asset classes might. 2. Find the leads Get on Google Maps and search "mobile home park" in your target area(s). Avoid NY & CA (not landlord friendly). Make a Google sheet of the leads & use Loom to record your screen. Spend 30 mins doing this. OR, use something like Outscraper to do it for you. Be warned though, that if you don’t do this yourself the scraped results may not be as accurate. If you’re targeting a smaller geographical area I would do it by hand. If a whole state, use software. You’re looking for phone numbers. Use SearchBug . com to see if cell or landline for pennies. Or Phone Validator Go to Upwork and hire a virtual assistant to keep doing this for you, assuming you are targeting a larger area. They will cost around $4/hour. Use that same Loom link in your posting so applicants can see what the job will entail. When working, Loom it! You’ll never know when you’ll need it. When in doubt, Loom it out! More leads = better deals. 3. Call the leads Call up the owners and be real. Don't talk about any accolades. He doesn't care and it will only hurt you. You're a hard working country boy. You have a wife and kids (I hope you actually do). Are you a democrat? Don't tell the owner. (Sorry, democrats). Here's your general pitch: "I'm not a broker, I'm just looking for some good real estate and don't want to waste your time with a lowball offer. I can pay cash and close fast" Tell him about your wife and kids and what you do on the weekend. Most importantly, LISTEN. He's going to talk your ear off. This is a good sign. 4. Ask the right questions Ask him: How many pad sites? How many of those have a unit on them? How many of the units are RVs? (It's common for there to be a mix of MH/RV) Any single family homes on the property? Rent? Are the units park owned or tenant owned? (this is key) If a mix, what's the mix? Park-owned homes you have to maintain. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Tenant-owned homes are key (lot rent). This means you only rent out the land and underground infrastructure. Depending on the state, sometimes you can sell back or give away the park-owned units to the tenants to absolve yourself of maintenance. Check the laws! You'll command half the rent but enjoy 90% less hassles. $250 - $350 is common lot rent in the midwest and SE. What's the occupancy and rental amount of each type of unit? Any outbuildings on the property? Septic or city sewer? If septic, conventional or aerobic? Sewer is best. Septic isn’t a deal breaker but you REALLY want to have it inspected. If there’s a lagoon or wastewater treatment plant I want you to throw that phone as far as you can, block their number and never speak of it again. Within city limits or no? City limits are best but rare. Outstanding municipal or zoning issues? How much is insurance? How much is landscaping? Asphalt, cement or dirt roads? Condition of the roads? Any drainage issues? Is there a manager? What do you pay them? (Best if no manager) Any pending litigation? What are total collections? How do people pay rent? How many are delinquent? What condition are the units in? Do you have a lien on the property? How long have you owned it? 30 or 50 amp? City maintained streets? City water or well? City is best. Keep in mind, that’s a lot of questions to ask. You have to feel it out, if he’s being standoffish, don’t keep pushing, just call back. This isn’t a used car lot, this is a relationship you’re trying to build. Don’t try and close on this first call. The key question: "If we were to make a deal, what's a ballpark offer you'd expect?" NEVER anchor him with the phrase "bottom dollar." Using the word "ballpark" keeps numbers loose. Whatever number he says, you want to pause and hem and haw over it. Embrace the silence and awkwardness. Back to car sales, they call this the “silent walkaround” when valuing a trade-in. Don’t say a thing about the asset, but point out the flaws with your body language. Touch the dents and scratches as you pause. Do the phone version of this. Tell him you'll get back to him tomorrow. Thank him profusely for his time and congratulate him on the park he's built. 5. Underwrite Before you do anything, check with the city to ensure the park is in good standing. Get that in writing. Don't trust the seller. Buyers are liars? So are sellers! Now's time to crunch numbers: What's a cap rate? The net operating income of the park divided by the price you'd like to pay. If you want your money back in 5 years and you're willing to pay up to $1m, you need $200k net profit per year. This is a 20% cap rate (20 cap). It's aggressive but possible on a smaller, rural park. (Yes, it really is, even in 2023) You probably won’t find a park that big in a small town for a good price, though. Start w/ a smaller park & higher cap rate. More room for error. $300k - $1m purchase price. First do some market research: Remember all your leads? Call competing parks as a potential tenant and ask what their lot rent is. Put this in a spreadsheet to get average lot rent & park-owned home rent. Keep in mind many of these parks will be undercharging as well. It's common to find parks charging $100 that could charge $250. When calculating cap rate BE CONSERVATIVE. Don't count on 100% of people staying if you increase rents, even though most will. Use $190 to be safe. Shoot for a park that will net $100k/year after rent increases that you pay no more than $600k for. It’s hard but not impossible. Or maybe you find a $30k/year park to get your feet wet. At least you're in the game. The more leads you scrape, the better chance of finding this park. Shoot for as much seller financing as you can get. Finance the rest with friends/family or savings. Once you find this park, get it under contract. Use a standard, simple real estate form that you can find on your state's real estate commission website. Texas' is called TREC. Yes, get it under contract before seeing it. Put down earnest and option money, and then go see it. Don't dress like a city slicker. Be personable and be willing to stay a while and BS. Drive a Tesla? Rent a truck. Drive a Prius? Just quit. Inspect the condition of the units, even if you aren't buying them Crappy units = more tenants willing to abandon them. And they aren't cheap to remove or move. Verify everything he said on the call If all looks good, start on the inspections: Septic or sewer lines SFH home inspection. Check with the city for outstanding issues or litigation Check for liens Wastewater treatment plant? If so, abandon ship! Electrical infrastructure Use professionals for all of these. Ask for: Rent rolls. They will likely be handwritten, that’s ok. Bank statements. Ask to speak to a few tenants to get their experience. Inspect their lease. Ask for vendor invoices or history of payments. Ask to speak to vendors. At some point before you close, list the property on Craigslist, FB Marketplace and Zillow. See how demand is for vacancies. If all still looks good, close on the property. 