We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
My grandfather's first wife grew up in this wonderful farmhouse in New Hampshire. Her name was Mabel Porter, but I don't know what town this was in. I don't know the age of the photo either. She died childless of leukemia shortly after her marriage so she is not really an ancestor.
Grandpa grew up on a farm in northern Connecticut, but became a bit of a dandy and a prominent cardiologist and found a second wife after a while but my guess is that Mabel was his true love (Run-on sentence). Her name was never mentioned after she died, and he always called his second wife "Mother." He focused only on his work.
Grandma was a farm girl from Norwalk, Connecticut who became a teacher of immigrant schoolkids in Brooklyn. Mostly Jewish immigrants, she told me, but some Irish and Italian. They all had lice. Gramps met her when she was doing summer work at a resort he liked in Rhode Island. She bore Grandpa 2 very smart kids.
Trees are the classic New England streetfront vase-shaped Elms, now, alas, mostly gone due to the blight. The Maggie's HQ has some architectural similarities.
Anatomy Tutorial. This is the same as a medical school gross anatomy course, minus the cadaver dissection.
You can see one of their Youtube courses on any part of the body you might be curious about. In the process, you will get the idea of why medical students need to be expert and efficient memorizers. For an example of a med school exam question, "What is the origin and insertion, function, and innervation of the Sartorius muscle?"
It is a sad story, but it is often true that "once the needle goes in, it never comes out." The facts that many succeed in "recovery" is remarkable. Mr. Williamson does not understand the whole of it, though.
For one thing, in every country there is a strong market for opiates. For another, in every country there are illicit entrepreneurs eager to supply it. Demand will never go away. For another, pain meds like Oxy are one of the blessings of modern medicine. Relief of intractable pain whether from metastatic cancer or otherwise, is a gift to patients so there is the good with the bad, as always with everything in life. People using Oxy can be fully functional in work and life.
I have come to believe that "the war on drugs" is pointless. All it does is to drive up prices, and thus drive up crime. That is what prohibition does, every time. Rehab and detox are available everywhere in the US for those who decide to give it a try. I am in favor of some form of medically-monitored drug legalization as exists in England. There will always be addicts in this world, people addicted to all sorts of things besides "substances." People often habitually do what they feel like, even if it is unwise immediate gratification. That is one reason many are disappointed in life. Human nature at its least admirable. There is no fix for that, so it has to be accepted. There are no psycho-utopias other than drugs, romantic/sexual passion, or through God. Just my professional opinion.
However, that is more of a medical view than a moral view.
Some of the article sounds loony (eg Paleo diet, and 1 gallon of milk/day), but much of his advice is good. If you are a scrawny person, or lack adequate muscle development, you might be interested in his advice.
I was a scrawny but able athlete when I began college. The college coaches gave us 60 minutes of weight training 2 days/wk for both of my sports, a half-hour of calisthenics on the off days - not to mention 2 hrs of team practice each weekday. That was usually an hour of drills and an hour of match play. Coach prescribed diets for us to go along with this, very caloric diets high in protein but also high in everything else including ice cream. The results in good weight gain, energy, wholesome appearance, and overall fitness were remarkable. We were young, of course, and adjusted quickly.
The most difficult issue for adults is scrawny, but with a gut. Rx for that is protein and fat, and just enough carbs to function. The human physiology was not developed for our luxurious world of protein and caloric abundance.
Most of the article is of general application for gals or guys, although there is no need for any guy to look as buff and tough as the author. That's more vanity-oriented than functionality, I think, but he says he grew up as a skinny wimp so it's understandable. The critique of cardio is well-taken, because the way most people do it is a waste of time. At the end there is a part specific to women. (Interesting to note that exercising women need half the amount of food that men do.)
Photo from the article of the author's friend Staci before and after putting on 25 good lbs. That is a fit young lady, but she could easily benefit from another 5 or 10 lbs, especially if she wants to bear kids sometime:
The advice obviously does not apply to those who are overweight. That's another matter.
Why do central bankers care about market moves? Does that have anything to do with their job? For whose benefit do they work? Do central bankers do any good at all?
I recently was at a conference having a conversation with the sponsor's Chief Revenue Officer, who is a friend of mine. He's very intelligent, has a Master's in Economics, a Law degree, and practiced for some time. His great love was negotiation, so he found himself gravitating back to sales and eventually into his current role. We were having drinks late in the evening and talking about different topics of interest.
He is deeply involved in holistic and alternative medicines. That, in itself, is no big deal. I know plenty of people who use these approaches, as I have from time to time (despite being the son of a doctor). My father once told me, "If it works, it doesn't matter what it is. Even placebos have a place in medicine." Of course, he wasn't all that thrilled about me seeing a chiropractor, but I figure that was just professional jealousy kicking in.
What the CRO said to catch my attention was this - "there is no incentive for the medical community to cure cancer because they make far more money by just treating it." From someone as highly educated as he is, I was shocked.
It's not like I haven't heard this comment before. I just never heard it from a person capable of thinking deeply about an issue like this.
