Mindconnection eNL, 2015-04-05

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Good News | Product Highlight | Brainpower | Finances | Security | Health/Fitness | Factoid | Thought 4 the Day

A new type of lithium battery stores twice the energy. That means good news in several ways, including less environmental damage from mining lithium. It also means yet another advance for solar energy. Read the full story here: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/535811/a-breakthrough-battery-is-backed-by-dyson

Item 2

Another approach to increased battery performance involves foam packing peanuts--those icons of useless waste among the packing materials crowd (Amazon, for example, has banned their use). While scientists still struggle to find a use for politicians, they have made progress with other forms of waste such as these packing peanuts. Read the story here: http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/green-tech/fuel-cells/battery-anodes-made-from-packing-peanuts

Item 3

Leukemia no more? Read this story:

http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2015/03/scientists-discover-how-to-change-human-leukemia-cells.html

Item 4

Pressure to repeal the illegal, costly scam known as the Unaffordable Care Act continues to grow. That's understandable, as the damage from this scam also continues to grow. Even the state-run media are covering the positive developments toward ending this fiasco. Here's an example of good news these propaganda outlets normally will not run: http://time.com/3747320/republicans-obamacare-repeal-budget/

Repeal of the UCA will also set the stage for ending the crime cartel known as the "EYE ARE ESS" or Institute of Reprobates and Sociopaths. If Congress can get on a crime-fighting roll, that bunch of retards and misfits would be their next logical target. Nobody ever said Congress is logical, but the idea is pleasant to contemplate.

Here's more about this scam:

• Medical insurance premiums are not becoming more affordable, but less. Even the Obama-pandering state-run media are saying
  the average premium has risen 5% during the first quarter of this year.
  That's a staggeringly huge increase, if you extrapolate the rate of increase across four quarters (20%) in one year. Now, what's interesting is the media understate negative financial news. You can safely bet the real increase is much larger than "just" 5%.
• Since it was first inflicted upon us in 2010, the federal government has spent a staggering
  $42 BILLION in regulatory costs
  and that alone should be a clue to even the dimmest of bulbs that the UCA makes medical care far less affordable than it was previously.
• The federal government squandered over
   $1.5 billion on the healthcare.gov debacle
  alone. How does that reduce costs? Remember, the amount is 1.5 followed by 9 zeroes. It's a thousand million plus five hundred million. That much additional waste cannot be overcome by any alleged efficiencies (which have proven to be about as ethereal as WMDs in Iraq). Thus, plan premiums continue to rise dramatically.
• Medicare Advantage registrants have seen a
  $1,300 cut in benefits,
  which I guess makes things more affordable in the same sense turning your thermostat to 45 degrees in winter makes heating your home more affordable. Maybe we should follow this model to  save Social Security; just cut benefits for the elderly to $150 a month. Nobody ever said Obamalogic had to make sense, and of course it does not. But it is brutal in its effects.

The UCA should never have been passed, because:

• It is blatantly illegal.
• Anyone capable of third-grade math could see it could only make medical care less affordable and less accessible.

The good news is our CONgress finally seems to be doing something about this unconscionable criminality and may soon repeal this illegal Act.

If you know anyone who is so ill-informed as to believe that somehow the UCA shouldn't be repealed, you have some facts with which to give them a reality check. And that's good news, too.

Item 6

The Evil Empire might not get away with one of its huge scams, after all. The Senate antitrust subcommittee is planning to launch an investigation into the Federal Trade Commission's decision to close its probe of Google in 2013. This was confirmed by three independent sources. Could we soon see a world without Google? Or at least a Google that cares about ethical conduct? One can only hope, but this development makes that hope greater.

This Bug Detector with Analog and Digital Options is a counter surveillance device that detects frequencies from 50MHz to 6.0GHz. Can detect hidden cameras, audio bugs, Wi-Fi hotspots, live cell phones.

Find hidden cameras and listening devices (bugs) with this pocket-sized bug detector. Why this detector is so "must have" for people who don't want to be spied upon: You can visit someone else's office and know if they are spying on you, without their knowing you know.

https://www.mindconnection.com/product/SECURITY-MG-CDRFAD.html

This camera detector / bug detector has powerful counter surveillance features:

• Detects all surveillance cameras and concealed microphones.
• Detects all cellular phones and wireless phones (if transmitting).
• Analog/digital scanning switch lets you select the technology to detect.
• Can detect Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular phone, and digital spread spectrum wireless devices.
• LED indications: level 1 (weak), level 2 (medium), and level 3 (strong).
• Silent operation (selectable, via vibration setting).
• Distance adjustment via sensitivity tuner.
• Earbuds so you aren't overheard detecting bugs.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150305110546.htm

Here are some things you can do, in no particular order:

