Holy future Batman!

According to this article by nextshark.com a cafe in Japan has started to hire paralyzed persons to control robots to serve patrons.

I can’t imagine being stuck in a bed, with limited motor function. I have invisible disabilities and work constantly to keep myself distracted from the scary thought that I could get a migraine at any moment. Doing is a way of coping for me. I can only try to imagine what having a physical disability; it would be even more daunting. Giving these people a job, something to do, is a distraction from the pain of life. We all suffer and need an outlet for that suffering. A Michi to follow to ignore that suffering.

I am very thankful that their are companies like this out in the world.

On the path of life you are both an student and teacher. This is true at any age.

A few days ago I was cleaning out a bunch of old scrap wood from behind my shed. (The ryoken is currently under construction). And I found some speakers that I had bought from my friend Lieb. Michael Lieberman is one of the reasons I started outreachforthefinishline.com. he committed suicide a few years ago and I race cars and take people with depression to the race track. The speakers were destroyed. The wood had been soaked by rain and snow. I didn’t know they were in the pile of wood. I thought about saving them, rebuilding them. But the speakers were rusted, and blown. The wood rotten. I said my goodby and sent them to be recycled.

Our memories are not in the material objects we hold onto. They are in our minds.

I remember learning to DJ with Lieb using those speakers. And I will never forget that.

I have had a lot of death around me over the past few years. A couple of suicides. Some died by what my friend called ‘acceptable suicide’ : alcohol.  I raced cars with  Micheal, and started a non profit in his memory along with my stepdads memory. Who both killed themselves, and loved cars. I started Outreach For The Finishline for people, like myself, who have PTSD to get into a flow state. To work on cars, or race them.

Another post from reddit that I ran across, 6 years or so ago, about death and it has stuck with me ever sense.  it’s a great read and worth your time:

Alright, here goes. I’m old. What that means is that I’ve survived (so far) and a lot of people I’ve known and loved did not. I’ve lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can’t imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here’s my two cents.

Read More

awhile ago I ran across this post on reddit by u/mr_lose_cannon about meditation, and it’s probably one of the best guides to meditation I have read.

 

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According to journal Molecules a study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore aspartame, sucralose, saccharine, neotame, advantame, and acesulfame potassium-k are toxic to gut fauna in mice.

This is very interesting to me as I suffer from cluster headaches and have noticed a connection in my digestive health and how often I get clusters. I switched to a mostly keto diet a few months ago and it really helped. I have also noticed that artificial sweeteners will almost always give me a migraine.

I’ve saved a few more articles on similar subjects I’ll be sure to post them.

‘There is no knowledge that is not power’

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In the country of Colombia there are Biblioburros, or ‘Book Donkeys’. It all started when Luis Sorino, the only man with books in his small community, decided to repurpose his donkeys. Instead of carrying water they carried his books to local children. He also renamed them to Alpha and Beto.

Despite being held at gun point, warned to not organize pesants, and losing a leg in an accident, Luis continues his work. He is a true hero.

In my travels around the world I often see community gardens, libraries, and even workshops set up by groups, or individuals. They always warm my heart and give me hope for humanity.

Watch a BBC video about Luis Sorina and ‘AphaBeto’

A study, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, of over 152 volunteers by Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tetouan, Morocco and the Department of Health Sciences, University West, Trollhättan, Sweden, it was found that:

‘Yoga as a form of physical activity is effective for reducing psychological distress levels in prison inmates, with specific effect on symptoms such as suspicious and fearful thoughts about losing autonomy, memory problems, difficulty in making decisions, trouble concentrating, obsessive thought, and perception of bodily dysfunction.’

These types of studies on yoga and mindfulness seem plentiful, yet many communities across America still view yoga as abnormal, or snake-oil. It would be truly wonderful to see yoga and mindfulness more prevalent across America, especially in schools, prisons, and the military.

The philosophical warrior is much more prepared for the psychological damages of life.

 

 

 

 

 

The Colorado independent recently published an article saying that Denver will no longer be jailing people over $50 fines. This is great!

Why does this make any sense in the first place? It costs Boulder county $150 per day to keep someone in jail. I recently saw and met Sheriff Pelle at a panel in Boulder Colorado. He discussed what I call ‘community policing’ where he is trying to focus on mental health treatment instead of punishment. With a goal of keeping productive members of society productive with the correct, science based, treatments. This helps save the community money and aggravation in the long run.

One of the things Sheriff Pelle mentioned was the cycle these non violent offenders get stuck in. They can’t pay the fine so they end up in jail, costing the tax payer $150 per day. They then lose their job, and are no longer paying taxes. Once out of jail they have a record and now can’t find a job and become a burden on our system.
I applaud Sheriff Pelle and the Boulder community for how they are tackling the mental health and opioid epidemic in our community.