Sunday, January 13. 2019
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.
Another dude wrote about it: “How to Grow Old” by Bertrand Russell
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?
Psalm 29
29:1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
29:2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy splendor.
29:3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over mighty waters.
29:4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
29:5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
29:6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
29:7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
29:8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
29:9 The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, "Glory!"
29:10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
29:11 May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!
Saturday, January 12. 2019
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.
Your thoughts?
Friday, January 11. 2019
Is the masculine ideal obsolete? Outside the American Psychological Association, I think few men or women would agree.
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?
 The Magical Gaze of 'Mona Lisa' Is a Myth
The power of suggestion. What is so great about that portrait? Or is it famous for being famous?
The fate of Laos' elephants
Mothers in shock as daughters come home from college with mustaches, breasts removed
"French theory" philosophy is on its way out of fashion
George Bernard Shaw Was so Enamored with Socialism He Advocated Genocide to Advance It
Why First-Mover Advantage in a New Industry Isn't Always An Advantage
Another example: IBM invented the Microsoft system and look at IBM now
Senators Call on FCC To Investigate T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint Selling Location Data to Bounty Hunters
Britain’s Struggle With Loneliness. Like us, they've let go of family and religion, and the results, as our writer saw, have been tragic.
Us?
After Months Of Complaints, Seattle Clears Homeless Encampment
And all but one refuse free shelter. In this case, is "homeless" a euphemism for bums and addicts?
Where Have the (Bill) Clinton Democrats Gone?
HOW DID THE WIFE OF A MUELLER PROTEGE END UP HEARING MUELLER’S CASE?
Seattle TV Station Caught Doctoring Trump's Face During National Address
Why didn’t the GOP-held Congress fund the wall?
TNR says Trump's impeachment trial has already begun
Dutch Authorities Threaten Criminal Charges for Pastors Who Signed Biblical Marriage Statement
Euroland governments detest free speech
Robert Samuelson: Why China Clings To 'State Capitalism'
How Will Israel Respond to An Eventual U.S. Pullout from Syria?
Thursday, January 10. 2019
RANCHERS SEEK TO PROTECT THEIR HERDS AS THE WOLVES MOVE IN
Update: How Do You Tell If The Earth's Climate System "Is Warming"?
Remember When Starbucks Caved And Opened Their Bathrooms To Non-Customers? Here's How That Worked Out.
The escape from Portlandia
The APA Can’t Spin Its Way Out of Its Attack on ‘Traditional Masculinity’
Angela Davis update
The (academic) empire strikes back
Thou shalt not make fun of them
New York Times Makes Major Correction to Report on Manafort and Russian Oligarch
Remarkable Statements from Obama’s Former Border Chief
Students Hate Obama, Schumer, Clinton Immigration And Border Wall Quotes When Told They’re From Trump…
Dem Strategist: Pelosi, Schumer 'Struggle' to 'Relate' to Americans
On a scale of one to ten, Trump was a seven and Pelosi/Schumer were a zero
CREEP SHOW: Pelosi and Schumer Freak Out Viewers… Blank Stares, Scowls and Crazy Eyes Consume Dem Response
Kimball: Those who think Trump will cave on the wall are wrong. A country without borders is not a country
It's not about the border - it's about resisting anything Trump wants. Dems were all for barriers until Trump was. Can't allow him another win.
60 Years On: Reflections on the Revolution in Cuba
The EU In 2019 – The Problem Of Survival
Wednesday, January 9. 2019
 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.
"People don't have ideas. Ideas have people."
Carl Jung (h/t Jordan Peterson)
Why dreams like flying, falling, being chased are so common, and how your brain creates them
Nepal’s Endangered Vultures Are Finally Making a Comeback. A campaign against a lethal painkiller, paired with “restaurants” that supply clean carcasses, may just save these species
How you dress and how you behave: Aware of how others see us?
It's probably worse than we think
The Unbearable Heaviness of Clutter. A cluttered home can be a stressful home, researchers are learning
Chicken, egg. Less efficient people are more easily stressed. Best to make a plan to be more efficient, and to streamline life
Trump opponents are wrong to predict economic gloom and doom
One Year Later, 'Net Neutrality' Zealots Proved Dead Wrong
China-Made Smartphone Weather App Stole Data From 10 Million Global Users
AT&T is pretending like 5G is already here – and misleading users
Psychologists Say Traditional Masculinity Is 'Harmful.'
Psychologists not famous for being manly. I don't think that organization realizes how difficult, endless, and worthwhile a developmental task it is...but who ever heard of a wife or child being proud or happy about a fearful or ineffectual male in the family?
Grown Men Are the Solution, Not the Problem
Helen Smith: Activists, Not Healers: Why I Despise What My Profession Has Become
The Top 20% of Households Pay 88% of Federal Income Taxes
Nobody ever thanks them for it, but I will.
No, This Is Not JFK’s Democratic Party
Kamala Harris Readies Her 2020 Rollout
Atlantic: Worse Than Watergate. If the multiple charges against Trump prove out, he’ll easily displace Nixon at the top of the Crooked Modern Presidents list.
