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.
“In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is...in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”
That article is close to what I wrote yesterday. Mind you, this is for daily intense exercisers and weight training. It's not for ordinary exercisers, or for those needing to gain of lose weight.
I'm talking about lifters who are working on strength and muscle-building for 3+ hours/week. For muscle repair and renovation, such people need from 70-90 gms of protein daily depending on their size and body type.
Serious strength-builders also need more carbs and fats/oils than non-lifters. It's near-impossible for men to gain significant strength without gaining some weight (muscle weight, not fat weight). Women are different because they can not normally build muscle bulk.
Sedentary or cardio-exercisers need around 40 gms of protein daily. That does not include people in marathon training. And don't forget that there is some protein in everything we eat, so vegetarians can build strength as well as carnivores as long as they consume enough volume.
HOWEVER, nobody's body can use or metabolize more than 20-25 gms of protein in 3 hours. Anything more than that goes to waste or into body fat (yes, excess dietary protein can go to body fat). That's why lifters eat multiple small meals daily rather than the conventional three - to keep a stream of usable protein flowing.
A nice steak contains 70+ gms of protein, so most of that steak goes to nutritional waste. However delicious, it's recreational eating - something Americans specialize in. I love a t-bone occasionally but am under no illusion that I need it. It's for enjoyment.
(Other examples: a chicken breast has around 70 gms protein, an egg about 8 gms, a McDonald's burger about 20 gms, a cup of green beans about 2 gms, a cup of yoghurt or milk 8 gms, a cup of oatmeal 6 gms. )
We'll all agree that envy is a soul-destroying sin. At its extremes, it presents as bitterness or contempt. Can we all agree that, at least to some extent, it is universal at some points?
MacDonald: The Frenzied Search for Racism. Elites bought Jussie Smollett’s story because it confirmed their cherished narrative about a hateful America.
The only hate I see in the US is from the Left. Consumed and blinded by hate.
Today, literary scholarship is home to some of the most impenetrable gobbledygook ever put on paper. The main culprit is easily identifiable: literary theory. Literary theory, a school of criticism with little hold outside the universities, has captured whole colleges and threatens to extinguish students’ love of reading. Imagine the dejection a student about to begin university, eager to read the best that has ever been written, feels when they are told to examine some heavy tome of unreadable theory. It drains all the fun from reading.
'I made a big mistake': American ISIS bride who called for terror attacks at Memorial Day parades and has married three jihadi fighters begs the US to let her go back to Alabama
My entire daily program is designed and updated (and monitored - "Whatcha do yesterday?") by my genius trainer. I do what I am told by him. As Mrs. BD says, he is the only person I obey besides God.
My current program is 2 days of heavy weights with trainer, one day of accessory weights mostly by myself, one or two conditioning classes at the gym (tough and fun in a sick way) or replace one of those with an hour of my own calisthenics, one day of endurance cardio and one day of misc HIIT cardio. Everything is progressing nicely but slowly of course. I'm not 18 anymore.
Speaking of which, have you noticed so many people checking their iphones at the gym? They aren't looking at texts. They have their exercise plans du jour on their phones, and are checking what their next circuit should be. Luddite that I am, I write them on paper.
But to my issue of 5 vs 3 sets of resistance work.
My approach with the powerlifts is one light warm-up set of 5-8 reps, then 5 working sets of 5-8 reps of increasingly heavy weights. 5 is my favorite number, but some days my boss pisses me off by making me do 8s. When we go near my max, say, with deads or barbell squats, only 3 reps. My modest one-rep goal is 300 for deads. I am not a big strong dude.
With accessory resistance work which I do on my own once weekly, I generally do one warm-up and 3 working sets. It's partly a matter of time (because 60-90 seconds rests between sets), and to fit in everything on my list with 60-75 minutes. It's rare than I can fit in everything on my plan.
What sorts of things do I do on my accessory weights days? It's below the fold -
The Cholesterol Controversy - Why is cholesterol so much more controversial than the other cardiac risk factors? A review of cholesterol’s troubled and contentious history might help us understand where many of the cholesterol controversies originated… and why it’s time to let them pass into history.
People get her wrong. She's not dumb exactly- she's just trying to move the Overton Window. Already has, in fact. Not dumb, but wrong about everything. Being wrong doesn't matter for the purpose.
The MSM requires fake hate. There is darn little real hate these days - except for the fake hate haters. The fake hate haters are consumed by hate. Lots of Trump haters and America-haters out there, but darn few gay-haters or Black-haters other than crazies.
McCabe told Scott Pelley that he was concerned Donald Trump was a “national security threat” which was his reasoning for opening a counterintel investigation into Trump.Again, McCabe says this based on ZERO evidence.
Purgatory, it seems, is the place for purging of sin and evil through penitence and painful self-awareness, and embracing virtue. A beautiful seven-story mountain. In some ways, Purgatorio is begging us to take purgatory today rather than later.
6:17 He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.
6:18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.
6:19 And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
6:20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
6:21 "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
6:22 "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.
6:23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
6:24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
6:25 "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
6:26 "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets."
The current socio-political meme is that men are pigs, sometimes but rarely aggressive pigs, when it comes to desire and sexuality. As somebody who is privy to male fantasies, I have no doubt about that. As Freud taught us, human apes are civilized and restrained at great cost.
But what about women? Wholesome women are libidinal too, if less aggressively so. All or most honest females will admit their needs for romance and exciting sex lives. It's biological that both men and women want sexual satisfaction as often as possible. Because of culture and moral demands, many keep it safely in the fantasy realm.
It's a challenge for women to keep their men charmed and enchanted by them, and vice-versa. Worth the effort, though. Besides trying to remain interesting and fun, it never hurts for guys and gals to look good naked.
Down on the farm — 
No. At least not in one sitting.
We'll all agree that envy is a soul-destroying sin. At its extremes, it presents as bitterness or contempt. Can we all agree that, at least to some extent, it is universal at some points?
Photo from a reader: Ice castle in Dillon, Colorado, this week 
My entire daily program is designed and updated (and monitored - "Whatcha do yesterday?") by my genius trainer. I do what I am told by him. As Mrs. BD says, he is the only person I obey besides God.
The Cholesterol Controversy 
The current socio-political meme is that men are pigs, sometimes but rarely aggressive pigs, when it comes to desire and sexuality. As somebody who is privy to male fantasies, I have no doubt about that. As Freud taught us, human apes are civilized and restrained at great cost.