Libertarian entrepreneur Jason Stapleton created a virtual company back in 2009 that was pulling in nearly a million dollars by its second year of operation, all while he was on duty handling military security operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the first half, he shared his perspective about how ordinary people can build independent wealth and escape the rat race. We have moved from a production-based economy to an information-centered one, he commented, adding that the job environment is changing "literally faster than colleges and schools can adapt." He advocated for what he calls "nomadic wealth"- the idea that one's career and income is mobile, so they can live or travel where they like.
He advised that the number one thing people can do is to "build their own human capital," which is the store of knowledge and skills that offers value in the economy. By owning your own business, he continued, you can be in control of how your money comes to you and not be beholden to a boss. Stapleton said he is currently not investing in the stock market, which he suggested is no longer correlated to the actual economy. The market, he explained, is playing off what it thinks the Treasury and Fed are going to do. He was skeptical of government stimulus programs during the pandemic, as economically, they add to the total dollars in circulation, and the money spent by the disenfranchised ends up back in the hands of the wealthy. For more, check out a free offer for his related book.
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Amy Bruni was a paranormal investigator for the TV show Ghost Hunters for a number of seasons, and is now the co-star and executive producer of the Travel Channel's "Kindred Spirits." In the latter half, she presented details of her investigations as well as insights she's gleaned about ghosts, spirits, and the afterlife. One of the more scary encounters she had was while filming an episode at the Waverly Hills Sanatorium, an old TB hospital in Kentucky. On the 4th floor, she and team members felt a breeze and then heard footsteps. An unhappy man in a hospital gown suddenly materialized and stared right at her before vanishing. In general though, she has concluded that ghosts aren't really out to scare us but, in a sense, are just as human as we are.
She considers the idea that the living can tell spirits to 'go to the light' or 'cross over' to be a fallacy for the most part. Over years of investigating, she's found that spirits remain because they need something or want to convey a message, and by telling them to cross over, it's dismissive of them. Further, she has been to many places where ghosts were supposedly banished or ritually removed by spiritual practitioners, and yet, they still remain. Bruni is also the owner of Strange Escapes, a company offering excursions to some of America's most notoriously haunted destinations.
News segment guests: Lauren Weinstein, Steve Kates