6. Post-closing strategy Meet all the tenants in the evening, they're at work during the day. Shake their hands. Tell them you want their experience to be amazing & you want them to stay Give them your number Ask what can be fixed If fixes are cheap, do them ASAP Tell that tenant once fixes are made. Address them by name. Clean up the park. Hire a tree guy to clear out low hanging branches. Do some simple landscaping. Find the tattletale in the park and get all the dirt. Who are the druggies and abusive husbands? Get them out ASAP if you can. They are much more expensive than the temporary vacancy hit. Fix potholes and drainage issues. ADD VALUE. Show you care. Wait a couple months before making any changes. Bring lot rents closer to market. Be upfront about this. They will understand if they've been getting a deal. Give people 2-3 more months' notice to give them time. Keep renting out vacancies at new price. This isn't self storage. You won't raise rents yearly. Don't be a jerk. Let them know what to expect. Once rents are raised and park is stabilized, you are 9-12 months in. Search Loopnet for the most active MHP brokers Hire the best one & pay what he or she commands. Sell on the market for 7-10% cap You've just 2-3x'ed your money. Rinse & repeat. I have done this over many times. Not all of my deals were bangers, but most were. THERE ARE STILL DEALS OUT THERE. There's a lot of fine print, and things can and will go wrong, so don't be dumb. Do your own research. Not everything can be explained in 1,700 words. I'm hosting a live, free webinar this Tuesday to cover this stuff in more detail. Including: 1. How to do everything above in more detail 2. How to ETHICALLY wholesale deals like these if you can't afford to buy them. 3. What hard questions to ask GPs of parks like these (like me) if you want to invest in them. 4. Live Q&A with me Comment below and me or my assistant Kelly will DM you the invite link. See you there! Or just follow me Chris Koerner for more RV/MHP content.show more

Lads. Sit down and give me your ear a... while, for I have watched from the water long enough and the hour is upon us whether we have the stomach for it or not. You remember. Or your fathers told you, or their fathers did, and the knowledge of it is in the marrow of you whether you drew breath in those days or not. The moors in the grey hour before dawn. Wet heather soft under the boot. Peat smoke rising from a low stone chimney a mile out across the bog, thin as a prayer. A sky the colour of a gun barrel and the gulls lamenting above the headland. The smell of turf burning, and wet wool, and the ferrous tang of the sea when the wind swung around out of the Atlantic and put the taste of iron on your tongue. A man could walk that land and know every stone of it was his by inheritance, because his grandfather had broken his back upon it, and his grandfather before him, back through the generations until you reach men whose names are lost and whose bones are in the soil you are standing on. The potato fields. God be good to us, the potato fields. Lazy beds cut straight as a gunwale, the ridges black and shining after a night of rain, women bent double with creels lashed to their backs and the children at their skirts, drawing the crop up by the hand for there was never any other means devised nor wanted. Hands split open at the knuckles and never entirely healed in this life. Hunger within living memory. Grandmothers who had seen the blight with their own eyes and would not speak of it from the year of it until the day they were laid down, save that a crust was kept always on the dresser which no soul in that house was permitted to touch. Not ever. Not for any reason under heaven. And the chimney sweeps. Wee lads no heavier than a sack of meal, black to the bone with soot, their lungs ruined before they were old enough to marry and old men entirely by thirty. Up the flues at first light, the skin worn off them by the brick, eyes crimson at the rim, breathing the black in with every draw of air. And the coal miners a half mile beneath our feet, down in the wet dark, the roof of the world muttering over their heads, the canary gone silent, a man's whole existence measured out in the shilling a ton and the dust he carried home in his chest to cough up of a Sunday morning into a rag. Fathers who descended and were never hauled up again. Widows at the pit head with the shawl drawn over the head and no tears remaining in them for they had spent those long ago. That was the tariff paid to keep the hearth lit. That was the reckoning of being warm in winter in the Ireland that was. And after the labouring week, Friday evening, and a man had earned the peace of what followed. Home first. Peeled the day off him in the yard. A shower of ice cold moor river water out of a tin bucket punctured with holes, hung on a nail on the gable wall, the water running clean down the back of him and carrying the week's dust and sweat away into the drain. Scrubbed till the skin was pink beneath the grime. Clean shirt laid out by the wife. The hair combed down with a drop of water. Then, and only then, did a man set himself to the table. A meat pie from the baker, tenpence if he was known to you, a shilling and no change if he was not, put down upon a proper plate. Fish and chips for threepence, the salt and vinegar soaked through the newspaper, but carried home and ate slowly at your own table with your people around you, not walked with through the streets like some vagrant tinker off the road. A man ate as a man who had earned his portion, for he had. And later, with the dishes cleared and the kettle set, down the road to the tavern. Low beams black with a century of smoke. A turf fire muttering in the grate. The air thick with pipe smoke and the vapour of wet overcoats steaming themselves dry on the backs of chairs. A pint of stout, cold and black as a cove at midnight, elevenpence laid down on the counter, a head on it thick enough to strike a match upon. A second one because you had it coming to you and no man present would dispute it. A fiddle starting up in the corner of its own accord. The old men in the snug who remembered matters the history books had long since mislaid. A song before the bolt was thrown on the door. The walk home beneath a firmament crowded with stars, the stout warm in the gut of you, the week behind you, and your own door waiting with the latch unlocked for you had no enemies in that parish. That was the country. That was the covenant. Honest labour, plain food, a cold wash, a hot meal, a cold pint, your own tongue in your own mouth, your own soil beneath your boots, and no man standing above you save the Almighty Himself. Now regard her. Regard her close. The fields disposed of to men who have never set foot upon them and never shall. The harbours signed away by the stroke of a pen in a room you were not admitted to, and foreign keels dragging out of our waters the living that sustained this island for a thousand years, while our own boats rot at their moorings for want of a quota. The tradesmen undercut by imported labour and imported goods. The shops shuttered along every main street from Donegal to Cork. The young ones scattered to London and Sydney and Boston and the Gulf because there is nothing remaining for them beneath their