• Replace existing windows with triple pane versions that have an insulated frame (as opposed to a bare aluminum one). This is expensive, and if you can't swing doing all the windows, then just do the west-facing ones this spring. The energy savings from that over the next few months won't totally recoup the costs, but it will certainly help. Do the north facing windows this fall. Next spring, do the east or south windows, then do the remaining side that fall.
• Keep the existing windows, but open the siding all the way around each window (temporarily). Ensure the windows are properly caulked and all voids are filled with insulation; this effort is almost never made during home construction, and low-rate window installers save money by not doing it.
• Install awnings or exterior shades on west-facing windows.
• In winter, install exterior window covers on north-facing windows. These often must be tacked, stapled, or nailed in place. If you go this route, it's best to screw a wooden mounting frame in place around the window rather than drive all those fasteners into the window frame or the siding.
• Plant a shade tree on the west side (not an option for most renters, but maybe you can get the landlord to do it and say it will help protect the building's exterior and thus prevent expensive residing for a long time)
• Use insulated window treatments inside. Note, however, the fabric can easily absorb water and rot; you must open these every day in the winter and make sure the glass is dry before closing them at night; also, never open them quickly in winter as that can cause them to shatter.
• As an alternative to insulated window treatments, which block nearly all incoming (and outgoing) light, install vinyl blinds. These have a little insulation ability, but that's not what really contributes to the energy savings. The blinds, if drawn, will block air from flowing across the glass. This means much less air entering into this heat exchanging system.

One reader wrote advising to cover your air conditioner condenser or heat pump with a shade or awning. This sounds good in theory (at first), but what you're doing is blocking air flow around a heat exchanger. Any gains from blocking sunlight will be more than offset by the losses of air flow. In the typical installation, the unit is already blocked on one side by the house itself; don't exacerbate this problem.

One issue is the deadbolt throw. Short deadbolts are cheaper, and thus more commonly used. Half an inch of engagement with a thin strip of wood may barely slow down a determined intruder.

An affordable way to make the door reasonably more secure is to address both the short throw and the thin wood problem. Obviously, you solve the short throw problem by upgrading your door lock. This will also mean (most likely) opening up the hole in the jamb. While you're buying the lock, pick up a decent-sized metal reinforcement plate.

The metal plate will also be secured to that same 2x4, but it spreads the force out over a much larger area. Instead of driving an inch-tall metal bolt through a half inch thickness of wood, the intruder now also has to drive a six inch tall metal plate through 3 and a half inches of wood. Very few human beings are capable of exerting such force.

Jim wrote to me with this question: "My doctor wants me to go on a low-fat diet. Do you have any recommendations?"

Yes. Get a different doctor.

Because I am so ripped, people are often shocked to learn that my diet is fairly high in fat. I cook with olive oil, real butter (organic), and coconut oil. I also average nearly a dozen eggs each day, and those yolks are pretty fatty (they are a great source of cholesterol and Vitamin D, both of which you NEED in your diet).

I know several people who are on this "high fat" diet. It's worth noting that all of them have lean bodies. Take a look at people who have been on the "low fat" diet for a while. It feminizes men, thus the man-boob epidemic.

Humans are not ruminant animals, though today many humans bear a strong resemblance to the bovine variety. We have one stomach instead of two or three. This means that the amount of grain in our diet needs to be low relative to other types of foods. The low-fat diet is grain-based. It's toxic to humans.

Fruits and vegetables should make up most of your food intake. Grains, maybe 10% (and that means zero wheat, corn, or soy). The Food Pyramid is fine if you want to look terrible and feel terrible, but if you want to look great and feel great replace "grain" with "green" on that pyramid. What grains you do eat need to be as unprocessed as is practical for you. I eat oats raw, and they are simple whole grain rolled oats.

Now, back to that doctor. One reason doctors recommend a low-fat diet is they are under the mistaken impression this will improve your vascular health. Actually, it does the opposite. The low-fat diet is highly inflammatory, and inflammation is a key risk factor for vascular disease, Alzheimer's, various cancers, and arthritis.

Your body can make testosterone out of the cholesterol you eat, and bodybuilders rely on high T levels to get the low body fat and heavy musculature. That's why eggs are in the typical bodybuilder's diet. A bay in my refrigerator holds nine 18-pack cartons of eggs. I fill it up regularly, typically buying three 18-packs once or twice a week.

In 1999, Bill Phillips wrote the book Body for Life. Later, he made a documentary movie of the same name. He was adamant that there is zero evidence that eating cholesterol raises your blood cholesterol. And since body builders, who typically eat large numbers of eggs, typically have very good cholesterol profiles, the evidence points in the opposite direction of what the ADA and FDA have so ignorantly (or malevolently) claimed all these years.

In the move Pumping Iron (1977), there's a scene where all the Mr. Olympia contestants are sitting down for a meal the night before the contest. Guess what they ordered? Eggs! Those guys are super-shredded, and they do it on a fairly high fat diet.

Eating fat does not make you fat; if it did, bodybuilders would have 20% body fat and all the grain addicts would have 4% body fat. But the numbers are reversed, except that elite body builders compete at 3% body fat and your typical grain addict is sporting a grain belly and waddling around at 35% or more body fat.

We in the know have known for decades that fat is an essential and desirable nutrient, rather than something that causes disease. You just need good sources of fat, and we in the know have known for decades what those are. Eggs, nuts, good oils, avocados, and organic butter are on the list of good sources.

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

 If you get into the  bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even  in the middle of the day. Whack your head on the side, and you'll also see stars.

There are no new sins; those original old ones just get more publicity.