Mindconnection eNL, 2019-09-01

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

Item 1. Apple CEO Tim Cook seems to have gotten through to President Trump about the reality of the tariffs. And that is really good news. Read the full story here:

https://www.dealerscope.com/techconnect/newsdesk/president-trump-and-tim-cook-discuss-impending-tariffs

Item 2. While the Presidential contenders on the Democratic Party slate are pretty much a clown show, not all Democrats are so nutty. Here's the first part of a short article:

This week Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and three of her colleagues introduced S. 2350, the Online Sales Simplicity and Small Business Relief Act of 2019. The bill seeks to help small businesses by providing a $10 million national small business exemption, prevent retroactive taxation and drive states toward tax simplification structures. Read the full story here: https://www.ebaymainstreet.com/news-events/federal-internet-sales-tax-update

Why is this good news? After the idiotic Mayfair decision, various states set about creating unsupportable compliance costs for small businesses that sell in online marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon. The federal relief will allow those businesses to serve their customers rather than putting in twenty hours a week to track and file state sales taxes. Most of these businesses, something like 85%, are operated by a single person. Someone who is already putting in more than 60 hours a week.

Item 3. LED lamps that run directly off household current (120VAC) have been developed. This is a huge breakthrough for many reasons. Read the full story here:https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/semiconductors/optoelectronics/acpowered-leds-could-cut-the-cost-of-lighting

XPOWER A-2 Airrow Pro Multi-Use Electric Computer Duster, Canned Air Replacement

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But the damage is more than just a misunderstanding between two (or more) parties. There is also a misunderstanding in the mind of the person trying to express himself. We think in words and (in many cases) images. If you are thinking in the wrong words, you are internally expressing thoughts in a confusing way. This limits your brainpower.

Here's an example of word misuse. A very smart friend sent me a well-written summary of a national issue. It was clear, logical, and fact-based. The writer was efficient with his words (no extra words, such as "in order to" rather than "to") and in less than half a page he provided a good take on that issue. I forwarded this to a libtard, who replied that I had sent him a chain mail letter. The libtard, rather than getting out of his thought-free echo chamber and learning something, simply classified the e-mail as "chain mail" and learned nothing. I replied back with the definition of "chain mail" and asked him to try to see a viewpoint other than the one he's been told to believe.

Yes, I know it's a long shot to hope that a libtard might care about reality but this is a good example of how a person lowers his effective IQ by 100% or more due to poor word usage.

Because the vernacular has suffered so much deterioration over the past 40 years, most Americans speak a different language from Standard Written English. And there are many versions in play. That would not be a problem per se, if these alternate languages were documented somehow and we had a common source of agreed-upon definitions. But it has gotten to the point where people spew sounds that even the speaker doesn't understand and that other people must interpret. There is no upside to this lazy approach, and there is plenty of downside.

Since the practice is so widespread, few of us notice it. Most of us have come to accept this array of pidgin English languages as normal, even though none of us understand those languages. Compounding matters, nearly everyone caught in this trap believes s/he does understand what is being said. That just is not the reality, however, and it cannot ever be.

To prevent yourself from being in this trap, or to extricate yourself if you think you might be in it already, here are some tips:

• Read. I was going to say, "Read quality books and magazines" but since the percentage of people who do any reading at all is steadily shrinking I will settle for just reading. A habit of setting aside time each day to just read a book or magazine will improve your vocabulary and how you use your vocabulary. As a bonus, having that quiet time before bed actually saves you time by helping you sleep better.
   
• Watch quality movies, rather than mass appeal movies. In television shows and mass appeal movies, such as action flicks, the writers deliberately debauch the language so it seems "normal" to the audience they look down upon and are writing for. This is why an action hero will order a villain to "Lay on the ground". It's also why in a family comedy the mother will ask the child to "Set out the silverware" when, in fact, she means the flatware. Or she tells the kid to "Set up straight." You do not see these mistakes in movies made for a more educated audience, because the writers believe that audience wants the characters to speak English.
   
• Be alert to what you hear. You don't need to correct people who speak pidgin English at you, but be aware of the behavior. Translate the speech to English in your mind, so you aren't caught in the "garbage in, garbage out" trap.
   
• Be precise when writing. After composing an e-mail, stop. Read each sentence, looking for word misuse. How can you say the same thing more accurately and more clearly? Also look at the order in which your thoughts are expressed. In the typical e-mail, thoughts do not flow in a logical order.
   
• Be as precise as is practical, when speaking. Don't worry about a few gaffes in a conversation. Just do your best to use the correct words. With time, this will take less effort to get the same results. Correct word usage will become more automatic, the more you work at it.
   
• Study English. This subject is taught poorly in public schools, turning students totally off. As an adult, you have a chance to correct this. And it's easy! Buy a copy of Strunk & White, for starters (or borrow from your library). That will help you with many common style issues. Another great thing to do is obtain an SAT practice book. In my own case, I mastered English as a preteen because my dad gave me his college English text and I devoted many hours to studying it. I also read prodigiously as a kid, but that college text was a big advantage for me. Ask an English teacher at your local community college or university for a recommendation, or just go on Amazon and take a chance on one from the offerings presented there.
   
• Have conversations with English speakers. For many people, this means finding new friends because they have chosen their existing circle of friends on "like me" cues such as how they speak. The effort to broaden your conversation circle is worthwhile, and not just for language learning purposes.

Paper towels are made with bleach, which is a carcinogen. They also can constitute a large part of the waste stream if used when a cloth rag will do just as well. You can buy a bag of cloth rags inexpensively. Unlike paper towels, you can wash and re-use cloth rags. I cut my own cloth rags from old clothing. For example, if a cotton polo shirt is badly faded or stained, I remove and save the buttons then cut the shirt into strips that I use as house rags.

