Maggie's Farm

For peace of mind, this is a remarkable deal:  Lifeline Screening. No prescription needed. No reason not to do it. It's a great service.

Cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke, aneurysms, and the like) is the #1 killer in the US (about 1 million deaths/yr) and in much of the world too. 

If screening raises any issues, they can be pursued by your doctor. 

Where Have All The Hospital Patients Gone?

The lady reviewer found the book arousing. It's about sex, surrender (or sacrifice), and individuality or lack thereof in acts of surrender or sacrifice.

The author of the piece at Quillette says the book is not about sexual fantasies (male and female), but it is. 

 If one must always search out one’s own desires in order to correct them, then we are suddenly no longer in Aury’s tender world of flesh and fantasy, but rather in Orwell’s world of surveillance and paranoia. Once we moralize the inner landscapes of our own erotic imaginations, even our explicitly pornographic fantasies, what pleasures are left to us that aren’t merely ruthlessly self-serving? And what is left private? It was, after all, a moment of privacy and warmth within myself that I enjoyed while reading O on an airplane. It was a privacy that opened up my erotic imaginings, that deepened me and, ideally, planted the seeds of private fantasies to be shared and discovered with a lover. For sometimes even privacy is best shared with a co-conspirator in laughter, and imagination, and sensuality, and in secret touches and all things forbidden. Things wicked and sweet and brutal and tender. My own private Chateau.

Lots of people have a bit of oddball in them. I like them. I also like hearty, wholesome, uncomplicated  people too.

This Stanford undergrad is a good writer and has a fine future. I do not view her as autistic in the usual sense, but she does have "issues" as she discusses.  She has been through the entire Psychiatric gauntlet without much apparent result. Nevertheless, she is at Stanford, is obviously talented and perceptive: My Brief Spell as an (autism) Activist.

Without trying to diagnose somebody I have ever met, I think this young lady could use some basic life counseling, or life coaching if you want to call it that. There is plenty of room in the world for "outsiders." 

Pandemic deaths in history

Older people have become younger: physical and cognitive function have improved meaningfully in 30 years

 The functional ability of older people is nowadays better when it is compared to that of people at the same age three decades ago. This was observed in a study conducted at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The study compared the physical and cognitive performance of people nowadays between the ages of 75 and 80 with that of the same-aged people in the 1990s.

From Dalrymple:

 While I feel guilt for my own bad actions or omissions, the kinds of things that are under my direct control, I do not feel guilt that my own life has been a comparatively fortunate one, probably more fortunate than that of the majority of mankind. On the contrary, I feel gratitude, or perhaps, more accurately, I should say gladness. I feel sorrow for the unfortunate, but not guilt toward them since I am not responsible for their sorrows. True, I did nothing to deserve having the opportunities that I have had, but I did nothing not to deserve them, either. I took the world as I found it and for me to feel guilty about my comparative good fortune would be a sign not of moral sensitivity or virtue, but of moral grandiosity. Moral grandiosity has probably done more harm in the world than indifference, inasmuch as it recognizes no limits to its power to bring about a supposedly better world.

Actually, this may be more about Vit D and respiratory viruses in general. It appears that Vit D deficiency might be a risk factor.

I get plenty of sunshine but take 1-2000 iu of D regularly but not daily. 

By the way, excess Vit D can be toxic. 

Abductor inflammation or injury is typically due to overuse. "Overuse" is, of course, relative to age, condition, activity involved, etc.

Young women tend to have little problem with sexual delights as long as their partner is not a dud or a selfish jerk.

Middle-aged women (40-65) tend to be more readily orgasmic. It is hormonal, in part. Women in good health remain capable of sexual delight and orgasm until death, but the climaxes are not the same.  Still satisfying, but not the screaming or moaning ones of a 35 year-old.

