<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[RSS Feed]]></title><description><![CDATA[RSS Feed]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com</link><image><url>http://direct.ecency.com/logo512.png</url><title>RSS Feed</title><link>http://direct.ecency.com</link></image><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 05:44:49 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="http://direct.ecency.com/@jeffreymartin/rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Political Column - The Struggle of Politics]]></title><description><![CDATA[Life is a struggle. A struggle wherein we strive to capture value and meaning in what we create, in what we experience, and the perspective that we take on the challenges that we face. Politics is a part]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-the-struggle-of-politics</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-the-struggle-of-politics</guid><category><![CDATA[politics]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 11 Oct 2025 02:00:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rhrTCZJ5LHjfrC3zaSkcE7UbGztTFhWsoy8GJdJDbsYZwG2152bw59Eyk2pvdkeCRoWVrbGm678?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Political Column - Cain, Abel, Fire, and Politics]]></title><description><![CDATA[American society is shaking right now, ready to either erupt or crumble. We are seeing this in the conflicts and failures evident in all of our major institutions. In our non-functional medical industry,]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-cain-abel-fire-and-politics</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-cain-abel-fire-and-politics</guid><category><![CDATA[politics]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 18:55:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2riBRs9oFYt6cRaPENPQgvSVrxknUCNEDxKX5Cx1idDckAFtWtwWjqWzFctxnUcd3x11GmGBkLxE?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Political Column - The Bedrock of Good Government]]></title><description><![CDATA[It has been a long and tumultuous history to discover what is necessary for the structure of good governance: separation of powers, federalism, checks and balances, due process, elections, enumerated rights,]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/government/@jeffreymartin/political-column-the-bedrock-of-good-government</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/government/@jeffreymartin/political-column-the-bedrock-of-good-government</guid><category><![CDATA[government]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 18:36:30 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rgaFYspvqwLNvh7sMuK66ow9zeTW1n7GSmc58vJCGD5LAGckgx12n3WanVuKv4DWkmhLHm7uQp6?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Political Column - Between Tyranny and Anarchy]]></title><description><![CDATA[Life and liberty are precious and precarious things. Easy to lose their balance and topple, this way or that. We expect government to protect these things, life and liberty, but quite often it does the]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-between-tyranny-and-anarchy</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-between-tyranny-and-anarchy</guid><category><![CDATA[politics]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 18:23:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2riBKgLJG5YMKYekrm4Dy6BepFrEBXEg5AcU2Lyb5gKQQ8wPWZLRAKdWRfJpJs8zynzL9v7iW5k2?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Political Column - How Power Corrupts]]></title><description><![CDATA[I have spent many hours over the last couple of decades contemplating Lord Acton's observation in a letter to a bishop that, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." I]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/government/@jeffreymartin/political-column-how-power-corrupts</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/government/@jeffreymartin/political-column-how-power-corrupts</guid><category><![CDATA[government]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:56:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rgVMkJc7iH5GMXRRY92QPBF7oTrPqbfGs75BnBVCmbqfmMoio4DFx4VSLdMgedJ8WN67nZHdJ62?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Political Column - The Right to Garden]]></title><description><![CDATA[Everyone wants to make progress. To actually do that there are important questions to ask, the two most important being "Progress toward what?" and "How?" Studying reformations of the]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/government/@jeffreymartin/political-column-the-right-to-garden</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/government/@jeffreymartin/political-column-the-right-to-garden</guid><category><![CDATA[government]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:43:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rgtxP8iBsMpc2b6wS9vmJopYEiToEPqRGA4EQkJ7Dx5VcteMf13wzFjpjxw9niiMuL5heDkNusC?