Mindconnection eNL, 2015-02-15

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On 03FEB of this year, the US House of Representatives voted to REPEAL the Patient Predation and Unaffordable Care Attack. There are also bills pending in the Senate.

Item 2

The 02FEB issue of the MIT Technology Review newsletter reported that an inexpensive material known as perovskite can boost solar cell output by 50%. That's a huge breakthrough, and it will accelerate the solar installation business. Many formerly non-viable applications will now be lucrative. Those that were marginally viable will now be firmly in the "no brainer to do this project" camp. This should further decrease coal burning, thus providing some relief for the mercury pollution of our oceans (and lessening of other pollution).

Item 3

The 03FEB2015 issue of the MIT Technology Review has great news about lithium batteries. What is it? Batteries can last twice as long. Read the full story here:

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/534626/a-battery-for-electronics-that-lasts-twice-as-long

Item 4

The Search Engine Journal reported earlier this month that Google's share of the desktop search market dropped to its lowest point in 6 years. Basically Google's gambit with Panda and Penguin is backfiring. Google's organic results are horribly skewed to favor big advertisers and its results leave out many valuable results you can find using any real search engine.

Google's misconduct is why its organic search quality is now dismal. And that misconduct is another factor in why its "search partners" are breaking off their relationship with Google. You are known by the company you keep, and being associated with Google is increasingly embarrassing.

Gordon Gecko thought greed is good, but Google's decline shows you can have too much of a good thing. Things could even reach a tipping point, where suddenly it's not cool to use Google. Certainly, it's not smart to do so because its competitors run circles around it. The good news is more and more people are waking up to this fact and doing to Google what Google did to ethics--treating them as irrelevant.

Item 5

Google's attempt to out-Facebook Facebook has failed so badly that they seem to be giving up on it. Say goodbye to Google +1. They tried to shove this down the throats of Website owners, the same people they brutalized with Panda and Penguin. They were firmly rejected.

Item 6

Aviation innovation is making smaller, lighter, engines possible. This means lower cost to manufacture, to buy, to operate, and to maintain. Read the full story here:
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/534726/additive-manufacturing-is-reshaping-aviation

Item 7

A new development in cable insulation may hugely boost energy savings. This is stupendous news, not merely "good" news. Read the full story here:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/green-tech/wind/fullerenes-added-to-cable-insulation-garners-big-energy-savings

Item 8

The Searchengineland newsletter reported that some key executives in Google's search organization have departed recently. Either they finally got a conscience and bailed, or they opposed Google's misconduct and were shown the door. Either way, people are noticing that something is going on. Rather than retaining good people, Google appears to be repelling them. The most notable example is the current CEO of Yahoo.

Maybe the Google board will finally figure out that this brain drain is an existential threat to the company, and they'll put Google on a less "ethically-challenged" footing so people don't leave in disgust. Or maybe they won't, and this bad corporation will get the fate that it deserves.

Item 9

We are just chock-full of good news in this issue. Here's another item. The People's Republic of California, which is usually anti-freedom, anti-privacy, pro-crime, and pro-poverty, actually is mulling over a pro-privacy law in its mis-legislature. This law would dramatically restrict where it's legal to fly drones. It remains to be seen if this law will apply to those most likely to abuse drones, namely federal agencies. But this is a big step forward.

Other states often follow California's lead, although we can be grateful that has not been the case with California's "OSHA for Violent Criminals" programs (which somehow bear the mis-label "gun control"). Perhaps this positive development will follow the same trajectory as Florida's Right To Carry laws and be adopted by the other 49 (or 56, according to Obama) states.

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He dissed the entire set of statistics, by claiming the one about the average increase in family medical insurance premiums under Obama doesn't account for such things as how large the family was and what plan they had.

This attack is intellectually dishonest in the extreme, and it shows how far down the mental rabbit hole the zombie class is willing to go to defend their "I voted for Obama" mistake.

These are AGGREGATE stats. The point of aggregation is to get an overall view, not to drill down to find exceptions to the trend.

If we say the average American male has 6lbs of undigested red meat fermenting in his bowels at age 53 (a documented fact, published by the AMA and other sources), we don't need to ask particulars. It doesn't matter what ethnicity, family size, etc. is involved.

We are trying to get a picture of the trend. Noting that a male like me has ZERO of this in his bowels is irrelevant, because I am statistically insignificant and we are not talking about absolute limits in the population but the AVERAGE. Some males will greatly exceed the aggregate value, also. This doesn't matter, either. With this number applied to an "average" male, we get the picture. We can wrap our minds around six pounds of something, and we can compare that to our own age and gut to get the point being illustrated with this aggregation.

