I did find the speech on the White House YouTube channel. I don’t need to go through the specifics to recognize a worrisome trend. The former main news networks are trying to control our thinking. I stopped watching on election evening in 2016. I realized that night that the news was not balanced. The anchors were absolutely melting down. Add to that the fact that the networks decided not to run the President’s speech last night and our confidence in the networks should be thoroughly destroyed.

I read an article by Alexander Muse today. He is pretty right wing, but I find his articles to be intelligently written. “My name was given to Twitter by the Department of Justice as one of the accounts the government wanted shadow banned or suspended. There were thousands of us targeted by the Biden administration. The posts that ultimately got me suspended for almost two years concerned an election integrity issue that was very real and that the intelligence community was actively suppressing, the same category of information now sitting in the White House archive for anyone to read.”

The only ones who think that is a secret are the ones who fail to follow what was happening during the Biden administration. Biden wasn’t just leaning on “disinformation” about Covid and vaccines. Those who questioned election integrity were also targeted. Trump has now declassified and released files showing that the agencies were corrupt.

We should agree that we need election integrity. We should not be able to say that someone stole an election. We have heard that charge for every presidential election since 2016. Before mail in ballots, we had election integrity. You had to show up, sign your name, fill out a ballot and leave. I was even a poll watcher. Now we have computer systems that are capable of fraud, and we have no way to check it. We shouldn’t have to prove that fraud existed. We should prove that fraud couldn’t exist.

We should agree that only citizens are allowed to vote. My wife taught several classes for people who wanted to become citizens. One of the benefits is the right to vote. We teach our children American history and the political system. People who want to vote should also know and agree to uphold the system.

We must restore integrity to our election process.

We must understand that the news networks that many of us relied upon for decades are puppets of the Democrat party. There is no longer any pretense of balance. We must search for truth.

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Sec. Kennedy is making some changes. Before I go into that, I’ll give you my background.

Chiropractors have a long history of being opposed to vaccine. The discoverer of chiropractic claimed that the cause of disease was subluxation of the spine. Although that was hyperbole, he made an additional statement. If vaccinations are of any benefit, your vaccinated children will not be harmed by my unvaccinated children.

I wasn’t vaccinated until I was about 12 years old. My parents wanted me to have the opportunity of natural immunity first. Natural immunity has proven to be stronger than artificial immunity derived from vaccines. A reason may be that more of the immune system is involved. When a virus enters your nasal passages or digestive tract, the immune response may start much sooner and go through a different process than when injected.

The idea that people will develop an immune response to a weakened or dead virus makes sense to me. If we can develop an immune response without getting the full-blown disease, that might save lives. In the case of injury, saving lives is not the question.

Many people don’t understand that vaccines can cause injury. In fact, drug manufacturers demanded that Congress pass the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act to shield them from liability. Part of the Act is VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) and VICP (National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program).

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly proposed and is actively pursuing changes to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), also known as the “vaccine court,” along with related efforts for COVID-19 vaccine injured.

In July 2025, Kennedy criticized the program’s structure. HHS acts as the defendant rather than vaccine manufacturers. He claims the process dismisses or delays meritorious claims and said he is working with the Attorney General to address this.

Sec. Kennedy has discussed overhauling operations, potentially expanding the “injury table” (a list of presumed vaccine-related injuries and time frames for compensation), extending statutes of limitations, and making it easier/faster for claimants. Some advisers have suggested broader definitions of encephalopathy to include some cases of autism.

A process began in July to create a COVID-19 vaccine injury table under the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). The change would presume certain injuries are caused by the shots. Compensation would be easier without proving causation in each case.

Billions of dollars have been paid out since inception of the program. Critics fear expansion will overwhelm the program, funded by a tax on vaccines. They also fear rising costs, and deterrence of vaccine production. Those fears seem legitimate.

Some people maintain that vaccines save lives. Others claim vaccines injure and kill people. Both claims can be true. It gets down to a cost/benefit analysis. We can’t do the analysis until we track the costs and benefits.

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I usually walk my dogs in the morning and in the evening. This morning we were about four blocks from home when I noticed something that changed my entire day. My depth perception was incredible. I had to stop and appreciate it.

That may not seem like a big deal to you. When I was a kid, I didn’t have good depth perception. It made catching a ball difficult. I remember wondering if people saw things differently than I did. I thought that I could tell that something was further away than something else, but I didn’t know if that was what everyone saw.

To catch a football I watched its trajectory. As a friend told me decades later, your brain was doing calculus to determine where to go. Maybe. Or maybe it was just guess and check.

To have depth perception, the brain must put together the two images from our eyes. When I was in grade school, our eyes were tested using a machine. I could see the letters with both eyes. I was asked to watch an apple tree to see if the apple fell on the picnic table. It didn’t. They repeated the test. I closed one eye and learned that the tree was in one eye and the picnic table was in the other. My brain wasn’t putting them together.

After graduating from chiropractic college, I followed Dr. Art Thompson in his private practice. Dr. Thompson took 3-D x-rays. He had an X-ray machine that was capable of moving the central ray left and right to simulate the separation of our eyes. The films were developed and placed in view boxes facing each other. He looked at the films using mirrors. Left eye looked at the film to the left and right eye looked at the film to the right. That separation gave him 3-D vision.

I bought a similar X-ray system. Through practice I developed 3-D vision. I remember walking home one night and seeing downtown Bellingham from a hill. It was the first time I was sure I was seeing 3-D.

Today was similar to that experience decades ago. I looked down streets. I looked up at the clouds. I looked at Drayton Harbor. It was fantastic!

My wife and I were having coffee and I told her my experience. She could relate. She still remembers getting her first pair of glasses when she was a kid. Suddenly she saw leaves on trees for the first time. She had just seen green before the glasses.

For the last ten years or so, I have experienced double vision. It comes and goes. It seems to be related to the position of my head. If I turn my head slightly it clears. I’ve suspected it has to do with my upper cervical subluxation. My subluxation is being corrected and my vision and blood pressure are improving.

Double vision has been interesting. It isn’t just a matter of seeing double, although sometimes it is. Two images can be overlayed. It can look like someone to my right is in front of me.

In addition, I’ve had trouble seeing with my head turned to right or left to the extremes. For example, I was having trouble seeing my grandkids in the back seat of the car without turning my body. That has also improved.

Think about how amazing it is that light from our surroundings goes into our eyes. It is detected by the retinae. Messages are sent via the optic nerves to the brain. Somehow that is converted to what we see as our environment.

If there is any interruption in that system, the image can be distorted. If people hallucinate, they see things that we don’t see.

What is reality? It is probably neither what I saw today nor what I usually see. What I see is something that is made up to help me have a better experience. Today’s experience was awe inspiring.

