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.
There are many dysfunctional and criminal subcultures in America, as there are everywhere. In the US, these are overwhelmingly white of course, and, it seems, disproportionately low among American Asians and Muslims (except for the Somalis in Minneapolis). They need to up their stats to keep up.
American blacks, however, have a lock on violent crime, with Hispanic immigrants (mostly gang-related) coming in as a distant second. Why this has evolved this way I do not know. History tells us it was not this way in 1960.
I do business with plenty of black and hispanic Americans, and they are fine, hard-working and pleasant people. There is almost no racism in America as far as I can tell. None. There is far more bigotry against white tattooed meth heads, white beggars, and whites with nose rings.
In the USA, there is a social contract. Obey laws, aspire to independence and integrity, and be a good contributing citizen. That is all that is required. Otherwise, expect to be poorly-regarded.
A powerful heart-felt comment from police officer Jay Stalien:
I have come to realize something that is still hard for me to understand to this day. The following may be a shock to some coming from an African American, but the mere fact that it may be shocking to some is prima facie evidence of the sad state of affairs that we are in as Humans.
I used to be so torn inside growing up. Here I am, a young African-American born and raised in Brooklyn, NY wanting to be a cop. I watched and lived through the crime that took place in the hood. My own black people killing others over nothing. Crack heads and heroin addicts lined the lobby of my building as I shuffled around them to make my way to our 1 bedroom apartment with 6 of us living inside. I used to be woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of gun fire, only to look outside and see that it was 2 African Americans shooting at each other.
It never sat right with me. I wanted to help my community and stop watching the blood of African Americans spilled on the street at the hands of a fellow black man. I became a cop because black lives in my community, along with ALL lives, mattered to me, and wanted to help stop the bloodshed.
As time went by in my law enforcement career, I quickly began to realize something. I remember the countless times I stood 2 inches from a young black man, around my age, laying on his back, gasping for air as blood filled his lungs. I remember them bleeding profusely with the unforgettable smell of deoxygenated dark red blood in the air, as it leaked from the bullet holes in his body on to the hot sidewalk on a summer day. I remember the countless family members who attacked me, spit on me, cursed me out, as I put up crime scene tape to cordon off the crime scene, yelling and screaming out of pain and anger at the sight of their loved ones taking their last breath. I never took it personally, I knew they were hurting. I remember the countless times I had to order new uniforms, because the ones I had on, were bloody from the blood of another black victim…of black on black crime. I remember the countless times I got back in my patrol car, distraught after having watched another black male die in front me, having to start my preliminary report something like this...
Machines are about to get very good at doing a range of tasks that human beings have historically been paid to perform. By some estimates, half of current jobs are in danger of being replaced. If anything close to this happens, a smaller and smaller share of the human population will possess skills that make them more productive than machines. As a larger supply of labor competes for fewer jobs, wages will fall for most, or dry up entirely. The owners of capital and property, physical and intellectual, will triumph. “With less need for human labor and judgment,” venture capitalist Vinod Khosla predicts, “labor will be devalued relative to capital and even more so relative to ideas and machine learning technology.”
A "healthy diet" above and beyond the basics cannot be defined and never will be defined because adequate nourishment can be obtained in so many ways. Much of the science of nutrition is dubious and, anyway, nobody reading this website is in any danger of being malnourished. Overnourished, more likely. Americans probably pee out more vitamins and minerals in a week than malnourished African kids get in a year.
In other words, Americans are the last people in the world who ought to fetishize the idea of "healthy" food. That is probably why we are the only people who do.
The nutritional science which has the most value involves diseases of malnutrition, which are absent in the Western world. The knowledge that has general applicability concerns the roles of protein, carbs, and fats in the diet, perhaps the role of vitamins, and the new information about how people become fat.
Furthermore, some foods are disparaged as unhealthy for no reason. Consider steak and burgers, ice cream, and so forth. People say "Eat fruits, greens, and vegetables." Why? They are just sometimes-tasty fillers with minimal nutrients but which can be fun to eat if done right. Is orange juice "healthy"? Depends what you mean. It's flavored sugar water and some people prefer it to plain water. Is chocolate "bad for you"? Of course not. It is wonderful food.
People talk about what foods are "nutritious." In the Western world, that is an absurd notion. Lots of guys in the NBA were raised on Frosted Flakes, Doritos, hot dogs, Coke, MacDonalds, and school lunch slops. Highly nutritious. The only people who should eat brown rice and whole wheat bread are people who prefer the flavor. The only people who should pay any attention to nutrition are parents of growing kids, people who are overweight, and athletes and others with heavy physical work.
In the prosperous Western world, you are not what you eat - so people ought to eat what they like and what they can afford and ignore the health marketing hype and ignore the health superstitions. I can tell you why our family meals consist of what they do: Tradition, preferences, and nothing more.
Modern investigators find it hard to accept the fact that groups exhibiting superb physical development and perfect health ate liberally of the very dietary component that modern nutritionists have demonized: Saturated animal fat.
Fried Squash Blossoms are a wonderful summertime traditional Italian treat. I harvested this platterful of them last night and we fried 'em up. When served hot, and lightly browned and salted, they leave French Fries in the dust.
On summer squash like Zucchini and Yellow Squash, the blossoms on the long stalks are the males, and thus expendable. However, I use both because there's always too much squash anyway. In fact, the blossoms are tastier than the squash. (I am fond of yellow summer squash steamed with salt, pepper, and butter, not so fond of zucchini except in soup.)
