Micah Redding: Adventurer

I hate politics.

And thus the source of my political opinion. Because politics is all about everything that is worst in the world. Political races are brutal struggles for power. Power that is then used to steal, murder, cheat, lie, and corrupt.

What, after all, is the source of government power? In the final analysis, it all comes down to violence. Guns and violence. If you don’t pay your taxes, they will use guns to force you to do so. If you don’t wear your seatbelt, they will fine you. And that fine means nothing except for the fact that if you don’t pay it, they will ultimately threaten you with violence.

Taxes are just prettied up theft.
Federal laws are no different than the rules laid down by the local mob.

And the legitimacy of the government is just fancy clothing on a rotten corpse.

-micah

I hate politics.

And thus the source of my political opinion. Because politics is all about everything that is worst in the world. Political races are brutal struggles for power. Power that is then used to steal, murder, cheat, lie, and corrupt.

What, after all, is the source of government power? In the final analysis, it all comes down to violence. Guns and violence. If you don’t pay your taxes, they will use guns to force you to do so. If you don’t wear your seatbelt, they will fine you. And that fine means nothing except for the fact that if you don’t pay it, they will ultimately threaten you with violence.

Taxes are just prettied up theft.
Federal laws are no different than the rules laid down by the local mob.

And the legitimacy of the government is just fancy clothing on a rotten corpse.

-micah

About three weeks ago, Josiah, Gabe, and I decided to stop drinking soda, milk, juice, etc, and start drinking only water. My thoughts were that I was tired of waking up exhausted and having to drink caffeine to get through the day, only to feel even worse afterwards. I figured that if I was waking up exhausted, I needed to focus on getting enough sleep the night before, and I suspected that if I drank enough water, I wouldn’t need caffeine, and might feel even better. So Gabe pressured us to make a pact to drink only water.

As a result, I inadvertently lost 15 pounds in three weeks.

And all without counting calories, dieting, or ceasing from eating junk food at the local convenience store. And losing weight really wasn’t on my immediate “to-do list” either.

There are several things that have struck me since deciding to do this. One is that I had the habit of getting hungry, and then dealing with my hunger by drinking soda. Even eating a candy bar probably has less calories and more nutrition than soda. And when you drink something, it may make you full for a while, but you’ll soon be just as hungry. Replacing meals with sugar-water is a bad idea.

This is not a calorie issue either. I would often drink diet soda; it too is filling, but leaves you feeling even more hungry than regular soda. So it tends to cause over-eating.

The other thing that struck me is how water tends to fix your ailments. I haven’t really done much better on getting sleep; I’ve made a lot of trips lately where I’m getting in at 3:30am and getting up at 7:00am. But when I drink a lot of water, it makes me feel more alert than caffeinated soda does. And in general, it just seems like I’ve felt better.

This wasn’t the easiest decision for me to make. Just like Gabe, I tend to drink ALL the time. I have to drink or chew on something. And my ideal situation would be to not ever have to eat and just be able to drink smoothies all day.

But there is something philosophical to be said about eating when you’re hungry, drinking when you’re thirsty, and not screwing that equation up.

Water is THE drink.

-micah

Stream The Song

Read The Story

Clouds (w:m micah redding)

A long time ago, a nation very far away
Young men stood on a hillside, dreaming of another day
They never knew what this would lead to, all these visions, all these things
All they knew was that they’d never lose the power of the dream

And now a thousand years later, and a million miles since
You can still hear them coming, hear their voices in the wind, they’re singing
A million different cities where the people cried aloud
You could hear the changes coming in the clouds

[It came in the clouds that day
Blowing open heaven's gates
Coming in on the winds of change
The day it all came down
That day was filled with clouds]

They saw a new heaven and earth, a new birth, new universe, born right here on the earth
They knew that if this was to happen everything would have to change
They’d bring the revolution and the day

[chorus]

The change they knew was coming never took them by surprise
But lifted them unspoken with the winds into the skies
And now you can hear their voices, all eternity they cry
Immortal they’re a beacon in the sky

[chorus]

Stream The Song

Read The Story

Clouds (w:m micah redding)

A long time ago, a nation very far away
Young men stood on a hillside, dreaming of another day
They never knew what this would lead to, all these visions, all these things
All they knew was that they’d never lose the power of the dream

And now a thousand years later, and a million miles since
You can still hear them coming, hear their voices in the wind, they’re singing
A million different cities where the people cried aloud
You could hear the changes coming in the clouds

[It came in the clouds that day
Blowing open heaven's gates
Coming in on the winds of change
The day it all came down
That day was filled with clouds]

They saw a new heaven and earth, a new birth, new universe, born right here on the earth
They knew that if this was to happen everything would have to change
They’d bring the revolution and the day

[chorus]

The change they knew was coming never took them by surprise
But lifted them unspoken with the winds into the skies
And now you can hear their voices, all eternity they cry
Immortal they’re a beacon in the sky

[chorus]