If you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate it if you share it. It is a way you can support me. Free subscribers get access to most posts. Paid subscribers also get access to my two books: A Doctor’s Guide to Real Estate Investing and How Politics Increased the Cost of Healthcare in America plus a discount on my Udemy Course - 20/20 Business Education for Healthcare Entrepreneurs.

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Today I received an email from the International Chiropractic Association asking me to help them pass a bill to modernize the Social Security Act to better cover chiropractic care in Medicare. Let me give you some background.

Chiropractic care was added to Medicare in 1972. Although the chiropractic adjustment was a covered service, exams and X-rays were not. When I began practice in 1985, the exam and X-rays could run over $200. Patients were paying out-of-pocket creating a barrier to care that did not exist for medical care.

I have been told by people claiming to be in the know, that chiropractors are required to be part of the Medicare system. Other physicians are allowed to opt out. I no longer have a Medicare number. It is unclear to me whether it is legal for me to see patients who are Medicare illegible.

Many of my patients came in for wellness care. That is not a Medicare service. As with most insurance, the patient must have a condition that requires treatment. It is unclear whether wellness care will be available after the modernization, but I imagine not.

I used the MAHA Action link to send a message to my congressman. The message is below. There is a place to put your own personal experience. I deleted the MAHA sentence and added my own. I italicized it for you.

“I urge you to vote in favor of the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act, H.R. 539 in the House and S. 106 in the Senate, strengthened by the profession’s three amendments: coverage defined by each state’s scope of practice with clear boundaries, equal Medicare opt-out rights for chiropractors, and a firm implementation timeline. One in three American seniors lives with chronic pain, yet Medicare still covers exactly one chiropractic service while the VA, the Department of Defense, federal employee health plans, and private insurance already recognize the fuller scope of care chiropractors are state-licensed to provide.

After nearly 40 years, I am retired from active practice. I was able to help many patients, often after regular medical care and physical therapy had proven insufficient.

This bill has one of the largest bipartisan coalitions of any health bill in Congress. It defers to each state’s scope of practice and explicitly excludes drugs, surgery, and obstetrics. Seniors have waited more than 50 years. Pass it this Congress.”

If you would like to help, go to MAHA Action. Fill out your information. Delete or customize the sentence on your experience with chiropractic. It will be sent to your representative. You might also subscribe to 1-4 substack accounts. You can always unsubscribe, if too much.

If you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate it if you share it. It is a way you can support me. Free subscribers get access to most posts. Paid subscribers also get access to my two books: A Doctor’s Guide to Real Estate Investing and How Politics Increased the Cost of Healthcare in America plus a discount on my Udemy Courses.

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I read that by the time of the American Revolution the average colonist was three inches taller than the average British soldier. The difference was attributed to diet. The colonists were eating more bison and getting more protein.

That difference was discovered by anthropologists. Typically medical research looks for causes of loss of function. We are concerned with the causes of diseases, not optimal function.

A blood test showed that my mother was low on sodium. I said, “We’ll give her more salt.” The doctor and nurse laughed. They believed giving her more salt would make her blood pressure go up. Their solution was to reduce her fluid intake. The idea was that reducing the volume of fluid would increase the concentraton of sodium in her blood. It didn’t work.

I asked the nurse at her assisted living center. He said, “She’s not getting any salt here.” I began giving her potato chips and salty drinks. Even that wasn’t enough.

Eventually, sodium tablets were prescribed. So, we went from being laughed at for eating salt to taking salt tablets. Be careful not to go to extremes with health research.

A university statistics teacher and I had a discussion about what could be proven by statistics. My position was that it is difficult to prove causation on anything involving healthcare. He disagreed. Years later, he had symptoms that wouldn’t improve. He saw a naturopath who looked at his diet. He had eliminated fat from his diet. In an effort to be healthy based on research, he made himself sick.

We often overlook the role of absorption. When I was in high school, I tried to gain weight by eating more. Instead of gaining weight, I got diarrhea. I told my father that I could barely make it through a class. He said, “Stop eating so much.” That worked. My body wasn’t absorbing my food. Some part of me was deciding that my weight was fine.

Another example of absorption is the regulation of calcium. The concentration of calcium in the blood in sensed by cells in the parathyroid glands. When the level of calcium is too low, the parathyroid glands release parathyroid hormone (PTH). The kidneys respond to PTH by reabsorbing more calcium and secreting more Vitamin D3, which stimulated more calcium absorption in the gut. PTH also acts on bones to stimulate osteoclasts to break down bone and release calcium into the blood stream.

Certainly your diet is important. You can’t make sodium out of nothing. You can take calcium out of your bones, but you don’t want weak bones. Good idea to have calcium in your diet. Those are just two examples.

Key is to have a good balanced diet. I take some supplements. I believe supplements give my body a chance to absorb what it needs. I don’t go crazy following the latest “health” research.

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Today is a big day for the little town of Blaine, WA. We have a parade, a car show, and vendors in the streets. It is all capped off with a giant fireworks display. I just read an article with an interview of our mayor.

According to the article, our celebration will be muted this year considering it is our 250th, because of lack of Canadians. The article cites store closures due to lack of Canadian traffic. That is true. We had a number of mail stores. Canadians would have mail sent here and come down to get it. Those stores closed during Covid. The article failed to mention a new Mexican restaurant, barber, oyster restaurant, McDonalds, car wash, medical center. As is so often the case, the reporter was looking for a down side.

I think it is a good time to reflect on what it means to be American. I’ll start with what it means to be a country.

I used C0-pilot search and found that internation law defines a country using four criteria.

1. 1. A stable population. There isn’t a minimum number of people. The people have to be permanent residents and not transients.

2. 2. The country controls a definite territory. Borders can be in dispute, but the country must have borders and effective control of the borders.

3. 3. The entity must have an effective government. The government must provide public order, enforcing laws, collecting revenue, and providing basic services.

4. 4. A state must be able to conduct foreign affairs, negotiate treaties, and fulfill international obligations.

Without borders, you don’t have a country. If laws are not enforced, you don’t have a country. Without the ability to negotiate treaties and fulfill international obligations, you don’t have a country.

None of that is unique to America. What do Americans celebrate today?

We actually celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For me, the most meaningful part is the following:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Certainly, we have struggled to live up to the idea all men are created equal. We fought a civil war for freedom of slaves. Yet, we had laws that kept whites in control for about a century. I am proud to see the number of my friends and relatives with grandchildren of mixed race. We still struggle with equality.

Women were finally recognized as equal to men and given the right to vote. Yet, men still received preferential treatment in the work force. Title 9 of federal law gave men and women equal opportunity in education and athletics. Women’s sports were finally allowed. Now transgender women want to play women’s sports with some of the advantages of a male body. Should we have teams that are unisex? How will women fair in such an environment? We still struggle with equality.

