Mindconnection eNL, 2017-10-22

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

Item 1. Cheap sulfur batteries could make solar far more viable as a stand-alone source of electricity. Read the whole story, here:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608962/serial-battery-entrepreneurs-new-venture-tackles-clean-energys-biggest-problem

Item 2. Superaccurate GPS Chips Coming to Smartphones in 2018. Read the full story, here:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/design/superaccurate-gps-chips-coming-to-smartphones-in-2018

Item 4. Barry Soetoro's attack on medical care affordability has survived almost a full year since the new POTUS came to power and many communists lost their seats in Congress. But a solution to another aspect of outrageously high medical insurance was signed into law this month. See a video about it, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7UZsVq6Ouo&feature=youtu.be

Item 4. Another piece of the alternative energy puzzle falls into place. Read the full story, here:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/renewables/evaporative-power-has-the-potential-to-create-electricity-for-large-parts-of-the-us

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• The 900 PRO is sure to become your favorite and the only language tool used FOR studies and leisure.
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Today, not only is the "information" always wrong it's also always negative and often quite depressing or at least anxiety-inducing.

I think you can see where this is heading. That's right. Don't do the news. Period. There is nothing gained, other than the approval of other "news" addicts because you demonstrate that you, too, have been drinking the poisoned Kool-Aid. You don't need their approval.

People ask me, "But if you ignore the news, how do you know what's going on?" Think about that question. Because they do partake of the "news" they not only don't know what's going on, they actually know less than zero about what's going on because what they've been told is not true. So the question is utter nonsense.

You will never know "what's going on" by partaking of the "news." But you will fill your head with lies and have an increased stress response. Both of these lower your available brainpower.

Your FICO score is important. How well do you take care of it?

I work hard to maintain mine (it was 810 as of this writing), and I enjoy the benefits a high FICO score brings. Here are some, not all of which apply to me:

• Better employment opportunities. Any company worth working for is going to use this as an input for job candidate evaluation. Many companies use it as a factor for promotion. Why? Because it's an indicator of how responsible you are. If you need adult supervision when it comes to your personal finances, why would any sane employer trust you with responsibility?
   

• Better dating opportunities. Granted, most people seeking a mate don't check the FICO score of the other person. But they should. If your prospective love interest isn't interested in your FICO score, I guarantee the two of you will fight about money if you get married.
   

• Preferential loan rates. Lenders must factor risk into the cost of a loan. The higher your FICO score, the less risky you look. So you (typically) get a better rate. You might get better terms or some other incentive not offered to those with a lower FICO score.
   

• Special deals. If your FICO score allows you to qualify, you can expect 0% APR 6-month balance transfer offers for as low as 1% of the amount transferred.
   

• Peace of mind. Doing what it takes to get that high FICO score means your financial house is in order. You may not be filthy rich, but you have no money worries. The score itself is beside the point, in this respect. It's the process you use to get that score that gives you this big benefit.

You can find all sorts of advice on how to maintain a high FICO score. It's basically a matter of good money management and of paying your bills before they are due. Here, I just want you to see how important it is do to that.

• Slouching. Always stand tall, so you fill the space around you. Visit a chiropractor for a posture assessment. Most people need a lot of work, due to years of tendon-stretching posture mistakes. Great investment in your health, too.
   
• Being distracted while in public places. The amount of distraction amazes me. We are in a Depression, and consequently non-governmental crime is way up. Much of it that you might encounter is petty theft, such as phone-snatching and purse-snatching. The thief depends on surprise; don't let yourself get surprised.
   
• Staring. Why some people stare at other people, I don't know. It's rude. In many cultures, it's considered an act of aggression. Notice, but don't stare.
   
• Letting another person inside your space bubble. As every competent car driver knows, always maintain a space bubble. If you drive a car and don't know what that is, you're not a competent (or safe) driver; take a defensive driving course. This same principle applies to your person. Force a potential attacker to alert you, by maintaining that distance.
   
• Having your back to a door, rather than a wall. Danger is far more likely to come through that door than through any wall of the building. Where practical, choose the safer position.
   
• Sitting in your car while using an ATM. It's too hard to defend yourself from a seated position inside a cramped space.
   
• Giving out your SSN just because someone (e.g., a store clerk) asks for it. They don't need it, just say no.
   
• Handing your credit card to a waiter to take away out of sight and charge. Never let your credit card out of your sight.

As many readers of this column know, I've been training for several decades. In fact, I have not missed a workout since the summer of 1977.

During my twenties, I increasingly saw my former co-athletes from high school acquire pot bellies. With each decade, I noticed more "dropouts". But I also noticed that many people dropped in for a while, then gave up and dropped back out.

