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.
It's all the rage these days, and rightly so. "Over the hill" is just a state of mind. There is a 92 year-old dude who does weights at my gym. Use it or lose it.
That good old guy must love life to pursue it so vigorously.
The reason for strength conditioning is to build or maintain functionality. That means preventing the muscle and bone loss of inertia and age, strengthening joints, improving posture, improving balance, enhancing nerve-to-muscle reactivity, and building or maintaining power and energy for daily life and for sports and recreation.
Strength training is not the same as "body-building." Normal strength-training by ordinary people like us is not meant to build bulging muscles. However, with each increment of improvement and with proper diet your naked self will look and feel a bit less like a weak slob with flab and sagging things, and that is a nice side benefit.
Should a healthy adult male be able to do a minimum of ten push ups and ten pull-ups? Of course. Sturdy males can do far more.
A comment about time efficiency in strength conditioning - and fitness in general - below the fold -
Of course it is. It is not the Court's job to reinforce culture, customs, taboos, and traditions other than their own. We can label some things or people as immoral or depraved, but there is freedom too.
Pop culture changes as Judeo-Christian standards decline. Adultery used to have a death sentence unless you were royalty or an aristocrat. Today, it seems unremarkable as habits of the lower classes and those of the rich and powerful converge.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour, who insisted that there’s no difference between the once supposedly unassimilable Irish Catholics and East European Jews and the new Pushtun goatherds and Mogadishu hoodlums. It’s one of the curious aspects of self-proclaimed “multiculturalists” that they are, essentially, uniculturalists: they think everybody’s the same. But sometimes history doesn’t repeat itself — and Emma Lazarus’ lousy poem is an even lousier guide to social policy.
No, I don't think so. I think people fully accept the partial roles that good and bad luck play in their lives. Still, the old cliches apply: "Make your own luck," "Turn lemons into lemonade," "Make the most of the cards you're dealt."
I like to view life as a passing conveyor belt loaded with good and bad choices, good opportunities and terrible ideas, nasty surprises and pleasant surprises. But if I come down with cancer, it's bad luck.
...the long-belated saga of the Minnesota Coronary Experiment may also make a broader point about how science gets done: it suggests just how difficult it can be for new evidence to see the light of day when it contradicts widely held theories.
As of now, it is mainly used with patients who do not respond to other means, but that may change. One wonders whether, like ECT, it might flick some sort of switch, or push a reset button.
I have never understood how higher ed got into the business of remedial education because it is about high school- level work. I suppose we all know why colleges accept kids who cannot do some high school-level tasks.
If you can not produce a grammatical, coherent, and well-structured essay, or do trig and pre-calc, you are likely not ready for a higher ed curriculum. Sensibly, a North Carolina pilot project is moving remediation to the high schools. At that point, it's not remediation, just more high school.
Well, you have to laugh. Socrates would have laughed, because these children are 100% immersed in Enlightenment Western Civ, and don't even want to know what it is or where it came from. I have seen plenty of willful ignorance in my life, but this has to take the cake. SAT-bright students, voting for ignorance of Homer, Plato, the Old Testament, Paul, Beowulf, Augustine, Aquinas, Lorenzo de Medici, Michelangelo, Rousseau, Shakespeare, Newton, Adam Smith, Martin Luther, Locke. Wow. They won't know bupkus and thus will not be worth a serious conversation.
And since all of modern physics, chemistry, medicine, and engineering are aspects and products of Western Civ too, perhaps they might consider eliminating those oppressive white male patriarchal things.
Ignorant kids, standing on the shoulders of giants while denying it. Fascinating phenomenon, the hubris of ignorance.
If I were there with a microphone and videotape, it would be fun to ask them what civilization they might prefer to know - or live in.
After much collaborative discussion and email, Bird Dog has mentioned our urban hike will take place April 23rd, rain or shine. We have a limited number of open weekends, so we have to take advantage of the ones which are available. I've walked the city many times in the rain, BD has it right when he says we are waterproof. Of course, we all prefer the shine, so we'll have to hope the weather authorities favor us.
Our starting point will be Dunkin' Donuts at 140 Delancey St. Why not? The march will begin at 10 AM, so be there before then. A little coffee and sugar is good to get your motor running. End point will be Grant's Tomb - if we survive the march and get that far.
Some hikers will flake off, I suspect, at various points but it would be cool if many of us could make it to Grant before it gets too late. We'll have to hustle along like a serious posse.
What strikes me about it is the utter pointlessness of it. The endless posing and posturing has no end because it has no end point. A faithful Christian at least has the serenity of his communion with God. The Muslim, at the click of the detonator, knows he will be with Allah. Climate change fanatics have nothing but a hopeless misery. Even if all of their policies are enacted, nothing comes of it.
Problem is that the climate moonbats discredit worthy efforts at habitat conservation and the like. Serious air pollution, for example, almost eliminated in the US. That's good.
This past weekend, Springsteen canceled a concert in North Carolina, on 2 days notice, to protest the passage of law requiring people to use bathrooms based on the gender of birth. PayPal, similarly, canceled plans to expand operations in Charlotte.
I understand how tightly politics has become intertwined with business. Making a statement seems to be the most important thing anyone can do, these days. So I'll make a small one of my own. I don't agree with the North Carolina law, but I don't live there. I think it is over-the-top and excessive control of society by imposing a law where common sense should suffice to reign. The passage of law doesn't make an idea 'correct' or morally justified. Even so, I'm still planning to visit my family in North Carolina, spend money there, and enjoy the state's many natural wonders. I'm not going to boycott a state because I disagree with a law. If I did that, I'd have problems living in the state I currently reside.
Paypal and Bruce both have the right to make whatever statements they choose, just as I do. I'm not sure how what they are doing impacts the law, however. In fact, they both hurt many people in an attempt to 'show solidarity' with...some group or another (I can never tell which special interest groups are getting the attention these days).
A bunch of government lawyers can mess up your life for a long time, even if they are wrong. Makes more sense for a business to not be a hero - just shut up and pay the extortion.
No. It is a very rare Leftists who will tell you what the proper end point is for the expansion of government power and money. The answer is always "more."
It's all the rage these days, and rightly so. "Over the hill" is just a state of mind. There is a 92 year-old dude who does weights at my gym. Use it or lose it.
Image from 
The 6 elements 
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Were I a Stanford alum, I'd never give them another penny. Not that they need it anyway.
After much collaborative discussion and email, Bird Dog 
Image stolen from 