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Political Column - Procedure and Substance]]></title><description><![CDATA[I have received suggestions from both residents in Dalton Township, and from state level organizations, tending toward having ordinances that are vague and subjective. I can understand the tendency in]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-procedure-and-substance</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-procedure-and-substance</guid><category><![CDATA[politics]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:28:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rgeXWWqoZGh7gqZdDXqTrstkVYdNrvxK9QwmtrtEhcPCwHnrHGwZkVNNpczQLP14R1hHhkdNefp?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Political Column - Opening Avenues of Opportunity]]></title><description><![CDATA[The heart of entrepreneurship and development is initiative. The nemesis is bureaucratic red tape. Each has a purpose. The one to conquer scarcity in the world and provide for our desires. The other to]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-opening-avenues-of-opportunity</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/political-column-opening-avenues-of-opportunity</guid><category><![CDATA[politics]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:19:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rgp9sKjw2gUeUNcx3PtFNLe6jXygjUo2Upgx8xtXzEXcpB9nBeXDBdYdhiURsuM4G3wfUTyX5Rx?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Philosophy Forum - Part 5]]></title><description><![CDATA[Here we go again. The subject is ethics this time. I don't particularly like how this first question is phrased, because it doesn't make the problem plain. Nevertheless, I won't write an article on the]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-5</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-5</guid><category><![CDATA[philosophy]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 02 Apr 2021 05:11:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2riBXLTkTqMmkLdSmB1QckioZ3d4piqcQTTAa7Gst5vMaf7kChFjhgp2FGq2WsTCbyef9bY4UVUJ?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Philosophy Forum - Part 4]]></title><description><![CDATA[Epistemology is the theory of knowledge. What is truth? How do we know? Important and difficult questions that will be debated as long as there are humans with the ability to debate them. The two questions]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-4</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-4</guid><category><![CDATA[philosophy]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 07 Feb 2021 22:31:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rgR4g9GRcJKUkEGdL3BFyVrzBLttkjjQm7eH8HbYP4CBRhdkPcHVmZrawRman6JMBscXBDuhyPC?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fighting Local Government Corruption - Part 21 of ?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Winning is often the end of an endeavor, but not always. In politics winning should not be an end in itself, only a step. It is the beginning of the true struggle for which the entire history of humanity]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/fighting-local-government-corruption-part-21-of</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/politics/@jeffreymartin/fighting-local-government-corruption-part-21-of</guid><category><![CDATA[politics]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 02 Jan 2021 21:44:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rhnAMZoqQkJZqLzS9XPQLHxrDnt8cefB1bGpzouBnEUaruaoXjPjKepPdYSs5jZ9jR8n6tBQXBL?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Christmas Card Poem]]></title><description><![CDATA[I did an Ancestry DNA test a few years ago and ended up finding an older sister a few states over. My mother, father, and I have taken different approaches to giving her and her family gifts. I've sent]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/writing/@jeffreymartin/a-christmas-card-poem</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/writing/@jeffreymartin/a-christmas-card-poem</guid><category><![CDATA[writing]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 28 Dec 2020 01:22:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rgFy4Zwa3G1654mCVeqoNT8T2jJjbhj3G6bCgWrR56ifRwTHQCuSEKnf8mTu1ETtRbMcJRnnS2J?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Philosophy Forum - Part 3]]></title><description><![CDATA[Philosophy applies to life. And life adds perspective to philosophy. Often these two things end up disconnected. Here's the question for this essay. What is the sorites paradox? Is there any satisfying]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-3</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-3</guid><category><![CDATA[philosophy]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2020 01:05:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rgxvHxTZ3hWwTYZ652U8xBykvV9EemZ7WQKFNjUE2uApJZYcyQptjyddfd63DHSLyXQK91uHmeN?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Philosophy Forum - Part 2]]></title><description><![CDATA[I have two essays on logic to write today. And we're going to see one of the reasons that I don't particularly like academia right away. Here is a note about the essays. Remember when answering that one]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-2</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-2</guid><category><![CDATA[philosophy]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2020 00:29:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rh444qon1GhqyqnZGQZQN2wH14RCxFVkcYuisWR3k1hCnRi1m7rY47nqjktWEHvcPaVKtwp9zfQ?