We have finally created laws to protect sexual preference. Although we still have a long way to go, one of my favorite examples of improvement is Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent. Secretary Bessent is the first treasury secretary to be openly gay. I don’t like him because he is gay. I like him for his ideas. He is an example of hiring based on merit. Discrimination is hiring people based on their membership of a protected class. We should be hiring people based on merit, based on their ideas and abilities, not based on their protected class. We still struggle with equality.

I could go on and on.

I don’t celebrate today because we have a perfect country. I celebrate today because we started with an ideal and we continue to struggle to reach it. We struggle to give every citizen an opportunity to excel. That includes an opportunity to fail. When we fail, we allow people to declare bankruptcy and try again.

Certainly, rich have more opportunities than poor. We continue to struggle with income equality. We continue to struggle with health care equality.

We must try new things. We must also not be afraid to recognize when our attempts have failed and to try something else. We must recognize when our attempts have succeeded and our priorities can shift.

We don’t have a perfect country. We have a country built on ideas. As Pentanomics shows us, it is constant improvement that maximizes the good. We must continue to constantly improve. I believe that we are constantly improving.

Happy Independence Day USA!!

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No matter what your goals are, they start somewhere. Are they your goals or someone else’s? Find out by asking yourself why?

I attended a happy hour for real estate brokers. I was talking with a colleague who told me that she was an evangelical Christian. She told me that something big was going to happen on a certain date. I asked her how her life would change if it didn’t happen. She hadn’t thought about it.

You might not see that as containing a why, but it does. Why believe something? Does your belief change your life? If not, why believe it?

I don’t remember the author, but someone gave me the idea of the true self and the false self. I’ve seen the basic idea in different places and with different names.

I like to think of the true self as your spirit. Your spirit can choose what to believe. Or your spirit can take a break and let your false self control.

Think of your false self as all the programming you have acquired during your life. Are your goals from your spirit (true self) or from your programming (false self)?

A patient is a great example. She was middle aged and having trouble moving. I watched her get out of a chair and stand for a minute before walking. She was also overweight. She and her husband were sitting in my small consultation room.

After introductions, I asked, “How can I help you?”

Patient, “I need to lose weight.”

Me, “You came to me to lose weight?”

Patient, “No. I’m having trouble moving and everybody tells me that it’s because I need to lose weight.”

Me, “I haven’t examined you. I don’t know if you need to lose weight or not.”

Husband, “I don’t care if she loses an ounce. I just want my wife back.”

Do you notice what was happening? She wanted to feel better and move better. She was setting a goal of losing weight because that is what “everybody” told her. Her true self wanted to have a happy life. Her false self was following what everybody had told her.

I told her the basis of my practice: “You are an intelligence using your brain and nervous system to control your body. If the bones in your spine become misaligned, they can interfere with your nervous system, and it doesn’t respond properly. We call that problem a subluxation. I correct the subluxation. Your nervous system begins to work properly, and you heal yourself.”

Her husband spoke for the first time. “Any doctor who doesn’t believe that is a fool.”

In a few weeks he had his wife back. In six months, she was able to help him place pavers in their driveway. She never lost a pound.

One day she was telling me about the dinner they had at a restaurant. She went into a lot of detail. She described how the food was prepared. How it looked. How the cook drizzled dressing on the salad. It was obvious that she enjoyed food. Imagine how miserable she would have been if she stuck to the goal of losing weight.

The point is to be clear on your goal. Where did you get the idea for the goal? Why do you want it? What will happen if you don’t get it?

The next step is to take action. I have experienced things just happening in my life, but most people find it takes action to take a goal from visualization to realization.

Imagine your goal was to have a new relationship. It is possible that someone will just show up and knock on your door. You must answer the door. You could go even further. You could venture out of your home and look for the person of your dreams. Again, ask yourself why? Should you look in a bar or in a church? Why? What type of person are you looking for?

Personal growth is about letting go of false beliefs and becoming your true self. Why? You’ll be happier.

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Small businesses have always been the backbone of America. Small retail shops, barbers and hairstylists, healthcare providers, restaurants, the list goes on and on. Are you an entrepreneur? If so, how’s it going?

The Business section will have something about being in business.

There is a lot to being in business and few people understand. Many think they know everything because they took a high school bookkeeping class. I have an MBA, worked for IBM for three years and still didn’t know what I needed to know to be an entrepreneur. I learned the hard way - on the job.

Some people will go out and make it look easy. Most will struggle and fail. Can I give you some short cuts to success?

So much of what happens to us is due to our choices. Many of our choices are subconscious. Some are conscious beliefs. Some of our beliefs are limiting our ability to make money.

Many people are looking for freebies. They are watching YouTube videos trying to do work themselves. It can make us feel that we must lower our price to attract business. My barber was a great example.

A barber opened in Blaine. She is about a five-minute walk from my house. I had her cut my hair last week. I told her that if it wasn’t short enough, I would just come back. No worries. If it was too short, it wouldn’t take long to grow out. No worries.

Over the weekend, I decided that the hair on top was too long. She was closed yesterday, so I went today. Today was $11 dollar Tuesday. I paid $30 last week. She told me that since I only had the top cut, she would only charge me $5. I handed her $20. I told her that I was paying $20 and started a conversation about offering discounts. I advised her to track whether people were coming in because they wanted the discount. I did not come in for the discount but took advantage of it when offered. If she gives a $10 discount to 10 people that would have paid $30, she just lost $100. That is equivalent to five more haircuts at $20. She seemed to appreciate the discussion. We’ll see if she makes any changes based on my thoughts.

How about your services? I’m reminded of the following poem by Jessie B. Rittenhouse.

I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However, I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.

Sometimes we give a sample of our work with hope of customers valuing it enough to pay for it. My courses at Udemy are a good example. Udemy requires a few minutes at no charge to give students a sample of the courses.

Most of my articles are free. Some articles and books are for my paying subscribers. I also give paying subscribers a discount on my Udemy courses.

Remember to pay people. It changes your thinking. My grandma used to say, “Birds of a feather flock together.” If you are constantly looking for freebies, you attract that mentality. That doesn’t mean you spend foolishly. I took advantage of my barber’s discount. I didn’t pay $30. But I did pay even more than she asked. I tried to elevate her thinking to mine.

I read that an economist is calling our economy the G economy. Boomers are helping their children and grandchildren. Boomers are traveling more and going out to eat more. If you are retired and can afford to - tip a little more. These days we are sometimes being asked to tip when somebody just hands us our groceries. I’m not doing that. I do look at the difference between 15%, 20%, and 25% and think will I really feel the extra couple of dollars that would mean a lot to my server?

