Wednesday, March 16. 2022
Tuesday, March 15. 2022
Readers know that we view deadlifts as the single best way to build or to maintain physical sturdiness.
In my current program, I only do deads once weekly and barbell squats once weekly. Plus all of the other strength stuff of course.
It's not advice, but for my deads I do a 15-rep warm-up and then 5 sets increasing weight and lowering reps to 4. It is feeling more to me like maintenance.
Why Am I So Tired After Deadlifts? Here’s 7 Reasons Why
Status Quo Bias, also known as the Omission-Commission Fallacy:
The status quo bias is one type of cognitive bias that involves people preferring that things stay as they are or that the current state of affairs remains the same. This bias can have an effect on human behavior, but it is also a topic of interest in other fields, including sociology, politics, and economics.
By being aware of how the status quo bias influences your decisions and behaviors, you can look for ways to reduce the bias in the choices you make each and every day.
It is an anti-change bias, or an anti-risk bias. Surely it has some costs (and I do not mean financial). I know people who love change. It must be a bell curve of personality tendencies.
My bias is to resist change. It is a personality trait (perhaps not an ideal one), but maybe partly because I tend to be sanguine about my own life. I use the Serenity Prayer for additional support when needed.
On the global scale? World "stability" will never happen. Climates? Change will always occur over time. Re the latter, some change might be good but almost nobody discusses that.
Monday, March 14. 2022
Do Students Self-Censor? Here’s What the Data Tell Us
Of course they do. Just ask any student.
Sunday, March 13. 2022
 Smartphones vs Cameras: Where things stand in 2022 and what’s to come
Many people, including me, have never taken a course about all the things that an iPhone is capable of as an iCamera.
I have a nice Canon, but I have only used it for Christmas card photos. I have not taken it anywhere for years because it is clunky and dorky.
Other than professionals with specialized needs, or the most serious hobbyists, does any ordinary person need a camera anymore?
A classic southern Italian secondo: Grilled Octopus with chopped tomatoes.
Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)
9:28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
9:29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.
9:30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.
9:31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
9:32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
9:33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.
9:34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.
9:35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
9:36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
9:37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
9:38 Just then a man from the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child.
9:39 Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him.
9:40 I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."
9:41 Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."
9:42 While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
9:43a And all were astounded at the greatness of God.
Saturday, March 12. 2022
 A Primo which is new to me: LEMON GARLIC CREAM SAUCE
That's the way you prep pasta or gnocchi: Put them in the saucepan with the sauce when they are done.
Friday, March 11. 2022
Scientists discover laws of nature by acquiring evidence that some apparent regularity is not only never violated but also could never have been violated. For instance, when every ingenious effort to create a perpetual-motion machine turned out to fail, scientists concluded that such a machine was impossible – that energy conservation is a natural law, a rule of nature’s game rather than an accident. In drawing this conclusion, scientists adopted various counterfactual conditionals, such as that, even if they had tried a different scheme, they would have failed to create a perpetual-motion machine. That it is impossible to create such a machine (because energy conservation is a law of nature) explains why scientists failed every time they tried to create one.
I've had to come into my NYC offices this week for executive presentations. Catching a train each morning at 7am, the usual pre-covid commuter grind. Hopefully going back to that in some format. Two days ago, however, it wasn't the usual grind. As I reached the platform and waited for the train, I noticed a young man with one eye in uniform, with his battle gear in bags next to him, and the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder.
I asked him the obvious question, "Are you headed over?" He smiled and said "I have a choice. But my friends and family do not. So, I have no choice. I have to go."
I wished him good luck and a safe return, and he replied "I am Ukrainian, but born in Russia. I had to fight my way out of Russia to get to Kyiv in 2002. I joined my extended family there, got my citizenship, and came to the US in 2008. I am very happy to be here, but I can't ignore what I left behind."