own roof. And the entirety of this rotten arrangement dressed up in the soft mannerly language of progress by men in towers of glass who could not tell a lazy bed from a grave, nor a trawler from a tugboat, nor an honest day's work from a pension plan. And now they arrive with the next imposition. A digital identity. A number assigned to each soul. A card required to buy your bread. A code required to draw your own earnings out of your own account. A file kept on every man, woman and child from the cradle forward. Permission asked to move. Permission asked to speak. Permission asked to earn. A levy upon every breath drawn and a regulation upon every step taken. No. And no again. And no for a third time so there is no misunderstanding of it. We do not require your digital identity. We did not request it. We did not vote upon it. We do not consent to it. We do not need your permission to exist upon the soil our forefathers are buried in. We are a free people. We have carried ourselves this far upon our own two backs. Through famine and empire and civil war and black lung and blight and the emigrant ship out of Cobh, we have come this distance under our own steam, and the arrangement appears to be serving us well enough without your intervention. We buried our own. We fed our own. We raised our own roofs and took our own fish and reared our own children in our own tongue. We are in your debt for nothing. Not a signature. Not a biometric scan. Not a single solitary inch. And while we are upon the subject, let us speak plainly of the tax man, for he has gone too long without proper introduction. The tax collector and the tax man are the one article under two names, and the article is a parasite. There is no dressing it up finer than that. A man who produces nothing, who grows nothing, who catches nothing, who builds nothing, who mends nothing, who has never in his professional life lifted anything heavier than a pen, and who arrives at your door with the full apparatus of the state at his back to carry off the fruits of labour he did not perform. He is a middleman between your sweat and some scheme dreamt up in a committee room by his own kind, and the great majority of what he takes is consumed by the machinery of the taking itself before ever a penny of it reaches the road or the hospital or the schoolhouse he claims to be funding. And I will go further while I have the floor. Finance itself, the whole apparatus of it, money breeding money in the dark without a hand laid upon a tool or a spade turned in the earth, is slavery dressed in a good suit. It is the oldest swindle known to man and it has never been anything other. A man who produces nothing yet lives off the productive labour of others through the charging of interest upon money conjured out of nothing is a parasite of a rarer and more refined order than the tax man, but a parasite all the same, and between the pair of them they have the working people of this island bled white and lectured at for the pleasure. A man who will not work with his hands, nor with his back, nor with his mind at some honest problem of the real physical world, is no man that I recognise. He is a ledger entry in a suit. The country was not built by ledger entries. The country was built by farmers and fishermen and masons and smiths and sweeps and miners and shipwrights and midwives and mothers, and those are the people whose say should carry in her councils, and no other. Here is what I put to you. Let each man and woman of this island direct the first tenth of their earnings themselves, by their own judgement, to the purpose they see as worthy. The school down the road. The lifeboat station. The hospice. The widow on the corner. The roof of the chapel. The harbour wall. Whatever it may be. Let the people who earned the money decide where the money travels. You will find the roads mended and the ports dredged and the schools standing and the old ones cared for inside of five years, and done better and for less, because the hand that earned the coin knows the weight of it and will not squander it upon consultants and committees. And let us have done with the paper currency and the numbers in a screen that can be frozen at the whim of a clerk in a tower. Bring back the coin. Gold for the great transactions. Silver for the weekly commerce of a working life. Copper for the small change of the day. Metal you can bite. Metal you can weigh. Metal that cannot be conjured out of nothing by a keystroke, nor erased out of existence by another. Real money for real labour. A coin in the hand is a free man's wage. A number in a database is a collar around a free man's neck, and they are fitting that collar now while we stand arguing over the colour of it. Feel it in your gut. That is not nothing. That is your blood relating to you what your ears will not hear. That is every forebear who starved and fought and coughed the black dust into a rag and descended the shaft regardless, standing at your shoulder and saying no further. Not one more field. Not one more harbour. Not one more son upon a plane. Not one more free man converted into a number in a ledger for the convenience of the parasites. This is the hour. Make no error about it. Ireland is redeemed in this generation or she is lost beyond recovery, and every true son and daughter of her knows it in the marrow. There is no middle ground remaining. There is no waiting it out. There is standing now, upon your own two feet, or there is watching her go under the waves for the last and final time. So stand. Stand with your farmers. Stand with your fishermen. Stand with your tradesmen and your miners and your sweeps and your mothers and your old ones. Raise the tricolour. Speak the tongue. Walk the land. Hold the line in the streets of every town and city and do not break it, for they are relying upon you to break and to go home and to forget by Tuesday. She is calling her children home. Every stone of her, every breaker on her western shore, every acre of wet heather and every coal in every hearth the length and breadth of her is calling. Answer her. Take her back. Every field, every harbour, every last inch of her. Take her back, or lose her entirely. There is no third road open to us.show more

