Mindconnection eNL, 2019-03-17

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Item 1. The economic disaster known as "Obamageddon" continues to recede in the rear view mirror. According to a recent Forbes piece by Chuck Devore, "In the last 26 months of Obama’s presidency, manufacturing employment grew by 96,000 or 0.8 percent. In Trump’s first 26 months, manufacturers added 479,000 jobs, or 3.9 percent, 399 percent more jobs than Obama’s record".

Item 2. This slice of demographic statistics from The Daily Torgh gives another angle from which to view the positive economics post-Obamageddon: "The white, non-Hispanic population aged 16 and over did not grow at all in the past 12 months — in fact it was down 8,000 among males and 28,000 among females — but still the number with jobs increased by 24,000 among males and 240,000 among females."

Item 3. Nancy Pelosi indicted, steps down. Great news! Too bad it's not (yet) true. But keep that happy thought in mind.

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Here are some ways I learn things:

• Instead of listening to music, I listen to audiobooks. I love the University Lecture Series; through that I have the  equivalent of the credit hours required for several Master's degrees.
• Instead of watching television, I watch documentaries I check out from the library (I watch during meals, when reading something is too challenging).
• Instead of watching television, I read non-fiction magazines like Discover. I subscribe to about a dozen high quality magazines, including two that deal with home repair / handyman issues (which is why I can usually answer "how do I fix it" questions). I set aside reading time every night.
• Instead of having banal chats about sports teams and the weather, I make a point of talking with intelligent, informed people about topics that matter.
• Instead of reading the newspaper, I don't read the newspaper. Same for television news, news blogs, and other venues that are either propaganda outlets or political echo chambers. These waste your time and impoverish you intellectually. Simply eliminating them does wonders for your brainpower.

1. The time saved is minimal. You probably pay a higher hourly rate for the prep than what you earn on your own job.
2. The plastic, even if recycled, is an environmental problem. The first step in the reduce-reuse-recycle formula is reduce. So reduce the amount of plastic you use. Failure to do this means you pay for the externalized costs of wasteful use of plastic one way or another.
3. You can't select the produce; what's in the tub is what you get.
4. You have no guarantee that what's in the tub isn't contaminated.
5. You're encouraging the "waste more" culture by literally buying into it.

Convenience is typically over-rated, overpriced, and wasteful. It is sometimes worth the price,  but usually not. Always assess how much time you save and how much per hour that translates into. Often when it comes to food prep, your money is better spent on better tools for the job. Perhaps different types of containers, different knives, a better peeler, another cutting board, whatever. And talk with others to get their time-saving tips (and share your own). You will likely save more time on prepping food than you would save with the pre-prepped plastic tubs of things.

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/101/2018/12/all-the-reasons-why-cybercriminals-want-to-hack-your-phone

Photo taken about one week before 40th High School Class Reunion.

Note that the information provided here will likely conflict with the "fad of the moment" and other unsustainable, unproductive ways of looking at health and fitness.

Article appears below.

See my climbing videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCyb67uKOxW_TsG6BVPbBIQ/videos

Walk into almost any gym and observe the guys. They are nearly always doing biceps curls or bench presses. Some also do a little work for their back. Almost nobody does leg work. Leg work is hard. And since legs are usually covered up with long pants, why bother training them right? There's even a type of bodybuilding competition where the guys where knee-length trunks!

Now observe the women. You might see some general exercise, but usually the workout is nearly all "cardio."

In both cases, a huge mistake. First of all, for the women, cardio is a complete waste of time and it's counterproductive. Those are strong words, but they are backed by the science.

Now, imagine you were constrained such that you could work only one muscle group. You can't work anything else. Which muscle group should you choose?

One way to answer that is to visit a nursing home. What do you notice among the residents? If you said, "They lack mobility," that is correct. First it's hard to get up out of a chair, then it's difficult to walk, then you get a cane, then you get a walker, then someone else wipes your bottom because your legs are too weak to get you to the toilet on your own.

Leg training must take priority in your mind and in your schedule. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's exhausting. But yes, it hugely boosts your testosterone so you burn fat and build muscle. And yes, it will preserve your mobility and prevent you from going down that path to being immobile.

For your leg training to be effective, it has to be hard and it has to be smart. You can't do light work, and you can't train without a good plan. If your leg training is good, your recovery period will be long. I take two weeks between leg muscle group training sessions; I train upper legs one week and lower legs the next.

Now what about those guys doing all the curls? If you train only your legs, you will have bigger arms than they will because you (not they) are getting that massive testosterone boost. This assumes none of them are genetic freaks and you are training correctly and eating right.

If you're not training legs as your priority body part, you need to rethink that. Don't forget, you need to work all of the leg muscles--not just they quadriceps. That means:

• Hip adductors
• Hip abductors
• Glutes
• Calves
• Shins

Also, keep in mind that just one exercise for quad work is not going to get the job done. I employ three different types of squats, plus I do leg extensions.

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

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of male impotence.

So, what does that tell you about eating anything made with wheat, corn, or soy?