Jim Huffman

I was 8 years old. In third grade.

I remember something odd one late fall afternoon: another teacher came into our class after lunch and whispered something into my teacher’s ear. My teacher in turn looked horrified.

Then when we were getting ready to be dismissed, the other teacher came in the room and my teacher announced in a somber voice that we should be quiet in the halls today because the president had been shot – and here she turned to her colleague, who nodded – and she continued, “and killed.”

That was 1963, of course, and we’re closing in on the 60th anniversary of that event.

My parents were fairly conventional and, being 8, I had little reason to question what we were told about that day’s events.

But as I grew and as the years progressed, I came to question – in small ways at first, and later virtually the entire narrative – of what happened that day.

And because of the barrage of lies we were fed by government officials and the establishment media about President Kennedy’s death, I came to a firm realization that unless there was clear reason to think otherwise, we should assume we are being lied to by these entities about virtually anything of importance. This attitude will serve you well in life.

I genuinely feel for people who are conventionally minded when they start to see the chinks in the facade. They are usually nice people, and they have assumed – sometimes for decades – that people in positions of power and influence are likewise nice, well-intentioned people. They are not. And finding out that you have been lied to all of your life is not easy.

We seem to have one of these a-ha moments every few years. The 9/11 events have functioned for that purpose in the two decades since they occurred. That was a time when the establishment lies began almost within minutes after the events started occurring. Now the two years of Covid 19 have brought a new generation into questioning what we are fed by establishment politicians and media sources.

Many on both sides of the political fence see this unbridled skepticism as a bad thing. I don’t. Skepticism about information coming from politicians and their poodle media is always good, and these mouthpieces should be assumed to be lying unless there is incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. Such an assumption will seldom steer you wrong.

New Year’s resolutions are easily made and more easily broken. Far better when tempted to make such resolutions is to ask yourself: is the general trajectory of my life heading where I want it to, and if it’s not, to first ask why it’s not, and then to ask yourself how to go in the direction you want to be in.

There are usually no more than three or four things that we really take seriously in life. Those three or four are where we should focus our efforts and intentions.

Physical activity is not by itself something most of us think about. It’s an often secondary issue but it’s one of those things that if we don’t pay attention to can undermine the things we really want to do. For example, if you’re not physically active, interests such as travel can become far more difficult, if not impossible.

A lack of activity often feeds on itself as well: in other words, the less you move leads to your moving less which in turn leads to less activity.

We’re entering the sweet spot of physical activity in the northern hemisphere now with days lengthening and temperatures rising but still not hot. And if your physical activity has not been optimal recently, this might be a good time to recover that.

Our bodies are made for movement and while I like trail hiking and mountain climbing, the core of my activity is simple walking. Why? Because it’s easy, can be done at virtually any age, requires no special equipment, is enormously flexible, and in a pinch can be done almost anywhere: you could even walk around in a circle at your house if the weather’s dreadful and there’s nowhere else you can go.

What’s your most important thing to do today? What do you need to do most?

Why do we need to know this? The short answer is because most of us are prone to trivia. There are always tasks that need to be done that are not crucial. These are often low urgency things. They often can be done quickly, and that’s an appealing part of their charm: you can get them completed quickly and cross them off your list. Unlike, often, that most important thing, which may be complicated and require time and concentration. They may be important, even urgent, but they are not the most important thing for you to do. And included with “most important” is your favorite and your happiest thing to do.

Don’t make this more complicated than it is. 90% of the time, you know what’s important, even when you don’t want to do it. So try to train yourself to do what’s your most important task. Even when other things are screaming at you to do them. A life spent doing the important things is a life where the other things will get taken care of. Conversely, a life spent on trivia will fail to get the important stuff done, and will be a life that ultimately fails.

Do the important stuff. Your life is counting on it.

Recently in an article, I left out a crucial sentence. A reader saw my mistake, was puzzled, and contacted me to correct me.

I’m grateful he did, and told him so. You should be grateful as well when someone corrects a mistake you’ve made, whether big or small.

First, someone reading my piece that closely is paying attention. I’m happy for that.

Second, he’s doing me the favor of showing me my error. I need that.

Finally whether the one correcting me is right or wrong, he’s mentally interacting with what I wrote.

Whether you write or not, being corrected is a gift. How can you cultivate that kind of correction?

First, be open to corrections. If you are prickly or easily offended or react unpleasantly to correction, your readers will learn to not offer you correction. They won’t pay attention as carefully, and won’t interact with you in the same way.

You’re not a writer? All of the above still applies. Are you married? Be open to correction of whatever kind from your husband or wife. Do you have children? It’s amazing how much you can learn from even someone as young as five or six years old. Listen to your children. Respect their wisdom.