Let’s help each other think about prosperity. Lift the consciousness of everyone you meet. Look for a fair deal. I appreciate it when I’m not overcharged. I don’t expect something for nothing. When I find good work at a fair price, I tell others.

I took some of my barber’s cards and will be handing them out.

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In the Politics section I look at issues based on evidence. I try not to be for or against any political party. I admit to being a member of the Republican Party in the 1980’s. In fact, I was a precinct officer, secretary of the Whatcom County Republican Party, and newsletter editor. I dropped out when Pat Robertson packed the caucuses in 1988.

As a practicing chiropractor, I had to pay attention to governmental changes. Nationally, I was paid by Medicare. I also took care of injured workers. Washington State Department of Labor and Industries paid me. I had to be aware of changes there.

Washington State has the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) that is passed by the legislature. The Washington Administrative Code (WAC) is passed by agencies to implement the RCWs. I had to be aware of how those laws affected my ability to practice. I also had to be aware of the law that controlled my Limited Liability Companies, Professional Limited Liability Companies, and Professional Services Corporation.

I paid social security and Medicare taxes on my employees. I paid into Labor and Industries and Employment Security so that my employees were covered if they were hurt on the job or had to be laid off.

My point is that I have more experience in politics and law than the average citizen.

This article is about Pentanomics which was discovered by my friend Rick Raddatz. He starts with logic. We can’t decide any course of action by emotions because we feel differently. We can’t decide based on beliefs, because people can choose to believe anything. Actually, even if we agree on a fact, like poverty, we don’t agree on what to do about it. Facts don’t help us. Rick gives us laws that govern society.

Universal Law #1 - We have no choice about the laws that govern society. We can make many laws, but the laws of economics will ultimately prevail. Consider the laws favoring electric cars. In spite of the laws, not enough people bought them. Auto makers had to react and continue to make gas powered cars.

Universal Law #2 - The only way to maximize the good is to minimize the harm. We begin with the premise that humans act. The action can be perceived as helpful or harmful. Value is subjective. Different people will value the same action differently.

We don’t worry about helpful action. We welcome that. We want as much helpful action as we can get. We are concerned with harmful action. We should be able to agree that if we minimize harm, we gain freedom from harm. We can use that freedom to do whatever we want as long as we don’t harm others. Freedom to negotiate is a fundamental freedom of economics. If you can’t steal something you want, then you must negotiate for it.

If people are incentivized to negotiate without harming others, then their position is improved without harm. If we scale that up, we improve the world. By continuing to improve the world, over time, we come closer to reaching the maximum good.

Can we prove that is the only way to maximize good? Consider governing too much, a benevolent dictator. The benevolent dictator can never maximize the good. No matter how much good the dictator does, greater good can always be done through the process of continual improvement.

What if we govern too little and allow harm to run amok. Allowing harm to run amok cannot be maximizing the good.

Good cannot be maximized by governing too much or too little. We must minimize harm.

Universal Law #3 - Societies have five economies. Rick gives “The Genesis” experiment to prove there are only five types of action. I think it is genius.

The Genesis Experiment. Start with a world with no people. Then add one at a time.
1. With one person in the world, private action is possible.
2. With two people in the world, they can act as a group, a mini society, and that means public action is possible.
3. With three people in the world, two people can outvote one, meaning it is now possible to apply political force, political action is possible.
4. With a single person outside the society, foreign action is possible.
5. Imagining a single person in the future makes governing action possible.

Rick then develops the Pentanomic Table. The columns are Action, Harm, Minimizing Harm, Freedom, Sustainability, Negotiation, and Maximum Good. The rows are Private, Public, Political, Foreign and Governing.

The harm from Private action is theft. One person can steal from another. To minimize that we have police. We gain economic freedom and environmental sustainability. We negotiate prices. We maximize prosperity.

The harm from Public action is waste. We minimize the harm by prioritizing. We gain priority freedom and fiscal sustainability. We negotiate priorities. We maximize social justice. This gives us the freedom to try different solutions and change priorities. Perhaps one solution wastes too much and we decide to try another solution.

The harm from Political action is oppression. We minimize the harm through checks and balances. We gain political freedom and political sustainability. We negotiate compromises. The maximum good is maturity.

The harm from Foreign action is invasion. We minimize the harm by defense. We gain national freedom and geo-political sustainability. We negotiate alliances. The maximum good is harmony.

The harm from Governing action is bad government. We minimize the harm through education. We gain ideological freedom and ideological sustainability. We negotiate ideal justice. The maximum good is our best future.

Pentanomics gives us something to guide us. I won’t always use it as we look at political issues. However, I think it is a great guide.

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The health section is based on my experience as a chiropractor. My father was also a chiropractor. Traditional Doctors of Chiropractic think differently than medical doctors and alternative medicine. I say traditional because some chiropractors now practice with an objective to treat musculoskeletal conditions with manipulation. Some use nutritional supplements and medicines to improve patients’ conditions. Now you understand my possible cognitive bias. I’ll give you my basic understanding.

I memorized a definition of health from Dorland’s Medical Dictionary. Health is optimal physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Look at that definition closely. Health is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. You are not healthy just because you feel good. I’ll give you a few examples.

You have a headache. You take a pain reliever. You feel better. The cause of your headache was not lack of pain reliever. If your headache was a signal of a loss of health, you are still sick even though you feel better.

People who seem to be healthy have heart attacks and drop dead every day. Sometimes they are even athletes. Most don’t suddenly go from healthy to dead. Something was wrong. Yet, they appeared to have an absence of disease or infirmity. Why?

Most of the people who died during the Covid pandemic had other conditions. Many were old. Many were obese. Some appeared to be healthy. Why did the people who appeared to be healthy die?

D. D. Palmer discovered and named chiropractic. He adjusted (aligned) a bone in the spine of the janitor of his building and the janitor’s hearing improved. He thought he had discovered a cure for deafness. Then he had a case of heart trouble improve after adjusting the spine. How could cases as dissimilar as deafness and heart trouble get better after adjusting the spine?

He reasoned that there is a universal intelligence in all matter keeping it in existence. He further reasoned that all life is maintained by an Innate Intelligence, a portion of universal. Some animals have nervous systems. The nervous systems are used by Innate Intelligence to control and coordinate the functions of the body. In animals with vertebrae, the bones house and protect the nervous system. The bones can become misaligned. The misalignment interferes with the nervous system. Chiropractors call the misalignment that affects the nervous system a subluxation. Due to the subluxation, the nervous system does not respond to Innate properly. The result is a loss control and ultimately to disease.

D. D. also postulated that we have an educated intelligence. The internal workings of the body are controlled by innate intelligence and educated intelligence is used to learn to adapt to our environment after we are born. Breathing, heart rate, and digestion are examples of functions under innate intelligence. Making clothes, building houses, and learning occupations are examples of functions under educated intelligence.