His premise is based on the existence of one thing called 'cancer' which must be somehow curable. I tried to explain to him there is no single thing called 'cancer'. There are forms of cancer, and they are all quite different. In addition, we all have some form of 'cancer' within us, it's really just a question of whether the deadly or invasive form has been activated. Furthermore, the term "cure" isn't perfectly applicable. There are many ways of dealing with disease, such as prevention (one example is vaccines - the HPV vaccine should reduce the rate of cervical cancer over time) and altered diets and behaviors (there is evidence that healthier eating habits, reduced sugars can help slow some cancers from spreading - and even ending smoking or drinking can help). But even treatment is a form of 'cure' (many lymphomas are now 'cured' if caught early and treated aggressively). Regardless of how you approach the issue, strides are being made to find a 'cure'.
The idea that you "make more from treatment so you're not looking for a cure" is like saying "the attempt to cure the disease generates so much revenue, they aren't really trying to cure it." In other words, the money generated from 'curing' it isn't really an attempt to 'cure' anything. Which is a nice bit of circular logic I guess only a lawyer can get away with.
The truth is, many cancers may be 'curable', but because all cancers are such complex diseases there is no magic bullet. This, of course, makes Obama's State of the Union call a bit outlandish, and it also tends to forget that we've been trying to find a cure since 1971, when Nixon was the first president to declare "war" on cancer. This doesn't mean we should stop trying simply because we haven't cured all forms yet. However, it does mean we should keep everything in context. We've 'cured' several forms, we've made tremendous progress, and there is no value in ignoring everything which has happened to improve the lives of those with various forms.
If treating diseases generates so much money that 'curing' them isn't a goal, then I'd like to know why we do have so many curable diseases today? Treating diseases like smallpox, polio, and a host of other diseases generates plenty of money - why did we 'cure' them by finding vaccines?
In a way, the logic employed by my CRO friend is an application of Bastiat's "Broken Window Fallacy" - the idea that breaking windows makes us wealthier by keeping the glazier at work, and money changing hands. It's a logic that ignores the massive costs of lost value and misallocation of spending. Cancer's costs on productivity far outweigh the revenue any treatment can generate. 'Curing' all its forms is a goal simply because the overall gains in productivity will be greater than the revenues generated by simply managing it.
Addictions and other habits were defined as official "disorders" or "diseases" for one main reason: insurance coverage. Today, we see an expansion of behavioral issues labeled as diseases for the same reason. Secondarily, having a disease eliminates moral responsibility, and nobody enjoys taking responsibility for bad behavior. It feels morally, if not heroically, better to be a "survivor" or a "victim."
Interestingly, I do not think I have ever met an addict or ex-addict who considered themselves to be a "victim" of a disease. Basically, the term "disease" is a flexible one to the point that almost everybody can be labeled with one or another, so I do not know whether it matters.
"I’m starting to think that ours is a culture drowning in morals but starved for virtues—we all think no one has the right to judge us, but we all reserve the right to judge everyone else."
Sanders and Trump are not leaders of new political movements. Both are where they are because they are willing to put a finger in the chest of their respective party leaders. Neither man makes a great case for himself, but like those Muslim men wandering into Germany, threatening to collapse Europe, they correctly see that the old guard is a collection of yesterday men, unable to defend their position.
In the socio-economic utopia to come, there will be no winners and no losers, and there will be no consequences. Human nature will be revised, and psycho-utopia will ensue.
Well, freedom and utopian equality will only be possible when every citizen is lobotomized, including the benevolent, altruistic bureaucracy (there will be no politicians, because equality of power and influence).
Drudge will have to distribute some percent of his website visits to olde Maggie's Farm. I can't wait! But which unequal person will force that to happen? Will they not need to win elections or win wars?
Joke going around DC today: "The Bernie Sanders drinking game: Each time he mentions getting something for free, you have to drink some other guy's beer."
Saturday is Cardio Fun Day for us. After doing my "Eights," ie cardio intervals, yesterday morning, I spent 40 minutes working on my jump rope drills while Mrs. BD did her assigned routines. Stay fit and strong for your spouse, if not for yourself. Need each other to be fit for a long life. You do not want to crap out or fat out on him or her.
Man, jump is fatiguing as heck but there is little to no joint impact, done properly. Just a light tap on the balls of the feet. I did lots of singles speed rope (sets of 100+) and worked on one-footed and then worked on Running Man. I can do one-footed jumps sort of ok for a bit, but I find it tough to coordinate running with the rope. It looks easy but is not until you get the hang of it. Brain is the problem - it gets mixed up.
Supposedly doubles come next but I have to master Running Man first, and for somebody for whom walking while chewing gum is challenging, it's a bitch, but there is some fun it in.
Jump games are excellent high-intensity cardio-endurance drills, cost next to nothing, zero joint impact, and can be done anywhere. Why not? Boxers and tennis pros think it's the best endurance drill. Maybe stairs can compare, but demand less moving balance.
(nb: Lots of people have the idea that you can lose fat via exercise. No way. De minimus. Cardio-endurance exercises - "calisthenics" - can keep you energetic and mobile, though. Lucky for me, fat not a problem. Keeping my weight up is my problem. That's where the mashed taters come in.)
Remains at a Swedish fort 
Lady Gaga -