Jack of Harts Substack

by on July 21, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

You may have noticed that I shared an unpublished short story on the paid side of my Jack of Harts substack last week. I intend to post another one this week, and a new one every other week from that point on. I have many stories that I’ve written, and I intend to write more in the future. Some of the stories will be new. Others will be old. Maybe even early access versions that may not reflect the final published versions. Some will be published in time. Others will have already been published. All will be available on substack in a way they are not available elsewhere. All will be behind the paywall for various legal and copyright reasons. But I will give generous preview space so you can check the story out enough to see if you are interested in it. I hope to see you on my jack of harts substack in the future.

Jack of Harts Substack

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Crowded Malls

by on July 20, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I went to two different malls on Friday and Saturday. One in my hometown and one up in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. My own hometown mall has always been a mall that has prospered despite the general fall of malls throughout America. It has always been the one that was always busy and always crowded. It was the place people in my town went to always. On Friday at 6PM most of the parking lot was empty. And the people inside were… distant. I remember in the past we would have been dodging people every few steps. Now there were maybe a dozen people in an entire hallway. It was amazing just how few people were there. Some stores even closed at 5PM. The mall used to require that all stores remain open as long as the mall was open. Such is no longer the case.

And I went to the Mall of America on Saturday. There were a lot of people there, but we arrived at noon. In the past, before the Covid lockdowns, we would not have gotten a parking spot at that time. Now we had our pick of spots on one of the main parking floors. And while there were a lot of people there, and while we did have to dodge people every few steps, it was nothing like the past. I was able to walk up to Long John Silvers and buy some hushpuppies with only one person ahead of me. And we were able to walk through Camp Snoopy without any problems. The lines for the rides didn’t even overflow out into the main walking routes.

This is the first time I’ve been back to either mall during what should be a main shopping time since before the Covid lockdowns, and I did not realize how much traffic has dipped. It is a sad day for to see them so… uncrowded. Life is changing, and I do not like the way it is changing.

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Government Criminals in Prison?

by on July 19, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Are we going to see government criminals going to prison? I don’t know. I don’t exactly have a lot of hope for it, you understand. But I have more hope for it today than I did two days ago. I’ve never been a big truster of Tulsi Gabbard, but I’m willing to work with anyone who wants to work with me to make things better. So if Trump wanted to give her a chance, I supported him in that venture. We don’t make the coalition to save America bigger by telling people they can’t take part in it after all. But just because I was willing to give her a shot doesn’t mean I expected much out of her. I expected her to not do much and maybe get released in favor of someone who would do the job. But she has surprised me.

She just referred government officials who abused their office to subvert the will of the people to the justice department for prosecution. Now I don’t know if it will work. But I do know this. Government criminals need to go to prison for breaking the law if they are convicted. And they need to be prosecuted to be convicted. So this puts us closer to that than we have seen in a long time. And the future of our Republic depends on government officials knowing they will go to prison if they misuse the power they have to abuse the people. Because we can’t just allow them to do that without repercussions, or they will always abuse us when they get the chance.

And now I have some hope that we will see that. More hope than I had when the week began. And we shall see if my hope is born out as the days, weeks, and months go on ahead of us.

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Narcotics

by on July 18, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I was on narcotics for a month many years ago. Some guy pulled in front of my motorcycle and I broke five ribs. I was wearing a helmet and leather jacket so I didn’t become road pizza, but I still broke five ribs and that is painful. So my doctors prescribed me narcotics for the pain. The first result was that I could not drive for a month. The result I didn’t notice at the time was that I lost the ability to concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes. Long form writing was impossible. I couldn’t hold a thought together for that.

The really weird thing happened at the end. I’d been working to get myself off them by not taking them over the weekends. But I still needed them when I went to work. And as the workweeks went on, I needed them more than I did earlier in the week. By the time the last Friday came along, I was basically mainlining all my painkillers on the dotted line for recommended times and doses. And I was still looking for more relief. I still hurt. But my narcotics had this little line in the prescription. If taking 1 is not enough, take 2.

So on that last Friday morning, as the pain was not going away, I took 2. I remember the cloud descending. The cloud is a common way it is described by people who get off narcotics again. It’s this thing that slips between you and the world. I described it as being one step removed from the world and looking in. I told my mom what it felt like, and she said that she didn’t want me taking them anymore. I said neither do I.

And so I didn’t take them that weekend. And that hard pain never came back, so I didn’t take them again. And in a few days, I started to be able to think again. To hold long-term thoughts. To be able to write. I value my ability to think too much to ever want to go on them again. Because I really wasn’t myself while on them. And that is another thing people who have gotten off narcotics say. Narcotics change how we think. Make us something else than we really are. Beware of them.

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The Epstein List

by on July 17, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Epstein List is not a single document with a list of the people who did bad things with Epstein. It is a collection of documents and files used in the various trials and investigations from New York to the FBI headquarters and beyond. And based on the actions and words of those in Washington DC, something about those files has changed in the last few months.

I think either Trump or someone close to Trump is in those documents now. To be clear, he has always been in the documents. He was a rich guy in New York and Epstein was a rich guy in New York. They went to the same parties, and Trump took flights on Epstein’s jet. A lot of people did that back in the day. Less did as news of the Epstein Island started leaking out, but back in the old days, he was just another rich guy who had a jet that people flew on from time to time. And it’s well known that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago because Epstein got handsy with young girls.

But based on the way people in Washington are acting, something about how Trump or someone close to him is in those documents has changed in the last few months. Firstly, if there was any damning evidence in those documents before the election, Biden’s people would have used it against Trump to stop him from winning the election. And Trump answered question after question about releasing the list with a yes back before the election. So he fully believed there was nothing in it that could hurt him back then. But now Trump is doing everything he can to call it something like the Russia Hoax, a Democrat Party dirty trick, and his inner circle that used to call for publishing it isn’t anymore. While the Democrats that used to say it shouldn’t be released because it might unfairly incriminate innocent people are now loudly calling for its release.

That tells me something was inserted into the Epstein documents after Trump won the election but before Trump became President that will hurt Trump in some way upon release. We know the Obama administration sabotaged Trump’s first administration after that election, and the Biden administration did the same to the second Trump administration.

And they seem to have told key Democrats whatever they did here. I very much expect whatever it is to be leaked in the coming days, weeks, or months. Whenever the Democrats think they can milk it for the most advantage. Assuming I’m reading the tea leaves correctly of course.

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