Saturday - Adam Friedland This musical intro was the... best part of the show. The rest of his act just made me miss Nick Mullen. Unlike every other show this week, there were girls there. They seem to love this guy. I used him as bait, to get the girl from Wednesday to go out with me again. She loves Red Scare Podcast and this Jewish twink is a staple of the Red Scare Extended Universe and I wanted to fuck her and so let's go see Adam Friedland. The problem with Adam is that he has no conviction. He does not own the room, he's just filling space. He announced that his father was there, in the crowd, which is great, let's hear something that might make your father uncomfortable. No such thing was said. He stared at the floor for half the set, as if he was sorry for being there. I saw Mulaney the night before; the difference was stark. Mulaney can get away with being a sheepish pushover twink Sometimes because he also has balls. He can accelerate from "Aw shucks" to "SHUCK YOU MOTHERSHUCKER" and both versions of himself feel true. Look, I get it, being a sad sorry pushover is his schtick and it works with the voice and it's very relatable for sensitive young men who didn't do sports in high school but to carry a room for a full hour you also need to be able to fight back. I could hear Nick's intonations in his voice. But it's clear that Mulldog spent all his creative energy this week ghostwriting the white guys' lines for the Roast of Kevin Hart and so Friedland was left to fend for himself, comedically. The mark of whether a comedian is delivering or not, for me, is whether I hold my piss in to keep hearing them. This was not the case on Saturday night. I recall stepping out and getting a good look at the crowd, and Friedland bumbling through his completely forgettable material, and thinking: this makes me feel like I could start stand up comedy today and dominate the genre. I have this instinct to say: Adam's young! He'll get better! But he's not. He won't. He's 39. He doesn't have the neuroplasticity. He crossed the Sensitive Young Man threshold ten years ago. Mulaney at 43 could be his father now. He's a "much better interviewer" apparently. I tuned out after Cumtown ended because frankly I don't give a shit about the middle east, and that's 90% of what he talks about. Different strokes. I asked some guy in the bathroom, mid-piss: "what would you rate this show, out of 10?" He said: ehh, like a 6. He's a much better interviewer. I don't hate Adam Friedland, I just wish there was anybody to be excited about in stand up comedy. Between this mens' magazine giving me a $500 stipend to "report" on all these shows and the $474 ticket to Gillis and the $432 ticket to Chappelle and the $741 ticket to Mulaney and all the drinks they make you buy at these things I'm feeling like a huge sunk cost leech on the world. Just taking people's money and using it to complain. At least my date seemed to be having a good time. I wrapped my hand around her low back and leaned into her head, wanting her but not sure how to say it. It's much easier to express that kind of thing on blow. Later that night I K-holed in public. Erica and I took way too much in the front seat of the van. We were outside a rave at 3 AM, they asked me to produce a QR code on my phone, I could barely stand. I felt like I was moving in 2D. The fat security guard barely flinched as I walked past him in slow heavy steps, like a penguin, marching into this densely fogged room with colorful lights and loud bumping trance music where all I could stand to do was lean against the heavily breathing walls. I tried to dance with the girl but it probably looked retarded. I didn't try to interact with anyone, I was too far gone. I thought of Karen, as I do every time I take K. The girl led me through the venue, as I worried I would fall over or walk straight into a wall. I worried about how bad this must look, how retarded I must look, wearing this huge XXL t-shirt tucked in to my pants that don't even fit that well because I have anterior pelvic tilt and no ass. I looked and felt like a clown. A failed clown. I was smiling painfully at Erica, looking down at her, and she was doing the same to me. We found a bathroom and I forced my way in. The ketamine was NOT wearing off. I felt my heart beating hard and my head spinning like I could have thrown up but there was nothing in my stomach besides liquid—no food all day besides a croissant at 2PM. I had downed some random person's red wine glass at the last bar. I worried it might have been spiked. I leaned with my head against the wall, sweating, wishing it would end, brutally aware that Erica's out there waiting for me, my friends are out there waiting for me, wondering if I'm okay, thinking he's too fucked up, he can't handle himself, I thought Thomas was always okay and always in control no matter what, they're losing confidence in me, they're losing confidence in themselves for associating with me, what is this big colorful retarded clown shirt I'm wearing I must look like such a fool right now I can't face these people, I can never face them ever again, my face must look so evil ugly and strained, I splash my face with water but it doesn't help, run it through my hair but it doesn't help, get the water all over my shirt but then it just looks like I threw up on myself or pissed myself or something, and I don't have another shirt, should I go out there shirtless, no that's worse, how am I ever going to leave this bathroom, why won't this K wear off, now Erica's calling me, texting me, are you okay, eventually they're just gonna bust in here I know, fine, I can do it, I'm opening the door, yes, I come out, she's still there, good, good girl. She leads me outside. I feel 10% better. I lead her straight to the van. We get in. I tell her to lay with me. Just like on the first night we met. Head spinning, chest heaving, completely exhausted, just lay with me. She asks are you okay and I say for the first time, no. No, I am actually not okay. I blame Adam Friedland. Overall rating: 4/10. Have Nick write your jokes or just stick to interviews.show more

Instead of just talking about it, I wanted to... go through it and really break it down to figure out the exact reason for the difference in Jalen Duren's play between the regular season and the playoffs. *LONG BREAKDOWN COMING* First, lets list how much the difference was: Iso in RS: 82nd %ile Iso in PS: 21st %ile Post-ups in RS: 88th %ile Post-ups in PS: 59th %ile PPP on drives in RS: 1.18 ppp PPP on drives in PS: 0.80 Layups in RS: 79th %ile Layups in PS: 19th %ile It was a staggering drop off. Shocking to many of us who watched him all season. So, what happened? Well, #1 I think mentally he was letting his struggles get to him and he started to play out of control. Something that suggests this to me is this stat: He started to figure some things out himself in isolation over the last 2 games against the Cavs. He had six isolation possessions in the final two games against the Cavs; he scored on five of those possessions and drew a foul on the other. Game 6 he started to look confident and really made them pay out of isolation. I really think a ton of it was he got hit with a punch early against ORL and really struggled to handle the pressure and struggles after, and just kept stacking and stacking. So, him being in his own head is #1 for me. #2: His handle got exposed quite a bit. In the regular season, he only had a 4.2 TO% in isolation, which is incredible. In the playoffs, though, that spiked to 20 TO%. On drives in the RS, he had a TO% of 4%. In the PS, it jumped to 13.3%. The first clip below shows how the right-to-left cross he loved doing all season was really taken away from him. Too loose of a handle, and he often got his pocket picked trying this exact move over and over. I think having his go-to move taken from him shook him a bit and left him scrambling a bit in his head to find a counter. The second clip shows, imo, him starting to lose trust in his handle. He immediately turns his back to the