From a chiropractic perspective, a key requirement for health is a properly aligned and functioning spine. The nervous system must be functioning appropriately to respond to innate intelligence.

Now return to the definition of health. The word optimal is important. Optimal implies intelligence, the ability to adapt to new and trying situations. For example, optimal heart rate while you are lying down and taking a nap is much lower than if you are running. How fast is fast enough? Who or what decides?

Is it merely programming? Do the sensors in your blood vessels detect the level of oxygen, relay that to your brain, and your brain changes heart rate based on the signal? That, or something like that, is the medical model. There is no innate intelligence, no YOU, to take control of your brain. Your concept of yourself as having control is an illusion manufactured by your brain.

Okay. Maybe that is true.

The alternative explanation, the chiropractic explanation, is that innate intelligence chooses what is optimal based on input from the nervous system. Function is not merely programming.

Consider a subject under hypnosis. The subject is told that they will be touched by a lit cigarette. The subject is touched by a pencil. Pressure from the pencil would usually leave a red mark that would last a brief period of time. The subject develops a blister as if touched by a cigarette. Why?

We are all aware of the placebo concept. Patients can be given something and told it is a medicine. Many will get well. In fact, so many get well that medicines must be compared to a placebo to prove the effectiveness of the medicine.

Many people are not aware of the nocebo effect. Just as we can get will from placebos, we can become sick from noceboes. Why? How can our beliefs help us become well or sick?

Notice that the definition of health includes mental and social well-being. We need optimal thinking and social interactions to be healthy. Can that be explained by our programming? Is intelligence involved?

Those are some of the questions and ideas we look at under the Health section. I find it fascinating.

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I consider this section to be the basis of everything. Here we explore just what you really are. Are you just a body? Or is there more to being human than a physical body can explain? Is one religion better than another at helping us lead fulfilling lives?

I admit to believing that I am more than my body. I also admit that sometimes the evidence appears to contradict me.

Look at AI (Artificial Intelligence). You can ask a question and get an answer. The AI even appears to write or speak as a person. Is it intelligent? Are humans any different? I often get better answers from AI than I get from my friends.

What if our brains are just bio computers? Some believe that is the case or at least the analogy is good. Let’s look at that idea a bit.

Did you realize that we must start before you are born? Mice have been trained to fear certain odors. The mechanism is to put the mice on an electrified floor. When the mice are given an odor (perhaps a cherry blossom), they are simultaneously given a shock. Soon the mice appear to be startled at the odor without being shocked. No surprise there. Anybody who has taken a psychology course probably expected that. The surprise is that the startle reflex is transferred to their offspring. Even great, great, grandchildren can inherit the startle reflex without ever being shocked.

Apply that to humans. Are we inheriting brains whose operating systems were affected by our great, great grandparents? I think it is quite possible. Look at evidence around you.

One of my sons went through a period of blowing on his fingers. It just appeared to be a nervous habit. My brother came for a visit. My brother licked his fingers similar to my son blowing on his. I found that remarkable. Could that action be due to something that happened to our ancestors? How did it skip me?

Let’s just accept that as a possibility. Perhaps we are all born with brains that have been programmed by events that happened to our ancestors. What happens next?

We are further programmed by our parents, teachers, preachers, advertising, etc. In other words, brains change based on our environment. Let’s explore that in a little more depth.

According to physicist, John Gribbin, there is a question that physicists have been ducking since the time of Newton: Is the universe determined? By determined, it is meant that if we knew the position and velocity of every particle in the universe, we could predict the position and velocity in the future. Think of Newton’s first law of motion: A body at rest remains at rest or in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force.

That is an assumption we all take for granted. If something moves, we look for what caused the movement. If something stops, we look for what made it stop.

Now apply that to the neurons of your brain. Your brain is constantly making new connections. Are the new connections the result of the programming you were born with being changed by your environment? If that is true, you have no control. You are a victim of your environment and what happened to your ancestors. There is a lot of evidence to support that idea. Think of my oldest grandson learning to talk.

Nathan came over to sit in my lap one morning. He was learning to talk and pointed to my coffee cup and said, “Hot coffee.” I explained that there was coffee in the cup, but it was no longer hot. It was just coffee. He said, “Coffee.” Then it hit me. He just created a program in his brain. Did he have any choice?

How could he? When we are little, we have no brain filters. We have no experience to compare new data against. We are just sponges. We take in whatever we are told as truth. That was coffee. I consider myself a good grandpa, but what if I had told him that was chocolate? What if everyone around him told him that was chocolate? Can’t you imagine him being upset when he ordered chocolate in a restaurant and actually got chocolate?

That seems simple. How many times do I teach my grandkids something that I believe to be true, but isn’t?

Therein lies a problem. Before we have learned to control our brains, many programs have been recorded as truths. Ideas about religion, customs, ethics, money, social order, sex, racism, health, etc. are formed before we have the ability to take control. Aristotle said, “Give me a boy until he is seven and I will show you the man.” The evidence goes back a long way. The problem shows up in unexpected ways. As I said about Nathan, we become upset when we find that the world doesn’t match our programming. An upset with my wife is a great example.

I was in my 60s. I thought that I was getting control of my brain. I was teaching then what I’m teaching now. I was up early one morning working on my computer. It was winter and still dark outside. My wife came out and opened the blinds. I was upset and said something stupid that I immediately regretted. She ignored me or didn’t hear me. Either way was a perfect response.

In those days, I was taking a bus to work. I got on the bus and realized that I was still upset. Why am I still upset? As I sat down, I got the memory of being about six years old and my mother teaching me to close the blinds. She said, “We close the blinds when we turn on the lights so people can’t see in.” Wow! I’m upset with my wife because she isn’t following my mother’s rules. The realization made me smile. The next day I opened the blinds for my wife.

What if I had not done the introspection? What if I had not asked myself, why am I still upset? Isn’t it possible that I would still be upset today? What caused me to question myself? The answer may go back to the fourth grade.

I still remember my fourth-grade teacher explaining color vision. It made sense. It wasn’t the same as what I thought I had learned in third grade. I wasn’t upset. I was a little startled. I realized that I couldn’t believe everything my teachers told me. That is the beginning of taking control of our bio computer brain. I started in fourth grade. Some don’t get it until much later. I think there is evidence that many never get it.

You see it is natural for people to look for evidence to support their previous beliefs. Psychologists call it cognitive bias. An example for me is looking for evidence for God. That could explain why I was struck by John Gribbin’s sentence about the question physicists have been ducking.

In my spiritual search, I have experienced talking with spirit guides. I have experienced mental telepathy. I have experienced energy healing through Reiki. I have experienced hypnosis. I found that when I returned to The Bible, I saw things differently. Much of what has been taught as Christianity is disproven by careful reading of The Bible.

