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.
Deads are about picking up heavy stuff, and putting it back on the floor. A basic functional effort and good training for how to pick things up without back strain.
Good technique is essential. Do them wrong (eg lifting with your back istead of your legs) and you can hurt yourself. Do them right - it's not complicated - and your whole body gets stronger including your back. Deadlifts prevent aging! Mrs. BD does them weekly, and swears at by them.
Besides general fitness, just doing 5 sets (including a warm-up set) of heavy deads once-weekly has been great for my posture. Generally finishing with my 6-8-rep max. I only aim for a max one-rep effort every couple of months, just for fun (?). Since I am not a big strong guy, I can probably only get to around 300 with a trap bar at this point, and that is good enough for government work. With a plain bar, my grip tends to fail first. (I do need to work on my grip strength.)
Mens sana in corpore sano. (The former is a tougher challenge than the latter.)
(An important deadlift tip - and for barbell squats too - that is rarely mentioned: Make sure your bowels are well-emptied first. The intra-abdominal pressure gets high with heavy weights, and you do not want an accident. Farts are expected, but...)
Augustine’s tortured recognition that involuntary arousal was an inescapable presence—not only in conjugal lovemaking but also in what he calls the “very movements which it causes, to our sorrow, even in sleep, and even in the bodies of chaste men”—shaped his most influential idea, one that transformed the story of Adam and Eve and weighed down the centuries that followed: originale peccatum, original sin.
This idea became one of the cornerstones of Christian orthodoxy—but not before decades of dispute...
Did Augustine and Christianity ultimately make sex sexier and more exciting?
We have friends who take these trips regularly. They are inexpensive compared to regular cruises (generally 1/2 the price), the ships tend not to be full, and the ports of call can be interesting.
If you like oceans (and missed service in the Navy), the transatlantic trips are wonderful and relaxing. Lots to see on the Atlantic ocean, and amazing food.
Imagine a new president whose first year saw: withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord; wiped out ISIS; reversed hundreds of Obama Administration regulatory overreaches; saw back-to-back quarters of 3 percent economic growth; a stock market gain of over 20 percent; illegal immigration plummeting by more than 50 percent; a sterling originalist appointed to the Supreme Court and a record number of similarly-minded judges to the lower appellate courts; and the most fundamental pro-growth tax reform in 30 years.
Time's winged chariot does hurry along. As life goes on, it hurries faster, frighteningly so.
I know only one way to slow down that acceleration: do new things, take on new challenges, visit new places, have new experiences, find some fresh successes and failures, make new friends, . While routine and structure are generally useful and comforting for people, new challenges and adventures, large or small, which entail some special stimulations and anxieties.
Yes, anxieties. New stresses are good. Seek God, learn Mandarin, lift heavier weights, remodel the house, take a Great Courses course on something about which you are totally ignorant and uninterested to open your mind, find a new mate (not for me - we make new together), climb a mountain, or try some good therapy and reawaken or unleash parts of your inner true self which have been smoldering in the dark for years.
All such things have the effect of adding punctuation marks, or even fresh chapters, to the humdrum prose of life.
While it's not just about a manipulative seduction, Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) was spot on with the time thing.
To His Coy Mistress
Had we but world enough and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime. We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love’s day. Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide Of Humber would complain. I would Love you ten years before the flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires and more slow; An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart.
For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate. But at my back I always hear Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found; Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try That long-preserved virginity, And your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust;
The grave’s a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace. Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power.
Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Through the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.
Four years ago, while I filled in for Bird Dog on the daily news update, I posted a few articles about Bitcoin, which back then barely garnered any attention.
2017 was the "year ofBitcoin" and many ordinary Joes became millionaires, as a result. Some people believe this ride is over. Perhaps with Bitcoin it is (I do not believe it is, though 1,000% returns are definitely over for it...perhaps not for other cryptos, though), and at least one 'expert' thinks it is. I'm not an 'expert', but I've heard if you speak enough publicly about something, you can become one (not a joke, this is definitely true). So maybe I should speak more about cryptocurrencies and be an expert.
This much is true - I suggested cryptos could represent a move away from standard currencies and represent a new reserve, particularly for nations which aren't fond of the dollar. This seems to be exactly what is happening. Amidst all the speculative excess which surrounds some of them, there are more and more real-world firms adopting them, as well as the technology which surrounds their development. In fact, I have begun to find uses for blockchain tech in my own field, and we are beginning to pioneer new uses for it to defeat fraudulent activity (funny, because the one reason people fear cryptos is that they are often used to engage criminal activity. My son told me many of his friends who used to purchase illegal substances via the web used Bitcoin. I asked him how much they had left. He said none, they'd spent it all. I said "shows you how much value you get out of using drugs.") Point is, Bitcoin does have uses. I am aware of several people who entered the Cannabis growing business (legally, in states that allow it) and cater exclusively to cryptocurrency clientele.
I think this means the academy either doubts the ability of the students to absorb knowledge or the unwillingness of faculty to convey it. What good is "process" without deep knowledge? This is pure laziness all around, but I do understand that colleges compete and many paying students do not want to strain their little brains.
50% of max heart rate for an hour? It seems inefficient and not stressful enough for my taste (not to mention boring), but maybe as a once-weekly thing on a day following a strenuous weight session it might be warranted as a form of "active recovery." Or, of course, for beginner exercisers, anorectics, the elderly, or the terminally-sedentary.
At the same time, moving at all is probably a better idea than not moving. It burns no fat (not that you need that) and builds no strength, but certainly helps maintain some minimal degree of endurance and mobility.
I tried to introduce one hour of this sort of thing into my weekly regimen a few months ago as a "recovery day" (with a mix of treadmill, stairmaster, and elliptical) but I just can't stay with it. My body seems to insist on bursting into one-minute sprints in the course of it every several minutes, thus converting it to HIIT. Maybe it's because I am in half-decent shape, but my body just wants to pound it every few minutes instead of slogging along. I guess that's a good effect of my fitness training - energy.
Our seafood shop sends a guy down to Brighton Beach before each Christmas and New Year's Day to pick up 250 gm. tins of fresh Russian caviar from the Russian shops. (Brooklyn's Brighton Beach is heavily Russian immigrants.) You just have to phone in and pre-order yours from our guy. It's the farmed variety nowadays, which is a good thing.
We can have those large tins of fresh malossol (fresh, unsalted Sturgeon caviar) for $150 each. Mind you, that could be $800-$1000 at Petrossian. If you go to Brighton Beach yourself, you can buy a tin of Russian for as little as $80. Yes, it is the real deal. Amazing. I have never been to Brighton Beach but I hear that if you like Russian food, it's better there than in Moscow.
I would be remiss to neglect this: “I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration—and it’s a very effective form of promotion.”
Friends left this morning for an extended ski trip to Stowe (VT). I checked the temps for the next few days.
I have skied in New England when the temp was -20 at the top (that is -28 Celsius). You have to dress right, with hand-warmers and a face mask too. There are just 2 problems: 1) Will your car start? and 2) If you ski hard, you sweat going down and the sweat freezes on the lifts.
At some point in the day you wonder when cocktail hour is.
Deads are about picking up heavy stuff, and putting it back on the floor. A basic functional effort and good training for how to pick things up without back strain.
From 
NYT: 
Can you read the NYT blurb on the book? 