Healthy men over 60 tend to have a decline in sex drive and performance, but not in sexual/romantic interest. It's complicated.  It is age, hormonal issues, and other things. Men are, biologically, more excited by fertile females of course, but bonding with the wife is important. She's right there, and willing. With age (say, over 70 or 75) things are not what they were at 40 but men are still capable of, and needful of, romantic and sexual pleasure.

It is a component of life happiness. 

Yes, you can have better sex in midlife and in the years beyond. If sustaining intimacy is becoming more difficult, there are many approaches that can help.

Ben Aldridge knew he was an anxious guy so he devoted a year to overcoming his fears and avoidances. 

Not with psychotherapy, not with meds, but with a determination to overcome his weaknesses:  How to Be Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable: 43 Weird & Wonderful Ways to Build a Strong, Resilient Mindset

Fat Will Help You Get In The Best Shape Of Your Life: Here's How

To lose body fat, low carbs is the way to go. But the age-old notion that eating fats and oils makes people fat is nonsense. 

Believe it or not, there is a thing called "Rabbit Starvation." You can starve to death on a diet of rabbit meat. 

Best nutritional summary I've been able to come up with, applying to most active, exercising people: To lose body fat, low carbs. To gain muscle mass (heavy weights often, ie 4 hrs/wk): lots of all foods 5 times daily.  To gain general Fitness for Life (with 2 days of cardio, 2 days of calis, and 2 days of heavy): 5 small meals/day - 2 of them being snacks like yoghurt and nuts, or half a sandwich), with plenty of protein. If too scrawny, hit the weights for 6 months and eat all you can. Nothing wrong with a Big Mac and Fries with a beer if that's your goal. Nutrition has to be in sync with your goals. 

The moving parts of our skeleton operate as levers, powered by skeletal muscles. Levers are nifty mechanisms which make force application more efficient. Using a crowbar is easier than grunting a boulder out of the dirt.

It's high-school physics applied to the body: Levers are classified according to the relative placement of the fulcrum, the resistance and the force.

Any form of exercise can be made more interesting by thinking about the sort of lever action applied in single-joint exercises (like bicep curls or calf raises) or the multiple lever actions applied in complex, multi-joint movements like squats or running.

If you are fortunate enough to use the services of a professional trainer,  that trainer will not be focusing on your muscles. He or she will focus on the mechanics of your movement(s) - proper lever use - to make your motion or activity as safe and effective as possible. That's why a trainer will make frequent corrections to your technique: Palms out (or in), wider stance (or narrower), head up (or down), chest up (or down) etc.

Even if you are not a fitness person, everybody knows that there is a right and wrong way to pick up something heavy, or to get out of a chair. It's all leverage.

An excellent long read by Norman Doidge MD: Hydroxychloroquine: A Morality Tale. A startling investigation into how a cheap, well-known drug became a political football in the midst of a pandemic

Trump's suggestion that it might be helpful, and the fact that he takes it, discredited it. There are many physicians who take it, even without complete proof that it is helpful. They take it with zinc. 

I used to swim a mile daily. No HIIT swimming, just a fairly efficient mile with friends. Not for weight (my weight is fine), but just for daily exercise, as much mental as physical.

In line with the Maggie's fitness program, I only swim twice weekly now, with HIIT laps as my pure cardio days. One sprint per 2 laps.  Weights and calisthenics on other days.

Why we swim 

Not just for COVID times. My advice for a functional life, for as long as one is given by God or nature, is to workout 5-6 days/week, stay fit and trim (the latter being mainly nutritional). Don't abuse substances. Have a good sex life and social life. Do things, and take on new challenges whether mental or physical.

I will never advise anyone about what to eat. Westerners are over-nutritioned. If overweight, eat less (especially carbs) and, if underweight, eat a bit more of everything. Simple. If you lift heavy, get some extra protein because it won't hurt. 

Get a physical exam, mammogram, PSA, and cardio stress test, however often your doctor suggests. The Maggie's Fitness for Life exercise regime requires more structure and discipline than very many are willing to do, but we recommend it anyway - 2 days of HIIT cardio, 2 days of calisthenics, and 2 days of heavy weights. It will not extend your life, but could make it more functional and lively.