In closing, the spiritual section is about you and me as spirits running our bio computer brains. We can be the operator by choosing what programs we wish to run. We can be the programmer by looking for evidence that our programming is not true and updating our beliefs. This is not a section to support or advocate a particular religion.

We must question our assumptions and pursue truth. As we do that, I believe we are going beyond our programming. As we do that, we are spirits. We are closest to God.

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You’re right. The picture above is not the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. However, the title is not clickbait. The picture is the fishpond in my yard. I have delt with algae blooms for years. I may have finally found the answer.

Before we get into my solution, let’s look at some facts about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting pool. The pool was built in 1923 and is about 2028 feet long and 167 feet wide. Almost from the beginning, the pool has suffered from structural failure, sinking, leaking, algae growth, and expensive repair efforts.

The Pool was built on former marshland near the Potomac River. Engineers at the time did not foresee the long-term settling that would plague the structure.

From the outset, the pool faced persistent maintenance issues. The concrete sank and cracked, which of course leaked. By the late 20th century, these problems had worsened significantly. The pool lost hundreds of thousands of gallons weekly through leaks, seepage, and evaporation. Historical accounts indicate it had settled roughly one foot into the ground. Concrete repairs had been attempted in the 1980s, but by the end of the century more was obviously needed.

By 2010, the Obama administration approved a comprehensive $34–35 million reconstruction, funded largely by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Construction ran from 2010 to 2012. The job was a near-total rebuild. The pool was drained, and much of the old structure removed. Over 2,100 timber pilings were driven deep into the ground to stabilize the foundation. The basin was elevated and reinforced to prevent further sinking, while the depth was slightly reduced for better aesthetics and functionality.

Key improvements targeted sustainability and efficiency. The project shifted from potable municipal water to a continuous-flow system drawing from the nearby Tidal Basin (fed by the Potomac River), with city water as a backup. This included modernized water circulation, a new filtration system with ozone disinfection, and re-circulating pumps in an upgraded pump building. Water now fills via 58 outlets at about 800 gallons per minute, taking roughly five days. The total volume is between 4 and 6 million gallons. To put that in perspective, Blaine, WA (where I live) uses about 10 million gallons per week. These changes reduced annual potable water use by 21–26 million gallons, addressed stagnant water issues, and improved overall water quality. A dark gray tinted bottom was added to enhance reflectivity.

The reconstruction achieved major goals: halting structural settling, reducing water loss, enhancing circulation, modernizing infrastructure, and creating a more sustainable river-water-based system. It was one of the largest restorations on the National Mall.

Challenges persisted. Algae blooms remained common due to the open-air environment and nutrient-rich river water; an early outbreak after reopening required draining and cleaning. Issues like circulation problems, mechanical failures, occasional leaks, and water-quality concerns continued, necessitating periodic draining for maintenance (e.g., a 2019 water line repair). Critics noted that while structural stabilization succeeded, a completely maintenance-free pool proved elusive in such a large, natural-adjacent feature.

In 2026, during his second term, President Donald Trump highlighted ongoing problems, criticizing the Obama-era work and claiming exaggerated prior spending. Although the spending was exaggerated the persistent problems were real. The Trump administration launched a $14–16 million project focused on resurfacing and sealing. (Note that Obama’s efforts were $50 million in 2026 dollars.) This involved draining the pool, sandblasting, repairing joints and cracks, and applying a new “American Flag Blue” coating described as a durable waterproof barrier.

Shortly after refilling in June 2026, issues emerged. Algae blooms turned sections green, prompting treatments like hydrogen peroxide. The new coating showed peeling and detachment, with floating material reported. The Pool may have to be drained again to solve the problems. As I have found, the algae blooms will persist until a solution is found.

Now for more about my pond. We have had a fishpond for about 7 years. We have had problems with murky water every summer. We have used mesh filters with UV light built into the filter. For two years, we have had two such filters. Nearly every week I would clean the filters. They would be filthy. The pond is about 700 gallons and has about 15 fish.

During the summer, I usually have to drain and refill the pond to clear it up. My wife has tried chemicals. Nothing has worked. Until maybe this year.

We gave up on the two filters. We bought a pump that circulates 800 gallons per hour. We are using a mesh filter first with a carbon filter after that. We are also using a separate UV light treatment. We have had the pond get murky but have been able to clean it by cleaning the filter every day. The old system had the filter, pump and light in one box. We couldn’t see the filter. Our new system has the filter about a foot below the surface of the water. We can see when it needs to be cleaned. Now my pond is fantastic.

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is scheduled for further maintenance in the fall. The plumbing is leaking. My hope is that they will figure out the filtration system. My pond has been very difficult, using City of Blaine water. I can’t imagine cleaning up the Potomac River. The problem was made worse by the sewage spill of January 19, 2026. It released 240-300 million gallons of sewage into the river. However, based on my experience, filtration is the key.

I don’t know which is better ozone or UV. I’m not even sure the UV is what is helping. I’m wondering if simply filtering the water every hour has been the solution. To duplicate what I’m doing, pumps would need to move 4 million gallons of water per hour. I can’t imagine, but perhaps engineers can figure it out.

Key is to realize the problems. Sinkage may have been solved by Obama’s administration. Leaks may be resolved by the Trump administration. Algae have been a continued problem, especially after the first fill. The water pipes hold water with algae during repairs.

It will never be a permanent fix. Hopefully we can make something with minimal maintenance.

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I read an article by Christine Dulion that cited a Canadian poll. The poll found that 57% of Canadians want President Trump to apologize for his 51st state comment. Dulion admits there is no proof that an apology would lead to increased tourism, but she thinks it might help.

I doubt it.

Most people, both Canadians and Americans, don’t realize why Trump made the comment. Prime minister Justin Trudeau argued that Canada needed access to U.S. markets without tariffs and needed to keep its tariffs in place to continue to exist. Canada was also failing to make its commitment on defense spending. It seems to me to be a logical extension that if they want free access to our markets and our protection, they should be a state.

It should be noted that in 2014 all NATO countries agreed to spend 2% of their GDP on defense within 10 years. In 2014, Canada was spending .99% of GDP. By 2023 it was spending 1.29%. Canada was expected to reach 2% of GDP in 2025. Meanwhile, Americans spent 3.5%. Remember that is a percentage of GDP. In terms of dollars, U.S. is spending $980 Billion compared to NATO Europe plus Canada spending $657 Billion.

Another way to look at the data is in terms of spending per capita. In 2025, Canada spent $1,051 per capita on defense. The U.S. is spent $2,046 per capita in 2025.