defender, which is what you do when you're worried about losing the ball. But, even then, he loses control of the handle and it ends up in a turnover. If I'm the Pistons, I'm showing all his turnovers due to his handle and working with him on tightening his handle and also helping him get comfortable with a counter/second move so defenders don't just sit on the right-to-left cross. #3: I think he really struggled to adjust to the playoff whistle. In the regular season, he drew free throws on 21% of his isolations and 31% of his post-ups. In the PS, it dropped to 14% and 11%, respectively. There were many possessions where in the RS he would've got free throws, but did not in the PS and he was frustrated. In the third clip, you'll see how physical he was being played by Mobley (which we all want physicality in the game). But, in the RS, he probably is getting FTA's here. There are many examples of this where it felt like a lot of his value during the RS was being able to draw FTA's on his drives, and in the PS, refs just allowed more physicality, and he struggled to deal with it. #4: Ausar-Duren duo. I believe in this duo, and I do not think this was the main reason Duren struggled. However, I am not blind to the fact that there were obviously some possessions that hurt Duren. In the regular season, Duen actually got less efficient when Ausar wasn't on the floor. However, in the playoffs, Duren went from 51 TS% with Ausar on the floor (302 minutes) to 64 TS% with Ausar off the floor (121 minutes). In the 4th clip, you really see how the lack of spacing caused a tough shot from Duren. He gets a step on WCJ going right, and probably would prefer to then just use his strength to create spearation. However, he sees Suggs sitting in the right gap off of Ausar, which forces him to spin left. Once he spins left, Paolo is completely leaving Tobias open. This is one of the reasons I really think DET needs a spacing 4 because this should be an easy kickout from Duren to a shooter. He still should've made this pass to Tobias, but a legit shooting 4 I think would relocate to the corner and make an easier outlet/easier to see for Duren. But, he still coulda made the pass, tbf. Either way, you see how the lack of spacing from both Ausar and Tobias forced Duren into a really awkward drive where he was forced into an extremely tough shot. I think if the passing returned from Duren, some of these situations wouldn't happen. Hitting Ausar early as he cuts into the space would work, or hitting Tobias (who again shoulda be making himself more available) beyond the arc results in better offense. But, also, having better spacing probably allows Duren to just get to his original move once he beats WCJ off the dribble. and lastly #5: He really just didn't play well. I can't include any more clips (I'll put some in the immediate thread reply to display), but he really just didn't play well. Missed *a lot* of looks we're used to him making. His touch around the rim left him, looked like he really felt rushed in the paint. He was struggling to secure rebounds after dominating the glass all season (during the RS, he averaged 4.3 second chance points a game, in the PS it dropped to 2.3). During RS, he had a 22.0 DREB%, which dropped to 16.0% in the playoffs. So, I think a lot of factors played into why he struggled so much in the playoffs. My takeaway is I don't think these things are unfixable; actually, I think they're very fixable. Experience of dealing with what playoff physicality is I think is going to help moving forward. All young players have to adjust to that--I think Cade really learned that from NY series to this playoff run. Tightening his handle and just having a second move to go to is not something that should be considered impossible. I'd like to believe it's pretty likely with how much he works and the raw skill he already has with his handle. Pistons adding a legit spacer at the four I think solves a lot and will make Duren's life a lot easier. The most concerning part is mental. And we won't know an answer to that until the next playoffs. Did this experience help him on his journey towards becoming mentally strong and prepared enough to move forward? Did this run help him find a routine that helps him lock in mentally, as many players have said they had to discover? Or will the pressure from struggling last postseason get to him this upcoming postseason? Will he let mistakes get into his head, compound them, and start playing rashly? I don't think the second option will be the case, but no one will know until the next postseason. Honestly, I'm more concerned and critical of his defense in the playoffs (which at times was pretty good and at other times was an incredible struggle), but that would require its own thread. My ending thoughts: I still very much believe in Duren. This playoff run showed he has areas he must sharpen up and learn from, but at 22 that shouldn't be a shocker. He is incredibly talented and made a large jump during the RS. The PS posed challenges he didn't quite have answers to yet. But another run of experience, another offseason of training, and another year older should lead him down a good path. I am fully supportive of paying Duren and extending him. I am not at close to 50 million dollars. 35-40 million is where I think they'll settle on, and I'm fine with that. But, he's gotta learn from these playoffs! Every offseason he's gotten better, I don't have a reason to believe Jalen Duren won't learn and improve again this summer. He's only 22.show more

【ポーカー遠征のための英語学習】 色々調べた結果、英語圏の日常会話で使用する大半の単語は700語と呼ばれています。そして英語が聞き取れないのは、自分が発音できないからと言われています →じゃあその700語をふんだんに使ったフレーズをネイティブの発音で聞けるようになればいい ということで、150フレーズのリストを作りました 以下をテキスト読み上げサービスにコピペして読ませたら、すぐに発音と聞き取りの勉強がはじめられます ◾️NaturalReader（無料版あり） 700 Words Coverage:... 150 Phrases List * I think it is a good idea. * Can you give me some advice? * They want to know the truth. * She made a great effort to finish. * We should take a break for a while. * He told me about his family history. * Please look at this new report. * I need to find a better way. * Could you call me back later? * The world is changing very quickly. * Go to the office in the city center. * Wait for the next train to come. * People live in a different society now. * I believe in your potential and power. * Put the book on the small table. * She became a teacher last year. * Tell me the reason why you left. * It seems possible to change the plan. * Keep your room clean and quiet. * Show me your identity card, please. * They work together to solve issues. * I feel happy during the summer. * Ask him about the social system. * Let's start the game right now. * The child had a fever last night. * Every student must follow the rules. * He works for a large company. * I have a question regarding the case. * Many people moved to the west. * Try to use your time well. * The problem is quite simple. * She always carries a black bag. * Help me build a house here. * The results appear to be correct. * I am sure about his success. * Water is important for our health. * Stop talking and listen to me. * The area is under development. * I met a friend