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.
There is no settled science on dietary fat and cardiovascular disease except in the case of the familial hyperlipidemias.However, in those cases, the hyperlipidemia is generated by the liver far more than by diet. The liver is the main controller of blood lipids.
A high-fat meal, or any meal, produces a temporary surge of blood lipids just as a high-sugar or high-carb meal produces a surge in blood sugar. That is normal.
While it is established that arterial disease is related to inflammation in arterial walls, the cause of that is elusive. The known risk factors for arterial disease seem to be smoking, overweight, diabetes, familial hyperlipidemia, and sedentary life style. Almost forgot the biggest one: age. Avoid ageing at all costs because it has a 100% mortality rate.
We are far from settled science with cardiovascular diseases. In recent years, we were advised to eat margarine not butter. Now advised to eat butter and avoid margarine. Now advised to eat olive oil. It's all a shot in the dark and it could be that diet has little or nothing at all do do with it.
To be human, interacting with other humans, is to enter a world in which as Object being perceived, we emit an infinite series of unconscious cues (how we walk, how we talk, how we look, our tone of voice, our gaze, our height, our weight, what we say, what we do, how we say & do these things, etc.). These cues are then received by the Other who, in turn, as Subject, subconsciously filters & interprets them according to an infinite set of paradigmatic beliefs, stereotypes, experiences, and insights.
They say we form first impressions within approximately seven seconds.
It's not so much fashion as it is that it has finally become acceptable for straight civilian guys. Minimal-to-no head hair means no shampooing, no combing, no hat-hair issues, no bed-head issues, no bald spot issues, no "What haircut?" or "Where is my part?" issues.
Men aren't women, so why should they have to bother with good hair? Women in my world need to look well-groomed and well-cared for, with well-cut and styled hair (and good nails) but men just have to look clean and neat. The only downsides for guys are sunburn potential and looking stupid, but that's a good trade for the hassle. On a dare, this weekend I am going to get it all cut off for summer.
Ladies, if you have unstyled hair or long hair over 35 most women look homeless, deranged, like a WalMart shopper, or like a refugee from Maine. Guys, if you have long hair over 35 you look dangerously homeless or mentally-disturbed unless you look Hollywood-glamorous-cool that way or are an eccentric billionaire.
Discuss -
(Note to commenter: Melania Trump is not "most women")
So who were we if not the boomers? How would you name us? You could call us the Generation of 1968, because that was when we made our most enduring mark, when the “whole world was watching” as the chant went from the Chicago Democratic National Convention of that year. It seemingly never stopped. But a better title for us would be the Least Great Generation, because that’s what we were. Maybe the Ungrateful Generation. We may have contributed significant amounts to the lifestyle—music, films, fashion, food—but as the years rolled on and centuries turned, it became ever clearer that we were callow, even selfish, inside. All our neo-Marxist declarations, recycled through hippiedom or not, were meaningless. We were just Eliot’s “Hollow Men” in hipster attire. Worse than that, we had—consciously or unconsciously or both—worked to unwind everything our parents had built. And it had its result, although not all of us desired it—or were later surprised by what we had wrought. These days the robust American exceptionalism that defeated the Germans and the Japanese and then rebuilt those despotic societies as still-functioning democracies in a virtually unprecedented manner is a distant, almost forgotten, memory.
He goes on to discuss Moral Narcissism, which is a good topic. However, describing a generation or much less a Zeitgeist based on the kids who made it into Newsweek Magazine is highly misleading. It would be as erroneous as describing today as the Black Lives Matter, or the Antifa, generation.
The problem with government medicine is that medical care becomes a government job. How much time must modern physicians spend filling out forms? The administrative mantra today is "If it isn't documented, it didn't happen."
If my political history serves me, people in mental health found serious diagnoses for Nixon, Reagan, and Bush 2, but none for Johnson, Clinton, Obama, or Hillary. Is there a pattern here?
Instead of name-calling, I'd like to see some thoughtful policy critiques but I won't hold my breath. Trump Derangement Syndrome (DSM 5006.09) strikes again. We must be kind to the sufferers.
If you feel like putting a non-lethal curse on somebody, curse them with a case of Plantar Fasciitis. It's like an epidemic these days.
It's a common affliction of the middle-aged (like Frozen Shoulder), and usually there is never an identifiable cause although weight gain seems to be one. It can be in one foot or both. Sometimes it can be easily fixed with ice and stretching but it can be a chronic problem which eventually will disappear as mysteriously and suddenly as it appeared.
The most common symptom is feeling like somebody put thumbtacks in the heel of your shoe. The problem is not your shoe (although arch supports sometimes help it). The problem is inflamed tendons.
Besides the pain of simple walking around, Plantar pain can lead to other joint or lower back problems because of altering one's gait to minimize the foot pain.
