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Friday, May 3. 2019

Final Hike Reminder - 9am Sunday at Museum of Natural History

The current weather calls for temps in the upper 50's and rain. 100% chance of precipitation in the AM, but stopping and being partly cloudy. We've had lots of luck on our annual walks, so I'm calling in a chip here with the weather manager and imploring him to keep our positive streak going. That said, we've walked in the rain (really more mist) so be prepared with rain gear.

Map is here - some minor revisions - but it's still in the 11 mile range (we can pick and choose alterations on the path as needed). By lunchtime, we should be around the Polo Grounds, and there are eateries of various sorts along Amsterdam Ave for about 10-11 blocks. We'll find something (I'm sure they'll have food trucks, too).

We're looking forward to seeing everyone! 9 am by Teddy's statue at the Natural History Museum.

Posted by Bulldog at 11:45 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Friday morning links

Your Love Of Wine Is Driving ‘Climate Change’ Or Something

Berkeley Cracks Down on Coffee Cups

Saving the earth, one Starbucks cup at a time

Most Austrians don’t know 6 million Jews were killed in Holocaust

Leftist comedian Bill Maher: 'Nothing is free...Neither is college'

At Williams College, Zionists Need Not Apply. The hall of shame.

What are they drinking at Williams? And where are the adults?

Here Comes the Government, Protecting You from Cauliflower Rice

French:

Yesterday I had the privilege of appearing as the lone conservative on a panel at the Milken Global Institute Conference called “What Happened to American Masculinity.” The conversation was excellent, my co-panelists were interesting and gracious, and I left the event more convinced than ever that the great American dispute about masculinity is rooted in differences in starting presumptions and first principles...

High School Mulls Removing George Washington Murals Because They 'Traumatize' Students

New York Times issues correction after calling Jesus a 'Palestinian man' instead of Jewish as it continues to face criticism for anti-Semitic cartoon of Trump and Netanyahu

DePaul professor defends pro-Israel op-ed, says he 'will not be silenced'

When Loretta Met Bill on the Tarmac

Baltimore Mayor Pugh resigns after month on leave amid investigation into her business deals

NYT: New Details Emerge About Connection Of Bidens To Ukrainian Corruption Scandal

DIGENOVA LOOKS AHEAD

Spying on Trump: AZRA TURK, IF THAT REALLY IS YOUR NAME

FBI Sent Investigator Posing As Assistant To Meet With Papadopoulos In 2016

Trump Campaign Responds to NY Times Report Finally Admitting Obama Admin Spied on Him and His Campaign

"Democrats and the media are turning the AG into a villain for doing his duty and making the hard decisions that special counsel Robert Mueller abdicated."

Barr laid it on the line with the simple question the Russia Hoaxers can’t answer

Liberal Hack and Idiot Mazie Hirono Attacks the President and Slanders AG Barr and Demands he Resign — It Gets So Bad Lindsey Graham Jumps In

It is war. They lost the Mueller battle, now want to find ways to continue the war.

Ilhan Omar Says U.S. to Blame for Venezuela's Problems

Why do other member states feel so positive about staying in the EU?

European Elections: "The Battle for Europe has Begun"

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia Can’t Get a Divorce. Despite Yemen, Khashoggi and U.S. energy independence, the relationship is critical for both sides.

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:55 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (3)

Thursday, May 2. 2019

The CDC and opioids

Doctors have become fearful of prescribing opioids. I hear stories about terminal cancer patients being denied adequate analgesia out of "fear of addiction."

Until new non-opioid and promising pain meds are available, I am in favor of adequate dosing for pain when nothing else works. Chronic pain is a terribly disabling thing, mentally, spiritually, physically, etc.

The two best things medicine has provided mankind have been antibiotics, and anesthesia/analgesia.

Can the Damage Done by the CDC's Opioid Guidelines Be Reversed?

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Medical at 16:43 | Comments (15) | Trackbacks (0)

Retirement

An interesting podcast below about Americans working past "conventional" retirement age. The first half praises the personal and productivity value of working at least until 70, and the second part has somebody claiming that a later retirement age turns mature adults into slaves.