We chatted a bit, and he told me a few stories his friends and family were sharing from the war zone. He followed that up with a brief "I don't trust the news here any more than the news the Russians tell. It's not telling us everything, just one side." Then he showed me his coffee container, which had an "Occupy Mars" sticker on it. He smiled and said "this would be better."
I smiled wistfully, shook his hand and told him to come home safe. He replied "There is no other choice."
This morning, as I rode in, I thought about where he was at that moment. I have no doubt he is in Ukraine. I wonder how close to the front lines he is, and I wondered at how different circumstances lead us to different situations - that luck is a huge part of life. I'm doing executive presentations, and he's hoofing to the front lines. I couldn't fathom the vast differences in our priorities.
Unfortunately, this isn't a war that was inevitable. It was avoidable. I don't believe Putin is a madman, and I don't believe he was right to invade. Sadly, in today's world many people feel these two viewpoints are contradictory and saying it means you're pro-Putin, pro-Russia. I'm not. I'm just realistic. There were paths to avoiding conflict, and we chose to not follow them. This costs young men like my train platform friend dearly.
We may sit here and comment on how the war hurts us because of price and supply chain disruptions. People will remind you that your home isn't being bombed, your family isn't at risk, so consider yourself lucky. I disagree. While our problems are first-world problems, they are important. If we don't worry about them, and we don't deal with them effectively, our first-world problems will become very big problems just like the one he headed off to. His reality can become ours, sometimes when we least expect.
Wednesday, March 9. 2022
I understand that all political decisions are multifactorial, but was NATO (aka USA) a major factor? And, if so, why?
Your opinions, please.
It is normal for guys to want to be strong and to look good (ie appealing to females or imposing to males). It is instinctual. Body-building is the extreme version, but is a harmless hobby for some men (and some women too).
Rippetoe speaks mainly to men, but I think his strength-training advice applies just as well to women. His focus on strong=big, however, is only for guys who want to get "big." Most guys who pursue general fitness have no major desire to look conspicuously jacked, and women can't do it if they try. When it comes to appearance alone, it seems to me as if men and women want to look athletic.
When it comes to general fitness for life, muscle hypertrophy is unimportant although some amount of muscle growth will occur with any balanced fitness program. (As our readers know, our recommendations are 1/3 HIIT cardio, 1/3 mixed calisthenics, and 1/3 stressful weights for strength. This is a recipe for looking, and being, in athletic shape.)
Two pieces from Rippetoe:
The Biggest Training Fallacy of All
Bodybuilding Mythology
 Shackleton's abandoned ship Endurance is found
The Anti-Wedding Weddings Section of the NYT
“We acknowledge that our community has been harmed by this incident and the fact that 13 years elapsed before action was taken,” they wrote. “We are convening a series of affinity group meetings in the next few weeks to provide spaces for mutual support, reflection, and response.”
Peak Absurdity In Energy Policy: As Prices Soar, The Biden Administration Goes Full Speed Ahead In The War On Fossil Fuels
Poland's Offer Of Jets For Ukraine "Raises Serious Concerns For Entire NATO Alliance": Pentagon
I Was Wrong About Putin. When U.S. intelligence started saying that Russia would invade Ukraine, I didn’t believe it, By Sergei Dobrynin
McConnell Says $14 Billion in Ukraine Aid Will Move With Omnibus
Democrats Hit New Level of Disarray Over Decision to Ban Russian Oil
Russia Threatens to Cut Off Ukraine and Europe’s Gas, China Might Buy Russian Energy Sources
Tuesday, March 8. 2022
'The first casualty, when war comes, is truth.'
- Hiram Johnson (1866-1945)
I do not believe a single thing I read about this war. It is all propaganda lies from all sides.
 Salt Cod has been an important export of the northeastern US for centuries. I think most of it went to Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
The main thing to know about salt cod (bacalhao, bacalao, baccala) is that it has to be well-soaked in water or it will be too salty to eat.
Here's Pastéis de Bacalhau ~ Salt Cod Fritters
Aioli sauce is best with them.
|
Enjoying your Russian civil war