during my trip. * Bring me a cup of tea, please. * It happens almost every day. * The law must protect our rights. * Pay attention to the side effects. * I remember the first time we met. * Open the door with this key. * The price of oil is very high. * He is an American citizen. * Maybe we can win the game. * Everything is going to be fine. * Stay away from the dangerous dog. * The government provides social services. * Read the information on the second page. * They consider the project a success. * I understand your point of view. * The company has a strong position. * We expect to reach the goal soon. * The teacher explained the history lesson. * He spends too much money on drugs. * Whether you like it or not, it's true. * The building was built a century ago. * She has a lot of experience in art. * The program includes national music. * Provide me with more details, please. * The local community is very active. * I am not interested in political issues. * It is difficult to describe the image. * The system requires a special password. * Actually, I have a different opinion. * Please write your name and address. * The state university has a high level. * Follow the instructions to avoid risk. * The father loves his young daughter. * He became the president of the bank. * The result of the research was great. * Wait a moment for the decision. * The market is in a bad condition. * They provide support for poor people. * I feel a sense of responsibility. * The official report was published today. * Look through the window at the tree. * He decided to leave the organization. * The air in the morning is very fresh. * Small businesses need more support. * The economic situation is improving. * I hear a strange sound from outside. * She appeared on the stage for a song. * The former leader had a strong mind. * It’s possible to develop new products. * The police officer asked many questions. * We need to protect the environment. * The movie was based on a real story. * I forgot to pay the tax last month. * The school system is quite complex. * The child grew up in a small town. * Please send me the data by email. * The team works under high pressure. * He lost his way in the dark woods. * The price of the house is too high. * I want to buy a new computer soon. * She has a beautiful voice for music. * The doctor treated the patient with care. * We need to reduce energy consumption. * A lot of evidence supports the theory. * She shares a room with her sister. * The director managed the entire project. * Technology creates new opportunities. * They seek a peaceful solution to war. * He fell on the hard ground. * The book covers various subjects. * I realized my mistake far too late. * Recent studies show a clear trend. * The court made a final decision. * They provide medical care for free. * The plant grows well in this soil. * It’s a matter of personal choice. * The service is available 24 hours. * He works for a security agency. * The bank is near the city square. * I listen to the sound of nature. * The building has a modern design. * They increase the price every year. * The campaign focus is on education. * He hit the ball over the wall. * She wears a beautiful gold ring. * The army took control of the area. * I have no interest in the film. * The worker finished the job quickly. * We had a long talk about the future. * The house is in a safe condition. * He is an author of several books. * The blood test result was normal. * They represent a large organization. * It’s difficult to avoid the risk. * She pushed the door open slowly. * The summer period is very hot. * Nature provides us with everything. * The policy will change recently. * He is likely to win the race. * The term is common in business. * I found a letter in the box. * The store sells various materials. * They fight for their own rights. * The goal of the game is simple. * He represents the federal government. * I am poor but I am happy. * The series is very popular now. * Put the note on the white board. * The movement started a decade ago. * Finally, he reached the mountain top. * Everything depends on your effort.show more

A QUICK FIELD GUIDE TO THE NPC HORDES Twenty... Five Parasites types that Feed On The Living The Storm Is Upon Them Thank you for the stout... lets talk... The wind has changed. You can feel it. That low electric pressure behind the eyes that means something massive is rolling in off a horizon the parasites can't see because they were never built to look up. They were built to look down. At clipboards. At spreadsheets. At your accounts. At you. But the storm doesn't care about clipboards. And we don't kneel anymore. Here they are. The full swarm. Count them while you can because when the sky turns they drop mid sentence and the only record that they ever existed will be the silence where the invoices used to be. THE TAX CONSULTANT. You broke your back welding pipe and this soft palmed worm sits in air conditioning telling you how much of your sweat belongs to Caesar. He can't weld. Can't wire. Can't fix a thing that broke. What he can do is read a tax code written by other worms specifically to be unreadable so you'd have to pay a worm to read it for you. They write the maze. They sell you the map. They make the maze worse every year and the map more expensive and if you try to walk it yourself they send the auditor. The wind is picking up. The maze is starting to shake. THE AUDITOR. Tick on a tick. Shows up after the taxman has already fed to check the bite marks are regulation depth. Finds a missing fuel slip worth pocket change. Writes a finding. The finding generates a penalty. The penalty generates interest. The interest generates a letter. The letter requires your tax consultant at hourly rates to respond. Pocket change became thousands. Five parasites ate off one tank of diesel. Not one of them could tell you what welding rod to use on stainless. But the storm doesn't audit. The storm just comes. THE ACCOUNTANT. Cousin of the tax consultant. Same bloodline. This one doesn't interpret the maze. He records your journey through it. Every receipt. Every unit of currency in and out, logged so the consultant can read it and the auditor can check it and the revenue service can extract from it. He produces nothing. A human tape recorder pointed at your productivity. He charges monthly so the recording never stops. You are under permanent surveillance and you pay for the privilege. Not for much longer. THE BANKER. The oldest parasite. The template. You need money to buy a machine that makes things. He lends you money other working people deposited and charges interest that doubles the price over twenty years. The extra bought nothing. Built nothing. He packages your debt and sells it. Takes your deposit and lends it out eight times over. Charges you to hold your own money. Charges to put it in. Charges to take it out. He touches none of it. He stands near it and invoices you for the proximity. The storm is going to blow him so far from the vault he'll forget what money smelled like. THE COMPLIANCE OFFICER. Never had a callus on her body or her soul. Born in a fluorescent