There is no free lunch. I tend towards working until one can no longer work, but I get some pushback from that view. If I retired, I really do not see what good I would add to the world, to my family, or to my finances. I hate the idea of feeling useless, put out to pasture. However, I have seen lives blossom in retirement, but more often I have seen lives shrink and shrivel in retirement. There can be a tendency for regression. Remember, retirement (government savings plans, social security) is a recent invention, from the 1880s by Otto von Bismarck in Germany.

Sure, to save Social Security (SS is a fait accompli), I'd gladly move "the conventional age" to 70 or 72 rather than, as it is now, the maximum. People live longer and healthier than in the past, and thus have more to offer, and longer. Retirement is not an entitlement. SS is. Of course, despite SS, anybody can work as long as they choose.

Can't Stop, or Won't Stop Working

What are your views?

Posted by The Barrister in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 14:24 | Comments (29) | Trackbacks (0)

Why So Few College Students Can Write Well

I am not sure that it's a college's job to teach somebody how to write a coherent, grammatical essay.

That is high school.

Posted by The Barrister at 14:13 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

Introducing "Poe's Law"

"Poe’s Law states simply that it is impossible to parody extremist views because the parody will inevitably be mistaken as a genuine expression — even by people who hold those extremist views."

Posted by The Barrister in Education at 13:35 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Thursday morning links

It's Time to Bring Back Leper Colonies—for Anti-Vaxxers

Victims of Communism Day 2019 - Why May 1 should be a day to honor the victims of the ideology that took more innocent lives than any other.

Reproductive MD Association Okays Providing Care Doctors Know Won’t Work

Camille Paglia Can’t Say That - Art students are trying to get the social critic fired from a job she has held for three decades.

Mathgate: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Caught in Massive Grade Fraud Scandal

Instagram: Wounded Veteran ‘Violated Community Standards’ by Posing with Trump Jr.

Walls and fences: Barriers Against Barbarism

RENT-A-CHILD SERVICES THRIVING AT THE BORDER - When a child becomes a get-out-of-detention-free card.

Jewish Leaders Refuse to Accept New York Times' Apology for Anti-Semitic Cartoon

BETO O'ROUKE SAYS WORLD WILL END 2 YEARS SOONER THAN HE CLAIMED LAST MONTH

The End Is Near. Oh, well.

Yes, Amazon Pays Taxes

Steve Hilton: China Is ‘Funding Biden Family Businesses’ with ‘Billions of Dollars’

The United States Is Giving the Caravans a Huge Incentive to Keep Coming

Nellie Ohr Criminal Referral Being 'Finalized' According To Jim Jordan

Wasn't she one of the Kremlin-Clinton links?

Nellie Ohr’s Emails To DOJ About Russia Collusion While Working For Fusion Should Alarm Us All

Bruce Ohr: FBI, DOJ Knew Dossier Was Dirty from the Beginning

Barr:

“How did we get to the point where the evidence is now that the president was falsely accused of colluding with the Russians, accused of being treasonous and accused of being a Russian agent, and the evidence now is that that was without a basis?” he asked. “And two years of his administration have been dominated by allegations that have now been proven false. But to listen to some of the rhetoric, you would think the Mueller report had found the opposite.”

5 takeaways from the Barr hearing

Thelma Nadler and Louise Schiff - Congressional crazies are taking the Democrat party over the cliff.

Watch Live: 'Steele Dossier' May Have Been Part Of Russian Disinformation Campaign, Barr Says

Bill Maher to Adam Schiff on Trump: “Now it just looks like you’re stalking him”

Not "looks like"

Swedish Anti-Extremism Tsar Allows Returning ISIS Fighters Re-Entry As "Caring Citizens"

Afghanistan: Tar baby

Are we still there?

