What is Stoicism? It seems to be gathering a rather large online following of late. Stoicism was developed many years ago in ancient Greece as a way to overcome destructive emotions by practising self-control and developing one’s fortitude. We can’t control nor rely on external events no more than we can control the direction of the wind, or the weather, so what’s the point of getting upset when these things don’t go our way? Instead, a Stoic focuses on controlling their own mind and emotions, and choosing behaviour that benefits themselves as well as helping others. Willpower and Stoicism go hand in hand. If you can improve your willpower, you will be a better Stoic. And as you practice Stoicism, your willpower will consequently improve. I know, we are caught in a world where instant gratification is the norm. We can flick on the computer or pick up a tablet and watch any video or play any game we like – immediately. We can order almost any food over the Internet and have it arrive at our door within 15 or 20 minutes. Online, we can pretty much purchase anything in the world, cheaply and quickly. We guts down high calorie, low nutrient food, because it’s there – it’s available and tastes nice. Instant gratification is the enemy of Stoicism, or is it? Most Stoics probably savour the chance of being tempted, because by being tempted, one can practise Stoicism. The other day, I was at my friend’s house playing a boardgame. One of my mates pulled out a packet of chocolate biscuits (Mint Slice I believe – my favourite kind) and plonked them down in the centre of the table. Everyone started gutsing into them as I watched on. I could smell the flavour of the creamy mint insides wafting throughout the room. I could see the melted chocolate all over my friends’ fingertips as they started licking it off as if it was the last chocolate they’d ever be tasting. But then I realised, I don’t need to have any. Despite my belly saying, “Eat up!”, I decided to practise Stoicism and ignore those creamy, chocolatey treats. I ended up sitting there for a bit over three hours while there were still biscuits on the table. The other guys were clearly stuffed. There was chocolate all over their mouths and under their fingernails. They were resting their heads to the side and reclining back in their chairs, clearly satisfied with their indulgence. In the end, there were only two biscuits left, but I just made the decision not to eat any. I actually felt powerful. Nothing was going to make me eat those biscuits. And that’s the first way of practising Stoicism, be strong in the face of temptation. If you are in a situation where normally you would cave, just test yourself and see how far you can go. It’s actually quite liberating. To ad ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A_Kb5AoQFU

Apparently, we’ve reached a point in human history where expensive lollies parading as vitamins is a thing. My wife bought some just the other day to give to our children. To be fair to her, they were on special at less than half-price, and English isn’t her first language, so I can understand the confusion. “Vita Gummies, Multi-Vitamin + Vegies”. They look like a small pile of sugar. Of course, my children love them, which I personally think is a huge problem. If they ever got hold of them when I’m not around, they would almost certainly feast upon them consuming an uncontrolled amount of supplemental nutrients in the process. The only hint that they contain ANY sugar is this little two-word phrase hidden on the back — “Contains sugars”. There’s no other evidence apart from the pile of sugar coated on the outside of each gummy. Every other product in Australia has to show their sugar content. Apparently vitamins are exempt from this. These so-called vitamins claim to contain veggies. Looking on the back, we can see that there are 5mg each of spinach, carrot, beetroot, and artichoke. Remembering what 5mg is — 1/200th of a gram. I mean, what is that? According to Google, the average pea weighs between 100 and 360 milligrams. That means that a single solitary pea has about 10 times as many vegetables in it than does one of these vita gummies! Even vegetable-flavoured stock cubes that I picked up from Aldi have more vegetables in them. Maybe you should be feeding your children stock cubes instead? I’m sure they would be a lot healthier. If my sarcasm wasn’t glaringly obvious, whatever you do, please don’t feed your children stock cubes, and certainly while you’re at it, you probably shouldn’t be feeding them Vita Gummies either. Now I guess it’s time for me to go and prepare for the incoming lawsuit. MY GEAR Rode NT-USB Microphone: https://amzn.to/2OjhgB4 #kidshealth #vitamins #toomuchsugar ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FstOP0Vsj6E

Australians are feeling poorer as usual. In the December quarter 2018, taking into account inflation, Australians have lost about $310 billion in household wealth, which is made up of about $170 billion of losses on land and dwellings, and $140 billion on financial assets. This is the biggest quarterly fall since 2011 and is the second such fall in two consecutive quarters. That is, we’re in some sort of per-capita recession. Most of this fall is due to the declining housing market, but a large part of it is due to the 10% fall in the ASX over the December quarter. Not to mention household debt. While household wealth has been falling, household debt has been soaring. The household-debt-to-income ratio hit a new record just shy of 200%. Loss of wealth. Increased debt. It’s an Australian crisis waiting to happen. Naturally, jobs in the housing sector are falling. They fell by over 7% last year. The manufacturing industry is unsurprisingly in free fall. It fell by over 9% year-on-year. Retail trade’s not faring well either, falling by about 3.5%. If you’ve been seeing lots of small businesses closing down of late, this is probably the reason. Surprisingly (or maybe not), the highest growth in jobs was in Public Administration and Safety. The Australian Labor Party, if elected, promise to scrap negative gearing by January 1st, 2020. The changes would stop new investors from deducting rental losses from their income tax, raising an estimated $2.9 billion over four years. Labor have argued that negative gearing is too generous and is unfair because it makes it harder for young Australians and first home buyers to buy a home. The ALP have also announced that they will reduce taxes for institutional investors that build rental properties. With regards to taxes, the RBA has also put their two cents in and stated that Australian households are feeling poorer due to increasing personal taxes. They said that over the past year, personal taxes increased at around twice the rate that household incomes did. Whether you feel poorer or not, the ATO are keen to get more of your money. Speaking of wealth, data has been released by the ATO that shows the highest income earners from 2017. Unsurprisingly, surgeons topped the list at almost $395,000 per year. Towards the bottom of the list were farmers only averaging around $22,000. It looks like any job to do with food in Australia isn’t paid very well. It’s a shame that farmers are paid so little seeing that everyone in Australia requires food. However, not everyone requires a psychiatrist or a financial planner. One must question how these priorities came about. Australia's poorest postcode is 2308 in NSW, which includes Newcastle University and Callaghan with an average taxable income of only a ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmIP08sdKL0

Have you seen this man? He’s a billionaire. His name is Jack Ma and he is the founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. He said a few things that upset the Chinese Communist Party. Specifically, “Today’s financial system is the legacy of the Industrial Age. We must set up a new one for the next generation and young people. We must reform the current system”. Ooh, bad mistake. Never say you want to reform the current system. His last tweet was sent on the 10 October 2020, ending with the line, “Together, we can protect our planet from climate change!”. Ooh, another bad mistake. He also failed to appear in the final episode of his own talent show, Africa’s Business Heroes. His picture was subsequently taken off the website. He’s obviously in the process of being erased. Moral of the story, if you’re Chinese and you upset the Chinese Communist Party, you’re done! Even if you’re not Chinese and upset the CCP, you’re done! So have you seen this man? If so, let me know. Keep everyone entertained (Shop fast & free with eBay Plus. T&Cs apply)▶ http://ebay.us/WWFoRy #MiniRant #Shorts #JackMa ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4F11I5_Jww