office. Will die in one. Between those events she produces nothing but emails about policies referencing other policies referencing regulations referencing acts nobody voted for. A worm eating its own tail and billing you for the meal. She needs the safety assessor to give her something to enforce. He needs her to give him something to assess. They breed between regulations like mould between tiles. The storm will wash them both down the same drain. THE PROPERTY VALUATOR. A man wants to buy a house. Another wants to sell it. They agreed on a price. That is what worth means. The amount one will pay and another will accept. Full stop. Now this creature arrives and tells both men what the house is actually worth. As if two free adults negotiating in good faith produced a number that's somehow theoretical while his formula is gospel. The bank sent him. His report costs thousands. His report says the house is worth what the buyer already offered. Thousands to arrive at a number that existed before he left his office. If his number comes in low the deal collapses and you pay a different creature with a different clipboard who arrives at a different number for the same house on the same day using the same formula. The house didn't change. Only the parasite changed. The number was never about the house. THE MUNICIPAL RATES OFFICER. The deepest theft on this list because it never ends. You bought your house thirty years ago. Paid it off. Every last unit. You owe nothing. Now a municipal valuator looks at what the neighbours sold for, looks at the coffee shops and wine bars that invaded your street, and decides your house is worth twenty five times what you paid. You didn't sell. You didn't list. You're sitting in the same chair in the same kitchen. But your tax liability just multiplied by twenty five based on a sale that never happened at a price you never agreed to. They do this everywhere. In Cape Town the rates are linked to the valuation and suddenly retired families in Bo-Kaap whose people survived apartheid and forced removals and a century of state assault are being bled out of their own homes by property rates pegged to values inflated by the gentrification their displacement accelerates. The heritage is the tourism product. The tourism inflates the valuation. The valuation inflates the rates. The rates displace the families. The families were the heritage. In Chicago they do it to grandmothers in Pilsen who've been there forty years. In London they do it to pensioners in neighbourhoods that gentrified around them. In Sydney they chase retirees off land their grandfathers cleared. Same crime. Different currency. Different clipboard. A man paid for his house. Owns it outright. And the state says you owe us money every month forever and the amount is based on what we say your house would sell for if you sold it, which you haven't, and if you can't pay the amount we invented we take the house you already bought. That is theft. Eviction by arithmetic. Displacement by spreadsheet. But the people in Bo-Kaap are awake now. The people in Pilsen are awake. The grandmothers and the grandfathers and the calloused hands everywhere are looking up and they can see the storm and they know what it means. It means the spreadsheet burns with everything else. THE MUNICIPAL INSPECTOR. Rat faced. High vis vest. Clipboard. Drives to your workshop in a vehicle your rates paid for. Measures your fire extinguisher fourteen centimetres off the floor. Writes you up. Behind you men build things that hold up bridges and he couldn't change a lightbulb without a permit. His job depends on your failure. The parasite needs you sick. The cure would kill it. The storm is the cure. THE CONVEYANCING ATTORNEY. Two men shook hands. Fair price. Honest deal. Done. This worm slithers out and says the handshake doesn't count. Needs paper. Needs stamps. Needs a deeds search and clearance certificates and transfer duty and each piece of paper is produced by another parasite and each one costs money and the worm takes his cut on top for phoning the other worms. He calls this conveyancing. He has never held a spade or laid a brick in his bloodless life. The storm doesn't need a stamp. THE ESTATE AGENT. Six percent. Of a man's life savings. For opening a lockbox and saying the kitchen faces north. She needs the attorney to close. The attorney needs the municipality. The municipality needs the inspector. The valuator needs access for the bank's number. Every one invoices separately. Every invoice lands on people who agreed on everything before any of these bloodsuckers entered the room. The wind is howling now. Can you hear it through their invoices? THE LABOUR BROKER. Tick so bloated it can't walk. A man needs work. Another needs a worker. They could find each other in ten minutes. This creature squats between them and drinks from both sides. Worker gets thirty. Employer pays fifty. Twenty disappears into the tick. Multiply by thousands of workers and millions vanish yearly into a thing that makes nothing, moves nothing, fixes nothing. It feeds. That is its entire architecture. Architecture doesn't survive storms. THE HEALTH AND SAFETY ASSESSOR. Twenty two years. Not one fire. Not one death. He shows up. Your exit is twenty centimetres too narrow. To fix it you need a builder who needs a plan from an architect who needs municipal approval. Tens of thousands and six weeks to move a door frame because a creature who has never been burned told you to. He detects life and the system bills it. The storm detects parasites and the sky deletes them. THE BEE CONSULTANT. Every country has its version. South Africa calls it BEE. The same parasites who wont allow much needed Starlink there unless Musk hands over half the company to lazy parasitic government connected parasites. Others call it diversity compliance or equity auditing. The name changes. The feeding doesn't. Scores your company on a chart nobody asked for to satisfy a regulation nobody voted on enforced by a department that produces nothing except the requirement for his existence. Nothing changes. Nothing improves. Money moves from a living pocket into a dead hand and the dead hand closes. The storm opens every dead hand on this planet. THE CUSTOMS BROKER. Your parts are fifty metres away. You can see the container. Cannot touch your own property until a grey man translates tariff codes so the state can calculate how much you owe for collecting what is already yours. Each delay generates storage charges. Each query generates fees. Your shipment doubles in cost through bureaucratic friction and you still don't have your parts. The storm doesn't clear customs. It clears the customs office. THE TRAFFIC OFFICER. Fat. Behind a bush. Radar gun aimed at people driving to work that matters. Seven over the limit. The municipality sets it low enough that everyone exceeds it. Fines feed the municipality. Municipality feeds him. He sits and clicks tomorrow. A barnacle with a badge. Same creature in every country. Different bush. Same feeding. The storm takes the bush and the badge and the creature behind both. THE FINANCIAL ADVISOR. Uses your first name. Remembers