My opinion: That is not a strength-building workout but it isn't a bad simple calisthenic workout for those who must exercise on their living room floor and have no access to fun calisthenic toys like kettlebells, heavy balls, pull-up bars, jump ropes, floor ladders, step-up boxes, etc.
Still, I'd say that that circuit repeated for 45 minutes would be an ok calisthenic workout. 9 minutes is nothing. Calis do not build strength but they certainly help maintain vigor. In other words, 45 minutes of that is a heck of a lot better than sitting on your ass.
We stand by our recommendations: Resistance + Calis + Cardio for overall fitness for life.
John 20:19-31 20:19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
20:25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
20:26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
20:27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe."
20:28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
20:29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
It is filled with excruciating solecisms (“Though this institution as well as many others including this entire country, have been founded upon the oppression and degradation of marginalized bodies, it has a liability to protect the students that it serves”); garbled regurgitations of High Theory (“The notion of discourse, when it comes to discussions about experiences and identities, deters the ‘Columbusing’ of established realities and truths [coded as ‘intellectual inquiry’] that the institution promotes”); and sheer head-scratchers of incomprehensibility (“To conclude our statement, we invite you to respond to this email by Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 4:07 PM [since we have more energy to expend on the frivolity of this institution and not Black lives].)” (Gnawing question: Why not a 4:08 PM deadline?)
If I could only have one herb, it would be Thyme. Not Tarragon, not Rosemary. Certainly not Parsley which is pretty but has too little flavor. Thyme has the richest, earthiest, deepest flavor (technically, fragrance) of them all.
It's a Mediterranean plant (Thymus vulgaris) but the Romans spread it around and it can now be found growing wild in the US. At the Farm, it grows wild in dry, nutrition-deprived meadows and makes a soft and fragrant footing as long as you avoid the bees. Wild Thyme and garden Thyme are the same things. Around here, there is Creeping Thyme (good for between flagstones) and regular Thyme. It's evergreen, and has no problem with rough winters. All Thyme wants is bad soil.
There is no need to harvest Thyme except when you need some. Even in winter, it stays fresh and fragrant under the snow. I usually use whole twigs in a recipe, not leaves. You can pull the twigs out later.
This year I am growing more herbs amongst the perennial flowers as they do in Spain. I have figgered out how to help Sage survive feet of snow.
"I believe in political equality. But there are two opposite reasons for being a democrat. You may think all men so good that they deserve a share in the government of the commonwealth, and so wise that the commonwealth needs their advice. That is, in my opinion, the false, romantic doctrine of democracy. On the other hand, you may believe fallen men to be so wicked that not one of them can be trusted with any irresponsible power over his fellows. That I believe to be the true ground of democracy. I do not believe that God created an egalitarian world."
The media's "angry, ignorant mouth-breather" stereotype of the Trump voter is no more than Lefty media spin. Since they do not talk to Trump voters, they will never report the reality. While working class white voters, male and female, might have given Trump his electoral edge, clearly large numbers of all sorts of demographics preferred him over Hillary. I did, and I do not think I am a knuckle-dragger.
Megan McArdle has a half-decent piece, Trump Voters Want Respect. Here’s How to Give It to Them, but it falls into the same stereotyping: sophisticated, educated elites vs. ignorant, feckless plebs referred to as "them." It is condescending and inaccurate.
If Megan wishes to contact me, I would be happy to introduce her to a goodly number of sophisticated, highly educated New York elites who were Trump voters - some enthused, some in the (political) closet, and some holding their noses but ok with it given the alternative.
Where are the faculty? American college students are increasingly resorting to brute force, and sometimes criminal violence, to shut down ideas they don’t like. Yet when such travesties occur, the faculty are, with few exceptions, missing in action, though they have themselves been given the extraordinary privilege of tenure to protect their own liberty of thought and speech. It is time for them to take their heads out of the sand.
A summary below of the hour of calisthenic circuits we did this morning (it's different every Friday) while we had the classical music station on pretty loud. The workout contained intense cardio bursts, explosive movements, agility work, and overall athleticism while igniting pretty much every muscle at some point. The endurance part comes in because for an hour your heart never has a chance to drop to a walking rate and you never stop moving hard except for the 1-minute breathing opportunities. Trainer uses a stopwatch to limit that.
A quick reminder that calis, like sports, are not really for strength-building, and strength is just one component of fitness. As fun as it sounds, after an hour you are ready for a nap. Such are the crazy burdens of having a white collar job in the First World.
A 3 min elliptical warm-up, then 4 band walks also as warm-up, then...
Why Teaching Proper Manners to Kids 
Not Farewell Angelina, just plain Angelina. It begins
If I could only have one herb, it would be Thyme. Not Tarragon, not Rosemary. Certainly not Parsley which is pretty but has too little flavor. Thyme has the richest, earthiest, deepest flavor (technically, fragrance) of them all.
The