There is value and purpose in aggregation. It helps you wrap your mind around the scope of a problem by distilling it down into a number you can understand--and usually apply to something within your own experience.

If we say the total premiums increased by $229 billion, it is very hard to put that into context. The human mind just does not deal well with large numbers. If we had said $183 billion, your mind would probably not differentiate even though these numbers differ by $46 billion. If someone handed you $46 billion, you would definitely notice. Understand the problem, here?

By breaking it down into a per family basis, suddenly the number becomes graspable. Notice earlier, said if someone handed you $46 billion; same effect.

This type of analysis does not pretend to suggest what each specific family pays or what a family of four could expect to pay versus a family of three. But it does give us a clearer understanding of just how devastating the Unaffordable Care Act is.

Zombies, morons, and those lacking intellectual integrity feel compelled to mindlessly argue against any such analysis. You can ignore those mindless arguments; they speak volumes about the person making them, but they say nothing of value about the analysis.

A very wise man (Jim Angelucci) often told me, "Perception is everything." I think you can't get an accurate perception without having a perspective that makes sense. The aggregate analysis is a way to get perspective. Those who attack it simply fear getting to the truth.

Keep your brainpower high by ignoring those attacks.

Yes, aggregation can be misused. But the signs of such abuse are obvious, so just put your critical thinking cap on and use aggregation for its intended purpose.

• For the first time in over 100 years, USA is not the world's largest economy.
• Unemployment hit 51% (source: Dept of Labor) in mid-2014, NOT the 5.6% Obama claims. And it's getting WORSE. In fact, it is now 56%.
• National debt increased by 80% from 2009 to 2014 (which explains the preceding figure).
• Decline in median household income since Obama became president: $2,484.
• Average increase in family medical insurance premiums under Obama: $4,154. That's the increase, not the total.
• Number of Americans enrolled in the food stamp program nearly doubled since 2009.

More about that unemployment figure: A full-time job is defined as 30+ hours per week for an organization that provides a regular paycheck. Right now, the U.S. has a staggeringly low rate of 44% full-time employment (based on the number of full-time jobs as a percent of the adult population, 18 years and older). That means the actual unemployment rate is 56%, an increase from the 51% we had this summer.

Given the current (mis)administration's unrelenting attacks on the economy and the fact the Unaffordable Care Act has not yet been repealed, an increase in unemployment was predictable. But now you know by how much.
 

We need to take action to help ensure Obama's third term is in prison, not in office. Write to your misprepresentatives today and ask them to sponsor bills that would make this a reality. Let's get this criminal "elected" to an office he deserves, such as that of inmate in Guantanamo.

And how are these devastated people coping? Taking a cue from the sociopaths who dominate the US CONgress, they are turning to crime. Now I'm going to tell you about one of the schemes they use, and how you can protect yourself.

In our previous issue, we mentioned how people pose as representatives of utility companies. A variation of this is posing as some sort of home service company. They are targeting those small franchise businesses owned by people who feel guilty if they work "only" a 12 hour day.

Among their targets are carpet cleaning companies. There's nothing wrong with such a company, in fact they provide valuable services. Unfortunately, they can no longer lawfully canvas by phone even though politicians and other riff-raff can. This means they often go door to door, and those who do this legwork are not well-compensated for it. But these companies are, in this economy, having a hard time drumming up business.

They will offer some sort of free cleaning, in hopes they can point out other services after you see the nearly miraculous difference their work made.

So far, so good. But here's where it goes wrong.

Now criminals rent a carpet shampooer and pretend to be a carpet cleaning company. They actually do shampoo your carpet. And they "case the joint" while they're in your house. They may make a wax impression of at least one door lock, and then later break in using the key made from that impression. They may note your security system, door locks, open windows, etc. And, of course, they inventory what's in your place. They hand you a brochure on the way out, figuring you won't call the number on it.

And when they break in, they might conceal their crime by being very selective about what they steal. Maybe just credit card information and some jewelry hidden in places they know to look. A couple shirts from your closet, a few tools from your garage, and a few other sundry things. Months might go by before you realize you've been hit. Or you may come home to find you got cleaned out.

The solution isn't to assume all carpet cleaners are crooks. It's to just look at who comes into your house. As noted, these are franchises owned by hard-working people. They want to be successful. So they won't pull up in some old pickup truck. Most likely, they'll have a van with the company logo on it. Look in that van; if you see it's full of hoses and other carpet cleaning equipment, this is a real business rather than some crooks pretending to be one.

Write down the license plate number, and call the police to ask if the vehicle has been reported as stolen. You just want to know that these people coming into your home are legit. There is actually a problem with company vehicles being stolen to use in crimes like this.