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Philosophy Forum - Part 1]]></title><description><![CDATA[Philosophy is inescapable. It is ignorable, which is what most people do with it. There are parts that I find quite interesting, enjoyable, and useful. Technical logic is not exactly one of the areas that]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-1</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/philosophy/@jeffreymartin/philosophy-forum-part-1</guid><category><![CDATA[philosophy]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 13 Dec 2020 21:14:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2riBPj5wqjYfYRt4RzRPMo9rzfiLvVxAPCiwvRcowFHaGpvM9iPz62RU6eKnt83svu37djiTu5zE?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Great Movies About Writers and Writing]]></title><description><![CDATA[A few years ago I went looking for a movie list to both inspire and instruct me about writing and being a writer. There are such lists, but there are no good lists. Over the last couple of years I've made]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/writing/@jeffreymartin/great-movies-about-writers-and-writing</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/writing/@jeffreymartin/great-movies-about-writers-and-writing</guid><category><![CDATA[writing]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2020 02:02:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2riBWJiiUEPki45xKTW5BNyXFxa8u274tdu6kdetpoHzzNJKRJN3vak5bFiAvthtxPEvcWM1aa6z?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jeff Invents a New Necktie Knot]]></title><description><![CDATA[A few days ago I was watching the movie 'Gabriel's Inferno'. In one scene Julianne is fixing Gabriel's tie in a car. It annoyed me that the rich, sophisticated, intellectual was both bad at tying a tie,]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/fashion/@jeffreymartin/jeff-invents-a-new-necktie-knot</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/fashion/@jeffreymartin/jeff-invents-a-new-necktie-knot</guid><category><![CDATA[fashion]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2020 20:10:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rhxLL4ytphfNxB6jS1HxkyFdhEah12fhXBTMRbU6ZNVPuJ5vaXjiGmtHJ22WvA6NdXhDfbdBgs8?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fighting Local Government Corruption - Part 20 of ?]]></title><description><![CDATA[This election will change things throughout the United States, and in Dalton Township. Predicting what that change will be is more difficult. In Dalton there are three possible directions. Vaclav Havel]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/election/@jeffreymartin/fighting-local-government-corruption-part-20-of</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/election/@jeffreymartin/fighting-local-government-corruption-part-20-of</guid><category><![CDATA[election]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2020 02:20:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rgaqdaC28iNXBtqPk8qcEm9S5C2GPEMX6bMQGoXKdFinTExrVa4mRBE9UiUT67aijBF27RDXA8W?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Authoritarian Governments Hate Small Farms]]></title><description><![CDATA[Authoritarian governments have a tendency to limit or even collapse the food supply. At first that doesn't appear to make sense. People get angry and desperate when the food supply is limited, especially]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/farming/@jeffreymartin/why-authoritarian-governments-hate-small-farms</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/farming/@jeffreymartin/why-authoritarian-governments-hate-small-farms</guid><category><![CDATA[farming]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2020 02:53:18 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2rh8rguij27EY6SFdHjsTdAjtJZkUmn4PU9uhKF2yDcMP2EC8cNfcgqKmU4sywrtHRfpghTPmn1L?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item><item><title><![CDATA[Three Deathbed Realizations]]></title><description><![CDATA[There are certain situations that approach the limit of what it is possible for us to experience as human beings. In December of 2015 I was laying in a hotel bed in Mombasa, Kenya. I had been poisoned.]]></description><link>http://direct.ecency.com/life/@jeffreymartin/three-deathbed-realizations</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://direct.ecency.com/life/@jeffreymartin/three-deathbed-realizations</guid><category><![CDATA[life]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[jeffreymartin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2020 22:24:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.ecency.com/p/PB8ro82ZpZP35bVGjGoE93K3E4U5KX8KtMBJ2riB3pjzXT5fmDrx7c7k7CvrpkTT1qkmFzfaExZwDG83wAo9fuyVELRRPTQvSaTLHPr6ZiRgxCGn?format=match&amp;mode=fit" length="0" type="false"/></item></channel></rss>