The same goes for employers, friends, and others you interact with. A genuine correction is a gift to be cherished. Appreciate and learn from those corrections, and you’ll be better at whatever you do.

I wrote earlier about local political involvement, but that was probably premature. Because politics is always downstream of culture, and people who are trying to reform society by political means are actually too late. The horses are already out of the barn, culturally speaking, and recognizing that will help you immensely.

But all is not lost. There’s plenty of room for working on society by non-political means. And my earlier assertion that local is where the action is remains intact. That’s where you can get stuff done.

Here’s where you have to make an assessment. Ask yourself some questions. What’s important to you? What do you like? What have people told you you’re good at? And what opportunities are available in your area? And your answers to those questions will determine what organization you might want to work with. And, of course, when an organization has a belief system it’s imperative that you share those beliefs.

Local organizations have suffered in the last couple of decades. Groups like Rotary or Toastmasters or athletic teams are still around but many are hanging on by a thread. Churches (or synagogues or mosques) have had substantial declines in both membership and involvement. And those are the opportunities where you can make a difference.

How do you start? Find out when your organization meets, and visit a meeting. If you’re unsure where you’d like too start, visit 5-10 of these intro meetings to get a feel for them. After you’ve found a place that seems like a fit, ask yourself if they have shortcomings that you can help with. Are there organizational issues? Poor web presence? Someone to help with outreach to young people?

Whatever it is, you probably have a skill that some organization in your area could use. Join one where you can make a difference, and after a month of attending and listening and getting a feel for your chosen group, speak to the leadership and volunteer to help.

You can make a difference. In small or large ways, you can do things that make a difference in your world, starting with your local area. You really can change the world.

Nonstick pans offer so much. And in the end they deliver so little.

I should know. I was taken in by the promises. Easy cooking, fast cleanup, and great pancakes.

But then reality hits. The pans warp, the cooking is easy for about two weeks, and the easy cleanup becomes a matter of removing the flakes of the nonstick coating. And you have to face the other reality: those flakes aren’t just coming off in the cleanup. You’re eating those flakes. Like I should have said, you don’t want to think about this too much.

So what’s the solution? What pan is truly easy, cooks well, and both literally and figuratively cleans up?

Easy: get a cast iron skillet. They’re remarkably inexpensive ($25-50), cook well, are flexible (in cast iron you can cook a roast chicken – imagine doing that in your nonstick), and they last forever. The pan you’re buying today is one your great-grandchildren could use.

People on Reddit and other spaces will ask, “What can you cook in a cast iron skillet?” The more accurate question is, “What can’t you cook ins cast iron skillet?

They really do work. When properly seasoned, they’re nonstick without the chemical feast. Seasoning is the process of treating the pan’s metal to ensure that food doesn’t stick. But the “properly seasoned” part is the one that throws people for a loop. Seasoning a pan is made to be way more difficult than it is. Here’s how to take care of it.

Preheat your oven to 350. Now put one tablespoon (any more is unnecessary) in the pan. Use a paper towel to wipe the inside and outside of the pan. (The pan should look wet after you’ve done this). Now place the pan in the oven, shut the door, and turn off the heat. Leave the pan inside for 12 hours or overnight.

Don’t make this any more complicated. People will tell you to place the upside down on a sheet of aluminum foil or other things. Don’t. Just do what I’m telling you. You’ll have a great pan that you can cook in three times a day.

If you want to go big, go small.

That is, if you want to make any difference in the lives around you, start – and probably stay – very local.

Every politician (EVERY politician) in the country has thought at least once and probably lots more about being president. This is such an obvious thing that someone who denies it should be assumed to be lying about everything thing else as well.

But if you’re any level of politician, you’re not going to be president. Including the imposters, we’ve had a grand total of 46 men in that position.

Statistically, the odds are impossibly against you. Give it up.

What’s even more depressing for those who by some miracle get to that position is to realize how fleeting the fame is. I could offer a cash prize of $10,000 to any random person on the street who could name the, say, 9th POTUS, and I’d walk away with my meager savings intact.

Most local politicians are honestly trying to make a difference. In probably 90% of American cities, the council members and mayor make a pittance – the city where I live pays the mayor $14,000 annually. And those are thankless jobs. These people usually spend several hours a month in meetings, and a lot more time outside of those meetings on other issues. Many of them are publicly accessible by email or phone, and people are not shy about contacting them when even the smallest thing goes wrong.

But this is where a huge amount of important stuff gets done. We found out in the last two years that issues like mask mandates, vaccine passports, and civic openness were often decided on a hyper- local basis – by mayors, city council members, and school board members.