An acquaintance of mine, who owned an electrical services company, lost one of his trucks while taking his crew out to breakfast; it was stolen from the parking lot while they ate. When I mentioned this to another acquaintance in the Sheriff's Department, he just sighed and said how sad it was these small companies get hit this way. It's devastating, since they are barely making ends meet as it is.

If the vehicle has been stolen, inform the police that the perps are at your place now and ask how long it will be until officers arrive. Go ahead and let the perps into your  house; act naturally but watch them at all times. Don't be natural, act naturally.

Say you're really interested in what they're doing. Your natural tendency will be to frown or have a worried look. To prevent this, think of something funny that will make you smile. Don't just force a smile; a fake smile is noticeable, and it will give you away. That could put you in physical danger, though most likely it will just send them scampering and the cops you called won't be able to catch them.

If the vehicle hasn't been stolen, this crew is probably legit. But maybe not. So look also at the employees. Every franchise owner knows employees must dress nicely and be well-groomed; or they should. If they don't, then you don't want to do business with them whether they are crooks or not because they don't take professionalism seriously.

Once they're inside, a legitimate crew is going to start the sales pitch. They're going to tell you about their company and they're going to explain why their process is superior. They're going to try to win your trust by demonstrating with those free cleanings they promised. Once they are done cleaning, they won't be in a hurry to leave. They will want to know what rooms you want cleaned, and they'll give you a price before doing the work. In other words, they are going to act like business people not like crooks.

But how will you pay for this? With a credit card. Another thing you should have done earlier is call the number on the side of the van and ask if they have cleaning crews in your area. When you pay, look on the receipt to see if the phone number there matches the one on the van.

That license number you wrote down? Keep it in a safe place, such as a drawer in your desk at work (assuming where you work isn't at home).

John wrote with several questions related to his son's high school sports participation. He was dismayed to learn that the coach was having the boys lift weights.

It's a common misconception that weight training somehow impedes sports performance. Another common misconception is that if you do weight training, it has to be tightly correlated to the sport with the same motions used in the sport.

I heard both of these early in my martial arts training, and ignored them. I surpassed all of my instructors in the first two styles I studied. Not of them lifted weights.

Then I was fortunate to get into Leonard Smith's Kung Fu organization. All of my instructors lifted weights; I never thought of myself as surpassing them and I know for certain I never surpassed Sifu Smith. If your body is going to be a weapon, why would you not make it as lean and strong as possible? Thus, weight training.

I was 52 in the flying reverse roundhouse kick photo you see there. Not a practical move, but the photographer wanted something "cool" for his portfolio. Weight training obviously has not impeded my athletic performance.

And so it is with athletes generally. Weight training is a core part of the program for professional and amateur athletes of all sorts. And that's because it works.

So are they training specific body parts or using weights in specific ways to improve specific motions used in the sport? The smart ones aren't.

The human body is a system, and you must train it as one. That's why both the pole vaulter and the javelin thrower need to be doing squats, curls, overhead presses, and flyes. It doesn't matter what sport you're in. You train the whole body. Not in the same workout, of course.

John's concern was that the weight training would interfere with his son's athletic performance. It won't. If done properly, it can only enhance his son's performance. But there is another issue. It has to do with bone growth.

The bones don't stop growing, and thus the bone ends don't stop forming, until some time late in (or after) the teen years. I don't remember when this is; John should ask an orthopedist this specific question. I think for boys it's later than for girls. And it may vary by individual. I'm pretty sure the orthopedist can give a definitive answer. She or he will probably do this by using a simple test.

You can tell if a kid's bone ends have formed by pressing in the space between the wrist and hand, and then comparing it to your own. This gives you "close" accuracy, as you are making an assumption about how much space is normal for an adult (no bone growing going on).

So if the kid's bones are still growing, is weight lifting out? Not according to the literature. It's still safe, but lighter weights must be used to avoid compression of the bone ends.

In an exercise such as flyes, you're not pressing on the bone ends so there's no weight limit. In squats, there's a weight limit but I can show you a killer squat that will have your legs screaming even if the only weight you're using is an empty #10 mailing envelope (one legged squat, with the non-squatting leg shin down on a bench behind you).

The key here is to use technique instead of sheer weight to trigger the adaptive response. Actually, this is a good practice to follow whether your bone ends are formed or not. The goal of weight training isn't to see how much weight you can push. It's to stimulate the adaptive response by putting the muscle under maximum tension. That can be done without maximum weight.

• The best workouts are short and intense.
• A good diet contains far more flavors and satisfaction than the typical American diet.

 The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to  prevent. Those swine in CONgress aren't helping much, either.

Business conventions are important, because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.