If you hit 80-90 years old, do whatever you want. You made it to the finish line.

 Over time, SARS-CoV-2 becomes just another seasonal respiratory virus, like the four other coronaviruses that cause a sizable proportion of common colds: 229E, OC43, NL63, and HKU1. These cold coronaviruses are so common that we have likely all had them at some point, maybe even multiple times. They can cause serious outbreaks, especially in the elderly, but are usually mild enough to fly under the radar. One endgame is that SARS-CoV-2 becomes the fifth coronavirus that regularly circulates among humans.

Studies about romantic relationships, which marriages supposedly are, never seem able to capture the complexities of chemistry, compatability, and partnering. 

Sexual issues, financial issues, disagreements, emotional issues and frailties, etc etc all beset the basically unnatural notion of lifetime monogamous bonding. In Western cultures, committment is important cement, but how often is it, really?

Good friendships can easily last a lifetime, thank God. That's partly because you do not live with them and have to deal with their flaws every day. Friendships are essential in life, I believe. No one partner can meet all of our relational wants, supports, comraderie, and enjoyments.

A relationship study:  A landmark study shows what makes a successful relationship

Summing up personality types, or at least dominant personality traits, in a simple phrase has probably gone on as long as language has existed. "That guy's a jerk - stay away."

Theophrastus (370-285 BC), a student of Aristotle and a botanist among other things, made a list of the types which have been used in drama ever since. They are of course one-dimensional character types (we could term them stereotypes) but I think we all use phrases similar to those to describe people: The Flatterer and the Chatterer

The Maggie's Fitness for Life program includes both. Still, we tend to agree that calisthenics classes offer more bang for the buck (or for the time.)

The logic is that 50 minutes of intense calis (with maybe only 6-10-second breaks between routines) is a good heart stressor while also working on athleticism, balance, flexibility, light-weight endurance muscle work, and body-weight exercises.  In addition, most calisthenics classes include specific HIIT routines like rowing sprints. Obviously, each person works at his or her own level.

Some thoughts about it here. 

If you take three tough calisthenics classes weekly, do you need to do your own HIIT cardio? Maybe not, because calisthenics classes that keep your heart rate up are stressful cardio. It depends on how intensely you want to condition, and on how ambitious you are. What sorts of circuits do typical calisthenics classes include? Rowing sprints, kettlebell swings, pushups, jumping jacks, jump rope, heavy ropes, body weight squats, heavy ball throws, sandbag slams, floor and core work like planks and crunches, hand weights, stretches, etc etc. Fun stuff, never boring because the routines are only 30-60 seconds each.

We do like the idea of one "long, slow" cardio hour, like swimming, jogging, high-incline walking, stair machine, etc as a recovery day from a week's exertions with heavy weights and calisthenics. There is evidence that "active recovery" like that makes for more effective physical recovery than doing nothing. A 4-5-hour hill hike is a perfect recovery activity from demanding workouts.

With calisthenics, the less spare fat you carry, the better you will do and the more quickly you will move. To shed spare fat, cut the food volume and get rid of those carbs. (Our readers know what carbs are: fruit, juices, grains and grain products, beer, root vegetables, anything with sugar, etc.)

You can make arguments about the de-institutionalization of chronically mentally ill patients, but the medicines used for treatment of the various sorts of schizophrenia have highly-variable results. What we group under "schizophrenia" is not unitary and, furthermore, this rough category of psychoses is a brain-wiring issue and not a primarily chemical one.

Furthermore, many patients do not like to take medicine. You can't force them to, under ordinary conditions.

The other category of severe mental illness, Bipolar Disorder, is thankfully readily medically and psychotherapeutically managed now in people who are willing to follow a treatment program. 

I do not agree with several points made in this piece, but I do not feel that jails and homeless tents are good approaches to severe mental illness.