Now, back to the lead article by Dulion. I often like to look at the opposite statistic. Twenty eight percent of Canadians oppose the idea of demanding an apology. That leaves 15% unsure. She admitted, “For some travelers, the decision to avoid the U.S. has been about politics. For others, it has been about a weaker Canadian dollar, tariffs, border anxiety, or the feeling that the U.S. is less welcoming than it used to be.”

Some businesses in Blaine are suffering because of decreased Canadian traffic. I am seeing more and more Canadian license plates. They are not tourists. It seems that most are not white. They are our neighbors to the north who come here to buy milk and gasoline, avoiding the Canadian high prices. There is a sign at a local store that the maximum amount of milk Canadians can take across the border is $20.

So, the descendants of white western Europeans are afraid to come to the U.S. because of our borders. At the same time, we have descendants of Eastern Europe and Asia (the ones some claim should be afraid to come) coming. It has gotten crazy.

Recently, one of my Canadian relatives came for a visit. Before he came, someone asked him if he was afraid he would be shot at the border. He said, “No, it’s the same as it always was.” It isn’t just about the 51st state comment. Where are Canadians getting the idea that they might be shot for entering the U.S. legally? I live on the border. Nobody has been shot here. I’ve seen border patrol kindly asking Canadians to cross back to a common park area.

Who gains? Will China or Europe gain from the anti-American sentiment being promoted by some politicians and media? Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is traveling around the world trying to make trade deals. He seems to be primarily interested in China and the European Union. He wants to diversify and get away from reliance on the U.S. I think it is a great idea. There are a couple of tiny problems, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The U.S. is a major market for the world. In 2025, Canada exported nearly $409 billion to the U.S. That was roughly 18% of Canada’s GDP. It didn’t have to cross an ocean. It just goes by rail, pipeline, or truck.

I think the 51st state comment was unfortunate. It is also very impractical. Canadian provinces can’t get along with each other. Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, and now Alberta have all considered leaving Canada. Quebec had elections on the topic in 1980 and 1995. Alberta may have an election on separation this fall. Imagine a state in which every county bickered. What a mess!

Although the 51st state comment was unfortunate and impractical, it made a point. If Canada and the other NATO countries want to be taken seriously as allies, they can’t rely on the U.S. to shoulder their responsibilities.

Will apology help? I doubt it. The problem is much deeper. It is centralized government control and the high prices that go with it versus a free market with subsidies to encourage risk. Both sides want tariffs to protect their industries.

As Pentanomics points out, negotiation is the key to international relations. We must make agreements that benefit all.

If you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate it if you share it. Free subscribers get access to most posts. Paid subscribers also get access to my two books: A Doctor’s Guide to Real Estate Investing and How Politics Increased the Cost of Healthcare in America plus a discount on my Udemy Course - 20/20 Business Education for Healthcare Entrepreneurs.

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About a week ago, I woke up with lower back pain. I got out of bed stiff and achy. Contracting my abdominal muscles helped relieve the pain.

This is cool!!

That was my first reaction. I had begun a new spiritual practice. One of my goals is to take about two inches off of my waist. Being forced to suck in my gut seemed like a great practice.

I hadn’t been quite as diligent with my spinal exercises and checkups for the last few weeks. In fact, my wife and I left Wednesday and took care of the three grandkids all day Thursday. Our goal was to have them out of the house so their parents could work from home. Clark is 4. Val is 6. Nathan is 10. We walked to a park. Then took them to a movie. The movie lasted over 2.5 hours. Sitting with a lumbar disc problem is one of the worst things you can do.

My back always feels worse after sitting. It loosens up pretty well after walking. I have no pain down my legs. Probably not a disc problem.

It does feel like tight muscles. Here’s the thing. Tight muscles can be splinting/bracing. It is Innate’s way of keeping the body from more injury. Or tight muscles can be a sign of subluxation. The subluxation can be causing the nervous system to tighten muscles and cause misalignment of the spine. In that case, we can be healing crooked. If we heal crooked, then we have more problems later on.

When we got home, I had Mandy run my Titronics scanner up my back. I have used some form of instrument to record skin temperature since 1983. I have used the Titronics instrument since 2007. It gives a computer recording of the temperature of both sides of the spine and the difference between them. I began a more scientific approach to my care by correlating my temperatures with adjusting attempts.

Yesterday, the Bellingham families came to Blaine for Father’s Day. Ben was moving around trying to loosen up. I said, “You look like I feel.” He asked, “Did it start after we helped Chris? That’s when mine started.”

I had forgotten about that. Ben’s Uncle Chris has some heavy equipment that we helped move out of his house. I hadn’t noticed any pain while we were moving it. The time correlation is pretty good.

I’ve always said, “I’m the biggest baby around. I enjoy feeling good.”

I may not be a big baby, but I do enjoy feeling good. So, I’m getting scanned daily. I’m adjusting as needed. I’m trying to keep myself balanced and allowing myself to heal to the best of my ability.

This is a good experience. It is easy to become arrogant. It is easy to say, “Well, that wouldn’t happen to me.” Until it does. Then what?

Hopefully, I will continue to heal. I’m scheduled to help get food tomorrow. I’m feeling better. I know I must be careful.

Stay tuned.

If you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate it if you share it. Free subscribers get access to most posts. Paid subscribers also get access to my two books: A Doctor’s Guide to Real Estate Investing and How Politics Increased the Cost of Healthcare in America plus a discount on my Udemy Course - 20/20 Business Education for Healthcare Entrepreneurs.

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“It doesn’t make any sense,” I said. My last patient of the day wanted to tell me about a new church she was attending.

She replied, “Does it have to make sense?”

I said, “Probably not, but if it can, why not let it.”

We spent about 15 minutes that night discussing Christianity. Jesus taught that we are spirit. He showed us the possibilities. Want to feed 5000 people? Give me a couple of fish. Want to be well? Just have faith. Want to walk on water? Let me show you.

She said, “What about the cross?”

After teaching spirituality, he was put to death. Three days later he came back. Here I am! Remember what I told you? Here is the proof!

She went home with a smile.

A week later she came back for another appointment, “Remember the discussion we had last time?”

I nodded.

“I went home and told my husband, ‘I just had the most beautiful conversation with Dr. Bob.’”

David said, “I can tell. You’re just glowing.”

Should we all have spiritual conversations and leave glowing?

I have never believed in the idea that Jesus died for our sins. It makes no sense to me.

I’m considering writing a book on Christianity. The basis of the book will be using The Bible to question what so many preachers are preaching. Perhaps I will be the one to change my mind.

Smarter people than me believe Jesus will save them after they die. Perhaps I will join them.

Right now, I believe Jesus was talking about being the spirit and taking control of our bodies. However, I still need to do the deep dive.

Do you have questions about Christianity?

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“If you think prices are too high, it’s because you’re on the wrong side of the counter. If you think hamburgers cost too much, start selling hamburgers.”