A key to getting good use from your re-usable cloth rags is to wash them properly. That means using about 1/4 of the recommended (by the detergent manufacturer) detergent, and not using fabric softener. And that leads me to another tip on saving money.

Experiment with your detergent to see how much you actually need. Here's how:

1. Begin with 25% of the recommended amount, being sure to toss in a wash cloth with that load.
2. Fill a clear bowl with fresh water.
3. Put the wash cloth in the bowl and get it soaked. Then wring it.
4. If you see evidence of detergent in the water, cut back how much you use.
5. Repeat this process until you are using enough to clean your clothes without leaving detergent in your clothes.

What about fabric softener? That coarse feeling in your fabrics is due to too much detergent in the wash, too much heat when drying, or both. Now that you know the solution, you don't need the fabric softener anymore. So you save money on both wasted detergent and toxic softener. Did I say toxic? Yes. Fabric softener is a slimy, rancid fat-based product that contains a carcinogenic, petroleum-based perfume. It doesn't actually soften your clothes, it just makes the fabric slipperier. Note also that rancid fat is a good substrate for growing bacteria. If you're going to use fabric softener, don't bother washing your clothes in the first place.

Secure sending:
https://blog.malwarebytes.com/privacy-2/2019/07/how-to-securely-send-your-personal-information

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

• Ruins the taste of perfectly good food (unless you acquire the taste for sugar).
• Overloads your dopamine receptors, causing anxiety and other mental issues.
• Depresses serotonin, which is the happiness hormone; literally, sugar tilts you toward depression.
• Depresses testosterone, preventing calcium from being deposited in the bones and bringing on muscular atrophy.
• Triggers an insulin over-response, leading to insulin resistance and then to diabetes.
• Alters the flora and fauna in your mouth, promoting plaque, tartar, tooth decay, and bad breath.
• Alters the flora and fauna in your gut, causing a slew of problems including decreased disease resistance, increased bowel problems, flatulence, and bad odors emanating from both ends and your skin.
• Accelerates aging.
• Increases several risk factors for dementia, through multiple cascading effects.
• Creates over 70% of the medical costs in the USA. It is the reason why both Medicaid and Medicare are going bust. The costs of all the illnesses it causes or promotes, if eliminated, would pay for all the other medical costs people incur--more than twice.
• ...and many other bad things, but I think the point has been made.

Personally, I see no use for this drug. It serves no purpose other than to addict people, make them stupid, make them fat, and make them die. I can think of better ways to treat people, can't you?

And look at the huge downside(s) of this drug. You don't want it in your life, do you?

Why this drug is allowed to be sold in the USA when it kills more people than heroin, cocaine, and opioids combined is no mystery. Big Sugar has the full support of our government (here in the USA) and of many other governments. This drug is subsidized and consequently it is ubiquitous.

Harder to kick than you might think

Many people wake up to the harmful effects of sugar and take action. Unfortunately, it's not enough action. You can eliminate the obvious sources, such as colas, cakes, pies, doughnuts, and candies but still get serious sugar intake. Why? Because sugar is in nearly every processed food. Read the label. Here are some foods that are often contaminated with sugar:

• Hot sauce.
• Barbeque sauce.
• Mustard, catsup, peanut butter, salad dressing, relishes, and anything else that can be poured, spread, or squirted onto food.
• Wheat bread, white bread, pita bread, any kind of bread; read the label and also watch for hydrogenated oil.
• Premixed, ready to heat, microwaveable, in a can, in a pouch, or anything else that is convenient.
• Pickled foods now often have sugar added.
• Sports supplements, including pre-workout, post-workout, creatine (EAS had a sugary creatine product for years and still might), energy bars, energy drinks, protein powders, and protein bars.

Your first defense is to choose foods that don't have a label. For example, unpackaged foods in the produce department. Your second defense is to read the label if there is one.

How to spot sugar when reading a label

First, look at the nutrition panel. Look at the grams of carbs and the grams of sugar. More than 0 grams of carbs isn't always bad, because you need carbs. But if the number seems kind of high you may be looking at sugar contamination.

Second, read the ingredients label. Look for the words sugar, cane, pineapple, juice, syrup, corn, maltodextrose, maltodextrin, monosaccharides, maltose, treacle, and fructose. Note also that cane sugar is considered a "natural sweetener" even though it is a heavily refined product, so look for that as well. HFC stands for High Fructose Corn Syrup; if you see that on a label, set the package down on the same shelf where the store offers rat poison. Beware that the drug peddlers keep coming up with ways to lie on the label. So you might get tricked here and there. Which brings me to the third point.

Third, ask yourself if you really want this product or if there is a simpler version. For example, rather than beans in a can with a label on it why not buy a bag of plain dry beans and cook them in a crockpot? As for pre-workout and post-workout supplements, I will cover those scams in a future edition (they actually don't work, in most cases, but they do give the victim a serious caffeine overload).

Bottom line

The sweetest thing you can do for your body is to eliminate (processed) sugar from your diet. Of course, this assumes you already don't smoke and aren't an alcoholic.

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

Each year in the USA, more people are beaten to death with bare hands than are shot to death with a rifle.

And yet, there's a strong push from liberals to ban the "dangerous" AR-15 "assault" rifle. This is really stupid, not just because the AR-15 is a rifle and therefore less dangerous statistically than bare hands, but because it is just a .223 caliber rifle. It's America's most popular rifle partly because it uses such tiny rounds (they are cheap).

So the next time you hear a political candidate call for banning "assault rifles" you know that person is a liar, ignoramus, or both.

Excuses are exit signs on the road to success.