What "charges"? Listening to PMSNBC all day is dangerous to your mental health.
California Governor Newsom Vows ‘Sanctuary To All Who Seek It’ In Inauguration Speech
I support legal emigration
I support legal immigration too
Students Slam 'Trump' Wall Quotes, Then They Learn Who Actually Said Them
Ex-ICE Director Urges Nancy Pelosi To Take Wall Funding Deal: ‘Love Your Country More Than You Hate This President’
TRUMP KILLS IT
Democrats are campaigning to end prosperity
Leftists Fight ‘White Supremacy’ By Harassing Jewish Business Owner, Paint Jewish Star On His Restaurant, Break Window
ANTI-SEMITISM BREAKING OUT AMONG CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS
RUSSIAN LAWYER LINKED TO TRUMP TOWER MEETING AND FUSION GPS IS CHARGED IN NEW YORK CASE
She was trying to work both sides
US Downgraded Status of EU – But Did Not Formally Announce It
The EU is not a country - yet
How Vietnam lost and China won Cambodia. Forty years after the fall of the China-supported Khmer Rouge regime to Vietnam's invading forces, Cambodia is now more clearly in Beijing's than Hanoi's orbit
Harsanyi: Yes, Anti-Zionism Is The Same As Anti-Semitism. 'Anti-Zionism' is the predominant justification for violence, murder, and hatred against Jews in Europe and the Middle East. It’s now infiltrating American politics.
Tuesday, January 8. 2019
 Despite my advice not to undertake a conditioning program in January (because few keep their resolutions), I know people who did and that some readers did. Oh well.
A reminder for those people:
1. If you've been away from exertion for a while, it's a good idea to begin with a month of daily or near-daily mixed cardio just to wake up your body, to alert your brain and neuromuscular system that you are going to make demands.
2. For Fitness for Life, after the above you will benefit most from a balanced program:
- Resistance (weights) for building muscle and bone strength. Start light with higher reps and work up gradually to higher weight and fewer reps. If not knowledgeable about weight work, get some instruction.
- Calisthenics for building general athleticism (balance, quickness, endurance, muscle conditioning, with some HIIT cardio)
- Mixed cardio for endurance and heart stress. Since you can hardly build endurance in a one hour session of speed walking, say, your cardio needs to be uncomfortable, a much higher intensity than recreational. We think the Stairmaster machine is the best cardio trainer, but mixing it all up is the right idea. (Stairmaster tips: step on your heel more than balls of feet, stand up straight, and don't lean on the bars. Also, mix it up with double steps or high speeds if you can)
"A number of phrases from Tennyson's work have become commonplaces of the English language, including "Nature, red in tooth and claw" (In Memoriam A.H.H.), "'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all", "Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die", "My strength is as the strength of ten, / Because my heart is pure", "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield", "Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers", and "The old order changeth, yielding place to new". He is the ninth most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
NYT: Am I old?
Women over 50 'too old' to love, French author Yann Moix says
Well, youth does have its charms
Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria Is ‘Social Contagion’
AKA a fad
An Homage—and Memorial—to Civilization. Peter Jackson’s new documentary about the First World War is an overwhelming viewing experience.
The Mindfulness fad
Our obsession with taking photos is changing how we remember the past
Millennials discover that building a life is difficult
Genes, environment - and luck
Package tracking app turns users’ devices into a bot farm, violates user privacy
Apps are bad, except for Mapquest
The Pope’s Laxity Catches Up With Him
But at least he is against climate and poverty...wait - Don't people in the Church take a vow of poverty?
The ‘Green New Deal’ isn’t just ambitious — it’s insane
Will Somebody Actually Start A Serious "Climate" Emissions-Reduction Program In 2019?
Nope
Portland State Prof Who Exposed ‘Grievance Studies’ Corruption Faces University Discipline
So I Guess I'm Only Half Racist? At least I mow my lawn: University Educator: Mowing Your Lawn & Acting Respectable Is Racist
Hey, Christian Bale, Dick Cheney's my former boss. Here's what your Golden Globes speech missed
Shut up and act
IT'S RACIST TO WARN BLACK PEOPLE THEIR BUILDINGS AREN'T SAFE
Heather: Opportunistic Outrage - Anger about comparatively rare white-on-black hate lets advocates ignore a far more pervasive reality.
LIBERAL BILLIONAIRE APOLOGIZES FOR FUNDING RUSSIAN BOT ‘FALSE FLAG’ — BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Dissenters Need not Apply. Against diversity statements.
NYT Hack Defends Paper’s Non-Stop Attacks on President Trump Despite His Historic Presidency
Government Can’t Heal Us, Tucker Carlson
The Great Wall of America Will Break the Democrats
The Economy Is Finally Coming Through for U.S. Workers. Decent wage gains are showing up in paychecks. That should continue for a while.
Amnesty International Singling Out Jews in 2019
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