I first heard that quote more than 40 years ago on an audio tape. A friend handed me the cassette and said, “I don’t know what he’s selling, but it’s worth listening to.”

That quote stuck with me.

The real problem usually isn’t that things cost too much. The problem is that we don’t have enough money to buy everything we want.

Think about it.

Some people blame corporate profits. They argue prices would be lower if companies made less money. There is some truth to that, but there is another side. Lower profits reduce the incentive to invest and increase production. If supply shrinks, prices often rise even higher.

Another way to lower prices is to reduce production costs. Businesses can find more efficient methods or pay workers less.

But paying workers less creates another problem. People with lower wages have an even harder time buying the things they need.

Raising the minimum wage doesn’t magically solve the problem either. Higher labor costs are often passed along in the form of higher prices.

Now consider the opposite scenario.

What happens when businesses become more profitable and need to hire more workers? As the supply of available labor shrinks, employees gain bargaining power and wages naturally rise. Healthy profits give employers the ability to pay those higher wages.

I was thinking about this last week. When workers demand better pay but company profits are already thin, where does the money come from? If businesses simply raise wages and increase prices, will customers continue buying?

That brought to mind a recent jobs report. Employment increased by 172,000, yet the unemployment rate barely changed. How is that possible? More people entered the workforce. Eventually, though, we reach something close to full employment. At that point, employers compete for workers, and wages begin to rise.

I remember the oil boom in North Dakota around 2008. Wages became so high that many workers lived in trailers because housing couldn’t keep up. At the peak, some reports had McDonald’s paying around $20 an hour just to attract employees.

Of course, rising wages create winners and losers.

People still working benefit. People like me, living on retirement income and Social Security, watch our purchasing power shrink as prices climb.

(Drumroll... I suppose this is where I should beg you to buy an $8-per-month subscription.)

What started this train of thought was reading about a Japanese oil company that has developed a way to make gasoline and diesel fuel from carbon dioxide captured from the air. The process can produce net-zero carbon emissions.

The problem isn’t that it can’t be done. The problem is that it currently costs too much energy to make the fuel economically competitive with conventional gasoline and diesel.

You could also say conventional gasoline is remarkably inexpensive.

Or perhaps the new process simply needs a cheaper source of energy.

Washington State takes a different approach. It effectively treats gasoline and diesel as being too inexpensive by adding roughly 60 cents per gallon in taxes and fees. Some of that money pays for roads, but part of the policy is intended to reduce fuel consumption by making fuel more expensive. In effect, it functions as a carbon tax.

So are prices too high?

It certainly feels that way when I pay my bills, and I especially feel for people with less income than I have.

In the long run, however, there are only a few ways to make things more affordable: buy less, earn more, or increase supply.

That last solution is often overlooked.

My adopted hometown of Blaine, Washington, is trying to address high housing prices by increasing the supply of homes. City leaders are streamlining permitting and zoning to make it easier to build.

Sometimes the best way to lower prices isn’t to control them.

It’s simply to make more of what people need.

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Think Better. Live Better.

Affolter Academy is dedicated to helping people examine the assumptions that shape their lives. We explore personal growth, business, health, politics, and spirituality—not to tell you what to think, but to help you think more clearly.

The basic idea behind this publication is simple: our brains are like biological computers. From the day we are born, they are programmed by our families, our schools, our culture, our experiences, and perhaps even by generations that came before us.

Researchers have shown that mice can inherit fear. If mice are trained to associate a particular smell with an electric shock, their offspring can show a fear response to that same smell despite never experiencing the shock themselves. The effect has even been observed in grandchildren. That raises an interesting question: How much of what we think and feel is inherited or learned before we are old enough to question it?

I was reminded of this while teaching my grandson Nathan to talk. One morning he climbed onto my lap, pointed to my coffee, and proudly said, “Hot coffee.” I explained that it wasn’t hot anymore—it was simply coffee. He smiled and repeated, “Coffee.”

Then I wondered: What if I had told him it was chocolate? He would have accepted it without question. Someday he would have asked for chocolate, expecting a cup of coffee, and wondered why everyone else seemed confused.

We begin life that way. We trust the people who teach us because we have no choice. They give us language, customs, values, opinions, and beliefs. Much of that programming serves us well. Some of it does not.

Our brains also have a tendency to defend what they already believe. Psychologists call this confirmation bias. We naturally notice information that supports our existing beliefs and overlook information that challenges them. Two intelligent people can experience the same event and arrive at completely different conclusions because they begin with different assumptions.

One experience taught me this lesson vividly. Years ago I became irritated because my wife opened the blinds before sunrise. An hour later, while riding the bus to work, I suddenly remembered my mother teaching me as a child, “We close the blinds at night because people can see inside.” I realized I wasn’t upset about the blinds. I was upset because my wife had unknowingly violated a rule that had been programmed into me decades earlier. The moment I recognized the source of my reaction, it lost its power.

That experience convinced me that one of the greatest freedoms in life is learning to examine our own programming instead of being controlled by it.

That is the purpose of Affolter Academy.

The site is organized into five areas:

Spirituality explores our deepest beliefs and values. I believe our spirit gives us the ability to examine our minds, question our assumptions, and deliberately choose better ways of thinking and living.

Health reflects my background as a Doctor of Chiropractic. I’m interested not only in disease but also in the causes of health and in understanding why healthcare has become so expensive. Premium subscribers also receive access to my book, How Politics Increased the Cost of Healthcare in America.

Business covers entrepreneurship, money, investing, and practical decision-making. I also offer my course, 20/20 Business Education for Healthcare Professionals, along with my book A Doctor’s Guide to Real Estate Investing. Both grew out of lessons I learned by questioning assumptions—including some taught during my own education.

Personal Growth asks a simple question: What beliefs are limiting our lives? Growth often begins by replacing unexamined assumptions with better ones.

Politics examines how public policy shapes freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. Rather than focusing on personalities or parties, I want to explore the ideas and incentives behind the policies.

You will also find tabs for Books and Courses, where you can explore additional resources.

If there’s one idea I hope you take away from Affolter Academy, it’s this:

The most powerful ideas aren’t the ones we’re taught—they’re the ones we choose to question.

Welcome. I hope these articles help you think more clearly and, as a result, live a happier, healthier, and more meaningful life.

We have now looked at a business approach to real estate investing. There were no “get rich quick” schemes. It was all simple common sense. It requires work on your part and the rewards can be huge.

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After securing your own position in life, you may want to provide for your children and grandchildren. We all want the best for our children and try to provide for their basic needs including housing, clothing, food and education. When you are affluent, perhaps you will want to provide even more.

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What do you want? Do you really want to retire? What is your target date? Now is the time to set your goals and establish your plan for achieving them.

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