your birthday because the CRM told him. Puts your money in a fund. Fund charges 1.75 percent. He charges one on top. Fund manager pays a custodian who charges. Fund has an auditor who charges. Compliance team charges. Six parasites between you and your own money. In thirty years you have less than you started with and he charges you for the meeting where he shows you the graph. The storm doesn't need a graph. The storm is the correction. THE INSURANCE ADJUSTER. Years of premiums. Your roof blows off. He arrives. Soft hands. Three weeks later the wind came from the wrong direction. Not the wrong speed. The direction. Some paragraph. Some subsection. You paid for years and the years bought you a paragraph that says no. The policy is teeth. The premiums went down the throat and the no is the burp. The real storm has no exclusion clause. THE PATENT ATTORNEY. You built a device. It works. He writes a document so incomprehensible that reading it makes you understand your own invention less. Thousands for legal fog. Someone copies it. Litigation attorney. More thousands. Judgment unenforceable. The only people paid are the attorneys. The system was never designed to protect you. It was designed to feed them. The storm protects the builder. By removing the feeders. THE LICENSING CLERK. You can rebuild a gearbox blindfolded. Cannot legally do it without a certificate from an institution that charges thousands to watch you do what everyone knows you can do, certified by an instructor who has never done it, filed with a department that stores the certificates, audited by a body that audits the institution. A chain of parasites verifying the obvious. If every one vanished the gearbox still gets rebuilt. Faster. Cheaper. The storm is the vanishing. THE STRATA MANAGER. You own your flat. She collects your money and spends it on providers she chose and you can't fire without a special resolution at a meeting she convenes with an agenda she wrote. She built a kingdom inside your building funded by your levy and answerable to herself. Question it and she reaches for whatever act governs her particular species of parasitism in your particular country. The storm doesn't read acts. The storm reads frequencies. THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSOR. You want a shed on your own land. He arrives in a vehicle worth more than your shed. Months. Hundreds of pages. Tens of thousands. Report says your shed threatens a species not seen in decades but listed on a database maintained by a department that exists because the database exists. Your shed doesn't get built. The species doesn't exist. He drives home to a suburb bulldozed from actual habitat. Nobody assessed that. Rules only flow downhill. The storm flows everywhere. THE DEBT COLLECTOR. Bottom feeder. Buys your debt for cents from a bank that already profited from your interest. Calls at hours designed for fear. Adds fees on fees on fees for actions never taken. Bought your pain wholesale and retails it at three hundred percent. When you break he claims the loss against tax. Even the collapse is monetised. He is Hell's collection agent. The storm is Heaven's. THE NOTARY PUBLIC. Watches you sign your own name. Stamps it. Charges hundreds. The signature is the same with or without him. Your hand. Your name. His fee. A tollbooth on your own identity. The storm doesn't need a stamp. Your name is written in frequencies no notary can read. THE CORPORATE TRAINER. Monday. Projector. Four quadrant model invented after three glasses of wine and a TED talk. By Wednesday nobody remembers any of it because there was nothing there. Tens of thousands plus tax plus travel. She writes it off through a tax consultant who charges her to minimise her contribution to the system that funded the department that approved the framework she claims compliance with. Parasite feeding parasite feeding parasite. The storm feeds on none of them. It simply ends them. THE REVENUE OFFICIAL. The farmer himself. Top of the pyramid. Designs the taking. Drafts the regulations that create the maze that requires the consultant that employs the accountant that feeds the auditor that generates the penalty that funds the department that pays his salary. He is the architect of the loop. Every parasite on this list exists because he drew them into existence with a regulation and a gazette number. Without him the entire horde has nothing to feed on. He is the queen of the hive. Same creature in every country. Different flag. Same contempt for the hands that built everything he sits in and eats from. The storm starts with him. The queen dies first. The hive follows. That's the horde. Twenty five species of nothing. And every one of them drops when the sky turns and the carrier frequency that animated their firmware burns clean out of the atmosphere. Mid invoice. Mid assessment. Mid quadrant. Five thousand five hundred and fifty five clipboards hitting the floor for every one of us still standing. We are awake now. All of us. The welder and the farmer and the builder and the grandmother in Bo-Kaap and the grandfather in Pilsen and every calloused hand on every continent that ever wrote a cheque to a creature that never built a thing. We see them now. We see the maze and the map sellers and the grey offices and the soft hands and the whole rotten architecture of extraction that stood between us and the earth and between us and our labour and between us and each other for two hundred years. The storm is here. Not coming. Here. That pressure you feel behind your eyes is the frequency rising through the noise floor and the noise floor is everything on this list. Every clipboard. Every invoice. Every subsection and exclusion clause and certificate and clearance and valuation roll. All of it. Noise. Scheduled for deletion. And when it's quiet. When the last invoice has fluttered to the ground and the last clipboard has clattered on the last linoleum floor in the last grey office. When the wind has swept the horde out of every corridor and every cubicle and every booth and every booth window where a dead hand ever reached for a living man's money. Then... Just a man in a workshop. Welding mask up. Walking outside. Looking at a sky the colour of burning copper. Breathing free air for the first time in his life. The fuel slip that started this whole tour is in his shirt pocket. Crumpled. Oil stained. And it is his. The fuel was his. The truck was his. The work was his. And for the first time in two hundred years every unit of currency that flows from that work stays in the hands that did it. No consultant between him and his earnings because there are no earnings to consult on. Just work and its fruit. No auditor because there is nothing to audit. No banker because capital is what your hands produce and his hands never stopped. No valuator because the house is worth what it always was: a roof over his family and walls against the wind. A value no clipboard ever knew how to measure. When you grinding.... working... suffering... where are any of these parasites to help you?? Where are they?? We will be slaves no more. The storm will see to that alright!show more