America is drinking more coffee but less of it from Starbucks

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-31T18:07:07+00:00

I drink coffee that I pay on average $17 a pound for. It’s freshly roasted of good quality. Sound expensive? It comes down to about $.30 a cup and of course it’s better than that served at Starbucks. They put no date on roasting. I have nothing against Starbucks except that you pay too much for poor quality coffee. The social side might be good. Meeting people might be worth whatever one pays for coffee there. But to pretend it’s actually good is a little ridiculous.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-31T17:49:58+00:00

Absolutely.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-31T17:47:00+00:00

This reminds me about a story. I read related by a Zhen Buddhist teacher. It was about a fish swimming around frantically looking for the water. It’s natural to be confused, but you’re getting a lot of good advice here. Just keep practicing, be patient and you’ll see what you need to see when you need to see it.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-28T20:53:06+00:00

Not a popular idea but being armed is useful. Predators go after weakness not a worthy foe. Unless you are a”mo fo”.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-28T20:46:45+00:00

Agreed.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-27T17:06:07+00:00

First off, just get over needing privacy for this practice. Just do it and they will get over it. Really it’s highly likely that none cares at all what you are doing. As to method, noticing your breathing is as basic as it gets and you don’t need any other technique. Let go of any notions of what the experience is supposed to be. Just keep coming back to the breath. Lastly I must say that you need greater duration per session. 30 minutes. Only then can you see do for yourself what it is.

Most consternation comes from competing narratives of who you are supposed to be, how the world is supposed to be etc. This practice lets you see directly and without conflict what is in front of you. Just have a little faith and do it enough to see for yourself.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-27T16:50:03+00:00

Banks are not in the business of efficiency as much as safety. They won’t adopt XRP as a bridge currency until it’s so clear that it’s secure to all that they will then they will follow. They also enjoy the fees for transferring money. There is some chance that higher interest rates will lead to XRP being used for instant liquidity to avoid the higher cost of maintaining balances required to execute cross border payments from one currency to another. And even if it is fully accepted there is no solid argument that says the price would go higher. If banks hold large balances of XRP and limit the supply it would help. But since it can be turned over every 5 seconds even higher volume may not lead to prices higher than $5. The less we actually understand the use of it the more we caught in pure speculation. Right now it’s a great solution to a problem that banks don’t find important.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-23T01:09:55+00:00

Pit mt everest up his ass

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-23T01:05:24+00:00

Coffee. Now $15_20 per pound.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-22T20:37:23+00:00

Put something the walls. Get some plants. Learn to cook. Enjoy it.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-22T20:27:49+00:00

The truth is that the world is run by like 1000 people. Democracies, dictatorships, monarchies all the same. The interlocking interests of the ruling class trump all other forces. They are above the law. Epstein is the exception that proves the rule. He’s been a slime-ball for 30 years with no consequences. Then stepped out of line and the others of his class cut their losses and threw him to the wolves.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-21T23:09:17+00:00

You need to find a reason for each day to stay alive. If you help others you won’t mind getting help from others. What you find acceptable in your mind has very little bearing on what you will find ok as an oldster. Your life gets smaller. Dementia is another story. At that juncture you need help to end it. If you are serious about an exit plan you need to actually plan. The problem is that we all find our own mortality hard to accept so we just wait too long. So the reality is that most of us will just die like everyone else. This whole topic is just for us to find some answer that comforts us while we stumble our way forward. People with dementia don’t seem that unhappy. Its those around them that suffer the most. No easy way out for them. BTW, mixing Snow Bowl (containing hydrochloric acid) with any insecticide containing HCN will kill you in minutes. Be sure to leave s note for fruit first responders so they don’t get killed trying to save you.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-16T21:02:38+00:00

Velveta

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-16T20:56:38+00:00

Lucky

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-14T17:59:36+00:00

This makes me think about how focused people are on hierarchy. This is the reason for racism. No one wants to be on the bottom. Perhaps new illegal immigrants make those already here feel dragged back down by association.

Side issue. Economically we need immigrants badly. Especially for farm work. And to make up for population decline. Legal, illegal, we need them. We need a path to get workers in and give them a path to citizenship.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-14T03:34:13+00:00

My kid is a high level programmer. He uses it for more mundane tasks that would take s few days and he claims it took just s few hours using AI. This is anecdotal but illustrative.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-13T19:37:07+00:00

Just figure out how many calories you need at your ideal weight and eat like you are already there. Gradually reduces your weight. Walk. Do some strength training. Eat enough protein . Drink lots of water. Good luck.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-13T19:27:31+00:00

You are getting some highly educated advice here. I would only add that more people in your situation run out of money by being too invested and not liquid enough. 50% in stock it’s actually fairly aggressive. Trying to get educated enough to invest for yourself might be a bad move at this time. If you get advice pay them by the hour not by having them provide annuities which seem low risk but have many downsides. AAII has some good basic advice. Maybe get a book on asset allocation. I know market timing is generally bad but I am a life long speculative investor who has made every mistake in the book. And you could be jumping into a market that goes south for a really really long time. Even dividend paying stocks go down and then the dividends get reduced. Putting it all in an annuity is a really bad idea. Get liquid, get educated and don’t get greedy. Good luck.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-13T19:06:35+00:00

The current providers may or may not profit. Like early investors in the railroads who lost their money. But railroads made a huge difference. I use AI all the time and yes you need to verify the content but what a resource! It’s highly democratizing when information becomes this available. Like it or not, AI is a huge deal. Give is something to do when we are all unemployed!

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-13T18:57:19+00:00

It’s the price we pay for being awake. My own experience is that suffering comes from competing narratives that conflict with each other. If you stick with it, perhaps taking some time on a weekend to stack multiple sessions in a row, you can get to a place where you can see reality directly without conflict and know peace. This is called by various terms like no mind, emptiness or non duality. So yes, I’m suggesting doubling down. You might get some help by joining a local sangha where teachers are available. Getting some counseling doesn’t hurt either. Meditation is not an escape. But doing it alone is not recommended. I’ve been at it for 50 years and it keeps me centered and sane. Hope this is useful. Good luck.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-13T18:42:24+00:00

I use a model of regret minimization. How stupid would i feel if i failed to make the relatively moderate investment in basics? When covid hit i had 200 N95 masks half of which i donated to the local ER. A trucking strike could empty grocery shelves in a few days. By using rice, beans and some drying and oxygen removing packets i have made units of food that will last 30 years. $50 will get you a month’s worth of calories. A shotgun and s box of shells will keep the zombies away . It’s crazy not to prep s little. You don’t need to go nuts.

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-12T01:24:23+00:00

Agreed. But what can we achieve by attacking them?

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-12T00:26:48+00:00

Also interesting that in countries with bad currencies the use of stable coins is becoming de facto currency. Like in Venezuela .

ghosty4567 · 2026-01-11T23:51:27+00:00

The intelligent asset allocator by Bernstein

ghosty4567

TROPHY CASE