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 07:30 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

Wednesday, May 1. 2019

Diamond Joe Biden

While I feel bad for Joe and his touchy-feely problem being under attack (not really, I figure he's getting what he deserves for promoting and supporting bad ideas - these idiots all eat their own children and/or parents), he's finding that having a long, storied history is probably going to be harder to overcome than being a creepy uncle.

After all, he was a plagiarist. That cost him a run for the presidency years ago. But now, his racist colors are starting to come out. Yes, it seems Joe was a racist, and even looked to team up with other racists. To stop busing which would help integrate schools. Let's not forget this doozy:

Most Democrats are closet racists. Yeah, they say nice things, and 'feel' the right things. But their practical application of ideas is designed to create, support, and extend servitude of groups they can buy votes from. Which is a practical application of racism.

This guy's leading the polls? It's early. Joe is the gift that keeps on giving. Nothing was better than The Onion series on "Diamond Joe". All satire - but completely believable.

Posted by Bulldog in Politics at 18:47 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

Assumptions, postulates, and premises

AVI wrote briefly about the difficulty of constructive discussion with people with differing and strongly-held basic assumptions about things.

Assumptions, postulates, and premises are what we all stand on when we open a discussion, a debate, or a legal argument. Before getting into the weeds and details of a discussion, it's always wise to identify these foundations of anothers' position.

We all like to think that we are capable of questioning or critiquing our own basic assumptions - but are we? I think most of us are as reluctant to impose cognitive dissonance on ourselves as we are to hit our heads with a hammer.

And when others attempt to challenge (ie threaten) some of our precious basic assumptions, the natural reaction is to be defensive because these thoughts become part of who we are.

Best approach? "I'll question my assumptions if you'll question yours."

Posted by Bird Dog in Fallacies and Logic at 17:20 | Comments (22) | Trackbacks (0)

James Comey seems to be losing it

Comey Viciously Attacks Bill Barr Mid-Hearing – Then Turns His Ire Toward Rod Rosenstein!

TDS makes people crazy. Sad.

Posted by The News Junkie in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 15:49 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

Big lies

The endless Russia hoax and the Charlottesville hoax. Stephen Colbert lied to attack President Trump this week. Again. It's the new normal for late night "comedians."

Posted by The News Junkie in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 14:57 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

Is "Walden" too white?

Students at Amherst College in Massachusetts convened in April to ruminate on whether or not the teachings of one of history’s most influential environmentalists remain relevant, given that he is a “dead white man.”

Posted by The Barrister in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 14:33 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

Big Weights programming

If you can handle 6-7 days of 1 hr (or so) workouts weekly, you can try putting in 3 days of heavy weights/ big movements. Never two weights days in a row in our view.

This is a way to get past whatever strength plateau you might have reached, or to jump start a program. Try it as an experiment. It is working for me.

There are all sorts of ways to schedule your routines, but they must be planned. Typical programs are listed here at Old Schoool Trainer.

A regular weights program for me is not for body-building, just for the strength component of general fitness, and to slow down entropy:

Monday: Barbell squats (5X5-8), Bench press (5X5 or 6X10), dumbell row (3X10), pull-down or pullups (3x10)

Thurs: Heavy deadlift (5X5-8), Dumbbell bench (4X10), Seated Row (4X10), pull-downs or pullups (4X10)

Sat - A higher-rep (12-20) but not too-light day for me: Leg press (higher reps), Chest press (higher reps), curls + tricep press downs

Note: the first number does not include warm-up set. Always do a brief warm-up set for any weight exercise to avoid muscle sprain.

I am still giving it time to see whether this is too much for me, considering that on my two calisthenics days I am doing pushups, burpees, body weight squats, kettlebell lunges, box step ups, hand weights, kettlebell swings, kettlebell deads, inclined pulls, etc. - and stair machine on one of my cardio days.

My point concerns what amounts of recovery and nutrition are needed for constructive recovery/rebuilding in my program, given my age (ummm, over 50...but I don't look it). Generally speaking, a cardio day is considered active recovery so it's good to sched. that on a day before big weights.

Posted by Bird Dog in Physical Fitness at 14:05 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)