Almost forgot to mention that squash blossoms prevent arthritis, dementia, laziness, neurasthenia, depression, obesity, heart disease, and cancer - and most other sorts of death and disease. Guaranteed. For a few minutes, anyway.
This site explains how simple this is, using Marcella's method. Do not wash them at all because they need to be dry - just check them for bugs inside but a few tiny bugs just adds a little protein to the mix. Brown them lightly, drain, and eat sizzling hot. Photo below from Marcella's site -
10:25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
10:26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?"
10:27 He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
10:28 And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."
10:29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
10:30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
10:31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
10:32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
10:33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.
10:34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
10:35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.'
10:36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"
10:37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Canadian officials are also interpreting the results to mean an increase in Islamophobia. “There is an epidemic of Islamophobia in Ontario. Only a third of Ontarians have a positive impression of the religion and more than half feel its mainstream doctrines promote violence (an anomaly compared to other religions),” the survey said.
How George Soros Singlehandedly Created The European Refugee Crisis - And Why
That study about fecal bacteria and obesity? Retracted
That study about fracking and air pollution? Retracted.
Yes, they were peer-reviewed before publication. Peer reviewers rarely assess raw data. Studies are not facts. H/T to Powerline for informing us about Retraction Watch.
The elites do not know any people like me, young not-millionaire entrepreneurs who like to go fishing and water-skiing, and drink beer, on weekends. People for whom the feds (can substitute EU) are more of an annoyance and obstacle than a benefit. The elites do not know any normal people.
Aerobic exercise (often aka Aerobic Cardio) is much disparaged these days, but it is not entirely useless as one component of fitness. It's roughly defined as exercises that keep one's heart rate elevated significantly for extended lengths of time (ie 20 minutes plus, but around 20 is enough for the benefits), and physiologically defined as exercises in which oxygen supply can keep up with metabolic demand. Thus jogging, running, swimming, rowing, biking etc. Eventual fatigue in these exertions has to do with depletion of muscle glycogen supplies or plain muscular inadequacy.
Heart rates for a beneficial cardio workout vary by age and fitness, but a rule of thumb is that if you can converse, you aren't doing anything; if you can get a few sentences out you're about right; and if you can barely speak you are probably over your limit or in a sprint.
Cardio is not very useful for fat loss or strength-building but it's good for maintaining or building endurance, bone fitness, and cardiac fitness. Better than sitting or walking, for sure. If you can bike 50 miles at any speed, that is great because most people can't.
As an aside, reader Mike reminds us that excess cardio can lead to muscle loss. True, but really only if you are in good shape with little fat.
Anaerobic cardio exercises are those which exceed the ability of oxygen metabolic pathways to keep up with the muscular demands, eg sprinting, weight-lifting (yes, resistance exercises do stress the heart), and other high-intensity exercises like calisthenics. Anaerobic exertions build up lactic acid in muscle, hence the burn - but burn has nothing directly to do with any benefit other than maybe encouraging muscles to increase their glycogen storage. Almost any aerobic exercise can be made anaerobic by increasing intensity. This can not be sustained for very long, at most a couple or a few minutes. Cellular machinery cannot keep up with the demand.
Any exercise that leaves you limp, gasping, or burning pain after a brief time has probably become anaerobic. Good stuff, and more likely to be building rather than maintaining. This is why, for the Cardio piece of the Conditioning Triad, we recommend interval cardio (HIIT) for efficiency instead of endless aerobic cardio. The sprints will get your heart rate way up but only for a brief (30-60 seconds) while.
Men seem to have an innate preference for anaerobic exercise, women for aerobic. That's statistical only and I have no idea what relevance it has to anything.
The physiology of aerobic and anaerobic cellular metabolism is interesting, and miraculous. Minimal Bio education needed to understand it.
Not necessarily a recommendation, but for "cardio" I do two approx 20 min sets of HIIT per week and about a total of 80 mins of calisthenics each week. (Plus my 2 hrs of weights.) Feels like a good balance.
These are quite closely-related experiences, aren't they? I think in terms of lions.
Watching a lion chase a gazelle is exciting. Being chased by a lion is fear. Having a similar feeling with no lion is anxiety. Something like that. The point is that context matters quite a bit in how we label these things.
Another point is how the term "anxiety" is often applied to normal variations in people to medicalize something. Example: "I am afraid to meet and mingle with people" vs. "I have social anxiety." Same thing, sounds different.
This is all terribly oversimplified. And so is this cute presentation below, but it makes some good points.
Trump is such a narcissist he thought he could be a successful real estate developer. Then he was for decades. Trump is such a narcissist he thought he could be a successful author. Then he was, several times. Trump is such a narcissist he thought he could be a successful reality tv show host. Then he was, for many, many seasons. Trump is such a narcissist he thought he could be a successful national candidate, then he was, defeating 17 professional politicians, including Jeb! and $120 million.
As they might say in TX, it ain't narcissism if you do it.
Japan's 
Around here the hydrangeas come into bloom now, just after the roses' first blooms have faded.
1930s New York 
How to
Aerobic exercise (often aka Aerobic Cardio) is much disparaged these days, but it is not entirely useless as one component of fitness. It's roughly defined as exercises that keep one's heart rate elevated significantly for extended lengths of time (ie 20 minutes plus, but around 20 is enough for the benefits), and physiologically defined as exercises in which oxygen supply can keep up with metabolic demand. Thus jogging, running, swimming, rowing, biking etc. Eventual fatigue in these exertions has to do with depletion of muscle glycogen supplies or plain muscular inadequacy.
New book reveals