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.
Apple's Tax Tactics Deserve Defending, Not Shaming. Is it moral to pay higher taxes, even if that hurts employees, consumers, and shareholders? David Brooks seems to thinks so.
Avoid sunburn, especially in youth. Problem is, youth don't avoid sunburn.
In any event, getting some unfiltered sunshine is healthy, about 20-30 minutes/day, and a nice tan seems fine if you have the right skin for it. One view: Is sunscreen the new margarine?
Pediatricians these days are complaining that the kids are sun-deprived, due to sun-phobia of parents.
Keto-style nutrition (ketogenic) is only for people whose habits and life-styles tend towards excess fat deposits. There is no reason to fuss with your nutritional habits if you are in good shape and good conditioning. Food is not medicine - but if you lift heavy 2-3 times weekly, keep the protein up for muscle repair.
All "keto" means is that you are burning fat. Burning fat is difficult, because your body wants to hang on to it and exercise does very little for that at ordinary intensities and durations.
An interesting side effect of ketosis is that appetite tends to be reduced and energy increased. For people who are serious about it, you can buy Keto-strips to check your urine. That will instantly tell you whether you are burning fat or not.
If overweight, you probably have some degree of insulin insensitivity, sometimes termed "pre-diabetic" at some point. A keto nutritional habit can correct that, but remember that if you have ever been fat, your body will want to restore it back to where you set your highest weight. Fat cells are as greedy as governments and they never forget.
The great Odetta's version of the delta blues song. Johnny Cash did it from the heart, but Odetta did everything from the soul. Masterpiece. h/t reader. The lyrics she uses here/
Had drinks and dinner with a long-time pal and colleague the other night. The kind of pal with whom you could happily sip whiskies, maybe enjoy a ceegar, and shoot the breeze on every sort of topic all night, from the philosophical to football.
Now this guy is in his 80s. Works at his career every day. Has more sports that he plays, and more hobbies and volunteer activities than he can handle. And his Mrs. (his age) has begun a second career after retiring. I'm lucky to get him for a supper out every quarter (which is my minimum target for close pals).
I did ask him how he dealt with awareness of his aging. "Whenever it crosses my mind, I push the thought away."
I want to become like that dude if or when it comes to pass.
The Land of Abundance. Yesterday was early work-out day (Saturday heavy weights), two hours of work to make a living, then museum day, Apple Store day, and Costco Day late. A productive and pleasant day with a giant ribeye at the end. Tomorrow is early church, woodsy hiking, and later Mother-in-Law Birthday day. Yeah, we got her a big balloon and roses at Costco. And a birthday cake.
The Met Museum and Costco have one thing in common: You can hear every language in the world in each. But Costco wins in the socio-cultural diversity race. Colleges would drool over Costco diversity. Not many black Americans, though, and I have no idea why. Just the women working the registers.
But about Costco, where we go about 3 times/year to stock up on treats and staples (clothes soap, dish soap, t paper, paper towels, lots of their amazing ribeyes and lucious pork loin chops for the freezer, ketchup, steak sauce, olive oil (the best), cheese (goat cheese and Kerry Gold), butter, workout socks, etc etc. Got a box of navel oranges - it's the prime time for those unhealthy but tasty sugar bombs. No Spam. I had enuf of it as a kid, fried with eggs for breakfast.
We never had chocolate sugar bombs for breakfast but they were selling like hotcakes to immigrant-seeming people - Poles, Russians, Hispanics, Slovenians, etc. I don't think the people with their expensive Mercedes SUVs with the Harvard window stickers were buying them, but they sure were there at Costco on a Saturday late afternoon amongst the throngs of people stocking up. Probably buying kale and the wild salmon.
Neither Trump, Pelosi, nor Schumer ever go to Costco. They should, in disguise. Well, nobody would recognize Schumer or Peolosi, so no disguise needed. But Trump would need a serious disguise to pick up his supply of Spam. Maybe he sends Melania for his Spam and Cocoa Sugar Bombs. Who would notice her?
That is, cannabinoids. I think there is already a bubble in publicly-traded companies, and that weed itself is a cheap commodity. I see a company making chewing gum. No, not a bubble-gum.
I do not like weed myself (beer is my vice of choice), but I will not object to an easy way to make money. My guess is that any promising businesses in the cannabinoid space will be bought out by the big boys in pharma or tobacco.
" The main thing is, the Dems don’t want Trump to have a win on his signature policy, because they figure that will cement his re-election. Everything else is noise."
Everything Trump wants is bad, even if they wanted it 3 years ago. It's about wins and losses, not policy.
However, there are many ways to be male, as many ways as there are to be female. During youth and adolescence, people develop what we term "ego ideals" - notions of what our best self might be. These come from family peers, from the culture, and from experience which teaches us what things are effective and what is not.
Our ideals for ourselves are often at variance with our genetics and with our potentials. Reality is the toughest teacher and toughest grader ever.
It's my experience that women prefer masculine men (however defined) but it rarely means brutal or unkind men. Men and women have ideals not only for themselves, but for partners and friends too. What is my ideal life partner? Strong mentally and physically, smart and savvy, athletic, brave and adventurous, high life-competence and adaptability, emotionally-reserved but open to friendship, and sexy and tender at times. I found one of those guys. The detail that he knows how to make money is just a bonus because I make a good living on my own.
nb: I am not a Psychologist. I am an MD, a Psychiatrist. But we're all interested in people and what makes them tick or not tick.
People snark that Psychologists are not known to be the most manly guys or the most feminine women, but I wonder what readers think the APA is really trying to say?
Your basic physical architecture is a product of a genetic potential, a genotype. Your genetic potential (design) is effected to some extent by environmental influences: intrauterine nutrition, nutrition during growth, disease, physical activity during growth, and so forth. All the same, your genetic potential can not be exceeded because it is pre-programmed.
What do I mean by basic physical architecture? I mean things like basic body structure: height, bone lengths and widths, and number of muscle cells and their distribution (yes, you are born with all of the muscle cells you will ever have, and these vary a good deal between people).
As an adult over age 17- 21, your life-long basic physical foundation is complete. As with your IQ, personality strengths and weaknesses, athletic talents, what we do with our given physical architecture after that point is up to us. A good trainer, a physical therapist, or a sports physician can see through our appearance and phenotype and get an idea of our basic physical architecture and our potential for development of what we are.
Our naked physical appearance today may or may not tell us much about our basic architecture, because it might be hidden under layers of fat or simply unmanifested by lack of stressors and demands. In underweight people, it can be concealed by underdevelopment of potential.
It's common to talk about endomorphs, mesomorphs, and ectomorphs, but that is simplistic because everybody is built differently. The length of your femur, for just one important example.
Do these things matter in general fitness efforts? Not too much. Do they matter in physical training? Yes, because the architecture sets limits on, and offers opportunities for, what can be achieved. Do they matter in athletic potential? Certainly, but it depends on the level which is aspired to.
The 
Keto-style nutrition (ketogenic) is only for people whose habits and life-styles tend towards excess fat deposits. There is no reason to fuss with your nutritional habits if you are in good shape and good conditioning. Food is not medicine - but if you lift heavy 2-3 times weekly, keep the protein up for muscle repair.
Your basic physical architecture is a product of a genetic potential, a