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.
It's a done deal, finally, I believe. This sort of thing is one of the reasons why people who disapproved of Trump on a personal level felt the need to vote for him. This is fun:
Why Americans Are Retiring Later. I don't think it's just about money. People find purpose and challenge in work, and the relational part is important too.
I know people in their 80s who work. If you ask them about it, they say things like "What good would I be?" or "What would I do all day? Play golf?"
In the NAFTA Deal, Trump Got What Democrats Couldn’t - Critics are panning the president’s new trade deal with Canada and Mexico as a minor update. They’re wrong—it’s a significant accomplishment.
A few newspapers, mostly tabloids like Britain’s Sun, have had the temerity to stand up to the EU’s power grab. Worse, many millions of Europeans agree with them. What is the solution? “Smart regulation.”
I have a habit of posting longer pieces, but this will be relatively short.
A friend called today, asking if I could help her daughter find an internship. Of course, I love helping young people, so I said fine and asked what her major was. "Corporate Psychology" was the answer.
I know several contributors are in the field of psychology or psychiatry, so maybe they can help me understand what this is, and if it's real.
I am aware that it would be in the Human Relations department. Given my recent post on "A Culture of Thank You", I have a feeling I know what kind of stuff is involved. I'm not sure I like the concept. Any time a business meeting starts with phrases like "it's ok to be vulnerable" or "everyone needs to be aware this is a safe space" I become immediately wary of the goals of the meeting. Not being involved will likely work against you. So will being involved but asking the wrong questions. I think that's what Corporate Psychology is about. Manipulating people to devise a particular result. But maybe I'm wrong.
The Maggie's Balanced Fitness Program for adults of all ages and for all gender identifications.
Weekly Program:
- 2 sessions calis classes (or 1 class and 1 hr of do-it-yourself calis). Most gyms have classes in varying levels of challenge.
- 2 one hr sessions powerlifts and related heavy wts and cables (including 10 mins warm-up time)
- 2 twenty to 25- min sessions of HIIT (running sprints, jump rope, ski erg, rower sprints) combined with 2 half hrs of accessory weights (eg curls, dips, pullups, pushups, farmer walks, heavy ball games, Roman Chair, etc etc)
- 1 hr mixed medium intensity "cardio" - rower, stair machine, bike, treadmill, swim, elliptical - as an "active recovery" day. Or a longish (2 1/2 hr+) hill hike/rock climb.
I think the logic in this is clear: it is "balanced" because it covers bone and muscle strength/maintenance, general endurance, athleticism, and improved cardiac function. My three years of this program has revised my body, my ability, and my energy to an extent that keeps surprising me. Surprises Mrs. BD too. No bulging muscles though. That has to do with your genetics.
A program with this regularity requires decent sleep habits and rational nutrition. Can you lose fat with this program? Minimally.
What about Crossfit instead? Fine. Try it. I have friends who swear by it. No, it's not a cult. It's congenial and upbeat while they kick your ass.
One caveat: About every 3 weeks I experience my (trademarked) "Double Gravity" when I get up at my usual farmer's 4 am. It means I can get up to pee, but an overwhelming force flops me back onto bed for an hour. I take that as a signal that my body wants a day off from intense exertion so I will usually just do the mixed cardio a little later that day.
I am sick and tired of this disgusting circus. Crazy thing about it is, as Scott Adams pointed out, Trump can't lose no matter what happens. A few final links on the topic:
She lied about a fear of flying, lied about renovations to her house being driven by the memory of the attack starting 2012, quite likely lied about knowing she could testify in CA (otherwise her attorneys should be disbarred), does not know how she go to or back from the party and all four witnesses that she named deny her story completely.
She is not a licensed psychologist and thus cannot call herself a "psychology" doctor - Stanford and the local JuCo had to revamp her work webpages.
She denied having knowledge of polygraph tests while having apparently coached people on how to pass them!
But we need to believe her because she is a woman and women never lie. Well we have apparently discovered the world's very first female liar. Amazing. Someone is going to have to write this up as an amazing psychological phenomenon!
Oh, and her daddy works for the CIA at a black ops bank.....
She is free to release her therapist's notes to anybody she wants. I can tell you that, as far as psychotherapy goes, I keep few and minimal notes for a multitude of reasons, mostly illegible, and none at all on electronic medical records. Very often, no notes at all. I just follow the process and the progress. Typical therapy note of mine:
"Career issues. Mood ok. Needs a hobby. Same meds. Good session."
One question I have pondered over the last few weeks is, why are the Democrats so determined to block Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court? Realistically, he is the most moderate nominee they are likely to see from the Trump administration. If his nomination fails, the president will most likely appoint Amy Barrett, who is secure against #MeToo allegations and is both more conservative and younger than Kavanaugh. So what is the point?
To some extent, the Democrats’ bizarre smear campaign against Kavanaugh is explicable on short-term political grounds. The Democrats’ crazed base demands that they #Resist, so resist they will, whether it does any good or not. But I think there is something deeper and more sinister at work...
I've seen it done in the workplace. Everybody makes dumb mistakes, but if somebody gets an angry, resentful, paranoid, or envious issue with you, you can be brought down without those mistakes.
A perennial bestseller by eminent mathematician G. Polya, How to Solve It will show anyone in any field how to think straight. In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be "reasoned" out―from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have relished Polya's deft―indeed, brilliant―instructions on stripping away irrelevancies and going straight to the heart of the problem
9:38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us."
9:39 But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
9:40 Whoever is not against us is for us.
9:41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
9:42 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.
9:43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
9:45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.
9:47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,
9:48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
9:49 "For everyone will be salted with fire.
9:50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
Sedentary lives increase appetite. What is "sedentary"? Less than 7 hrs/week of exertion. Not activity - exertion.
Why might it not matter? Because, as I have asserted in the past, in our world of abundance and temptation appetite has little correlation with nutritional needs in adults. In the world of nutritional scarcity in which our distant ancestors lives, it certainly did. Today, we have recreational feeding. It is fun.
There are many reasons why daily exercise is useless for weight loss. Among them is the fact that a daily hour of "cardio" or calisthenics does not require additional nutrition from one's normal habit. People who lift heavy two or three days/week probably can use 60-90 gms of protein daily for muscle repair.
People in serious training for physical competition are another category. A 2-3 -hour daily workout has different nutritional needs. Two hours daily of physical training sounds wonderful to me at this point in life. One hour in the gym and one hour of sports practice. Only college kids and the retired have that luxury.
With nutrition, best thing to do is to set goals for your desired fitness and functionality levels and to pursue those in a disciplined way. Same as everything else in life.
I find myself wondering what would drive a middle-aged woman to seek to destroy a splendid and honorable family man who she alleges attempted to grope her 35-37 years ago at a high school beer party? Seems evil to me. Lucky me, I guess, but I was testosterone-fueled when I was 17 but the gals seemed hormone-fueled too.
Photo came in over the transom 
The Maggie's Balanced Fitness Program for adults of all ages and for all gender identifications.
University of Pennsylvania 
Scott Adams d
Mathematician