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.
Not to worry. It's an adolescent fashion, a fad. It will pass. These kids will graduate, find jobs in cubicles, enter the real world, and grow up. Not to mention that the "tenured radicals" will retire on the comfortable pensions provided by people with tough jobs without pensions.
Things are going on which lowly citizens are not supposed to know about. We just vote and pay taxes...and let our moral and intellectual superiors handle the important things while we just try to figure out how to handle our own lives.
I accept that many Dems and Lefties hate their country, hate the government, hate the voters. I feel sorry for them today. This country, and the nothing it did "for" my immigrant grandparents and my parents (except for the minor details of freedom and freedom of opportunity) is sometimes more greatly appreciated by immigrant families than by the elites, the privileged, and the blue-bloods (yes, my grandparents were poor European legal immigrant youth, Catholic peasants who loved the idea of America before their ships even arrived.)
My grandpa (who became a Massachusetts chicken farmer here, and then a chicken distributor) used to say in his Polish accent in his 90s "America, not for everybody. America, it takes guts." And I would think of plastic barrels of chicken guts, heads, and feathers ready for the cat-food factory..
Trump's speech was splendid. Could have been a bit better had I written it, but a darn good job. Patriotic. Positive. Spirited.
The 2.4 million jobs, the 200,000 manufacturing jobs, the $8 trillion in stock market gains, the new bonuses and investments weren’t ordered by the government. They’re the bonuses of freedom. When the government cuts taxes, slashes regulations and frees us from the burden of bureaucracy, we prosper.
"Together, we are rediscovering the American way," President Trump declared. "In America, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of the American life. Our motto is 'in God we trust.'" But the left’s motto is, “In Government we trust.” And only when they’re in charge.
... all these insiders were playing the careerist odds. What we view as reprehensible behavior, they at the time considered wise investments that would earn rewards with an ascendant President Hillary Clinton.
Even in overweight America there are plenty of under-developed (lacking muscle) or even scrawny (I don't mean anorectic) guys and gals who want to work on their strength, endurance, and overall fitness for life or to improve their athletic performance in some area. Chestless men and bony women.
My trainer tells me it's always an interesting challenge for him to train endomorphs (basically, skinny runner's builds) or, even more difficult, thinner or under-developed people with middle-aged guts.
People built like this will likely never have big muscles, but big muscles and functional fitness are not the same thing at all. Women, of course, can not build bulging muscles under any ordinary or non-chemical circumstances.
Weights and good nutrition are the keys to a sturdy body, but everything else is needed for balanced fitness too. A typical first-year program would be something like this:
- Weight-lifting 3 hours/wk (under age 45, 3/wk; older, maybe only 2- 2 1/2 hrs/wk with slower progress) - Calisthenics and lighter weights, 1 hr/wk - Endurance cardio 1 hr/wk - HIIT cardio 30-40 min/wk (including rests)
You can't build muscle without adding a little fat to your bones along with it. The added nutrition to support a program like this, for the skinny or the under-developed, might be something like this:
- protein and fruit shake after workouts - 2 mostly dairy snacks daily (eg yoghurt, glass of milk, some fruit or nuts) - 3 modestly-sized "balanced" (ie protein, fats+oils, moderate carbs, greens, fruit) meals/day.
This volume of food intake can be a challenge for many, so it is something to work up to gradually. For most people to gain solid (vs fat) weight, the food intake will need to match the exercise intensity.
A program like that ought to be able to build 1 lb/month of solid (not flab) gain. A 10-12 lb gain in 12 months would be a good target. More might be too much because muscle builds very slowly. Let the scale be your guide and nourish yourself accordingly. If there is a gut, it should eliminate it. A gut on an under-developed guy or gal is not useful in life except in times of famine.
Sara Carter is reporting that agents have accused McCabe of pressuring them to change the information on their FBI witness interrogation forms. If true, this will be the greatest level of corruption ever demonstrated at the top of the FBI, surpassing even their coverups for Whitey Bulger. This is perjury, and suborning of perjury.
Carter says that this is the evidence that was shown to Wray just yesterday, leading to McCabe’s immediate removal from his position. If Sara Carter is correct, McCabe could be charged with crimes leading to 20 years in a federal prison.
The simple fact is that Donald Trump’s unlikely presidency has become an unlikely success. The economy is booming. He’s doing what he promised with foreign policy and regulations. He’s outmaneuvered the Democrats again and again on illegal aliens. He’s got the momentum. And the liberals are desperate to stop him – no matter how much doing so will hurt Normal Americans.
I think Sapolsky is a smart Harvard professor, but by having an ax to grind here he makes countless logical and factual errors. I do not have time to go through them one by one.
Almirena's Aria from Handel's Opera, Rinaldo (1711). Lyrics/text here.
In Farinelli and the King on Broadway, this song is sung by a counter-tenor. In the movie Farinelli (clip below) most is sung by a counter-tenor with the high notes by a soprano and, again, the actor playing Farinelli lip-syncing.
Truth? Scalps? I have no idea. Since he has a prosecutorial role, one thing I suspect is that he has given up on the Russia-Russia thing and is looking for process misdeeds or, perhaps, looking to provoke process misdeeds. That's what they managed to do to Flynn, who did nothing wrong except to speak to the FBI without a lawyer. Never ever do that, even if they say they just want an informal chat and you know you're clean. The Feds set traps. It is a very ugly business.
Thus, even if there is no Russia story to pursue, he can try to pursue Trump and his people on their efforts and wishes to make this entire annoyance go away. Obstruction, and the like, even if there was no wrong-doing at the heart of it. Trump, as a blustery shoot-from-the-hip businessman who likes to fire disloyal people and has no legal background and minimal legal thinking, is raw meat for this sort of thing.
My guess is that Trump is talking to his lawyers like any ordinary citizen: "WTF? I did nothing wrong, and these a-holes are tangling me up in this BS and getting in my way. Just fire these jerks."
I just hope that there are some honorable citizens in DC. Count me skeptical.
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Even in overweight America there are plenty of under-developed (lacking muscle) or even scrawny (I don't mean anorectic) guys and gals who want to work on their strength, endurance, and overall fitness for life or to improve their athletic performance in some area. Chestless men and bony women.
We Just Got More Evidence For 