Only in my fifties did it really dawn on me what the main reason was. Do you know? Here are some of choices I had for "the main reason" at different times over the years:

• Loss of foresight.
• Loss of drive, laziness.
• Poor time management.
• Poor nutrition, thus lack of energy.
• Spousal pressure.
• Peer pressure (giving in to criticism).
• Peer emulation (taking on bad habits).
• Little or no progress, poor results.

Some time ago, I changed my opinion again. And that new opinion has held for several years. The main reason is INJURY.

I came to this opinion after incurring a few injuries myself, and understanding their causes. Now I'm going to depart from opinion and give you tips on preventing injuries.

• Don't do back squats. Can you count the joints involved in this exercise? The weight involved, the lack of proper technique, and about a dozen other factors combine to make this the number one injury-maker. Frank Zane, the Mr. Olympia whose physique I like best, is adamant about not doing this exercise.
   
• Stay off the bench press. Though iconic, this exercise has too high a risk factor for the small amount of reward. Too many joints and angles are involved. Except for the back squat, this is the exercise which does the most damage to men. Mostly, they get shoulder problems while failing to develop their pecs and for some reason most men believe pec development is the goal of this exercise (it does hit the pecs, but it is primarily a shoulder and triceps exercise).
   
• Use the "Slow and controlled" method for lifting. Men tend to have this thing about how much they can lift  compared to other men in the gym or how much they can bench for bragging rights. To move what is truly excess poundage for them, they resort to throwing the weights.

Top photo taken 16SEP2016, just days before 56th birthday; bottom photo taken 3 days after 56th birthday

And many personal trainers actually teach women to do this! The theory is you need volume, and what better way to cram it into a tight schedule than to blast through your reps. However, a woman comes out way ahead by doing as many slow and controlled reps as she can fit into the allotted time. This is much better than not having a single effective rep due to using a training "method" that damages joints, ligaments, and tendons.

A better approach for a woman is to either allot sufficient time for the program she's got or to adjust her whole program for the time she's allotted.

Here's another tip for women: You are not the default "person of responsibility." You can say no, and you should say no. Rather than upsetting (most) people, your saying no garners their respect. Anyone who is indignant that you don't totally put their "wants" first will just have to get over it.

Back to the weight-throwing, itself. The weight-throwing causes severe stress to joints, tendons, ligaments, and muscles. Micro-tears in the muscle can take weeks to heal, while tendon damage may take years to heal. Chronic abuse of the body like this means living with an unending string of injuries and "mysterious" pains chalked up to "it happens as you age" (when in reality it happens because of what you do).

This "method" also violates fundamental principles of training. There is no adaptive response, there is just damage and pain. The lack of results is one of the factors that leads people to quit, but I believe now that the injuries resulting from this "method" trump that as a reason to quit.

What people in this situation need is a change of mindset. It's not about how much you can lift; the vast majority of us simply are not world class power lifters. The vast majority of us do not even know someone who is a world class power lifter.

I will also say that world class athletes (other than world class power lifters), are not concerned about how much they can lift but are concerned about the results of their lifting. Same for professional athletes. Do you ever hear professional football coaches talking about how much weight one of their players lifts during training? It's a safe bet that if you ask one of those coaches whether the players focus on tension in the muscle or on moving weights the coach will say it's all about the effects on the muscle and not about how much weight is used to achieve those effects.

You want to make the exercise harder, in fact, so that less weight is required. Some examples:

• Change the angles. By angling my forearms out at about 45 degrees (elbows still near hips), I decreased my curling weight by nearly 50%. Far, far less chance of biceps tendonitis or other injuries.
   
• Create tension. When performing chin-ups, I flex my lats. My chin-ups (and pull-ups) are done slowly with as much muscle tension as I can generate. They are really difficult that way, and I can't do many. Much more effective exercise, however. As Arnold said, "Squeeze the muscle."
   
• Use mechanically disadvantaged exercises. Front squats instead of back squats, for example. Take it to an even higher level of difficulty by doing one-legged dumbbell squats.
   
• Take short rests between sets. Arnold did curls with only a few seconds between sets. Usain Bolt, the man who is currently recognized as the world's greatest athlete, does not walk around with a water bottle and towel between sets. He moves from one exercise to the next. His training is brutally intense, and if you look at his physique you can see the awesome results.

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

Because Puerto Rico is a US Possession rather than a state, its residents do not have "representation" in Congress. For this reason, they are not subject to the 1040 tax (no taxation without representation). They are still subject to myriad other federal taxes, including the Inflation Tax. And the whackos at the Institute of Reprobates and Sociopaths still come up with ways to attack these American citizens also.

And it is a fact that ordinary citizens of the 50 states don't have any (meaningful) representation in Congress either; for that, you have to be a large corporation.