Not to mention positive stuff that you can do. You really can make your community a better place.

Of course, it’s hard work. Far easier is the role of the critic, sniping at those who are doing the work that needs doing.

If you want to fantasize about being president, have at it. But if you want to get things done in your community, go to work locally. It might be an elected office, or an appointed one, or simply a volunteer position. But start doing the work. Just maybe you’ll end up being a local big shot. And more important than that, you’ll have a chance to make the place you live a better one.

The usual suspects in the establishment media throw these terms around like they are identical. They’re not.

An authoritarian is someone who would love to have total control over your life. So this kind of person is virtually every politician above the level of county commissioner. But an authoritarian only worries about your outward submission. So this kind of person wants you to outwardly conform but – and here’s the crucial difference – doesn’t really care what you think or do on your own time or if you badmouth them over dinner with your family.

The 20th century brought in a new animal. It happened mostly because they could. That’s when we started to get totalitarians. Totalitarians want control over everything about your life. They want you to conform outwardly, mentally, privately – in every sphere of your life. The classic warning to us about this was the 1947 novel ‘1984’ in which the government tried to make every mental difference an impossibility, even changing language in service of the state.

We should beware of both. A free people have no need for control and the beauty of freedom is that free individuals can make and do wonderful things when they are left alone.

But there’s a crucial difference. I don’t like either of them but I can live with an authoritarian. They want me to outwardly conform? Well, good luck with that. Americans have shown over the past two years how tricky that can be. But the scary thing about the past two years has been that it bordered on totalitarianism with people demanding a lockstep mental regime, a conformity that was not only outward but inward and mental as well.

So beware of governmental controls. Virtually anything the government does can be done better, more efficiently, and cheaper by the private sector, and that should be our starting way of thinking about life. Unfortunately, we’ve developed a not small segment of the population that views bureaucratic controls as the first – rather than the absolute, dead last – means of taking care of a problem. Cultivate in your own life and in those spheres of influence you have an attitude that people will take care of things that come up. Give people the chance to take care of our problems, and the results are amazing.

My wife rightly brags that she has not been on Fakebook in weeks. And she’s right to brag about it. FB (the stock symbol for their company, now known as “Meta”, complete with – God help us – employees known as “Metamates”) has become a trolling ground for every boomer on the planet, and it shows. Annoying, kitschy, and irrelevant, most of the information there is not useful, and, frankly, not even that interesting.And a waste of your time. For the most part, anyway. I still participate in a couple of interest groups, one more active than the rest, but what most people do, the banter there, is something I have abandoned. Facebook is a brilliant idea that works mildly addictively to get you and plenty of others to virtually hang out and while there, you and those others provide eyes for the advertisers pushing their wares on the site. Disengage. And if you have a special interest group that you don’t want to give up on, that’s okay. Just give up the quotidian stuff of FB, and live your life. You’ll gain time but more important, you’ll re-establish a mental focus. Get your life back from the clutches of the Zuckerberg cartel.

I’m writing this on Thursday, February 24, 2022, in the midst of the Russian military actions in Ukraine. This is the context of what I’m saying today. Specifically, I’m addressing the price of gold (per ounce, denominated in USD).Gold is traditionally viewed as a safe harbor in very bad situations. Gold is a store of value that’s not easily manipulated by government authorities. It’s also a diffuse indicator, fueled by literally millions of people around the world trading in gold. Some of these players are small traders (often individuals and small businesses) and some as large as multinational banks. As such, when something really terrible is occurring, the price of gold will rise rapidly and a lot. But it didn’t do that today. Gold closed official trading today at $1,924.40 per ounce, up $16.85. If you don’t follow the markets closely, that might sound like a big increase. It’s not. It’s less than a 1% increase in price. To put that price in perspective, that’s a completely normal price change in a day. (Let me say right up front that any war is terrible. Any war. Even wars that have a justification, such as one in response to an invasion. Because the ones who suffer the most from a war are the most helpless: small children, the elderly, and the handicapped. In the 20th century, we became very good with the thought of going to war. That was a mistake).But today, the gold markets told us that, as bad as this would be to the people of Ukraine, it was not the doomsday scenario that was painted this morning. US stock market futures were way down before the markets opened and the actual prices of stocks were down easily over 2% this morning. But the stock markets are far more prone to hysteria and crowd sentiment, while gold is a little more boring, which makes it a good indication about the gravity of a situation.So look at gold prices when you’re worried that something big is happening. It’s not an infallible indicator, but it’s probably the best bet you’ve got, and it’s easy to find out.